In 1856, workers remove the old dome of the U.S. Capitol and begin replacing it with a new fireproof cast-iron dome. Philip Reid, a slave, supervised the placement of the Statue of Freedom atop the dome in 1863.

Congress honors slaves who helped build Capitol June 16, 2010 -- Associated Press . Congress is honoring the African American slaves who helped build the U.S. Capitol. Plaques have been erected inside the building in their memory. The plaques read: "This original exterior wall was constructed between 1793 and 1800 of sandstone quarried by laborers, including enslaved African Americans who were an important part of the workforce that built the United States Capitol." Historians have discovered that slaves worked 12-hour days, six days a week on the construction of the Capitol. The federal government rented the slaves from local slave owners at a rate of $5 per person per month. The slaves were not paid. Congressman John Lewis of Georgia says that putting up the plaques helps tell the "full history" of the U.S. Capitol. . http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dcnow/2010/06/congress-honors-slaves-who-helped-build-capitol.html

From the New York Times

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U.N. Voices Concern on Child Soldiers in Somalia

HARGEISA, Somalia — As the United Nations Security Council expressed a “deep concern” on Wednesday over the continued use of child soldiers and a “readiness” to adopt sanctions against individuals who deploy them, an American lawmaker warned that the United States might have broken several laws by providing assistance to the Somali military, which uses children in conflict.

The United Nations lists the Somali government as one of the “ most persistent violators” in the world of using child soldiers, and this week The New York Times documented several child soldiers , some as young as 12, toting assault rifles and working for the Somali transitional government in Mogadishu, Somalia 's capital.

While the American government has expressed concern about the matter, it has given the Somali military millions of dollars in arms and paid soldiers' salaries. On Wednesday, Senator RichardJ. Durbin , Democrat of Illinois, said that assistance might violate the Child Soldier Prevention provision of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008; the Durbin-Coburn Child Soldiers Accountability Act; and the Durbin-Coburn Human Rights Enforcement Act.

“I recognize that the Somali Transitional Federal Government is trying to bring some measure of stability to that war-torn country,” he wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton dated June 16. “However, it should not do so on the backs of its precious children, and certainly not with the help of the American taxpayer.”

Carolyn Vadino, a State Department spokeswoman, said, “We continually press the Transitional Federal Government to make certain that they do not use child soldiers.” She also said the American government took “appropriate steps” to verify that the Somali soldiers it was helping pay were 18 or older.

Few young people in Somalia have birth certificates. One American official said the American government had gone as far as asking doctors to look over young Somali recruits before they boarded airplanes to take them outside Somalia for training. But still, the official said, several armed children were seen scampering behind tanks during a recent battle — and they were fighting for the government.

On Wednesday, the Security Council held a long-scheduled meeting on child soldiers and issued a presidential statement expressing its “readiness to adopt targeted and graduated” sanctions against commanders who deploy under-age combatants.

“This is the first step,” Radhika Coomaraswamy, the United Nations' special representative for children and armed conflict, said by telephone from New York. “For the last two or three years, the Security Council has not focused on this issue. Now at least they are showing the readiness for sanctions.”

Measures are already in place in a limited number of conflicts, as in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But the agreement Wednesday would make it a blanket provision in all the conflicts the Council monitors, said Marco A. Morales, the spokesman for the mission of Mexico, which pushed through the change in its role as this month's Council president.

Several international treaties cover the issue. While the American government has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child , which presses countries not to deploy soldiers younger than 15, the American government has ratified an optional protocol to that convention eschewing the recruitment and the use of child soldiers.

Also on Wednesday, Somalia's president, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed , said he was ordering the army chief “to conduct a full review” on the issue of child soldiers.

He said “the Somali government has not and will not knowingly recruit under-aged youth for the national security forces,” and the “president also instructed the army to demobilize any under-age recruits without delay.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/world/africa/17somalia.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

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26 Are Accused of Identity Theft

A Staten Island-based ring of Nigerian immigrants was charged with gaining access to the personal and financial information of at least 200 people, including active-duty members of the armed forces, and using it to steal in excess of $5 million before the scheme was stopped, officials announced on Wednesday.

The ringleaders recruited other low-level conspirators in five states, as well as in Nigeria , to launder stolen or forged checks, use credit cards and pick up mail, in exchange for a cut of the profit, officials said.

The list of victims included 27 banks and 20 members of the armed forces based in Fort Hood , Tex., including some who were serving in Iraq or Afghanistan at the time of the thefts.

“It takes a certain type of detached cruelty to victimize people in this way,” said Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly , who added that one member of the service returned home from duty for Christmas only to find his bank account cleared out.

After raids early Tuesday morning on private homes in Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens, 26 people were arrested. A total of 33 people were indicted; 16 on felony charges of enterprise corruption; the others on lesser charges, including grand larceny. Seven of the indicted remained at large, the authorities said, and the investigation was continuing.

The ringleaders were identified as Kazeem Badru, 38; Ganiu Rilwan, 46; and Okoronkwo Okechukwu, 32.

The thieves acquired some of the financial data by stealing mail, said Daniel M. Donovan Jr. , the Staten Island district attorney. He urged residents to lock their mailboxes, monitor their credit reports and alert the police to any instance of identity theft.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/nyregion/17identity.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

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Dad Will Really Like This

No more neckties!

Sunday is Father's Day, and we dads will be overwhelmed with neckties and wrench sets. We will feign ecstasy, and our loved ones will pretend to believe our protestations of pleasure.

But for a really nifty Father's Day gift, how about sponsoring a rat? Specifically, an African giant pouched rat, about 30 inches long including tail. These are he-man rats, the kind that send cats fleeing. What's more, we're not talking about just any giant rat, but an educated one with the rodent equivalent of a Ph.D.

A Dutch company, Apopo , has trained these giant rats, which have poor sight but excellent noses, to detect landmines in Africa. The rats are too light to set off the mines, but they can explore a suspected minefield and point with their noses to buried mines. After many months of training, a rat can clear as much land in 20 minutes as a human can in two days.

In addition to earning their stripes as mine detectors, the giant rats are also trained in health work: detecting cases of tuberculosis. Possible TB sufferers provide samples of sputum, which are then handed over to the rats to sniff out. This detection process turns out to be much faster than your typical microscope examination. A technician with a microscope in Tanzania can screen about 40 samples a day, while one giant rat can screen the same amount in seven minutes.

What man wouldn't pass up a necktie for the chance to be associated with an educated, supermacho giant rat ? For just $36, you can buy a year's supply of bananas to feed one of these rats. Or, for a gift more on the risqué side, $100 will buy a “love nest” for a breeding pair of rats.

Both options are at www.globalgiving.com , a site that allows donors to browse aid projects around the world and make a donation on the spot.

Father's Day tends to be less a celebration of fatherhood than a triumph of commercialism. The National Retail Federation projects that Americans will spend $9.8 billion on Father's Day this year. To put that in perspective, that's more than enough to assure a primary education for every child on the planet who is not getting one right now.

In fact, we could send every child to primary school and have enough left over to get each dad a (cheap) necktie. And if we skipped store-bought cards (almost $750 million annually) and offered handmade versions, the savings alone could make a vast difference to great programs that help young American men escape poverty.

Think of the National Fatherhood Initiative, www.fatherhood.org , which works to support dads and keep them engaged in their children's lives. There's some evidence that absent fathers create a vicious cycle: boys grow up without positive male role models, get into trouble and then become absentee fathers themselves.

Another group is the Black Star Project, www.blackstarproject.org , which seeks to get families in low-income communities more involved in the educational lives of kids. Or there's World of Money, www.worldofmoney.org , which coaches kids in poor communities on financial literacy and business skills.

For gadget lovers, how about a donation in dad's name to the National Urban Technology Center, www.urbantech.org , which helps low-income youths gain computer skills?

Or for those into automotive accessories or tools and appliances (almost $1 billion a year, by the way), why not rev up instead a motorcycle used to bring medical care to people in remote areas? An aid group called Riders for Health, www.riders.org , provides motorcycles and cars to health workers in Africa, along with rigorous training on maintenance and repair. Health workers end up reaching roughly five times as many patients as they would on foot.

And if you give dad a stake in a motorcycle at a clinic in Zambia, you can be pretty sure he won't crash it.

Wouldn't most dads feel more honored by a donation to any of these organizations than by a donation to commercialism?

I think so. My hunch is that family members, manipulated by commercial messages, think that they aren't showing dad enough love if they don't buy him something expensive. But give us some credit! The friend who suggested this column, Sam Howe Verhovek, noted the huge sums spent on cuff links and Best Buy gift cards and said: “I don't know about you, but I don't really need any of the above. A handwritten, ‘Thanks, Dad!' note from my kids would mean more than anything Hallmark's poets could come up with.”

That's the truth. But if you must pull out the credit card, this is my sincere advice: It's a rare dad who would choose a store-bought card over a homemade card; or for that matter, a necktie over a gigantic, bomb-sniffing rat.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/opinion/17kristof.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

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From the White House

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Opening Doors

Each night, 640,000 men, women, and children in the United States are without housing. The HEARTH Act , signed into law by President Obama in May 2009, mandated that USICH produce a “national strategic plan” to end homelessness to Congress.  Beginning in January 2010, USICH held regional stakeholder meetings, organized federal working groups focused on specific populations, solicited public comment through an interactive website, and engaged experts from across the country to develop an action plan to solve homelessness for veterans, adults, families, youth, and children.

We will be announcing the historic plan at the White House at 9:00 AM EDT with four Cabinet Secretaries: HUD Secretary and USICH Chair Shaun Donovan, Labor Secretary and USICH Vice Chair Hilda Solis, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. We welcome the country to join us during the announcement, by watching it live on WhiteHouse.gov/live . "Opening Doors" will be available at www.usich.gov  and www.hud.gov .

USICH is eager to share "Opening Doors" with communities across the country. After we release the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, the real challenge will be implementation. While by name it is a federal plan, the federal role is meant to be collaborative. USICH and its 19 member agencies looks forward to working together with Congress, mayors, legislatures, advocates, providers, nonprofits, faith-based and community organizations, and business and philanthropic leaders to achieve the vision of Opening Doors: “No one should experience homelessness -- no one should be without a safe, stable place to call home.”

Barbara Poppe is Executive Director of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/15/obama-administration-unveil-national-strategic-plan-prevent-and-end-homelessness

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From the ATF

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Forty-Six Gang Members and Associates Indicted in Large-Scale Drug and Gun Investigation in Greeley
16 Arrested in Massive Enforcement Action This Morning

DENVER — The ATF led Greeley RAGE Task Force (Regional Anti-Gang Enforcement), including the Greeley Police Department and the FBI , along with multiple other law enforcement jurisdictions, arrested 16 people this morning as part of a criminal investigation into drug distribution and gun possession by gang members and associates in Greeley, Colorado. Today's arrests were the result of a federal grand jury indictment on June 10, 2010.

On April 21, 2010, based on an investigation initiated by the Weld County Drug Task Force, a separate grand jury indictment was returned charging 13 individuals for drug distribution and gun possession. During the course of the investigations, 46 people were charged in four separate indictments. The two main indictments together include 43 defendants and a total of 190 counts. Of those arrested, some were taken to U.S. District Court in Denver, where they made initial appearances to be advised of the charges pending against them. The remaining defendants will be taken to federal court tomorrow.

Seizures during the two and a half year investigation include 1 pound of methamphetamine that was 98 percent pure, 6.3 pounds of methamphetamine that was 100 percent pure (worth over $500,000), 21 firearms (including a SKS assault rifle and three sawed off shotguns), one half pound of cocaine, one quarter pound of crack cocaine, nine pounds of marijuana, and 3.6 grams of mushrooms.

The first indictment (U.S. v. Miguel Angel Velasquez et al) was returned on April 21, 2010, charging 13 defendants with 51 counts of drug trafficking crimes, including conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, and more than 5 kilograms of marijuana. Two of the defendants are also charged with being felons in possession of firearms. Three of the defendants reside in California, and one in Mexico. The indictment includes two counts of distribution within 1,000 feet of a playground. If convicted of the main drug charge, these defendants face not less than 10 years, and up to life in federal prison, as well as a $4,000,000 fine. The second indictment (U.S. v. Venieto J. Montelongo) was returned on April 22, 2010, charging one defendant with four criminal counts, including distribution and possession with intent to distribute less than 5 grams of methamphetamine. That defendant is also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. If convicted the defendant in the second indictment faces not more than 20 years in federal prison on the drug charge, and not more than 10 years imprisonment on the gun charge.

The third indictment (U.S. v. Michael Wayne Morgan et al) was returned on May 4, 2010, charging two defendants with 11 counts of gun and drug crimes. The first defendant faces multiple firearms charges, as well as drug charges, including possession of a sawed-off shotgun, distribution and possession with intent to distribute meth, and using a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The second defendant in the third indictment faces one count of drug distribution. If convicted, the first defendant faces not more than 20 years in federal prison for the drug crime, and not more than 10 years imprisonment for each count of the firearm crimes. If convicted of using a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime, the defendant faces an additional 5 years consecutive to any other federal sentence.

The fourth indictment (U.S. v. Jeramy Antuna et al), charges 30 defendants with 139 counts of drug and gun crimes. Included in the fourth indictment allegations of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, as well as substantive drug trafficking crimes. Four are charged with distribution in a school zone, and three are charged with distribution while a child under 18 is present. Fourteen counts in the indictment involve firearm charges, including the possession of three sawed off shotguns. One defendant was also charged for maintaining a premises for the purpose of drug distribution.

A large scale operation, such as this, demonstrates the resolve of the U.S. Attorney's Office to work closely with local, state, and federal partners to make our communities safer, said U.S. Attorney David Gaouette. The indictment of 46 people responsible for distributing meth and other dangerous drugs and illegally possessing firearms should have a serious negative impact on the drug trade in Greeley.

This investigation started over two years ago as a result of information developed by our local officers in the Weld County Drug Task Force, said Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner. We then asked the federal agencies to join the case. I believe the results speak for the excellent working relationship we have with our federal law enforcement partners.

We are committed to a long-term investment of personnel and resources to fight violent crime in Northern Colorado, said ATF Special Agent in Charge Marvin Richardson. ATF has a personal stake in the success of our violent crime efforts in Colorado. Our employees are your neighbors – living and working and caring about Northern Colorado. From its inception in March 2008, the task force officers from the Greeley Police Department, and the Special Agents from the ATF and FBI assigned to the Northern Colorado RAGE Task Force have worked tirelessly focusing on attacking violent street gangs, armed criminals, and narcotics traffickers in Greeley and throughout Northern Colorado.

Let today's actions send a very clear message, violent street gangs and their criminal activity will not be tolerated in this state, said FBI Special Agent in Charge James Davis. Even though our agents, along with our law enforcement partners, have worked more than two years to infiltrate and weed out some of the nation's most notorious violent street offenders, our job to protect the citizens of Colorado is not over. We will continue to investigate violent street gangs to disrupt and dismantle their criminal organizations to make our communities as safe as possible.

Weld County is a safer place as a result of the hard work and collaboration of local police authorities and federal law enforcement agencies, said Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck.

I applaud the extensive and high quality police work and mutual cooperation so that criminals like this can be arrested to make our communities safer, said Weld County Sheriff John Cooke.

This case was investigated by the Greeley RAGE Task Force, which includes the Greeley Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ( ATF ), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ). The task force is in direct partnership with the Weld County District Attorney's Office, the Weld County Sheriff's Office, the Weld County Drug Task Force (comprised of investigators from the Greeley Police Department, the Weld County Sheriff's Office, and the Evans Police Department), the United States Marshals Service, the Colorado Department of Corrections Inspector General's Office, the Colorado Department of Corrections Division of Adult Parole, and the Rocky Mountain HIDTA .

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys M.J. Menendez and Kasandra Carleton.

The charges contained in the indictments are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/2010/06/061510-denv-forty-six-gang-members-indicted-on-drugs-firearms.html

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