Wednesday, March 30, 2011

11-03-30 Plutocracy in the USA // Plutocracia en los EE.UU. // 在美国富豪

Build Public Pressure to Boot Jeffrey Immelt

General Electric, America's largest corporation, made $14,200,000,000 in profits in 2010 and paid $0 in taxes -- that's right, zero dollars in taxes.
At the same time, C.E.O. Jeffrey Immelt saw his compensation double. Now GE is expected to ask 15,000 of their unionized workers to make major concessions in wages and benefits.
Adding insult to injury, Mr. Immelt is chair of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. That's wrong. Mr. Immelt should not lead the administration's effort to create jobs.
Join Russ Feingold and sign Progressives United's petition for Mr. Immelt to resign from his position on President Obama's jobs panel today.
I believe General Electric's Jeffrey Immelt must step down from his position on the president's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness -- and if he won't, President Obama must ask for his resignation.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION:
http://www.immeltmustgo.com/action/immelt-must-go?sc=immelt_email

11-03-30 Prison as a form of enslavement // La prisión como una forma de esclavitud // 监狱作为一种形式的奴役

PRISONMOVEMENT'S WEBLOG


More Black Men Now in Prison System than Were Enslaved

30MAR

“More African American men are in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, before the Civil War began,” Michelle Alexander told a standing room only house at the Pasadena Main Library this past Wednesday, the first of many jarring points she made in a riveting presentation.
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Information Clearing House Newsletter
News You Won't Find On CNN
March 30, 2011
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How to Waste Money and Lives: The American Prison System

By Celia Chazelle

In 1970, fewer than 200,000 Americans were incarcerated. Today, with some 2.3 million in prison or jail, the US has more people and a higher percentage of its population locked up than any other country.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27798.htm

11-03-30 The price of reckless banking regulation // El precio de la regulación bancaria imprudente // 银行监管的鲁莽价格

Reuters Canada

China economist blasts dollar dominance on eve of G20

Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:05am EDT
 


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BEIJING (Reuters) - Dollar dominance is sowing the seeds of financial turmoil, and the solution is to promote new reserve currencies, a Chinese government economist said in a paper published on the eve of a G20 meeting about how to reform the global monetary system.
Although not an official policy statement, the paper by Xu Hongcai, a department deputy director at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, offered a window onto the domestic pressures bearing on Beijing to move away from a dollar-centric global economy.
The China Center, a top government think tank, has represented the Chinese government in organizing a forum on Thursday in Nanjing that will bring together finance ministers, central bankers and academics from the Group of 20 wealthy and developing economies.
Xu's paper, "Reform of the international monetary system under the G20 framework," was published in Chinese on the center's website this week (www.cciee.org.cn).
"Nations around the world have no way of restricting dollar issuance by the Federal Reserve. The current international monetary system lacks both stability and fairness," Xu wrote.
He said the global monetary system had fallen into a "dollar trap." While it would be sensible to reduce dollar holdings in official currency reserves, nations cannot easily cut back, because doing so would only lead the dollar to weaken and so hit the value of their assets, he said.
CHINA'S DILEMMA
China's dollar dilemma is particularly acute, though Xu did not say as much. China had $2.85 trillion in foreign exchange reserves at the end of last year, more than any other country. About two-thirds are estimated to be invested in dollars.
Beijing has repeatedly warned that loose U.S. monetary policy threatens the dollar, but it has continued to accumulate dollar assets at the same time, adding about $260 billion of Treasury securities last year, according to U.S. data.   Continued...

11-03-30 The Death Penalty in Louisiana // La pena de muerte en Louisiana // 在路易斯安那州的死刑


http://reason.com/blog/2011/03/29/supreme-court-firms-up-state-i


Supreme Court Firms Up State Immunity From Wrongful Conviction Lawsuits

By a ideologically right-left, 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today (PDF) that a wrongly convicted Louisiana man—who at one point was just weeks away from execution—isn't permitted to sue the DA's office that for 14 years sat on the evidence proving his innocence.
Jacob Sullum wrote about Connick v. Thompson in March of last year. As Sullum pointed out, while it's clear that prosecutors knew about the evidence for years (a bloody piece of cloth), there are competing theories about whether they knew they had to turn the cloth over and willfully withheld it anyway, or if they simply didn't know they were obligated to turn it over. (As Sullum also noted, it's hard to decide which scenario is worse.) The latter seems rather unlikely, even though during the civil trial, Orelans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick and his assistants apparently couldn't articulate the Brady Rule, the law requiring the disclosure of such evidence. Of course, the former—the willful misconduct—is also much harder to prove.
In any case, the Court's ruling today, taken with past rulings, further illustrates how the old mantra that "ignorance of the law is no excuse" seems to apply to everyone except for actual members of law enforcement.
The majority opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas, found that the failure of Connick (fun side note: he's the father of crooner Harry Connick, Jr.) to train his assistants on their obligation to turn over exculpatory evidence isn't negligent enough to subject the government that employs him to liability. Connick and his assistants themselves (an office with a long history of misconduct) were already protected from any personal liability by absolute prosecutorial immunity, a concept the Supreme Court essentially invented from whole cloth.
Keith Findley, President of the Innocence Network, comments:
"Basically, what the Court is saying is that because they are lawyers, there was no reason for the District Attorney to believe that his prosecutors might need training to be sure they are fulfilling their constitutional obligations to disclose information that might be useful to their defense. This logic completely ignores the reality of what happened to John Thompson who was sentenced to death by prosecutors who repeatedly failed in their obligation to disclose exculpatory information. No other profession is shielded from this complete lack of accountability."
The ruling also negates a $14 million jury award to John Thompson, the man wrongly convicted. It also means that for his 18 years in prison, 14 of which he spent on death row, Thompson will now at most get $150,000, the maximum compensation for a wrongful conviction allowed under Louisiana law.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

11-03-29 USA leading the world! // EE.UU. líder en el mundo! // 美国领导的世界!


Tracking Our Downward Spiral
The Ways in Which America Still “Leads’ the World

By Richard Clark

March 29, 2011 
"
Information Clearing House----  According to Yes Magazine, amongst 20 of the world’s wealthiest countries, America now has:
  • the highest poverty rate, both generally and for children;
  • the greatest inequality of incomes;
  • the smallest amount of government spending (as a percentage of GDP) on social programs for the disadvantaged;
  • the lowest number of paid holidays, annual leave days and maternity leave days;
  • the lowest score on the UN’s index of material well-being of children;
  • the worst score on the UN’s gender inequality index;
  • the lowest social mobility (i.e. in America, more members of the lower and middle class remain stuck in that class than ever before);
  • the highest public and private expenditure on health care (as a portion of GDP), and yet accompanied by:
-         the highest infant mortality rate
-         the greatest prevalence of mental health problems
-         the highest obesity rate
-         the largest percentage of people going without health care due to cost
-         the greatest number of low birth weight children per capita
-         the greatest consumption of anti-depressants per capita
-         the shortest life expectancy at birth (except for Portugal);
-         the largest amount of carbon dioxide emissions and water consumption per capita;
-         the lowest score on the World Economic Forums Environmental Performance Index and the largest Ecological Footprint per capita (except for Belgium);
-         the highest rate of failing to ratify international agreements;
-         the lowest amount of spending on international development and humanitarian assistance as a percentage of GDP;
-         the largest amount of military spending as a portion of GDP;
-         the largest amount of international arms sales;
-         the largest negative balance of payments (except New Zealand, Spain and Portugal);
-         the lowest scores for student performance in math (except for Portugal and Italy) (and far down from the top in both science and reading);
-         the highest high school drop out rate (except for Spain);
And now, to top it off, America is leading all other industrialized democracies by bringing back debtors’ prisons!
Millions of folks around the good ol’ USA have been screwed over by predatory lenders and fine-print credit card contracts, and now, partly because of that, many of them are swimming in debt. And now, some of these people are actually being thrown in prison for going into debt.   That’s right, America in the 21st century is bringing back debtors’ prisons!   People who can’t pay off their credit cards can now be thrown in jail in a third of the states in our nation — and since the start of 2010, over 5,000 arrest warrants have been issued against people who owe as little as $1,000 to massively profitable corporations like Capital One.  (Source:  Thom Hartmann’s emailed newsletter)
So let me get this straight.   A few years after the financial crisis, where massive fraud was perpetrated by Wall Street, not one bankster is in jail, but 5,000 lower- or middle-class Americans, who were screwed over by these banksters, were sent to debtors’ prison??!
Republicans have set our country back more than 100 years — to the 1800′s — when the Robber Barons ruled and our politics were corrupted to the core.
Be proud, Americans.   Be very proud.

11-03-29 Judicial Corruption in Pennsylvania and California // La corrupción judicial en Pensilvania y California // 司法腐败在宾夕法尼亚州和加利福尼亚州


March 27 


California looks at Ciavarella outcome


SHEENA DELAZIO sdelazio@timesleader.com 
WILKES-BARRE – The federal corruption trial of former Judge Mark Ciavarella was at the center of attention of Luzerne County.

click image to enlarge
Former Judge Mark Ciavarella responds to questions along North Washington Avenue in Scranton after being found guilty of 12 of 39 counts. BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE TIMES LEADER
The story made local headlines first. Then, the national press and news shows such as ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “20/20” and NBC’s “Today” aired stories.
Now, the case is being read by California lawyers, after the California Bar Journal published an article about the trial in its March edition.
The article is headlined “Could it happen here?” and is written by Janice M. Brickley, a legal advisor to commissioners at the California Commission on Judicial Performance.
“The case, an alarming story of judicial corruption and failures throughout the justice system that lasted two years, should raise a question in the minds of Californians: Could it happen here?” she wrote.
Brickley outlined the outcome of the trial, including Ciavarella’s conviction on 12 of 39 counts, including racketeering and mail fraud, as well as the indictment against Ciavarella.
READ THE FULL STORY:


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To the Editor:

In response to your article, "California looks at Ciavarella outcome", the question should be: Why is the US Department of Justice refusing to prosecute racketeering judges in California?

Ongoing large-scale false imprisonment in Los Angeles County have been documented in the Rampart scandal investigation (1998-2000).

Prof Erwin Chemerinsky concluded in 2001 "This is conduct associated with the most repressive dictators and police states... and judges must share responsibility when innocent people are convicted."

The 2006 LAPD Blue Ribbon Review Panel concluded "Innocent people remain in prison".  It documented that the victims by and large remained imprisoned.  Judges of the Los Angeles Superior Court object to their release, since it would cause "collapse of the justice system".  The report further concluded that "...the LA Superior Court and the DA office,[are] the two other parts of the justice system that the Blue Panel Report recommends must be investigated relative to the integrity of the system".

The 2010 Staff Report of the Human Right Council of the United Nations concluded "corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California".


LINKS:
____________________________
WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA?
* "...judges tried and sentenced a staggering number of people for crimes they did not commit." 
Prof David Burcham, Dean, Loyola Law School, LA (2001) 
* "This is conduct associated with the most repressive dictators and police states... and judges must share responsibility when innocent people are convicted."     
Prof Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean, Irvine Law School (2001) 
* "Innocent people remain in prison"
* "...the LA Superior Court and the DA office, the two other parts of the justice system that the Blue Panel Report recommends must be investigated relative to the integrity of the system, have not produced any response that we know of..."
LAPD Blue Ribbon Review Panel Report (2006)
_____________________________
WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IN CALIFORNIA?
* "...corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California." 
United Nations Human Rights Council Staff Report (2010)
_____________________________
WHAT DID THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THE STATE COURTS IN THE UNITED STATES?
* "On July 26, 2010, Laurence Tribe, Senior Counsel for the United States Department of Justice, Access to Justice Initiative, delivered an important speech to the Conference of Chief Justices, challenging them to halt the disintegration of our state justice systems before they become indistinguishable from courts of third world nations."
Prof Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law School (2010), per National Defender Leadership Institute (2010)
_____
joseph Zernik, PhD
Human Rights Alert (NGO)

Monday, March 28, 2011

11-03-29 Los Angeles Judges on the Take // Jueces corruptos en Los Angeles // 法官在洛杉矶舞弊



How To Disqualify Your State Superior Court Judge & Get A New Trial
Internet Exclusive Video News Blog: 15:40 min
Release Date: March 22, 2011
Watch the full video:
http://fulldisclosure.net/Blogs/96.php



Los Angeles, CA Former U S Prosecutor Dr. Richard I Fine explains how citizens can disqualify a State judge who is "on the take". All 430 California Superior Court Judges in L A County can be disqualified by citizens who have been involved in litigation against the County of Los Angeles in the last two decades. If you lost your case and did not know your judge was getting money from the County, Richard Fine says you can "Null & Void" the Judge's Order and get a new trial.
GET YOUR MONEY BACK?
If you paid money to the County, you now have a chance to recover that money, according to Dr. Fine's experience, he has already disqualified five judges who have been "On the Take" in his cases involving the County of L.A. That is why he was locked up in L A County jail for 18 months without being charged or convicted of a crime. Now he can show you the way to get JUSTICE. Featured here are Dr. Fine's Motions to "Null & Void" that were used by him to disqualify the five Judges so far in his case.
DO IT YOURSELF OR HAVE YOUR ATTORNEY FILE?
Richard Fine suggests that you can file "In Pro-Per" or better yet ask your attorney to use Dr. Fine's Motions To Null & Void the Decision made by your Judge. The templates he used are shown below.
Step 1Contact L A County Auditor-Controller: Greg Iverson GIVERSON@auditor.lacounty.gov to request amount County paid to your judge since 1987 (link to Richard Fine's example below). Use the Template with name & E-mail address where to send: (download & print here) (and here)
Step 2Download Richard Fine's TEMPLATE Motions to Disqualify & Null & Void Judge's Orders:
Motion to Disqualify, Null & Void Judge David Yaffe (Aug. 6, 2010) (Aug. 27, 2010)
Motion to Disqualify, Null & Void Judge Robert O'Brien (Dec. 2010) (Jan. 27, 2011)
Reply Motion to Disqualify, Null & Void Elihu Berle ( Mar 2, 2011)
Motion to Disqualify, Null & Void Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl (RemoveJudgeKuhl)
Step 3Send a copy of your Motion with Case number to Full Disclosure Network, 333 Washington Blvd. Suite #24, Marina del Rey, CA 90402 or E-mail it to feedback@fulldisclosure.net so Full Disclosure Network can follow and report on YOUR case.

NOTE: Please send Full Disclosure a copy of the L A Auditor-Controller's response to you with the amount of money your Judge received. We will post a chart with the totals to inform the public on how much the Judges are receiving in this illegal Double Benefits.