In a landmark RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) lawsuit certain to have far-reaching implications for the animal rights movement, Feld Entertainment and the Ringling Brothers circus sued the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), its lawyers, and several other animal rights groups last week.
The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) unearthed the lawsuit in federal court records today. CCF is making the lawsuit available online at its newest website, www.HumaneWatch.org
"America's farmers, ranchers, hunters, fishermen, research scientists, fashion designers, and restaurateurs have seen for decades how the animal rights movement can behave like a mobbed-up racket," said CCF Director of Research David Martosko.
"But it's still shocking to see the evidence laid out on paper. In a treble-damage lawsuit like this, a jury could actually do the humane thing and finally put HSUS out of business completely."
In its February 16 lawsuit, Feld leveled bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice, and money laundering charges against HSUS and two of its corporate attorneys; three other animal rights groups; the Washington, DC law firm of Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal; and all three of that firm's named partners.
On December 30, 2009, Federal Judge Emmitt Sullivan ruled that these defendants collaborated to pay more than $190,000 to Mr. Tom Rider, a former Feld employee who was an elephant "barn helper" for two years in the late 1990s, in exchange for his impeached testimony against Feld in an earlier lawsuit-testimony Judge Sullivan declared "not credible" and disregarded in its entirety. That lawsuit was dismissed.
Feld is also suing Mr. Rider, and a nonprofit "Wildlife Advocacy Project" charity, claiming that Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal used it to funnel money from their plaintiff clients to Mr. Rider. These clients included the Fund for Animals, which merged with HSUS in 2004.
Climate pact appears increasingly fragile; U.N. official quits (WaPo)
Pessimism about global climate talks deepened Thursday as Yogi Bear Yvo de Boer, the United Nations' top climate official, resigned after struggling for 3 1/2 years to produce a binding legal treaty requiring the world's major emitters of greenhouse gases to slash their carbon output in the coming decades. He will step down July 1 with that goal unmet. "It was a difficult decision to make, but I believe the time is ripe for me to take on a new challenge," said de Boer, who will join the consulting group KPMG as an adviser on climate and sustainability and also work with several universities. Probably got a big raise, too, but not so much five-star dining.
Many observers saw de Boer's resignation as recognition that the U.N. role had been overtaken by the big emitting nations, which hammered out the accord at the last minute in Copenhagen.
"It's a death knell for the U.N. process," said Frank Maisano, a lobbyist on energy issues at Bracewell & Giuliani. "It's clear now that you're going to have to solve this issue through agreements with major emitters." Good luck with that.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/22/2010 16:19 ||
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Living in Lubbock is like living in a baboon enclosure, though with marginally better sewer service.
The instrument landing system problems that brought such frustration and consternation to Lubbock earlier this month really may have been the handiwork of one very cantankerous little boy thousands of miles away. Or maybe not, since El Nino affects weather from here to Tierra del Fuego and this is the longest running ILS failure in the history of the system, it is just possible some other factor is in play.
El Nio (sic) apparently struck again, and an ice storm it hurled across the South Plains Jan. 28, which weighed down electric lines, may have been the trigger. Initially, an arc in a traffic signal was blamed. I was concerned that Lubbock's orange cone lords (TXDoT and City Traffic Control) were not satisfied with strangling ground traffic with a mass of uncoordinated and glacially slow road destruction pork, and had decided to branch out into obstructing air traffic as well. Continued on Page 49
#3
The original article may have been written by a baboon. A more informative headline would have been: Lubbock Airport Instrument Landing System Jammed by Intermittent RFI, Culprits Sought Eliminating intermittent RFI, or any intermittent electronic signal, can be fiendishly difficult. (Intermittent RFI may also be part of the random accelerator problems in Toyota cars).
#4
Walkin' like a millionaire
Smilin' like a king
He leaned his shopping cart against the wall
He said, "I been a lot of places
And I seen a lot of things
But, sonny, I seen one thing that beats 'em all
I was flyin' back from Lubbock
I saw Jesus on the plane
...or maybe it was Elvis
You know, they kinda look the same
Hey, look out, Junior, you're steppin' on my bed"
I said, "I don't see nothin"
He just glared at me and said,
If dirt were dollars
If dirt were dollars
If dirt were dollars
I wouldn't worry anymore - Don Henley
Couldn't help it, folks. The name Lubbock set me off.
#5
AM seeing more + more "GREEN" = AURORA BOREALIS wavy gravy bands over GUAM-WESTPAC > BETWEEN THE SUN [Global Warming] + LATE NITE DARPA-DOD MILPROJECT TESTING, Guam's Airport is lucky it hasn't turned LUBBOCK yet nor suffered anuther KAL crash.
* MSM-NET > VARIOUS > 2012 > Perts are expecting MASSIVE SOLAR STORMS to damage electronic + other sensitive mediums.
IMO read, "SIRIUS EVENT II"? STRONGER? which the SUN, GW Perts have not reached a full unified consensus on.
One of two Swiss nationals hostages held in Libya for the past 18 months has left the Swiss embassy in Tripoli to start a four-month jail sentence.
Businessman Hostage Max Göldi handed himself over to the authorities on Monday afternoon and was taken to prison in handcuffs.
Rachid Hamdani, the other Swiss national hostage who had been held with Göldi, left for Tunisia after receiving documents allowing him to leave the country, according to Salah Zahaf, a lawyer for both men spokesman of the Libyan regime.
Göldi's surrender avoided escalating a confrontation that has drawn in governments across Europe.
In Brussels, Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger said the police had threatened to storm the embassy if Tripoli's ultimatum to hand over the two men was not heeded, and many European Union ambassadors had gone to the building "to show solidarity". There is historical precedent where Western powers respected the sanctity of a Libyan embassy even though an act of war was committed by said embassy. Even the Soviet Union respected Western Embassies.
Gaddafi is testing what he will get away with and the message we (all Western Nations) are sending him is that he will not face any sort of punishment whatever he might do. This won't end well.
War is not an option in resolving Argentina's dispute with Britain over the potentially oil-rich Falkland Islands, a senior Argentinian minister said yesterday. "War is excluded from our horizon," the Deputy Foreign Minister, Victorio Taccetti, said. "After all, we got our asses kicked the last time..."
But he insisted Buenos Aires would not give up its claims to the islands it calls Las Malvinas. "We'll just huff and puff and make life miserable for all concerned until somebody lets us have our way."
He denied that Argentina was escalating a row triggered by a British oil drilling project in the Falklands. Just trying to save the job of Madame Kirchner, that's all ...
The dispute followed the arrival of the Ocean Guardian off the Falkland Islands. Drilling could begin as early as today or tomorrow. "We just can't stand the thought of all that boodle flowing somewhere other than Buenos Aires."
Britain insists the exploration conforms to international law, but Buenos Aires argues that London is violating UN resolutions requiring a negotiated solution. The dispute pushed tensions between the two countries to their highest level since the 1982 conflict which followed Argentina's invasion of the islands. "We are trying to convince the British that it is in their interest to negotiate with Argentina. This is not an escalation; this is just something that we have to do in order to protect our rights, because we consider that this exploration and eventual exploitation of our natural resources is illegal," Mr Taccetti said yesterday.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/22/2010 09:31 ||
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#1
Wars have their consequences. Ask the former Germans of Prussia and Silesia.
#7
Besoeker, I don't think the Argentinians can think that far ahead. They just want the boodle, if any.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/22/2010 16:36 Comments ||
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I would think Argentina could take the islands without war now. England is just a hollow shell of a hollow shell with a Queen.
Posted by: Kelly ||
02/22/2010 19:33 Comments ||
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#9
Lest we fergit, TO PARAPH WW2 THE RISE OF EURABIA + LONDONISTAN = IRELAND STANDS ALONE, agz ADOLF-JOZEF AHMED + ISLAMOFASCIST CONTROLLED CONTINENTAL EUROPE.
FEAR NOT, WINNIE CHURCHILL, POTUS BAMMER + AMERIKA IS COMING!
Unfortunately, the hard-fighting, hard-drinking Irish have no Army, Navy, Air Force, or national economy potent enough to challenge Buenos Aires, let alone reach the Falklands. THE GOOD NEWS FOR THE IRISH IS THAT NEITHER "EURABIA: NOR "LONDONISTAN", ETC. IS NOT IN ARGENTINA'S + CENTRAl-SOUTH AMERICA'S INTERESTS EITHER.
#12
I find it hard to imagine the current UK leadership and military mounting an operation to retake the islands. In fact at the end of Seaharrier Over the Falklands the author talks about the RAF building a long runway on the islands to help in the defense in the future. The Argentine air force really could have used such a runway last time around.
If the Argies attacked during their winter and removed the islanders and sent them on a plane back home and shouted imperialism, imperialism and UK only wants the islands for Oil you'd find few willing to side with the UK if they did choose to retake the islands.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The new Honduran government has re-established relations with 29 nations, which had severed relations with Tegucigalpa following a military coup that removed the country's constitutional President Manuel Zelaya.
Honduran Foreign Minister Mario Canahuati, in an interview with El Tiempo daily, announced that France, Spain, Italy, Guatemala and Germany are among the countries that have restored ties with the Central American nation, AFP reported. Relations with the major regional countries including Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela and Nicaragua have yet to be normalized, added Canahuati.
Zelaya who was ousted in a June 28, 2009, military coup failed in his attempts to return to power.
The de facto regime led by Roberto Micheletti, paved the ground for an early presidential election, in which Porfirio Lobo won.
Lobo is facing a critical test as Honduras, following the coup, was isolated on the international arena and now his government should fight for recognition both regionally and internationally.
Lobo has not been invited to the upcoming second Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean, since Mexico, the host of the event, says it does not recognize the Honduran government.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/22/2010 00:00 ||
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Lobo has not been invited to the upcoming second Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean, since Mexico, the host of the event, says it does not recognize the Honduran government.
Oh yes, naturally the concept of a constitutional democracy and free elections enforced through the 'rule of law' and a strong military is difficult for Mexico to understand. Thankfully, 29 other countries appear to get it however. Viva the Wolf.
#3
So if Mexico's most wanted decided to, say, vacation in Honduras, they'll be safe since Mexico City can't request extradition from a government it doesn't recognize.
Turkish police detained about 50 military commanders Monday for allegedly planning to blow up mosques in order to trigger a military takeover and overthrow the Islamic-rooted government.
The nationwide sweep highlighted the ongoing struggle between the secular establishment and the Islamic-oriented government - and left many wondering if the military no longer called the shots in a nation accustomed to viewing it as the pillar of the secular state.
The detention of 49 senior military officers, according to CNN-Turk television - including members of the elite class known as "Pashas," a title of respect harking back to Ottoman times - proved, at the very least, that such officials are no longer untouchable.
Turkey's secular military has ousted four governments since 1960, demonstrating its influence and place of power since Mustafa Kemal Ataturk created the republic from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc on Monday expressed regret over the 1961 hanging by coup leaders of a prime minister and two of his ministers. But he said that those days are over and that Turkey now was going through a normalization process.
"We could not even dream about things that we see happening now," Arinc told CNN-Turk television Monday. "Things will get better when those who were never accountable for their deeds begin to account for them."
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declined to comment Monday on the raids, saying they had been carried out on prosecutors' orders.
"It would not be appropriate for me to talk about an issue that is already handled by the judiciary," Erdogan said during a visit to Madrid.
Police teams raided the suspects' homes in eight cities on Monday.
The military's image had already been tarnished by allegations it was secretly planning to depose Erdogan's elected government for undermining secularism in this predominantly Muslim country.
The commanders detained Monday are reportedly accused of seeking to plant bombs at mosques to stir chaos at home to pave the way for a coup. They are also accused of allegedly conspiring to plan shooting down a Turkish warplane to trigger armed conflict with Greece in a bid to destabilize the Turkish government. The military strongly denied the allegations.
On Sunday Erdogan said his government was preserving the rule of law, and had not given "a chance to those who tried to fly a course for Turkey outside law."
Several high-ranking members of Turkey's military were among those detained, including ex-deputy chief Gen. Ergin Saygun, former Air Force chief Gen. Ibrahim Firtina and Navy Chief Adm. Ozden Ornek. Several other senior admirals and generals were also among the suspects.
So far, prosecutors have charged more than 400 people in the case, including soldiers, academics, journalists and politicians.
No one has yet been convicted.
The detentions Monday followed the gathering of wiretap evidence and the discovery of secret weapons caches - revelations that dealt a blow to the military's credibility.
Erdogan also has dramatically curtailed the military's power, under EU pressure, and reinforced civilian rule while bolstering democratic institutions.
What happened to all the money the organization is supposed to get from the stimulus bill via HUD and state and local governments? Are we sure this isn't just ACORN's version of splitting off fighting wings under new names?
I'm betting that's what it is -- ACORN's name is poison so the same actors will organize under a different banner and proceed to do what they've always done. It's the way of the Left.
That story's already in tomorrow's hopper...
The embattled liberal group ACORN is in the process of dissolving its national structure, with state and local-chapters splitting off from the underfunded, controversial national group, an official close to the group confirmed.
"ACORN has dissolved as a national structure of state organizations," said a senior official close to the group, who declined to be identified by name because of the fierce conservative attacks on the group that began when a conservative filmmaker caught some staffers of its tax advisory arms on tape appearing to offer advice on incorporating a prostitution business.
The videos proved a rallying point for conservatives who had long accused the group of fomenting voting fraud. Though the videos did not produce criminal charges, they appear to have been fatal to the national organization.
"Consistent with what the internal reccomendations have been, each of the states are developing plans for reconstitution independence and self-sufficiency," said the official, citing ACORN's "diminished resources, damage to the brand, unprecedented attacks."
The new organizations, he said "will be constituted under new banners and new bylaws and new governance," he said, consistent with the recommendations of an outside panel.
Much of the group's strength lay in its local chapters in places like New York, which appear to be continuing to operate as normal. New York's City Hall News reported today that the local group there had re-emerged under the name "New York Communities for Change."
Posted by: War On Terror ||
02/22/2010 15:40 ||
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#1
Remember this name. Community Organizations International, or COI. Remember that new name. Remember that new acronym. Nothing has changed.
The 'weeping' is for 'show', only.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
02/22/2010 16:35 Comments ||
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My predictions:
-ACORN-US: replaced by a 'shadow leadership' for coordination
-Money moved about via SEIU
-No big change except the possibility of defeat in detail; but it would be a hard slog
-Note they mention the New York office, not Chicago. Obama will be shielded from his contact with them
#3
BigGovernment.com has an article about the name changes of the local ACORN affiliates. Things are different, now that the alternative media can get the news out via the internet. I don't think the ACORN central committee members are quite up to speed on the implications.
Study claimed in 2009 that sea levels would rise by up to 82cm by the end of century -- but the report's author now says true estimate is still unknown
-----
Announcing the formal retraction of the paper from the journal, Siddall said: "It's one of those things that happens. People make mistakes and mistakes happen in science." He said there were two separate technical mistakes in the paper, which were pointed out by other scientists after it was published. A formal retraction was required, rather than a correction, because the errors undermined the study's conclusion. From the Guardian - don't expect the Wapost or NYTimes to carry it. I'm surprised the Guardian did. If it wasn't for the Guardian we wouldn't have any honest reporting on climate change by a progressive newspaper.
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/22/2010 00:00 ||
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I went and read the comments, they started off with AGW people claiming how this only furthered there cause but as people brought in facts and questions they can't answer truthfully, they all vanished.
#2
Yup that particular lie was too blatant to swallow, anybody can see the sea shore.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/22/2010 12:39 Comments ||
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I was able to get one person to begin critical thinking vs. North Pole melts everyone drowns. Told'em to fill a glass to the brim with ice and water, then let the ice melt. I know that is an oversimplification, the point was for that person to critically examine their own thoughts and beliefs rather than tow someone else's statement without consideration.
#8
On a separate note, here on Guam I've visually observed an unusual number of dead local birds since last week. It was more dead birds than I've seen at any one time [short lead time] - unlike in 2009, where the handful of dead birds observed oer time appeared to had died oer long lead times of old age andor fungal infection [change in floral cover], the ones recently appeared to be young adults + healthy looking wid no discernible disease.
I'm not a BIRD PERT, but my first guess would be DEHYDRATION? as Guam as lately undergone several very hot or humid days wid little rain.
PUT A FEW UNDER SOME LOCAL PALM TREES OR BUSHES -GUAM BIRDS ERGO GUAM TREES.
#9
OOOOPPPSIES, forgot to add GUAM NEWS > had ARTICS warning Guam Parents about MILITANT MILLIPEDES running amok in righteous Milli- indignation.
ME > seen more RED WORMS, EARTHWORMS than MILLI/CENTI-PEDES, EVEN LATE-NITE LAND CRABS. PROLLY 'CUZ THE GROUND IS TOO HOT FOR THEM. The "CRAB JIHADIS" refuse to give up their NICE-N-COOL SURFACE SPOTS to the BAMMER SURGE [claws raised to fight].
#11
North Pole Ice does include Greenland ice doesn't it?
If the South pole melted i suspect sea levels might change a bit, but I think people overestimate the size of Antarctica because of the way maps are created the poles are generally enlarged and the equatorial nations shrunk. There is a lot of ocean to absorb Antarctica if it melted. Of course if Global Warming is real I would expect the water is warming more than the air and this would lead to iceburg calving on the edges but little to no change for the rest of the Antarctica ice which is too far from the water and which has enough ice to refrigerate itself far beyond the warm water's ability to do much damage.
#12
The main ice covered landmass is Antarctica at the South Pole, with about 90 percent of the world's ice (and 70 percent of its fresh water). Antarctica is covered with ice an average of 2,133 meters (7,000 feet) thick. If all of the Antarctic ice melted, sea levels around the world would rise about 61 meters (200 feet).
There is a significant amount of ice covering Greenland, which would add another 7 meters (20 feet) to the oceans if it melted. Because Greenland is closer to the equator than Antarctica, the temperatures there are higher, so the ice is more likely to melt.
Posted by: ed ||
02/22/2010 23:38 Comments ||
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By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 19, 2010
The Obama administration announced a $1.25 billion boodle settlement Thursday to resolve charges by thousands of black farmers who say that for decades the Agriculture Department discriminated against them in loan programs.
Cabinet officials exhorted Congress to approve the deal by setting aside money for the farmers, who have fought through three administrations to secure a measure of justice. In the starkest cases, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, farmers lost their property after local administrators slow-pedaled loan applications, leaving them unable to plant key crops.
The agreement is part of a wider effort by Obama and senior officials to dispense with lawsuits stemming from America's checkered civil rights legacy. In December, the Justice Department led efforts to settle a long-standing case with Native Americans who accuse the federal government of mismanaging royalty payments for natural resources mined on tribal lands. A settlement is awaiting congressional action.
Vilsack and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. took a personal interest in striking a deal with the black farmers, whose leaders have appeared regularly in the halls of Congress and in the White House. Vilsack predicted that Congress will approve the settlement.
"I'm going to focus all my time and resources on making that happen," he told reporters Thursday. "The president is prepared to indicate that it's a priority not just for his administration but for the country."
In a statement, Obama applauded the Cabinet members for "bringing these long-ignored claims of African American farmers to a rightful conclusion."
The government paid $1 billion to settle a related case with 16,000 black farmers in 1999, but notification and communication errors led to some farmers being omitted from that settlement.
The agreement announced Thursday would provide cash payments and debt relief to farmers who applied too late to participate in the earlier settlement. Authorities say they are not certain how many farmers might apply this time, but analysts following the dispute say the number could be higher than 70,000.
Under the terms of the settlement, which also requires the approval of a federal judge, farmers can walk away if Congress does not act by March 31. Officials involved in the agreement, however, said they think they could secure an extension if necessary.
Farmers can apply through a streamlined process if they wish to submit claims for up to $50,000, or they can complete a more detailed claim that could result in a larger payment. The payout to each farmer would depend on how many people make claims, said Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli.
John W. Boyd Jr., president of the National Black Farmers Association, which has been lobbying for an agreement, said: "There's a huge trust factor that has been broken. The $50,000 will not put a farmer who has lost his farm back on his land, but it will help them have some comfort in their final years."
Since black farmers first filed the lawsuit, known as the Pigford case, in 1997, Hispanic farmers, women and Native Americans have also sued the government, based on alleged widespread discrimination in awarding agriculture loans and subsidies. Advocates for those farmers are expected to lobby Congress to be included in the new Pigford settlement in the weeks ahead, analysts said.
1) Officially Form
2) Sue the government for strapping every American living today, man-woman-and-child with $40,000 deficit, and now adding this punishment to be paid by this and future generations that have had nothing to do with whatever percieved injustices past generations may or may have not inflicted.
Posted by: War On Terror ||
02/22/2010 19:07 Comments ||
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bullshit
Posted by: chris ||
02/22/2010 21:09 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.
One of two Swiss 
War is not an option in resolving Argentina's dispute with Britain over the potentially oil-rich Falkland Islands, a senior Argentinian minister said yesterday. "War is excluded from our horizon," the Deputy Foreign Minister, Victorio Taccetti, said.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The new Honduran government has re-established relations with 29 nations, which had severed relations with Tegucigalpa following a military coup that removed the country's constitutional President Manuel Zelaya. 
Study claimed in 2009 that sea levels would rise by up to 82cm by the end of century -- but the report's author now says true estimate is still unknown
