Thirty-eight public officials and corporate officers face charges in Italian red light camera scandal.
The investigation into the fraudulent use of red light cameras in Italy last week concluded with prosecutors preparing charges against thirty-eight public officials and photo enforcement company executives. Prosecutors claim that three photo enforcement companies formed a cartel that operated in collusion with public officials for the purpose of generating revenue. The officials accepted bribes in return for approving lucrative contracts and shortening the duration of yellow lights at intersections equipped with red light cameras.
Last month, Milan prosecutor Alfredo Robledo last month ordered the last raid in the case’s investigatory phase. The Guardia di Finanza, a law enforcement arm of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, searched the home of Unione Terre police commander Claudio Malavasi and the home of Andrea Lamoretti, CEO of the technology firm ASCAA Spa. Lamoretti and Raul Cairoli, head of the firm Ci.Ti.Esse, met Malavasi secretly to hand over GPS devices, cell phones, watches and envelopes stuffed with thousands of euros in cash. Malavasi has since been suspended from his official duties.
The town of Segrate, near Milan, has also been at the center of the investigation, with prosecutors receiving complaints from motorists as early as 2006 about abusive practices. Mayor Adriano Alessandrini is now accused of shortening the duration of yellow lights to boost the profits of the red light camera program. The move paid off, with 2,425,801.60 euros (US $3,206,078.01) in revenue generated from motorists who did not have adequate time to stop, according to prosecution documents. The yellow in this case was set at 4.0 seconds with a “grace period” set to the bare minimum of 0.1 seconds — settings that are extremely common in the US.
Fresagrandinaria Mayor Giovanni Di Stefano, 50, is accused of renting photo enforcement equipment from the firm Euro Service Srl, even though the city already maintained its own automated ticketing machines. Di Stefano’s son, Nicola, 34, is the co-owner of Euro Service. Prosecutors also accused the mayor of embezzlement after he gave his son a pair of city-owned computers to use for the preparation of traffic ticket reports. The son issued tickets from his own home using the city’s password to the motor vehicle registration database, in violation of laws restricting such access to law enforcement personnel.
The consumer watchdog group ADOC has announced it will launch a class action civil lawsuit against the thirty-five municipalities involved in the scandal.
“T-Red cameras are often used in a non-transparent way, inconsistent with their purpose,” ADOC President Carlo Pileri said in a statement. “In many cases, photo ticketing has been adopted as a way of imposing new, and sometimes absurd, local taxes, solely to swell the municipal coffers.”
In Knoxville TN, cops just shoot the redlight scameras. Seems cops don't appreciate robots muscling in on their turf. Australian Redflex was fired for suspected bribery and contract fraud during the trial of Clifford Clark for allegedly shooting a redlight scamera. All charges were eventually dismissed against Mr. Clark, after a Knox County deputy confessed to the crime.
DEALS GAP, N.C. - Two 30 MPH V-16 Bugatti Veyrons at the Tail of the Dragon. These 1000 HP touring cars with top speeds of 250 MPH plus are the most overpriced modern cars in the world at over $2,000,000, each.
The driver of the Super Sport is the CEO of Bugatti, one of the others is the pro race car driver, The Stig, who's not quite as fast as The Dragonater, who was often faster than The Stig's fav Ferarri F1 driver Reubens Barrachello. The Stig has been described by Top Gear's Clarkson as having a very small spotted dick, worthless opinions, and a disorder called Mansell Syndrome. The RAC once mailed Mansell's F1 Superlicense to The Dragonater, having "mistaken" The Dragonater's superior driving skill while racing against World Champs and Indy 500 winners in UK. It's a small world, after all.
COP. 2. to steal; filch. 3. to buy (narcotics). 4. cop out, a. to avoid one's responsibility, the fulfillment of a promise, etc.; renege; back out. 5. cop a plea, a. to plead guilty or confess in return for receiving a lighter sentence. b. to plead guilty to a lesser charge; plea-bargain. -Random House Unabridged Dictionary
Two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies who were allegedly attacked by other deputies at a Christmas party last year have accused the department of encouraging an atmosphere of lawlessness and violence among its jail employees, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The allegations stem from an altercation at a Montebello banquet hall last December when about half a dozen deputies allegedly assaulted two others and punched a female deputy who tried to intervene in the face. The deputies who were described as the aggressors worked on the third floor of Men's Central Jail, where they were believed to have formed an aggressive clique known to flash gang-like hand signs.
In March, the department moved to fire six deputies in what was called one of the largest terminations in connection with a single incident in Sheriff's Department history. Prosecutors are still considering whether to file criminal charges.
According to an attorney for the two deputies, the exchange began when Deputy Chris Vasquez, who was outside the banquet hall smoking a cigarette, told a deputy from the third floor that employees there were too slow in moving inmates down to the jail's visiting area and said they should work faster.
Authorities have characterized that comment as a taunt, but attorney Greg Yates, who represents the two deputies, described it as a friendly suggestion.
A short time later, Vasquez was waved over by the other deputy and his colleagues. When Vasquez approached, one told him, "Hey, tell the rest of these guys what you told me," according to Yates' account of the incident.
"You know you disrespected us by talking like that," replied another in the group, Yates said.
At that point, one of Vasquez's friends, Deputy Elizario Perez, approached and tried to pull Vasquez away, Yates said. But within moments Perez was pulled around and assaulted while Vasquez was jumped by the rest of the group, the attorney said.
"This was not mutual combat, this was not one-on-one," Yates said. "This was a beat down."
The two deputies are alleging the Sheriff's Department fosters "gang-like activity" among its jail deputies that has led to violence between inmates, against inmates and, in this case, against fellow deputies. The allegations come amid other recent accusations of brutality inside county jails. Last February, an ACLU representative spurred an internal criminal investigation after she said she saw two deputies, unaware of her presence, beating an unconscious inmate for at least two minutes.
Public records obtained by The Times show that deputies assigned to the third floor of Men's Central Jail, where the gang-like clique is believed to have been formed, had a higher number of use-of-force incidents against inmates during a recent four-year period than those assigned to any other floor at the downtown L.A. facility.
In response to allegations that a gang-like clique had formed inside its jails, department officials say they have implemented regular staff rotations that might prevent deputies from forming such groups.
The lawsuit filed in federal court alleges the department is "grossly inadequate" in "disciplining and controlling … deputies, particularly with respect to illegal acts and acts of excessive force."
Gregory Smith, who is also representing the injured deputies, blamed sloppy hiring, saying the department needed to improve background checks so deputies "don't adopt the culture of the inmates they are charged by the public to guard."
Sheriff's officials have refused to name the deputies involved. The lawsuit identifies seven deputies: Alfonso Andrade, Hernan Delgado, Joseph Gonzalez, Juan Navarro, Jeffrey Rivera, Mauricio Rodriguez and Jason Snyder. The deputies could not be reached for comment.
Sheriff's officials would not confirm whether those names include the six whom the department has moved to fire. Attorney Richard A. Shinee, whose firm is representing the deputies on behalf of the deputies union, has said the men plan to fight the department's efforts to fire them.
Yates said his clients have lasting injuries, including back problems and deteriorated vision. One suffered a concussion, he said.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore denied the allegations that the Sheriff's Department fosters "lawlessness" among jail employees, saying the department has taken swift action in response to the incident. "The whole story will be told, and we look forward to the opportunity to tell it."
KPD gang tag at crime scene of The Dragonater's car theft
Knoxville Police Department gang tags in Tennessee PROVE KPD stole The Dragonater's two cars from private parking downtown, resulting in three class action lawsuits in three courts against KPD's cartheft rackets, and the firing of over 100 KPD towing contractors. But nobody was ever arrested nor prosecuted nor convicted. The Dragonater never got his cars back...something to do with his lawyer getting two guns put to his head and told They would "blow his brains out if he didn't do what he was told". The lawyer "voluntarily" dimissed his "slam dunk" lawsuits one month later. The "mugging" was never "solved" by KPD.
But The Dragonater did win dismissal of the KPD "reckless driving" ticket for safely riding at 50 mph in a 55 zone on I40. The KPD cop's personnel file proved he crashed his patrol car into innocent bystanders 4 times in 5 years. Now he's a Knox County commissioner.
KPD gang tag mocking The Dragonater's bike helmet
KPD gang tag at crime scene of The Dragonater's car theft
Looks like I picked a good time to quit doing meth in Monroe County!
Last week I visited MC, trying to get my high school transcripts. My school no longer exists, and TN Dept of Ed has no transcripts for any of the students from TN Military Institute nor it's post-Vietnam TMI Academy. Burt Reynolds later bought it, then the Japs, now it's abandoned.
Hiwassee College has destroyed my HS transcripts after 25 years, along with destroying its "Christian" college -- only 19 students graduated last year.
MC Dept of Ed has commandeered the "old" tech school, looking like a run down POS. No transcripts, of course. Does MC even have a tech school any more? Nearly lost my head there once, when a fan blade exploded, embedding itself in the ceiling 100 feet away.
Thank God I escaped from MC! Scary thing is, these folks went to the same school I did, and I was put in charge of nuclear weapons on supersonic aircraft...
WASHINGTON D.C. -- The Obama administration has floated a transportation authorization bill that would require the study and implementation of a plan to tax automobile drivers based on how many miles they drive.
The plan is a part of the administration's Transportation Opportunities Act, an undated draft of which was obtained this week by Transportation Weekly.
The White House, however, said the bill is only an early draft that was not formally circulated within the administration.
“This is not an administration proposal," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. "This is not a bill supported by the administration. This was an early working draft proposal that was never formally circulated within the administration, does not taken into account the advice of the president’s senior advisers, economic team or Cabinet officials, and does not represent the views of the president.”
News of the draft follows a March Congressional Budget Office report that supported the idea of taxing drivers based on miles driven.
Among other things, CBO suggested that a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax could be tracked by installing electronic equipment on each car to determine how many miles were driven; payment could take place electronically at filling stations.
The CBO report was requested by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who has proposed taxing cars by the mile as a way to increase federal highway revenues.
The proposal seems to follow up on that idea in section 2218 of the draft bill. That section would create, within the Federal Highway Administration, a Surface Transportation Revenue Alternatives Office. It would be tasked with creating a "study framework that defines the functionality of a mileage-based user fee system and other systems."
The department seemed to be aware of the need to prepare the public for what would likely be a controversial change to the way highway funds are collected. For example, the office is called on to serve a public-relations function, as the draft says it should "increase public awareness regarding the need for an alternative funding source for surface transportation programs and provide information on possible approaches."
The draft bill says the "study framework" for the project and a public awareness communications plan should be established within two years of creating the office, and that field tests should begin within four years.
The office would be required to consider four factors in field trials: the capability of states to enforce payment, the reliability of technology, administrative costs and "user acceptance." The draft does not specify where field trials should begin.
The new office would be funded a total of $300 million through fiscal 2017 for the project.
Irate Comments 2653+
Uh, forgive me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the federal gas tax already hit those that drive more the hardest? Didn't Obama promise that no American families making less than $250,000 a year would not see their taxes increased by one dime? This ridiculous idea will hurt the poorest the hardest—but then again, this administration couldn't care less.
I live 130 miles from the nearest city where i can use a hospial. My parents are old i i drive them at least twice a week to the Dr's. that is a total of 520 miles a week. Tthis does not take into consideration that i take my family to the city to shop for food clothing and the needs for my family. This would kill me at the pump. There already is a tax at the pump, try and raise it. I will not tolerate a tracking device from Big Brother.
Evidently we are not paying enough at the pump in their eyes, guess we'd be easier to control if we can't afford to drive and had to stay home. Guess they want us to go back to the stone age and use of horses and oxen that will crap all over the streets, releasing more methane into the atmosphere worsening "global warming."
Good luck getting them to put any device in my car that will keep track of my driving. Ain't gonna happen.
Republicans voiced their opposition to a proposal to tax drivers by miles driven over Twitter on Thursday.
"Obama admin idea: tax cars by-the-mile? Now that's ridiculous," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) tweeted.
Soon after, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tweeted that Americans didn't need another tax.
"Report frm @thehill says #POTUS floats plan to tax cars by the mile. #WeThePeople have been taxed enough already. #GOP http://bit.ly/kIiRwl," Paul tweeted Thursday afternoon.
Similarly, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said the proposed tax would "hurt constituents & millions more."
"Taxing drivers per mile driven, a plan floated by President Obama, will hurt my constituents & millions more: http://tiny.cc/hh2fm #tcot" Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) tweeted.
The Republicans' tweets came after the White House disowned a part of an early draft of the Transportation Opportunities Act which proposed a tax based on miles driven.
"This is not a bill supported by the administration," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. "This was an early working draft proposal that was never formally circulated within the administration, does not take into account the advice of the president’s senior advisers, economic team or Cabinet officials, and does not represent the views of the president.”
The draft of the act proposed establishing a "study framework that defines the functionality of a mileage-based user fee system and other systems."
Dictator Obama's Secretary of War Vinnie Da Chin Panetta and the Pentagram Joints Chief Of Operation Northwoods testified to Congress yesterday that Obama takes his orders to invade from United Nations and NATO, not Congress.
This is the equivalent ot Caesar crossing the Rubicon with his military to invade Rome under martial law, resulting in civil war, and 5 years later every member of the Roman Senate stabbing Caesar in the back...literally on the Ides Of March (next week...).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_rubicon
H.CON.RES.107 -- Expressing the sense of Congress that the use of offensive military force by a President without prior and clear authorization of an Act of Congress constitutes an impeachable high... (Introduced in House - IH)
HCON 107 IH
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 107
Expressing the sense of Congress that the use of offensive military force by a President without prior and clear authorization of an Act of Congress constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under article II, section 4 of the Constitution.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 7, 2012
Mr. JONES submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress that the use of offensive military force by a President without prior and clear authorization of an Act of Congress constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under article II, section 4 of the Constitution.
Whereas the cornerstone of the Republic is honoring Congress's exclusive power to declare war under article I, section 8, clause 11 of the Constitution: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that, except in response to an actual or imminent attack against the territory of the United States, the use of offensive military force by a President without prior and clear authorization of an Act of Congress violates Congress's exclusive power to declare war under article I, section 8, clause 11 of the Constitution and therefore constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under article II, section 4 of the Constitution.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s testimony asserting that the United Nations and NATO have supreme authority over the actions of the United States military, words which effectively declare Congress a ceremonial relic, have prompted Congressman Walter Jones to introduce a resolution that re-affirms such behavior as an “impeachable high crime and misdemeanor” under the Constitution.
During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday, Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey brazenly admitted that their authority comes not from the U.S. Constitution, but that the United States is subservient to and takes its marching orders from the United Nations and NATO, international bodies over which the American people have no democratic influence.
Panetta was asked by Senator Jeff Sessions, “We spend our time worrying about the U.N., the Arab League, NATO and too little time, in my opinion, worrying about the elected representatives of the United States. As you go forward, will you consult with the United States Congress?”
The Defense Secretary responded “You know, our goal would be to seek international permission. And we would come to the Congress and inform you and determine how best to approach this, whether or not we would want to get permission from the Congress.”
Despite Sessions’ repeated efforts to get Panetta to acknowledge that the United States Congress is supreme to the likes of NATO and the UN, Panetta exalted the power of international bodies over the US legislative branch.
“I’m really baffled by the idea that somehow an international assembly provides a legal basis for the United States military to be deployed in combat,” Sessions said. “I don’t believe it’s close to being correct. They provide no legal authority. The only legal authority that’s required to deploy the United States military is of the Congress and the president and the law and the Constitution.”
In an effort to re-affirm the fact that “the use of offensive military force by a President without prior and clear authorization of an Act of Congress constitutes an impeachable high crime and misdemeanor under article II, section 4 of the Constitution,” Republican Congressman Walter Jones has introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives.
The Pentagon is engaging in damage control after shocking testimony yesterday by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at a Senate Armed Services Committee congressional hearing during which it was confirmed that the U.S. government is now completely beholden to international power structures and that the legislative branch is a worthless relic.
During the hearing yesterday Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey brazenly admitted that their authority comes not from the U.S. Constitution, but that the United States is subservient to and takes its marching orders from the United Nations and NATO, international bodies over which the American people have no democratic influence.
Panetta was asked by Senator Jeff Sessions, “We spend our time worrying about the U.N., the Arab League, NATO and too little time, in my opinion, worrying about the elected representatives of the United States. As you go forward, will you consult with the United States Congress?”
The Defense Secretary responded “You know, our goal would be to seek international permission. And we would come to the Congress and inform you and determine how best to approach this, whether or not we would want to get permission from the Congress.”
Despite Sessions’ repeated efforts to get Panetta to acknowledge that the United States Congress is supreme to the likes of NATO and the UN, Panetta exalted the power of international bodies over the US legislative branch.
“I’m really baffled by the idea that somehow an international assembly provides a legal basis for the United States military to be deployed in combat,” Sessions said. “I don’t believe it’s close to being correct. They provide no legal authority. The only legal authority that’s required to deploy the United States military is of the Congress and the president and the law and the Constitution.”
Panetta’s assertion that he would seek “international permission” before ‘informing’ Congress about the actions of the US military provoked a firestorm of controversy, prompting the Pentagon to engage in damage control by claiming Panetta’s comments were misinterpreted.
“He was re-emphasizing the need for an international mandate. We are not ceding U.S. decision-making authority to some foreign body,” a defense official told CNN.
However, this is not the first time that the authority of international bodies has been framed as being superior to the US Congress and the Constitution.
In June last year, President Obama arrogantly expressed his hostility to the rule of law when he dismissed the need to get congressional authorization to commit the United States to a military intervention in Libya, churlishly dismissing criticism and remarking, “I don’t even have to get to the Constitutional question.”
Obama tried to legitimize his failure to obtain Congressional approval for military involvement by sending a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner in which he said the military assault was “authorized by the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council.”
Panetta’s testimony that the US looks to obtain “international permission” before it acts, allied with Obama citing the UN as the supreme authority while trashing the power of Congress, prove that the United States has ceded control over its own affairs to unelected international bureaucrats, just as the countries of the European Union have done likewise.
Attorney General Eric Holder, the top “legal” voice of the US regime, argued to Northwestern University law students that the US Constitution is no limit to the regime dictatorially assassinating Americans. This follows regime arguments to seize and “disappear” any person in opposition to regime dictates as “terrorist supporters,” and extracting their confessions with controlled drowning (euphemistically “waterboarding”), found by all US and international courts as torture. The regime’s followers in Congress voted for legislation (2006 Military Commissions Act, 2012 NDAA) that these dictates are consistent with the US Constitution.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/03/attorney-general-holder-degrades-us-to-fascist-assassination-nation-99-response.html
by Dr. Frederick D. Graves, JD, attorney at law Jurisdictionary.com
If you don't yet know how to stop lawyers from testifying, you may as well give up trying to win!
Lawyers will try to get evidence into the record by any sneaky trick they can use to influence the court, and if YOU don't know how to stop them, you might as well concede the case!
They will "testify" when they cannot find a competent witness or document to get the evidence in the proper way.
If you let them testify, you are giving your case away!
Lawyers lack "competence" to testify to the facts in a case, because they do not have first-hand knowledge of the facts.
All lawyers know is what they learn from others. They weren't "there" when things were done or said. All they know is what someone told them or showed them after the fact.
Preventing the lawyer on the other side from testifying to facts about which the lawyer has no first-hand knowledge will go a long way toward helping your case!
Do you know how to use the Rules to stop lawyers from testifying?
Do you know what Jurisdictionary teaches about how to object in court?
"Objection, your Honor! Counsel is testifying!"
And, when the lawyer on the other side responds with a barage of legal terminology, are YOU prepared to shut his mouth?
It's hard enough for good people to win when the court controls the evidence properly, but far too often people let the other side get away with crooked tactics all because they don't know how to stop it.
Courtroom objections are critical to winning!
You seen them on TV, but I can tell you after 25 years as a licensed attorney that what you see on TV is nothing like what happens in court when lawyers start flapping their gums!
Judges go to sleep with their eyes open or read the news or play video games on their laptop right up there on the bench where too many boys and girls gave their lives on the field of battle so we could have Justice in the land!
If you are not prepared for this, you lose!
Objections come in many forms:
hearsay asked and answered badgering outside the pleadings relevance facts not in evidence
and many more explained in detail in my 24-hour step-by-step lawsuit self-help course.
Let Jurisdictionary show you how to stop the games!
Let Jurisdictionary give you power to enforce your rights!
Let Jurisdictionary enlighten you to the tools and weapons every one of you possess to force our courts to impose the rules on your opponents!
There once was a time when the public could only learn about court practice from TV or movies, so good people lost while crooked lawyers raked in their clients' money!
"Shit's gettin way too complicated for me. There are white folks, and then there are ignorant mutherfuckers like you! You can put lipstick on a pig. Sorry ass mutherfucker's got nuttin on me. I inhaled frequently - that was the point. Pot helped, and booze. A little blow when you could afford it. Junkie, pothead. That's where I'd been headed. You ain't my bitch nigger, git your own damn fries!" -Barack Hussein Obama Soetoro, Dreams From My Father MP3
