Detroit Lawyer Haskell has been a prominent skeptic of the government’s official version of events, having witnessed a well-dressed man help Abdulmutallab clear security before the incident on Christmas Day 2009 despite the fact that the bomber had no passport, in addition to the fact that his own father had warned U.S. intelligence officials of the threat posed by Abdulmutallab a month before the attempted attack.
He was found guilty of racketeering, extortion, soliciting a bribe and conspiracy. Some of those charges included shakedowns of a children's hospital and a horse racing executive. He was acquitted on one count of shaking down a construction executive and a verdict was not reached on two other counts, the Chicago Tribune reported. The newspaper reported he faces a significant prison sentence.
Leaving the Chicago courtroom, Blagojevich said he was 'very disappointed' by the verdicts. 'I, frankly, am stunned,' said Blagojevich, who has professed his innocence.
Blagojevich, 54, had been accused of trying to sell Obama's seat after he was caught on wiretap by federal investigators during a previous investigation. As governor, he had the power to appoint Obama's successor in the Senate until an election could be held be held.
Blagojevich, a Democrat, was arrested in December 2008 - weeks after Obama won the presidential election - after being recorded in a profanity-laced conversation describing the Senate vacancy as a 'golden' asset for which he was seeking political or financial returns. The Illinois General Assembly impeached Blagojevich the following January and removed him from office.
He faces a series of challenges, beginning with the fact that his last name is not Daley. His predecessor, Richard M. Daley, and his father, Richard J. Daley, have controlled the city of 2.69 million for 42 of the past 55 years. The current economic crisis in the United States has affected the Midwestern city as it has others, leading to an estimated budget deficit of some $600 million.
Nevertheless, Emanuel's popularity may stand him in good stead, at least initially: the 51-year-old former Congressman won 55 per cent of the vote in a field of six candidates, thus ending the need for a run-off in April. Gery J. Chico, former chief of staff to incumbent Mayor Richard M. Daley, his closest competitor, garnered less than half with only 24 percent.
Emanuel is known as a tough pragmatist and for his blunt manner of speaking. During his tenure as chief of staff in the Obama White House, he told an Israeli diplomat that the United States was “fed up” with Israel. Less than a year later, however, as he considered a run in the Chicago mayoral race, he told rabbis that the Obama administration had “screwed up the messaging” and failed to convey its support for the Jewish State.
President Barack Obama called Tuesday night to congratulate Emanuel, saying, “As a Chicagoan and a friend, I couldn't be prouder.”
from wben: Karen Eckert, whose sister Beverly Eckert died in the crash of Flight 3407 in Clarence, will attend President Obama'sState of the Union speech tonight as a guest of Senator Charles Schumer. Since the February 2009 crash, Eckert and other families of crash victims have worked to make historic improvements in flight safety. Her sister Beverly was a key leader of 9/11 family groups. Beverly Eckert lost her husband, Sean Rooney, when the Twin Towers fell. Schumer said Karen Eckert has worked to pressure decision makers to make much-needed improvements in pilot training and air passenger awareness and safety.
Opting out of scanning is permitted, but those who opt out must receive an enhanced pat down from a TSA employee. "Pat down is misleading," Roberts said. "They concentrate on the area between ... the upper thighs and torso, and they're not just patting people's arms and legs, they're grabbing and groping and prodding pretty aggressively."
How many deaths the gene may have caused is unknown; there is no central tracking of such cases. So far, the gene has mostly been found in bacteria that cause gut or urinary infections. Scientists have long feared this — a very adaptable gene that hitches onto many types of common germs and confers broad drug resistance, creating dangerous "superbugs."
from fema.gov: The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will conduct National Level Exercise (NLE) 2010 on May 17-18. NLE 2010 will engage federal, state and local partners in a series of events and opportunities to demonstrate and assess federal emergency preparedness capabilities pertaining to a simulated terrorist attack scenario involving an improvised nuclear device.
“Every day we are taking steps to continue to strengthen our nation’s emergency response team, from the local level up to the federal government,” said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. “NLE 2010 provides an important opportunity to exercise these response and recovery capabilities across all levels of government.”
chris ware's rejected fortune cover paints honest,
dismal picture of american capitalism from huffpo: When Fortune magazine asked comic book artist and Oak Park resident Chris Ware to design the cover of their "Fortune 500" issue, they were probably not expecting his "beautiful and Marxist" interpretation of modern capitalism. Chicagoist reported Friday that Ware was asked to design the May cover of the magazine, but his final product, which featured "Guantanamo Bay prisoners, Mexican factory workers, and a few potshots at business execs and money-grubbing politicians" was apparently not what Fortune had in mind--they killed the cover. Still, a high-resolution version of the Ware cover is making its rounds on the Internet - and fans are delighted.
from ap: It's a big number that only tells part of the story. The number of banks that have failed so far this year topped 100 on Friday — hitting 106 by the end of the day — the most in nearly two decades. But the trouble in the banking system from bad loans and the recession goes even deeper.
Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of other banks remain open even though they are as weak as many that have been shuttered. Regulators are seizing banks slowly and selectively — partly to avoid inciting panic and partly because buyers for bad banks are hard to find.
Going slow buys time. An economic recovery could save some banks that would otherwise go under. But if the recovery is slow and smaller banks' finances get even worse, it could wind up costing even more.
This year's 106 bank failures are the most in any year since 181 collapsed in 1992 at the end of the savings-and-loan crisis. On Friday, regulators took over three small Florida banks — Partners Bank and Hillcrest Bank Florida, both of Naples, and Flagship National Bank in Bradenton — along with four elsewhere: American United Bank of Lawrenceville, Ga., Bank of Elmwood in Racine, Wis., Riverview Community Bank in Otsego, Minn., and First Dupage Bank in Westmont, Ill.
from chicago tribune: A Detroit-area woman has pleaded guilty to falsifying her work as a CIA investigator who did background checks on employees and potential employees. Authorities say Kerry Gerdes of Royal Oak lied in about 80 investigative reports, from December 2006 through May 2007. Gerdes was supposed to interview people who knew current or potential federal employees. Her reports influenced hiring decisions and the granting of security clearances, but the interviews didn't occur. Gerdes faces up to a year in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday. Messages seeking comment were left with her lawyer, Richard Helfrick, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Falvey Jr. There's no mention of a motive in court filings. U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg calls the case a betrayal of trust.
flashback: 'vibrant response': US nuke scenario & northcom from army news service: Consequence-management response forces, or CCMRF, are staging a training exercise beginning July 31 to prepare for potential domestic disasters capable of injuring or killing several thousand civilians.
The "Vibrant Response" exercise will be conducted by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High-Yield Explosive, or CBRNE Joint Response Force, through Aug. 14.
"It's going to be extremely complex and require a tremendous amount of coordination with other agencies and locals at various levels," said Maj. Gen. John Basilica, commander of Operational Command Post 1, U.S. Army North. "It is all designed to test and challenge the headquarters and command in control elements to make sure they can work together to respond quickly, because speed is the most important piece of this."
The service members will be given a situation in which they will be testing communication capabilities and reactions. Participants will be role-playing as certain pubic figures, like mayor and governor, in one scenario.
CBRNE is made of three divisions, 9.1, 10.1 and 10.2; 10.1 and 10.2 are being trained to be combat-ready by Oct. 1. Basilica heads up the 10.2 task force, which consists of reserve-component units.
The exercise will involve about 400 to 500 people at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The two divisions will each train one week, in succession with one another. Each CCMRF unit contains three task forces - medical, operations and aviation, in addition to smaller elements with specific technical expertise. The Operation Task Force 2/18 MEB from South Carolina, Medical Task Force 3/30 MEB from Illinois, and Aviation Task Force 11 from Kentucky will all participate in the exercise.
"We don't get that many opportunities to provide these specific headquarters together and train in a command-post type exercise," Basilica said.
The CBRNE was transferred to U.S. Northern Command's Joint Task Force Civil Support in October 2002. JTF-CS provides support from active, Guard and Reserve members, and civilians, who are all commanded by a National Guard general officer.
CBRNE is designed to work with federal agencies like the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Center for Disease Control, to aid, restore and prevent casualties in instances of major disaster.
The CCRMF is only used after all local, state and federal resources have been exhausted, Basilica and Collins said.
"We hope to God that there are no terrorist attacks or no major industrial accident in the U.S. where the city, state or federal government might ask for additional capabilities. We hope that does not happen, but if it does, I think it's a great story for the nation that you have these multiple CCMRF forces that would be trained and ready to step in and assist the states if they ask for extra help," Collins said.
...which was created with the help of the plum island biolab... from belleville news-democrat: Terry Sedlacek's mental condition was deteriorating as a result of Lyme disease, his attorney said Monday within hours of Sedlacek being charged with murdering a pastor. The attorney also issued an apology Monday on behalf of the suspect's family. "They’re very sorry for the pastor's congregation," said Edwardsville defense attorney Ron Slemer, who has been hired by Terry Sedlacek’s family to represent him. “They want to express this sympathy for everyone." Slemer said Sedlacek's family is "very sorry for the loss of Rev. Winters." The Rev. Fred Winters, the pastor of First Baptist Church Maryville, was shot to death Sunday morning during a worship service. Sedlacek has been charged with murdering him and stabbing two congregation members who subdued him. Slemer said Sedlacek has Lyme disease from getting bit by a tick several years ago, and that his physical and mental health have suffered as a result. "That's what it's all attributed to so far. You can see how he's deteriorated over the years. They've struggled with this," Slemer said. "I just know that it's caused his body to physically deteriorate and also his mental condition."
update: as i mentioned/predicted on ep114, in relation to the arrest of 2 atlanta teens, we're entering the primetime for mass shootings/copycats...
shooting spree leaves at least 10 dead in rural alabama from dpa: A gunman is believed to have killed at lease nine people in a shooting spree in southern Alabama before taking his own life, the Alabama Department of Public Safety said late Tuesday. The spree through a mostly rural area near the Florida state line including shootings in at least four locations, the state police statement said. The gunman, who was described as carrying a semiautomatic weapon, is believed to have acted alone. "This is a very complicated investigation that is unfolding, with multiple crime scenes and a number of agencies working together," the state police statement said.
army puts soldiers in samson in response to shootings from kurt nimmo: The U.S. Army dispatched soldiers to patrol the streets of Samson, Alabama, a small southern town where a rampaging gunman killed 10 people on Tuesday. This obvious violation of the Posse Comitatus Act prohibiting the federal uniformed services from exercising state and local law enforcement was completely ignored by the corporate media with the exception of Reuters and the London Telegraph.
update2: 17 dead after 17yr old's germany shooting spree from evening standard: A gunman aged 17 went on the rampage at a German high school today murdering 10 students and three women teachers. The killer took particular interest in one of the classrooms, room 10D. He went in and out of the room three times, asking the last time: “Are you all dead yet?” Timothy Kretschmer, who wore a black combat uniform and a gas mask, killed a total of 16 people before he was shot dead by police.
unfortunately, we'll probably have to cover these stories again as we are sure to find out about the involvement of pharmaceuticals, the feds & forewarnings... and we haven't even mentioned the shootings/drills in ireland
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from paul joseph watson: In a shocking development in the trial of the accused underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Delta Flight 253 eyewitness Kurt Haskell has been called by Abdulmutallab as a witness for the defense, a move that could blow the whole case wide open.
