Freddie Stubbs
Freddie Stubbs's JournalJury finds radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri guilty in terror trial
Source: CNN
(CNN) -- A federal jury in New York on Monday found radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri guilty of conspiring to kidnap Americans in Yemen, planning to establish a jihad training camp in rural Oregon and other terrorism-related charges.
The jury deliberated for more than two days after a monthlong trial in which the prosecution painted the fiery, one-eyed cleric as a terrorist trainer who hid behind religion.
The defense portrayed al-Masri as a man who expressed strong opinions but did not participate in criminal acts.
He stood trial in an American courtroom years after losing a lengthy legal battle to avoid extradition to the United States from Britain.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/19/justice/new-york-terror-trial/
Jews ordered to register in east Ukraine
Source: USA Today
Jews in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk where pro-Russian militants have taken over government buildings were told they have to "register" with the Ukrainians who are trying to make the city become part of Russia, according to Israeli media.
Jews emerging from a synagogue say they were handed leaflets that ordered the city's Jews to provide a list of property they own and pay a registration fee "or else have their citizenship revoked, face deportation and see their assets confiscated," reported Ynet News, Israel's largest news website.
Donetsk is the site of an "anti-terrorist" operation by the Ukraine government, which has moved military columns into the region to force out militants who are demanding a referendum be held on joining Russia.
The leaflets bore the name of Denis Pushilin, who identified himself as chairman of "Donetsk's temporary government," and were distributed near the Donetsk synagogue and other areas, according to the report.
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/17/jews-ordered-to-register-in-east-ukraine/7816951/
Ted Cruz’s Iran bill likely heading to Obama
Source: Politico
Sen. Ted Cruz’s bill banning an Iranian diplomat from the United States is about to land on President Barack Obama’s desk to await his signature.
The House is expected to approve a bill on Thursday offered by Cruz (R-Texas) that will effectively ban Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations from the United States by barring known terrorists from entering the country. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has drawn bipartisan ire for nominating Hamid Aboutalebi, who participated in the 1979 hostage-taking of Americans in Tehran, as his U.N. ambassador.
Though Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) had led a similar bill in the House, the chamber is expected to approve the Cruz measure on Thursday before adjourning for recess in the name of expediency. The Senate passed Cruz’s bill unanimously on Monday after Cruz spoke to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to clear a path for the bill over the weekend.
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a question of whether the president will sign the bill. But sources said that Cruz’s bill was amended over the weekend to assuage administration concerns that the bill was written too broadly, suggesting the legislation may be palatable to the White House. White House press secretary Jay Carney called Aboutalebi’s nomination to the ambassadorship “not viable” earlier this week.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/ted-cruzs-iran-bill-likely-heading-to-obama-105571.html?hp=l4
Sanctions busters get a free pass
Source: The Hill
The Obama administration has failed for three years to report on companies that might have violated sanctions on doing business in Iran, North Korea and Syria.
By law, the U.S. is required every six months to report on companies and entities that provide these countries with advanced conventional weapons or assistance with weapons of mass destruction programs and missile systems. Violators are sanctioned for at least two years.
However, the administration is now three years behind in reporting on violators. The last time the administration filed a report was on Feb. 5, 2013, which covered violations in 2010, according to public State Department records and a Democratic House aide.
Some fear the lack of reporting could be giving Russian companies involved in those countries a free pass.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/defcon-hill/policy-strategy/203162-sanctions-busters-get-a-free-pass
King may switch sides and join the Republicans after midterms
Source: The Hill
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), who caucuses with the Democrats, will decide after the midterm elections whether to switch sides and join the Republicans.
He is leaving open the possibility of aligning himself with the GOP if control of the upper chamber changes hands.
“I’ll make my decision at the time based on what I think is best for Maine,” King told The Hill Wednesday after voting with Republicans to block the Paycheck Fairness Act, a measure at the center for the 2014 Democratic campaign agenda.
King’s remarks are a clear indication that congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle will have to woo the 70-year-old senator in order to recruit him to their side.
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/203161-king-may-flip-to-gop-in-2015
Eleven Democrats Push Obama to Approve Keystone
Source: Wall Street Journal
Nearly a dozen Senate Democrats, including five up for re-election this year, are pressing President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, and they say they want a decision by the end of next month.
Most Republicans support the pipeline, but the 11 Democrats who wrote a letter to Mr. Obama urging him to approve the project deliberately made it a one party-effort. While a set of bipartisan signatures can be a powerful thing in the art of Washington letter-writing, these lawmakers clearly want to accentuate the pressure Mr. Obama faces from his own party on this issue.
“It’s really to turn up the pressure on the president,” said a Senate Democratic aide on the condition of anonymity. “We know where the Republicans are on this issue.”
Democratic Sens. Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mark Warner of Virginia, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mark Begich of Alaska, who all face tight races this November, signed the letter, which urges Mr. Obama to put in place an explicit timeline to decide on the project and to make a final decision by May 31. The party’s quest to keep control of the Senate could hinge on the races of these five Democrats, who have previously expressed support for the project. Many of them come from fossil-fuel rich states.
Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/04/10/eleven-democrats-push-obama-to-approve-keystone/
National Council of La Raza leader calls Barack Obama ‘deporter-in-chief’
Source: Politico
President Barack Obama has lost the nation’s largest Latino advocacy organization.
The National Council of La Raza is set to declare Obama “the deporter-in-chief” and demand that he take unilateral action to stop deportations.
NCLR, the nation’s largest Latino advocacy organization, had been the last significant progressive grass-roots immigration-reform organization publicly defending the White House immigration stance. NCLR President Janet Murguía will on Tuesday night demand Obama put a halt to his administration’s deportations.
“For the president, I think his legacy is at stake here,” Murguía said in an interview in advance of NCLR’s annual Capital Awards dinner, where she will deliver a speech lambasting Obama’s deportation policy. “We consider him the deportation president, or the deporter-in-chief.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/national-council-of-la-raza-janet-murguia-barack-obama-deporter-in-chief-immigration-104217.html
The President's job is to execute the laws which are passed by Congress. If you don't like the laws, elect a Congress which will change those laws.
Saudi pleads guilty to terror charges at Guantánamo
Source: The Miami Herald
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVY BASE, Cuba -- A long-held Saudi captive pleaded guilty Thursday to terror charges for serving as a personal shopper for al-Qaida militants plotting attacks on ships in the Arabian Sea.
Ahmad al Darbi, 39, appeared in court in a button-down shirt and tie for the proceedings, which traded an undisclosed sentence at Guantánamo in exchange for return to his native Saudi Arabia. His attorney, Ramzi Kassem, announced that Darbi pleaded guilty to all the non-capital charges. They include terrorism, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects and hazarding a vessel.
In 2002, according to his charge sheet, Darbi bought navigational equipment and some vessels, mostly in the United Arab Emirates. They were intended to be used in an attack on a civilian oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz in an al-Qaida campaign to damage the global economy.
Some of those resources ended up being used in an attack off Yemen on a Malaysia-bound, French-flagged oil tanker, the Limburg, on Oct. 6, 2002 — four after Darbi’s capture. A Bulgarian crew member, Atanas Atanasov, 39, was killed.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/20/3948206/saudi-pleads-guilty-to-terror.html
Obama: College Degree Not Needed for a Good Career
Source: Associated Press
President Barack Obama says not everyone needs a college degree to build a great career, as long as people have the right training.
Obama traveled to a General Electric facility in the Milwaukee area Thursday to promote training programs for in-demand jobs.
Obama says workers might make a better living with skilled trades and manufacturing than an art history degree.
He's ordering Vice President Joe Biden to lead a government-wide review of federal job training programs and make sure they are driven by employer needs.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/wisconsin-obama-focus-job-training-22294766
U.S. Steel wins Supreme Court labor fight
Source: Reuters
Jan 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that employees at a U.S. Steel Corp plant do not have to be paid for the time they spend "donning and doffing" safety gear before and after their shifts.
The nine justices were unanimous in the ruling. Federal labor law excludes "changing clothes" from the time for which unionized employees must be paid, unless they have negotiated otherwise.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/27/usa-court-labor-idUSL2N0L10R820140127
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