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HavenWorks.com/business/archive/2006 |
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- Business Archive
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Military
- 
Money
- 
Law
- 
Politics
- "Interior,
Pentagon Faulted In Audits: Effort to Speed Defense
Contracts Wasted Millions." ... "The Defense Department paid two procurement
operations at the Department of the Interior to arrange for Pentagon purchases
totaling $1.7 billion that resulted in excessive fees and tens of millions
of dollars in waste, documents show." ... "Defense turned to Interior,
which manages federal lands and resources, in an effort to speed up its
contracting. Interior is one of several government agencies allowed to
manage contracts for other agencies in exchange for a fee." ... "But the
arrangement between Interior and Defense "routinely violated rules designed
to protect U.S. Government interests," according to draft audit documents
obtained by The Washington Post." ... "More than half of the contracts
examined were awarded without competition or without checks to determine
that the prices were reasonable, according to the audits by the inspectors
general for Defense (DOD) and Interior (DOI). Ninety-two percent of the
work reviewed was awarded without verifying that the contractors' cost
estimates were accurate; 96 percent was inadequately monitored." ... "They
examined 49 deals and concluded that 61 percent had evidence of "illegal
contracts, ill advised contracts, and various failings of contract administration
procedures."" ... "The Interior inspector general said Defense "could have
used these monies to purchase as many as 50,000 sets of body armor to protect
our soldiers."" (1, 2,
3)
-By Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Scott Higham
-WashingtonPost
Iran
- 
UN
- Military
- 
Technology
- Business
- Politics
- "Iran
Is Defiant, Vowing to U.N. It Will Continue Nuclear Efforts."
... "Iran on Sunday reacted defiantly to the United Nations Security Council
resolution imposing sanctions because of the country's nuclear program.
Iranian officials vowed to continue efforts to enrich uranium and warned
that the Security Council action would change Iran's relationship with
the United Nations nuclear monitoring agency." ... "The Security Council
voted unanimously on Saturday to impose sanctions on Iran banning the import
and export of materials and technology used in uranium enrichment, reprocessing
and ballistic missiles." ... "The Security Council on Saturday requested
that Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the United Nations' nuclear monitoring
agency, report to the Council within 60 days on whether Iran had complied
and suspended its enrichment program." -By Nazila
Fathi -NYTimes
Noteworthy
- 
Japan- 
US
- 
World
- 
Auto
- Technology
- 
Workers
- Politics
- 
History
- 
Fuel
- "Toyota’s
Sales Projections Show It Surpassing G.M.." ... "Toyota
Motor said today it plans to sell 9.34 million vehicles next year, a figure
that analysts said would put it ahead of troubled General Motors as the
world’s largest auto company." ... "Toyota reported global group sales
this year of 8.8 million cars and trucks, below G.M.’s 2006 sales forecast
of 9.2 million vehicles. But the figures released today showed the two
rival car giants on starkly different trajectories, with Toyota expecting
to add a half million vehicle sales next year, at a time when G.M. is shuttering
plants and laying off workers." ... "Surpassing G.M. would be a crowning
achievement for Toyota, a company that got its start in the 1930s by reverse-engineering
G.M. and Ford cars, and that spent decades catching up with Detroit. It
would also end G.M.’s 81-year reign over the global auto industry, and
mark another step in the rise of Asian carmakers." ... "Analysts also said
reaching the top would not exhaust Toyota’s opportunities for growth. They
said Toyota will continue to gain in the American market, where higher
gas prices have increased the popularity of smaller, more fuel-efficient
vehicles." ... "Toyota’s rise would also prove a victory of sorts for its
unique corporate culture, the so-called Toyota Way, which is rooted in
an obsession with craftsmanship and constant improvement, or “kaizen.”"
-By Martin Fackler -NYTimes
Food
- Business
- Law
- 
GOV
- Science
- Consumer
- Politics-
"Outbreaks
Reveal Food Safety Net's Holes: Produce Growers Balk
At Calls for Regulation." ... "First it was spinach. Then tomatoes. Now
possibly green onions." ... "Over the past three months, fresh produce
has been the culprit in one episode of food-borne illness after another,
the latest an E. coli outbreak that appears to be linked to green onions
served at Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast. More than 60 people have
been sickened in that outbreak." ... "The patchwork of federal and state
regulations that is supposed to ensure food safety has become less effective
as the nation's produce supply has grown increasingly industrial. Three
months after the spinach scare, there is no agreement on what should be
done to reduce health risks from the nation's fruits and vegetables even
as each episode of illness has heightened a sense of urgency." ... "The
number of produce-related outbreaks of food-borne illness has increased
from about 40 in 1999 to 86 in 2004, according to the Center for Science
in the Public Interest. Americans are now more likely to get sick from
eating contaminated produce than from any other food item, the center said."
(1,
2,
3)
-By Annys Shin -WashingtonPost
Tom
Anderson - 
Alaska
- 
Texas
- Prison
- Money
- Politician
- "Anderson
indicted on seven counts: Federal bribery case centers
on link to prison firm lobbyist." ... "[Alaska Republican] State Rep. Tom
Anderson pleaded not guilty Friday to a series of federal charges accusing
him of selling his legislative office for $12,828 in bribes from a lobbyist
representing private prison interests." ... "Anderson, a 39-year-old Republican
who has represented Muldoon's District 19 since he was elected in 2002,
was ordered freed Friday by U.S. Magistrate Judge John Roberts on an unsecured
$10,000 bond after his arrest Thursday by FBI agents. Roberts said Anderson
could travel to Mexico on a previously scheduled vacation next week with
his wife, Republican state Rep. Lesil McGuire, who was elected to the state
Senate in November, and their infant son." ... "The 18-page indictment
against Anderson said the lobbyist was secretly recorded July 21, 2004,
boasting that for a price, Anderson would be "our boy in Juneau [Alaska's
capital]."" ... "A week later, the same lobbyist was recorded telling a
confidential informant, "If I was a Soviet spy and I was looking for a
legislator to recruit, (Anderson) would be the one I'd get." Anderson "needs
the money," the lobbyist said." ... "The government didn't charge the lobbyist.
He is identified only by the letter "A," but the facts in the case point
to Bill Bobrick of Anchorage, who represented Cornell Companies [Inc. of
Houston, Texas], a private prison firm Outside." -By
Richard Mauer, Lisa Demer, and Tom Kizzia -ADN.com
Government
- Legislative
- Money
- Military
- 
Health
- Food
- 
Elderly
- 
Calif
- "Some
Republicans Take a Scorched-Hill Tack: Leaving Budget
Decisions To Democrats Could Disrupt New Leadership's Agenda." ... "Like
a retreating army, Republicans are tearing up railroad track and planting
legislative land mines to make it harder for Democrats to govern when they
take power in Congress next month." ... "Already, the Republican leadership
has moved to saddle the new Democratic majority with responsibility for
resolving $463 billion in spending bills for the fiscal year that began
Oct. 1. And the departing chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee,
Rep. Bill Thomas (R., Calif.), has been demanding that the Democrat-crafted
2008 budget absorb most of the $13 billion in costs incurred from a decision
now to protect physician reimbursements under Medicare, the federal health-care
program for the elderly and disabled." ... "The unstated goal is to disrupt
the Democratic agenda and make it harder for the new majority to meet its
promise to reinstitute "pay-as-you-go" budget rules, under which new costs
or tax cuts must be offset to protect the deficit from growing." ... "The
collapse of the appropriations process will be felt soon in the Justice
and Commerce departments, food-safety agencies and veterans' health care."
... ""It's a demonstration of the irresponsibility of Republicans that
they would leave this country with this mess," said the next House speaker,
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). "But we won, we will deal with it."" -By
David Rogers -WSJ.com
Global
- 
Climate
- 
Ocean
- Animal
- Food
- 
Environment
- Science
- 
People
- Business
- Politics
- "Some
happy that a family film flaunts dire facts." ...
"Michael Hirshfield has long struggled to get across his earnest but wonky
message: that global warming and overfishing are killing off the oceans'
food supply." ... "Then, along came the animated movie "Happy Feet" and,
voila, tens of millions of youngsters -- and their parents -- across the
country are suddenly aware that man-made problems are threatening the penguins
near the South Pole, and almost everything else in the South Seas." ...
"The blockbuster film, the top box-office hit for the past three weekends,
is about emperor penguins struggling to survive with a depleted food supply,
and one tap-dancing penguin's epic search to learn what is causing the
colony's fish to disappear." ... "A study published recently in the journal
Science predicted that if overfishing of depleted seafood populations continued
at current rates, the world would run out of commercial stocks by 2048."
-By John Donnelly
-Boston/Globe
US
- 
Iraq
- 
Afghanistan
- Government
- Military
- Technology
- Money
- Politics
- People
- 
Flying
- Vehicles
- 
Alabama
- "U.S.
Army Battling To Save Equipment: Gear Piles Up at
Depots, Awaiting Repair." ... "Field upon field of more than 1,000 battered
M1 tanks, howitzers and other armored vehicles sit amid weeds here at the
15,000-acre Anniston Army Depot [Alabama] -- the idle, hulking formations
symbolic of an Army that is wearing out faster than it is being rebuilt."
... "The Army and Marine Corps have sunk more than 40 percent of their
ground combat equipment into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according
to government data. An estimated $17 billion-plus worth of military equipment
is destroyed or worn out each year, blasted by bombs, ground down by desert
sand and used up to nine times the rate in times of peace. The gear is
piling up at depots such as Anniston, waiting to be repaired." ... "The
depletion of major equipment such as tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles,
and especially helicopters and armored Humvees has left many military units
in the United States without adequate training gear, officials say. Partly
as a result of the shortages, many U.S. units are rated "unready" to deploy,
officials say, raising alarm in Congress and concern among military leaders
at a time when Iraq strategy is under review by the White House and the
bipartisan Iraq Study Group." ... "Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army's
chief of staff, is lobbying hard for more money to repair what he calls
the "holes" in his force, saying current war funding is inadequate to make
the Army "well." Asked in a congressional hearing this past summer whether
he was comfortable with the readiness levels of non-deployed Army units,
Schoomaker replied: "No."" ... "Despite the work piling up, the Army's
depots have been operating at about half their capacity because of a lack
of funding for repairs." -By Ann Scott Tyson
-WashingtonPost
Richard
Shelby - Corporate
- 
Crime
- Government
- Law
- Politics
- 
Digital
- Technology
- 
Online
- 
Consumer
- California
- Alabama
US
- Government
- Iraq
- Military
- 
Intelligence
- 
Privacy
- Environment
- Health
- Seniors
- Drugs
- Oil
- Industry
- Legal
- History
- 
Missouri
- "Democrats
are set to subpoena: The new majority is expected
to hold hearings on military spending and the Iraq war -- just for starters."
... "[Missouri Democrat] Rep. Ike Skelton knows what he will do in one
of his first acts as chairman of the Armed Services Committee in the Democratic-led
House: resurrect the subcommittee on oversight and investigations." ...
"The panel was disbanded by the Republicans after they won control of Congress
in 1994. Now, Skelton (D-Mo.) intends to use it as a forum to probe Pentagon
spending and the Bush administration's conduct of the Iraq war." ... "With
control of every committee in Congress starting in January, the new majority
will inherit broad powers to subpoena and investigate. And that is expected
to translate into wide-ranging and contentious hearings." ... "The agenda
is likely to be dominated by the Iraq war, but could include probes into
the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance, environmental policies
and new prescription-drug program for seniors. Industries, such as oil
companies, could also come under closer scrutiny." ... ""This could be
remembered as a historically unique period in which an administration got
immunity from Congress to engage in errors with impunity," said Charles
Tiefer, a University of Baltimore law professor and a former House counsel."
... "Democrats are expected to bore into the Iraq war, including review
of no-bid contracts for reconstruction, intelligence failures and decisions
to ignore the advice of military commanders about troop levels." (1, 2)
-By Richard B. Schmitt and Richard Simon
-LAtimes
2006
Election - Government
- Money
- Abortion
- Health
- Stem
Cells - Science
- "GOP
already starts the 'blame game' over its big losses."
... "Dick Armey, former House majority leader and an architect of the Republicans'
1994 takeover of Congress, told National Public Radio's Diane Rehm that
the GOP had become the big government party. "They actually grew the government,"
he said." ... "The Republican Majority for Choice, a lobbying group for
Republicans who support abortion rights and embryonic stem cell research,
blamed the losses Tuesday on Iraq and "social extremism," Co-chairwoman
Jennifer Stockman said. "Moderates have been alienated for years. This
was the last straw."" -By Emily Bazar
-USATODAY
US
- Iraq
- Military
- People
- 
TV
- Money
- Oil
- Politics
- Japan
- 
New
York
- "Rupert
Murdoch -- who once predicted Iraq war could lead to $20/barrel oil --described
war casualties as "minute"." ... "On November 6,
News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch reportedly said at a conference
in Tokyo [Japan] that U.S. casualties in Iraq, "by the terms of any previous
war are quite minute," as the weblog Democratic Underground noted.
He further stated: "I believe it was right to go in there. I believe that
certainly the execution that has followed that has included many mistakes.
But that's easy to say after the event." Murdoch, whose conservative media
empire includes Fox News Channel, the New York Post, and The Weekly
Standard, vocally supported the war in 2003, citing potential economic
benefits. As of November 3, according to CNN,
a total of 2,836 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the invasion of Iraq
in March 2003." -MediaMatters.org
2006
Election - Money
- Phone- Law
- "It's
a Candidate Calling. Again." ... "Republicans Deny
Subterfuge as Phone Barrages Anger Voters." ... "This year's heavy volume
of automated political phone calls has infuriated countless voters and
triggered sharp complaints from Democrats, who say the Republican Party
has crossed the line in bombarding households with recorded attacks on
candidates in tight House races nationwide." ... "Some voters, sick of
interrupted dinners and evenings, say they will punish the offending parties
by opposing them in today's [2006] elections. But critics say Republicans
crafted the messages to delude voters --especially those who hang up quickly
-- into thinking that Democrats placed the calls." ... "Democrats cited
federal records indicating that the NRCC recently spent about $600,000
in at least 45 contested House districts for robo-calls, which are among
the least expensive campaign tools." ... "Many voters hang up as soon as
a robo-call begins -- without waiting for the criticisms or the NRCC sign-off
at the end -- so they think it was placed by the Democratic candidate named
at the start, said Sarah Feinberg, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee." ... "Democrats also cited Federal Communications Commission
guidelines saying the originators of automated calls must identify themselves
at the beginning of each call. Republican Party lawyers, however, said
the requirement does not apply to political nonprofit organizations. They
rebuffed a "cease and desist" letter sent yesterday by the DCCC." (1, 2)
-By Charles Babington and Alec MacGillis with contributions
by Jonathan Weisman, Dale Russakoff, and Michael Powell -WashingtonPost
Ney- 
Abramoff
- Money
- Politics
- 
Ohio
- "Ney
Says He’ll Resign From House." ... "Rep. Bob Ney,
facing certain expulsion from the House after being convicted of two felonies
in relation to the Jack Abramoff scandal, said on Friday he will resign
by the end of the day." ... "Ney’s corruption case was detailed in Justice
Department documents released in September, and they revealed a five-year
association with Abramoff that included taking trips to Scotland, luxury
sports suite tickets and gambling chips from a foreign businessman." ...
"In return for these favors, Ney tried to give Abramoff clients favorable
treatment." ... "In the plea document, Ney says he accepted free trips,
including a $160,000 excursion to play golf in Scotland in 2002; a $7,200
gambling vacation in New Orleans in 2003; and a $3,500 vacation in Lake
George, N.Y., that same year, with lobbyists picking up the tab in each
case." ... "Ney also accepted thousands in gambling chips at a British
casino. He had a staffer carry $5,000 in cash through U.S. Customs so he
wouldn’t have to report tens of thousands in winnings from the casino."
-By Martin Kady II -CQ.com
Gay
- Military
- 
Entertainment
- Money
- Law
- "RNC
Accepts Money From Army Porn Movie Distributor."
... "Despite running an attack ad accusing a Democratic senatorial candidate
of accepting money from "porn movie producers," the Republican National
Committee itself has accepted several donations over the past few years
from the president of a large pornographic movie distribution company."
... "Marina Pacific Distributors calls itself "the leader in adult video
distribution." Included in the movies for sale on their Web site are videos
made by "Active Duty Productions." Active Duty, as their name suggests,
has cast active duty soldiers in some of their films but not without serious
consequences for the soldiers." ... "Three Fort Bragg soldiers were found
guilty and sentenced to prison in separate courts-martial earlier this
year for appearing in pornographic videos made by Active Duty." -By
Maddy Sauer -ABCNEWS.com
Sherwood
- Secret
- Money
- Politics
- 
Pennsylvania
- Election
2006 - "Rep.
paying ex-mistress about $500K." ... "A Republican
congressman [Don Sherwood of Pennsylvania] accused of abusing his ex-mistress
agreed to pay her about $500,000 in a settlement last year that contained
a powerful incentive for her to keep quiet until after Election Day, a
person familiar with the terms of the deal told The Associated Press."
... "The settlement, reached in November 2005, called for Cynthia Ore to
be paid in installments, according to a person who spoke on condition of
anonymity because the deal is confidential. She has received less than
half the money so far, and will not get the rest until after the Nov. 7
election [2006], the person said Thursday." ... "A confidentiality clause
requires Ore to forfeit some of the money if she talks publicly about the
case, according to this person and two other people familiar with elements
of the case." -By Michael Rubinkam
-AP via -Yahoo
Energy
- Money
- Politics
- 
Accounting
- 
MA
- "U.S.
Drops Bid Over Royalties From Chevron." ... "The
Interior Department has dropped claims that the Chevron Corporation systematically
underpaid the government for natural gas produced in the Gulf of Mexico,
a decision that could allow energy companies to avoid paying hundreds of
millions of dollars in royalties." ... "The agency had ordered Chevron
to pay $6 million in additional royalties but could have sought tens of
millions more had it prevailed. The decision also sets a precedent that
could make it easier for oil and gas companies to lower the value of what
they pump each year from federal property and thus their payments to the
government." ... "The reversal in the case, which involves Chevron’s accounting
of natural gas sales to a company it partly owned, has renewed criticism
that the Bush administration is reluctant to confront oil and gas companies
and is lax in collecting royalties." ... "In return for the right to drill
on federal lands and in federal waters, energy companies are required to
pay the government a share of their proceeds. " ... "Administration officials
knew that dozens of companies had incorrectly claimed exemptions from royalties
since 2003, but they waited until December 2005 to send letters demanding
about $500 million in repayments." ... "In February, the Interior Department
acknowledged that oil companies could escape more than $7 billion in payments
because of mistakes in leases signed in the 1990s." ... "In addition, four
government auditors last month publicly accused the Interior Department
of blocking their efforts to recover more than $30 million from the Shell
Oil Corporation, the Kerr-McGee Corporation and other major companies."
... "“This latest revelation proves that the Bush administration is incapable
of preventing big oil companies from cheating taxpayers,” said Representative
Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, a senior Democrat on the House Committee
on Resources. “The public has been systematically fleeced out of royalties
that these companies owe for the privilege of drilling for oil and gas
on lands belonging to all of us.”" (1, 2)
-By Edmund L. Andrews
-NYTimes
US
- 
Italy
- 
Weldon
- Government
- Military
- Money
- Pennsylvania
- "Italian
Arms Contractor and a Pennsylvania Congressman Share Close Ties."
... "In November at the five-star Hotel Splendido overlooking the harbor
in Portofino, a playground of the Italian rich, [Pennsylvania Republican]
Representative Curt Weldon was the center of attention." ... "The second-ranking
Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, Mr. Weldon was a main
speaker at a conference sponsored in part by the Italian military giant
Finmeccanica. At the gathering of Italian, British and American political
leaders, Mr. Weldon, of Pennsylvania, spoke on behalf of Italian arms makers
who were seeking a bigger share of Pentagon contracts." ... "Taxpayers
paid for Mr. Weldon’s stay. He received a $1,153 daily expense allowance
from the federal government and flew over on a military jet." ... "For
Mr. Weldon, the conference was a victory lap. After several years of promoting
Italian military contractors, the Italians had scored some big victories
at the Pentagon. But Mr. Weldon’s efforts were equally beneficial for his
district, his family, his friends and his campaign coffers." ... "His daughter
Kim, 29, a former social worker, was hired by AgustaWestland, the Finmeccanica
subsidiary that won the Marine One contract, shortly after her father’s
speech in Portofino. Kim Weldon’s work is to set up booths at trade shows
and perform public relations." ... "More than 10 Americans at Finmeccanica
subsidiaries in the United States, along with their spouses, were among
the biggest contributors to Mr. Weldon’s campaign in 2006. Their combined
donations of $20,400 edged out donations from American giants like Boeing
and Lockheed Martin." -By Leslie Wayne with contributions
by David Johnston -NYTimes
Ken
Calvert
- Gay
- Government
- Transportation
- 
Real
Estate - Money
- Law
- California
- "Running
for Their Lives." ... "Ken Calvert, a Republican
representative from California, was caught in a car with a prostitute during
his first term but, after putting out campaign literature implying that
his Democratic opponent was gay, held on to his seat. Last year Calvert
and a business partner bought a four-acre parcel of land in Riverside County
for $550,000; after securing federal funds for the expansion of a nearby
freeway interchange, along with federal money to support commercial development
in the area, they sold the property for nearly $1 million. But Democrats
say they are not running a serious challenger against Calvert, because
the seat leans strongly Republican." -By Juliet Eilperin
-TheAtlantic.com
Money- Consumer
- History
- "Exxon
Mobile posts $10.49B profit." ... "Oil industry behemoth
Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday its third-quarter earnings rose to $10.49
billion, the second-largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly
traded U.S. company." ... "The report comes as high crude prices this year
have fueled record profits in the oil industry, triggering an outcry from
consumers who were being asked to pay about $3 a gallon for gasoline in
early August." ... "The largest quarterly profit ever was Exxon Mobil's
$10.71 billion profit in the fourth quarter of 2005." ... "They may beat
that next quarter, said Howard Silverblatt Standard & Poor's Senior
Index Analyst. "Then in all likelihood they will be at that $40 billion
mark for the year." That would put the company on track for the highest
annual profit ever by a U.S. company. Exxon Mobil holds that record with
a 2005 profit of $36.1 billion." -By Steve Quinn
-AP via -DenverPost.com
Renzi
- Phoenix
- 
Arizona
- Real
Estate - Money
- Politics
- Law
Enforcement - "Lawmaker's
Influence in Land Deals Probed." ... "U.S. prosecutors
in Arizona have opened a preliminary investigation into whether [Republican]
Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) twice pressured landowners to buy a 480-acre
parcel owned by his former business partner, a major backer of Renzi's
political campaign, according to federal law enforcement sources." ...
"The deal ultimately netted the business partner a $3 million profit, according
to Arizona land records." ... "The Arizona transaction has drawn the interest
of the U.S. attorney's office and the FBI's Phoenix field office. Three
law enforcement officials said both are investigating Renzi's involvement
in two land deals -- one of which was not completed -- designed to put
the 480 acres under federal protection from development in exchange for
land more fit for commercial development." ... "According to sources, the
investigation is focusing on whether, in exchange for political contributions
and business support, James Sandlin received special treatment from Renzi
for a parcel of land that earned him a $3 million profit." ... "Sandlin
bought into Renzi's real estate firm in 2001, then paid about $200,000
for half the business and, after he was elected to Congress, $1 million
to $5 million for the rest." ... "Investigators want to know whether Renzi
twice attempted to arrange deals for Sandlin, including once by proposing
legislation, two sources with knowledge of the investigations said." -By
Jonathan Weisman and Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost
Renzi
- Arizona
- Legislation
- Politics
- International
- Money
- 
Family
- Military
- Communications- 
Virginia
- "Congressman
From Arizona Is the Focus of an Inquiry." ... "Federal
authorities in Arizona have opened an inquiry into whether [Arizona Republican]
Representative Rick Renzi introduced legislation that benefited a military
contractor that employs his father, law enforcement officials said Tuesday."
... "Mr. Renzi, 48, a Republican who represents the First Congressional
District, is a former insurance executive and real estate investor who
was first elected in 2002. Almost from the start, he has been a target
of citizen watchdog groups who have accused him of ethical laxity in office."
... "Law enforcement officials said that the most serious accusation involved
Mr. Renzi’s sponsorship of legislation in 2003 that appeared to indirectly
benefit the ManTech International Corporation, a communications company
based in Virginia that employs Mr. Renzi’s father, Eugene, a retired Army
general, as executive vice president." -By David Johnston
-NYTimes
Renzi
- Arizona- Real
Estate - Money
- Politics
- Government
- Legislation
- "Officials
scrutinize Ariz. land deal." ... "A land deal involving
Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz. [Republican-Arizona], is being scrutinized by
the U.S. attorney's office in Arizona, a law enforcement official in Washington
said Tuesday." ... "Records and officials involved in the October 2005
deal say Renzi helped promote the sale of land that netted a former business
partner $4.5 million." ... "The property eventually was to be part of a
swap in which potential buyers could exchange it for land owned by the
federal government. And while Renzi's business partner, James Sandlin,
made money off the land sale, Renzi never introduced legislation in Congress
to complete the swap for the new owners." ... "State records indicate that
Renzi and Sandlin were partners in a real estate development firm dating
back to at least 2002. It is unclear whether the two still have a business
relationship." -By Jennifer Talhelm with contributions
by Arthur H. Rotstein -AP
via -BostonGlobe
Secret
- Electronic
- Voting
Machines - Company
- Hackers
- Technology
- Election
2006 - Politics
- 
Maryland
- "Electronic
Voting Machines Could Skew Elections: Researchers,
Candidates Have Little Confidence in Machines Designed to Make Elections
Easier to Call." ... "Cheryl Kagan, a former Maryland Democratic legislator,
was shocked when she opened her mail Wednesday morning." ... "Inside, she
discovered three computer discs. With them was an anonymous letter saying
the discs contained the secret source code for vote-counting that could
be used to alter the votes cast through Maryland's new electronic voting
machines." ... ""My understanding is that with these disks a malicious
person could skew the outcome of an election," Kagan said." ... "Diebold,
the company that makes the voting machines, told ABC News, "These discs
do not alter the security of the Diebold touch-screen system in any way,"
because election workers can set their own passwords." ... "But ABC News
has obtained an independent report commissioned by the state of Maryland
and
conducted by Science Applications International Corporation revealing that
the original Diebold factory passwords are still being used on many voting
machines." ... "The SAIC study also shows myriad other security flaws,
including administrative over-ride passwords that cannot be changed by
local officials but can be used by hackers or those who have seen the discs."
(1, 2)
-By Jake Tapper, Rebecca Abrahams, and Eduardo Sunol
-ABCNEWS.com
John
E Sweeney - 
Jack
Abramoff - 
Tony
Rudy - Politician
- 
Trip
- 
Northern
Mariana Islands - US
- New
York - Law
US
- 
Russia
- Weldon
- Family
- Government
- Money
- Law
- Energy
- Politics
- Pennsylvania
- "Weldon's
Ties to Serbian Businessman Part of Probe." ... "Officials
at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade were surprised three years ago to be invited
to a luncheon in honor of visiting Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa. [Republican-Pennsylvania]),
hosted by Bogoljub Karic, a wealthy Serbian businessman who had been barred
from visiting or trading with the United States because of his close ties
to former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic." ... "Weldon "was visiting
solely because of Karic," whom he was trying to get off the U.S. blacklist,
a former senior embassy official familiar with the visit concluded. "It
seemed odd" at the time, because Karic had no obvious tie to Weldon's district
outside Philadelphia [Pennsylvania], and Weldon should have known the embassy
was shunning contacts with him, the official said." ... "What the embassy
apparently did not know is that the Karic family that year signed a contract
with Weldon's daughter, Karen, and a business partner that called for monthly
payments of $20,000 for "management, government and public relations,"
according to a copy of the March 2003 contract. In all, the family paid
Karen Weldon's firm $133,858 that year for efforts she undertook to set
up a foundation for it." ... "Curt Weldon's visit and that deal are under
investigation by the FBI, according to a law enforcement source familiar
with the probe. His efforts to assist clients of his daughter's consulting
firm in their dealings with the federal government are the focus of that
probe, according to sources familiar with it." ... "Besides looking at
Weldon's Karic connection, the FBI is examining the lawmaker's contacts
with a Russian-managed oil and gas company, Itera International Energy
Corp., the sources said." (1,
2)
-By R. Jeffrey Smith and Carol D. Leonnig -with contributions
by Lucy Shackelford and Madonna Lebling -WashingtonPost
US
- Government
- Money
- Politics
- Legislators
- Election
2006 - TV
- 
Radio
- Ads- 
Washington
- Virginia
- 
Indiana
- 
Connecticut
- Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Military
- "Dems
using hourly wage issue against GOP rivals." ...
"Democratic challengers in more than two-dozen House and Senate races are
attacking Republicans in Congress for taking pay raises while voting against
a minimum wage increase." ... "The attacks are contained in television
and radio ads running from Washington state to Virginia. In some races,
such as House contests in Indiana and Connecticut, Democrats also link
pay raises to Republican votes against combat bonuses for U.S. troops fighting
in Iraq and Afghanistan." ... "Most members of Congress currently earn
$165,200 a year; top leaders earn more. That's $31,600 more than in 1997,
when the federal minimum wage was raised to the current $5.15 an hour.
Unless legislators act during a lame-duck session after [2006] Election
Day, lawmakers who will be part of the Congress that convenes in January
will get an automatic 2% raise to $168,504." -By Andrea
Stone -USATODAY
US
- Russia
- Energy
- Weldon
- Money
- Law
- Politics- PA
- 
Florida
- "FBI
raids four homes, two offices in Weldon probe." ...
"FBI agents investigating U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Pa. [Republican, Pennsylvania])
conducted six raids this morning - including at the homes of his daughter
and a longtime friend." ... "In Center City [Pennsylvania], agents searched
the law office of John Gallagher, a Weldon friend who has conducted extensive
business in Russia and former Soviet Republics." ... "In Media [Pennsylvania],
agents searched the offices of the public relations firm formed by Weldon's
longtime friend Charles P. Sexton Jr., and the congressman's daughter,
Karen." ... "Sexton and Karen Weldon formed Solutions North America in
2002, and won $1 million in contracts from two Russian energy firms and
a Serbian family with ties to Slobodan Milosevic." ... "FBI agents in Jacksonville,
Fla. [Florida], raided the office of one of the Russian energy firms, Itera,
and a private residence whose connection to the investigation was not disclosed."
... "" -By John Shiffman, Mitch Lipka and Patrick
Kerkstra -Philly.com
Government
- 
Terrorism
- Prisons
- Law
- Enforcement
- Money
- Politics
- 
Colorado
- "Supermax
Staffing Too Low To Be Safe: Arbitrator Finds Problems
At Prison That Holds Moussaoui, Unabomber." ... "Staffing at the Supermax
prison has gotten so low that job hazards have increased for correctional
officers watching over the nation's worst terrorists, an arbitrator has
ruled." ... "The arbitrator stopped short of ordering the Bureau of Prisons
to hire more staff, but union officials representing Supermax officers
said the ruling would bolster their argument to Congress for more prison
funding." ... ""If the most maximum security federal penitentiary is indeed
understaffed, what is happening across the entire Bureau of Prisons as
far as staffing levels?" asked [Colorado Democrat] state Rep. Buffie McFadyen,
who testified for the union at an arbitration hearing in May. Her district
includes Supermax and 11 other state and federal prisons."
-AP via
-CBSNews
Abramoff
- Norquist
- 
Rove
- Money
- Government- 
Newspaper
- Op-Ed
- Politics
- "Report
Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff." ...
"Five conservative nonprofit organizations, including one run by prominent
Republican Grover Norquist, "appear to have perpetrated a fraud" on taxpayers
by selling their clout to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Senate investigators
said in a report issued yesterday." ... "The report includes previously
unreleased e-mails between the now-disgraced lobbyist and officers of the
nonprofit groups, showing that Abramoff funneled money from his clients
to the groups. In exchange, the groups, among other things, produced ostensibly
independent newspaper op-ed columns or news releases that favored the clients'
positions." ... "Officers of the groups "were generally available to carry
out Mr. Abramoff's requests for help with his clients in exchange for cash
payments," said the report, issued by the Senate Finance Committee." ...
"The Senate report released yesterday states that the nonprofit groups
probably violated their tax-exempt status "by laundering payments and then
disbursing funds at Mr. Abramoff's direction; taking payments in exchange
for writing newspaper columns or press releases that put Mr. Abramoff's
clients in a favorable light; introducing Mr. Abramoff's clients to government
officials in exchange for payment; and agreeing to act as a front organization
for congressional trips paid for by Mr. Abramoff's clients."" ... "The
report bolstered earlier revelations that Abramoff laundered money through
the nonprofits to pay for congressional trips and paid Norquist to arrange
meetings for Abramoff's clients with government officials including White
House senior adviser Karl Rove." (1, 2)
-By James V. Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt with contributions
by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost
Ney
- Abramoff
- Norquist
- Rove
- Money
- Politics
- Ohio
- "Rep.
Bob Ney Pleads Guilty to Bribery Charges: Linked
to Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Ney Says He'll Resign Soon but Perhaps Not Soon
Enough for GOP Leadership." ... "Republican Bob Ney, a six-term congressman
from Ohio, pleaded guilty today in Federal District Court to taking bribes
in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal." ... "Standing before
Judge Ellen S. Huvelle, Ney pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false
statements. He acknowledged taking money, gifts and favors in return for
official actions on behalf of Abramoff and his clients." ... "Three former
House GOP aides have already pleaded guilty to corruption charges involving
Abramoff, a once powerful lobbyist with especially close ties to top Republicans."
... "The Abramoff fallout has now spread wider, with a Senate Finance Committee
report maintaining that five conservative nonprofit groups may have illegally
helped the once powerful lobbyist." ... "Most notable are the charges aimed
at Americans for Tax Reform, headed by Grover Norquist, an influential
adviser to Republicans with close ties to President Bush's top political
adviser, Karl Rove. The organizations cited in the report deny any wrongdoing."
... "Committee investigators said the groups may have violated their tax-exempt
status by helping Abramoff and his clients." (1, 2,
3)
-By John Cochran -ABCNEWS.com
US
- Russia
- Weldon
- Family
- Money
- Politics
- Law- Pennsylvania
- "FBI
investigates Rep. Curt Weldon." ... "The Justice
Department is investigating whether Republican Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania
traded his political influence for lucrative lobbying and consulting contracts
for his daughter, according to sources with direct knowledge of the inquiry."
... "The FBI, which opened an investigation in recent months, has formally
referred the matter to the department's Public Integrity Section for additional
scrutiny. At issue are Weldon's efforts between 2002 and 2004 to aid two
Russian companies and two Serbian brothers with ties to strongman Slobodan
Milosevic, a federal law enforcement official said." ... "The Russian companies
and a Serbian foundation run by the brothers' family each hired a firm
co-owned by Weldon's daughter, Karen, for fees totaling nearly $1 million
a year, public records show." ... "Karen Weldon was 28 and lacked consulting
experience when she and Charles Sexton, a Weldon ally and longtime Republican
leader in Delaware County, Pa., created the firm of Solutions North America
Inc. in 2002." ... "Spokesmen for the FBI and the Justice Department declined
to confirm or deny that an inquiry is under way." ... "But McClatchy Newspapers'
sources said the FBI only over the last few months obtained evidence suggesting
that the congressman may have broken the law. One of the sources, a federal
law enforcement official, said that Weldon had not yet been told about
the inquiry." -By Greg Gordon
-McClatchy via
-RealCities
Weldon
- Pennsylvania
- Media
- Market
- Military-
"Navy
Vet Sestak Coming Closer to Sinking Weldon in Pa. 7."
... "The Democratic nominee is Joe Sestak, a retired Navy vice admiral
whose well-financed campaign in a strongly Democratic campaign year ranks
him as the biggest threat yet to [Pennsylvania Republican Curt] Weldon’s
continued incumbency." ... "Sestak’s campaign has been buoyed by fundraising
strength that ensures him visibility in the pricey Philadelphia media market,
and an independent poll showed the race is a dead heat." -By
Greg Giroux -CQPolitics.com
via -NYTimes
Ney
- Abramoff
- 
Volz
- Money
- Politics
- Ohio
- "Rep.
Ney to enter guilty plea." ... "The Jack Abramoff
influence-peddling investigation claims its first member of Congress with
Rep. Bob Ney set to plead guilty to taking bribes." ... "Ney, an Ohio Republican
in his sixth term, faces up to 10 years in prison in a scandal that has
tainted the White House as well as Capitol Hill." ... "Ney, scheduled enter
his plea Friday, signed papers a month ago admitting to charges of conspiracy
and making false statements. He also acknowledged that he had deprived
the public of his honest services." ... "Ney's former chief of staff Neil
Volz, who left Capitol Hill to work with Abramoff, pleaded guilty in May
to charges that he conspired to corrupt his former boss and others."
-AP via -USATODAY
Abramoff
- 
Pombo
- Money- Lawmakers
- History
- US
- Northern
Mariana Islands - 
Garment
- Labor
- California-
"AP
Exclusive: Records suggest Abramoff, Pombo lobbying contacts."
... "California [Republican] Rep. Richard Pombo has insisted he was never
lobbied by [Republican lobbyist] Jack Abramoff. Records show the disgraced
lobbyist billed a client for at least two contacts with Pombo a decade
ago." ... "The lobbying records released by the Northern Mariana Islands
show that Abramoff billed once for calls to Pombo, chairman of the House
Resources Committee, and a second time for a discussion with him, while
lobbying in 1996." ... "On more than two dozen other occasions from 1996
through 2001, Abramoff associates called or met with members of Pombo's
staff, including his chief of staff, the records indicate. As the contacts
picked up, Pombo voted Abramoff's way on a bill important to Abramoff's
clients." ... "The Northern Mariana Islands, a chain of 14 islands near
Guam, became a U.S. commonwealth in 1986. Residents have nonvoting citizenship
but the islands are exempt from many federal labor laws." ... "Democrats,
complaining about reported abuses at low-paying garment factories, have
sought to end those exemptions and increase the minimum wage, now $3.05
an hour. The Marianas government hired Abramoff to block such moves." ...
"On Sept. 10, 1996, Abramoff billed for a discussion with Pombo. Two days
later he gave Pombo a $500 donation, the first of what would become $7,500
in campaign contributions. Pombo has since donated the money to charity.
On Nov. 21, 1996, Abramoff reported putting in calls to Pombo and other
lawmakers." -By Erica Werner
-AP via -MercuryNews
George
Allen - Virginia
- Politics
- 2006
Election - "Allen's
Undisclosed Stock Options Were Worth Up to $1.1 Million."
... "Stock options that Senator George Allen [Virginia Republican] described
as worthless were worth as much as $1.1 million at one point, according
to a review of Senate disclosure forms and U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission filings." ... "The records appear to contradict remarks he made
to the Associated Press. ``I got paid in stock options which were worthless,''
AP quoted him as saying." ... "Allen served as a board member of Chantilly,
Virginia-based Xybernaut Corp. from 1998 until December 2000 and was awarded
options on 110,000 shares during that period. His Senate financial disclosure
form for 1999, required for candidates as well as officeholders, doesn't
report that he owned the options." ... "The stock options issue didn't
arise during a televised debate last night between Allen, a 54-year-old
Republican, and Democratic nominee Jim Webb, 60. Nevertheless, Mark Rozell,
a professor of public policy at George Mason University in Arlington, Virginia,
said the issue poses a problem for Allen, who polls show is in a close
[2006 election] race with Webb." ... "``In an election season in which
congressional ethics and morality are at the top of public discussion,
Allen may now be seen by much of the public as part of a larger problem
afflicting his party,'' Rozell said. " -By Michael
Forsythe and Miles Weiss -Bloomberg
Rove
- Abramoff
- 
Ralston
- Sports
- Entertainment
- Money- Government
- Intelligence
- Northern
Mariana Islands - E-Mail
- 
Safavian
- "Rove
Aide Linked To Abramoff Resigns: Scandal Claims Its
First West Wing Job." ... "A top aide to White House strategist Karl Rove
resigned yesterday after disclosures that she accepted gifts from and passed
information to now-convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, becoming the first
official in the West Wing to lose a job in the influence-peddling scandal."
... "Susan B. Ralston submitted her resignation to avoid causing political
damage to President Bush a month before the midterm elections, officials
said. "She did not want to be a distraction to the White House at this
important time," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino." ... "A congressional
report showed last week that Ralston accepted sometimes-pricey tickets
to nine sports and entertainment events from Abramoff while she provided
him with inside White House information. The bipartisan report said there
is no evidence that Rove knew of or approved of Ralston's actions, and
sources said yesterday that the White House was surprised by the report's
revelations." ... "The only other White House official caught up in the
probe has been David H. Safavian, the procurement chief for the Office
of Management and Budget, who was convicted in June of lying about his
ties to Abramoff." ... "As a former Abramoff assistant, Ralston played
intermediary between the lobbyist and Rove. The congressional report found
66 Abramoff contacts with the White House, more than half of them with
Ralston. In addition, Abramoff's lobbying colleagues contacted Ralston
69 times." ... "On Oct. 21, 2001, Ralston e-mailed Abramoff that Rove had
read an Abramoff memo about a political endorsement in the Mariana Islands
governor's race, a little-noticed election but one important to Abramoff
because he had lucrative clients there. Ralston reported to Abramoff that
Rove had agreed, writing the next day: "You win :)."" (1, 2)
-By Peter Baker and James V. Grimaldi
-WashingtonPost
Workers
- Health
- Industry
- "Ruling
Rewrites Labor Laws For Unions: Critics Charge Federal
Panel Redefines Rules For Supervisors, Denies Protection To Millions Of
Workers." ... "Health care industry workers permanently assigned as "charge
nurses" should be considered supervisory and thus ineligible for union
representation, a federal panel held Tuesday in a decision with sweeping
implications for the broader labor force." ... "The National Labor Relations
Board [NLRB], in a 3-2 ruling, also said people who work supervisory shifts
only on a rotating basis may be exempt from supervisory status in some
cases, but not others, depending on the frequency and consistency of the
supervisory shifts." ... "The decision in the so-called "Kentucky River"
cases was long-awaited by both organized labor and business." ... "AFL-CIO
President John Sweeney immediately denounced it, saying the ruling invites
employers "to strip millions of workers of their right to have a union
by reclassifying them as 'supervisors' in name only."" ... "Sweeney said
the NLRB is dominated by Bush administration lawyers. He also noted a dissenting
view, which said the ruling "threatens to create a new class of workers
under federal labor law: workers who have neither the genuine prerogatives
of management, not the statutory rights of ordinary employees.""
-AP via
-CBSNews
US
- Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Military
- Terrorism
- Money
- Politics
- "Cost
of Iraq war nearly $2b a week." ... "A new congressional
analysis shows the Iraq war is now costing taxpayers almost $2 billion
a week -- nearly twice as much as in the first year of the conflict three
years ago and 20 percent more than last year -- as the Pentagon spends
more on establishing regional bases to support the extended deployment
and scrambles to fix or replace equipment damaged in combat." ... "The
upsurge occurs as the total cost of military operations at home and abroad
since 2001, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will top half a
trillion dollars, according to an internal assessment by the nonpartisan
Congressional Research Service completed last week." ... "The spike in
operating costs -- including a 20 percent increase over last year in Afghanistan,
where the mission now costs about $370 million a week -- comes even though
troop levels in both countries have remained stable. The reports attribute
the rising costs in part to a higher pace of fighting in both countries,
where insurgents and terrorists have increased their attacks on US and
coalition troops and civilians." ... "Another major factor, however, is
``the building of more extensive infrastructure to support troops and equipment
in and around Iraq and Afghanistan," according to the report." -By
Bryan Bender -BostonGlobe
Abramoff
- Karl
Rove- Ralph
Reed
- Money
- Religion
- Government
- 
Mississippi
- Northern
Mariana Islands - "House
Report Details 485 Contacts Between Abramoff Team and White House Officials."
... "A House committee has documented hundreds of contacts between top
White House officials and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his associates,
as well as tens of thousands of dollors worth of meals and tickets to sporting
events and concerts that were offered to these officials during a three-year
period starting in early 2001." ... "The Government Reform Committee report
singled out two of President Bush’s top lieutenants, Karl Rove and Ken
Mehlman, as having been offered expensive meals and exclusive tickets to
premier sporting events and concerts by Abramoff and his associates." ...
"In total, the committee was able to document 485 contacts between White
House officials and Abramoff and his lobbying team at the firm Greenberg
Traurig from January 2001 to March 2004, with 82 of those contacts occurring
in Rove¹s office, including 10 with Rove personally. The panel also
said that Abramoff billed his clients nearly $25,000 for meals and drinks
with White House officials during that period." ... "Rove, Mehlman, and
other White House officials have denied having any close relationship with
Abramoff, despite the fact that Abramoff was a “Pioneer” who raised hundreds
of thousands of dollars for Bush’s White House campaigns." ... "During
the period examined by the committee, Bush administration officials repeatedly
intervened on behalf of Abramoff’s clients, including helping a Mississippi
Indian tribe obtain $16 million in federal funds for a jail the tribe wanted
to build." ... "Abramoff was able to block the nomination of one Interior
Department official using Christian conservative Ralph Reed as a go-between
with Rove, according to e-mails between Abramoff and Reed." ... "Abramoff
also tried to oust a State Department employee who interfered with their
efforts on behalf of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
one of Abramoff’s most lucrative clients." -By John
Bresnahan and Paul Kane -RollCall.com
US
- Afghanistan
- Iraq
- 
Pakistan
- Osama
bin Laden
- Religious
- Terrorism
- Money
- Politics
- Military
- Intelligence
- "Afghanistan,
5 years later: U.S. confront Taliban's return." ...
"Afghanistan has become Iraq on a slow burn. Five years after they were
ousted, the Taliban are back in force, their ranks renewed by a new generation
of diehards. Violence, opium trafficking, ethnic tensions, official corruption
and political anarchy are all worse than they've been at any time since
the U.S.-led intervention in 2001." ... "By failing to stop Taliban leaders
and Osama bin Laden from escaping into Pakistan, then diverting troops
and resources to Iraq before finishing the job in Afghanistan, the Bush
administration left the door open to a Taliban comeback. Compounding the
problem, reconstruction efforts have been slow and limited, and the U.S.
and NATO didn't anticipate the extent and ferocity of the Taliban resurgence
or the alliances the insurgents have formed with other Islamic extremists
and with the world's leading opium traffickers." ... "There are only 42,000
U.S. and NATO-led troops to secure a country that's half again the size
of Iraq, where 150,000 U.S.-led coalition troops are deployed. Suicide
bombings have soared from two in all of 2002 to about one every five days.
Civilian casualties are mounting." ... "James Dobbins, who was President
Bush's special envoy to Afghanistan, said that the administration dismissed
European offers of a major peacekeeping force after the U.S. intervention
and almost immediately began shifting military assets to invade Iraq."
... "The White House "resisted the whole concept of peacekeeping," said
Dobbins. "They wanted to demonstrate a different approach, one that would
be much lower cost. So the decision to skimp on manpower and deploy one-fiftieth
the troops as were deployed in Bosnia was accompanied by a decision to
underplay economic assistance." ... ""We invaded Afghanistan in October
2001. We conquered the country in December, and Congress was not asked
to provide any (reconstruction) money until the following October," he
continued. "Much of the money didn't show up for years. And not only were
the actual sums relatively small, but with the failure to establish even
a modicum of security in the countryside, there was no way to spend it.""
... "There are 22,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. But there are only 5,000
U.S. combat soldiers in eastern Afghanistan bordering Taliban refuges in
Pakistan, a 27,000-square-mile area of vast deserts and mountains nearly
the size of South Carolina." ... "ISAF [International Security Assistance
Force led by NATO], with 20,000 troops from 36 nations, has only 8,000
troops for 77,000 square miles - slightly smaller than Minnesota - in the
south." ... "The insurgents and their leaders operate from Pakistan, aided
by Pakistani officials, radical Islamic parties and al Qaida. They're flush
with recruits from Islamist seminaries on both sides of the border that
offer religious instruction and combat training." ... "Taliban extremists
also have been to Iraq for training in combat and bomb-making, and Iraqi
insurgents have traveled to Pakistan to forge closer ties with Afghan and
Pakistani extremists, according to U.S. intelligence officials." ... "The
Afghan army has about 30,000 troops who participate in operations with
U.S. and ISAF forces. But they lack basic equipment - helmets, radios and
armored vehicles - and rely on U.S. and other foreign funds for their salaries."
-By Jonathan S. Landay
-McClatchy-RealCities
Government
- Housing
- Money
- Politics
- Alphonso
Jackson - "Probe
Finds Jackson Urged Favoritism in HUD Contracts."
... "An inspector general's report charges that top U.S. housing official
Alphonso Jackson urged staff members to favor friends of [Republican] President
Bush when awarding Department of Housing and Urban Development contracts.
But investigators so far have found no direct proof that Jackson's staff
obeyed." ... "His chief of staff told investigators that Jackson, the HUD
secretary, "personally intervened with contractors whom he did not like
. . . these contractors had Democratic political affiliations," says the
report, a copy of which was made available to The Washington Post." ...
"Awarding contracts on the basis of party affiliation violates federal
law." ... "According to two senior HUD officials, at a staff meeting this
year "Jackson had advised . . . that when considering discretionary contracts,
they should be considering supporters of the president," the report says."
... ""I don't recall doing that. They might have misconstrued it," the
report quoted Jackson as saying." -By Elizabeth Williamson
-WashingtonPost
Government
- Housing
- Money
- Law
- Alphonso
Jackson - Calif
- "HUD
Secretary urged favoritism in awarding of contracts."
... "Top aides to Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson testified that they
and other senior staff members were advised to take political leanings
into consideration when awarding discretionary contracts, according to
an internal report issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development's
inspector general." ... "Despite Jackson's edict, there is no evidence
that "information regarding political affiliation was routinely or generally
received, maintained or applied to the contracting process; however, there
were some limited instances where political affiliation may have been a
factor in contract issues involving Jackson," the report found." ... "The
findings led Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., to call Thursday for Jackson's
resignation." ... ""If this report is accurate, Secretary Jackson should
resign immediately," Waxman said. "We must not allow taxpayer-funded contracts
to be handed out to political allies as rewards for loyalty."" -By
Christine Perez -BizJournals
Government
- Housing
- Money
- Law
- Texas
- "HUD
staff told to favor allies." ... "[Republican appointed]
Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson urged top aides to take contractors'
politics into account when handing out grants and deals, an internal department
review has found, though there is no "direct evidence" that favoritism
actually occurred." ... "The department's inspector general began investigating
Mr. Jackson after he boasted in a Dallas [Texas] speech that he'd once
scuttled a deal because the would-be contractor disparaged President Bush."
... "Several top HUD officials themselves political appointees
testified that Mr. Jackson told senior staff at a meeting a few months
before the April 28 speech in Dallas that they should consider contractors'
political leanings. He urged them to give contracts to Bush supporters
and voiced concerns about any going to active Democratic donors, the aides
said." ... "Mr. Jackson, a longtime Bush friend, spent three years in HUD's
No. 2 job before being sworn in to lead the $32 billion agency in April
2004." ... "It is a violation of federal procurement law to reward or punish
a contractor based on political views." -By Todd J.
Gillman with contributions by Sudeep Reddy
-DallasNews.com
US
- Iraq
- Government
- Military
- Money
- Politics
- "Ties
to GOP Trumped Know-How Among Staff Sent to Rebuild Iraq."
... "After the fall of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003, the opportunity
to participate in the U.S.-led effort to reconstruct Iraq attracted all
manner of Americans -- restless professionals, Arabic-speaking academics,
development specialists and war-zone adventurers. But before they could
go to Baghdad, they had to get past Jim O'Beirne's office in the Pentagon."
... "To pass muster with O'Beirne, a political appointee who screens prospective
political appointees for Defense Department posts, applicants didn't need
to be experts in the Middle East or in post-conflict reconstruction. What
seemed most important was loyalty to the Bush administration." ... "O'Beirne's
staff posed blunt questions to some candidates about domestic politics:
Did you vote for George W. Bush in 2000? Do you support the way the president
is fighting the war on terror? Two people who sought jobs with the U.S.
occupation authority said they were even asked their views on Roe v.
Wade." ... "Many of those chosen by O'Beirne's office to work for the
Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran Iraq's government from April
2003 to June 2004, lacked vital skills and experience. A 24-year-old who
had never worked in finance --but had applied for a White House job --
was sent to reopen Baghdad's stock exchange. The daughter of a prominent
neoconservative commentator and a recent graduate from an evangelical university
for home-schooled children were tapped to manage Iraq's $13 billion budget,
even though they didn't have a background in accounting." ... "The decision
to send the loyal and the willing instead of the best and the brightest
is now regarded by many people involved in the 3 1/2 -year effort to stabilize
and rebuild Iraq as one of the Bush administration's gravest errors. Many
of those selected because of their political fidelity spent their time
trying to impose a conservative agenda on the postwar occupation, which
sidetracked more important reconstruction efforts and squandered goodwill
among the Iraqi people, according to many people who participated in the
reconstruction effort." (1, 2,
3,
4,
5)
-By Rajiv Chandrasekaran
-WashingtonPost
Hacking
- Electronic
- Voting
Machine - Technology
- Business
- 2006
Election - Maryland
- "Worse
to Come in Fall Elections, Officials Fear." ... "As
officials investigated the human errors that disrupted Maryland's primary
election, there were renewed fears yesterday that electronic malfunctions
could cause even greater problems in November." ... "Computer scientists
at Princeton University released a study, including a video, that demonstrated
how they were able to hack into the type of electronic voting machines
used in Maryland and install malicious software that could sway an election.
The machines' manufacturer swiftly denounced the study as "unrealistic
and inaccurate."" ... "Meanwhile, frustrated election judges and voters
continued to report widespread trouble with voting apparatuses during Tuesday's
primary -- machines that froze, access cards that stopped working and computerized
voter lists that crashed. The glitches led to long lines at many polling
places and caused some voters to worry that their ballots had not been
recorded properly, if at all." ... "Edward W. Felten, a professor of computer
science and public affairs, said that he and two of his graduate students
spent several months studying a Diebold AccuVote-TS voting machine. They
were easily able to break into the machine and insert malicious software,
he said." ... ""The malicious code can steal votes in a manner that's undetectable
or nearly undetectable," Felten said. "And the code can spread like a virus
from one machine to another."" (1, 2)
-By Christian Davenport, Miranda S. Spivack and Cameron
W. Barr -WashingtonPost
GOV
- TV
- Media
- Telecom
- Business
-Law
- "Media
ownership study ordered destroyed: FCC draft suggested
fewer owners would hurt local TV coverage." ... "The Federal Communications
Commission ordered its staff to destroy all copies of a draft study that
suggested greater concentration of media ownership would hurt local TV
news coverage, a former lawyer at the agency says." ... "The report, written
in 2004, came to light during the Senate confirmation hearing for FCC Chairman
Kevin Martin." ... "Adam Candeub, now a law professor at Michigan State
University, said senior managers at the agency ordered that "every last
piece" of the report be destroyed. "The whole project was just stopped
- end of discussion," he said. Candeub was a lawyer in the FCC's Media
Bureau at the time the report was written and communicated frequently with
its authors, he said." ... "The report, written by two economists in the
FCC's Media Bureau, analyzed a database of 4,078 individual news stories
broadcast in 1998. The broadcasts were obtained from Danilo Yanich, a professor
and researcher at the University of Delaware, and were originally gathered
by the Pew Foundation's Project for Excellence in Journalism." ... "The
analysis showed local ownership of television stations adds almost five
and one-half minutes of total news to broadcasts and more than three minutes
of "on-location" news. The conclusion is at odds with FCC arguments made
when it voted in 2003 to increase the number of television stations a company
could own in a single market." -AP
via -MSNBC
Money
- People- 2006
Election - Intelligence
- "In
a Pivotal Year, GOP Plans to Get Personal: Millions
to Go to Digging Up Dirt on Democrats." ... "Republicans are planning to
spend the vast majority of their sizable financial war chest over the final
60 days of the [2006 Election] campaign attacking Democratic House and
Senate candidates over personal issues and local controversies, GOP officials
said." ... "The National Republican Congressional Committee, which this
year dispatched a half-dozen operatives to comb through tax, court and
other records looking for damaging information on Democratic candidates,
plans to spend more than 90 percent of its $50 million-plus advertising
budget on what officials described as negative ads." ... "The hope is that
a vigorous effort to "define" opponents, in the parlance of GOP operatives,
can help Republicans shift the midterm debate away from Iraq and limit
losses this fall." (1, 2)
-By Jim VandeHei and Chris Cillizza
-WashingtonPost
Richard
Shelby - Corporate
- Politics
- Government
- Military
- Legislation
- 
Space
- Computer
- Technology
- Alabama
TV
- Media
- Business
- Terrorism
- History
- Politics
- "ABC
Gets More Pressure to Toss 9/11 Film." ... "ABC faced
growing pressure Friday about its planned miniseries on the buildup to
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Former Clinton administration officials,
historians and a Democratic petition with nearly 200,000 signatures urged
the network to scrap the five-hour drama." ... "The network said the movie,
scheduled to air commercial-free on Sunday and Monday, is being edited
to deal with concerns that it distorts history. ABC had no response to
the calls to abandon it." ... "A group of historians, including Arthur
Schlesinger Jr. and Princeton University's Sean Wilentz, wrote to ABC parent
Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger, urging him to scrap the series. They said
that permitting inaccuracies to heighten drama is "disingenuous and dangerous.""
... ""A responsible broadcast network should have nothing to do with the
falsification of history, except to expose it," they wrote." ... "Harvey
Keitel, one of the actors in "The Path to 9/11," also said he had questions
about whether some of the material was accurate." ... ""When I received
the script, it said ABC history project," Keitel said in an interview with
CNN Headline News' "Showbiz Tonight." "I took it to be exactly what they
presented to me, history. And that the facts were correct. It turned out
not all the facts were correct, and ABC set out trying to heal that problem.
In some instances it was too late because we had begun."" ... "The controversy
is reminiscent of the one that erupted over a 2003 CBS miniseries about
President Ronald Reagan. In the face of political pressure over that film's
accuracy, CBS canceled it, and it later aired on the Showtime cable network."
-By David Bauder -AP
Tom
DeLay
- Texas
- Money
- Politics
- Jack
Abramoff
- Edwin
Buckham-
"Lobbying
Probe Looks at Payments To DeLay's Wife." ... "The
Justice Department's congressional lobbying-and-bribery investigation is
looking into whether former House Majority Leader [Texas Republican] Tom
DeLay's wife received money from a lobbying firm for a no-show job, recent
FBI interviews indicate." ... "The two-year investigation is examining
whether lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others sought legislative favors for
their clients by offering expensive meals, sports tickets, golf outings
and other gifts to about a dozen lawmakers and congressional aides." ...
"In the last few weeks, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have interviewed
several people at the Alexander Strategy Group lobbying firm to determine
if Christine DeLay was being paid $3,200 a month -- a total of $115,000
over three years -- but not earning it." ... "Alexander Strategy was run
by a pair of Mr. DeLay's former aides: Tony Rudy, who pleaded guilty to
bribery charges in March; and Edwin Buckham, who remains under investigation.
The firm also shared clients with Jack Abramoff." -By
Brody Mullins -WSJ.com
Tom
Ridge - Crime
- Politics
- Terrorism
- 
Albania
- US
- Pennsylvania
California
- 
Oregon
- Arizona
- Computer
- Intel
- Jobs
- "Intel
to shed up to 20,000 jobs with AMD on its heels."
... "It will be a long holiday weekend for about 100,000 Intel Corp. employees,
with the world's largest chipmaker --facing tough competition from chief
rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. -- expected to announce as many as 20,000
job cuts next week, its largest retrenchment in two decades." ... "Chief
Executive Officer Paul Otellini, who already has begun to slash jobs and
sell businesses in response to falling sales and market share, is expected
to discuss with employees the results of a 90-day stem-to-stern review
of company operations on Tuesday via Webcast" ... "Intel has about 6,000
employees in its Santa Clara [California] headquarters and about 7,000
in Folsom. Other large West Coast operations include about 17,000 employees
in Oregon and 11,000 in Arizona." -By Jessica Guynn
-SFGate.com
Entertainment
- Business
- Technology
- Consumer
- Database
- Parents
& Children - "Disney's
Finger Scan Upgrade Raises Privacy Concerns." ...
"An upgrade on Disney's finger scanning technology implemented to prevent
ticket fraud or resale is raising concerns from privacy advocates, according
to Local 6 News." ... "For years, Walt Disney World has been reading the
shape of visitors' fingers on its property. Now, the upgraded controversial
finger scanning machines scan fingerprint information." ... ""Privacy advocates
worry that Disney is getting too much of your personal information and
their concern is where that information goes after it is scanned," Local
6 reporter Jessica D'Onofrio said." -Local6.com
Alaska
- Oil
- Company
- Politics
- "FBI
searches offices of Alaska lawmakers: Legislators
targeted in five locations as part of 'pending investigation'." ... "Federal
agents raided the offices of at least six Alaska lawmakers [5 Republicans
and 1 Democrat] Thursday in a search for any ties between the legislators
and a large oil field services company, officials said." ... ""This morning,
investigators from the FBI interviewed me in my office regarding an investigation
of VECO [oil and construction corporation]," Rep. Vic Kohring, R-Wasilla,
said in a prepared statement." ... "Agents conducted office searches in
both Juneau and Anchorage belonging to Sen. John Cowdery, R-Anchorage,
the Senate Rules Committee chairman." ... "The offices of Senate President
Ben Stevens, R-Anchorage; Kohring; Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch, R-Juneau; Sen.
Donald Olson, D-Nome; and Rep. Pete Kott, R-Eagle River also were searched."
-AP via -MSNBC
Hackers
- Web
- Telecommunications
- Consumer
- Business
- "Hackers
hit AT&T, steal users' info." ... "AT&T Inc.
said hackers compromised its Web site last weekend, obtaining records and
credit card information of up to 19,000 customers." ... "The country's
largest telecommunications operator said Tuesday that hackers targeted
a store on the company's Web site where customers purchased DSL equipment.
The attack was discovered "within hours," the company said, prompting a
shutdown of the store that was still in effect Tuesday." ... ""We are committed
to both protecting our customers' privacy and to weeding out and punishing
the violators," said Priscilla Hill-Ardoin, chief privacy officer at AT&T."
-By Ryan Kim -SFGate.com
GOV- MIL
- Terrorism
- Politics
- "Defense
CEOs doing well since 9/11, study says." ... "The
chief executives of corporations making big profits from the war on terror
are
enjoying far bigger pay increases than CEOs of nondefense companies, according
to a study by two liberal groups." ... "The highest paid defense CEO, George
David of United Technologies Corp. - which makes Black Hawk helicopters
and jet engines - took in $31.9 million in 2005. That actually represented
a big cut in pay from the $88.3 million he made in 2004." ... "Halliburton
Co.'s CEO, David Lesar, saw his compensation more than double last year
to $26.6 million. Halliburton has been the top provider of logistical services
in Iraq such as transportation and feeding U.S. troops but has come under
fire for no-bid contracts and allegations it overcharged the government."
... ""Why not say that if it's a contract with taxpayer dollars, they can't
go to excessive CEO pay," said Betsy Leondar-Wright of United for a Fair
Economy. "In past wars, there were efforts to limit war profiteering. We're
having the reverse here. We're having people treating it as their own little
bonanza."" -AP
via -MSNBC
US
- Iraq
- Government
- Military
- People
- Money
- Politics
- "Soldiers
die, CEOs prosper." ... "More than 2,600 US soldiers
have died in Iraq. July's toll for Iraqi civilians was 3,500, the deadliest
month of the US occupation. Iraq's civil war is on pace to kill 25,000
to 30,000 civilians by year's end. If you add in the tens of thousands
of deaths from the 2003 invasion (we do not know the exact number because
the Pentagon won't comment), researchers will inevitably say that the body
count has crossed 100,000." ... "As [American] soldiers have died in displaying
personal patriotism, the pay gap between soldiers and defense CEOs has
exploded. Before 9/11, the gap between CEOs of publicly traded companies
and army privates was already a galling 190 to 1. Today, it is 308 to 1.
The average army private makes $25,000 a year. The average defense CEO
makes $7.7 million." ... "The top profiteers after 9/11 were the CEOs of
United Technologies ($200 million), General Dynamics ($65 million), Lockheed
Martin ($50 million), and Halliburton ($49 million)." ... "While Army privates
died overseas earning $25,000 a year, David Brooks, the disgraced former
CEO of body-armor maker DHB, made $192 million in stock sales in 2004.
He staged a reported $10 million bat mitzvah for his daughter. The 2005
pay package for Halliburton CEO David Lesar, head of the firm that most
symbolizes the occupation's waste, overcharges, and ghost charges on no-bid
contracts, was $26 million, according to the report's analysis of federal
Securities and Exchange Commission filings." ... "``Those examples take
the cake, especially because it's all related to their government contracts,
which is money straight out of the taxpayer's pocket," Leondar-Wright said."
-By Derrick Z. Jackson
-Boston/Globe
US
- Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Government
- Military
- Brain
- Science
- Health
- Money
- "Brain
injury budget faces cut: Military research, treatment
at risk." ... "Brain injuries are so common among U.S. troops that they're
called the signature injury of the Iraq war, but Congress is poised to
cut military spending on researching and treating them." ... "House and
Senate versions of the defense appropriation bill would chop funding for
the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center from $14 million to $7 million.
The center runs 10 facilities across the country, including one at Fort
Bragg [North Carolina] that has performed research and treated soldiers'
injuries since 1998." ... ""It's just ridiculous," said Sgt. Maj. Colin
Rich, a Fort Bragg soldier who has been legally blind since he was shot
in the head while serving in Afghanistan in 2002. "Whoever is cutting the
budget must have a head injury themselves."" ... "As of March 31, the Pentagon
reported about 1,200 traumatic brain injuries as a result of the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan. Experts say the real total is much higher because
closed-head injuries in particular -- those where there is no obvious wound
-- often go undiagnosed." -By Jay Price
-NewsObserver.com
Transportation
- Airport
- Terrorism
- Politics
- Money
- Massachusetts
- "US
delays security for liquid bombs: Mass. companies
offer technologies, but TSA has reliability, practicality doubts." ...
"The technology exists to detect liquid explosives -- at least three Massachusetts
companies have created such tools -- but the federal government says it's
still not ready to deploy the devices in the nation's airports." ... "The
Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency in charge of
airport security, is testing products from American Science and Engineering
Inc. of Billerica; Ahura Corp. of Wilmington; and General Dielectric Inc.
of Acton." ... "The TSA has not outfitted airports with the devices, in
part, because officials have to prioritize where they spend limited dollars,
according to Frank Cilluffo, former special assistant to President Bush
for homeland security and now director of George Washington University's
Homeland Security Policy Institute." ... "Joe Reiss, AS&E's vice president
of marketing, said his company's SmartCheck systems are used at the White
House and the US Supreme Court. But they're not widely used in airport
security." -By Hiawatha Bray with contributions by
Bryan Bender -Boston/Globe
Water
- Texas
- World
- "Investors
Have A Big Thirst For Water: The Search For Clean
Water Has Become A Multibillion-Dollar Business." ... "Who says oil and
water don't mix? Not T. Boone Pickens. As CBS News correspondent Anthony
Mason reports, Pickens, a Texas billionaire who made his fortune in
black gold, is now investing in a blue liquid." ... "Pickens' new company,
Mesa Water, has been buying up ground water rights in Roberts County, Texas
— 200,000 acres in all. He says that over a 30-year period, he expects
to make more than $1 billion on his investment of $75 million." ... "Pickens
isn’t the only investor with a big thirst for water: GE has bought four
water companies. Water is now a $400 billion global industry — the third-largest
behind oil and electricity." ... "Water itself isn't scarce. But clean
water is. For investors, the lack of usable water around the world is making
it almost as valuable as oil."
-CBSNews
Mississippi
- Hurricane
Katrina - Homeowner
- Disaster
- Business
- 
Wind
- Water-Weather
- "Katrina
storm surge damage not covered by homeowners insurance, judge rules."
... "A federal judge ruled Tuesday that an insurance company's policies
do not cover damage from wind-driven water in a decision that could affect
hundreds of upcoming cases related to property damage from Hurricane Katrina."
... "U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. ruled that a Mississippi Gulf
Coast couple cannot collect damages from storm surge caused by Katrina
because Nationwide Mutual Insurance's policies do not cover wind-driven
water damage." ... "Senter Jr. said Paul and Julie Leonard of Pascagoula
could be compensated for damage that they could prove was caused by high
winds." ... ""This reading of the policy would mean that an insured whose
dwelling lost its roof in high winds and at the same time suffered an incursion
of even an inch of water could recover nothing under his Nationwide policy,"
he wrote." -AP
via -USATODAY
Secret
- Reporters
- Business
- Sports
- Drugs
- San
Francisco - California
- "Reporters
must testify over Bonds leak." ... "A federal judge
told two San Francisco Chronicle [California newspaper] reporters
they must comply with a subpoena and tell a grand jury who leaked them
secret testimony of Barry Bonds and other elite athletes ensnared in the
government's steroid probe." ... "The decision by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey
White means reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada must appear
before a grand jury investigating the leak unless a higher court blocks
the ruling. The pair have said they would not testify and would go to jail
rather than reveal their source or sources." ... "The Hearst Corp., owner
of the Chronicle, argued that the reporters should be immune to testifying
because of a combination of factors, including the First Amendment." ...
"Hearst said the leak doesn't involve national security and that a lot
of good has come from the writers' reporting." -By
David Kravets -AP
via -USATODAY
TV
- Telecom
- Marketing
- Industry
- Media
- Consumer
- 
Wisconsin
- "FCC
questions TV stations on 'fake news'." ... "The Federal
Communications Commission has mailed letters to the owners of 77 television
stations inquiring about their use of video news releases, a type of programming
critics refer to as "fake news."" ... "The probe was sparked by a study
of newsroom use of material provided by public relations firms. The study,
entitled "Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed," was compiled by the
Center for Media and Democracy, a Wisconsin-based non-profit organization
that monitors the public relations industry." ... "When stations air video
news releases, they are required to disclose to viewers "the nature, source
and sponsorship of the material that they are viewing," according to the
FCC." -AP
via -USATODAY
Abramoff
- Political
- Government
- Money
- Northern
Mariana Islands
- "Former
Interior official pleads guilty in Abramoff probe."
... "A former Department of Interior employee pleaded guilty Friday to
a misdemeanor charge for failing to report gifts he received from influence-peddler
Jack Abramoff." ... "Roger Stillwell told a federal magistrate that he
had been given hundreds of dollars worth of football and concert tickets
from Abramoff, who at the time was lobbying for the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands." -AP
via -USATODAY
Government
- Terrorism
- Technology
- Money- Law
- "Bush
Staff Wanted Bomb-Detect Cash Moved: Bush Administration
Sought Permission to Divert $6 Million for Explosives Detection Technology."
... "While the British terror suspects were hatching their plot, the Bush
administration was quietly seeking permission to divert $6 million that
was supposed to be spent this year developing new homeland explosives detection
technology." ... "Congressional leaders rejected the idea, the latest in
a series of steps by the Homeland Security Department that has left lawmakers
and some of the department's own experts questioning the commitment to
create better anti-terror technologies." ... "Homeland Security's research
arm, called the Sciences & Technology Directorate, is a "rudderless
ship without a clear way to get back on course," Republican and Democratic
senators on the Appropriations Committee declared recently." ... "The department
failed to spend $200 million in research and development money from past
years, forcing lawmakers to rescind the money this summer." ... "The administration
also was slow to start testing a new liquid explosives detector that the
Japanese government provided to the United States earlier this year." (1,
2,
3)
-By John Solomon with contributions by Leslie Miller
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
Secret
- Government
- Military
- Intelligence
- Business
- Law
- Cunningham
- California
- "'Duke'
Inquiry Cites Breakdowns: The findings could widen
the [California Republican] Cunningham scandal, a Democratic memo suggests."
... "An internal congressional investigation has found that "major breakdowns"
in legislative controls enabled former Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham
to use his position on the House Intelligence Committee to steer classified
government contracts to political cronies, according to a memo distributed
this week to Democrats on the panel." ... "The memo accuses Republicans
of backing out of an agreement to subpoena Cunningham, and calls for the
public release of a 20-page unclassified report documenting the findings
of the investigation." ... "The criminal investigation of Cunningham focused
largely on the military contracts he influenced as a member of the House
Defense Appropriations Subcommittee." ... "But the internal House probe
has found a similar pattern of abuses in contracts involving U.S. intelligence
agencies — and includes language describing cases in which the disgraced
congressman pressured committee aides to set aside secret funds for his
associates, according to congressional sources familiar with the investigation."
(1, 2)
-By Greg Miller -LAtimes
US
- Government
- Military
- Brain
- Science
- Money
-Terrorism
- Iraq
- "Center
for war-related brain injuries faces budget cut."
... "Congress appears ready to slash funding for the research and treatment
of brain injuries caused by bomb blasts, an injury that military scientists
describe as a signature wound of the Iraq war." ... "House and Senate versions
of the 2007 Defense appropriation bill contain $7 million for the Defense
and Veterans Brain Injury Center — half of what the center received last
fiscal year." ... "Proponents of increased funding say they are shocked
to see cuts in the treatment of bomb blast injuries in the midst of a war."
... "George Zitnay, co-founder of the center, testified before a Senate
subcommittee in May that body armor saves troops caught in blasts but leaves
many with brain damage. "Traumatic brain injury is the signature injury
of the war on terrorism," he testified." -By Gregg
Zoroya -USATODAY
Connie
Mack - Vacation
- Home
- Politics
- Florida
- Virginia
- Family
- Law
- "Mack
divorce proceedings include sale of $825,000 home."
... "After 9½ years of marriage, U.S. [United States Florida Republican
Representative] Rep. Connie Mack IV and his wife, Ann, are divorced, but
the Congressman gets to keep is gold Presidential Rolex." ... "Divorce
records obtained Friday by the Daily News show that the couple will sell
their Alexandria, Va.[Virginia], home — which is listed for sale by owner
at $825,000 — and their condo at 15081 Tamarind Cay Court in South Fort
Myers [Florida] as part of their final divorce settlement. The proceeds
of both sales will be split between Ann McGillicuddy and Cornelius McGillicuddy,
R-Fort Myers [Florida Republican Representative known as "Connie Mack"]."
... "They have two children, Addison, 6, and Cornelius McGillicuddy V,
3." ... "Ann McGillicuddy had said that the Southwest Florida congressman
didn't really live in the area, but used the condo as a vacation home.
To hold the office Mack would have to live in the 14th congressional district."
... "According to [Florida's] Lee County Property Appraiser records, the
just value of the condo unit for tax purposes this year is $235,000." -By
Kristen Zambo -DailyNews
DCI
- Marketing
- Oil
- Corporation
- Politics
- Global
- Climate
- Internet
- Computer- Entertainment
-
- Environment
- 
Al
Gore - "Al
Gore YouTube Spoof Not So Amateurish: Republican
PR [public relations] Firm Said to Be Behind 'Inconvenient Truth' Spoof."
... "A tiny little movie making fun of Al Gore, supposedly made by an amateur
filmmaker, recently appeared on the popular Web site YouTube.com." ...
"At first blush, the spoof seemed like a scrappy little homemade film poking
fun at Gore and his anti-global warming crusade." ... "The film actually
came from a slick Republican public relations firm called DCI, which just
happens to have oil giant Exxon as a client." ... "Public relations firms
have long used computer technology to create bogus grassroots campaigns,
which are called "Astroturf."" ... "Now these firms are being hired to
push illusions on the Internet to create the false impression of real people
blogging, e-mailing and making films. " (1, 2)
-By Jake Tapper and Max Culhane
-ABCNEWS.com
DCI
- Marketing
- 
Psychology
- Oil
- Corporation
- Politics
- Opinion
- Internet
- Video
- California
- Entertainment
- Media
- 
Search
Engine - Computer
- 
Communications
- 
EMail
- Environmental
- Science
- Global
- Climate
- Al
Gore - "Where
did that video spoofing Gore's film come from?" ...
"Everyone knows Al Gore stars in the global warming documentary "An Inconvenient
Truth." But who created "Al Gore's Penguin Army," a two-minute video now
playing on YouTube.com?" ... "Like other videos on the popular YouTube
site, it has a home-made, humorous quality. The video's maker is listed
as "Toutsmith," a 29-year-old who identifies himself as being from Beverly
Hills [California] in an Internet profile." ... "In an email exchange with
The Wall Street Journal, Toutsmith didn't answer when asked who he was
or why he made the video, which has just over 59,000 views on YouTube.
However, computer routing information contained in an email sent from Toutsmith's
Yahoo account indicate it didn't come from an amateur working out of his
basement." ... "Instead, the email originated from a computer registered
to DCI Group, a Washington, D.C., public relations and lobbying firm whose
clients include oil company Exxon Mobil Corp [Corporation]." ... "The anti-Gore
video represents a less well-known side of YouTube. As its popularity has
exploded, the public video-sharing site has drawn marketers looking to
build buzz for new music releases and summer blockbusters. Now, it's being
tapped by political operatives, public relations experts and ad agencies
to sway opinions." ... "DCI is no stranger to the debate over global warming.
Partly through Tech Central Station, an opinion Web site it operates, DCI
has sought to raise doubts about the science of global warming and about
Mr. Gore's film, placing skeptical scientists on talk-radio shows and paying
them to write editorials." ... "Internet videos could prove particularly
potent, because they may influence watchers in ways they don't realize.
Nancy Snow, a communications professor at California State University,
Fullerton, viewed the penguin video and calls it a lesson in "Propaganda
101." It contains no factual information, but presents a highly negative
image of the former vice president, she says. The purpose of such images
is to harden the views of those who already view Mr. Gore negatively, Dr.
Snow says." ... "Traffic to the penguin video, first posted on YouTube.com
in May, got a boost from prominently placed sponsored links that appeared
on the Google search engine when users typed in "Al Gore" or "Global Warming."
The ads, which didn't indicate who had paid for them, were removed shortly
after The Wall Street Journal contacted DCI Group on Tuesday." -By
Antonio Regalado and Dionne Searcey with contributions by Jeffrey Ball
-WSJ.com via -Post-Gazette.com
Iraq
- US
- Government
- "Rebuilding
Iraq an unfinished job: U.S. lacks coherent plan
to transfer effort to Iraqis, report concludes." ... "A flailing Iraq reconstruction
effort that has been dominated for more than three years by U.S. dollars
and companies is being transferred to Iraqis, leaving them the challenge
of completing a long list of projects left unfinished by the Americans."
... "While the handover is occurring gradually, it comes as U.S. money
dwindles and American officials face a Sept. 30 deadline for choosing which
projects to fund with the remaining $2 billion of the $21 billion rebuilding
program. More than 500 planned projects have not been started, and the
United States lacks a coherent plan for transferring authority to Iraqi
control, a report released Tuesday concludes." ... "Some of the biggest
U.S. companies have come under intense scrutiny, too, for their performance
in Iraq. Halliburton Co. subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root, Bechtel Corp.
and Parsons have each received in excess of $1 billion worth of reconstruction
work, but have been criticized for not finishing key jobs. Now, all three
are wrapping up their reconstruction work and heading home." (1, 2)
-By Andy Mosher and Griff Witte
-WashingtonPost via -MSNBC
Richard
Berman - Corporate
- Marketing
- Politics
- Consumer
- Health
- Food
- 
Safety
- Science
- Government
- Labor
- Law
World
- Oil
- Consumers
- "UPDATE
2-Exxon Mobil profit tops $10 bln on soaring prices."
... "Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N: Quote,
Profile,Research),
the world's largest public oil company, on Thursday reported quarterly
profit surged 35 percent to top $10 billion, driven by yet another quarter
of sharply higher oil prices." ... "Revenue jumped 12 percent to $99.03
billion, from $88.57 billion a year earlier." ... "The company's latest
results are sure to reignite calls for windfall profit taxes on Big Oil
companies, who have come under attack over the past year for posting record
profits as consumers struggle with soaring gasoline prices."
-Reuters
Company
- "ConocoPhillips
2Q Profit Climbs." ... "ConocoPhillips pumped more
oil and gas and commanded sharply higher prices for its energy in the second
quarter, boosting its profits by 65 percent to more than $5 billion." ...
"The nation's third-largest oil company earned $5.18 billion, or $3.09
per share, compared with $3.14 billion, or $2.21 per share, in the second
quarter of 2005." ... "Revenue only rose 12.6 percent, to $47.1 billion,
highlighting how staggeringly high profit margins for oil, gasoline and
other fuels accounted for the bulk of ConocoPhillips' _ and, for that matter,
the entire industry's _ second quarter bonanza." ... "Analysts surveyed
by Thomson Financial forecast profits of $36 billion for the world's six
largest oil companies. But judging by the performances of ConocoPhillips
and BP PLC, which reported a $7.3 billion profit on Tuesday, those estimates
could be too low." -By Kristen Hays
-AP via -HoustonChronicle.com
Government
- Money
- Law
- Microsoft
- "Corporate
Giants Get Millions in Federal Small-Business Loans."
... "Some of the biggest and richest companies in the world, including
Microsoft, AT&T Corp. and Rolls Royce, have qualified for what could
add up to as much as $12 billion worth of small-business contracts from
the federal government." ... "Democratic congressional investigators are
asking why in a report they're releasing today." ... "The legislators allege
a myriad corporate giants were wrongly awarded millions." ... "Microsoft
won eight small-business contracts from the federal government, worth $1.5
million; Rolls Royce won $2.2 million in contracts; AT&T, $5 million."
... "Defense contractor Northrop Grumman was granted a whopping $90 million
in small-business contracts from Uncle Sam."
-ABCNEWS.com
Christopher
Cox - Corporate
- Government
- Legislative
- Politics
- History
- 2004
Election
Randy
Cunningham
- Secret
- Government
- Political
- Business
- Legislation
- California
- "Study:
Ex-Rep. Made Use of 'Black' Budgets: Study: Cunningham
Slipped Items Into Classified Bills That Benefited Him, His Associates."
... "An independent investigation has found that imprisoned former [California
Republican] Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham took advantage of secrecy and
badgered congressional aides to help slip items into classified bills that
would benefit him and his associates." ... "The finding comes from Michael
Stern, an outside investigator hired by the House Intelligence Committee
to look into how Cunningham was able to carry out the scheme. Stern is
working with the committee to fix vulnerabilities in the way top-secret
legislation is written, said congressional officials who spoke on condition
of anonymity because the committee still is being briefed on Stern's findings."
... "Cunningham's case has put a stark spotlight on the oversight of classified
or "black" budgets. Unlike legislation dealing with social and economic
issues, intelligence bills and parts of defense bills are written in private,
in the name of national security." ... "Federal prosecutors found that
Cunningham accepted $2.4 million in bribes, including payments for a mansion,
a Rolls-Royce and a 65-foot yacht, in return for steering defense and intelligence
contracts to certain companies. Cunningham pleaded guilty and was sentenced
to more than eight years in prison." (1, 2,
3)
-By Katherine Shrader
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
US
- 
Israel
- 
Lebanon
- Business
- Politics
- "U.S.
Speeds Up Bomb Delivery for the Israelis." ... "The
Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to
Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning
its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, American officials
said Friday." ... "The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was
made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration, the
officials said. Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and
others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding
the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iran’s
efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah." ... "The munitions that the United
States is sending to Israel are part of a multimillion-dollar arms sale
package approved last year that Israel is able to draw on as needed, the
officials said. But Israel’s request for expedited delivery of the satellite
and laser-guided bombs was described as unusual by some military officers,
and as an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets in Lebanon
to strike." ... "Pentagon and military officials declined to describe in
detail the size and contents of the shipment to Israel, and they would
not say whether the munitions were being shipped by cargo aircraft or some
other means. But an arms-sale package approved last year provides authority
for Israel to purchase from the United States as many as 100 GBU-28’s,
which are 5,000-pound laser-guided bombs intended to destroy concrete bunkers.
The package also provides for selling satellite-guided munitions." (1,
2)
-By David S. Cloud and Helene Cooper with contributions
by Thom Shanker -NYTimes
Stem
Cell - Health
- Science
- Law
- Government
- Money
- 2006
Election - "Bush
rejects stem cell bill with his first veto." ...
"President Bush issued his first veto in 5½ years in office Wednesday,
rejecting a bill that would have overturned his policy limiting federal
funding for embryonic stem cell research." ... "Bush's veto came in the
face of strong public support for research and bipartisan congressional
backing for the bill." ... "Bush has signed 1,130 bills since becoming
president. Wednesday's veto and legislative action capped years of fierce,
personal debate about science and morality that divided Bush's Republican
Party and is already spilling into the [2006] fall elections." -By
Richard Benedetto and Andrea Stone -USATODAY
Georgia
- Ralph
Reed
- Jack
Abramoff
- Pat
Robertson
- Religion
- Money
- "Cagle
tops Reed for GOP nomination." ... "Despite the backing
of top conservatives including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and
former Georgia Gov. Zell Miller, [Ralph] Reed failed to win Georgia’s GOP
nomination for lieutenant governor Tuesday. He lost to little-known state
Sen. Casey Cagle of Gainesville." ... "After attending high school and
college in Georgia, Reed in 1989 joined the Rev. Pat Robertson’s new organization,
the Christian Coalition. As executive director, Reed applied a precinct-style
organization that stressed grass-roots organizing." ... "An early backer
of George W. Bush in his 2000 presidential campaign, Reed parlayed those
Bush contacts, and a reputation for grass-roots organization, into a successful
bid for chairman of the state Republican Party in 2001. Republicans won
the governorship and the state Senate the next year. Reed took an even
larger role in Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign." ... "A Senate Indian
Affairs Committee, chaired by U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), concluded
that Reed had been paid $5.3 million by two casino-owning Indian tribes,
both Abramoff clients, to rally Christian voters against attempts by other
tribes to establish competing casinos." ... "Reed repeatedly denied that
he knew the money that financed his anti-gambling campaigns came from gambling
revenue, although several e-mails showed that Abramoff informed Reed of
the money’s origins several times." -By Jim Galloway-AJC
Infants
- Health
- Science
- "Preemies
Cost $26 Billion a Year: Government report suggests
infertility treatments are part of the problem." ... "The growing number
of premature births in the United States costs at least $26 billion a year,
a new government report says, so doctors should think twice before trying
the popular infertility treatments that often lead to problematic multiple
births." ... "In 2005, 12.5 percent of all babies born in America were
born at least three weeks ahead of their delivery date, the study from
the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies found. And although
infertility treatments are responsible for some of that percentage, the
researchers noted they are still at a loss to explain why there are significant
racial and ethnic differences in premature birth rates." ... ""The rate
of preterm births has increased by more than 30 percent since 1981," said
Dr. Richard Behrman, chairman of the committee that wrote the report and
executive chairman of the pediatric education steering committee of the
Federation of Pediatric Organizations. "Infants delivered preterm are at
greater risk for a variety of health and developmental problems. The birth
of a preterm baby can result in emotional and economic costs for both families
and communities," Behrman said." -By Amanda Gardner
-HealthDay
Babies
- Health
- Money
- "The
Premature Birth Problem: A new report shows the rate
of preterm births is climbing in the U.S., but officials don't know why."
... "NEWSWEEK: Why such a big jump in premature births?" ... "Richard
Behrman: We know many factors that could be influencing it, but we
don't really know why this increase occurred. We need to generate research
money."" ... "[NEWSWEEK:] Who's most at risk of having a premature
birth?" ... "[Richard Behrman:] Most premature babies are born
to white women in this country. However, the risk of having a premature
baby is increased if you're African-American [17.8 percent of black women
have premature births compared to 11.5 percent of whites]. We don't understand
why. We also know that first-generation mothers who are born in another
country and come to this country have less of a risk than they do after
they've been here for a while. We don't know why. It's for that reason
that we feel that one of our recommendations, the development of multidisciplinary
research centers, is critical to making progress-both in our ability to
identify who particularly is at risk and to understand enough to know how
to intervene so we might decrease the number of preterm births." (1, 2)
-By Karen Springen -MSNBC/Newsweek
Oil
- Industry
- Law- Water
- Environmentalists
- Florida
- Tourism
- "Senate
approves expanded drilling in Gulf of Mexico." ...
"U.S. Senate leaders announced a compromise Wednesday that would expand
oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico by millions of acres, but keep
exploration at least 125 miles from Florida's western shoreline." ... "The
agreement was announced by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.,
Domenici, R-N.M., [Florida Republican Senator Mel] Martinez and lawmakers
from other coastal states. Frist said it tries to strike a balance by tapping
oil and gas reserves in the Gulf of Mexico while also protecting Florida's
multibillion-dollar tourism industry." ... "But others were not so sure.
Environmentalists are against expanding any exploration in the Gulf. They
also note that the Senate plan would allow offshore development in an area
of the eastern Gulf known as Lease Sale 181, where government bans have
kept drilling off limits." ... "The House's energy-exploration bill that
passed last month is much more comprehensive than the Senate's, which focuses
on drilling only in the Gulf of Mexico. The House bill sets a 50-mile drilling
buffer throughout the entire U.S. coast, but would allow state Legislatures
to expand that barrier to 100 miles." -By Mark K.
Matthews -OrlandoSentinel
via -MercuryNews
Texas
- Money
- Abramoff
- Ralph
Reed
- Georgia
- DeLay
- Ney
- Ohio
- Politics
- "Texas
Tribe Names Abramoff, Reed in Suit." ... "A Texas
Indian tribe filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging that ex-lobbyist
Jack Abramoff, former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed [Republican
running for Lt. Governor in Georgia] and their associates engaged in fraud
and racketeering to shut down the tribe's casino." ... "The Alabama-Coushatta
tribe of Livingston, Texas, alleged the defendants defrauded the tribe,
the people of Texas and the Legislature to benefit another of Abramoff's
clients _ the Louisiana Coushatta tribe _ and "line their pockets with
money."" ... "The lawsuit also names Abramoff's ex-business partner Michael
Scanlon, a former aide to former Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas; Neil Volz, a
former aide to Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio; and Jon Van Horne, Abramoff's former
colleague at his law and lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig." ... "Abramoff,
Scanlon and Volz have pleaded guilty in a public corruption probe involving
Abramoff's former tribal clients and possibly members of Congress. The
Alabama-Coushatta never hired Abramoff." (1, 2)
-By Suzanne Gamboa -AP
via -WashingtonPost
EU
- US
- Microsoft
- Computer
- Company
- "Europeans
Fine Microsoft $357 Million: EU Says Company Failed
To Obey 2004 Order To Share Technical Info." ... "The EU fined Microsoft
Corp. $357 million on Wednesday and threatened more penalties, saying the
company failed to obey a 2004 antitrust order to share technical information
that would allow rivals' software to communicate better with Windows."
... "The European Union also said it would double fine rates to 3 million
euros a day — or $3.82 million, at current exchange rates — starting July
31 unless the company supplies "complete and accurate" technical information
to developers to help them make software that works smoothly with its ubiquitous
Windows operating system." ... "The EU had already levied a record 497
million euro fine on Microsoft in 2004 and ordered it to hand over communications
code to rivals, saying it had deliberately tried to cripple them as it
won control of the market." -By Aoife White
-AP via -CBSNews
Pete
Sessions - John
E Sweeney - Money
- Politics
- 
Sports
- Travel
- Airfare
- New
York - Texas
Secret
- Abramoff
- 
Reed
- Mark
Zachares
- Rove
- Political
- Money
- Government- Mississippi
- Alabama
- Labor
- Northern
Mariana Islands - "Reed
In The Rough." ... "Just days before [Republican
President] George W. Bush took office in 2001, lobbyist Jack
Abramoff was busily working with Ralph Reed, his longtime friend,
political sidekick, and business associate, to place a key ally in the
Interior Department." ... "Reed, an elite "Pioneer" fundraiser for the
Bush campaign and a campaign adviser, had already helped Abramoff land
his own plum slot on Bush's Interior transition team. Abramoff coveted
the slot because Interior was overseeing the lobbyist's two biggest clients
at the time -- the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians." ... "Now Abramoff, who had hired
Reed in 1999 and 2000 to run anti-gambling drives in Alabama to fend off
threats to the Choctaws' casino profits, was looking for more help. This
time, Abramoff was trying to secure a job at Interior for Mark Zachares,
a former secretary of labor in the Marianas government." ... "On January
11, 2001, Abramoff e-mailed Reed. "I was thinking about this appointment"
to the Office of Insular Affairs at Interior, Abramoff wrote. "I know it
is perhaps a bizarre request, but considering how quickly I was named to
the transition advisory team thanks to your request, perhaps it would be
possible to ask Karl [Rove, the president's chief political
adviser]... that they should appoint Mark Zachares to head the Office
of Insular Affairs.... Do you think we could get this favor from Karl?
It would be my big ask for sure."" ... "Reed replied quickly: "It never
hurts to ask. What's the next move?" Later that day, Reed sounded even
more eager. "Just let me know who to call, when to call, and what to say.
And while you're at it get me another client! NOW!"" ... "On March 6, Abramoff
met with Rove for about half an hour and pushed for Zachares, according
to Abramoff's former lobbying colleagues at the firm Greenberg Traurig
and to Secret Service logs released earlier this year." -By
Peter H. Stone -NationalJournal
Ken
Lay - Enron
- Energy
- Business
- Accounting- Law
- Colorado
- "Enron's
Founder Kenneth Lay, 64, Dies in Colorado (Update9)."
... "Kenneth Lay, who built Enron Corp. into the world's largest energy
trader and was convicted of the fraud that led to its collapse, died today
near Aspen, Colorado. He was 64." ... "Lay's defense lawyer Mike Ramsey
said through a spokeswoman that his client died ``from what appears to
have been a heart attack.''" ... "Lay and his successor as Enron's chief
executive officer, Jeffrey Skilling, 52, were convicted May 25 of spearheading
the fraud that plunged Enron into bankruptcy in December 2001. Lay and
Skilling were scheduled to be sentenced in October. Lay, who was also convicted
of bank fraud, was facing the rest of his life in federal prison." ...
"Enron's implosion from accounting fraud wiped out more than 5,000 jobs
and $1 billion in employee pensions virtually overnight. Shareholders claimed
more than $25 billion in losses as a result of the crime." -By
Andrew Dunn -Bloomberg
Noteworthy
- Secret
- US
- 
Belgium
- International
- Financial
- Consumer
- Civil
Liberties - Free
Speech - Media
- Government
- Terrorism
- Law
Enforcement - Intelligence
- Politics
- "What
the Government Knows: While an overseas program to
track bank records has unleashed a political storm, the domestic Patriot
Act has already made a wealth of financial data available to U.S. law enforcement
agencies." ... "Over the last four years, U.S. law enforcement agencies
have gained access to over 28,000 financial records inside the United States
under a little known provision of the USA Patriot Act that parallels the
secret international bank data program disclosed by news organizations
last week, Treasury Department records show." ... "The disclosure of the
overseas program-under which Treasury Department officials have tapped
into the records of a vast Belgian-based international financial database
called Swift (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications)-has
kicked up a storm of controversy. Some critics have decried the program
as another example of the administration's invasion of privacy in the name
of the war on terror. At the same time, President Bush today condemned
as "disgraceful" the disclosure of the operation, which intended to help
the government track overseas money movements of suspected terrorists.
"For people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it, does
great harm to the United States of America," Bush told reporters in Washington."
... "But the international program is only one part of a much broader,
if little publicized, Treasury Department effort to probe suspect financial
records-including thousands of bank accounts, wire transfers and other
transactions involving individuals, companies and nonprofit organizations
inside the United States." ... "Although it has received little attention,
the Patriot Act program has produced a wealth of previously unavailable
financial data that has been shared with U.S. law enforcement agencies-without
any notice to the account holders who are being investigated. Since the
fall of 2002, when the program began, U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network (FINCEN)-an arm of the Treasury Department-has directed searches
of 4,397 "subjects of interest" and received reports back on 28,463 accounts
and financial transactions, according to recent Treasury records." (1,
2)
-By Michael Isikoff -MSNBC/Newsweek
US
- World
- Money
- "Buffett
to Give Gates, Family Charities $37 Billion (Update1)."
... "Warren Buffett, the world's second- richest person, will give away
85 percent of his $44 billion fortune starting in July, a Berkshire Hathaway
Inc. spokesman said today, in the biggest individual pledge to charity
ever." ... "Most of the money will go to the foundation started by his
close friend Bill Gates, the only person in the world with a bigger personal
fortune than Buffett, the 75-year-old Berkshire Hathaway chairman and chief
executive officer." ... "Buffett's commitment, based on the $3,071.09 closing
price of Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares June 23, is valued at more than
$37 billion, exceeding the more than $29 billion that Microsoft Corp. Chairman
Gates earmarked for his foundation." -By Nancy Kercheval
-Bloomberg
Civil
Righs - 
Books
- Money
- 
Library
- Georgia
- "Mayor:
MLK papers to find home at Morehouse College: June
30 auction, expected to bring up to $30M, is canceled." ... "The children
of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. will receive an undisclosed amount of
money from an anonymous group of people for about 10,000 manuscripts and
books belonging to the civil rights icon, Atlanta [Georgia] Mayor Shirley
Franklin's office said Friday." ... "A planned June 30 auction will be
canceled. Sotheby's auction house had expected to command between $15 million
and $30 million for the documents." ... "The papers include drafts of King's
"I Have a Dream" speech, his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance address
and a printed version of the "Letter from Birmingham Jail."" ... "King,
who won the Nobel Prize at age 35, was fatally shot April 4, 1968." -By
Deanna Proeller -CNN
Dennis
Hastert - Secret
- Lawmaker
- Financial
- Government
- Transportation
- Real
Estate - 
Illinois
- "Speaker
Hastert's Land Deal Questioned: Group Says Lawmaker
Pushed For Highway Funding To Boost His Profits." ... "House Speaker Dennis
Hastert [Illinois Republican] denied Thursday that he pushed for federal
funding for a proposed highway in northeastern Illinois so he and his wife
could reap about $1.8 million from land deals near their home in Kendall
County." ... "The Sunlight Foundation, a newly created group whose declared
aim is to inform the public about what members of Congress do, has accused
Hastert of not divulging connections between the $207 million earmark
he won for a highway, the Prairie Parkway [in Illinois], and an investment
he and his wife made in nearby land." ... "The Foundation says Hastert
used an Illinois trust to invest in real estate near the proposed route
of the Prairie Parkway, and notes that Hastert's 2005 financial disclosure
form, released Thursday, makes no mention of the trust. Hastert lists several
real estate transactions in the disclosure, all of which were done by the
trust. Kendall County public records show no record of Hastert making the
real estate sales he made public today; rather, they were all executed
by the trust, the Foundation says." ... "However, Hastert disclosed the
transactions on the annual personal financial statements members of Congress
are required to file, the Chicago Sun Times reports. But Hastert
did not take the extra steps called for in the House Ethics Manual and
volunteer that he held land in a secret land trust called "Little Rock
Trust," the newspaper says." (1, 2)
-AP via
-CBSNews
Lawmakers
- Government
- Transportation
- Money
- Dennis
Hastert - Real
Estate - Illinois
- California
- "Lawmakers'
Profits Are Scrutinized: Hastert and Others Defend
Land Gains." ... "House Speaker [Illinois Republican] J. Dennis Hastert
(R-Ill.) made a $2 million profit last year on the sale of land 5 1/2 miles
from a highway project that he helped to finance with targeted federal
funds." ... "A Republican House member from California, meanwhile, received
nearly double what he paid for a four-acre parcel near an Air Force base
after securing $8 million for a planned freeway interchange 16 miles away.
And another California GOP congressman obtained funding in last year's
highway bill for street improvements near a planned residential and commercial
development that he co-owns." ... "In all three cases, Hastert and Reps.
Ken Calvert [California Republican] and Gary Miller [California Republican]
say that they were securing funds their home districts wanted badly, and
that in no way did the earmarks have any impact on the land values of their
investments. But for watchdog groups, the cases have opened a fresh avenue
for investigation and a new wrinkle in the ongoing controversy over earmarks
-- home-district projects funded through narrowly written legislative language."
(1, 2)
-By Jonathan Weisman -WashingtonPost
Fuel
- Air
- Health
- Environment
- Law
- "EPA:
Special Fuels Not to Blame for Costs: EPA Report
Concludes 'Boutique' Fuels Not Culprit in Climbing Gas Prices As Bush Has
Suggested." ... "Facing growing public outrage over soaring gasoline prices,
Bush ordered the study on April 25 in a speech in which he attributed high
gas prices in part to the growth of special fuels." ... "But the task force
found otherwise, according to its report to be released possibly as early
as Friday." ... "According to a late draft, obtained Thursday by The Associated
Press, the task force concludes that suggestions of a connection between
boutique fuels and supply or price concerns cannot be supported." ... "The
state-required fuels "have served an important role" in helping states
meet federal air quality standards, the report said, and will be equally
important in meeting future clean air requirements." (1, 2)
-By H. Josef Hebert -AP
via -ABCNEWS.com
Phone
- Companies
- Consumer
- Government
- Intelligence
- Law
- Law
Enforcement
- "AT&T
revises privacy policy, says owns customer data."
... "AT&T Inc. said on Wednesday it was revising its privacy policy,
explaining to customers that it owns their phone records and can hand them
over to law enforcers if necessary." ... "The changes take effect on Friday
and come at a time when AT&T and other phone companies face lawsuits
claiming they aided a U.S. government domestic spying program by giving
the National Security Agency call records of millions of customers without
their permission." -Reuters
via -ABCNEWS.com
David
Safavian
- Abramoff
-Government
- Money
- Politics
- "Ex-Aide
To Bush Found Guilty: Safavian Lied in Abramoff Scandal."
... "A federal jury found former White House aide David H. Safavian guilty
yesterday of lying and obstructing justice, making him the highest-ranking
government official to be convicted in the spreading scandal involving
disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff." ... "Safavian, a former chief
of staff of the General Services Administration, was convicted in U.S.
District Court here of covering up his many efforts to assist Abramoff
in acquiring two properties controlled by the GSA, and also of concealing
facts about a lavish weeklong golf trip he took with Abramoff to Scotland
and London in the summer of 2002." ... "The jury found him guilty of obstructing
an inquiry by the inspector general's office of the GSA and of lying to
the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, a GSA ethics officer and the GSA inspector
general. He was acquitted of obstructing the Senate's probe. He faces up
to 20 years in jail and $1 million in fines; sentencing was set for Oct.
12." (1, 2)
-By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum-WashingtonPost
David
Safavian
- Abramoff
- Government
- Money
- Politics
- "Safavian
guilty in lobby scandal." ... "A former White House
aide was convicted Tuesday of lying to government investigators about his
ties to the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, in the first trial to result
from the influence-peddling inquiry centered on Abramoff." ... "The former
aide, David Safavian, who resigned from the White House budget office days
before his arrest last September, was convicted of four counts of lying
and obstruction of justice in his statements to investigators about Abramoff
and about a 2002 golf trip to Scotland that the lobbyist arranged for Safavian
and others. Safavian was acquitted on an additional obstruction charge."
... "The verdict was hailed by Justice Department officials as a victory
in their wide-ranging criminal investigation of the lobbying operations
run by Abramoff, a Republican fundraiser who pleaded guilty in January
to conspiring to bribe public officials, including members of Congress,
and is cooperating with prosecutors." -By Philip Shenon
-NYTimes via -RegisterGuard
David
Safavian
- Abramoff
- Money
- Government
- Law
- "Where
Did Safavian Work Again?" ... "You wouldn't know
it from the coverage of David H. Safavian's conviction yesterday for lying
and obstructing justice, but some of his criminal activity actually took
place while he was working at the White House." ... "Safavian managed to
avoid being frog-marched out of the White House by resigning three days
before his arrest." ... "And it's true that the underlying acts in his
case -- helping to assist corrupt super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff in acquiring
some properties and accepting a lavish weeklong overseas golf trip -- took
place while Safavian was the Bush-appointed chief of staff at the General
Services Administration." ... "But as so many others in Washington have
learned before him, it's not the crime, it's the cover-up. And for Safavian,
some of that cover-up was carried out from his White House office." -By
Dan Froomkin-WashingtonPost
David
Safavian
- Abramoff
- Government
- Money
- Politics
- Bob
Ney
- Ohio
- Tom
DeLay
- Texas
- "Former
Bush official convicted of lying about ties to Abramoff."
... "A federal jury convicted a former Bush administration official Tuesday
of lying about his relationship with a high-powered Washington lobbyist
who's at the center of a broadening investigation into influence-peddling
on Capitol Hill." ... "David Safavian, former chief of staff of the General
Services Administration, the federal government's procurement agency, was
found guilty of four charges of making false statements and misleading
investigators who were looking into Jack Abramoff's dealings with other
public officials and lobbyists." ... "Four other former Abramoff associates,
including a former chief of staff for Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and two former
aides to former Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, have pleaded guilty in the scandal.
Ney and DeLay have denied any wrongdoing." ... "Neil Volz, Ney's former
chief of staff, pleaded guilty in May to conspiring with Abramoff. Former
DeLay aides Michael Scanlon and Tony Rudy have pleaded guilty to committing
fraud and violating the federal one-year lobbying ban. Volz testified on
behalf of the government during Safavian's trial." -By
Marisa Taylor -KnightRidder
via -RealCities
Government
- Water
- Science
- Clean
Water Act - Business
- 
Michigan
- Anthony
Kennedy
- "Clean
Water Act Reach Limited: U.S. Supreme Court Overview."
... "The U.S. Supreme Court limited the reach of the Clean Water Act, saying
it applies only to wetlands with a close connection to a river, lake or
some other major waterway." ... "The justices, voting 5-4, ordered a new
round of hearings for two sets of Michigan landowners whose efforts to
build on their property have been stymied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The majority was divided in its reasoning, with Justice Anthony Kennedy
refusing to join four other justices in putting even more restraints on
the federal regulators." ... "Kennedy's separate opinion now becomes the
controlling law. He established a new test, saying the Corps can regulate
only wetlands that have a ``significant nexus'' to a major waterway. He
also said that in both cases before the justices, the Corps had at least
some evidence of that type of connection." -By Greg
Stohr -Bloomberg
Dennis
Hastert - Secret
- Financial
- Government
- Transportation
- Illinois
- "Land
Deal Gives Hastert 300% Profit." ... "Speaker of
the House [Illinois Republican] Dennis Hastert (R-IL) realized an estimated
$2 million dollar profit last year on an Illinois land deal that included
acreage near a future interstate highway Hastert pushed to build." ...
"The land was sold just five months after Hastert inserted a $207 million
appropriation bill for the Prairie Parkway highway [in Illinois] during
a closed-door Congressional budget conference." ... "The deal, representing
a 300 per cent return on investment, was reported in
Hastert's
financial disclosure form filed this week, although the role of a secret
trust set up by Hastert to sell the land was not disclosed." -By
Rhonda Schwartz -ABCNEWS.com
Government
- Transportation
- Finance
- Housing
- Dennis
Hastert - Illinois
- "Group
claims Hastert benefited from highway bill: House
Speaker owned land near Prairie Parkway project, group says." ... "House
Speaker J. Dennis Hastert [Illinois Republican] personally benefitted from
a controversial $207 million earmark that he secured in last year’s highway
bill for the proposed Prairie Parkway project west of Chicago [Illinois],
a watchdog group alleges." ... "An attorney for Mr. Hastert, an Illinois
Republican, denies the accusation." ... "The Sunlight Foundation, a recently
formed Washington-based group of long-time campaign finance experts, said
that the speaker’s 2005 financial statement released Wednesday didn’t disclose
Mr. Hastert’s interest in land was part of a housing development that could
benefit from construction of the highway." ... "The report said that four
months after the highway bill was enacted last year a trust, in which Rep.
Hastert had a 25% interest, sold land a few miles from the proposed corridor
for $4.9 million. In his 2004 financial disclosure, the land in question
was estimated to be worth between $250,000 to $500,000."
-ChicagoBusiness.com
Companies-
"Some
tech companies cut R&D budgets." ... "Some U.S.
tech companies are trimming research and development budgets to save money
— sparking fears that the country eventually could become less competitive."
... "Tech companies traditionally are big R&D spenders. Those trading
on the American, Nasdaq and New York stock exchanges spent almost $92 billion
on R&D in the most recent fiscal year, says a USA TODAY analysis of
data from Reuters Fundamentals. Spending grew from the previous year, but
more slowly than revenue. Thus, the industry spent a smaller chunk of its
budget on R&D — as it has for the past four years." -By
Michelle Kessler -USATODAY
Government
- Terrorism
- Money
- Law
- Politics
- History
- "Violent
Crime Rises In U.S.." ... "Violent crime in 2005
increased at the highest rate in 15 years, driven in large part by a surge
of killings and other attacks in many Midwestern cities, the FBI reported
yesterday." ... "The rise in violent offenses nationally represents the
largest overall crime increase since 1991. Violent crime peaked in 1992,
before beginning to plummet to its lowest levels in three decades." ...
"Criminal justice experts said there were a number of possible explanations
for the increase, including an influx of gangs into medium-size cities
and a predicted surge in the number of inmates released from U.S. prisons.
The jump could also represent a lingering effect of the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks, some experts said, because governments at all levels have diverted
resources away from traditional crime fighting in favor of anti-terrorism
and homeland security programs." ... "James Alan Fox, a criminal justice
professor at Northeastern University in Boston, said the increase should
serve as a "wake-up call in Washington." Lawmakers and the Bush administration
have cut back many law enforcement programs popular during the 1990s."
... ""We have to worry about not just homeland security but also hometown
security," Fox said. "High-crime areas have been relatively ignored over
the last five years so we can deploy officers to fight terrorism."" (1,
2)
-By Dan Eggen with contributions by Petula Dvorak
and Allison Klein -WashingtonPost
Karl
Rove- Oil
- Industry
- Political
- Water
- Science
- Law-
"EPA
Rule Loosened After Oil Chief's Letter to Rove: The
White House says the executive's appeal had no role in changing a measure
to protect groundwater. Critics call it a political payoff." ... "A rule
designed by the Environmental Protection Agency to keep groundwater clean
near oil drilling sites and other construction zones was loosened after
White House officials rejected it amid complaints by energy companies that
it was too restrictive and after a well-connected Texas oil executive appealed
to White House senior advisor Karl Rove." ... "The new rule, which took
effect Monday, came after years of intense industry pressure, including
court battles and behind-the-scenes agency lobbying. But environmentalists
vowed Monday that the fight was not over, distributing internal White House
documents that they said portrayed the new rule as a political payoff to
an industry long aligned with the Republican Party and President Bush."
... "Environmentalists pointed to the Rove correspondence as evidence that
the Bush White House, more than others, has mixed politics with policy
decisions that are traditionally left to scientists and career regulators."
(1, 2)
-By Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten
-LAtimes
Global
- Industry
- Climate
- Disaster
- Politics
- 
Earth
- Environment
- Entertainment
- UN
- Seattle
- Washington
- "Does
Gore overheat global warming?" ... "Al Gore's documentary,
"An Inconvenient Truth," continues to trigger heated discussions about
global warming, as well as Mr. Gore's political ambitions, real or imagined."
... "But how close to the mark is his representation of the science tying
humanity's industrial activity to changing climate aka anthropogenic global
warming?" ... "In short, say several climate researchers, he basically
gets it right, although one can question some aspects of the presentation."
... ""I worry that the movie is a little heavy on disaster scenarios,"
says David Battisti, professor of atmospheric science at the University
of Washington in Seattle and director of the university's Earth Initiative.
Over the course of the coming century, he says, average conditions are
likely to change in ways that should prompt action now; it doesn't require
extreme examples to make the point." ... "After viewing the film, he says,
his impression is that nothing in it "misstated the science in a qualitative
way."" ... "Indeed, his colleague Eric Stieg, also with the University
of Washington, has noted that the film includes research that is only a
few months old and clearly relevant to the discussion - research that won't
appear in the next UN summary of climate science, slated for release early
next year. The newest studies were too late to be included in the next
UN summary, which is published about every six years and widely cited in
public debates." -By Peter N. Spotts -CSMonitor
Iraq
- US
- Military
- Money
- "Condolence
payments to Iraqis soar: Military gave nearly $20m
to families of civilians." ... "The amount of cash the US military has
paid to families of Iraqi civilians killed or maimed in operations involving
American troops skyrocketed from just under $5 million in 2004 to almost
$20 million last year, according to Pentagon financial data." ... "The
dramatic spike in what's known as condolence payments -- distributed to
Iraqi families whose loved ones were caught in US crossfire or victimized
during US ground and air assaults -- suggests that American commanders
made on-the-spot restitution far more frequently, according to congressional
aides and officials familiar with a special fund at the disposal of military
officers in Iraq." ... "Defense Department officials maintain that the
payments -- which officials said range from a few hundred dollars for injuries
such as a severed limb to $2,500 for the death of a relative -- mirror
a local custom commonly known as ``solatia," in which families receive
financial compensation for damages or human losses. They stressed that
the payments shouldn't be seen as an admission of guilt or responsibility."
... "But amid reports that US Marines paid $2,500 per victim after dozens
of civilians were killed on Nov. 19 in the town of Haditha -- killings
now engulfed by allegations of a massacre -- the fourfold increase in condolence
payments raises new questions about the extent to which Iraqi civilians
have been the victims of US firepower." -By Bryan
Bender -BostonGlobe
Tom
DeLay
- Jack
Abramoff
- Edwin
Buckham
- Money
- Politics
- Texas
- "Retirement
Account of DeLay's Wife Traced: With Disclosure,
Family's Known Benefits From Ties With Lobbyist Exceed $490,000." ... "A
registered lobbyist opened a retirement account in the late 1990s for the
wife of then-House Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and contributed thousands of
dollars to it while also paying her a salary to work for him from her home
in Texas, according to sources, documents and DeLay's attorney, Richard
Cullen." ... "The account represents a small portion of the income that
DeLay's family received from entities at least partly controlled by lobbyist
Edwin A. Buckham. But the disclosure of its origin adds to what was previously
known about the benefits DeLay's family received from its association with
Buckham, and it brings the total over the past seven years to about half
a million dollars." ... "Buckham was DeLay's chief of staff before he became
a lobbyist at the end of 1998, shortly before the account was opened and
the flow of funds began. He has come under scrutiny from federal investigators
because his lobbying firm received hundreds of thousands of dollars in
revenue from clients of indicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff." ...
"Buckham's financial ties to DeLay's family -- and the retirement account
in particular -- have recently attracted the interest of FBI agents and
others in the federal task force probing public corruption by lawmakers
and lobbyists, according to a source who was questioned in the course of
the government's investigation." (1, 2)
-By R. Jeffrey Smith with contributions by Derek Willis,
Madonna Lebling, and Lucy Shackelford -WashingtonPost
Government
- Money
- Politics
- New
York
- 
Nebraska
- 
KY-
"Security
Cuts for New York and Washington." ... "After vowing
to steer a greater share of antiterrorism money to the highest-risk communities,
Department of Homeland Security officials on Wednesday announced 2006 grants
that slashed money for New York and Washington 40 percent, while other
cities including Omaha [Nebraska] and Louisville, Ky., got a surge of new
dollars." ... "The release of the 2006 urban area grants, which total $711
million, was immediately condemned by leaders in Washington [DC] and New
York." ... ""When you stop a terrorist, they have a map of New York City
in their pocket," Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York said. "They don't
have a map of any of the other 46 or 45 places."" ... "In Washington, Mayor
Anthony Williams said: "It was very shortsighted for the federal government
to gut our homeland security funding program, even more so because so many
dollars continue to be spent in rural areas that are far less likely to
emerge as targets."" -By Eric Lipton with contributions
by Diane Cardwell -NYTimes
E-Mail
- Searches
- Law
- History
- Internet
- Telecom
- Business
- Law
Enforcement - Terrorism
- "U.S.
asks Internet firms to save data." ... "Top law enforcement
officials have asked leading Internet companies to keep histories of the
activities of Web users for up to two years to assist in criminal investigations
of child pornography and terrorism, the Justice Department said Wednesday."
... "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller
outlined their request to executives from Google, Microsoft, AOL, Comcast,
Verizon and others Friday in a private meeting at the Justice Department.
The department has scheduled more discussions as early as Friday." ...
"It wants records such as lists of e-mail traffic and Web searches, he
[Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse] said." -By
Jon Swartz and Kevin Johnson with contributions by William M. Welch
-USATODAY
Political
- Hacking
- Technology
- Business
- Voting
Machine Risks - 
Utah- California
- Pennsylvania
- "Debating
the Bugs of High-Tech Voting: Test of Software in
Machines Renews Security Concerns." ... "A coalition of voting rights activists
and prominent computer scientists argues that some of the machines are
not sufficiently secure against tampering and could result in disputed
elections, while voting machine vendors and many election officials say
that view is exaggerated." ... "The latest dispute occurred several weeks
ago after it was discovered at a test in Utah that someone with a reasonable
knowledge of computer code could gain access to and tamper with the system
software on a popular brand of voting machine manufactured by Diebold Election
Systems. The developments prompted California and Pennsylvania to send
urgent warnings to counties that use Diebold's touch-screen voting systems
to take additional steps to secure them." ... "In California, David Jefferson,
a computer scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who consults
with the state on its elections, said he was "stunned when he found out"
about the vulnerability identified in the Utah test and agreed with the
"frequently expressed opinion that this is the worst vulnerability that
we have ever seen."" -By Zachary A. Goldfarb
-WashingtonPost
New
Hampshire - 2002
Election - 
Firefighters
- Union
- Phone
- Corporate
- Marketing
- Prison
- "Convicted
phone-jammer helping host GOP candidate workshop."
... "The Republican operative who came up with the idea of jamming Democratic
Party and union get-out-the-vote phone lines on Election Day 2002 is back
in the political swim." ... "Charles McGee, vice president of political
and corporate communications at Spectrum Monthly & Printing Inc., sent
out an e-mail recently inviting Republican candidates to a free "GOP Campaign
School" hosted by the company, which publishes Republican mailers and fliers,
the New Hampshire Union Leader reported." ... "A flier about the class
calls it a "nuts and bolts boot camp" to give participants "all the tools
you need to win."" ... "Hundreds of hang-up calls placed by a telemarketing
firm tied up phone lines set up by the [New Hampshire] state Democratic
Party and the Manchester firefighters union for more than an hour the morning
of Election Day 2002, when then-U.S. [Republican] Rep. John Sununu defeated
Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen in a tight U.S. Senate race." ... "McGee,
the former executive director of the state Republican Party, pleaded guilty
to conspiracy in the phone-jamming scheme and served seven months in prison."
-AP via -BostonGlobe
Housing
- Consumer
- "Apartment
rents expected to rise 5%." ... "Rents are rising
faster than they have in six years." ... "Apartment rents are expected
to increase 5.3% this year — about double last year's increase — the National
Association of Realtors says. That's the highest jump since 2000, when
the Internet boom created lots of jobs for young adults out of college.
In April, rising rents were largely to blame for a sharp jump in consumer
inflation." -By Noelle Knox
-USATODAY
Colombia- Military
- Drugs
- Employment
- Economy
- Poverty
- History-
"Victorious
Colombian Uribe faces high expectations." ... "Colombia's
President Alvaro Uribe on Sunday scored a landslide re-election victory
that handed him a solid mandate for four more years as Washington's closest
ally in Latin America." ... "One of Colombia's most popular presidents,
Uribe won 62 percent of the ballots as conflict-weary voters rewarded him
for his campaign to curb warring left-wing rebels and militia and the cocaine
trade that fuels a long-running insurgency." ... "But even as the first
incumbent president to be re-elected in Colombia's modern history, Uribe
must sustain his security crackdown on FARC rebels and control disbanded
right-wing militia while tackling social issues such as unemployment and
poverty." ... "While Colombia's economy has grown solidly under Uribe's
guidance and foreign investment has expanded, half of the country's 41
million people still live in poverty." (1, 2)
-By Patrick Markey -Reuters
Ken
Lay - Enron
- Business
- Accounting
- History
- "Lay,
Skilling convicted in Enron collapse: Kenneth Lay,
left, and Jeffrey Skilling are seen in this file photo combo." ... "Kenneth
Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted of conspiracy and fraud Thursday
by a federal jury that laid blame for one of the biggest business scandals
in U.S. history squarely on Enron Corp.'s two former top executives." ...
"Jurors found that the men, who received tens of millions in pay and stock
options, repeatedly lied to cover up accounting tricks and business failures
that led to the company's 2001 demise. The collapse wiped out more than
$60 billion in market value, almost $2.1 billion in pension plans and 5,600
jobs." ... "Lay was convicted on all six counts of conspiracy, securities
and wire fraud against him in the corporate trial and all four in the personal
banking trial. Former Chief Executive Skilling was convicted on 19 of the
28 counts in the corporate trial, including one count of insider trading,
and acquitted on the remaining nine." -By Kristen
Hays with contributions by Mike Graczyk, Erin McClam, Angela K. Brown and
Mark Sherman -AP
via -SFGate.com
US
- 
Mexico
- Workers
- Economy
- US
Immigration - History
- "Give
and take across the border: 1 in 7 Mexican workers
migrates -- most send money home." ... "The current migration of Mexicans
and Central Americans to the United States is one of the largest diasporas
in modern history, experts say." ... "Roughly 10 percent of Mexico's population
of about 107 million is now living in the United States, estimates show.
About 15 percent of Mexico's labor force is working in the United States.
One in every 7 Mexican workers migrates to the United States." ... "Mass
migration from Mexico began more than a century ago. It is deeply embedded
in the history, culture and economies of both nations. The current wave
began with Mexico's economic crisis in 1982, accelerated sharply in the
1990s with the U.S. economic boom, and today has reached record dimensions."
... "Three-quarters of the estimated 12 million illegal migrants in the
United States come from Mexico and Central America. Mexicans make up 56
percent of the unauthorized U.S. migrant population, according to the Pew
Hispanic Center. Another 22 percent come from elsewhere in Latin America,
mainly Central America and the Andean countries." -By
Carolyn Lochhead -SFGate.com
Parents
& Teens - 
College
- Money
- Politics
- Consumer
- Labor
- "Despite
Pledge, Taxes Increase for Teenagers." ... "The $69
billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates
for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge
to veto any tax increase." ... "Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to
17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents,
not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had
been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that
had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent."
... "Mr. Bush pledged in 1999 to veto any bill that raised taxes." -By
David Cay Johnston -NYTimes
US
- Memorial
Day - Military
- Homeless
- Poverty
- Health
- Government
- Money
- Politics
- Iraq
- Calif.
- "Number
of Homeless Vets Called a 'Disgrace': A Third of
Homeless Men in the U.S. Have Served in the Military." ... "One of every
three homeless males in the United States is a veteran, and each night
as many as 200,000 men and women veterans go to sleep with no place to
call home, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs." ... "With
Memorial Day approaching, Democratic members of the House Veterans Affairs
Committee held a forum on homeless veterans." ... "Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif.,
who chaired the forum, was blunt. "It's a disgrace that we let any of our
vets get in this position. If we spend a billion dollars every 2½
days in Iraq, we can spend a lot more for those who have served us but
will be out on the streets tonight."" ... "According to recent statistics,
the VA provided health care services to more than 100,000 homeless veterans
in 2004, and the agency spent more than $1 billion to assist tens of thousands
of homeless and at-risk veterans." (1, 2)
-By Dean Norland -ABCNEWS.com
Business
- "Greenspan
says US housing boom is over." ... "Former Federal
Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Thursday that the "extraordinary"
boom in the U.S. housing market in recent years is over." ... "Greenspan
said there was a "high degree of froth in the system," and that it was
clear that home equity extraction and the turnover of home sales was waning."
(1, 2)
-Reuters
Food
- Health
- Animals
- Business
- "As
'organic' goes mainstream, will standards suffer?
Advocates are cheered by the growing appeal of organic foods. But shoppers,
confused by labels, don't always get what they think they paid for." ...
"In February, a Consumer Reports article examined which organic foods offered
the most benefit. With certain fruits and vegetables - including apples,
peppers, cherries, peaches, and potatoes - the likelihood of pesticide
residue is much higher, it concluded, so buying organic makes a big difference.
Produce which showed little difference between organic and conventional
kinds included asparagus, bananas, broccoli, and onions." ... "The United
States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued standards for organic products
in 2000, although some critics question how strictly they're applied. But
the market for organic food is anything but simple. Many organic producers
never bother to go through the process of becoming certified, while other
producers use labels such as "free-range" or "natural" that conjure up
bucolic images but may mean very little." ... ""People use certain terms
loosely, and consumers are fooled," says Joe DePippo, president of FreeBird,
which produces antibiotic-free organic chicken raised on small family farms.
"Consumers associate free-range with organic, and rightfully so, but there's
some market for free-range that's not organic. And to just think that you
can have chickens running free all over the field - it's just not practical.""
-By Amanda Paulson -CSMonitor
Government
- Phone
- Company
- Noteworthy
- Reporters
- Free
Speech - Civil
Liberties - Privacy
- Law
- Politics
- "FBI
Acknowledges: Journalists Phone Records are Fair Game."
... "The FBI acknowledged late Monday that it is increasingly seeking
reporters' phone records in leak investigations." ... "Officials say the
FBI makes extensive use of a new provision of the Patriot Act which allows
agents to seek information with what are called National Security Letters
(NSL)." ... "The NSLs are a version of an administrative subpoena and are
not signed by a judge. Under the law, a phone company receiving a NSL for
phone records must provide them and may not divulge to the customer that
the records have been given to the government." -Brian
Ross and Richard Esposito -ABCNEWS.com
Government
- Terrorism
- Intelligence
- Electronic
- Communications
- Companies
- Consumers
- Privacy
- Politics
- "FCC
chief calls for probe of phone cos.." ... "The Federal
Communications Commission, which regulates the telephone industry, should
open an investigation into whether the nation's phone companies broke the
law by turning over millions of calling records to the government, an FCC
commissioner says." ... "The National Security Agency has been collecting
records of calls made in the U.S. by ordinary Americans as part of its
anti-terrorism efforts, according to USA Today. The newspaper story followed
reports that the NSA has been conducting eavesdropping on the electronic
communications of suspected al-Qaida members and their contacts in the
U.S. without warrants." ... ""There is no doubt that protecting the security
of the American people is our government's No. 1 responsibility," Commissioner
Michael J. Copps, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday. "But in a digital
age where collecting, distributing and manipulating consumers' personal
information is as easy as a click of a button, the privacy of our citizens
must still matter."" -By Douglass K. Daniel
-AP via -MercuryNews
Canada
- 
Woman
- Mother's-Day
- Financial- Education
- Accounting
-Family
- Politics
- "Want
to move up? Marry down." ... "Unlike many others,
Christine Ellison has risen to the top of her field while still being able
to celebrate Mother's Day. But her success had more to do with equality
at home than equality at work: She put in the long hours required to earn
and maintain a coveted partnership in a national accounting firm while
her husband stayed home with their child." ... "Unintentionally, Ms. Ellison
was acting out a template that some feminist thinkers argue is the only
way to restart the stalled progress of women in society in general: Elite
women must change not just workplaces, but also their intimate lives, in
order to break the "domestic glass ceiling" -- the family duties that explain
why women are vastly underrepresented in the most powerful positions."
... "How? Don't study liberal arts in college, they say. Hesitate to have
more than one child. And marry "beneath" you, taking a spouse with lower
earning potential so that yours never will be the career it "makes sense"
to compromise." ... "Ms. Ellison was already up for the partnership when
she first became pregnant. So she worked from home for four months, and
then her husband, an electrical engineer named Jim Fulsang, took six months'
parental leave from his job. In the end, the pair decided that Mr. Fulsang
would quit to be with baby Michael in their Woodbridge, Ont. [Canada],
home." ... ""I've invested so much in my education and career," she says.
"Anybody who knows us well knows that our decision is financially logical.
And he's more suited to be at home."" (1, 2,
3,
4,
5)
-Tralee Pearce -GlobeAndMail
Kyle
"Dusty" Foggo
- 
Randy
"Duke" Cunningham
- 
Brent
Wilkes - Intelligence
- Law
- Money
- Politics
- San
Diego - California
- Virginia
- "FBI
searches home of ex-CIA official: The FBI searched
the home and office of former CIA Executive Director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo
on Friday, the CIA said." ... "Foggo, who was the spy agency's third-ranking
official, is part of a broad law enforcement investigation into allegations
of corruption, according to officials familiar with the probe." ... "The
Associated Press reported that Foggo has been under investigation by the
FBI, Internal Revenue Service, Defense Criminal Investigative Service,
the CIA's inspector general and the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego,
California, according to FBI spokeswoman April Langwell in San Diego. Langwell
told the AP that officials -- under a sealed warrant -- searched Foggo's
Virginia home and his office at the CIA's Langley, Virginia, campus." ...
"Foggo, who resigned this week from his job overseeing day-to-day CIA operations,
is under investigation over his ties to a defense contractor linked to
the bribery case against former [California Republican Representative]
U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-California." ... "The investigations
stem from Foggo's relationship with defense contractor Brent Wilkes." ...
"After reports surfaced last week alleging Wilkes provided Cunningham with
limousines and prostitutes at two Washington hotels, Foggo said he had
attended poker parties thrown by Wilkes there." -Contributed
to by Kevin Bohn and John Roberts -CNN
Noteworthy
- Voting
Machines - Science
- Hacker
- Politics- Business
- 2006
Election - 2008
Election - Pennsylvania
- California
- 
Iowa
- "New
Fears of Security Risks in Electronic Voting Systems."
... "With primary election dates fast approaching in many states, officials
in Pennsylvania and California issued urgent directives in recent days
about a potential security risk in their Diebold Election Systems touch-screen
voting machines, while other states with similar equipment hurried to assess
the seriousness of the problem." ... ""It's the most severe security flaw
ever discovered in a voting system," said Michael I. Shamos, a professor
of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University who is an examiner of
electronic voting systems for Pennsylvania, where the primary is to take
place on Tuesday." ... ""This is the barn door being wide open, while people
were arguing over the lock on the front door," said Douglas W. Jones, a
professor of computer science at the University of Iowa, a state where
the primary is June 6." ... "The new concerns about Diebold's equipment
were discovered by Harri Hursti, a Finnish computer expert who was working
at the request of Black Box Voting Inc., a nonprofit group that has been
critical of electronic voting in the past." ... "Aviel Rubin, a professor
of computer science at Johns Hopkins University, did the first in-depth
analysis of the security flaws in the source code for Diebold touch-screen
machines in 2003. After studying the latest problem, he said: "I almost
had a heart attack. The implications of this are pretty astounding."" -By
Monica Davey with contributions by Gretchen Ruethling and John Schwartz
-NYTimes
Intelligence
- Porter
Goss - Randy
Cunningham
- California
- Military
- Business
- Politics
- Law
- "Law
Enforcement Searches Exiting CIA Deputy's Home."
... "CIA and FBI officers today searched the home and former office of
the recently retired third-ranking official at the CIA, who is under investigation
for his ties to a defense contractor linked to the bribery scandal that
has landed former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-San Diego [California])
in jail." ... "Kyle "Dusty" Foggo resigned as CIA executive director Monday.
He had been a top aide to CIA Director Porter J. Goss, who was forced to
resign the previous Friday." ... "A CIA spokeswoman said Foggo's legal
troubles had "absolutely nothing" to do with Goss' decision to resign."
... "They have been investigating whether Foggo played an improper role
in the awarding of defense contracts to Brent Wilkes, a personal friend
and San Diego businessman who has been implicated in the bribery scandal
involving Cunningham." -By Richard Schmitt
-LAtimes
Oil
- Business
- College
- 2006
Election - Calif
- NY
- "Senate
votes to extend $70 billion in tax cuts." ... "The
Senate voted Thursday to extend $70 billion in tax cuts but heatedly clashed
over whether the plan would continue to boost the economy and create jobs
or would penalize middle-income families in favor of the wealthy and big
oil conglomerates." ... "Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., noted that a person
who
earns more than $1 million a year would get a tax break worth $41,977."
... ""Well, you might say, `What does someone who earns $41,000 get back?'
$46. Not even enough to fill up your gas tank in some cases," she said.
"Whose side is the Senate on?"" ... "Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the
chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, noted that Republicans
decided to drop a provision allowing Americans to deduct up to $4,000 in
college tuition costs worth $4.5 billion." ... "Instead, Schumer pointed
out, Republicans included a tax break for oil companies worth $4.3 billion
despite the industry's record profits." ... ""The choice is stark and clear
- big oil or middle-class families," Schumer said. "The Republican Congress
chose big oil and that's why voters want change."" -By
Jill Zuckman with contributions by William Neikirk
-ChicagoTribune via -MercuryNews
Government
- Military
- Terrorism
- Politics
- Civil
Liberties - Opinion
- Airplane
- Business- Illinois
- "Breakdown
of Trust Led Judge Luttig To Clash With Bush: After
Fight in Terrorism Case, Conservative Star Gives Up Court Seat for Boeing
Job." ... "On Nov. 22, U.S. Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig was at work
in his chambers here when he received a telephone call telling him to switch
on the television. There, he saw Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announce
that the government would file charges against Jose Padilla in a federal
court -- treating the accused terrorist like a normal criminal suspect."
... "The judge was stunned. Two months earlier, he had written a landmark
opinion saying the government could hold Mr. Padilla without charge in
a military brig. (Read
the opinion.) The decision validated President Bush's claim that he
could set aside Mr. Padilla's constitutional rights in the name of national
security. The judge assumed the government had a compelling reason to consider
the suspect an extraordinary threat. Now Mr. Gonzales wanted the courts
to forget the whole case." ... "It didn't take long for the judge's anger
to burst out into the open. The next month he wrote that moves such as
the attorney general's cast doubt on the Bush administration's "credibility
before the courts." Judge Luttig tried to block Mr. Padilla's transfer
to civilian custody from the brig. (Read
the opinion.) The administration's top litigator fired back that the
judge "defies both law and logic."" ... "The clash, which underscores the
increasing skepticism among even some conservative jurists toward the Bush
administration's sweeping theories of executive power, culminated yesterday
in Judge Luttig's resignation. The 51-year-old judge, once considered a
likely Bush nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, stepped down from his lifetime
seat on the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to start a new career
in Chicago [Illinois] as general counsel for BoeingCo."
-By Jess Bravin and J. Lynn Lunsford
-WSJ.com
Secret
- Government- Terrorism
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