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Tag: Sandra Day O’Connor
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Blackwater’s protective web
Blackwater USA, the State Department’s largest private security contractor, is under siege on several fronts.
Iraq’s state minister for national security affairs announced today that the firm would face criminal charges for the fatal shootings of Iraqi citizens. Blackwater, based in Moyock, N.C., is also under investigation on the home front.
But a tight web of political and business connections helps shield the company from the most formidable of attacks.
Erik Prince, the former Navy SEAL who founded Blackwater in 1996, is a major contributor to the GOP. Federal Election Commission records show that he has given more than $200,000 to Republican committees and candidates in the last decade.
His sister, Betsy DeVos, is the former chair of the Michigan Republican Party and wife of Amway co-founder Dick DeVos, unsuccessful candidate for governor.
Prince is also on the board of Christian Freedom International, a nonprofit whose aim is to help persecuted Christians around the world. Fellow board members include former Sen. Don Nickles and former Swiss ambassador Faith Whittlesey.
The group’s president, Jim Jacobson, was a policy analyst with the Reagan White House. Its vice chairman, Paul Behrends, was a partner in the once-powerful lobbyist firm, Alexander Strategy Group, which represented Blackwater. The group closed shop in January 2006, citing unfavorable publicity from its ties to Jack Abramoff.
Blackwater’s vice chairman, Cofer Black, is former director of counterterrorism for the CIA and also a top adviser to the Mitt Romney presidential campaign.
Officers of Blackwater’s parent company, Prince Group, include Joseph Schmitz, former inspector general of the Defense Department and the son of a congressman. (An irrelevant but interesting connection here: Schmitz’s sister is Mary Kay LeTourneau, the former school teacher who was prosecuted and imprisoned for having sex with an underaged student. The two were married after her release in 2004.)
Blackwater resumed guarding American diplomatic convoys in Iraq on Friday, after Iraqi officials backed away from plans to expel the company. The Iraq ministry said Blackwater guards had fired on a Baghdad square without provocation, killing 11 people.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has ordered a review of security practices in the wake of the shootings. Federal prosecutors also are investigating whether company employees illegally smuggled weapons into Iraq.
On the web:
Iraq Probe of U.S. Security Firm Grows – Washington Post -
Dreamworks and Paramount Headed for Splitsville
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Buffett Connection Leads to Major Gift
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The People Behind the X Prize
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Global Network Searches for Fossett
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Mark Warner Running for Senate
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New School Touched by Hsu Scandal
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Judith Miller Joins Think Tank
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Plum Tv Courts the Elite
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Thompson Announces Candidacy
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Google Signs Deal With Wire Services
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The Beckhams Move West
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Lost but linked – Relationship Map for the TV show Lost
All is not what it seems on the island.
MAP HINTS: Click expands a name. Control+Click centers map on a name. Solid lines are current relations. Dotted lines are former relations. For advanced tools choose Tools > Options from the menu at top. More help. Not seeing the maps? Please go here to check for the latest version of Java.
See large version of map | See full screen version of map | Put this map on your blog
The survivors of the crash of Ocean Flight 815 have untold connections that viewers of the hit ABC Lost glimpse in strobe-like flashbacks.
The astute viewer (addict would be more appropriate) knows more than the characters. Jack and Claire, for example, have no idea that they’re step-siblings. Nor has Jack learned that Shannon’s father was in a car accident with Sarah, Jack’s future wife. Jack, the physician on duty, chose to save Sarah but not Shannon’s father.
And Hurley has yet to discover that Libby gave Desmond her sailboat, or that John Lock worked for his box company.
Sometimes, though, even these lost souls figure things out. Sawyer did tell Jack that he had a long conversation with Jack’s father shortly before his death.
On the web
Official Lost Web site (ABC.com) -
Lost but linked – Relationship Map for the TV show Lost
All is not what it seems on the island.
The survivors of the crash of Ocean Flight 815 have untold connections that viewers of the hit ABC Lost glimpse in strobe-like flashbacks.
The astute viewer (addict would be more appropriate) knows more than the characters. Jack and Claire, for example, have no idea that they’re step-siblings. Nor has Jack learned that Shannon’s father was in a car accident with Sarah, Jack’s future wife. Jack, the physician on duty, chose to save Sarah but not Shannon’s father.
And Hurley has yet to discover that Libby gave Desmond her sailboat, or that John Lock worked for his box company.
Sometimes, though, even these lost souls figure things out. Sawyer did tell Jack that he had a long conversation with Jack’s father shortly before his death.
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Anthony Pellicano: Hollywood undercover
The ongoing federal investigation of private eye Anthony Pellicano is revealing connections that many Hollywood celebs would prefer to keep quiet.
More than a dozen people have been arrested, and Pellicano is in jail, awaiting trial on charges of bribery, conspiracy, racketeering and illegal wiretapping.
Entertainment moguls and other elites have sought Pellicano’s skills over the years. His client list included former Disney chief Michael Ovitz, rock star Courtney Love and attorney Bert Fields.
It remains to be seen whether this case will establish itself as one of Tinseltown’s great scandals. A federal judge recently postponed Pellicano’s trial until 2008.
On the web
In Court Files, Hollywoodís Mr. Fix-It at Work – New York Times
The Pellicano Case – Los Angeles Times -
Smoke gets in Bono’s eyes
The Kennedy dynasty
The family name has stood for money and power since John D. Rockefeller built one of America’s great fortunes with Standard Oil Co. Subsequent generations have continued to hold sway in politics, finance and philanthropy.
Jay Rockefeller – officially John D. Rockefeller IV – chairs the Senate intelligence committee. His uncle, David Rockefeller, is chairman emeritus of the Museum of Modern Art and its biggest benefactor.
One uncle, Nelson A., was governor of New York and vice president. Another, Winthrop, was governor of Arkansas. Winthrop’s son Winthrop Paul was lieutenant governor. He curtailed his campaign for governor after being diagnosed with a rare blood ailment that led to his death in 2005.
Other dynasties
Read related stories: Dynasties 
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