jump to navigation

Poor Braulio… 17 April 2009

Posted by marisacat in Divertissements.
trackback

Two Ferruginous Pygmy-owls called Bruno (L) and Braulio (R) which were donated to the National Zoo of Managua, Nicaragua… Picture: EPA

… there on the right… but I know how he feels….

Comments»

1. Madman in the Marketplace - 17 April 2009

ugh, another reason for me to dislike Obama:

As the core surviving members of the Grateful Dead, once the world’s biggest concert draw, barrel across the country for the first time in five years, bass player Phil Lesh says they have Obama, and also Lesh’s youngest son, Brian, to thank.

After Lesh, who had never publicly supported a presidential candidate, threw his lot in with Obama, he was anxious to do a benefit concert for him. But he was all but done with The Dead, so it was going to feature his other band, Phil and Friends.

“My son Brian said, ‘No Daddy, you’ve got to get The Dead together because it will be so much more meaningful and important,’” the musician chuckled during a recent phone interview.

One benefit performance led to another and then an inaugural ball concert. Next thing they knew, Lesh, guitarist Bob Weir and drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann were back together.

Talk about legalizing torture.

Reply
marisacat - 17 April 2009

getting the old band back together……………………………… so original. Esp with a major player DEAD.

I mean let’s get real.

I was in a car going by Winterland one night, the old building built for fights in the 30s here, then used for rock concerts.. it was fabulous, walls three feet thick. You could nto hear a thing standing outside… it sat right in a residential district nto that far from me… but there was a line for the GD. This is back in the era of people dropping out and travelling the country to go to every show.

Most bizarre line. White people, all dressed in shades of dark mud. Dark blue, black, brown. Sort of mud lumps lined up.

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 17 April 2009

Ian McLagan from the Faces, on an interview talking about a friend telling him that the Dead were looking for a keyboard player, he’d make a 1/4 million a year, etc, so (about 18 minutes in) …

I was actually on vacation at the time, in San Diego, with my wife and our dogs, and uh … I went out and bought a Grateful Dead cd, and my wife went out to do shopping and came back to the hotel room, and I was sittng in a blue funk, in a brown study, in a green swarm of hell. She says, “what’s the matter? and I say “I can’t play this music, it sucks! (laughs) Just my personal taste, I couldn’t understand, I didn’t get it. I still don’t, really. I mean, I know they make a lot of money, they got lots of fans, I’m sorry if I’ve upset anyone, but … you know … ”

interviewer: “It wasn’t your cup of tea.”

IM: “Wasn’t my cup of tea, no more than Phish, all that jam band … it’s uh … tediously boring, but uh … you know, I like a tune, and a singer, and a solo, and more of the tune.”

Amen.

I actually grew to like the bluegrass and folk stuff Garcia did later, with Dave Grisman and others, but the Dead? Ugh.

Reply
2. Madman in the Marketplace - 17 April 2009

Funny over-dramatic headline: ‘Torture memos’ embolden liberal groups

OMG, they must be rushing the halls of Congress, withholding contributions, standing up to the party!

oh, wait:

President Barack Obama’s decision to release the so-called “torture memos” has emboldened civil-liberties activists and top Democrats in Congress to step up their demands for ever broader disclosure of the most closely held secrets of the Bush anti-terror fight.

Liberal groups are seizing on the graphic memos, saying Obama has set a powerful precedent for the release of other anti-terror tactics, including warrantless wiretapping. In Congress, the memos have intensified calls for a “truth commission” to conduct a broad investigation into alleged excesses by the Bush administration.

The response is exactly what some in the administration privately feared when Obama decided to reveal the legal memos detailing aggressive CIA interrogation techniques. They worry the burden will shift to Obama to release other documents – or be forced to explain why the torture memos could be released but others ones cannot.

One lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, Jameel Jaffer, said he hopes that the administration’s action signals a willingness to turn over other records the group is demanding about alleged interrogation abuses, warrantless wiretapping, and other practices.

“We’re hoping, in some of these cases, we won’t have to go back to the court, that the administration has made a decision that certain information about the CIA program can be released,” Jaffer said. “We have the option of going back to the judges and asking them to review the memos, but the fact that all of this information is in the public domain is going to make it much more difficult to withhold these other documents.”

ooooo, BOLD!!!!!! like the activists of old, ASKING and ALMOST BEGGING and THREATENING TO MAYBE TALK TO ANOTHER JUDGE!!!!!!

Mein gott, this could get out of hand, they might get so worked up that they’ll use an unprofessional font on one of their press releases!

BOLD!

Reply
marisacat - 17 April 2009

Yeah Bush does not need to visit Paraguay. And the Spanish option is dead in the water.. as of several weeks ago, would be my guess.

They ride off into the sunset, just as planned.

And Obama said, a votre service.

Reply
3. NYCO - 17 April 2009

The Dark Side of Dubai

Karen Andrews can’t speak. Every time she starts to tell her story, she puts her head down and crumples. She is slim and angular and has the faded radiance of the once-rich, even though her clothes are as creased as her forehead. I find her in the car park of one of Dubai’s finest international hotels, where she is living, in her Range Rover. She has been sleeping here for months, thanks to the kindness of the Bangladeshi car park attendants who don’t have the heart to move her on. This is not where she thought her Dubai dream would end…

“Before I came here, I didn’t know anything about Dubai law. I assumed if all these big companies come here, it must be pretty like Canada’s or any other liberal democracy’s,” she says. Nobody told her there is no concept of bankruptcy. If you get into debt and you can’t pay, you go to prison.

“When we realised that, I sat Daniel down and told him: listen, we need to get out of here. He knew he was guaranteed a pay-off when he resigned, so we said – right, let’s take the pay-off, clear the debt, and go.” So Daniel resigned – but he was given a lower pay-off than his contract suggested. The debt remained. As soon as you quit your job in Dubai, your employer has to inform your bank. If you have any outstanding debts that aren’t covered by your savings, then all your accounts are frozen, and you are forbidden to leave the country.

“Suddenly our cards stopped working. We had nothing. We were thrown out of our apartment.”

Daniel was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment at a trial he couldn’t understand. It was in Arabic, and there was no translation. “Now I’m here illegally, too,” Karen says I’ve got no money, nothing. I have to last nine months until he’s out, somehow.” Looking away, almost paralysed with embarrassment, she asks if I could buy her a meal.

She is not alone. All over the city, there are maxed-out expats sleeping secretly in the sand-dunes or the airport or in their cars.

Long and grim article.

Reply
marisacat - 17 April 2009

Deadly little graf, a ways down:

And then he smiles, coming up with what he sees as his killer argument. “When I see Western journalists criticise us – don’t you realise you’re shooting yourself in the foot? The Middle East will be far more dangerous if Dubai fails. Our export isn’t oil, it’s hope. Poor Egyptians or Libyans or Iranians grow up saying – I want to go to Dubai. We’re very important to the region. We are showing how to be a modern Muslim country. We don’t have any fundamentalists here. Europeans shouldn’t gloat at our demise. You should be very worried…. Do you know what will happen if this model fails? Dubai will go down the Iranian path, the Islamist path.”

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 18 April 2009

If American corps have their way, we’ll eventually slide into a system close to that. They’ve already made it very hard to expunge debt … while preserving that ability for themselves … so the next step of punishing people seems only logical.

Reply
4. Madman in the Marketplace - 17 April 2009

these are both beautiful and kinda sad: Scenes from the zoo

I really like pic # 13.

Reply
NYCO - 17 April 2009

Re pic #19… I had a little trouble telling which one was Harrison Ford.

Reply
5. Madman in the Marketplace - 17 April 2009
6. catnip - 17 April 2009
7. marisacat - 17 April 2009

I just caught a program on James Dean in the PBS American Masters series… anyone with an interest in him or his three films or that era of film making and acting would find it wonderful I think.

They only interview people who worked with him, acted iwth him, trained or coached him, directed him or worked the script writing for the movies. They also talk to a German woman and a local TXan, an Indian I think, who worked on the set of Giant.

It was amazing.

American Masters: James Dean Sense Memories

Reply
8. marisacat - 17 April 2009

Guardian cartoon on Obrama and his absolution of the torturers…

Reply
9. catnip - 17 April 2009

US Threatens to Invade Eritrea

Oh why the hell not? Get on with it, Obama.

Reply
10. catnip - 17 April 2009

That look on Braulio’s face? That was me on Thursday nite after reading all of the crap written by the torture apologists.

Reply
11. catnip - 17 April 2009

Moyer’s latest show is definitely worth watching (even though I’ve never seen an episode of The Wire).

Reply
12. marisacat - 18 April 2009

Bruce Fein is not happy.

[O]bama has set a precedent of whitewashing White House lawlessness in the name of national security that will lie around like a loaded weapon ready for resurrection by any commander in chief eager to appear “tough on terrorism” and to exploit popular fear. …snip…

That’s not all he said.

The evidence is now undeniable. President Barack Obama is flouting his unflagging constitutional obligation enshrined in Article II, Section 3 to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”

He is also reneging on his signature campaign promise to restore the rule of law, transparency, and accountability to the White House. He is displaying the psychology of an arrogant empire as opposed to a modest republic in continuing and escalating the Bush-Cheney duumvirate’s global and perpetual war against international terrorism heedless of foreign sovereignties or the lives of civilians.

Even more disappointing, Obama has proven a political coward dangerous to the republic. Before April 16, he had decided against any criminal investigation of the Bush-Cheney duumvirate or their inner circles for their boasted complicity in torture, i.e., waterboarding, which Attorney General Eric Holder has declared is torture. …snip…

So… Bruce, don’t mince words….

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 18 April 2009

“political coward” sums him up perfectly.

Reply
catnip - 18 April 2009

Ramen.

Reply
13. marisacat - 18 April 2009

An Iranian court has jailed US-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi for eight years for spying for America, her lawyer says.

For more details: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news

Reply
14. marisacat - 18 April 2009

Whoops. Plus I noticed that Dodd’s troubles has broken thru to so called liberal media. Mother Jones had a piece on his “issues”. LOL…

Only 5 state residents donated to Dodd

Few Connecticut donors giving to senator’s campaign

By Peter Urban
STAFF WRITER
Updated: 04/16/2009 11:28:22 PM EDT

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd appears to have looked everywhere but his home state to fuel what pundits anticipate will be one of the most hotly contested races in the nation in 2010.

The five-term incumbent reported raising just $4,250 from five Connecticut residents during the first three months of the year while raking in $604,745 from nearly 400 individuals living outside the state.

While incumbents often turn to special interests for early campaign fundraising, Dodd’s out-of-state total seems unusually high and comes at a time when he has been plagued by poor approval ratings among state voters.

Massie Ritsch, a spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks federal campaign contributions, said Dodd’s low percentage of in-state funding strikes him as unusual.

“Historically, there is no shortage of campaign money that comes out of Connecticut,” he said. “In 2008, Connecticut ranked 14th, contributing $53 million to all federal candidates and parties.” Ritsch also noted during his last re-election campaign Dodd, a Democrat, raised 30 percent from within Connecticut’s borders. …snip…

Reply
15. marisacat - 18 April 2009

hmm NYT via SMBIVA…

[T]he administration[‘s] plans are a disappointment to some critics of the No Child Left Behind law, who hoped Mr. Obama’s campaign promises of change would mean a sharper break with the Bush-era law.

“Obama’s fundamental strategy is the same as George Bush’s… it’s the N.C.L.B. approach with lots of money attached,” Diane Ravitch said…. “Obama has given Bush a third term in education policy.”

[One] provision gives Education Secretary Arne Duncan control over $5 billion, which Mr. Duncan calls a “Race to the Top Fund”….

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 18 April 2009

I still don’t understand why people are surprised … he SAID he was going to pursue these policies.

Reply
catnip - 18 April 2009

Sssshhhh…thou shalt not burst other peoples’ bubbles.

Reply
16. Madman in the Marketplace - 18 April 2009

Coleen Rowley letter to the NY Times about the torture memos:

To the Editor:

The overall idea put forth on Thursday by torture apologists that the C.I.A. and other government employees were only following Department of Justice legal opinions and essentially didn’t know that waterboarding and other tortures they committed were illegal and wrong is complete nonsense.

Why was torture only whispered about throughout government in hushed, embarrassed tones? Why did the F.B.I. open a “war crimes file”? Why did the news of Abu Ghraib immediately shame all Americans?

It’s true, and proved repeatedly in social psychology experiments, that otherwise good people will tend to conform to authority. It’s true that people, under such circumstances, often fail to listen to their consciences. But don’t conflate this obedience factor with not being able to appreciate the wrongfulness.

In choosing to appease powerful interests by trying to sweep this horrible wrongdoing under the rug, President Obama undoubtedly had to overcome the pangs of his own conscience.

Coleen Rowley
Apple Valley, Minn., April 17, 2009

The writer is the retired F.B.I. agent who exposed F.B.I. lapses that led to the 9/11 attacks.

I think it’s a leap to assume that anybody at the upper levels of political leadership in this country has a conscience. It’s certainly hard to see.

Reply
17. Madman in the Marketplace - 18 April 2009

Just catching up on We Shall Remain on American Experience. Very recommended.

Reply
18. catnip - 18 April 2009

The latest justification for Obama not prosecuting torturers via OPOL at dkos:

Though understandable, I think it may be misguided to blame Obama entirely. This is not to excuse his failure of leadership in upholding the rule of law, but I honestly believe he is limited in the extent to which he can confront the CIA and hold them accountable for their heinous crimes. I think the last guy who tried that got shot (ooh conspiracy theory).

Yes, I believe the CIA has the power, means and inclination to rub out anyone who dares oppose them.

ie. If you prosecute us, we’ll have to kill you.

He then contradicts himself in the next paragraph:

If cruelty is no longer declared unlawful, but instead is applied as a matter of policy, it alters the fundamental relationship of man to government. It destroys the whole notion of individual rights. The Constitution recognizes that man has an inherent right, not bestowed by the state or laws, to personal dignity, including the right to be free of cruelty. It applies to all human beings, not just in America — even those designated as ‘unlawful enemy combatants.’ If you make this exception the whole Constitution crumbles.

Alberto J. Mora, former Navy General Counsel

Damn them! Damn them all – every last one of them who ordered, excused or participated at any level in torture. There is no excusing it. They should be investigated, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. There should be no exceptions. Period.

OPOL’s turned into Obama – playing both sides at the same time.

Reply
19. catnip - 18 April 2009

Hawkjt, you make many valid points. As we should (0+ / 0-)

adamantly oppose torture, that has to be counterbalanced by having to deal with prisoners on their value level. Conditions that we would find torturous based upon our conditioning would probably be better than that the prisoners previously lived in with the exception of their confinement and isolation.

The word “torture” illicits emotional responses as well it should. Nonetheless, the reality is that it is a sliding scale of severity. I dare say that the “torture” purpetrated upon the Guantanamo detainees doesn’t even begin to approach the otracities experienced by our own POWs overseas during any of our past conflicts.

Therefore, as a practical matter, I believe our criticisms should be less extreme. If the world deems this prosecutable, then Obama’s hand may be forced. Those Spanish indictments are still pending.

Bring on the falme throwers.

..most profound moments of my life…the last few — And, for Global COOLING, if it’s man-made and doesn’t move, paint it WHITE!

by tristan57 on Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 10:23:20 AM MDT

Reply
catnip - 18 April 2009

Look, ignore the wide variances in world living (0+ / 0-)

conditions and differing value systems at your own peril. I just think that some of the shrill criticisms leveled at this by the left approach the extremism of the of the right.

Obama’s life ain’t easy. Noone agreed with Ford pardoning Nixon but in retrospect, it’s been held up as one of the wisest and most healing political move in modern politics. Now, an outright pardon would trigger international outrage and I am in no way suggesting that. But, as I stated above, those Spanish indictments are still pending.

..most profound moments of my life…the last few — And, for Global COOLING, if it’s man-made and doesn’t move, paint it WHITE!

by tristan57 on Sat Apr 18, 2009 at 10:37:12 AM MDT

What can you say? Really…

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 18 April 2009

and Americans wonder why the Germans didn’t stop Hitler.

Reply
BooHooHooMan - 18 April 2009

What a fuckin retard.

Reply
20. marisacat - 18 April 2009

Neener Neenerr Neener I think ObRama and his staff have pathological problems. Boring ones, but they are dangerous.

White House Senior Advisor: Obama More Popular Than Chavez in Venezuela

April 18, 2009 12:18 PM

PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD — In an interview with ABC News, Jeffrey Davidow — a senior adviser to President Obama on Latin American affairs and director of the Summit of the Americas — said that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez rushed a photograph of he and President Obama shaking hands onto his government’s website because Mr. Obama is more popular than Mr. Chavez in Venezuela.

“Every president and political leader in Latin America, and many in the rest of the world as well — maybe not every one of them — really sees political benefit in being seen to be associating with President Obama,” Davidow said. “And whether Chavez has problems with us or doesn’t, and he does, and there is this strained relationship, it is in his political interest, he thinks, to be seen with our president.”

Davidow, a former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela, said “there is a sizable population in Venezuela, probably the very,very vast majority of Venezuelans who have a more favorable attitude to President Obama than they have to him.”

Asked if he was saying that President Obama is more popular in Venezuela than President Chavez, Davidow said, “yeah.” …snip…

All so juvenile. Right there with Sarko snarko… (can’t wait til Ob and Sark meet again in June for the obligatory – and so tired – Normandy landing stuff…

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 18 April 2009

and then they whipped out their penises to compare lengths …

Reply
marisacat - 18 April 2009

Pretty much. I think that is a stunning statement to make while essentially a guest in Latin America, in the Caribbean.

Highly defensive as well. “I am more loved than anyone”.

Too much wrong there.

***

The UK Times called Sarko a “whiny little princess bitch”… I’d go with ‘Napoleon Wannabe’… and skip slapping the wimmens. Maybe a vacation all expenses paid on Elba would make him happy.

Reply
21. BooHooHooMan - 18 April 2009

Well mcat, I also know that WTF feeling in the pic above…

But I think that owl M. Braulio must work for Schumer. Or Dodd.
Looks a little freaked at the poking around at the perch..

Currently, The New York Times is ever so careful in their reporting on the “widening scandal” , the New York State Pension Fund Looting.

The Times piece today is by Danny Hakim, the canary who had the Spitzer surveillance dropped in his lap and ran with the Spitzer Linked to Prostitution Ring story…Yeh, they had Spitzer takin a Spritzer, he’s just another Pol, but Spitzers takedown served hidden hands, both Dem and Repub alike…

Anyways, Here’s Hakim’s latest hook on the NYT Front Page:

In State Pension Inquiry, a Scandal Snowballs
By DANNY HAKIM and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH

A New York State pension fund corruption inquiry is now a sprawling investigation with prominent players.

Smoke but so little fire . Hevisi and Morris are noted of course, as is Rattner and the Carlyle Group ..But GONE are the references noting the the Pension Fund’s $135 Million Dollar Dem Bagman Morris was Top Gun for Schumer’s Senate Campaigns . TWICE. It almost screams Editorial No-Go at this point..

They obviously have a brake on the mention of Senator Schumer WRT Hank Morris. Why? Morris was only the Connnecticut based Dem money conduit doing the dirty work through the Pension Fund, the Brokerage Houses, Hedge Funds, and Banks on Wall Street.

Not a peep about NY Assembly Speaker either, the Orthodox Shelly Silver who steered investments too, protected Hevisi as sole trustee, and said he would block any attempts to form a Pension Board that would get rid of the Sole Trusteeship of Hevisi.

Though Hakim noted the Connecticut base of Hank Morris, his “Investment” and political consultancy based there outside of New York— not a peep about CT Pols Dodd and Lieberman. Morris advised BOTH, worked with all their top kicks and donors..

I was gratified that Hakim barely warbled out that

To be sure, Mr. Cuomo is chipping away at a mountain-size problem afflicting public pension funds across the country.

And that:

Hundreds of investment firms have been subpoenaed. Three people have been criminally charged and another has pleaded guilty to a felony.

Yet here’s the rub, in seemingly welcome news:

And the scandal has grabbed the attention of Wall Street, as members of the investment establishment’s top tier now face scrutiny.

M. Braulio, The Little Owl in the Pic atop this thread “now faces scrutiny”. What about the Big Gun Incumbents and Their Bagmen??

In his Times piece today, Hakim went out of his way to note similar , past corrupt darings-do in Connecticut , Same M.O. : SOLE TRUSTEE of State Fund, noting the 1999 conviction of CT State Treasurer Paul Silvester taken out along with Rethug Guv Rowland. Then Hakim did a nice tamp down for the PTB.

In Connecticut, the former state treasurer Paul J. Silvester went to prison in 1999 after pleading guilty to charges of racketeering and money laundering in connection with the state pension fund. In a bid for leniency, Mr. Silvester provided detailed testimony on how he had taken money and favors in exchange for the placement of more than $500 million in state pension money with various investment firms.

Connecticut, like New York, places all pension decision-making authority in the hands of a sole trustee, rather than spreading it among the members of a board. Many governance experts think the use of a sole pension trustee does not build enough checks and balances into the system.

But decision-making by boards is not perfect either. California’s big public pension fund, known asCalpers, has suffered so many pay-to-play allegations that in 1997, the State Legislature passed a law barring such payments. But a member of the Calpers board, Kathleen Connell, took the matter to court and won. She argued that the law made it harder for incumbents than their challengers to raise campaign money. The law was thrown out.

So what do we have to look forward to?
The Past is Prologue:

Similar legislative Reforms re CALPERS being thrown out by the Courts, Prosecutorial efforts are Grandstanding Slop Too in an Oligarchy:

WRT The 2000 Connecticut looting, a mere slap on the wrist shit , if that, in the end… Accompanied by the SAME DONKLEPHANT M.O. that we saw recently with Stevens in Alaska- with purposely leaked Investigations and BOTCHED PROSECUTIONS to avoid the Bigger Fish… Cheney in Stevens case. In the current imbroglio it’s the Dem Hierarchy with Rubin, Schumer, and Shelly Silver’s Jewish Mafia in New York and CT

Some Blasts From The Past are an indication :

[ 1 ] New York Times

Lawyer Convicted in Corruption Scandal in Connecticut Seeks a New Trial

A lawyer convicted last summer of giving a $2 million bribe to Paul J. Silvester, former state treasurer, in exchange for a contract for his company to manage Connecticut’s pension fund is seeking a new trial, claiming that the government misled his defense team and the jury.

Defense attorneys for the lawyer, Charles B. Spadoni, said prosecutors had misled the jury when they said Mr. Silvester, the star witness in the bribery case against Mr. Spadoni, had admitted his role in the bribery and was being punished for it.

In fact, they said, Mr. Silvester never pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe in the case involving Triumph Capital Group, a Boston investment firm for which Mr. Spadoni served as general counsel.

Lawyers for Mr. Spadoni challenged the government’s actions in a motion filed last week in federal court in New Haven, and asked for a new trial for Mr. Spadoni.

Mr. Silvester is serving time in jail on a corruption conviction.

::

So you see how it’s set up…Trot out the “Smart, Tough Prosecution”,
ANNOUNCE A “SENTENCE” { ALL BOLD, TOO }
while the set up to reverse on appeals pend…

<b< [ 2 ] The DOJ October 25, 2006

WEST HARTFORD MAN SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR INVOLVEMENT IN CONNECTICUT TREASURER’S OFFICE SCANDAL

The United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced that CHARLES B. SPADONI, age 58, of West Hartford, Connecticut, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Ellen Bree Burns in New Haven to 36 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release. Judge Burns also ordered SPADONI to pay a fine in the amount of $50,000.

{ $50,000 on a 200 Million Dollar Scam! LOL. Only in America! – BHHM}

On July 16, 2003, a federal jury convicted SPADONI for violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), RICO conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and obstruction of justice.

According to the evidence presented during the trial, SPADONI, the General Counsel of Triumph Capital Group Inc., and others engaged in a bribery scheme by agreeing to give two consulting contracts worth $1 million each to two close associates of former Connecticut State Treasurer Paul J. Silvester in return for the investment of $200 million of state pension assets in a Triumph Capital-related investment fund, Triumph Connecticut-II.

The obstruction of justice conviction relates to SPADONI’s destruction and failure to produce documents relevant to the investigation from his laptop computer after he became aware of the federal investigation into this matter.

On November 20, 2003, Silvester was sentenced to 51 months of imprisonment for his role in this conspiracy.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nora R. Dannehy, William J. Nardini and David A. Ring.

::

Three Years at Club Fed for 200 Million in Pension Fund Loot?
Not Bad… If Only. The GUY OF COURSE WALKS ON APPEAL.
Note how it comes out of the 2nd Circuit in Manhatten:

[ 3 ] – via Law.com October 2008

2nd Circuit Overturns In-House Counsel’s Bribery, Racketeering Convictions

Prosecution withheld potentially exculpatory notes regarding a former Connecticut state treasurer who admitted to receiving kickbacks

Mark Fass
New York Law Journal
October 1, 2008

A federal appeals panel in Manhattan has thrown out the bribery and racketeering conviction of a Connecticut corporate attorney, holding that prosecutors suppressed “exculpatory and impeaching” evidence.

Charles B. Spadoni of the Boston-based private equity firm Triumph Capital Group was sentenced in 2003 to 36 months in prison for steering two sham $1 million contracts to associates of Paul J. Silvester, the former Connecticut state treasurer.

In exchange for the $2 million, prosecutors alleged, Silvester had agreed to invest $200 million of the state’s pension fund with Spadoni’s firm.

In a decision last week, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upset Spadoni’s convictions on most counts, holding that the failure of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Connecticut to hand over an FBI agent’s notes undermined the lawyer’s defense.

Reply
22. marisacat - 18 April 2009

It’s Volokh Conspiracy… but they say Obamalamalovebaby has more Czars than Russia’s Romanovs. They do count everybody who is “special” charged with a unique portfolio.

My concern would be how glibly, and with what ease, Ob has drawn power to the WH and away from the agencies and cabinet members (as moiv points out to me, nobody cares that abortion is assigned to a Reverend – Joshua Dubois is now using “Reverend” – one who apparently preached in tongues, and not to HHS).

As I said, get him a crown, trails of ermine, drips of diamonds. Scepter with a cross at the top. He so wants it.

Reply
23. marisacat - 18 April 2009

Well mcat, I also know that WTF feeling in the pic above…

But I think that owl M. Braulio must work for Schumer. Or Dodd.
Looks a little freaked at the poking around at the perch..

Oh too funny… I did think that Bruno, the other owl, does have a bit of a, we’re in this scam together Brother Braulio and I will save us, look…

😈

Reply
BooHooHooMan - 18 April 2009

…in this scam together Brother Braulio and I will save us

Definitely. I have another chunk on this I’d like to post tomorrow goes right into Obs White House through Greg Craig, the Coverup Dean of Dem Lawyers.

Anyways™, I think the picture is becoming clearer: All these commingled Donklephant SmartGuys , (certainly not wise) looted everything and gambled, lost, and blew so much of the stake that there’s nothing even close that they COULD “put back” to gloss things over…Creating chaos and ill will with creditors and fucking trading partners worldwide.
The only option they have left is to print monopoly money, try and divert the public, keep the Happy Pants Hope Dealer around for a while as distraction. Oblama and Michele are simple mules really in the scheme of things…Obama and his Equally Opportunistic “Historic Presidency” will take the fall for it too, when the trade war sets in …HARD. That’s how it’s going to play out IMO, he’ll be adored by his Disciples but this Jesus in the West Wing is sure to be crucified politically.

And like you say about the Bidens laughing their ass off at the Obllamas, feet kicked up at the Veeps Residence, in the B’s coming ex-officio years being able to dine out ad infinitum, forever sighing over what might have been with Poor Ob… Survivors like Craig and the New York crowd are likely to be IN long after the Obs are shuttled offstage. Well compensated, famous, still adored by Disciples, but irrelevant. While The Survivors will be looking for Latino Jesus. We had Arkansas Jesus, Black Jesus…Latino Jesus is next on order for the Power Honkies and Heebs. They’ll need to rob a continent closeby I think.

The assassins The Bolivians just killed who were retained to kill Evo Morales had C-4 . A US MilSpec’d explosive.

Obama’s just here to deliver The Evil from Us, so people don’t revolt, or – horror of horrors – stop buying shit and using credit. Obama’s here just long enough till Teh Evil can move on to draw our attention to fabricated foreign “Enemies” other than domestic ones like themselves…

Reply
marisacat - 18 April 2009

Turning over Kill the Pirate Op in my mind.. I am wondering to what degree, perhaps fully, it was a military operation. Conceived and run. They clued Obama in lest he look out of it. I just really wonder.

Oh yes there will be specific “survivors” and in fact thrivers from this mission, meaning Ob presidency. There is a puff piece in the NYT today on the third Emanuel brother, Zeke, the doctor. Gah.

Well I always figured the Obama presidency would be like the moonshots… we did it. Forever talked about, used it, big global PR we can lecture other countries on diversity or whatever the tired code words are… but we’ll never bother again. Done it.

Not that it matters.

Reply
marisacat - 18 April 2009

wow.. how convoluted a story the Telegraph is mounting. Be interesting to read other takes. Croatian descent in Bolivia… and a handy Irishman who led some sub strata of fighters in Croatia.

Reply
24. NYCO - 18 April 2009

Regarding the strange and sad Sandra Cantu murder case… Enough with the exclamations about the suspect “not fitting the profile.” How about investigating her backstory? If she is guilty of what she is accused of, one can only suspect there was serious abuse going on her in so-called “religious” family. Could there be any redder flag?

The house, neighbors said, is a neat, inviting place where Huckaby and her daughter live with her grandparents, 77-year-old Lane Lawless – pastor of the nearby Clover Road Baptist Church, where Huckaby teaches – and Connie Lawless, a former elected member of the local Republican Central Committee. In this trim park of beige-toned mobile homes, nothing stuck out as unusual about the place. The family – including her parents, who live in Southern California and sing in their church choirs – is respected.

Aren’t they always.

Reply
NYCO - 18 April 2009

Sorry, the quote comes from this article.

Reply
marisacat - 18 April 2009

The other “event” during the ensuing madness of what the police dribble out … is hearing Tracy make the reflexive comments. Poor Tracy, which till Central Air and just 60 miles E of SF, was the end of nowhere, has protested that they are a ”nice community”. I am sure we all are. BUT over the past year they have had hideous cases of not neglect, not negligence but two households found to be TORTURING and imprisoning, a child in one case and children in another. Horrifying cases.

There is a whiff off the case of possible overcharging in order, maybe, to draw out someone else. The grandfather maybe. Who was questioned three times iirc in the middle sort of course of the investigation.

The granddaughter also attempted suicide in the days following the disappearance of the child. Hospitalised in the community hospital for several days. She may have swallowed razors.

Reply
25. diane - 18 April 2009

jeez,..this is a bit painfull, because I have found so much of value here………

…the lack of empathy by some here, for a woman who had clearly given all up and dove into a moat of bears…maybe feeling they were safer than humans………(in too many instances,…she is right….) have I detected morbid glee… (despite presumed admiration of Martin Luther King…talk about irony.)…for another’s misery?

Why…the morbid glee?

Perhaps she was overwraught about droning?….do I detect true insanity?

gonna step away,…perhaps I’ll revisit,…perhaps that will be soon,…I wouldn’t really know,…and I won’t presume to know.

Reply
marisacat - 18 April 2009

well, take care diane.

Reply
catnip - 18 April 2009

I’m confused. What does MLK have to do with a woman jumping into a bear pit?

Reply
marisacat - 18 April 2009

Nothing…

Reply
26. diane - 18 April 2009

..you too marisa…

Reply
27. catnip - 18 April 2009

A complete diversion: black bat flower. Tres cool.

Reply
28. NYCO - 18 April 2009
marisacat - 18 April 2009

double ugh.

Reply
29. marisacat - 18 April 2009

via The Guardian… on the ALA’s most sought after “ban the book” titles of the year…

The ALA’s top ten most frequently challenged books of 2008 in full:

1. And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Reasons: anti-ethnic, anti-family, homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group

2. His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman

Reasons: political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, violence

3. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R series by Lauren Myracle

Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

4. Scary Stories series by Alvin Schwartz

Reasons: occult/satanism, religious viewpoint, violence

5. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Reasons: occult/satanism, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, violence

6. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Reasons: drugs, homosexuality, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group

7. Gossip Girl series by Cecily von Ziegesar

Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

8. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen

Reasons: homosexuality, unsuited to age group

9. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

10. Flashcards of My Life by Charise Mericle Harper

Reasons: sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

Reply
30. marisacat - 18 April 2009

Looking around for stories on the Morales assassination plot, I saw this…

Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo admitted yesterday that he’s the father of a 2-year-old boy who was conceived when Lugo was still a Catholic bishop.

Lugo made the surprise announcement five days after the boy’s mother, Viviana Carrillo, filed a paternity suit against him that contained more than just the explosive claim about the father’s identity.

In it, the 26-year-old Carrillo said they began having sexual relations when she was 16. As bishop of San Pedro, Lugo sometimes stayed at the rural home of her godmother, where Carrillo also lived, she said.

McClatchy Newspapers obtained a copy of the nine-page paternity suit yesterday.

Carrillo said that she first met Lugo when she was studying in preparation for the sacrament of Confirmation in her church, and that their personal relationship began one night shortly thereafter. …snip..

Reply
BpooHooHooMan - 18 April 2009

Yes, but for easy monthly payments President /
Bishop R.P. McMurphy there can get himself an Indulgence™.
Afterall, no abortion involved and the predation took place in the Godmother’s house. How’s that for whacked?

I see he was ultimately “laicized” ( no pun intended but what the hell)
Kind of like the word “defrocked”.
Where do they come up with this shit?
No sense of double entendre – , tho THAT may be the problem too…
{Anglocentric pose intentional. This time. LOL}
They should just do some juju and pretend he’s been De-Fucked.

But here’s the same ole shit:
Benny 16 cut him loose …eventually.
LAST SUMMER.
And not a word breathed all along ….
not a peep about the mother or child.

So easy for them, Administering “dispensation” that never mentions other aggrieved persons…
Power over and possession of others: The root of all corruption.
I may be old school, but I think its abuse on those counts.

There is a lot of stuff trotted about how Lugo is “for the Peasants”,
a “Reformer”, but he’s another WELL Right of Center Triangulater having had World Class training for the job, no doubt…

Reply
31. marisacat - 18 April 2009

hmm from a BBC program and related articles.. on pedophiles who have technically served their time but are in “civil committment”. Dicey to say the least. In Coalinga CA

[A]nd so there is a kind of stand-off at Coalinga – with mistrustful patients arrayed against a therapeutic establishment. Despite the therapeutic language and the kindly atmosphere, for the vast majority of men at Coalinga, the hospital might as well be a prison or a warehouse or indeed a pod in outer space for all the good it’s doing them.

American taxpayers are funding a lavishly appointed hospital in which hundreds of child molesters and rapists can idle their days away. The annual cost to keep one person at Coalinga is about $200,000. Multiply that by the 1,500 men who would be in the hospital at full occupancy.

Whatever the hopes nurtured for the hospital as a therapeutic institution, it has become a well-upholstered holding pen for keeping America’s least wanted out of sight. The men can vote, take tennis lessons, watch their porn videos, throw parties, have sex with other men at the hospital, play bass in a jazz combo. They just can’t leave. …snip…

Reply
BpooHooHooMan - 18 April 2009

The men can vote, take tennis lessons, watch their porn videos, throw parties, have sex with other men at the hospital, play bass in a jazz combo. They just can’t leave.

Wehl.
Nothing like a tennis playin, porno watchin, party throwin’, sex with other mannin’, ALL BASS PLAYER PEDOPHILE JAZZ COMBO.

Of course the problem is they can’t leave.
So just some words of advise to everybody…
Plan Ahead for you next Big Bash:

{ Pipe smoking man, opening envelope, then reading…}

Oh look at this , honey.
We’ve been invited to the Mortensen’s 25th Anniversary, says it’s “Featuring Live Music”…… an “ALL BASS JAZZ COMBO” – “to be held at the Hospital for the Criminally Insane.”
How thoughtful of Ned and Gladys.

Reply
marisacat - 18 April 2009

The article said more states have signed up for the “program”. NY for one.

Aside from the depiction… the whole idea of “civil commitment” is worrisome. Get ti going for a specific group, like pedophiles who have served prison as well as probation… and it can easily be expanded to other groups.

Reply
BpooHooHooMan - 18 April 2009

Oh I agree. I’m pointing out the exchange of one lunacy for another. Offenders should be either “on Paper” (in the System) or off. My sense of “the Predator” (the concept, not the voyeristic ad vehicle on MSNBC) is that, while it’s not uncommon it’s not rampant in the general population, the public perception notwithstanding. But So Not So in the Church – Plenty of evidence indicating a Very high incidence of Child Rapists. Clear age difference and power relationships involved…Frankly, the same too with Police Departments, moreso I would say than in Education or Coaching…When I lived in PA we had horrific case after horrific case of Cop on teen rapes. One in my hometown. Many others around the State over the years. One, A State Cop raped his younger stepbrother the day of his graduation from the State Police Academy. Had been doing so for years. And Plenty of cases involving cop rape of kids on the streets. I wouldn’t give a damn if they cut their balls off as Progressive punishment. Sounds knee jerk but there it is.

The thing I find bothersome is the charging of people within a few years age difference with a crime, young couples , inter-racial with no small co-incidence…And prosecutors using it for grandstanding…

That said I do think the rapist prospect for rehabilitation is nil, …I know much of it stems from abuse, and i know there have been some optimistic studies released. Nonetheless the only thing I’ve read that made any sense was that their likelihood to recidivize diminishes with age.

I know that many cases aren’t clear cut, but I seriously think it is an unpardonable crime if properly charged and justly convicted…It seems the amorphous category of “sex offenders” are released to serve prison management and Police State profitability: All those 5-year-bid drug offenders etc taking their place in the revolving door… Not to mention the “alternative housing” money angle. Those Judges convicted in PA recently a clear example of making money off bodies in the Jails, detention centers, halfway houses, etc…So many other FOR PROFIT hangers on : Court Appointed Attorneys, Consulting Psychologists, Physicians, etc

The real joke is that the Correctional system is more about money for the political class than it is for EITHER Rehabilitation OR Punishment. It certainly is a Protection Racket tho.

Reply
marisacat - 18 April 2009

Those Judges convicted in PA recently a clear example of making money off bodies in the Jails, detention centers, halfway houses, etc…So many other FOR PROFIT hangers on : Court Appointed Attorneys, Consulting Psychologists, Physicians, etc

The real joke is that the Correctional system is more about money for the political class than it is for EITHER Rehabilitation OR Punishment. It certainly is a Protection Racket tho.

sigh. Prison Guard Lobby is one of hte entities running this state. And their lobby in DC is pretty huge as well. We are so stuck.

Reply
BpooHooHooMan - 18 April 2009

The men can vote, take tennis lessons, watch their porn videos, throw parties, have sex with other men at the hospital, play bass in a jazz combo. They just can’t leave.

Then again, we could be talking about the Catholic Priesthood, in which case Weddings , Baptisms and Coming of Age rituals can certainly be booked at the Church.

Reply
32. marisacat - 18 April 2009

Middletown Maryland…. dead family again, 3 children, mother and father

Reply
33. catnip - 18 April 2009

Leaders cower from “shoe-cide” attacks

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s politicians contesting in the general election, fearful of shoes hurled at them by disgruntled voters, have asked for more security and are erecting metal nets at rallies.

Reply
34. catnip - 18 April 2009

From the Ya think?? department:

Obama reprieve for CIA illegal: U.N. rapporteur

VIENNA (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s decision not to prosecute CIA interrogators who used waterboarding on terrorism suspects amounts to a breach of international law, the U.N. rapporteur on torture said.

“The United States, like all other states that are part of the U.N. convention against torture, is committed to conducting criminal investigations of torture and to bringing all persons against whom there is sound evidence to court,” U.N. special rapporteur Manfred Nowak told the Austrian daily Der Standard.

Reply
marisacat - 18 April 2009

omigod. someone dared speak harshly of the saint.

Reply
35. Madman in the Marketplace - 18 April 2009

A letter to Sully:

I’m an Army vet and a Navy family member and prior to the invasion of Iraq I was one of the ragged, resentful, and naive out on the streets demonstrating against the inevitable invasion. Except I am neither ragged, resentful, nor naive. I was exceptionally well informed and took to the streets out of a crisis of conscience. The folks I stood vigil with and marched with were, for the most part, some of the most thoughtful and gentle people I’ve ever dealt with. Like me, most of the people I met out there were brand new to the world of protest.

We didn’t have a friendly media outlet promoting our every move. The media was hostile and interpolated us in a way that was unrecognizable. There was no anti-war blogosphere to speak of, even people like Josh Marshall over at TPM had bought into the rush to war (I forgive him). Move-On was active but nothing close to the force it would grow into. We were alone.

When I protested the war I was made out to be the scum of the earth. What must it be like to show up for a protest, denounce your Country, bad mouth the President, threaten armed revolt, and have your very own media outlet brand you a patriot.

Reply
marisacat - 18 April 2009

Of course Sully supported the war and in fact (I did nto recall this but saw his quotes a few weeks ago) branded those who did not support the war “fifth columnists”.

One reason Sully makes such a big deal about torture. Buying his way into “never really supported the war, once it went bad”. Etc.

Always stands for what is right. Upright.

And so on.

people need to stop forgiving the Josh Marshalls. A self described Zionist.

Reply
Madman in the Marketplace - 18 April 2009

Sully, Josh Marshall … they all play these games, shifting when convenient.

Reply
36. Madman in the Marketplace - 18 April 2009
37. marisacat - 18 April 2009

B-b-b-b-b-but he TRIIIED. Never forget. He listened and he triiied He did. They will all say he did.

What a fucking joke it all is.

[M]r. Obama has not conceded on any major priority. His advisers argue that the concessions to date — on budget items, for instance — are intended to help win the bigger policy fights ahead. But his early willingness to deal or fold has left commentators, and some loyal Democrats, wondering: where’s the fight?

“The thing we still don’t know about him is what he is willing to fight for,” said Leonard Burman, an economist at the Urban Institute and a Treasury Department official in the Clinton administration. “The thing I worry about is that he likes giving good speeches, he likes the adulation and he likes to make people happy.” 😈

So far, he said, “It’s hard to think of a place where he’s taken a really hard position.”

In some of his earliest skirmishes, Mr. Obama eventually chose pragmatism over fisticuffs. …snip…

He triiied. Pragmatically. Which is almost holy.

You really have to laugh:

[M]r. Obama’s top aides dismiss suggestions that he has shied from confrontation, saying they ignore his achievements, the need to move quickly to address economic woes and the fights he has picked against some big interest groups in Washington, including components of the Democratic base, like organized labor.

Pragmatism, they add, is an Obama hallmark, and among the changes he promised — and has delivered — is a break from his predecessor’s often uncompromising style. …

And historians act like it all still matters.

Representative Charlie Melancon, a Louisiana Democrat and leader of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog coalition, praised the president’s willingness to make concessions. “If you go into the budget, you’ll see there were concessions that were agreed to by the White House that were allowed to be put in by the Blue Dogs,” he said. “There was a little pushback, but they understood.”

Experts on the presidency say that Mr. Obama, after promising profound change during the campaign last year, may have no choice but to continue talking big.

“If Obama is too timid, if the White House is too cautious,” said Robert Dallek, a presidential historian, “it is going to make him look too opportunistic. He made all these promises during the campaign, he talked so boldly, he stirred all our hopes, and now he is not following through.” …

Oh the crushing news. We got ourselves a big talker. What news.

Reply
38. marisacat - 19 April 2009

nu thread….

LINK

……… 🙄 ………..

Reply
39. catnip - 19 April 2009

HA! Rahm just admitted that Obamalams isn’t going to prosecute AMYONE for toture. Suck on that all of you ignorant kossacks who thought he “left the door open” to go after the lawyers and the rest of Bushco. How do you like your president now?

Reply

Leave a comment