Why the Minuteman Ignoring the 14th Admendment

The Minutemen groups are tolerated within the ranks of the Protectionists, and Libertarians is proof that the Minuteman have absolutely no respect or regard for the Constitution they claim to be defending. The Minutemen rather than tormenting Jews, the American Fascists are tormenting undocumented workers. Their actions vary from posting bizarre paranoid articles on the Internet to threats of actual violence and bodily harm to Mexican immigrants; documented and undocumented alike.
Claiming 2nd Amendment rights, The Minutemen are armed and claim that they are a legal and well regulated militia. They are not legal. Minutemen exist in defiance of the 14th Amendment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
Everybody within the borders of the United States has the same legal protections. Undocumented workers have the same rights to legal protection for their lives and property as American citizens. Undocumented workers have the same rights of due process and a jury of their peers. So far, the Minutemen have contented themselves with blowing off a lot of hot air. They do some counter protesting, or they swill beer in their yards while watching the border. So far there has been no violence. Once the Minutemen harm an undocumented worker, they will prove themselves to be an illegal organization and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
But I want to pointed out that The Minuteman are a perfect illustration of the mindless nationalism which dominates the entire Libertarian movement. It is reminiscent of Nazi Aryan superiority. To the Libertarians, only American citizens have the right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Apparently Constitutional rights are so rare that there are not enough to share with guests. The very name “Minutemen” brings to mind the Revolutionary War and Paul Revere’s famous ride. It is a chilling reminder of the Brown Shirt’s association with the Teutonic Knights and the Vikings. The Minutemen evoke mythic history to confront their make-believe danger.
Indeed, undocumented workers pose no danger to either the American economy or the tax payer’s money. Undocumented workers take jobs that the average Libertarian spits upon, and the undocumented worker’s role in agriculture is the only thing that keeps the small farmer competitive with the agromonopolies. In a healthy economy, the cost of medical and social services are easily absorbed through the intelligent investment of our tax money. True, right now we do not have a healthy economy. Thanks to the Neocons and their Libertarian lap-dogs, we have a very saggy economy. Still, that is no excuse for ignoring the 14th Amendment.
This brings us to the Libertarian disdain for human rights. The Minutemen exist only to deny rights to a minority. In this specific case, to a brown skinned Spanish speaking minority. You might notice that the Minutemen are not that active at the Canadian border, even though we do get our share of undocumented Canadians. I have not heard of the Minutemen protesting the undocumented Irish in San Francisco. The Minutemen are simply an expression of economic white elitism that is one of the cornerstones of the Libertarian movement.

Deceased physicians still receiving Medicare benefits.!!!!!!!

Outrageous Illegal and Unethical conduct were Dead Docs Stiff Taxpayers money and Nativists, Protectionists keep blaming the Other, The Undocumented, The Citizen without voice either vote. Money blowing out of your pocket.

A report from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that from 2000 to 2007, Medicare paid 478,500 claims containing identification numbers that were assigned to deceased physicians. The total amount lost: between $60 million and $92 million.
Congressional investigators said Tuesday that Medicare had paid tens of millions of dollars to suppliers improperly using identification numbers of doctors who died years ago.
The government has no reliable way to spot claims linked to dead doctors, many of whom are still listed as active Medicare providers though they died 10 or 15 years ago, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said.
Medicare covers wheelchairs, walkers, home oxygen equipment and many other types of medical equipment. When suppliers file claims for equipment provided to a Medicare beneficiary, they normally must list an identification number for the doctor who prescribed or ordered it.
“From 2000 to 2007, Medicare paid 478,500 claims containing identification numbers that were assigned to deceased physicians,” the subcommittee said in a new report. “The total amount paid for these claims is estimated to be between $60 million and $92 million. These claims contained identification numbers for an estimated 16,548 to 18,240 deceased physicians.”
In 16 percent of these cases, the report said, suppliers used identification numbers of doctors who had been dead for more than 10 years. In one case, Medicare paid more than 2,000 claims totaling $479,000 for services provided from 2002 to 2007, even though the doctor had died in 1999.
Another doctor died in 2001, but his identification number was used in more than 3,800 claims from 2002 to 2007, with payments totaling more than $354,000.
“Scam artists have treated Medicare like an automated teller machine, drawing money out of the government’s account with little fear of getting caught,” said Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, the senior Republican on the subcommittee. “When Medicare is paying claims and the doctor has been dead for 10 or 15 years, you know there is a serious problem.”
The subcommittee, headed by Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan, plans to hold a hearing on the issue on Wednesday.
Herb B. Kuhn, deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said he shared the concern that “Medicare is continuing to pay claims to providers who are using invalid or inactive physician numbers.”
Mr. Kuhn said his agency was taking steps intended to stop such payments. For example, it will get monthly death reports from Social Security and compare that information with its list of doctors in Medicare.
Robert A. Vito, regional inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services in Philadelphia, said that in some cases doctors did not know that their billing numbers were being used by suppliers of medical equipment. But in other cases, he said, doctors collude with suppliers. He cited the case of a Florida doctor who received kickbacks from suppliers in return for prescribing medical equipment covered by Medicare.
The identification number for this doctor was used on nearly $8 million worth of claims for medical equipment in one year — the equivalent of more than $20,000 a day, Mr. Vito said in testimony prepared for the hearing.
Medicare has issued new identification numbers to doctors in the last two years. But, Mr. Vito said, these numbers are “readily available to the public,” so “fraudulent suppliers can easily obtain a valid number” and use it on their Medicare claims.
Mr. Levin said Medicare and its contractors shared responsibility for “this taxpayer rip-off.”
About 2,500 doctors who died before 2003 “still had active identification numbers” in May of this year, Mr. Levin said.

Illegals draining Social Services. A lie or a Lie?

Another case were I exposed the unethical and Illegal behavior from Companies. They thought they were going to get away with it and so they refused to change their illegal practices and kept alienating persons of conscience. Every hospital will be full of stories of heroism and mistakes blaming the other. And This is not about accidents, or complicated book keeping or reporting procedures. It is about white collar crime; crime at such a level that it has been difficult for low paid Federal employees to get their minds around the tens of millions of dollars involved and too complex for the news media to grasp. Finally, it is starting to unravel. Bring on the indictments not the Undocumented Immigrants.

CoxHealth has agreed to pay more than $60 million to settled a False Claims Act lawsuit in which the company was charged with overbilling Medicare. CoxHealth actually stole more money that they are being required to return to the U.S. Government because as federal agents began calculating the damages, it soon became clear Cox could not pay without going under

CoxHealth's $60 million settlement with the U.S. Justice Department will cost the health system an extra $3.07 million when the bill is paid in full with interest in five years.

That's according to a government document filed with the settlement agreement Tuesday.
The money will compensate the Medicare trust fund for a portion of the payments that Cox improperly claimed and received, the government said. The trust fund is the pool of taxpayer money from which the Medicare program pays hospitals, providers and beneficiaries.

Cox will pay $35 million immediately, then $5 million each year for five years with 4 percent interest on the deferred amounts. Cox officials say they already have the money in various reserve accounts.

The $60 million settlement "is considerably less than the alleged improper Medicare payments to Cox," U.S. Attorney John Wood said this week.

Federal officials agreed on that amount because that's what Cox could afford to pay without damaging its ability to provide medical care to the community, he said.

Officials won't divulge the estimated total amount of those alleged improper payments
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel May said it became clear as federal agents began calculating alleged claims, "There's no way Cox would ever be able to pay without going under."

She added, "That's when we switched gears to an 'ability-to-pay' posture."

The goal was to find a balance, May said.

"It is a priority for us to protect taxpayer dollars. Eventually it comes to practicality. You can't run a hospital out of business. That does not serve your community at all," she said. "It's the important art of weighing and balancing the need to protect the Medicare Trust Fund and the community's need for health care."

The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Cox billed and received an undisclosed amount of Medicare payments it should not have gotten, and alleges it violated federal laws by providing kickbacks to physicians of the for-profit Ferrell-Duncan Clinic Inc.

The government is still negotiating a settlement with the physician-owned clinic, the government confirmed. Likewise, May said, its criminal investigation into alleged Medicare fraud at Cox continues.

How does a $60 million settlement compare with others?

According to Patrick Burns, spokesman with Washington, D.C.-based Taxpayers Against Fraud, the Cox settlement will be among the 20 largest settlements this year.

Burns' group is a nonprofit, public interest organization that aims to combat fraud against the federal government through the promotion and use of the Federal False Claims Act.

The settlement range is a low of about $10,000 up to one large system's cumulative $1.7 billion, he said. However, $900 million is the largest for a single defendant, he said.

The U.S. Department of Justice handles about 100 cases of the 300 to 400 false claims cases filed every year, Burns said. About 80 percent of those 100 are alleged health care fraud, he said.

Half of those 100 cases, he added, will be settled for less than $2 million

Undocumented Immigrants draining Medicare and Medicaid?. A myth or a Lie?

At this point I have not seen an accurate report from a balance and fair group of the amount used by Undocumented Immigrants but I see more often the tip of Iceberg from Companies, Hospital, Vendors and suppliers committed fraud against Medicare and Medicaid affecting taxpayers Citizens, Legal and Undocumented Immigrants.

WellCare to pay $35.2M as part of Medicaid inquiry.

WellCare Health Plans Inc. said it will pay $35.2-million as part of an agreement with U.S. prosecutors in a Medicaid fraud investigation, the company said in a regulatory filing Monday.

The payment doesn't settle the case or limit the U.S. government and state of Florida from making further claims in their continuing investigation, WellCare said.

WellCare, whose top executives quit in January, said the agreement includes an estimated $24.5-million owed the government for Medicaid "behavioral health" claims from 2002 to 2006 by two of its Florida HMO subsidiaries: WellCare of Florida Inc. and HealthEase of Florida Inc. The additional $10.7-million will be held in escrow during the government probe.

"We do not know whether other areas of the investigations might lead to fines, penalties, operating restrictions or disqualifications or other material adverse impaction on the company or the company's previously issued financial statements,'' WellCare said in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

WellCare manages benefits for more than 1.23-million members of state Medicaid programs for the poor and an additional 200,000 elderly and disabled customers who are part of the government's Medicare program.

In October, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other federal and state agencies raided the Tampa headquarters of WellCare

The Border Fence between Canada and U.S. A Painted line

By Keith B. Richburg Washington Post

DERBY LINE, Vt. -- The changes started coming slowly to this small town where the U.S. border with Canada runs across sleepy streets, through houses and families, and smack down the middle of the shared local library.

First was the white, painted lettering on the pavement on three little side streets -- "Canada" on one side, "U.S.A." on the other. Then came the white pylons denoting which side of the border was which. After that, signboards were erected on some streets, ordering drivers to turn back and use an officially designated entry point.
And along with the signposts came an influx of American Border Patrol agents, cruising through the town in their green-and-white sport-utility vehicles with sirens, chasing down cars and mopeds that ignored the posted warnings.

For longtime residents accustomed to a simpler life that flowed freely across a largely invisible border, the final shock -- and what made most people really take notice -- was a proposal by the border agents last year to erect fences on the small streets to officially barricade the United States from Canada, and neighbor from neighbor.

"They're stirring up a little hate and discontent with that deal," said Claire Currier, who grew up in this border area and works at Brown's Drug Store, which has operated on the same spot since 1884. "It's like putting up a barrier. We've all intermingled for years."

For the Department of Homeland Security, the changes are part of a gradual fortification of America's northern border that began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and has accelerated in recent years.

The hardening of the northern frontier is unsettling to many in the small towns along the border. For as long as most of these people can remember, the line between the United States and Canada has been little more than a historic curiosity, rather than the hard and fast demarcation that is America's southern border.

Named the Secure Border Initiative, the project calls for more than tripling the number of agents along the northern border, adding boats and helicopters, and deploying sophisticated new technology including hundreds of millions of dollars in new communications equipment, radiation detectors and three different types of camera-mounted sensors in the uninhabited wooded areas.

"It was freer before, but we live in a different world now," said agent Mark Henry, the operations officer at the Border Patrol's Swanton Sector, headquartered in Swanton, Vt. The sector encompasses about 24,000 square miles, extending from the town of Champlain, in Upstate New York, on the east all the way across to the border with Maine. The sector now has 250 agents, up from 180 three years ago, and the number is scheduled to reach 300 next year.

In 2001, there were 340 agents along the entire border with Canada.

"We're more visible," Henry said. "We've gotten more aircraft, more vehicles, more boats, more ATVs -- pretty much everything, we've got more. And we've got more people to man them."

"9/11 changed everything," said Border Patrol agent Fernando Beltran, the operations chief for Swanton Sector's Newport station, which includes Derby Line. "This may have been Mayberry before, but it's not anymore."

Residents of this town of 776 understand the need for enhanced security. They also wistfully remember a time when neighbors easily crossed into another country to visit neighbors. People went to church and to school on either side of the line. Members of the same family lived on either side. Some streets, an old factory, the local library and opera house, and a few houses straddle the line.
I have one brother -- he's American. He was born on the U.S. side. I was born on the Canadian side," said Arthur Brewer, who is 76. "It was like there was no border -- people back and forth.

"Actually, we're like one people," he added, "like two brothers, one family."

Brewer lives in Canada but walks a few miles almost every day to Brown's Drug Store, saying: "I'm always over here, chatting with the girls. This is the best pharmacy in the world." Brewer said he doesn't have a passport but knows he will have to get one soon, because rule changes next year will require it to cross the border.
"We living in a different world now," Brewer added. "It's too bad."

Lifelong resident Karen Jenne, the Derby Line town clerk and treasurer, said: "I went to church on the other side. I taught Sunday school there. I live on one of those unguarded streets -- I used to cross the border all the time."

Jenne sits on a committee formed when the border agents proposed erecting fences on the three mostly residential streets where the United States and Canada touch. The committee has a dozen members -- five from here in Derby Line, five from Stanstead, the Canadian town on the other side, as well as Beltran, the Border Patrol agent in charge, and his Canadian counterpart
Townsfolk are concerned about practical issues with fences. The two sides share a water system, a sewer system and snow-removal services. For years, the fire departments of both sides have helped each other without regard to a border, and fences, they fear, might disrupt travel routes for emergency vehicles.

"It hasn't been an easy issue for either side to digest," Jenne said. "But we understand that Border Patrol and Homeland Security have a job to do. . . . The general public doesn't understand what's crossing that border, whether it's drugs or illegals."

The Border Patrol agents are sympathetic to the residents' concerns. "It's trying for the community," Beltran said.

"They understand that there's a change, but to them it's a way of life," Beltran said as he cruised through the town streets in an unmarked SUV. "They never considered themselves in danger. There's a sense of security here."

But for the border agents, Sept. 11 exposed the vulnerability of America's northern frontier and the ease with which anyone -- a terrorist with a portable nuclear device, for example -- could cross into the United States from Canada using one of the multitude of unguarded back roads or forest paths, or, in a border town such as Derby Line, simply by crossing the street.

Beltran said he instructs his agents to use discretion and "common sense." It goes like this: "If a kid [on the Canada side] throws a Frisbee over here, he can come and get it. But if he got the Frisbee and kept walking down to the Arby's to get a soda, we're going to stop you."

"We can't be wrong once," Beltran added. "If we're wrong once, that could be devastating to the whole country."

The new vigilance has led to more arrests of people crossing illegally and interdiction of contraband, mostly drugs. Border agents in this sector said that last year they arrested people from 117 different countries trying to enter the United States illegally. Among the drugs, agents say, they have confiscated large shipments of ecstasy pills being smuggled in, as well as shipments of extra-potent hydroponic marijuana.

The resources here are still a small fraction of what is deployed on the southern border with Mexico. But with the increased Border Patrol presence, the North is starting to look more like what border residents of Texas, California and Arizona have been seeing for years.

As the that presence has increased, so has the risk of violence. Agents in the Swanton sector recall three relatively recent incidents when agents fired their weapons -- most recently when an agent was being beaten by a man he stopped. The agent fell over a guardrail, lost his glasses and fired to chase the suspect away.

"There's a lot of violence on the southern border, so some of that's going to transfer up here," said Norman Lague, the patrol agent in charge of the Champlain station The northern border, some agents say, presents more complex problems. Besides the few border towns such as Derby Line and nearby Beebe Plain, much of the border consists of forests, woods, cornfields, lakes and rivers.

"You can see the challenges we're faced with patrolling," Lague said, as he steered his SUV through the trees down one of the now-barricaded forest roads. "To protect this area, it's enormous. It's huge. It's wide open. You've got to know what you're doing to be an agent up here."

Lague is a 13-year veteran agent, who spent most of his time patrolling the area around Derby Line, where he grew up, before spending five years on the border with Mexico. One difference, he said, is that "there's a delineated line with Mexico. . . . Here, if you were to walk around this town, you would probably walk into Canada and not even know it."

A large part of the job, Lague and the others said, is community outreach and educating border residents that the way of life they have known for generations has profoundly changed.

"We interact with the public," Lague said, "so they understand we're not doing this stuff because of them; we're doing it to protect them.

"The patrol work may vary from our southern border," Lague added, "but our strategy is the same throughout the nation."

Uniform Deception: Government Secrets Part 1

Government ostensibly operates for the people. The 'UNITED STATES' is set up to protect its citizens. The very Preamble to the Constitution states that the function of government is to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, and to promote general welfare. How then has the government come to be so overbearing and oppressive in our everyday lives? Our government, set up by the people and subservient to the people, has transformed into an ominous beast that forcefully removes your wages and dictates what you can and can not do even if those actions do not infringe on another's rights. 'Registrations', 'applications', and 'submissions' all keep us tied down to the political machine that controls our lives in the form of licenses, income tax, property tax, and statutory code. The problem now becomes this. What are the secrets that the government does not want us to know or understand that allows us to enter into this trapped state? I will address ten of these secrets in ten parts. The first article will deal with how the government uses the Uniform Commercial Code to make you a ward of the state.

All commerce is regulated. The Uniform Commercial Code, the UCC, codifies the rules of commercial transactions between all individuals, states, and countries. So, in theory, if we are not engaging in commerce the UCC should not apply. This is truly the crux of the matter. No matter what you do, if your parents registered you for a birth certificate, a Certificate of Live Birth was generated by the state where you were born. The birth certificate that your parents 'applied' for did not say birth certificate on it. That's what you get back in the mail a few weeks later. That application says 'Certificate of Live Birth'. 'Applying' for this Certificate of Live Birth constitutes a commercial contract and henceforth, the child stands as a ward of the state from that point onward. All of us are deceived into selling our children into servitude directly out of the womb because we are told that we 'must'. Your birth certificate is only a receipt in evidence that you entered into a commercial contract with the state. The Certificate of Live Birth winds its way through the bureaucratic process and makes its way to Washington, DC. Yes, that's right. Washington, DC. Within seventeen days of your birth and your parents' 'application' for a Certificate of Live Birth, you are registered with the Federal Government.

Your Certificate holds the status of a bonded instrument. It has monetary value. A bond number is assigned and printed on the back. The government can even use this bonded instrument to make more money using your legal 'person' as the instrument of transaction. Why does Washington, DC want a record of every living person? To tax you of course. That is why your bonded COLB has value. They are leveraging their future ability to tax you.

One needs to step back from this for a moment and consider a few things. First, notice some definitions. Look back over the article and find the words in quotes. The legal definitions of the words are highly important.

UNITED STATES: The corporation usurping the sovereignty of the united States of America. All caps is UCC legal standard.

Registration: Recording in official record.
Application: To request of beg for something.
Submission: A yielding to authority.
Person: A legal construct representing a commercial contractee.
Must: Designating a required action before another action can take place.

So, with these definitions in mind, think about the whole COLB process. The UNITED STATES says that you must submit and application for a Certificate of Live Birth to register your child as a legal person. Dissecting this statement, we get this. A corporate entity is telling us that we must do something. We must submit an application. We must beg the UNITED STATES to let us yield our natural authority over our child (and ourselves when we are grown) over to them and register our act of yielding our natural authority in an official corporate record. Why 'must' we? Because if we don't we will not be registered. You must submit an application in order create a Certificate of Live Birth to create a 'person'. What if you don't want your child associated with a 'person'? Then don't yield your natural authority over yourself or your child over to the UNITED STATES. Don't fill out the application. 'Must' only means that if you agree to the procedure and want to participate, then the action required to get the ball rolling is for you to 'submit' and 'application'.

Since we enter into a commercial contract with the state at birth, we are bound by the UCC. We gave up our right to be over the government by submitting to them in writing. We are all wards of the state and that is why they can force you to pay taxes, obey stupid laws, and throw you in jail for not cooperating with them. You submitted to their authority at birth. The UCC in turn governs all of our behavior, so we must act as if we are always engaging in commerce.

Under the Constitution, there is no such thing as a UNITED STATES citizen. We are all State Nationals; citizens of our state of birth. There are procedures utilizing the UCC to extricate you from government oppression. There is a remedy. There has to be or under our current legal system, the legislators whom allowed this atrocity to befall the American people would be punishable under fraud and treason against the Constitution. The twist is this. Even though the remedy has to exist, they do not have to tell you what it is or how to pursue it. Hence, we are all trapped in a catch 22 from a time when we are unable to make a decision for ourselves. I've researched the topic and you can get in a great deal of trouble if it is not done right. I don't think I'm going to do it. There are other routes to protect yourself. Set up a corporation to protect your assets. There is an abundance of information all over the web for how to do this. For me personally, I do not want to land in jail because I sent a Claim of Right to the wrong official or filed a UCC claim at the wrong office. You can find people to help with this, but it's hard to tell the con men from the legitimate professionals.
By Patrick Bolling at
http://www.new.facebook.com/inbox/ or http://www.new.facebook.com/inbox/

Again ICE preventing Terror from Abroad but creating TERROR from Within

The largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history has caused panic among Hispanic families in this small southern Mississippi town, where federal agents rounded up nearly 600 plant workers suspected of being in the country Undocumented.

One worker caught in Monday's sweep at the Howard Industries transformer plant said fellow workers applauded as immigrants were taken into custody. Federal officials said a tip from a union member prompted them to start investigating several years ago.

Fabiola Pena, 21, cradled her 2-year-old daughter as she described a chaotic scene at the plant as the raid began, followed by clapping.

"I was crying the whole time. I didn't know what to do," Pena said. "We didn't know what was happening because everyone started running. Some people thought it was a bomb but then we figured out it was immigration."

About 100 of those detained were released for humanitarian reasons, many of them mothers who were fitted with electronic monitoring bracelets and allowed to go home to their children, officials said.

Another 475 workers were transferred to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Jena, La. Nine who were under 18 were transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

John Foxworth, an attorney representing some of the immigrants, said eight appeared in federal court in Hattiesburg on Tuesday because they face criminal charges for allegedly using false Social Security and residency identification.

He said the raid was traumatic for families.

"There was no communication, an immediate loss of any kind of news and a lack of understanding of what's happening to their loved ones," he said. "A complete and utter feeling of helplessness."

The superintendent of the county school district said about half of the district's approximately 160 Hispanic students were absent Tuesday.

Roberto Velez, pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Peniel, where an estimated 30 to 40 percent the 200 parishioners were caught up in the raid, said that's because parents were afraid immigration officials would take them.

"They didn't send their kids to school today," he said. "How scared is that?"
Those detained were from Brazil, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and Peru, said Barbara Gonzalez, an ICE spokeswoman.

Elizabeth Alegria, 26, a Mexican immigrant, was working at the plant Monday when ICE agents stormed in. When they found out she has two sons, ages 4 and 9, she was fitted with a bracelet and told to appear in federal court next month. Her husband, Andres, was not so lucky.

"I'm very traumatized because I don't know if they are going to let my husband go and when I will see him," Elizabeth Alegria said through a translator Tuesday as she returned to the Howard Industries parking lot to retrieve her sport utility vehicle.

"We have kids without dads and pregnant mothers who got their husbands taken away," said Velez's son, Robert, youth pastor at the church. "It was like a horror story. They got handled like they were criminals."

Howard Industries is in Mississippi's Pine Belt region, known for commercial timber growth and chicken processing plants. The tech company produces dozens of products ranging from electrical transformers to medical supplies, according to its Web site.

Gonzalez said agents had executed search warrants at both the plant and the company headquarters in nearby Ellisville. She said no company executives had been detained, but this is an "ongoing investigation and yesterday's action was just the first part."

A woman at the Ellisville headquarters told The Associated Press on Tuesday that no one was available to answer questions.

In a statement to the Laurel Leader-Call newspaper, Howard Industries said the company "runs every check allowed to ascertain the immigration status of all applicants for its jobs."

"It is company policy that it hires only U.S. citizens and legal immigrants," the statement said.

The Mississippi raid is one of several nationwide in recent years.

On May 12, federal immigration officials swept into Agriprocessors, the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant, in Iowa. Nearly 400 workers were detained and dozens of fraudulent permanent resident alien cards were seized from the plant's human resources department, according to court records. In December 2006, 1,297 were arrested at Swift meatpacking plants in Nebraska and five other states.

Another death at Detention center

I am totally disgusted and ashamed that people dying everyday in the Desert, in Detention Centers, in Jails, in ICE hands without reservation of their Human and Civil Righst just for the Dysfunctional Immigration system. Hopefully Human rights will take hands on this case.

The 17-year-old's lifeless body was frozen in a sitting position in solitary-confinement at the Galveston County Jail.

Arturo Chavez's back was flush against a 7-foot partition for the cell's shower. A blue blanket was twisted into a noose, with one end wrapped around his neck, the other tied to a shower head.

He apparently hanged himself about 48 hours after being arrested for what started as an illegal left turn.

It may never be known what swept over Chavez, who illegally emigrated from Guatemala four years ago and spent much of his time trying to improve his English and working to send money home.

"If he did it, it was because he was so beaten down he couldn't take the pain," his older brother Adolfo Chavez said of the suicide.

What is certain is that his life was similar to those of countless people who live in the shadows of society due to their immigration status, and that things hurtled out of control after police pulled him over the night of Aug. 1.

Officials are still investigating his death, ruled a suicide.

A federal lawsuit was filed by Chavez's parents against the League City Police Department, Galveston County and Sheriff Gean Leonard. The lawsuit contends not enough was done to keep Chavez from killing himself.

Those who knew Chavez said, like many undocumented immigrants, he feared any run-in with authorities as it would likely mean he would be deported.

He left Central America when he was 13 and wanted more out of life than he could get with tips loading baggage at a bus station.

Relatives say it took him nearly 15 days to get to Houston, including sneaking into Mexico and riding a passenger bus north.

He crossed the Rio Grande and hiked through South Texas.

Human smugglers demanded $3,500 to guide him, a hefty sum met with help from family and friends.

In Houston, he was known for his hustle and held out hope his improving English skills would get him promoted from busboy to waiter.

Chavez's death was a mystery as much as a shock, said Mario Garcia, who owns the restaurant where Chavez worked.

"I don't understand how you can go from making a mistake to losing your life, I'm dumbfounded by it," Garcia said. "There are two sides to every story, and the truth is probably somewhere right in the middle."

The kid known by his family as niño, Spanish for boy, had come a long way since leaving his indigenous village. He was sending home at least $100 a week to help his mother, father and sister.

He was not only working full time, but attending Clear Creek High School's program to help newly arrived international students.

He wore woven bracelets made of blue and white yarn — the colors of Guatemala's flag — as well as an anklet with the U.S.A.'s red, white and blue.

"He was very proud of his Mayan heritage," said Elizabeth Laurence, one of his teachers. "He was a feisty young fellow, popular and wanted to learn English very much. He wasn't timid; he tried to use it."

Things were going well with his girlfriend, Jhoseline Martell, whom he met at school.

As the police cruiser's lights flashed behind him near Louisiana Street and League City Parkway, Chavez dialed Martell on his cell phone and stuffed it in his pocket.

"He said the police have stopped me, just listen," recalled Martell, 15.

He normally rode a bicycle to avoid such trouble, but he had recently bought a used green Honda sedan.

He had no driver's license, no insurance and what turned out later to be a fake identification card.

He was arrested and taken to jail. His mugshot was taken while he wore the red shirt from his job as a busboy.

Excessive force alleged

All he had made for himself in the U.S. seemed to hang in the balance as Chavez was locked up at the police station and awaiting transfer to county jail.

At one point, when the holding-cell door was opened, Chavez bolted for freedom, according to a police report.

With officers running behind, the 5-foot-3-inch Chavez made it outside and scrambled up a chain-link fence, but was grabbed by the feet.

The wire atop the fence ripped into his hands.

In the scramble, he was shocked twice with a taser and hit multiple times with a baton, according to police.

Houston attorney Randall Kallinen said the officers used excessive force to apprehend Chavez.
"He had been severely beaten," said Kallinen, who added that a head injury could bring on suicidal thoughts — a mix worsened by solitary confinement. Results of an autopsy are pending.
Gary Ratliff, assistant chief of the League City Police Department, said officers used the minimum of force to catch the fleeing prisoner.

"None of us know what this kid was thinking; no one knows what pushed him to that regard," he said of suicide.

"I really seriously feel for that family. That is a void you just can't fill," he said.

Body sent to Guatemala

Adolfo Chavez, who wears a Rosary identical to the one his brother was buried with, spoke quietly as he described how Arturo came to America to chase a dream.

He also recalled their last phone conversation from jail.

The kid always fighting for a better life sounded broken.

He was now looking at escape charges, resisting arrest, and his body ached.

Adolfo said Arturo asked him to call his parents.

"He said, 'Tell them I love them, and I've always tried to be a good son. I can't take it anymore.' "

Arturo Chavez's body was back in Guatemala last week for a funeral at his parents' home. Family and friends had to raise $6,000 to send his remains back home.

Relatives in the U.S. couldn't afford to attend.

His father, Juan Chavez, said he could hardly believe the condition of his son's body. His face, skull and back were bruised.

His legs were swollen. One hand was torn up.

"He's at peace now," the father said.

What you should know about Joe Biden.

Here's where Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., stands on the issues.

Abortion: Biden believes that life begins at conception, opposes public funding for abortion and supports a ban on late-term abortions, but does not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned.

Climate/Energy: Biden favors legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 by imposing a cap and trade system. He favors requiring that at least 20 percent of the country’s electricity comes from renewable sources such wind, solar, biomass and geothermal. And he would seek to raise fuel economy standards so that the U.S. reaches a 40-mpg average by 2017.

Guns: In response to the shootings at Virginia Tech, Biden said, "We should not have let the assault weapons ban lapse. We should close this so-called gun show loophole. ... We have let the country down in the way in which we have not focused on mental illness

Health: Biden wants to expand health insurance to cover all children and to make catastrophic care available for everyone. He favors allowing states to look for ways to provide universal coverage. He believes that information technology can raise efficiency, cut costs and reduce costly errors, and supports investing $1 billion a year in converting all health care systems in the country to digital medical records systems.

Immigration: Biden has voted in favor of comprehensive immigration reform, building a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, establishing a guest working program, allowing illegal immigrants to participate in Social Security if they have paid into the system, giving guest workers a path to citizenship, and allowing more foreign workers into the U.S. for farm work. He has voted against making English the official language of the United States.

Marriage: Biden voted for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibits same-sex marriage under federal law. He voted against a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and also voted in favor of expanding the definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation.

Taxes/Economy: "We are giving people tax breaks who don't need it,” Biden said at the July 23, 2007, Democratic debate. "The top 1 percent got an $85 billion-a-year tax break. It is not needed." In the Senate, Biden voted in favor of taking some annual tax cuts for the top 1 percent of earners. He voted against repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, raising estate tax exemption to $5 million and permanently repealing the estate tax.

Iraq: Biden originally supported President George W. Bush on the Iraq invasion, but now says that support was a mistake. "President Bush does not have a strategy for victory in Iraq,” Biden says. "His strategy is to prevent defeat and to hand the problem off to his successor." Howqever, "We can't just pull out now. ... The truth of the matter is: If we started today, it would take one year, one year to get 160,000 troops physically out of Iraq, logistically."

Police Officer Indicted in Violated Federal Civil Rights

Police Officer Wayne Simoes, of Yonkers, New York, has been indicted for lifting Irma Marquez off the floor and slamming her to the ground during a March 2008 incident at a restaurant. In the moments leading up to the assault, Marquez appears in a surveillance tape of the incident to be somewhat agitated as she tries to get a better look at the medical treatment being rendered to her niece -- the reason police were on the scene. Subsequent to being "restrained," the 44-year-old woman was charged with obstruction of governmental administration and disorderly conduct. She has since been acquitted of those charges.

Marquez suffered a broken jaw and other injuries from Simoes's attack.

Simoes appears to be just the latest cop to to not understand that police misconduct is just a little harder to get away with in the age of video recording and the Internet. If convicted, he'll have up to ten years behind bars to contemplate the changing world.

The Indictment charges SIMOES with one count of violating federal civil rights laws, which make it a crime to willfully deprive a person of rights secured and protected by the Constitution of the United States, in this case the right to be free from the use of excessive force by a law enforcement officer in the course of an arrest, stop, or seizure. If convicted, SIMOES faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Unsurprisingly. the Yonkers Police Department faces an 11-million-dollar lawsuit in the case.

Another Secret War Underway.!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't agree with anything we've done in response to 9/11. I have cried for all the deal Iraqis that have been killed because of Bush's bloody oil war.Yet, we still can't tell the difference between corrupt American corporate interests and good, ethical, real America people. Ashamed. I am wonder why John McCain said that we will fight for in War for another 100 years.

Deportation of U.S. War Resisters.

On Friday, August 15, 2008, a Canadian supporter of U.S. war resisters challenged Canadian Immigration Minister Diane Finley to explain why she is deporting U.S. war resisters to court martial and military prison.

64% of Canadians want the war resisters to stay here, 82% of Canadians are against the Iraq war, and on June 3, 2008, the Canadian Parliament passed a motion calling on the government to halt the deportation of war resisters.

With the recent decision to deport Jeremy Hinzman, the first war resister to come to Canada, the question remains: does the minority Conservative government support democracy in Canada or does it support the Iraq war?

The motion states: "immediately implement a program to allow conscientious objectors and their immediate family members (partners and dependents), who have refused or left military service related to a war not sanctioned by the United Nations and do not have a criminal record, to apply for permanent resident status and remain in Canada; and that the government should immediately cease any removal or deportation actions that may have already commenced against such individuals

Facing deportation after three years in prison

After serving almost three years in a Vietnamese prison for sexually abusing two underage girls Gary Glitter has been deported.

The disgraced rock star Gary Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, has been released from prison in Vietnam after serving a three year sentence for molesting two underage girls. The singer was arrested in November 2005 as he tried to flee the country.

I didn't came here to break the Law. I came because I need to feed my childrens

Know days the Immigration Law goes beyond morality and decency because they keep families divided, encourage the exploitation of migrants by employers and enable abuse by Anti Immigrants groups and human traffickers.

The bishop in the nation's most heavily Roman Catholic state called on U.S. immigration authorities to stop arresting Undocumented immigrants in mass sweeps in Rhode Island and allow federal agents not to participate if they feel the raids violate Christian teachings.
Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, head of the Diocese of Providence, made the request in a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Boston that was published on the diocese's Web site today.
His letter comes during a heated debate over Undocumented immigration in Rhode Island, where authorities recently raided six Rhode Island courthouses and arrested 31 people, mainly Hispanic immigrants who are overwhelmingly Catholic. In a separate raid, ICE agents apprehended 42 suspected Undocumented immigrants in Newport and Middletown.
The letter, signed by 15 priests, urges ICE agents to consider the morality of their actions.
"If their discernment leads them to the conclusion that they cannot participate in such raids in good conscience, we urge them not to do so. If ICE agents refuse to participate in immigration raids in conformity with their faith and conscience, we urge the Federal Government to fully respect the well-founded principles of conscientious objection," the letter said.

In an interview with a Journal reporter today, Tobin said he had invited the pastors to meet about three weeks ago after hearing anecdotally from parishes around the state that many Hispanics were afraid to leave their homes to attend Mass, were shopping at night for fear of being picked up and were not enrolling in school their children, who are American citizens.
"Now when we get involved in that area -- the ability to practice their faith -- that becomes a concern for me right away,'' Tobin said.
He continued that the diocese recognized that some immigrants are here illegally. "But keep in mind many of them are here because the system itself is broken. We've gone two decades... with this current immigration policy that has enabled and allowed this situation to develop.
"People who came here did not come here with the express purpose of breaking the law. They came to make a living for themselves and their families and the government has allowed that to happen ... because of the lax interpretation of immigration laws and the fact that there hasn't been enforcement.''
He added, "I know for sure what Jesus would not do. He would not sweep into a community, gather up large groups of people, separate family members, one from another and deport them to another country. I know for sure he would not do that.''
Later today, ICE spokeswoman Paula Grenier said of Tobin's letter:
"The men and women of ICE have sworn an oath to uphold the laws of our nation and it is a duty and responsibility we take seriously. While we fully intend to continue to enforce the law, I would stress that we do so professionally and with an acute awareness of the impact that enforcement has on the individuals we encounter.
"While we have great respect for Bishop Tobin and his colleagues, we believe their congregations and communities would be better served by helping individuals to comply with the law or working to change those laws rather than asking law enforcement agents not to enforce it."
Earlier this year, Governor Carcieri issued an executive order aimed at cracking down on Undocumented immigration. He said he did so because the federal government has dropped the ball on immigration reform and left state taxpayers to pick up what he said are the considerable costs of Undocumented immigration.
Several R.I. religious leaders decried that order, including Tobin, and asked Carcieri to reconsider it, saying it threatened to ignite widespread vitriol against immigrant communities.
Today, Tobin also said, "I think we need to work toward good laws. But in the meantime, treat people decently.''
Roman Catholic and other faith leaders have repeatedly criticized immigration raids that target migrant workers as opposed to Undocumented immigrants who are violent or commit crimes.

Anti Immigrant Guilty of disorderly conduct.!!!!!

A Multnomah County Judge has imposed a fine against an anti-immigrant protestor who was arrested for blocking the entrance to a Portland Day Labor Center earlier this summer.

Tom Wenning, the man arrested in the incident, went before Judge Steven Todd attempting to use the “choice of evils” defense. Wenning claimed that his act of blocking traffic coming into the Day Labor Center was a lesser evil than the city of Portland subsidizing it, which Wenning believes is assisting undocumented immigrants in finding employment.

Judge Todd responded by saying that the “choice of evils” defense requires an emergency situation. Todd went on to scold the the anti-immigrant activist saying that "You really don't have any evidence of exactly what was going on there, whether or not they were filling out their paperwork, whether or not those people going through the door were legal or illegal. “You don't know that. You're speculating on that. You're putting your judgment over everybody else's, and, frankly, that's not fair."

In the end, the judge imposed a $500.00 fine on Wenning finding him guilty of disorderly conduct.

Are we far from God? How close are you from God?

The Body of Christ in America for the first time addresses the issue of immigration in a major sacred assembly. Lou Engle led with Latino leaders, a native American minister and other Anglo-American Leaders a prayer moment at the Call to ask God's solution for this matter.

VIP Invitation from ICE draw no takers.!!!!!!!!

The Bush Administration's Immigration and Customs Enforcement has launched a new initiative which encourages Undocumented Immigrants with no criminal background in the U.S. to surrender to authorities but why not enforce the Law with a real criminals, sexual offenders, sexual predators rather to despite the Federal Sources. with a nonsense brainer.!!!!!!!! I believe that a government ad campaign is employing scare tactics to pressure undocumented workers to self-deport but it won't work.
That invitation drew hardly any takers on the first day of a new federal ``self-deportation'' program that offered 457,000 eligible Undocumented immigrants the chance to turn themselves in, get their affairs in order and leave the country without being detained.

The tepid response only reinforced doubts about an idea that has drawn criticism and even ridicule from both sides of the immigration debate.

"You would have to be crazy - who would want to turn themselves in?" said Angel Martinez, a construction worker who waited Tuesday outside ICE's Charlotte, N.C., office while his son visited a friend detained on immigration violations

USCIS Plans to Implement New Citizenship Test on October 1, 2008

I am wonder if the Minuteman members, Nativists and Anti Immigrants will pass that Test? Thanks to Kyledeb for a great article of a great example of English lessons from Anti Immigrants and the so called Nativists. Do you think they have at least a GED? Asking for a Bachelor degree it would be too much to ask for. right? Click here:

This October, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin using a new test to assess naturalization applicants’ English language ability (reading, writing, and speaking) and knowledge of U.S. history and civics. The new test has been in development for more than eight years. CLINIC participated in a working group of advocates who met regularly with USCIS to provide input in the test redesign process beginning in summer 2002. The impetus for the new test was a 1997 report by the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform which criticized the current test for not assessing a meaningful knowledge of U.S. history and civics, not being standardized, and relying too much on rote memorization. CLINIC and others were very concerned that the new test might be considerably more difficult than the current test, and might pose a barrier to low-literate and limited English proficient applicants. Chapter six of CLINIC’s report, A More Perfect Union, describes the history of the test redesign process and the advocacy efforts to ensure a fair test. The report is available on the CLINIC website at: http://www.cliniclegal.org/DNP/citzplan.html.

Timeline for Implementation
All citizenship applicants who file their N-400 on or after October 1, 2008 will take the new test. Applicants who file before October 1, but have their interview after that date will have a choice of taking either the old or new test. Beginning on October 1, 2009, everyone will take the new test, regardless of when they filed. However, for those who choose to take the old test before October 1, 2009, fail, and are re-tested after that date, the old test will be given. (This is to ensure that applicants are given the same version of the test on each attempt.)

Format for the New Test
The format for the new test is very similar to the current test. There is no change to the English speaking test. Applicants’ speaking skills will continue to be tested through their ability to answer questions normally asked in the course of the naturalization interview, such as questions about the N-400 and small talk at the beginning of the interview. For the English reading test, applicants will be given up to three sentences and must be able to read one sentence correctly in order to pass. The sentences will be questions about U.S. history and civics. A list of vocabulary words that will be used in the reading sentences is available for study at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/reading_vocab.pdf.

For the English writing (dictation) test, the USCIS officer will give the answer to the question the applicant just read, so the reading and writing test items will be linked. For example, an applicant might be asked to read, “Who was the first President?” and then to write, “Washington was the first President.” Applicants will be given up to three dictation sentences and must be able to write one sentence correctly in order to pass this portion of the test. A study list of vocabulary words that will be used in the dictation sentences is available at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/writing_vocab.pdf. The sentences that will be used for the reading and writing tests are not available in advance, only the vocabulary words.

Scoring Guidelines
USCIS has published scoring guidelines for the English test that include the following points:
For the English speaking test, USCIS officers are required to repeat and rephrase questions until they are satisfied that the applicant either fully understands the question or does not understand English.
To pass the English reading test, the applicant must be able to read one sentence without extended pauses. The applicant may omit short words that do not interfere with meaning, or make pronunciation or intonation errors that do not interfere with meaning.
To pass the English writing test, the applicant must be able to write one sentence that has the same general meaning as the dictated sentence. The applicant may omit short words that do not interfere with meaning, and may make some grammatical, spelling, punctuation, or capitalization errors that do not interfere with meaning.
The full scoring guidelines are available at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/English_Test_Scoring_Guidelines.pdf.

The History/Civics Test
The U.S. history and civics test is based on a new list of 100 study questions available at: http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/100q.pdf. Much of the content is the same as the current test but some new content, such as geography, has been added and other content, such as rights and responsibilities, has been expanded. Also, many of the current test questions have been re-phrased in an effort to focus on meaning. For example, “What country did we fight during the Revolutionary War?” has been changed to, “Why did the colonists fight the British?” As a result, many of the questions have more than one correct answer. The format is the same as the current test. Applicants will be asked ten questions and must answer at least six questions correctly in order to pass. The history/civics test will be an oral test.

Detention Center officer pleade guilty of Civil Rights Violations.

FORMER GRANT COUNTY, KENTUCKY DETENTION CENTER OFFICERS FOUND GUILTY OF CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN TEENAGER RAPE CASE.

A Kentucky jury convicted Wesley Lanham and Shawn Freeman, both former deputy jailers, on federal civil rights, conspiracy and obstruction charges, the Justice Department announced today. The defendants, former deputies at the Grant County Detention Center, were found guilty of conspiring to violate the civil rights of a teenage traffic offender when they arranged for him to be raped by inmates. The jury convicted the defendants on all charges and specifically found that the defendants were responsible for the aggravated sexual assault carried out by the inmates.

The defendants face up to life in prison when they are sentenced on Dec. 8, 2008.

The case stemmed from an incident that occurred on Valentine’s Day in 2003, when the defendants, along with their supervisor, former Sergeant Shawn Sydnor, taunted an 18-year-old high school student who had been brought to the detention center on a speeding charge. The deputies teased the teenager about his physical appearance and told him that he would make a good “girlfriend” for the other inmates. The defendants then solicited a group of convicted felons housed in a general population cell to scare the teenager. After eliciting an agreement from the inmates, the officers left the teenager in the cell where he was sexually assaulted by the other inmates.

When the teenager’s father reported the incident and demanded an investigation, the defendants falsified their official reports relating to the treatment of the teenager.

Sydnor, previously pleaded guilty to civil rights and conspiracy charges and faces up to 15 years in prison.

This case was prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Kristy L. Parker and Trial Attorney Forrest Christian of the Criminal Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Terrorists crossing thru the Mexican Border? Myth or a lie?

Virginia Man Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison on Weapons of mass destruction and Explosives Charges Following Arrest on Capitol Hill

WASHINGTON— A Virginia man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison following his conviction on multiple weapons charges, including possession of explosives and the attempted manufacture or possession of a weapon of mass destruction near the U.S. Capitol in January 2008, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeffrey A. Taylor and U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) Chief Phillip D. Morse Sr. announced today.

Michael Stephen Gorbey, 38, received the sentence earlier today in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia before the Honorable Gregory Jackson, who said “it was only by the Grace of God that nobody was hurt.” The court also stated that “there is a very dangerous side” to Gorbey.

Gorbey was found guilty on May 19, 2008, by a Superior Court jury of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon; possession of an unregistered firearm; eight counts of possession of unregistered ammunition; possessing, transporting or transferring explosives; and attempted manufacture or possession of a weapon of mass destruction. This case marks the first time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia charged a person with attempting to manufacture or possess a weapon of mass destruction based upon the local District of Columbia statute that was passed in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Evidence at trial showed that on Jan. 18, 2008, Gorbey drove into the District of Columbia after being told that he could not get an appointment with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Gorbey had purportedly requested an appointment with the Chief Justice to tell him about a massive government conspiracy that Gorbey believed included attempts on Gorbey’s life. After driving into the District of Columbia, Gorbey parked his truck several blocks away from the Supreme Court. The defendant then put on a bullet-proof vest and armed himself with a pump-action shotgun, 27 rounds of shotgun ammunition and a sword that was nearly three feet long. Gorbey then started walking down First Street, NE, towards the U.S. Supreme Court. A citizen alerted officers who confronted Gorbey at gunpoint. After ignoring several orders to drop his weapon, the defendant finally placed the shotgun on the ground and officers took him into custody.

Officers located Gorbey’s truck in the unit block of D Street, NE, and a trained canine indicated there were explosives inside of the truck. Members of the USCP Hazardous Devices Unit detonated a small charge inside of the truck to disrupt a suspected bomb, and then searched the truck. The officers did not locate any explosives; however, they did locate approximately 750 additional rounds of ammunition. After the search of the vehicle by the bomb technicians, the vehicle was towed to a government facility in the District of Columbia, where it was secured for further investigation. Three weeks later, officers conducted a more thorough search of the truck after obtaining a search warrant. During this search, a crime scene search officer located a homemade bomb behind the bench seat of the truck. The bomb was made out of a bottle of lead shot and a box of shotgun shells that were duct-taped to a metal can of black gunpowder. This device was disrupted using a high-velocity stream of water and the remnants of the bomb were sent to the FBI’s forensics laboratory in Quantico, Va. An expert who examined the device found what appeared to be a small hole in the can that could have been used to hold a fuse for the bomb. This same expert testified that if detonated, the device could have caused death or serious bodily injury to multiple people.

“Today’s sentence recognizes the significant threat that Gorbey posed to the public at large and to those government officials he believed had offended him,” said U.S. Attorney Taylor. “As the court noted today, but for the professionalism and patience of the uniformed members of the U.S. Capitol Police, this could easily have developed into a deadly confrontation. This case serves as an important reminder of the risks that law enforcement officers take each day to protect the citizens, employees and institutions of the Nation’s Capitol.”

“I am very proud of the U.S. Capitol Police officers who successfully prevented a dangerous felon from inflicting harm to our community,” said USCP Chief Morse. “We also want to thank the Assistant U.S. Attorneys for their outstanding work and prosecution of Gorbey. These outstanding efforts and the combined teamwork have resulted in getting a felon off the streets.”

In announcing today’s sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor and USCP Chief Morse commended USCP Liaison Sergeant Wayne Howell who coordinated efforts to interview dozens of officers who were involved in this case; USCP Criminal Investigators Mark Crawford, Joseph DePalma, Dennis Holland and Hugh Thatcher; USCP Uniformed Officers Peter Geyer, Deeben Kang, Daniel Nutter, Bryan Carter, Ryan Gainey, Tony Buffington, David Berkeley, J. Creekmur and Matthew Tighe; USCP Evidence Technicians Jonathan Klipa, Mark Schwalm, Paul West, Frank Pollack, Lonnie Lane, Matthew Shelfo and Joel Hobbs; USCP Hazardous Devices Unit members Sergeant Michael DeCarlo, Sergeant Charles Wood, Robert Simpson, Yusef Norris, Robert Simmons, Daniel Aranyosi, Anthony Sancho and Peter Schulze; USCP Officers Shannon Gadsby and Melissa Allison; Joint Terrorism Task Force members Special Agent Patrick Race, Special Agent Michael Matten, Special Agent Aidan Garcia and Special Agent Bryan Hayes; and the FBI Supervisory Special Agent Daniel Hickey, who testified at trial as the government's expert witness on explosives and explosive devices. In addition, U.S. Attorney Taylor and USCP Chief Morse cited the efforts of several members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office staff, including Litigation Services Technicians Timothy Linders and Errol Spears; Paralegal Phalyn Hunt; Intelligence Analyst Larry Grasso; and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Kerkhoff and John Cummings who investigated and prosecuted the case.

Stop the Inhumane raids know.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three Democratic congressmen are calling for an end to raids on businesses employing Undocumented Immigrants. I want to thank Congressman Rep Joe Baca, Luis Gutierrez for being so proactive against the mass wave of Anti Immigrant sentiment against undocumented and legal Immigrants at the same time exposing the Irrational, and Inhumane treatment of Childrens in Raids by ICE.

You as U.S. Taxpayer should know: $7.5 Million in Taxes Earmarked for Golfing

At least $7.5 million in taxpayer money over the last few years has been earmarked by Congress to fund a golfing program for young people but they reduce the budget for education. Does make sense to you?

Taxes on Table for $7 Trillion Social Security Shortfall

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D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) said that all options except privatization are on the table, including tax hikes, to pay the $7 trillion needed to cover Social Security's budget shortfall

U.S. Congress reports a high incidence of Tax Evasion by?

Be my guest. I know extremists, Nativists, and Minuteman Members will still blamed Undocumented Immigrants but they are wrong.!!!!!!!! They should blame they own ignorance.

The tax dodging is a global phenomenon. It is not unique to Bangladesh only. Tax dodgers everywhere have transactions with on-shore banking. Billions of dollars are being stashed in banks outside one's own country.

A recent study in the US revealed that American and foreign companies do not pay taxes regularly. Two out of three companies in America did not pay any federal taxes from 1998 through 2005, Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of the US Congress in a report said.

The report confirmed a lurking fear that the companies have not been scrupulous in paying federal taxes. The Congressional report did not identify the companies those who have been dodging taxes. The study covered 1.3 million companies of all sizes with a collective sale of $2.5 trillion. The foreign companies are included in the list. Those companies defaulted in larger number.

The tax evaders have used one loophole in the law. The companies are abusing tax laws by shifting income earned in higher-tax jurisdiction to overseas subsidiaries in low-tax jurisdiction. Senator Carl Levin of the Democratic party said, 'this report makes it clear that too many corporations are using tax trickery to send their profits overseas and avoid paying their fair share in the United States', the New York Times reported .

The government agencies do not have the exact data about how much money is being sent abroad to duck tax payment. The report said the larger corporations are more regular in paying taxes than the smaller ones.

Corporations with $250 million in assets and an annual turn over of $50 million are designated as the large corporations. One in four large corporations did not pay taxes regularly.

Corporations are levied to pay 36 per cent of their profits. They together owed the federal government $875 billion in tax payment. The corporations are allowed deduction because of write-offs, operating losses and tax credits. So they pay far less than what is projected. The largest corporations represent only one per cent of the total number of corporations but own more than 90 per cent of all corporations assets, an analyst said.

The Congressional study revealed that seven in ten foreign companies doing business in the US paid no taxes from 1998 through 2000 compared to six in ten American corporations

her shadow know ending up in a Pardon.

This is the follow up for the case of Kathryn Anne Ingleson. If you want to know more of the case click here:
Gov. Tim Kaine pardoned a Newport News woman Tuesday, days before she faces deportation for a 1997 credit card fraud conviction.

It was a simple pardon, which is an official forgiveness for the crime. Kathryn Anne Ingleson's fate remains in the hands of federal immigration officials, who have set her deportation for Thursday.

Ingleson, now 31, moved to the United States from England with her parents when she was 7 as a lawful resident but failed to become a naturalized citizen. In 1997 she was convicted of stealing credit cards from customers at the store where she worked to buy a Christmas tree, some ornaments and other items valued at about $340. She paid restitution and completed probation.

When she returned from visiting a relative in England in 2003, Ingleson was arrested and placed in removal proceedings. Her appeals have been denied by immigration officials and the courts.

Ingleson's attorney plans to take the pardon Wednesday to the Newport News Circuit Court, where she was convicted, in an attempt to stop her deportation. If the Circuit Court judge agrees to vacate Ingleson's conviction Wednesday based on the pardon, Drennan said he would appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals to throw out the removal order.

''We don't live in a police state. We live under a government that should be informed by wisdom and discretion in enforcement of the laws, and Kathryn is deserving of the relief for which she seeks,'' said Alexandria attorney Joseph Peter Drennan. ''She just wants to get about her life.''

Kaine did not issue an absolute pardon, which is granted when the governor becomes convinced that the person did not commit the crime or did not knowingly do it. Instead, the simple pardon is forgiveness for Ingleson having paid restitution, satisfied all sentencing obligations and ''provided evidence of a commendable adjustment following conviction,'' Kaine's attorney Lawrence Roberts wrote to Drennan.

Roberts said ''the Commonwealth fully supports action by the federal government to permit Ms. Ingleson to remain in the United States and her continued residence in the Commonwealth.''

Ingleson has applied for a stay of deportation with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

A message left after hours for an ICE spokeswoman was not immediately returned.

Ingleson was an 18-year-old single mother when she stole the credit cards in 1996. She confessed when confronted about it, but wasn't prosecuted until the following year after a law took effect that expanded the categories of deportable offenses.

Since then, she has worked at a packaging company, kept a clean record and raised her two children, ages 18 and 9, Drennan said.

''The essential theme here is that this is a lady who had one contact with the law in her entire life,'' Drennan said. ''She was a law-abiding person before this happened she has been a law-abiding since this has happened. She has worked hard and played by the rules.''

After her arrest in 2003, Ingleson's case was reviewed by ICE, an Immigration Court judge, the immigration board and the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. Last fall, immigration officials set an Aug. 14 deportation date.

In June, she appealed to Kaine for a pardon.

Kaine spokesman Gordon Hickey said Tuesday the governor acknowledged that Ingleson's deportation is completely in the hands of federal immigration officials.

''Kathryn, culturally, is an American,'' her lawyer said. ''Kathryn, in terms of her allegiance and affinity, would be lost in England.''

He called the process of petitioning to return ''virtually labyrinthian, and added, ''It could take five years, it could take a lifetime.''

English an official U.S. Language? A myth or oppression?

Official English and English-only policies are founded upon the myth that the primacy of the English language is somehow under threat. In fact, more than 94 percent of our country’s population speaks English, according to the last Census. This confirms that the problem English-only laws are designed to address simply does not exist. Moreover, English-only laws are built upon, and help to perpetuate, a baseless stereotype that immigrants, particularly those from Latin America, do not want to learn English.

In reality, Latinos, both native-born and newly-arrived immigrants, embrace English and place tremendous importance and value upon attaining English-language fluency. By wide margins, Latinos believe that learning English is essential for participation and success in American society. A recent survey by the Pew Hispanic Center found that an overwhelming majority of Latinos – 92 percent – believe that teaching English to the children of immigrants is very important, a percentage far higher than other respondents.
Indeed, Latino immigrants are learning English, and doing so as quickly as or more quickly than previous generations of immigrants. As is typical of immigrant populations in the United States, by the third generation most Latinos tend to speak only English. Latino immigrants, then, do not need official English or English-only legislation to coerce them into learning English; that desire and determination already runs deep in the Latino community.

The immigrant community embraces English because it recognizes that learning English is essential for participation and success in American society. Providing real opportunities to learn English, not allowing for discrimination, is the most effective means of fostering English proficiency and provide better opportunities but at the same time we should embrace and respect the sources of evidence for the understanding of human history.

But as "globalization" increases, so does the loss of human languages. People find it easier to conduct business and communicate with those outside their own culture if they speak more widely used languages like Chinese, Hindi, English, Spanish or Russian. Children are not being educated in languages spoken by a limited number of people. As fewer people use local languages, they gradually die out.

Why It Matters

At least 3,000 of the world’s 6,000-7,000 languages (about 50 percent) are about to be lost. Why should we care? Here are several reasons.

The enormous variety of these languages represents a vast, largely unmapped terrain on which linguists, cognitive scientists and philosophers can chart the full capabilities—and limits—of the human mind.
Each endangered language embodies unique local knowledge of the cultures and natural systems in the region in which it is spoken.
These languages are among our few sources of evidence for understanding human history.

Other Implications

Those who primarily speak one of the world’s major languages may find it hard to understand what losing one’s language can mean--and may even feel that the world would be better off if everyone spoke the same language. In fact, the requirement to speak one language is often associated with violence. Repressive governments forbid certain languages and cultural customs as a form of control. And conquered people resist assimilation by speaking their own languages and practicing their own customs.

On the positive side, one language can enrich another—for example, by providing words and concepts not available in the other language. Most languages (including English) have borrowed words of all kinds. Learning another language often brings an appreciation of other cultures and people.

The study of endangered languages also has implications for cognitive science because languages help illuminate how the brain functions and how we learn. “We want to know what the diversity of languages tells us about the ways the brain stores and communicates experience,” says Peg Barratt, division director for behavioral and cognitive sciences. “Our focus is not just on recording examples of languages that are soon to disappear, but on understanding the grammars, vocabularies and structures of these languages.”

Preserving While Documenting

Documentation is the key to preserving endangered languages. Linguists are trying to document as many as they can by describing grammars and structural features, by recording spoken language and by using computers to store this information for study by scholars. Many endangered languages are only spoken; no written texts exist. So it is important to act quickly in order to capture them before they go extinct.

To help preserve endangered languages, E-MELD (Electronic Metastructure for Endangered Language Data) aims to boost documentation by:

duplicating and digitizing high-quality recordings in an archival form;
emphasizing self-documenting and software-independent data;
giving linguists a toolkit to analyze and compare languages;
developing a General Ontology for Linguistic Description (GOLD) to allow interoperability of archives, and comparability of data and analysis.
In another kind of archiving, Joel Sherzer, Anthony Woodbury and Mark McFarland (University of Texas at Austin) are ensuring that Latin America's endangered languages are documented through The Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America (AILLA). This Web-accessible database of audio and textual data features naturally–occurring discourse such as narratives, ceremonies, speeches, songs, poems and conversation. Using their Web browsers, scholars, students and indigenous people can access the database, search and browse the contents and download files using free software.
Documentation is the right thing to do for both cultural and scientific reasons. According to NSF program director Joan Maling, we must explore as many different languages as we can to fully understand this uniquely human capacity—"Language" with a capital L. “Just as biologists can learn only from looking at many different organisms, so linguists and language scientists can learn only from studying many different human languages,” she says. “Preserving linguistic diversity through documentation is critical to the scientific study of language.”