10 Americans face child-kidnapping charges in Haiti

A judge rules there is sufficient evidence to proceed against the Idaho missionary group that was stopped at the border with 33 children.

By Joel Rubin

February 4, 2010

Reporting from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

The 10 Americans accused by Haiti of trying to sneak 33 children out of the earthquake-ravaged country were charged with child kidnapping and criminal association Thursday and returned to jail to await trial.

The Baptist missionaries from Idaho appeared before a judge who determined that there was sufficient evidence to proceed with criminal charges, said Edwin F. Coq Jr., one of their attorneys.

Coq described a somber scene inside the closed courtroom, adding that before the questioning began the group members bowed their heads and prayed together.

After the hearing, which ran more than two hours, policemen escorted the Americans, some of whom hid their faces beneath jackets, into a police vehicle.

Laura Silsby, 40, the organizer of the trip, sat silently, refusing to respond to questions shouted by reporters through the windows. Earlier, Silsby told reporters, "God wanted us to come here to help children; we are convinced of that."

Many in the group attend Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho. The church strongly disputed the group's portrayal by some in Haiti as would-be human traffickers looking to take advantage of the chaos that followed the earthquake.

The case has been prime fodder for Haitians and the hordes of international news media groups that descended on the impoverished Caribbean nation following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake Jan. 12 that is estimated to have killed more than 150,000 people.

Authorities on Jan. 29 stopped a bus carrying the 10 Americans and the children at the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. At the time, group members said the children were orphans and that the group's intent was to provide them with shelter and care. They could not provide any official documents proving legal custody of the children, many of whom later were found not to be orphans.

The children, ranging in age from 2 to 12, this week were being cared for at a child-care center in Port-au-Prince.

Parents of some of the children from the badly damaged village of Callebas told the Associated Press that they willingly handed over their children to the Americans because they felt they were unable to care for them.

Coq said Haitian law allows prosecutors up to three months to prepare a case for trial. He reiterated earlier statements that only Silsby knew of the plan to take children out of the country and that the other nine should have been set free. He expressed confidence that Silsby and the others would eventually be cleared of the charges.

Each kidnapping count carries a possible sentence of five to 15 years in prison and each count of criminal association carries a sentence of three to nine years, according to news reports.

Coq also tamped down persistent speculation that the group would be transferred to the U.S. to face charges there, saying, "Right now, they are being fully tried in Haiti. It is up to the Haitian authorities to judge them."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-haiti-kidnapping5-2010feb05,0,1536215,print.story

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Seized North Korea arms cache still a mystery

The weaponry was impounded nearly two months ago in Thailand, and nationals of several countries are involved. Now some in the Thai government are worried about the mounting costs in the case.

By Mark Magnier

February 5, 2010

Reporting from Bangkok, Thailand

Nearly two months after the seizure here of a charter plane carrying 35 tons of weapons shipped from North Korea, the mystery remains as to where the rockets and other armaments were headed.

Iran, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates were reportedly listed on the flight plan; the former Soviet republic of Georgia was cited as the charter company's operations base; and the captain has said that Kiev, Ukraine, was the destination.

This week, Iran denied that it was the intended recipient, according to wire reports, arguing that it had no need for the weaponry because it has its own arms industry, which makes rockets, tanks, jet fighters, light submarines and missiles.

Predictably, North Korea is not talking.

The crew of the Russian-made aircraft, four citizens of Kazakhstan and one of Belarus, remains in detention on illegal arms possession charges awaiting a decision by Thailand's attorney general on whether to seek a trial.

Meanwhile, some in the Thai government are getting antsy.

Not only is the case mysterious, it is getting costly, government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said Wednesday.

"The air force and the airport are telling us they're going to bill us very soon," he said.

"We told them, 'Can you delay the billing?' "

Among the government's costs are those for guarding and storing the weapons, as well as maintaining the impounded Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane.

There's also the likely multimillion-dollar cost of disabling and disposing of the weapons in keeping with United Nations guidelines, he added.

"It gets quite expensive," Panitan said.

According to a report Thailand submitted over the weekend to the U.N., the company that shipped the weapons was the Korea Mechanical Industry Co., and the cache included 49 rockets, a rocket launcher and three crates of fuses and rocket-propelled grenades.

North Korean sales of missiles, missile parts and other arms to countries such as Iran, Syria and Myanmar are believed to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars annually to North Korea's hard-currency earnings.

Although the sale of such relatively routine weapons would normally not be illegal, in this case it violates the ban imposed under a U.N. resolution of June 2009 designed to punish North Korea after it fired a long-range missile and mounted a second nuclear test.

Thailand has asked the U.N. Security Council how to handle and dispose of the weapons, advice that has not so far been forthcoming.

Although many in the government say it is important that Thailand follow these international rules, others have expressed concern that taking a hard line risks the wrath of North Korea, which has reacted aggressively when it felt slighted or threatened.

In October 1983, three South Korean Cabinet members and 14 other South Korean officials were among those killed by a bomb planted in neighboring Myanmar, also known as Burma, by North Korean commandos.

"That was a very vicious retaliation in Burma," said Kraisak Choonhavan, a politician and political analyst. "People are a bit worried about that."

Pranee Thiparat, a political science professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, said the seizure "can be an opportunity and a problem."

"Some have said it would put Thailand in a dangerous position, but it's our obligation under international obligations to prosecute this case."

Kazakhstan and Belarus have asked Thailand to return the crew members to their home countries. The Thai Cabinet has also called for their release. An attorney representing the crew has said the men didn't know what they were transporting.

The seized plane may be returned to its owner, Panitan said. Authorities at Bangkok's Don Muang airport, where the plane was impounded, are expected to make the final decision.

It's still possible that, despite its fairly pedestrian nature, the shipment had Iran as its ultimate destination, given Israel's success in disrupting weapons shipments destined for Hezbollah and other radical groups supported by Tehran, said Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore. Nor is it uncommon for Eastern European citizens to be used in logistical roles for North Korean shipments, he added.

Bangkok, with its famous night life and good air connections, has hit the shady arms dealer radar before. In March 2008, Viktor Bout, a former officer in the Soviet military suspected of supplying weapons to the Taliban and Al Qaeda, was arrested at a hotel in Bangkok after Thai authorities received a tip from the U.S.

Washington has tried to extradite Bout to the U.S., a request that a Thai court rejected in August. Bout says he's an innocent businessman.

The fact that the Dec. 12 North Korean shipment reportedly landed in the military airport adjoining Bangkok's civilian airport suggests that the Thai military has previously allowed similar charters to land, Choonhavan said.

A new prime minister and military leadership have presumably yanked away the welcome mat, Choonhavan added.

The U.S. monitors North Korea through satellite and other technologies in a bid to stem proliferation of nuclear and other weapons. Dennis C. Blair, director of national intelligence, said in a Washington Post opinion piece in mid-December that U.S. intelligence agencies had assisted in the seizure.

"It's now up to the state attorney to decide what to do," Panitan said. "We'll base our decision on national security and the sensitivity of the issue."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-thailand-weapons5-2010feb05,0,7748346,print.story

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Florencia 13 gang member sentenced in racketeering and narcotics case

A federal judge sentenced a fifth member of the Florencia 13 street gang this week to life in prison for his conviction on a host of criminal charges, including racketeering and narcotics distribution case, the U.S. Attorney's Office said today.

Francisco Flores, 24, was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Santa Ana after his conviction last year on charges of conspiring to commit murder and attempted murder and violent crime in aid of racketeering. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

Flores "preyed on victims because they were black and for no other reason but racial motive," U.S. Judge District Judge David O. Carter said during sentencing.

Instead of specifically targeting rival gang members, the Florencia 13 gang members had a policy of targeting African Americans, prosecutors said.

“The unique and more disturbing aspect of this case was the rampant and violent racial hatred against African Americans that this gang had,” said Asst. U.S. Atty. Peter A. Hernandez.

One young man in his twenties was killed while returning home from his job as a painter, while another couple was robbed apparently because they were black.

“I've dealt with the Mexican Mafia, the Aryan Brotherhood now, soon to be the Mongols, but you really take first place,” Judge Carter said Friday during the sentencing of another Florencia 13 defendant, Arturo Cruz, 34.

OPINION

The damage of the anti-vaccination movement

Childhood diseases once mostly eradicated are making a comeback. And children are dying.

By Michael Fumento

February 5, 2010

The doctor who launched the modern anti-vaccine movement acted "dishonestly and irresponsibly," Britain's General Medical Council has ruled. But fear not. Dr. Andrew Wakefield is still a hero to his many acolytes. And others, with curious credentials, fight on to terrify parents into not getting their children inoculated.

In 1998, Wakefield wrote and then vociferously hawked an article in the British medical journal Lancet linking autism to the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella). After the council's decision, Lancet this week retracted the article. Among the facts that have come out of the inquiry into Wakefield's research is that two years before his paper appeared, lawyers seeking to sue vaccine makers paid Wakefield the equivalent of $700,000.

After Wakefield's article appeared, vaccination levels plummeted in Britain and declined in the United States, and the diseases they prevented surged. Measles cases increased sevenfold in the U.S.

"One person's research set us back a decade, and we're just now recovering from that," Mark Sawyer, a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at Radey Children's Hospital in San Diego, told me in an interview.

But are we recovering? Anti-vaccination groups have popped up like toadstools after rain (there are more than 180 on the Web), while older ones such as the National Vaccine Information Center were reinvigorated. For the most part, these groups have had only a marginal effect on national vaccination rates, but they have encouraged localized boycotts of immunization. (In one Washington county, 27% of children had vaccination exemptions in 2006-07.) The result has been a resurgence of diseases gone so long that some doctors don't even recognize them. And children die because of it.

Before the MMR vaccine became available in 1971, measles, mumps and rubella annually afflicted 530,000, 162,000 and 48,000 U.S. children, respectively, killing a total of more than 600. By the middle of the last decade, there were fewer than 7,000 new cases annually and zero deaths. But the anti-vaccine groups generally claim the injections were irrelevant and that factors such as better nutrition caused the declines.

Meanwhile, their "science" comes down to little more than that autism symptoms are often first recognized at the same age that children are getting their first vaccinations. So they lumped the MMR in with a list of other childhood vaccines that formerly contained the mercury-based preservative thimerosal, although the MMR never contained thimerosal.

And don't dismiss the power of a good old-fashioned conspiracy. "It's astounding to me that people can imagine that America's pediatricians and family physicians and public health officials are scheming to harm children," says Sawyer.

Never mind that by 2008, more than 20 articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals found no connection between MMR vaccine and autism, while two suggested a connection -- one by Wakefield.

There's also a mountain of reassuring evidence regarding thimerosal-preserved vaccines. The studies are a result of the United States and other countries -- while strongly reaffirming the safety of thimerosal -- giving in to activist demands and having it removed from childhood vaccines. That gave researchers a wonderful opportunity to do "before and after" studies.

Anti-vaccinationists initially claimed California autism cases dropped. False. The "data do not show any recent decrease in autism in California" despite the discontinuation of thimerosal use, the state's Department of Developmental Services found in 2008.

Published evaluations of children in Sweden, Denmark and Canada also have shown that autism diagnoses continued to increase after the discontinuation of vaccinations with thimerosal. U.S. cases keep rising as well.

Some groups claim only to oppose mandatory vaccines, but this ignores the need for what's called "herd immunity." That means a certain level of the population must be vaccinated (generally around 85% to 90%) so those unvaccinated are still protected.

Lack of herd immunity is what killed Gabriella "Brie" Romaguera. The New Orleans baby died of pertussis, or whooping cough. At one time, this disease afflicted more than 250,000 American children yearly, killing 9,000. Vaccinations reduced that to just 1,000 new cases annually by 1976; but by 2008, cases had soared to more than 10,000 annually.

Brie contracted the disease when she was a month old, too young for her first pertussis vaccine. "I'm not laying blame," her mother, Danielle, told me. "But people need to know they can infect other people's babies. It kills. People think these diseases don't exist anymore, but that's only because children are being vaccinated."

Romaguera is especially upset by "celebrity science," as exemplified by Jenny McCarthy. The actress and former Playboy playmate claims vaccines made her son autistic but that she "cured" him. There is no cure. McCarthy's antics include yelling at three physicians on "Larry King Live," and exclaiming: "My son died in front of me from a vaccine injury!" Her son is alive, as she later acknowledged.

Yet she'd be little more than an opinionated pinup girl but for being invited to share her "expertise" on "Larry King," ABC's "20/20," "Good Morning America" and other popular shows. All this has helped propel McCarthy's two books on autism to bestsellerdom.

"Celebrities are entitled to support a cause," said Sawyer. "But when they give professional advice, I think that's dangerous."

"It makes it hard for doctors," said Romaguera. "Our pediatrician says parents tell him all the time they don't care what the science says. And because of it, babies and kids are dying."

Michael Fumento is director of the Independent Journalism Project, where he specializes in health and science issues.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-fumento5-2010feb05,0,1319069,print.story

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From the Wall Street Journal

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Mexican Drug Kingpin Sentenced to 17 year

DENVER—A Mexican drug kingpin who led a fearsome cartel for more than a decade was sentenced Thursday to 17 years in prison for trafficking drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Miguel Angel Caro Quintero pleaded guilty last fall to one count of racketeering in Colorado and one count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana in Arizona.

Mr. Caro Quintero, 46 years old, led the Sonora Cartel, which U.S. authorities said smuggled thousands of tons of marijuana and cocaine to the U.S. in the 1980s. His brother, former cartel leader Rafael Caro Quintero, was convicted in the 1985 torture-slaying of undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar.

Mr. Caro Quintero was arrested in Mexico in 2001 and served seven years in a Mexican prison before being extradited to the U.S. about a year ago. He faced 10 to 20 years in prison as part of a plea agreement. The defense, and Mr. Caro Quintero himself, requested a 10-year sentence.

"I am aware of the fact that I made a mistake as a human being," Mr. Caro Quintero said through an interpreter. He said he wanted to be able to spend more time with his family and regrets the way his crimes have affected them.

U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer rejected the plea for a short sentence.

"Anyone who has committed a crime and is alone in jail has time to reflect on his conduct and come to the fact that all of the crimes and all of the money that comes of the crimes doesn't mean anything at all and what matters now is their family and the persons who he cares for," the judge said.

Mr. Caro Quintero appeared in court in faded white prison clothes, and as he was led out of the courtroom said to his son who was in the courtroom, "I love you very much, thank you for coming. Say hello to my children."

Judge Brimmer granted defense attorney Walter Nash's request to deduct three years from the sentence for time that Mr. Caro Quintero spent in a Mexican prison for a sentence on an unrelated charge, saying a co-defendant received similar consideration. Judge Brimmer refused to deduct an additional four years spent in a Mexican jail while Mr. Caro Quintero fought his extradition.

Rafael Caro Quintero was arrested in Costa Rica in 1985 and extradited to Mexico, where he is serving a 40-year prison term for Mr. Camarena's murder.

Miguel Caro Quintero took up the drug operation after his brother's capture, authorities said. In 2000, the brothers were identified as significant foreign narcotics traffickers under a federal law known as the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704041504575045670870784984.html?mod=WSJ_World_LEFTSecondNews#printMode

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Public Health Tab to Hit Milestone

For the first time, government programs next year will account for more than half of all U.S. health-care spending, federal actuaries predict, as the weak economy sends more people into Medicaid and slows growth of private insurance.

The figures show how federal and state spending is taking a bigger role while Congress hesitates over a health-care overhaul.

Over the next ten years, health spending is expected to balloon to $4.5 trillion. Despite this, the government's health overhaul has stalled, Peter Landers reports.

Government health programs are a growing burden on the federal budget, which is running annual deficits of more than $1 trillion, and rising health costs continue to batter private industry.

By 2020, according to the new projections, about one in five dollars spent in the U.S. will go to health care, a proportion far beyond any other industrialized nation.

"It's going to be a desperate issue five to 10 years out," said Gail Wilensky, the former top Medicare official in the George H.W. Bush administration. She said the U.S. will have to decide soon between raising revenue to pay for Medicare or reducing benefits.

Public funds accounted for 47% of the $2.34 trillion of national health spending in 2008, the last year for which figures are available. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimates in a paper to be published Thursday in the journal Health Affairs that the proportion will rise to 50.4% by 2011. Last year, the federal actuaries had predicted the 50% mark wouldn't be reached until around 2016.

The latest estimate assumes Congress will act to prevent a sharp cut in Medicare payments to doctors, which is set to take effect in March under current law. Congress has consistently done so in earlier years.

The paper estimated that U.S. health spending hit $2.5 trillion in 2009, up 5.7% from the previous year. That represents 17.3% of gross domestic product, up from 16.2% in 2008, because the overall economy shrank last year. A decade from now, health spending is projected to hit about $4.5 trillion a year.

Growth of Medicaid accounts for much of the shift toward publicly funded health care. The paper predicted enrollment in Medicaid would rise 5.6% this year and spending would rise 8.9%.

Meanwhile, the number of people with private health insurance is falling slightly because of high unemployment.

More

• Health Spending Projections Through 2019 (From the paper published in Health Affairs)

Many states are having trouble funding their share of Medicaid. President Barack Obama's budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 calls for $25 billion in federal help for covering Medicaid costs.

Over the longer term, the public share of health spending is expected to rise further because the first baby boomers will turn 65 in 2011 and become eligible for Medicare.

Also, the rising number of elderly will add to Medicaid spending on nursing homes and other services for the poor. The actuaries estimated that the public share would reach 52.6% by 2019.

Medicare and Medicaid account for the bulk of government spending on health care. Federal and state programs for veterans, children and others make up the rest.

Democratic health-overhaul bills would expand the public role further by widening eligibility for Medicaid and giving lower-income people subsidies to buy insurance.

Republicans said the bills would make the government too deeply involved in health care. The legislation is in doubt now after a Republican victory in last month's Senate election in Massachusetts.

Mr. Obama often described his health plan as an effort to counter the sharp rise in health costs.

His plan included cuts to the growth of Medicare, but Republicans noted that much of the money raised was going to new programs such as the subsidies.

"They need to scrap it, and start working in a bipartisan way on the step-by-step reforms to lower costs that the American people want," he said.

"There is nothing inherently wrong with crossing this threshold, especially in light of the recession. These data show that government programs are working as intended," said Rep. Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. "However, these projections do reinforce the need to enact comprehensive health reform, like the legislation passed by both chambers, that lowers costs for individuals and businesses and improves coverage."

Government spending on health care in the U.S. is estimated to have accounted for 8.4% of GDP in 2009.

That is nearly equal to total health spending—public and private—in some European countries such as Britain and Italy, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development data.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703575004575043490639289022.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5#printMode

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From Fox News

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Families of Cleveland Murder Victims Outraged Over Suspect's Letters Seeking Money

February 04, 2010

FOX News

A controversial Web site that markets the paraphernalia of some of America's most horrific criminals is selling letters written by the accused killer of 11 women in Ohio that seek companionship and money — and the victims' families want it to stop.

The site, Serialkillersink.net, has posted letters, envelopes and a Christmas card sent by accused serial killer Anthony Sowell, who's awaiting trial in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, on charges of murder, rape, assault and corpse abuse relating to the discovery of the remains of 11 women buried in and around his home, Fox8.com in Cleveland reported.

The letters and card, priced at $200, and the envelopes, priced at $100, were sent by Sowell to employees at the Web site.

Dorothy Pollard, the aunt of murder victim Diane Turner, told Fox8.com: "I think it was a damn shame that he was even permitted to do it and whoever was supplying him with paper, they have no damn conscience and they can't care about nobody because he shouldn't be supplied with anything down there."

One of the letters, selling for $200, reads in part: "I can only get money orders at this time and yes, I can receive pictures. P.S. the 25 dollars is fine. Thank you."

Perhaps just as troubling is a look at Sowell's page on the site, which shows four out of the five of his items "out of stock."

Pollard is adamant about making sure Sowell doesn't receive compensation for his letter.

"No way should he be allowed to receive anything and profit off of anything for all the pain that he has caused," Pollard told Fox8.com.

In one letter, Sowell tells a California woman that he is available to correspond with her.

"So if you need someone to talk to I am here for you," Sowell wrote. "So tell me what do you want to know about me? I know what I want to know about you, what type of woman are you? Do you have a man in your life?"

Sowell has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, rape, assault and corpse abuse and is being held in the Cuyahoga County jail.

Sowell writes that he is being treated well in the jail. He mentions his ex-wife who died in 1998. He writes that he can receive money orders, but that cash should not be sent.

"I am in need of just about anything. So anything you can do to help me out is a blessing," he writes.

A couple weeks ago, the site had one Sowell letter for sale, and a Christmas card posted for viewing.

The card, with the preprinted message "May every road you travel this season remind you that God's gift of Jesus is with you wherever you go," is signed "Tony Sowell."

The families of the victims are now urging authorities at the Cuyahoga County Jail to prevent Anthony Sowell or the Web site from profiting any further from their misery, Fox8.com.

The Ohio attorney general's office says inmates are not allowed to make money from crimes by selling their stories to book publishers or filmmakers.

Eric Gein, who owns the Los Angeles-based Internet company, says inmates do not get paid for the letters. He says his biggest customers are criminology professors who use the letters and artwork to teach. The site also sells personal items from inmates.

Eight states have banned inmates from sending items to companies for sale, said Andy Kahan, director of Crime Victims Assistance for the mayor's office in Houston. Kahan, who has led a national movement to end the practice of selling inmates' items, says Ohio is not among those states.

"This is the beginning of the merchandising and marketing of Anthony Sowell," he said.

Gein said he has been corresponding with inmates for 15 years and started his business four years ago.

Cuyahoga County Jail warden Kevin McDonough said Sowell has received more mail than most inmates and has received small amounts of money and several small deposits to his jail commissary account.

"A lot want to see his soul," McDonough said. "Many people want to be his friend or pen pal."

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,584790,00.html

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Lawyers for Couple Accused of Abducting Jaycee Dugard Want to Talk With Her

February 04, 2010

ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN FRANCISCO — 

A couple being held on charges of abducting a girl more than 18 years ago and keeping her in their backyard wants permission to visit each other in the jail, a defense lawyer said Thursday.

Phillip and Nancy Garrido have pleaded not guilty to kidnapping Jaycee Dugard when she was 11, raping her and confining her and the daughters she bore by Phillip Garrido to a hidden compound in the backyard of their Antioch home.

Stephen Tapson, the court-appointed attorney representing Nancy Garrido, told The Associated Press that he and Phillip Garrido's public defender made the visitation request in twin motions filed Wednesday in El Dorado Superior Court.

The couple is being held separately in jail. He said jail officials so far had refused to let the two inmates meet.

"If one of them were out on bail, they could visit each other, so let them visit each other in jail, just to say hello to each other," Tapson said.

Tapson said he and Deputy Public Defender Susan Gellman also filed papers seeking to compel prosecutors to tell them where Dugard is living and if she has a lawyer of her own so they can speak with her while preparing defenses for the Garridos.

"We would like to talk to her, obviously, and they are not telling us where she is and she doesn't have a lawyer that we know of," Tapson said.

Nancy Seltzer, a spokeswoman for Dugard, said Dugard is represented by the state. She had no comment on the defense motion seeking access to Dugard or her lawyer because she had not seen it.

The El Dorado District Attorney's office confirmed receiving the motions but would not comment on them.

A hearing on the motions was scheduled for Feb. 26.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,584905,00.html

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Terror Suspects and Team Obama -- What's Next, a Plea Bargain?

By Jeanine Pirro

FOXNews.com

Obama administration officials say within the next few months another terrorist attempt is “certain.” And yet we scoot an alleged bomber through interrogation with more speed than investigators interviewing a robbery suspect.

The White House attempt to gain the cooperation of suspect Umar Abdulmutallab by meeting with his family in Nigeria is nothing more than an attempt to cover up their disastrous mishandling and Mirandizing of Abdulmutallab, an alleged terrorist. Had the administration properly handled the case and treated Abdulmutallab as the enemy combatant that he is, there would be no need for agents to fly to Nigeria and beg his family to get him to give us information. We were the ones who told him he could remain silent in the first place!

Since actionable intelligence should have been our goal, Abdulmutallab should not have been given his right to remain silent and his right to an attorney. As a result of our gracious handling of the man who wanted to blow up a plane of passengers on the way to Detroit, we have shut down our ability to interrogate him thoroughly and to find out who his cohorts are, and where they operate. Anyone in law enforcement understands that there is no way to even establish a rapport, let alone get information, in 50 minutes. 

The government's response to criticism was that they got what they needed. But this is not about one criminal charge being proven beyond a reasonable doubt. It's about garnering intelligence in a War on Terror where a network of individuals hate this country so much that they would blow themselves up just to kill us. We need to know who they are, and where they are.

Ironically, Obama administration officials say within the next few months another terrorist attempt is “certain.” And yet we scoot an alleged bomber through interrogation with more speed than investigators interviewing a robbery suspect. This naive approach to those who want to destroy us is further proof that we need to get these combatants out of our civilian justice system and into a military tribunal.

As a result of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld , the Bush administration pushed for a law called the Military Commissions Act of 2006. This law established procedures governing the use of military commissions to try unlawful enemy combatants, such as those who were sent to Guantanamo Bay. These unlawful enemy combatants can be detained until the cessation of hostilities.

The recent granting of retroactive constitutional rights to these individuals, and the attempt to offer them the hospitality of being tried in civilian courts and in our cities, is a Pollyanna approach to the War on Terror. What's next -- a plea bargain?

Jeanine Pirro is the host of " Judge Jeanine Pirro " a fast-paced one-hour daily court TV show. She is the former District Attorney and County Court Judge of Westchester County, New York, a highly respected legal commentator and author.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/02/04/jeanine-pirro-abdulmutallab-miranda-obama-plea-bargain/

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From MSNBC

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Unemployment rate falls to 9.7 percent

WASHINGTON - U.S. payrolls unexpectedly fell in January, but the unemployment rate surprisingly dropped to a five-month low, according to a government report Friday that hinted at labor market improvement.

The Labor Department said the economy shed 20,000 jobs after losing 150,000 jobs in December. November was revised to a gain of 64,000, up from 4,000. Annual benchmark revisions to payrolls data showed the economy has purged 8.4 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls gaining 5,000 and the unemployment rate to edge up to 10.1 percent in January from 10 percent. Median estimates from the top 20 forecasters expected payrolls to be unchanged last month.

"It shows net-net that we are seeing a slow improvement in the labor market. There are some encouraging signs in the report ... but it wasn't quite good enough to push us into positive territory just yet," said Boris Schlossberg, director of FX Research at GFT Forex in New York.

U.S. stock index futures extended losses, while Treasury debt prices added to gains. U.S. dollar trimmed gains against the yen.

While a sharp increase in the number of people giving up looking for work helped to depress the jobless rate, some details of the employment report were encouraging. The number of 'discouraged job seekers' rose to 1.1 million in January from 734,000 a year ago.

With Americans increasingly anxious about high unemployment, President Barack Obama has declared that job creation will be his top priority in 2010.

Obama's fellow Democrats fear voters could punish them in November congressional elections if the administration fails to make headway in tackling the high jobless rate.

"The economy is moving slowly and it takes time for companies to turn around from where they were to where they are going," said Torsten Slok, senior economist at Deutsche Bank in New York.

Analysts speculated the decline in the unemployment rate could see the Federal Reserve raising interest rates sooner than expected.

Financial markets have grown nervous about the prospect of unemployment in the United States remaining high for a long time. The economy resumed growth in the second half of 2009 and labor market healing is crucial for a self-sustaining economic recovery to take root.

While job losses in prior months were steeper than previously thought, details of the January report supported views the blood bath has stopped.

Last month, the services sector added 40,000 jobs after shedding 96,000 positions in December. The figure included a rise in federal government employment, partly as a result of the hiring for the 2010 Census.

In another positive trend, temporary help employment rose 52,000 last month, while manufacturing payrolls increased 11,000, the first gain since January 2007. Manufacturing employment dropped 23,000 in December.

But the construction sector, continued to struggle, losing 75,000 jobs, likely because of unusually cold weather. Construction payrolls fell 32,000 in December.

In another sign of labor market improvement, the average workweek unexpectedly rose to 33.3 hours, the highest level in a year, from 33.2 hours in December. Total average hourly earnings increased to $18.89 from $18.84 in December.

Manufacturing overtime rose to 3.5 hours, the highest since September 2008.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35254011/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/

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From the White House

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Forty Million Kids and Counting

One year ago today, within weeks of taking office, President Obama signed into law a reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This legislation, along with provisions in the Recovery Act strengthening Medicaid, brought much-needed health coverage to millions of families.

The expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program and the strengthening of Medicaid helped ensure 40 million kids from all across America could see a doctor if they got sick. It meant that, in the face of a recession, their parents did not have to choose between the health of their kids and paying rent or the heating bill. These programs have been critically important for families.

Taking a closer look at the last year , we found that millions of children's lives were changed as a result of these federal programs. An additional 2.6 million children gained coverage through Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program during the 2009 fiscal year.

While we are proud of how far we've come, we think we can do better. There are millions of children who are eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program, but don't have coverage.

That's why we're challenging states, local governments, community-based organizations, health centers, faith-based organizations, as well as other federal departments to help enroll the 5 million children who are eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program but do not currently have coverage. To do our part, we've already issued outreach grants, launched a new website, and brought together 500 people at a National Child Health Summit, and we will be doing much more to reach out to federal agencies and states on ways to cut out the red tape in enrollment and renewals. We will also be closely monitoring progress on all fronts.  

We've compiled resources and information, both in English and in Spanish, in one website called www.InsureKidsNow.gov . This website offers state-specific information about the Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid for families and professionals.

Nothing is more important than the health and well-being of our children. We are determined to build on our existing efforts to cover kids and to make sure that no child goes without health care in America.

Kathleen Sebelius is Secretary of Health and Human Services

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/02/04/forty-million-kids-and-counting

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From the Department of Homeland Security

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"I am a veteran. I am homeland security."

She shuffles off the airplane, passes through the jet bridge, and falls in line at customs, where she watches anxiously as each passenger ahead of her hands over a passport to a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent. Her intimidation grows upon seeing each passenger caress a small, green-lit machine, similar to a credit card reader.

To the international traveler who frequents the United States, the act of being fingerprinted is unremarkable. Sure, some may find it off-putting, but most recognize that the minor inconvenience serves everyone's security. In many parts of the world, however, getting fingerprinted is something that only happens to criminals.

Once Rania reaches the front of the line, the fingerprint reader itself presents additional complications. Press too hard, and the print is deformed. Press too softly, and it's illegible. Roll your fingers while they're bunched together, and you smudge the print. Remove them too soon, and the reader doesn't have sufficient time to work.

Communicating such detailed instructions to a native English speaker is difficult enough. Now try explaining all this to Rania.

“When dealing with the mass of humanity that comes into the country every day, you have to consider culture,” says Arun Vemury, a biometrics program manager in the Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division of the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) . Put another way, in welcoming people such as Rania, multicultural sensitivity must be considered alongside technical exactitude.

In sum, the daily fingerprinting of hundreds of thousands of people must occur expeditiously without sacrificing accuracy or inviting a culture clash. This delicate balance makes biometrics—the study of unique physical or behavioral characteristics—both a science and an art.

To address these issues, Vemury, together with colleagues from S&T and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) , has broadened his focus beyond the traditional biometric fields of hardware and engineering. Perhaps the best example of this more holistic approach comes from a battery of tests developed by NIST's biometrics usability team .

• The objective: To perfect the user-friendliness of fingerprint technologies and the environmental circumstances surrounding their use.
  
  
• The means: Pilot tests in Japan, Korea, China and Lebanon.
  
  
• The conclusion: The use of symbols to convey instructions from start to finish best transcends sociolinguistic barriers.
  

Such symbols now populate posters and signage, placed throughout international airports.

But what about that technical exactitude? Are we putting cultural sensitivity above quality?

Not at all, says Vermury. In fact, the Department is transitioning from taking two fingerprints (your index fingers) to 10 (four prints from each hand at once, followed by each thumb). These additional records greatly augment the government's ability to prevent criminals and immigration violators from entering the country.

What's more, the prints now adhere to uniform standards, the result of a partnership among the FBI and the Departments of Defense, State and Homeland Security. Just a few years ago, when the Pentagon was rounding up fingerprints in Afghanistan and Iraq, the lack of such standardization impeded interagency information sharing on potentially dangerous individuals. Now, thanks to research funded chiefly by S&T, these technically robust standards have transformed the field.

“Standards help knit together the departments of the federal government into a cohesive whole,” observes Bert Coursey, S&T's standards executive, who leads a team of 13 scientists and engineers in these efforts. In biometrics, this means increasing our chances of catching the bad guys while making our ports of entry more hospitable to legitimate foreign travelers.

Rania is already on her way to meet her family at baggage claim. The ease of getting through customs has lessened her initial trepidation, and so far, her fears about traveling to an unfamiliar place seem unfounded.

http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1265211404192.shtm

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From the ATF

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New Orleans Man Pleads Guilty to Making Threats to Kill President Obama and to Drug and Firearms Offenses

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA — JOHN TURNPAUGH, age 47, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana, pled guilty today in federal court before U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey to making threats to kill the President; possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute it; and to possessing four firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking activity, announced U.S. Attorney Jim Letten.

According to the factual basis, TURNPAUGH admitted on December 30, 2009, he called an New Orleans Police Department 911 operator and stated, Yeah, hey, I'm going to kill President Barack Obama and his wife this month… The New Orleans Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service responded swiftly and determined that the caller was TURNPAUGH who lived in the 1000 block of St. Mary Street, New Orleans, Louisiana. After agents located the defendant, advised him of his rights, and played a recording of the 911 call, the defendant admitted that he was the person who made the call. Telephone records also revealed that TURNPAUGH had placed the call from his cell phone. Additional investigation determined that TURNPAUGH was selling marijuana and was illegally in possession of several firearms in furtherance of his drug trafficking activity.

TURNPAUGH faces a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, as well as up to $750,000 fines, and five (5) years of supervised release. Sentencing has been scheduled for May 11, 2010 at 10:00 A.M.

Speaking to today's conviction, U.S. Attorney Letten stated:

Today, an armed and potentially dangerous individual who has threatened the President of the United States sits in federal prison awaiting the imposition of a mandatory jail sentence as a result of swift and decisive action by NOPD , Louisiana State Police, the U.S. Secret Service, ATF and the U.S. Attorney's Office. Once again, the prompt apprehension, arrest and conviction of John Turnpaugh must serve as a clear message that we in federal enforcement and our partners will forcefully and swiftly bring all available resources to protect the safety of our President and our citizens.

ATF Special Agent in Charge Philip M. Durham said:

Today's plea demonstrates the value of teamwork and smart policing. ATF will continue its commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to combat firearm violence and arrest those who would use or threaten to use firearms violence against any person living in the USA .

NOPD Superintendent Warren Riley added:

I would like to commend the quick work of the NOPD , Louisiana State Police, U.S. Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the investigation and apprehension of this potentially dangerous individual. This is an example of the what can be accomplished when federal, state and local law enforcement come together to investigate a crime such as this.

The investigation was conducted by Special Agents of the U.S. Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the New Orleans Police Department and Louisiana State Police. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Maurice E. Landrieu, Jr. and Salvadore Perricone.

http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/2010/02/020210-no-man-pleads-guilty-to-drugs-firearms-threats.html

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