Fred Harteis News - Ex-aide contradicts Gonzales on attorney firings

Fred Harteis News - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was wrong when he said he was not involved in discussions about the firings of U.S. attorneys, his former top aide testified Thursday.

Former Gonzales chief of staff Kyle Sampson told senators his boss took part in the process from early 2005, well before the eight prosecutors were dismissed in 2006.

Gonzales "and I had discussions about it during the thinking phase of the process," Sampson testified. "Then after the sort of more final phase of the process in the fall of 2006 began, we discussed it."

The testimony appeared to contradict statements Gonzales made during a March 13 news conference. "So far as I knew, my chief of staff was involved in the process of determining who were the weak performers," Gonzales said. He said he was "not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions about what was going on."

New York Sen. Charles Schumer, one of the panel's leading Democrats in the investigation, said, "The credibility of the attorney general on this issue has been more or less shattered."

However, Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Sampson's testimony was consistent with Gonzales' account of his involvement in the firings.

Gonzales said "he directed Mr. Sampson to lead the evaluation process, was kept aware of some conversations during the process, and that he approved the recommendations to seek the resignations of select U.S. attorneys," Roehrkasse said in a statement.

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Source: Cnn.com

About Fred Harteis: Fred Harteis leads Harteis International. Fred Harteis has a background in agriculture and has created many successful business ventures.

Fred Harteis News - Shredding can save you from identity theft

Fred Harteis News Articles - Got any secrets?

Sure you do. How about your bank and credit card statements? Personal bills, canceled or blank checks, investment information and financial statements? And, then there are medical records, income tax records and credit reports.

Do you simply toss them in the trash when you no longer need them for your records? If so, you need to change your modus operandi. Start shredding.

Anything you wouldn't feel comfortable having someone pick up and read, you should shred, says Jerry Haas, vice president of sales and marketing for American Document Destruction Corp.

Criminals need very little information to steal your identity. With your Social Security number they can apply for credit cards, cellular phones, loans, bank accounts, apartments and utility accounts.

Garbages hold a plethora of information. Once your Social Security number or an account number hits the dumpster, your identity is floating among the refuse, just waiting to be stolen. Shredding is a minimal inconvenience and minor expense compared to its alternative -- becoming an identity theft victim.

The Federal Trade Commission issued the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act in 2003, a law aimed at minimizing the risk of identity theft and consumer fraud. In November 2004, the FTC added the FACTA Disposal Rule to enforce the protection and disposal of sensitive consumer data.

Beginning June 1, 2005, the FACTA Disposal Rule says that "any person who maintains or otherwise possesses consumer information for a business purpose" must destroy discarded consumer information, whether in paper or electronic form.

Who must comply? Simply put, virtually everyone. Any business (whether employing one or thousands) using consumer information in its everyday operations or storing personal data as a business, such as banks, lenders, insurers, auto dealers, real estate agents, employers and record management companies, must safeguard consumer information. The new law also applies to service providers that destroy information, from shredders, recyclers, waste management or technology disposal companies.

The disposal rule offers business owners a few choices. They must burn, pulverize or shred paper documents and completely erase or destroy all electronic media. Or, they can contract a third-party information-destruction company.

Financial documents aren't the only items that should be destroyed rather than tossed out with the trash.

Bank information
Budgets
Canceled or blank checks
Credit card offers
Credit card information
Employee evaluations
Financial statements
Income tax records
Insurance coverage
Investment information
Legal papers
Medical records
Personal bills

Source: Cnn.com

About Fred Harteis: Fred Harteis leads Harteis International. Fred Harteis has a background in agriculture and has created many successful business ventures.

Fred Harteis News Articles- Y2K again? Daylight time may baffle computers

Fred Harteis News Articles - Normally the switch to daylight-saving time isn't a big deal, but this Sunday, Jeff Ronner has to put people on the case.

Ronner is a San Francisco-area field services manager for technology outsourcer Perot Systems Corp., and he handles computer systems for a big Perot client, Catholic Healthcare West. This week he was putting final touches on his plan to make certain that Catholic HealthCare's voicemail systems and other networks recognize daylight time.

Those computers, like those of all but the most recent vintage, probably were programmed to believe that daylight-saving time begins the first Sunday in April and ends the final Sunday in October.

Those rules, in place for two decades, were overturned by a 2005 U.S. law that extended daylight-saving time by three weeks in the spring and one week in the autumn.

This is nice for after-dinner strolls and might even save some energy (which was Congress' motive), but the computing industry has had to scramble. Many people only recently realized the change would even impact computers.

"This has been a little bit of a sleeper issue," said Brian Mulford, chief technology officer at Regulus Group LLC, which handles payments and other transactions for large consumer companies.

Computing vendors developed and sent out patches that alter how software deals with daylight-saving time -- which should cover most home PC users. Those who rely heavily on calendar programs should visit their software providers' Web sites for advice.

"The average person, John and Jane computer user, is unlikely to see much of a problem, if anything," said David Keller, founder of Compu-Doctor, a computer-help provider in Florida.

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Source: Cnn.com

About Fred Harteis: Fred Harteis leads Harteis International. Fred Harteis has a background in agriculture and has created many successful business ventures.

Fred Harteis News Articles - Executions must be condemned, U.S. says

Fred Harteis News Articles - The U.S. military is calling on all Iraqi leaders, Sunni and Shia, to condemn the recent kidnapping and killing of 15 Iraqi police officers in retaliation for the alleged rape of a Sunni woman.

"With many influential leaders making the same statement, the population will realize that these terrorists are not the future of Iraq," said Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of U.S.-led troops in Diyala province, where the police officers were killed on Friday.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's office confirmed Saturday that a video posted on an al Qaeda-connected Web site showed the execution of the police officers who were kidnapped on Thursday.

The video, posted by a Sunni insurgent group called the Islamic State of Iraq, shows a group of Iraqi men blindfolded in a room. In the final 21 seconds, the video cuts to a scene showing the men lined up, kneeling in a field, before they are shot in the back of the head.

The Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and killings in retaliation for an alleged rape that has aggravating the already deteriorating ties between Sunnis and Shiites.

Shiite government leaders, including al-Maliki, say the rape allegation was fabricated and is serving to undermine the Baghdad security plan's effort to target any and all insurgents, no matter what their ethnic or religious affiliation.

Sunni leaders believe the alleged victim is telling the truth and are outraged by the officials' response.

Al-Maliki also questioned whether retaliation was the actual motive of those behind the police officers' killings.

To read this complete Fred Harteis News Article visit our news partner at:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/03/04/iraq.execution/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Source: Cnn.com

About Fred Harteis: Fred Harteis leads Harteis International. Fred Harteis has a background in agriculture and has created many successful business ventures.