THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Updates To Previous Posts
† Obama Doctrine Taking Shape: A Washington Post editorial points out yet another example of Obama’s Fist Bump Doctrine (“Never mind what I said about unclenching your fist. Gimme a fist bump!”):
Manuel Rosales, a former state governor who challenged Hugo Chávez in the 2006 presidential election and won election as mayor of Maracaibo last fall, fled the country to avoid imprisonment. … Mr. Rosales is one of at least seven major Chávez opponents, including three of the five opposition state governors, who have been imprisoned or subjected to criminal or tax investigations during the past two months. …
The administration has maintained a deliberate silence about the persecution of the elected politicians, a dissident former defense minister and a leading journalist.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton …seems to believe that Mr. Chávez's escalating domestic repression shouldn't be an impediment to better relations with the United States - an attitude in keeping with her already-stated views about such nations as China, Egypt and Turkey.
† One Man’s Meat Is Another Man’s Poison (second item): Layoffs and salary freezes are encouraging people to spend to mend, rather than race to replace, reports The Wall Street Journal:
At Daniel Hand's Computer Medics of Northern Virginia in Fredericksburg, work orders are stacked up on his desk. Two years ago, the repair estimates would have scared off his customers. "When people used to come around, if the cost was $300 to fix it and a new one was only $500 or $600, they'd typically get a new one," says Mr. Hand. Now, he says, "nine out of 10 times they come back and say, 'Fix it.'" His business's revenue is running about 30% higher now than a year ago. …
Appliance-repair businesses, too, have seen an uptick in business in recent months, says Michael Donovan, president of National Appliance Service Association. Mr. Donovan has noticed a rise at his own business, Turnpike Appliance Service of Bay Shore, N.Y., in the past six months, even though the appliances he works on are not very expensive to buy new. …
At Autobahn Motor Works in Bethesda, Md., an affluent suburb of Washington, the mechanics who fix Audis, BMWs and Mercedes-Benzes say their customers fall into three groups: those who have always paid for repairs, those who would once have bought new cars but are now approving work, and those who are asking if work can be postponed.
† Updates To Previous Posts (Do You Swear To Tell The PC Truth, The Censored Truth And Nothing But The Truth That Will Set The Defendant Free?): Despite efforts by their court-appointed lawyers to censor trial testimony to excise “inflammatory” references to al-Qaida and jihad from the indictment, all the foreign-born Muslim defendants in the “Fort Dix” conspiracy to kill military personnel at the NJ army base were convicted in December and received their sentences this week, reports the Bucks County Courier Times:
Serdar Tatar … of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 33 years in prison. … U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler found that Tatar was not motivated by the same religious fervor as his co-defendants and therefore could be rehabilitated and deterred from future criminal conduct.
Kugler sentenced Mohamad Shnewer … of Cherry Hill, to life in prison plus 30 years for a weapons offense and conspiracy to kill members of the armed forces. …
Kugler sentenced Dritan and Shain Duka to life plus 30 years and their younger brother, Eljvir, to life. They all have 10 days to appeal their convictions and sentences, and their court-appointed attorneys say they plan to do so.
Deputy U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick argued for a life sentence for Tatar as well. …
"He was a willing and aggressive participant in this conspiracy," he said. "He is in this with both feet. ... He was not a peripheral player or a hanger-on." …
Tatar, a legal U.S. resident born in Turkey, used to live near Fort Dix and delivered food to soldiers there. He stole the map from his father's former pizzeria near the main gate of the base.
† Updates To Previous Posts (third item, Why We Need Gitmo): Ali al-Marri, 43, an al-Qaida sleeper agent who was declared an enemy combatant in late 2001 and held without charges for more than five years at a Navy brig in SC by the Bush administration has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization and may be sentenced to as much as 15 years in prison, reports The Associated Press:
"We thought (the plea) was the right approach to take based on the evidence the government allowed us to review over the last several weeks," said al-Marri's attorney, Andy Savage.
Plea negotiations have been going on since before al-Marri's initial court appearance in March, Savage said.
"It was not an easy negotiation," he said.
In other words, al-Marri's attorney admitted the government had his client dead to rights. So why does AP insist on using scare quotes around “enemy combatant” in the hed and body of the article?
† Updates To Previous Posts (second item, Globetrotting Tort Lawyer Exposes Airline Passengers, Crews To Rare Form Of TB): Andrew Speaker, the Atlanta attorney who was at the epicenter of an international health scare in 2007 when made several long-distance flights despite knowing he was infected with a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, is suing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials, claiming they damaged his reputation, "unlawfully and unneccessarily" revealed his medical history and made him the target of death threats, reports The Associated Press:
The lawsuit, which says he and his new bride split up because of the stress, seeks unspecified damages and court fees.
CDC spokesman Tom Skinner declined to comment.
"We are not in a position to have anything to say about pending litigation," he said.
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