DetroitArtist.org

In August, 2007, Kilpatrick was sued by two ex-members of his bodyguard staff for violation of the Whistleblower Law. It was claimed that he fired them in retaliation for them investigating his personal actions. The trial ended on September 11, 2007, after three hours of jury deliberation in a verdict awarding the plaintiffs $6.5 million in damages.

Minutes after the verdict for the trial came in, in an angry speech in front of City Hall, Kilpatrick blamed the “wrong verdict” on white suburbanite jurors. In a separate article, Kilpatrick is quoted as saying, “There’s race in this, and we run from it in this region. And I think it’s impossible for us to move forward as a region without confronting it head-on. But I don’t want what has happened in the past 24 months to be erased by what has happened in the last two days.”^[20][21]

One member of the whistleblower trial jury took offense to the implication of Kilpatrick that jurors were racist, suburban liars. He said that he believed that the mayor and his chief of staff were liars, and that jurors were united from the moment they began their deliberations. In an interview , the juror is quoted in a September 12 Detroit Free Press article, calling Kilpatrick “a spoiled little brat who has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, was sent to the corner and is now pouting”.

According to a Detroit News October 12 article, the city of Detroit has already paid $525,000 in legal fees thus far in the Whistleblower trial.

On October 18, according to a Detroit Free Press article the next day, Kilpatrick decided to not appeal the verdict and offered an $8 million settlement to the two officers involved in the civil suit, and an additional $400,000 to a third officer who was ready to begin civil proceedings related to the whistleblower trial. Kilpatrick said “I’ve humbly concluded that a settlement … is the correct decision for my family and the entire Detroit community.”

According to an October 24 article in the Post Chronicle, the Detroit City Council voted to settle the pair of whistle-blower lawsuits against Kilpatrick for $8.4 million. In addition to the settlement, there was a confidentiality agreement signed between all parties in what many in the media are calling a ‘secret deal’. This was a confidentiality agreement that city of Detroit lawyers stated did not exist, but was later proven did exist. The Detroit Free Press sued under the freedom of information act to learn more about the October 2007 settlement. As of January 31st, 2008, details of the agreement are still being withheld pending a review by Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Colombo Jr.^[22]

[via Detroit Free Press] 

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According to text messages obtained by the Detroit Free Press and published January 23, 2008, Kilpatrick and his then chief of staff Christine Beatty lied about the sexual nature of their relationship and their involvement in the firing of Deputy Police Chief Gary Brown.^[23] The text messages that were obtained were exchanged between Kilpatrick and Beatty on their city issued SkyTel pagers between September through October 2002 and April-May 2003. Under oath Kilpatrick and Beatty both denied that they had a sexual relationship. The text messages contradict this testimony with such messages as:

Beatty: “And, did you miss me, sexually?”Kilpatrick: “Hell yeah! You couldn’t tell. I want some more. “^[23]

Many of the messages describe not a professional relationship but a sexual relationship, often in graphic detail. Kilpatrick and Beatty, both married at the time,^[24] sent messages to each other that confirmed they had arranged trysts, plotted to spend nights together while traveling on city business and discussed their fears of being caught by the mayor’s police protection unit.^[25]

There was also evidence that Kilpatrick and Beatty used city funds to arrange romantic getaways.^[26]

Beatty resigned as chief of staff on January 28, 2008 amid allegations that she and the mayor lied under oath about an affair. It is effectiveFebruary 8.^[27]

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced on January 25th that her office intended to conduct a full, thorough investigation into the case. Kilpatrick, a lawyer, could face discipline if the state Attorney Discipline Board finds he committed perjury in court. This could result in Kilpatrick losing his license to practice law after his term as mayor is done.^[23] If convicted on possible perjury charges, Kilpatrick could also be forced to resign as mayor.

Kilpatrick issued a brief statement on the night of Jan 23rd when the text scandal broke indicating that he and his wife had worked through these issues years ago. However, it was discovered by WXYZ-TV that only two days earlier, after a Martin Luther King Day prayer breakfast, Kilpatrick stayed at a the Grove Park Inn in Ashville, North Carolina with a second individual, and spent time with a woman who went by the name “Carmen Slowski.” The resort confirmed that Slowski was not Kilpatrick’s wife.^[28] Records showed that while at the spa they shared a “Couple’s Retreat” one-hour massage and afterward the session continued with the serving of expensive champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries for the two to enjoy from the warmth of an aromatic whirlpool bath.^[29] The resorts records stated that Kilpatrick was lodging with a woman who used the name of Carmen Slowsky; a name similar to the fictional character in a TV ad for high-speed internet service.^[9]

Florida A&M University announced Kilpatrick had resigned from their foundation board in light of the text scandal on January 29th.^[30]

[via Detroit Free Press]

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Here is a translation I made of part of a Swedish article that can be found here.

After a lengthy 20 month long investigation the time has come for the lawsuit to be filed against the men behind the biggest Bittorrent-tracker in the world, The Pirate Bay.

The coming week prosecutor Håkan Roswall at the Swedish Prosecution Authority will be filing a lawsuit against the individuals behind the filesharing network The Pirate Bay. It was in March of 2006 that the Police conducted a raid of the premises where TPB servers were located and confiscated a large part of the equipment. Several people were taken into custody on suspicion of breach of copyright laws, which in Sweden can lead up to 2 years in prison.

The prosecutor has no higher hopes at stopping the entire operation. The Pirate Bays servers are no longer only located in Sweden, but stretches over a network of several countries.

“Since the infrastructure is spread over so many places around the world there is no way one single country can stop the site” Håkan Roswall says to Reuters.

The raid of last years March is however controversial. The previous Swedish government is said to have given away to pressures from the MPAA and the US government. The Justice Department is also said to have told the Police to conduct the raid against The Pirate Bay, something which is illegal in Sweden.

Can the MPAA and US government please stay the fuck out of Swedish bizniz? kthxbai.

Source: SweClockers

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Aparently this movie has been big shit, and i got some requests to make this post. The group OBSESSiON comes out of the underground to quickly release the first scene version of the highly anticipated Cloverfield. I haven’t seen it yet, so i can’t tell you whether or not it’s that great. The Release is a Telesync meaning that it has been recorded with a handheld camera at the cinema so its not great quality, but is what most would call “watchable”. Although it has got dupe frames so it will seem like the image is running a little slow. Audio is better and comes from a direct source so although far from perfect it will do the job just fine. If you cant wait for anything better leech, unrar, smoke up, watch and enjoy! If you have any other qestions, have a look at the NFO.

Synopsis: Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Told from the point of view of their video camera, the film is a document of their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.

Genre: Action / Sci-Fi / Thriller

Ratings: IMDB: 8.1/10 (21,222 votes), RT: 75% (137 Reviews)

Directed by: Matt Reeves

Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, JessicaLucas, T. J. Miller

Release Name: Cloverfield.TS.XViD-OBSESSiON

Size: 1 CD, 702.24 MB

Quality: Telesync

Runtime: 85 Min’s

Filename: obses-cloverfield

Links: IMDB, RT, Homepage, Trailer

Samples: #1, #2, #3, Thumbs, Video

NFO: Here

Torrent: NewTorrents

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Darkwave Disco Jan.28th, 2008 photos

It was a pleasure to meet the group and promoters, call me next time you’re in detroit. Sorry these were a day late, i’ve been busy. btw those of you i met that evening but never got back to, my aim: alza36.

click here stupid

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[Avant Trill]
[myspace]/theteenagers
[more info]
[Sonotheque]

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Hollywood laid much of the blame for illegal movie downloading on college students. Now, it says its math was wrong. In a 2005 study it commissioned, the Motion Picture Association of America claimed that 44 percent of the industry’s domestic losses came from illegal downloading of movies by college students, who often have access to high-bandwidth networks on campus. The MPAA has used the study to pressure colleges to take tougher steps to prevent illegal file-sharing and to back legislation currently before the House of Representatives that would force them to do so. But now the MPAA, which represents the U.S. motion picture industry, has told education groups a “human error” in that survey caused it to get the number wrong. It now blames college students for about 15 percent of revenue loss.

The MPAA says that’s still significant, and justifies a major effort by colleges and universities to crack down on illegal file-sharing. But Mark Luker, vice president of campus IT group Educause, says it doesn’t account for the fact that more than 80 percent of college students live off campus and aren’t necessarily using college networks. He says 3 percent is a more reasonable estimate for the percentage of revenue that might be at stake on campus networks. The original report, by research firm LEK, claims the U.S. motion picture industry lost $6.1 billion to piracy worldwide, with most of the losses overseas. It identified the typical movie pirate as a male aged 16-24.
One message for MPAA: Go Fuck Yourselves. I’m wondering what random number will their piracy generator produce next time.

[Source: Associated Press]

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Ok, finally some chaps from LRC bring us a very nice release for friday’s evening: a dvdscreener of The Golden Compass. Although this movie didn’t meet its expectations, it’s still a nice family flick to watch and this screener means a great progress in quality since the last CAM i posted. The quality is perfect with no visible watermarks and crystal clear AC3 stereo (CBR though).

Based on author Philip Pullman’s bestselling and award-winning novel, The Golden Compass tells the first story in Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. The Golden Compass is an exciting fantasy adventure, set in an alternative world where people’s souls manifest themselves as animals, talking bears fight wars, and Gyptians and witches co-exist. At the center of the story is Lyra (played by newcomer Dakota Blue Richards), a 12-year-old girl who starts out trying to rescue a friend who’s been kidnapped by a mysterious organization known as the Gobblers – and winds up on an epic quest to save not only her world, but ours as well.

The.Golden.Compass.2007.DVDScr.xVID-LRC

2 CD, 1400 MB, lrc-tgc

98 min, 576×304, 1265 kb/s, 448 kbps ac3

sample #1, #2, #3, thumbs, video

IMDB (6.6), Homepage, NFO, torrent

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For those of you who are fans of foreign films, this is a real treat. HLS has brought you the unrated version of Oscar winner Ang Lee’s new film. With good ratings all around, this is sure to be a decent watch. Seeing as the run-time is 158 minutes, HLS definitely did a hot job because the samples look great. According to the info, subtitles exist for the release. One of the most sensual sex scenes I have witnessed in a long time, great cinematography and rich color balance.

Synopsis: Lust, Caution is the new film from Ang Lee, the Academy Award-winning director of Brokeback Mountain and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. A startling erotic espionage thriller about the fate of an ordinary woman’s heart, it is based on the short story by revered Chinese author Eileen Chang, and stars Asian cinema icon Tony Leung opposite screen newcomer Tang Wei.

Shanghai, 1942. The World War II Japanese occupation of this Chinese city continues in force. Mrs. Mak, a woman of sophistication and means, walks into a café, places a phone call, and then sits and waits. She remembers…

… how her story began several years earlier, in 1938 China. She is not in fact Mrs. Mak, but shy Wong Chia Chi (Tang Wei). With WWII underway, Wong has been left behind by her father, who has escaped to England. As a freshman at university, she meets fellow student Kuang Yu Min (Wang Leehom). Kuang has started a drama society to shore up patriotism. As the theater troupe’s new leading lady, Wong realizes that she has found her calling, able to move and inspire audiences — and Kuang. He convenes a core group of students to carry out a radical and ambitious plan to assassinate a top Japanese collaborator, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung).

Genre: Drama/Romance/Thriller/War

IMDB rating: 8.1 (4,662 votes)

Directed by: Ang Lee

Starring: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Wei Tang, Joan Chen, Lee-Hom Wang, Chung Hua Tou, Chih-ying Chu

Release Name: Lust.Caution.2007.UNRATED.LiMiTED.DVDRiP.XViD-HLS

Size: 2 CD, 1.4 GB

Quality: DVDRip, XviD, 640×352, video 1074k, audio 156k @ VBR MP3

Runtime: 158 minutes

Filename: hls-lustcaution

Links: IMDB, Homepage, Trailer

Samples: Here

NFO: Here

Torrent: NewTorrents

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