WORLD; CRIMINAL JUSTICE; IN THE NEWS

The top news headline in the past couple of weeks has been the RUSSIAN EX-SPY POISONING. British Intelligence, The media, Governments and curious individuals all have the same question. Who and Why poisoned Alexander Litvinenko on November 1st, 2006 with the deadly radioactive polonium 210? Fingers are being pointed around, but they are leading mostly to Kremlin. Alexander Litvinenko (Russian: Александр Вальтерович Литвиненко ) himself, on his deathbed, blamed Putin for his murder:

Who Is Alexander Litvinenko?

          After working for the KGB and its successor, the FSB, Litvinenko publicly accused his superiors of ordering the assassination of Russian billionaire Borris Berezovsky (who is known as Russia’s first billionaire) . He was arrested by Russian authorities, released and later fled to the UK, where he was granted political asylum and citizenship.

Litvinenko published books in the UK, where he described Vladimir Putin’s rise to power as a Coup D’etat organized by the FSB. He stated a key element of FSB’s strategy was to frighten Russians by bombing apartment biuldings that killed nearly 300 people and led the country into the  Second Chechen War. The bombings happened over a span of two months in 1999 in Moscow and other Russian cities. He alleged the bombings were organized by FSB and blamed on Chechen terrorists to legitimise reprisals using military force in Chechnya.

Timeline of Various events related to the Poisoning:

 7 OCTOBER
Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, a critic of the Russian government and in particular the war in Chechnya, is shot dead in Moscow. Mr Litvinenko begins to investigate amid claims she was killed because of her work.

1 NOVEMBER
Mr Litvinenko meets two Russian men at a London hotel – one a former KGB officer. He also meets academic Mario Scaramella at a sushi bar where he is said to have received documents about the journalist’s death. Several hours after his meetings, Mr Litvinenko complains of feeling sick and is admitted to Barnet General Hospital, north London.

11 NOVEMBER
On the BBC Russian Service, Mr Litvinenko describes being in “very bad shape” after a “serious poisoning”.

17 NOVEMBER
Mr Litvinenko is transferred to the University College Hospital, in central London, as his condition worsens. He is placed under armed, police guard.

19 NOVEMBER
It is reported Mr Litvinenko was poisoned with thallium, a highly toxic chemical once used to poison rats.

20 NOVEMBER
University College Hospital says Mr Litvinenko has been moved to intensive care. Pictures are released of the ex-agent in hospital, showing how he has suffered dramatic weight and hair loss. Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism unit takes over the investigation into what made him ill. Police say they are treating the case as a suspected “deliberate poisoning” but await toxicology test results. The Kremlin dismisses allegations Russia’s government poisoned Mr Litvinenko because of his criticisms of its policies as “sheer nonsense”.

21 NOVEMBER
There is confusion over what happened to make Mr Litvinenko ill. Professor John Henry, a toxicologist, says Mr Litvinenko may have been poisoned with “radioactive thallium”. Doctors directly responsible for his treatment say Mr Litvinenko’s illness is unlikely to have been caused by ordinary thallium poisoning. Mario Scaramella tells a news conference in Italy that he had met the Russian in a Sushi bar earlier in the month to discuss e-mail threats they had received.

22 NOVEMBER
Mr Litvinenko is described as “critically ill” by doctors who say his condition has deteriorated. Dr Geoff Bellingan, director of critical care at University College Hospital, rules out thallium as the cause of his sickness. He also says radiation poisoning is unlikely. Doctors cannot say what caused his sickness. Russia’s foreign intelligence service denies involvement in the apparent poisoning of Mr Litvinenko. The ex-agent has a heart attack overnight on Wednesday.

23 NOVEMBER
Doctors at University College Hospital say Mr Litvinenko is critically ill, after suffering a heart attack overnight on Wednesday. The hospital announce later on Thursday night that Mr Litvinenko had died in intensive care. A hospital spokesman says: “Every avenue was explored to establish the cause of [Mr Litvinenko's] condition.” Scotland Yard say in a statement that they are now investigating “an unexplained death”.

24 NOVEMBER
In an interview with the Times, film-maker Andrei Nekrasov says he spoke to Mr Litvinenko hours before he fell unconscious. Mr Nekrasov says that his friend told him: “I want to survive, just to show them. The bastards got me but they won’t get everybody.”

 POISONING PROBE; FINDINGS:

              British Airways has said that three short haul aircraft have been taken out of service for forensic examination, after initial test results showed “very low traces of a radioactive substance on board two of the three” planes.

British Airways is contacting around 33,000 passengers who traveled on the three aircraft since the end of October, spokeswoman Nicola Neuman said. The planes were used on 221 services between London’s Heathrow Airport and Moscow, Barcelona, Athens, Dusseldorf, Larnaca, Stockholm, Vienna, Frankfurt, Madrid and Istanbul, the airline said. Thirty-three of the flights were to or from Moscow.

BRITISH AIRWAYS has set up a special helpline for customers in the U.K. on 0845 6040171, or +44 191 211 3690 for callers from abroad, for worried passengers who flew on these planes to call with any concerns.

British investigators are finding more evidence that Alexander Litvinenko left traces of radioactive polonium 210 virtually wherever he went after his alleged poisoning.

Numerous Sites as well as people who had contact with Litvinenko that day had been tested positive for polonium 210, among them: Litvinenko’s Widow Professor Mario Scaramella; at the Emirates Stadium, the Millenium Hotel, and the now prime British Intelligence suspect, who stayed at the hotel, flew on these planes and visited the stadium, Andrei Lugovoi. Andrei Lugovoi is hospitalized in Russia for Polonium 210 poison. Negotiations are underway between Russia and the British Intelligence to let UK Inteligence speak with Lugovoi.  On October 25, a week before Litvinenko was poisoned Lugovoi went to London. The plane he took and the hotel he stayed at showed signs of radiation. A day before Litvinenko was poisoned Lugovoi returned to London where his hotel the Millenium and the stadium he visited also showed positive radiation results.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?                 

                      In a letter released Friday by human rights activists, a former Russian security officer — now jailed — said he had also warned Litvinenko about a government-sponsored death squad that intended to kill him and other Kremlin opponents.

“Back in 2002, I warned Alexander Litvinenko that they set up a special team to kill him,” the former security services officer, Mikhail Trepashkin, wrote in the letter dated Nov. 23 — the day of Litvinenko’s death.

The letter was released by rights activists in Yekaterinburg, the center of the Ural Mountains province where he is serving his four-year sentence. Its authenticity could not immediately be confirmed.

A spokesman for Russia’s Federal Security Service, the KGB successor agency known by its Russian acronym FSB, refused to comment on Trepashkin’s claim.

British Intelligence Agents flew to Russia for further investigation into the matter, however, Russian authorities are refusing to co-operate with British Intelligence and are’nt allowing them to speak with Trepashkin, or the prime suspect, Andrei Lugovoi.

Is Russia Responsible? the FSB? Putin? It is highly speculated and remains to be investigated by the Intelligence Experts…

WHAT I SAY:

                  ALL EVIDENCE LEADS TO RUSSIA. The question is, was Kremlin involved? By the importance this case has taken on with UK Government, as well as USA – although they won’t comment - it looks like they will not rest until the guilty party is uncovered and brought to justice.  The fact that Russia is trying to hinder investigations can be viewed two ways. 1. Either they are pissed that they are not the ones handeling the investigation, and that Britain is trespassing what should be their territory or, 2. they are in fact the killers and are desperately trying to cover up thier tracks. This case is now national headlines for weeks. If, in fact, the Putin administration is responsible for the murder, there is no way they will be able to successfuly cover it up, since the Polonium 210 tracks are everywhere…

 But no matter who the guilty party is, I HOPE THEY FIND THEM AND MAKE THEM PAY FOR IT!!….

IN THE NEWS; WORLD

A US Airforce F-16 CG Jet nosedived into a field in Iraq on Monday, around 1:35 pm. As of now, most media websites are reporting the exact same, except for Al Jazeera,

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — A U.S. Air Force jet carrying one pilot crashed in Iraq on Monday, the military said. The F-16CG was supporting coalition ground forces when it went down about 1:35 p.m., about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad in Anbar province, the military said in a brief statement that contained no information about the cause of the crash or the fate of the pilot.

Mohammed Al-Obeidi, an Iraqi who lives in the nearby town of Karmah, said he saw the jet flying up and down erratically before it nose-dived and exploded in a farm field. He said other U.S. warplanes rushed to the crash site and were circling around it.

This is what Al Jazeera Says:

Muthana Shakir, an Iraqi journalist in Baghdad told Al Jazeera: “We got credible news saying at 2pm on Monday a US F-16 warplane was downed in al-Garma neighbourhood near the western Iraqi city of Falluja.”

“The warplane was downed over arable lands. Witnesses confirmed that the plane was fired on by gunmen’s rockets when it was flying on low altitude.”

William Caldwell, a US military spokesman, said he would be surprised if the jet was shot down as the F-16’s fly very fast and have not encountered any weapons capable of taking them down in Iraq.

A spokesman said that the aircraft was lost while it was flying in support of ground operations taking place in Fallujah.

 

I Say:

             The western media is sceptical quoting anything that is not confirmed. But al Jazeera, which is a muslim middle-eastern TV station, is releasing info it believes is pretty credible. It remains to be seen what really transpired. One thing is certain: It wont be pretty if the jet was indeed shot down…

UPDATE:

December 1, 2006

Department of Defense officials announced today the identity of an Airman listed as duty status – whereabouts unknown.

Maj. Troy L. Gilbert was the pilot of an Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon engaged in support of coalition ground combat operations that crashed approximately 20 miles northwest of Baghdad Nov. 27.

Major Gilbert is assigned to the 309th Fighter Squadron, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. and currently deployed to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, Balad Air Base, Iraq.

An investigation is ongoing.

WEIRD WEDNESDAY; WORLD

A man accussed of uttering the word BOMB, was fined US $6,423.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A 65-year-old Australian man was fined S$10,000 ($6,423) by a Singapore court for uttering the word “bomb” on a flight to Indonesia, The Straits Times reported on Wednesday.

Riccardo Paulin, a retiree, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to having asked a flight attendant “Where do you keep the bomb?” on a flight operated by Singapore regional carrier SilkAir to the Indonesian city of Surabaya, the newspaper said.

The newspaper said he made the remark after trying to find space in the overhead lockers.

Paulin was charged under the United Nations anti-terrorism regulations, which carry a maximum fine of S$100,000 or up to five years in jail or both.

He apologized to the court for his remark, saying it was meant as a joke

I SAY:

         ARE THEY STUPID? Of course it would be better that no one ever says BOMB unless thay mean it, which then they would be arrested and charged, thereby preventing bombs. But seriously: do they expect people not to joke? Clearly the stewardess knew that it was a joke. He did not say “I have a bomb” he asked  “Where is the bomb”…. Lets punish everyone for saying silly things. That’ll stop the bombs for sure… STUPID!

TECH TUESDAY

Apple has cut a deal with six major airlines for the use of ipods in flight.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) on Tuesday announced a partnership with six major airlines to integrate the iPod with in-flight entertainment systems beginning in mid-2007. Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United will begin offering their passengers iPod seat connections that power and charge their iPods during flight and allow the video content on their iPods to be viewed on the their seat back displays. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This news came out right after Microsoft’s Launch of the Zune, a revolutionary player that is predicted to knock the ipod into second place.

I SAY:

         MICROSOFT, known to make it later but make it better, definitely has a go with the new zune, their new $249.00 portable music player. However, ipod has become a household name that won’t be easy to replace… and it doesn’t look like the ipods are going anywhere, for the time being anyway.

LEGAL; IN THE NEWS; CRIMINAL JUSTICE

On the same day, these two stories were in the news. The first story is about a man who served 18 years for a crime he did not commit. Man Found Innocent.

HOUSTON-Texas has awarded more than $450,000 to a man who was exonerated by DNA evidence after spending 18 years in prison for a sexual assault conviction.

Arthur Mumphrey was released from prison in January after his lawyer found DNA evidence clearing him in the rape of a 13-year-old girl. Mumphrey had been sentenced in 1986 to 35 years in prison.

Mumphrey, who was 42 when he was released, declined to talk about his plans for the money.

His brother, Charles, confessed to the rape while serving time in jail for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, shortly after his brother’s release. No criminal charges will be filed against Charles Mumphrey because the statute of limitations has expired, prosecutors said.

The second story in the news on the same day is about a woman who drowned her 2 kids in 2003. she is being released from the mental hospital where she was placed because of “insanity”. She is now, supposedly, mentally stable and ready to return to the free world. Woman Released.

PLANO, Texas-A woman who drowned her two children in 2003 is now mentally stable and should be released from a state hospital, a judge ruled.

Lisa Ann Diaz drowned her 3- and 5-year-old daughters by holding their heads under water in the bathtub of their Plano home. Diaz, tried only in the older child’s death, was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

State District Judge Mark Rusch on Thursday ordered Diaz’s release from the Big Spring State Hospital, where she has been for more than two years. Her attorney said the 36-year-old could be released as early as Friday.

I SAY:

             IS THIS JUSTICE? Anyone can claim they are insane. the question is not whether you are sick, whether a “little voice in the back of your head” tells you to commit a crime, drown your kids, rape someone or whatever. the question is: while the person commits the crime, were they aware that they are doing something wrong. Did they feel they were doing something wrong, but they did it anyway? Then he/she was not completely insane. As this story goes, Lisa Ann Diaz had cuts on her body when they found her. She wanted to commit suicide to be with her kids. So, she knew that she killed them. She knew she shouldn’t do it, but she did it anyway. Can they guarantee that her insanity will never come back? that she will always take her medication? If she is now mentally stable, now is the time to show her what prison looks like!… to show her, for a couple of years, what she will get for life if she does anything the “Little Voice” tells her, again.

How did they have all the evidence to convict Arthur Murphy, when in fact he was innocent? And, in all those years, they still couldn’t find that the conviction was a false accusation? What will $450,000.00 less taxes do to heal those 18 years lost behind bars? Nothing! and why can the guilty brother not be convicted, because of statute of limitations? all criminals should escape to a different country and live there till the statute of limitation expires, then come back to the US and live a happy life. If someone is found guilty, through DNA and confession, he should have to pay for his crime no matter how much time has elapsed.

IS THIS JUSTICE?

WEIRD WEDNESDAY

After 15 years, two families in Beijing realize that they brought the wrong baby home from the hospital. Read the full story about the BABY MIXUP.

A couple surnamed Lu, who gave birth at a hospital in Nanning in the southern province of Guangxi in 1991, suspected that the boy was not her biological son after a test in 2004 showed their blood types were incompatible, Xinhua news agency said.

After further testing confirmed the boy was not biologically related, the couple acquired a register of babies born on the same day as their son from the hospital, Xinhua said.

“It was confirmed that a boy raised by a woman surnamed Liu who had given birth to a son on the same day was actually theirs, and that the boy they had raised was the son of Liu and a man surnamed Yao,” Xinhua said.

I SAY:

         Putting the lawsuit aside, how are these families going to handle it? Will they so easily give up the “son” they have known and raised for the last 15 years? Will the boys accept there new parents? the damage here is irreversible.  No amount of money will bring those 15 years back, or ease the adjustment into the future. Hospital mistakes like these are preventable with better patient management requirements like ID Bracelets, etc. It is a very unfortunate incident.   

LEGAL; IN THE NEWS

After exactly two years and one month of marriage, Pop star Britney Spears has file for divorce from her husband Kevin Federline. While she was occupied with being pregnant and having two children during most of the marriage, he was out partying. See the  official Divorce documents. 

This is his second marriage. His first marriage ended while Wife #1 was pregnant with her second child. he married Britney shortly thereafter. Now, after only two years and two more kids later, he will be single again. I think that now he will have a really hard time marrying any Celebrity, or anyone wishing to commit to a man for life. Unless it is someone who is looking to advance into stardom, or a girl out for the money, I dont see why anyone would marry him. He has proven twice that he cannot stay commited in a family setting for too long. It is unfortunate that Britney has to go through this with the eyes of the World on her back. But this is the downside of the “Celebrity Package” she chose to carry. 

I SAY:

You are doing the right thing for yourself and your kids. I hope your life will be happier from now on.

TECH TUESDAY

Texas has recently installed several security cameras along the Mexican border which could be monitored online by civilians: (CNN Technology)  

I SAY:

Technology is changing the way we do many things. It is about time people realize that in a couple of years everything will go digital and online and living without the E-Connection will be virtually impossible.

What a great idea to actually put cameras out there instead of risking more lives. And thumbs up to letting the public be a part of reducing crime. For the people who are online anyway, and actually enjoy sitting and waiting for the action, it is fun! for the Government, it is thousands of volunteers “manning” the borders 24/7, and for the lawbreakers and smugglers, another reason to stay away from our borders!

POLITICS; WORLD; IN THE NEWS

Saddam Hussein was sentenced yesterday to death by hanging. The World expressed mixed reaction. while most agree that he certainly deserves this punishment, others worry about a possible retaliation by Suni Muslims and strong violence in Iraq and throughout the world: (CBS News)

The European Union welcomed the verdict but said Saddam should not be put to death. At the Vatican, Cardinal Renato Martino, Pope Benedict XVI’s top prelate for justice issues, called the sentence a throwback to “eye for an eye” vengeance.The death sentence automatically goes to a nine-judge appeals panel, which was expected to rule by the middle of January, the chief prosecutor said on Monday.“This is not the way to present the new Iraq to the world, which is different from Saddam, who was behind hundreds of thousands of deaths as well as death penalty sentences,” said Hands Off Cain, an Italian organization working to rid the world of capital punishment.“The hanging of Saddam Hussein will turn to hell for the Americans,” said Vitaya Wisethrat, a respected Muslim cleric in Thailand, which has its own Islamic insurgency in the country’s south.“The Saddam case is not a Muslim problem but the problem of America and its domestic politics,” he said. “Maybe Bush will use this case to tell the voters that Saddam is dead and that the Americans are safe. But actually the American people will be in more danger with the death of Saddam.”

Jubilant Shiites marched by the hundreds Monday, celebrating Hussein’s sentence as Sunnis held defiant counter-demonstrations, however, the surge in violence expected after the verdict did not materialize.Intervening militarily was “a grave error,” said Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country withdrew its troops from Iraq, contending that conditions there have worsened since the U.S.-led invasion.Although some voiced doubts that Saddam would actually be hanged, the International Federation for Human Rights denounced the death sentence, warning that it “will generate more violence and deepen the cycle of killing for revenge in Iraq.” The Council of Europe called it “futile and wrong” to execute Saddam.

Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, urged Iraq to ensure a fair appeals process and to refrain from executing Saddam even if the sentence is upheld.

I Say:

           Saddam is a tyrant. Let’s put the issue about whether or not the war in Iraq is right or wrong aside. If there would be no capitol punishment in the world, there would be so much violence. There would be no fear, nothing to keep them back. If Saddam will be hanged, this will be a very clear message to all of the world that no one will tolerate evil, and evil will be prosecuted to the full extent.

            Will Sunni Iraqis or others retaliate? Perhaps. We need to weigh the possibilities against each other. Should we rather not execute Saddam, which will empower other dictators to follow his paths, knowing that at worst, he will spend his life behind bars, or should we kill him and deal with those who terrorize and kill as a result of his execution in the same manner as we are dealing with him? Either way, there will be victims, war and a lot of unfortunate consequences.

             This is a good time for the leaders in the new, Democratic Iraq to show that they are indeed a Democracy. If they fear those who are trying to bring dictatorship back to Iraq, they will never succeed in being a free country. It is a now or never situation and SADDAM SHOULD BE KILLED FOR HIS CRIMES!
 

POLITICS

In the last month, this story made screaming headlines. Alledgedly, Jeanine Pirro, DA currently running for Attorney General, plotted to have her Husband bugged: (NY Daily News)

Playing the role of a woman scorned, Jeanine Pirro confessed yesterday that she wanted to catch her husband fooling around – so she asked disgraced ex-NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik to plant a bug on the family boat.

The plot, which was never carried out, is being probed by federal prosecutors as a possible violation of an eavesdropping statute, federal authorities confirmed yesterday.

At a hastily assembled press conference, Pirro conceded she talked with Kerik about placing a recording device on the family boat – a 26-foot Sea Ray pleasure craft docked in Rye – during the summer of 2005 to get the goods on her bad-boy husband, Albert Pirro.

I SAY:

    Way to Go, Jeanine! We need more people in office like that. people who are not afraid to handle thier personal shit in a brave manner. This guy is fathering a kid with a different woman, born during his marriage to Jeanine. Recently, he was found guilty of tax fraud. Is it not enough for him? Apparently not. She had a strong conviction to believe that he was having an affair. What a great plot to confront him right in the middle of his actions!

Can we really expect an “Angel” to come into office? And if so, would that Angel be able to understand us, “Humans”, with our human needs and problems, especially when the very position in question is that of Attorney General!!?

Those of you who live in NY, do yourself and your fellow neighbors a favor by electing her into office. send those idiotic individuals, who put her personal life on a pedestel and stick their nose into her personal bussiness, a clear message…”We need someone as brave and distinctly human as Jeanine Pirro in office!”