Archive for July, 2010

Pressure builds as ruling on Arizona bill SB1070 is just hours away.

“PHOENIX – A ruling on the implementation of SB1070 is expected in just hours.

In an interview on CNN Tuesday, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said she expected the decision at any time, but no later than Wednesday.

It is unclear how Judge Susan Bolton might rule in the multiple court cases filed against implementation of the law.

Brewer spoke openly on CNN about the controversial law, addressing concerns over the possibility of racial profiling. She explained that is not the intent of the law, saying she had similar concerns but is confident officers will not take the responsibility lightly.

SB1070 takes effect Thursday, creating a potentially volatile mix of police, illegal immigrants and thousands of activists, many planning to show up without identification as a show of solidarity.”

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/state/brewer-expects-ruling-on-sb1070-in-matter-of-hours

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Arizona Woman pulls her registration from Arizona State University in protest of illegal immigrant grads

“MESA, AZ – After watching the story of two Arizona State University graduates who admitted they are not U.S. citizens, the Mesa woman [Amber Kunau] says she decided not to enroll at the school.

Kunau said she recently pulled her registration from Arizona State University after seeing the story of two ASU graduates who admitted they were not U.S. citizens and went to Washington, D.C. fighting for the DREAM Act.

The two students, Dulce Matuz and Erika Andiola, spoke to ABC15 Sunday and described how they came to the United States as children, graduated college and hope the DREAM Act passes for a path to citizenship.

“After that story broke I changed my mind and talked to my husband about not attending ASU and he agreed,” said Kunau.

“I think it is really unfair that ASU is knowingly allowing illegal immigrants to attend their school,” said Kunau.

Kunau said the cost of her education at ASU for the psychology program would be around $21,000.

“I believe everyone should have the opportunity for a good education don’t get me wrong on that,” said Kunau. “There are many students that could also use that money that are here legally and I’m pretty sure those girls got some kind of financial aid.”

University spokesperson Julie Newberg released the following statement via email:

“ASU complies with all state and federal laws. Under Arizona law, students must be citizens or legal residents, or have lawful immigration status, in order to qualify for in-state tuition status or financial aid paid from state monies.”

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_southeast_valley/mesa/woman-won%27t-attend-asu-due-to-undocumented-students

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Steve Irvin on the Texas/Los Zetas story: It’s “the Glenn Becks and Bill O’Reillys of the world.”

Steve Irvin, journalist and anchor of ABC15 News

“I don’t really need to read many of the far right wing blogs flagellating in cyberspace these days.

Not when there’s a whole battalion of their readers ready to accuse our news organization of a deep-seeded conspiracy for failing to repeat the rants of a few misinformed idiots.

The latest of these dispatches arrived over the weekend, when a number of viewers demanded to know why we, as “the media,” weren’t reporting that the Los Zetas drug cartel had taken over two ranches in the Laredo, Texas area.

The reports, which arrived all the way from Pennsylvania (which is very close to Laredo) quoted sources within the Laredo police department who “confirmed” this was an “act of war.”

Google this, and you’ll find a number of corroborating reports which manage to say the EXACT same thing, as if they’re all repeating…the exact same thing. Amazingly, none of these “reporters” appears to have actually picked up the phone and called the Laredo police department to verify the story.

And none of the viewers who e-mailed the station did either.

My point is, the reason we didn’t report the story is… IT ISN’T TRUE. In fact when the Laredo Morning Times published its own story Saturday discounting the rumors of a drug cartel takeover and subsequent standoff, reporter Nick DiGeorgiu called around to police and the Webb County Sheriff’s office, and got a general shoulder-shrugging about it, although officials said the phone had been ringing off the hook from various minuteman groups.

Simply put… not confirmed…. Not true.

Another reporter who lives in the area actually drove up and down the road where drug cartels had supposedly taken over the ranches. That reporter noted zero police presence in the area at the time… when supposedly a standoff was happening.

The point is, these rumors circulate and bubble up from the ether on almost a daily basis now. They are published with a mouse-click, and shared and duplicated with three more mouse clicks. They feed into the paranoia that already exists among extremists who believe “the media” is really an arm of a presidential administration promoting the Obama “socialist agenda.”

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/local_news/news_blogs/commentary%3A–the-%22conspiracy%22-revealed

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Mexican Drug Cartel Seize Texas Ranches; Laredo Police: “We have been advised to say nothing.”

“There’s a story unfolding in South Texas, of a possible hostile takeover of two Texas ranches located near Laredo by a Mexican drug cartel. The source of the story, the site Diggers Realm which posted they’d received a tip-off two Texas ranches located south of Laredo had been seized by a Mexican drug cartel with the ranchers escaping without incident. According to Examiner. com, the local authorities, the Laredo Police Department, won’t officially confirm the story, while officials within the department, under conditions of anonymity, confirmed a Mexican drug cartel hostile takeover of the two Texas ranches with the Laredo Police Department seeking help from the Federal government. DBKP talked with the spokesperson for Chief Carlos Maldonaldo of the Laredo Police Dept. who told us:

“We have been advised to say nothing. The Webb County Sheriff is taking the lead on this and they’re advising that they can’t confirm anything either.”

Why “take the lead” if something hasn’t occurred?”

http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2010/07/mexican-drug-cartel-seize-texas-ranches-laredo-police-we-cant-say-anything/

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Act of War in Texas? Or is it a Hoax?

There has still been no coverage in the mainstream media about drug cartels seizing at least two American ranches in Texas.
Seems like this kind of thing would be more newsworthy than, say, Lindsay Lohan’s latest rehab mishap. But I’m sure the good folks at CNN, CBS, NBC and ABC know what they’re doing.

“In what could be deemed an act of war against the sovereign borders of the United States, Mexican drug cartels have seized control of at least two American ranches inside the U.S. territory near Laredo, Texas.

“We consider this an act of war,” said one police officer on the ground near the scene. There is a news blackout of this incident at this time and the sources inside Laredo PD spoke on the condition of anonymity.”

Word broke late last night that Laredo police have requested help from the federal government regarding the incursion by the Los Zetas. It appears that the ranch owners have escaped without incident but their ranches remain in the hands of the blood thirsty cartels.

The hostile takeover of the ranches has met with silence with local and national media.”

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2010m7d24-Los-Zetas-drug-cartel-takes-control-2-US-ranches-in-Texas

“As a native Texan who resided in South Texas and a former rancher, I find it interesting several internet bloggers have branded this story as a hoax because 1) The bloggers talked to the Laredo Police Department and the Webb County Sheriff’s Office who couldn’t confirm the story but didn’t deny it, 2) The bloggers cited the local media story who reported the local authorities couldn’t confirm the story with none of the authorities denying it, and, 3) The FBI, who gave a statement they won’t comment on rumors.

Armed with the “facts” the story was pronounced a hoax. A story originally reported by the site Digger’s Realm on July 24th at 4:11 AM. Examiner.com reported on the story on July 24th at 11:18 AM. The conclusions the story is hoax, based on a local media report and phone calls to the local authorities, were made within less than 24 hours after the story originally broke.

We believe there’s the possibility members of the Los Zetas gang, in the midst of a violent war with the Mexican military in Nuevo Laredo, hightailed it across the border seeking out a hideout on the ranches. Ranches purportedly located near Laredo in Webb County, TX, an area of 3,376 square arid miles of mesquite trees and prickly pear cactus. The Los Zetas gang members discovered by the ranchers who contacted the local authorities.

The local authorities, armed with the knowledge Las Zetas gang members are known to be extremely dangerous, potentially armed with assault weapons, grenades, and shoulder to arm rocket launchers, contacting the federal authorities for help. The possibility the federal government ordered the operation to be kept secret. Which isn’t so far-fetched when you compare this story to an earlier incident which occurred “sometime in May”, when the story was finally reported, and who reported it.

I find it fairly amusing bloggers are willing to declare this story a hoax. Amusing in that, 1) The very same local media failed report the incident which occurred in May. A story which involved Homeland Security, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, a nearby Sheriff’s Department, and the Mexican military. A story which wasn’t reported until weeks after the incident occurred.

A story which involved a Los Zetas plot to blow up the 5-mile long Lake Falcon Dam. Homeland Security issuing a warning, U.S Customs and Border Agents, local enforcement officers at the dam. The discovery of explosives, a plan, and Los Zetas gang members handing out handbills and using blowhorns warning Mexican citizens on the other side of the border to “get out”. The potential disaster of billions of water flooding an area inhabited by 4 million people on both sides of the border with the local news media, failing to file a report.

Laredo, TX, located 73 miles from the Falcon Dam, the nearest “local” media. The news source who reported the story, the Houston Chronicle who reported the Los Zetas Falcon Dam Plot incident on June 2nd. According to the Chronicle, the incident occurred “sometime in May”.

Also reported by certain bloggers, the assertion the hoax is an attempt to promote racial hatred against illegal immigrants which isn’t amusing, and shows a total lack of comprehension of the ethnicity of South Texas and Texas ranchers. Neither Examiner.com or Digger’s Realm reported “white” ranchers were involved, or, illegal immigrants.”

http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2010/07/mexican-drug-cartel-seize-south-texas-ranches-update-story-a-hoax/

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At least 17 Executions Around Mexico this Week

“Organized-crime involvement is suspected in the killings of 17 people in two Mexican states, authorities said Monday.

Officials in the southern Pacific coast state of Guerrero said six people were found dead inside an SUV.

Five of the victims were bound with adhesive tape, while the sixth was wrapped in a black plastic garbage bag and accompanied by a message from the killers, the state Public Safety Office said in a statement.

Separately, two people were gunned down Sunday night inside a pool hall in the town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso.

Though authorities have yet to identify any victims or a motive in either case, the killings bore the hallmarks of organized crime, the statement said.

Nine people were slain in the western state of Sinaloa, a spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office told Efe Monday.

Four bodies were discovered inside a burned-out SUV in Culiacan, the state capital, the spokesman said, adding that 22 shell casings from an AK-47 assault rifle were collected at the scene.

In the town of Navolato, four people who had been kidnapped elsewhere were found shot to death near a technical training school. Another person turned up dead in the community of El Quemadito.”

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/07/executions-around-mexico-this-week.html

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8 Severed Human Heads Dumped in Durango, Mexico

“Eight severed human heads were found Tuesday in the Mexican city of Durango, capital of the likenamed northern state, authorities said.

Police were directed to some of the heads by a series of anonymous telephone calls that began shortly before 7:00 a.m., the Durango state Attorney General’s Office said.

The eight heads were scattered among various roads on the edge of the city, according to a statement from the AG office, which said authorities had yet to find the corresponding bodies or identity the victims.

While some of the heads were found as a result of the phone calls, others were discovered by maintenance workers in city parks.

All of the victims were unidentified men between the ages of 25 and 30, the AG office said. The actual bodies have not been found.

The gruesome discoveries in the state capital come two days after the arrest of the warden at the Cereso 2 prison in Gomez Palacio, Durango, on accusations she allowed inmates to leave the facility to carry out killings.”

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/07/severed-human-heads-dumped-in-durango.html

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Paratroopers jump onto Holland Drop Zone after a heavy drop

Paratroopers with B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, jumped onto Holland Drop Zone after a heavy drop containing a howitzer and a Humvee during a mission on Oct. 14. After landing, the troopers were timed on how quickly they could pack their parachutes, get the equipment off the heavy drop and put together and respond to fire. Photo by Pfc. Kissta Feldner

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Soldiers from Charlie Troop and Iraqi kids

U.S. Soldiers from Charlie Troop, 1st Platoon, 1-150th Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division from Bluefield, W.Va., interact with local Iraqi youth during a meeting at the Qais Medical Clinic to discuss possible micro-grants for a dental operating chair, maternity services for locals, and access to clean drinking water for the clinic, in Radwaniyah, Baghdad, Iraq, Oct. 3, 2009. While at the meeting, members of the 1-150th were able to spend time interacting with local Iraqi children, and partake of Iraqi food presented by the Qais Medical Clinic staff. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Edwin L. Wriston

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Meeting with Village Elders

 From left, U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth R. Shriver of Clarksville, Tenn., a platoon sergeant, and 1st Lt. Hugh A. Lewis of Layton, Utah, a platoon leader, both with 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, Task Force Bulldog, join with elders of the village of Shamun in eastern Afghanistan’s Kunar province July 14 to listen to discussions of various local programs. Coalition Forces visited the village in order to reconnect with the community, which has seen few official visits during the past several years. Photo by Staff Sgt. Gary A. Witte

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Gun Rights Blog Sued for Infringement

From: WorldNetDaily

A popular blog that has kept citizens abreast of how Americans successfully defend themselves from crime by being armed has been suspended while its organizers deal with a copyright infringement claim from a newspaper, the blog itself has announced.

David Burnett said in a statement his Armed Citizen site is closed for now, and its future will depend on what happens in the case.

The site was targeted in a federal court lawsuit filed by Righthaven LLC, which apparently is working on behalf of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

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870 Remington home defense – wall tests

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Personal First Aid kit review

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Chemical-weapon attack by the Taliban: revealed in U.S. military logs released by WikiLeaks

“Most of the reports catalog counterinsurgency’s basics — weapons caches found, gun battles fought, village elders chatted up.

But buried in the tens of thousands of U.S. military logs dropped Sunday night by WikiLeaks are incidents that are anything but routine: a suspected chemical-weapon attack by the Taliban; rumors of Al Qaeda poisoning the U.S. military food supply; a tip about Osama Bin Laden’s status.”

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/07/chem-weapons-scare-bin-laden-clue-in-wikileaks-wardocs-dump?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

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Prisoners in a northern Mexico jail allowed out at night to carry out murder-for-hire jobs

A night shot of Torreon, state of Coahuila, Mexico, taken from the "Cerro de las Noas" hill.

“MEXICO CITY — Prisoners in a northern Mexico jail were allowed out at night to carry out murder-for-hire jobs using jail guards’ weapons and vehicles, officials said Sunday, revealing a level of corruption that is stunning even in a country where prison breakouts are common as guards look the other way.

The prisoners carried out three massacres this year in the city of Torreón in which 35 people were killed, Ricardo Nájera, the spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said at a news conference. Among them, the authorities said, was last week’s attack on birthday revelers at a party hall. The gang shot randomly into the crowd, they said, killing 17 people.

Ballistics studies confirmed that four guns used in the shooting were the same as those assigned to jail guards, Mr. Nájera said.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/americas/26mexico.html?_r=1

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