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

From the Los Angeles Times

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

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.

by Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times

February 16, 2011

Reporting from Mexico City

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.

The agents "were shot in the line of duty while driving between Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico, by unknown assailants," ICE said in a statement.

"ICE is working with the U.S. State Department, Mexican authorities and other U.S. law enforcement partners to investigate the shooting," the agency added.

Although the agents were reported initially to have survived the attack, ICE Director John Morton announced later that one of the men had succumbed to his wounds.

"This is a difficult time for ICE and especially for the families and loved ones of our agents," Morton said in a statement.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the second agent was in stable condition with gunshot wounds to an arm and leg.

The Mexican government offered condolences and issued a statement "energetically condemning this grave act of violence." It pledged cooperation in assisting the injured agent, who presumably was to be evacuated from the regional hospital where he was being treated, and in helping to resolve the case.

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.

San Luis Potosi had traditionally not been tormented by the same level of drug war violence plaguing other parts of the country. But in the last year, members of the notorious Zetas gang have been moving in from adjoining Tamaulipas state to seize more territory, market and drug routes. They often set up "narco-blockades," or fake checkpoints, to impede the movements of law enforcement or other enemies.

Many of the roadways leading to Monterrey, Mexico's wealthiest city, have become exceedingly dangerous in recent months with narco-blockades, shootouts and other violence. There was no immediate indication that the federal agents attacked Tuesday were driving with any sort of extra security.

Despite a ruthless drug war in Mexico among rival cartels and government security forces that has killed more than 34,000 people in four years, it is rare for U.S. officials to come under attack.

On March 13, an officer at the U.S. Consulate in the border city of Ciudad Juarez was shot to death along with her husband and the husband of another consular officer as they drove in two separate cars from a children's birthday party. They were headed home to El Paso, just across the border. A local drug gang was implicated in the shootings.

The presence in Mexico of U.S. law enforcement, intelligence and military officials has been growing substantially as Washington deepens its involvement in the drug war.

In Mexico, ICE investigates human trafficking, firearms smuggling and intellectual property cases, among other issues. The agency has between 25 and 30 agents in the country. Agents also have worked with the government to train Mexicans in advanced investigative techniques used in customs and smuggling investigations.

Napolitano vowed that Tuesday's attack would not diminish U.S. participation in Mexico's drug war.

"Let me be clear: Any act of violence against our ICE personnel — or any [Department of Homeland Security] personnel — is an attack against all those who serve our nation and put their lives at risk for our safety," she said in a statement. "We remain committed in our broader support for Mexico's efforts to combat violence within its borders."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-us-agents-20110216,0,7840277,print.story

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

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?

February 16, 2011

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.

North Korea is just one example of a trend: Countries get on the list by supporting terrorists, but ending that support is seldom taken as sufficient reason for delisting them. Although Cuba backed violent Marxist movements around the world during the Cold War, there's nothing to indicate that it's still doing so — but Washington doesn't like Cuba, so it's still on the list. Sudan was listed in 1993 because Khartoum was a den of radical Islamists at the time, harboring such notorious figures as Osama bin Laden and 1993 World Trade Center bomber Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, but today it's reportedly cooperating with the U.S. on counter-terrorism efforts.

We're in no position to judge whether Sudan is still a terrorism sponsor. But we do think that if the list is to be meaningful, then the only legitimate basis for delisting Sudan would be if it has ended its involvement in terrorism, not as a quid pro quo for holding the referendum. Using the list as a tool of coercion on other issues tells hostile governments that the U.S. doesn't really care if they stop backing terrorists, and has other priorities it considers just as important. Economic sanctions against human rights abusers or nuclear proliferators are an excellent idea, but they should be kept separate from terrorism sanctions. And while we're at it, if we're going to delist Sudan, it's past time to take another look at Cuba.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-terrorlist-20110216,0,7310407,print.story

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

From the New York Times

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

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.”

In the complaint, Ms. Haider said she did not report her rape because she “did not believe she would be able to obtain justice.” But she said she joined the suit because she wanted to “address the systematic punishment of soldiers who come forward with any type of complaint,” whether it involves sexual assault or post-traumatic stress disorder related to combat.

The plaintiffs' stories in the complaint include accounts of a soldier stripping naked and dancing on a table during a break in a class on preventing sexual assault, physical and verbal harassment, and the rape of a woman by two men who videotaped the assault and circulated it to the woman's colleagues.

Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement that “sexual assault is a wider societal problem” and that Mr. Gates was working to ensure that the military was “doing all it can to prevent and respond to it.”

“That means providing more money, personnel, training and expertise, including reaching out to other large institutions, such as universities, to learn best practices,” Mr. Morrell said. “This is now a command priority, but we clearly still have more work to do in order to ensure all of our service members are safe from abuse.”

Though the suit, which was filed in Federal District Court in Virginia, seeks monetary damages, those involved with the case said their goal was an overhaul of the military's judicial system regarding rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

“You should not have to be subjected to being raped or sexually assaulted because you volunteered to serve this nation,” said Susan L. Burke, the plaintiffs' lead lawyer.

At the news conference Tuesday, Anuradha Bhagwati, a former Marine captain and executive director of the Service Women's Action Network, called for a new system to improve accountability and provide other avenues for filing complaints.

“There are veterans who, after service, are literally reeling from post-traumatic stress” as a result of rape and sexual assault, she said in an interview. “It can be a lifelong process. We hear from veterans who are in their 50s and 60s who are still coping with the trauma of having been psychologically and physically tortured.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/us/16military.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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

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.

In Louisiana, the sheriff generally gets what he wants. But nonprofit groups, civic activists and City Council members had already begun questioning the city's criminal justice practices, particularly the size of its jail.

The Orleans Parish Prison, as the system is called, grew to such a vast scale for a couple of reasons: a statewide practice of putting state prisoners in local jails and a local tendency to throw in jail just about everyone who appears before a judge.

The practice of paying local jails to hold state prisoners took off in Louisiana in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the state faced a growing prison population but lacked the money to build new prisons. The state began paying sheriffs a per diem to hold its prisoners, an arrangement that was economical for the state and lucrative for the sheriff's departments.

But, said James LeBlanc, Louisiana's reform-minded secretary of public safety and corrections, “it's gotten to the point over the last eight years that it's a little bit out of hand.”

Currently, more than half of Louisiana's state inmates are being held in parish jails, a proportion unheard of elsewhere.

Charles C. Foti Jr., sheriff of Orleans Parish for 30 years, was particularly adept at this arrangement. When he left office in 2004, he was overseeing 7,000 state and local prisoners and detainees — nearly nine times as many as when he came into office — bringing in tens of millions a year, justifying an ambitious jail-building program and giving the sheriff's office a considerable force of inmate labor.

But state prisoners are not the only people in jail here.

According to Jon Wool of the Vera Institute of Justice, which has been studying the city's criminal justice system for the past four years, virtually every person arrested in New Orleans is sent to jail and held on a money bond. As a result, he said, a significant portion of the jail population, perhaps 40 percent, is made up of people detained on nonviolent charges who cannot afford to post bond.

For this and other reasons, the Orleans Parish Prison became, in the words of James Austin, a consultant with the National Institute of Justice who prepared a report on the jail, “spectacular in the annals of local correction.”

Even discounting state prisoners, the jail holds more people per 1,000 residents than any other urban jail in the country.

Efforts at change have already started taking root, including expedited sentencing and a shift from arrests to summonses for certain offenses. Sheriff Gusman says that these reforms are in their early stages, and that it would be unwise, possibly dangerous, to start reducing the jail's size at this point. New Orleans, he points out, is still a rough city.

“You can't sit back and say you're going to let chance be an option,” the sheriff said in an interview.

“If you're wearing a size 12 and you try to put your foot into a 9, it just won't fit,” he said. “We might be cutting some toes off.”

Advocates of a smaller jail point out that with the new changes, the local jail population has already dropped by several hundred since last summer, to around 2,000. If the jail no longer holds so many state prisoners — there are now about 950 — and as ambitious new reforms like a pretrial services program get under way, the reformers say the jail population is certain to drop significantly more.

A big jail could jeopardize that, said Norris Henderson, a former inmate who is now a civic activist. If you build it, he said, they will fill it.

There are serious risks in taking on sheriffs in Louisiana, given their political heft. Mr. Gusman is a more complicated figure than the stereotypical Southern sheriff: a lawyer with an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, he strongly criticized the jail's size when he was a city councilman.

In the fall, Mayor Mitch Landrieu created a working group to study the jail, a move, some members said, that provided political cover in that its decisions were collective. The group is composed of judges, City Council members, the district attorney, the police chief and others, and is headed by the mayor's chief administrative officer.

In November, the group voted 9 to 3, with the sheriff and the district attorney among those in the minority, to endorse construction of a 1,438-bed jail, and the demolition or decommissioning of other facilities, effectively capping the population. This month, at a meeting crowded with activists, the City Council unanimously passed an ordinance to do this.

Whether that cap will hold is debatable. The sheriff, still contending that the size is unrealistic, does not appear ready to accept only 1,438 beds. And even members of the working group acknowledge that this is not an impenetrable ceiling.

Another unknown variable is a continuing federal civil rights investigation into conditions at the jail. In September 2009, the United States Department of Justice issued a letter detailing a litany of civil rights violations at the jail and threatening a lawsuit.

Little has been heard since, though at least nine inmates have died in custody since the letter was issued. A spokeswoman for the Justice Department said officials were in discussions with the sheriff and at some point would “absolutely take some action.”

But for now, city officials, nonprofit groups and civic activists are digesting the fact that a debate that would have been unthinkable before the storm has gone, so far, relatively smoothly.

“The political climate has been this buddy-buddy thing for so long,” Mr. Henderson said, a little surprised himself. “This is the first time the cow has kicked over the milk.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/us/16orleans.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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

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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/us/16abortion.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print

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

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.

According to the U.S. Marshals Service, threats to federal judges and prosecutors reached 1,394 in the 12 months through last September. In December, the Internet radio host Harold Turner was sentenced to 33 months in prison for threatening three appeals court judges after they upheld a Chicago ban on handguns. On his Web site, Mr. Turner published the judges' names, photos and phone numbers, along with the address and map of the building where they worked. He declared, “These judges deserve to be killed.”

It is a glory of American life that the law robustly protects the freedom to express political passions. When politics fans those passions rather than disciplining them, as happened last week in Montana where Representative Rehberg's threat drew an eager laugh, the system protecting that freedom is also threatened.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/opinion/16wed2.html?ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

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

From Google News

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

Food prices push millions into poverty

by Howard Schneider

Washington Post Staff Writer

February 16, 2011

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.

Establishing ways to limit speculation and panic buying, as well as setting guidelines for the use of import and export controls, are among the steps that could be considered to prevent prices from rising too sharply, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in advance of the meetings.

Zoellick has floated similar ideas, saying that the focus of major nations should be "not to prosecute or block markets, but to use them better."

Wheat prices have been among the fastest moving, doubling between June and January as Russia restricted exports, Australia's crop was damaged by flooding and the size of China's upcoming winter crop was cast into doubt because of an ongoing drought.

The likelihood that political turbulence in the Middle East might prompt countries such as Egypt to increase their grain reserves is also pushing up the price of wheat and other grain futures on world commodity markets, the bank reported.

There are some bright spots: The rice harvest has been strong, and prices for that staple have increased more slowly than for other grains. In Africa, people have begun substituting local products such as sorghum and cassava for imported food, the World Bank said.

But in advance of the finance ministers' gathering, the bank report focused on the pressures that could build behind food inflation. Corn prices, for example, have jumped 73 percent, driven higher not just by demand for the crop as a food, but also for the production of biofuels. Rising affluence in countries such as China, in addition, can increase the demand for meat - and raise the price for grains used as feedstocks.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/15/AR2011021506113_pf.html

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

Falsely-Accused Man Says State Keeping Daughter From Him

by John Pepitone

(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.

"I already knew I was right," said Guyer. "I wasn't going to get charged for it. I didn't do nothing wrong. I, as a loving father, came down to get my daughter out of an abusive situation."

The abuse Guyer claims was verified by detectives who say they found a photo of the little girl with a lit cigarette in her mouth taken while she was in her mother's custody.

But even though he has never been charged with any wrongdoing in the case, Guyer says that the state of Missouri is still treating him like he's guilty. Guyer is limited to supervised visits with his daughter, but doesn't understand why.

"My right as a parent has been violated," said Guyer. "They keep saying something about kidnapped, and I keep saying to myself, there was no kidnapping, we proved it wrong."

Sharon Duffey was sentenced to eight days of shock time in the county jail, and two years of supervised probation for making the false report that triggered the Amber Alert. Guyer has a court hearing on March 8th to seek custody of his daughter.

http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-falselyaccused-man-says-state-keeping-daughter-from-him-20110215,0,3201738.story

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

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

by Keith Eldridge

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.

"They're the most dangerous people," said bill sponsor Rep. Mike Hope (R-Lake Stevens). "They're a huge menace to society and there's no doubt if you're going to kill a police officer you're not going to have a problem killing anybody else."

Supporters of the Blue Alert say they wish it had been in place before the recent string of attacks on police officers.

"Perhaps had the Blue Alert system been in place then to get the information out on the vehicle, Christopher Monfort may have been identified and arrested sooner," Shumate said, "sparing Officer Brenton's family, coworkers and friends a few less days of fear and anxiety and paranoia."

Several states already have a Blue Alert and there's an effort in Congress to help states pay to put Blue Alerts in place.

Tuesday was the first hearing for the bill. A committee vote is expected in the next several days.

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/116281349.html

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

From the Department of Homeland Security

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

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

February 15, 2011

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.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE . Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com

For more information, visit www.ice.gov

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1297804574965.shtm

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

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

February 15, 2011

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.

Over the past six months, DHS has worked with its federal, state, local and private sector partners, as well as the Department of Justice, to expand the "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign as well as the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative—an administration effort to train state and local law enforcement to recognize behaviors and indicators related to terrorism, crime and other threats; standardize how those observations are documented and analyzed; and expand and enhance the sharing of those reports with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and DHS—to communities throughout the country.

The "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign has recently been launched with the National Football League (NFL), as well as in Minnesota and New Jersey, more than 9,000 federal buildings nationwide, Walmart, Mall of America, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Amtrak, the Washington Metroplitan Area Transit Authority, the general aviation industry, and state and local fusion centers across the country.

In the coming months, DHS will continue to expand the "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign nationally with public education materials and outreach tools designed to help America's business, communities and citizens remain vigilant and plan an active role in keeping the country safe.

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1297787995789.shtm

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

Statement by Secretary Napolitano

February 15, 2011

“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.”

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1297817320989.shtm

.