April 14,2009

Archer's arraignment on the charges is set for 9 a.m. July 14. He remains free on a $100,000 property bond. He has pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence in comments on stories about his case posted to the Appeal-Democrat Web site. (Http://www.appealdemocrat.com)

Earnest Rex Archer, a former Yuba County Sheriff's Department reserve deputy and one-time county supervisor candidate, was bound over for trial Friday on seven child molestation charges.

Yuba County Judge James Curry ruled there was probable cause to believe Archer, 70, committed the crimes.

One of the foster children was adopted by a relative, William Archer, and told him about the alleged abuse. He reported it early this year to authorities, and Archer was charged in February.

Autopsy Labels Jail Death a Homicide

The controversy over the death of a 19-year-old inmate in the Prince George's County jail continues, despite a medical examiner's report delivered yesterday declaring the death a homicide, the Post's Aaron C. Davis reports.

Ronnie L. White died in June, less than two days after he had been charged with killing a county police officer. At the time, County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) cast suspicion on corrections officers and asked the FBI and the state police to investigate.

An attorney for the Correctional Officers Association said yesterday that guards have told investigators that they found White in a "hanging, suspended" position, but his body was moved to administer medical help. But Assistant Medical Examiner J. Laron Locke suggested that White's injuries were not consistent with hanging.

State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said the autopsy report and the findings of the police investigation would be presented to a grand jury. "We're going to remain open to all possibilities," he said.

The Post earlier reported that more than a dozen guards at the jail have had run-ins with the law and that 16 inmates have died while in custody in recent years.

Siloam Springs Police Accused Of Illegal Strip, Body Cavity Searches

Federal lawsuit seeks class-action Status

Last updated Tuesday, July 29, 2008 7:15 PM CDT in News

　FAYETTEVILLE - Siloam Springs Police officers may have subjected more than a thousand people arrested on minor offenses to illegal strip and body cavity searches, according to a federal lawsuit. The suit, seeking class-action status, contends people who were arrested or detained for minor offenses not involving drugs, weapons or other contraband were regularly subjected to illegal searches at the city jail since at least July 2005. The statute of limitation has run out on any claims prior to that time. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court by Doug Norwood and contends the searches were done without consent, without a warrant, and violated the constitutional right against illegal search. Federal courts have ruled a blanket policy of strip searches or body-cavity searches on everyone arrested and brought to jail is unconstitutional. Courts have also held searching all arrestees detained on warrants for failure to appear or minor traffic charges violated their Fourth Amendment rights, and it is illegal to strip search or body-cavity search misdemeanor, pretrial detainees without a reasonable suspicion they are concealing weapons or contraband. Blanket strip searches are legal only for persons already found guilty of a crime. Corrections officers can perform such searches on inmates in prison for security reasons. The suit names the city, Police Chief Joe Garrett, former Chief Jerry Toler and nine "John Doe" and "Jane Doe" city employees. The suit claims it was the policy of the city, under the authority of the chief of police, to strip and body-cavity search any person arrested for any offense before they had a trial, making all the defendants liable for punitive damages. Norwood contends the proposed class could include more than 1,000 people who were arrested and taken to jail in Siloam Springs. City Attorney Jay C. Williams said Tuesday the city has not yet been served with the lawsuit but added officials don't agree with the basic factual claims made in the suit, such as the allegation of body-cavity searches. "This is very preliminary and we take it seriously," Williams said. "We're definitely going to investigate and look into things and if there are any changes that need to be made, we're certainly going to take those into account and do what needs to be done to make sure the jail's run properly." William said officials also don't believe there have been unreasonable searches conducted. "It's our position that, at this time and pending investigation and research, the searches that we have conducted have been reasonable to ensure that weapons, contraband things are not introduced into the jail population and that's for the protection of the people that we house there," Williams said. Jail audits and inspections have never called prisoner searches into question, Williams said. Common questions of fact among the potential class members are whether being unlawfully strip-searched and body-cavity searched without reasonable cause violated their Constitutional rights and what the damages and other remedies should be, according to the suit. A class action is the only appropriate way to hear the case because of the large number of potential plaintiffs and the risk of inconsistent rulings if the cases are heard separately, according to the suit. It would also prevent repetitive trials. The suit seeks unspecified actual and punitive damages. The plaintiffs seeking to represent a proposed class of people with similar claims are Nancy Zamarron, Kevin Capps, Libby Lusk, Sara Fort, Bryce Goff, Jessie Drabenstott, Amanda Kretzer and Rene Olea-Ramirez. A judge must approve a class of plaintiffs in order for the case to proceed as a class action.

have been employed at quest diagnostics for over 10 years. It is hard to show up to work anymore. The politics and red tape that most have spoke of are true. Quest is fast to place blame. They always talk about six sigma i.e black belt, green belt. it is a bunch of crapola. Management always have meetings about doing work, but never do work! Tampa florida business unit recently has left N florida business unit, and now is being controled by Miami. If you are a brown nose type you can be inefficient and go far. Quest is more concerned about fake illusions rather than a smooth streamline operation. Vacation time is great. This is how they get their hooks in you. It was once a great place to work but now on Sunday night I get that sick feeling in my stomach. there is a bunch of job justification going on. [it's not broke, but let's break it and fix it] lets have another stupid system with a acronym.... c.r.a.p. c.ompany R.evokes a.ll p.ersonal. If you truly want to see a view of what it's like. Watch the movie Officespace. [ya gonna need you to work saturday too!

Hey, I know the feeling. I was NOT a yes man and would fight for my employees if I felt the need to do so. (Not all management was incompetent.My employees, phlebs and couriers loved that I would pitch in whenever.) 5 days short of my 25 anniversary, I was fired for something that occurred 18 months prior and was never brought up to me in those 18 months prior to being fired. And the sad part is everyone my my manager to HR knew what was going on and they did not care......

Now! for people who want to work for quest, my advice is, go join the company but don't expect to live a comfortable life or be proud who you work for, the myth is busted, quest's staffing strategy is a scam, working for quest doesn't give you any intrinsic satisfaction. It is the worst paying company in America at all levels. My former boss just celebrated her 30yrs. at quest, but by moving out of quest, I make more than her as a Med-tech with just 12yrs of experience. To bad she canââ ? ?t go out hunt for a job like me because she stuck around a little too late and she is not as marketable as I am.

I work for a forensic laboratory in law enforcement, and had a current Quest employee interview for a position today. I was not on the interview team, but I gave them a tour of our facility. I was fascinated by the workload that this employee says they could handle. They are in the clinical side, and among 4 employees, she said they process 120 samples a day. I wish I had more time to ask what the numbers were for the various tests. Two things come to mind.... 1) We can learn some things to be more efficient, but 2) I suspect that the current workload induces burnout. I need to compare apples to apples though. Anyone who is familiar with the clinical or the forensics side, I'm curious about the methods used, and the workload for a small lab analyst group of 4 to 5 scientists/techs doing analysis to screen and confirm drugs of abuse in urine and blood. I think we could learn a lot from their operations, both the good and the bad.

I take it you havent been out in the PSCs? It may seem easy to think that all these negative comments are untrue but there sure are alot of people saying the same thing wouldnt you agree? Something is going on... Some truths maybe? Always check the turnover rate of the employees.. What is the turnover rate? If there is great pay and Bennys then why would the turn over rate be so high. After all Quest is not McDonalds hiring kids. I see quest in the paper looking for phlebotomists all the time, They are not growing that fast! Management needs to take a good look at their front line operations... It will affect their bottem line someday, It may hit Quest hard...

I have had it with quest. I need a similiar job with another company or anything else that has to do with the forensic side. lets use this forum as a networking site and help eachother out because there is talent and qualified people here who deserve better than staying with quest

The "happy" person above is obviously not a cytotechnologist at Quest. I've never seen/WITNESSED anything more unethical than the CPAP policy that Quest uses to force cytotechs to screen faster and then punish them for making mistakes....ANY mistake. How would you like your pap smear to be read by a stressed-out over-worked cytotech? The benefits don't matter in the long run when your health has taken an irreversible dive and you're having panic attacks every day from the stress. And I know all about the Atlanta business unit. The "big wigs" there are cold and ruthless. What comes around goes around! The Atlanta BU is going to eventually implode, that I'm sure of. And if the other Quest BU's are operating in the same manner, the same will happen to them. Quest won't be looking at my pap smear, and I warn every person I meet in my life to make sure they insist that their OBGYN send their pap to a small local lab.

You're exactly right. And if people only knew what goes on. How your blood might not even be spun down until hours later when there are one or two people working in a psc, trying to keep their wait time under 20 minutes. How urine samples that should be transferred in under an hour might sit there for 3 hours, and yea, maybe it now looks like you have a uti when its all just really stressed out overworked employees not having the time to get to it in time. Quest is becoming one of those companies with a bad reputation. And I agree with looking at the front line. Quest is definitely going to suffer for impossible policies it is imposing upon its employees

No, I am not a supervisor or any part of "management". I may sound like I need to lighten up to you, but why do people that complain stay at Quest year after year after year. The complainers are the ones that need to lighten up in my opinion and realize how many people are lined up around the block to have their jobs. I feel very lucky to work for Quest Diagnostics.

PEOPLE STAY AT QUEST BECAUSE IT NOT THAT EASY TO FIND A JOB THESE DAYS THAT PAYS AS WELL,DON'T GET ME WRONG THEY DO PAY WELL AND THE BENIFETS ARE GOOD BUT SOMETIMES IT JUST IS'NT WORTH IT BECAUSE OF THE CRAP YOU HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THAT WHY THEY COMPLAIN. I WAS WITH QUEST OVER 4 YEARS AND I GOT SNOWBALLED AND LET GO BECAUSE OF A MISTAKE THAT WAS MADE AND IN THE LONG RUN IT WAS THERE FAULT BECAUSE OF AN UNDER STAFFED PSC AND IF THAT'S THE WAY THEY TREAT THERE EMPLOYEE'S THAT HAVE BEEN LOYAL AND A GOOD EMPLOYEE THEN IN MY HEAD THAT IS NOT A GOOD COMPANY THAT DOES'NT STAND UP FOR THERE EMPLOYEE'S THAT ON THE FRONT LINES DOING THE GRUNT WORK DAY AFTER DAY

I have not worked at Quest, but I find it interesting that the environment that you speak of sounds a LOT like how women are/were treated in a position that males in general were thought to have only had. I will say this: If more than one woman in a management position works in the same office, I believe it does tend to get very cat fight like and uncomfortable.

Geez...I've put in my application several times, but received no replies from the company. Maybe I should consider this a blessing ?

I've been a phleb for 15 years, though never had a steady gig. I have applied with QD and others, but with such a high turnover rate, and the half-again increase to 38:1, it will lead to nothing but burnout for the worker and frustration for the patient.

I currently work as a data entry operator in government service, and the turnover rate, incredible stress levels, employee dissatisfaction, and bad management attitude is roughly the same as with QDI, so I'm quite accustomed to that. It would seem to me that this is the model for nearly all businesses in America these days, with total idiots running the show, and honest workers trying to do their best under the worst of conditions. That's unacceptable, and I don't even work there yet.

I really believe that we all are speaking truthfully about the environment at Quest. It is basically a job and nothing more for most of us. The pay and benefits seem to be good to some. Others like myself think that the company should pay more because we are working with infectious and biohazard material at a fast and unreasonable pace. A 10 cent to 50 cent per year raise just does not do it in these times. That is why I feel that the Specimen processors are being used. The long painful hours also is another reason I regret working there. I am glad to have a website like this one that lets me know that other employees share some of the same views about Quest. I also appreciate the comments from those who enjoy working at Quest. From what I see at work, they are a very few. You can not walk in the door without hearing complaining. I also agree that many of us would not be on this website if we were not looking for a new job.

left quest after 20 years of service .went with their competitor.well let me tell you,they are just as bad.......

qd is such a big company it can easily go from billion dollar profit to billion dollar under in no time if its not carefull about paying its employees crap. if u work for qd u deserve what u get for being so stupid to work for qd. I dont feel bad about dumb people who let other people take advantage of them.

I agree. I've been here for a while now, but in the last 2-3 years, QD wants the utmost efficiency (striving to obtain perfection- no mistakes). How do you accomplish that as an employee when you're work load only gets heavier and heavier. This is my problem with QD. Their strategy only leads to more mistakes, which is hard not to do when you're overworked and understaffed. And even though I complain, I have a family, and am not one to just leave as some suggest. It takes time to find somewhere else with good benefits and decent salary, so I bide my time. But am I miserable there? DEFINITELY. Am I frustrated when my supervisor actually stops by our site and does NOTHING all day? DEFINITELY. If you're in management, expect frills, lots of them. If you're an everyday average hardworker, expect to work hard and then some, and not be rewarded. This is Quest

Agree! I do understand. But, I have worked here over twenty plus years. Older now and even slower. Yes, they will push all the work that they can on you and there will be a limit. Just say so. I have said many times your nuts there is no way I can travel fifty miles in ten minutes. If you get behind then they will make changes as they will notice the overtime and make changes or pay overtime. Mangement I found really bad. Even human resourses that I had problems with I checked out and doesn't have any college what so ever. Wonder even if made it though high school. haha But, in twenty one years I have been wrote up once and that was recently by a num nuts that doesn't say anything until months later. But, then here in Arkansas there not very bright. When they find out your from California they just say you people all the time have to learn our ways. So, I try to be as silly and dumb as they are. I now go to my sites and say hey your not in compliance for not wearing gloves or face mask. At lease there lucky I can't write them up on just one side of the conversation. At 61 years of age, you already know I dislike being treated as a little kid, so when it happens then I send it right back as President of company stated to me. Don't think that those that really have control don't keep track. As I had to write already to others above human resources as I said that woman is as dumb as they come.

QD is the last place u want to work for, its better then being unemployed. 40% retention after one year haha what a company. I love it there because they think they are using me at outmost efficincy, haha. what a sad place

quest diagnostic is a greedy corporation, rich people trying hard to get as much richer as possible. Its is the same kind of greed that prevails in "old school" managed companies. Look at the car industry, GM partner is chevron. GM comes up with a great little electric car, chevron takes it out of the market even though everyone who drove it loved it. Chevron want us to use lots of gas. Even tomas edison had an electric car, 100year ago, u would thik smn who have imrpved it. Quest is in a different kind of business but its the same kind of greed that prevails. We are working for peanuts because the other place is just as greedy as the next. But there is still hope comming from companies like Google, virgin atlantic and even microsoft. Its the new money and responsable people who will ultimatly give a slap in the face to greedy corporations like ours.

This Company doesn't "Give-A-S_it" about their so-called (Ambassadors) Employees

If I had never taken the supervisors position, I would still be employed there. Quest was mostly good to me for 12 years except on the day I was laid off. The severence was fair etc.. But method the lay off occured was not done as per the Standard Operating procedure. There were techs with less seniority and worse performance that myself that were kept. I know this for a fact due to the nature of my position. Quest has made some smart business moves over the years, but almost all growth has been bought and is not organic. They are trying to be one of the best companies to work for, but subterfuge that frequently. Wegmans, the Rochester area grocery store chain is one of the best companies to work for. Their motto is basically employees first, customer second. One would never see this at Quest. The benefits are decent, pay varies from department to department. Some are good, such as cytology and pathology, some bad such as Phlebotomists. I think that some departments and business units are happier than others. The "Healthy Quest" blood work is really good. The vacation time is good, employee safety was attended to 401k was also decent. The Baltimore Lab has a very high cost per requistion. They can not seem to figure out why this is. They even own the building and do not pay rent! They do not pay as much as other Quest labs such as Teterboro. In my opinion There are a miriad of reasons for this. Bad lab setup, ineffiecient work practices etc., However "project layoff", I mean "Project Reshape" is an attempt to correct this at a corporate level without any consideration to local issues that might be the real cause of the problem. This is pretty much the norm at Quest

It hard to say if our issues are Quest related or if it is because we still have the same stinky managers we had before Quest. My manager only work in the workforce for a total of 4 years as a moble x-ray tech. Her girlfriend offered her the job of managing a huge out source department, and she took it. 16 years latter, she is not any better at running a department than she was before. For 16 years she has hurt, harmed, abused her employees to cover up all of her many inadq.and she has employed the use of other employees, her buddies, to help assist her. So in my department you shut up and take the abuse, and don't you dare inform anyone outside our dep. even when our clients welfare is at risk or your quit. I would love to see how an educated well trained Quest manager does.

Our staff has been cut to a third of what it was 2 years ago, and it is affecting our patient wait time. Our manager recently told us that she better not see any wait time over 20 minutes in our logs. She's been told about it, and is afraid for her job. We are so short staffed that it's impossible to accomplish this. So we of course are fudging our wait times,making her look good on paper, even though patients are waiting a good half hour to 45 min. to be seen at times. They see how hard we are working and many commiserate because they can see we are short staffed. So we are to work harder and quicker, and they will be closely monitoring our mistakes,looking for reasons to terminate and lower numbers. I don't think this is the way to go about it. There are people out there who will try to cover up mistakes,comprimising specimens at times, if it means they're going to lose their job as we've been told. This can be tedious, repetitive work. Getting written up for a typo is ridiculous. Quest's integrity is disintegrating little by little.

quest needs scientists to work in the labs. people who understand the principles of techniques being used. what quest does nto need is people who know how to press buttons on a computer screen. also quest needs to hire better managers, from scientific backgroungs, it is important and untill then I will not use quest for my health needs. there is stiff competition in this field. and what quest is doing is taking all the profits from US BUs and investing in huge expansions in foreign countries. this is so wrong it doesnt make any sense.

we are not finishing night processing until late the next afternoon, and TAT is 7am. Patients are suffering, and our clients are highly upset...it's so unfortunate, our company motto is "Patients First", but that is simply not happening. The company wants us to be ambassadors, but it is so shameful to be such lately. They need to get it together!

Hello people of the Quest forum. I've been wanting to ditch my current MT job and WAS looking at Quest. Thankfully I found this forum before I leaped into Quest! I had heard bad things about Quest through the grape vine over the last two years. Now I'm sure that I will not pursue Quest. Thank you!

I've read just about every comment here. I want you guys to know that Quest is not solely responsible for you woes. I work for a very large for profit hospital corporation that still runs its own labs (very poorly). We have all the same problems you have. Many things here are so familiar: the employee surveys, the "morale" talks, the patient wait times, the OT, the lousey raises, the shortage, covering for coworkers, management that gives not a damn about you, sexist politics, attitudes from other healcare workers, and the root of all evil - the almighty bottom line ($$$). This s*** is everywhere! I blame the U.S. Government, Medicare, and insurance companies. I don't really see that ASCP, NCA, and all those others have the strength to help us. The power is in numbers and we don't have that. We're a dying breed. We need what nursing got in the '80s. Over 70% of medical decisions are based on lab tests, but we're not considered to be professional. We deserve some of that, because we train people "off the street" to do some of these jobs. I have more education than most RNs, but make at least $400 less each week than most RNs. I spoke with an RN the other day that just received her $4,000 bonus she gets every year just for good attendance and a committment to retension. I've been doing this for 10 years and make $24/hr on day shift which is considered pretty good, but I also have supervisor duties with that. I know if I change labs it'll just be the same bulls**t for probably less pay and no seniority. I'm trying to bail out into a different line of work, but there's not much you can do with a MT degree. College advisors don't tell you these things!

unfortunate truth. i'm still working at this damned place!!! the only good thing about the company are the benefits. there are incompetent supervisors who does nothing but bad mouth their co-supervisors (TS) and other employees behind their backs to cover up for his son's incompetence. when was it included in a job description for a supervisor to sort specimens all night and do nothing else but stare at "good-looking" females? how about a supervisor who walks all night, knows nothing about computers, knows nothing about test codes, who doesn't know how the process goes, has a bad grammar, very impolite, condescending to his/her subordinates, doesn't speak proper english, and still got an "outstanding" on his review? how can someone who can't communicate properly be a supervisor? hardly no one can understand this sup! it's sad that our manager is able to decipher his "body/sign language" whenever he speaks to bad mouth an employee. i can't believe my manager puts up with this cheap imitation of a con artist. he actually boasts that he and our manager is close and that whatever he says, the manager listens. i wonder who the boss is? the manager or the super? quest actually employs incompetent supervisors to run the place and actually overlooks employees with more potential and are more than capable to be a supervisor.

DOG EAT DOG. PROFIT DRIVEN NOT PEOPLE DRIVEN. I WAS EMPLOYED THERE 20 YEARS

Be prepared to work LOTS of overtime. The people I worked with were outstanding. But QUEST CORPORATE PAYROLL mailed me a "bulk" request to sign up for direct deposit: address label with my name, address, & my entire 9 digit social security number where the zip code should have been printed on an adhesive label! If this is how this corporate entity treats employees "confidentail information"=unauthorized use.......imagine what is done to patients! As I said, the people I worked with were great, but I refuse to work for a company I cannot trust after unauthorized release of confidential information! If you work for them-check all correspondences very very carefully as HR/Payroll didn't bother to notify other employees who may have been violated!

I worked at Quest for about a year and a half. It is the opinion of the men working in my area, that it is amazing that I lasted as long as I did considering the obvious gender bias that is rampant in this workplace. In my work area alone, there are almost twice as many women employed as men. Unfortunately, this has resulted in a biased attitude towards men in general. Men are punished for practices that many, if not most, workers engage in. Women in general, however, seem to go unscathed and in fact, are promoted to higher levels. Additionally, during my tenure at Quest, the only employees to have been terminated in my area have been male, effectively adding to the already-skewed ratio. I, myself, know of two males that were not terminated but resigned from Quest due to the pressures placed on them as male workers. As mentioned before by "Eve" in San Diego, this is definitely a "Dog eat Dog" environment. When this universal attitude is coupled with the obvious female-specific leniency displayed, it's easy to see how the male worker can feel overwhelmed and intimidated. Additionally, whenever supervisors, whether male or female, are given "authority", those supervisors should be monitored for effectiveness in management as well as coached on the definition of "hostile work environment". In short, a typical day in the life of a Quest Diagnostics employee can depend heavily on your gender.

agree with Eve on the DOG EAT DOG comment. Also, new rules recently. Any mistakes made will result in write-ups. (instead of addressing a few problem employees)True that they like to give people chances before termination, but sometimes it takes up to a year to terminate a very problematic employee. Very afraid of what they call the "legal aspects" of firing someone, even with warrant. Recently, have just upped the productivity target. Used to be 25 patients per phleb., now 38. Where they came up with that #? It's called a good reason to start cutting people. So...now that you're supposed to do more work...don't dare make mistakes either. I work at a patient service center where morale is terrible. Definitely not people driven. Too concerned with buying up all of the competition rather than doing what we do and doing it well, so that people want to come to us. Seems to have gone down hill working there since change of CEO couple years ago. Every couple years gets taken in a new scheme to promote work morale, which I'm sure they pay heftily for. I work here now, simply because the pay is a little better than some other labs, but now a place I want to be forever.

They have employee surveys every year-mandatory, for about the last 4 years. If they don't like how the surveys turn out, your next up supervisor actually comes to your department, something that happens maybe two to three times a year, to give you a speech on if you were unhappy you should have let her know- only to tell you that you'll be required to take the survey again- hopefully with a more positive mind frame. This company is so phony. Really wants to be a good place to work- but has no clue on how to go about it.

Reading over the comments from other people, I see that there's not very many happy employees at Quest Diagnostics. They want to be #1, but they don't have a clue how to get there. It's not from buying all of the competition. What good is more business when you can't do what you have correctly and in a timely matter? Just this past week, specimen were found in trash cans. 2 of these specimen were tissue biopsies. Most of the employees I work with are young college students. They bring these kids in, show them how to operate the computer and turn them loose. Then they have the audacity toe have a meeting about ERRORS. They never confront the ones making the errors one-on-one. These kids don't care a wit about errors.

I saw another comment about layoffs. They don't lay off. They terminate.

Sometimes it's hard to get terminated. Some people work at it very hard. Some give up and simply quit coming to work. They let people abuse the system while the rest of us pick up the slack. So, if you are thinking about working for Quest and you are a dedicated worker, you will be continually frustrated. Or you will be happy when your payday rolls around, if you like overtime. My comment in Lexington, KY was that's it's easier to stay home and get paid than to come to work. So, it's no wonder Quest is after more and more money...they waste alot. It's sad they are in the medical business and our health depends alot on what they do. It's really scary. Be sure that when you have lab work done, that your name is on the vials. I've seen employees write the names on at the lab and send it on for testing. There's no way of knowing if that vial belongs with the requisition or not. I do my best to make sure all of the work I process is correct. I wish I could say the same for my fellow employees. I'm also not "qualified" enough to be a lead since I don't have a degree. The ones with degrees let this kind of work continue day after day.

I have to agree with the Dog eat Dog statement made in the comment above. And also the statement that dedicated workers will be frustrated. Its very true. Our sample preparation staff has a very high turnover rate. They hire processors and accessioners only to see them quit. The workloads are overwhelming! Overtime is mandatory unless you want to be looked upon as a less than loyal worker. They want to hire quality workers...yet because of the shortage in the sample prep department...the quality workers performances are compromised. We are expected to maintain a certain number of accessions per hour. And its true...any errors are written up. And this leads to termination depending on the degree of the error. Its very frustrating...all the work for such "barely livable pay". In our facility the Sample Preparation Dept is the worse Dept to work in. Its stressful and theres always too much work compared to the number of workers. And yet you still see "possible clients" touring the facility. It amazes me....if only they knew what the workers had to endure....or would they even care. I'm currently searching for new employment!

I worked in sales with Quest Diagnostics, I actually was working for another lab that got bought by Quest. Quest is a great company with great pay, but it comes at a price. The number one priority when working for a company that deals with patients health care should be the patient. But at Quest the rankings on Wall Street are number one. Patients actually come last. So what if they forget a pickup at a doctors office or the patients sample gets lost. Who gets hurt, the patient. They don't care if the patient is eighty years old and has limited means of returning to the doctors office to have the sample recollected, this would mean money out of Quest pocket if they had to send an employee to the patient. And so what if the patient is going to be charged for that return visit because of an error at Quest, the patient will still be charged even though they are taking time out of their schdule or their caregivers schdule the Quest mentality is that the patient was not charged the first time. Now in sales if you lost an account because of errors that Quest as made you will be told that you should have had a better relationship with the account so they would not have left. I had an account that Quest report out a positive Hepatitis C on a patient. About a week later Quest sent a new report out with no explanation saying the result was negative. My calls to the medical director at Quest and also the doctors calls were not returned, so the client took his business to LabCorp. On my yearly review I was dinged because of this. If you work for Quest you will no longer have a name especially in sales, instead you will be given a sales id which will be your new identity. The shareholders are only hearing the Quest side of the story when they should be taking note of what the employees have to say. It's no wonder that they have lost so many managed care contracts like United HealthCare and BlueCross/Blue Sheild of Georgia and the many contracts in the mid-west.

The worst, most unethical company I have ever worked for. Horrible employee abuse. Everything I have read from my fellow co-workers that have posted at this site is true. You have to work OT all the time because of the lack of staffing. Then when review time comes around you get popped for working to much overtime and get accused of not working effectively. The management is top heavy and ignorant. Too much redundant paper work. Patients are certainly not a priority at Quest. They have these stupid wait time surveys they make you do and complain if patients have to wait more than 20 minutes. Then management will complain if any mistakes are made even though there is a lack of qualified help. They are always coming up with PR bulls*** to improve morale but improved wages don't appear to be part of that picture.

They don't seem to respond to any of the employees suggestions on how to improve the work place. Don't know why they bother making us fill them out! And,you're right, if you identify yourself and complain in the survey they will make your job very, very uncomfortable for you.

I worked for Quest for 2 years and it was pure h***. The superviser didn't know what she doing and didn't really care about her "phlebs". I reported the wait times honestly and she reprimanded for taking to long and that I was suppose to get people in and out in 20 minutes. How is that possible when you have to work alone? I ended up getting fired because I was suppose to be insuborant. All I did was voice my opinion on something she decided on ruining 4 employees morale.

I have been working at Quest for 3 years and it is the toughest job that I have ever worked. There is such a huge turnover that the remaining employees have to take up the slack by working lots of over time. The specimen processors work the grave yard shift and with overtime some of us start work at 6:00 pm and go home at 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning. The work is never, ever done! You lose contact with your family and friends because you are extremely tired when you finally get to go home. Like someone in another posting mentioned, if you refuse to do overtime, you are looked down on or are made to feel guilty. If you are single and need a job to pay your bills, or want to learn a new skill, Quest is a great place to start. They offer Average pay, 401k, and other benefits.

You're right, Quest Diagnostics does have good pay and many good benefits, which is one of the reasons why I still work here, but there is a lot to put up with for those benefits. This company will never be one of the top places to work for, because it's all about show. Behind the guise of surveys to improve the workplace, there are more and more cuts and more and more rules. And don't say there isn't mandatory overtime. If a psc is understaffed, and not enough coverage, what do you think is going to happen if someone is out. They don't close the psc, I'll tell you that. Someone has to cover, which I understand, but it's getting harder and harder to do especially when they keep cutting your numbers. My psc has gone from 12 to 6 phlebotomists in the last year, since they've decided our new phleb/patient ratio is 38 to 1 instead of 25 to 1. And now there is a new "option" for patients: appointments- all handled by an outside company that Quest is paying. There goes our bonus for next year. We'll probably lose business over this until they realise it in about a year and change it back. I've never worked for a company that made so many bad decisions, only to change them back later on when everyone knew it was going to be a bad idea. I'm glad you enjoy your job. I wonder what you do?

you can say or think whatever you like. When a company is going to hell like Quest is, employees talk, vent, whatever. I've been here 8 yrs and used to love it, until about 2 1/2 years ago.

We had another huge turnover this month and others are expecting to quit or accept other positions in the company soon. We lost some really good employees. Makes me wonder why Quest does not try to keep their quality employees and get rid of the trouble makers. The supervisors are already asking the remainder of the us to commit to 2 days of overtime and we are now forced to work 2 saturdays per month.

stocks may be up, but I don't think a company that doesn't treat its employees well will ever really be what Quest "aspires" to be.

Federal Judge May Block First Kangaroo Court Trial At Bush’s Guantanamo Bay Torture Prison

WASHINGTON, DC - A federal judge is considering whether to block the first Guantanamo Bay war crimes trial from beginning next week. If he does, it could throw another kink into the Bush administration’s legal strategy in the war on terrorism.

Salim Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, is scheduled to go on trial Monday as the first defendant in a special military commission system set up to prosecute detainees at the Navy base in Cuba. Other detainees, including alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, are awaiting trials of their own.

But a Supreme Court ruling last month jeopardized those plans. The court ruled that detainees must be allowed to challenge their detention in civilian courts, a right that the Bush administration said for years did not exist.Read More

San Francisco California Residents To Vote To Name Raw Sewage Treatment Plant After George W. Bush - BCN Prediction: Passes By Large Margin

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - A San Francisco measure seeking to commemorate President Bush’s years in office by slapping his name on a city sewage plant has qualified for the November ballot.

The measure certified Thursday would rename the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant the George W. Bush Sewage Plant.

Backers said the idea is to commemorate the mess they claim Bush has left behind by actions such as the war in Iraq.

Local Republicans contend the plan stinks and said they would oppose it.

Appeared Here

Previously “Secret” Video Of Vicitm In Bush’s Guantanamo Bay Torture Prison Released

TORONTO, CANADA - Lawyers for a Canadian prisoner at Guantanamo Bay released excerpts of videotaped interrogations Tuesday, providing a first-ever glimpse into the secretive world of questioning enemy combatants at the isolated U.S. prison in Cuba.

The 10 minutes of video - selected by Omar Khadr’s Canadian lawyers from more than seven hours of footage recorded by a camera hidden in a vent - shows a 16-year-old Khadr weeping, his face buried in his hands, during the 2003 interrogation that took place over four days.

The video, created by U.S. government agents and originally marked as secret, provides insight into the effects of prolonged interrogation and detention on the Guantanamo prisoner.

A Canadian Security Intelligence Services agent in the video grills Khadr about events leading up to his capture as an enemy combatant when he was 15. Khadr, a Canadian citizen, is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. soldier during a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan. He was arrested after he was found in the rubble of a bombed-out compound - badly wounded and near death.Read More

Criminal President’s Federal Warrantless Wiretap Law Is Much Worse Than Anyone Imagined

WASHINGTON, DC - If the sweeping surveillance law signed by President Bush on Thursday — giving the U.S. government nearly unchecked authority to eavesdrop on the phone calls and e-mails of innocent Americans — is allowed to stand, we will have eroded one of the most important bulwarks to a free press and an open society.

The new FISA Amendments Act nearly eviscerates oversight of government surveillance. It allows the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to review only general procedures for spying rather than individual warrants. The court will not be told specifics about who will be wiretapped, which means the law provides woefully inadequate safeguards to protect innocent people whose communications are caught up in the government’s dragnet surveillance program.

The law, passed under the guise of national security, ostensibly targets people outside the country. There is no question, however, that it will ensnare many communications between Americans and those overseas. Those communications can be stored indefinitely and disseminated, not just to the U.S. government but to other governments.Read More

Bush’s Guantanamo Bay Torture Prison And Kangaroo Court May Close

WASHINGTON, DC - President Bush will soon decide whether to close Guantanamo Bay as a prison for al-Qaeda suspects, sources tell ABC News. High-level discussions among top advisers have escalated in the past week, with the most senior administration officials in continuous talks about the future of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay–and how it will be dramatically changed and/or closed in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling that gave detainees there access to federal courts.

Sources have confirmed that President Bush is expected to be briefed on these pressing GTMO issues–and may reach a decision on the future of the naval base as a prison for al Qaeda suspects–before he leaves for the G8 on Saturday. An announcement, however, is not expected before he leaves the country.

High-level administration officials say the Court’s decision dramatically changes the legal landscape–and raises questions about whether the government has solid evidence to present to federal judges to justify ongoing detentions.Read More

Federal Appeals Court Judges Reviewing Evidence From Bush’s Guantanamo Bay Torture Prison’s Kangaroo Court Compare His Administration’s Legal Theories To A Hapless, Dimwitted Character In 19th Century Nonsense “The Hunting Of The Snark” Poem

WASHINGTON, DC - A federal appeals court reviewing evidence at Guantanamo Bay compared a Bush administration legal argument to one made by a hapless, dimwitted character in a 19th century nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit cited the 1876 poem, “The Hunting of the Snark,” in ruling that the military improperly labeled a Chinese Muslim as an enemy combatant. The ruling was issued last week but an unclassified version of the opinion was released only Monday.

It was the first time a court has reviewed the military’s decision-making and considered whether a detainee should be held. The ruling provides guidance to federal district judges, who are about to begin reviewing dozens of such cases now that the Supreme Court says detainees can challenge their detention in federal court.Read More

Homeless Mentally Ill Man With HIV Sentenced To 5 Years In Federal Prison For Threats Against Criminal U.S. President G.W. Bush - Our Tax Dollars At Work

TAMPA, FLORIDA - A mentally ill homeless man will serve 57 months in federal prison for threats he made against President Bush.

Timothy Wade Pinkston threatened in August to go to Washington and shoot Bush. At the time, the 48-year-old was committed to a hospital psychiatric unit.

Court records say he repeated the threat to Secret Service agents, saying he didn’t like the president’s foreign policy or his handling of the war in Iraq.

Pinkston told a federal judge in Tampa on Wednesday that he is HIV-positive and bipolar and has a substance abuse problem. He said he’d been taking drugs and drinking when he made the threat and didn’t know what he was saying.

He was previously charged with threatening the president in 1991 and also sent threatening letters to the governor of Georgia.

Appeared Here

Iraqi Men Sue U.S. Military War Criminal Contractors After Being Tortured In Abu Ghraib Prison - Beaten, Electrocuted, And Subjected To False Executions

ISTANBUL - Four Iraqi men are suing U.S. military contractors who they say tortured them while they were detained in Abu Ghraib prison, according to lawsuits being filed at U.S. federal courts on Monday.

The lawsuits allege the contractors committed violations of U.S. law, including torture, war crimes and civil conspiracy.

The scandal over the treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib unleashed a wave of global condemnation against the United States when images of abused prisoners surfaced in 2004.

The four plaintiffs, all later released without charge, described their experiences to Reuters on Monday at an Istanbul hotel, where they periodically meet their U.S. legal team. They gave accounts of beatings, electric shocks and mock executions.

The lawsuits named CACI International Inc, CACI Premier Technology, L-3 Services Inc and three individual contractors.

The first suit was filed on Monday in Seattle, Washington, and the others were being filed in Maryland, Ohio and Michigan, where the contractors reside.Read More

Kangaroo Court Trials To Continue In G.W. Bush’s Guantanamo Bay Torture Prison Despite Supreme Court Ruling

WASHINGTON, DC - Hearings for terror suspects before US military tribunals in Guantanamo are going ahead despite a Supreme Court ruling that affirmed detainees have a right to challenge their detention in a civilian court.

Legal experts had described the high court’s decision as the death knell of the special tribunals created by President George W. Bush and his Republican allies in Congress to try “war on terror” suspects.

But Justice Department chief Michael Mukasey said the controversial tribunals at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba would continue their work and last week, two preliminary hearings were held as scheduled.

The hearings focused on Omar Khadr, a Canadian, and Mohammed Jawad, an Afghan, both detained in Afghanistan for having allegedly thrown grenades when they were still teenagers.Read More

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Case That Would Rein In The Bush Administration’s Power To Waive Laws To Speed Construction Of Border Fence

WASHINGTON, DC - The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a plea by environmental groups to rein in the Bush administration’s power to waive laws and regulations to speed construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has used authority given to him by Congress in 2005 to ignore environmental and other laws and regulations to move forward with hundreds of miles of fencing in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas.

The case rejected by the court involved a two-mile section of fence in the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area near Naco, Ariz. The section has since been built.

As of June, 13, 331 miles of fencing have been constructed in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

“I am extremely disappointed in the court’s decision,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said. “This waiver will only prolong the department from addressing the real issue: their lack of a comprehensive border security plan.”Read More

San Francisco California Voters Can Name Raw Sewage Plant After G.W. Bush

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA ― San Francisco voters may get the chance this November to make their city the first in the nation to name something after President Bush.
However, it’s not necessarily an honor the president would appreciate.

“San Francisco voters, help rename a sewage treatment plant after George W. Bush,” announced Michael Jacinto, co-chair of the San Francisco Presidential Memorial Commission, and gathering thousands of petition signatures. “To rename the Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility the George W. Bush Sewage Plant,” he explained.

Jacinto’s group already has more than then 7,200 signatures needed by July 7th to qualify for this November’s ballot.

Jacinto insists it’s more than a simple pipe dream. “Just because it’s funny doesn’t mean it’s not real,” he offered. “And I feel like, you know, the political process could use a little bit of humor now and then.”Read More

U.S. Congress To Finally Hold Phone Companies Accountable After Illegally Spying For The Bush Administration - Just Kidding, They All Get A Get Out Of Jail Free Card At Our Expense

WASHINGTON, DC - After months of wrangling, Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress struck a deal on Thursday to overhaul the rules on the government’s wiretapping powers and provide what amounts to legal immunity to the phone companies that took part in President Bush’s program of eavesdropping without warrants after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The deal, expanding the government’s powers to spy on terrorism suspects in some major respects, would strengthen the ability of intelligence officials to eavesdrop on foreign targets. It would also allow them to conduct emergency wiretaps without court orders on American targets for a week if it is determined that important national security information would otherwise be lost. If approved, as appears likely, the agreement would be the most significant revision of surveillance law in 30 years.Read More

Very Disgraced Former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Under Investigation After Politicizing The Justice Department, Booted Top Lawyer From Department For Not Playing Along With Bush Administration’s Love For Illegal Torture, Then Promised A Position As U.S. Attorney To Placate Him

WASHINGTON, DC - Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, now under investigation for allegedly politicizing the Justice Department, ousted a top lawyer for failing to adopt the administration’s position on torture and then promised him a position as a U.S. attorney to placate him, highly placed sources tell ABC News.

Gonzales, who was just taking over as attorney general, asked Justice Department lawyer Daniel Levin to leave in early 2005, shortly after Levin wrote a legal opinion that declared “torture is abhorrent” and limited the administration’s use of harsh interrogation techniques.

At the time, Levin was in the middle of drafting a second, critical memo that analyzed the legality of specific interrogation techniques, like waterboarding.

Gonzales, however, was concerned about how it would be perceived if Levin were ousted immediately after issuing the opinion - and just before he finished another - so he offered Levin a less significant job outside the Department of Justice at the National Security Council, sources tell ABC News.Read More

U.S. Army General Antonio Taguba Led Investigation Into Crimes At U.S. And Iraqi Torture Prisons, Says Criminals In Bush Administration Must Be Held Responsible For War Crimes

WASHINGTON, DC - The Army general who led the investigation into prisoner abuse at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison accused the Bush administration Wednesday of committing “war crimes” and called for those responsible to be held to account.

The remarks by Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who’s now retired, came in a new report that found that U.S. personnel tortured and abused detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, using beatings, electrical shocks, sexual humiliation and other cruel practices.

“After years of disclosures by government investigations, media accounts and reports from human rights organizations, there is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes,” Taguba wrote. “The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account.”Read More

U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly Hands The White House A Free Pass

WASHINGTON, DC — A federal judge ruled today that a White House office that has records about millions of possibly missing e-mails does not have to make them public.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly says the Office of Administration is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act, enabling the White House to maintain the secrecy of a lengthy internal paper trail about its problem-plagued e-mail system.

The decision came in a lawsuit filed against the administration by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a private group that has been trying to find out the extent of the White House’s e-mail problems for more than a year.

The functions of the Office of Administration “are strictly administrative,” Kollar-Kotelly ruled.

Kollar-Kotelly said the Office of Administration has no authority over others in the executive branch and that the office is exclusively dedicated to providing services to the Executive Office of the President.Read More

Disgraced President G.W. Bush Orders The Apprehension Of Osama Bin Laden Before He Leaves Oval Office - Then Maybe His 8 Years As President Won’t Be Remembered As A Total Failure

WASHINGTON, DC - President George W Bush has enlisted British special forces in a final attempt to capture Osama Bin Laden before he leaves the White House.

Defence and intelligence sources in Washington and London confirmed that a renewed hunt was on for the leader of the September 11 attacks. “If he [Bush] can say he has killed Saddam Hussein and captured Bin Laden, he can claim to have left the world a safer place,” said a US intelligence source.

Bush arrives in Britain today on the final leg of his eight-day farewell tour of Europe. He will have tea with the Queen and dinner with Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah before holding a private meeting with Brown at No 10 tomorrow and flying on to Northern Ireland.

The Special Boat Service (SBS) and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment have been taking part in the US-led operations to capture Bin Laden in the wild frontier region of northern Pakistan. It is the first time they have operated across the Afghan border on a regular basis.Read More

Crazed South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham Vows To Overturn Supreme Court’s Constitution Based Decision Regarding G.W. Bush’s Guantanamo Bay Torture Victims

WASHINGTON, DC - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) vowed Thursday to do everything in his power to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision on Guantanamo Bay detainees, saying that, “if necessary,” he would push for a constitutional amendment to modify the decision.

A former military prosecutor, Graham blasted the decision as “irresponsible and outrageous,” echoing the sentiments of many congressional Republicans and President Bush.

Earlier in the day, the court ruled 5-4 that suspected terrorists held by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay have the right to challenge their detention in federal court.

When talking to reporters Thursday afternoon, Graham cautioned that it he was still digesting the decision but said he was “looking at every way I can to modify this position,” including fighting to change the statute.

“The American people are going to wake up tomorrow and be shocked to hear that a member of Al Qaeda has the same constitutional rights as an American citizen,” said Graham.Read More

Supreme Court: G.W. Bush’s Guantanamo Bay Torture Victims Have Rights - Bush Can’t Turn The U.S. Constitution On And Off To Suit His Purposes

WASHINGTON, DC - The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision Thursday declaring for the first time that Guantanamo detainees have a constitutional right to a hearing in U.S. courts is a milestone. It also reinforces a familiar court pattern in the post-9/11 world of insisting on judicial review of detainee cases.

The court’s membership has changed in recent years, and it has zigzagged on high-profile social policy dilemmas. Yet a slim majority has voiced a consistent message on Guantanamo cases: Congress and the president cannot go it alone. The third branch must ensure that rights are not violated.

Dissenting justices have routinely denounced that message, and some have taken the extraordinary step of reading portions of their opinions from the mahogany bench. Dueling readings on Thursday showcased how narrowly divided the justices are on the controversial U.S. naval base in Cuba and the president’s latitude on detainee policies. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote for the five-justice majority, read portions of his opinion aloud. Justice Antonin Scalia countered for the dissent.Read More

Bush’s $60 Billion Iraq “Conflict” Now Viewed As Endless - Cost To U.S. Taxpayers? $2,700,000,000,000

WASHINGTON, DC - As the Iraq war continues with no clear end in sight, the cost to taxpayers may balloon to $2.7 trillion by the time the conflict comes to an end, according to Congressional testimony.

In a hearing held by the Joint Economic Committee Thursday, members of Congress heard testimony about the current costs of the war and the future economic fallout from returning soldiers.

At the beginning of the conflict in 2003, the Bush administration gave Congress a cost estimate of $60 billion to $100 billion for the entirety of the war. But the battle has been dragging on much longer than most in the government expected, and costs have ballooned to nearly ten times the original estimate.Read More

Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of G.W. Bush’s Guantanamo Torture Prison Victims

WASHINGTON, DC - The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay have rights under the Constitution to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts.

In its third rebuke of the Bush administration’s treatment of prisoners, the court ruled 5-4 that the government is violating the rights of prisoners being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The court’s liberal justices were in the majority.

Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the court, said, “The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times.”

Kennedy said federal judges could ultimately order some detainees to be released, but that such orders would depend on security concerns and other circumstances.

The White House had no immediate comment on the ruling. White House press secretary Dana Perino, traveling with President Bush in Rome, said the administration was reviewing the opinion.Read More

Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich Introduces Impeachment Resolution Of Criminal President G.W. Bush - War Crimes - Torture - Lies - Geneva Conventions - Posse Comitatus

WASHINGTON, DC - Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former Democratic presidential contender, said Monday he wants the House to consider a resolution to impeach President Bush.

See also: Daily Kos

Speaker Nancy Pelosi consistently has said impeachment was “off the table.”

Kucinich, D-Ohio, read his proposed impeachment language in a floor speech. He contended Bush deceived the nation and violated his oath of office in leading the country into the Iraq war.

Kucinich introduced a resolution last year to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. That resolution was killed, but only after Republicans initially voted in favor of taking up the measure to force a debate.

Kucinich won 50 percent of the vote in a five-way House Democratic primary in March, beating back critics who said he ignored business at home to travel the country in his quest to be president.

Appeared Here

Lawmakers Demand Release Of Chinese Torture Victims From Bush’s Guantanamo Terror Prison After US Agents Softened Them Up For Chinese Government Interrogators

WASHINGTON, DC - Lawmakers chastised the Bush administration on Wednesday for allowing the Chinese government to interrogate Chinese Muslim detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and demanded that they be freed in the United States.

The two lawmakers, Reps. Bill Delahunt, D-Massachusetts, and Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, said the Uighurs — members of a Chinese ethnic group — should be compensated and apologized to for any abuse they may have suffered while held in the detention center at U.S. naval base in Cuba.

Uighurs fled their homeland in western China and settled in Afghanistan and Pakistan, only to be swept up in the U.S.-led dragnet for terrorists after the September 11 attacks.

A federal judge has called their imprisonment unlawful, but the Bush administration opposes releasing them unless they can go to a country other than the United States.Read More

Scott McClellan’s Book Includes Charges For Which Criminal President G.W. Bush Should Be Impeached - Of Course Congress Will Skip Those And Look For Pictures They Can Understand

WASHINGTON, DC - It would be easy to think of Scott McClellan’s new book as a piece of dish, designed for sales, pitched for controversy, packed with juicy detail. And it is that, of course. But it is also something more. It is an argument by a man very, very close to the president, and deputed to be his spokesman for many years, that the president deliberately deceived the country about the reasons for going to war. We’re not talking mistakes here; we’re talking about a deliberate shading of the truth to hide the real motivation for risking the lives of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians:

In Iraq, McClellan added, Bush saw “his opportunity to create a legacy of greatness,” something McClellan said Bush has said he believes is only available to wartime presidents.Read More

Criminal President G.W. Bush And Courts Ditch U.S. Constitution - Bush Administration Tells Court It Can And Will Use Military To Sieze And Hold Anyone In Jail Without Charges Or Trial Forever

WASHINGTON, DC - If his cell were at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the prisoner would be just one of hundreds of suspected terrorists detained offshore, where the U.S. says the Constitution does not apply.

But Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri is a U.S. resident being held in a South Carolina military brig; he is the only enemy combatant held on U.S. soil. That makes his case very different.

Al-Marri’s capture six years ago might be the Bush administration’s biggest domestic counterterrorism success story. Authorities say he was an al Qaeda sleeper agent living in middle America, researching poisonous gases and plotting a cyberattack.

To justify holding him, the government claimed a broad interpretation of the president’s wartime powers, one that goes beyond warrantless wiretapping or monitoring banking transactions. Government lawyers told federal judges that the president can send the military into any U.S. neighborhood, capture a resident and hold him in prison without charge, indefinitely.Read More

The world you know is ending. Is this so bad? Are you really going to miss the old order? Can you honestly say that you like the world the way it is? No, of course you can't say that? Maybe a few years ago you would have been content with the way things were. But now it has gotten so out of balance that only a very few are content with the way things are. And none of these few are enlightened peoples. Only the greedy dark masters wish to cling to the old ways.

What will you be asked to do?

Who will provide the hidden clue?

Who will help you

See this through?

Wake up!

You must take control of your world

Before the invaders do.

To Win The World,

They must first capture the USA

Drugs and hypnosis are being used

On the Congressmen, Senators, Governors and Presidents

Who claim to be acting in your best interests.

Speak your truth.

Speak it loud and strong for all to hear.

Reclaim your country, reclaim your HERITAGE.

Become the masters of your destiny once again.

Cast off your shackles.

Throw out the dark lords!

An informed society is a free society.

The truth will set you free.

The whole future may be lost.

Can you afford to take this risk?

What can you do right now?

From: the Ruling Class

To: the Worker Bee

Date: 6,500 BCE

My Dear Worker Bee,

Do not be concerned with how difficult your life is, making us wealthy, or how we deceived you into exploiting the planet's resources, to create wealth for us to fulfill our selfish greed and desires, for we promise you that there is a heavenly paradise for you (your fictitious soul) to live in forever, once you have finished working your sorry-ass off for us.

By the way, have we mentioned how bad and sinful you are today? You should go to the Temple-Church and repent as soon as possible, and ask for forgiveness. Be sure to pay any tithing that is past due on your account, while you are there confessing your sins; and be sure to use the latest definitions of sin that we gave you, which will change on occasion to fit our wealth-generating strategic needs, regardless our your needs.

In the future, don't be overly concerned about losing your natural skills for (1) hunting and gathering food to feed yourself, (2) building yourself a shelter, (3) finding your own water source, (4) or getting rid of your waste products. We will be launching a new campaign to make you more dependent on us by (1) building grocery stores so that you will have to buy food from us (because we will own all the land -making it impossible for you to hunt and gather food on your own), (2) building ready made homes that you will have to buy from us, along with the land that the home sits on, (3) building water treatment plants so that you will have to buy drinking water from us (because we will own all the water rights), (4) building waste treatment plants so that you will have to pay us to get rid of your waste products (because we will make it illegal to get rid of your waste products for free, wherever you want). I almost forgot, we will also be convincing you that these are all modern conveniences; all you have to do is come up with the money to pay us for it all, including the taxes.

Our prophets (stockbrokers) are telling us that since you will no longer be working to hunt and gather your own food, and will need money to buy food from us, you will be working for us in the future. The distance between your home and your place of work will be a significant distance, making it impossible for you to get to work, on time, by just walking. It is my understanding that there will be something called an "automobile" invented, that you will be able to buy from us to get you to work on time, so that you will be able to earn enough money to pay for everything we have mentioned earlier. This "automobile" will require a type of fuel which will be called "gasoline," which you will also have to buy from us; including the required accessories, such as license plates and "automobile" insurance.

This should complete the major portion of our strategic plan for you to become completely dependent upon us. Next week we will send you a memo concerning some other "need-to-buy" items coming in the future that will be called health care, prescription drugs, health insurance, and life insurance.

With love, affection, and sincere concern for your well-being,

The Ruling Class

P.S. We feel a little guilty and would like to apologize for fooling you into believing that an invisible supernatural-surrogate parent and inexpensive 24-hour-per-day invisible police force, (God), gave us land that rightly belongs to everyone equally, but the priests among us advise against it; and besides that would put them out of a job of keeping the hoax

This is a list of federal internet site that would be of interest to crackers only!

https://pws.sc.egov.usda.gov/login/login.aspx?TYPE=33554433&REALMOID=06_1d7b1073_2375_4954_8aa8_6b8f5cd82e1f&GUID=&SMAUTHREASON=0&METHOD=GET&SMAGENTNAME=$SM$n0PufJt3ZsVSX%2bRFSOUdXT1W0e%2bYh8AXBXD%2bTcDaIfwtPRc4vqChVw%3d%3d&TARGET=$SM$https%3a%2f%2fhspd12p%2esc%2eegov%2eusda%2egov%2fnewsroom%2ehtml

In the past, I was, as you all know, in the battlefield of jihad and struggle.

God, exalted by He, wished that I face the same again in the same manner and the same spirit in which we were before the revolution but with a problem that is greater and harsher.

Oh beloved, this harsh situation, which we and our great Iraq are facing, is a new lesson and a new trial for the people by which to be judged, each depending on their intention, so that it becomes an identifier before God and the people in the present and after our current situation becomes a glorious history.

It is, above all, the foundation upon which the success of the future phases of history can be built.

In this situation and in no other, the veritable are the honest and faithful and the opposing are the false.

When the insignificant people use the power given to them by the foreigners to oppress their own people, they are but worthless and lowly. In our country only good must result from what we are experiencing.

To the great nation, to the people of our country, and humanity: Many of you have known the writer of this letter to be faithful, honest, caring for others, wise, of sound judgement, just, decisive, careful with the wealth of the people and the state... and that his heart is big enough to embrace all without discrimination.

His heart aches for the poor and he does not rest until he helps in improving their condition and attends to their needs.

His heart contains all his people and his nation, and he craves to be honest and faithful without differentiating between his people except on the basis of their efforts, efficiency, and patriotism.

'Sacrifice'

Here I am speaking today in your name and for your eyes and the eyes of our nation and the eyes of the just, the people of the truth, wherever their banner is hoisted.

You have known your brother and leader very well and he never bowed to the despots and, in accordance with the wishes of those who loved him, remained a sword and a banner.

This is how you want your brother, son or leader to be... and those who will lead you (in the future) should have the same qualifications.

Here, I offer my soul to God as a sacrifice, and if He wants, He will send it to heaven with the martyrs, or, He will postpone that... so let us be patient and depend on Him against the unjust nations.

In spite of all the difficulties and the storms which we and Iraq had to face, before and after the revolution, God the Almighty did not want death for Saddam Hussein.

But if He wants it this time, it (Saddam's life) is His creation. He created it and He protected it until now.

Thus, by its martyrdom, He will be bringing glory to a faithful soul, for there were souls that were younger than Saddam Hussein that had departed and had taken this path before him. If He wants it martyred, we thank Him and offer Him gratitude, before and after.

'The enemies'

The enemies of your country, the invaders and the Persians, found that your unity stands as a barrier between them and your enslavement.

They planted and grounded their hateful old and new wedge between you.

The strangers who are carrying the Iraqi citizenship, whose hearts are empty or filled with the hatred that was planted in them by Iran, responded to it, but how wrong they were to think that they could divide the noble among our people, weaken your determination, and fill the hearts of the sons of the nation with hatred against each other, instead of against their true enemies that will lead them in one direction to fight under the banner of God is great: The great flag of the people and the nation.

Remember that God has enabled you to become an example of love, forgiveness and brotherly co-existence...

I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave a space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking and keeps away one from balanced thinking and making the right choice ...

I also call on you not to hate the peoples of the other countries that attacked us and differentiate between the decision-makers and peoples...

'Forgiveness'

Anyone who repents - whether in Iraq or abroad - you must forgive him...

You should know that among the aggressors, there are people who support your struggle against the invaders, and some of them volunteered for the legal defence of prisoners, including Saddam Hussein...

Some of these people wept profusely when they said goodbye to me...

Dear faithful people, I say goodbye to you, but I will be with the merciful God who helps those who take refuge in him and who will never disappoint any faithful, honest believer... God is Great... God is great... Long live our nation... Long live our great struggling people...

Long live Iraq, long live Iraq... Long live Palestine... Long live jihad and the mujahideen.

Saddam Hussein

President and Commander in Chief of the Iraqi Mujahid Armed Forces

[Additional note:]

I have written this letter because the lawyers told me that the so-called criminal court - established and named by the invaders - will allow the so-called defendants the chance for a last word.

But that court and its chief judge did not give us the chance to say a word, and issued its verdict without explanation and read out the sentence - dictated by the invaders - without presenting the evidence.

I wanted the people to know this.