Seharian ini aku merasa luar biasa mual. Entah karena apa...mungkin diathermy-ku, mungkin obat-obatan yg harus kuminum, mungkin juga "suasana hati"-ku secara keseluruhan....
Bahkan rasanya aku harus berjuang ekstra keras hanya untuk menuliskan dua editorial untuk edisi esok. Hingga pukul 19.00 aku baru menyelesaikan satu di antaranya. Even then, it was not something that I could be proud of...
Oh ya, hari ini rupanya Muki gak praktek...Something that has made me slightly relieved...paling gak, kalo aku hrs nunggu dua, tiga hari lagi, aku akan merasa lebih "siap"...
Melihat newsroom, aku gak tau apa aku hrs kasihan atau hrs luar biasa bangga pada teman-teman (termasuk mereka yg di unit art dan paginasi) for sticking with us despite all the uncertainties that are still looming in the air....
Tampaknya tak seorangpun bisa memprediksi hari-hari yg akan kita lalui ke depan. Apakah "semangat" saja cukup memadai? Rasanya koq gak adil juga kalo meminta semua utk terus menjaga semangat dlm suasana seperti ini....
Aku mungkin tdk punya pilihan lain krn ini kan 'a mixture of everything': business, passion, idealims, hobby, the only thing we professionally know and care about, ego...you name it, laahh...
OK, It's almost 11 now. Time to pack things up and go home. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. Paling tidak rasa mual-ku yg luar biasa bisa agak berkurang dan aku bisa tidur agak lelap.
Nite everybody!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Waakkkk....Gotta see M.R. tomorrow
Waak....time to see Muki Reksoprodjo tomorrow...Meaning I have to get up early in the morning, get ready, and get myself off to MMC in Kuningan....
If only I still worked for the European Union's SCHS Project, a trip to MMC would have been easier....
Now that I'm stupid enough to try to keep my latest venture floating, reaching MMC from my home, or even my office, is already a struggle in itself...
Gee, I don't know what's he's gonna say tomorrow. I can only hope--or pray?--that nothing is "very wrong" with me.
Meantime, I still have two diathermy to go...
If only I still worked for the European Union's SCHS Project, a trip to MMC would have been easier....
Now that I'm stupid enough to try to keep my latest venture floating, reaching MMC from my home, or even my office, is already a struggle in itself...
Gee, I don't know what's he's gonna say tomorrow. I can only hope--or pray?--that nothing is "very wrong" with me.
Meantime, I still have two diathermy to go...
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Loans
We have continued to receive loans to alleviate poverty in this country. The latest one was from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which provided no less than US$400 million to cover health and education programs for the poor.
What does the loan mean? That an institution like ADB still trust us? Or that we have really been unsuccessful in eradicating poverty that we must continue to rely on ADB and others?
According to the Statistics Agency, BPS, there are no less than 36 million people who must be included in the category of poor in Indonesia today. Other sources have put the figure at as high as 71 million.
If the authorities cannot agree on the number of poor people in this country, probably it is too much to expect them to be able to take care of the poverty alleviation programs.
On one occasion they even admitted that their target, a poverty level of 8.2% by 2009, is unattainable. The current economic growth rate of around 5%-6% is insufficient to provide all new job-seekers with employment, let alone dent Indonesia's huge unemployment tally.
For the record: the government's definition of poverty—less money than is needed to afford a diet of 2,100 calories a day—is Rp152,847 (US$16.80) a month. This measure is well below the more-widely used benchmark of US$1 a day.
While ADB has its “noble” objectives, we must also underscore the fact that what the institution gave us was a loan, not a grant, something that we must, in the end, repay.
If we don’t properly manage the ADB loan—as well as those from other donor countries or agencies—we may end up having more difficulties instead of solutions in the future.
One thing ironic was while we, on one hand, always say that we are short of funds to handle poverty eradication programs, on the other we seem to have so many—some even say unlimited—fund sources for political activities like gubernatorial or district head elections.
Even the newly sworn-in KPU members already requested for budget of almost Rp48 trillion to run the 2009 General Elections. An exorbitant elections budget indeed for a country with a large number of poor people!
What does the loan mean? That an institution like ADB still trust us? Or that we have really been unsuccessful in eradicating poverty that we must continue to rely on ADB and others?
According to the Statistics Agency, BPS, there are no less than 36 million people who must be included in the category of poor in Indonesia today. Other sources have put the figure at as high as 71 million.
If the authorities cannot agree on the number of poor people in this country, probably it is too much to expect them to be able to take care of the poverty alleviation programs.
On one occasion they even admitted that their target, a poverty level of 8.2% by 2009, is unattainable. The current economic growth rate of around 5%-6% is insufficient to provide all new job-seekers with employment, let alone dent Indonesia's huge unemployment tally.
For the record: the government's definition of poverty—less money than is needed to afford a diet of 2,100 calories a day—is Rp152,847 (US$16.80) a month. This measure is well below the more-widely used benchmark of US$1 a day.
While ADB has its “noble” objectives, we must also underscore the fact that what the institution gave us was a loan, not a grant, something that we must, in the end, repay.
If we don’t properly manage the ADB loan—as well as those from other donor countries or agencies—we may end up having more difficulties instead of solutions in the future.
One thing ironic was while we, on one hand, always say that we are short of funds to handle poverty eradication programs, on the other we seem to have so many—some even say unlimited—fund sources for political activities like gubernatorial or district head elections.
Even the newly sworn-in KPU members already requested for budget of almost Rp48 trillion to run the 2009 General Elections. An exorbitant elections budget indeed for a country with a large number of poor people!
The more, the merrier?
The 2009 general elections are still about 1.5 years away but the events look sure to be “merry” because so far no less than 79 political parties have registered themselves to take part in them.
The chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Abdul Hafiz Anshary said of the 79, it seemed that at least 50 would be able to fulfill all the legal requirements, thus would be able to contest both the legislative and presidential elections.
In the 2004 general elections, “only” 24 parties took part. But even then, many people already said that the number was too big.
They must have made very good observation over the parties because it was proven later that out of the 24 parties, only seven could find their way to the 550 seats at the House of Representatives (DPR) and it was the seven which later were used as political vehicles by some candidates to try to grab the top executive seat in this country.
We could understand that there was an eagerness to set up political parties in the early days of the reform era. However, today, almost ten years have passed since we toppled an authoritarian regime. The euphoria, in our opinion, should have ended.
Today, we should have been able to see clearly that too many political parties will only lead to unnecessary fragmentation in the society although of course the parties can also be seen as the “representatives” of the country’s democratic system.
But democracy actually is just a tool, not an objective in itself. Therefore, if in the last nine years we already learned that there was hardly any compatibility in the multi-party legislature and the presidential system of governance, we should at least refrain ourselves from having too many parties.
After all, we have always been so fond of talking about quality instead of quantity. If our objective is to turn out quality—instead of “merry”—general elections, the first step that we must adopt obviously is to “limit”, through the existing legal system, the number of participants.
We must do it now, before the 2009 general elections. There is no need to wait any longer because it seems only the parties, and their activists, which benefit the most from their presence.
A recent survey clearly showed that the general public do not feel that the parties can channel—let alone fight for—their aspirations.
The chairman of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Abdul Hafiz Anshary said of the 79, it seemed that at least 50 would be able to fulfill all the legal requirements, thus would be able to contest both the legislative and presidential elections.
In the 2004 general elections, “only” 24 parties took part. But even then, many people already said that the number was too big.
They must have made very good observation over the parties because it was proven later that out of the 24 parties, only seven could find their way to the 550 seats at the House of Representatives (DPR) and it was the seven which later were used as political vehicles by some candidates to try to grab the top executive seat in this country.
We could understand that there was an eagerness to set up political parties in the early days of the reform era. However, today, almost ten years have passed since we toppled an authoritarian regime. The euphoria, in our opinion, should have ended.
Today, we should have been able to see clearly that too many political parties will only lead to unnecessary fragmentation in the society although of course the parties can also be seen as the “representatives” of the country’s democratic system.
But democracy actually is just a tool, not an objective in itself. Therefore, if in the last nine years we already learned that there was hardly any compatibility in the multi-party legislature and the presidential system of governance, we should at least refrain ourselves from having too many parties.
After all, we have always been so fond of talking about quality instead of quantity. If our objective is to turn out quality—instead of “merry”—general elections, the first step that we must adopt obviously is to “limit”, through the existing legal system, the number of participants.
We must do it now, before the 2009 general elections. There is no need to wait any longer because it seems only the parties, and their activists, which benefit the most from their presence.
A recent survey clearly showed that the general public do not feel that the parties can channel—let alone fight for—their aspirations.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
In retrospect
... a.k.a. Kilas balik
Tanpa terasa sdh lebih 20 tahun berlalu sejak aku kerap berurusan dgn obsgyn. Dua puluh tahun tanpa kunjungan reguler, artinya tanpa check-up apapun. Sampai baru-baru ini aku merasa perlu melakukannya lagi, kala usia menginjak paruh kedua dr era "40s"-ku dan anak-anakku sdh memasuki usia 20-an mereka.
Agak terkejut jg menyaksikan bgmana my obsgyn has aged. Dan kemudian sadar bahwa kalau aku saja sdh di babak 40s, tentunya dia jg dia sdh di babak 60s. Usia yg cukup senior utk ukuran Indonesia.
Tiba-tiba saja ini jg menyadarkanku--lagi--tentang kefanaan, mortalitas, sesuatu yg sebenarnya sdh mulai terpikir secara sangat serius ketika aku menginjak usia pertengahan 30s.
Kunjungan terkiniku mengantarkanku pd sederet proses pengobatan yg sampai hal ini kutulis masih berlangsung.
Dlm proses ini pula aku menyadari adanya perubahan di kalangan pasien--dan perawat rumah sakit--di mana obsgynku berpraktek. Banyaknya kaum yg kuistilahkan sebagai "the jilbabers".
Duapuluh tahun lalu--dan aku sgt pasti akan hal ini--tak satupun pasien obsgynku (yg konon salah satu obsgyn paling laris en terkenal di negeri ini)--mengenakan jilbab, apalagi para perawatnya.
Skrg, plg tidak separuh dr pengunjung tetapnya adalah para "jilbabers" sementara satu, dua perawat yg umumnya sdh senior adalah pemakai jilbab juga. Pemandangan yg sungguh membuatku bertanya-tanya: What has actually happened in the last 20 years in terms of spirituality of the Indonesian people?
Kilas balik apa yg hrs kulakukan utk memahami fenomena ini?
Tanpa terasa sdh lebih 20 tahun berlalu sejak aku kerap berurusan dgn obsgyn. Dua puluh tahun tanpa kunjungan reguler, artinya tanpa check-up apapun. Sampai baru-baru ini aku merasa perlu melakukannya lagi, kala usia menginjak paruh kedua dr era "40s"-ku dan anak-anakku sdh memasuki usia 20-an mereka.
Agak terkejut jg menyaksikan bgmana my obsgyn has aged. Dan kemudian sadar bahwa kalau aku saja sdh di babak 40s, tentunya dia jg dia sdh di babak 60s. Usia yg cukup senior utk ukuran Indonesia.
Tiba-tiba saja ini jg menyadarkanku--lagi--tentang kefanaan, mortalitas, sesuatu yg sebenarnya sdh mulai terpikir secara sangat serius ketika aku menginjak usia pertengahan 30s.
Kunjungan terkiniku mengantarkanku pd sederet proses pengobatan yg sampai hal ini kutulis masih berlangsung.
Dlm proses ini pula aku menyadari adanya perubahan di kalangan pasien--dan perawat rumah sakit--di mana obsgynku berpraktek. Banyaknya kaum yg kuistilahkan sebagai "the jilbabers".
Duapuluh tahun lalu--dan aku sgt pasti akan hal ini--tak satupun pasien obsgynku (yg konon salah satu obsgyn paling laris en terkenal di negeri ini)--mengenakan jilbab, apalagi para perawatnya.
Skrg, plg tidak separuh dr pengunjung tetapnya adalah para "jilbabers" sementara satu, dua perawat yg umumnya sdh senior adalah pemakai jilbab juga. Pemandangan yg sungguh membuatku bertanya-tanya: What has actually happened in the last 20 years in terms of spirituality of the Indonesian people?
Kilas balik apa yg hrs kulakukan utk memahami fenomena ini?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
FOR SOME REASONS, I'VE ALWAYS BEEN FASCINATED BY STORIES ABOUT THE MOB IN THE U.S.
HERE IS ONE OF THE LATEST NEWS FEATURES FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ABOUT THEM
La Cosa No-more? Authorities say Italian-American mob is in decline
from tough laws, informants
By Larry McShane
New York, The Associated Press
In early 2004, mob veteran Vincent Basciano took over as head of the Bonanno crime family. The reign of the preening, pompadoured Mafiosi known as Vinny Gorgeous lasted only slightly longer than a coloring dye job from his Bronx hair salon.
Within a year, the ex-beauty shop owner with the hair-trigger temper was behind bars—betrayed by his predecessor, who "ratted" to the FBI. It was a huge blow to Basciano and the once-mighty Bonannos, and similar scenarios are playing out from coast to coast. The Mafia, described as bigger than the corporate giant U.S. Steel at mid-20th century, is more of an illicit mom-and-pop operation in the new millennium.
The mob's frailties were evident in recent months in Chicago, where three senior-citizen mobsters were locked up for murders committed a generation ago; in Florida, where a 97-year-old Mafiosi with a rap sheet dating to the 1930s was imprisoned for racketeering; and in New York, where 80-something boss Matty "The Horse" Ianniello pleaded to charges linked to the garbage industry and union corruption.
Things are so bad that mob scion John A. "Junior" Gotti chose to quit the mob while serving five years in prison rather than return to his spot atop the Gambino family.
At the mob's peak in the late 1950s, more than two dozen families operated nationwide. Disputes were settled by the Commission, a sort of gangland Supreme Court. Corporate change came in a spray of gunfire.
Today, Mafia families in former strongholds like Cleveland, Los Angeles and Tampa are gone. La Cosa Nostra—our thing, as its initiates called the mob—is in serious decline everywhere but New York City. And even there, things are not so great: Two of New York's five crime families are run in absentia by bosses behind bars.
Mob executions are also a blast from the past. The last boss whacked was the Gambinos' "Big Paul" Castellano in 1985. And in Chicago—home to the St. Valentine's Day massacre, the gunning down of six gangsters in a garage by a rival mob in 1929—the last hit linked to the "Outfit" went down in the mid-1990s. The Mafia's ruling Commission has not met in years. Membership in key cities is dwindling, while the number of mob turncoats is soaring. "You arrest 10 people," says one New York FBI agent, "and you have eight of them almost immediately knocking on your door: 'OK, I wanna cut a deal."' The oath of omerta—silence—has become a joke. Ditto for the old world "Family" values—honor, loyalty, integrity—that served as cornerstones for an organization brought to America by Italian immigrants early in the 20th century. "It's been several generations since they left Sicily," says Dave Shafer, head of the FBI organized crime division in New York. "It's all about money."
Which does not mean the Mafia is dead. But organized crime experts say the Italian mob is seriously wounded: shot in the foot by its own loudmouth members, bloodied by scores of convictions, and crippled by a loss of veteran leaders and a dearth of capable replacements. The Bonannos, along with New York's four other borgatas (or families), emerged from a bloody mob war that ended in 1931. The Mafia then became one of the biggest U.S. growth industries, extending its reach into legitimate businesses like concrete and garbage carting and illegal pursuits like gambling and loan-sharking. The mob always operated in the black.
Things began to change in the mid-1980s, when the Mafia was caught in a crossfire of rats, recorded conversations, and RICO—the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act that made even minor crimes eligible for stiff prison terms. The 20-year sentences gave authorities new leverage, and mobsters who once served four-year terms without flinching were soon helping prosecutors.
The first major RICO indictment came in 1985, with the heads of three New York families and five other top level Mafiosi eventually convicted. It took nearly two decades, but the heads of all five New York families were jailed simultaneously in 2003. And the law has since cut into crime families across the land. To name a few examples:
In Philadelphia, one mob expert estimates the Mafia presence is down to about a dozen hardcore "made" men—full-fledged members. Their number was once about 80.
The New England mob claims barely two dozen remaining made Members—about half the number involved 25 years ago.
In Chicago, home of Al Capone, the head of the local FBI office believes fewer than 30 made men remain. That figure stood at more than 100 in 1990. The city's biggest mob trial in decades ended recently with the convictions of three old-timers for murders from the 1970s and '80s.
The Florida family dominated by Santos Trafficante, the powerful boss linked to assassination plots targeting President John F. Kennedy and Cuban leader Fidel Castro, is gone. The beachfront Mafia of the 21st century is mostly transplanted New Yorkers, and money generated by rackets is not kicked up the chain of command any more.
"You have guys running around doing their own thing," says Joe Cicini, supervisor of the FBI's South Florida mob investigations. "They don't have the work ethic or the discipline that the older generation had."
The decline of "Family values" is nothing new. In January 1990, a government bug caught no less an expert than Gambino boss John Gotti wondering if the next generation of mobsters was equal to their forebears.
"Where are we gonna find them, these kind of guys?" Gotti asked. "I'm not being a pessimist. It's getting tougher, not easier!" "Mob informant" was once an oxymoron, but today the number of rats is enormous—and growing with each indictment. And the mob's storied ability to exact retribution on informants is virtually nonexistent.
"There is no more secret society," says Matthew Heron, the FBI's Organized Crime Section Chief in Washington. Basciano, 48, the one-time owner of the "Hello Gorgeous" beauty parlor, faces trial for plotting to kill a federal prosecutor, a charge that could put him in prison for the rest of his life. The case was brought after his old boss, "Big Joey" Massino, wore a hidden microphone into a jailhouse meeting where the alleged hit was discussed.
The Bonanno family is now led by the inexperienced "Sal The Ironworker" Montagna, just 35 years old, according to the FBI. Montagna shares one trait with his family's founder: He, too, is a Sicilian immigrant.
The mob of the 21st century still makes money the old-fashioned way: gambling, loan-sharking, shakedowns. But there are other, more modern scams, too: The Gambino family collected US$230 million in fraudulent credit card fees linked to pornographic Web sites.
After getting busted, mobsters are quick to offer advice to the FBI about allocating the agency's investigative resources. "I can't tell you how many times we've gone to arrest people, and the first thing a wiseguy says is, 'You should be going after the terrorists," said Seamus McElearney, a New York FBI official.
"They say it all the time: 'You should be doing that.' "And leaving them alone."
---
Associated Press writers Curt Anderson in Miami, Denise Lavoie in Boston, Jeremiah Marquez in Los Angeles, Dave Porter in Newark and Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
HERE IS ONE OF THE LATEST NEWS FEATURES FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ABOUT THEM
La Cosa No-more? Authorities say Italian-American mob is in decline
from tough laws, informants
By Larry McShane
New York, The Associated Press
In early 2004, mob veteran Vincent Basciano took over as head of the Bonanno crime family. The reign of the preening, pompadoured Mafiosi known as Vinny Gorgeous lasted only slightly longer than a coloring dye job from his Bronx hair salon.
Within a year, the ex-beauty shop owner with the hair-trigger temper was behind bars—betrayed by his predecessor, who "ratted" to the FBI. It was a huge blow to Basciano and the once-mighty Bonannos, and similar scenarios are playing out from coast to coast. The Mafia, described as bigger than the corporate giant U.S. Steel at mid-20th century, is more of an illicit mom-and-pop operation in the new millennium.
The mob's frailties were evident in recent months in Chicago, where three senior-citizen mobsters were locked up for murders committed a generation ago; in Florida, where a 97-year-old Mafiosi with a rap sheet dating to the 1930s was imprisoned for racketeering; and in New York, where 80-something boss Matty "The Horse" Ianniello pleaded to charges linked to the garbage industry and union corruption.
Things are so bad that mob scion John A. "Junior" Gotti chose to quit the mob while serving five years in prison rather than return to his spot atop the Gambino family.
At the mob's peak in the late 1950s, more than two dozen families operated nationwide. Disputes were settled by the Commission, a sort of gangland Supreme Court. Corporate change came in a spray of gunfire.
Today, Mafia families in former strongholds like Cleveland, Los Angeles and Tampa are gone. La Cosa Nostra—our thing, as its initiates called the mob—is in serious decline everywhere but New York City. And even there, things are not so great: Two of New York's five crime families are run in absentia by bosses behind bars.
Mob executions are also a blast from the past. The last boss whacked was the Gambinos' "Big Paul" Castellano in 1985. And in Chicago—home to the St. Valentine's Day massacre, the gunning down of six gangsters in a garage by a rival mob in 1929—the last hit linked to the "Outfit" went down in the mid-1990s. The Mafia's ruling Commission has not met in years. Membership in key cities is dwindling, while the number of mob turncoats is soaring. "You arrest 10 people," says one New York FBI agent, "and you have eight of them almost immediately knocking on your door: 'OK, I wanna cut a deal."' The oath of omerta—silence—has become a joke. Ditto for the old world "Family" values—honor, loyalty, integrity—that served as cornerstones for an organization brought to America by Italian immigrants early in the 20th century. "It's been several generations since they left Sicily," says Dave Shafer, head of the FBI organized crime division in New York. "It's all about money."
Which does not mean the Mafia is dead. But organized crime experts say the Italian mob is seriously wounded: shot in the foot by its own loudmouth members, bloodied by scores of convictions, and crippled by a loss of veteran leaders and a dearth of capable replacements. The Bonannos, along with New York's four other borgatas (or families), emerged from a bloody mob war that ended in 1931. The Mafia then became one of the biggest U.S. growth industries, extending its reach into legitimate businesses like concrete and garbage carting and illegal pursuits like gambling and loan-sharking. The mob always operated in the black.
Things began to change in the mid-1980s, when the Mafia was caught in a crossfire of rats, recorded conversations, and RICO—the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act that made even minor crimes eligible for stiff prison terms. The 20-year sentences gave authorities new leverage, and mobsters who once served four-year terms without flinching were soon helping prosecutors.
The first major RICO indictment came in 1985, with the heads of three New York families and five other top level Mafiosi eventually convicted. It took nearly two decades, but the heads of all five New York families were jailed simultaneously in 2003. And the law has since cut into crime families across the land. To name a few examples:
In Philadelphia, one mob expert estimates the Mafia presence is down to about a dozen hardcore "made" men—full-fledged members. Their number was once about 80.
The New England mob claims barely two dozen remaining made Members—about half the number involved 25 years ago.
In Chicago, home of Al Capone, the head of the local FBI office believes fewer than 30 made men remain. That figure stood at more than 100 in 1990. The city's biggest mob trial in decades ended recently with the convictions of three old-timers for murders from the 1970s and '80s.
The Florida family dominated by Santos Trafficante, the powerful boss linked to assassination plots targeting President John F. Kennedy and Cuban leader Fidel Castro, is gone. The beachfront Mafia of the 21st century is mostly transplanted New Yorkers, and money generated by rackets is not kicked up the chain of command any more.
"You have guys running around doing their own thing," says Joe Cicini, supervisor of the FBI's South Florida mob investigations. "They don't have the work ethic or the discipline that the older generation had."
The decline of "Family values" is nothing new. In January 1990, a government bug caught no less an expert than Gambino boss John Gotti wondering if the next generation of mobsters was equal to their forebears.
"Where are we gonna find them, these kind of guys?" Gotti asked. "I'm not being a pessimist. It's getting tougher, not easier!" "Mob informant" was once an oxymoron, but today the number of rats is enormous—and growing with each indictment. And the mob's storied ability to exact retribution on informants is virtually nonexistent.
"There is no more secret society," says Matthew Heron, the FBI's Organized Crime Section Chief in Washington. Basciano, 48, the one-time owner of the "Hello Gorgeous" beauty parlor, faces trial for plotting to kill a federal prosecutor, a charge that could put him in prison for the rest of his life. The case was brought after his old boss, "Big Joey" Massino, wore a hidden microphone into a jailhouse meeting where the alleged hit was discussed.
The Bonanno family is now led by the inexperienced "Sal The Ironworker" Montagna, just 35 years old, according to the FBI. Montagna shares one trait with his family's founder: He, too, is a Sicilian immigrant.
The mob of the 21st century still makes money the old-fashioned way: gambling, loan-sharking, shakedowns. But there are other, more modern scams, too: The Gambino family collected US$230 million in fraudulent credit card fees linked to pornographic Web sites.
After getting busted, mobsters are quick to offer advice to the FBI about allocating the agency's investigative resources. "I can't tell you how many times we've gone to arrest people, and the first thing a wiseguy says is, 'You should be going after the terrorists," said Seamus McElearney, a New York FBI official.
"They say it all the time: 'You should be doing that.' "And leaving them alone."
---
Associated Press writers Curt Anderson in Miami, Denise Lavoie in Boston, Jeremiah Marquez in Los Angeles, Dave Porter in Newark and Maryclaire Dale in Philadelphia contributed to this report.
PSSI - The Defiance
Indonesia defies FIFA over disgraced soccer chief
JAKARTA, Oct 31, 2007 (AFP) - Indonesia's soccer association Wednesday dismissed calls by FIFA to replace its disgraced president after he was found guilty of large-scale corruption.
The sport's world governing body this week called for fresh elections to replace Nurdin Halid, convicted over a cooking oil scandal, as president of the Indonesia Football Association (PSSI).
"The Indonesia Soccer Association will not organise a new election to replace the chairman Nurdin Halid as there is no request from the members of the association," PSSI secretary general Nugroho Besoes told a press conference.
PSSI is the peak body for local soccer clubs, whose heads vote to select the president.
A statement on FIFA's website posted this week said the world body had sent a letter to PSSI in June calling for fresh elections after Halid was elected to serve his second term as head in April.
The FIFA Associations Committee "decided that in accordance with the statutes, a person who has been convicted of a crime and is currently in prison would not be eligible to stand for election," it said.
Indonesia's Supreme Court in September rejected an appeal by Halid, 48, affirming a lower court ruling that he was guilty of misusing 169.7 billion rupiah (18 million dollars) in 1999 and sentencing him to two years in prison.
He was found guilty of siphoning cash from a fund for the distribution of cooking oil from the national logistics agency when he headed a body charged with distributing food essentials across the archipelago nation.
JAKARTA, Oct 31, 2007 (AFP) - Indonesia's soccer association Wednesday dismissed calls by FIFA to replace its disgraced president after he was found guilty of large-scale corruption.
The sport's world governing body this week called for fresh elections to replace Nurdin Halid, convicted over a cooking oil scandal, as president of the Indonesia Football Association (PSSI).
"The Indonesia Soccer Association will not organise a new election to replace the chairman Nurdin Halid as there is no request from the members of the association," PSSI secretary general Nugroho Besoes told a press conference.
PSSI is the peak body for local soccer clubs, whose heads vote to select the president.
A statement on FIFA's website posted this week said the world body had sent a letter to PSSI in June calling for fresh elections after Halid was elected to serve his second term as head in April.
The FIFA Associations Committee "decided that in accordance with the statutes, a person who has been convicted of a crime and is currently in prison would not be eligible to stand for election," it said.
Indonesia's Supreme Court in September rejected an appeal by Halid, 48, affirming a lower court ruling that he was guilty of misusing 169.7 billion rupiah (18 million dollars) in 1999 and sentencing him to two years in prison.
He was found guilty of siphoning cash from a fund for the distribution of cooking oil from the national logistics agency when he headed a body charged with distributing food essentials across the archipelago nation.
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