Thank you Mr. McGovern for stating something that has been a given in our country. You have a concience and a good heart.

Torture is like rape and slavery. Just plain evil.

Just more ridiculous political correctness!

Rainbow-colored sheep take Britain by storm

SHELLEY EMLINGCOX NEWS SERVICELONDON -

Has anyone ever actually seen a rainbow-colored sheep? That's surely what a few British toddlers are asking.


Teachers at nursery schools in Oxfordshire, England, have asked children to change the words of "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" to "Baa, Baa, Rainbow Sheep" to avoid the possibility of offending anyone.
"This type of thing is definitely happening in all parts of the country," said Laura Midgley, co-founder of Britain's Campaign Against Political Correctness. "This makes an issue about the color black when there should not be one."

"It's just a color at the end of the day," she said.

As in the United States, the removal of alienating or potentially offensive words is part of a political-correctness drive that has gained momentum in recent years across British society.

Many argue that the power of words is underestimated and are pleased that more people seem to be showing sensitivity toward ethnicity and sexuality.

But others wonder whether the desire not to offend anyone has gone too far.
This isn't the first time nursery rhymes have fallen victim to the British PC campaign. In 2003, the Mothercare store chain in England began selling cassette tapes and CDs featuring a new version of Humpty Dumpty in which there was a happy ending. The new version said that "Humpty Dumpty opened his eyes, falling down was such a surprise, Humpty Dumpty counted to 10, then Humpty Dumpty got up again."
"The political correctness campaign has been going on for some time, but we are seeing more of it these days than we have in the past," Midgley said.

She and others say this latest desire to not offend by getting rid of "black sheep" is ludicrous.
Most have argued that "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" has nothing to do with race. The nursery rhyme dates back to the mid-1700s and is related to a tax imposed on wool by the king, which divided receipts equally between the local lord (the master), the church (the dame), and the farmer (the little boy). Black wool was apparently taxed at a lower rate than white wool.

A spate of headline-grabbing cases in recent weeks -- not all related to the nursery rhyme change -- have helped spark widespread criticism in the British media over the ongoing movement to be politically correct.
For example, a school principal in Devon, England, garnered attention earlier this month when he announced a ban on snowball fights unless the thrower first obtained permission from the target. In a newsletter, Tiverton High School's 1,200 students were told not to throw a snowball without prior consent.
Also this month, the Dudley Wood Methodist Church in Dudley Wood, England, was told it must pay $130 to obtain a permit from local planning officials before it can erect a freestanding cross outside.
Local officials say the universal Christian symbol has been officially classified as an advertisement.
But it was news of the change to "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" that pushed the local press -- and even media around the world -- into a frenzy of negative commentary.

"The fact that black is a color appears to be lost on the PC police," wrote Ian McPhedran in a column in the Advertiser, a newspaper in Adelaide, Australia.

In the current climate, "black coffee becomes coffee without milk, the blackboard is now the chalkboard. And forget about the black economy or black-listing anything," he wrote.
Stuart Chamberlain, manager of the Family Center in Abingdon, England, and the nearby Sure Start Center in Sutton Courtenay, told the Oxford Star weekly newspaper that the nursery schools had changed the words of "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" to follow stringent equal-opportunity rules.
"No one should feel pointed out because of their race, their gender, or anything else," he said. "This is fairly standard across nurseries."

The charity group that runs the nurseries, Parents and Children Together, said that changes to the nursery rhyme have nothing to do with race.

In a statement, the group said it has established that the children at the nurseries would now sing a variety of descriptive words so that the rhyme becomes an active one.

The children will be asked to sing "sad," "blue," "pink," "black," "white," "happy," "hopping," and "bouncing" when describing the sheep to encourage the children to extend their vocabulary and use up energy.
Nick Seaton, chairman of Britain's Campaign for Real Education, which aims to improve state education standards, said most parents believe it's wrong to outlaw certain words and ideas.

"I think it's totally wrong to interfere with traditional nursery rhymes that have been around for generations," he said. "Political correctness is preventing children from even considering any idea that may or may not be outlandish." http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsu...or/14157633.htm

Morals, lol ... and values..

Ethics reform stalling in Congress

Bills crafted to end abuses revealed by the Abramoff scandal falter in both House and Senate.



WASHINGTON – Prospects for robust ethics reform in the 109th Congress are dimming, even as the criminal probes that prompted it are intensifying.

It's a political calculation that could cost lawmakers in this fall's elections, if they misread the degree to which voters care about bribery inside the Beltway.



As recently as January, lobby reform bills were top priorities in both the House and Senate, but now are encountering strong resistance. In the Senate, Republican leaders pulled the lobby bill off the floor over an unrelated amendment on the Dubai ports deal. In the House, GOP leaders are split over how aggressively to restrict lawmaker travel paid for by private entities.

"Some members are pulling the blanket over their heads and hoping the storm will pass. For others, there is also a genuine belief that if you just jump in a spasm of reaction, you could do some things detrimental to a good deliberative process," says Norman Ornstein, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

THIS system ? detrimental to a good deliberative process? Surrre, if you're an AEI whore, Norm. lol.


When the last big ethics scandal broke on Capitol Hill in 1992, voter anger helped retire or defeat 77 incumbents with overdrafts on the House bank - and gave insurgent Republicans momentum to win control of the House in 1994.

For many members, kiting checks had been a perk of the job, like cheap haircuts or the franking privilege that allows them to send mail for free through the postal system. To the public, it was a signal that lawmakers didn't play by the rules they required of everyone else.

The stakes in the current corruption scandal run even deeper. At issue is whether lawmakers can be bought: exchanging favors for cash, luxury golf outings, a skybox seat at sporting events, or free meals.

Last week, a federal judge in Florida delayed sentencing former lobbyist Jack Abramoff until June, to give federal prosecutors more time with him to investigate corruption on Capitol Hill.

Mr. Abramoff's plea agreement cited only one lawmaker, Rep. Bob Ney ® of Ohio - and not by name - as involved in corruption. But others with links to Abramoff are also paying a political price. This week, Sen. Conrad Burns ® of Montana drew a strong GOP primary challenger, who cited Mr. Burns's ties to Abramoff as a reason for getting into the race. It fuels speculation that Burns will soon announce his retirement.

In another high-profile case, a Texas appeals court heard arguments this week on whether to reinstate a conspiracy charge against Rep. Tom DeLay ®, who resigned as House majority leader after indictment last September on campaign money laundering charges. Mr. DeLay, too, has drawn the strongest reelection challenge of his career. And Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham ® of California was recently sentenced to eight years in prison for bribery.

Despite the headlines, reform proposals face an uphill battle in both the House and Senate. In February, the House took a first step by revoking floor and gym privileges for former members who are lobbyists. A pending GOP leadership draft imposes stricter lobbyist disclosure requirements. It also requires committee reports to identify the sponsors of earmarks - a move that makes it harder for lawmakers like former Representative Cunningham to slip favors for, say, defense contractors into spending bills.

But GOP leaders are at odds over proposed limits on privately funded travel. While Speaker Dennis Hastert favored a ban on all privately funded travel, the new majority leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, and many GOP backbenchers opposed it. A draft GOP proposal would suspend such travel until January 2007.


January of 2007? Just after the election? God, what a bunch of crooks.

"A lot of members have reacted negatively to the discussion draft, because it's going to result in a hard-to-defend status quo for the next seven months," says Michael Franc, vice president for governmental affairs at the Heritage Foundation. "At the same time, it's going to ban privately funded travel hosted by educational entities - the kind of educationally oriented travel that the average voter thinks is appropriate."

On the Senate side, there's support for more frequent lobbyist disclosure - including, for the first time, electronic disclosure. But many are chafing at blanket travel restrictions.

"Seventy percent of our cities and villages can be accessed only by air - and that very infrequently. Why should taxpayers pay when there is a corporate plane going with an empty seat - as long as it's disclosed," says Sen. Ted Stevens ® of Alaska.

The key to whatever is passed will be enforcement, public-interest groups say. "In the end, what is going to be judged is whether there is enforcement of the laws. The key is disclosure and transparency," says Larry Noble, outgoing director of the Center for Responsive Politics.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0324/p03s03-uspo.html

Daddy Longlegs

A father watched his young daughter playing in the garden. He smiled as he reflected on how sweet and pure his little girl was. Tears formed in his eyes as he thought about her seeing the wonders of nature through such innocent eyes. Suddenly she just stopped and stared at the ground. He went over to see what work of God had captured her attention. He noticed she was looking at two spiders mating.

"Daddy, what are those two spiders doing?" she asked.

"They're mating," her father replied.

"What do you call the spider on top?" she asked.

"That's Daddy Longlegs," her father answered.

So the other one is a Mommy Longlegs?" the little girl asked.

As his heart soared with the joy of such a cute and innocent question, he replied "No dear. Both of them are Daddy Longlegs.

"The little girl, looking a little puzzled, thought for a moment, then took her foot and stomped them flat! "Well, we're not having any of that gay poopy in our garden"

That's pretty funny and totally un-PC.

That's because shes too young for school and "programming".

And I'm too old for it.

'Marriage Is for White People'

By Joy Jones
Sunday, March 26, 2006; Page B01

I grew up in a time when two-parent families were still the norm, in both black and white America. Then, as an adult, I saw divorce become more commonplace, then almost a rite of passage. Today it would appear that many -- particularly in the black community -- have dispensed with marriage altogether.

But as a black woman, I have witnessed the outrage of girlfriends when the ex failed to show up for his weekend with the kids, and I've seen the disappointment of children who missed having a dad around. Having enjoyed a close relationship with my own father, I made a conscious decision that I wanted a husband, not a live-in boyfriend and not a "baby's daddy," when it came my time to mate and marry.



The loneliest number: Declining marriage rates among African Americans hit women the hardest.

My time never came.

For years, I wondered why not. And then some 12-year-olds enlightened me.

"Marriage is for white people."

That's what one of my students told me some years back when I taught a career exploration class for sixth-graders at an elementary school in Southeast Washington. I was pleasantly surprised when the boys in the class stated that being a good father was a very important goal to them, more meaningful than making money or having a fancy title.

"That's wonderful!" I told my class. "I think I'll invite some couples in to talk about being married and rearing children."

"Oh, no," objected one student. "We're not interested in the part about marriage. Only about how to be good fathers."

And that's when the other boy chimed in, speaking as if the words left a nasty taste in his mouth: "Marriage is for white people."

He's right. At least statistically. The marriage rate for African Americans has been dropping since the 1960s, and today, we have the lowest marriage rate of any racial group in the United States. In 2001, according to the U.S. Census, 43.3 percent of black men and 41.9 percent of black women in America had never been married, in contrast to 27.4 percent and 20.7 percent respectively for whites. African American women are the least likely in our society to marry. In the period between 1970 and 2001, the overall marriage rate in the United States declined by 17 percent; but for blacks, it fell by 34 percent. Such statistics have caused Howard University relationship therapist Audrey Chapman to point out that African Americans are the most uncoupled people in the country.

How have we gotten here? What has shifted in African American customs, in our community, in our consciousness, that has made marriage seem unnecessary or unattainable?

Although slavery was an atrocious social system, men and women back then nonetheless often succeeded in establishing working families. In his account of slave life and culture, "Roll, Jordan, Roll," historian Eugene D. Genovese wrote: "A slave in Georgia prevailed on his master to sell him to Jamaica so that he could find his wife, despite warnings that his chances of finding her on so large an island were remote. . . . Another slave in Virginia chopped his left hand off with a hatchet to prevent being sold away from his son." I was stunned to learn that a black child was more likely to grow up living with both parents during slavery days than he or she is today, according to sociologist Andrew J. Cherlin. Click here to continue article

Wow, that is new, and bad. I have a terrible feeling the attitude may have been nurtured by the Great Society ideal, that government would be daddy if daddy wasn't around, then they paid people not to have daddy around. (and checked to make sure no daddy WAS around)

Unintended consequences, yet again.

The article is a 'Bell-Ringer' for sure. No doubt about it, the federal government broke up the Black family. Even integration, designed to help, unfortunately left the urban poor (usually single mom families) with no male role models for their sons except pimps and drug lords.

The well written article is a harbinger of things to come to the rest of the population which has a growing divorce rate, illegitimacy, and just plain 'shackin' up in lieu of marriage. State and Federal governments still have 'marriage penalty' expenses. Go figure!

On the third anniversary in Iraq let's not forget these guys
...or their dog

Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip
By Ker Than
LiveScience Staff Writer




The line between living organisms and machines has just become a whole lot blurrier. European researchers have developed "neuro-chips" in which living brain cells and silicon circuits are coupled together.

The achievement could one day enable the creation of sophisticated neural prostheses to treat neurological disorders or the development of organic computers that crunch numbers using living neurons.

To create the neuro-chip, researchers squeezed more than 16,000 electronic transistors and hundreds of capacitors onto a silicon chip just 1 millimeter square in size.

They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells, called neurons, onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive.

"They also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip," said study team member Stefano Vassanelli from the University of Padua in Italy.

The proteins allowed the neuro-chip's electronic components and its living cells to communicate with each other. Electrical signals from neurons were recorded using the chip's transistors, while the chip's capacitors were used to stimulate the neurons.

It could still be decades before the technology is advanced enough to treat neurological disorders or create living computers, the researchers say, but in the nearer term, the chips could provide an advanced method of screening drugs for the pharmaceutical industry.

"Pharmaceutical companies could use the chip to test the effect of drugs on neurons, to quickly discover promising avenues of research," Vassanelli said.

The researchers are now working on ways to avoid damaging the neurons during stimulation. The team is also exploring the possibility of using a neuron's genetic instructions to control the neuro-chip.

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/06...euro_chips.html

Yet what was the last spending cut dems didn't complain about besides defense?

Not that it really matters because ENTITLEMENTS are going to be the true downfall of the economy. and those are the DEMOCRAT'S sacred cow.

Abramoff lobbies judge for leniency in sentence

Hoping to elicit some sympathy, disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff paints himself as a misunderstood man who has devoted his life to family, charity and his Jewish faith.

BY JAY WEAVER


When the new year began, superlobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to ripping off Native American clients, bribing congressmen and lying to lenders to buy a South Florida fleet of gambling ships.

On Wednesday, Abramoff, 46, faces the stone-cold reality of being sentenced to up to seven years in prison in a Miami federal court for his part in the fraudulent purchase of SunCruz Casinos.

Abramoff and his top-notch lawyers have written a sympathetic biography that seeks to elicit leniency from the judge:

• He grew up in Atlantic City, the son of Jewish parents who endured the Great Depression, wrote his lawyers, Neal Sonnett and Abbe Lowell.

• In the late 1960s, Abramoff moved with his family to Beverly Hills, where his family was ''among the non-upper class in a land of spoiled kids,'' according to a friend's letter filed with the court. He went on to set records as a weight lifter and was named an All-City and All-Conference football player in high school.

• For Abramoff, ''the biggest life-changing event'' was his conversion from a secular Jewish life to Orthodox Judaism. Abramoff bought a book on the Jewish holidays, but misunderstood a rule that he thought prevented Orthodox Jews from wearing leather or driving on major days of fasting.

''Mr. Abramoff laughs at himself when he remembers how he would walk to synagogue wearing only his socks, wondering what was wrong with all of those people from his synagogue who would stop to ask him if he wanted a ride home,'' the memo said.

• During high school, Abramoff did charity work for the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation to benefit inner-city children. The legendary boxer returned the favor when Sugar Ray asked him what he planned to do with his life.

''Mr. Abramoff told him that he wanted to go to Brandeis University, but probably could not get in because his 3.4 G.P.A. was not high enough,'' the memo said. ``Sugar Ray Robinson -- who was never known to back down from a challenge -- personally called Brandeis University and sang young Jack's praises.''

Perhaps thanks to Robinson, Abramoff was accepted at Brandeis and later graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, where he became a Young Republican.

He went on to work for his father's real estate company and in show business, including producing the movie Red Scorpion.

Abramoff, married with five children, found his true calling as a Republican lobbyist on Capitol Hill.

Last summer, news broke that Abramoff and New York businessman Adam Kidan had been arrested, and the once powerful GOP mover and shaker became an outcast -- and the butt of jokes.

On Wednesday, Abramoff and Kidan will face U.S. District Judge Paul Huck to be sentenced for their fraudulent purchase of SunCruz Casinos in 2000. Abramoff still faces sentencing on his corruption conviction in Washington.

They were charged with lying to lenders about putting down $23 million to qualify for a $60 million loan to buy SunCruz for $147.5 million. Both admitted to sending bogus documents to their bank lenders, which falsely showed theymade a down payment to buy SunCruz from Konstantinos ''Gus'' Boulis, a Greek immigrant who became a South Florida tycoon.

Yet in his sentencing memo, Abramoff places more of the blame on his partner in the SunCruz deal than himself -- though both pleaded guilty to the same fraud charges.

''After the company was purchased, Mr. Abramoff learned that some representations made by his partner were untrue, including Mr. Kidan's financial status, his contribution to the pre-closing costs and his record as a valid businessman,'' Abramoff's memo said. ``Unbeknownst to Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Kidan was in fact a disbarred attorney who was in personal bankruptcy at the time of these activities.''

Aside from Abramoff's dark digression about Kidan, most of his 61-page sentencing memo is upbeat -- an attempt to portray Abramoff as a decent man to the judge who will put him in prison.

''We appreciate the opportunity to make such a submission in this case, in particular because media attention regarding Mr. Abramoff -- from newspaper editorials to late night comic monologues -- has made him into a caricature and has distorted a lifetime of accomplishments beyond recognition,'' lawyers Sonnett and Lowell wrote.

``This memorandum -- relying not on anonymous sources or leaked documents, but on over 260 letters -- provides first-hand experiences with Mr. Abramoff and reveals important information about Mr. Abramoff's character that we believe is relevant to the court's decision on [Wednesday.]

``As large a figure as he has been painted in the media, he is an even larger figure in matters of family, faith, generosity and remorse.''

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14201364.htm

Wow, a Jewish football player?

I wonder if he was in that pamphlet, Greatest Jewish Sports Legends, as seen on Airplane!

That said, I hope he gets the max.

I don't remember that part. Sounds about right though.

Seeing Mrs. Cleaver, AKA Barbara Billingsley talking jive as a translator was too much.

She was still nice looking years later when they did the New Leave it to Beaver. Eddie was still the funniest one on the show. His real life kids were in it and they were GREAT. I recall him playing a contractor and having them digging a pool by hand. Good show, but made for KTLA in the years of small cable shows.

More than a sacred cow, it's their bribery money: "VOTE FOR ME"!

K-Street

in the mind of the president

undeclared war.....no geneva convention
undeclared war.....no power in the congress of the US
undeclared war.....no hinderence from the constitution of the US
undeclared war.....no restrictions

this year of 2006

Hey hey csh.

Still, most wars aren't "declared". There isn't any official form to sign and get notarized.

Seems the code of silence has spread rampant in our society. From street criminals or dope dealers to corporate executives to the military to the police and especially politicians. Honestly? If they allow a code of silence to prevent them from doing the right thing or obeying the law, I don't see much difference between any of them. I'd say those in positions of power and responsibility should have a higher standard of behavior.



Anti-snitch campaign riles police, prosecutors

PITTSBURGH — It was not the first time prosecutor Lisa Pellegrini had been enraged by the sight of the T-shirt with the traffic-sign message: STOP SNITCHING. But this guy was about to wear one into court, with matching baseball cap.


Worse, he was a witness — her witness — and the intended victim in an attempted murder case that had brought him, her and the defendants to court that day last fall.

This was Rayco "War" Saunders — ex-con, pro boxer and walking billboard for a street movement that has sparked a coast-to-coast beef involving everyone from professors to rappers.

Pellegrini, thinking "witness intimidation," told Saunders to lose the hat and reverse the shirt. Saunders, crying "First Amendment," refused. He left the courthouse, shirt in place. Case dismissed. "In almost every one of my homicides, this happens: 'I don't know nothin' about nothin', " the prosecutor says. "There is that attitude, 'Don't be a snitch.' And it's condoned by the community."

Omerta, the Mafia's blood oath of silence, has been broken by turncoat after turncoat. But the call to stop snitching — on other folks in the 'hood — is getting louder.

Is it an attempt by drug dealers and gangsters to intimidate witnesses?

Is it a legitimate protest against law enforcers' over-reliance on self-serving criminal informers?

Or is it bigger than that?

Take the case of Busta Rhymes.

The hip-hop star has refused to cooperate with police investigating the slaying of his bodyguard Feb. 5 outside a Brooklyn studio where Rhymes was recording a video with performers such as Missy Elliott and Mary J. Blige. Police say that although Rhymes and as many as 50 others may have seen the shooting, no one came forward — an echo of the silence that followed the unsolved murders of rappers Tupac Shakur, the Notorious B.I.G. and Run-DMC's Jam Master Jay.

It's the code of the street: To be a credible rapper, you have to know when to shut up.

"Under pressure, I lie for ya, die for ya," Lil' Kim once rapped. Now she's in a federal jail in Philadelphia for failing to tell a grand jury what she knew about some friends involved in a shooting.

Rhymes' silence in the death of Israel Ramirez seemed to puzzle New York's seen-it-all police commissioner, Ray Kelly, an ex-Marine, career NYPD cop and U.S. Customs chief. "Your employee is murdered in front of you," he told reporters, so "you'd think he might want to talk to the police."


Not necessarily, says David Kennedy, director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. "There's such animosity toward the police in some urban communities that even people who aren't afraid, and who hate crime, still feel cooperating is something good people don't do," Kennedy says. "That's the Busta Rhymes story. He has nothing to fear. He just doesn't want to talk. His reputation would take a dive if he did."

The code of silence, he says, "is breaking out in a way we've never seen before."

Saunders agrees: "It's a movement, that's what it is — a stop snitching movement."

From street code to slogan

The stigma against snitching is an old one, but the Mafia never took out newspaper ads to promote omerta. So why is an unwritten rule printed on thousands of T-shirts?

Start with the war on drugs. Over the past two decades, law enforcers have made more drug arrests and turned more defendants into informers than ever before. According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the agency that establishes federal court sentencing practices, about one-third of drug trafficking prosecutions involve informers' "substantial assistance." That makes them eligible for reduced sentences under otherwise inflexible federal sentencing guidelines.

Informers are a necessary evil, says Cmdr. Maurita Bryant, a 29-year veteran of the Pittsburgh Police Department. "We have to deal with who we have to deal with. ... If a dealer needs to make a deal, he'll tell on his mother. It may not be right, but it's all we have."

Some criminal informers who are allowed to remain free commit more crimes; some return to crime after a shortened prison sentence; some frame others, or tell prosecutors what they want to hear. Boston defense lawyer Harvey Silverglate says the system encourages defendants "not only to sing, but to compose."

According to a study by the Northwestern University Law School's Center on Wrongful Convictions, 51 of the 111 wrongful death penalty convictions since the 1970s were based in whole or in part on the testimony of witnesses who had an incentive to lie.

Alexandra Natapoff, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, says that, based on federal statistics, one of every four black men from 20 to 29 is behind bars, on probation or on parole, and under pressure to snitch. She estimates one in 12 of all black men in the highest-crime neighborhoods are snitching.

She says informers strain the social fabric of poor minority neighborhoods, where as many as half the young men have been arrested. "Every family gathering, every party, every backyard barbecue probably has someone who's secretly working as an informer."

This is the world Rayco Saunders inhabits. It's filled, as he puts it, with "guys doin' all this crime and not doin' no time, because they're telling on the next man."

Hence a backlash — "stop snitching." The slogan appeared in Baltimore about two years ago as the title of an underground DVD featuring threatening, gun-wielding drug dealers and a brief appearance by NBA star and Baltimore native Carmelo Anthony. Anthony, who later said he didn't know the video's theme, told ESPN The Magazine that the dealer-turned-informer excoriated in the DVD "ran our neighborhood. Now he's working with the state and the feds. You can't do that. He turned his back on the 'hood."

The black community is divided. Rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy has blasted the Stop Snitching campaign on the hip-hop group's website: "The term 'snitch' was best applied to those that ratted revolutionaries like Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Che Guevara. ... Let's not let stupid cats use hip-hop to again twist this meaning for the sake of some 'innerganghood' violent drug thug crime dogs, who've sacrificed the black community's women and children."

Movement prompts legal backlash

Whatever its intent, the Stop Snitching movement has galvanized officials already apoplectic about witness reluctance and witness intimidation.

States and localities spend a fraction of what the federal government devotes to witness protection, although this month Pennsylvania restored $1 million for that purpose. The move came as more than a half-dozen witnesses recanted earlier testimony in the trial of men accused in the Philadelphia street shooting death of a third-grade boy.



"If the word 'snitch' comes out of someone's mouth, I go insane," says Pellegrini, the Pittsburgh prosecutor. "When young men and women see rappers refuse (to cooperate), they think it's cool. How do we tell them, 'we'll support you,' when they see that?"

Especially, she says, when the slogan is blatantly used to intimidate witnesses. Last year, supporters of an accused drug dealer on trial in Pittsburgh federal court wore T-shirts around town bearing witnesses' photos and the inscription "Stop Snitching. " U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan says one, Garry Smith, had a $100,000 price on his head.

"Everybody in law enforcement is beside themselves," says Kennedy of John Jay College. "They can't investigate cases. They can't prosecute cases. The clearance rate for some serious crimes is tanking."

Stop Snitching T-shirts have been banned from a number of courthouses. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, whose city recorded the most homicides in a decade last year, threatened to send police into stores to pull them off the shelves.

Following the furor over the Stop Snitchin' DVD, Maryland raised witness intimidation from a misdemeanor to a felony, and Baltimore police made a tape of their own, Keep Talking. "People have to snitch," says Peter Moskos, a former Baltimore street cop. "That's how criminals get caught."

Saunders' life may have been saved by a snitch.

Pellegrini says an informer told police that an ex-con had hired another man to kill Saunders because the boxer was having an affair with his girlfriend. The man and his accomplices were arrested before the hit could be carried out. They were scheduled for a court hearing the day last fall that Saunders showed up in his Stop Snitching T-shirt.

Saunders and Pellegrini agree he was there to warn the men not to testify in other pending cases. But they disagree on why: Pellegrini says Saunders, whom she calls a "thug," is in cahoots with other criminals who feared the men's testimony. Saunders says he thought the defendants would try to save themselves by selling out others.

Saunders says he hates snitching so much that he not only wears the T-shirts himself but has given them as gifts to friends and relatives. "They love the T- shirts," he says. "It's way overdue for somebody to step up and speak about these things that's going on with these informants and these guys walking around here with immunity to do whatever they want to do."

At 31, Saunders has had a hard life. He says he never knew his father; his mother died of a drug overdose when he was 11. He was stabbed in the back at 15, shot in the chest at 21. He says he shot at people himself and dealt drugs. He was arrested six times from 1994 to 1997 and served four years in prison after a shootout with a police officer. He says he was framed.

Since leaving prison, he has pursued a career as a pro boxer, compiling a record of 15-7-2. In 2004 he won the North American Boxing Council cruiserweight championship. In an interview at the gym where he trains, he outlines a stop-snitching creed:

• Don't snitch on others just to save yourself. "Stop snitching is for those guys out there ... selling more drugs than Noriega, and their only out is to tell on somebody. ... If a (criminal) wants to be a Good Samaritan, OK. But send (him) to jail. Don't give him immunity to do what he wants on the street."

• Stop Snitching doesn't mean stop talking to police. "It's always misconstrued by the public, or the powers that be, that we're trying to intimidate the regular people or the law-abiding citizens. That's not what it's about. ... If that is your only outlet, to call the police, that's what you do."

• But witnesses have no obligation to help police. "Do your job — you're the police. ... I've been wronged by the system. Do you think I would help the system? ... Do cops snitch on other cops?"

• The authorities can't protect witnesses. "What's happening to the innocent witness? They get dead or ... terrorized for life."

• Sometimes you must right wrongs yourself. "I'm a man, and I can handle my own situations like a man. ... I've done dirt. I'll admit that. So I can't run to the police."

Later, he's out on the street, wearing one of the T-shirts. Standing nearby is a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty to advertise the services of her employer, Liberty Income Tax.

"The people who are snitching, a lot of them end up dead, a lot of them end up hurt," says Lady Liberty — Ernestine Whitaker of Wilkinsburg, whose nephew was threatened after he witnessed a crime. "So the snitching doesn't do anything for the person who's snitching."

She looks at Saunders, whose muscular chest bulges beneath the T. "I'd wear one of those," she says.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-0...snitching_x.htm

I wonder if they're getting their revenge on the street, or if not snitching means your rival gets of scot free.

The thing that got me about the whole article was when they asked if cops turned each other in. That makes you think.

But revenge? Oh yes, most definitely.

Reminds me of a newspaper article I read. My area of town is a little rough. I knew a guy who liked to sleep with other people's wives and girlfriends. A real lowlife backstabber. I read a couple of years ago where someone pumped him full of lead outside of a local bar. None of the bullets were above his waist. I don't know what happened but I'd suspect they weren't aiming to kill, just revenge. I also suspect he didn't try to turn them in. Either he got the message or he dealt with them himself. Nasty people out there.

I think it's all part of the rise of the "anti-hero", anti-tradition, counter-culture of the new 'morality'.

I guess they knew what they were aiming at.



Sad but true.




That type of thing isn't new. Just look at the mafia, and they came from "the old country".

I guess each culture has it's own methods but they do look similar, don't they?

Abramoff Gets Almost 6 Years in Prison

By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago

MIAMI - Assuring the judge he is working to become "a new man," disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced Wednesday to nearly six years in prison for committing fraud in the purchase of a fleet of gambling boats.

He will remain free while helping prosecutors with a vast bribery investigation involving members of Congress.

Abramoff, 47, and former business partner Adam Kidan, 41, received the minimum under federal guidelines: five years and 10 months.

The two pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy and fraud for concocting a fake $23 million wire transfer to make it appear they were contributing their own money toward the purchase of the $147.5 million SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet. Based on that fraudulent transfer, lenders provided the pair with $60 million in financing.

Abramoff told U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck that he had started "the process of becoming a new man."

"I am much chastened and profoundly remorseful," Abramoff said. "I can only hope that the almighty and those whom I have wronged will forgive me my trespasses."

Sounded an awful lot like Cunningham didn't it?

He and Kidan were also ordered to pay restitution of more than $21 million. Both must serve three years' probation after they get out of prison.

Abramoff pleaded guilty in the SunCruz fraud in January. The same week, he pleaded guilty in Washington to defrauding Indian tribes and other lobbying clients out of millions of dollars. He also agreed to cooperate in a corruption probe that could involve up to 20 members of Congress, including former House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay of Texas. No date has been set for his sentencing in that case.

The judge said Abramoff and Kidan will not have to report to prison for at least 90 days so they can continue cooperating with investigators in the corruption case and the slaying of former SunCruz owner Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis.

Boulis was gunned down in 2001 at the wheel of his car amid a power struggle over the gambling fleet. Three men face murder charges, including one who worked for Kidan as a consultant at SunCruz and who allegedly has ties to New York's Gambino crime family.

Abramoff and Kidan have denied any role in the killing and neither has been charged.

If prosecutors are satisfied with their cooperation in those cases, the two men's sentences could be reduced.

Abramoff and his attorneys declined to speak with reporters as they left court. His defense team filed 62 pages of documents that depicted Abramoff as a deeply religious Orthodox Jew who was generous to charities, dedicated to his wife and five children and filled with remorse over his crimes.

But the memo also distanced Abramoff from the SunCruz fraud and laid most of the blame on Kidan, a New York businessman and disbarred lawyer.

"After the company was purchased, Mr. Abramoff learned that some of the representations made by his partner were untrue," the defense said.

Kidan's attorney, Joseph Conway, said his client has acknowledged his guilt but disagrees "with the statement of facts as laid out by Mr. Abramoff."

In his own letter to the judge, Kidan said that he knew the SunCruz deal was wrong but that he "was very caught up in the fast-paced world of my partner and the high profile that came along with it."

The SunCruz fleet of 11 ships sailed from nine Florida ports and Myrtle Beach, S.C., to international waters. The company operates gambling cruises under new ownership after emerging from bankruptcy.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060329/ap_on_.../lobbyist_fraud

FAILING THEIR OWN

The Black Caucus


March 30, 2006


I'M THINKING of a cabal of radical legislators who don't reflect the views of average Americans or even the interests of their own constituents. They use wedge issues, play the race card and push their party to the ideological extreme. They collude with outside activists, many of whom use religion as a Trojan horse for a radical political agenda.

Sound like those perennial paladins of villainy, the congressional GOP? Guess again. This is the Congressional Black Caucus.


The caucus lives in a fantasy in which it is the "conscience of the Congress." Immune to the sort of scrutiny that many other groups receive, it has benefited from the soft bigotry of low expectations for decades.



Why pick on the blacks in Congress? Because they represent black leadership in America, and it has been on their watch that black America has descended into such a mess.

A slew of new research shows how sorry is the plight of American blacks, most acutely men. Black men, particularly those who do not finish high school, have been falling off a cliff for decades. If you include blacks in prison or not seeking work — which conventional unemployment surveys don't — the true jobless rate for black men in their 20s without a high school diploma is 72%. At the height of the economic boom, in 2000, it was still about 65%, according to the New York Times. This is twice the rate for white dropouts and three times that of Latinos. A UC Berkeley researcher found that black dropouts in their late 20s are more likely to be in prison than working.

Statistics on the black family are, if possible, even more depressing. In a moving essay in the Washington Post, Joy Jones lamented how wedlock has become unfashionable in much of black America. A sixth-grader recently informed her that "marriage is for white people." The statistics back the kid up (though marriage among whites isn't that rosy either). More than two-thirds of black babies are born out of wedlock. Sociologist Andrew J. Cherlin of Johns Hopkins University says blacks were more likely to be raised by both parents during slavery days than they are today.

There's a lot of Marxist-infused nonsense about how economics are at the root of black America's problems. But this doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Of course poverty makes social pathologies worse, but it's the pathologies that cause poverty in the first place.

Family breakdown in the black community has occurred despite a steady rise in the wages of blacks since World War II, when 80% were born to married parents. Racism alone cannot be blamed anymore for causing all black problems. By every measure, racism, particularly official racism, has declined even as these problems have worsened.

Racism is surely still a problem, but it pales in comparison to family breakdown. Nothing more perpetuates the cycle of moral and financial poverty. If you are raised by two married parents today, black or white, it is unlikely that you will be poor, or poor for long. Blaming slavery and historic white racism for family erosion may be satisfying — often accurate — but it promises few solutions.

Pat Moynihan predicted all of this chaos more than 40 years ago in his report, "The Negro Family: the Case for National Action," which urged the government to help stop black family breakdown before young men raised without fathers sowed chaos in their own community and the nation. Moynihan was greeted with denial and outrage by black and feminist ideologues, who insisted he was trying to impose white middle-class norms on the benign, even "superior," female-headed black family. The PC mob won, and U.S. social policy was pushed in exactly the wrong direction until the welfare reform of the 1990s.

The Congressional Black Caucus and its sundry enablers are the intellectual heirs of Moynihan's critics. Indeed, many of them are the same people. Given the state of black America, their priorities often seem otherworldly: giving felons the vote and pushing for slavery reparations.

Obviously, black America's problems are larger than the black caucus. But the caucus has failed to provide the morally serious leadership — leadership that builds on the historic social conservatism and self-reliance of African Americans — that is sorely needed. Article

Jonah Golberg?

Trash.

Your well thought-out response to a provocative article is an Ad Hominem attack?

Ex-Prosecutor Charged in Bungled Terror Trial
From Times Wire Reports
March, 30 2006



A former federal prosecutor and a State Department official were indicted in Detroit on charges of conspiring to conceal evidence during a botched terrorism trial that proved a major embarrassment for the Bush administration.


Former Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard G. Convertino, 45, and State Department Regional Security Officer Harry Raymond Smith III, 49, were charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false declarations.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/na...eadlines-nation


Shortest article I've seen lately.








Did you see this lame effort? I hope this sticks to them like tar.


Senate Approves Limits on High-Profile Lobbying
The measure addresses earmarks, gifts and contribution reporting; it passes 90 to 8. But critics say it's just 'window dressing.'
By Mary Curtius, Times Staff Writer
March 30, 2006

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Wednesday to impose new rules to rein in the clout wielded by lobbyists on Capitol Hill, but critics charged the measure would fall short of significantly curbing the influence peddling.

The bill, which passed 90 to 8, aims to eliminate some of the more high-profile connections between lobbyists and lawmakers. It would end the common practice of lobbyists buying meals for senators or providing gifts — such as tickets to sporting events — that many lawmakers said fed the public perception that Congress was swayed by these favors.


"What we're saying here is that there's a sign that now is up in front of the Capitol," said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), one of the bill's co-authors. "It says: 'Not for Sale.'"

Chris, you are so full of crap you nave flowers growing out of your ears.

The measure also would for the first time enable senators to challenge funding of some special projects often tucked into bills at the behest of lobbyists. Still, many of these so-called earmarks that are attached each year to spending bills would remain exempt from challenge.

Other changes would require lobbyists to more frequently report their dealings with lawmakers and their contributions to their campaigns, filing the information to a database searchable online by the public.

Also, former members of Congress and senior aides would have to wait two years instead of one before lobbying their onetime colleagues. And senators could no longer put a secret "hold" on legislation or nominations, a behind-the-scenes move that blocks action on such matters.

Senators who pushed for more sweeping changes said the measure would leave much of lobbyists' power intact. For instance, the bill contains no limits on lobbyists' ability to rely on their contacts and clients to generate large campaign contributions.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who voted against the bill, said that although some lawmakers viewed the bill's passage as "a major feat," he considered its provisions "very, very weak."

McCain spoke after votes were blocked on amendments he offered, including one that would have required senators to pay charter rates when they traveled on corporate jets. The lawmakers usually pay much less.

Others complained that the bill would not ban lawmakers' travel paid for by private groups and would not create an independent office of public integrity to investigate senators or staffers accused of unethical conduct.

"What ethics bill?" Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said of the measure, which he opposed.

McCain and Coburn attacked the bill for not giving senators broader power to question earmarks. For instance, challenges could only be lodged against projects added during House-Senate negotiations over a final spending measure. Many earmarks are put into bills in each chamber before those negotiations.

Still, supporters said the Senate's revised rules would put some distance between lobbyists and lawmakers and make it easier for the public to track their links.

"This is not popular stuff [in the bill], but it's the right thing to do," said Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.). "This legislation upends the status quo with regard to oversight of the … relationship between lobbyists and members of Congress."

You sir, are also full of crap. I do not believe you.

California's senators, Democrats Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, were among those voting for the bill.

The Senate's measure also lays down a marker for the House, which is studying changes to its guidelines for dealing with lobbyists.

The two chambers do not have to adopt the same rules, but their changes must be included in a single bill that would require President Bush's signature to become law.

Backers of the Senate bill praised its passage as a step toward restoring Congress' battered reputation among many voters before the November elections.

Public opinion of the House and Senate has dropped in nationwide polls since scandals involving former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Rancho Santa Fe) and lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Late last year, Cunningham pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from defense contractors in return for steering their way federal projects worth millions of dollars. He resigned from office and this month was sentenced to more than eight years in prison.

Abramoff, who lavished food, drink and luxury trips on some lawmakers and their staff and steered hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations to House members and senators, pleaded guilty in January to several corruption charges. He is awaiting sentencing in that case. In a separate case, he was sentenced Wednesday in Florida to about six years in prison on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy.

The coincidence did not go unnoticed as the Senate debated its lobbying measure.

"I think it is significant that this bill passed on the day that [Abramoff] received his first prison sentence," said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). "It was the scandals involving Mr. Abramoff and former Rep. Cunningham that prompted us to take a harder look at practices that, while legal, eroded public confidence" in Congress.

Collins said she believed the Senate's action would begin to restore "the bonds of trust" between lawmakers and the public.

Another full of it.

Several government watchdog groups, however, were among the bill's critics.

"I really think that if members of the Senate think they can pass a bill that is largely window dressing and not deal with the really tough issues and then go back to the voters and convince them they have done something, they have another think coming," said Chellie Pingree, president of the citizens' lobbying group Common Cause. "This bill lacks the critical things that would really change the atmosphere of corruption in Washington."

Pingree said that although the bill would improve disclosure requirements for lobbyists, "there's very little that breaks down this nexus between lobbyists as fundraisers and sources of campaign funds, which is much of the root of what goes on that creates the scandals."

She said her group and other watchdog organizations feared the measures approved by the Senate might be further watered down in negotiations with the House.

"The tragedy is that we were counting on the Senate to be the leaders," Pingree said.


You are correct. It will do next to nothing to improve the pay and play government we have. It's a hollow joke.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na...dlines-politics

Terrorism prosecutor is charged with lying

March 30, 2006



Richard Convertino, whose 14-year career as a star federal prosecutor earned him commendations for winning high-profile cases, now faces federal prosecution himself, accused Wednesday of lying to a jury to win terrorism convictions in the first trial to result from the federal 9/11 probe.

A federal grand jury indicted Convertino, 45, and State Department security officer Harry Raymond Smith III, 49, who had been assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, charging them with misleading a jury in the 2003 terrorism trial in Detroit.

Convertino, who resigned last May to enter private practice, flatly denied the accusations, reiterating his claims that he is being targeted for criticizing the Justice Department about its commitment to the war on terrorism. He is suing his former superiors.

"This indictment is purely vindictive. ... If they believe they can scare me off, they've picked the wrong guy to be their scapegoat," he said.

Smith's lawyer, Matthew Leitman of Troy, also denied the charges and noted his client's service to his country.

Both men are accused of lying about the existence of photographs that could have damaged the prosecution's case in the terror trial, which resulted in two convictions that were later set aside at the request of Convertino's bosses.

Had the photos been presented at trial, they could have undercut claims that a sketch found in the terror defendants' apartment was intended to be used for an attack on a Jordanian military hospital.

The indictment also says Convertino lied to a judge about a drug defendant's cooperation in this and other terrorism investigations so that Convertino could get a substantial reduction in the man's sentence.

Convertino and Smith are charged with conspiring to obstruct justice and make false declarations, obstruction of justice and making a materially false declaration before a court.

If convicted, Convertino -- who prosecuted Detroit mob cases and NBA star Chris Webber for lying to a grand jury about money he received as a college player -- could face 30 years in prison and a $1-million fine. Smith could face 20 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. No arraignments were set.

Photos in question

The case revolves around the convictions in June 2003 of two North African immigrants, Karim Koubriti, 27, and Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi, 40, for conspiring to provide support to terrorists.

A year later, the charges were dismissed at the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office, which said Convertino withheld key evidence and allowed witnesses, including Smith, to mislead the jury.

During the terrorism trial, the prosecution maintained that a sketch found in Koubriti's flat was a terrorist targeting diagram of a military hospital in Amman, Jordan. In support of that theory, Smith testified that the sketch was consistent with what he, Convertino and FBI case agent Michael Thomas found when they toured the site. Thomas was given immunity to testify before the grand jury.

When defense lawyers asked Smith whether he had taken any photos of the site, Smith said no. Wednesday's indictment, however, said Smith took photos of the site in March 2002, but they didn't turn out, so he asked a colleague to reshoot them. The indictment said the photos were turned over to Convertino, who failed to correct Smith's testimony or disclose the photos.

Although witnesses at the trial said a dead tree was depicted in the sketch, the photos showed no such landmark, records show. That could have raised doubts that the sketch was of the hospital.

Convertino also is accused of misleading U.S. District Judge Julian Cook in July 2003 about the extent of cooperation that drug suspect Marwan Farhat provided to the government. The indictment didn't name Cook and Farhat.

Farhat, who pleaded guilty to drug charges, was in line for a 9- to 11 1/4 -year sentence. Convertino persuaded a reluctant Cook to sentence Farhat to eight months, which was covered by the time he had served in jail, and seal the records.

This week, a defense lawyer charged in court papers that Convertino engineered other huge sentencing reductions on behalf of drug dealers who assisted the government, then had the proceedings sealed to hide what he had done. He has denied those accusations.

Deputy federal defender Richard Helfrick, who represents Koubriti, said his client -- who was later indicted in alleged insurance fraud -- was pleased to learn of the indictment and plans to be there when Convertino is arraigned. Koubriti is out on bond pending the fraud trial.

Meanwhile, Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said the indictment is proof the system sometimes catches its mistakes.

"I don't think anything can make up for the injury that was caused to the innocent men who were caught in the middle of this prosecution," he said.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...EWS05/603300462

Seems that way, doesn't it?

I've read enough Goldberg to know you could fill a dumpster with it. And probably should.

Sure you have.

You're right. But it still deserves the dumpster. I read more than a few then disregarded his crap for the most part. I skim through it once in awhile. Like that Max Boot clown. Same group.

So, which is it about the article? Are you anti-semitic and/or racist?

That's a good one. I have no problem with any race and would date outside my own if I weren't involved.

Goldberg is a militant partisan. Or is he a partisan militant? I've been reading his stuff because artie posts him occassionally. Either way I do not like a majority of the content of his articles.

Goldberg is more humorist than political pundit, though some of his articles are more serious than others.

Nigerian soccer referees OK'd to take bribes
Official: Bribery acceptable, but refs shouldn't let cash influence decisions


Updated: 9:16 a.m. ET March 31, 2006

LAGOS, Nigeria - Soccer referees in Nigeria can take bribes from clubs but should not allow them to influence their decisions on the field, a football official said on Friday.

Fanny Amun, acting Secretary-General of the Nigerian Football Association, said bribery was common in the Nigerian game.

“We know match officials are offered money or anything to influence matches and they can accept it,” Amun told Reuters on Friday.


Amun first made the statement earlier in the week to a soccer seminar in the capital Abuja, prompting protests from other officials.

“Referees should only pretend to fall for the bait, but make sure the result doesn’t favor those offering the bribe,” Amun said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12093893/

Josh Marshal called this the DeLay defense.

NEWS FLASH!

CYNTHIA MCKINNEY IS BLACK, THEREFORE SHE'S BEING PUNISHED FOR SMASHING HER CELL PHONE INTO THE FACE OF A WHITE CAPITAL HILL POLICEWOMAN !




By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON


A lawyer for Rep. Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia congresswoman who had an altercation with a Capitol Police officer, says she was "just a victim of being in Congress while black."

McKinney awaited word Friday on whether she would be charged for apparently striking the officer after she entered a House office building this week unrecognized and did not stop when asked.


Two law enforcement officials said it was unlikely a warrant would be issued this week. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Her lawyer, James W. Myart Jr., said, "Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, like thousands of average Americans across this country, is, too, a victim of the excessive use of force by law enforcement officials because of how she looks and the color of her skin."

"Ms. McKinney is just a victim of being in Congress while black," Myart said. "Congresswoman McKinney will be exonerated."

A spokeswoman for U.S. Capitol Police did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Members of Congress wear identifying lapel pins and routinely are waved into buildings without undergoing security checks. McKinney was not wearing her pin at the time, and the officer apparently did not recognize her, she has said.

"Congresswoman McKinney, in a hurry, was essentially chased and grabbed by the officer," Myart said. "She reacted instinctively in an effort to defend herself."

Several Capitol Police officials have said the officer involved asked McKinney three times to stop. When she did not, he placed a hand on her and she hit him, they said.

Asked on-camera Thursday by WSB-TV of Atlanta whether she intended to apologize, McKinney declined to comment. A news conference scheduled for Friday morning was canceled. She had issued a statement late Wednesday saying she regretted the confrontation.

she said in the statement on her Web site.


Actor- activist, Danny Glover was expected to appear at an early-evening
news conference Friday with McKinney at Howard University.

That gave Republicans material to keep the criticism flowing.

"Rep. McKinney appearing with the star of 'Lethal Weapon'? Not exactly the message you want to be sending," said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

In January, during President Bush's State of the Union address, Capitol Police drew criticism for first kicking anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan out of the House gallery, and then for evicting the wife of Rep. Bill Young, R-Fla.

The department is tasked with protecting the 535 members of Congress and the vast Capitol complex in an atmosphere thick with politics and privilege.

The safety of its members became a sensitive issue after a gunman in 1998 killed two officers outside the office of then-Republican Whip Tom DeLay of Texas.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/31/D8GMPKR81.html

Cynthia waiting for Harry Belafonte's support.

Too bad Stalin is dead, or he'd be there too.

DeLAY'S FORMER AIDE ADMITS TAKING BRIBES
Lawmaker says he didn't know of the wrongdoing in his office that led to a guilty plea

By MICHAEL HEDGES
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - A former top aide to U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay admitted Friday to accepting bribes while on the lawmaker's staff and has joined the circle of former DeLay associates cooperating with a federal investigation of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

Former DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy's guilty plea, to a federal conspiracy charge, made no allegation of wrongdoing by DeLay. The congressman denies wrongdoing and has offered to give prosecutors any information they want.

"As long as people are telling the truth, Mr. DeLay has nothing to fear from this investigation," DeLay lawyer Richard Cullen said. He added that federal prosecutors have told him that DeLay was not a target of the investigation.

Documents in Rudy's case marked the first time federal prosecutors have mentioned DeLay publicly in the Abramoff probe.

DeLay, R-Sugar Land, is described as "Representative # 2" and is identified by details such as the time period, 1995 through 2000, during which Rudy worked for him.

Rudy admitted that in return for the bribes, he got DeLay to sign a letter opposing a postal rate increase, according to court documents. Abramoff had sought such a letter on behalf of publishing clients.

Cullen said DeLay was happy to sign the letter because he had a philosophical opposition to the rate increases. DeLay had no idea Rudy was being bribed to help obtain the letter, Cullen said.

Uncle Thomas knows nnnnnnothing!!



Rudy, 39, pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to accepting $86,000 in cash funneled by Abramoff and others through a foundation set up by Rudy's wife, Lisa, as well as gifts of lavish trips, meals and sports tickets.

As part of his plea agreement, Rudy's wife will escape prosecution and become a government witness.

Abramoff, whom DeLay once described as "one of my closest and dearest friends," and former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon already have pleaded guilty in the case and are eligible for reduced sentences in return for their cooperation.

Prosecutors indicated in new documents that another DeLay insider, former chief of staff Edwin Buckham, is under scrutiny.

Buckham, who once served as DeLay's minister, is described as "lobbyist B" in the court documents and can be identified by numerous facts included in the papers.

In the court documents
The documents described how Buckham helped set up the payments that went to Rudy's wife through a firm she set up called Liberty Consulting. The money paid for Rudy's help in persuading members of Congress to kill a bill outlawing Internet gambling.

Abramoff's Indian tribe clients sought to block the bill, prosecutors said.

Investigators have subpoenaed the records of a nonprofit foundation he set up that ultimately received more than $1 million in donations from Abramoff clients, much of which went to Buckham and his wife, Wendy. His attorney did not return calls for comment Friday.

Rudy has told investigators that after he left DeLay's staff in 2000 and joined Abramoff, he worked with the lawmaker's staff to push legislation on automobile emissions and on a bill that would have paid reparations to Americans who had been held hostage by Iran.

Rudy admitted to violating a federal law that says congressional staff members cannot lobby on matters they worked on for a year after leaving their legislative jobs.

Cullen said DeLay was unaware of any improper lobbying of his staff.

Rudy also admitted soliciting a $25,000 payment by e-mail from an Abramoff client by suggesting that DeLay wanted a donation for one of his charities. In fact, Rudy said, the money was used to fund a trip to Scotland by U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and others. Cullen said the admission showed DeLay was not involved in the solicitation.

Uncle Thomas knows nnnnnnothing!!



Cullen said he voluntarily sent dozens of e-mails and other documents generated by DeLay's staff to prosecutors last year in an effort to aid the investigation. Cullen said he has not been in contact with prosecutors since November.

"Tom DeLay never cast a vote or took an official action that was not based on his strongly held political beliefs," Cullen said.

Cullen said DeLay had no knowledge of any improper activities by former staff members. "To say he is bitterly disappointed is an understatement," Cullen said of DeLay's reaction to the guilty plea.



"Is there a political concern? Quite probably," Cullen said about any fallout from Rudy's plea on DeLay's re-election campaign.

Investigators are examining whether extravagant trips taken by DeLay to Russia and Britain, with indirect funding from Abramoff clients, were in exchange for official acts performed by the lawmaker, in violation of federal law.

Rudy faces between 24 and 30 months in jail. He will remain free until prosecutors are satisfied that he has provided all the information they need.

Scanlon and Abramoff are also awaiting sentencing in the Washington-based probe. Abramoff received a sentence of 5 1/2 years in an unrelated fraud case in Miami this week.

Prosecutors weigh in

Of the entire Rudy case, Alice Fisher, assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said, "The American public loses when officials and lobbyists conspire to buy and sell influence in such a corrupt and brazen manner."

Clad in a gray suit, a somber Rudy answered questions from U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle in a low monotone. He left the courthouse with attorney Laura A. Miller, who declined to comment on whether Rudy had information implicating DeLay in wrongdoing.

"This is just the latest guilty plea to come out of the deplorable, special interest and lobbyist focused, Republican-led culture of corruption in Washington," said a written statement from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The Rudy charging document showed prosecutors are continuing to focus on Ney as a target of the investigation. Rudy admitted to providing "things of value" to Ney in return for an agreement by Ney and his staff to help Abramoff clients.

A spokesman for Ney denied any wrongdoing by the lawmaker.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3763444.html

Did anybody look to see if he usually voted against increases?

Probably not, Spot.

Just asking. I'd like to know if congress people really are taking money for favors, and the best way it looks like to me is to see where they make unusual votes.