Ken Lay: "Still not my fault"

It's still not polite to point, Ken.

Ken's Brain: update CXIV

Ken won again... for the twentieth gawddamn time.

Enron ditches Florida gas pipeline

as part of their bankruptcy settlement as Oliver Wyatt, Jr.... old school, hard money Texas businessman bails them out. more here from billingsgazette.com

Lay points finger at Fastow

Kenneth Lay, the former chief executive of disgraced energy firm Enron, has blamed its collapse on jailed former chief financial officer Andrew Fastow..... more here.

a veritable smorgasbord

from HoweStreet.com...

THE TERRORISTS WITHIN Ever since the tragedy of 9/11, the U.S. government has again and again stressed the importance of new laws, stricter regulations, and virtually unrestrained surveillance of citizens in the name of counter-terrorism. "To abandon the Patriot Act,” said George W. Bush in an April radio address, “would deprive law enforcement and intelligence officers of needed tools in the war on terror, and demonstrate willful blindness to a continuing threat." Yet, wearing a blindfold seems to be exactly what past and current administrations have been and are doing. For terrorists and their associates may be closer than you think. Meet Faisal Gill, a man with proven links to a suspected terrorist. He is not hiding out in some Arabian spider hole: he is the policy director of the Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence division. Last Tuesday, Salon Magazine reported about Gill’s former connection to Abdurahman Alamoudi, a naturalized U.S. citizen whom Gill worked with at the American Muslim Council in 2001. In March 2004, the FBI alerted Homeland Security officials after finding out that Gill had conveniently failed to mention his association with Alamoudi on his "Standard Form 86" national security questionnaire. Abdurahman Alamoudi is presently imprisoned in Virginia on an 18-count indictment, based on charges of illegal financial transactions with the Libyan government. In violation of U.S. sanctions, he had received $340,000 in cash from Libyan officials, presumably with the intent of taking it to Syria via London. According to government charges, the money was to be used to support terrorist activities. According to Alamoudi’s own statements to prosecutors, in June and August 2003 he met twice with Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi to hammer out details of the planned assassination of Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and the destabilization of that oil-rich country. Alamoudi’s testimony was confirmed by Libyan intelligence officer Colonel Muhammad Ismael who is currently in Saudi custody. But Alamoudi—a fervent supporter of the militant Islamist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah with alleged business ties to Abdullah bin Laden, Osama’s nephew—hasn’t always been looked upon as an enemy of the state. To the contrary, he used to enjoy great influence on the U.S. political scene. In 2003, MSNBC’s show “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” reported that “Alamoudi has been a familiar face in Washington. The Pentagon chose him to help select Muslim chaplains. He met with President Clinton, made six trips to Muslim nations as a goodwill ambassador for the State Department, met with candidate George Bush.” In his spare time, he apparently kept busy fundraising for Hamas and other groups the U.S. government has on its list of terrorist organizations. Upon arrest, his Palm Pilot was found to contain the names and phone numbers of six individuals designated global terrorists. It turned out, said John Loftus, host of “The Loftus Report” and guest on Olbermann’s show, that Alamoudi & Co. had been covertly operating in the U.S. for over a decade. “About a year and a half ago, people in the intelligence community came and said guys like Alamoudi and Sami al-Arian and other terrorists weren’t being touched because they’d been ordered not to investigate the cases, not to prosecute them, because they were being funded by the Saudis and a political decision was being made at the highest levels, don’t do anything that would embarrass the Saudi government … And, the stuff that they’re taking out of [Alamoudi’s headquarters] now is absolutely horrendous.” According to Loftus, the only reason that Alamoudi and his cohorts received immunity from prosecution for over a decade was due to his association with Grover Norquist, a Republican power broker with great influence in Washington. Norquist serves on the board of directors of the American Conservative Union and as a lobbyist for Microsoft. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, head of Americans for Tax Reform, chairman/co-founder of the Islamic Free Market Institute, and said to be the best friend of White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove. According to an article in the conservative FrontPage Magazine, titled “A Troubling Influence”, Alamoudi ponied up $20,000 to help found Norquist’s Islamic Institute and paid a lobbying firm Norquist was associated with a total of $50,000 over two years. “[The] overwhelming majority of the Norquist Institute’s funds from its inception,” says FrontPage, “have come from Persian Gulf states and their U.S. funding mechanisms, a number of which have been raided by federal anti-terrorism task forces.” Back to Faisal Gill, our DHS policy director. When Gill came under fire for his connection to Alamoudi, it was none other than Grover Norquist who came to his rescue by pulling political strings on his behalf. Which is where the story comes full circle. What happened to the DHS policy director who, by the way, has no documented intelligence background? Was he indefinitely suspended from work, fired, or excessively interrogated by the FBI? According to a spokeswoman from the DHS, a “thorough investigation” revealed nothing that would justify denying Faisal Gill security clearance. Which means Gill not only kept his job— according to Salon, he continues to enjoy “access to top-secret information on the vulnerability of America’s seaports, aviation facilities and nuclear power plants to terrorist attacks.” Lest it be unclear, we can’t tell whether Gill is a person of good or bad intent—or whether his association with known terrorists is anything more than a coincidence. But in an era when people are locked away without trial on lesser charges than lying on an official government document about such associations, keeping Gill in such a sensitive position seems to be more than a little hypocritical.

Cooperate, Or Else!

Complicating your right to remain silent

WTOP's monkey page

All monkeys, all the time.

yeow

Alamoudi Received Cash From Libyan 'Jihad Fund'

so THATS where Joe Allbaugh is

Former administration officials start new shop=The Hill.com= Two former top administration officials with direct ties to the president and vice president have joined forces in a new lobbying shop. Joe Allbaugh, the former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief and ex-Bush campaign manager, and Andrew Lundquist, who directed energy policy for Vice President Dick Cheney, recently created the firm Blackwell Fairbanks. “Andrew and I formed it just because there are a lot of synergies that we each offer and expertise that we each bring to the table,” Allbaugh said. Lundquist, a longtime staffer at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee before moving to the White House, is an expert on energy-related issues, while Allbaugh specializes in international business opportunities, Allbaugh said. The firm is named after the hometowns of its principals: Allbaugh hails from Blackwell, Okla., and Lundquist from Fairbanks, Alaska. Former Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee staffer Howard Useem also lobbies at the firm. Already, the firm has one big name on its client list. Defense giant Lockheed Martin signed Blackwell Fairbanks to “educate” Congress and the administration on energy- and defense-related initiatives that may affect its business, according to Senate lobbying disclosure records. The two partners will maintain their separate lobbying shops as well. Allbaugh’s firm, Allbaugh Co. LLC, had contracts with seven companies and associations last year: BP Shipping USA, Cross Telephone Co., the National Mining Association, Oshkosh Truck Corp., Polycom, Union Pacific Corp. and Veco Corp. Allbaugh also is a co-founder of New Bridge Strategies — a firm that helps foreign and American companies form business relationships in Iraq. Lundquist formed his own shop after leaving the administration, where he helped develop its national energy plan. His clients include BP, Duke Energy Corp., Kennecott Energy Co., Toshiba Corp., TXU Corp. and the state of Alaska. Lundquist said that he and Allbaugh have a “friendship that goes back a long ways.” He noted that their two firms already share office space at 101 Constitution Ave. N.W. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2004 The Hill

huh? wha?

--------------------------

sent: Thu 6/24/2004 6:14 PM to: 'news@localnews8.com' subject: not accurate Johnson's Body Found in Saudi Arabia http://www.localnews8.com/home/838632.html May want to issue a correction.... ?

-------------------------- Still no reply.

Johnson's Body Found in Saudi Arabia

infrickincredible

Ken won again.

The Price of Influence

from the Center for American Progress:

"Public Citizen today at noon will release a new study on how lobbying and campaign contributions by the health care and pharmaceutical industries produced a Medicare bill that showers those industries with taxpayer largesse, while leaving millions of seniors without comprehensive coverage.  In all, the industries spent $140 million to hire more than 900 lobbyists in 2003 an all-time high for those industries.  The Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which inserted provisions into the bill prohibiting the government from negotiating lower drug prices, shelled out more than $16 million alone - a major increase from just the year before.  Similarly, HMOs spent more than $32 million, and in return received a Medicare bill that encourages privatization, and sends an extra $46 billion to HMOs for prescription drug coverage 'even though the government could do it more efficiently and cheaply.'  In all, more than 20 executives and lobbyists from these industries achieved 'Ranger' or 'Pioneer' status by raising at least $200,000 or $100,000, respectively, for President Bush in the 2000 or 2004 campaigns.  The study will be available on Public Citizen's web site, www.citizen.org"

Bush the 'enabler'

from Oregonlive.com Bush enabled Enron's scheme Thursday, June 24, 2004 The outright malice revealed in the new Enron tapes (News Focus, June 15) is exceeded only by the outright corruption of a Bush administration that enabled and prolonged the 2001 Western power crisis. George W. Bush actively campaigned in 2000 against the price controls then in place, arguing for 'open markets.' But the only market ever opened was the segment already dominated by Texas companies such as Enron and Dynegy, leaving the rest of the industry hamstrung. Enron then ran prices up by shutting down plants, overloading transmission lines and flooding the market with bogus transactions. When Western senators threatened to reimpose price caps, Dick Cheney consulted head crook Kenneth Lay and testified against caps the following day. He even had the nerve to blame the 'shortage' on environmentalists. It is no coincidence that 'the Crooked E' was Bush/Cheney's biggest contributor in the 2000 campaign. DANIEL A. WRIGHT Southwest Portland "

Enron's calculated schemes to deceive

SHOCKINGLY took place in Nigeria too. Why do so many shady things occur in or involve Nigeria? Enron-Merrill case tacks on new charges - 2004-06-24 - Houston Business Journal Six defendants in the criminal case involving Enron Corp.'s bogus 1999 sale of barges in Nigeria to Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. has been slapped with an indictment that adds two new wire fraud charges, Reuters reported Wednesday. The U.S. Justice Department's Enron Task Force said the superseding indictment adds charges against two former Enron executives and four former Merrill Lynch bankers. The six were involved in the barge transaction, which prosecutors say was created to help Enron fraudulently meet a year-end profit target and mislead investors. They were initially all charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and falsify books and records, which carries a five-year maximum prison term. The defendants are former Enron executives Dan Boyle and Sheila Kahanek and ex-Merrill Lynch bankers Daniel Bayly, Robert Furst, William Fuhs and James Brown. Reuters added that in the new indictment, all six are additionally charged with two counts of wire fraud, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The new charges come six weeks before the case is to go to trial on Aug. 16. © 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.

Paul Johnson's body....

still waiting... and why does this article still say that the body has been found? ----- an interesting update: I see the GOP is already using Mr. Johnson as a campaign tool.

the smartest man alive

the smartest man alive. this guy has won 16 straight games, and more than $500,000 so far in Jeopardy. Wow.

he's your man

A recent report from the BBC about this study by the US Women's Health Initiative, shows that the risks of estrogen apparently far outweigh any of it's benefits.

Major research suggests hormone replacement therapy may increase the risk of developing dementia. It was found that, when the findings for the two groups were combined, women on either form of HRT had a 76% greater risk of developing dementia, compared to women who were taking dummy pills. Stephen Rapp, professor of psychiatry and behavioural medicine and one of the lead authors on the study, told BBC News Online: "Our findings show quite clearly that HRT should not be used to protect against the risk of dementia. "And for some women, there is an increased risk of developing dementia with hormonal therapy." 'Disappointing' Professor Peter Bowen-Simpkins of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: "These findings are low in terms of numbers, but they are directly contrary to what we previously thought. "It's disappointing for the people who thought HRT could delay or prevent dementia." In July 2002, women involved in WHI studies were told to stop taking combined HRT because the risks of developing breast cancer, strokes and cardiovascular disease outweighed the benefits. In February 2004, women in the oestrogen-only study were told to stop taking their drugs due to an increased risk of stroke, and no benefit for heart disease.

So... Q: Who is profiting from the over-prescription of estrogen drugs to aging women? A: This man, Richard L Carrion, managing director of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and also Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation and the Bank at Popular, Inc. Wyeth developed and distributes Premarin and Prempro... the top selling Hormone Replacement Therapy drugs on the market. Premarin has apparently been on the market since the 1950s. Carrion is also a director on the executive board at Verizon Communications, and widely-considered one of Latin America's most influential power brokers in Washington.

you have to be kidding me

what a racket American obesity is aiding terrorists By Jim Castagnera 06/23/2004 Government health officials, health care providers, and fitness experts came together on the Penn State Delco campus here on June 10th and 11th to respond "to the call to action to prevent and decrease overweight and obesity in the Middle-Atlantic States," according to a Penn State press release.

text of indictment against abduhrahman alamoudi

and lots more here from Salon.com. For the .pdf version, click here. ------------------------------------ FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA Alexandria Division UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. ABDURAHMAN M. ALAMOUDI Counts 1, 8-10: 18 U.S.C. § 1001 False Statements, Writings, and Schemes Count 2: 18 U.S.C. § 2332d Prohibited Financial Transactions with Libyan Government Counts 3-5: 50 U.S.C. § 1705 Prohibited Financial Transactions withLibya Counts 6-7: 18 U.S.C. § 1956 Money Laundering Counts 11: 31 U.S.C. § 5324 Money Structuring Counts 12-13: 18 U.S.C. § 1544 Misuse of Passport Count 14: 18 U.S.C. §1425(a) Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization Counts 15-18: 31 U.S.C. § 5322 Failure to Report Foreign Bank Accounts INDICTMENT OCTOBER 2003 TERM -- AT ALEXANDRIA COUNT 1 Concealing Material Facts 1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference the General Allegations of this Indictment. 2. From November 1, 1995, to on or about September 28, 2003, at Washington Dulles Airport in Loudoun County, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, the defendant, ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI, did unlawfully, knowingly and willfully conceal and cover up by a trick, scheme and device, material facts, in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service; United States Customs Service; the Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service; and the Department of Homeland Security, agencies of the executive branch of the government of the United States. The Scheme The primary purpose of the scheme was to obtain money from Libya and other sources overseas and transmit it to and through the United States outside of the knowledge of the United States government and without attracting the attention of law enforcement and regulatory authorities. Specifically, to prevent the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Customs Service, the Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Department of Homeland Security, from learning how much money he controlled, how and where he obtained such money, and what he did with such money; defendant ALAMOUDI did: a. Engage in financial transactions with the Government of Libya, a country designated under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 as a country supporting international terrorism, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2332d; b. Engage in financial transactions with Libya, in violation of a regulation issued under Chapter 35 of Title 50, United States Code, in violation of Title 50, United States Code, Section 1705; c. Use his United States passport in violation of the conditions and restrictions therein contained, and the rules prescribed pursuant to the laws regulating the issuance of passports, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1544. d. Made false, fictitious, and fraudulent material statements and representations in matters within the jurisdiction of the immigration and Naturalization Service, an agency of the executive branch of the government of the United States, in matters involving citizenship, naturalization, and the registry of aliens, by falsely denying certain overseas travel, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1001, 1015 and 1425; e. Falsely deny to United States Customs Service officials, and later to officials of the Department of Homeland Security, United States Customs and Border Protection, that he had traveled to Libya when he had in fact done so, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001; f. Travel to Libya on different passports than the one he presented to Department of Homeland Security, United States Bureau of Customs and Border Protection officials upon his return from trips to Libya; g. Obtain visas for travel to Libya from the Libyan Embassy in Canada rather than from obtaining the proper authorizations from the United States; h. Attempt to structure the importation into the United States cash he received from Libyan sources outside the United States for the purpose of evading the filing of a Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments in accordance with the reporting requirements of Section 5316 of Title 31, United States Code, by attempting to transport cash to Saudi Arabia for deposit there and subsequent wire transfer into the United States, in violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5324 and 18 U.S.C. § 1956; i. Attempt to structure transactions with domestic financial institutions cash he received from Libyan sources outside the United States for the purpose of evading the filing of a Currency Transaction Report in accordance with the reporting requirements of sections 5313(a) of Title 31, United States Code, by attempting to transport the cash to Saudi Arabia for deposit there and subsequent wire transfer into the United States, in violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5324 and 18 U.S.C. § 1956; and j. Fail to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Account forms as required for individuals having financial interests in, or signature or other authority over, financial accounts in foreign countries as required by Title 31, U.S.C. § 5314, in violation of 31 U.S.C. § 5322. It was part of the scheme that, on Wednesday, August 13, 2003, ALAMOUDI received a telephone call at the Metropole Hotel in London from an individual with a Libyan accent, who informed ALAMOUDI that the caller had “something” for ALAMOUDI. ALAMOUDI opened his hotel room door and received from an individual a briefcase containing $340,000 in sequentially-numbered bills of United States currency, but engaged the individual in no conversation before the individual departed. On August 16, 2003, Alamoudi departed for the airport en route to Syria, having transferred the cash to his own luggage and left the briefcase inthe hotel room. In furtherance of the scheme and to effect the objects thereof, the defendant falsely stated to Department of Homeland Security, United States Customs and Border Protection officials at Washington Dulles Airport on September 28, 2003, that the countries that he visited on his trip outside the United States from which he was then returning included only England, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon, when in fact he also had traveled to Libya and Egypt. (In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(1).) THE GRAND JURY CHARGES THAT: 1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference the General Allegations of this Indictment. 2. On or about August 16, 2003, in London, England, outside the jurisdiction of any particular state and district, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI, being a United States person knowing and having reasonable cause to know that Libya was a country designated under section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 as a country supporting international terrorism, did unlawfully and knowingly engage in a financial transaction with the government of that country without complying with the licensing and authorization requirements of the Libyan Sanction Regulations. In specific, defendant ALAMOUDI received and transferred and attempted to transfer, and exported and attempted to export, and otherwise dealt in and attempted to otherwise deal in, $340,000 in cash from the Islamic Call Society, a branch of the Government of Libya. 3. On or about September 28, 2003, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI was first brought to the Eastern District of Virginia. (In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 2332d and 3238, and Title 31 C.F.R. Sections 550.208 and 550.209.) Prohibited Financial Transactions with Libya THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT: 1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference the General Allegations listed in this Indictment. 2. On or about the following dates in Alexandria, Virginia, in the Eastern District of Virginia, and elsewhere outside the jurisdiction of any particular state and district, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI, being a United States person, did unlawfully, knowingly, and willfully violate a regulation issued under Chapter 35 of Title 50, United States Code, in that, as a United States person, defendant did willfully and unlawfully engage in financial transactions with Libya without complying with the licensing and authorization requirements of the Libyan Sanction Regulations, as detailed below: Count Date Transaction January 23, 2000 Defendant paid for his travel expenses to Libya, to wit, round trip air fare on Swiss Air from Zurich to Tripoli in the amount of $1,877.70 August 14, 2001 Defendant paid for his travel expenses to Libya to wit, round trip airfare on Swiss Air from Zurich to Tripoli in the amount of $2014.28; August 16, 2003 In London, England, defendant transferred and attempted to transfer, and exported and attempted to export, and otherwise dealt in and attempted to otherwise deal in $340,000 in cash received from a representative of the Islamic Call Society, a Libyan entity. 3. On or about September 28, 2003, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI was first brought to the Eastern District of Virginia. (In violation of Title 50, United States Code, Section 1705(b), Executive Orders 12543 and 12544 and Title 31, CFR Sections 550.202, 550.203, 550.207, 550.208, and 550.209, and Title 18, United States Code, Section 3238.) COUNT 6 Money Laundering THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT: 1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference the General Allegations listed in this Indictment. 2. On or about August 13-16, 2003, in London, England, and elsewhere outside the jurisdiction of any particular state and district, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI, attempted to transport, transmit, and transfer funds to a place in the United States from or through a place outside the United States knowing that the funds involved in the transportation, transmission, and transfer represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity and that such transportation, transmission, and transfer was designed in whole and in part to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds of specified unlawful activity and avoid a transaction reporting requirement under Federal law. Specifically, defendant attempted to transmit the $340,000 in cash he received in the United Kingdom from Libya in violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1705, to the United States from outside the United States, in transactions designed to conceal the source of the proceeds and avoid Currency Transaction Reports and Currency and Monetary Instrument Reports required pursuant to 31 U.S.C. §§ 5313 and 5316. 3. On or about September 28, 2003, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI was first brought to the Eastern District of Virginia.(In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(2)(B) and 3238.) COUNT 7 Money Laundering THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT: 1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference the General Allegations listed in this Indictment. 2. On or about August 13-16, 2003, in London, England, and elsewhere outside the jurisdiction of any particular state and district, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI did unlawfully and knowingly attempt to transport, transmit, and transfer funds to a place in the United States from or through a place outside the United States, with the intent to promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity. Specifically, defendant attempted to transmit $340,000 in cash he received in the United Kingdom to the United States with the intent to promote the carrying on of a violation of the economic sanctions against Libya, in violation of 50 U.S.C. § 1705. 3. On or about September 28, 2003, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI was first brought to the Eastern District of Virginia. (In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(2)(A) and 3238.) COUNT 8 False Statement THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT: 1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference the General Allegations listed in this Indictment. 2. On or about September 28, 2003, at Washington Dulles Airport in Loudoun County, in the Eastern District of Virginia, the defendant, ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI, did unlawfully, knowingly and willfully make a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement and representation in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security, an agency of the executive branch of the government of the United States. Specifically, in responding to a question from an officer of the United States Customs and Border Protection asking him to identify the countries that he had visited in the course of the trip outside the United States from which he was then returning, ALAMOUDI falsely stated that he had visited only England, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon, when, as ALAMOUDI then well knew, he had also visited Libya and Egypt. (In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2).) COUNTS 9-10 False Writings THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT: 1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference the General Allegations listed in this Indictment. 2. On or about the following dates, at Washington Dulles Airport in Loudoun County, in the Eastern District of Virginia, the defendant, ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI, did unlawfully, knowingly and willfully make and use a false writing and document knowing the same to contain a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement and entry, in a matter within the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security, an agency of the executive branch of the government of the United States. Specifically, in responding to Question 8 on the Form 6059-B, which requires the traveler to list "Countries visited on this trip prior to U.S. arrival," ALAMOUDI falsely wrote that he had visited only countries other than Libya when, as ALAMOUDI then well knew, he had also visited Libya. Count Date 9 March 19, 2003 10 September 28, 2003 (In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(3).) COUNT 11 Structuring Financial Transactions to Evade Reporting Requirements THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT: 1. The Grand Jury realleges and incorporates by reference the General Allegations listed in this Indictment. 2. On or about August 13-16, 2003, in London, England, and outside the jurisdiction of any particular state and district, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI did, for the purposes of evading the reporting requirements of Section 5313(a) of Title 31, United States Code, unlawfully and knowingly structure and attempt to structure a transaction with a domestic financial institution. In specific, on or about August 16, 2003, to evade the filing of a Currency Transaction Report as required by Section 5313(a) of Title 31, United States Code, ALAMOUDI attempted to structure the deposit of $340,000 in cash that he possessed in London, England, into a domestic financial institution in a manner that would not trigger the filing of a Currency Transaction Report, by, transporting the cash out of England, depositing the cash into a financial institution in another country from which the credits for such cash could be wire transferred into a domestic financial institution in a manner that would not trigger the filing of a Currency Transaction Report required by Section 5313(a) for currency transactions in excess of $10,000. 3. On or about September 28, 2003, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI was first brought to the Eastern District of Virginia. (In violation of Title 31, United States Code, Section 5313 and 5324, and Title 18, United States Code, Section 3238.) COUNTS 12-13 Misuse of Passport THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT: On or about the following dates, in Libya, outside the jurisdiction of any particular state and district, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI did unlawfully and knowingly use a passport in violation of the conditions and restrictions therein contained, and of the rules prescribed pursuant to the laws regulating the issuance of passports, in that on or about the dates listed below, the defendant used his United States passport to travel to Libya, without obtaining a special validation, in violation of the special validation requirement of Title 22, C.F.R., Sections 51.73 and 51.74, and 67 Federal Register 71228-02, rules prescribed pursuant to Title 22, United States Code, Section 211a, a law regulating the issuance of passports. Count Date 12 August 14, 2001 to August 23, 2001 13 February 7, 2002 to February 12, 2002 3. On or about September 28, 2003, defendant ABDURAHMAN MUHAMMAD ALAMOUDI was first brought to the Eastern District of Virginia. (In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1544 and 3238.) Count 14 Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT: Between on or about November 1, 1995, and on or about April 12, 1996, in Arlington County, in the Eastern District of Virginia, ABDURAHMAN M. ALAMOUDI did knowingly procure his own naturalization contrary to law. Specifically, in the Application for Naturalization (Form N-400) he submitted on November 1, 1995, and swore to on April 12, 1996, he made the following false statements under oath and false material statements and concealed the following material facts: 1. At Part 3 (Additional Information About You) of the Application for Naturalization, under the heading “Absences from the U.S.”, he stated that he had been absent from the United States only five times in the five years preceding his Application for Naturalization and when in fact, as the defendant then well knew, he had been absent from the United States approximately 10 times during the five years preceding his Application for Naturalization; 2. At Part 9 (Memberships and Organizations) of the Application for Naturalization, in response to the direction to list his present and past membership in or affiliation with every organization, association, fund, foundation, party, club, society, or similar group in the United States or any other place, he failed to state that, as he then well knew, he was a Director of Mercy International - U.S.A., Inc., and a Director of United Association for Studies and Research, Inc., and had been a member of the Eritrean Liberation Front/ People’s Liberation Force. These false statements were made in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1001(a) and 1015(a). (In violation of Title 18, United States Code §1425(a).) COUNTS 15-18 Failure to File Reports of Foreign Bank Accounts THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT: On or about the following dates, in Falls Church, in the Eastern District of Virginia, the defendant ABDURAHMAN M. ALAMOUDI, who, during the following calendar years had financial interests in and signature and other authority over financial accounts in foreign countries which accounts exceeded in those calendar years $10,000 in aggregate value, did unlawfully, knowingly, and willfully fail to file reports of those financial accounts on or before the following dates, as required by Title 31, United State Code, Section 5314 and Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, Sections 103.24 and 103.27: Count Calendar Year Date 15 1998 June 30, 1999 16 1999 June 30, 2000 17 2001 June 30, 2002 18 2002 June 30, 2003

Plug the holes and cover the tracks

and do your best to revise history....

Never mind the fact that Dick Cheney’s hands-on role in developing the prewar intelligence picture of Iraq is, by now, a matter of public record — the CIA has asked that the declassified version of a highly critical Senate Intelligence Committee report to redact references to the Vice President. The classified version of the document does not use names, referring to actors by their title instead. But the Agency sought to have even references to titles be excised on national security grounds. To suggestions that the redaction request could be interpreted as an effort to provide political cover for Cheney, a CIA official responds that "the purpose of declassification review is to protect intelligence sources, methods and other classified matters which, if disclosed, could be helpful to adversaries, like weapons proliferators and terrorists. It is not to stifle criticism." Leaders of the Senate panel don't see it the same way. "The Committee is extremely disappointed by the CIA’s excessive redactions to the report," Chairman Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican, and Vice Chairman Jay Rockefeller, and West Virginia Democrat, said in a statement last week, without mentioning any specific CIA-proposed edits. ~ Meanwhile, an intelligence heavyweight last week entered the fray with a new reform proposal that is already gathering high-level attention. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss — a former CIA clandestine services officer and leading contender for CIA director if President Bush is re-elected — quietly introduced a bill that would significantly expand the CIA director's executive and management authority over the whole intelligence community,...

More here.

Drug Wars Hit The Heartland

CBS News | Drug Wars Hit The Heartland | June 22, 2004�19:43:05: 'We're talking about a 12,000 percent increase in ten years,'

playing the name game

More Manufacturing Consent from the Weekly Standard... aka "leaksource"

Al Qaeda Link To Iraq May Be Confusion Over Names (washingtonpost.com) An allegation that a high-ranking al Qaeda member was an officer in Saddam Hussein's private militia may have resulted from confusion over Iraqi names, a senior administration official said yesterday. One of them is Ahmad Hikmat Shakir Azzawi, identified as an al Qaeda "fixer" in Malaysia. Officials say he served as an airport greeter for al Qaeda in January 2000 in Kuala Lumpur, at a gathering for members who were to be involved in the attacks on the USS Cole, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Iraqi military documents, found last year, listed a similar name, Lt. Col. Hikmat Shakir Ahmad, on a roster of Hussein's militia, Saddam's Fedayeen. "By most reckoning that would be someone else" other than the airport greeter, said the administration official, who would speak only anonymously because of the matter's sensitivity. He added that the identification issue is still being studied but "it doesn't look like a match to most analysts." ~ Allegations that Ahmad Hikmat Shakir Azzawi was under Iraqi intelligence control were raised last year in an article in the Weekly Standard by Stephen F. Hayes, and later discounted by U.S. intelligence officials. No such tie was indicated in the commission report.

Quote of the Day - 6/22/04

"Those controversial spies, if you will, were not my spies." - James Pavitt, CIA deputy director for operations, in a speech to the Foreign Policy Association, referring to Iraqi defectors and refugees linked to exile groups intent on overthrowing Saddam.

another picture from Susie's trip to California.

Editorial - Bush and Iraq

from the Philadelphia Inquirer | 06/20/2004

Invasion rationales wither as facts unfold A poll of Americans taken in March of this year found that 57 percent of those polled believed that Iraq under Saddam Hussein substantially supported al-Qaeda or was directly involved in the Sept. 11 attacks. Where did they get that misguided idea? Why, it was from their president, their vice president, their defense secretary, their national security adviser and other key players in the war on terror, of course. Through assertion, implication and innuendo, the Bush administration - backed by an amen chorus of talk-show babblers and oped writers who filled in the blanks that White House rhetoric artfully left - has labored to plant the notion that invading Iraq was a logical, urgent response to Sept. 11. What other impressions did the Bush team work to insinuate into public opinion, before and after its preemptive strike at Hussein? That Iraq had a robust weapons program and was ready and willing to hand off biological or chemical weapons to a terrorist group; and that it would soon have a nuclear bomb. That the bulk of the Iraqi people would greet Americans as liberators, with cheers and flowers. That the Bush Doctrine of unilateral and preemptive military action against suspected enemies would make the United States safer and more respected. That the Abu Ghraib prison abuses were a surprising, inexplicable outburst of evil by a small set of reservists from rural Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. Let's review how those claims are faring in the court of reality: Iraq and al-Qaeda:The Sept. 11 Commission, evenly split by party and led by a Republican, issued this conclusion last week: "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States... . There is no convincing evidence that any government financially supported al-Qaeda before 11 September." Weapons of mass destruction: As you may recall, the top American WMD hunter, David Kay, told Congress in January: "We were almost all wrong" about Hussein's WMD capability at the time of the March 2003 invasion. (That "we" includes this Editorial Board.) The post-invasion hunt for WMD has produced two finds: one old artillery shell with the nerve agent sarin, another with mustard gas. The President has conceded that the main evidence he cited for Hussein's nuclear program was a forgery. They love us, they really love us: The appallingly bloody insurgency in Iraq is now more than a year old. At least 70 people died in a wave of car bombings in Iraq last week. The Associated Press reported last week that a poll taken by the Coalition Provisional Authority found that 92 percent of Iraqis polled considered Americans "occupiers." A whopping 2 percent thought of us as "liberators." The Bush Doctrine: A new group of 27 former military leaders and diplomats, including many Republicans appointed or promoted by President Bush's father, issued a blistering critique of the Bush foreign policy last week. Calling his policies "overbearing," "insensitive" and "disdainful," the group said, as a result: "Our security has been weakened... . Never in the two and a quarter centuries of our history has the United States been so isolated among the nations, so broadly feared and distrusted." Abu Ghraib: The administration's attempt to defuse the Abu Ghraib furor by blaming it all on a few low-level miscreants has triggered a flood of contrary evidence. It's clear now that the military and administration had been warned early and often, by multiple sources, about abuses. It's clear that dubious practices at prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan had been debated at high levels in the Pentagon and White House, and that military attorneys of high integrity had opposed efforts to treat the Geneva Conventions as a dead letter in the war on terror. Ed Koch, when he was the voluble mayor of New York City, used to love to ask, "How'm I doin'?" Given this sorry roster of fibs, flubs and fantasies, the Bush White House ought to be afraid to ask the American public the same question. Instead, it has entered full-tilt spin mode. To counter the Sept. 11 panel's flat rejection of its implicit rationale for the Iraq invasion, the President, vice president and their surrogates have split semantic hairs like finicky medieval theologians. It is true, as the President stressed last week, that he never flat-out said Saddam Hussein helped plan the Sept. 11 attacks. It is also beside the point. He said many other things, misleading things, to plant the idea that invading Iraq was a logical extension of - rather than a fatal distraction from - the effort to dismantle al-Qaeda. In a nationally televised address in October 2002, just days before Congress passed a resolution authorizing force against Iraq, he said: "Iraq could decide on any given day to provide a biologial or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists. An alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints." In the letter the President sent Congress explaining his decision to invade, he wrote: "The use of armed force against Iraq is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001." What impression was he trying to leave there? We report, you decide. Much of the evidence that administration officials cited to back up the claims in that speech and that letter have since been debunked or called into serious question. The Sept. 11 panel said flatly that the plot leader, Mohamed Atta, did not meet in Prague with an Iraqi agent, a favorite canard of Vice President Cheney. The CIA never confirmed Bush's repeated claim that Iraqis trained al-Qaeda members in bomb-making. Yes, there were contacts between Osama bin Laden and ranking Iraqis a dozen or so years ago. And the United States helped arm bin Laden to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the 1980s; the Sept. 11 hijackers were trained at American flight schools. Does that mean the U.S. government was in league with al-Qaeda? That, of course, is preposterous. There may well have been, as the Weekly Standard magazine has reported, a "non-aggression pact" between Osama and Saddam. Those who harp on that never answer an obvious question: Why would close collaborators need to be prodded by a third party (Sudan) to agree to a "non-aggression" pact? The evidence cited of Iraqi-Osama collaboration was always, at its strongest, tissue thin. Now, pieces of it appear to have been, like many of the wilder WMD claims, churned up by the Iraqi National Congress exile group to give the Bush White House the terrifying tales it needed to sell regime change (the INC's goal) to the American public. Did the President and his top advisers lie to the American people? Or were they themselves deceived, by the INC, faulty intelligence and their own tendency to hear what they wanted to hear? For now, those questions are unanswerable and essentially besides the point. What matters is that Americans grasp a central point: The multipronged rationale behind this rushed invasion has been revealed as a house of cards. (Deposing Hussein always was a legitimate strategic goal, given his history as an aggressor and butcher - but not in this reckless way, with these wrongful justifications.) Consider the house of cards, and two other glaring facts. First, preparation for the invasion's aftermath was tragically inept. That easily predictable failure has cost many Iraqis, Americans and others their lives. Second, the prison abuses, which stem from poor planning for occupation and a bid to place U.S. behavior above international law, have lost America the moral high ground it rightfully occupied on Sept. 12, 2001. Now, ask yourself, along with those 27 American diplomats and warriors: Have the last two years made America more secure, more respected? The answer is obvious and appalling. The answer is no.

very good question

from TalkLeft.com Hostage Paul Johnson: Where's the Body? that's exactly what I want to know.

painted desert

aj in the painted desert

aj in the painted desert 

THE BILLION DOLLAR SINKHOLE....

via Kevin Drum... via Tapped...

Saturday's lead editorial at washingtonpost.com

contains this passage, which most accurately reflects my personal opinion on the death penalty.

"Steven Oken's Death" (washingtonpost.com) For the death penalty is not merely an irreversible penalty, unevenly applied and fraught with grave danger of error. It involves the state in the premeditated killing of an individual long since prevented from doing further harm to society. Even when that individual's guilt is clear, that killing is still wrong -- and the power to carry it out is more power than any state should have.

The whole article can be found here.

Spencer Ackerman

who has temporarily taken over the reins at talkingpointsmemo.com published this interview w/ a former counterterrorism official from yesterday. A must read.

Quote of the Day - 6/19/04

Politicians, like diapers, have to be changed frequently – and for the very same reason. Anonymous

Paul Johnson's body

where is it?

"sounds like there's more to the story than the Saudis are telling us" Richard Clarke, ABC News, Saturday June 19th, 6:33pm

also this from Japan Today

Saudi security agents searched homes in the capital and surrounding deserts Saturday for the body of slain American hostage Paul M Johnson Jr, while Saudi officials hailed as a victory their slaying of his executioner, the top al-Qaida figure in the kingdom

(6:27pm): an update from BBC News

The "Saudi authorities were still searching for Johnson's body" - Adel al-Jubeir

(6:20pm): News24.com Riyadh - Saudi Arabia killed four suspected terrorists, including the reputed leader of al-Qaeda in the kingdom, the interior ministry said on Saturday in the first official word on a shootout after the body of a decapitated American hostage was dumped

(Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-AP, June 19, 2004 5:20 PM) _ Saudi security agents searched homes in the capital and surrounding deserts Saturday for the body of slain American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr., while Saudi officials hailed as a victory their slaying of his executioner, the top al-Qaida figure in the kingdom. But the U.S. ambassador said he doubted the death of Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, who officials said was gunned down in a firefight the night before, would stop the violence against Westerners in Saudi Arabia. Saudi officials had reported that Johnson's body was found Friday dumped on the northern outskirts of the capital, hours after his captors killed and decapitated him and posted Web photos of his severed head. But officials backtracked Saturday. "We haven't found the body yet," said Adel al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah in Washington. "We think we know the area where it is."

still, the Lexington Herald is reporting Sat, Jun. 19, 2004

The decapitated corpse of Paul Johnson Jr., an employee of Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp., was found on the outskirts of the Saudi capital Riyadh yesterday, Shortly after discovering Johnson's body 20 miles north of Riyadh , Saudi police stopped the car at a gas station in the city's al-Malz neighborhood and exchanged fire with al-Qaida suspects.

Planting the seeds of terror

from the Sydney Morning Herald

Planting the seeds of terror In al-Qaeda's Afghan mountain hideaways, the sky was the limit as Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants workshopped one crazed idea after another. They could coerce Russian scientists to unleash a nuclear missile on the US; what about a mustard gas or cyanide strike on Jews still in Iran; maybe they could pump poison gas through the air-conditioning of a target building; or they could hijack aircraft and use them as missiles. And that's what they did.

Algerian man extradited to France for terror links

from BostonHerald.com Algerian man extradited to France for terror links Interior Ministry describes him as a 'hardened jihadist' "An Algerian man suspected of training in al-Qaida camps and cultivating ties with well-known terrorist groups across Europe was extradited to France, judicial and Interior Ministry officials said. Said Arif, 38, was sent to France on Thursday from Syria, jailed and put under investigation - a step short of formal charges - for alleged links to terrorist organizations, the officials said. In an unusual statement, the Interior Ministry confirmed the extradition, describing Arif as 'very mobile and experienced in all the terrorist techniques taught in Afghanistan and Chechnya.'"

Enron and porn

why am I not surprised? FERC Web site hosts pornographic Enron e-mails from the Associated Press

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, says that a Web site operated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission contains links to pornographic e-mails written by Enron Corporation employees. Cantwell called on FERC to review the database linked to its Web site and remove any e-mails containing offensive or sexually explicit material. Cantwell said yesterday, quote -- "How serious are they about the investigation if FERC doesn't even know that their Web site has pornographic e-mails?" A FERC spokesman denied the Web site contained pornography, but acknowledged that some e-mails from Enron employees -- linked to the site as part of a database on alleged electricity market manipulation by Enron -- may contain pornographic language. FERC spokesman Kevin Cadden says access to the e-mails is indirect and includes clear instructions that a user must leave the FERC site to view the material.

also, this from yesterday's FERC press release: “As our 2002-2003 staff investigation showed, the corporate culture at Enron ‘fostered a disregard for the American energy customer,’” said FERC Chairman Pat Wood, III. “These taped conversations indicate that this corrosive attitude seeped down from the corporate offices to the employees at the front line.”

Quote of the Day - 6/18/04

"I want to fuck with Nevada for a while" - Enron employees and other traders talking about manipulating electric supplies to the state of Nevada and gouging Nevada Power

State files suit against Enron

from the Sacramento Business Journal Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a lawsuit Thursday against Enron to recover potentially hundreds of millions of dollars from the company "for the massive, unlawful market manipulation and fraud it committed during the California Energy Crisis of 2000-01." ~ "At the same time this corrupt enterprise successfully lobbied its friends in the federal government to block price caps and blame California, it was robbing our businesses and consumers blind," Lockyer said. "Enron was the architect of a rip-off scheme that bled billions of dollars from our state's economy. They may be bankrupt, but we will hold them accountable. Grandma Millie is California. I am her lawyer, and she seeks justice." ~ Additionally, Lockyer said, the tapes indicate Enron's top two executives, Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling, had knowledge of the market manipulation and received briefings on how it enriched the company.

Torture Policy (washingtonpost.com)

Torture Policy (washingtonpost.com): "SLOWLY, AND IN spite of systematic stonewalling by the Bush administration, it is becoming clearer why a group of military guards at Abu Ghraib prison tortured Iraqis in the ways depicted in those infamous photographs. President Bush and his spokesmen shamefully cling to the myth that the guards were rogues acting on their own. Yet over the past month we have learned that much of what the guards did -- from threatening prisoners with dogs, to stripping them naked, to forcing them to wear women's underwear -- had been practiced at U.S. military prisons elsewhere in the world. Moreover, most of these techniques were sanctioned by senior U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the Iraqi theater command under Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez. Many were imported to Iraq by another senior officer, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller. In December 2002, Mr. Rumsfeld approved a series of harsh questioning methods for use at the Guantanamo Bay base. According to the Wall Street Journal, these included the removal of clothing, the use of 'stress positions,' hooding, 'fear of dogs,' and 'mild non-injurious physical contact.' Even before that, the Journal reported, interrogators at Guantanamo forced prisoners to wear women's underwear on their heads. A year later, when some of the same treatment was publicized through the Abu Ghraib photographs, Mr. Rumsfeld described it as 'grievous and brutal abuse and cruelty.' Administration officials have said that tougher techniques are available at Guantanamo, where the Geneva Conventions are considered inapplicable, than in Iraq, where they unquestionably apply. Yet through much of the past year, the opposite appears to have been the case. After strenuous protests from legal professionals inside the military, Mr. Rumsfel"

crime pays

Former Enron CEO Due to Receive about $1 Million

Jun. 15--A federal judge has ordered that ex-Enron CEO Jeff Skilling should get what could be about $1 million in annual interest from some of the $66 million in assets frozen by the Justice Department when he was indicted. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake issued the order made public Monday that will provide Skilling with 50 percent of the interest income from the bulk of his frozen assets. The government will keep the other 50 percent and add it to the frozen funds that could be shared by victims of Enron's demise should Skilling be convicted. Daniel Petrocelli, the Los Angeles-based head of Skilling's trial team, said Monday that although they still contest the government's right to seize any of the assets, this compromise will at least allow his client money for living expenses, taxes and insurance. He said Skilling is still "grievously prejudiced" by the ongoing freeze of the assets. Enron Task Force prosecutors have alleged that the funds are the profit from crimes Skilling committed while at Enron. Andrew Weissmann, director of the task force, had no comment on the judge's order Monday. As part of the agreement that led to Lake's order, Skilling will abandon his appeal of Lake's March decision upholding the government freeze of about $55 million in liquid assets, Skilling's River Oaks home and a Dallas condominium. The judge's new order allows $3.7 million to be used to pay a debt related to one of the frozen accounts. The new order also says that should Skilling be convicted, the government could seek forfeiture of some of any unspent remains of the $23 million trust held by Petrocelli's law firm for Skilling's defense in criminal and civil lawsuits. The exact amount of interest Skilling and the government will split is hard to determine. His lawyers estimated in February, when the assets were seized, that the funds generated about $3 million in annual interest. But the interest could vary, and not every asset's interest will be shared. Requests for funds to be unfrozen to provide necessary living expenses and legal defense fees are common in cases where assets have been taken by the government. Skilling and ex-Enron Chief Accounting Officer Rick Causey are charged with conspiracy, fraud and insider trading leading to the energy trading giant's collapse. In April, Lake unfroze $225,000 for Causey's one-year living expenses. The Enron Task Force froze about $6 million in Causey's assets, including his home in The Woodlands. In Causey's case, the actual frozen assets were given back to him. In Skilling's case, the assets remain frozen and he gets only a portion of the interest. Skilling has pleaded not guilty to 35 charges, and Causey has pleaded not guilty to 31 charges. The two men are accused of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud; securities fraud involving Enron's off-balance-sheet financing deals; securities fraud for presentations to stock analysts; making false statements to auditors; and insider trading. In the 57-page indictment against the pair, the government alleges they lied and schemed to pump up the company's stock price to enrich themselves at the expense of the company and its shareholders. Defense lawyers for Skilling and Causey are likely to point out the deals in question were reviewed by numerous lawyers and accountants and that some colleagues hid their crimes. Between 1998 and 2001, the indictment states, Skilling took in an $89 million profit from the sale of artificially inflated Enron stock and options -- on top of a $14 million salary. Causey netted a $5 million profit from such sales, in addition to $4 million in paychecks, the indictment says.

"A temporary coup"

from Salon.com News

The bitterest dispute, though not the only one, is between the CIA and the Pentagon, whose own secret intelligence unit, the Office of Special Plans, aggressively promoted the war on Iraq. While departing CIA Director George Tenet played along with the Bush administration -- a fact which Powers says reveals the urgent need for a truly independent intelligence chief -- much of the agency is enraged at the Pentagon, which put intense pressure on it to produce reports tailored to the policy goals of the Bush White House. The simmering tensions between the Pentagon, with its troika of Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Feith, and rank and file CIA personnel boiled over in July 2003, when the White House trashed the career of veteran CIA operative Valerie Plame by leaking her identity. The move was a crude retaliation against Plame's husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had exposed the Bush administration's specious claim that Saddam had sought "yellowcake" from Africa to build a nuclear bomb.

Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change

to Hold Press Conference June 16 in Washington... U.S. Newswire - Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change to Hold Press Conference June 16 in Washington News Advisory: Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, a group of retired ambassadors and senior military officers, will hold a Morning Newsmaker news conference Wednesday, June 16, at 8 a.m. EDT at the National Press Club (Zenger Room), 13th floor, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. The topic will be "The Need for Change in U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy." The group includes former ambassadors Jeffrey Davidow, William DePree, Charles Freeman Jr., William Harrop, Arthur Hartman, H. Allen Holmes, Samuel Lewis, Princeton Lyman, Jack Matlock Jr., Donald McHenry, Richard Murphy, David Newsom, Phyllis Oakley, John Reinhardt, Ronald Spiers, Nicholas Veliotes and Alexander Watson; and Adm. William Crowe, Gen. Joseph Hoar and Adm. Stansfield Turner.

Former Officials to Criticize Bush Foreign Policy

Top News Article | Reuters.com WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of former U.S. officials is urging voters to defeat President Bush in the November election, saying his policies have isolated the United States, a spokesman for the group said on Sunday. The group of 26 former diplomats and military officials, including appointees of former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, plan to issue an open statement on Wednesday criticizing Bush's foreign policies. "We just came to agreement that this administration was really endangering the United States," said William Harrop, a former ambassador to Israel under the previous Bush administration. The signers are a mix of Democrats and Republicans, Harrop said. They include Jack Matlock and Arthur Hartman, two former ambassadors to the former Soviet Union during the 1980s. Also in the group are several other former ambassadors and retired military officials, the group said. Signers of the statement are concerned that the administration has undermined U.S. leadership in the world and alienated U.S. allies, Harrop said. As an example, Harrop cited the decision to launch the war in Iraq without sufficient international support. "Our view is that the President Bush administration has chosen American domination of the world as in our best interest," Harrop said. "We don't think that's going to work." Harrop said the group was not aligned with Bush's Democratic challenger in the November election, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry. "But we want an alternative and that's the alternative," Harrop said.

heading west

Al-Qaida Claims U.S. Slaying and Hostage

from apnews.com

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - A purported al-Qaida statement Saturday claimed the terror group had kidnapped one American man in the Saudi capital and killed another American. It threatened to treat the captive as U.S. troops treated Iraqi prisoners. Earlier Saturday, an American identified by the U.S. Embassy as Kenneth Scroggs was shot and killed as he pulled his car into the garage of his Riyadh home. The statement claimed al-Qaida had killed an American at his house but did not identify him. The U.S. Embassy confirmed an American was missing but would not identify him. "We do have reports of a missing American," an embassy spokesperson said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We are working with local authorities to find him and are in touch with his family." The al-Qaida statement, posted late Saturday on an Islamic Web site, showed a passport-size photo of a brown-haired man and a business card bearing the name Paul M. Johnson. It said he was born in 1955. The statement said the terror group would deal with the hostage just as "the Americans dealt with our brothers in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib" - a reference to sexual and other alleged abuses of Iraqi and Muslim prisoners by U.S. troops. The statement said Johnson is one of four experts in Saudi Arabia working on developing Apache helicopter systems and that the American killed worked in the same industry. "Everybody knows that these helicopters are used by the Americans, their Zionist allies and the apostates to kill Muslims, terrorizing them and displacing them in Palestine, Afghanistan, and Iraq," the statement said. "The mujaheddin also managed to kill another American who is working as a manager in the same military sector where the hostage was working. The mujaheddin monitored him and killed him in his house." The statement was signed by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the same group that claimed responsibility for a shooting and hostage-taking spree in the eastern Saudi city of Khobar on May 29-30, killing 22 people. It said it would release a video tape later to list its demands and show Johnson's confessions. The statement could not immediately be verified. In Washington, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said reports of a missing American were being investigated.

more here.

Enron saved Florida

a Palm Beach Post Editorial

Friday, June 11, 2004 In one conversation, a top manager in Enron's Portland, Ore., office gloats about how the firm's trading practices "just (expletive deleted) California... to the tune of a million bucks or two a day." In another, energy traders laugh about how much money they scammed from poor grandmothers. Transcripts of taped telephone conversations among Enron's energy traders as they were playing games with the West Coast's energy markets during the 2000-01 power crisis are shocking for the cynicism they reveal, even after all the disclosures about Enron and its management. Filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as part of a Seattle-area public utility district's attempt to recover $2 billion in unjust profits, the transcripts leave little doubt that Enron manipulated the Western electricity markets to profit unfairly. CBS News aired portions of the tapes last week, prompting California's senators to write FERC seeking $9 billion in refunds for their state. In a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, California is trying to recover the money from Enron and other companies -- many of which are bankrupt. California's mess, where deregulation became a game for predators, probably saved Floridians from being similarly scammed. Until the California debacle and Enron's collapse in late 2001, deregulation was a priority for Gov. Bush. In December 2001, his Energy 2020 Study Commission produced a 130-page blueprint for deregulating power in Florida. After California and the Enron meltdown, nobody talked about deregulation. No bill has tried to turn the commission's recommendations into law. FERC is the federal agency that should have stepped in to protect consumers from billions in losses but did not. One reason is that ex-Enron CEO Ken Lay, a major donor to the Bush campaign, had arranged commission appointments at FERC for two strong deregulation advocates. Florida and other states saw deregulation as inevitable, even if many in the Legislature weren't sure that it was desirable. Other states have done deregulation much better than California. The next time Florida considers it, however, someone needs to play those Enron tapes to show what can happen without strong rules to keep pirates from taking over.

"a judicial emergency"

brewing in Mississippi... well, at least according to the Administrative Office of United States Courts and this editorial at hattiesburgamerican.com, imploring President Bush to fill the seat vacated by Pickering when he was appointed to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. the author writes:

The unresolved cases on this court docket - which used to be presided over by Judge Charles Pickering - has reached a whopping 1,223. And the number is likely to grow unless the Bush administration does what it should have done months ago: appoint a replacement for Pickering. The Southern District court has been in a state of limbo since January, when Bush bypassed the Senate confirmation process and elevated Pickering to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

So, aside from the larger issue, which is that I have no faith in George's decision-making and no respect for the types of folks he likes to appoint, part of me is wondering... just how much of this backlog should be attributed to Pickering's own lack of expedience while sitting on this bench?

Common Collie or Uberpooch?

here's an uberpooch update from Wired.com. --------
Kaiser (our own personal uberpooch)... makes sure he looks both ways before crossing the street. Common Collie or Uberpooch? from Friday's Washington Post.

Rico, a border collie with what appears to be an uncanny talent for human language, may be a genius among dogs or just your average pooch. Either way, he has scientists wondering if man's best friend is smarter than they thought. A series of careful studies concluded that the energetic German house dog has a stunningly large vocabulary of about 200 words and can even do something scientists thought only humans could do: figure out by the process of elimination that a sound he has never heard before must be the name of a toy he has never seen before. That feat, described in today's issue of the journal Science, suggests that dog owners who claim their pets understand what they are saying and are trying to respond may have been right all along. "Maybe this is the Albert Einstein of dogs. Or maybe this is something that other dogs can do, too," said Julia Fischer, a biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, who helped test Rico. "We just don't know. We need to find out."

Big Country, Big Problems

via OSAC... originally from the BBC: Big Country, Big Problems

Scorched earth policy High on the agenda is the situation in Darfur, a region on Sudan's western border with Chad, where an estimated one million people have been made homeless by fighting between mainly African rebels and Arab militia. The displaced people - mostly Africans - blame the Arab militia, or Janjaweed, for a scorched earth policy involving systematic killing, rape and looting. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, says more than 150,000 of the displaced have fled to Chad, many to remote desert locations where delivering aid - shelter, food, medicines - is extremely difficult. "We are facing a disaster," said UNHCR head Ruud Lubbers. According to Mr Lubbers torrential rains due in the next few weeks will make access even more difficult. The agency also faces a funding crisis, with its appeals for aid not being met by donors. "We are tapping into our own resources and we are emptying our pockets," said Lubbers. "We cannot say that this is the humanitarian crisis of the day and not fund the crisis." 'Worst humanitarian crisis' The situation of displaced people inside Darfur is just as desperate. Aid agencies complained that unnecessary customs delays and the slow delivery of government permits for aid workers to visit Darfur were hampering their efforts. Hilary Benn said he raised this issue with Khartoum; he says he has been promised a relaxation of the customs regime for aid goods and the quicker delivery of visiting permits. Whatever these marginal improvements might bring, UN officials and visiting foreign politicians are still describing Darfur as "the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today."

------ update: here's the original BBC link .

the transit of venus

The transit of Venus, which occurs when the planet Venus passes between the Earth and the Sun, is pictured on Tuesday, June 8, 2004 in downtown MInsk, Belarus . The previous transit occured in 1882, and the next one will be in 2012. ( AP Photo/ Sergei Grits)   more here.

Cabbages and Condoms

Check out this picture of a sign posted at a restaurant called "Cabbages and Condoms" in Thailand... (thanks to Chelsea for the photo). Funny stuff.
 

Next in line to discredit

General Eaton, who had this to say about the training provided to the new Iraqi military force.

"It hasn't gone well. We've had almost one year of no progress,"

from Yahoo pictures:
Maj. Gen. Paul D. Eaton, second from left, reviews Iraqi troops at a training facility in Taji, Iraq Wednesday June 9, 2004. Misguided U.S.-led training of Iraqi police is partly to blame for the instability that continues to plague Iraq, requiring the U.S. military to stay in charge of security longer than planned, according to Eaton, the outgoing official in charge of armed forces training. (AP Photo/Jim Krane)  

Quote of the Day-6/10/2004

"America is a country that doesn't know where it is going

but is determined to set a speed record getting there."- Laurence J. Peter

gratuitous self-promotion

come on Vince... that's awful. Good story though.

More shocking Enron tapes released By Vince Gonzales / CBS News CBS’s Vince Gonzales was the first to obtain the Enron tapes, which were recently aired on CBS Evening News. On the tapes were Enron employees talking about manipulating an energy shortage in California to maximize profit.

the Lakers are EVIL

isn't Kobe Bryant supposed to be in court or something?

Diplomacy with a gun to the head

The Bush Administration way... Oh, and make sure that the echo chamber frat boys like George Will spew "anti-Americanism" rhetoric to drive the point home.

Increasingly virulent anti-Americanism there--in a nation which would not exist had not 33,667 Americans died to preserve it--raises this question: Why are 37,000 American military personnel still stationed there? They are far too few if North Korea's army, the world's third largest, attacks, and they are far more than necessary to serve as a ``trip wire.'' Actually, no U.S. boots need be on the peninsula to guarantee a U.S. commitment to defend South Korea. But the anti-Americanism, and South Korea's prosperity and North Korea's penury, may cause reconsideration of that commitment.

That's a sure way to make friends and influence people. Nice one folks. Just admit that you've strained our military beyond our ability to capably maintain previous commitments. I mean, that would be the honest thing to say anyway. I hope America wakes the hell up and fires these morons in November.

US May Cut Third of Troops In South Korea But conservative editorial writers and politicians are already accusing the liberal government of President Roh Moo Hyun of allowing anti-American views to flourish unchecked, provoking Washington to cut back sharply on the American military presence. Conservative South Koreans are also complaining that the United States is surrendering a bargaining chip that would have been useful in nuclear weapons talks with North Korea, even though Pentagon planners say South Korea's security would not be affected. The Grand National Party, a conservative opposition party that has traditionally supported the American military presence, on Monday described the troop cut plan as "shocking and surprising." But not all shared that view. Outside the Defense Ministry in Seoul on Monday, protesters took the news as a chance to rally against the American troop presence. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has been actively drawing up new designs for American forces worldwide, not just in South Korea, to take advantage of new technology to more rapidly assess threats and more quickly move troops to meet them. The Pentagon has also proposed moving two Army divisions out of Germany and making other changes to European-based forces to reflect different security needs since the end of the cold war.

Al Qaeda Skimming Charity Money

more for the "No Shit" file.

Al Qaeda Skimming Charity Money Al Qaeda has siphoned millions of dollars from Islamic charities that help poor Muslims in Africa and Asia, and U.S. and Saudi government efforts to cut the flow have largely failed, Western diplomats and former charity workers say. Working with sympathizers inside the charities, al Qaeda has for years used humanitarian funds for terror attacks in Kenya, Tanzania and Indonesia, U.S. and other Western officials told The Associated Press. In one case, donations to the Al-Haramain Foundation to support Islamic preachers ended up in the pockets of a suspect in the November 2002 bombing of an Israeli hotel in Kenya, a Western diplomat told AP. A wholesale fish business financed with Al-Haramain funds also steered profits to the al Qaeda cell behind the August 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in East Africa, U.S. officials told AP. The officials, most of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, cited intelligence garnered from informants, interrogations of suspects, documents seized from charities and communication intercepts. Al-Haramain, based in Saudi Arabia, provides the clearest example of a charity that has stayed open despite repeated attempts to shut it down overseas, including fresh moves this past week by the Riyadh government. At its height, Al-Haramain raised $40 million to $50 million a year in contributions worldwide, the vast majority going to feed hungry Somali orphans, educate poor Indonesian students and help sick Kenyan children. U.S. officials have privately conceded that only a small percentage of the total was diverted and that few of those who worked for Al-Haramain knew money was being funneled to Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization. Still, the officials say money from Al-Haramain and other charities was -- and continues to be -- a major source of funds for al Qaeda. The latest move against Al-Haramain came Wednesday when Saudi officials, under U.S. pressure, moved to dissolve the charity and create a commission to filter all contributions raised inside the kingdom to support causes abroad. But Al-Haramain has deep roots -- and wealthy benefactors -- in countries where its branches are accused of helping finance al Qaeda. As pressure on the group has mounted in recent years, its foreign branches have increasingly turned to supporters outside the kingdom for money, said a U.S. intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "Vetting Saudi money is a start -- it'll stop some money from getting to al Qaeda," said the official. "But it's no solution." The United States has tried repeatedly to shut down Al-Haramain. In 2002, the U.S. government blacklisted Al-Haramain's Bosnian and Somali branches -- mandating the government to seize its assets and shut it down. A year later, the Saudi government, under U.S. pressure, demanded the charity close all its overseas branches. This January, Al-Haramain branches in Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania and Pakistan were put on U.S. and U.N. blacklists. Al-Haramain's acting director, Dabbas bin Mohammed al-Dabbasy, said in May that all the charity's overseas branches were closed. Yet in Kenya and Somalia the charity still appears to be running. U.S. investigators believe the group is using new names in Kenya, having simply shifted its funds to fresh bank accounts, the intelligence official said. The official declined to provide names for fear of tipping off Al-Haramain officials who may believe they are working undetected. Al-Haramain is keeping a low profile in the East African country. A recent visitor to its Nairobi office was shooed away by a security guard who said it was closed, although there were parked cars in the driveway and dozens of pairs of shoes outside the front door. A Kenyan Muslim preacher on Al-Haramain's payroll until February told AP he knows at least two Islamic preachers who are still being paid by the charity. The preacher, who was paid 8,000 Kenyan shillings, or just over $100, a month, asked not to be identified for fear of retribution. In parts of Somalia, a country without a central government, Al-Haramain remains active. In the northern port of Bossaso, the group is running a school, an internet cafe and a money transfer business down the street from the offices of the United Nations Children's Fund, said a foreign aid worker who was recently in the town. The U.S. intelligence official said there is evidence Al-Haramain is still working with al Qaeda suspects in eastern Africa, especially in Somalia, where Islamic extremists have repeatedly sought safe haven. The official, however, refused to elaborate, saying it could compromise investigations into the charity's ties to al Qaeda. The official said many Islamic charities that have been ordered shut down or are being investigated for terrorist ties are reopening under new names or staying open in areas where there is no government crackdown. "Al-Haramain is doing both," the official said. Juan Zarate, deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes at the U.S Treasury Department, said Al-Haramain is a prime example of how militants are using Islamic charities. "Certain individuals associated with Al-Haramain were using the charity itself to support terrorist groups from a logistical and philosophical standpoint ... co-mingling funds and co-mingling activities that meld the good work with bad work," he told AP. "It makes it altogether much more difficult to ferret out the bad from the good." Charity is a central facet of Islamic ethics. In Kenya and Somalia, where many Muslims are devout and extremism hasn't taken deep root, al Qaeda operatives and sympathizers inside Al-Haramain presented themselves to philanthropists as good Muslims looking to do God's work. In Pakistan and Indonesia, where extremists have found a broader audience, Al-Haramain advertised donations as a form of jihad, or holy war, although it did not always say the money would be used for terrorism, the intelligence official said. With al Qaeda's recruiting efforts meeting only modest success in eastern Africa, the terrorist network used money from charities for logistical and operational expenses, U.S. officials said. In Pakistan and Indonesia, however, the charity money is used for recruiting as well. Evidence linking Kenya's Al-Haramain branch to al Qaeda emerged following the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, simultaneous attacks that killed 231 people, including 12 Americans. The al Qaeda cell that orchestrated the bombings was in part financed by profits from a wholesale fish business set up with funds from Al-Haramain and at least one other charity, said another U.S. official, also speaking on condition of anonymity. Al Qaeda used money from charities to buy a small fiberglass fishing boat for Mohammed Sadiq Odeh, now serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison for the embassy attack, said the official, who spoke from Washington. Following his arrest in the days after the bombings, Odeh told U.S. and Kenyan investigators that "the business was for al Qaeda." He said he was permitted to take from the profits what he needed to live on and "give the rest to al Qaeda and employees who were in al Qaeda," according to an FBI report of his interrogation. Less than a month later, the Kenyan government banned five Islamic charities suspected of helping finance the attack, including Al-Haramain. But at the group's Nairobi offices, it was business as usual -- and Al-Haramain funds are believed to have helped support the cell that planned the hotel car bombing that was carried out four years later. The Muslim preacher, who spoke to AP about continuing charity payments to Islamic clerics, said the man who put him on Al-Haramain's payroll -- an Algerian named Ahmed Hajji -- introduced him to another Kenyan preacher who was also getting money from the charity, Aboud Rogo Mohammed. Rogo Mohammed is now being tried in Kenya on murder charges for his alleged role in the 2002 bombing at the Israeli-owned hotel north of the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa. Hajji, who runs the Tawheed Islamic Center a few miles south of Mombasa, told AP that Rogo was only an acquaintance who helped Al-Haramain identify locations to build three mosques, nothing more. But the Western diplomat said the money Rogo received from Al-Haramain is believed to be among the funds he used to help al Qaeda operatives rent houses in Mombasa and settle in remote parts of Kenya as they planned the hotel attack, which killed 15 people, including three Israeli tourists. There also are indications that money supplied from charities was used to buy weapons for the attack, said the U.S. intelligence official, although there is no evidence of any explicit order to buy explosives. Muslims make up between 10 percent and 20 percent of Kenya's 30 million people. Governments in countries like Kenya that were once reluctant to investigate charities for fear of angering Muslims have become more willing to aid U.S. moves to cut terror funding. But in Kenya and elsewhere, a lack of investigative know-how, decades of corruption and a lack of financial oversight hamper the efforts. In Kenya, the ease with which Al-Haramain operated changed in January, when the branch was put on the U.S. and U.N. blacklists. But a Kenyan official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there is some confusion among authorities over which bureaucracy -- the central bank, the national security ministry or the home affairs ministry -- is responsible for shutting down charities like Al-Haramain. Regardless, the Kenyan government lacks the legal authority to seize money from groups suspected of supporting terrorism, he said, because there is no law on the books giving officials that power. Complicating matters is a banking industry that has been practically unregulated for decades. Setting up an account in one of Kenya's many small banks requires little documentation. Many local banks keep separate books for customers who want to avoid taxes, the Kenyan official said. Even in the best circumstances, tracking money "is a painstaking, time-consuming endeavor," said Ted Dagne, an Africa specialist at the U.S. Congressional Research Service. U.S. investigators "have had years to develop the skills it takes to do this kind of work-- and we still have a lot to learn."

NEWSWEEK has torture memo online

here if you have problems with the MSNBC/Newsweek link, you can also find it here. (both are .pdf files)  Lots more here.

Jeopardy wants Kerry to win

here's proof.  

Freddie the hippie

My brother-in-law...getting pretty good teaching himself to play guitar.