In telemarketing, it’s called “cramming” ? slipping a charge onto a monthly bill without the customer knowing it. And today, federal prosecutors charged three operators of an Old City Internet company with cramming about $75 million in bogus fees from 350,000 small businesses across the country. In a 26-count indictment, prosecutors allege that Neal D. Saferstein and two partners “picked the pockets” of small businesses, charging them each $29.95 a month for Internet services they didn’t want or know about. Telemarketers would dupe customers into receiving a “welcome package” that looked like junk mail and triggered monthly charges unless customers […]
VIET NOW: This Is An IED
ABC NEWS: The most prominent figure in a revolt of Sunni sheiks against al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Risha was killed Thursday Sept. 13, 2007, in by an IED near his home in Anbar province, Iraqi police said. Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, head of the Anbar Salvation Council (also known as the Anbar Awakening), led the revolt of Sunni tribes who backed the Iraqi government and U.S. forces in Iraq. September 14 marks the council’s anniversary. WASHINGTON MONTHLY: The Myth Of Al Qaeda In Iraq
VIET NOW: Local Boy Killed In Iraq
INQUIRER: A 20-year-old Marine from Atco who dreamed of becoming a police officer after a stint in the military was killed by an improvised explosive device this week in Anbar province, Iraq, the Department of Defense said yesterday. Lance Cpl. Jon T. Hicks Jr., a 2005 graduate of Hammonton High School, died Monday with Cpl. Carlos Gilorozco, 23, of San Jose, Calif., during combat, the military said. MORE * RELATED: The Op-Ed by seven active duty U.S. soldiers in Iraq questioning the war drew international attention just three weeks ago. Now two of the seven are dead. Sgt. Omar Mora […]
WORTH REPEATING: Deja Vu All Over Again
Today I received a message from a friend who has excellent connections in Washington and whose information has often been prescient. According to this report, as in 2002, the rollout will start after Labor Day, with a big kickoff on September 11. My friend had spoken to someone in one of the leading neo-conservative institutions. He summarized what he was told this way: They [the source’s institution] have “instructions” (yes, that was the word used) from the Office of the Vice-President to roll out a campaign for war with Iran in the week after Labor Day; it will be coordinated […]
GAMBLOR: Protesters Shut Down Gaming Board
PHILADELPHIA – People opposed to the siting of two casinos in their Philadelphia neighborhoods have disrupted a meeting by state regulators. The protests [not pictured] forced the Gaming Control Board to end its session before it could complete its agenda. The board had some protesters removed, adjourned the meeting several times and even tried to continue its business while the demonstrators tried to interrupt.The residents believe they didn’t get enough say in the locations chosen for two Philadelphia casinos. Both casinos are to be placed on the Delaware River waterfront, not far from homes. The casinos still need zoning changes […]
Rendell’s Wife To Decide If Janet Jackson Superbowl Tit Flash Was Indecent, Tacky Or Just Plain Obnoxious
This morning, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia will consider whether the notorious “wardrobe malfunction” that bared singer Janet Jackson’s breast during a televised 2004 Super Bowl halftime show was indecent, or merely a fleeting and accidental glitch that shouldn’t be punished. Marjorie Rendell — also known as Midge, wife of Gov. Rendell — is one of the judges who serves on the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing the case. The court will hear arguments about the Feb. 1, 2004 halftime show when 90 million Americans watched singer Justin Timberlake pull off part of Janet Jackson’s bustier, briefly […]
GENERAL PETRAEUS: The Troops Are Coming Home Right Away, But First They Are Staying Another Year
ASSOCIATED PRESS: “I believe that we will be able to reduce our forces to the pre-surge level ? by next summer without jeopardizing the security gains we have fought so hard to achieve.” — General David Petraeus WASHINGTON POST: The long-awaited testimony this afternoon of Gen. David H. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, once seen as a potential turning point in war policy, seemed more like an exercise of kicking the can down the road. NEW YORK TIMES: Full Page Ad Paid For By MoveOn.org
VIET NOW: Local Heroes
INQUIRER: Interactive Map Of Local Iraq War Dead [click image to activate]
RAW TAPE: Osama Bin Laden
EDITORIAL: Setting aside for a moment his pre-Age Of Reason worldview and psychopathic capacity to kill-without-feeling anyone that contradicts it, it must be said that Osama Bin Laden is a razor-sharp observer of world affairs, and as such his comments are no more or less credible than the average Fox News talking head. To wit: he says that despite the U.S. being the mightiest military power on Earth, 19 men flying planes into buildings were able to entirely change America’s compass. Who does not agree with that? And who, in hindsight, does not agree that the over-reaction to 9/11 was […]
MUST HEAR RADIO: It Can’t Happen Here?
FRESH AIR As head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, Jack Goldsmith led the team of lawyers that advises the presidency on the limits of executive power. During his tenure, he battled the Bush White House on the now-infamous “torture memos,” as well as on issues of surveillance and the detention and trial of suspected terrorists. Goldsmith resigned his post after nine months. He’s speaking publicly for the first time about why he resigned in a new memoir, The Terror Presidency — which also recounts what he witnessed in Attorney General John Ashcroft’s hospital room, when Alberto Gonzales and […]
MEDIA: Columbus Dispatch Runs Nazi-Esque Cartoon
The thought that apparently DID NOT occur to the Columbus Dispatch‘s Op-Ed page editor when he/she green-lighted this frickin’ piece of work would have sounded something like this: Hmmm…Comparing an entire nation of people to cockroaches scurrying out of a drain is a little too close for comfort to the Nazis depicting Jews as scurrying vermin in The Eternal Jew. And the whole thing is made doubly offensive given Ahmadinejad’s disgraceful Jew-baiting and Holocaust revisionism. Hmmm…maybe this is a bad idea. [image via CROOKS & LIARS] * LOCAL ANGLE: “There is only one way forward that might possibly build on […]
UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES: Federal Judge Strikes Down The Patriot Act, Calls It “An Ominous Free Pass To The Hijacking Of Constitutional Values”
BY DAN EGGEN OF THE WASHINGTON POST A federal judge today struck down portions of the USA Patriot Act as unconstitutional, ordering the FBI to stop issuing “national security letters” that secretly demand customer information from Internet service providers and other businesses. U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in New York ruled that the landmark anti-terrorism law violates the First Amendment and the Constitution’s separation of powers provisions because it effectively prohibits recipients of the FBI letters (NSLs) from revealing their existence and does not provide adequate judicial oversight of the process. Marrero wrote in his 106-page ruling that Patriot Act […]