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Last Updated: Apr 8th, 2008 - 11:09:59 |
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Indicted
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice as well as misconduct in office for lying about a romantic relationship with his former chief of staff. If convicted the Democratic mayor would be automatically expelled from office.
Richardson Says Obama’s Candidacy is “Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity”
In campaign news, New Mexico Governor and former presidential candidate Bill Richardson has officially endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president. Richardson’s endorsement surprised some, since he was a longtime friend to the Clintons and served in two senior positions in Bill Clinton’s administration. At an Obama campaign rally in Portland, Oregon, Richardson said Obama’s candidacy “is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our nation.”
Bill Richardson: “I think Senator Obama—I decided on this endorsement because I think he’s something special that the country needs right now, somebody that can bring the country together. Something very good about this man. And I was just reinforced to do the endorsement by his speech on race, where he could have just said, ’I’m going to give a safe speech’ in response to what his pastor had said, but instead he faced the issue head on and talked about unity and talked about the need to eliminate stereotypes. It just reinforced my decision.”
Citing Security, Ex-Obama Pastor Cancels Texas Appearances
In other campaign news, Senator Obama’s former pastor has canceled scheduled appearances in Texas set for this weekend. The Reverend Jeremiah Wright has come under heavy criticism from political pundits for linking the attacks of September 11 to US foreign policy in the Middle East and for saying the United States was founded on racism. In a statement, Reverend Wright cited safety concerns for his decision to cancel his appearances.
Pregnant Woman Tortured To Death
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| Dorothy Dixon was tortured and murdered. |
Police in the southern Illinois city of Alton have charged two adults, three teenagers and a 12-year-old boy with murder in the torture death of a pregnant African American woman. Based on photos released by the police, all adults arrested in the case are White and one or two of the juveniles are Black. Authorities say 29-year-old Dorothy Dixon, who was developmentally disabled, lived in a rented house with all but one of her accused killers and was banished to the basement, where she had a thin rug and mattress. Investigators say she was used for BB target practice, burned with a glue gun, beaten with bats, doused with scalding liquids, forced to walk around naked and bludgeoned to death. She died after weeks of the abuse.
Police Lieutenant David Hayes calls the case ``heartbreaking.'' Investigators say much of blame is with 35-year-old Michelle Riley, who they said pocketed Dixon's Social Security checks and referred to the woman as her "slave." All of those charged remain in jail on $1 million bond.
South Carolina Police Use Cars to Ram Black Suspects
The federal government is investigating videotapes of highway patrolmen in South Carolina running over Black men. Dashboard cameras in police cruisers, designed to back up police accounts of traffic stops, have exposed a practice by some South Carolina troopers – using cars to mow down Black men. Federal investigators said late last week that they are reviewing videos showing South Carolina Highway Patrol officers ramming their vehicles into fleeing suspects.
“You better run nigger,” then-Lance Cpl. Daniel C. Campbell is heard saying as he pursues a perp. “I’m fixin’ to kill you!” For that episode of displaced anger, Campbell was given a two-day suspension and told to undergo anger-management and diversity training. Gov. Mark Sanford says the officer should have been fired. It turns out that there are at least two other similar videos, both from last year.
Protesters Flood Bear Stearns to Protest Government Bailout, Foreclosure Inaction
Here in New York, dozens of protesters marched into the corporate headquarters of Bear Stearns on Wednesday to call for federal assistance to homeowners and protest the investment bank’s recent government-backed bailout. Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve put up $30 billion to help JPMorgan Chase purchase Bear Sterns. Meanwhile, homeowners on the verge of foreclosure and those who have already lost their homes have received little government support. Chanting “Help Main Street, not Wall Street,” demonstrators marched into the lobby of the Bear Stearns office building. Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America head Bruce Marks said protests against investment banks would continue.
Bruce Marks: “We’ve shown them that that’s just the beginning. That’s just the beginning. It’s personal when someone loses their home. Someone has to live with that twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We’re going to make the consequences of their actions personal to them. We will go to their country clubs. We will go into their neighborhoods. We will educate their children on what their parents do, because they should be ashamed.”
The protesters are demanding a moratorium on foreclosures and that banks roll back interest rate increases.
Sen. Clinton Admits She Misspoke about Bosnia Trip
In campaign news, Senator Hillary Clinton has admitted she misspoke when she claimed to have run across a tarmac to avoid sniper fire after landing in Bosnia as First Lady in 1996. Clinton gave a vivid description of the incident earlier this month claiming that she was sent to Bosnia because it was too dangerous for the President. Clinton was forced to admit she misspoke after CBS News showed footage of her casually walking across the tarmac with her daughter Chelsea. Clinton’s description of coming under sniper fire was first challenged by the comedian Sinbad who was also on the trip. Sinbad, who has endorsed Barack Obama, said the scariest part of the trip to Bosnia for him was wondering where the next meal would come from.
Citing Racial Bias, Supreme Court Orders Retrial for Death Row Prisoner
And back in the United States, the Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of an African American death row prisoner for racial bias in his trial. In a seven-to-two vote, justices ruled state prosecutor Jim Williams improperly excluded blacks to ensure an all-white jury tried Allen Snyder. Williams had referred to Snyder’s trial as his “O.J. Simpson case.” The Supreme Court has ordered a new trial. Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia cast the dissenting votes.
Bush: Outcome of War Will “Merit the Sacrifice” of 4,000 Dead Troops
Vigils were held across the country on Monday to mark the 4,000th death of a US soldier in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. At the White House, President Bush said the outcome of the war will “merit the sacrifice” of the 4,000 soldiers killed so far.
President Bush: “And I guess my one thought I want to leave with those who still hurt is that one day people will look back at this moment in history and say, thank God there were courageous people willing to serve, because they laid the foundations for peace for generations to come.”
In an interview on ABC News, Vice President Dick Cheney was also asked about the 4,000 soldiers killed in Iraq.
Dick Cheney: “The President carries the biggest burden, obviously. He’s the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans, but we are fortunate to have a group of men and women, an all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm’s way for the rest of us.”
97 percent of the deaths of US soldiers have occurred after President Bush announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003.
UN Climate Change Head Warns on Antarctic Ice Melt
In environmental news, the head of the UN’s climate change body is renewing calls for restrictions on carbon emissions to stave off global warming’s effects on the polar ice caps. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chair and Nobel laureate Rajendra Pachauri spoke after new images showed the collapse of a massive chunk of ice in the Antarctic.
Rajendra Pachauri: "There is enough evidence to show that there is accelerated melting of some of these large bodies of ice—West Antarctic ice sheet, the Greenland ice sheet. And as you know, we have in our synthesis report of the IPCC clearly mentioned the possibility of irreversible and abrupt changes, which could be essentially a collapse of some of these large bodies of ice that will result in several meters of increase in sea level.”
The British Antarctic Survey says the area of the Wilkins Ice Shelf is about seven times the size of Manhattan. It began breaking off in late February after being there for perhaps 1,500 years. Scientists say the rest of the Wilkins Ice Shelf is maintained only by narrow beams of thin ice and may collapse entirely.
Life Expectancy Gap Widens Between Rich and Poor
The New York Times reports new government research has found “large and growing” disparities in life expectancy for richer and poorer Americans paralleling the growth of income inequality in the last two decades. There is now a four-and-a-half-year gap in the life expectancy between the country’s most affluent and most deprived. In the early 1980s, the gap was less than three years. The gap between poor African American men and affluent white women is now more than fourteen years.
Americans Spend More on Food, Energy & Medical Care
In economic news, American households are spending a bigger chunk of their income on food, energy and medical care than at any time since records were first kept in 1960.
According to Merrill Lynch, 36 percent of disposable income is now spent on these expenses.
One in Ten Residents of Ohio Receive Food Stamps
Meanwhile, in another sign of the worsening economy, the number of residents in Ohio receiving food stamps has almost doubled since 2001. A record 1.1 million Ohioans now receive food stamps. That’s nearly ten percent of the state’s population.
Starbucks Ordered to Pay More than $100 Million in Back Tips
In legal news, a Superior Court judge in California has ordered Starbucks to pay more than $100 million in back tips and interest to workers. The Starbucks employees filed a lawsuit because they were being forced to share their tips with supervisors, in violation of California law.
Court: Barring Protesters from Inaugural Parade was Unconstitutional
A federal district court has ruled that the National Park Service violated the First Amendment rights of antiwar protesters when it excluded them from a major section of President Bush’s 2005 inaugural parade route. The decision came in a lawsuit brought by the ANSWER Coalition.
US Immigration Agent Arrested for Sexual Blackmail
And here in New York, a US immigration agent has been arrested after he was caught demanding sexual acts from a Colombian woman in return for granting her a green card. The agent, Isaac Baichu, has handled more than 8,000 immigrant applications during his career. The woman recorded Baichu making his demands, which included performing oral sex on the spot so he could know that she was “serious.” The case is among several known instances of sexual blackmail in the immigration process in recent years. Analysts say the actual number of cases could be far higher. Baichu faces seven years in prison.
US Says Nuclear Parts Mistakenly Sent to Taiwan
The Pentagon has admitted to mistakenly shipping nuclear parts to Taiwan. On Tuesday, military officials said four fuses for nuclear missiles were accidentally sent in the fall of 2006. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said the fuses were returned without incident.
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne: “Upon learning of the error, the US government took immediate action to acquire positive control of the components and arranged for their safe and secure recovery to the United States. These items have now been safely returned to the United States."
The disclosure comes six months after the Pentagon admitted to mistakenly flying a B-52 bomber loaded with five nuclear warheads across part of the United States. Each of the five nuclear warheads has about ten times the destructive force of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund says the latest incident shows the US has “too many nuclear weapons with too little control over them.”
Tobacco Company Funded Lung Cancer Study
And the New York Times has revealed the cigarette company Vector helped fund a widely publicized 2006 study that claimed more than three-quarters of lung cancer deaths could be avoided through CT scans. The Weill Cornell Medical College study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers were supported by a charity called the Foundation for Lung Cancer, itself almost entirely underwritten by more than $3.6 million in grants from Vector. Vector owns Liggett Group, which makes five different brands of cigarettes.
Supreme Court Rejects World Court Jurisdiction
Back in the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled the International Court of Justice has no jurisdiction over the US judicial system. In a six-to-three decision, the Court said neither President Bush nor the World Court can order Texas to reopen the death penalty case of a foreign national. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer said the decision contradicts the Constitution, which calls international treaties “the supreme law of the land.”
International
Scientists: Global Warming Behind Massive Antarctic Ice Collapse
In environmental news, scientists are blaming global warming for the collapse of a massive chunk of ice in the Antarctic. The British Antarctic Survey says the area is about seven times the size of Manhattan. It began breaking off in late February after being there for perhaps 1,500 years. Scientists say the rest of the Wilkins Ice Shelf is maintained only by narrow beams of thin ice and may collapse entirely.
Chavez: McCain a “Man of War”
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has weighed in on the US presidential race. On Tuesday, Chavez said he fears a McCain presidency could be more dangerous than President Bush’s, calling a McCain “a man of war.”
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: "McCain also seems to be a man of war. He said yesterday that Bush has been very tolerant with Chavez, imagine that. [McCain] has traveled to Iraq to offer up more weapons and more
dollars and more war.”
Chavez went on to say he hopes for reconciliation between the US and Venezuela after President Bush leaves office.
Defense Minister’s Comments Reignite Colombia-Ecuador Row
Ecuador’s Foreign Minister is accusing Colombia of ratcheting up tensions that had seemingly eased following this month’s Colombian attack on a FARC base in Ecuador. More than twenty people were killed in the cross-border bombing, including civilians. On Sunday, Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said Colombia would carry out further attacks wherever FARC rebels are based. Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador called the threat “aggressive" and "warlike.”
Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador: “The declarations of the Colombian defense minister are absolutely aggressive, absolutely warlike, and not just in respect to Ecuador, but to the entire continent. To say, to affirm that they are going to continue carrying out these types of missions wherever that may be is nearly a declaration of war from them.”
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