Clipmarks | Prison Clips

McCain's High Horse

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:39:40 GMT

clipped by: lifecyce1898
clipper's remarks: Posted Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2000, at 3:30 AM ET
I little trip down memory lane. Here we go again.

Clip Source: www.slate.com

Oh, please. McCain cheapens his own heroism when he tries to use five years in a North Vietnamese prison camp as a rhetorical get-out-of-jail-free card.

George W. Bush's widely mocked garble about McCain taking his "high horse" on the "low road" is actually, with a bit of untangling, a pretty good image. It's one thing to drop your negative ads and challenge your opponent to do the same. But it's a bit rich to carry on as if no decent person would ever do what you yourself were doing just a few days before.

W.Va. Inmate Says He's Denied Religious Rights

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:26:33 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: sundaygazettemail.com

The state Supreme Court is considering whether to hear a case involving an inmate who says he's being denied the right to freely practice his Native American religion.

Bobby Eugene Roddy wants the court to order the Division of Corrections to provide him with a sweat lodge to use one day a week for a ceremony.

He also insists on two prayer pipe ceremonies per week. The Mount Olive Correctional Complex inmate also wants to grow his hair long and be allowed to wear moccasins and other Native American garments.

The 42-year-old Roddy goes by the spiritual name "Running Cougar.''

Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein says no inmate is prohibited from practicing religion. But he says certain requests must be denied for security concerns.

Tags: religion, rights, legal, prison

US lobbyist jailed for corruption

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:59:36 GMT

clipped by: sahara

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has been sentenced to four years in prison for corruption.

Abramoff's assistance led to other corruption convictions

Abramoff had pleaded guilty in a Washington court to charges of trading expensive gifts, meals and sports trips in exchange for political favours

The case caused a scandal in Washington and sparked off a wide-ranging public corruption probe

The court had heard how Abramoff made tens of millions of dollars by steering clients to consultants who charged excessive fees and then split the profits with him

In 3,000 hours of interviews with the FBI, he gave information leading to the conviction of a string of lawmakers and high-profile political figures, including one member of Congress

He said that much of the activity of Washington "lives in the loopholes" but that he had "blundered farther than even those excesses would allow

The BBC's Richard Lister in Washington says that the scandal was a disaster for the Republican party

Abramoff conviction

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:57:00 GMT

clipped by: wjbarnes
clipper's remarks: First clip, test

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has been sentenced to four years in prison for corruption.

Abramoff had pleaded guilty in a Washington court to charges of trading expensive gifts, meals and sports trips in exchange for political favours.

Abramoff is already serving a six-year term for his role in an unrelated fraudulent Florida casino deal.

Connected, Yes, but Hermetically Sealed

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:22:28 GMT

clipped by: mrobert
clipper's remarks: Article from New York Times by Ben Stein commenting on what we give up by being so connected by electronic devices.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

But try a day without that invasion of your privacy. Or a week. You will be shocked at what you discover. It’s called life. It’s called nature. It’s called getting to know yourself. I have a close friend who is in prison. He used to be imprisoned by his P.D.A. He has many stories, but the most haunting one is about how, without his phone, without his P.D.A., he has come to know, for the first time, who he is.

Tags: pda, lifestyle, communication, solitude

Detroit Mayor Guilty

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:38:10 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: This will have far reaching consequences for the Dems. What a pity. Glad it was not Chicago

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Detroit mayor pleads guilty, to leave office

DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded guilty on Thursday to obstruction of justice in a plea agreement that forces him from office and caps a scandal that had threatened to spill over into the U.S. presidential campaign in a key battleground state.

The guilty plea to two felony charges stems from Kilpatrick's role in the city's $8.4-million settlement of a whistle-blower lawsuit brought by two fired police officers.

Kilpatrick, 38 and once a rising star in the Democratic Party, had faced up to 15 years in prison and loss of his office if convicted of felony charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct.

Dubbed the "hip-hop" mayor when he took office in 2002, Kilpatrick had remained defiant in the face of his mounting legal troubles, claiming that the charges against him were racially motivated.

JAIL for the Rest of the Criminals

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:27:27 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: Don't stop now! Arrest the Gang that also profited from his deceptions among them Bush and Cohorts.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Lobbyist Abramoff gets four years in prison

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose corruption scandal shook up Washington's power elite and contributed to the Republican loss of control in Congress, was sentenced on Thursday to four years in federal prison.

Abramoff is already serving a nearly six-year term on unrelated charges and the new sentence will be served at the same time, meaning he will not spend any extra time behind bars once his original sentence ends in 2012.

"I've fallen into an abyss, your honor, and I don't quite know how to get out," he said.

Several members of Indian tribes victimized by Abramoff urged the judge to give him the maximum sentence, but one tribal member spoke in his defense. Huvelle said because Abramoff cooperated with authorities on other criminal investigations, his sentence was significantly reduced from what guidelines suggested.

fraud charges in the purchase of a Florida casino cruise line

FBI Wanted Obama Plotters Charged, But A Rove Appointee Said No

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:30:29 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Cont....

Note the language used by Eid in dismissing the gravity of the case: the case isn't serious because they were "more aspirational, perhaps, than operational"? Well, when it was the Liberty Seven -- black Muslim men who were described by the FBI as "aspirational rather than operational" -- there was no hesitation by the Justice Department in bringing charges.

Another funny thing: When a black man in prison sent a threatening letter containing baby powder to John McCain, Troy Eid brought down the full force of the law, complete with press conferences and public declarations that "We won't stand for threats of this kind in Colorado."

But when it’s a claque of white men with rifles, disguises, and all the accoutrement of a conspiracy – as well as open admissions to it – Troy Eid isn’t worried. After all, they just a bunch of harmless, tweakers, right? … Just like little Timmy McVeigh.

Clip Source: dneiwert.blogspot.com

We noticed last week that it was awfully peculiar that Colorado’s U.S. Attorney, Troy Eid, had so airily dismissed conspiracy charges against the three white-supremacist tweakers who were caught planning to assassinate Barack Obama at last week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver.

Now it turns out that those suspicions were fully warranted:

The plot is similar to that in the 1992 movie "The Bodyguard" starring actors Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. In the movie, Costner stops an assassination attempt against Houston by spotting a weapon hidden inside a gutted-out TV camera.

Based on the evidence, FBI special agent Robert Sawyer believed there was probable cause to charge the men with conspiracy to kill Senator Obama. However, US Attorney Troy Eid last week said there is insufficient evidence to indicate a true threat, plot or conspiracy against the senator.

Tags: obama, plot, assasination, fbi, crime, justice, rove

Abramoff asks for Mercy

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:52:23 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: Here's your true face of the Rethuglicans...corruption, and mewling beggars for mercy when caught!

Clip Source: www.politico.com

Jack Abramoff, once a top GOP lobbyist, is asking a federal judge to show mercy when she sentences him Thursday.

Jack Abramoff, once a top Republican lobbyist on K Street, is asking a federal judge to show mercy when she sentences him Thursday in an epic corruption case that continues to rock Capitol Hill and the GOP establishment.

Abramoff, who is already serving a 70-month sentence stemming from his fraudulent purchase of a Florida casino-cruise ship company, will go before District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle to be sentenced in a scandal that resulted in a prison term for one former member of Congress, a dozen other guilty pleas by former Republican aides and officials, and new ethics legislation enacted at the start of the 110th Congress.

In an e-mail letter to Huvelle that was released on Wednesday, Abramoff told the judge that he was "not a bad man (although to read all the news articles one would think I was Osama Bin Laden), but I did many bad things.

Extraordinary rendition: An Australian's story

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:37:32 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "Most of his fingernails were missing and he regularly bled from the nose, mouth, and ears while he slept."

Clip Source: www.atimes.com

Mamdouh Habib, an Australian citizen, was living in Sydney with his wife and four children when he took a trip alone to Pakistan

When Habib boarded a bus for the Islamabad airport to return home, Pakistani police seized him

After 15 days in the Pakistani prison, Habib was transferred to

United States agents who flew him to Cairo. When he arrived, Omar Solaimon, chief of Egyptian security, informed him that Egypt receives US$10 million for every confessed terrorist they hand over to the US.

during his five months in Egypt, "there was no interrogation, only torture". His skin was burned with cigarettes, and he was threatened with dogs, beaten, and repeatedly shocked with a stun gun.

American agents sent Habib to Guantanamo Bay. Three British detainees

Most of his fingernails were missing and he regularly bled from the nose, mouth, and ears while he slept.

Rather than have

testimony on the torture

US officials decided to send him back to Sydney in January 2005

Tags: rendition, war on terror, war crimes

Short Cut for Blogging

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:31:33 GMT

clipped by: KirtJBaab
clipper's remarks: Clipmarks is a tool that will save us time!

Clip Source: www.michpri.com

Creating Safer Neighborhoods and Better Citizens

The primary goal of the Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative (MPRI) is to promote public safety by increasing the success rates of prisoners transitioning from prison to the community. The vision of the MPRI is that every prisoner released from prison will have the tools needed to succeed in the community.

MPRI is a statewide strategic approach to create safer neighborhoods and better citizens.

MPRI delivers a seamless plan of services, support, and supervision from the time a prisoner enters prison through their return to a community.

Tags: community safety

Bush refers to "The Angry Left," at RNC

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:26:45 GMT

clipped by: citizenbfk
clipper's remarks: This makes me angry.

(: There is the video of this on this link)

Seriously it makes me angry, all these warmongering hate-filled hearts can do is slander and name call and they do their best to avoid any discussion of issue.

There is no "angry left." There are millions of people who don't want to spend one more dime (or thin Euro) for a war built on lies.

It's clear the "Rabid Right," has nothing to offer for national or international leadership other than third-grade insults.

Clip Source: thinkprogress.org

Bush equates ‘angry Left’ with North Vietnamese torturers.»

Tonight in his address via satellite to the Republican National Convention, President Bush blasted Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) critics. Invoking McCain’s time as a POW in a North Vietnamese prison, Bush compared these torturers to members of the “angry Left”:

If the Hanoi Hilton could not break John McCain’s resolve to do what is best for his country, you can be sure the angry Left never will.

Bush received a loud, standing ovation. Watch it:

Tags: bush, angry_left

Hans Reiser Sentenced to 15-to-Life

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 10:48:48 GMT

clipped by: cyberwiz

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

Linux guru and convicted murdered Hans Reiser was handed a prison sentence of 15-to-life Friday, putting a final capstone on a case that began as a murder mystery, and ended with Reiser leading police to a makeshift grave a short distance from where he strangled his wife.

"I wish to humbly apologize to society for my crime," Reiser said in a statement before his sentence was pronounced. "Every human life is sacred. I took the life of a human being and I'm very sorry for that."

Hans Reiser killed his wife, Nina, at about 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, 2006, according to the belated confession Reiser wrote as part of his deal, said prosecutor Paul Hora after the sentencing. He first punched her in the mouth, cutting his hand, then strangled her to death.

The developer of the ReiserFS file system becomes eligible for parole in about 13 years, having already served two years since his October 2006 arrest.

The End Of The World and what you can do before its to LATE!!

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:19:12 GMT

clipped by: wiganfootie

Clip Source: www.thesun.co.uk

The atom smasher ... the 17-mile-long machine that some fear will destroy our planet

WITH just nine days to go until the end of the world, here’s what you could get up to before it’s too late ...

1. Eat 27 Big Mac meals. Who’s counting the calories?

2. Visit all seven continents.

3. Try out all 64 Kama Sutra positions.

4. Watch the entire box sets of Lost, Heroes and Prison Break.

5. Cruise the River Nile.

6. Drive to Switzerland for a ringside seat of doomsday.

7. Complete Super Mario: The Lost Levels.

8. Catch England’s World Cup qualifiers against Andorra on Saturday and – if we’re still alive – England v Croatia on September 10 If we lose, it’ll feel like the end of the world anyway!

9. Cancel the milk and papers.

Youth, violence, illiteracy

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:43:57 GMT

clipped by: montypaul
clipper's remarks: The lack of functional literacy is blamed for violence amongst young people, leaving them unable to respond effectively emotionally laden situations. It is suggested that an emphasis on testing and targets leads to teachers providing a minimal imput wrt literacy skills.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

In our current school system children are explicitly taught how to read and write in the early years. After that a certain level of literacy is taken for granted as we rush them through the prescribed curriculum, heading quickly towards the golden GCSE As to Cs and hoping for better league table results.

This focus on exam results can leave a significant number of "hopeless" cases left behind. As the recent SATs result show, almost a fifth of students leave primary school without basic literacy. Allowing this number of children to slip through the net can have a detrimental effect on their behaviour in adolescence and through into adulthood.

Youth crime has been strongly linked to illiteracy and truancy. Government figures for 2002 – 2003 show 40% of young offenders entering prison were below level 1 (i.e. would not achieve a G at GCSE English). This is also true of adult offenders, with 80% having the writing skills of an 11 year old.

Tags: uk, crime, youth, violence, illiteracy, testing, targets