Pakistani doctor jailed after bin Laden hunt found guilty of Islamist militancy

Pakistan tribal court papers describe CIA aide Shakil Afridi as active supporter of Lashkar-e-Islam

guardian.co.uk, Jon Boone, in Islamabad, Wednesday 30 May 2012

Shakil Afridi's jail term in Pakistan led to the US Senate cutting the
country's aid by $1m for every year of his sentence. Photograph: Reuters

The doctor who angered Pakistan's powerful security agencies by helping the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden was sentenced to 33 years in prison on the basis of flimsy intelligence suggesting he was involved in Islamist militancy, a document from his trial has revealed.

The five-page summary verdict in Dr Shakil Afridi's case shows the antiquated tribal court that heard his case refused to consider evidence of his work for the CIA, which it said was outside its jurisdiction.

When Afridi's conviction came to light last week it was assumed he had been imprisoned for his work on a bogus vaccination programme intended to use DNA sampling to pinpoint the whereabouts of the former al-Qaida leader.

The announcement of his jail term provoked outrage in the US where the Senate symbolically cut aid to Pakistan by $1m (£640,000) for each year of his sentence.

But the trial document shows he was in fact found guilty of terrorism, not treason under Pakistan's much criticised Frontier Crimes Regulation, a set of draconian laws first imposed by the British on the Pashtun tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

The court document said Afridi was an active supporter of Lashkar-e-Islam, a banned militant group, and its leader Mangal Bagh.

It also claimed he used his position as head of a government hospital to channel nearly £14,000 to the group and gave medical care to various militant commanders.

According to the document the case, which was presided over not by a trained judge but by the government-appointed "political agent" in consultation with a group of tribal elders, was based on "reports of different intelligence agencies" and statements by local people.

Rustam Shah Mohmand, a former political agent who once administered the same tribal agency where Afridi was tried, said the case would never have succeeded in regular court.

"This sort of evidence makes the case very weak legally," he said. "Finding tangible evidence linking him to Mangal Bagh is very, very difficult in the tribal areas where people can tell you just anything."

Securing a conviction under the peculiar FCR process under which defendants are denied the right to lawyers is much easier, however.

Some analysts suspect the claims about Afridi's involvement with militant groups may have been cobbled together after the court refused to take a view on his activities for the CIA, which happened well outside the tribal areas where the FCR writ runs.

Habib Malik Orakzai, head of the Pakistan International Human Rights Organisation, said the government did not want to risk the case in a regular, open court where it could potentially drag on for months or "be thrown out at any time".

He said: "The political agent has all the power. In simple words he is like a king who does not need proof but has the power to give any person any punishment."

The FCR also keeps Afridi's fate firmly in the hands of the Pakistani government, giving it the flexibility to use Afridi as a bargaining chip with the Americans at a later point, as many suspect will happen.

"In due course escape to the US could be facilitated for some quid pro quo", said Mohmand. The CIA reportedly offered Afridi and his family safe passage to the US soon after the killing of bin Laden, but he refused.

It is likely Afridi did become entangled with many of the leading militants operating in the tribal areas during his long career as a frontier medic – his access to such forbidding and dangerous territory was no doubt what attracted the CIA to him.

In 2008 Bagh fined him $11,00 for preforming unnecessary operations on several patients, the New York Times reported recently.

Mehmood Shah, a former security chief of the tribal areas, said it was quite possible for government officials to be "scared" of the militants they came across.

"At times they try to work out some understanding with them in order to survive," he said.

He remembered that Afridi had "a bad reputation", but not for involvement with militancy.

"He had weaknesses for womanising, drinking and making money without any principal," he said. "When we found he had been interfering with female colleagues I ordered he be removed."

Obama honours 13 with Medal of Freedom at White House

BBC News, 29 May 2012

Describing himself as "a big fan", a star-struck President Obama
honours the 'Tambourine Man'

Related Stories 

• Bob Dylan to get Medal of Freedom

President Barack Obama has bestowed the nation's highest civilian honour on political and cultural figures in a ceremony at the White House.

Musician Bob Dylan, astronaut John Glenn, and Israeli President Shimon Peres were among the Medal of Freedom recipients.

The award is given to people from all walks of life who have made exceptional contributions to society.

It was established by former President John F Kennedy in 1963.

Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on 24 May 1941 and began his musical career in 1959, playing in Minnesota coffee houses.

He took his stage name from the poet Dylan Thomas and, not coincidentally, paid as much attention to his lyrics as his music.

Much of his best-known work dates from the 1960s, when he became an informal historian of America's troubles.

Songs such as Blowin' In The Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin' became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements.

His move away from traditional folk songwriting, paired with a controversial decision to "go electric", proved equally influential - his confessional, introspective lyrics were undoubtedly absorbed by The Beatles in their later work.

He continues to record and tour, expanding his horizons with a US radio show and a recently signed six-book publishing deal.

Morrison is renowned for her portrayal of the African-American experience in novels such as Song Of Solomon, and Beloved, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988.

Born Chloe Anthony Wofford in 1931 in Ohio, she went on to become a senior editor at publishers Random House before pursuing her writing career.

Outside of novels, she has written literary criticism and even lyrics for operas, including Honey and Rue, with music by Andre Previn.

Once asked by a student who she wrote for, Morrison replied: "I want to write for people like me, which is to say black people, curious people, demanding people...

"People who can't be faked, people who don't need to be patronised, people who have very, very high criteria."

The 13 people awarded the Medal of Freedom at Tuesday's ceremony in the East Room ofthe White House included:

• Madeleine Albright, secretary of state from 1997 to 2001 and the first woman to hold that post
• John Doar, assistant attorney general in charge of civil rights at the Department of Justice during the 1960s
• William Foege, physician and former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who led the campaign to eradicate smallpox
• Gordon Hirabayashi, who fought the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and died in January
• Dolores Huerta, community activist and co-founder of the National Farmworkers Association in 1962
• Jan Karski, officer in the Polish Underground in World War II and later a professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, who died in 2000
• Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts in 1912, who died in 1927
• John Paul Stevens, associate justice of the US Supreme Court from 1975 to 2010
• Pat Summitt, basketball coach who has won more games than any other coach, and spokeswoman against Alzheimer's disease

Previous honourees include Mother Teresa, Margaret Thatcher, Stephen Hawking, Walt Disney, Doris Day, Duke Ellington and Aretha Franklin.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde pays NO TAX on her £300,000 salary (despite attacking Greece for dodging payment)

Daily Mail, 29 May 2012

• Questioned about Greek crisis head of IMF said country can help itself collectively 'by paying all their tax'
• Suggests that IMF's money would be better spent on African children than on people in Athens
• Lagarde takes home £298,675-a-year untaxed
• Receives further tax-free allowance package of £52,000

  

Laughing all the way to the bank:
 IMF managing director Christine Lagarde
 criticised beleagured Greeks for not
 paying taxes, while she earns a tax-free
salary herself

The head of the International Monetary Fund who controversially proposed that struggling Greeks should pay taxes contributes nothing herself to the public purse.

Christine Lagarde openly criticised citizens of the ailing EU country in an interview last week, but it has now emerged that the former French lawyer takes home every penny of her own £298,675 a year salary.

In addition the IMF managing director also receives a tax-free allowance package of £52,000 a year.

Ms Lagarde told the Guardian that she believes children in Niger with little schooling deserve the fund's money more than people in Athens.

She continued: 'Do you know what? As far as Athens is concerned, I also think about all those people who are trying to escape tax all the time.

'All these people in Greece who are trying to escape tax.'

She added: 'I think they should also help themselves collectively. By all paying their tax.'

Lagarde also criticised Greek citizens 'who are trying to escape tax,' and said the country needs to club together to make more of an effort to solve its economic problems.

Her comments came as the IMF increases the pressure on the Eurozone nation and makes it clear it will not be softening the terms of the nation's austerity package that is deeply unpopular with the country's electorate.

More...

• The Greeksshould not expect sympathy, says IMF boss Christine Lagarde who is 'moreworried' about schooling in Africa
• The truthis unpalatable, but Christine Lagarde is right to tell Greeks to pay theirtaxes

The former French finance minister took over from disgraced countryman Dominique Strauss-Kahn in June last year with strong support including the British, U.S., Chinese and German governments and is now a year into her five-year term.

At the time the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy described her appointment as 'a victory for France.'

Others were less impressed however, with Oxfam labeling the decision 'farcical' because of what it judged to be a lack of transparency in the appointment process.

Imposing: The headquarters of the IMF in Washington is where representatives
 of 184 countries aim to work together to foster global monetary cooperation
and secure financial stability

Mr Strauss-Kahn had been forced to step down under a media storm after he was charged with sexually assaulting a New York hotel maid - the charges were later dropped.

Lagarde, 56, who began her career at Chicago-based law firm Baker & McKenzie, earns more than US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron who both pay taxes.

Mr Obama earns around £255,000 a year while Mr Cameron receives a salary of £142,000 for running the country.

Lagarde's salary could also go up in a few weeks as her contract entitles her to a pay rise on July 1 every year.

Lagarde does not pay tax in line with other international organisations such as the United Nations where workers are entitled to a similar tax break.

It comes under article 34 of the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations which declares that diplomatic agents are 'exempt from all dues and taxes, personal or real, national, regional or municipal.'

Contributors: Christine Lagarde earns more than both Barack Obama, left,
and David Cameron, right

Annual pay for UN workers start at between £29,000 to £51,000 with senior salaries range between £61,000 and £80,000 although this figure varies depending on where an employee is based.

A UN worker based in Geneva could expect to see their base salary increased by 106 per cent while even in Juba, the relatively poor capital of South Sudan, a UN worker could anticipate a 53.2 per cent top up of their salary.

Additional perks include rent subsidies and travel expenses, as well as subsidised medical insurance.

Frustration at the luxury, tax-free lifestyles of international public service workers is not a new issue, the argument dates back to the moment the IMF was created at the Bretton Woods economic conference in 1944.

British representatives felt salaries put forward by U.S. delegates were huge, but they were overruled.

The counter argument suggested by those who work for the organisation is that the whopping salaries are required to attract the best people from the well paid private sector.

However, studies have found that in fact most senior employees are already working in government positions.

Related Article:

Christine Lagarde, scourge of tax evaders, pays no tax

The Catholic Church's inquisition of American nuns

Though castigated by their own Church authorities, US nuns are far more in tune with the actual views of American Catholics

guardian.co.uk, Victoria Bekiempis, Thursday 24 May 2012

Bishops have opposed healthcare legislation, while nuns are supporting it.
Photograph: Getty/Reuters/Kacper Pempel

So, did you hear the one about the American nuns?

No, this isn't the beginning of a joke. In April, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith – the Catholic Church's current iteration of the Inquisition, if you will – issued an assessment of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious,which represents 80% of the US's 57,000 nuns.

Some key context here: the conference was formed 56 years ago at the behest of the Holy See, to provide "a unified voice" for US nuns who helped the poor, nursed the sick, taught students, worked as missionaries, and fought violence. (Another important bit of background: the congregation is the same arm of the church that bullied Lavinia Byrne, feminist theologian and former British nun, for arguing in favor of female ordination in a 1993 book.)

The conference, according to the Vatican, was spending too much time doing good – and not enough time enforcing church teaching (against abortion, homosexuality etc). So, the nuns actually got in trouble for being, well, nuns. So troubled was the church by this and the women's alleged "radical feminism" that the assessment demanded the appointment of an archbishop delegate to make them behave.

Nope, no joke.

At first, many members of the conference reacted with silent shock. They didn't speak out against the Church because of their vows of obedience. Many have since shot back, however, calling the charges wrongful criticism – and a distraction from the Church's failure to address adequately child molestation charges against clergy.

The Vatican might have gotten one thing right about these women: compared to the rest of the Pope Benedict XVI's ultra-conservative administration, they are radical feminists. But the Church has also gotten something terribly wrong: US Catholicism desperately needs "radical" feminist nuns – and should embrace, not criticize them – if it's going to remain relevant to American society.

A 2008 Pew forum on religion and public life study determined that nearly a third of Americans were brought up Catholic, but that "less than one in four remained so" – meaning the faith had shed "the greatest" proportion of US-born believers. Perhaps even more startling:

• "Roughly 10% of American adults, or 22.5 million, are former Catholics. That would qualify lapsed Catholics as the second-largest single US denomination, behind Catholics, at 54.8 million, and just ahead of the Southern Baptist Convention's 15.1 million members."

In addition, a study conducted by the center for applied research in the apostolate at Georgetown University indicates that "42.7 million Catholics, or two-thirds of US Catholics, are not going to mass." Only some 33% attend regularly. Another approximately 33% attend occasionally, and the rest never go, Catholic advocacy groups report. And the only reason the percentage of Catholics in the US population still hovers around 25%, Pew notes, is because of a steady stream of Latino immigrants.

The denomination's leaders worry so extensively about the hemorrhaging of parishioners that a group called Catholics Come Home launched a $3.5m ad blitz last December, according to the Denver Post, and had sponsored similar marketing campaigns in the past. The non-profit hoped that the 400-plus planned ads, with an estimated audience of 250 million viewers, would boost these sluggish numbers. If you look at lapsed Catholics' reasons for leaving the church, it doesn't seem like a lack of televised adverts quite tops their list.

Researchers at Villanova University's center for the study of church management recently reached out to several hundred lapsed Catholics in the diocese of Trenton, New Jersey. They wanted to figure out why they stopped frequenting mass. They were specifically asked "what issues they would raise if they could speak to the bishop for five minutes," according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

Their complaints included haughty clergy, "conservative haranguing", excessive focus on homosexuality and birth control, as well as negative attitudes toward female ordination. They also "didn't like the church's handling of the clergy sex abuse scandal and were upset that divorced and remarried Catholics are unwelcome at mass."

A key point is that some 66% of respondents "were female, and the median age was 53". This demographic detail has troubled Church leaders, who recognize that it is this group that has in the past tended to indoctrinate younger generations – their children and grandchildren – into the church. Anyone else see what's going on here?

The Catholic Church is shedding US members. Those who have left they church say they don't like the Church's conservative approach toward birth control, homosexuality, and female ordination. The Church has decided not to reconsider these policies – a move that could help maintain membership. Instead, the Holy See has decided to attack the one prominent and popular group among the clergy because they back the modern ideas demanded by believers.

Thus, rather than defending the faith, the Vatican's strategy works only to hasten the extinction of the very institution it's seeking to preserve.

Related Articles:

Protesters back U.S. nuns in standoff with Vatican

Catholic nuns group "stunned" by Vatican slap

Calls for reform renewed at German Catholic convention

Association of Catholic Priests in Ireland discuss Church's future

Pope Benedict XVI rebukes Austrian dissident priests

Church subsidy reform signals Polish revolution

Catholic Monti moves to end Italy Church tax breaks

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Based in Greece, Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to built Africa to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - New !

"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum Teaching, The Fear of God, Near-death Experience, God Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent Creator, Global Unity.... etc.) (Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience?

(SaLuSa channelled by Mike Quinsey, March 16, 2012)

“…. Each project is underway and that will result in a sudden wealth of information reaching you. Events are such that the facts can no longer be kept hidden, and with that there will be an explosion of people coming forward to tell what they know. It may take longer where the Vatican is concerned, as it is akin to a secret society that has kept its dark secrets hidden well away. However, nothing will remain concealed for too long, as you are entitled to know the truth and the extent to which you have been deceived….”  

Christ Consciousness Is The Energy of The New World – Mar 7, 2012  (Kryon channelled by David Brown)

Obama pledges no more wars unless "absolutely necessary"

Reuters, Arllington, Virginia, Mon May 28, 2012

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) is applauded by U.S. Army Major General

 Michael Linnington (R), commander of the Military District of Washington, as

he  begins his remarks at the Memorial Day observance at Arlington National

Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, May 28, 2012. (Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama honored veterans on Monday by noting "the light of a new day" of having U.S. troops home from Iraq and returning soon from Afghanistan, while promising not to send soldiers back to war without a clear need.

Obama did not mention tension with Iran and Syria in his remarks to veterans and military families at a hot, sunny Memorial Day ceremony, focusing instead on the wars started by his predecessor, George W. Bush, that he wound down as president.

"After a decade under the dark cloud of war, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon," he said at Arlington National Cemetery, drawing applause when he noted the "milestone" of it being the first Memorial Day in nine years without Americans fighting and dying in Iraq.

"As commander in chief, I can tell you that sending our troops into harm's way is the most wrenching decision that I have to make," Obama said shortly after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

"I can promise you I will never do so unless it is absolutely necessary and that when we do, we must give our troops a clear mission and the full support of a grateful nation."

Later on Monday, Obama will attend a ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, introducing Obama at the Arlington military cemetery, said that 58,000 Americans died in the Vietnam War. More than 4,000 Americans died in Iraq from 2003 to 2011, and nearly 2,000 have died in Afghanistan from the war's start in 2001 to date.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Laura MacInnis; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

Related Articles:

Obama Recalls Vietnam Vets’ Treatment as ‘National Shame’

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Lose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.)

50 highest-paid CEOs in AP survey

Associated Press, May 25, 2012

Related Articles: 

• Interactive - Captains of industry: Comparing CEO pay and performance

The 50 highest-paid CEOs for 2011, according to an Associated Press analysis of Standard & Poor's 500 companies. The analysis includes companies that had the same CEO for all of 2010 and 2011 and that filed proxy statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission between Jan. 1 and April 30.

They are based on the AP's compensation formula, which adds up salary, perks, bonuses, preferential interest rates on pay set aside for later, and company estimates for the value of stock options and stock awards on the day they were granted last year.

1. David Simon, Simon Property Group, $137.2 million, up 458 percent
2. Leslie Moonves, CBS, $68.4 million, up 20 percent
3. David M. Zaslav, Discovery Communications, $52.4 million, up 23 percent
4. Sanjay K. Jha, Motorola Mobility, $47.2 million, up 262 percent
5. Philippe P. Dauman, Viacom, $43.1 million, down 49 percent
6. David M. Cote, Honeywell International, $35.7 million, up 135 percent
7. Robert A. Iger, Walt Disney, $31.4 million, up 12 percent
8. Clarence P. Cazalot Jr., Marathon Oil, $29.9 million, up 239 percent
9. John P. Daane, Altera, $29.6, million, up 278 percent
10. Alan Mulally, Ford Motor, $29.5 million, up 11 percent
11. Gregory Q. Brown, Motorola Solutions, $29.3 million, up 113 percent
12. Richard C. Adkerson, Freeport-McMoRan, $28.4 million, down 19 percent
13. Ian M. Cumming, Leucadia National, $28.2 million, up 531 percent
14. Brian L. Roberts, Comcast, $26.9 million, down 13 percent
15. Jeffrey L. Bewkes, Time Warner, $25.7 million, down 2 percent
16. Rex W. Tillerson, Exxon Mobil, $25.2 million, up 17 percent
17. Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM, $24.2 million, down 4 percent
18. William C. Weldon, Johnson & Johnson, $23.4 million, up 1 percent
19. James Dimon, JPMorgan Chase, $23.1 million, up 11 percent
20. Louis R. Chenevert, United Technologies, $22.9 million, up 17 percent
21. Kenneth I. Chenault, American Express, $22.5 million, up 38 percent
22. Laurence D. Fink, BlackRock, $21.9 million, down 8 percent
23. Paul E. Jacobs, Qualcomm, $21.7 million, up 23 percent
24. H. Lawrence Culp Jr., Danaher, $21.7 million, up 27 percent
25. Muhtar Kent, Coca-Cola, $21.2 million, up 10 percent
26. Kirk S. Hachigian, Cooper Industries, $21.1 million, down 16 percent
27. Wesley G. Bush, Northrop Grumman, $21 million, down 5 percent
28. Robert J. Stevens, Lockheed Martin, $20.5 million, up 7 percent
29. Louis C. Camilleri, Philip Morris International, $20.2 million, down 2 percent
30. Gregg W. Steinhafel, Target, $19.5 million, down 18 percent
31. James T. Hackett, Anadarko Petroleum, $19.5 million, up 4 percent
32. Steve Ells, Chipotle Mexican Grill, $19.4 million, up 38 percent
33. Leslie H. Wexner, Limited Brands, $19.2 million, down 6 percent
34. James J. Mulva, ConocoPhillips, $19.2 million, up 7 percent
35. Miles D. White, Abbott Laboratories, $19 million, down 6 percent
36. David M. Cordani, Cigna, $18.9 million, up 25 percent
37. Kevin W. Sharer, Amgen, $18.9 million, down 11 percent
38. Montgomery F. Moran, Chipotle Mexican Grill, $18.8 million, up 39 percent
39. Randall L. Stephenson, AT&T, $18.7 million, down 8 percent
40. Richard D. Fairbank, Capital One Financial, $18.7 million, up 26 percent
41. Debra A. Cafaro, Ventas, $18.5 million, up 117 percent
42. W. James McNerney Jr., Boeing, $18.4 million, up 34 percent
43. John S. Watson, Chevron, $18.1 million, up 30 percent
44. Michael T. Duke, Wal-Mart Stores, $18.1 million, down 3 percent
45. John G. Stumpf, Wells Fargo, $17.9 million, up 2 percent
46. Kent J. Thiry, DaVita, $17.5 million, up 24 percent
47. James M. Cracchiolo, Ameriprise Financial, $17.3 million, up 3 percent
48. Paul S. Otellini, Intel, $17.2 million, up 11 percent
49. Robert J. Coury, Mylan, $16.8 million, up 12 percent
50. Evan G. Greenberg, ACE, $16.6 million, up 6 percent

Source: Equilar.

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Top CEO pay equals 3,489 years for typical worker

$10 million a year: the average salary of an American CEO

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2010 file photo,

 David Simon, CEO of Indianapolis-based

 Simon Property Group. (AP Photo/The
Indianapolis Star, Charlie Nye, File)

The Large Families that rule the world

Propaganda firm owner admits smear campaign against U.S. journalists

The Raw Story, by Eric W. Dolan, Thursday, May 24, 2012

The co-owner of a U.S. defense contractor that specializes in Information Operations admitted on Thursday to trying to discredit two USA Today journalists with an online smear campaign.

“I take full responsibility for having some of the discussion forums opened and reproducing their previously published USA TODAY articles on them,” Camille Chidiac, the minority owner of Leonie Industries and its former president, said in a statement.

“I recognize and deeply regret that my actions have caused concerns for Leonie and the U.S. military. This was never my intention. As an immediate corrective action, I am in the process of completely divesting my remaining minority ownership from Leonie.” 

Tom Vanden Brook and Ray Locker reported in February on “dubious, costly” propaganda campaigns carried out by contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. The reporters noted that Leonie Industries was awarded a contract from the Department of Defense, even though the company’s owners owed at least $4 million in federal taxes.

Leonie Industries is a relatively small company that specializes in cyber operations, intelligence analysis, psychological operations, and counter-IED explosives operations. The company said that due to the owner’s financial troubles, they were unable to fulfill their “personal tax obligations on time,” but have since been “faithfully paying their tax liabilities through installment plans.”

After reporting on the company, the two journalists were targeted by a online disinformation campaign apparently meant to destroy their reputation. Fake Twitter and Facebook accounts were created in their name, along with websites that purported to be owned and operated by them. Comments quickly sprung up on message boards, Yahoo! answers, Wikipedia, and blogs criticizing the two reporters’ investigation of Leonie Industries. Some comments even suggested the two journalists worked for the Taliban.

Leonie Industries said no federal contract funds were used in the smear campaign and that Chidiac acted alone. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta “has directed the department to review this matter and to take appropriate action,” according to a Pentagon spokesperson.

“I am glad to see that we now know who was responsible for these false attacks on Tom Vanden Brook, Ray Locker and USA Today,” Susan Weiss, executive editor of USA Today, said. “We stand behind our reporters and our stories.”

Exposed by graphic video, top horse trainer pleads guilty to cruelty

CNN News, By Phil Gast and Moni Basu, CNN, May 24, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Jackie McConnell was charged with 52 counts of violation of the Horse Protection Act
• An undercover video showed him subjecting show horses to banned practices
• "Soring" inflicts pain and induces the signature gait of walking horses
• McConnell was banned for life from the most important walking horse show

(CNN) -- A top trainer in the fabled Tennessee walking horse industry has pleaded guilty to a charge of cruelty to animals and has been banned for life from the most important horse show for the breed.

Jackie McConnell had been charged with 52 counts of violating the Horse Protection Act but pleaded guilty to only one in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in Chattanooga.

The charges stemmed from a graphic undercover video made by a Humane Society of the United States investigator that shows McConnell and his stable hands at Whitter Stables of Collierville subjecting show horses to practices that were banned 40 years ago.

The video shows horses being struck with sticks and subjected to "soring," an illegal process in which chemicals are placed on their lower legs in an effort to induce the signature Tennessee walking horse high-stepping gait known as the "big lick."

According to the indictment, "soring is a cruel and inhumane practice used to accentuate a horse's gait in order to gain a competitive edge in horse shows." Chemicals and other irritants on a horse's ankles and forelegs cause it to lift its front feet and shift its weight unnaturally to the hind legs in order to relieve the pain.

McConnell and the other trainers applied a thick, yellowish substance called "the balm" on the front pasterns of a horse named Moody Star, the court documents said. The horse was seen in the video picking up his feet in pain. Later, McConnell rubbed castor oil on the back of Moody Star's pasterns to "peel off skin."

Moody Star was later taken to a show, and documents for the horse were falsified, prosecutors said. Other horses were similarly abused.

The Humane Society said its investigator documented "stewarding" -- training a horse not to react to pain during official show inspections of their legs for soreness -- by striking them in the head when they flinch during mock inspections.

The video also shows a writhing horse being subjected to a whip at McConnell's barn. Another receives an electric shock to the head.

"The video showed the horses, in obvious pain, which appear to be having trouble standing and being whipped until they did stand," prosecutors said in the plea agreement Tuesday.

McConnell's staff -- Jeff Dockery, John Mays and Joseph Abernathy -- were also charged. Mays and Abernathy have also pleaded guilty. Dockery has a plea hearing in June.

Soring "has been an open secret in Tennessee for years," said Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president for litigation and investigations with the Humane Society.

The video was filmed in spring 2011 by an investigator who worked two months as a stable hand at McConnell's barn, according to the Humane Society. It was first featured last week on the ABC News program "Nightline."

It raised questions of how pervasive the training techniques are despite recent prosecutions and investigations by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which enforces the Horse Protection Act.

"There obviously is a huge problem," Lovvorn said. "In the competition to get this unnatural gait, trainers are using banned substances to cheat."

The walking horse gait, known for its smoothness, was originally devised for Southern plantation owners to inspect their lands in comfort.

Horse show judges value the exaggerated gait, and shows in Tennessee and elsewhere annually draw thousands of spectators.

The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration said its actions against McConnell were unprecedented.

He was suspended for life, is banned from entering the organization's grounds and was removed from its Hall of Fame.

"This action is the strongest we can take and it clearly reflects our disgust with the actions of Mr. McConnell," said Doyle Meadows, CEO of the organization. "His actions are not reflective of the Tennessee walking horse industry, and we in no way want him associated with our show."

PepsiCo said last week it was pulling its sponsorship of this summer's Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.

Asked if the sponsorship decision was in response to the 2011 video, PepsiCo spokesman Vincent Bozek said, "That's all we're saying." The decision was made Wednesday.

The president of a Tennessee horse industry organization, condemning the "disturbing" video, told CNN there is a stringent inspection process at shows.

"I think it's sad that a corporation like Pepsi would go out because of the action of one person and one training barn," said Stephen Mullins of S.H.O.W.

Lovvorn told CNN the Humane Society shared the video and results of its investigation with federal prosecutors before the indictment was returned earlier this year.

McConnell will be sentenced on September 10. He faces a maximum five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. Mays and Abernathy face up to a year in prison and a $3,000 fine.

In separate cases, a seven-month investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture resulted in at least four other Tennessee men being sentenced this year for horse soring violations.

One defendant sentenced to 12 months in prison and a $4,000 fine described how chemical irritants, chains, bolts and other devices were used to bring about the exaggerated gait.

"He stressed the pervasiveness of soring in the gaited horse industry and testified that horses 'have got to be sored to walk,' " according to a news release from the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

S.H.O.W., certified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, handles inspections of Tennessee horses at events.

Mullins, a retired equine veterinarian, said self-regulation by the industry has led to three lifetime and 150 one-year suspensions for soring and other violations of the Horse Protection Act.

Trainers shouldn't rely on soring to train horses to hit the "big lick," said Mullins, acknowledging that the industry still has problems. "I was given one charge (task). Get rid of the sore horse. I think we are well on our way."

One painless training technique, he said, is to fit pads, about 3 inches tall, below the horse's hoof.

"It can change the way the horse lands on its foot," according to Mullins. "It requires him to exaggerate and keep his foot up for a longer period of time."

S.H.O.W.'s oversight, however, does not extend to training facilities and barns.

"Soring is a way to take a horse that is not very good ... to make him look good," Mullins said. "Do I think it goes on around the trainers who show routinely with me? No sir, I do not believe it does."

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