The economic news couldn’t be worse for the book industry. Now insiders are asking how literature will survive. By Jason BoogDec. 23, 2008 |The end of days is here for the publishing industry — or it sure seems like it. On Dec. 3, now known as “Black Wednesday,” several major American publishers were dramatically downsized, [...]
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[Source: Mint Dollar
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Police Informant's Death Brings New Law, Lawsuit
The murder of a 23-year-old Florida woman in a botched drug buy-bust operation this May could lead to changes in how confidential informants are recruited and used by the state's law enforcement.
23-year old Rachel Hoffman, a recent graduate of Florida State University, was murdered during a botched sting operation earlier this year.
(Courtesy Leon County Sheriff's Offic)
An official investigation found the Tallahassee Police Department had violated its own rules by recruiting Rachel Hoffman, a Florida State University graduate who was facing a drug charge and likely jail time after arrests for marijuana possession, and sending her alone into a dangerous undercover sting without training.
Florida state legislators are putting the finishing touches on a bill they are calling "Rachel's Law," which would tighten up rules on how the state's police recruit and use confidential informants. The law, which was first proposed by Rachel's father, Irv Hoffman, would require police in Florida to be more judicious in their selection of confidential informants and ensure the potential recruit has access to a lawyer.
Its likely sponsors, State Sen. Mike Fasano and State Rep. Peter Nehr, expect the bill to be considered when the legislature begins its regular session next spring. Both are Republican.
Tallahassee Police Chief Dennis Jones has signed on as a supporter of the effort. "We need to do a better job with this," Jones said in September.
Jones' support was perhaps surprising. In the days after Hoffman's murder, Jones made public statements that Hoffman was a criminal who bore a large part of the blame for the botched sting and, by extension, her own death.
"I'm calling her a criminal," Jones told ABC News' Brian Ross in July. Jones said then that he did not accept that his department was in any way responsible for Hoffman's death. "Do we feel responsible? We're responsible for the safety of this community," he said.
Click here to watch the 20/20 investigation of the botched sting. http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5454035
Jones, who was reprimanded as a result of the investigation into Hoffman's murder, later apologized for those comments. "We were placing most of the blame on Rachel Hoffman. I regret that now," Jones said. "It made us look like we weren't taking responsibility for what happened."
Hoffman Parents Poised to Sue Tallahasssee
The two men Hoffman met as part of the May sting are in jail awaiting trial for her murder. One defendant, Andrea Green, has pled not guilty. The other, Deneilo Bradshaw, has not yet entered a plea, according to the court cleark's office.
WAR ON YOU
23-year old Rachel Hoffman, a recent graduate of Florida State University, was murdered during a botched sting operation earlier this year.
(Courtesy Leon County Sheriff's Offic)
An official investigation found the Tallahassee Police Department had violated its own rules by recruiting Rachel Hoffman, a Florida State University graduate who was facing a drug charge and likely jail time after arrests for marijuana possession, and sending her alone into a dangerous undercover sting without training.
Florida state legislators are putting the finishing touches on a bill they are calling "Rachel's Law," which would tighten up rules on how the state's police recruit and use confidential informants. The law, which was first proposed by Rachel's father, Irv Hoffman, would require police in Florida to be more judicious in their selection of confidential informants and ensure the potential recruit has access to a lawyer.
Its likely sponsors, State Sen. Mike Fasano and State Rep. Peter Nehr, expect the bill to be considered when the legislature begins its regular session next spring. Both are Republican.
Tallahassee Police Chief Dennis Jones has signed on as a supporter of the effort. "We need to do a better job with this," Jones said in September.
Jones' support was perhaps surprising. In the days after Hoffman's murder, Jones made public statements that Hoffman was a criminal who bore a large part of the blame for the botched sting and, by extension, her own death.
"I'm calling her a criminal," Jones told ABC News' Brian Ross in July. Jones said then that he did not accept that his department was in any way responsible for Hoffman's death. "Do we feel responsible? We're responsible for the safety of this community," he said.
Click here to watch the 20/20 investigation of the botched sting. http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5454035
Jones, who was reprimanded as a result of the investigation into Hoffman's murder, later apologized for those comments. "We were placing most of the blame on Rachel Hoffman. I regret that now," Jones said. "It made us look like we weren't taking responsibility for what happened."
Hoffman Parents Poised to Sue Tallahasssee
The two men Hoffman met as part of the May sting are in jail awaiting trial for her murder. One defendant, Andrea Green, has pled not guilty. The other, Deneilo Bradshaw, has not yet entered a plea, according to the court cleark's office.
WAR ON YOU
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
CITY COPS PREP FOR MUMBAI
In the aftermath of the deadly Mumbai terror attacks, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has come out with guns blazing - with a plan to get all 1,000 rookie cops ready to use heavy artillery in time for New Year’s Eve, The Post has learned. Alleged Mastermind of Mumbai Attacks ArrestedPHOTOS: NYPD Practices Fighting Terrorism In [...]
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[Source: War On You
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[Source: War On You
Saturday, December 6, 2008
COPS TASER DROWNED DAD'S DISTRAUGHT SON
California cops tasered a distraught son whose father was drowning after he and his brother complained that police were not doing enough to rescue their dad, while authorities prevented the two sons from making any kind of rescue effort themselves.
The latest example of police brutality unfolded in Mendocino Country California. A San Francisco family was visiting Portuguese Beach when the father accidentally fell into the water and was washed away from the shore.
Police arrived with rescue crews but made no effort to save the drowning man, named as 54-year-old Maurizio Biasini, and prevented his two 18-year-old sons, Dario and Andriano Biasini, from helping their dad as they insisted on waiting for the Coast
Guard and a Sheriffs boat.
The latest example of police brutality unfolded in Mendocino Country California. A San Francisco family was visiting Portuguese Beach when the father accidentally fell into the water and was washed away from the shore.
Police arrived with rescue crews but made no effort to save the drowning man, named as 54-year-old Maurizio Biasini, and prevented his two 18-year-old sons, Dario and Andriano Biasini, from helping their dad as they insisted on waiting for the Coast
Guard and a Sheriffs boat.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Really Scary Fed Charts: NOV, US Bankrupt?
Fed Defies Transparency Aim in Refusal to Disclose (Update1): “The Federal Reserve is refusing to identify the recipients of almost $2 trillion of emergency loans from American taxpayers or the troubled assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn’t require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return.
“The collateral is not being adequately disclosed, and that’s a big problem,” said Dan Fuss, vice chairman of Boston- based Loomis Sayles & Co., where he co-manages $17 billion in bonds. “In a liquid market, this wouldn’t matter, but we’re not. The market is very nervous and very thin.”
Bloomberg News has requested details of the Fed lending under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and filed a federal lawsuit Nov. 7 seeking to force disclosure.
The Fed made the loans under terms of 11 programs, eight of them created in the past 15 months, in the midst of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.”
While the Fed may be refusing to name individual firms, we can just look at the data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to pin down exactly where the $2 trillion of emergency loans went. We can also determine how that in turn was deployed.[...]
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Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system. Two months later, as the Fed lends far more than that in separate rescue programs that didn’t require approval by Congress, Americans have no idea where their money is going or what securities the banks are pledging in return.
“The collateral is not being adequately disclosed, and that’s a big problem,” said Dan Fuss, vice chairman of Boston- based Loomis Sayles & Co., where he co-manages $17 billion in bonds. “In a liquid market, this wouldn’t matter, but we’re not. The market is very nervous and very thin.”
Bloomberg News has requested details of the Fed lending under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and filed a federal lawsuit Nov. 7 seeking to force disclosure.
The Fed made the loans under terms of 11 programs, eight of them created in the past 15 months, in the midst of the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.”
While the Fed may be refusing to name individual firms, we can just look at the data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to pin down exactly where the $2 trillion of emergency loans went. We can also determine how that in turn was deployed.[...]
Read More...
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