Say Anything Blog

2 Supervisors Are Arrested After Sweep at Meat Plant

Two supervisors at a kosher meatpacking plant in Iowa where hundreds of illegal immigrants were rounded up in May were arrested Thursday on criminal immigration charges.
Federal prosecutors said they had also issued an arrest warrant for a third man described by workers as a plant manager.

...“The arrest of two low-level supervisors, while a start, barely scratches the surface of this company’s bad behavior,” said Scott Frotman, a spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which has tried to organize the plant. “What about the allegations of worker abuse? Does anyone really believe that these low-level supervisors acted alone without the knowledge, or even the direction, of the Rubashkins and other senior management?”

On Thursday in Houston, five senior managers of another company that was recently raided, Action Rags USA, made their initial court appearances. Those arrested on Wednesday included Mabarik Kahlon, 45, the owner of the company, an exporter of used clothing, and his partner Rasheed Ahmed, 58. About 160 workers were arrested on June 25 at the company’s plant in Houston.

7 immigrants in military posthumous US citizens

What a great country.
I love America so much… makes me well up when I hear the Star Spangled Banner or read about our great forefathers sacrifice to forge a new nation.

We are all quite lucky to be born/live here.

Wal-Mart broke Minnesota labor law more than 2 million times over six years by forcing some employees to work without breaks and without full pay, Dakota County District Court Judge Robert King Jr. ruled Monday in Hastings.

The violations carry a penalty of up to $1,000 each, adding up to a potential $2 billion fine, according to plaintiff’s attorney Jon Parritz in Minneapolis.

The suit was filed in 2001 on behalf of 56,000 current and former Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club employees in Minnesota. In addition to the penalties, Wal-Mart owes workers at least $6 million in back wages, said Parritz, an attorney at the Maslon law firm.

“We think this sends a loud message to Wal-Mart that compliance with wage and hour law is important, and employees will have their day in court,” he said.

A former CIA operative who says he tried to warn the agency about faulty intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs now contends that CIA officials also ignored evidence that Iran had suspended work on a nuclear bomb.

The onetime undercover agent, who has been barred by the CIA from using his real name, filed a motion in federal court late Friday asking the government to declassify legal documents describing what he says was a deliberate suppression of findings on Iran that were contrary to agency views at the time.

The former operative alleged in a 2004 lawsuit that the CIA fired him after he repeatedly clashed with senior managers over his attempts to file reports that challenged the conventional wisdom about weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. Key details of his claim have not been made public because they describe events the CIA deems secret.

The consensus view on Iran’s nuclear program shifted dramatically last December with the release of a landmark intelligence report that concluded that Iran halted work on nuclear weapons design in 2003. The publication of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran undermined the CIA’s rationale for censoring the former officer’s lawsuit, said his attorney, Roy Krieger.

“On five occasions he was ordered to either falsify his reporting on WMD in the Near East, or not to file his reports at all,” Krieger said in an interview.

In court documents and in statements by his attorney, the former officer contends that his 22-year CIA career collapsed after he questioned CIA doctrine about the nuclear programs of Iraq and Iran. As a native of the Middle East and a fluent speaker of both Farsi and Arabic, he had been assigned undercover work in the Persian Gulf region, where he successfully recruited an informant with access to sensitive information about Iran’s nuclear program, Krieger said.

Sound familiar?:

C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime’s record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action.

ANCHORAGE — Former state Rep. Vic Kohring turned himself over to federal marshals Monday morning in Anchorage after spending three hours waving goodbye to rush-hour commuters along the side of the Glenn Highway.



Kohring’s surrender begins a transfer process that will shuttle him from Anchorage to a federal facility in the Seattle area, said Randy Johnson of the U.S. Marshal’s Office. From there, he will stay in federal custody as he is transported to his final destination, a federal prison in Taft, Calif., about 120 miles north of Los Angeles, to serve his 42-month sentence.

Johnson said Kohring will be shackled whenever he is moved as any other prisoner would be. He will also travel with other prisoners while en route to Taft.

ANDREW WELLNER/Frontiersman Former state House Rep. Vic Kohring waves goodbye to Mat-Su Valley commuters Monday morning prior to surrendering himself to federal authorities to serve a 42-month prison sentence.

ANCHORAGE — Governor Sarah Palin responded today to the announcement that the U.S. Supreme Court has handed down its decision in the Exxon Valdez case. The Court awarded no more than $507.5 million in punitive damages to the plaintiffs, or about 10 percent of the jury’s original award.

“I am extremely disappointed with today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Palin said. “While the decision brings some degree of closure to Alaskans suffering from 19 years of litigation and delay, the Court gutted the jury’s decision on punitive damages.”

She added, “It is tragic that so many Alaska fishermen and their families have had their lives put on hold waiting for this decision. My heart goes out to those affected, especially the families of the thousands of Alaskans who passed away while waiting for justice.”

Palin noted that the decision today undercut one of the principal legs of deterrence for those engaged in maritime shipping in Alaska waters. She called on state and federal agencies to be vigilant and firm in regulating such activities.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Outraged Iraqi officials demanded an investigation into an early morning U.S. military raid Friday near the birthplace of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, saying the operation violated the terms of the handover of Karbala province to Iraqi security forces.

Karbala Gov. Oqeil al Khazaali said U.S. forces killed an unarmed civilian and arrested at least one person in the raid in the southern town of Janaja. The governor’s brother, Hassanein al Khazaali, said late Friday that the Iraqi killed in the operation was a relative of the U.S.-backed prime minister.

The U.S. military command in Baghdad had no comment.

...Khazaali, the U.S.-allied governor, denounced the operation at a news conference, saying the U.S. military hadn’t coordinated in advance with Iraqi forces, who assumed control of Karbala security in October 2007. The governor said the raid set “a dangerous precedent” for areas ostensibly under full Iraqi control.

“The airdrop confuses the agreements, and America should answer for this violation,” Khazaali said.

Khazaali said the raid was based on false intelligence and that the U.S. military should “submit a report to clarify all the circumstances and to point out the killers and hand over the names of everyone who participated in the military operation in order for them to appear before the Iraqi judicial system.”

At the time of the Karbala security handover, a joint statement from U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, praised Iraqi security forces in Karbala for “operating independently.”

US central bank accused of unleashing an inflation shock that will rock financial markets, reports Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Barclays Capital has advised clients to batten down the hatches for a worldwide financial storm, warning that the US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall "below zero". "Barclays Capital has advised clients to batten down the hatches for a worldwide financial storm, warning that the US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall "below zero".

"We're in a nasty environment," said Tim Bond, the bank's chief equity strategist. "There is an inflation shock underway. This is going to be very negative for financial assets. We are going into tortoise mood and are retreating into our shell. Investors will do well if they can preserve their wealth."

Barclays Capital said in its closely-watched Global Outlook that US headline inflation would hit 5.5pc by August and the Fed will have to raise interest rates six times by the end of next year to prevent a wage-spiral. If it hesitates, the bond markets will take matters into their own hands. "This is the first test for central banks in 30 years and they have fluffed it. They have zero credibility, and the Fed is negative if that's possible. It has lost all credibility," said Mr Bond.

The Federal Marriage Amendment is back

RALEIGH, N.C. - Federal agents raided Blackwater Worldwide this week as part of an investigation into whether the private security company sidestepped federal laws prohibiting the private purchase of automatic assault rifles, the company said Thursday.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched Blackwater’s armory at its corporate headquarters in Moyock on Tuesday as part of the investigation. Court documents show that agents seized 22 guns as evidence from a vault dedicated to county authorities.

The company signed agreements in 2005 in which Blackwater financed the purchase of 34 automatic weapons for the Camden County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Tony Perry became the official owner of the weapons, but Blackwater was allowed to keep most of the guns at its armory.

Federal laws prohibit private parties from buying automatic weapons, but allows law enforcement agencies to have them.

ALBANY — Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader and New York State’s highest-ranking Republican, said Monday evening that he would not seek re-election in November, after a 32-year career in the Senate.

His announcement startled people in the Capitol, many of whom have come to view Mr. Bruno, a former Army regimental boxing champion who still spars for the cameras, as almost indestructible at the age of 79.

...His decision did not appear to be related to a federal investigation of his outside business interests, according to people with knowledge of the investigation.

...The news will be a major political blow to the Albany area, which has benefited from Mr. Bruno’s ability to shower the region with pork. He represents Rensselaer County and most of Saratoga County.