Like A Ton of Bricks

Lynne Stewart's conviction for terrorism related charges hit her like a ton of bricks. She's now got to prepare her appeals, which even she admits are a long shot, and hope for the mercy of the court.

Oh, and she's got to send her current clients elsewhere as she's going to be disbarred by the State of New York. The Appellate Division will see to that - as New York law requires any lawyer convicted of a felony to be disbarred although there is an appeals process for that as well.

After a Supreme Court decision on sentencing last month, Judge Koeltl will have new flexibility to decide Ms. Stewart's sentence. Ms. Stewart said the loss of her law practice was more painful than the prospect of life behind bars.

"I spend a lot of time in jails," she said, "and I'm not afraid of jail as such. I know that jail is mostly unpleasant, uncomfortable, you're at the command of persons who don't have your best interests at heart, you can't make a decision for yourself."

But she worried that she might be singled out for special isolation or harsh treatment by prison authorities as a terrorism convict.

Ms. Stewart's co-defendants, Ahmed Abdel Sattar and Mohamed Yousry, will also appeal their convictions, their lawyers said. Mr. Sattar, a Staten Island postal worker who worked as a paralegal aide with Ms. Stewart, was convicted of terror charges that carry a maximum life sentence. Mr. Yousry, an Arabic-language interpreter, was convicted of providing material support to terrorism.

A lawyer for Mr. Yousry, David Ruhnke, said he was "shocked and bitterly disappointed" by the verdict.

Stewart and her cohorts are worried that they were singled out for harsh treatment? Silly rabbits, they were singled out because they were singularly stupid enough to break the law, get caught breaking the law on videotape, and brag about breaking the law and agreements with federal prosecutors on tape. If Stewart is singled out in prison, it will be to protect her life from those who might not take kindly to seeing someone who represents terrorists in their midst - and to keep Stewart from dispensing her legal wisdom to other inmates.

UN Mess Grows

We've now got pictures of UN officials loading women into UN labeled vehicles for sexual favors. Some of those women weren't willing partners.

We're talking rape and sexual assault. We're talking about a problem that continually resurfaces wherever the UN engages in peacekeeping operations. We're talking about a lack of oversight and a failure to crack down on the administrators of these programs. And, the failures go all the way to the top.

Hat Tip: Wizbang!

Kofi Takes Credit for Iraq Vote

I wish this was an invented story by Iowahawk or Scrappleface, but it isn't. Kofi Annan is trying to get the credit for the successful Iraqi elections. The same elections that Annan was calling to be delayed because UN officials weren't able to do their job (oh but they weren't really necessary since the US and the coalition of the willing did all the work for them.

Once again, we've seen the UN try and take credit for work done by the US and its coalition partners without things actually done by the UN. The UN tried to take credit for all the work done by the US Navy mere days after the tsunami hit South Asia on December 26. The UN is still having problems coordinating things though, as some of the donated items aren't even necessary in the affected regions (winter parkas, evening gowns, thongs, and Viagra).

Photo of the Day

Hey, are you talking to me?

The Janjaweed Babies

The horrors in Dafur never cease to get worse. Here, we learn about how the Janjaweed set up shop around refugee camps and pick off all the men who are foraging for water and food, leaving the choice of starving or sending out the women and children to get raped. Cruelty knows no bounds.

Hat Tip: Discarded Lies

Yet Another French Whine

French wine sales decline again and producers want another handout.

That morning's news bulletin gave me a retort. I told him that I'd lived in Paris long enough to agree with him about the Yank insistence on using pasteurized milk for cheese--a gastronomic heresy that takes away too many potent flavors. But (I went on) do you realize that the people known here contemptuously as amerloques--trans-Atlantic connoisseurs of Buds and burgers--will soon drink more wine than the French?

An uncomfortable smile followed a look of disbelief. One could almost see a whole chateau of Gallic self-mythology start to collapse before his eyes. Maybe the "good life"--including the right food and drink--would no longer be the sole possession of the French, if it ever was.

The U.S. will be the world's top consumer of wine by 2008, passing France, according to a new study for the Vinexpo wine fair in Bordeaux. That same year, Americans will drink 28% more wine than they did in 2003; the French, 7.4% less. With wine consumption down nearly 40% since 1970, France will also cede its top spot in glasses per capita to Italy.

Would you like more whine with your cheese?

Deja Vu All Over Again

Palestinians will be assuming control over Jericho and neighboring towns over the coming weeks because Jericho has not been a locus of terror attacks. Why have I seen this one before?

Simple. It's because we've been down this road before. Israel and the Palestinians had signed the Gaza-Jericho Accord which dealt with the security and civil administrative control over those areas shortly after the Oslo Accords were signed in 1994. That's right, the Palestinians are right back where they were in 1994 and have gotten absolutely nothing to show for the intervening 10+ years except a whole lot of nothing (unless you count a whole lot of dead suicide bombers and dead terrorists).

So, why are we making a big deal about this? Abbas has only managed to recycle dead paper from 10+ years ago and the terrorists are just as ornery as they were the last time. The big difference is that the Israelis aren't nearly so blind to the possiblity that they're being suckered again.

Photo of the Day

 


Funky finds abound in New Jersey; this happens to be the Great Falls in Paterson, New Jersey after a mild rainfall. It's the second highest waterfall in the eastern United States behind Niagara Falls at 70 feet high.

We Find the Defendant Guilty As Charged

Lynne Stewart was found guilty of smuggling messages of violence from one of her jailed clients, Sheik Rahman, to his terrorist minions.

The jury has been deliberating off-and-on over the past month in the case of Stewart, 65, a firebrand, left-wing activist known for representing radicals and revolutionaries in her 30 years on the New York legal scene. The jury was in its 13th day of deliberations.

Stewart faces up to 20 years in prison on charges of giving material support to terrorists and defrauding the U.S. government.

The most serious counts on which she was convicted were conspiracy and providing and concealing material support of terrorism.

This is a good day. Stewart had admitted to passing information, but argued that it was in the furtherance of providing a zealous defense to her clients. The problem for her is that she was passing information to terrorists, which is always a big no-no, regardless of the circumstance. A co-defendant, Ahmed Abdel Sattar, was found guilty of conspiracy for plotting to kill and kidnap persons in a foreign country by publishing an edict urging the killing of Jews and their supporters. A third defendant, Arabic interpreter Mohamed Yousry, was convicted of providing material support to terrorists. Sattar could face life in prison and Yousry up to 20 years.

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.

New York Times: Real Estate Conglomerate or Media Outlet

THE New York Times is evidently unafraid to make an ass of it self if it can add even incrementally to the growing hysteria against the West Side stadium project.
The entire battle is increasingly ugly. Yet the Times' coverage is so flagrantly one-sided, the paper might as well be on the payroll of Cablevision's James Dolan.

Most recently, the Times' uncritical embrace of the "$600 million" counter-offer for the rail-yard site by Cablevision's Madison Square Garden is the stuff of house-organ propaganda.

On Saturday, a Page One headline ridiculously stated, "Owner of Garden Outbids Jets for Site of Proposed Stadium." In fact, Cablevison's "bid" is so vague and conditional as to amount to little more than a notion.

In the real world, a "bid" entails highly specific documentation of precisely what will be paid when, how it will be financed and on what conditions — none of which Cablevision has made clear.

Worse still are the Times' editorials against the stadium deal — which flagrantly ignore striking similarities to the Times' own recent purchase from the state of the land for its new Eighth Avenue headquarters.

The Times insists that the proposed Sports and Convention Center is a giveaway to the Jets that puts taxpayers at risk. Yet the Times got its own site at what some called a "sweetheart" price that may well cost taxpayers in the long run. And that deal — which brought the paper significant tax breaks at a time of fiscal municipal strain — came in a process that excluded outside bidders.

The now-rising Times headquarters (in which the Times is partnered with developer Forest City Ratner) is a good project, and worthy of certain risks and sacrifices by the state and city. But that doesn't mean that the Times' deal doesn't remain open to serious legal, ethical and fiscal questions.

In fact, Times editorialists have amnesia about the issues raised about the Times/Ratner arrangement to buy a long-term lease on Eighth Avenue[...]

Steve Cuozzo is a frequent critic of the NYT, and for good reason. The Times is a real estate conglomerate first and foremost. They have real estate interests throughout the City, and have a building to fill in Midtown. They opposed rebuilding downtown after 9/11 because it would interfere with their Times Square tower. They now oppose West Side Development for similar reasons.

Now, there are credible and real reasons to debate the building of a West Side Stadium, or the WTC plans as delivered, but without disclosing conflicts of interest, the Times muddies the waters.

UN Looking At Outer Boros For New Office Space

The UN had been looking at building an office tower in Robert Moses park near the UN building on Manhattan's East Side. However, the outcry over the loss of park space, and the huge costs associated with the project have forced the UN to look elsewhere.

Elsewhere includes downtown Brooklyn and Queens West.

The project, including the renovation of the UN Secretariat, is supposed to cost over $1 billion.

North Korea Tells World To Bugger Off

North Korea Admits It Has Nuclear Weapons. Not much of a surprise really, since they've been at it since 1994, despite an Agreed Framework put in place by former President Carter during the Clinton Administration. The North completely repudiated that framework and continued working on obtaining the materials necessary to put together a nuclear weapon.

Photo of the Day

 


An anhinga preening itself in the Everglades NP. Taken 10/2004 along the Anhinga Trail at Royal Palm.

Investors Business Daily: Eason Must Go

Eason Must Go.

Now Jordan’s in the stew again. Speaking last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Jordan made an arresting charge. He claimed the U.S. military, while pacifying Iraq, had targeted both American and foreign journalists.

Panel chairman David Gergen, according to insider accounts, gasped. The man who’d worked in administrations from Nixon’s to Clinton’s demanded evidence. Liberal Congressman Barney Frank, who was there, also demanded proof.

Jordan backed off — slightly. But afterward he accepted congratulations from Arab reporters who called him heroic.

That’s when the bloggers stepped in, including some who were actually there. Then master blogger Hugh Hewitt took up the case. Soon the blogosphere was electric with outrage over Jordan’s irresponsible charge. Now there’s an easongate.com, tracking the scandal’s every fact, every claim, every angle, and demanding CNN come clean.

Why “scandal”? Jordan was spouting outrageous charges with no basis in fact. In journalism, even in High Church Journalism, that is a cardinal sin. Rising to the topmost reaches of media power does not exempt one from the first rules learned in journalism class.

The bloggers, who’ve done so much recently to correct the elite media’s misbehavior — including sending CBS’s Dan Rather to newsman’s purgatory — now have Eason Jordan as quarry.

Deservedly so. It’s time for him to go.

Quite so. Journalists rely on our capacity to trust what they have to say. When journalists abuse that trust and make outrageous statements that have no basis in fact, lie, and even propagate materials to support their position that are questionable as to their origins (aka a hoax), the public that relies on these journalists for their news and information has a responsibility to hold journalists accountable for their words and deeds.

Jordan must go.

Photo of the Day

 


It's amazing how beautiful the world is around us-even the small things like this dandelion. Taken in High Point State Park, NJ.

EasonGate: Media Crisis Meltdown of the Month

Last year, we witnessed CBS imploding under Rathergate. This year, we'll be watching CNN's Eason Jordan deciding to torch what remains of his career by making unsubstantiated claims that US military targeted journalists in Iraq who disagreed with what the military considered what was going on in the war.

Well, it seems that bloggers (well, more than just that site - there's a proliferation of 'em) have been busy on this. Oh, and the New York Sun should be commended since they're giving this story the attention it deserves.

Mr. Jordan, speaking in a panel discussion titled "Will Democracy Survive the Media?" said "he knew of about 12 journalists who had not only been killed by American troops, but had been targeted as a matter of policy," said Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat of Massachusetts who was on the panel with Mr. Jordan.

In an interview with The New York Sun, Mr. Frank said Mr. Jordan discussed in detail the plight of an Al-Jazeera reporter who had been detained by American forces, was made to eat his shoes while incarcerated in the Abu Ghraib prison, and was repeatedly mocked by his interrogators as "Al-Jazeera boy."

A man who said he was a producer with Al-Jazeera at the network's headquarters in Doha, Qatar, said he was unaware of any such incident, "although we have had problems with American troops in and out of Iraq." The Al-Jazeera producer refused to give his name.

Mr. Jordan's comments - prompted by a broader discussion of the dangers of covering the war in Iraq, in which some 63 journalists have been killed - left Mr. Frank, usually an outspoken war opponent, speechless.

"I was agog," he said. "I took a few seconds and asked him to basically clarify the remarks. Did he have proof and if so, why hadn't CNN run with the story?"

A CNN spokeswoman did not return a phone call or e-mail seeking comment. Last week, CNN put out a statement that said Mr. Jordan's remarks had been taken out of context by several Web logs and that he was merely responding to an assertion by Mr. Frank that the dead journalists were "collateral damage."

Mr. Frank denied that he used the phrase. The panel's moderator, Harvard University professor and columnist David Gergen, did not return a call seeking comment, but he told online columnist Michelle Malkin yesterday that the remarks left him "startled."

Michelle Malkin has been on top of this issue, having interviewed Gergen at length, and has more today, including that Jordan has put together a list that essentially restates his position that the US specifically targeted journalists, despite his claim that he never said that the US targeted journalists. Curiouser and curiouser.

Rep. Frank, David Gergen, and Sen. Christopher Dodd all heard Jordan make those statements, and Frank took Jordan to task for making them without any proof. Kudos to Frank for doing the right thing.

The question remains whether Jordan will ever be held accountable for making such statements in public that are lies and smears the military, which has gone out of its way to protect journalists and civilians alike.

Photo of the Day

 


From the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park between Grandview Point and Lipan Point. Taken 9/2003.

Photo of the Day

 


More from the Grand Canyon. Taken 9/2003.

The Slaughterer's Share

http://www.hfienberg.com/kesher/2005/02/speaking-of-oil-for-food.html

...[E]veryone thought the Oil-for-Food Program was working in general, but this reporter finds out that Saddam is withholding the Kurds' share.

Read the whole damning thing.

The Farce Continues

Roger L. Simon picks up on this, but one has to shake their head in disbelief over the fact that Cuba, Zimbabwe, and Saudi Arabia are in charge of which complaints will be heard this Spring by the UN Human Rights Commission.

That's right. You read that correctly. Cuba, which has hundreds of political prisoners rotting away in Castro's prisons, Zimbabwe, which has displaced thousands of people, took property from landowners, and committed human rights abuses, and Saudi Arabia, which is a sponsor of international terror, doesn't grant rights to women, and prevents religious observances by those practicing religions other than Islam, get to decide what will be heard before the Commission.

Oh, and other Commission members are no less worrisome. According to Cliff May, "[the Commission] ...includes not only China and Russia but also Sudan, just elected to another three-year term despite Khartoum's role in what the United States government calls genocide against black Muslims in the western Sudanese region of Darfur."

Expect at least a dozen anti-Israel screeds to be submitted and heard. Such is the way of life for the UN.

UNSCAM Update

UNSCAM is turning out to be more widespread and deep-rooted within the UN than even the most ardent critics imagined. We have learned within the last few days that Kojo Annan, Kofi's son, has spilled the beans about his relationship with UNSCAM, and now Kofi's files are being searched for links to UNSCAM. An interim report is being delayed because of early returns on those investigations.

Kofi's career warning light has now gone from Bright Orange to Flashing Red.

Here's the solution Kofi (for the sake of the UN):

Resign, and tell everyone exactly what you did or didn't do in order to reform the UN. If you care about this international organization, you must spill the beans. Otherwise, others who consider the UN to be an anti-American counterbalance will demand a cut in UN funding and other reforms that will 'cripple' the underlying mission.

For a complete roundup, I'd suggest the following blogs:

Austin Bay

Roger L. Simon

My Suite101.com blog on UNSCAM

Kofi's Document Search

According to Drudge:

Kofi's documents, emails, phone logs, etc., are being investigated for UNSCAM links.

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash.htm

Investigators probing alleged corruption at the United Nations' Iraq oil-for-food program are scrutinizing thousands of pages of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's documents, including e-mail and phone records, to determine whether he exerted influence in securing a contract for a Swiss company that employed his son.

Paul Volcker, the head of the independent investigation, confirmed the document search and told The Associated Press that new information had led investigators to delay publishing their findings about Annan's son Kojo, whose activities have embroiled the U.N. chief in the growing scandal.

"There were things that came along that threw us back," Volcker said in an AP interview.

This is the most unsurprising news I've heard yet. This should have been conducted months ago when the scandal first broke - in order to capture documents and evidence before anyone had a chance to hide/shred/destroy any incriminating evidence.

One has to wonder what the document retention policy at the UN was prior to UNSCAM, and whether new policies have been implemented in order to retain documents for investigational and auditing purposes. In the wake of the Enron scandal, US businesses were required to hold onto business records for longer periods and establish written rules for document retention. The purpose of those policy changes was to enable investigators to figure out what may have happened in scandals - who authorized decisions, what was involved, and who may be liable.

Photo of the Day

 


Grand Canyon at dusk. Taken 9/2003. It was breathtaking watching the colors in the sky match the colors of the various canyons, rock faces, and ravines, even as the colors of the rocks became richer and more luxurious.

For those wondering how I took the photo, I was using a Canon Rebel 2000, 400 speed Kodak film, and a 28-300 Tokina lens with a sky filter. No other effects were used to make the shot.