A State Department official said the Venezuelans were told that their request, which called for the arrest of Luis Posada Carriles to prevent his escape as a first step to extradition, did not contain sufficient information regarding the facts and circumstances of his involvement in the 1976 bombing. The midair explosion of a Cuban airliner off the coast of Barbados killed 73 people, including several Venezuelans.
[. . .]
Mr. Posada is in American custody. He escaped a Venezuelan jail in 1985 while awaiting trial on charges he planned the bombing. Now 77, he reappeared on May 17 in Miami.
The Venezuelan government, which said on Sunday that it would consider severing diplomatic ties with Washington if the extradition was denied, responded with a statement, from its embassy in Washington saying it would "present all the necessary documentation to request the extradition."
The above is from Steven R. Weisman and Juan Forero's inside the paper article entitled "U.S. Rejects Venezuelan Move on Extradition of Bombing Suspect."
Wendy e-mails to note James Dao's "Coins Go Missing, and G.O.P. Insider Becomes Outcast:"
But this week, Mr. Noe's lawyers said that as much as $13 million of the state's $50 million investment in his two funds could not be accounted for. Mr. Noe, meanwhile, has become the focus of at least six investigations or audits involving either his handling of the coin investments or his campaign fund-raising. Federal investigators are also looking into his contributions to President Bush's 2004 campaign as a "Pioneer," raising more than $100,000.
And suddenly, Republicans who once stood staunchly at Mr. Noe's side, and at his fund-raising parties, cannot seem to run from him fast enough.
Charlie e-mails to note David E. Sanger's "Month of Talks Fails to Bolster Nuclear Treaty:"
A monthlong conference at the United Nations to strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty ended Friday in failure, with its chairman declaring that the disagreements between nuclear-armed and non-nuclear states ran so deep that "very little has been accomplished."
The conference, which takes place every five years, had once been seen as a chance to deal with gaping loopholes in the treaty that have allowed a resurgence in the spread of nuclear weapons.
But in the months leading up to the meeting, it became clear that little progress was likely, and in the end the bickering between the United States, which wanted to focus on North Korea and Iran, and countries demanding that Washington shrink its own arsenals, ran so deep that no real negotiations over how to stem proliferation ever took place.
Third Party e-mails to note Michael Slackman's "In New York, Fringe Politics in Mainstream." I know very little about the Independent Party (among other things), so I e-mailed back to Third Party requesting an excerpt:
But Dr. Newman and his followers have accrued benefits since the Bloomberg administration took over. Mr. Bloomberg has contributed $250,000 to the Independence Party; he appointed a lawyer who often works with organizations affiliated with Dr. Newman to a mayoral commission charged with revising the city charter. And city economic development officials granted $8.7 million in low-interest financing to a nonprofit group tied to Dr. Newman so that it could buy a Manhattan building that it then used to run several programs designed by Dr. Newman.
Perhaps more important, though, is the credibility that Dr. Newman's other organizations gain through their association with the mayor. In offices of several organizations affiliated with Dr. Newman, there are pictures of Mr. Pataki and Mr. Bloomberg on the wall. When his one of organizations, the All Stars Project, has held galas, Mr. Schumer and other officials have attended.
Equally important is how the mayor and other politicians have helped reinforce the idea that the Independence Party represents independent voters, or unaligned.
[. . .]
Such stature is a sharp departure from the past, but Dr. Newman says he still adheres to many of his original beliefs and principles. In the 1970's, he created something called the International Workers Party, which was identified as a Leninist-Marxist organization. Dr. Newman said that the party has been transformed into a "core collective" that is made up of people working in his political, psychological and theatrical ventures, and that helps set the agenda for most of his projects. He said members of the collective then team up with other people - often unaffiliated with any of his organizations - to carry out their plans.
If a member feels the Times article is soft or harsh on the Independent Party, please e-mail and note if you want to be quoted. (And yes, I stated member. I don't want sixty e-mails from visitors who want to argue one point or another but don't wish to be quoted. I don't know enough to comment on the Independent Party and your e-mails on the topic will not help shape the community. Members can e-mail their comments -- to be quoted or not -- and they will be read. If that seems harsh, some of the visitor e-mails of late have dealt with assorted topics that I truly don't care about. Such as the lengthy assertion that ____, someone we cite here, is evil because in a past life they were ___. That was a 40K e-mail that the person didn't want to be quoted on. I'm wading through that and wondering why it was sent in -- with the person maintaining it was all true -- to begin with. Those and other e-mails are why we'll be posting a new policy this weekend. I'm saving the entry I pulled on Friday -- it popped up in the middle of the Democracy Now! post -- for when I'm tired or busy this weekend. Again, it doesn't apply to members and, in answer to ___'s e-mail, people whose work is commented on at this site are always encouraged to respond in any manner they see fit. Some e-mailers from the Times, for example, have made valid points. Continue to make them if you like. Certainly, we always try to note now that a byline doesn't mean the published article is what the reporter intended to be printed.)
We'll note Leslie Eaton's "Mrs. Clinton's Former Top Fund-Raiser Is Acquitted of False-Filing Charges:"
A federal jury on Friday acquitted David F. Rosen, the chief fund-raiser for Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2000 United States Senate campaign, of charges that he caused false filings to be made to the Federal Election Commission.
The jury deliberated for less than five hours before it found Mr. Rosen, 38, not guilty on two counts, for which he had faced as much as 10 years in prison.
Mr. Rosen's wife, mother and in-laws gasped and sobbed as Judge A. Howard Matz read the verdict, and Mr. Rosen's lead lawyer, Paul M. Sandler, embraced him and thumped him on the back.
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