While you were preoccupied with the holidays, Obama slipped in another diminishment of U.S. law. Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) will be unrestrained by the U.S. Constitution and American law while it operates in the United States and affects both Americans and American interests outside the United States.

Last week, President Obama quietly signed an executive order that makes the international police force immune from the restraints of American law.

Interpol works closely with international tribunals (such as the International Criminal Court — which the United States has refused to join because of its sovereignty surrendering provisions, though top Obama officials want us in it). It also works closely with foreign courts and law-enforcement authorities (such as those in Europe that are investigating former Bush administration officials for purported war crimes — i.e., for actions taken in America’s defense).

Andy McCarthy, writing for National Review Online asks the crucial question, Why Does Interpol Need Immunity from American Law?

Just a few more good people coming to do the work Americans refuse to do

Naples News columnist Brent Batten tells “another side” of illegal immigration. One which we, Arizonans living in a border state, know all too well.

Batten details the tragedy of a 17-year-old Hispanic youth who was stabbed to death by an illegal alien for the unpardonable crime of daring to speak English in America with his friends.

From his column, we detected Batten’s previous efforts to coddle the illegals, rather than stress the lawlessness involved in the issue of illegal immigration. In this column, however, he writes: “So much for the notion that illegal immigrants are universally a hard-working, law abiding set committed to doing the jobs Americans won’t do, all while trying to assimilate.”

Batten also describes a scenario similar to ours in Maricopa County where our former governor and current head of Homeland INsecurity, Janet Napolitano, has put the skids to law enforcement curtailment of  illegals unless they have a previous criminal record.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) mission has dramatically changed, making them toothless tigers in Obama’s zoo.

“Until the murder, he didn’t have a criminal history with us,” the Collier County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman said.

“Until the murder.”

Roll those words around in your mouth, Ms. Napolitano.

Springfield, Missouri’s Caitlen Watkins of was driving around the parking lot of her local shopping center and had just found a spot to her liking when another driver swooped in and snagged the spot for himself.

Don’t you just hate it when that happens?
Yeah … Caitlen does too.

But, being the fine, upstanding young woman, role model and future leader that she is, Caitlen simply shrugged off the stolen spot and went on her merry way.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Noooooo.

She put on her pissy pants, channeled every ounce if idiotic rage she could muster and got her stab on!!
::: … over a parking spot … :::

But see, Caitlen’s all ‘can-do’ like that.
It’s just how she rolls.

– She can and does react to everyday situations inappropriately
– She can and does make horrifically poor decisions
– And now – the 18-year-old can and will partake of the varied amenities and gangly band of rejects joining her at the county lockup.
::: … over a parking spot … her parents must be SO proud … :::

According to court documents, Caitlen and some secondary asswad who was with her in the car went all ‘Oh no you di’INT!’ and confronted the spot stealer, which led to a fight, which led to the other driver suffering a punctured kidney after being stabbed half a dozen times with the wooden-handled, 5-inch icepick Caitlen apparently keeps around for point-making opportunities such as this one.
::: MYYYYY  parking spot, biatch!!! MUAHAHAHA!!! :::

The other driver went to the hospital.
Caitlen went to the pokey.
::: Bet she learns REAL fast how it got that name! :::

She has been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action.

But don’t worry — look how  pretty she is!!
————————>
She’ll make LOTS of special new friends inside!

Caitlen, hon?
Smidge of advice?
Angry, imbecilic and operating at full retard is no way to go through life, kid …

SOURCE

This morning’s newspaper has simultaneously reached a fever pitch and all-time low in its rabid coverage of Maricopa County’s top law enforcement officials: County Attorney Andrew Thomas and Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

The front page is emblazoned with the daily’s inky bile, as is the entire editorial page and oversized and fetid Benson “cartoon.”

We chose instead to offer the reasoned My Turn response of County Attorney Thomas and the letters to the editor of two Valley men whose names would not be known to most Arizona citizens: George Hayek of Scottsdale and Jim White of Glendale. These two represent diverse areas of the greater Phoenix area and have each written in support of Thomas and Arpaio.

Mr. Hayek concluded his letter with these words: Fortunately, it’s the citizens of Arizona, not The Arizona Republic, who decide elections. And, so far, despite your blatant attempts to influence the vote, the voters are not falling for your agenda.

There’s no way to improve on that sentiment.

Criminal Justice Education Program Supports Community Law Enforcement Efforts

TACOMA, Wash. (December 23, 2009) – With 2,304,115 prisoners incarcerated in federal, state or local prisons and jails as of 2008*, the need for law enforcement professionals continues to increase. Everest College – Tacoma answers the call with its newest program, Associate of Applied Science in Criminal Justice.

The 24-month criminal justice degree program is designed to teach students the necessary skills for an entry-level position in the law enforcement career field. The program also includes a comprehensive study of the national criminal justice system, correctional organizations and law enforcement agencies.

“Graduates from this new program will ultimately serve and protect our community,” said Tim Allen, president of the Everest Tacoma campus. “Our students will gain invaluable insights into the criminal mind, as well as learn communicative, critical-thinking, research and organizational skills as a foundation for a successful criminal justice career.”

Courses focus on:

• Criminology
• Criminal Evidence
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Investigations
• Criminal Justice Communications
• Introduction to Terrorism
• Introduction to Corrections

Everest’s Career Services team is dedicated to assisting students in finding employment upon graduation. Career opportunities for a graduate with an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice include entry-level positions in corrections, probation, immigration, security, social services and administration.

About Everest

Everest College – Tacoma, located at 2156 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, WA 98402, provides career-oriented diploma and degree programs in criminal justice, business, pharmacy technician, medical insurance billing and coding, dental assisting and medical assisting. Everest College has five other locations in the state of Washington including Bremerton, Everett, Renton, Seattle and Fife, and has more than 100 schools throughout the U.S. and Canada. Everest, owned by Corinthian Colleges, Inc., is one of the largest post-secondary education companies in North America. For more information, visit the Everest website.

* Statistics for 2008, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

In a speech in his home state of Michoacan yesterday President Felipe Calderon praised the 200 strong marine strike in Cuernavaca last Wednesday that resulted in the death of Arturo Beltran Leyva and  signalled his commitment to a fully militarized strategy as the solution to Mexico’s organized crime threat.

Criminal groups with their firepower and powers of corruption are waging a determined battle to subjugate the country,” said Calderon.  “We will not step back from this fight” and there will be no truce and no quarter to the enemies of our country (La Jornada)

Calderon’s statements underscore those made by a senior Mexican military commander, who was quoted saying that the “only organizations  trained, equipped and integrated with real unity of doctrine to ensure domestic order…are the armed forces”

“Lets act like we are in a war situation, because we are! We will exert as strong a force as they have And will go after them totally. that’s what that picture means. We will be ruthless.” (Milenio)

Hours after President Calderon declared there would be “no quarter and no truce” in the war with criminal organizations, a suspected Zetas commando team killed the mother and four relatives of a Navy Special Forces sergeant who died in the raid in Cuernavaca that killed Arturo Beltran Leyva, who allied his cartel with  the Zetas in 2008.

The Municipal Public Security Bureau in Paraiso, Tabasco reported that the multiple murders took place around midnight as the family slept. Three vans rolled up on the house and unloaded with AR-15s killing Mrs. Irma Cordova Palma, mother of  3rd Navy Special Forces Master  Melchizedek Angulo Cordova, whose funeral took place earlier in the day (El Universal)

It’s an official  military war now–no euphemism–in which the cartels are  no longer criminals but declared  “enemy combatants.”

Deguello, indeed.

The last time a Mexican general sounded that bugle call the odds were overwhelmingly in his favor.

Not so clear cut now.

Washington, DC’s cops put up with a lot. Not only is the place CRAWLING with thieves and murderers, they also have to deal with visiting foreign dignitaries, as well as near-Detriot levels of “crime”. With that in mind, Detective Baylor/Bailer/Beylor/Balor/Asswrench’s actions are COMPLETELY understandable.

Oh, wait. No they aren’t. It was some people enjoying the snow, and in a fit of mischief someone hit your car with a snowball. MOST people would move on, or at worst maybe get out and shout a bit, right? Well, since Detective Baylor/Bailer/Beylor/Balor/Asswrench is trained to handle tense situations with patience, reason, and a dispassionate sense of justice, he decides to whip out his piece and brandish it at the crowd, all without clearly identifying himself as a Officer of the “Peace”. Good.

When the innocent, if mischievous, citizens call the fuzz on this raging dude with a gun, Detective Baylor/Bailer/Beylor/Balor/Asswrench fails to provide his badge number when asked, and won’t even clairify how his name is spelled*. The footage also seems to show a bystander getting arrested, but no details about that are clear at the moment.

*Thus the repeated vagueness in this post. I understand that in a certain dialect Asswrench is pronounced like that, so how can I be certain he isn’t Detective Asswrench? He sure acts like a bunch of Asswrenchs I knew growing up.

Some issues just aren’t debatable. Like cell phone use or text-messaging while driving. Yet states and municipalities continue to argue about what laws, if any, should govern these practices, despite the many stories we’ve all heard about car accidents, many fatal, that have happened because the driver was talking on a cell phone or was texting while at the wheel.

Using a stun gun (an electric shock device that deliveries an average 50,000 volts to the muscular system causing temporary paralysis) against a child is another such issue that should be nondebatable. According to Lawyers and Settlements website 211 U.S. children, some as young as 6, were zapped by stun guns between 2002 and 2005. A quick Google search shows that this number continues to grow even though children—two 14-year-olds in Chicago; two 16-year-olds, and one 15 year-old in Michigan; to name a few—have died as a result of being stunned.

There are some cases in which these devices are used which are more understandable than others, situations where a young person poses a real threat to others or themselves.

In other cases, however, you are left wondering about the adults involved, their judgments and their motivations.

Take for the example the mother who called the Ozark police because her daughter was screaming and crying, refusing to do what her mother told her to do. When an officer arrived the mother told him to use his stun gun on her. He did. Then there’s the Arkansas cop who used his stun gun on a 10-year-old girl so that he could transport her from her mother’s house to a youth shelter. Or the case of the Wayne County Michigan police being called in to an assistant principal’s office to subdue a 14-year-old who was kicking and screaming because he wouldn’t get off his Game Boy. The stun gun stopped him. (An alarming number of states now allow police patrolling schools, including elementary schools, to carry stun guns.) And in Brooklyn a 19-year-old was jolted over ten times by police. (Youth Today)

Many of us have probably been confronted with a screaming, kicking child, either their own or someone else’s, who just can’t seem to be gotten under control. It’s a terrible place to be. In dealing with that kid—little child or teenager— the amount of rage, frustration, fear, and impotence that gets kicked up and flows through the adult in that situation could easily power a 50,000 volt stun gun. That’s why parents and caregivers physically abuse children, or in some cases why they call in the police to subdue their out-of-control child with stun guns, outlets for all that pent up fury and frustration.

But the police are even less tolerant of those high voltage emotions; and they have no tolerance for what they may see as failure, their failure: After all they were called in to take control of a potentially explosive situation, one, it appears, that they can’t control. Afraid of looking bad, of having their authority questioned, they use whatever force will subdue, and stun guns subdue.

It doesn’t help that, as urgent an issue as this is, very few municipalities or police departments have given their officers clear guidelines about using these electric shock weapons against children. When there are policies, officers are merely told to take into consideration the child’s age, size, and weight. What they are unable to evaluate, however, is the young person’s medical condition, a very crucial factor in surviving 50,000 volts.

Likewise, very few child welfare groups have studied the issue or provided guidelines. It’s a silence that is disturbing, especially considering the growing use of these weapons on youth. The National Institute of Justice has suggested that stun guns be avoided with small children (it did not define “small”); and the American College of Emergency Physicians stated that the use of stun guns against “smaller individuals” should be undertaken “judiciously.” Not much help for cops in the heat of confrontation. Equally absent is research on the long term effects on a shocked child’s physical development, and on his or her emotional development.

Supporters of the stun gun argue that it is better than the alternatives: guns, dogs, batons, pepper spray.  But like the stun gun, dogs, batons and pepper spray were once also considered alternatives to fire arms.

Not too long ago pepper spray was seen as the latest benign way to control someone. Better that than a bullet. But as is often the case, pepper spray has become overused and abused. Westchester County jail in New York State where I taught kids locked up in this adult facility has just been cited by the Department of Justice for excessive use of pepper spray on individual inmates, fired at point-blank-range in amounts allotted for crowd control. And so the stun gun goes the way of all these other alternatives especially when it comes to children.

We have stricter laws about the use of car seats for children than we do for the use of stun guns, even though we now know that a child, zapped by one of these guns, by adults who are supposedly there to protect them, can die.

A lot of stories have broken recently involving cops who mess up. From bringing a gun to a snowball fight to being involved in two drunk hit-and-runs in one night. But the overwhelming majority are officers who truly respect the law and got into the profession because they wanted to make a positive difference.

The Sansom Park Police Department in North Texas recently made national news for a program they have called “Tickets For Tots”. When officers spot a moving violation they pull over the driver, just like they would any other time of year. But then, instead of writing a citation they ask the driver to donate toys for needy kids in the area. The driver is issued a “ticket for tots” and sent on his way. Reportedly 90% of the ticketed drivers choose to donate toys. It’s not rare for a police department to engage in charitable activities. But it’s really cool to see a program that helps a kid in need and gives members of the community a break. It’s community policing at it’s finest.

As we approach $14 trillion dollars in national debt, the question looms “How do we ever get out of this?”  We always hear, let’s cut spending, but what exactly do we cut?  Do determine this we must first establish what the true function of government is.

Ronald Reagan said “Government is there to protect us from each other, the problem begins when government tries to protect us from ourself.”  The Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution as the basis for a government for the people by the people.  The transition from the federalist papers to the Constitution was based on addressing the problems of providing for a common defense, effective foreign policy, coordinated interstate commerce, a common currency, and a judiciary that would provide citizens with a fair and just legal system.

 And they gave the Congress the power to tax for the purpose of fulfilling these tasks.  We must return government to this foundation.

So first, we decide what is the government here for.  The presidents must important and clearly defined role is a Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces.  So whatever is needed for this task, for ensuring that the USA is the most powerful military in the world, as we are charged with defending history’s most virtuous cause; freedom.   Before any other aspect of the budget is dealt with we must fortify our military to its highest level necessary.

Because it doesn’t matter how much money you spend on wind turbines if you have been invaded by people who want to kill you.  And yes, there are people who would attack us and kill us if we did have the military that we have today.

Next, an apparatus must be established to protect the citizens internally.  We don’t like to say from each other, as most upstanding citizens do not want to hurt each other seriously enough to warrant state prevention.  But there are those who renounce their membership in the Civil Society, and someone has to stop them.

Some want a “live free” situation where there is no government at all.  Problem is we already tried this. In Europe, during  the dark ages, the so-called Romantic knights and swashbuckler were really gang members and thugs, who called the shots locally.  The monarchy’s control was limited, as it relied on the nobility to contribute its fighting force to fight wars. 

This meant that the knights were able to set up protection rackets on their land, taking payments from the farmers in exchange for protection from other knights. However, instead of protecting them, they usually used the just robbed the lands of the knight who robbed the peasants who were under him.  The people really never got much real protection, unless they became thugs themselves.

Eventually, the peasants decided that they preferred the authoritarian rule of a strong king over the chaos of local nobility competition.

We don’t want this, so we will not do this.  SORRY FELLAS, IT JUST  DOESN”T WORK.

So law enforcement has to be paid for.  Though the local municipalities have a responsibility, we do need a justice department to unify practices and standards throughout the nation.  And they must be compatible with our overall security apparatus.

The government is given the power to create currency, and to regulate interstate commerce.  The Department of Commerce has a role, but it should be an extension of the Treasury, not a separate Department.  Currently, the states handle most of the work in attracting foreign business to American.

We also need to make sure that there is a currency that works for everyone.  There are some, including economists who we greatly admire, who advocate allowing the people to determine what currency they want to use. But history has shown that if the people are not protected, the government can be used to allow large cooperation to manipulate this choice against the citizens. 

Also we have not been provided with a proven working model for this, so until then the best option is to stick with the Constitution’s enumerated power of coinage.

Finally, the judiciary’s purpose is to protect the people’s Constitutional rights, not to make them up as we go along.  The courts have the power to protect free speech and the right to bear arms.  But suing a dry cleaner for $15 million for losing or ruining a suit because of the potential impact on a future career, well that is not what the judiciary should be doing.  

George bush gave a compelling dissertation on this matter, and if we had implemented his Constitution inspired reforms it probably would have saved or helped to create trillions in lost nation revenue due to superfluous law suits and legal obfuscation. 

But the Bar Association and the phony civil rights crusaders like Jackson, Sharpton, and Ballentine would have to find something productive to do with their time.  Maybe they could anchor MSNBC programs.

These functions defense, law enforcement, currency, and the facilitation of profitable interstate commerce should be the exclusive basis for taxation.  Other ancillary processes involved in these primary roles, such as highway infrastructure and special technical military relevant training, should be developed as extensions these budget requirements. 

So the Department of Transportation may be somewhat useful, if funded where private enterprize cannot adequately conduce the urgent needs of these four vital pillars.  But general infrastructure spending just to get people working is out of the question.

Once you determine the financial requirements of these functions, you can then decide how  much you need to tax the citizens.

NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!  DO YOU HERE US,  BOONDOGGLE BARRACK!

The Greyfalcon calls for the complete  elimination of the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Labor.   Combined with the Economic Recovery Act, the Department of Education has a 2010 budget of $129 billion dollars.  Every dime of that money should go into paying off the debt, as well as the rest of the $300 billion going to these unproductive agencies.

When the private sector business performs as poorly as they do, it usually goes under.  It’s time for these disgraceful aberrations to do the same.

The Department of Health and Human Services  should be limited to handling REAL emergencies, and facilitating  matters involving our national security. Creating an H1M1 panic, then demonstrating that you would be inept in handling it, is not an appropriate role of government.

Hey Kathleen, we don’t need you to tell us how to sneeze! 

The Agriculture, and EPA Department actions should be handled by the Justice and Commerce division of the Treasury.  Currently the Agriculture Department is going back over 14,ooo claims of discrimination that were “not pursued” by the Bush Administration.  Obama has spent nearly 10 million dollars on experts to examine these cases, and the director of this project said that “we found that at least 20 to 30% of these cases were valid.”  Not only did his people admit that up to 80% of the claims were bogus, but that almost on all of those cases, the statute of limitations has run out.

And of course, the EPA is being used to attempt and illegal and unconstitutional circumvention of the Congress to impose Cap-and-Tax like burdens on american business, in light of the Copenhagen scandal.

The Greyfalcon has determined that we could easily save $500 billion dollars on  this year’s budget if we eliminated government service that was not defined by the Constitution.  And that’s just for starters. 

We could also reduce what we tax our citizens.  We would purpose that no person have to pay more than 32.99% of their income after all city , state, and federal income taxes are paid, no matter how much they make.  The ultimate goal would be the end to the progressive income tax, which was first proposed by Karl Marx. 

Contrary to this anti-growth administration’s position on “the rich”, when someone in America makes money it doesn’t hurt people who have less than them.  It goes to stocks, bonds, bank accounts, inventory replacement, capital investment, and public bond purchases that help the people of this nation at every income level.

UNLESS YOU HAVE THESE CLOWNS IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND CONGRESS, THEN IT GOES OUT OF THE COUNTRY!

Lee Presser, the creator of “Conversations with Lee Presser”, sees the overall issue at hand as a simple issue. Lee says “We need to get back to what we were best at for the last century, Wealth creation.”

In order to do that, the American Awakening must stop the progressive authoritarians campaign against that very goal.

MADD Nebraska would like to recognize  State Operations Council Member, Marcie Hagerty, formerly a Deputy County Attorney with the Lancaster County,  she did a great job of not only winning on the motion, but of getting the right case to appeal and seeing that a good record was made. You can see that by reading the opinion. http://www.supremecourt.ne.gov/opinions/2009/november/nov20/s08-192.pdf  The experts were among the best.  MADD Nebraska understands that this was a team effort involving many in and out of the state. 

Nebraska Supreme Court

• In part, the court wrote: “A law enforcement officer with the training and experience offered by ‘drug recognition expert’ certification is sufficiently qualified to testify, based on his or her evaluation, that a suspect was under the influence of drugs.”

Thanks also goes out to the Attorney General’s staff as they did a masterful job on the appeal, and for funding through the Office of Highway Safety.
One of the greatest things about the decision is that it does not require the full foundational process to qualify the DRE for the opinion. It clearly states that the experience and training that the DRE status represents will qualify the officer to give an opinion. The opinion is unequivocal and unanimous. What a great win for the Lancaster County Attorney and Nebraska.http://drugrecognitionexpert.blogspot.com/ 

Another way to ensure we eliminate impaired driving in our state – thanks to all. 

http://www.maddnebraska.org/news_and_numbers/research

This summer I wrote about the case of Alma Martinez-Cooley.  Ms. Martinez-Cooley was the driver of a truck that struck and killed Texas A&M student Lindsay Walters in a Northgate parking garage early in the morning of March 1st.  Marintez-Cooley claimed she was the designated driver that night, and passed the roadside circus act/field sobriety tests the police administered.  One working theory of the police was that the passenger riding in the middle seat of the truck, Michael Cooley, stuck his foot over and pressed the gas pedal.  A warrant for a blood draw was signed, but the blood draw did not take place until some eight hours after the accident.  Mr. Cooley was no-billed by the grand jury.

A while back, I went to legislative update CLE put on by the Texas District and County Attorneys Associate.  Sometimes its good to hear things from a prosecutors point of view.  I did enjoy the speakers talking about how they’ve changed the laws before too many of those sneaky defense attorneys were using the law to get their clients off.  The horror!  The comment that stuck with me was about how most of the new laws come about because of one horror story.  I can’t help but wonder what sort of parking garage related crimes we’ll get in the next legislative session.

Like before, the citizens of Brazos County have no need for things like trials, due process, rights, etc.  Because so many of them KNOW what happened and KNOW what the appropriate punishment is.

To James “No evidence of alcohol”: Did you read the report? Both Alma and Michael were leaving a BAR. Alma had alcohol on her breath and Michael had an “overwhelming” odor of alcohol on his with bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. The police botched this one by not getting Michael’s blood sample and even Alma’s at the scene..not many hours later. Makes you wonder what else they screwed up. The Cooley’s are both getting off easy in criminal court. Now they are taking it further by getting married to jump through some more loop holes. The criminals have more rights than the victims. Even if alcohol wasn’t involved, they reved the engine, peeled out and recklessly mowed down several innocent people including Lindsay. Are they still trying to blame the truck? Give me a break. This should have been reckless manslaughter at the very least. After they get their slap on the hand in criminal court, Lindsay’s lawyers need to seek real justice in the civil courts. God can handle the rest.

Give me a break! THese people were driving fast, irrisponsible and in bars all night drinking. You should have control of your truck in a parking garage. I know a girl that was there and she said they were driving fast and laughing….then Lindsey was in their way!!! I’m praying for the Walters family. Some reckless fun caused a sweet girl to lose her life. Quit making excuses and own up to what you did.

I would like for everyone to know that Lindsay’s family has never been contacted by Alma or anyone in her family to say they are sorry for what happened that morning. NOTHING, not even a sympathy card! Not to mention Alma got married 6 days after killing someone. They were celebrating while we were at Lindsay’s funeral. That is insane!!! What kind of a human being runs down a crowd of people in a truck and kills someone and never says they are sorry to the family? I think that has been very difficult for the Walters’ family to know their daughter was killed by such a thoughtless person.

Tragic, all the way around. We hope that justice can now be served for ALL involved in this horrible event. This hope includes JIM JAMES (‘The Cooley’s’ attorney) who needs to be run out of town, in my opinion. He more than likely was the attorney who gave the Cooley’s the legal advice to MARRY to avoid having to testify against each other!? SICK. Mr. James, on a side-note, was also the original attorney for Stephen ‘Bruce Unger’ (the former BISD teacher who FLED prosecution for RAPING CHILDREN in a school, at home, and in other locales). I’ve got $50 that says Mr. James gave him legal advice, too! SICK SICK SICK, patterns, patterns, patterns. The ‘judge’ that married these two, also used POOR judgement, just plain WRONG.

To Concerned Citizen: I am sure the police would have loved to have been able to force blood from the driver at the scene as well as the passenger. Unfortunately legislature has not caught up with the times…please talk to your local representatives to get stricter laws in place for serious/fatality accidents so that officers can investigate these accidents more thoroughly without breaking the law themselves. Maybe we can call it the Lindsay Walters law…someone should start a petition or something.

Like 99% of the internet commenters, I wasn’t there that night.  I cannot say with 100% certainly what happened.  Unlike the internet commenters, I am not going to presume that I know what happened and that I know what should happen.

Sometimes an accident is just an accident.  Not a crime.  It may be an utter tragedy that kills sometime and shatters the lives of the people who loved her.  But that doesn’t make it a crime.

A staple of cop shows is enhancing video tape. If you have ever zoomed in on a digital photo, you know that unless you have a really high resolution, the photo gets pixelated and harder to understand, not clearer. Fortunately fictional law enforcement doesn’t have that problem. I love that MacGyver is involved in this mashup – he was so ahead of his time!

via

In the latest of many shameful lapses, the federal agency in charge of securing the nation’s transportation system approved background checks for a dozen illegal immigrants working in sensitive areas of a busy U.S. airport, according to a report by Judicial Watch.

Illegal aliens from Central America and Mexico, worked in operational areas of Stewart International Airport, a 2,400-acre facility located about 60 miles north of New York City. Stewart is a major passenger airport for the state’s mid-Hudson region that also handles large quantities of cargo and serves as a military field.

Each of the illegals had security badges approved by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the agency created after the 2001 terrorist attacks mainly to protect airlines. The TSA’s national background check failed to detect the fake Social Security numbers and other bogus documents provided by the illegal immigrants to obtain clearance.

So the embattled 43,000-member Homeland Security agency, which has received hundreds of millions of dollars from Congress to fulfill its mission, granted the undocumented aliens “trusted agent” security badges. This allowed them to work at an airport warehouse business and access key operational areas. An alert airport employee noticed the suspicious documents and reported the illegal aliens.

This sort of negligence is par for the course for the TSA, which has come under fire in recent years for leaving airplanes extremely vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Just last month the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General revealed that the TSA is failing to ensure the security of tens of thousands of cargo packages transported daily in the bellies of passenger planes, leaving aircraft at risk of a terrorist attack.

That probe also found that workers who handle the cargo had not received the required background checks or training, further adding to the security crisis. Previous Inspector General probes have over the years revealed similar problems in the TSA’s dismal air cargo security system and exposed dozens of security failures in other crucial areas nationwide.

(Editor’s note: Due to the dangerousness and vulnerability this situation poses, we have printed the Judicial Watch report in its entirety.)

Marcos Arturo Beltran Leyva, “jefe de jefe” of the Beltran Leyva cartel was betrayed by his chief lieutenant–Edgar Villareal Valdez, “el Barbie” who was head of the cartel’s  enforcement/security division according to testimony from Beltran Leyva’s chef and others arrested at the condo last Wednesday and investigators from Mexican security.

Read Ricardo Ravelo’s piece this morning en espanol at Proceso.–Ravelo is one of Mexico’s best informed organized crime reporters.

About 3PM last  Wednesday in Apt 201 of a residential tower in the upscale Lomas de Selva neighborhood of Cuernavaca,  the chef was preparing dinner for his boss, Senor Arturo Beltran Leyva who was in the living room with five of his lieutenants, including his chief of security and enforcement, Edgard Valdez Villareal–el Barbie.

The chef, who was arrested following the military raid on his boss, told agents that Senor Arturo was getting reports  of “strange movements” out in the street, but the cartel chief dismissed them, saying his men would take care of it and returned to his meeting with Valdez and his entourage.

The six men were preparing for a business meeting with Don Arturo’s expected dinner guests: Gen. Leopoldo Diaz Perez, commander of Zona Militar 24 (state of Morelos), along with two other Mexican army officers–a captain and a major.

Outside the apartment Mexican marines were crawling all over the perimeter. They dad been quietly evacuating the nearby buildings and apartments since noon. At 5pm they struck–200 strong– from the ground and by air.

At around 9PM, alone with no bodyguards remaining, Arturo ‘La Muerte’ Beltran opened the front door of his condo and met  a fusilade of armor-piercing 5.59 rounds to the chest, abdomen and head. He collapsed dead in the doorway. Whereupon the marines and other military personnel did “a number” on Don Arturo as seen here and in the photo below which shows what appears to be a postmortem bayonet or large knife wound to the left side of the chest.

(These and other pictures taken at the scene have become an Abu Ghraib-moment  for the Calderon administration and the military. Interior Secretary Fernando Gomez Mont had to call a press conference to say that “the Mexican government fulfills its duty to stop criminal organizations and their leaders, but without personal abuse or scandalous and frivolous attitudes” and that an investigation was under “to find the person or persons responsible for capturing these images and disseminating them. “–((emphasis added))   He assured reporters that the federal agents who participated in the operation were not responsible.

Then who is the guy in this picture wearing the balaclava and BDUs?)

By this time Beltran Leyva  security jefe El Barbie Valdez was long since gone, disappearing “somehow” before the marines came rappelling down the side of the building and hasn’t been seen since. Gen. Diaz and his men were stopped on the way to their meeting with Don Arturo and were immediately disarmed, arrested and blindfolded before being driven off to some unnamed detention facility

With the  release of this information, Valdes has almost zero chance of heading the cartel–and may be just a dead man walking. He is either hidden somewhere by Mexican security–military or PGR, or has returned into the arms of Chapo Guzman and the Sinaloa cartel. Or, considering the acknowledgement by Mexican officials that US intelligence was key to the operation on Wednesday that ended with Arturo Beltran’s death, el Barbie may have found refuge with the gringos. If not, Valdez  better have some very convincing bullshit to throw the next time he meets one of the surviving Beltran brothers.

This news today suggests that the leadership of the BL cartel will fall to Arturo’s brother Hector who is the org’s financial chief.  And unless Arturo’s killing resulted from some fraternal intrigues, brother Carlos will be at Hector’s side.

The only clear-cut  big winner out of the spectacular  bloodbath in Cuernavaca–at least in the near term– appears to  be Shorty Guzman.