Showing posts with label Christine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christine. Show all posts
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Letter to the Editor
A music video inspired by the true story of a very special Christmas card sent by Sgt. Michael Taylor to his mother Stephanie. She received the card just hours before army officials came to tell her that her son was killed in Iraq that same day.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, October 05, 2009
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann interview regarding ACORN
Via Email
Video: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) On The Criminal Enterprise Of ACORN And Continued Federal Funding.
"It's really I think unconscionable on the part of the administration, especially when you consider the close relationship that the President had with ACORN and that he was an attorney for Project Vote under the ACORN umbrella, you would think the Administration would be doing everything they can to fully investigate...What gives? If a criminal obvious enterprise like ACORN year after year can't get investigated, who will?"
Who: Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
What: Exclusive interview regarding ACORN.
When: Monday, October 5th, 2009.
Bachmann Soundbite #1: Not One Dime Rescinded From ACORN.
"If the legislation is identical, ACORN will only be defunded through October 31st...As of this moment as we're speaking, ACORN has not had one dime that's been rescinded from them."
Bachmann Soundbite #2: Letter To Geithner To Defund ACORN.
"The letter that I wrote to the Treasury Secretary is to say if you are going to go forward on another bailout, and I'm not encouraging him to, but if he does at minimum would you include language that would specifically defund ACORN?"
Length of Full Interview: 5:32
Video: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) On The Criminal Enterprise Of ACORN And Continued Federal Funding.
"It's really I think unconscionable on the part of the administration, especially when you consider the close relationship that the President had with ACORN and that he was an attorney for Project Vote under the ACORN umbrella, you would think the Administration would be doing everything they can to fully investigate...What gives? If a criminal obvious enterprise like ACORN year after year can't get investigated, who will?"
Who: Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
What: Exclusive interview regarding ACORN.
When: Monday, October 5th, 2009.
Bachmann Soundbite #1: Not One Dime Rescinded From ACORN.
"If the legislation is identical, ACORN will only be defunded through October 31st...As of this moment as we're speaking, ACORN has not had one dime that's been rescinded from them."
Bachmann Soundbite #2: Letter To Geithner To Defund ACORN.
"The letter that I wrote to the Treasury Secretary is to say if you are going to go forward on another bailout, and I'm not encouraging him to, but if he does at minimum would you include language that would specifically defund ACORN?"
Length of Full Interview: 5:32
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Barack Obama’s top five
Embarrassing speeches on the world stage
Last week’s débacle at the United Nations where Barack Obama delivered a speech so naïve that even Jimmy Carter would have blushed, has inspired this list of the five most embarrassing speeches by the president (so far) as a world leader. By embarrassing I mean embarrassing to the United States, speeches that have projected weakness rather than strength, policy statements that have forced millions of Americans to cringe in front of their television sets.
[...]
1. United Nations General Assembly Speech, New York, September 23, 2009
In a highly partisan political speech, the President went before the 192 members of the United Nations and trashed the counter-terror policies of the former US administration, as well as condemning the actions of a close American ally, Israel. Several thunderous rounds of applause greeted the president’s words, largely from countries with a track record of hating America. The Iranian and North Korean nuclear threats barely merited a mention, nor did the war in Afghanistan. Libyan tyrant Muammar Gaddafi swiftly followed with an admiring call for Obama to “stay forever as the president.” Even Hugo Chavez loved it.
Key line:
2. Strasbourg Speech, April 3, 2009
A very close second in a highly competitive line-up, with its wincing talk of American “arrogance”. The President of the most powerful nation on earth traveled to France to deliver a grovelling, massive mea culpa for US foreign policy, including the War on Terror. Utter humiliation for America on European soil in front of a largely French and German audience who bitterly opposed the liberation of Iraq - not even Jacques Chirac could have dreamt it up.
Key line:
3. Cairo University Speech, June 4, 2009
A 56-minute address that received a standing ovation from an audience that would have loudly booed Obama’s predecessor in the White House. Highlights included an attack on the US decision to go to war in Iraq – “a war of choice” as Obama called it – despite the fact that Saddam Hussein had failed to comply with no less than 16 UN Security Council resolutions. The president also drew a hugely controversial parallel between Jewish suffering in the Holocaust and the current plight of the Palestinians, strongly criticizing the Israeli “occupation”. As he did in Strasbourg and at the UN, Obama brought up the Guantanamo issue in front of an international audience, as part of a ritual exercise in self-loathing. Notably absent in this speech to the Muslim world was any mention of “terrorist”, “terrorism” or “Islamist”, or an assessment of the scale of the Iranian nuclear threat.
Key line:
4. Prague Speech, April 5, 2009
This was the now infamous address by Barack Obama calling for the creation of a nuclear-free world, while downplaying the threat posed by rogue states such as Iran and North Korea. The president’s speech preceded his visit to Moscow in July, where he negotiated the framework for a major nuclear arms reduction deal with the Russians – ultimately leading to Washington’s shameful surrender over Third Site missile defences, a huge betrayal of US allies in eastern and central Europe. The Czechs will always remember this speech for Obama’s immortal words, just months before selling them down the river: “I am here to say that the United States will never turn its back on the people of this nation.”
Key line:
5. National Archives Speech, Washington, DC, May 21, 2009
This was a speech delivered in front of Americans, but aimed at a global audience, representing Barack Obama’s strongest attack on the previous administration’s successful counter-terror policies. It was a humiliating US apology for key aspects of the War on Terror, clearly aimed at appeasing hostile international opinion, with little regard for advancing US national security. The National Archives address was a perfect propaganda gift to America’s enemies, representing the humbling of American power on the world stage.
Key line:
This is for AOW, who dedicates it to BHO:
Last week’s débacle at the United Nations where Barack Obama delivered a speech so naïve that even Jimmy Carter would have blushed, has inspired this list of the five most embarrassing speeches by the president (so far) as a world leader. By embarrassing I mean embarrassing to the United States, speeches that have projected weakness rather than strength, policy statements that have forced millions of Americans to cringe in front of their television sets.
[...]
1. United Nations General Assembly Speech, New York, September 23, 2009
In a highly partisan political speech, the President went before the 192 members of the United Nations and trashed the counter-terror policies of the former US administration, as well as condemning the actions of a close American ally, Israel. Several thunderous rounds of applause greeted the president’s words, largely from countries with a track record of hating America. The Iranian and North Korean nuclear threats barely merited a mention, nor did the war in Afghanistan. Libyan tyrant Muammar Gaddafi swiftly followed with an admiring call for Obama to “stay forever as the president.” Even Hugo Chavez loved it.
Key line:
“the time has come for the world to move in a new direction. We must embrace a new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect, and our work must begin now… In an era when our destiny is shared, power is no longer a zero-sum game. No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation. No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. No balance of power among nations will hold.”
2. Strasbourg Speech, April 3, 2009
A very close second in a highly competitive line-up, with its wincing talk of American “arrogance”. The President of the most powerful nation on earth traveled to France to deliver a grovelling, massive mea culpa for US foreign policy, including the War on Terror. Utter humiliation for America on European soil in front of a largely French and German audience who bitterly opposed the liberation of Iraq - not even Jacques Chirac could have dreamt it up.
Key line:
“In America, there’s a failure to appreciate Europe’s leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.”
3. Cairo University Speech, June 4, 2009
A 56-minute address that received a standing ovation from an audience that would have loudly booed Obama’s predecessor in the White House. Highlights included an attack on the US decision to go to war in Iraq – “a war of choice” as Obama called it – despite the fact that Saddam Hussein had failed to comply with no less than 16 UN Security Council resolutions. The president also drew a hugely controversial parallel between Jewish suffering in the Holocaust and the current plight of the Palestinians, strongly criticizing the Israeli “occupation”. As he did in Strasbourg and at the UN, Obama brought up the Guantanamo issue in front of an international audience, as part of a ritual exercise in self-loathing. Notably absent in this speech to the Muslim world was any mention of “terrorist”, “terrorism” or “Islamist”, or an assessment of the scale of the Iranian nuclear threat.
Key line:
“Let me also address the issue of Iraq. Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq was a war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world. Although I believe that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, I also believe that events in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible… 9/11 was an enormous trauma to our country. The fear and anger that it provoked was understandable, but in some cases, it led us to act contrary to our traditions and our ideals. We are taking concrete actions to change course.”
4. Prague Speech, April 5, 2009
This was the now infamous address by Barack Obama calling for the creation of a nuclear-free world, while downplaying the threat posed by rogue states such as Iran and North Korea. The president’s speech preceded his visit to Moscow in July, where he negotiated the framework for a major nuclear arms reduction deal with the Russians – ultimately leading to Washington’s shameful surrender over Third Site missile defences, a huge betrayal of US allies in eastern and central Europe. The Czechs will always remember this speech for Obama’s immortal words, just months before selling them down the river: “I am here to say that the United States will never turn its back on the people of this nation.”
Key line:
“So today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. I’m not naive. This goal will not be reached quickly –- perhaps not in my lifetime. It will take patience and persistence. But now we, too, must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change. We have to insist, “Yes, we can.”
5. National Archives Speech, Washington, DC, May 21, 2009
This was a speech delivered in front of Americans, but aimed at a global audience, representing Barack Obama’s strongest attack on the previous administration’s successful counter-terror policies. It was a humiliating US apology for key aspects of the War on Terror, clearly aimed at appeasing hostile international opinion, with little regard for advancing US national security. The National Archives address was a perfect propaganda gift to America’s enemies, representing the humbling of American power on the world stage.
Key line:
“There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral authority that is America’s strongest currency in the world. Instead of building a durable framework for the struggle against al Qaeda that drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was defending positions that undermined the rule of law… instead of serving as a tool to counter terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained.”
This is for AOW, who dedicates it to BHO:
The inevitable is coming...
...the International Atomic Energy Agency's director general, said Iran's relations with the international community were at a "critical moment" as it was "shifting gear from confrontation to transparency and cooperation."
We have seen this before. The UN confronts Iran, Iran denies, concedes, then agrees. Iran gives an inch, the UN gives them a mile. The world waits.... Then, the cycle begins all over again.
Iran has agreed to allow inspectors to visit the Qom site on October 25th. Somehow, the UN and the White House see's this as a good sign? First of all, everybody who has their eyes open, knows that Qom is not the only site Iran has. It is the only site that Iran got "caught" with. Also, delaying the inspection, has allowed Iran plenty of time to clean it up.
No win.
Iran has pledged to send roughly one bomb’s worth of low-enriched uranium to Russia and France to be refashioned into more highly enriched fuel for use in one of Iran’s small research reactors.
Assuming Iran continues to make nuclear fuel, Tehran could have enough low-enriched uranium by next fall to make a bomb even if it followed through on its promised transfer.
Also, the fuel that France and Russia will send back to Iran will be enriched with 19.75-percent nuclear-weapons-grade uranium — than the 3.5-percent-enriched brew Iran currently has on hand. If Iran were to seize this more enriched fuel, it could make a bomb much more quickly than it could now.
Do you trust Iran?
No win.
Then there's this:
New Claim Leaked in UN Report
A yet-to-be released report by the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency concludes that Iran has “sufficient ...
... information to be able to design and produce a workable” nuclear weapon.
This is new? Not even close. Here's this from March 9, 2009:
Last Sunday, it was chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen who announced during an interview on CNN that Iran had enriched sufficient uranium to create a nuclear weapon.
This Sunday, it was OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin's turn to jolt the country when he told the cabinet that Iran had crossed the technological threshold, obtained the necessary uranium and mastered the technology needed to manufacture a nuclear device.
And this:
JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran is now capable of producing atomic weapons, Israel's top military intelligence officer said Sunday, sounding the highest-level warning that Israel's arch-enemy has achieved independent nuclear capability.
If anything, the UN is showing it's own complicity with Iran. By suddenly "releasing" this information many months to years after the rest of the world has brought it up, shows just how useless the UN is in stopping Iran.
Obama's "god-like" abilities will not change the outcome. In fact, Obama has made the situation much worse. He has weakened our hand, kept crippling sanctions out of the picture for the foreseeable future and has stopped an Israel attack, for now. All because of misguided hopes that somehow, this time will be different. It won't. And everybody knows it.
Iran is playing the same game with the same rules. And nobody has the guts to call them on it.
Iran is winning.
The coming war with Iran
War with Iran is now inevitable. The only question is: Will it happen sooner or later? Tehran's recent missile tests and war games suggest that the apocalyptic mullahs have reached the same conclusion.
Iran is on the march. Their medium-range Shahab-3 and Sajjil missiles can reach Israel, the entire Middle East and parts of Europe. Tehran is slowing expanding its regional sphere of influence. It has backed insurgency groups in Iraq, which have killed U.S. soldiers. It sponsors Hamas and Hezbollah. It has transformed Syria into a political vassal. It has forged an alliance with Hugo Chavez's Venezuela. It has purchased key air defense systems from Vladimir Putin's Russia.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust-denier and virulent anti-Semite. He is a Persian Nazi strongman who vows to wipe Israel "off the map." He is a revolutionary Shi'ite. He believes the Jews must be extinguished in order to usher the coming of the Shi'ite Messiah, the so-called "Hidden Imam."
For years, the fascist theocracy has invested considerable resources into developing a clandestine nuclear weapons program. Mr. Ahmadinejad insists Tehran only wants atomic energy for "peaceful purposes." Yet, he cannot answer one simple question: Why does a country with the world's second-largest natural gas reserves and third-largest oil supply need domestic nuclear power?
Moreover, Mr. Ahmadinejad is a congenital liar. He repeatedly insists that Iran is a "democracy." Rather, it is a brutal police state based on rigged elections and the torture and murder of dissidents. He claims that Iran has "no homosexuals" and that women are treated "fairly." In fact, the Islamist regime routinely executes gays and subjugates women. He says Iran has "nothing to hide" about its nuclear program. The West, however, recently discovered a hidden, underground facility near the holy city of Qom capable of producing highly enriched uranium for weapons-grade nuclear material.
Since establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Iran has been engaged in an ideological struggle against the West. Its two main enemies have been the United States ("the Great Satan") and Israel ("the Little Satan"). From its inception, Tehran has sought to erect a world Muslim empire; to restore medieval Islamic civilization to its former dominance. The regime is reactionary and - in a twisted manner - even utopian. Nuclear weapons are about more than attaining great-power status. They are the means to achieve the final triumph of messianic Shi'ism.
Iran is on the verge of acquiring the bomb. The mullahs have reached the point of no return. Israel - the country that has to live in that dangerous part of the world - believes the mullahs are six to nine months away from getting it.
Hence, President Obama's policy of diplomatic engagement combined with possible sanctions is doomed to fail. It is ineffective, naive and reckless. Direct talks, like those conducted in Geneva on Thursday, only give Iran more time. Mr. Obama is simply providing the mullahs with the cover they need to finish completing their nuclear arsenal.
[...]
A devastating strike would likely trigger a fierce Iranian response, including waves of suicide bombers targeting Israeli civilians and U.S. troops in Iraq. Iranian missiles would pound Israeli and, maybe, European cities. Vital shipping lanes in the Persian Gulf would be disrupted, driving the price of oil to more than $300 a barrel - plunging the West into a possible depression. Hezbollah sleeper cells might be activated within the United States, unleashing deadly atrocities on American soil.
Yet, allowing a nuclear-armed Iran is likely to lead to an even worse regional war. Once the ruling clerics get their hands on nukes, a military showdown with Israel is inevitable. They will seek to destroy the Jewish state once and for all. Jerusalem will not stand by and commit existential suicide. It will retaliate. The result would be a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East.
The winds of war are blowing across the Persian Gulf. Following this summer's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, the Iranian regime is weak, desperate and fracturing. Washington should vigorously pursue a policy of internal regime change; otherwise, Tehran will drag the Middle East into a certain conflagration that could lead to the slaughter of millions.
Instead, Mr. Obama has ruled out "meddling in Iran's internal affairs." His peace-at-any-cost diplomacy guarantees military conflict. It is no longer a question of if this will happen, but when and on whose terms. Mr. Obama is sleepwalking into disaster. America and the Middle East will pay the price.
For those of you, who still have their heads in the sand, you might as well keep them there. At least it will offer some protection, while the rest of us build our bomb shelters.
Because we know, deep down inside, the inevitable is coming.
Saturday, October 03, 2009
The "Party over" lights have begun to blink for American Police Force
Could the party be over for American Police Force?
Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock is investigating the mysterious security contractor's deal to run an empty jail in the tiny town of Hardin, reports the Billings Gazette. And he doesn't appear to be messing around.
In a nine-page letter sent late yesterday afternoon to Becky Shay -- the former Gazette reporter who recently signed on as APF's public relations director -- Bullock said he's probing whether APF may be violating Montana's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act.
Specifically, Bullock wants proof for many of the statements on APF's website which have been called into question by media reports in recent days -- such as the claims that the company frequently has contracts with the U.S. government, and has operations in all 50 states.
Bullock also has asked for a copy of the contract between APF and Hardin, which the town has so far declined to make public, and has asked that APF disclose any lawsuits filed against it or Michael Hilton -- the APF official who led the negotiations with Hardin, and whose lengthy criminal record and alleged history of alcoholism has intensified concerns about the deal. Bullock also wants any correspondence between APF and any government agency that has accused the company of being deceptive.
Bullock sent a separate letter to Al Peterson and a second official with the Two Rivers Authority (TRA), Hardin's economic development agency which signed the deal with APF. Peterson didn't respond to the Gazette's request for comment, but asked yesterday by TPMmuckraker about the deal, he replied: "What have we got to lose?"
In addition:
Maziar Mafi, a lawyer from Santa Ana, Calif., who served as the legal affairs director for American Police Force, said he wanted to see the project begin to move forward before he could continue his involvement.
“For the time, I’m pulling out,” Mafi said. “I need to see more concrete action before I can be involved.“
Mafi’s involvement began last month. Hilton, who claims an extensive military background and uses the title “captain,” initially described Mafi as a “major” in American Police Force. He later said Mafi was the company’s president - although Mafi denied the role and said he had no military or security background.
Also,
Hilton claimed Allied Defense Systems would provide the uniforms for guards at the jail. On Sept. 30, an attorney for the Irvine company sent a letter to Hilton threatening a lawsuit over the use of the company’s name.
Edward Angelino, chief executive of Allied Defense Systems, an Irvine, Calif.-based defense contractor, said his company met with Hilton.
“We checked his background, we checked his company. He’s not an adequate person to do business with,” Angelino said.
So, who is Michael Hilton?
Hilton has a decades-long track record of fraudulent activities and spent several years in a California prison on grand theft charges. The native of Montenegro uses at least 17 aliases.
According to TPM, Captain Michael Hilton has used the following aliases:
* Miodrag Dokovich, Miodrag Djokich, Miodrag Djokovich, Michael Hamilton, Anthony M. Hilton, Michael A. Hilton, Michael Milton and Hristian Djokich, plus related variants.
And he has a lengthy list of previous arrests:
• 1988: Hilton arrested in Santa Ana, Calif. for writing bad checks.
• April 1990: Hilton is again arrested in Santa Ana for writing bad checks and for grand theft.
• 1992: A civil judgment of $83,000 is entered against Hilton and Ilia Dokovich.
• March 1993: Hilton pleads guilty in Orange County court to 14 felonies, including 10 counts of grand theft. One charge involves a $20,000 real estate scam, in which Hilton persuaded an associate to give him a deed on property in Long Beach, Calif., saying it was to be used as collateral on a loan, then sold the property to someone else. According to the AP, he spends six years in prison in California.
• March 2000: Hilton is accused of fraud, larceny, and breach of contract, in connection to a venture in which Hilton and others recruited the plaintiff to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to create collectible Super Bowl commemorative coins. According to the complaint, Hilton and the others said the money would be used for the design and manufacture of the coins and for a license to produce them from the National Football League -- but the NFL never issued a license. Hilton is ultimately ordered to pay the plaintiff $200,000.
• Around the same period: Hilton also faces two similar fraud suits: In one, he's accused of posing as a fine arts dealer to deceive a Utah couple into giving him a $100,000 silver statue. In the other, he is said to have teamed with a doctor to recruit investors for a southern California assisted-living facility that was never built.
• November 2002: Hilton files for bankruptcy, in order to avoid eviction by his landlord.
• March 2003: Hilton is arrested for DUI in Huntington Beach.
• February 2004: Hilton files for bankruptcy once more, again to avoid eviction.
• January 2006: A $5,052 judgment lien is entered against Hilton in Orange County, CA.
Who/What is American Police Force?
A shadowy private security company that has no known clients but claims to have helped foreign governments combat terrorism and will protect anything from cruise ships to Pakistani convoys.
APF's double-headed eagle coat of arms appears to be the same as Serbia's Prince Aleksandar Karageorgevich. And the AP reported that a lawyer for APF describes the firm as "a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984."
APF's Web site brags about "our extensive tactical firearms training facility, the U.S. Training Center." But the U.S. Training Center is part of Xe, nee Blackwater. And Xe spokeswoman Stacy DeLuke told us there is no affiliation between Xe and APF.
An attorney for American Police Force, Maziar Mafi, describes the Santa Ana, Calif., company as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984. But Mafi declined to name the parent firm or provide details on how the company will finance its jail operations.
"APF plays a critical role in helping the U.S. government meet vital homeland security and national defense needs," the company says on its Web site. "Within the last 5 years the United States has been far and away our" number 1 client.
However, an Associated Press search of two comprehensive federal government contractor databases turned up no record of American Police Force.
It appears that American Police Force will become rather transparent shortly. With Michael Hilton's past history coming to light, his future will involve employment in the private sector, If anybody will have him. With possible Federal employment, in the pen.
The American Police Force? Who knows. Something tells me it won't involve prisoners in Montana.
Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock is investigating the mysterious security contractor's deal to run an empty jail in the tiny town of Hardin, reports the Billings Gazette. And he doesn't appear to be messing around.
In a nine-page letter sent late yesterday afternoon to Becky Shay -- the former Gazette reporter who recently signed on as APF's public relations director -- Bullock said he's probing whether APF may be violating Montana's Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act.
Specifically, Bullock wants proof for many of the statements on APF's website which have been called into question by media reports in recent days -- such as the claims that the company frequently has contracts with the U.S. government, and has operations in all 50 states.
Bullock also has asked for a copy of the contract between APF and Hardin, which the town has so far declined to make public, and has asked that APF disclose any lawsuits filed against it or Michael Hilton -- the APF official who led the negotiations with Hardin, and whose lengthy criminal record and alleged history of alcoholism has intensified concerns about the deal. Bullock also wants any correspondence between APF and any government agency that has accused the company of being deceptive.
Bullock sent a separate letter to Al Peterson and a second official with the Two Rivers Authority (TRA), Hardin's economic development agency which signed the deal with APF. Peterson didn't respond to the Gazette's request for comment, but asked yesterday by TPMmuckraker about the deal, he replied: "What have we got to lose?"
In addition:
Maziar Mafi, a lawyer from Santa Ana, Calif., who served as the legal affairs director for American Police Force, said he wanted to see the project begin to move forward before he could continue his involvement.
“For the time, I’m pulling out,” Mafi said. “I need to see more concrete action before I can be involved.“
Mafi’s involvement began last month. Hilton, who claims an extensive military background and uses the title “captain,” initially described Mafi as a “major” in American Police Force. He later said Mafi was the company’s president - although Mafi denied the role and said he had no military or security background.
Also,
Hilton claimed Allied Defense Systems would provide the uniforms for guards at the jail. On Sept. 30, an attorney for the Irvine company sent a letter to Hilton threatening a lawsuit over the use of the company’s name.
Edward Angelino, chief executive of Allied Defense Systems, an Irvine, Calif.-based defense contractor, said his company met with Hilton.
“We checked his background, we checked his company. He’s not an adequate person to do business with,” Angelino said.
So, who is Michael Hilton?
Hilton has a decades-long track record of fraudulent activities and spent several years in a California prison on grand theft charges. The native of Montenegro uses at least 17 aliases.
According to TPM, Captain Michael Hilton has used the following aliases:
* Miodrag Dokovich, Miodrag Djokich, Miodrag Djokovich, Michael Hamilton, Anthony M. Hilton, Michael A. Hilton, Michael Milton and Hristian Djokich, plus related variants.
And he has a lengthy list of previous arrests:
• 1988: Hilton arrested in Santa Ana, Calif. for writing bad checks.
• April 1990: Hilton is again arrested in Santa Ana for writing bad checks and for grand theft.
• 1992: A civil judgment of $83,000 is entered against Hilton and Ilia Dokovich.
• March 1993: Hilton pleads guilty in Orange County court to 14 felonies, including 10 counts of grand theft. One charge involves a $20,000 real estate scam, in which Hilton persuaded an associate to give him a deed on property in Long Beach, Calif., saying it was to be used as collateral on a loan, then sold the property to someone else. According to the AP, he spends six years in prison in California.
• March 2000: Hilton is accused of fraud, larceny, and breach of contract, in connection to a venture in which Hilton and others recruited the plaintiff to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars to create collectible Super Bowl commemorative coins. According to the complaint, Hilton and the others said the money would be used for the design and manufacture of the coins and for a license to produce them from the National Football League -- but the NFL never issued a license. Hilton is ultimately ordered to pay the plaintiff $200,000.
• Around the same period: Hilton also faces two similar fraud suits: In one, he's accused of posing as a fine arts dealer to deceive a Utah couple into giving him a $100,000 silver statue. In the other, he is said to have teamed with a doctor to recruit investors for a southern California assisted-living facility that was never built.
• November 2002: Hilton files for bankruptcy, in order to avoid eviction by his landlord.
• March 2003: Hilton is arrested for DUI in Huntington Beach.
• February 2004: Hilton files for bankruptcy once more, again to avoid eviction.
• January 2006: A $5,052 judgment lien is entered against Hilton in Orange County, CA.
Who/What is American Police Force?
A shadowy private security company that has no known clients but claims to have helped foreign governments combat terrorism and will protect anything from cruise ships to Pakistani convoys.
APF's double-headed eagle coat of arms appears to be the same as Serbia's Prince Aleksandar Karageorgevich. And the AP reported that a lawyer for APF describes the firm as "a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984."
APF's Web site brags about "our extensive tactical firearms training facility, the U.S. Training Center." But the U.S. Training Center is part of Xe, nee Blackwater. And Xe spokeswoman Stacy DeLuke told us there is no affiliation between Xe and APF.
An attorney for American Police Force, Maziar Mafi, describes the Santa Ana, Calif., company as a fledgling spin-off of a major security firm founded in 1984. But Mafi declined to name the parent firm or provide details on how the company will finance its jail operations.
"APF plays a critical role in helping the U.S. government meet vital homeland security and national defense needs," the company says on its Web site. "Within the last 5 years the United States has been far and away our" number 1 client.
However, an Associated Press search of two comprehensive federal government contractor databases turned up no record of American Police Force.
It appears that American Police Force will become rather transparent shortly. With Michael Hilton's past history coming to light, his future will involve employment in the private sector, If anybody will have him. With possible Federal employment, in the pen.
The American Police Force? Who knows. Something tells me it won't involve prisoners in Montana.
The Patriot Act is in danger
IPT
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) have introduced legislation that would effectively gut the USA PATRIOT Act. This week, against the backdrop of multiple domestic terrorism-related investigations and arrests, Leahy and Feingold tried to use hearings on extending the PATRIOT Act to advance legislation that would substantially weaken it. The reauthorization hearings focused on three controversial provisions of the PATRIOT Act set to expire on December 31, 2009. If legislators fail to act, the laws will expire automatically.
No Sheeples Here
Congress renewed those provisions in 2005 and now must give them another four-year renewal in December of this year or they will disappear. Some Democratic lawmakers have long wanted to weaken the act, and now, with big majorities in the House and Senate, they have their chance.
Najibullah Zazi, who was caught with bomb-making materials and a list of specific targets in New York City, highlights the very threats the act was designed to tackle. Republicans are fighting to keep the law in its current form.
Congress should be considering what can be done to make it stronger.
Say what you will about President Bush during his last couple of years in office. But, I take my hat off to him for how he handled the aftermath of 9/11. In fact, it was how he stood up, that cemented my support of him.
There have been a number of attempts to attack us since 9/11. None of them have succeeded. They were stopped in great part because of the patriot act.
The enemy is waiting for us to weaken, to let down our guard. The fact that congress is even contemplating weakening the Patriot Act, show's that this is a very real possibility.
The following video is a reminder why we need to fight against it.
Never forget.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) have introduced legislation that would effectively gut the USA PATRIOT Act. This week, against the backdrop of multiple domestic terrorism-related investigations and arrests, Leahy and Feingold tried to use hearings on extending the PATRIOT Act to advance legislation that would substantially weaken it. The reauthorization hearings focused on three controversial provisions of the PATRIOT Act set to expire on December 31, 2009. If legislators fail to act, the laws will expire automatically.
No Sheeples Here
In the days following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Congress put time limits on three of the most far-reaching provisions of the Patriot Act: roving wiretaps which allow investigators to keep up with suspects who use dozens of cell phones to avoid being traced, business records authority which lets investigators ask a special national security court for access to records of a suspect's dealings with private businesses and the "lone wolf" provision which allows investigators to track individual terror suspects even if they are not a member of a terrorist group, like al Qaeda.
Congress renewed those provisions in 2005 and now must give them another four-year renewal in December of this year or they will disappear. Some Democratic lawmakers have long wanted to weaken the act, and now, with big majorities in the House and Senate, they have their chance.
Najibullah Zazi, who was caught with bomb-making materials and a list of specific targets in New York City, highlights the very threats the act was designed to tackle. Republicans are fighting to keep the law in its current form.
Congress should be considering what can be done to make it stronger.
Say what you will about President Bush during his last couple of years in office. But, I take my hat off to him for how he handled the aftermath of 9/11. In fact, it was how he stood up, that cemented my support of him.
There have been a number of attempts to attack us since 9/11. None of them have succeeded. They were stopped in great part because of the patriot act.
The enemy is waiting for us to weaken, to let down our guard. The fact that congress is even contemplating weakening the Patriot Act, show's that this is a very real possibility.
The following video is a reminder why we need to fight against it.
Never forget.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's vitriolic attacks on the Jewish world hide an astonishing secret
Telegraph
A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots.
A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots. A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian – a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver.
The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth.
The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Mr Ahmadinejad's birthplace, and the name derives from "weaver of the Sabour", the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran's Ministry of the Interior.
Experts last night suggested Mr Ahmadinejad's track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be an overcompensation to hide his past.
Ali Nourizadeh, of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies, said: "This aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad's background explains a lot about him.
"Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith.
"By making anti-Israeli statements he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections. He feels vulnerable in a radical Shia society."
A London-based expert on Iranian Jewry said that "jian" ending to the name specifically showed the family had been practising Jews.
"He has changed his name for religious reasons, or at least his parents had," said the Iranian-born Jew living in London. "Sabourjian is well known Jewish name in Iran."
A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said it would not be drawn on Mr Ahmadinejad's background. "It's not something we'd talk about," said Ron Gidor, a spokesman.
The Iranian leader has not denied his name was changed when his family moved to Tehran in the 1950s. But he has never revealed what it was change from or directly addressed the reason for the switch.
Relatives have previously said a mixture of religious reasons and economic pressures forced his blacksmith father Ahmad to change when Mr Ahmadinejad was aged four.
During this year's presidential debate on television he was goaded to admit that his name had changed but he ignored the jibe.
However Mehdi Khazali, an internet blogger, who called for an investigation of Mr Ahmadinejad's roots was arrested this summer.
Mr Ahmadinejad has regularly levelled bitter criticism at Israel, questioned its right to exist and denied the Holocaust. British diplomats walked out of a UN meeting last month after the Iranian president denounced Israel's 'genocide, barbarism and racism.'
This week's ups and downs
Man, this week has had more rise and fall of anticipation, than a young mans libido in the back seat of a 56 chevy.First, you had the UN General Assembly. A chance for Obama to really put his foot down about Iran.
But, he didn't. And, according to Charles Krauthammer:
“Right up until now, he has nothing to show. I think he indulged himself in his speech at the General Assembly, which started out as sort of adolescent utopianism and then it went downhill. . . . What do our allies think when they hear that and when they hear . . . Obama denigrating his own country and presenting himself as the man who will redeem America from its wickedness? And he said that those of you who doubt the character of America should look at what we, meaning I, have done in the last eight months, including a bunch of gestures — including joining the Human Rights Council at the U.N., which is a body which we should take no pride in being on. I thought it was a sorry performance. It did not advance our interest in the least.”
In the end, Sardosky showed he has a couple and Obama had ED.
The Geneva talks:
America is getting hustled
This week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has agreed to transfer most of his country's acknowledged low-enriched nuclear fuel out of the country for purposes of further enrichment, and Iranian negotiators have signaled a willingness to engage in further talks. All of this sounds like good news, and it is. Unfortunately, it is also extremely good news for Iran and Ahmadinejad, who has managed to buy still more time to build his weapons program.
There's little doubt that the Qom facility is just part of a vast network of secret nuclear facilities that the Iranians have been building for years to evade inspectors. It solves the "puzzle" of why the Iranians haven't been able to account for large amounts of uranium from one of their mines. Imagine a conversation with Iranian nuclear officials offer the missing uranium: "Oh, well, we use it as part of a traditional Persian headache remedy." While international inspectors sought full access to Iran's Potemkin nuclear program, the Iranians, having learned the lesson of Iraq's Osirak facility, destroyed by an Israeli air attack in 1981, have created a hardened weapons program that will be difficult if not impossible to destroy.
Commentary
As the Wall Street Journal’s editors observe, the Geneva talks have revived the reputation of the despotic regime:
Responding to an overture from the Obama Administration, the Iranians even talked about the future of the U.N. and other nonnuclear issues. Meanwhile, Washington was “buzzing” (as one newspaper put it) that a one-day visit by Iran’s foreign minister might signal more detente to come. Back in Tehran, Mr. Ahmadinejad floated a tete-a-tete with the U.S. President. In short, this engagement conferred a respectability on his regime that Mr. Ahmadinejad could only have imagined amid his vicious post-election crackdown.
And like the missile-defense capitulation, we’ve gotten precious little for this. We’re now sucked into a process of meetings, and the inspection of Qom will take place with plenty of time for the Iranians to “clean the place out.” We now begin the familiar dance of endless talks, quibbles about inspections, and compromises on verification–all culminating in the realization (eventually) that a secretive, despotic regime is on track to engage in nuclear blackmail.
Of all this Obama seems blissfully unaware. We’re finally engaging! We’re getting down to business. This is constructive, he gushes. Well, for Iran certainly. The mullahs are getting what they want (the limelight on the world stage and plenty of breathing room), now with a nod of approval from the president. As the editors note, Geneva gives Iran “new legitimacy, and new hope that they can have their bomb and enhanced global standing too.” And to boot, it’s all been made possible by the American president, who gave the Iranians all the breathing room they needed, welcomed them to Geneva, lifted not a finger to aid (rhetorically or otherwise) the democracy protesters, and now praises the regime for doing nothing concrete at all to halt its nuclear program.
So while the Iranians will hand over low-enriched nuclear fuel they've said they have, they're not about to give up the nuclear they haven't said they have. Get it? As for the further talks, the United States wants to talk about ending Iran's nuclear program. The Iranians want to talk about… virtually everything else, ranging from "creating a world filled with spirituality, friendship, prosperity, wellness, and security" to "the management and fair use of space" to, yes, abolishing all the world's nuclear weapons. Suffice it to say, this is a fairly broad agenda. Indeed, it is so broad that one wonders if the Iranians are taking this process as seriously as we'd like to think.
Yesterday, Obama remembered his little blue pill:
"Today's meeting was a constructive beginning, but it must be followed by constructive action by the Iranian government," Obama said during a brief White House appearance following the talks held in Geneva. He gave Iran two weeks to allow IAEA inspectors into its recently revealed second uranium enrichment facility at Qom.
Unfortunately, he grabbed the wrong bottle and soon fell asleep.
Because today, a State Department spokesperson signaled the president’s mandate that Iran has two weeks to permit inspections of its recently unveiled uranium refinement plant was not “written in stone.”
But hey, there was some good news today:
Seems the IOC doesn't get that "tingle" when the One steps into the room. Chicago didn't even make it to first base. Of course most of us out here did not allow our hopes get up too high. We know Obama doesn't have what it takes to turn Iran on. In the end, all he got was an Olympic size kiss on the forehead and the girls are giggling in the bathroom.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
The Making of Zazi
An Enemy Within
You'd think Najibullah Zazi would stand out on the high, dry plains southeast of Denver, where the earth is as flat as a starched shirt and mere wrinkles count as topography. But if heartland suburbs were ever enclaves of uniformity, that day is long gone. Aurora, Colo., is a city of people from somewhere else, a low-slung municipality of 315,000 that includes extremes of both poverty and prosperity. Aurora is vast — nearly 154 sq. mi. (400 sq km) — and dense, with a high concentration of multifamily housing units, apartment buildings, townhouses and condominiums. Those homes contain a patchwork of races, ethnicities and tribes: Aurora is 23% Hispanic; 13% black; 15% Asian, Native American and other. Nearly 100 languages are spoken by students in the Aurora public schools. It is, in short, an excellent place for a young man with a laptop and a recipe for bombs to hide in plain sight.
Even while allegedly buying gallons of chemicals at beauty-supply shops and renting a cheap hotel suite to cook them in, Zazi might have remained anonymous long enough to strike and kill, except that U.S. Homeland Security is a sharper instrument than it was in the summer of 2001. The dysfunctional system that failed to connect the dots before 9/11 managed, eight years later, to spot and disrupt a plot in progress. Zazi has denied charges he conspired to bomb targets in the U.S., but government officials are confident they've got their man. Authorities took notice when Zazi traveled last year to Pakistan, while his unsavory associations there — the FBI charges that Zazi attended terrorist training camps — heightened their interest. The government caught Zazi about a month ago talking about chemicals on his cell phone. From then on, virtually the entire FBI Denver field office was on his trail.
That's the good news. Perhaps the fact that he was caught in time — and the same week that two other alleged bombing attempts were foiled in Middle America — tells us that post-9/11 security measures, many of them highly controversial, are working. But there is bad news too. Zazi's alleged project, from the training camp in Pakistan to his bomb recipe and backpack delivery system, bears the marks not of some fluky local scheme of the kind that the feds have sniffed out in the past but of a plausible al-Qaeda operation. Nor does Zazi appear to be a lone sympathizer or a copycat egged on by an FBI informant. He apparently had marching orders, accomplices and a quiet determination to deliver a stunning blow. In all these respects, Zazi resembles the al-Qaeda bombers who attacked the London subway in 2005. Indeed, if the charges against him prove true, Zazi was the recruit al-Qaeda had long sought: entirely legal, completely acculturated, seemingly innocuous. In his utter ordinariness, he was a terror master's dream. As such, Zazi suggests that the network of Osama bin Laden, weakened though it might be, can still project violence into the U.S.
Roots of Rebellion
Zazi's story begins 24 years ago, in the midst of a war in Afghanistan's Paktia province, a violent region of jagged mountains, ominous caves and boulder-strewn ravines. The war pitted U.S.-backed Islamic fundamentalists against troops of the Soviet occupation. Little is known of Zazi's childhood, but around the time he was born, there was a newcomer in Paktia: a zealous Saudi millionaire named Osama bin Laden. He had come to see jihad in action, and he was thrilled and inspired by the experience of combat. Bin Laden built mosques and schools on both sides of the border with Pakistan, but he was a warrior at heart. So he decided to attract his own army and construct a fortress for the jihad. He chose a site near the tribal village of Jaji. Using bulldozers and explosives, bin Laden connected some 500 mountain caves into a network of underground rooms. He called the place al-Masada, or the Lion's Den — and he was the lion. There, in the spring of 1987, the mujahedin repelled attacks by élite Soviet troops backed by bomber jets and pro-Soviet Afghan fighters. Victory in the Battle of Jaji, during which bin Laden may have been wounded, became the cradle of Osama's myth. A generation later, halfway around the world, we are still living with the consequences.
It's easy to imagine that a little boy growing up in Paktia province might have heard heroic tales of the Battle of Jaji and its hero, bin Laden. When Zazi was about 7 years old, his father moved the family across the border into Pakistan, near Peshawar, another zone of bin Laden influence and a hotbed of jihadist activity.
Read "Three Key Questions About Zazi and Terrorism."
You'd think Najibullah Zazi would stand out on the high, dry plains southeast of Denver, where the earth is as flat as a starched shirt and mere wrinkles count as topography. But if heartland suburbs were ever enclaves of uniformity, that day is long gone. Aurora, Colo., is a city of people from somewhere else, a low-slung municipality of 315,000 that includes extremes of both poverty and prosperity. Aurora is vast — nearly 154 sq. mi. (400 sq km) — and dense, with a high concentration of multifamily housing units, apartment buildings, townhouses and condominiums. Those homes contain a patchwork of races, ethnicities and tribes: Aurora is 23% Hispanic; 13% black; 15% Asian, Native American and other. Nearly 100 languages are spoken by students in the Aurora public schools. It is, in short, an excellent place for a young man with a laptop and a recipe for bombs to hide in plain sight.
Even while allegedly buying gallons of chemicals at beauty-supply shops and renting a cheap hotel suite to cook them in, Zazi might have remained anonymous long enough to strike and kill, except that U.S. Homeland Security is a sharper instrument than it was in the summer of 2001. The dysfunctional system that failed to connect the dots before 9/11 managed, eight years later, to spot and disrupt a plot in progress. Zazi has denied charges he conspired to bomb targets in the U.S., but government officials are confident they've got their man. Authorities took notice when Zazi traveled last year to Pakistan, while his unsavory associations there — the FBI charges that Zazi attended terrorist training camps — heightened their interest. The government caught Zazi about a month ago talking about chemicals on his cell phone. From then on, virtually the entire FBI Denver field office was on his trail.
That's the good news. Perhaps the fact that he was caught in time — and the same week that two other alleged bombing attempts were foiled in Middle America — tells us that post-9/11 security measures, many of them highly controversial, are working. But there is bad news too. Zazi's alleged project, from the training camp in Pakistan to his bomb recipe and backpack delivery system, bears the marks not of some fluky local scheme of the kind that the feds have sniffed out in the past but of a plausible al-Qaeda operation. Nor does Zazi appear to be a lone sympathizer or a copycat egged on by an FBI informant. He apparently had marching orders, accomplices and a quiet determination to deliver a stunning blow. In all these respects, Zazi resembles the al-Qaeda bombers who attacked the London subway in 2005. Indeed, if the charges against him prove true, Zazi was the recruit al-Qaeda had long sought: entirely legal, completely acculturated, seemingly innocuous. In his utter ordinariness, he was a terror master's dream. As such, Zazi suggests that the network of Osama bin Laden, weakened though it might be, can still project violence into the U.S.
Roots of Rebellion
Zazi's story begins 24 years ago, in the midst of a war in Afghanistan's Paktia province, a violent region of jagged mountains, ominous caves and boulder-strewn ravines. The war pitted U.S.-backed Islamic fundamentalists against troops of the Soviet occupation. Little is known of Zazi's childhood, but around the time he was born, there was a newcomer in Paktia: a zealous Saudi millionaire named Osama bin Laden. He had come to see jihad in action, and he was thrilled and inspired by the experience of combat. Bin Laden built mosques and schools on both sides of the border with Pakistan, but he was a warrior at heart. So he decided to attract his own army and construct a fortress for the jihad. He chose a site near the tribal village of Jaji. Using bulldozers and explosives, bin Laden connected some 500 mountain caves into a network of underground rooms. He called the place al-Masada, or the Lion's Den — and he was the lion. There, in the spring of 1987, the mujahedin repelled attacks by élite Soviet troops backed by bomber jets and pro-Soviet Afghan fighters. Victory in the Battle of Jaji, during which bin Laden may have been wounded, became the cradle of Osama's myth. A generation later, halfway around the world, we are still living with the consequences.
It's easy to imagine that a little boy growing up in Paktia province might have heard heroic tales of the Battle of Jaji and its hero, bin Laden. When Zazi was about 7 years old, his father moved the family across the border into Pakistan, near Peshawar, another zone of bin Laden influence and a hotbed of jihadist activity.
Read "Three Key Questions About Zazi and Terrorism."
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Communist State Building
Empire State Building Lighting Stunt Sparks Outrage
The lights are on and communist China is making itself at home. Today, the Empire State Building turned red and yellow in celebration of the Chinese Communist Party having seized power 60 years ago.
Outraged citizens see the light show as an affront to American people and democratic society, and their views are proliferating across the information superhighway. Below is a summary.
Congressman Anthony Weiner said in a statement: "The iconic lights of the Empire State Building should not be used to pay tribute to a nation with a shameful history on human rights who continues to pursue policies that are not in keeping with the values of either our nation or our city.
"Celebrating an oppressive regime is not an appropriate use of the grand colored lights."
Harvey Wharfield from Boston was not to be outdone: “Who the Hell approved such an abomination? Perhaps one of our 'bureaucrats' (nameless and blameless) that believes 'human resources' or 'human capital' supersedes 'human value!' Somehow, the fictional is under the delusion that it/they are superior to their superiors! And, therefore, can make decisions, no matter how ignorant, for 'the People!'"
Pat Cesario, writing on Politics Daily, wondered whether it was wise to “memorialize the birth of a political system and regime that has murdered and/or oppressed millions of its own citizens even to today?”
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Message from ALG - Fire FCC "Diversity Czar" Mark Lloyd
Via emailSeptember 29th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today called upon the Obama Administration to dismiss Federal Communications Commission (FCC) "Diversity Czar," Mark Lloyd, because "his extreme views on government control over media outlets endangers a renaissance of media in this, the information age."
"Mark Lloyd is an enemy of freedom, the Constitution, and free speech," said Wilson, adding, "and he has no place in a position of power to curtail that freedom."
Lloyd was appointed on August 4th to be Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer of the FCC.
In 2007, Lloyd helped co-author a report by the Center for American Progress, "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio," where it is written, "The disparities between conservative and progressive programming reflects the absence of localism in American radio markets." This disparity, the paper argues, arises from "the consolidation of ownership in radio stations and the corresponding dominance of syndicated programming…"
"This is the so-called 'Fairness Doctrine' by other means," said Wilson. "If Lloyd has his way, the American people will be subjected to a radical shift in the radio programming they enjoy, no longer based on ad sales, but by local boards that will act as licensors—and, by extension, censors—for radio stations. That is where content will be determined."
The Center for American Progress report goes on to advocate for the restoration of local and national caps on the ownership of commercial radio stations, greater power for local boards to control radio licensing, and to a requirement that commercial owners who fail to abide by "enforceable" public interest obligations to pay a fine to support public broadcasting.
"Lloyd would make his icon Hugo Chavez proud," said Wilson, citing the fact that Chavez has shut nearly every freely owned media outlet in Venezuela. In July, the Venezuelan National Assembly at Chavez's amended the Telecommunications Law to limit the "concentration" of private radio and television ownership, and the government also regulates the use of the public airwaves, which has resulted in the closure of many privately-owned radio stations that were allegedly operating without a "valid" license.
Wilson noted that Lloyd had in the past praised Chavez's rise to power. In a panel on "media reform" after speaking on the use of radio as a propaganda tool by the state of Rwanda during the conflict between the Tutsis and the Hutus, Lloyd said, "In Venezuela Chavez really had an incredible revolution, a democratic revolution" wherein "Chavez began to take very seriously media in his country."
"Mark Lloyd is a menace to the freedom of expression and the right of the American people to choose which content they want to listen to through in a competitive marketplace," said Wilson, adding, "But under Lloyd, the American people could be living in a world without Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, or many other great voices who dare to challenge the establishment."
"Mark Lloyd is an enemy of freedom, the Constitution, and free speech," said Wilson, adding, "and he has no place in a position of power to curtail that freedom."
Lloyd was appointed on August 4th to be Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer of the FCC.
In 2007, Lloyd helped co-author a report by the Center for American Progress, "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio," where it is written, "The disparities between conservative and progressive programming reflects the absence of localism in American radio markets." This disparity, the paper argues, arises from "the consolidation of ownership in radio stations and the corresponding dominance of syndicated programming…"
"This is the so-called 'Fairness Doctrine' by other means," said Wilson. "If Lloyd has his way, the American people will be subjected to a radical shift in the radio programming they enjoy, no longer based on ad sales, but by local boards that will act as licensors—and, by extension, censors—for radio stations. That is where content will be determined."
The Center for American Progress report goes on to advocate for the restoration of local and national caps on the ownership of commercial radio stations, greater power for local boards to control radio licensing, and to a requirement that commercial owners who fail to abide by "enforceable" public interest obligations to pay a fine to support public broadcasting.
"Lloyd would make his icon Hugo Chavez proud," said Wilson, citing the fact that Chavez has shut nearly every freely owned media outlet in Venezuela. In July, the Venezuelan National Assembly at Chavez's amended the Telecommunications Law to limit the "concentration" of private radio and television ownership, and the government also regulates the use of the public airwaves, which has resulted in the closure of many privately-owned radio stations that were allegedly operating without a "valid" license.
Wilson noted that Lloyd had in the past praised Chavez's rise to power. In a panel on "media reform" after speaking on the use of radio as a propaganda tool by the state of Rwanda during the conflict between the Tutsis and the Hutus, Lloyd said, "In Venezuela Chavez really had an incredible revolution, a democratic revolution" wherein "Chavez began to take very seriously media in his country."
"Mark Lloyd is a menace to the freedom of expression and the right of the American people to choose which content they want to listen to through in a competitive marketplace," said Wilson, adding, "But under Lloyd, the American people could be living in a world without Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, or many other great voices who dare to challenge the establishment."
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