Does this mean we aren't going to land the Summer Olympics?

[Ogre]

Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford arrested on federal charges
Posted by Val Walton -- Birmingham News December 01, 2008 7:42 AM

Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford was arrested this morning on federal charges and is being held at the federal courthouse, the FBI and other federal officials confirm.

See documents and past stories from the investigation of Langford.

A special grand jury for several months has been investigating county bond deals and Langford's financial dealings. Langford was Jefferson County Commission president 2002-06.

Al LaPierre, a close friend of Langford's who also was part of the federal investigation, will be surrendering today, said his attorney, Tommy Spina.

David McKnight, Montgomery banker Bill Blount's attorney, said Blount is on his way to Birmingham from Montgomery to surrender.

The Langford, LaPierre and Blount indictments are under seal, so details of the charges are not available.

 
Langford, LaPierre and Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount are accused in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit of not disclosing $156,000 in payments to Langford. The SEC has accused Blount of paying Langford through LaPierre as part of a plan to secure Jefferson County financial business when Langford was Jefferson County Commission president. (Read the May 2008 story)

The SEC lawsuit against Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford fails to show how friends' personal payments to Langford led to $6.7 million in government business, their lawyers said in a filing seeking dismissal of the suit this summer.

Former Jefferson County Commissioner John Katopodis was indicted in October on fraud charges stemming from his involvement with Computer Help for Kids, a charity established by Langford when Langford was mayor of Fairfield. Katapodis was arraigned on those charges in mid-November. Details of those charges.

This statement was released from the mayor's chief of staff, Deborah Vance-Bowie.:

"As you know, the Mayor was detained this morning by federal authorities. We do not know the details of his detention at this time. City business will go on as usual as we are all here to do a job and we'll continue to do our jobs to ensure we deliver the best services to the taxpayers of Birmingham. This is certainly no surprise to us -- we anticipated something happening soon especially knowing Alice Martin's days in office are numbered with the swearing in of a new president in late January -- just a little over a month from now. We are glad the mayor will finally have his day in court. As members of his team, we stand behind him and look forward to the day when we can return the focus to the important issues before the city."

[AuburnChopper 3.0]

Gotta love it.   

[AWK]

God damnnit, now were are never going to get Beluga whales.

[Tarheel]

Looks like The SGA is behind the Haley Center Basement news 'bell curve' today:

The mayor of Alabama's largest city, a player in a multibillion dollar sewer bond deal that drove the surrounding county to the brink of bankruptcy, was arrested on Monday on federal criminal charges, an FBI spokesman said.

Larry Langford was taken into custody around 7 a.m. Monday, spokesman Paul Daymond said. It wasn't immediately clear what charges Langford faces.

Authorities are planning to say more at a morning news conference.

Langford was president of the Jefferson County Commission before he was elected mayor last year. Birmingham is in Jefferson County.
...

Sad....  I wanted to see da whales and da'Lympucs

Obviously this was politically motivated action taken by a BUSH appointee.  After The ONE takes office in January I'm sure he'll make certain that your mayor will be pardoned of any wrong-doing...alleged or otherwise...especially if there's a conviction involved after da mayor gets his day in court.

You may get your Belugas and Kalimpics yet.

[mglKSAU]

Shit Ogre, looks like you beat me to it.  http://tigersx.net/forum/index.php?topic=3740.msg40884#msg40884  Guess I need to look around a little more next time.  The story did make cnn though...  well... im back to my cave of retardation.  Personally, I am more sad about the Beluga whales than the Olympics.  Traffic is bad enough as it is...  Painting 5pts blood red was a winner of an idea if i ever heard of one though.  Instead of helping to actually clean up the area, all the people who get shot and whatnot will just blend in to the street--problem solved.  I bet that paint cost less than an actual policeman too!

[Ranger12]

Hasn't there been several Birmingham politicians, or in the surrounding area, that have been investigated/arrested for various reasons.

Maybe Langford was going to use that money to bribe the IOC.

[Pell City Tiger]

Hasn't there been several Birmingham politicians, or in the surrounding area, that have been investigated/arrested for various reasons.

Wherever it occurs (Birmingham, New Orleans, Atlanta, etc), there's a common denominator in this whole mess. I think it's fucking hilarious - and the funniest part is, should he be found guilty and sentenced to a PMITA prison, Carole Smitherman takes over as mayor for 90 days. Man, talk about stepping out of the frying pan right into the fire.

This is the kind of shit one would expect in some 3rd world, malaria infested, shithole country where 99% of the inhabitants lay around in the sun with flies swarming around their heads waiting on death to take them away from it all. We're lucky in the fact that we don't have to fly to some foreign land to witness this mess. All we have to do is drive across the county line.

[Jumbo]

Couldn't of happened to a better person

[AUTailgatingRules]

He and Ron Mexico can be "buddies"

[Buzz Killington]

Hasn't there been several Birmingham politicians, or in the surrounding area, that have been investigated/arrested for various reasons.

Maybe Langford was going to use that money to bribe the IOC.

He is the fifth former Commissioner to be arrested and tried for accepting bribes.
Chris McNair and Jeff Germany are already in prison I believe.  Gary White played crazy and got a new trial to come soon, and Mary Buckelew just recently agreed to turn over evidence (probably on Langford) in exchange for a light sentence.

On a side note...I love my job.

[AUChizad]

Wherever it occurs (Birmingham, New Orleans, Atlanta, etc), there's a common denominator in this whole mess.

Forgive me if I'm incorrectly assuming, but are you insinuating that the only corrupt politicians are all black? If so, that's beyond ridiculous.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

Forgive me if I'm incorrectly assuming, but are you insinuating that the only corrupt politicians are all black? If so, that's beyond ridiculous.

I think he was referring to them being Dims.

[GarMan]

Forgive me if I'm incorrectly assuming, but are you insinuating that the only corrupt politicians are all black? If so, that's beyond ridiculous.

I don't think it matters that they're all black, but they are representatives of that ignorant, deviant subculture in our society that frequently ends up in these types of scandals.  The fact that this particular subculture attracts more people of one color than another is not really the problem. 

[AUChizad]

I don't think it matters that they're all black, but they are representatives of that ignorant, deviant subculture in our society that frequently ends up in these types of scandals.  The fact that this particular subculture attracts more people of one color than another is not really the problem. 

If by "subculture" you're simply talking about the democratic party, then by all means, blast away. It wouldn't be accurate still, but blast away anyway. Political scandals are pretty equally distributed to both sides of the aisle, which is evident if you're not standing in the aisle facing the other side pointing the finger, while turning a blind eye to everything going on behind you.

But yeah, anyway, Langford's a fucktard.

[GarMan]

If by "subculture" you're simply talking about the democratic party, then by all means, blast away. It wouldn't be accurate still, but blast away anyway.

Well, that's not exactly what I'm talking about.  This subculture might often side with Democrats, but that's only because Democrats promise them free things at everyone else’s expense.  This subculture believes that everyone owes them something for some reason, and when they get into power, they suddenly believe that it’s their turn to get what they deserve. 

[Tarheel]

Well, that's not exactly what I'm talking about.  This subculture might often side with Democrats, but that's only because Democrats promise them free things at everyone else’s expense.  This subculture believes that everyone owes them something for some reason, and when they get into power, they suddenly believe that it’s their turn to get what they deserve. 

I'm going to call a spade a spade and say that you, Sir, are a racist bigot!

(By the way, for the Moderators, that phrase is NOT an ethnic or racial slur; here's what teh Wikipedias and teh Googles have to say:

Its ultimate source is Plutarch's Apophthegmata Laconica (178B) which has την σκαφην σκαφην λεγοντας. σκαφη means "basin, trough", but it was mis-translated as ligo "shovel" by Erasmus in his Apophthegmatum opus. Lucian De Hist. Conscr. (41) has τα συκα συκα, την σκαφην δε σκαφην ονομασων "calling a fig a fig, and a trough a trough".

The phrase was introduced to English in 1542 in Nicolas Udall's translation of Erasmus, Apophthegmes, that is to saie, prompte saiynges. First gathered by Erasmus:

Philippus aunswered, that the Macedonians wer feloes of no fyne witte in their termes but altogether grosse, clubbyshe, and rusticall, as they whiche had not the witte to calle a spade by any other name then a spade.
...

[Saniflush]

Its ultimate source is Plutarch's Apophthegmata Laconica (178B) which has την σκαφην σκαφην λεγοντας. σκαφη means "basin, trough", but it was mis-translated as ligo "shovel" by Erasmus in his Apophthegmatum opus. Lucian De Hist. Conscr. (41) has τα συκα συκα, την σκαφην δε σκαφην ονομασων

My Celtic is a bit rusty.

[Tarheel]

My Celtic is a bit rusty.

They have teh Babelfishes on teh ebays too; maybe that'll help.

[Pell City Tiger]

I think he was referring to them being Dims.

Exactly. I don't really give a shit if they're black, white, yellow, or polka-dotted. Look at the times this kind of shit has gone down in large cities and you'll see the perpetrators are generally affiliated with the democrat party. Socialism breeds this shit.

[GarMan]

Socialism breeds this shit.

I think that's only partially true.  I think it's the sudden elevation of power that these types of people obtain through the popularity contest aspect of politics combined with their lack of a respectable moral foundation.  Their socialist ideals are only a result of their weak morals/value system.  (It’s sort of like believing capital gains taxes need to be increased for the sake of “fairness”.)  They get caught up in those “shades of grey” that Liberals tend to promote and lose their ability to distinguish between right and wrong.  Notice how dictators only come to power in communist and socialist countries, even those that claim to be democracies.  That could never happen in a free/free market/capitalist society.