George Obama, the half brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, has been arrested by Kenyan police on a charge of possession of marijuana, police said Saturday.
Inspector Augustine Mutembei, the officer in charge, said Obama was arrested on charges of possession of cannabis, known in Kenya as Bhang, and resisting arrest. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday, Mutembei said. He is being held a More..t Huruma police post in the capital of Nairobi.
Correspondent David McKenzie talked with George Obama at the jail where he is being held. Speaking from behind bars, Obama denied the allegations. "They took me from my home," he said, "I don't know why they are charging me."
George Obama and the president barely know each other, though they have met before. George Obama was one of the president's few close relatives who did not go to the inauguration in Washington last week.
In his memoir, Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama describes meeting George as a "painful affair." Barack Obama's trip to Kenya meant meeting family he had never known.
McKenzie tracked down George Obama in August 2008 and found him at a small house in Huruma, a Nairobi slum, where he lives with his mother's extended family. His birth certificate shows he is Barack Obama's half brother. The two men share the same Kenyan father. In the memoir, Barack Obama struggles to reconcile with his father after he left him and his mother when he was just a child.
Barack Obama Sr. died in a car accident when George was just 6 months old. Like his half brother, George hardly knew his father. George was his father's last child and had not been aware of his famous half brother until he rose to prominence in the Democratic primaries last year.
Unlike his grandmother in Kogela, in western Kenya, George Obama had received little attention from the media until reports about him surfaced in August 2008. The reports sprung from an Italian Vanity Fair article saying George Obama lived in a shack and was "earning less than a dollar a day." Those reports left George Obama angry.
"I was brought up well. I live well even now," he said. "The magazines, they have exaggerated everything.
Isn't that always the truth ...
"I think I kind of like it here. There are some challenges, but maybe it is just like where you come from, there are the same challenges," Obama said.
Obama, who is in his mid-20s, said at the time that he was learning to become a mechanic and was active in youth groups in Huruma. He said he tried to help the community as much as he can
#3
I've always wondered if Obama's African relatives had any kind of security around them. If not, sooner or later some crazy jeehad wannabe is likely to kindnap one of them and give them the Daniel Pearl treatment. Just to piss us off if for no other reason. After all what would Mohammad do?
It's Scrappleface
In office less than two weeks, President Barack Obama has already increased tax receipts at the U.S. Treasury with an innovative plan to get tax-dodgers to pay up, in full, immediately.
The presidents plan is simple but ingenious, said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, He targets wealthy individuals who filed inaccurate tax forms, cheating the government out of tens of thousands of dollars. Then he just nominates them for cabinet positions. They suddenly see the error of their ways, and they cut checks for the full amount owed, plus interest.
In the month of January alone, Mr. Obama has forced Timothy Geithner, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to cough up $43,000 he owed the IRS, and former Sen. Tom Daschle to pay off his $128,000 tax obligation. Mr. Geithner will put his tax-paying experience to good use, overseeing the IRS as Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Daschle hopes his recently-good behavior will garner Senate confirmation as the next Secretary of the Health and Human Services.
With the IRS underfunded as it is, said Mr. Gibbs, this collection method is much more efficient than dispatching field agents. Arresting these men, or compelling them to pay penalties would take years, and make them feel bad about themselves. The presidents method not only gets more money to the government to help our economy, but provides a self-esteem boost by giving these wealthy men important-sounding titles.
The Obama administration will reportedly expand the program by creating hundreds, perhaps thousands, of additional cabinet posts, available to any rich person willing to fess up and settle up with the IRS.
ABC News has obtained the Senate Finance Committee Report on Tom Daschle's nomination to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, which indicates that Daschle's tax problems were even more substantial than earlier reported.
The report indicates that Daschle's failure to pay more than $101,000 taxes on the car and driver a wealthy friend let him use from 2005 through 2007 is not the only tax issue the former Senate Majority Leader has been dealing with since his December nomination prompted a more thorough examination of his income tax returns.
Mr. Daschle also didn't report $83,333 in consulting income in 2007.
The Senate Finance Committee Report also notes that during the vetting process, President Obama's Transition Team "identified certain donations that did not qualify as charitable deductions because they were not paid to qualifying organizations. Daschle adjusted his contribution deductions on his amended returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007 to remove these amounts and add additional contributions." This adjustment meant a reduction in the amount he contributed to charitable foundations of $14,963 from 2005 through 2007.
With the unreported income from the use of a car service in the amounts of $73,031 in 2005, $89,129 in 2006 and $93,096 in 2007; the unreported consulting income of $83,333 in 2007; and the adjusted reductions in charitable contributions, Daschle adds a total of $353,552 in additional income and reduced donations, meaning an additional tax payment of $128,203, in addition to $11,964 in interest.
On January 2 of this year, Daschle filed amended tax returns to pay the $140,167 in unpaid taxes.
The Finance Committee staff still is reviewing whether travel and entertainment services provided Tom and Linda Daschle by EduCap, Inc., Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, Academy Achievement, and Loan to Learn should be reported as income. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Daschle made use of the jet belonging to EduCap, a non-profit student loan organization.
In office less than two weeks, President Barack Obama has already increased tax receipts at the U.S. Treasury with an innovative plan to get tax-dodgers to pay up, in full, immediately.
The presidents plan is simple but ingenious, said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, He targets wealthy individuals who filed inaccurate tax forms, cheating the government out of tens of thousands of dollars. Then he just nominates them for cabinet positions. They suddenly see the error of their ways, and they cut checks for the full amount owed, plus interest.
Conservative News and Reporting
"News for the Rest of Us"
Michele Chang
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is extremely frustrated with orders that the White House is contemplating. According to sources at the Pentagon, including all branches of the armed forces, the Obama Administration may break with a centuries-old tradition.
A spokesman for General James Cartwright, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, states that the Obama Administration wants to have soldiers and officers pledge a loyalty oath directly to the office of the President, and no longer to the Constitution.
"The oath to the Constitution is as old as the document itself." the spokesman said, "At no time in American history, not even in the Civil War, did the oath change or the subject of the oath differ. It has always been to the Constitution."
The back-and-forth between the White House and the Defense Department was expected as President George W. Bush left office. President Obama has already signed orders to close Guantanamo and to pull combat troops from Iraq. But, this, say many at the Defense Department, goes too far.
"Technically, we can't talk about it before it becomes official policy." the spokesman continued. "However, the Defense Department, including the Secretary, will not take this laying down. Expect a fight from the bureaucracy and the brass."
Sources at the White House had a different point of view. In a circular distributed by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the rationale for the change was made more clear.
"The President feels that the military has been too indoctrinated by the old harbingers of hate: nationalism, racism, and classism. By removing an oath to the American society, the soldiers are less likely to commit atrocities like those at Abu Ghraib."
"We expect a lot of flak over this," the classified memo continues. "But those that would be most against it are those looking either for attention or control."
The time frame for the changes are unknown. However, it is more likely that the changes will be made around the July 4th holiday, in order to dampen any potential backlash. The difference in the oath will actually only be slight. The main differences will be the new phrasing. It is expected that the oath to the Constitution will be entirely phased out within two years. This is total crap. Having some Turner Diary wet dream, Michele? Completely unconfirmed. The spokesman didn't say any of this. Gibbs didn't say any of this. And there is no memo.
#2
Blackfive has already called bullshit on this, based on some of his (as of now) off the record contacts. So as far as I'm concerned, that means it's well and truly bullshit.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
01/31/2009 3:19 Comments ||
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#3
If that is true, notivce the if I don't like that at all. First thing Hitler did when Hindeburg died was to make the military pledge an oath of loyalty to him. To him and nothing else.
This was important because in Germany an oath was something that you carried to the last consequences (a trait of character Nietzche had mentionned several decades before).
#5
I modified the title to alert people, since this is flying around the blogosphere.
The hoax is credible to many based on a deep distrust of Obama's commitment to our way of life and Constitution. But remember the story about the boy who cried 'Wolf!!'. Too many of these hoaxes and people will ignore any real attacks on our basic liberties and legal mechanisms.
We need to be vigilant but also to check out claims carefully.
#7
Soldiers acting like in Abu ghraib are animals!
News Alert Dude, their fellow soldiers thought the very same thing as they court martialed their asses and sent them to confinement for a very long time. It wasn't the UN or any international court, or a special prosecutor who rendered justice, it was their peers. Unlike 95% of these of this planets human institutions, the American military has very good record in cleaning its own house. It's one of the reason that unlike nearly any other army in history, the little children, regardless of color, race, or creed do not run away from them, but seek them out as protectors.
#8
The irony of this being a hoax will probably be utterly missed by many in the administration and media, who will be utterly puzzled, and ask themselves:
"So what is wrong with making the military swear a loyalty oath to Obama? 'They're *ours* now.'(*)"
(*) This was the infamous statement heard at the Bill Clinton inauguration, when there was an overflight of USAF fighter aircraft. One prominent leftist sneered, expressing his long held hatred of the US military, for which he was chided by another prominent leftist, who said, "No, no. They're *ours* now!"
#9
:) How are you going to clean the mess you generated in Irak?
Some mess, real free elections [not found in the vast majority of muslim countries] and economy that is growing along with business and industry. How many people in this world want that kind of mess! As for the death rates due to violence, it far less than Chicago.
#10
We already cleaned house in Iraq - Saddam is gone. Iraqi's don't have to worry about his death squads, torture chambers, rape squads, industrial shredders, or rape rooms again.
To prosecute someone they must have done something wrong or illegal - and despite what the MSM and you on the moonbat left say what Bush did wasn't _wrong_ either legally or morally. Nor did he lie. Why do you think Queen Nancy didn't impeach? Because she knew that an impeachment would reveal their lies.
Now if we were to prosecute your U.N. officals (starting with Koffi Annan) that would be a start. We can start with Oil for Palaces (Iraq) and then move on to Nookie for Food (Congo)
#11
"Some mess, real free elections [not found in the vast majority of muslim countries] and economy that is growing along with business and industry"
What free elections?
Muslims have their own rules and way of life based on tribes and religion. Is it normal that USA impose its way of life to bedouins by invading and killing people? I don't understand you people from behind Atlantic ocean!
#12
Is it normal that USA impose its way of life to bedouins by invading and killing people?
No different than the Arabs streaming out of their part of the world conquering the remnants of the Roman and Sassanid Empire and imposing their way of life on people from the Ebro to the Indus. It all depends upon who's ox is getting gored, isn't it.
#13
Muslims have their own rules and way of life based on tribes and religion.
Ah, so they're incapable of democracy, eh?
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2009 10:21 Comments ||
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#14
I would understand if you invaded Irak for a kind of crusade war or christian agenda; but to impose your way of life with your burgers and naked women! arrrrgh man! You should invade Rwanda! they need burgers there!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 11:01 Comments ||
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#19
"I just want to understand how you guys from USA ... think"
That's pretty hard for most people who don't live here, and grew up believing that their government/religion knows best and should be in charge of everything.
Most of us don't think like that at all. Although the PC Lefties are trying their best, most of us still think free speech means free speech, not "free unless it hurts somebody's feelings." We also believe everybody in the world should have as much freedom and liberty as we do, because we believe that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are natural - not government-given - rights.
But a lot of us are beginning to not be concerned so much about the rest of the world being free, since so much of the rest of the world doesn't seem to care if they're free. We've already got too many people in this country who think the government is supposed to take care of their every need, instead of working to take care of themselves.
When you surrender the care of yourself and your family to the government, you sell yourself into slavery to the government. Most of us aren't interested in being slaves - but it appears to us most of the rest of the world doesn't care if they are.
Does that help any?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 11:13 Comments ||
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#20
troll alert - don't bother throwing pearls before swine.
We live in a federalist republic, not a democracy. At least read our constitution prior to spouting off stupidities. Idiot troll.
By the way, this is total b.s. All our top brass would resign and there would be a revolt if this crap were true.
#26
and football! and more whiskey! and some tequila too! After that, everyone looks sexy(!)
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 14:31 Comments ||
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#27
See the shallowness and superficiality of Mr. Midoman's thoughts, though he boasted last night of speaking the three languages of his native Barbary Coast (Arabic, Berber, and French) plus English. He thinks that what we ultimately offer to him are the twin evils of women who dress as they choose, and food different than that his mother makes... and that he is superior because he has learnt to access the internet that we invented and that is available to him because some of us wish to use it while in his part of the world. But he need not, does he not wish it, yet believes that because we make it available to all, therefore he must and will conquer us.
The silly man ignores all evidence of the last two centiries that his Allah favours our cause, not his.
Hat tip to Beavis who posted a similar article on the night shift.
ABC News has learned that the nomination of former Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-SD, to be President Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services has hit a traffic snarl on its way through the Senate Finance Committee.
Another cabinet appointee with tax problems? Oh well, lucky for us the media and the Senate are so forgiving these days ...
The controversy deals with a car and driver lent to Mr. Daschle by a wealthy Democratic friend, a chauffer service the former Senator used for years without declaring their use on his taxes.
It remains an open question as to whether this is a "speed bump," as a Democratic Senate ally of Mr. Daschle's put it, or something more damaging. After being defeated in his 2004 re-election campaign to the Senate, Daschle in 2005 became a lobbyist consultant and chairman of the Executive Advisory Board at InterMedia Advisors.
Based in New York City, InterMedia Advisors is a private equity firm founded in part by longtime Daschle friend and Democratic fundraiser, Leo Hindery, the former president of the YES network (the Yankees' and Devils' broadcast network).
That same year he began his professional relationship with InterMedia 2005, Mr. Daschle began using the services of Hindery's car and driver. The Cadillac and driver were never part of Daschle's official compensation package at InterMedia but Mr. Daschle -- who as Senate Majority Leader enjoyed the use of a car and driver at taxpayer expense -- didn't declare their services on his income taxes, as tax laws require.
During the vetting process to become HHS Secretary, Mr. Daschle corrected the tax violation, voluntarily paying $101,943 in back taxes plus interest, working with his accountant to amend his tax returns for 2005 through 2007. Mr. Daschle reimbursed the IRS $31,462 in taxes and interest for tax year 2005; $35,546 for 2006; and $34,935, a Daschle spokesperson said, adding that Mr. Daschle had asked his accountant to look into the tax implications of the car and driver five months before Mr. Obama won the presidency.
Right about the time Obama sent him a signal, I'm guessing ...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
He's a Democrat, so this is no big deal. Paying taxes on time is for the little people anyway.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/31/2009 0:22 Comments ||
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Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 1:17 Comments ||
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#4
that is the "Daschole" type...
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/31/2009 3:00 Comments ||
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#5
Wormy, the lot of em. Let's conduct a random DoJ and IRS financial investigation of the entire Congress just for good measure. Make them pass a urinalysis and a poly as well. It it's ood enough for soldiers and DoD, good enough for these vermin.
But came back from nowherville
to steal from you and me!
A grand-dragon lives forever but not so little puffs
Painted wings (wheeeee) and giant screams make way for other nuts.
One grey night it happened, the paper was no more
And puff that mighty
FILLER IN NAME HERE , he ceased his fearless roar
#10
But he's a Democrat! He evaded those taxes for the children!!
By the way...can someone remind the newsdesk that this story should run on Page J25, underneath the Saks Fifth Avenue ad?
Posted by: New York Times ||
01/31/2009 14:46 Comments ||
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#11
Credit where credit's due - while I don't read Jake Tapper's blog entries that often, he's always seemed to play it straight without the DNC spin you'd expect from an MSMer in good standing.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
01/31/2009 14:49 Comments ||
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#12
The IRS will not prepare peoples returns except for three categories - the blind, the mentally incompetent, and congressmen. At least the first two [with assistance] are smart enough to use the service. [And of course how appropriate they are categorized together].
With the focus on the economic stimulus package shifting to the Senate, the partisan split evident with the Democrat-only passage of the bill in the House last night overshadowed a lot of the discussions on both sides of the aisle today. So much so that various leaders were practically disowning the word bipartisanship as if deadly germs were part of its etymology.
At a news conference earlier today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the Democrat-only passage of the economic stimulus package, contending that Republicans were indeed included; their suggestions on tax cuts had become part of the bill itself, she said. But several G.O.P. senators and representatives hit the airwaves today, criticizing the spending portions and promoting their view of a more palatable alternative -- bigger, broader tax cuts and incentives.
When Mrs. Pelosi was asked whether the vote -- 244 to 188 without a single Republican's approval -- represented a failure on her part to advance President Obama's desire for a broad bipartisan bill, she practically snapped:
"I didn't come here to be partisan. I didn't come here to be bipartisan. I came here, as did my colleagues, to be nonpartisan, to work for the American people, to do what is in their interest."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I came here, as did my colleagues, to be nonpartisan, to work for the American people, to do what is in their interest
If you want to do something in the people's interest, Nancy, you will pull this bill and resubmit it only when all the pork and special interest/Democratic wet dream projects are removed.
At that time, the cost of the bill should total about $6.95. Total.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/31/2009 0:25 Comments ||
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#2
There was a bipartisan effort shown in voting. Both repubs and demos teamed up to vote against it.
#3
She thinks of herself as being equally Democrat, leftist, socialist, communist, communist Leninist-Trotskyite, Maoist communist, UFO cultist, PETA agitator, etc. But not Republican or conservative, since they aren't "really" Americans, in her eyes.
#4
"I am the Speaker of the House. I dont get into that... popular culture" she said at her weekly press conference, interrupting a questioner who asked about their impact on the stimulus debate.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/31/2009 9:46 Comments ||
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#5
apparently, a side effect of excessive botox on stoopid people is a permanent rictus
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 11:04 Comments ||
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#6
Frank: Picture for a moment if you will, that lovely face without the dentures.
Only one hour after Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached out of office on corruption accusations by the state Senate Thursday afternoon, the Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn took the public oath of office in Illinois state house of representative chamber.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
I am very uncomfotable with this process. Yes, Blago is a bad guy, but where was the due process etc.. that is part of our constitution?
Besides, I miss the soap opera.
#2
bman, from what I can gather from reading a law blog - where this was brought up - the Illinois constitution says the Illinois House has the right/responsibility to impeach, and they get to set the standards. It has nothing to do with our Constitution.
One commenter there said, "The house impeached based on the totality of Blago's actions over the past few years." He also said that Blago "had due process based on the constitution and the senate rules for the trial."
Considering this is Illinois, I'm wondering what the "totality of actions" was that was so different from the rest of the politicians in the Illinois swamp - unless maybe it was that he got caught.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 12:31 Comments ||
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#3
Barbara, exactly. The constitution covers what the gov't can do in criminal cases - where people are going to be deprived of their liberty and/or their property. The governorship was not Blago's property. He has not lost his liberty - he was not sent to prison. He was simply removed from office. In fact, for the moment, he has more freedom, because he doesn't even have to go to work every day.
Impeachment by the House, and conviction by the Senate are inherently political processes. They have nothing to do with due process.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/31/2009 16:17 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Conservative News and Reporting
With the focus on the economic stimulus package shifting to the Senate, the partisan split evident with the Democrat-only passage of the bill in the House last night overshadowed a lot of the discussions on both sides of the aisle today. So much so that various leaders were practically disowning the word bipartisanship as if deadly germs were part of its etymology. 
