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

From the Los Angeles Times

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

The crowd sings as the Christmas tree is lit in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse square.

Somali-born teen held in Oregon car-bomb plot The young man is arrested after dialing a cell phone that he thought would detonate a van laden with explosives in downtown Portland, authorities say. The van was parked near a Christmas-tree lighting ceremony. From the Associated Press November 26, 2010 PORTLAND, Ore. A Somali-born teenager plotted to carry out a car bomb attack at a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony in downtown Portland on Friday, but the bomb turned out to be a dud supplied by undercover agents as part of a sting, federal prosecutors said. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested at 5:40 p.m. just after he dialed a cell phone that he thought would blow up a van laden with explosives but instead brought federal agents and Portland police swooping in to take him into custody. Mohamud yelled "Allahu Akhkbar" and tried to kick agents and police as the arrest came, according to prosecutors. He was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton released federal court documents Friday that show the sting operation began in June after an undercover agent learned that Mohamud had been in contact with an "unindicted associate" in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier region. Mohamud is a naturalized U.S. citizen who has been living in Corvallis.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-naw-portland-car-bomb-20101127,0,3514856,print.story

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

Lack of funding builds death row logjam

Convicted killers have a hard time finding lawyers to handle their final appeals, which can be both expensive and gut-wrenching.

By Maura Dolan, Los Angeles Times

November 27, 2010

Thirteen years ago, Edward Patrick Morgan asked the California Supreme Court for a lawyer to investigate and challenge his 1996 death sentence for a murder in Orange County. The court has yet to find Morgan an attorney.

The inability of the state to recruit lawyers for post-conviction challenges, or habeas corpus petitions, has caused a major bottleneck in the state's criminal justice system. Nearly half of those condemned to die in California are awaiting appointment of counsel for these challenges.

This "critical shortage," as the state high court describes it, has persisted for years, despite lawyer gluts. The average wait for these attorneys is 10 to 12 years.

Criminal defense lawyers attribute the scarcity to inadequate state funding, the emotional toll of representing a client facing execution and the likelihood that the California Supreme Court will uphold a capital conviction.

"There are myriad reasons why dozens of lawyers who used to do these cases decide they can't afford it," said UC Berkeley law professor Elisabeth Semel. "I am talking about not going broke because you are trying to do the right thing for your client."

Prosecutors and death penalty supporters blame the culture of criminal defense work or, as Kent Scheidegger, legal director Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, put it, the zeal "to turn over every rock in the world."

"The idea that you have to pull out every stop in every case is excessive," said Scheidegger, whose group favors capital punishment. "There is a lot of pressure, but that doesn't mean the state has to or should pay for it."

Lynne Coffin, 61, a criminal defense lawyer who does death penalty cases almost exclusively, said fewer young lawyers are willing to take on the work. She said even she is uncertain whether she would have become a capital defender "knowing what I know now."

"It's a big toll on people to have clients on death row," Coffin said. "Even if they are nowhere near execution, they are very needy. Most have no family connections anymore, no money, no friends, so the lawyer becomes the source of everything.... Emotionally it is very taxing."

Financially, the rewards also are elusive, she said. Most lawyers put their own money into prison accounts for their destitute clients for extra food and other expenses, she said.

"I know people think they are eating bonbons, but it is so far from the truth," she said.

As a capital defender, Coffin has had to witness two executions, which she said disturbed her long after they were over. "And I am not going to any more."

Chief Assistant Atty. Gen. Dane Gillette, who has been pushing for more frequent executions, questioned whether criminal defense lawyers deliberately boycott capital cases to slow the pace of executions.

Defense attorneys scoff at the notion, but some individual lawyers do refuse to participate for ideological reasons.

"Their view is they don't want to grease the skids, they don't want to make it easier to execute somebody, and by representing someone, you are bringing them that much closer to the Grim Reaper," said Cliff Gardner, a Berkeley-based criminal defense lawyer who represents death row inmates.

Gardner is one of the few lawyers who have won death penalty cases before the California Supreme Court. His death row clients include Scott Peterson, convicted of killing his pregnant wife and unborn son on Christmas Eve in 2002.

"The idea that you are saving someone who is condemned under appointment by the court seems be the highest calling any criminal lawyer can have," Gardner said. "Standing between the death chamber and your client is why we went to law school."

California has more than 700 inmates on death row, the largest number in any state in the country.

"We are dealing with numbers the system can't handle," said Michael Laurence, executive director of the Habeas Corpus Resource Center, a state agency that represents death row inmates in post-conviction challenges.

Some experts believe the shortage will be met only when the state expands such centers, where lawyers are on salary and have access to paid investigators and paralegals.

Each death row inmate is entitled by law to an automatic appeal to the California Supreme Court. These appeals are based on what happened at trial. They often include allegations that a judge gave improper jury instructions, a prosecutor made improper remarks during closing arguments or that evidence was impermissibly barred or admitted.

After an automatic appeal, a death row inmate may file a habeas corpus petition, which asks that the prisoner be taken to court to determine whether he or she is being held unlawfully.

A habeas or post-conviction challenge is based on evidence that was not presented at trial.

For instance, a defendant may argue that a prosecution witness obtained favors for testifying, a fact not disclosed during trial. If persuasive evidence is provided, the state high court will order a hearing before a trial judge.

A lawyer who takes a habeas is required by the California Supreme Court to have experience both in trial court and in appeals.

Chief Justice Ronald M. George said many lawyers lack the qualifications to take post-conviction challenges.

"I want to distinguish what we do in California from what they do in other states, where almost any warm body will qualify," George said.

The George court has upheld 90% of the death cases it has reviewed, the highest rate of any state court, according to Santa Clara University law professor Gerald Uelmen. George attributes the rate to the relatively high quality of defense the state provides at trial.

But criminal defense lawyers maintain that many capital defendants receive inadequate counsel at trial. They note that federal courts overturn more than half the California death penalty cases they review.

UC Berkeley's Semel said the state fails to meet American Bar Assn. standards for death penalty litigation. The quality of defense counsel varies from county to county, and the state increasingly pays a flat fee for capital cases, which the ABA opposes on the grounds it encourages lawyers to skimp on their duties to the client.

Semel said an investigation for post-conviction challenge costs about $250,000, which includes pay for expert witnesses and travel. The state high court two years ago doubled the investigation budget to $50,000 for an inmate.

Beth Jay, principal attorney to the chief justice and a 31-year veteran of the court, said the court pays a lawyer $200,000 to $300,000 on average for a post-conviction challenge, which can take years. Several law firms that take such cases cover the unreimbursed costs.

Earlier this year, the California Supreme Court accepted a cursory post-conviction challenge from Morgan, the death row inmate who has been waiting more than 13 years for a habeas lawyer. The court permitted Morgan's petition to be a mere place holder until an attorney could be found to file a proper one.

By accepting it, the court spared Morgan from missing a key legal deadline while still giving him the opportunity to challenge his sentence later on.

Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown had urged the court to reject Morgan's "shell petition," arguing that the court's practice of permitting them has delayed the resolution of capital cases.

But Justice Joyce L. Kennard, writing for the court, said it would be "grossly unfair" to require "an indigent death row inmate who is untrained in the law" to prepare his own post-conviction challenge.

"What is causing the delay…," Kennard wrote, "is not that practice but this court's inability so far to recruit qualified habeas corpus counsel for each of the hundreds of death row inmates."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-death-lawyers-20101201,0,806172,print.story

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

Authorities cordoned off the suspect's Escondido-area house, where a large quantity of the plastic explosive known as PETN was found along with other chemicals and devices, leading investigators to believe there were all the parts to make a destructive bomb.

Escondido-area home containing explosives remains a mystery Authorities are trying to determine how, and why, a Serbian emigre obtained large quantities of explosive ingredients at his house, which is considered too dangerous to reenter. by Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times November 27, 2010 Reporting from San Diego Authorities are trying to piece together how — and why — a 54-year-old Serbian emigre acquired large quantities of explosive ingredients that could be used to make the kind of bombs favored by terrorists, including insurgents trying to kill U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The work of a squad of local, state and federal explosives experts is being made more difficult because the one-story, stucco house in a leafy Escondido-area neighborhood where the material was found is considered too dangerous to reenter.

Investigators carted off several computers and numerous written documents in hopes of finding a motive for the alleged actions of George Djura Jakubec, a naturalized U.S. citizen, who faces 26 bomb-making charges and two counts of bank robbery, all felonies.

Jakubec, who was on probation for a 2009 burglary conviction when arrested last week, remains in jail in lieu of $5-million bail.

The list of items seized from Jakubec's rental house in the 1900 block of Via Scott and his backyard represents a virtual shopping list for bomb-makers, investigators said. Among the items are several kinds of acid, as well as hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD) and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN).

PETN is a plastic explosive that was used by so-called shoe-bomber Richard Reid and is considered by terrorism experts as the weapon of choice of Al Qaeda bombers. It also is one of the main ingredients that the Transportation Security Administration is looking for with its new full-body screening and pat-down procedures for airline passengers.

Also seized at the house just outside the Escondido city limits were homemade grenades, blasting caps, firearms and 50 pounds of hexamine, a bomb-making material, according to court documents.

The house, where Jakubec has lived for less than three years, has been sealed. A San Diego County sheriff's deputy is stationed nearby to prevent all but residents of the dead-end street from driving by.

Jakubec lived alone in the house, which he apparently had ringed with security cameras. Neighbors said he kept to himself and was basically unknown to them.

His estranged wife, reportedly a Russian emigre, attended his arraignment Monday at San Diego County Superior Court in Vista, where he pleaded not guilty.

Rushing past reporters, Marina Ivanova said her husband is a "good man" and she still loves him, but that he had become "an obsessive collector" in recent years.

"He is crazy," she said tearfully as a sheriff's deputy escorted her to her car. "I think he lost his mind, he lost his mind or something."

Investigators who have been inside the house describe it in terms consistent with the habitat of someone classified as a compulsive hoarder.

The floor, tables, desks, chairs and virtually every horizontal surface were covered with papers, boxes, documents, cans, jars and other things. Even as they picked their way around the house for evidence on two separate occasions, investigators were careful not to jostle or step on things that could prove volatile or explosive.

Enough evidence was gathered inside the house for the weapons and bank robbery charges, investigators said. There is no suggestion that Jakubec was a suspect in the bank robberies before authorities searched the house.

The bomb investigation began when a gardener was injured Nov. 18 in an explosion when he stepped on something in the backyard. As the gardener was taken to the hospital, sheriff's deputies rushed to the scene of the explosion, which had frightened neighbors.

"Jakubec denied having anything explosive in the backyard, and appeared evasive and nervous during his conversation with the fire captain," according to an affidavit by sheriff's Det. Benny Cruz. "… During their conversation, Jakubec tried to change the topic several times and was not forthcoming with some of the responses."

Later in the conversation, Cruz wrote, Jakubec admitted having explosive materials.

Cruz said experts on the scene determined that the materials are "extremely sensitive to shock, friction and heat, making it very dangerous to manufacture and handle." The explosive materials, the affidavit states, are like those "currently being used in Iraq and Afghanistan by terrorist cells."

Jakubec was arrested on the spot.

Later, the Sheriff's Department's bomb squad sent a robotic device into the house to scan the interior. Bomb specialists also supervised several small controlled detonations. A stretch of nearby Interstate 15 was shut down.

Nearby houses were evacuated — residents of the two closest houses have yet to be allowed to return to the blue-collar neighborhood.

Prosecutors said Jakubec is an unemployed software consultant. He has a contractor's license and, in 1980, received a pilot's license, according to public records.

He told investigators that he makes frequent trips to Mexico, although it is unknown whether he bought the explosive materials there.

After the Thanksgiving weekend, bomb experts from a variety of agencies are set to confer on a plan to reenter Jakubec's house to gather additional evidence.

Jakubec is due back in court Dec. 3.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bomb-house-20101127,0,1306237,print.story

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

North Korea's artillery, rhetoric keep tensions high

Explosions from training drills in North Korea send residents of Yeonpyeong Island scurrying for cover. North Korea issues threats amid tension over joint U.S.-South Korea war games beginning Sunday.

By Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times

5:28 PM PST, November 26, 2010

Reporting from Beijing

The distant rumble of artillery practice in North Korea sent shell-shocked residents of Yeonpyeong Island scurrying to their bomb shelters Friday as a U.S. aircraft carrier cruised toward the region for military exercises this weekend.

Although the explosions turned out to be drills in North Korea, the reaction underscored the high anxiety level after an artillery attack Tuesday killed four South Koreans on the island.

The North Korean propaganda machine also kept up its unnerving stream of threats Friday, warning that it would unleash "a shower of dreadful fire and blow up the bulwark of the enemies."

The Chinese also are unhappy about the imminent arrival of the U.S. aircraft carrier George Washington, which is to participate in U.S. and South Korean war games that begin Sunday and are designed to deter North Korea from further attacks.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi spoke by telephone Friday with his South Korean counterpart, Kim Sung-hwan, to express China's "principled position" — as South Korea's Yonhap news agency put it — about naval exercises in the Yellow Sea.

The George Washington was supposed to participate in joint naval exercises in the Yellow Sea over the summer, but China launched such a strenuous campaign against the presence of the nuclear-powered carrier that the war games were moved farther away.

Those exercises followed a suspected North Korean torpedo attack on a South Korean vessel in March that left 46 sailors dead. North Korea denied any responsibility and China refused to hold it accountable.

This time, the Chinese reaction has been more subdued. On Thursday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao simply warned against any "provocative military behavior" on the Korean peninsula, without specifying to whose behavior he was referring.

The U.S. announced its intention months ago to conduct the upcoming exercises in the Yellow Sea, despite objections from China. But the maneuvers had not been formally scheduled this week when North Korea fired its artillery barrage.

A U.S. military official said the United States had not held off on setting the date for the exercises because China had voiced objections. Neither, he said, did the U.S. delay the maneuvers to give China the opportunity to pressure North Korea.

"This was not an anvil that was held over China's head," the officer said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

China's state-controlled news media have been curiously silent about the participation of the George Washington, although some hard-liners have been speaking out against it.

"Sending in an aircraft carrier is only going to make everybody in the neighborhood nervous and is not going to help the United States to achieve their goals. Nothing good can come out of it," said Xu Guangyu, a retired military officer who is an analyst with the China Arms Control and Disarmament Assn.

Others were more cautious, a reflection of the debate among Chinese scholars about the continuing misbehavior of its often-wayward ally, North Korea.

Zhang Liangui, a professor at the Party School of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and one of the most prominent Korea scholars in China, said in response to a question about the deployment of the carrier, "We have to admit, there are many problems that can't be solved unless the United States is involved."

Beijing has come under much criticism abroad for failing to rein in North Korea's Kim Jong Il, who made an unprecedented two trips this year to China, where he received a red carpet welcome at the highest level.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-koreas-clash-20101127,0,4350766.story

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

The online propaganda periodical Inspire offers how-to guides and explains what to expect in jihad.

The 'Vanity Fair' of Al Qaeda An offshoot group in Yemen is producing Inspire magazine, an online propaganda periodical with color photos and interviews with celebrity jihadists. Experts say the target audience appears to be disaffected Muslims in the English-speaking world. by Bob Drogin, Los Angeles Times November 26, 2010 Reporting from Washington As provocative headlines go, the editors of Inspire magazine chose a doozy for their inaugural issue last summer. "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom," it promised. The author of the crude how-to guide was identified only as "The AQ Chef." That's AQ as in Al Qaeda. The terrorist network long has exploited gory YouTube videos, fiery Facebook pages, hate-filled chat rooms, and other incendiary Internet websites to radicalize recruits and gloat over mass murder. Now the media wing of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an offshoot group based in Yemen, is producing an online propaganda periodical that gives pop culture a lethal twist. Color photos and glitzy graphics flank interviews of celebrity jihadists and reader-friendly stories, such as "What to Expect in Jihad," complete with a packing list. The slick English-language magazine, which posted its third issue this week, may appear like an Onion parody. But FBI and other counter-terror experts say it is no joke. The extremist rhetoric and blood-soaked Islamic imagery appears consistent with Al Qaeda's cult of death, and they believe it is authentic.

"It's like the Vanity Fair of jihadi publications," said Bruce Hoffman, director of security studies at Georgetown University. "It's glossy and snarky, and is designed to appeal to Generation Z."

"It's Madison Avenue, terrorist style," agreed Yonah Alexander, terrorism specialist at the nonpartisan Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Va. "It's much more sophisticated than what we've seen before."

The target audience, experts say, appears to be disaffected Muslims in the English-speaking world. The message: Embrace the mythology of martyrdom and take up arms against the infidel West.

"They're not looking to outdo the readership of the Economist or Time magazine," said Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA officer now at the nonpartisan Saban Center for Middle East Policy in the Brookings Institution. "They only need to inspire one or two people to blow something up in the right place and they'll make back their start-up costs."

After Inspire first appeared in July, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence and analysis office warned in a report that it "could appeal to certain Western individuals and could inspire them to conduct attacks in the United States in the future."

"Al Qaeda sees fertile ground for recruitment in Europe and North America," said Edward Turzanski, senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. "That's where the jihad retains vibrancy."

But Andy Johnson, former chief of staff for the Senate intelligence committee, thinks the magazine mostly preaches to the converted. "Does this really sell violent extremism and murderous plots to unsympathetic minds?" he asked. "I don't think so."

Inspire traces its lineage to a now-defunct Arabic-language magazine, called Al Jihad, that Osama bin Laden published in the 1980s before he gained infamy. But the chatty style and colloquial English of the new version suggests an American editor.

U.S. intelligence officials suspect Samir Khan, a 24-year-old Pakistani American. A shy youth with a stutter, Khan ran a rabidly pro-Al Qaeda blog and website from his parents' home in Charlotte, N.C., after 2003, drawing close scrutiny from the FBI.

Khan moved to Yemen last year and his byline is atop a first-person feature in Inspire's second issue, published last month. Under the lurid headline "I am proud to be a traitor to America," he described himself as "al Qaeda to the core."

U.S. officials say the journal reflects the growing influence of Yemen-based Anwar Awlaki, a radical Muslim imam who was born in America and now seeks its violent destruction. The charismatic cleric is quoted at length in Inspire's first two issues.

U.S. authorities have accused Awlaki of aiding in last year's slaughter of 13 soldiers and civilians at Ft. Hood, Texas, the botched Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner, and other deadly plots around the world. They have tried to kill him with Predator missile strikes and other efforts.

The third issue of Inspire, which appeared Sunday, was the most topical. It is also the most alarming.

Labeled a "Special Edition," it focused on the failed attempt to bomb two cargo planes headed to the United States last month. Authorities in Britain and Dubai, acting on a tip from Saudi intelligence, foiled the plot when they found PETN explosive compound hidden inside printer cartridges sent from Yemen.

The magazine urged followers to plant similar bombs on civilian and cargo planes and provided detailed technical instructions.

The goal of what it dubbed Operation Hemorrhage, the authors said, is not just to bring down aircraft, but to force Western governments to spend huge sums for new security measures, further burdening their faltering economies.

"We will continue with similar operations and we do not mind at all in this stage if they are intercepted," one article said. "It is such a good bargain for us to spread fear amongst the enemy … in exchange for a few months of work and few thousand bucks."

The magazine cover shows a blurred photo of a United Parcel Service plane and the sum $4,200 in large type — the supposed cost of the failed plot.

An article inside breaks down the bombers' budget: "Two Nokia phones, $150 each, two HP printers, $300 each, plus shipping, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses."

Photos show the LaserJet cartridges used in the plot as well as a torn copy of Charles Dickens' novel "Great Expectations," which was packed in one of the parcels. The title was chosen, the author explained, because "we were very optimistic about the outcome of this operation."

While Bin Laden's core Al Qaeda group traditionally has emphasized multiple simultaneous attacks for maximum impact, the 2-year-old Yemeni affiliate has embraced smaller scale and lone-wolf attacks that are cheaper to sponsor and more difficult to detect.

By publishing easy-to-read technical guides in English, Inspire says its goal is for wannabe bombers to "train at home instead of risking a dangerous travel" to terrorist training camps in remote Afghanistan, Pakistan or elsewhere.

The tactic poses some risk to Al Qaeda too. The instructions gave valuable tips to law enforcement and intelligence officials on how terrorists encrypt their e-mail, evade metal detectors and defeat other security systems.

Larry Johnson, a former CIA analyst, said the latest magazine mostly shows that Al Qaeda is a spent force that is trying to make the best of a failed attack.

"This is spin worthy of a Washington pundit," he said. "I think they're trying to maintain their image of being a ferocious, deadly organization. But at the end of the day, they just showed they were incompetent."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-na-terror-magazine-20101126,0,2931851.story

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

The radioactive shipment sent from Fargo, N.D., to Knoxville, Tenn., posed little threat

But its misplacement underscores the need to track low-hazard materials that could be used in small-scale terrorist attacks, experts say.

By Jordan Steffen, Tribune Washington Bureau

November 27, 2010

Reporting from Washington

A shipment of radioactive rods that went missing Thanksgiving Day was found Friday in Tennessee by the shipping company FedEx.

Though the materials, used for medical equipment, posed little threat to the public, the misplaced shipment underscores the need to track low-hazard materials that could be used in small-scale terrorist attacks, experts say.

The rods, used to calibrate quality control in CT scans, contain little energy and a low concentration of radiation, according to Sandra Munoz, a FedEx spokeswoman. The shipment was sent from Fargo, N.D., and was reported missing at its destination in Knoxville, Tenn. FedEx alerted all of its U.S. stations about the missing shipment.

The shipment was found at a FedEx station in Knoxville, with its shipping label missing from the outer box, Munoz said. All of the rods were intact and no FedEx employees were exposed to radiation.

Three shipments of radioactive rods were mailed earlier this week. The recipient notified FedEx when only two containers arrived in Knoxville, Munoz said.

The rods were packed in a metal cylinder, known as a pig, which weighs about 20 pounds and is about 10 inches long. Because the pig remained sealed, the rods did not pose a threat, Munoz said.

Though it was unlikely anyone could have used the rods to create a serious weapon, low-hazard materials are becoming more attractive to terrorists who are less interested in Sept. 11-scale attacks and more interested in creating fear and economic damage, according to Edwin Lyman, senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit based in Cambridge, Mass.

Lyman said such materials can be used to create "dirty bombs," which cause fewer casualties but can still release hazardous materials when they explode.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fedex-radiation-20101127,0,7114795,print.story

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

Kynan Barrios of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management demonstrates the use of a rescue pack along the All-American Canal about five miles west of Calexico. The canal, long regarded as an engineering, hydrological and agricultural marvel, has had another reputation in recent years: the spot where hundreds have drowned trying to make their way north.

A water-providing marvel — and a 'death trap' The All-American Canal, long an engineering, hydrological and agricultural wonder, has had another reputation in recent years: the spot where hundreds have drowned trying to make their way north. by Tony Perry and Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times November 26, 2010 Reporting from San Diego The All-American Canal has long been known as an engineering, hydrological and agricultural marvel, delivering enormous amounts of Colorado River water to arid Imperial County and turning a desert into one of the world's most productive farming regions. But in recent years, it has had another reputation: the spot where hundreds of people have drowned, most of them undocumented migrants from Mexico trying desperately to cross the canal on their way north. By most estimates, more than 500 persons have drowned in the canal since it was completed in 1942. The peak year was 1998, when 31 persons died.

Now, after much controversy and some reluctance, the governmental owners and operators of the canal have begun a safety push along the 82-mile gravity-flow conveyance, long stretches of which parallel the border.

Carrying the message "Aguas Mortales: No Mueras en el intento" ("Deadly Waters: Don't Die Trying"), posters and fliers are being distributed on both sides of the border to discourage people from attempting to cross the canal, where the current is swift and the water shockingly cold.

The fliers include a photo of a drowning victim face-down in the canal. Mexican television stations are running public-service messages with the same theme.

The Imperial Irrigation District is spending $1.1 million on the safety effort, including stringing buoy lines across the canal — every half-mile along the 23-mile lined portion and every mile along the 59-mile unlined portion. The hope is that people struggling to cross can grab one of the lines and maneuver to safety.

The canal varies in width between 150 and 200 feet and in depth from 7 to 20 feet. Lined or unlined, the sides of the canal can become slick and difficult to grasp.

At a ceremony last week outside Calexico, several agencies announced the formation of the Canal Safety Awareness Consortium. Included are the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (which owns the canal), the Imperial Irrigation District (which runs it), the U.S. Border Patrol, the Mexican Consulate in Calexico and the San Diego County Water Authority.

"Every immigrant saved from drowning affects a family — a family which keeps a father, a son or a brother alive," said Alfredo Sevilla Fernandez, Mexican consul in Calexico.

John Hunter, a physicist-turned-immigrant safety activist from the San Diego area, said the buoy project is encouraging but long overdue.

"There aren't as many [buoys] as I'd like, but it's something because for so many years they dragged their heels," he said.

His nearly decade-long campaign, which included his being cited for swimming into the canal to install a demonstration buoy, was resisted by Imperial Irrigation District board.

Board members' "callous attitude" went largely overlooked because of the area's remote location, Hunter said in an interview.

Finally, several media reports, culminating with a segment on CBS' " 60 Minutes," shamed the board into doing the right thing, he said.

The CBS segment, broadcast in May, termed the canal a "death trap" and possibly the most dangerous body of water in America. In August, the Imperial Irrigation District board voted to fund the buoy project.

Hunter is the brother of former Rep. Duncan L. Hunter (R-Alpine), who served in Congress for 28 years, and the uncle of Duncan D. Hunter (also R-Alpine), who succeeded his father in 2008.

Like his brother and nephew, John Hunter believes in enforcing immigration laws. A self-described "right-wing Republican," he is not an open-border advocate and applauds the use of cameras along the canal to alert the Border Patrol to intruders.

"I have no problem with the Border Patrol picking them up on the north side" of the canal, he said. "They'll still be alive."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-canal-20101126,0,3338597.story

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

EDITORIAL

The DNA non-redemption

Test results came too late to save Claude Jones from Texas' death chamber.

November 27, 2010

In 1990, a Texas jury convicted Claude Jones, a career criminal, of murdering Allen Hilzendager.

Jones and another ex-convict, Danny Dixon, had stopped their truck at Hilzendager's liquor store in Point Blank, Texas. One of the men got out, entered the store and shot Hilzendager. Jones blamed Dixon and Dixon blamed Jones, but Jones was eventually convicted of pulling the trigger on the basis of one person's testimony (subsequently recanted) and on one piece of physical evidence: a strand of hair found inside the store and identified as Jones' by a crime lab expert. That hair tipped the balance between life and death, because Texas law requires corroborating physical evidence in a capital case. Dixon is serving a life sentence; Jones was put to death in 2000.

This month, however, a DNA test determined that the hair did not belong to Jones after all; it belonged to the victim. With no physical evidence, there is now no legal basis for Jones' death sentence.

Some may argue that this miscarriage of justice was an aberration. But Texas' rapid pace of executions, coupled with its abysmal standards for effective representation for defendants, have long made the likelihood of wrongful executions exceedingly high. The state offers a prime example of why the death penalty, which requires 100% accuracy, is so difficult to mete out fairly.

In fact, the judicial apparatus intentionally blocked DNA testing on the hair. The prosecutor in the case sought to have it destroyed before it could be tested, and the district court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Jones' petitions for a DNA test and a stay of execution.

Texas is not alone in seeking to deny convicts the ability to prove their innocence. Despite more than 200 post-conviction exonerations based on DNA evidence, officials across the country still routinely try to stop it from being used. Forty-seven states permit convicted criminals to seek DNA testing — Alaska, Massachusetts and Oklahoma shamefully do not — but even in those states it is not readily available, according to the New York-based Innocence Project. Some states bar convicts who have confessed from post-conviction testing; others place time limits on requests. Alabama and Kentucky allow testing only for death row inmates.

The best way to ensure a just outcome to a case is to broaden access to DNA testing, not restrict it. And in light of Jones' wrongful execution, the states, starting with Texas, should make a commitment to using cutting-edge scientific methods to their fullest. It's true, as some argue, that the DNA test did not exonerate Jones. But it did indict Texas' judicial system.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-dna-20101127,0,7979442,print.story

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

From the New York Times

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

China Addresses Rising Korean Tensions

BEIJING — China engaged in a flurry of diplomatic activity on Friday, three days after a North Korean artillery attack on South Korean civilians, but its most public message was directed at the United States, which is about to begin joint exercises with South Korea's Navy.

In a statement from its Foreign Ministry, China warned against “any military acts in our exclusive economic zone without permission,” the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Friday. But virtually all the waters to the west of the Korean Peninsula, where the United States said the exercises would take place, lie within that zone, and American naval traffic is far from uncommon there.

Adding yet more tension to the situation, the North's state-run media also warned that the maneuvers could push the Korean Peninsula closer to “the brink of war.”

The West has hoped that China would use its leverage as the North's traditional ally to press it to refrain from further attacks, but the Chinese statement on Friday failed even to criticize the North for its shelling on Tuesday of a garrison island that is also home to about 1,350 civilians, mainly fishermen. The attack killed four people.

The Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, met with the North Korean ambassador on Friday and spoke by phone with his South Korean and American counterparts, but few details emerged about the content of their conversations. A State Department spokesman said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had called Mr. Yang.

Xinhua reported that Mr. Yang stressed that China was “very concerned” about the situation, saying, “The pressing task now is to put the situation under control and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents.”

In a statement about the joint naval exercises, which are scheduled to begin on Sunday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei, said: “We hold a consistent and clear-cut stance on the issue. We oppose any party to take any military acts in our exclusive economic zone without permission.”

This introduced into the mix China's decade-old efforts to equate economic waters, which usually extend about 200 nautical miles off a country's coast, with territorial waters, which usually reach about 12 nautical miles off a coast. In 2001, Chinese fighters intercepted and collided with a United States spy plane flying outside territorial waters but inside the economic zone, saying the American plane had violated China's sovereignty.

A statement from the United States Navy's Seventh Fleet, issued in apparent anticipation of Chinese complaints about the exercise, listed the number of times American aircraft carriers had operated in the waters west of the Korean Peninsula, including a mission in October 2009. The statement also noted that American aircraft carriers frequently visited South Korea and conducted port visits, including the aircraft carrier George Washington earlier this year, the John C. Stennis in March 2009, and the Ronald Reagan, the Nimitz and the George Washington in 2008.

The United States, which had already sent the George Washington to the region in response to the North Korean attack, made another show of solidarity with the South on Friday; the commander of American forces in South Korea, Gen. Walter L. Sharp, visited Yeonpyeong Island to survey the damage from the hourlong bombardment on Tuesday, which killed two civilians and two South Korean marines.

But North Korea remained defiant, firing off artillery rounds right after the general's visit. The rounds did not fall on South Korean territory, but rattled nerves on the island nonetheless.

A spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry, Kwon Ki-hyeon, said the shots appeared to stay within North Korean territory, suggesting that they had been part of a drill or perhaps an effort to frighten the South Korean garrison on the island, which lies within sight of the North Korean mainland.

News flashes about the new artillery fire set off a brief wave of alarm in Seoul, where Tuesday's attack has stirred anxiety and outrage. Local television there has been inundated with images of the damage to the island's once tranquil fishing town, where rows of homes had collapsed or been blackened by fire.

Most of the island's 1,600 civilian residents have fled, leaving only a few dozen mostly elderly holdouts, some of whom were shown scurrying into bomb shelters when the artillery was heard Friday. They told local TV stations that the barrage on Tuesday turned the town into a “sea of fire,” sending stunned and panicked residents running into the streets in confusion.

Video showed shattered furniture and scattered children's toys amid the rubble, and deserted streets whose only sign of movement was a few stray dogs. While much of the town was undamaged, the attack seemed aimed at important civilian structures like a supermarket and a post office, the reports said.

The scenes of civilian destruction and of the mothers of the dead civilians wailing at their funerals have driven home the threat posed by the North to a greater extent than previous provocations, like the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, which involved only military casualties.

Many of the rounds shot by the North during the hourlong attack struck Yeonpyeong's garrison of 1,000 South Korean marines, who are dug in around the island in concrete bunkers and machine-gun nests. Local TV showed photos taken during the barrage, in which fortified bunkers were engulfed in fireballs and pockmarked by exploding shrapnel.

The renewed shooting and stern warning by the North on Friday have raised concerns here that the North could respond violently to the naval exercises on Sunday.

American officials have been encouraging China to use its influence with North Korea to urge restraint. On Friday, Mrs. Clinton called her Chinese counterpart, Mr. Yang, American officials said. “Secretary Clinton urged China to send a clear message that the North's behavior is unacceptable,” said the State Department's spokesman, Philip J. Crowley.

Mr. Yang also met on Friday with the North Korean ambassador in Beijing and had telephone conversations with the South Korean foreign minister. “The pressing task now is to put the situation under control and prevent a recurrence of similar incidents,” Mr. Yang said in a statement.

North Korea represents a difficult foreign policy challenge for China. Among other things, China continues to stand by its neighbor for fear that its collapse would extend the boundaries of pro-Western South Korea to China's borders.

“The record is very clear: China is not going to implement any measures that impose any costs on North Korea,” said Daniel Pinkston, North Asia analyst for the International Crisis Group. “What else is there left for North Korea to do? Missile tests, a nuclear program and now an artillery attack.”

The South Korean government has come under intense criticism domestically for an inadequate retaliation for the attack on Tuesday. South Korean officials said their forces were unable to fully respond because they had been trained and equipped to thwart an amphibious assault, not a prolonged artillery bombardment. Only three of the garrison's half-dozen 155-millimeter cannons were able to shoot back, officials said.

Stung by the criticism, the South Korean president, Lee Myung-bak, ordered reinforcements to Yeonpyeong and four nearby islands, as well as more heavy weapons, and has already replaced his defense minister.

The exercise was announced over the summer without a date's being set; that announcement was expected around now. But after North Korea shelled the island, President Obama announced the date, making it a sign of Washington's resolve to support its ally in Seoul.

In its final form, the joint exercise will take the same shape as had been planned since the summer, according to military officers, and has not been altered by the North Korean attack.

Starting on Sunday, the George Washington, which makes its home port in Yokosuka, Japan, and sails with a complete wing of combat aircraft, will lead four other American surface warships in the exercise with the South Korean Navy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/world/asia/27korea.html?_r=1&ref=world

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

Saudis Arrest 149 Qaeda Suspects Over 8 Months

CAIRO — Saudi Arabia announced Friday that it had arrested 149 suspected militants from Al Qaeda over the past eight months, including many with ties to Yemen.

The announcement came amid renewed global concerns about the terrorist group's Yemen-based affiliate, which claimed responsibility for the effort last month to send explosives by package delivery companies to the United States. The affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has also said it plans to continue aiming at the United States with a new strategy of small attacks aimed primarily at damaging the financial system, rather than killing large numbers of civilians.

The recent arrests disrupted 19 Al Qaeda cells that had been raising money and recruiting members for attacks on Saudi government facilities, officials and journalists, said Gen. Mansour al-Turki, the chief spokesman of Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry. They included 124 Saudis and 25 people of other nationalities — Arabs, Africans and South Asians, he added.

Most cells were very small, were operating independently, and were in the early stages of planning attacks, he said.

Saudi authorities have announced large batches of arrests at regular intervals in the last few years. In March, they announced the capture of 113 Qaeda militants, including 52 Yemenis.

Saudi Arabia has developed a far more sophisticated counterterrorism program since 2003, when militants launched a string of deadly attacks inside the kingdom. In addition to expanded paramilitary units and surveillance systems, the program has included “soft” elements like a much heralded jihadist rehabilitation program and educational efforts.

The result is that many militants have fled to Yemen, where remote mountains and deserts, and the country's conflict-ridden environment, make it easier to avoid detection. Al Qaeda's Yemen affiliate has many Saudi members, and the group has made clear that it hopes to use Yemen as a base from which to overthrow the Saudi monarchy.

Yet jihadists clearly continue to operate inside Saudi Arabia, the homeland of 15 of the 19 hijackers in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Those recently arrested used the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, which ended last week, to raise funds and indoctrinate people, General Turki said.

Thomas Hegghammer, a research fellow at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment, said, “We shouldn't assume the jihadi scene in Saudi Arabia has gone away, even if most of these cells are being nipped in the bud.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/world/middleeast/27saudi.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print

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

U.S. Shuts Down Web Sites in Piracy Crackdown

In what appears to be the latest phase of a far-reaching federal crackdown on online piracy of music and movies, the Web addresses of a number of sites that facilitate illegal file-sharing were seized this week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

by Ben Sisario

By Friday morning, visiting the addresses of a handful of sites that either hosted unauthorized copies of films and music or allowed users to search for them elsewhere on the Internet produced a notice that said, in part: “This domain name has been seized by ICE — Homeland Security Investigations, pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by a United States District Court.”

In taking over the sites' domain names, or Web addresses, the government effectively redirected any visitors to its own takedown notice.

“ICE office of Homeland Security Investigations executed court-ordered seizure warrants against a number of domain names,” said Cori W. Bassett, a spokeswoman for ICE, in a statement. “As this is an ongoing investigation, there are no additional details available at this time.”

Among the domains seized were torrent-finder.com and those of three sites that specialized in music: onsmash.com, rapgodfathers.com and dajaz1.com. TorrentFreak, a news blog about BitTorrent — a file-sharing system that has tended to elude the authorities because it is decentralized — said that at least 70 other addresses had been seized, most belonging to sites related to counterfeit clothing, DVDs and other goods.

On Friday, torrent users were already discussing new sites that had popped up to serve them.

The takedown notices are similar to those that went up on nine sites in June as part of an initiative against Internet counterfeiting and piracy that the agency called Operation in Our Sites.

In announcing that operation, John T. Morton, the assistant secretary of ICE, and representatives of the Motion Picture Association of America called it a long-term effort against online piracy, and said that suspected criminals would be pursued anywhere in the world. “American business is under assault from counterfeiters and pirates every day, seven days a week,” Mr. Morton said. “Criminals are stealing American ideas and products and distributing them over the Internet.”

Ms. Bassett would not comment on whether the latest raids were part of Operation in Our Sites, and a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the major recording labels, declined to answer questions.

The new seizures also come as a new bill, the Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act, is making its way through Congress. The bill, which was approved by a Senate committee last week, would allow the government to shut down sites that are “dedicated to infringing activities.”

Critics have said the law is too broad, and could affect sites that have nothing to do with file-sharing; the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online civil liberties group, has called it “an Internet censorship bill.” Waleed A. GadElKareem, who operated Torrent Finder from Egypt, said his site was shut down on Thursday without any notice.

“My Web site does not even host any torrents or direct-link to them,” Mr. GadElKareem wrote in an e-mail, adding that he only links to other sites. “I am sure something is wrong!”

He added that his server was up and running at a different address.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/technology/27torrent.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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

From the Chicago Sun Times

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

On-duty cop, ex-suburban cop fatally gunned down

November 27, 2010

BY FRANK MAIN, STEFANO ESPOSITO, KARA SPAK, MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA AND TINA SFONDELES

The two men shared much in common.

They both loved cars.

The burglary of Peters' prized red Ford Mustang Cobra brought them together Friday at the garage on the Southeast Side where Peters stored the car.

Flisk, an evidence technician, was there simply to process the scene, but in a stunning outburst of violence, both men were gunned down, leaving their families and the police force reeling.

Peters had called the police after discovering the seats and radio were stolen from his car, which was parked in his mother's garage for the winter in the 8100 block of South Burnham.

Flisk had responded to the home in the South Chicago neighborhood when suddenly, two bursts of gunfire erupted about 1:30 p.m., according to neighbors. The men lay dying of bullet wounds — with Flisk being shot in the head. The killings mark the second murder of a Chicago Police officer in less than a week.

“It's surreal. Even when I was told, it didn't resonate,” said Flisk's sister-in-law, Gina Flisk.

Peters' wife, Djana Peters, was equally stunned.

“I don't understand why someone would do this to him,” she said, sobbing after visiting the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. “Everyone adores him.”

Peters, a military veteran, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he later died.

Flisk, a married father of four, was a 20-year veteran of the force. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he died about an hour after he was shot. Flisk comes from a police family with three siblings who are also officers.

More than 60 police cars, their lights flashing, headed in a solemn procession to the medical examiner's office Friday afternoon to accompany the vehicle bearing Flisk's remains.

Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said the murders showed how some people have no respect for human life.

“We will squeeze that neighborhood, and we will find out who did this,” Weis said, adding that police have scant information about the gunman or the motive.

On Friday afternoon, police armed with assault weapons searched door to door for a suspect.

Later, evidence technicians worked under bright lights processing the murder scene in the alley. The area was cordoned off two blocks in every direction. Officers were stopping cars and asking drivers what they were doing there.

In the Beverly neighborhood on the Southwest Side where Flisk lived, the officer's family gathered outside his home and embraced one another.

One neighbor, Tricia Fitzgerald, was in tears as she clutched her young son. Her husband also is a Chicago Police officer.

“They are the nicest people you would ever meet, just really wonderful people,” Fitzgerald said. “He was laid back and good-natured, always available if you needed anything.”

“He's the one who kind of smoothed everything over with everybody. He wasn't the oldest, but he was the one who kind of made everybody happy,” Gina Flisk added.

Michael Flisk and his wife, Nora, doted on one another, with his wife buying him a Harley-Davidson motorcycle last Christmas. Flisk's sons had parked the motorcycle at a neighbor's house, and on Christmas Day they pushed it in front of their house and woke him up to his delight. Flisk loved to ride it on summer days.

Another neighbor said Flisk was “always tinkering with cars.”

Peters also enjoyed fixing up cars. He was a former CHA and Robbins police officer, and most recently worked for AT&T as an engineer, his wife said.

He liked to race cars, his wife said. Peters was a member of a local Ford Mustang Cobra owners' club and had won several major awards at car shows.

Peters lived in west suburban Forest Park, but he grew up in his mother's home on the Southeast Side.

A neighbor, Avis Walker, 44, said she was sleeping upstairs in her home when she heard two shots.

“I sat up and heard two or three more shots behind it,” Walker said.

About five minutes later, ambulances and police officers arrived at the scene, she said.

Sources said no witnesses saw the shooting, but someone saw a man running from the scene.

Walker's mother, Frieda Walker, said there have been several break-ins in the neighborhood recently, including a man who tried to steal a vehicle from her garage. The man ran away when her husband saw him, she said.

“There have been a lot of shootings, too, but not on this block,” Frieda Walker said.

The slayings follow the fatal shooting Monday night of off-duty Chicago Police Officer David Blake, a SWAT team member. No one has been charged in Blake's slaying.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/index.html

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

$10,000 reward offered for info in slaying of cop 

November 27, 2010

The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the murder of Chicago Police Officer Michael Flisk, who was killed Friday while gathering evidence in a theft in South Chicago Friday. The Foundation can be reached at (888) 976-7468. Chicago Police Area Two detectives, who are also seeking information in the case, can be reached at (312) 747-8272.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/2925950,reward-flisk-slaying-112710.article

.