How do you expect someone to feel when they have been robbed?
"Mexico vote result challenged" by Adriana Gomez Licon | Associated Press, July 08, 2012
MEXICO CITY — Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he will file a formal legal challenge this week to the vote count in Mexico’s presidential election.
The electoral authority issued final results Friday showing that former ruling party candidate Enrique Pena Nieto won by a 6.6-percentage-point margin, almost exactly the same lead as a quick count gave him the night of the election.
The final count, which included a ballot-by-ballot recount at more than half of polling places, showed Pena Nieto getting 38.21 percent of votes in Sunday’s election. Lopez Obrador got 31.59 percent.
Lopez Obrador said the court challenge will be based on the allegation that Pena Nieto’s Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, engaged in vote-buying that illegally tilted millions of votes. PRI officials deny the charge.
His supporters planned to take to the streets of Mexico City to protest the results.
Related: MEXICO IS HAVING THE LARGEST PROTEST THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN MEDIA BLACKED IT OUT
Globe didn't cover it. Must not want to give Americans any ideas.
‘‘Rivers of illicitly obtained money were used to buy millions of votes,’’ Lopez Obrador said. He said that the recount of ballots at over half of polling places had not been done as thoroughly as promised.
The final vote count must be certified in September by the Federal Electoral Tribunal.
The tribunal has declined to overturn previously contested elections, including a 2006 presidential vote that was far closer than Sunday’s.
Yeah, turns out this is the SECOND TIME Lopez Obrador has been RIPPED OFF!
Accusations of vote-buying began surfacing in June, but sharpened early last week as thousands of people rushed to grocery stores on the outskirts of Mexico City to redeem prepaid gift cards worth about $7.50. Many said they got the cards from PRI supporters before Sunday’s elections.
Lopez Obrador said millions of voters had received either pre-paid cards, cash, groceries, construction materials, or appliances.
Lopez Obrador led a street protest in 2006 to protest alleged fraud in the presidential elections of that year, which he narrowly lost to President Felipe Calderon.
But he said last week that his challenge of the results would be channeled through legal venues, like the electoral institute and courts.
‘‘We have acted and we will continue to act in a responsible way, adhering to the legal procedure. Nobody can say we are violating the law,’’ Lopez Obrador said.
Leonardo Valdes, the president of the Federal Electoral Institute, said he does not see grounds for overturning the results.
‘‘I do not see any justification for rejecting the entirety of the election results,’’ Valdes said. ‘‘Rejecting the results would be like rejecting the effort of those 50 million voters.’’
However, he said the institute, Mexico’s chief electoral watchdog agency, had begun an investigation into the gift cards, and had requested that the PRI and the grocery store chain that had the cards supply data.
In an interview with the paper Excelsior, Calderon said ‘‘electoral authorities have an obligation, of course, to give us an answer’’ about the allegations, adding ‘‘what we need, in any case, are legal and institutional reforms, so that this kind of accusations don’t arise again.’’
Giving away such gifts is not illegal under Mexican electoral law, as long as the expense is reported to electoral authorities.
--more--"
Related: Irregularities reveal Mexico's election far from fair
My status quo, corporate narrative called a newspaper does not care.
Mexican Time Machine
Sure must feel that way to Mexicans.
Mexico’s old ruling party falling short of majority in Congress
Would have been to brazen a rig job.
Globe did cover this protest:
"Thousands protest Mexico election" Associated Press, July 23, 2012
MEXICO CITY — Thousands marched through Mexico City’s center Sunday to protest what they called the ‘‘imposition’’ of the candidate of the old ruling party as the country’s new president.
Protesters carried signs accusing the presumed president-elect, Enrique Peña Nieto, of electoral fraud and Mexico television network Televisa of being a factory of lies.
Oh, they have the same type of TV we do.
Opponents say Peña Nieto’s party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, won the July 1 election through vote-buying and overspending, including paying major media outlets for favorable coverage.
Related: The New York Times Admits That Virtually Every Major News Organization Allows The News To Be Censored By Government Officials
And they are not even being paid.
‘‘Mexico didn’t vote for fraud,’’ said marcher Marlem Munoz, 26, who studies dentistry at Mexico’s National Autonomous University. “Mexico wants a country that is honest and democratic. What happened in the elections was a total mockery directed at the Mexican people.’’
Who doesn't?
The Institutional Revolutionary Party has vehemently denied the charges and Friday accused losing leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of trying to disqualify the entire electoral process with lies. Televisa also has denied charges of being paid for positive coverage.
Mexico City authorities did not release an official crowd estimate, but the march appeared to draw far fewer people than similar protests before the election with as many as 90,000 participants. A July 7 march, the first after election, drew 50,000. The events have attracted people from a new student movement, ‘‘I Am 132,’’ and leftist groups supporting Lopez Obrador.
I'm sick of the low-balling slander by the s*** corporate media.
The lower participation raises questions of whether Mexico’s university students have spawned a real movement in their demand for authentic democracy and an opening of Mexico’s media, or if it’s just part of the standard postelection protests in Mexico.
Looks to me like the corporate media is a sore loser shoveling this slop.
In 2006, after Lopez Obrador narrowly lost to President Felipe Calderon, he marshaled hundreds of thousands of supporters to block Mexico City’s main center for weeks.
And we read just as much about it as today's and yesterday's protests.
Lopez Obrador said he will not mobilize people to the streets this time. His choking of central Mexico City in 2006 was highly unpopular with everyday residents.
The final vote count must be certified in September by the Federal Electoral Tribunal.
The head said they will not overturn.
--more--"
Feel like I'm forgetting something:
"Four drug-smuggling tunnels equipped with lighting and ventilation — including one with a railcar system — have been discovered along the US-Mexico border in less than a week, the latest signs that cartels are building sophisticated passages to escape heightened detection above ground."
All over marijuana?
"Wanted US fugitive captured in Cancun" July 15, 2012
MEXICO CITY — One of the most-wanted American fugitives has been caught in the Mexican resort city of Cancun, the US Marshals Service said Saturday. Vincent Legrend Walters was captured Friday and is being held on an extradition request. Walters faces murder charges in the 1988 death of a woman kidnapped in California as part of a drug deal, as well as weapons and drug charges. He apparently was living under an assumed name and working at the Cancun airport at the time of his arrest. He had been on the run for 24 years."
Also see: New Bedford signs trade agreement with Mexican port
At least someone is a winner.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
New Bedford Bonus
I normally do not read second section stories.
"New Bedford councilors OK their raises; Earmark on bill with little debate" by Matt Woolbright | Globe Correspondent, July 25, 2012
NEW BEDFORD — City councilors here spent Tuesday defending their decision to give themselves raises amid constituent concerns about the speed and timing of the action.
“They need to do more to keep streets clean and get the riffraff out of the boroughs,” said Monique Britto, 42, a lifelong New Bedford resident. “They don’t need to worry about paying themselves more.”
During a City Council meeting last month, the salary increases were tacked onto another measure that passed unanimously and with barely a word of discussion, said Debora Coelho, an at-large city councilor.
Because the salary bump from about $14,600 to $21,000 a year was passed as an addition to another measure, the public was not notified that the issue would be discussed. It was finalized by the council last week and awaits approval by Mayor Jonathan Mitchell.
“There was nothing to advertise before it was spoken of that moment,” Coelho said. “We do this all the time: An amendment comes up, we make a recommendation, and then add it; that’s government.”
That's right, I forgot; this is Massachushitts.
********************
The measure adds about $70,000 in councilor salaries. Though a tiny sliver in a $285 million city budget, it caused a big reaction.
That is because we are having austerity shoved down our throats out here!
“It’s a shame that they would be doing that because the way the economy is these days,” said Lindy Duarte, 86, as he sipped his daily coffee at a hot dog shop in downtown New Bedford.
And the SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED WAY they did it!
Coelho said the money for the raises would come from “across the well-balanced budget.” No departments will be cut, she said, and no new taxes will be imposed to accommodate the roughly 44-percent salary increase.
It has to come from somewhere.
“We’re educated, dedicated public servants, so why should we be paid any less than part-time workers?” Coelho said.
“It just doesn’t make any sense.
(Blog editor just shakes his head because people in positions of power, no matter how small, just don't get it. Tell it to a laid-off teacher)
Still, the council’s methods did not sit well with some residents Tuesday, who condemned the perceived secrecy of elected officials.
“A decision like that shouldn’t happen in a back-room vote like this,” said Jimmie Gouveia, owner of Jimmie’s Steamy Dogs.
Not in liberal, Democratic Massachushitts.
Perennial mayoral candidate Michael Janson said the raises may be warranted, but the timing could not be worse for the cash-strapped coastal city.
“City Council wants what’s due them, so it’s a Catch 22,” Janson said. “We can’t afford to pay them what they deserve.”
Stephen Silva, a factory worker who saw his finances dwindle while out of work for two years, said the increase was acceptable, but only because it had been 17 years since the last boost.
“Most of them deserve it; you can only not give them a raise for so long,” said Silva, adding he would be miffed if councilors regularly gave themselves raises.
But that is what the council plans to do: Its action mandates annual cost-of-living increases moving forward, pegged to the consumer price index.
In this time of austerity? Isn't that how we got in this mess with the self-serving public servants?
Jim Oliveira, a freshman city councilor, said he backed the raises after realizing how much work is required to serve on the council.
“I’ve seen the money they make and the work they put in, so it made sense,” said Oliveira, who added that the increase translates to only a few percent a year since the 1995 raise.
Before taxes, the current city councilor salary equates to about $280 a week. Oliveira said he regularly puts in 20 hours a week, and some weeks, more than 40.
Is that before taxes, because that is what I gross from my part-time slave job.
“It’s like being a consultant on a fixed fee; you’re required to perform a service regardless of how much time it takes,” Oliveira said....
It's called a SALARY and it is QUITE COMMON in the REAL WORLD!
--more--"
The arrogance stinks more than the fish.
August Updates: New Bedford sees opportunity in wind farms
The hot air never stops.
New Bedford infant, mother found dead
Reason for death of New Bedford mother, child remains unclear
"New Bedford councilors OK their raises; Earmark on bill with little debate" by Matt Woolbright | Globe Correspondent, July 25, 2012
NEW BEDFORD — City councilors here spent Tuesday defending their decision to give themselves raises amid constituent concerns about the speed and timing of the action.
“They need to do more to keep streets clean and get the riffraff out of the boroughs,” said Monique Britto, 42, a lifelong New Bedford resident. “They don’t need to worry about paying themselves more.”
During a City Council meeting last month, the salary increases were tacked onto another measure that passed unanimously and with barely a word of discussion, said Debora Coelho, an at-large city councilor.
Because the salary bump from about $14,600 to $21,000 a year was passed as an addition to another measure, the public was not notified that the issue would be discussed. It was finalized by the council last week and awaits approval by Mayor Jonathan Mitchell.
“There was nothing to advertise before it was spoken of that moment,” Coelho said. “We do this all the time: An amendment comes up, we make a recommendation, and then add it; that’s government.”
That's right, I forgot; this is Massachushitts.
********************
The measure adds about $70,000 in councilor salaries. Though a tiny sliver in a $285 million city budget, it caused a big reaction.
That is because we are having austerity shoved down our throats out here!
“It’s a shame that they would be doing that because the way the economy is these days,” said Lindy Duarte, 86, as he sipped his daily coffee at a hot dog shop in downtown New Bedford.
And the SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED WAY they did it!
Coelho said the money for the raises would come from “across the well-balanced budget.” No departments will be cut, she said, and no new taxes will be imposed to accommodate the roughly 44-percent salary increase.
It has to come from somewhere.
“We’re educated, dedicated public servants, so why should we be paid any less than part-time workers?” Coelho said.
“It just doesn’t make any sense.
(Blog editor just shakes his head because people in positions of power, no matter how small, just don't get it. Tell it to a laid-off teacher)
Still, the council’s methods did not sit well with some residents Tuesday, who condemned the perceived secrecy of elected officials.
“A decision like that shouldn’t happen in a back-room vote like this,” said Jimmie Gouveia, owner of Jimmie’s Steamy Dogs.
Not in liberal, Democratic Massachushitts.
Perennial mayoral candidate Michael Janson said the raises may be warranted, but the timing could not be worse for the cash-strapped coastal city.
“City Council wants what’s due them, so it’s a Catch 22,” Janson said. “We can’t afford to pay them what they deserve.”
Stephen Silva, a factory worker who saw his finances dwindle while out of work for two years, said the increase was acceptable, but only because it had been 17 years since the last boost.
“Most of them deserve it; you can only not give them a raise for so long,” said Silva, adding he would be miffed if councilors regularly gave themselves raises.
But that is what the council plans to do: Its action mandates annual cost-of-living increases moving forward, pegged to the consumer price index.
In this time of austerity? Isn't that how we got in this mess with the self-serving public servants?
Jim Oliveira, a freshman city councilor, said he backed the raises after realizing how much work is required to serve on the council.
“I’ve seen the money they make and the work they put in, so it made sense,” said Oliveira, who added that the increase translates to only a few percent a year since the 1995 raise.
Before taxes, the current city councilor salary equates to about $280 a week. Oliveira said he regularly puts in 20 hours a week, and some weeks, more than 40.
Is that before taxes, because that is what I gross from my part-time slave job.
“It’s like being a consultant on a fixed fee; you’re required to perform a service regardless of how much time it takes,” Oliveira said....
It's called a SALARY and it is QUITE COMMON in the REAL WORLD!
--more--"
The arrogance stinks more than the fish.
August Updates: New Bedford sees opportunity in wind farms
The hot air never stops.
New Bedford infant, mother found dead
Reason for death of New Bedford mother, child remains unclear
Linking Green to Granite
"Former N.H. hospital worker held in hepatitis outbreak" by Peter Schworm | Globe Staff, July 20, 2012
CONCORD, N.H. — Federal prosecutors Thursday charged a medical technician with infecting at least 30 patients with hepatitis C, alleging that he fed his drug habit by injecting himself with medication intended for heart patients and then returned contaminated needles to hospital carts.
For the 13 months he worked at Exeter Hospital, authorities said, the technician was fully aware he carried the potentially lethal virus, spawning the biggest such health crisis in the nation since the 1990s. Authorities called him a “serial infector.”
“He knew he had hepatitis C and continued to use tainted syringes,” said John Kacavas, the US attorney in New Hampshire. “That’s the definition of reckless disregard.”
Kacavas said David Kwiatkowski, 32, worked in six states before coming to Exeter Hospital. Kacavas would not identify the states, but said his office had notified federal health officials and hospitals where the suspect had worked. Massachusetts authorities said they had not received information suggesting the technician worked in the state.
The revelations raised the unnerving prospect that other patients were infected with the blood-borne virus and underlined the dangers drug-addicted health care workers can pose....
--more--"
Related: Hepatitis Epidemic at Exeter Hospital
Five other states check for hepatitis
More charges expected in N.H. hepatitis case
Suspect in hepatitis C outbreak wrote suicide note
Federal agency investigating Exeter Hospital
Nebraska agency sued over N.H. hepatitis C outbreak
Update: Three health care staffing firms face reviews after hepatitis outbreak
I once said I would only give you what I read:
"A year after her death, no arrests made in killing of 11-year-old Celina Cass" by Lynne Tuohy | Associated Press, July 23, 2012
CONCORD, N.H. — Nearly a year after an 11-year-old girl vanished from her northern New Hampshire home and was found slain a week later, no arrests have been made, and investigators still aren’t revealing details about her death.
The anniversary of Celina Cass’s disappearance and death has brought media back to West Stewartstown, population 800, but locals say the fear and anxiety never subsided....
Celina’s disappearance launched a massive search unprecedented in recent state history....
--more--"
Related: Searching In New Hampshire
What else I found since the last time I posted about New Hampshire:
Autopsy results released for Litchfield, N.H., man shot, killed by police
Artists-in-residence spend summer in N.H. forest
Southern N.H. corn crop shaping up well
Related: Drought Depression
Teens in UNH program launch simulated satellite
N.H. lawmaker’s daughter dies in apparent drowning
Haverhill man, dog rescued in river
Father charged after son’s shooting death
Settlement reached in N.H. AIDS discrimination case
New N.H. bishop to be ordained Saturday
Court says gun owner not negligent in N.H. shooting
2-year-old is recovering after fireworks explosion
See: Nuclear Bomb in New Hampshire
Brought in by bin Laden?
N.H. hires consultant to explore privatizing prisons
Senators honor submarine fire responders
Navy says worker set sub alight so he could leave early
Homes evacuated after nitric acid spill at electronics firm
NH woman falls 60 feet during Maine hike, dies
N.H. trio allegedly abducted Lawrence men at gunpoint
N.H. authorities say suspect in 1990 Salem killing is deal
Police break up two-state prostitution ring
Medallion stolen from Robert Frost museum
Over the border:
Vt beauty queen's jewelry stolen
Vermont lawmakers to be updated on Irene recovery
Couple missing for year were killed, authorities say
Congressman Peter Welch of Vermont calls for greater SBA flexibility
Vt. judge won’t drop charges against wind foes
Vt. troopers aid lost hikers
Hemlock pest spreads to second county in Vermont
University of Vermont’s new president to focus on education costs
Feds, Vt. police to update public on search for missing couple
Message in bottle resurfaces after 35 years in Vt.
Vt. man spends lifetime at summer camp
Military college raises funds for scholarship honoring Navy Seal
Inmate begins DNA appeal of murder conviction
SJC recognizes Vermont civil unions as marriages
Vermont has residents drive Twitter account
Vermont man dies after fight, suspect arrested
Vermont man charged with arson in Brattleboro
Also see: Flood of Vermont Links
Sticking It to Vermont
The Bike-Riding Bank Robber of Vermont
UPDATES:
Stepfather charged in 2011 killing of 11-year-old N.H. girl
Family comes face to face with man accused in girl’s killing
CONCORD, N.H. — Federal prosecutors Thursday charged a medical technician with infecting at least 30 patients with hepatitis C, alleging that he fed his drug habit by injecting himself with medication intended for heart patients and then returned contaminated needles to hospital carts.
For the 13 months he worked at Exeter Hospital, authorities said, the technician was fully aware he carried the potentially lethal virus, spawning the biggest such health crisis in the nation since the 1990s. Authorities called him a “serial infector.”
“He knew he had hepatitis C and continued to use tainted syringes,” said John Kacavas, the US attorney in New Hampshire. “That’s the definition of reckless disregard.”
Kacavas said David Kwiatkowski, 32, worked in six states before coming to Exeter Hospital. Kacavas would not identify the states, but said his office had notified federal health officials and hospitals where the suspect had worked. Massachusetts authorities said they had not received information suggesting the technician worked in the state.
The revelations raised the unnerving prospect that other patients were infected with the blood-borne virus and underlined the dangers drug-addicted health care workers can pose....
--more--"
Related: Hepatitis Epidemic at Exeter Hospital
Five other states check for hepatitis
More charges expected in N.H. hepatitis case
Suspect in hepatitis C outbreak wrote suicide note
Federal agency investigating Exeter Hospital
Nebraska agency sued over N.H. hepatitis C outbreak
Update: Three health care staffing firms face reviews after hepatitis outbreak
I once said I would only give you what I read:
"A year after her death, no arrests made in killing of 11-year-old Celina Cass" by Lynne Tuohy | Associated Press, July 23, 2012
CONCORD, N.H. — Nearly a year after an 11-year-old girl vanished from her northern New Hampshire home and was found slain a week later, no arrests have been made, and investigators still aren’t revealing details about her death.
The anniversary of Celina Cass’s disappearance and death has brought media back to West Stewartstown, population 800, but locals say the fear and anxiety never subsided....
Celina’s disappearance launched a massive search unprecedented in recent state history....
--more--"
Related: Searching In New Hampshire
What else I found since the last time I posted about New Hampshire:
Autopsy results released for Litchfield, N.H., man shot, killed by police
Artists-in-residence spend summer in N.H. forest
Southern N.H. corn crop shaping up well
Related: Drought Depression
Teens in UNH program launch simulated satellite
N.H. lawmaker’s daughter dies in apparent drowning
Haverhill man, dog rescued in river
Father charged after son’s shooting death
Settlement reached in N.H. AIDS discrimination case
New N.H. bishop to be ordained Saturday
Court says gun owner not negligent in N.H. shooting
2-year-old is recovering after fireworks explosion
See: Nuclear Bomb in New Hampshire
Brought in by bin Laden?
N.H. hires consultant to explore privatizing prisons
Senators honor submarine fire responders
Navy says worker set sub alight so he could leave early
Homes evacuated after nitric acid spill at electronics firm
NH woman falls 60 feet during Maine hike, dies
N.H. trio allegedly abducted Lawrence men at gunpoint
N.H. authorities say suspect in 1990 Salem killing is deal
Police break up two-state prostitution ring
Medallion stolen from Robert Frost museum
Over the border:
Vt beauty queen's jewelry stolen
Vermont lawmakers to be updated on Irene recovery
Couple missing for year were killed, authorities say
Congressman Peter Welch of Vermont calls for greater SBA flexibility
Vt. judge won’t drop charges against wind foes
Vt. troopers aid lost hikers
Hemlock pest spreads to second county in Vermont
University of Vermont’s new president to focus on education costs
Feds, Vt. police to update public on search for missing couple
Message in bottle resurfaces after 35 years in Vt.
Vt. man spends lifetime at summer camp
Military college raises funds for scholarship honoring Navy Seal
Inmate begins DNA appeal of murder conviction
SJC recognizes Vermont civil unions as marriages
Vermont has residents drive Twitter account
Vermont man dies after fight, suspect arrested
Vermont man charged with arson in Brattleboro
Also see: Flood of Vermont Links
Sticking It to Vermont
The Bike-Riding Bank Robber of Vermont
UPDATES:
Stepfather charged in 2011 killing of 11-year-old N.H. girl
Family comes face to face with man accused in girl’s killing
New Jersey Roaches
In so many ways:
"Roche closing longtime N.J. home" Associated Press, June 27, 2012
TRENTON, N.J. — Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG is closing its former US headquarters, a sprawling facility where the groundbreaking drugs Valium and interferon were invented.
The move is part of a consolidation of research programs that will eliminate 1,000 jobs and shut down the site in Nutley, N.J., by the end of 2013....
--more--"
"NYC man gets 2 1/2 years for illegal kidney sales" by Samantha Henry | Associated Press, July 12, 2012
TRENTON, N.J. — A New York City man was sentenced to 2½ years in prison Wednesday in what experts said was the first federal conviction for profiting from the illegal sale of human organs.
Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, an Israeli native who lives in Brooklyn, pleaded guilty in October to brokering three illegal kidney transplants for New Jersey-based customers in exchange for payments of $120,000 or more.
Related: One-Day Wonder: Israel's Organ Harvesting Operation
Boston Globe Can't See the New Jersey Shore
Just got a glimpse.
The 61-year-old showed little reaction to the sentence. He was swarmed by well-wishers who had packed the federal courtroom in Trenton to show their support.
Ever notice all the phony patsy plots by the Fascist Bureau of Instigation at least get coverage of the opening and verdict as well? This had to be one of the quietest trials ever, and I think we all know why.
Rosenbaum was arrested in July 2009 in a sweeping federal case that became the largest corruption sting in New Jersey history.
Prosecutors allege Rosenbaum would buy organs from vulnerable people in Israel for as little as $10,000 and sell them to desperate patients for more than $100,000.
The transplants took place at top US hospitals, including at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia....
The thought of worldwide organ-harvesting rings is repulsive, and yet it's out there.
--more--"
FLASHBACK:
"Huge N.J. corruption case trial set to open" by Associated Press | January 25, 2010
NEWARK - The first trial in New Jersey’s largest-ever corruption investigation is set to begin in a federal courthouse in Newark this week.
Oh, now it is SIMPLY a CORRUPTION TRIAL, huh?
I'm surprised it even got a brief.
Related: One-Day Wonder: Israel's Organ Harvesting Operation
Boston Globe Can't See the New Jersey Shore
Boston Globe Censorship: Cutting Out a Kidney
The Body Snatchers of Israel
The public finally will get to see Solomon Dwek in action: a government cooperator who secretly recorded hours of meetings at restaurants, diners, and parking lots over two years, showing religious leaders, politicians, and municipal employees in various states of alleged wrongdoing.
It has been six months since the mammoth corruption inquiry resulted in 44 arrests. The dramatic July 23 takedown included early-morning raids from synagogues to city halls and allegations of bribes distributed in cash-stuffed cereal boxes. Prosecutors say the money-laundering operations were so large they were referred to as laundromats.
It also produced one of the more memorable perp walks in New Jersey’s history: Elderly rabbis in long black coats, sweat-suited municipal employees, and assorted bleary-eyed elected officials paraded in handcuffs off a fleet of buses for processing at FBI headquarters.
And it just as quickly faded from the MSM memory, notice that?
Among the defendants: Three mayors, two state assemblymen, and other public officials charged with corruption, prominent rabbis from Brooklyn and Deal, N.J. charged with money laundering, and in one case, a man charged with brokering the sale of a human kidney.
Like an alcoholic always says, "I just had one."
Ten have pleaded guilty, and the rest are awaiting trial. But the man everyone wants to hear is Dwek, the cooperating witness and son of a prominent rabbi that the US government is hanging almost its entire case on.
So reports the concealing Zionist MSM, anyhow.
--more--"
And I never saw another word about it in my Globe. Once the light hits 'em they scramble and disappear.
Connected?
"FBI raids Trenton mayor’s home" by Andrew Duffelmeyer | Associated Press, July 19, 2012
TRENTON, N.J. — FBI agents staged a middle-of-the-night raid Wednesday at the home of Trenton’s mayor, whose administration of the state’s impoverished capital city has been marked by accusations of cronyism and reckless spending.
The agents also searched the home of his brother and a convicted sex offender who was one of his biggest early campaign donors.
Mayor Tony Mack, emerging later from his home, denied any wrongdoing involving his office.
‘‘We have not violated the public trust nor have I violated any of my public duties,’’ he said.
The FBI declined to provide any details.
Under an agreement reached last year, the Democrat can hire department heads only from a pool of applicants the state offers or he risks losing $6 million in state aid. He faces questions on how he financed his campaign.
--more--"
Isn't he in his first term?
Related:
"N.J. city hall raided by FBI" Associated Press, July 20, 2012
TRENTON, N.J. — FBI agents raided City Hall in New Jersey’s capital on Thursday, a day after searching the home of the city’s embattled mayor, his brother, and a campaign donor.
The FBI said it had a search warrant for several offices but declined to be specific.
Recently appointed city business administrator Sam Hutchinson, whose department was among those searched, told The Trentonian that FBI agents were also in the office of Mayor Tony Mack.
Mack, 46, denied wrongdoing on Wednesday after the FBI searched his home and those of Ralphiel Mack and businessman Joseph Giorgianni, a campaign donor who is a convicted sex offender.
A reply to an e-mail sent Thursday to the mayor’s top aide was not immediately sent.
The Democrat’s first two years in office have been marked by repeated accusations of reckless spending, cronyism, and mismanagement.
And they are supposed to be the "clean" party.
--more--"
Time to get out of New Jersey:
"Troopers face charges of tampering" Associated Press, July 28, 2012
TRENTON, N.J. — Two state troopers who led a caravan of luxury cars at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour in March were charged Friday with records-tampering after an inquiry found they taped up their plates to conceal involvement in the improper escort, which jeopardized public safety and undermined trust in the State Police, the attorney general said....
Pretty hard to undermine trust in any government institution these days.
By hiding their plate numbers, the drivers sped through tolls on the Garden State Parkway without paying, the attorney general said, creating what he described as a ‘‘mirage.’’
I'll bet it looked like one.
--more--"
Related:
Update:
Related:
"A new ride that towers 400 feet high and may even require a red beacon at the top to ward off airplanes has been proposed for the Six Flags New England amusement park, according to a town official in Agawam."
Maybe not such a good idea.
"Roche closing longtime N.J. home" Associated Press, June 27, 2012
TRENTON, N.J. — Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG is closing its former US headquarters, a sprawling facility where the groundbreaking drugs Valium and interferon were invented.
The move is part of a consolidation of research programs that will eliminate 1,000 jobs and shut down the site in Nutley, N.J., by the end of 2013....
--more--"
"NYC man gets 2 1/2 years for illegal kidney sales" by Samantha Henry | Associated Press, July 12, 2012
TRENTON, N.J. — A New York City man was sentenced to 2½ years in prison Wednesday in what experts said was the first federal conviction for profiting from the illegal sale of human organs.
Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, an Israeli native who lives in Brooklyn, pleaded guilty in October to brokering three illegal kidney transplants for New Jersey-based customers in exchange for payments of $120,000 or more.
Related: One-Day Wonder: Israel's Organ Harvesting Operation
Boston Globe Can't See the New Jersey Shore
Just got a glimpse.
The 61-year-old showed little reaction to the sentence. He was swarmed by well-wishers who had packed the federal courtroom in Trenton to show their support.
Ever notice all the phony patsy plots by the Fascist Bureau of Instigation at least get coverage of the opening and verdict as well? This had to be one of the quietest trials ever, and I think we all know why.
Rosenbaum was arrested in July 2009 in a sweeping federal case that became the largest corruption sting in New Jersey history.
Prosecutors allege Rosenbaum would buy organs from vulnerable people in Israel for as little as $10,000 and sell them to desperate patients for more than $100,000.
The transplants took place at top US hospitals, including at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia....
The thought of worldwide organ-harvesting rings is repulsive, and yet it's out there.
--more--"
FLASHBACK:
"Huge N.J. corruption case trial set to open" by Associated Press | January 25, 2010
NEWARK - The first trial in New Jersey’s largest-ever corruption investigation is set to begin in a federal courthouse in Newark this week.
Oh, now it is SIMPLY a CORRUPTION TRIAL, huh?
I'm surprised it even got a brief.
Related: One-Day Wonder: Israel's Organ Harvesting Operation
Boston Globe Can't See the New Jersey Shore
Boston Globe Censorship: Cutting Out a Kidney
The Body Snatchers of Israel
The public finally will get to see Solomon Dwek in action: a government cooperator who secretly recorded hours of meetings at restaurants, diners, and parking lots over two years, showing religious leaders, politicians, and municipal employees in various states of alleged wrongdoing.
It has been six months since the mammoth corruption inquiry resulted in 44 arrests. The dramatic July 23 takedown included early-morning raids from synagogues to city halls and allegations of bribes distributed in cash-stuffed cereal boxes. Prosecutors say the money-laundering operations were so large they were referred to as laundromats.
It also produced one of the more memorable perp walks in New Jersey’s history: Elderly rabbis in long black coats, sweat-suited municipal employees, and assorted bleary-eyed elected officials paraded in handcuffs off a fleet of buses for processing at FBI headquarters.
And it just as quickly faded from the MSM memory, notice that?
Among the defendants: Three mayors, two state assemblymen, and other public officials charged with corruption, prominent rabbis from Brooklyn and Deal, N.J. charged with money laundering, and in one case, a man charged with brokering the sale of a human kidney.
Like an alcoholic always says, "I just had one."
Ten have pleaded guilty, and the rest are awaiting trial. But the man everyone wants to hear is Dwek, the cooperating witness and son of a prominent rabbi that the US government is hanging almost its entire case on.
So reports the concealing Zionist MSM, anyhow.
--more--"
And I never saw another word about it in my Globe. Once the light hits 'em they scramble and disappear.
Connected?
"FBI raids Trenton mayor’s home" by Andrew Duffelmeyer | Associated Press, July 19, 2012
TRENTON, N.J. — FBI agents staged a middle-of-the-night raid Wednesday at the home of Trenton’s mayor, whose administration of the state’s impoverished capital city has been marked by accusations of cronyism and reckless spending.
The agents also searched the home of his brother and a convicted sex offender who was one of his biggest early campaign donors.
Mayor Tony Mack, emerging later from his home, denied any wrongdoing involving his office.
‘‘We have not violated the public trust nor have I violated any of my public duties,’’ he said.
The FBI declined to provide any details.
Under an agreement reached last year, the Democrat can hire department heads only from a pool of applicants the state offers or he risks losing $6 million in state aid. He faces questions on how he financed his campaign.
--more--"
Isn't he in his first term?
Related:
"N.J. city hall raided by FBI" Associated Press, July 20, 2012
TRENTON, N.J. — FBI agents raided City Hall in New Jersey’s capital on Thursday, a day after searching the home of the city’s embattled mayor, his brother, and a campaign donor.
The FBI said it had a search warrant for several offices but declined to be specific.
Recently appointed city business administrator Sam Hutchinson, whose department was among those searched, told The Trentonian that FBI agents were also in the office of Mayor Tony Mack.
Mack, 46, denied wrongdoing on Wednesday after the FBI searched his home and those of Ralphiel Mack and businessman Joseph Giorgianni, a campaign donor who is a convicted sex offender.
A reply to an e-mail sent Thursday to the mayor’s top aide was not immediately sent.
The Democrat’s first two years in office have been marked by repeated accusations of reckless spending, cronyism, and mismanagement.
And they are supposed to be the "clean" party.
--more--"
Time to get out of New Jersey:
"Troopers face charges of tampering" Associated Press, July 28, 2012
TRENTON, N.J. — Two state troopers who led a caravan of luxury cars at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour in March were charged Friday with records-tampering after an inquiry found they taped up their plates to conceal involvement in the improper escort, which jeopardized public safety and undermined trust in the State Police, the attorney general said....
Pretty hard to undermine trust in any government institution these days.
By hiding their plate numbers, the drivers sped through tolls on the Garden State Parkway without paying, the attorney general said, creating what he described as a ‘‘mirage.’’
I'll bet it looked like one.
--more--"
Related:
Update:
NJ boy hit by bird while riding roller coaster
Shane Matus, 12, is recovering after a bird slammed into him on a roller coaster at Six Flags
Related:
"A new ride that towers 400 feet high and may even require a red beacon at the top to ward off airplanes has been proposed for the Six Flags New England amusement park, according to a town official in Agawam."
Maybe not such a good idea.
Bullied Off the Bus
Where was the driver?
"Bullied bus aide says she’s retiring" Associated Press, July 28, 2012
GREECE, N.Y. — A school bus monitor who was shown in a video being relentlessly bullied by a group of boys said Friday she will retire.
Karen Klein, a 68-year-old grandmother, told the Associated Press that the decision to leave the job she held for three years was tough but was not based on her now infamous encounter with the mean-spirited seventh-graders, who tormented her with profanity, insults, and threats during a bus run as the school year wound down in June.
A 10-minute video of the episode went viral and spurred an outpouring of more than $700,000 in donations for Klein from all over the world.
See: Bullies on the Bus
“I’m not quitting because of what happened. That’s not it,” Klein said. “I enjoyed working with the kids. But I guess it’s my time to leave. That’s what I’ve decided.”
Although her mind is made up, she said she has yet to submit the paperwork that would make her retirement official.
She said she will keep busy in her retirement, perhaps volunteering with organizations that help people touched by bullying or suicide.
Klein’s oldest son killed himself 10 years ago, making all the more appalling one of the students’ taunts: “You don’t have a family because they all killed themselves because they don’t want to be near you.”
The cellphone video, posted online, shows Klein trying her best to ignore the abuse.
That's odd because I was always told the only way to stop a bully was by standing up to them -- and it worked. I wasn't bothered after that.
The Greece school district has suspended the four students for a year.
A Toronto man, Max Sidorov, was so moved by Klein’s story that he started an online campaign with the goal of raising $5,000 to send her on a vacation. The fund-raising site Indiegogo listed the total amount raised at $703,833. A spokeswoman for the site said more than 30,000 people contributed, with donations coming in from at least 84 countries and all 50 US states.
--more--"
More bullying in the Big City:
"GRIEF IN BROOKLYN -- Women reacted at the site of a shooting on a street corner in Brooklyn Monday. A wave of stabbings and shootings saw seven killed and at least 21 wounded throughout the city over the weekend (Boston Globe July 10 2012)."
Also see:
3 adults, 2 children killed in SUV accident in N.Y.
Six killed in chain-reaction crash in N.Y. work zone
Bus from Foxwoods casino crashes in New York
That is nothing new.
Boat passenger limit signs sought
South Street Seaport fire in New York City doused
Woman gets 12 years for snatching N.Y. baby in 1987
Lynn man sues over wife’s death in N.Y. jail
In the custody of ICE, 'eh?
‘Yogurt bars’ make debut in NYC
Does it have fat in it?
August Update: N.Y. couple, 85, to remarry 48 years after divorce
"Bullied bus aide says she’s retiring" Associated Press, July 28, 2012
GREECE, N.Y. — A school bus monitor who was shown in a video being relentlessly bullied by a group of boys said Friday she will retire.
Karen Klein, a 68-year-old grandmother, told the Associated Press that the decision to leave the job she held for three years was tough but was not based on her now infamous encounter with the mean-spirited seventh-graders, who tormented her with profanity, insults, and threats during a bus run as the school year wound down in June.
A 10-minute video of the episode went viral and spurred an outpouring of more than $700,000 in donations for Klein from all over the world.
See: Bullies on the Bus
“I’m not quitting because of what happened. That’s not it,” Klein said. “I enjoyed working with the kids. But I guess it’s my time to leave. That’s what I’ve decided.”
Although her mind is made up, she said she has yet to submit the paperwork that would make her retirement official.
She said she will keep busy in her retirement, perhaps volunteering with organizations that help people touched by bullying or suicide.
Klein’s oldest son killed himself 10 years ago, making all the more appalling one of the students’ taunts: “You don’t have a family because they all killed themselves because they don’t want to be near you.”
The cellphone video, posted online, shows Klein trying her best to ignore the abuse.
That's odd because I was always told the only way to stop a bully was by standing up to them -- and it worked. I wasn't bothered after that.
The Greece school district has suspended the four students for a year.
A Toronto man, Max Sidorov, was so moved by Klein’s story that he started an online campaign with the goal of raising $5,000 to send her on a vacation. The fund-raising site Indiegogo listed the total amount raised at $703,833. A spokeswoman for the site said more than 30,000 people contributed, with donations coming in from at least 84 countries and all 50 US states.
--more--"
More bullying in the Big City:
"GRIEF IN BROOKLYN -- Women reacted at the site of a shooting on a street corner in Brooklyn Monday. A wave of stabbings and shootings saw seven killed and at least 21 wounded throughout the city over the weekend (Boston Globe July 10 2012)."
Also see:
3 adults, 2 children killed in SUV accident in N.Y.
Six killed in chain-reaction crash in N.Y. work zone
Bus from Foxwoods casino crashes in New York
That is nothing new.
Boat passenger limit signs sought
South Street Seaport fire in New York City doused
Woman gets 12 years for snatching N.Y. baby in 1987
Lynn man sues over wife’s death in N.Y. jail
In the custody of ICE, 'eh?
‘Yogurt bars’ make debut in NYC
Does it have fat in it?
August Update: N.Y. couple, 85, to remarry 48 years after divorce
FBI Crisscrossed Country For Call Girls
Don't answer that!
"Police make arrests in alleged teen prostitution ring; Nationwide effort nets 14 inMass." by Matt Byrne | Globe Correspondent, June 27, 2012
"Police make arrests in alleged teen prostitution ring; Nationwide effort nets 14 inMass." by Matt Byrne | Globe Correspondent, June 27, 2012
Police in three Massachusetts communities have arrested three alleged pimps and 11 other people suspected of prostitution and drug charges, and took one underage girl off the streets, authorities said Tuesday.
The three-day undercover nationwide effort, dubbed Operation Cross Country, was organized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with cooperation from local police departments and the State Police. In Massachusetts, it ensnared 14 suspects in Malden, Saugus, and West Springfield, with the goal of targeting teenage sex trafficking....
In some of the cases, law enforcement responded to online listings advertising escort and companionship services to set up meetings with the suspects, and deployed marked bills to track cash to the pimps...
--more--"
"Military punishes 9 over prostitutes" by Lolita C. Baldor | Associated Press, July 19, 2012
WASHINGTON — Seven Army soldiers and two Marines have received administrative punishments but are not facing criminal charges for their part in the Secret Service prostitution scandal in Colombia this year, said federal officials.
US officials said one Air Force member has been reprimanded but cleared of any violations of the Military Code of Justice. Final decisions are pending on two Navy sailors, still under review....
Man, does it ever feel like certain institutions and individuals within are above the law in AmeriKa.
--more--"
"US air marshals fired over drinking" Associated Press, June 30, 2012
NEW YORK — The Transportation Security Administration is firing eight federal air marshals, including a supervisor, for allegedly drinking alcohol on a training day and suspending six others for not reporting the misconduct, the agency said Friday.
The 14 marshals belong to the New York office. All can appeal except a probationary employee who was terminated immediately.
The TSA said the drinking occurred at a restaurant in February and was reported to a website that allows employees to alert leadership of inappropriate behavior.
None of the marshals was scheduled for flight duty the day of the drinking. But the TSA said consumption of alcohol is forbidden anytime they are on the job.
The TSA didn’t know if any had yet retained attorneys.
Some of the marshals at the restaurant had their service weapons with them, the agency said.
You see, it iz okay for zome to have zee gunz!!
Those being fired were required Friday to turn in their weapons and credentials.
--more--"
Hey, they are just being the good stewards of government we have come to expect.
FBI Shopping Channel
"26 arrested in Web credit card fraud" by Nelson D. Schwartz | New York Times, June 27, 2012
Authorities in the United States and overseas arrested 26 people Tuesday in a crackdown on Internet credit card fraud after an extensive undercover operation.
Two individuals were arrested in New York, nine elsewhere in the United States, and 15 in 12 other countries, according to an FBI spokeswoman.
‘‘We put a major dent in cybercrime,’’ she said. ‘‘This is an unprecedented operation.’’
In the sting, which they called Operation Card Shop, undercover investigators created an online bazaar to catch buyers and sellers of credit card data and other private financial information.
They also aimed at people who clone and produce the physical credit cards that are then used to buy merchandise.
Credit card theft has exploded in recent years.
Time to cut up the cards.
Janice K. Fedarcyk, assistant director for the FBI, said the arrests would cause ‘‘significant disruption to the underground economy.’’
I was wondering where it went.
--more--"
"Pittsfield man arrested in global cybercrime case" by Colin A. Young | Globe Correspondent, June 28, 2012
A Pittsfield man was among the more than 20 people arrested following an FBI investigation into cybercrimes and identity fraud, the agency announced.
Peter Ketchum Jr., 21, was arrested Tuesday and charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud and could face more than seven years in prison, the FBI said. Ketchum was arrested as part of a two-year undercover investigation into “carding” crimes, which typically involve “stealing personal identification information and financial information . . . and using that information to obtain money, goods, or services without the victim’s authorization,” according to the FBI.
Related: The Gonzalez Garbage Dump
I wonder what Ketchum's defense will come up with.
Ketchum allegedly sold “drop addresses” to other cybercriminals in exchange for money or merchandise. “Drop addresses” are usually vacant houses or apartments where goods purchased using stolen credit card information can be shipped and accepted by another person.
Plenty of them with all the foreclosures.
“Individuals who use stolen credit card information to purchase goods on the Internet are typically reluctant to ship the goods to their own home addresses, for fear that law enforcement could easily trace the purchases,” the FBI said in a statement.
Ketchum was one of 24 alleged cybercriminals arrested globally as a result of what the FBI called “the largest coordinated international law enforcement action in history directed at carding crimes.” As a result of the investigation, the FBI prevented an estimated $205 million in economic losses, notified credit card providers of more than 411,000 compromised cards, and alerted 47 companies of breaches of their networks, officials said.
--more--"
Also see: In Pittsfield, baseball tradition takes fans way back
Michelle Obama will act as host in Pittsfield fund-raiser
Authorities in the United States and overseas arrested 26 people Tuesday in a crackdown on Internet credit card fraud after an extensive undercover operation.
Two individuals were arrested in New York, nine elsewhere in the United States, and 15 in 12 other countries, according to an FBI spokeswoman.
‘‘We put a major dent in cybercrime,’’ she said. ‘‘This is an unprecedented operation.’’
In the sting, which they called Operation Card Shop, undercover investigators created an online bazaar to catch buyers and sellers of credit card data and other private financial information.
They also aimed at people who clone and produce the physical credit cards that are then used to buy merchandise.
Credit card theft has exploded in recent years.
Time to cut up the cards.
Janice K. Fedarcyk, assistant director for the FBI, said the arrests would cause ‘‘significant disruption to the underground economy.’’
I was wondering where it went.
--more--"
"Pittsfield man arrested in global cybercrime case" by Colin A. Young | Globe Correspondent, June 28, 2012
A Pittsfield man was among the more than 20 people arrested following an FBI investigation into cybercrimes and identity fraud, the agency announced.
Peter Ketchum Jr., 21, was arrested Tuesday and charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud and could face more than seven years in prison, the FBI said. Ketchum was arrested as part of a two-year undercover investigation into “carding” crimes, which typically involve “stealing personal identification information and financial information . . . and using that information to obtain money, goods, or services without the victim’s authorization,” according to the FBI.
Related: The Gonzalez Garbage Dump
I wonder what Ketchum's defense will come up with.
Ketchum allegedly sold “drop addresses” to other cybercriminals in exchange for money or merchandise. “Drop addresses” are usually vacant houses or apartments where goods purchased using stolen credit card information can be shipped and accepted by another person.
Plenty of them with all the foreclosures.
“Individuals who use stolen credit card information to purchase goods on the Internet are typically reluctant to ship the goods to their own home addresses, for fear that law enforcement could easily trace the purchases,” the FBI said in a statement.
Ketchum was one of 24 alleged cybercriminals arrested globally as a result of what the FBI called “the largest coordinated international law enforcement action in history directed at carding crimes.” As a result of the investigation, the FBI prevented an estimated $205 million in economic losses, notified credit card providers of more than 411,000 compromised cards, and alerted 47 companies of breaches of their networks, officials said.
--more--"
Also see: In Pittsfield, baseball tradition takes fans way back
Michelle Obama will act as host in Pittsfield fund-raiser
Monday, July 30, 2012
The Boston Globe's Invisible Ink: Occupy Protests Omitted
Never saw it in my printed paper:
Occupy members accused of violating city curfew
I saw these in my printed paper but the web site scrubbed 'em(?) from their version:
"Mass. coalition calls for constitutional amendment
BOSTON—A Massachusetts group has submitted thousands of petition signatures to put a non-binding question on the November ballot, asserting that corporations aren't entitled to the same rights as people. The Democracy Amendment Coalition of Massachusetts announced Tuesday that it submitted 20,000 signatures from registered voters to Secretary of State William Galvin's office. The move is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court stripping away limits on political activity by corporations in 2010. The question will be on the ballot in four state Senate districts and 15 House districts. The coalition is aiming to have the question considered in a total of six Senate districts and 33 House districts. The question will ask voters to instruct state lawmakers to urge Congress to propose a constitutional amendment limiting political contributions by corporations."
"Protests planned for governors meeting
Occupy groups and others plan to protest during the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Premiers. Demonstrations are planned for Sunday and Monday. Organizers say they want the governors and premiers to focus on the human rights of the people in the region and a process that engages them in holding their governments accountable for protecting their rights. The 36th annual conference will be cohosted by Governor Peter Shumlin and Premier Jean Charest of Quebec. The governors, premiers, and the Canadian and US ambassadors are expected to discuss issues they share, such as financial and environmental challenges, enhancing trade, and maximizing the potential of each region’s energy resources."
Related: Protests begin ahead of governors' conference
I don't understand it, readers. The Globe's love letter is just a blank sheet of paper.
I wonder how those kids are making out these days.
Also see: Lowell teens lobby Legislature on voting age
Maybe you would like to occupy your time and do some scrolling?
Next Day Update (found another one):
"Four women convicted in Maine capital protest
A jury in Augusta has convicted four women of criminal trespass stemming from a protest on the Blaine House grounds last November. The Kennebec Journal in Augusta said jurors deliberated about 30 minutes before returning a verdict Thursday, the second day of the Superior Court trial. Convicted were Elizabeth Burke, 49, of Union; Kimberly Cormier, 47, of Benton; and Patricia Messier, 63, and Jenny Gray, 54, both of Wiscasset. They were arrested for refusing police orders to leave the Blaine House grounds during the November protest by Occupy-Augusta participants."
Occupy members accused of violating city curfew
I saw these in my printed paper but the web site scrubbed 'em(?) from their version:
"Mass. coalition calls for constitutional amendment
BOSTON—A Massachusetts group has submitted thousands of petition signatures to put a non-binding question on the November ballot, asserting that corporations aren't entitled to the same rights as people. The Democracy Amendment Coalition of Massachusetts announced Tuesday that it submitted 20,000 signatures from registered voters to Secretary of State William Galvin's office. The move is in response to the U.S. Supreme Court stripping away limits on political activity by corporations in 2010. The question will be on the ballot in four state Senate districts and 15 House districts. The coalition is aiming to have the question considered in a total of six Senate districts and 33 House districts. The question will ask voters to instruct state lawmakers to urge Congress to propose a constitutional amendment limiting political contributions by corporations."
"Protests planned for governors meeting
Occupy groups and others plan to protest during the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Premiers. Demonstrations are planned for Sunday and Monday. Organizers say they want the governors and premiers to focus on the human rights of the people in the region and a process that engages them in holding their governments accountable for protecting their rights. The 36th annual conference will be cohosted by Governor Peter Shumlin and Premier Jean Charest of Quebec. The governors, premiers, and the Canadian and US ambassadors are expected to discuss issues they share, such as financial and environmental challenges, enhancing trade, and maximizing the potential of each region’s energy resources."
Related: Protests begin ahead of governors' conference
I don't understand it, readers. The Globe's love letter is just a blank sheet of paper.
I wonder how those kids are making out these days.
Also see: Lowell teens lobby Legislature on voting age
Maybe you would like to occupy your time and do some scrolling?
Next Day Update (found another one):
"Four women convicted in Maine capital protest
A jury in Augusta has convicted four women of criminal trespass stemming from a protest on the Blaine House grounds last November. The Kennebec Journal in Augusta said jurors deliberated about 30 minutes before returning a verdict Thursday, the second day of the Superior Court trial. Convicted were Elizabeth Burke, 49, of Union; Kimberly Cormier, 47, of Benton; and Patricia Messier, 63, and Jenny Gray, 54, both of Wiscasset. They were arrested for refusing police orders to leave the Blaine House grounds during the November protest by Occupy-Augusta participants."
High on Ohio Post
Enjoy, readers:
"States fight ‘tourists’ trafficking painkillers" Associated Press, July 09, 2012
LEBANON, Ohio — Authorities trying to crack down on prescription painkiller abuse at home say they are being stymied by so-called drug tourists, people traveling to states like Florida and Georgia where drugs are easier to get.
Investigators say these prescription tourists thwart local efforts to combat the illegal sale of painkillers and to treat addicts by bringing huge volumes of drugs in from outside.
Prescription tourists are based in a variety of states, but investigators in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia, where authorities have already cracked down on local pill mills — are among the busiest trying to track trips to Florida, Georgia, and elsewhere.
Oh, right, time for me to take a pill.
It involves drug dealers sending underlings to states with pill mills where they load up on painkillers, then return to sell the drugs to addicts willing to pay as much as $100 a pill, or as much as 10 times the drugstore price.
Cracking down on the trade requires complicated prosecutions crossing multiple states.
Florida was a popular spot for years because of its virtually unregulated pain clinic industry, which provided access to thousands of painkillers marketed by names like OxyContin, Vicodin, and Percocet....
--more--"
Man, do I ever feel out of it....
"Investigators: Ohio teen suspected in drug ring" Associated Press, July 17, 2012
LEBANON, Ohio — The drug kingpin had six lieutenants and was selling as much as $20,000 worth of high-grade homegrown marijuana every month to high school students, being careful not to do business on school grounds, where they knew it was riskier, investigators said.
And all this before he graduated.
A 17-year-old high school student was at the center of a distribution ring that operated in two Cincinnati-area schools, the Warren County Drug Task Force said Monday.
A yearlong investigation culminated in the arrest of the teen and seven adults, as well as the seizure of more than 600 hydroponically grown marijuana plants....
Globe editors must have been high because they forgot this:
The adults who were indicted range in age from 20 to 58. All face multiple charges, including possessing, cultivated, and trafficking in marijuana.
They were indicted Friday and were still being rounded up Monday, said John Burke, the commander of the task force.
--more--"
Look, I'm not for the kids smoking the stuff; however, look at all the time and money wasted on the demon weed when legal drug$ are the real killers.
"1 Ohio bridge bomb plot suspect pleads guilty" Associated Press, July 26, 2012
AKRON, Ohio — One of five men charged with plotting to bomb an Ohio highway bridge pleaded guilty Wednesday and agreed to testify against his codefendants....
His attorney, Michael O’Shea, said Anthony Hayne, 35, of Cleveland, who has a criminal record for theft and breaking and entering, hopes to get leniency in return for his testimony....
‘‘I don’t think any of these guys intended harm to human beings,’’ O’Shea said. ‘‘I think they just thought this was a way of making some sort of political statement. But I’m relatively confident none of these people had any desires to actually hurt anybody.’’
O’Shea said Hayne was a latecomer to the alleged plot and, as such, had the least standing to argue that he had been manipulated by an FBI informant, as other defendants have contended.
Authorities have called the men anarchists, and investigators say the group planted what turned out to be a dud bomb provided by an FBI undercover informant on a bridge south of Cleveland and then tried to detonate it....
Not guilty. Next.
--more--"
Related: Cleveland Crap
I thought I smelled something.
Also see: Ohio freight train derails, causing fiery blast
It MUST have been the TERRORISTS!
Next Day Update:
"Student threatened ‘shooting’ on Twitter, ordered to avoid Kent State" Associated Press, July 31, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Kent State University student accused of posting a message on Twitter saying he would be ‘‘shooting up’’ the northeastern Ohio campus was instructed Monday to stay away from the school and its president.
William Koberna, a 19-year-old sophomore, was ordered released after posting part of a $50,000 bond set at Portage County Municipal Court in Ravenna....
WTF?
Conditions of his bond require Koberna to wear a GPS tracking device and to stay away from the university’s president, Lester Lefton, and the school.
University officials said an employee was monitoring social media mentions of the school when a profanity-laced tweet posted July 25 was discovered. The public tweet mentioned Kent State University, identified the university president by name, and included a threat that he planned to be ‘‘shooting up’’ the school. The tweet ended with ‘‘ASAP.’’ It is no longer available.
Koberna was arrested Sunday afternoon at his parents’ home in the Cleveland suburb of Brunswick after university officials contacted police about the tweet. Officials said he was taken into custody without incident....
Koberna has been charged with inducing panic, a felony, and aggravated menacing, a misdemeanor. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Friday at the Kent branch of Portage County Municipal Court. Court records do not list an attorney for the teen.
--more--"
Also see: US Quiet on Kent State Killing
Update: Ohio man shoots wife of 45 years in hospital ICU
He wanted to end his wife’s suffering.
"States fight ‘tourists’ trafficking painkillers" Associated Press, July 09, 2012
LEBANON, Ohio — Authorities trying to crack down on prescription painkiller abuse at home say they are being stymied by so-called drug tourists, people traveling to states like Florida and Georgia where drugs are easier to get.
Investigators say these prescription tourists thwart local efforts to combat the illegal sale of painkillers and to treat addicts by bringing huge volumes of drugs in from outside.
Prescription tourists are based in a variety of states, but investigators in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia, where authorities have already cracked down on local pill mills — are among the busiest trying to track trips to Florida, Georgia, and elsewhere.
Oh, right, time for me to take a pill.
It involves drug dealers sending underlings to states with pill mills where they load up on painkillers, then return to sell the drugs to addicts willing to pay as much as $100 a pill, or as much as 10 times the drugstore price.
Cracking down on the trade requires complicated prosecutions crossing multiple states.
Florida was a popular spot for years because of its virtually unregulated pain clinic industry, which provided access to thousands of painkillers marketed by names like OxyContin, Vicodin, and Percocet....
--more--"
Man, do I ever feel out of it....
"Investigators: Ohio teen suspected in drug ring" Associated Press, July 17, 2012
LEBANON, Ohio — The drug kingpin had six lieutenants and was selling as much as $20,000 worth of high-grade homegrown marijuana every month to high school students, being careful not to do business on school grounds, where they knew it was riskier, investigators said.
And all this before he graduated.
A 17-year-old high school student was at the center of a distribution ring that operated in two Cincinnati-area schools, the Warren County Drug Task Force said Monday.
A yearlong investigation culminated in the arrest of the teen and seven adults, as well as the seizure of more than 600 hydroponically grown marijuana plants....
Globe editors must have been high because they forgot this:
The adults who were indicted range in age from 20 to 58. All face multiple charges, including possessing, cultivated, and trafficking in marijuana.
They were indicted Friday and were still being rounded up Monday, said John Burke, the commander of the task force.
--more--"
Look, I'm not for the kids smoking the stuff; however, look at all the time and money wasted on the demon weed when legal drug$ are the real killers.
"1 Ohio bridge bomb plot suspect pleads guilty" Associated Press, July 26, 2012
AKRON, Ohio — One of five men charged with plotting to bomb an Ohio highway bridge pleaded guilty Wednesday and agreed to testify against his codefendants....
His attorney, Michael O’Shea, said Anthony Hayne, 35, of Cleveland, who has a criminal record for theft and breaking and entering, hopes to get leniency in return for his testimony....
‘‘I don’t think any of these guys intended harm to human beings,’’ O’Shea said. ‘‘I think they just thought this was a way of making some sort of political statement. But I’m relatively confident none of these people had any desires to actually hurt anybody.’’
O’Shea said Hayne was a latecomer to the alleged plot and, as such, had the least standing to argue that he had been manipulated by an FBI informant, as other defendants have contended.
Authorities have called the men anarchists, and investigators say the group planted what turned out to be a dud bomb provided by an FBI undercover informant on a bridge south of Cleveland and then tried to detonate it....
Not guilty. Next.
--more--"
Related: Cleveland Crap
I thought I smelled something.
Also see: Ohio freight train derails, causing fiery blast
It MUST have been the TERRORISTS!
Next Day Update:
"Student threatened ‘shooting’ on Twitter, ordered to avoid Kent State" Associated Press, July 31, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Kent State University student accused of posting a message on Twitter saying he would be ‘‘shooting up’’ the northeastern Ohio campus was instructed Monday to stay away from the school and its president.
William Koberna, a 19-year-old sophomore, was ordered released after posting part of a $50,000 bond set at Portage County Municipal Court in Ravenna....
WTF?
Conditions of his bond require Koberna to wear a GPS tracking device and to stay away from the university’s president, Lester Lefton, and the school.
University officials said an employee was monitoring social media mentions of the school when a profanity-laced tweet posted July 25 was discovered. The public tweet mentioned Kent State University, identified the university president by name, and included a threat that he planned to be ‘‘shooting up’’ the school. The tweet ended with ‘‘ASAP.’’ It is no longer available.
Koberna was arrested Sunday afternoon at his parents’ home in the Cleveland suburb of Brunswick after university officials contacted police about the tweet. Officials said he was taken into custody without incident....
Koberna has been charged with inducing panic, a felony, and aggravated menacing, a misdemeanor. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Friday at the Kent branch of Portage County Municipal Court. Court records do not list an attorney for the teen.
--more--"
Also see: US Quiet on Kent State Killing
Update: Ohio man shoots wife of 45 years in hospital ICU
He wanted to end his wife’s suffering.
Oregon Post Aborted
"Lawn chairs’ flight aborted in storm
BEND — An Oregon gas station owner and an Iraqi adventurer trying to fly from Oregon to Montana in tandem lawn chairs suspended from party balloons are back on land after having to abort their flight in a thunderstorm. Kent Couch and Fareed Lafta were seven hours into their flight when they were forced to land 30 miles east of their starting point. They lifted off Saturday morning at Couch’s gas station."
Related: Balloonists recall stormy Oregon flight
Also see:
Oregon man recovering from rare case of plague
Head of Oregon investment firm pleads guilty in NY
Two different kinds of plague there.
The Globe's Oregon Backwash
That's why I'm spitting most of it out.
BEND — An Oregon gas station owner and an Iraqi adventurer trying to fly from Oregon to Montana in tandem lawn chairs suspended from party balloons are back on land after having to abort their flight in a thunderstorm. Kent Couch and Fareed Lafta were seven hours into their flight when they were forced to land 30 miles east of their starting point. They lifted off Saturday morning at Couch’s gas station."
Related: Balloonists recall stormy Oregon flight
Also see:
Oregon man recovering from rare case of plague
Head of Oregon investment firm pleads guilty in NY
Two different kinds of plague there.
The Globe's Oregon Backwash
That's why I'm spitting most of it out.
When Water is Thicker Than Oil
"Pipeline’s southern leg gets OK to begin; Canadian section still under review" by Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson | Washington Post, July 28, 2012
WASHINGTON — The permits dealt a blow to efforts by national environmental groups to slow the momentum behind the southern leg of the project — now also known as the Gulf Coast project. Those groups, including Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club, have urged their Texas supporters to send comments to the Army Corps, which governs pipeline permits there.
But the Army Corps has moved ahead....
The Galveston District said TransCanada would use horizontal drilling to burrow under the water areas....
I don't like the sound of that.
--more--"
I have no energy to find any links, sorry.
WASHINGTON — The permits dealt a blow to efforts by national environmental groups to slow the momentum behind the southern leg of the project — now also known as the Gulf Coast project. Those groups, including Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club, have urged their Texas supporters to send comments to the Army Corps, which governs pipeline permits there.
But the Army Corps has moved ahead....
The Galveston District said TransCanada would use horizontal drilling to burrow under the water areas....
I don't like the sound of that.
--more--"
I have no energy to find any links, sorry.
Predictable Pakistan Post
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"A new boldness from the Haqqanis that aims at mass US casualties has reduced the room for ambiguity between the two countries. Inside the administration, it is a commonly held view that the United States is ‘‘one major attack’’ away from unilateral action against Pakistan, an official said: “If 50 US troops were blown to smithereens by the Haqqanis, or they penetrated the US Embassy in Kabul and killed several diplomats — that would be the game changer.’’
Oh, so a FALSE FLAG is being planned against Pakistan so the U.S. can BOMB and INVADE!
Btw, it is NOT FUNNY anymore!
How PREDICTABLE!
In sticking with the new format I'm putting the things I care most about up front:
"US drone attack kills 12 in Pakistan" July 07, 2012
ISLAMABAD — Missiles fired by a US drone killed at least 12 suspected militants near the Afghan border on Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
Several insurgents were also wounded in the attack that destroyed a compound near Miran Shah, the main town of the North Waziristan tribal region, the two officials said. The drone fired five missiles.
Btw, compound means house.
The militants who were hit were believed to be fighters loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadur, an insurgent commander whose forces frequently target US and NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
A similar drone attack on Sunday killed eight of Bahadur’s fighters.
In a separate development Friday, a government official said gunmen killed 18 people in an attack on a restaurant in southwestern Pakistan.
Abdul Razzaq said two people were wounded in the restaurant attack in Turbat, a remote town in Baluchistan Province.
He said the dead and wounded were Pakistanis trying to travel with the help of smugglers to Europe through Iran. No other details were available.
US drones often target suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda hideouts in the tribal regions of Pakistan’s rugged northwest, but Friday’s missile attack near Miran Shah was the first since Islamabad reopened NATO supply lines to Afghanistan on Wednesday.
Related: Pakistan Reopens U.S. Supply Line
Pakistan closed the supply routes in November in retaliation for American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Islamabad agreed to reopen its border to the coalition supplies after Washington apologized for the deaths of the Pakistani troops.
The drone attacks, however, remain a source of deep frustration and tension between the United States and Pakistan.
--more--"
"US missiles kill 9 suspected militants in Pakistan" Associated Press, July 24, 2012
ISLAMABAD — US drones fired eight missiles at a compound owned by a powerful militant commander in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing nine suspected insurgents, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
It was unclear whether the commander, Sadiq Noor, was at the compound in Dre Nishter village in the North Waziristan tribal area during the attack. Noor is the most important commander for Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a prominent Pakistani militant focused on fighting in Afghanistan.
The nine suspected militants who were killed were believed to be Bahadur’s fighters, said the intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
The strikes have caused tension between Washington and Islamabad. They are extremely unpopular in Pakistan because many people believe they mostly kill civilians, an allegation disputed by the United States.
Related: '168 Pakistani kids killed by US strikes'
Is that on top of the 775 civilians since 2004?
Must be over 1,000 by now!
Pakistani officials regularly denounce the attacks as a violation of the country’s sovereignty, but the government has supported some of the strikes. That cooperation has come under strain as the relationship between the United States and Pakistan has deteriorated.
Pakistani officials say they want the drone strikes to stop and are asking the United States to feed intelligence gathered by the pilotless aircraft to Pakistani jets and ground forces so that they can target militants.
US officials say Pakistan has proved incapable or unwilling to target militants the United States considers dangerous.
Pakistan allegedly has a nonaggression pact with Bahadur, the militant whose men were targeted Monday, though the country’s military has never acknowledged that.
Hitler had one of those with Stalin!
Also Monday, a Pakistani court ordered police to protect an Afghan couple who eloped and feared being murdered by the bride’s relatives, said police officer Kamal Hussain.
That sure is an odd thing to do in a land of intolerance.
--more--"
"8 killed on attack on army camp in Pakistan" by Asif Shahzad | Associated Press, July 10, 2012
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Gunmen killed eight people in an attack Monday on a Pakistani Army camp in a city where hard-line Islamists protested the decision to reopen the NATO supply line to Afghanistan, police said.
Police were searching for the attackers, and it was unclear if any of the Islamist protesters were involved, said Basharat Mahmood, police chief in the eastern city of Gujrat, where the attack occurred.
‘‘It is surely a terrorist attack,’’ said Mahmood. ‘‘The attackers could have taken cover. They could have hid themselves among the protesters.’’
The camp on the outskirts of Gujrat was attacked at around 5:20 a.m., a little less than an hour after the leaders of the Defense of Pakistan protest movement finished delivering speeches inside the city, said the police.
The group, which includes hard-line Islamist politicians and religious leaders, left the city of Lahore on Sunday along with 8,000 supporters in 200 vehicles to make the 185-mile journey to Islamabad. They traveled about halfway, spent the night in Gujrat, and then began marching toward Islamabad, planning to hold a rally in front of Parliament.
The gunmen who attacked the camp were riding in a car and on motorcycles. They killed seven soldiers at the camp and a police officer who tried to intercept them as they were escaping, said Mahmood. Four police and at least three soldiers were wounded, he said.
The Pakistani Taliban took responsibility for the attack on the soldiers. The Pakistani Taliban is an umbrella organization created to represent roughly 40 insurgent groups in the tribal belt plus Al Qaeda-linked groups headquartered in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab Province.
The camp that was attacked was set up to look for the body of an army major who was flying a helicopter when it crashed into a river in the area, said the police.
Members of the protest movement are not known to be supporters of the Pakistani Taliban.
But like the Occupy protesters here, maybe the protesters there can be tainted (cui bono)?
--more--"
"Vehicle hits mine in Pakistan, killing 14 Shi’ites" by Munir Ahmed | Associated Press, July 19, 2012
ISLAMABAD — A van carrying minority Shi’ite Muslims hit an antitank land mine in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing 14 passengers in what police described as the country’s latest sectarian attack.
Eight members of one family, including three women and three children, were among those killed in the blast on the outskirts of Kohat city, said police official Naeem Khan. The group was traveling from Spai, a predominantly Shi’ite village in the Orakzai tribal area.
“It was a terrorist act. It apparently seems to be a sectarian incident,’’ Khan said, adding that it was unclear who had buried the mine.
Sunni militants in the region, including the Pakistani Taliban, have carried out attacks against Shi’ites in Orakzai and the neighboring Kurram tribal area. They have used antitank land mines in past attacks, said Khan.
I'm sorry, readers, but I no longer by the Zionist War Press sectarian schtick.
--more--"
Related: "There has been significant infighting about turf and leadership positions within the Pakistani Taliban, between pro-and anti-Taliban armed groups."
Maybe some are militants from Afghanistan.
"Bombing kills 11 in Pakistan market" Associated Press, July 27, 2012
KHAR, Pakistan — A truck packed with explosives blew up in a crowded market in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing 11 people, as security concerns led officials to temporarily close a supply route to NATO troops in Afghanistan.
They just opened it!
The blast in Salarzai town in the Bajur tribal area near the Afghan border also wounded nearly two dozen people, some of them critically, and damaged several vehicles and shops, said Jehangir Azam, a local government administrator.
It is unclear whether the attack was a suicide bombing or if the explosives were detonated by remote control, he added. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Ah, yes, the HALLMARKS of a WESTERN INTELLIGENCE OPERATION!
A shop owner who was injured in the explosion, Sher Mohammed, was sitting in his store when he saw a pickup truck enter the bazaar. Minutes later he heard a loud detonation.
‘‘Something hurt my arm, chest, and leg, and I fell down,’’ said Mohammed. ‘‘When I opened my eyes, I found myself on this hospital bed.’’
The Pakistani Taliban have a strong presence in Bajur, but the group’s spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan, denied they were behind the bombing. The group often denies involvement in bombings with significant civilian casualties.
The implication from the war-mongering piece of Zionist war s*** is it really was them anyway.
Any wonder why I'm so unenthusiastic for this slop these days?
The army has carried out several offensives against militants in Bajur, but they continue to stage attacks.
Thursday’s decision to close one of the two border crossings used by NATO to ship troop supplies into Afghanistan was made based on security concerns, said Bakhtiar Khan, a local government official.
--more--"
Related: Trade vs. aid: Pakistan wants lower tariffs, but US gives money instead
Why does my government always do the opposite of what I would like no matter which party is in charge?
"Pakistan refuses to reopen presidential graft case" by Munir Ahmed | Associated Press, July 26, 2012
ISLAMABAD — The crisis has roiled Pakistan’s political system for months, distracting attention from what many in the country believe are more pressing problems, such as the country’s ailing economy and fight against the Taliban....
Also Wednesday, militants coming from Afghanistan fired on a paramilitary checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, wounding two soldiers, officials said.
I can't imagine for whom they are working.
The attack occurred in the Kurram tribal area, a local government official said.
At least 20 militants were involved in the attack, military officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
--more--"
Sometimes I feel I'm just going backwards with these posts, dear readers:
"Ancient artifacts seized by police
ISLAMABAD — Police seized a large number of Buddhist sculptures that smugglers were attempting to spirit out of the country and sell for millions of dollars on the antiquities market, officials said Saturday. Many sculptures could be more than 2,000 years old. The items were probably illegally excavated in Pakistan’s northwest (AP)."
Must have been the "terrorists."
Taliban would have blown them up, right?
Oh, so a FALSE FLAG is being planned against Pakistan so the U.S. can BOMB and INVADE!
Btw, it is NOT FUNNY anymore!
How PREDICTABLE!
In sticking with the new format I'm putting the things I care most about up front:
"US drone attack kills 12 in Pakistan" July 07, 2012
ISLAMABAD — Missiles fired by a US drone killed at least 12 suspected militants near the Afghan border on Friday, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
Several insurgents were also wounded in the attack that destroyed a compound near Miran Shah, the main town of the North Waziristan tribal region, the two officials said. The drone fired five missiles.
Btw, compound means house.
The militants who were hit were believed to be fighters loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadur, an insurgent commander whose forces frequently target US and NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan.
A similar drone attack on Sunday killed eight of Bahadur’s fighters.
In a separate development Friday, a government official said gunmen killed 18 people in an attack on a restaurant in southwestern Pakistan.
Abdul Razzaq said two people were wounded in the restaurant attack in Turbat, a remote town in Baluchistan Province.
He said the dead and wounded were Pakistanis trying to travel with the help of smugglers to Europe through Iran. No other details were available.
US drones often target suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda hideouts in the tribal regions of Pakistan’s rugged northwest, but Friday’s missile attack near Miran Shah was the first since Islamabad reopened NATO supply lines to Afghanistan on Wednesday.
Related: Pakistan Reopens U.S. Supply Line
Pakistan closed the supply routes in November in retaliation for American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
Islamabad agreed to reopen its border to the coalition supplies after Washington apologized for the deaths of the Pakistani troops.
The drone attacks, however, remain a source of deep frustration and tension between the United States and Pakistan.
--more--"
"US missiles kill 9 suspected militants in Pakistan" Associated Press, July 24, 2012
ISLAMABAD — US drones fired eight missiles at a compound owned by a powerful militant commander in northwest Pakistan on Monday, killing nine suspected insurgents, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
It was unclear whether the commander, Sadiq Noor, was at the compound in Dre Nishter village in the North Waziristan tribal area during the attack. Noor is the most important commander for Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a prominent Pakistani militant focused on fighting in Afghanistan.
The nine suspected militants who were killed were believed to be Bahadur’s fighters, said the intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
The strikes have caused tension between Washington and Islamabad. They are extremely unpopular in Pakistan because many people believe they mostly kill civilians, an allegation disputed by the United States.
Related: '168 Pakistani kids killed by US strikes'
Is that on top of the 775 civilians since 2004?
Must be over 1,000 by now!
Pakistani officials regularly denounce the attacks as a violation of the country’s sovereignty, but the government has supported some of the strikes. That cooperation has come under strain as the relationship between the United States and Pakistan has deteriorated.
Pakistani officials say they want the drone strikes to stop and are asking the United States to feed intelligence gathered by the pilotless aircraft to Pakistani jets and ground forces so that they can target militants.
US officials say Pakistan has proved incapable or unwilling to target militants the United States considers dangerous.
Pakistan allegedly has a nonaggression pact with Bahadur, the militant whose men were targeted Monday, though the country’s military has never acknowledged that.
Hitler had one of those with Stalin!
Also Monday, a Pakistani court ordered police to protect an Afghan couple who eloped and feared being murdered by the bride’s relatives, said police officer Kamal Hussain.
That sure is an odd thing to do in a land of intolerance.
--more--"
"8 killed on attack on army camp in Pakistan" by Asif Shahzad | Associated Press, July 10, 2012
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Gunmen killed eight people in an attack Monday on a Pakistani Army camp in a city where hard-line Islamists protested the decision to reopen the NATO supply line to Afghanistan, police said.
Police were searching for the attackers, and it was unclear if any of the Islamist protesters were involved, said Basharat Mahmood, police chief in the eastern city of Gujrat, where the attack occurred.
‘‘It is surely a terrorist attack,’’ said Mahmood. ‘‘The attackers could have taken cover. They could have hid themselves among the protesters.’’
The camp on the outskirts of Gujrat was attacked at around 5:20 a.m., a little less than an hour after the leaders of the Defense of Pakistan protest movement finished delivering speeches inside the city, said the police.
The group, which includes hard-line Islamist politicians and religious leaders, left the city of Lahore on Sunday along with 8,000 supporters in 200 vehicles to make the 185-mile journey to Islamabad. They traveled about halfway, spent the night in Gujrat, and then began marching toward Islamabad, planning to hold a rally in front of Parliament.
The gunmen who attacked the camp were riding in a car and on motorcycles. They killed seven soldiers at the camp and a police officer who tried to intercept them as they were escaping, said Mahmood. Four police and at least three soldiers were wounded, he said.
The Pakistani Taliban took responsibility for the attack on the soldiers. The Pakistani Taliban is an umbrella organization created to represent roughly 40 insurgent groups in the tribal belt plus Al Qaeda-linked groups headquartered in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab Province.
The camp that was attacked was set up to look for the body of an army major who was flying a helicopter when it crashed into a river in the area, said the police.
Members of the protest movement are not known to be supporters of the Pakistani Taliban.
But like the Occupy protesters here, maybe the protesters there can be tainted (cui bono)?
--more--"
"Vehicle hits mine in Pakistan, killing 14 Shi’ites" by Munir Ahmed | Associated Press, July 19, 2012
ISLAMABAD — A van carrying minority Shi’ite Muslims hit an antitank land mine in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing 14 passengers in what police described as the country’s latest sectarian attack.
Eight members of one family, including three women and three children, were among those killed in the blast on the outskirts of Kohat city, said police official Naeem Khan. The group was traveling from Spai, a predominantly Shi’ite village in the Orakzai tribal area.
“It was a terrorist act. It apparently seems to be a sectarian incident,’’ Khan said, adding that it was unclear who had buried the mine.
Sunni militants in the region, including the Pakistani Taliban, have carried out attacks against Shi’ites in Orakzai and the neighboring Kurram tribal area. They have used antitank land mines in past attacks, said Khan.
I'm sorry, readers, but I no longer by the Zionist War Press sectarian schtick.
--more--"
Related: "There has been significant infighting about turf and leadership positions within the Pakistani Taliban, between pro-and anti-Taliban armed groups."
Maybe some are militants from Afghanistan.
"Bombing kills 11 in Pakistan market" Associated Press, July 27, 2012
KHAR, Pakistan — A truck packed with explosives blew up in a crowded market in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing 11 people, as security concerns led officials to temporarily close a supply route to NATO troops in Afghanistan.
They just opened it!
The blast in Salarzai town in the Bajur tribal area near the Afghan border also wounded nearly two dozen people, some of them critically, and damaged several vehicles and shops, said Jehangir Azam, a local government administrator.
It is unclear whether the attack was a suicide bombing or if the explosives were detonated by remote control, he added. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Ah, yes, the HALLMARKS of a WESTERN INTELLIGENCE OPERATION!
A shop owner who was injured in the explosion, Sher Mohammed, was sitting in his store when he saw a pickup truck enter the bazaar. Minutes later he heard a loud detonation.
‘‘Something hurt my arm, chest, and leg, and I fell down,’’ said Mohammed. ‘‘When I opened my eyes, I found myself on this hospital bed.’’
The Pakistani Taliban have a strong presence in Bajur, but the group’s spokesman, Ahsanullah Ahsan, denied they were behind the bombing. The group often denies involvement in bombings with significant civilian casualties.
The implication from the war-mongering piece of Zionist war s*** is it really was them anyway.
Any wonder why I'm so unenthusiastic for this slop these days?
The army has carried out several offensives against militants in Bajur, but they continue to stage attacks.
Thursday’s decision to close one of the two border crossings used by NATO to ship troop supplies into Afghanistan was made based on security concerns, said Bakhtiar Khan, a local government official.
--more--"
Related: Trade vs. aid: Pakistan wants lower tariffs, but US gives money instead
Why does my government always do the opposite of what I would like no matter which party is in charge?
"Pakistan refuses to reopen presidential graft case" by Munir Ahmed | Associated Press, July 26, 2012
ISLAMABAD — The crisis has roiled Pakistan’s political system for months, distracting attention from what many in the country believe are more pressing problems, such as the country’s ailing economy and fight against the Taliban....
Also Wednesday, militants coming from Afghanistan fired on a paramilitary checkpoint in northwest Pakistan, wounding two soldiers, officials said.
I can't imagine for whom they are working.
The attack occurred in the Kurram tribal area, a local government official said.
At least 20 militants were involved in the attack, military officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
--more--"
Sometimes I feel I'm just going backwards with these posts, dear readers:
"Ancient artifacts seized by police
ISLAMABAD — Police seized a large number of Buddhist sculptures that smugglers were attempting to spirit out of the country and sell for millions of dollars on the antiquities market, officials said Saturday. Many sculptures could be more than 2,000 years old. The items were probably illegally excavated in Pakistan’s northwest (AP)."
Must have been the "terrorists."
Taliban would have blown them up, right?
Pakistan Reopens U.S. Supply Line
I wonder how much it cost the U.S. taxpayer:
"US restarts supply runs via Pakistan; Trucks enter Afghanistan after Clinton apology" by Salman Masood | New York Times, July 06, 2012
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — After a hiatus of seven months, the first trucks carrying supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan crossed the southwestern border post at Chaman, local officials said.
"Islamists protest NATO supply line in Pakistan" by K.M. Chaudary | Associated Press, July 09, 2012
LAHORE, Pakistan — Thousands of hard-line Islamists streamed toward Pakistan’s capital in a massive convoy of vehicles Sunday to protest the government’s decision to allow the United States and other NATO countries to resume shipping troop supplies through the country to Afghanistan.
The demonstration, which started in the eastern city of Lahore, was organized by the Difah-e-Pakistan Council — Defense of Pakistan Council — a group of politicians and religious leaders who have been the most vocal opponents of the supply line.
Pakistan closed the route in November in retaliation for American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani troops. After months of negotiations, Islamabad finally agreed to reopen the route last week when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for the deaths.
Clinton met Sunday with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on the sidelines of an Afghan aid conference in Tokyo and expressed hope that resolution of the supply line conflict would lead to better relations between the troubled allies.
One of the reasons Pakistan waited so long to resolve the conflict is that the government feared domestic backlash in a nation where anti-American sentiment is rampant despite billions of dollars in US aid during the last decade.
That's what happens when you flatten villages and murder people with missiles and infiltrate their country with intelligence agency instigators.
The protest started Sunday in the center of Lahore, where several thousand people assembled with scores of buses, cars, and motorbikes. They linked with thousands more supporters on the city’s edge and drove to Islamabad in a so-called ‘‘long march’’ against the supply line. The convoy included about 200 vehicles with some 8,000 people when it left Lahore, said police official Babar Bakht.
After completing the 185-mile journey to Islamabad, they planned to hold a demonstration outside the Parliament building Monday.
‘‘By coming out on the streets, the Pakistani nation has shown its hatred for America,’’ one of the Difah-e-Pakistan leaders, Maulana Samiul Haq, known as the father of the Taliban, said in a speech on the outskirts of Lahore.
Related: Pakistan's Taliban Talks Out of Both Sides of Its Mouth
Peace Talk Post
I think that was the last time I saw peace mentioned.
Supporters showered Haq with rose petals as he rode through Lahore in the back of a truck with other Difah-e-Pakistan leaders, including Hafiz Saeed, founder of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group; Hamid Gul, a retired Pakistani intelligence chief with a long history of militant support; and Syed Munawar Hasan, leader of Pakistan’s most powerful Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
I'll bet Gul knows a thing or two about 9/11.
Many demonstrators rode on the tops of buses, waving party flags and shouting slogans against the United States and NATO.
The crowd was dominated by members of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, widely thought to be a front group for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is blamed for the attacks in Mumbai, India, in 2008 that killed more than 160 people. Jamaat-ud-Dawa is led by the group’s founder, Saeed.
Related: No Mercy For Mumbai Patsy
The United States announced a $10 million bounty earlier this year for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Saeed, but he operates freely in the country. Pakistan says it does not have enough evidence to arrest Saeed.
I don't want my tax dollars going for that.
--more--"
Then it was closed again.
You guys can't just push the trucks through?
August Update:
Now the thing is going to be open through 2015 even thought we are leaving (pfft) in 2014?
"US restarts supply runs via Pakistan; Trucks enter Afghanistan after Clinton apology" by Salman Masood | New York Times, July 06, 2012
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — After a hiatus of seven months, the first trucks carrying supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan crossed the southwestern border post at Chaman, local officials said.
Pakistan agreed to reopen NATO supply routes Tuesday after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a telephone call to Pakistan’s foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, and said she was sorry for the deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers who were killed in a US airstrike along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in November.
Now, WAS THAT SO HARD?!?!
By noon Thursday, border officials had allowed three trucks to cross into Afghanistan, according to news reports that quoted Pakistani customs officials.
Thousands of containers have piled up at the southern port city of Karachi since NATO supply routes through Pakistan were shut down in the aftermath of the airstrike.
The closure became a major sore point between Pakistan and the United States, which have a history of mutual mistrust and acrimony despite being partners for more than a decade in the effort to curb terrorism and militancy.
Pakistanis have been particularly incensed since a shooting in Lahore in January 2011 that involved a CIA employee.
Related:
"the truth lies buried in the murky world of spies."
See: They Don't Want Your Blood Money
Why Am I No Longer Reading the Newspaper?
Seeing through the murk yet?
See: They Don't Want Your Blood Money
Why Am I No Longer Reading the Newspaper?
Seeing through the murk yet?
Additionally, the US operation that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011 was taken as an affront to Pakistan’s sovereignty.
No problem because they are believed no longer.
Pakistan had initially sought an unconditional apology from the United States over the US airstrikes, and its Parliament put forward a raft of demands for the reopening of supply lines, including higher transit fees for supply trucks and an end to drone strikes.
But on Tuesday Pakistan said it had not made any financial demands and the political leadership said it was satisfied with the regrets expressed by US officials.
Opposition political parties and religious leaders have, however, strongly criticized the move to reopen the border routes. Anti-American sentiment runs high in the country. A survey released in June by the Pew Research Center showed that 74 percent of respondents consider the United States an enemy, up from 69 percent last year and 64 percent three years ago.
The Defense Council of Pakistan, an alliance of religious and militant groups, has announced plans to hold nationwide protests on Friday, the Muslim holy day, according to Maulana Samiul Haq, an anti-American religious leader.
Opposition political parties are also planning to hold a meeting Saturday in the eastern city of Lahore to develop a protest campaign.
--more--"
"Islamists protest NATO supply line in Pakistan" by K.M. Chaudary | Associated Press, July 09, 2012
LAHORE, Pakistan — Thousands of hard-line Islamists streamed toward Pakistan’s capital in a massive convoy of vehicles Sunday to protest the government’s decision to allow the United States and other NATO countries to resume shipping troop supplies through the country to Afghanistan.
The demonstration, which started in the eastern city of Lahore, was organized by the Difah-e-Pakistan Council — Defense of Pakistan Council — a group of politicians and religious leaders who have been the most vocal opponents of the supply line.
Pakistan closed the route in November in retaliation for American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani troops. After months of negotiations, Islamabad finally agreed to reopen the route last week when Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton apologized for the deaths.
Clinton met Sunday with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on the sidelines of an Afghan aid conference in Tokyo and expressed hope that resolution of the supply line conflict would lead to better relations between the troubled allies.
One of the reasons Pakistan waited so long to resolve the conflict is that the government feared domestic backlash in a nation where anti-American sentiment is rampant despite billions of dollars in US aid during the last decade.
That's what happens when you flatten villages and murder people with missiles and infiltrate their country with intelligence agency instigators.
The protest started Sunday in the center of Lahore, where several thousand people assembled with scores of buses, cars, and motorbikes. They linked with thousands more supporters on the city’s edge and drove to Islamabad in a so-called ‘‘long march’’ against the supply line. The convoy included about 200 vehicles with some 8,000 people when it left Lahore, said police official Babar Bakht.
After completing the 185-mile journey to Islamabad, they planned to hold a demonstration outside the Parliament building Monday.
‘‘By coming out on the streets, the Pakistani nation has shown its hatred for America,’’ one of the Difah-e-Pakistan leaders, Maulana Samiul Haq, known as the father of the Taliban, said in a speech on the outskirts of Lahore.
Related: Pakistan's Taliban Talks Out of Both Sides of Its Mouth
Peace Talk Post
I think that was the last time I saw peace mentioned.
Supporters showered Haq with rose petals as he rode through Lahore in the back of a truck with other Difah-e-Pakistan leaders, including Hafiz Saeed, founder of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group; Hamid Gul, a retired Pakistani intelligence chief with a long history of militant support; and Syed Munawar Hasan, leader of Pakistan’s most powerful Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
I'll bet Gul knows a thing or two about 9/11.
Many demonstrators rode on the tops of buses, waving party flags and shouting slogans against the United States and NATO.
The crowd was dominated by members of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, widely thought to be a front group for Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is blamed for the attacks in Mumbai, India, in 2008 that killed more than 160 people. Jamaat-ud-Dawa is led by the group’s founder, Saeed.
Related: No Mercy For Mumbai Patsy
The United States announced a $10 million bounty earlier this year for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Saeed, but he operates freely in the country. Pakistan says it does not have enough evidence to arrest Saeed.
I don't want my tax dollars going for that.
--more--"
Then it was closed again.
You guys can't just push the trucks through?
August Update:
Now the thing is going to be open through 2015 even thought we are leaving (pfft) in 2014?
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