Two Miami-Dade (FL) businessmen pleaded guilty of conspiracy to bribe foreign government officials and money laundeing, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The two Miami men went before U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez in Miami.
For the full press release, please check: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/May/09-crm-476.html.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Reward Offered for Information on Burglary of FBI Vehicle
DISCLAIMER: The following post was cut-and-paste from the FBI's site and can be found at: http://memphis.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel09/me051509.htm. Anyone with any information on this is urged to contact the numbers at the end of the post.
"The FBI is offering a reward of $5,000.00 for information leading to the return of stolen property and the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the theft. In the early morning hours of Wednesday May 13, 2009, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employee's official vehicle was burglarized in a north Jackson subdivision. Two other vehicles in the same subdivision were burglarized at the same time. Among the items stolen were a Colt M-4 Semi-automatic tactical rifle (black with collapsible stock), a Remington 12-gauge law enforcement model pump shotgun (black with short barrel), and a blue ballistic vest with the letters "FBI" printed in yellow on the front and back of the vest. There is no information to suggest anyone plans to use the equipment to pose or impersonate an FBI agent; however, in an abundance of caution and with public safety in mind, it is necessary to inform the public about the theft.
"We understand the seriousness of those weapons in untrained hands," said Special Agent in Charge (SAC) My Harrison, of the FBI's Memphis Division. SAC Harrison adds "We have committed significant resources and have been working on this theft since it occurred. We are doing everything possible to identify those responsible and recover our property." All Special Agents of the FBI carry identification credentials bearing a photograph and signature of the employee, as well as a badge identifying themselves as an FBI agent.
Officers and detectives from the Jackson Police Department (JPD) and the Madison County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) have also been involved in this investigation. JPD Chief Rick Staples and Sheriff David Woolfork have committed significant resources to this matter.
Anyone with information about these thefts should immediately contact JPD and MCSO through Crime Stoppers, which offers an additional $1,000 for information leading to an arrest, at (731) 424-8477 or the FBI at (731) 668-9578 or (901) 747-4300.
For additional information contact Supervisory Senior Resident Agent A. Todd McCall in the Jackson FBI Office at (731) 668-9578."
DISCLAIMER: The above was cut-and-pasted from an FBI press release. Anyone with info should contact the above phone numbers.
"The FBI is offering a reward of $5,000.00 for information leading to the return of stolen property and the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the theft. In the early morning hours of Wednesday May 13, 2009, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) employee's official vehicle was burglarized in a north Jackson subdivision. Two other vehicles in the same subdivision were burglarized at the same time. Among the items stolen were a Colt M-4 Semi-automatic tactical rifle (black with collapsible stock), a Remington 12-gauge law enforcement model pump shotgun (black with short barrel), and a blue ballistic vest with the letters "FBI" printed in yellow on the front and back of the vest. There is no information to suggest anyone plans to use the equipment to pose or impersonate an FBI agent; however, in an abundance of caution and with public safety in mind, it is necessary to inform the public about the theft.
"We understand the seriousness of those weapons in untrained hands," said Special Agent in Charge (SAC) My Harrison, of the FBI's Memphis Division. SAC Harrison adds "We have committed significant resources and have been working on this theft since it occurred. We are doing everything possible to identify those responsible and recover our property." All Special Agents of the FBI carry identification credentials bearing a photograph and signature of the employee, as well as a badge identifying themselves as an FBI agent.
Officers and detectives from the Jackson Police Department (JPD) and the Madison County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) have also been involved in this investigation. JPD Chief Rick Staples and Sheriff David Woolfork have committed significant resources to this matter.
Anyone with information about these thefts should immediately contact JPD and MCSO through Crime Stoppers, which offers an additional $1,000 for information leading to an arrest, at (731) 424-8477 or the FBI at (731) 668-9578 or (901) 747-4300.
For additional information contact Supervisory Senior Resident Agent A. Todd McCall in the Jackson FBI Office at (731) 668-9578."
DISCLAIMER: The above was cut-and-pasted from an FBI press release. Anyone with info should contact the above phone numbers.
Operation Cross Country
Chalk one up for the feds.
According to Neal Schiff of Inside the FBI, "The FBI and local and state police agencies around the country are working hard to crack down on child prostitution. Cross Country is what the operation is called." (http://www.fbi.gov/inside/inside.htm)
Rob King, an FBI Special Agent assigned to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia, said that the Bureau has conducted three Operation Cross Countries since 2008.
The FBI, along with state and local police departments, has used Operation Cross Country to both help underage prostitutes escape prostitution and arrest the pimps responsible.
To read more, check: http://www.fbi.gov/inside/inside.htm.
According to Neal Schiff of Inside the FBI, "The FBI and local and state police agencies around the country are working hard to crack down on child prostitution. Cross Country is what the operation is called." (http://www.fbi.gov/inside/inside.htm)
Rob King, an FBI Special Agent assigned to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia, said that the Bureau has conducted three Operation Cross Countries since 2008.
The FBI, along with state and local police departments, has used Operation Cross Country to both help underage prostitutes escape prostitution and arrest the pimps responsible.
To read more, check: http://www.fbi.gov/inside/inside.htm.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Protecting Our Children
In the United States, most of us pride ourselves in how we care for our children. Most of us make sure they go to school, do their homework, go to the doctor's when they're sick, make sure they have their vaccinations, keep them safe from any number of things. We even have laws to keep our children safe, upgrading these laws as we see fit: laws to make sure that we keep them in car seats, keep them seat-belted in when they've outgrown their car seats, laws to require pedophiles and other sex offenders register with local police and maintain a certain distance away from schools. In a perfect world, we wouldn't need such laws, but this isn't a perfect world, even in the United States.
But as imperfect as the U.S. is, our children, for the most part, are luckier than those in other places. Yes, there are children in the U.S. born into poverty, those who are abused or neglected for a variety of reasons, those who need that "entire village" to protect them when their parents or guardians don't. That is a story for another day.
In the winter, 2009 issue of Ms. Magazine is an article about a brave girl in Yemn. The article Too Young to Marry by Allison Ford begins, "In April of 2008, 10-year old Nujood Ali walked into a courthouse and demanded a divorce. Raised in poverty in Yemen, she had been forced into marriage with a stranger by her father. Although she claimed that her 30-year-old husband beat and sexually abused her, her family refused to intervene (Ms. Magazine, winter 2009, p. 30)."
Yes, you read correctly. She was 10, her husband, 30. The article goes on to state that in Africa and South Asia, "42 percent and 48 percent (respectively) of girls are married before age 18. In especially poor countries such as Yemen, it is not unusual for girls to wed even before reaching puberty."
On May 1, 2009, the St. Petersburg (FL) Times carried an Associated Press article about a girl in Saudi Arabia. The article ("Girl, 8, divorces man, 50") states that "her father forced her to marry him in August in exchange for $13,000." According to the article, "there are no laws in Saudi Arabia deining the minimum age for marriage."
The same article, with added information, was published the same day in The Boston Globe. The Globe article (byline: Hadeel Al-Shalchi of the Associated Press) states, "The marriage was not the only one in the kingdom to receive attention. Saudi newspapers have higlighted several cases in which girls were married off including a 15-year-old girl whole father, a death-row inmate, married her off to a cell mate." http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2009/05/01/8_year_old_saudi_girl_granted_a_divorce/
Excuse me, but does anyone else find this especially disturbing? One can say, "But that's their culture," to which I ask, "What if that was your child? What if that child was you?"
Yes, we need to continue to protect our children. But when children around the world are treated the way these articles show, what kind of children will they raise? How can you raise a civilized child when you have been treated this way? How will it affect future generations? How will it affect the world?
How will affect you?
But as imperfect as the U.S. is, our children, for the most part, are luckier than those in other places. Yes, there are children in the U.S. born into poverty, those who are abused or neglected for a variety of reasons, those who need that "entire village" to protect them when their parents or guardians don't. That is a story for another day.
In the winter, 2009 issue of Ms. Magazine is an article about a brave girl in Yemn. The article Too Young to Marry by Allison Ford begins, "In April of 2008, 10-year old Nujood Ali walked into a courthouse and demanded a divorce. Raised in poverty in Yemen, she had been forced into marriage with a stranger by her father. Although she claimed that her 30-year-old husband beat and sexually abused her, her family refused to intervene (Ms. Magazine, winter 2009, p. 30)."
Yes, you read correctly. She was 10, her husband, 30. The article goes on to state that in Africa and South Asia, "42 percent and 48 percent (respectively) of girls are married before age 18. In especially poor countries such as Yemen, it is not unusual for girls to wed even before reaching puberty."
On May 1, 2009, the St. Petersburg (FL) Times carried an Associated Press article about a girl in Saudi Arabia. The article ("Girl, 8, divorces man, 50") states that "her father forced her to marry him in August in exchange for $13,000." According to the article, "there are no laws in Saudi Arabia deining the minimum age for marriage."
The same article, with added information, was published the same day in The Boston Globe. The Globe article (byline: Hadeel Al-Shalchi of the Associated Press) states, "The marriage was not the only one in the kingdom to receive attention. Saudi newspapers have higlighted several cases in which girls were married off including a 15-year-old girl whole father, a death-row inmate, married her off to a cell mate." http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2009/05/01/8_year_old_saudi_girl_granted_a_divorce/
Excuse me, but does anyone else find this especially disturbing? One can say, "But that's their culture," to which I ask, "What if that was your child? What if that child was you?"
Yes, we need to continue to protect our children. But when children around the world are treated the way these articles show, what kind of children will they raise? How can you raise a civilized child when you have been treated this way? How will it affect future generations? How will it affect the world?
How will affect you?
Monday, April 20, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Health Care Crisis
According to an Associated Press report published on BayNews9's website , "The number of uninsured has grown to an estimated 50 million people because of the recession. Even so, advocates in the halls of Congress are rarely the uninsured themselves (No strength in numbers for America's uninsured, by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar; http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2009/4/11/459319.html)."
Washington has been talking about health care reform for years. Members of Congress have health care. Meanwhile, the number of people in the United States who lack health insurance and/or basic health care is growing.
Many uninsured are faced with having to use hospital emergency rooms as their health care provider. This does several things, including tying up emergency room resources for non-emergency health care. For those who don't go to the emergency room for every cough or sneeze but who lack the resources for basic health care, the lack of insurance has the potential to cost lives. This includes death from preventable diseases: many forms of cancer, if caught in their earliest stages, are curable; flu shots can save not only the very young, the elderly, and the infirm, but those who care for them.
At some time or another, most of us have felt that "I'm only one person; what difference can I make?" According to Harry Glenn, Congressman C. W. "Bill" Young's press secretary, the average person--you and I--can make a difference. "Call or write to your representatives in Washington." Last fall, Mr. Glenn relayed in a phone interview that Rep. Young has fought hard for several bills to help Florida's citizens simply because members of his constituency called or wrote about a pressing issue.
Health care reform is one of those pressing issues. If you currently have health insurance, fantastic. If it's a full-bells-and-whistles plan, so much the better. But let's imagine for a moment if you were to lose your job and your health insurance. Many Americans don't have to image that. I'm not talking about the ne'er-do-wells who feel that the world owes them everything simply because they were born. I'm talking about working class people whose dream in life is to be able to support their family and take care of the business of life. Without health care, that can be difficult.
What each of us needs to do is contact our Representatives in Congress and our Senators. Ask that if they have not yet signed on the Health Care for America Now Statement, to please do so. Ask that they support health care reform in 2009 and beyond. If the 435 members of Congress and 100 members of the Senate were suddenly without health care, a health care package would most likely be considered a top priority. Fifty million Americans without health insurance deserve the same.
Washington has been talking about health care reform for years. Members of Congress have health care. Meanwhile, the number of people in the United States who lack health insurance and/or basic health care is growing.
Many uninsured are faced with having to use hospital emergency rooms as their health care provider. This does several things, including tying up emergency room resources for non-emergency health care. For those who don't go to the emergency room for every cough or sneeze but who lack the resources for basic health care, the lack of insurance has the potential to cost lives. This includes death from preventable diseases: many forms of cancer, if caught in their earliest stages, are curable; flu shots can save not only the very young, the elderly, and the infirm, but those who care for them.
At some time or another, most of us have felt that "I'm only one person; what difference can I make?" According to Harry Glenn, Congressman C. W. "Bill" Young's press secretary, the average person--you and I--can make a difference. "Call or write to your representatives in Washington." Last fall, Mr. Glenn relayed in a phone interview that Rep. Young has fought hard for several bills to help Florida's citizens simply because members of his constituency called or wrote about a pressing issue.
Health care reform is one of those pressing issues. If you currently have health insurance, fantastic. If it's a full-bells-and-whistles plan, so much the better. But let's imagine for a moment if you were to lose your job and your health insurance. Many Americans don't have to image that. I'm not talking about the ne'er-do-wells who feel that the world owes them everything simply because they were born. I'm talking about working class people whose dream in life is to be able to support their family and take care of the business of life. Without health care, that can be difficult.
What each of us needs to do is contact our Representatives in Congress and our Senators. Ask that if they have not yet signed on the Health Care for America Now Statement, to please do so. Ask that they support health care reform in 2009 and beyond. If the 435 members of Congress and 100 members of the Senate were suddenly without health care, a health care package would most likely be considered a top priority. Fifty million Americans without health insurance deserve the same.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
In Praise of "Give Me a Break"
I have The Today Show on. I have it on most mornings. Love it (mostly), get annoyed (only occasionally).
This morning, Dr. Laura Schlessinger was on, talking with Meredith Viera, promoting her book In Praise of Stay-At-Home Moms and I shot 'way past annoyed.
First, let me clarify something: I'm a Democrat, a liberal Democrat and (gasp!) a feminist. There, I said it. So let's say Dr. Laura is not on my A-list of "Wonderful people I'd love to meet."
During the interview, Dr. Laura mentioned that women should stay at home and not work, or if we do work, it should be after our children are in school and preferrably during school hours or after they're in bed and our husbands can watch the little ones. Great. Let's bring back Ozzie and Harriet.
Then she really got down and dirty. When Meredith asked how the econonmy played into this, Dr. Laura stated that now, with daycare centers closing down and jobs being lost, we can all have more time with our children and show them that we'll get through this. This was with an undercurrent of, "Lost your job? Your husband's lost his? You're about to lose your house? Don't look for work...run into the kitchen and bake cookies with the kiddies and then get all warm and cozy with them...yada, yada, yada." Barf is more like it.
I'm sorry, Dr. Laura, but here's the deal. Nobody asks fathers how they juggle work and family. And nobody should ask mothers that, either. Help each other out, yes. But many of us want to work and have children. Many of us have to work. In the tough economy, we need real answers, not fairy tales.
Dr. Laura, take two aspirin, don't call me in the morning. Oh, and get a grip...and a clue.
This morning, Dr. Laura Schlessinger was on, talking with Meredith Viera, promoting her book In Praise of Stay-At-Home Moms and I shot 'way past annoyed.
First, let me clarify something: I'm a Democrat, a liberal Democrat and (gasp!) a feminist. There, I said it. So let's say Dr. Laura is not on my A-list of "Wonderful people I'd love to meet."
During the interview, Dr. Laura mentioned that women should stay at home and not work, or if we do work, it should be after our children are in school and preferrably during school hours or after they're in bed and our husbands can watch the little ones. Great. Let's bring back Ozzie and Harriet.
Then she really got down and dirty. When Meredith asked how the econonmy played into this, Dr. Laura stated that now, with daycare centers closing down and jobs being lost, we can all have more time with our children and show them that we'll get through this. This was with an undercurrent of, "Lost your job? Your husband's lost his? You're about to lose your house? Don't look for work...run into the kitchen and bake cookies with the kiddies and then get all warm and cozy with them...yada, yada, yada." Barf is more like it.
I'm sorry, Dr. Laura, but here's the deal. Nobody asks fathers how they juggle work and family. And nobody should ask mothers that, either. Help each other out, yes. But many of us want to work and have children. Many of us have to work. In the tough economy, we need real answers, not fairy tales.
Dr. Laura, take two aspirin, don't call me in the morning. Oh, and get a grip...and a clue.
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