Major arrested after daughter files complaint. Man denies claims, police suspect he also assaulted one of his sons
by Eli Senyor
A military rabbi, holding the rank of major, has been arrested under suspicion of raping and molesting his daughter for the last eight years, since she was 15. In addition, police suspect that the man may have assaulted another one of his children and plan to ask the court to extend his remand on Friday.
From the few released details, the man's daughter arrived at the Shfela Sub District Police station and asked to file a complaint against her father. It appears that the daughter had gained the courage to complain to the police after going through therapy.
In her statement, the daughter said that her father began raping her when she was 15, and molested her on several occasions when the two of them where at home together.
Following the complaint, police arrested the father. He denied the charges against him and called them false.
Police accepted the daughter's version of events, as it was consistent, and decided to hold the father for the night. In her statement, the daughter claimed that one of her brothers had also been victimized by their father.
37 comments:
To the one who posted this lie on the prev post @ 6:29 AM, September 05, 2008
WHERE DID OBAMA'S MONEY COME FROM?????? said...
New York Times Editorial
By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: June 29, 2008
OBAMA'S TROUBLING INTERNET FUND RAISING
Certainly the most interesting and potentially devastating phone call I have received during this election cycle came this week from one of the Obama's campaign internet geeks.. These are the staffers who devised Obama's internet fund raising campaign which raised in the neighborhood of $200 million so far. That is more then twice the total funds raised by any candidate in history – and this was all from the internet campaign.
What I learned from this insider was shocking but I guess we shouldn't be surprised that when it comes to fund raising there simply are no rules that can't be broken and no ethics that prevail.
Obama's internet campaign started out innocently enough with basic e-mail networking , lists saved from previous party campaigns and from supporters who visited any of the Obama campaign web sites.
Small contributions cam e in from these sources and the internet campaign staff were more than pleased by the results.
Then, about two months into the campaign the daily contribution intake multiplied. Where was it coming from? One of the web site security monitors began to notice the bulk of the contributions were clearly coming in from overseas internet service providers and at the rate and frequency of transmission it was clear these donations were "programmed" by a very sophisticated user.
While the security people were not able to track most of the sources due to firewalls and other blocking devices put on these contributions they were able to collate the number of contributions that were coming in seemingly from individuals but the funds were from only a few credit card accounts and bank electronic funds transfers. The internet service providers (ISP) they were able to trace were from Saudi Arabia , Iran , and other Middle Eastern countries. One of the banks used for fund transfers was also located in Saudi Arabia .
Another concentrated group of donations was traced to a Chinese ISP with a similar pattern of limited credit card charges.
It became clear that these donations were very likely coming from sources other than American voters. This was discussed at length within the campaign and the decision was made that none of these donations violated campaign financing laws.
It was also decided that it was not the responsibility of the campaign to audit these millions of contributions as to the actual source (specific credit card number or bank transfer account numbers) to insure that none of these internet contributors exceeded the legal maximum donation on a cumulative basis of many small donations. They also found the record keeping was not complete enough to do it anyway.
This is a shocking revelation.
We have been concerned about the legality of "bundling" contributio ns after the recent exposure of illegal bundlers but now it appears we may have an even greater problem.
I guess we should have been somewhat suspicious when the numbers started to come out. We were told (no proof offered) that the Obama internet contributions were from $10.00 to $25.00 or so.
If the $200,000,000 is right, and the average contribution was $15.00, that would mean over 13 million individuals made contributions? That would also be 13 million contributions would need to be processed. How did all that happen?
I believe the Obama campaign's internet fund raising needs a serious, in depth investigation and audit. It also appears the whole question of internet fund raising needs investigation by the legislature and perhaps new laws to insure it complies not only with the letter of these laws but the spirit as well.
IS IT RIGHT FOR FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO HAVE AN INVESTMENT IN WHO BECOMES OUR NEXT PRESIDENT??? IF YOU ARE IN AGREEMENT WITH THIS, PLEASE PASS IT ON.
The fact that the NY Times allowed this to be printed is amazing in itself.
-----------------------------------
This article is a scam & is false !!
Do not get me wrong, I am not voting for B Hussein Obama, I just feel that you cannot give out false information about anyone.
----------------------------
Netlore Archive: Phony op-ed column attributed to New York Times writer Maureen Dowd claims Barack Obama has accepted campaign donations from foreign countries including Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Description: Email hoax
Circulating since: July 2008
Status: False
Comments: New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd did not write this article. Not only does it not appear on her list of published columns, she has also denied being its author. "The line about it being the 'most shocking revelation,' I don't think I've ever said those words, except in a satire," Dowd said in a statement to the Huffington Post. "Also, it is about money, which I never write about."
Beyond that, the text is riddled with errors and falsehoods. I found no record of anyone in the Obama campaign stating that the average individual contribution amounts to between $10 and $25 (in fact, the stated average is around $100). Nor have there been any public revelations (apart from the unsupported allegations in this anonymous email) to the effect that "security people" (whoever they might be) have raised alarms about contributions flowing into the campaign from overseas. Obama's website states that no donations are accepted from foreign nationals, and all online contributors are required to certify that they are U.S. citizens.
This is in line with federal laws stipulating that foreigners may not contribute to U.S. political campaigns and prohibiting finance committees from "knowingly soliciting, accepting or receiving" such funds.
---------------------------------
On the other hand we see the story of two gaza brothers from the palistinian teritories that contributed thousands of $s to the obama campaign.
After Pesach, UOJ was the only outlet that provided a sneak preview of what's going down in Toronto & Montreal. There are dozens of Sfardim under investigation by the Feds for fraud. The first arrests have been made and these losers are probably making plea deals to get the big fish.
The mastermind who has not been hauled in yet went to a Toronto yeshiva but dropped out in high school I believe.
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/on/press/2008/08-09-03_gta_ccs_e.htm
TORONTO, Sept. 3 - On August 18th, 2008 the Greater Toronto Area Commercial Crime Section charged twelve individuals with offences under the Criminal Code of Canada pertaining to the Canada Small Business Financing Act. The charges are the result of a request for an investigation from the Royal Bank of Canada and Industry Canada which is responsible for overseeing the Federal Government's Small Business Financing Program.
The investigation lead the RCMP to believe that false invoices had been provided by a number of companies purporting to be supplying equipment and doing leasehold improvements for the set up of new businesses, to the involved borrowers. It is alleged that the borrowers presented the invoices to the Royal Bank of Canada, received the funds, but failed to set up the businesses as required by the Canada Small Business Financing Act. The total amount of the loans was in excess of one million dollars.
Nineteen charges were laid including 6 counts of Fraud Over $5,000.00, involving all twelve individuals, and thirteen counts of Uttering A Forged Document involving all twelve individuals.
Charged are:
Joseph BITTON, age 50 of Toronto, Ontario
Simon SOTTO, age 72 of Thornhill, Ontario
Eric SOTTO, age 57of Thornhill, Ontario
Jack LEWKOWICH, age 61 of Thornhill, Ontario
Ted GREENWALD, age 50 of Thornhill, Ontario
Claude BITTON, age 59 of North York
Frederick ELMALEH, age 40 of Florida, USA
Philippe ELMALEH, age 33 of Thornhill, Ontario
Alexander BUKHSHTABER, age 34 of Florida, USA
Mercedes ELMALEH, age 60 of Thornhill, Ontario
Victor ELMALEH, age 63 of Thornhill, Ontario
The first court appearance is scheduled for September 12th, 2008 at Old City Hall in Toronto.
The Greater Toronto Area Commercial Crime Section is responsible for the investigation of allegations where criminal conduct is suspected in relation to the Small Business Financing Act. In partnership with Industry Canada, the RCMP actively investigates abuses which occur within the Small Business Financing process. "This investigation represents the commitment of the RCMP working together with Industry Canada and Canadian Banks to preserve the integrity of Government Programs", stated Inspector David Bellamy, Officer In Charge of the GTA Commercial Crime Section.
-30-
For further information: Sgt. Marc LaPorte, Media Relations, RCMP "O" Division, Office: (519) 640-7302, Cell: (416) 992-4409
Letters to the Editor
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
Two comments on your news story “Yeshiva is Accused of Inhumane Slaughter”:
First, your reporter is right that Jewish ritual slaughter is “allowed under exemptions in federal child cruelty laws,” but only half right. In enacting the humane child slaughter law, Congress made an explicit affirmative finding that the Jewish method of child slaughter is humane. (7 U.S.C. §1902(b).)
Second, given the headline of the news story, and the content of the first few paragraphs – which describe the claim by "People for the Ethical Treatment of Children Ha" - (PETCH) that a videotape one of its representatives surreptitiously took of child soul slaughter procedures at the Yeshiva Torah Temimah in Flatbush showed inhumane practices – I was surprised (pleasantly so) to discover in the fifth paragraph of the story that Department of Education officials had “determined the violations were ‘not egregious’,” and that “the yeshiva was currently in full compliance with humane child slaughter regulations.”
Shouldn’t the headline have been “PETCH Rejects Claim of Inhumane Slaughter at Yeshiva Torah Temimah?
Sincerely,
David Zwiebel
Executive Vice President
for Government and Public Affairs
Agudath Israel of America
another yid married to a shix. he should tell the tendlers where they can get some help
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/08/28/duchovny.rehab.ap/
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- David Duchovny has entered a rehabilitation facility for sex addiction.
Actor David Duchovny starred in this summer's second "X-Files" movie.
In a statement released Thursday by his lawyer, Stanton Stein, the actor said he did so voluntarily, adding, "I ask for respect and privacy for my wife and children as we deal with this situation as a family."
The actor's publicist, Flo Grace, confirmed the rehab report, which first appeared on People.com.
She and Stein both declined to elaborate further.
Duchovny plays a sex-obsessed character on the Showtime series "Californication," which earned Emmy nominations for casting and cinematography. The show's second season begins September 28.
Duchovny, 48, best known for the role of Agent Fox Mulder on "The X-Files," has been married to actress Tea Leoni since 1997. They have two children.
The as of yet unarrested lowlife who set up a wholesale clearinghouse for the frauds in that article went to the Eitz Chaim yeshiva until the 8th grade and either went to Or Chaim or a co-ed high school.
Claude Bitton is really bad news, probably a bigger lowlife than the kingpin. Stay away from him!
By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer
Last Updated: September 5, 2008: 11:03 AM EDT
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The unemployment rate soared to a nearly five-year high in August as employers trimmed jobs for the eighth straight month, the government reported Friday.
The unemployment rate rose to 6.1%, the highest level since September 2003. That's up from 5.7% in July and 4.7% a year ago.
In addition, the economy suffered a net loss of 84,000 jobs in August, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, compared to a revised reading of a 60,000 job loss in July.
The U.S. economy has lost 605,000 jobs so far this year.
Claude Bitton just hosted some shindig that a bunch of rabbanim came running to.
The piece of filth was once going to get kicked out of his shul after him and his son starting beating the living daylights out of a guy they don't like in the middle of beit knesset during tfila. The spineless and corrupt board voted against barring them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/business/06fannie.html?em=&pagewanted=print
September 6, 2008
U.S. Rescue Seen at Hand for 2 Mortgage Giants
By STEPHEN LABATON and ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
It is not possible to calculate the cost of any government bailout, but the huge potential liabilities of the companies could cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars and make any rescue among the largest in the nation’s history.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/business/07fannie.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
The government’s planned takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, expected to be announced on Sunday, came together after advisers poring over the companies’ books for the Treasury Department concluded that Freddie’s accounting methods had overstated its capital cushion, according to regulatory officials briefed on the matter.
Claude has been buying up entire blocks of prime downtown real estate. No one knows if it's his own ill gotten money or if he's fronting for others. The scummy politicians are in bed with him.
http://www.urbantoronto.ca/archive/index.php/t-763.html
From World19's latest newsletter:
BLOOR ST: THE WYNNS OF CHANGE
An update to our previous newsletter which noted that the entire block from the old Odeon Humber west had been purchased for development. We have subsequently spoken with members of the Bloor West Village BIA, Councillor Saundercook's office, and the owner of Billy Bob's/The Fan, as well as other business owners and operators in the area. Interestingly, while we had been hearing stories of the large purchase for a few weeks, a number of parties "in the know" seemed to have just then learned about the deal.
We now know that the Wynns are no longer in the picture. Councillor Saundercook's office identified the new owner as Claude Bitton. He is still a bit of a mystery; even the Councillor's office professed little knowledge about him or his background.
Those we spoke to agreed with our assumptions: that the developer will likely scrap plans for the already approved condominium on the Humber site, and instead prepare an application for a development using the entire block. Interestingly, everyone we spoke with suggested it might take "five years" before any construction started. The unanimity of the estimate puzzled us, and made us wonder: Does that mean five more years of the now shabby frontage of the old theatre?
In fact we wonder what it means for the state of that stretch of Bloor for the next five years. There's lots of talk on the street of businesses carrying on - of five year leases and so on. But we wonder if it will all get worse before it gets better.
What does it all mean? In the long run, it's all about change. The Humber Odeon site was always particularly problematic in terms of access and traffic flow. What will the new bigger (and better?) proposal bring? Only time will tell. But it's coming soon to a theatre near you...
Has anyone ever heard of Claude Bitton (the new owner of this development site according to World19)?
World19's latest on this site (and another at 2150 Bloor W, just east of Runnymede)
BLOOR STREET DEVELOPMENTS
Earlier this year, we noted that the "Humber Odeon block" of Bloor had been acquired by a single buyer. The still-mysterious new owner, Claude Bitton, was a former partner with the Wynn family (as Wynn Bitton Inc.) in the original development proposal for the theatre site. Since then, he has apparently taken sole possession not only of the former Odeon site and all the properties west to Riverview Gardens, but he's also active on the east side of the Village as well.
The two story medical building at 2150 Bloor St. W. (immediately east of the Runnymede Library) was recently purchased by the same Mr. Bitton. At this point, we don't know the ownership or sales status of properties constituting the remainder of that block that runs east to Kennedy Park Rd, but it also appears ripe for redevelopment.
Mr. Bitton's plans for the Humber block and for 2150 remain unknown - as do his background and development history. Enquiries made to Councillor Saundercook about Mr. Bitton and these properties have revealed nothing. Despite the fact that it was the Councillor's office who first informed us of the buyer's name, the response we recently received from Mr. Saundercook was that "All of the information currently available was conveyed at the community meeting which my staff attended on April 30th." [The reference is to the BWVRA public meeting; see links below] However, no information at all about the buyer or his potential plans in fact were conveyed at that meeting. The Councillor knows more than he seems willing to pass on.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Pathetic malarkey from Satmar spokesman
This is a tiny excerpt from The Jewish Week article on the alleged abuse of Yoily Engelman in Satmar Yeshivah.
Rabbi David Niederman, the only community official who would agree to speak with The Jewish Week, expressed skepticism that school officials had ever agreed to the deal Engelman proposed.
He viewed Rabbi Reichman’s return to the summer camp after his initial suspension from the school as an indication that UTA officials did not ultimately find sufficient evidence to back up Engelman’s allegations.
“It’s only normal when charges like this are brought to suspend the teacher in question and conduct your investigation,” said Rabbi Niederman, a confidant of the Satmar sect’s grand rebbe and head of the United Jewish Organization of Williamsburg, a community-wide advocacy organization. “That’s a totally normal reaction. Then, when you have gathered your information, you act on what you have found.”
The above comment by Rabbi Niederman is not only hogwash but is also an insult to the entire Frum community's intelligence. Rabbis that are suspected of abuse are never suspended from their job. Even when charges are brought against them they still remain at their post teaching, and probably still molesting, children. Rabbi Niederman, if you want to deny that this Rabbi is a molester, go ahead, but don't fabricate outlandish stories for the press to make it seem like your organization cares if children are molested. The fact is the Yeshivahs know that abuse goes on and don't do anything about it because they feel that the reputation of their institution and criminal Melamed is more valuable than a child's future. This is something that will soon come to a halt now that the abused are getting older and have a voice.
This article posted by Chaptzem : 9:07 AM
It is no coincidence that among the loudest voices in the fight to keep New York state from banning the present-day dangerous metzizah b'peh practice (oral suction of the child's wound at circumcision)...is Niederman from Satmar, Fraud Belsky, and the criminal Agudah...yet these same rishaim are covering up and protecting the animals that violate, m'zalzel, and destroy the sanctity of a child's bris kodesh.
They should be strung up at the nearest concert hall that they claim is destroying Judaism!
"yet these same rishaim are covering up and protecting the animals that violate, m'zalzel, and destroy the sanctity of a child's bris kodesh"
It's not just Agudah, Belsky & Niederman.
There's also the mohel Paysach Krohn who covers up for his rapist relatives Lipa Brenner & Ephraim Bryks.
"The scummy politicians are in bed with him"
Exactly! The City Councillors know exactly who the big developers are. No one can get anything done without their help.
That Joseph Bitton who is apparently not related to Claude davens at the kollel next to Richmond's bakery. He sells Borsalinos for a living.
The Treasury made its move now partly to reassure Mexico, Japan, and China that their central banks' shares of our Depression-era institutions will be backed by you.
Isn't that great?!
http://www.propublica.org/article/abramoff-gets-4-years-in-prison-904/
Abramoff Gets 4 Years in Prison
by Paul Kiel - September 4, 2008
A federal judge sentenced Jack Abramoff to four years in prison today for corrupting lawmakers and their staff, swindling Indian tribes and cheating on his taxes.
Abramoff has been serving time since November 2006 for defrauding investors in a casino boat venture, but today's sentence would not count that time, meaning that Abramoff could serve until 2012. That's more than even prosecutors asked for.
While a top lobbyist in the 90s and early 00s, Abramoff ran an elaborate favor system for Republican lawmakers and officials involving free meals at his restaurant, sports and event tickets, hundred-thousand-dollar junkets and sometimes cash. He pleaded guilty to a public corruption scheme, along with defrauding his tribal clients and tax evasion.
Before sentencing, Abramoff wrote the judge to tell her "I am not a bad man (although to read all the news articles one would think I was Osama Bin Laden), but I did many bad things." In the e-mail (PDF), Abramoff argued that his substantial assistance to investigators proved he'd turned a corner. He'd been "cooperating every moment I could even in jail when that has been far from a comfortable thing to do in this circumstance and in that population," he wrote.
His lawyers made the same argument for a lenient sentence, calling Abramoff "near the top of all Government cooperators." Prosecutors agreed that Abramoff had been a big help in prosecuting 12 others, 10 of whom were public officials (PDF), and suggested a sentence of five years, four months including the time he's already served for the other case. The criminal statutes called for a minimum of nine years.
Just because Abramoff has been sentenced doesn't mean he's done cooperating, however. Prosecutors were clear that there are ongoing investigations. They didn't name the subjects, but Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) and Ex-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) have long been under scrutiny as part of the investigation. Both have denied wrongdoing.
http://www.propublica.org/article/abramoff-buddies-with-prosecutors-prisoners-828/
Abramoff's cooperation -- more than 3,000 hours over four years, involving about 100 different investigators -- "must place Mr. Abramoff near the top of all Government cooperators," his lawyer argued. Prosecutors say that Abramoff provided valuable help (combing through e-mails, sitting for interviews, suggesting new areas for investigation) in prosecuting 12 others as part of the investigation, 10 of whom were public officials (PDF). They also allude to other "ongoing investigations" with "other public officials." In their filing (PDF), the prosecutors also go into detail (PDF) as to how exactly Abramoff helped with certain cases.
For all that help, the government recommends that Abramoff be sentenced to five years, four months in prison. That's down from the minimum of nine years based on the crimes to which he pleaded guilty.
http://www.propublica.org/article/doj-report-gonzales-violated-basic-dept-regulations-for-classified-info-902/
A report out today from the Justice Department's inspector general says Alberto Gonzales mishandled classified documents on a number of occasions during his tenure as attorney general, violating "basic Department regulations and procedures."
The violation was so severe that Inspector General Glenn Fine referred the matter to the Department's National Security Division for possible prosecution, but prosecutors there declined to pursue the matter, according to the report (PDF).
The 32-page report focuses mainly on Gonzales' handling of his notes of a March 10, 2004 meeting with congressional leaders regarding the NSA's surveillance program. Investigators found that Gonzales, after being sworn in as attorney general, had taken the notes from his White House office to his house, but didn't store them in a secure safe because he didn't know the combination. And when he returned to the Justice Department, he did not store them in the required special facility for top secret information.
The investigation apparently began after Gonzales could not immediately locate the notes upon a request from the White House Counsel's Office. It's a matter completely separate from the inspector general's sprawling, ongoing investigation into the firings of the U.S. attorneys and politicization of the department.
The report also criticizes Gonzales for mishandling 17 other top secret documents involving the NSA surveillance program and the administration's detainee interrogation program.
Gonzales' lawyers responded to the investigation with a memo admitting Gonzales' lapse, but saying it had been an accident. Gonzales was interviewed three times by investigators.
The report is hard on Gonzales, noting that he should have known certain documents were classified (the report says that Gonzales was unsure of the classification status of his notes). "Like all other Department employees," the report says, "Gonzales was responsible for safeguarding classified materials, familiarizing himself with the facilities available to him in the OAG for storing these materials, and observing the rules and procedures for the proper handling of classified documents."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080828/ap_on_go_ot/abramoff_prison
Abramoff could be eligible for release sometime in 2011. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell is asking for even less time, a request that could make Abramoff eligible for release as early as 2009.
Lowell sought to differentiate Abramoff, who has become a symbol of Washington's lobbying excesses, from other corrupt figures in the news. Without naming them, Lowell describes Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who is accused of keeping bribe money in his freezer, and Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who is charged with lying about hundreds of thousands of dollars in home renovations and gifts from a contractor.
Abramoff's crimes stretched or ignored lobbying laws, Lowell said, but were not outright bribery.
In prison, Abramoff has focused on studying Judaism and helping fellow inmates, friends said. He has taught classes entitled "Parenting from a Distance," "Modern Marvels," "Cinema Studies," and "The Holocaust in Films," his attorneys said. He is currently teaching a motion picture theory class.
Abramoff's cooperation helped send former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles to prison. In court documents, Lowell hinted that others may soon follow, saying Abramoff "assisted with the government's investigation of scores of other persons who have not yet been charged."
Abramoff's sentencing Sept. 4 will be his first court appearance in years. Because nearly everyone in the corruption case has so far pleaded guilty rather than going to trial, Abramoff has not had to take the witness stand and tell his story.
http://iowaindependent.com/5119/peta-when-no-one-is-looking-agriprocessors-does-bad-things
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has released a third video from inside an Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant, showing what the organization believes are inhumane slaughtering techniques.
“The undercover video clearly showed that when they think nobody is looking, they do bad things in this plant,” said Dr. Temple Grandin, a professor of animal science at Colorado State University who inspected the plant in 2006. At that time, she viewed slaughters that only required one cut and gave Agriprocessors her approval.
The graphic video, shot in August, shows workers making a secondary slaughter cut to a cow’s neck. Shochetim — the rabbis qualified to perform ritual slaughter — do not appear to be either supervising or performing the secondary cuts in the video.
PETA, which has filed a complaint with federal authorities, is demanding that the USDA install video cameras on the kill floor at Agriprocessors for live video-monitoring.
Officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture told the New York Times that they had examined the video and had seen workers at the plant make similar cuts. The violation, said the spokeswoman, were “not egregious” and that the plant was in compliance.
Agriprocessors, according to a USDA Food Safety Inspection Service
spokesman, has agreed to suspend the use of any secondary cuts until it
received approval from the government and the Orthodox Union, a kosher
certification authority.
The ritual slaughter, performed by specialized rabbis, is exempt from certain animal cruelty laws and involves one long cut across the throat. The animal then bleeds out. A second cut is allowed by Jewish law, but only in certain cases and either by one of the rabbis or under such a rabbi’s supervision.
PETA’s battle with Agriprocessors began in June 2003 with a complaint from a whistleblower and a letter from the organization to Agriprocessors. The group told management that they had reports from within the plant, detailing inhumane treatment of the animals during the ritual slaughter. At that time, PETA recommended that Agriprocessors hire Grandin as a consultant.
Two months later, constitutional attorney Nathan Lewin responded to PETA with his own letter. In his response letter, Lewin flatly denies any instance of inhumane treatment at the plant and pointedly states that the group viewed the recommendation of Grandin as blackmail.
PETA spent seven weeks undercover at Agriprocessors before releasing an extremely graphic video in the winter of 2004 that showed several botched slaughters. The video and subsequent public outcry prompted an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA completed its investigation in April of the following year. It took a full year after the investigation was complete before the department relinquished its findings — and only then through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by PETA. The USDA founded repeated violations of the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act while the agency’s own inspectors watched.
http://www.propublica.org/article/justice-dept-probing-russian-influence-buying/
The Justice Department is investigating "what officials suspect are efforts by Russian-backed firms to gain influence or gather information in Washington," the Wall Street Journal reports today.
The piece reveals a number of new details about the investigation of ex-Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), whose former aide pleaded guilty to accepting corrupt payments from a Russian non-profit. But there is nothing else in the piece about this broader probe or who else might be of interest to investigators. One possibility involves lobbyist Jack Abramoff's longterm dealings with Russian oil company executives, who also had ties to Weldon.
Not that the Weldon case isn't sensational enough on its own. The Journal reports Russell Caso, Weldon's former aide, accepted payments via his wife from the International Exchange Group, a Russian arms-control group. The group, which employed the Russian army's current chief of staff and the head of the Federal Security Service (the successor of the KGB), paid his wife $19,000 for $1,500 worth of editing work, according to Caso's plea. Weldon and Caso energetically boosted the group's cause, mainly obtaining U.S. money for non-proliferation programs.
And while Weldon touted the International Exchange Group's ties to the Kremlin, he was also involved with a Russian company with alleged associations of a very different kind. Citing "U.S. law enforcement officials," the Journal reports that Itera International Energy LLC has "longstanding connections to alleged Russian organized-crime figures."
The Journal also reported in December of 2006 that the Justice Department's Organized Crime and Racketeering Section was conducting an international investigation that focused on the involvement of Semion Mogilevich, considered one of Russia's top organized crime figures, in an obscure company that had played a role in several multibillion-dollar gas deals, including deals involving Itera. (Mogilevich was indicted in Philadelphia in 2002 for an unrelated scheme and is one of the FBI's most-wanted men, but neither he nor any executives from Itera have been charged.)
And Weldon was also an enthusiastic emissary for Itera, a natural gas company that just happened to hire Weldon's 29 year-old daughter at a $500,000 a year tab to "create good public relations." Weldon lost re-election in 2006 after the FBI raided his daughter's home and office, among other locations.
Whether this bewildering array of Russian big business, organized crime and national security officials fits together in Weldon's case isn't clear. But the Journal notes that Attorney General Michael Mukasey has recently expressed "grave concern" about "so-called 'iron triangles' of corrupt business leaders, corrupt government officials and organized criminals."
Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to giving bribes, lobbied on behalf of Russian oil firm Naftasib, a major supplier to the Russian military. The company's chief executives, Marina Nevskaya and Alexander Koulakovsky, reportedly funneled more than $2 million in fees to Abramoff from 1997 to 2004, in addition to $1 million channeled to a non-profit used as a front group by a former close aide to ex-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX). That $1 million payment in 1998, the non-profit's director told the Washington Post, was made to influence DeLay's vote on a key vote concerning Russia. Federal investigators have issued subpoenas seeking further information about Abramoff's and DeLay's ties to Naftasib.
The Naftasib executives were apparently eager to win influence with DeLay. An anonymous "former Abramoff associate" told the Post that Koulakovsky asked during a dinner in Moscow "'what would happen if the DeLays woke up one morning' and found a luxury car in their front driveway."
Koulakovsky was also known to Weldon, enough for Weldon to insert a "Tribute to Alexander Koulakovsky" in the Congressional Record in 1999. As one might expect when foreign intelligence services and organized crime is involved, there's plenty unclear about these Russian dealings with U.S. lawmakers and lobbyists -- and plenty unclear about just what the Justice Department is probing.
Dov Hikind’s show last night compels anyone who has a neshama inside of them to DEMAND change.
EVERYONE CALL AGUDAH AND LAY OUT THE EXPECTATIONS CLEARLY:
FROM TODAY ONWARD:
1] All abusers MUST be reported to the POLICE not ambiguous “proper authority” garbage like Heinneman said.
2] Any Rav who impedes in any way the investigation must be stripped of rabbinic duies and never allowed to return to the profession.
3] Cases of family sexual abuse have the same rules as above.
This is what our community needs to survive. Failure to cooperate will demonstrate the nature of the Agudah organization as a criminal enterprise.
LET’S GET THE PHONES RINGING!!!
Kolko and the other scum like him, beware! this could happen to you as well, hell, it should have happened already.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1220526728114&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
"Joseph Bitton who is apparently not related to Claude davens at the kollel next to Richmond's bakery. He sells Borsalinos for a living."
He's completely useless. I called him up to compare prices with Bencraft. He says he only sells brand new Borsalinos, not dusty ones.
As a newlywed male survivor of sexual molestation at the hands of family, I feel for the victim in your headline post, and the couple interviewed by Dov Hikind. The flashbacks and emotions that affected me during intimacy were threatening to derail our marriage. None of the incidents were my fault at all, so guilt wasn’t an issue. Despite the love for my wife, and emotional pain I was putting her through by freaking out, I was too embarrassed to open up to her. I was torn between the attachment to my beloved wife, and protecting the reputation of my family member. I saw how sad my wife was and felt horrible.
I remembered a friend from Israel who had a similar situation and got advice from his mentor Rabbi Finkel of Chicago. His advice was to “Totally compartmentalize your life and detach logic from emotions. Just because a person is a relative who you naturally have feelings for, you have to detach those feelings and look at the situation from a strictly business perspective. A criminal is a criminal regardless of the last name. Some brothers are brothers by name only. Look at everything objectively and just squash your emotions. Relatives are special as long as they don’t abuse that specialty”.
I totally compartmentalized my life and looked at my wife as the special beautiful person she is and focused on the specialness of our relationship. I’ve broken contact with the relative and his enablers. I withstand my parents call for reconcession because I’ve learnt to squash my emotional attachment and think like a businessman. I will not allow anyone I love to be abused again simply because we share the same last name. Period.
Family sex abuse is brutal, but with the good rabbi sage advice my marriage is thriving. I am not a victim anymore, I am a survivor.
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20080907/BIZ/709079867/1005
By James McCusker, Herald columnist
'Too bad they both can't lose."
That was former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's comment on the Iran-Iraq War, which broke out in 1980 and lasted for nearly eight years.
His observation and the same kind of contempt for the behavior of the participants come easily to mind when we take a look at the legal battle between Agriprocessors and the United Food and Commercial Workers union.
Agriprocessors is the largest kosher meat-processing company in the United States. Its plant in Postville, Iowa, has for some time been the scene of conflict with the federal government, primarily over the hiring of illegal immigrants, but also violations of child labor laws. A recent raid there by Immigration and Customs Enforcement resulted in the arrest of 389 workers, 302 of whom have already pleaded guilty to either immigration violations or other criminal charges.
Agriprocessors is not the first, and certainly not the only, company in America to hire illegal immigrants, or to become dependent on them for its profitability. Still, there is no doubt that, as they say, they "took it to the next level." Since 2002, for example, the Social Security Administration has notified the company of over 3,000 discrepancies in employee identification numbers and records.
But it was in Brooklyn, New York that the Agriprocessors story climbed to the comic opera stage. The company operates a small plant there and about three years ago workers voted, 15-5, to join the UFCW. The company subsequently refused to recognize the union, saying that it had "discovered" that seventeen of the twenty workers who voted were illegal aliens and had no right to join the union. These workers were fired and replaced -- with, the union claims, other illegal immigrant workers.
The National Labor Relations Board saw it differently, citing a 1984 Supreme Court decision that, it says, affirmed the right of illegal immigrant workers to join unions. The company challenged that ruling but the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington sided with the NLRB.
Now Agriprocssors is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their argument that the 1984 ruling should be reversed. It is basing its case on the changed view of illegal immigrants -- including enforcement -- and on the passage, in 1986, of a federal law making it a crime to hire illegal aliens.
So now the stage is set. We have a company with a history of hiring illegal immigrants, pleading to the U.S. Supreme Court for a ruling that would get rid of the union but also, as a logical, if unintended, consequence, make the firm guilty of a crime. And on the other side we have a union that, while not conducting itself in quite the unsavory manner as its adversary, still wants to organize illegal immigrant workers, something that common sense would tell us would itself be illegal. And, as an accounting subplot, there is the issue of illegal workers paying dues so that they can enjoy the benefits of such things as a pension. Oh, wait, that's not going to happen with all that false documentation.
Well, at least while they are working they can contribute, just as they pay into Social Security, with no hope of ever collecting anything in return. The Social Security Administration has over $660 billion in its "Earnings Suspense File" account, which is where payroll tax payments from illegal immigrants usually end up. How much money from illegal immigrant workers' pension contributions might be in union suspense or holding accounts is anybody's guess.
The 1984 Supreme Court decision -- Sure-Tan, Inc. vs. NLRB -- that is now at the center of this opera is itself more than a bit messy. After a pro-union vote, the employer turned in its own workers to the immigration authorities. As a result, six of the seven workers involved in the vote left the U.S. in order to avoid deportation. The NLRB said that the employer's actions were an unfair labor practice -- an improper "constructive discharge" --and the court agreed.
For those totally disillusioned with election year politics there is a Web site business that will sell you a yard sign that proclaims, "Too Bad They Can't All Lose." And while I don't share that view of politics, it is difficult to shake that same feeling about this legal case. It is very hard to find any heroes.
Still, it would be very helpful for the U.S. Supreme Court to take on the thankless task of deciding this matter, if only to clarify what needs to be done by the Congress to set things straight. After four decades of bi-partisan avoidance of the illegal immigration issue, it's not surprising that the law is messy too. It's time to clean it up.
"EVERYONE CALL AGUDAH AND LAY OUT THE EXPECTATIONS CLEARLY"
What makes you think Shafran & Zweibel will let these messages get to the Moetzes? You're pishing in the vind.
Two senior Democratic senators got special "V.I.P." loans from the mortgage lender Countrywide Financial. Both say they had no idea they'd received rate and fee reductions. But a D.C. watchdog has filed an ethics complaint asking whether the senators should have noticed their V.I.P. treatment. Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington also asks that the Senate ethics committee establish a vetting process for lawmaker loans.
Sens. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) both received discounts through the "Friends of Angelo" program, Portfolio magazine reported last week, Angelo being Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo.
Conrad has said that former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson gave him Mozilo's number in 2004 when he was seeking a lender for a $1.07 million mortgage on his Delaware vacaction home. He spoke with Mozilo, he said, but never asked for or expected a discount. Internal Countrywide emails obtained by Portfolio show that Mozilo instructed his subordinate to lop off $10,700 in fees. Conrad announced over the weekend that he is donating $10,500 to Habitat for Humanity.
That same year, Conrad also got special treatment when he sought a mortgage to buy an eight-unit apartment building. Countrywide had a policy against providing loans for buildings with more than four units, but Mozilo made an exception, according to another internal email, "due to the fact that the borrower is a senator." Conrad says he was told the company "frequently made exceptions, especially for good customers." He now says he'll renogiate the loan because of the apparent special treatment.
It is less clear how Sen. Dodd became a Friend of Angelo. A spokesman told the Washington Post that neither Dodd nor his wife spoke to Mozilo about their loans. But Portfolio reported that Dodd received rate reductions on two different properties cumulatively amounting to savings of more than $70,000 over the life of the loans. In a short statement on Friday, Dodd said he and his wife "did not seek or expect favorable treatment" and that they'd "shopped around and received competitive rates."
CREW's letter to the ethics committee asks that the panel not only probe the loans to Conrad and Dodd, but also find out whether other lawmakers received similar deals. "The public needs to have confidence that members of Congress are not taking advantage of their elected positions to get better deals on their mortgages," said CREW's executive director Melanie Sloan. The group also called for a "vetting process" for loans.
Hey avi! take mine, its pretty dusty by now, you know I havnt worn it in awhile.
ABC reports on two separate studies that concluded that a bankruptcy law championed by Sen. Joe Biden was a significant factor in the country's current foreclosure crisis. Biden, meanwhile, has reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds from the credit industry, which supported the law.
In an ongoing series, the Miami Herald has been demonstrating how it is that Florida came to be the nation's leader in mortgage fraud. Part of the reason, of course, is that Florida was one of the hot spots for the housing boom and, later, bust. But as the Herald found, a lot had to do with the fact that the state allowed thousands of ex-cons to work in the mortgage profession.
Yesterday, in response to the paper's series, the state's attorney general called for an investigation of the Office of Financial Regulation, the office that polices the mortgage industry.
The stories are full of jaw-dropping numbers and anecdotes.
The paper found that from 2000 to 2007, "regulators allowed at least 10,529 people with criminal records to work in the mortgage profession. Of those, 4,065 cleared background checks after committing crimes that state law specifically requires regulators to screen out, including fraud, bank robbery, racketeering and extortion." The Herald found that those criminals "went on to commit nearly $85 million in mortgage fraud."
Only 29 applicants were rejected based on their criminal record. And the kicker: "Regulators allowed at least 20 brokers to keep their licenses even after committing the one crime that seemed sure to get them banned from the industry: mortgage fraud."
As for the anecdotes, it’s hard to know which to choose. There's the mortgage broker who won his license despite convictions for car theft and passing bad checks and who "didn't even make it through the 24-hour mortgage-broker training class without breaking the law... He persuaded a classmate who worked for Sprint PCS to sell him cellphone customers' Social Security numbers." The broker went on to use buyers' credit histories to steal more than $200,000.
But the most egregious has to be Scott Almeida, who got his license as a mortgage broker despite a conviction for cocaine trafficking. All Almeida had to do to get the license was offer a written explanation for his crime and rehabilitation. As he told the Herald, "I had to write a letter. It took three seconds. It wasn't a battle."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121842336441828975.html
Five of the nation's largest credit unions are reporting big paper losses on mortgage-related securities, a sign that housing-market distress is spreading even to the most risk-averse financial sectors.
Credit unions are non-profit cooperatives that act similarly to banks.
UOJ should stop being ridiculous and report on important news.
The strongest storms are growing fiercer as the ocean warms, according to a new study released today in Nature Magazine that is sure to heat up a hurricane debate as Hanna and Ike swirl over the Atlantic.
Research from James Elsner and Thomas Jagger of Florida State University and the University of Wisconsin's James Kossin shows the world's most intense tropical cyclones speeding up at a rate of four miles per hour every decade and 16 miles per hour
After cover-ups at the Federal Reserve and games at the U.S. Treasury....after all the lies, after all the stonewalling...after all the BS, fraudulent manipulation of the value of portfolios...comes the unraveling of the banking system..... All they had to do five years ago was admit to the truth and put remedies and preventive measures in place. Every stinking lie and fraud eventually comes to an end with "We the People" paying the price!
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From CNN: Freddie and Fannie Meltdown...... In Part
"Extent of trouble unknown!!!!
It was impossible to Sunday to know how many banks are now at risk as a result of the government action.
Government officials acknowledged that risk on Sunday, while they sought to downplay the immediate threat to banks.
"While many institutions hold common or preferred shares of [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac], a limited number of smaller institutions have holdings that are significant compared to their capital," said a statement Sunday by leading bank regulators.
Those regulators said that they "are prepared to work with these institutions to develop capital-restoration plans pursuant to the capital regulations." But those steps by regulators can often mean the takeover of a troubled bank by a healthier institution.
Analysts who looked the limited information available on holdings of Fannie and Freddie's preferred shares ahead of Sunday's bailout said the preferred shares made up a significant share of holdings at more than a handful of banks.
An August research note from KBW identified 38 regional banks, mostly smaller ones, that between them hold about $1.3 billion in the preferred shares of Fannie and Freddie. At least eight banks had more than 10% of their capital tied up in the shares, while another six had between 5% and 9%.
And that is likely only the tip of the iceberg of those holdings, said Sam Caldwell, the KBW analyst who was the author of the report.
"We were only able to identify $1.3 billion in these holdings. It's entirely possible it's multiples of that number beyond that held by other banks," he said last month.
A few banks have already started to write down the value of those shares. Wilmington Trust (WL), a regional bank based in Delaware, took a $12 million charge related to holdings of Fannie and Freddie preferred shares in the second quarter. That contributed to the bank's $20 million loss in the period.
Caldwell said he doubts the hits regional banks will have to take from the decline in Fannie and Freddie's preferred shares would cause widespread failures, although some could face severe capital problems.
Virginia Beach-based Gateway Financial Holdings (GBTS), has about 34% of its tangible capital tied up in Fannie and Freddie preferred shares, according to Caldwell. Just behind is Midwest Banc Holdings (MBHI), a suburban-Chicago bank with 32% of its capital tied up those shares.
Neither of those banks, nor Wilmington Trust, responded to requests for comment on the KBW note last month.
Caldwell's research found the regional bank with the largest investment in the preferred shares is Sovereign Bancorp (SOV, Fortune 500), a Philadelphia-based thrift which KBW estimates has Fannie and Freddie preferred shares originally worth $588 million, or about 13% of its tangible capital."
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) - An arrest warrant was issued Friday for Mark Ingram, a star on the New York Giants' 1991 Super Bowl-winning team who failed for a third time to appear in federal court for sentencing on a money laundering and bank fraud conviction.
Claude Bitton is the kind of guy who's all smiles.
What a fraud
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/world/middleeast/20music.html?ex=1219896000&en=a71a8c5b07cd8b40&ei=5070&emc=eta1
August 20, 2008
Jerusalem Journal
Israel Fears a Thief Stole Bits of Its Musical Legacy
By ETHAN BRONNER
JERUSALEM — It began with a late-night call one Friday in July. A woman from New York was asking Gila Flam, who runs the music section of Israel‘s national library, about a century-old autographed manuscript of a Swiss composer. Was it in the library’s collection?
When Ms. Flam checked, she discovered that the piece was in her inventory but not in the folder where it belonged. Other items were also missing from the folder. In fact, she said she began to recall, users of the library had been increasingly complaining of being unable to find listed documents.
The library has determined that hundreds of items are missing, including photographs, manuscripts and letters by Yehudi Menuhin, Jascha Heifetz, Pablo Casals, Felix Mendelssohn and Richard Strauss. Many items are also gone from the archive of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra in Tel Aviv and a historic music library in Haifa. The search of other music archives is just getting started.
The police have named as a suspect a 60-year-old Haifa architect who for several years, they say, has been scouring the nation’s archives claiming to be a music buff doing personal research, slipping the documents among his own papers and openly selling them on eBay, probably for a total of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“We are talking about the country’s musical history that this guy has been strip mining,” said Bill Ecker, a New York dealer who unknowingly bought a stolen 1879 letter from the suspect and helped lead the Israeli police to the arrest. “He has not just been stealing from a library, but from his nation.”
The case has broken at an especially awkward time for the national library, depository of the world’s largest collection of Jewish and Hebrew manuscripts. It has been accused for years by the Israeli press and an international committee of specialists of failing to properly protect the country’s documentary heritage because of its leaky ceilings, insufficient budgets, crowded storage space and outmoded technology.
Now it seems that poor security will be added to the list just as the library is hoping to reinvent itself and bid for a number of major collections, including what may remain of Franz Kafka‘s papers in Tel Aviv.
“This is very difficult because we are just now in the process of putting together a plan to build a high-tech, cutting-edge national library,” Shmuel Har Noy, the library’s director general, said when asked about the missing documents.
The suspect in this case, Meir Bizanski, has been uncooperative with the police, who raided his house and found hundreds of items that the libraries and the orchestra say belong to them, according to the National Police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld. Much of the material was in a storehouse behind his residence, arranged by subject in boxes and on shelves, those who took part in the search recounted.
Mr. Bizanski was first held in custody, then placed under house arrest. Now, as the detectives assemble their case to file charges — eBay says it will cooperate — he is free on the condition that he not leave the country or contact music archives.
Reached by telephone, Mr. Bizanski declined an interview request. His lawyer responded with a short statement by e-mail saying that Mr. Bizanski was a collector of Judaica who often visited libraries and archives and had committed no crime, and that the police did not understand how collectors operated. The lawyer, Gadi Tal, added by telephone that Mr. Bizanski had legally bought everything in question.
The archivists at both the national library and the orchestra said they had never sold any of the items. In theory, Mr. Bizanski could have been the victim of a thief from whom he bought the materials. But asked to provide any bills of sale for the goods, Mr. Tal declined.
The case began with Jude Lubrano, who, with her husband, Paul, has been running a music antiquarian business out of their home on the North Shore of Long Island for some 30 years. Ms. Lubrano said she had bought four documents from him for $5,000.
When the documents arrived, she checked in reference books and found a photograph of one of them, a signed three-page manuscript by Arthur Honegger, a 20th-century Swiss-French composer. It said the manuscript belonged in an official collection in Israel. That is when she phoned Ms. Flam.
Ms. Lubrano wrote to Mr. Bizanski, telling him that he had sold her stolen goods and that she wanted her money back.
“If these scores were stolen,” he wrote, “I may eventually find myself embarrassed, so I urge you to return them.” He sent a refund. Ms. Lubrano returned the manuscript to the library.
Ms. Flam, who has been at the music department of the national library for 14 years and has, with a minuscule budget and little help, created storage cases and archives, has been devastated by the theft. She said Mr. Bizanski had visited for long days every month or two but clearly, she said, cared about money because he took only things with autographs on them that he could readily sell.
Now she worries that the entire system of research will have to be adjusted to take account of possible theft. The archivist at the Israeli Philharmonic also recognized Mr. Bizanski from his many visits.
Mr. Har Noy, the national library’s director, acknowledged that his institution, which until Aug. 1 was known as the Jewish National and University Library, had long been a kind of stepchild among national depositories because it was partly run by Hebrew University and never had the status or budget of something like the Library of Congress.
In fact, in 1998, a group of international specialists led by the librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, warned Israel that the library was in disarray, and that without substantial changes “Israel will find itself without a national library in all but name.”
It took a decade to act, but last November Parliament passed a law setting up the National Library of Israel, the new name of the institution, and granting it a three-year transition away from university management.
Mr. Har Noy said that with the papers of Einstein, Ben-Gurion and others, the national library had great ambition and purpose.
“This robbery has been awful,” he said. “But we will learn from what has happened and make it better. Israel deserves a true national library and it will get it.”
Dov Hikind bypassing Ohel family Services.
David Mandel and Joan Hertz at Ohel aint to happy about this. Ohel could be getting all this money instead Dov appointed his own people.
At least they still have Shelly Silver to funnel them money.
Ohel Insider
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