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February 20, 2011

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OPINION

The nest-egg myth

Nearly half of today's older Americans receive no income from assets such as stocks and savings accounts.

As the debate over the federal deficit heats up, Americans are going to hear a great deal about "greedy geezers" who are supposedly bankrupting the nation with Social Security and Medicare. Politicians will no doubt be more circumspect than former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, who, as the Republican co-chairman of the federal deficit commission, described Social Security as a "milk cow with 310 million tits."

The myth underlying these attacks (including Simpson's misogynist bovine metaphor) is that most old people don't need their entitlements — that they are affluent pickpockets fleecing younger Americans.

This image of prosperous geezers and crones is just not accurate. The notion of an aging population well prepared to take care of itself — not only in its relatively healthy 60s and 70s, classified by sociologists as the "young old," but throughout the "old old" 80s and 90s — is a delusion that threatens to undo 75 years of social progress that began when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act in 1935.

No generation stands to lose more from this fantasy than baby boomers, whose oldest members turn 65 this year. Because of financial losses in what will surely be known to history as the Crash of 2008, many boomers — especially older ones with less time to recover — may enter retirement in a worse financial position than their parents. According to a report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a liberal Washington think tank, households headed by boomers between the ages of 55 and 65 lost about half of their wealth between 2004 and 2009 as a result of the real estate collapse and the shrinkage of 401(k) retirement accounts. Americans at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale were the hardest hit, because for most lower- and middle-income families, their homes were their only assets.

Furthermore, only half of working Americans — the wealthier half with employers that match contributions — even have tax-sheltered retirement accounts. The average value of these accounts, by the way, was only about $45,500 before the crash — hardly a lavish retirement nest egg for boomers expected to live beyond 85 in unprecedented numbers. In just 20 years, the over-85 population is expected to number more than 8.5 million.

Los Angeles Times

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Hiding Details of Dubious Deal, U.S. Invokes National Security

WASHINGTON — For eight years, government officials turned to Dennis Montgomery, a California computer programmer, for eye-popping technology that he said could catch terrorists. Now, federal officials want nothing to do with him and are going to extraordinary lengths to ensure that his dealings with Washington stay secret.

The Justice Department, which in the last few months has gotten protective orders from two federal judges keeping details of the technology out of court, says it is guarding state secrets that would threaten national security if disclosed. But others involved in the case say that what the government is trying to avoid is public embarrassment over evidence that Mr. Montgomery bamboozled federal officials.

A onetime biomedical technician with a penchant for gambling, Mr. Montgomery is at the center of a tale that features terrorism scares, secret White House briefings, backing from prominent Republicans, backdoor deal-making and fantastic-sounding computer technology.

Interviews with more than two dozen current and former officials and business associates and a review of documents show that Mr. Montgomery and his associates received more than $20 million in government contracts by claiming that software he had developed could help stop Al Qaeda's next attack on the United States. But the technology appears to have been a hoax, and a series of government agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency and the Air Force, repeatedly missed the warning signs, the records and interviews show.

Mr. Montgomery's former lawyer, Michael Flynn — who now describes Mr. Montgomery as a “con man” — says he believes that the administration has been shutting off scrutiny of Mr. Montgomery's business for fear of revealing that the government has been duped.

“The Justice Department is trying to cover this up,” Mr. Flynn said. “If this unravels, all of the evidence, all of the phony terror alerts and all the embarrassment comes up publicly, too. The government knew this technology was bogus, but these guys got paid millions for it.”

New York Times

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New Hacking Tools Pose Bigger Threats to Wi-Fi Users

You may think the only people capable of snooping on your Internet activity are government intelligence agents or possibly a talented teenage hacker holed up in his parents' basement. But some simple software lets just about anyone sitting next to you at your local coffee shop watch you browse the Web and even assume your identity online.

“Like it or not, we are now living in a cyberpunk novel,” said Darren Kitchen, a systems administrator for an aerospace company in Richmond, Calif., and the host of Hak5, a video podcast about computer hacking and security. “When people find out how trivial and easy it is to see and even modify what you do online, they are shocked.”

Until recently, only determined and knowledgeable hackers with fancy tools and lots of time on their hands could spy while you used your laptop or smartphone at Wi-Fi hot spots. But a free program called Firesheep, released in October, has made it simple to see what other users of an unsecured Wi-Fi network are doing and then log on as them at the sites they visited.

Without issuing any warnings of the possible threat, Web site administrators have since been scrambling to provide added protections.

“I released Firesheep to show that a core and widespread issue in Web site security is being ignored,” said Eric Butler, a freelance software developer in Seattle who created the program. “It points out the lack of end-to-end encryption.”

What he means is that while the password you initially enter on Web sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Amazon, eBay and The New York Times is encrypted, the Web browser's cookie, a bit of code that that identifies your computer, your settings on the site or other private information, is often not encrypted. Firesheep grabs that cookie, allowing nosy or malicious users to, in essence, be you on the site and have full access to your account.

New York Times

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California School District Uses GPS to Track Truant Students

Not even Ferris Bueller himself could have gotten around this one: A six-week pilot program by California's Anaheim Union High School District is testing the use of technology to combat tardiness amongst the district's seventh- and eighth-grade population.

How it works is fairly simple. Students with four or more unexcused absences in a year—approximately 75 are enrolled in the Anaheim test--are given handheld GPS devices instead of detentions or prosecutions. To make sure that said students are in school when they should be, the students are required to check in using the devices during five preset intervals: When they leave for school in the morning, when they arrive at school, lunchtime, when they leave school, and at 8 p.m. each day.

And if that's not enough, students in the program also receive a phone call each and every day to tell them that it's time to get up and get to school. An adult coach also calls the students three times per week to check up and discuss different methods the students can employ to ensure that they're where they should be at any given point during the day.

"The idea is for this not to feel like a punishment, but an intervention to help them develop better habits and get to school," said Miller Sylvan, regional director for AIM Truancy Solutions, in an interview with The Orange County Register.

As one would expect, the GPS devices themselves don't come cheap. They cost around $300 to $400 per device, and the entire six-week program itself would set the district back $18,000—or $8 per day, per affected student. In this case, however, a state grant is paying for the program.

In addition, an absent student sets the district back approximately $35 per day—meaning that the GPS program will save the school district money if it can achieve the same success rate that the program has seen in similar pilots for other districts. Attendance rates, in total, allegedly jumped from an average of 77 percent to 95 percent during these six-week trials in other districts, with only slight dips in attendance following the programs' conclusions.

Truant students in the Anaheim Union High School District can face time in juvenile hall if prosecuted, and their parents can face fines of up to $2,000 for their children's' absences.

PC Magazine

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Loughner trial moved to San Diego: Federal hearing on release of new photos

Legal experts say the venue change could mean Loughner is less likely to be sentenced to death since California is considered to be less conservative than Arizona.

It was on Jan. 8, 2011, outside a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona, when Loughner went on a mass shooting spree killing six people, wounding 13 in an assassination attempt on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords who survived after being shot at point blank range to the head.

Loughner has been charged in federal court in Arizona with five counts of murder and attempted murder. State charges have yet to be filed.

A federal judge heard arguments on Friday in San Diego, whether federal booking photos would be released to the news media who has asked the photos be released by the federal government under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

It turns out that the “mug shot” photo of Loughner that was released to the public of him with his head shaven bald, looking wild-eyed and smiling broadly.was not his official post-arrest booking photo.

The newer photos taken by federal authorities, not the county sheriff's department, has yet to be released to the public.

The argument from Loughner's attorney is that the released of the formal federal booking photos, just one month after the shooting, would violate Loughner's privacy rights and again jeopardize his right to a fair trial.

San Diego Examiner

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February 19, 2011

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Somali pirates hijack yacht of U.S. couple on Bible mission

Jean and Scott Adam have been roaming the world for six years, using Marina del Rey as their mail drop.

Pirates off the coast of Somalia have hijacked the yacht of a couple on a worldwide voyage distributing Bibles, according to Somalia's U.N. Mission.

Jean and Scott Adam have been sailing around the world for six years on their sailboat, the S/V Quest. They have raced with the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, which has been their mail drop during their global odyssey.

Omar Jamal, first secretary at the Somali mission, said Friday that pirates in the Indian Ocean had taken four U.S. citizens captive when they hijacked the S/V Quest, according to the Associated Press. The other two people have not been identified.

The couple's website, svquest.com, shows that the Adams were on a journey this winter from India to the Mediterranean by way of the Arabian and Red seas. They had hoped to reach Crete by April, then sail to Istanbul.

"Djibouti is a big refueling stop," Jean Adam, a retired dentist, wrote of a stop that they were planning just beyond Somalia. "I have NO idea what will happen in these ports, but perhaps we'll do some local touring. Due north is the Red Sea where we plan to tuck in when winds turn to the north."

Los Angeles Times

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Chilean Priest Found Guilty of Abusing Minors

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — After an internal investigation, the Vatican found the Rev. Fernando Karadima guilty of sexually abusing minors in Chile and ordered him to retire to a “life of prayer and penitence,” the archbishop of Santiago said Friday.

The ruling, announced by the archbishop, Ricardo Ezzati, said that Father Karadima, 80, would be relocated to a place where he would have no contact with his former parishioners or “persons that have been spiritually guided by him.”

The accusations by former parishioners against Father Karadima last year stunned Chile, a conservative and predominantly Roman Catholic nation unaccustomed to questioning its priests, especially one as revered as Father Karadima. He had trained five bishops and dozens of priests, acting as a spiritual leader and father figure for young men who later accused him of molesting them.

The decision is a rare case of a powerful church figure being called to account for the charges of sexual abuse that have swept the Catholic world the past few years.

The Vatican decision “is going to mark a before and after in the way the Chilean Catholic Church proceeds in cases like these, or at least it should,” said Antonio Delfau, a Jesuit priest in Santiago, the capital. “From now on, every case of sexual abuse must be treated with meticulous care and not be based on the gut feeling of a given church official.”

New York Times

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New system to find missing persons unveiled by Pa. state police

HARRISBURG — A new alert system has been started to help find those with health or age-related issues who go missing in the state. Called the Missing Endangered Person Advisory System, or MEPAS, it is designed to relay information to the public, law enforcement and other agencies when someone with a disability or who is elderly wanders off.

“MEPAS will provide information about the missing individual to broadcasters to relay to the public. The information also will be sent to law enforcement and other agencies," said acting Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan.

MEPAS is not the Amber Alert System, which issues an alert when a child is abducted, Noonan clarified. “MEPAS is not designed to be used for such cases," he said.

MEPAS was established in 2010 through a bill in the state General Assembly. The state police were designated to develop and operate the system.

A MEPA will be issued only when all of the following criteria are met:

Potts Mercury News

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Hermiston Oregon to join ‘A Child is Missing'

A child is missing. Police get a call, and in minutes households within a one-mile radius of the child's home get a call from police, describing the child and alerting thousands of people to look for the missing child.

By the end of next week that will be a reality in Hermiston, according to Police Chief Dan Coulombe. Hermiston's newest tool for finding missing persons is a national program called, “A Child is Missing.”

The program has already helped police across the United States find 815 missing persons, according to Coulombe.

What has made the program successful is how quickly police can alert an entire community that someone is missing. Unlike Amber Alerts, the program has fewer restrictions and greater versatility, according to Coulombe.

“This is a lot more flexible,” Coulombe said. “That first two hours is really critical.”

A Child is Missing can be used for elderly people with Alzheimer's or mental illness, unlike Amber Alerts. The new program also needs less information and protocol to initiate an alert.

Hermiston Herald

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Man plans to plead guilty in Wash. to 49th killing

One of the nation's most prolific killers plans to plead guilty Friday in Washington state to killing a 49th person.

SEATTLE — One of the nation's most prolific killers plans to plead guilty Friday in Washington state to killing a 49th person.

Green River Killer Gary Ridgway already is serving 48 life terms. He's scheduled to enter a plea at his arraignment at the King County Regional Justice Center in Kent.

Ridgway already confessed to killing 20-year-old Rebecca "Becky" Marrero in 1982 as part of a 2003 plea deal that spared him the death penalty.

Her remains weren't found until Dec. 21 when teenagers found a skull in a ravine at Auburn, south of Seattle. Ridgway was charged Feb. 7. He was brought from the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla for the arraignment, where Marrero's family will have the opportunity to confront him.

Seattle Times

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Couple under scrutiny fought to adopt twins

In lengthy, single-spaced letters to Gov. Charlie Crist, Jorge and Carmen Barahona in 2007 portrayed themselves as loving and misunderstood parents, suggested they were victims of little more than a witch hunt by a guardian ad litem for their twins and pleaded for intervention from Tallahassee.

"If we have done anything wrong then let us be held accountable for it, which we have not done anything to (these) children," the couple wrote in letters obtained by The Palm Beach Post. "Just give them all the Unconditional Love a father and mother have for them."

The Barahonas became foster parents to twin brother and sister Victor and Nubia in 2004 and moved to adopt them in 2008, the year after letters complained of unfair interference from guardian ad litem Paul Neumann. Neumann had been appointed to oversee the interest of the twins pending the adoption.

"We were home raising our children with love, as any father and mother would do," when Neumann began raising questions, the couple wrote. "We did what any parent would do for their children, we stood up for them to protect them."

Florida Department of Children and Families officials acknowledge they received four calls to their abuse hot line after the children went to live with the Barahonas, three of them before the adoption.

On Thursday, 53-year-old Jorge Barahona was charged with attempted murder and is being held without bail in the Palm Beach County Jail. He was found in West Palm Beach this week with the body of Nubia, 10, in a black garbage bag in the back of his pickup. Victor was convulsing on the front seat. The children had been doused in still-unidentified chemicals. Victor is listed in critical condition in the burn unit of Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

Palm Beach Post

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Officer killed in shooting; 2 others dead in city

City of Poughkeepsie police are continuing their investigation today of a series of shootings in a five-minute span that killed a 44-year-old officer and left two other people dead Friday afternoon near the Poughkeepsie Train Station, police Chief Ronald Knapp said.

Police said a man apparently shot and killed his wife in a car in a downtown parking lot, then was fatally wounded in a confrontation with police in which a 18-year veteran of the department was shot in the head.

The officer, who was not identified, was said to have been fighting for his life following surgery at Vassar Brothers Medical Center. A second city officer sustained a dislocated shoulder during the incident, Knapp said. Police did not release the name late Friday night to allow his immediate family to contact their relatives.

The incident began about 1:07 p.m. when the man shot his wife in a car in a parking lot just south of the train station, Knapp said. When city officers responded to reports of the shooting, they confronted a man holding the couple's 3-year-old child. An officer wrested the child from the man, who then fled north across Main Street toward the railroad station.

During the chase, the officer and the civilian were shot on Railroad Avenue, on the north side of Main Street, just south of the train station, Knapp said.

The gunman and his wife were both pronounced dead a short time later, Knapp said. The gunman was alive when he reached Saint Francis Hospital but was pronounced dead at 2:10 p.m. Autopsies were to be performed late Friday or today, he said.

Poughkeepsie Journal

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Eleven Alleged Aryan Brotherhood of Texas Members Charged for Roles in Assault

WASHINGTON - Eleven alleged members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) have been indicted for their alleged roles in the 2008 beating of a gang prospect in Tomball, Texas, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Jose Angel Moreno of the Southern District of Texas.

The superseding indictment, returned by the federal grand jury on Feb. 16, 2011, and unsealed today in Houston, charges the defendants with violent crimes in aid of racketeering activity (VICAR) and conspiracy to engage in violent crimes in aid of racketeering. The defendants charged in the indictment are Zechariah Aaron Johnston, 31; Steven Walter Cooke, 47; Stephen Kyle Knebel, 33; David Bruce Harlow, 46; Robert Lynn Sheats, 33; Justin Northrup, 25; Benjamin Christian Dillon, 28; Rusty Dwayne Plante, 34; Johnny Ray Nichols, 35; Shane Everett Dallmeyer, 30; and Michael Raymond Burkett, 33. All of the defendants are from the greater Houston-area.

According to the indictment, in order to be considered for ABT membership, a person must be sponsored by another ABT member. Once sponsored, a prospective member must serve an unspecified term, during which he is referred to as a prospect, while his conduct is observed by the members of the ABT.

The indictment alleges that a prospect member of ABT sustained serious bodily injury after he was severely beaten on Sept. 22, 2008, at Cooke's home in Tomball. The beating was allegedly administered by ABT gang members because the prospect member violated certain ABT rules of conduct.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the VICAR charge. They face a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge. The defendants who were not already in federal prison are making initial appearances today in U.S. District Court in Houston.

Dept of Justice

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February 18, 2011

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Temporary Patriot Act extension gets final OK in Congress

The House passes a three-month extension of parts of the law, 279 to 143, and President Obama is expected to sign it. But the move only postpones debate on the issue, which has created unusual political allies.

Congress gave final approval Thursday to a temporary extension of parts of the Patriot Act, a step that merely postpones a burgeoning political debate over the controversial anti-terrorism law and its implications for civil liberties in the United States.

President Obama is expected to sign the legislation, forming an unusual coalition with Republican leaders to prevent three key surveillance provisions favored by intelligence officials from expiring at the end of the month.

But an equally unusual coalition opposes the extension. It's composed of congressional Democrats and conservatives — veteran Republicans as well as new lawmakers who won with support from the "tea party" movement. They dislike the expanded surveillance powers the law provides to government agents.

The three-month extension gives Republican leaders and administration officials time to forge a new political strategy and allows opponents room to propose changes before the measures expire again this spring.

"We cannot afford to leave our intelligence officials without the tools they need to keep America safe," said Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

But civil liberties advocates said the provisions lacked proper privacy safeguards. Foreshadowing the coming debate, Republicans said they wanted to make the law permanent, while civil liberties groups will press for continued expiration dates to ensure congressional oversight.

"There's going to be a tension between those who want to put some very modest checks and balances in the law and those who might use this as an opportunity to seek more spying authority," said Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union.

The political obstacles facing the law, enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, were not obvious until last week, when a vote in the Republican-led House that had been considered routine unexpectedly failed, exposing a substantial well of opposition to the act's intent and reach.

The vote showcased a surprising side effect of the political rise of the tea party: Conservatives chose to ally with liberal Democrats on privacy and civil liberties issues, forming a new congressional voting bloc.

Los Angeles Times

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Canada Hit by Cyberattack From China

OTTAWA — A federal cabinet minister said Thursday that hackers, perhaps from China, compromised computers in two Canadian government departments in early January, leaving bureaucrats with little or no Internet access for nearly two months.

The minister, Stockwell Day, the president of the Treasury Board, told reporters that hackers had infiltrated computers in his department, which supervises the bureaucracy and government operations, as well as in the Department of Finance, which is responsible for the government's budget and fiscal policy.

“Every indication we have at this point is that our sensors and our cyberprotection systems got the alerts out in time, that the information doors were slammed shut,” Mr. Day said.

He added that the attack, the latest in a series of confirmed assaults on government computer systems, was more directly focused than were previous strikes against Canada.

“It was a significant one — significant that they were going after financial records,” he said.

After the attack was discovered in early January, the government largely isolated computers in the two departments from the Internet. The computers have, for the most part, remained disconnected while security officials searched individual computers for evidence in case of a criminal investigation and to remove the compromising software.

While the attack was not confirmed until late Wednesday, shortly before a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation report about it, signs that something was wrong have been evident for some time. For the past six weeks, thousands of public servants employed by the two departments have either been staying home to use Internet connections or slipping out of their offices to use wireless Internet connections at nearby cafes.

The employees were not told why they had been returned to the pre-Internet age, creating what one Treasury Board employee earlier called a “weird” situation in which it was difficult to complete work.

New York Times

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Caught Unawares by an Anti-Immigrant Mood

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — When Mohamed Mejri, a Tunisian immigrant with a limousine business here, first learned that the State Department of Motor Vehicles had refused to issue him a new driver's license, he thought it was a mistake. After all, he had been a licensed driver in Virginia for years.

But last fall, the department stopped accepting his federally issued work permit, a document that was his main proof that he was in the country legally, because he does not have a green card.

Now, five months later, his business is collapsing, and bill collectors are calling.

Virginia changed its policy in September after an illegal immigrant from Bolivia was charged with hitting and killing a nun while driving drunk in Prince William County.

Her death hardened what was already a strong anti-immigrant mood in the state. Virginia's governor, Bob McDonnell, announced that work permits would no longer be accepted as proof of legal residence because they could be held by people who, like the Bolivian immigrant, are in deportation proceedings. The governor said other documents would still be accepted.

The permit, called the employment authorization document, allows foreign nationals to work in the United States. Asylum seekers, refugees and students are among those who have one.

For Mr. Mejri, who is 54, the permit is all he has. He fled Tunisia in 1992, and after living in Canada, where he had been granted political asylum, he came to the United States in 2000. American immigration authorities rejected his application for asylum, over an unpaid fine in Canada. By the time it was paid and processed, several years had passed, and he received notice that it was too late to reapply. He then received an administrative order to leave the country, but a federal judge ruled in his favor that he not be deported. Now he is in limbo, in the country legally but without any path to citizenship.

New York Times

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Life Sentence For Leader Of Terror Plot At Kennedy

A man described by prosecutors as the ringleader of a plot to blow up fuel tanks at Kennedy International Airport was sentenced Thursday to life in prison.

As he had at his trial, the man, Russell M. Defreitas, 67, sat silently through his sentencing as Judge Dora L. Irizarry of Federal District Court in Brooklyn said “the offenses that were contemplated here, that the jury found Mr. Defreitas guilty of, are extremely serious.”

Mr. Defreitas, a Guyanese immigrant and former cargo handler at the airport, was convicted in August of conspiracy to commit a terrorist attack after a trial in which prosecutors played secretly recorded conversations in which he planned the attack and described his hatred of the United States.

The recordings were made by a convicted drug dealer, Steven Francis, who worked as an informant and contributed some financial and logistical support to the plotters.

Four men were charged in the plot, including Mr. Defreitas and Abdul Kadir, who once served as mayor of Guyana's second largest city and as a member of the Guyanese Parliament.

Mr. Kadir was convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison. Another defendant, Abdel Nur, pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The fourth man, Kareem Ibrahim, has yet to be tried.

Prosecutors said Mr. Defreitas came up with a sinister plan intended to cause a chain reaction of explosions along a pipeline that runs between the airport and other parts of New York City. The conspirators hoped to destroy the country's economy, prosecutors said, and tried to contact Adnan G. el-Shukrijumah, a Qaeda operative with explosives training.

Parts of the conspiracy, as conceived by Mr. Defreitas, had bizarre aspects. He declared that he wanted the attack to be “high-tech” and “ninja-style” in execution, according to the tapes. At one point, he suggested that the plotters could create a diversion by flooding the airport's main terminal with a horde of rats.

New York Times

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Body believed to be Ohio missing mom, Tiffany Brown, found in her mother's home

BELLEFONTAINE, Ohio -- In a very sad turn of events a body believed to be that of Tiffany Brown, a Logan County woman missing since last week, was discovered inside her mother's home, police said Thursday.

Investigators say the body of 26-year-old Tiffany Brown was found hidden in the home's basement after officers searched the house and found what appeared to be a piece of bloody clothing.

According to police a man was living in the basement and was previously identified as a person of interest in the case.

The man, police say, is identified as Samuel K. Littleton, 32, the boyfriend of Brown's mother. As of Thursday morning police say Littleton has not been taken into custody.

An autopsy was scheduled to positively identify Brown and to determine how she died, investigators said during a news release.

Brown dropped her two children off at a neighbor's house on Friday when she went to run a few errands. She never returned to pick up her children, police say. On Monday, her Honda Civic was found parked at a Bellefontaine apartment complex with the keys left inside, 10TV News reported.

Brown's mother was informed by police, she said, that her daughter's cell phone was turned on Saturday and a call was made to Chicago.

Missing Persons Examiner

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ICE arrests 47 in operation targeting criminal aliens and immigration fugitives

COLUMBUS, Ohio - More than 40 criminal aliens, immigration fugitives and immigration violators are facing deportation and criminal charges following an enforcement effort spearheaded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in Columbus.

During the day of enforcement activity, ICE made a total of 47 arrests in Franklin, Hamilton and Butler counties.

Of those taken into custody, 18 were aliens with prior criminal convictions, seven had been previously deported who returned to the United States illegally after being removed, and four were immigration fugitives who failed to comply with a final order of deportation issued by an immigration judge. The remaining illegal aliens arrested were encountered by ERO officers during the course of the action.

One alien was encountered with the eight kilograms of cocaine and two garbage bags of marijuana. He had been previously removed from the United States and had an outstanding felony warrant from Franklin county for possession of dangerous drugs and narcotic equipment and was subsequently turned over to Franklin County.

The criminal histories of those arrested included prior arrests and convictions for a variety of violations; domestic violence, resisting arrest, aggravated assault, menacing, possession of drugs, possession of narcotics equipment, shoplifting, burglary and forgery. Since many of the individuals have outstanding orders of deportation or have been previously deported, they are subject to immediate removal from the country.

"A top priority for ICE ERO in Ohio is to locate and arrest criminal aliens and ultimately remove them from our country in a safe and humane manner," said Rebecca Adducci, field office director of ERO for Ohio and Michigan. "This operation is yet another example of the critical role that targeted immigration enforcement plays in protecting our communities."

ICE

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Human Trafficking Investigation Leads to Indictment and Arrest of 10 Individuals

HOUSTON—A three-year investigation into the trafficking of young and minor female Mexican nationals for the purpose of compelling their service as prostitutes at Houston area bars and restaurants through force, fraud, and coercion has lead to the indictment of 10 individuals, including the owner/operators of the La Costeñita Bar and El Club Restaurante, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced today.

U.S. Attorney Moreno was joined in making this announcement at a press conference today by FBI-Houston Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael H. Bonner; Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Assistant Special Agent in Charge Sean McElroy; Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia; Major George Rhyne, Texas Department of Public Safety; and Lt. C.A. Vazquez of the Houston Police Department; whose agencies worked together as part of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance (HTRA) to conduct the investigation leading to the charges.

The three-count indictment returned by a Houston grand jury under seal on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011, was unsealed today. All 10 defendants charged were taken into custody as a result of coordinated enforcement actions undertaken by teams of investigating agents last evening. All those in custody made initial appearances before a United States Magistrate Judge earlier this morning. All will appear for a detention hearing tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 18, 2011, before United States Frances H. Stacy at 1:00 p.m.

"I applaud the bravery of the young lady who made the 911 call for help in this case," said Moreno, "and commend the efforts of the agency members of the HTRA for the investigative efforts to rescue the victims in this case and apprehend their oppressors."

Maria Rojas, aka "Nancy," 46, a co-owner of the La Costeñita Bar and El Club Restaurante, located at 8403 and 8037 Clinton Drive, respectively, in Houston and her brother, Jose Luis Rojas, 38, who operated the La Costeñita as well as the locations adjacent to the bar located at 8303 Clinton Drive where the prostitution allegedly took place, are charged with conspiring to hold persons in conditions of peonage and recruiting, holding, transporting, and providing and obtaining persons for sexual services.

"The crimes alleged in this indictment are unconscionable," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard C. Powers. "While we can't erase the harm done by these horrible acts, the FBI and other members of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance will continue to ensure the victims of these crimes are protected and their traffickers are brought to justice."

FBI

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Statement Before the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security

Valerie Caproni General Counsel Federal Bureau of Investigation

Good morning, Chairman Sensenbrenner, Ranking Member Scott, and members of the subcommittee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today about how new technology and a rapidly changing communications landscape are eroding the ability of the government to conduct court ordered intercepts of wire and electronic communications.

In order to enforce the law and protect our citizens from threats to public safety, it is critically important that we have the ability to intercept electronic communications with court approval. In the ever-changing world of modern communications technologies, however, the FBI and other government agencies are facing a potentially widening gap between our legal authority to intercept electronic communications pursuant to court order and our practical ability to actually intercept those communications. We confront, with increasing frequency, service providers who do not fully comply with court orders in a timely and efficient manner. Some providers cannot comply with court orders right away but are able to do so after considerable effort and expense by the provider and the government. Other providers are never able to comply with the orders fully.

The problem has multiple layers. As discussed below, some providers are currently obligated by law to have technical solutions in place prior to receiving a court order to intercept electronic communications, but do not maintain those solutions in a manner consistent with their legal mandate. Other providers have no such existing mandate and simply develop capabilities upon receipt of a court order. In our experience, some providers actively work with the government to develop intercept solutions, while others do not have the technical expertise or resources to do so. As a result, on a regular basis, the government is unable to obtain communications and related data, even when authorized by a court to do so.

We call this capabilities gap the “Going Dark” problem. As the gap between authority and capability widens, the government is increasingly unable to collect valuable evidence in cases ranging from child exploitation and pornography to organized crime and drug trafficking to terrorism and espionage—evidence that a court has authorized the government to collect. This gap poses a growing threat to public safety.

FBI

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DEA Seizes Six Gallons of PCP in Detroit Michigan

Largest seizure of PCP ever recorded by DEA in Michigan

FEB 16 - DETROIT – United States Attorney Barbara L. McQuade and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Robert L. Corso announced today that on February 13, 2011, Eric Mitchell, a resident of Carson, California, was arrested for his role in a large phencyclidine (PCP) distribution ring in southeast Michigan. This ongoing investigation resulted in the seizure of more than six gallons of PCP in Detroit on February 13, 2011. This is the largest seizure of PCP ever recorded by the DEA in Michigan.

“This drug is infamous for causing users to act irrationally or violently, and is most often used in conjunction with marijuana,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Corso. “Equally as important is that it is such a volatile substance that it has the potential to ignite, explode or emit dangerous fumes (hydrogen cyanide) even when left unattended, making it dangerous not only to the user, but also to anyone in the vicinity of the drug. A seizure of this size puts a significant dent in the availability of a very dangerous drug throughout Metro Detroit.”

On February 14, 2011, Mitchell appeared on a criminal complaint before District Court Magistrate Judge R. Stephen Whalen and was released on a $150,000 bond secured by real property in California. A criminal complaint is only a charging document and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial at which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Mitchell faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years and up to life imprisonment, if convicted.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Carl Gilmer-Hill.

DEA

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February 17, 2011

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Agent's death may mean increased security for U.S. role in Mexico drug war

The fatal shooting of a U.S. federal agent is not expected to fundamentally alter the U.S.-Mexican alliance, but the expanding corps of U.S. personnel helping Mexico's drug war may face new measures.

The fatal shooting of a U.S. federal agent in Mexico may lead to new security measures for the expanding corps of American personnel participating ever more deeply in Mexico's drug war, but it is not expected to fundamentally alter the U.S.-Mexican alliance, officials said Wednesday.

Hit men thought to be with the Zetas drug gang or with the Gulf cartel killed the agent, Jaime Zapata, and wounded a second agent Tuesday afternoon after bringing their armored vehicle to a stop on a federal highway in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi.

"What we are seeing is organized crime fighting for territory … with repercussions we had not experienced before," San Luis Potosi Gov. Fernando Toranzo said Wednesday, blaming drug traffickers for the attack.

As new details of the incident emerged, the U.S. departments of Homeland Security and Justice formed a joint task force headed by the FBI that will work with Mexican authorities to track down suspects.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano telephoned her Mexican counterpart, Interior Secretary Jose Francisco Blake Mora, to state that violence against U.S. personnel "will not be tolerated."

Zapata, of Brownsville, Texas, and the second agent, Victor Avila, worked for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and were on temporary duty attached to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.

Los Angeles Times

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Judge urged to throw out plea bargain in sex assaults of disabled women

Advocates for the disabled say a proposed 8-year sentence for Juan Fernando Flores, who confessed to sexually assaulting three mentally disabled women, is an injustice.

Advocates for the disabled are urging a Los Angeles County judge to throw out a plea bargain for an employee of an El Monte day care center who confessed to sexually assaulting three mentally disabled clients, saying his eight-year-sentence was an injustice.

The proposed sentence for Juan Fernando Flores "does not reflect the harm sustained by the victims nor the severity of the crimes committed," Robert J. Baldo, executive director of the Assn. of Regional Center Agencies, said in a letter to Superior Court Judge Jack Hunt.

"We urge the court to reconsider this sentence in light of the vulnerability of the victims and the defendant's abuse of his position of trust and authority."

The association represents 21 nonprofit regional centers in California that serve more than 240,000 children and adults with developmental disabilities. Baldo's letter was one of several sent since the plea bargain was proposed at a pre-trial hearing Jan. 27 in his Pomona courtroom.

Los Angeles Times

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Armenian gang fraud cost victims at least $20 million, authorities say

At least 74 reputed members of the Armenian Power organized crime gang were charged Wednesday in a fraud scheme that cost Southern California victims at least $20 million, law enforcement officials said.

Authorities said members of Armenian Power, or AP, face criminal charges with potential sentences ranging from a few years to life in prison.

DOCUMENTS: Read the indictment

A total of 99 members have been charged in two federal indictments and by the Los Angeles County district attorney with crimes including racketeering, extortion, kidnapping, drug trafficking and identity theft.

Some of the defendants are accused of secretly installing sophisticated skimming devices that allowed them to steal customer account information at a dozen 99-Cent Only stores across the region, according to a 212-page federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

Armenian Power members allegedly caused more than $2 million in losses when they used the skimmed information to create counterfeit debit and credit cards, the indictment alleges.

Los Angeles Times

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Mexicans Knew They Shot U.S. Agents

MEXICO CITY — The gunmen who attacked two American law enforcement officials in Mexico on Tuesday, killing one and wounding the other, knew they were firing on foreign officers but proceeded anyway, current and former American officials said Wednesday.

But an important unresolved question is whether the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were attacked because of their work — more than one Mexican drug gang has expressed interest in killing American officers — or for another reason, like an attempt to steal their dark and presumably armored S.U.V., a vehicle favored by drug gangs.

The Justice and Homeland Security Departments announced on Wednesday the creation of a task force to work with Mexican federal authorities to investigate the shooting, which killed Jaime Zapata and wounded his colleague, Victor Avila. Mr. Zatapa was the first American immigration agent to be killed in Mexico.

The men were shot as they traveled in their vehicle, which had diplomatic plates, on a main highway to Mexico City from San Luis Potosí, about 265 miles to the north. Mr. Avila was released from an American hospital on Wednesday after being treated for gunshot wounds to his legs.

American and Mexican officials would not comment about the reason for the shooting, saying they had not yet determined a motive.

New York Times

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Florida woman pleads not guilty to childrens' murder

Julie Schenecker, 50, was arrested January 28 after police found the bodies of her 16-year-old daughter Caylx and 13-year son Beau at their home in Tampa. Both had been shot in the head.

Police said at the time that Schenecker had told them she killed both children the night before because they talked back to her.

Schenecker appeared in a Tampa courtroom with her hands and feet in shackles and flanked by three armed female deputies. Her public defender entered the not guilty plea at the three-minute hearing.

Her husband, Army Colonel Parker Schenecker, was not present. A family spokesman said he was out of town.

Parker Schenecker was on assignment in Qatar when his children were killed. He is assigned to Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

Julie Schenecker is being held in jail without bail. No trial date has been set and prosecutors have until March 25 to decide if they will seek the death penalty for her.

Reuters

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Ohio dispatcher helps solve mystery of man killed in Tampa in 1998

TAMPA — A curious dispatcher uncovered information that helped identify a homicide victim more than 12 years after his death, police said.

Chad Everette Griffith was killed Nov. 9, 1998, during a robbery involving cocaine at 9508 N 13th St. He was shot in the back of the head and the bullet went through his forehead, records show. Griffith, then 20, was from Marion, Ohio.

But until Friday, he was known only as "John Doe."

In 1998, Samuel Hewitt was charged in the killing and later convicted at age 14. Robert Hewitt, then 16, was convicted of tampering with evidence, police said.

Griffith's mother had reported him missing two years after his death and again in 2006.

Matt Cole, a dispatcher for eight years with the police department in Marion, was working his usual 11 p.m. shift this month when he found the Doe Network, a database of unidentified victims and missing persons.

Tampa Bay . com

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Secretary Napolitano and Attorney General Holder form Joint Task Force to Assist Mexico's Investigation into Yesterday's Shooting of Two ICE Agents in Mexico

Washington, D.C. - Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder today met to discuss the shooting by unknown assailants of two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents in the line of duty yesterday while driving in Mexico.

During their meeting, Secretary Napolitano and Attorney General Holder decided to establish a joint task force between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, which will be led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and will leverage the investigative capabilities of both agencies to work with Mexico in tracking down the perpetrators and swiftly bring them to justice.

"This joint task force reflects our commitment to bring the investigatory and prosecutorial power of the U.S. Government to bear as we work with the Mexican Government to bring these criminals to justice," said Secretary Napolitano. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the ICE agents' families and loved ones, as we are reminded of the risks and sacrifices undertaken every day by the men and women on the frontlines in protecting the safety and security of the American people."

"The murder of Special Agent Jaime Zapata and the shooting of another ICE agent provide a sad reminder of the dangers American law enforcement officers face every day," Attorney General Eric Holder said. "Working with our Mexican counterparts, we have already launched an aggressive investigation, and this joint task force will ensure that every available resource is used to bring the perpetrators of this terrible crime to justice."

During their meeting, Secretary Napolitano and Attorney General Holder underscored the United States' commitment to work closely with Mexican law enforcement in full support of the ongoing effort. They also reiterated their commitment to the U.S. government's broader support for Mexico's efforts to combat violence within its borders.

Dept of Homeland Security

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Statement of the Attorney General on the Shootings in Elkins, West Virginia

WASHINGTON – “Today's shootings in Elkins, West Virginia, demonstrate yet again the danger that our nation's law enforcement officers confront on a daily basis. This morning, while attempting to serve a felony arrest warrant, three Deputy United States Marshals were met with gunfire from a dangerous fugitive who was eventually killed. In fulfilling their critical duties, these courageous Deputies put their lives on the line and put the safety of others above their own.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Deputy U.S. Marshal Derek Hotsinpiller, who made the ultimate sacrifice today, and with the two Deputies who were injured in the line of duty. Their valiant actions and their service to our nation will not be forgotten, and the Justice Department's ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of all those who serve in law enforcement will continue to be a top priority.”

Dept of Justice

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Joint U.S.-Croatia Statement on Preventing and Combating Serious Crime Agreement

WASHINGTON – The United States and Croatia today signed an Agreement on Preventing and Combating Serious Crime. The agreement was signed on behalf of the United States by Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. On behalf of Croatia, the agreement was signed by Interior Minister Tomislav Karamarko.

The U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Republic of Croatia Ministry of Interior released the following statement:

“This agreement reflects, and further advances, the close collaboration between U.S. and Croatian law enforcement and border security personnel in fighting terrorism and transnational crime. It also provides an opportunity for overall security cooperation between the United States and Croatia as well as avenues in which to explore the possible further strengthening of such cooperation.

“The Agreement on Preventing and Combating Serious Crime provides 21 st century tools to fight terrorism and transnational crime, while protecting individual privacy. It reinforces our shared commitment to international cooperation and will help prevent known criminals and terrorists from causing harm to our citizens. It allows for fingerprint matching “hit/no hit” queries between our two nations, pursuant to which law enforcement officials in either country may submit the fingerprint information of a suspected criminal or terrorist to the other country for an immediate determination whether the queried country holds matching fingerprint records, while incorporating important privacy protections. If this initial inquiry results in a match, only then may follow-up inquiries be made through law enforcement or mutual legal assistance channels.

This agreement – which is modeled on the EU's “Prüm” Agreement – provides for the sharing of important law enforcement information regarding criminal and terrorists, while ensuring that the privacy of citizens is protected.”

Dept of Justice

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Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division Speaks at Armenian Power Takedown Press Conference

Good morning. I am pleased to be here today with my friend, U.S. Attorney Birotte, and our law enforcement partners to announce these indictments, and the arrest of more than 80 members and associates of transnational organized crime groups, including a particularly powerful one based here in California. Indictments involving members of these violent groups were unsealed today, charging 102 defendants in four cities: Los Angeles, Santa Ana, Miami, and Denver.

The California indictments charge more than 80 defendants, many of whom are associated with the Armenian Power street gang. Today's actions represent the largest enforcement action to date against Armenian Power, as charged in the indictment, a violent criminal enterprise that thrives on intimidation and fear, and profits from a diverse range of crimes. These defendants are charged with assault, robbery, kidnapping, narcotics and firearms trafficking, as well as various forms of financial fraud.

The crimes alleged in these indictments were calculated, wide-ranging, and sophisticated. Armenian Power's influence has grown over the past two decades. The enterprise's members have formed alliances with other gangs, such as the Mexican Mafia. Their alleged ties transcend prison walls and international borders, reaching all the way to various former Soviet bloc countries.

The California indictments allege more than 400 criminal acts intended to further Armenian Powers' racketeering enterprise. Looking at the allegations over just one short span of time – from August to November of 2009 – shows how central violence and fear are to this group's activities. From alleged armed business meetings meant to settle disputes to negotiating the sale of fire arms, the use of violence is never off the table for this group. In one instance, members allegedly kidnapped a local businessman and demanded $500,000 for his release. They even allegedly joked, as they threatened him, that he might die of a heart attack.

As charged, members of these organized crime groups and their associates not only trade in violence, but they also perpetrate large-scale fraudulent schemes. In Miami, 13 alleged members of an Armenian organized crime group are charged with committing a series of financial and health care frauds, extortion conspiracies and money laundering offenses. In Denver, another defendant associated with a transnational criminal group allegedly engaged in a bank fraud scheme over a ten-month period that resulted in approximately $400,000 in losses.

Dept of Justice

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ICE special agents brutally attacked; suspects sought by authorities

WASHINGTON - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent Jaime Zapata was shot and killed in the line of duty Tuesday afternoon after he was attacked by unknown assailants while driving between Monterrey, Mexico, and Mexico City. During the attack, a second ICE special agent was shot twice in the leg. He has been transported back to the United States and is in stable condition. Both special agents were assigned to ICE's attaché office in Mexico City.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Zapata family for their tragic loss," said ICE Director John Morton. "May the work we continue to do as an agency be worthy of a sacrifice as great as the one made by Special Agent Zapata."

Special Agent Zapata joined ICE in 2006. He was assigned to the Office of the Deputy Special Agent in Charge in Laredo, Texas, where he served on the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit as well as the Border Enforcement Security Task Force. He most recently was detailed to ICE's attaché office at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.

Special Agent Zapata began his federal law enforcement career with the Department of Homeland Security as a member of the U.S. Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona. A native of Brownsville, Texas, Special Agent Zapata graduated from the University of Texas at Brownsville in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.

U.S. law enforcement agencies continue to work closely with Mexican authorities who are investigating the shooting to ensure the perpetrators of this unconscionable crime are captured as quickly as possible. The full resources of the Department of Homeland Security are at the disposal of our Mexican partners in this investigation.

ICE

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February 16, 2011

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U.S. agent killed, second wounded at Mexico drug gang blockade, officials say

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, assigned to the Mexico City office at the U.S. Embassy, were driving toward the northern city of Monterrey when attacked, U.S. officials say.

A U.S. federal agent was shot dead Tuesday and a second wounded when they were intercepted by gunmen as they drove from Mexico City into a part of central Mexico increasingly under the influence of violent drug traffickers, officials said.

The two special agents were with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and were apparently ambushed at the kind of fake roadblock often set up by traffickers and their henchmen.

The agents, whose identities were not immediately released, were attached to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. The agent who was killed was usually stationed in Laredo, Texas, a U.S. source said, and was on temporary duty at the embassy in Mexico City. His family has been notified of his death.

The pair were driving from the capital toward the northern city of Monterrey when they were attacked in the state of San Luis Potosi, U.S. authorities said.

There were conflicting reports on exactly where in San Luis Potosi state the agents were shot. Several Mexican sources put the shooting on Highway 57 between the cities of Queretaro and San Luis Potosi, roughly a third of the way from Mexico City to Monterrey. The attack occurred about 3 p.m.

Gunmen apparently blocked the road, placing their vehicles across the highway and forcing the agents to a stop. Then they opened fire.

Los Angeles Times

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A true terrorism list

Does the U.S. keep countries on the list because they're genuinely sponsors of terrorism, or because it wants to punish their governments for other reasons?

Last fall, President Obama offered a sweet deal to one of the most reviled regimes on Earth: If the government of Sudan would allow a referendum on secession by the southern half of the country and abide by the election results, the United States would take steps to remove the country from the State Department's list of terrorism sponsors. The election went off, the south voted overwhelmingly to secede, and now the administration is reportedly moving to honor its promise — to the chagrin of many human rights advocates who point out that the Khartoum regime committed genocide in the Darfur region and conditions there have not improved a whit.

Whether the administration should be rewarding the government for good behavior in the south even as it continues to commit atrocities in the west is a thorny foreign policy question. But we have a more straightforward one: Why does Washington keep a terrorism list, anyway? Do we keep countries on the list because they're genuinely sponsors of terrorism, or because we want to punish their governments for other reasons? And if it's the latter, which recent events seem to indicate, wouldn't it be more honest and effective to keep separate lists, one for exporters of terrorism and others for human rights violators or other bad actors?

Designation on the terrorism list carries hefty economic sanctions, including a variety of financial restrictions, a ban on defense exports and sales and other penalties. There are currently only four countries on it: Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. There were five until 2008, but the Bush administration removed North Korea to reward Pyongyang for cooperating on nuclear issues. After it became clear that the cooperation was illusory, the Obama administration considered putting it back on the list — but ultimately opted not to after a classified study indicated that Pyongyang wasn't sponsoring international terrorism. Details, details.

Los Angeles Times

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Lawsuit Says Military Is Rife With Sexual Abuse

WASHINGTON — A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses the Department of Defense of allowing a military culture that fails to prevent rape and sexual assault, and of mishandling cases that were brought to its attention, thus violating the plaintiffs' constitutional rights.

The suit — brought by 2 men and 15 women, both veterans and active-duty service members — specifically claims that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and his predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, “ran institutions in which perpetrators were promoted and where military personnel openly mocked and flouted the modest Congressionally mandated institutional reforms.”

It also says the two defense secretaries failed “to take reasonable steps to prevent plaintiffs from being repeatedly raped, sexually assaulted and sexually harassed by federal military personnel.”

Myla Haider, a former Army sergeant and a plaintiff in the suit, said she was raped in 2002 while interning in Korea with the military's Criminal Investigative Command. “It is an atmosphere of zero accountability in leadership, period,” she said an interview.

Ms. Haider, who appeared with other plaintiffs at a news conference earlier Tuesday at the National Press Club, said: “The policies that are put in place are extremely ineffectual. There was severe maltreatment in these cases, and there was no accountability whatsoever. And soldiers in general who make any type of complaint in the military are subject to retaliation and have no means of defending themselves.”

New York Times

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Sheriff Wants a Big Jail in New Orleans, but City Balks

NEW ORLEANS — Even in the context of Louisiana, which has the highest incarceration rate in the United States, which in turn has the highest incarceration rate in the world, the numbers stand out. This city, by any measure, puts a lot of people in jail.

So when the sheriff proposed a large new jail complex, it came as no surprise. The surprise was that the city pushed back.

It has been said so often as to become hackneyed, but the destruction from Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding has allowed New Orleans to reconsider nearly everything.

Not all the proposed changes have been universally welcomed, but by wide agreement, the targets of reform have been ripe. A struggling school system, an ineffective tax assessment structure and a profoundly troubled police force are either undergoing an overhaul or facing one.

Then came the jail. Or, to be precise, then came Sheriff Marlin N. Gusman of Orleans Parish last April, with a proposal for badly needed new facilities to replace those damaged by flooding.

The proposal states that the sheriff's department's long-term goal is to have room for about 4,500 inmates, with extra capacity to account for fluctuations. This would make the jail substantially smaller than it was before the storm. It would still, however, be more than four times larger than the national average, based on the city's size

New York Times

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Pennsylvania Employees Fired in Clinic Inquiry

Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania said Tuesday that several state workers had been fired and the state's abortion clinics would be subjected to stricter oversight as a result of an investigation into a Philadelphia clinic where, according to the district attorney, a woman and seven newborn babies were killed in deplorable conditions.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, who ran the clinic, the Women's Medical Society, was indicted by a grand jury last month on eight counts of murder. The grand jury report found that babies were born alive in the clinic but were killed when their spinal cords cut with scissors by clinic staff members. At least two women died during abortion procedures.

“This doesn't even rise to the level of government run amok,” Governor Corbett said in a statement. “It was government not running at all. To call this unacceptable doesn't say enough. It's despicable.”

Governor Corbett ordered the state's abortion clinics to be inspected at least once a year and said clinics that fail to meet basic state health standards would be closed, at least temporarily.

Pennsylvania abortion clinics will also have unannounced inspections, including during evenings and weekends. The results will be posted online.

Governor Corbett said 11 state employees had been dismissed or resigned since the conditions at Dr. Gosnell's clinic became public. The clinic's practices had been the subject of numerous complaints for at least a decade before it was closed.

New York Times

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Dangerous Threats

Representative Denny Rehberg, a Republican and Montana's House member, boasts that he brings Made-in-Montana solutions to Washington. His latest, proposed last week in a speech advocating states' rights to the State Legislature, is to put a judge “on the Endangered Species List.”

The congressman had in mind Judge Donald Molloy of the Federal District Court for Montana, though he didn't name him, because of a ruling the judge made reinstating protection of the Endangered Species Act for gray wolves. He did not mean that Judge Molloy should be protected and nurtured, which is the actual purpose of the species law.

Mr. Rehberg's spokesman said: “Denny did not threaten anyone, let alone a federal judge. Nor would he.” But to the judge's children, writing in protest on Sunday in The Independent Record, a daily newspaper in Helena, Mont., the words made a threat, “either veiled or outright,” and that was “not acceptable.”

Taking Mr. Rehberg's spokesman at his word, the idea that a judge should be singled out in political retribution because a congressman doesn't like his rulings is outrageous. As the judge's children wrote, a judge has “a constitutional responsibility to interpret and apply the laws that Congress enacts, based on the facts and law presented in the courtroom, and not on public opinion.”

Mr. Rehberg, who likes to quote Thomas Jefferson when it suits him, should re-read the Constitution. The judiciary is a separate, co-equal branch of government. Federal judges have life tenure in order to make impartial and independent judgments. Mr. Rehberg should protect the judge from political pressure, not subject him to a nasty kind that encourages others to do the same.

New York Times

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Food prices push millions into poverty

Rising food prices pushed tens of millions of people into extreme poverty last year and are reaching "dangerous levels" in some countries, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Tuesday as he released new data showing that the cost of grain and other staples is near a historic high.

The costs of some key commodities such as wheat have doubled in the past year, and a World Bank index of overall food costs rose 15 percent from October through January. The bank's food price index, which covers the costs of grain, sugar, food oils and other staples, is just 3 percent below its historic high in 2008 - a level that touched off food riots in several countries.

Zoellick urged major nations to collaborate on ways to temper the rapid price swings that can lead to shortages in the economically weakest nations and prompt others to stockpile grain or restrict exports.

"It's poor people who are now facing incredible pressure to feed themselves and their families," Zoellick said, noting that food inflation was "an aggravating factor" in the unrest that started in Tunisia and spread to Egypt and other countries.

According to the bank's data, rising food costs pushed an additional 44 million people below the threshold of extreme poverty, meaning they are surviving on the equivalent of $1.25 per day. It also threatens to undermine public budgets in places such as Albania and Tajikistan that rely heavily on imported food and have little ability to pay more.

Finance ministers from the Group of 20 economic powers meet in Paris this weekend and are expected to discuss ways to stabilize world food prices, in addition to continuing debate on currency issues and other global economic policies. The G-20 established in 2009 what was envisioned as a $20 billion fund to help the poorest countries cope with higher food costs and is now expected to focus on ways to make world food markets function better, a senior Treasury official said Tuesday.

Washington Post

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Falsely-Accused Man Says State Keeping Daughter From Him

(Video on site)

KANSAS CITY, MO. - An Iowa man who was falsely accused of kidnapping his daughter says that the state of Missouri still won't give him custody of the child.

James Guyer, 24, surrendered to authorities after discovering that an Amber Alert had been issued by Cass County authorities for his child, 2-year-old Syah Duffey. The child's mother, Sharon Duffey, pleaded guilty to filing a false report in the case.

Guyer says he arranged to pick up his daughter from Duffey back in November. Duffey even provided him this note saying she was voluntarily giving the child to her father. As he took his daughter back to Iowa, duffey says he was startled to learn that an Amber Alert had been issued to find her.

"I didn't know what to think," said Guyer. "I pulled over on gravel road. I didn't know what to do. Because for the second time I was going to lose my daughter."

Guyer says getting his daughter was the first step in reuniting his family. He says Sharon Duffey was supposed to follow and move back to Iowa. But in court documents, Duffey told dectectives she was afraid of her mother's reaction to reuniting with Guyer. That's why she concocted a story about turning over Syah to a woman who claimed to be from the Division of Family Services.

After learning of the Amber Alert, Guyer says he turned himself in to the Iowa State Patrol.

FOX 4 KC.com

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Legislature mulls 'Blue Alert' system to quickly track down cop killers

PARKLAND, Wash. -- An effort to quickly track down cop killers is moving through the state Legislature. It's called a '"Blue Alert" and it's operated the same way as an Amber Alert.

The man who gunned down four Lakewood officers at the Forza Coffee shop in Parkland was on the run for three days before a Seattle police officer shot and killed him. There's speculation that had there been a Blue Alert, Maurice Clemmons might have been caught sooner.

The families of the fallen officers and the families of all law enforcement say they lived in fear Clemmons would try to take more lives.

"For two days following the attack while the suspect was on the loose, the anxiety I went through was nearly crippling," said police wife Keriann Shumate.

It was the same in the days following the shooting of Seattle officer Timothy Brenton, as officers closed in on suspect Christopher Monfort.

"And so when I think about people like Lisa Brenton and the Lakewood families who didn't have the luxury of knowing the person who had killed their spouse was in custody, I just can't imagine what that feels like," said police widow Rene Maher.

Maher was there pleading with state lawmakers to launch a Blue Alert system, which would get the public's help in finding cop killers, or those who attack cops.

Komo News

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From the Department of Homeland Security

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Joint DHS-DOJ "Operation Protect Our Children" Seizes Website Domains Involved in Advertising and Distributing Child Pornography

Washington, D.C.—The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced the execution of seizure warrants against 10 domain names of websites engaged in the advertisement and distribution of child pornography as part of "Operation Protect Our Children"—a new joint operation between DOJ and DHS' U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to target sites that provide child pornography.

"Each year, far too many children fall prey to sexual predators and all too often, these heinous acts are recorded in photos and on video and released on the Internet," said Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. "DHS is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to shut down websites that promote child pornography to protect these children from further victimization."

"For all its positive impact, the Internet has also unfortunately created a new way for child predators to commit their inexcusable crimes," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division. "The production and distribution of child pornography wreak havoc on innocent lives. With these domain seizures, we are taking our fight against child pornography to websites that facilitate the exchange of these abusive images."

This enforcement action was spearheaded by ICE's Cyber Crimes Center (C3), under a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children. Individuals attempting to access the seized websites will now find a banner notifying them that the domain name of that website has been seized by federal authorities.

"Operation Protect Our Children" leverages the resources of ICE Homeland Security Investigations, the DOJ Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and the DOJ Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section to investigate and prepare seizure warrants against the domain names of websites that host child pornography.

Dept of Homeland Security

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Secretary Napolitano Announces "If You See Something, Say Something™" Campaign Partnership with NBA

Washington, D.C. - Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today joined National Basketball Association (NBA) Commissioner David Stern to announce a new partnership between the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) "If You See Something, Say Something™" public awareness campaign and the NBA—an effort that will help ensure the security of fans, players and employees by encouraging fans to identify and report suspicious activity.

"Every citizen plays a critical role in identifying and reporting suspicious activities and threats," said Secretary Napolitano. "Our partnership with the NBA to bring the "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign to professional basketball events throughout the nation is a vital part of our efforts to ensure the safety of players, employees and fans."

The "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign—originally implemented by New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and now licensed to DHS for a nationwide campaign—is a simple and effective program to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.

The "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign partnership with the NBA will "tip-off" during the NBA's "Jam Session" events and NBA All Star Game this coming weekend in Los Angeles, with the "If You See Something, Say Something™" message appearing on TV monitors and other print materials around the arenas. During today's announcement, Secretary Napolitano and Commissioner Stern also applauded the critical efforts of the City of Los Angeles—including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles Police Department and iWatch campaign in providing robust security at this weekend's events.

Dept of Homeland Security

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Statement by Secretary Napolitano

“I'm deeply saddened by the news that earlier today, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents assigned to the ICE Attaché office in Mexico City were shot in the line of duty while driving between Mexico City and Monterrey by unknown assailants.

One agent was critically wounded in this attack and died from his injuries. The second agent was shot in the arm and leg and remains in stable condition.

U.S. law enforcement agencies are working closely with Mexican authorities who are investigating the shooting to ensure the perpetrators of this unconscionable crime are captured as quickly as possible.

Let me be clear: any act of violence against our ICE personnel – or any DHS personnel – is an attack against all those who serve our nation and put their lives at risk for our safety. The full resources of our Department are at the disposal of our Mexican partners in this investigation. We remain committed in our broader support for Mexico's efforts to combat violence within its borders.

I ask that you join me in praying for our fallen and wounded colleagues. Please keep them, and all our DHS personnel serving abroad or in harm's way, in your thoughts.”

Dept of Homeland Security

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February 15, 2011

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Lawsuit challenges curfews imposed by gang injunctions

In their ongoing battle against the city's entrenched gangs, prosecutors and the Los Angeles Police Department have relied increasingly in recent years on a favorite bureaucratic weapon: Court-ordered injunctions.

The injunctions aim to severely curtail gang activity by, among other things, prohibiting gang members from socializing with each other, carrying weapons and wearing certain clothing inside "safe zones" that typically encompass neighborhoods where the gangs are active. Those who don't comply can be arrested and charged.

A federal lawsuit filed earlier this month in Los Angeles, however, has taken aim at the nighttime curfews included in 21 of the 50 injunctions in effect within the city. The terms of the curfews, which prohibit going outside after 10 p.m., are so broad and vague as to violate a person's constitutional rights, said Olu Orange, the attorney behind the lawsuit.

The city, Orange said, has willfully ignored an appellate court ruling finding that similarly worded gang curfews violated people's due process rights. In that ruling, the California Supreme Court found that an injunction against an Oxnard gang did not adequately define what it meant for someone included in the injunction to be "outside" during the curfew hours.

The wording was "so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning," the court found.

Los Angeles Times

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Warning issued after rape suspect escapes military custody

Authorities issued an alert Monday for a U.S. Army private and Palmdale native who escaped from military custody in Georgia and is believed to have raped a 15-year-old girl from Los Angeles County.

Daniel Brazelton, 20, was being transferred from military to civilian custody last week when he took off from a van stuck in traffic, according to local news reports in Georgia.

Capt. Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said detectives with the Special Victims Bureau are concerned Brazelton might try to make his way back to Palmdale, where he grew up.

"Investigators believe he is possibly armed with a handgun and is considered dangerous," Parker said. "He most likely is receiving help in evading law enforcement and may be attempting to return to L.A. County."

Parker said the victim's family has been notified about Brazelton's escape.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911 or contact the sheriff's Special Victims Bureau at (877) 710-LASD or (877) 710-5273.

Los Angeles Times

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Police Departments Downsize, From 4 Legs to 2

CHARLESTON, S.C. — He was a 10-year veteran of the Charleston Police Department, specializing in patrolling this city's palmetto-lined streets, improving community relations and keeping big crowds in check — until his unit was disbanded, a victim of budget cuts.

So this month he was put out to pasture, quite literally.

Napoleon lost his policing job, along with the other five police horses here, as Charleston joined the growing number of cities that have retired their horses and closed their stables to save money. The Great Recession is proving to be the greatest threat to police mounted units since departments embraced the horseless carriage.

This month, the clip-clop of police hooves was silenced both on the cobblestones here and on the streets of Newark, a much harder-hit city whose department recently laid off 163 officers. The downturn has also claimed the mounted units in San Diego; Tulsa, Okla.; Camden, N.J.; and Boston, whose police horses dated to the 19th century and were regulars at Fenway Park.

“It seems like horses are always among the first to go when it comes to budget cuts,” said Mitchel P. Roth, a professor of criminology at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Tex., who has studied mounted patrols over the centuries.

New York Times

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In Love With Each Other, and With a New Country

Amr Abdo and his wife, Ghada Bayoumy, had “mixed feelings” about the big step they were about to take. Born in Egypt and wed there, but living in the United States the past 15 years, they were moments away from becoming newly minted Americans on Monday.

Their emotions turned out not to be terribly mixed at all, merely gradations of joy — over becoming American citizens and over watching the transformation taking place in their homeland.

“It's very exciting,” Mr. Abdo, a computer engineer in Fishkill, N.Y., said of the Egyptian revolution. “We hope the whole world is the same. It doesn't make any sense that people don't rule themselves.” Indeed it doesn't, said Ms. Bayoumy, a schoolteacher. “We are proud,” she said, “that our own family is on track to get rid of oppression.”

Minutes later, the two of them raised their right hands and recited the 140 words of an oath of allegiance that made them officially part of a new family, the American family. They were among 18 couples who took part in a naturalization ceremony held in an auditorium of the federal building in Lower Manhattan.

It was Valentine's Day, an occasion that Andrea J. Quarantillo, director of the New York office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, did not want to let go to waste.

By Ms. Quarantillo's estimate, she has sworn in tens of thousands of new citizens over the past 14 years, here and in other cities. But it never hurts to add some spice to a familiar ritual, she said, to “call attention to the good work we do, and honor those we naturalize.”

New York Times

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Bridging a Gap Between Fear and Peace

CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico — The short trek from danger to calm starts before dawn. First, there is the grind of a turnstile — total cost: 3 pesos, or 25 cents — then thousands of legs push forward, broomlike, onto the Paso del Norte bridge and away from Ciudad Juárez.

It takes about 250 long strides to reach the middle, where the United States begins and the view changes slightly: a large billboard advertising Bud Light, in Spanish, practically blots out the sun.

Most of the 14,000 people here who cross over the Rio Grande daily seem to barely notice. This mound of a bridge, which American officials estimate to be the busiest of all cross-border footpaths between Mexico and the United States, used to be just a simple connector between the shopping districts of Ciudad Juárez and El Paso. But these days, it has deeper meaning.

At no time in recent history has the reality gap between the two cities been wider. By some estimates, El Paso is now the safest big city in the United States; Ciudad Juárez is among the most dangerous in the world. Murders dominate the headlines on one side, economic growth and car accidents make news on the other.

The result is a morning walk north that can sound and feel like the line for an amusement park. The chatter among women waiting to shop is peppered with laughter. Children bounce. Vendors hawk food while a woman in a white dress with a guitar belts out humorous songs about why some are allowed to cross faster than others.

New York Times

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Arizona: Border Activist Is Convicted

Shawna Forde, the leader of a border security group, was convicted of first-degree murder Monday in the 2009 shootings of a man and his daughter.

Ms. Forde, claiming to be a law enforcement officer, barged into the Flores home in Arivaca with accomplices. Raul Flores and his daughter, Brisenia, 9, were killed.

The jury also convicted Ms. Forde of the attempted murder of Gina Gonzalez, Mr. Flores's wife. Trials for Jason Bush and Albert Gaxiola, accused of accompanying Ms. Forde, are scheduled for this spring.

Prosecutors said the attackers considered Mr. Flores a drug smuggler and wanted to use his drug proceeds for a paramilitary organization to seal off the border to immigrants.

New York Times

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House Votes to Extend Patriot Act Provisions

WASHINGTON — The House on Monday voted to reauthorize and extend through Dec. 8 three ways in which Congress expanded the Federal Bureau of Investigation's counterterrorism powers after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Last week, an effort to extend these provisions of the so-called Patriot Act and a related intelligence law failed to pass after falling just short of the two-thirds' majority needed under a special rule. On Monday, however, the bill was able to pass with only a simple majority — and it did so, 275 to 144.

The provisions allow investigators to get “roving wiretap” court orders allowing them to follow terrorism suspects who switch phone numbers or providers; to get orders allowing them to seize “any tangible things” relevant to a security investigation, like a business's customer records; and to get national-security wiretap orders against non-citizen suspects who are not connected to any foreign power.

Without new legislation, the provisions would expire on Feb. 28. House Republicans pressed the short-term extension so the Judiciary Committee, which is now under Republican control, could hold hearings on them.

During the debate on Monday, most Republicans argued in favor of the bill, while many Democrats criticized it. Still, the debate did not break down entirely along partisan lines.

New York Times

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OPINION

Villages Without Doctors

For the next few weeks, I'll be writing about an idea that can make people healthier while bringing down health care costs, both in poor countries and in the United States.

The strategy is to move beyond doctors — to take the work of health care and shift down from doctors and nurses to lay people, peers and family. In the United States and other wealthy countries, lay people can fill in the gaps in left by doctors' care. In poor countries, people with no or little formal medical training are successfully substituting for doctors and nurses.

This is fortunate, as villagers in many developing countries rarely see doctors or nurses. Especially in English-speaking parts of Africa and south Asia, doctors and nurses are often poached by better pay and conditions offered by Canada, the United States, Britain and Australia. Half the doctors trained in Ethiopia or Zambia, for example, have emigrated. (And each doctor who goes from, say, Kenya to Britain represents a transfer of about $600,000 from a poor country to a wealthy one.)

Even doctors who don't leave the country tend to stay in cities, where they treat patients who can pay. The distribution of nurses is only slightly more equitable. Rural villages do not tempt them.

But are doctors and nurses necessary to improve rural health? Two very successful programs in desperately poor parts of India's Maharashtra state say no. SEARCH (the Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health), in the district of Gadchiroli, and the Comprehensive Rural Health Project, in the district of Jamkhed, both recruit ordinary women to take care of their villages' health. They have had a huge impact on the health and prosperity of their villages.

New York Times

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Mom, tot found dead in dumpster

BROCKTON — The bodies of a young Ecuadorean and her toddler son were found stuffed in a Dumpster behind their downtown apartment house, and authorities said yesterday the mother and child may have been there for days.

“It's a terrible crime scene, especially when you think about what happened to a small child and his mom. I mean, who would do that to a 2-year-old child?” said Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz.

Until autopsies determine the cause and manner of their deaths, Cruz refused to speculate on what evil may have befallen Maria Avelina Palaguachi-Cela, 25, and Brian Palaguachi, 2, except to say the mother was last seen at her home at 427 Warren Ave. on Thursday.

“We do not believe this is a random act,” Cruz said.

No arrests have been made.

Boston Herald

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15 to get Presidential Medal of Freedom

WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- Former President George H.W. Bush, poet Maya Angelou, and sports greats Stan Musial and Bill Russell will receive the highest U.S. civilian award Tuesday.

They will join 11 others at the White House in receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- which recognizes people who have made "an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." The other recipients include former civil rights leader U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., visual artist Jasper Johns and billionaire investor Warren Buffett, the White House said.

President Barack Obama will also give the award, not limited to U.S. citizens, to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French-born U.S. cellist Yo-Yo Ma and Auschwitz concentration-camp survivor and humanitarian Gerda Weissmann Klein. Rounding out the list are labor leader John J. Sweeney, civil rights activist Sylvia Mendez, former diplomat and Very Special Arts non-profit founder Jean Kennedy Smith and Natural Resources Defense Council founder John H. Adams.

Optometrist Tom Little -- who led a humanitarian eye camp in Afghanistan before being killed with nine other humanitarians Aug. 6, allegedly by Taliban fighters -- will receive the award posthumously.

The presentation, set to begin at 1:30 p.m. EST, will be streamed live online at www.whitehouse.gov.

Bush, president from 1989 to 1993, was vice president under Ronald Reagan and CIA director. He also served as U.S. ambassador to China and the United Nations, and was the U.S. Navy's youngest aviator during World War II.

United Press International

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Keeping Military Families Close to Our Hearts

Every February, couples and families take a special day to share their commitment and affection on Valentine's Day. This year, I had the opportunity to spend my Valentine's Day with soldiers and military families to share my appreciation for all they do and to reaffirm the Administration's commitment to support our service members and their families.

I traveled to Fort Stewart, Georgia, with Army Chief of Staff General George Casey and his wife Sheila. Fort Stewart is home to the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, and more than 5,000 soldiers from the base are deployed overseas. Visiting with the families was a great privilege, and the pride that each of them had in the service of their loved ones was plain to see.

For families, being apart on a day like today can be especially tough. Some of our service members in the Navy put together a special video of Valentine's messages from home to sailors, aviators, and Marines abroad.

I hope that every American keeps in their thoughts and prayers the brave men and women of our armed forces and the families who eagerly await their safe return. Those families bear a heavy burden and bear it gladly, but it's our role as friends and neighbors to make sure they don't bear it alone.

The White House

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Keeping Our Kids Safe From Home Fires

Every winter, we see the number of fires in homes or apartment buildings rise, especially as families turn to alternative sources of heating during the winter months. This year is no exception – and a new report released today by the U.S. Fire Administration finds that the threat of serious injury or death from residential fires is especially high for young children under the age of five.

In fact, as USA Today reports this morning, according to this new study, 52 percent of all child fire deaths in 2007 involved children under the age of four, a slight increase from the most recent study previously conducted in 2004.

This is a figure that should be going down – not up. This latest report reveals a deeply troubling trend, and should serve as a wake up call for all of us. These deaths are preventable, and working together we can educate each other and save lives. You can read the full report here.

That's why today, FEMA, USFA, the National Commission on Children and Disasters, and a host of our other partners across the public health, children's advocacy and emergency management fields, are teaming up to raise awareness about these threats and how families can keep their homes and loved ones safe.

FEMA

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Seven Defendants Charged with Conspiring to Aid the Taliban

NEW YORK – Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Michele M. Leonhart and Preet Bharara, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today the unsealing of charges against seven defendants for conspiring to provide various forms of support to DEA confidential sources whom they believed to be representatives of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The seven defendants are: Maroun Saade, Walid Nasr, aka "David Nasr," Francis Sourou Ahissou, aka "Francois," Corneille Dato, aka "Pablo," Martin Raouf Bouraima, aka "Raul," Alwar Pouryan, aka "Allan," aka "Alberto," and Oded Orbach, aka "Dedy," aka "Jesse".

As alleged in the charging documents unsealed today in Manhattan federal court, the assistance the defendants allegedly agreed to provide the Taliban took various forms. Some of the defendants agreed to receive, store, and move ton-quantities of Taliban-owned heroin through West Africa, portions of which they understood would then be sent to the United States. Some defendants agreed to sell substantial quantities of cocaine that the Taliban could sell at a profit in the United States. Saade, along with U.S. citizens Pouryan and Orbach, agreed to sell weapons to the Taliban, including surface-to- air missiles ("SAMs"), to be used to protect Taliban-owned heroin laboratories against United States attack in Afghanistan.

"Today we eliminated an entrenched global criminal network, preventing it from moving ton quantities of cocaine, laundering millions in drug money, and trading arms to the Taliban to undermine the rule of law and kill Americans. West Africa has emerged as a place where drugs and terror intersect,” said DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart. “Working alongside our courageous partners there, and around the world, we will continue to uncover, disrupt, dismantle, and bring to justice narcoterrorist organizations like this one."

Dept of Justice - DEA

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February 14, 2011

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More bones found in ravine where Mitrice Richardson was discovered

Another search of the rugged Malibu canyon turned up remains that could be fragments of her ribs, fingers and wrist. Richardson's family pushes for more testing to determine how the 24-year-old died.

Authorities found eight bones believed to belong to Mitrice Richardson on Sunday while combing the rugged Malibu Canyon ravine where the missing 24-year-old's remains were found in August, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

The bones, some of which are believed to be fragments of Richardson's ribs, fingers and wrist, were found six months after the bulk of her remains were removed by the Sheriff's Department. Richardson's family, which has long criticized the department's handling of the case, hopes the discovery will spur authorities to exhume Richardson's body and conduct further testing that could determine how the young woman died after she was released from the sheriff's Malibu station in September 2009.

"Today, we were able to find some more of my daughter's remains, so we can put them with the rest of her remains," said Latice Sutton, Richardson's mother. "More importantly, I hope that they see the importance of going back and doing all the tests that I requested — the proper testing."

Richardson was arrested at Geoffrey's restaurant in Malibu after being unable to pay an $89 dinner tab and acting bizarrely. She was released from the sheriff's station after midnight — without her car, purse or cellphone — and vanished.

Her family has filed suit against the county and the Sheriff's Department, alleging negligence and wrongful death. Since November, when Sutton visited the area where her daughter was discovered and found a finger bone, the family has been urging investigators to revisit the site.

Los Angeles Times

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What are the ties that bind us?

Multiculturalism breeds terrorism, British Prime Minister David Cameron said, opening an absurd new chapter in the debate over assimilation.

Multiculturalism breeds terrorism. That's what British Prime Minister David Cameron said Feb. 5 in a high-profile speech in Germany, thereby opening up an absurd new chapter in the never-ending debate over how much to embrace, exalt and protect cultural differences in Britain and beyond.

Now I'm no fan of multiculturalism, which is essentially the belief that ethnic minorities should be encouraged to maintain their traditions. In Britain, that encouragement extends to state funding for ethnic organizations to ensure cultural continuity for the nation's immigrants. The U.S. employs soft "multiculti" — mostly sloganeering about the glories of diversity.

Common sense tells us that too much emphasis on tribe, ethnicity or previous nationality can be at odds with the common purpose and cohesion of a nation with a large, diverse population. But suggesting that taxpayer support of the corner Bangladeshi knitting circle or a Muslim civil rights organization causes homegrown terrorism is a little like saying sex education creates rapists.

What's interesting about Cameron's speech, however, is not the hyperbole but the poor logic. His solution for dealing with the challenges of diversity, and his confusion about causes and effects, may only make matters worse.

In his speech, Cameron decried multiculturalism's "hands-off tolerance" of some cultural behaviors — he used the example of forced marriages — that are antithetical to Western values. Instead, Britain needs to win the hearts and minds of newcomers with the ideals of personal liberty and individualism, combating multiculturalism-induced rootlessness that can cause some to find a home in political extremism.

Los Angeles Times

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In Spokane, a Mystery With No Good Solution

SPOKANE, Wash. — The bomb was sophisticated and potentially deadly, but it did not detonate. No one was hurt, and no one has been arrested. So Spokane became a mystery.

“To me, it's that God's gracious hand moved,” said Chief Anne Kirkpatrick of the Spokane Police Department. “This was a bomb of significance that would have caused devastation.”

Nearly a month after a cleanup crew found the live bomb along the planned route of a large downtown march honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the F.B.I. is investigating the incident as an act of domestic terrorism. And Spokane has cycled from shock to relief to reassessment: have the white supremacists who once struck such fear here in the inland Northwest returned at a new level of dangerousness and sophistication?

“We don't have that kind of intelligence level to make that kind of explosive,” said Shaun Winkler, a Pennsylvania native who recently returned to the region to start a landscaping company and a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.

Mr. Winkler lives not far from Hayden Lake, Idaho, where he once was among the followers of Richard Butler, a white supremacist and Aryan Nations leader who spent more than two decades proclaiming the inland Northwest to be the capital of a new white homeland. Mr. Butler died in 2004 after losing the 20-acre Aryan Nations compound in a lawsuit and losing many of his followers, as well.

More than 200 white supremacists were once based at Hayden Lake, but Mr. Winkler, echoing assessments by human rights advocates, said that “only a very small handful are still around.” He said his new group had about a dozen members. Several of them recently picketed taco stands in nearby Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and distributed racist, vulgar fliers at North Idaho College. The college now owns the Hayden Lake property and calls it a “peace park.”

New York Times

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