50 arrested in Riverside gang sweep

Thirty-four agencies target East Side Riva, which has wreaked havoc for 20 years in Riverside County and beyond.

By David Kelly

January 28, 2010

Reporting from Riverside

Hundreds of law enforcement officers took part in a massive sweep against the leadership of Riverside's most notorious gang Wednesday, making 50 arrests and confiscating armor-piercing bullets, assault rifles, knives and two caged rattlesnakes.

"The weapons you see are a small sample of what is out there on the street," said Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach, standing by a table displaying guns, machetes and bullets at a Riverside news conference. "The gangs don't run the streets, the citizens do."

Some 650 officers representing 34 agencies, including the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, took part in the raids, designed to decapitate East Side Riva, or ESR, a gang with a 20-year history of wreaking havoc in Riverside County and beyond.

The two leaders, Robert Zavala Carillo, 37, and Mark Alexander Gill, 35, managed to escape, authorities said.

The gang's territory sits between downtown and the edges of UC Riverside. According to the Riverside County district attorney's office, the gang has about 820 members and maintains long-standing ties with the Mexican Mafia, which protects ESR members in prison in exchange for "taxes" on the gang's illegal drug sales.

The gang is also accused of hate crimes against African Americans.

A gang-produced, profanity-laced CD was found during the sweep; on it, gang members rapped about being unfairly targeted by a 2007 gang injunction, then taunted the police to try to shut them down.

"We're still here and still standing tall. . . . The D.A. will never make us small," they rap.

Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco said the rattlesnakes were found in one of the targeted homes.

"I'm told one bite can kill you in about 20 minutes," he said, glancing at the coiled snakes.

Acting U.S. Atty. George Cardona said 19 of those charged face possible life sentences because of the volume of drugs, mostly methamphetamine, they sold.

"Operation Promise" began 15 months ago when Leach and Pacheco grew worried about the growing menace posed by the East Side Riva.

The operational name grew out of Pacheco's promise to residents of Riverside's gritty, often violent East Side to crack down on the gang.

"I'd say 99% of people there are decent, hardworking folks, but unfortunately, 1% are gang members," Pacheco said.

"We did damage today to the top leadership, the folks who sell the drugs."

Pacheco said the gang had engaged in a "race war" against blacks, both those in rival gangs and ordinary citizens.

"The Rivas started it and they have been going after African American males ever since," he said.

"We had a guy getting gas who was shot in the head only because of the color of his skin. A lot of innocent people have been killed," he said.

Pacheco has a history of launching massive, high-profile operations.

Last year he sent in Apache helicopters, armored cars and 700 law enforcement agents against 450 gang members in Desert Hot Springs.

The sweep was dubbed "Operation Falling Sun" and was the biggest such sweep in county history.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-gangs28-2010jan28,0,3570101,print.story

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

A modern tale of meatpacking and immigrants

Grand Island, Neb., has long been a revolving door of immigrants, from Vietnamese and Bosnians to Latinos and Sudanese. But with Somali Muslims came a whole new set of conflicts.

By Kate Linthicum

January 28, 2010

Reporting from Grand Island, Neb.

Hawa Farah was living in Minneapolis three years ago making $8 an hour at a bakery when her fiance, Hussein Hussein, got a call about good jobs that paid better.

So the couple, like many Somali immigrants who follow work around the country, headed 600 miles southwest to Nebraska, state slogan: "The Good Life."

They settled in Grand Island, a blue-collar railroad town on the flat Midwestern prairie. They got married and brightened their worn apartment with plastic flowers and colorful rugs. Hussein, 33, began working the early shift on the "kill" side of the local meatpacking plant. Farah, 24, took a job on the "fabrication" side, trimming fat from brisket.

The promise of better pay was true enough.

But the good life would prove elusive. The young couple didn't know the plant's history and what it would mean for them.

A magnet for immigrants

It was still dark when dozens of federal agents, guns drawn, swept into the gray, windowless buildings at Swift & Co. just before Christmas 2006.

They were Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents taking part in a six-state sting, and they had warrants to search for undocumented workers.

Like most of the nation's slaughterhouses, the Grand Island plant had always been a revolving door for immigrants.

Meatpacking is hard, dangerous work; the Department of Labor says it results in more injuries than any other trade. But it doesn't require workers to speak English, and in Grand Island it pays a starting wage of $12.25 an hour.

Ads placed in immigrant newspapers across the country had drawn war refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in the 1970s and from Croatia and Bosnia in the 1990s.

Most made some money and moved on.

But many Latino immigrants, who started arriving in large numbers in the 1980s, stayed. They launched Spanish-language radio programs, founded churches, set up taco trucks. And unlike earlier immigrants who were legal refugees recognized by the U.S. government, many Latinos had crossed the border illegally.

When immigration agents came to town in 2006, Latinos comprised up to 11% of Grand Island's 45,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

On the day of the raid, agents detained more than 200 of the plant's 2,500 workers. Another 200 Latinos from the evening shift, apparently fearful of deportation, promptly quit.

In town the raid triggered an eruption of resentment.

When Latinos marched in protest afterward, some townspeople lined the streets with a counter-demonstration, holding signs that read, "Go back to Mexico, wetbacks." The local newspaper was filled with venomous letters to the editor decrying Latino immigration.

"A lot of people don't like the Latinos, they just don't," said Jeff Fulton, a Grand Island native who has worked at the plant for 25 years. Latinos faced more discrimination than previous immigrants because they had put down roots, he said. One only had to drive down 4th Street, past La Solomera Guatemalan import store and El Tazumal Mexican restaurant, to see their influence.

"There has been more bigotry," Fulton said, "because there has just been more and more and more of them."

The emotions unleashed by the raid would soon find a new target -- Sudanese and Somalis attracted by the promise of work at the meatpacking plant.

The new immigrants, who had been granted refugee status because of strife in their homelands, posed new challenges to the status quo in Grand Island.

They were black, and some were Muslim.

A new kind of different

During each shift, at sundown, Farah asks her supervisor if she can put down her knives and go to the bathroom. Sometimes, if there are enough other trimmers to cover for her, the boss says yes.

Farah stands at the sink in the company locker room, away from the drone of the factory floor. She washes her hands, her face, her arms and her feet, turns northeast to face Mecca and begins to pray.

When the Somalis began arriving in 2007, supervisors learned that some of the more devout workers prayed five times a day, and that the sundown prayer fell before the plant's regularly scheduled 15-minute break. For the most part, they looked the other way.

That changed in 2008, during Ramadan, when virtually all the Muslim workers began leaving the assembly line en masse to pray. Even Muslims who are not particularly religious often make an effort to pray during the holy month.

Co-workers complained that they had to pick up the slack. Management told the Somalis they couldn't pray because the plant, one of the largest in the country, couldn't afford to stop the machines. Five hundred Muslim workers, infuriated, walked off the job.

Most came back after Swift & Co. agreed to accommodate them by changing break times.

But other workers protested that the Muslims had gotten preferential treatment, an idea fueled by a story published in a local Spanish-language newspaper that falsely claimed the Somalis had gotten a pay raise. Fights broke out in the lunch room. Hundreds of Latinos -- joined by the Sudanese, who are mostly Christian -- walked off the job.

Major conflict at the plant let up when Ramadan ended. But tensions in town mounted like never before.

At the Autumn Woods apartments on the southeast side of town, police were called several times a day to respond to stabbings, shootings and disputes.

A war was building between the Somalis, who lived on one side of the complex, and the Sudanese, who lived on the other side.

"It's chaotic anarchy," Police Chief Steve Lamken said recently.

In late August 2009, a Sudanese man was shot in the head at the apartment complex. Police arrested three Somalis in connection with the killing.Officer Robert Winton blamed the fighting on the Africans' violent homelands. "They're at war in their countries and they bring it here," he said.

Violent crimes in Grand Island have risen in the last two years and the community, surrounded by cornfields, now faces a gang problem.

Fidencio Sandoval and his wife, Herminda, two meatpacking workers who were born in Mexico but are now U.S. citizens, worry about the violence.

They moved here in 1997, bought a house on a quiet street lined with sycamore and maple trees, and paid it off 10 years later.

"When I first came I thought this is a nice, quiet town, this may be a nice place to retire," Fidencio said. "But the way it's going now, I'm not sure."

Mayor Margaret Hornady said she frequently heard complaints about the changes recent immigrants had wrought.

"People say, 'Mayor, close down Swift, kick 'em out of town. All of our problems would be gone,' " she said.

Hornady said she had been "unsettled" by the presence of Somali women wearing head scarves. "It is startling," she said. "It's not what we're used to."

Just weeks after what she now terms "the Ramadan fiasco," Hornady made comments in the local and national media that the town's Somali leaders found offensive. As a peace offering, she issued an open invitation to all Somali women to attend a luncheon at her City Hall office.

She bought roses, ordered cucumber sandwiches and brought in her mother's silver tea service. Twelve men and six women showed up. Hornady was offended.

The event proved to her that the Somalis think life in Grand Island "is not good enough," Hornady said. "Well, it's what we've got."

She said it would take time for Grand Island to adjust to its immigrants, and vice-versa.

Attempting to integrate

There have been some attempts to foster unity in town.

Several groups offer free English classes and the city-funded Multicultural Coalition -- headed by a Latino woman who once worked at the plant -- helps connect new immigrants with social services.

The school district, where 15 years ago 90% of students were white and today 50% are, has reached out to immigrants to get their children enrolled.

But some Somalis decided Grand Island was no longer the place for them. After the Ramadan dispute, hundreds left town. Many moved to Lexington, an hour away, where the Tyson chicken plant pays less but is known for being more accommodating to Muslims.

Hawa Farah and Hussein Hussein aren't sure if they'll leave.

Last year, Ramadan did not trigger major conflict at the Grand Island plant, in large part because the Somalis had made arrangements with management beforehand.

Still, Farah and Hussein say they are frustrated by how co-workers treat them.

"They humiliate us like we are children," Farah said.

Farah said she her husband must keep working in order to support their families in Africa. "When we came here, it was not to relax," she said.Meanwhile, the company, which has since changed its name to JBS USA, has been grasping for employees once again.

Early last year, a man in Cuba named Jose Viol got a call from a friend in Miami.

The friend said recruiters from a meatpacking plant in Nebraska were looking for laborers. They would pay for three days of work what Viol could make all year in Cuba.

So he and his girlfriend got on a boat, fled Cuba for Mexico and crossed into the United States at the Texas border. They were granted refugee status and made their way to Miami, where they met up with other Cubans heading for Grand Island.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-immigrant-nebraska28-2010jan28,0,2664082,print.story

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

State parole board rejects release of 'Onion Field' killer

The state parole board this evening rejected a bid for release by Gregory Powell, who was convicted in the 1963 slaying of Los Angeles Police Officer Ian Campbell near Bakersfield. The crime and its aftermath were the subject of Joseph Wambaugh's book "The Onion Field."

Powell, 75, had sought release 11 times since 1972, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the death penalty and his sentence was commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole. On Wednesday, parole officials decided Powell should remain behind bars. He will be eligible for another parole review in three years.

As part of the four-hour hearing, officials read a letter from Valerie Campbell Moniz, who was 3 when her father and his partner were kidnapped off a street in Hollywood and driven to a field south of Bakersfield. Moniz said Powell shot her father "with a cold and callous heart."

"I would like the members of this board to imagine being kidnapped and driving the route with the muzzle of a gun pressed up against your ribs," Moniz said. "At the conclusion of this two-hour horror ride, you are then forced out of the car and then coldly, calmly and willfully shot in the face just above the upper lip and below the nose."

Last week, the union representing Los Angeles police officers sent a letter to the board urging members to deny parole for Powell, saying he had "not yet paid his debt to society."

Campbell and his partner, Karl Hettinger, had stopped a car carrying Powell and accomplice Jimmy Lee Smith. Powell pulled a gun and disarmed Campbell, then forced Hettinger to give up his weapon too. The officers were forced into the car and driven off.

They were ordered out of the car and into the field near Bakersfield, where Campbell was shot. Hettinger began running through the field, escaped and summoned help.

Powell was captured a short time later driving back to Los Angeles. Smith was arrested the next day in a Bakersfield rooming house. Smith, who was convicted along with Powell, died in prison in 2007.

Moniz said the passage of time had not healed her wounds.

"There has not been one day that has passed that I have not thought about and dreamed about my dad," she said. "Growing up without him has been devastating, but what torments me is the manner in which my father died."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/state-parole-board-rejects-release-of-onion-field-killer.html

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

President Obama taking questions online for follow-up webcast next week

Following the start of President Obama 's State of the Union address Wednesday at 6 p.m. PST, you'll be able to go to a Google website and submit questions or shoot a YouTube video with your inquiry.

Obama will hold an online-only event next week from the White House to address the responses. The event, which doesn't currently have a date or time, can be streamed from the White House website and yes, the new iPhone app  too.

To collect text submissions, the White House is using the same platform , called Google Moderator, that it used for Obama's town hall meetings. It allows users to submit and vote on their favorite entries.

If we learned anything from the town halls, we can expect a bevy of stoners flocking to the Web to ask questions about legalizing marijuana .

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/01/obama-online-youtube-questions.html

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

Riverside police seek help in finding sexual assault suspect

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/

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

OPINION

Don't legalize marijuana

It's a drug that's easily abused, it poses health risks, and the potential benefits of taxing and regulating it are overstated.

By Skip Miller

January 28, 2010

The City Council's vote Tuesday to shut hundreds of so-called medical marijuana dispensaries across Los Angeles was a welcome move, but the larger battle over pot has just begun.

Across the country, lawmakers and residents of cash-strapped states are edging ever closer to legalizing -- and taxing -- marijuana. In California, the first state in the nation to pass a medical marijuana law, backers of an initiative to legalize the drug expect to gather enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot. And a Field Poll last year showed more than half of California voters would support such a move.

Two beliefs drive this push to make pot legal: that new tax revenue will stave off deeper budget cuts and that marijuana is a relatively benign drug. Neither is true.

Legalization almost certainly would bring with it additional substance abuse in the state, and the long-term public costs associated with that would vastly exceed the relatively modest amount of new revenue legal weed might bring in. Baby boomers who hazily recall their own experimentation with marijuana often are stunned to learn that the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol -- or THC, marijuana's primary psychoactive substance -- in domestic sinsemilla has quadrupled since the late 1970s.

According to Dr. Sheila Kar, clinical chief of cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (and a member of the D.A.R.E America board of directors) marijuana has serious short- and long-term health consequences. It has been shown to cause an immediate rise in the heartbeat by 20 to 30 beats per minute along with an increase in blood pressure, thus increasing the workload of the heart. Marijuana is an irritant to the lungs and contains proportionally more carcinogens than tobacco smoke. It is associated with increased incidence of cancer of the head and neck area and lungs. It works on the brain, causing short- and long-term memory loss and impairing judgment, and it affects the sensations of taste and smell. One of its more pernicious effects is that it reduces inhibitions and can lead a person under its influence to try even more harmful substances.

In other words, there's a reason the federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug with a high potential for abuse. It is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States, and more teens are in treatment for marijuana addiction than for alcohol or any other drug. Do we really want this habit-forming drug easier to get, particularly as the nation has made significant strides in reducing illegal drug use?

Between 1979 and 2007, the rate of illegal drug use fell by half. Programs such as D.A.R.E. taught schoolchildren the facts about drugs, alcohol and tobacco and bolstered their critical thinking and decision-making skills so they can do more than just say no. In conjunction with Penn State University, the new D.A.R.E. middle school curriculum has been vetted and proved effective at reducing drug use. In recent years, D.A.R.E. has added units on prescription and over-the-counter medications, abuse of which is growing among teens -- another reminder, along with abuse of alcohol, that just because something is legal, it doesn't necessarily reduce the risk of abuse.

And that abuse costs all of us. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, or CASA, at Columbia University estimated last year that substance abuse and addiction cost federal, state and local governments $467.7 billion in 2005. Break out federal spending on substance abuse and addiction as its own budget item and it would rank near the top with defense, Social Security and Medicare.

This is where supporters of legalization like to say that decriminalizing marijuana would free up law enforcement resources and provide a tax base to fund prevention and treatment. In fact, CASA estimates just 13% of the combined state and federal substance-abuse costs are attributable to the justice system -- a figure that also includes family court, driving under the influence and hard-core drug dealing. The bulk of the costs stem from direct healthcare expenses. Imagine what a dent we could make in reducing healthcare costs if we prevented more drug and alcohol abuse.

The California Board of Equalization estimates that taxing marijuana sales the way alcohol and cigarettes are taxed could add $1.34 billion a year to state coffers. But for every dollar in state and federal alcohol and tobacco taxes that is collected, CASA estimates government spends $8.95 to clean up the often tragic consequences of addiction, driving under the influence, domestic abuse or illness. That's right: A dollar coming in; $8.95 going out. Suddenly, that $1.34 billion doesn't seem like much, particularly when one considers that it comes with significantly wider access to a habit-forming drug that has been shown time and again to be a gateway to even more dangerous drugs.

Despite the gains of the past two decades, substance abuse remains a serious drag on the health, productivity and safety of our nation. There is a connection between marijuana and fiscal solvency, but supporters of legalization have it backward. Reducing, not expanding, marijuana use can save billions. It's time to clear the smoke.

Skip Miller is chairman of D.A.R.E. America, the top drug-abuse prevention and education program in the United States, and a partner in the Los Angeles law firm Miller Barondess.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-miller28-2010jan28,0,4637227,print.story

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

OPINION

Campaign finance ruling's likely impact overblown

The Supreme Court's decision striking down limits on corporate spending in election campaigns is unlikely to change the political situation on the ground.

By Stephen R. Weissman

January 28, 2010

Media coverage and commentary have vastly overstated the likely impact on federal election campaigns of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which ruled that corporations have the same right to free speech as individuals. It has also obscured the extent to which members of Congress from both parties had previously opened the door for corporate and union financing in federal campaigns.

As associate director for policy of the Campaign Finance Institute from 2002-09, I wrote a number of studies showing the rise of corporate and union spending, via tax-exempt organizations, in federal elections. My research found that this spending supported media ads and grass-roots mail, phone and other communications that tore down or boosted candidates without using explicit phrases such as "vote for" or "vote against."

Full disclosure of the sources of financing was legally required only for "527" political organizations, which were mostly pro-Democratic and frequently union-backed. In contrast, no one knew for sure who was providing how much to largely pro-Republican "501(c)" trade associations and advocacy groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Freedom's Watch.

A provision in the 2002 McCain-Feingold campaign finance law did prohibit the use of corporate and union funds in one important area: TV and radio ads mentioning candidates 60 days before an election and 30 days before a primary. But this section of the law was basically gutted by the high court's 2007 decision in the Wisconsin Right to Life case, and especially by the subsequent implementing regulations adopted by the Senate-appointed Federal Election Commission.

Thus, during the 2008 Minnesota Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was legally able to run an ad showing Democratic candidate Franken with duct tape over his mouth and this narration: "High taxes hurt. But it seems like every time Al Franken opens his mouth, he talks about raising taxes. This from a guy who was caught not paying his own taxes in 17 states. . . . Maybe he shouldn't open his mouth. . . . Tell Al Franken that high taxes aren't very funny [Franken's phone number flashes by]."

With last week's ruling, the justices granted corporations (and implicitly unions) a constitutional license to explicitly urge voters to support or oppose candidates in all communications, while interring the remains of the McCain-Feingold restrictions on ads.

Yet this decision is unlikely to change the political situation on the ground very much. Even before the Citizens United decision, business, labor and wealthy individuals (frequently major owners of corporations, such as Sheldon Adelson of the Las Vegas Sands or George Soros of Soros Fund Management) were already able to spend more than $400 million in the 2008 federal elections on communications with content similar to the Franken ad.

Studies by New York University's Brennan Center for Justice have shown that the candidates themselves do not bother much with media ads that actually say "vote for me" or "vote against her," even though they are legally able to use those terms. In the modern campaign era, such blatant appeals are largely, if not entirely, anachronistic. Perhaps corporate and union-financed "express advocacy" will increase somewhat, particularly in grass-roots communications aimed at already committed followers. But the overall size, nature and thrust of corporate and union communications in federal elections is unlikely to be affected by Citizens United.

Some election lawyers who work for candidates and parties have expressed fear that candidates will now "lose control" of their campaign messages to well-financed outside groups. But while there have been a few such cases, they are relatively rare. Candidates and groups draw from the same well of polling and the same web of political consultants. They all have an interest in opportunistically emphasizing whatever it takes to win.

Finally, it is curious to see some of the same Democratic members of Congress who fought -- on behalf of labor union allies -- legislative proposals to rein in corporate and union-financed 527 political organizations now denouncing the Citizens United decision, which essentially ratifies a status quo they worked to protect.

It is also revealing that we heard little from members of either party when the Federal Election Commission emasculated the McCain-Feingold 60/30-day ad restrictions. Nor was there congressional resistance when the bipartisan FEC adopted a weak public disclosure regulation for such ads, one that does not require their 501(c) nonprofit corporate sponsors, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or Health Care for America Now, to reveal their ultimate for-profit corporate, union and individual donors. Although the court last week upheld disclosure, this regulation still enables Citizens United to hide its donors.

If members of Congress are now serious about searching for new ways to limit the impact of corporate and union spending in elections and improving its disclosure, they should start by reexamining their own behavior.

Stephen R. Weissman, associate director for policy from 2002-09 at the Campaign Finance Institute, a research organization affiliated with George Washington University, writes about Congress and foreign policy.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-weissman28-2010jan28,0,5596140,print.story

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

From the Daily News

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

Haiti government gets 1 penny of U.S. quake aid dollar

Less than a penny of each dollar the U.S. is spending on earthquake relief in Haiti is going in the form of cash to the Haitian government, according to an Associated Press review of relief efforts.

Two weeks after President Obama announced an initial $100 million for Haiti earthquake relief, U.S. government spending on the disaster has nearly quadrupled to $379million, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced Wednesday. That's about $1.25 each from everyone in the United States.

Each American dollar roughly breaks down like this: 42 cents for disaster assistance, 33 cents for U.S. military aid, nine cents for food, nine cents to transport the food, five cents for paying Haitian survivors for recovery efforts, just under one cent to the Haitian government, and about half a cent to the Dominican Republic.

Relief experts say it would be a mistake to send too much direct cash to the Haitian government, which has a history of failure and corruption.

"I really believe Americans are the most generous people who ever lived, but they want accountability," said Timothy R. Knight, a former US AID assistant director who spent 25 years distributing disaster aid. "In this situation they're being very deliberate not to just throw money at the situation but to analyze based on a clear assessment and make sure that money goes to the best place possible."

The AP review of federal budget spreadsheets, procurement reports and contract databases shows the vast majority of U.S. funds going to established and tested providers including the U.N. World Food Program, the Pan American Health Organization and nonprofit groups such as Save The Children, which have sent in everything from the $3.4 million barge that cleared the port for aid deliveries to pinto beans at 40 cents a pound.

"We are trying to respond as quickly as we can to this catastrophe of biblical proportions by mustering all of the resources that the United States government can bring to bear, first on rescue leading into relief, which is where we are right now, and hopefully seamlessly into recovery," said Lewis Lucke, U.S. special coordinator for relief and reconstruction.

Major relief efforts were launched within hours of the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed at least 150,000, devastated the capital of Port-au-Prince and affected a third of its 9 million people. Behind each effort has been cash and contracts, airline tickets to be purchased and ocean freighters to be leased.

Of each U.S. taxpayer dollar, 42 cents funds US AID's disaster assistance - everything from $5,000 generators to $35 hygiene kits with soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste for a family of five.

Another 33 cents is going to the U.S. military, paying for security, search and rescue teams, and the Navy's hospital ship USNS Comfort.

Just under a dime has already been spent on food: 122 million pounds of pinto beans, black beans, rice, corn soy blend and vegetable oil. When purchased in bulk, the actual food prices are relatively low. Pinto beans, for example, cost the U.S. government 40 cents a pound when purchased in 5 million-pound batches last week.

Getting the food to Haitians - paying for freighters, trucks and distribution centers, and the people to staff them, took another nine cents from each dollar.

Initial disaster spending was aimed at saving lives; now the spending is shifting to recovery. The Obama administration is putting five cents of each dollar into efforts to pay survivors to work. One program already in place describes paying 40,000 Haitians $3 per day for 20 days to clean up around hospitals and dig latrines. That project also includes renting 10 excavators and loaders, at $600 each, and 10 dump trucks at $50 a load.

Just under one penny of each dollar is going straight to the shattered Haitian government, whose president is sleeping in a tent while struggling to organize an administration that was notoriously unstable even before the earthquake.

The U.S. rarely gives large amounts of money directly to governments, a practice that is "very defensible from my point of view," said John Simon, who coordinated U.S. responses to international disasters under President Bush's administration.

A final half-cent funds three Dominican Republic hospitals near the Haitian border, where refugees have been begging for help.

The U.S. is providing the largest slice of a global response that totals more than $1 billion in government pledges. The European Union's 27 nations are contributing $575 million.

The U.S. is providing the largest slice of a global response that totals more than $1 billion in government pledges. The European Union's 27 nations are contributing $575 million.

The U.S. also has long been the largest donor of ongoing foreign aid that Haiti depends on for up to 40 percent of its budget, with more than $260 million in U.S. money last year aimed at promoting stability, prosperity and democracy.

Private money also is flowing into Haiti - U.S. charities have raised $470 million for disaster relief, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and the U.N. says total international giving - spent and pledged - has topped $2 billion.

The U.S. government funding flows through federal agencies that administer $2.6 billion already appropriated in the 2010 budget for foreign disaster relief, said Thomas Gavin, a spokesman at the White House Office of Management and Budget. He said there are no plans to ask Congress for more money.

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_14281500

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

Lee Baca: Reducing prison penalties threatens public's safety

OUR economic problems and California's budget crisis have impacted every level of government: state, county and city. Painful cuts have been and will continue to be made in all areas. Inevitably up and down the state, counties and local governments are looking at another year of reduced budgets and additional cuts. I write this to share with you what impacts these cuts will have on public safety and on our communities.

Legislators wrote and passed Senate Bill 18 (SBX3 18), which took effect Monday. This measure was written as a way for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to decrease its budget by cutting the amount of time sentenced inmates serve in prison by increasing sentencing credits for jail and prison inmates. It also removes certain prisoners who would normally be released on a supervised parole, meaning the parolee would have a parole agent and a detailed program of re-entry, and places them on unsupervised parole, better known as summary parole.

While a firm number of parolees in Los Angeles County eligible for the unsupervised parole is not yet known, CDCR is reviewing more than 7,000 Los Angeles County parolees. When the release occurs, the offender will be unsupervised, released without a plan or program for proper and safe re-entry into our communities and with no accountability.

Fortunately for the residents of Los Angeles County, we are working together with the Board of Supervisors, various county public health and human services departments, and other local law enforcement agencies to reach out to these parolees and let them know of the services that are out there to help them and give them the support they need. This is by no means an adequate replacement for supervised parole, but it's better than providing no help at all.

Unfortunately, in the state's 2010-11 budget and a federal court panel's mandate, there are plans for even more serious cuts to the CDCR budget that will have an immediate negative impact on the public safety of our communities. Under the budget proposal, at least 11 current crimes for which a person could be convicted of a felony and sent to state prison, including such crimes, as grand theft, receiving stolen property, possession of methamphetamine and auto theft, would be changed to an "administrative felony" in which the person would still be convicted of a felony, but he or she would be sentenced to 366 days and placed in the county jail. Thus, the proposal shifts the responsibility of these inmates from the state onto the local county jail system.

While this will certainly create a savings for the state, it is irresponsible to shift the costs to counties. Additionally, this will have a serious negative impact on public safety. The Los Angeles County jail system is already a severely overcrowded system that has population controls placed on it by a federal court.

If the governor's proposal were in fact to become law, as of today, this would mean the Los Angeles County jail would have to house approximately 1,900 additional inmates who would currently be sentenced to state prison. Since we are already at capacity, this would force me to comply with the federal court order and reduce the amount of time inmates spend in jail to a fraction of what they were sentenced to. Again, the state's proposal clearly shifts the state problem onto counties and local communities.

Over the last decade, I and other local law enforcement leaders have worked closely with the governor and Legislature to deal with various public safety issues, and I fully expect to continue that stance this year. However, I am increasingly concerned about proposals related to parole, county jails and increased local responsibility at a time when we are struggling to fund and manage our current responsibilities and inmate populations.

We urge careful scrutiny of these proposals and that the governor and Legislature weigh fiscal benefit against public safety impact before making further changes this year.

http://www.dailynews.com/opinions/ci_14282410

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

From Fox News

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

Malaysia Arrests Tied to Detroit Plot Suspect

Thursday , January 28, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia  — 

Ten terror suspects arrested in Malaysia allegedly have ties to a Nigerian suspected in last month's attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner, a news report said Thursday.

Malaysia's home minister announced the arrests Wednesday, saying they were mainly foreigners linked to an international terrorist network.

They include four men from Syria, two from Nigeria and one each from Yemen and Jordan, said Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, head of a rights group that assists people held under Malaysia's Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial.

They were among 50 people arrested by police while attending a religious talk by a Syrian university lecturer on Jan. 21 at a home near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city, Syed Ibrahim said. The others were later released.

The government-linked New Straits Times newspaper said foreign anti-terrorism agencies told authorities that the suspects were in Malaysia and were linked to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a young Nigerian man accused of trying to detonate a bomb hidden in his underwear during a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day.

The newspaper did not say how it obtained the information or how they were linked.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein refused to confirm the report or give other details Thursday, saying it might jeopardize investigations. He said the detainees posed a "serious threat" to security and their arrests were based on cooperation with foreign intelligence agencies.

"This is a very good wake-up call for us because the playground for terrorists is no longer just one nation. The whole world is their playground," he said.

The suspects include students at a Malaysian university, said Syed Ibrahim, the rights activist. He urged the government to either charge them in court or release them.

Activists identified one detainee as Aiman Al Dakkak, a Syrian university lecturer who has been living in Malaysia since 2003. He gave regular religious classes but did not advocate terrorism to his students, said Muhamad Yunus Zainal Abidin, a Malaysian who was arrested at the class and released several hours later.

Interrogators did not ask those freed about any ties to Abdulmutallab, Muhamad Yunus told a news conference.

Over the past decade, Malaysian authorities have held more than 100 militant suspects, mainly alleged members of the al-Qaida-linked Southeast Asian network Jemaah Islamiyah, which has been blamed for attacks including the 2002 bombing on the Indonesian island of Bali that killed 202 people.

Most were released after being held for years in a northern prison center. Authorities say they were rehabilitated and no longer posed a threat. None was ever charged in court.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,584122,00.html

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

From ICE

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

ICE Leads Nationwide Operation to Disrupt Transnational Gangs

Project Big Freeze focused on hotbeds of gang activity in 83 cities around the country in the largest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-led enforcement operation targeting transnational gangs with ties to drug trafficking organizations.

From Jan. 17-24, after two months of intelligence- and information-gathering, ICE, together with more than 115 other federal, state and local law enforcement partners, identified, located and put behind bars 447 gang members and seized 45 firearms. An additional 65 individuals were arrested on federal and/or state criminal violations, including administrative immigration violations.

Law enforcement officials targeted members from 28 transnational street gangs, many of whom not only traffic in drugs and firearms but also commit murder, rape, robbery and a host of other crimes in perpetuating and furthering their criminal enterprises. ICE conducted the bold sweep to "rid our streets not only of drug dealers, but the violence associated with the drug trade," said ICE Assistant Secretary John Morton.

In a press conference held at ICE's Potomac Center North headquarters building on Jan. 27, Assistant Secretary Morton said, "The significance of this operation is not just its size. It also reflects how powerful cooperation between federal and local law enforcement can be."

Dallas Police Department's Assistant Chief Charles M. Cato also spoke to conference attendees. He credited the reduced number of homicides in Dallas in the past five years (248 in 2004 compared to 166 in 2009) to law enforcement programs, such as ICE's Operation Community Shield (OCS), which was initiated in 2005. Through OCS, ICE, in collaboration with our federal, state, local, tribal and foreign law enforcement partners, combats transnational criminal street gangs using ICE's unique administrative and statutory authorities, expert investigative techniques and technological resources.

Morton expounded on Chief Cato's correlation between the drop in crime and law enforcement activity explaining how targeting gang members and gang organizations lowers rates of recidivism.

"Members of these gangs are institutionally involved in crime and so are their organizations." Morton said. "The beauty of ICE's authority is that it is a powerful tool to bring these criminals to prosecution and then remove them from the United States."

A case in point is that of the 447 individuals arrested as a result of Project Big Freeze, 366 are foreign nationals who face deportation after their criminal prosecutions are complete.

Richfield, Minn. Police Chief Barry Fritz, whose agency also participated in the nationwide gang operation, praised ICE personnel, saying "they were wonderful and accommodating." Project Big Freeze was a force multiplier with ICE providing the resources, personnel and technology and ability to cross jurisdictions from state to state, as well as charge subjects federally.

"It's a two-way street," said Fritz. Local law enforcement help federal officials in that, "We know our city and where the people are."

See the ICE press release on Project Big Freeze for further information.

http://www.ice.gov/pi/nr/1001/100127washingtondc1.htm

.