Speculation now, horrible truth tomorrow?

In keeping with my dim view, and lack of hope for a sane and just world, I present you with an article that was posted at a blog I found today. The blog is, El Sueno de Bolivar. It is written by Kevin Alvarez, who watches Latin America for the population that is too busy playing computer games and texting irrelevancies to equally disinterested parties.

This is the article:

Haitian President-elect Martelly to consider pardon for Dictator Duvalier

Last year Haiti suffered an earthquake that left hundreds of thousands dead, almost a million displaced, and left what was already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere in a worse state. This year, Haiti has suffered a political earthquake with the return of Dictator “Baby Doc” Duvalier and former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the island nation. They arrived in the middle of Haiti’s presidential elections and many believed they would derail or alter the outcome of the elections. However, the elections proceeded and Michel Martelly was elected.

While on campaign, Martelly told reporters that he was more interested in preparing for Haiti’s future than dealing with its past. This was in reference to charges being brought against Duvalier for his time as dictator of the island nation. Many people were killed or disappeared during the reign of

Duvalier and he has returned to Haiti urging unity and a forgiveness of the past. Now whispers are again making their way through political circles in Haiti that Martelly will offer full amnesty to Duvalier in order to “turn the page” on Haiti’s history.

Haiti is a nation in which justice does not come easy. From the common rapist who lurks the tent cities to the officials who sell out the country’s resources and people, and now even its Dictators. Human Rights Watch has outlined a case for prosecuting crimes against Duvalier for the years of his repressive and oppressive government. However, it appears the reconciling Haiti’s past and pursuing justice will again be thrown under the bus in order to show Washington and the Western World that a “stable” government has taken over in Haiti and that the time is ripe for investment. Pitching that idea may prove difficult since Martelly has already made “revamping the military” one of the first objectives of his new government.

Despite the fact that Haiti’s civil societies and general population are the ones suffering the most from the aftermath of the earthquake we are still seeing the focus shifted away from them. Almost a million people still live in tents in Port-Au-Prince, why not make housing the focus? Violence and rape run rampant in the tent cities and some times MINUSTAH and Haitian officers are perpetrating that violence, why not empower communities to protect themselves? Haiti still has to import most of its food thanks to World Bank and IMF adjustment programs, why not rebuild Haiti’s infrastructure in order for the Haitian people to provide for themselves?

President-elect Martelly will not take office until May, and so there may yet be hope for a turning point for the Haitian people. Will we see someone who places the interests for foreigners above the well being of the Haitian people, or someone who risks his own position of power to do what’s right to provide the Haitian people with the dignity and respect they deserve?

My Source, El Sueno de Bolivar

Possible root which lends credibility to the article posted by Mr. Alvarez, and my fears.

What do we know about Haiti’s new president and his policies?
President-elect Martelly campaigned on a platform that called for change from both the political class and the policies that governed Haiti in the past. Martelly appealed to the country’s youth through celebrity, music and campaign rallies that were more like street parties than political forums. His supporters describe the president-elect as open minded and committed to a better future for Haitians.

During the campaign, Martelly called for improvements in educational opportunity, more available health care, better housing, and increased government services, but avoided providing specifics on how these goals would be accomplished. He also called for improved security through restoration of the Haitian army that was disbanded by then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Martelly’s call for restoring the army was seized upon by critics who noted that Haiti could ill afford the cost or the risk of recreating a military with a history of brutality and coups. Questions have also been raised about Martelly’s statement to a Canadian newspaper that he would consider an amnesty for former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier and President Aristide.

The Spoils of War: Afghanistan and Iraq

These children are victims of the bombing of Afghanistan and Iraq. If they look dead, they are dead. It is not my intention to sugar coat this to make it palatable. I have lived with the memory of collecting this horrifying assortment depicting the ultimate result of violence meted out to the innocent. The impact they have on me is as brutal as it was on the day I found them. Don't ever wonder why I am so dedicatedly against war.

Jeb Sprague on Stealth Duvalierism

Here we are again boys and girls. Another piece of horror; well put together by Jeb Sprague, who has the credentials to write on Haiti like a native.

Jeb Sprague has a serious problem. He has a soul. It is impossible to think of him writing as he does about Haiti without writhing in spiritual pain. Journalist or not.

So, take your Xanax, ingest an antacid, light a candle and some incense for Buddha, and read this deeply disturbing piece of work.

Allow me to present, “Stealth Duvalierism”

A brief excerpt: “The real problem with Martelly, however, is not his perceived immorality, but his heinous political history and close affiliation with the reactionary “forces of darkness," as they are called in Haiti, which have snuffed out each genuine attempt Haitians have made over the past 20 years to elect a democratic government. Far from a champion of democracy, Martelly has been a cheerleader for, and perhaps even a participant in, bloody coups d'état and military rule.”

That ought to whet your appetite for truth, even if it does make you sick at heart, and in the stomach.

Link to source: http://jebsprague.blogspot.com/2010/12/stealth-duvalierism.html

Haiti candidate Martelly lost three S. Florida properties to foreclosure

From the Miami Herald March, 7, 2011:
Remarks in brackets are those of The Red Wolf.
Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly has a list of liens and foreclosures in South Florida, which he says were the products of bad investments.

By Frances Robles
frobles@miamiherald.com

A long-time entertainer who is vying to become the next president of Haiti has defaulted on more than $1 million in loans and lost three South Florida properties to foreclosure in just over a year, public records show.

Among the houses Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly ( the bullshit artist) lost was the 5-bedroom 6,000-square foot Royal Palm Beach home the singer shared with his wife and four children until he returned to Haiti in 2007.

Records show he and his wife Sophia bought the brand new two-story house on Wellington View Drive in the summer of 2005 for $910,000. They took out two loans, including one for $637,000, according to Palm Beach County records. Martelly stopped paying one of the mortgages’ $3,251 payment on Nov. 1, 2008, the files show.

The bank sued, Martelly and the trustee named on the records did not respond, and a judge ordered a foreclosure. The house was sold a month ago in a bank sale, and is now listed for sale for $500,000.

The house was among three properties Martelly purchased – including two in Broward County – that banks took back for lack of payment. Those lawsuits join liens from homeowner associations and a Broward County hospital, which sued the candidate for payment of a medical bill.

The issue of Martelly’s financial acumen will likely increase scrutiny of him him on the campaign trail, where he enjoys popular support among Haiti’s youth. Anonymous bloggers are spreading the word about the real estate deals and asking: “Why Michel Martelly is running for president of Haiti while facing deep financial problems in United States?”

Campaign spokesman Damian Merlo (the apologist) said the candidate was victim of a tanked economy and failed investments he did not manage personally. He denied that the singer ever lived in any of the houses, although in 2007 the Miami Herald visited Martelly twice at the unfurnished Royal Palm Beach home, which included a padded recording studio.

“I don’t think it’s related to his capability to manage investments or his capability as a successful businessman,” Merlo said. “Every successful businessman has transactions that are not as successful all the time. He is one of the most successful businessmen in Haiti and is hoping to transfer those skills as president of Haiti.”

But some analysts said the revelations could have an impact on Martelly’s campaign because not much is known about his management abilities.

“Haitian voters know little about Martelly and his track record in management of institutions, resources, and people — let alone a country —given his dearth of elected or otherwise political track record,” said Trinity University Prof. Robert Maguire, (the informed voice of reason) a longtime Haiti observer. “The next president of Haiti will be an instrumental force not just in leading Haiti beyond the aftermath of the earthquake to a future that addresses essential issues of poverty alleviation and economic growth, but also in managing relations with the international community which, in essence, finances Haiti’s future.

“If Martelly’s past track record of resource management is flawed, Haitian voters should know about it, and he should respond.”

Martelly moved to South Florida in the 1980s and tried his hand at construction. He ultimately became a kompa music star and had a regular gig on Ocean Drive in the 1990s. In 2007, he announced his retirement from the stage – and then stopped making payments on the real estate he had purchased.

Martelly bought the houses as investments, which soured when the real estate boom crashed, Merlo said. Asked whether Martelly walked away from the steep debt because he owed more than the houses were worth, Merlo said: “He could always pay.”

Merlo stressed that the investments were managed by Martelly advisor Natacha Magloire, (the fall guy/gal) an event promoter and licensed real estate agent.

That’s a weak defense from someone who seeks to be president, said mortgage foreclosure expert Shari Olefson, (another informed voice of reason) author of “Foreclosure Nation: Mortgaging the American Dream.”

“If his treasurer steals money when he’s president, will his defense be that he didn’t know, because it was the treasurer who did it? That’s not a leader,” Olefson said. “He obviously had no ethical qualms about walking away from promises he made to banks. If you break a promise three times, why honor any campaign promises made to the poor people in his country? This seems to be a guy who saw easy money and played the game along with the worst of them.”

The “more honorable” options when under water are to short sell or negotiate with the banks, she said.

“He’s the poster child of what you are not supposed to do,” Olefson said.

But veteran political consultant Armando Gutierrez, who has no connection to Martelly’s campaign, said lots of candidates have money problems.

“All he has to say is that he, like millions of other Americans, was a victim of the U.S. economy,” Gutierrez said. “A lot of people lose everything and then make it all back again.”

Records show it did not start out so bleak for Martelly and Magloire, the real estate advisor. They purchased a Brickell Avenue condo together in 2005 for $399,190, and sold it a year later for $715,000, according to Miami-Dade County records.

A second house he lost to foreclosure also leads back to Magloire. A Pembroke Pines home she purchased in 1998 changed hands several times between friends and family until the Martellys purchased it for $435,000 in February 2006, borrowing $348,000.

The last $1,848.75 mortgage payment was made March 2008, records show. Green Point Mortgage wanted its money, as did the community association. Another $16,868 in back taxes was due, too. Records show that when the bank sued, Magloire’s relatives Serge and Daniella Magloire were also named in the suit.

By Dec. 2009, the house was sold at a bank sale.

Three months later, a Wiles Road condo in Coral Springs Martelly paid $267,990 for also foreclosed. Purchased in Aug. 2007, it was in default within six months, because nobody made the $2,037 monthly payments.

“These were investments managed by Natacha Magloire; she was totally responsible for managing these. She was the one who advised him what properties to buy,” Merlo said, noting that bankruptcy has haunted the most successful of tycoons. “Even Donald Trump went into foreclosure. It doesn’t relate to running a country.”

This material is copyrighted by its original publisher. It is reprinted by Red Wolf Redux without permission, solely for purposes of criticism, comment, and news reporting, in accordance with the Fair Use Guidelines of copyright material under § 107 of U.S.C. Title 17.

Virtual hookup connects grieving Haitian father to Miami family

A Haitian man tried and acquitted on terrorism charge is denied admittance into the United States to attend the funeral of his teenage son struck and killed by a vehicle on I-95.

BY JAY WEAVER AND JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@MiamiHerald.com

PORT-AU-PRINCE – Lyglenson “Levi’’ Lemorin, sitting inside a Cyber Café Saturday, waited patiently for technology to connect him to the heartbreaking scene unfolding some 700 hundred miles away inside a Miami Liberty City church.

“You sitting next to my mother?’’ he asked, fighting back tears as he spoke to his 13-year-old daughter, Lauren, over a cell phone. “Stay strong, alright Baby? Baby, don’t cry.’’

Lauren and the rest of the Lemorin clan were grieving, crying not just for 15-year-old Lukenson “Lil Luke’’ Lemorin, killed on April 1 by a passing vehicle, but also for Lyglenson Lemorin.

A Haiti native who lived in Miami most of his life, the elder Lemorin, 36, has been on a painful odyssey since his arrest in June 2006 on terrorism charges, his acquittal, then his eventual deportation back to Haiti - country he left 24 years ago when he moved with his family to Miami.

Now, in the Port-au-Prince café, his grief is even more searing because he cannot physically be there with family members to mourn the death of his only son.

“There is no way my son would have been on the streets at 11:30 p.m.,’’ he said of his son, who, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, was struck by a vehicle as he and two cousins pushed their disabled car off I-95 into the median.

Lemorin was a member of the Miami-Dade group that became known as the Liberty City 7, who federal investigators charged in a highly publicized terrorism case accusing them of conspiring with al Qaeda to blow up Chicago’s Sears Tower and federal buildings in Miami. The indictment was built on a sting operation, with a government informant playing the role of an al Qaeda financier directed by the FBI.

The seven defendants, investigators say, took an oath to the terrorist group.

A Miami federal jury found that Lemorin had distanced himself from the group, which worked together in a stucco business and hung out in Liberty City.

On Jan. 20, Lemorin was among 27 Haitians sent back to that country, after U.S. immigration authorities resumed deportations. He was shipped out in the dark of night and arrived in an earthquake-ravaged country that was fighting off a deadly cholera epidemic. Having heard about the tents cities, he said, “I prayed to God I didn’t have to live in one.’’

On Friday, another 19 deportees arrived in Port-au-Prince amid protests from immigration activists.

“I am so sorry this happened to his son and to him,” Lemorin’s immigration lawyer Charles Kuck of Atlanta said. “His case is a classic example of government-assisted human tragedy."

Although Lemorin was acquitted, immigration authorities still deemed him a “national security” threat under the U.S. Patriot Act passed after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Now, he lives with the guilt over his son’s death, a son who went from a well-mannered kid to one in and out of juvenile detention center, and out late at night – a sign of defiance, Lemorin said, because he wasn’t there.

“I believe he acted up because I wasn’t around,’’ he said. “When he got arrested three times, I thought, ‘Does he actually think he’s going to end up the same place with me?’”

Since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied his request to enter the United States to attend his son’s funeral, Lemorin was forced to view the Saturday service at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church via Skype.

It took 55 minutes and multiple tries, but Lemorin was to finally connect to see images of the service where more than 200 mourners paid their respects to “Lil Luke,” whose body lay in a silver casket draped with white flowers. “Don’t show me inside the coffin,’’ he said as he heard his mother wailing in the background.

The virtual hookup with Lemorin in Port-au-Prince and mourners in Miami was organized by Michelle Karshan, Executive Director of Alternative Chance, a Haiti-based re-entry program for criminal deportees in Haiti.

In Miami, Debbie Carter, a California woman who has come to the aid of Lemorin and his co-defendants, carried a laptop around the church enabling Lemorin to connect with his wife, see the flowers and make out his son’s casket.

Lemorin’s family has been struggling to raise the estimated $10,000 to help defray the cost of his son’s funeral and burial. So far, they have raised about one-third of the money and are seeking donations from the public.

Meanwhile, Lemorin has been struggling to find meaning in his son’s death and the uncertain future he has been dealt in the country of his birth.

As for being able to attend the funeral – even through the Internet - Lemorin said he’s grateful.

“I got to hear my family,’’ he said.
Link to article: http://tinyurl.com/3vn6mr2

Miami Herald Staff Writer Kathleen McGrory contributed to this story.

This material is copyrighted by its original publisher. It is reprinted by Red Wolf Redux without permission, solely for purposes of criticism, comment, and news reporting, in accordance with the Fair Use Guidelines of copyright material under § 107 of U.S.C. Title 17.

Georgianne Nienaber on US troops in Haiti.

This is a must read article. It is well written, and comments on the excessive external military presence in Haiti, where a day or so ago, President Elect Martelly, (though not yet sworn in) pointed out there is no war in Haiti. He also stated very distinctly, Haiti has its own army. To read Ms. Nienaber's excellent article, click on the link below.....wayyy below.
Thanks,
T.R.W.

Ralph Nader's Open Letter to President Obama

"President Obama Treats Tax Dodging GE's Immelt Better than Consumer Protecting Elizabeth Warren"

TAKE NOTE:OUR PRESIDENT HAS BEEN ABDUCTED AND SPIRITED AWAY TO ANOTHER PLANET.

WHAT ELSE COULD EXPLAIN HIS ABANDONMENT OF THOSE LONG AGO PROMISES THAT GOT US TO EMBRACE HIM SO WHOLEHEARTEDLY, AND PUT HIM INTO OUR WHITE HOUSE?

YES, THE WHITE HOUSE IS OURS.

THE MAN YOU SEE GIVING AWAY THE FARM IS A ROBOTIC RINGER, NOT THE BARACK OBAMA WE ELECTED. OR, IS HE?

READ THE OPEN LETTER FROM RALPH NADER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA BY CLICKING THE LINK BELOW.

Source:
www.opednews.com

The Rude Pundit Once Again Reads My Mind

Go get your valued toys reassessed by the rational. Be my guest.

China confirms Briton's execution, despite UK plea

More "justice" Chinese style.

Dec 29, 3:35 AM (ET)

By NG HAN GUAN

URUMQI, China (AP) - China brushed aside international appeals Tuesday and executed a British drug smuggler whose relatives say was mentally unstable and unwittingly lured into crime.

Britain's prime minister quickly criticized the execution - China's first of a European citizen in nearly 60 years.

"I condemn the execution of Akmal Shaikh in the strongest terms, and am appalled and disappointed that our persistent requests for clemency have not been granted. I am particularly concerned that no mental health assessment was undertaken," Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

The press office of the Xinjiang region where Shaikh had been held confirmed the execution in a faxed statement.

Shaikh, 53, first learned he was about to be executed Monday from his visiting cousins, who made a last-minute plea for his life. They say he is mentally unstable and was lured to China from a life on the street in Poland by men playing on his dreams to record a pop song for world peace.

Brown had spoken personally to China's prime minister about his case. Foreign Secretary David Miliband also condemned the execution and said there were unanswered questions about the trial.

"I also deeply regret the fact that our specific concerns about the individual in this case were not taken into consideration ... These included mental health issues, and inadequate professional interpretation during the trial," Miliband said in a statement.

China defended the case and criticized Brown's comments, saying drug smuggling was a serious crime.

"We express our strong dissatisfaction and opposition to the British accusation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference.

Jiang said she hoped the case did not harm bilateral relations, and called on London not to create any "obstacles" to better ties.

Shaikh was arrested in 2007 for carrying a suitcase with almost 9 pounds (4 kilograms) of heroin into China on a flight from Tajikistan. He told Chinese officials he didn't know about the drugs and that the suitcase wasn't his, according to Reprieve, a London-based prisoner advocacy group that is helping with his case.

He was convicted in 2008 after a half-hour trial.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Shaikh was put to death by lethal injection. China, which executes more people than any other country, is increasingly doing so by lethal injection, although some death sentences are still carried out by a shot in the head.

The Beijing-based lawyer for Shaikh's death sentence review, Zhang Qingsong, said Tuesday he never got to meet with Shaikh despite asking the judge and the detention center for access. He said China's highest court never evaluated Shaikh's mental status.

According to Reprieve, the last European executed in China was Antonio Riva, an Italian pilot who was shot by a firing squad in 1951 after being convicted of involvement in what China said was a plot to assassinate Mao Zedong and other high-ranking Communist officials.

"The death of Akmal Shaikh is a sad indictment of today's world, and particularly of China's legal system. ... We at Reprieve are sickened by what we have seen during our work on this case," said Sally Rowen, legal director of Reprieve's death penalty team.

Reprieve issued a statement from Shaikh's family members saying they expressed "their grief at the Chinese decision to refuse mercy."

---

Associated Press reporters Alexa Olesen and Cara Anna in Beijing contributed to this story.

The Rude One Speaks

The Rude Pundit, one of my fave savages of all time, has this to say regarding that "hot button issue".

Can you guess what it is?

Oh, think real hard now honey, you'll get it.

What is it that's been giving the conserves a total hissy fit for as long as they could grunt?

And what has fueled their evil engines since they learned to piss, moan, and do their best to squelch anything that has to do with a woman's right to control her own life?

Whew, I didn't think it was going to take you THAT long. I thought you were smarter than that.

We must be rusty. But now chickadees, you've got it.

Let's say it loud, and say it in unison. Ready? Okay, here we go. 1 2 3

Legalized Abortion!

Excellent! Read the Rude One Here.

Pinch Me ...a message from Michael Moore

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

Friends,

Who among us is not at a loss for words? Tears pour out. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. A stunning, whopping landslide of hope in a time of deep despair.

In a nation that was founded on genocide and then built on the backs of slaves, it was an unexpected moment, shocking in its simplicity: Barack Obama, a good man, a black man, said he would bring change to Washington, and the majority of the country liked that idea. The racists were present throughout the campaign and in the voting booth. But they are no longer the majority, and we will see their flame of hate fizzle out in our lifetime.

There was another important "first" last night. Never before in our history has an avowed anti-war candidate been elected president during a time of war. I hope President-elect Obama remembers that as he considers expanding the war in Afghanistan. The faith we now have will be lost if he forgets the main issue on which he beat his fellow Dems in the primaries and then a great war hero in the general election: The people of America are tired of war. Sick and tired. And their voice was loud and clear yesterday.

It's been an inexcusable 44 years since a Democrat running for president has received even just 51% of the vote. That's because most Americans haven't really liked the Democrats. They see them as rarely having the guts to get the job done or stand up for the working people they say they support. Well, here's their chance. It has been handed to them, via the voting public, in the form of a man who is not a party hack, not a set-for-life Beltway bureaucrat. Will he now become one of them, or will he force them to be more like him? We pray for the latter.

But today we celebrate this triumph of decency over personal attack, of peace over war, of intelligence over a belief that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs just 6,000 years ago. What will it be like to have a smart president? Science, banished for eight years, will return. Imagine supporting our country's greatest minds as they seek to cure illness, discover new forms of energy, and work to save the planet. I know, pinch me.

We may, just possibly, also see a time of refreshing openness, enlightenment and creativity. The arts and the artists will not be seen as the enemy. Perhaps art will be explored in order to discover the greater truths. When FDR was ushered in with his landslide in 1932, what followed was Frank Capra and Preston Sturgis, Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck, Dorothea Lange and Orson Welles. All week long I have been inundated with media asking me, "gee, Mike, what will you do now that Bush is gone?" Are they kidding? What will it be like to work and create in an environment that nurtures and supports film and the arts, science and invention, and the freedom to be whatever you want to be? Watch a thousand flowers bloom! We've entered a new era, and if I could sum up our collective first thought of this new era, it is this: Anything Is Possible.

An African American has been elected President of the United States! Anything is possible! We can wrestle our economy out of the hands of the reckless rich and return it to the people. Anything is possible! Every citizen can be guaranteed health care. Anything is possible! We can stop melting the polar ice caps. Anything is possible! Those who have committed war crimes will be brought to justice. Anything is possible.

We really don't have much time. There is big work to do. But this is the week for all of us to revel in this great moment. Be humble about it. Do not treat the Republicans in your life the way they have treated you the past eight years. Show them the grace and goodness that Barack Obama exuded throughout the campaign. Though called every name in the book, he refused to lower himself to the gutter and sling the mud back. Can we follow his example? I know, it will be hard.

I want to thank everyone who gave of their time and resources to make this victory happen. It's been a long road, and huge damage has been done to this great country, not to mention to many of you who have lost your jobs, gone bankrupt from medical bills, or suffered through a loved one being shipped off to Iraq. We will now work to repair this damage, and it won't be easy.

But what a way to start! Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Wow. Seriously, wow.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MichaelMoore.com
MMFlint@aol.com

JOY IN THE MORNING

YES!

Click image to enlarge.

For the first time since the voters concluded George Bush was fit to run the United States, I am proud to be an American. It certainly has been a long time in coming...the winds of change are stirring. Rise to the occasion sisters and brothers.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

Click image to enlarge.

Nude Buttocks May Cost ABC $1.4 Million

Does a herd of half-asses equal a whole ass?

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a $1.4 million fine against 52 ABC Television Network stations over a 2003 broadcast of cop drama NYPD Blue.

The fine is for a scene where a boy surprises a woman as she prepares to take a shower. The scene depicted "multiple, close-up views" of the woman's "nude buttocks" according to an agency order issued late Friday.

ABC is owned by the Walt Disney Co. The fines were issued against 52 stations either owned by or affiliated with the network.

FCC's definition of indecent content requires that the broadcast "depicts or describes sexual or excretory activities" in a "patently offensive way" and is aired between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The agency said the show was indecent because "it depicts sexual organs and excretory organs - specifically an adult woman's buttocks."

The agency rejected the network's argument that "the buttocks are not a sexual organ."

*************
Oh, F.C.C., you cheeky beggers, you've thrown me into a tizzy.

I am loath to display so much ignorance of human anatomy, but for all these years, I've been laboring under the delusion buttocks are to sit on.

I simply can't figure out how to excrete anything at all through my buttocks! Perhaps I am deformed.

Now since I know what they're for, what should I rest upon while seated? My laurels?

Jimmy Carter Faces Down Darfur Officials

Oct 3, 9:51 AM (ET)

By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU

KABKABIYA, Sudan (AP) - Former President Carter got in a shouting match Wednesday with Sudanese security services who blocked him from a town in Darfur where he was trying to meet with refugees from the ongoing conflict.

The 83-year-old Carter walked into this highly volatile pro-Sudanese government town to meet refugees too frightened to attend a scheduled meeting at a nearby compound. He was able to make it to a school where he met with one tribal representative and was preparing to go further into the town when Sudanese security officers stopped him.

"You can't go. It's not on the program!" the local security chief, who only gave his first name as Omar, yelled at Carter, who is in Darfur as part of a delegation of respected international figures known as "The Elders."

"We're going to anyway!" an angry Carter retorted as a crowd began to gather. "You don't have the power to stop me."

U.N. officials told Carter's entourage the Sudanese state police could bar his way. Carter's traveling companions, billionaire businessman Richard Branson and Graca Machel, the wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, tried to ease his frustration and his Secret Service detail urged him to get into a car and leave.

"I'll tell President Bashir about this," Carter said, referring to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Carter later agreed to a compromise by which tribal representatives would be brought to him at another location later Wednesday. But the refugee delegates never showed up.

The Darfur conflict began when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, accusing it of decades of neglect. Sudan's government is accused of retaliating by unleashing a militia of Arab nomads known as the janjaweed - a charge it denies. More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in four years of violence.

Most refugees appeared too frightened to speak in Kabkabiya, a North Darfur town that has long been a stronghold of the pro-government janjaweed militia.

Branson said some refugees had slipped notes in his pockets. "We (are) still suffering from the war as our girls are being raped on a daily basis," read one of the notes, translated from Arabic, that Branson handed to The Associated Press.

The note said that on Sept. 26, a group of girls had been raped, and a refugee had also been shot two days ago. Branson said it had been handed over by an ethnic African man.

The visit by "The Elders," which is headed by Nobel Peace laureates Carter and Desmond Tutu, is largely a symbolic move by a host of respected figures to push all sides to make peace. Tutu visited a refugee camp in south Darfur, but the U..N. Mission in Sudan deemed it too dangerous for Carter to make a similar visit.

Carter instead flew to a World Food Program compound in Kabkabiya, where he was supposed to meet with refugees, many of whom were chased from their homes by pro-government janjaweed and Sudanese government forces.

But as the meeting was set to get under way, none of the nongovernment refugee representatives arrived, and Carter decided to walk out into the town to try to talk with them.

"We are in the security field. We're not that flexible," said the security chief, Omar, after the confrontation ended. He said Carter already breached security once by walking to the school and would not be allowed to breach security again.

"This illustrates the challenges that communities and humanitarian workers face in Darfur," said Orla Clinton, spokeswoman for the U.N. Mission in Sudan who witnessed the incident.

Carter later returned to the North Darfur capital of El Fasher and where he was planning to meet with community representatives later Wednesday.

"The Elders" delegation is trying to use their influence at a crucial time - with peace talks due to start in Libya and the deployment of a 26,000-strong hybrid African Union-U.N. peacekeeping force to begin later this month.

Tensions are running high after rebels overran an AU peacekeeping base in northern Darfur over the weekend, killing 10 in the deadliest attack on the beleaguered force since it arrived in the region three years ago.

Carter said he felt the trip was proving effective. He said al-Bashir told him this week that Sudan has committed $100 million to a fund for Darfur's reconstruction and another $200 million has been pledged by Chinese diplomatic allies.

Carter said the main goal of the three-day visit to Sudan was to seek guarantees for free and fair elections throughout the country in 2009. Observes fear the elections could be postponed and warn this would imperil the fragile peace in southern Sudan and worsen the conflict in Darfur.

The 2009 vote would be the first democratic election in Sudan since al-Bashir came to power in a military and Islamist coup in 1989. Carter said al-Bashir vowed to allow the election to take place during a private meeting between the two in Khartoum.

"If the CPA fails to fulfill its commitment to free and fair elections and democracy in this country, all other efforts will be futile," Carter said, referring to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended 21 years of civil war between the government and Christian and animist rebels in the south.

Report: Millions Wasted on Gov't Travel

Does this come as any surprise?

Oct 2, 6:07 PM (ET)

By HOPE YEN

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal employees wasted at least $146 million over a one-year period on business- and first-class airline tickets, in some cases simply because they felt entitled to the perk, congressional investigators say.

A draft report by the Government Accountability Office, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, is the first to examine compliance with travel rules across the federal government following reports of extensive abuse of premium-class travel by Pentagon and State Department employees.

The review of travel spending by more than a dozen agencies from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006, found 67 percent of premium-class travel by executives or their employees, worth at least $146 million, was unauthorized or otherwise unjustified.

Among the worst offenders: the State Department, whose employees typically fly abroad on official business.

Many of the cases involved high-ranking senior officials or political appointees who claimed exceptions to federal travel rules by citing old medical records or questionable approval from a subordinate employee.

Investigators found that senior officials often flew business- or first-class because they felt entitled to the perk.

The higher airfare for traveling in one of the premium classes resulted in expenses often five to 10 times more than what was authorized under government travel rules.

"With the serious fiscal challenges facing the federal government, agencies must maximize their ability to manage and safeguard valuable taxpayers' dollars," investigators wrote, suggesting agencies recoup the extra cost from those who abuse travel policies.

Under federal rules, government employees generally must fly coach for both domestic and international travel unless the flight takes 14 hours or longer. A few exceptions apply when the employee receives agency approval based on a medical condition, security concerns, lack of availability of coach seats or when required "because of agency mission."

Government investigators found that employees openly flouted the rules and agencies did little to check their abuses. Among the waste cited:

_An Agriculture Department executive took 25 premium-class flights costing $163,000 and said the extra expense had been authorized by a subordinate. In 10 of those trips, the traveler claimed exceptional circumstances to justify the pricier travel to western Europe, even though agency policy forbids premium-class travel unless the flight time is longer than 14 hours.

_Thirty-two State Department employees flew from Washington to Liberia in premium class over a six-month period. Five of those travelers did not have authorization for premium class; three had duplicate tickets and no evidence that the duplicates were refunded; and 17 were not properly justified, as their trips did not meet the 14-hour rule. These flights cost $293,000 and comparable coach-class tickets would have cost $124,000 - a difference of $169,000.

_At the Pentagon, a political appointee took 15 premium-class flights and cited a medical condition as justification for the $105,000 in expenses. However, the only evidence of a medical condition was a note signed by a fellow Pentagon employee, not a physician, attesting to surgery from several years earlier. The Pentagon did not have a doctor's certification from the employee as required by agency policy.

_Nine Justice Department employees charged the agency $35,000 for premium-class air tickets to Frankfurt, Germany, claiming the flight time was over 14 hours. Investigators found the employees added a separate flight to their calculations to reach the 14-hour total, a practice not allowed under government travel rules. Also, two of the flights were not authorized.

The GAO, Congress' investigative and auditing arm, said it was referring all cases it found of improper and abusive travel to the respective agencies and inspector general's offices for possible administrative action and repayment of the difference between premium-class and coach-class travel.

The report comes as some lawmakers are pressing to strengthen government sunshine laws by requiring agency disclosure of business-class travel to Congress. Currently, business-class travel accounts for 96 percent of the premium travel claimed by federal employees.

"No one disputes the fact that government officials need to travel, as not all work can be done behind a desk. Nor should all premium-class travel be eliminated. But the rules are there for a reason and the federal government should enforce them," said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.

Coleman noted that after a 2003 GAO report uncovered abuses in Pentagon travel, the department tightened policies and has since dramatically reduced its use of premium travel.

"We simply need the necessary oversight mechanisms in place to ensure that taxpayers' dollars are spent properly," he said.

The latest GAO report noted that several government entities are not subject to government rules on premium-class travel - among them, the U.S. Postal Service, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. - opening up more opportunities for unnecessary waste.

Those entities often allow members of their board of governors to travel business or first class for shorter flights overseas and sometimes domestically. In one case, a deputy director of FDIC flew business class from Washington to London and back at a cost of $7,200, while a coach- class ticket would have cost $800.