Either it’s a beached whale or Rep. Charles Rangel catching some z’s on the beach at the Punta Cana Resort in the Dominican Republic where he owns and rents out a villa. This photo was taken in 2008 while he took some vacation time before attending the Democratic convention. (photo via NY Post)

From NY Times:
“Representative Charles B. Rangel of New York announced on Wednesday that he would temporarily step down from his powerful post as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in an attempt to avert a politically bruising fight over permanently stripping the gavel from his hands…

“The ethics committee admonished Mr. Rangel last week for violating Congressional gift rules by accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in 2007 and 2008, even in his own party support for him had started to evaporate this week…

“The ethics panel is still investigating more serious accusations regarding Mr. Rangel’s fund-raising, his failure to pay federal taxes on rental income from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic and his use of four rent-stabilized apartments provided by a Manhattan real estate developer.”

Read the full article here

posted by: Harold Johns III

This story was originally published on February 24 and two days later, Cryptome was back online, apparently because Microsoft did not have a legal leg to stand on. Ultimately Microsoft’s attempt to conceal how they spy on their customers through a bogus copyright infringement lawsuit was a failure. Read the back and forth between John Young of Cryptome, Microsoft’s Anti-Piracy Investigator and Cryptome’s hosting provider Network Solutions here.

According to Ryan Singel of Wired:

“Microsoft has managed to do what a roomful of secretive, three-letter government agencies have wanted to do for years: get the whistleblowing, government-document sharing site Cryptome shut down.

“Microsoft dropped a DMCA notice alleging copyright infringement on Cryptome’s proprietor John Young on Tuesday after he posted a Microsoft surveillance compliance document that the company gives to law enforcement agents seeking information on Microsoft users. Young filed a counterclaim on Wednesday — arguing he had a fair use to publishing the document, a full day before the Thursday deadline set by his hosting provider, Network Solutions.

“Regardless, Cryptome was shut down by Network Solutions and its domain name locked on Wednesday — shuttering a site that thumbed its nose at the government since 1996 — posting thousands of documents that the feds would prefer never saw the light of day.

“Microsoft did not return a call for comment by press time.

“The 22-page document (.pdf) contains no trade secrets, but will tell Microsoft users things they didn’t know. (You can read it directly on your own computer from the above link, or read it inline below.)

“For instance, Xbox Live records every IP address you ever use to login and stores them for perpetuity. While that’s going to be creepy for some, there’s an upside if your house gets robbed, according to the document: ‘If your investigation involves a stolen Xbox console, if the console serial number or Xbox LIVE user gamertag is provided and the console has been connected to the Internet, IP connection records may be available.’

“The Microsoft® Online Services Global Criminal Compliance Handbook (.pdf) also goes so far as to provide sample language for subpoenas and diagrams on how to understand server logs.

“Other things you might not know and which Microsoft (sometimes oddly) doesn’t want you to know?

“Microsoft retains only the last 10 login records for Windows Live ID. As for your instant messages, it tells police that it keeps no record of what anyone says over Microsoft Messenger – though it will turn over who is on your buddy list.”

Read the rest of the article here

posted by: Harold Johns III

IOC President Count Jacques Rogge of Belgium, the man who writes the checks and counts the money

According to Gus Lubin and Lawrence Delevingne of Business Insider:

“Hundreds of thousands of people have descended on Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Three billion are projected to follow on TV and 75 million more on vancouver2010.com.

“And people around the world are learning to love obscure sports like curling and biathlon for a couple of weeks.

“But before you get too caught up in the sports, remember that the Olympics have little to do with sports.  They’re mostly about money.

“In the United States, NBC demonstrates this every day — ruining the Olympics for millions of sports fans by tape-delaying events so it can show a highlight reel during prime time.  (To their credit, other countries don’t do this: Our readers remind us every day how great the coverage is in Canada).

“But NBC is just a small part of the global industry known as Olympics, Inc.

“In the last four years (2005-2008), the International Olympic Committee (the owners and controllers of ‘Olympics, Inc.’) generated nearly $6 billion of revenue. For the next cycle, revenues are on track to be significantly higher, with Vancouver already doubling Turin for domestic sponsorship.

“It’s enough to make you look twice at the IOC, which is based conveniently in tax-haven Switzerland.

“Although the IOC is a non-profit organization, employment (‘membership’) in the organization is a cushy job with many benefits.

“Where does all that money come from and go? Is anyone making a profit? And who put the IOC in charge anyway?”

Read the answers in the full article here

Protesters hold up a sign near Olympic torch celebrations in Old Montreal December 10, 2009 (Peter McCabe/Canadian Press)

posted by: Harold Johns III

photo by: Alberto Martinez/Austin-American Statesman, via Associated Press

It is being widely reported that 53-year-old Joseph A. Stack III deliberately crashed a small plane Thursday morning into a seven-story office building in Austin, TX which houses part of the Internal Revenue Service. Stack – the pilot of the single engine, fixed wing plane – was killed, two people hospitalized, and one person still unaccounted for as of Thursday afternoon.

While details are still trickling in, it does appear Stack left behind an online statement entitled “Well Mr. IRS Big Brother Man….take my pound of flesh and sleep well” detailing his decision. We highly suggest you read Stack’s final words for yourself so you can draw your own conclusions from this act before the mainstream media does it for you.

The original statement was posted here on Stack’s own website until the FBI took it down for reasons only clear to them.

Luckily, The Smoking Gun has their own copy here

posted by: Harold Johns III

Synopsis of Greetings from Asbury Park:
“Angie, 91, lived through three decades of rust, riot and ruin in Asbury Park, the one-time postcard paradise. Now the tiny bungalow that she has called home, for half her life, will be seized by eminent domain.

“Hundreds of homes, apartment buildings, local businesses, are boarded up, ready for the wrecking ball. In fact, 29 city blocks — 56 acres of waterfront property and historic boardwalk attractions— now belong to a private developer and will be razed to make way for 3,100 luxury condominiums, an ersatz city within a city.

“Angie is wholly confused by this strange twist of fate. She appeals to the Mayor, to the City Council. Her voice quivering with sadness, her pleas ring out across a vast emptiness. Her neighbors lived here. Where did they go? she wonders.

“But this is welcome progress, and terrific tax revenues, say city officials. The revitalized Asbury Park will be a thrilling combination of SoHo and South Beach.

“Dana Berliner, a senior attorney for the Institute for Justice tells us New Jersey leads the nation in eminent domain abuse. Scholars and experts on community development point out that this plan indeed exacerbates the tension and division of race and class and threatens the very identity of this little shore resort.

“Meanwhile, the bulldozers are in Angie’s backyard. A prayer group holds a vigil in an abandoned lot. We visit numerous families – a Pakistani couple who run a motel, a law student with an apartment overlooking the ocean, a widow living with her six grandchildren in her childhood home. They are devastated by their impending loss.

“Angie picks up the real estate listings, and scans them with her magnifying glass. Where can I afford to go, she wonders. Angie’s attorney arrives and tries to explain her options: a court case. The outcome: Maybe enough money for half a studio apartment. The reality: She is facing her last summer in this house.”

About:
“Director Christina Eliopoulos, whose family immigrated to Asbury Park in 1917, was born and raised there. As a journalist and  filmmaker, her work has always been informed by her Greek-American heritage and her childhood in this storied resort.

“In March of 2005, Ms. Eliopoulos was named Artist in Residence at the Two River Film Festival at Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey. During her tenure as Artist in Residence, Ms. Eliopoulos was a frequent guest lecturer and trained four student interns as researchers, production coordinators, and assistant editors. The University invited the Director and her staff to the Plangere Center for Instructional Technology, donating the use of the University’s state-of-the-art editing facilities.

“In the film, the camera is both impartial observer and provocateur. The camera captures the sensibility, the history and the power dynamics of a small town. Rare archival footage, newsreels, postcards, home movies and photographs dating back to 1875 are woven throughout, becoming a leitmotif of the consolation and corruption of beautiful memories. Often, they are employed to illustrate a deeply intimate personal recollections. The story is filmed on 16mm color film, 8mm film and digital formats. The extraordinary texture of this city — life both within and beyond the postcard image — is lovingly brought forth by cinematographer Mai Iskander.

“An orchestral score by Composers George Vahamonde and Nik Everett employs the evocative strains of acoustic guitar, piano as well as toy instruments and music boxes to recall the mythic ideal of Asbury Park. Two rare, turn of the century piano compositions, On the Boardwalk in Asbury Park and Wear A Boardwalk Smile, long considered lost artifacts, were found and recorded for the film.

“Other creative collaborators are Executive Producer Ken Barrows and Producers Bill Blum and Kerry Margaret Butch. The film was cut by award-winning Editors Sophie Scoufaras and Patrick Perrotto, with Story Editor David Meneses consulting.

“The film is fiscally sponsored by Women Make Movies, a national non-profit media arts organization dedicated to the production and promotion of films by women directors, producers and cinematographers. The organization’s distribution division releases films in theatres and specialty art cinemas across the country. Likewise, the organization is a powerful champion of the arts in education, and has distributed over 500 of its films to universities, libraries and advocacy groups across the country and abroad.”

Viewing:
Greetings from Asbury Park is available for purchase by your local non-profit, school or library here.  The film will be playing throughout the next two years on PBS. For a short listing of upcoming screenings go here or check with your local PBS station for show times. Also, don’t forget that you have a voice. Feel free to contact your local PBS station or library to encourage them to screen this film.

Watch the trailer here

posted by: Tricia Rock