by Jim Kouri, CPP
(This article is based on a report received by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.)
While the battle over providing illegal aliens with driver's licenses rages in state capitals and Washington, DC, North Carolina created the first "North American Union" driver's license, complete with a hologram of the North American continent on the licenses.
The hologram is a facsimile of the map of North America that is used as the background for the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America logo on the SPP website.
Marge Howell, spokeswoman for the North Carolina DMV, told the press that the state was embedding a hologram of North America on the back of their new driver's licenses. "It's a security element that eventually will be on the back of every driver's license in North America," Howell said.
Howell explained the hologram of the North American continent was the creation of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization that, according to the group's website, "develops model programs in motor vehicle administration, law enforcement and highway safety."
Founded in 1933, AAMVA represents state and provincial officials in the United States and Canada who administer and enforce motor vehicle laws. The government of Mexico is also a member, though the individual Mexican states have yet to join.
According to the group's website, AAMVA's programs are designed "to encourage uniformity and reciprocity among the states and provinces."
"The goal is of the North American hologram," Howell explained, "is to get one common element that law enforcement throughout the continent can look at on all driver's licenses and tell that the driver's license is an official document."
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Posted by Walt as U.S. Legal Issues, North American Union at 9:29 PM EDT
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WASHINGTON, May 2, 2007 - Accuracy in Media editor Cliff Kincaid said today that the proposed federal media shield law, the so-called Free Flow of Information Act, is a Pandora's Box that would backfire on the media because of the inability to adequately define basic terms such as "journalist."
"The term is so loosely defined that an al Qaeda propaganda front could qualify as a legitimate news organization," the AIM editor said.
"The legislation is not in the interests of the media or the public," he said, adding that AIM would seek an opportunity to testify against the bill and would recommend a presidential veto if Congress passes it.
The bill, reintroduced in the House and Senate, purports to protect the media's use of confidential sources, Kincaid said, but would actually enable federal authorities, including members of Congress and judges, to decide who or what qualifies for special federal protection. As such, it amounts to a federal press licensing scheme, designating who should enjoy special rights from law enforcement authorities and who should not, Kincaid charged.
The AIM editor said that journalists should give up their attempts to protect questionable sources in extraordinary and rare national security cases and start acting like ordinary citizens with a duty and obligation to report evidence of criminal activity. "The media are not above the law that applies to the rest of us," the AIM editor declared.
Alluding to the involvement of some 40 media companies and other journalistic organizations at a Capitol Hill news conference to re-introduce the bill, Kincaid warned the public of a propaganda blitz designed to get the legislation through both Houses of Congress without serious scrutiny. When an issue like this is before Congress, involving the perceived self-interest of the media elite, Kincaid said the public can count on one-sided "news" coverage.
Accuracy in Media (AIM), founded by Reed Irvine in 1969, is America's original media watchdog organization. For more information, please visit www.aim.org.
Posted by Walt as U.S. Legal Issues, U.S. Constitutional Issues, U.S. Political Issues at 5:40 PM EDT
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PHILADELPHIA – Repent America (RA) is urgently calling Christians not to exercise their "right to remain silent" as the federal "hate crimes" bill proposal, H.R. 1592, heads for a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, May 3, 2007.
"H.R. 1592 is an unnecessary, unconstitutional, and un-American bill, which, with the aid of homosexual-friendly prosecutors, will be used to criminalize Christians for their thoughts, beliefs, and speech," stated Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "The silence of the American church, together with the unrelenting rage of the ungodly, will soon result in the widespread incarceration of true believers," said Marcavage.
In October of 2004, eleven Christians with RA were arrested while ministering and preaching the Word of God and the Gospel message on the public streets and sidewalks of Philadelphia during a taxpayer-funded celebration of homosexuality. After spending 21 hours in jail, the District Attorney’s office charged the eleven under Pennsylvania’s hate crimes law, along with a host of other felony and misdemeanor charges. These charges were later dismissed, but if convicted, the Christians would have faced up to 47 years in prison and $90,000 in fines each.
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Posted by Walt as U.S. Legal Issues, U.S. Constitutional Issues at 9:04 AM EDT
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by Christopher Adamo
Several dangerous precedents were set in the recent kangaroo court conviction of former Cheney Chief of Staff Scooter Libby. To begin with, Libby was tried and convicted for the crime of obstructing justice, ostensibly by providing false information during grand jury testimony.
The entirety of the investigation was billed under the heading of determining the identity of the individual who had divulged the employment status of Valerie Plame, who had once been a covert CIA agent. So ambiguous was the nature of the investigation and subsequent trial, that presiding Federal District Judge Reggie B. Walton would not even allow the jury to know if Plame indeed had been covert.
Nevertheless, from the moment Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald began the investigation, he knew that Libby was not the guilty party. At worst, Libby merely became entangled in a "he said/she said" controversy with reporter, political commentator, and former Democrat staffer Tim Russert.
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Posted by Walt as U.S. Legal Issues, U.S. Political Issues at 10:24 PM EDT
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by Sher Zieve
Osvaldo Aldrete Davila is an admitted Mexican drug dealer who regularly transports Marijuana and other illegal narcotics across the US-Mexico border. In February 2005, US Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who said Davila had a gun, fired on Davila and the drug dealer fled back across the border. It was later discovered that Davila had been hit, in one of his buttocks, by a bullet. The US Border Agents, not Davila, were convicted of "violating Davila’s civil rights".
For testifying against the Border Agents, drug dealer Davila was given immunity from prosecution on his own drug charges. Instead, Agent Ramos was sentenced to 11 years in prison and Agent Compean received a 12 year prison term. Davila is expected to renew his drug trade, as soon as possible. Note: The Mexican influence at the US border is growing even larger.
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Posted by Walt as U.S. Legal Issues, Islam, U.S. Borders Issues at 10:40 PM EDT
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by Sher Zieve
Osvaldo Aldrete Davila is an admitted Mexican drug dealer who regularly transports Marijuana and other illegal narcotics across the US-Mexico border. In February 2005, US Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, who said Davila had a gun, fired on Davila and the drug dealer fled back across the border. It was later discovered that Davila had been hit, in one of his buttocks, by a bullet. The US Border Agents, not Davila, were convicted of "violating Davila’s civil rights".
For testifying against the Border Agents, drug dealer Davila was given immunity from prosecution on his own drug charges. Instead, Agent Ramos was sentenced to 11 years in prison and Agent Compean received a 12 year prison term. Davila is expected to renew his drug trade, as soon as possible. Note: The Mexican influence at the US border is growing even larger.
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Posted by Walt as U.S. Legal Issues, ACLU, CAIR, Immigration, U.S. Borders Issues at 10:46 PM EST
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by Erik Rush
When Joseph Smith kidnapped 11-year-old Carlie Brucia in front of a Florida mall (and a closed circuit video security monitor) in February of 2004, raped her, killed her and discarded her body like a used condom, I responded with a column entitled "Give Him Death", in which I outlined my ambivalence regarding the death penalty, among other things.
"Officially" I am against the death penalty, because, as I said in the column: "I am personally against the death penalty for one reason: I don’t trust the state not to execute innocent people. I believe that if one innocent individual is executed, that’s one too many."
While I believe that most police and prosecutors take their duties in appropriately solemn fashion, we all know that there are those without conscience, those more devoted to career advancement than law and justice, and who reason that certain individuals "have it coming" whether or not they happen to be guilty of the crime at hand. Thus, I am in favor of life without parole for certain crimes, although I do worry about how legislatures, the judiciary and prison overcrowding can throw a wrench in that one.
My aforementioned ambivalence, and that for which I would make exception, are those crimes (like the Brucia killing) in which there was unequivocal guilt. Sadly, although there many cases of evident unequivocal guilt, there are very few methods by which the state can prove unequivocal guilt, particularly after a suspect "lawyers-up."
Which bring us to Michael Devlin, Missouri’s 41-year-old corpulent pizzeria pedophile accused of kidnapping Shawn Hornbeck 4 ½ years ago, and then 13-year-old Ben Ownby on January 8 in Beaufort, Missouri. A tip led authorities to Devlin's suburban St. Louis apartment, where on January 12 they found Hornbeck and Ownby. Devlin, now lawyered-up, has pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping Ben Ownby, which I am sure is a major surprise to the reader. He is also charged with kidnapping Shawn in 2002 but has not yet entered a plea.
If one reads newspapers or watches television news at all, it is obvious that there are all manner of irregularities concerning these cases, from Devlin’s ability to maintain a double life to questions of why Shawn Hornbeck made no attempts to escape despite having contacts in the community, contacts with police, to his parents willingness to parade him in front of Oprah Winfrey’s audience less than a week after his rescue.
Although I do have some of the same voyeuristic, morbid curiosity as the rest of us, I’m not going to get into all that. My greater interest lies in our attitude as a society toward such events and our manifest lack of outrage. I say "manifest" because despite strong verbiage being thrown around, that’s about all that’s being thrown around – rather than, say, Michael Devlin being thrown from a window with a good strong chain around his fat neck.
Oh, yes, we have a system of (deteriorating) jurisprudence, and there’s the presumption of innocence and all that. Again though, as in the case of Carlie Brucia, we have unequivocal guilt. Devlin abducted the boys. No doubt. In all probability, Hornbeck was his sex slave, and Devlin planned the same fate for Ownby. An angry mob won’t have the opportunity to drag him from the jail and summarily execute him, but I’m here to tell you that wistfully regretting that fact doesn’t make you a bad person.
In a way, it was a week of happy endings in the realm of child abductions. In addition to the Missouri rescues, there was the case of Marissa Marie Graham, who, after being abducted in Oklahoma, leaped from the back of her kidnapper’s car and found aid in New Mexico after he stopped at a convenience store for gas. Leave it to a 10-year-old girl to save the day by her own wits, God bless her…
On a completely different (but, trust me, relevant) tack: Back in the ‘Sixties, my father, who was an absolute computer systems pulsing brain, worked for this little company called International Business Machines (IBM). The company, which was known for stringency and, of course, mega-success, had a motto: "think". My dad even brought home a plaque he got from work emblazoned with it. This motto became so popular, in fact, that marketers got a hold of it; plaques and posters began to appear in novelty shops bearing the spoofed legend: "think".
Whatever else IBM subsequently became, at the time, they reflected the epitome of American innovation and excellence. What did they need to do better than anyone else in order to succeed in their increasingly-competitive industry? "think".
Which is what Americans need to start doing, not only respecting existing domestic political and geopolitical issues – but right at home. While I realize that Nancy Pelosi and her posse are in all likelihood working on a bill right now to criminalize this controversial activity, I would admonish the reader to increase their regular participation in this particular activity. Not to be condescending, but it’s clear that Hollywood, advertisers, pervert activists, and socialist radicals (who now control Congress) are dedicated to the early sexualization of children – and have been, I maintain, since I was a child.
Between this and the subversion of the American family they’ve foisted upon us during the same period, it’s no wonder we have dead-eyed freaks like Smith, Devlin, and the increasing number of similarly infamous characters who’ve practically became household names.
Our PC lawmakers are never going to go for immolation of pedophiles, implementing castration via oxyacetylene torch, or hurling them from windows with good strong chains around their necks. So it’s up to us to do what we can – for the moment, figuratively speaking.
My kids are a tad perturbed at me right now because I installed a really cool parental control software package on their computer. In addition to filtering, monitoring and reporting, it even reports places my kids are thinking of visiting online.
"Dad - why can’t I get on this page?"
"Because I blocked it."
"How come?"
"Because it’s bristling with spirit poison."
"Oh…"
They get over it. They’re not savvy enough yet to know that this is happening by design – but when my seven-year-old can get from Postopia.com to a clip of buck-naked Alyssa Milano having her breasts lasciviously fondled in three clicks or less, it takes a fool not to at least suspect there’s something decidedly sinister going on.
As an aside: I’ve got a big beef (no pun intended) with Alyssa Milano. This Hollywood-raised brat is a boob (pun intended) of the highest (or is it lowest?) order, and was the operative who, during the 2004 general election campaign visited our fair city with the mission of enlightening us folks as to how evil the Republicans are and which deviant-supporting socialist-progressives for whom we should cast our votes.
Give it a try! After all, it could mean one of your kids avoiding sex slavery or a gruesome death someday. Go on – I know you want to… "think!"
Erik Rush is a New York-born columnist and author who writes a weekly column of political fare. He is also Acting Associate Editor and Publisher for the New Media Alliance, Inc. The New Media Alliance is a non-profit (501c3) national coalition of writers, journalists and grass-roots media outlets. An archive containing links to his writing is at www.ErikRush.com.. His new book, "It's the Devil, Stupid!" is available through most major outlets. His new book, Annexing Mexico, is scheduled for release shortly.
Posted by Walt as U.S. Legal Issues, Cultural Issues at 12:24 PM EST
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by Sher Zieve
After pursuing an almost year long Don Quixote-like quest against three Duke University Lacrosse team players (a quest that had none of the honor associated with the mythical knight and included only the chasing of windmills), Durham, NC District Attorney Mile Nifong is kicking himself to the curb and throwing in his towel. He has finally, after requests from two North Carolina attorney associations (and an ethics’ complaint filed against him by one), asked to recuse himself from the case—a case that appears to have been fabricated at its beginning; first by the accuser and then by Nifong.
The stripper-accuser, Crystal Mangum, changed her story—again—last week. I think this is either the 12th or 13th time the woman has altered her account of what happened, the night she screamed that the Duke players had raped her.
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Posted by Walt as U.S. Legal Issues, Cultural Issues at 10:30 PM EST
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by Jim Kouri, CPP
In another twist in an already questionable criminal case, DNA testing in the infamous Duke lacrosse rape case found no genetic material from any of the accused males in the woman's body or on her clothing, but analysts found DNA from several unknown male on the accuser's body.
This finding directly contradicts reports that she did not engage in sex with anyone prior to or following her encounter with the three Duke students.
Prosecutors reportedly ordered the DNA testing after the state crime lab failed to find a conclusive match between the 27-year-old woman and any member of the Duke lacrosse team.
The most recent lab findings contradict earlier reports in which the accuser denied engaging in any sexual activity in the days before the alleged assault. The woman, who was hired as a stripper at a Duke lacrosse party in March, claims she was gang-raped by three team members in a bathroom.
The horror faced by three Duke University students is disturbingly common — too common. But in the name of political correctness, few dare to question the validity of the rape charges for fear of becoming targeted by feminists and left-wing groups.
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Posted by Walt as U.S. Legal Issues at 6:28 AM EST
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by Sher Zieve
Something very odd is occurring with the alleged Duke Lacrosse team rape/sexual offense/kidnapping ad nauseam case. I’m not referring to North Carolina Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong’s lack of any substantive evidence against the three young men he has charged with these heinous deeds. Although the case against the Duke University students was originally begun in March 2006, I’m not even referring to Nifong’s not having the palpable good sense to actually interview the accuser—until December. And then, it was one of the prosecutor’s investigators who interviewed the accuser—exotic dancer Crystal Gail Mangum; not Nifong. What I am referring to is how this prosecutor has used his office and this case to secure and keep his job.
The office of Durham County’s district attorney is an elected one. In November, Nifong was running for election to his first full term as Durham’s D.A. Nifong also represents a large and influential African-American community. Crystal Gail Mangum is black and the accused Duke Lacrosse team players are white. Even after it was revealed that Nifong no longer had a chance of proving the rape case against the young men, due to the accuser’s statement that she "could no longer testify with certainty that it [rape] occurred" and Nifong’s conscious withholding of exculpatory DNA evidence, Nifong’s African-American constituents have urged the district attorney to proceed with a trial. Despite the lack of any DNA evidence linking the Duke Lacrosse team players to any crime, let alone rape or sexual offense, President of North Carolina’s NAACP Rev. William J. Barber II insists that Nifong try the case in court. Barber commented: "Don’t let it be decided by hearsay. Don’t let it be decided by community speculation. Take it to the courts!" So—ever concerned about his increasingly tenuous position within the community—Nifong is now pursuing a case of ‘sexual offense and kidnapping’ against the Duke students. By the way, DNA evidence is not considered to be "hearsay".
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Posted by Walt as U.S. Legal Issues at 6:32 AM EST
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