DoD Accepting Openly Gay Recruits

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department said Tuesday that it is accepting openly gay recruits, but is warning applicants they might not be allowed to stick around for long.

Following last week's court ruling that struck down a 1993 law banning gays from serving openly, the military has suspended enforcement of the rule known as "don't ask, don't tell." The Justice Department is appealing the decision and has asked the courts for a temporary stay on the ruling.

The Defense Department said it would comply with the law and had frozen any discharge cases. But at least one case was reported of a man being turned away from an Army recruiting office in Austin, Texas.

Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith on Tuesday confirmed that recruiters had been given top-level guidance to accept applicants who say they are gay.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/19/department-of-defense-acc_n_768532.html

Forecloser Mill Employees Recieve Gifts

At a large Florida "foreclosure mill," a manager signed up to 1,000 documents a day without reading them and employees were given gifts to speed up foreclosure paperwork, according to depositions released today by the Florida Attorney General's Office.

The news, also reported by Tampa Online, comes as Bank of America, the nation's largest bank by assets, announcement that it would resume more than 100,000 foreclosures in 23 states after an internal investigation of its practices.

Florida authorities are investigating the law offices of David J. Stern over how it handled foreclosure paperwork. As the AP notes, Cheryl Salmons, an office manager at the law offices of David Stern, "would sign 500 files in the morning and another 500 files in the afternoon without reviewing them and with no witnesses," according to Kelly Scott, a former assistant at the firm.

The perks for good performance were considerable, according to Scott's statement. Tampa Online notes office employees were lavished with gifts:

"As a perk of Samons' [sic.] job, Stern's office would routinely pay her personal mortgage, a car payment, her electric bills and her cell phone bill, according to Scott, who told investigators Stern also bought Samons [sic.] a new BMW sport utility vehicle every year and gave her and other employees jewelry. Additionally, Stern purchased employee David Vargas a house, a car and a cell phone, Scott claims in her statement."
According to Kelly Scott's statement, Cheryl Ramos's marathon document signing sessions took place in an office conference room and would leave her wearied. From Scott's deposition:

They would [be] stacked amongst each other, side by side, and Cheryl would come twice a day, in the morning and mid-afternoon, around two or three o'clock and she would sign all of them, every single one of them...

Cheryl would give certain paralegals rights to sign her name, because most of the time she was very tired exhausted from signing her name numerous times per day. You had to understand it was more than five hundred files that she's signing morning and afternoon.


David Stern had an especially close relationship with the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Scott said in her statement. The lenders were "considered his babies," Scott said and employees would change codes to hide files when their representatives visited the office.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/18/foreclosure-mill-employee_n_767174.html

Wow!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/18/foreclosure-mill-employee_n_767174.html

U.S. soldier accused of killing civilians in Afghanistan will face a court-martial on murder and other charges, as recommended by an Army officer.

U.S. soldier accused of killing civilians in Afghanistan will face a court-martial on murder and other charges, as recommended by an Army officer.

The document approving the recommendation for the court-martial of Spc. Jeremy Morlock was signed by the officer in charge Friday. It was obtained by CNN, along with other documents, that summarize last week's hearing at an Army-Air Force installation outside Tacoma, Washington, where prosecutors presented evidence against against Morlock.

Base officials would not confirm the authenticity of the document, which has not been publicly released.

NATO official: Bin Laden, deputy hiding in northwest Pakistan

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are believed to be hiding close to each other in houses in northwest Pakistan, but are not together, a senior NATO official said.

"Nobody in al Qaeda is living in a cave," said the official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the intelligence matters involved.

Rather, al Qaeda's top leadership is believed to be living in relative comfort, protected by locals and some members of the Pakistani intelligence services, the official said.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied protecting members of the al Qaeda leadership.

The official said the general region where bin Laden is likely to have moved around in recent years ranges from the mountainous Chitral area in the far northwest near the Chinese border, to the Kurram Valley, which adjoins Afghanistan's Tora Bora, one of the Taliban strongholds during the U.S. invasion in 2001.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/18/afghanistan.bin.laden/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

Pentagon braced for the release of 400,000 Iraq files on Wikileaks

The Pentagon is braced for its biggest-ever security breach of classified information as Wikileaks, the website that publishes leaked official documents, prepares to release 400,000 intelligence files related to the Iraq war.

A task force of 120 people has been assembled to assess the potential implications and damage of the disclosure of the documents, which promises to eclipse the recent release of more than 70,000 classified US military files on the Afghanistan war.

Col. Dave Lapan, the Pentagon spokesman, said the timing of the leak remained unclear but the Defence Department was ready for a document dump as early as Monday or Tuesday.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8069766/Pentagon-braced-for-the-release-of-400000-Iraq-files-on-Wikileaks.html

Listen to internet radio with ElvisInTheMorning on Blog Talk Radio

Book Accused Bishop Long Of Sex Abuse In 2007

ATLANTA -- An author who published a 2007 book accusing Bishop Eddie Long of having homosexual relationships has called for the bishop to step down from the pulpit.

"He is leading God's people to the pits of hell. He needs to confess, repent and let God deal with him," said 'Snakes in the Pulpit' author Reuben Armstrong.

Armstrong is a radio show host based in Dallas, Texas, but said he traveled to Atlanta while researching his book after two New Birth Missionary Baptist Church youth pastors contacted him. He said what they told him back in 2006 sounds a lot like what's alleged in four lawsuits filed against Long in September.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/25394921/detail.html