Halliburton pays $32 million to settle bribery charges in Nigeria against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney

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Halliburton settles with Nigeria

HOUSTON, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Halliburton said it would pay more than $32 million to settle bribery charges in Nigeria against former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and other executives.

Nigeria accused officials from Halliburton and its former subsidiary KBR of paying as much as $180 million to Nigerian officials to win a $6 billion contract to build a liquefied natural gas plant.

KBR filed a guilty plea in a U.S. court in 2009 on charges that it paid bribes for Nigerian contracts from 1995 to 2004. The company split from Halliburton in 2007.

Cheney resigned from his post as Halliburton chief executive to serve under U.S. President George W. Bush in 2000.

Halliburton announced in a statement that it agreed to pay $32.5 million to the Nigerian government and pay an additional $2.5 million to pay for attorney fees and expenses.

"Pursuant to this agreement, all lawsuits and charges against KBR and Halliburton corporate entities and associated persons have been withdrawn," the company said. Abuja, Halliburton added, agreed to withhold further legal action against Halliburton or its affiliates.

Nigeria blamed former and current executives at both companies. KBR said Chief Executive Officer William Utt, who is charged in the case, wasn't at the company during the time of the alleged bribes.

"The actions of the Nigerian government suggest that its officials are wildly and wrongly asserting blame in this matter," said KBR in an early December statement. Read more at www.upi.com

 

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Lightning could signal volcanic eruptions

SEATTLE, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A worldwide network of lightning detectors is being put to a new use detecting volcanic eruptions that could be hazardous to aviation, U.S. researchers say.

In its first months of test operations in Alaska and the Russian Far East, the system operated by the University of Washington spotted two eruptions a full hour before they showed up on satellite images, The Seattle Times reported Tuesday.

The churning clouds unleashed by explosive volcanic eruptions generate lightning, which antennas can identify by their distinctive low-frequency radio signatures.

Such detections could provide valuable warning time for aircraft, whose engines can fail when clogged with volcanic ash.

"If we're able to get an extra 30 or 60 minutes more of a heads-up, it could be a real contribution," vulcanologist John Ewert of the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory said.

UW space-sciences professor Robert Holzworth has managed the World Wide Lightning Location Network since 2004, expanding it from a handful of stations to 52 around the world.

More than 3 million lightning strokes are logged by the system every month, and only a tiny fraction are from volcanoes.

But those are fairly easy to spot because they're usually not associated with a storm, Holzworth said.

Related Stories 'Vog,' or volcanic air, is health concern U.S. to modernize volcano monitoring nets Ecuador's 'Throat of Fire' erupts Volcanic eruption shows sign of declining New eruptions, evacuations in Philippines Quake rumbles near Indonesian volcano Read more at www.upi.com

 

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U.K. telescope array yields first images

MANCHESTER, England, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- An array of radio telescopes in Britain has captured images of a galaxy pouring out a huge jet of matter from the black hole at its center, researchers say.

The first images from the new e-Merlin array of linked telescopes show a distant quasar 9 billion light years from Earth, SPACE.com reported Wednesday.

Quasars, energy-spewing supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies, are among the brightest objects in the universe.

The e-Merlin images were of an object dubbed the "Double Quasar" because its light gets bent around another galaxy closer to Earth by the curvature of space, resulting in a "gravitational lens" that produces multiple, magnified images of the same quasar, scientists said.

"This first image of the Double Quasar clearly demonstrates how useful e-Merlin is going to be in our studies of gravitational lenses," Neal Jackson of the University of Manchester said. "By mapping the bending of light by mass, we will be able to study the way in which both stars and dark matter are distributed in galaxies and how this changes as the universe evolves."

The e-Merlin array will serve as Britain's national facility for radio astronomy.

The array will produce detailed radio images of stars and galaxies using seven telescopes spread up to 137 miles apart across Britain working as one. Read more at www.upi.com

 

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Biodiversity at mercy of cosmic rays?

LAWRENCE, Kan., Dec. 22 (UPI) -- A regular rise and fall of biodiversity in Earth's past may be linked to our solar system's rhythmic movement around the Milky Way, U.S. researchers say.

About every 60 million years, our solar system moves above the average plane of our galaxy's disk, and in the same 60-million-year cycle, the biodiversity of life on Earth drops significantly.

Researchers theorize the former occurrence drives the latter because of increased exposure to high-energy subatomic particles called cosmic rays coming from intergalactic space, SPACE.com reported Wednesday.

Usually, the Milky Way's magnetic field shields the solar system from these rays, but every 60 million years or so, our solar system pops up above the northern edge of our galaxy's disk, exposing Earth to more cosmic rays,

That radiation might be contributing to large die-offs of the creatures on Earth, scientists say.

Researchers at the University of Kansas say they've put some hard numbers to the theory for the first time.

When the solar system raises its head out of the galactic plane, radiation exposure at the Earth's surface shoots up, possible by as much as a factor of 24, they say.

"Even with the lowest assumption, this exposure provides a real stress on the biosphere periodically," said lead author Dimitra Atri.

The solar system is on the upswing now, moving toward the northern edge of the galactic disk, but researchers say it's too soon to worry.

Big increases in cosmic-ray exposure are probably still about 10 million years off, the say. Read more at www.upi.com

 

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Congress Fails to Pass Whistle-blower Rights Bill

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Congress Fails to Pass Whistle-blower Rights Bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress failed to pass a bill before adjourning that would have barred most federal departments from punishing employees who report corruption, waste and mismanagement. The whistle-blower protection bill cleared the House on Wednesday evening, but died in the Senate as time expired on the lame duck session. In a last-minute effort to win GOP support for the legislation, Democrats removed provisions that would have extended the protections to workers at U.S. intelligence agencies. Republicans had linked the legislation to the WikiLeaks scandal, suggesting that the bill, unless watered down, could lead to further leaks of U.S. secrets. The bill's backers disputed the claim, saying the bill would not permit public disclosures of classified information. Read more at www.newsmax.com

 

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Michael Savage Sues Talk Syndicator

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Michael Savage Sues Talk Syndicator

Conservative radio talk show host Michael Savage has filed a lawsuit against his syndicator Talk Radio Network, claiming TRN is attempting to force him into “indentured servitude.” Savage’s contract with TRN expires at the end of the year, and he has received an offer to move his show to Courtside Radio, which is headed by Norman Pattiz, founder of industry giant Westwood One. According to court papers, the proposed Savage network would have links to the RightNetwork, an on-demand video service backed by actor Kelsey Grammer and sports and media mogul Ed Snider. Savage’s contract with Pattiz offers him 1 percent of the equity in the fledgling network. TRN has the right to match an outside offer and has attempted to do so, but Savage asserts in his suit filed Monday that TRN’s proposal falls short of the offer from Courtside Radio. For example, he argues that TRN can’t match the stock equity offer proffered by RightNetwork. Savage’s suit filed in federal court in the Northern District of California states: “Through the use of illegal and unenforceable contract provisions . . . and other strong-arm tactics designed to intimidate Dr. Savage, TRN is attempting to force Dr. Savage into accepting a sub-standard agreement containing what can only be described as an indentured servitude provision.” The suit claims the TRN offer falls short financially and contains anticompetitive provisions that limit Savage’s negotiating rights and other terms not in the Courtside proposal. The lawsuit also maintains that Savage’s show — which currently reaches about 8 million listeners a week — would receive “greater publicity” by moving to Westwood One’s Courtside Radio, and charges that TRN is attempting to “force him into an arbitration that wholly ignores his due process rights.” Savage seeks a declaration that TRN failed to match Courtside’s offer and that an arbitration provisions in his TRN contract is illegal and unenforceable. Without a favorable court ruling, Savage’s suit states, he faces the “significant risk of losing the Courtside opportunity, which is valued at several million dollars, and being forced to submit into an illegal arbitration.” TRN’s President and CEO Mark Masters said: “Michael’s lawsuit against us is unjustified and frivolous” and “we are 100 percent confident that the courts will justify our position.” Talkers magazine reports that Savage is the third-most listened to radio host in the nation behind Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, and his show is currently aired on more than 300 stations across the nation. Read more at www.newsmax.com

 

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Professor: Media Misses Barbour’s Subtle Message

The mainstream media was unwilling to look beyond its own stereotypes in accusing Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour of racism, Donna Robinson Divine, a professor of government at Smith College, writes on Politico. Liberal pundits took Barbour to task for his comments about the role of Citizens Councils in his home state during the civil rights era. “Gov. Barbour was actually trying to make a more subtle point about segregation and the role of the Citizens Councils,” Divine says. “He was asked about why segregation in his hometown did not trigger violence. While racist, the Citizens Councils were also composed of businessmen who did not want to disrupt the economy and so helped dampen the violence. The subtlety of his remarks was lost because of Barbour's image and his relatively conservative politics. People -- pundits -- seized on his remarks to discount him as a candidate because his words could be made to fit a stereotype. “Once the media embrace a particular characterization, they repeat it until it becomes a fixture attached to a person or idea. I do not believe Barbour can do anything to change the rather faulty notion that he was trying to defend racists and racism.” Read more at www.newsmax.com

 

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Sen. Vitter: Illegals Cost Louisiana a House Seat

Many conservatives have noted the problems of including illegal immigrants in the 2010 census. And Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter attributes his state’s loss of a House seat to the horde of illegal immigrants living in other states, Politico reports. “Louisiana stands to lose clout in Congress, while states that welcome illegal immigrants stand to unfairly benefit from artificially inflated population totals,” he says in a statement. Louisiana will have six seats in the U.S. House after reapportionment, down from the seven or eight it has held over the last 100 years. “Even though we’ve been expecting this, the confirmation that Louisiana will lose a congressional seat is frustrating,” Vitter says. Louisiana’s population slide also stems from residents who left in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina and haven’t come back. © Newsmax. All rights reserved. Read more at www.newsmax.com

 

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Senate GOP Blocks Justice Department Nominee

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans have blocked the Obama administration's choice for deputy attorney general over concerns about the nominee's links to American International Group. James Cole was an independent consultant to AIG prior to its near collapse and government bailout in 2008. Republicans complained that confidentiality agreements prevented them from receiving answers about his work for the company. Democrats cited endorsements Cole received from officials in both parties and high-ranking veterans of the department. The Senate on Wednesday confirmed three U.S. appellate judges: Mary Helen Murguia of Arizona for the 9th Circuit, Scott Matheson Jr. of Utah for the 10th Circuit, and Kathleen O'Malley of Ohio for the Federal Circuit. The Senate also confirmed Michele Marie Leonhart as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration. She has been acting administrator. Read more at www.newsmax.com

 

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U.S. Republicans Plot Death of EPA Climate Rules

Republicans poised to take power in Congress are planning a rapid attack against a climate change initiative the Obama administration wants to launch on Jan. 2, according to members of the Senate and House .

Their resolve could harden further after President Barack Obama's Environmental Protection Agency announces a second layer of regulation, possibly as early as Thursday, ratcheting up Washington's fight against global warming.

"I think we ought to start with a two-year pause" in upcoming U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations, said Representative Mike Simpson, the Republican who is expected to head a House panel that controls EPA's budget.

One year ago, environmentalists were hopeful of winning comprehensive legislation in Congress to force reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

That effort crashed, however, prompting the White House to go ahead with a back-up plan: EPA rules forcing electric utilities, refineries and large factories to get permits for the carbon dioxide they emit. They also would be required to use the most advanced "clean" technology when expanding or building new facilities.

Now, with Republicans taking control of the House on Jan. 5 and expanding their seats in the Democratic-controlled Senate following election wins, they are aiming to scuttle the EPA regulations, which they say would raise consumer prices for energy and put U.S. companies at a competitive disadvantage.

"I think we're going to have a very amiable and frankly enjoyable time addressing these things," said a confident Republican Senator James Inhofe, a leading critic of steps to address global warming, which he has dismissed as a hoax.

Opponents of EPA regulation are about to have another reason for ratcheting up their legislative efforts.

Reuters has learned that the Obama administration will announce as early as Thursday a deal with industry that paves the way for proposing federal rules next year that limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and oil refineries, a source familiar with the matter said.

Those rules would work in conjunction with the regulations that are due to go into effect on Jan. 2.

Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, said the EPA's timetable announcement shows the agency "will carry out its legal responsibilities to deal with the problem of climate change absent congressional action."

REPUBLICAN SEES BETTER CHANCES

Representative Simpson, in an interview with Reuters, said Tuesday that the first opportunity to tackle EPA will be on a partial-year spending bill the new Congress will have to pass early in 2011 to avoid government shut-downs after March 4.

The Idaho congressman noted that previously a two-year suspension of EPA rules for smokestack emissions of carbon dioxide failed in a House panel on a tie vote.

"I suspect it would have a much better chance in this coming Congress," Simpson said.

In late 2009, Obama promised world leaders the United States would do its part to bring down carbon emissions that have made it the second largest polluter on Earth.

Environmentalists are hoping that with Democrats continuing to control the U.S. Senate and White House, some meaningful steps are still possible.

They also contest Republican claims that the EPA regulations would ruin U.S. companies and the fragile economy.

"What EPA is doing is putting out guidance that is going to help...business find ways to be more (energy) efficient. There's no regulatory hammer there," said Tony Kreindler, a spokesman for the Environmental Defense Fund.

Inhofe, the senior Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that oversees climate change policy, warned that Obama could face a stiffer challenge next year in the Senate than many anticipate.

He noted that several Democratic senators from coal-producing and coal-consuming states are up for re-election in two years and they might cooperate with Republicans working to kill the EPA regulations.

"Those Democrats who are up for reelection in 2012, they can't continue to walk the plank with Obama," Inhofe said.

He also said that environmentalists should not assume that Obama would simply veto legislation handcuffing EPA. He noted that after the November congressional elections, Obama moved more toward the political center by collaborating with Republicans on a major tax-cut bill.

More likely than signing a Republican bill into law, Obama could ease up on the timing or other details of the EPA carbon regulations, according to some specialists keeping an eye on the issue.

But for now at least, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson appears to be standing firm on the regulations that with the new year would begin a new era of Clean Air Act regulation.

"My position hasn't changed. Common sense regulation can provide regulatory certainty," Jackson told Reuters during a brief interview when she visited Capitol Hill Tuesday. (Additional reporting by Tom Doggett; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Read more at www.newsmax.com

 

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Assange Claims He Lost Tooth When Housed With Child Killers In Prison

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Assange Claims He Lost Tooth When Housed With Child Killers In Prison

Sic et Christus, semel oblatus ad multorum auferenda peccata, secundo sine peccato apparebit exspectantibus se in salutem. (Hebrews 9:28) The Raw Story reports WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he spent his prison time housed with "child killers" and lost a tooth while in custody. Assange told the Spanish newspaper El Pais: "There were crazy pedophiles who shouted all night about their crimes. You heard these cries all night". Assange also said he lost a tooth when he bit into a piece of metal on his food plate. He said he didn't know "if it was put there or if it was a simple accident". "It will soon be for sale on eBay", Assange joked. Assange is expected to tell a Times of London interviewer that WikiLeaks has enough documentation on a major US bank to force the institution's leadership to resign. The problem with that is that WikiLeaks tends to be one-sided. I don't want to defend any criminal US bank, but since America is an open and democratic society, it is also more vulnerable for these kinds of disclosures and truths. In some countries you cannot have an important position in a bank, or in a large company, or in a religious organization for that sake, unless you belong to a criminal organization and have killed a number of people. This is indeed very sad. But WikiLeaks must try to find a balance and not only go after American or Western interests. I am sure you can find similar evidences of most organizations around the world. It is also my belief that the morals of American banks and companies not are inferior to those of similar companies and organizations in other places around the world. The world still works in a certain way, unfortunately. Whether we talk about banks in the US, in Sweden, in Russia, in Japan, or in Africa, or in other places, they are all of this world. WikiLeaks touches a gigantic problem - corruption - which is present everywhere in our societies. Recently there was a certain horse race. A person far away sent his horse to the race, which would normally be the fastest horse in that particular race. The first prize for the winning horse of this race was a quite normal amount of money and not very large. But it cost the owner of the horse half-a-million euros to send the horse to the race. What would happen then was quite obvious. Everyone gambled on that horse, which only finished fourth in the race. The horse's owner got one million euros from the betting company, since it made a huge profit on all the gambling on that horse. Of course this was arranged in advance. But this is what our world looks like, and how our societies work at large. It is not a very nice picture, indeed. WikiLeaks might be morally right, but only God can change our world. Without all the corrupt banks, companies, and governments, and even religious organizations worldwide, our modern world would probably not survive. Before man has changed and matured, it is meaningless to try to change the world for the better. The result will only be the opposite. But I commend Julian Assange for trying to make a difference and for standing up for the truth. WikiLeaks is certainly a welcome eye-opener for many people. It can also be worthwhile to remember the words of the Apostle Peter: "Save yourselves from this untoward generation", see Acts 2:40. "Regi autem saeculorum, incorruptibili, invisibili, soli Deo honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen", 1 Timothy 1:17. Read more at ohlundonline.blogspot.com

 

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The head of the Belgian Church shocked by comparing pedophilia and floods

BRUXELLES - Le chef de l'Eglise catholique belge André-Joseph Léonard a choqué mercredi des députés en affirmant que l'Eglise belge pourrait indemniser des victimes de prêtres pédophiles, au même titre qu'elle se montre "solidaire avec les victimes d'inondations". BRUSSELS - The head of the Catholic Church Belgian Andre-Joseph Leonard has shocked MPs on Wednesday saying that the Church Belgian could compensate victims of pedophile priests, just as it is shown "solidarity with flood victims ".



"L'Eglise catholique pourrait, librement, participer avec tous les autres milieux de la société à la constitution de fonds de solidarité, non pas parce qu'on y est tenu juridiquement, mais parce qu'il ya un devoir de solidarité avec toutes les victimes, d'inondations, d'épidémies, mais aussi d'abus sexuels", a déclaré le primat de Belgique. "The Catholic Church could freely participate with all other sectors of society to the creation of solidarity funds, not because it is legally obliged, but because there is a duty of solidarity with all victims, floods, epidemics, but also sexual abuse, "said the Primate of Belgium.



Il parlait en particulier des dossiers où l'auteur des abus est décédé ou les faits prescrits, les autres cas étant pour lui du ressort de la Justice. He spoke in particular cases where the abuser is dead or the facts prescribed for other cases it is the responsibility of Justice.



Mgr Léonard, un conservateur à la tête de l'Eglise catholique de Belgique depuis le début de l'année, s'exprimait devant une commission de la chambre des députés créée après la publication des témoignages de près de 500 personnes accusant des ecclésiastiques d'avoir abusé d'eux pendant leur jeunesse, principalement des années 1950 aux années 1980. Bishop Leonard, a curator at the head of the Catholic Church in Belgium since the beginning of the year, speaking before a committee of the Chamber of Deputies set up after the publication of the testimonies of nearly 500 people accusing the clergy of abusing them during their youth, mostly from the 1950s to 1980s.



"Vous faites de la provocation en comparant les victimes de catastrophes naturelles et celles de prêtres pédophiles", a réagi le députés écologiste flamand Stefaan Van Hecke en se disant "profondément choqué". "You made the challenge in comparing the victims of natural disasters and those of pedophile priests," responded the Flemish ecologist deputies Stefaan Van Hecke, saying to himself "deeply shocked".



"En disant: on fera comme pour les inondations, vous envoyez un signal de désintérêt pour les victimes, voire d'ironie déplacée", a abondé l'écologiste francophone Olivier Deleuze. "By saying it will be for the floods, you send a signal of indifference to victims, or even moved irony", echoed the French ecologist Olivier Deleuze.



"C'est une absence totale de prise de responsabilité", a déclaré à l'AFP une député socialiste, Valérie Déom, soulignant le rôle particulier qu'a joué l'Eglise catholique dans la société belge. "This is a total failure to take responsibility," he told AFP a Socialist deputy, Valerie Déom, stressing the special role played by the Catholic Church in Belgian society.



Connu pour ses déclarations polémiques --il a notamment récemment qualifié le sida de "sorte de justice immanente"--, Mgr Léonard s'est à nouveau aventuré sur des terrains minés lors de son audition, qui a duré quatre heures. Known for his controversial statements - he has recently qualified including AIDS "kind of poetic justice" - Bishop Leonard has again ventured into the minefields at his hearing, which lasted four hours.



L'archevêque de Malines-Bruxelles a mis en garde les députés face aux risques pour des institutions --politiques, médicales...-- qui n'ont pas commis de crimes mais qui pourraient à l'avenir être mises à contribution. The Archbishop of Malines-Brussels has warned members against risks for institutions - political, medical ...-- who have not committed crimes but might in future be called upon.



"Des études médicales disent qu'il ya des raisons de penser que les enfants qui ont été conçus par procréation artificielle seraient au bout d'un certain temps plus vulnérables à certaines maladies génétiques", at-il affirmé, en suggérant que certains de ces enfants pourraient se retourner contre le législateur ayant autorisé ces pratiques. "Medical studies say there is reason to believe that children who were conceived by artificial reproduction would be after a while more vulnerable to certain genetic diseases," he said, suggesting that some of these children may turn against the legislator who authorized the practice.



"Il ya aussi des gens qui font faire des études sur les éventuelles séquelles psychologiques des enfants qui ont grandi en ayant deux mamans ou deux papas. Que va-t-il se passer si des gens commencent à demander des dédommagements?", at-il dit. "There are also people who are doing studies on the possible psychological sequelae of children who grew up with two moms or two dads. What will happen if people begin to ask for compensation?" Has he said.



Par ailleurs, la justice belge a déclaré mercredi valide une grande partie des spectaculaires perquisitions effectuées le 24 juin au coeur de l'Eglise belge par un juge d'instruction, déboutant ainsi l'archevêché. Moreover, the Belgian justice said Wednesday validates much of the spectacular June 24 searches in the heart of the Church by a Belgian judge, dismissing the archdiocese.



Les saisies de documents au siège de l'Eglise à Malines et au domicile du cardinal belge Godfried Danneels, précédesseur de Mgr Léonard, sont "valables", a estimé la cour d'appel de Bruxelles. Seizure of documents at the headquarters of the Church in Mechelen and the home of Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Archbishop of predecessors Leonardo, are "valid," said the Court of Appeal in Brussels.



En revanche, des documents saisis au siège de la commission dite "Adriaenssens", du nom de son président, qui avait recueilli les témoignages de victimes, devront lui être restitués, a décidé la cour. However, documents seized at the headquarters of the commission called "Adriaenssens," named after its chairman, who had heard the testimonies of victims, will be returned, the court decided.



"Nous sommes satisfaits car les pièces les plus importantes sont maintenues. L'enquête va désormais pouvoir se poursuivre", s'est réjoui l'avocat de victimes Joachim Meese. "We are satisfied because the most important documents are kept. The investigation will now be allowed to continue," exclaimed the lawyer of victims Joachim Meese.



(©AFP / 22 décembre 2010 17h13) (© AFP / December 22, 2010 5:13 p.m.)



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Teen charged with murder wants MySpace page, police statement suppressed at trial

ELIZABETH EVANS The York Dispatch

Jordan Wallick The attorney for a York City teenager accused of fatally shooting a former employee of the district attorney's office is asking a judge to suppress evidence in the case, including the teen's statements to police and posts on his MySpace page. Jordan Wallick, 15, of 706 W. Princess St. and Brick City, N.J., remains in York County Prison for the July 28 homicide of James Wallmuth III. Wallick is charged as an adult with first- and second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit both charges, robbery and possession of a firearm by a minor. Wallmuth, 28, was pronounced dead at York Hospital at 1:31 a.m. July 29. He worked in the York County District Attorney's Office for about four years as a case manager, but left his job to attend law Homicide victim James Wallmuth III school at University of Pittsburgh. York City Police said Wallick and three other people went out looking for someone to rob when Wallick approached Wallmuth about 11:06 p.m. July 28 as Wallmuth was sitting on a bench in Foundry Park, near the intersection of Grant Street and West Clarke Avenue. The robbery went bad and Wallick -- known as "Ghost" and "Lor Ghost" -- shot Wallmuth in the back, police allege. MySpace page: Defense attorney Dawn Cutaia has filed motions seeking to exclude certain evidence from Wallick's trial, including photos and songs from his page on MySpace.com, a social networking site. "The photographs appear to be of the defendant making 'gang signs' and dressed in gang colors. The Commonwealth has made no allegation that this crime was gang related," her motion states. "These photos are irrelevant and highly prejudicial." One song is called "Stick Up Boys," which the motion notes appears to be a song about robbery. However, Cutaia argues it's difficult to understand the words due to poor recording quality, and none of the lyrics appear to be related to Wallmuth's slaying. Also, she argues, prosecutors can't prove Wallick's MySpace page hasn't been tampered with by other people. Police statement: Cutaia's motion also seeks to suppress statements made to York City detectives by Wallick during his July 30 interview. The motion states that Detectives Andy Baez and Tony Fetrow continued to speak with Wallick, in the presence of his adult aunt, after he asked for an attorney. "Rather than sharply end the interrogation, Detectives Baez and Fetrow continued interrogating the defendant for approximately 30 minutes, explaining how he could help himself out, while recognizing that the defendant had already invoked his constitutional right to counsel," the motion states. The transcript of that interview shows Wallick never confessed to killing Wallmuth. Instead, the teen repeatedly insisted he was home with his aunt that night. 'One shot': The transcript also shows that after Wallick invoked his Miranda rights, the detectives' questions centered on information needed to fill out Wallick's central-booking form, although they did make statements to Wallick about this being his "one shot" to tell his side of the story. "Once we don't need your help anymore ... there's nothing you can really do," Fetrow said. He also told Wallick, "You're in the toughest situation you're ever going to be in in your life. ... And you need to think it through and make sure that ... everything makes sense to you." The transcript shows Wallick continued to ask detectives questions about the homicide and his situation, and Fetrow answered those questions. Near the end of the interview, Fetrow told Wallick, "(It's) probably good at this point, since you want to talk to a lawyer, that you don't say anything," according to the transcript. Other motions: Cutaia's motion also seeks to suppress the photographic lineup in which a witness identified Wallick as the shooter. Wallick is "clearly younger" than the others in the lineup, and only one other photo features someone with a similar skin tone to Wallick, she argues. "There is a substantial likelihood that the witness' identification is wrong," the motion states. The motion also asks that jurors not be told: * That Wallmuth worked in the district attorney's office, as it is "irrelevant and highly prejudicial to the defendant," the motion states. * Of a statement Wallmuth made to his girlfriend while on his cell phone. That statement -- "Some crack head was asking me for a dollar" -- is hearsay, and it's unclear whether the "crack head" is the same person who later tried to rob Wallmuth, the motion argues. * That Wallmuth made statements about the pain he was in after being shot. The motion argues the statements are irrelevant and prejudicial. Cutaia is also asking that Wallick be tried separately from his three co-defendants, two of whom "have made statements implicating themselves and the defendant," her motion states. The three others charged in Wallmuth's homicide are Kenneth Santiago-Curet, 19, of 706 W. Princess St.; Joshua Edmoundson, 19, of 417 Waldorf Drive in Conewago Township; and Victor Nelson Virola, 18, of 154 S. Duke St. Santiago-Curet testified against Wallick at the teen's preliminary hearing, and Edmoundson's defense attorney has said Edmoundson is also cooperating with prosecutors. -- Reach Elizabeth Evans at levans@yorkdispatch.com, 505-5429 or twitter.com/ydcrimetime. Read more at www.ydr.com

 

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Wikileaks Reveals Vatican Involvement with Global Politics

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Wikileaks Reveals Vatican Involvement with Global Politics · December 21, 2010

“As the uproar increases over Wikileaks publishing hundreds of thousands of confidential U.S. State Department cables online, the latest reports show that 852 of the communications involve the Vatican,” stated Catholic News Agency. Wikileaks is a website that publishes material leaked by insiders or others in government or business. A low-level U.S. intelligence analyst who is being held at a military base in Virginia allegedly leaked over 250,000 cable messages. “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blasted the move Nov. 29 as ‘not just an attack on America’s foreign policy interests” but an “attack on the international community.’” “According to Wikileaks, 852 of the documents slated to be published involve correspondence between the U.S. and the Vatican.” “The Vatican daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano stressed that the release of the cables does nothing to change diplomatic relations between the U.S and the Holy See.” The entire batch of the Vatican-related cables is expected to be published in the upcoming weeks. While it is no surprise that the Vatican is involved in global politics, it is important to understand that one day there will be revelations that will expose the Vatican’s real intentions by its secret “diplomatic” behavior. Perhaps Wikileaks is laying the foundation for the time when God’s faithful servants, under the power of the Latter Rain, will unmask the sins of Babylon. Confirmable evidence must be available to credibly document evidence that exposes the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power, among other things such as the priestly sex scandal. “Thus the message of the third angel will be proclaimed. As the time comes for it to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service… The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, the inroads of spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power—all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these. In amazement they hear the testimony that Babylon is the church, fallen because of her errors and sins, because of her rejection of the truth sent to her from heaven.” Great Controversy, p. 606-607. Catholic News Agency Read more at www.ktfministry.org

 

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U.S. Bishops Encourage Congress to Pass DREAM Act

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U.S. Bishops Encourage Congress to Pass DREAM Act · December 24, 2010

“Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles has articulated the U.S. bishops’ support for the DREAM Act, a proposal that would grant citizenship to many children whose parents brought them into the U.S. illegally,” wrote Catholic News Agency. “The Chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, Archbishop Gomez advocated the act’s passage in a Dec. 2 letter to the U.S. Congress. He described the DREAM act as “a practical, fair, and compassionate solution for thousands of young persons” who had not voluntarily broken the law.” The Archbishop was referring to those who came in to the U.S. illegally with their parents, and not on their own volition. “The act’s full title is the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act. It would allow young people who entered the United States before the age of 16 to apply for legal permanent residence and eventual citizenship, as long as they completed two years of higher education or military service.” While it sounds compassionate, the act would likely would open the door to other categories of illegal immigrants to become citizens. Most Republicans oppose the act, while President Obama and many democrats support it. “Some Republicans have warned that the bill would create more incentive for others to enter the country illegally in the future.” After all, many immigrant mothers come to the U.S. illegally because they want to have their children grow up in the U.S. Senator John McCain believes that before the act is passed the border should be closed to illegal immigrants. The vast majority of illegal immigrants are Roman Catholic. Once they become permanent residents, they can apply for citizenship. Once they are citizens, they can vote, which increase the Roman Catholic presence in politics, just what Rome wants. Note that the Bishops try to directly influence the U.S. Congress, which is actually illegal for a non-profit organization, which enjoys tax-exempt status. CNA Article Read more at www.ktfministry.org

 

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Wikileaks: Archbishop Williams’ “Impossible Situation”

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Wikileaks: Archbishop Williams’ “Impossible Situation” · December 23, 2010

According to a recently released cable on Wikileaks, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, met with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on November 21, 2009. This meeting was actually planned prior to the papal invitation to “disaffected Anglicans to convert to Catholicism,” through provisions created by the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus released on November 4, 2009. The Constitution provides for creation of personal ordinariates for whole Anglican Churches or groups of churches entering into full communion with the Catholic Church. Miffed at the papal invitation to discontented Anglicans, Archbishop Williams “made it clear that the Vatican should have consulted with him before reaching out to the Anglican community.” Despite the seeming fall-out between the Pontiff and the Archbishop over certain sticking points, the meeting was described as “cordial” by Vatican officials in an official statement. The discussions also focused on recent events affecting relations between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, and the two institutions reiterated the “shared will to continue and to consolidate the ecumenical relationship between Catholics and Anglicans.” The Archbishop really had no choice but to continue the deep-seated ecumenical collaboration between the Catholic and Anglican communions toward full, visible, sacramental union. If he didn’t agree to continue the dialogue, he would have undone many, many years of investing in a working relationship, and a strong commitment to eventual union. “Speaking with Vatican Radio shortly after the meeting, Williams stressed his prior good relations with the Pope and downplayed the importance of the Vatican’s new procedure for receiving Anglicans into the Catholic Church. However, he did express misgivings about how the new procedure was announced.” The cables further reveal that Williams was the guest of honour at a dinner hosted by British ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Campbell for senior Vatican officials on November 20, 2009. Campbell believed the “Vatican’s move shifted the goal of the Catholic-Anglican ecumenical dialogue from true unity to mere cooperation.” Mere cooperation is not the intent of the ecumenical movement. It is nothing short of full, visible, sacramental unity with the Catholic Church under the Pope. The Anglican Church has been splintering for some time, with individual Anglican’s converting to Rome, Anglican churches and communities of churches realigning under conservative branches of the Anglican Church, and some communities of churches asking for a way to fully enter Rome while keeping their Anglican rites and bishops. It is the view of Keep the Faith that Vatican/Anglican ecumenical dialogue has stagnated over the ordination of woman and openly gay priests and bishops, while the splintering of the Anglican Church has created an opportunity that the Catholic Church could not pass up. The Vatican is therefore attempting to glean as many Anglicans as possible and further weaken the Anglican Church. The Vatican’s decision to invite disaffected Anglicans to convert to Rome seems to have been “aimed primarily at Anglicans in the U.S. and Australia, with little thought given to how it would affect the center of Anglicanism, England, or the Archbishop of Canterbury,” said the cable, quoted in the UK Guardian. On the contrary, we think the Catholic Church is narrowing the scope of the Anglican Communion, and attempting to isolate the center of Anglicanism so that it can further press for an ecumenical collapse of a distinct Anglican Church. Campbell remarked that Benedict XVI “had put Williams in an impossible situation.” If Williams reacted more forcefully, he would destroy decades of work on ecumenical dialogue; by not reacting more harshly, he has lost support among angry Anglicans” that could result in more conversions to Catholicism. In our view, Williams’ “impossible situation” is a brilliant Vatican maneuver to subordinate the Anglican leader to Rome’s manipulation. Ecumenical dialog with the Vatican has put him in a position where he can’t speak out against the papal maneuver on one hand, while on the other he loses more conservative support from within his church which contributes to further splintering. Rome keeps a friendly dialogue with the Anglican Primate while at the same time stripping him of “equality” in the ecumenical dialog, and further weakening his influence among his followers. Williams’ previously planned meeting with Benedict XVI, unquestionably came at an “awkward time,” but was also important that it happen in order to “start healing the damage caused by the Vatican’s outreach to Anglicans,” said the cable. Dealing with the Vatican is dangerous, even fatal, to churches that have lost their biblical moorings. In spite of the hurdles faced by Catholicism and Anglicanism in the ecumenical journey, progress to full sacramental unity takes surprising twists and turns. Bible prophecy tells us that the Anglican Church will worship at the feet of Rome (Rev. 13:8). It is most assured that the Vatican will eventually “sit a queen” above all religious systems of the world. (Rev 18:7). Denford Ntini substantially contributed to this article. Guardian News Article Anglicanorum Coetibus [Source] Read more at www.ktfministry.org

 

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Parental Stress Affects Genome

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Parental Stress Affects Genome · December 22, 2010

The field of epigenetics is beginning to reveal the relationship between parental lifestyle or stresses and their effects on children and grandchildren. Historically it was thought that family genetic inheritance involved the DNA through the genes only. Now however, “increasing experimental evidence, now leads scientists to believe that other factors allow genes to be switched on and off in response to environmental stimuli. The consequences of which may affect subsequent generations.”

Genetic diseases it has been discovered may have been transmitted because of the circumstances of the mother or father, or both at the time of conception or at other times during the pregnancy cycle. And in the case of some genetic diseases, prior to conception if the father contributed the genetic deficiency.

For instance, a small deletion of a chromosome can transmit one disease if the mutation comes from the mother, but a different disease if the same mutation comes from the father.

“Professor Wolf Reik, Developmental Geneticist, Babraham Institute Cambridge helped unravel the control process. He noticed that when a mouse embryo was placed in a culture dish some of genes would be switched off and wondered whether this could also be true for human embryos during In vitro fertilization (IVF)”

Reik discovered that changing the embryo’s environment can could make epigenetic alterations, causing genes to be turned on an off. In experiments with mice, he learned that these changes can be inherited from one generation to another.

Professor Jonathan Seckl, Edinburgh University, studied the ‘transgenerational effects’ and showed “that exposure to stress hormones caused raised anxiety in their offspring, and in generations thereafter.”

Professor Rachel Yehuda, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York studied women who were pregnant on September 11, 2001 when the terrorist struck New York’s twin towers. She found that those women who were in the last trimester of pregnancy at the time of the attack had lower levels of the hormone cortisol, which assists with coping with stress. Their children were also born with lower levels of cortisol too, which indicates that stressful events in the last trimester of the mother’s pregnancy can change a child’s ability to cope with stress.

While this result is not confirmed until further studies are done, it appears to indicate that environmental changes during pregnancy (at least certain periods of pregnancy) can pass on genetic alterations to children.

Studies in Sweden have even demonstrated that “life expectancy of grandchildren was directly affected by the diet of the grandparents. Fatal childhood diabetes was often associated with their father’s father living during a period of reduced food supply. In a further development, the records revealed that triggering of a trans-generational effect was dependent upon the time in the grandparents’ lives when food had been in short supply. For the grandfather it was just before puberty and for the grandmother it was the moment of conception, crucial moments in the development of sperm and egg. These observations suggest that environmental information, in this case supply of food, was being imprinted on the DNA of the sperm and egg, providing strong evidence that epigenetic inheritance occurs in humans.

In further work, Mike Skinner exposed a pregnant rat to a high dose of a common pesticide. He found that the offspring passed on an array of diseases, such as; tumors, kidney disease and immune dysfunction from generation to generation. This evidence suggests that there are a whole series of environment events that might possibly trigger transgenerational affects and effect future generations.

“Great care should be exercised to have the surroundings of the mother pleasant and happy. The husband and father is under special responsibility to do all in his power to lighten the burden of the wife and mother. He should bear, as much as possible, the burden of her condition. He should be affable, courteous, kind, and tender, and specially attentive to all her wants. Not half the care is taken of some women while they are bearing children that is taken of animals in the stable. Adventist Home, p. 257

“The race is groaning under a weight of accumulated woe because of the sins of former generations. And yet with scarcely a thought or care, men and women of the present generation indulge intemperance by surfeiting and drunkenness and thereby leave, as a legacy for the next generation, disease, enfeebled intellects, and polluted morals.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, p. 31.

“As a rule, every intemperate man who rears children transmits his inclinations and evil tendencies to his offspring.” Mind, Character and Personality, Vol. 1, p. 135.

Bio Ethics Article Read more at www.ktfministry.org

 

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