From The Birmingham News
Friday, July 02, 2004
U.S. WITNESS IN SIEGELMAN CASE INDICTED
Young accused of bribing Cherokee County judge
By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and VAL WALTON

A grand jury Thursday charged a federal witness who has been helping in an investigation of former Gov. Don Siegelman's administration with bribery, money laundering and conspiracy in connection with a Cherokee County landfill project.

Clayton "Lanny" Young is accused of paying $65,000 in bribes to former Cherokee County Probate Judge Phillip Jordan for his help with the landfill, according to a nine-count indictment returned Thursday.

Some of the payments, disguised as purchases of cattle or hay, made to Jordan went through checks cashed by the late DeKalb County Probate Judge Paul Thomas, who died last week in a fall at his Sand Mountain home.

Thomas cashed the checks as a favor to his longtime friend, Jordan, and was not aware of any deal Jordan had with Young, said Huntsville lawyer Herman Watson Jr., a friend of Thomas'. Thomas was helping federal investigators at the time of his death, Watson said.

Jordan, who resigned Tuesday as part of a deal with prosecutors, will plead guilty at a later date to one count of extortion relating to a federal public corruption statute, according to a plea agreement filed Thursday. Prosecutors have accused Jordan of using his influence as probate judge and County Commission chairman to help Young in his landfill deal in 1997 and 1998.

"He's a human being with human frailties and he made a mistake," said Thomas Spina, a Birmingham lawyer representing Jordan. "He is extremely remorseful about it and is prepared to accept the consequences of his actions and ask that the people of Cherokee County forgive him."

The new charges against Young came as a surprise, said Stephen Glassroth, his lawyer. Young pleaded guilty last year to a bribery scheme involving state officials and agreed to help prosecutors in an investigation of Siegelman's administration.

Raises questions:

But the new charges Thursday, which come out of the Birmingham-based federal court, raise questions about Young's continued cooperation with prosecutors in the Montgomery-based federal court who are working on the Siegelman investigation.

"That casts that in an entirely different light now," Glassroth said. "I think he has to make a determination in light of what the government has done as to whether he can continue to cooperate."

A federal grand jury in Montgomery has been hearing testimony since last week from witnesses with ties to Siegelman's failed lottery campaign, including contributors, aides and campaign workers. Some of the testimony has involved a tax break Young helped a client obtain from state officials.

Thursday's indictment in Birmingham accuses Young of offering Jordan $100,000 for his help with the landfill project. Jordan admitted in his agreement with prosecutors to receiving $65,000 in exchange for securing county approval for Young's project and for helping Young transfer ownership of the landfill to a company that later became known as Waste Management Inc.

Young has testified in an unrelated case that he earned as much as $3 million in the sale of the landfill to Waste Management. His plea agreement last year states that he helped Waste Management obtain a tax break through a bribery scheme with a Siegelman aide.

Young faces two counts of bribery, five of money laundering, one of conspiracy and one of public corruption.

Money laundering:

The money-laundering counts accuse Young of making checks payable to people other than Jordan, who cashed them on his behalf and gave Jordan the money, the indictment states.

Two checks for $7,000 and a third for $6,000 were made to "Darrell Jordan," a person prosecutors said did not exist.

Thomas cashed those checks at Fort Payne banks in August 1999 for Jordan, said lawyers familiar with the case. The indictment does not name Thomas specifically, but it states that "another person" cashed the checks at Jordan's request.

Watson said Thursday that Thomas had no idea that Jordan was doing anything illegal. "Phillip asked him to cash them as a courtesy," Watson said. "He had no reason to believe he was a crook."

There was never any indication from prosecutors that he misused his office or "violated any public trust," Watson said.

"I will tell you that Paul Thomas did not receive any money. All the evidence indicates that he did not know Lanny Young," Watson said.

Thomas' fatal fall from a slippery cliff behind his home was ruled an accidental death, Cherokee County District Attorney Mike O'Dell said. Investigators were not aware of Thomas' role in the landfill case, but O'Dell said the autopsy results clearly indicate the death was accidental.

U.S. Attorney Alice Martin would not comment on Thomas.

The indictment also states that Jordan received $16,000 through two other checks made to Betty K. Jordan, the wife of one of Jordan's cousins. Betty Jordan cashed the checks and gave the money to Jordan, the indictment states.

Efforts to reach Betty Jordan for comment failed Thursday.

Public asked to help:

Martin, during a news conference, urged residents of DeKalb and Cherokee counties who had information about the case to contact authorities and anyone involved in it to come forward. "Assisting law enforcement is now the best way of assisting yourself and potentially limiting your criminal exposure," Martin said.

Glassroth said Young has not had a chance to review the charges and likely will address the indictment publicly next week.

But Glassroth said he is uncertain how much, if at all, his client can continue to help prosecutors in Montgomery. Glassroth praised Montgomery federal prosecutors for their dealings with Young. "Mr. Young has never had a problem stepping up to the plate and admitting his wrongdoings," Glassroth said.

Young will have to choose between protecting his rights to defend himself in the Birmingham federal case and fulfilling his agreement with Montgomery prosecutors to help in the Siegelman investigation, Glassroth said.

Young and former Siegelman aide Nick Bailey admitted last year to a bribery scheme, in which Young paid Bailey and arranged for the purchases of a motorcycle, a four-wheeler and a trailer for a state official. Separate state records and Montgomery County tax filings show Siegelman acquired a motorcycle, four-wheeler and trailer about the same time as the purchases outlined by Bailey and Young.

Young, if convicted, faces more than 20 years in prison and fines of more than $500,000.

Jordan has turned over more than $50,000 to prosecutors that he said he received in the deal. The extortion charge against Jordan carries a maximum sentence of 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000. But prosecutors have agreed to recommend a lesser sentence if he complies with his plea agreement.

TIMELINE: Building a case against a governor

December 1998
Gov.-elect Don Siegelman asks Gov. Fob James to delay awarding Medicaid contracts to provide care for poor, pregnant women.

March 9, 1999
Dr. Phillip Bobo's business, Neighborhood Health Services, wins the Medicaid contract. The loser later sues.

May 1999
State Fire College receives more money in budget.

July 1999
Alabama prosecutors seize state Medicaid records in criminal investigation into millions of dollars in contracts for maternity care.

May 2001
A federal grand jury indicts Dr. Phillip Bobo on charges of fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors claim Bobo offered a competing state business money to drop out of the running for the Medicaid contracts.

October 2001
Bobo goes on trial. Prosecutors play a tape of Bobo saying he got additional funds put at the State Fire College, "with the blessing of the administration."

October 2001
A jury convicts Bobo.

August 2003
A federal appeals court tosses out Bobo's conviction, saying the indictment against Bobo was too broad and nonspecific. Prosecutors begin reworking the case rather than appeal.

June 2003
A federal probe penetrates Siegelman's inner circle. Former Siegelman aide Nick Bailey and lobbyist Lanny Young plead guilty to bribery and income tax charges arising out of a federal investigation of the Siegelman administration. The pleas have nothing to do with the Bobo case, but both agree to cooperate with federal investigators.

February 2004
Court papers indicate Bailey is helping on a pending case in north Alabama.

May 27, 2004
Prosecutors announce a grand jury indicted Siegelman; his former chief of staff, Paul Hamrick; and Bobo on charges of conspiracy, health care fraud and program fraud.



From The Washington Post
'FAHRENHEIT 9/11' TURNS UP THE HEAT
By Desson Thomson

"FAHRENHEIT 9/11," is a guided missile aimed directly at the presidency of George W. Bush, just four months ahead of the national election.

Its political purpose is unequivocal. But here's the part that matters: Its trajectory is guided with pinpoint accuracy. With an ironic narrative that takes us from the Florida debacle that decided the 2000 presidential election to the political nettling aftermath of war in Iraq, "Fahrenheit 9/11" sagely uses the public record, the facts and the president's goofiest statements and on-camera performances to score its points.

Documentaries aren't news articles; they're subjective points of view, which is why Moore has almost endless fun at the president's expense. (Attorney General John Ashcroft gets his share of ridicule, too.) "Fahrenheit 9/11" obviously skews facts to its own advantage, but that's what the game is all about. What counts is the emotional power of Moore's persuasion. With a combination of events and facts that we have already learned, and some that we haven't, Moore puts it all together. You can understand the thread of his argument, even if you disagree.

What's remarkable, too, is Moore's departure from his usual obnoxious bluster. This is the first film from Moore where you don't think about the shrillness of his sanctimony so much as the urgency of his outrage. He lets the documentary speak for itself: a radical strategy for a man best known for megaphone-toting rantings and candid-camera-style stunts.

What are the movie's points? It accuses the president and his inner circle (including James Baker and financial adviser James R. Bath) of being so financially and personally connected to friends in high Saudi Arabian places, they were too compromised to take decisive action against Osama bin Laden. The film also claims that, after planes struck the World Trade Center in 2001, and there was a moratorium on all commercial flights around the country, the Bush administration helped many members of the wealthy bin Laden family evacuate the country -- by plane.

The strong implication is that these evacuations were performed during the flight ban. This may be the film's iffiest moment, in terms of accuracy, but there's no easy way to verify or discredit this. If it is indeed true, it's an explosive revelation.

The director makes many more of his points in dramatic, emotional ways. He documents, for instance, how the president was busier practicing his golf swing and clearing brush than paying attention to terrorist threats before Sept. 11, 2001. He opines that the color codes that we have learned to live by -- the red and orange alerts that indicate the severity of a terrorism risk -- were part of a strategy to petrify the nation into support for an Iraq invasion.

In one of the most stunning scenes, we watch the president attending an elementary school class on that ill-fated morning. An aide whispers to him news of the plane crash into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The look on Bush's face is stunned, as any person's would be. A clock ticks away. The president looks as though he'll never get up from that seat. The minutes tick by.

"Was he wondering if he should have shown up to work more often?" Moore says in voice-over. The president stares at the children's book he's holding. It's called "My Pet Goat."

This would seem to be mere partisan tomato-hurling, if we hadn't just observed the previous scene: the attack on Manhattan. For that devastating event, Moore shows only a black screen. We hear the buzzing of the aircraft. We know what's coming. We hear the impact and, a second later, the agonized cries and gasps of the witnesses.

Then comes the second crash. Only then does Moore cut to the faces of those watching. A tearful woman cries out to God to save the souls of those leaping from the windows. Another, devastated, sits down on the sidewalk. We don't see the jumpers. But we feel we do. And it makes watching the "My Pet Goat" scene more disturbing than funny.

If there was any movie to affect the political middle -- those rare Americans who come to each presidential election without a pre-existing opinion -- this may be it. There are startling scenes during the American invasion of Iraq that include the visceral terror of a household in Baghdad, as young American soldiers break in to arrest someone; and the candid testimony of U.S. troops who express their disgust at the situation there. Perhaps most persuasive of all is the dramatic turnaround experienced by Lila Lipscomb, a Michigan mother. She changes from patriotic support for the Bush administration to heartbroken despair after she loses a son to the war. In one of the film's most affecting moments, Lipscomb finds herself facing an Iraqi woman who sits before cardboard placards protesting the war on Lafayette Square, right in front of the White House. Two people on opposing sides, suddenly find themselves experiencing common ground. Moments like this mark "Fahrenheit 9/11" as a potential cultural juggernaut -- a film for these troubling times.

FAHRENHEIT 9/11 (R, 112 minutes) -- Contains footage of war dead and wounded, including children.



VNN HOLDS SUCCESSFUL MENTORING SESSION
By Sharon Childs-Long

Birmingham, AL -- In April, VNN gave $30,000 in scholarship money to 30 outstanding Birmingham high school seniors. In June, VNN’s Publisher and Founder gave 8 hours of his most expensive commodity - time, to 18 of the scholarship winners. During a full-day work session, Donald V. Watkins conducted three two-hour sessions with the students. His discussion focused on the true world of business and leadership.

“My son left his mentoring session with Mr. Watkins with a new energy about education, business and issues according to the real world,” said Deborah Robinson, mother of Maury Robinson, one of the scholarship winners who is attending Morehouse College this summer. “Maury left his session with a business proposal to evaluate and prepare a report for Mr. Watkins. He is implementing many of the things Mr. Watkins suggested and making them work in his favor this summer,” she added.

The first mentoring session was designed to allow VNN’s staff to become familiar with the participants, their plans and career goals. Prior to the next mentoring sessions, the students will be placed in groups with similar interests. The sessions revealed career goals ranging from medicine to theatrical production.

“These kids are smart and most of them know their career goals and plans, said Watkins. “My intent is to make sure they are equipped with the information, resources and contacts they will need to enhance their chances of succeeding at whatever their choices for careers might be. I want to provide the elements that will place theses students ahead of their classmates.”

Mentoring session participants were:

Felicia Bimbo
Jennifer Bogan
Shanika Jones
Alicia Kindred
Jamie Lewis
Jared Miller
David Parker, Jr.
Sydney Rucker
Wesley Sims
Jessica Smith
Joycelyn Smith
Cornelious Thomas, II
Maria Williams

Several of the students are involved in summer programs at their colleges. VNN plans to schedule the next sessions following the summer programs.



From BankRate.com
MONEY IN YOUR POCKET, TIME ON YOUR HANDS
By Linda Formichelli

How much did that super-grande caramel mochaccino that you had this morning cost? Just $5, you say?

Think again. It also cost you part of your life. According to the principles of Your Money or Your Life, the money management book by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, money equals life energy. In other words, you worked some period of time for that mochaccino, thereby spending part of your life to pay for that fleeting treat.

"Consciously or subconsciously, we all use some kind of formula when deciding whether or not to make a purchase. Typical factors that weigh into most major purchase decisions are the amount of cash in our pockets and the debt limit on our Visa cards," says Russell Wild, MBA, a fee-only financial planner and investment advisor based in Allentown, Pa.

"But an ultimately more important factor, and one often ignored, is the amount of life energy or true personal cost involved in making a purchase."

Thinking of money as life energy is an excellent way to spend less. For example, would you buy yet another pair of shoes if you knew it would cost you five hours of your life? Or how about a new car when your old one works fine if you lose several weeks of your life to pay for it, and yet more time to maintain it?

"Is it worth the time I'd have to spend away from my family, or time I could be doing something I really wanted to do -- like playing with my kids, reading, napping, planting flowers? I try to think about that when I pull out my credit card or checkbook."

What's your time worth?
If you want to know how much time your purchase is costing you, the first step is to determine how much your time is worth. If you make $20 per hour, you might assume that your time is worth $20 per hour. Not so. You also need to consider how much it costs you to work at your job. Figure out how much you spend every year on these items and services.

-Commuting to and from work, including gas and car maintenance
-Gifts for office parties
-Lunches at work
-Coffee breaks
-Vacations you take to get away from work
-Wine and beer you drink to unwind after work
-Your work wardrobe, including cleaning costs
-Therapy that you go to because you hate your job
-Child care

Now subtract this from your yearly after-tax salary and divide by the number of hours you work in a year. That would be 2,000 if you work a 40-hour week with one two-week vacation per year. However, you should also count the time you spend commuting, working overtime, doing work at home and attending work-related outings such as conferences after hours and on the weekends.

The result is how much you actually earn at your job, and how much an hour of your time is worth.

"People realize they're earning much less than they thought," says Carolyn Hilles, who gives money management workshops based on this concept. "When people realize they're really working for $14 per hour, that $14 bottle of wine looks a lot different. They say, 'I worked one hour just to pay for this, and I don't even remember drinking it.'

"I've seen it blow people's minds open. They didn't understand what they were hiring themselves out for and what they were spending it on. They have one life on this earth, and they're blowing it on stuff that doesn't meet their values."

If you run your own business, another way to think of money is the amount of product or services you'll need to sell to earn whatever you buy.

"Because I'm a writer, I tend to think of the spend part of the equation a little differently," says Jennifer Lawler, author of Dojo Wisdom: 100 Simple Ways to Become a Stronger, Calmer, More Courageous Person.

"For example, I know how hard it is to sell one copy of my book to one customer. I make about $1 in royalties from that sale. So every time I go to spend money, I think of how many books I have to sell to pay for the expense. This really puts the reins on things."

Spending wisely
For simplicity's sake, let's say that your actual earnings are $10 per hour. That means if you buy a $200 golf club, you're using 20 hours of your life to pay for it. Does this mean that you have to give up golf, or new shoes, or trips to Cancun? And how do you figure out which purchases are worth the life energy spent and which are just a waste of time?

When contemplating a purchase, you should consider three things, says Wild: personal cost, utility value and social impact.

"Personal cost is the amount of your personal life energy that went or that will go toward paying for the purchase," he explains. "Utility value is the life energy saved or gained by making the purchase. Social impact is the effect that your purchase will have on the world and all of its inhabitants."

Only you can decide whether the personal cost, utility value and social impact of a product or service are in alignment with your own values. For example, that new rider mower may cost a bundle, but it's worth it to you because you'll save time over the old push mower. Or perhaps it's not worth it to you because the mower negatively impacts the environment.

Still can't decide whether to drop the bucks on the latest electronic doodad or those sparkly earrings?

"A quick-and-dirty exercise is to ask yourself what the world would be like if everyone -- including over a billion Chinese -- followed your actions," says Wild. "Is that a world you'd want to leave to your children?

"Another exercise is to find someone you really admire and respect. It doesn't have to be anyone you know personally. It might be, for example, George Washington or Mother Teresa, or even a fictional character such as James Kirk or Wonder Woman. Ask yourself, 'Would he or she make this purchase?'"

If you start living by this concept, you're sure to start spending less. The result? More money in your pocket, and more time on your hands.



From BankRate.com
HOW SOON WILL IT HURT, DR. GREENSPAN?
By Greg McBride

When the Fed increases interest rates, it doesn't ripple evenly through the economy. Different interest-rate-related products will behave in different ways leading up to, and in response to, a Fed rate increase. Below is a look at how soon each product category will reflect the Fed's rate increase.

Fixed-rate mortgages:
The pain has already been inflicted here. Fixed mortgage rates are closely tied to long-term government bond yields, which move well in anticipation of Fed interest rate moves. Case in point: The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage rocketed from 5.41 percent on March 17 to 6.37 percent on May 12. Rates have been jogging in place since, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now 6.3 percent. The prospect of further rate hikes may well push fixed mortgage rates higher, but the effect of this rate hike was felt months ago.

Adjustable-rate mortgages:
Rates on ARMs are primarily tied to short-term indices, such as the one-year Treasury or the 11th District Cost of Funds Index. As the Fed boosts short-term interest rates, ARMs are far more sensitive after the fact than fixed-rate mortgages. For borrowers facing rate adjustments, the relevant comparison is the current level of the underlying index plus the loan's margin vs. the initial start rate. As short-term interest rates rise, this contrast will expand and lead to some unpleasant rate adjustments for borrowers that took out ARMs at record-low interest rates.

Home equity loans:
Rates for home equity loans are fixed, and increases following Fed rate hikes will not affect existing borrowers. However, new borrowers will see home equity loan rates moving higher within days of the Fed's interest rate hike. Home equity loans are often tied to the prime rate, which moves in close concert with Fed interest rate hikes. Locking in rates sooner, rather than later, will insulate borrowers from higher rates.

Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs):
Variable-rate HELOCs will increase for both existing and new borrowers alike. Lenders will be quick to reprice HELOCs on the heels of the Fed's rate hike, with most borrowers noticing the higher rates within one or two billing cycles. HELOC rates will closely mimic moves in the prime rate.

Auto loans:
Rates for new- and used-car loans are fixed-rate loans and will not impact existing borrowers. However, new borrowers have already begun to notice higher rates on car loans. This trend will continue in the weeks following a Fed rate hike. However, much of the impact of an interest rate hike is seen before a Fed move as car loans are increasingly responding to yields on Treasury securities. This is because lenders are packaging auto loans together and selling them into the secondary market, as is often done with mortgages.

Certificates of deposit:
Yields on certificates of deposit move with yields on Treasury securities of a similar maturity, as they compete for the same investment dollars. Longer-term CDs, such as the five-year CD, move further in advance than a short-term CD, such as the three-month CD. Yields on three-month and six-month CDs will increase in closer concert with actual Fed moves. Just as fixed-mortgage rates moved up in advance of the Fed meeting, so too did yields on many CDs.

Money market accounts (MMAs):
Yields on money market accounts will begin increasing within days of the Fed's move. However, don't expect an immediate jump in MMA yields to correspond with the Fed's move, as many banks will be reluctant to pass along higher yields to depositors before they have passed along higher rates to their borrowers.

Money market mutual funds (MMMFs):
Yields on money market funds will increase gradually in the weeks leading up to a Fed hike and in the weeks that follow. It may take nearly three months before the rate hike is completely reflected in money fund yields as short-term investments within the fund mature and are then reinvested at the now higher rates.

Credit cards:
Variable-rate credit cards will move in direct response to Fed interest rate action, as most are tied to the prime rate. Good news: Some cards that had previously hit floor rates will be immune from the initial interest rate hike, but with repeated interest rate increases they will ultimately rise. There can be a lag of up to three months between an interest rate hike and a credit card repricing. However, rates are quicker to rise than to fall. Even fixed-rate credit cards are sensitive to rising rates, as issuers can change the rate or switch the card to a variable-rate with as little as 15 days' notice. Issuers tend to reprice fixed-rate cards in response to a series of interest rate hikes rather than after each individual change. Fixed-rate credit cards will not be a haven from higher rates.