http://www

Kevin:

you said you get the newspaper every day. is it the republic?

and if so since most of the stuff i send you and laro are articles from the republic is their any reason for me to continue all the news articles i send you?

or it is usefull bacause i cut and paste all the bad stuff the government did and put it in one place, and it gives you guys something to make fun of the government with?

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kevin and laro:

man some of my libertarian friends are real f*cking idiots. i have posted some stuff on the libertarian listsever several times about how the secrect service thugs arrested kevin and jailed him in a mental institution when all he did was say he "wished the presiden were dead".

you would figure that libertarian would not trust the government but most of the people have simply assumed that what every the cops did was ok, and unless their is evidence to say other wize they will assume the secret service thugs did nothing wrong. most of them said "their most be something that we are not seeing" and that "kevin must have been jailed for something" and "after all the secret service just can't lock somebody up because they said bad things about the president".

jason is one of those, and so is the lawyer who is suing the state of arizona for having the presidential debate at ASU which EXCLUDED the libertarian canidate.

sadly i think if kevins case comes to trial he will also get idiots on the jury who think the same think, that if the government says something it must be true.

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kevin and laro:

jason is one of those, and so is the lawyer who is suing the state of arizona for having the presidential debate at ASU which EXCLUDED the libertarian canidate.

sadly i think if kevins case comes to trial he will also get idiots on the jury who think the same think, that if the government says something it must be true.

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kevin and laro:

jason is one of those, and so is the lawyer who is suing the state of arizona for having the presidential debate at ASU which EXCLUDED the libertarian canidate.

sadly i think if kevins case comes to trial he will also get idiots on the jury who think the same think, that if the government says something it must be true.

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kevin:

about a week ago i sent your friend in nigera or where every she is at an email. she has not contacted me yet.

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tips for terrorists and people smugglers 101 - i guess you could confuse the border patrol is you had lots of your fellow terrorist or coyotes come to the border and set off these sensors, or set them off in area that was far away from where you were planning to sneak people or nukes across the border.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0404bordervolunteers-ON.html

Border volunteers tripping sensors used to detect illegal crossers

Arthur H. Rotstein

Arthur H. Rotstein Associated Press

Apr. 4, 2005 11:45 AM

TOMBSTONE - Citizens who volunteered to patrol the Mexican border for illegal immigrants and smugglers are disrupting Border Patrol operations by tripping sensors that alert agents to possible illegal crossings, an agency spokesman said Monday.

Even though volunteers for the Minuteman Project were only beginning their regular, monthlong patrols Monday, they have unwittingly set off sensors during the past few days, forcing agents to respond to what essentially is a false alarm, said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jose Maheda.

"Every sensor has to be addressed," Maheda said. "It's taken away from our normal operations."

Volunteers who began arriving last week planned to start fanning out Monday across 23 miles of the San Pedro Valley to watch the border and report any illegal activity to federal agents, an exercise some law enforcement officials fear could lead to vigilante violence. Many of the Minuteman volunteers were recruited over the Internet and some plan to be armed.

The idea, according to project organizers, is partly to draw attention to problems on the Arizona-Mexico border, considered the most vulnerable stretch of the 2,000-mile southern border. Of the 1.1 million illegal immigrants caught by the Border Patrol last year, 51 percent crossed into the country at the Arizona border.

Jim Coniglio of Tucson, who plans to patrol with other volunteers this week, said residents in some areas of the border have complained of being "overrun routinely" by migrants. "They're feeling insecure," he said.

The Border Patrol opposes the operation. "The possibility for something going drastically wrong is very high," Maheda said.

He said agents had apprehended 162 people based on 78 citizen calls between Thursday and Sunday night in the area where the volunteers are concentrating their efforts. Volunteers weren't patrolling but were familiarizing themselves with the area during the weekend.

However, Maheda said those calls could have come from anyone. The Border Patrol doesn't release the names of people who make reports to the agency, he said.

The patrol's Tucson sector, which covers most of the Arizona-Mexico border, receives 300 to 500 calls daily about illegal immigrants and related issues, Maheda said.

The number has increased from about 300 daily since the Border Patrol began publicizing an already existing citizen hot line in mid-March, he said.

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isnt this a crock! next we will need passports to walk down the street!

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0405USTravel05-ON.html

Rules to tighten for visiting Mexico

Associated Press

Apr. 5, 2005 09:45 AM

WASHINGTON - Americans will need passports to re-enter the United States from Mexico, Canada, Panama and Bermuda by 2008, part of a tightening of U.S. border controls in an era of terrorist threat, three administration officials said Tuesday.

Similarly, Canadians will also have to present a passport to enter the United States, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Canadians have been the only foreigners allowed to enter the United States with just a driver's license.

An announcement, expected later Tuesday at the State Department, will specify that a passport or another valid travel document will have to be shown by U.S. citizens, the officials said.

Until now, Americans returning home from Canada have needed only to show a driver's license or other government-issued photo identification card.

Americans returning from Mexico, Panama or Bermuda currently need only a government-issued photo identification card plus proof of U.S. citizenship like an original birth or naturalization certificate, according to the State Department's Web site.

The new rules, to be phased in by Jan. 1, 2008, were called for in intelligence legislation approved last year by Congress.

Safeguarding U.S. borders are a top concern of U.S. intelligence and security officials. The concern increased after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon.

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i never knew that the american goverment used so much slave labor. and they even brag about it. of course they dont call them slaves but they are.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0405femalecrew05.html

Female cons to fight blazes

'Firewalkers' a first for state

David J. Cieslak

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 5, 2005 12:00 AM

Staci Stagner pauses a moment to wipe the layer of dust from her parched lips. With little time to spare, the 41-year-old hoists an ax high above her head before ramming it into the ground with all her might.

Down the line, a few beads of sweat form on Rebecca Dean's forehead as she yanks weeds and brush from the earth. She's a youngster at 24, but she does the job like a pro.

"Standing tall and looking good . . . ought to be in Hollywood!" they chant. "Stay alert! Stay alive!"

Meet the "Firewalkers," Arizona's first and only all-female inmate wildland firefighting crew.

The program, believed to be only the second of its type in the nation, was spearheaded this year by Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano in an effort to place more certified inmate firefighters on the front lines of the state's wildfires.

Arizona has more than 200 male inmates currently certified to battle wildland blazes across the state. But this summer, Dean and Stagner, inmates at the Arizona State Prison Complex-Perryville in Goodyear, became two of 16 women selected for an opportunity once reserved for male counterparts.

"Just getting out there in the wilderness, possibly saving people's houses and their livelihood, that's going to be a wonderful feeling," said Stagner, the crew's oldest member.

The inaugural training program for these self-proclaimed Firewalkers includes intensive physical workouts - daily 2-mile runs and dozens of push-ups are the norm - along with nearly 60 hours of classroom and field training. Everyone on the crew is classified as non-violent and a low flight risk.

When the Firewalkers completed their courses last month, they became state-certified wildland firefighters, equipped to battle any blaze and work alongside non-inmate crews.

Guarded by a sergeant and two corrections officers from the prison, the crew can remain at a wildfire up to two weeks.

It's a big step, but these women believe they're ready.

Not one complains about the work, even during a difficult training session when instructors ordered them to dig a fireproof line in the dirt.

And they don't hesitate to brag, especially when people doubt their capabilities.

"They're going to get shown what we can actually do. My entire team will have no problem pulling our weight right next to the men," said Stagner, who is serving a 10-year sentence for forgery.

That's an attitude Officer Gricel Crespo likes to hear.

When she's not shouting commands like a drill sergeant, the crew's training officer works on boosting confidence and preparing the group for a difficult and dangerous job.

"Women have a tendency to keep going and never give up, especially when you're being underestimated," said Crespo, a specialist in the Army Reserve who has worked as a corrections officer for three years.

Although most of their colleagues on the fire line are paid about $13 an hour, the Firewalkers will earn 50 cents for every hour they work. And if the inmates owe restitution payments to their victims, they'll see only a fraction of their salaries.

But that doesn't weaken the resolve of inmates like Dean, who is trying to learn an important new skill and become a role model for her 15-year-old sister.

Dean's family was rocked when she pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2000. Today, the former flight attendant wants nothing more than to make her sister proud.

"It gives me an opportunity to be a good role model for her and show her that her big sister can do things besides go to prison," said Dean, who has just under two years left on her sentence.

Though the past several years have been tough, Annie Dean said she couldn't be more proud of her big sister's desire to give back to the community.

"I was really excited for her just to be able to get out, even for just a week, so she can see nature and see the world and what's happening besides the gray place that she's in," Annie said.

Perryville Warden Denny Harkins expects his share of criticism from people who believe inmates belong in that gray place, pondering their crimes 24 hours a day.

But Harkins believes it's his job to release well-adjusted, trained professionals into the community.

"Do we just want to open the cage door and let them out with no skills?" Harkins asked. "I'd want someone released who has a fighting chance of making it."

Rebecca Dean likes that attitude.

Until this program came along, she wasn't sure what direction her life would take.

Now, she is planning to attend Arizona State University and spend her summers as a wildland firefighter. And Dean has a message for people who don't think she can handle her new job: "Stand back and watch."

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feds say f*ck the first amendment. if they dont like the speach it aint protected.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0405terror-suspect05.html

Scholar fomented trouble, trial told

Frank Davies

Knight Ridder Newspapers

Apr. 5, 2005 12:00 AM

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A charismatic Islamic scholar and respected scientist who was "like a rock star" to young Muslims denounced the United States as "Islam's greatest enemy" and induced some of his followers to take up arms against U.S. forces, a federal prosecutor charged Monday.

The accusations, made in the opening arguments of a federal trial of Ali al-Timimi, a 41-year-old U.S. citizen from Fairfax County, Va., are at the crux of the government's case, which will test key free-speech protections of the First Amendment.

Edward MacMahon, the lawyer representing al-Timimi, noted that some of his client's oral and written attacks were "obscene and offensive" but those opinions were not illegal.

"Some of it is hate speech," MacMahon told the jury. "But it's not a crime to hold these beliefs, or express them."

The case centers on two social gatherings al-Timimi held with young Muslim men, several of them converts to Islam, in suburban Virginia in the days and weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Al-Timimi was a spiritual adviser to many Muslims at an Islamic center in Falls Church, where he was a lecturer.

Five days after the Sept. 11 attacks, al-Timimi told six young Muslims that it was "time to go abroad, join the jihad and fight against the United States," Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg told the jury.

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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0405brazil05.html

11 officers arrested in Rio massacre

Michael Astor

Associated Press

Apr. 5, 2005 12:00 AM

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Authorities on Monday arrested 11 police officers suspected of participating in death-squad killings that left 30 people dead in two towns on Rio's poor outskirts.

Four of the officers were charged with murder in Thursday night's shooting, while seven are being confined at the police barracks, Rio de Janeiro State Security Secretary Marcelo Itagiba said.

Authorities believe the killings were a show of force by rogue police angered by the arrest of eight officers caught on film disposing of two bodies. Law officials said they are seeking a 12th suspect.

The bloodiest massacre in years in a state known for its violence left many perplexed. Only two victims had criminal records and five were teenagers shot to death while playing video games at a bar.

Authorities said the shootings began with the killing of 18 people at a bar in the poor town of Nova Iguacu.

From there, the gunmen moved to the neighboring town of Queimados where 12 people were killed.

On Sunday, Justice Minister Marcio Thomaz Bastos said the government was sending 400 to 600 agents from a special federal police force this week to help with investigations.

The agents will be attached to a force targeting death squads, shadowy associations often made up of off-duty or retired officers hired by businessmen to kill undesirables.

Authorities have likened the massacre to attacks by death squads, which 12 years ago stirred outrage when eight children were murdered.

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these cops are parnoid of kids with bb guns and would probably shoot and kill a kid with one

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0405CR-wargames05Z6.html

Air guns trigger trouble

Lindsey Collom

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 5, 2005 12:00 AM

Chandler elementary schools are places of learning by day but are becoming battlegrounds by night, thanks to the renewed popularity of air guns that shoot plastic pellets.

School and public safety officials say that's because a number of children have taken to playing with these AirSoft-type pellet guns, along with paintball guns, in public areas, including greenbelts and elementary school playgrounds, after hours and on weekends.

Authorities want to send the message to parents that war games are fine on their home turf, but it's illegal to possess any weapon, including these types of firearms, in public.

"We're concerned about (kids) harming other people, damaging property," Officer Sean McKenzie said. "My biggest thing is, a sixth-grader can't look beyond the moment. The pellet guns can really cause some serious injuries. . . . They don't understand. They think it's a toy."

Municipal code prohibits anyone within city limits from possessing or carrying weapons, air guns, BB guns, slingshots, or bows and arrows, except on private property.

Letters were recently sent home with all Chandler Unified School District elementary students, notifying parents about air gun incidents and reinforcing district policy.

"Possession or threatening use of any weapon, real or simulated, is a severe violation of the student code of conduct, as well as illegal, and will be dealt with very severely," the notice says.

District spokesman Terry Locke confirmed "we've had incidences" after school and on weekends .

McKenzie, a DARE officer at several Chandler elementary schools, said a number of parents have approached him about the weapons. One parent told him of buying a pellet gun for their child because it appeared to be safer than a BB gun, and "all the neighborhood kids have them," McKenzie said.

"They think, 'It's a toy, a plastic pellet,' " McKenzie said. "I had a student show me where he had been shot. It was a pretty good-sized welt, and it was the day after."

Police also are concerned because some manufacturers are producing pellet and paintball guns with realistic features.

"You wouldn't know the difference," McKenzie said. "We don't have the luxury of determining, 'Does that kid have a real gun or a fake gun?' " McKenzie said. "If I get there and I see this, I'm going to treat it like a real gun."

That's what happened to a police officer in Minneapolis in October when he shot and killed a 15-year-old armed with a pellet gun. At the time, police believed the teen was carrying a .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun.

McKenzie doesn't want that to happen here.

"If we can do our best to educate the public, maybe we can eliminate future problems," he said.

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http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=39102

U.S. to tighten border controls by 2008

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Americans will need passports to re-enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, Panama and Bermuda by 2008, part of a tightening of U.S. border controls in an era of terrorist threat, three administration officials said Tuesday.

Border has remained peaceful during civilian patrols

Border volunteers take up positions

Officials urge renewal of Patriot Act

Similarly, Canadians will also have to present a passport to enter the United States, the officials said.

Asked about the changes in an Associated Press interview, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States had to take every precaution to screen out "people who want to come in to hurt us."

Rice also said the changes were made after consultation with Mexico, Canada and others in the Western Hemisphere.

The announcement, expected later Tuesday at the State Department, will specify that a passport or another valid travel document will have to be shown by U.S. citizens, the officials said.

These include a document called Sentri that is used for Mexico travel or a Nexus for Canada travel.

Until now, Americans returning home from Canada have needed only to show a driver's license or other government-issued photo identification card.

The new rules, to be phased in by Jan. 1, 2008, were called for in intelligence legislation approved last year by Congress.

The travel industry has raised concerns that the changes might hamper tourism, one official said.

The announcement follows a three-way summit last month that President Bush held with Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada and President Vicente Fox of Mexico.

Speaking at Baylor University at Waco, Tex., Bush said border controls with Mexico had to be tightened to make sure that terrorists, drug runners, gun runners and smugglers do not enter the United States.

Besides a passport, re-entering Americans could use another approved travel document like frequent travel cards, which are issued to some people who travel often between the U.S. and Mexico. These cards typically are used to avoid long border-crossing lines.

But in most cases, only passports will do, another U.S. official said.

The new system will deal first with the Caribbean, then Mexico and Canada. It will start at airports and subsequently spread to land crossings, said an official speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. inspectors will bear less of a burden with the changes because they won't have to sift through different kinds of travel documents, the officials said.

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DPS cops close freeway for several hours so they can look for bullet casings causing massive traffic jams in phoenix

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=39106

I-10 gunfight snarls traffic, delays thousands

By Garin Groff, Tribune

Bullets flew during a suspected gang fight on a freeway, sending one man to the hospital and causing massive backups on Interstate 10 and other roads.

Tens of thousands of motorists were stuck in traffic jams just after the morning rush hour as a police investigation closed westbound I-10 near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport for five hours.

Drivers found traffic slowed to a crawl on I-10 as far back as Chandler Boulevard and on U.S. 60 into Mesa. Other freeways and roads suffered, too, while police scoured Interstate 10 for bullets on the freeway and in two cars.

"Normally, we keep a lane open but we were looking for shell casings on the road," said Steve Volden, an officer with the Arizona Department of Public Safety. "That’s why we had to shut it all down."

The fight involved occupants of two cars. The shooter got away in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo after a passenger in the car shot the driver of a Chevrolet Malibu, and also fired into the taillight of a sport utility vehicle.

Police said other drivers caught in the gunfight were lucky.

"There’s a lot of innocent people around who could have gotten hurt," Phoenix Sgt. Doug Engelking said.

The only injury was to the driver of the Malibu, Jesus Alvarez, a 19-year-old Phoenix resident shot in the chest. The wound was not life threatening, Engelking said.

The shootout began as a dispute before 9 a.m., on 40th Street near Broadway Road. The Monte Carlo driver chased after the Malibu at that intersection, said Cliff Neff, an Avondale resident who at the time was stopped on 40th Street, waiting to turn onto I-10.

Neff watched for the cars in his rear-view mirror as he got on the freeway. He didn’t see them until he approached 24th Street. They swerved and soon were in front of Neff’s Honda CRV.

On Neff ’s left was the Monte Carlo and its heavily tinted windows. He saw someone’s arm emerge from the front passenger side, gun in hand. Three shots flew across Neff’s field of vision.

"I was thinking I was going to die," Neff said.

The bullets struck the Malibu. It crashed into a concrete barrier on the side of the freeway. In the commotion, a sedan struck a Coca-Cola tractor-trailer and smashed into the barrier. Those drivers weren’t seriously injured.

Neff only saw a gunman fire from the Monte Carlo, but Engelking said other witnesses reported shots from the Malibu as well. Police found a fully loaded revolver in the Malibu, Engelking said, adding they don’t think it had been fired.

Alvarez told police he is a former gang member who knew the shooter, Engelking said.

Police weren’t able to obtain much more information from Alvarez.

"He’s evasive," Engelking said. "He’s not being very cooperative because we think he shot back."

Police are trying to find the Monte Carlo, Engelking said.

Neff and other witnesses weren’t sure whether the Monte Carlo continued on I-10 or switched to I-17. As police investigated that freeway section and interviewed Neff, he discovered a bullet had torn a hole in the driver’s side tail light.

The slug burrowed a hole directly toward where Neff sits.

"If it went in another 3 inches higher, it could have been in the back of my head," Neff said.

Contact Garin Groff by email, or phone (480) 898-6554

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this law is real scary!

http://policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&article_id=519&issue_id=22005

Legislative Alert

Legislative Alert: President Bush Signs Sweeping Intelligence Reform Bill

Jennifer Boyter, IACP Legislative Analyst

December 17, President Bush signed into law a bill (S. 2845) that makes sweeping reforms to the nation's intelligence community. The bill, which implements many of the recommendations of the September 11 commission, is the second major government reorganization in the last two years, after the 2002 creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

Passage of the bill came after the House and Senate finally reached an agreement on final language in the bill after weeks of deliberations. Lawmakers in both houses had come under great pressure to pass the bill before the end of the congressional session by members of the September 11 commission and families of victims of the terrorist attacks.

Most notably, the bill creates a counterterrorism center and a director of national intelligence to coordinate the activities of the CIA and the other 14 intelligence agencies throughout the government, as recommended by the September 11 commission. The director, who will report directly to the president, will be the president's primary advisor on foreign intelligence matters and have the power to develop and determine the intelligence budget.

The chief sticking point in negotiations between the House and Senate had been how much budgetary power to give the director. Previously, the Pentagon controlled about 80 percent of the estimated $40 billion annual intelligence budget. The bill will transfer some of that authority to the new national intelligence director, who would write the budgets for those intelligence agencies that do not provide combat support. The national intelligence director also would be able to shift limited amounts of funds from one program or agency to another, and to reassign some personnel from one agency to another.

The bill also establishes an intelligence directorate at the FBI and requires that some agents be trained and dedicated to domestic intelligence activities.

Information Sharing: The bill requires President Bush to submit to Congress within a year a broad outline for how intelligence should be shared across the federal government and with state and local law enforcement agencies. The federal government will design communication systems and clearance authority that will give local officials access to threat information.

The bill also allows federal prosecutors to share secret information obtained in grand jury proceedings with state, local, or foreign law enforcement officers if it might prevent a future terrorist attack.

In addition, the bill attempts to clear the backlog in government security clearances by directing the president to designate a single agency to handle all security clearances and set uniform standards for processing clearance applications. It also calls for the creation of a multiagency database to handle all clearances, and requires quicker processing of security clearances so that most applications can be cleared within 60 days.

Terrorist Financing: The bill strengthens the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which tracks the movement of money worldwide. It seeks to improve information sharing with state and local law enforcement by providing Web-based access to suspicious activity reports and other financial data collected by the Treasury Department. It also requires banks and other financial institutions to report cross-border wire transfers of funds.

The bill also broadens and clarifies language in current law prohibiting people from providing material support or resources for carrying out terrorist acts. Two federal courts in California have ruled the statute unconstitutionally vague. Provisions in the bill provide more detailed definitions of what constitutes illegal "expert advice and assistance" and broadens the law to prohibit "any tangible or intangible property or any service" to terrorist groups.

Law Enforcement: The bill also includes several law enforcement-related measures to augment the Patriot Act, which enhanced the government's surveillance and prosecutorial powers against suspected terrorists, their associates, and those who fund them. Specifically, the bill does the following:

Makes it a crime to visit a terror camp that provides military-style training

Makes terrorism hoaxes a federal crime

Increases penalties against people who possess weapons of mass destruction

Establishes a legal presumption to deny bail to anyone indicted by a grand jury on terrorism charges; although the suspect could appeal to a judge, the burden of proof would be on the defendant to show release would be prudent

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): The bill contains a provision making it easier to conduct surveillance on suspected terrorists by relaxing a requirement for authorizing warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was passed in 1978. Under the bill, the government could conduct surveillance on a suspect if it could show probable cause that the suspect intends to commit a terrorist act, even if officials lack evidence connecting the individual to a specific terrorist group or a foreign power that supports terrorism, as is now required. Supporters of the provision say that it is designed to allow law enforcement to pursue so-called lone wolf terrorists who might sympathize with terrorist groups but are not active agents of one.

Homeland Security Grant Programs: The bill includes nonbinding "sense of the Congress" language that homeland security grants should be distributed to cities and states based on the threat of terrorism, rather than by population size. Since it is nonbinding, the language makes no statutory changes to the formulas that distribute first responder grants. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill contained language that specifically altered the formula for first responder grants so the money would be distributed based on the threat of terrorism.

Radio Spectrum: The bill contains a nonbinding resolution that calls on Congress to make additional spectrum for public safety a priority next year. This is much weaker language than what was contained in the Senate version of the bill, which would have freed up valuable portions of the broadcast spectrum for emergency responders by requiring local broadcasters that are now using channels reserved for public safety to turn in those frequencies by January 1, 2008, if police, fire, or other first responder agencies in their region want to use the spectrum. The IACP strongly supported the Senate provision.

National Identification Standards: The bill also sets standards for state-issued identification cards, driver's licenses, and birth certificates, standardizing the documentation required to get such documents and the data they must contain. The standards must be developed by the Department of Transportation and the Department of Homeland Security within 18 months.

The bill does not give the federal government the authority to force states to meet the federal standards, but it would create enormous pressure on them to do so. Two years after the standards are released, the federal government will no longer accept state-issued identification that does not meet the federal standards. The bill also prevents states from putting a person's social security number on a driver's license or identification card.

The bill did not include a House provision that would have required the states to keep all driver's license information in a linked database, for quick access. In addition, it did not ban the issuance of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, which had been in the House bill.

Border Security: The bill authorizes the Homeland Security Department to hire 2,000 more border agents and 800 more customs and immigration agents each year for the next five years.

Aviation Security: The bill authorizes programs to tighten aviation security, including carry-on baggage screening for explosives, blast-resistant cargo containers, and increased screening for airport workers.

The bill also authorizes $83 million for the Homeland Security Department to hire additional air marshals. It also offers air marshal training to other U.S. law enforcement officers. In addition, it directs the department to take steps to ensure the anonymity of marshals.

More Work Left to Do

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate said that their work on strengthening the country's intelligence system was not complete and indicated that they would begin work on an immigration measure early next year that would include many of the provisions that were dropped from the intelligence bill, including one that would prevent illegal immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses.

In addition, several members of the September 11 commission will continue to push Congress to overhaul its oversight of the intelligence community. The commission criticized congressional oversight of homeland security as "dysfunctional" and called for changes in the committee structure to oversee the intelligence community. Commission members said that changes in the legislative branch were just as important as those in the executive branch.

Specifically, the commission recommended that Congress have a single committee in both the House and Senate with responsibility over the Homeland Security Department, and that the Intelligence Committee should be strengthened and given direct control over the intelligence budget.

However, the intelligence law made no changes to congressional oversight. The Senate and House have each passed separate reorganization plans, but the changes are far less than what was recommended by the commission.

The Senate reorganization plan (S. Res. 445) that passed in October gives formal oversight of homeland security to the Governmental Affairs Committee and also establishes an appropriations subcommittee dedicated to the intelligence budget. However, the bill was heavily amended on the floor by senior lawmakers on the Judiciary, Budget, and Finance panels. The bill faced resistance from lawmakers who did not want to lose jurisdiction, and neither of the commission's two recommendations was completely adopted.

Under the original plan, drafted by party whips Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Harry Reid (D-Nevada), the Governmental Affairs Committee would have had increased jurisdiction and influence. Although it will now be known as the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, it will oversee only a portion of the Homeland Security Department and has lost its share of the budget process.

Some of the largest agencies with the Homeland Security Department will remain under the oversight of other committees. For example, the Transportation Security Administration, the largest agency in the department, and the Coast Guard would remain under the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. The Secret Service will remain under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee.

The biggest change for the Intelligence Committee is the elimination of the eight-year term limit on panel service, a move aimed at building and preserving expertise on the committee. However, the Appropriations Committee blocked the commission's recommendation that it give the Intelligence panel responsibility for the intelligence budget.

On January 4, the House approved its organizing resolution (H. Res. 5), which will give parts of the Transportation, Judiciary, Intelligence, and Science committees' jurisdiction to what will become a permanent Homeland Security Committee. Since its creation in 2002, the Homeland Security Committee had been a temporary select committee. In passing the reorganization plan, Republican leaders overcame the resistance of powerful committee chairmen, who did not want to lose jurisdiction over key homeland security issues.

The plan gives the committee primary jurisdiction over homeland security in general, including domestic preparedness and the collective response to terrorism, as well as authority over government-wide homeland security matters. Integration, analysis, and dissemination of homeland security information, which in the last session was under the Intelligence Committee, also would move to the Homeland Security Committee, along with research and development, which has been under the Science Committee.

Under the plan, the committee, which will be chaired by Christopher Cox (R-California), will have jurisdiction over the Transportation Security Administration and port security, which had previously been under the jurisdiction of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. It also would give the Homeland Security Committee jurisdiction over customs and border security, both of which were previously handled by the Judiciary Committee.

The resolution gives 10 committees besides the Homeland Security Committee jurisdiction over some part of the Department of Homeland Security. The Judiciary Committee will retain jurisdiction over immigration policy and non-border enforcement. The Transportation Committee will keep jurisdiction over the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Cybersecurity will move from the Judiciary Committee to the Energy and Commerce Committee.

However, although the new committee was given significant jurisdiction, the new House rules include provisions that could allow the chairs of other committees to request referrals on homeland security-related bills. Consequently, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) will determine which committees get referrals on homeland security legislation.

Critics of the plan said the reorganizations would continue to result in ambiguity over homeland security oversight, a danger the September 11 commission warned against. The commission supported a strong Homeland Security Committee with wide jurisdictional authority.

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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0406krone06.html

Cleared man to get $1.4 million from county

Christina Leonard

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 6, 2005 12:00 AM

Maricopa County supervisors today are scheduled to approve a $1.4 million settlement with Ray Krone, the exonerated death-row inmate once known as the "Snaggletooth Killer." Krone, who lives in Pennsylvania, said Tuesday that he's glad this chapter in his ordeal is coming to an end. But he's not entirely satisfied.

"Material things don't make up for the simple right and wrong," he said.

He said those directly responsible - police officers, prosecutors - have never expressed remorse to him: "We all make mistakes. But you look a person in the eye, you shake their hand and you say you're sorry. They've never attempted to do that."

Krone, 48, was sentenced to death in 1992 on testimony that his bite matched a mark on the victim. DNA evidence exonerated him a decade later.

Krone had filed a $100 million federal lawsuit against the Maricopa County Attorney's Office and Phoenix police, claiming his verdict was a result of police incompetence, fraud, misconduct by prosecutors and perjury. The suit involving Phoenix is ongoing.

The county will pay $722,000 of the $1.4 million settlement, and insurance will cover the rest. County officials had no comment Tuesday.

Krone, released in 2002, said that after so long in prison, he's used to getting by without much. But he does plan to buy his folks some property and splurge on a home for himself. He also wants to go back to college.

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governments lie all the time to cover up bad things their rulers do

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0406japan-textbook06.html

Japan's OK of military textbooks stirs ire

Anthony Faiola

Washington Post

Apr. 6, 2005 12:00 AM

TOKYO - The Japanese Education Ministry approved a controversial new series of school textbooks on Tuesday that critics say whitewashes the nation's militaristic past, igniting immediate outrage among some of Japan's World War II era victims.

Japan is in the midst of an increasingly tense feud over what critics, mostly in South Korea, North Korea and China, have described as ongoing moves here toward a revisionist view of Japanese aggression in the region.

The outcry heightened in 2001 after the Education Ministry first approved a new junior high school textbook drafted by a group of Japanese nationalists that omitted key details of Japan's wartime atrocities. The book has since been adopted by a handful of Japanese schools.

On Tuesday, the Education Ministry approved a newer edition of that same text, which critics say further distorts the past and portrays Imperial Japan as a liberator rather than occupier of its Asian neighbors. It shuns the word "invasion," for instance, and leaves out accounts of events such as the 1937 Nanking Massacre in China by the Japanese Army.

Other texts for the 2006 school year were toned down in additional ways. The term "comfort women," a euphemism for wartime sex slaves, mostly from Korea, China and the Philippines, disappeared from all eight junior high history textbooks approved by the national government on Tuesday. One book maintained a vaguer reference to wartime comfort stations for Japanese soldiers. Up to 2001, however, all of them contained specific references to the practice of forced sexual slavery, according to Japan's Kyodo news service.

The Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, which drafted the most controversial of the new textbooks, hailed the approvals as being in step with current thinking in Japan. Some school book publishers and government officials have argued that it is time to remove "self-deprecating" historical references.

Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wang Yi lodged a protest with the Japanese Foreign Ministry over Tuesday's decision, while officials in Beijing blamed a violent, 3,000-strong anti-Japanese protest there last weekend on Japan's "irresponsible attitude" toward history.

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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0406patriot06.html

Attorney general seeks renewal of Patriot Act

Gonzales open to tweaks, hears criticism of law

Michelle Mittelstadt

Dallas Morning News

Apr. 6, 2005 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urged Congress on Tuesday to renew all Patriot Act powers that expire at year's end but indicated willingness to tinker with the law.

With many lawmakers voicing unease about aspects of a law they hurriedly enacted just weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Congress appears likely to make changes well beyond the tweaks envisioned by the attorney general.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., opened Tuesday's hearing with criticism of some of the law's most contentious provisions.

And Sens. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Richard Durbin, D-Ill., will introduce a bill Wednesday that would curb some Patriot Act powers and add new checks and balances. Their uncommon alliance has the backing of an odd bedfellows' coalition that runs the gamut from the left-leaning ACLU to the conservative Gun Owners of America.

With much of the Patriot Act's use shrouded in secrecy, Gonzales on Tuesday disclosed how some of the most controversial search and surveillance provisions have been used.

"Sneak-and-peek" warrants, which allow delayed notification of a search, had been used 155 times through the end of March, he said.

The Justice Department has obtained permission on 35 occasions from a special intelligence court to seize records. Though librarians across the nation have been up in arms that the Patriot Act could be used to monitor Americans' reading habits, Gonzales said none of the 35 occasions involved a search for library or bookstore records. Nor were medical or gun sale records sought, he said.

The department has availed itself of its greatly expanded roving wiretap authority 49 times.

Saying that he hoped the information would "demystify" the Patriot Act, Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller urged renewal of a law they described as essential to national security and the war on terrorism. Sixteen of the law's more than 100 provisions will expire at year's end if not renewed by Congress.

"Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups still pose a grave threat to the security of the American people, and now is not the time to relinquish some of our most effective tools in this fight," Gonzales said.

But he and Mueller also made clear that the government is using the law in arenas well beyond terrorism, from garden-variety drug busts to other criminal investigations.

Though the Bush administration insists there have been no reported Patriot Act abuses, some in Congress are skeptical.

"It's been difficult, if not impossible, to verify that claim when some of the most controversial surveillance powers in the act operate under a cloak of secrecy," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

Gonzales said his department is willing to modify the Patriot Act to make clear that the subject of a foreign intelligence search warrant can consult a lawyer and challenge the warrant in court.

The administration also will seek to broaden the Patriot Act. Mueller renewed a request made by President Bush last year that would allow FBI agents to issue subpoenas on their own authority - without court approval - for business records in the course of terrorism investigations.

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http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-04-05-us-visits_x.htm

Posted 4/5/2005 12:03 PM Updated 4/6/2005 10:24 AM

Passport needed for U.S. borders

By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — U.S. citizens will be required to show a passport to re-enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, Panama, Bermuda and the Caribbean by 2008, the departments of State and Homeland Security announced Tuesday.

The change, which will be phased in over the next three years, is part of an ongoing effort to tighten border security after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Canadians, who now are the only foreigners allowed to enter the United States with only driver's licenses, also will need passports to head south across the border.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in an interview with the Associated Press, said the United States has to take every precaution to screen out "people who want to come to hurt us."

Border agents must look at scores of different state driver's licenses and try to determine if they are real or fake. With passports as the main form of identification, "it's going to take a lot of the mystery out" of the process, said the State Department's Maura Harty.

One in five Americans — more than 60 million — have passports, the State Department says. Because the government doesn't know how many cross the borders without passports, officials don't know how many more people will need them. Nearly 1 million enter the United States from Canada and Mexico each day by car, truck, bus, train or on foot.

The State Department is hiring 500 more workers to process applications, a nearly 50% increase. It expects to handle about 2 million more applications each year.

The new system will begin at the end of this year in the Caribbean and Bermuda, then Mexico and Canada. It will be put in place at airports and seaports first, then spread to land crossings.

Some U.S. citizens, Canadians and Mexicans will be able to use other government travel documents that require a background check. That could apply to people who commute to work across the border or deliver goods. But most would need passports, instead of a driver's license or other photo ID now used by many to re-enter the United States. Children now need only a birth certificate.

"Are they going to supply us with a grant?" said Lisa Monarez, an El Paso sales executive with a husband and three children. Her family travels to Mexico for occasional family gatherings. Monarez said she'll have to weigh her family obligations against the $440 in passport fees.

Cost is also a concern for Milwaukee-based Mark Travel Corporation, which sends 1 million Americans to Mexico every year. "Many of our passengers are cost-conscious budget travelers, and people may decide to go somewhere like Orlando instead," said spokeswoman Tammy Lee.

Some business travelers said the new rules won't affect them. Many who travel to the affected countries by air and sea already carry passports. Although the governments don't require them, some airlines and cruise ship lines do.

"Having only a birth certificate invites additional scrutiny," said frequent flier Betsy Roach of New York, who traveled back and forth between Mexico and Canada three times last month.

Sandra Stott of Middletown, Conn., flies to Canada several times a year for work and drives to vacation in the summer on Dotty Lake in Ontario. "The process definitely seems to go more smoothly in the airport where people have passports," she said.

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http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-04-06-helicopter-afghanistan_x.htm

Posted 4/6/2005 8:12 AM Updated 4/6/2005 2:07 PM

At least 16 killed in Afghan copter crash

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A U.S. military helicopter crashed in bad weather in southeast Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing 16 people, including four American crew members in the deadliest military crash since the U.S.-led offensive began in 2001.

An Afghan police official said all the dead, including the four crew, appeared to be American. However, the U.S. military provided no details of the passengers' identity. Two more people were listed as missing.

The U.S. military suggested that severe weather brought down the CH-47 Chinook near Ghazni city, 80 miles southwest of the capital, Kabul, as it returned from a mission in the militant-plagued south.

"Sixteen people have now been confirmed dead in the crash," a military statement said. Two others listed on the flight manifest, "remain unaccounted for," it said.

It said the names were being withheld until their next of kin were informed.

Military spokeswoman Lt. Cindy Moore told The Associated Press earlier that the helicopter was one of two Chinooks flying to the main American base at Bagram, north of Kabul, when controllers lost radio contact.

Abdul Rahman Sarjang, the chief of police in Ghazni, said the helicopter came down at about 2:30 p.m. near a brick factory three miles outside the city and burst into flames. U.S. troops rushed to cordon the area to look for any survivors. he said.

"We collected nine bodies, though the Americans told us there were 13 people in total on board," Sarjang told AP by cell phone from the crash site. "They were all wearing American uniforms and they were all dead."

Sarjang said the weather was cloudy with strong winds, but had no explanation for why the aircraft came down in a flat, desert area.

He said there was no sign that enemy fire brought it down. The discrepancy in numbers could not immediately be explained.

According to U.S. Department of Defense statistics, at least 122 American soldiers had died before Wednesday's incident in and around Afghanistan since Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led war on terrorism, began after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Accidents have proven almost as deadly as attacks from Taliban-led insurgents, including a string of helicopter crashes and explosions caused by mines and munitions left over from the country's long wars.

The bloodiest incident was an accidental explosion at an arms dump in Ghazni province that killed eight American soldiers in January last year.

Most recently, four U.S. soldiers died when a land mine exploded under their vehicle south of Kabul on March 26.

Last November, six Americans — three civilian crew members and three U.S. soldiers — died when their plane crashed in the Hindu Kush mountains. The military's last fatal helicopter crash occurred a month earlier when a pilot was killed in the west of the country.

About 17,000 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan battling a stubborn Taliban-led insurgency focused on the south and east. The top U.S. commander here, Lt. Gen. David Barno, told AP the size of the U.S. force would be reviewed after Afghan parliamentary elections in September.

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americans install puppet government in iraq

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0407iraq07.html

Iraq picks new leaders

Kurd, Shiite to hold top positions

Edward Wong

New York Times

Apr. 7, 2005 12:00 AM

BAGHDAD - A Kurdish militia leader who fought Saddam Hussein for decades was named president Wednesday by Iraq's National Assembly as Saddam watched the proceedings on a prison television.

A prominent Shiite today was expected to be named prime minister, the most powerful post in what will be Iraq's first democratically elected government in 50 years.

The Kurdish militia leader, Jalal Talabani, will be the first Kurd to serve as president of an Arab-dominated country. Immediately after his appointment, tensions among Iraq's political groups erupted, as some Shiite and Kurdish members of the Assembly demanded that the interim government resign as soon as Talabani, 72, is sworn in today.

That government, led by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, has infuriated many officials from the main Shiite and Kurdish parties, which will dominate the new administration. They accuse Allawi, a secular Shiite, of having brought back into the government former senior members of the Baath Party who played key roles in oppressing Shiites and Kurds. The Wednesday debate foreshadowed what could be a harsh purging of former Baathists once new leaders, including the prime minister and Cabinet, are installed.

"I think the government should resign after the council takes an oath and assumes its duties," said Fouad Massoum, former head of the interim Assembly, referring to the presidency council, which consists of Talabani and two deputies.

Hajim al-Hassani, speaker of the Assembly, shot down the suggestion, saying, "This parliament can't change the government."

Iraq's Shiites and Kurds are united on some issues, including their intense distrust of Sunni Arabs, a minority group that ruled the country for decades, and their enmity for the Baath Party. On that count, they are likely to work together to revamp the security forces in the Interior and Defense ministries, which Allawi, a former Baathist, filled with his allies.

But the protracted negotiations to form the government, which caused many Iraqis to lose faith in their elected leaders, indicate that the Shiites and Kurds could face heated clashes as they struggle to write a permanent constitution by mid-August and hold full-term elections at year's end.

The unresolved issues include how much autonomy the Kurds will receive, how oil revenues will be split and what role Islam will play in the new government. As early as today, the National Assembly could appoint Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a religious Shiite, as prime minister, the most powerful post in the new government.

On Wednesday, it voted in Sheik Ghazi al-Yawar, Sunni president of the interim government, as one of two vice presidents. They selected Adel Abdul Mahdi, a leading Shiite politician, as the other.

The appointment of Talabani and his two deputies, done by a pro forma vote in the Assembly meeting, drew President Bush's praise.

"The Iraqi people have shown their commitment to democracy, and we, in turn, are committed to Iraq," the president said in a written statement.

Bekhtiyar Amin, human rights minister and a Kurd, said in a telephone interview that Saddam and 11 of his top aides watched Wednesday's proceedings, held in the fortified Green Zone, on a television in their detention center near the Baghdad airport. The idea to provide Saddam with a television for the occasion was taken to Amin by Kosrat Rasoul, a top official in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Kurdish party that Talabani founded, Amin said.

"We want them to know that they are not presidents or ministers or anything other than prisoners," Amin said. "Their time is over."

The appointment of Talabani brought Kurds out into the streets across Iraqi Kurdistan. People celebrated by waving Kurdish flags, dancing and honking their horns as they drove along crowded roadways. Though some in the north distrust Talabani and his political machine, most saw the appointment as a historic moment for the Kurds.

Confident in their newfound political muscle, the Kurds are carefully monitoring any moves by the Dawa Islamic Party of Jaafari and other Shiite parties to enshrine Koranic law. Likewise, the Shiites have chafed at demands by Kurdish leaders that the Kurds retain broad autonomous powers, including maintaining their formidable militia and controlling the vast oil fields around the northern city of Kirkuk. The two groups put off more talks.

In the Jan. 30 elections, the Kurdistan Alliance won 75 of the 275 Assembly seats, while the main Shiite bloc won 140. Together, the two groups had more than the two-thirds Assembly vote needed to install the presidency council.

In a speech to the Assembly after his appointment, Talabani said, "We will carry out our goals without any sectarian or racial differences."

Because the talks to form a government have taken so long and have been so contentious, Assembly members are already saying they may have to invoke the right to extend a deadline for the first draft of the constitution by up to six months. That, in turn, would push back the elections for a full-term government.

As the Shiites and Kurds try to wrap up negotiations over the top government jobs, they have said they want to bring Sunni Arabs into the fold.

If the Sunnis continue to feel disenfranchised, the insurgency could worsen.

<#==#>

a dirty pool will get you put in jail. ask County Attorney Andrew Thomas

http://www.azcentral.com/health/news/articles/0407westnile07.html

Dirty pools cited

West Nile threat worries county

Michael Kiefer

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 7, 2005 12:00 AM

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas tested legal waters Wednesday when he announced the first criminal complaints against homeowners who let their swimming pools deteriorate into mosquito-breeding ponds.

Thomas named the owners of four pools - two in Phoenix, one in Avondale and one in Mesa - cited with Class 3 misdemeanors for failing to respond to 48-hour warnings issued by county health inspectors following up on neighbor complaints. If convicted, the offenders could face up to 30 days in jail and fines of up to $500 for individuals and $2,000 for businesses. One of the pools is at a condominium complex.

Only one of the absentee owners had yet been located by authorities.

Thomas called the pools "aggravated threats to public health that warranted a criminal complaint" because of their ability to breed mosquitoes that could carry West Nile virus.

County health officials this spring already have found mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus. Last year, 15 Arizonans died of the disease and nearly 400 cases were reported to state officials. But because many people show few serious symptoms, health officials believe the actual number of cases was higher.

Earlier this year, Thomas announced that he would step up enforcement against property owners with festering pools.

"If you disregard the conditions of your property, then you have to accept responsibility for endangering the people on the other side of the wall," he said at a news conference.

More citations are pending against other pool owners.

"There are an estimated 2,000 green pools in Maricopa County," said Al Brown, director of the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department, who appeared with Thomas at Wednesday's conference.

"We estimate there could be as many as 300 to 400 cases rising to the level of enforcement during the course of the year."

He hopes that the initial citations will inspire other owners to clean up their pools.

Inspectors found evidence of mosquitoes or larvae at the offending pools and left warnings to clean them within 48 hours. Brown said that nearly 50 such notices had been left and most pool owners responded within the allotted time. Thomas' office filed citations against those homeowners who did not.

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cool $1,500 to $3,500 trash cans at sky harbor airport - a waste of money by me

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0407trashcans07.html

Sky Harbor seeks anti-blast trash cans

Jonathan J. Higuera

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 7, 2005 12:00 AM

Wanted: Up to 300 stainless-steel trash cans, each capable of smothering a bomb blast.

The cans should also be able to hold 40 gallons of trash and have a locking lid.

Cost: $1,500 to $3,500 each.

Following the lead of several other major airports, security-conscious Sky Harbor International Airport officials are accepting bids from makers of blast-resistant trash cans. The hope is the cans would prevent mass injury if a bomb hidden in a trash receptacle detonated.

Although no bomb has gone off in a trash can at a U.S. airport, the federal Transportation Security Administration has identified garbage cans as a risk for concealing explosives. It has happened in Europe.

Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, Sky Harbor officials removed mail bins around the airport in response to the federal government's warning that they could be used to conceal a bomb.

But the feds do not require airports to provide the blast-resistant trash cans.

"We are the sixth-busiest airport in world, so we'll continue to look at ways to go above and beyond of what's required of us," said Deborah Ostreicher, a Sky Harbor spokeswoman.

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watch out laro!!!! these dangerous government thugs may go after your wife. i know you have a pool.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=39176

County cracks down on stagnant pools

By Gary Grado, Tribune

Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas is hauling the first property owners into court in the county’s crackdown on stagnant pools, an effort aimed at curbing the breeding of mosquitoes that carry the deadly West Nile virus.

Thomas announced Wednesday he filed misdemeanor criminal charges against owners of four properties, including two in Mesa, who failed to treat their pools within 48 hours of being warned by inspectors with the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department.

Inspectors also served administrative search warrants Wednesday, allowing them to go onto the properties to treat the pools with larvicide, and in one case, minnows that eat mosquito larvae.

"With property rights comes property responsibilities," Thomas said. "If someone’s property turns into a deadly mosquito nest, that person must take responsibility for it."

Three of the four properties were residential and those owners face fines of up to $500 and up to 30 days in jail.

One pool is in an Avondale condominium complex owned by a dissolved corporation, and as a business can be fined up to $2,000.

Last year from April to November there were a record 391 cases and 14 deaths attributed to West Nile virus in Arizona, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Findings by county health officials also show that long recovery times are common among people struck hard by the disease.

The mosquito-borne West Nile virus can result in meningitis, flaccid paralysis and encephalitis — swelling of the brain.

Of the 241 confirmed cases in which people got those diseases last year, fewer than half fully recovered.

Mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant pools and other standing water.

Someone complained about the pool in the back yard of the home of Pamela A. Sanchez and Flora Peru, 2139 S. Cottonwood Circle in Mesa.

An Environmental Department inspector looked over the fence on March 24 and found the water to be green and stagnant, according to a county document.

Bill FitzGerald, a Thomas spokesman, said it is legal for inspectors to look over the fence, but they can’t enter the property without a warrant.

The inspector left a notice that they needed to treat the pool within 48 hours and the owners also were served with the notice by certified mail, which they signed for, said deputy county attorney Jana Sorensen.

"Forty-eight hours, we believe, is more than enough for people to be able to attend to a situation like that, which clearly is a threat to public health," Thomas said.

The inspector returned March 26 and found the pool to be in the same condition, so the county served an administrative warrant and treated the pool Wednesday.

That scenario played out similarly with the other three properties whose owners were charged Wednesday, according to county records.

No one answered the door at the home of Peru and Sanchez, and an inspector serving the warrant said he believed no one lived there.

Al Brown, director of Environmental Services Department, said he expects 300 to 400 such cases in the next year.

Brown said county records show there are 300,000 pools in Maricopa County.

"We do get enough complaints to worry that there are many thousands of green pools out there," Brown said.

Contact Gary Grado by email, or phone (602) 258-1746

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this is a total waste of money hiring cops to sit around for months at a time on line pertending to be children and asking adults to send them porn, so they can arrest the adults that they entrap.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0407phxbriefs07.html

Phoenix news briefs

Apr. 7, 2005 12:00 AM

Sex offender accused of exploiting a minor

ANTHEM - A 42-year-old Anthem man was arrested Wednesday after allegedly sending nude pictures of himself and child pornography to a New Hampshire detective, according to authorities. a

Anthony L. Hebert believed that the detective was a 14-year-old boy, said Sgt. Travis Anglin, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

Hebert allegedly exchanged e-mails with the detective posing as a boy for three months, Anglin said.

Hebert, a registered sex offender who worked for a delivery company, was being held on one count of sexual exploitation of a minor.

<#==#>

100,000 AK-47's will make it a little harder for the american empire to invade venezuela.

http://www.azcentral.com/lavoz/spanish/politics/articles/politics_69294.html

Rumsfeld espera que Venezuela no compre armas

Por JOHN J. LUMPKIN

03/23/2005

- BRASILIA (AP) _ El Secretario de Defensa de Estados Unidos, Donald Rumsfeld, dijo el miércoles que espera que Venezuela decline su intención de comprar miles de fusiles rusos de asalto, al subrayar que no consigue imaginar para qué ese país querría usar ese armamento, ni qué beneficio puede traer a la región esa operación.

Rumsfeld habló con los periodistas en la sede del Ministerio de Defensa, donde temprano se entrevistó con su colega y también vicepresidente brasileño, José Alencar, como parte de la agenda oficial de una visita de menos de 24 horas a Brasil.

"Ciertamente estoy preocupado", replicó el secretario estadounidense consultado sobre los anuncios de la compra de armas por parte de Caracas.

"No puedo imaginar por qué Venezuela necesita 100.000 AK-47", dijo Rumsfeld. "Personalmente, espero que no se produzca" la compra, agregó.

Rumsfeld añadió que "no puedo imaginar que si (la compra) se produce sería bueno para el hemisferio".

Tras su encuentro con Alencar, Rumsfeld se entrevistó en el palacio de gobierno con el presidente Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, en una visita de cortesía que se extendió unos 45 minutos.

Durante el encuentro, Rumsfeld elogió la participación brasileña en una fuerza multinacional de la ONU en Haití, mientras Lula destacó los esfuerzos de su gobierno por alcanzar una América Latina estable y próspera.

El secretario estadounidense, quien llegó a Brasilia el martes procedente de Argentina, visitó por la tarde en Manaus, al noreste del país, el llamado Sistema de Vigilancia Amazónica (SIVAM) y posteriormente partió rumbo a Guatemala, última escala de su gira por la región, dijeron voceros de la embajada estadounidense.

Las declaraciones sobre Venezuela fueron las primeras de un alto y cercano colaborador del presidente estadounidense George W. Bush en manifestar reparos a las negociaciones venezolanas para la compra de armamentos.

Caracas y Washington mantienen frecuentes impasses diplomáticos y mutuas recriminaciones desde comienzos del gobierno del presidente Hugo Chávez, en 1999.

Esas desavenencias van desde el acercamiento venezolano a Cuba, hasta las posiciones de Chávez sobre las guerrillas colombianas, la guerra en Irak y otros temas en los que Venezuela era tradicionalmente moderada.

Rumsfeld, además, saludó el papel de líder regional de Brasil, que ha tenido gestiones activas para resolver tanto crisis políticas internas en Caracas, como de Venezuela con su vecino Colombia.

En voz de su vicepresidente Alencar, Brasil ratificó ese papel moderador.

Brasil "siempre defendió y defiende la autodeterminación de los pueblos", dijo Alencar al hacer un breve comentario sobre el asunto de las armas para Venezuela.

Y aunque ambos funcionarios destacaron la cooperación de los dos países en diversas áreas, las divergencias salieron a relucir cuando Alencar eludió criticar a Venezuela o calificar como terroristas a las guerrillas de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).

"A la distancia no podemos hacer un juicio en relación a esa cosa", dijo Alencar, interrogado sobre si las FARC eran terroristas. Agregó: "si adoptan el crimen como medio para recaudar recursos, obviamente es una acción nefasta que tiene que ser combatida".

El gobierno venezolano anunció en diciembre que compraría a Rusia diez helicópteros y 100.000 fusiles de asalto del tipo Kalasnikov AK 103 y 104, que llegarían al país a mediados de este año.

<#==#>

scottsdale lose fight to keep cops public records secret!

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=38449

Scottsdale loses public-records fight

By Irene Hsiao, Tribune

A Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled Wednesday that Scottsdale’s handling of public records is inappropriate and unlawful.

Judge Michael D. Jones ordered the city to pay the Tribune’s legal fees for a nearly yearlong court battle concerning the release of performance evaluations of former Scottsdale police officer Kevin Baxter.

Baxter was involved in an alcohol-related hit-andrun that left a Maricopa County sheriff’s deputy an amputee on May 1. The Tribune immediately requested Baxter’s employment file. The city provided some records, but withheld his personnel evaluations. The newspaper filed suit on June 16.

"As of December, we had paid nearly $23,000 for legal assistance in a fight that until today had not even gotten into a courtroom," Tribune Executive Editor Jim Ripley wrote Wednesday in an e-mail to newspaper employees.

"So you can see how expensive such fights are and how favorable rulings like this could encourage others to not take ‘No’ for an answer. The ruling should send a message to other government agencies that don’t obey Arizona Public Records Laws."

The entire cost of the legal fight has not yet been tallied, Ripley said.

Scottsdale public affairs officer Pat Dodds, who did not attend the court hearing in Phoenix, said city attorneys and human resources officials will re-evaluate the city’s public records policy.

"This was a ruling about the process. The judge didn’t say personnel evaluation should always be disclosed or never be disclosed. He focused on the decisionmaking process," Dodds said.

"Our bottom line is we believe the city followed the proper process. The judge acknowledged the city attorney’s office really did everything they could to make our process consistent with state law," he said.

No decision has been made on whether to appeal, Dodds said. In issuing the ruling, Jones said, "This provision of the city code is inconsistent with the Arizona Public Records Law and inconsistent with case law. This provision of the city code is inappropriate and unlawful."

The city’s actions were arbitrary and capricious, but were not made in bad faith, Jones said.

Baxter was drunk and speeding at 2:15 a.m. when he crashed into deputy Doug Matteson’s motorcycle on U.S. 60 in Mesa. Matteson was thrown 60 feet and had to pull himself across three lanes of traffic to get to safety.

Baxter’s blood alcohol content was 0.173 percent three hours after the crash. Arizona’s legal limit is 0.08 percent.

More than four months after the Tribune submitted its initial public records request, the city produced Baxter’s performance evaluations the day before the opening court hearing was scheduled. The evaluations noted that Baxter lagged in issuing driving under the influence tickets.

The newspaper then sued to recover attorney’s fees.

"At most, what the plaintiff can argue is they were wrongfully delayed," said attorney Scott Currey, who represented Scottsdale.

The city said Baxter’s crash was not job-related.

"That’s a stunning statement," Tribune attorney Dan Barr said during the hearing. "Police officers don’t get to commit felonies off duty."

Baxter resigned in lieu of being fired, was sentenced to five years in prison and had his law-enforcement certification revoked.

Barr said, "Scottsdale is playing games here. They’re staffed with a lot of smart people, too many people for this to be a mistake. It’s time for the games to come to an end."

Municipal law expert Bill Farrell, an attorney who represents Queen Creek and Cave Creek, said both sides usually bear attorney’s costs in public records matters.

"I’m a firm believer that the public’s business is the public’s business," he said. "The court’s decision is very accurate."

Stephen Doig, a journalism professor at Arizona State University, said there are few sanctions against those who violate public records law in Arizona.

"I’m glad the courts are recognizing the importance of this. The awarding of attorney’s fees normally doesn’t happen," said Doig, who also serves as a director of the national Investigative Reporters and Editors organization.

Ripley said Jones’ finding is particularly encouraging because it came at a time of increasing government secrecy.

"This should give heart to individuals who don’t have corporate backing and are seeking what should be public records," Ripley said.

Contact Irene Hsiao by email, or phone () -

<#==#>

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0408PoliceShooting08-ON.html

Police shoot, kill suspect after chase in west Phoenix

Associated Press

Apr. 8, 2005 07:05 AM

A 21-year-old man was shot and killed by a Phoenix police officer just before midnight after a police pursuit in west Phoenix.

The shooting occurred in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 41st Avenue and McDowell.

McDowell was closed in the area for a while but is now open.

Detective Tony Morales said the incident began when an officer spotted a car with stolen license plates and the driver sped off.

It ended in the apartment parking lot after the suspect pulled into a parking space. Two officers got out but Morales said that's when the suspect accelerated toward their patrol car. Fearing his partner would be crushed, Morales said Sgt. James Gallagher fired, killing the suspect.

<#==#>

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0407detective07-ON.html

Dismissal of 158 domestic-violence cases blamed on 1 cop

Brent Whiting

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 7, 2005 01:00 PM

Glendale police have been forced to scrap 158 domestic-violence cases because the detective assigned to them falsified reports and failed to file the necessary paperwork, officials say.

As a result, they say, wrongdoers will go unpunished and their victims will never get their day in court.

In the meantime, police are trying to salvage 84 other misdemeanor cases in which the detective, Brad Moore, has been accused of dropping the ball. The cases dated back to at least January 2002.

The city now wants to fire Moore, 41, saying he deserves to be stripped of his $55,000-a-year job because he has undermined the credibility of the Glendale Police Department. He's on paid leave pending his appeal of the firing.

"You have failed to demonstrate ethics and integrity in the performance of your duties," Police Chief Andrew Kirkland said in a termination notice delivered to Moore. In addition, Moore has placed the city in "a poor position" on liability should Glendale be sued, Kirkland said.

Several victims in the cases assigned to Moore have been "re-victimized," one of them four times, the chief added.

For his part, Moore has admitted to police supervisors that he "screwed up" and "got into a bad habit," according to internal documents obtained from Glendale under the Arizona Public Records Law.

Police said that in a review of 395 cases assigned to Moore since January 2002, 153 of them, or nearly 38 percent, were "submitted through the proper channels."

In 242 other cases, Moore filed reports falsely claiming the work had been done and that the cases had been submitted to city prosecutors to be tried as misdemeanors in the Glendale City Court, police said.

In fact, 158 cases were left uncompleted and never turned over to prosecutors, police said. These cases cannot be reworked or submitted for prosecution because the one-year statute of limitations has expired, officers said.

That leaves 84 cases that remain viable. The cases have been reassigned to other detectives for additional work, officers said.

On Jan. 27, Kirkland slapped Moore with a 40-day suspension without pay, which would have allowed the officer to complete 20 years of service and qualify for a pension.

On Feb. 3, after further reflection, Kirkland announced his intent to fire the detective.

On March 21, Kirkland faced job troubles of his own when City Manager Ed Beasley placed the police chief on paid leave pending an investigation into claims of sexual harassment and other concerns. Kirkland denies any wrongdoing and says he wants a speedy probe to clear his name.

Moore, who worked as a drywaller before he joined the Glendale force in August 1985, has been unavailable for comment. Efforts to contact Moore, including a stop at his home, have proven unsuccessful.

Connie Phillips, executive director of the Sojourner Center, which operates a shelter for battered women and their families, said Thursday that the accusations involving Moore are "absolutely reprehensible."

Domestic-violence victims, in general, view police and the courts as unresponsive to their needs, and Moore's alleged misconduct will do nothing but fortify this perception, Phillips said.

"You have to compare this to a police officer who drops the ball in drunken-driving cases," she said. "That is something we wouldn't tolerate. We have to take domestic-violence cases just as seriously."

Two things are needed to stop domestic violence, Phillips said. The first is to provide support to victims. The second is to punish the batterer. Neither has been accomplished in the cases involving Moore, she added.

Glendale spokeswoman Julie Frisoni declined to release a photo of Moore or to identify the victims in his cases, citing privacy issues and legal advice.

Frisconi said that spurred by Moore's case, police have reviewed cases assigned to other domestic-violence detectives and "no discrepancies were found in their procedures."

Reach the reporter at brent.whiting@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-6937.

<#==#>

aint these pigs got any real criminals they can go after????

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0408EVtrain.html

Police ticketing violators of railroad-crossing laws

Many accidents can be avoided

Katie Nelson

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 8, 2005 12:00 AM

TEMPE - A 10,000-ton bulk of steel can come bearing down fast.

Inevitably, by the time a conductor can stop it's already too late. It takes miles to stop a moving train.

Yet time after time train collisions kill people, like the four who died in Maricopa County last year. But most of the accidents are avoidable, experts say.

On Thursday, East Valley police conducted a regional crackdown on drivers who disobey railroad-crossing laws. Officers rode back and forth between Queen Creek and Tempe aboard a short passenger train. Spotters watched for lawbreakers from the engine, and officers on motorcycles nabbed them from the streets. In all, they issued 18 tickets and witnessed several close calls.

During one, a PT Cruiser in Gilbert was forced to back into the warning signal arm because it was on the tracks when the train came by. The car missed a collision by only inches.

Every Union Pacific Railroad engineer aboard the "Operation Lifesaver" train had war stories about terrible wrecks they've been in or seen. They've witnessed trains wiping out school buses, entire families and, worse yet, half of a family while the other half sees it happen in the rearview mirror.

From inside the train, the physical impact of a vehicle versus train crash feels like a car driving over a Coke can, the engineers said. But the emotional impact is much more jolting.

"The last thing we see is these people with a deer-in-the-headlights look," engineer Tom Fooshee said. "That's the vision that's going to be burned into the engineer's memory forever."

Drawing from more than 30 years of experience, Fooshee thinks impatience is the cause of many train-involved accidents.

Hurried drivers maneuver around signal arms to beat trains. Sometimes they make it. Sometimes not.

Ignorance also plays a role, Fooshee said. People don't realize it takes at least 14 seconds before a train's brakes start to work, and an additional 20 seconds before a train will start to stop.

"People get in such a hurry," agreed Greg Wallen, who also works for Union Pacific. "They get in their car and think since they are there, nothing can happen to them. They forget all about awareness."

<#==#>

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0409kirkland09.html

Glendale police chief leaving job

Investigation raises questions about behavior, relationships

Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor and Brent Whiting

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 9, 2005 12:00 AM

After only six months as Glendale's police chief, Andrew Kirkland resigned Friday, his tenure rocked by accusations of sexual harassment, creation of a hostile work environment and an "inappropriate" relationship with a female police officer.

An internal investigation found no evidence to substantiate any of those claims. But investigators concluded that Kirkland's "behavior on duty was unbecoming" and had raised "too many questions about his integrity, truthfulness, honesty and fairness." It added that "the allegations were further tied to inappropriate use of city resources and equipment."

City Manager Ed Beasley, who met with Kirkland on Friday morning, could not be reached for comment after the resignation was announced. It was Beasley who had groomed Kirkland for the position.

Police Capt. Preston Becker was named acting police chief. Julie Frisoni, a Glendale spokeswoman, said that city officials will meet soon to decide how to find a new chief.

Kirkland on Friday denied any wrongdoing, insisting he had not engaged in an improper relationship or favored the female officer to the detriment of her co-workers.

"I'm not going to take any shots at the department," he said Friday. "I appreciated the opportunity to come here. I worked hard. And it's time to move on and to try new things."

Kirkland submitted his handwritten, one-sentence letter of resignation three weeks after he was suspended with pay. After a lengthy career in Portland, Ore., he was hired as an assistant Glendale police chief in June 2003 and was named chief by Beasley this past September.

"I decided to take my services elsewhere," Kirkland said, adding that he was not asked to resign and has no immediate job prospects.

Vic Calzaretta, a Portland attorney representing Kirkland, said his client has not ruled out the possibility of a lawsuit against the city.

Mayor Elaine Scruggs said that she didn't believe "this resignation will be a negative in any way on the work or on the morale of the men and women of the Glendale Police Department."

Becker, a 30-year police veteran, agreed, saying that "morale is good."

The accusations against Kirkland that sparked the investigation included gender discrimination regarding promotional opportunities and work assignments and of disparate treatment and favoritism "due to an ongoing close personal relationship" between Kirkland and the female officer, whom he "frequently traveled with . . . to places like Washington, D.C., Florida and Los Angeles," according to the investigative records.

Although the report says the accusations were unfounded, it added that witnesses expressed "disappointment over the rumors and the impact this issue has had on the Police Department." Investigators were told that employees were distracted by "the perception of favoritism" and that they felt the chief's relationship with the female officer was inappropriate.

Kirkland told investigators that a "friendship exists between himself and (the) female officer and they had become close due to working closely on projects." He said any opportunities she received were based on her job performance.

City expense reports and travel records show that Kirkland and the police officer, who is a homeland-security representative for the city, did travel to several conferences. They include at least six trips since October for a National White Collar Crime Center meeting in Washington and an International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Los Angeles.

Receipts for the Los Angeles trip show early-morning and late-night room-service charges for two people, including $47.69 for a 6:47 a.m. breakfast and $27.72 for cr鑪e brulee and strawberry ice cream at 11:11 p.m. The female officer's name is on the receipts, but they bear Kirkland's signature.

There are at least two other trips the two shared on the taxpayers' dime, representing about $1,200 in airfare, but no receipts or documentation were provided regarding where they went or the purpose of the trips. A third trip costing $584 in airfare for Kirkland was also unexplained.

While the officer's expenses were approved by her supervisor, many of Kirkland's expenses charged on the city's credit card were never submitted to Beasley for approval, according to city officials.

"Quite a bit of it was missing," Frisoni said about Kirkland's receipts. "That is definitely an area of concern."

While witnesses were split on the validity of the allegations, investigators found Kirkland's behavior violated the city's human-resources policies and procedures, according to the report.

Some employees interviewed during the probe said Kirkland was "a visionary chief and was trying to make needed changes in the department but was experiencing resistance from people who did not want to be held accountable."

The report also said that there was evidence that many people were concerned with his communication and management styles, adding that his "stance and demeanor make him unapproachable."

Becker said he would keep the department operating smoothly.

"I've been asked to do a job," he said.

"And that is to make sure services for the residents go uninterrupted and that we continue to do business day by day in the same professional manner we have for years."

<#==#>

count on 4 more years of mixing religion and goverment

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0409bush-post09.html

Bush says rites bolstered his faith in 'a living God'

Jim Vandehei

Washington Post

Apr. 9, 2005 12:00 AM

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush said Friday that attending Pope John Paul II's emotional funeral strengthened his belief in Christianity, a living God and in how religious faith is a lifelong journey, not a respite.

"I knew the ceremony today would be majestic, but I didn't realize how moved I would be by the service itself," said Bush, a Protestant who attends a Methodist Church. "Today's ceremony, I bet you, for millions of people, was a reaffirmation ... and a way to make sure doubts don't seep into your soul."

The president, discussing his faith in greater detail than usual, said, "There is no doubt in my mind there is a living God. And no doubt in my mind that Lord Christ was sent by the Almighty. No doubt in my mind about that."

In an interview with reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Texas from Rome, an unusually introspective Bush called the funeral one of the "highlights of my presidency" and differed sharply with former President Clinton's view that John Paul II left behind a "mixed legacy."

"I think John Paul II will have a clear legacy of peace, compassion and a strong legacy of setting a clear moral tone," Bush said.

The pope, who died a week ago, successfully encouraged the largely peaceful revolts against Soviet rule in his native Poland and across Eastern Europe.

He traveled widely, created more saints than any of his predecessors and issued numerous encyclicals and other teaching documents.

The pope also attacked what he considered moral relativism inside and outside the church and held a rigid line against contraception, abortion, cloning and same-sex marriage.

On the flight to Rome, Clinton accompanied Bush and told reporters the pope "may have a mixed legacy."

The former president said, "There will be debates about him. But on balance, he was a man of God, he was a consistent person."

Bush, the first sitting U.S. president to attend a pope's funeral, led a delegation accompanied by Clinton, former President George H.W. Bush, first lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Bush's presence at perhaps the largest funeral in history and deeply personal remarks about God and faith afterward illustrate how America's views of religious expressions and their role in politics have changed over the years.

<#==#>

writting government propaganda pays reasonablly well $60 an hour in this case. and the tax payers pay so the buerocrats can convice us they are doing a good job with money they stole from us

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0409columnist09.html

Writing for governor gets columnist fired

Jay Lindsay

Associated Press

Apr. 9, 2005 12:00 AM

BOSTON - The Boston Herald on Friday fired a columnist who signed a contract worth up to $10,000 to help Gov. Mitt Romney's administration promote its environmental policies.

Herald Publisher Patrick Purcell initially said the paper would continue Charles Chieppo's weekly column, a day after he began working for the governor's Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. The contract calls for him to help officials write op-ed pieces and internal documents.

A few hours later, however, Purcell released a second statement that read, "Upon further review, the Boston Herald has decided to sever our relationship with Charles Chieppo."

Chieppo said he respected the Herald's decision and will miss writing.

He began writing for the Herald in January and was paid per article. His job with the paper started shortly after he left his position as the former state policy director of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance.

He said he disclosed the environmental state contract to the Herald and got clearance from the state ethics commission. His state contract pays $60 per hour, with a maximum of $10,000.

Chieppo also has a state contract with the Massachusetts Convention Center to help organize a conference on efficient use of funds. He said that contract was cleared by the ethics commission but that he never told the Herald about it.

He said this seemed to be a major factor in the paper's decision. "Maybe I made a mistake. I certainly attempted to do the right thing every step of the way," he said.

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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0409roberts09.html

Doughnuts fine, but Mesa upset by the advertising

Apr. 9, 2005 12:00 AM

It is, to hear them say it, an abomination, a blight, a bane on the city's central core. So I drove over to Mesa on Friday to see this sore that so afflicts city leaders, and there it was at Country Club and Main.

"Three Donuts 99 cents."

And not just "Three Donuts 99 cents." There was also a sign in the window advertising mocha cappuccino and another announcing a breakfast sandwich and coffee for $2.99.

Oh, the outrage of it all.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Mesa proclaimed such signs a visual blight and safety hazard and demanded they be taken down. City leaders, however, didn't bank on Edward Salib, any more than they banked on his neighbor, Randy Bailey, when they declared his brake shop a blight and actually tried to take it away from him.

That little caper wound up making national news, as I recall.

Now the city has turned its attentions to Salib. He's a native of Egypt, a man who brought his family here 23 years ago to grow and thrive in peace and freedom.

Which brings us to Salib's business, Winchell's Donut House. He bought the place in 2001, but for 20 years it has been there. For 20 years, its owners have put posters on the windows, touting the monthly specials.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Mesa caught on and sprang into action. In August 2002, a city inspector showed up at Winchell's, demanding that Salib remove the signs, which at that time were advertising frozen mocha cappuccino for $2.49.

Now, you may think people would appreciate knowing they could buy frozen mocha cappuccino for $2.49, frozen mocha cappuccino prices being what they are.

But not, apparently, in Mesa. It seems the City Council enacted a sign law in 1999, aimed at outlawing some garish hand-painted windows down the street. The new law said no sign could cover more than 30 percent of a downtown window, making the ever-changing Winchell's posters illegal.

Enter the Institute for Justice. (Yep, the same law firm that won Randy Bailey the right to keep his brake shop.) The IJ sued, contending the sign law illegally limited Salib's freedom of speech. Salib lost in Superior Court, but he's appealing. The Court of Appeals heard his case Thursday.

"This," Assistant Mesa Attorney Julie Kriegh explained to the three-judge panel, "is a substantial government issue of aesthetics and safety."

Never mind that the rules don't apply to businesses just a few blocks away. Never mind that you could paint your windows black so police couldn't see inside. Never mind that you could dangle signs behind the glass and cover the entire window without invoking the wrath of the sign police.

Now, I'm all for cutting clutter and limiting street signs. But telling a guy what he can put up inside his own shop?

Salib shakes his head at that, wondering whatever happened to freedom. Oh, the city has since modified the law so Salib can now legally post one or two signs rather than his customary three or four. But that, he says, isn't the point.

"My ancestors built the pyramids to last forever, and our forefathers here left the Constitution to protect us for infinity," he said. "That's what we have to protect."

That's why he has continued to post his signs, and it's why he's continuing to fight. I don't know if he'll win. For really, can even the Constitution stand any more in the face of bureaucrats determined to limit your right to speak of puff pastry and such?

"It is," Kriegh explained to the judges, "within the legitimate rights of government to look at what is visual blight."

What she didn't explain was why it took the city 2 1/2 years to notice it.

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8635.

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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0409gitmo-detainees09.html

Detainees judge U.S. justice

Court files give Guantanamo inmates voices

Pete Yost and Matt Kelley

Associated Press

Apr. 9, 2005 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON - A terror suspect held at Guantanamo Bay asked his U.S. military judge a pointed question: "Is it possible to see the evidence in order to refute it?" In another case, a judge blurted out: "I don't care about international law."

Court documents reviewed by the Associated Press are giving dozens of Guantanamo detainees what the Bush administration had sought to keep from public view: identities and voices.

The government is holding about 550 terrorist suspects at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba. An additional 214 have been released since the facility opened in January 2002 - some into the custody of their home governments, others freed outright.

Little information about those held at Guantanamo has been released through official government channels. But stories of 60 or more are spelled out in detail in thousands of pages of transcripts filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, where lawsuits challenging their detentions have been filed.

The previously anonymous detainees provide accounts of their imprisonment and impressions of U.S. justice. Some express defiance, others stoic acceptance of their fate.

Indefinitely held

The detainees appeared last year before military tribunals which, after quick reviews, confirmed their status as "enemy combatants" who could be held indefinitely.

Omar Rajab Amin, a Kuwaiti who graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1992, wanted to see the evidence. The "tribunal president," the de facto judge for the proceeding, replied that he could review only unclassified evidence.

Some of the exchanges grew heated.

"You are not the master of the Earth, Sir," Saifullah Paracha, a Pakistani businessman, told a tribunal president.

Feroz Ali Abbasi was ejected from his September hearing because he repeatedly challenged the legality of his detention.

"I have the right to speak," Abbasi said.

"No you don't," the tribunal president replied.

"I don't care about international law," the tribunal president told Abbasi just before he was taken from the room. "I don't want to hear the words 'international law' again. We are not concerned with international law."

The tribunal found Abbasi to have been "deeply involved" in al-Qaida, yet four months later the government released him, saying his home country of Great Britain would keep an eye on him.

The Guantanamo Bay detainees come from about 40 countries and were picked up mainly in Afghanistan and Pakistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, designated enemy combatants by the Bush administration.

In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled last June that the detainees may challenge their imprisonment. The Pentagon hastily responded nine days later, creating the tribunals and pushing through reviews of everyone at Guantanamo by year-end.

A military spokeswoman said Friday that the Pentagon believes the tribunals allow for the review called for by the court ruling.

"We believe the tribunal process gave each detainee a fair opportunity to contest their detention," said Navy Capt. Beci Brenton, a spokeswoman for the Defense Department office overseeing the prisoners at Guantanamo.

In the filings, some detainees seemed stunned by the speed of the process.

"How long will it take before you decide the results of this tribunal?" one detainee asked.

"We should have a decision today," the tribunal president replied.

The tribunals brought out previously unknown data regarding the war on terror.

In one proceeding, the government identified detainee Juma Mohammed Abdul Latif Al Dosari as an al-Qaida recruiter who persuaded six Yemeni-Americans in suburban Buffalo, N.Y., to join the terrorist group. The tribunal also disclosed that Dosari had been questioned by Saudi authorities about the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 members of the U.S. Air Force.

Torture alleged

A number of detainees told the three-member panels they had been mistreated or tortured. They complained about the evidence, too.

"You believe anyone that gives you any information," detainee Mohammed Mohammed Hassen, who was arrested in Pakistan, objected to his tribunal. "What if that person made a mistake? Maybe that person looked at me and confused me with someone else."

The unclassified evidence against Hassen, 24, was that a senior al-Qaida lieutenant had identified his picture as that of someone he might have seen in Afghanistan.

The tribunals also had access to classified evidence that the detainees were not allowed to see, a key reason a federal judge said in January that there were constitutional problems with the tribunals. An Appeals Court is considering that issue.

The tribunals in some cases rejected requests for witnesses or documents that detainees said would help prove their innocence.

Boudella Al Hajj requested a copy of a court document from Bosnia. The tribunal president ordered the document produced, but military personnel couldn't locate it, so the proceedings commenced without it.

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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0409wvdetective09.html

Glendale's bungled cases snowballed after first tip

Brent Whiting

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 9, 2005 12:00 AM

GLENDALE - When police got a complaint about the handling of a domestic-violence case, it proved to be the tip of a very ugly iceberg, according to the city's former top cop.

Andrew Kirkland, who resigned Friday as Glendale's police chief, said officers looked into the one complaint and then discovered that many more cases had been botched.

"And that's how all of this got started," Kirkland said, referring to a scandal involving a Glendale police detective, who stands accused of dropping the ball in at least 242 cases. advertisement

Brad Moore, 41, a 19 1/2-year member of the Glendale force, has been placed on paid leave pending his appeal of city efforts to have him fired.

Moore was served with a notice of termination on Feb. 3 that says 158 domestic-relations cases have been scrapped because he falsified reports and failed to file the paperwork with prosecutors.

The cases, which date from January 2002, cannot be reworked or submitted for prosecution because the one-year statute of limitations had expired, the notice said.

That leaves 84 cases that remain viable but need to be reworked by other detectives to complete the job that Moore failed to do, the notice said.

Moore has told supervisors that he "screwed up" and "got into a bad habit," according to city records.

Efforts to reach him for comment, including a stop at his home, have failed.

Moore has remained under the radar screen during most of his police career, according to newspaper archives.

Moore, while working as a patrol officer in 1986, arrested a purse-snatcher, according to one article.

His name disappears from the archives after a 1989 story about an arrest Moore made in an animal-cruelty case.

In reviews during the past two years, two supervisors, Lt. Mark Carpenter and Sgt. Dan Keddy, gave him ratings for at least meeting or exceeding job standards, according to personnel documents obtained from Glendale under the Arizona Public Records Law.

Before being hired by Glendale, Moore attended Phoenix College and worked as a drywaller, the records show, but his employer at a drywall firm gave him less than a ringing endorsement.

"Brad is a quiet kid . . . but not overly ambitious, at least in this job," the employer wrote.

Reach the reporter at brent.whiting@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-6937.

<#==#>

this cop thinks it is ok to kill kids????

To: AZRKBA@asu.edu

Subject: Re: cops terrified of kids with bb guns

From: Wayne Conrad <wconrad@YAGNI.COM>

Date: Tue, Apr 5 2005 11:13:54 AM -0700

On Tue, Apr 05, 2005 at 10:56:12AM -0700, mike ross wrote:

> these cops are parnoid of kids with bb guns and would probably shoot

> and kill a kid with one

> http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0405CR-wargames05Z6.html

Is that what this article says? I can't find what you said in there.

Some of the airsoft pistols are very close copies of the real thing.

I have the Walther P99 Airsoft and it's so close to the original that

it even takes the grip inserts from the real thing.

If some kid is running around with what looks like a gun, I'm going to

at least have my hand on my sidearm. If that gun gets pointed at me,

and it's not plainly obvious that it's a toy, I'm going to have to

defend myself. So will anyone. One's right to defend life and limb

from threats does not end when one becomes a cop.

<#==#>

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0410iraq10.html

Iraqi crowds demand U.S. withdrawal

Traci Carl

Associated Press

Apr. 10, 2005 12:00 AM

BAGHDAD - Tens of thousands of supporters of a militant Shiite cleric filled central Baghdad's streets Saturday and demanded that American soldiers go home, marking the second anniversary of Baghdad's fall with shouts of "No, no to Satan!"

To the west of the capital, 5,000 protesters issued similar demands in the Sunni Triangle city of Ramadi, reflecting a growing impatience with the U.S.-led occupation and the slow pace of returning control to an infant Iraqi government.

The protest in Baghdad's famous Firdos Square was the largest anti-American demonstration since the U.S.-led invasion, but the turnout was far less than the 1 million called for by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

"I do not accept having occupation forces in my country," said protester Ali Feleih Hassan, 35. "No one accepts this. I want them out. They have been here for two years, and now they have to set a timetable for their withdrawal."

President Bush has said he will not pull troops out of Iraq until the security situation has improved.

Tens of thousands of people spilled into the streets of central Baghdad, waving Iraqi flags and climbing onto an abstract sculpture said to represent freedom and built on the spot where Saddam Hussein's statue once stood.

The protest marked a return to the limelight for Sadr, who had been relatively quiet since his Mahdi Army militiamen signed truces last year with U.S.-led forces after deadly clashes. Officials said the cleric did not attend because of security concerns. He has stayed close to his home in the holy city of Najaf since the U.S.-led assault on his militia in August.

No major violence was reported during Saturday's demonstration, which the Iraqi Interior Ministry agreed to protect. U.S. soldiers kept watch from behind concrete-and-barbed wire barriers.

Mahdi Army militiamen searched people entering the demonstration area as Iraqi policemen stood to the side.

Protesters burned the U.S. flag as well as cardboard cutouts of Bush and Saddam. Three effigies representing Saddam, Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, all handcuffed and dressed in red Iraqi prison jumpsuits that signified they had been condemned to death, were placed on a pedestal, then symbolically toppled like the Saddam statue two years before.

Others acted out reports of prison abuse at the hands of American soldiers. Photos released last year showing U.S. soldiers piling naked inmates in a pyramid at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison have tarnished the military's reputation both here and around the world.

"Force the occupation to leave from our country," one banner read in English.

The Shiite protesters called for a jailed Saddam to face justice, holding up framed photos of Sadr's father, a prominent cleric executed by the ousted Iraqi leader's regime.

Sadr, whose supporters are largely impoverished young Shiites, was once wanted by U.S forces after he urged his militia to fight American troops. Despite his popularity in some parts of Iraqi society, he has fewer followers than Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the country's most revered Shiite cleric.

Shiites make up 60 percent of Iraq's estimated 26 million people but were targeted under Saddam. Thousands were killed by Iraqi security forces.

They have risen to power in Iraq's new interim government, which named Shiite Arab Ibrahim al-Jaafari as its prime minister Thursday.

Sunni Muslim clerics also called on their followers to protest Saturday, and a large crowd gathered in the central city of Ramadi, a Sunni stronghold. Iraq's Sunni minority was dominant under Saddam and is believed to make up the backbone of the country's insurgency.

Sheikh Harth Al-Dhari, the secretary general of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, praised both the Sadr protest, as well as the Sunni demonstration, telling Al-Jazeera satellite television: "We hail the demonstrations organized by the Iraqi people on the second black anniversary of their country's occupation."

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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0410sunlets109.html

Detective's superiors share blame

Apr. 10, 2005 12:00 AM

A Glendale policeman is accused of botching 158 domestic-violence cases and is being fired. I didn't see anything in Friday's article about the responsibility of his superiors. What were they doing during the past two years?

In most organizations, there are procedures in place to ensure that assigned work is completed satisfactorily. Detective Brad Moore appears to be guilty, but I would suggest that his superiors must shoulder some of the blame.

Jerry Emery

Prescott

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the cops wont always arrest you if you are stopped driving with out a license. i should get a copy of the police report from the dps guy who wrote the ticket to see how he handled it. i was arrested once when i was driving with out any id or a license which i dont have. despite that they let me out of maricopa county jail on OR when i had my initial hearing maybe 8 hours after i was arrested.

The officer issued several citations to the driver, who did not have a valid license. He then asked the woman, the only one in the car with a valid driver's license, to park the car nearby.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0411kidnap11.html

Police seeking 2 men in Phoenix kidnapping

Holly Johnson

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 11, 2005 12:00 AM

Police were looking Sunday for two men who kidnapped a Phoenix woman.

The men, armed with handguns, forced the woman into her car at about 6 a.m. Sunday, said Phoenix police Sgt. Derek Stephenson. The woman, who was not identified by police, had been walking to a gym at a friend's apartment complex near 35th Avenue and Cheryl Drive.

According to Stephenson, the assailants drove the woman to a nearby ATM and made her withdraw $300. They then drove to her east Phoenix apartment and ransacked it while holding her at gunpoint in a closet, Stephenson said.

A Department of Public Safety officer stopped the men for a traffic violation as they headed west on Interstate 10. Stephenson said the assailants reportedly told the woman that they'd shoot her and the officer if she cried for help.

The officer issued several citations to the driver, who did not have a valid license. He then asked the woman, the only one in the car with a valid driver's license, to park the car nearby.

She parked at a Traveler's Inn near 51st Avenue and I-10. The men ran off on foot down Latham Street, Stephenson said.

They were last seen in a purple Cadillac. They are described as Black men in their early 20s, 6 feet tall, 200 pounds and carrying handguns.

Anyone with more information can call the Phoenix police General Investigations Bureau at (602) 262-6141.

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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0412bordertech12.html

High-tech border security falls short

$200 million spent, but cameras, sensors unused

Sergio Bustos and Susan Carroll

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 12, 2005 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON - The federal government paid private companies $200 million for high-tech equipment to detect undocumented immigrants, but hundreds of sensors and cameras along the country's borders were not working last year or were not installed in a timely manner, according to an audit report.

Investigators from the General Services Administration's Office of the Inspector General found critical surveillance gaps in Arizona, last month dubbed the weakest portion of the Southwest border by top Homeland Security Department officials. Inspectors visited three sites in 2004 - Nogales, Naco and Tucson - and found none of the remote surveillance systems was fully operational, despite payments of more than $5.2 million since 2001.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Monday that the contracts with the companies under investigation expired in September. Mario Villarreal, a Customs spokesman in Washington, D.C., would not say how many cameras and sensors are along the Southwest border, citing national security concerns. But he said about 80 percent of the agency's cameras are functioning.

"I would think they would have 100 percent of (the cameras) working," said Wes Bramhall, president of Arizonans for Immigration Control, an organization that advocates tighter border controls. "It's imperative."

Jack Lebo, a spokesman with the GSA's Office of the Inspector General, would say only that the agency was "following up on the issues raised" in the December audit, which charged that the government paid for "shoddy work" or "for work that was incomplete or never delivered."

The investigation focuses on federal officials and several company executives, including the daughter of a Texas lawmaker who worked for the Border Patrol for more than two decades, according to a report Monday in the Washington Post.

The newspaper said auditors were reviewing contracts awarded to Alaska-based Chugach Development Corp. and International Microwave Corp., which was bought in 2002 by New York-based L-3 Communications Holdings Inc.

L-3 Communications executives on Monday refused to talk about the findings of government auditors.

The Chugach officials who were involved with the border security project no longer work for the company and could not be reached for comment.

Agents along the Arizona border have reported problems with the surveillance equipment, saying that the cameras often do not cover all of the state's 389-mile border with Mexico.

And earlier this month, Border Patrol officials complained that members of the Minuteman Project, a civilian border-patrol effort that has staked out popular crossing areas in southern Arizona, were setting off sensors, causing agents to respond unnecessarily.

Some members of Congress, including representatives from Arizona, have sought more advanced technology, including ground radar.

Last month, Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner pledged to add 534 agents and more aircraft along Arizona's border, the most popular illegal crossing corridor in the nation.

In the GSA report, auditors said International Microwave Corp. was paid $20 million between 1998 and 2003 for work at certain sites, but that little, if any, work had been completed by last June when they visited eight border locations: Nogales, Naco and Tucson; Carrizo Springs and Laredo, Texas; Detroit; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Blaine, Wash.

In Naco, auditors found equipment in storage and camera poles lying in the desert next to a border patrol station.

In Nogales, the equipment had been delivered, but installation was still in progress last summer.

The Washington Post on Monday reported that auditors also were looking into the possible role played by Rebecca Reyes, who managed the border security project, officially known as the Integrated Surveillance Intelligence System for International Microwave. She is the daughter of Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a Texas Democrat. The lawmaker is not under investigation.

Rebecca Reyes was hired by Chugach and International Microwave and now is a vice president with L-3 Communications.

She could not be reached for comment, but her father defended his daughter in an interview with The Arizona Republic.

He said the contract was awarded to International Microwave before his daughter joined the company.

Reyes, who spent nearly 30 years with the Border Patrol, has been a strong proponent of using technology to aid agents patrolling the border. He said that he, too, was angry at the auditor's findings on the border security project.

<#==#>

laptop mines. my isnt the world going high tech?

now thats a real moral ethical question to ask. is is any more wrong for a 19 year-old american GI to click on a laptop computer and use it to kill iraqi women and children then it is for the same 19 year-old GI to pull the trigger of an M-16 and use it to kill iraqi women and children. gosh some of the ethics questions the US military has are really tough to answer :)

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0412iraq-mine12.html

Laptop-triggered mines headed to GIs in Iraq

Michael P. Regan

Associated Press

Apr. 12, 2005 12:00 AM

NEW YORK - U.S. troops in Iraq will soon be able to lace their defensive perimeters with a high-tech, multipronged version of one of the most effective weapons in their enemy's playbook: the remote-controlled bomb.

By June, soldiers in the Army's Stryker Brigade, which operates mainly in and around the northern city of Mosul, will be able to pick out an individual anti-personnel munition from a minefield of hundreds and explode it by pushing a computer's touch screen from many yards away.

The system, known as Matrix, is part of the Army's emerging arsenal of "smart" land mines that military officials say are meant to do away with the accidental deaths and maimings caused by their not-so-smart brethren.

Twenty-five sets of mines, including M18 Claymores, and the laptops that trigger them over a wireless network are being rushed into the field after the system was successfully tested in September.

Activists who have campaigned to rid the world of land mines are worried about the Matrix's potential for havoc.

"We're concerned the United States is going to field something that has the capability of taking the man out of the loop when engaging the target," said Mark Hiznay of Human Rights Watch. "Or that we're putting a 19-year-old soldier in the position of pushing a button when a blip shows up on a computer screen."

The Landmine Survivors Network, based in Washington, D.C., and other activist groups have started a campaign asking supporters to write to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to voice their concerns.

Activists are questioning how soldiers will be able to identify a target from many yards away, and whether civilians could accidentally set off a mine. The Claymores being used have been around since the Vietnam War and have traditionally been camouflaged and set off by a tripwire.

They sit above the ground and are meant to be picked up and removed after an operation is complete, though that's not easing activists' minds.

Users of the system will be able to choose between blasting their enemies with Claymores, which spit out hundreds of steel balls propelled by plastic explosives, or with the M5 Modular Crowd Control Munition, a non-lethal take on the Claymore that sprays rubber balls instead of steel.

Military analyst John Pike believes the system could be used to attack enemies who are encroaching on a base but are too far away to hit with sniper fire, which he says can only reach out about a mile.

"You can see much farther than that. If you wanted to set up a perimeter security so that the enemy could not sneak up and mortar you, you could do it by putting out a mess of these things," he said.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/11372986.htm

Posted on Tue, Apr. 12, 2005

High-tech land mines head for Iraq

By Michael P. Regan

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Twenty-five sets of mines, including M18 Claymores, and the laptops that trigger them over a wireless network are being rushed into the field after the system was successfully tested in September.

Activists who have campaigned to rid the world of land mines are worried about the Matrix system's potential for havoc.

"We're concerned the United States is going to field something that has the capability of taking the man out of the loop when engaging the target," said senior researcher Mark Hiznay of Human Rights Watch. "Or that we're putting a 19-year-old soldier in the position of pushing a button when a blip shows up on a computer screen."

Hiznay also worries that if need be, the smart land mines can be turned into plain old "dumb" anti-personnel mines.

The Landmine Survivors Network, based in Washington, D.C., and other activist groups have started a campaign asking supporters to write to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to voice their concerns.

Activists are questioning how soldiers will be able to identify a target from many yards away, and whether civilians could accidentally set off a mine. The Claymores being used in the system have been around since the Vietnam War, and have traditionally been camouflaged and set off by a tripwire.

They sit above the ground and are meant to be picked up and removed after an operation is complete.

That's not easing activists' minds.

"It seems obvious that these remote-control anti-personnel mines, however carefully monitored, will present new dangers to innocent Iraqi civilians for years to come," the survivors' group says in a statement on its Web site.

Users of the system will be able to choose between blasting their enemies with Claymores, which spit out hundreds of steel balls propelled by plastic explosives, or with the M5 Modular Crowd Control Munition, a nonlethal take on the Claymore that sprays rubber balls instead of steel ones.

Activists' questions, about how soldiers will identify targets, and exactly how far away they can operate the system, have largely gone unanswered because the Army has released little information about Matrix.

"We don't know enough about how this thing operates to say whether this is a good or a bad idea," Hiznay said.

Representatives from the Pentagon and the Army's Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey, which developed Matrix along with contractors Alliant Techsystems Inc. of Edina, Minn., and Textron Systems of Wilmington, Mass., would not comment.

Alliant Techsystems spokesman Bryce Hallowell said, "We're very pleased with the rapid development and fielding of Matrix and look forward to its deployment in support of our troops." He would not comment further.

In a January statement e-mailed to reporters to announce the planned deployment of Matrix, Picatinny said the system was meant for "firebase security, landing zone security, remote offensive attack and both infrastructure and check point protection."

Military analyst John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org believes the system could be used to attack enemies who are encroaching on a base but are too far away to hit with sniper fire, which he says can only reach out about a mile.

"You can see much farther than that. If you wanted to set up a perimeter security so that the enemy could not sneak up and mortar you, you could do it by putting out a mess of these things," he said. "And then with motion detectors or something, if somebody's sneaking up on you, you can look up in their direction."

http://www.forbes.com/business/energy/feeds/ap/2005/04/11/ap1937960.html

Associated Press

Laptop-Triggered Mines Heading to Iraq

04.11.2005, 03:11 PM

U.S. troops in Iraq will soon be able to lace their defensive perimeters with a high-tech, multi-pronged version of one of the most effective weapons in their enemy's playbook: the remote-controlled bomb.

Twenty-five sets of mines, including M18 Claymores, and the laptops that trigger them over a wireless network are being rushed into the field after the system was successfully tested in September.

Activists who have campaigned to rid the world of land mines are worried about the Matrix system's potential for havoc.

Hiznay also worries that if need be, the smart land mines can be turned into plain old "dumb" anti-personnel mines.

The Landmine Survivors Network, based in Washington, D.C., and other activist groups have started a campaign asking supporters to write to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to voice their concerns.

They sit above the ground and are meant to be picked up and removed after an operation is complete.

That's not easing activists' minds.

"It seems obvious that these remote-control anti-personnel mines, however carefully monitored, will present new dangers to innocent Iraqi civilians for years to come," the landmine survivors' group says in a statement on its Web site.

Activists' questions - about how soldiers will identify targets, and exactly how far away they can operate the system - have largely gone unanswered because the Army has released little information about Matrix.

"We don't know enough about how this thing operates to say whether this is a good or a bad idea," Hiznay said.

"The system is user friendly and a soldier will require a minimal amount of training in order to safely employ and use the system," Army Maj. Joe Hitt, the Matrix project's leader, said in the prepared statement.

Military analyst John Pike of Globalsecurity.org believes the system could be used to attack enemies who are encroaching on a base but are too far away to hit with sniper fire, which he says can only reach out about a mile.

Added Pike: "If you've got 500 of these mines out there, trying to figure out which one you want to detonate, when the clock's ticking, well that could be a brain teaser." The Matrix system is an offshoot of a more ambitious smart-mine program called Spider that would incorporate other types of munitions. But Spider is not expected to be fielded for a few more years.

When Army officials saw what could be done with the Matrix system, they said, "This is good enough for right now. Let's get it fielded," Alliant's chief executive Daniel Murphy said in a conference call with Wall Street analysts in February.

He said the initial order is "not in excess of $10 million, I don't believe," but added: "I think they're both (Matrix and Spider) going to be deep programs over the long haul."

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first of all i think all the immigration laws should be repealed, and that everybody in the INS should be fired and the agency destroyed, and that anyone who wants to should be allowed to cross our borders. but considering that it is illegal for undocumented workers to come to this country i think it is insane that the cops arrest a guy who arrested the illegal. the problem here is out of control cops, not the guy who arrested the illegal immigrants.

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=39436

Mesan arrested in detaining of migrants

By Nick Martin, Tribune

A Mesa man was arrested Monday on suspicion of holding seven illegal immigrants at gunpoint.

Patrick Haab tried to arrest the illegal Mexican immigrants at an Interstate 8 rest area near Gila Bend about 11 p.m. Sunday, a Maricopa County sheriff’s spokesman said.

Haab asked another man at the rest area to help him hold the seven at gunpoint until officers arrived, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said.

The immigrants told deputies Haab threatened to shoot them and asked that charges be pressed against him, Arpaio said.

The man who helped Haab left before officials got there. Deputies were still looking for him.

"We should never take the law in our own hands. . . . How did this guy even know they’re illegals?" Arpaio said. "That’s dangerous, too."

Haab was arrested Monday morning and booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail in Phoenix on suspicion of seven counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Arpaio, who once served as a border official with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, could not say whether Haab was part of the Minuteman Project because Haab stopped answering questions.

The incident raised fears with one immigrants rights activist that citizen enforcement similar to the Minuteman Project could be spreading.

"I also understand the frustration that many people have with illegal

immigration," said Elias Bermudez, executive director of Centro de Ayuda in Phoenix. "But I believe taking the law into our own hands and causing hardship and fear on another human is immoral and unjust."

Bermudez worries that this may indicate citizen immigration enforcement could spread nationwide.

"Individuals who cross the border illegally are not only going to face death because of climate conditions," Bermudez said. "They are also facing death at the hands of vigilantes."

The Minuteman Project’s Web site says the group is dedicated to peaceful assembly at the border between Arizona and Mexico to bring awareness to the issue.

Contact Nick Martin by email, or phone (480) 898-6514

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dont the government goons have anything better to do then shake people down for this???

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0412cruelty12.html

2 arrested, 100 pets euthanized

Mark Shaffer

Republic Flagstaff Bureau

Apr. 12, 2005 12:00 AM

ASH FORK - In what's being called the worst case of animal abuse in Yavapai County, an Ash Fork-area couple have been arrested after more than 100 of their diseased and malnourished dogs and cats were euthanized over the weekend.

Terry R. Bane, 63, and Merry L. Bane, 47, were each charged with one count of animal cruelty Monday and are being held on $2,500 bond each in Yavapai County Jail in Prescott, said Scott Reed, a spokesman for the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.

Reed said that the Banes live on 40 acres in an undeveloped area about five miles southwest of Ash Fork. They had converted 10 mobile homes and camp trailers into kennels on the land and had neither running water nor septic service, Reed said.

"It was just like they were collecting, hording animals," Reed said. "They weren't breeding animals for sale or anything like that."

County animal-control workers had visited the Banes in recent months but "we received a citizen complaint that conditions recently had really deteriorated and went back out there Saturday," Reed said.

Officers found 121 animals in cages at the site, and a veterinarian determined that 108 had to be put to sleep, Reed said, adding that officers found dead cats in one of the trailers.

Only four dogs were determined to be healthy enough for adoption and were taken to shelters in Prescott, Reed said.

The property also was legally condemned after an inspection by county land use officials, Reed said.

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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0412nelovebug12.html

Erotic display is stripped from boutique's windows

Casey Newton

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 12, 2005 12:00 AM

SCOTTSDALE - The store windows of an erotic boutique downtown are newly sanitized, to the delight of some Scottsdale officials.

The Love Bug, 4225 N. Craftsman Court, recently took its most provocative merchandise out of the store's large exterior windows.

"We were happy to see the material removed," said John Little, director of the city's Downtown Group.

But the happiness could be short-lived, as owner Wendy Cashaback is working with a lawyer in hopes of restoring provocative merchandise to her exterior displays.

"I think it's probably going to end up going back in," Cashaback said.

At issue are the window displays, which until recently carried provocative merchandise emblazoned with profanity. Late last month, Scottsdale police told Cashaback she had to remove the offending merchandise or risk being charged with a felony.

"Everyone's entitled to their own opinion," Little said. But when you have a display of the nature that she did - that was clearly offensive, especially to minors."

But employees say the more provocative displays, which made frequent and creative use of the F word, were responsible for much of the store's success.

"That's what brought everyone in - it's our No. 1 seller," said the store's 21-year-old manager, who asked to be called by her middle name, Rochelle.

"My parents know that I work here," she explained, "But they don't know what we sell."

But while the displays attracted patrons from nearby bars, they also drew unwanted attention from a group of neighborhood activists who want them gone.

"How can you put this in a shop window in downtown? You've got to be kidding me," said Michael Merrill, one of the activists. "Morally, you shouldn't be placing advertisements like that for public display."

The Love Bug is undoubtedly risque. Offerings at the store include revealing lingerie, erotic DVDs and toys.

For Cashaback and her staff, the Love Bug is a respite from the old-fashioned stores that dominate much of downtown Scottsdale.

"People need to expand their conception of downtown Scottsdale," Cashaback said. "It's not all about turquoise jewelry stores. There's more to life."

She smiled mischievously.

"The Love Bug is the wild side of Scottsdale," said Cashaback, who is confident she ultimately will be able to restore her displays, no matter what her detractors have to say.

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this is all you have to do to be a reserve cop.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0412montini12.html

Why not turn vigilantes into real border agents?

Apr. 12, 2005 12:00 AM

Federal officials remain frustrated and confused over what to do about the untrained, unwanted Minutemen volunteers patrolling the Arizona-Mexico border, when the solution to the problem is obvious: Hire them.

Rather than risk having the vigilantes come into conflict with Border Patrol agents . . . make them Border Patrol agents. Not with a snap of the fingers. Not by presidential decree. But, if the men and women who traveled to Arizona from all over the country really wanted to serve, then a grateful nation should be able to figure out a way to put their generosity and patriotism to good use.

And there's already a model to follow. The federal government can do what cities all over Arizona already are doing. Minutemen could become Border Patrol agents in the exact same way that a lawyer named Scott Finical became a police officer and supervisor in the Phoenix Police Department.

"We get the exact same training as career officers," said Finical, who heads the department's reserve unit. Reserve police officers in Phoenix and many other Arizona cities are full-fledged cops who have full-time jobs outside the department. They take to the streets as unpaid volunteers and, according to a department spokesman, they are "indispensable."

"The course to become a reserve officer involves two semesters of training at Glendale Community College," Finical said. "It amounts to about 720 hours of training. The state requires 585. Candidates spend Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6 to 10 p.m. in classes. And they'll spend one weekend day doing defensive tactics, driving and firearms. It's identical to all of the state certified programs."

Those who can't serve in the military, and who don't want to volunteer at food banks or work for some other charity can find an outlet in law enforcement without being vigilantes.

"I've been at it for 21 years," Finical said. "It gives you a great sense of community. I know that, personally, I really feel good when I come home at night."

Finical oversees about 30 officers. The city would like to increase the number tenfold. Just about every department in the Valley has reserve officers. I asked Rob Daniels, a spokesman for the Border Patrol, if the federal government has a volunteer program like it.

"Not that I know of," he said. "Our academy is 19 weeks long and it is very involved in immigration law. It's very intense. Very tough."

Good. It's supposed to be tough. The training for reserve police officers is tough, too. In the end, however, what you end up with is the ideal volunteer, one who is committed and trained.

"I don't want there to be a distinguishing feature between our guys and career guys," Phoenix PD's Finical said. "They do what any other officer does. If our guys can't do all of the regular stuff, then they shouldn't be on the street."

Likewise, if folks roaming around the southern Arizona desert can't do the regular stuff, then they shouldn't be patrolling the border. Simply telling them that they aren't wanted isn't the answer, however.

For one thing, they should be wanted. There are 387 miles of border in Arizona alone. Agents arrested an average of 1,600 undocumented immigrants a day last year. U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner called Arizona "the weakest spot on our border."

Vigilantes aren't the answer. But just about any police chief will tell you that trained volunteers who are willing to do dangerous and dirty work just might be.

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8978.

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damn this article says the next pope will have to mix science with religion to get those nasty things out of the bible that dont conform to reality. if you ask me i would say they just have to get rid of the bible all together.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0412vatican-issues.html

Next pope likely won't see eye to eye with U.S. Catholics

Michael Clancy

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 12, 2005 12:00 AM

ROME - American Catholics hope the world's cardinals will keep them in their thoughts as they begin next week to choose Pope John Paul II's successor.

The American Catholic Church faces a priest shortage and continues to struggle with the ongoing sex abuse scandal. Its congregations are increasingly polarized by issues such as celibacy, the possibility of female clergy, and societal standards regarding divorce, birth control and abortion.

But these concerns don't necessarily mirror the Vatican's priorities for the worldwide church.

"The way things are seen and interpreted in the United States are not necessarily seen and interpreted the same way internationally," said the Rev. Bob Rossi, a member of the Crosier religious order who worked in Phoenix in the late 1970s. "The church takes in very diverse views from very diverse cultures. What we may see as inappropriate may not be seen that way in the Vatican or elsewhere."

As America struggles to keep a balance between adhering to church teachings and evolving societal norms and scientific advancement, Catholics in other countries cling to conservative views regarding marriage, politics and clergy.

Neither Africa nor Latin America, countries where the church is seeing explosive growth, is experiencing a priest shortage or problems with secularization, Rossi said.

Even the priest sex abuse scandal, which played out in Phoenix and other U.S. cities, might not resonate worldwide, he said, adding that he believes Pope John Paul II was attentive to the issue.

"The cardinals are aware that his successor will have to deal with issues of discipline and conduct of church ministers," Rossi said.

The issue took center stage in St. Peter's Square on Monday when members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests protested Cardinal Bernard Law's inclusion in a papal memorial service.

Law resigned as archbishop of Boston in December 2002 after unsealed court records revealed that he had moved predatory clergymen among parishes without alerting parents that their children were at risk.

He now serves as the archpriest at St. Mary Major, a key church in Rome.

His participation Monday sent a negative signal to the United States, said Barbara Blaine, a SNAP member who arrived in Rome hours before the service.

"It pierces the heart of many Catholics," she said as she handed out fliers in the square.

She did credit Pope John Paul II for his public statements on the matter, including telling American cardinals that there is no room in the priesthood for someone who hurts a child.

"We are hoping the new pope will put into action the words of John Paul II," she said. "The church has a long way to go."

The Vatican did not respond to the protest. The cardinals have taken vows of silence, meaning they will not voice opinions on any church issues.

Robert Blair Kaiser, a Phoenix resident who is in Rome writing a book titled The Making of a Pope, said the cardinals are mulling this and other issues that the new pope will need to address during discussions taking place "in the hallways and over dinner."

Kaiser, who has covered the Vatican since 1962, said cardinals will be concerned about the decline in the number of priests, as well as how new priests are being trained to avoid sexual abuse problems.

The cardinals also are likely to talk about science, the role of women and gays, the war in Iraq and the plight of migrants from poorer countries, especially Latin America.

Kaiser, who attended a Jesuit seminary but did not become a priest, said other important issues will be how the Vatican works with local churches.

One example of a problem affecting Phoenix and other Southwestern dioceses is how to work best with a large migrant population coming north from Latin America.

Kaiser said differences in the church around the world "are mainly cultural," so that local dioceses are best positioned to handle them.

"Collegiality is a major issue," he said. "This refers to democracy in the church, but more so, it means letting bishops be bishops and applying solutions in their own areas."

Phoenix resident Tom VanDyke, 53, said he hopes the new pope empowers local bishops to lead in the way they see fit compared with Pope John Paul II, who centralized authority in Rome.

He sees issues in the priesthood as key to the church's future, whether it's the shortage, the sex abuse scandal or the relationships of priests and lay people. But he's not optimistic.

"Having Cardinal Law celebrate the Eucharist today at St. Peter's is certainly an indication of how little they think of the rank-and-file Catholic," he said Monday.

Kaiser said he was uncertain how well America's 11 cardinals will represent American issues.

"We need American solutions that are still Catholic," Kaiser said. "But the only way to get these solutions is for the bishops to take the power to do so. They have not. The laity has the power, but they do not have the leadership."

Pope John Paul's position on America's hunger for more liberal stance was made clear in 2003 when he appointed Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted to lead the Phoenix Diocese. Olmsted was known for his conservative, orthodox ways and ability to confront aspects of American culture he views as anti-religious.

Rabbi Jack Bemporad, an American who has worked closely on interreligious affairs with the Vatican, said the church has been reasonably responsive to American concerns.

Bemporad, who heads an organization called the Center for Interreligious Understanding, said the church has been willing to make changes, especially in its outreach to other faith groups. He called Pope John Paul II's overtures to the Jewish faith "revolutionary."

Even in the realm of science, religious leaders say the church has been progressive in its support of research and scientific advancement as long as human dignity and respect for life is maintained.

But not all American Catholics hold the same view.

Dennis Kavanaugh, a Mesa attorney, said future Vatican leadership will need to respond more quickly to scientific and technological advances.

"The example of waiting 500 years to acknowledge that Galileo was not a heretic really does not hold up in today's society," he said.

He also hopes the new pope will revisit the issues of celibacy, the roles of women and the laity in general.

"To stay the course runs a great risk that in 10 to 15 years, our parish entities and programming will be dramatically different given the forecasted scarcity of clergy," he said.

Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald of England, who oversaw interfaith relations until he lost his job when the pope died, said a new pope will be concerned first with the welfare of the church worldwide, not just the United States.

"The questions (about the sex abuse scandal and other matters) will come up, but it will not be a pope's first concern."

<#==#>

want to report a meth lab. here is one the cops run - Another cubicle a few feet away contains a working methamphetamine lab where officers can see, smell and feel drugs being cooked up.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0413TerrorTraining13.html

Terror training hits the road

Officials learn to spot drugs, bomb

Joseph A. Reaves

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 13, 2005 12:00 AM

GLOBE - The state troopers, Border Patrol agent and agriculture inspector were pretty proud of themselves for finding the two rocket-propelled grenade launchers hidden beneath a stack of wooden pallets in a parked 18-wheeler outside the Gila County Fairgrounds on Tuesday morning.

So proud, in fact, they almost overlooked the fake nuclear bomb wedged into a secret compartment in the truck's floorboard.

Good thing this was all just a training session.

"Welcome to the post-9/11 world," said a grim-faced Travis Baxley, one of two dozen instructors leading Arizona's first-of-its-kind bioterrorism awareness school.

"Imagine what would happen if a real bomb like this ended up in Disneyland."

The training program, approved and funded by the Department of Homeland Security, drew 80 law enforcement officers and inspectors from across the state for three days of intensive, hands-on practice at sniffing out drug smugglers and potential terrorists.

"Hopefully, we'll never have to find a 'dirty' bomb like the one we have hidden here," said Joe David, 52, a former California Highway Patrol officer who originally founded his "Desert Snow" program 15 years ago to train officers to spot cocaine smugglers.

"But it would be wonderful to know we can find them if we have to."

Graduates of David's training sessions already have proved they can do that. Charlie Hanger, the state trooper who pulled Timothy McVeigh over and arrested him shortly after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, had just finished the Desert Snow course.

The three-day training session teaches state troopers, sheriff's deputies, Border Patrol agents, agriculture inspectors and transportation officials how to spot potential terrorists and smugglers on the highway.

Arizona, California and Florida are the only three states in the country with ports of entry conducting regular agricultural inspections.

Diane Parker, operations manager of the port of entry at San Simon, said she attended a Desert Snow school in Florida earlier this year and recommended the state Agriculture Department send its inspectors. Twenty-one inspectors were enrolled in the first session this week.

Last year, inspectors at Arizona's five major border crossings checked out 165,000 commercial trailers, an average of nearly 19 inspections per hour every hour of the day, seven days a week, all year-round. Each one of those vehicles has the potential to carry illegal drugs or weapons of terror.

Students sit through four hours of lectures, then spend the next 2 1/2 days rotating among 12 hands-on exercises.

A series of wooden cubicles in a dimly lit corner of the Gila County Fairgrounds exhibition hall simulates the 8-foot rental trailer that McVeigh used to haul the ammonium nitrate bomb that killed 168 people in Oklahoma City.

Another cubicle a few feet away contains a working methamphetamine lab where officers can see, smell and feel drugs being cooked up.

Five tractor-trailer rigs parked a few dozen yards apart each offer different training perspectives. One has the fake "dirty" bomb and rocket-propelled grenades. Others have drugs. Still another is used to point out the different markings and modifications that serve as telltale hints that something is amiss.

Sgt. Dan Alexander, a 24-year veteran of the Gila County Sheriff's Office, said he thought his Desert Snow training would help him stay on the heels of the bad guys.

"Since 9/11, it's all changed, and this training makes a world of difference," Alexander said. "I see my job as being the one to make sure those drugs and that truck bomb never get into Phoenix."

<#==#>

http://www.azcentral.com/news/columns/articles/0413roberts13.html

Legislators look to their spouses for special work

Apr. 13, 2005 12:00 AM

Pity poor J.D. Hayworth. He's a hard working guy who's just trying to make ends meet, hoping to have enough in the bank to feed his family and pay the bills while he serves his country and Arizona's 5th Congressional District.

Who knew it would be such a sacrifice?

So bad off is Hayworth, apparently, that he had to resort to desperate measures a few years ago. He had to put his wife to work.

Oh, the pain of it all.

Never mind that Hayworth and his cohorts in Congress earn easily more than 95 percent of the rest of us. Never mind that they get an automatic pay raise every year unless they vote not to accept it. Never mind that they have some of the best fringe benefits around or that every year they are one year closer to the world's best pension plan.

The fact is, $162,100 a year just doesn't stretch as far as it used to, and so Mary Hayworth had to go to work.

Fortunately, she found a pretty good job.

She's working for J.D. According to a story by Jon Kamman in Sunday's Republic, Mary Hayworth has earned at least $107,000 over the past five years running Hayworth's political action committee out of their north Scottsdale house.

Great work, if you can get it. And evidently, she had no trouble getting it.

Anybody with aspirations in Washington seems to have his own PAC. It's a great little setup. You form a "leadership PAC," then you stand aside as special interests, in this case Indian gambling interests, shovel money into it. Now, you've got a nice little nest egg you can tap to travel the country making speeches, support other candidates and even hire your relatives.

Hayworth isn't the only Arizona congressman to hire his own wife. Jeff Flake's wife, Cheryl, has gotten $27,000 for campaign work since January 2001, according to Federal Election Commission records. Her pay was $500 a month until this year, when suddenly it doubled. Good help, after all, is just so hard to find.

Larry Noble, executive director for the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, told me it's not unheard of for congressmen to hire their relatives, and it's legal. Sometimes, he said, they employ each other's spouses, to avoid the political heat.

Sort of a wife swap, Washington-style.

"It does raise problems," Noble said. "Any time you're going to hire a family member, especially a spouse, you have to be willing to explain exactly what he or she is doing and exactly why they get the salary they're getting."

Good questions. Unfortunately, Hayworth didn't call so we could discuss them. But his chief of staff, Joe Eule, did e-mail me, saying Hayworth's wife "is fully involved in every aspect" of the PAC, from raising funds and paying bills to organizing events and overseeing consultants.

"Mrs. Hayworth's annual salary has averaged in the low 20s, which is far less than the PAC would have to pay someone else for the same work," Eule wrote.

If she's doing all that, I wonder why the PAC also paid a treasurer $13,000 and another $69,000 to a political consultant. Still, whatever the job entails, Hayworth's wife must do it well because her pay has increased 56 percent since the 2001-2002 election cycle, according to FEC reports.

Who says Indian casinos don't pay off?

"It is enormously gratifying to have a spouse who is fully supportive of my political endeavors and involved in the day-to-day functions of our PAC," Hayworth wrote in an earlier e-mail to Kamman.

Gratifying and profitable, too. Which isn't so surprising when you consider the full name of Hayworth's T.E.A.M. PAC.

"Together Everyone Achieves More."

<#==#>

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0413detective13.html

Glendale fires police detective

Accused of botching 242 cases

Brent Whiting

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 13, 2005 12:00 AM

Glendale has fired a police detective accused of botching nearly 250 domestic-violence cases in a three-year span.

Brad Moore, 41, had been on paid leave since Feb. 3 when he was served with a formal notice of intent to end his employment.

Moore was fired Monday from the $55,000-a-year job and his name removed from the city payroll, Julie Frisoni, a Glendale spokeswoman, said Tuesday.

Moore, who has appealed the firing, could not be reached for comment. Nobody answered Tuesday when reporters knocked at his home.

In the notice of termination, Glendale accused Moore of dropping the ball in at least 242 misdemeanor domestic-violence cases since January 2002.

Officials said 158 cases have been scrapped because Moore filed reports falsely claiming the work had been completed. They said the cases cannot be reworked for prosecution because the one-year statute of limitations has expired.

That leaves 84 cases that remain viable but need to be reworked by other detectives to complete the job that Moore failed to do, the notice said.

Moore was hired in August 1985. He was fired just a few months short of a 20th anniversary that would have qualified him for a pension.

Reach the reporter at brent.whiting@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-6937.

<#==#>

brains are NOT required to work for the Secret Service or the Capital Police. in fact they are NOT allowed

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/11/national/main687351.shtml

Capitol Hill Suitcase Scare

WASHINGTON, April 11, 2005

Strange Capitol Standoff

(CBS/AP) In a bizarre incident outside the U.S. Capitol Monday afternoon, police snuck up on a man dressed in black who seemed unresponsive, except that he repeated a request to see the president.

The man, apparently of Chinese descent, stood in front of the Capitol with two large suitcases, CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports. The odd request and his black clothing triggered alarms, and soon the police had surrounded him with a SWAT team.

The man refused to say anything else to an officer who tried to talk with him, authorities said.

"He was not very responsive," said U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer. "The officer felt it was a possible suicide bomber."

The man was tackled by the SWAT team and charged with disobeying a police officer. A three-hour investigation of the suitcases, including blasting them with a water cannon, revealed nothing threatening, Gainer said.

Stewart reports that the man, who had been carrying two rolling suitcases, was injured by the squad. He was forcibly knocked forward and his face pushed against the cement. See video footage of the SWAT arrest.

His pieces of luggage were X-rayed one at a time, and then opened with explosive devices. What was found? Nothing more than dirty socks and other clothing, a CD player and a watch, among other personal belongings.

Officials refuse to identify the man involved other than to say he was 33 years old, from China and carrying no identification.

The midday incident — which occurred at the peak of the cherry blossoms in one of Washington's busiest tourist seasons — led police to evacuate the West Lawn.

The Senate side of the building was evacuated, reports CBS News Congressional Correspondent Bob Fuss. People on the House side were told to stay away from windows facing West and a large area around the Capitol also was cleared, including the area where tourists line up for tours.

By late afternoon, normal daytime activity had resumed at the Capitol.

An officer first saw the man standing near a fountain with a suitcase on either side of him, staring silently at the building around 12:40 p.m., Gainer said.

"He only would say at first that he wanted to speak to the president," the chief said.

Four officers crept up one of the walled pathways behind him. The man briefly turned and saw them as they crouched behind a wall. After he turned back to the building, they came over the wall. Two tackled him and dragged him away. A medic tended to what Gainer said were superficial injuries the man suffered when he was knocked down.

"He said that if we wanted to know what was in the suitcase, we would have to open it ourselves," Gainer said.

Some of the most powerful officials in Congress have offices on the west side of the Capitol, among them House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-04-12-suitcase_x.htm

Posted 4/12/2005 6:24 PM

Man arrested at Capitol to be deported

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who was tackled and detained at the Capitol on Monday is an Australian citizen and will be expelled for violating the terms of his visa, a federal immigration official said Tuesday.

U.S. Capitol police officers were concerned Wen Hao Zhao was a possible suicide bomber.

House Majority Whip's office

The man, Wen Hao Zhao, is a native of China who entered the U.S. legally Friday through Los Angeles International Airport, according to Dean Boyd, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security's immigration bureau.

U.S. Capitol Police officers knocked him down, detained him and blew open his luggage Monday after he stationed himself on the west plaza of the building, a suitcase on either side of him, and refused to speak or move.

The luggage contained a CD player, police said later.

The man was later transferred to the bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Boyd said. Zhao entered the country on an Australian passport under a waiver program that allows citizens of certain countries entrance without a visa, he said.

"The visa waiver program has a public safety provision," Boyd said. "We are moving to send him back to Australia for violating the conditions of his waiver."

<#==#>

the government wants to brag and call him a hero but they also refuse to tell us the detains about how he was died. the last time i checked the news said tillman was not a hero and was killed by his own men. this is a good example of how america has become a police state where the government refuses to tell us about what the government is doing

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0414tillman14.html

Tillman findings won't be revealed

Army is keeping 2nd report secret

Billy House

Republic Washington Bureau

Apr. 14, 2005 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON - The Army has completed its latest investigation into football star Pat Tillman's friendly-fire death while a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan but is refusing to make public the findings.

The new inquiry was launched in November after Tillman family members and others raised questions about why the Pentagon initially held back or even distorted some details of Tillman's death nearly a year ago on April 22, 2004.

"The investigation is done," said Lt. Col. Hans Bush, chief of public affairs for the Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., which conducted the new investigation. On Wednesday, he described the written report of the findings as "huge in the level of detail" but declined to elaborate.

Tillman's family got a briefing on the inquiry "only a couple of weeks ago," Bush said, adding that there was "a degree of satisfaction expressed by the family."

The aim of the investigation, he said, was to address concerns that have been raised about whether the Army held back some information about Tillman's death.

"And, really, the most important thing: What really did happen," he said.

Bush said he has been instructed by Army officials that there is "nothing" from the report that now can be publicly released.

He referred all other questions about the investigation to Paul Boyce of the Department of the Army's media relations unit. Boyce did not return telephone calls on Wednesday. His office referred questions to Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, an Army spokeswoman at the Pentagon.

"We are not going to release it," Hart said.

Tillman's parents, widow and other family members did not return telephone calls this week to discuss what they were told about the investigation's findings. But Patrick Tillman Sr., when asked whether it was true that the family was satisfied, responded on Wednesday: "No. And I don't want to talk about it."

Tillman, 27, had walked away from a lucrative contract extension offered by the Arizona Cardinals to join the Army in 2002.

To many people, his decision made him a symbol of patriotism.

But questions about whether the Army deliberately concealed details of Tillman's death emerged after the Pentagon acknowledged, five weeks after the fact, that he was not killed by Taliban and al-Qaida fighters on April 22 but by a section of his own Army Rangers platoon.

In fact, it was The Arizona Republic, not the military, that first informed Tillman's parents on May 28 that the Army had concluded that their son, who held the rank of Army specialist in the 75th Ranger Regiment, likely was killed by friendly fire.

Up to then, the public's understanding of what had happened to Tillman had been largely shaped by the Army's public news release on April 30 purportedly giving details of Tillman's death in southeastern Afghanistan.

That announcement made no mention of friendly fire. Rather, it announced that Tillman was posthumously receiving the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his actions and focused on how he was leading a team of Rangers up a hill to suppress enemy fire when he died.

Even after The Republic reported May 29 that he was killed by friendly fire, the Army continued to imply in a news release later that day that Tillman had been trying to suppress enemy fire when he was killed.

But according to other newspaper accounts since then, Afghan police and militia commanders and local residents in Afghanistan say that Army Rangers simply may have overreacted to an explosion, either a land mine or roadside bomb, leading to wild firing by Rangers that killed not just Tillman but also an Afghan militiaman.

One of those accounts, by the Washington Post, also revealed that Army commanders as early as April 30 already had taken at least 14 sworn statements from Tillman's own platoon members that made clear the true cause of his death.

Armed with a list of concerns and questions from Tillman's mother, Mary, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., met twice last fall with then-acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee.

Among the questions Mary wanted answered: Why did it take the Pentagon five weeks to acknowledge that her son was not killed by Taliban and al-Qaida fighters but by a section of his own Army Rangers platoon?

Last November, Brownlee ordered a new investigation into whether and why the Pentagon may have deliberately concealed such details.

In response, McCain said at the time: "I hope the outcome of this new investigation will finally provide a full and accurate account of the events surrounding this terrible tragedy and address the concerns of the family."

But McCain's office had little to say Wednesday about the investigation's completion.

"As a nation, we grieve for all loss of life in the line of duty. But out of respect for his family, we have no comment," said Andrea Jones, McCain's spokeswoman.

Though the Army refused to release the report this week, Bush, the spokesman for the Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, said requests for the report filed under the federal Freedom of Information Act will be weighed.

But what material eventually will be made public and to whom, when and how are decisions being made by Army officials based at the Pentagon, Bush said.

Those officials are in the process of redacting, or deleting, parts of the report for reasons of privacy or because they contain classified information, he said.

Reporter Dan Bickley contributed to this article.

<#==#>

all government rewrite their histories to cover up their crimes. its not only china and japan it is the usa. we rewrote our history to cover up the americans stealing the land and murdering of the indians.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0414china-history14.html

China rewriting history

Nation attacks Japan, but own books have omissions

Christopher Bodeen

Associated Press

Apr. 14, 2005 12:00 AM

SHANGHAI, China - Some things you won't find in Chinese history textbooks: the 1989 democracy movement, the millions who died in a famine caused by misguided communist policies or China's military attacks on India and Vietnam.

As China criticizes Japan for new textbooks that critics say minimize wartime abuses such as the Japanese military forcing Asian women into sexual slavery, Beijing's own schoolbooks have significant omissions about the communist system's own history and relations with its neighbors.

"With rising Chinese nationalism, the efforts to rewrite history, to reinterpret history according to the demands of nationalism have become a major national pastime," said Maochun Yu, a history professor at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

Experts say China's textbooks are written to heighten a sense of national victimhood and glorify the Communist Party that seized power in a 1949 revolution and lashes out at any threat to its rule.

The books describe those who died fighting Japan and other outsiders as having "gloriously sacrificed" themselves for China.

Propaganda paintings reproduced in schoolbooks show Chinese struggling against foreign invaders - poses imitated by protesters who threw rocks at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing over the weekend during violent anti-Japanese demonstrations in several Chinese cities.

An eighth-grade history book used in Shanghai, China's most cosmopolitan city, repeatedly refers to Japanese by an insulting phrase that roughly translates as "Jap bandits."

The book focuses on Japanese atrocities and repeats China's claim that 35 million Chinese died or were injured during their 1937-45 war.

"Wherever the Japanese army went, they burned, killed, stole and plundered," the book says. "There was no wickedness they didn't commit."

Omissions of major events appear aimed at shoring up China's image of itself as a non-aggressor, especially since the 1949 revolution.

The books don't mention the brief but bloody 1962 border war with India that broke out when Chinese troops attacked Indian positions to enforce territorial claims.

There is nothing on the 1979 war when Chinese troops attacked Vietnam. The assault was ordered to punish Hanoi for ousting the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, which was an ally of Beijing.

Also missing:

• The 1989 crackdown on democracy demonstrations, when Chinese troops killed hundreds and possibly thousands of unarmed protesters.

• The estimated 30 million Chinese who starved to death during the 1958-61 "Great Leap Forward," revolutionary leader Mao Zedong's attempt to speed up China's farm and factory output through mass collectivization.

Textbooks gloss over ally North Korea's invasion of South Korea at the start of the 1950-53 Korean War, a conflict that drew in troops from the United States and other countries on the side of the South and China's army in support of the North.

The texts say only that "civil war broke out," without mentioning how it started. America is portrayed as an invader that forced Beijing to intervene by threatening Chinese territory.

A seventh-grade text also accuses the U.S. military of using biological weapons during the Korean War, repeating a claim made by China, North Korea and the former Soviet Union during the Cold War but never proved.

While Japan's distortions of its history appear driven by a reluctance to accept shame, China's are aimed at preserving communist rule, said Sin-ming Shaw, a China scholar at Oxford University in England.

"Not owning up is a calculated political policy," Shaw said.

<#==#>

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0414vatican-abuse14.html

To the Vatican, U.S. priest sex scandal fading

Cases unlikely to sway voting

Michael Clancy

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 14, 2005 12:00 AM

ROME - From the Vatican's perspective, America's priest sex-abuse scandal has diminished, and all that remains is to regain the trust of the faithful and clear a backlog of cases that still await official review.

The scandal is not likely to play a big role when it comes to choosing Pope John Paul II's successor, said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Vatican expert and editor of the Catholic weekly magazine America.

"The abuse problem needs to be solved at home," he said. "It will not be solved at the Vatican. The Vatican did not move priests from parish to parish."

Vatican officials would not say how many cases, including some from the Phoenix Diocese, still need to be reviewed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, the Vatican agency responsible for clergy discipline. Nor would they release how many already had been reviewed.

"The congregation is trying to help American bishops to resolve this issue, diocese by diocese, so that they can say that they have no other abusers in the ministry," said the Rev. Augustine Di Noia, undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith and one of the higher-ranking Americans in the Vatican who is not a cardinal.

Di Noia said he could not defend decisions by bishops such as Thomas J. O'Brien, former head of the Phoenix Diocese who moved some reputed offenders from parish to parish. But he said that changes in canon law, the code of law that governs the church, put bishops in a difficult position.

Bishops' initial efforts to deal with offending priests were hampered by the belief that the solution was a therapeutic one, he said. That's because procedures and definitions regarding sin and crime were unclear in the older 1917 code. Religious leaders decided updates were needed in the 1960s, but a new code was not completed until 1983.

The Vatican formed a commission in 2001 to study the problem, Di Noia said, "just on the eve of the sky falling."

Vatican law now requires bishops to report all cases, and in many situations they ask for a dismissal of the priest from the church. But that decision is ultimately made by the pope.

Archbishop Michael Miller, an American who is secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, said priest training has evolved to identify potential sex offenders before they become ordained.

"We are concerned with full human formation, especially in moral areas," he said.

He said an "apostolic visit," which he likened to an accreditation visit that schools are familiar with, will take place this fall at the request of American bishops. The request was made during the height of the abuse scandal as U.S. bishops sought Vatican guidance about priestly formation.

The Rev. Steven Lopes, a priest from San Francisco, said the scandal has had significant effects on priests.

Vocations and morale have been affected. He remembered walking down a San Francisco street when a mother moved her child away from him.

But he said the scandal may result in a stronger priesthood, as candidates are more dedicated than ever.

Americans who are affected by the scandal said that despite the progress so far, more work needs to be done. Many complain that the Vatican still has not done enough to apologize for sexual abuse by priests, in the United States and around the world.

Paul Pfaffenberger, who leads the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in Arizona, said most abuse victims appreciated Pope John Paul II's condemnation of abuse, but he may not have been fully aware of the problem's scope.

Although American bishops have made efforts to quantify the issue, with its price tag approaching $1 billion and victim count past 1,000, the costs worldwide are unknown.

Cases have flared in Ireland, Austria and other parts of Europe, as well as Australia, the Philippines and a few Latin American countries. Pfaffenberger said little is known about court cases, compensation and abuse policies in other nations.

Reese said differences in legal systems from country to country affect perspectives on the abuse. Europeans, for example, do not have a system that enables the kinds of civil lawsuits that led the Tucson Diocese to file for bankruptcy protection.

In the United States, the escalating price tag for the abuse crisis has both directly and indirectly led to the closings of churches and schools.

<#==#>

defending yourself nowadays is a crime

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/4377529/detail.html

Police Await Autopsy On Golf Course Goose

Employee Suspended Without Pay

POSTED: 7:28 pm EDT April 13, 2005

UPDATED: 8:06 pm EDT April 13, 2005

A Farmington Hills parks and recreation employee may face charges in the shooting death of a Canada goose.

The worker allegedly shot and killed the goose last week at the Farmington Hills Golf Club and Driving Range after the animal harassed him, Local 4 reported.

Police Chief Reacts To Goose Shooting

"He did confess to the shooting. We did retrieve a .32-caliber semiautomatic weapon from his garage," said Farmington Hills Police Chief William Dwyer.

The animal's carcass was sent to Michigan State University, where a post-mortem analysis was ordered to be conducted by the Oakland County Prosecutor's office, the station reported.

"It has nothing to do with the possibility that there was any sort of disease," Dwyer said. "We have to be able to determine without a doubt that the weapon that was used was the weapon that we seized."

Criminal charges against the employee could range from reckless use of a firearm to cruelty to an animal.

"I know maybe (geese) are aggravating at times, but you can't take a weapon, shoot a weapon, endanger other people at the same time," Dwyer said.

Tests on the goose are due back by the end of this week. Prosecutors will review the results and determine what charges to press against the worker, the station reported.

The employee has been suspended with pay during the investigation.

http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw114267_20050412.htm

Farmington Hills parks worker accused of shooting goose

April 12, 2005, 6:10 AM

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- A municipal parks and recreation employee has been suspended with pay on suspicion of shooting a Canada goose after the aggressive bird harassed him.

The unidentified worker used a .32 caliber handgun to shoot the goose Saturday at Farmington Hills Golf Club and Driving Range, said City Manager Steve Brock.

Golfers notified authorities after hearing gunshots off the third hole. The worker, who has not been charged, has been interviewed by his supervisors and police, Brock told The Detroit News.

Criminal charges could range from reckless use of a firearm to cruelty to an animal. Police Chief William Dwyer said other city workers have reported being attacked by the goose that was shot.

------

Information from: The Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3197300

Farmington Hills parks worker accused of shooting goose

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. A Farmington Hills parks and recreation employee has been suspended with pay on suspicion of shooting a Canada goose after it harassed him.

An official says the worker used a .32 caliber handgun to shoot the goose Saturday at Farmington Hills Golf Club and Driving Range.

Golfers notified authorities after hearing gunshots off the third hole.

The worker hasn't been charged and has been interviewed by his supervisors and police.

Criminal charges could range from reckless use of a firearm to cruelty to an animal.

Police Chief William Dwyer said other city workers have reported being attacked by the goose that was shot.

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/041305/loc_20050413017.shtml

Man may face charge of killing goose

Web-posted Apr 13, 2005

By AL ELVIN

Of The Daily Oakland Press

A 49-year-old man who works as a municipal parks and recreation employee will likely face charges after police said he shot a Canada goose last weekend with a .32 caliber handgun.

The incident occurred Saturday shortly after 3 p.m. when authorities received reports of a man firing multiple shots at a goose near the Farmington Hills Golf Club and Driving Range, said Farmington Hills Police Chief William Dwyer.

"It wasn't on the course, but near it," Dwyer said. "There were people playing on the course, and they heard the first shot that was fired. They walked where they could see over the hill and saw a subject fire six or seven times with the handgun at the goose."

The incident actually took place on Interchange Drive, near the third hole of the golf course. Dwyer said the suspect claimed he had been attacked by the goose on several occasions but was not being threatened at the time he shot the bird.

"He indicated in his statement that he was struck by the goose four times while riding his motorcycle and said he was fearful of it," Dwyer added. "He had just gotten off work that day."

Authorities recovered the firearm at the suspect's home in Livonia, Dwyer said.

The Farmington Hills Police Department is working with the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office and charges are imminent in the next couple of days, Dwyer added, although he was not immediately sure exactly what the suspect will be charged with.

Possible charges include: killing of an animal, a four-year felony; and misdemeanors, such as reckless discharge of a firearm.

"It's a really serious matter," Dwyer said. "I've received phone calls from people who are outraged that someone would harm a protected animal like this."

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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0414thur1-14.html

Arrested development

Troubles in the Glendale Police Department are undermining the city's vitality

Apr. 14, 2005 12:00 AM

These are difficult days for the Glendale Police Department.

In the span of a week, a police chief on the job for just six months has resigned amid allegations of favoritism and gender discrimination, and a detective has been fired for botching nearly 250 domestic-violence cases.

On top of that, Mayor Elaine Scruggs worries that her city's relationship with other Valley law enforcement agencies was "ripped apart over the past year" because Glendale was not seen as "a team player . . . certainly not in homeland security."

Scruggs notes that Glendale needs to rebuild the "close cooperation and collaborative working relationship" it once had with other police departments. The city has 351 sworn police officers.

Glendale has a great deal going for it, particularly on the economic front with Cardinals Stadium under construction and the Westgate City Center - a collection of entertainment venues, restaurants, lofts and retail specialty shops - planned around the new Glendale Arena.

But police matters have short-circuited the positive vibes surrounding economic development in the state's fourth-largest city.

The incidents raise troubling questions on several fronts that City Manager Ed Beasley, the City Council and the acting police chief need to address to rebuild confidence in the department.

Among them:

• Is there a culture in the Police Department that leads to turning a blind eye to favoritism and discrimination? Though specific accusations against former Police Chief Andrew Kirkland of discrimination and creation of a hostile work environment were not substantiated, former Chief David Dobrotka resigned three years ago after a sexual-harassment complaint was lodged.

Beasley says any discrimination will be addressed by policies and procedures as well as training and by examples set by the command staff.

• Is there a lack of accountability or oversight in the Police Department and at City Hall? For example, Kirkland and a female police officer took several out-of-town trips to conferences together. On at least two of the trips, no documentation or receipts were provided as to where they went or the purpose. Some of Kirkland's expenses on a city credit card were never submitted to Beasley for approval.

An audit is under way, appropriately so.

• Was there sufficient due diligence in the hiring of Kirkland? Before his hiring as assistant police chief, Glendale officials were aware that Kirkland's name had surfaced at least twice during internal police investigations in Portland. He was cleared on both, but should more attention have been paid to the nature of the investigations? When Kirkland was hired as police chief, were the two weeks that Glendale allocated for a national search enough time for such an important position?

Glendale's acting police chief, Preston Becker, is the fourth leader in three years. He comes from inside the department and gets high marks.

The revolving door in Glendale's Police Department cannot help but give an anxious public pause. Job 1 for the new chief is to ensure public safety and begin restoring confidence in the department.

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a huge waste of tax money, and a witchhunt for the people arrested for these victimless crimes of having dirty pictures. dont the cops have any real criminals to hunt down.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0414exposed14-ON.html

Man admits leaving photos of genitals on cars

Senta Scarborough

The Arizona Republic

Apr. 14, 2005 11:22 AM

MESA - A 41-year-old man is behind bars today after he told police he left photos of his genitals on the vehicles of up to 100 women in the East Valley, officials said.

Police arrested Jeffery Howard Pritchert, of Mesa, on Tuesday on suspicion of public display of explicit sexual materials, public sexual indecency, possession of dangerous drugs and drug paraphernalia, Mesa police Sgt. Chuck Trapani said.

Mesa police have been investigating at least 30 reports of photos left on the cars of women since 1999. Trapani said Mesa is working with Chandler and Gilbert police on possible additional cases.

Mesa police got a break in the case when a man left DNA when he touched himself in front of women at two separate locations in November and December. The DNA from both samples matched and was placed into the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).

Last month, police got a match to the DNA linking the crimes to Pritchert.

Detectives began surveillance on Pritchert and said they saw him place a photo of his genitals on a woman's car Tuesday at 5:35 p.m. in a parking lot at Gilbert Road and McKellips Drive.

He is being held in a Maricopa County jail on an $18,000 bond, police said.

Anyone with information can contact police at (480) 644-2211.

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http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=39499

Scottsdale boutique censored

By Ryan Gabrielson, Tribune

The Love Bug has been squashed by the Scottsdale Police Department. The downtown lingerie boutique recently yanked its provocative clothing line from window displays after police said failure to remove the merchandise could result in a felony charge.

Owner Wendy Cashaback’s displays included shirts and panties emblazoned with profanities that describe sexual activity.

The clothes, which Cashaback said were displayed for a year largely without complaint, irked some Scottsdale activists who argued they were inappropriate for children.

"Expletives like that shouldn’t be in public," said George Knowlton, a city activist.

The city’s order violates her First Amendment right to free speech, Cashaback said. The store will fight to prove it does not violate the law by selling the clothes, she said.

Shortly after police showed up at her store in late March ordering removal of the clothes, Cashaback and her employees said they concealed the profanity with stickers. However, the city insisted the clothing had to be out of sight.

"I explained to them it’s all we’re selling," said Cashaback, reached in Las Vegas by telephone Tuesday.

Now the displays are hidden from the outside. Inside, the clothing line — all black with white lettering — covers half of The Love Bug. She said it would hurt her business not to advertise the clothes in the windows.

While erotic DVDs and sex toys are also sold in the store, a majority of the merchandise is club wear, belts and jewelry.

"I don’t see (the clothes) as sexually explicit material," Cashaback said, adding that the T-shirts and panties only feature words, not pictures.

Knowlton and other city activists disagree, pointing to a state law that bans public display of any depiction of sexual activity, even nudity. Violating the law is a class six felony, which could carry a one-year jail sentence and $150,000 fine.

When Knowlton first sent a letter to City Attorney Joseph Bertoldo decrying The Love Bug’s display earlier this year, he said Bertoldo argued it was a First Amendment issue outside Scottsdale’s purview.

That changed, Knowlton said, after activists presented them with the state law and increased their complaints.

Bertoldo could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

"That might have been the first reaction, but there was a state statute that was found," deputy city attorney Donna Bronski said. "There are always First Amendment overtones when you’re dealing with speech."

The prosecutor’s office was not involved in the investigation and has not taken any similar cases to court recently, Scottsdale city prosecutor Caren Close said. "Obviously they’re not frequent types of cases."

The clothing line, San Diego-based Sik World Productions, is no stranger to controversy. A few years ago the company produced a shirt that said, "(Expletive) Christmas," prompting threats against stores that sold them, said Jaysun Chall, the company’s owner.

"The protests came from Christian Coalition groups and even went so far as white supremacists groups," Chall said. Opponents asked why Sik World did not make shirts that made a similar statement about other holidays.

The company has stopped printing the shirt due to poor sales.

While they support the stores that carry Sik World clothing, Chall said the Love Bug should follow state law.

"We’re not here to challenge laws; we’re here to sell funny shirts," he said. "Yeah, I mean there’s kids on the street."

Contact Ryan Gabrielson by email, or phone (480) 970-2341

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AFGHAN_OPIUM_PROTEST?SITE=AZMES&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Thursday, April 14, 2005 Apr 14, 1:40 PM EDT

Afghan Opium Farmers Aim to Protect Crop

By NOOR KHAN Associated Press Writer

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghan farmers on Thursday challenged President Hamid Karzai's plans to destroy the world's largest narcotics industry, vowing to protect their opium crops from a U.S.-sponsored eradication campaign.

However, officials insisted they would press ahead with the crackdown despite warnings from critics that it could provoke a rural revolt. There were also suggestions that Taliban rebels were trying to disrupt the campaign.

The eradication program was suspended on its first day Tuesday when police sent to destroy opium poppy fields in southern Kandahar province opened fire on rock-throwing protesters. At least seven people were hurt, though officials denied reports of fatalities.

On Thursday, Kandahar Gov. Gul Agha Sherzai said crisis talks with officials and elders from Maywand, the area 50 miles west of Kandahar city where the clash took place, had cleared the way for eradication to resume in the next few days.

A delegation of six tribal leaders declined to talk to an Associated Press reporter as they left Sherzai's office.

But others who had accompanied them to the city said they would be ruined if they lost their crops and claimed they had seen no sign of government aid promised to soften the blow.

Attaullah, a bearded father of 11 from a village called Shahri Karez, said he was among villagers who pleaded with police escorting tractors toward their poppy fields Tuesday.

"We said we were poor, that we had borrowed money for the diesel just to irrigate the fields," Attaullah told an AP reporter in the governor's garden.

Attaullah claimed foreigners - apparently members of a U.S. security firm that trained the eradication force accompanying the Afghan police - opened fire after protesters starting throwing stones. He claimed three men had died and resistance had hardened.

"We have decided we won't let them eradicate our poppy," he said. "That's our collective and final decision. We have nothing else to lose."

Karzai has called for a "holy war" on drugs after Afghanistan's share of the market for opium, the raw material for heroin, leapt to 87 percent last year, sparking warnings that it is fast turning into a "narco-state."

Countries including the United States, Britain and France are training police units to destroy poppy fields, smash drug labs and arrest smugglers, while providing hundreds of millions of dollars to help farmers switch to legal crops.

But it is expected to take years to replace a crop that has powered Afghanistan's post-Taliban revival and provided a lifeline to war-impoverished rural communities.

Sherzai told reporters Thursday that officials had placated the Maywand elders by reassuring them they had been singled out in the eradication campaign and promising to deliver aid projects in their villages.

"We have told them eradication will soon start in six districts in the province," Sherzai said, pledging that local leaders would be consulted in advance. "This time we have convinced them."

However, the head of the eradication force, Gen. Mohammed Zaher, suggested Taliban agitators were behind the protest - an allegation often followed in Afghanistan by punitive security operations.

Zaher claimed a Taliban commander called Mullah Ibrahim and a group of 20 fighters were seen in Maywand earlier in the week.

"They want to create problems for the eradication program," he said.

Sardar Mohammed, another Maywand farmer, suggested the local population will be problem enough.

"If they destroy my poppies, I will throw my children into the river," he said. "If they bring the tractors, I will lie down in front of them. They will have to kill me to get into my field."

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