Tags: Terror, Pakistan, Al Qaeda, Blackwater
“Everyone today knows how Blackwater and other criminal organizations who freely operate in Pakistan support this corrupt regime of criminals and its security apparatus. They carry out these heinous acts, and then they use their mouthpieces in the media to accuse the Mujahidoon and spoil their image.”
Tags: Terror, National Security, Jihad, Law
What rights, if any, should alleged terrorist financiers be afforded? This question has plagued federal judges since the Treasury Department first began targeting those believed to be providing financial support to terrorist organizations over a decade ago. One recurring issue has been whether the Treasury Department must seek a warrant prior to freezing the assets of those suspected of terrorist financing. Two recent, high profile cases – Kindhearts v. Geithner (N.D. Ohio) and al Haramain v. United States Department of the Treasury (D. Or.) – have set the stage for a possible showdown at the Supreme Court, where this question can hopefully be resolved.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), one of the lead agencies in the fight against terrorist financing, froze the assets of both al Haramain and Kindhearts in 2004 and 2006 respectively. In both cases, the defendant charities were accused of providing financial support to terrorist groups. Al Haramain allegedly funneled money to Chechen rebels and Kindhearts was accused of funding Hamas.
Neither of the asset seizures was conducted with prior judicial warrants, and consequently, defendants challenged the Treasury actions as a violation of the Fourth Amendment's proscription against warrantless seizures. Although both federal courts agreed with the defendants that the freezing of assets was a "seizure" for Fourth Amendment purposes, they diverged when determining whether an exception to the warrant requirement may apply to seizures of terrorist finances.
The government argued that asset seizures in counter-terrorist financing investigations are exempted from the warrant requirement. Relying upon the "special needs exception," the government explained that no warrant is needed where: (i) the primary purpose of the seizure is beyond criminal law enforcement; and (ii) a warrant and probable cause are impracticable. Applying these factors, the al Haramain court upheld the search on the grounds that a warrant was unnecessary, whereas the Kindhearts court found the exception inapplicable, and invalidated the seizure.
After bailing Thomas watched and was happy to see that all 11 crewmembers made it out of the plane. Remembering the low altitude from which he jumped, he then looked down and noticed the ground was rushing toward him. But before he could choose where he might land, he came down “on the side of a canyon, sliding down about 20 feet through thick underbrush, [and sitting] in the bottom of a dry creek bed.”
Thomas was captured by Japanese villagers and taken to a military governor who ordered a Japanese Army lieutenant to place Thomas on a train for transport to the POW prison outside of Japanese Western Army Headquarters. Prior to World War II, the prison had been a horse barn. Its stalls had since been “converted” into cells, all six of which had a floor space of approximately eight feet by 12 feet.
The Japanese crammed 19 American servicemen into these cells, making things so tight that at night the prisoners had to sleep on their sides in order for everyone to fit. And if they wished to turn over, they had to stand up, turn in place, and then lie back down.
En route to the prison, Thomas had to change trains in the Japanese town of Chiba. While walking from one train to the next, Thomas and the other POWs with him were blindfolded, made to kneel, and then “beat with what [Thomas believes were] the butt[s] of … rifles or bamboo poles.” Thomas’ hands, which had been bound from the moment he was captured, hung down in front of his waist. Soon, one of the blows he received across his face burst his sinuses, and he felt his own mucus run down the inside of his arms and onto his hands.
Applebee's is also taking today to honor all Veterans and active-duty service members, all of whom can eat free at Applebee's across the nation. Outback Steakhouses are also honoring Veterans today. Yes, a free meal is a small token of appreciation but any steps our nation can take to say thank you must be taken, no matter how small or how large.
I just phoned six friends and asked them what they will be doing on Monday.
They all said the same thing: working.
Me, too.
There is something else we share. We are all military veterans.
And there is a third thing we have in common. We are not employees of the federal government, state government, county government, municipal government, the Postal Service, the courts, banks, or S & Ls, and we don’t teach school.
If we did, we would be among the many millions of people who will spend Monday goofing off.
Which is why it is about time Congress revised the ridiculous terms of Veterans Day as a national holiday.
The purpose of Veterans Day is to honor all veterans.
So how does this country honor them?...
Tags: Jihad, Police
FORT HOOD, Texas — Pfc. Marquest Smith, on his way to Afghanistan in January, was completing routine paperwork about a bee-sting allergy when the sounds erupted.
A loud, popping noise. Moans. The sudden, urgent shout of "Gun!"
Smith poked his head over the cubicle's partition and saw an extraordinary sight: An Army officer with two guns, firing into the crowded room...
...Around this time, Fort Hood Police Sgt. Kimberly Munley got the call of "shots fired." The SRP isn't on Munley's beat; she was in the area because her vehicle was in the shop.
Munley, 34, was on the scene within three minutes.
Just over 5 feet tall, Munley is an advanced firearms instructor and civilian member of Fort Hood's special reaction team. She had trained on "active shooter" scenarios after the April 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech University. She didn't wait for backup.
As Munley approached the squat, rectangular building, a soldier emerged from a door with a gunman in pursuit. The officer fired, and the uniformed shooter wheeled and charged.
Another officer, Senior Sgt. Mark Todd, also responded to the sound of gunfire. He arrived to find Hasan "just standing there, hiding behind a telephone pole."
"He just looked like he was calm and he was just pointing, it was almost like he was pointing his finger at me," Todd told CNN in an interview late Friday. "But then I seen the weapon. ... I just know I seen the weapon and muzzle flashes and then that's when we returned the fire."
Munley was hit at least three times in the exchange — twice through the left leg and once in her right wrist. Hasan was hit four times. It's not clear whose bullets hit the suspect, but from the first shots to the last, authorities say the whole incident lasted less than 10 minutes.
Tags: Terror, Gitmo, Saudi Arabia
On Oct. 13, a former Guantanamo detainee named Yousef Mohammed al Shihri was killed in a shootout at a checkpoint along the Saudi-Yemeni border. Al Shihri and his accomplices were stopped by Saudi security forces after their suspicious behavior drew attention.
Two of the travelers, including al Shihri, were reportedly dressed as women. Saudi security personnel decided to search the al Qaeda car and its passengers, but al Shihri and the others opened fire. Al Shihri and one other al Qaeda member were killed in the shootout, while a third was arrested. One Saudi security officer was also killed.
Al Shihri’s death comes just weeks after one of his al Qaeda colleagues, Fahd Saleh Suleiman al Jutayli , was similarly killed in a shootout between the Yemeni Army and Houthi rebels in northern Yemen. Shortly thereafter, Al Shihri called his family in Saudi Arabia to tell them of al Jutayli’s death and to ask them to inform al Jutayli’s family.
The Saudi security personnel who searched al Shihri’s car reportedly found a small cache of arms, including suicide explosive belts.
Tags: Gun Rights
The 70-year-old woman who shot a would-be robber at a North Side motel last night is attending the All-American Quarter Horse Congress today and feels sick about the shooting, according to her son.
Columbus police say the shooting occurred about 9:15 p.m. at the Continent Inn, 6225 Zumstein Dr., located at The Continent shopping center, off Rt. 161 near I-71.
Sgt. Eric Pilya of the homicide squad said the woman was in a motel room with four or five others and they'd cracked open the door to get fresh air. Pilya said a man barged into the room, demanding money from those inside.
Police said the woman, from southern Ohio, grabbed a gun that she had in the room and shot Wayne Winston, 25, of Columbus, who staggered into the parking lot of the motel and died.
Tags: Police, War on Drugs
Federal agents arrested more than 300 people in a two-day sweep of the methamphetamine-trafficking operations of Mexico's La Familia drug cartel, a fast-growing group the government said has reached deep into the U.S.
Prosecutors in New York, Dallas and dozens of other cities unveiled indictments against some of the senior leadership of La Familia, which means "the family" in Spanish and is one of Mexico's newer cartels.
The sweep and indictments culminated a 44-month operation during which the Justice Department arrested about 1,200 people and seized nearly 12 tons of drugs as well as $32.8 million in U.S. currency, Attorney General Eric Holder said. Officials said they disrupted La Familia cells across the U.S., including distribution hubs in Texas, Kansas, Georgia and New York.
"While this cartel may operate from Mexico, the toxic reach of its operations extends to nearly every state in the country," Mr. Holder said, adding that La Familia was notable for its "sheer level and depravity of violence." In July, after the arrest of several La Familia leaders, authorities in Mexico discovered the bodies of 11 slain Mexican law-enforcement officers.
While both violence in Mexico and the flow of drugs into the U.S. continue, Mr. Holder said, "I think we're having an impact."
Tags: Gun Rights
Using lethal force against armed burglars is a difficult choice for decent folk, but Old Media abdicates their responsibility when they twist the story into an opinionated diatribe against self-defense.
On October 13, 2009, two small business owners arrived home after a 12-hour workday to find burglars rifling through their house and wearing their jewelry. At least one of the suspects was armed with a gun. The victims armed themselves with handguns and entered their home, confronting two or 3 suspected burglars. One burglar was killed and another wounded, with a possible third still at large.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, it seems that youths were just committing a harmless misdemeanor prank when they were attacked by two pistol-wielding vigilantes intent on killing them, rather than calling the police to handle it. Further, the homeowners hid behind Castle Doctrine law to justify using deadly force, stymieing police arrest authority and leaving prosecutors to “decide whether charges should be filed.”
So the government takeover of the domestic auto industry did exactly what for U.S. consumers, taxpayers, and workers?
WASHINGTON – Even with an economic revival, many U.S. jobs lost during the recession may be gone forever and a weak employment market could linger for years.
That could add up to a "new normal" of higher joblessness and lower standards of living for many Americans, some economists are suggesting.
The words "it's different this time" are always suspect. But economists and policy makers say the job-creating dynamics of previous recoveries can't be counted on now.
Here's why:
• The auto and construction industries helped lead the nation out of past recessions. But the carnage among Detroit's automakers and the surplus of new and foreclosed homes and empty commercial properties make it unlikely these two industries will be engines of growth anytime soon.
He cleaned it up all right.
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