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2006 California Archive:

20061206

Government- Legislative - Money - Military - Health - Food - Elderly - Calif - "Some Republicans Take a Scorched-Hill Tack: Leaving Budget Decisions To Democrats Could Disrupt New Leadership's Agenda." ... "Like a retreating army, Republicans are tearing up railroad track and planting legislative land mines to make it harder for Democrats to govern when they take power in Congress next month." ... "Already, the Republican leadership has moved to saddle the new Democratic majority with responsibility for resolving $463 billion in spending bills for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. And the departing chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Bill Thomas (R., Calif.), has been demanding that the Democrat-crafted 2008 budget absorb most of the $13 billion in costs incurred from a decision now to protect physician reimbursements under Medicare, the federal health-care program for the elderly and disabled." ... "The unstated goal is to disrupt the Democratic agenda and make it harder for the new majority to meet its promise to reinstitute "pay-as-you-go" budget rules, under which new costs or tax cuts must be offset to protect the deficit from growing." ... "The collapse of the appropriations process will be felt soon in the Justice and Commerce departments, food-safety agencies and veterans' health care." ... ""It's a demonstration of the irresponsibility of Republicans that they would leave this country with this mess," said the next House speaker, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.). "But we won, we will deal with it."" -By David Rogers -WSJ.com

20061113

Richard Shelby

Corporate

Crime

Government

Law

Politics

Digital

Technology

Online

Consumer

California

Alabama

"Inside America's Richest Insurance Racket: Title insurance firms rake in $18 billion a year for a product that is outdated, largely unneeded--and protected by law." ... "Parker Kennedy's roots run deep in the California company his family founded 112 years ago. Through four generations the clan (unrelated to the Massachusetts political dynasty) has run what today is First American [Corporation], the largest title-insurance company in the nation. It collects $5.8 billion a year selling this age-old mainstay of homeownership." ... "All that cash--for an outdated product that should have been all but wiped out by digital technology." ... "Title companies appeared a century ago, helping to protect home buyers from being swindled by crooks who sold properties they didn't own. A title insurance policy protects the buyer in case the deed turns out to be defective but the seller cannot be collared to refund the purchase price. It is far less necessary in these days of computerized records, online searches and rare instances of title fraud or hidden liens." ... "Yet First American and its two main rivals--number two Fidelity National (no relation to Fidelity mutual funds) and third-ranked LandAmerica--are fat and thriving in an $18-billion-a-year business that has quadrupled in ten years." ... "First American has doubled its prices in a decade, to an average charge of $1,472 per home for a title search and insurance. Meanwhile, thanks to computerized record-keeping, the cost of searching for a home's ownership records online has fallen to as low as $25. Technology also has helped make mistakes rarer; now only $74 of each policy goes to pay claims--that is, make home buyers with defective deeds whole. That leaves a $1,373 spread for overhead and for profit." ... "Fancy this: racetracks that keep 93% of your money and return only 5% in winning tickets. They wouldn't last long, not unless they could somehow rig the rules to both forbid price competition and make the purchase of race bets mandatory. That's more or less what the title insurance industry has done to American homeowners." ... "Kennedy attributes his profits to the long housing boom and the efforts his company has made to deploy technology and move jobs offshore. "Nobody's cutting a fat hog," he says." ... "But the title industry's halcyon days owe much to antiquated state laws that thwart new competition, allow prices to soar despite declining costs and force almost every home buyer to pay for insurance that most of them will never need. In all but a handful of states, laws bar insurance giants in other fields, such as AIG or State Farm, from offering title insurance and undercutting incumbents' prices. It also is illegal for anyone to offer guarantees that provide the same protection as title insurance." ... "In 2004 the title industry stared down another threat, this one in Washington, D.C. HUD [Housing and Urban Development] had pushed for rules that would allow lenders to package title insurance with a mortgage, something federal law currently forbids. The title industry, fearing the power of banks to negotiate lower title insurance rates, was violently opposed to the rules and found a key ally in [Alabama Republican] Senator Richard Shelby, the Alabama Republican who is chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee--and who owns the Tuscaloosa Title Co. [Company.] (A Shelby spokesman says the senator's attitude toward HUD's proposals is unrelated to his sideline business.) HUD is now considering other options for reforming the industry." ... "Yet another movement for change comes from efforts by the nation's county recorders to agree on a uniform way to store property records online, which could severely curtail the need for title insurers. But even if they succeed, most state legislatures would have to lift a thicket of creaky old laws that have enriched the title industry for decades--and bilked home buyers out of billions of dollars." (1, 2) -By Scott Woolley

-Forbes

Note: First American Corp contributed $56,000 to Alabama Republican Senator Richard Shelby (2001-2006)

via -OpenSecrets.org

20061030

Ken Calvert - Gay - Government - Transportation - Real Estate - Money - Law - California - "Running for Their Lives." ... "Ken Calvert, a Republican representative from California, was caught in a car with a prostitute during his first term but, after putting out campaign literature implying that his Democratic opponent was gay, held on to his seat. Last year Calvert and a business partner bought a four-acre parcel of land in Riverside County for $550,000; after securing federal funds for the expansion of a nearby freeway interchange, along with federal money to support commercial development in the area, they sold the property for nearly $1 million. But Democrats say they are not running a serious challenger against Calvert, because the seat leans strongly Republican." -By Juliet Eilperin -TheAtlantic.com

20061014

Ney- Abramoff - Doolittle - Volz - Money - Politics - Ohio - Montana - California - "Ney Pleads Guilty to Corruption Charges: Lawmaker's Conviction Is 8th in Abramoff Probe." ... "[Ohio Republican Bob] Ney is the eighth person convicted in the continuing federal investigation into Abramoff's activities. A federal task force that includes a dozen Justice Department prosecutors is investigating Abramoff's dealings with other congressional offices, including those of Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont. [Republican-Montana]) and Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif. [Republican-California]), according to lawyers and witnesses involved in the probe." ... "The Ohio Republican had been a target of the investigation for a year and came under increasing pressure -- first in January with Abramoff's guilty plea and agreement to cooperate in the investigation, then with the guilty plea in May of his former aide Neil G. Volz, who admitted conspiring to corruptly influence the congressman and others. Ney admitted encouraging Volz to violate the one-year ban on lobbying by former staffers." ... "Earlier this year, Ney's committee passed ethics legislation to strip convicted lawmakers of their pensions, but the bill died in the House." -By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi with contributions by Alice Crites -WashingtonPost

20061013

Abramoff - Doolittle - Family - Business - E-Mail - California - Military - "E-mail adds fuel to the fire: It suggests Doolittle wanted wife to work for Abramoff in 2000." ... "A day after a hot campaign debate in which [California Republican] Rep. John Doolittle said there was nothing unethical in his relationship with Jack Abramoff, a new e-mail surfaced Thursday indicating he was hoping his wife could go to work for the disgraced lobbyist as early as 2000." ... "The e-mail released Thursday was written by Kevin Ring, an Abramoff associate and former Doolittle staffer, to his boss. In it, Ring relates that Doolittle is "very very excited and appreciative" about the possibility of his wife, Julie, going to work for an Abramoff nonprofit group called Toward Tradition." ... ""JTD knows of the group and would like to talk to you about it," the e-mail says." ... "The e-mail suggests Doolittle was trying to get a job for his wife two years before she ultimately took a position working for Abramoff at his law firm, Greenberg Traurig." ... "[Democrat Charlie] Brown, a retired Air Force officer, is seeking to unseat Doolittle, who is running for a ninth term representing the 4th Congressional District. Republicans outnumber Democrats in the district 48 percent to 30 percent." -By David Whitney -SacBee.com

20061012

Abramoff - Doolittle - Family - Politics - California - Virginia - "Abramoff e-mail indicates more ties with Doolittle." ... "[California Republican] Rep. John Doolittle wanted to talk to lobbyist Jack Abramoff in 2000 about a position for his wife Julie Doolittle at a nonprofit now accused of doing favors for Abramoff in exchange for cash, according to an e-mail released Thursday." ... "Doolittle has denied any wrongdoing in his ties with Abramoff and has said he's not been contacted by prosecutors in connection with the ongoing investigation. Among other ties, Doolittle accepted campaign money from Abramoff, interceded on behalf of two of his tribal clients and used Abramoff's luxury sports box for a fundraiser without initially reporting it." ... "Julie Doolittle's company, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions Inc. of Oakton, Va. [Virginia], was paid $66,690 by Abramoff's firm Greenberg Traurig from September 2002 to February 2004." -By Erica Werner -AP via -MercuryNews

20061011

Abramoff - Pombo - Money- Lawmakers - History - US - Northern Mariana Islands - Garment - Labor - California - "AP Exclusive: Records suggest Abramoff, Pombo lobbying contacts." ... "California [Republican] Rep. Richard Pombo has insisted he was never lobbied by [Republican lobbyist] Jack Abramoff. Records show the disgraced lobbyist billed a client for at least two contacts with Pombo a decade ago." ... "The lobbying records released by the Northern Mariana Islands show that Abramoff billed once for calls to Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, and a second time for a discussion with him, while lobbying in 1996." ... "On more than two dozen other occasions from 1996 through 2001, Abramoff associates called or met with members of Pombo's staff, including his chief of staff, the records indicate. As the contacts picked up, Pombo voted Abramoff's way on a bill important to Abramoff's clients." ... "The Northern Mariana Islands, a chain of 14 islands near Guam, became a U.S. commonwealth in 1986. Residents have nonvoting citizenship but the islands are exempt from many federal labor laws." ... "Democrats, complaining about reported abuses at low-paying garment factories, have sought to end those exemptions and increase the minimum wage, now $3.05 an hour. The Marianas government hired Abramoff to block such moves." ... "On Sept. 10, 1996, Abramoff billed for a discussion with Pombo. Two days later he gave Pombo a $500 donation, the first of what would become $7,500 in campaign contributions. Pombo has since donated the money to charity. On Nov. 21, 1996, Abramoff reported putting in calls to Pombo and other lawmakers." -By Erica Werner -AP via -MercuryNews

20061002

Foley - Hastert - Cunningham - DeLay - Ney - Children - Lawmakers - Politics - 2006 Election - Florida - Illinois - California - Texas - Ohio - "FBI looks at [Florida Republican] Foley's e-mails to teens." ... "[Illinois Republican] House Speaker Dennis Hastert asked the Justice Department on Sunday to investigate former [Florida Republican] congressman Mark Foley's communications with teenage boys who worked as House pages." ... "Hastert has said he knew about non-sexual e-mails that Foley, 52, a Florida Republican, sent to a 16-year-old former page, first reported by ABC News on Thursday." ... "Foley is the fourth House Republican forced out by ethics problems. [Republican] Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California resigned in November after pleading guilty to accepting $2.4 million in bribes. Former majority leader [Republican] Tom DeLay of Texas was indicted on state campaign finance violations and resigned in June. [Republican] Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio has agreed to plead guilty to charges of corruption and is not seeking re-election [in 2006]." ... "House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi [from California] called on the House ethics committee Sunday to question GOP leaders under oath. "They chose to cover it up rather than to protect these children," she said." -By Richard Wolf and Kevin Johnson with contributions by Kathy Kiely, Jill Lawrence, Matt Kelley, and Wendy Koc -USATODAY

20061001

Mark Foley - Secret - E-Mails - IMs - Lawmakers - Dennis Hastert - Thomas Reynolds - New York - Illinois - California - Florida - "Dems Slap GOP for Keeping E-Mails Secret: Democrats Slap Republicans for Keeping E-Mail Scandal a Secret, Demand Thorough Probe." ... "House Republican leaders should have kept Democrats in the loop and now must conduct a thorough investigation about the inappropriate e-mails that led to [Florida Republican] Rep. Mark Foley's resignation, a top Democrat said Sunday." ... ""This should be investigated objectively. I think the Democratic leadership should have been told 10 months ago," said Rep. Jane Harman of California, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. "I gather that basically nothing was done except that Foley was warned."" ... "Foley, R-Fla., quit Congress on Friday after the disclosure of the e-mails to a teenage boy who was a former congressional page and the lawmaker's sexually suggestive instant messages to other pages." ... "House Speaker [Illinois Republican] Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said at first he had learned only last week about the e-mails Foley sent to a page. Hastert later acknowledged that aides referred the matter to the authorities last fall." ... "[New York Republican] Rep. Thomas Reynolds, head of the House Republican election effort, said Saturday he told Hastert months ago about concerns Foley sent inappropriate messages to a teenage boy. Reynolds, R-N.Y., is under attack from Democrats who say he did too little to protect the boy." (1, 2) -By John Heilprin -AP via -ABCNEWS.com
Mark Foley - Computer - E-Mail - Messages - Laws - Children- Politics - Dennis Hastert - Illinois - Florida - Nevada - California - Louisiana - "FBI looking into Foley computer exchanges." ... "The FBI is looking at whether former Florida [Republican] Rep. Mark Foley's computer exchanges with underage House pages broke any laws, an FBI spokesman said late Sunday." ... "Under fire from Democrats, House Speaker Dennis Hastert [Illinois Republican] also asked Sunday that [Republican] U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales - and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement - look into the case." ... "Foley, a Florida Republican, gave no reason for leaving but said he was "deeply sorry" and resigned Friday after the subsequent, sexually explicit instant messages were disclosed by ABC News." ... "Earlier Sunday, Democrats in both chambers, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, called for investigations." ... "Hastert's office said Saturday his office was contacted last fall by a staff member in the office of Louisiana Republican Rep. Rodney Alexander, where the page once worked. The boy said in an e-mail to Alexander's office that the computer exchange with Foley "freaked him out" and was "sick..sick..sick."" -By Lesley Clark -McClatchy via -MercuryNews

20060930

Mark Foley - Florida - John Boehner - Ohio - Ill - Calif - "Rep. Foley Quits In Page Scandal: Explicit Online Notes Sent to Boy, 16." ... "Six-term [Florida Republican] Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) resigned yesterday amid reports that he had sent sexually explicit Internet messages to at least one underage male former page." ... "The resignation rocked the Capitol, and especially Foley's GOP colleagues, as lawmakers were rushing to adjourn for at least six weeks. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of some "contact" between Foley and a 16-year-old page. Boehner said he told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), and that Hastert assured him "we're taking care of it."" ... "It was not immediately clear what actions Hastert took. His spokesman had said earlier that the speaker did not know of the sexually charged online exchanges between Foley and the boy." ... "House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took the House floor last night to demand an investigation into the Foley matter. But Boehner headed her off, calling on the House to refer the matter to the ethics committee, which the House promptly voted unanimously to do." (1, 2) -By Charles Babington and Jonathan Weisman with contributions by Lucy Shackelford and Zachary A. Goldfarb -WashingtonPost

20060929

Mark Foley - Florida - John Boehner - Ohio - NY - Ill - Mich- Calif - "Foley Interviewed About Page Last Year; Democrats Not Told: Ethics Inquiry Ordered." ... "[Florida Republican] Ex-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.), who resigned Friday after reports of his improper communications with a former male House page were made public, was interviewed about some of those contacts by the chairman of the House Page Board and the then-Clerk of the House last year." ... "At least four Republican House Members, one senior GOP aide and a former top officer of the House were aware of the allegations about Foley that prompted the initial reporting regarding his e-mail contacts with a 16-year-old House page. They include: Majority Leader [Ohio Republican] John Boehner (R-Ohio), National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman [New York Republican] Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) and Reps. [Louisiana Republican] Rodney Alexander (R-La.) and [Illinois Republican] John Shimkus (R-Ill.), as well as a senior aide to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and former Clerk of the House Jeff Trandahl." ... "[Michigan Democrat] Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), who serves on the page board, was never told of the interview with Foley." ... ""I became aware of it this afternoon when [Shimkus] came by my office. I think we should have had a page meeting right away," Kildee said, referring to last year's discovery of Foley's e-mails." ... "When asked if was upset about being excluded, Kildee said yes, adding, "I've been on the page board for 20 years."" ... ""I'm the chairman of the page board," Shimkus said when asked why he didn't include Kildee. "The Clerk and I addressed this issue."" ... "House Minority Leader [California Democrat] Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who introduced a privileged resolution friday night to require an ethics probe, criticized Republican leaders, who she said, "have known of the egregious behavior of Congressman Mark Foley, yet were prepared to adjourn tonight without an Ethics Committee investigation."" ... ""The investigation must determine when Mr. Foley sent the inappropriate emails, who knew of them, whether there was a pattern of inappropriate activity by Mr. Foley with pages or former pages, when the Republican leadership was notified, and what corrective action was taken once officials learned of any improper activity," she added." -By John Bresnahan and Susan Davis -RollCall.com

20060921

Government - Housing - Money - Law - Alphonso Jackson - Calif - "HUD Secretary urged favoritism in awarding of contracts." ... "Top aides to Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson testified that they and other senior staff members were advised to take political leanings into consideration when awarding discretionary contracts, according to an internal report issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development's inspector general." ... "Despite Jackson's edict, there is no evidence that "information regarding political affiliation was routinely or generally received, maintained or applied to the contracting process; however, there were some limited instances where political affiliation may have been a factor in contract issues involving Jackson," the report found." ... "The findings led Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., to call Thursday for Jackson's resignation." ... ""If this report is accurate, Secretary Jackson should resign immediately," Waxman said. "We must not allow taxpayer-funded contracts to be handed out to political allies as rewards for loyalty."" -By Christine Perez -BizJournals

20060902

California- Oregon- Arizona - Computer - Intel - Jobs - "Intel to shed up to 20,000 jobs with AMD on its heels." ... "It will be a long holiday weekend for about 100,000 Intel Corp. employees, with the world's largest chipmaker --facing tough competition from chief rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. -- expected to announce as many as 20,000 job cuts next week, its largest retrenchment in two decades." ... "Chief Executive Officer Paul Otellini, who already has begun to slash jobs and sell businesses in response to falling sales and market share, is expected to discuss with employees the results of a 90-day stem-to-stern review of company operations on Tuesday via Webcast" ... "Intel has about 6,000 employees in its Santa Clara [California] headquarters and about 7,000 in Folsom. Other large West Coast operations include about 17,000 employees in Oregon and 11,000 in Arizona." -By Jessica Guynn -SFGate.com

20060831

California - Air - Law - Climate - Politics - LA - "Calif Legislature passes bill to cut greenhouse gases." ... "The California Assembly on Thursday approved, as expected, a bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state to 1990 levels by 2020." ... "The state Senate earlier in the day approved the measure, which was forged by a compromise reached Wednesday between the legislature's Democratic Party leadership and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger." ... "Only one Republican assemblymember, Shirley Horton of San Diego, voted for the measure, which passed 46-31. Not one Republican in the state Senate voted for Assembly Bill 32, which was sponsored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles." -By Mark Golden -MarketWatch

20060815

US - Mexico - US Immigration - 2006 Election - Politics - California - New York - Texas - Florida - New-Jersey - Illinois - Georgia - North Carolina - Indiana - South Dakota - Delaware - Missouri - Colorado - New Hampshire - Ohio - "Census Shows Growth of Immigrants." ... "The number of immigrants living in American households rose 16 percent over the last five years, fueled largely by recent arrivals from Mexico, according to fresh data released by the Census Bureau." ... "Coming in the heart of an election season in which illegal immigration has emerged as an issue, the new data from the bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey is certain to generate more debate." ... "By far the largest numbers of immigrants continue to live in the six states that have traditionally attracted them: California, New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey and Illinois." ... "Immigrants also continue to flow into a handful of states in the Southeast, like Georgia and North Carolina, a trend that was discerned in the 2000 census." ... "But it is in the less-expected immigrant destinations that demographers find the most of interest in the new data." ... "Indiana saw a 34 percent increase in the number of immigrants; South Dakota saw a 44 percent rise; Delaware 32 percent; Missouri 31 percent; Colorado 28 percent; and New Hampshire 26 percent." ... "“It’s the continuation of a pattern that we first began to see 10 or 15 years ago,” said Jeff Passel, senior research associate at the Pew Hispanic Center, who has examined the new census data. “But instead of being confined to areas like the Southeast, it’s beginning to spill over into some Midwestern states, like Indiana and Ohio. It’s even moving up into New England.”" ... "Over all, immigrants now make up 12.4 percent of the nation’s population, up from 11.2 percent in 2000. That amounts to an estimated 4.9 million additional immigrants for a total of 35.7 million, a number larger than the population of California." (1, 2) -By Rick Lyman -NYTimes
US - Iraq - Military - Religious - Election 2006 - 2004 Election - Free Speech - Law - Colorado - Maryland - Montana - Tennessee - Michigan - Ohio - Pennsylvania - New Jersey - Minnesota- California - "Conservatives Put Faith in Church Voter Drives: Evangelicals seek to sign up a new flock of GOP supporters in states with crucial November races." ... "As discontent with the Republican Party threatens to dampen the turnout of conservative voters in November, evangelical leaders are launching a massive registration drive that could help counter the malaise and mobilize new religious voters in battleground states." ... "The program, coordinated by the Colorado-based group Focus on the Family and its influential founder, James C. Dobson, would use a variety of methods — including information inserted in church publications and booths placed outside worship services — to recruit millions of new voters in 2006 and beyond." ... "The effort builds on the aggressive courtship of evangelical voters in 2004 by President Bush's reelection campaign, even as the Internal Revenue Service has announced renewed scrutiny of nonprofit organizations, including churches, that engage in political activities." ... "The program, announced in an e-mail to activists last week, is seeking county and church coordinators in the targeted states of Maryland, Montana, Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Minnesota." ... "Registering voters in churches is not a new tactic for either party, but Republicans have proved far more effective in recent years at combining religion and politics for electoral gain." ... "Critics say the practice is potentially illegal, citing tax laws that prohibit churches from engaging in partisan activities." ... "The IRS has launched a program to crack down on violators, with investigations pending against dozens of churches." ... "The IRS probe with the highest profile is that of All Saints Church in Pasadena, one of Southern California's largest and most liberal congregations." ... "After a priest delivered a sermon critical of the Iraq war two days before the 2004 presidential election, the IRS began reviewing the Episcopal church's tax-exempt status. No decision has been announced." -By Peter Wallsten -LAtimes
Secret - Reporters - Business - Sports - Drugs - San Francisco - California - "Reporters must testify over Bonds leak." ... "A federal judge told two San Francisco Chronicle [California newspaper] reporters they must comply with a subpoena and tell a grand jury who leaked them secret testimony of Barry Bonds and other elite athletes ensnared in the government's steroid probe." ... "The decision by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White means reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada must appear before a grand jury investigating the leak unless a higher court blocks the ruling. The pair have said they would not testify and would go to jail rather than reveal their source or sources." ... "The Hearst Corp., owner of the Chronicle, argued that the reporters should be immune to testifying because of a combination of factors, including the First Amendment." ... "Hearst said the leak doesn't involve national security and that a lot of good has come from the writers' reporting." -By David Kravets -AP via -USATODAY

Search the case: <United States v. Fainaru-Wada, 06-90225> via <Google-[News]>

20060810

Secret - Government - Military - Intelligence - Business - Law - Cunningham - California - "'Duke' Inquiry Cites Breakdowns: The findings could widen the [California Republican] Cunningham scandal, a Democratic memo suggests." ... "An internal congressional investigation has found that "major breakdowns" in legislative controls enabled former Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to use his position on the House Intelligence Committee to steer classified government contracts to political cronies, according to a memo distributed this week to Democrats on the panel." ... "The memo accuses Republicans of backing out of an agreement to subpoena Cunningham, and calls for the public release of a 20-page unclassified report documenting the findings of the investigation." ... "The criminal investigation of Cunningham focused largely on the military contracts he influenced as a member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee." ... "But the internal House probe has found a similar pattern of abuses in contracts involving U.S. intelligence agencies — and includes language describing cases in which the disgraced congressman pressured committee aides to set aside secret funds for his associates, according to congressional sources familiar with the investigation." (1, 2) -By Greg Miller -LAtimes

20060804

DCI

Marketing

Oil

Corporation

Politics

Global

Climate

Internet

Computer

Entertainment

Environment

Al Gore

"Al Gore YouTube Spoof Not So Amateurish: Republican PR [public relations] Firm Said to Be Behind 'Inconvenient Truth' Spoof." ... "A tiny little movie making fun of Al Gore, supposedly made by an amateur filmmaker, recently appeared on the popular Web site YouTube.com." ... "At first blush, the spoof seemed like a scrappy little homemade film poking fun at Gore and his anti-global warming crusade." ... "The film actually came from a slick Republican public relations firm called DCI, which just happens to have oil giant Exxon as a client." ... "Public relations firms have long used computer technology to create bogus grassroots campaigns, which are called "Astroturf."" ... "Now these firms are being hired to push illusions on the Internet to create the false impression of real people blogging, e-mailing and making films. " (1, 2) -By Jake Tapper and Max Culhane

-ABCNEWS.com

20060803

DCI - Marketing - Psychology - Oil - Corporation - Politics - Opinion - Internet - Video - California - Entertainment - Media - Search Engine - Computer - Communications - EMail - Environmental - Science - Global - Climate - Al Gore - "Where did that video spoofing Gore's film come from?" ... "Everyone knows Al Gore stars in the global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." But who created "Al Gore's Penguin Army," a two-minute video now playing on YouTube.com?" ... "Like other videos on the popular YouTube site, it has a home-made, humorous quality. The video's maker is listed as "Toutsmith," a 29-year-old who identifies himself as being from Beverly Hills [California] in an Internet profile." ... "In an email exchange with The Wall Street Journal, Toutsmith didn't answer when asked who he was or why he made the video, which has just over 59,000 views on YouTube. However, computer routing information contained in an email sent from Toutsmith's Yahoo account indicate it didn't come from an amateur working out of his basement." ... "Instead, the email originated from a computer registered to DCI Group, a Washington, D.C., public relations and lobbying firm whose clients include oil company Exxon Mobil Corp [Corporation]." ... "The anti-Gore video represents a less well-known side of YouTube. As its popularity has exploded, the public video-sharing site has drawn marketers looking to build buzz for new music releases and summer blockbusters. Now, it's being tapped by political operatives, public relations experts and ad agencies to sway opinions." ... "DCI is no stranger to the debate over global warming. Partly through Tech Central Station, an opinion Web site it operates, DCI has sought to raise doubts about the science of global warming and about Mr. Gore's film, placing skeptical scientists on talk-radio shows and paying them to write editorials." ... "Internet videos could prove particularly potent, because they may influence watchers in ways they don't realize. Nancy Snow, a communications professor at California State University, Fullerton, viewed the penguin video and calls it a lesson in "Propaganda 101." It contains no factual information, but presents a highly negative image of the former vice president, she says. The purpose of such images is to harden the views of those who already view Mr. Gore negatively, Dr. Snow says." ... "Traffic to the penguin video, first posted on YouTube.com in May, got a boost from prominently placed sponsored links that appeared on the Google search engine when users typed in "Al Gore" or "Global Warming." The ads, which didn't indicate who had paid for them, were removed shortly after The Wall Street Journal contacted DCI Group on Tuesday." -By Antonio Regalado and Dionne Searcey with contributions by Jeffrey Ball -WSJ.com via -Post-Gazette.com

20060728

California - Elderly - Disaster - Energy - Food - Work - Water - Animal- Oregon - Wildfire - "At least 132 deaths likely linked to heat Calif. heat wave." ... "At least 132 deaths, mostly elderly residents, were likely linked to a nearly two-week heat wave in California, county coroner's offices reported Friday." ... "Both Northern and Southern California had been gripped by triple-digit temperatures since July 16, with the Central Valley suffering the most with temperatures as high as 115." ... "Before this week, the utility's highest peak energy use was recorded at 5,661 megawatts. The heat wave created a demand of 6,165 megawatts — shocking officials who predicted usage wouldn't top 6,100 megawatts for another four years." ... "In Northern California, a wildfire near the Oregon state line was threatening major power transmission lines between California and the Pacific Northwest." ... "Farmers have been struggling as well, trying get work crews into the fields in the early mornings to avoid the worst of the heat and running water misters to keep cattle from dying. Vegetables, fruit and even wine grapes could be affected." -By Olivia Munoz -AP via -SFGate.com

20060723

Randy Cunningham - Secret - Government - Political - Business - Legislation - California - "Study: Ex-Rep. Made Use of 'Black' Budgets: Study: Cunningham Slipped Items Into Classified Bills That Benefited Him, His Associates." ... "An independent investigation has found that imprisoned former [California Republican] Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham took advantage of secrecy and badgered congressional aides to help slip items into classified bills that would benefit him and his associates." ... "The finding comes from Michael Stern, an outside investigator hired by the House Intelligence Committee to look into how Cunningham was able to carry out the scheme. Stern is working with the committee to fix vulnerabilities in the way top-secret legislation is written, said congressional officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the committee still is being briefed on Stern's findings." ... "Cunningham's case has put a stark spotlight on the oversight of classified or "black" budgets. Unlike legislation dealing with social and economic issues, intelligence bills and parts of defense bills are written in private, in the name of national security." ... "Federal prosecutors found that Cunningham accepted $2.4 million in bribes, including payments for a mansion, a Rolls-Royce and a 65-foot yacht, in return for steering defense and intelligence contracts to certain companies. Cunningham pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than eight years in prison." (1, 2, 3) -By Katherine Shrader -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

20060626

US - Iraq - Military - Calif - Mich - "Democrats Cite Report On Troop Cuts in Iraq: Pentagon Plan Like Theirs, Senators Say." ... "Senate Democrats reacted angrily yesterday to a report that the U.S. commander in Iraq had privately presented a plan for significant troop reductions in the same week they came under attack by Republicans for trying to set a timetable for withdrawal." ... "Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said that the plan attributed to Gen. George W. Casey resembles the thinking of many Democrats who voted for a nonbinding resolution to begin a troop drawdown in December. That resolution was defeated Thursday on a largely party-line vote in the Senate." ... ""That means the only people who have fought us and fought us against the timetable, the only ones still saying there shouldn't be a timetable really are the Republicans in the United States Senate and in the Congress," Boxer said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "Now it turns out we're in sync with General Casey."" ... "Sen. Carl M. Levin (Mich.), one of the two sponsors of the nonbinding resolution, which offered no pace or completion date for a withdrawal, said the report is another sign of what he termed one of the "worst-kept secrets in town" -- that the administration intends to pull out troops before the midterm elections in November." -By Michael Abramowitz and Thomas E. Ricks -WashingtonPost

20060622

Lawmakers - Government - Transportation - Money - Dennis Hastert - Real Estate - Illinois - California - "Lawmakers' Profits Are Scrutinized: Hastert and Others Defend Land Gains." ... "House Speaker [Illinois Republican] J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) made a $2 million profit last year on the sale of land 5 1/2 miles from a highway project that he helped to finance with targeted federal funds." ... "A Republican House member from California, meanwhile, received nearly double what he paid for a four-acre parcel near an Air Force base after securing $8 million for a planned freeway interchange 16 miles away. And another California GOP congressman obtained funding in last year's highway bill for street improvements near a planned residential and commercial development that he co-owns." ... "In all three cases, Hastert and Reps. Ken Calvert [California Republican] and Gary Miller [California Republican] say that they were securing funds their home districts wanted badly, and that in no way did the earmarks have any impact on the land values of their investments. But for watchdog groups, the cases have opened a fresh avenue for investigation and a new wrinkle in the ongoing controversy over earmarks -- home-district projects funded through narrowly written legislative language." (1, 2) -By Jonathan Weisman -WashingtonPost

20060601

Reporters - Law Enforcement - Politics - Sports - Drugs - San Francisco - California - "Justice Dept. Is Criticized by Ex-Official on Subpoenas." ... "Subpoenas issued last month to reporters for The San Francisco Chronicle were criticized yesterday by a former chief spokesman for Attorney General John Ashcroft as a "reckless abuse of power."" ... "The former spokesman, Mark Corallo, made similar statements in an affidavit filed in federal court yesterday. He said Mr. Ashcroft's successor, Alberto R. Gonzales, had acted improperly in issuing the subpoenas." ... ""This is the most reckless abuse of power I have seen in years," Mr. Corallo said in an interview. "They really should be ashamed of themselves."" ... "The subpoenas, part of an effort to identify The Chronicle's sources for its coverage of steroid use in baseball, would not have been authorized by Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Corallo said. "You just don't ride roughshod over the rights of reporters to gather information from confidential sources," he added." -By Adam Liptak -NYTimes

20060530

Government - Employees - Law - Los Angeles - California - Samuel Alito - John Roberts - Antonin Scalia - "Justices Set Limits on Public Employees' Speech Rights." ... "The Supreme Court declared today, in a ruling affecting millions of government employees, that the Constitution does not always protect their free-speech rights for what they say on the job." ... "In a 5-to-4 decision, the court held that public employees' free-speech rights are protected when they speak out as citizens on matters of public concern, but not when they speak out in the course of their official duties." ... "Today's ruling, involving a deputy Los Angeles [California] district attorney who contended that he had been denied a promotion for challenging the legitimacy of a search warrant, came in a case that has been closely watched not just by public workers but by those who have worried that it could discourage internal whistle-blowers from speaking up about government misconduct and inefficiency." ... ""We hold that when public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, the employees are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline," Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court." ... "The court's newest justice, Samuel A. Alito Jr., was in the majority as were Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas." -By David Stout -NYTimes

Search Case via Google: <Garcetti v. Ceballos, No. 04-473>

Political - Hacking - Technology - Business- Voting Machine Risks - Utah- California - Pennsylvania - "Debating the Bugs of High-Tech Voting: Test of Software in Machines Renews Security Concerns." ... "A coalition of voting rights activists and prominent computer scientists argues that some of the machines are not sufficiently secure against tampering and could result in disputed elections, while voting machine vendors and many election officials say that view is exaggerated." ... "The latest dispute occurred several weeks ago after it was discovered at a test in Utah that someone with a reasonable knowledge of computer code could gain access to and tamper with the system software on a popular brand of voting machine manufactured by Diebold Election Systems. The developments prompted California and Pennsylvania to send urgent warnings to counties that use Diebold's touch-screen voting systems to take additional steps to secure them." ... "In California, David Jefferson, a computer scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who consults with the state on its elections, said he was "stunned when he found out" about the vulnerability identified in the Utah test and agreed with the "frequently expressed opinion that this is the worst vulnerability that we have ever seen."" -By Zachary A. Goldfarb -WashingtonPost

20060518

US - Memorial Day - Military - Homeless- Poverty - Health - Government - Money - Politics - Iraq - Calif. - "Number of Homeless Vets Called a 'Disgrace': A Third of Homeless Men in the U.S. Have Served in the Military." ... "One of every three homeless males in the United States is a veteran, and each night as many as 200,000 men and women veterans go to sleep with no place to call home, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs." ... "With Memorial Day approaching, Democratic members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee held a forum on homeless veterans." ... "Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., who chaired the forum, was blunt. "It's a disgrace that we let any of our vets get in this position. If we spend a billion dollars every 2½ days in Iraq, we can spend a lot more for those who have served us but will be out on the streets tonight."" ... "According to recent statistics, the VA provided health care services to more than 100,000 homeless veterans in 2004, and the agency spent more than $1 billion to assist tens of thousands of homeless and at-risk veterans." (1, 2) -By Dean Norland -ABCNEWS.com

20060512

Kyle "Dusty" Foggo - Randy "Duke" Cunningham - Brent Wilkes - Intelligence - Law - Money - Politics - San Diego - California - Virginia - "FBI searches home of ex-CIA official: The FBI searched the home and office of former CIA Executive Director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo on Friday, the CIA said." ... "Foggo, who was the spy agency's third-ranking official, is part of a broad law enforcement investigation into allegations of corruption, according to officials familiar with the probe." ... "The Associated Press reported that Foggo has been under investigation by the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the CIA's inspector general and the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego, California, according to FBI spokeswoman April Langwell in San Diego. Langwell told the AP that officials -- under a sealed warrant -- searched Foggo's Virginia home and his office at the CIA's Langley, Virginia, campus." ... "Foggo, who resigned this week from his job overseeing day-to-day CIA operations, is under investigation over his ties to a defense contractor linked to the bribery case against former [California Republican Representative] U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-California." ... "The investigations stem from Foggo's relationship with defense contractor Brent Wilkes." ... "After reports surfaced last week alleging Wilkes provided Cunningham with limousines and prostitutes at two Washington hotels, Foggo said he had attended poker parties thrown by Wilkes there." -Contributed to by Kevin Bohn and John Roberts -CNN
Noteworthy - Voting Machines - Science - Hacker - Politics - Business - 2006 Election - 2008 Election - Pennsylvania - California - Iowa - "New Fears of Security Risks in Electronic Voting Systems." ... "With primary election dates fast approaching in many states, officials in Pennsylvania and California issued urgent directives in recent days about a potential security risk in their Diebold Election Systems touch-screen voting machines, while other states with similar equipment hurried to assess the seriousness of the problem." ... ""It's the most severe security flaw ever discovered in a voting system," said Michael I. Shamos, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University who is an examiner of electronic voting systems for Pennsylvania, where the primary is to take place on Tuesday." ... ""This is the barn door being wide open, while people were arguing over the lock on the front door," said Douglas W. Jones, a professor of computer science at the University of Iowa, a state where the primary is June 6." ... "The new concerns about Diebold's equipment were discovered by Harri Hursti, a Finnish computer expert who was working at the request of Black Box Voting Inc., a nonprofit group that has been critical of electronic voting in the past." ... "Aviel Rubin, a professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University, did the first in-depth analysis of the security flaws in the source code for Diebold touch-screen machines in 2003. After studying the latest problem, he said: "I almost had a heart attack. The implications of this are pretty astounding."" -By Monica Davey with contributions by Gretchen Ruethling and John Schwartz -NYTimes

20060511

Secret - Government - Terrorism - Telephone - Database- Intelligence - Law - Civil Liberties - Politics - California - Russ Feingold- Wisconsin - "Bush Says U.S. Spying Is Not Widespread." ... "President Bush today denied that the government is "mining or trolling through the personal lives of innocent Americans," as Democrats expressed outrage over a news report describing a National Security Agency program that has collected vast amounts of telephone records." ... "He [Bush] said all intelligence work was conducted "within the law" and that domestic conversations were not listened to without a court warrant." ... ""The privacy of all Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities," he said. "Our efforts are focused on Al Qaeda and their known associates."" ... "But Democrats reacted angrily to the USA Today article and its description of the program's vast size, including an assertion by one unnamed source that its goal was the creation of a database of every phone call ever made within the United States' borders." ... "Senator Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who is a member of the Intelligence Committee as well as the Judiciary Committee, appeared to confirm at least the gist of the article, while stressing that what was under discussion was not wiretapping. "It's fair to say that what is in the news this morning is not content collection," she said." ... "Even so, she warned, "I happen to believe that we are on our way to a major Constitutional confrontation on the Fourth Amendment guarantees over unreasonable search and seizure."" ... "Senator Russell D. Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who is also on both the judiciary and intelligence panels, expressed dismay over what he termed the administration's "arrogance and abuse of power." He said the United States can fight terrorism and still protect privacy, "but only if we have a president who believes in these principles."" (1, 2) -By John O'Neil -NYTimes

20060512

Privacy - Opinion - Secret - Military - Government - Intelligence - Phone - Database- Civil Liberties - San Francisco - California - "Breaking the Law? A privacy advocate explains why Americans should care about the NSA's database of phone records." ... "Domestic spying or national security? The debate over whether the government is poking too closely into Americans' lives was inflamed this week following reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) is creating a massive database of millions of phone records-and that three major telecom companies have cooperated in the effort. For privacy advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a [California] San Francisco-based nonprofit, the answer is clear: the NSA is spying on Americans. And, according to EFF, it is illegal for telecom companies to supply customer calling details to the NSA unless they follow established legal procedures to obtain a warrant." ... "If the EFF has its way, the onus may soon be on the federal government to prove that its requests to the telecom companies were legal. In January of this year, the group filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T for "allowing and assisting" the NSA's "illegal wiretapping and data-mining." The Department of Justice has already stepped in, indicating April 28 that it intends to seek dismissal of the case by asserting the "military and state secrets privilege." With recent allegations in USA Today that Verizon and BellSouth also covertly provided information about domestic phone calls to the federal government, the progress of EFF's suit will be scrutinized by civil libertarians and other privacy advocates. A hearing to determine the court schedule for this case will be held May 17." (1, 2) -By Susanna Schrobsdorff -MSNBC/Newsweek

EFF.org - "Electronic Frontier Foundation."

Intelligence - Porter Goss - Randy Cunningham - California - Military - Business - Politics - Law - "Law Enforcement Searches Exiting CIA Deputy's Home." ... "CIA and FBI officers today searched the home and former office of the recently retired third-ranking official at the CIA, who is under investigation for his ties to a defense contractor linked to the bribery scandal that has landed former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-San Diego [California]) in jail." ... "Kyle "Dusty" Foggo resigned as CIA executive director Monday. He had been a top aide to CIA Director Porter J. Goss, who was forced to resign the previous Friday." ... "A CIA spokeswoman said Foggo's legal troubles had "absolutely nothing" to do with Goss' decision to resign." ... "They have been investigating whether Foggo played an improper role in the awarding of defense contracts to Brent Wilkes, a personal friend and San Diego businessman who has been implicated in the bribery scandal involving Cunningham." -By Richard Schmitt -LAtimes

20060511

Oil - Business - College - 2006 Election - Calif- NY - "Senate votes to extend $70 billion in tax cuts." ... "The Senate voted Thursday to extend $70 billion in tax cuts but heatedly clashed over whether the plan would continue to boost the economy and create jobs or would penalize middle-income families in favor of the wealthy and big oil conglomerates." ... "Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., noted that a person who earns more than $1 million a year would get a tax break worth $41,977." ... ""Well, you might say, `What does someone who earns $41,000 get back?' $46. Not even enough to fill up your gas tank in some cases," she said. "Whose side is the Senate on?"" ... "Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, noted that Republicans decided to drop a provision allowing Americans to deduct up to $4,000 in college tuition costs worth $4.5 billion." ... "Instead, Schumer pointed out, Republicans included a tax break for oil companies worth $4.3 billion despite the industry's record profits." ... ""The choice is stark and clear - big oil or middle-class families," Schumer said. "The Republican Congress chose big oil and that's why voters want change."" -By Jill Zuckman with contributions by William Neikirk-ChicagoTribune via -MercuryNews

20060426

Animal - Psychology - Science - California - "Songbirds can sing, but can they learn grammar?" ... "The simplest grammar, long thought to be one of the skills that separate man from beast, can be taught to a common songbird, new research suggests." ... "Starlings learned to differentiate between a regular birdsong "sentence" and one containing a clause or another sentence of warbling, according to a study in Thursday's journal Nature. It took University of California at San Diego psychology researcher Tim Gentner a month and about 15,000 training attempts, with food as a reward, to get the birds to recognize the most basic of grammar in their own bird language." ... "Yet what they learned may shake up the field of linguistics." -AP via -USATODAY

20060425

Oil - Companies - Law - California - "Calif. Assembly Committee OKs Oil Tax Bill." ... "A bill that would slap a windfall profits tax on California oil producers was approved by a state Assembly committee as gasoline prices surged past $3 a gallon." ... "The bill's sponsor, Assemblyman Johan Klehs, a Democrat, accused oil companies of taking advantage of the Gulf Coast devastation caused last year by hurricanes Katrina and Rita." -By Steve Lawrence -AP via -SFGate.com
United States - Mexico - US Immigration - Labor - Law - California - "President gets tepid welcome on GOP turf: Immigration policies vigorously opposed." ... "President Bush, aiming to shore up sagging support in a Republican bastion, came for a heart-to-heart talk on immigration Monday, acknowledging that some were puzzled by his choice of Orange County [California] -- the heart of an area opposed to his immigration policies." ... "But even as he spoke, the breadth of the president's political problems on immigration was evident in Orange County -- a longtime GOP stronghold that is being transformed by a vast influx of immigrant laborers, mostly from Mexico. From Republican-dominated Newport Beach to Democratic-leaning Santa Ana, interviews found few supporters for Bush's positions." ... "The president's conservative base is angry with his support for a guest-worker program, which would increase the number of temporary visas for those with jobs in the United States, while many Latino groups argue he hasn't stopped the effort in his party to criminalize illegal immigration." -By Carla Marinucci -SFGate.com

20060424

Secret - Government - Intelligence - Noteworthy - Reporters- Calif. - Massachusetts - "Democrats Suggest Double Standard on Leaks: White House Aides' Actions Are Cited." ... "Key Democratic legislators yesterday joined Republicans in saying they do not condone the alleged leaking of classified information that led to last week's firing of a veteran CIA officer. But they questioned whether a double standard exists that lets the White House give reporters secretly declassified information for political purposes." ... ""I don't know this woman, and I do not condone leaks of classified information," said Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.), ranking Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, referring to the firing of Mary McCarthy." ... "Harman added that "while leaks are wrong, I think it is totally wrong for our president in secret to selectively declassify certain information and empower people in his White House to leak it to favored reporters so that they can discredit political enemies," she said on Fox News Sunday." ... "Then drawing a parallel to the Plame case, [on ABC's "This Week," Massachusettes Senator John] Kerry said that with McCarthy, "you have somebody being fired from the CIA for allegedly telling the truth, and you have no one fired from the White House for revealing a CIA agent in order to support a lie. That underscores what's really wrong in Washington, D.C."" -By Walter Pincus -WashingtonPost

20060419

Pete Sessions

Jack Abramoff

John Ashcroft

Gale Norton

Dana Rohrabacher

Curt Weldon

Tony Rudy

Michael Scanlon

Money

Politics

Law

Military

Technology

San Francisco

Louisiana

Malaysia

"CREW Files DOJ Complaint Against Texas Rep. Pete Sessions." ... "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) today filed a Department of Justice (DOJ) complaint against [Texas Republican Representative] Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX [Republican-Texas]) for official actions he may have taken on behalf of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, as well as possible bribes he may have accepted from a San Francisco [California] defense technology company. The complaint asks for the DOJ to immediately begin an investigation into Rep. Sessions." ... "Abramoff Ties" ... "CREW’s complaint alleges that Rep. Sessions co-signed two letters, one to former Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2001 and another to former Interior Secretary Gale Norton in 2002, which benefitted Mr. Abramoff’s client, the Louisiana Coushatta. One month after his 2002 letter was sent, Rep. Sessions’ political action committee, PETE PAC, received $3,500 from the Louisiana Coushatta and another $3,500 from other tribes with casinos. Within 18 months, PETE PAC received $20,500 from tribes associated with Abramoff." ... "Rep. Sessions also traveled to Malaysia on an Abramoff-arranged trip with indicted public relations executive Michael Scanlon, two lobbyists from Abramoff’s firm Greenberg Traurig, one of which, Tony Rudy has been indicted, and two other Members of Congress, [California Republican Representative] Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA [Republican-California]) and [New York Democratic Representative] Gregory Meeks (D-NY [Democratic-New York]). Prior to the trip, Rep. Sessions had shown no public interest in Malaysia, but four months after the trip, Rep. Sessions became an advocate for Malaysia by forming the Malaysia Trade, Security and Economic Cooperation in the House with trip-mate Rep. Meeks." ... "Promia Ties" ... "Additionally, Rep. Sessions promoted the interests of Promia, a firm based in San Francisco that hired Session’s former communications director, Adrian Plesha, as vice president and director of its Washington office. Mr. Plesha pleaded guilty to felony charges related to FEC [Federal Election Commission] offences shortly after he began working for Promia." ... "Promia was able to garner a nearly $800,000 Navy research and development contract in May, 2000 and Rep. Sessions, along with [Pennsylvania Republican Representative] Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA [Republican-Pennsylvania ]), publicly worked to get an additional $8 million for Promia through a Department of Defense grant." ... "In October 2000, the same month that Promia received $2 million from Trautman Wasserman & Co., a New York venture capital firm, Rep. Sessions received the maximum allowed — $1,000 each, from eight Promia executives for his re-election campaign. In 2002, Promia gave $30,000 to PETE PAC. In total Promia and its executives have contributed nearly $55,000 to Rep. Sessions since 2000 – by far the largest contribution Promia has made to any Member of Congress." ... "“Why would Rep. Sessions, who represents a northern Texas district, work so hard for and receive so much cash from a San Francisco firm?” Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW asked today. “The Department of Justice should open a criminal investigation to determine whether the campaign contributions Rep. Sessions received from Abramoff, the tribes and from Promia executives were a quid pro quo for official actions.”"

-CitizensForEthics.org

20060412

California - Randy Cunningham - Law - "Republican race for Cunningham's seat remains up in the air." ... "The Republican Party's choice to replace jailed former [Republican] Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham remained up in the air Wednesday, with the two leading candidates separated by less than 900 votes and neither side claiming outright victory." ... "The Republican nominee will face a June runoff against Democrat Francine Busby, who advanced easily with 44 percent of the vote to lead all 18 candidates on the ballot. The winner of the June runoff will finish the final eight months of Cunningham's term - and immediately begin campaigning for November." ... "Cunningham represented the wealthy coastal district for 12 years before he resigned in disgrace late last year. He was sentenced in March to more than eight years in prison for accepting $2.4 million in bribes." -By Allison Hoffman -AP via -MercuryNews

20060410

US Immigration - Law - Economics - Workers - Civil Righs - GA - PA - KS - CA- TX - FL - "U.S. Immigration Protests Fill Streets, Seek Reforms (Update5)." ... "Protesters waving American flags and shouting their support for looser immigration laws took to U.S. streets by the hundreds of thousands today, keeping the heat on congressmen who will reconsider the issue in two weeks." ... "The marches, coupled with scattered business boycotts designed to demonstrate immigrant economic power, blocked traffic for blocks in cities ranging from Atlanta [GA] and Philadelphia [PA] to Garden City, Kansas." ... "The National Capital Immigrant Coalition of Washington, an organizer of the marches, said on its Web site the protests were to pressure Congress for citizenship for an estimated 11 million people, plus workplace and civil rights protections. ``Si, se puede'' (``Yes, we can'') was the rallying cry in Washington [DC] and San Francisco [CA]." ... "On Sunday, more than half a million people turned out for protests in Dallas [TX], Miami [FL] and other cities in 10 states." -By Shannon D. Harrington -Bloomberg

20060407

Terrorism - Government - Telephone - Privacy - Law - Politics - Calif. - "Warrantless Wiretaps Possible in U.S.." ... "Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales left open the possibility yesterday that President Bush could order warrantless wiretaps on telephone calls occurring solely within the United States -- a move that would dramatically expand the reach of a controversial National Security Agency surveillance program." ... "In response to a question from Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) during an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee, Gonzales suggested that the administration could decide it was legal to listen in on a domestic call without supervision if it were related to al-Qaeda." ... ""I'm not going to rule it out," Gonzales said." ... "In yesterday's testimony, Gonzales reiterated earlier hints that there may be another facet to the NSA program that has not been revealed publicly, or even another program that has prompted dissension within the government. While" -By Dan Eggen -WashingtonPost

20060330

US - Mexico - US Immigration - Law - Food - Business - Workers - Prisoners - California - Iowa - "'Let The Prisoners Pick The Fruits'." ... "The debate over immigration reform is causing a major split within the Republican Party." ... "On Thursday, House conservatives criticized President Bush, accused the Senate of fouling the air, said prisoners rather than illegal farm workers should pick America's crops and denounced the use of Mexican flags by protesters in a vehement attack on legislation to liberalize U.S. immigration laws." ... ""I say let the prisoners pick the fruits," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, one of more than a dozen Republicans who took turns condemning a Senate bill that offers an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants an opportunity for citizenship." ... ""Anybody that votes for an amnesty bill deserves to be branded with a scarlet letter A," said [Republican] Rep. Steve King of Iowa, referring to a guest worker provision in the Senate measure." (1, 2) -AP -CBSNews
US - Iraq - Turkey - California - 2006 Election - Terrorism - Web - Photo - Media - "Candidate admits 'stupid' Web error: Conservative [Republican Howard Kaloogian] uses photo of Turkey, calls it Baghdad." ... "A leading conservative California congressional candidate who has made support for the war in Iraq a central issue acknowledged Wednesday that a campaign Web site photo -- billed as a peaceful street scene taken during his recent trip to Baghdad [Iraq] -- was actually photographed in Turkey." ... "The campaign posted the photo from Kaloogian's July trip to Iraq, a mission dubbed the "Truth Tour" and organized to "tell the American people about the accomplishments (troops) are making in Operation Iraqi Freedom and the fight against terrorism,'' according to the tax-exempt group Move America Forward, a conservative grassroots organization Kaloogian helped found." ... "The caption read that "we took this photo of downtown Baghdad while we were in Iraq'' which is "much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be. But, each day the news media finds any violence occurring in the country and screams and shouts about it -- in part because many journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism.''" ... "But bloggers on the popular liberal Daily Kos Web site revealed the photo depicted a street scene in Turkey." -By Carla Marinucci -SFGate.com

DailyKos.com

US - Iraq - Turkey- California - 2006 Election - Web - Photo - Media - "Photo by candidate not taken in Baghdad." ... "For weeks, [California Republican Howard] Kaloogian's campaign Web site featured a photo of a peaceful city block to help make his case that things are going well in Iraq." ... "“We took this photo of Baghdad while we were in Iraq,” the caption accompanying the photo read. “Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be.”" ... "There was one problem with the photo. It wasn't Baghdad. It was a suburb of Istanbul, Turkey. " ... "Kaloogian's explanation that it was an innocent mix-up isn't being bought by bloggers across the nation who uncovered the bogus photo." ... "Some of them believe he's guilty of what he's accused the mainstream media of doing: slanting the news to fit his own beliefs." -By Bill Ainsworth -SignOnSanDiego.com

20060328

US Immigration - Law - Politics - Language - Los Angeles - California - Media- "How DJs Put 500,000 Marchers in Motion." ... "He's one of the hottest Spanish-language radio personalities in the nation. So when Los Angeles deejay Eddie Sotelo joined hands with his radio rivals to urge listeners to turn out for a pro-immigrant rally in downtown Los Angeles [California] on Saturday, organizers hoped for a big turnout." ... "But many said Monday that they were stunned by how many responded to the call to march against federal legislation that would crack down on undocumented immigrants and penalize those who assist them." ... "As a result, what was initially expected to draw fewer than 20,000 ballooned into a massive march that police estimated at 500,000 and said was one of the largest demonstrations in Los Angeles' history." ... "The deejays did more than publicize the march. Working with the organizers, they also helped develop some ground rules: Marchers had to be peaceful and clean up after themselves." ... "They were also encouraged to wave American flags." (1, 2) -By Teresa Watanabe and Hector Becerra with contributions by Scott Martelle -LAtimes

20060326

US Immigration - Labor - Religious - Civil Righs - Law - Los Angeles - California - "500,000 Pack Streets to Protest Immigration Bills: The rally, part of a massive mobilization of immigrants and their supporters, may be the largest L.A. has seen." ... "A crowd estimated by police at more than 500,000 boisterously marched in Los Angeles on Saturday to protest federal legislation that would crack down on undocumented immigrants, penalize those who help them and build a security wall along the U.S.' southern border." ... "Spirited but peaceful marchers — ordinary immigrants alongside labor, religious and civil rights groups — stretched more than 20 blocks along Spring Street, Broadway and Main Street to City Hall, tooting kazoos, waving American flags and chanting, "Sí se puede!" (Yes we can!)." ... "At a time when Congress prepares to crack down further on illegal immigration and self-appointed militias patrol the U.S. border to stem the flow, Saturday's rally represented a massive response, part of what immigration advocates are calling an unprecedented effort to mobilize immigrants and their supporters nationwide." (1, 2) -By Teresa Watanabe and Hector Becerra -LAtimes

20060325

Terrorism - Military - Politics - Advertising - San Francisco - California - "Evangelical teens rally in S.F.." ... "More than 25,000 evangelical Christian youth landed Friday in San Francisco [California] for a two-day rally at AT&T Park against "the virtue terrorism" of popular culture, and they were greeted by an official city condemnation and a clutch of protesters who said their event amounted to a "fascist mega-pep rally."" ... ""This is more than a spiritual war," [Leader Ron] Luce said. "It's a culture war."" ... "Military metaphors abound in Luce's descriptions of the struggle. He tells young people of how "an enemy has launched a brutal attack on them." At a pre-Battle Cry rally Friday afternoon on the steps of City Hall, Luce told his mostly teenage audience that "terrorists of a different kind" -- advertisers -- were targeting them and that they were "caught in the middle of the battle."" ... ""Are you ready to go to battle for your generation?" he asked, and the young people roared "yes!" and some waved triangular red flags flown from long, medieval-looking poles." -By Joe Garofoli -SFGate.com

20060311

Jack Abramoff- Money - Law - California - Illinois - Ohio - "Push to Tighten Lobbying Rules Loses Strength." ... "The drive for a tighter lobbying law, just two months ago a major priority on Capitol Hill, is losing momentum, a victim of shifting political interests, infighting among House Republicans and a growing sense among lawmakers of both parties that wholesale change may not be needed after all." ... "In the House, Representative David Dreier of California, the Republicans' point man on lobbying legislation, said reaching consensus on what the bill should include had been more difficult than he had expected." ... "In January, shortly after the lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to corruption charges, Mr. Dreier and [Illinois Republican] Speaker J. Dennis Hastert called for tough restrictions, including a ban on gifts, meals and privately financed travel. They said their aim was to have legislation drafted by February. But the new majority leader, [Republican] Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, is not keen on the travel ban, and there is still no legislation." ... "The initial fervor for legislation was fueled by the Abramoff scandal, coupled with the resignation of Representative Randy Cunningham, Republican of California, after he pleaded guilty in another corruption case." (1, 2) -By Sheryl Gay Stolberg -NYTimes

20060308

Business - California - New York - "For Trader Joe's, a New York Taste Test." ... "Long before Trader Joe's went national, its inexpensive but unusual products — things like wild blueberry juice, Sicilian extra-virgin olive oil and frozen chicken-lemon grass spring rolls — inspired an intense following among American food lovers, rarely seen in the aisles of a supermarket." ... "The Polynesian-themed chain was established by Joe Coulombe in Pasadena, Calif., in the 1960's, in an attempt to rescue his convenience stores after 7-Eleven came to town. "We decided to go in the other direction — to appeal to people who are well-educated, well-traveled and underpaid," Mr. Coulombe said. (He sold his final interest in the company in 1989, but many of his innovations are still in place.)" ... "The chain's expansion is of recent vintage: the first store outside California opened in 1993. Today, each of the 250 stores still carries only about 3,000 items (a large supermarket will stock 55,000 or more), in proportions that invert the industry norm: a tiny selection of canned soup, for example, but case after case of French ice cream confections and frozen Indian entrees. About 80 percent of the items carry the Trader Joe's label, many imported from small producers in Europe and Asia, and all free of artificial colors, preservatives, flavors and MSG." (1, 2, 3) -By Julia Moskin -NYTimes

20060307

Montana - Consumer - Market - Politics - California - "Deregulation Has Stung Montanans: The state went from having some of the lowest electricity rates to among the highest in the region. Efforts to undo the effects face hurdles." ... "Almost a decade after the utility deregulation fad swept through Montana, state is learning the hard way it isn't easy to rebuild the broken pieces of a stable, publicly regulated utility once it's gone." ... "California got all the headlines for its post-deregulation fiasco in 2000-01 that was topped by energy market manipulation, but it's Montana that some point to as the poster child for deregulation gone awry. Montana was seen as the only low-cost energy state talked into deregulation." ... "Along the way, Montana went from having some of the lowest electricity prices in the country to having among the highest in the region." (1, 2) -By Matt Gouras -AP via -LAtimes

20060225

Mitchell J Wade - Randy "Duke" Cunningham - Katherine Harris - Virgil H Goode Jr - Criminal - Money - Politics - Election - Illegal - Government - Military - Intelligence - MZM - Calif - Va - Fla - "Contractor Pleads Guilty to Corruption: Probe Extends Beyond Bribes to Congressman." ... "Washington defense contractor Mitchell J. Wade admitted yesterday in federal court that he attempted to illegally influence Defense Department contracting officials and tried to curry favor with two House members, in addition to lavishing more than $1 million in cash, cars, a boat, antiques and other bribes on convicted [California Republican Representative] Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif. [Republican-California])." ... "The new admissions, including details that identify [Republican Representatives] Reps. Virgil H. Goode Jr. (R-Va. [Republican-Virginia]) and Katherine Harris (R-Fla. [Republican-Florida]) as recipients of illegal campaign contributions, are contained in Wade's agreement to plead guilty to four criminal charges stemming from his role in the Cunningham probe. The congressman resigned after pleading guilty in November to taking $2.4 million in bribes from Wade and others in return for steering federal funds and contracts their way." ... "The court filings indicated a new direction for the corruption inquiry, as Wade pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge that he also provided benefits to an unnamed Defense official and other Defense employees to get them to help Wade's company, MZM Inc." ... "The description of the official-turned-MZM-employee in the court papers matches Robert Fromm, who worked at the Army's National Ground Intelligence Center in Charlottesville [Virginia] as program manager for a computer project known as FIRES and subsequently went to work for MZM." ... "Wade also pleaded guilty to election law fraud for making nearly $80,000 in illegal campaign contributions to "Representatives A and B," who are identifiable as Goode and Harris." ... "The congressman identifiable as Goode received $46,000 in such disguised contributions in 2003 and 2005, the court papers said. That was part of about $90,000 Wade and his workers contributed to Goode. Wade then asked the member to request appropriations for an MZM facility in his district, the Wade papers said, and a Goode staff member confirmed to Wade that the bill would include $9 million in funding." ... "The member identifiable as Harris received $32,000 in illegal donations from Wade and his employees in 2004. Documents filed with Wade's plea say that he took Harris to dinner early last year, where they discussed the possibility of another fundraiser and the possibility of getting funding for a Navy counterintelligence program in the member's district. One source familiar with the inquiry said Harris made such a request for funding, but it was not granted." -By Charles R. Babcock with contributions by Walter Pincus and Madonna Lebling -WashingtonPost

20060224

GOV - Military - Intelligence - Politics - California - "Defense contractor: I paid $1 million in bribes." ... "Mitchell Wade pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiring with former [California Republican] Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to bribe the lawmaker with cash, cars and antiques, and to help him evade millions of dollars in tax liability." ... "Wade, former president of defense contractor MZM Inc. in Washington, also acknowledged making nearly $80,000 in illegal campaign contributions in the names of MZM employees and their spouses to two other members of Congress, who were not identified." ... "MZM does classified intelligence work for the military. MZM's government contracts soared from less than $1 million a year to tens of millions of dollars annually in recent years." -AP via -CNN

20060214

Abramoff - Pombo - DeLay - Texas - California - Animal - Environmental - Legislation - Money - "Foe of Endangered Species Act on Defensive Over Abramoff." ... "After finally getting a bill through the House last fall that would eliminate habitat protections on more than 150 million acres, [California Republican Richard] Pombo has never been closer to reaching his goal. But as the Senate prepares to take up his measure this year, Pombo finds himself on the defensive, with his ideology increasingly viewed as extreme and his connections to industry and to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff under scrutiny." ... "Pombo's critics have focused on his campaign's reliance on donors from industries that stand to benefit from his legislation. Just months before the mining proposal made it out of Pombo's committee, a former committee aide who once worked for Abramoff's firm and is now a lobbyist for mining interests hosted a $1,000-a-head fundraiser for Pombo." ... "The Times reported earlier this year that Pombo joined forces with former House Majority Leader [Republican] Tom DeLay of Texas in efforts to squelch a federal banking investigation of Texas financier Charles Hurwitz. Pombo, who had previously received a campaign contribution from Hurwitz, has contended that the investigation was unfounded and abusive." ... "A Massachusetts tribe and client of Abramoff's that donated $20,000 to Pombo received the congressman's help seeking federal tribal recognition. Pombo supported the resumption of commercial whaling while accepting thousands of dollars in international travel from a private foundation funded by the seafood industry and a whaling association." ... "According to data compiled by the Campaign Finance Analysis Project, Pombo has, during his congressional career, collected more than $800,000 from agriculture, timber and fishing interests. The building industry has given him $205,000; oil and gas, $169,000; mining, $55,000; and casinos and gambling, $147,000." ... "Pombo denies any improprieties and says he has no fear of being tainted by the Abramoff scandal. "I met the guy a few times. He never lobbied me on anything. Never set foot in my office." -By Bettina Boxall with contributions by Maloy Moore -LAtimes

20060213

Business - CA - "Out of the retail rat race: Consumer group doesn't buy notion that new is better." ... "About 50 teachers, engineers, executives and other professionals in the [California] Bay Area have made a vow to not buy anything new in 2006 -- except food, health and safety items and underwear." ... ""We're people for whom recycling is no longer enough," said one of the members of the fledgling movement, John Perry, who works in marketing at a high-tech company. "We're trying to get off the first-market consumerism grid, because consumer culture is destroying the world."" ... "They call themselves the Compact. They have a blog, a Yahoo group and monthly meetings to reaffirm their commitment to the rule, which is to never buy anything new." -By Carolyn Jones -SFGate.com

20060210

Government - Business - School - Politics - California - "California environmentalists oppose Bush plan to sell forest land." ... "Environmental groups sharply criticized the Bush administration's proposal to sell up to 85,000 acres of national forests in California to pay for rural schools, saying the loss of protected land in an already crowded state would be devastating." ... "California would lose the most acreage of any state under the plan, which calls for the sale of more than 300,000 acres in 34 states. The list includes up to 500 parcels in 16 national forests located across the Golden State, with the Central Valley and Northern California potentially losing the most open space." ... "The plan also lists possible, smaller, sales in seven national forests in Southern California, including the Los Padres, Angeles and San Bernardino forests." -By Gillian Flaccus -AP via -MercuryNews

20060209

Government - Business - Politics - California - "Bush administration moves to sell national forest land." ... "The Bush administration will unveil a proposal Friday to sell up to 200,000 [other sources report 300,000] acres of national forest land in "isolated parcels" ranging from a quarter of an acre to 200 acres, much of it in California." ... "Details about what plots of land would be put up for sale are expected to be revealed at a noon press conference by Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey, a former timber industry lobbyist." ... "Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., attacked the plan as "crazy," saying: "Here the administration wants to pass more tax cuts for the rich, and to pay the bill, they want to sell off public land - our nation's natural heritage."" -By Seth Borenstein -KnightRidder via -RealCities

20060119

Jerry Lewis - California - New York - Military - Legislation - Politics - "The congressman & the hedge fund." ... "One day after a New York investment group raised $110,000 for Republican Rep. Jerry Lewis [California Representative], the House passed a defense spending bill that preserved $160 million for a Navy project critical to the firm. The man who protected the Navy money? Lewis." ... "The fundraiser, which took place July 7, 2003, and the subsequent vote illustrate the kind of relationship between congressman and contributor that's under increased scrutiny in the nation's capital." ... "Lewis, 71, insists he did nothing improper. "I'm darn sensitive to make certain we keep arm's length from certain efforts" by political donors to influence legislation, Lewis said." ... "Both Lewis and the investment company, Cerberus Capital Management, benefited from the relationship. Eighteen months after the fundraiser and the House vote, Lewis won the chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee. He acknowledges that the fundraising efforts of Cerberus "played a very significant role" in winning the post. The ties between Cerberus and Lewis, a 14-term congressman from Redlands, Calif. [California], have not been publicly examined before." ... "In the opinion of Larry Noble, executive director of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, the timing of the fundraiser within days of a favorable vote "looks like influence buying." Noble is a former chief lawyer for the Federal Election Commission." -By Matt Kelley -USATODAY

20060109

Jerry Lewis - Government - Money - Law - California - "Watchdog group calls for investigation of California congressman." ... "A federal watchdog group is asking the U.S. attorney general to open a corruption investigation of House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis because of the congressman's ties to a lobbyist who has legally donated thousands of dollars to Lewis' causes." ... "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington wants the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice to investigate the California Republican's relationship with lobbyist and friend Bill Lowery." ... "Lewis's PAC has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to help Republicans maintain control of the House. In January, he was named head of the Appropriations Committee, which oversees about $900 billion in federal spending." -AP via -SFGate.com

20060108

DeLay - Doolittle - Pombo - Government - Money - Law - Enforcement - Texas - California - "A Donor Who Had Big Allies: DeLay and two others helped put the brakes on a federal probe of a businessman. Evidence was published in the Congressional Record." ... "In a case that echoes the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, two Northern California Republican congressmen used their official positions to try to stop a federal investigation of a wealthy Texas businessman who provided them with political contributions." ... "Reps. John T. Doolittle [California Republican] and Richard W. Pombo [California Republican] joined forces with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay [Republican] of Texas to oppose an investigation by federal banking regulators into the affairs of Houston millionaire Charles Hurwitz, documents recently obtained by The Times show. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was seeking $300 million from Hurwitz for his role in the collapse of a Texas savings and loan that cost taxpayers $1.6 billion." ... "The investigation was ultimately dropped." ... "The effort to help Hurwitz began in 1999 when DeLay wrote a letter to the chairman of the FDIC denouncing the investigation of Hurwitz as a "form of harassment and deceit on the part of government employees." When the FDIC persisted, Doolittle and Pombo — both considered proteges of DeLay — used their power as members of the House Resources Committee to subpoena the agency's confidential records on the case, including details of the evidence FDIC investigators had compiled on Hurwitz." ... "Then, in 2001, the two congressmen inserted many of the sensitive documents into the Congressional Record, making them public and accessible to Hurwitz's lawyers, a move that FDIC officials said damaged the government's ability to pursue the banker." ... "The FDIC's chief spokesman characterized what Doolittle and Pombo did as "a seamy abuse of the legislative process." But soon afterward, in 2002, the FDIC dropped its case against Hurwitz, who had owned a controlling interest in the United Savings Assn. of Texas. United Savings' failure was one of the worst of the S&L debacles in the 1980s." (1, 2, 3) -By Richard A. Serrano and Stephen Braun, with contributions by Ted Rohrlich -LAtimes

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