http://www.broadcastingcable.com/…

LG (South Korean), Sharp (Japanese), and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. (Tiawanese) have admitted to fixing the prices of liquid crystal display TV screens, computer monitors and other thin-film transistor (TFT) LCD screens and will have to pay over a half billion dollars in fines.

That is according to the Justice Department, which Wednesday announced the three leading manufacturers of LCD displays would have to pony up $585 million, $400 million coming from LG, which Justice says is the second highest criminal fine the department has ever imposed. Chunghwa will have to pay $65 million and Sharp $120 million.

Calling it an international cartel, Justice said that LG agreed to plead guilty to participating in the cartel from September 2001 through June 2006. The plea agreements are subject to court approval, Justice said.

Justice said the price fixing affected “millions of American consumers who use computers, cell phones and numerous other household electronics every day.”

Assume we agree that price fixing is a criminal offence, which I don’t, if the government role is to protect us and they brought this case on our behalf… why are they getting the $585 million?

http://www.collegenews.com/…

Former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer will not face charges after rumors that he spent thousands of dollars on high priced prostitutes forced him out of office 8 months ago.

Michael J. Garcia, the United States Attorney in Manhattan, issued a statement about Spitzer on Thursday, saying that “We have determined that there is insufficient evidence to bring charges against Mr. Spitzer”.  “In light of the policy of the Department of Justice with respect to prostitution offenses and the longstanding practice of this office, as well as Mr. Spitzer’s acceptance of responsibility for his conduct, we have concluded that the public interest would not be further advanced by filing criminal charges in this matter.”

So… if I get arrested for a victimless crime, like being a John, I get fined or jail time. But if I’m a politician with some connections I get off without even a trial.

I’m up in Manchester, NH this weekend with laur to see Nine Inch Nails and have a weekend getaway of sorts. Tonight was the show at the Verizon Wireless Arena. Never have I had such a poor experience at a concert. They refused to allow me to enter with a chained wallet. I return it to the car. My next attempt to enter I am again stopped for having a chain attached to my keys which was not commented on prior. This chain is barely larger then a necklace. I return it to the car. My next attempt I’m stopped for having a clip for my keys “that could be used as a weapon.” Again the prior agent to pat me down made no comment about. Laur at this point yells to just throw the thing in the discard bucket. I’m quite fed up, throw the clasp into the 30 gallon bucket and tell them to “let me the fuck in.” While inside I notice plenty of people with key clasps and chains as large or larger then the one I had. Men with full sets of large rings. One guy who had his wallet semi permanently connected to a chain was asked to toss his wallet.

I’ve gone to lots of shows in NYC and NJ without ever having such a ridiculous pat down policy. The women were required to open any loose clothing and were patted down about as much as men. It was hardly consistent however. As I mentioned chains, which are not good weapons in the least (especially at 1 foot in length), which were supposedly unable to be trashed were allowed. So as long as someone had to tear their clothing to use the gimpy chain as a weapon it was okay.

There was, as always, a no filming policy. Well the security at the arena took this to mean just about everything. The security spent the entire show hunting down people who held cell phones or cameras up too long. There was one narc in particular standing next to me, speaking plenty loud to distract me from the music, who was ratting out people not even in her general area. Telling other security agents to get them. Teams of agents would approach people and tell them to turn off their camera. They’d walk up behind people on the floor while they were lining up a shot or maybe taking some high quality QVGA footage of the show and just watch their viewfinder for a few seconds then lean in over their shoulder and tell them to stop. After the show a guard told me it was requested by the band. I’ve been to a few NIN shows including one on this tour and never had I seen what I saw tonight.

They said nothing about the lighters or the loud drunks pushing people around to get up front or banging on things. It’s okay to possess the means to burn down the place but not protect your keys from being jacked and it’s okay to be ingesting a drug that often makes people more aggressive.

The security was so distracting I was completely unable to enjoy the show. After the show laur approached a security guard to ask how to submit a complaint. We were directed to the agent responsible for the overseeing of the pat downs. She issued her complaint of having to show more of herself then she’d like in a public setting in particular. We plan to contact Verizon Wireless Arena to further express our displessure with their draconian security. I will also attempt to contact Nine Inch Nails.

At this point we plan to never attend another event at the Manchester Verizon Wireless Arena.

http://ap.google.com/…

President Raul Castro warned Cubans on Friday to prepare for a “realistic” brand of communism that is economically viable and does away with excessive state subsidies designed to promote equality on the island.

Addressing Cuba’s parliament in its first session since lawmakers selected him to succeed his older brother Fidel in February, Raul Castro announced no major reforms, but suggested that global economic turbulence could lead to further belt-tightening on the island.

“Socialism means social justice and equality, but equality of rights, of opportunities, not of income,” the 77-year-old president said in a speech that was taped and later aired on national television. “Equality is not egalitarianism.”

That sentiment marks a break with his brother, who spent decades saying Cuba was building an egalitarian society. But the new president nevertheless ended by proclaiming he had “learned everything” from Fidel, drawing a standing ovation.

Since succeeding his brother, Raul Castro has authorized Cubans to legally purchase computers, stay in luxury hotels and obtain cell phones in their own names. His government has raised some salaries and done away with wage limits, allowing state workers to earn more for better performance.

Cuba’s rubber-stamp parliament convenes for only for a few hours twice a year and rumors were rampant that Friday’s session would see an easing of restrictions on travel abroad or a strengthening of wages by increasing the value of the peso, worth about 21-1 against the U.S. dollar.

The government controls well over 90 percent of the economy and the average salary is just 408 pesos per month, US$19.50, though most Cubans get free housing, health care, education and ration cards that cover basic food needs.

Castro said that in “the matter of salaries, we’d all like to go faster, but it’s necessary for us to act with realism.”

“The situation could even get worse,” he said of the global economy. “We will continue to do what’s within our reach so that a series of adversities have less effect on our people, but some impact is inevitable in certain products and sectors.”

Economy Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez said this week that skyrocketing global food and oil prices would cause “inevitable adjustments and restrictions” for Cuba’s economy.

Castro said he supported a proposal to gradually push back the retirement age five years, to 65 for men and 60 for women. The move, which parliament plans to vote on in December, is part of an effort to soften the blow of a disproportionately elderly work force.

Castro acknowledged shortages that plague Cubans, but said “we have to be conscious that each increase in salary that is approved or price that is subsidized adhere to economic reality.”

He also shot back at U.S. officials who have dismissed the small changes he has overseen in Cuba as meaningless.

“Faced with the measures adopted lately in our country, some official in the United States comes out immediately, from a spokesman to the president, to brand them ‘insufficient’ or ‘cosmetic,’” Castro said. “Although no one here asked their opinion, I reiterate that we will never make any decision, not even the smallest one, as a result of pressure or blackmail.”

For the fourth straight parliamentary session, Raul Castro sat next to an empty chair set aside for his ailing brother.

The elder Castro, who turns 82 next month, has not been seen in public since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006.

Interesting indeed.

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/…

Today, Cuba officially lifted its ban on the sale of computers to the general public. Some other prohibitions have also been scrapped in recent weeks: Cubans can now buy cell phones, stay in hotels previously reserved for tourists, and buy appliances like microwaves and TV sets.

Is this a sign of openness from Cuba’s geriatric regime? Not so.

A Cuban dissident I met in Havana last year sent me today an article he wrote about the real motive behind relaxing these bans. It has been reported in the state-controlled media that people purchasing these goods are later being investigated by the authorities who want to know the real sources of their income. As it’s widely known, the average Cuban salary is less than $20 a month, while the cost of most of these goods ranges in the hundreds of dollars. Many Cubans get their extra money from relatives in the United States, but many others run independent (and illicit) small businesses.

My friend tells the story of the first person to purchase an electric bicycle, which cost the equivalent of $1,070. This man had a small butter factory that apparently was very profitable, since he was selling the butter at a lower price than the government. After buying his electric bicycle, the authorities investigated him and discovered his factory. They proceeded to confiscate everything they found in his home, including the bike.

Let’s not forget that, after all, there is still a Castro brother running the show on the island. As my Cuban friend says about the so-called “reforms,” the fact that something is no longer prohibited doesn’t mean that you can do it.

I hadn’t thought about this though I should have. I’ve read about this being done in other authoritarian governments. It’s OK… there will be a black market that will likely provide these products without tipping off the officials and now that they are no longer prohibited it will be less risky to have them.

http://memphisetc.blogspot.com/

Operation Thug Huntin’

…or “How I spent my Saturday night”

Over 50 law enforcement agencies came together this weekend for Operation Sudden Impact (they said my name for it wasn’t PC enough). In any case, a whole boatload of the Po-Po got together and ran gang interdictions, traffic saturations, drug sweeps, fugitive searches, and some other things I can’t tell you about for a 24 hour period.

It was fun. More about it here.

On the serious side, we now know the mid-south agencies can work together and bring a LOT of police presence and firepower down on a given area if we ever need to do it in a hurry.

Here is a list of agencies involved courtesy of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Web site:

Follow the link to see the huge list of agencies. Check out the comments:

Thank you for the work you do! I’m a Memphis native, relative of former MPD officers, and worked in law enforcement myself. I really enjoy reading your blog. My entire family still lives in Memphis and I go home as often as I can. It’s sad to see what’s become of my hometown. You guys are to be commended for the hard work you put in. Love your commentary!!!

Scary.

FBI raids, Arabs whine, liberal media listens…

There are a couple of stories this weekend on two separate Memphis TV stations (WREG and WHBQ) about some FBI raids on local businesses last week. Both stories center on the poor Arabs who are being harassed by the big, bad Feds. The TV reporters seem really ticked off the FBI didn’t bother to call the TV stations personally and let them know all the facts of the case and exactly when the raids were going to take place…how DARE law enforcement do something without telling the TV news departments?This would be funny except for the fact that the public buys this biased crap.

The stations ran different angles on the same basic story, but the common thread was that the FBI is harassing Arab-owned businessmen and employees. So, in the interest of balance (not to mention those fact thingies), Memphis, ETC would like to share some general facts about middle eastern businesses, terrorism, and the reality of it all.

I wasn’t in on these raids, but we’ve done some in the past. The FBI is always armed with a search warrant, which makes the raids totally legal. Most federal judges won’t sign a search warrant without some really compelling evidence that something criminal is afoot. Apparently that was the case here as well.

To the citizens with their heads buried in the sand, let me state another fact. Terrorists and those who support them are living right here in the Mid-South. They are 99% middle eastern. You may try to spin that, or ignore that fact, but that IS a fact. They are using our laws and our society’s political correctness to skirt the law and fund operations that directly threaten the security of the United States. You may not like that fact, but again, it IS a fact.

Yes, it looks like the FBI did raid Arab owned businesses. Well, last I heard, there were no Canadian, Native Americans, or any other ethnic group besides the Arabs trying to explode a nuclear device in our country. Plus, it’s a funny thing about police work…you follow the evidence in anti-terrorism ops and it just seems to lead to middle eastern folks. Gee, I wonder why?

One of the stories also made mention of the fact that there were some odd items seized in the raid, such as ball caps and jewelry. Well, that may be odd to some Cub reporter who doesn’t care about getting both sides of the story, but that was the bit of information that made the light go off in my head.

I believe the FBI is on to some Arabs running these little corner grocery stores you see that offer all sorts of things besides groceries…you know, CD’s, DVD’s, clothing, jewelry. I’ll bet you my stock in Halliburton this particular case is about counterfeiting and media piracy. Plus, I’d further bet that the FBI thinks funds from these illegal sales are being funneled back to whatever county these jerks are from to fund terrorist operations.

Here’s how it works: Mohammad opens a little store usually in the poorer sections of town. Oh, by the way, your governments lets these folks do this and not pay taxes for 7 years to encourage new small businesses…but guess what? Mohammad has a huge family over here, and at the end of seven years he just sells the business to his brother. Gee, another 7 years of tax-free operations, courtesy of the U.S government. Mohammad sells DVD’s and CD’s cheaper than Wal-Mart, because Mohammad has a $10,000 DVD duplicator in his back room where he is duplicating these movies and CD’s. He sells in the black communities and poorer sections of town because he knows no one will report it because they don’t care. Mohammad is also in the market for stolen cell phones which he can wipe and sell overseas. Since Mohammad pays no taxes, he can afford to send a large amount of his profits back to Yemen, Iran, or wherever…where the money is funneled to the same organizations trying to kill out sons , daughters, moms and dads in Iraq. But in this case this week, the FBI seems to have gotten wind of the operations, and the big bad Feds busted in and took Mohammad’s computers and duplicating equipment, his business records, and some of his counterfeit stuff for evidence. So, Mohammad goes crying to the liberal media which happily gives him a stage for his predictable “They are profiling me” whine, and the liberals just drink that stuff up like it was a Starbuck’s latte’.

I am constantly amazed at the willing suspension of disbelief a lot of Americas have about terrorists operating in American, right now, in YOUR neighborhood. Chances are you’ve bought stuff from them. Even more amazing is that the news media takes a passing glance (maybe) at these stories when actual terrorist are caught…like the University of Memphis Arab student who just happened to have a pilot’s uniform, airport layout diagrams, and books on how to fly planes and act like a pilot (plus all his Muslim jihadist propaganda) in his car.

Wake up, people….

Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it right. Is this guy going to go justifying what Mao, Stalin, Hitler, etc. did because it was all “legal.” And what was the results from those raids? Where any of them convicted on anything related to terrorism or even the dubious “sponsor of terrorism?” Where are these Arabs who are bringing in nukes? What’s the delivery mechanism? Prove to me that this isn’t bigoted propaganda used to bring about a police state?

• The attack on the US embassy has resulted in the death of one person who’s burned body was found. I’ve yet to hear any identifying info.
• Russia is threatening to use “force to resolve the dispute over Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia if NATO forces breach the terms of their U.N. mandate.”
• While watching CNN this morning report on rallies in Kosovo I saw 2 or 3 individuals wearing Che Guevara t-shirts. The city is 50/50 serb/albainian and there are great fears that it could turn violent. Let’s hope it doesn’t and those Che supporters aren’t the rock throwing types.
• Serbs have cell phones

• They only have US flags to burn in order to keep warm

• Foreign-owned shops were vandalized, Serbian police did nothing about it.
• Russia and China still oppose the declaration of independence and Spain is afraid that official recognition will encourage other secessionist movements… like the Basques in their north.
• Given that… blog of bile fully supports the people of Kosovo’s choice in becoming independent of Serbia and recognizes Kosovo as a nation. Don’t throw rocks at the Serbs unless they throw first.