LAWRENCE, Massachusetts - A Lawrence police officer has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and raping a woman while on duty and in uniform.Kevin Sledge, of Salem, N.H., was arrested after being stopped in Pelham, N.H., on Tuesday, shortly after authorities issued a warrant. Police had asked Sledge to turn himself in, but he went missing and family members told police he might be suicidal. more
Every day, we wake up with a choice. We can choose to embrace the day as a new opportunity to learn, grow, and make a positive impact on the world, or we can let fear, doubt, and negativity hold us back. It's easy to get caught up in the challenges and obstacles we face, but it's important to remember that these challenges are what shape us into who we are. Each obstacle is a chance to learn something new, to become stronger, more resilient, and more capable than we were before. But we don't hav
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Police officer accused of kidnapping and rape while on duty
LAWRENCE, Massachusetts - A Lawrence police officer has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping and raping a woman while on duty and in uniform.Kevin Sledge, of Salem, N.H., was arrested after being stopped in Pelham, N.H., on Tuesday, shortly after authorities issued a warrant. Police had asked Sledge to turn himself in, but he went missing and family members told police he might be suicidal. more
School bus driver passed out behind the wheel of a loaded bus
DUI - School bus driver passed out behind the wheel of a loaded bus that was stopped in the middle of a road
LOUDON, Tennessee - Police in eastern Tennessee say they found a school bus driver passed out behind the wheel of a loaded bus that was stopped in the middle of a road.
None of the 30 children aboard were hurt Tuesday morning and the driver was charged with driving under the influence. Kwasny was taken to a hospital and then to jail, where she remained in custody. more
Wall Street bailout
Here's a thought.
This is not a "Wall Street bailout".The banking giants FannieMae, LehmanBros, Wachovia, MorganStanley, etc,etc,etc, have all either withered and died, or have been gobbled up by other banking giants for pennies on the dollar by now.This is no longer an effort to keep a large number of super rich investment banks and insurance companies like AIG afloat. It's too late for that now.What this is, at this point, is a plan to spread around 700 billion in capital to all the still functioning lenders, so that they will have money to hand out credit ie loans to everyone under the sun, and in doing so keeping the economy afloat.No credit means no car loans, no new mortgages, no new business ventures, no home improvements, and etc,etc.The economy is based on lending and loans. Without it, the economy dies.Question is, now that were not investing this 700 billion into direct, palpable companies like we did with BearStearns, where EXACTLY is this 700 billion going to?No financial analysts have answered this important question.This money is going to be pumped into literally thousands of different banks across the nation.
'Sarah Palin, affair'
Sarah Palin Affair is this real?
No less than three members of the man’s (Brad Hanson) family including one by sworn affidavit have claimed that Sarah Palin engaged in an extramarital affair with husband Todd’s former business partner, Brad Hanson. These sources have named Hanson as Palin’s secret love, and say their affair nearly wrecked both their marriages. Hanson owned a snowmobile dealership with Palin’s husband Todd, who immediately dissolved the partnership after he heard stories about the affair...Hanson family insider, Jim Burdett, has gone on the record and passed a rigorous polygraph test, revealing details of the affair ..Another source, who preferred to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions, provided the National Enquirer with a sworn affidavit attesting to the Palin-Hanson story.more:
Anchorage Daily News: Palin's Preferred Inquiry Requires Utmost Secrecyhttp://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/s...ory/%20535188.html
What do you have to hide, Sarah?
'Sarah Palin, affair', you get:http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sarah+palin%2C+affair&btnG=SearchI
f you type in: 'Sarah Palin cheated on her husband', you get:http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sarah+palin+cheated+on+her+husbandor:
'Sarah Palin, adultery':http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sarah+palin%2C+adultery'
Sarah Palin, Brad Hanson':http://www.google.com/search?hl=...%
Most of the results include a link to the original story.http://www.nationalenquirer.com/national_enquirer_world_exclusive_sarah_palins_secret_lover_revealed/celebrity/65481
Monday, September 29, 2008
Dynasty star Heather Locklear arrested after 'erratic driving while on prescription drugs'
Struggling even to stand up, this picture shows Dynasty actress Heather Locklear being helped from a police car after being stopped for driving under the influence of prescription drugs.
Officers were called after Locklear was seen revving her engine loudly and repeatedly reversing over a pair of sunglasses in a car park in Santa Barbara, California.
She then stumbled about in moving traffic, it is claimed.
Officers help Heather Locklear from her vehicle
Police made the 47-year-old balance on one foot to see if she was sober - but she had to steady herself on a road sign.
Police said a witness, who didn't recognise the star, reported that she had stopped on a nearby highway and left her car, apparently stumbling into traffic.
Alcohol was ruled out after tests but Locklear was charged with driving under the influence of prescription medication and released on £2,700 bail.
more
Officers were called after Locklear was seen revving her engine loudly and repeatedly reversing over a pair of sunglasses in a car park in Santa Barbara, California.
She then stumbled about in moving traffic, it is claimed.
Officers help Heather Locklear from her vehicle
Police made the 47-year-old balance on one foot to see if she was sober - but she had to steady herself on a road sign.
Police said a witness, who didn't recognise the star, reported that she had stopped on a nearby highway and left her car, apparently stumbling into traffic.
Alcohol was ruled out after tests but Locklear was charged with driving under the influence of prescription medication and released on £2,700 bail.
more
Did you know we had the biggest stock market drop in history?
Did you know we had the biggest stock market drop in history? 777.67 points
Did you know that today's one day loss was (1.2 million).
Did you know that for the bill for the blil out to pass, that they needed 232 votes?
Did you know that Y N NV
Democrats 140 95
Republicans 65 133 1
Total 205 228 1
Did you know that In 2008, U.S. Stock market has declined 4.2 Trillion.
Did you know that
1000 thousands = 1 million , 1, 000, 000
1000 millions = 1 billion, 1,000,000,000
1000 billions = 1 trillion, 1,000,000,000,000
So now the blame game of why the bill did not get signed is the issue. The key is this callus throwing away of money to bail out the government is asking for trouble that we don't need. The mismanagement of money created this problem, so why are we going to let them jump out of the pan into the fire?
Missing 3 year old
If Please forward to everyone you know. Her family needs your help finding her. PLEASE HELP US BY FORWARDING THIS EMAIL UNTIL THIS REACHES A WORLD-WIDE AUDIENCE AND JEWEL IS RETURNED HOME SAFELY
Racharel Strong (father) - 404-357-1881
Simona Strong (mother) - 404-313-4255
Tiesa Locklear (aunt) - 678-234-4902 Tramesa Locklear (aunt) 678-480-1635
Ursala Williams (aunt) 678-362-5246
GOD FIRST, PEOPLE If this was your daughter you would forward it. Missing 3 year Old Girl - You never know, who knows whomAnother child missing.Please forward to everyone you know. Her family needs your help finding her
Sunday, September 28, 2008
If you will not do it, who will?
This is the year that will make a definite impact on history as we know it. Either a black man will be elected president or a woman will be elected vice-president. There is a thin line that separates the two candidates. That means that nothing can be taken for granted. So if you don't go out their and vote, the only person that you can blame is yourself!
Obama files motion to dismiss federal lawsuit to prove his is a natural born US citizen rather than show his birth certificate
PHILADELPHIA - Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, and the Democratic National Committee filed a joint motion in federal court Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Illinois senator to prove he's a citizen of the United States. On Aug. 21, four days before the Democratic National Convention, Lafayette Hill attorney Philip Berg filed suit in Philadelphia seeking to remove the Democratic candidate from the November ballot claiming he was born in Kenya and not in America. Berg asked the court for a temporary restraining order "prohibiting Obama from being formally confirmed as the Democratic Party nominee for president," according to court papers. The Federal Election Commission was also named as a defendant in the legal action. A day after the suit was filed, a federal judge denied the motion for a temporary restraining order
Friday, September 26, 2008
Man Passes Gas - Charged with Battery on Officer
SOUTH CHARLESTON, West Virginia - As if getting a DUI wasn’t enough, a man arrested for driving under the influence got in a lot more trouble at the police station. Police stopped Jose Cruz on Route 60 in South Charleston Monday night for driving with his headlights off.Then, he failed sobriety tests and was arrested.When police were trying to get fingerprints, police say Cruz moved closer to the officer and passed gas on him. Cruz was arrested and transported to police headquarters, where he allegedly committed another offense, according to a September 23 criminal complaint (a copy of which you can find here). While being fingerprinted, Cruz allegedly "lifted his leg and passed gas loudly on Ptlm. Parsons. The defendant then fanned the air with his hand in front of his rear onto" the cop. "The gas," the complaint notes, "was very odorous and created contact of an insulting or provoking nature with Ptlm. Parsons." In addition to the DUI count, Cruz was also charged with battery on a police officer for the farting incident. In a TSG interview, Cruz said that while he "farted multiple times," it "wasn't directly in [the cop's] face." Asked if he fanned the fetid air toward the officer, Cruz admitted that he did, but said it was in retaliation for the cop insisting he take a breath test while he was having an asthma attack. "I said, 'Here, put that in your Breathalyzer," he recalled. Cruz, who works as a boilermaker, said that he has been arrested more than a dozen times, including twice previously for drunk driving. After posting $500 bond, Cruz was released this morning from a Charleston jail where he had been held on the misdemeanor charges. That is too much!
A Kentucky man had his penis removed without his consent.
Kentucky man who claims his penis was removed without his consent during what was supposed to be a circumcision has sued the doctor who performed the surgery. Phillip Seaton, 61, and his wife are seeking unspecified compensation from Dr. John M. Patterson and the medical practice that performed the circumcision for "loss of service, love and affection." The Seatons also are seeking unspecified punitive damages from Patterson and the medical practice, Commonwealth Urology. A woman who answered the phone at Commonwealth Urology would not take a message for the doctor Thursday. But the Seaton's attorney said the doctor's post-surgical notes show the doctor thought he detected cancer and removed the penis. Attorney Kevin George said a later test did detect cancer. "It was not an emergency," George told The Associated Press on Thursday. "It didn't have to happen that way." Seaton was having the procedure on Oct. 19, 2007, to better treat inflammation. The lawsuit filed earlier this month in state court claims Patterson removed Seaton's penis without consulting either Phillip or Deborah Seaton, or giving them an opportunity to seek a second opinion. The couple also sued the anesthesiologist, Dr. Oliver James of Shelbyville, claiming he used a general anesthesia even though Seaton asked that it not be administered. A message left at Commonwealth Urology's corporate office in Lexington was not immediately returned Thursday. A message left for James also was not immediately returned. The Seatons' suit is similar to one in which an Indianapolis man was awarded more than $2.3 million in damages after he claimed his penis and left testicle were removed without his consent during surgery for an infection in 1997.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
did you know that you can not vote if...
Did you know that if go to the polls wearing any Obama (or whoever you are voting for) shirts, pins, hats, etc. You can not vote, It is AGAINST THE LAW and will be grounds to have the polling officials to turn you away. This is considered campaigning and no one can campaign within X amount of feet of the polls. They are banking on us being overly excited and not being aware of this long standing law that you can bet will be ENFORCED THIS YEAR!!!!! They are banking that if you are turned away, you will not go home and change your clothes and return to the polls to vote. Please just don't wear ANY gear of any sorts to the polls! Please share this information with as many people as you can. If you are already aware of this, please don't take it as insulting your intelligence.
Did you know that Kentucky and Virginia are the only states that permanently disenfranchise nearly all felons from voting?
Did you know that an estimated 3.9 million Americans, or one in fifty adults, were denied the right to vote due to felony and other criminal convictions. In many cases these individuals have been permanently stripped of their voting rights.
Did you know that four states—Maine, Massachusetts, Utah and Vermont—allowed convicted felons, including those still incarcerated, to vote?
Did you know that there is a site that you can go to, to Restore My Vote?
Did you know that many ex-offenders are now eligible to vote?
Did you know that the Legislature passed a bill last year requiring that when ex-offenders complete all their punishment, the state prison system must notify them of their restored voting rights and provide registration materials.
Did you know that 15 states, all in the South and West, ex-offenders who have fully served their sentences are still denied the right to vote. In 10 of these states—Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Tennessee, Virginia Washington, Wyoming, Texas—these individuals are disenfranchised for life for the serious crimes of rape and murder.
Did you know that you can vote early don't wait until November 4th?
Monday, September 22, 2008
His Pursuit of Happiness
Chris Gardner was always hard working and tenacious, and no matter what the circumstances in the early 1980’s, would not stop Gardner spirt to succeed. At one point he was homeless in San Francisco. He was unwilling to give up Chris Jr. who he was the sole guardian of his toddler son. His dream of financial independence, was not going to come easy. Gardner had to start at the very bottom of the financial industry ladder and pull his way up. He often spent his nights in a church shelter or a bathroom at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station in Oakland. The amazing story of Gardner’s life was published as an autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness, by Amistad/Harper Collins on May 23, 2006. Will Smith portrayed Gardner in a very touching struggle.
Gardner was born February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Gardner never knew his father. He lived with his mother, Bettye Jean Gardner, and her family and, when necessary, in foster homes. Despite a life of hardship and emotional scarring, he always had supreme love and admiration for his mother, who was a trained schoolteacher. His mother taught him some of the greatest lessons of his life, which he follows to this day. When Gardner told her he wanted to be the great jazz trumpeter Miles Davis she said, "Son, there's only one Miles Davis and he got that job. So you have to do something else.” He understood from that day forward that his job was to be Chris Gardner – whatever that entailed. Bettye Jean also taught him that in spite of where he came from, he could attain whatever goals he set for himself by saying, “If you want to, one day you could make a million dollars.” Gardner believed this to be fact, and it allowed him to persevere through the years when he and his son were struggling for survival and a better life.Straight out of high school, Gardner enlisted in the Navy, just like his uncles, his role models, had done previously. After the military, Gardner went to San Francisco and took a job as a medical supply salesman. Then he reached a turning point in his life. In a parking lot, he met a man driving a red Ferrari. "He was looking for a parking space. I said, 'You can have mine, but I gotta ask you two questions.' The two questions were: What do you do? And how do you do that? Turns out this guy was a stockbroker and he was making $80,000 a month." That pivotal encounter gave Gardner a clear career goal, but he still needed a way into the world of high finance. Without experience, connections, a degree, or pedigree, Gardner began knocking on doors, applying for training programs at brokerages, even though it meant he would have to live on next to nothing while he learned. When he was finally accepted into a program, he left his job in medical sales. But his plans collapsed when the man who offered him the training slot was fired, and Gardner had no job to go back to. Things got worse. He was put in jail for $1,200 in parking violations that he couldn't pay. Chris Jr.’s mother left and Gardner, despite his circumstances, fought to keep his son because, as he says, "I made up my mind as a young kid that when I had children, my children were gonna know who their father was." Although he managed to enter a training program at Dean Witter Reynolds, Gardner’s meager stipend as a trainee meant he, like so many working poor in America, had a job but couldn't make ends meet. Chris’s co-workers never knew he spent his evenings trying to arrange day care, find food and a safe place for him and his son to sleep. After spending nights in a locked bathroom at an Oakland subway station, Gardner persuaded Rev. Cecil Williams, founder of a new shelter program for homeless women at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, to let him and Chris Jr. stay at the shelter. Gardner passed his licensing exam in 1981 on the first try.
Gardner was born February 9, 1954 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Gardner never knew his father. He lived with his mother, Bettye Jean Gardner, and her family and, when necessary, in foster homes. Despite a life of hardship and emotional scarring, he always had supreme love and admiration for his mother, who was a trained schoolteacher. His mother taught him some of the greatest lessons of his life, which he follows to this day. When Gardner told her he wanted to be the great jazz trumpeter Miles Davis she said, "Son, there's only one Miles Davis and he got that job. So you have to do something else.” He understood from that day forward that his job was to be Chris Gardner – whatever that entailed. Bettye Jean also taught him that in spite of where he came from, he could attain whatever goals he set for himself by saying, “If you want to, one day you could make a million dollars.” Gardner believed this to be fact, and it allowed him to persevere through the years when he and his son were struggling for survival and a better life.Straight out of high school, Gardner enlisted in the Navy, just like his uncles, his role models, had done previously. After the military, Gardner went to San Francisco and took a job as a medical supply salesman. Then he reached a turning point in his life. In a parking lot, he met a man driving a red Ferrari. "He was looking for a parking space. I said, 'You can have mine, but I gotta ask you two questions.' The two questions were: What do you do? And how do you do that? Turns out this guy was a stockbroker and he was making $80,000 a month." That pivotal encounter gave Gardner a clear career goal, but he still needed a way into the world of high finance. Without experience, connections, a degree, or pedigree, Gardner began knocking on doors, applying for training programs at brokerages, even though it meant he would have to live on next to nothing while he learned. When he was finally accepted into a program, he left his job in medical sales. But his plans collapsed when the man who offered him the training slot was fired, and Gardner had no job to go back to. Things got worse. He was put in jail for $1,200 in parking violations that he couldn't pay. Chris Jr.’s mother left and Gardner, despite his circumstances, fought to keep his son because, as he says, "I made up my mind as a young kid that when I had children, my children were gonna know who their father was." Although he managed to enter a training program at Dean Witter Reynolds, Gardner’s meager stipend as a trainee meant he, like so many working poor in America, had a job but couldn't make ends meet. Chris’s co-workers never knew he spent his evenings trying to arrange day care, find food and a safe place for him and his son to sleep. After spending nights in a locked bathroom at an Oakland subway station, Gardner persuaded Rev. Cecil Williams, founder of a new shelter program for homeless women at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church, to let him and Chris Jr. stay at the shelter. Gardner passed his licensing exam in 1981 on the first try.
Gardner is president and CEO of the Chicago-based brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co., which he founded in 1987. Prior to launching his own firm, Mr. Gardner worked for several prestigious Wall Street firms. He landed his first job in the securities industry in 1981 with Dean Witter Reynolds, coming out of their training program. Later, he spent four years with Bear Stearns & Co., where he became a top earner.
A self-made multi-millionaire, Gardner is intent on giving back to the communities where he conducts business because he has never forgotten his humble beginnings or the odds he has surmounted. Christopher Gardner’s accomplishments are extraordinary on their own merit, but are all the more astonishing because of the unimaginable obstacles he encountered on the road to success.
A self-made multi-millionaire, Gardner is intent on giving back to the communities where he conducts business because he has never forgotten his humble beginnings or the odds he has surmounted. Christopher Gardner’s accomplishments are extraordinary on their own merit, but are all the more astonishing because of the unimaginable obstacles he encountered on the road to success.
He has been featured on CBS’ Evening News with Dan Rather, twice on ABC’s 20/20, as well as being the subject of profiles in newspapers and national magazines.
To see more of whats on your mind click here.
To see more of whats on your mind click here.
The Limbaugh translation for the Hispanic
Rush the weasel Limbaugh is at it again, because of the heat that he received for his comments about "Mexicans being stupid and unskilled ”. The weasel had an epiphany to translate his message in Spanish so they could see how harmless his comments was. "wink,wink" The furnace must be hot in EIB land. For the weasel to consider spending his hard earn cash to translate 3 different messages in Spanish, so that the Mexican population could see how nice a guy he really is. Let me be the first to say that I did not really get what was being said of any of the 3 messages... I guess maybe because I don't speak Spanish. So why spend 10 minutes playing them?
The thought did cross my mind, what if the weasel did not truly translate the message that he originally stated? His misrepresentation of the facts would not be a first! So if that's the case, does he think that Mexicans are dumb? Or maybe he thinks that his listeners are dumb, simply because he only uses half his brain when he talks to us.
I am disappointed in the weasel, if he is the man... Why wouldn't he stand up and be the man? He said, yes he did... So is his weak Spanish translation really suppose to change any one's mind?
Sunday, September 21, 2008
The Subprime Failure
The sub prime market is where I made the bulk of my income. I never thought that something like this could happen. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Washington Mutual, to name a few have went under and they are dragging the economy down. I listen to McCain describe how the economy is sound??? Now at the peak of my life, my income is inconsistent and I wonder is my home going to become another crack in the government wall. Now I look at the mess that the sub prime market has caused. Hundreds of sub prime lenders has fallen by the way side. Is this really a recession, is it no wonder I find myself wondering where did my hair go!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
CELL PHONE NUMBERS GO PUBLIC
REMEMBER: Cell Phone Numbers Go Public today
REMINDER.... all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies tomorrow and you will start to receive sale calls.
YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS
To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.
Friday, September 19, 2008
The financial meltdown
The financial meltdown was caused by Bush's deregulation. As a result, look what's happening to Freddy Mac,Fanny Mae,Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG. Can anyone explain the logic of the oldest and biggest financial institutions in the world going under. Although if you listen to Limbaugh ,Hannity and McCain, they make you wonder if they are living on mars and we are living on the earth? Everything is conservative, conservative, conservative and over and over we keep hearing how great the economy is doing so much better since Bush took office! Now the conservatives wants more tax cuts for the rich, and we need to continue to fight an Illegal war in Iraq. Hurricane incompetence. Bush has president has only netted three million new jobs as opposed to 22 million under Clinton,10 million under Carter,and 13 million under Reagan. We are suffering record trade and budget deficits, plus two recessions. We now have more poverty, unemployment,and people without health care. Am I missing how well the economy is flourishing...
So the next time that you hear someone talking about High oil prices, mortgage meltdown, government bailout of banks, insurance companies, brokerage firms.... I know, that's why I am voting democrat!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
fourteen characteristics of FASCISM (also known as NAZIISM):
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays. (Flags image fly with vomit-inducing dizziness on Fox News).
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc. (Fox News has consistently defended the Bush-Cheney use of torture).
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial, ethnic or religious minorities, liberals, communists, socialists, terrorists, etc. (Missing white women and black, Hispanic and Muslim villains are a Fox News staple.)
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized. (Fox News tongues the ass of the military-industrial complex daily).
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution. (What news channel interviews Hooters girls about economics?)
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in wartime, is very common. (Fox News repeats Bush-GOP talking points verbatim and ad nauseum).
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. (Fear is Fox News' most important product).
8. Religion and Government are intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions. (Fox News is the very soul of vulgar piety).
9. Corporate Power is protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite. (Obvious)
10. Labor Power is suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed. (Obvious)
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked. (Fox News targets one professor or entertainer after another for destruction, and constantly attacks the idea of intellectual independence in Hollywood or the university.)
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations. (The flip side of Fox News' constant fearmongering).
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders. (Fox News was strangely unconcerned about Enron, the $12 billion in cash that went missing among Bush's cronies in Iraq, etc. etc. etc.)
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections. (Remember that Fox News called Florida for Bush, deliberately and wrongly creating the impression he had won. Fox News' election night newroom was run by Bush's cousin — See Characteristic 13).
McCain/ Palin
The new CBS poll is out and The McCain/Palin bounce has become damage tire. In the new poll, the gap among likely voters is the same as it is among registered voters: Obama leads among those seen as likely to go to the polls in November 49 percent to 44 percent....Obama leads McCain 54 percent to 38 percent among all women. He holds a two point edge among white women, a 21 percentage point swing in Obama's direction from one week ago.It also confirms a considerable drop in Sarah Palin's (R) approval, especially among women:Palin’s favorable rating stands at 40 percent, down 4 points from last week. Her unfavorable rating, which stands at 30 percent, has risen eight points in the same time period. Sarah Palin is falling like a lead balloon. Her disapproval rating jumped 11 points among women in a week. Palin’s favorable-unfavorable margin is 40-30; Joe Biden, by contrast has a 38-17 margin. Palin’s support comes almost entirely from white evangelical conservative Republicans. She fires up the GOP base. But she does little beyond it. And her hiding from the media only reinforces the notion that she is unprepared for the task at hand.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Innocent man shares his 20-year struggle behind bars
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Willie "Pete" Williams had no idea when he was pulled over by police that the criminal justice system was about to steal away half his life.
Willie "Pete" Williams, 45, spent half of his life behind bars for a 1985 rape he did not commit 22 years "I felt betrayed ... I felt like these people had taken my life," says WilliamsDNA evidence has directly exonerated 208 wrongly convicted people in U.S have also been set free.
Sitting in the flashing glow of Atlanta squad car lights along Georgia State Road 400, the 23-year-old part-time house painter didn't know police were looking for a rapist who had struck nearby three weeks earlier.
Police questioned -- and then arrested Williams, triggering a series of mistaken witness identifications that led to his unjust conviction for rape, kidnapping and aggravated sodomy.
It was 1985 and Williams was sentenced to serve 45 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. "I felt betrayed. ... I felt like these people had taken my life for something I didn't do. I felt like I was being treated unfairly. ... I felt very, very angry towards everybody," said Williams last week, a free man after nearly 22 years behind bars.
He said he spent many of those years stoking that anger by fighting guards and inmates, while his childhood friends were developing careers and raising families. Watch Williams offer more details about his prison nightmare »
Earlier this year, after DNA science proved his innocence, the 45-year-old with a graying mustache stood again before a judge -- who this time exonerated Williams. Watch Williams celebrate after a judge freed him »
Williams' troubling story provokes discomfort in a nation that prides itself on a justice system where the accused are innocent until proven guilty. So far, DNA evidence has directly exonerated 208 wrongly convicted people in the United States, according to the Innocence Project. It's unknown how many prisoners now locked up in American jails could be freed by new testing of DNA evidence.
A jury of Williams' peers convicted him in the April 5, 1985, rape, kidnapping and aggravated sodomy of a woman in Atlanta's Sandy Springs neighborhood.
The victim told police her attacker first approached her to ask if she could help him find someone named Paul. Then he produced a gun and forced her into her car, according to police. They then drove to a dead-end street where the assault occurred.
Because the science behind each person's unique DNA signature was new to police in 1985, the key evidence that sealed Williams' fate was the testimony of three eyewitnesses who mistakenly said they recognized him.
"Mistaken eyewitness identification has long been the single biggest factor in the conviction of innocents," said Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project.
"That has got to be important to everybody, because if we can reform identification procedures, it will keep more innocent people out of jail and convict criminals who really commit the crimes."
A national nonprofit group, the Innocence Project has inspired creation of state and regional organizations including the Georgia Innocence Project, which exonerated Williams.
As a new prisoner Williams said he fought a painful struggle against the raw deal the world had dealt him. When board members denied him parole the first of three times Williams said, "they had to escort me to 'the hole' [solitary confinement]."
"I couldn't function out there around the other inmates," Williams said. "I was mad, I was bitter. I felt the whole world just gave me up."
It wasn't until 1997 -- more than a decade after he was locked away -- that Williams' own voice freed him from the grip of his anger. At Valdosta State Prison, a close friend named Charlie Brown helped him join a Christian choir -- leading him to accept Jesus.
"Singing was like being out here, in a sense. It freed me from all the things, from all the fights, from the officers who were cruel, prison, stabbings," said Williams, who especially embraced the hymn "Amazing Grace."
After singing got a hold of Williams, he said the hardest part of his heart started to dissolve.
"I didn't feel angry anymore -- or any hate."
Witness ID
Sequential double-blind lineups are standard in:
New Jersey
Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Northhampton, Massachusetts
Madison, Wisconsin
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Ramsey County, Minnesota
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Santa Clara County, California
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Source: Innocence Project
To prevent more tragedies like Williams', innocence projects in many states, including Georgia, have begun pressing lawmakers to adopt special witness ID procedures called sequential double-blind lineups. Such lineups are administrated by officials who don't know who the suspect is and present each member of a lineup one-by-one instead of simultaneously.
Witnesses who see several potential suspects simultaneously are more likely to choose a person who looks most like the perpetrator -- but who may not actually be the perpetrator, according to the Innocence Project. The group also cites research that says misidentification is reduced if the person overseeing the lineup is "blind" to which person in the lineup is the suspect.
Georgia's Legislature held hearings Monday in Atlanta to study the research and the proposed standards, which have been adopted by New Jersey and jurisdictions in Minnesota, California and elsewhere.
Louis M. Dekmar, vice chair of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies is skeptical of the research, but said the issue deserves further study.
"I don't believe the research is so compelling that we need to make swings and changes that don't bode well for criminal investigations and the criminal justice process," said Dekmar, a 30-year law enforcement veteran and chief of police for LaGrange, Georgia.
Dekmar argues investigators should be allowed to administer lineups to gauge reaction while they look at witness faces, to see if a witness is "stressed, weeping, nervous -- all those reactions that help detectives formulate whether this is a strong identification or a weak identification."
Williams' Case
April 5, 1985: Woman raped, kidnapped in Atlanta, Georgia
Williams arrested: April 28, 1985
Sentence: 45 years in prison
Freed: January 23, 2007
Exonerated by DNA evidence: February 13, 2007
February 10, 2007: DNA tests result in arrest and eventual conviction of Kenneth G. Wicker for the 1985 rape
Sources: Innocence Project, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Williams was convicted on the identification of three witnesses who first singled him out from a photo lineup, according to the Georgia Innocence Project.
More than 20 years later, Georgia Innocence Project attorneys arranged to compare Williams' DNA with DNA evidence collected from the 1985 rape. It was not a match, proving that Williams was not the attacker and opening the door to his release.
Shortly after Williams' exoneration, DNA science again played a role in the case when a genetic match resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of Kenneth G. Wicker for the crime that Williams had been wrongly convicted of. Years earlier Wicker had served four years in prison for another rape and two attempted sexual assaults, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
As Scheck's Innocence Project marks its 15th year, the 1995 O.J. Simpson defense attorney describes it as a movement for criminal justice as well as human rights.
"I think that it's going to be remembered for getting innocents out of jail, but also for changing the paradigm in the criminal justice system," said Scheck.
"There is a greater understanding now that sound scientific and critical research can go a long way toward proving injustice and prosecuting the guilty."
Sometimes an Innocence Project client is confirmed to be guilty by DNA evidence, but the group doesn't make the number of those cases available. Theoretically, If key DNA material in a case is properly preserved, there's no time limit on revisiting old cases, according to the Innocence Project.
Critics accuse the group of denying closure to communities and victims' families by giving new life to old cases. To that, project spokesman Eric Ferrero said, "Victims are not served by the wrong people being convicted."
Perhaps the most important victory for the project has been its role in sparing the lives of 15 people condemned to death. In 2000, 13 condemned prisoners were exonerated by a group of Northwestern University students affiliated with the Innocence Project.
Some of the innocent prisoners were freed through DNA testing, others were exonerated after new trials were ordered by appellate courts.Those spared lives prompted then-Illinois Gov. George Ryan to declare a state moratorium on all executions and later, a blanket clemency of all 167 death row prisoners.
The moratorium remains in effect while Illinois authorities consider proposed reforms to the system.
Back in Georgia, during the ten months since Williams' friends and family welcomed him home with hugs and kisses, he's been taking his time rejoining society, attending electronics classes and dealing with his top complaint: 21st century traffic.
Williams has found a home in a church congregation and plans to join its choir, holding on to the spiritual anchor he formed in prison.
Money is tight for Williams, and, according to the Innocence Project, only 45 percent of those exonerated by DNA evidence have been financially compensated. He expects some compensation from Georgia, although the state has no law guiding such cases.
Regaining his freedom has renewed Williams' belief in the power of prayer, but he said it has done little to repair his faith in the nation's justice system. He wonders how many other Americans are still suffering injustices like his own.
"When I see someone on television when they say, 'this is a suspect,' I have a difficult time believing that that actually is a suspect," Williams said.
"That's how I'm affected now."
Willie "Pete" Williams, 45, spent half of his life behind bars for a 1985 rape he did not commit 22 years "I felt betrayed ... I felt like these people had taken my life," says WilliamsDNA evidence has directly exonerated 208 wrongly convicted people in U.S have also been set free.
Sitting in the flashing glow of Atlanta squad car lights along Georgia State Road 400, the 23-year-old part-time house painter didn't know police were looking for a rapist who had struck nearby three weeks earlier.
Police questioned -- and then arrested Williams, triggering a series of mistaken witness identifications that led to his unjust conviction for rape, kidnapping and aggravated sodomy.
It was 1985 and Williams was sentenced to serve 45 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. "I felt betrayed. ... I felt like these people had taken my life for something I didn't do. I felt like I was being treated unfairly. ... I felt very, very angry towards everybody," said Williams last week, a free man after nearly 22 years behind bars.
He said he spent many of those years stoking that anger by fighting guards and inmates, while his childhood friends were developing careers and raising families. Watch Williams offer more details about his prison nightmare »
Earlier this year, after DNA science proved his innocence, the 45-year-old with a graying mustache stood again before a judge -- who this time exonerated Williams. Watch Williams celebrate after a judge freed him »
Williams' troubling story provokes discomfort in a nation that prides itself on a justice system where the accused are innocent until proven guilty. So far, DNA evidence has directly exonerated 208 wrongly convicted people in the United States, according to the Innocence Project. It's unknown how many prisoners now locked up in American jails could be freed by new testing of DNA evidence.
A jury of Williams' peers convicted him in the April 5, 1985, rape, kidnapping and aggravated sodomy of a woman in Atlanta's Sandy Springs neighborhood.
The victim told police her attacker first approached her to ask if she could help him find someone named Paul. Then he produced a gun and forced her into her car, according to police. They then drove to a dead-end street where the assault occurred.
Because the science behind each person's unique DNA signature was new to police in 1985, the key evidence that sealed Williams' fate was the testimony of three eyewitnesses who mistakenly said they recognized him.
"Mistaken eyewitness identification has long been the single biggest factor in the conviction of innocents," said Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project.
"That has got to be important to everybody, because if we can reform identification procedures, it will keep more innocent people out of jail and convict criminals who really commit the crimes."
A national nonprofit group, the Innocence Project has inspired creation of state and regional organizations including the Georgia Innocence Project, which exonerated Williams.
As a new prisoner Williams said he fought a painful struggle against the raw deal the world had dealt him. When board members denied him parole the first of three times Williams said, "they had to escort me to 'the hole' [solitary confinement]."
"I couldn't function out there around the other inmates," Williams said. "I was mad, I was bitter. I felt the whole world just gave me up."
It wasn't until 1997 -- more than a decade after he was locked away -- that Williams' own voice freed him from the grip of his anger. At Valdosta State Prison, a close friend named Charlie Brown helped him join a Christian choir -- leading him to accept Jesus.
"Singing was like being out here, in a sense. It freed me from all the things, from all the fights, from the officers who were cruel, prison, stabbings," said Williams, who especially embraced the hymn "Amazing Grace."
After singing got a hold of Williams, he said the hardest part of his heart started to dissolve.
"I didn't feel angry anymore -- or any hate."
Witness ID
Sequential double-blind lineups are standard in:
New Jersey
Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Northhampton, Massachusetts
Madison, Wisconsin
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Ramsey County, Minnesota
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Santa Clara County, California
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Source: Innocence Project
To prevent more tragedies like Williams', innocence projects in many states, including Georgia, have begun pressing lawmakers to adopt special witness ID procedures called sequential double-blind lineups. Such lineups are administrated by officials who don't know who the suspect is and present each member of a lineup one-by-one instead of simultaneously.
Witnesses who see several potential suspects simultaneously are more likely to choose a person who looks most like the perpetrator -- but who may not actually be the perpetrator, according to the Innocence Project. The group also cites research that says misidentification is reduced if the person overseeing the lineup is "blind" to which person in the lineup is the suspect.
Georgia's Legislature held hearings Monday in Atlanta to study the research and the proposed standards, which have been adopted by New Jersey and jurisdictions in Minnesota, California and elsewhere.
Louis M. Dekmar, vice chair of the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies is skeptical of the research, but said the issue deserves further study.
"I don't believe the research is so compelling that we need to make swings and changes that don't bode well for criminal investigations and the criminal justice process," said Dekmar, a 30-year law enforcement veteran and chief of police for LaGrange, Georgia.
Dekmar argues investigators should be allowed to administer lineups to gauge reaction while they look at witness faces, to see if a witness is "stressed, weeping, nervous -- all those reactions that help detectives formulate whether this is a strong identification or a weak identification."
Williams' Case
April 5, 1985: Woman raped, kidnapped in Atlanta, Georgia
Williams arrested: April 28, 1985
Sentence: 45 years in prison
Freed: January 23, 2007
Exonerated by DNA evidence: February 13, 2007
February 10, 2007: DNA tests result in arrest and eventual conviction of Kenneth G. Wicker for the 1985 rape
Sources: Innocence Project, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Williams was convicted on the identification of three witnesses who first singled him out from a photo lineup, according to the Georgia Innocence Project.
More than 20 years later, Georgia Innocence Project attorneys arranged to compare Williams' DNA with DNA evidence collected from the 1985 rape. It was not a match, proving that Williams was not the attacker and opening the door to his release.
Shortly after Williams' exoneration, DNA science again played a role in the case when a genetic match resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of Kenneth G. Wicker for the crime that Williams had been wrongly convicted of. Years earlier Wicker had served four years in prison for another rape and two attempted sexual assaults, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
As Scheck's Innocence Project marks its 15th year, the 1995 O.J. Simpson defense attorney describes it as a movement for criminal justice as well as human rights.
"I think that it's going to be remembered for getting innocents out of jail, but also for changing the paradigm in the criminal justice system," said Scheck.
"There is a greater understanding now that sound scientific and critical research can go a long way toward proving injustice and prosecuting the guilty."
Sometimes an Innocence Project client is confirmed to be guilty by DNA evidence, but the group doesn't make the number of those cases available. Theoretically, If key DNA material in a case is properly preserved, there's no time limit on revisiting old cases, according to the Innocence Project.
Critics accuse the group of denying closure to communities and victims' families by giving new life to old cases. To that, project spokesman Eric Ferrero said, "Victims are not served by the wrong people being convicted."
Perhaps the most important victory for the project has been its role in sparing the lives of 15 people condemned to death. In 2000, 13 condemned prisoners were exonerated by a group of Northwestern University students affiliated with the Innocence Project.
Some of the innocent prisoners were freed through DNA testing, others were exonerated after new trials were ordered by appellate courts.Those spared lives prompted then-Illinois Gov. George Ryan to declare a state moratorium on all executions and later, a blanket clemency of all 167 death row prisoners.
The moratorium remains in effect while Illinois authorities consider proposed reforms to the system.
Back in Georgia, during the ten months since Williams' friends and family welcomed him home with hugs and kisses, he's been taking his time rejoining society, attending electronics classes and dealing with his top complaint: 21st century traffic.
Williams has found a home in a church congregation and plans to join its choir, holding on to the spiritual anchor he formed in prison.
Money is tight for Williams, and, according to the Innocence Project, only 45 percent of those exonerated by DNA evidence have been financially compensated. He expects some compensation from Georgia, although the state has no law guiding such cases.
Regaining his freedom has renewed Williams' belief in the power of prayer, but he said it has done little to repair his faith in the nation's justice system. He wonders how many other Americans are still suffering injustices like his own.
"When I see someone on television when they say, 'this is a suspect,' I have a difficult time believing that that actually is a suspect," Williams said.
"That's how I'm affected now."
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Lil wayne in court again
Lil wayneAKA MR CARTER times 3 Appeared in count on 09/10/08 His lawyer Stacey Richman made a statement objecting to earlier statements made by Officer Diane Hornung of the NYPD during her testimony this week. Officer Hornung claims she noticed smoke coming from tour bus following concert on 07/22/07 and she could smell what’s known as the drug Marijuana, Weezy’s Lawyer pointed out that Officer Hornung was quite a distance away to witness all of that. “She wasn’t any where near where she said she was” he said. Richman, also brought up various court documents that showed the officer to be, in fact, blocks away from the scene where she was helping a fellow officer arrest rap artist Ja Rule and his entourage on gun charges. So clearly the OFFICER was no where around and makes her testimony not justifiable in either case. Before the case was brought to trial Officer Hornung stressed that it was the scent of marijuana that was probable cause for her as an officer to search the bus. Weezy will be back in court next week facing 3 ½ years in jail.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
A distraction called Palin
Palin is a distraction And this election won't be won by comparing Biden to Palin; it won't be won by killer lines against Palin's qualifications. The best Obama can make use of is during the Republican Convention, and they can run ads about Romney and Huckabee and suchlike to demonstrate how McCain has gone on and selected a nonentity, someone who did not even campaign nationally, in the place of other candidates who had had the support of the Party. This is about the maximum mileage of the Palin story - unless of course there is real corruption, in which case McCain and the ticket are toast in any event.
No. The significance of the Palin selection is to be found elsewhere. It is that, first, the experience issue is not gone, forever, and done with. Not that Obama's experience is in any way comparable to Palin's, but that McCain has already defanged his own campaign of its most serious legitimate charge. And second, that, simply, this is a desperate attempt at shoring up a candidacy that is floundering; it is a gimmick; it is a joke and a hoax upon the nation. McCain chose her because he has no intention of winning - or, rather, no hope. It is already a concession speech: after all, if he is a true patriot, he can't be serious in wanting her his own heartbeat away from the Presidency. This is yet another frat-boy prank, another injection of humour into the campaign; this is the Paris Hilton ad taken to its logical extension.
As for the supporters of Hillary: well, I am not a woman, but if I were, I'd be, at a minimum, mildly insulted. Why? *Because this is how McCain thinks of Hillary.* To him, Hillary is no better than a one-term two-year Governor of a small state: all Hillary supporters want is not Hillary and her experience (in their minds) and her credentials; it is her reproductive organs - and if Hillary then some other woman, any other woman.
Whatever one might say about Mrs. Clinton, she is a formidable politician; she was the presumptive nominee for a long time, and came within several percentage points of being the nominee. She has travelled the country, campaigned long (too long) and hard (too hard); she's the one who got the 18 million cracks in the ceiling. And now McCain thinks that any woman anywhere in the country could claim the allegiance of these 18 million, just by virtue of being women? Nah, it does not work that way. And that should be the story to press forward.
Everyone is missing the point
Everyone is missing the point. Obama was saying that Palin is the lipstick and McCain is the pig - Palin is the newspaper and McCain is the fish. So infact he complimented Palin and insulted McCain. It is a very accurate analogy that clearly illustrates the trick republicans are trying to pull on the America people to get their pig elected. That pig being John McCain. But lipstick smears and wears off quickly. It needs to be re-applied, which is why McCain keeps Palin so close on the campaign trail. Without Palin to make McCain look good everyone will see him for what he really is. Also not enough attention is being paid to the fact that Palin is an unknown quantity who is turning out to be quite deceptive, vindictive and extreme and alot of her attraction to voters come down to her looks, compared to Obama and McCain. So even if the analogy is applied to her it is very accurate and highlights how her looks are bing used to manipulate voters. She looks good but she is a pig of a politician. The lip-stick on a pig analogy is also an accurate discription of McCains lies about being an agent of change and a maverick. All three interpretation of the lipstick/pig analogy clearly describes how the America people are being deceived by the McCain Palin ticket. A vote for Palin and McCain truly is a vote for lipstick on a pig, whichever way you look at it. After two weeks of republican hype and hoopla Obama has very accurately described the republican ticket in a way that everyone can easily understand.
Monday, September 8, 2008
George Carlin, died at 71
George Carlin, 71, the much-honored American stand-up comedian whose long career was distinguished by pointed social commentary that placed him on the cultural cutting edge, died last night in Santa Monica, Calif.
His death was reported by the Reuters news agency and on the Los Angeles Times Web site. He had long struggled with health problems and a heart condition dating to the 1970s.
Carlin was selected last week by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to receive this year's Mark Twain Prize, a lifetime achievement award presented to an outstanding comedian.
Over a career of half a century, Carlin placed himself in the forefront of comic commentators on the American scene. He was particularly known for an album that referred to what he described as the seven words that could not be used on television.
The playing of the album on a radio station led to a case that went to the Supreme Court, and the material was judged indecent but not obscene. The legal controversy brought about the enunciation of a rule permitting a ban on certain material when children are most likely to be in the audience.
The case was one of the highlights of a career that included TV and radio performances, including HBO specials and many comic albums.
The New York-born performer, who also was an Air Force veteran, once summed up his approach:
"I think it is the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."
Carlin's entertainment career began in 1956 at a radio station in Shreveport, La. while he was in the service.
In the early 1960s, he began his one-man act, and his live appearances and the albums he recorded proved highly popular.
His wife Brenda, predeceased him. They had a daughter, Kelly. A second wife survives him.
he reason Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had to be bailed out.
The reason of the rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needed a helping hand.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy mortgages from approved lenders and then sell them on to investors - rather than lending directly to borrowers
They guarantee or own about half of the $12 trillion US mortgage market. They are relied on by almost all US mortgage lenders. Banks look for funds to meet consumer demand for mortgages when mortgage lenders are linked with investors - they help to keep the supply of money widely available and at a lower cost.
Almost all US mortgage lenders, from huge financial institutions such as Citigroup to small, local banks, rely on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, looking to them for the funds they need to meet consumer demand for mortgages.
The two firms argue that they make home ownership more affordable, lowering the interest rates on the 30-year mortgages that they guarantee.
But their peculiar status has left them in a grey area between being government owned and private sector, with potential risks to the taxpayer should they need bailing out.
The rescue at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae contrast with the recent collapse of California-based IndyMac Bank - the second-largest financial institution to fail in US history, regulators say.
IndyMac had been struggling to raise funds and stay in business in one of the states worst hit by the US housing market slump.
Without similar close links to government it could not weather the storm, and went into administration.
But it is clear that Washington wants to keep Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae alive and kicking, not least so that they can play a key role in reinvigorating the housing market.
But there is a strong consensus that the price of not intervening would be far worse.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy mortgages from approved lenders and then sell them on to investors - rather than lending directly to borrowers
They guarantee or own about half of the $12 trillion US mortgage market. They are relied on by almost all US mortgage lenders. Banks look for funds to meet consumer demand for mortgages when mortgage lenders are linked with investors - they help to keep the supply of money widely available and at a lower cost.
FREDDIE MAC & FANNIE MAE are the two largest firms that buy mortgages from approved lenders and then sell them on to investors - rather than lending directly to borrowers
They have guaranted or own about half of the $12 trillion US mortgage market. They are relied on by almost all US mortgage lenders and are looked to for funds to meet consumer demand for mortgages.
They have guaranted or own about half of the $12 trillion US mortgage market. They are relied on by almost all US mortgage lenders and are looked to for funds to meet consumer demand for mortgages.
The companies have been taken under government control because they, according to President Bush, pose "an unacceptable risk" to the economy.
It will cost the US taxpayer at least $200bn to rebuild their capital - and the cost could be a lot higher if the US housing market continues to plummet.
Here is a unique that you may did not know... Despite Fannie and Freddy guaranteeing or owning just under half of the entire US mortgage market, you cannot actually get a home loan from either firm.
But while they are invisible to the average borrower, the two firms are highly influential institutions and are key to the US housing market.
As one US Treasury official puts it, the two firms are "way too intertwined with everyone in the world" to fail. Because banks around the world are highly exposed to the two companies.
And, given the unstable state of markets across the world, it had become dangerous for doubts to persist about whether they were viable and would be able to keep up the payments on their massive liabilities, said the BBC's business editor Robert Peston.
The Accounting flaws of the housing market turmoil has caused the firms great damage, its problems appear to be partly be to do with the way it managed its accounts - which had the effect of overstating its capital resources and financial stability.
The New York Times reported that Freddie Mac had pushed losses it had already incurred into the fourth quarter of 2008 - meaning that it would not have to be revealed until next year.
Fannie Mae had done something similar, but to a lesser extent, the paper said, adding that neither firm had necessarily breached accounting rules.
Both firms had also factored in tax benefits on profits that they were yet to see - credits which are worthless until profits are actually made - something neither has managed in the past year.
It was investigations by the Federal authorities into these irregularities that helped prompt the government to act.
The guarantees given by the US government were no longer enough. Even as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had profited from the US housing boom.
As the value of US homes soared, the importance of these two institutions grew in allowing people to purchase property.
The two firms do not lend directly to homebuyers, instead buying mortgage debt from approved lenders such as banks, and then selling it on to investors.
It will cost the US taxpayer at least $200bn to rebuild their capital - and the cost could be a lot higher if the US housing market continues to plummet.
Here is a unique that you may did not know... Despite Fannie and Freddy guaranteeing or owning just under half of the entire US mortgage market, you cannot actually get a home loan from either firm.
But while they are invisible to the average borrower, the two firms are highly influential institutions and are key to the US housing market.
As one US Treasury official puts it, the two firms are "way too intertwined with everyone in the world" to fail. Because banks around the world are highly exposed to the two companies.
And, given the unstable state of markets across the world, it had become dangerous for doubts to persist about whether they were viable and would be able to keep up the payments on their massive liabilities, said the BBC's business editor Robert Peston.
The Accounting flaws of the housing market turmoil has caused the firms great damage, its problems appear to be partly be to do with the way it managed its accounts - which had the effect of overstating its capital resources and financial stability.
The New York Times reported that Freddie Mac had pushed losses it had already incurred into the fourth quarter of 2008 - meaning that it would not have to be revealed until next year.
Fannie Mae had done something similar, but to a lesser extent, the paper said, adding that neither firm had necessarily breached accounting rules.
Both firms had also factored in tax benefits on profits that they were yet to see - credits which are worthless until profits are actually made - something neither has managed in the past year.
It was investigations by the Federal authorities into these irregularities that helped prompt the government to act.
The guarantees given by the US government were no longer enough. Even as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had profited from the US housing boom.
As the value of US homes soared, the importance of these two institutions grew in allowing people to purchase property.
The two firms do not lend directly to homebuyers, instead buying mortgage debt from approved lenders such as banks, and then selling it on to investors.
Almost all US mortgage lenders, from huge financial institutions such as Citigroup to small, local banks, rely on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, looking to them for the funds they need to meet consumer demand for mortgages.
The two firms argue that they make home ownership more affordable, lowering the interest rates on the 30-year mortgages that they guarantee.
But their peculiar status has left them in a grey area between being government owned and private sector, with potential risks to the taxpayer should they need bailing out.
The rescue at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae contrast with the recent collapse of California-based IndyMac Bank - the second-largest financial institution to fail in US history, regulators say.
IndyMac had been struggling to raise funds and stay in business in one of the states worst hit by the US housing market slump.
Without similar close links to government it could not weather the storm, and went into administration.
But it is clear that Washington wants to keep Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae alive and kicking, not least so that they can play a key role in reinvigorating the housing market.
But there is a strong consensus that the price of not intervening would be far worse.
Don Haskin died at 78
The greatest triumph was mostly a memory when Disney decided to take another look. Then came the movie "Glory Road" and a whole new generation learned what Bob Knight already knew about his old friend's career — and legacy.
"Don got more out of his teams and players than any coach who has ever coached college basketball," Knight said.
Haskins, the Hall of Fame coach credited with helping break color barriers in college sports in 1966 when he used five black starters to win a national basketball title for Texas Western, died Sunday. He was 78.
Dr. Dwayne Aboud, Haskins' physician, told reporters Sunday that Haskins had been suffering from congestive heart failure and died at home about 4:30 p.m. He was surrounded by friends and relatives, Aboud said.
"As many of you know, Coach Haskins has had some cardiac problems. He opted not to go back to the hospital but to remain at home," Aboud said, standing outside the UTEP basketball arena named for Haskins.
As word of Haskins' death spread Sunday afternoon, those who knew him were quick to sing his praises.
"The word unique does not begin to describe Don Haskins," Knight, the winningest men's coach in the sport's history, said Sunday. "There is no one who has ever coached that I respected and admired more than Don Haskins. I've had no better friend that I enjoyed more than Don Haskins."
"The myth that surrounds Don Haskins in the movie 'Glory Road' and what he did for black players is better said that he cared like that for all his players," Knight added. "To me that tells me more about the man than anything. ... There was never anyone like him before and there will never be one like him again."
Haskins, who was white, was an old-time coach who believed in hard work and was known for his gruff demeanor. That attitude was portrayed in the 2006 movie that chronicled Haskins' improbable rise to national fame in the 1966 championship game against an all-white, heavily favored Kentucky team coached by Adolph Rupp.
Nolan Richardson, who coached Arkansas to a national title, played for two years under Haskins.
"I think one of the truest legacies that he could ever leave was what happened in 1966. He was never political. Those were the times and the days the black kids didn't play at other schools, but he started five and was able to win with them without worrying about what color they were," Richardson said.
Haskins retired in 1999 after 38 seasons at the school. He had a 719-353 record and won seven Western Athletic Conference titles. He took UTEP to 14 NCAA tournaments and to the NIT seven times and briefly worked as an adviser with the Chicago Bulls.
Haskins, 19th on the Division I men's victory list, turned down several more lucrative offers, including one with the now-defunct American Basketball Association, to remain at UTEP as one of the lowest paid coaches in the WAC.
Former coach Eddie Sutton said Haskins "had a tremendous impact on the college game. Anybody who's been around college basketball dating back to those days, they've seen how it changed after Texas Western won the national championship."
Sutton said he hadn't talked to Haskins for at least six weeks.
"Don had not been in good health and was having a hard time," Sutton said. "He'll be dearly missed. He was a great basketball coach."
Haskins, born in Enid, Okla., played for Hall of Fame coach Henry "Hank" Iba at Oklahoma State, back when the school was still Oklahoma A&M. Haskins was later an assistant under Iba for the 1972 U.S. Olympic team in Munich.
As a coach, Haskins became a star early in his career by leading his Miners to the 1966 NCAA championship game, then making the controversial decision to start five blacks against Kentucky. The Miners won 72-65, and shortly after that many schools began recruiting black players.
"He took a school that had no reason to be a basketball giant and made it into one," Knight said.
Haskins said he wasn't trying to make a social statement with his lineup; he was simply starting his best players. The move, however, raised the ire of some who sent Haskins hate mail and even death threats during the racially charged era.
"When they won the national championship against the University of Kentucky, that changed college basketball," Sutton said. "At that time, there weren't many teams in the South or Southwest that had African-Americans playing. There was a change in the recruiting of the black athlete. It really changed after that. They've had a great impact on the game."
The coach always was focused on the game of basketball. He had a reputation for working his players hard.
"Our practices wore us out so much that we'd have to rest up before the games," said Harry Flournoy, a starter in the 1966 championship. "If you work hard all the time and if you go after every loose ball, you see things like that (championship) happen."
Haskins helped Nate Archibald, Tim Hardaway and Antonio Davis, among others, make it to the NBA.
In November 2000, Haskins was awarded the John Thompson Foundation's Outstanding Achievement Award during a tournament hosted by Arkansas.
"We couldn't think of anyone that deserves this recognition more than coach Haskins," Richardson said. "He opened the door for African-American players to play basketball."
Former UTEP and current Kentucky coach Billy Gillespie said every conversation he had with Haskins left an impression.
"I looked forward to the phone calls after each and every game. He was watching almost every game of our team," Gillespie said. "It was just like having another coach on the bench present at every single practice. I took every single thing he said to heart. I knew he didn't have any agenda, he was just trying to help one of his friends win a game."
Doc Sadler, also a former UTEP coach and now head coach at Nebraska, said Haskins called frequently last season just to discuss strategy and outcome.
"If you were one of his guys, you were one of his guys," Sadler said. "He was bigger than life. The word I was told was that he was the John Wayne of college basketball. He had that much respect."
Haskins was hired in 1961 as a virtual unknown. Ben Collins, the school's athletic director at the time, said he consulted people who knew more about basketball than he did. And from the beginning, Collins said Sunday, he never had a second thought.
"He was a success almost from his first year," Collins said. "That in itself speaks a lot about his ability as a basketball coach."
Haskins' health had been an issue for several years, stretching back to his final season at UTEP when he was often forced to remain seated during games. The program that Haskins built struggled after twice being slapped with NCAA sanctions. Serious health concerns continued in his retirement. In the midst of a series of book signings and other appearances Haskins was hospitalized with various woes.
In recent weeks his health had declined rapidly, prompting friends and some former players to make special visits to see the ailing coach.
"It was a blessing ... for us to go by and visit with Coach Haskins," said Togo Railey, a guard/forward for Haskins' 1966 team.
"He was still just full of life, as sick as he was. We talked about of our old friends. Don, as sick as he was, had a little smirk on his face and was telling jokes and fibbing on one and another. It was just a blessing."
After his retirement, Haskins kept close ties with the Miners. The school's most recent hire, Tony Barbee, said he even met with Haskins just after accepting the job.
"We are losing a national treasure," Barbee said. "I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to get to know him over the last two years. The information he shared with me was invaluable to a first-time head coach. He is a Hall of Fame coach and a Hall of Fame person."
UTEP athletic director Bob Stull called Haskins an "icon."
"He has had a huge impact on the city and the University of Texas at El Paso," Stull said. "He remains one of the most revered and honored coaches in basketball history. His decision to start five black players in the 1966 national championship game ... changed college basketball and the sports world. He will always be remembered for that."
Haskins is survived by wife Mary and son Brent, David and Steve. A fourth son, Mark, died in 1994.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Rashad Evans stops Chuck Liddell with one punch
ATLANTA — Returning from a long layoff, UFC star Chuck Liddell had the crowd. He had the momentum, chasing Rashad Evans around the Octagon on Saturday.
With one punch, Evans changed all that, landing an overhand right that instantly dropped Liddell. Referee Herb Dean rushed to stop the fight, and doctors immediately jumped in the ring to tend to Liddell.
Evans, unbeaten but unheralded coming into the fight, raised his record to 17-0-1. Liddell, losing for the third time in his last four fights, dropped to 21-6.
STRIKES & SUBMISSIONS: UFC 88 play-by-play
UFC's former light heavyweight champion and breakout celebrity star stalked Evans through the first round but couldn't land a clean shot. After a rare flurry of punches, Evans danced and smiled. But the former Michigan State wrestler did little to challenge Liddell other than a couple of ineffective leg kicks.
Evans countered and opened a small cut on Liddell's cheek in the second round, but Liddell continued to press the action. Evans seemed intent on luring Liddell into a defensive mistake. He got it, then capitalized with stunning brutality. The former champion dropped with a thud, then remained in a daze for several minutes.
"I was trying to get him to come out of his comfort zone because usually he likes you to chase him," Evans said.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Enough is enough
I look at the actions of conservative, and even moderate, republicans and it makes me sad. On so many issue they simply attack the person and not the issue. There are groups that taunght pregnant women and in extreme cases bomb clinics killing people. Do you know of any groups on the otherside of the issue taunght women for having a baby and not getting an abortion. Have you ever heard of a clinic being bombed because they perform deliveries of babies? Have you ever heard of someone being beat up because they were not gay?
To liberial you simply are saying that you believe that it is OK for people to have their own moral values. I believe that in some, if not many, cases abortion is immoral. I believe that in almost ever circumstance abortion is not the right answer. But there is no place for me in the pro-life movement because I also believe that just because I feel this way doesn't mean you must as well. In most cases, I do not agree with a woman who choses to have an abortion, however I do not think I have the right to make that choice for her.
I would never engage in a gay relationship, homosexuality seems unnatural to me, however I would never hurt someone for having a different opinion than me, I would not be so arogant as to suggest that some how my opinion means more than someone elses. Having said that you are special and have some information that impells you to tell other people that they are wrong for their beliefs then who am I to say you are wrong for believe that. Your opinion is no more right or wrong than mine. I simply choose to associate with people who think the same way as me. A woman is not wrong if she decide to have an abortion. A person is not wrong because they are gay. They just have a different view than I do and should enjoy the same rights I do.
I am in no way superior to anyone else. I have no special ability to see the truth where others can not. In no way do my spiritual beliefs afford me any special benefit of immortality over anyone elses. I am just a person amoung many other people just like me. All of were born with the same information about our existance or purpose, which is very little, As a matter of fact the only thing any of us truely know, for sure, about our ultimate purpose is the fact that none of us really knows for sure.
So why go through life pretending like you do? It just makes you seem insecure.
Bill Melendez died he was 91.
Bill Melendez, best known for bringing the Peanuts characters to life with such classics as "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," died Tuesday at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica. He was 91.
Melendez, the only animator permitted by Charles M. Schulz to work with the Peanuts characters, earned eight Emmy Awards, 17 Emmy nominations, one Oscar nomination and two Peabody Awards. He began his career at Disney and Warner Bros., working on classic characters at those studios, and spent more than 70 years in the entertainment industry.
In 1948, the Mexican native left Warner Bros. and for more than a decade served as a director and producer on more than 1,000 commercials and films for United Productions of America, Playhouse Pictures and John Sutherland Prods.
It was at UPA that Melendez started doing work for the New York-based J. Walter Thompson ad agency, whose client included Ford. The carmaker expressed interest in using the Peanuts characters to sell its cars on TV, and in 1959 Melendez prepared his animation work and showed it to Peanuts creator Schulz.
Melendez went on to bring Charlie Brown and his pals to the screen in more than 63 half-hour specials, five one-hour specials, four feature films and more than 372 commercials. In addition to perennial favorites "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965) and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (1966), Melendez produced the Oscar-nominated "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" (1971), "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" (1973), "She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown" (1980) and "You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown" (1975). He also provided the voices for Snoopy and Woodstock through the years.
Melendez also animated TV specials "Garfield on the Town," "Cathy," "Babar Comes to America" and "The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe," among others. He shared an Emmy in 1987 for outstanding animated program with three others for "Cathy."
His last credit was as a producer for 2006 TV special "He's A Bully, Charlie Brown."
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Larry Harmon dies at 83
Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 83. Best known as the longtime owner of the name and likeness of "Bozo the Clown". Although Harmon credited himself as the character's creator and original portrayer, Capitol Records producer Alan Livingston created Bozo in 1946 for a popular series of children's storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book sets, the first of their kind; and Pinto Colvig portrayed the character on the recordings, radio and first television series "Bozo's Circus" (1949) on KTTV-Channel 11 (CBS) Los Angeles, California in 1949. Harmon, one of several actors hired by Livingston and Capitol Records to portray Bozo at promotional appearances, formed a business partnership and bought the licensing rights (excluding the record-readers) to the character when Livingston briefly left Capitol in 1956. In 1959, Jayark Films Corporation distributed a series of Harmon-produced limited-animation cartoons (with Harmon as the voice of Bozo) to television stations, along with the rights for each to hire its own live Bozo host. In 1965, Harmon became the sole owner of the licensing rights after buying out his business partners. In 1971, Larry Harmon Pictures Corporation took over Capitol Records' "Bozo the Clown" copyright. In 2001, the last Bozo television series ended a 40-year-run on Superstation WGN-Channel 9 Chicago, Illinois.
He also created an aborted television pilot in the 1950s called "General Universe", in which he was going to use the life size, stationary model of the robot "Gort", from the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). He then went on to create the studio bound, 50s television show called "Commander Comet", which flourished for 2 and a half seasons. He used the "Gort" prop for this show as well. He made some additions to the "Gort" suit & called it "Rotar", who was the ever faithful companion to "Commander Comet".
Children: son, Jeff Harmon, and daughters Lori Harmon, Marci Breth-Carabet and Leslie Breth.
Became interested in theater while studying at the University of Southern California.
Caught up in a minor controversy when the International Clown Hall of Fame took down his 1990 Lifetime of Laughter Achievement Award plaque honoring him as the creator and original Bozo, and formally endorsed Alan Livingston in 1998 as creator and inducted Pinto Colvig in 2004 as the first Bozo. Harmon, who was one of several actors playing Bozo at promotional appearances in the early 1950s and later acquired all rights to the character, denied ever misrepresenting Bozo's history.