Monroe Woodbury Teen Plots Attack

Police have in custody an unnamed 15-year-old teenager accused of plotting a Columbine-like attack on his High School, Monroe-Woodbury, in Orange County, New York.

During a search of the teen's home Monday, the statement said police found bottles containing gasoline, items that could be used as fuses, a torch, a machete, three propane tanks, two computers and even a black trench coat similar to the ones worn by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the teens who killed 12 students and a teacher in Columbine, Colo., in 1999 before killing themselves.

According to authorities, the youth said that he had been bullied and that he had "a lot of hatred" for kids at the school. He also admitted that he had been trying to acquire an assault weapon "that could hold as many rounds as possible" .

The attack was supposed to take place on April 20, 2010 to mark the 11th anniversary of the incident at Columbine High School. The police said that the teen's parents were unaware of the items that he had collected or of his plan to attack the school.

The teen is currently under observation in a psychiatric facility.

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Eliot Spitzer Resigns as N.Y. Governor

New York Governor, Eliot Laurence Spitzer, 48, announced his resignation, effective Monday, March 17, 2008, bringing an end to what might have been an illustrious political career. He became governor in Jan. 2007 after winning an impressive 69% of the popular vote. He previously held the post of New York State Attorney General, to which he was elected in 1998. It was in this capacity that he earned the reputation of being tough on white collar crime. He was the nemesis of Wall Street, prosecuting securities and internet fraud, investment banking stock price manipulation, a mutual fund scandal and even took on Richard Grasso, the then-chairman of the New York Stock Exchange over his $140 million compensation pay package. He earned the nicknames Sheriff of Wall Street, Mr. Clean, "Eliot Ness" Spitzer among others for his efforts to root out corruption.

His short term as governor was marred by political battles with Republican State Senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno and others. He also proposed two controversial bills: 1. The legalization of same sex marriage in New York and 2. Allowing illegal aliens to obtain driving licenses.

Eliot Spitzer was forced to resign over allegations that he was involved with a prostitute and a prostitution ring called the Emperor's Club. He was caught on FBI wiretaps, identified as "Client 9", arranging and paying for the services of "Kristen" who was later identified as Ashley Alexandra Dupre a 22-year-old aspiring musician. Dupre briefly spoke to the Times about the Spitzer scandal. She told the newspaper she had slept very little since the allegations against Spitzer were revealed, and she declined to comment when asked by the Times when she first met him and how many times they had been together. She told the Times she was worried about paying her rent in a ninth-floor Manhattan apartment since her boyfriend recently left her. Records show that she currently lives in Manhattan, in a luxury rental skyscraper called The Chelsea Landmark on West 25th Street. Rents there start at $3500 a month for a small studio.

In his resignation speech Spitzer said:

“Over the course of my public life, I have insisted — I believe correctly — that people regardless of their position or power take responsibility for their conduct,” he said. “I can and will ask no less of myself. For this reason, I am resigning from the office of governor.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYUH7tSN8cU]

Eliot Spitzer will be replaced as governor by lieutenant governor David Alexander Paterson, 53, who will not only become New York's first Black governor but also New York's first legally blind governor. Previously, Mr. Paterson had served as the minority leader of the state Senate.

When he was elected Senate minority leader, Mr. Paterson recalled the discrimination he had suffered because he is disabled. “So I have had this desire my whole life to prove people wrong, to show them I could do things they didn’t think I could do,” he said. “This is just another.”

The Governor and the Prostitute

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was identified as one the clients of a prostitution ring, the Emperors Club, under federal wiretap surveillance by the FBI. The wiretap captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington to meet with him in a hotel room he had reserved. Client 9 turned out to be the governor himself.

Eliot Spitzer, 48, married his wife Silda in 1987. They have three daughters: Alyssa, 18, Sarabeth, 15, and Jenna, 13. Spitzer called a news conference and made the following statement:

“I have acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family and violates my or any sense of right or wrong,” said Mr. Spitzer, who appeared with his wife Silda at his Manhattan office. “I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public to whom I promised better.”

“I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.”

Statement by Governor Spitzer

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Muc8dmmpgRw]

Federal authorities arrested four people on charges of running an online prostitution ring that serviced clients in New York, Paris and other cities and took in more than $1 million in profits over four years. The ring, known as the Emperor's Club V.I.P., had 50 prostitutes available for appointments in New York, Washington, Miami, London and Paris, according to a complaint unsealed in Federal District Court in Manhattan. The appointments, made by telephone or through an online booking service, cost $1,000 to $5,500 an hour and could be paid for with cash, credit card, wire transfers or money orders, the complaint said.

Although Spitzer as not been charged with any crime, his political career is in shambles. There have been calls for his resignation.

"He has to step down. No one will stand with him," said Rep. Peter King, a Republican congressman from Long Island. "I never try to take advantage or gloat over a personal tragedy. However, this is different. This is a guy who is so self-righteous, and so unforgiving."

“The governor who was going to bring ethics back to New York State, if he was involved in something like this,” James Tedisco, a Republican Assemblyman from Schenectady who has clashed loudly and publicly with Mr. Spitzer said, “he’s got to leave. I don’t think there’s any question about that.”

Democratic Assemblyman John McEneny said: "I don't think anyone remembers anything like this — the fact that the governor has a reputation as a reformer and there is a certain assumption as attorney general that you're Caesar's wife. It's a different element than if you were an accountant."

Spitzer, himself, has not said whether he will resign or not. If he does Democratic Lt. Gov. David Paterson would become New York's first black governor. Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, noted that prostitution customers are often not charged, and said charges against Spitzer might be unlikely. "Especially if he resigns, he may just be left alone. It may be that the public is satisfied by his resignation as governor," Tobias said.

According to wiretaps "Client 9" arranged to meet with a prostitute who was part of the ring, Emperors Club VIP, on the night of Feb. 13th in room 871 at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel in Washington. That room was registered to a George Fox. Mr. Fox is a friend and donor to Mr. Spitzer. Asked in a telephone interview Monday whether he accompanied Mr. Spitzer to Washington on Feb. 13 and Feb. 14, Mr. Fox responded: "Why would you think that? I did not.”

Told that the Room 871 at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel was registered in Mr. Fox’s name but with Mr. Spitzer’s Fifth Avenue address, Mr. Fox said, "That is the first I have heard of it. Until I speak to the governor further, I have no comment."

Spitzer paid $4,300 in cash, some of it credit for future trysts, some of it for sex with a "petite, pretty brunette, 5-feet-5 inches, and 105 pounds," named Kristen.

According to court papers, an Emperors Club agent, Temeka Rachelle Lewis, was told by the prostitute that her evening with Client 9 went well. The agent said she had been told that the client "would ask you to do things that ... you might not think were safe ... very basic things," according to the papers, but Kristen responded by saying: "I have a way of dealing with that ... I'd be, like, listen dude, you really want the sex?"

For a detailed description of Spitzer's arrangements to procure and pay for the prostitute Kristen...Click Here.