Obama's State of the Union address will focus on economy

The president is expected to call for a change in Washington's partisan climate as he tries to reassure Americans that he can lead the way to jobs and better times. But change may be hard to come by.

By Peter Nicholas and Christi Parsons

January 27, 2010

Reporting from Washington

With his State of the Union address tonight, President Obama aims to deliver a game-changing message, one capable of convincing Americans that his policies will create jobs, curb spending and restore prosperity.

But with voter discontent over his healthcare overhaul running high and the recession's effects cutting deep, the president's trademark eloquence may not be the antidote to his troubles.

Economists see little hope for substantial employment gains or the return of a robust economy between now and November's midterm congressional election, despite Obama's $787-billion stimulus package. And the mystique of his insurgent campaign, with its promise of change, has long since worn off. After months of wrangling over healthcare and other issues, polls suggest that voters now see Obama as an orthodox politician -- and the toxic partisanship of Washington as essentially unchanged.

"He's looked like he's siding with Wall Street up until now, at the same time as he's pushing [big] government," said Stanley Greenberg, a pollster for President Clinton. "He has the worst of all possible worlds."

Aides said that Obama would call tonight for changing the bitter political climate in Washington. But the possibility of compromises on major issues appeared to be dwindling.

House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), for instance, on Tuesday heaped scorn on the federal spending freeze Obama plans to propose. "Given President Obama's leading role in Washington's unprecedented spending binge, the American people are right to be skeptical. . . . Middle-class families and small-business owners have been struggling to do more with less, while Democrats in Washington pile up red ink as far as the eye can see," Boehner said, reiterating a line of attack that Republicans hammered throughout 2009.

And the Senate on Tuesday voted down an Obama-backed proposal to establish a commission to reduce the federal budget deficit. The vote followed the release of a Congressional Budget Office report predicting that the 2010 budget deficit would be $1.35 trillion.

Still, tonight's appearance before a joint session of Congress may be suited for this president, who has come up with big speeches before.

Obama pulled his campaign through a dangerous moment in 2008 when he delivered a poignant soliloquy on his controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., and the state of American race relations. And last year, while aides braced for criticism over his winning of the Nobel Peace Prize -- an honor many felt the new wartime president had done little to deserve -- Obama delivered an acceptance speech that drew praise as a thoughtful discourse on the challenges of contemporary peacemaking.

Seeking to dress the stage for Obama's first prime-time State of the Union speech, Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday told members of the Democratic National Committee that "the reports of our demise are premature."

"It's time everybody took a deep breath," Biden said. "We understand that people are frustrated. If the Lord Almighty were president, why wouldn't they be frustrated? There's over 10 million people unemployed."

Obama aides said the economy would not be his only topic.

He plans to call for a comprehensive overhaul of the immigration system, they said, and will talk about the need to regulate carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming. The president also will discuss government reform, a senior administration official said, and express concern about the recent Supreme Court decision that opens the way for unlimited political spending by corporations.

And although it was not clear what Obama would have to say about the battle over healthcare, he does plan to lay out steps meant to change the way Washington does business.

That may prove a tough sell.

Obama's campaign pledge to surmount partisan differences has foundered, with Republicans blocking his agenda. "I don't think he anticipated how the dynamics on the Republican side would refuse him any support from Day One," Greenberg said.

And Peter Hart, a Democratic pollster, said that people believe the Obama administration "hasn't been unique enough or different enough in separating itself from the traditional Washington culture. The public wants that, and they haven't seen it as clearly and definitively as they expected."

Obama and congressional Democrats may try to press Republicans into cooperating on a jobs proposal. But the GOP has seen little benefit in improving relations at a time when the president's approval ratings have dropped steadily.

On the eve of his speech, Obama sounded a philosophical note. In an interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer, he said that he would keep pushing for healthcare and other major items on his agenda, whatever the political cost.

"I'd rather be a really good one-term president," he said, "than a mediocre two-term president."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-obama-speech27-2010jan27,0,4439395,print.story

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Banned dictionary to return to Riverside County school

Parents will get the option to determine if they want their children to have access to Merriam Webster's 10th Collegiate Edition, which was pulled over references to oral sex.

By David Kelly

January 27, 2010

After being pulled from the shelves for what some saw as racy content, Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary may have the last word in Menifee.

A committee of parents, teachers and administrators decided Tuesday to return the dictionaries to the fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms at Oak Meadows Elementary School just days after they were removed over complaints about entries detailing references to various types of oral sex.

"The dictionary will go back to the classroom but the parents will be given the option to determine if they want their kids to have access to that dictionary," said Betti Cadmus, a spokeswoman for the Menifee Union School District in southwest Riverside County. Students will take permission slips home and parents who don't want them to use Webster's 10th Collegiate Edition can opt for alternative dictionaries.

The controversy began last week when a parent complained to the school principal about what she believed was explicit sexual content in the dictionary. The books were ordered off the shelves until a committee could determine if they were "age appropriate" for fourth- and fifth-graders.

The move immediately set off cries of censorship among many, including the president of the local school board, who warned that banning one book would inevitably lead to the banning of more and more.

Cadmus said that despite complaints about the dictionary, no parents showed up at Tuesday's meeting to express any concerns. "The bottom line is the district followed the road map laid out for it in board policy," she said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dictionary27-2010jan27,0,4598125,print.story

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Voters in Oregon OK tax hikes for some

Corporations and wealthy families are targeted to help ease the state's budget crisis.

By Kim Murphy

January 27, 2010

Reporting from Vancouver, Canada

Facing a budget crunch that threatened to close schools early, lay off teachers and slash healthcare benefits, Oregon voters ended two decades of tax scrimping Tuesday by approving higher taxes on corporations and wealthy families.

The two ballot measures passed handily in a referendum watched closely around the country as a signal of whether voters are ready to approve targeted tax hikes to bail out cash-starved state treasuries.

Oregon voters since 1990 have limited property taxes, rejected sales taxes and vetoed across-the-board income taxes. But with 87% of the ballots counted, the measure to raise income taxes on households earning more than $250,000 a year, and individuals earning more than $125,000, was winning with 54.1%. A second measure to raise the state's corporate income tax was ahead with 53.6%.

Business leaders had fought the measures, arguing that they would drive away entrepreneurs and force struggling businesses to slash jobs.

The two measures would raise more than $700 million to help close a gap in the state budget that at one point reached $4 billion.

Kevin Looper, who ran the campaign to pass the measures, said the vote was a signal that predictions of a general conservative retrenchment following the Republican victory in this month's Senate race in Massachusetts were premature.

"I think this is firmly a progressive, populist moment. It just takes leaders to stand up and say what we're about, and make sure things are clear to voters," he said. "Because when the choice gets made clear like that, voters will almost always make the right decision."

Looper said the credit goes to Democratic leaders in the Legislature, who passed the tax increases against nearly unanimous Republican opposition.

"It was an amazingly courageous thing for the Legislature to say, 'We're going to both protect schools and make a case for tax fairness by keeping the burden off middle-class families,' " he said.

Opponents gathered signatures to force the referendum.

Supporters, backed by public employee unions, raised $6.8 million, compared with $4.6 million by opponents who relied on the banking industry and business groups. Final financial reports have yet to be filed.

"The biggest issue is we were substantially outspent by the public employee unions. They were able to double, and more than that, the money we were spending on the broadcast media, and were able to get that much more of their message out," said Pat McCormick, spokesman for Oregonians Against Job-Killing Taxes.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-oregon-tax27-2010jan27,0,1262647,print.story

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Haiti adoptions: Keeping youths in the right hands

Relief agencies worry that human traffickers will exploit the post-quake turmoil.

By Scott Kraft

January 27, 2010

Reporting from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

Farrah Leolo, a 9-year-old with a charming smile, was dressed for an important journey.

Her hair was braided and she wore a crisp white blouse and pink slacks. In her pocket, she had cookies and passport-sized photos.

A few minutes after Farrah left the Horizon of Hope child-care center with French Embassy officials this week, her adoptive mother called the center's owner, Kathelen Douyon, from Paris.

"She looked so beautiful," Douyon told the mother. Then, choking back tears, she silently handed the phone to an aide and put her face in her hands. "She was one of my favorites," Douyon said.

The earthquake that ravaged Haiti two weeks ago has the Haitian government and foreign embassies scrambling to speed up adoption paperwork in cases like Farrah's, and joyous scenes of new parents in the United States and elsewhere greeting their Haitian children at airports suggest the system is working.

The earthquake's aftermath, though, has created a dangerous situation for children in a country that, even before the disaster, had some of the world's weakest adoption regulations. As foreigners with generous hearts offer to adopt children orphaned by the Jan. 12 quake, relief agencies fear an increase in human trafficking in a country with a barely functioning government, a porous border with the Dominican Republic and, more important, no way yet of knowing how many children lost their parents.

"This is the kind of situation that people take advantage of, and it's very scary," said Roshan Khadivi, a spokesman for UNICEF. "Our main job is to reunite these children with their parents or, if the parents are not alive, with their families."

Foreign adoptions in Haiti have skyrocketed, doubling between 2002 and 2006 to 1,400 a year, according to UNICEF. Few of those children are orphans. Most have at least one parent who has left them at private child-care centers, which function as adoption agencies here, because the parent was unable to provide.

Now, hundreds of thousands of children have been affected by the quake, officials say, losing homes or relatives. Those for whom no parent or relative can be found have been taken to "safe spaces" set up by UNICEF and Save the Children. As of Tuesday, 275 of those children, whom UNICEF calls "unaccompanied," are staying in those locations.

"There's just no way of knowing how many children have been orphaned," said Julie Bergeron, UNICEF's director of child protection in Haiti.

"We just know that a lot of kids are affected. And we're worried that the shortage of food will put pressure on parents to abandon their kids."

Relief organizations, working with the Haitian government, are setting up a tracking system for children. But until there's a list of the dead -- and that could be months away -- they won't know which children have been orphaned and which have been separated from their parents or families.

Last week, in a move hailed by child protection officials, Haitian President Rene Preval ordered that all adoptions in Haiti had to be approved by his office. But relief agencies said Tuesday that they were hearing of cases in which other government ministers were approving adoptions, which suggests the process could be open to abuse.

UNICEF and the government have placed teams at the airport and at border crossings to check the papers of anyone leaving with children. They also have been visiting child-care centers and orphanages registered with the government to deliver food, water and tents.

The canvassing "gives us a chance to check how these people are doing business," Bergeron said. But, she added, dozens of centers and orphanages are not registered with the government.

At Horizon of Hope, the 25 children range from 18 months to 8 years old -- Farrah, at 9, was the oldest and had been there five years. Each child has at least one parent and all are being processed for adoption, Douyon said.

Some of the parents, Douyon added, see a foreign adoption as a way to give their children opportunities they wouldn't have in Haiti.

Her two-story building suffered only minor structural damage in the quake. Still, the staff and children, fearful of aftershocks, are sleeping under a large blue tent in the street.

Since the earthquake, several parents have asked the center to take their children, she said, but she's turned them away because she wants to get out of the business.

"I'm not against adoption, but I'd like to help teach parents to take care of their kids," said Douyon, a psychologist.

After Farrah's departure this week, a Canadian consular officer came by to check on three other children whose adoption papers had been in the works for several months. The three -- ages 18 months, 3 and 4 -- were ushered in to see the embassy official, who took their photographs. They will be leaving once their paperwork is complete.

The days when Douyon says goodbye to one of her children, she said, are the hardest. And this had been one of those days.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-haiti-orphans27-2010jan27,0,670440,print.story

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Obama's first State of the Union: What he will say vs. what he should say

So tonight Barack Obama gives his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress before millions at home muttering back at their TV's and a predictably partisan audience of House and Senate members following or ignoring the signals of the woman up front, this time likely wearing power red, Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California.

We're predicting the administration's dresser goes with a blue tie tonight for VP Joe Biden , leaving the bolder red to his boss.

Pelosi will be sitting behind the president's left shoulder and, according to her past practice, will be jumping up and sitting down like a set of pistons at 5,000 RPM's applauding enthusiastically, with Biden following suit but more slowly because he's seen so many of these shows since 1972 when Obama was only 11.

State of the Union speeches are democratic rituals and grand political theater that end up meaning very little. A Gallup study shows the 50 minutes or so of presidential palaver (yes, we'll be .......live-blogging it here and will have the full transcript as always, plus the ensuing Republican response by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell ) rarely have any detectable or lasting effect on public opinion.

Only Bill Clinton among modern chief executives enjoyed a poll bounce of a modest 3% average and short duration, despite all the contemporary attention focused on the remarks and the frequent interruptions for (Applause).

The pageant in the historic chamber gives any president a primetime opportunity to lay out his -- not yet her -- wishlist of legislative and programmatic priorities.

In order to call attention to certain policies targeted at certain sectors, Obama's communications strategists have been leaking select pieces since the weekend -- a spending freeze here but not over there, there, there, there and there. Or there. More education spending, possibly up to $4 billion, which seemed like a whole lot of money until about a year ago. Nothing yet on the Afghan war, just domestic stuff.

This afternoon the White House will release carefully-chosen excerpts designed to both assuage and use the broadcast feeding frenzy in advance -- and, not coincidentally, help set up the audience to get the desired impressions.

The speech Obama gives tonight, with his habitual head tilted back as if reading the Teleprompter through bifocals, will bear little resemblance to the one his writers began drafting in early December. The reason: Massachusetts, a special U.S. Senate election last week that proved to be a comeback gamechanger way beyond anything that Indianapolis pulled off against the Jets Sunday.

Obama's goal tonight will be to change the political discussion subject, to get away from what Brown can do to other Democrats running in November's midterms and to appear to embrace the agenda that polls and Democrat Martha Coakley's stunning loss have told everyone who doesn't live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It's the economy, stupid. And the jobs, you dunce. Also, the deficit.

All summer with the exception of a war speech to veterans, Obama talked and town-halled healthcare, healthcare, healthcare.

Much of the fall, in between the Copenhagen commutes, bowing his way across Asia and ordering a second Afghan troop surge, the president talked of little other than, of course, healthcare.

So much so, that polls show more than half the country believes he paid insufficient attention to the economy and the federal deficit that has grown more than a trillion dollars on his watch.

The result is that the hopey-changey-fix-the-tone-of-politics guy who one year ago had an approval rating of 70-something and the motto si se puede (yes, we can) turned out to be the most politically polarizing freshman president in history . Now, it's more like, Sal si puede (Get out if you can!).

After leaving much of 2009's economic stimulation promotion to Biden, Obama started getting the jobs message after voters in New Jersey and Virginia blew his party's gubernatorial candidates out of the water in November, despite more than a half-dozen campaign rallies there by the Good Talker himself.

This morning, even Obama's leftish base is unhappy . And no one in Washington knows what the future is of the president's beloved healthcare legislation -- if, indeed, there is any future. And this just 15 months after voters handed Democrats overwhelming majorities in both houses, as well as the big white house.

So the president will talk tonight economy, economy, economy. He's not running for anything this fall, but the entire House is and a third of the Senate, and prognosticators are falling over themselves this week adjusting upward the number of endangered Democratic seats. Not to mention three dozen governor's races .

A shift of only 40 House seats would force Pelosi to turn the gavel over to John Boehner . Eew, that's no San Francisco treat!

On everyone's mind is the historic congressional turnaround of 1994, Democrat Clinton's .... ... first midterm elections, when voters rewarded his surprisingly liberal agenda by turning both houses over to Republicans for 12 years. That's a traumatic event etched into the memory of another product of the Chicago machine, Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel , then a Clinton aide.

Clinton responded to that setback slap by openly announcing that the era of big government was over and promptly steered himself back to the middle and a resounding re-election two years later.

Obviously, Obama's first midterms are yet to happen. And it's a long time until November. One story making the rounds of Capitol Hill this week is that during a meeting with congressional Democrats last week, the president addressed their verbal hand-wringing by modestly observing that the big difference between 1994 and 2010 is that Democrats now have him in the Oval Office.

What many will be watching for tonight is how Obama addresses the Massachusetts mayhem, if at all. Initially, aides said the stunning defeat wouldn't deter the administration from pursuing its ambitious agenda aggressively.

Over his public life the 48-year-old Chicago politician has typically found it difficult to openly apologize or admit mistakes, which the surprisingly discerning American electorate sometimes requires, relishes and then usually appreciates.

Remember, for example, Obama's Philadelphia race speech during the primaries, when he could simply not denounce the racial attitudes of his white grandmother nor his controversial black Chicago minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright ? And about three weeks later came Obama's complete disavowal of that very same minister ? Obviously, that was all Wright's fault for crossing some invisible line in those few days, not Obama's mis-reading of his preacher over 20 years of sermons.

How the 44th president speaks to liberal Massachusetts' decisive disavowal of the liberal Democratic candidate may well ultimately play a more important role in shaping national public opinion in the months leading to November than any of the numerous items on Obama's alleged legislative To-Do list that he'll tick off during tonight's State of the Union address.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/01/obama-state-of-the-union-economy.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+topoftheticket+%28Top+of+the+Ticket%29

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Sex offender arrested for allegedly soliciting children at downtown L.A. housing complex

Los Angeles police detectives have arrested a known sex offender who allegedly solicited youngsters at the William Mead Homes project near downtown.

Marco Julio Gonzales, 41, of San Gabriel, was arrested Monday for annoying a child under 14 and soliciting an act of prostitution, both misdemeanor crimes.

“This man is a sex registrant for indecent exposure,” said Lt. Paul Vernon. “The one sole incident he's charged with occurred at the William Mead Housing Project. There's a good chance he's been to other neighborhoods, too.”

Vernon released a photo of the man and asked anyone with information on other crimes involving him to contact the LAPD detectives.

Vernon said a mother first reported that a man had approached her 12-year-old daughter a year ago and offered the girl $100 for oral sex.

“The little girl was so innocent, she did not understand the euphemism the suspect used,” Vernon said.

“It wasn't a surprise he was a sex registrant,” Vernon said.

Gonzales was booked on an arrest warrant and released in lieu of $40,000 bail.

The alleged crimes were misdemeanors, so police needed to identify the suspect and get a warrant from a judge in order to make an arrest.

“Otherwise, police would have had to catch him in the act, or a witness would have had to apprehend him and make a private person's arrest,” Vernon said. “It was probably better for Gonzales the police got him and not the residents.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact  Det. Josh Riggs at (213) 972-1235. During non-business hours, call (877) LAPD-24-7.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/sex-offender-arrested-for-allegedly-soliciting-children.html#more

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EDITORIAL

Obama's federal spending freeze

The president's plan to limit some spending shows confidence that the economy is getting back on track.

January 27, 2010

The White House has been cranking out initiatives daily in an effort to regain the public's confidence, and on Tuesday, its target was the enormous federal deficit. Aides to President Obama disclosed that his forthcoming budget will call for a three-year freeze on "non-security discretionary funding." That's bureaucratese for capping everything but defense, homeland security, veterans, international affairs and entitlements (for example, Medicare and welfare), with no adjustments for inflation. That would result in $250 billion less being spent over the coming decade than currently projected, said Rob Nabors, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget. Although it's merely a gesture, it's a good one that sends the right signals to Congress and the public.

Skeptics were quick to note how little of the budget actually would be affected -- about 17% -- and how small the savings seem in comparison to the $6 trillion in total deficits expected over the coming decade. And presidential budgets are just proposals; Congress controls the purse strings. It's hard to say how well received Obama's latest offering will be, given how few details have been released. The official line is simply that the administration's budget for fiscal 2010 (which runs from October 2010 through September 2011) will call for cutting some programs and increasing others.

All the same, the specifics of Obama's budget aren't as significant as his judgment that the economy will have recovered enough by October for the federal government to take its foot off the fiscal gas pedal. When the recession hit, it made sense for Washington to try to stimulate the economy with deficit spending. But Congress, backed by some economists, has used the sluggish recovery as an excuse to continue expanding domestic programs despite the shortfall in tax revenue. Obama's proposed freeze helps make the case that a bit of belt-tightening won't stall the economy.

The administration's strategy for attacking the mounting national debt also includes enacting comprehensive healthcare reform and establishing a commission to help close the long-term budget gap. Those are worthy goals, although achieving them will depend on a rare show of bipartisan support. (Even that may not be enough -- witness Tuesday's defeat of a bipartisan Senate proposal to create a deficit commission.) The president's call for a freeze is a much more limited step, but it's a good start. We look forward to seeing how he plans to pare federal programs, and we urge Congress to get serious about curbing its spending appetite.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-freeze27-2010jan27,0,6983813,print.story

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From the Daily News

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Report: immigrants add more to economy than subtract

Shining a flattering light on California's growing immigrant population, researchers reported Tuesday that the state's foreign-born residents are more likely than the native-born to have jobs, and they put more into the economy than they take out of it.

The study supports calls for proposed changes in immigration laws that would "allow immigrants to contribute more fully to the California economy," said Reshma Shamasunder, director of the California Immigrant Policy Center, which released the report.

The study concluded that although many immigrants need public assistance right after they arrive in the United States, they tend to improve their financial situations over time through hard work and entrepreneurship.

"There's always a sense that immigrants are a drain on the economy rather than contributing," said Manuel Pastor, director of the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration, which conducted the study. "What I think this suggests is there are huge contributions, and those contributions grow over time."

The California Immigrant Policy Center describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit statewide organization that focuses on supporting pro-immigrant policies.

The study made no distinction between legal and illegal immigrants because of limitations in the available data, most of which came from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey in 2005-07. That prompted an opponent of illegal immigration to call the report "irrelevant."

"We believe immigration is the lifeblood of our economy and our culture," said Tony Bell, spokesman for Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich. "It is illegal immigration that takes a catastrophic economic and cultural toll. ... Any study that doesn't differentiate between the two cannot be taken seriously."

But the USC researchers said they looked at illegal immigrants in a separate study released earlier this month, concluding that giving legal status to currently "unauthorized" members of the Latino work force would add $16billion annually to the California economy.

Pastor said that because of differences in wages and access to public services, illegal immigrants' net contribution to the state may be higher than that of legal immigrants.

The new study portrays an immigrant population that is already critical to the state's economic prospects.

California's 9.9 million immigrants represent 27 percent of the population, the highest of any state. Forty-eight percent of children living in California have at least one immigrant parent. And their impact is rising, with immigrant voters and their children likely to represent 29 percent of potential voters by 2012.

As for their economic impact, immigrants make up 34 percent of the labor force. Among people over age 16, 62 percent of immigrants are employed, slightly more than the 60 percent of non-immigrants. And among Latino and Asian men in the 25-64 age group, 84 percent of immigrants are employed, in contrast with 78 percent of U.S.-born men in that category.

Immigrants contribute 32 percent of California's gross domestic product and 27 percent of total household income - the basis for the researchers' conclusion that they give more to the economy than they get from it.

Pastor said studying immigrants of different generations shows a "dramatic" decline in poverty rates and rise in home-ownership over the years.

The full report is online at caimmigrant.org/contributions.html

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_14274340

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Koreas exchange artillery barrages

SEOUL, South Korea - North and South Korea trade artillery fire along their disputed western sea border on Wednesday, two days after the North designated no-sail zones in the area, the military and news reports said.

North Korea fired several rounds of land-based artillery off its coast, an officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said. The officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of department policy, said no casualities or damage were immediately reported.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the South immediately returned fire from a marine base on an island near the sea border. Yonhap, citing an unidentified presidential official, said both Koreas fired into the air.

South Korea's YTN television network carried a similar report on the exchange of fire.

The officer at the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he could not immediately confirm that South Korea returned fire.

The western sea border is a constant source of tension between the two Koreas. Their navies fought a brief gunbattle in November that left one North Korean sailor dead and three others wounded.

In a possible indication it may be preparing to conduct missile tests in the area, North Korea designated two no-sail zones along the sea border on Monday through March 29, including some South Korean-held waters, according to the Defense Ministry. Yonhap said the North's artillery fire landed in North Korean waters.

The disputed sea border was drawn by the U.N. Command at the end of the Korean War and North Korea has repeatedly insisted it should be moved further south. The dispute also led to bloody naval skirmishes in 1999 and 2002.

The two Koreas are still technically at war because the 1950-53 war ended with an armistice, not a formal peace treaty.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_14274402

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Sheriff Baca says he wants information on released prison inmates

As the state begins releasing thousands of prison inmates this week, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said he hopes to obtain detailed information on the prisoners to help deputies track their whereabouts and encourage them to enroll in education programs.

"In sum, this presents a problem that we have not had before," Baca told the Board of Supervisors Tuesday. "We intend to track them and offer them classes that would be appropriate for life-skills development and how to function at a more civilized level in their communities and hopefully not commit new crimes."

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Monday began reducing its 170,000-inmate prison system by 6,500 inmates over the next year as part of a new cost-saving effort.

The new law also calls for removing the supervision of thousands of parolees, including about 7,700 in Los Angeles County alone.

The union representing Los Angeles Police Department officers called Tuesday for the state to release detailed information about prisoners who are released early, including their address, criminal history, name of their parole officer and conditions of parole.

"We are very concerned that the released prison inmates will be completely unsupervised and will be sent back into local communities without any attempt to transition them back into society," said Paul Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

In addition, Baca wants to obtain medical and mental health information about the inmates, sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.

If the state provides this information, Baca said his patrol stations will be able to contact parolees and encourage them to take classes to help them find jobs.

"Right now, without police involvement, I think we are making a serious, calculated risk that is going to fail," Baca said.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_14274370

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Federal deficit is projected at $1.35 trillion

WASHINGTON - The Senate on Tuesday rejected a plan backed by President Barack Obama to create a bipartisan task force to tackle the federal deficit this year, despite glaring new figures showing the enormity of the red-ink threat.

The special deficit panel would have attempted to produce a plan combining tax increases and spending curbs to be voted on after the November elections. The measure went down because anti-tax Republicans joined in opposition with Democrats wary of being railroaded into cutting Social Security and Medicare.

The vote to kill the deficit task force came hours after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted a $1.35 trillion deficit - $4,500 for every American - for this year as the economy continues to slowly recover from the recession.

"Yet another indication that Congress is more concerned with the next election than the next generation," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., a sponsor of the plan.

The budget deficits facing Obama and Congress are large and intractable, and the CBO's new deficit prediction is roughly equal to last year's record $1.4trillion ocean of red ink. That means the government is borrowing to cover 40 percent of the cost of its programs.

Economists say sustained high deficits would force interest rates higher and "crowd out" private investment - and could have severe implications for the value of the dollar.

The report predicts a sluggish economic recovery and continued high unemployment - which presages big political problems for Obama and his Democratic allies heading into the midterm elections.

The report sees unemployment averaging 10.1 percent this year as the economy grows by slightly more than 2 percent. It would grow only a little more next year with an unemployment rate of 9.5 percent.

"CBO expects that the pace of economic recovery will be slow," said agency chief Douglas Elmendorf.

The latest estimates also project the deficit will drop to $980 billion next year and $480 billion in five years - but only if a host of tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush are allowed to expire. Most budget experts see deficits nearing or exceeding $1 trillion each year over the next decade once tax cuts and other policies are factored in.

It's a sobering reminder of the fundamental imbalance of the federal government's budget that comes just days before Obama's Feb. 1 budget submission. The White House says Obama will propose a three-year freeze on domestic agency spending. It hasn't said whether Obama will propose tax hikes or benefit cuts to spiraling programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Obama's budget also includes deficit-boosting ideas such as an increase in the child care tax credit for families making less than $85,000 a year. Administration officials won't say what it would cost, but the the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank, says credit would cost up to $40 billion over the next 10 years.

The 2010 deficit figure is in line with previous estimates, but plans afoot on Capitol Hill for a new jobs bill and a coming Obama request for war funds would add to the total.

The spending freeze, expected to be proposed by Obama in his State of the Union address on Wednesday, would apply to a relatively small portion of the federal budget, affecting a $477 billion pot of money available for domestic agencies whose budgets are approved by Congress each year. Some of those agencies could get increases, while others would have to face cuts; such programs got an increase of almost 10 percent this year in the $3.5 trillion federal budget.

Also Tuesday, Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said support was building for a plan to impose binding "caps" on spending similar to Obama's. It would take 67 votes to bust through the spending limits.

The freeze on so-called discretionary programs would have only a modest impact on the deficit. The steps needed to tackle such huge deficits include tax increases and curbs on benefit programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

That was the idea behind the Obama-backed plan to create a special task force to find a way to curb the spiraling budget deficit. Obama may decide to create a weaker version of the task force by presidential order. But unlike the plan rejected Tuesday, there would be no way to force a Senate vote on the task force's plan.

Supporters garnered 53 votes for the plan, which was co-sponsored by Gregg and Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D. But 60 votes were required under procedural rules. Thirty-six Democrats and independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut voted for the plan, as did 16 Republicans.

Six Republicans who had co-sponsored the plan, including John McCain of Arizona, ended up opposing it.

The task force was rejected after the powerful seniors lobby, led by AARP, objected to a potential fast-track debate of cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Anti-tax activists and GOP-friendly editorial pages pressed Republicans to oppose it.

The plan was offered as an amendment to a deeply unpopular bill to permit the government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to finance its operations and prevent a first-ever default on U.S. obligations.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_14273730

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LA's BEST keeps getting better

AS LA's BEST After School Enrichment Program enters its 22nd year, the students, alumni, staff and leadership should be proud to be part of a program that has enriched the Los Angeles community.

Starting with their initial programs 22 years ago, LA's BEST has maintained a balance of high quality standards for education, enrichment and recreation. Their students are excited and the staff and volunteers eagerly seek to motivate and enhance each student's educational experience.

As chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Child/Adolescent Health and Safety, I see first hand how valuable programs like this are to the community.

Like most non-profit organizations, LA's BEST has experienced setbacks during these challenging times, but they are coping by working with corporate and community partners more than ever. Recently I had the pleasure of visiting with students at 112th Street Elementary school to congratulate them and the students of 109th Street Elementary on completing the "Go H2O!" challenge, an innovative program made possible by the American Chemistry Council's sponsorship.

The challenge was designed to educate students about the importance of drinking water for a healthy lifestyle and the earth-friendly benefits of reusable, recyclable plastic water bottles, underscoring the connection between water and health as well as the importance of the three R's: reduce, reuse and recycle.

To kick off the challenge, more than 12,000 students at 91 LA's BEST sites in the Los Angeles area received reusable, recyclable plastic water bottles. The students were encouraged to choose water as the healthy beverage of choice for three weeks. At the end of each day, students learned a new recycling tip to share with their families and friends. At the end of the challenge, each student received a pencil made of recycled materials with an eraser made in the shape of the recycling symbol.

By helping our students think about lifestyle choices, we are encouraging them to make decisions that are better for their health and their environment. In the current economy, providing enrichment programs like this is more challenging than ever, but public-private partnerships can help non profits continue to serve our communities.

I congratulate LA's BEST for the good work it has done for the past two decades and continues to do every day. And congratulations to all of the students, parents, and staff who helped make the "Go H20!" challenge a success.

Assemblymember Isadore Hall, III represents the 52nd Assembly District that includes Compton, North Long Beach, Paramount, Rancho Dominguez, South Los Angeles, Watts and Willowbrook.

http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_14271415

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One father's message to another

THIS month marks the fifth anniversary of my son Terrell's death.

Terrell went to a party with friends in 2005 in an affluent neighborhood and was shot to death. He was home on winter break from Humboldt State University. Even though Terrell had never been involved with a gang, he became a victim of random gang violence.

Terrell's younger brother and sister suffer to this day. The perpetrator has never been caught or charged. But with every passing year I grow more committed to seeing justice through and to ending this type of senseless violence. I know one key is for parents to act more wisely to protect young people.

I know Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger worries about his kids, too. That's why I'm puzzled by the governor's budget choices. Slashing programs that help to reduce violent crimes won't make anyone safer, and neither will wasteful corrections spending.

Our death penalty system costs California taxpayers $137 million each year, according to the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice - more than we spend on Head Start early education programs. Every year, California spends an estimated $117 million after conviction on efforts to execute the 700 prisoners already on Death Row. Death penalty trials cost local taxpayers an additional $20 million per year at the current pace of 20 to 30 sentences per year. Hundreds of millions of dollars spent and none have been shown to deter murderers, curb gang violence, or even help close unsolved homicide cases.

In contrast, permanent imprisonment - lifelong incarceration with no chance of parole - for all inmates currently on Death Row would cost just $11.5 million. It would free up funds we could use to clear thousands of open cases and fund prevention programs that work.

I can't understand why the governor is ready to risk reversing the record decrease in 2009 in Los Angeles' gang homicide rate. There is no way to justify spending millions of dollars on a broken, expensive death penalty system when California is broke, especially when it does not even work as a deterrent.

There is no way to measure grief, but there are ways we could minimize it. The governor should honor Terrell's memory and put our state's limited resources to good use. End wasteful spending, help us to solve more murders and support early childhood intervention and violence prevention programs. This would go a long way toward protecting all young people from random violence, especially those in urban war zones.

We could work toward preventing murders instead of executing the select few murderers who are already in prison. We could stop wasting money when killers remain at large and we have a swift, severe and certain way to punish them once they are caught.

One day I'd like to tell my granddaughter Heavenly that her father's murderer has been apprehended and that justice will be served. I pray that I can tell her that her dad's death was not in vain. I pray that these words from one father, who loves and misses his son, will appeal to the humanity of another.

Permanent imprisonment is a viable alternative to our deeply flawed death penalty system. Cutting health and human services and propping up a broken death penalty system is a guarantee for more heartbreak. California doesn't need more grieving families like mine.

http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_14274086

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From the Wall Street Journal

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U.N. Faces Mobs at Food-Aid Sites

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—U.N. troops fired tear gas and warning shots for the second day to try to prevent a mob from plundering aid supplies, witnesses said, underscoring the difficulties of getting enough aid to Haiti two weeks after the Jan. 12 earthquake.

Because of the chaos, 48-year-old Edil Dutreuille said she hasn"t received any food aid in over a week. Last week, she said, she received some water, biscuits and canned fish. Her 10-member family, including two children, has been relying on food from her new neighbors in the tent city across from the crumbled presidential palace.

"I'm angry because getting the aid is taking too much time," she said as she sat on a mattress under a green bed sheet.

Peaceful protests over scarce supplies escalated into violence in Jacmel, Haiti, on Thursday over the recent distribution of new tents to some earthquake survivors. WSJ's Christopher Rhoads reports.

Aid groups said they are coping as best as they can. The United Nations' World Food Programme said it had already delivered 10 million meals for 450,000 people in Haiti. David Orr, a spokesman for the group in Port au Prince, said nearly all of the food this morning, about 60 tons in four trucks, was distributed but the event "got a bit out of hand" toward the end.

Brazilian peacekeepers advised the UN workers to end the distribution early, Mr. Orr said, adding that tear gas was used but no rounds were fired Tuesday morning. "There are isolated, regrettable incidents," he said. "These are the exceptions and not the rule."

Residents said they hoped U.N. troops could bring order to the aid distribution. Elson Lazard, 30, stood in line in front of the presidential palace both Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. Both times he walked away emptyhanded, he said, because of the chaos. "I ate today because someone gave me some food," he said. "But I may not eat tomorrow."

The Haitian government, meanwhile, has halted the departure of all orphans from the earthquake-ravaged country until it can guarantee that only legitimate adoptions are being approved, according to U.S. government officials.

The government will allow the departure only of orphaned children whose paperwork it has examined and approved, the officials said.

The decision temporarily suspends the arrival to the U.S. of Haitian orphans under a policy announced last week by Washington. The so-called humanitarian parole was introduced to expedite the adoption of children in orphanages who had been assigned to U.S. families before the earthquake.

The Haitian government is concerned that some children are being removed from the country without proper oversight and risk winding up in the hands of child traffickers. Other children might be removed even though they may still have relatives in the country who could care for them.

"There is evidence that children have been removed from Haiti with no due process at all," said Diana Boni, Haiti adoption coordinator for Kentucky Adoption Services, a non-profit adoption agency in Owensboro, Ky. "The Haitian government in the past has looked over the paperwork of each child leaving the country with adoptive parents."

One U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive had been holding discussions in Montreal during a Haiti reconstruction conference to ensure that U.S. departures resume within days. "We are working on details to get these approvals from Haiti as soon as possible," the official said

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704905604575027621545383424.html?mod=WSJ_World_LeadStory#printMode

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White House Defends Use of War Crime Tribunals

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration asked a military appeals court to uphold the convictions of Osama bin Laden's former driver and his videographer, echoing Bush administration assertions of broad government power to use military tribunals for offenses not traditionally recognized as war crimes.

Recalling positions asserted by the administration of former President George W. Bush, prosecution lawyers Tuesday argued that military commissions, like combat operations, should be considered part of the government's war power to subdue the enemy.

Attorneys for the two men contended before the Court of Military Commission Review that neither man's work for the al Qaeda leader could be considered a war crime. The cases should have been tried in a civilian federal court, defense attorneys argued.

Both men are Yemenis who were captured after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Mr. Hamdan, who cooperated extensively with U.S. investigators, asserted he was simply an employee who had no role in any of Mr. bin Laden's terrorist plots.

A military jury at Guantanamo Bay believed him, and after a 2008 trial acquitted him of terrorist conspiracy charges. He was convicted of providing material support for terrorism, but the jury sentenced him to only six months beyond the time he already spent in detention. He was returned to Yemen a year ago.

Mr. Bahlul, by contrast, is a committed jihadist who has boasted of his al Qaeda affiliation. The principal charge against him involved his production of a two-hour al Qaeda recruiting video that glorified the 2000 suicide bombing of the American destroyer Cole in Yemen.

Mr. Bahlul refused to mount a defense or accept an American lawyer, and was convicted in 2008 of conspiracy, solicitation of murder and providing material support to terrorism. He received a life sentence.

Both men were convicted under the 2006 Military Commissions Act, which Congress adopted after the Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Bush lacked unilateral authority to create an offshore military tribunal system to try foreign nationals.

A lawyer appointed to represent Mr. Bahlul, Michel Paradis, argued that the allegations weren't traditionally considered war crimes under international law, and thus Congress in 2006 couldn't retroactively make them so. International law strongly discourages viewing conspiracy as a war crime. Providing material support for terrorism, while a domestic U.S. crime since the 1990s, has never been considered a war crime, he said.

A prosecution lawyer, Navy Capt. Edward White, said Congress wasn't limited by international law, but could derive separate offenses from a distinct "American common law of war."

While "material support for terrorism" might not be a term used in previous war crimes trials, the court shouldn't rigidly adhere to "formality," said another prosecution lawyer, retired Army Col. Fran Gilligan.

The chief military prosecutor, Navy Capt. John F. Murphy, rejected that charge. "We certainly believe that Congress did and should look to international law" in framing war crimes, he said.

Capt. Murphy said that his office formulated legal arguments independent of political officials.

Neither defendant was present at the hearings, but Charles Schmitz, who served as Mr. Hamdan's interpreter during Guantanamo proceedings, attended. Although Mr. Hamdan now is free, Mr. Schmitz said it was important to him to clear the conviction.

"In Yemen, they look at him as a criminal. He's been stained," said Mr. Schmitz, a Yemen scholar at Towson University in Maryland.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704905604575027551871743276.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5#printMode

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FAA Cites Progress in Drive to Improve Commuter Airline Safety

Federal aviation regulators said new government and industry initiatives have succeeded in lifting the overall safety of U.S. commuter airlines.

In a report released Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said the improvements stem in part from closer government oversight of pilot training and from moves by carriers to better identify and track weak pilots.

The report follows a wide-ranging FAA effort to plug numerous safety gaps exposed by the February 2009 crash of a Colgan Air turboprop near Buffalo, N.Y., which killed 50 people. The high-profile crash sparked public and congressional criticism of widespread problems at many commuter airlines, such as inadequate pilot training, low salaries and lack of cockpit discipline. Commuter carriers, which account for roughly half of all U.S. commercial flights, contract to carry passengers on behalf of mainline carriers on routes that aren't served by larger jets.

The report gives generally high grades to most airlines—along with FAA inspectors and managers—in responding to the agency's call last June to step up commuter safety. It doesn't single out airlines by name, however.

The safety improvements range from more-focused government surveillance of pilot training to better tracking of new pilots' performance. The report also lays out progress FAA officials believe the industry has made in collecting and analyzing data from airline incidents and mishaps.

The FAA's campaign to improve safety focused on the qualifications, training and flight-time limits of commuter crews. Many commuter pilots were hired on with minimal levels of experience at the controls. The campaign also sought to encourage larger airlines to share safety data and "best practices" with their commuter partners.

In issuing the update Tuesday, the FAA chief, Randy Babbitt, said the agency is engaged in "an ongoing dialogue with airlines and unions to strengthen professionalism in the aviation industry." He called the report "a snapshot of our work, which is by no means finished."

The report, among other things, concludes that nearly 90% of carriers that were checked had some procedures in place to track inexperienced and "poor performing pilots," and to provide them with remedial training. The FAA said it found eight carriers without any formal procedures in place to monitor poor-performing pilots. Several of those have since either merged or stopped flying, according to an FAA spokeswoman.

The report says that some 94% of U.S. passenger aircraft "are flown by operators that have, or intend to implement," various voluntary incident-reporting systems advocated by the FAA.

The report also says that airlines or the FAA, under some circumstances, could require newly hired pilots to spend time observing experienced crews before being cleared to fly passengers on their own. Such safety measures are common at some airlines in Europe and other parts of the world, but they are seldom used by U.S. carriers

One problem the FAA was particularly concerned about was an apparent lack of cockpit discipline among some commuter pilots. The crew of the Colgan plane that crashed last year, for example, failed to properly follow checklists and engaged in idle chatter just moments before the crash, The report says the FAA will continue to prod pilot unions to develop new guidelines to "clearly articulate the aviation community's expectations for professional behavior" on flight decks.

In the coming weeks the agency said it plans to revise a proposal to update certain pilot training and experience requirements. The original proposal sought to require broader use of flight simulators in training, and mandated specialized training to help pilots deal with stalls and other unusual aircraft maneuvers.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703410004575028423631473944.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5#printMode

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Obama to Announce Plan to Respond to Bioterrorism Threats

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will use his State of the Union address to unveil a new plan for a better and quicker response to bioterrorism threats and attacks, the White House said Tuesday.

Government leaders will be told to rethink their plans for medical countermeasures so that quick, reliable and affordable antidotes will be available during any public-health emergency, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said. The president will describe an effort to redesign the medical antidote system, he said.

Even as the White House cited Mr. Obama's bioterror-plan announcement, a congressionally mandated panel slammed the government for what it considered an inability to respond to bioterrorist attacks.

The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation gave the Obama administration a failing grade for its efforts to prepare for and respond to a biological attack. ( See the full text of the report .)

The Obama administration doesn't agree with a "report card" the commission issued Tuesday, according to another administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

The government did respond to a 2008 report by the panel, and developed a plan to prevent the illegal spread of biological weapons, such as anthrax. Mr. Obama rolled out that plan in November.

A month later, Mr. Obama signed an order to create a system so that the federal government could rapidly distribute medical countermeasures to supplement state and local responses after a biological attack, Mr. Shapiro said. The system relies partly on the U.S. Postal Service's ability to reach every American household.

Mr. Obama's new plan will mean that better and cheaper drugs will be distributed more quickly, he said.

Despite these efforts, the WMD commission said the Obama administration isn't addressing urgent threats, including bioterrorism.

"Each of the last three administrations has been slow to recognize and respond to the biothreat," said former Sen. Bob Graham, chairman of the commission. "But we no longer have the luxury of a slow learning curve, when we know al Qaeda is interested in bioweapons."

Retired Air Force Col. Randy Larsen, the commission's executive director, said the government was poorly prepared for the swine-flu epidemic in 2009, suggesting that the country is not positioned to respond to something more serious. He pointed to the early shortage of H1N1 vaccine despite a six-month warning from health officials that the disease would be potentially deadly.

The shortage, however, was largely due to private manufacturing problems that the government hopes to alleviate in the future with a different process to make flu vaccine. The government's work to identify the new flu virus and create seed stock for a vaccine quickly has been praised.

The WMD commission was formed by Congress to evaluate the government's readiness for a terror attack involving weapons of mass destruction.

Its report follows a study released Monday that warned that al Qaeda is still pursuing technology to conduct a biological, chemical or even nuclear attack against the U.S.

That study, released by Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, said al Qaeda's "top WMD priority has been to acquire nuclear and strategic biological weapons."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703906204575027012205935380.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5#printMode

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From the Washington Times

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With 1-child policy, China 'missing' girls

by Cheryl Wetzstein

When Chinese officials created the country's one-child-per-couple policy in 1978, they intended to contain the country's burgeoning population for the sake of economic growth, national security and environmental preservation.

But Chinese boys now outnumber Chinese girls by the millions, and the impact of the lopsided sex imbalance is starting to spill beyond China's borders.

This phenomenon of "missing girls" has turned China into "a giant magnet" for human traffickers, who lure or kidnap women and sell them — even multiple times — into forced marriages or the commercial sex trade, says Ambassador Mark Lagon, who oversaw human rights issues at the State Department during the administration of President George W. Bush.

"The impact is obvious. It's creating a 'Wild West' sex industry in China," Mr. Lagon said.

In China, "an entire nation of women" is missing because they were aborted before they were born, said Reggie Littlejohn, founder of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, a nonprofit anti-sex slavery group. "This is gendercide."

To grasp the magnitude of the human-trafficking problem in China, it's important to have a reliable tally of the "missing girls."

Recently, the government-backed Chinese Academy of Social Services (CASS) predicted that 24 million Chinese men might not be able to find brides in 2020. However, previous estimates put that number in the 30 million to 50 million range.

In fact, a 2009 study in the BMJ (formerly known as the British Medical Journal) said that in 2005, there were 32 million extra Chinese men under the age of 20 — and that 1.1 million extra males were born in just that year.

"Sex-selective abortion accounts for almost all the excess males," said study authors Wei Xing Zhu, Li Lu and Therese Hesketh, who urged China to enforce its laws forbidding abortions based on gender.

Chinese officials plan to enforce those laws, as well as try to change Chinese "son-preferential ideologies," said a 2007 report from a Chinese academic institute. A "Care for Girls" campaign is already under way in Chinese districts that have especially large imbalances in their sex ratios, Shuzhuo Li, director of the Institute for Population and Development Studies at Xi'an Jiaotong University in China, wrote in that report.

But changing the deeply rooted "son-preference ideologies" will be very difficult.

Chinese parents believe they must have a son to carry their family name, inherit family properties, support them in their old age and host their funeral ceremonies. Tradition says children belong to their father's lineages, and daughters become part of their husband's families.

Because of these ancient beliefs, China's one-child policy forces couples to choose between "their future retirement and the lives of their daughters," said Steven Mosher, president of the Population Research Institute, a nonprofit pro-life group who has been tracking the one-child policy since the late 1980s.

Chinese officials repeatedly reaffirm the one-child policy, but also appear to be tinkering with it.

For instance, last summer, faced with a stunningly anemic 0.88 children per woman birthrate in Shanghai, officials announced that certain couples could have a second child.

But this week, the Beijing News had to back off a similar story for Beijing's couples. The paper had reported that an official with the Beijing family- planning commission said the panel was considering allowing couples to apply for a second birth permit even if only one spouse was an "only" child. Currently, both spouses must be "only" children to get a second permit.

The Beijing News report was swiftly retracted via Xinhua News Agency, a government news agency, which noted that the "journalist who wrote the original false report had already apologized" to the official. A second, unnamed Beijing family-planning official reminded Xinhua that birth-planning is "a fundamental policy" and "requires stability and continuity" to succeed.

Meanwhile, multiple alarm bells are going off about China's demographics.

The massive population is "graying," which means there will be many elderly people with far fewer workers and family members to support them.

There is also the specter of millions of young, unmarried, restless and unfettered Chinese men and how that might explode into civil unrest.

But the most immediate and horrifying consequence of China's "missing girls" is that it is fueling a growing trade in human beings, especially girls and women, say those who are fighting it.

The State Department's 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report downgraded China to its Tier 2 "watch list," because it is a "source, transit, and destination country for men, women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation."

While women from many countries are being captured or trafficked into China, North Korean women are especially vulnerable. Neither China nor North Korea "seems to want to protect that population," Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, director of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, said in June when the TIP report was released.

"China's approach to human trafficking is strictly an iron-fist, law-and-order approach," said Mr. Lagon, who is now the executive director and chief executive of the Polaris Project, a nonprofit organization that fights international sex slavery.

If North Korean women protest or try to flee their forced marriages or prostitution houses, they can be "repatriated" to North Korea, said Mr. Lagon. Upon their return, they are treated like criminals and are likely to be beaten, imprisoned or killed, he said.

Laura Lederer, a former State Department official who now is part of Global Centurion, a nonprofit group fighting sex slavery, said that the sex imbalance in China is leading to a "new tsunami of demand."

"We need to be working on this on the front end," she said, calling for high-level enforcement in anti-trafficking laws.

As for the trafficking victims, Mr. Lagon urged Americans who suspect illegal activities to call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hot line, which is operated by the Polaris Project.

Sex trafficking is a heinous human rights violation, and people may instinctively want to turn away from the issue, he said. But "it's inspiring" to see how people can escape and survive even the worst situations. "It doesn't have to be a dark subject if you are exposed to those who are fighting for dignity," he said.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jan/27/with-1-child-policy-china-missing-girls//print/

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From Fox News

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Witness Says Peterson Bragged He Could Cover Up Murder

January 26, 2010

JOLIET, Ill. — 

An aunt of former Illinois police officer Drew Peterson's missing wife testified Tuesday that he once bragged he could kill someone and "make it look like an accident."

Candace Aikin testified that Drew Peterson made the boast in front of her, Stacy Peterson and others at a family gathering in January 2007, months before Stacy disappeared.

"I just remember him saying something like he could kill and make it look like an accident," Aikin said.

She said Stacy Peterson heard that and replied, "Not with this chick you don't."

Aikin also said Stacy and Drew Peterson often fought, and that her niece told her he would follow her from room to room while she was speaking on the phone.

Drew Peterson, a former Bolingbrook police officer, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the 2004 death of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. Authorities exhumed her body and ruled her death a homicide only after Stacy Peterson vanished three years later.

Drew Peterson hasn't been charged in Stacy Peterson's disappearance, but authorities say he's the only suspect.

Aikin's friend, Donna Badalamenti, also testified. Badalamenti, who has know Stacy Peterson for years, said they were at a family event in 2003 when Peterson told her that if the marriage to Stacy Peterson didn't work out he would kill himself.

Badalamenti told Drew Peterson not to say that, and she said he responded, "Then I'll kill her."

Earlier Tuesday, Will County Judge Stephen White ruled that Neil Schori, a counseling minister at Westbrook Christian Church in Bolingbrook, could testify about some of what was said during conversations he had at a coffee shop with Stacy Peterson. It was unclear how much of the conversations the judge would allow, but he was expected to rule Wednesday.

White also ruled that Schori couldn't reveal what was said during conversations he had with Drew and Stacy Peterson at their home or during conversations he had with Drew Peterson.

Schori was expected to resume testifying on Wednesday.

Defense attorneys objected to Schori testifying about any conversations with Drew Peterson, arguing that they should be confidential because Schori was acting as a religious minister. But prosecutors argued that the privilege doesn't apply because Westbrook is a nondenominational church and had no specific rules about confidentiality.

The focus of the pretrial hearing, now in its second week, is the possible use of "hearsay" evidence in the Savio case.

Hearsay, or statements not based on the direct knowledge of a witness, usually isn't admissible in court. Illinois judges can allow it in murder trials if prosecutors prove a defendant may have killed a witness to prevent them from testifying. There's little available forensic evidence in Savio's case, so prosecutors are expected to rely on statements Savio allegedly made to others saying she feared Peterson could kill her.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,583997,00.html

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Police 'Fairly Confident' Remains Found Are Missing Virginia Tech Student

January 26, 2010

Virginia state police say they are "fairly confident" human remains discovered on a southern Albermarle County farm are of missing Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington.

The skeletal remains were discovered Tuesday morning on the Anchorage Farm by owner David Bass.

Harrington, a 20-year-old junior at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, hasn't been seen since October when she was separated from her friends at a Metallica concert in Charlottesville.

State Police Superintendent Steve Flaherty said an autopsy will be conducted to confirm that the remains are of Harrington.

Flaherty also said there is no readily available access to the area where the remains were found.

The family learned this morning that remains of a female body had been found in Virginia, the family's representative, Leslie Valenza, told Fox News.

Dan Harrington, Morgan's father, told WTVR.com that "this is a horrible day" for him and his family.

Bass told The Associated Press he was feeding his cattle at the time and saw the remains from his tractor. He declined additional comment.

"I looked down and saw what looked like a human skull and my first thought was that it was Morgan Harrington," Bass told WTVR.com.

Click here for more from WTVR.com.

Click here for more from MyFoxDC.com.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,583961,00.html

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From MSNBC

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U.S. wrestles with olive branch for Taliban

Debate over reconciliation rekindles memories of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks

By Mark Landler and Helene Cooper

WASHINGTON - As the Obama administration pours 30,000 additional troops into Afghanistan, it has begun grappling with the next great dilemma of this long war: whether to reconcile with the men who sheltered Osama bin Laden and who still have close ties to Al Qaeda.

The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has said he wants to reach out to the leaders of the Taliban, and administration officials acknowledge privately that they are considering the idea. But they warn that the plan is rife with political risk at home and could jeopardize a widely backed effort to lure lower-ranking, more amenable Taliban fighters back into Afghan society.

The debate, still in its early stages, could shape the next phase of America's engagement in Afghanistan, officials said, and is every bit as complicated as the decision on whether to commit more soldiers, not least because it rekindles memories of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

On Thursday, donor countries, led by the United States, Britain and Japan, are expected to commit $100 million a year to an Afghan fund for reintegrating the foot soldiers of the Taliban with jobs, cash and other inducements. But the allies are less sanguine about dealing with the Taliban's high command, particularly its leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, and other “hard core” Taliban elements which, the administration bluntly declared last March, were “not reconcilable.”

Inducements

One question is how likely these people are to be enticed by the inducements, given the gains the Taliban have made. Some American officials suggest the debate is premature, saying the Taliban have to be depleted through drone strikes and ground combat before they would return to the bargaining table.

The pros and cons of dealing with the Taliban will loom large at the conference in London this week, where Mr. Karzai is scheduled to present his plan for lower-level reintegration.

While Mullah Omar remains off limits for the United States, the administration's openness to reconciling with other Taliban leaders has grown since last year, officials say, because of its recognition that the war is not going to be won purely on the battlefield.

“Today, people agree that part of the solution for Afghanistan is going to include an accommodation with the Taliban, even above low- and middle-level fighters,” said an administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing internal deliberations.

Still, any grand bargain is bound to be messy, he said, with the Taliban most likely to demand government jobs or control of large areas of territory in Afghanistan's south, where it now rules by fear. What the United States would be willing to tolerate has become a hot issue inside the administration.

Skepticism

Already, the Pentagon has expressed skepticism about coming to terms with high-ranking Taliban figures anytime soon.

“It's our view that until the Taliban leadership sees a change in the momentum and begins to see that they are not going to win, the likelihood of significant reconciliation at senior levels is not terribly great,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said last week in India.

At the same time, the senior American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, said recently that he could eventually envision a role for some Taliban officials in Afghanistan's political establishment.

Other senior officials, like Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., are said to be more open to reaching out, because they believe it will help shorten the military engagement in Afghanistan. The special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard C. Holbrooke, is also said by officials to be privately receptive, although he expressed doubts in an interview.

“It's very unclear on which basis you can have reconciliation with the Taliban leadership when they are still allied with Al Qaeda and pursue policies that would create permanent instability in Afghanistan and the region,” Mr. Holbrooke said.

Part of the problem is that the process could set off unpredictable forces. Some contend it could split the leadership of the Taliban, swelling the ranks of subordinates who accept the Afghan government's offer to lay down their arms. But skeptics argue that it could embolden the Taliban, by making their leaders think they have the upper hand against the Afghan government.

“The more there is talk of negotiation, the more the Taliban view it as a sign of weakness,” said Vanda Felbab-Brown, an expert on Afghanistan at the Brookings Institution. “How do you make sure the reconciliation process does not embolden the Taliban to go on the march?”

Reconciliation has a troubled history in Afghanistan. In December 2007, Mr. Karzai expelled two Western officials for unauthorized contacts with the Taliban. The United Nations said the talks were with tribal elders, though one of the officials, Michael Semple, an Irishman who worked for the European Union, has written extensively since then about the value of negotiating with the Taliban.

There are also inklings of a new openness on the part of Mullah Omar. Last September, he stirred some controversy in the extremist world with a public statement suggesting that he put the goal of retaking power in Afghanistan ahead of the global jihad favored by Al Qaeda.

Some analysts saw this as a sign of a rift between the two groups and a hint that Mullah Omar might be open to talks. The Taliban, he said, “want to play our role in peace and stability of the region.”

In London, Mr. Karzai is expected to provide details about reaching out to lower-level Taliban members. One question is whether he will ask the United Nations to remove Mullah Omar's name from a “blacklist,” which freezes bank accounts and prohibits travel for those on it.

The blacklist is important because the government cannot negotiate with Taliban members whose names are on it. A United Nations Security Council committee said Tuesday that it had removed five senior Taliban from the list, Reuters reported.

For now, American military officials said, the focus will remain on lower-level street fighters.

The hope is that in the next few months, the 30,000 additional American troops will start to make a dent in the Taliban's offensive. Even then, American officials said, any reconciliation would require the Taliban leaders to renounce violence.

“That's a pretty high bar for the Taliban leadership to clear,” said Brian Katulis, of the Center for American Progress, a liberal advocacy group with ties to the Obama administration.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35094244/ns/world_news-the_new_york_times/

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Fort Hood heroes to be State of Union guests

WASHINGTON - Two police officers credited with stopping last year's shooting rampage at Fort Hood will be guests of the first lady during Wednesday's State of the Union speech.

Sgts. Kimberly Munley and Mark Todd will watch President Barack Obama's address with Michelle Obama in a gallery overlooking the House floor. On Nov. 5, the officers, who were civilian members of the Fort Hood police force, opened fire on Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people in the worst mass murder on a U.S. military base. Munley was wounded in the incident at the Texas base.

An administration official also said Jill Biden, the vice president's wife, invited Julia Frost, a former Marine trumpeter whom Mrs. Biden met when visiting Coastal Carolina Community College. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House had not yet released the full list.

The official also said Mrs. Obama would sit with Trevor Yager, an openly-gay advertising executive from Indianapolis whose agency grew by more than 200 percent and doubled the number of employees. The official says Yager credits Obama's approach to business and the $787 billion economic stimulus measure.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35090925/ns/politics-white_house/

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In speech, Obama set to admit missteps

WASHINGTON - For all the questions circulating in Democratic quarters as President Obama tries to weather the worst storm of his administration, perhaps none is as succinct as this: Are the missteps at the White House rooted in message or substance?

The Republican victory in Massachusetts last week touched off a domino effect of political setbacks for Democrats — most notably the fate of the health care agenda — that has prompted deep introspection in the Oval Office and across the administration.

When Mr. Obama presents his first State of the Union address on Wednesday evening, aides said he would accept responsibility, though not necessarily blame, for failing to deliver swiftly on some of the changes he promised a year ago. But he will not, aides said, accede to criticism that his priorities are out of step with the nation's.

As Mr. Obama navigates a crossroads of his presidency, a moment when he signals what lessons he has drawn from his first year in office, the public posture of the White House is that any shortcomings are the result of failing to explain effectively what they were doing — and why. He will acknowledge making mistakes in pursuit of his agenda, aides said, but will not toss the agenda overboard in search of a more popular one.

Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who is close to Mr. Obama and many of his advisers, said the notion of the president accepting responsibility would probably be well received by the American people. But with growing strains of populism coming from Washington, he warned against making too drastic of a course correction.

“The American people want to see that you're going to make a change, but for the president it's important that he not shift radically because of one election,” Mr. Richardson said in an interview. “He needs to stay the course and not all of the sudden become something that he isn't. The country was very inspired by Barack Obama — all kinds of voters. He needs to reconnect on that basis.”

Roadmap

On the eve of his speech to a joint session of Congress and a prime-time television audience, Mr. Obama and a small circle of advisers huddled for extended periods on Tuesday, seeking to fine-tune the speech that would serve as a roadmap for the president and his party in a midterm election year.

Still undecided, advisers said, was how much of the address would be devoted to health care as the prospects of finding a lifeline for the legislation seemed to be diminishing. A discussion was under way among the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress whether Mr. Obama would call for a scaled-down version of the legislation that has been the centerpiece of his domestic agenda.

The White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, on Tuesday pointed to public opinion polls that showed a strong majority of Americans support many of the specific proposals inside the overall health care plan, but opposed the plan because of the messy legislative process surrounding the bill.

“Obviously the legislation became a caricature of its component parts,” Mr. Gibbs said. “To the degree that's a communications failing, I think, people here at the White House and others would certainly take responsibility for that.”

The State of the Union address, which is Mr. Obama's third appearance before a joint session of Congress, offers an opportunity for the president to restate the goals of his administration as he tries to turn the election-year conversation to the economy. The speech will be punctuated with a handful of new ideas — calling for a spending freeze on a portion of the domestic budget — but aides said it would largely be an opportunity for Mr. Obama to return to the proposals that swept him into office.

“Democrats are really looking for that spark again,” said David Young, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party. “We feel like we may be off track and we're looking for the president to come out with bold initiatives and to lead.”

It remained an open question, though, how Mr. Obama's initiatives would be received, even among those in his own party, and whether his speech would provide the spark that Democrats like Mr. Young and others are yearning for. His suggestion to place a freeze on some spending — at odds with his views from the presidential campaign — was already being met with skepticism on Tuesday.

The White House has offered a preview of several initiatives in the days leading up to Wednesday, including a series of measures intended to provide financial relief to the middle class.

But advisers to the president said the speech would not contain a laundry list of new programs, suggesting that the message and not the substance would be receiving the largest makeover in an effort to ease the political unrest that has set in across the Democratic Party.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in a speech on Tuesday to top party contributors in Washington, dismissed the political worrying among Democrats. He said the loss of the party's 60-vote supermajority in the Senate could actually have an up side and raise the burden for Republicans “to be accountable as well.”

“The reports of our demise are premature. It's time that everybody takes a deep breath,” Mr. Biden said. He added, “When we had 60 votes, there was the expectation left, right and center that we could do everything we wanted to do, which was never realistic. Never.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35094828/ns/politics-the_new_york_times/

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From the White House

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Remarks by the First Lady at the Joint Armed Forces Officers' Wives' Luncheon

Bolling Air Force Base

MRS. OBAMA:  Thank you, everyone.  Thank you so much.  All right, everyone, take a seat, and have a glass of wine -- (laughter) -- all right, because I'm going to sell you guys out.  (Laughter.)  They were passing around a little glass, and I was like, what's that?  (Laughter.)  So please feel free.  Don't wait till I leave when the desserts come out to get the wine.  (Laughter.) 

I'm really thrilled to be here.  Thank you, Holly, for your kind introduction and for your support of our Air Force families and for all the work that you've done to put together this luncheon, as well as the entire committee.  I know that it's hard enough to pull off something like this, but then you invite the First Lady --and all my stuff -- (laughter) -- and it becomes a little bit harder.  But this is absolutely wonderful.  I've had a great time, and I'm just thrilled to be here.  So again let's give Holly and the entire committee a big round of applause for all the work that they've done.  (Applause.)

And I'm going to be especially nice to Holly because her husband commands the Air Force District of Washington.  So he not only keeps the skies of Washington safe, but he's responsible for when my husband comes back on Air Force One.  (Laughter.)  So Holly, you and me, we've got to get together -- (laughter) -- and get this thing worked out. 

But it's really an honor to be here with all of you.   I also want to thank Elizabeth Biddle for the invocation, as well as the beautiful rendition of the national anthem.  I want to thank all of you at JAFOWL, the committee, for this, you know, just wonderful invitation and for bringing us all together.

As we saw earlier, doing the medley, which you all got really fired up about, I like that -- (laughter) -- we see that Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard -- Active, Guard and Reserve –- we all are one force and we're all one family.  And you always feel it when you're in a room full of wonderful spouses.

And it's also great to see so many familiar faces, people that I've worked with over the course of the year -- Becky, Deborah, Mary, Sandee and others, all the wives of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- women who do so much for our military families and who I'm very proud to call my friends.

In fact, we just had a few of you guys over for dinner last week.  We had the Joint Chiefs, the combatant commanders and their spouses over for dinner a few weeks ago at the White House.  And it was a wonderful evening, very inspiring, because we shared the evening with several wounded warriors.  So it was wonderful to have you at my home, and I'm happy that we're switching the tables today.

Now, I know this is the Joint Armed Forces Officers' Wives' Club, but today I want to start by thanking you, not simply because of who you're married to, but because of what you do every day, because of the spirit of service that's defined your entire lives. 

You all are truly leaders in your own right.  And I don't know if you hear that enough, but it's real.  You are the vital link between your husbands and the troops they command, making sure their needs and those of their families are heard and met.  You're often that mom away from home, the person that other military wives go to for advice and support.  And it's always amazing because you do all of this for other families even as your own families serve.  For that alone, you all deserve this nation's unending gratitude.

But, you not only provide support to your husbands and to other families.  Many of you have also watched your own sons and daughters put on the uniform and go into harm's way.  And you've experienced all the emotions that come with that -- all the worries, all the anxieties, but also that incredible pride. 

So I want to particularly thank all of the Blue Star moms who are here today, and I'd like to have you all stand.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  

And I also want to salute another remarkable group of women who I know here today -- the women, who for nearly 40 years, have made sure that no American is ever buried alone at Arlington National Cemetery.  Please join me in thanking the Arlington Ladies.  Please stand, ladies.  (Applause.)

And finally, some of you not only married someone in uniform, but we sometimes don't remember that many of you also wore a uniform yourself.  You volunteered, you served, you defended our freedoms.  So, please, would all the women who served in the armed forces please stand and be recognized.  Yay!  (Applause.)  To all of you, thank you.  Thank you for your service to this country.

So the President and I, as you've heard, and our daughters, we've been in the White House for a year now.  (Laughter.)  It's been a year.  As a mom, I often say my priority this year has really been the girls -- making sure that they make this transition smoothly -- as smoothly as possible.  I mean, you think about it, these little girls, they've had to get adjusted to a new city, a new house -- it's a nice house, but it's still a new house -- (laughter) -- to a new school and new friends.

And so when people ask me what I'm most proud of this first year, I usually give them two responses.  I usually say, first, as a mother I am most proud that our two girls have made that adjustment and they've built a new life here and are happy and healthy, and as I say, as normal as they could possibly be under these circumstances.  I joke that I still recognize them.  (Laughter.)  So that's a good thing.

Then the other response is as First Lady.  And I tell people that at the top of the list of priorities that I've had over this year, it's been the time that I have spent highlighting the service of our incredible military families.

And that's what I want to talk about today with you.  I want to talk about what you do for America and also what America needs to do for all of you.

From day one, this has been a mission of mine, along with the Vice President's wife, Dr. Jill Biden -- my dear, dear friend and a Blue Star mom herself -- who has been a tireless advocate in support of our extraordinary National Guard and Reserve members and their families.  Jill and I have been working hard on this.  One of the first things that we wanted to do was to first listen and learn.

So with many of you we had a series of roundtable discussions -- thank you all -- with our military spouses.  We met with Deborah and Sandee and other wives of the Joint Chiefs to get their advice and guidance on how to develop our initiatives, and that was incredibly helpful.  We also met with the senior enlisted advisors' wives to discuss what's working in the ranks and what also could be improved.

These conversations gave Jill and I just really critical guidance and insight for what would be our subsequent visits to bases and military communities around the country. 

And as I think back on all the incredible experiences of this past year -- and we have had many -- I've met the Queen, the Pope -- we've done a lot -- (laughter) -- I have to say that those visits to the military bases have been one of my greatest privileges as First Lady, truly.  Through these interactions that we've had, I've gained an even greater level of respect and gratitude for our troops and their amazing families.  It is a sight to see. 

I remember visiting the soldiers and their families at Fort Bragg, one of my first visits with Charlene Austin -- and we were just talking about that.  She hosted me for my first visits.  And there I saw firsthand the toll that these wars have taken on these soldiers who have carried so much of the burden of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I will never forget the families that the President and I met at Fort Hood after suffering such a horrible tragedy.  They showed us incredible strength -- the strength that binds Army families together.  I remember the sailors and their families at Norfolk, and what a thrill it was for me to share their excitement as we welcomed home the crew of the aircraft carrier, the USS Eisenhower, and the hospital ship Comfort.  They were coming back from treating patients and delivering health care and humanitarian assistance across the Americas, including Haiti. 

And as we all know, only after a few short months at home, the Comfort is back in Haiti, along with many other branches of our military, delivering aid with their civilian counterparts, helping the Haitian people, and all the while showing the very best of America and making us all so proud.

I remember visiting the airmen and women and their families at Eglin Air Force Base where some of the pilots and crew had just returned from Iraq; it was their sixth deployment in as many years. 

I think of the Coast Guardsmen and women who will serve aboard the new cutter that I am proud to sponsor, the Stratton, which honors Commander Dorothy Stratton, who led the SPARS during World War II.  (Applause.) 

And I can never forget our Marines, who are a part of our daily lives at the White House in a very special way.  And we see them display the same professionalism in our home every single day that defines their service around the world.  They are a joy to have in our lives.

And then we can never forget our wounded warriors -- the inspirational men and women that the President and I have welcomed to the White House and those we have met all around the country. 

Unfortunately for too many of them, the battle continues even after they come home.  They are the servicemen that I met at a VA hospital in the Bronx, working so hard to get back on their feet, and in some cases to get back to their units.  That's all they cared about. 

They're the patriots like the young Navy SEAL who joined us at the Joint Chiefs dinner last week at the White House.  This young man attended the dinner with his little sister.  I got to sit next to them.  She was a nurse who moved to Washington to care for her brother -- left her career behind.  And he explained to me how he stepped on an IED in Afghanistan and lost both of his legs.  Then just four months later he finished a half-marathon.  The courage -- yes -- (applause) -- the courage and the optimism of both he and his sister was breathtaking.  Their continued love of life and of country was something to behold. 

And I will always remember all of the wives and husbands, all the moms and the dads that the President and I have met at Arlington on Memorial Day and Veterans Day and all around the country -- spouses who've lost their best friend in the world; parents who have laid their children to rest. 

And as a wife, as a mother, I simply cannot imagine the depths of their pain and loss.  Yet every time I meet them, they show a strength and a resolve that always leaves me in awe.  Their sacrifice reminds us all that our men and women in uniform, as well as their families, are our nation's greatest military asset. 

So at every one of these visits that I've had, collecting these memories, my goal has been simple.  First, to listen.  Listen to those voices, listen to those concerns, listen to those needs. 

The second goal is to share what I've heard with a team of dedicated leaders who also care deeply about military families -- from the President, the Vice President, to Secretary Gates, to Admiral Mullen, to leaders down the chain of command.  These people care deeply. 

And finally, my goal has been to work hard to ensure that the concerns and needs that we hear actually lead to some real change coming out of Washington, because the quality of the lives of our military and their families means a great deal, because in the history of our all-volunteer force, we have never asked so much of so few. 

We've seen the huge burden of eight years of war on our troops -- tour after tour, year after year, missing out on moments that every parent treasures:  a baby's first steps, the first words, the day the training wheel comes off the bike, birthdays, anniversaries. 

We've seen the sacrifices of families on the home front -- spouses back home left to do the parenting of two, juggling play dates and ballet recitals and practices; keeping the household together all on their own; holding down jobs -- all the while trying to hide their own fear and worries when the kids look up and ask when mommy or daddy are coming home.

And somehow despite everything that's going on in your lives, military families still find the time to serve others -- coaching Little League, running the PTA, making Christmas special for kids with Toys for Tots, volunteering at churches and hospitals, mentoring young people, being role models in your own right.  You just keep on serving -- keep on serving your communities, keep on serving this country. 

And all of you, our troops and families, you do your duty and you do it without complaint.  No complaint here, right?  (Laughter.)  You give your all and ask very little in return, only that we back you up so our troops can do their job.

That's why my husband and his administration have worked to do right by our armed forces and their families; to be there for you like you have been there for us; to lighten your load as you have lightened all of ours.

Because of your willingness to advocate for change, all of you here, some really important progress has been made in just one year.  Deborah -- Deborah Mullen -- has been telling me ever since we met that just like our troops, our spouses also need the very best support and counseling.  Many of you share the need to reduce the stress of long deployments and to give our troops more time home between deployments. 

So this is what happened.  My husband heard you, and moved to increase the size of the military.  That's why his first budget included pay raises and funding for better military housing and more money for child care, in addition to more funds for career development, counseling and support for spouses.

Last year's budget also included money to improve care and treatment for our wounded warriors, especially those with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.

And the budget increased major -- it made major increases in funding for veterans' health care, including women veterans, plus the largest increase in the VA budget in more than 30 years. 

And something that I'm especially proud of that we just talked about at the table, the President worked with the Congress to extend the Family and Medical Leave Act to all our military families and to caregivers of our wounded warriors, because just like other Americans, our military spouses need to care for their loved ones without fear of losing their jobs.  This commitment to our forces and their families continues today.

And I'm happy to announce that the President's 2011 budget that he'll introduce next week will further increase funding for military family support programs by more than 3 percent to a record $8.8 billion.  And this increase is going to include funds for counseling and support for spouses and families, including our Guard and Reserve families, to the tune of $1.9 billion.  It includes $1.3 billion to reduce shortages in military child care and to keep our military child care among the best this country has to offer -- that's something that I got to see -- because we can't forget that military kids also serve in their own special way.  We can't forget these kids.

They're just like any other child in this country, except for the fact that their lives are turned upside down every time their mom or dad has to go halfway around the country, risking their lives so that all our children can enjoy the freedoms of this democracy.

It is so incredibly hard for these kids.  As a result, they often experience more anxiety; they can have a harder time focusing at school; they can have a higher risk of depression.  So we can never forget just how much these wars affect our military kids, and we all have an obligation to ensure that these kids have the support they need at home and at school.

So I'm proud to announce that this year's budget will include more money for youth programs for military kids.  And then, at the direction of Secretary Gates, the budget will also include funds to improve and build new DOD schools, from Georgia to Germany.  And this is all part of a major effort -- (applause) -- this is part of a major effort over the next five years to renovate or replace more than half of our DOD schools, which will benefit tens of thousands of children from military families.

In response to one of the top concerns expressed by military spouses, this year's budget will also include $84 million for spousal career development, including tuition assistance and federal internship programs.  Yay.  (Applause.) 

And I want to thank all the Coast Guard spouses who spoke to me about housing challenges -- yes.  (Laughter.)  As a result, the President's budget will include $14 million in new funding for quality Coast Guard housing.  And I know that's a big one.  (Applause.)

These are all major investments, and they are the result of military families speaking up and being heard.  And they are part of a larger ongoing commitment to care for our troops and their families even after the fighting ends.

But in addition to good government and funding, supporting our troops and their families requires active citizens.  That's why I've made it a priority to keep asking all Americans to join the cause of supporting our military families.  And that's why last Veterans Day, Jill and I helped launch Mission Serve -- a national network that brings civilian and military service groups together to help support our troops and families.  But this network also encourages communities to tap that incredible spirit of service of our military families, as well as the talents of our veterans.

We're asking Americans to engage and support military families any way they can, from business owners helping veterans and military spouses find a job or develop skills, to professionals in areas such as mental health and law offering their services pro bono, to ordinary folks out there doing simple things like driving a carpool or offering to babysit or making a home-cooked meal for a military family in their own community.  Our men and women in uniform and their families sacrifice for us, every single one of us, so every single one of us can do something in return, even if it's something as simple as saying thank you.

Last spring, I had the opportunity to thank one of those military families during a visit to the White House.  Staff Sergeant Robert Henline was deployed to Baghdad with the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg when a massive explosion destroyed his Humvee, and he was the sole survivor and suffered terrible burns over more than a third of his body.  Well, back at Fort Bragg, his wife Connie had to leave their three kids with family and she made the trip to a hospital in Texas to care for her husband.

So day after day and month after month, Connie stayed by his bedside.  She fed him and she tended to his wounds, helped him through dozens of painful surgeries.  And that's one story, part of the story, because back at home, their oldest daughter, Brittany, helped to hold the family together.  And overnight, she went from being a 15-year-old teenager to a mom for her younger brother and sister.  She had to get her driver's license early so she could run errands and do the shopping.  She made the meals, she did the laundry, she helped with homework -- yes, a 15-year-old.  And at night, her younger siblings would crawl into Brittany's bed and seek the security that they would get from their mother.

So when Operation Homefront named Brittany their Military Child of the Year, the President and I were honored to welcome the whole Henline family to the White House:  the father who had endured such horrible injuries, the wife who never left his bedside, and Brittany, the daughter who grew up faster than she had ever planned.

And when a reporter asked Brittany how a teenager could take on so much responsibility, she did what you all do.  She didn't speak of herself, but she spoke of her younger brother and sister.  And she said simply, "They needed me, and my priorities changed.  My family came first."

So you see, that is the strength and the spirit and courage that our military families display every day.  You put your own priorities aside, you take care of one another, and you take care of this nation.  So as First Lady, I cannot thank you all enough for that sacrifice, and I promise you that I will use every ounce of my energy and being to make sure that America always takes care of you.

So thank you, thank you so much.  Thank you for having me here, and have some wine.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-first-lady-joint-armed-forces-officers-wives-luncheon

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From the Department of Homeland Security

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A "Snapshot" from Science and Technology

Making Progress on Enhancing Aviation Security

Last week, I was in Toledo, Spain, and Geneva, Switzerland, to meet with our European counterparts and aviation industry leaders on one of the Department of Homeland Security's major priorities: working with our international partners to strengthen aviation security standards following the attempted terrorist attack against Northwest Flight 253 on December 25th.

The attempted attack underscores that boarding a plane in one airport can give you access to almost any airport in the world. This means that we need a truly global approach to aviation security. While the failed bombing attempt took place on a U.S. bound flight, it involved at least four airports on three continents, and threatened the lives of citizens from 17 countries.

In Toledo, I found broad consensus on this point and a clear sense of urgency to take immediate action to strengthen security measures. Specifically, my European counterparts and I signed a joint declaration affirming our collective commitment to strengthening information sharing and passenger vetting, deploying additional proven security technologies, and bolstering international aviation security standards.

I found a similarly strong consensus in Geneva where I met with the leaders of the airlines that are part of the International Air Transport Association — which represents approximately 230 airlines and more than 90 percent of the world's air traffic. We agreed that government and the private sector must work collaboratively both to develop enhanced international security standards and–most importantly — to effectively implement them.

These meetings were the first in a series to bring about international agreement on stronger aviation security standards and procedures. Over the next few months, the International Civil Aviation Organization is facilitating several regional aviation security meetings where we will build on the progress we made in Toledo and Geneva.

Together, we can and will strengthen an international aviation system that, for half a century, has served as an extraordinary engine for progress and prosperity for the United States and around the world.

Janet Napolitano

http://www.dhs.gov/journal/leadership/2010/01/making-progress-on-enhancing-aviation.html

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From the Department of Justice

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Six Members of MS-13 Gang Convicted of Racketeering, Murder, Drug and Firearms Charges

Six members of a racketeering enterprise, called La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, were convicted today by a jury in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C., of criminal charges that include racketeering, murder, attempted murder, assault, cocaine trafficking and numerous related federal firearms offenses, the Department of Justice announced. The jury convicted the defendants after two weeks of trial and five hours of deliberations. The six defendants were members and leaders of the MS-13 gang, a national and international criminal enterprise, who were originally charged along with 20 additional defendants in the first indictment.

"Today, law and justice have prevailed. As we saw from this trial, the MS-13 gang is violent and dangerous. It brings lawlessness and fear into far too many communities in this country and across our borders. But with the kind of international cooperation demonstrated by this case, we will continue to identify, prosecute, and bring to justice the leaders and organizers of this violent gang," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. "Each and every day, the Criminal Division's Gang Unit and U.S. Attorneys' Offices throughout the United States are working to take violent offenders off the streets and out of our neighborhoods."

U.S. Attorney Edward R. Ryan for the Western District of North Carolina said of today's verdict, "Our community is a wonderful place to live, raise a family and seek a peaceful and prosperous life. These defendants and their gang clearly had criminal designs to rule this community through fear and violence for their own unjust benefit. A coalition of federal, state, local and international law enforcement joined together to meet this threat. We are very pleased with the victory that today's verdict represents."

"Gangs are poisonous to our communities–they feed on weakness and force people to live in fear. These convictions prove gang members can't operate in hiding and escape getting caught," said Owen D. Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Charlotte Division. "The FBI Safe Streets Gang Task Force will not stop dismantling the hierarchy of MS-13, even if they try to rebuild. We can't afford to let them eat away at our society–and we won't let them."

ATF Special Agent in Charge, Zebedee T. Graham, stated, "ATF simply will not tolerate violent crime. The message with this verdict is clear: if you use a gun to further your criminal activity or terrorize our communities, we will go after you with all of our resources and law enforcement partners."

Julio Cesar Rosales Lopez, 24, of Guilford County, N.C.; and, Juan Gilberto Villalobos, 42; Elvin Pastor Fernandez Gradis, 34; Carlos Roberto Figeroa-Pineda, 26; Johnny Elias Gonzalez, 21; and Santos Anibal Caballero Fernandez, 24, all of Charlotte, were all convicted of conspiring to engage in a racketeering enterprise in the Western District of North Carolina, El Salvador and elsewhere, beginning at least in January 2003 and continuing through July 27, 2009. The evidence at trial proved that the MS-13 enterprise planned and committed various criminal acts, including robbery and extortion, obstruction of justice, tampering with witnesses, conspiring to distribute and possessing cocaine and marijuana, distributing and possessing with intent to distribute cocaine, illegally using communication facilities and conspiring to commit murder. Testimony and evidence introduced during the trial showed that the enterprise also communicated with its leadership in El Salvador, protected its territory, enforced discipline among members, and collected debts through a pattern of racketeering activities that included the murders of four people, attempted murder, assaults and threats of violence.

Fernandez-Gradis was convicted of two charges involving the shooting and killing of Ulisses Mayo-De La Torre in South Charlotte, N.C., on April 12, 2008. Evidence at trial showed that Fernandez-Gradis killed Mayo-De La Torre over a red shirt worn by a relative of the victim. Eyewitnesses to the murder testified that there were other incidents involving the defendant and people wearing red that day, before the murder. Caballero Fernandez, who the evidence at trial showed was present at the shooting, was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to the murder. The evidence at trial showed that Caballero Fernandez helped Fernandez-Gradis escape and took the murder weapon the next day. Caballero Fernandez was found with the murder weapon approximately one month after the murder. Both Fernandez-Gradis and Caballero Fernandez were also convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, as well as other charges.

Rosales Lopez, one of the gang's leaders whom the evidence showed was sent by MS-13 leaders in El Salvador to run what members called "The Program" in the Charlotte area, was convicted of robbing a victim whom he suspected of dealing drugs in a Charlotte nightclub controlled by MS-13. Rosales Lopez was also convicted of being an accessory after the fact to a double homicide perpetrated by another MS-13 member in a restaurant in Greensboro, N.C., in 2007. In addition, Rosales Lopez was convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion.

Villalobos, whom the evidence at trial showed was the keeper of some of the gang's guns, was convicted of a variety of drug and gun crimes in connection with his MS-13 membership, as well as conspiracy to commit extortion. The evidence at trial showed that Villalobos "controlled" the Mi Cabana and El Vaquero nightclubs in Charlotte on behalf of MS-13.

Gonzalez was convicted of a RICO conspiracy. In connection with that charge, the jury found that Gonzalez participated in what the evidence at trial showed was a robbery-murder of Yonni Alexander Morales Maradiaga, who was shot and killed by another MS-13 member during the robbery in East Charlotte in early August 2005. Finally, Figueroa Pineda was convicted of a RICO conspiracy, drug conspiracy, two different counts of possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possessing a gun during one of those drug crimes.

The defendants face a variety of possible sentences based on their convictions, including for some, life in prison. The defendants have been in federal custody since their arrests on the original indictment in June 2008.

Evidence presented at trial also showed that the long-term investigation of the four murders was initiated by the FBI's "Safe Streets" Gang Task Force from North Carolina when a witness came forward and explained how the killings were part of the violent operation of a single MS-13 cell operating out of the Charlotte area. The Task Force is composed of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, and the Gastonia, N.C., Police Department. The FBI's MS-13 National Gang Task Force played a significant role in coordinating the international aspects of the investigation, and additional critical assistance was provided by the Transnational Anti-Gang (TAG) Center. Additional law enforcement investigative support was provided by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, as well as the Greensboro Police Department and the Durham Police Department. Substantial assistance has been afforded by the U.S. Marshals Service for the Western District of North Carolina, especially with regard to security during the two-week jury trial. The investigation of the wide-sweeping enterprise led to the prosecution of 26 alleged MS-13 members. In addition to the six defendants convicted today, 19 other co-defendants have pleaded guilty to the racketeering charges in the indictment. One defendant remains in custody in El Salvador. No sentencing dates have been set by the court at this time.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Zolot, Jill Rose and Adam Morris from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina, and Trial Attorney Sam Nazzaro from the Criminal Division's Gang Unit.

Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umana, also known as "Wizard," 25, currently awaits trial for the murder of Ruben Garcia Salinas on Dec. 8, 2007, in Guilford County, on the charge of aid of the enterprise engaged in racketeering activity. The capital trial is currently set for April 2010 in U.S. District Court in Charlotte.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/January/10-crm-087.html

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From ICE

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Secure Communities launched in McLennan County, Texas

McLennan County now part of the ICE Secure Communities program

WACO, Texas - Law enforcement agencies in McLennan County on Tuesday came online to benefit from an initiative developed by the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) that modernizes the process used to accurately identify and remove dangerous criminal aliens from the community.

The initiative, Secure Communities, is administered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Secure Communities enables ICE to determine whether an individual arrested by a participating state or local law enforcement agency is a dangerous criminal alien and take the appropriate action to remove the individual from the community.

The Secure Communities biometric identification technology is now accessible to the local law enforcement agencies in McLennan County that use electronic booking machines. Formerly as part of the booking process, local arrestees' fingerprints were taken and checked for criminal history information against the DOJ biometric system maintained by the FBI. With the implementation of Secure Communities, that fingerprint information will now be simultaneously checked against both the FBI criminal history records and the biometrics-based immigration records maintained by the DHS.

If any fingerprints match those of someone in DHS's biometric system, the new automated process notifies ICE, enabling the agency to take appropriate action to ensure dangerous criminal aliens are not released back into communities. Top priority is given to individuals who pose the greatest threat to public safety, such as those with prior convictions for major drug offenses, murder, rape, robbery and kidnapping.

"Secure Communities provides local law enforcement with an effective tool to identify dangerous criminal aliens," said Acting Secure Communities Executive Director Marc Rapp. "Enhancing public safety is at the core of ICE's mission. Our goal with Secure Communities is to use information sharing to prevent criminal aliens from being released back into the community, with little or no additional burden on our law enforcement partners."

With the expansion of Secure Communities to McLennan County, there are now 14 south Texas counties participating in the initiative, including Hidalgo, Bexar and Travis counties. Across the country, Secure Communities is being used by 116 jurisdictions in 16 states. By next year, ICE expects Secure Communities to have a presence in every state, with nationwide coverage anticipated by 2013.

"The Secure Communities Program is a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week resource that we now have to identify and keep dangerous criminals in jail and off the streets," said McLennan County Sheriff Larry Lynch.

Since its inception in October 2008, Secure Communities has identified more than 11,000 aliens charged or convicted with Level 1 crimes, such as murder, rape and kidnapping- 1,900 of whom have already been removed from the United States- and more than 100,000 aliens convicted of Level 2 and 3 crimes, including burglary and serious property crimes.

Secure Communities is part of DHS's comprehensive plan to distribute technology that links local law enforcement agencies to both FBI and DHS biometric systems. DHS's US VISIT Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) holds biometrics-based immigration records, while the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) contains biometrics-based criminal records.

"US VISIT is proud to support ICE, helping provide decision makers with comprehensive, reliable information when and where they need it," said US VISIT Director Robert Mocny. "By enhancing the interoperability of DHS's and the FBI's biometric systems, we are able to give federal, state and local decision makers information that helps them better protect our communities and our nation."

"Under this plan, ICE will be utilizing FBI system enhancements that allow improved information sharing at the state and local law enforcement level based on positive identification of incarcerated criminal aliens," said Daniel D. Roberts, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division. "Additionally, ICE and the FBI are working together to take advantage of the strong relationships already forged between the FBI and state and local law enforcement necessary to assist ICE in achieving its goals."

For more information, visit the Secure Communities page.

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1001/100126waco.htm

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3 sexual predators arrested by ICE

LAKE PROVIDENCE, La. - Three foreign nationals, convicted of simple kidnapping and indecent behavior with a juvenile, were arrested at the Riverbend Detention Center on Jan. 22 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Office of Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) officers.

Manuel Elvir-Rodriguez, 21, and Elvis J. Correa, 22, both citizens of Honduras, and Elder Guzman-Reyes, a 27-year-old citizen of Mexico, were encountered by DRO officers while conducting Criminal Alien Program (CAP) screening at the Louisiana Department of Corrections.

Further investigation revealed that the three individuals were in the United States illegally.

Their unlawful status in the United States and their criminal convictions make them subject to removal from the United States. All three men were taken into ICE custody and will be detained pending arrangements for their removal from the United States.

Manuel Elvir-Rodriguez and Elder Guzman-Reyes illegally entered the United States on an unknown date and unspecified place.

Elvis J. Correa was first encountered on May 7, 2006, by the U.S. Border Patrol and removed from the United States to Honduras. He illegally reentered the United States at an unspecified location on an unknown date and remained at large.

On Jan. 18, 2009, all three men were arrested for second-degree kidnapping and molestation of a juvenile in Jefferson Parish, La. On Oct. 1, 2009, they entered a guilty plea to the criminal offenses of simple kidnapping and indecent behavior with a juvenile. All were sentenced to one year in prison.

"Too many children are victimized by predators that target the most vulnerable among us - our children," said Philip Miller, DRO field office director for New Orleans. "ICE is committed to apprehending and presenting for prosecution cases involving those who abuse our children and endanger their lives and well-being. We will continue working with federal, state and local agencies to ensure that those who try to hurt children are brought to justice."

This case was part of Operation Predator, which is a nationwide ICE initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders, and child sex traffickers.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE. This hotline is staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com .

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1001/100126lakeprovidence.htm

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From the FBI

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CORPORATE CORRUPTION
A Historic Takedown

01/26/10

Last week, 22 business executives and employees were arrested and charged with attempting to win a contract to sell a variety of military and law enforcement products—everything from body armor and bullet-proof vests to M4 carbine rifles, tear gas grenades, and armored vehicles—by bribing overseas officials.

It's one of many cases under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 that the FBI has worked in recent years, in close cooperation with the Department of Justice. But this particular one is significant for two reasons. First, it's the single largest investigation and prosecution in the history of the legislation. Second, it's the first extensive use of an undercover operation in such a case.

How sweeping was the case? Among those arrested were business owners, presidents, and CEOs from companies based in Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—as well as in Israel and the U.K. The arrests stemmed from the FBI undercover operation that focused on allegations of foreign bribery in the military and law enforcement products industry. During the operation, one of our investigators posed as a “sales agent” representing the defense minister of an African nation (that country was not actually involved, so it was unnamed in the indictment). A business associate of the subjects initially introduced them to the sales agent. The agent said he had been tasked with obtaining various defense-related articles for that nation's presidential guard and was interested in doing business with them…for a price.

In the indictment, the defendants allegedly agreed to pay a 20 percent commission to win a portion of a $15 million deal to outfit the presidential guard…with the understanding that 10 percent of that money would go directly to the defense minister and the other 10 percent would go to the sales agent (our agent) making the deal.

From there, the ruse played out with all the intrigue of a spy novel. According to the indictment, the subjects in the case met with our undercover agent in luxury hotels and fancy restaurants in the nation's capital and elsewhere. They e-mailed inflated price quotes to our agent and wired bribe money to his bank account. They drafted and mailed corrupt purchase agreements. They even sent their products for shipment to the African nation.  

And on January 18, 2010—on the eve of an industry convention in Las Vegas to which 21 of our subjects had traveled—we arrested them. The 22nd arrest was made the same day in Miami. 

The FBI and its partners hope that this case will not only help weed out corruption in the military and law enforcement products industry—which hits close to home for us—but will also give pause to those who are considering such crimes in the future. You never know, that individual willing to take a bribe may really be an undercover FBI agent.

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan10/fcpa_012610.html

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From the ATF

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Utah ATF and Project Safe Neighborhoods Partners Net 170 Federal Gun Crime Defendents in 2009

SALT LAKE CITY — Federal firearms charges ranging from possession of an illegal machine gun to using a gun in furtherance of violent or drug trafficking crimes were filed against 170 individuals in Utah during 2009.

Gun cases are investigated and prosecuted as a part of Utah Project Safe Neighborhoods ( PSN ), a coordinated initiative targeting gun and gang violence in Utah communities. The initiative, which includes federal, state, and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors, has been active in Utah for about 10 years. Utah has used Department of Justice funding to support a multi-jurisdictional task force housed at the ATF Field Office in Salt Lake City and in the U.S. Attorney's Office. Jurisdictions around the state have worked with the special agents and task force officers to refer cases for investigation and prosecution.

The Utah PSN Task Force received national recognition for its work on several occasions, including awards recognizing the success of its partnerships in Utah, outstanding contributions by police officers and local prosecutors working with the task force, and media outreach efforts.

By way of comparison, 162 individuals were indicted in 2008, 204 in 2007, and 221 in 2006. Twelve indictments have been returned so far in 2010. While all violations of federal firearms laws are screened for prosecution, in recent years PSN officers and prosecutors have targeted firearms cases related to domestic violence, individuals with histories of violent crime arrests who were found in possession of a firearm, and individuals who make false statements on forms when purchasing firearm — “lie and buy” cases.

Of the 170 cases referred for prosecution last year, 143 targeted defendants were prohibited or restricted under federal law from possessing firearms. Included in the 143 are 92 individuals who had previous felony convictions; 35 individuals who were in the country illegally; nine individuals who were subject to a protective order or had previous domestic violence-related convictions; five who were addicted to drugs; one who was a fugitive; and one who was under indictment on another matter. (Federal law restricts individuals with felony convictions, drug addiction, domestic violence convictions, those subject to protective orders, those in the country illegally, or individuals under indictment from possessing firearms.)

Other PSN cases filed in 2009 include 35 defendants charged with possessing a firearm during the commission of violent or drug trafficking crimes. Eighteen defendants were charged with possession of stolen guns. Another 11 defendants were charged with possessing an unregistered firearm and two defendants were charged with stealing guns from a federal firearms licensee. Two defendants were charged with possessing a gun with an obliterated serial number. Individuals also were charged with possessing an illegal machine gun, transferring a gun to a juvenile and, lying on ATF forms to buy a gun. (Individual numbers add up to more than 170, because some individuals were charged with more than one count.)

The goal of Utah Project Safe Neighborhoods is straightforward and clear — to disrupt gun violence strategically and comprehensively, using all available enforcement and prosecution tools and uniting federal, state and local efforts. We recognize that guns in the hands of convicted felons, individuals addicted to drugs or those engaged in violent crimes or drug trafficking offenses is a recipe for disaster in our communities, Carlie Christensen, Acting U.S. Attorney for Utah, said today. Project Safe Neighborhoods continues to be successful in Utah because of the consistently high level of cooperation between our partners.

Melvin King, acting special agent in charge of ATF 's Denver Field Division, which includes Utah, said, Today, more than ever, policing is a team effort if we are going to bring violent crime under control in our communities. ATF is grateful for the support and commitment of the state and local police departments who are supplying investigators and continued support for the PSN initiative.

King also said it is important to understand that gun crime is not just a local or state issue. Criminals are passing guns from state to state and moving them into other countries, including Mexico and South America. Violent criminals like these are our highest priority, King said.

Examples of Informations/Indictments filed so far in 2010:

• David Tyrone Smith, 50, of Midvale, was charged in a two-count indictment returned Wednesday with retaliation against a federal official and possession of a firearm following a felony conviction. According to a complaint filed in the case, Smith was at the Social Security Administration office in Murray on Jan. 12, 2010, and became upset when he was advised that his disability claims had been denied. According to a complaint filed in the case, he made threats to shoot himself and others, including SSA employees or police officers. Smith ultimately left the SSA office. He was later arrested by Midvale police officers who found a .44 Taurus gun at Smith's home in Midvale. Smith, who has a previous felony conviction, is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
  
  
• Ira Jay Walker, 33, and Christy Maria Carson, 27, both of Orem, are charged in an indictment returned Jan. 13, 2010, with possession of a stolen firearm. Walker also faces a one count of possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. Both counts carry potential 10-year sentences. Walker and Carson came to law enforcement's attention in late November during an investigation of a stolen vehicle. The Orem Police Department officer investigating the case learned that a rifle was in the truck at the time of the theft. Information obtained during the course of the investigation led officers to Walker and Carson.
  
  
• Durango James Hart, 29, of Vernal, is charged in a one-count indictment with possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun. The charge carries a potential 10-year sentence. The charge against Hart stems from an investigation by the Uintah County Sheriff's Office and the Vernal City Police Department.
  
  
• Jose Manuel Ortiz-Huerta, 33, of St. George, Utah, is charged in a felony information with being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. The charge carries a potential 10-year sentence.

Defendants charged in indictments or felony informations are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty in court.

Additional PSN case examples

• Troy Richard Opfar, 33, of West Valley City, charged in a two-count indictment returned in October 2007 with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison (no parole) in July 2009 after pleading guilty to possessing two handguns. Opfar had previous convictions for possession of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, burglary, witness tampering, and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.
  
  
• Andre Mark Vasquez, 65, of Salt Lake City, who pleaded guilty in May 2009 to two counts of armed bank robbery, two counts of brandishing a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, two counts of bank robbery, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, was sentenced in August 2009 to 492 months in federal prison. Vasquez' sentence included 32 years for brandishing weapons during the bank robberies. Before one of the robberies — a May 23, 2008, robbery of TransWest Credit Union in Sandy — Vasquez created a distraction by calling police and reporting that he had seen an armed person entering a local high school. He then robbed the credit union.
  
  
• Jonathan William Rodgers, 22, of the Salt Lake City area was indicted in September 2009 on two firearms charges, possession of a firearm and ammunition following a felony conviction and possession of an unregistered shotgun. According to a complaint filed in the case, U.S. Marshals in Utah learned that two individuals who were wanted by Wyoming officials for escape were in Taylorsville, Utah. Rodgers was one of those individuals. Law enforcement officers found the truck the suspects were driving at an apartment complex. The truck was observed leaving the apartment complex and driving to a store at 4700 South and Redwood Road in Taylorsville. When the suspects started to leave the store parking lot, law enforcement officers attempted to stop them. According to the complaint, the driver of the truck attempted to ram a police car and a pursuit was initiated. The truck ended up running through a fence and into a ditch in the Murray area. Occupants of the truck fled but were later apprehended. Jonathan William Rodgers was one of the individuals in the truck. Inside of the truck, officers found a maroon duffle bag and a black back pack. A 12 gauge sawed off shotgun with four rounds in it was found in the maroon duffle bag. In the back pack, officers found three boxes of shotgun ammunition. They also found items belonging to Rodgers, including a wallet, jail booking paperwork, and a West Valley City citation for jaywalking. As a convicted felon, Rodgers is prohibited from possessing a firearm or any ammunition. Rodgers pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in October and was sentenced Jan. 12, 2010, to 33 months in federal prison.
  
  
• Richard Reynolds Hill, 55, of St. George, was charged in May 2009 with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and drug charges. He was arrested in May when officers from the St. George Police Department and the Washington County Drug Task Force served a search warrant at his home and he was found in possession of a Glock 9 millimeter pistol. Hill, who according to the complaint has multiple convictions, is prohibited from possessing a firearm. He pleaded guilty Nov. 2, 2009, to the firearms charge. Sentencing in the case is set for March 1, 2010. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison.

More information about the ATF , Project Safe Neighborhoods and its other programs is available at www.atf.gov .

http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/2010/01/012610-denv-atf-psn-partners-net-170-defendents.html

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