Aid surge gets going in Haiti

Helped by the U.S. military, supplies begin to flow -- but not to everyone

U.S. to change illegal Haitian immigrants' status

The temporary measure is aimed at increasing remittances to the devastated nation. Officials emphasize that Haitians not in the U.S. are ineligible and will be repatriated if they try to migrate.

L.A. prosecutor: Polanski cannot be sentenced in absentia in child sex case

LAPD's crime lab hampered by DNA backlog, money woes

Gates makes recommendations in Ft. Hood shooting case

The military needs to do a better job of comprehensively evaluating personnel and commanders need to be able to evaluate their personnel and pick up on behavior that needs closer examination, he says.

Johnson & Johnson expands Tylenol recall

Don't Let Haiti Return to the Status Quo

The Haitian diaspora could lead a post-quake revival if given the chance.

by STEPHEN JOHNSON

People familiar with the attack on Google say as many as 34 companies were targeted by China-based hackers, but so far only two others—Adobe Systems Inc. and Juniper Networks Inc.—have publicly acknowledged they were victims, as well.

A third company, Dow Chemical Co., has been "contacted by federal law-enforcement agencies regarding cyber attacks," a spokesman said, but he declined to say whether it had been attacked.

People in the Internet-security industry have named Symantec Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. as companies that were also targeted. Symantec said "we are the target of cyber attacks on a regular basis" but declined to say whether it was targeted in this incident. Northrop said it couldn't comment on specific attacks.

Possible Google Shutdown Has Some Chinese Worried

Internet users gathered outside Google headquarters in Beijing after the company's announcement that it may pull out of China. WSJ's Aaron Back reports.

The White House complaint is an unusual move that puts pressure on the Chinese government to take action in response to the hacking allegations. "We want to know what they plan to do about it," said State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, who said the department is likely to send the complaint Monday.

Administration officials said they have been in discussions with Google about its China activities for several months and that the company provided an advance notice of plans to publicize its allegations.

Google is still scrubbing search results on its Chinese search site, google.cn, a person close to the company said Friday. The company hasn't yet determined the exact time when it will stop censoring the site, this person added.

Yahoo transferred its China business to Chinese Internet company Alibaba Group in 2005, in exchange for a stake in Alibaba, and no longer manages the business.

Xiao Jing, a 2-years-old Chinese girl from Chengdu, looks at the Google logo outside the Google China headquarters building in Beijing.

U.S. officials have sought to downplay the notion that the Google allegations will spill over into U.S.-China government relations. A senior State Department official working on Asia met with China's No. 2 diplomat in Washington Thursday to discuss the Google allegations, Mr. Crowley said.

But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said recently relations between the two countries may be headed for a rough patch. China Friday sought to minimize the impact on bilateral relations. "I think no matter what decision Google makes, it will not affect the big picture of China-U.S. trade relations," Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Yao Jian said in press conference.

Still, Mr. Yao said, "all foreign investors in China, including Google, should comply with international norms, respect the rules and regulations of the host country, respect the public interest and legal traditions and shoulder social responsibility."

The Google dispute comes as the U.S. prepares to provide arms to Taiwan and Mr. Obama plans to meet with the Dalai Lama, moves China opposes.

The dispute also follows a back-channel U.S-China effort to work together on cyber security. In December, just as Google was hit by hackers, representatives from a think tank associated with China's intelligence service met with U.S. specialists in an effort to reduce tensions over allegations of Chinese cyber spying.

"They wanted to get it under control before it blew up," said James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who was one of the U.S. specialists who attended.

Google's and China's next steps will have foreign-policy implications, said Rafal Rohozinski, a principal at the SecDev Group, a Canadian cyber-security consultancy. For example, if Google stops censoring results, China will have to decide whether to block google.cn.

China could also prevent Google from accessing Internet addresses in China. Such a move would represent the first real attempt to begin carving up cyberspace by national boundaries, he said.

Many Chinese Internet users have fretted that they will lose access to the wide range of services Google offers besides search and email, such as customized Chinese versions of Google Maps. But Google can easily move such functions for Chinese users to other sites, said the person close to the company.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703657604575004421409691754.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection#printMode

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Key Turning Point in Jihadi's Journey

Alleged Christmas Bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab Held Critical Meetings With Radical Cleric, al Qaeda Operative

by CHARLES LEVINSON, SARAH CHILDRESS and MARGARET COKER

SAN'A, Yemen—For 10 days this summer, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab took language classes in this ancient city on the Arabian Peninsula. He lived in student housing, appearing to his fellow students to be devout, friendly and generally content.

Then, he was gone.

New details in the case of Mr. Abdulmutallab, charged with attempting to bring down Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines Flight 253, have emerged suggesting that it was around this time that the young man met with the radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, according to a person familiar with intelligence shared among Arab states and a U.S. official. The person familiar with Arab intelligence says Mr. Abdulmutallab met with a mysterious Saudi operative of al Qaeda.

A few months later, on Christmas Day, he boarded the plane for Detroit, with 76 grams of explosives allegedly sewn into his underwear.

Investigators in the U.S. and Yemen believe the meetings marked a critical turning point in Mr. Abdulmutallab's gradual transformation from pious Muslim to alleged terrorist. How and when his relationships were initially forged with al Qaeda and Mr. Awlaki, who has surfaced in multiple terror probes, is at the heart of the global scramble to trace Mr. Abdulmutallab's "radicalization"—and to determine how authorities could have missed the warning signs.

Through most of his life, the Nigeria-born Mr. Abdulmutallab came off as a religious and inward young man, so opaque as to be virtually unknowable. He was intense and serious about Islam, but in a way that acquaintances judged to be within the mainstream.

People familiar with the investigation say he began to quietly reach out to political extremists as a college student in London from 2005 to 2008, then apparently embedded more deeply with them as he hop-scotched around Africa and the Middle East. They say it was during his time in London that he was likely first exposed to Mr. Awlaki via the cleric's rabble-rousing anti-Western sermons on the Internet. He is believed to have reached out to the cleric at some point, but it couldn't be learned when that first contact was attempted or whether Mr. Awlaki responded.

This account of Mr. Abdulmutallab's childhood and journey over the past few years is based on several dozen interviews with friends and associates, as well as government officials examining his movements in the U.S., Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Mr. Abdulmutallab, 23, is the son of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, recently retired chairman of First Bank of Nigeria PLC and one of the country's most prominent businessmen. People who encountered Mr. Abdulmutallab at various stages of his life describe him as a young man who studied Islam, prayed frequently and radiated loneliness. As a boy in Kaduna, Nigera, Mr. Abdulmutallab earned the nickname "ustaz," or "scholarly man." He steered clear of the country-club parties and polo matches frequented by other wealthy kids.

He was "a nice boy who had no friends," recalls Musa Umar Dumawa, director of the Islamic school Mr. Abdulmutallab attended in Kaduna. Yet in Internet postings attributed to him as a teenager, he also fretted about his isolation: "Either people do not want to get close to me as they go partying and stuff while I don't, or they are bad people who befriend me and influence me to do bad things."

From childhood on, Mr. Abdulmutallab was exposed to circumstances that could have shaped his political views. Kaduna was home to growing anti-Western sentiment among Muslims, fueled in part by clashes with Christians that erupted in 2000, when the local governor considered imposing Sharia, or Islamic law.

After a few years at boarding school in Togo, Mr. Abdulmutallab in 2004 ventured to Yemen, where a growing number of Islamic extremists have been relocating from Pakistan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. From fall 2004 to spring 2005, he studied at the San'a Institute for Arabic Language, according to Mohammed Al-Anisi, the institute's director.

"He knew how to read and write in Arabic because he had learned to read the Quran being a Muslim, but his speaking abilities were very limited," recalls Mr. Anisi.

Mr. Abdulmutallab began his year in San'a shortly after Mr. Awlaki, the radical cleric, returned to the city after 14 years in the U.S. and London. While Mr. Abdulmutallab was studying Arabic in San'a's Old City, Mr. Awlaki was making a name for himself as a vibrant newpreacher. He gave regular Friday sermons at the Yehya al-Ghader mosque on the city's Western periphery. He lectured at the Al Iman University, founded by Sheikh Abdel Majeed Zindani in 1995, who both the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.N. Security Council have named as an affiliate of al Qaeda.

There is no evidence to suggest that Mr. Abdulmutallab ever attended Mr. Awlaki's sermons or lectures or met the cleric during this period.

Mr. Abdulmutallab harbored dreams of studying engineering in the U.S. at Stanford University or the California Institute of Technology, but in the fall of 2005, he enrolled in the mechanical engineering program at University College London. Internet postings from early 2005 that appear to have been written by Mr. Abdulmutallab show a craving for the fellowship of a student Islamic society. At UCL, he quickly hooked up with the university's Islamic group.

There, Mr. Abdulmutallab was often seen dressed in traditional white robe and skull cap. He arrived at class on his own, says Derek Wong, a fellow student. Others recall he was friendly but declined invitations to drink or socialize. Michael Kangawa, a student, says Mr. Abdulmutallab invited him to talks on Islam, none of which "sounded sinister in the slightest."

Through the UCL Islamic Society, for which he served as president in 2006 and 2007, Mr. Abdulmutallab became involved in politics. One former student recalls that in the summer of 2006 Mr. Abdulmutallab solicited signatures for a petition against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and against Western support for Israel. "He was very passionate and very articulate," this person says.

Qasim Fariq, Mr. Abdulmutallab's predecessor as the society's president, says he saw no signs of a budding militant. "If he'd had radical views, that would have raised a question mark about his suitability to be president," says Mr. Fariq. "He never expressed any extremist inclinations."

U.K. intelligence agencies, now combing through his history, say that Mr. Abdulmutallab was flirting with a more radical form of Islam. While a student, people familiar with the matter say, he made contact with several extremists who were being monitored by the security services. Yet security agencies have so far found no evidence that he was contemplating violence while in the U.K. or posed a threat to national security.

"It looks pretty aspirational, and it doesn't look as if he got particularly far," a British official says. While in the U.K., he gave the impression of "a young guy who's trying to start out on a journey.... We see many people who start out on that journey and very few of them reach the point where they are willing to blow up people on tube trains."

Mr. Abdulmutallab's movements became harder to track after he graduated from UCL in June 2008. He appears to have cut himself off from college acquaintances. "In December, I sent him an instant message when I saw he was online, but he never replied," says Mr. Fariq. "I was surprised he'd cut off contact so abruptly."

Mr. Abdulmutallab bounced around the world. His application to obtain a visa to travel to the U.S. raised no red flags, and he visited Houston—home to an estimated 100,000 Nigerian immigrants—in August 2008. He stayed for about two weeks, attending an Islamic seminar run by a nonprofit educational group called the Al Maghrib Institute and staying at a Sheraton hotel on the outskirts of downtown.

In October, he turned up in Nigeria. There, he approached Abdulkareem Durosinlorun, the director of a small Islamic primary school in Kaduna, with a proposal to teach a course on Prophetic medicine, the ways of healing according to the Prophet Muhammad.

"He spoke about combating demons of power, or money," says Bilquees Abdul Azees, who attended the two-day course. "His solution was that if you have faith in Allah, you will persevere."

In January 2009, Mr. Abdulmutallab arrived in Dubai with his father, according to a person familiar with intelligence shared between Arab governments investigating the Nigerian's movements. He applied for a student visa and enrolled at University of Wollongong, the Dubai-based campus of the Australian institute, to pursue a degree in international business, which involves courses in finance, accounting and human resources.

He lived in student housing, played basketball on the side, and struck fellow students and faculty as diligent and quiet. University President Robert J. Whelan says Mr. Abdulmutallab was a "hard-working" student who scored "above-average" grades.

In April 2009, he applied for a visa to attend an eight-day course provided by Discovery Life Coaching based in east London. The U.K. Border Agency refused the application because Discovery Life didn't hold valid accreditation as an educational institution and wasn't eligible to sponsor international students in Britain. Attempts to find a company called Discovery Life in that area were unsuccessful.

He completed only two semesters in Dubai, failing to pay his fees for what would have been his third and final semester before graduating. During his final days in Dubai in early August, he sent his father an SMS text saying he was headed to Yemen to study Arabic, according to the person familiar with Arab intelligence sharing. He left the country Aug. 4 "and never showed up again" in Dubai, this person said.

Near the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began Aug. 22, Mr. Abdulmutallab returned to the language institute in Yemen where he had studied as a teenager. Mr. Anisi, the institute's director, says the young man appeared more serious, withdrawn and pious than the student who had left four years earlier.

People who were there say he stayed no more than 10 days before leaving. "He said it was Ramadan and he wanted to focus on praying," said one student.

Matthew Salmon, a 27-year-old Canadian student, lived next door to Mr. Abdulmutallab in this period. They talked about religion, with Mr. Abdulmutallab gently proselytizing and focusing on Quranic verses that spoke of tolerance for Christians and Jews. "More than anything else, he seemed like someone who had found some peace in the religion he subscribed to. ... He was honest, he was happy, and there was absolutely no malice in the guy that I could detect."

In early September, Mr. Salmon had a final conversation with him. "I asked him how long he planned on staying in Yemen, and he said a month or two depending on how long the money held up and how his studying progressed. The next day he was gone, his room was empty and that was the end of it."

Yemeni officials say Mr. Abdulmutallab left San'a and traveled to the rugged tribal-controlled southern province of Shabwa, where al Qaeda has a strong presence and where Mr. Awlaki has lived at least the past two years. There, Mr. Abdulmutallab met with al Qaeda leaders in Yemen and "likely" Mr. Awlaki, according to Yemen's government.

The person familiar with intelligence sharing among Arab states and a U.S. official say Mr. Abdulmutallab met face-to-face with Mr. Awlaki, but it's unclear where or when. This person says Mr. Abdulmutallab befriended an al Qaeda operative while attending a mosque in downtownSan'a. A U.S. security official says the mosque has been frequented by al Qaeda members. "Slowly, slowly, he started liking them, and he got their trust," this person said of Mr. Abdulmutallab.

His precise itinerary after leaving Yemen is in dispute. What is known is that he arrived in Ghana in early December, staying about two weeks and buying an airline ticket for travel later in the month, according to the Ghana government. On Dec. 24, he flew to Lagos and proceeded to Amsterdam after a brief stopover. On Dec. 25, he boarded Flight 253 in Amsterdam, headed for Detroit.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703657604575005290754112062.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLENews#printMode

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U.S. Killed Terrorist on Wanted List, Pakistani Officials Say

by ZAHID HUSSAIN

A CIA-operated drone strike on a suspected militant hideout last weekend killed one of FBI's most-wanted terrorists who had been involved in 1986 hijacking of an U.S. airline, a senior Pakistani offical said.

Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin who had a bounty of $5 million on his head, was killed in the strike in North Waziristan on Sunday, along with another Jordanian who was identified as Mahmoud Zaydan, the official said.

Mr. Rahim was released from a Pakistani prison a few years ago after a conviction for his role in the Sept. 5, 1986, hijacking of Pan American World Airways Flight 73, in which the hijackers demanded 1,500 prisoners in Cyprus and Israel be released. Twenty people, including two Americans, were killed during the hijacking.

On Friday, at least 11 people were killed in two drone strikes in a border village in North Waziristan. The missiles slammed compounds believed to be militant sanctuaries.

The latest raid occurred near an area targeted by drones on Thursday that killed 12 people. Hakimullah Mehsud, the top leader of Pakistani Taliban Movement escaped in one of those attacks. A purported audiotape of Mr. Mehsud denying his death emerged Friday but contained no specific reference to the missile strike. Pakistani intelligence sources said Mr. Mehsud was spotted in the area, but might have fled just before the raid. The 29-year-old commander replaced Baitullah Mehsud, the supreme leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan who was killed in a U.S. missile strike at his house in South Waziristan last year.

The U.S. campaign escalated after the December 30 suicide attack by a Jordanian double agent on a U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan. The attack, apparently organized by al Qaeda and facilitated by Pakistani Taliban, killed seven CIA operatives.

Pakistani leaders have publicly criticized the U.S. drone strikes as breach of their country's sovereignty, but security officials privately admit the attacks have been very effective in eliminating key al Qaeda and Taliban operatives.

North Waziristan is considered a stronghold of al Qaeda and various militant factions focused on battling the U.S. in Afghanistan. Pakistan has been resisting mounting U.S. pressure to wage an army offensive in the region. Mr. Mehsud and some top Taliban commanders are also believed to have taken sanctuary in the region after the military offensive in South Waziristan.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703657604575004982065246538.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews#printMode

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somali Leader Says Nation Needs More Support

by SARAH CHILDRESS

NAIROBI, Kenya—The president of Somalia warned that his country lacks the international support it needs to thwart insurgents who are trying to overthrow his government, as al Qaeda attempts to secure its foothold in the horn of Africa.

In an interview, Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed said his government controls only parts of Mogadishu, the capital. Al Shabaab and other militant groups have overrun much of southern Somalia, despite the U.S. and other Western governments' viewing Somalia as a key battleground against al Qaeda in Africa and despite pledging their assistance.

"The problem faced by Somalia now is not one that can be dealt with by the Somalis alone," said President Sharif, speaking from a hotel suite during a visit to Nairobi. "The support we get is much less than what we anticipated, and than what we need. [Somalia] is a country that is destroyed, that has the presence of al Qaeda, that needs a comprehensive plan."

Somali government troops have struggled to fend off the militants. The government-backed forces are known to be underpaid and not sufficiently trained, but Mr. Sharif said that the condition of his troops had improved and that reported incidents of some selling weapons to militants for food were "not that common."

The Somali government needs a strong security force to reclaim the country and maintain stability. Powerful militant groups have united to overthrow the government. In the most recent attack, three ministers and several civilians were killed last month when a suicide bomber attacked a graduation ceremony.

For now, the government relies mainly on the African Union peacekeeping forces to secure parts of Mogadishu and to protect the international airport.

The shaky security situation is part of a grim overall picture for a government that has little to show for itself after one year in power, other than its own survival. Mr. Sharif said he blamed the lack of progress on the influx of foreign fighters who have undermined plans to stabilize war-torn Somalia, and on a lack of support from the international community.

The U.S., a major supporter of the government, has provided funding to the government as well as helped to train its forces. The U.S. hasn't said whether it would increase its support this year. According to the most recent figures available from the African Union, the international community by October had delivered only $39 million of the $200 million pledged at a donor's conference in Brussels last year.

"What was not in our calculation at the time is that the enemy prepared itself and wanted to bring down this government before it could stand on its own feet," he said. "I'm glad to report that we have been able to remain in place and defend ourselves from this."

The attempted Dec. 25 bombing of a U.S. airline by a Nigerian national, for which al Qaeda has claimed responsibility, offers a reminder of how al Qaeda appears to view Africa not just as a potential recruiting pool, but also as a place from where it can establish a base to launch attacks on Western targets. Somalia's weak government offers one such potential staging ground. Al Qaeda has taken similar advantage of Yemen, a troubled country across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia.

The president said the foreign fighters—from countries such as Yemen and Pakistan—have taken a leadership role among Al Shabaab, a homegrown extremist group. They offer training and technical advice to improve the sophistication of the militants' attacks, and they help plan the groups' combat strategies, he said. Some Shabaab fighters, he said, have also been sent to train with al Qaeda in Afghanistan.

Mr. Sharif, who wore a Muslim prayer hat and a gray suit with a Somali flag pin, emerged as a moderate voice in the Union of Islamic Courts, an Islamist government that took control of Somalia briefly in June 2006. That government was overthrown by Ethiopia six months later. Mr. Sharif returned to power in January 2009 after he was elected president by the parliament. The U.S. and other Western governments regard the slight, softspoken former schoolteacher, who is in his mid-forties, as their best bet for delivering a degree of stability to a country that has seen little of it for nearly two decades.

Since the fall of Somali dictator Siad Barre in 1991, the east African nation been dominated by clans with shifting alliances. In that power vacuum, Somalia has become a haven for extremist groups, and more recently, piracy.

In the past year, piracy has become a more sophisticated business, giving rise to entire towns along the Somali coast that thrive on a ransom economy. While pirates continue to attack ships on the Gulf of Aden, a high-traffic shipping route, recently they have become capable of attacking farther out in the Arabian Sea and down the Somali coast, in the Indian Ocean. The government had hoped to offer jobs and other opportunities for these men to lure them from piracy, but so far doesn't have the capacity to do so.

"So long as there's no peace and security in Somalia, it is hard to deal with the issue of piracy," Mr. Sharif said. "Every time they get large ransoms, they reinforce their capacity to do harm. That's the challenge."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704381604575004781994376978.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews#printMode

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rising From the Ruins

Natural disasters have been engines of development and economic growth throughout history. Kevin Rozario on the lessons of past catastrophes, and why Haiti might be different

by KEVIN ROZARIO

Granger Collection

The Great Fire of London, 1666.

The earth shuddered. According to an American observer, "every Building rolled and jostled like a Ship at Sea; which put in Ruins almost every House, Church, and Publick Building, with an incredible Slaughter of the Inhabitants." Fires broke out all across the city, and the river rose 20 feet, breaking its banks and engulfing the lower elevations. It was Nov. 1, 1755, and without warning, Lisbon, capital of the Portuguese empire, became a wasteland. Earthquake, fire and flood left 15,000 people dead (reports at the time mistakenly put the number at 50,000); 17,000 of the city's 20,000 homes were destroyed.

Although food, medicine and water has yet to reach most of Haiti's people, the cities are filled with stoic determination but the threat of violence looms in the air.

The scale of the calamity shocked the Western world. It demanded a response, and an explanation. Aid arrived from many nations; explanations were harder to agree upon. Clerics in this Age of the Inquisition described the calamity as an act of God, a judgment for the sins of the people. Fashionable thinkers attempted to explain the earthquake as a blessing in disguise, part of God's benevolent design wherein everything happened for the best.

But the French philosopher Voltaire denounced both views. Could any survivor be expected to be consoled by the fact that "the heirs of those who have perished will increase their fortune; masons will earn money by rebuilding the houses"? He cared nothing for divine designs, his sympathy lay with the victims, and the only truly ethical response to the Lisbon earthquake was to act, to repair bodies and buildings, and to study nature all the better to protect ourselves against nature's harms. Like London after the great fire of 1666, cities had been rebuilt, and often improved, after past calamities. But Voltaire turned this into a modern moral imperative. A civilization worthy of its name should pay special heed to disasters, learn from the mistakes they revealed, and harness intelligence, science and sympathy to make a more secure world. This was the project of modernity.

What he did not expect was that Lisbon would itself rise so triumphantly from the rubble. Employing the absolute power of the monarchy and the resources of empire, the Marquis de Pombal built a new metropolis with earthquake-proof buildings, wide thoroughfares and a sewer system. Merchants had braced themselves for businesses failures and the decline of their fortunes. But Pombal turned one of the worst natural disasters in European history into an occasion for modernization. The lesson was clear, and it was one that would resonate down through the centuries: With the right intervention, catastrophes presented extraordinary opportunities to make improvements.

Indeed, over time, and nowhere more so than in America, urban disasters came to be understood as engines of urban development and economic growth. Puritans had viewed calamities as useful "corrections," afflictions sent by God to call sinners back to the path of virtue. But the material benefits of destruction were soon apparent, too. After a fire wiped out much of Boston in 1676, the town took advantage of the destruction to build wider thoroughfares and implement new fireproofing regulations. Such measures, repeated after subsequent fires into the 19th century, equipped the city for commercial expansion, laying the foundations for the seaport's subsequent prosperity and growth at a time of burgeoning trans-Atlantic trade. Disasters demanded a response that was often impossible to muster in ordinary times.

With the establishment of credit networks, insurance coverage, new technologies and systems of industrial production over the next two centuries, successful reconstruction became so predictable that it became a truism of the modern age that disasters were instruments of progress. When most of Chicago burned down in 1871, prominent clergyman Henry Ward Beecher made the extraordinary statement that Americans "could not afford to do without the Chicago Fire." The official account of the conflagration enumerated the "unquestioned material advantages" that were sure to be realized if the "natural laws" of the market were allowed to guide the reconstruction of the city, encouraging readers to look beyond the destruction to the bigger and better metropolis that would rise from the ruins. And, indeed, Chicago became the fastest growing city in the Western Hemisphere over the next two decades, staging the colossal World's Fair in 1893 to celebrate the economic forces, technological developments and political values that had ensured the great fire would become a source of prosperity.

By 1906, one newspaper correspondent was so struck by soaring stock prices after the decimation of San Francisco by earthquake and fire that he launched an investigation into what he called "catastrophe markets." What he discovered was that the enormous reconstruction projects demanded after catastrophes put capital into circulation, produced enormous profits for some and enabled economic innovations that increased productivity—a combination of circumstances that fueled investor confidence.

By the mid-20th century, the history of disasters had taught many Americans to equate progress with economic development and to view destruction as an essential mechanism for achieving that progress. Hence the broad resonance of economist Joseph Schumpeter's famous description of capitalism as a "gale of creative destruction." As Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan explained in the 1990s, this metaphor aptly captured the dependence of a capitalist economy on the continual obliteration of outmoded goods and structures to clear space and make way for innovation, new efficiencies and greater productivity.
.
Disasters, it seemed, were good for business in a dynamic, expansive, capitalist economy. In part this was so because investors believed it to be so. In 1999, The Wall Street Journal reported that major calamities like 1989's Hurricane Hugo and the 1994 Northridge earthquake in California had generated intermediate- and long-term economic gains that more than offset initial losses; "anthill economics" illustrated the general principle that disasters promoted economic growth. And this was a conviction that was by no means exclusive to the U.S. The Chinese State Information Research Center claimed that the earthquake that killed 80,000 people in Sichuan Province in May 2008 would trigger a building boom that would boost national economic growth by 0.3%. Whether or not this figure is reliable, there were ample precedents here, not least the response to the Tangshan earthquake that destroyed 78% of industrial buildings, demolished 97% of residences and killed at least 240,000 people in 1976. Economic production from this important industrial center was restored within two years and, after careful planning and investment, a new-and-improved Tangshan was completed in 1986 and presented to the world as a symbol of Deng Xiaoping's success in modernizing China.

In the U.S. such confidence has taken a hard hit in recent years, and perhaps nothing speaks to the possibility that we may be entering an age of diminishing expectations than the difficulty we have in seeing disasters as opportunities. Such optimism seemed to evaporate after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Certainly, the president of Merrill Lynch reminded investors that disasters historically promised economic opportunities that would compensate for any losses. And New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin promised "to bring our city back bigger, better and stronger." But the optimists, for once, were outnumbered.

From the beginning many observers emphasized the social and environmental costs of this calamity. The mismanaged evacuation of poor and African-American residents from New Orleans symbolized the social costs of capitalist development. Commentators noted the deleterious effects of developing the wetlands and barrier islands upon which New Orleans depended for natural protection against storm surges, and explored the links between industrial production, carbon dioxide emissions and the increased ferocity of hurricanes. Development was not the solution, the inevitable happy outcome, but the problem.

In truth, the dominant narrative of disasters as instruments of progress has always been contested. Disasters have often been truly disastrous for the poor. The emergency conditions introduced by calamity have often encouraged a disregard for the rights of citizens; a fervent commitment to economic development often discouraged attention to social costs. Because employers disregarded safety measures, more died—as many as 12 workers per day—in the rebuilding of Chicago than during the 1871 fire itself. And free-flowing investment and government aid has only encouraged businesses, developers and home owners to refuse the lessons of endless hurricanes in Florida and the Gulf Coast, rebuilding and expanding settlements along vulnerable coastal zones, and thereby increasing the likelihood of future destruction. Voltaire would despair.

For the most part, the social and environmental costs of development have been rendered invisible by dominant articulations of American progress. But after Hurricane Katrina, this buried history surfaced with a vengeance. The timing is key here. In an age of energy crises, terrorist attacks, global warming and global financial instability, progress no longer seems quite so inevitable. Disasters increasingly present themselves as manifestations of a catastrophic world rather than as instruments of improvement.

All of which brings us to Haiti, and last Tuesday's earthquake. At a magnitude of 7.0 it was by no means one of the more powerful earthquakes on record, but it dwarfs even the Lisbon earthquake in terms of property damage and lives lost. Much of Port-au-Prince is in ruins. An unknown number are dead; Red Cross estimates suggest the toll may be close to 50,000. Corpses litter the streets. Many are still trapped under the rubble, while many more injured suffer for the lack of medical attention. There is no electricity, little clean water and the threat of disease and further deaths from epidemics is high.

What lies ahead? Voltaire, the man of sympathy, would no doubt have been moved by the quick and compassionate response of the international community to Haiti's plight—donations of money, food, supplies and skills. But what are the lessons of the disaster? It is becoming clear that a major contributing factor was poverty. The earth moves; that much is unchanging. But a disaster on this scale only happens when plates shift underneath a city with poorly constructed buildings, failing infrastructure and inadequate social services. Poverty played a central role here. The worst damage and suffering occurred in the shanties that cling precariously to the city's hills. Most Haitians earn no more than $1 per day; there is widespread unemployment, hunger and illiteracy. A desperate need for fuel has led to massive cutting of trees that inhibit floods and bind the soil together to prevent landslides.

This disaster, like all disasters, then poses a question. What is the lesson here? What is the opportunity? Unsurprisingly, there is little agreement in our polarized world. One argument holds that the solution to both the poverty and the disaster is integration into world markets: more International Monetary Fund loans and structural adjustments. On the day after the earthquake, James Roberts, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, laid out an expansive vision of the prospect this disaster presented for a "bold and decisive" U.S. intervention to impose the democratic and economic reforms that would turn Haiti into a stable state and trading partner. Disaster, once again, figures as agent of progress.

At the same time, critics of neo-liberalism are arguing that the disaster was the result of capitalist development, as mandated by the international community. The country—impoverished over the centuries by slavery, the extraction of its resources to imperial metropolises, international occupations, dictatorships—has been dependent on IMF loans since the 1980s, but these have come with strings attached. Haiti, once self-sufficient in rice production, was forced to remove barriers to heavily subsidized American rice. This led to the decimation of local farming and the migration of country-dwellers to the city in search of work, contributing to overcrowding in Port-au-Prince. With recent escalating world food prices, Haitians, unable to grow their own food, have sunk deeper into poverty, locked into a cycle of dependency that contributed to the scale of the destruction and loss of life in the wake of the earthquake.

Perhaps this is a time to listen to Voltaire. First, the obligation to help the victims. Then, time to study, to learn, to discover the particulars of history, to ponder which type of development is best for Haiti.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703657604575005211595984220.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLENews#printMode

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Haitian Amnesty

A humane decision for temporary refuge in America.

The Obama Administration acted properly, and humanely, late yesterday in extending temporary amnesty to Haitians who were illegally inside the U.S. before this week's catastrophic earthquake. Some 30,000 Haitians had been awaiting deportation but will now be allowed to stay in the U.S. and work for another 18 months.

You might even call this amnesty of a sort, if we can use that politically taboo word. But we hope even the most restrictionist voices on the right and in the labor movement will understand the humanitarian imperative. The suffering and chaos since the earthquake should make it obvious that Haiti is no place to return people whose only crime was coming to America to escape the island's poverty and ill-governance.

For that matter, we don't mind if they stay here permanently. Haitian immigrants as a group are among America's most successful, which demonstrates that Haiti's woes owe more to corruption, disdain for property rights and lack of public safety than to any flaw in its people. Their remittances to Haiti also help to sustain the impoverished population. Haitians received some $1.65 billion from overseas in 2006, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.

We can argue later about whether to make this temporary amnesty permanent, but for now the U.S. decision to let the Haitians stay is evidence of the generosity that Americans typically show in a crisis.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703657604575005501614956146.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_AboveLEFTTop#printMode

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Fox News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virginia Toddler Missing After Taken From Home, Police Say

ROANOKE, Va. — Police are looking for a Virginia toddler they say was taken from his home by three men.

An Amber Alert has been issued this morning for 2-year-old Aveion Malik Lewis.

Police say the men knocked the toddler's stepfather unconscious and took the child late Thursday afternoon from his home in Roanoke. They left a note asking for money.

The men may be traveling in a white 1990s Chevrolet Blazer.

The missing boy is described as African-American with close-cut black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing yellow SpongeBob Squarepants footie pajamas.

Police say the three suspects are African-American men who appear to be in their 20s.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583093,00.html?test=latestnews

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Human Body Washes Up on Shore of Animal Disease Lab

Friday, January 15, 2010

PLUM ISLAND, N.Y. — A human body has washed ashore on New York's tiny Plum Island, where a U.S. government lab studies dangerous animal diseases.

Police say a security guard discovered the clothed body Thursday afternoon on the island's southwest beach area where access is restricted.

Police on Long Island say an autopsy found no immediate cause of death but determined the partially decomposed body was that of a black male about 6 feet tall with a large build and very long fingers. They say there were no obvious signs of trauma.

Plum Island is about 100 miles northeast of New York City in the Long Island Sound. It has been called a potential target for terrorists because of its stock of vaccines and diseases, such as African swine fever.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,583136,00.html?test=latestnews

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

National Guard Soldier Charged With Possession of Child Porn in Afghanistan

The U.S. Army has charged an Illinois National Guard soldier with possession of child pornography.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The family of an Illinois National Guard soldier says he's been charged with possession of child pornography in Afghanistan over innocent snapshots of a 4-year-old relative in a swimsuit.

The U.S. Army has charged Spec. Billy Miller of Galesburg, Ill., with possession of child pornography and failure to obey an order that troops in Afghanistan not possess pornography.

Army spokesman Lt. Mary J. Pekas declined Friday to discuss details of the case or evidence against Miller. She says the charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Miller's father says the Army won't discuss the case with the family. But Rodney Miller says his son has told him the charges stem from a handful of photos of the girl that the soldier's mother e-mailed to ease his homesickness.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagon/ci.National+Guard+Soldier+Charged+With+Possession+of+Child+Porn+in+Afghanistan.opinionPrint

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Sexting': Child Pornography or Free-Speech Right?

Friday , January 15, 2010

PHILADELPHIA —

The first criminal case involving "sexting" reached a U.S. appeals court on Friday — a case that asks whether racy cell-phone photos of three girls amount to child pornography or child's play.

A county prosecutor in northeastern Pennsylvania threatened to pursue felony charges if the girls skipped his "re-education" course on such topics as sexual predators and "what it means to be a girl in today's society."

The photos show two 12-year-olds in training bras at a sleepover and a topless 16-year-old stepping out of the shower.

MaryJo Miller, 45, of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, thought her daughter Marissa and friend Grace Kelly were being "goofballs" in the 2007 slumber-party shot, which mysteriously surfaced two years later in student cell phones confiscated at school.

"You're going to see more provocative photos in a Victoria's Secret catalog," Miller, a classroom aide in the Tunkhannock Area School District, said after the hearing, referring to the lingerie retailer.

County officials say they are trying to address the pervasive problem of teens sexting, or exchanging sexually explicit photos and e-mails on their cell phones. According to one study, 20 percent of U.S. teens admit they have done it.

The American Civil Liberties Union considers the images in the Pennsylvania case harmless.

"We've been mystified how anybody can look at these photos and say these are second-degree felonies," Witold J. Walczak, the ACLU of Pennsylvania's legal director, argued Friday in the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

Either way, he said, officials are flipping the intent of child-pornography laws — to protect children — by going after the victims. It's unclear who first disseminated the photographs. Each girl insists she did not.

"Turning them into sex offenders is an odd way to protect kids," Walczak said after the oral arguments.

Former Wyoming County District Attorney George Skumanick Jr., a Republican, initiated the case in late 2008, and successor Jeffrey Mitchell, a Democrat who took office this month, shows no sign he'll change course.

"Naked pictures of children on the Internet draws predators the same way a swamp draws mosquitoes," argued lawyer Michael Donohue of Scranton, who represents the prosecutor's office. Authorities must sometimes protect children from themselves, he argued.

The judges appeared dubious of the "re-education" class, honing in on the ACLU argument that it amounts to compelled speech. Judge Thomas Ambro asked whether government should require a course on what it means to be a girl in society, as taught by a county official.

Walczak believes officials are infringing on parents' right to control and educate their children. The 13 other Tunkhannock students accused of sexting — three boys and 10 girls — chose to attend the $100, six- to nine-month pretrial diversion program.

"Sexting is a vague term that covers everything from the lovely to the laughable to the lewd," Walczak said. "Just because his sensibilities are offended, he cannot impose his particular orthodoxy."

Donohue argued that minors exchange provocative images for the "sexual stimulation and gratification" of fellow students.

Still, he said the county no longer plans to pursue charges over the bra photo, but only over the topless shot, which involves a girl identified as "Nancy Doe."

School officials in Tunkhannock, about 130 miles north of Philadelphia, found the images in late 2008 on cell phones confiscated from junior and senior high school students. They ranged in age from 11 to 17.

Prosecutors in a number of states, including Pennsylvania, Connecticut, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin, have tried to put a stop to sexting by charging teens who send and receive the pictures.

The 3rd Circuit judges did not indicate when they would rule.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,583104,00.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We Need More 'Sullys' -- Here's How We Can Get Them

What we need to do to grow more heroes like "Sully" in our country.

In society and in life, you get more of what you honor, so if we want to produce more heroes like Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger we need to show that we’re serious about honoring the high standards that make Sully special.

Exactly one year ago, a large flock of birds disabled both engines of the US Airways flight that Sullenger was piloting from LaGuardia Airport, bound for Charlotte, North Carolina. Captain Sullenberger quickly decided that his best option was landing in the Hudson River, which he did without any major injuries to any of the 155 passengers and crew on board.

Although many called this a “miracle,” Sullenberger said, "One way of looking at this might be that for 42 years, I've been making small, regular deposits in this bank of experience: education and training. And on January 15 the balance was sufficient so that I could make a very large withdrawal."

Sullenberger’s education and training emphasized the rigor and measurable merit that are far too often abandoned today in the quest to boost people’s self esteem or to dumb down standards to allow some politically correct quota or outcome.

At the age of 12, Sullenberger’s intelligence quotient was high enough to admit him to the world’s highest IQ society, Mensa International, and his subsequent academic and extracurricular distinction gained him acceptance at the U.S. Air Force Academy where he graduated with the Outstanding Cadet in Airmanship award, as his class’s "top flier."

Sullenberger served as an air accident investigator for the Air Force and the National Transport Safety Board and his recommendations "led to improved airline procedures and training for emergency evacuations of aircraft." He worked with NASA scientists and co-authored a paper about aviation errors.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg dubbed Sullenberger “Captain Cool” for his poise and skill under pressure.

If we want to grow more Sullys, we need to make our society’s definition of ultimate cool the achievement of Sully-like excellence of character and competence for all citizens, especially our young people.

From our beginnings as a country, what has kept us special—in fact, superior—is that we have produced in abundance what we have honored, whether that is freedom, innovation, competitiveness, knowledge, opportunity, excellence, prosperity or any other virtue or attainment.

Lately, America is in a funk—not just regarding our economy but also regarding a mediocrity we risk tolerating if we abdicate the personal responsibility and high expectations that our forefathers and someone like Sully have modeled for us.

We will sustain our destiny to fly high, we will outmaneuver failure, and we will land safely if like Sully we make small, regular deposits in what we honor and what brings honor to us.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/ci.We+Need+More+%27Sullys%27+--+Here%27s+How+We+Can+Get+Them.opinionPrint

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the White House

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Demonstrate a Technologist’s Spirit of Generosity on Martin Luther King Day

by Aneesh Chopra

January 15, 2010

During my relatively brief tenure in Washington, I have had the privilege of working with technology professionals who share a sense of purpose that often extends beyond corporate walls and into their local communities. This year, the Administration wants to tap into that spirit of generosity by collaborating with the Corporation for National and Community Service during the MLK Day of Service to launch the MLK Technology Challenge (on Twitter: #MLKTech). Our goal is to connect technologically thirsty schools and non-profits with IT and web professionals, developers, graphic designers, and new-media professionals who are willing to volunteer their skills for the common good.

As the nation’s Chief Technology Officer, I am posting this blog to encourage technology professionals to participate. Now is the time to take the MLK Tech Challenge and invest your talents in service to a local school or non-profit facing a technology hurdle.

Find a technology need in your community. If you don’t see a service project in your area, this is a great opportunity to reach out and ask the leaders at your neighborhood school if they need some tech or online assistance. Thousands of schools and other organizations need your skills to train students to write HTML or update a Web site. As inspiration, I’ve shared a partial list of ideas that are surfacing from schools and non-profits in just the past few days:

Some of these projects can be completed on MLK Day -- others might take longer. That’s perfectly ok; the heart and soul of this initiative is to start a dialogue around collaboration. Let’s use the MLK Day of Service as an opportunity to kick off this conversation with schools and non-profits to let them know you want to help.

Your work can have a huge impact on kids and others in need across the country. Take the MLK Tech Challenge and make a difference in your community on MLK Day and throughout the year. Service is a solution, and together we can help overcome a technology hurdle for an organization built to serve others. Make MLK Day a day online, not a day offline.

Getting involved is easy – to register your tech need or to find a volunteer opportunity in your community, visit http://www.serve.gov/MLKTech.

A final word of thanks: Many in the tech community, personally and professionally, have graciously lent a hand to those struggling from the devastating earthquake in Haiti, from waiving text messaging fees to providing much needed tech equipment. We greatly appreciate your support.

Aneesh Chopra is U.S. Chief Technology Officer

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/15/demonstrate-a-technologist-s-spirit-generosity-martin-luther-king-day

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Department of Homeland Security

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Secretary Napolitano Announces Streamlined Citizenship Application Process for Members of the Military

Rule Formalizes Longstanding Policy to Expedite Citizenship for Service Men and Women

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the publication of a rule formalizing DHS' longstanding policy to expedite and streamline the citizenship process for men and women bravely serving in America's armed forces.

"The foundation of our national security is the patriotic service and extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our armed forces," said Secretary Napolitano. "Expediting the citizenship process for service members reflects our commitment to honoring those who come from all over the world to serve our country and become its newest citizens."

The rule amends DHS regulations to conform to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2004, reducing the time requirements for naturalization through military service from three years to one year for applicants who served during peacetime, and extending benefits to members of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve of the U.S. Armed Forces. Service members who have served honorably in an active-duty status or in the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve for any time since Sept. 11, 2001, can file immediately for citizenship.

The rule also eliminates the requirement for members of the military to file biographic information forms (Form G-325B) with their naturalization applications - removing administrative redundancy and increasing efficiency for those who risk their lives for the nation's security.

For more information on USCIS and its programs available to the military, visit http://www.uscis.gov/military.

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1263576187942.shtm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Statement from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano

"As part of the Department's ongoing efforts to assist Haiti following Tuesday's devastating earthquake, I am announcing the designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian nationals who were in the United States as of January 12, 2010. This is a disaster of historic proportions and this designation will allow eligible Haitian nationals in the United States to continue living and working in our country for the next 18 months. Providing a temporary refuge for Haitian nationals who are currently in the United States and whose personal safety would be endangered by returning to Haiti is part of this Administration's continuing efforts to support Haiti's recovery.

"At this moment of tragedy in Haiti it is tempting for people suffering in the aftermath of the earthquake to seek refuge elsewhere. But attempting to leave Haiti now will only bring more hardship to the Haitian people and nation. The international community has rallied to deliver relief to Haiti. Much has already arrived and much more is on its way. The Haitians are resilient and determined and their role in addressing this crisis in their homeland will be essential to Haiti's future.

"It is important to note that TPS will apply only to those individuals who were in the United States as of January 12, 2010. Those who attempt to travel to the United States after January 12, 2010 will not be eligible for TPS and will be repatriated.

"The Department of Homeland Security continues to extend sympathy to our Haitian neighbors and support the worldwide relief effort underway in every way we can. Four Coast Guard cutters have arrived in Haiti, in addition to a variety of Coast Guard assets that were already in the area to support military air traffic control, conduct damage assessments and rescue people in need of assistance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to work closely with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department - the lead U.S. federal agencies in the response - while coordinating the deployment of state and local Urban Search and Rescue Teams from across the country to Haiti and standing by to provide food, water and other resources as requested. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has provided aircraft to support response efforts.

"Haitians in the U.S. who are eligible to apply for TPS should go to www.uscis.gov or call USCIS toll-free at (800) 375-5283."

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1263595952516.shtm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Department of Justice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Department of Justice Announces National Coordinator for Criminal Discovery Initiatives

The Department of Justice today announced the appointment of Andrew Goldsmith as the new national coordinator for its criminal discovery initiatives.

The position was established as part of the Department’s ongoing efforts, initiated last year at the direction of the Attorney General, to review and improve its criminal discovery and case management policies and procedures.

"Andrew brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in this field, and I am pleased he is taking on this crucial role," said Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden. "He will be instrumental in overseeing our efforts to ensure all of our prosecutors and law enforcement agents have the necessary training and tools to achieve fair and just results in the nation’s courts."

As the national coordinator, Goldsmith will oversee the implementation of a number of initiatives designed to provide prosecutors with the training and resources they need to meet discovery obligations in criminal cases. These efforts include:

Goldsmith will also act as the primary liaison to all of the United States Attorneys’ Offices and Department components on these issues, as well as issues relating to electronic evidence in criminal cases.

As part of the Department-wide initiative, Deputy Attorney General Ogden issued three memoranda earlier this month regarding criminal discovery practices including a memorandum to all prosecutors containing guidance on criminal discovery obligations.

The guidance to prosecutors, United States Attorneys’ Offices and the heads of all litigating components followed a review of the Department’s policies, practices, and training related to criminal case management and discovery ordered by the Attorney General. That review determined that incidents of discovery failures were rare in comparison to the number of cases prosecuted. However, the Department has instituted a number of steps intended to further ensure the Department complies with its discovery obligations.

Goldsmith serves as the First Assistant Chief of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section, where he supervises environmental prosecutions and develops training on worker endangerment, environmental terrorism, and laboratory fraud, as well as electronic discovery. He served as Chief of the Environmental Crimes Unit of the New York Attorney General's Office and was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. He previously worked as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and in private practice.

Goldsmith has received the Attorney General’s John Marshall award as well as the Justice Department’s Distinguished Service Award. He earned his law degree from Albany Law School and his undergraduate degree from Cornell University.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/January/10-dag-043.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AMBER Alert: Restoring Children to Their Homes and Peace to Families

January 13th, 2010

by Tracy Russo

The following post appears courtesy of Kim Lowry, Communications Director for the Office of Justice Programs

There are few things more frightening than the loss of a child. Each year some 800,000 children are reported missing in the United States. Most of these children are not victims of abduction, and, fortunately, most soon return home.

For some children, however, their separation will last far longer—even a lifetime. For others, their abduction ends in the most tragic of ways.

The challenges of rescuing endangered missing and abducted children require a determined and coordinated effort. The first hours following a child’s abduction are the most critical. Of the children murdered in stranger abductions, 3 out of 4 are killed within the first three hours.

Early intervention is crucial and provides our best hope of protecting such children and reuniting them with their families. It was for this reason that the AMBER Alert system was initiated 14 years ago today.

Following the 2002 White House Conference on Missing, Exploited, and Runaway Children, the PROTECT Act placed the AMBER Alert program under the auspices of the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, with its Assistant Attorney General serving as AMBER Alert’s National Coordinator. As a national effort, the program coordinates media, law enforcement, and transportation agencies’ efforts to notify the public about missing children in the critical first hours following their abduction.

I am pleased to report that every state, two U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have AMBER Alert plans, and we are working hard to extend the program’s outreach.

Scores of tribal communities are developing their own AMBER Alert plans and programs and we have worked closely with Canada and Mexico to expand AMBER Alert efforts across our nation’s northern and southern borders.

The Department of Justice is committed to protecting our children and their families. Thanks to the collaboration of AMBER Alert’s partners and the timely response of concerned citizens to its alerts, 495 children have been returned to their families and homes.

AMBER Alerts are of course only a piece of what the Department of Justice does to protect children. Today, the Department announced the appointment of Francey Hakes to serve as the National Coordinator for Child Exploitation Prevention and Interdiction, a position created by Congress in the Protect Our Children Act of 2008.

I invite you to visit the AMBER Alert Web site at www.amberalert.gov to learn how you can help.

http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/520

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Understanding Immigration Employment Rights: An ESOL Tool

January 15th, 2010

by Tracy Russo

The following post appears courtesy of the Office of Special Counsel of the Civil Rights Division.

ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) instructors and immigrant advocates now have new workbooks at their disposal courtesy of the Justice Department’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) education grant program.

Through lessons titled: “Working in the United States” and “Discrimination in the Workplace,” the workbooks educate potential victims of employment discrimination about their rights under the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

These ESOL workbooks are available to the public free of charge in instructor and student versions.

The workbooks are the centerpiece of an ESOL curriculum jointly developed by two co-recipients of an OSC grant: The New York City Commission on Human Rights and the New York Immigration Coalition. The curriculum was designed for adult ESOL classes held at public libraries, community colleges, workforce development agencies, and other venues in New York City. ESOL classes are the perfect vehicle to teach recently-arrived immigrants of their employment rights while simultaneously developing their English language skills.

To find out more about the worker protections or about OSC’s public education grant program call OSC’s toll-free Worker Hotline at 1-800-255-7688 or 1-800-237-2515 (TTY), or OSC’s toll-free Employer Hotline at 1-800-255-8155 or 1-800-237-2515 (TDD), or access OSC’s website at www.justice.gov/crt/osc

http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/527

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From ICE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ICE signs agreement with United Arab Emirates to combat illegal migration and transnational crime

ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton and Major General Nasser Al Awadhi Al Menhali of the United Arab Emirates sign an agreement in Abu Dhabi to assist in the development of the Emirates Naturalization and Residency Academy

ABU DHABI, UAE - Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) John Morton and Major General Nasser Al Awadhi Al Menhali, Acting Assistant Undersecretary of naturalization, Residency and Port Affairs for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Cooperation in Abu Dhabi to render assistance in the development of the Emirates Naturalization and Residency Academy.

The agreement leverages the expertise of former U.S. immigration and customs officers combined with comprehensive academic and technical training provided by the UAE Ministry of Interior to strengthen the capabilities of UAE immigration officers.

"I hope this academy will serve as a model to all the countries in the region of what pioneering vision and bilateral commitment can achieve, and that they may build on this with future cooperative initiatives to enhance the security and safety of all who cross their borders," said Morton during the signing ceremony. "This training will help improve the effectiveness of the United States in investigating and prosecuting transnational offenses involving violations of U.S. immigration and customs law that might stem from this region."

This agreement will allow former ICE and CBP agents to return to service under the UAE Ministry of Interior and serve as the training cadre with coordination and support from ICE Attaché in Abu Dhabi.

Graduates of the academy serve as the UAE's first line of defense against criminal and terrorist threats, the smuggling and trafficking of human beings as well as drugs, weapons and other contraband. The UAE, whose population is over 80 percent foreign, is currently home to citizens of more than 200 countries and serves as the Middle East's largest east-west transit hub.

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1001/100114abudhabi.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the FBI

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DIGITAL BILLBOARDS

Big Apple Joins National Initiative

01/15/10

New York City’s Times Square, often referred to as the “Crossroads of the World,” is famous for its eye-popping display of electronic billboards. Starting today, one of them will be featuring fugitives wanted by the FBI.

Credit goes to our partner Clear Channel Outdoor, an advertising company providing this free public service as part of our national digital billboard initiative. The announcement was made this morning during a live segment on NBC’s “The Today Show,” as the faces of three fugitives wanted for crimes in the New York region flashed across the 30- by 40-foot screen and were seen by millions of television viewers.

“When the FBI asked us to expand our billboard program to Times Square, we agreed immediately,” said Clear Channel executive Harry Coghlan. “This important initiative will now reach the thousands of people who pass through Times Square each day.”

Podcast: Inside the FBI - Fugitives on a Billboard

The digital billboard initiative began in 2007, when Clear Channel approached us with the idea of using its billboards to help catch criminals, rescue kidnap victims, and provide high-priority security messages. Unlike traditional roadside signs, digital billboards can be posted electronically at a moment’s notice—often right after a crime is committed.

The national initiative was launched with 100 billboards in 23 cities. Since then, three other organizations have joined the partnership—Adams Outdoor, Lamar Advertising, and the Outdoor Advertising Association of Georgia. As a result, we now have access to more than 1,500 billboards in more than 40 states nationwide.

Most importantly, the initiative is working. At least 30 cases have been solved as a direct result of digital billboard publicity, and many others have been solved through the Bureau’s overall publicity efforts that included the billboards.

Watch: How digital billboards aid investigations

“Our partnership with Clear Channel has proven to be tremendously successful,” said Joseph Demarest, head of our New York office. “I am confident that the Times Square billboard will enhance the success of this project exponentially. With millions of people passing through Times Square every year, there is no better way to draw attention to our most wanted fugitives.”

The first three fugitives posted on the Times Square billboard are Emerson Guzman, wanted for narcotics distribution; Yvette Torres, wanted for international parental kidnapping; and Tawan Hines, wanted for narcotics conspiracy.

Here are a few of the cases where billboards have helped us make arrests:

“If you see something on our billboard and have a tip, pick up the phone and call us,” said Special Agent Richard Kolko, spokesman for the New York office. “As we’ve seen across the country, your help can really make a difference.”

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan10/billboard_011510.html

.