 A year and a half after his Homeland Security nomination sank over ethics questions, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik pleaded guilty Friday to charges he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in gifts while he was a top city official. Kerik was convicted on a pair of misdemeanors in a deal that spared him any jail time. He instead was ordered to pay $221,000 in fines at the 10-minute hearing. Kerik acknowledged accepting $165,000 worth of renovations on his Bronx apartment from a company attempting to do business with the city — a New Jersey construction firm with alleged links to the mob. He also admitted failing to report a loan as required by city law. The plea bargain allows Kerik to continue his new career as a security consultant in the Middle East. Prosecutors had considered bringing felony bribery charges against him based on allegations that in exchange for the renovations he helped the company, Interstate Industrial Corp., seek business with the city...
http://www.usatoday.com
censor News |
Editor - 09:40:00 06-30-06
|
 Shi'ite, Sunni fighters clash north of Baghdad |
The governor of the Iraqi province where Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed this month called in the army after clashes between Sunni and Shi'ite fighters north of Baghdad on Friday, police and his office said. But Defense Ministry spokesman denied receiving a request to dispatch army units to Muqdadiya in Diyala province, an ethnically mixed area where sectarian violence has deepened in recent weeks.The U.S. military said U.S.-led forces killed three insurgents and captured four in clashes that began on Thursday in the nearby village of Khairnabat, where police and witnesses said Shi'ite militias had attacked Sunnis fleeing the town.The large, mixed region northeast of Baghdad has seen some of the worst bloodletting since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime in 2003....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060630/ts_nm/iraq_dc
full News |
Editor - 09:35:00 06-30-06
|
| $37bn debt cut for poor nations |
The World Bank is preparing to cancel billions of dollars of debt owed to it by many of the world's poorest nations. Some $37bn (£20bn) in debt relief will be provided to 19 countries on 1 July, following agreements reached at last year's historic G8 summit in Scotland. Leaders at the gathering in Gleneagles pledged to cancel the debts of many of world's most poorest countries, most of which are in Africa. The move will provide debt relief to the countries over the next 40 years. In order to receive relief, countries were required to meet strict criteria under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Some $17bn of debt relief has already been committed by the International Development Association arm of the World Bank. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5130450.stm
full News |
Editor - 09:21:00 06-30-06
|
| An Argument for Freedom Based Upon Disagreement |
Can government ever intervene in private voluntary exchanges and make matters better for those affected without making anyone else worse off? I do not think that it can. Along with a good many others like Rothbard and Hoppe, I believe that socialism actually invariably lowers welfare. But whether we are right or wrong on this matter is not relevant for the argument from disagreement. What is relevant is that we and others hold this view. There are those who disagree with us, for example, Joseph Stiglitz. Among many other State actions, he favors bank deposit insurance. The reason is that he believes that information about financial firms is a public good that is underproduced. But his reasons are not germane to the argument from disagreement other than he thinks government action is beneficial....
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rozeff/rozeff77.html
full News |
Editor - 00:53:00 06-30-06
|
| By-election blows for Blair and Cameron |
Tony Blair and David Cameron were both dealt by-election blows in heartland seats today. Voters in Blaenau Gwent, south Wales, failed to re-elect Labour in one of its former strongholds, then the Tories almost lost Bromley and Chislehurst to the Liberal Democrats, previously safe Conservative territory. In a further setback for the Prime Minister, Labour was relegated to fourth in Bromley and Chislehurst, behind the UK Independence Party. Independent candidates won Blaenau Gwent's seats in both the Commons and on the Welsh Assembly, leaving Labour without a majority on the latter. ...
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article1150100.ece
full News |
Editor - 00:38:00 06-30-06
|
| Chinese president denounces graft |
Chinese President Hu Jintao has called on members of the ruling Communist Party to put a stop to corruption. "We cannot slack off for one moment," he said in a speech to mark the 85th anniversary of the party's founding. "Anti-corruption and building a clean government are an important strategic mission," he said. Mr Hu's address came a day after the government announced that a deputy commander of China's navy had been sacked for taking bribes. According to official documents, an unmarried young woman reported Wang Shouye's activities and admitted an "improper relationship" with him. Last year, the Chinese authorities investigated nearly 8,500 government officials for corruption, according to the state-run news agency Xinhua. Nearly 2,000 of these people were subsequently convicted. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5131978.stm
full News |
Editor - 00:30:00 06-30-06
|
|
| post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|
|
