CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Albany Mosque Leaders Indicted Again

Remember when federal agents raided an Albany mosque in August 2004?

Two men were arrested on suspicion of planning to buy shoulder-launched missiles.

The men, Yassim Muhhidin Aref, 34 yr, imam of the Majid Al Salam mosque; and Mohammed Mosharref Hoosain, 49, founder of the mosque, were suspected of ties to the terrorist group Ansar al-Islam, which has been linked to al-Qaida.

The New York Post reported an Iraq connection to the raid. Aref's name, address and telephone number in Albany were all in an address book found by U.S. soldiers during a raid on a terror training camp run by the Ansar al-Islam.

Today, the Associated Press reports a federal grand jury has handed up new indictments charging the two with conspiring to support terrorists:

The superseding indictment returned Thursday also charges Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain with attempting to provide support to Jaish-e-Mohammed, an Islamic extremist group based in Pakistan that is on the State Department's list of designated foreign terrorist organizations.

Aref also was charged with making a false statement when he answered "none" to an immigration question asking him to list any organizations to which he had belonged. He also was charged with making false statements to the FBI when he was arrested in August 2004 and denied he was a member of the Islamic Movement in Kurdistan. At the time, he also denied knowing Mullah Krekar, believed to be the founder of Ansar-al-Islam, a radical Islamic fundamentalist group.

The two have been free on $250,000 bond since shortly after their arrest in August 2004. The charge of providing material assistance to a terrorist organization is legally more serious charge than the original and could result in the bail being revoked.

Why do these prosecutions take so long?

Exploding Bus Driver Held On Immigration Charges

The Mexican driver of the bus that burned during the Hurricane Rita evacuation killing 23 was arrested Tuesday evening on immigration charges.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the driver was picked-up at the bus company's offices he lived in a travel trailer on company property. He is being detained for unlawful entry:

"Right now we are holding him on an administrative charge of entry without inspection, which means he snuck into the country and didn't come through a port of entry," said Alonzo Pena, Special Agent in Charge of the ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] district in San Antonio.

That shouldn't be to hard to prove. The Chronicle quotes the driver's brother as saying the driver has been in the country without documents since last year and had worked for Global Limo since February. The driver lost his Border Crossing Card last year after it was seized by immigration agents at a port of entry.

The driver is also a defendant in the first lawsuit filed in the bus fire. The lawsuit accuses the driver, the bus company and the nursing-home company of negligence. The Dallas Morning News has more on the lawsuit .

Maybe Immigration and Customs Enforcement could actually enforce the law and fine the bus company. Could someone explain why the driver's Border Crossing Card was seized last year, but the driver wasn't.

Roberts Confirmed

The Senate has confirmed John Roberts as Chief Justice.

The 78-22 vote was as expected.

All 55 Republicans and the 1 "Independent" voted for confirmation.
The 44 Democrats split 22-22

Democrats voting for Roberts:

Baucus, Bingaman, Byrd, Carper, Conrad, Dodd, Dorgan, Feingold, Johnson, Khol, Landrieu, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Lincoln, Murray, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Pryor, Rockefeller, Salazar and Wyden.

Democrats voting against Roberts:

Akaka,Bayh, Biden, Boxer, Cantwell, Clinton, Corzine, Dayton, Durbin, Feinstein, Harkin, Inouye, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Mikulski, Obama, Reed, Reid, Sarbanes, Schumer and Stabenow.

Roberts Confirmation Vote Watch

Updated 9/29/05 at 3:35 AM. Originally posted on 9/26/05

All 55 Senate Republicans are expected to vote for confirmation. The 44 Democrats are split. "Independent" James Jeffords of Vermont has announced he will vote for confirmation.

21 Democrats have announced their support for Roberts:

Baucus, Bingaman, Byrd, Carper, Conrad, Dodd, Dorgan, Feingold, Johnson, Khol, Landrieu, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Lincoln, Murray, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Pryor and Salazar, Wyden.

21 Democrats have announced their opposition:

Bayh, Biden, Boxer, Cantwell, Clinton, Corzine, Dayton, Durbin, Feinstein, Harkin, Inouye, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Mikulski, Obama, Reed, Reid, Sarbanes, Schumer and Stabenow.

That leaves two Democrats who have not yet announced how they will vote.

I have linked the source for the announcement or press report of each senator's position that I have included in the counts. I haven't had the time to track done many of the Republicans, but I am not aware of any Republican who has indicated an intention to vote against Roberts" confirmation.

Akaka, Daniel- (D - HI)

Alexander, Lamar- (R - TN) Announced he will vote for confirmation.

Allard, Wayne- (R - CO) Announced he will vote for confirmation.

Allen, George- (R - VA) Announced his support for Roberts.

Baucus, Max- (D - MT) Announced he will vote for confirmation.

Bayh, Evan- (D - IN) Announced he will vote against confirmation.

Bennett, Robert- (R - UT)

Biden, Joseph- (D - DE) Announced he would vote against confirmation and voted against recommending confirmation in the Judiciary Committee.

Bingaman, Jeff- (D - NM) Announced he will vote for confirmation.

Bond, Christopher- (R - MO)

Boxer, Barbara- (D - CA) Announced she will vote against confirmation.

Brownback, Sam- (R - KS)

Bunning, Jim- (R - KY)

Burns, Conrad- (R - MT)

Burr, Richard- (R - NC)

Byrd, Robert- (D - WV) Press reports he will vote for confirmation.

Cantwell, Maria- (D - WA) Press reports she will vote for confirmation.

Carper, Thomas- (D - DE) Press reports he will vote for confirmation.

Chafee, Lincoln- (R - RI) Press reports he will vote for confirmation.

Chambliss, Saxby- (R - GA)

Clinton, Hillary- (D - NY) Announced she will vote against confirmation.

Coburn, Tom- (R - OK)

Cochran, Thad- (R - MS)

Coleman, Norm- (R - MN)

Collins, Susan- (R - ME)

Conrad, Kent- (D - ND) Press reports he will vote for confirmation.

Cornyn, John- (R - TX)

Corzine, Jon- (D - NJ) Announced he will vote against confirmation.

Craig, Larry- (R - ID)

Crapo, Michael- (R - ID)

Dayton, Mark- (D - MN) Announced he will vote against confirmation.

DeMint, Jim- (R - SC)

DeWine, Mike- (R - OH)

Dodd, Christopher- (D - CT) Press reports he will vote for confirmation.

Dole, Elizabeth- (R - NC)

Domenici, Pete- (R - NM)

Dorgan, Byron- (D - ND) Press reports he will vote for confirmation.

Durbin, Richard- (D - IL) Voted against recommending confirmation in the Judiciary Committee.

Ensign, John- (R - NV)

Enzi, Michael- (R - WY)

Feingold, Russell- (D - WI) Announced he would vote for confirmation and voted for recommending confirmation in the Judiciary Committee.

Feinstein, Dianne- (D - CA) Announced she would vote against confirmation and voted against recommending confirmation in the Judiciary Committee.

Frist, Bill- (R - TN)

Graham, Lindsey- (R - SC)

Grassley, Chuck- (R - IA)

Gregg, Judd- (R - NH)

Hagel, Chuck- (R - NE)

Harkin, Tom- (D - IA) Announced he would vote against confirmation.

Hatch, Orrin- (R - UT)

Hutchison, Kay- (R - TX)

Inhofe, James- (R - OK)

Inouye, Daniel- (D - HI) Press reports he will vote against confirmation.

Isakson, Johnny- (R - GA)

Jeffords, James- (I - VT) Announced he would vote against confirmation.

Johnson, Tim- (D - SD) Announced he will vote for confirmation.

Kennedy, Edward- (D - MA) Announced he would vote against confirmation and voted against recommending confirmation in the Judiciary Committee.

Kerry, John- (D - MA) Announced he would vote against confirmation and voted against recommending confirmation in the Judiciary Committee.

Kohl, Herb- (D - WI) Announced he would vote for confirmation and voted for recommending confirmation in the Judiciary Committee.

Kyl, Jon- (R - AZ)

Landrieu, Mary- (D - LA) Press reports she will vote for confirmation.

Lautenberg, Frank- (D - NJ) Press reports he will vote against confirmation.

Leahy, Patrick- (D - VT) Announced she will vote for confirmationwould vote for confirmation and voted for recommending confirmation in the Judiciary Committee.

Levin, Carl- (D - MI) Announced he will vote for confirmation.

Lieberman, Joseph- (D - CT) Press reports he will vote for confirmation.

Lincoln, Blanche- (D - AR) Announced she will vote for confirmation.

Lott, Trent- (R - MS)

Lugar, Richard- (R - IN)

Martinez, Mel- (R - FL)

McCain, John- (R - AZ)

McConnell, Mitch- (R - KY)

Mikulski, Barbara- (D - MD) Announced she will vote against confirmation.

Murkowski, Lisa- (R - AK)

Murray, Patty- (D - WA) Announced she will vote for confirmation.

Nelson, Bill- (D - FL) Press reports he will vote for confirmation.

Nelson, Ben- (D - NE) Announced he will vote for confirmation.

Obama, Barack- (D - IL) Announced he will vote against confirmation.

Pryor, Mark- (D - AR) Announced he will vote for confirmation.

Reed, Jack- (D - RI) Announced he will vote against confirmation.

Reid, Harry- (D - NV) Announced he will vote against confirmation.

Roberts, Pat- (R - KS)

Rockefeller, John- (D - WV)

Salazar, Ken- (D - CO) Announced he will vote for confirmation.

Santorum, Rick- (R - PA)

Sarbanes, Paul- (D - MD) Press reports he will vote against confirmation.

Schumer, Charles- (D - NY) Announced he would vote against confirmation and voted against recommending confirmation in the Judiciary Committee.

Sessions, Jeff- (R - AL)

Shelby, Richard- (R - AL)

Smith, Gordon- (R - OR)

Snowe, Olympia- (R - ME) Announced she will vote for confirmation.

Specter, Arlen- (R - PA)

Stabenow, Debbie- (D - MI) Announced she would vote against confirmation.

Stevens, Ted- (R - AK)

Sununu, John- (R - NH)

Talent, James- (R - MO)

Thomas, Craig- (R - WY)

Thune, John- (R - SD)

Vitter, David- (R - LA)

Voinovich, George- (R - OH) Press reports he will vote for confirmation.

Warner, John- (R - VA)

Wyden, Ron- (D - OR) Announced he would vote for confirmation.

Blunt Replaces Delay

Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri replaced Tom Delay as House Majority Leader. Blunt, who as majority whip ranked just below DeLay in the Republican hierarchy, was elected by a vote of the 231-member party caucus at a meeting in Washington.

Russia's Clipper, More Back to the Future

While NASA proposes the U.S. replace the space shuttle with Apollo On Steroids, Russia is planning to replace its workhorse Soyuz capsule with a shuttle called the Clipper.

The Clipper will be a space shuttle, made of two parts. The hardware compartment will be disposable. The "people carrier" module to be used to transport astronauts will be capable of 25 space missions.

The BBC reports that the European Space Agency (ESA) is proposing joining forces with Russia to develop the spaceship of the future.

Alain Fournier-Sicre, head of the Esa permanent mission in the Russian Federation, says the Clipper is meant to service the space station and to go between Earth and an orbit around the Moon with six crew members.

Russia is planning to begin unmanned flight tests of the Clipper in 2011.

Because it is winged, the Clipper is more appealing than Apollo On Steroids, but the Clipper will still rely on parachutes to return to earth. More importantly, the Clipper can't land on the moon.

The image is a mock-up of the Clipper that was on display at the Moscow Airshow.

Corzine Slipping

The Associated Press reports three new polls show Republican Doug Forrester gaining on Senator Corzine in the New Jersey governor's race. According to the Associated Press, Corzine's double-digit lead to as little as 4 percentage points:

The Quinnipiac poll of 874 likely voters released Wednesday put Corzine ahead 48 percent to 44 percent. Corzine had a 10-point advantage in an Aug. 10 Quinnipiac poll. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

[. . .]

A Fairleigh Dickinson University-PublicMind poll Tuesday showed Corzine up by 8 percentage points, compared with 13 points back in July. And a new poll by Monmouth University and Gannett newspapers had the senator up by 9 points.

Corzine is under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee over his failure to disclose a $470,000 mortgage loan in 2002 to his then-girlfriend, Carla Katz, president of Communications Workers of America Local 1034. The union represents 9,000 New Jersey state employees.

DeLay Indicted

Bloomberg reports House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was indicted by a Texas grand jury on a single count of criminal conspiracy.

DeLay faces up to two years in prison and will temporarily step aside as House majority leader.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert will recommend Representative David Dreier of California to replace DeLay.

Two former campaign aides, John Colyandro and Jim Ellis, were also charged with conspiracy by the grand jury in Austin, Texas, said Linda Estrada, the court clerk.

The indictment stems from a grand jury investigation into alleged use of illegal corporate contributions by DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, in the 2002 races for the state House of Representatives.

According to the Associated Press, the indictment accused DeLay of a conspiracy to "knowingly make a political contribution" in violation of Texas law outlawing corporate contributions:

"The defendants entered into an agreement with each other or with TRMPAC (Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee) to make a political contribution in violation of the Texas election code," says the four-page indictment. "The contribution was made directly to the Republican National Committee within 60 days of a general election."

The indictment is available [in pdf format] here courtesy of Findlaw.

Acela Train Hits Car

The Associated Press reports an Amtrak Acela train collided with a car at a crossing in Waterford, Connecticut.

WFSB reports two people were killed in the collision and a third sent to the hospital via Lifestar helicopter.

The engine of the train can be seen resting on wreckage of a white car along the tracks about 100 yards south of the Miner Lane crossing.

The pictures are from WTHN's Chopper 8.

Space Shuttle 'A Mistake'

USA Today reports NASA administrator, Michael Griffin, says
the space shuttle and International Space Station were mistakes:

In a meeting with USA TODAY's editorial board, Griffin said NASA lost its way in the 1970s, when the agency ended the Apollo moon missions in favor of developing the shuttle and space station, which can only orbit Earth.

"It is now commonly accepted that was not the right path," Griffin said. "We are now trying to change the path while doing as little damage as we can."

[. . .]

Griffin has made clear in previous statements that he regards the shuttle and space station as misguided. He told the Senate earlier this year that the shuttle was "deeply flawed" and that the space station was not worth "the expense, the risk and the difficulty" of flying humans to space.

I still remain impressed by the technological achievement that the shuttle was and still is. Nevertheless, it has not achieved the purpose of providing easier, cheaper and more reliable access to space. What is worse the shuttle and space station have left us marooned on earth with no way to get would be space voyagers more than 520 miles from the earth.

Sadly, NASA's "Apollo On Steroids" approach, while returning us to the moon and possibly getting us to mars, is uninspiring and likewise does not provide cheap reliable access to space.