colt

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MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
State denies cancer treatment, offers suicide instead
'To say, we'll pay for you to die, but not pay for you to live, it's cruel'

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Posted: June 19, 2008
11:15 pm Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

 

State officials have offered a lung cancer patient the option of having the Oregon Health Plan, set up in 1994 to ration health care, pay for an assisted suicide but not for the chemotherapy prescribed by her physician.

The story appears to be a happy ending for Barbara Wagner, who has been notified by a drug manufacturer that it will provide the expensive medication, estimated to cost $4,000 a month, for the first year and then allow her to apply for further treatment, according to a report in the Eugene Register-Guard.

But the word from the state was coverage for palliative care, which would include the state's assisted suicide program, would be allowed but not coverage for the cancer treatment drugs.

"To say to someone, we'll pay for you to die, but not pay for you to live, it's cruel," Wagner told the newspaper. "I get angry. Who do they think they are?"

She said she was devastated when the state health program refused coverage for Tarceva, the drug her doctor ordered for treatment of her lung cancer.

The refusal came in an unsigned letter from LIPA, the company that runs the state program in that part of Oregon.

"We had no intent to upset her, but we do need to point out the options available to her under the Oregon Health Plan," Dr. John Sattenspiel, senior medical director for LIPA, told the newspaper.

"I understand the way it was interpreted. I'm not sure how we can lift that. The reality is, at some level (doctor-assisted suicide) could be considered as a palliative or comfort care measure."

The 64-year-old Wagner lives in a low-income apartment in Springfield with her dog, the newspaper said.

State officials say the Oregon Health Plan prioritizes treatments, with diagnoses and ailments deemed the most important, such as pregnancy, childbirth and preventive care for children at the top of the list. Other treatments rank below, officials said.

"We can't cover everything for everyone," Dr. Walter Shaffer, a spokesman for the state Division of Medical Assistance Programs, told the paper. "Taxpayer dollars are limited for publicly funded programs. We try to come up with policies that provide the most good for the most people."

He said many cancer treatments are a high priority, but others reflect the "desire on the part of the framers of this list to not cover treatments that are futile."

Wagner, however, is ending up with the treatment needed when her lung cancer, in remission for two years, returned.

She reported a representative for the pharmaceutical company called and notified her the drug would be provided for at least the first year.

"We have been warning for years that this was a possibility in Oregon," said the "Bioethics Pundit" on the Bioethics blog. "Medicaid is rationed, meaning that some treatments are not covered. But assisted suicide is always covered."

"This isn't the first time this has happened either," the blogger wrote. "A few years ago a patient who needed a double organ transplant was denied the treatment but would have been eligible for state-financed assisted suicide. But not to worry. Just keep repeating the mantra: There are no abuses with Oregon's assisted suicide law. There are no abuses. There are no abuses!

I am proud to call this man a great american!

Robber gets a surprise

 

Customer draws handgun to stop theft at Canton bank

 

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

 

BY AMALIE NASH

 

The Ann Arbor News

 

It took a day of congratulatory calls from friends, customers and complete strangers before Nabil Fawzi realized the risk he took by pulling a gun on the would-be bank robber standing just feet away, claiming to have a bomb.

 

But the Ypsilanti Township gas station owner and father of three said he wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

 

"In my situation, I felt like I could do it, and I just did it because it felt like it was the right thing to do,'' said Fawzi, 39.

 

 

Fawzi was the first customer at the Comerica Bank branch on Michigan Avenue in Canton Township at 9 a.m. Monday when police say would-be bank robber Joseph Webster, 53, of Ypsilanti walked in.

 

Webster allegedly handed a teller a note demanding money and claiming to have bomb strapped to his chest.

 

Fawzi, who frequently visits the branch on his daily commute from his home in Dearborn to his Sunoco station on Ecorse Road, noticed his own teller was acting strangely. When he asked what was wrong and she indicated a robbery was under way, Fawzi took action.

 

He said the robber at the adjacent teller station kept one hand behind his back at all times until the teller began doling out dollar bills. The robber demanded a stack of larger bills instead and moved both hands to the window to collect the cash.

 

Within seconds, Fawzi drew his handgun, racked a round in the chamber and told the man that he wasn't robbing the bank.

 

"But I have a bomb,'' the robber told Fawzi.

 

"I don't care,'' Fawzi replied. "You are not robbing this bank today.

 

 

Fawzi said he searched Webster and found no bomb or any other weapons. Webster sat in a chair at gunpoint until police arrived.

 

Webster, 53, was arraigned on single counts of bank robbery, armed robbery and third offense habitual offender due to prior convictions for a sex offense and robbery. He was jailed on $100,000 bond, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 27.

 

After the incident, Fawzi showed police his concealed weapons permit and was released

 

 

Canton Police Detective Sgt. Rick Pomorski credited the customer for his quick actions - but noted that police prefer citizens to serve as witnesses instead of taking matters into their own hands in dangerous situations.

 

"We never condone that civilians take action when there's a propensity for violence and what could happen,'' Pomorski said. "We prefer they maintain their distance. That said, we're thankful for the way it turned out. He did a wonderful job securing the scene until we got there.''

 

 

it is time to remove the water dept from the city of Detroit control and how a corrupt mayor in that city as an effect on all of metro detroit.

 

 

Monday, June 9, 2008 Kilpatrick's pal thrives on city contracts Change orders pump up cost of Ferguson's deals; Kilpatrick, water board deny there's favoritism Robert Snell and Ron French / The Detroit News

DETROIT -- A friend of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's has received at least $170 million in city contracts -- $109 million from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department alone -- since the mayor took office in 2002.

Bobby Ferguson, who has been at the mayor's side at black-tie social events and on the backs of motorcycles, has long claimed the relationship hurts his general contracting company's ability to land contracts. But an analysis of records by The Detroit News shows his share of water department contracts has jumped more than 20-fold since Kilpatrick took office. Half of them have doubled, tripled or almost quadrupled in price because of additional work -- a cost that is spread among customers in 126 communities across southeast Michigan.

 now here is my boooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! get this crook out of office now.!

Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel called The News' analysis "explosive."

"It's a question of appearance," Cockrel said. "If you are part of the inner circle of the mayor, there must be boundaries on how much work you do with the city.

"The numbers you've shown me raise questions that require serious investigation to determine if procedures were followed and whether there is material evidence of improper influence by the mayor's office in the awarding of contracts."

In one case, a rival contractor said he was forced out of business by Ferguson, whom he accused of underbidding competitors only to reap big profits later through unbid, uncompetitive contract increases -- called change orders.

Ferguson did not respond to an interview request or a list of questions e-mailed to him.

Water and sewer spokesman George Ellenwood said Ferguson has not received preferential treatment. Others in the department say Ferguson does a good job with excavation and other work.

"There is no favoritism," Ellenwood said. "These are competitively bid contracts, and it's my belief that contracts awarded through this department probably have closer scrutiny than contracts generally awarded by the city."

Kilpatrick faces perjury, misconduct in office and obstruction of justice charges in connection to text messages that appear to contradict testimony he gave in a 2007 police whistle-blower trial. Other text messages seem to indicate that former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty and Ferguson discussed city contracts.

Changes pump up contracts

Using the Freedom of Information Act to gain access to city records, The News examined all Water and Sewerage Department contracts awarded to companies associated with Ferguson. The News then compared Ferguson's contracts and change orders with those received by other companies. Among the findings since Kilpatrick took office:

• Ferguson, who had received one water contract worth $5.2 million with the city before 2002, has received eight in the six years since, with a value of about $109 million. Two more contracts, worth $4.2 million, have been approved by the utility's commission and are awaiting approval by the City Council. Once partners and subcontractors are paid, Ferguson's company will collect at least $42.8 million, according to city records.

• Ferguson's companies also won $42 million in contracts from the Detroit Building Authority and $3 million in demolition contracts from the Building Safety and Engineering Department. The News has not examined complete records of other departments, but news reports noted $7.2 million from the Downtown Development Authority and $5.4 million from three other quasi-city agencies such as the Detroit Economic Growth Council, records show.

• Ferguson gets more money from change orders than any other water department contractor. Ferguson has received $39 million in change orders, which are ordered for various reasons, including additional work under the same contract. Under Kilpatrick, 46 companies and joint ventures have been awarded change orders. Contracts associated with Ferguson account for 29 percent of total city cash spent on the orders.

• On average, water and sewer contracts increased 14 percent from their original amount. Ferguson's jumped 48 percent.

• A quarter of Ferguson's water contracts bypassed normal City Council approval and oversight. Kilpatrick awarded the contracts through emergency orders.

The department argued that Ferguson's contracts appear inflated because many result from emergencies, such as last-minute repairs to improve the city before the Super Bowl in 2005. But even among companies receiving emergency contracts, Ferguson fared better. His contracts for downtown water pipe work in 2005 more than tripled to $4.8 million from $1.5 million. Hayes Excavating, in contrast, saw a 28 percent increase in its contracts, to $2.8 million from $2.2 million.

Rival contractor upset

If a contractor knows he could get large change orders, he could underbid his competitors, thus undercutting the concept of competitive bidding, said Bill Hayes of Hayes Excavating.

Ferguson is "living off change orders," Hayes said. "Nobody else can do that."

Ellenwood, the water department spokesman, said change orders are meant to be small supplements to contracts.

The department tries to keep change orders to less than 10 percent of the original contract. He didn't know why Ferguson's contracts had grown an average of almost 50 percent.

"The numbers are the numbers that you have," Ellenwood said. "So they would indicate that, yes, during that period, he had a higher rate than the average of other contractors."

Company a virtual unknown

Before Kilpatrick was elected in late 2001, water department officials had barely heard of Bobby Ferguson's Detroit construction company, Ferguson Enterprises, confusing it with a similarly named company suspended from getting certain federal contracts. Ferguson had been the recipient of one contract, a $5.3 million project to repair and replace sewer lines on the city's west side. That contract was held for further review as Ferguson had never done business before with the water department, records show.

That changed when a friend became mayor.

Ferguson and Kilpatrick met in 1996, soon after Kilpatrick won a seat in the state House of Representatives, when Ferguson's company helped plow snow for some elderly residents in Kilpatrick's district for no charge, Ferguson said in previous published interviews.

Kilpatrick stuck with his friend when Ferguson was convicted of pistol-whipping an employee, visiting the contractor in jail.

Most water department jobs awarded to Ferguson were bid on by at least a half-dozen other companies, records show. Ferguson has earned a reputation for doing good work for the city, said Darryl Latimer, the water department's contracts and grants general manager.

"A lot go after bigger jobs," he said. "His niche is excavation ... and he's good at it."

Hayes has a different opinion. The veteran Detroit contractor said he had steady contract work with the city for 40 years, but is now defunct. He accused Ferguson of underbidding competitors only to make more money later through change orders.

"He (Ferguson) put me out of business," Hayes said. "He told me, 'Old man, it's time for you to go.' "

Friendship defended

Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University and a former federal prosecutor, said the amount of contracts given to a friend of the mayor "raises questions," but cautioned against drawing conclusions.

"Friendship is not a conflict of interest," Henning said.

Kilpatrick doesn't have any influence over the awarding of city water contracts, mayoral spokesman James Canning said in a statement.

"Contracts are granted in accordance with the city of Detroit purchasing ordinance and require the approval of both the Board of Water Commissioners and City Council," Canning said.

But not always.

At least $4.8 million in contract change orders given to Ferguson never received City Council approval, city records show. Those change orders were approved by Kilpatrick under emergency powers granted the mayor as special administrator of the water department under an order from U.S. District Judge John Feikens. As special administrator, Kilpatrick had the power until 2006 to award contracts to anyone the mayor "deem(s) necessary and appropriate."

You can reach Robert Snell at (313) 222-2028 or rsnell@detnews.com.

2 months at most!!!

Muslim Immigrants Sue for Faster Processing of Citizenship Applications

Saturday , June 07, 2008

ST. LOUIS  — 

A group of Muslim immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship sued federal officials on Friday, claiming they've been left in limbo for months or years because of slow background checks.

 

The class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of 33 plaintiffs who have settled in Missouri from Afghanistan, Bosnia, Egypt, Pakistan, Somalia and other countries. It said some have had to wait more than four years to be cleared by the FBI, violating time limits.

By law, a decision on processing must be made within 120 days of the immigrant's interview, the last step in becoming a citizen, attorney Jim Hacking said.

The lawsuit seeks to have a federal judge enforce the time limits on name checks for those being naturalized.

The delays prevent the citizen candidates from voting and traveling abroad for fear they will be harassed upon return by customs officials, said Kamal Yassin, who heads the St. Louis chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The FBI does name, fingerprint and background checks for every applicant for naturalization. The agency said similar names can result in false hits that take time to resolve.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service said it no longer schedules interviews with immigrants until they're cleared by the FBI.

The lawsuit names Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Jonathan Scharfen, acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, among others.

Department of Justice spokesman Charles Miller said the agency would review the complaint and determine how to respond in court.

Spokesman Paul Bresson said the FBI gets 4 million name check requests a year, half of which come from the naturalization agency, USCIS. He said about 85 percent of cases are completed in 60 days.

"It boils down to volume versus resource," he said. "We have not had enough resources to address it."

The FBI increased fees to allow the agency to hire more record-checkers. A new central records complex under construction also should help, he said.

"Before 9-11, we were not required to do background checks on every single applicant," said Marilu Cabrera, spokeswoman for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, explaining that only certain types of applications were checked before 9-11.

"We have piled a lot of work on the FBI, but we're not going to naturalize someone without knowing they have cleared the background checks."

June 03, 2008 TERRORISTS NEED THERAPY NOT INCARCERATION

I must admit that when I saw this headline I thought surely it  must be a joke - something like you would read on tongue-in-cheek  The Onion web site not in a daily news puplication.

But incredibly, as we near the third anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings, the British government "know-it-alls" in their most dhimmi of proclamations and clear lack of understanding of Islam have deemed that most terrorists should not face any type of punishment, for their hate crimes against non-muslims, but instead muslims should receive hand-holding  --lay on the couch --'tell me about your awful childhood'- 'daddy made me do it' psychological therapy:

"Documents being distributed to local councils explain that many people who get drawn into extremism have often suffered some sort of personal trauma or crisis that makes them vulnerable to exploitation."

Home Secretary, Jaqui Smith stated: "We are investing at local level to build resilient communities, which are equipped to confront violent extremism and support the most vulnerable individuals."

Yes - unbelievably the UK government is investing 25 million dollars in "Help Save the Terrorists" programmes and is telling the people of Britain to show understanding and open armed community support to those poor, misguided, Islamic extremists who want to kill the kaffir (unbelievers) .

You couldn't make this stuff up!!  It is obvious that Ms Smith, and her cohorts, are in desperate need of not only psychological testing and therapy themselves but also courses on the teachings of the Religion of Peace - especially on the subject of what the Quran instructs regarding violence.

Perhaps, Ms Smith could also consult with the former Mayor of Kirklees, Jean Calvert, as to how muslims, in Great Britain, treat people who pander to Islam.

article in full - emphasis mine:

ISLAMIST EXTREMISTS SHOULD GET THERAPY, HOME OFFICE TELLS LOCAL COUNCILS

By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent

Islamic extremists could escape prosecution and instead receive therapy and counselling under new Government plans to "deradicalise" religious fanatics.

The Home Office is to announce an extra £12.5 million to support new initiatives to try to stop extremism spreading.

The central element of the Home Office plan is a new national "deradicalisation" programme that would persuade converts to violent and extremist causes to change their views.

Controversially, the new plan makes clear that people who fall under the influence of violent organisations will not automatically face prosecution.

Instead, the presumption should be that some such individuals would face therapy and counselling from community groups instead of criminal charges.

Documents being distributed to local councils explain that many people who get drawn into extremism have often suffered some sort of personal trauma or crisis that makes them vulnerable to exploitation.

"We do not want to put through the criminal justice system those who are vulnerable to, or are being drawn into, violent extremism unless they have clearly committed an offence," a Home Office report says.

"It is vital that individuals and communities understand this and have the confidence to use the support structures that we shall be developing."

Most of the new funding will be set aside for grants to community groups that challenge the messages of violent extremists should be supported.

The plan includes a suggestion that local councils should map their areas religion, surveying and recording the faiths and denominations of local residents.

New guidelines for councils say: "A deeper understanding of local communities should be developed to help inform and focus the programme of action - this may include mapping denominational backgrounds and demographic and socio-economic factors."

The Home Office has told councils they must be prepared to ask police to vet anyone involved in projects that receive government anti-radicalisation funding.

If a group is found to be promoting violent extremism, local agencies and the police should consider disrupting or removing funding, and deny access to public facilities, the document added.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "A key element of our strategy aims to stop people getting involved in extremist violence.

"We are investing at local level to build resilient communities, which are equipped to confront violent extremism and support the most vulnerable individuals."

Shadow home secretary David Davis said of today's publication: "This is pointless when the Government is fuelling the problem it is seeking to solve with its draconian approach to 42 days."

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Woodchopper to behead Canadian PM, court hears

June 6, 2008

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BRAMPTON, Canada: Members of an alleged Canadian terrorist cell believed a teenager would be a good candidate to behead the country's prime minister because he was good at chopping wood, according to police wiretaps played in court.

The youth, now aged 20, was one of 18 suspects arrested in 2006 as part of an alleged plot to take hostages in Parliament, set off bombs at various sites in Toronto and Ottawa, and possibly behead the Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, if demands for the release of Muslim prisoners in Afghanistan were not met.

The youth, whose name has not been released, is charged with participating in and contributing to the activity of a terrorist group. His case is the first to go to trial.

The conversations between a police informant and the alleged ringleaders were recorded in February 2006.

On the tapes, one of the alleged ringleaders discusses plans for a group to go to Ottawa and "cut off some heads".

The group then debates the identity of the prime minister, first mentioning the former prime minister Paul Martin before confirming Harper by name. Talk then turns to the best candidate for the job.

"I know he'd cut off their heads," one says of the defendant.

"Did you see him, how he was cutting the wood, man?" adds another.

Defence lawyer Mitchell Chernovsky has called the alleged plot a "fantasy

Haq jury could not agree on 'intent to murder,' juror says Premeditation, not insanity issue, dominated debate

By TRACY JOHNSON
P-I REPORTER

A few jurors thought Naveed Haq was guilty, but many apparently weren't convinced that he went to the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle intending to kill anyone.

The jury's deadlock in the case centered mainly on whether Haq acted with premeditation or intent -- not so much whether he was insane, one juror said Thursday.

Though the jury split various ways on the 15 criminal charges, she said at least half weren't convinced he was guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of federation worker Pam Waechter or of trying to kill the five women who were wounded.

"It's a very complex case. I don't know how 12 people could come to a conclusion," said the juror, who spoke on the condition that her name not be made public. "We went at it from every angle that we possibly could."

King County prosecutors plan to retry Haq, 32, for the July 2006 shooting rampage. They contend he planned the attack to make a political statement against Jews and U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.

"We want to hear from as many jurors as possible about what issues they struggled over," said Ian Goodhew, deputy chief of staff for Prosecutor Dan Satterberg. "We'll certainly take their struggles into account as we approach a second trial."

He said it was "too soon to say exactly how the charges would change, if at all."

Haq remains in jail. His attorneys argued during the six-week trial that the mentally ill defendant was under the delusional belief that he was on a mission from God during the shooting.

"I think there are always things you can do better the second time around," said Haq's attorney, C. Wesley Richards, "so we'll be looking to see what changes might be appropriate."

The juror who spoke Thursday to the Seattle P-I, one day after a Superior Court judge declared a mistrial, said she likely would have found Haq insane on all of the charges and was a lone vote in some of them.

"I thought during the whole thing he was acting on a delusion. ... It was ill-planned," she said. "I think he's profoundly mentally ill. It's escalating, and he's crossed a line."

She said the six-man, six-woman jury spent much of seven days debating whether it had been proved Haq had gone to the Belltown office with premeditation -- or the intent to kill people -- and barely even got to the question of insanity.

Some jurors believed "he went there with a gun to take hostages and make a point" -- not to end lives, she said.

Jurors had three choices for each charge: guilty; not guilty; or not guilty by reason of insanity. Intent is a requirement to find someone guilty of murder or attempted murder; premeditation is required for a first-degree charge.

The juror said four members of the panel wanted to convict Haq of first-degree murder for killing Waechter, but six weren't convinced he acted with premeditation, and two believed he was insane. Six jurors would have convicted him of second-degree murder.

On the five attempted-murder charges, the split differed greatly, in part because some jurors considered whether each woman was shot before or after Haq announced that anyone who called 911 would be killed.

Depending on the charge, as many as 11 jurors believed he should be found not guilty, and between one and three believed he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. Up to six voted guilty.

Jurors unanimously found Haq not guilty of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of Carol Goldman, the first victim, in their only verdict in the case. Some believed he shot her reactively when a colleague told her to call 911, the juror said.

Layla Bush, the youngest and most severely wounded survivor, said learning more about the deliberations was "frustrating, because obviously, he did what he did."

"He practiced shooting his gun on the way," said Bush, 25. "You don't do that unless you're planning to shoot people."

The juror said the panel was evenly split on the six counts of malicious harassment -- the hate-crime charges -- but was leaning toward guilty verdicts for the kidnapping, burglary and unlawful imprisonment charges.

Jurors deliberated through tears and were crushed that they could not come to a consensus, particularly for the surviving victims, she said.

"I am just profoundly compassionate and sad that they have to live through another minute of this," she said, starting to cry. "We're the lucky ones that get to move on."

P-I reporter Tracy Johnson can be reached at 206-467-5942 or tracyjohnson@seattlepi.com.

From the Chicago Tribune Breaking news Rezko convicted of corruption Email Picture Tribune photo by Chris Walker Antoin "Tony" Rezko, center, arrives at the Dirksen Federal Building for the reading of the verdict in his corruption trial. By Bob Secter and Jeff Coen, Tribune reporters
5:37 PM PDT, June 4, 2008 A federal jury Wednesday convicted developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko of corruption charges for trading on his clout as a top adviser and fundraiser to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Rezko's guilty verdict on 16 of 24 corruption counts could have broad repercussions for Blagojevich, who made Rezko a central player in his kitchen cabinet. It could also prove a political liability for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, who once counted Rezko as a friend and fundraiser, as the likely Democratic presidential nominee heads into the general election campaign against Republican John McCain.

 

• Photos: Antoin "Tony" Rezko on trial
• Rezko trial highlights

• Rezko jury's findings, count by count
• Video: Rezko case
• The Obama-Rezko connection

"I'm saddened by today's verdict," Obama said Wednesday. "This isn't the Tony Rezko I knew, but now he has been convicted by a jury on multiple charges that once again shine a spotlight on the need for reform. I encourage the General Assembly to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent these kinds of abuses in the future."

The Rezko verdict was sure to compound the governor's credibility problem with state lawmakers, including fellow Democrats who run the legislature. Blagojevich was scheduled to meet with legislative leaders Thursday to ask them to reconsider the shaky, nearly $60 billion state budget they sent him last weekend.

In a brief statement he read to reporters Wednesday evening in the Thompson Center in Chicago, Blagojevich called Rezko a friend and former supporter.

The Rezko case Gavel-to-gavel | Complete coverage
"On a personal level, I am deeply sad for what's happened to Tony," Blagojevich said. "The jury's decision is yet another reminder that ours is a system of government ruled by laws and not by men. I respect the decision of the jury."

He said he would press forward with negotiations with the legislature to settle on a capital construction program "so that we can balance the budget in a way that's fair and helps people."

He stopped only briefly for reporters who shouted questions after he left the podium.

"I have a $2 billion budget deficit on my desk. I've got to get back to work," he said. And then he returned to his private offices.

The 10-woman, two-man jury deliberated for parts of 13 days before convicting Rezko of scheming with Stuart Levine, a longtime Republican insider, to extort millions of dollars from firms seeking state business or regulatory approval.

The jury convicted Rezko of 12 counts of wire and mail fraud, two counts of money laundering and two counts of aiding and abetting bribery. He was acquitted of attempted extortion.

"I hope people step back and say, 'When you do all that stuff, it's going to come back and bite you in a serious way,' " U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald told reporters after the verdict. "If the morals don't get to them, then I hope the fear of going to jail does."

Clad in a light olive suit and red tie, Rezko showed little emotion as the verdicts were read. Sentencing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Sept. 3. On Wednesday afternoon, Rezko voluntarily surrendered himself to federal custody.

Based on his willingness to surrender, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve revoked Rezko's bail and remanded him into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. As he was being taken out of the courtroom, he waved to his family.

"Mr. Rezko on his own decided that if he was convicted, he wanted to immediately begin serving his sentence," said his lawyer, Joseph Duffy, who added he was going to file a motion to appeal the verdict.

"We are obviously very disappointed in the jury's verdict today," Duffy said. "We strongly believe in Mr. Rezko's innocence, as does he."

The verdict was hailed by Better Government Association executive director Jay Stewart.

"This is a pretty significant victory for the prosecution," Stewart said. "I don't think this is the 'no more business as usual' we were promised when Rod Blagojevich became governor back in 2002. This does not reflect well on [Blagojevich]."

In a news conference after the verdict was read, jurors told reporters that they put the case together like a puzzle, and said they were not distracted by the parade of Illinois political heavy-hitters whose names kept surfacing during testimony.

"As a jury we just tried to focus on the Rezko trial because that's what we were there for," said juror Mona Lisa Mauricette.

Jury acquits another Haditha Marine
Verdict eliminates charges filed after Murtha accusations

---

Posted: June 05, 2008
11:40 am Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

 

A military jury of seven officers acquitted Marine 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson of all charges stemming from what a law firm has described as a political attack on the U.S. military over a firefight with insurgents in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005.

Grayson immediately came to the defense of another Marine still facing accusations for the incident that left one Marine and 24 Iraqis dead.

He said Lt. Col Jeffrey Chessani was "one of the most steadfast men. … He led by example and he knew the difference between right and wrong," according to the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich., whose lawyers are representing Chessani.

 

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani

"The government ordered these Marines to the front lines, they ordered them to attack the insurgents. … Marines, risking their lives, followed those orders without hesitation; their reward – criminal prosecution," Richard Thompson, president of the law center, said today. "There must be some righteous person in the chain of command that will say 'enough is enough.'"

Hearings continue in the Chessani case. Earlier this week, Military Judge Col. Steven Folson heard arguments over several defense motions but delayed a decision until June 16. He also delayed the start of the trial until July 21.

Just weeks ago, Folsom concluded there was evidence in the Chessani case of unlawful command influence, which is considered the "mortal enemy" of justice within the military judicial structure

The judge's conclusion was based on evidence two generals who controlled Chessani's case were influenced by Marine lawyer Col. John Ewers, one of the investigators assigned to the case. Ewers was allowed to attend at least 25 closed-session meetings in which Chessani's case was discussed.

Defense lawyers note that shifted the burden of proof to prosecutors to convince the judge that the facts presented by the defense were untrue, don't constitute unlawful command influence or would not affect the proceedings.

Although the case awaits rulings, Folsom might have offered a hint during this week's hearings, asking both sides what they would recommend to remedy the unlawful command influence issue. Robert Muise, a Thomas More Law Center defense attorneys, asked that the case be dismissed.

Grayson's attorney, Joseph Casas, said the acquittal of his client "sets the tone for the overall whirlwind Haditha has been. It's been a botched investigation from the get-go."

"I believe in the end all of the so-called Haditha Marines who still have to face trial will be exonerated," he said.

The Associated Press reported cheers erupted in the Grayson courtroom when the acquittal was announced.

Grayson was not on the scene of the house-to-house firefight but was accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from a digital camera.

He was acquitted of two counts of making false official statements and other counts, and could have faced as many as 20 years in prison.

The Nov. 19, 2005, firefight also resulted in 14 Marine casualties, including one death. Prosecutors allege the Marines were attacked by a bombing, then Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and another Marine shot five men at the scene. They alleged Wuterich then ordered his men into nearby houses where more Iraqis were killed in the firefight.

Defense lawyers have reported the insurgents deliberately attacked the Marines from hiding places where they surrounded themselves with civilians to use as shields.

Eventually eight Marines were charged, but counts against five have been dropped. Those defendants are Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum, Capts. Randy Stone and Lucas McConnell, Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz and Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt.

Wuterich's and Chessani's cases remain.

The enlisted Marines had been charged with murder and the officers accused of failing to investigate the deaths.

Critics have described the charges as a vendetta against U.S. Marines following a public condemnation of the troops by U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., before the conclusion of the investigation.

The Thomas More Law Center said the officers involved in the firefight handled its aftermatch according to military protocol.

"Even though Lt. Col. Chessani promptly reported the events of that day to his superiors, including the deaths of 15 noncombatant civilians caught in the battle, nobody in Lt. Col. Chessani’s chain of command believed there was any wrongdoing on behalf of the Marines," the law firm said.

But months later, a Time magazine story "planted by an insurgent propaganda agent," caused Pentagon officials to order the investigation, the law firm said.

The article was followed quickly by Murtha's comments. The congressman held a news conference and announced he'd been told by the highest levels of the Marine Corps there was no firefight and Marines "killed innocent civilians in cold blood."

"All the information I get, it comes from the commanders, it comes from people who know what they're talking about," Murtha told reporters.

Murtha's statements conflicted with investigative results from the military itself. An initial investigation by Army Col. G.A. Watt found "there are no indications that (Coalition Forces) intentionally targeted, engaged and killed noncombatants." Later, Army Maj. Gen. Aldon Bargewell found no coverup, the law firm said

FAITH UNDER FIRE
Priest investigated for quoting Bible
Targeted under human rights law where no defendant ever cleared

---

Posted: June 05, 2008
12:00 am Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

 

A priest is being investigated as a potential criminal under a federal "hate crimes" law for quoting from the Bible, and he's being targeted using a Canadian provision under which no defendant ever has been acquitted, according to a new report.

Pete Vere, a canon lawyer and Catholic journalist, has reported on the prosecution of Father Alphonse de Valk, a pro-life activist known across Canada, by the Canadian Human Rights Commission – "a quasi-judicial investigative body with the power of the Canadian government behind it" – at CatholicExchange.com.

"What was Father de Valk's alleged 'hate act'?" Vere wrote.

"Father defended the [Catholic] Church's teaching on marriage during Canada's same-sex 'marriage' debate, quoting extensively from the Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and Pope John Paul II's encyclicals. Each of these documents contains official Catholic teaching. And like millions of other people throughout the world and the ages – many of whom are non-Catholics and non-Christians — Father believes that marriage is an exclusive union between a man and a woman," he wrote.

The new case comes just as columnist and author Mark Steyn, and Maclean's magazine which published an excerpt from his "America Alone" book, are on trial before the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal for similar "offenses."

"We know under the Supreme Court of Canada [and] under tribunals of this country that there are reasonable limits [to freedom of expression,]" Faisal Joseph, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the Steyn dispute, said in a LifeSiteNew.com report.

That case revolves around Joseph's claims the defendants depicted Muslims as "a violent people" with a religion that is "violent

 

In the new case, Vere raised the question that Canada now considers morality a "hate crime."

"If one, because of one's sincerely held moral beliefs, whether it be Jew, Muslim, Christian, Catholic, opposes the idea of same-sex marriage in Canada, is that considered 'hate'?" he asked.

Vere wrote that the response he got from Mark van Dusen, a spokesman for the federal human rights prosecution office, shocked him.

"We investigate complaints," Vere reported van Dusen told him. "We don't set public policy or moral standards. We investigate complaints based on the circumstances and the details outlined in the complaint. And … if … upon investigation, deem that there is sufficient evidence, then we may forward the complaint to the tribunal, but the hate is defined in the Human Rights Act under section 13-1.

"Our job is to look at it, compare it to the act, to accumulate case law, tribunal and court decisions that have reflected on hate and decide whether to advance the complaint, dismiss it or whether there is room for a settlement between parties," van Dusen told Vere.

What is shocking about that, Vere wrote, is the admission that unjustified complaints can be dismissed, yet the case against de Valk has continued now for more than six months.

"In other words, individual Jews, Muslims, Catholics and other Christians who, for reasons of conscience, hold to their faith's traditional teaching concerning marriage, could very well be guilty of promoting hate in Canada. The same is true of any faith community in Canada that does not embrace this modern redefinition of one of the world's oldest institutions – a redefinition that even the highly secularist France rejects," Vere wrote.

De Valk, who publishes the "Catholic Insight" magazine that "bases itself on the Church's teaching and applies it to various circumstances in our time," is accused by a homosexual of promoting "extreme hatred and contempt" against homosexuals.

Vere said, however, the priest is simply following the teachings of the Bible and the examples of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XV by stating that Christians must love homosexuals and treat them with dignity due humans.

Besides the complaints against the priest and Steyn, other cases already have substantiated the Canadian precedent that Christian beliefs can be evidence for convictions.

In 2005, a Knights of Columbus council was fined more than $1,000 for refusing to allow its facility to be used for a lesbian "wedding," and before that printer Scott Brockie was fined $5,000 for declining to print homosexual-themed stationery. Also, in Saskatechewan, Hugh Owens was fined thousands of dollars for quoting Bible verses in a newspaper and London, Ontario, mayor Diane Haskett was fined $10,000 for refusing to proclaim a homosexual pride day, Vere enumerated.

Bishop Fred Henry has described the situation as "a new form of censorhip and thought control." Those are the same words leading Christians in the United States have used to describe the most recent "hate crimes" plan before the U.S. Congress, which specifically targeted for elimination criticism of alternative sexual lifestyles.

Vere also warned that in the Steyn case, the bottom line is that a Canadian human rights tribunal now is "attempting to prosecute a case against an American resident, based upon what an American citizen allegedly posted to a mainstream American Catholic website. What passes for mainstream Catholic discussion in America is now the basis for a hate complaint in Canada."

But the United States is not immune to such work, either, he noted, citing the New Mexico photographer fined $6,600 for refusing to meet the demands of a lesbian to take pictures at a "wedding."

Also, California has set in state law a ban on introducing anything but "positive" information about alternative sexual lifestyles, including homosexuality, in its public school.

And WND reported just days earlier when a verbal spat between two men on a street in Champaign, Ill., left the self-proclaimed homosexual facing no charges, and the other, an 18-year-old Christian student, facing felony "hate crimes" counts.

Vere's warnings were followed by one from Grace Harman, who noted on the website's forum: "It would appear that Canadian law is discriminating against people on the basis of their religious faith, or perhaps discriminating against God himself, who gave us the laws of nature and purpose of life."

this is an amazing story of fear to be played on kids. At the end of this article there is the actual test play along....

Oz TV advises CO2-emitting children to die early By Andrew Orlowski (andrew.orlowski@theregister.co.uk) Published Tuesday 3rd June 2008 16:03 GMT

Carbon Cult sickos are under fire for an interactive website that tells children they should die because they emit CO2.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's "Planet Slayer" site invites young children to take a "greenhouse gas quiz", asking them "how big a pig are you?". At the end of the quiz, the pig explodes, and ABC tells children at "what age you should die at so you don’t use more than your fair share of Earth’s resources!"

It's one of a number of interactive features that "Get the dirt on greenhouse without the guilt trips. No lectures. No multinational-bashing (well, maybe a little...). Just fun and games and the answers to all your enviro-dilemas," ABC claims.

Die, puny CO2-emitting humans!

The site is aimed at 9-year olds. However even a "virtuous" rating (e.g. not owning a car and recycling) is outweighed by eating meat, or spending an average Aussie income - with the result that many 9-year olds are being told they've already outstayed their environmentally-compliant stay on the planet.

"Do you think it's appropriate that the ABC ... depict people who are average Australians as massive overweight ugly pigs, oozing slime from their mouths, and then to have these pigs blow up in a mass of blood and guts?" asked (http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,2376118
9-5005961,00.html) Senator Mitch Fifield in the Herald-Sun.

The state-sponsored broadcaster (why is that not a surprise?) defended the morbid quiz, with ABC managing director Mark Scott insisting "the site was not designed to offend certain quarters of the community but to engage children in environmental issues."

Which is eco-speak for frighten them witless. However, as the excellent science blog Watts Up With That points out (http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/tv-net
work-tells-kids-when-their-carbon-footprint-says-they-s
hould-die/), the site clearly breaches Australian broadcasting guidelines on "harmful or disturbing" content.

Meanwhile, the site's designers are revelling in the controversy:

"Thank God for outraged senators - you can't buy publicity like that," PlanetSlayer's "creative director" Bernie Hobbs crowed to the New York Post.

So how, according to ABC, does one appease the vengeful Death God, Gaia?

---

Gaia's revenge on Reg reporter

Your reporter doesn't own a car, lives in an apartment, and discovered he should have died aged 3.9 years. After a couple of run-throughs, it appears that eating meat is a major factor. But this is overshadowed by claiming a) very low earnings and b) spending what remains of one's pittance on organic food and "ethical investments".

Whether that's a life worth living is another question entirely. But the message from the Carbon Cult seems pretty clear: humans are a stain on the planet and should die; yet should they be permitted to live, they should live a life that's as miserable as possible.

When you fill in the environmentally-correct answers - something extraordinary happens. Look -

A negative carbon rating is achieved, the pig flies up to heaven...

Be miserable - gain Eternal life!

...and eternal life is attained.

(Where presumably you're surrounded by 72 naked George Monbiots. A Guardian-reader's idea of paradise?)

So when should you have died, dear reader? Take the quiz (http://www.abc.net.au/science/planetslayer/greenhouse_
calc.htm) and let me know (mailto:andrew.orlowski@theregister.co.uk?Subject=Plane
tSlayer) - and we'll try and think of some creative way of illustrating it. (Suggestions welcome). ®

Funny you see race being brought up by Bill and Hillery and others in their campagin then from the Obama's side it is white hate. the media tells us McCain(McLame) is too old. is this not the stuff they blame on conservitives? YES I THINK IT IS!!

 

here is what was not covered in talls post!

ELECTION 2008
Obama finally leaves controversial church
After defending, denouncing controversial sermons, 'deeply disappointed' candidate departs

---

Posted: May 31, 2008
7:12 pm Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

 

The Barack Obama campaign announced today the Democrat presidential candidate has resigned his 20-year membership in his controversial Chicago church.

The decision follows nearly two months of the campaign being battered by showings of videotaped sermons from the former head pastor, Jeremiah Wright, that injected themes of anti-Americanism and racism into the campaign, as well as a controversial sermon preached last Sunday by a visiting Catholic priest that attacked Hillary Clinton.

WND broke the story of Chicago Catholic priest Michael Pfleger's sermon Sunday at Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ, in which he implied Clinton was a white supremacist who believed she would win the nomination because of "white entitlement."

Pfleger, during his sermon, mocked Hillary Clinton for crying prior to the New Hampshire primary, implying to congregants the reason for her tears was that she was a white supremacist who believed she would win the nomination because of "white entitlement."

Pfleger told the Trinity congregation, "We must be honest enough to expose white entitlement and supremacy wherever it raises its head."

He continued: "Reverand Moss, when Hillary was crying, and people said that was put on, I really don't believe it was put on. I really believe that she just always thought, 'This is mine. I'm Bill's wife. I'm white. And this is mine. I just got to get up and step into the plate.'

"And then out of nowhere came, hey, I'm Barack Obama. And she said, 'Oh damn, where did you come from? I'm white. I'm entitled. There's a black man stealing my show.'"

Pfleger then mimicked Clinton crying as the audience erupted into applause and gave Pfleger's remarks a standing ovation. Clinton has become emotional during several interviews this year, and some media commentators have questioned her sincerity.

In his only public appearance yesterday, Obama did not mention Pfleger during a speech in Great Falls, Mont. A statement from his campaign Thursday said Obama was "deeply disappointed" by the priest's "divisive, backward-looking rhetoric."

Thursday, the Obama campaign removed from its official website a testimonial by Pfleger, a long-time close associate and spiritual adviser to the Democrat candidate

Obama campaign communications director Robert Gibbs said Obama had submitted his letter of resignation to the church in advance of meeting with reporters.

At a Saturday afternoon news conference, Obama told reporters he and his wife, Michele, had not made the decision to leave Trinity Church lightly because of their long history at the church. After discussion, prayer and consultation with friends and family at the church, the decision was made with "some sadness," he said.

As candidate for president, Obama said, he realized he was going to have to answer every comment made from the pulpit by the current pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, or visiting pastors.

Further, the campaign was adversely affecting the church. Obama said reporters had harassed members at their homes and workplaces, even using the church bulletin to contact sick members for comments.

When asked by a reporter how he would avoid the problem when he joined another church, Obama said he had not answered the question for himself yet.

He noted that he does not expect to always agree with the pastor but that if he heard statements from the pulpit against homosexuality, he would strongly disagree.

Pfleger, an early supporter of Obama who leads a mostly black Chicago parish, has hosted Farrakhan a number of times, drawing the ire of the Catholic Church. The June/July 2007 issue of Wright's Trumpet magazine describes Pfleger as "Afrocentric to the core."

Obama identified Pfleger in a 2004 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times as a key source of spiritual guidance. The Sun-Times piece, which was among the first in which Obama outlined his faith, includes quotes from Pfleger praising Obama.

"Faith is key to his life, no question about it," Pfleger told the Sun-Times. "It is central to who he is, and not just in his work in the political field, but as a man, as a black man, as a husband, as a father. ... I don't think he could easily divorce his faith from who he is."

 

Video on comments

I have a letter from Rep John Dingell telling me he would never allow his committee to vote for oil drilling.

 It will take years and years before we can move from oil to some other fuel meanwhile they will not allow any drilling

BELOW IS A LIST OF DEMOCRATS VOTING AGAINST OIL DRILLING IN THE US

 

Over the past 30 years: Which party blocked the development of new sources of petroleum?-- Democrat

Which party blocked drilling in ANWR?-- Democrat

Which party blocked drilling off the coast of Florida?-- Democrat

 Which party blocked drilling off of the east coast?-- Democrat

Which party blocked drilling off of the west coast?-- Democrat

Which party blocked drilling off the Alaskan coast?-- Democrat

Which party blocked building oil refineries?-- Democrat

Which party blocked clean nuclear energy production?-- Democrat

Which party blocked clean coal production?-- Democrat

We are experiencing higher gasoline, oil, and natural gas prices today because of decades of restricted development of new sources of petroleum. From ANWR to off-shore development such as Lease Area 181 in the Gulf of Mexico, we have identified oil and natural gas reserves that can be developed and used responsibly. Yet time and time again efforts to increase supply, and reduce prices, are blocked. For instance, ten years ago President Clinton vetoed development in ANWR.

Democrats for the past 30 years have blocked every effort to responsibly develop the energy resources our country possesses.

 As Americans pay more for gas than ever under this Congress-- Democrats continue to vote against drilling and oil exploration. Instead, Democrats believe taxing oil companies will somehow bring down gas prices. Even, Jay Leno is mocking them.

Democrats like to attack evil American oil companies and block them from drilling off our coasts. But, it doesn't seem to bother them when China starts drilling for oil in these same areas 50 miles from Key West. Yesterday, with gas prices at an alltime high, Speaker Nancy Pelosi mocked Republicans for wanting to develop our reserves here at home. Victor Davis Hanson wrote: Nancy Pelosi chanted "Veto and Drill", "Veto and Drill" in caricaturing the threatened presidential veto of windfall oil company taxes and desire to drill in ANWR and elsewhere.

But all that might sound, in fact, good to most Americans. With the world's largest reserves of coal, after creating the nuclear power industry ex nihilo, and with billions of oil still under our soil and waters, it makes no sense to produce less energy while blaming and taxing those who produce what we have, rather than drilling, digging, and saving, as we find ways to transition to the alternate energies.

 The problem is not just oil, but importing oil at $120 a barrel that is bankrupting us as much as it is enriching the wrong people. This would seem to be an explosive campaign issue (if the candidates disagreed), especially if someone could offer a rough estimate of how many billion barrels of oil are in no-go areas, times them by $120 a barrel, and then compute how many trillions in national wealth we leave untouched while we pay our enemies for the commensurate alternative.

I could accept the argument that it will take years to get the oil out of Alaska, the coasts, or other federal lands and therefore is not worth it (the classic argument for stasis), if we could be convinced it will not take even a greater amount of time to get solar and wind technology cheap and efficient enough to produce the bulk of our energy needs. Well here's a start for Victor--

If we are importing 5,000,000,000 barrels of oil each year due to Democratic politics (from the above chart produced back in 2006)-- We are paying the oil producing regimes $600,000,000,000 this year for oil.

But for some reason Democrats think taxing oil companies will fix this problem? That is a death wish for America. Previously: Thanks to Democratic "No Zones", the US Is in Grave Danger It's Official, Cuba Hires China to Drill Oil Off Florida Coast Despite Oil Crisis, Democrats AGAIN Block US Firms from Drilling!

Democrats Crack Gas Jokes Then Vote Against US Oil Development Union Protesters Get Lost, End Up at White House Democrats Fail to Prevent Senate Oil Drilling Bill from Passing Despite Global Oil Crisis,

Dems Will Block Drilling & Exploration! In First 100 Hours, Democrats Propose Ban on Oil Drilling

 

Link: sevenload.com

LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL ILLNESS