Monday, September 28, 2009
FOXnews.com
By Joshua Rhett Miller
The U.S. Secret Service is investigating a "poll" posted on Facebook that asked users the most unsocial, unspeakable question: Should President Obama be assassinated?
Edwin Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said the agency will take "appropriate investigative steps" in connection to the survey, which was posted on Saturday and was quickly removed when Facebook employees were alerted to its existence.
"We are continuing our investigation," Donovan told FOXNews.com, declining further comment.
The poll asked respondents: "Should Obama be killed?"
The possible answers were "no," "maybe," yes," and "yes if he cuts my health care."
Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said a "third-party application" enabled an individual user to create what he said was an "offensive poll."
"The application was immediately suspended while the inappropriate content could be removed by the developer and until such time as the developer institutes better procedures to monitor their user-generated content," Schnitt said in a statement to FOXNews.com.
Facebook is now cooperating with the Secret Service, Schnitt said.
Bob Beckel, a Democratic Party strategist and FOX News contributor, said the individual responsible for the poll should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
"This is the kind of garbage that's generated from the extreme right against Obama, and it's going way over the line," Beckel told FOXNews.com. "It's got to be stopped. Find him, prosecute him and put him in jail."
Regardless of political persuasion, Beckel said such threats are "un-American" and simply not acceptable.
"If they don't like what Obama is doing, then maybe they ought to go out and vote for someone else," he said. "But relying on this kind of attack is un-American and unacceptable."
In November, prior to Obama's landslide election victory, officials from the Secret Service declined to comment on the number of threats he had received, but they said they saw more threats against him than any other candidate during the campaign.
---http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
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Monday, September 28, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Officials: N.Y. attack was set for Sept. 11
WIRE REPORTSPublished: September 26, 2009 -----Richmond -Times Dispatch
DENVER -- An Afghan immigrant wanted to carry out a New York City terror attack involving hydrogen peroxide bombs to coincide with the Sept. 11 anniversary before federal authorities foiled the plan, a U.S. prosecutor said yesterday.
Tim Neff told a federal judge in Denver that Najibullah Zazi "was in the throes of making a bomb and attempting to perfect his formulation."
"The evidence suggests a chilling, disturbing sequence of events showing the defendant was intent on making a bomb and being in New York on 9/11, for purposes of perhaps using such items," Neff said in arguing for Zazi's transfer to New York.
Ken Deal, chief deputy U.S. marshal in Denver, said Zazi was put on a U.S. government plane after U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer ordered Zazi transferred to New York City to face charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. He arrived late yesterday.
. . .
Alleged Ill., Texas plots: Two men were in custody yesterday after each tried to blow up what they thought were vehicles packed with explosives outside a Texas skyscraper and an Illinois courthouse, authorities said.
The two cases were unconnected to each other and to the New York-Denver investigation.
Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, 19, a Jordanian who lives in Texas, appeared in court in Dallas yesterday after federal officials said he parked what he thought was an explosive-laden truck in a parking garage under the 60-story Fountain Place office tower in Dallas.
Michael C. Finton, 29, who also went by the name Talib Islam, was arrested Wednesday in Springfield, Ill., after federal officials said he attempted to detonate what he believed to be explosives in a van outside a federal courthouse in the Illinois capital.
In both cases, decoy devices were provided to the men by FBI agents posing as al-Qaida operatives. Both are charged with trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction and face up to life in prison if convicted.
DENVER -- An Afghan immigrant wanted to carry out a New York City terror attack involving hydrogen peroxide bombs to coincide with the Sept. 11 anniversary before federal authorities foiled the plan, a U.S. prosecutor said yesterday.
Tim Neff told a federal judge in Denver that Najibullah Zazi "was in the throes of making a bomb and attempting to perfect his formulation."
"The evidence suggests a chilling, disturbing sequence of events showing the defendant was intent on making a bomb and being in New York on 9/11, for purposes of perhaps using such items," Neff said in arguing for Zazi's transfer to New York.
Ken Deal, chief deputy U.S. marshal in Denver, said Zazi was put on a U.S. government plane after U.S. Magistrate Judge Craig Shaffer ordered Zazi transferred to New York City to face charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. He arrived late yesterday.
. . .
Alleged Ill., Texas plots: Two men were in custody yesterday after each tried to blow up what they thought were vehicles packed with explosives outside a Texas skyscraper and an Illinois courthouse, authorities said.
The two cases were unconnected to each other and to the New York-Denver investigation.
Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, 19, a Jordanian who lives in Texas, appeared in court in Dallas yesterday after federal officials said he parked what he thought was an explosive-laden truck in a parking garage under the 60-story Fountain Place office tower in Dallas.
Michael C. Finton, 29, who also went by the name Talib Islam, was arrested Wednesday in Springfield, Ill., after federal officials said he attempted to detonate what he believed to be explosives in a van outside a federal courthouse in the Illinois capital.
In both cases, decoy devices were provided to the men by FBI agents posing as al-Qaida operatives. Both are charged with trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction and face up to life in prison if convicted.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
What is the ACORN controversy about?
Here are the basics about ACORN and about the videos that have put the organization in hot water.
By Michael B. Farrell Staff writer/ September 16, 2009 edition
San Francisco
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is once again at the center of controversy. This time the group is in hot water over videos that show employees telling two conservative activists masquerading as a pimp and prostitute how to trick federal tax authorities.
ACORN says the videos are part of a “multiyear political assault” on the organization, which conservatives say uses tax dollars to advance a liberal agenda. But the organization also says it is “deeply disturbed” by the videos and has launched its own review of employee procedures and training.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers are using the videos as evidence for why the federal government should cut off all funding to the organization, which helps low- and moderate-income people gain access to mortgages.
On Monday, senators overwhelmingly voted to keep the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from issuing grants to ACORN. On Wednesday, Sen. Richard Shelby (R) of Alabama asked for a full-blown investigation of the group.
But how did an organization that largely concerns itself with matters of America’s poorest find itself, once again, in the sights of both lawmakers and talk-show hosts? Following are some basics about ACORN and the recent controversy.
What is ACORN?
According to the group’s website, ACORN is a collection of grass-roots organizations that serve as an advocate for the poor. It began in the 1970s and now has about 1,200 chapters. It is “committed to social and economic justice” and has worked to raise the minimum wage, end predatroy lending practices, and develop affordable housing.
But during the presidential campaign last year, a few ACORN employees working to register voters were charged with filing bogus applications. They were caught and fired. But when it was revealed that President Obama had connections with ACORN, the incident became highly politicized. Republican presidential candidate John McCain attempted to tie ACORN with Mr. Obama.
ACORN does receive federal tax dollars for some of its work. The Senate vote on the motion presented Monday by Sen. Mike Johanns (R) of Nebraska would prevent it from receiving any dollars from HUD. The group was in line to receive grants to counsel low-income homebuyers.
Senator Johanns, who also wants the US attorney general to investigate ACORN, says that the group has received $53 million in federal money since 1994.
In light of the most recent controversy, the Census Bureau has fired ACORN, which had been hired to help with the 2010 Census.
What do the videos show?
On Sept. 10, the website Biggovernment.com began posting videos of a couple who said they were operating a prostitution ring that involved underage girls from El Salvador. They went to ACORN offices in New York, Washington, California, and Maryland with essentially the same story: They wanted help hiding their illicit income from federal tax authorities.
In all the videos, ACORN employees offered their help, knowing full well what the couple’s intentions were.
Mike Flynn, editor of Biggovernment.com, said Wednesday that the site will be posting even more videos of ACORN.
Since the videos aired, ACORN has become the scorn of conservative talk-show hosts. Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly of Fox News have said the tapes prove not only that the group is “corrupt,” but also that corruption extends to the Obama administration.
“Who does the president surround himself with? ACORN and [the Service Employees International Union]. Well, gee, there’s corruption there. We can’t take anything,” Mr. Beck said.
One Republican insider told Politico: “This is an organization that has attracted attention before…. Basically, ACORN gets federal money, and it advocates for the liberal, Democrat agenda. That’s wrong, and we need to stop it.”
What is ACORN doing in light of the controversy?
On Wednesday, ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis said the tapes were “indefensible actions of a handful of employees” and warranted an independent review of the group’s procedures.
She said this in a statement:
“We have all been deeply disturbed by what we’ve seen in some of these videos. I must say, on behalf of ACORN’s Board and our Advisory Council, that we will go to whatever lengths necessary to reestablish the public trust. For nearly forty years, ACORN has given voice to communities, and gotten results. Right now, our nearly 500,000 member are working their hearts out for quality, affordable healthcare for every American and to help stop the foreclosure crisis. We must get this process right, so the good work can go forward.”
Can ACORN survive this latest controversy?
John Fund, an op-ed writer for The Wall Street Journal, says that this time, ACORN “may be finally running off the rails.”
He noted that last week, “11 of its workers were accused by Florida prosecutors of falsifying information on 888 voter registration forms.” He continued, “Last month, Acorn’s former Las Vegas, Nev., field director, Christopher Edwards, agreed to testify against the group in a case in which Las Vegas election officials say 48% of the voter registration forms the group turned in were ‘clearly fraudulent.’ Acorn itself is charged with 13 counts of illegally using a quota system to compensate workers in an effort to boost the number of registrations. (Acorn has denied wrongdoing in all of these cases.)”
ACORN says it is besieged – again – because of a few bad apples within their offices.
Brian Kettenring, an ACORN spokesman, told the Associated Press that Republicans were “playing politics” and trying to “stop ACORN’s good work fighting to stop the foreclosure crisis and to win quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans.”
From the Christian science Monitor
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
By Michael B. Farrell Staff writer/ September 16, 2009 edition
San Francisco
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is once again at the center of controversy. This time the group is in hot water over videos that show employees telling two conservative activists masquerading as a pimp and prostitute how to trick federal tax authorities.
ACORN says the videos are part of a “multiyear political assault” on the organization, which conservatives say uses tax dollars to advance a liberal agenda. But the organization also says it is “deeply disturbed” by the videos and has launched its own review of employee procedures and training.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers are using the videos as evidence for why the federal government should cut off all funding to the organization, which helps low- and moderate-income people gain access to mortgages.
On Monday, senators overwhelmingly voted to keep the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from issuing grants to ACORN. On Wednesday, Sen. Richard Shelby (R) of Alabama asked for a full-blown investigation of the group.
But how did an organization that largely concerns itself with matters of America’s poorest find itself, once again, in the sights of both lawmakers and talk-show hosts? Following are some basics about ACORN and the recent controversy.
What is ACORN?
According to the group’s website, ACORN is a collection of grass-roots organizations that serve as an advocate for the poor. It began in the 1970s and now has about 1,200 chapters. It is “committed to social and economic justice” and has worked to raise the minimum wage, end predatroy lending practices, and develop affordable housing.
But during the presidential campaign last year, a few ACORN employees working to register voters were charged with filing bogus applications. They were caught and fired. But when it was revealed that President Obama had connections with ACORN, the incident became highly politicized. Republican presidential candidate John McCain attempted to tie ACORN with Mr. Obama.
ACORN does receive federal tax dollars for some of its work. The Senate vote on the motion presented Monday by Sen. Mike Johanns (R) of Nebraska would prevent it from receiving any dollars from HUD. The group was in line to receive grants to counsel low-income homebuyers.
Senator Johanns, who also wants the US attorney general to investigate ACORN, says that the group has received $53 million in federal money since 1994.
In light of the most recent controversy, the Census Bureau has fired ACORN, which had been hired to help with the 2010 Census.
What do the videos show?
On Sept. 10, the website Biggovernment.com began posting videos of a couple who said they were operating a prostitution ring that involved underage girls from El Salvador. They went to ACORN offices in New York, Washington, California, and Maryland with essentially the same story: They wanted help hiding their illicit income from federal tax authorities.
In all the videos, ACORN employees offered their help, knowing full well what the couple’s intentions were.
Mike Flynn, editor of Biggovernment.com, said Wednesday that the site will be posting even more videos of ACORN.
Since the videos aired, ACORN has become the scorn of conservative talk-show hosts. Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly of Fox News have said the tapes prove not only that the group is “corrupt,” but also that corruption extends to the Obama administration.
“Who does the president surround himself with? ACORN and [the Service Employees International Union]. Well, gee, there’s corruption there. We can’t take anything,” Mr. Beck said.
One Republican insider told Politico: “This is an organization that has attracted attention before…. Basically, ACORN gets federal money, and it advocates for the liberal, Democrat agenda. That’s wrong, and we need to stop it.”
What is ACORN doing in light of the controversy?
On Wednesday, ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis said the tapes were “indefensible actions of a handful of employees” and warranted an independent review of the group’s procedures.
She said this in a statement:
“We have all been deeply disturbed by what we’ve seen in some of these videos. I must say, on behalf of ACORN’s Board and our Advisory Council, that we will go to whatever lengths necessary to reestablish the public trust. For nearly forty years, ACORN has given voice to communities, and gotten results. Right now, our nearly 500,000 member are working their hearts out for quality, affordable healthcare for every American and to help stop the foreclosure crisis. We must get this process right, so the good work can go forward.”
Can ACORN survive this latest controversy?
John Fund, an op-ed writer for The Wall Street Journal, says that this time, ACORN “may be finally running off the rails.”
He noted that last week, “11 of its workers were accused by Florida prosecutors of falsifying information on 888 voter registration forms.” He continued, “Last month, Acorn’s former Las Vegas, Nev., field director, Christopher Edwards, agreed to testify against the group in a case in which Las Vegas election officials say 48% of the voter registration forms the group turned in were ‘clearly fraudulent.’ Acorn itself is charged with 13 counts of illegally using a quota system to compensate workers in an effort to boost the number of registrations. (Acorn has denied wrongdoing in all of these cases.)”
ACORN says it is besieged – again – because of a few bad apples within their offices.
Brian Kettenring, an ACORN spokesman, told the Associated Press that Republicans were “playing politics” and trying to “stop ACORN’s good work fighting to stop the foreclosure crisis and to win quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans.”
From the Christian science Monitor
-http://davidsradiotv2000.blogspot.com
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
RPT-Obama warns U.S. teens of perils of Facebook
Tue Sep 8, 2009 4:55pm EDT
WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama warned American teenagers on Tuesday of the dangers of putting too much personal information on Internet social networking sites, saying it could come back to haunt them in later life.
The presidential words of advice follow recent studies that suggest U.S. employers are increasingly turning to sites such as Facebook and News Corp's (NWSA.O) MySpace to conduct background checks on job applicants.
Taking part in a question-and-answer session with a group of 14- and 15-year-old school students, Obama was asked by one pupil for some advice on becoming U.S. president.
"Well, let me give you some very practical tips. First of all, I want everybody here to be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age, whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life," Obama said.
"And when you're young, you make mistakes and you do some stupid stuff. And I've been hearing a lot about young people who -- you know, they're posting stuff on Facebook, and then suddenly they go apply for a job and somebody has done a search."
Obama referred several times to "mistakes" he had made when he was at school but offered no specifics. He has previously admitted to drug use when he was younger.
A survey in June by careerbuilder.com found that 45 percent of employers used social network sites to research job candidates and that Facebook, which says it has 250 million users worldwide, was their site of choice.
Some 35 percent of the employers surveyed said they had found content on the sites that had influenced them to reject a candidate. Examples included inappropriate photographs, information about the applicants' drinking or drug use, or bad mouthing of previous employers, co-workers or clients.
The Obama White House frequently uses Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites to bypass the media and communicate directly to Americans.
WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama warned American teenagers on Tuesday of the dangers of putting too much personal information on Internet social networking sites, saying it could come back to haunt them in later life.
The presidential words of advice follow recent studies that suggest U.S. employers are increasingly turning to sites such as Facebook and News Corp's (NWSA.O) MySpace to conduct background checks on job applicants.
Taking part in a question-and-answer session with a group of 14- and 15-year-old school students, Obama was asked by one pupil for some advice on becoming U.S. president.
"Well, let me give you some very practical tips. First of all, I want everybody here to be careful about what you post on Facebook, because in the YouTube age, whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life," Obama said.
"And when you're young, you make mistakes and you do some stupid stuff. And I've been hearing a lot about young people who -- you know, they're posting stuff on Facebook, and then suddenly they go apply for a job and somebody has done a search."
Obama referred several times to "mistakes" he had made when he was at school but offered no specifics. He has previously admitted to drug use when he was younger.
A survey in June by careerbuilder.com found that 45 percent of employers used social network sites to research job candidates and that Facebook, which says it has 250 million users worldwide, was their site of choice.
Some 35 percent of the employers surveyed said they had found content on the sites that had influenced them to reject a candidate. Examples included inappropriate photographs, information about the applicants' drinking or drug use, or bad mouthing of previous employers, co-workers or clients.
The Obama White House frequently uses Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites to bypass the media and communicate directly to Americans.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Stimulus Credited for Lifting Economy, But Worries About Unemployment Persist
By Michael A. Fletcher and Neil Irwin Washington Post Staff Writers Friday, September 4, 2009
Half a year after Congress enacted the largest economic stimulus plan in the nation's history, the measure is contributing to what increasingly looks like a budding recovery, analysts say, but significant concern remains about rising unemployment and the initiative's contribution to the federal budget deficit.
With the Obama administration under fire for what critics call unrestrained spending and polls showing the American public ambivalent about the impact of the stimulus plan, officials are pushing back, seeking to highlight the role played by their polices in fueling a recovery.
Vice President Biden, making what the White House billed as a major speech Thursday, touted the role of the $787 billion stimulus program in lifting the economy.
"The Recovery Act has played a significant role in changing the trajectory of our economy and changing the conversation about the economy in this country," Biden said in a speech at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "Instead of talking about the beginning of a depression, we are talking about the end of a recession."
While some congressional Republicans and others are dubious about the success of the stimulus plan, economists generally agree that the package has played a significant part in stabilizing the economy. They are less certain about the size of the impact.
"It's starting to play a role, helping us to have slightly positive rather than slightly negative GDP growth," said Phillip Swagel, an assistant Treasury secretary in the Bush administration who is now a visiting professor at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business. "It's a gigantic amount of fiscal stimulus, and anyone who tells you it has had no impact, you should be skeptical of."
--http://harlemvoiceblogs.blogspot.com
Half a year after Congress enacted the largest economic stimulus plan in the nation's history, the measure is contributing to what increasingly looks like a budding recovery, analysts say, but significant concern remains about rising unemployment and the initiative's contribution to the federal budget deficit.
With the Obama administration under fire for what critics call unrestrained spending and polls showing the American public ambivalent about the impact of the stimulus plan, officials are pushing back, seeking to highlight the role played by their polices in fueling a recovery.
Vice President Biden, making what the White House billed as a major speech Thursday, touted the role of the $787 billion stimulus program in lifting the economy.
"The Recovery Act has played a significant role in changing the trajectory of our economy and changing the conversation about the economy in this country," Biden said in a speech at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. "Instead of talking about the beginning of a depression, we are talking about the end of a recession."
While some congressional Republicans and others are dubious about the success of the stimulus plan, economists generally agree that the package has played a significant part in stabilizing the economy. They are less certain about the size of the impact.
"It's starting to play a role, helping us to have slightly positive rather than slightly negative GDP growth," said Phillip Swagel, an assistant Treasury secretary in the Bush administration who is now a visiting professor at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business. "It's a gigantic amount of fiscal stimulus, and anyone who tells you it has had no impact, you should be skeptical of."
--http://harlemvoiceblogs.blogspot.com
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