First the fun:
"Homeless were paid $50 to be beaten for Web videos, suit alleges" April 13, 2011|Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A video company paid homeless men $50 to be filmed while scantily clad women punched, kicked, and whipped them, according to a lawsuit filed this month in a Florida court....
And bite me, too?
The lawsuit contends the beatings violate a state hate-crimes law that specifically protects the homeless....
Isn't the act itself enough of a crime?
Whoever heard of a crime of love (not passion, readers, love)?
All crimes are hate crimes!
“What type of society would allow this to happen?’’ said Neil Chonin, the lawyer for the homeless men....
(Blog editor and citizen sheepishly raises hand)
--more--"
We've done far worse in far away lands that based on lies.
The fallout:
"Mother kills ‘mouthy’ teens, police say" January 29, 2011|Associated Press
TAMPA — The wife of a military officer shot and killed her son on the way to soccer practice, then drove to their upscale home and shot her daughter in the head while she studied at her computer, police said yesterday.
The woman said she killed the teens for being “mouthy,’’ detectives said.
Julie Powers Schenecker admitted the slayings after officers found her covered in blood on the back porch of her home yesterday morning, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. Schenecker’s mother had called police from Texas because she was unable to reach the 50-year-old woman, whom she said was depressed and had been complaining about her children.
Schenecker’s husband, Parker, is an Army colonel stationed at the headquarters of US Central Command in Tampa. CentCom spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Michael Lawhorn called him a career Army intelligence officer.
Police said Parker Schenecker was overseas.
Julie Schenecker left a note detailing her plans to kill her disrespectful children and then herself.
--more--"
I sometimes wonder if we had just avoided these wars and occupations how many soldiers would not have committed suicide and how many incidents like this would not have happened -- and how many souls would have been spared in the process.
No escaping violence in AmeriKa:
"One twin dead, another burned in Fla." February 17, 2011|Kelli Kennedy, Associated Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A state worker made the alarming discovery: a 10-year-old boy in the front seat of an exterminator’s red pickup alongside a busy interstate, convulsing from seizures, dripping in chemicals so toxic they sickened rescue workers who helped him.
So stop picking on those state workers!
Nearby, the boy’s father lay on the ground, unresponsive and doused in gasoline in what he later told police was an attempt to kill himself.
Why involve the kid?
The most horrifying find would come hours later because the truck was too toxic to search — the deteriorating body of the boy’s twin sister, wrapped in plastic bags and wedged between chemical containers in the enclosed pickup bed.
The boy was in critical condition yesterday, his burns getting worse. Doctors were unsure of what chemical was used. His father, Jorge Barahona, was also in the hospital. He faces aggravated child abuse charges, but more charges were expected.
Meanwhile, an angry judge grilled state child welfare officials over missed opportunities to help the twins, Victor and Nubia, after an anonymous abuse allegation was called into a hotline Feb. 10 — four days before the children were found along Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach.
Related: Fla. agency didn’t report alleged abuse
You see, this is the thing: if the state actually did its job and what it claims this wouldn't happen.
Instead they are too busy handing out tax loot and taking to the floors for stoo-pid s***.
The state officials described a disturbing picture of a Jorge and Carmen Barahona, who adopted the twins, an 11-year-old autistic boy, and a 7-year-old girl from foster care. The couple has been the focus of at least three abuse allegations in recent years, but nothing ever came of them.
Authorities haven’t said how Nubia died or when they think the chemical was put on Victor.
Barahona, 53, told officers he put his dead daughter in the truck and began driving with his son, intending to commit suicide. He was distraught, gave his son a handful of sleeping pills and, with the boy’s head in his lap, poured gasoline on himself.
--more--"
Also related: Death penalty sought in killing of Fla. girl, 10
State will give you a hand with that suicide these days.
"2 bodies in canal thought to be siblings" March 04, 2011|Associated Press
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Two children whose bodies were found stuffed into luggage and dumped in a canal were apparently a brother and sister killed in domestic violence, authorities said yesterday....
--more--"
And if you are lucky enough to grow up:
"Police say plot to kill Fla. teen followed fight" April 21, 2011|Associated Press
SUMMERFIELD, Fla. — When Seath Tyler Jackson received a text message from a 15-year-old ex-girlfriend saying she wanted to rekindle their romance and that they should meet at a central Florida house, a female friend of Jackson’s sensed something wasn’t right.
The 15-year-old Jackson ignored his friend’s advice and went Sunday to the house in Summerfield. There, authorities said, he was fatally beaten and shot by members of a group of teens and adults. Then Jackson’s body was stuffed into a sleeping bag and burned, and the remains were put in paint buckets and dumped at a remote lime rock pit, authorities allege.
Authorities, as well as family and friends, said Jackson had fought recently with one of the suspects, 18-year-old Michael Bargo, who was dating Jackson’s ex-girlfriend.
Bargo and the girl were among six people, who range in age from 15 to 37, arrested Tuesday night in connection with Jackson’s gruesome death.
--more--"
Also see:
Fla. officer slain, third in a month
Teen held without bail in Fla. officer’s death
Murder suspect, officer die in Fla. gun battle
Friday, April 29, 2011
Out of Jail in Chicago
"Ill. inmate who claimed torture is released" March 18, 2011|Associated Press
CHESTER, Ill. — A man who contended that Chicago police tortured him into confessing to killing a Chicago couple and spent more than 25 years in prison walked out a free man yesterday, eight years after his codefendant was pardoned and freed from the state’s death row by a former Illinois governor.
Sadly, torture is nothing new to AmeriKa.
Eric Caine said he isn’t bitter about his incarceration, but does plan to seek recourse. He said he hopes to marry his girlfriend and channel his efforts into a possible ministry.
He's a better man than me.
Caine wore clothing and shoes provided by his attorney and carried a Bible and family pictures. He said what he’s really been craving is oxtail stew.
“This is the first day of the rest of my life,’’ Caine said, before letting out a loud, “Woo-hoo!’’
--more--"
Related: Archdiocese suspends outspoken priest
Oh, and the scum torturer that sent him up:
"Illinois sues to halt pension to liar" February 08, 2011|Associated Press
CHICAGO — Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit yesterday to stop a former Chicago police official convicted of lying about the torture of suspects from getting his $3,000-a-month pension.
Try to think of it as a reward.
Also see: Stench of Torture in Windy City
Madigan’s suit names Jon Burge and the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, saying that the board violated the state’s pension code last month when it voted not to terminate Burge’s benefits.
Burge was sentenced last month to 4 1/2 years in prison after being convicted in June of lying in a civil lawsuit when he said he had never participated in or witnessed the physical abuse of suspects....
--more--"
Look what else was released:
"Report describes scientist’s plague death" February 25, 2011|Bloomberg News
NEW YORK — A Chicago scientist died of the plague after becoming the first US researcher to contract the disease in more than 50 years, according to a government report.
The man, a 60-year-old university researcher who was not identified in the report, was working with a weakened form of plague bacterium that was previously thought to be harmless to humans....
Why would they even be working with such a thing?
Why would you dig up Spanish Flu?
The bubonic plague killed millions of people in medieval Europe....
Part of the endgame, population-reduction plan?
--more--"
"3 children killed in Chicago house fire" April 08, 2011|Associated Press
CHICAGO — A fast-moving fire sparked by a 4-year-old boy playing with a lighter in bed early yesterday left three children dead and more than a dozen people homeless on Chicago’s South Side, officials said....
--more--"
Also see: Boy, 3, dies in roller coast accident at Ill. amusement park
Blagojevich telling lies, prosecutor says
We used to say takes one to know one.
Related: Blago Beats Crack Government Prosecutor
:-)
Update (no joke):
"Girl is fined after April Fools’ prank
BLOOMINGTON — A 16-year-old central Illinois girl has been given $150 in tickets after the worried victims of her April Fools’ Day prank called police. Police say the girl texted her friend and cousin Friday morning and said she had been robbed and shot in the foot. The pair called police, who rushed to a home where they found the 16-year-old safe. She received tickets for disorderly conduct and truancy."
CHESTER, Ill. — A man who contended that Chicago police tortured him into confessing to killing a Chicago couple and spent more than 25 years in prison walked out a free man yesterday, eight years after his codefendant was pardoned and freed from the state’s death row by a former Illinois governor.
Sadly, torture is nothing new to AmeriKa.
Eric Caine said he isn’t bitter about his incarceration, but does plan to seek recourse. He said he hopes to marry his girlfriend and channel his efforts into a possible ministry.
He's a better man than me.
Caine wore clothing and shoes provided by his attorney and carried a Bible and family pictures. He said what he’s really been craving is oxtail stew.
“This is the first day of the rest of my life,’’ Caine said, before letting out a loud, “Woo-hoo!’’
--more--"
Related: Archdiocese suspends outspoken priest
Oh, and the scum torturer that sent him up:
"Illinois sues to halt pension to liar" February 08, 2011|Associated Press
CHICAGO — Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit yesterday to stop a former Chicago police official convicted of lying about the torture of suspects from getting his $3,000-a-month pension.
Try to think of it as a reward.
Also see: Stench of Torture in Windy City
Madigan’s suit names Jon Burge and the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, saying that the board violated the state’s pension code last month when it voted not to terminate Burge’s benefits.
Burge was sentenced last month to 4 1/2 years in prison after being convicted in June of lying in a civil lawsuit when he said he had never participated in or witnessed the physical abuse of suspects....
--more--"
Look what else was released:
"Report describes scientist’s plague death" February 25, 2011|Bloomberg News
NEW YORK — A Chicago scientist died of the plague after becoming the first US researcher to contract the disease in more than 50 years, according to a government report.
The man, a 60-year-old university researcher who was not identified in the report, was working with a weakened form of plague bacterium that was previously thought to be harmless to humans....
Why would they even be working with such a thing?
Why would you dig up Spanish Flu?
The bubonic plague killed millions of people in medieval Europe....
Part of the endgame, population-reduction plan?
--more--"
"3 children killed in Chicago house fire" April 08, 2011|Associated Press
CHICAGO — A fast-moving fire sparked by a 4-year-old boy playing with a lighter in bed early yesterday left three children dead and more than a dozen people homeless on Chicago’s South Side, officials said....
--more--"
Also see: Boy, 3, dies in roller coast accident at Ill. amusement park
Blagojevich telling lies, prosecutor says
We used to say takes one to know one.
Related: Blago Beats Crack Government Prosecutor
:-)
Update (no joke):
"Girl is fined after April Fools’ prank
BLOOMINGTON — A 16-year-old central Illinois girl has been given $150 in tickets after the worried victims of her April Fools’ Day prank called police. Police say the girl texted her friend and cousin Friday morning and said she had been robbed and shot in the foot. The pair called police, who rushed to a home where they found the 16-year-old safe. She received tickets for disorderly conduct and truancy."
Detroit Dump
Excuse me while I go to the toilet.
Here is what I brought in to read:
"Man accused in plot to attack mosque bragged beforehand, bar worker says" February 01, 2011|Associated Press
DETROIT — Hours before his arrest outside a popular Detroit-area mosque, a 63-year-old California man held court at a nearby sports bar, telling an employee that he was a Vietnam veteran-turned Muslim holy warrior, that he planned to set off a “big explosion,’’ and that he was “going to be part of making history,’’ the employees said yesterday.
Related: Man had explosives at mosque, police say
A Muslim holy warrior bombing a mosque?
Joe Nahhas, an operations manager at the J.S. Fields bar in Detroit, said a man identified after his arrest as Roger Stockham ordered a double Scotch on the rocks on Jan. 24 and told him he planned to cause an explosion that would be “here, there, the mosque.’’ Stockham — who is bipolar and suffers from other psychiatric disorders, according to a lawyer who represented him in a previous case — was wearing a Vietnam War veteran hat and said he is a Muslim and a member of an Indonesian mujahedeen group, Nahhas said.
Oh, no, ANOTHER DRUGGED UP CRAZY!
Nahhas said he called 911 to report the encounter, and police have said a tip preceded Stockham’s arrest near the Islamic Center of America in neighboring Dearborn a few hours later. Police said when officers pulled over Stockham’s car, he was wearing a ski mask and traveling with open alcohol containers, spray paint, and more than two dozen powerful fireworks....
Those were the "explosives" he had while DRIVING DRUNK in the car?
Can you say STAGED SET-UP?
--more--"
Related: For Al Qaeda operative, Detroit wasn’t feature of master plan
(Sound of blog editor flushing said toilet)
Also see:
Detroit police hunting for serial rapist
Mayor of Detroit welcomes any ideas to save troubled city
Related: Day in Detroit
Update: US says Detroit airport drug ring broken
Here is what I brought in to read:
"Man accused in plot to attack mosque bragged beforehand, bar worker says" February 01, 2011|Associated Press
DETROIT — Hours before his arrest outside a popular Detroit-area mosque, a 63-year-old California man held court at a nearby sports bar, telling an employee that he was a Vietnam veteran-turned Muslim holy warrior, that he planned to set off a “big explosion,’’ and that he was “going to be part of making history,’’ the employees said yesterday.
Related: Man had explosives at mosque, police say
A Muslim holy warrior bombing a mosque?
Joe Nahhas, an operations manager at the J.S. Fields bar in Detroit, said a man identified after his arrest as Roger Stockham ordered a double Scotch on the rocks on Jan. 24 and told him he planned to cause an explosion that would be “here, there, the mosque.’’ Stockham — who is bipolar and suffers from other psychiatric disorders, according to a lawyer who represented him in a previous case — was wearing a Vietnam War veteran hat and said he is a Muslim and a member of an Indonesian mujahedeen group, Nahhas said.
Oh, no, ANOTHER DRUGGED UP CRAZY!
Nahhas said he called 911 to report the encounter, and police have said a tip preceded Stockham’s arrest near the Islamic Center of America in neighboring Dearborn a few hours later. Police said when officers pulled over Stockham’s car, he was wearing a ski mask and traveling with open alcohol containers, spray paint, and more than two dozen powerful fireworks....
Those were the "explosives" he had while DRIVING DRUNK in the car?
Can you say STAGED SET-UP?
--more--"
Related: For Al Qaeda operative, Detroit wasn’t feature of master plan
(Sound of blog editor flushing said toilet)
Also see:
Detroit police hunting for serial rapist
Mayor of Detroit welcomes any ideas to save troubled city
Related: Day in Detroit
Update: US says Detroit airport drug ring broken
Michigan Mom and Dad
Where's the love?
"Mich. mother gets jail for cancer hoax" March 30, 2011|Associated Press
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — A judge yesterday ordered a Michigan woman to spend a year in jail for scamming thousands of dollars from donors by drugging her 12-year-old son to make him appear to have cancer, a sentence that her family complained was too lenient....
What does lying us into war-profiteering occupations get you?
What does a mortgage security scammer get for ruining the world economy?
Defense attorney Dominic Greco, however, said his client’s actions were out of character and may have stemmed in part from her husband’s sudden death and the recent loss of her job.
--more--"
Related: Woman accused of faking son’s cancer
Also see: Father says he can’t turn over missing boys
Related:
Police doubt father of missing Michigan boys
Search continues for 3 Mich. boys after father’s attempted suicide
Missing boys’ father fights extradition
Father of missing boys returned to Mich.
Father of missing boys waives hearing
"Mich. mother gets jail for cancer hoax" March 30, 2011|Associated Press
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — A judge yesterday ordered a Michigan woman to spend a year in jail for scamming thousands of dollars from donors by drugging her 12-year-old son to make him appear to have cancer, a sentence that her family complained was too lenient....
What does lying us into war-profiteering occupations get you?
What does a mortgage security scammer get for ruining the world economy?
Defense attorney Dominic Greco, however, said his client’s actions were out of character and may have stemmed in part from her husband’s sudden death and the recent loss of her job.
--more--"
Related: Woman accused of faking son’s cancer
Also see: Father says he can’t turn over missing boys
Related:
Police doubt father of missing Michigan boys
Search continues for 3 Mich. boys after father’s attempted suicide
Missing boys’ father fights extradition
Father of missing boys returned to Mich.
Father of missing boys waives hearing
Pennsylvanian Perversions
Let's start with the police:
"2 ex-Philadelphia officers plead guilty in heroin plot" February 08, 2011|Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Two former Philadelphia police officers face five years or more of prison after pleading guilty yesterday in a plot to steal heroin from a suspected drug dealer and sell it....
Their arrests last year came in a string of police corruption cases that prompted Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey to vow to clean house. He has since beefed up the Internal Affairs unit and proposed stricter hiring requirements, including two years of college.
In May, James Venziale, 32, and Officer Mark Williams staged a traffic stop of suspected dealer Angel Ortiz after Ortiz obtained heroin from a supplier on credit, authorities said.
With the supplier’s courier looking on, the officers appeared to arrest Ortiz, allegedly in on the scheme, and seize the drugs, they said. Ortiz paid the officers $6,000 for their help and an unspecified amount to Christal Snyder, according to an indictment.
The group then tried to sell the heroin through an undercover federal agent, prosecutors say.
Venziale spoke softly yesterday as he pleaded guilty to conspiring with drug dealers and possessing heroin, once near a charter school. Venziale, facing a mandatory five years in prison, admitted he took part in the staged traffic stop and heroin seizure.
Robert Snyder, 30, who is not cooperating with prosecutors, faces a mandatory 10 years in prison on drug and gun charges related to the scheme. His wife, Christal, accused of using her phone to pass information between the officers and suspected dealers, also faces a mandatory 10-year term if convicted....
--more--"
"New hearing ordered for Abu-Jamal" April 27, 2011|Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court yesterday ordered a new sentencing hearing for convicted police killer and death-row activist Mumia Abu-Jamal, finding for a second time that the death-penalty instructions given to the jury at his 1982 trial were potentially misleading....
District Attorney Seth Williams, the city’s first black district attorney, pledged to mount another appeal to the US Supreme Court at the urging of Faulkner’s widow, Maureen:
“This is not a whodunit.’’
Actually, it is: Ten Reasons Mumia Abu-Jamal Is Innocent
The bullets didn't match the gun?
--more--"
Also see:
Trial of Pennsylvania judge in kickbacks case set to begin today
US wraps up kickback case vs. judge
Pa. judge convicted in kickback case
Related: Pennsylvania Frees Child Prisoners
Now free Mumia!
More death penalty:
"Abortion doctor may face death penalty" March 03, 2011|Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Prosecutors notified a Philadelphia doctor charged with killing a patient and seven babies at his abortion clinic that they intend to pursue the death penalty against him.
Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 70, ran a filthy West Philadelphia medical practice that served as a pill mill by day and an abortion mill by night, a grand jury concluded in January after a two-year investigation.
The multiple deaths and tender age of the babies — allegedly killed with scissors after being born alive — are the aggravating circumstances that warrant the death penalty for Gosnell, Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said yesterday.
Defense lawyers have suggested that Gosnell, his wife, and eight other defendants who worked at the clinic treated poor women and minorities when no one else would....
And therefore the conduct was justified?
--more--"
Related: Pennsylvania overhauls abortion-clinic oversight
You would hope so.
Another type of abortion:
"Couple spared prison in sick son’s death" February 03, 2011|Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — A fundamentalist Christian couple who relied on prayer to cure their dying toddler must take their remaining children for medical checkups as part of their sentence in the boy’s death, a judge ruled yesterday.
Herbert and Catherine Schaible, who belong to First Century Gospel Church in Philadelphia, were previously convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in the pneumonia death of their 2-year-old son, Kent.
Common Pleas Court Judge Carolyn Engel Temin said that adults are entitled to follow church teachings shunning medicine, which is seen as a lack of faith in God. But parents, the judge ruled, may not make that decision for their children.
Gee, with all the pharmaceutical$ being $hoved down kids' throats these days who can blame them?
“The welfare of the child is more important than the religious freedom of the parents,’’ Temin said.
Speaking in court, Herbert Schaible asked the judge for leniency to allow the couple to support their family.
Temin sentenced them to 10 years of probation, during which they are required to seek routine and emergency medical care for their seven children, ages 1 through 15.
--more--"
So they can grow up to be one of these:
"School chief decries teacher’s critical blog" February 24, 2011|Associated Press
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — It will be “impossible’’ for a suburban Philadelphia teacher suspended for blogging derogatory comments about her students to return to the district after her maternity leave, the district superintendent said.
Hey, someone has to do it!
About 150 people packed a Central Bucks school board meeting on Tuesday.
At the meeting, officials responded to the blog in which high school English teacher Natalie Munroe described her students as “disengaged, lazy whiners’’ — and worse.
Related: Boston Globe School Daze: Kids in Charge of Boston Classrooms
They sure look like them to me.
“Ms. Munroe, by her own actions, has made it impossible for her to teach in this district,’’ Superintendent Robert Laws said.
Who would want to teach these days? If you are not being attacked by politicians you are being disrespected by the kids.
“No student should be subjected to such a hostile educational environment.’’
It was an anonymous blog for God's sake!!
************
Munroe did not use her full name or identify her students or school in the blog, which she started in August 2009 for friends and family.
Now you see why I DO NOT either!
Students at Central Bucks East High School found out it about it recently and told administrators.
The blog has been taken down, but Munroe has said she stands by her comments.
Supporters say she is voicing common classroom frustrations, and her lawyer believes Munroe has a free-speech defense.
Free speech? In AmeriKa?
--more--"
What you will never get out of me:
"Pair get 9-year terms in hate-crime death" February 24, 2011|Associated Press
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Two Pennsylvania men were sentenced to nine years in prison yesterday after being convicted of a federal hate crime for beating and kicking an illegal Mexican immigrant who died of his injuries.
Isn't the ACT ITSELF a CRIME?
Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky were among a group of white high school football players in the small town of Shenandoah who attacked 25-year-old Luis Ramirez in 2008. Prosecutors alleged they beat Ramirez because they did not like Hispanics and wanted them out of their town....
But, but, but.... football is a game of heroes and AmeriKa's finest.
The pair were convicted in October. They could have received more than 15 years in prison under federal guidelines, but US District Judge Richard Caputo granted them a reduction because of their personal character and conduct before Ramirez’s beating, as well as the numerous testimonials he received....
Yeah, they are GOOD KIDS!
Federal charges were brought against Piekarsky and Donchak after another all-white jury acquitted them of serious state crimes....
--more--"
Related: Around AmeriKa: No Brotherly Love in Pennsylvania
Time to relax at a party:
"1 killed, 8 wounded in shooting at party
CHESTER — Shots rang out in a suburban Philadelphia social hall where a teen party was being held, killing one person and sending eight others to the hospital, authorities said yesterday. Police in Chester, where a state of emergency was declared last summer because of crime concerns, said a suspect was taken into custody after officers were called to Minaret Temple No. 174 about 11:30 p.m. Friday and found “numerous victims.’’ The hall had been rented for a party, police said (AP)."
More fatalities, this time from fire:
"5 dead in fire at Pennsylvania duplex" March 23, 2011|Associated Press
ALTOONA, Pa. — The worst fire in this central Pennsylvania city since the 1970s tore through a second-floor apartment and killed five people early yesterday, producing flames visible across the city, officials said....
--more--"
"Seven children perish in a Pennsylvania farmhouse fire; one sibling survives" March 10, 2011|Associated Press
LOYSVILLE, Pa. — The father was making his rounds in his milk truck and the mother was in the barn milking the cows when their 3-year-old daughter smelled smoke and ran for help.
By the time the parents reached their farmhouse, it was too late: Seven of their eight children were killed in a furious blaze Tuesday night. They ranged in age from 7 months to 11 years.
Neighbors in the heavily Amish and Mennonite area converged on the farm to help with the chores yesterday. Even the grieving father, Theodore Clouse, kept busy, perhaps as a way of coping.
The cause of the blaze was under investigation, but the children’s grandfather, Noah Sauder, suspected a propane heater.
The fire left a blackened shell in the rolling hills of Central Pennsylvania. A car parked beside the house was burned to the bare metal....
Just wondering why the metal didn't melt.
I mean, if fire can melt the steel girders of a 110-story Trade Center tower.... ?????
--more--"
Also see:
DA in Philadelphia charges priests, teacher with rape
21 Philadelphia priests accused of abuse suspended
Former church aide fights abuse coverup charge
Pennsylvania archdiocese faces new abuse suit
In Philadelphia, fear of predatory priests
Related: The Lucky Priest of Pennsylvania
Updates: Testimony shows Pa. regulators give little scrutiny to gas-drilling outfits
Pa. widens testing for pollutants in water
Pa. woman admits kidnapping her niece
"2 ex-Philadelphia officers plead guilty in heroin plot" February 08, 2011|Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Two former Philadelphia police officers face five years or more of prison after pleading guilty yesterday in a plot to steal heroin from a suspected drug dealer and sell it....
Their arrests last year came in a string of police corruption cases that prompted Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey to vow to clean house. He has since beefed up the Internal Affairs unit and proposed stricter hiring requirements, including two years of college.
In May, James Venziale, 32, and Officer Mark Williams staged a traffic stop of suspected dealer Angel Ortiz after Ortiz obtained heroin from a supplier on credit, authorities said.
With the supplier’s courier looking on, the officers appeared to arrest Ortiz, allegedly in on the scheme, and seize the drugs, they said. Ortiz paid the officers $6,000 for their help and an unspecified amount to Christal Snyder, according to an indictment.
The group then tried to sell the heroin through an undercover federal agent, prosecutors say.
Venziale spoke softly yesterday as he pleaded guilty to conspiring with drug dealers and possessing heroin, once near a charter school. Venziale, facing a mandatory five years in prison, admitted he took part in the staged traffic stop and heroin seizure.
Robert Snyder, 30, who is not cooperating with prosecutors, faces a mandatory 10 years in prison on drug and gun charges related to the scheme. His wife, Christal, accused of using her phone to pass information between the officers and suspected dealers, also faces a mandatory 10-year term if convicted....
--more--"
"New hearing ordered for Abu-Jamal" April 27, 2011|Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — A federal appeals court yesterday ordered a new sentencing hearing for convicted police killer and death-row activist Mumia Abu-Jamal, finding for a second time that the death-penalty instructions given to the jury at his 1982 trial were potentially misleading....
District Attorney Seth Williams, the city’s first black district attorney, pledged to mount another appeal to the US Supreme Court at the urging of Faulkner’s widow, Maureen:
“This is not a whodunit.’’
Actually, it is: Ten Reasons Mumia Abu-Jamal Is Innocent
The bullets didn't match the gun?
--more--"
Also see:
Trial of Pennsylvania judge in kickbacks case set to begin today
US wraps up kickback case vs. judge
Pa. judge convicted in kickback case
Related: Pennsylvania Frees Child Prisoners
Now free Mumia!
More death penalty:
"Abortion doctor may face death penalty" March 03, 2011|Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — Prosecutors notified a Philadelphia doctor charged with killing a patient and seven babies at his abortion clinic that they intend to pursue the death penalty against him.
Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 70, ran a filthy West Philadelphia medical practice that served as a pill mill by day and an abortion mill by night, a grand jury concluded in January after a two-year investigation.
The multiple deaths and tender age of the babies — allegedly killed with scissors after being born alive — are the aggravating circumstances that warrant the death penalty for Gosnell, Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said yesterday.
Defense lawyers have suggested that Gosnell, his wife, and eight other defendants who worked at the clinic treated poor women and minorities when no one else would....
And therefore the conduct was justified?
--more--"
Related: Pennsylvania overhauls abortion-clinic oversight
You would hope so.
Another type of abortion:
"Couple spared prison in sick son’s death" February 03, 2011|Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — A fundamentalist Christian couple who relied on prayer to cure their dying toddler must take their remaining children for medical checkups as part of their sentence in the boy’s death, a judge ruled yesterday.
Herbert and Catherine Schaible, who belong to First Century Gospel Church in Philadelphia, were previously convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in the pneumonia death of their 2-year-old son, Kent.
Common Pleas Court Judge Carolyn Engel Temin said that adults are entitled to follow church teachings shunning medicine, which is seen as a lack of faith in God. But parents, the judge ruled, may not make that decision for their children.
Gee, with all the pharmaceutical$ being $hoved down kids' throats these days who can blame them?
“The welfare of the child is more important than the religious freedom of the parents,’’ Temin said.
So when are the states and federal government going to start taking care of them?
Defense lawyers had argued that the Schaibles did not know how sick Kent was before his death in January 2009. The boy’s symptoms had included coughing, congestion, crankiness, and a loss of appetite. But the parents said that the boy was eating and drinking until the last day, and that they thought he was improving.
Speaking in court, Herbert Schaible asked the judge for leniency to allow the couple to support their family.
Temin sentenced them to 10 years of probation, during which they are required to seek routine and emergency medical care for their seven children, ages 1 through 15.
--more--"
So they can grow up to be one of these:
"School chief decries teacher’s critical blog" February 24, 2011|Associated Press
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — It will be “impossible’’ for a suburban Philadelphia teacher suspended for blogging derogatory comments about her students to return to the district after her maternity leave, the district superintendent said.
Hey, someone has to do it!
About 150 people packed a Central Bucks school board meeting on Tuesday.
At the meeting, officials responded to the blog in which high school English teacher Natalie Munroe described her students as “disengaged, lazy whiners’’ — and worse.
Related: Boston Globe School Daze: Kids in Charge of Boston Classrooms
They sure look like them to me.
“Ms. Munroe, by her own actions, has made it impossible for her to teach in this district,’’ Superintendent Robert Laws said.
Who would want to teach these days? If you are not being attacked by politicians you are being disrespected by the kids.
“No student should be subjected to such a hostile educational environment.’’
It was an anonymous blog for God's sake!!
************
Munroe did not use her full name or identify her students or school in the blog, which she started in August 2009 for friends and family.
Now you see why I DO NOT either!
Students at Central Bucks East High School found out it about it recently and told administrators.
The blog has been taken down, but Munroe has said she stands by her comments.
Supporters say she is voicing common classroom frustrations, and her lawyer believes Munroe has a free-speech defense.
Free speech? In AmeriKa?
--more--"
What you will never get out of me:
"Pair get 9-year terms in hate-crime death" February 24, 2011|Associated Press
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Two Pennsylvania men were sentenced to nine years in prison yesterday after being convicted of a federal hate crime for beating and kicking an illegal Mexican immigrant who died of his injuries.
Isn't the ACT ITSELF a CRIME?
Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky were among a group of white high school football players in the small town of Shenandoah who attacked 25-year-old Luis Ramirez in 2008. Prosecutors alleged they beat Ramirez because they did not like Hispanics and wanted them out of their town....
But, but, but.... football is a game of heroes and AmeriKa's finest.
The pair were convicted in October. They could have received more than 15 years in prison under federal guidelines, but US District Judge Richard Caputo granted them a reduction because of their personal character and conduct before Ramirez’s beating, as well as the numerous testimonials he received....
Yeah, they are GOOD KIDS!
Federal charges were brought against Piekarsky and Donchak after another all-white jury acquitted them of serious state crimes....
--more--"
Related: Around AmeriKa: No Brotherly Love in Pennsylvania
Time to relax at a party:
"1 killed, 8 wounded in shooting at party
CHESTER — Shots rang out in a suburban Philadelphia social hall where a teen party was being held, killing one person and sending eight others to the hospital, authorities said yesterday. Police in Chester, where a state of emergency was declared last summer because of crime concerns, said a suspect was taken into custody after officers were called to Minaret Temple No. 174 about 11:30 p.m. Friday and found “numerous victims.’’ The hall had been rented for a party, police said (AP)."
More fatalities, this time from fire:
"5 dead in fire at Pennsylvania duplex" March 23, 2011|Associated Press
ALTOONA, Pa. — The worst fire in this central Pennsylvania city since the 1970s tore through a second-floor apartment and killed five people early yesterday, producing flames visible across the city, officials said....
--more--"
"Seven children perish in a Pennsylvania farmhouse fire; one sibling survives" March 10, 2011|Associated Press
LOYSVILLE, Pa. — The father was making his rounds in his milk truck and the mother was in the barn milking the cows when their 3-year-old daughter smelled smoke and ran for help.
By the time the parents reached their farmhouse, it was too late: Seven of their eight children were killed in a furious blaze Tuesday night. They ranged in age from 7 months to 11 years.
Neighbors in the heavily Amish and Mennonite area converged on the farm to help with the chores yesterday. Even the grieving father, Theodore Clouse, kept busy, perhaps as a way of coping.
The cause of the blaze was under investigation, but the children’s grandfather, Noah Sauder, suspected a propane heater.
The fire left a blackened shell in the rolling hills of Central Pennsylvania. A car parked beside the house was burned to the bare metal....
Just wondering why the metal didn't melt.
I mean, if fire can melt the steel girders of a 110-story Trade Center tower.... ?????
--more--"
Also see:
DA in Philadelphia charges priests, teacher with rape
21 Philadelphia priests accused of abuse suspended
Former church aide fights abuse coverup charge
Pennsylvania archdiocese faces new abuse suit
In Philadelphia, fear of predatory priests
Related: The Lucky Priest of Pennsylvania
Updates: Testimony shows Pa. regulators give little scrutiny to gas-drilling outfits
Pa. widens testing for pollutants in water
Pa. woman admits kidnapping her niece
Thursday, April 28, 2011
I'm Getting Married in the Morning
Time for me to get to sleep, dear readers:
Planners expect royals to set the wedding style for many
For wedding planners, the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton is the most significant wedding in decades, and it’s expected to leave a lasting impression on the industry.
In London, thousands from the US have descended on the city, just as many Londoners move in reverse, taking advantage of the four-day weekend to escape what they see as a coming headache.
Also see: British Wedding Bells
Just get me to the church on time, readers.
Planners expect royals to set the wedding style for many
For wedding planners, the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton is the most significant wedding in decades, and it’s expected to leave a lasting impression on the industry.
In London, thousands from the US have descended on the city, just as many Londoners move in reverse, taking advantage of the four-day weekend to escape what they see as a coming headache.
The Globe usually gives me one.
Also see: British Wedding Bells
Just get me to the church on time, readers.
Obama's Security Shuffle
Think deck chairs and Titanic, dear readers.
"Obama shuffles top national security positions; Panetta to head defense; CIA to get Petraeus" by Karen DeYoung, Washington Post / April 28, 2011
WASHINGTON — President Obama will nominate CIA Director Leon Panetta as secretary of defense this week, replacing Robert M. Gates as part of a series of national security shifts that will also place Afghanistan war commander General David Petraeus in the top CIA job, US officials said.
Related: Out of the Mouth of Gates
Panetta the Prick
Article says Panetta was Gates' suggested pick for the job, and you can see why.
Also see: Petraeus' Private Eyes
Obama's Airstrike Scalpel
Looks like MORE MISSILE STRIKES in the offing, world.
In an announcement planned for today, Obama will also name Ryan Crocker, a five-time ambassador who retired in 2009 after wartime service in Iraq, to head the US diplomatic mission in Kabul....
He BRINGS BACK a BUSH MAN?
The changes, which will not take effect until this summer, essentially preserve the status quo on the national security team as the administration heads into a crucial period of turmoil in the Middle East and South Asia, US military withdrawal from Iraq, and a make-or-break year in Afghanistan....
Related: AmeriKa Has Lost Afghanistan
Already broken, and all the king's horses and all the king's men....
Completing the changes, Marine Lieutenant General John Allen, currently deputy commander of the US Central Command, will take Petraeus’s job in Afghanistan, according to knowledgeable officials not authorized to speak on the record....
Officials said that Allen, who worked closely with White House national security adviser Thomas E. Donilon when Donilon headed the powerful NSC deputies committee, was the unanimous choice of the Pentagon’s senior civilian and military leadership.
Now that is a bit interesting:
"Donilon.... repeatedly challenged the military to justify the need for large numbers of troops over a period of a decade or more, finally cautioning the president that a policy of what he termed “endless war’’ was not wise or politically sustainable.... Donilon had similarly testy relations with Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.... Inside the White House, Donilon has spoken often of the need to conduct a “rebalancing’’ of US foreign policy, devoting renewed attention to great power relationships and America’s long-term position in Asia."
And AWAY from ISRAEL!!
The one outlier is Crocker, who is being brought back into government after a hiatus of more than two years.
He served as ambassador to Pakistan, Syria, and elsewhere in the region in addition to Iraq, and brings a wealth of experience on the world’s most volatile region.
Crocker, who has resisted previous administration attempts to lure him back to government, was persuaded to take the job during a private meeting with Obama three weeks ago.
Petraeus and Crocker were hailed as a “dream team’’ that turned around the Iraq war....
If you believe the agenda-pushing AmeriKan media account.
So AmeriKa called of the "Al-CIA-Duh" dogs until they need them (usually as we are talking about hitting the door, ever notice that? Must be the most stoo-pid terrorists alive -- if they even exist at all), so what?
The widely anticipated choice of Panetta also brings a budget expert to the Pentagon as the domestic debate over the country’s fiscal health increases in volume and political importance.
But no thought of ending the occupations, military machine, or empire.
A former chairman of the House Budget Committee, Panetta served as director of the Office of Management and Budget during the first Clinton administration and played a major role in the successful 1993 budget negotiations with recalcitrant lawmakers.
Oooh, recalcitrant lawmakers.
Better do what the Fuhrer, 'er, Party, 'er....
Panetta is said to share Gates’s desire to reform the Pentagon’s procurement system and pare back its mushrooming budget. Gates, a holdover from the George W. Bush administration, has said he wants to return to private life this year.
Related:
Globe Editorial Solid resumes for tough times
If they get the Globe's seal of approval they must be horrible moves.
Update: Afghan pilot kills 9 Americans at NATO base
But we are winning.
And it is amazing how fast things change on deck:
"Crocker is reportedly Obama’s pick as next envoy to Afghanistan" April 27, 2011|By Anne Gearan and Bradley Klapper, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Obama is likely to name seasoned diplomat Ryan Crocker as the next US ambassador to Afghanistan, several people said yesterday, part of a far-reaching turnover of the nation’s top leadership of the Afghan war as Obama prepares to begin bringing forces home this summer.
The move would reunite Crocker with General David Petraeus in a rerun of the diplomatic and military “dream team’’ credited with rescuing the flagging American mission in Iraq.
Except Petraeus will be working out of Langley.
In the coming months, Obama will have to name successors to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mike Mullen, other senior military leaders, and probably Petraeus himself.
Let's face it, readers. the move had already been talked about and the paper here acts like it didn't know a thing.
Crocker emerged this month as the leading candidate to replace Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, a former Army general whose two-year tenure was marred by cool relationships with major players in the Afghan war, including the White House, US military leaders, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Related: AmeriKa's Family Feud in Afghanistan
All happy again.
People in the administration and others said Crocker’s is the only name currently under consideration, but the White House has not made a final decision.
Obviously coming because the agenda-pushing paper is preparing you for it.
All of the people spoke on condition of anonymity because the nomination is not final and Eikenberry is still in his job. His departure has not been announced, and he may remain in Kabul for months while Crocker or another successor gets the necessary Senate confirmation, they said.
Officials said the White House is weighing several factors, including Crocker’s role in the larger cast change in Afghanistan policy this summer and fall. Those personnel changes are unrelated to the progress of the war, now in its 10th year, but come just as Obama needs to demonstrate enough success to follow through with his pledge to begin withdrawing US forces in July.
What progress, and why lie about the unrelated aspect?
The administration has yet to inform legislators of its choice, a sign that the nomination might not be imminent, according to a congressional aide.
Yeah, pass me that grain of salt with my newspaper.
The Pentagon calls 2011 the make-or-break year for turning around the war and laying the path for a gradual US exit by 2015.
This is like the tenth make-or-break year since the occupation began.
Obstacles include uncertain leadership and weak government of Karzai, the question of whether the Taliban can be integrated into Afghan political life, and the continued safe harbor Pakistan provides for militants attacking US and NATO forces over the border in Afghanistan....
Translation: We are NOT LEAVING -- EVER!!!!!
And integrating the Taliban should not be a question.
After all, THEY are the ones that LIVE THERE!!!!!
--more--"
Not the first shuffle, either:
"Pentagon investigation clears McChrystal, aides; Rolling Stone article disputed" April 19, 2011|By Thom Shanker, New York Times
WASHINGTON — An inquiry by the Defense Department inspector general into a magazine profile that resulted in the abrupt, forced retirement of General Stanley A. McChrystal has cleared the general, his military aides, and civilian advisers of all wrongdoing.
Pentagon investigators said they were unable to confirm the events as reported in the June 2010 article in Rolling Stone, and the inquiry’s final review challenged the accuracy of the profile of McChrystal, who was the top commander in Afghanistan.
I would believe the Rolling Stone before the Pentagon or Amerikan press.
Related: Afghanistan: Change of Command
Also see:
McChrystal was Cheney's Chief Assassin
What Works for AmeriKa in Afghanistan
Not really much of a change in policy despite the shuffling.
The article, headlined “The Runaway General,’’ quoted people identified as senior aides to the general making disparaging statements about members of President Obama’s national security team....
The writer, Michael Hastings, and his editors have repeatedly defended the article’s accuracy. Eric Bates, the executive editor of Rolling Stone, said yesterday that he had not seen the Pentagon’s final inquiry but that the magazine stood by the article as factually correct....
Seeing correct facts is so rare in the newspaper.
There are significant gaps between what was reported by Rolling Stone and what was found by the inspector general, but for the military, the inspector general’s findings close the case on an episode that ended McChrystal’s career and threatened to rupture relations between the nation’s civilian leadership and the general officer corps....
That's what I'm going to do with this piece, and what I often do after opening the Globe and glancing at it these days.
McChrystal is now teaching at Yale and giving lectures....
Related: Saluting Stanley McChrystal
--more--"
Also see:
Globe Editorial Other people’s gossip
Maybe that's why I'm not reading much of the Boston Globe anymore.
"Obama shuffles top national security positions; Panetta to head defense; CIA to get Petraeus" by Karen DeYoung, Washington Post / April 28, 2011
WASHINGTON — President Obama will nominate CIA Director Leon Panetta as secretary of defense this week, replacing Robert M. Gates as part of a series of national security shifts that will also place Afghanistan war commander General David Petraeus in the top CIA job, US officials said.
Related: Out of the Mouth of Gates
Panetta the Prick
Article says Panetta was Gates' suggested pick for the job, and you can see why.
Also see: Petraeus' Private Eyes
Obama's Airstrike Scalpel
Looks like MORE MISSILE STRIKES in the offing, world.
In an announcement planned for today, Obama will also name Ryan Crocker, a five-time ambassador who retired in 2009 after wartime service in Iraq, to head the US diplomatic mission in Kabul....
He BRINGS BACK a BUSH MAN?
The changes, which will not take effect until this summer, essentially preserve the status quo on the national security team as the administration heads into a crucial period of turmoil in the Middle East and South Asia, US military withdrawal from Iraq, and a make-or-break year in Afghanistan....
Related: AmeriKa Has Lost Afghanistan
Already broken, and all the king's horses and all the king's men....
Completing the changes, Marine Lieutenant General John Allen, currently deputy commander of the US Central Command, will take Petraeus’s job in Afghanistan, according to knowledgeable officials not authorized to speak on the record....
Officials said that Allen, who worked closely with White House national security adviser Thomas E. Donilon when Donilon headed the powerful NSC deputies committee, was the unanimous choice of the Pentagon’s senior civilian and military leadership.
Now that is a bit interesting:
"Donilon.... repeatedly challenged the military to justify the need for large numbers of troops over a period of a decade or more, finally cautioning the president that a policy of what he termed “endless war’’ was not wise or politically sustainable.... Donilon had similarly testy relations with Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.... Inside the White House, Donilon has spoken often of the need to conduct a “rebalancing’’ of US foreign policy, devoting renewed attention to great power relationships and America’s long-term position in Asia."
And AWAY from ISRAEL!!
The one outlier is Crocker, who is being brought back into government after a hiatus of more than two years.
He served as ambassador to Pakistan, Syria, and elsewhere in the region in addition to Iraq, and brings a wealth of experience on the world’s most volatile region.
Crocker, who has resisted previous administration attempts to lure him back to government, was persuaded to take the job during a private meeting with Obama three weeks ago.
Petraeus and Crocker were hailed as a “dream team’’ that turned around the Iraq war....
If you believe the agenda-pushing AmeriKan media account.
So AmeriKa called of the "Al-CIA-Duh" dogs until they need them (usually as we are talking about hitting the door, ever notice that? Must be the most stoo-pid terrorists alive -- if they even exist at all), so what?
The widely anticipated choice of Panetta also brings a budget expert to the Pentagon as the domestic debate over the country’s fiscal health increases in volume and political importance.
But no thought of ending the occupations, military machine, or empire.
A former chairman of the House Budget Committee, Panetta served as director of the Office of Management and Budget during the first Clinton administration and played a major role in the successful 1993 budget negotiations with recalcitrant lawmakers.
Oooh, recalcitrant lawmakers.
Better do what the Fuhrer, 'er, Party, 'er....
Panetta is said to share Gates’s desire to reform the Pentagon’s procurement system and pare back its mushrooming budget. Gates, a holdover from the George W. Bush administration, has said he wants to return to private life this year.
Related:
Globe Editorial Solid resumes for tough times
If they get the Globe's seal of approval they must be horrible moves.
Update: Afghan pilot kills 9 Americans at NATO base
But we are winning.
And it is amazing how fast things change on deck:
"Crocker is reportedly Obama’s pick as next envoy to Afghanistan" April 27, 2011|By Anne Gearan and Bradley Klapper, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Obama is likely to name seasoned diplomat Ryan Crocker as the next US ambassador to Afghanistan, several people said yesterday, part of a far-reaching turnover of the nation’s top leadership of the Afghan war as Obama prepares to begin bringing forces home this summer.
The move would reunite Crocker with General David Petraeus in a rerun of the diplomatic and military “dream team’’ credited with rescuing the flagging American mission in Iraq.
Except Petraeus will be working out of Langley.
In the coming months, Obama will have to name successors to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mike Mullen, other senior military leaders, and probably Petraeus himself.
Let's face it, readers. the move had already been talked about and the paper here acts like it didn't know a thing.
Crocker emerged this month as the leading candidate to replace Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, a former Army general whose two-year tenure was marred by cool relationships with major players in the Afghan war, including the White House, US military leaders, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Related: AmeriKa's Family Feud in Afghanistan
All happy again.
People in the administration and others said Crocker’s is the only name currently under consideration, but the White House has not made a final decision.
Obviously coming because the agenda-pushing paper is preparing you for it.
All of the people spoke on condition of anonymity because the nomination is not final and Eikenberry is still in his job. His departure has not been announced, and he may remain in Kabul for months while Crocker or another successor gets the necessary Senate confirmation, they said.
Officials said the White House is weighing several factors, including Crocker’s role in the larger cast change in Afghanistan policy this summer and fall. Those personnel changes are unrelated to the progress of the war, now in its 10th year, but come just as Obama needs to demonstrate enough success to follow through with his pledge to begin withdrawing US forces in July.
What progress, and why lie about the unrelated aspect?
The administration has yet to inform legislators of its choice, a sign that the nomination might not be imminent, according to a congressional aide.
Yeah, pass me that grain of salt with my newspaper.
The Pentagon calls 2011 the make-or-break year for turning around the war and laying the path for a gradual US exit by 2015.
This is like the tenth make-or-break year since the occupation began.
Obstacles include uncertain leadership and weak government of Karzai, the question of whether the Taliban can be integrated into Afghan political life, and the continued safe harbor Pakistan provides for militants attacking US and NATO forces over the border in Afghanistan....
Translation: We are NOT LEAVING -- EVER!!!!!
And integrating the Taliban should not be a question.
After all, THEY are the ones that LIVE THERE!!!!!
--more--"
Not the first shuffle, either:
"Pentagon investigation clears McChrystal, aides; Rolling Stone article disputed" April 19, 2011|By Thom Shanker, New York Times
WASHINGTON — An inquiry by the Defense Department inspector general into a magazine profile that resulted in the abrupt, forced retirement of General Stanley A. McChrystal has cleared the general, his military aides, and civilian advisers of all wrongdoing.
Pentagon investigators said they were unable to confirm the events as reported in the June 2010 article in Rolling Stone, and the inquiry’s final review challenged the accuracy of the profile of McChrystal, who was the top commander in Afghanistan.
I would believe the Rolling Stone before the Pentagon or Amerikan press.
Related: Afghanistan: Change of Command
Also see:
McChrystal was Cheney's Chief Assassin
What Works for AmeriKa in Afghanistan
Not really much of a change in policy despite the shuffling.
The article, headlined “The Runaway General,’’ quoted people identified as senior aides to the general making disparaging statements about members of President Obama’s national security team....
The writer, Michael Hastings, and his editors have repeatedly defended the article’s accuracy. Eric Bates, the executive editor of Rolling Stone, said yesterday that he had not seen the Pentagon’s final inquiry but that the magazine stood by the article as factually correct....
Seeing correct facts is so rare in the newspaper.
There are significant gaps between what was reported by Rolling Stone and what was found by the inspector general, but for the military, the inspector general’s findings close the case on an episode that ended McChrystal’s career and threatened to rupture relations between the nation’s civilian leadership and the general officer corps....
That's what I'm going to do with this piece, and what I often do after opening the Globe and glancing at it these days.
McChrystal is now teaching at Yale and giving lectures....
Related: Saluting Stanley McChrystal
--more--"
Also see:
Globe Editorial Other people’s gossip
Maybe that's why I'm not reading much of the Boston Globe anymore.
Republican Reversal
We elect Democrats to end wars and they won't; we elect Republicans to fix the economy and they don't.
"GOP uses majorities for social legislation; Abortion, union laws flood states" April 24, 2011|By Lois Romano, Washington Post
WASHINGTON — As state legislatures adjourn over the coming weeks, new Republican majorities backed by GOP governors are leaving their mark in a wave of legislation that reaches far beyond the economic issues that dominated the midterm elections last fall.
South Dakota passed the most restrictive abortion bill in the country, Wisconsin and Ohio moved to limit collective bargaining rights of public workers, and Kansas, Texas, South Carolina, and Montana are close to passing measures imposing strict photo ID requirements at the polls.
Also see: Mass. House Worse Than Wisconsin
Patrick Punches Unions Below Belt
Yeah, turns out it is not just Republicans picking on public workers.
The measures are among the thousands of bills proposed as newly empowered GOP state ouses take advantage of their first opportunity in decades to have such a broad impact on policy. Twenty legislative bodies across the country flipped from Democratic to Republican control, and the party picked up governorships in 10 states.
It was a throw-the-bums-out election.
“There’s been a real seismic change in the states, and the effect will be felt for many years,’’ said state Representative Bob Mecklenborg, a key player in Ohio’s voter ID measure. “However, we must be very smart in our approach on many measures and not overplay our hand.’’
You guys already have. This is not why the American people elected you.
*************
Liberals have criticized the focus on conservative social plans.
“Most Republicans campaigned on the economy — promising more jobs,’’ said Marge Baker, executive vice president for policy and programs at People for the American Way. “But what we are seeing is that, instead of creating jobs, they are racing to push through a comprehensive social agenda.’’
It's because they can't do anything about the economy; both parties are servants of corporations.
An overriding goal for both parties in the elections was to gain control of the executive and legislative branches to guarantee control over the once-a-decade congressional redistricting process this year. But state Republicans have quickly put down markers on other fronts....
Which means WINNING ELECTIONS is ALL ABOUT THEM and NOT YOU, dear voters.
And you wonder why I call it AmeriKa?
--more--"
"GOP uses majorities for social legislation; Abortion, union laws flood states" April 24, 2011|By Lois Romano, Washington Post
WASHINGTON — As state legislatures adjourn over the coming weeks, new Republican majorities backed by GOP governors are leaving their mark in a wave of legislation that reaches far beyond the economic issues that dominated the midterm elections last fall.
South Dakota passed the most restrictive abortion bill in the country, Wisconsin and Ohio moved to limit collective bargaining rights of public workers, and Kansas, Texas, South Carolina, and Montana are close to passing measures imposing strict photo ID requirements at the polls.
Also see: Mass. House Worse Than Wisconsin
Patrick Punches Unions Below Belt
Yeah, turns out it is not just Republicans picking on public workers.
The measures are among the thousands of bills proposed as newly empowered GOP state ouses take advantage of their first opportunity in decades to have such a broad impact on policy. Twenty legislative bodies across the country flipped from Democratic to Republican control, and the party picked up governorships in 10 states.
It was a throw-the-bums-out election.
“There’s been a real seismic change in the states, and the effect will be felt for many years,’’ said state Representative Bob Mecklenborg, a key player in Ohio’s voter ID measure. “However, we must be very smart in our approach on many measures and not overplay our hand.’’
You guys already have. This is not why the American people elected you.
*************
Liberals have criticized the focus on conservative social plans.
“Most Republicans campaigned on the economy — promising more jobs,’’ said Marge Baker, executive vice president for policy and programs at People for the American Way. “But what we are seeing is that, instead of creating jobs, they are racing to push through a comprehensive social agenda.’’
It's because they can't do anything about the economy; both parties are servants of corporations.
An overriding goal for both parties in the elections was to gain control of the executive and legislative branches to guarantee control over the once-a-decade congressional redistricting process this year. But state Republicans have quickly put down markers on other fronts....
Which means WINNING ELECTIONS is ALL ABOUT THEM and NOT YOU, dear voters.
And you wonder why I call it AmeriKa?
--more--"
Gagging the Boston Globe
It would probably be a good idea.
"State payouts sealed with a promise of silence; Despite questions about free speech and possible coverups, agencies often build gag orders into settlements, severance deals" April 24, 2011|By Todd Wallack, Globe Staff
A University of Massachusetts Medical School nursing assistant won a $150,000 settlement after she complained she was harassed by a supervisor.
A state highway worker won $170,000 after he was taunted by co-workers and bosses who thought he was gay.
And three MBTA workers received a total of more than $100,000 in “enhanced severance’’ after being let go.
All the deals came with an important catch: The former employees had to keep silent about the payments or face legal action. They signed settlement or severance agreements that required them to keep the terms secret.
Far from unusual, Massachusetts government agencies have sworn scores of workers to secrecy as part of lucrative settlement or severance deals, a Globe review of public records shows. Many pacts also include non-disparagement clauses that prohibit workers from saying anything negative about their former employer.
While confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses are commonly used by private companies, they are much more controversial in the public sector....
Which may very well be true; however, I object to this agenda-pushing, front-page Sunday feature and its implication that these deals are somehow part of the states economic difficulties when they are handing millions of tax dollars to corporations and banks every month.
--more--"
"State payouts sealed with a promise of silence; Despite questions about free speech and possible coverups, agencies often build gag orders into settlements, severance deals" April 24, 2011|By Todd Wallack, Globe Staff
A University of Massachusetts Medical School nursing assistant won a $150,000 settlement after she complained she was harassed by a supervisor.
A state highway worker won $170,000 after he was taunted by co-workers and bosses who thought he was gay.
And three MBTA workers received a total of more than $100,000 in “enhanced severance’’ after being let go.
All the deals came with an important catch: The former employees had to keep silent about the payments or face legal action. They signed settlement or severance agreements that required them to keep the terms secret.
Far from unusual, Massachusetts government agencies have sworn scores of workers to secrecy as part of lucrative settlement or severance deals, a Globe review of public records shows. Many pacts also include non-disparagement clauses that prohibit workers from saying anything negative about their former employer.
While confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses are commonly used by private companies, they are much more controversial in the public sector....
Which may very well be true; however, I object to this agenda-pushing, front-page Sunday feature and its implication that these deals are somehow part of the states economic difficulties when they are handing millions of tax dollars to corporations and banks every month.
--more--"
Patrick Punches Unions Below Belt
You will have to pay more the the hospital visit, union member.
"Patrick defends House health bill; Says proposal unlike Wis. law" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff / April 28, 2011
Governor Deval Patrick chided labor leaders yesterday for comparing the House plan to curb collective bargaining rights to a tougher law passed recently in Wisconsin.
He's a Democrat, although he has never really been a friend.
I'll bet if there were a Republican governor the bill would never have cleared the House.
“It’s very important that we dial down the rhetoric,’’ he said. “This is not Wisconsin. That’s not what the House did. I’m not going to sign a Wisconsin-type bill in the end.’’
Oh, he is REALLY a PIECE of WORK! Dial down the rhetoric as he chides labor!
And no, it is WORSE than Wisconsin because Wisconsin carved out exceptions for cops and firefighters in an effort to further divide the working and middle class.
Sounds like he's ready to sign it, doesn't it?
The governor was speaking hours after House lawmakers approved a bill that would limit the ability of municipal employees to bargain over their health care plans, in an effort to save cities and towns $100 million.
Related:
"Legislators also agreed last week to change legal language in the recently passed sales tax hike to assure credit agencies that $100 million earmarked for the Turnpike Authority would go toward paying off Big Dig debt"
Maybe the state could STOP PAYMENT on the DEBT SERVICE CHECK to BANKS instead, huh?
Also see: Mass. House Worse Than Wisconsin
They passed it late at night to avoid the unions and ruin their rally?
What cowards!!
The bill has touched off a fierce debate between labor leaders, who call it an assault on workers, and local officials who say it will help prevent layoffs and cuts in services.
That's how they sold you that sales tax hike, remember -- and we still got the layoffs and cuts!
The battle has driven a wedge between unions and their traditional allies in the Democrat-controlled Legislature.
Translation: Corporate ca$h is now king even in Ma$$achusett$.
Patrick, who has sought to find a middle ground on the issue....
Chiding labor is the middle ground?
The legislation resembles a plan that Patrick introduced in January....
But those Democrats are on your side! Way better than those icky Repuglicans (personally, I think they both stink of rancid, rotten feces).
Patrick’s plan would be mandatory for cities and towns, whereas the House bill would allow communities to cut their costs only if local officials vote to do so.
Oh, so Patrick's plan was more dictatorial, 'eh?
Yesterday, Patrick said he prefers a mandatory version, to ensure that cities and towns impose health insurance changes.
Somehow, those terms are just not ringing right with me in FREE America!
They sound much more like AmeriKa to me!
Business groups and local officials hope that the Senate follows the House’s lead....
I would consider it done despite what Murray seemed to indicate.
We KNOW WHO CALL$ the $HOT$ here in Ma$$achusett$.
Labor leaders, meanwhile, continued to denounce the bill. Several hundred police officers and firefighters packed the hall outside the House chamber yesterday, applauding lawmakers who voted against the bill and complaining to those who voted for it.
As a TAXPAYING CITIZEN I would rather have my money keeping cops and firefighters well-taken care of rather than going to banks, well-connected corporations, and lavish political lifestyles. No one wants an angry cop on patrol.
Related: Uniting With Hollywood
Oh, the state had $82 million to hand profitable Hollywood last year but they can't pick up the tab for your health care in the Massachusetts model?
“If you destroy that middle-class fabric, you’re going to destroy the economy, and destroy the country,’’ said Robert Costa, a 53-year-old police officer from Plympton. “It’s because of the unions that everybody makes a decent wage nowadays.’’
I think that IS the AGENDA and OBJECTIVE, yeah.
--more--"
How come I can not find how my representative voted here in Massachusetts, nor the number of the bill? Why doesn't the Globe give me these things? What kind of transparent and open democracy keeps voting records and bill numbers secret?
"Patrick defends House health bill; Says proposal unlike Wis. law" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff / April 28, 2011
Governor Deval Patrick chided labor leaders yesterday for comparing the House plan to curb collective bargaining rights to a tougher law passed recently in Wisconsin.
He's a Democrat, although he has never really been a friend.
I'll bet if there were a Republican governor the bill would never have cleared the House.
“It’s very important that we dial down the rhetoric,’’ he said. “This is not Wisconsin. That’s not what the House did. I’m not going to sign a Wisconsin-type bill in the end.’’
Oh, he is REALLY a PIECE of WORK! Dial down the rhetoric as he chides labor!
And no, it is WORSE than Wisconsin because Wisconsin carved out exceptions for cops and firefighters in an effort to further divide the working and middle class.
Sounds like he's ready to sign it, doesn't it?
The governor was speaking hours after House lawmakers approved a bill that would limit the ability of municipal employees to bargain over their health care plans, in an effort to save cities and towns $100 million.
Related:
"Legislators also agreed last week to change legal language in the recently passed sales tax hike to assure credit agencies that $100 million earmarked for the Turnpike Authority would go toward paying off Big Dig debt"
Maybe the state could STOP PAYMENT on the DEBT SERVICE CHECK to BANKS instead, huh?
Also see: Mass. House Worse Than Wisconsin
They passed it late at night to avoid the unions and ruin their rally?
What cowards!!
The bill has touched off a fierce debate between labor leaders, who call it an assault on workers, and local officials who say it will help prevent layoffs and cuts in services.
That's how they sold you that sales tax hike, remember -- and we still got the layoffs and cuts!
The battle has driven a wedge between unions and their traditional allies in the Democrat-controlled Legislature.
Translation: Corporate ca$h is now king even in Ma$$achusett$.
Patrick, who has sought to find a middle ground on the issue....
Chiding labor is the middle ground?
The legislation resembles a plan that Patrick introduced in January....
But those Democrats are on your side! Way better than those icky Repuglicans (personally, I think they both stink of rancid, rotten feces).
Patrick’s plan would be mandatory for cities and towns, whereas the House bill would allow communities to cut their costs only if local officials vote to do so.
Oh, so Patrick's plan was more dictatorial, 'eh?
Yesterday, Patrick said he prefers a mandatory version, to ensure that cities and towns impose health insurance changes.
Somehow, those terms are just not ringing right with me in FREE America!
They sound much more like AmeriKa to me!
Business groups and local officials hope that the Senate follows the House’s lead....
I would consider it done despite what Murray seemed to indicate.
We KNOW WHO CALL$ the $HOT$ here in Ma$$achusett$.
Labor leaders, meanwhile, continued to denounce the bill. Several hundred police officers and firefighters packed the hall outside the House chamber yesterday, applauding lawmakers who voted against the bill and complaining to those who voted for it.
As a TAXPAYING CITIZEN I would rather have my money keeping cops and firefighters well-taken care of rather than going to banks, well-connected corporations, and lavish political lifestyles. No one wants an angry cop on patrol.
Related: Uniting With Hollywood
Oh, the state had $82 million to hand profitable Hollywood last year but they can't pick up the tab for your health care in the Massachusetts model?
“If you destroy that middle-class fabric, you’re going to destroy the economy, and destroy the country,’’ said Robert Costa, a 53-year-old police officer from Plympton. “It’s because of the unions that everybody makes a decent wage nowadays.’’
I think that IS the AGENDA and OBJECTIVE, yeah.
--more--"
How come I can not find how my representative voted here in Massachusetts, nor the number of the bill? Why doesn't the Globe give me these things? What kind of transparent and open democracy keeps voting records and bill numbers secret?
Boston Globe Hits Waikiki Beach
I wouldn't go for swim, what with all the radiation in the water:
Twist of fate brings half brothers together in Hawaii
Page one, Metro section, sigh.
And nothing about Japan today, sob.
Twist of fate brings half brothers together in Hawaii
Page one, Metro section, sigh.
And nothing about Japan today, sob.
Trumped by the Boston Globe
Yeah, Ron Paul gets a brief inside while this gets the front page:
Trump gets N.H. buzzing with visit
He stepped off a Trump helicopter, proclaimed he had caused President Obama to release his full birth certificate, and showed off all the bombast and bravado that within weeks have catapulted him into the conversation about who will be the next president of the United States.
Look at the Globe bring up the birther issue that you never find discussed here.
I don't give a crap where he was born, he's still a war criminal president just like so many of his predecessors.
Related: Is Birther Circus A White House Political Ploy?
With the AmeriKan media chiming in like this it sure makes for ONE HELL of a DIVERSION from the SERIOUS ISSUES like WAR and the ECONOMY!
Trump gets N.H. buzzing with visit
He stepped off a Trump helicopter, proclaimed he had caused President Obama to release his full birth certificate, and showed off all the bombast and bravado that within weeks have catapulted him into the conversation about who will be the next president of the United States.
Look at the Globe bring up the birther issue that you never find discussed here.
I don't give a crap where he was born, he's still a war criminal president just like so many of his predecessors.
Related: Is Birther Circus A White House Political Ploy?
With the AmeriKan media chiming in like this it sure makes for ONE HELL of a DIVERSION from the SERIOUS ISSUES like WAR and the ECONOMY!
Boston Globe Works Overtime
To give me this on the front page?
Game 7 joy for Bruins
For one night, the Bruins made all the pain go away. No more agita on ice. Nathan Horton’s booming slap shot in the sixth minute of overtime beat the Canadiens in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series last night at TD Garden.
I never read the sports anymore. Getting through the first section seems like plenty these days.
Game 7 joy for Bruins
For one night, the Bruins made all the pain go away. No more agita on ice. Nathan Horton’s booming slap shot in the sixth minute of overtime beat the Canadiens in Game 7 of their first-round playoff series last night at TD Garden.
I never read the sports anymore. Getting through the first section seems like plenty these days.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Banks Reserve Profits For Themselves
Guess where the money came from, taxpayers of America.
"Lenders less likely to count funds from reserves in earnings" April 13, 2011|By Pallavi Gogoi, Associated Press
NEW YORK — A lot of big banks had a free ride to higher earnings the last few quarters. That could be ending soon.
As the economy gets better, investors want to see if banks can improve their core businesses of writing loans, issuing credit cards, and advising on corporate deals.
Several major banks including Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Citigroup Inc. recorded substantial gains in income in recent quarters from accounting adjustments in their loan loss reserves.
Those adjustments, which are legal, reflected a decline in the likelihood that their borrowers would default on loans. That allowed banks to release cash from reserves that had been set aside to cover future losses, which increased their income.
Of course it’s a good thing in the long run for banks and the overall economy that borrowers are less likely to default. Now analysts are saying the benefits from these kinds of reserve adjustments may be winding down as the economy continues to improve.
And that is REALLY what is MOST IMPORTANT, isn't it?
Jason Goldberg at Barclays Capital suspects that some banks may have overdone it with the adjustments. “We wonder if some companies stretched to put up better results” in the fourth quarter, Goldberg wrote in a recent report.
Income at banks with investment banking operations will probably get a boost from a pickup in corporate deals in the first quarter. Consumers are also spending more, which means banks are probably earning more from charging interest and fees on credit cards. Increased demand from consumers also tends to lead to more borrowing from businesses.
But trouble in the housing market is sure to weigh on bank earnings. A sharp increase in mortgage rates over the past six months could hold back income from issuing new mortgages and refinancing existing ones. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 4.87 percent last week from 4.32 percent at the end of September, according to Freddie Mac. JPMorgan’s banking analyst Vivek Juneja said he expects the largest drop in income at banks to come from lower fees tied to new mortgages and a drop in the number of refinances.
Meanwhile, all 50 state attorneys general are continuing their investigation into allegations that banks bungled foreclosure proceedings. Analysts expect banks to pay fines, but it’s unclear how big they will be.
Higher investment banking revenue should boost earnings at some banks. Global investment banking revenue reached $19 billion in the first quarter, up 19 percent from the first quarter of 2010, according to the research firm Dealogic. Global mergers and acquisitions volume totaled $809 billion in the first quarter, up 28 percent from the same period last year....
Wow, there sure is a lot of money floating around out there.
--more--"
And where it is flowing into:
"Bank of America Corp. earned $1.7 billion in the first quarter"
If you can call usury and theft earnings.
Also see: BoA Backstabbings
"Citi’s earnings drop less than forecast" April 19, 2011|Bloomberg News
NEW YORK — Citigroup's first-quarter earnings net income was $3 billion....
Chief executive Vikram Pandit relied on $3.3 billion taken from reserves for future losses to generate Citigroup’s fifth straight profitable quarter....
Citigroup, the biggest recipient of taxpayer bailouts....
Bank of America, the largest US lender, last week reported a $2.05 billion profit for the first quarter, while JPMorgan Chase, the second-largest, made $5.56 billion.
BoA must have revised it up, huh?
Related: JPMorgan Chase posts record profit
JPMorgan gives boss $17m stock bonus
Wells Fargo, the fourth-biggest lender, may report a $3.66 billion profit on April 20, according to analysts....
--more--"
"Goldman Sachs’ first-quarter income fell to $908 million.... In the first quarter, Goldman set aside $5.23 billion for compensation."
Aww, poor Goldmans didn't clear a billion for the quarter -- but you did see how much they put aside for compensation (is that what they are calling theft these days?).
Also see:
Stocks rally to nearly a 3-year high on earnings
Weak revenues, loan growth keeping investors away from big banks
I don't what sort of sophistry they are selling there.
"Lenders less likely to count funds from reserves in earnings" April 13, 2011|By Pallavi Gogoi, Associated Press
NEW YORK — A lot of big banks had a free ride to higher earnings the last few quarters. That could be ending soon.
As the economy gets better, investors want to see if banks can improve their core businesses of writing loans, issuing credit cards, and advising on corporate deals.
Several major banks including Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Citigroup Inc. recorded substantial gains in income in recent quarters from accounting adjustments in their loan loss reserves.
Those adjustments, which are legal, reflected a decline in the likelihood that their borrowers would default on loans. That allowed banks to release cash from reserves that had been set aside to cover future losses, which increased their income.
Of course it’s a good thing in the long run for banks and the overall economy that borrowers are less likely to default. Now analysts are saying the benefits from these kinds of reserve adjustments may be winding down as the economy continues to improve.
And that is REALLY what is MOST IMPORTANT, isn't it?
Jason Goldberg at Barclays Capital suspects that some banks may have overdone it with the adjustments. “We wonder if some companies stretched to put up better results” in the fourth quarter, Goldberg wrote in a recent report.
Income at banks with investment banking operations will probably get a boost from a pickup in corporate deals in the first quarter. Consumers are also spending more, which means banks are probably earning more from charging interest and fees on credit cards. Increased demand from consumers also tends to lead to more borrowing from businesses.
But trouble in the housing market is sure to weigh on bank earnings. A sharp increase in mortgage rates over the past six months could hold back income from issuing new mortgages and refinancing existing ones. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 4.87 percent last week from 4.32 percent at the end of September, according to Freddie Mac. JPMorgan’s banking analyst Vivek Juneja said he expects the largest drop in income at banks to come from lower fees tied to new mortgages and a drop in the number of refinances.
Meanwhile, all 50 state attorneys general are continuing their investigation into allegations that banks bungled foreclosure proceedings. Analysts expect banks to pay fines, but it’s unclear how big they will be.
Higher investment banking revenue should boost earnings at some banks. Global investment banking revenue reached $19 billion in the first quarter, up 19 percent from the first quarter of 2010, according to the research firm Dealogic. Global mergers and acquisitions volume totaled $809 billion in the first quarter, up 28 percent from the same period last year....
Wow, there sure is a lot of money floating around out there.
--more--"
And where it is flowing into:
"Bank of America Corp. earned $1.7 billion in the first quarter"
If you can call usury and theft earnings.
Also see: BoA Backstabbings
"Citi’s earnings drop less than forecast" April 19, 2011|Bloomberg News
NEW YORK — Citigroup's first-quarter earnings net income was $3 billion....
Chief executive Vikram Pandit relied on $3.3 billion taken from reserves for future losses to generate Citigroup’s fifth straight profitable quarter....
Citigroup, the biggest recipient of taxpayer bailouts....
Bank of America, the largest US lender, last week reported a $2.05 billion profit for the first quarter, while JPMorgan Chase, the second-largest, made $5.56 billion.
BoA must have revised it up, huh?
Related: JPMorgan Chase posts record profit
JPMorgan gives boss $17m stock bonus
Wells Fargo, the fourth-biggest lender, may report a $3.66 billion profit on April 20, according to analysts....
--more--"
"Goldman Sachs’ first-quarter income fell to $908 million.... In the first quarter, Goldman set aside $5.23 billion for compensation."
Aww, poor Goldmans didn't clear a billion for the quarter -- but you did see how much they put aside for compensation (is that what they are calling theft these days?).
Also see:
Stocks rally to nearly a 3-year high on earnings
Weak revenues, loan growth keeping investors away from big banks
I don't what sort of sophistry they are selling there.
New York Times Says Economy Not Fed's Fault
It's asinine, apologetic articles like this that have completed soured me on the banking mouthpieces of the corporate media -- and judging by newspaper circulation figures I am far from alone.
"Economists say Fed’s stimulus plan has had mixed results; Despite market uptick, many not feeling a recovery" April 24, 2011|By Binyamin Appelbaum, New York Times
How poetically ironic.
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s experimental effort to spur a recovery by purchasing vast quantities of federal debt has pumped up the stock market, reduced the cost of American exports, and allowed companies to borrow money at lower interest rates.
And destroyed the purchasing power of your dollar, Americans. That's why prices are flying through the roof.
But most Americans are not feeling the difference, in part because those benefits have been surprisingly small.
Yes, the small sector of wealthy elite have really made out during this Grand Depression of which we are in the middle.
The latest estimates from economists, in fact, suggest that the pace of recovery from the global financial crisis has flagged since November, when the Fed started buying $600 billion in Treasury securities to push private dollars into investments that create jobs.
Where did those jobs go because all that money went into the pockets of bankers for bonuses and buybacks of their mortgage security s***.
The Fed’s policy-making board will meet Tuesday and Wednesday, after which the Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, will hold a news conference for the first time to explain its decisions to the public.
As if were interested in lies being reported by liars.
But a broad range of economists say the disappointing economic results show the limits of the central bank’s ability to lift the nation from its malaise....
This is such insulting crap when we have been told for two years the economy is growing, and every day brings good news headlines in the Boston Globe business section.
And HOW could the FED lift the nation from its malaise when ITS POLICIES PUT US THERE?
Btw, if they CAN'T DO the JOB maybe it is time to GET RID of THEM, 'eh?
Bernanke and his supporters say the purchases have improved economic conditions, all but erasing fears of deflation, a pattern of falling prices that can delay purchases and stall growth. Inflation, which is beneficial in moderation, has returned to healthy levels since the Fed started buying bonds.
Is the man insane, or is it just the driver that fills up the gas tank?
Butlers and maids buying the food, right?
“These actions had the expected effects on markets and are thereby providing significant support to job creation and the economy,’’ Bernanke said in a February speech, an argument he has repeated frequently.
But growth remains slow, jobs remain scarce, and, with the debt purchases scheduled to end in June, the Fed must now decide what comes next....
Translation: The bankers are out of bullets and all they can do is PRINT MORE MONEY!
What comes next is RUNAWAY INFLATION and a COLLAPSE of the DOLLAR and AmeriKan Empire!!
And not one "terrorist" had to lift a finger.
Related: If I Were A Terrorist
Also see:
BANKERS GONE WILD
WALL STREET'S MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITY FRAUD DESTROYED BOTH THE US AND EU ECONOMIES!
The true terrorists!
A growing body of research suggests that the Fed could have a larger impact by spending more money on a broader range of debt, like mortgage bonds.
In other words, keep buying back the crap no one wants and sticking the taxpayers with the bill.
The Fed limited the program to $600 billion under considerable political pressure. While that sounds like a lot of money, the purchases have not even kept pace with the government’s issuance of new debt, so that in key respects the effort has amounted to treading water....
How long can you tread water, American taxpayer?
Related: In boon for taxpayers, Fed has $82b profit
This is really getting to be sickening, dear reader.
The Fed’s decision to buy bonds, known as quantitative easing, emulated Japan’s central bank, which started buying bonds in 2001 to break a deflationary cycle.
And the Japanese had a 200% deficit to GDP ratio that has destroyed their economy -- and this before Fukushima.
The American version worked well at first. Between November 2008 and March 2010, the Fed bought more than $1.7 trillion in mortgage and Treasury bonds, holding down mortgage rates and reducing borrowing costs for well-regarded companies by about half a percentage point, according to several studies. That is an annual savings of $5 million on every $1 billion borrowed.
Yeah, bailing out Wall Street worked real well.
As the economy sputtered last summer, Bernanke indicated in an August speech at a Wyoming resort that the Fed would start a second round of quantitative easing, soon nicknamed QE 2.
Meaning the first one did not work.
The initial response was the same: Asset prices rose, interest rates fell, and the dollar declined in value.
But in addition to being smaller, and solely focused on Treasury bonds, there also was a problem of diminishing returns. The first round of purchases reduced the cost of borrowing by persuading skittish investors to accept lower risk premiums.
With markets closer to normalcy, Bernanke warned in his August speech that it was not clear that the Fed would have comparable success in persuading investors to accept even lower rates of return.
“Such purchases seem likely to have their largest effects during periods of economic and financial stress,’’ he said.
--more--"
"Economists say Fed’s stimulus plan has had mixed results; Despite market uptick, many not feeling a recovery" April 24, 2011|By Binyamin Appelbaum, New York Times
How poetically ironic.
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve’s experimental effort to spur a recovery by purchasing vast quantities of federal debt has pumped up the stock market, reduced the cost of American exports, and allowed companies to borrow money at lower interest rates.
And destroyed the purchasing power of your dollar, Americans. That's why prices are flying through the roof.
But most Americans are not feeling the difference, in part because those benefits have been surprisingly small.
Yes, the small sector of wealthy elite have really made out during this Grand Depression of which we are in the middle.
The latest estimates from economists, in fact, suggest that the pace of recovery from the global financial crisis has flagged since November, when the Fed started buying $600 billion in Treasury securities to push private dollars into investments that create jobs.
Where did those jobs go because all that money went into the pockets of bankers for bonuses and buybacks of their mortgage security s***.
The Fed’s policy-making board will meet Tuesday and Wednesday, after which the Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, will hold a news conference for the first time to explain its decisions to the public.
As if were interested in lies being reported by liars.
But a broad range of economists say the disappointing economic results show the limits of the central bank’s ability to lift the nation from its malaise....
This is such insulting crap when we have been told for two years the economy is growing, and every day brings good news headlines in the Boston Globe business section.
And HOW could the FED lift the nation from its malaise when ITS POLICIES PUT US THERE?
Btw, if they CAN'T DO the JOB maybe it is time to GET RID of THEM, 'eh?
Bernanke and his supporters say the purchases have improved economic conditions, all but erasing fears of deflation, a pattern of falling prices that can delay purchases and stall growth. Inflation, which is beneficial in moderation, has returned to healthy levels since the Fed started buying bonds.
Is the man insane, or is it just the driver that fills up the gas tank?
Butlers and maids buying the food, right?
“These actions had the expected effects on markets and are thereby providing significant support to job creation and the economy,’’ Bernanke said in a February speech, an argument he has repeated frequently.
But growth remains slow, jobs remain scarce, and, with the debt purchases scheduled to end in June, the Fed must now decide what comes next....
Translation: The bankers are out of bullets and all they can do is PRINT MORE MONEY!
What comes next is RUNAWAY INFLATION and a COLLAPSE of the DOLLAR and AmeriKan Empire!!
And not one "terrorist" had to lift a finger.
Related: If I Were A Terrorist
Also see:
BANKERS GONE WILD
WALL STREET'S MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITY FRAUD DESTROYED BOTH THE US AND EU ECONOMIES!
The true terrorists!
A growing body of research suggests that the Fed could have a larger impact by spending more money on a broader range of debt, like mortgage bonds.
In other words, keep buying back the crap no one wants and sticking the taxpayers with the bill.
The Fed limited the program to $600 billion under considerable political pressure. While that sounds like a lot of money, the purchases have not even kept pace with the government’s issuance of new debt, so that in key respects the effort has amounted to treading water....
How long can you tread water, American taxpayer?
Related: In boon for taxpayers, Fed has $82b profit
This is really getting to be sickening, dear reader.
The Fed’s decision to buy bonds, known as quantitative easing, emulated Japan’s central bank, which started buying bonds in 2001 to break a deflationary cycle.
And the Japanese had a 200% deficit to GDP ratio that has destroyed their economy -- and this before Fukushima.
The American version worked well at first. Between November 2008 and March 2010, the Fed bought more than $1.7 trillion in mortgage and Treasury bonds, holding down mortgage rates and reducing borrowing costs for well-regarded companies by about half a percentage point, according to several studies. That is an annual savings of $5 million on every $1 billion borrowed.
Yeah, bailing out Wall Street worked real well.
As the economy sputtered last summer, Bernanke indicated in an August speech at a Wyoming resort that the Fed would start a second round of quantitative easing, soon nicknamed QE 2.
Meaning the first one did not work.
The initial response was the same: Asset prices rose, interest rates fell, and the dollar declined in value.
But in addition to being smaller, and solely focused on Treasury bonds, there also was a problem of diminishing returns. The first round of purchases reduced the cost of borrowing by persuading skittish investors to accept lower risk premiums.
With markets closer to normalcy, Bernanke warned in his August speech that it was not clear that the Fed would have comparable success in persuading investors to accept even lower rates of return.
“Such purchases seem likely to have their largest effects during periods of economic and financial stress,’’ he said.
--more--"
Mass. House Worse Than Wisconsin
Because ours is dominated by Democrats and they did this:
"House votes to restrict unions; Measure would curb bargaining on health care" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff / April 27, 2011
House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last night to strip police officers, teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their rights to bargain over health care, saying the change would save millions of dollars for financially strapped cities and towns.
I was wondering WHAT KIND OF TAXPAYER-PAID FOR PLANS those FAT-ASS POLITICIANS have!
And I am REALLY GETTING TIRED of blaming the COP, TEACHER, and FIREFIGHTER for all our problems!
The 111-to-42 vote followed tougher measures to broadly eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states. But unlike those efforts, the push in Massachusetts was led by Democrats who have traditionally stood with labor to oppose any reduction in workers’ rights.
Unions fought hard to stop the bill, launching a radio ad that assailed the plan and warning legislators that if they voted for the measure, they could lose their union backing in the next election. After the vote, labor leaders accused House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and other Democrats of turning their backs on public employees.
Translation: CORPORATE CAMPAIGN CASH is NOW KING even in Massachusetts.
“It’s pretty stunning,’’ said Robert J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “These are the same Democrats that all these labor unions elected. The same Democrats who we contributed to in their campaigns. The same Democrats who tell us over and over again that they’re with us, that they believe in collective bargaining, that they believe in unions. . . . It’s a done deal for our relationship with the people inside that chamber.’’
I can understand his sense of betrayal at the hands of Democrats. Mine began when they escalated the wars.
The battle now turns to the Senate, where President Therese Murray has indicated that she is reluctant to strip workers of their right to bargain over their health care plans....
Union leaders said the bill was an assault on workers’ rights....
Representative Martin J. Walsh, a Dorchester Democrat who is secretary-treasurer of the Boston Building Trades Council, said collective bargaining rights helped build the middle class.
“Municipal workers aren’t the bad guys here,’’ he said. “They’re not the ones who caused the financial crisis. Banks and investment companies got a slap on the wrist for their wrongdoing, but public employees are losing their benefits.’’
He is SO RIGHT about THAT!
Related:
Memory Hole: Massachusetts' State Budget
Mass. State Budget: Screwing Cities and Towns
Massachusetts Sales Tax Swindle
Just wanted you to see where all the money is going, fellow citizens and taxpayers.
Up for ANOTHER INSULT, unions?
The timing of the vote was significant. Union leaders plan today to unleash a major lobbying blitz with police officers, firefighters, and other workers flooding the State House. Taking the vote last night at 11:30 allowed lawmakers to avoid a potentially tense confrontation with those workers, and vote when the marble halls of the House were all but empty.
Yeah, we get that kind of sneaky s*** in Massachusetts all the time.
See: The Perils of One-Party Politics: The Ruling Party
The Perils of One-Party Politics: Massachusetts' Democracy
Now you know where the bills come from.
--more--"
Also see: Mass. House Hates Unions
"House votes to restrict unions; Measure would curb bargaining on health care" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff / April 27, 2011
House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last night to strip police officers, teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their rights to bargain over health care, saying the change would save millions of dollars for financially strapped cities and towns.
I was wondering WHAT KIND OF TAXPAYER-PAID FOR PLANS those FAT-ASS POLITICIANS have!
And I am REALLY GETTING TIRED of blaming the COP, TEACHER, and FIREFIGHTER for all our problems!
The 111-to-42 vote followed tougher measures to broadly eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states. But unlike those efforts, the push in Massachusetts was led by Democrats who have traditionally stood with labor to oppose any reduction in workers’ rights.
Unions fought hard to stop the bill, launching a radio ad that assailed the plan and warning legislators that if they voted for the measure, they could lose their union backing in the next election. After the vote, labor leaders accused House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and other Democrats of turning their backs on public employees.
Translation: CORPORATE CAMPAIGN CASH is NOW KING even in Massachusetts.
“It’s pretty stunning,’’ said Robert J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “These are the same Democrats that all these labor unions elected. The same Democrats who we contributed to in their campaigns. The same Democrats who tell us over and over again that they’re with us, that they believe in collective bargaining, that they believe in unions. . . . It’s a done deal for our relationship with the people inside that chamber.’’
I can understand his sense of betrayal at the hands of Democrats. Mine began when they escalated the wars.
The battle now turns to the Senate, where President Therese Murray has indicated that she is reluctant to strip workers of their right to bargain over their health care plans....
Union leaders said the bill was an assault on workers’ rights....
Representative Martin J. Walsh, a Dorchester Democrat who is secretary-treasurer of the Boston Building Trades Council, said collective bargaining rights helped build the middle class.
“Municipal workers aren’t the bad guys here,’’ he said. “They’re not the ones who caused the financial crisis. Banks and investment companies got a slap on the wrist for their wrongdoing, but public employees are losing their benefits.’’
He is SO RIGHT about THAT!
Related:
Memory Hole: Massachusetts' State Budget
Mass. State Budget: Screwing Cities and Towns
Massachusetts Sales Tax Swindle
Just wanted you to see where all the money is going, fellow citizens and taxpayers.
Up for ANOTHER INSULT, unions?
The timing of the vote was significant. Union leaders plan today to unleash a major lobbying blitz with police officers, firefighters, and other workers flooding the State House. Taking the vote last night at 11:30 allowed lawmakers to avoid a potentially tense confrontation with those workers, and vote when the marble halls of the House were all but empty.
Yeah, we get that kind of sneaky s*** in Massachusetts all the time.
See: The Perils of One-Party Politics: The Ruling Party
The Perils of One-Party Politics: Massachusetts' Democracy
Now you know where the bills come from.
--more--"
Also see: Mass. House Hates Unions
Ron Paul For President
He is why I'm a registered Republican in Democratically-dominated Massachusetts.
Paul takes step toward presidential bid
Yeah, I will be voting for him in the primary; however, I am doubtful of his prospects in this age of rampant vote fraud. He may strike double-digits in the primaries because he's base of support is so vast, but there is no way the string-pullers of power allow this man anywhere near the office of the presidency. In a free and fair election with fair media coverage, I believe the American people would gift this world with a Ron Paul/Jesse Ventura (there has been talk of such) presidency. They are not saints, and certainly will not be supermen. They would face many, many obstacles were they to attain such heights; however, it would sure send a signal to the world that we are good people. It is our lying crap government that does not listen to us in our "democracy" that is the problem (and its mouthpiece media, please don't forget them; I hold them as culpable as the government itself, and maybe more).
Were (or when) the Republican establishment stops Ron Paul, I will either vote or write in Ralph Nader for the fourth time. He got my vote in 1996, 2000, and 2008 (he was the only candidate to call for war crimes trials for the Bush Administration); however, as we have seen with Obama you don't attain the office without signing off on the Wall Street/Israeli plan for U.S. domestic and foreign policy.
Paul takes step toward presidential bid
Yeah, I will be voting for him in the primary; however, I am doubtful of his prospects in this age of rampant vote fraud. He may strike double-digits in the primaries because he's base of support is so vast, but there is no way the string-pullers of power allow this man anywhere near the office of the presidency. In a free and fair election with fair media coverage, I believe the American people would gift this world with a Ron Paul/Jesse Ventura (there has been talk of such) presidency. They are not saints, and certainly will not be supermen. They would face many, many obstacles were they to attain such heights; however, it would sure send a signal to the world that we are good people. It is our lying crap government that does not listen to us in our "democracy" that is the problem (and its mouthpiece media, please don't forget them; I hold them as culpable as the government itself, and maybe more).
Were (or when) the Republican establishment stops Ron Paul, I will either vote or write in Ralph Nader for the fourth time. He got my vote in 1996, 2000, and 2008 (he was the only candidate to call for war crimes trials for the Bush Administration); however, as we have seen with Obama you don't attain the office without signing off on the Wall Street/Israeli plan for U.S. domestic and foreign policy.
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