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Last Updated: Aug 29th, 2008 - 07:51:18 |
La. Prosecutors Seek Indictment of Officer in Taser Death
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| Baron Pikes was murdered by taser. |
In Louisiana, prosecutors have announced they plan to seek the indictment of a White officer in the tasing death of a young African American man in the town of Winnfield. Baron Pikes died on January 17 from electrocution after the police officer shot him nine times with a taser. Pikes was already in handcuffs at the time. Last month, his death was ruled a homicide. Pikes was the first cousin of Mychal Bell, the lead defendant in the Jena Six case. Prosecutors say they’ll convene a grand jury next month.
3 Teens Charged in Beating Death of Mexican Immigrant
In Pennsylvania, three White teens have been charged in the beating death of a Mexican immigrant earlier this month. Witnesses said six White teenagers brutally attacked 25-year-old Luis Ramirez while yelling racial slurs. Ramirez came to the United States six years ago. He was the father of two children and was engaged to marry. Two of the teens were charged as adults with homicide and ethnic intimidation. More charges are expected in the case.
McCain Denies Supporting Iraq Timetable, Backs Affirmative Action Ban
Senator John McCain has backtracked on comments appearing to support a 16-month timetable for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. Speaking to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Friday, McCain said, “I think it’s a pretty good timetable.” McCain later said he didn’t mean to use the word timetable.
Meanwhile, McCain has lent support to an effort in his home state of Arizona that would bar state and local governments from practicing affirmative action. Appearing on ABC’s This Week, McCain said he would back an effort for a referendum on affirmative action on the state ballot. A decade ago, McCain opposed a similar effort, calling it “divisive.”
Ex-CIA-Backed Haitian Death Squad Leader Convicted of Mortgage Fraud
Here in New York, a former CIA-backed Haitian death squad leader has been found guilty on all counts in a mortgage fraud case. Emmanuel “Toto” Constant was found to have orchestrated a scheme to flip properties at inflated prices by selling them to so-called straw buyers. Human rights groups say Constant ordered killings and torture in the Caribbean nation in the 1990s, before fleeing to the United States. He has evaded deportation after threatening to go public with the extent of his ties to the CIA. In a statement, Jennie Green of the Center for Constitutional Rights said, “The conviction gives…his victims hope that he will soon be brought to justice for his crimes in Haiti that included the murder and rape and other torture of thousands more.” Constant will be sentenced in September.
House Issues Resolution Apologizing for Slavery
In other news from Capitol Hill, the House has apologized to black Americans, more than 140 years after slavery was abolished. The House passed a resolution that apologized for the “fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow” segregation.
Admin to Leave Behind Record Deficit
Here in the United States, the Bush administration has admitted it will leave behind a record budget deficit of around $490 billion. The figure is more than $80 billion over President Bush’s forecast earlier this year. The projection is likely too small because the White House hasn’t requested war funding for the entire year.
2 More Banks Close as Crisis Widens
In banking news, federal regulators have shut down two banks in California and Nevada. First National Bank of Nevada and the Californian First Heritage Bank were both folded for lacking sufficient capital. The closures come two weeks after the collapse of the California bank IndyMac.
World Trade Organization Talks Collapse
Talks to expand the World Trade Organization have collapsed after a week of negotiations. The United States and other industrial nations have been trying unsuccessfully to expand the WTO since 2001, after a trade meeting in Doha. The chief of the WTO, Pascal Lamy, admitted yesterday the talks had failed.
Pascal Lamy: “I think it’s no use beating around the bush. This meeting has collapsed.”
Lori Wallach of Public Citizen said the US and other nations now need to move on to a new agenda fixing the existing WTO rules. Wallach said, “Thank God no deal was reached, because the proposal under consideration would have exacerbated the serious economic, food security and social problems now rocking numerous countries.” The WTO talks failed in part because India and other developing nations demanded the right to protect their farming sectors against sudden surges in cheap food imports. The Bush administration was attempting to push through rule changes that would have given US corporations greater access to markets in India, China and other nations.
Probe: Justice Dept. Vetted Applicants for Political Views, Sexual Orientation
An internal probe has found top Justice Department officials practiced routine political discrimination in hiring for top positions. Applicants were disqualified for everything from links to Democratic Party politics and rumors of being gay or lesbian. Less-experienced Republicans were given priority, including one lawyer who drew raves for his position on “god, guns and gays.” The report focuses on the conduct of senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, including former top adviser Monica Goodling and former chief of staff Kyle Sampson. The officials relied on a White House internet search technique to vet the political views of potential employees. The aides searched for the applicants’ names, along with such key words as “abortion”, “homosexual”, “Florida recount” and “guns.”
Army Recruiter Suspended for Threatening Recruit
An Army recruiter in Texas has been suspended after he threatened a potential Army recruit who was having second thoughts about joining the military. The recruiter, Sgt. Glenn Marquette, warned the young man, Irving Gonzalez, that he would be sent to jail if he decided to go to college instead of joining the military, even though the teenager had signed a non-binding contract that left him free to change his mind before basic training. This is part of what Marquette told Gonzalez.
Sgt. Glenn Marquette: “As soon as you get pulled over for a speeding ticket, they’re gonna see that you’re a deserter. Then they’re going to apprehend you, take you to jail. So guess what. All that lovey-dovey ‘I want to go to college’ and all this? Guess what? You just threw it out the window, because you just screwed your life.”
After the Texas station KHOU broke the story, Republican Congressman Ted Poe hinted Congress may have to investigate Army recruiters. Poe said, “Our country cannot deceive its citizens. Since the Army hasn’t taken the initiative, now Congress may have to get involved.”
Blackwater Awarded Millions in Small Business Contracts
A government audit has found the private military company Blackwater has obtained dozens of contracts meant for small businesses. The Inspector General of the Small Business Administration says Blackwater was awarded $110 million in small business contracts despite uncertainty over whether it qualifies as a “small business.” From 2005 to 2007, Blackwater was awarded thirty contracts intended for companies with revenues under $6.5 million. Blackwater’s revenues exceeded $200 million for each of those years.
McClellan: White House Fed Talking Points to Fox News
Former White House spokesperson Scott McClellan has revealed the Bush administration routinely fed talking points to several top hosts at the Rupert Murdoch-owned network Fox News. McClellan was interviewed by MSNBC’s Chris Matthews.
Scott McClellan: “Certainly, there were commentators and others, pundits at Fox News, that were helpful to the White House, and then, certainly—yeah, certainly, we got talking points to those people.”
Chris Matthews: “Did you use—did people say ‘Call Sean. Call Bill. Call whoever’? Did you do that as a regular thing?”
McClellan: “Certainly, certainly. It wasn’t necessarily something I was doing, but it was something that we at the White House, yes, were doing, and getting them talking points and making sure they knew where we were coming from.”
Matthews: “So you were giving them talking points"—
McClellan: “But I would separate the journalists.”
Matthews: "No, no. This is important. You were using these commentators as your spokespeople.”
McClellan: “Well, certainly. I mean, certainly, I think that happens both ways, when people go on other networks, as well, that are favorable towards the Democrats and so forth.”
Matthews: “Nobody’s ever fed me any crap like that, so I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
McClellan: “Well, you’re an independent-minded guy.”
The White House has not denied McClellan’s statement.
Assailant Attacked Tennessee Church for Liberal Views
In Tennessee, the assailant in Sunday’s deadly church shooting in Knoxville has told police he targeted the congregation because it was known for socially liberal and gay-friendly views. Two people were killed and eight others were wounded when Jim Adkisson walked into the church and opened fire with a shotgun. Knoxville police chief Sterling Owen said the attack is being treated as a hate crime.
Sterling Owen: "It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that, and his stated hatred for the liberal movement. We have recovered a four-page letter in which he describes his feelings and the reason that he claims that he committed these offenses.”
Admin Told CIA Torture Justified “In Good Faith”
A newly disclosed memo shows Bush administration lawyers told CIA interrogators they could use a series of harsh measures including waterboarding, so long as they believed they were acting “in good faith.” The August 2002 memo was apparently written to address CIA concerns its officers could once face torture charges for carrying out White House-approved techniques. The Bush administration’s instructions said officers needed only to believe they weren’t deliberately inflicting severe pain to cause harm. The memo says, “Although an honest belief need not be reasonable, such a belief is easier to establish where there is a reasonable basis for it.” It continues, “The absence of specific intent negates the charge of torture.” The administration ultimately rescinded the directive three years later. The memo was released under a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU National Security Project, said, “These documents supply further evidence, if any were needed, that the Justice Department authorized the CIA to torture prisoners in its custody. The Justice Department twisted the law, and in some cases ignored it altogether, in order to permit interrogators to use barbaric methods that the US once prosecuted as war crimes.”
NYPD Officer Stripped of Badge After Tackling Cyclist
And a New York City police officer has been stripped of his badge after he was videotaped body-checking a bicyclist during last week’s Critical Mass ride. A video was posted on YouTube showing the officer, Patrick Pogan, violently knocking a cyclist off his bike. The officer then arrested the cyclist and charged him with attempted assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. The police have said the charges against the cyclist will likely be dropped.
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