ACORN to play a role in the census

[JaJae]

We really need a "But but.. Rush" smilie.

[motivez]

This whole ACORN "scandal" has been a Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, etc.. pushed event from the beginning. They found a way they thought they could link Obama to voter fraud even though it was baseless and not true, and at the same time rile up their base against increased minority participation after having spent years working to disenfranchise them in places like Ohio

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by motivez

And you can keep ignoring the fact that ACORN is legally bound to turn over all voter registration cards, even ones that are blatantly fraudulent.

It's not their responsibility to reject the registrations, that's the Board of Elections.. yet you continually and pointlessly bash them for following the law, and going above and beyond by separating registration cards they suspect are fraudulent or incomplete.

There's also no evidence of some organization wide effort to assist in voter fraud efforts, or voter registration fraud efforts. The people within the organization who were found to be violating the organizations policies were dealt with last I read

So, again, I say base your outrage on facts instead of pre-election Rush Limbaugh talking points.. Direct your anger at the legislature if you think ACORN should be able to discard ballots it believes are fraudulent, direct it at the various Board of Elections if you feel they're doing a crappy job by letting fraudulent registrations through the process.

We have been over this, I presented dozens of sources from all over the media:
ACORN: Another pathetic attempt to distract

And you dismissed them with the same talking points that have been proved incorrectly over and over and over again. But hey whatever works for you

[motivez]

If you want to link specific posts from that thread, that's one thing.. but I'm not going to go back and read all of it.

I'm sure I personally submitted duplicate registrations for people who hadn't received their cards yet or weren't sure if they wrote something down right or couldn't remember if they had registered.. I don't see anything illegal in that.

Most of the other situations I remember being mentioned dealt with individual employees who were disciplined within the company for their actions and the organization was cooperative with law enforcement.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by motivez

If you want to link specific posts from that thread, that's one thing.. but I'm not going to go back and read all of it.

I'm sure I personally submitted duplicate registrations for people who hadn't received their cards yet or weren't sure if they wrote something down right or couldn't remember if they had registered.. I don't see anything illegal in that.

Most of the other situations I remember being mentioned dealt with individual employees who were disciplined within the company for their actions and the organization was cooperative with law enforcement.

ACORN: Another pathetic attempt to distract

[kinggovernor]

Recent Fraud

State Year Details
AR 1998 A contractor with ACORN-affiliated Project Vote was arrested for falsifying about 400 voter registration cards.
CO 2005 Two ex-ACORN employees were convicted in Denver of perjury for submitting false voter registrations.
2004 An ACORN employee admitted to forging signatures and registering three of her friends to vote 40 times.
CT 2008 The New York Post reported that ACORN submitted a voter registration card for a 7-year-old Bridgeport girl. Another 8,000 cards from the same city will be scrutinized for possible fraud.
FL 2008 Election officials in Brevard County have given prosecutors more than 23 suspect registrations from ACORN. The state's Division of Elections is also investigating complaints in Orange and Broward Counties.
2004 A Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman said ACORN was “singled out” among suspected voter registration groups for a 2004 wage initiative because it was “the common thread” in the agency’s fraud investigations.
IN 2008 Election officials in Indiana have thrown out more than 4,000 ACORN-submitted voter registrations after finding they had identical handwriting and included the names of many deceased Indianans, and even the name of a fast food restaurant.
MI 2008 Clerks in Detroit found a "sizeable number of duplicate and fraudulent [voter] applications" from the Michigan branch of ACORN. Those applications have been turned over to the U.S. Attorney's office for investigation.
2004 The Detroit Free Press reported that “overzealous or unscrupulous campaign workers in several Michigan counties are under investigation for voter-registration fraud, suspected of attempting to register nonexistent people or forging applications for already-registered voters.” ACORN-affiliate Project Vote was one of two groups suspected of turning in the documents.
MO 2008 Nearly 400 ACORN-submitted registrations in Kansas City have been rejected due to duplication or fake information.
2007 Four ACORN employees were indicted in Kansas City for charges including identity theft and filing false registrations during the 2006 election.
2006 Eight ACORN employees in St. Louis were indicted on federal election fraud charges. Each of the eight faces up to five years in prison for forging signatures and submitting false information.
2003 Of 5,379 voter registration cards ACORN submitted in St. Louis, only 2,013 of those appeared to be valid. At least 1,000 are believed to be attempts to register voters illegally.
MN 2004 During a traffic stop, police found more than 300 voter registration cards in the trunk of a former ACORN employee, who had violated a legal requirements that registration cards be submitted to the Secretary of State within 10 days of being filled out and signed.
NC 2008 County elections officials have sent suspicious voter registration applications to the state Board of Elections. Many of the applications had similar or identical names, but with different addresses or dates of birth.
2004 North Carolina officials investigated ACORN for submitting fake voter registration cards.
NM 2008 Prosecutors are investigating more than 1,100 ACORN-submitted voter registration cards after a county clerk found them to be fraudulent. Many of the cards included duplicate names and slightly altered personal information.
2005 Four ACORN employees submitted as many as 3,000 potentially fraudulent signatures on the group’s Albuquerque ballot initiative. A local sheriff added: “It’s safe to say the forgery was widespread.”
2004 An ACORN employee registered a 13-year-old boy to vote. Citing this and other examples, New Mexico State Representative Joe Thompson stated that ACORN was “manufacturing voters” throughout New Mexico.
NV 2008 Nevada state authorities raided ACORN's Las Vegas headquarters as part of a task force investigation of election fraud. Fraudulent registrations included players from the Dallas Cowboys.
OH 2008 ACORN activists gave Ohio residents cash and cigarettes in exchange for filling out voter registration card, according to the New York Post. Some voters claim to have registered dozens of times, and one man says he signed up on 72 cards.
2007 A man in Reynoldsburg was indicted on two felony counts of illegal voting and false registration, after being registered by ACORN to vote in two separate counties.
2004 A grand jury indicted a Columbus ACORN worker for submitting a false signature and false voter registration form. In Franklin County, two ACORN workers submitted what the director of the board of election supervisors called “blatantly false” forms. In Cuyahoga County, ACORN and its affiliate Project Vote submitted registration cards that had the highest rate of errors for any voter registration group.
PA 2008 State election officials have thrown out 57,435 voter registrations, the majority of which were submitted by ACORN. The registrations were thrown out after officials found "clearly fraudulent" signatures, vacant lots listed as addresses, and other signs of fraud.
2008 An ACORN employee in West Reading, PA, was sentenced to up to 23 months in prison for identity theft and tampering with records. A second ACORN worker pleaded not guilty to the same charges and is free on $10,000 bail.
2004 Reading’s Director of Elections received calls from numerous individuals complaining that ACORN employees deliberately put inaccurate information on their voter registration forms. The Berks County director of elections said voter fraud was “absolutely out of hand,” and added: “Not only do we have unintentional duplication of voter registration but we have blatant duplicate voter registrations.” The Berks County deputy director of elections added that ACORN was under investigation by the Department of Justice.
TX 2008 In Harris County, nearly 10,000 ACORN-submitted registrations were found to be invalid, including many with clearly fraudulent addresses or other personal information.
2008 ACORN turned in the voter registration form of David Young, who told reporters “The signature is not my signature. It’s not even close.” His social security number and date of birth were also incorrect.
VA 2005 In 2005, the Virginia State Board of Elections admonished Project Vote and ACORN for turning in a significant number of faulty voter registrations. An audit revealed that 83% of sampled registrations that were rejected for carrying false or questionable information were submitted by Project Vote. Many of these registrations carried social security numbers that exist for other people, listed non-existent or commercial addresses, or were for convicted felons in violation of state and federal election law.

In a letter to ACORN, the State Board of Elections reported that 56% of the voter registration applications ACORN turned in were ineligible. Further, a full 35% were not submitted in a timely manner, as required by law. The State Board of Elections also commented on what appeared to be evidence of intentional voter fraud. "Additionally,” they wrote, “information appears to have been altered on some applications where information given by the applicant in one color ink has been scratched through and re-entered in another color ink. Any alteration of a voter registration application is a Class 5 Felony in accordance with § 24.2-1009 of the Code of Virginia."
WA 2007 Three ACORN employees pleaded guilty, and four more were charged, in the worst case of voter registration fraud in Washington state history. More than 2,000 fraudulent voter registration cards were submitted by the group during a voter registration drive.
WI 2008 At least 33,000 ACORN-submitted registrations in Milwaukee have been called into question after it was found that the organizations had been using felons as registration workers, in violation of state election rules. Two people involved in the ongoing Wisconsin voter fraud investigation have been charged with felonies.
2004 The district attorney’s office investigated seven voter registration applications Project Vote employees filed in the names of people who said the group never contacted them. Former Project Vote employee Robert Marquise Blakely told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he had not met with any of the people whose voter registration applications he signed, “an apparent violation of state law,” according to the paper.

Fraud Map :: Rotten Acorn ::

[Donkey®]

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

Recent Fraud

State Year Details
AR 1998 A contractor with ACORN-affiliated Project Vote was arrested for falsifying about 400 voter registration cards.
CO 2005 Two ex-ACORN employees were convicted in Denver of perjury for submitting false voter registrations.
2004 An ACORN employee admitted to forging signatures and registering three of her friends to vote 40 times.
CT 2008 The New York Post reported that ACORN submitted a voter registration card for a 7-year-old Bridgeport girl. Another 8,000 cards from the same city will be scrutinized for possible fraud.
FL 2008 Election officials in Brevard County have given prosecutors more than 23 suspect registrations from ACORN. The state's Division of Elections is also investigating complaints in Orange and Broward Counties.
2004 A Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman said ACORN was “singled out” among suspected voter registration groups for a 2004 wage initiative because it was “the common thread” in the agency’s fraud investigations.
IN 2008 Election officials in Indiana have thrown out more than 4,000 ACORN-submitted voter registrations after finding they had identical handwriting and included the names of many deceased Indianans, and even the name of a fast food restaurant.
MI 2008 Clerks in Detroit found a "sizeable number of duplicate and fraudulent [voter] applications" from the Michigan branch of ACORN. Those applications have been turned over to the U.S. Attorney's office for investigation.
2004 The Detroit Free Press reported that “overzealous or unscrupulous campaign workers in several Michigan counties are under investigation for voter-registration fraud, suspected of attempting to register nonexistent people or forging applications for already-registered voters.” ACORN-affiliate Project Vote was one of two groups suspected of turning in the documents.
MO 2008 Nearly 400 ACORN-submitted registrations in Kansas City have been rejected due to duplication or fake information.
2007 Four ACORN employees were indicted in Kansas City for charges including identity theft and filing false registrations during the 2006 election.
2006 Eight ACORN employees in St. Louis were indicted on federal election fraud charges. Each of the eight faces up to five years in prison for forging signatures and submitting false information.
2003 Of 5,379 voter registration cards ACORN submitted in St. Louis, only 2,013 of those appeared to be valid. At least 1,000 are believed to be attempts to register voters illegally.
MN 2004 During a traffic stop, police found more than 300 voter registration cards in the trunk of a former ACORN employee, who had violated a legal requirements that registration cards be submitted to the Secretary of State within 10 days of being filled out and signed.
NC 2008 County elections officials have sent suspicious voter registration applications to the state Board of Elections. Many of the applications had similar or identical names, but with different addresses or dates of birth.
2004 North Carolina officials investigated ACORN for submitting fake voter registration cards.
NM 2008 Prosecutors are investigating more than 1,100 ACORN-submitted voter registration cards after a county clerk found them to be fraudulent. Many of the cards included duplicate names and slightly altered personal information.
2005 Four ACORN employees submitted as many as 3,000 potentially fraudulent signatures on the group’s Albuquerque ballot initiative. A local sheriff added: “It’s safe to say the forgery was widespread.”
2004 An ACORN employee registered a 13-year-old boy to vote. Citing this and other examples, New Mexico State Representative Joe Thompson stated that ACORN was “manufacturing voters” throughout New Mexico.
NV 2008 Nevada state authorities raided ACORN's Las Vegas headquarters as part of a task force investigation of election fraud. Fraudulent registrations included players from the Dallas Cowboys.
OH 2008 ACORN activists gave Ohio residents cash and cigarettes in exchange for filling out voter registration card, according to the New York Post. Some voters claim to have registered dozens of times, and one man says he signed up on 72 cards.
2007 A man in Reynoldsburg was indicted on two felony counts of illegal voting and false registration, after being registered by ACORN to vote in two separate counties.
2004 A grand jury indicted a Columbus ACORN worker for submitting a false signature and false voter registration form. In Franklin County, two ACORN workers submitted what the director of the board of election supervisors called “blatantly false” forms. In Cuyahoga County, ACORN and its affiliate Project Vote submitted registration cards that had the highest rate of errors for any voter registration group.
PA 2008 State election officials have thrown out 57,435 voter registrations, the majority of which were submitted by ACORN. The registrations were thrown out after officials found "clearly fraudulent" signatures, vacant lots listed as addresses, and other signs of fraud.
2008 An ACORN employee in West Reading, PA, was sentenced to up to 23 months in prison for identity theft and tampering with records. A second ACORN worker pleaded not guilty to the same charges and is free on $10,000 bail.
2004 Reading’s Director of Elections received calls from numerous individuals complaining that ACORN employees deliberately put inaccurate information on their voter registration forms. The Berks County director of elections said voter fraud was “absolutely out of hand,” and added: “Not only do we have unintentional duplication of voter registration but we have blatant duplicate voter registrations.” The Berks County deputy director of elections added that ACORN was under investigation by the Department of Justice.
TX 2008 In Harris County, nearly 10,000 ACORN-submitted registrations were found to be invalid, including many with clearly fraudulent addresses or other personal information.
2008 ACORN turned in the voter registration form of David Young, who told reporters “The signature is not my signature. It’s not even close.” His social security number and date of birth were also incorrect.
VA 2005 In 2005, the Virginia State Board of Elections admonished Project Vote and ACORN for turning in a significant number of faulty voter registrations. An audit revealed that 83% of sampled registrations that were rejected for carrying false or questionable information were submitted by Project Vote. Many of these registrations carried social security numbers that exist for other people, listed non-existent or commercial addresses, or were for convicted felons in violation of state and federal election law.

In a letter to ACORN, the State Board of Elections reported that 56% of the voter registration applications ACORN turned in were ineligible. Further, a full 35% were not submitted in a timely manner, as required by law. The State Board of Elections also commented on what appeared to be evidence of intentional voter fraud. "Additionally,” they wrote, “information appears to have been altered on some applications where information given by the applicant in one color ink has been scratched through and re-entered in another color ink. Any alteration of a voter registration application is a Class 5 Felony in accordance with § 24.2-1009 of the Code of Virginia."
WA 2007 Three ACORN employees pleaded guilty, and four more were charged, in the worst case of voter registration fraud in Washington state history. More than 2,000 fraudulent voter registration cards were submitted by the group during a voter registration drive.
WI 2008 At least 33,000 ACORN-submitted registrations in Milwaukee have been called into question after it was found that the organizations had been using felons as registration workers, in violation of state election rules. Two people involved in the ongoing Wisconsin voter fraud investigation have been charged with felonies.
2004 The district attorney’s office investigated seven voter registration applications Project Vote employees filed in the names of people who said the group never contacted them. Former Project Vote employee Robert Marquise Blakely told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he had not met with any of the people whose voter registration applications he signed, “an apparent violation of state law,” according to the paper.

Fraud Map :: Rotten Acorn ::

Originally Posted by small excerpt of US military crimes overseas

Aug.4,1972
A 37-year-old woman employee was strangled to death by an 18-year-old
U.S. serviceman¡¡at a bar in Ojana, Ginowan City. In the following year,
the serviceman was convicted to be imprisoned for life.

Sep. 20,1972
At Camp Hansen, a 37-year-old Japanese military employee was shot to death
with a rifle by a U.S. serviceman. It was the first murder by shooting
within the base after the Reversion. The accused denied the intent to murder at
the first trial. On April '74, Naha Local Court gave a decision of "not
guilty", judging the accused to be non compos. The accused was accordingly
sent back to U.S.A. and was taken to the Naval Hospital.

Sep.26,1972
It was revealed that a U.S. serviceman who allegedly killed a 50-year-old
Japanese man by running over had been sentenced of "no guilty".

Dec.1,1972
A 19-year-old U.S. serviceman strangled a 22-year-old woman in Koza City.
The serviceman was sentenced to be imprisoned for life at the court of first
instance.

Mar.18,1973
A 43-year-old woman employee of a diner was strangled to death at
her apartment in Koza City. The city police office and the U.S. Army
jointly concluded that the murder was conducted by a U.S. serviceman.

Apr.12,1973
A 73-year-old woman picking up bullets at Blue Beach, Kin Village was
run over by a tank and killed. The U.S. Army notified the Prefectural
Office of exercising the primary jurisdiction asserting that the incident
occurred in line of duty.

Jul.10,1974
A 20-year-old man mowing in the military firing range at Iye Village w
as shot by two U.S. servicemen. He was wounded at his left hand requiring
three weeks to heel. The U.S. Army first declared the waiver of jurisdiction
regarding it as an incident off duty. But, it reversed the decision later:
the U.S. Airforce Commander at Okinawa notified the Naha District
Prosecutors Office that "U.S. side will exercise the jurisdiction because
it is a crime committed in line of duty."

Oct.23,1974
A 52-year-old woman manager of a Cafe at Henoko, Nago City was, while
sleeping at her cafe, hit to death with a cement block by a U.S. serviceman
intending robbery.

Dec. 1,1974
At Wakasa, Naha City, a 24-year-old man on his way home was shot by a
U.S. serviceman intending robbery and got injured at his right hand.

Apr.19,1975
Two junior high school girls were raped by a 21-year old U.S. serviceman
in Kin Village. This incident became an object of public concern, and the
accused was handed over to Japan side after he was indicted. He was later
sentenced to six years imprisonment.

Apr.23,1975
Sexivalent chromium ( a kind of heavy metal, a powerful oxidizer) was
detected to be discharged from Maki-minato U.S. base. Later, a testimony by
a Japanese ex-employee revealed that five people had been sacrificed.

Feb.26,1976
A 40-year-old worker at Maki-minato supply base got seriously injured
as a suspect case of poisoning by methyl bromide. Two months later a doctor
in Mainland Japan announced that the injury was caused by methyl bromide
poisoning.

Dec.29,1978
A U.S. servicemen at the exercise in the Henoko Camp, Nago City made wild
firing of machine guns toward Kyoda Village. Shot holes were detected at
private houses.

Aug.2,1979
Some bullets, suspected to be from U.S. military machine guns, were shot
into a water tank of a pigsty at Sukuda, Nago City. The U.S. Commander
expressed his regret in May.

Nov.5,1979
A U.S. army signal bomb dropped onto the garden of a private house in
Kin Village. The U.S. army announced that it was just a mischief by a U.S.
serviceman.

Oct.1,1980
An observation aircraft crashed on the runway of Futenma Marine Base,
killing one member of the crew.

Apr.21,1981
A Marine parachute exercising at Yomitan auxiliary airport fell near
Furugen Elementary School, causing a turmoil among the pupils at the
morning meeting.

Mar.8,1982
A 48-year-old jobless man was found to be killed in the graveyard in Kin
Town. Ishikawa Police Office arrested a 20-year old U.S. serviceman in the
base with the permission of the U.S. Investigation Headquarters. Naha
District Court ordered the accused in March, 1983 to pay forty million yen.

Aug.2,1982
A 33-year-old woman employee of a diner at a house building site in
Henoko, Nago City, was strangled to death by a 22-year-old U.S. serviceman.

Aug.19,1982
A U.S. military helicopter crashed in Futenma Base.

Feb.23,1983
A 40-year-old taxi driver was stabbed to death by two U.S. servicemen in
Camp Hansen, Kin Town. In November Naha District Court sentenced the two
accused to imprisonment for life.

Apr.4, 1983
A 41-year-old village resident walking out of the fence of a U.S.
military facility in Yomitan Village got fire warning shots by military
police.

May 18,1984
In Kyoda, Nago City, a dump truck was shot at the front part
by a machine gun bullet apparently from a U.S. tank.

Jan.16,1985
A 51-year-old junkman was stabbed to death while sleeping by a
20-year-old U.S. serviceman intending theft. The accused was sentenced to
imprisonment for life at Naha District Court. In January 1988, the Supreme
Court dismissed the final appeal, thus determining the sentence.

July 12, 1985
A U.S. military helicopter crashed on the mountain path near Henoko Dam,
Kunigami Village, killing all of the four crew members.

Oct.29,1985
Ishikawa Police Office arrested two U.S. servicemen in the act of raping
a woman after abducting her by a car on her way home.

Sep.27,1986
A bullet from U.S. military M16 rifle broke a window of a private house
in Igei, Kin Town.

Jul.9,1987
The water pipe from the Shiobaru Reservoir at Yakaku, Kin Town was broken
by U.S. military M16 rifle causing suspension of water supply to some
houses.

Jun.4,1988
Two men driving prefecture road No.70 at Takae, Higashi Village
complained of pain at eyes and throat. It was later attributed to the
discharge of tear gas.

Aug.12,1988
In July 1987, a Malaysian cargo ship was shot by a mock bomb off Kume
Island. The U.S. army announced that the incident was that the formation
chief mistook the ship for an island. The Eleventh Regional Maritime Safety
Headquarters sent the papers pertaining to the formation chief to the
Public Prosecutors Office.

Oct.15,1988
Several bullets, suspected to be from the U.S. exercise field, were found
one after another at a private house in Igei, Kin Town. One of the bullets
nearly shot a citizen's abdomen.

Oct.31,1988
A U.S. military helicopter crashed near the training field in Takae,
Higashi Village, killing four people.

Dec.24,1988
A tear gas bomb was thrown into a disco in Okinawa City, which
caused two hundred people fall down. Two lost consciousness. The U.S.
marine announced a suspension of using tear gas for the time being.

Mar.14, 1989
A U.S. military helicopter crashed on the sea near Iye Island, killing
three crew members.

Nov.4, 1989
American boys and so on, one after another, shot air guns.

Jun.14, 1991
A 34-year-old jobless man was stabbed to death by a 20-year-old U.S.
serviceman. The serviceman was sentenced to nine years' penal servitude.

Oct.15,1991
A U.S. serviceman fired blank shots at a private car on the Town Road
passing through Camp Hansen in Kin Town.

Jan.17,1992
Three U.S. servicemen committed robbery at a private house in Okinawa
City. Two of them kept in custody by the U.S. army escaped out of the
base. One of them was arrested later in the United States.

Oct.20, 1992
A large-size helicopter crashed in Futenma base near Futenma Dai-ni
Elementary School.

Apr. 11,1993
A 33-year-old carpenter was clubbed to death by a 18-year-old marine.

Jul.17,1993
A 25-year-old U.S. serviceman under confinement within the base as a
suspected case of raping a 19-year-old Japanese woman escaped back to
United States by a commercial aircraft. He was arrested in U.S. and was
sent back to Okinawa.

Nov.16, 1994
A U.S. military helicopter crashed in Camp Schwab in Henoko, Nago City,
killing and injuring five people.

May 10,1995
A 24-year-old insurance saleswoman was hit on the face with a hammer by a
20-year-old U.S. serviceman in front of her apartment house. She died.

Sep.4,1995
Three U.S. servicemen raped a 12-year-old schoolgirl.


[10/12/1995 from The Okinawa Times]

The US MILITARY can not be trusted. They need to be disbanded. They are ALL automatically criminals and their organization is CRIMINAL based on the crimes of a few. Clearly the orders came from the top but I don't have to provide proof of it because hey...they work for the military...so they are ALL to blame.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by Donkey®

The US MILITARY can not be trusted. They need to be disbanded. They are ALL automatically criminals and their organization is CRIMINAL based on the crimes of a few. Clearly the orders came from the top but I don't have to provide proof of it because hey...they work for the military...so they are ALL to blame.

Tight restrictions put on Okinawa Marines

By Joseph Coleman - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 21, 2008 7:47:53 EST

TOKYO — The military imposed tight restrictions on all servicemen in Okinawa on Wednesday, limiting troops to bases, places of work or off-base housing amid a furor over the arrest of a Marine on suspicion of rape.

The restrictions, which go beyond a midnight curfew already in place for enlisted Marines on the southern Japanese island, started early Wednesday and were indefinite, U.S. Forces Japan officials said.

The order, which also included all the 18,000 Marines based in Japan, was issued as a string of crimes blamed on American servicemen — rape, drunk driving and other allegations — has stoked antimilitary sentiment.

“This period of reflection will allow commanders and all service members an opportunity to further review procedures and orders that govern the discipline and conduct of all U.S. service members serving in Okinawa,” a U.S. military statement read.

Most damaging to the U.S. military’s image in Japan was the arrest last week of 38-year-old Staff Sgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott in the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl in Okinawa. The arrest sparked outrage in Japan, which hosts some 50,000 U.S. troops under a security treaty.

Hadnott admitted to investigators that he forced the girl down and kissed her, but said he did not rape her, police said.

The tensions have been compounded in recent days by allegations of additional less serious crimes by American troops, such as drunk driving and trespassing. Japanese leaders have deplored the behavior and accused the U.S. military of lax discipline.

The Japanese government welcomed the bolstered restrictions.

“Japan plans to have close consulations with the U.S. for appropriate prevention measures over the mid- and long-term to be taken by the U.S. side,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The new restriction bans military personnel from leaving their bases except for official business, work, worship or travel to and from off-base housing. It applies to all branches of the military in Okinawa, and the Marines throughout the country. Military families and military-linked, expatriate civilians were also included.

Okinawa is considered a linchpin in U.S. military posture in Asia, and Washington is eager to quell rising sentiment against American troops. U.S. Ambassador Thomas Schieffer, for instance, traveled to Okinawa last week to express his sadness over the alleged rape.

Okinawa was the site of one of the most ferocious battles of World War II, and the island chain was not returned to Japan until 1972, some 20 years after the end of the U.S. occupation of the rest of the country. Today it hosts most of the American troops in Japan.

Okinawans have complained about crime, crowding and noise brought by the troops for many years. Protests in the 1990s forced the closing of a Marine air station, and now a plan to build a new airstrip on the island has stirred persistent opposition.

Over the past week, Okinawan lawmakers have passed resolutions demanding tighter discipline among American troops, and groups have held several protests. In the latest demonstration, some 300 people held a meeting on Tuesday in the town where the rape is alleged to happened.

The Hadnott case has prompted comparisons with the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three U.S. servicemen. That attack triggered massive protests against the American military, and the three were convicted and sentenced to prison.

Military officials said they hoped the restrictions would encourage better behavior by troops.

“The intent is to just inconvenience people,” said Col. Eric Schnaible, spokesman for U.S. forces. “Hopefully ... people will realize, you know, ‘Got it, and we will behave as we should.”’

On Tuesday, the U.S. military, which launched a review of anti-sexual assault guidelines following Hadnott’s arrest, said it had designated Friday as a “day of reflection” to urge troops to adhere to ideals of professionalism.

“USFJ has generated recommendations and reached a mutual agreement that all USFJ components will take additional actions to further reinforce and encourage the already high standards of professionalism among US Forces serving in Japan,” the military said in a separate statement on Tuesday.

thanks for picking another analogy that helps to proves my point. When one person in the military screws up, it makes everyone look bad so everyone gets punished.

[Donkey®]

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

thanks for picking another analogy that helps to proves my point. When one person in the military screws up, it makes everyone look bad so everyone gets punished.

One person? There have been DECADES of bullshit in not only Okinawa, but Korea, Germany and wherever the fuck else our military happens to be stationed. Your 'point' is nonsensical. Also, I see the people who fucked up in Acorn punished as well. They are investigated...they are arrested...they are convicted. (IF they have done something illegal). That does NOT mean Acorn as a whole condones or sanctions the activity of those individuals.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by JaJae

We really need a "But but.. Rush" smilie.

such a cop out, you post a news from a dozen different sources across the spectrum and somehow I am spewing talking points of a guy that I don't like or listen to

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by Donkey®

One person? There have been DECADES of bullshit in not only Okinawa, but Korea, Germany and wherever the fuck else our military happens to be stationed. Your 'point' is nonsensical. Also, I see the people who fucked up in Acorn punished as well. They are investigated...they are arrested...they are convicted. (IF they have done something illegal). That does NOT mean Acorn as a whole condones or sanctions the activity of those individuals.

I was highlighting the differences between ACORN and the military, the military polices their own. ACORN does not even though they worked out a deal with the federal government to do so

[Donkey®]

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

I was highlighting the differences between ACORN and the military, the military polices their own. ACORN does not even though they worked out a deal with the federal government to do so

Their effectiveness is really in question if shit has gone on since the 40s.

So if politicians "policed themselves" would you have an issue with it? Self policing isn't a great idea across the board. There's too much self preservation and corruption for it to be effective.


And the whole point is you can't blame an entire organization for the actions of a few. Period. If you have evidence of direction from the highest reaches of the organization? Sure...that could go against the organization as a whole....but you can't prove that can you?

[HughRuss]

Originally Posted by Donkey®

So if politicians "policed themselves" would you have an issue with it? Self policing isn't a great idea across the board. There's too much self preservation and corruption for it to be effective.

That's not true. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac along with a slew of multi-billion dollar corporations policed their own, and nothing bad ever came of them.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by Donkey®

Their effectiveness is really in question if shit has gone on since the 40s.

So if politicians "policed themselves" would you have an issue with it? Self policing isn't a great idea across the board. There's too much self preservation and corruption for it to be effective.


And the whole point is you can't blame an entire organization for the actions of a few. Period. If you have evidence of direction from the highest reaches of the organization? Sure...that could go against the organization as a whole....but you can't prove that can you?

so like corruption and a coverup at the highest levels of acorn is the only way you will believe this group is rotten through and through?

[Donkey®]

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

so like corruption and a coverup at the highest levels of acorn is the only way you will believe this group is rotten through and through?

If you can show me direction from the top telling these people to commit these crimes, then by all means, please do. That would show they are a corrupt organization. I'll even take a long and widespread history of criminal convictions...like the military has.

[kinggovernor]

Funds Misappropriated at 2 Nonprofit Groups
By STEPHANIE STROM
Two prominent national nonprofit groups are reeling from public disclosures that large sums of money were misappropriated in unrelated incidents by an employee and a former employee.

The groups, Acorn, one of the country’s largest community organizing groups, and the Points of Light Institute, which works to encourage civic activism and volunteering, have dealt with the problems in very different ways.

Acorn chose to treat the embezzlement of nearly $1 million eight years ago as an internal matter and did not even notify its board. After Points of Light noticed financial irregularities in early June, it took less than a month for management to alert federal prosecutors, although group officials say they have no clear idea yet what the financial impact may be.
A whistle-blower forced Acorn to disclose the embezzlement, which involved the brother of the organization’s founder, Wade Rathke.

The brother, Dale Rathke, embezzled nearly $1 million from Acorn and affiliated charitable organizations in 1999 and 2000, Acorn officials said, but a small group of executives decided to keep the information from almost all of the group’s board members and not to alert law enforcement.

Dale Rathke remained on Acorn’s payroll until a month ago, when disclosure of his theft by foundations and other donors forced the organization to dismiss him.

“We thought it best at the time to protect the organization, as well as to get the funds back into the organization, to deal with it in-house,” said Maude Hurd, president of Acorn. “It was a judgment call at the time, and looking back, people can agree or disagree with it, but we did what we thought was right.”

The amount Dale Rathke embezzled, $948,607.50, was carried as a loan on the books of Citizens Consulting Inc., which provides bookkeeping, accounting and other financial management services to Acorn and many of its affiliated entities.

Wade Rathke said the organization had signed a restitution agreement with his brother in which his family agreed to repay the amount embezzled in exchange for confidentiality.

Wade Rathke stepped down as Acorn’s chief organizer on June 2, the same day his brother left, but he remains chief organizer for Acorn International L.L.C.

He said the decision to keep the matter secret was not made to protect his brother but because word of the embezzlement would have put a “weapon” into the hands of enemies of Acorn, a liberal group that is a frequent target of conservatives who object to its often strident advocacy on behalf of low- and moderate-income families and workers.

Wade Rathke said he learned of the problem when an employee of Citizens Consulting alerted him about suspicious credit card transactions. An internal investigation uncovered inappropriate charges on the cards that led back to his brother.

“Clearly, this was an uncomfortable, conflicting and humiliating situation as far as my family and I were concerned,” he said, “and so the real decisions on how to handle it had to be made by others.”

The executive director of New York Acorn, Bertha Lewis, who has been named director of an interim management committee set up to run the national group’s day-to-day operations, said Dale Rathke was paid about $38,000 a year but that none of that money was used to pay back Acorn.

Instead, she said, the Rathke family has paid Acorn $30,000 a year in restitution since 2001, or a total of $210,000.

A donor has offered to give Acorn the rest of what the Rathkes owe, and an agreement to that effect should be finalized in coming days, Ms. Lewis said.

“Now that this is under our watch, we are putting financial auditors in place, legal counsel in place, a strong management team in place to make sure this organization moves forward for another 38 years,” she said. “I will not allow and the board will not allow something like this to happen again.”

But the fact that most of the handful of people who did not disclose the fraud when they learned of it eight years ago still work for Acorn or its affiliates concerns many of the group’s financial supporters.

“We’ve told them that when the process is ended, we’ll have a look at it,” said Dave Beckwith, executive director of the Needmor Fund, which has given money to some of Acorn’s charity affiliates for at least 10 years and was contacted by the whistle-blower in May.

Representatives of some 30 foundations and large donors have been discussing the matter on conference calls and may establish a committee to monitor Acorn’s overhaul of its management and accountability systems.

Officials at Points of Light began looking into complaints about a store the organization operated on eBay and by late June had discovered what its president and chief executive, Michelle Nunn, called “abnormalities” in the business practices of an independent contractor hired to run the store, which did a brisk business auctioning travel packages and items donated to the organization.

The travel auctions were stopped immediately, Ms. Nunn said, and the store was shut down a short time later. Points of Light also posted a statement on its Web site last weekend about the problems and contacted the United States Attorney’s Office in Washington, as well as people who had bought the travel packages.

Two people who have been involved in the internal investigation at Points of Light, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it is incomplete, said it appeared that Maria Herrmann, a former Points of Light fund-raiser who was hired as an independent contractor to manage the eBay store operation, may have been auctioning off bogus trip packages.

Ms. Herrmann did not respond to a message left at her home on Tuesday, and phone and e-mail messages to the office were answered by automated responses from the service Points of Light has hired to process reimbursement applications for the packages.

The organization is making good on trips scheduled through next Tuesday, Ms. Nunn said, and hopes to repay consumers for the rest of the packages that were sold. She said Points of Light began alerting donors last week about the problem, and some have agreed to help it repay customers who bought the packages.

Ms. Nunn also said she did not know how much the group would lose. “Our hope is that this is an isolated event, and that the actions of what we believe to be a single individual at this point doesn’t jeopardize the work of millions of volunteers,” she said.

The problem surfaced when Points of Light began getting complaints from people who had not received the vouchers and certificates they needed to redeem the travel packages.

Anna Ware, a small business owner in Atlanta, said that in late June when she arrived at the Seattle hotel included in a package she had bought from the Points of Light eBay store, the hotel had not received the certificates for her stay. She sent Ms. Herrmann an e-mail message and received an automated response from her Points of Light e-mail address. Two days later, the certificates arrived by FedEx.

“I could be out several thousand dollars,” said Ms. Ware, who has bought trip packages as bonuses for her employees as well as for gifts for friends and family. “I’m now calling them all and letting them know those trips may not happen.”

Dozens of people posted similar comments on an eBay discussion board, which the site has closed.

The legitimate trip packages were put together by Mitch-Stuart Inc., a company that bundles airline seats and hotel rooms. It sells the packages on consignment to nonprofit organizations like the Red Cross and Big Brothers Big Sisters, which resell them for a higher price, pocketing the difference.

Ms. Nunn said that Mitch-Stuart was not involved in any way with the bogus packages and that it was helping Points of Light make good on all trips sold for travel through next Tuesday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/us...gewanted=print

Embezzlement of a million dollars, 8 year coverup with the founder and his brother. Is that close enough to top for you?

[Donkey®]

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

Embezzlement of a million dollars, 8 year coverup with the founder and his brother. Is that close enough to top for you?

Again...you've shown anecdotal evidence that a single person committed a crime. Sorry, you just don't understand I suppose...I mean, you're still ignoring the fact that the military is 50 times worse than Acorn in the criminality department. Decry the Military and the fact they are a criminal organization I'll gladly do it with Acorn.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by Donkey®

Again...you've shown anecdotal evidence that a single person committed a crime. Sorry, you just don't understand I suppose...I mean, you're still ignoring the fact that the military is 50 times worse than Acorn in the criminality department. Decry the Military and the fact they are a criminal organization I'll gladly do it with Acorn.

its not anecdotal

and it wasn't a single person

[Donkey®]

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

its not anecdotal

and it wasn't a single person

One person stole money. It is up to the company to keep that matter out of law enforcement hands. Just like you and I, if you don't wanna press charges against your wife for beating you, then most of the time law enforcement stays out of it.

There was no crime. Keep reaching.

[kinggovernor]

Originally Posted by Donkey®

One person stole money. It is up to the company to keep that matter out of law enforcement hands. Just like you and I, if you don't wanna press charges against your wife for beating you, then most of the time law enforcement stays out of it.

There was no crime. Keep reaching.

the rest of the board was not even informed, there was a coverup as well.