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POPSBREAKING: ACORN’s New Orleans Office Raided by Louisiana Attorney General
According to NOLA.com: Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has served a search warrant at the ACORN office at 2609 Canal Street, according to Tammi Arender Herring, a spokeswoman with the office. Investigators in khaki pants and polo shirts loaded several dozen computers and other electronic items into an SUV. They are also carrying records out of the building on handcarts. The large office building sits at the corner of Dorgenois and Canal. ACORN staffers were given no notice that a search would be conducted today, Herring said. From WDAM in New Orleans: Caldwell said investigators will copy records and hard drives, then return them to ACORN. He said the original allegations of embezzlement were made last year by ACORN board members who were fired after they asked for a forensic examination of the group’s books. ACORN fired the longtime director of its Louisiana chapter last month, citing a lack of accountability. by Capitol Confidential Big Governm
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POPSCrazy Sheriff Joe Arpaio facing FBI investigation for abusing his power by arresting his critics We described Arpaio's incredible thuggery late last year in his dealings with the public, especially those who dare criticize him. An anti-Arpaio group called Maricopa Citizens for Safety Accountability, which formed last year in response to investigative reports and studies demonstrating that Arpaio's insane obsession with illegal immigrants was destroying his office's ability to actually deal with real law enforcement work, began showing up at county board meetings and asking to speak. Arpaio actually sent out his deputies in force to patrol these meetings, and they arrested people for merely applauding Arpaio's critics. If that sounds fascist to you, that's about right -- after all, some of the local neo-Nazis are Arpaio's biggest fans -- and he's been known to return the love.
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POPSPatriot-News investigative reporter Pete Shellem dies "He is a one-man Innocence Project,’’ Preate later told American Journalism Review for a 2007 story about Shellem. “The idea that a single, solitary newspaper reporter can accomplish all this is a remarkable story." additional info. @ http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4341 Pete Shellem of Harrisburg’s Patriot-News has freed four people from jail through dogged, old-fashioned reporting. Shellem lived in Gardners in Cumberland County. He is survived by his wife Joyce and two sons, Philip and Alek. investigative
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POPSGood Intentions with Disastrous Effects
But fraud and corruption are only part of the failed system that is Medicare – the other is basic accounting. In this morning’s Washington Post, Robert J. Samuelson compares the troubles with Medicare to the “public option,” which he calls a “mirage,” that is gaining strength in Congress. While Medicare is a monopoly, the proposed government-run health insurance plan seeks to attract investment capital to subsidize the enormous costs that it will incur (such as marketing campaigns). If this fails, which it undoubtedly would, Congress would step in to bail it out. When asked why it has taken Medicare so long to figure out they were being scammed, Attorney General Eric Holder told CBS’s Steve Kroft, "I think lack of resources probably. And then I think people I don't think necessarily thought that something as well intentioned as Medicare and Medicaid would necessarily attract fraudsters. But I think we have to understand that it certainly has." Good Intentions maybe but...
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POPSReefer sanity In an act of merciful sanity, the Obama administration has made good on its promise to stop interfering with states that allow the medical use of marijuana. It's a good move, long overdue. But is it enough? Not quite.
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POPSTop U.S. Scientist Arrested in FBI Sting Attempting to Sell Nuclear Secrets to Israel
The conduct alleged in this complaint is serious and should serve as a warning to anyone who would consider compromising our nation’s secrets for profit,” said David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security. … “From 1989 through 2006, Nozette held security clearances as high as top secret and had regular, frequent access to classified information and documents related to the US national defense,” the Justice Department said. … “In addition, Nozette allegedly offered to reveal additional classified information that directly concerned nuclear weaponry, military spacecraft or satellites, and other major weapons systems,” DOJ said. In addition to allegations against a network of moles said to be based at U.S. nuclear weapons facilities, Edmonds has also fingered current and former members of Congress, such as Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Dan Burton (R-IN), Roy Blunt (R-MO),Stephen Solarz (D-NY) and Tom Lantos (D-CA, deceased), as well as high-ranking Pentagon and State Dept.
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POPSUS scientist charged with spying "....this complaint is serious and should serve as a warning to anyone who would consider compromising our nation's secrets for profit," Does this include political "profit" and therefore those in Washington?
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POPSCalif. Lawyer Who Challenged Obama Citizenship Fined $20,000
For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of watching one of her press conferences, then you can't truly appreciate the "train wreck" that is Orly Taitz, Attorney-at-Law. Ms. Taitz is a leader in the so-called "Birther Movement," the movement that challenges President Obama's right to hold office on the grounds that he is not a U.S. citizen. The ABA Journal Law News Now reports that a federal judge in Georgia fined Taitz $20,000 for her wild accusations in court and ordered her not to pursue any further frivolous actions in court - ever. In my opinion, this should render Taitz unable to practice law. Not to be dissuaded, Taitz filed a motion for reconsideration the next day. This motion was apparently denied, the judge writing, “Counsel’s wild accusations may be protected by the First Amendment when she makes them on her blog or in her press conferences, but the federal courts are reserved for hearing genuine legal disputes, not as a platform for political rhetoric and
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POPSShip of Fools: Obama's Intimates and Advisors 5. Samantha Power -- Senior Director, Multilateral Affairs, National Security Council. Ms. Power, a professor of public policy at Harvard was only seemingly thrown under the Obama campaign bus for referring to Hillary Clinton as "a monster" during the 2008 Democrat primary. In 2009 President Obama, tapped her to occupy her senior White House foreign policy position. Ms. Power, a "fierce critic of Israel,... was indisputably Barack Obama's closest foreign policy adviser during the campaign 6. Charles Freeman -- Nominated, but not confirmed, as Chairman of the (United States) National Intelligence Council - which is responsible for producing national intelligence estimates for the president and his advisors. Mr. Freeman has a distinguished résumé of long service in both the State and Defense Departments... however
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POPSSupport Your Global Police Force The UN wants to build a global police force. And, if that itself were not bad enough, Ronald K. Noble, a man whose actions have been defined by the UN as attempted genocide, is laying the foundation for. Thanks to the near-ubiquity of inconspicuous digital cameras and the technological blessing of internet file-sharing sites, Americans are just now coming to realize how commonplace criminal abuse by the police has become -- and how difficult it is to hold an abusive police officer accountable for crimes against innocent people. But this is the square root of the problem we would confront in the event that the UN actually created a global police force.
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POPSObama Talks Afghanistan and Counterterrorism, Acorn Chief Addresses Scrutiny, Feingold Examines ‘Czars’ Antiterrorist: Obama will also make his first public visit to the National Counterterrorism Center today where he will deliver remarks. It’s the first terrorism-related event for the president since the arrest of terror suspect Najibullah Zazi last month in Denver. Obama’s remarks come a day after Attorney General Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stressed the importance of cooperation between federal and local law enforcement agencies to stop terrorism at a Monday law enforcement conference in Denver.
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POPSAttorney general launches probe of American Police Force's Hardin jail deal Michael Hilton, who formed Santa Ana, Calif.-based American Police Force in March, came to Hardin last month promising to fill the city's never-used jail and build a large military and law enforcement training center. Hilton has a decades-long track record of fraudulent activities and spent several years in a California prison on grand theft charges. A native of Montenegro, he uses at least 17 aliases.
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POPSThe sound of ACORN falling Appearing before the National Press Club, Lewis condemned as "McCarthyism" the scrutiny her group has drawn since employees in several cities were filmed advising undercover journalists on how to commit housing fraud. They're just bad apples, see, and she's working to "turn this thing around." But what of the ACORN affiliates under investigation in multiple states for voter fraud? What of the Rathkes themselves? Nope, the evidence is piling up that ACORN is rotten all through. No wonder its political allies are running for cover. Lewis said she doubts the group will ever get federal money again. That would sure be a good start.
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POPSACORN Awarded $1M Grant Over Firefighters NEW ORLEANS -- Louisiana's attorney general said Tuesday he has stepped up an investigation into embezzlement at ACORN nearly a decade ago, but the prosecutor and community activist group clashed over how much money was taken. Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell claimed the figure was $5 million, but ACORN said the sum hadn't changed from slightly less than $1 million. ACORN said its chief executive officer estimated it could cost up to $5 million to "get everything together" in the aftermath of the embezzlement, but the group's leaders claim only $948,607 was stolen.
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POPSLamar Smith Sent a Letter to Attorney General Eric Holder: Investigate Allegations of Criminal Conduct Against ACORN “Because the President’s political ties to ACORN may discourage senior Justice Department officials from authorizing an investigation, I have called on the Attorney General to appoint a special counsel who is independent of the administration and free from any undue political influence. “Political favoritism has no place at the Justice Department. We’ve already seen this administration dismiss one case against a political ally"the New Black Panther Party"for no apparent reason. I remain concerned that politicization at the Justice Department once again may result in the administration’s political friends getting a free pass. Only an independent investigation can ensure that justice is served in this case.” Last month, Ranking Member Smith sent letters to Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine and FBI Director Robert Mueller calling for investigations into ACORN’s use of federal funds and possible criminal violations.
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POPS Mafia, Violent Criminals Turn to Medicare Fraud Some pay homeless people on Los Angeles' Skid Row for Medicare or Social Security numbers to use in fake billing invoices. Others intimidate elderly victims to use their Medicare numbers, federal authorities say. Most Medicare schemes are based in cities such as Miami, Los Angeles, Detroit and Houston. And rather than building an elaborate hierarchy like the Mafia or other gangs, many Medicare con artists use common street criminals to recruit patients and doctors, authorities said. A Medicare scammer could easily net at least $25,000 a day while risking a relatively modest 10 years in prison if convicted on a single count. A cocaine dealer could take weeks to make that amount while risking up to life in prison. "Building a Medicare fraud scam is far safer than dealing in crack or dealing in stolen cars, and it's far more lucrative," said Lewis Morris, lead attorney at the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general's office.
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POPSAcorn Embezzlement 5M NOT 1M
Caldwell issued subpoenas in August seeking documents related to ACORN International then-President Wade Rathke and his brother, Dale Rathke, who kept the group's books. Those subpoenas targeted possible violations of state employee tax law, obstruction of justice and violations of the Employee Retirement Security Act. The attorney general made inquiries in June into alleged embezzlement within ACORN that happened 10 years ago. The group last year dealt with an internal dispute and a lawsuit involving accusations that Dale Rathke made nearly $1 million in improper credit card charges in 1999 and 2000. Rathke's brother and a donor repaid the money. But Caldwell said last month that the statute of limitations prevented prosecutors from taking action on the alleged embezzlement, and that his investigation was not focused on that issue. The subpoena issued Monday puts a new emphasis on the embezzlement issue. It appears to be in reaction to documents gathered from ACORN's board as
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POPSACORN Embezzlement Was $5 Million, La. Attorney General Says .......had inquired in June into an alleged embezzlement within ACORN that happened 10 years ago. The group last year dealt with an internal dispute and a lawsuit involving accusations that Dale Rathke made nearly $1 million in improper credit card charges in 1999 and 2000. The brother and a donor repaid the money. Caldwell said last month that the statute of limitations presented obstacles to prosecutors taking action on the embezzlement, and that his investigation was not focused on that issue. The subpoena issued Monday changed the tone of the investigation and put a new emphasis on the embezzlement issue. "Current high-ranking members of ACORN have publicly acknowledged that embezzlement did in fact occur, but the exact amount of the embezzlement was unknown until it was recently acknowledged in a board of directors meeting on Oct. 17, 2008, by Bertha Lewis and Liz Wolf that an internal review had determined that the amount embezzled was $5 million, " the new subpoena says.
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