You certainly can't say they don't care about you.
"Pa. legislative corruption trial begins for 3 GOP defendants; Defense lawyers blame former House speaker" September 27, 2011|By Peter Jackson, Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Top Republicans in the state House of Representatives used millions of dollars in public funds, employees, and equipment to compile databases of information about state voters to boost GOP campaigns, prosecutors said yesterday as the corruption trial of three former officials opened.
The trial “is about powerful people taking the public’s money and using it to expand and enhance their campaigns,’’ Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina told the Dauphin County jury of six men and six women in his opening statement.
Defense lawyers said their clients are innocent. They said responsibility for any wrongdoing rests with John Perzel, former House speaker, and his top aides, including three former House staffers who were granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for cooperating with investigators from the state attorney general’s office.
See: Pennsylvania Politics
Fina identified Perzel as the moving force behind an alleged scheme that initially tapped tax-paid computer specialists in the House GOP caucus.
The scheme eventually widened to including the hiring - mostly at public expense - of out-of-state consultants to develop customized computer programs and provide data about voters’ political preferences and lifestyles, Fina said....
What, asking them ain't good enough?
A Washington-area company called the Weiss Micromarketing Group sought to analyze voters by scrutinizing such habits as their magazine subscriptions and favorite supermarkets. Based on that information, they were assigned to lifestyle groups with names like “The Affluentials,’’ “Urban Cores,’’ and “Country Comfort,’’ Fina said.
Did YOU KNOW YOU WERE BEING SPIED ON, dear Pennsylvanian?
Thankfully there are Democrats for whom you can vote:
In a separate corruption case in US District Court in Philadelphia, prosecutors said yesterday they will push for at least a 15-year sentence when Vincent Fumo, former Pennsylvania state senator, who had been a wealthy Democratic power broker during his 30-year state Senate career....
--more--"
Friday, September 30, 2011
Stinky Seattle
"Gas explosion rattles north Seattle neighborhood; 2 people seriously hurt" September 27, 2011|By Associated Press
SEATTLE - A natural gas leak inside a home caused an explosion and fire that destroyed a north Seattle home and injured two residents yesterday, the Fire Department said.
A couple who lived in the house thought they smelled gas Sunday night but weren’t sure so they didn’t report it, spokesman Kyle Moore said.
“When they woke up this morning and smelled something, they were turning on things and ‘boom’ - the explosion,’’ Moore said....
Firefighters were still putting out hot spots two hours later as Puget Sound Energy crews worked to stop the natural gas leak.
About two dozen homes were evacuated. Metro buses were brought in to shelter residents from the rain and a neighborhood church was used as a shelter.
There had been a natural gas leak Sunday about five blocks away, Moore said. The utility is investigating to see if the reports are related, spokeswoman Terri-Ann Betancourt said....
--more--"
Related:
"Investigators lay the blame squarely on Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for a gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people and heavily damaged a suburban neighborhood near San Francisco last year....
--more--"
Also see:
San Bruno Suffers Indigestion
The Seeping Streets of Boston
SEATTLE - A natural gas leak inside a home caused an explosion and fire that destroyed a north Seattle home and injured two residents yesterday, the Fire Department said.
A couple who lived in the house thought they smelled gas Sunday night but weren’t sure so they didn’t report it, spokesman Kyle Moore said.
“When they woke up this morning and smelled something, they were turning on things and ‘boom’ - the explosion,’’ Moore said....
Firefighters were still putting out hot spots two hours later as Puget Sound Energy crews worked to stop the natural gas leak.
About two dozen homes were evacuated. Metro buses were brought in to shelter residents from the rain and a neighborhood church was used as a shelter.
There had been a natural gas leak Sunday about five blocks away, Moore said. The utility is investigating to see if the reports are related, spokeswoman Terri-Ann Betancourt said....
--more--"
Related:
"Investigators lay the blame squarely on Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for a gas pipeline explosion that killed eight people and heavily damaged a suburban neighborhood near San Francisco last year....
--more--"
Also see:
San Bruno Suffers Indigestion
The Seeping Streets of Boston
Bloomberg Campaign Comes Home
"Aide allegedly stole $1m from N.Y. mayor" September 27, 2011|By Associated Press
NEW YORK - A political consultant accused of stealing more than $1 million from Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been turned into a scapegoat by mayoral staffer members eager to distance themselves from unsavory campaign practices, a defense lawyer told jurors yesterday as the consultant’s criminal trial began....
John Haggerty is accused of taking the mayor’s money to underwrite an elaborate 2009 poll-watching effort but then mounting only a meager operation and using most of the cash to buy his father’s house....
The defense told Manhattan jurors that the case would revolve around the billionaire mayor, and they sought to paint a picture of a self-financed candidate surrounded by loyalists who skirted campaign rules, blurred the line between the public and private sphere, and didn’t hesitate to bend the law to Bloomberg’s benefit.
“This case is about winning at all costs. That’s what Michael Bloomberg is all about,’’ Castello told the jurors. “He spent over $100 million to win his third term as mayor of New York City. And he did not want to lose.’’
Prosecutors gave a less dramatic accounting of events, saying that Haggerty had outlined plans to provide more than 1,300 poll-watchers and instead pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars and executed a coverup after questions were raised by a reporter....
--more--"
NEW YORK - A political consultant accused of stealing more than $1 million from Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been turned into a scapegoat by mayoral staffer members eager to distance themselves from unsavory campaign practices, a defense lawyer told jurors yesterday as the consultant’s criminal trial began....
John Haggerty is accused of taking the mayor’s money to underwrite an elaborate 2009 poll-watching effort but then mounting only a meager operation and using most of the cash to buy his father’s house....
The defense told Manhattan jurors that the case would revolve around the billionaire mayor, and they sought to paint a picture of a self-financed candidate surrounded by loyalists who skirted campaign rules, blurred the line between the public and private sphere, and didn’t hesitate to bend the law to Bloomberg’s benefit.
“This case is about winning at all costs. That’s what Michael Bloomberg is all about,’’ Castello told the jurors. “He spent over $100 million to win his third term as mayor of New York City. And he did not want to lose.’’
Prosecutors gave a less dramatic accounting of events, saying that Haggerty had outlined plans to provide more than 1,300 poll-watchers and instead pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars and executed a coverup after questions were raised by a reporter....
--more--"
Licking a Boston Globe Stamp
Tastes like s***!
"Postal Service to put living people on stamps" September 27, 2011|By Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Hoping to boost sagging revenue, the US Postal Service abandoned its longstanding rule that stamps cannot feature people who are still alive and is asking the public for suggestions.
It is a first that means living sports stars, writers, artists and other prominent - or not-so-prominent - people could take their places in postal history next to the likes of George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., and Marilyn Monroe.
“This change will enable us to pay tribute to individuals for their achievements while they are still alive to enjoy the honor,’’ Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said yesterday.
But it seems to be at least as much about money as admiration. For years, the post office has been facing severe financial problems due to the growing use of e-mail.
I'll bet the newspapers can relate!
A burst of interest in stamp design and collecting - which the Postal Service is seeking to promote partly through social media - could bring in new dollars, since stamps that are collected rather than used for postage provide added revenue.
Poking fun at the Postal Service’s money woes, comedian Stephen Colbert has been pushing to become the first living person depicted on a government-issued stamp. His Comedy Central website proposes a “Farewell to Postage’’ stamp with a photo of him holding up a smartphone that shows an e-mail telling the Postal Service “See Ya!’’
Judging by initial public reaction in interviews yesterday, Colbert faces competition.
Cyndi Scarlett, 54, of Alexandria, Va., who works in humanitarian development, touted her choice of Apple Inc. founder Steve Jobs to be the first living person on a stamp. Walking by a post office in downtown Washington, D.C., she cited his company’s role in reshaping everyday life, from the ubiquitous Macintosh and iPod to the iPad.
“He has changed the face of technology in America,’’ Scarlett said. Other suggestions included evangelist Billy Graham, President Obama, General Norman Schwarzkopf, actress Tyra Banks, and Paralympic athlete Bonnie St. John.
This is such a monumental issue for Americans to consider. I'm so glad the Globe delivered it to me.
--more--"
Related: Lieberman's Love Letters
"Postal Service to put living people on stamps" September 27, 2011|By Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Hoping to boost sagging revenue, the US Postal Service abandoned its longstanding rule that stamps cannot feature people who are still alive and is asking the public for suggestions.
It is a first that means living sports stars, writers, artists and other prominent - or not-so-prominent - people could take their places in postal history next to the likes of George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., and Marilyn Monroe.
“This change will enable us to pay tribute to individuals for their achievements while they are still alive to enjoy the honor,’’ Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said yesterday.
But it seems to be at least as much about money as admiration. For years, the post office has been facing severe financial problems due to the growing use of e-mail.
I'll bet the newspapers can relate!
A burst of interest in stamp design and collecting - which the Postal Service is seeking to promote partly through social media - could bring in new dollars, since stamps that are collected rather than used for postage provide added revenue.
Poking fun at the Postal Service’s money woes, comedian Stephen Colbert has been pushing to become the first living person depicted on a government-issued stamp. His Comedy Central website proposes a “Farewell to Postage’’ stamp with a photo of him holding up a smartphone that shows an e-mail telling the Postal Service “See Ya!’’
Judging by initial public reaction in interviews yesterday, Colbert faces competition.
Cyndi Scarlett, 54, of Alexandria, Va., who works in humanitarian development, touted her choice of Apple Inc. founder Steve Jobs to be the first living person on a stamp. Walking by a post office in downtown Washington, D.C., she cited his company’s role in reshaping everyday life, from the ubiquitous Macintosh and iPod to the iPad.
“He has changed the face of technology in America,’’ Scarlett said. Other suggestions included evangelist Billy Graham, President Obama, General Norman Schwarzkopf, actress Tyra Banks, and Paralympic athlete Bonnie St. John.
This is such a monumental issue for Americans to consider. I'm so glad the Globe delivered it to me.
--more--"
Related: Lieberman's Love Letters
Indiana Searches For Answers
"A rural Indiana community was on edge yesterday as police searched for answers in the deaths of five people found at two properties....
--more--"
--more--"
Ohio Senate Swing
"GOP sees Ohio as key to capturing Senate; Aids bid to unseat liberal incumbent" September 27, 2011|By Alex Katz, Globe Correspondent
DAYTON, Ohio - Liberal Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown’s approval ratings [are sagging] along with Ohio’s economy.
The Ohio race is seen as fertile territory for Republicans in next year’s election, as the party attempts a second anti-Democratic wave that could help complete a takeover of Congress that began in 2010. The party needs to pick up just four seats to win a majority in the Senate.
Analysts say that 10 of the 23 contested seats held by Democrats or their independent allies are vulnerable to a Republican takeover, including in the crucial swing states of Florida and Virginia, as well as Ohio. Of the 10 Republican seats being contested, only two are considered vulnerable, including Scott Brown’s in Massachusetts.
“The numbers don’t lie, which is why you need to look at the Republicans as favorites to win a majority,’’ said Jennifer Duffy, senior editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report....
--more--"
DAYTON, Ohio - Liberal Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown’s approval ratings [are sagging] along with Ohio’s economy.
The Ohio race is seen as fertile territory for Republicans in next year’s election, as the party attempts a second anti-Democratic wave that could help complete a takeover of Congress that began in 2010. The party needs to pick up just four seats to win a majority in the Senate.
Analysts say that 10 of the 23 contested seats held by Democrats or their independent allies are vulnerable to a Republican takeover, including in the crucial swing states of Florida and Virginia, as well as Ohio. Of the 10 Republican seats being contested, only two are considered vulnerable, including Scott Brown’s in Massachusetts.
“The numbers don’t lie, which is why you need to look at the Republicans as favorites to win a majority,’’ said Jennifer Duffy, senior editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report....
--more--"
Out in the Utah Desert
The Globe would rather be out there than covering the Wall Street protests, and I'm sick of it.
Enjoy, readers:
"Man survives 4 days in Utah desert" September 26, 2011|Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY - A North Carolina man crawled for four days across the Utah desert after breaking his leg on a solo hike, inspired by a Hollywood movie about a man who cut off his own arm to save himself after being trapped by a boulder in the same canyon.
Amos Wayne Richards, 64, of Concord, N.C., is recovering at home. He said he was inspired to hike Little Blue John Canyon after he saw the Oscar-nominated movie “127 Hours’’ but fell 10 feet during his trek on Sept. 8.
Canyonlands National Park rangers found Richards four days later. Along with the leg injury, he dislocated his shoulder but was able to work it back into place.
“It took me about 3 or 4 minutes to work my shoulder and get it back in place, and once I got it back in place, I stood up and realized my ankle hurt a little bit,’’ Richards told WBTV in Charlotte.
Without cellphone service and only two protein bars to eat, Richards began crawling back to his car across the rocky terrain. He filled his water bottles with rain as he retraced his steps, dragging himself almost 5 miles.
“I was actually following my GPS, crawling right on top of my feet print,’’ Richards said.
Rangers first began looking for Richards Sept. 9 after his campsite was found unattended, said Denny Ziemann, chief ranger for Canyonlands and Arches national parks. They discovered his car two days later at the trailhead for Little Blue John Canyon, which is part of the Canyonlands’ remote and rugged Maze District but technically outside park boundaries.
--more--"
Related: Digging Around in Utah
Enjoy, readers:
"Man survives 4 days in Utah desert" September 26, 2011|Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY - A North Carolina man crawled for four days across the Utah desert after breaking his leg on a solo hike, inspired by a Hollywood movie about a man who cut off his own arm to save himself after being trapped by a boulder in the same canyon.
Amos Wayne Richards, 64, of Concord, N.C., is recovering at home. He said he was inspired to hike Little Blue John Canyon after he saw the Oscar-nominated movie “127 Hours’’ but fell 10 feet during his trek on Sept. 8.
Canyonlands National Park rangers found Richards four days later. Along with the leg injury, he dislocated his shoulder but was able to work it back into place.
“It took me about 3 or 4 minutes to work my shoulder and get it back in place, and once I got it back in place, I stood up and realized my ankle hurt a little bit,’’ Richards told WBTV in Charlotte.
Without cellphone service and only two protein bars to eat, Richards began crawling back to his car across the rocky terrain. He filled his water bottles with rain as he retraced his steps, dragging himself almost 5 miles.
“I was actually following my GPS, crawling right on top of my feet print,’’ Richards said.
Rangers first began looking for Richards Sept. 9 after his campsite was found unattended, said Denny Ziemann, chief ranger for Canyonlands and Arches national parks. They discovered his car two days later at the trailhead for Little Blue John Canyon, which is part of the Canyonlands’ remote and rugged Maze District but technically outside park boundaries.
--more--"
Related: Digging Around in Utah
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Good Night, Sleep Tight
And let the bedbugs bite:
"Bedbug pesticides sicken scores, kill 1" September 23, 2011|Associated Press
ATLANTA - Bedbugs don’t make you sick. But the poisons used to kill them can.
A government study released yesterday found that dozens of Americans have fallen ill from the insecticides, and a North Carolina woman died after using 18 cans of chemical fogger to attack the tiny blood suckers.
Because many of the cases, including the lone death, were do-it-yourselfers who misused the chemicals or applied the wrong product, federal health officials are warning consumers to be careful and urging them to call professionals....
--more--"
Related:
"Bedbugs are not known to spread disease, and they are generally not viewed as a major public health threat. But...."
Good night, readers. I usually sleep like a log once the Globe puts me to sleep.
"Bedbug pesticides sicken scores, kill 1" September 23, 2011|Associated Press
ATLANTA - Bedbugs don’t make you sick. But the poisons used to kill them can.
A government study released yesterday found that dozens of Americans have fallen ill from the insecticides, and a North Carolina woman died after using 18 cans of chemical fogger to attack the tiny blood suckers.
Because many of the cases, including the lone death, were do-it-yourselfers who misused the chemicals or applied the wrong product, federal health officials are warning consumers to be careful and urging them to call professionals....
--more--"
Related:
"Bedbugs are not known to spread disease, and they are generally not viewed as a major public health threat. But...."
Good night, readers. I usually sleep like a log once the Globe puts me to sleep.
Slow Saturday Special: Saleh's Surprising Return
I am surprised; however, the U.S. and Saudis sent him back. Otherwise, they would not have let him leave.
"Violence leaves 15 dead in Yemen’s capital" September 23, 2011|Associated Press
SANA, Yemen - Renewed violence in the Yemen capital killed at least 15 people yesterday as forces loyal to the regime and its opponents shelled each other’s strategic positions from hills surrounding the city, medical and security official said.
The shelling over the city has terrified residents and emptied out city streets, already pockmarked by street battles between rival forces in different corners of the capital. A number of shops in a main boulevard in Sana were torched from earlier mortar shelling and oil spots covered the streets after electricity transformers also took a hit....
Officials said six people were killed in central Sana when government forces shelled thousands gathered for a protest there with mortars and rocket propelled grenades. Snipers on rooftops also targeted the protesters at Change Square, the center of Yemen’s seven-month-old uprising, and adjacent streets.
Three bystanders were killed by a mortar shell in Sana’s northern Hassaba district, the officials said. The district is home to several of the tribal chiefs who switched sides in March to join the opposition....
--more--"
"As battles rage, president returns to Yemen; Saleh requests cease-fire; foes hope he’ll quit" September 24, 2011|By Laura Kasinof, New York Times
SANA, Yemen - President Ali Abdullah Saleh made a dramatic and sudden return to Yemen yesterday after nearly four months in Saudi Arabia, seeking to reinsert himself at the center of a slowly fracturing country mired in bloody clashes on the streets of its capital.
In a statement quoted by the state news agency, Saleh called for a cease-fire and a return to negotiations, saying “the solution is not in the barrels of guns and cannon, but in dialogue.’’ The report said he would deliver a speech tomorrow.
Do they call him arrogant Ali in Yemen?
It's HIS FORCES that BROKE the BARELY DAY OLD CEASE FIRE earlier!
Un-f***ing-real!
But his return appeared unlikely to immediately quell the fighting, which has left more than 70 people dead since Sunday in fierce street battles between government forces and soldiers who have sided with antigovernment protesters.
As word spread of Saleh’s return, gunfire rang out across the capital - much of it celebratory - and mixed with the thundering of artillery, raising fears that an effort by the president to retake control in the capital would only deepen the conflict in Sana, which came to a head this week after eight months of protests....
Many high-ranking government officials said they were not given any warning of his return.
Two miles away, protesters at the antigovernment sit-in expressed shock and a belief that his presence would touch off new fighting. Thousands pumped their fists and chanted “The people want to prosecute the killer’’ at one end of the sprawling protest before prayers yesterday, while at the other end rebel soldiers in ramshackle bunkers clashed with government forces on otherwise empty streets....
Saleh had once deftly balanced and exploited the tribal divisions in Yemen that now threaten to spiral into a wider conflict between well-armed factions.
Government soldiers, led by Saleh’s relatives, have been engaged in bloody street battles this week against troops loyal to Major General Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar, a powerful military commander who has sided with the protesters.
Ahmar announced his support for the antigovernment movement in March, and his First Armored Division has been protecting the demonstrators. The general, who is from the same village as the president, has had an uneasy relationship with Saleh. The general is reported to have begun distancing himself from Saleh years ago when he saw that he was grooming his son, Ahmed Ali Saleh, to succeed him....
The general must be an okay guy since the PTB aren't supporting him.
--more--"
"40 dead in Yemen amid new fighting" by Ahmed Al-Haj Associated Press / September 25, 2011
SANA, Yemen - Forces loyal to Yemen’s newly returned president attacked opposition troops with mortar shells and heavy gunfire yesterday and used rooftop snipers to pick off unarmed protesters fleeing in panic, killing more than 40 people and lining the streets of the capital with bodies.
One of the most powerful rivals to President Ali Abdullah Saleh - a senior general who threw his support and his troops behind the antiregime uprising - warned that the president appears set on driving the country into civil war, calling on the international community to rein him in.
Yeah, why aren't they doing more? Why did they let him return?
Saleh, who has clung to power despite nearly eight months of protests and an assassination attempt that left him severely burned, returned to Yemen on Friday after more than three months of treatment in Saudi Arabia for his wounds. Street battles that had reignited a week earlier in Sana rapidly escalated, signaling a possible full-fledged attempt to and tighten his grip on the country he has ruled for 33 years.
In a strongly worded statement, Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who commands the 1st Armored Division, called Saleh a “sick, vengeful soul’’ and compared him to the Roman emperor Nero, burning down his own city.
Yemen is a haven for Islamic militants, including a branch of Al Qaeda that Washington says is the most dangerous remnant of the terror network. With the country spiraling deeper into disorder, militants linked to Al Qaeda have already seized control of entire towns beyond their traditional strongholds.
Sorry, but the "Al-CIA-Duh" card no longer works here.
In response to the recent violence, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the alliance of Saudi Arabia and five other energy-rich nations, called for a cease-fire and urged Saleh to immediately sign a power transfer deal.
--more--"
Related: Yemen Set For Civil War
Yeah, that seems to be the plan.
"Yesterday’s address was conciliatory, putting his words in sharp contrast with the increased bloodshed in the streets during the past week, which has included progovernment snipers firing on unarmed protesters....
Translation: Saleh is a lying sack of shit.
--more--"
"Official in Yemen survives 2d attack; Al Qaeda blamed for suicide bomb" September 28, 2011|By Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post
SANA, Yemen - Yemen’s defense minister escaped a suicide bomb attack on his convoy in the volatile southern city of Aden yesterday, an assault that government officials blamed on Al Qaeda....
No group has asserted responsibility, but the government blamed “Al Qaeda terrorists.’’
They have really become the CATCH-ALL for ANY INTELLIGENCE OPERATION, haven't they? Thus we must support the murderous monster Saleh.
*******************
Although Aden has not experience the sort of urban warfare that has taken place in the capital, Sana, and other cities, it has nevertheless become a focal point of tension.
Hmmmmmmm.
Qaeda militants have taken over areas north of Aden in Abyan Province, including the provincial capital Zinjibar, and are engaged in fierce battles with government forces. Suicide bombings and attacks against soldiers have increased in recent months in Aden, and thousands have been displaced by the fighting in Abyan.
Oh, and UNDER-REPORTED REFUGEE CRISIS in Yemen?
The Obama administration and its allies are concerned about the turmoil in the south, which has long provided a haven for Qaeda’s Yemen branch, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The group has tried to attack in the United States twice since December 2009, and US officials have publicly declared it the most dangerous Qaeda wing. Aden is also nestled along major shipping routes, where 3 million barrels of oil pass daily, creating potential targets for the network, if it manages to deepen its foothold.
And now you know why the RUSE of "terrorists" and pirates must be used!
The violence in Sana, which last week and over the weekend left more than 150 dead, has subsided, but tensions remain. Yesterday, thousands of protesters took the streets, demanding that Saleh step down.
I'm not surprised the article ended there.
--more--"
"Violence leaves 15 dead in Yemen’s capital" September 23, 2011|Associated Press
SANA, Yemen - Renewed violence in the Yemen capital killed at least 15 people yesterday as forces loyal to the regime and its opponents shelled each other’s strategic positions from hills surrounding the city, medical and security official said.
The shelling over the city has terrified residents and emptied out city streets, already pockmarked by street battles between rival forces in different corners of the capital. A number of shops in a main boulevard in Sana were torched from earlier mortar shelling and oil spots covered the streets after electricity transformers also took a hit....
Officials said six people were killed in central Sana when government forces shelled thousands gathered for a protest there with mortars and rocket propelled grenades. Snipers on rooftops also targeted the protesters at Change Square, the center of Yemen’s seven-month-old uprising, and adjacent streets.
Three bystanders were killed by a mortar shell in Sana’s northern Hassaba district, the officials said. The district is home to several of the tribal chiefs who switched sides in March to join the opposition....
--more--"
"As battles rage, president returns to Yemen; Saleh requests cease-fire; foes hope he’ll quit" September 24, 2011|By Laura Kasinof, New York Times
SANA, Yemen - President Ali Abdullah Saleh made a dramatic and sudden return to Yemen yesterday after nearly four months in Saudi Arabia, seeking to reinsert himself at the center of a slowly fracturing country mired in bloody clashes on the streets of its capital.
In a statement quoted by the state news agency, Saleh called for a cease-fire and a return to negotiations, saying “the solution is not in the barrels of guns and cannon, but in dialogue.’’ The report said he would deliver a speech tomorrow.
Do they call him arrogant Ali in Yemen?
It's HIS FORCES that BROKE the BARELY DAY OLD CEASE FIRE earlier!
Un-f***ing-real!
But his return appeared unlikely to immediately quell the fighting, which has left more than 70 people dead since Sunday in fierce street battles between government forces and soldiers who have sided with antigovernment protesters.
As word spread of Saleh’s return, gunfire rang out across the capital - much of it celebratory - and mixed with the thundering of artillery, raising fears that an effort by the president to retake control in the capital would only deepen the conflict in Sana, which came to a head this week after eight months of protests....
Many high-ranking government officials said they were not given any warning of his return.
Two miles away, protesters at the antigovernment sit-in expressed shock and a belief that his presence would touch off new fighting. Thousands pumped their fists and chanted “The people want to prosecute the killer’’ at one end of the sprawling protest before prayers yesterday, while at the other end rebel soldiers in ramshackle bunkers clashed with government forces on otherwise empty streets....
Saleh had once deftly balanced and exploited the tribal divisions in Yemen that now threaten to spiral into a wider conflict between well-armed factions.
Government soldiers, led by Saleh’s relatives, have been engaged in bloody street battles this week against troops loyal to Major General Ali Mohsin al-Ahmar, a powerful military commander who has sided with the protesters.
Ahmar announced his support for the antigovernment movement in March, and his First Armored Division has been protecting the demonstrators. The general, who is from the same village as the president, has had an uneasy relationship with Saleh. The general is reported to have begun distancing himself from Saleh years ago when he saw that he was grooming his son, Ahmed Ali Saleh, to succeed him....
The general must be an okay guy since the PTB aren't supporting him.
--more--"
"40 dead in Yemen amid new fighting" by Ahmed Al-Haj Associated Press / September 25, 2011
SANA, Yemen - Forces loyal to Yemen’s newly returned president attacked opposition troops with mortar shells and heavy gunfire yesterday and used rooftop snipers to pick off unarmed protesters fleeing in panic, killing more than 40 people and lining the streets of the capital with bodies.
One of the most powerful rivals to President Ali Abdullah Saleh - a senior general who threw his support and his troops behind the antiregime uprising - warned that the president appears set on driving the country into civil war, calling on the international community to rein him in.
Yeah, why aren't they doing more? Why did they let him return?
Saleh, who has clung to power despite nearly eight months of protests and an assassination attempt that left him severely burned, returned to Yemen on Friday after more than three months of treatment in Saudi Arabia for his wounds. Street battles that had reignited a week earlier in Sana rapidly escalated, signaling a possible full-fledged attempt to and tighten his grip on the country he has ruled for 33 years.
In a strongly worded statement, Major General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar, who commands the 1st Armored Division, called Saleh a “sick, vengeful soul’’ and compared him to the Roman emperor Nero, burning down his own city.
Yemen is a haven for Islamic militants, including a branch of Al Qaeda that Washington says is the most dangerous remnant of the terror network. With the country spiraling deeper into disorder, militants linked to Al Qaeda have already seized control of entire towns beyond their traditional strongholds.
Sorry, but the "Al-CIA-Duh" card no longer works here.
In response to the recent violence, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the alliance of Saudi Arabia and five other energy-rich nations, called for a cease-fire and urged Saleh to immediately sign a power transfer deal.
--more--"
Related: Yemen Set For Civil War
Yeah, that seems to be the plan.
"Yesterday’s address was conciliatory, putting his words in sharp contrast with the increased bloodshed in the streets during the past week, which has included progovernment snipers firing on unarmed protesters....
Translation: Saleh is a lying sack of shit.
--more--"
"Official in Yemen survives 2d attack; Al Qaeda blamed for suicide bomb" September 28, 2011|By Sudarsan Raghavan, Washington Post
SANA, Yemen - Yemen’s defense minister escaped a suicide bomb attack on his convoy in the volatile southern city of Aden yesterday, an assault that government officials blamed on Al Qaeda....
No group has asserted responsibility, but the government blamed “Al Qaeda terrorists.’’
They have really become the CATCH-ALL for ANY INTELLIGENCE OPERATION, haven't they? Thus we must support the murderous monster Saleh.
*******************
Although Aden has not experience the sort of urban warfare that has taken place in the capital, Sana, and other cities, it has nevertheless become a focal point of tension.
Hmmmmmmm.
Qaeda militants have taken over areas north of Aden in Abyan Province, including the provincial capital Zinjibar, and are engaged in fierce battles with government forces. Suicide bombings and attacks against soldiers have increased in recent months in Aden, and thousands have been displaced by the fighting in Abyan.
Oh, and UNDER-REPORTED REFUGEE CRISIS in Yemen?
The Obama administration and its allies are concerned about the turmoil in the south, which has long provided a haven for Qaeda’s Yemen branch, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The group has tried to attack in the United States twice since December 2009, and US officials have publicly declared it the most dangerous Qaeda wing. Aden is also nestled along major shipping routes, where 3 million barrels of oil pass daily, creating potential targets for the network, if it manages to deepen its foothold.
And now you know why the RUSE of "terrorists" and pirates must be used!
The violence in Sana, which last week and over the weekend left more than 150 dead, has subsided, but tensions remain. Yesterday, thousands of protesters took the streets, demanding that Saleh step down.
I'm not surprised the article ended there.
--more--"
Attorneys Generals’ Carping Campaign
"It is unclear what practical effect the attorneys generals’ campaign could have....
--more--"
Related: Globe Lets Carp Get Away in Chicago
--more--"
Related: Globe Lets Carp Get Away in Chicago
Saudi Suffrage
We've got our own regarding the Globe, readers.
Saudi king grants women right to vote
Why does that link go here?
"Saudi Monarch Grants Women Right to Vote" by Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times | September 25, 2011
Saudi women, who are legally subject to male chaperones for almost any public activity, hailed the royal decree as an important, if limited, step toward making them equal to their male counterparts.
They said the uprisings sweeping the Arab world for the past nine months — along with sustained domestic pressure for women’s rights and a more representative form of government — prompted the change.
“There is the element of the Arab Spring, there is the element of the strength of Saudi social media, and there is the element of Saudi women themselves, who are not silent,” said Hatoon al-Fassi, a history professor and one of the women who organized a campaign demanding the right to vote this spring. “Plus, the fact that the issue of women has turned Saudi Arabia into an international joke is another thing that brought the decision now.”
Which makes the U.N. human rights commission a joke, doesn't it?
Although political activists celebrated the change, they also cautioned how deep it would go and how fast, given that the king referred to the next election cycle, which would not be until 2015. Some women wondered aloud how they would be able to campaign for office when they were not even allowed to drive. And there is a long history of royal decrees stalling, as weak enactment collides with the bulwark of traditions ordained by the Wahhabi sect of Islam and its fierce resistance to change.
In his announcement, the king said that women would also be appointed to the Majlis Al-Shura, a consultative council that advises the monarchy on matters of public policy. But it is a toothless body that avoids matters of royal prerogative, like where the nation’s oil revenue goes....
Political participation for women is also a less contentious issue than granting them the right to drive, an idea fiercely opposed by some of the most powerful clerics and princes.
Translation: All lip service from the Saudi king.
Even as the king made the political announcement, activists said that one prominent opponent of the ban, Najla al-Hariri, was being questioned Sunday for continuing her stealth campaign of driving.
Mrs. Hariri has been vociferous in demanding the right as a single mother who cannot afford one of the ubiquitous foreign chauffeurs to ferry her children to school. In recent weeks, a woman even drove down King Fahd Expressway, the main thoroughfare through downtown Riyadh, activists said....
The rest is a total rewrite from what was in my paper.
--more--"
Related:
"National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor says this reform recognizes the “significant contributions’’ that women make in the Muslim kingdom. He says the announcement by King Abdullah will give Saudi women more ways to participate “in the decisions that affect their lives and communities.’’
Vietor says the U.S. is behind Saudi Arabia as it puts into place this change and other reforms....
And keep that oil coming.
--more--"
WTF is with the Saudi shell game, Glob?
Also see: Saudi woman to be tried over driving ban
"Saudi court orders female driver whipped" September 28, 2011|Associated Press
CAIRO - A Saudi woman was sentenced yesterday to be lashed 10 times with a whip for defying the kingdom’s prohibition on female drivers, the first time a legal punishment has been handed down for a violation of the longtime ban in the ultraconservative Muslim nation.
And the U.S. is behind you!
Normally, police just stop female drivers, question them, and let them go after they sign a pledge not to drive again. But dozens of women have continued to take to the roads since June in a campaign to break the taboo.
Haven't read much about those Arab Spring protests until now; what gives, Saudis making a stink over Palestine?
Making yesterday’s sentence all the more upsetting to activists is that it came just two days after King Abdullah promised to protect women’s rights and decreed that women would be allowed to participate in municipal elections in 2015.
The mixed signals highlight the challenge for Abdullah, known as a reformer, in pushing gently for change without antagonizing the powerful clergy and a conservative segment of the population.
Abdullah said he had the backing of the official clerical council. But activists saw yesterday’s sentencing as a retaliation of sorts from the hard-line Saudi religious establishment that controls the courts and oversees the intrusive religious police.
--more--"
Related: Saudi king says female driver won't be lashed
A victory for you gals!
Saudi king grants women right to vote
Why does that link go here?
"Saudi Monarch Grants Women Right to Vote" by Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times | September 25, 2011
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on Sunday granted women the right to vote and run in future municipal elections, the biggest change in a decade for women in a puritanical kingdom that practices strict separation of the sexes, including banning women from driving.
Saudi women, who are legally subject to male chaperones for almost any public activity, hailed the royal decree as an important, if limited, step toward making them equal to their male counterparts.
They said the uprisings sweeping the Arab world for the past nine months — along with sustained domestic pressure for women’s rights and a more representative form of government — prompted the change.
“There is the element of the Arab Spring, there is the element of the strength of Saudi social media, and there is the element of Saudi women themselves, who are not silent,” said Hatoon al-Fassi, a history professor and one of the women who organized a campaign demanding the right to vote this spring. “Plus, the fact that the issue of women has turned Saudi Arabia into an international joke is another thing that brought the decision now.”
Which makes the U.N. human rights commission a joke, doesn't it?
Although political activists celebrated the change, they also cautioned how deep it would go and how fast, given that the king referred to the next election cycle, which would not be until 2015. Some women wondered aloud how they would be able to campaign for office when they were not even allowed to drive. And there is a long history of royal decrees stalling, as weak enactment collides with the bulwark of traditions ordained by the Wahhabi sect of Islam and its fierce resistance to change.
In his announcement, the king said that women would also be appointed to the Majlis Al-Shura, a consultative council that advises the monarchy on matters of public policy. But it is a toothless body that avoids matters of royal prerogative, like where the nation’s oil revenue goes....
Political participation for women is also a less contentious issue than granting them the right to drive, an idea fiercely opposed by some of the most powerful clerics and princes.
Translation: All lip service from the Saudi king.
Even as the king made the political announcement, activists said that one prominent opponent of the ban, Najla al-Hariri, was being questioned Sunday for continuing her stealth campaign of driving.
Mrs. Hariri has been vociferous in demanding the right as a single mother who cannot afford one of the ubiquitous foreign chauffeurs to ferry her children to school. In recent weeks, a woman even drove down King Fahd Expressway, the main thoroughfare through downtown Riyadh, activists said....
The rest is a total rewrite from what was in my paper.
--more--"
Related:
"National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor says this reform recognizes the “significant contributions’’ that women make in the Muslim kingdom. He says the announcement by King Abdullah will give Saudi women more ways to participate “in the decisions that affect their lives and communities.’’
Vietor says the U.S. is behind Saudi Arabia as it puts into place this change and other reforms....
And keep that oil coming.
--more--"
WTF is with the Saudi shell game, Glob?
Also see: Saudi woman to be tried over driving ban
"Saudi court orders female driver whipped" September 28, 2011|Associated Press
CAIRO - A Saudi woman was sentenced yesterday to be lashed 10 times with a whip for defying the kingdom’s prohibition on female drivers, the first time a legal punishment has been handed down for a violation of the longtime ban in the ultraconservative Muslim nation.
And the U.S. is behind you!
Normally, police just stop female drivers, question them, and let them go after they sign a pledge not to drive again. But dozens of women have continued to take to the roads since June in a campaign to break the taboo.
Haven't read much about those Arab Spring protests until now; what gives, Saudis making a stink over Palestine?
Making yesterday’s sentence all the more upsetting to activists is that it came just two days after King Abdullah promised to protect women’s rights and decreed that women would be allowed to participate in municipal elections in 2015.
The mixed signals highlight the challenge for Abdullah, known as a reformer, in pushing gently for change without antagonizing the powerful clergy and a conservative segment of the population.
Abdullah said he had the backing of the official clerical council. But activists saw yesterday’s sentencing as a retaliation of sorts from the hard-line Saudi religious establishment that controls the courts and oversees the intrusive religious police.
--more--"
Related: Saudi king says female driver won't be lashed
A victory for you gals!
Sunday Globe Special: Pennsylvania's Casinos and Political Corruption
Coming soon to our state, fellow citizens.
"From Pennsylvania, a cautionary tale of casino profits trailed by corruption" by Noah Bierman Globe Staff / September 25, 2011
Now they tells us after it is a done deal.
PHILADELPHIA - Few states have a more compelling story to tell about how casino gambling is helping to balance the government’s books than Pennsylvania. Just five years after its first slot parlor opened, Pennsylvania now has 10 full-scale casinos, paying an annual $1.3 billion in taxes. That’s more revenue than New Jersey, Nevada, or any other state in the country.
Yet Pennsylvania’s story is also about how badly things can go wrong within the halls of government when billions of dollars are at stake. The financial success of Pennsylvania’s casinos was built on the ambitious scope of the effort and the rich profitability of the industry, but also on a foundation of cronyism, patronage, and back-room deals, not to mention overlooked criminal histories and alleged mob ties, according to a grand jury report released earlier this year.
As if Massachusetts needed more of that.
The report concluded that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board - which was created to protect taxpayers’ interests - had instead looked after the industry, that it had taken “the public policy objectives and essentially turned them on their head.’’
That is what government does, duh!!
“It’s that kind of scandalous beginning that launched this experiment with casinos in Pennsylvania,’’ said state Representative Curt Schroder, a Republican who chairs the House Gaming Oversight Committee. “If you weren’t on the inside, you didn’t stand a chance.’’
As Massachusetts lawmakers prepare to embrace the riches that gambling venues can bring, the Pennsylvania experience could serve as a cautionary tale, a reminder of the vigilance necessary to protect the integrity of the casino development process. It’s a lesson that resonates in a state with its own rich history of patronage and public corruption, where just in recent weeks two former state officials were indicted and the former house speaker was sentenced to prison on corruption charges.
“The notion that somehow Massachusetts is going to do it differently is naive, and it’s not based in reality,’’ said Les Bernal, executive director of the Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation, which opposes the state’s casino legislation. Bernal points out that many of the casino operators in Pennsylvania have shown active interest in opening casinos in Massachusetts.
I've found that AmeriKa isn't based in reality.
But lawmakers who crafted the Massachusetts bill say that they are cognizant of what happened in Pennsylvania and have taken steps to guard against the inevitable temptations that come when the government creates and begins regulating a multibillion dollar industry overnight.
Uh-huh.
In 2004, Pennsylvania’s Legislature - then led by Republicans - approved casinos, helping the Democratic governor, Ed Rendell, fulfill his top campaign promise: property tax relief through casino windfalls....
:-(
Rendell, whose term ended in January, remains a strong advocate, saying casinos have had “virtually none of the downsides that people’’ predicted. He said the grand jury report was “overblown, if you look at the number of venues we had and the number of people who had ties to organized crime.’’
To Rendell and other boosters, the casinos have been an unmitigated success, employing 15,000 people, including 6,000 who came on last year when the state added black jack, roulette, and other table games.
But critics say the social and public safety costs outweigh the tax benefits. One casino, for example, had a rash of incidents in which parents left their children in cars so they could go in and play the slots.
Doug Harbach, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania board, said the state’s timing was lucky, because the first casino opened in 2006, before the economic meltdown. That luck did not extend to all the state’s casinos, however. The site of one of two casinos planned for Philadelphia’s waterfront remains a vacant thicket of weeds growing behind barbed wire. The developer, Foxwoods, faced intense neighborhood opposition and then missed several financing deadlines. The gaming commission finally revoked its license last year, and the matter is now in court.
Gee, I can't imagine why.
In an industrial section of Philadelphia’s waterfront, across from a meat-packing plant and beside a set of new high-rise condominiums, a casino called SugarHouse is the newest of the state’s 10 casinos.
It celebrated its one-year anniversary last week with $5 cocktails, a chance to win a Mercedes, and live music yesterday from The Hooters, a pop act known for the 1980s hit “And We Danced.’’
Free “Sugar Express’’ trolley buses, painted with the slogan “Philly loves a winner,’’ roll all over town to pick up customers, competing against double-decker buses that charge to see the city’s historic sites.
Inside the casino, it feels like nighttime, even on a weekday afternoon. Amid the electronic blinging and clanging noises and heavy cigarette smoke, some players cheer at the craps table, while less animated patrons insert coins into a Wizard of Oz themed slot machine.
Work crews are reconfiguring the floor, to add more table games that have soared in popularity.
“It’s all right,’’ said Dave Melan, a 44-year-old carpenter who says he plays slots and craps once a week or so. “In the beginning, they’re all the same. They pay out pretty good.’’
But Melan is down $50 and his girlfriend, Debbie Ryan, said she’s done even worse.
“I don’t have any money left over,’’ Ryan said.
It’s time to go home....
Massachusetts lawmakers say they have learned from other states, including Pennsylvania, and inoculated themselves against such problems by creating an independent commission, subject to the open meeting law, whose budget is not approved by legislators and whose members are appointed by the governor, the attorney general, and the treasurer. The state police will investigate everyone associated with any aspect of the gambling board or the industry, even outside vendors, renewing employee background checks yearly....
--more--"
Yeah, good thing nothing like that will happen in Massachusetts.
About those checks:
"Senators OK casino check on employees; They would review immigration status" September 27, 2011|By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff
The size of the casino bill and the money that would come to the state from casinos has encouraged lawmakers to use the legislation as a vehicle for a host of pet causes. An amendment to spend casino money to improve fire stations, for example, was voted down yesterday, as was one to let paid professionals run charity poker tournaments. A measure to devote more casino profits to local tourist development funds was approved.
Senator Bruce E. Tarr, Republican of Gloucester and the minority leader, said during the debate that lawmakers are counting up ways to spend the new casino dollars, even if they have not yet received them.
“You can feel the excitement about the prospect of new money,’’ Tarr said....
I'm feeling something, readers, and it sure isn't excitement.
The Senate is expected to continue debating amendments today, before taking the rest of the week off for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year....
--more--"
Maybe I should start taking time off from the Boston Globe.
"Senate kills five-year ban on taking casino jobs; One-year prohibition OK’d for legislators" September 28, 2011|By Mark Arsenault, Globe Staff
A state Senate proposal to impose a five-year ban on former lawmakers taking casino jobs triggered an uproar yesterday by Democratic senators who abruptly broke off a heated public debate to rewrite the measure in secret.
I was raised to believe Democrats had better ethics than Republicans. WTF?
An hour later, and with no further discussion, the Senate approved a watered-down, one-year restriction.
Massachusetts democracy in action!
Lawmakers’ rationale for weakening the bill may be hard to explain outside the marble corridors of the State House: They said that a strong prohibition would only feed the public’s perception that lawmakers cannot be trusted.
Remember what I said above about reality?
“We’re creating a presumption that the people in this body cannot operate with integrity,’’ complained Senator Gale Candaras, Democrat from Wilbraham. “It’s bad law. It’s bad precedent.’’
Already got a job lined up, 'eh?
But the Legislature has not been without its high-profile problems. The past three House speakers have been indicted; the most recent, Salvatore F. DiMasi, was sentenced this month to eight years in federal prison for political corruption.
Yeah, they sure have proven how much integrity they have over there.
The five-year ban was proposed by James Eldridge, an Acton Democrat, who argued in the public portion of the debate yesterday that the bill authorizing three casinos and one slot parlor should only be an economic development program for the state, “It should not be an economic bill for legislators.’’ He said a five-year ban would address any perception or public cynicism that legislators might be motivated by personal interest to support the casino bill.
Members of Senate leadership were already working the floor to urge a no vote on the amendment. But when they met unexpected pushback from legislators, they tried a different course, signaling that they would go along with the ban, even though they didn’t agree with it.
“We will support this amendment,’’ said Senator Stephen Brewer, a Barre Democrat and Ways and Means Committee chair, in angry remarks from the floor, “but I reject and resent its implications.’’ He said “98 percent’’ of all the people he has served with in the Senate have been hard workers who served honorably.
But as the debate continued to simmer and tempers flared, Senate President Therese Murray inexplicably slammed on the brakes and called for a recess, so Democrats could hash out their differences outside of public view.
See: Secret Statehouse
The Perils of One-Party Politics: The Ruling Party
The Perils of One-Party Politics: Massachusetts' Democracy
And yet the state is filled with so many self-righteous shits!
When the closed caucus emerged, the five-year ban had been shaved to one year, though the change was not publicly announced before the vote. The Senate quickly passed the amendment 36 to 1. Debate on the entire casino bill continues next week.
“Most people don’t pay attention or understand the political process,’’ said Peter Ubertaccio, a Stonehill College political scientist who watched the debate yesterday. “But what people will understand is when a major political party goes into closed caucus and makes it easier for themselves to get jobs when they leave.’’
Legislators have tremendous power to influence private industry, Ubertaccio said, and the potential exists for them to profit personally from the decisions they make.
Only Republicans do that -- or so I was told.
“People are going to perceive them as more corrupt because they have only put one year between themselves and jobs with the casino industry,’’ he said.
Hard to believe that pieces of shit could stink more.
Senate Republicans, shut out of the private debate among Democrats, delighted in the inter-party dispute on the other side of the aisle.
“Nice to see a little passion here once in a while rather than a bunch of sheep,’’ said Senator Robert Hedlund, a Weymouth Republican, in comments to reporters. He said he favored the more severe five-year ban. “I sat next to Wilkerson for a while. I sat next to Marzilli.’’
He was referring to Dianne Wilkerson and James Marzilli who, along with Anthony Galluccio, left the Senate in disgrace amid a flurry of legal problems.
Related:
Slow Saturday Special: Professor Wilkerson Cuts Her Own Class
Marzilli Down the Memory Hole
Cambridge's Conquering Hero
Republicans are outnumbered 36 to 4 in the Massachusetts Senate.
Brewer told reporters that a one-year ban is “the industry standard.’’ Five years, he said, was “an arbitrary number.’’ A casino bill passed by the House does not contain similar language; a conference committee would eventually have to reconcile the two bills.
After the vote, Murray defended her decision to usher her members into closed session to work out their differences. She said the same arguments the public heard on the floor were the arguments repeated in the private discussion.
Then why, she was asked, shouldn’t the public see that debate?
“I think they had a very hearty debate on the floor,’’ she said.
Following the vote, casino opponents were mum on what happened in the caucus. Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Boston Democrat and casino critic, said that she and several other senators made themselves available for interviews to account for their votes. “I think it’s a stretch to say this was done in secret,’’ she said.
Eldridge, the senator who started the whole debate, called the one-year ban progress.
He declined to say how his colleagues persuaded him to give up on the tougher language. “That’s part of the caucus process that is private,’’ he said.
And you wonder why I have lost faith in Democrats?
--more--"
"Politicians could leave to go work at casinos; Gambling bill has no waiting period for Beacon Hill" by Noah Bierman Globe Staff / September 29, 2011
Governor Deval Patrick does not appear willing to insist on a stricter measure to prohibit lawmakers from joining casino companies directly upon, or just shortly after, leaving office.
After questions from the Globe yesterday, his spokesman, Alex Goldstein, offered a noncommittal response.
“As this bill continues to evolve throughout the legislative process, Governor Patrick is supportive of measures that are in line with the landmark ethics reform bill that he signed last term,’’ Goldstein said in an e-mail message.
The ethics reform bill signed by Patrick has a one-year cooling-off period before former lawmakers can lobby the Legislature.
That bill also extended to the Executive Branch.
But the prohibition applies only to lobbying. It does not ban outgoing lawmakers from taking jobs with casinos or other industries, regardless of whether they are regulated by the state.
On Tuesday, the Senate declined to impose a five-year cooling off period for lawmakers, instead agreeing on an amendment to its casino bill that would allow senators and representatives to work for casinos one year after leaving office. The House has no cooling-off period in its version of the casino bill, passed earlier this month.
The two sides will have to negotiate their differences before approving a final casino compromise.
If the House prevails in negotiations, lawmakers will be allowed under the expanded gambling law to resign from the House or Senate and immediately work for the casino industry, which would be dependent on Beacon Hill for its existence, its tax rate, and its regulations.
The Senate provision would delay that for a year.
The revolving door between lawmakers and the businesses they regulate has often been the subject of public criticism.
Patrick’s former chief of staff, Doug Rubin, has drawn criticism on the matter.
Since leaving the administration to become a lobbyist and private political consultant, he has been representing GTech Corp., a casino equipment manufacturer.
Rubin’s representation of GTech has also become an issue in the current US Senate election.
Rubin is working as the top political strategist for Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren, who has campaigned against the outsized influence of corporations in politics.
Warren is a gamble I guess.
Nonetheless, his GTech work has not violated state ethics rules or laws.
Just because the state says it isn't a conflict-of-interest.... pffffft!
--more--"
Now who in Washington could set a good example?
"Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts pledged yesterday to give up tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions he received from board members of an online poker company accused by US prosecutors this week of running an international Ponzi scheme."
Also see: Arts groups wage effort to ease impact of new venues
I fold, readers.
"From Pennsylvania, a cautionary tale of casino profits trailed by corruption" by Noah Bierman Globe Staff / September 25, 2011
Now they tells us after it is a done deal.
PHILADELPHIA - Few states have a more compelling story to tell about how casino gambling is helping to balance the government’s books than Pennsylvania. Just five years after its first slot parlor opened, Pennsylvania now has 10 full-scale casinos, paying an annual $1.3 billion in taxes. That’s more revenue than New Jersey, Nevada, or any other state in the country.
Yet Pennsylvania’s story is also about how badly things can go wrong within the halls of government when billions of dollars are at stake. The financial success of Pennsylvania’s casinos was built on the ambitious scope of the effort and the rich profitability of the industry, but also on a foundation of cronyism, patronage, and back-room deals, not to mention overlooked criminal histories and alleged mob ties, according to a grand jury report released earlier this year.
As if Massachusetts needed more of that.
The report concluded that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board - which was created to protect taxpayers’ interests - had instead looked after the industry, that it had taken “the public policy objectives and essentially turned them on their head.’’
That is what government does, duh!!
“It’s that kind of scandalous beginning that launched this experiment with casinos in Pennsylvania,’’ said state Representative Curt Schroder, a Republican who chairs the House Gaming Oversight Committee. “If you weren’t on the inside, you didn’t stand a chance.’’
As Massachusetts lawmakers prepare to embrace the riches that gambling venues can bring, the Pennsylvania experience could serve as a cautionary tale, a reminder of the vigilance necessary to protect the integrity of the casino development process. It’s a lesson that resonates in a state with its own rich history of patronage and public corruption, where just in recent weeks two former state officials were indicted and the former house speaker was sentenced to prison on corruption charges.
“The notion that somehow Massachusetts is going to do it differently is naive, and it’s not based in reality,’’ said Les Bernal, executive director of the Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation, which opposes the state’s casino legislation. Bernal points out that many of the casino operators in Pennsylvania have shown active interest in opening casinos in Massachusetts.
I've found that AmeriKa isn't based in reality.
But lawmakers who crafted the Massachusetts bill say that they are cognizant of what happened in Pennsylvania and have taken steps to guard against the inevitable temptations that come when the government creates and begins regulating a multibillion dollar industry overnight.
Uh-huh.
In 2004, Pennsylvania’s Legislature - then led by Republicans - approved casinos, helping the Democratic governor, Ed Rendell, fulfill his top campaign promise: property tax relief through casino windfalls....
:-(
Rendell, whose term ended in January, remains a strong advocate, saying casinos have had “virtually none of the downsides that people’’ predicted. He said the grand jury report was “overblown, if you look at the number of venues we had and the number of people who had ties to organized crime.’’
To Rendell and other boosters, the casinos have been an unmitigated success, employing 15,000 people, including 6,000 who came on last year when the state added black jack, roulette, and other table games.
But critics say the social and public safety costs outweigh the tax benefits. One casino, for example, had a rash of incidents in which parents left their children in cars so they could go in and play the slots.
Doug Harbach, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania board, said the state’s timing was lucky, because the first casino opened in 2006, before the economic meltdown. That luck did not extend to all the state’s casinos, however. The site of one of two casinos planned for Philadelphia’s waterfront remains a vacant thicket of weeds growing behind barbed wire. The developer, Foxwoods, faced intense neighborhood opposition and then missed several financing deadlines. The gaming commission finally revoked its license last year, and the matter is now in court.
Gee, I can't imagine why.
In an industrial section of Philadelphia’s waterfront, across from a meat-packing plant and beside a set of new high-rise condominiums, a casino called SugarHouse is the newest of the state’s 10 casinos.
It celebrated its one-year anniversary last week with $5 cocktails, a chance to win a Mercedes, and live music yesterday from The Hooters, a pop act known for the 1980s hit “And We Danced.’’
Free “Sugar Express’’ trolley buses, painted with the slogan “Philly loves a winner,’’ roll all over town to pick up customers, competing against double-decker buses that charge to see the city’s historic sites.
Inside the casino, it feels like nighttime, even on a weekday afternoon. Amid the electronic blinging and clanging noises and heavy cigarette smoke, some players cheer at the craps table, while less animated patrons insert coins into a Wizard of Oz themed slot machine.
Work crews are reconfiguring the floor, to add more table games that have soared in popularity.
“It’s all right,’’ said Dave Melan, a 44-year-old carpenter who says he plays slots and craps once a week or so. “In the beginning, they’re all the same. They pay out pretty good.’’
But Melan is down $50 and his girlfriend, Debbie Ryan, said she’s done even worse.
“I don’t have any money left over,’’ Ryan said.
It’s time to go home....
Massachusetts lawmakers say they have learned from other states, including Pennsylvania, and inoculated themselves against such problems by creating an independent commission, subject to the open meeting law, whose budget is not approved by legislators and whose members are appointed by the governor, the attorney general, and the treasurer. The state police will investigate everyone associated with any aspect of the gambling board or the industry, even outside vendors, renewing employee background checks yearly....
--more--"
Yeah, good thing nothing like that will happen in Massachusetts.
About those checks:
"Senators OK casino check on employees; They would review immigration status" September 27, 2011|By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff
The size of the casino bill and the money that would come to the state from casinos has encouraged lawmakers to use the legislation as a vehicle for a host of pet causes. An amendment to spend casino money to improve fire stations, for example, was voted down yesterday, as was one to let paid professionals run charity poker tournaments. A measure to devote more casino profits to local tourist development funds was approved.
Senator Bruce E. Tarr, Republican of Gloucester and the minority leader, said during the debate that lawmakers are counting up ways to spend the new casino dollars, even if they have not yet received them.
“You can feel the excitement about the prospect of new money,’’ Tarr said....
I'm feeling something, readers, and it sure isn't excitement.
The Senate is expected to continue debating amendments today, before taking the rest of the week off for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year....
--more--"
Maybe I should start taking time off from the Boston Globe.
"Senate kills five-year ban on taking casino jobs; One-year prohibition OK’d for legislators" September 28, 2011|By Mark Arsenault, Globe Staff
A state Senate proposal to impose a five-year ban on former lawmakers taking casino jobs triggered an uproar yesterday by Democratic senators who abruptly broke off a heated public debate to rewrite the measure in secret.
I was raised to believe Democrats had better ethics than Republicans. WTF?
An hour later, and with no further discussion, the Senate approved a watered-down, one-year restriction.
Massachusetts democracy in action!
Lawmakers’ rationale for weakening the bill may be hard to explain outside the marble corridors of the State House: They said that a strong prohibition would only feed the public’s perception that lawmakers cannot be trusted.
Remember what I said above about reality?
“We’re creating a presumption that the people in this body cannot operate with integrity,’’ complained Senator Gale Candaras, Democrat from Wilbraham. “It’s bad law. It’s bad precedent.’’
Already got a job lined up, 'eh?
But the Legislature has not been without its high-profile problems. The past three House speakers have been indicted; the most recent, Salvatore F. DiMasi, was sentenced this month to eight years in federal prison for political corruption.
Yeah, they sure have proven how much integrity they have over there.
The five-year ban was proposed by James Eldridge, an Acton Democrat, who argued in the public portion of the debate yesterday that the bill authorizing three casinos and one slot parlor should only be an economic development program for the state, “It should not be an economic bill for legislators.’’ He said a five-year ban would address any perception or public cynicism that legislators might be motivated by personal interest to support the casino bill.
Members of Senate leadership were already working the floor to urge a no vote on the amendment. But when they met unexpected pushback from legislators, they tried a different course, signaling that they would go along with the ban, even though they didn’t agree with it.
“We will support this amendment,’’ said Senator Stephen Brewer, a Barre Democrat and Ways and Means Committee chair, in angry remarks from the floor, “but I reject and resent its implications.’’ He said “98 percent’’ of all the people he has served with in the Senate have been hard workers who served honorably.
But as the debate continued to simmer and tempers flared, Senate President Therese Murray inexplicably slammed on the brakes and called for a recess, so Democrats could hash out their differences outside of public view.
See: Secret Statehouse
The Perils of One-Party Politics: The Ruling Party
The Perils of One-Party Politics: Massachusetts' Democracy
And yet the state is filled with so many self-righteous shits!
When the closed caucus emerged, the five-year ban had been shaved to one year, though the change was not publicly announced before the vote. The Senate quickly passed the amendment 36 to 1. Debate on the entire casino bill continues next week.
“Most people don’t pay attention or understand the political process,’’ said Peter Ubertaccio, a Stonehill College political scientist who watched the debate yesterday. “But what people will understand is when a major political party goes into closed caucus and makes it easier for themselves to get jobs when they leave.’’
Legislators have tremendous power to influence private industry, Ubertaccio said, and the potential exists for them to profit personally from the decisions they make.
Only Republicans do that -- or so I was told.
“People are going to perceive them as more corrupt because they have only put one year between themselves and jobs with the casino industry,’’ he said.
Hard to believe that pieces of shit could stink more.
Senate Republicans, shut out of the private debate among Democrats, delighted in the inter-party dispute on the other side of the aisle.
“Nice to see a little passion here once in a while rather than a bunch of sheep,’’ said Senator Robert Hedlund, a Weymouth Republican, in comments to reporters. He said he favored the more severe five-year ban. “I sat next to Wilkerson for a while. I sat next to Marzilli.’’
He was referring to Dianne Wilkerson and James Marzilli who, along with Anthony Galluccio, left the Senate in disgrace amid a flurry of legal problems.
Related:
Slow Saturday Special: Professor Wilkerson Cuts Her Own Class
Marzilli Down the Memory Hole
Cambridge's Conquering Hero
Republicans are outnumbered 36 to 4 in the Massachusetts Senate.
Brewer told reporters that a one-year ban is “the industry standard.’’ Five years, he said, was “an arbitrary number.’’ A casino bill passed by the House does not contain similar language; a conference committee would eventually have to reconcile the two bills.
After the vote, Murray defended her decision to usher her members into closed session to work out their differences. She said the same arguments the public heard on the floor were the arguments repeated in the private discussion.
Then why, she was asked, shouldn’t the public see that debate?
“I think they had a very hearty debate on the floor,’’ she said.
Following the vote, casino opponents were mum on what happened in the caucus. Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Boston Democrat and casino critic, said that she and several other senators made themselves available for interviews to account for their votes. “I think it’s a stretch to say this was done in secret,’’ she said.
Eldridge, the senator who started the whole debate, called the one-year ban progress.
He declined to say how his colleagues persuaded him to give up on the tougher language. “That’s part of the caucus process that is private,’’ he said.
And you wonder why I have lost faith in Democrats?
--more--"
"Politicians could leave to go work at casinos; Gambling bill has no waiting period for Beacon Hill" by Noah Bierman Globe Staff / September 29, 2011
Governor Deval Patrick does not appear willing to insist on a stricter measure to prohibit lawmakers from joining casino companies directly upon, or just shortly after, leaving office.
After questions from the Globe yesterday, his spokesman, Alex Goldstein, offered a noncommittal response.
“As this bill continues to evolve throughout the legislative process, Governor Patrick is supportive of measures that are in line with the landmark ethics reform bill that he signed last term,’’ Goldstein said in an e-mail message.
The ethics reform bill signed by Patrick has a one-year cooling-off period before former lawmakers can lobby the Legislature.
That bill also extended to the Executive Branch.
But the prohibition applies only to lobbying. It does not ban outgoing lawmakers from taking jobs with casinos or other industries, regardless of whether they are regulated by the state.
On Tuesday, the Senate declined to impose a five-year cooling off period for lawmakers, instead agreeing on an amendment to its casino bill that would allow senators and representatives to work for casinos one year after leaving office. The House has no cooling-off period in its version of the casino bill, passed earlier this month.
The two sides will have to negotiate their differences before approving a final casino compromise.
If the House prevails in negotiations, lawmakers will be allowed under the expanded gambling law to resign from the House or Senate and immediately work for the casino industry, which would be dependent on Beacon Hill for its existence, its tax rate, and its regulations.
The Senate provision would delay that for a year.
The revolving door between lawmakers and the businesses they regulate has often been the subject of public criticism.
Patrick’s former chief of staff, Doug Rubin, has drawn criticism on the matter.
Since leaving the administration to become a lobbyist and private political consultant, he has been representing GTech Corp., a casino equipment manufacturer.
Rubin’s representation of GTech has also become an issue in the current US Senate election.
Rubin is working as the top political strategist for Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren, who has campaigned against the outsized influence of corporations in politics.
Warren is a gamble I guess.
Nonetheless, his GTech work has not violated state ethics rules or laws.
Just because the state says it isn't a conflict-of-interest.... pffffft!
--more--"
Now who in Washington could set a good example?
"Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts pledged yesterday to give up tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions he received from board members of an online poker company accused by US prosecutors this week of running an international Ponzi scheme."
Also see: Arts groups wage effort to ease impact of new venues
I fold, readers.
Globe's Cross-Country Road Trip
I hope you don't mind if I'm kind of quiet during the car ride.
"Mass. balks at Arizona licenses; Immigrants cite language barrier" by Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff / September 19, 2011
State Police are investigating hundreds of people who converted Arizona driver’s licenses to Massachusetts licenses, according to a police spokesman, and since October the state has suspended the driving rights of 124 of them.
Authorities said they have not found national security or identity fraud cases, but immigrants whose language barrier kept them from getting a Massachusetts license, so they traveled to Arizona to take advantage of more flexible options....
The pipeline from Massachusetts to Arizona has triggered a debate over how to serve hundreds of struggling refugees - legal immigrants who often have large families and need to work - while ensuring safety on the road....
Abdikadir Mohamed of Lynn is among the immigrants who joined a stream of refugees from Somalia, Bhutan, and Burma who caught flights to Arizona, obtained licenses, and returned to Massachusetts to exchange them, only to have them suspended.
The father of six said he needed a license to safely commute to the graveyard shift at a factory and to ferry his children to their separate schools. But, because of language barriers, he failed the written driving test twice, before he heard about a solution sweeping refugee communities across the state: He could get a driver’s license if he traveled more than 2,000 miles to Arizona.
“You go because you don’t have any other option,’’ said Mohamed, 55, through a translator at the Chelsea Collaborative, where he is studying to become a US citizen. “The people speak my language there.’’ He said he is bewildered by Massachusetts’ actions against him.
We all are in agreement there, barrier or not!!
To get a license in Massachusetts, eligible applicants must first pass a written learner’s permit test and then a road test, and pay fees and meet other requirements. To accommodate immigrants, Massachusetts offers the written test in English and 26 other languages, which state officials say is second only to California. State policy against allowing translators is designed to prevent fraud, officials said.
Rachel Kaprielian, head of the state Registry of Motor Vehicles, says the refugees broke the law by going to Arizona, and could have sought other help to pass the test, such as signing up for English classes or other programs offered through the state.
“You have to follow a set of rules,’’ she said, and added: “That doesn’t change if you came over on the Mayflower or if you just got here from a refugee camp. The same level of public safety applies. This isn’t about immigrant populations.’’
That is such double-talk from a government that says it cares about immigrants, blah, blah, blah, says it's relaxing the standards to only snare criminals, yet still operates a prison-industrial complex and whose elite prey and depend on illegal immigrant labor. The same system that has been promoted ad nauseam by the mouthpiece media pretending to look out for you.
And the Pilgrims, what rules did they have to follow? The Indians of North America had their own ICE back then? Then theirs failed. Look at what happened. An undeniable Holocaust.
She said the state suspended the licenses for 60 days and told violators they would have to pay a $100 reinstatement fee and take the permit test and road test to get a license here.
Ha-ha-ha-ha!
It ALWAY$ COME$ DOWN to THAT when it come$ to GOVERNMENT!!
Advocates say that while the state does offer the driving test in many languages, the options are out of date - featuring Finnish and Hungarian, but not the languages of Somali Bantus or other recent refugees. The list needs to be expanded, they say.
“Driving is absolutely crucial today for survival,’’ said Jozefina Lantz, director of services for new Americans at Lutheran Social Services of New England, an agency that helps to resettle refugees. “Refugees were really undermined here.’’
Aweis Hussein, a community organizer at the nonprofit Chelsea Collaborative, urged Massachusetts to allow translators for the written test, like Maine and a limited number of other states do.
“The main obstacle is getting that permit, the written test,’’ Hussein said. “They don’t have to provide an interpreter. We can help. But they need to let us do it.’’
Nationwide, fewer than a handful of states routinely allow people to use translators to take the written driving test because of concerns for public safety, said Brian Zimmer, president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License, a Washington-based nonprofit that favors strong standards for licenses to prevent terrorism, crime, and identity theft. States discovered that many drivers who took the test via translators did not truly know the rules or road signs, he added.
In Arizona, state and federal officials are particularly investigating whether refugees exploited a provision that allows people to skip the written and road tests by taking lessons and obtaining a certificate from a state-approved driving school, said Harold Sanders, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Transportation.
The issue also raised questions about Arizona’s residency requirement. Unlike Massachusetts, which requires driver’s license applicants to provide proof of residency, Arizona has no such requirement.
To some, the greater flexibility in Arizona’s licensing process was surprising since it has been in the news for passing a strict law last year to combat illegal immigration.
Sanders said Arizona does require license applicants to prove they are in the country legally. Arizona also requires multiple documents to verify identity before issuing a license, he said.
Mohamed, who survived war in Somalia and 13 years in a squalid refugee camp before the United States granted him refuge, said he knows how to drive; he drove a tractor in Africa and understands road signs and rules. But English was his main barrier.
The wars cost you in more ways than you can believe, Americans. Not only do they drain our soul and spirit while stealing our money, they create situations like this where we take in refugees. Admittedly, the U.S. has created far more refugees than it has ever accepted; however, that's a problem for someone else (like Syria taking in millions of Iraqis for example).
He went to Arizona after spending $60 on two failed tests, signed up for driving lessons in Phoenix and passed. Because he obtained a certificate from the driving school, according to Sanders, Mohamed was not required to take the state tests.
Mohamed said he felt humiliated and afraid to take the Massachusetts test again, because of the state’s actions. But he feels pressure to try, so he can support his family and relatives, transport his children, and make life easier.
Now, he says, to go to the supermarket, his family walks a mile each way. When his young son broke a leg two years ago, they had to call a taxi to take him to the hospital.
“I want to get the license to help the kids, but they slammed the door now,’’ he said.
And how can you be against helping kids, readers?
--more--"
Honestly, I can't tell you how sick I am of having my thoughts and emotions manipulated by the agenda-pushing paper.
So who is the designated driver on this trip?
"Illegal immigrant charged with 6th DUI in Boxborough; Marlborough man arrested on I-495 ramp" September 26, 2011|By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff
A Marlborough man, who was in the country illegally and had been previously deported, was arrested Saturday morning in Boxborough on his sixth drunken driving charge, police said.
Boxborough police said that Eduardo Alementa Torres, 48, who is originally from Mexico, was driving a 1988 Chevrolet pickup truck with an expired inspection sticker when an officer saw him at about 10:45 a.m. on the southbound ramp from Massachusetts Avenue to Interstate 495 and pulled him over....
Police said Torres had no identification on him and gave the officer a false name. Torres was identified when police ran his fingerprints through an automated identification system, and police also learned that he had three prior drunken driving convictions in California and two in Massachusetts, authorities said.
Police said that Torres is a previously deported fugitive wanted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
But we should give them all licenses.
In a phone interview, Torres’s brother, who requested his name not be used, said his brother, who called him from jail, works as a landscaper and has lived in Massachusetts for about five years....
Torres’s arrest comes amid growing controversy in the Bay State over illegal immigration....
The debate over Secure Communities was reignited in August after Nicolas Guaman, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador with traffic violations, was accused of running over and killing Matthew Denice, 23, a motorcyclist in Milford, while intoxicated.
See: Immigrants on the Move in Massachusetts
Immigration issues were also spotlighted recently when President Obama’s uncle, Onyango Obama, 67, was arrested Aug. 24 in Framingham on drunken driving and other charges and found to be in violation of a 1992 order to return to his native Kenya....
Related: Obama's Uncle Owes Back Taxes
I'll get back to that a little further below.
--more--"
"Drunken driving suspect had been deported 3 times" September 27, 2011|By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff
An illegal immigrant from Mexico arrested this weekend in Boxborough on a sixth drunken driving charge had returned to the United States despite having been deported three times, federal officials said yesterday.
Eduardo Alementa Torres, a 48-year-old landscaper who lived in Marlborough, had multiple drunken driving convictions, two in Massachusetts and three in California, according to Cara O’Brien, spokeswoman for the Middlesex district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting his case....
If I had done that they would have taken my license away.
--more--"
Related:
"Senators OK casino check on employees; They would review immigration status" September 27, 2011|By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff
State senators approved a measure yesterday that would require casino developers to verify their employees’ immigration status using a federal electronic database, thrusting the casino debate into a national controversy over immigration enforcement....
--more--"
Also see: R.I. education board OK’s in-state tuition for undocumented students
"Nearly 2,000 criminal immigrants detained" Associated Press / September 29, 2011
WASHINGTON - After months of complaints from immigrant advocates, the Obama administration promised in August that immigration authorities would start focusing their scarce resources on finding and deporting serious criminals and largely leave alone immigrants whose only offense was crossing the border illegally.
To prove the point, more than 1,900 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials spent the last week arresting nearly 3,000 criminal illegal immigrants in a nationwide sweep.
A public relations piece of propaganda.
Everyone arrested had at least one criminal conviction, and more than half were convicted of at least one felony. They will now face deportation.
The immigration agency’s director, John Morton, said yesterday that the roundup was its largest effort to hunt down criminal illegal immigrants.
“This is what we should be doing; this is good law enforcement,’’ he said. “It makes sense to be removing people who are committing crimes who are here illegally first and foremost.’’
There are still an estimated 1 million criminal illegal immigrants in the country, he said.
The immigration agency has been widely criticized in recent months for using fingerprints collected in local jails to identify illegal immigrants. Many of the people identified through the Secure Communities program have not been convicted of a crime, only charged, and have been arrested for traffic violations or other misdemeanors.
Like DUIs in Massachusetts.
And how you liking that promised AmeriKan justice? It's not what the agenda-pushing pamphlet promised, is it?
In an Aug. 18 letter to a group of senators who have pushed for immigration reform, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said officials from DHS and the Justice Department would review approximately 300,000 deportation cases pending in federal immigration court.
At the time, officials said most noncriminals and those who do not pose a threat to public safety or national security would likely have their cases put on hold indefinitely. Those people would be allowed to stay and apply for a work permit.
Critics have argued that delaying some deportation cases amounts to amnesty for thousands of illegal immigrants.
Morton said yesterday that the review has not started. But agents in the field have been instructed to use discretion in evaluating who should be arrested and put in the system for deportation.
--more--"
And remember what I said about getting back to the money?
"Unauthorized US workers claim $4.2b in tax credits" September 02, 2011|By Andrew Zajac, Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON - Tax filers who were not authorized to work in the United States collected $4.2 billion in tax credits in 2010, a Treasury Department watchdog reported yesterday.
Although federal law prohibits people residing illegally from receiving most public benefits, an increasing number filed tax returns claiming the additional child tax credit, according to J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.
“The payment of federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive for aliens to enter, reside, and work in the United States without authorization, which contradicts federal law and policy to remove such incentives,’’ the report said.
The recipients did not qualify for Social Security numbers and filed returns with taxpayer identification numbers supplied by the Internal Revenue Service....
The IRS doesn't care where the money comes from; it just wants the taxes!
Income earned illegally is subject to taxation.
It is my contention that the IRS is illegal.
Watch: America: Freedom to Fascism
Identification numbers are provided so that workers can comply with tax laws even if they do not have the work authorization necessary for a Social Security number.
I think I just caught a whiff of fascism in a sentence.
--more--"
"Mass. balks at Arizona licenses; Immigrants cite language barrier" by Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff / September 19, 2011
State Police are investigating hundreds of people who converted Arizona driver’s licenses to Massachusetts licenses, according to a police spokesman, and since October the state has suspended the driving rights of 124 of them.
Authorities said they have not found national security or identity fraud cases, but immigrants whose language barrier kept them from getting a Massachusetts license, so they traveled to Arizona to take advantage of more flexible options....
The pipeline from Massachusetts to Arizona has triggered a debate over how to serve hundreds of struggling refugees - legal immigrants who often have large families and need to work - while ensuring safety on the road....
Abdikadir Mohamed of Lynn is among the immigrants who joined a stream of refugees from Somalia, Bhutan, and Burma who caught flights to Arizona, obtained licenses, and returned to Massachusetts to exchange them, only to have them suspended.
The father of six said he needed a license to safely commute to the graveyard shift at a factory and to ferry his children to their separate schools. But, because of language barriers, he failed the written driving test twice, before he heard about a solution sweeping refugee communities across the state: He could get a driver’s license if he traveled more than 2,000 miles to Arizona.
“You go because you don’t have any other option,’’ said Mohamed, 55, through a translator at the Chelsea Collaborative, where he is studying to become a US citizen. “The people speak my language there.’’ He said he is bewildered by Massachusetts’ actions against him.
We all are in agreement there, barrier or not!!
To get a license in Massachusetts, eligible applicants must first pass a written learner’s permit test and then a road test, and pay fees and meet other requirements. To accommodate immigrants, Massachusetts offers the written test in English and 26 other languages, which state officials say is second only to California. State policy against allowing translators is designed to prevent fraud, officials said.
Rachel Kaprielian, head of the state Registry of Motor Vehicles, says the refugees broke the law by going to Arizona, and could have sought other help to pass the test, such as signing up for English classes or other programs offered through the state.
“You have to follow a set of rules,’’ she said, and added: “That doesn’t change if you came over on the Mayflower or if you just got here from a refugee camp. The same level of public safety applies. This isn’t about immigrant populations.’’
That is such double-talk from a government that says it cares about immigrants, blah, blah, blah, says it's relaxing the standards to only snare criminals, yet still operates a prison-industrial complex and whose elite prey and depend on illegal immigrant labor. The same system that has been promoted ad nauseam by the mouthpiece media pretending to look out for you.
And the Pilgrims, what rules did they have to follow? The Indians of North America had their own ICE back then? Then theirs failed. Look at what happened. An undeniable Holocaust.
She said the state suspended the licenses for 60 days and told violators they would have to pay a $100 reinstatement fee and take the permit test and road test to get a license here.
Ha-ha-ha-ha!
It ALWAY$ COME$ DOWN to THAT when it come$ to GOVERNMENT!!
Advocates say that while the state does offer the driving test in many languages, the options are out of date - featuring Finnish and Hungarian, but not the languages of Somali Bantus or other recent refugees. The list needs to be expanded, they say.
“Driving is absolutely crucial today for survival,’’ said Jozefina Lantz, director of services for new Americans at Lutheran Social Services of New England, an agency that helps to resettle refugees. “Refugees were really undermined here.’’
Aweis Hussein, a community organizer at the nonprofit Chelsea Collaborative, urged Massachusetts to allow translators for the written test, like Maine and a limited number of other states do.
“The main obstacle is getting that permit, the written test,’’ Hussein said. “They don’t have to provide an interpreter. We can help. But they need to let us do it.’’
Nationwide, fewer than a handful of states routinely allow people to use translators to take the written driving test because of concerns for public safety, said Brian Zimmer, president of the Coalition for a Secure Driver’s License, a Washington-based nonprofit that favors strong standards for licenses to prevent terrorism, crime, and identity theft. States discovered that many drivers who took the test via translators did not truly know the rules or road signs, he added.
In Arizona, state and federal officials are particularly investigating whether refugees exploited a provision that allows people to skip the written and road tests by taking lessons and obtaining a certificate from a state-approved driving school, said Harold Sanders, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Transportation.
The issue also raised questions about Arizona’s residency requirement. Unlike Massachusetts, which requires driver’s license applicants to provide proof of residency, Arizona has no such requirement.
To some, the greater flexibility in Arizona’s licensing process was surprising since it has been in the news for passing a strict law last year to combat illegal immigration.
Sanders said Arizona does require license applicants to prove they are in the country legally. Arizona also requires multiple documents to verify identity before issuing a license, he said.
Mohamed, who survived war in Somalia and 13 years in a squalid refugee camp before the United States granted him refuge, said he knows how to drive; he drove a tractor in Africa and understands road signs and rules. But English was his main barrier.
The wars cost you in more ways than you can believe, Americans. Not only do they drain our soul and spirit while stealing our money, they create situations like this where we take in refugees. Admittedly, the U.S. has created far more refugees than it has ever accepted; however, that's a problem for someone else (like Syria taking in millions of Iraqis for example).
He went to Arizona after spending $60 on two failed tests, signed up for driving lessons in Phoenix and passed. Because he obtained a certificate from the driving school, according to Sanders, Mohamed was not required to take the state tests.
Mohamed said he felt humiliated and afraid to take the Massachusetts test again, because of the state’s actions. But he feels pressure to try, so he can support his family and relatives, transport his children, and make life easier.
Now, he says, to go to the supermarket, his family walks a mile each way. When his young son broke a leg two years ago, they had to call a taxi to take him to the hospital.
“I want to get the license to help the kids, but they slammed the door now,’’ he said.
And how can you be against helping kids, readers?
--more--"
Honestly, I can't tell you how sick I am of having my thoughts and emotions manipulated by the agenda-pushing paper.
So who is the designated driver on this trip?
"Illegal immigrant charged with 6th DUI in Boxborough; Marlborough man arrested on I-495 ramp" September 26, 2011|By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff
A Marlborough man, who was in the country illegally and had been previously deported, was arrested Saturday morning in Boxborough on his sixth drunken driving charge, police said.
Boxborough police said that Eduardo Alementa Torres, 48, who is originally from Mexico, was driving a 1988 Chevrolet pickup truck with an expired inspection sticker when an officer saw him at about 10:45 a.m. on the southbound ramp from Massachusetts Avenue to Interstate 495 and pulled him over....
Police said Torres had no identification on him and gave the officer a false name. Torres was identified when police ran his fingerprints through an automated identification system, and police also learned that he had three prior drunken driving convictions in California and two in Massachusetts, authorities said.
Police said that Torres is a previously deported fugitive wanted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
But we should give them all licenses.
In a phone interview, Torres’s brother, who requested his name not be used, said his brother, who called him from jail, works as a landscaper and has lived in Massachusetts for about five years....
Torres’s arrest comes amid growing controversy in the Bay State over illegal immigration....
The debate over Secure Communities was reignited in August after Nicolas Guaman, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador with traffic violations, was accused of running over and killing Matthew Denice, 23, a motorcyclist in Milford, while intoxicated.
See: Immigrants on the Move in Massachusetts
Immigration issues were also spotlighted recently when President Obama’s uncle, Onyango Obama, 67, was arrested Aug. 24 in Framingham on drunken driving and other charges and found to be in violation of a 1992 order to return to his native Kenya....
Related: Obama's Uncle Owes Back Taxes
I'll get back to that a little further below.
--more--"
"Drunken driving suspect had been deported 3 times" September 27, 2011|By Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff
An illegal immigrant from Mexico arrested this weekend in Boxborough on a sixth drunken driving charge had returned to the United States despite having been deported three times, federal officials said yesterday.
Eduardo Alementa Torres, a 48-year-old landscaper who lived in Marlborough, had multiple drunken driving convictions, two in Massachusetts and three in California, according to Cara O’Brien, spokeswoman for the Middlesex district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting his case....
If I had done that they would have taken my license away.
--more--"
Related:
"Senators OK casino check on employees; They would review immigration status" September 27, 2011|By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff
State senators approved a measure yesterday that would require casino developers to verify their employees’ immigration status using a federal electronic database, thrusting the casino debate into a national controversy over immigration enforcement....
--more--"
Also see: R.I. education board OK’s in-state tuition for undocumented students
"Nearly 2,000 criminal immigrants detained" Associated Press / September 29, 2011
WASHINGTON - After months of complaints from immigrant advocates, the Obama administration promised in August that immigration authorities would start focusing their scarce resources on finding and deporting serious criminals and largely leave alone immigrants whose only offense was crossing the border illegally.
To prove the point, more than 1,900 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials spent the last week arresting nearly 3,000 criminal illegal immigrants in a nationwide sweep.
A public relations piece of propaganda.
Everyone arrested had at least one criminal conviction, and more than half were convicted of at least one felony. They will now face deportation.
The immigration agency’s director, John Morton, said yesterday that the roundup was its largest effort to hunt down criminal illegal immigrants.
“This is what we should be doing; this is good law enforcement,’’ he said. “It makes sense to be removing people who are committing crimes who are here illegally first and foremost.’’
There are still an estimated 1 million criminal illegal immigrants in the country, he said.
The immigration agency has been widely criticized in recent months for using fingerprints collected in local jails to identify illegal immigrants. Many of the people identified through the Secure Communities program have not been convicted of a crime, only charged, and have been arrested for traffic violations or other misdemeanors.
Like DUIs in Massachusetts.
And how you liking that promised AmeriKan justice? It's not what the agenda-pushing pamphlet promised, is it?
In an Aug. 18 letter to a group of senators who have pushed for immigration reform, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said officials from DHS and the Justice Department would review approximately 300,000 deportation cases pending in federal immigration court.
At the time, officials said most noncriminals and those who do not pose a threat to public safety or national security would likely have their cases put on hold indefinitely. Those people would be allowed to stay and apply for a work permit.
Critics have argued that delaying some deportation cases amounts to amnesty for thousands of illegal immigrants.
Morton said yesterday that the review has not started. But agents in the field have been instructed to use discretion in evaluating who should be arrested and put in the system for deportation.
--more--"
And remember what I said about getting back to the money?
"Unauthorized US workers claim $4.2b in tax credits" September 02, 2011|By Andrew Zajac, Bloomberg News
WASHINGTON - Tax filers who were not authorized to work in the United States collected $4.2 billion in tax credits in 2010, a Treasury Department watchdog reported yesterday.
Although federal law prohibits people residing illegally from receiving most public benefits, an increasing number filed tax returns claiming the additional child tax credit, according to J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration.
“The payment of federal funds through this tax benefit appears to provide an additional incentive for aliens to enter, reside, and work in the United States without authorization, which contradicts federal law and policy to remove such incentives,’’ the report said.
The recipients did not qualify for Social Security numbers and filed returns with taxpayer identification numbers supplied by the Internal Revenue Service....
The IRS doesn't care where the money comes from; it just wants the taxes!
Income earned illegally is subject to taxation.
It is my contention that the IRS is illegal.
Watch: America: Freedom to Fascism
Identification numbers are provided so that workers can comply with tax laws even if they do not have the work authorization necessary for a Social Security number.
I think I just caught a whiff of fascism in a sentence.
--more--"
Part-Timing It With the Boston Globe
Or worse. I get about 6-7 pages in and want to put it down these days. At that point the inane garbage and agenda-pushing propaganda has usually exhausted me. I'm sorry, readers. I'm simply sick of the shit.
"Part-time workers on rise in Mass.; Many forced to settle for lower-pay jobs" September 26, 2011|By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff
The number of people who took part-time jobs because they were unable to find full-time work has grown nearly fourfold in Massachusetts since 2000 and has been accelerating at an alarming pace for much of this year, according to an analysis by Northeastern University.
It's the new economy, and the same devised by the globalist advocates in charge of the policies. This was on purpose, as was pushing poor indigenous people into cities and emigration.
I saw this coming decades ago, folks. I heard temporary workforce and knew what it meant.
In the first eight months of 2011, the number of so-called underemployed workers in the Bay State surged 18 percent to 200,500, a sign the economic recovery has been so weak - and companies so reluctant to hire - that many workers have little choice other than to take lower-paying jobs.
And CUI BONO?
And what recovery are they talking about? That only occurred at the top.
Oh, right, rich man's paper.
The rise of the underemployed in Massachusetts and across the country also might help explain why consumer spending, a key driver of the US economy, has been anemic and why the country could potentially fall back into a recession.
After we were told by all the genius experts, managers, and media mouthpieces that wouldn't happen, and after people who did suggest such years ago were insulted as idiots. You got two years of an Obama sugar high, folks. That was your manufactured recovery (borrowed at interest) so the government and media could claim recovery, blah, blah, blah.
“The problem has been very bad, and the size of it is something we haven’t seen before,’’ said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, who prepared the analysis for the Globe. “The magnitude of this is really hurting the economy badly.’’
But banks and corporations are clearing record profits if you skip through the business pages.
--more--"
Also see: Welcome to My World
But the Globe don't stay too long. I'm just returning the favor.
"Part-time workers on rise in Mass.; Many forced to settle for lower-pay jobs" September 26, 2011|By Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff
The number of people who took part-time jobs because they were unable to find full-time work has grown nearly fourfold in Massachusetts since 2000 and has been accelerating at an alarming pace for much of this year, according to an analysis by Northeastern University.
It's the new economy, and the same devised by the globalist advocates in charge of the policies. This was on purpose, as was pushing poor indigenous people into cities and emigration.
I saw this coming decades ago, folks. I heard temporary workforce and knew what it meant.
In the first eight months of 2011, the number of so-called underemployed workers in the Bay State surged 18 percent to 200,500, a sign the economic recovery has been so weak - and companies so reluctant to hire - that many workers have little choice other than to take lower-paying jobs.
And CUI BONO?
And what recovery are they talking about? That only occurred at the top.
Oh, right, rich man's paper.
The rise of the underemployed in Massachusetts and across the country also might help explain why consumer spending, a key driver of the US economy, has been anemic and why the country could potentially fall back into a recession.
After we were told by all the genius experts, managers, and media mouthpieces that wouldn't happen, and after people who did suggest such years ago were insulted as idiots. You got two years of an Obama sugar high, folks. That was your manufactured recovery (borrowed at interest) so the government and media could claim recovery, blah, blah, blah.
“The problem has been very bad, and the size of it is something we haven’t seen before,’’ said Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, who prepared the analysis for the Globe. “The magnitude of this is really hurting the economy badly.’’
But banks and corporations are clearing record profits if you skip through the business pages.
--more--"
Also see: Welcome to My World
But the Globe don't stay too long. I'm just returning the favor.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
China Stealing Solar Secrets
Then why are American companies moving there (I'll give you one gue$$)?
"Companies face persistent spy threat; Governments back espionage gambits as stakes go higher" by Hiawatha Bray Globe Staff / September 19, 2011
Corporate security analysts say that businesses are under constant threat from highly sophisticated intelligence operations, often sponsored by foreign governments, particularly China’s.
Another threat: unhappy or cash-strapped employees who are looking to peddle company secrets.
Dave Holley, senior managing director in the Boston office of Kroll Inc., a major corporate security company, said businesses are more vulnerable to spies now because they are scrimping on security to save money in a difficult economy....
Corporate espionage has evolved as thieves use digital technology and the Internet. Criminals use malware programs to infect company computers, just as identity thieves do to steal personal information from home machines.
Ira Winkler, author of “Spies Among Us,’’ a book on digital security, said the Chinese government has excelled in developing and deploying such malware.
“China has infiltrated pretty much every major company in the industrial world and is robbing them blind,’’ Winkler said, adding that it is not just China that is a culprit. “You’ve got Russia and Israel, too.’’
--more--"
Related: Data theft case may test US, China ties
That makes the front page of my agenda-pushing, Zionist War Daily.
Also see: The Israeli Spy Ring
Not on the front page (if it is in there at all).
"Battery maker cuts 30 Mass. jobs; Boston-Power expanding in China with private and government aid" by Erin Ailworth Globe Staff / September 20, 2011
Lithium-ion battery maker Boston-Power Inc. plans to cut about 30 jobs in Massachusetts as it expands in China, where the Westborough company is receiving $125 million in private equity and government support to build batteries for electric vehicles.
Under the deal, which Boston-Power officials are scheduled to detail today, the company will employ several hundred workers at a research and development center in Beijing and a manufacturing facility elsewhere in China, according to Christina Lampe-Onnerud, founder and international chairwoman. Boston-Power also will hire a new China-based chief executive and chief financial officer....
Boston-Power is one of dozens of Massachusetts companies with a growing presence in China, according to state officials. Many are attracted by low manufacturing costs.
This after you were told green jobs were was going to save America -- and they took your tax money, too.
A Boston-Power competitor, A123 Systems in Waltham, has two offices in China.
See: Not As Easy as One-Two-Three
Evergreen Solar, a Marlborough solar panel maker that recently filed for bankruptcy protection, has a factory in Wuhan, and American Superconductor Corp., which makes advanced technologies for wind turbines and power utilities, has sales, manufacturing, and service staff throughout China.
Related: Evergreen Defaults
And isn't American Superconductor the one that had their secrets stolen?
Julian Chang, executive director of the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, said it’s a challenge to prevent US clean-tech companies from being lured to China, mostly because of the large subsidies the Chinese government offers as enticements....
You taxpayers feeling like suckers yet?
Also see: US Taxpayers Burned by Solar Stimuloot
Biden's Moment in the Sun
That was a damn expensive photo op!
The $125 million in funding being used to woo Boston-Power comes in large part from GSR Ventures, a venture capital firm with offices in China and California that primarily invests in technology companies looking to expand in China....
That's what they are using pension funds and college endowments for, 'eh?
The deal was also contingent upon Boston-Power boosting its presence in China, a requirement that is not unusual, some industry observers said.
“The Chinese usually make that part of the process,’’ said Natixis Global Asset Management chief executive John T. Hailer, who oversees the Boston investment company’s business in the United States and Asia. “The Chinese [also] usually make you share technology.’’
Accused here they are accused of stealing it.
Lampe-Onnerud, who started Boston-Power in 2005, said the decision to expand in China was not an easy one, especially since she once hoped to increase the company’s manufacturing presence here in Massachusetts. But two years ago, her firm lost out on $100 million in federal stimulus money it had planned to use to build a 450,000-square-foot battery plant in Auburn.
“We had thousands of people rolled up in that plan,’’ Lampe-Onnerud said. “The day we were informed we did not get [that stimulus money], we were back on the China track.’’
Now, Boston-Power will shrink its Westborough staff by about 35 percent.
The job cuts could begin as early as this week, Lampe-Onnerud said.
But the Massachusetts economy keeps adding jobs every month says the Globe.
Hailer said that if the United States hopes to stem the number of jobs being lost to China or other countries with low-cost manufacturing, tax policies need to be fixed so that companies don’t have as many incentives to create jobs abroad.
EXCUSE ME? U.S. TAX POLICY gives INCENTIVES to CREATE JOBS ABROAD?
Well, WHOSE WONDERFUL IDEA was THAT?
He also said immigration and education policies need to be revamped so that foreign students educated here have an easier time finding work after they graduate.
And American kids?
Oh, right, military for them.
“Before we start blaming the Chinese for all our problems and for the companies leaving, we need to look at ourselves,’’ Hailer said.
I agree.
--more--"
Also see: Boston Battery-Maker Drained
So am I when it comes to charging into my Globe.
Related: GM, China, Boston Globe
US files complaint against Chinese chicken tariffs
"Companies face persistent spy threat; Governments back espionage gambits as stakes go higher" by Hiawatha Bray Globe Staff / September 19, 2011
Corporate security analysts say that businesses are under constant threat from highly sophisticated intelligence operations, often sponsored by foreign governments, particularly China’s.
Another threat: unhappy or cash-strapped employees who are looking to peddle company secrets.
Dave Holley, senior managing director in the Boston office of Kroll Inc., a major corporate security company, said businesses are more vulnerable to spies now because they are scrimping on security to save money in a difficult economy....
Corporate espionage has evolved as thieves use digital technology and the Internet. Criminals use malware programs to infect company computers, just as identity thieves do to steal personal information from home machines.
Ira Winkler, author of “Spies Among Us,’’ a book on digital security, said the Chinese government has excelled in developing and deploying such malware.
“China has infiltrated pretty much every major company in the industrial world and is robbing them blind,’’ Winkler said, adding that it is not just China that is a culprit. “You’ve got Russia and Israel, too.’’
--more--"
Related: Data theft case may test US, China ties
That makes the front page of my agenda-pushing, Zionist War Daily.
Also see: The Israeli Spy Ring
Not on the front page (if it is in there at all).
"Battery maker cuts 30 Mass. jobs; Boston-Power expanding in China with private and government aid" by Erin Ailworth Globe Staff / September 20, 2011
Lithium-ion battery maker Boston-Power Inc. plans to cut about 30 jobs in Massachusetts as it expands in China, where the Westborough company is receiving $125 million in private equity and government support to build batteries for electric vehicles.
Under the deal, which Boston-Power officials are scheduled to detail today, the company will employ several hundred workers at a research and development center in Beijing and a manufacturing facility elsewhere in China, according to Christina Lampe-Onnerud, founder and international chairwoman. Boston-Power also will hire a new China-based chief executive and chief financial officer....
Boston-Power is one of dozens of Massachusetts companies with a growing presence in China, according to state officials. Many are attracted by low manufacturing costs.
This after you were told green jobs were was going to save America -- and they took your tax money, too.
A Boston-Power competitor, A123 Systems in Waltham, has two offices in China.
See: Not As Easy as One-Two-Three
Evergreen Solar, a Marlborough solar panel maker that recently filed for bankruptcy protection, has a factory in Wuhan, and American Superconductor Corp., which makes advanced technologies for wind turbines and power utilities, has sales, manufacturing, and service staff throughout China.
Related: Evergreen Defaults
And isn't American Superconductor the one that had their secrets stolen?
Julian Chang, executive director of the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, said it’s a challenge to prevent US clean-tech companies from being lured to China, mostly because of the large subsidies the Chinese government offers as enticements....
You taxpayers feeling like suckers yet?
Also see: US Taxpayers Burned by Solar Stimuloot
Biden's Moment in the Sun
That was a damn expensive photo op!
The $125 million in funding being used to woo Boston-Power comes in large part from GSR Ventures, a venture capital firm with offices in China and California that primarily invests in technology companies looking to expand in China....
That's what they are using pension funds and college endowments for, 'eh?
The deal was also contingent upon Boston-Power boosting its presence in China, a requirement that is not unusual, some industry observers said.
“The Chinese usually make that part of the process,’’ said Natixis Global Asset Management chief executive John T. Hailer, who oversees the Boston investment company’s business in the United States and Asia. “The Chinese [also] usually make you share technology.’’
Accused here they are accused of stealing it.
Lampe-Onnerud, who started Boston-Power in 2005, said the decision to expand in China was not an easy one, especially since she once hoped to increase the company’s manufacturing presence here in Massachusetts. But two years ago, her firm lost out on $100 million in federal stimulus money it had planned to use to build a 450,000-square-foot battery plant in Auburn.
“We had thousands of people rolled up in that plan,’’ Lampe-Onnerud said. “The day we were informed we did not get [that stimulus money], we were back on the China track.’’
Now, Boston-Power will shrink its Westborough staff by about 35 percent.
The job cuts could begin as early as this week, Lampe-Onnerud said.
But the Massachusetts economy keeps adding jobs every month says the Globe.
Hailer said that if the United States hopes to stem the number of jobs being lost to China or other countries with low-cost manufacturing, tax policies need to be fixed so that companies don’t have as many incentives to create jobs abroad.
EXCUSE ME? U.S. TAX POLICY gives INCENTIVES to CREATE JOBS ABROAD?
Well, WHOSE WONDERFUL IDEA was THAT?
He also said immigration and education policies need to be revamped so that foreign students educated here have an easier time finding work after they graduate.
And American kids?
Oh, right, military for them.
“Before we start blaming the Chinese for all our problems and for the companies leaving, we need to look at ourselves,’’ Hailer said.
I agree.
--more--"
Also see: Boston Battery-Maker Drained
So am I when it comes to charging into my Globe.
Related: GM, China, Boston Globe
US files complaint against Chinese chicken tariffs
Putin Will Be President Again
I'd vote for him; word is he's the one who ran the Jewish Mafia out of Russia.
"Putin will seek another term as president in 2012 election; Medvedev agrees to move into role of prime minister" by Ellen Barry and Michael Schwirtz, New York Times / September 25, 2011
MOSCOW - Vladimir V. Putin, who transformed post-Soviet Russia by imposing strict Kremlin control over most aspects of public life, publicly signaled that he will return to the presidency next year and could remain until 2024, giving him a rule comparable in length with that of Brezhnev or Stalin.
President Dmitry A. Medvedev announced yesterday at a party convention in Moscow that he would step aside for Putin, who served as president from 2000 to 2008 but was limited by the constitution to two consecutive terms. Medvedev is to take his place as prime minister after presidential elections in March, which Putin is assured of winning.
At the announcement, wave upon wave of applause washed over the hall, where 11,000 members of Putin’s party, United Russia, had gathered. Medvedev’s face was projected on a giant screen above the stage, and he gave a flickering smile as the crowd roared, rose, and swung its attention away from him toward Putin, who was sitting in the audience.
The announcement brings an end to years of uncertainty, inside and outside Russia, about whether Putin intended to loosen his grip on power. Neither leader offered any reason for the decision, but Putin said the deal had been made years ago.
If that is true, Medvedev’s presidency, and the tension that accompanied its end, now looks like an orchestrated political drama that drew in much of the world....
Just like our "elections," Amerikan!
Putin, who will turn 59 in October, is expected to face painful and unpopular decisions over the coming years as oil production levels off and the rise in Russians’ standards of living will slow.
In 2014, Russia’s oil production will no longer offset imports of consumer goods, forcing the government to be increasingly dependent on foreign investment.
--more--"
More orchestration:
"Minister out after Medvedev spat; Finance official in Russia resigns after conflict" by Lynn Berry Associated Press / September 27, 2011
MOSCOW - Russia’s influential finance minister was forced out yesterday after a televised confrontation with President Dmitry Medvedev, who had angrily demanded that Alexei Kudrin immediately explain his criticism of Medvedev’s policies or resign....
The departure of Kudrin is likely to unsettle investors and further shake Russia’s markets. A longtime member of Putin’s team, he has been finance minister since 2000 and his tight hold over the budget has been seen as key to Russia’s economic stability.
“It is difficult to see how Mr. Kudrin’s resignation can be anything but market-negative,’’ said Neil Shearing, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics Ltd in London. “With oil prices starting to slide and financial markets still jittery, now is not a good time for the government to lose its arch fiscal hawk.’’
On Saturday in the United States, Kudrin said he would refuse to serve in the government if Medvedev becomes prime minister because of policy disagreements he had with him, including plans to boost military spending substantially.
Addressing Kudrin yesterday, Medvedev called the minister’s remarks “irresponsible chatter’’ and “improper,’’ especially since they were made while the minister was in Washington for meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
“If you disagree with the course set by the president and being implemented by the government, you have only one choice: resign,’’ Medvedev said during a meeting of a presidential commission on modernization held in the town of Dimitrovgrad.
Kudrin, who stayed in his seat, shot back that he would decide only after talking to Putin.
“You can seek the advice of whomever you want, but as long as I’m president, such decisions are made by me,’’ Medvedev retorted.
The Kremlin said Medvedev signed a decree on Kudrin’s resignation. State news agencies quoted Kudrin confirming that he had quit.
Kudrin has been widely credited with helping Russia weather the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.
During Putin’s presidency from 2000 to 2008, Kudrin stashed some of the revenue from Russia’s soaring oil exports into a stabilization fund despite opposition from other ministers who wanted to spend the money.
But when the financial crisis hit and oil prices sank sharply, those savings proved crucial in reducing the blow to Russia’s economy.
Nikolai Petrov, a political scholar at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said Putin may have wanted to spare Kudrin from taking responsibility for the higher taxes and cuts in social spending that Russia faces after a parliamentary election in December and a presidential election three months later.
“Putin cherishes Kudrin too much to put him in the crossfire of unpopular measures,’’ Petrov said.
The 50-year-old Kudrin had been mentioned as a possible future prime minister, and Petrov said Putin could still appoint him to the post.
Anton Struchenevsky, a senior economist at the Moscow-based investment bank Troika Dialog, described Kudrin as “the restraining element against populist policies’’ in Russia.
“All of Russia’s macroeconomic achievements are Kudrin’s work,’’ Struchenevsky said. “Kudrin is a highly influential figure, and I don’t see anyone of similar weight who could replace him.’’
Some market analysts speculated that Kudrin’s departure could have a greater effect on Russia’s economy than the 2012 presidential election....
--more--"
"Putin will seek another term as president in 2012 election; Medvedev agrees to move into role of prime minister" by Ellen Barry and Michael Schwirtz, New York Times / September 25, 2011
MOSCOW - Vladimir V. Putin, who transformed post-Soviet Russia by imposing strict Kremlin control over most aspects of public life, publicly signaled that he will return to the presidency next year and could remain until 2024, giving him a rule comparable in length with that of Brezhnev or Stalin.
President Dmitry A. Medvedev announced yesterday at a party convention in Moscow that he would step aside for Putin, who served as president from 2000 to 2008 but was limited by the constitution to two consecutive terms. Medvedev is to take his place as prime minister after presidential elections in March, which Putin is assured of winning.
At the announcement, wave upon wave of applause washed over the hall, where 11,000 members of Putin’s party, United Russia, had gathered. Medvedev’s face was projected on a giant screen above the stage, and he gave a flickering smile as the crowd roared, rose, and swung its attention away from him toward Putin, who was sitting in the audience.
The announcement brings an end to years of uncertainty, inside and outside Russia, about whether Putin intended to loosen his grip on power. Neither leader offered any reason for the decision, but Putin said the deal had been made years ago.
If that is true, Medvedev’s presidency, and the tension that accompanied its end, now looks like an orchestrated political drama that drew in much of the world....
Just like our "elections," Amerikan!
Putin, who will turn 59 in October, is expected to face painful and unpopular decisions over the coming years as oil production levels off and the rise in Russians’ standards of living will slow.
In 2014, Russia’s oil production will no longer offset imports of consumer goods, forcing the government to be increasingly dependent on foreign investment.
--more--"
More orchestration:
"Minister out after Medvedev spat; Finance official in Russia resigns after conflict" by Lynn Berry Associated Press / September 27, 2011
MOSCOW - Russia’s influential finance minister was forced out yesterday after a televised confrontation with President Dmitry Medvedev, who had angrily demanded that Alexei Kudrin immediately explain his criticism of Medvedev’s policies or resign....
The departure of Kudrin is likely to unsettle investors and further shake Russia’s markets. A longtime member of Putin’s team, he has been finance minister since 2000 and his tight hold over the budget has been seen as key to Russia’s economic stability.
“It is difficult to see how Mr. Kudrin’s resignation can be anything but market-negative,’’ said Neil Shearing, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics Ltd in London. “With oil prices starting to slide and financial markets still jittery, now is not a good time for the government to lose its arch fiscal hawk.’’
On Saturday in the United States, Kudrin said he would refuse to serve in the government if Medvedev becomes prime minister because of policy disagreements he had with him, including plans to boost military spending substantially.
Addressing Kudrin yesterday, Medvedev called the minister’s remarks “irresponsible chatter’’ and “improper,’’ especially since they were made while the minister was in Washington for meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
“If you disagree with the course set by the president and being implemented by the government, you have only one choice: resign,’’ Medvedev said during a meeting of a presidential commission on modernization held in the town of Dimitrovgrad.
Kudrin, who stayed in his seat, shot back that he would decide only after talking to Putin.
“You can seek the advice of whomever you want, but as long as I’m president, such decisions are made by me,’’ Medvedev retorted.
The Kremlin said Medvedev signed a decree on Kudrin’s resignation. State news agencies quoted Kudrin confirming that he had quit.
Kudrin has been widely credited with helping Russia weather the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.
During Putin’s presidency from 2000 to 2008, Kudrin stashed some of the revenue from Russia’s soaring oil exports into a stabilization fund despite opposition from other ministers who wanted to spend the money.
But when the financial crisis hit and oil prices sank sharply, those savings proved crucial in reducing the blow to Russia’s economy.
Nikolai Petrov, a political scholar at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said Putin may have wanted to spare Kudrin from taking responsibility for the higher taxes and cuts in social spending that Russia faces after a parliamentary election in December and a presidential election three months later.
“Putin cherishes Kudrin too much to put him in the crossfire of unpopular measures,’’ Petrov said.
The 50-year-old Kudrin had been mentioned as a possible future prime minister, and Petrov said Putin could still appoint him to the post.
Anton Struchenevsky, a senior economist at the Moscow-based investment bank Troika Dialog, described Kudrin as “the restraining element against populist policies’’ in Russia.
“All of Russia’s macroeconomic achievements are Kudrin’s work,’’ Struchenevsky said. “Kudrin is a highly influential figure, and I don’t see anyone of similar weight who could replace him.’’
Some market analysts speculated that Kudrin’s departure could have a greater effect on Russia’s economy than the 2012 presidential election....
--more--"
Obama's Donors Down
He only needs your votes anyway.
"Obama’s small donors from 2008 hold off on contributions; He aims to revive grass-roots fervor for reelection bid" by Nicholas Confessore New York Times / September 25, 2011
NEW YORK - They were once among President Obama’s most loyal supporters and a potent symbol of his political brand: voters of moderate means who dug deep for the candidate and his message of hope and change, sending him $10 or $25 or $50 every few weeks or months.
Never again. I'll never waste my hard-earned chump change on a politician ever again.
But in recent months, the frustration and disillusionment that have dragged down Obama’s approval ratings have crept into the ranks of his vaunted small-donor army, underscoring the challenges he faces as he seeks to rekindle grass-roots enthusiasm for his reelection bid.
After THREE YEARS of DISAPPOINTMENT he expects to romance us once again?
He really thinks we are falling for the fooley again?
Related: Obama's Reelection Pitch
I'm already sick of it.
In interviews with dozens of low-dollar contributors in the past two weeks, some said they were unhappy with what they viewed as Obama’s overly conciliatory approach to congressional Republicans.
I'm unhappy with the continuing wars he said he would end, along with the starting of a new one in Libya. And that's just for starters.
Others cited what they saw as a lack of passion in the president, or said the sour economy had drained their enthusiasm and pocketbooks.
I notice the corporations he fronts for are all fat and happy with profits. Where do you think all the campaign loot is coming from?
For still others, high hopes that Obama would deliver a new kind of politics in his first term have been dashed by the emergence of something that, to them, more resembles politics as usual.
“When I was pro-Obama in 2008, I was thinking of him as a leader who could face the challenges that we were tackling,’’ said Adnan Alasadi, who works in behavioral health in Mesa, Ariz. Alasadi contributed repeatedly to Obama during his first campaign but says he will not give the president - or anyone else - any more money.
“Now I am seeing him as just an opportunistic politician,’’ Alasadi said.
Such defections are not merely symbolic. About a quarter of Obama’s record haul during the 2008 cycle came from donors giving $200 or less, supporters who could be tapped again and again without hitting federal contribution limits. Many of those same people were also volunteers in his campaign, knocking on doors, calling friends and neighbors, and helping turn out voters that fall.
Compared with his Republican rivals, Obama remains in an enviable position. No Republican candidate for president has built a grass-roots fund-raising machine as formidable or sophisticated as his....
The campaign is still in its early stages, and the president is likely to show far stronger numbers than any Republican when the candidates report their third-quarter fund-raising early next month. But his recent political difficulties - a protracted battle over raising the national debt limit, sagging approval ratings - have raised questions about whether he will be able to sustain his fund-raising momentum....
Translation: Does the corporate power structure want to keep him or cut him loose.
--more--"
Please tell me the NYT wasn't crying poverty for the guy:
"Obama brings tough message to West Coast; Says GOP vision would ‘cripple’ US" September 26, 2011|By Erica Werner, Associated Press
SEATTLE - Aiming to renew the ardor of Democratic loyalists who have grown increasingly disenchanted with him, the president mixed frontal attacks on Republicans with words of encouragement intended to buck up the faithful as the 2012 campaign revs up....
At the Medina, Wash., home of former Microsoft executive Jon Shirley, about 65 guests were paying $35,800 per couple to listen to Obama at the first of seven fund-raisers he was holding from Seattle to Hollywood to San Diego yesterday and today.
That is OBSCENE when you consider ALL THE PROBLEMS this nation faces.
Yup, NO RECESSION in POLITICS!
The three-day West Coast swing, ending Tuesday in Denver, offered him the chance to reengage with some of his most liberal and deep-pocketed supporters....
Oh, NOW WE KNOW WHY the BUSH TAX CUT$ were not rescinded!
And now we know that the only "liberals" that matter are ELITE RICH PEOPLE!
Obama got a friendly welcome from invited guests at his first stop. But later, liberal activists greeted the president with a demonstration.
“We want to see Obama stand up as strongly as he can to fight for the people of this country who are working out there to make ends meet,’’ said Kathy Cummings, communications director for the Washington State Labor Council.
He's only interested in you as far as wanting your vote. That's it.
Look what hi$ trip i$ REALLY ABOUT!
The council helped organize a demonstration outside Seattle’s Paramount Theater, the site of an Obama fund-raiser with about 1,800 guests. Activists held signs promoting environmental and other causes and urging Obama, “Tax the rich.’’
How are those Wall Street protests going, Globe?
Also see: FOCUS: Why I Was Maced at the Wall Street Protests
As Occupy Wall Street Protests Spread Nationwide, Women Arrested For Filming Speaks Out
Occupy Wall Street: Police brutality, media blackout
But the protest against Obama was covered.
Related:
"About 40 protesters organized by the National Wildlife Federation marched outside the hall during a break in the meeting."
Also see: Obama Fails to Learn From Gulf Gusher
Obama and the Republican presidential candidates are working overtime to raise campaign cash ahead of an important Sept. 30 reporting deadline that will give a snapshot of their financial strength.
The president’s West Coast visit was heavy on fund-raisers: two each in Seattle and the San Francisco area yesterday, followed by one in San Diego on today and two in Los Angeles.
And yet the press played it like he was out fighting for average Americans, blah, blah, blah.
He was to meet with the Silicon Valley and Hollywood elite, including an event last night in Atherton, Calif., at the home of Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg....
Is that you, reader?
--more--"
Related: Obama tells blacks to 'stop complainin' and fight
Also see: Obama the Oreo Cookie
"Obama’s small donors from 2008 hold off on contributions; He aims to revive grass-roots fervor for reelection bid" by Nicholas Confessore New York Times / September 25, 2011
NEW YORK - They were once among President Obama’s most loyal supporters and a potent symbol of his political brand: voters of moderate means who dug deep for the candidate and his message of hope and change, sending him $10 or $25 or $50 every few weeks or months.
Never again. I'll never waste my hard-earned chump change on a politician ever again.
But in recent months, the frustration and disillusionment that have dragged down Obama’s approval ratings have crept into the ranks of his vaunted small-donor army, underscoring the challenges he faces as he seeks to rekindle grass-roots enthusiasm for his reelection bid.
After THREE YEARS of DISAPPOINTMENT he expects to romance us once again?
He really thinks we are falling for the fooley again?
Related: Obama's Reelection Pitch
I'm already sick of it.
In interviews with dozens of low-dollar contributors in the past two weeks, some said they were unhappy with what they viewed as Obama’s overly conciliatory approach to congressional Republicans.
I'm unhappy with the continuing wars he said he would end, along with the starting of a new one in Libya. And that's just for starters.
Others cited what they saw as a lack of passion in the president, or said the sour economy had drained their enthusiasm and pocketbooks.
I notice the corporations he fronts for are all fat and happy with profits. Where do you think all the campaign loot is coming from?
For still others, high hopes that Obama would deliver a new kind of politics in his first term have been dashed by the emergence of something that, to them, more resembles politics as usual.
“When I was pro-Obama in 2008, I was thinking of him as a leader who could face the challenges that we were tackling,’’ said Adnan Alasadi, who works in behavioral health in Mesa, Ariz. Alasadi contributed repeatedly to Obama during his first campaign but says he will not give the president - or anyone else - any more money.
“Now I am seeing him as just an opportunistic politician,’’ Alasadi said.
Such defections are not merely symbolic. About a quarter of Obama’s record haul during the 2008 cycle came from donors giving $200 or less, supporters who could be tapped again and again without hitting federal contribution limits. Many of those same people were also volunteers in his campaign, knocking on doors, calling friends and neighbors, and helping turn out voters that fall.
Compared with his Republican rivals, Obama remains in an enviable position. No Republican candidate for president has built a grass-roots fund-raising machine as formidable or sophisticated as his....
The campaign is still in its early stages, and the president is likely to show far stronger numbers than any Republican when the candidates report their third-quarter fund-raising early next month. But his recent political difficulties - a protracted battle over raising the national debt limit, sagging approval ratings - have raised questions about whether he will be able to sustain his fund-raising momentum....
Translation: Does the corporate power structure want to keep him or cut him loose.
--more--"
Please tell me the NYT wasn't crying poverty for the guy:
"Obama brings tough message to West Coast; Says GOP vision would ‘cripple’ US" September 26, 2011|By Erica Werner, Associated Press
SEATTLE - Aiming to renew the ardor of Democratic loyalists who have grown increasingly disenchanted with him, the president mixed frontal attacks on Republicans with words of encouragement intended to buck up the faithful as the 2012 campaign revs up....
At the Medina, Wash., home of former Microsoft executive Jon Shirley, about 65 guests were paying $35,800 per couple to listen to Obama at the first of seven fund-raisers he was holding from Seattle to Hollywood to San Diego yesterday and today.
That is OBSCENE when you consider ALL THE PROBLEMS this nation faces.
Yup, NO RECESSION in POLITICS!
The three-day West Coast swing, ending Tuesday in Denver, offered him the chance to reengage with some of his most liberal and deep-pocketed supporters....
Oh, NOW WE KNOW WHY the BUSH TAX CUT$ were not rescinded!
And now we know that the only "liberals" that matter are ELITE RICH PEOPLE!
Obama got a friendly welcome from invited guests at his first stop. But later, liberal activists greeted the president with a demonstration.
“We want to see Obama stand up as strongly as he can to fight for the people of this country who are working out there to make ends meet,’’ said Kathy Cummings, communications director for the Washington State Labor Council.
He's only interested in you as far as wanting your vote. That's it.
Look what hi$ trip i$ REALLY ABOUT!
The council helped organize a demonstration outside Seattle’s Paramount Theater, the site of an Obama fund-raiser with about 1,800 guests. Activists held signs promoting environmental and other causes and urging Obama, “Tax the rich.’’
How are those Wall Street protests going, Globe?
Also see: FOCUS: Why I Was Maced at the Wall Street Protests
As Occupy Wall Street Protests Spread Nationwide, Women Arrested For Filming Speaks Out
Occupy Wall Street: Police brutality, media blackout
But the protest against Obama was covered.
Related:
"About 40 protesters organized by the National Wildlife Federation marched outside the hall during a break in the meeting."
Also see: Obama Fails to Learn From Gulf Gusher
Obama and the Republican presidential candidates are working overtime to raise campaign cash ahead of an important Sept. 30 reporting deadline that will give a snapshot of their financial strength.
The president’s West Coast visit was heavy on fund-raisers: two each in Seattle and the San Francisco area yesterday, followed by one in San Diego on today and two in Los Angeles.
And yet the press played it like he was out fighting for average Americans, blah, blah, blah.
He was to meet with the Silicon Valley and Hollywood elite, including an event last night in Atherton, Calif., at the home of Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg....
Is that you, reader?
--more--"
Related: Obama tells blacks to 'stop complainin' and fight
Also see: Obama the Oreo Cookie
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