To ensure imported food safety, federal agencies must focus their resources on high risk foods and coordinate efforts, according to a report released last week by the Government Accountability Office.

The report, submitted to the US Congress and obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police, assesses how the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, the Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service are addressing challenges in overseeing the safety of imported food.

It also assesses how the FDA utilizes resources by working with other entities, such as state and foreign governments, and attempts to determine how the FDA is using its Predictive Risk-Based Evaluation for Dynamic Import Compliance Targeting system to oversee imported food safety.

US agriculture generates more than $1.5 trillion per year in economic activity and provides an abundant food supply for Americans and others. There are continuing concerns about the vulnerability of US agriculture to the deliberate introduction of animal and plant diseases by those wishing to harm American citizens.

“The big problem is money be spent to monitor food products being imported into the United States. So far, the budget for food safety is minimal when compared to other government programs. For example, politicians push for vaccinating millions of Americans against what they characterize as a deadly flu epidemic, yet they do not seem concerned over a very real threat to all Americans — contaminated food,” said political strategist Mike Baker.

Federal agencies also have been conducting vulnerability assessments of the agriculture infrastructure; have created networks of laboratories capable of diagnosing animal, plant, and human diseases; have begun efforts to develop a national veterinary stockpile that intends to include vaccines against foreign animal diseases; and have created new federal emergency coordinator positions to help states develop emergency response plans for the agriculture sector. However, the United States still faces complex challenges that limit the nation’s ability to respond effectively to an attack against livestock.

CBP, FDA, and FSIS claim they have taken steps to address challenges in ensuring the safety of the increasing volume of imported food. For example, CBP maintains that the system importers use to provide information to FDA on food shipments; FDA electronically reviews food imports and inspects some foreign food production facilities to prevent contaminated food from reaching U.S. shores; and FSIS employs an equivalency system that requires countries to demonstrate that their food safety systems provide the same level of protection as the U.S. system.

However, gaps in enforcement and collaboration undermine these efforts. First, CBP’s computer system does not currently notify FDA or FSIS when imported food shipments arrive at U.S. ports, although efforts are underway to provide this information to FDA for air and truck shipments.

“This is a problem we see with law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies and other government entities,” claims former police detective and Marine intelligence officer Sidney Frances.

“Whenever we see multiple government agencies involved in one single function, there will almost certainly be some kind of Snafu,” he added.

This lack of communication may potentially increase the risk that unsafe food could enter U.S. commerce without FDA review, particularly at truck ports. Second, FDA has limited authority to ensure importers’ compliance with its regulations. Third, CBP and FDA do not identify importers with a unique number; as a result, FDA cannot always target food shipments originating from high risk importers.

Finally, CBP faces challenges in managing in-bond shipments–those that move within the United States without formally entering U.S. commerce–and such shipments possibly could be diverted into commerce. FDA generally collaborates with select states and foreign governments on imported food safety. FDA has entered into a contract, several cooperative agreements, and informal partnerships for imported food with certain states, and some state officials told GAO that they would like to collaborate further with FDA on food imports.

However, citing legal restrictions, FDA does not fully share certain information, such as product distribution lists, with states during a recall. This impedes states’ efforts to quickly remove contaminated products from grocery stores and warehouses. FSIS has begun to make available to the public a list of retail establishments that have likely received food products that are subject to a serious recall. FDA is also expanding efforts to coordinate with other countries.

In particular, through its Beyond Our Borders initiative, FDA is pushing the US government to station investigators and technical experts in China, Europe, and India, to provide technical assistance and gather information about food manufacturing practices to improve risk-based screening at U.S. ports.

According to FDA, inspectors will analyze food shipments using criteria that include a product’s inherent food safety risk and the importer’s violative history, among other things, to estimate each shipment’s risk. A 2007 pilot test indicated that the system improved FDA’s ability to identify products it considers to be high risk while allowing a greater percentage of products it considers low risk to enter U.S. commerce without a manual review.

On Friday, government officials with the Homeland Security and Justice Departments stated that the veteran lawman’s deputies could no longer make arrests based on a person’s immigration status. However, during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” Sheriff Arpaio told viewers that he and his deputies would continue to enforce the law and pointed to Arizona state laws that he would enforce.

In response to the federal complaints regarding his activities, Sheriff Arpaio dispatched deputies on a two-day “crime suppression” operation. While heralded by the men and women he serves, Arpaio’s sweeps have been characterized as racial profiling by opponents of immigration enforcement.

The nationwide enforcement of immigration law has been under the gun since President Barack Obama took his oath of office. Many political leaders, mostly Democrats, have targeted enforcement agencies and agents over the past few months with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi calling immigration raids “Un-American” and Congressman Luis Guttierez calling Border Patrol agents “The Gestapo.”

Attorney General Eric Holder has also threatened Arpaio with a federal investigation of his Sheriff’s Department and its activities as a result of his success at capturing hundreds of criminal aliens.

“Nothing has changed,” Arpaio told a Reuters reporter while overseeing an operation in a suburb northwest of Phoenix. “We’re still going to be doing what we’ve been doing tonight and during the last two and a half years. I don’t take orders from anyone.”

Sheriff Arpaio first carried out the sweeps after his deputies underwent training offered by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that gave participating state and local police officers authority to make immigration arrests during the Bush Administration. However, during the Obama Administration deputies have now lost their arrest powers as far as immigration laws on the streets.

The Homeland Security Department claims the reason for curtailing the program with local law enforcement is the current restructuring of the ICE program. However, Arpaio states that his officers are still allowed to determine the immigration status of detainees held in county jails.

Sheriff Arpaio was first elected in 1992 and is praised for his success in reducing violence and crime within his jurisdiction. While strongly supported by a majority of citizens in his county, Arpaio is routinely lambasted by Hispanic activists, liberal organizations and civil rights leaders such as Rev. Al Sharpton.

Sadly, at the same time as this government/media crackdown on Arpaio, the Department of Homeland Security estimates that the total unauthorized immigrant population residing in the United States is 10 million. Their total includes those who entered the United States illegally and those who entered legally but overstayed their authorized period of stay. Critics dispute the federal statistics saying that the number of illegal aliens is closer to 20 million.

Another recent study by the GAO estimates that there are about 15 million illegal aliens living in the United States. The study estimates that nearly 700,000 aliens enter the United States illegally or overstay their authorized period of stay each year.

Their report contained information on the number of criminal aliens incarcerated, their country of citizenship or country of birth, and the cost to incarcerate them. Congress also requested that the GAO provide information on the criminal history of aliens incarcerated in federal and state prisons or local jails who had entered the country illegally.

In the GAO study of a population sample of 55,322 illegal aliens, analysts found that they were arrested a total of 459,614 times, averaging about 8 arrests per illegal alien.

Nearly all of the illegal aliens in the study sample had more than 1 arrest. Thirty-eight percent (about 21,000) had between 2 and 5 arrests, 32 percent (about 18,000) had between 6 and 10 arrests, and 26 percent (about 15,000) had 11 or more arrests. They were arrested for a total of about 700,000 criminal offenses, averaging about 13 offenses per illegal alien.

One arrest incident may include multiple offenses, a fact that explains why there are nearly one and half times more offenses than arrests.

Almost all of these illegal aliens were arrested for more than 1 offense. Slightly more than half of the 55,322 illegal aliens had between 2 and 10 offenses. About 45 percent of all offenses were drug or immigration offenses. About 15 percent were property-related offenses such as burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and property damage. About 12 percent were for violent offenses such as murder, robbery, assault, and sex-related crimes. The balance was for such other offenses as traffic violations, including driving under the influence; fraud–including forgery and counterfeiting; weapons violations; and obstruction of justice.

Eighty percent of all arrests occurred in three states — California, Texas, and Arizona. Specifically, about 58 percent of all arrests occurred in California, 14 percent in Texas, and 8 percent in Arizona. In addition, the FBI estimates that there are upwards of 50,000 illegal aliens who are members of crime gangs such as MS-13, the Mexican Mafia and the Latin Kings.

“If the US Attorney General and his boss President Obama are concerned with investigating criminal activity, perhaps they should focus on criminal aliens and gangs rather than persecuting an effective law enforcement commander such as Joe Arpaio,” said former NYPD detective and Marine Sid Frances.

On Monday, October 19, top talk show host Glenn Beck will expose President Barack Obama’s latest power grab: control of the Internet. The show (aired on Fox News Channel at 5:00 PM EST) is a must-see for anyone interested in freedom and limited government, and it’s a welcome change from the Obama propaganda one gets from most news organizations.

However, on September 3, this writer exposed this stealth Obama-Congressional operation in a column worth reading to understand the danger American’s face when the government sets its sights on the last bastion of freedom of expression — the worldwide web. And, of course, they are using the problem of cyber crime to rationalize their takeover.

A Senate bill (S.773) if passed would give the President of the United States the authority to declare a “cyber emergency” and close down the Internet by disconnecting users.

In addition, it will require professional IT people to be certified by the federal government, something that angers many IT technicians and those who believe in the First Amendment. Americans are being deceived by the news media and their elected officials in Washington, DC and it’s Americans who will suffer from that deception, according to information technology experts.

This stealth legislation is being sponsored by the powerful and highly partisan Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and the liberal Senator Olympia Snow (R-ME), claim critics.

“The fact that a man [Rockefeller] who visited other nations to give them a heads up about our intentions [to invade Iraq] would now suddenly care about security is laughable,” said political strategist Mike Baker.

“But there is no laughing about a government that wants to control cyber space, the last bastion of freedom of speech in our crumbling democracy,” said Baker.

“What irks President Obama and the other liberal-left politicians is that fact that while they’re pampered by the mainstream news media, talk radio and the Internet are not in the tank for them,” he added.

During a White House announcement televised on Fox News, CNN and other news networks, Obama said he will appoint a cyber security coordinator—or Cyber Czar—for the critical infrastructure that all Americans depend on.

“We will ensure that these networks are secure, trustworthy and resilient,” he said. “We will deter, prevent, detect and defend against attacks, and recover quickly from any disruptions or damage.”

The cyber security office will orchestrate and integrate all cyber security policies for the government, the president said. It will work closely with the Office of Management and Budget to ensure agency budgets reflect those priorities, and, in the event of major cyber incident or attack, it will coordinate government response.

The cyber security coordinator will be a member of the national security staff and will serve on the president’s national economic council.

But Critics point out that any high-tech program that entails government intrusion should be carefully monitored by not only the US Congress but also private sector experts in cyber security and computer-based espionage.

“People went ballistic when they discovered the Bush White House authorized the interception of telephone and other electronic communications by intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and rightly so. Yet, I haven’t heard a peep from these same people who claim they are concerned with ‘privacy rights,’” said security expert and former NYPD cop Mike Fitzgerald.

“This may come back to haunt us as the first step down a truly slippery slope,” said former the Police detective and director of security.

“The technology involved is so complicated that it may take computer scientists to discover whether the government is protecting Americans on the worldwide web or spying on them. And what are businesses that rely on the Internet supposed to do if the President closes down the Internet?” asks Sam McCarthy a former police commander now a computer security expert..

The cyber infrastructure is not limited to the federal government. The office will work with state and local governments and international partners to combat cyber attacks, and also will work with the private sector to ensure an organized and unified response to future cyber incidents, Obama stated.

Experts agree that America’s economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cyber security, which also affects public safety and national security. However, most experts contacted said that cyber security should be the responsibility of the private sector not government officials.

“We count on computer networks to deliver our oil and gas, our power and our water,” said McCarthy.

“Computers help run public transportation networks from the skies to subways, he noted, and hackers have launched attacks on electrical grids,” he said.

Part of the Obama program is a national campaign to promote cyber security awareness and digital literacy. The effort also will be part of the president’s initiative to build a digital work force for the 21st century. However, according to security experts, Obama is seeking powers never before given to a President even during the height of the Cold War.

“Once Americans realize what’s happening it may be too late thanks to Obama’s supporters in the news media. Do a search and you won’t see stories about this power grab in the major media,” warns Baker.

*CHOOSE bright, flame-retardant costumes or add reflective tape to costumes and candy bags so children are easily seen in the dark. In addition, carry a glow stick or flashlight.

*PLAN a trick-or-treating route in familiar neighborhoods with well-lit streets. Avoid unfamiliar neighborhoods, streets that are isolated, or homes that are poorly lit inside or outside.

*NEVER send young children out alone. They should always be accompanied by a parent or another trusted adult. Older children should always travel in groups.

*ALWAYS walk younger children to the door to receive treats and don’t let children enter a home unless you are with them.

*BE SURE children do not approach any vehicle, occupied or not, unless you are with them.

*DISCUSS basic pedestrian safety rules that children should use when walking to and from houses.

*CONSIDER organizing a home or community party as an alternative to “trick-or-treating.”

*MAKE sure children know their home phone number and address in case you get separated. Teach children how to call 911 in an emergency.

*TEACH children to say “NO!” or “this is not my mother/father” in a loud voice if someone tries to get them to go somewhere, accept anything other than a treat, or leave with them. And teach them that they should make every effort to get away by kicking, screaming and resisting.

*REMIND children to remain alert and report suspicious incidents to parents and/or law enforcement.

“Child safety is important year round, but Halloween is an especially important time for parents and children to pay extra attention to their surroundings and not let their guard down,” said Nancy McBride, National Safety Director of NCMEC. “It is important that parents exercise a few basic safety precautions to help ensure that Halloween is both fun and safe.”

This year the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children observes its 25th anniversary. NCMEC has played a role in the recovery of more than 138,500 children. Today more children come home safely than ever before. In 2008, NCMEC helped recover more children than any other year in the organization’s 25-year history, raising the recovery rate from 62 percent in 1990 to 97 percent today. And more of those who prey on children are being identified and prosecuted. Yet too many children are still missing and too many children are still the victims of sexual exploitation. There is much more that needs to be done.

NCMEC: www.missingkids.com
NACOP: www.aphf.org

The new law will provide $1.5 billion each year from 2010 to 2014 for schools, hospitals, roads, agricultural aid, roadwork and other development projects.

“This act formalizes that partnership, based on a shared commitment to improving the living conditions of the people of Pakistan through sustainable economic development, strengthening democracy and the rule of law, and combating the extremism that threatens Pakistan and the United States,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said

However, critics say they do not believe building schools and hospitals will do much to stop the Taliban and Al Qaeda and that what appears to work in Iraq will work in Afghanistan, a nation that’s been war-torn for many years prior to the US-led invasion.

“This is the liberal-left strategy for fighting a war against terrorists: build schools and hospitals. In other words, increase the number of targets for the enemy — the Taliban and Al Qaeda,” said former NYPD detective and Marine intelligence officer Sid Franks.

“This strategy may have worked in Iraq, but the Afghan terrorists and radicals have been hardened by years of fighting warlords, Russia’s military and now the US. They don’t want our schools and hospitals and Obama just doesn’t get it,” said Det. Franks.

“As usual, when faced with a problem most US politicians believe throwing taxpayers money at it is the solution,” said political strategist Mike Baker.

Meanwhile, on the same day as Obama’s law-signing, terrorists attacked three security agency buildings in Pakistan today, including the Federal Investigation Agency headquarters and two police training centers in Lahore. In addition, a suicide car bomber struck in the northwestern city of Kohat, and a bombing in Quetta in the southwest of the country left more dead.

There were five terrorist attacks in less than 24 hours and at least 40 people have been killed in the latest Taliban attacks.

These attacks follow a rash of violence in Pakistan by an increasingly emboldened Taliban, including an attack over the weekend on Pakistan’s army headquarters.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Pakistan, vowing continued U.S. support to help Pakistan combat violence, according to Donna Miles of the American Forces Press Service.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Pakistan Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani following that attack to express personal condolences for those killed, while emphasizing continued U.S. support.

Mullen has made numerous trips to Pakistan during the past 18 months, and talks regularly with his Pakistani counterparts about their stepped-up counteroffensive against extremists.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today the United States is encouraged by the way the Pakistani government is “taking on the threat that exists in their country.”

“The Pakistani government looks like they are committed to taking the necessary steps to deal with this threat,” he said.

Whitman called the attacks particularly troublesome because, he said, they take their biggest toll on innocent civilians.

U.S. embassy officials in Pakistan expressed outrage today over the latest string of attacks.

“The horrific injuries and loss of life witnessed in Lahore, Peshawar and Kohat today, along with those lost in the attack on the Pakistan Army General Headquarters, are another stark reminder of the amoral nature of those who commit such acts,” a statement released today declared. “These attacks will not deter the people of Pakistan from continuing in their commitment to a free and democratic society.

“The United States will continue to support the people and government of Pakistan in combating all forms of violence,” the statement continued. “We mourn the senseless loss of life and extend our condolences to the victims’ families, friends and community.”

There were five terrorist attacks in less than 24 hours and at least 40 people have been killed in the latest Taliban attacks.

These attacks follow a rash of violence in Pakistan by an increasingly emboldened Taliban, including an attack over the weekend on Pakistan’s army headquarters.

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Pakistan, vowing continued U.S. support to help Pakistan combat violence, according to Donna Miles of the American Forces Press Service.

The embassy issued the condemnation of the attacks as President Barack Obama signed a law that provides $7.5 billion in nonmilitary aid to Pakistan over the next five years. The funds are part of a comprehensive plan that recognizes the importance of confronting the root causes of extremism as well as extremists themselves, stated Miles.

The new law will provide $1.5 billion each year from 2010 to 2014 for schools, hospitals, roads, agricultural aid, roadwork and other development projects.

However, critics say they do not believe building schools and hospitals will do much to stop the Taliban and Al Qaeda and that what appears to work in Iraq will work in Afghanistan, a nation that’s been war-torn for many years prior to the US-led invasion.

“This act formalizes that partnership, based on a shared commitment to improving the living conditions of the people of Pakistan through sustainable economic development, strengthening democracy and the rule of law, and combating the extremism that threatens Pakistan and the United States,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Pakistan Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani following that attack to express personal condolences for those killed, while emphasizing continued U.S. support.

Mullen has made numerous trips to Pakistan during the past 18 months, and talks regularly with his Pakistani counterparts about their stepped-up counteroffensive against extremists.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today the United States is encouraged by the way the Pakistani government is “taking on the threat that exists in their country.”

“The Pakistani government looks like they are committed to taking the necessary steps to deal with this threat,” he said.

Whitman called the attacks particularly troublesome because, he said, they take their biggest toll on innocent civilians.

U.S. embassy officials in Pakistan expressed outrage today over the latest string of attacks.

“The horrific injuries and loss of life witnessed in Lahore, Peshawar and Kohat today, along with those lost in the attack on the Pakistan Army General Headquarters, are another stark reminder of the amoral nature of those who commit such acts,” a statement released today declared. “These attacks will not deter the people of Pakistan from continuing in their commitment to a free and democratic society.

“The United States will continue to support the people and government of Pakistan in combating all forms of violence,” the statement continued. “We mourn the senseless loss of life and extend our condolences to the victims’ families, friends and community.”

Arpaio’s deputies attended the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Center in order to be trained for immigration enforcement as part of their regular law enforcement and jail management duties. In addition to the DHS attempting to curtail Sheriff Arpaio’s immigration enforcement activities — he states he will not stop arresting illegal aliens — Obama’s Attorney General, Eric Holder, is threatening to investigate Sheriff Arpaio and his department.

Sadly, at the same time the Department of Homeland Security estimates that the total unauthorized immigrant population residing in the United States is 10 million. Their total includes those who entered the United States illegally and those who entered legally but overstayed their authorized period of stay. Critics dispute the federal statistics saying that the number of illegal aliens is closer to 20 million.

Another recent study by the GAO estimates that there are about 15 million illegal aliens living in the United States. The study estimates that nearly 700,000 aliens enter the United States illegally or overstay their authorized period of stay each year.

Some illegal aliens in the United States have been arrested and incarcerated in federal and state prisons as well as local jails, adding to already dangerously overcrowded prisons and jails, the Government Accountability Office reported to the US Congress’ Homeland Security Subcommittee on criminal aliens that were incarcerated in federal and state prisons and local jails.

Their report contained information on the number of criminal aliens incarcerated, their country of citizenship or country of birth, and the cost to incarcerate them. Congress also requested that the GAO provide information on the criminal history of aliens incarcerated in federal and state prisons or local jails who had entered the country illegally.

For a population of aliens that entered the country illegally and were incarcerated in federal or state prisons or local jails, the GAO report addressed the following questions: How many times have they been arrested? How many and what type of criminal offenses have they been arrested for? What states were they arrested in?

In the GAO study of a population sample of 55,322 illegal aliens, analysts found that they were arrested at a total of 459,614 times, averaging about 8 arrests per illegal alien.

Nearly all of the illegal aliens in the study sample had more than 1 arrest. Thirty-eight percent (about 21,000) had between 2 and 5 arrests, 32 percent (about 18,000) had between 6 and 10 arrests, and 26 percent (about 15,000) had 11 or more arrests. They were arrested for a total of about 700,000 criminal offenses, averaging about 13 offenses per illegal alien.

One arrest incident may include multiple offenses, a fact that explains why there are nearly one and half times more offenses than arrests.

Almost all of these illegal aliens were arrested for more than 1 offense. Slightly more than half of the 55,322 illegal aliens had between 2 and 10 offenses. About 45 percent of all offenses were drug or immigration offenses. About 15 percent were property-related offenses such as burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and property damage. About 12 percent were for violent offenses such as murder, robbery, assault, and sex-related crimes. The balance was for such other offenses as traffic violations, including driving under the influence; fraud–including forgery and counterfeiting; weapons violations; and obstruction of justice.

Eighty percent of all arrests occurred in three states — California, Texas, and Arizona. Specifically, about 58 percent of all arrests occurred in California, 14 percent in Texas, and 8 percent in Arizona. In addition, the FBI estimates that there are upwards of 50,000 illegal aliens who are members of crime gangs such as MS-13, the Mexican Mafia and the Latin Kings.

“If the US Attorney General and his boss President Obama are concerned with investigating criminal activity, perhaps they should focus on criminal aliens and gangs rather than persecuting an effective law enforcement commander such as Joe Arpaio,” said former NYPD detective and Marine Sid Frances.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the former editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

This is yet another plan by Progressives to allow a United Nations style tax on American citizens, according to officials at the American Conservative Union. ACU officials say that this “sickening bill could potentially force the United States to spend as much as $845,000,000,000.00 on welfare to third-world countries.”

While the Senate record of President Barack Obama may appear to be a bit lacking, he did take a leadership position in pushing forward this unique piece of legislation. While the idea of eliminating global hunger and disease throughout the world would be a worthy goal, critics of the Global Tax say this legislation appears benevolent only on the surface.

Jeffrey Sachs, who runs the UN’s “Millennium Project,” says that the UN plan to force the US to pay 0.7 percent of its GNP in increased foreign aid spending would add $65 billion a year to what the US already spends. Over a period, from the time when the U.N.’s Financing for Development conference was held, to the target year of 2015, when the U.S. is expected to meet the “Millennium Development Goals,” this amounts to $845 billion. And the only way to raise that kind of money, Sachs has written, is through a global tax, preferably on carbon-emitting fossil fuels.

Obama’s bill has only six co-sponsors. They are Democrat Senators Robert Menendez, Maria Cantwell, Dianne Feinstein and Richard Durbin, with Republican Senators Chuck Hagel and Richard Lugar,. But it appears that Biden and Obama see passage of this bill as a way to highlight Democratic Party priorities in the Senate.

“This is the same tax on Americans that the socialists and New World Order enthusiasts have been dreaming about all these years. Americans are a generous people and may believe their leaders want to help the impoverished, but it is an idea that in reality is just one step closer to Globalism,” claims political strategist Michael Baker.

“The socialists would like nothing better than to tax the people of the United States with the blessings of liberal-left American politicians and activists,” he said.

“What is driving the global taxation agenda is a Marxist view that the US is exploiting the people and natural resources of the world. According to this perspective, international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and even the UN must be restructured and provided with new financial resources to supervise and manage the redistribution of the world’s wealth. The United States, being the leading capitalist state, has to pay the largest price,” said Accuracy in Media’s Cliff Kincaid.

“Their attitude was expressed at a non-governmental organization forum in Monterrey, Mexico, associated with the U.N.’s International Conference on Financing for Development, that Christopher Columbus ‘invaded, destroyed and pillaged’ the hemisphere and that a global tax was necessary to pay for the damage,” said the news media watchdog.

According to critics of the Global Tax, since no one wants to be on the record as not wanting to combat poverty, some politicians — without a doubt — will feel pressure from some of their less courageous colleagues to go along with a policy they know is harmful to the American people. Plus members of the news media have shown themselves to embrace socialism and will help to get this horrendous Obama-sponsored bill passed without alerting Americans about its ramifications.

“This is all part and parcel of a new world order: Third-World countries taxing the American people,” said award-winning actor (Bang the Drum Slowly, Law & Order) and political activist Michael Moriarty.

“These Maoists and Stalinists realized they could never bring people in other countries up to the standard of living we have in the United States. So, what do they do? They try to drag down the American people so that they are as poor and miserable as the impoverished in other countries,” accuses Moriarty, who is a regular contributer to EnterStageRight.com.

“It is not humane to burden the American taxpayer with billions in additional foreign aid. It is more than unacceptable,” he added.

“How do liberals fight poverty? They make more people poor,” said a New Jersey school teacher who has been critical of this nation’s government schools.

“If history is to be our guide, American ‘foreign aid’ often winds up lining the pockets of Third-World tyrants and bureaucrats who hate America and do very little to help those who are truly in need,” she said. “Remember the United Nation’s Oil for Food scandal?”

The educator points to the United Nation’s Oil for Food criminals who made extraordinary amounts of money while the Iraqi people went hungry as an example of the failure of internationalists to help people.

“I’m always reminded that when politicians say they want to help you, the best thing you can do is run away from them as fast as you can. They’re not in the business of helping people — they’re in the business of grabbing as much power for themselves as possible,” said Baker.

“Obama’s costly, dangerous and altogether bad bill (S. 2433), which could come up in the Senate any day, is called the Global Poverty Act. It would commit U.S. taxpayers to spend 0.7 percent of our Gross Domestic Product on foreign handouts…

“$845 BILLION is hardly a drop in the bucket and, yes, that’s in addition to our Foreign Aid programs, which, in 2006, cost American taxpayers almost $300 BILLION!”

“If the Democrat-controlled Congress passes this bill, the United States will have taken the first step toward the complete surrender of our national sovereignty,” Baker said.

The sentences resulted from a multi-agency federal investigation conducted in 2007 and led by the Homeland Security Department’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Mary Gurin, 38, of Carpentersville, Illinois, and Norinye Benitez, 26, of Franklin Park, Illinois, were sentenced on September 30 by U.S. District Judge Elaine E. Bucklo, Northern District of Illinois, for harboring illegal aliens for financial gain. Gurin, who pleaded guilty May 11 to the charge, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison. Benitez received 12 months and one day of imprisonment following her December 12, 2008 guilty plea.

According to documents filed in court, Gurin owned Ideal Staffing, a staffing agency located in Bensenville, Illinois, that contracted with several companies to provide temporary employees for work done in and around O’Hare.

Between February 2006 and November 2007, Gurin knowingly employed at least 54 illegal workers and arranged for them to fraudulently obtain airport security badges by falsely certifying information on the security badge application forms. The badges allowed the workers to enter secure areas while loading pallets, freight and meals for companies doing business at O’Hare, including some commercial airlines.

At times, Gurin also knowingly distributed airport security badges issued in other names to the illegal workers, which circumvented the appropriate security screening process and allowed illegal workers access to secure areas.

The 54 illegal workers from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador all faced state felony charges for possessing fraudulent identification in the form of an airport security badge. So far, authorities have recovered 34 fraudulent airport badges.

“These cases illustrate the need for ICE’s continued vigilance to protect our nation’s airports and other critical infrastructure,” said John Morton, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for ICE. “The defendants circumvented airport security and the screening process in the name of greed.”

According to court documents, Gurin supervised the work of Norinye Benitez, her office assistant. Under Gurin’s direction, Benitez assisted hiring between 35 and 40 illegal workers and fraudulently obtained airport security badges for them. Benitez admitted to falsifying information on employment forms for workers who did not have proper identification, and to knowingly hiring illegal workers who presented counterfeit documents. Benitez is herself an illegal alien and will be transferred to ICE custody after she completes her prison sentence.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the former editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

Ammunition manufacturers report their factories are producing ammunition at record rates and keeping their facilities operating 24/7. Yet they still cannot keep up with the demand for bullets for everything from handguns to hunting rifles.

Gun store owners and manufacturers claim this is the first time they have ever seen such a drastic shortage in ammunition. According to gun rights activists and enthusiasts, ammunition is a scarce commodity and has been getting scarcer this year.

“I have never seen such a situation in all my years as a gun owner, hunter and cop,” said Edna Aquino, a New York police officer and shooting instructor.

“I’m hearing from fellow shooters that they are stockpiling ammunition these days because they are afraid of what they’re seeing in this country,” she said.

Aquino and others believe that after passing their health care plan, President Barack Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress will pass more antigun legislation. These gun owners do not believe the rhetoric of the politicians on the left who claim they support gun ownership, but propose all types of new laws and regulations.

When the left-leaning Barack Obama was inaugurated President of the United States last January, gun sales increased substantially. The Federal Bureau of Investigation reported over six million new requests for pre-sale in the first five months of 2009. According to the FBI, there was a 26% increase in these mandatory background checks for gun sales.

“That is going to cause an upswing in ammunition sales,” said Larry Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association representing about 5,000 members. “Without bullets a gun is just a paper weight.”

When gun groups questioned the reason for the current situation, they were told by the government that part of the shortage is caused by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, according to political strategist Mike Baker, that excuse doesn’t “pass the smell test.”

“The US military uses different types of weapons than civilian gun owners, for the most part. Different types of weapons means different types of ammo,” he said.

American gun owners usually purchase about seven billion rounds of ammo annually, according to the National Rifle Association. However, in the past year the NRA says Americans bought two billion more bullets than usual.

“It always happens when the Democrats get in office. It happened with Clinton and Obama is even stronger for gun control. Ammunition will be the first step, so I’m stocking up while I can,” said one New Jersey gun dealer.

He points to the latest trend in the never ending government regulation of gun ownership: Ammo Control.

“Gun control fanatics, frustrated in their attempts to impose severely restrictive regulations on the gun rights of law-abiding American citizens, apparently think that if they push severe restrictions on ammunition acquisition and possession, they’ll come closer to their objective of restricting if not eliminating the individual Second Amendment civil right to keep and bear arms,” says John M. Snyder, known as “Washington’s senior gun rights activist.”

“Ever since the so-called ‘Beltway Sniper’ case in 2001, there’s been talk about not just gun registration, but ammo registration. This will make it mandatory for manufacturers of firearms ammunition to number every cartridge they make and to keep records of those cartridges,” said Lt. Steven Rodgers, a cop in New Jersey.

“Can’t control guns? Well, they’ll control the ammunition,” he added.

While a federal law is being considered by proponents of such laws, gun owners in individual states are witnessing what’s referred to as Ammunition Accountability Acts being pushed through they’re state legislatures by impatient lawmakers.

Ammunition Accountability, a liberal gun control organization, has developed sample legislation to achieve its purposes and reports that versions of it have been introduced in the legislatures of Alabama, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington, according to John Snyder.

The sample legislation stipulates that, “each year in the United States, more than 30 percent of all homicides that involve a gun go unsolved; handgun ammunition accounts for 80 percent of all ammunition sold in the United States; current technology for matching a bullet used in a crime to the gun that fired it has worked moderately well for years, but presupposes that the weapon was recovered by law enforcement;” and “bullet coding is a new and effective way for law enforcement to quickly identify persons of interest in gun crime investigations.”

In addition to the problem of ammunition scarcity, gun owners must contend with rising prices making it more costly to visit firing ranges. There are even retailers who are limiting the number of boxes a buyer may purchase. As a result, buyers are searching for gun stores that will allow them to purchase cases of ammo to be stockpiled in their homes.

Why are Americans scrambling to purchase guns and ammunition in record numbers? Many say it’s their fear of the political climate in the United States.

Jan Norton, a teacher in New Jersey and lifelong target shooter, believes it started with the report issued by the Homeland Security Department identifying pro-life, pro-gun, anti-government Americans as potential terrorists.

“While the Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano backed away from that report, there are others who’ve contributed to increasing the fears of law-abiding citizens who happen to have conservative or libertarian political views,” she said.

In an unclassified report entitled “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” Napolitano and her agency included the following description of “extremists:”

“Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”

Also, US Congressman Alcee Hastings’ (D-FL) introduced an amendment to the 2010 National Defense Authorization bill which will prohibit the recruitment, enlistment, or retention of persons with known affiliations to “groups determined by the Attorney General to be of a violent, extremist nature.”

The Hastings Amendment confers upon the Attorney General the ability to categorize groups as hate groups, and this sounds an alarm for many Americans because of the recent shocking and offensive report released by the Department of Homeland Security which labeled, arguably, a majority of Americans as “extremists.”

Ammunition manufacturers believe that once gun owners believe they’ve purchased a sufficient amount of ammo, there will be more to go around. However, the solution to ammo shortages is merely a symptom of a much larger problem: a distrust of all branches of government.

For additional information, click or copy & paste: http://www.newswithviews.com/NWV-News/news164.htm

Critics of President Obama’s policies — or non-policies — regarding illegal alien criminals point to the enormous amount of crime and violence committed by them. According to the US Department of Justice and the FBI, there are more than 50,000 gang members who are in this country illegally. For example, the violent and powerful MS-13 or Mara Salvatrucha is comprised of many illegal aliens and boasts over 10,000 members nationwide.

Illegal aliens do not confine their criminal activities to border cities — communities throughout this country are experiencing increasing alien involvement in drug importation and distribution, weapons smuggling, and violence against persons and property.

The escalation in alien crime has placed added demands on state and local law enforcement personnel. Effective identification of aliens involved in crime requires familiarity with fraudulent documentation. Proper arrest procedures must be carried out, and complex notification and reporting requirements must be satisfied; otherwise, dangerous aliens can escape prosecution and deportation. Handling the myriad problems associated with alien crimes is often beyond the capabilities of local police departments

More than two-thirds of the illegal alien defendants charged with an immigration offense were identified as having been previously arrested. Thirty-six percent had been arrested on at least 5 prior occasions; 22%, 2 to 4 times; and 12%,1 time.

Sixty-one percent of those defendants had been convicted at least once; 18%, 5 or more times; 26%, 2 to 4 times; and 17%, 1 time. Of those charged, 49% had previously been convicted of a felony: 20% of a drug offense; 18%, a violent offense; and 11%, other felony offenses. Twelve percent had previously been convicted of a misdemeanor.

Defendants charged with unlawful reentry had the most extensive criminal histories. Nine in ten had been previously arrested. Of those with a prior arrest, half had been arrested on at least 5 prior occasions.

Fifty-six percent of those charged with a reentry offense had previously been convicted of a violent or drug-related felony. By contrast, under half of those charged with alien smuggling, a third of those charged with unlawful entry, and just over a quarter those charged with misuse of visas and other charges had previously been arrested. The criminal histories of these defendants were generally less extensive: more than 70% had been previously arrested fewer than 5 times.

Immigration fraud is another method used by criminals and terrorists to gain entry into the United States and carryout their agendas. The Identity and Benefits Fraud Unit, an investigative component of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is charged with detecting, deterring, and disrupting the fraudulent schemes used by terrorist and criminal organizations. In fiscal year 2008, the IBF Unit opened almost 3,800 new cases of immigration fraud and received or developed over 7,000 leads.

“There are crimes committed against US citizens that would not occur if only the federal government clamped down on illegal aliens entering the US and deporting illegals already here. Even one of the biggest murder cases in the new Millennium — the Chandra Levy killing — was committed by an illegal alien who was a one-man crime wave,” said Det. Snolinsky.

“How long are Americans and our leaders going to allow this crime wave to grow before they start to demand action, not just flowery Obama speeches?” he added.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the former editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

According to a criminal complaint, at a sensitive stage of the investigation, by questioning an imam about the suspect, the NYPD acted without informing their FBI counterparts.

At least one of the police detectives being singled out in the FBI’s complaint is assigned to the NYPD Intelligence Division and not the NYPD-FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The Intel Division is responsible for organized crime, terrorism and other special projects and is not connected to the FBI-run JTTF.

The FBI complaint suggests the local cops may have tipped off Najibullah Zazi , a 24-year-old Denver airport shuttle driver, by towing, and then searching, a rental car he was using while in New York City. The police search succeeded in uncovering a laptop computer containing bomb making instructions on its hard drive.

The FBI contends this tipped off the suspect because during a telephone phone conversation with Ahmad Wais Afzali, Zazi stated the car’s removal caused him to believe he was being kept under surveillance.

Members of the JTTF and officials at One Police Plaza in Manhattan said they could not comment on the alleged friction between FBI agents and NYPD detectives and the department’s spokesman, Paul Browne, told reporters simply that “the NYPD and the FBI worked closely and successfully in this case and in scores of others.” He declined further comment as did Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.

“While I don’t know the specific details of these allegations by the FBI against the NYPD cops, I do know from experience that the feds have a habit of blaming others when they fail while taking credit when others succeed in an investigation,” claims former NYPD Det. Mike Schwartz.

“I get worried when I hear stories like this one. It tells me that there are problems with the investigation and [FBI and NYPD] investigators are pointing fingers at one another,” Schwartz added.

Zazi, his father and Afzali were arrested over the weekend on charges they lied to the FBI but weren’t immediately charged with terrorism. According to affidavits filed in support of three criminal complaints, the FBI is investigating several individuals in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere, relating to a plot to detonate improvised explosive devices within the United States.

Records from U.S. Customs and Border Protection reveal that, on August 28, 2008, Najibullah Zazi flew to Peshawar, Pakistan from Newark International Airport in New Jersey via Geneva, Switzerland and Doha, Qatar. CBP records further reflect that Najibullah Zazi traveled from Peshawar to John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York City, on or about January 15, 2009.

According to the affidavits, on or about September 9, 2009, FBI agents observed Najibullah Zazi depart his residence in Colorado in a rented car. He drove to New York City, arriving the following day, and spent the night at a residence in Flushing, Queens (“the Queens Residence.”)

On September 10, 2009, New York City Police Department detectives met with defendant Afzali, whom the NYPD had utilized as a source in the past. According to the affidavits, the detectives questioned Afzali about Najibullah Zazi and others and showed him photographs of Najibullah Zazi and others. Afzali allegedly told the detectives he recognized Najibullah Zazi and several of the men in the photographs.

According to affidavits, on September 11, 2009, defendant Mohammed Zazi placed a call to Afzali which lasted approximately 20 minutes. That same day, the FBI intercepted a phone conversation between Mohammed Zazi and his son, Najibullah Zazi. An affidavit alleges that, during the conversation, Mohammed Zazi told his son that he had spoken to Afzali who had informed him about being visited by law enforcement and shown photographs. Mohammed Zazi told his son that Afzali would call him and he advised his son to speak with Afzali “before anything else,” according to the affidavits.

In the midst of this phone call, Najibullah Zazi allegedly received a call from Afzali, who discussed his meeting with law enforcement the day before. According to a draft summary of the transcription, Afzali allegedly stated: “I was exposed to something yesterday from law enforcement. And they came to ask me about your characters.” Afzali also allegedly asked Najibullah Zazi about his last trip to Pakistan and added, “Listen, our phone call is being monitored.”

According to the affidavits, in another intercepted phone conversation on Sept. 11, 2009, Najibullah Zazi told Afzali that his car had been stolen and that he feared he was being “watched.” Afzali allegedly asked if there was any “evidence in his car,” and Najibullah Zazi said no.

That same day, FBI agents conducted a legally authorized search of Najibullah Zazi’s rental car, which was parked near the Queens residence. During the search, agents found a laptop computer containing images of nine-pages of handwritten notes. According to the affidavits, the notes contain formulations and instructions regarding the manufacture and handling of initiating explosives, main explosives charges, explosives detonators and components of a fusing system. On September 12, 2009, Najibullah Zazi flew from La Guardia Airport in New York to Denver.

On September 16, 2009, FBI agents interviewed Najibullah Zazi in Denver. According to an affidavit, when he was asked about and shown handwritten notes regarding explosives found on his laptop computer, Najibullah Zazi falsely asserted that he had never seen the document before and stated he had not written the notes.

On September 17 and 18, Najibullah Zazi was further interviewed by the FBI in Denver. According to affidavits, Najibullah Zazi admitted in the interviews that during his 2008 trip to Pakistan, he attended courses and received instruction on weapons and explosives at an al-Qaeda training facility in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, of Pakistan.

The affidavits allege that, on September 17, Afzali was interviewed by authorities in New York where he falsely asserted in a written statement that he did not tell Najibullah Zazi or Mohammed Zazi that authorities had approached him seeking information about Najibullah Zazi. According to the affidavits, Afzali also falsely asserted that he never told Najibullah Zazi that they were being monitored on the phone and that he never asked Najibullah Zazi about evidence in his car.

The affidavits further allege that, on September 16, Mohammed Zazi was interviewed by FBI agents in Denver where he was asked whether anyone had called him and told him about his son’s activities and any trouble regarding his son.

According to the affidavits, Mohammed Zazi falsely stated that he had never called anyone in New York other than his son and he had never received a call from anyone in New York. He allegedly revised his statement to say he had received one call from an individual who informed him that his son had missed his flight. According to the affidavits, Mohammed Zazi was later asked if he knew anyone by the name of Afzali and he said he did not.

The prosecutions are being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Eastern District of New York and the District of Colorado, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the former editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subscription” on the subject line.

Federal District Court Judge Samuel Kent of Texas will be tried in the US Senate, the first since the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.

The lawmakers voted for four articles of impeachment against the judge, including a charge accusing him of sexually assaulting two female employee. He’s also charged with lying to investigators and officials from the US Department of Justice. The House passed all charges unanimously.

“The conduct at issue here is both shocking and shameful,” Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said according to AP.

Kent entered a federal prison in Massachusetts last Monday to serve close to three years in federal prison. He pleaded guilty in May to lying to judicial investigators about his sexual assault of two women employed by his office.

Even though Kent is a convicted felon and currently incarcerated his continues to be paid his nearly $175,000 a year salary. He has repeatedly refused to resign.

If he is convicted of the impeachment charges by the US Senate, he will be removed from office.

Ironically Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings, a ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Subcommittee, was present in the House during the impeachment debate. Hastings was acquitted of bribery charges as a federal judge, but in 1988 was nonetheless impeached by the House of Representatives.

The US Senate later convicted him for similar charges and Hastings was removed from the bench although he was never imprisoned.

In 1998, then President Bill Clinton suffered impeachment by the House. Clinton was charged with obstructing justice and lying under oath about his sexual affair with Monica Lewinsky, but the Senate not guilty.

In Kent’s case, the Senate will appoint a special trial committee. After the pretrial process, the committee will report its findings to the full Senate.

Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), told AP that the pretrial work can last weeks or months. But a trial can be swift.

In a plea agreement with the criminal prosecutor in February 23, 2009, Judge Kent admitted attempting to push his case manager Cathy McBroom into unwanted sex acts in 2003 and 2007. He admitted that he did the same with Donna Wilkerson, his secretary, from 2004 through at least 2005. While they didn’t have to testify in federal court because of Kent’s plea agreement, both women did testify before the House committee investigating the impeachment charges.

Besides the 33-month prison sentence, Judge Kent must pay a thousand dollar fine. He is also compelled to undergo treatment for alcoholism. In addition, Kent was ordered to pay $6,550 in restitution to the two women.

Judge Kent, a graduate of the University of Texas Law School, became well-known throughout the legal community for his unique orders and judgments, including hyperbole. Sometimes this took the form of humor aimed at the attorneys appearing before him

To Read Original Case Click Here

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the new editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subcription” on the subject line.

But even proponents of Obama’s plan have mentioned that ensuring the privacy of patients’ records in a nationalized computer network will be tricky. There are obvious concerns about hackers and system failures. And new online health record systems, such as Google Health are not currently subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the national health privacy law.

This is especially true when you consider the advocates of implementing a program using so-called ‘v-chips’ containing all a person’s medical information. No one has said how much information will be contained in those implants. DNA? AIDS information?

With so much information already being compromised within government security systems, how can Obama possibly promise confidentiality of such records?

Although in five years the VeriChip Corp., the US company creating microchip implants, has yet to turn a profit, it has been investing heavily — up to $8 million a year — to create new markets.

The company’s executives have said their present push is the tagging of “high-risk” patients — diabetics and people with heart conditions or Alzheimer’s disease.

In a medical emergency, hospital staff could wave a reader over a patient’s arm, get an ID number, and then, via the Internet, enter a company database and pull up the person’s identity and medical history.

To doctors, a “starter kit” — complete with 10 hypodermic syringes, 10 VeriChips and a reader — costs $1,400, according to information on the Verichip web site. To patients, a microchip implant means a $200, out-of-pocket expense to their physician. Presently, chip implants aren’t covered by private healthcare insurance companies, or by Medicare and Medicaid.

For almost two years, the company has been offering hospitals free scanners, but acceptance has been limited. According to the company’s most recent SEC quarterly filing, 515 hospitals have pledged to take part in the VeriMed network, yet only 100 have actually been equipped and trained to use the system.

Some patients and their families are wondering why they should abandon noninvasive tags such as MedicAlert, a low-tech bracelet, that warns paramedics if patients have serious allergies or a chronic medical condition, for the microchip implants.

In early September, up to 200 Alzheimer’s patients living in the Palm Beach, Florida area were implanted with the microchip by the company VeriChip absolutely free.

The chip, which is about the size of a grain of rice, contains a 16-digit identification number which is scanned at a hospital. Once the number is placed in a database, it can provide crucial medical information. People are already lining up for the VeriChip, but it’s already stirred up controversy.

The story, carried by ABC TV News, caused one reporter to ask, “Is Big Brother watching?”

The relative permanence is a big reason why Marc Rotenberg, of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, is suspicious about the motives of the company, which charges an annual fee to keep clients’ records.

The company charges $20 a year for customers to keep a “one-pager” on its database — a record of blood type, allergies, medications, driver’s license data and living-will directives. For $80 a year, it will keep an individual’s full medical history. In recent days, there have been rumors on Wall Street, and elsewhere, of the potential uses for RFID in humans: the chipping of U.S. soldiers, of inmates, or of migrant workers, to name a few.

In May 2008, a protest outside the Alzheimer’s Community Care Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, drew attention to a two-year study in which 200 Alzheimer’s patients, along with their caregivers, were to receive chip implants. Parents, children and elderly people decried the plan, with signs and placards.

“Chipping People Is Wrong” and “People Are Not Pets,” the signs read. And: “Stop VeriChip.”

Dr. Katherine Albrecht, the RFID critic who organized the demonstration, raises similar concerns on her www.AntiChips.com web site.

“Is it appropriate to use the most vulnerable members of society for invasive medical research? Should the company be allowed to implant microchips into people whose mental impairments means they cannot give fully informed consent?” she wrote.

As the polemic heats up, legislators are increasingly being drawn into the fray. Two states, Wisconsin and North Dakota, recently passed laws prohibiting the forced implantation of microchips in humans. Other states, such as Ohio, Oklahoma, Colorado and Florida, are studying similar legislation.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma legislators are debating a bill that would authorize microchip implants in people imprisoned for violent crimes. Many felt it would be a good way to monitor felons once released from prison.

But other lawmakers raised concerns. Rep. John Wright worried, “Apparently, we’re going to permanently put the ‘mark’ on these people.”

Rep. Ed Cannaday found the forced microchipping of inmates “invasive…. We are going down that slippery slope.”

Another drawback to microchip implants is the suspicion that they are linked to cancer in test animals. Opponents of human microchipping are concerned with the speed with which these chips received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. Opponents such as Dr. Albrecht believe the FDA approval has more to do with politics than medicine.

Opponents believe the government is choosing the most vulnerable citizens for the initial implants — Alzheimer’s patients, the handicapped, retarded, the elderly — but eventually every human being in the US, Mexico and Canada will be required to have the microchip implants if only to keep track of them and their activities.

“Under the federally supported National Animal Identification System (NAIS), digital tags are expected to be affixed to the U.S.’s 40 million farm animals to enable regulators to track and respond quickly to disease, bioterrorism, and other calamities,” according to a Business Week article.

“Opponents have many fears about this plan, among them that it could be the forerunner of a similar system for humans. The theory, circulated in blogs, goes like this: You test it on the animals first, demonstrating the viability of the radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) to monitor each and every animal’s movements and health history from birth to death, and then move on to people.”

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2684-Law-Enforcement-Examiner~y2009m6d16-Obamas-health-care-plan-Illegal-or-unethical

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the new editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subcription” on the subject line.

Radio talk show host and former US Justice Department official Mark Levin shocked many listeners when he reported that President Bill Clinton gave nuclear technology to the Iranians in a harebrained scheme.

He said that the transfer of classified data to Iran was personally approved by then-President Clinton and that the CIA deliberately gave Iranian physicists blueprints for part of a nuclear bomb that likely helped Tehran advance its nuclear weapons development program.

The CIA, using a double-agent Russian scientist, handed a blueprint for a nuclear bomb to Iran, according to a new book, State of War by James Risen, the New York Times reporter, claims the plans contained fatal flaws designed to derail Tehran’s nuclear drive.

But the deliberate errors were so rudimentary they would have been easily fixed by sophisticated Russian nuclear scientists, the book said.

The operation, which took place during the Clinton administration in early 2000, was code named Operation Merlin and “may have been one of the most reckless operations in the modern history of the CIA,” according to Risen.

It called for the unnamed scientist, a defector from the Soviet nuclear program, to offer Iran the blueprint for a “firing set” — the intricate mechanism which triggers the chain reaction needed for a nuclear explosion.

He had been told by CIA officers that the Iranians already had the technology detailed in the plans and that the ruse was simply an attempt by the agency to find out the full scope of Tehran’s nuclear knowledge.

But, contrary to orders not to open the packet, he added a note which made it clear he could help fix the flaws for money.

Risen states in his book, “It’s not clear who originally came up with the idea, but the plan [to give Tehran nuclear blueprints] was first approved by Clinton.” This is just another chapter in the Bill Clinton saga of giving weapons technology to enemies of the United States. He’s provided missile technology to the Chinese, which increased the accuracy of their ballistic missiles, and he provided nuclear technology to the North Koreans that eventually enabled them to develop nuclear weapons.

Risen said the Clinton-approved plan ended up handing Tehran “one of the greatest engineering secrets in the world, providing the solution to one of a handful of problems that separated nuclear powers such as the United States and Russia from rogue countries such as Iran that were desperate to join the nuclear club but had so far fallen short.”

Mark Levin, director of the Landmark Legal Foundation, said that thanks to Clinton Iran was able to “leapfrog one of the last remaining engineering hurdles blocking its path to a nuclear weapon.”

Ironically, Risen’s own newspaper, the New York Times, has declined to cover Mr. Clinton’s Iranian nuclear debacle — concentrating instead on his book’s dubious claims that the National Security Agency was first authorized to commence domestic wiretapping by President Bush, according to NewsMax and talk host Levin.

“Don’t hold your breath waiting for the elite media to create a frenzy over this story. They will never hurt either Clinton with such a damning report,” says former intelligence officer Sid Francis.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the new editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

To subscribe to Kouri’s newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write “Subcription” on the subject line.

According to testimony given to the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee by General Peter Pace, the former US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Hamas has joined Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda in the Triple Frontier Zone in Latin America where the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay converge.

There the Islamic terror groups train recruits, gather intelligence on targets, launder money and sell drugs. There is evidence that these terrorists and narco-terrorists will soon migrate north into the United States. He cited terrorism reports indicating terrorist groups are active in Canada and Central-South America.

ATTACKS ON US SOVEREIGNTY

Border Patrol agents began to voice what many believed were legitimate concerns about “armed incursions” into the United States from Mexico-based assailants. They reported that heavily armed Mexican army units and federal police, called federales, had infiltrated US territory and fired upon them, in some cases. Mexican drug lords had put prices on the heads of American law-enforcement agents strung out along the border. Where was the outrage by our political leaders and the mainstream media over this blatant violation of our national sovereignty?

Last year I reported on armed Mexicans entering the US causing National Guard troops to retreat because they had limited, if any, rules of engagement. The federal government attempted to suppress the information of this incursion and violation of US sovereignty.

Many of our political leaders and most in the news media ignore these violent attacks on our national sovereignty while more and more Americans are saying, “This has got to stop!”

Some security experts had high hopes that President Bush would bring up the border security problem during his meeting with then Mexican President Vincente Fox. It never happened. Quite the opposite occurred. The two leaders discussed ways of relaxing immigration restrictions including a de facto amnesty program. Now with President Barack Obama and the Democrat Party in charge of two branches of government, observers believe even less will be done to secure our borders.

Putting aside terrorism, the lack of border security contributes to crime. In Los Angeles, a look at outstanding arrest warrants for homicide reveals that over 90% are for illegal aliens. Examination of all LA felony arrest warrants (murder, rape, armed robbery, etc.) shows that 65% are for illegal aliens. The Manhattan Institute estimates that 350 killers managed to escape back into Mexico and the Mexican government refuses to extradite to the US to stand trial. In another study, a sample group of 55,000 criminal aliens committed 700,000 criminal acts.

And our northern border with Canada has many law-enforcement leaders even more concerned. Canadian security experts concede that there are several radical Islamist groups active in their country. In fact, Hezbullah’s largest headquarters is located not in the Middle East but in Toronto. One Canadian intelligence officer claims that his country’s immigration policy is more lax than US policy and their politicos more liberal when it comes to refusing to restrict illegal aliens from entering Canada.

If these killers aren’t afraid to target or kill cops, then who in America is really safe from terrorists, murderers, rapists and other offenders; and anyone wishing to address the problem is labeled a racist or xenophobe. Americans can probably count on one hand the number of congressional leaders who will even debate the issues of illegal immigration or border security.

What sense does it make to inspect shipping containers in New York seaports while ignoring the vulnerabilities existing on our borders?

NUCLEAR SMUGGLING

In a previous column, I reported on how easily it was for undercover investigators to sneak radioactive material — to be used for “dirty bombs” into the US.

The undercovers were successful at both borders 100% of the time. Yet, the White House, Congress and the news media ignored the subsequent report from the Government Accountability Office about the undercover operation that proved we could not prevent weapons of mass destruction from being smuggled into the US.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama is on his Middle East apology tour.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the former blog editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Recently, the editors at Examiner.com appointed him as their Law Enforcement Examiner. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

If you wish to receive Kouri’s emailed law enforcement and intelligence reports, write to him at COPmagazine@aol.com. Simply write “Free Subscription” on the subject line.

While military officials overseas are taking a common sense approach to securing the border of war-torn Iraq, officials here in the United States appear indifferent to the crisis occurring on our own border with gang-infested, politically-corrupt Mexico.

When approaching the border with Iran in Iraq’s Diyala province, travelers find a distinct lack of fences, signs or any other landmark letting them know that the border is near, according to officials at the American Forces Press Office.
Often the only way of knowing the border is near is by noticing one of the 100 or so checkpoints varying in distances along the imaginary line that separates the Iraq and Iran. Each one of these checkpoints is manned by Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement personnel who stand ready to detain anyone trying to cross over from Iran into Iraq illegally.

Working alongside Iraq’s border security officials is the U.S. Army 1st Infantry Division’s Border Transition Team 4312, which assists in keeping the borders safe and secure.

“Our job is to track, confirm or deny illegal border access,” Army Master Sgt. Michael Henle, a team sergeant with BTT 4312, said. “We strictly work with the Iraqi [DBE], but we try to integrate the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police into the systems so they can work hand-in-hand, instead of operating unilaterally.”

The U.S. government’s first efforts in border control date as early as 1904 when border patrolmen were called mounted watchmen. The men who patrolled then prevented illegal crossings, just as patrolmen do now. But the dangers of the job were not the same then as they are today.

“A lot of our missions resemble U.S. border patrol missions,” Army Capt. Eric Wagoner of BTT 4312 said. “There’s no way to block off a border — you’re more of a deterrent. You can’t put the fence up and expect everyone to stop coming across. Our job is to make sure the Iraqi [DBE] has good methods to sustain their deterrence.”

Wagoner said they work with the DBE to force the movement of those illegally crossing the border to locations where it is easier to catch them. Part of their objective is to have DBE and BTT members train together, he said.

“We train our Iraqi counterparts,” Wagoner said. “Even though they are very good at training themselves on their border tasks, they do not have the resources … the experience in certain areas. Those are the [areas] we are trying to train them in.”

Success of each mission is not just dependent upon the DBE, but also upon the locals living in the area.

“Border villagers are the guys who live right there and see everything,” Wagoner said. “When we go talk to the people, we want the Iraqi [DBE] to do it because we want to make sure the local people know that the Iraqi [DBE] is a legitimate force in the area and that they are recognized.”

While the U.S. government — under both Bush and Obama — denigrates American citizens who volunteer to help the U.S. Border Patrol — often calling them “vigilantes” or “racists” — that same U.S. government understands that in order for Iraq to survive, it must protect its sovereignty from external threats including terrorism and crime.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the blog editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Recently, the editors Examiner.com appointed him as their Law Enforcement Examiner. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for NewswithViews.com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 300 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us

In a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.), Smith cited reports from Wall Street Journal and USA Today that Mexican gangs are operating organized crime rings in at least 230 U.S. cities.

Ranking Member Smith issued the following statement along with his letter:

“The recent surge in drug-related violence on the Southwest border has turned some American communities and neighborhoods into the ‘wild west.’ Drug traffickers battling for an increased share in the U.S.-Mexico drug trade market are resorting to far more violent and deadly acts.

“According to national news reports, this violence resulted in the deaths of at least 9,000 people since 2007. A battle is building on the border and U.S. citizens are getting caught in the cross-fire. Congress must address the violence before more lives are lost.”

Mexico continues to be the source or entry point for the vast majority of the narcotics that are consumed in the US. Mexico is the leading transit country for cocaine and heroin consumed in the US. It is also the leading source country for marijuana and now methamphetamine.

Occasionally, the federal government of Mexico temporarily deployed the military and federal police officers to maintain order against trafficker-generated violence in highly impacted cities. But more often than not Mexican military — or those posing as military — provide protection for the traffickers and drug gangs.

For nearly 10 years the extradition figures from Mexico have slowly increased. Nonetheless, no active major Mexican drug trafficker has been extradited to the United States.

The heavily-armed “Zetas” complicate matters even more. These are former Mexican military personnel and deserters, some of whom were actually trained by the United States in counter-narcotics operations.

While the Mexican government pledged an all-out effort against drug trafficking organizations, it lacks the capacity to eliminate or even control the leading cartels. The principal impediment to counter-drug success is Mexico’s inherent institutional weakness and endemic corruption.

In the longer term, if Mexico is to reduce the production and transit of illegal drugs, the government must continue to consider the problem a high priority, complete ongoing institutional restructuring and transition, and significantly strengthen special counter-drug law enforcement units.

The task is daunting, but early successes against leading drug traffickers have shown that law enforcement progress is achievable. Still, American law enforcement continues to be concerned over reports that Mexican federales and paramilitary personnel are in cahoots with the drug cartels and pose a threat to US border patrol agents and local police in border jurisdictions.

The working relationship between the United States and Mexico on investigations against major traffickers continues. The professional capacity of Mexico’s lead counter-drug police agency, the Federal Investigation Agency (AFI), has increased dramatically. However, it is not clear that the improvements have reduced the volume of drugs trafficked in Mexico. Some major traffickers, such as the Arrellano Felix Organization, have been damaged, but other traffickers have expanded operations.

In recent years, the Government of Mexico has arrested a former governor of the State of Quintana Roo, suspected of assisting in the transshipment of millions of dollars worth of cocaine from South America to the US Mexican authorities also arrested Gilberto Garcia Mena, suspected leader of the Gulf Cartel, and Alcides Ramon Magaña, a known drug kingpin.

More recently, Mexican authorities captured Consolidated Priority Organization Targets Otto Roberto Herrera, Jaime Herrera Herrera, as well as Jose Aureliano Felix and Efrain Perez, two prominent members of the Arellano Felix drug trafficking organization wanted in the US

Some traffickers operate drug organizations from jail, and extradition of active major traffickers to the United States remains a challenge. Mexican jails are far from secure. Even security at maximum-security prisons is compromised. It’s believed that prison administrators and guards are routinely paid off to help major traffickers “escape” from Mexican prisons.

In 2007, there were three killings at La Palma, including the inmate Arturo Guzman Loera, brother of drug kingpin Joaquin Guzman Loera (El Chapo Guzman). Arturo’s murder occurred less than one week after Federal Preventive Police conducted a surprise operation at the facility, specifically to prevent the smuggling of weapons, drugs, and other prohibited objects into the prison.

While Mexican interdiction of marijuana is fair, the interdiction of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine remains poor: less than 2 percent of the volume trafficked in Mexico. These results are probably due to inadequate intelligence penetration of trafficking organizations for heroin and cocaine, and insufficient familiarity with methamphetamine trafficking.

Cocaine is susceptible to interdiction at sea or after it is imported into Mexico before it is distributed in smaller packages for onward transport. Subsequently, land interdiction may still be possible at checkpoints if inspectors are trained, equipped and supervised properly. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec constitutes a natural chokepoint for land transportation. The area offers interdiction opportunities which do not exist anywhere else in Mexico. Over one hundred metric tons of cocaine that arrives in Central America and in southern Mexico pass through or around the Isthmus.

Smuggling and diversion of precursor chemicals like pseudoephedrine within Mexico account for large amounts of methamphetamine becoming available for US markets. The Mexican government has updated its laws and regulations relevant to methamphetamine, and the Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Risks, a division of the Ministry of Health, began to conduct unannounced inspections at the premises of importers of precursor chemicals.

New regulations control the number of pseudoephedrine tablets that can be purchased by individuals. However, at present Mexico neither has the necessary expertise nor the equipment to locate and seize methamphetamine laboratories. In many instances, these laboratories are discovered only when authorities react to fires or explosions.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the blog editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Recently, the editors Examiner.com appointed him as their Law Enforcement Examiner. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for NewswithViews.com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 300 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us

Monzer Al Kassar, a/k/a “Abu Munawar,” a/k/a “El Taous,” the leader of an international arms-trafficking ring, was sentenced yesterday to 30 years in prison for conspiring to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons to be used to kill Americans in Colombia.

Al Kassar’s associate and co-defendant Luis Felipe Moreno Godoy was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the conspiracy. United States District Judge Jed S. Rakoff imposed the sentences Tuesday in the Manhattan federal courtroom.

Al Kassar and Moreno Godoy had both been found guilty on Nov. 20, 2008, following a three-week jury trial, of: conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals; conspiracy to murder U.S. officers; conspiracy to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles; conspiracy to provide material support and resources to the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the FARC), a designated foreign terrorist organization; and money laundering.

According to the evidence at trial: As part of an undercover DEA sting operation, between February 2006 and June 2007, Al Kassar and Moreno Godoy agreed to sell to the FARC more than 12,000 weapons — including thousands of machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and surface-to-air missile systems, or “SAMs” — along with 2 million rounds of ammunition.

The agreement was discussed and made during a series of recorded telephone calls, email correspondence, and in-person meetings with two confidential sources working with the DEA, who represented that they were acquiring these weapons for the FARC, with the specific understanding that the weapons were to be used to attack United States helicopters in Colombia.

During their meetings, Al Kassar provided the DEA undercover agents with, among other things: a schematic of the vessel to be used to transport the weapons; specifications for the SAMs he agreed to sell to the FARC; and bank accounts in Spain and Lebanon which ultimately were used to receive and conceal more than $400,000 sent from DEA undercover accounts that the DEA undercovers said were FARC drug proceeds for the weapons deal.

During his meetings with the DEA undercover agents, Al Kassar reviewed Nicaraguan end-user certificates and accepted them despite knowing that the arms were destined for the FARC in Colombia. Al Kassar also promised to provide the FARC with ton-level quantities of C-4 explosives, as well as expert trainers to teach the FARC how to effectively use C-4 and other explosive devices against the United States.

In addition, Al Kassar offered to send a thousand men to fight with the FARC against U.S. military officers in Colombia, and to make training camps in Al Kassar’s country available to the FARC.

In addition to the terms of imprisonment, Judge Rakoff also sentenced both Al Kassar and Moreno Godoy to 5 years supervised release. Al Kassar was also ordered to forfeit all foreign and domestic assets.

This case was the result of cooperation between the DEA, the Spanish National Police, and the Romanian Border Police.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the blog editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Recently, the editors Examiner.com appointed him as their Law Enforcement Examiner. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for NewswithViews.com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 300 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us

Sadly, only about 25 percent of expenses for imprisoning criminal aliens is reimbursed by the federal government to state and local governments. This creates a hardship for taxpayers in states with high incarceration rates for criminal aliens. The proponents of open borders or lax immigration enforcement always point to the benefits derived from illegal immigration such as the amount of taxes they pay into the government system. Evidence, however, exists that refutes those claims. For instance, there is an abundance of anecdotal evidence that suggests a large number of illegal aliens are paid “off-the-books” therefore those wages are not taxed.

The National Research Council has estimated that the net fiscal cost of immigration ranges from $11 billion to $22 billion per year, with most government expenditures on immigrants coming from state and local coffers, while most taxes paid by immigrants who actually do pay taxes go to the federal treasury.

The net deficit is caused by a low level of tax payments by immigrants, because they are disproportionately low-skilled and thus earn low wages, and a higher rate of consumption of government services, both because of their relative poverty and their higher fertility.

This is especially true of illegal immigration. Even though illegal aliens make little use of welfare, from which they are generally barred, the costs of illegal immigration in terms of government expenditures for education, criminal justice, and emergency medical care are significant.

Californian officials have estimated that the net cost to taxpayers in order to provide government services to illegal immigrants approached $3 billion during a single fiscal year. The fact that states must bear the cost of federal failure turns illegal immigration, in effect, into one of the largest unfunded federal mandates existing today.

In addition, according to the Center for Immigration Studies, even with free trade, the United States continues to enjoy a higher real wage than other nations, due to the superiority of US technology. If taken to an extreme and the US removed all barriers to migration, most foreign workers would move to the United States, lured by the higher wages available here; Foreign labor would essentially cease to exist.

However, with all labor now in the United States, the prices of goods would return to their level of self-sufficiency, prior to the opening of trade. That is, perfectly free migration entirely eliminates the gains from trade that US natives had enjoyed. World income rose with the migration, but the natives of foreign countries in this case received more than all of this rise, since the income of US natives declined. With the world’s majority of low-wage workers in the US, there would be tremendous damage to free trade and its benefits, with US middle and upper-middle class workers suffering the brunt of declining wages.

The urge for a utopian state of existence and a desire to make all things equal by the American Left has given way to a desire simply to make all things equal sans utopia. In their passion for a neo-Marxist level for the masses, they’ve decided consciously or subconsciously that if they could not bring the World’s population up to the American level of prosperity and wealth, then they will bring US citizens down to the World’s level of poverty and misery. For this is a result of seeing free trade as a zero-sum entity, and self-alienation of the American Left from their own country, the USA.

The problem isn’t about the need for new laws; the problem is about the lack of enforcement of existing laws. The US Constitution provides the executive branch with a number of inherent powers such as the enforcement of immigration laws.

The Constitution also mandates that the President protect American sovereignty and the American people. That is the number one priority for our government — of it should be. And congress is mandated to provide domestic tranquility for Americans. Criminal alien gangbangers do not add to our domestic tranquility.

Why is it suddenly necessary for congress to pass laws on illegal immigration when we haven’t been enforcing the laws that already exist. The executive branch has the power to add border agents, equipment and other resources. The President has the power to use the military if necessary to enhance border protection. Passing laws is an easy, painless process. The trick is to enforce those laws.

And why isn’t the US government arresting illegal aliens while they are protesting in our city’s streets all across the country? The protest organizers, are said to be sponsored by left-wing groups including Open Borders and MEChA, are protesting the border security bill that passed the US House of Representatives in December and is still awaiting passage by the US Senate.

The University of Texas at El Paso recently conducted a study that found the following: Treating illegal immigrants in hospitals accounts for nearly one quarter of the uncompensated costs at border county hospitals in Cochise County. That county in Arizona spends tens of thousands of dollars just picking up trash left at campsites by these illegals. Prosecuting and jailing illegals costs this county an additional $5 million a year. And 25 percent of Cochise County’s budget is paid for health care for the uninsured, the majority of whom are illegally in the country.

In another study of a sample group of 55,000 criminal aliens, it was discovered they accounted for over 400,000 arrests and more than 700,000 criminal acts including felonies. In Los Angeles, the city that’s hosting the protest — which was whole-heartedly endorsed by its mayor — 95% of the outstanding arrest warrants for homicides are for illegal aliens and 65% of all felony warrants are for so-called undocumented immigrants. Are they committing the crimes Americans won’t commit?

Sources: National Criminal Justice Research Service, Department of Justice, The Center for Immigration Studies, National Institute of Justice

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the blog editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Recently, the editors Examiner.com appointed him as their Law Enforcement Examiner. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for NewswithViews.com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 300 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us