I choose not to comment on the legal troubles of the Rubashkins - atleast for now. For the news, well...it's available everywhere. I feel like hiding in a mountain cabin somewhere --- I'm sickened by what they've wrought on themselves, and on the furthering of the image of the Jew as money-grubbing thieves.
Thank you - the OU kashruth organization for your complicit involvement in this scandal. Were you to get out when the KAJ did - we would perhaps have avoided the "blood libel" media frenzy. They would have been unable to sell their foodstuff as kosher - and perhaps would have been just another slaughterhouse, not an ultra-orthodox Jewish owned - rabbis endorsed - Torah sanctioned business.
But of course, the rabbis always do what's best for the Jewish community.
To Hersh Weinreb - The executive vice president of the OU, once again you've sold out the interests of the Jewish people for your personal benefit, as you did in Baltimore when you were a rabbi there.
You were aware that Moshe Eisemann was a very ill person that was a danger to children, and you did nothing! Your retirement from Jewish communal life can not come too soon. Good riddance to another Shea Fishman type despicable criminal bozo!
*
Here Comes Steve: (I think he wants my job.)
"The OU is in the licensing business, first and foremost. To them it has nothing to do with kashrus, ethics or the prevention of chillul hashem. It's all about making a buck and the marketing of the OU brand. With Rubashkin, it was a no-brainer for them. They were cashing in for years, based solely on the OU brand, rather than actual hashgocho. For hashgocho, they relied on others, first the KAJ and then Weissmandl.
How reliable was that hashgocho, especially when the owners were of questionable integrity to begin with and the fact that non-kosher meat was constantly in contact with kosher? It didn't matter to the executives at OU Licensing LLC. They were making money and the fact that their logo was on millions of tons of "glatt kosher chicken" and beef was something for them to be proud of. Their executive board headed by CEO Menachem Genack and Kashruth Committee Chairman, the (dis)Honorable Dr. Steven Katz was turning a huge profit with this low-risk, low overhead enterprise.
Their logo became the Versace of the kashrus industry. Or so they tell people. Never mind that they had no presence whatsoever at the Rubashkin plant (Seth Mandel's occasional visit to pick up his check doesn't count), never mind that they affix their logo on thousands of products where they have no presence at the respective factories, never mind that they affix their logo on products that absolutely do not need any hechsher, WHO CARES? They made money and that's all that counts. When they had to actually hire a mashgiach for a restaurant that was under their "supervision", they pulled a Weissmandl and muzzled him! An injunction!
They shut him up! How dare Isaac Bitton state that the chef at Le Marais violated kashrus rules? Isaac is our employee and he must toe the company line. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil! It would be hefseid merubah to lose an account like Le Marais, or chas veshalom, Rubashkin. Kashrus? Ethics? Chillul Hashem? Newspaper articles? They can handle all that. That was until the Rubashkin scandal reached epic proportions this past summer and Genack needed to save face by stating that they must hire a new CEO. No problem. In stepped Sholom's lawyer Bernie, the guy that helped get him out of the Allou money laundering case.
Problem solved!
Rubashkin is all kosher again. Meat for Yom Tov he claimed was the issue. Everybody go back to fressing on their salmonella and feces infested treife. Lawyer Bernie made everything all better, so now the OU can continue cashing in their licensing fees. Genack pulled off what he thought was a brilliant PR stunt.
I'm sure Katz helped him come up with it. After all, Dr. Simcha is no stranger to kashrus scandals. He himself was (is?) owner of Central Glatt Meats, partnered with Brach from L.I. In 1985, there was a small, minor problem, something about a truckload of treife meat, labeled as kosher, headed to NYC from Ohio that was luckily caught by government officials before it made its way onto our dinner plates. It's nice to know that the OU is always looking out for our best interests and making sure we only eat "strictly" kosher products. That's why they only hire the best in the business--that is the licensing business."
EVERY SIGNATURE MATTERS - THIS BILL MUST PASS!
CLICK - GOAL - 100,000 NEW SIGNATURES! 75,000 SIGNATURES HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED TO GOVERNOR CUOMO!
EFF Urges Court to Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters
CLICK! For the full motion to quash: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/hersh_v_cohen/UOJ-motiontoquashmemo.pdf
102 comments:
didn't genack vow to remove OU supervision if criminal charges were brought against any member of the rubashkin family??
Prosecutors: Keep slaughterhouse manager jailed
NIGEL DUARA | Associated Press Writer
November 20, 2008
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Federal prosecutors said Wednesday a former kosher slaughterhouse manager should stay in jail because he's a flight risk and likely to tamper with evidence.
They told a federal judge at a hearing for Sholom Rubashkin that after he was arrested last week on bank fraud charges, agents found about $20,000 in cash and silver coins packed with passports in a travel bag in his bedroom.
"You honor, if you were going to leave in a hurry, this is exactly what you would pack," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan.
Prosecutors also allege Rubashkin tried to tamper with evidence when he was released from jail after earlier charges of harboring illegal immigrants, document fraud and identity theft. Rubashkin, former CEO at Agriprocessors in Postville, pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Magistrate Jon Scoles will rule Thursday on whether Rubashkin should remain in jail.
The judge also scheduled Rubashkin's trial on the earlier charges for Jan. 20. It's expected to last two weeks. A trial hasn't been set on the bank fraud charge.
Agriprocessors was the site of a May 12 Immigration raid in which 389 people were arrested, about a third of the plant's workforce. The company and top managers also are accused of violating state and federal laws dealing with child labor, wage requirements and safety rules. The plant recently closed and is seeking bankruptcy protection.
Defense attorney Baruch Weiss told Scoles that unnamed investors are closing in on a sale of Agriprocessors. He said the Rubashkin family would soon sell their interest in the company.
Weiss said Rubashkin kept cash, passports and birth certificates stashed in a travel bag because he has a 15-year-old mentally disabled son who might destroy the items if they weren't secured.
Weiss said that since the raid and the plant's ensuing financial trouble, Rubashkin has used the cash to pay bills. As evidence, he showed a $1,700 receipt for a bill to the Ford Motor Co., paid in cash.
Prosecutors also noted a December 2007 trip Rubashkin made to Israel, and said he is a risk to flee there because of the country's "Law of Return." The rule states that those of Jewish descent are allowed to emigrate to Israel and obtain dual citizenship if they aren't a public threat.
Weiss responded that Israel's extradition laws would allow Rubashkin to be returned to the United States for prosecution, and that it wouldn't make sense for him to flee.
The prosecution also claimed Rubashkin is likely to tamper with evidence if released, and entered into evidence an affidavit that quotes an unnamed account clerk from Agriprocessors. According to the affidavit, Rubashkin told the clerk on Oct. 30 to "clean out your desk," an instruction she took to mean she should destroy evidence of checks that had not yet been posted.
The tampering alleged in the affidavit relates to the separate bank fraud case against Rubashkin.
Deegan, the prosecutor, said the clerk shredded a spreadsheet that listed checks that had not yet been posted to customers' accounts, and that Rubashkin also took a computer drive containing check records.
Deegan also said Rubashkin was implicated -- but never convicted -- in a check-kiting scheme from March 2004 in which one woman was ordered to pay $82,000 in restitution to her bank. The defense objected to the exhibits, but the judge overruled them.
Weiss, one of Rubashkin's lawyers, said 30 families had offered their homes as equity to free Rubashkin until trial. A nephew and in-laws in New York also have offered property as equity. Weiss said the total would be about $2 million, in addition to the $500,000 Rubashkin has already posted as bond.
I wanted to give everyone a heads up that if you tend to give gift cards around the holidays, you need to be careful that the cards will not be honored after the holidays.
Stores that are planning to close after Christmas are still selling the cards through the holidays even though the cards will be worthless January 1 2009.
There is no law preventing them from doing this. On the contrary, it is referred to as 'Bankruptcy Planning).
Below is a "partial"
list of stores that you need to be cautious about.
Circuit City (filed Chapter 11)
Ann Taylor 117 stores nationwide closing
Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug ,and Catherine's to close 150 stores
nationwide
Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January
Cache will close all stores
Talbots closing down specialty stores
J. Jill closing all stores (owned by Talbots) Pacific Sunwear (also owned
by Talbots)
GAP closing 85 stores
Footlocker closing 140 stores more to close after January
Wickes Furniture closing down
Levitz closing down remaining stores
Bombay closing remaining stores
Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January
Whitehall closing all stores
Piercing Pagoda closing all stores
Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.
Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ ( New Brunswick )
Macys to close 9 stores after January
Linens and Things closing all stores
Movie Galley Closing all stores
Pep Boys Closing 33 stores
Sprint/Nextel closing 133 stores
JC Penney closing a number of stores after January
Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.
Wilson Leather closing down all stores
Sharper Image closing down all stores
K B Toys closing 356 stores
Loews to close down some stores
Dillard's to close some stores
There will be many more...Avoid gift cards!
BREAKING! THREATS MADE AGAINST RUBASHKIN FAMILY – Workers Said To Plan Robberies Of Local Businesses
According to audio of KPLV disc jockey Jeff Abbas interviewing an Agriprocessors' worker a few minutes ago.
Homeless ex-convicts who worked for Rubashkin have been staking out Jewish women who shop in downtown Postville and plan on robbing them and harming them. They have weapons and also plan on attacking laying armed siege to homes of Rubashkin family members.
I'm told the cheder and yeshiva (Jewish schools) have evacuated all students. If this has not been done, it should be done immediately.
All members of the extended Rubashkin family should immediately take precautions. If you need help doing this, call the mayor.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3625292,00.html
Economic crisis prompts anti-Semitism in Europe
Dramatic surge in violent attacks against Jews registered throughout Europe in recent months, as neo-Nazis once again blame Jews for global crisis
Eldad Beck
BERLIN – The global economic crisis, which is beginning to be clearly felt across Europe, has brought with it another concerning phenomenon – a rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic assaults throughout the continent.
This week a pig's head was hung on a Magen David at the entrance gate to the Jewish cemetery in the city of Goethe in East Germany, with a banner saying "Six million lies" placed alongside it. In other countries synagogue windows were smashed, Jews were attacked on the streets and calls not to buy from Jews were made.
Since the beginning of the year, 800 anti-Semitic incidents have been registered in Germany, a rise of dozens of percents compared to last year. The head of the Jewish community's council in the country said that not a week goes by without a Jewish cemetery being desecrated.
'Violence becoming a routine thing'
In Hungary, one of the countries which were particularly affected by the financial crisis, the rise in anti-Semitism has been dramatic and the number of hate crimes against Jews grew by dozens of percents this year, according to Israel's Ambassador to Hungary Aliza Ben-Nun.
'Juden Raus' Graffiti in Vienna (Photo: Daniel Kirshner)
When the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht was marked last week, the windows of a synagogue in Debrecen, the second largest city in the country, were smashed. During the High Holidays, bands of uniformed members of Hungary's extreme right gathered around synagogues in Budapest and intimidated shul-goers by their presence.
"Such violent incidents are becoming a routine thing," Ben-Nun said. "The members of the far right are becoming more and more confident. There are many more incidents of graveyard desecration, spraying anti-Semitic graffiti and verbal and physical assaults."
The increase in violent attacks against Jews, as well as immigrants, can be seen throughout Central Europe. Three men were arrested in Prague in the beginning of the week on suspicion they threw rocks at a Jewish resident. In Basel, Switzerland, a sign was posted on the window of a kosher grocery store reading, "Swiss, protect yourselves, don't buy from Jews."
Prof. Yehuda Bauer, the scientific advisor of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum: "I can say that once there is an economic crisis, the anti-Semitic images of the greedy, exploiting Jew surface. This is a regular pattern, according to which at a time of financial hardship, anti-Semitic stereotypes begin to put down roots."
The Anti-Defamation League has recently published a report indicating that there has been "a dramatic upsurge in the number of anti-Semitic statements being posted to Internet discussion boards devoted to finance and the economy."
According to Serge Cwajgenbaum, secretary-general of the European Jewish Congress, "There has indeed been a general rise in anti-Semitic attacks in all of Europe in recent months ... the attacks are certainly more violent today than hey used to be."
FM is reporting that Postville Police have requested reinforcements from surrounding towns. State Police are also on their way.
There are also fears of a full scale riot at the food pantry. The Mayor, Robert Penrod, who is widely viewed as inept, has not requested help from the National Guard. People are trying to convince the Gov. to declare an emergency and send in the Cavalry by executive order!
This is Archie Bunker.
There are frum men, women & children who could be killed chas vesholom.
Please contact the court appointed receiver for Rubashkin's Agriprocessors. Flood their office with requests to get the checks for back wages in the pipeline before violence erupts:
Getzler Henrich & Associates, LLC
295 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Tel: 212.697.2400
Fax: 212.697.4812
Some non-Jewish residents of Postville are trying to help frum neighbors dismantle their sukkas before the armed criminals use them as markers to target them.
Rubashkin, you PUTZ!
Take the money that Chabad is laundering into your "legal defense fund" and pay the workers before they kill anyone.
He was obviously plotting to sneak across the Canadian border and get to Israel with the help of Chabad shluchim.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-slaughterhouseman,0,3257556.story
Federal prosecutors ... told a federal judge at a hearing for Sholom Rubashkin that after he was arrested last week on bank fraud charges, agents found about $20,000 in cash and silver coins packed with passports in a travel bag in his bedroom.
"You honor, if you were going to leave in a hurry, this is exactly what you would pack," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan.
Defense attorney Baruch Weiss said Rubashkin kept cash, passports and birth certificates stashed in a travel bag because he has a 15-year-old mentally disabled son who might destroy the items if they weren't secured.
Weiss said that since the raid and the plant's ensuing financial trouble, Rubashkin has used the cash to pay bills. As evidence, he showed a $1,700 receipt for a bill to the Ford Motor Co., paid in cash.
The prosecution also claimed Rubashkin is likely to tamper with evidence if released, and entered into evidence an affidavit that quotes an unnamed account clerk from Agriprocessors. According to the affidavit, Rubashkin told the clerk on Oct. 30 to "clean out your desk," an instruction she took to mean she should destroy evidence of checks that had not yet been posted.
Deegan, the prosecutor, said the clerk shredded a spreadsheet that listed checks that had not yet been posted to customers' accounts, and that Rubashkin also took a computer drive containing check records.
Deegan also said Rubashkin was implicated -- but never convicted -- in a check-kiting scheme from March 2004 in which one woman was ordered to pay $82,000 in restitution to her bank. The defense objected to the exhibits, but the judge overruled them.
Weiss, one of Rubashkin's lawyers, said 30 families had offered their homes as equity to free Rubashkin until trial. A nephew and in-laws in New York also have offered property as equity. Weiss said the total would be about $2 million, in addition to the $500,000 Rubashkin has already posted as bond.
Associated Press - November 20, 2008 1:23 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - A former congressional staffer has pleaded guilty to not reporting thousands of dollars in illegal gifts from lobbyists.
Trevor L. Blackann pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to lying on his 2003 tax returns.
Blackann, a former legislative assistant in the House and the Senate, is the most recent person convicted in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.
Among the gifts from lobbyists that Blackann failed to rerport was a free trip to the first game of the World Series in New York. He also failed to report airfare, meals and entertainment at a "gentleman's club" paid for by lobbyists.
Blackann admitted giving lobbyists in Abramoff's office help on issues before Congress
Shmadia is not just a liar, he is a pathological and compulsive one. while lacking any skill, talent or just a redeeming quality, he managed to basically establish a spider-like presence on the web where he invests his entire worthless life full time to perpetuating lies, half-truths, exaggerations, libels and whatever other pornography tickles his rotten mind. so when you ask whether he's a liar, the answer may not need many equivocues ...
Belsky tried to mollify the workers with free copies of his sefer on the nutritional benefits of nose picking.
They said they already tried that and they're starving.
They heard all about the Agudah & Chabad Fresser events and are craving some real food.
Rubashkin was nailed because of his own criminal actions.
Shmarya can make noise but makes no difference in the equation.
Why are you just bashing Weinreb?
What about the other OU bums like Katz, Genack, Mandel & Belsky?
After getting hundreds of billions from taxpayers, banks want to reach into your pocket again.
You accepted credit cards based on the terms and conditions offered to you. You held up your end, fair and square, but banks dug themselves into a hole. Now they want another bailout directly from you—by jacking up your credit card interest and hitting you with fees.
Lawmakers are back in Washington. Tell them to stop the switcheroo.
Over the past decade, credit card banks offered us trillions more in credit than we actually wanted. Sending dozens of offers a year by mail, hawking cards to college students without regard to their ability to pay, and offering ever more attractive balance transfer deals, they captured millions of new customers.
Now they want to switch the deal--just because they can.
The House has already passed a strong bill--thanks in part to your strong support. Now, it's up to the Senate. The Senate bill will stop the banks from hiking interest rates and fees on your credit card balances for no reason. It will require banks to allocate a portion of your payment to higher-interest balances. And it will finally set some limits on giving credit cards to young people.
Show your support for this good proposal.
The proposal is tough, and the banks don't like it. But they already got what they wanted--$700 billion taxpayer dollars to bail them out from their own mistakes. American card holders aren't asking for a bailout...just a fair system so they can reasonably pay down their debt.
Once you have taken a moment to support sensible reforms to rein in the credit card companies, please take another moment to forward this e-mail to anyone you know who uses credit cards so they can help, too!
Sincerely,
Pam Banks
CreditCardReform.org
A project of Consumers Union
1101 17th Street NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
One trillion dollars of wealth has been lost in the last 2 days on Wall Street. Read ----1000 - billion - dollars!
Can anyone grasp this?
UOJ
So what? The stock market nearly DOUBLED from '03 until '07! In four years!
This is a much needed correction.
Worth repeating from my previous comment.
On the bailout of the 3 American automakers:
In a perfect world they should be allowed to fail - they are failures in producing automobiles that consumers want, inability to make a profit for decades, and permitted the Japanese to take over the American auto industry!
My question is - if they go out of business - and their assembly lines are dismantled - who will we be able to rely on to produce our military vehicles?
To outsource that to the Chinese and the Japanese would be insane.
Government ownership would make things worse, not better.
For starters - we need to slap big tarriffs on every foreign automaker that exports to the U.S.
Secondly - perhaps a Chapter Eleven filing would give them the opportunity to renogiate with the killer union stranglehold on the auto industry.
Then we would need real executives that know what they're doing to run the companies.
In short - I'm conflicted; Chapter Eleven may be the way to go instead of using taxpayer dollars to get more of the same garbage cars and insane compensation packages.
This is a much needed correction.
---------
Agreed -- but the con-artists like Paulson - who was intricately involved in creating this Ponzi scheme, will walk away scott free.
For every year Rubashkin spends in the slammer -- Paulson and his ilk should spend 1000.
Incredible!
RUBASHKIN DENIED BAIL
The reason that UOJ is bashing me is because I was a therapist and a mandated reporter in Baltimore who knew about allegations about Moshe Eiseman molesting kids at Ner Yisroel. Not only did I not follow the law and report, but until today I refuse to speak out on this horrible danger and tragedy.
Secondly, maybe UOJ has some hard feelings about the fact that my being a psychologist familiar with issues of abuse was the very reason I was chosen and given the honor of heading the OU. What have I done in my eight years there to help with this problem? I mad sure that the report on the Baruch Lanner scandal that was done by respectable independent professionals and rabbis from the community was buried, not publicized, all in order to protect myself and my organization's image. The fact that Lanner is now free from jail and that MANY people in our community do not know that he is actually a threat to the community's children, does not weigh heavily enough in my cheshbon to require a public statement of any kind by myself or the OU.
Understand?
Shmarya
I see that du glaichst tzu tanzen of yenems kever.You enjoy dancing on someones grave.It's also obvious that you have a personal animosity towards the Rubashkins that really is not related to kashrus or any of the the crimes that they will have to pay for.Can you please tell us how they have wronged you as an individual?
Let's hope that leading personnel in the Agri Kosher certifying agencies, who are as equally guilty as the Rubashkins, get arrested, tried, convicted and sent to the same "Big House" as the Rubashkins.
Have no fear, Detroit will get their bailout next month as will everyone else coming forth with outstretched hand to the point where the US Treasury goes Chap. 11, capitalism is destroyed, and the US economy tanks big time with sky high choke hold confiscatory taxes, straight jacket regulations, the disappearance of personal initiative and small-business start-ups, and the selection of leftist Judges legislating from the bench. Communism on steroids.
The fury of the populace makes Bim-Bam a 1-term President but he don't care, leaving the White House with a smile as he has accomplished his goal without firing a shot.
America, RIP.
The Bim-Bam Identity.
The left wing Times editors have to get in a dig when the poor guy is on a hospital bed. The end of this article sounds normal to you an I, but to the left wing ilk that the Times is trying to appeal to, saying he supports the Bush War on Terror is anathema and they probably hope he drops dead. chas vashalom.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/washington/21mukasey.html?hp
November 21, 2008
Attorney General Collapses During Speech
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey collapsed during a speech Thursday night and was taken to the hospital after he failed to regain consciousness. There was no immediate word on his medical status.
Mr. Mukasey, 67, who took over as attorney general one year ago after the resignation of Alberto R. Gonzales, was giving a speech on national security to members of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal affairs group, when he lost consciousness.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said department officials were at George Washington University Hospital awaiting word on Mr. Mukasey’s condition. There was no immediate indication of the cause of his collapse. There had been no recent reports of medical problems for Mr. Mukasey, a former judge and prosecutor in Manhattan.
Several members of the Supreme Court had been expected to be at Mr. Mukasey’s speech before the Federalist Society.
In his prepared remarks, the attorney general planned to address the continued threat of Al Qaeda and the “fundamental reorganization” of the government since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to guard against another attack.
Mr. Mukasey is the Bush administration’s third attorney general. He was sworn in on Nov. 9, 2007, succeeding Mr. Gonzales, who resigned after Congressional investigations into political pressure from the Justice Department in the appointment of United States attorneys.
Mr. Mukasey was in private practice in Manhattan when President Bush picked him for the cabinet position. Before that he served 18 years on the Federal bench in Manhattan.
As a judge after the Sept. 11 attacks, he ordered the detention of young Muslim men as so-called material witnesses in terrorism cases, decisions that were criticized by immigration lawyers and praised by the Justice Department.
Mr. Mukasey has endorsed provisions of the USA Patriot Act, the law passed by Congress after the attacks to grant wide new law-enforcement power to the executive branch. In Washington, he has been a strong supporter of the administration’s claim to broad powers in the fight against terrorism.
His condition is stable - B"H!
Rabbi Nachum Rosenberg's life is in danger
Rabbi Rosenberg's life is in danger. There are many who are attempting to discredit him and or set him up because he has been speaking out against a community that cares more about money then they do the safety of their children.
I also fear that there are some in law enforcement who wish him ill. We all need to do what ever is possible to protect him. After several conversations I had with a particular individual I have a strong feeling that he or his family might be harmed again this week.
Let this be a warning that those of us who are connected to The Awareness Center are watching and demanding that he be protected.
The attacks against Rabbi Rosenberg seem to happen when he's trying to go to shul to daven (pray). Even though those who trying to harm him are Jewish -- I personally believe this should be considered a hate crime.
Feeling betrayed after Hikind subpoena
BY MICHAEL ORBACH
The Jewish Star
November 21, 2008
http://www.thejewishstar.com/JewishStar.pdf
Assemblyman Dov Hikind’s quest to end sexual abuse in the Orthodox community has taken a strange twist: he is refusing to cooperate with a subpoena served by an attorney on behalf of victims of abuse in a Brooklyn yeshiva.
Michael Dowd represents two men who believe that Yeshiva Torah Temimah, run by Lipa Margolis, knew that their alleged abuser, Yehuda Kolko, was a serial child molester but chose to not fire him. They have subpoenaed Hikind for information about the case that may be contained in the massive dossier he claims he has compiled about hundred
of cases of abuse.
In response, Hikind said he would go to jail before revealing the names of victims who have revealed themselves to him or his staff. Testifying against Kolko and Torah Temimah would also pit Hikind squarely against a powerful institution in his own district.
The subpoena has been referred to an attorney for the New York State Assembly, said Hikind. He called it “irrelevant” to what he trying to accomplish: a plan to deal with the problem of abuse in the Orthodox community that he hopes to present to rabbinical leaders as soon as January.
Revealing names of victims would violate his principles, said Hikind. “A number of victims have called my office terrified that I might reveal this information. It can never happen and I don’t think it has to happen.”
Dowd said he would follow the common procedure of not publicizing the names of victims, and said sees himself on common ground with the assemblyman.
“We’re both pointed in the same direction,” Dowd said. “Hikind sees this as a serious problem in the community and I see this as a serious problem in society.”
Hikind has repeatedly asserted that he attempts to get victims to press charges but most are unwilling to do so.
“My position is that I wish more people would go to the authorities but the reality is
that you can’t force a victim to go,” he said. “I wish the shame and concern about shidduchim would dissipative in some way, but the Moshiach will come first.”
Hikind’s actions have caused outrage in certain circles, specifically his claim that his office has met with a serial molester and sent him to a therapist, Ohel’s Barry Horowitz.
Horowitz, who practices in the Five Towns, declined to confirm that he is treating a pedophile referred to him by Hikind’s office.
“I think what he’s doing is indefensible,” said Marci Hamilton, author of Justice Denied:
What America Must Do to Protect its Children, and the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
“Once he knew that one of the perpetrators abused a child two months ago, he should’ve
gone to the authorities. He clearly cares more about the reputation of a religious community than he does about children.”
Hikind stressed that he didn’t think that the man posed an immediate danger.
Perhaps the strongest criticism leveled against Hikind has come from Pearl Engelman,
whose son, Joel, was allegedly abused by Avrohom Reichman, a teacher in the United Talmudic Academy in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Joel, who is represented by Elliot Pasik, an attorney in the Five Towns, is suing Reichman, as well as the school, and a Satmar bungalow colony that he claims knew what Reichman was up to, yet failed to act.
On the first of Hikind’s call-in radio programs dealing with sexual molestation, Pearl, under the pseudonym Miriam, spoke about the abuse her son had suffered at his teacher’s hands and the response of the United Talmudic Academy. Hikind promised to take action and ensure that by September the teacher would not be at the school. Since then Hikind met with David Niederman, a Satmar community leader, and administrators of the United Talmudic Academy, but Reichman is still teaching at the school.
“What interfered here was Hikind’s own political survival,” Pearl Engelman told The Jewish Star. “When he came up against a powerful entity, Satmar, UTA, and his political survival was in question, he chose his own political survival. Normally, I’d say ‘may the best man win,’ but in this case he’s jeopardizing the lives of children and he’s compromising his public persona by not coming out to the parents.”
Simply put, according to Pearl, “Hikind folded. He completely
sold out.”
Hikind said that he is still working on getting Reichman removed from the school. “The
Reichman family is a very powerful family,” he said. Getting Reichman out,” doesn’t happen immediately.”
On his most recent Saturday night radio program, Hikind specifically named Reichman
for the first time and warned parents about him.
“She [Pearl] wants me to go to war with Satmar and I gotta tell you, there may come a time when I have to do that,” Hikind explained to The Jewish Star. “Right now, I do not want to go to war with anyone. It’s not about one particular person, it’s about truly making a difference.”
Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, whose office came under fire from the Jewish
Week for allowing a plea bargain for Yehuda Kolko, defended his record on prosecuting child molestation in the Orthodox community.
Speaking at a panel discussion on religious tolerance, Hynes said “there are a great many allegations from Assemblyman Dov Hikind about this kind of activity and yet he has
refused to bring any information to the sex crimes bureau.”
Later, Hynes said that he had no immediate plans to empanel a grand jury to force
Hikind to disclose information.
“Obviously, if I thought there was a basis on which to get those records, then I’d
empanel a grand jury.”
Hikind professes to be grateful for the extra attention that the subpoena brought and believes that he’s already accomplished something.
“Look it’s not a perfect world out there. Let’s go back 11 or 12 weeks, as far as someone
addressing the issue [of abuse] in the Chareidi community. It wasn’t on anyone’s agenda,” said Hikind. “I’m involved now. I’m doing something. I’m trying. Give me a chance.”
Pearl Engelman remains doubtful.
“I have faith in Hashem,” she said, “Pirkei Avot says, ‘Do not have faith in nobles.’”
OTTAWA, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Obese people have the right to two seats for the price of one on flights within Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Thursday.
The high court declined to hear an appeal by Canadian airlines of a decision by the Canadian Transportation Agency that people who are "functionally disabled by obesity" deserve to have two seats for one fare.
Copenhagen, Denmark - At a time where anti-Semitic acts seem to be on the rise in Europe, a bill was proposed in Denmark that will affect mainly Jews – the banning of male child circumcision.
Denmark's National Council for Children has recommended the legislation of a law banning circumcision of boys under the age of 15.
The passing of this law would make the Jewish mitzvah and tradition of circumcising a child on his eighth day a crime.
The country's Ethics Council supported the proposal and now only the parliament's medical committee can intervene and prevent the proposal from being heard.
"Circumcision is the irreversible damage to a child's body before he is given the chance to object," the National Council for Children argued.
The new proposal caused a storm among the Jewish and Muslim populations in Denmark, with 95% of the 7,000 Jewish population circumcising their sons.
Denmark's Chief Rabbi Bent Lexner – who is also a certified circumciser in the community – said he hoped the matter would be left alone.
"If the law forbidding circumcision is ever passed in Denmark, Jews will have to leave the place they have been living in for hundreds of years."
By Randall Mikkelsen
WASHINGTON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - U.S. economic and political clout will decline over the next two decades and the world will be more dangerous, with food and water scarce and advanced weapons plentiful, U.S. spy agencies projected on Thursday.
The National Intelligence Council analysis "Global Trends 2025" also said the current financial crisis on Wall Street is just the first phase of a global economic reordering.
The U.S. dollar's role as the world's major currency would weaken to become a "first among equals," the report said.
The outlook is intended to inform U.S. President-elect Barack Obama of factors that will influence global events. It is based on a year-long global survey of experts and trends by U.S. intelligence analysts.
"The next 20 years of transition to a new system are fraught with risks," said the report, which was more pessimistic about U.S. influence and the potential for conflict than the last outlook for 2020.
Thomas Fingar, chairman of the intelligence council and deputy national director of intelligence for analysis, said harmful outcomes were not inevitable.
"It is not beyond the mind of human beings, or political systems, (or) in some cases (the) working of market mechanisms to address and alleviate if not solve these problems," Fingar told reporters. "We could have a better world in 2025."
China and India, following a "state capitalism" economic model, were likely to join the United States atop a multipolar world and compete for influence, the report said.
Russia's potential was less certain, depending on its energy wealth and internal investment. But Iran, Turkey and Indonesia were also seen gaining power.
POTENTIAL FOR CONFLICT
A world with multiple power centers has been less stable than one with a single or two rival superpowers, and there was a growing potential for conflict, the report said.
Global warming will be felt, and water, food and energy constraints may fuel conflict over resources.
"Strategic rivalries are most likely to revolve around trade, investments and technological innovation and acquisition, but we cannot rule out a 19th century-like scenario of arms races, territorial expansion and military rivalries," the report said.
"Types of conflict we have not seen for a while -- such as over resources -- could reemerge," it said.
Global wealth was seen shifting from the developed West to the energy-rich Gulf States and Russia, and to Asia, the rising center of manufacturing and some service industries.
Global rich-poor disparities would grow, leaving Africa vulnerable to increased instability.
A reordering of the world financial system was happening faster than the report's authors envisioned, Fingar said. Last weekend's Group of 20 summit of advanced and major developing countries in Washington showed work had begun, he said.
A shift away from an oil-based energy system will be underway or complete by 2025. Better renewable technologies such as solar and wind power offer the best opportunity for a quick and low-cost transition, the report said.
There was a greater, but still small, risk of nuclear attack, based on spreading technologies and the weakening of international nonproliferation systems.
If Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons, Fingar said, that could set off an arms race in the Middle East, which is considered in the report as an "arc of instability."
The risk that militant groups would use biological weapons was greater than the risk of nuclear terrorism, the report said.
The FBI arrested longtime Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner early this morning at City Hall in connection with a growing federal corruption probe.
Turner was arrested at 7 a.m. in connection with an undercover sting that lead to the arrest last month of state Senator Dianne Wilkerson, according to special agent Gail A. Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Erev Shabbos Boog Notes:
1. Hikind an honest politician? And this is the self-anointed Tzadik that trashed No-hack Dear, another fake, phoney, fraud loser.
Rudy G was right about Hikind.
2. Mazel Tov to Moshe (Boogi) Yaalon ( one of the few who stood up for Gush Katif) for joining Likud. Boogi, keep your eye on Bibi (Wye) N. He talks the talk but doesn't always walk straight.
3. Now that Hillary (I'm in love with Skver) Clinton is going to be secstate and Eric ( Pardon my Marc Rich)Holder A.G., can we get a long overdue Pardon for Jonathan Pollard? Do it for "Bi-Parti$an$hip".
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_48/b4110036448352.htm
FHA-Backed Loans: The New Subprime
The same people whose reckless practices triggered the global financial crisis are onto a similar scheme that could cost taxpayers tons more
By Chad Terhune and Robert Berner
As if they haven't done enough damage. Thousands of subprime mortgage lenders and brokers—many of them the very sorts of firms that helped create the current financial crisis—are going strong. Their new strategy: taking advantage of a long-standing federal program designed to encourage homeownership by insuring mortgages for buyers of modest means.
You read that correctly. Some of the same people who propelled us toward the housing market calamity are now seeking to profit by exploiting billions in federally insured mortgages. Washington, meanwhile, has vastly expanded the availability of such taxpayer-backed loans as part of the emergency campaign to rescue the country's swooning economy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/health/22radio.html
An influential psychiatrist who served as the host of public radio’s popular “The Infinite Mind” program earned at least $1.3 million between 2000 and 2007 giving marketing lectures for drug makers, income not mentioned on the program.
The psychiatrist and radio host, Dr. Frederick K. Goodwin, is the latest in a series of doctors and researchers whose ties to drug makers have been uncovered by Senator Charles E. Grassley, a Republican from Iowa. Dr. Goodwin, a former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, is the first media figure investigated.
Margaret Low Smith, vice president of National Public Radio, said that N.P.R. will remove “The Infinite Mind” from its satellite radio service next week, the earliest possible date. Ms. Smith said that had N.P.R. been aware of Dr. Goodwin’s financial interests, it would not have aired the program.
The program has received major underwriting from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, both of which have policies requiring grantees to disclose and manage conflicts of interest. Mr. Grassley wrote letters to both agencies asking whether disclosure rules were followed for the grants. Spokespeople for both agencies said they were cooperating with the investigation.
Mr. Grassley is systematically asking some of the nation’s leading researchers and doctors to provide their conflict-of-interest disclosures, and Mr. Grassley is comparing those documents with records of actual payments from drug companies. The records often conflict, sometimes starkly.
In October, Mr. Grassley revealed that Dr. Charles B. Nemeroff of Emory University, one of the nation’s most influential psychiatric researchers, earned more than $2.8 million in consulting arrangements with drug makers from 2000 to 2007, failed to report at least $1.2 million of that income to his university and violated federal research rules. As a result, the National Institutes of Health suspended a $9.3 million research grant to Emory and placed restrictions on other grants, and Dr. Nemeroff relinquished his chairmanship of Emory’s psychiatry department.
In June, the senator revealed that Harvard University’s Dr. Joseph Biederman, whose work has fueled an explosion in the use of powerful antipsychotic medicines in children, had earned at least $1.6 million from drug makers between 2000 and 2007, failed to report most of this income to his university, and may have violated federal and university research rules.
Mr. Grassley’s investigation demonstrates how deeply pharmaceutical commercial interests reach into academic medicine, and it has shown that universities are all but incapable of policing these arrangements. As a result of these revelations, almost every major medical school and medical society is now reassessing its relationships with drug and device makers.
Mr. Grassley has proposed legislation that would require drug makers to publicly post all payments of $500 or more made to doctors. Eli Lilly and Merck have promised to begin posting such payments next year.
Hikind is a big mouth politician filled with his own personal agendas & his initially overt act appeared noble--but he is now back in bed with Ohel,Pelcovitz,mandel,Bomzer,Hynes,Saul Berman,Agudah.
And,of course,the lowlife rabbis who claim to lead us Jews & their cash flow are way too powerful for hikind,hynes,etc. They control the hearts & minds of our people & are further protected by scum attorneys & politicians.Basically,the Jewish community is the mafia,but dirtier--the mafia never molested it's own children.
So we have little we can do but continue to expose the lives of:
Matis Weinberg
Mondrowitz--speak up herbie bomzer!
Ner Yisroel(a toilet of rape that needs exposure--is it still happening?)
3 Tendlers(Were these men,as boys,raped at Ner Yisroel?
Adam Melzer & friends--yes,Adam you know who?
Gafni--When is Saul Berman going to act like a man & take on this rapist that he supported?
Kolko
Hynes
Hikind
ohel
david mandel
Moneybags Pelcovitz(thus,his relationship & willingness to support the criminal mandel & his o-hell)
Perry Tirschwell(Lonner supporter)
Matt Tropp(Lonner supporter)
Lonner
May justice come to these animals despite the odds of that ever happening as the stupid,childish, Jewish community continues to follow the rabbis to spiritual slaughter.There is no organized or grass roots group that will be able to stop this.
When do we discuss the incest rampant throughout the Satmer community?
Today,a frum person need be suspect given the massive sexual repression & deviance evident in our jewish community,in the usa & often,way worse in Israel.
I will not appease the pedophiles, their protectors nor their enablers with my silence. Not now and not ever again. As long as innocent children in our community are being tortured and abused there is no peace nor will there be peace. You cannot make a difference as long as you tolerate or protect one pedophile. You cannot make a difference so long as you allow one pedophile to remain in a position of authority with children, through inaction or silence.
It is time to expose, isolate and ultimately incarcerate these monsters, their enablers and protectors. Let us publicize their names and their crimes. Let us shine a light on them so that they can no longer operate in anonymity.
Let's extend and enhance mandatory reporting laws and penalties for failure to report abuse.
Let's extend and enhance the public registry of abusers.
Let's extend and enhance the penalties for abusers.
Let's extend and enhance the resources for abusers survivors and their families.
These monsters, their enablers and protectors are nothing but terrorists who prey on our vulnerable. It is time to wage a war on these domestic terrorists and expose them and dismantle the infrastructure that protects them.
Citigroup $3!
Oil $48 and predicted to sink to $30!
The Dow just broke down through the 7400s.
The lower oil goes, the more incentive tin horn dictators in oil producing countries have to default on debt.
Defaults would mean a new wave of deleveraging and lows in the Dow Jones.
Ecuador just defaulted on it's loans this morning.
Kosher Home, Sweet Home Part II
Date:Tuesday, November 25 at 2pm EST
Description:
A live question and answer webcast addressing your questions about maintaining a kosher kitchen featuring OU Kashruth's Poskim, Rabbi Yisroel Belsky and Rabbi Hershel Schachter.
We invite and encourage you to send in your questions!
Before the Webcast:
Rabbi Eliyahu Safran
Safrane@ou.org
Fax: 212.613.0775
During the Webcast:
Rabbi Eliyahu W. Ferrell
Ferrelle@ou.org
212.613.0701
http://www.rabbis.org/pdfs/ApprovedYeshivot.pdf
To become a Young Israel / RCA rabbi, you had to learn in one of these yeshivos.
Tropper's yeshiva is "approved" but a top place like R' Zelig Epstein's is not.
Dov Hikind is a dishonest animal,no different than the other rabbinic & communal enablers & protectors of child predators.
Hikind is now certainly on the wrong side,as he often is & his dishonest & disgusting behavior is who he is.He is lying here on many fronts,tried to be a hero for his own self interest & all we can do is curse him or call his office to vent.
NO SOLUTION EXISTS.THE RICH & POWERFUL RULE OUR STINKING CORPSE OF A JEWISH COMMUNITY.
A very important message from the mother of a victim at the hands of a Satmar mechanech:
Dear Friends,
Perhaps by now you've all seen the Jewish Week article describing Dov's subpoena by Attorney Dowd in re to the T/T case. Lest Dov become a MARTYR/HERO to the cause, I'd like to share with you my experience with him in reference to my son's (Joel Engelman) case.
To refresh your memories, Dov Hikind, on his radio program Motzei Shabbos, August 2nd, upon hearing from me Joel's story of molestation by his Menahel in Satmar at 8 1/2, the failed lie detector test of the Menahel, now Rebbi, and the subsequent firing of this pedophile (but only until Joel's statute of limitations ran out) then rehiring him in the summer as Menahel/Rebbi in Satmar Bungalows, declared loudly and vehemently "I PROMISE THIS REBBI WILL NOT BE BACK IN SEPTEMBER. IF I HAVE TO I WILL HOLD A PRESS CONVERENCE IN FRONT OF THE SCHOOL".
Remember also the article in the Jewish Week: "Second Victim Comes Forward......." to Dov - the father of the 19 yr old victim of the same Rebbi, now publicly known as Avrohom Reichman, who came to Dov with his son's story of molestation by this same Rebbi?
Remember also Dov's eloquent speech to us at the conference on Sept 21st at Young Israel?
Dov was also privy to the new discovery of a molestation incident with this same Rebbi last year - repeat, last year - not 13 years ago. At the conference I gave some of you the details of of an 8 yr old boy whom Reichman found standing in the school hallway because his "English" teacher had punished him. Reichman took the child into an unoccupied room (not an empty classroom, an unused room) placed the child on his lap, removed the child's belt and gave him 2 slaps with the belt. When this boy found out at the beginning of Sept that Reichman would be his Rebbi for the new zman (after Succos) he began crying and begging his mother and told her how he feared Reichman. Immediately the mother called the school, and at first they were horrifed, then called her back to say her son would not have to be in Reichman's class. She insisted that Reichman was unfit to be any child's Rebbi, but they would not agree, saying only that they were having meetings........
In view of all of the above, on Oct 6th Dov Hikind met with 2 representatives of Satmar: David Niederman and Shulem Deutsch. It was everyone's understanding that Dov would let Satmar know in no uncertain terms that Reichman must leave - children were at terrible risk from this sneaky, insiduous pedophile even now.
To my shock and horror, Dov came away from the meeting completely neutralized! Nay, not neutral - he is actually helping Satmar cover up and keep Reichman in the system! He said to me "Well, I know Niederman for 25 years......(I guess they need each other politically) .....need I say more?????
So no, Dov Hikind is no hero! In my book he is an accomplice, because at the very least, if he was not successful in getting Satmar to remove Reichman, it was his great responsibility to innocent children, to have let the parents, who are being kept in the dark by the school, know that Reichman is a great danger to all children in the school, even those not in his classroom as was the 8 year old made to stand in the hallway. Instead Dov helps Satmar cover up for the school!
As fellow participants in the conference, I ask you, can we just ignore this outrageous cover-up by one who represents himself as the champion of the cause?
This is about "Lo Saamod al Dam Reiacha". The plain and simple truth is that Reichman is a real and known danger to the children, and all adults, especially those committed to protecting them, cannot stand idly by and do nothing. Hikind knows how real the danger is, but he's given in to the machinations of Satmar who want to keep Reichman in the system at all costs. When did Dov sell his soul to the devil? This was a test for him - it was the first Moissed he met with - he had the most damning information - and he simply folded. Because he's buddies with Niederman for 25 years? We cannot just sit idly by and wait - or we are all as guilty as the people we condemn.
Respectully yours,
Pearl Englman
The silence has NOT moved an inch,the predators remain off the hook & free(for the most part),the protectors of the predators have not been moved a bit & until the mainstream press takes this on in a manner no differently than the catholic church,nothing will really change.Will the incestual rapes stop in the Satmar community? Will David Mandel be fired for advocating that laws be broken? Will Pelcovitz stop pocketing his fees long enough to speak truthfully? Will Mondorowitz return to the USA to face charges? Will Dowd succeed with his move vs. Hikind? Will Matis Weinberg be punished? Gafni? Will Saul Berman speak up? Will Lonner continue to walk into shuls to be welcomed by the tropps & tirschwells of the world? Will we ever know all the stories of rape at Ner Yisroel? Will the 3 Tendlers walk free? Will our rabbis be ousted for their despicable behavior?
NO.
WASHINGTON – Attorney General Michael Mukasey was given "a clean bill of health" after extensive medical tests following his collapse at a Washington dinner, the Justice Department said Friday.
Departmental spokeswoman Gina Talamona said that the 67-year-old Mukasey underwent a host of exams after being admitted late Thursday to George Washington University Hospital.
"The results are in. Everything looks great," Talamona told reporters gathered outside the hospital in late morning. She reported that that Mukasey had passed a treadmill stress test, a stress echocardiogram, and an MRI. She also said doctors ruled out a stroke or cardiac problem.
"He's in good shape," she said, adding that Mukasey hoped to check out of the hospital some time Friday.
Mukasey is a bum who persecuted Ephraim Bryks and did nothing to help Kolko.
I'm not so sure he'll be fine when he gets home before Shabbos.
What is UOJ's opinion of Pelcovitz?
I know that he is at the center of the RCA strategy on dealing with molesters.
The RCA, while perhaps not perfect, is the only organization with any kind of semblance of a plan.
If you want to see full justice you'll likely have to wait for olam habah.
In this world you'll only see a measure.
How many decades in chinuch did it take before pedophile Rabbi Lipa (Lewis) Brenner former VP of Agudas Harabonim was finally arrested and convicted and yet he was not sentenced to even one day in jail. His son-in-law, pedophile Ephraim Bryks, continues to act as an advocate for Agunot.
This must change and it has and it will.
Lanner served several years in prison.
Gafni fled Jewish Renewal and Israel.
Mondorowitz sits in prison.
And more.
These are small steps but good steps. Certainly, better than a few years ago when Lanner ran NCSY, Gafni was being groomed as the successor to Zalman Scachter-Shlomi as head of Jewish Renewal, Mondorowitz was teaching students in Israel and the Agunah movement was silent on Mordecai Tendler.
How many monsters have been exposed and their community roles minimized/reduced? More than 10 years ago.
How many rabbinic child molesters could you name 10 years ago? How many could you name today?
Our rabbis ARE BEING ousted for their despicable behavior. Ask the Three Tendlers.
Our refusal to allow the silence that protects the predators and their activities is the key.
I do not know Pelcovitz or his work, other than the chesed shel emes he did with the Isaac Hersh case.
I'm a 28 yr old victim myself from Williamsburg and I wish I was summoned to the DA's office myself, I would give him atleast 10names.
The point of the statue of limititaions is valid but lets not forget that those names that Dov Hikind has Are probably still going around in the mikvas and molesting kids as we speak. And all this help he's talking about is a bunch of BS they all need to be in prison.
Ps. I will be on the Dov Hikind show on Saturday night Dec 13th.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/MindMoodNews/story?id=6306126&page=1
A Florida teenager who used a webcam to live-stream his suicide Wednesday was reportedly encouraged by other people on the Web site, authorities told ABCNews.com.
"People were egging him on and saying things like 'go ahead and do it, faggot,' said Wendy Crane, an investigator at the Broward County Medical Examiner's office.
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) -- An agency director improperly used state computers to find personal information on "Joe the Plumber," a government watchdog said in a report released Thursday.
There was no legitimate business purpose for the head of Ohio's Department of Job and Family Services to order staff to look up the records, Inspector General Tom Charles said.
Investigators weren't able to determine whether the searches were politically motivated, the report said.
"All these searches were done in the midst of a national political campaign," the report said. "But we did not find any evidence that shows the data was accessed or information released in response to media requests in an effort to support any political activity or agenda."
Gov. Ted Strickland suspended the agency director, Helen Jones-Kelley, for a month without pay after reviewing the findings. He rejected a request to fire her.
Jones-Kelley said she accepts Charles' findings and should not have allowed the database searches.
"While there is a disagreement as to whether those searches were done for legitimate business purposes, my only intent was to fulfill my agency's fiduciary responsibilities to Ohio's families," she told the Dayton Daily News in a statement. "I am committed to implementing agency procedures which better protect confidential, personal information."
Earlier this month, Strickland placed Jones-Kelley on paid leave over separate allegations that a state computer or e-mail account was used to assist in political fundraising for Democrat Barack Obama's campaign.
The inspector general's report concluded that she improperly used state e-mail to engage in political activity.
The report looked into 18 background checks into Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, a Toledo-area man known as Joe the Plumber. He became a household name in the final weeks of the presidential campaign after asking Obama about his tax plan at a campaign stop near Toledo.
Eight of the checks were done without any legitimate business purpose, the report said. Charles recommended tighter policies on access to confidential information in state computer databases.
The findings have been forwarded to the Franklin County prosecutor's office in Columbus.
Jones-Kelley has said the search of Wurzelbacher's records were part of routine checks her agency conducts when someone suddenly emerges in the limelight.
She told state Senate President Bill Harris in a letter that records were checked because Wurzelbacher had indicated he might buy a business and it was determined that he owed back taxes. The department wanted to make sure appropriate actions were taken if he owed child support, received public assistance or owed unemployment compensation taxes, she wrote.
Jones-Kelley's reasoning was at times contradictory, inconsistent and ambiguous, the inspector general's report said.
It also found no policies or procedures to support her claim that it was the agency's practice to look into someone thrust in the spotlight.
As Wurzelbacher's profile was elevated in Republican John McCain's campaign, criticism over the Ohio search rose to a fever pitch.
Republicans were furious that Wurzelbacher was targeted, saying that he was simply a private citizen who stood up and questioned the Democratic presidential candidate.
Wurzelbacher did not answer his phone Thursday, and his voicemail box was full.
Survivors for justice- 877-SFJ-1420
212-414-5867
Survivors For Justice will be featured this Saturday night on the Zev Brenner show at 570-AM 12-Midnight
Former Regulator: Clear Fraud in Financial Crisis -- Why Isn't Anyone in Jail?
Posted Nov 21, 2008 12:47pm EST by Aaron Task
In the aftermath of the corporate scandals earlier this decade, investor confidence was (partially) restored by a parade of "perp walks" of fallen chieftains like Ken Lay, Bernie Ebbers, and Dennis Kozlowski.
But nearly two years into the bursting of booms in housing and mortgage securities, scant few related arrests have been made — and most of those have been focused on individual mortgage brokers vs. major industry leaders.
"There is no poster child [for the housing scandal] because you need to investigate, and you need to bring cases and we haven't done either against the major players," says William Black, Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri — Kansas City and a former federal regulator.
Black, who was counsel to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board during the S&L Crisis and blew the whistle on the "Keating Five" in 1989, says investigations have shown fraud incidence of 50% at (once) major subprime lenders like IndyMac and Countrywide.
But even though the FBI warned of an "epidemic" of mortgage fraud in 2004, they subsequently made a "strategic alliance" with the Mortgage Bankers Association, which serves the major industry players.
In this case, the foxes truly were guarding the hen house.
Black notes it was only this year that the total number of FBI agents devoted to mortgage-fraud investigations rose to more than 200. By comparison, during the S&L and Enron investigations in the 1980s and '90s, respectively, multiple task forces totaling hundreds of agents were employed.
"The DOJ has refused to emulate its successes in the S&L debacle, and even dealing with Enron, by creating a large task force that would take on the major fraud participants," Black said. "In this context, that would mean creating a large task force to investigate major, nonprime lenders."
Almost a Le Marais redux
Another OU mashgiach has the goods on the higher ups.
There were serious violations at a healthcare facility under the OU. The big boys tried to cover it up and seemingly did not learn their lesson from messing with Isaac Bitton.
When the mashgiach took a stand they tried to fire him.
In a page out of Dick Tracey, the mashgiach recorded them on a tiny device he was wearing.
Between the evidence and intervention by outside parties including the worker's union, the OU had to take him back and fix the problems.
What do you expect when you have Simcha "Central Treif" Katz & his backscratcher Menachem Genack running the organization?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/11/22/past-controversies-hang-obamas-cabinet-picks/
Past Controversies Hang Over Obama's Cabinet Picks
Past controversies involving some of President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet picks could produce bloody confirmation hearings.
As President-elect Barack Obama quickly selects officials for his administration, attention is starting to turn to the potential obstacles they face in Senate confirmation hearings.
The Associated Press, citing a Democratic source, reports that John Podesta, a leader of Obama's transition team, had told Senate aides on Friday that Obama hoped for a speedy confirmation so the new administration could get to work quickly thereafter.
But past controversies involving some of his picks could make for bloody hearings.
The latest list of Obama's expected Cabinet selections includes Hillary Clinton for secretary of state, Timothy Geithner as his Treasury secretary, Eric Holder as his attorney general, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for commerce secretary and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano for secretary of the Homeland Security Department.
Senators will have to decide in the confirmation hearings whether to broach Richardson's involvement, though marginal, in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, as well as Napolitano's work in the Anita Hill sexual harassment case and Holder's support of President Clinton's controversial pardon of Marc Rich.
Although none of these nominations is expected to fail, it is possible some could be delayed.
Richardson's nomination could be haunted by two incidents.
First, he offered Lewinsky a job at the United Nations in what prosecutors called an attempt to buy her silence on behalf of President Bill Clinton, according to FOX News' Washington Deputy Managing Editor Bill Sammon's book, "Meet the Next President."
Richardson also could face a Capitol grilling for accusations he faced from both Democratic and Republican senators for failing to properly safeguard nuclear secrets after he left his U.N. post to become energy secretary.
After delaying Richardson's appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2000 for inquiries into security lapses at Los Alamos National Laboratories, Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia told him he would never again receive Senate support for any office he sought.
"You have squandered your treasure," Byrd told him.
And though Napolitano, who was re-elected Arizona's governor in 2006, has spent all of her political career in that state, she is no stranger to Washington controversy.
As a private attorney in Phoenix in 1991, Napolitano was part of the legal team representing Anita Hill, a former Equal Employment Opportunity Commission colleague of Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas, whom Hill had accused of sexual harassment. Her work on that case postponed Napolitano's own Senate confirmation as U.S. attorney but did not derail Thomas' confirmation as a Supreme Court justice.
At the time, some Republicans suggested she coached a witness for Hill into changing testimony. Napolitano refused to answer questions about that on grounds it would violate the lawyer-client confidentiality agreement.
She was the Clinton-appointed U.S. attorney for Arizona when the Justice Department decided against prosecuting Sen. John McCain's wife, Cindy, for stealing prescription drugs from her medical charity, but she took no part in that case because she was awaiting Senate confirmation, on which McCain was to vote.
The biggest obstacle facing Obama's choice for attorney general, Eric Holder, could be his pardon of Marc Rich during the Clinton administration.
Rich was the fugitive billionaire who was given a pardon by Clinton on his final day in office. Rich's estranged wife, Denise Rich, was a high-paying donor to Clinton.
Senate Republicans have told Obama aides that the Rich pardon would come up during hearings but that the nomination likely wouldn't be held up, according to a person involved in the talks.
Eech Vill Zain A Rebbe-to the tune of Nickelback's Rock Star:
http://chaptzem.blogspot.com/2008/11/eech-vill-zain-rebbe.html#comments
http://people-press.org/report/200/cable-and-internet-loom-large-in-fragmented-political-news-universe
LEARN HOW TO PROTECT CHILDREN, EXPOSE SEXUAL PREDATORS & HEAL VICTIMS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE
Meeting in Frederick, Pikesville and Bowie
Reservations are highly suggested due to limited seating
Sponsored by
Child Victims Voice www.childvictimsvoicemaryland.org
The Awareness Center, Inc. www.theawarenesscenter.org
MEETING IN FREDERICK, MD
Monday, November 24 at 7 p.m.
Frederick County Public Library – C. Burr Artz Public Library Trust Conference Room
100 East Patrick Street, Frederick, MD 21701
CONTACT: Charlie Diffenbaugh at cjdeff@verion.net or by phone at 301-631-0955
-----------------------------------------
MEETING IN PIKESVILLE, MD (Baltimore)
Wednesday, November 26 at 6:15 p.m.
Pikesville Library, 1301 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville, MD
CONTACT: Vicki Polin, The Awareness Center, Inc., 443-857-5560
vickipolin@aol.com
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BOWIE, MD MEETING
WHERE: Wednesday, December 3 at 7 p.m.
Bowie City Hall – Multipurpose Room
2614 Kenhill Drive, Bowie, MD 20715
CONTACT: David Lorenz at david_lorenz@verizon.net or 301-262-6517
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WHO SHOULD COME:
Survivors of childhood sexual abuse, children protection advocates, parents, teachers, public safety officials, mental health professionals, doctors, nurses and other interested citizens are urged to attend this informational meeting to learn how to protect children from the devastating impacts of sexual abuse and bring justice to those victims who have been abused.
LEARN ABOUT:
Legislation being introduced during the upcoming 2009 Maryland General Assembly entitled, Civil Actions – Child Sex Abuse – Statute of Limitations, which will increase and possibly eliminate the statue of limitations for victims of childhood sexual abuse to take civil action against their abuser. Increasing or eliminating Maryland’s outdated statute of limitations gives child victims of unspeakable sexual trauma the chance to speak up and hold their abusers accountable for their heinous actions.
The bill addresses childhood sexual abuse in three distinct ways: Protecting children from the devastating and long-term impacts of sexual abuse; Exposing sexual predators currently protected by archaic laws; and helping victims of childhood sexual abuse through their healing process.
WHY:
Childhood sexual abuse continues to occur at staggering levels, regardless of race, religion, culture, education and socioeconomic levels. No child is immune from this tragedy. Estimates from the Federal Bureau of Investigations and numerous academic studies indicate that one in four girls is sexually abused before the age of 18, and one in six boys will have been abused by the age of 18. In most instances, the sexual abuser is known to the child, making reporting and disclosure for the victim extremely difficult. The average child sexual predator will abuse 117 children in his/her lifetime. Most victims never report their abuse and predators know this fact.
The bill, entitled Civil Actions – Child Sex Abuse – Statute of Limitations will help prevent future childhood sexual abuse by exposing the identity of abusers and making sexual predators fearful that they may be reported. Increasing or eliminating the statue of limitations, currently set in Maryland law at 25 years of age and younger, will give child victims the opportunity to identify and hold their abusers accountable when they are ready to confront this abuser – rather than before an arbitrary date set by outdated laws. Most victims do not confront the physical and mental impact of their abuse until much later in life.
Increasing govt spending by gazillion$ of dollar$ to improve infrastructure which will have no effect until 2011, increasing the capital gains tax, and higher taxes on those making $150,000/year will tank the economy.
Exit Polls show Bim-Bam is looking to be a 1-term president.
(TZ)Soros, you put your money on the wrong horse.
BTW, anyone see or hear from Joe (Foot-in-Mouth) Biden lately?
Free Joe Biden! At least he's good for a laugh.
What did you mean when you twice commented a week ago that talmidei Hagra have "strange" minhogim?
I wasn't aware that they spit on the shul floor during Aleinu or pinch a tzelem in their hats like Lubavitchers.
The Briskers spit on Yom Kippur altz chumra of shtiya but what do talmidei Hagra do?
Not Cosmetic Accusations
If your director of regulatory affairs becomes a whistleblower, you have a problem. L’Oreal USA has a problem.
Jerome Chevallier became the cosmetic firm’s director of regulatory affairs in July 2003. He was fired in August 2007.
In July, he sued L’Oreal in a state court in Elizabeth, New Jersey. In the lawsuit, Chevallier claims he was fired because he “voiced strong objections and complained about unlawful activities.”
Chevallier says that L’Oreal marketed its Maybelline-brand lip gloss contaminated with DBP to South America. DBP is banned in South America because of its carcinogenicity and risks to reproductive health. He says the company untruthfully marketed a product called Pureology as formulated with vegan inputs, and that it used a banned substance called Triclosan despite saying it wouldn’t.
Chevallier says that in early July 2007 he learned that L’Oreal products in Europe contained a preservative, Kathon CG, above lawful levels and that this information had been omitted from the company’s computer system “so as to avoid regulatory department scrutiny.”
After requesting a recall of the products, Chevallier says he was prohibited from having any further communications with his counterparts in Europe. And after a dust-up with superiors over the incident, he was fired.
L’Oreal says Chevallier was fired for selling free L’Oreal products on eBay.
“L’Oreal USA has investigated this complaint and unequivocally denies these allegations,” the company says in a statement.
“L’Oreal is committed to upholding the highest standards of safety for all the products it manufactures and distributes. All the products marketed by the L’Oreal Group are in full compliance with FDA regulations as well as the European Union Cosmetic Directive and the requirements for safety in the more than 130 countries where its products are sold.”
Chevallier admits that he did in fact sell free L’Oreal products on eBay, but says that’s not the reason he was fired.
Not Authorized Promotion
The Pennsylvania-based biotech company Cephalon agreed in September to plead guilty to a criminal charge of distributing a misbranded drug and to pay $425 million to resolve lawsuits claiming that it marketed three drugs for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The lawsuits alleged that Cephalon engaged in a scheme to market the drugs Gabitril, Actiq and Provigil for unapproved uses.
Actiq was approved for use by “opioid-tolerant cancer patients with breakthrough cancer pain.” But, using the mantra “pain is pain,” Cephalon instructed Actiq sales representatives to focus on physicians other than oncologists, including general practitioners, and to promote the drug for many uses other than breakthrough cancer pain.
In the case of Gabitril, which had been approved for use for epilepsy, Cephalon told the sales force to visit not just neurologists, but also psychiatrists, and to promote the drug for anxiety and other psychiatric indications. Cephalon also structured its sales quota and bonuses in such a way that sales representatives could only reach their sales goals if they promoted and sold the drugs for off-label uses.
The lawsuits against Cephalon show it spent millions of dollars on various schemes to promote off-label uses.
“We are pleased to have these long-standing matters behind us, while preserving our ability to participate in all federal and state healthcare programs, thereby maintaining the access of patients in those programs to our medications,” says Jerry Pappert, executive vice president and general counsel of Cephalon.
In Delhi, India’s, Noida suburb, an auto parts CEO died from head wounds after a meeting with downsized workers turned into a bloody melee. Authorities have arrested over 60 workers, but a spokesperson for India’s Chambers of Commerce federation fears that the murder will “sully India’s image among overseas investors.”
Oscar Fernandes, India’s labor minister, fears that top executives in his nation may not understand how angry Indian workers have become. The day after the killing, Fernandes called the bloodshed “a warning for the managements.” Added the minister: “Workers should not be pushed so hard that they resort to whatever happened in Noida."
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/nov/21/mahoney-refuses-give-job-marriage/
WEST PALM BEACH — U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney refuses to give up.
The Palm Beach Gardens Democrat continued to campaign even after admitting to “numerous” affairs in the weeks prior to the election. Since being removed from office by voters in Florida’s 16th District in Congress, Mahoney continues to attend House hearings and offer advice to other representatives, saying he has a job to complete.
And now he has asked a Palm Beach County family court to delay his wife’s divorce paperwork for up to three months to give him time to patch up their marriage.
Attorneys for both Mahoney and his wife could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
Terry Ellen Mahoney filed for divorce from the freshman congressman on Oct. 20, a week after it was reported he paid Patricia Allen of Hobe Sound, a former staffer with whom he was romantically linked, $121,000 out of his own pocket to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit Allen threatened.
In his Nov. 13 filing for the delay, the congressman denied his wife's claim that their marriage of 24 years was “irretrievably broken.”
Mahoney “in fact, believes that the marriage can be reconciled and restored and seeks entry of a court order directing the parties to consult with a marriage counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, minister, priest, rabbi, or any other person deemed qualified by the court and acceptable to the parties,” the filing from Boca Raton attorney Joel Feldman states.
In the divorce paperwork, Terry Mahoney asked for a full accounting of her husband’s transactions and asked the court for an immediate lump payment along with “permanent periodic alimony."
In his most recent financial disclosure form filed with Congress, Tim Mahoney listed his net worth as between $3.2 million and $12.7 million.
After holding a seven-point lead in the polls prior to the Allen affair coming to light along with a second one involving a Martin County engineering employee, voters in the district, which includes most of Martin and St. Lucie counties, went 60 percent for Republican Tom Rooney, an attorney from Tequesta.
Foodmaker Smucker post higher earnings - to address Agudah convention and all fellow Smuckers.
MILWAUKEE – With consumers looking for comfort foods and ways to save money, foodmaker and J.M. Smucker Co. posted higher earnings Friday and said they're benefiting from price increases and the trend of more people eating at home.
Saudi crown prince off to US for medical tests
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Crown Prince Sultan left for the United States Sunday to undergo medical tests, the official Saudi Press Agency said.
Quoting a royal court statement, SPA said the 84-year-old prince flew from Jiddah to the U.S. with his brother, Riyadh Governor Prince Salman, and other members of the royal family and senior officials. It did not provide further details on the tests.
Sultan, who is also the kingdom's defense minister, underwent surgery in May 2004 to remove a cyst from his intestines.
Official Saudi television showed a smiling Sultan standing in Jiddah airport Sunday as scores of princes and officials who went to see him off kissed his hand in a show of respect.
Sultan is King Abdullah's half brother and one of the most powerful figures in the kingdom. He was appointed defense minister in 1962 and closed several multibillion deals to establish the modern Saudi armed forces.
He was appointed crown prince in 2005.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/nov/21/report-martin-county-student-arrested-passing-gas-/
A student at Spectrum Junior-Senior High School was arrested earlier this month after he passed gas and turned off his classmate’s computers, according to a report released Friday by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the report, the incident occurred Nov. 4, when the 13-year-old boy “continually disrupted his classroom environment” by purposely breaking wind. He then shut off some computers other students were using.
A school resource officer placed the boy under arrest after he confessed about his behavior, according to the report. He was charged with disruption of school function and released to his mother.
Hey Arthur you loser said
"What did you mean when you twice commented a week ago that talmidei Hagra have "strange" minhogim?
I wasn't aware that they spit on the shul floor during Aleinu or pinch a tzelem in their hats like Lubavitchers."
Not everything requires your sort of vulgarity even on this blog (no insult meant to UOJ).
As to the peirushim who were talmidei Hagr"a and their strange minhagim,you show astounding amhoratzus.I suggest you learn some of the Piskei Hagr"a.
I will not dignify your vulgar statement about Lubavitch with an answer.Your really not looking for one.
Smuckers is a tzugepahst nohmen to appear at the Agudah Fress-fest convention.
BTW, I hear that Bloom is retiring.
Retiring from what?
BTW-2; someone please tell Bloom to lower his belt to the more appropriate around the waist location. Where he has it now, he could Chas Ve'Sholom choke. Not good. OTH, maybe he wants to make it easier to take his wallet out of his backpocket?
He's not the first Lubab to refuse to answer a question based on the excuse that the shoel isn't being mentchlich.
I have gone through the piskei Hagroh.
What is weirder than spitting mittin davenen 3 times a day on the shul floor and putting a symbol of Xtianity in your Borsalino?
The only am haartazus is from the Lubavitcher gadfly here who can't recognize that the Vilna Gaon may have been as great as the Rashba and knew the makor of halacha better than any Rebbe.
http://signgenerator.kfccruelty.com/SignCache/8c5818c8-e3c1-45c1-b7ac-5ebc0e16723a.jpg
Here's a cartoon for UOJ's sidebar.
http://www.savethedeli.com/2008/11/05/smorgasbord-day/
Regrettably, in this country, a politician is still a politician, with only re-election on his mind, through the process of giving the impression that he is satisfying as many divergent opinions as possible.
What exactly, is the purpose of collecting files on sexual abuse (including 60 names of known predators), if this information will not be turned over to law enforcement?
But again, Assemblyman Hikind is simply exercising his role as a politician. He must satisfy the group that is outraged by child molestation, through his acknowledgment of the problem, and doing something- albeit with no end purpose- about it.
Simultaneously, he must satisfy those who are enablers- and are against notifying the authorities- by publicly displaying the fact that he himself is an enabler of child molesters, through his refusal to turn over his files.
It's nothing more than a politician's game- and quite frankly, Assemblyman Hikind could use a few lessons in not being so obvious about it
Abuse and Trust
Editorial - The Forward
Thu. Nov 20, 2008
A trial of sorts is looming for the famously insular ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in New York, as a Catholic lawyer and an Orthodox Jewish legislator prepare to face off in court over allegations of rabbinic child molesting.
The two combatants are on the same side when it comes to the basics. Both agree that sexual abuse of children by Orthodox rabbis and teachers is a serious problem, one that the Orthodox community resists facing.
Where they disagree is how to attack the problem. The lawyer, Michael Dowd, a veteran of Catholic priest abuse battles, favors pursuing legal action to bring accused molesters to justice. The legislator, Dov Hikind, a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly whose district includes the nation’s largest concentration of Orthodox Jews, hopes to prod the community into tackling the problem from within. The disagreement appears to be headed for court.
The dispute involves a former teacher at a prestigious Brooklyn yeshiva who was sued for molestation in 2006 by a former student. Several months after the suit was filed, Rabbi Yehuda Kolko was arrested on child molestation charges. The case sparked a furor in New York, with Orthodox leaders calling the affair a libel and others insisting that it was only the tip of the iceberg. Kolko eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and avoided jail time.
Discussing the affair on his weekly radio call-in show, Hikind challenged listeners to tell their own abuse stories, expecting a few dozen. Instead, he was flooded with reports, some 1,000 in all.
Dowd, still pressing a civil suit against Kolko, asked to search Hikind’s list for evidence. Hikind refused, saying he had promised his informants complete anonymity and could not betray their trust. On November 18, Dowd obtained a subpoena requiring Hikind to testify about his information. Hikind’s critics say the lawmaker is withholding evidence of crimes and assisting a cover-up. Hikind says he’ll go to jail if he has to, in order to protect his sources.
In the end, the courts will decide who can see the notes. If they’re smart, they’ll side with Hikind. No one before Hikind has succeeded in gathering victims’ testimony. Efforts to bring the accused to justice often fail before they start, because of victims’ unwillingness to speak.
It’s not just suspicion of the authorities that silences victims. Haredi parents are terrified that if news gets out — not just to authorities, but to anyone — their children will be tainted for life. Being known as a victim will drastically lower the chances of a good marriage, for victims and their siblings.
Getting victims to talk will require far more trust than the police or courts can hope to win. Hikind has that kind of trust, and he is making a breakthrough where countless others have failed. He should be allowed to continue developing his methods and pursuing the facts.
Colombian shoppers' dream built on pyramid scheme
Sun Nov 23, 2:13 pm ET AP –
Clients of the investment company DMG run from the tear gas fired by police as they protest in Bogota, … BOGOTA, Colombia – It was just three easy steps to the ultimate shopper's club reward:
1. Buy a prepaid card.
2. Cash it in for groceries, a flat-screen TV or a even new car.
3. Six months later, get all your cash back.
That fantastic deal enriched legions of working-class Colombians before President Alvaro Uribe shut down DMG Group Holdings, S.A. last week, calling it a pyramid scheme that laundered drug money and raked in $435 million this year alone.
Officials say DMG was the largest in a wave of scams that has swept Colombia, where a well-developed smuggling industry has nurtured some of the world's craftiest swindlers. The collapse of one such scheme this month sparked deadly riots by duped investors in more than a dozen southern Colombian towns.
Those riots triggered Uribe's decision to shut down DMG before it could collapse, a move that outraged many of its 200,000 cardholders. They revere the company's founder, a 28-year-old former baker named David Murcia, for giving them a shot at the good life.
"Where does the money come from? Believe me, I don't know," said housewife Lucia Lizca, 38, whose prepaid 5 million peso ($2,100) DMG card is now worthless. "But look, that cake maker showed himself to be smarter than a president. I don't know how he cooked it up, but good or bad, he gave a lot of hope to people who have nothing."
The gangly, ponytailed Murcia was arrested last week in Panama, where he kept a yacht and a fleet of exotic cars. He and six other DMG officials — including his mother, his wife and his brother-in-law — face charges of money laundering, bribery and other crimes related to their rapidly expanding finanical empire.
Murcia has long denied any wrongdoing, calling his business an "economic revolution" designed to provide opportunity to Colombia's poor.
"What sin have I committed?" he asked in a message to customers posted on YouTube in June. "Giving people something to eat? Helping people to generate jobs with their additional income? Improving their quality of life?"
At first glance, DMG stores worked much like any other discount shopper's club. Members would buy a prepaid card for any amount after providing the names and phone numbers of three friends who might want to join.
But along with their blue debit card they recieved a matching black card, set to be activated in six months. That one held "points" as a reward for spreading the word about DMG.
The value of the points varied from day to day — anywhere from 70 percent to 300 percent of the initial investment. They could be redeemed to purchase goods at DMG stores, or simply be cashed in. Many customers took the money and immediately spent it on a new card.
"If you want to buy a motorcycle, you would just buy the motorcycle with your DMG card, and then they'd give you back the same amount of money six months later," explained DMG customer Angel Salamanca. "It's a free motorcycle."
At first, Salamanca used his card to buy beef, tomatoes, and onions for his hamburger stand. But he quickly developed a side business selling the plasma TVs he was getting from DMG for free.
As the profits grew, so did his ambitions. He sold the vacant lot on which he had planned to build a small restaurant, using the 6 million pesos in proceeds to buy more DMG cards.
Salamanca managed a wry chuckle as he pulled the cards from his pocket, his dream of becoming a restaurateur now reduced to worthless plastic.
DMG began in 2003 in the town of Orito, deep in Colombia's coca-growing south, where Murcia started out selling motorcycles and electric generators.
He told the newsmagazine Semana this year that he turned to the computerized cards in 2005 to streamline his rapidly growing operation before moving into the Colombian capital of Bogota. When the Semana reporter repeatedly pressed him to explain how he could offer such extravagant rewards, he suggested vaguely that it was a matter of "cash flow."
A healthy slice of Murcia's profits appeared to come from electronics bought cheap in bulk and sold to DMG members at prices significantly higher than other stores.
After moving into Bogota, Murcia took DMG international, opening offices in Ecuador, Venezuela and Panama.
The company's wild success attracted a swarm of imitators. The largest was Proyecciones DRFE — whose intitials boldly promised "Fast Money, Easy Cash" — which skipped DMG's deparment-store model and simply offered outlandish interest rates for short-term investments.
Authorities say it too was a pyramid scheme, offering dramatic returns by using money from a rapidly increasing pool of investors to pay off those who signed up first. The schemes collapse when the flow of new investment fails to cover everyone's promised returns.
DRFE attracted many newly flush DMG investors but collapsed this month amid news that its owner had fled the country, leaving $270 million worth of investments in limbo. The ensuing riots left two investors dead.
Colombian officials had been investigating DMG since 2007, when police uncovered $3.2 million in cash packed in cardboard boxes during a routine traffic stop outside Orito. The couriers said the money belonged to Murcia.
Prosecutors said a recorded telephone conversation links Murcia to Carlos Mario Jimenez, a paramilitary leader extradited this year to the United States on drug-smuggling charges.
"The average Colombian, knowing they were doing something wrong, simply cleared their conscience by saying, 'I want to join up with Robin Hood,'" said Ricardo Duran, a Bogota economist. "The only problem is this Robin Hood was as perverse as any drug trafficker."
Some loyal customers still hope their hero will make good on one last investment. But thousands lined up outside the ticket booths of a Bogota soccer stadium, handing over their cards to register for a government plan to redistribute the cash seized at the company's offices.
Some grudgingly admit they had qualms about an offer too good to resist — and ultimately too good to be true.
"I always thought that there was something dark about it all," said Bogota hairdresser Cristina Hinestrosa, 36, who doubled her original DMG investment of 5 million pesos ($2,100) in just 11 months before quiting this year on a hunch.
"You're conscious that something so good can't exist, or can't last," she said. "But since you're not involved in the deal directly, the important thing is to get a profit."
ISRAEL STOCKS
Israel stocks fall 6%, benchmark near four-year low
By Robert Daniel, MarketWatch
Last update: 2:48 p.m. EST Nov. 23, 2008 --- TEL AVIV
(MarketWatch) -- Israel stocks were unmoved by Friday's rally on Wall Street, as the market fell for the eighth trading day in the past nine, with the benchmark index closing at its lowest point in nearly four years.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's TA-25 Index ended 6.57% lower at 592.07 and the TA-100 (XX:1884407: news, chart, profile) fell 6.59% to 517.73.
The TA-25 hasn't been this low since it closed at 589.55 on Dec. 9, 2004.
"man is short-sighted and blind to the consequences of his actions".
UOJ,
Do you have any information as to why Hikind reneged on his promise to get Reichman out of the Satmar yeshivah? What happened to his press conference on the steps of the yeshivah? I don't think he should be allowed to get away with this and we should not keep quiet while Reichman continues to pose an immediate threat to all the children in that yeshivah. Maybe another NY Magazine or Village Voice expose is in order.
Steve,
I'm giving Hikind a "grace period" and cutting him some slack --- because of the enormity of the situation that he probably does not yet fully comprehend.
The clock is ticking -- if he turns out to be another mouth -- without teeth!
I'm on it -- Dov - You're on notice!
I believe Dov Hikind is to be commended for living by his morals and not giving in.
Whatever you think of Kolko, victims spoke to Hikind in confidentiality. I am one of them. If he goes to jail, I will forever trust him. If he caves, I will know that there is no one else to trust. (And I will not testify in court)
Idiots - you don't use your heads!
I'm all for cutting him some slack in regards to naming the perps and going to the police. However, I believe Mrs. Engelman and all the other UTA parents deserve an explanation. Why is Reichman still teaching????
Pressure needs to be applied on my good friend Eliot Pasik in the Reichmann case. Hikind is blowing smoke on UTA/Satmar...he's a politician that needs their backing. I knew Satmar would bowl him over.
In any case, Hikind could still also go ahead and name the offender rebbes on his show and to the newspapers without giving up names of victims.
Victim, it must be very difficult to deal with your pain.
But what about current and future victims who are at risk because animals like Kolko are getting away without facing justice?
Why is Satmar getting all the credit for silencing Hikind?
I got to him first.
IT IS TIME FOR HIKING TO TELL US WHY SATMAR SILENCED HIM AND I AM A BELIEVER THAT NEIDERMAN KNOWS THE WHOLE STORY HOW HIKIND ESCAPED JAIL FOR RECIEVING MONEY WHILE NIEMAN WENT TO JAIL FOR GIVING HIM MONEY
SATMAR ALSO KNOWS THE WHOLE STORY BEHIND HIKINDS WIFES JOB NAD ALL THE AFFAIRS HIKIND HAS HAD
NOW DO YOU KNOW WHY HE IS SO SILENT
why no picketing in front of satmar and pig reichmans house?
Three more banks failed Friday as government officials scrambled to contain the spreading financial turmoil, marking the highest volume of bank failures in one day since the savings-and-loan crisis of the late 1980s.
The Office of Thrift Supervision closed two California thrifts -- Downey Savings & Loan of Newport Beach and PFF Bank & Trust of Pomona -- and state regulators in Georgia closed Community Bank of Loganville. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took the companies into receivership and sold all the deposits, which means no depositors lost money.
Arthur can't handle the truth? said...
"He's not the first Lubab to refuse to answer a question based on the excuse that the shoel isn't being mentchlich.
I have gone through the piskei Hagroh.
What is weirder than spitting mittin davenen 3 times a day on the shul floor and putting a symbol of Xtianity in your Borsalino?"
To all those reading this blog I wish to make a statement about the above ferd who claims he learned all the minhagai Harga thoroughly.
His question about Chabadsker minhagim in truth is not a question but is the statement of the Rasho during the seder who says ,not asks "Mah Hoavodoh Hazos Lochem".His so called question does not deserve an answer just as we don't answer the Rosho.
For the benefit of the other kind readers of this blog I wish to make it clear that in no way C'V was I denigrating the Gra or his followers or the Brisker derochim or any other groups minhagim. My point was simply a reply to a statement made by Reb UOJ .My premise being that Lubavitch is no different then other groups within Judaism that have their own minhagim and drochim, amongst them the Talmedei Hagra and others.At no point was their an intent to bash or ridicule others.I would advise this vance vos iz arois gekrochen fun de bet gevant to climb back tzu zein loch .His hate is blatant and obvious and I would would suggest that he takes a long walk on a short pier to clear his addled brain.
So Arthur, why do Lubavitchers spit and pinch their hats?
Pretty please?
The shoemakers on Kingston Ave in Crown Heights use special soles & taps so the Lubabs don't slip & slide all over 770 from the spit pooling on the floor.
Und noch Yechee Adoneinu, they sing this niggun from Simon & Garfunkel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuISQ71-uh8
Slip sliding away, slip sliding away
You know the nearer your destination, the more you slip sliding away
Whoah and I know a man, he came from Morristown
He wore his passion for der Rebbe shlita like a Tzivos Hashem crown
He said Moshiach tzidkeinu, I live in fear
My love for yous so overpowering, Im afraid that I will disappear
Chorus
And I know a father vos hot gehat a zun
He longed to tell him all the reasons for the Tanya he'd learned
He came a long way just to explain
He kissed his sefer Tehillim as he lay sleeping
Then he turned around and he fressed some Shor Habor from Rubashkin again
Chorus
Whoah der Rebbe only knows, der Rebbe makes his plan
The informations unavailable to the mortal man
Were visitin' the Ohel, collect our kvittlach
Believe were gliding down the highway, when in fact were slip sliding away in 770
"I wish to make a statement about the above ferd"
It's nice of Arthur to get off his HIGH HORSE to post his insights here.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128515
It's going to cost a pretty penny to feed our fressers this coming weekend.
I could really use a boost right now.
I wish Arthur would be mechanef me like he does UOJ.
Ober fort, I don't feel so bad anymore when people call me weird because Arthur just explained that weird doesn't mean anything bad.
http://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2008/11/meat-certification-turf-war.html
Simcha Katz / Steven Katz are the same person.
He's also a professor at Baruch College.
The question is why did Genack help him get on board with the OU after the Central treif scandal and siruv of R' Moishe Feinstein's hazmonos?
Anonymous said...
The reasont that Katz wasn't prosecuted, I hear that whoever was the head of the OU in 1985 "covered" for central Glatt.
So Katz must have done back some big favors, and the OU head owes him one.
Anonymous said...
"whoever was the head of the OU in 1985 "covered" for central Glatt"
Genack has headed the OU since 1982.
Anonymous said...
NJ Status report
CENTRAL GLATT MEATS, INC
ID 0100253174 REPORT DATE 8/18/2008
DOMESTIC PROFIT CORP STATUS ACTIVE
FILING DATE 3/03/1985
STOCK AMOUNT 999
ANNUAL LAST REPORT FILED 7/14/2008
INCORPORATOR-CAPITOL INFORMATION SERVICE
AGENT-STEVEN KATZ
655 RUTLAND AVE
TEANECK, NJ 07666-000
TILTLE PRESIDENT
STEVEN KATZ
655 RUTLAND AVE
TEANECK, NJ 07666-2208
Anonymous said...
Dr. Steven Katz changed his name at the OU-to Dr. SIMCHA Katz.
Some shenanigans going on at Sagemark, which is his main business, started in 1961 which trades on the Stock Exchange. The company owns several MRI and radiology centers:
The Sagemark Companies Ltd. announced that on April 29, 2008, Ron Lipstein and Steven Katz, Ph.D, comprising the entire Board of Directors of the Company, resigned as members of the Board of Directors, and Ron Lipstein resigned as the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer and as the President, Chief Executive Officer or Managing Member of all of the Companies subsidiaries. George W. Mahoney, the Company's current Chief Financial Officer, was named as the successor interim President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Company's Board of Directors. Additionally, in conjunction with the sale transactions that were concluded on April 24, 2008, the Company concluded certain negotiations with Michael Fagien, MD, the Company's Chief Medical Officer, and entered into a Termination Agreement with Dr. Fagien, terminating the October 25, 2005 Employment Agreement by and between Dr. Fagien and the Company and as a consequence thereof terminated his service as Chief Medical Officer to the Company effective as of March 1, 2008.They are taking a loss of some 10 million dollars. I don't think the SEC would let it pass. Interesting if all the maneuvering of the board is one kugel to pull out $$$ & fold up? Who knows. I wonder if the OU can handle so many scandells?
As far as Central Glatt, I wouldn't be surprised if he's using his position at the OU for his benefit. It warrants further investigating.
Anonymous said...
Sagemark is not on any regular stock exchange. OTC stocks are highly prone to fraud by manipulators including company directors themselves.
http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?capId=349766
The Sagemark Companies, Ltd. does not have significant operations.
The Sagemark Companies, Ltd. Auditor Raises 'Going Concern' Doubt
04/4/2008
The Sagemark Companies, Ltd. filed its 10KSB on April 04, 2008 for the period ending December 31, 2007. In this report its auditor, Moore Stephens, gave an unqualified opinion expressing doubt that the company can continue as a going concern.
Anonymous said...
Sagemark had another big round of resignations in 2007
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_/ai_n19332065
The Company's prior Board of Directors, Edward D. Bright, Ted Shapiro, Stephen A. Schulman, M.D. and Robert L. Blessey have resigned.
Anonymous said...
Rutland Ave is actually in West Englewood. Katz may daven in Genack's Englewood shul.
http://www.shomreiemunahnj.org/
Rabbi Genack will speak on Shabbat morning, November 22nd on Agriprocessor and the Kosher Meat Shortage.
He claims to have semicha from YU said...
http://zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/faculty/profiles/katz.html
Steven Katz
Associate Professor of Economics and Finance
Steve_Katz@baruch.cuny.edu
http://speiser.baruch.cuny.edu/~katz/
Education:
BA Yeshiva University 1965
MS Graduate School of Engineering, NYU 1969
MBA Stern School of Business, NYU 1972
PhD Stern School of Business, NYU 1973
Rabbinic Ordination Yeshiva University 1969
Areas of Expertise:
Corporate Finance, Capital Raising, Capital Markets, Investment Analysis, Cost/Benefit Analysis
Selected Publications:
"Stock Market Behavior Around Distress and Recovery Predictions" (with S. Lilien and B. Nelson). Financial Analysts Journal, January-February 1985.
"A Portfolio Approach to Fossil Fuel Procurement in the Electric Utility Industry" (with D. Bar-Lev). Journal of Finance, 31 (3): 226-39, June 1976.
"The Differential Effects of Industrial and Utility Bond Rating Changes on Bond Yield" (with P. Grier). Journal of Business, 49 (2): 933-47, April 1976.
A Guide to the Financially Perplexed (with H. Friedman). Topics in Finance series. Variety Press, 1975.
"The Price Adjustment Process of Bonds to Rating Reclassification: A Test of Bond Market Efficiency." Journal of Finance, May 1974, pp. 551-59.
Professional Activities:
Presented cost/benefit studies in wound care at Techvest Healthcare Conference, 1999-2001 and at UBS Warburg Global Life Science Conference, 1999-2000.
Baruch College/CUNY | Zicklin School Of Business | 646-312-1000 | Copyright © 2009
One Bernard Baruch Way, New York, NY 10010 ( 55 Lexington Avenue at East 24th Street, NYC )
Kashering with a sheretz beyado said...
http://oukosher.org/index.php/common/article/meet_me_sunday_night_at_10_pm_the_production_of_cholov_yisroel_ricotta_chee/
By: Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer
On Sunday evening, November 25th, I joined Dr. Simcha Katz, Chairman of the OU’s Joint Kashrus Commission, Rabbi Avrohom Juravel, head of OU Kashrus Technical Services, and a group of senior OU Kashrus staff for a special kashering and production at a well-established ricotta cheese company. The evening’s protocol was to kasher the cheese facility’s cholov stam equipment and to supervise an overnight production of cholov Yisroel ricotta for an OU-certified ‘heimishe’ manufacturer of upscale Italian specialty products.
Anonymous said...
http://www.heartherav.org/
Katz & Genack are also both heavily involved in transcribing the shiruim of Rav J.B. Soloveitchik.
There are rumors going around that unspecified gedolei Eretz Yisroel are warning that Yidden should get out of golus and come to Israel before calamity strikes c'v.
On the other hand, Rav Elyashev warned about unspecified sakanah that Jonathan Rosenbloom understands as danger in Israel from Iran.
http://dani18.com/index.php?show=ZEREK89E
Here are the warnings from some autistic people that might have koach nevuah.
http://dani18.com/index.php?show=ZEREK97E
And here's an interesting take on the new "Nasi"
Being a person who likes to be dan likav zchus, perhaps the above posters are concerned with the gashmius of us "Lubabs" by worrying about our unhealthy habit of "spitting all over the floor"
(or maybe they work for the NYC board of health).If they can get away from their "hat fetish" for awile and look into a Nusach Ari siddur, about half way through the first paragraph of Oleinu, (that is if they can use their peanut sized brains to decipher Loshon Kodesh)they will find the answer to their profound question.
As to the "kneitch" question,which exhibits their concern for our "Ruchnius", another sign of their genius,to be honest I was comepletely unaware of this "malicous" abberation in "Lubab" theology.The overwhelming Ahavas Yisroel and mesiras nefish by these individuals to run around all day checking hats,warms my heart.
As for the composer of that magnificint musical ode to achdus Yisroel it reminds me of the child who was asked his opinion about a Brukner symphony and replied "it reminds me of a long yellow roll of toilet paper"
The lyrics have overtones of Gothe,Schiller,Heine with some Bialik thrown in .
I apologise to Reb UoJ for this long post but I had to respond to these moral pymies and leidig geyers who have nothing to do with their lives other then worrying about the world threaining "spitting" and "kneich issues.Zol der Ribono Shel Oilem zei alle shikken ah refuah shleima.
Insecure schlemeel said...
"I could really use a boost right now.
I wish Arthur would be mechanef me like he does UOJ"
Well I stand being accused of a new avleh.
Ich zol hobben azoi fil gelt vi se doh tochus lekkers on UOJ.
Don't these idiots have anything better to do with their sorry lives?
Isn't spitting in a beis haknesses being oiver on the mitzvas asei of umikdoshi tiro'u?
In the original nusach Ashkenaz of Aleinu, as reinstated by the Vilna Gaon:
She'haim mishtachavim lehevel vareik umispalelim el ail lo yoshiah.
Sounds like the freaks who scream at the end of "davening": "Yechi Adonaynu Moreinu verabbeinu melech hamoshiach leoylom voed"
Arthur, is that Nusach Ari we should examine or Nusach Agri?
The only difference I knew of between them are the piyutim nosafim for making a farbrengin when Rubashkins get out temporarily on bail.
Yep Just like I said.Some of these so called"Bnai Torah" and upcoming generation of "gedolai hatorah" who aspire to become part of the "Moetetses", billin ve de hint.Well keep on barking guys.You really are scraping the bottom of the barrel.At least it will keep you busy for a while but watch out for the dog catcher.So long and good barking.
I have a sneaking suspicion this is all the same guy posting under different aliases.I don't think that that there can be so many menuvalim out there.If there are then yiddishkeit is in real trouble.
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