Maryland has officially closed a 129-year-old maximum-security prison that had become notoriously known for its dark, hard-to-guard halls, broken locks and inmate violence. Gitmo?
The state quietly moved about 840 inmates in recent weeks from the 19th-century-built Maryland House of Correction, which stank of long and crowded occupation even with its tiny and tattered cells empty as state officials officially announced the closing inside on Monday.
Attorneys for prisoners' rights and union officials representing correctional officers cheered the decision to close the prison. The average daily population last year was 1,261. Stephen Meehan, an attorney for Prisoner Rights Information System of Maryland, called it "an ancient prison" that lawyers and investigators he worked with were afraid to enter.
Until the last inmates left Saturday night, the prison had been in continuous use since it was built in 1878, state correction officials said.
O'Malley compared the banks of cells stacked on top of each other to something out of an old James Cagney gangster movie, with horrifically real consequences for correctional officers who struggled with poor visibility to contain aggressive inmates ready to pounce and stab. Sorry; I couldn't find a Cagney pic.
"The whole design of this place is something that dates to just after the Civil War and it's no way for us to be able to protect our correctional officers or inmates, and we have to do both," O'Malley said.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/20/2007 06:45 ||
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#1
Maryland would have been better off if they had executed every prisoner there instead of transferring them. They've got some bad mofos in Md. who would long since have been taking a dirt nap in more sensible states, like Texas.
Posted by: Mac ||
03/20/2007 8:15 Comments ||
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#2
Maximum security means that the subject should be 6 feet under for the safety of the rest of society, but the hand wringers and guilt peddlers would whether see good productive citizens executed than sociopaths. There is no perfect. However, the level of executions carried out without due process or appeal in our streets, our neighborhoods, our businesses, our schools, etc exceed 18,000 a year. Most of those were innocent. Long past time that the numbers should shift towards to destructive and predatory.
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - The US ambassador to Harare defied expulsion threats by launching a fresh attack Tuesday on Robert Mugabe, deriding the veteran Zimbabwean president as a despotic dictator.
Christopher Dell denied Washington was actively seeking regime change or financing the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) but warned Mugabe had boxed himself into a corner and was running out of options.
"The fact is that the man is in a corner and he knows it," Dell told AFP in an interview in Johannesburg. "He has governed Zimbabwe for 26 years with a combination of repression and patronage. As the economy crumbles the ability to use these things disappear. He has nothing to steal and give away. What we are really looking at is a failing regime that is increasingly wobbly. Every time he is in a corner he tries to radicalise the situation further to regain a tactical advantage."
Dell's comments came after he walked out of a meeting in Harare on Monday night when Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said Zimbabwe would "not tolerate interference in our affairs." Mugabe himself warned last week that diplomats "must behave properly or else we kick them out of our country" in response to a firestorm of criticism over the arrest and subsequent assault of MDC leaders.
The Zimbabwean president has consistently accused Washington of funding the MDC and of trying to topple his regime, which has been described by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as an "outpost of tyranny."
"This is a typical reaction of a despot dictator," said Dell, who was en route to a long-standing appointment in London, insisting that "The US does not provide direct support to political parties in Zimbabwe or elsewhere."
The charge that the United States is seeking to topple Mugabe was repeated on Tuesday by Zimbabwe's ambassador to the United Nations, Machivenyika Mapuranga, as he explained that the CNN and BBC television networks had been barred from the southern African country. The ban against "clearly hostile" networks would stay in place "until the opposition in (Zimbabwe) has renounced violence and until the British and Americans abandon their policy of regime change," he told CNN. "They espouse the regime change agenda of the United States government ... We know your agenda is not a noble one," he added.
During his stopover in Johannesburg, Dell also criticised the South African government's policy of "quiet diplomacy" towards its northern neighbour where inflation now stands at 1,730 percent and unemployment at 80 percent. "I think the moment has come to realise the policy of quiet diplomacy has not produced results," said the envoy. "It has not changed Robert Mugabe's behaviour in any way. The time is right to intensify engagement and to get more directly involved with the Zimbabwean government."
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/20/2007 18:27 Comments ||
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#3
Collapsing nations like Zimbabwe are prime candidates for Islamofascist expansion - I hope CIA etc. are working to monitor and defuse/infiltrate any such efforts.
#5
I like what the Amb. has to say, but watch out for baseball bats and other skull-cracking devices......seems like that is Zimbob's fix for the dissenting voice.
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Government opponents said Monday that the government forced the family of an opposition militant shot dead by police to bury him at their rural home to avoid demonstrations at a planned ceremony in the capital. The government insisted, however, that Gift Tandare -- killed as police disbanded a prayer meeting organized by Zimbabwes political opposition -- was buried in the countryside at the familys request and that the state assisted with the funeral arrangements and expenses.
Opposition spokesman Eliphas Mokunoweshure called the government explanation nonsense. Members of the opposition said the Tandare family was coerced by state intelligence agents into holding the funeral in the Mount Darwin district, 95 miles northeast of Harare.
Bob realizes how dangerous a public funeral could be.
State television said most of the funeral expenses were paid by the ruling party lawmaker for Mount Darwin, Saviour Kasukuwere, a wealthy businessman. It denied Tandares body had been seized from a funeral home.
Hundreds of mourners and democracy activists have gathered at Tandares home in the Harare township of Glen View since his death March 11 when police crushed the prayer meeting. On March 13, police tried to quell mourners blocking streets and beating drums around Tandares home in the township, an opposition stronghold. Two were injured by police gunfire.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Zimbabwe's foreign minister has told Western ambassadors that they will be expelled from the country if they give support to opposition activists. Diplomats said the United States ambassador walked out of the meeting at which the warning was delivered after Simearashe Mbengegwi, the foreign minister, refused to answer any questions. "I warned them ... that any ambassador or member of their diplomatic staff who violates these two articles of the Vienna Conventions, the government of Zimbabwe will not hesitate to invoke the provisions of those articles ... that relates to their expulsion," Mbengegwi told Al Jazeera.
I have a suggestion: let's break relations and tell the world we no longer recognize the Mugabe government as legitimate.
The Vienna Conventions govern diplomatic behaviour and the foreign minister told the ambassadors that they prohibited foreign embassies from involving themselves in the internal affairs of the host nation.
Mbengegwi also accused the officials of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of Morgan Tsvangirai, who was allegedly beaten by police after his arrest at a prayer meeting on March 11. "We had the police being attacked left, right and centre ... not a single condemnation of this kind of terrorism and violence from the opposition has come from any of the Western ambassadors," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Why exactly are there any "Western" ambassadors in that shit-hole?
The Election Commission (EC) is looking into whether controversial former election commissioner SM Zakaria was involved in any irregularity or corruption. Directed by the EC, senior officials of its secretariat are now scrutinising a large number of files and documents of the period between April 2002 and January 2007 to find out whether there was any abuse of power by Zakaria that merits prosecution, sources said.
Zakaria had been the EC secretary who later was appointed as an election commissioner during the period the commission was consistently mired in controversies. "The Election Commission will send the matter to the Anti-corruption Commission for legal actions against SM Zakaria if the allegations of misconduct against him are found to be true," a highly placed source close to the EC told The Daily Star.
The EC is determined to take steps against Zakaria, if he is found guilty, to set an example as part of its move to untarnish its image, the sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2007 00:00 ||
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A Nilphamari court yesterday sent former BNP lawmaker Amzad Hossain Sarkar and his 13 associates to jail after they surrendered before it and sought bail in the sensational Kazi Rubel murder case. In Rajshahi, a speedy trial court sentenced Abdul Hamid, an influential BNP adherent of Charghat upazila, to three years' rigorous imprisonment for assaulting a government official during the past BNP-Jamaat rule. In Moulvibazar, the joint forces arrested Ahmed Faruk Millad, Srimangal correspondent of Bangla daily Jugantor, on Sunday night on charge of demanding extortion from a woman.
Meanwhile, the crack forces arrested 1,377 people across the country on various charges in the last 24 hours preceding 6:00am yesterday, according to a home ministry press release. Our Nilphamari correspondent reported that Amzad, a former lawmaker from Nilphamari-4, and his associates appeared before the Court of First Class Magistrate Enamul Haque and prayed for bail as the same court had earlier issued arrest warrants against them for killing Rubel, a local BNP leader. The court rejected the prayer and ordered to send them to jail.
Rubel was killed in a clash between the supporters of Amzad and his rival Mahfuzur Rahman, member of Public Service Commission, at Sipaiganj Bazar under Saidpur upazila on October 30 last year. Later, Rubel's brother filed a murder case and the police made out a charge sheet against the ex-MP and his 13 supporters for killing Rubel, also a nephew of Mahfuzur. Amzad is also an accused in four murder cases.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2007 00:00 ||
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FRANKFURT - An Airbus A380, the worlds largest commercial airliner, made its maiden US landing Monday at Los Angeles international airport, hours ahead of a sister plane expected to land shortly in New York, broadcast reports said. The plane flew to California from Toulouse, France, carrying no passengers, only crew, to test its landing capabilities at Los Angeles.
More than 100 people gathered to watch the spectacle. Footage broadcast by CNN showed the planes wings dipping sideways after it touched down.
Meanwhile, some 483 persons were on board an Airbus 380 operated out of Frankfurt for the first nearly-full passenger trans-Atlantic flight. The double-decker plane, with a capacity for 555 passengers, was expected to land at New Yorks Kennedy airport shortly. Most of the passengers travelling on the flight that left Frankfurt were invited guests and employees of Airbus and the German airline Lufthansa. Lufthansa said passengers used three air bridges to board the plane. Boarding took just 21 minutes before the 480-ton behemoth left on its 6,160-kilometres journey at 9.03 am (0803 GMT).
The flights are being used to test docking facilities at airports as well as boarding procedures and inflight operations. The superjumbo has already landed at 40 airports on a series of test flights across the globe. By 2011 some 70 airports are expected to be capable of accommodating the 73-metre-long plane.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
What a big bird!
I hope they didn't do a rush job since all those deals were being canceled.
#2
I saw the tape, it was a bad landing, the bird wallowed from side to side as it flared for touchdown
left rear wheel, then right rear wheel, then nose gear down, then it veered slightly right as the nose wheel corrected, a "Chinese" landing.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/20/2007 6:15 Comments ||
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#3
How you gonna get 555 heads thru the customs rush?
#5
I saw the tape, it was a bad landing, the bird wallowed from side to side as it flared for touchdown left rear wheel, then right rear wheel, then nose gear down, then it veered slightly right as the nose wheel corrected
the landing at JFK and other places seemed to go fine (lots of landings at yahoo); the wingspan is amazing; not only is it 260' or so but wings are very heavy looking (although they obviously deflect)
The tires look to be about the size of a smaller plane's tires; I presume they probably have to replace the tires every week
#8
If I remember correctly, the air strip passes over the Pacific Coast Highway. It will be interesting to see how well a fully loaded A380 handles the overpass.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/20/2007 10:00 Comments ||
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The New York landing looked fine to me. What was interesting was how quickly it touched down, as if there is no ground effect cushion of air under the wings that makes a normal plane hang above the runway a while. If the enormous weight of the plane just forces it down right away, then that is something for the pilot to factor in. A lot of pressure for a perfect approach.
#13
If the aircraft was the same one used in Canadain drills, last month, there was little wiring as it was a test vehicle only. The AP got it wrong yesterday ( I know, I was shcoked also) in saying that the A380 was making its first North American appearance. Canada didn't count.
The comment about the Pac. Coast Highway will certainly be revived when the first one lands short and clobbers a passing vehicle. Hope it is not a school bus or tanker.
#16
if you're in LA today and you want to watch it depart, Dockwiler Beach parking lot at the end of Runway 24 will be the place to be. It is expected to leave at 7:00 this evening.
Note: She's very quiet. Its not what you would expect.
Posted by: frank martin ||
03/20/2007 16:59 Comments ||
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DES MOINES, March 17 Immigration, an issue that has divided Republicans in Washington, is reverberating across the partys presidential campaign field, causing particular complications for Senator John McCain of Arizona.
The topic came up repeatedly in recent campaign swings through Iowa by Mr. McCain and Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, another Republican who, like Mr. McCain, supports giving some illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, a position that puts them at odds with many other conservatives. Both candidates faced intensive questioning from voters on the issue, which has become more prominent in the state as immigrants are playing a larger and increasingly visible role in the economy and society. Immigration is probably a more powerful issue here than almost anyplace that Ive been, Mr. McCain said after a stop in Cedar Falls.
Welcome to the real world, John
As he left Iowa, Mr. McCain said he was reconsidering his views on how the immigration law might be changed. He said he was open to legislation that would require people who came to the United States illegally to return home before applying for citizenship, a measure proposed by Representative Mike Pence, Republican of Indiana. Mr. McCain has previously favored legislation that would allow most illegal immigrants to become citizens without leaving the country.
Beyond whatever influence it has as the state whose caucuses kick off the presidential nominating contest, Iowa has become something of a laboratory for the politics of immigration. Not only is it a place where industries like meatpacking rely heavily on immigrant workers and where a once relatively homogenous population is confronting an influx of Hispanic residents, but the presidential candidates who are criss-crossing the state are also providing forums for Iowans to express their views and influence national policy.
On Saturday morning in Des Moines, Mr. Brownback stood for 30 minutes at a breakfast with Republicans as question after question without exception was directed at an immigration system that Iowans denounced as failing. These people are stealing from us, said Larry Smith, a factory owner from Truro and a member of the central committee of the state Republican Party.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve ||
03/20/2007 11:09 ||
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#1
With McCain there is still the matter of what he says today is probably not related to what he will actually do tomorrow. There is a big difference between altering one's opinion after researching the facts and pandering for votes.
Posted by: Jim ||
03/20/2007 11:29 Comments ||
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#2
Problem with this article: They fdlip back and forth between illegals and legal immigration - as if those are the same things. Sorry, but thats fallacious argumentation, specifically the fallacy of dropped context. Its either an error by the writer or a deliberate attempt to decieve.
#3
Immigration is probably a more powerful issue here than almost anyplace that Ive been, Mr. McCain said after a stop in Cedar Falls.
Wait till you get to southern California, John. That is, if you make it past Iowa. Which I hope you don't.
Mr. McCains suggestion that he might be open to Mr. Pences legislation requiring most workers to return home risks alienating business, a powerful constituency in the Republican Party. The business community has always been skeptical about any requirement to make workers leave the U.S. to obtain legal status, said Laura Reiff, of the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, which represents service industries. We havent ruled a Pence-like touchback completely out of the question, but it would need to be an efficient, functional process.
This whole "touchback" idea is a load of crap and everybody knows it. Bush thinks he can pull this slight of hand so he can say it's not amnesty but we all know better. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's bullshit and we don't want it. NO AMNESTY. GET IT? And guess what Laura Reiff? We don't need more Mexican busboys. Let the teenagers do it like they used to. We don't need more Mexican construction workers with their forged/stolen Social Security cards and their shoddy workmanship so the greedy developers can slap up a few more massive housing tracts. I DON"T CARE IF LETTUCE COSTS $2 A HEAD. I DON"T CARE IF IT COSTS $5 A HEAD. IF IT GETS TOO EXPENSIVE I"LL SKIP THE SALAD.
FURTHERMORE, I DON"T CARE IF MEXICO LOSES IT"S "SAFTEY VALVE". IF THEY END UP HAVING A REVOLUTION MAYBE THAT"S BECAUSE IT"S ABOUT DAMN TIME THEY DID SOMETHING ABOUT THE CRIMINALS THAT ARE RUNNING THAT COUNTRY. PEOPLE LIKE PHILIPE CALDERON NEED TO THINK ABOUT THAT.
But if they need jobs down there, why can't we slap tarriffs on all the plastic crap that's Made in China so they can Hecho in Mexico? Would that make too much sense?
They just really are livid that we have allowed this to happen to the point it has.
DAMN STRAIGHT!!!
Hey Republicans!!! Wanna win California in 2008? Remember? We're the state that has more electoral college votes than any other state? GET WISE ABOUT THE BORDER!!! Wanna lose California? Just keep going the way you are.
#4
After all of his indignant red-faced Dont call it Amnesty! speeches McCain prolly has already sealed his fate regarding the issues surrounding Illegal Immigration with voters. However, he might be able to salvage some support by declaring that he recognizes that the majority of the American electorate does not have confidence in a comprehensive approach until there are concrete steps taken on border security and enforcement. Hey...it's worth a shot John.
#5
McCain, there is already one candidate (undeclared) who is going to clean your clock. Flip on this tot he right postion and you're an opportunist and get your ass kicked, Stay with what you destroyed the laste senate session with (amnesty) and you'll get your ass kicked. Face it John, you're getting your ass kicked becuae you were WRONG and too damned self-important and elitest to listen to us grass roots people. We've found our new guy. You lose.
"Enforcement, and enforcement at the border, has to be primary." -- Fred Thompson, on Fox News
BuhBYE John McCain, dont let the door hit you on your self-important self-entitled ass.
#7
These pols would be smart to lose the word 'comprehensive' while their at it. That suggest that Bush and company intend to do nothing unless they can make registered voters out of them at the same time. Anybody who crawls in under the wire doesn't need to vote, he just needs to eat.
#8
OK, I have one more bone to pick with this article and then I'll shut up. That's the part about the New York Time/CBS News Poll. Where did they conduct this poll, Minnesota? Try asking people in border states where the schools are full of kids who don't speak English and hospital emergency rooms are full of illegal aliens who don't have insurance. Try asking people who have to live with the problem every day instead of a bunch of elite, liberal, easteners who go straight from their limousines to the dining room without ever looking into the kitchen to see the new American slaves.
#11
Thompson on Paul Harvey today (pretending to talk with the Mexican Pres)
Hey guys, youre our friends and neighbors and we love you but its time you had a little dose of reality. A sovereign nation loses that status if it cannot secure its own borders and we are going to do whatever is necessary to do so, although our policies wont be as harsh as yours are along your southern border. And criticizing the U.S. for alternately doing too much and too little to stop your illegal activities is not going to set too well with Americans of good will who are trying to figure a way out of the mess that your and our open borders policy has already created.
My friends, its also time for a little introspection. Since we all agree that improving Mexicos economy will help with the illegal-immigration problem, you might want to consider your own left-of -center policies. For example, nationalized industries are not known for enhancing economic growth. Just a thought. But heres something even more to the point that you might want to think about: What does it say about the leadership of a country when that countrys economy and politics are dependent upon the exportation of its own citizens?
Go here for more:
Blog entry I got it from - audio links are at the bottom)
#12
Article: He said he was open to legislation that would require people who came to the United States illegally to return home before applying for citizenship, a measure proposed by Representative Mike Pence, Republican of Indiana. Mr. McCain has previously favored legislation that would allow most illegal immigrants to become citizens without leaving the country.
This is nuts. Legal immigrants currently have to apply for legal residency (green cards) before they can apply for citizenship, after 5 years of legal residency, but illegal aliens get to shortcut this process? It's one thing to cut in line while at the grocery store, but this is a line that, for legal immigrants, takes years and years just to get the initial green card. But McCain wants illegal aliens to get green cards just for crossing the border illegally or overstaying their tourist visas. This is beyond ridiculous.
#13
OldSpook, immigration and illegal immigration are one in the same in Iowa because there are next to no legal immigrants in Iowa. The state is overrun by Mexicans and Central Americans brought in to work the factories. I grew up in Iowa and have three brothers still living there. The state I grew up in bears little resemblance to what is there now. For one, the rural population has collapsed. Forty years ago, families of 7 or 8 worked farms of 160 - 320 acres. Today, 3 or 4 people work farms >3,000 acres. This alters the workplace in two ways: first, the economics of many of the agriculture-related factories,e.g. meatpacking, depended on this rural population, Farm families needed second jobs to see them through the lean times and viewed the factory jobs as supplements rather than their sole source of support. With that population gone, there were not enough people willing to work for the wages previously paid. Rather than change the jobs to attract Iowans to work in the factories, management ACTIVELY recruited in Mexico for workers. Since they don't pay these illegals enough to be economically viable, the taxpayers pick up the slack through social programs. Iowans are by nature pretty easygoing, but this situation has deeply angered people. Nobody likes to be taken advantage of and called a racist if they complain. John McCain might as well save his money. He has no chance as a Republican in Iowa. He might do better in the Democrat caucuses.
#14
Oh, sorry for the rant. The second impact of the collapsing rural population was the elimination of the city jobs that previously supported the farm families. Basically with a greatly reduced rural population, you don't need as many teachers, doctors, lawyers, restaurants, store clerks, etc. My hometown has half as many people now as it had when I graduated from high school and a smaller population than any time since the Civil War.
#1
Talked to my brother last night. He was talking about how the ad showed the hildebeast as "big brother". I asked, "But can't Obama claim the truth is a defense?" Laughter then ensued.
Posted by: bruce ||
03/20/2007 8:09 Comments ||
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#8
Ebbang Uluque6305, if you haven't seen Mia T work..enjoy. You must let each 'flash' the few seconds to load but it's worth the wait. lots of chilling Clintonesta evil exposed.
;-)
Republican officials operating at the behest of the White House have begun seeking a possible successor to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose support among GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill has collapsed, according to party sources familiar with the discussions.
Among the names floated Monday by administration officials are Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and White House anti-terrorism coordinator Frances Townsend. Former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson is a White House prospect. So is former solicitor general Theodore B. Olson, but sources were unsure whether he would want the job.
Republican sources also disclosed that it is now a virtual certainty that Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty, whose incomplete and inaccurate congressional testimony about the prosecutors helped precipitate the crisis, will also resign shortly. Officials were debating whether Gonzales and McNulty should depart at the same time or whether McNulty should go a day or two after Gonzales. Still known as "The Judge" for his service on the Texas Supreme Court, Gonzales is one of the few remaining original Texans who came to Washington with President Bush.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#4
Screw this! Bush should go on camera today and announce that Gonzales aint leaving, Rove aint leaving, and he aint leaving. If the Donks and MSM have a criminal charge then state it, otherwise this is simply a human resource matter.
#5
Cyber-Sarge: The problem is, Gonzales has shown that he's not up to the job and needs to go. We need someone who can show some "tough love" at Justice. Unfortunately, the only person who I believe could rectify this situation is already a Supreme Court Justice. The failure of the Bush Administration to follow up on 2004 and 2006 election fraud complaints is criminal. The failure of the Bush Administration to go after criminal organizations controlling our southern border is criminal. The failure of the Bush Administraiton to go after criminals in Washington, DC, including members of Congress and the bureaucracy, is criminal. The failure of the Bush Administration to go after people who leak classified information to the press is criminal. I believe Gonzales is one weak link in that chain, and needs to go. Unfortunately, I'm beginning to believe the weakness emanates from the top down, and it's going to take a revolution to flush government of the corruption.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/20/2007 14:18 Comments ||
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LAHORE, Pakistan - Six more Pakistani judges quit Monday in protest at the removal of the countrys top judge by President Pervez Musharraf, officials said, piling further pressure on the government. Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on March 9 and ordered him to face charges of misconduct and abuse of power before a judicial panel, sparking violent protests in Islambad and Lahore.
A high court judge in central Punjab province and five judges in southern Sindh province all tendered their resignations on Monday as resentment grew over the controversy. Justice Jawad Khawaja of the Lahore High Court submitted his resignation, citing Chaudhrys removal and the police action against protesters, Supreme Court Bar Association president Munir Malik said.
I have talked to Justice Jawad Khawaja, who confirmed he has resigned, Malik told AFP. Justice Khawaja told me that he resigned over police excesses, including tear gas shelling inside the High Court building and baton charge of lawyers during their rallies in Lahore on Friday and Saturday, he added.
Separately, the advocate general of southern Sindh province, Anwar Mansoor, confirmed the resignations of two judges in Karachi, Pakistans biggest city, and another in the town of Pannu Aqil. My conscience does not allow me to continue as a judicial officer, one of the judges, Ashraf Yar Khan, an assistant sessions judge in the southern city of Karachi, said in a statement.
Two more judges resigned later in Karachi, a court official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/20/2007 00:00 ||
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Any immigration amnesty idiot that argues with you, hit them with these FACTS. Illegal immigration has a cost - in wages, but more importantly in crime and humans lives! How long will the body count from illegals be allowed to continue to pile up?
This information is confirmed by Mike Cutler, a former senior special agent with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, who says the high number of Americans killed by illegal aliens is only part of the collateral damage that comes with tolerating illegal immigration. An adviser for Family Security Measures, he estimates some 2,158 murders are committed every year by illegal aliens in the United States. Here are some statistics that bear out this report:
Ninety-five percent of warrants for murder in Los Angeles, Calif. are for illegal aliens.
Eighty-three percent of warrants for murder in Phoenix, Ariz. are for illegal aliens.
Eighty-six percent of warrants for murder in Albuquerque, N.M., are for illegal aliens.
Seventy-five percent of people on the "Most Wanted" list in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Albuquerque are illegal aliens.
Twenty-five percent of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals who are here illegally.
Forty percent of all inmates in Arizona detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.
Forty-eight percent of all inmates in New Mexico detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.
Twenty-nine percent (630,000) convicted illegal alien felons occupy our state and federal prisons at a cost of $1.6 billion annually.
More than 53 percent of burglaries in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Texas are perpetrated by illegal aliens.
More than half of all gang members in Los Angeles are illegal aliens from south of the border.
More than 70 percent of all cars stolen in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California are stolen by illegals.
Forty-seven percent of drivers stopped by police in California have no license, insurance, or registration; and of that 47 percent, 92 percent are illegal aliens.
Sixty-three percent of stopped drivers in Arizona have no license, insurance, or registration for the vehicle. Of that 63 percent, 97 percent are illegal aliens.
Sixty-six percent of stopped drivers in New Mexico have no license, insurance, or registration; and of that 66 percent, 98 percent are illegals.
A recent study by Pew Hispanic Center reveals Hispanics are two times more likely to be incarcerated than non-Hispanics.
They are 3.8 times more likely to be imprisoned for murder than non-Hispanics and Hispanic youth are more likely to be found in gangs.
Fifty-five percent of Mexican Americans consider themselves to be Mexican first.
Liunk goes to original article, summary above is from mainstreamiowan.blogspot.com
#8
I got the same e-mail the reporter did, but mine came about two years ago. Check out Snopes to decide if this is valid reporting. Many of the statistics are from an April 2005 testimony of Heather Mac Donald, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims where she testified on the negative effect of sanctuary laws.
He's had 6 years and same party control of the congress until now and enoughmotivaiton (war on terror). Yet he did NOTHING at all about securing the border permananetly.
And as for Reagan - the amnesty was supposed to be accompanied by locking down the border - it was part of the same deal. But they never funded it.
Clinton also get blame, but thats beating a dead horse.
Why worry about the Hispanic label? "Fifty-five percent of Mexican Americans consider themselves to be Mexican first." Thats why. Aside from that, you aren't addressing the main gist of the article and the numbers it brings up, i.e. you are attempting to nit pick, call racism and avoid the main theme (thanks for admitting you've lost before you begin)
#11
Here's some more Fred Thompson for you from today's Paul Harvey:
Hey guys, youre our friends and neighbors and we love you but its time you had a little dose of reality. A sovereign nation loses that status if it cannot secure its own borders and we are going to do whatever is necessary to do so, although our policies wont be as harsh as yours are along your southern border. And criticizing the U.S. for alternately doing too much and too little to stop your illegal activities is not going to set too well with Americans of good will who are trying to figure a way out of the mess that your and our open borders policy has already created.
My friends, its also time for a little introspection. Since we all agree that improving Mexicos economy will help with the illegal-immigration problem, you might want to consider your own left-of -center policies. For example, nationalized industries are not known for enhancing economic growth. Just a thought. But heres something even more to the point that you might want to think about: What does it say about the leadership of a country when that countrys economy and politics are dependent upon the exportation of its own citizens?
(just saw this as a new blogpost while I was checkign a link there)
#12
You forget to mention that by illegal alien you mean anyone of hispanic origin.
First of all, Uneamble Fillmore6406 dear, Hispanic is capitalized, just like American. Second, there is a big difference between Hispanics, Cubans, Puerto Ricans and even Spaniards (you did mean to refer to Spanish speakers, did you not?) who are in this country illegally, and those who are here legally. After all, except for the last three points, the article makes the point that it's about illegal aliens. Or did you mean to imply that all Spanish speakers in this country are naturally criminal?
#13
TW,
A quibble: Puerto Ricans can not be in this country illegally since they are American citizens. ;-)
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/20/2007 17:27 Comments ||
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#14
Frozen Al, we'd be a hell of a lot better off without the cesspool of the Caribbean, PR, attached to US coattails. We need to dump that POS NOW. They showed how loyal they were over Vieques. We should summarily throw their butts out. If anyone wants to tell me that PR soldiers have died for America, my response is that the HUGE sums of welfare money we've sent those lazy bastards has long since paid back any debt we owe them for that. They're leeches and the sooner they're gone the better.
Posted by: Mac ||
03/20/2007 18:12 Comments ||
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#15
And those figures don't even include the DUI-manslaughter stats.
#18
Or did you mean to imply that all Spanish speakers in this country are naturally criminal?
Why are you asking me that? Ask OldSpook. Oh, and, why do you think those last three points were included in an article about illegal aliens, hmmm, dear?
#1
The fact that you can have an outcry, even a police investigation, over words that are not racist in intent, and which have not harmed anyone, takes censorship to a terrifying new level. These days, it doesnt matter what your words mean, or who you say them to. It doesnt even matter if they are true; for example, whether you think it is right or wrong that this kind of thing happens, [...]
rather niggardly in their support, don't you think?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/20/2007 10:59 Comments ||
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#2
So what do they call "gems"?
What do they call getting "ripped off"?
(2 groups typically slurred on this one)
What do they call governments that break their promises and how is that usually misconstrued as as slur on the victim of the broken promise?
There are so many slurs in everyday use that most people don't even notice them. The ones that are noticed should lighten up. Of course that is very (insert your favorite slur here) of me.
#7
If the shoe fits, wear it, and given that 70+ per cent of American blacks are born out of wedlock, it's an accurate description for most.
As for the thought policing going in in Britain's Conservative Party, they're a bunch of wankers who are showing one hell of a lot of nerve calling themselves "conservative." I'd be surprised if Maggie has much to do with them and Winnie and Dizzy are spinning at 60 Hz in their graves. These "Conservatives" are about as "Conservative" as Al Gore. Britain is screwed.
Posted by: Mac ||
03/20/2007 18:03 Comments ||
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A NASA scientist who said the Bush administration muzzled him because of his belief in global warming yesterday acknowledged to Congress that he'd done more than 1,400 on-the-job interviews in recent years. James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who argues global warming could be catastrophic, said NASA staffers denied his request to do a National Public Radio interview because they didn't want his message to get out.
Not that anyone who listens to NPR doesn't already believe the end is near
But Republicans told him the hundreds of other interviews he did belie his broad claim he was being silenced. "We have over 1,400 opportunities that you've availed yourself to, and yet you call it, you know, being stifled," said Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican. Mr. Hansen responded: "For the sake of the taxpayers, they should be availed of my expertise. I shouldn't be required to parrot some company line."
If you don't want to be oppressed by the man, don't take his check
In a bitter hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which is investigating whether there was political interference into climate science, Republicans and Democrats accused each other of "smearing" the other's witnesses. High-profile global warming hearings this week will include appearances by former Vice President Al Gore before House and Senate committees.
Mr. Hansen yesterday said the Bush administration threatened him and his office over his stance on global warming. "It was an oral threat made to a public affairs person in New York and relayed to me," said Mr. Hansen, who is listed as a senior adviser to Mr. Gore and consulted on Mr. Gore's global warming film, "An Inconvenient Truth."
Gee, can you say; "conflict of interest"?
Citing what he called a "growth of political interference," Mr. Hansen said he was forced by NASA officials to deny an interview request from NPR because press officials believed the network to have a liberal bias.
Duh
But Mr. Issa noted that Mr. Hansen conducted 15 interviews in the month after accusing the Bush administration of censorship.
"Help, help, I'm being oppressed."
During the hearing, former NASA spokesman George Deutsch said he made an error in judgment by sending an e-mail to his superiors suggesting that several of Mr. Hansen's colleagues should grant the NPR interview instead of him. Mr. Deutsch, who was 23 at the time, said Mr. Hansen was prohibited from doing the interview because of his prior refusal to notify NASA officials when he was granting interviews, not for political reasons.
I don't know too many jobs where the boss doesn't like being told when you're talking to the press.
Citing what he called his "constitutional right" to give interviews,
First Amendment 101: The government may not stop a private citizen from speaking his mind. A government employee on the other hand....
Mr. Hansen admitted violating NASA's press policy but defended his actions. "It's a very rare case of where you got it on paper," Mr. Hansen said of Mr. Deutsch's e-mail, claiming the blocked interview was not an exception. "This thing was going on all the time."
Mr. Hansen refused to denounce earlier comments he made referring to the White House as a "propaganda office," and saying, "It seems more like Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union than the United States." "I was referring to the constraints of speaking to the media," Mr. Hansen said, when asked about his comments. Mr. Hansen also claimed his department was put on a "going out of business budget," by the White House as payback from his global warming views and that press releases were routinely sent to the White House for approval before going public.
Republicans questioned him about his ties to prominent Democrats.
Pay attention, class. You won't hear this on the MSM
Mr. Hansen received a $250,000 grant from the Heinz foundation, which is controlled by Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat. Mr. Hansen was a vocal supporter of Mr. Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. "As far as I know, there's no political connection to this award," said Mr. Hansen, who has donated several thousand dollars to past presidential campaigns for Mr. Kerry and Mr. Gore. "It's an environmental award."
Yeah, and Fred's hair is growing back....oops.
Chairman Henry A. Waxman, California Democrat, accused Republicans of "smearing" the witness after Rep. Mark Souder, Indiana Republican, asked Mr. Hansen about the Heinz foundation grant. In response, Republicans accused Democrats on the committee of unfairly criticizing Philip Cooney, former chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Mr. Cooney said he and several other administration colleagues were responsible for editing documents that were produced by scientists including Mr. Hansen. Mr. Cooney, who was previously employed by the Petroleum Institute, which lobbies on behalf of the gas and oil industries, denied that any of his changes were designed to conceal scientific research on global warming.
For his part, Mr. Hansen explained that he has not always disagreed with the administration's environmental positions, offering approval for increased research into nuclear power and praising the White House's support for a methane gas program. "It is a success story, and the administration should be given credit for it," Mr. Hansen said.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/20/2007 09:16 ||
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#1
The tried to muzzle him. Blacklist him. Silence him.
Nice to see Issa being worth something, though. He generally doesn't impress.
That headline is priceless. But there are no words (well, I don't have any) for the idea that climate science has been "politicized" by the non-GW side. Hugo Chavez on a pogo stick, how delusional and inverted can these people be?
WASHINGTON About one-third of the people living in the national's capital are functionally illiterate, compared with about one-fifth nationally, according to a report on the District of Columbia. Adults are considered functionally illiterate if they have trouble doing such things as comprehending bus schedules, reading maps and filling out job applications.
The study by the State Education Agency, a quasi-governmental office created by the U.S. Department of Education to distribute federal funds for literacy services, was ordered by Mayor Anthony A. Williams in 2003 as part of his four-year, $4 million adult literacy initiative.
The growing number of Hispanic and Ethiopian immigrants who aren't proficient in English contributed to the city's high functional illiteracy level, which translated to 170,000 people, said Connie Spinner, director of the State Education Agency. The report says the district's functional illiteracy rate is 36 percent and the nation's 21 percent.
The District of Columbia Chamber of Commerce, which contributed to the report, said the city lost up to $107 million in taxes annually between 2000 and 2005 because of a lack of qualified job applicants.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
03/20/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Based on my visits to DC, I am surprised that the percentage is so low.
#4
Adults are considered functionally illiterate if they have trouble doing such things as comprehending bus schedules, reading maps, smiling, standing up straight, wearing baseball caps at the proper angle, earning their own keep, speaking coherently, keeping trousers up, and filling out job applications.
#7
Like everywhere, I suppose, BPiB. Some work in construction, some drive cabs or work in convenience stores. A lot of folks I see in DC goverment use English as a second language.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/20/2007 6:36 Comments ||
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#8
As I recall from my days as an adult literacy tutor, functionally illiterate means reading at or below a 6th grade level. Not the same as not being able to read at all.
#9
Heck, TW, if they're going to raise the bar that high they better reevaluate that percentage. I suspect it's much worse than 1/3, particularly if they start including the Democrat members of Congress.
Posted by: Mac ||
03/20/2007 8:18 Comments ||
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#10
We have a new mayor, who at least appears as if he cares, but the school system has to dig itself out of a very deep hole.
#19
Wonder what john kary has two say about the lak of eddykatshun in the kapital.
i wuz in dc the udder day and i axed a person on da street what was the kapital of the United States and he shocked me when he siad there were 2. the U and the S.
(save your applause, i'm just the warm up guy)
#20
DC/VA/MD Rantburgers! How about a meet at the Shakespeare Theatre Free-For-All at Carter-Barron this summer? They'll be doing Love's Labour Lost again; it's a quite fun production. And I thin we'd all like to see an example of the LLL we can enjoy.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
03/20/2007 23:42 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
O'Malley compared the banks of cells stacked on top of each other to something out of an old James Cagney gangster movie, with horrifically real consequences for correctional officers who struggled with poor visibility to contain aggressive inmates ready to pounce and stab. 
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Government opponents said Monday that the government forced the family of an opposition militant shot dead by police to bury him at their rural home to avoid demonstrations at a planned ceremony in the capital. The government insisted, however, that Gift Tandare -- killed as police disbanded a prayer meeting organized by Zimbabwes political opposition -- was buried in the countryside at the familys request and that the state assisted with the funeral arrangements and expenses.
Zimbabwe's foreign minister has told Western ambassadors that they will be expelled from the country if they give support to opposition activists. Diplomats said the United States ambassador walked out of the meeting at which the warning was delivered after Simearashe Mbengegwi, the foreign minister, refused to answer any questions. "I warned them ... that any ambassador or member of their diplomatic staff who violates these two articles of the Vienna Conventions, the government of Zimbabwe will not hesitate to invoke the provisions of those articles ... that relates to their expulsion," Mbengegwi told Al Jazeera. 
FRANKFURT - An Airbus A380, the worlds largest commercial airliner, made its maiden US landing Monday at Los Angeles international airport, hours ahead of a sister plane expected to land shortly in New York, broadcast reports said. The plane flew to California from Toulouse, France, carrying no passengers, only crew, to test its landing capabilities at Los Angeles.
Republican officials operating at the behest of the White House have begun seeking a possible successor to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose support among GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill has collapsed, according to party sources familiar with the discussions.
