and the like等等 and similar things. The club has courts for tennis and badminton and the like. A
new edition of any book should incorporate major changes — an added
chapter, a revised conclusion, overall updating, and the like. and all that or and that诸如此类 Informal and similar or related things: import cutting and all that and that's that!就是这样,没什么好说的 something that you say which means you will not change your decision, although other people want you to. Anyway, I'm not going to the wedding, and that's that! You're not having any more chocolate, Joe, and that's that! the likes of 和...一样的,像...这样的人和物 be of like/one mind if two or more people are of like mind, they agree with each other about something. We're of like mind on most political issues. (often + on) I'm faking it(假装..., 故作...) til I'm pseudo making it(制造假象)
Ill. Gov. arrested on corruption charges
CHICAGO — Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday for engaging in从事,参加 a "political corruption crime spree," including the alleged solicitation of bribes to fill the vacated Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama. Blagojevich, 51, who has been the subject of a five-year federal probe, is charged with conspiracy to图谋 commit mail and wire fraud(邮寄和通信欺诈,美国有"Mail and Wire Fraud Statutes") and solicitation of bribery. The governor's chief of staff, John Harris, was also taken into custody on similar charges.
He was free on his own recognizance(法律用语"保证金保释金")
Tuesday afternoon on a $4,500 bond. "This is a sad day for Chicago,"
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald told reporters. He alleged that
corruption under Blagojevich had taken the state to "a truly new low新低." "The conduct would make Lincoln roll over(可换做"spin, turn,turn over") in his grave,"
Fitzgerald said at a news briefing. Other allegations included
solicitation of funds to support a bill in the Illinois legislature and
attempt to get a $50,000 campaign contribution from the Children's
Memorial Hospital in exchange for作为交换 funds for the medical facility. Fitzgerald said hardened agents(其他文章中有说"even seasoned老练的 investigators") who monitored wiretaps and bugs of Blagojevich's conversations were "thoroughly彻底的 disgusted and revolted" by what they heard. Asked if Illinois was the most corrupt state in the country, Fitzgerald said he didn't know for sure but that it is "certainly one hell of a competitor."
FBI special agent Robert Grant said Blagojevich was arrested at his home at 6:15 a.m. Grant said he woke the governor with a phone call to inform him that federal agents were outside his door to pick him up on an arrest warrant. He said the governor's first reaction was to make sure the call was not a joke and that he was otherwise cooperative.
Corruption in the Blagojevich administration has been the focus of a
federal investigation involving an alleged $7 million scheme aimed at squeezing(挤榨) kickbacks(回扣,好处费) out of companies seeking business from the state.
Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero had no immediate comment on the
charges but issued a statement saying the "allegations do nothing to
impact the services, duties or function of the state."
A 76-page FBI affidavit alleged that Blagojevich was intercepted截听 on court-authorized wiretaps窃听 during the last month "conspiring to sell or trade" the seat vacated by Obama "for financial benefits for himself and his wife." The FBI complaint said that in one of the phone calls, Blagojevich entertained the idea of appointing himself to the seat if none of the mentioned hopefuls offer him anything of value(有价值的). "I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain(坚持苛刻条件to make someone agree to an arrangement that benefits you. The bank was able to drive a hard bargain because the company badly needed cash.)," he allegedly said. Later, he referred to the Senate as a "valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing."
Fitzgerald
said there was no allegations that Obama or his team were involved in
any of the machinations. In Chicago, Obama said in a brief meeting with
reporters that he was "saddened and sobered" by the news of
Blagojevich's arrest. "It is a sad day for Illinois," said Obama, who
spoke after meeting with Vice President Al Gore. He declined to comment
on Blagojevich's maneuvering to fill the vacant Senate seat, except to say: "I had no contact with the governor or his office and so was not aware of what was happening."
The
complaint against Blagojevich charged that in a conversation with
Harris a week after the presidential election, the governor allegedly
said he knew that the president-elect wanted an unidentified "Senate
Candidate 1" for the open seat but "they're not willing to give me
anything except appreciation. (Expletive) them." Fitzgerald said he
decided to go ahead with the arrests because of a number of pending issues,
such as the Senate appointment, the still-unsigned bill on his desk for
which he allegedly sought bribes, and the funding for the children's
hospital.
"We were in the middle of a corruption crime spree and
we wanted to stop it," Fitzgerald said. The official complaint alleged
that, Blagojevich, on various occasions在不同场合 with Harris and others, discussed exchanging the Senate appointment for:
• A substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;
• Placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;
• Promises of campaign funds — including cash up front;
• A cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.
Blagojevich also was charged in the federal complaint with illegally threatening to withhold state assistance to Tribune Co., the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in the sale of Wrigley Field, according to a federal criminal complaint. In return for state assistance,
Blagojevich allegedly wanted the Tribune to fire members of the paper's
editorial board. The complaint alleges that Harris, the governor's
chief of staff, allegedly told Blagojevich that he had spoken with an
unidentified "Tribune Financial Advisor" to deliver the message that the
governor would be cooperative with the state assistance in exchange for
the dismissal of editorial board members, particularly deputy editorial page editor John McCormick, a strong critic of Blagojevich's administration.
Harris
allegedly said that the advisor is "very sensitive to the issue" and
had advised about "certain corporate reorganizations and budget cuts
coming and, reading between the lines,
he's going after that section." To which Blagojevich allegedly replied
in the taped conversation: "Oh, that's fantastic." Later, however,
Harris reported that there had been some layoffs at the newspaper, but that the editorial board was not among them.
Federal
prosecutors have acknowledged they're also investigating "serious
allegations of endemic hiring fraud" under Blagojevich. Political
fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who raised money for the campaigns of
both Blagojevich and Obama, is awaiting sentencing after being convicted
of fraud and other charges. Blagojevich's chief fundraiser, Christopher
G. Kelly, is due to stand trial early next year on charges of obstructing the Internal Revenue Service.
Before
today, fellow lawmakers' reaction to his impeachment proposal was
"muted," Franks said. "Most people were scared to bring it up. It felt
lonely." Now, he's getting calls from his peers telling him: "You've
been right from the beginning."
"I thought I'd be happier but I'm
not. It's sad, but not surprising," he said. "It's also about the
culture of corruption that has seized Illinois politics. It drives me
crazy. No other state would accept this. We need to demand change to clean up our government ... I'm really concerned that our government has become a criminal enterprise."
State Sen. Dan Cronin, a Republican, said it was a "tragic day" and that Blagojevich should resign. "It taints all of us who are in this business of public service," Cronin said. "I feel sick about it." "We have to do some dramatic things
to regain the confidence of the people of Illinois," he said.
Blagojevich was elected governor in 2002. He previously served as a
member of the U.S. House of Representatives in the district that was
held by Rahm Emanuel before he was named Obama's chief of staff.
关于此次受贿事件的其他报道摘抄: 1. Corruption has tainted politics here since Al Capone's heyday(全盛时期), but the arrest Tuesday of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich revealed alleged conspiracy and bribery schemes so brazen厚颜无耻的 that veteran investigators and prosecutors could barely contain their revulsion(感情上的突然、强烈的改变或反应，尤指强烈的厌恶或憎恶的感情). 2. In breathtaking惊人的
detail, the criminal complaint describes the efforts of the Democratic
governor and his chief of staff John Harris, who also was arrested, to
"sell the U.S. Senate seat" once held by President-elect Barack Obama
for a high-paying高薪的 job, promises of campaign funds, a Cabinet post or ambassadorship or corporate-board seats for Blagojevich's wife, Patricia. 3. The allegations turned the city's pride over Obama's election into shock and could be a distraction to the Obama team as it prepares its transition to the White House, an effort that has been mostly free of controversy.
Obama served in the Illinois Senate for seven years and top officials
in his administration, including former Illinois representative Rahm
Emanuel and David Axelrod, a Chicago political consultant, also are products of an Illinois political system that has long been plagued(苦恼折磨) by corruption. 4. A 'profane(adj. 亵渎的,粗俗的,含不敬之意 profane language亵渎的言语 profane art世俗的艺术(宗教艺术之对) profane persons俗人 profanity n.) wheeler-dealer(追求利益的人,为所欲为者, 独断独行者)'
-- Roscoe Howard, former chief federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C.,
said the "remarkable" allegations against the Illinois governor conjure an image of a "profane wheeler-dealer." 5. Tapping phones is so obtrusive(鲁莽的)
that you have to show that there is no other way to get the
information," Woods said. "In this case, the tapes are so damaging. The
government has a lot to use against him." 6. President-elect Barack
Obama on Wednesday joined a rising chorus of calls for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign after his arrest on political corruption charges. 7. Jackson said he "did not initiate or authorize anyone at any time" to approach Blagojevich with a quid pro quo. "I want to make this fact plain澄清事实: I reject and denounce pay-to-play politics and have no involvement whatsoever in any wrongdoing," Jackson said Wednesday afternoon at a news conference.
对此报导众网友的反应包括 1. C'mon USA Today, Can't you smell the Pulitzer嗅到普利策奖的味道. Just run down the connections. Connected the dots. You could be the next Woodward and Bernstein(The
most famous journalists in the 20th century appeared in the first half
of 1970s. Robert Upshur Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the reporters of
the Washington Post, investigated the Watergate break-in and first
cracked the Watergate scandal in August 1972, which led to the
resignation of President Richard M. Nixon in 1974.). Why settle for满足于 running AP puff pieces and Obama spin approved PR? Obama did not emerge from this cesspool(化粪池,污水坑) clean. Flip over the rocks. 有人对此回应"Keep gazing at the crystal ball((占卜用的)水晶球,玻璃球,预言未来的方法) - it will reveal the truth to you. There are no dots to be connected, Stop making up one." 2. Bush dodged(逃避,躲避,避开 dodge rush hours避开高峰期, dodge awkward questions, dodge doing houswork, a tax dodge偷税避税 ) military service(逃避服兵役)
- yet is was okay. Bush stole an election in 2000 - yet it was okay.
Bush destroyed an economy - started his presidency in recession and
ended it with a recession - yet it was okay. Republicans are liars and
they are evil.
