Guy robs bank of $1 to get health care coverage

There is something seriously wrong in this country, where a guy has to rob a bank in order to get health care coverage. From ABC News:

A 59-year-old man has been jailed in Gastonia, N.C., on charges of larceny after allegedly robbing an RBC Bank for $1 so he could get health care in prison. Richard James Verone handed a female teller a note demanding the money and claiming that he had a gun, according to the police report.

He then sat down and waited for police to arrive. "I say, 'I'll be sitting right over here, on the chair, waiting for the police,'" Verone told reporters, recalling the June 9 robbery in an interview from Gaston County Jail.

And wait for the police, he did.

"He's sitting on the sofa as you walk in the front door," the bank teller said in a 911 call.

Police arrested Verone where he sat. He was unarmed.

Verone said he asked for $1 to show that his motives were medical, not monetary, according to news reports. With a growth in his chest, two ruptured disks and no job, Verone hoped a three-year stint in prison would afford him the health care he needed.

"I'm sort of a logical person and that was my logic, what I came up with," Verone told reporters. "If it is called manipulation, then out of necessity because I need medical care, then I guess I am manipulating the courts to get medical care."

But the charge of larceny, not armed robbery, is unlikely to keep Verone behind bars for more than 12 months. He is being held in Gaston County Jail on a $2,000 bond, according to a spokesman for the jail, and is scheduled to appear in court June 28.

31 House Republicans support resolution honoring alleged felon James O'Keefe

Okay, now the James O'Keefe story is entering into the Twilight Zone. Now Media Matters is reporting that Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) has introduced a resolution praising O'Keefe for his investigation into the ACORN activities. Here is the text of the resolution:

Text of the House Resolution:

Whereas Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III filmed investigatory videos uncovering the fraudulent and illegal practices of the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN);

Whereas the House of Representatives voted to completely defund ACORN on September 17, 2009;

Whereas these videos resulted in the potential annual savings of millions of taxpayer dollars to organizations that contract with ACORN;

Whereas Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III have displayed exemplary actions as government watchdogs and young journalists uncovering wasteful government spending; and

Whereas Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III are owed a debt of gratitude by the people of the United States:

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— (1) honors Hannah Giles and James O’ Keefe III for their work as investigative journalists; (2) commends Hannah Giles and James O’ Keefe III for bringing to light the fraudulent behavior of the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now (ACORN) and helping save millions of taxpayer dollars that otherwise would have funded ACORN; and (3) respectfully requests the Clerk of the House to transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe III.

Even more insane, Olson's resolution has picked up support by 31 House Republicans. Media Matters has the names of these supporters:

Todd Akin [R-MO2]
Roscoe Bartlett [R-MD6]
Joe Barton [R-TX6]
Rob Bishop [R-UT1]
Jo Bonner [R-AL1]
John Boozman [R-AR3]
Paul Broun [R-GA10]
Henry Brown [R-SC1]
John Campbell [R-CA48]
John Carter [R-TX31]
Howard Coble [R-NC6]
Tom Cole [R-OK4]
Michael Conaway [R-TX11]
John Culberson [R-TX7]
Mary Fallin [R-OK5]
Trent Franks [R-AZ2]
Louis Gohmert [R-TX1]
Kay Granger [R-TX12]
Ralph Hall [R-TX4]
Jim Jordan [R-OH4]
Steve King [R-IA5]
John Kline [R-MN2]
Doug Lamborn [R-CO5]
Blaine Luetkemeyer [R-MO9]
Daniel Lungren [R-CA3]
Kenny Marchant [R-TX24]
Joseph Pitts [R-PA16]
Bill Posey [R-FL15]
Phil Roe [R-TN1]
Jean Schmidt [R-OH2]
John Shadegg [R-AZ3]

According to Govtrack.us, the resolution was introduced on October 7, 2009, and is currently sitting in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. So obviously this resolution was introduced well before O'Keefe got busted today on the wiretapping charges. And I'm certainly guessing that the Democratic leadership are more than happy to toss this resolution into the committee trash can. This makes me wonder--will Olson and his GOP cosponsors continue to support this resolution, now that O'Keefe has been arrested on felony charges? This resolution is certainly making Olson and his 31 Republican cosponsors looking really stupid now.

Talking Points Memo now has the federal affidavit detailing the charges against O'Keefe.

Anti-Acorn filmmaker arrested for bugging Senator Mary Landrieu’s office

This is just...wow! From the Politico.com:

Federal authorities have arrested four men on felony charges for attempting to infiltrate Sen. Mary Landrieu’s New Orleans office, including one filmmaker who targeted the community group ACORN last year in undercover videos.

Among those arrested was 25-year-old James O’Keefe, the conservative filmmaker, along with Joseph Basel, Robert Flanagan and Stan Dai, all 24. They were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses and attempting to gain access to the Democrat’s office by posing as telephone repairmen, according to a copy of an FBI affidavit unsealed Tuesday.

The complaint said that Flanagan and Basel each entered the premises, wearing light green fluorescent vests, denim paints and blue work shirts, tool belts and hard-hats. They informed a member of Landrieu’s staff that they were telephone repairmen and requested access to the main telephone at the reception desk.

At that point, the two men allegedly attempted to manipulate telephones and accessed the telephone closet, saying they needed to work on the entire system. The men, who said they left their credentials in their vehicles, were arrested by the U.S. Marshal’s Service soon afterward.

According to the FBI, the four men could each face up to 10 years and a fine of $250,000 if they are convicted.

O’Keefe made waves last year when he posed as a pimp and taped ACORN employees discussing a prostitution ring, embarrassing the group and forcing many of its supporters to spurn its ties with it.

Do I see shades of Watergate rearing its head again?

I'll admit that the ACORN controversy became big news story for the conservative media, and bloggers. My thinking here is that O'Keefe got a little cocky with his successful "gotcha journalism" against ACORN, that he thought he could get away with wiretapping Landrieu's Senate office. What was O'Keefe thinking he could get from bugging Landrieu's office? Any publishing of taped phone conversations would still get O'Keefe arrested on wiretapping charges. Or was O'Keefe hoping to gather dirt on Landrieu to give to other GOP operatives intent on politically taking Landrieu out? O'Keefe was stupid for attempting to break the law for political gain, and he should be prosecuted to the fullest intent. Then again, I also have to wonder how many other GOP or conservative political operatives are also breaking the law for political gain?

Schwarzenegger wants to send California prisoners to Mexico

This is from Raw Story:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested California could ease its crowded prison system by sending thousands of undocumented inmates to specially built jails in Mexico.

Speaking to reporters at the Sacramento Press Club, Schwarzenegger said California could ease its strained finances by a billion dollars if 20,000 illegal immigrants currently held in the state were housed across the border.

"I think that we can do so much better in the prison system alone if we can go and take, inmates for instance, the 20,000 inmates that are illegal immigrants that are here and get them to Mexico," Schwarzenegger said.

"Think about it -- if California gives Mexico the money. Not 'Hey, you take care of them, these are your citizens'. No. Not at all.

"We pay them to build the prison down in Mexico. And then we have those undocumented immigrants down there in prison. It would half the costs to build the prison and run the prison. We could save a billion dollars right there that could go into higher education."

It is an interesting idea, but I seriously doubt it will ever work. First, I'm guessing that the Governator would want to contract with private firms to build and run these prisons in Mexico. Why is it, when I think of this proposal, my mind goes back to the corruption, waste, fraud, and shoddy workmanship that Haliburton, KBR, and other firms engaged in with the Iraq reconstruction money--financed by American taxpayers? Something tells me we'd see the same thing with private firms building and running these Mexican prisons. In fact, I'd also guess that the private firms would demand more money from California taxpayers to build more Mexican prisons to house more inmates, and perhaps even cut corners just to increase their own profit margins?

A second problem I have with this idea is Mexico itself. There is still a high level of corruption in Mexico--especially political and drug-related corruption. And the Governator wants to build prisons in Mexico? I don't know how much this corruption will affect such a prison program--especially if such corruption influences private firms' construction and maintaining of these Mexican prison facilities, or even if the corruption extends down to a prisoner's ability to bribe the guards to be released from such a prison. Finally, how would Sacramento be able to regulate these facilities that are run by private companies in a foreign country? I'm sorry, but the more I think about this, the more I believe the Governator is proposing a scam to screw the California taxpayer into this boondoggle of a wealth transfer to a privatized prison interest.

ATF foiled plot by skinheads to kill Obama

This is especially disturbing. From MSNBC News:

WASHINGTON - Law enforcement agents have broken up a plot by two neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 88 black people, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said Monday.

In court records unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn., federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school in a murder spree that was to begin in Tennessee. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name.

Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of ATF's Nashville field office, said the two men planned to kill 88 African Americans, including 14 by beheading. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

The men also sought to go on a national killing spree after the Tennessee murders, with Obama as its final target, Cavanaugh told The Associated Press.

"They said that would be their last, final act — that they would attempt to kill Sen. Obama," Cavanaugh said. "They didn't believe they would be able to do it, but that they would get killed trying."

The MSNBC story reported that the two men, Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells Tenn., and Paul Schlesselman, 18, of Helena-West Helena, Ark., were planning to fund their killing spree "in a robbery or home invasion," of which both Cowart and Schlesselman had purchased nylon rope and ski masks. ATF agents seized a rifle, a sawed-off shotgun, and three pistols from the men when they were arrested.

As for the Obama assassination plot, legal documents show that Cowart and Schlesselman "planned to drive their vehicle as fast as they could toward Obama shooting at him from the windows." In other words, they were planning a drive-by shooting. "Both individuals stated they would dress in all white tuxedos and wear top hats during the assassination attempt," the court complaint states. "Both individuals further stated they knew they would and were willing to die during this attempt."

These guys are complete nutzoid insane. The MSNBC story reported that Helena-West Helena, on the Mississippi River in east Arkansas' Delta, is one of the nation's poorest regions, even trailing parts of the Appalachia, in its standard of living. The town has a population of 12,200, of which 66 percent is black. Thinking about the hate talk that has been spewing from the McCain campaign, and even the right-wing talk radio, these guys probably believe that they are doing their country a service in attempting to kill Barack Obama. And it is not just Obama here--I would guess that they would even believe it was the black population that probably took away whatever jobs there were in Helena-West Helena, whatever education, or economic prospects there could have been. Cowart and Schlesselman were found and arrested before they could put their plan into action. But I wonder how many other racist, neo-Nazi, KKK-supporting, crazies that are still out there, perhaps even quietly creating their own plans? And if Barack Obama does get elected, how many of these individuals, or even groups, will go out of their way to incite their own violence? I can't say, but I think this country may be in for a very rough four to eight years.

Arkansas Democratic Party chairman shot, critical condition

This is from MSNBC News:

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A gunman entered the Arkansas Democratic Party headquarters Wednesday and shot the party chairman, who was hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.

The gunman asked to speak to the party chairman, Bill Gwatney, and fired three shots at the office near the state Capitol.

"He came in and went into this office and started shooting," police Lt. Terry Hastings told reporters near the party headquarters.

Gwatney, a former legislator, was in critical condition, Hastings said. Party officials confirmed the victim was Gwatney.

Law enforcement officials identify the man suspected of shooting the Arkansas Democratic party chairman as Tim Johnson, age 50, of Searcy, Arkansas.

Johnson was chased into Grant County, south of Little Rock, and fatally wounded during a 30-mile chase, Little Rock police said. The suspect's motive is not known.

Reading this story makes me seriously wonder just how much the Republican hate speech, in the media and on radio, may be responsible for this attack. Granted, I do not know the motive behind Johnson's shooting of Gwatney, but I find it very interesting that the shooting took place 1) during a presidential election which Democrat Barack Obama has a serious shot of defeating John McCain for the presidency, 2) the shooting took place in Arkansas, a red Republican state, 3) GOP hate speech has been directed against the Obama campaign, and I would imagine GOP hate speech in the media and radio has also been directed against liberals and Democrats. 4) the U.S. economy has been slowing, which makes me wonder if Johnson is having economic troubles and blames the worsening U.S. economy on the Democrats. Granted, I am speculating here, but I do find it interesting.

Update: Arkansas state Democratic chairman Bill Gwatney has died from the shooting.

Novak cited in hit-and-run against pedestrian

If I, or any regular people, had caused a hit-and-run accident with a pedestrian, we probably would have been arrested by the police, and charged. Not conservative columnist Robert Novak. From The Politico.com:

Syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak was cited by police after he hit a pedestrian with his black Corvette in downtown Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning.

A Politico reporter saw Novak in the front of a police car with a citation in his hand; a WJLA-TV crew and reporter saw Novak as well. The pedestrian, a 66-year-old man who was not further identified by authorities, was treated at George Washington University Hospital for minor injuries, according to D.C. Fire and EMS. Novak was later released by police and drove away from the scene.

“I didn’t know I hit him. ... I feel terrible,” a shaken Novak told reporters from Politico and WJLA as he was returning to his car. "He's not dead, that's the main thing." Novak said he was a block away from 18th and K streets Northwest, where the accident occurred, when a bicyclist stopped him and said he had hit someone. He said he was cited for failing to yield the right of way.

The bicyclist was David Bono, a partner at Harkins Cunningham, who was on his usual bike commute to work at 1700 K St. N.W. when he witnessed the accident.

As he traveled east on K Street, crossing 18th, Bono said "a black Corvette convertible with top closed plows into the guy. The guy is sort of splayed into the windshield.”

Bono said that the pedestrian, who was crossing the street on a "Walk" signal and was in the crosswalk, rolled off the windshield and that Novak then made a right into the service lane of K Street. “This car is speeding away. What’s going through my mind is, you just can’t hit a pedestrian and drive away,” Bono said.

He said he chased Novak half a block down K Street, finally caught up with him and then put his bike in front of the car to block it and called 911. Traffic immediately backed up, horns blaring, until commuters behind Novak backed up so he could pull over.

Bono said that throughout, Novak "keeps trying to get away. He keeps trying to go.” He said he vaguely recognized the longtime political reporter and columnist as a news personality but could not precisely place him.

Finally, Bono said, Novak put his head out the window of his car and motioned him over. Bono said he told him that you can't hit a pedestrian and just drive away. He quoted Novak as responding: “I didn’t see him there.”

A concierge at 1700 K Street said that she saw a bicyclist yelling and walked outside to see what the commotion was about.

"This guy hit somebody and he won't stop so I'm going to stay here until the police come," Aleta Petty quoted Bono as saying, as he stood in K Street, blocking traffic.

D.C. police confirmed that there was an accident at 18th and K streets NW at approximately 10 a.m. involving a black Corvette convertible and that the driver was a white male.

The intersection is in the hub of Washington’s business district and is filled with pedestrians who work in the law firms and lobby shops that line the corridor.

Novak, 77, has earned a reputation around the capital as an aggressive driver, easily identified in his convertible sports car.

In 2001, he cursed at a pedestrian on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and 13th streets Northwest for allegedly jaywalking.

“’Learn to read the signs, [bodily orifice]!’ Novak snapped before speeding away,” according to an item in The Washington Post’s Reliable Source column.

Novak explained to the paper: "He was crossing on the red light. I really hate jaywalkers. I despise them. Since I don't run the country, all I can do is yell at 'em. The other option is to run 'em over, but as a compassionate conservative, I would never do that."

Two years later, the same column reported that Novak had gone to a racing school in Florida.

"I've wanted to be a racecar driver all my life, and anyone who has watched me drive can tell you that,” Novak said.

Compassionate conservativism at its best.

FBI raids Liberty Dollar HQ, confiscates "Ron Paul" dollars

The Ron Paul dollar in copper, silver, and gold. From The Liberty Dollar.

I saw this story yesterday, and I just had to shake my head at it. From The Washington Post:

The ardent supporters of Rep. Ron Paul, the iconoclastic Texas libertarian whose campaign for the presidency is threatening to upend the battle for the Republican nomination, got word yesterday of a new source of outrage and motivation: reports of a federal raid on a company that was selling thousands of coins marked with the craggy visage of their hero.

Federal agents on Thursday raided the Evansville, Ind., headquarters of the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act and Internal Revenue Code (Norfed), an organization of "sound money" advocates that for the past decade has been selling a private currency it calls "Liberty Dollars." The company says it has put into circulation more than $20 million in Liberty Dollars, coins and paper certificates it contends are backed by silver and gold stored in Idaho, are far more reliable than a U.S. dollar and are accepted for use by a nationwide underground economy.

Norfed officials said yesterday that the six-hour raid occurred just as its six employees were mailing out the first batch of 60,000 "Ron Paul Dollars," copper coins sold for $1 to honor the candidate, who is a longtime advocate of abolishing the Federal Reserve. The group says it has shipped out about 10,000 silver Ron Paul Dollars that sold for $20 and about 3,500 of the copper $1 coins. But it said the agents seized more than 50,000 of the copper coins -- more than two tons' worth -- plus smaller amounts of the silver coins and gold and platinum Ron Paul Dollars, which sell for $1,000 and $2,000.

"They took everything, all of the computers, everything but the desks and chairs," the company's founder and head, Bernard von NotHaus, said in a telephone interview from his home in Miami. "The federal government really is afraid." Von NotHaus changed the name of Norfed to Liberty Services earlier this year, but affidavits for government search warrants served yesterday continued to use the older name.

[....]

Von NotHaus said agents also raided Sunshine Minting in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, a company that makes the organization's coins. He said agents seized huge pallets of silver and gold, worth more than $1 million, that the organization says back the Liberty Dollars. Sunshine Minting did not return calls seeking comment.

I went to the Liberty Dollar website here, and they offer both coins and certificates. The coins are copper, silver or gold coins, the certificates' values are backed by gold or silver. Now this guy Von NotHaus may want the U.S. to go back to either a gold standard, or bimetallism standard. But what Von NotHaus may not realize is that Americans who are worried about the dropping value of the U.S. dollar, can purchase gold or silver coins from a variety of vendors. You can even purchase gold and silver coins from the U.S. Mint. What Von NotHaus was trying to do was to create his own private currency that could be used in the public transaction of goods and services. The FBI said no-no-no, and busted his Liberty Dollar headquarters.

One more interesting note. Since the Feds have confiscated all of Liberty Dollar's Ron Paul dollar coins, and all of Liberty Dollar's gold, silver, and copper, the Ron Paul dollars have shot up in price on eBay. The Ron Paul silver dollars are selling for around $200 to $400 a piece, while the Ron Paul gold dollars are selling for $1,200 a piece.

Paris Hilton is out of jail

Paris Hilton, escorted by Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies, reacts as she walks out of the Angeles County Sheriff Department's Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, Calif., with her lawyer lawyer, Richard Hutton, second left, Tuesday June 26, 2007. Paris Hilton has been released from jail after serving about three weeks for an alcohol-related reckless driving case. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Well, the big news story for today is going to be Paris Hilton. Yes, she is now out of jail. According to MSNBC News:

LYNWOOD, Calif. - A smiling Paris Hilton walked out of a Los Angeles County jail early Tuesday, officially ending a bizarre, three-week stay that ignited furious debate over celebrity treatment in the jail system.

The 26-year-old celebutante was greeted by an enormous gathering of cameras and reporters upon leaving the all-women’s facility in Lynwood about 15 minutes past midnight. She had checked into the Century Regional Detention Facility late June 3, largely avoiding the spotlight, after a surprise appearance at the MTV Movie Awards.

Hilton smiled and waved as she filed past deputies and the media, her blond hair pulled back in a braided ponytail. Her parents, Kathy and Rick, waited in a black SUV. Hilton hurried to the vehicle, where she hugged her mom through the window.

Hilton, who was wearing a sage jacket with white trim over a white shirt and skinny jeans, did not respond to reporters’ questions.

“She fulfilled her debt. She was obviously in good spirits. She thanked people as she left,” said sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.

And the media frenzy over Paris' freedom has gone completely overboard. I saw the "Breaking News" stories of Paris Hilton's release from jail on the main cable news channels MSNBC, Fox News and CNN last night. Just look at the pic below here:

Members of the media swarm the car of Paris Hilton as she leaves the Los Angeles County Correctional Facility in Lynwood, California June 26, 2007. Hotel heiress Hilton, who commanded as much attention behind bars as on the Hollywood party scene, regained her freedom on Tuesday after serving three weeks in jail for violating probation in a drunk-driving case. REUTERS/Max Morse (UNITED STATES)

Continuing with the MSNBC story:

Photographers sprinted after Hilton’s vehicle as she left. When the SUV hit a red light during the ride, photographers jumped out of their cars and swarmed it.

Hilton appeared to have gone to a family home in a ritzy Los Angeles canyon north of Sunset Blvd.

I would guess that Paris Hilton will have a big party celebrating her release from jail tonight. And that is fine with me--she served her time. What is rather ironic is how the media is also playing up this little detail of the costs of Paris Hilton's jail time. According to MSNBC News:

Hilton’s stay there cost taxpayers $1,109.78 a day, more than 10 times the cost of housing inmates in the general population.

So it cost the taxpayers around $25,000 for Paris Hilton's three-week stay in jail. In one sense, it was probably worth it. There are times that celebrities will go overboard in their outrageous behavior, knowing that they can get away with it. Paris Hilton is a prime example of such outrageous behavior. She was originally arrested on September 7 after police "saw her weaving down a street in her car on what she said was a late-night run to a hamburger stand." Hilton failed a sobriety test, and then "pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to 36 months’ probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines." That should have been the end of the story, but it wasn't. Hilton was stopped twice by officers for driving with a suspended license. Paris Hilton flouted the law here. And because of that, Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer slammed Hilton with a 45-day sentence to jail. Case closed. All Paris Hilton has to do now is follow the conditions of her probation here.

No springtime for Paris

Paris Hilton is seen the window of a police car as she is transported from her home to court by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in Los Angeles on Friday, June 8, 2007. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

I really don't know what to say about this story, except that it is pure madness. Here is the latest on Paris Hilton going to jail from MSNBC:

LOS ANGELES - Paris Hilton was sent screaming and crying back to jail Friday after a judge ruled that she must serve out her sentence behind bars rather than in the comfort of her Hollywood Hills home.

“It’s not right!” shouted Hilton, who violated her probation in a reckless driving case. “Mom!” she cried out to her mother.

The 26-year-old hotel heiress was taken handcuffed from her home in a black-and-white police car, paparazzi sprinting in pursuit and helicopters broadcasting live from above. She entered the courtroom disheveled and weeping, hair askew, without makeup, wearing a fuzzy gray sweat shirt over slacks.

She cried throughout the hearing, dabbing her eyes, and her body shook constantly. Several times she turned to her parents, seated behind her in the courtroom, and mouthed, “I love you.” TMZ.com reported that Hilton's family will file an appeal, maybe as soon as Friday afternoon.

Hilton was taken to a treatment center at the downtown Twin Towers jail for medical and psychiatric examination to determine which facility she will be held in, said sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.

“She’ll be there for at least a couple of days,” he said.

And here is some video of Paris leaving her house, courtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department--and the paparazzi chasing after her on foot. From YouTube:



What amazes me here is that this whole insane mess started with an argument between the Sheriff's Department and the court. According to The New York Times:

Judge Michael T. Sauer ordered Ms. Hilton to serve out the remainder of her sentence in a county lock-up after the city attorney, whose office had prosecuted the heiress, filed a petition asking that the sheriff’s department be held in contempt or explain why it had released her with an ankle monitor on Thursday, after she had served just five days.

Ms. Hilton had been sentenced to 45 days in jail for violating the terms of her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case. With time off for good behavior, she had been expected to serve 23.

[....]

It was a rare moment in this star-filled city, where badly behaving celebrities can seemingly get away with anything — or at least D.U.I. But Ms. Hilton, for all her money and celebrity, seems to have been caught between battling arms of the legal justice system here, with prosecutors and Judge Sauer determined to make a point by incarcerating her, only to have the sheriff’s office let her go.

“She’s a pawn in a turf fight right now,” said Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School Los Angeles. “It backfired against her because she’s a celebrity. She got a harsher sentence because she was a celebrity. And then when her lawyer found a way out of jail, there was too much public attention for it to sit well with the court.”

The struggle between the judge and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, which runs the jail, incited indignation far beyond the attention normally paid to a minor criminal matter.

[....]

California has been struggling to comply with a federal order to ease overcrowding in its jails and prisons, and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has for the past year implemented a program of early release. But that has frustrated prosecutors who believe that early release undermines their efforts to punish those found to have broken the law.

In one sense, I do feel a little sorry for Paris Hilton. She got caught in the middle of a turf battle between the court, and the Sheriff's Department as to whether she was going to spend time in jail, or under house arrest. Judge Sauer wanted to punish her, perhaps for having no respect for the law. She is a celebrity, and celebrities may believe that they get preferential treatment from the law, and everyone else. She was caught driving under the influence of alcohol. She came to her probation hearing ten minutes late. So in one sense, I can understand how Judge Sauer wanted to make Paris Hilton and example here for other celebrities, who may be considering driving drunk.

But then there is the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca decided that he didn't want to have Paris Hilton crowd his jail, so he released her to a "house arrest." Now if you're a celebrity who is preparing to spend some jail time for a DUI, and the Sheriff's Department tells you that you can spend your jail time at home, instead of in the jail, are you going to argue with the sheriff on this? If the sheriff said I could go home, then I'll go home. This is where the insanity comes in because we now have one branch of the legal system (the court) fighting with the second branch (the sheriff) over whether Paris Hilton will serve her time in jail, or at home. It is incredible. And Paris Hilton has become a pawn in this legal fight between the two branches.

I don't know how it is going to end, but I would imagine that Paris Hilton would probably spend half of her 45-day sentence in jail. The longer that Paris Hilton stays in jail, the longer this legal fight drags itself out between the two departments, and the longer this story stays in the media. So there will certainly be more to come here.

Update: Keith Olbermann has a great roundup of the Paris Hilton saga. I have also found some more video of Paris taken to jail, and the media frenzy here and here. Even more insane, MSNBC brought in comedian Tommy Chong to provide expert analysis of this saga, as the sheriff's squad car is taking Paris to jail.

Bush White House: Keep America's right to bear arms, even in midst of Virginia Tech shootings

In looking at the news coverage taking place on the Virginia Tech shootings, I found this one minor news detail that I would like to point out. Let's go to Cincinnati WXIX Fox 19 News, and the initial White House reaction of the news on the shootings:

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - A gunman opened fire in a Virginia Tech dorm and then, two hours later, in a classroom across campus Monday, killing at least 30 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, government officials told The Associated Press. The gunman was killed, bringing the death toll to 31.

[....]

A White House spokesman said President Bush was horrified by the rampage and offered his prayers to the victims and the people of Virginia.

"The president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms, but that all laws must be followed," spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

I found this quote also on the Dallas Morning News, San Francisco's KRON TV 4, and Philadelphia's NBC 10 News.

Now I'm not surprised that the Bush White House would push such a political statement as what Perino said on this tragic day. It is a rather crass statement to make, but I'm somewhat willing to let it slide. In my first posting on the Virginia Tech shootings, I wondered whether we should start revisiting serious gun control laws as a means to stop this violence.

But then something happened that made me want to revisit Perino's statement. The Bush administration finally figured out their PR-spin on the shooting:

President Bush said in a brief televised statement: “Schools should be places of sanctuary and safety and learning. When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community. Today, our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech.”

While Fox News quotes the religious aspects of Bush's statement:

President Bush said the "nation is shocked and saddened" by the shootings.

"Today our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech," Bush said. "We hold the victims in our hearts, we lift them up in our prayers and we ask a loving god to comfort those who are suffering today."

You can read President Bush's entire statement on the Virginia Tech shootings here.

Oh, and SURPRISE! White House spokeswoman Dana Perino's statement politicizing the Virginia Tech shootings is slowly being quashed out of the news media! You just have to laugh at this. The Virginia Tech shootings take place, and the White House press corps starts asking for President Bush's opinion on this event. Perino should have just left it at Bush is horrified at the Virginia Tech shootings, and will offer his prayers to victims yada yada yada. In other words, keep it at the standard sympathy quote, until the White House staff can gather enough information about the tragedy in order to reevaluate policy issues here. Perino didn't do that. She had to make a political statement on the tragedy--Gotta reassure the National Rifle Association that the Bush administration will not take your guns away! And the news media is happily being spoon-fed this crap from the Bush White House.

Incredible.

Update: Dana Perino's statement on gun control can be found in this White House press conference statement here. The statement was made in response to a reporter's question on gun control, and whether the current gun control laws should be strengthened. Perino should have skirted the issue, saying that the Bush administration should get the facts and information on this shooting first, before deciding on what policies and laws needed to be changed in the aftermath of this tragedy. Perino didn't do that. And that makes the Bush administration seem more crass in protecting the interests of the National Rifle Association over that of the lives of our young college students.

Virginia Tech shooting leaves 22 dead, 28 injured

An unidentified individual is carried out of Norris Hall at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Va., Monday, after a shooting incident. Shootings in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech resulted in multiple fatalities. (Alan Kim, The Roanoke Times/AP Photo)

This is off MSNBC News:

BLACKSBURG, Va. - A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing 21 people in the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history. The gunman also was killed.

“Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions,” said Virginia Tech president Charles Steger. “The university is shocked and indeed horrified.”

The university reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and continuing about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.

Two unidentified injured occupants are carried out of Norris Hall at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Monday, April 16, 2007. A gunman opened fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing 21 people before he was killed, police said. (AP Photo/The Roanoke Times, Alan Kim)

Some but not all the dead were students. One student was killed in a dorm and the others were killed in the classroom, said Virginia Tech Police Chief W.R. Flinchum.

The name of the gunman was not released. It was not known if he was a student.

NBC's Pete Williams said two law enforcement officials told him the gunman killed himself. They also said the gunman used two 9-mm handguns during the rampage, Williams reported. He said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was trying to track the weapons.

Up until Monday, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire. He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police. In the Columbine High bloodbath near Littleton, Colo., in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.

After Monday’s shootings at Virginia Tech, all entrances to the campus were closed.

I'm also reminded of a third massacre that took place on a university campus--Kent State. I'm also wondering whether some type of gun control laws could have prevented this shooting--perhaps background checks, identification and registration, or even safety training. I don't know yet, since background details on this gunman have not been released yet. What concerns me here is that this gunman carried two automatic pistols (If they were 9mm pistols, then each pistol could carry between 8-15 rounds in the magazine), plus extra magazines for these pistols. That is a lot of lead here. So maybe it is time to start looking into some serious gun control here.

FBI abused Patriot Act powers to illegally spy on American citizens

This is off ABC News:

The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used USA Patriot Act powers to obtain information about U.S. citizens and residents, a new Justice Department report concluded.

The report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine was first reported on the Blotter on ABCNews.com last night.

Fine's office scrutinized the FBI's use of National Security Letters (NSLs) under the Patriot Act, which expanded their powers. Intended for use in secretive terrorism and espionage cases, the letters allow the FBI to obtain information, such as business records and data on telephone subscribers, without a judge's consent.

Moreover, FBI agents at times requested and received information they were not authorized to obtain under the law, Fine's report concluded.

The report released today paints a picture of widespread misuse of NSLs by FBI agents and confusion about how NSLs are to be issued and recorded. Fine's office found chronic underreporting by agents about how many NSLs they issued, leading to its conclusion that the total number of NSLs reported by the FBI between 2003 and 2005 -- over 143,000 -- may be understated by tens of thousands of letters.

As a result, FBI reports to Congress on its use of the secretive powers were inaccurate, the report said.

I'll be honest--I'm not surprised about this. When the Patriot Act gave the FBI these expanded powers, did the anyone really expect that the FBI would only use these expanded powers in cases of terrorism? Of course not--let's use them for regular crimes, and suspected crimes. It is not surprising that these National Security Letters (NSLs) would be quickly abused, or even the extent of the abuse. Just look at how many NSLs were issued by the FBI between 2003 and 2006--143,000 NSL letters! Are you telling me that there are potentially 143,000 suspected terrorists and spies operating in the United States--considering one NSL letter issued for one potential suspect. And these were just the NSL letters that were reported by the FBI, not counting the supposed thousands of un-reported letters. This is mind-boggling.

It is obvious as to what was happening here. The FBI discovered that they could use these NSL letters to circumvent the search warrant procedure for investigating regular crimes. And as such, the FBI relied more heavily on these NSL letters for their day-to-day crime-fighting business, rather than their original intention of terrorism and espionage cases. According to The Washington Post:

The inspector general's audit found 22 possible breaches of internal FBI and Justice Department regulations -- some of which were potential violations of law -- in a sampling of 293 "national security letters." The letters were used by the FBI to obtain the personal records of U.S. residents or visitors between 2003 and 2005. The FBI identified 26 potential violations in other cases.

Officials said they could not be sure of the scope of the violations but suggested they could be more widespread, though not deliberate. In nearly a quarter of the case files Inspector General Glenn A. Fine reviewed, he found previously unreported potential violations.

The use of national security letters has grown exponentially since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In 2005 alone, the audit found, the FBI issued more than 19,000 such letters, amounting to 47,000 separate requests for information.

[....]

According to three officials with access to the report, Fine said the possible violations he discovered did not "manifest deliberate attempts to circumvent statutory limitations or departmental policies."

But Fine found that FBI agents used national security letters without citing an authorized investigation, claimed "exigent" circumstances that did not exist in demanding information and did not have adequate documentation to justify the issuance of letters.

In at least two cases, the officials said, Fine found that the FBI obtained full credit reports using a national security letter that could lawfully be employed to obtain only summary information. In an unknown number of other cases, third parties such as telephone companies, banks and Internet providers responded to national security letters with detailed personal information about customers that the letters do not permit to be released. The FBI "sequestered" that information, a law enforcement official said last night, but did not destroy it.

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. When police agencies, such as the FBI, start abusing these extra-legal powers as the NSL letters for their own day-to-day activities, then it is time to remove those powers from the state--remove the power of the NSL letters from the FBI and the government agencies. Because it is this abuse of our freedoms, our rights to privacy, and our legal rights against unreasonable searches and seizures by the state, that will ultimately destroy what is good about this country.

It is time to repeal the Patriot Act.

NASA astronaut charged with kidnap attempt

This image made from AP Television News video on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2007 shows astronaut Lisa Nowak during a scheduled court appearance Tuesday in Fla. Nowak, a married mother of three who police believe was in a love triangle with a fellow astronaut, was charged with trying to abduct a woman she saw as her romantic rival, authorities said. (AP Photos/AP Television News)

This probably should be filed under WTF? It is really starting to make the news headlines on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC News, and the rest of the news outlets. So we'll go with the MSNBC story:

ORLANDO, Fla. - A NASA astronaut charged with attempting to kidnap a romantic rival in a love triangle with another astronaut was allowed to go free on bail Tuesday on the condition that she not contact the alleged victim.

The judge told Lisa Marie Nowak she could be released on $15,500 bond, then asked if she understood the conditions. She responded "yes."

Nowak, a married mother of three, stood in a jail uniform, usually facing down during the hearing. She planned to return home to Houston, and the judge ordered her to wear a tracking device.

The 43-year-old robotics specialist faces charges including attempted kidnapping, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery.

Nowak, who flew a mission to the space station in July 2006, was awaiting her next flight assignment at the time of her arrest. From MSNBC.

Police said she drove 900 miles, donned a disguise and was armed with a BB gun and pepper spray when she confronted a woman she believed was a competitor for the affections of Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, an unmarried fellow astronaut.

Nowak rode aboard Discovery in July. Oefelein, 41, piloted the space shuttle Discovery in December. They trained together but never flew together.

Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Police found a love letter to Oefelein in her car.

According to authorities, Nowak believed another woman, Colleen Shipman, was romantically involved with Oefelein. When Nowak found out Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, Nowak decided to confront her early Monday, according to the arrest affidavit.

What people will do for love....or lust/ Either way, this story will be all over the mainstream news media today--a female NASA astronaut committing a kidnapping crime of passion? A love triangle gone bad? An affair, or crime, of the heart? You can bet that the media will eat this stuff up.

More heroin from Afghanistan pouring into U.S. cities

Graphic showing an increase in heroin production in Afghanistan. From McClatchy Washington Bureau

I'm just amazed at this story, and graphic. I'm going to post the entire McClatchy Washington Bureau story here:

WASHINGTON - More heroin from Afghanistan is hitting U.S. city streets, five years after the United States toppled the country's fundamentalist Taliban regime.

The surge comes as Afghanistan's opium production reached an all-time high last year despite attempts by the United States and its allies to beat back a resurgence of the Taliban and to reduce poppy cultivation.

Almost 90 percent of the world's opium is made from poppies grown in Afghanistan. Once refined, most of the heroin is shipped throughout Europe. As a result, the Afghan drug trade has been portrayed primarily as a European problem, rather than an American one.

But internal drug-enforcement reports indicate that U.S. authorities are seizing more Afghan heroin at U.S. ports and from low-level dealers in American cities.

The reports contradict the public statements of drug enforcement officials, who maintain that the amount of heroin reaching the United States from Afghanistan hasn't increased.

"Based on everything I've seen, the amount of heroin coming to the United States from Afghanistan has pretty much stayed the same," Joseph Keefe, an assistant deputy director with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in an interview.

Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Steve Robertson echoed that assessment: "We're not seeing any increase being reflected in our intelligence."

Well, there is the official Bush administration rebuttal that more heroin is not coming into the U.S., despite the increase in Afghan heroin production. Continuing with the McClatcy story:

However, U.S. officials have privately told their Afghan counterparts and some American lawmakers that they've detected an increase in the amount of heroin from Afghanistan.

"We have talked about these problems and this increase," said M. Ashraf Haidari, the first secretary of the Afghan Embassy in Washington. "It's logical that where there is demand there is a supply. Drugs from Afghanistan are making their way to the United States."

U.S. Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, a Republican who represents suburbs north of Chicago, said the Bush administration had been slow to respond to indications that more heroin from Afghanistan was coming to the United States. U.S. law enforcement officials also have told him privately that Afghanistan's share of the American heroin market is growing, he said.

"More heroin is definitely coming in from Afghanistan," said Kirk, who's visited Afghanistan as a reserve naval intelligence officer. "The problem is the official reporting lags as to what we're actually seeing in the streets."

You have got to love the contradiction here--especially since U.S. officials are officially saying one thing, while privately saying another. Talk about PR-spin here! Continuing with the McClatchy story:

The increase in the U.S. supply of Afghan heroin is further evidence that Afghanistan is awash in illicit opium and plagued by official corruption.

The United Nations has concluded that drug corruption in the country is widespread and entrenched. Last year, opium production reached historic levels, increasing 50 percent.

"The problem of narcotics in Afghanistan is a problem of national security for the United States," said Haidari, of the Afghan Embassy, who noted that "drugs finance terrorism."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who serves on the Judiciary Committee, said that although Congress had set aside $150 million last year for drug interdiction in Afghanistan "the results of that investment are not yet known."

"Any boost in the use of Afghanistan heroin at home is a matter of concern," she said.

The administration's silence on the matter makes it difficult to assess the scope of the problem, however.

Most heroin in the United States continues to come from Mexico and Colombia, experts said. Also, heroin addiction isn't as pervasive in the United States as cocaine and methamphetamine addiction.

But a DEA internal analysis found that 14 percent of the heroin seized in the United States in 2004 originated in Afghanistan, compared with 8 percent the year before. DEA officials refused to provide 2005 figures, saying they were still preliminary.

Seth Jones, an Afghanistan expert with the RAND Corp., a research center based in Santa Monica, Calif., said the 2004 report showed a significant increase in the DEA's seizures of heroin from Afghanistan but that the number could simply reflect incompetent drug traffickers whose shipments are being detected.

"The drug trade is murky," Jones said. "There's no perfect way to get a sense of what's being smuggled in."

The DEA attempts to monitor the U.S. heroin market by sending undercover agents to the streets to buy the drug.

In 2005, undercover agents reported a slight increase overall in heroin from Afghanistan compared with the previous year. St. Louis, Atlanta and New York reported significant increases.

That year, Afghanistan extradited reputed drug lord Baz Mohammad to the United States for trial on charges of shipping hundreds of pounds of heroin to the United States. The DEA accused Mohammad, who pleaded guilty, of hiring couriers to smuggle heroin into airports across the country, including New York, Chicago and Washington. The couriers hid the drugs in suitcases, clothing and containers.

Interviews with local police and regional DEA officials suggest that heroin from Afghanistan is appearing in cities throughout the Midwest.

The DEA found that Afghan heroin was readily available in Detroit, according to another internal report.

In Minneapolis, the DEA noted that Afghan, Pakistani, Turkish and Lebanese dealers in the city are "very active" in selling heroin from Afghanistan.

Elizabeth Dea, a narcotics agent for the Minneapolis police department, said her department didn't analyze the origin of heroin seized in her city. Most police departments rely on the DEA to determine the origin of heroin. Further complicating matters, fentanyl, a deadly form of synthetic heroin, is white and powdery and looks like heroin from Afghanistan.

"All I know is that we're seeing more heroin," Dea said. "The quantities are much larger."

In 2003, her drug task force didn't confiscate any heroin. In 2005, it seized 2,465 grams - about 5.4 pounds.

McClatchy Newspapers obtained St. Louis' preliminary numbers for 2006, which show that undercover agents bought the same amount of heroin from Afghanistan as they did from South American and Mexico. In 2001 and 2002, agents hadn't encountered any heroin from Afghanistan.

But Afghan heroin isn't appearing everywhere.

Undercover agents assigned to DEA offices throughout the West, including Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle and San Diego, have detected only heroin from Mexico.

Agents in Chicago, once considered the hub for Afghan heroin, have bought only heroin from Colombia, a relative newcomer to the market. Colombia has taken over the East Coast market by selling cheap and potent heroin.

Jorrit Kamminga, an analyst with the Senlis Council, a security research center with offices in London and Kabul, said that as Afghan heroin became cheaper and more plentiful, smugglers could turn to the United States for a new market. Colombian and Mexican drug traffickers have been producing less over the last several years, which could give Afghan suppliers the opening they need to move in, he said.

"But there is no hard evidence of this yet," he said.

The Afghan drug lords have been producing record crops of opium poppies, which are then used to make heroin. So far, they've been selling this heroin to the European market. But if the European market is getting saturated with this Afghan heroin, then what other large market do you sell your product in? The United States. And if the opium production continues to increase, then you can bet that the Afghan heroin trade will be selling even more heroin in the U.S. market for a cheaper price.

Do you feel safer than you did six years ago?

The latest in trend in law enforcement--Rent-A-Cops!

I found this off The Washington Post:

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Kevin Watt crouched down to search the rusted Cadillac he had stopped for cruising the parking lot of a Raleigh apartment complex with a broken light. He pulled out two open Bud Light cans, an empty Corona bottle, rolling papers, a knife, a hammer, a stereo speaker, and a car radio with wires sprouting out.

"Who's this belong to, man?" Watt asked the six young Latino men he had frisked and lined up behind the car. Five were too young to drink. None had a driver's license. One had under his hooded sweat shirt the tattoo of a Hispanic gang across his back.

A gang initiation, Watt thought.

With the sleeve patch on his black shirt, the 9mm gun on his hip and the blue light on his patrol car, he looked like an ordinary police officer as he stopped the car on a Friday night last month. Watt works, though, for a business called Capitol Special Police. It is one of dozens of private security companies given police powers by the state of North Carolina -- and part of a pattern across the United States in which public safety is shifting into private hands.

Private firms with outright police powers have been proliferating in some places -- and trying to expand their terrain. The "company police agencies," as businesses such as Capitol Special Police are called here, are lobbying the state legislature to broaden their jurisdiction, currently limited to the private property of those who hire them, to adjacent streets. Elsewhere -- including wealthy gated communities in South Florida and the Tri-Rail commuter trains between Miami and West Palm Beach -- private security patrols without police authority carry weapons, sometimes dress like SWAT teams and make citizen's arrests.

In other words, we've got private security firms patrolling public streets as regular police officers. This is disturbing. When you look at the above story, this security officer Kevin Watt is patrolling an area armed with a handgun. What kind of firearms training has Capitol Special Police given to Watt? If Watt had to draw his gun, shoot and kill one of the Latino men in a violently escalating situation, what would have been the consequences of this supposed shooting and killing? It is bad enough for police to be shooting, and possibly killing, suspects during the course of their law enforcement duties, but to have a private security office shoot and kill a suspect while engaging in duties reserved for law enforcement officials? Continuing with the WaPost story:

Private security guards have outnumbered police officers since the 1980s, predating the heightened concern about security brought on by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. What is new is that police forces, including the Durham Police Department here in North Carolina's Research Triangle, are increasingly turning to private companies for help. Moreover, private-sector security is expanding into spheres -- complex criminal investigations and patrols of downtown districts and residential neighborhoods -- that used to be the province of law enforcement agencies alone.

The more than 1 million contract security officers, and an equal number of guards estimated to work directly for U.S. corporations, dwarf the nearly 700,000 sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. The enormous Wackenhut Corp. guards the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and screens visitors to the Statue of Liberty.

"You can see the public police becoming like the public health system," said Thomas M. Seamon, a former deputy police commissioner for Philadelphia who is president of Hallcrest Systems Inc., a leading security consultant. "It's basically, the government provides a certain base level. If you want more than that, you pay for it yourself."

I'm not sure I like the idea of the public police becoming like the public health system. In our disaster of a public health system, the richer you are, the greater the quality and amount of health services you can get for your money. Those who are poor, or uninsured, have almost no health care, or they go to the emergency room for medical care at the state's expense. You can almost see where this will go regarding police services. Wealthy cities and towns will contract out more police services to private companies, while poorer cities and towns will rely solely on local police services--perhaps even cutting back on the local police budget when money is tight. With less police officers on the streets of poorer cities and towns, the crime rate may start to rise in those areas. Taxpayers in wealthy cities and towns will complain that their tax dollars are being used to subsidize law enforcement for the poorer cities, while they are paying for more law enforcement with their own local police services and the police services provided by the private contractors. Are we going to see a two-tiered police protection in our society--between the haves and have-nots?

And there is more here in the WaPost article:

The trend is triggering debate over whether the privatization of public safety is wise. Some police and many security officials say communities benefit from the extra eyes and ears. Yet civil libertarians, academics, tenants rights organizations and even a trade group that represents the nation's large security firms say some private security officers are not adequately trained or regulated. Ten states in the South and West do not regulate them at all.

Some warn, too, that the constitutional safeguards that cover police questioning and searches do not apply in the private sector. In Boston, tenants groups have complained that "special police," hired by property managers to keep low-income apartment complexes orderly, were overstepping their bounds, arresting young men who lived there for trespassing.

In 2005, three of the private officers were charged with assault after they approached a man talking on a cellphone outside his front door. They asked for identification and, when he refused, followed him inside and beat him in front of his wife and three children.

Lisa Thurau-Gray, director of the Juvenile Justice Center at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, said private police "are focusing on the priority of their employer, rather than the priority of public safety and individual rights." But Boston police Sgt. Raymond Mosher, who oversees licensing of special police, says such instances are rare.

Private security companies will have a greater interest in maintaining their profits, rather than performing a public service of policing public areas. The danger here is that if costs increase to the point of eroding their profit margin, then these companies are certainly going to start cutting costs on training new security officers--especially if there is a lack of state or federal regulations regarding the training programs for these new "private police officers." And if these security firms are publicly traded companies, then they are going to be under even more pressure by Wall Street to maintain their profit margins. There is the lack of constitutional safeguards which apply to these private police officers. Police officers in the United States operate under a defined criminal procedure, using probable cause as the standard for arresting a suspect. There is a specific legal system here in place in which a police officer must adhere to when performing his or her job duties. If an officer deviates from this system, then there are legal procedures to investigate or discipline the officer's conduct. A police officer cannot simply barge into a man's home and beat him up in front of his wife and children. What constitutional safeguards are there to protect the public from the use of excessive force from these rent-a-cops? And if these rent-a-cops do cross over the line, which provides constitutional protections to the public, what procedures are there to punish these rent-a-cops--especially if their actions result in the death of a suspect or other individuals? Even if these situations may be rare now, how often will these situations increase once more cities and towns contract more police services from these private companies? The worst-case scenario that I can think of is if several of these rent-a-cops end up killing an individual under suspicious circumstances, while acting as private police officers, how will the private company respond to this event? Will the company look towards the benefit of public safety, even if it would mean negative public exposure to the company or investigations into the company's operations and procedures? Or will the company put up a serious marketing and PR-spin as a means of CYA to the detriment of public safety?

Then there is the profit margin. Private security firms are going to charge the state, local governments, businesses or property owners for their private police officers and services. According to the WaPost:

Capitol Special Police's owner, Roy G. Taylor, was chief of three small nearby police departments and held state law enforcement jobs before starting the company in 2002. As Hispanic gangs were increasing, he said, "I saw a niche." The company has eight officers, some of whom are part time while working for area police departments.

They have used batons and pepper spray but have not fired a service weapon, Taylor said. Once, in an apartment complex where they worked in nearby Carrboro, Capt. Nicole Howard, Taylor's wife, dressed in plain clothes to attract a convicted rapist who had been peering in windows and stalking women. Then she arrested him for trespassing.

Today, charging $35 per hour, the firm has contracts with four apartment complexes, a bowling alley, two shopping centers and a pair of private nightclubs. A few weeks ago, two of the Taylors' employees, Capt. Kenny Mangum and Officer Matt Saylors, walked over to a car at the nightclub Black Tie to warn the men inside not to loiter in the parking lot. Catching a whiff of marijuana, they found seven rocks of crack cocaine in the ashtray and two handguns under the seat of the driver, who was a convicted felon. They called the Raleigh police to handle the arrest.

Because they are part of a private company, Taylor and his officers are mindful that customers are billed for the time they spend testifying in court.

Not only are these private police firms charging their clients for policing their client's premises, but they also charge their clients for the time the officers spend testifying in court. How long will it be for a private security firm to demand arrest quotas from their private police officers--especially if this security firm is contracted by a state or local government for these private police officers? The more arrests these private officers make, the more court trials they will attend to testify, and the more money the private security firm can charge the state or local government for their police services. If more private security firms enter this market of private police officers, the market becomes more competitive, and the prices for the services of these private police officers may start to drop. The private security firms may be forced to demand arrest quotas from their officers as a means to market just how better their officers are to the competition--Look! Our private police officers have made more arrests and have taken more criminals off the streets than our competitors! Therefore, our private police officers are better value at stopping crime! Send your law enforcement dollars to us!

This is a very disturbing trend.

Bronco's cornerback killed in drive-by shooting

Darrent Williams during a media appearance in Stillwater, Okla., Monday, Oct. 13, 2003. Sue Ogrocki / AP file

Good Lord! This is pretty sickening. From MSNBC News:

DENVER - Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting early Monday after an argument at a nightclub, his limousine sprayed with bullets in downtown Denver.

Team spokesman Jim Saccomano said police called him about 3 a.m. from the scene and told him three people had been shot, and the 24-year-old Williams had been killed. His death came hours after the Denver Broncos were eliminated from the playoff race.

A little after 2 a.m., a white Hummer limousine was fired on from a vehicle that pulled up along its side, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. As many as a dozen bullet holes were visible on the driver’s side of the vehicle. One window was blown out and four others had bullet holes.

Three people in the limo were hit and taken to St. Anthony Central Hospital, where one man was pronounced dead, Jackson said. The other man and woman who were shot were not identified.

The Rocky Mountain News reported that wide receiver Javon Walker was one of the passengers but wasn’t wounded. It was unclear how many people were in the limo.

Jackson said there was a dispute at a nightclub several blocks from the shooting where Williams and his group had attended a New Year’s Eve party. He said the argument didn’t specifically involve Williams, according to witnesses.

“Why this happened, we’re not sure,” Jackson said. “There was some confrontation between a group of people in the vehicle and a group at the nightclub.”

First, Williams was killed after an argument in a nightclub. This makes me wonder who was involved in this argument with the group that Williams was with, at that nightclub, and what was the argument about? Did the argument have something to do with the Bronco's loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and their elimination in the playoff race? Or did the argument have to do with sex and picking up women in the nightclub? Or is there more? I can't say. But a further reading of the MSNBC story also revealed this interesting little bit of information:

In December, Williams spoke of returning to his hometown this offseason to talk to youngsters about staying out of gangs. Williams, who has two young children in the Fort Worth area, recently talked to Criss about establishing a free football camp for youth players.

And I found this through the Denver Post.com:

This article was originally posted on Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006.

Editor's note: Throughout the season, Broncos reporter Mike Klis and photographer Glenn Asakawa are helping readers get to know one of the team's players on a deeper level. Asakawa's photographs complement a weekly conversation with Klis about life, about work, and about play.

Klis: How old were you during your wild years?

Williams: Probably from the time I was 12 until I was 17. I was hanging around the wrong people. I was hanging around gang members. The local Crips had people I called friends.

Klis: Uh, excuse me while I gulp.

Williams: I wasn't really a Crip, or part of any gang, but some people might have thought I was because I was affiliated with some of them.

Klis: What pushed you away from that life?

Williams: I went to church one day and the preacher said something about praying every night. He said: "I know a lot of you go home and get drunk or whatever. But even if you don't have a simple life, try every day to pray to the Lord. Get a relationship with Him." And I started doing that. I started praying every day at my home, and even though I wasn't going to church all the time, I started believing more, and I think that's what stopped me from going down the wrong road.

Klis: Sounds like a song. Or good public-speaking material. Do you speak to kids, share your experiences?

Williams: I do that a lot here. What I want to do this offseason is go back home and talk to kids. It's hard back there because of all the violence, drugs. It's right there in your face. When I was growing up, there'd be people doing drugs right there in front of us kids. I just want to tell them they don't have to be like that. Believe in yourself.

I wonder if Williams' anti-gang talk started pissing off the Denver gangs there. In the Denver Post interview, Williams got a first-hand look at the gang activity, the violence and drugs. Williams was hanging around with the Crips gang, although he claimed he was not officially a member. And just as he started making his own career as a professional football star, Williams was also starting to use that star power to speak out against the gang activity.

Does that mean that the Crips or any other gang would put a hit out on Williams? I doubt that. But if Williams was starting to speak out against gang activity, then his remarks would have certainly angered the Denver gang members. Now let's go back to nightclub argument with Williams' party and the unknown opponents. Did these unknown opponents have some affiliation with the gangs? Did the combination of Williams anti-gang talk, the Bronco's loss to the 49ers, and perhaps some pickup of women or sex in the nightclub, cause whoever argued with Williams and his party, to seek revenge against Williams and his party? And if these individuals were affiliated with the gangs, I would say that they were armed to protect themselves from rival gangs. This comes to a second observation regarding the drive-by shooting. I would be especially curious to learn what type of weapon, or weapons, were used on Williams' limo. The MSNBC story reports that "As many as a dozen bullet holes were visible on the driver’s side of the vehicle." Was a semi-automatic pistol, or pistols, used on the limo--say a Glock, or Beretta? Or was a submachine gun used, say a Mac-10, or Tec-9. Most semi-automatic pistols have a magazine capacity of 7-9 rounds. Williams’ limo was hit by almost a dozen rounds. If it was one individual firing a semi-automatic pistol, then that individual would have had to empty one magazine into the limo, and then reload a second magazine to continue firing on that limo. There are some exceptions here with the Glock pistols, or the Beretta pistols. Glock pistols do come with high-capacity magazines containing anywhere from 11 rounds to 13, 15, 17, or even 33 rounds—depending upon the model. Beretta pistols can have magazine capacities of 14, or 17 rounds, depending upon the model. I’d say that at least two people were involved in this drive-by shooting--one person to drive the vehicle, and another to fire the weapon, perhaps one with a high capacity magazine. A second option here was that there was one driver and two shooters, using semi-automatic pistols, were involved in the drive-by shooting. If this was the case, then the Denver police will have two distinct bullets fired by two distinct guns here. The third option here is that there is one driver, and one shooter, using a submachine gun.

I'll admit that this is all speculation on my part. I don't have any other information to add to this, other than what is reported in the mainstream press. It is a tragedy to see such a young, rising star being cut down like this.

Michigan Farm Subject of Hoffa Search

Unidentified workers dig near a barn at a horse farm in Milford Township, Mich., where FBI agents investigating Jimmy Hoffa's 1975 disappearance were investigating for a second day Thursday, May 18, 2006. The Teamsters leader had vanished from a restaurant in Oakland County's Bloomfield Township, about 20 miles away. Asked if they were looking for Hoffa's remains, FBI Agent Dawn Clenney said, 'Could be,' and declined to comment further on the agents' presence. A law enforcement official in Washington said the search was based on information developed several years ago and verified more recently. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Well, this is interesting. From Yahoo News:

MILFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - In one of the most intensive searches for Jimmy Hoffa in decades, the FBI summoned archaeologists and anthropologists and brought in heavy equipment to scour a horse farm Thursday for the body of the former Teamsters boss who vanished in 1975.

Daniel Roberts, agent in charge of the Detroit FBI field office, would not disclose what led agents to the farm, but said: "This is probably a fairly credible lead. You can gather that from the number of people out here."

Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa is shown June 3, 1974 in Washington. The Teamsters leader was last seen in July 1975 at a restaurant in Oakland County's Bloomfield Township. (AP Photo)

No trace of Hoffa has ever been found, and no one has ever been charged in the case. But investigators have long suspected that he was killed by the mob to keep him from reclaiming the Teamsters presidency after he got out of prison for corruption.

The farm, just outside Detroit, used to be owned by a Teamsters official. And mob figures used to meet at a barn there before Hoffa's disappearance, authorities said.

Federal Bureau of Investigation evidence recovery team members and Michigan State University anthropologists and archaeologists search outside a horse farm in Milford Township, Mich., where federal agents are digging in search of the body of former Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa Thursday, May 18, 2006. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Investigators began combing the area Wednesday, and the search continued Thursday and included the use of heavy construction equipment. Roberts said it would probably involve the removal of a barn.

Authorities also led cadaver dogs across the property, and the FBI called in anthropologists and archaeologists from Michigan State University.

Roberts said he expects the search to go on for at least a couple of weeks.

After all this time, I wonder if the FBI is finally going to be able to find Jimmy Hoffa?

And I always thought he was buried under Giant's stadium.

Three Students Held in Ala. Church Fires

Pastor James Posey(2nd-R) looks over what is left of Morning Star Missonary Baptist Church with US Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agents in February 2006, in Boligee, Alabama. Two college students appeared in court, just hours after they were arrested in connection with a string of arson attacks on churches in the southern state of Alabama.(AFP/File/Robert Sullivan)

Here's a big news story on the Alabama Church fires. From Yahoo News:

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Three college students were arrested Wednesday in a string of nine rural Alabama church arsons last month that allegedly were set first as "a joke" and later as a diversion, federal agents said.

Benjamin Nathan Moseley and Russell Lee Debusk Jr., both 19-year-old students at Birmingham-Southern College, appeared in federal court Wednesday and were ordered held on church arson charges pending a hearing Friday.

Matthew Lee Cloyd, 20-year-old junior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, was arrested later Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Artur Davis (news, bio, voting record) said. Davis said he learned of Cloyd's arrest from the FBI. Calls to the FBI about Cloyd's arrest were not immediately returned. Cloyd previously attended Birmingham-Southern.

"While all three are entitled to have their day in court, we are very hopeful that this is the end to the fear that has been rampant in West Alabama," Davis said.

The arrests came in a probe of arsons at five Baptist churches in Bibb County south of Birmingham on Feb. 3 and four Baptist churches in west Alabama on Feb. 7. The federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency had made the arsons its top priority, with scores of federal agents joining state and local officers.

Moseley admitted to the arsons after his arrest Wednesday, according to an ATF affidavit presented at the initial court appearance.

The affidavit said Moseley told agents that he, Cloyd and Debusk went to Bibb County in Cloyd's Toyota sport utility vehicle on Feb. 2 and set fire to five churches. A witness quoted Cloyd as saying Moseley did it "as a joke and it got out of hand," according to the affidavit.

Moseley also told agents the four fires in west Alabama were set "as a diversion to throw investigators off," an attempt that "obviously did not work," the affidavit said.

Now this is interesting. The three college students set five of these church fires as a joke? And then the other four church fires were set as a diversion? What were these kids thinking of? Here's a few other details to the story:

Investigators had said earlier that they were looking for two men seen in a dark SUV near a couple of the church fires. Agents have said they didn't know a motive, but there is no racial pattern. Five of the churches had white congregations and five black.

The three students arrested Wednesday are white and all either attend or previously were enrolled at Birmingham-Southern, a Methodist-affiliated liberal arts college.

Five of the churches were destroyed and four were damaged, including one in which congregants, alerted during the night that churches were afire, arrived just as the apparent arsonists were leaving. That fire, quickly put out, had been set in the sanctuary near the altar — a pattern in the other church arsons in Bibb County and west Alabama.

Jim Parker, pastor of Ashby Baptist Church at Brierfield, a Bibb County church destroyed in the Feb. 3 arson, said the congregation has been apprehensive about whether the arsonists had some "political or religious agenda."

"I want to find out the motivation of these young men. Young folks get some crazy ideas," he said.

He said he had spoken to federal agents and understood the suspects were promising students from good families.

Well, the SUV clue points to Cloyd's Toyota SUV--although the article doesn't say what color Cloyd's Toyota SUV is. All three young men are white, but there doesn't seem to be much of a racial pattern here. All three young men come from "good families," whatever the definition of a "good family" is. Two of the men--Benjamin Nathan Moseley and Russell Lee Debusk Jr., are students at Birmingham-Southern College, while Cloyd previously attended Birmingham-Southern. And it appears that Birmingham-Southern is a Methodist-affiliated liberal arts college. I wonder what the curriculum is at Birmingham-Southern? And specifically, I'm wondering how much religious doctrinaire was drilled into these young men at Birmingham-Southern--such as Bible reading classes, required church attendance, religious activities and such. I'm also wondering what Pastor Jim Parker's definition of a "good family" is, specifically does it mean that all three men grew up within a more religious family--perhaps even an evangelical family? The connection in this case has to somehow do with religion. You don't set fire to nine Baptist churches without some reason--even if it was a joke.

So I still have a lot of questions regarding this story. Stay tuned.