Stew of News - Detroit shooting, BOA exposed

7 teenagers wounded in drive-by shooting

Lovely men with guns in what must have been an ugly-green minivan opened fire on a group of teenagers at a bus stop near a school Tuesday, wounding at least seven, two of whom were in critical condition, AP reported.

My guess is they were pissed...and stupid.

Two or three scumbags with guns oozed out of the minivan and asked for someone by name before displaying their toughness by opening fire at the crown, a Detroit Police spokesman said according to an AP report.

The students' names and ages weren't immediately released, AP said.

Wronged bank clients and workers demand reform

Consumer and labor groups are demanding Bank of America (BOA) and other lenders reform their sales practices so that workers under pressure to meet sales quotas do not screw customers over with costly and unnecessary products.

The whistle-blowing campaign was announced Tuesday as the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled legislation to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which is part of the Obama administration financial regulation overhaul, Reuters reported.

Former BOA employees (among them bank whores) allege their supervisors drove them to burden consumers with needless debt and fees to fatten the bank's earnings and the paychecks of senior executives, claiming the bosses threatened to screw them too if they complained (I just threw up in my mouth a little). Some say the banks were stiffing them with puny salaries, so they had to hit the "screwing the customer" quotas to earn needed bonuses.

Representative Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who sits on the House Financial Services Committee said lending standards could be compromised by "the urgency to sell, sell, sell, sell, sell." (Could be? Ya think?)

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), National Association of Consumer Advocates, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group organized the campaign.

Bank of America spokeswoman Anne Pace rejected the allegations (nah...really?), noting the SEIU misrepresented BOA's relationship with its customers and associates. (Where there's smoke, there's fire...if you ask me...though unions can be one of the worst pains one can get in the ass.)

She said the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank, the largest in the U.S., is "pro-associate and believes that managers are well-equipped to respond to associates' needs," and is committed to ensuring that customer fees are "transparent and predictable." (Blah, blah, blah...yada, yada, yada.... ugh. Sounds like something straight out of the bank's mission statement or some bullshit like that.)

Christopher Feener, who used to work in the bank's credit card unit, complained (victims or whiners?) the bank regularly violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, pushing workers to falsely threaten legal action against customers (bastards!). He said his team was sometimes pushed to call customers' neighbors about delinquent accounts "to embarrass the customer and actually encourage the neighbor to bring over a message."

I Just threw up in my mouth again.

Sources: AP, Reuters, Me
Copyright © 2009

Iran doctor tells of Neda's death: BBC

Below is a BBC report (untouched by me) about the doctor seen in the video of Neda's death trying to stop the bleeding from a bullet wound on her chest.

Iran doctor tells of Neda's death: BBC

Dr Arash Hejazi, who is studying at a university in the south of England, said he ran to Neda Agha-Soltan's aid after seeing she had been shot in the chest.

Despite his attempts to stop the bleeding she died in less than a minute, he said.

Dr Hejazi says he posted the video of Ms Soltan's death on the internet and images of her have become a rallying point for Iranian opposition supporters around the world.

He also told how passers-by then seized an armed Basij militia volunteer who appeared to admit shooting Ms Soltan.

Dr Hejazi said he had not slept for three nights following the incident, but he wanted to speak out so that her death was not in vain.

He doubted that he would be able to return to Iran after talking openly about Ms Soltan's killing.

Neda Agha-Soltan

"I was there with some friends because we had heard that there were some protests and we decided to go and take a look," he said.

"Anti-riot police were coming by motorcycles towards the crowd."

Dr Hejazi said he saw Ms Soltan, who he did not know, with an older man who he thought was her father but later on learned was her music teacher.

"Suddenly everything turned crazy. The police threw teargas and the motorcycles started rushing towards the crowd. We ran to an intersection and people were just standing. They didn't know what to do.

"We heard a gunshot. Neda was standing one metre away from me. I turned back and I saw blood gushing out of Neda's chest.

"She was in a shocked situation, just looking at her chest. The she lost her control.

"We ran to her and lay her on the ground. I saw the bullet wound just below the neck with blood gushing out.

"I have never seen such a thing because the bullet, it seemed to have blasted inside her chest, and later on, blood exiting from her mouth and nose.

Neda has become a rallying point for protesters around the world

"I had the impression that it had hit the lung as well. Her blood was draining out of her body and I was just putting pressure on the wound to try to stop the bleeding, which wasn't successful unfortunately, and she died in less than one minute."

Dr Hejazi said he first thought the gunshot had come from a rooftop.

But later he saw protesters grab an armed man on a motorcycle.

"People shouted 'we got him, we got him'. They disarmed him and took out his identity card which showed he was a Basij member. People were furious and he was shouting, 'I didn't want to kill her'.

"People didn't know what do to do with him so they let him go. But they took his identity card. There are people there who know who he is. Some people were also taking photos of him."

Dr Hejazi said he knew he was putting himself in jeopardy by talking about what happened.

"It was a tough decision to make to come out and talk about it but she died for a cause. She was fighting for basic rights... I don't want her blood to have been shed in vain."

He added: "She died on the streets to say something."

Dr Hejazi said he did not believe he could now return to Iran.

"They are going to denounce what I am saying. They are going to put so many things on me. I have never been in politics. I am jeopardising my situation because of the innocent look in her (Neda's) eyes."

Source: BBC

More violence in Iran, militia shoots at protesters

Reformist presidential candidate Mir Houssein Mousavi, with his wife his wife Zahra Rahnavard, addresses supporters at a rally today in Tehran. (Olivier Laban-Mattei/AFP/Getty Images)

It should be of no surprise that the unrest in Iran continues to be our top story.

We start the day with reports of shootings in Tehran with one person confirmed dead (I suspect this number will climb) and more panic spreading throughout the city, which has been "on fire" in the aftermath of presidential elections Friday Supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's chief rival, Mir Hossein Moussavi, are protesting the election results, claiming fraud .

Tens of thousands of Mousavi supporters--more than 100,000 according to some reports--gathered for a rally in downtown Tehran calling for the annulment of the official result of Friday's election. Moussavi spoke to the crowd at the rally.

It has been reported that the pro-government militia opened fired at demonstrators at Azidi Square, but according to the latest reports shootings have now been heard in at least three districts of northern Tehran.

The BBC's Jon Leyne, in Tehran, said rally is the biggest demonstration in the Islamic republic's 30-year history and described it as a "political earthquake."

The U.S. State Department stated it's "deeply troubled" by the reports of violence in Iran.

So where is this clash heading to? Will people calm down and the issue die down in a couple of days? Hmm...I doubt it.

But Iran is not the U.S.--there won't be a "recount" there, and foreign nations have no say on Iran's elections. The opposition isn't powerful enough to be a threat to Ahmadinejad. So what are the protesters hoping to accomplish other than rant and vent? Not that there's anything wrong with ranting and venting...

"If Ahmadinejad remains president we will protest every day," the protesters are shouting. "We fight, we die, we will not accept this vote rigging," was another chant in the crowd, Reuters reported.

If indeed Ahmadinejad was the winner, the opposition is toast. But if the election was tampered with and this can be proven somehow, then democracy and justice could have a chance at prevailing in Iran...but I'm not holding my breath.

Sources: BNO News, Reuters, My Twisted Mind
Copyright © 2009