Four convicted in New York synagogue bomb plot - Los Angeles Times

A jury Monday found four men guilty of plotting to blow up Jewish targets in New York City and shoot military planes out of the sky, brushing aside defense claims that they were victims of entrapment by a paid FBI informant who befriended them at their mosque.

The four — alleged ringleader James Cromitie, David Williams IV, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen — were arrested in a nighttime raid in May 2009 after leaving cars they believed were laden with explosives outside a synagogue and a Jewish center in the Bronx.

Prosecutors called it a "chilling plot" and an example of the danger of home-grown terrorists. Defenders of the four, all Muslims from the working-class city of Newburgh, north of New York City, said they would not have been involved in a plot were it not for pressure put on them by the Pakistani-born informant.

"It's a miscarriage of justice," said Susanne Brody, the lawyer for Onta Williams. She and other defense lawyers said they planned to appeal.

Alicia McWilliams-McCollum, David Williams' aunt, accused the FBI of "wickedness" in coming to Newburgh and targeting the four. "We have been used and nobody cares," she said after the verdict. "This case should never have happened."

Prosecutors heralded the convictions as another blow to home-grown terrorists and said it didn't matter that their car bombs were loaded with FBI-provided duds incapable of exploding or that the Stinger missiles they bought were useless.

"Home-grown terrorism is a serious threat," said U.S. Atty. Preet Bharara. "The defendants in this case agreed to plant bombs and use missiles they thought were very real weapons of terrorism. We are safer today as a result of these convictions."

The verdict followed eight days of deliberations and several weeks of testimony, most of it by the informant, Shahed Hussain, who gained the men's confidence by pretending to be a member of a Pakistani-based terrorist group and then secretly recorded their conversations.

Hours of those recordings were played to jurors, and prosecutors said they showed Cromitie's hatred of Americans and Jews in particular, a hatred purportedly fueled by the war in Afghanistan. In one meeting, recorded Dec. 5, 2008, a laughing Cromitie tells Hussain he has fantasized about blowing up "something huge," like a football stadium. "I always think big," he says. Hussain remains quiet except for an occasional "hmmm" as Cromitie rambles on and jokes that he should get a Purple Heart for launching a major attack.

But in a meeting on April 7, 2009, Cromitie initially appears resistant to Hussain's appeals to bring the plot to fruition quickly.

"I'm just thinking … I don't want anyone to get hurt," he says as Hussain warns him that his handlers in Pakistan are becoming impatient. After Hussain and Cromitie agree that women and children should be spared, though, Cromitie's demeanor changes and he agrees that it's OK for U.S. soldiers and men to be targets.

"I don't care if it's a whole synagogue of men, I will take them down," he says. "I'm not worried about nothing. What I'm worried about is my safety."

The defense said the recordings showed that Cromitie was easily swayed by Hussain and that all four defendants were egged on by promises of money and other rewards.

Each of the four faced eight counts, including conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and attempting to kill officers and employees of the U.S. government. Cromitie and David Williams were convicted on all eight counts. Payen and Onta Williams were convicted of seven and acquitted of the last charge, of attempting to kill U.S. officers and employees.

tina.susman@latimes.com

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NY Governor Candidates Meet In Debate - NPR

The long-awaited debate on Monday in New York governor's race showed Democrat Andrew Cuomo, son of the former governor and Democratic icon, as steeped in how New York government works and should be fixed.

Meanwhile, his top rival, Tea Party-backed Republican Carl Paladino, sought to display a passion for the work he says career politicians like Cuomo have failed.

Cuomo repeatedly criticized the government now run by his party, and harkened to a time past when he said New York state government was considered a model for other states. He praised past leadership, though he didn't specifically note his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo.

Cuomo spoke in detail with confidence on every subject, appearing more composed than Paladino and playing to the crowd more than the others at the Hofstra University debate, which included five minor party candidates.

"I know this state like nobody else on this stage," Cuomo said. "I understand the disgust with Albany, and I share it."

But the former federal housing secretary then added: "No state has anything on New York, and we're going to make this the Empire State again, don't make any mistake about that."

Paladino, a Buffalo developer, said state government doesn't need tweaking, but rather a major overhaul that scares career politicians like Cuomo.

"My critics," Paladino said, "want to say I'm crazy."

"No, I'm passionate," he said. He then ticked off his platform: cutting spending by 20 percent, cutting taxes by 10 percent, term limits of eight years for state officials, disclosure of all outside income to identify conflicts of interest and the appointment a special prosecutor to investigate the Legislature.

"My plan scares them to death," Paladino said. "You tell me if I'm crazy."

In the first and only scheduled debate of the nasty campaign, neither Cuomo nor Paladino targeted the other, although some of the minor party candidates took shots at both major party candidates.

Paladino, in his first public debate, stumbled early in his answers. At one point, he referred to the state Board of Regents as the state school board, which doesn't exist. He struggled with some statistics while Cuomo rattled off others.

But Paladino became more confident halfway through the 90-minute debate, striking his fist to his heart at times and leaning into the camera.

"Jobs are the No. 1 concern of our young people today," Paladino said, citing how taxes and over-regulation of businesses are forcing an exodus of young New Yorkers.

"They don't have that grounded feeling anymore," he said. "They want a government of the people, by the people and for the people and that's what we will give them."

Cuomo elicited the first laughs of the night while providing statistics that defined New York's problems and his solutions.

"I think the question in this race is who can actually do it? Who can get it done?" Cuomo asked, a stab at Paladino, a novice politician whose temperament for office has been questioned. "I have gotten a lot of legislation passed."

Also participating in the debate were Charles Barron of the Freedom Party; Kristin Davis, the former "Manhattan madam," of the Anti-Prohibition Party; Howie Hawkins of the Green Party; Jimmy McMillan of the Rent is 2 Damn High Party; and Warren Redlich of the Libertarian Party.

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In all, seven candidates took part in the first and only scheduled debate of the nasty campaign.

Shadowy independent groups are poised to spend more than $500 million on congressional elections.

Both states have high-profile and high-interest contests underway.

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Assessing Ray Ozzie's impact at Microsoft - CNET

Bringing change to Microsoft has been likened to getting an ocean liner to change course.

By all accounts though, the company has made several such adjustments. While the changes took time, the key ones can often be traced to a moment in time. Bill Gates' Internet Tidal Wave memo marked one such course change. The 2005 Internet Services Disruption memo, by exiting Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie, was another.

Ray Ozzie, speaking at Microsoft's 2009 Professional Developer Conference.

(Credit: Microsoft)

That long note from Ozzie not only led to the start of Windows Live and an effort to take Office into the cloud, but also helped start what became Windows Azure and company's broader effort to transform its products from software into services. More recently, Ozzie started FUSE labs, an effort to better understand social computing.

Indeed, at least one recent post suggested that the old tanker has finally changed course, even if it still has a lot of ground to make up. So, one could argue that, Ozzie's departure comes at a decent time.

But while it is true that much of Microsoft's cloud work has moved from outside Ozzie's purview and to the product teams, it is unclear who will lead the company through the next technological storm. CEO Steve Ballmer has said that the company won't fill Ozzie's role. And, indeed, perhaps it doesn't need someone with that title.

However, with Ozzie leaving and Gates no longer involved in Microsoft on a daily basis, it's not clear who there would have both the gravitas and political capital to get the entire company to turn in the same direction the next time it needs to do so. Although Ozzie never tried to fully assume the role Bill Gates had at Microsoft, he was the one person most closely associated with its long-term technology direction.

With nimble and powerful rivals like the Google and the Apple outmaneuvering Microsoft at various turns, the company needs not just someone adept at the helm, but also someone who knows the ins and outs of the waves well enough to spot foul weather on the horizon and plot a new course.

Tortured nautical references aside, it remains to be seen who will fill some very big Top-Siders.

In the mean time, here are some key moments from Ozzie's tenure:

•The 2005 Internet Services Disruption memo

•Ozzie, along with Bill Gates, launch live services push in November 2005

•A less well-publicized 2008 memo pointing out that the Web, not the PC, is at the center of the tech universe.

•His 2009 Churchill Club speech: Ray Ozzie's cloud hangs over the Valley

•My most recent interview with Ozzie, from September 2009: Ray Ozzie's view from the clouds

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