The Only Way to Stop Terrorism is to be UNITED!

I was listening to talk radio today and the right wing shock jock was going on and on about the terrorist on Northwest Flight 253. He blamed the Obama administration and Janet Napolitano in particular for this latest threat. He said Homeland Security needed to start racially profiling terrorists and stop picking on grandma at the airport. He said we needed to stop being so "PC" and have airport security zero in on those that look like terrorists.

I had read a little about the terrorist the day before, mostly because I wanted to read more about the hero who bravely stopped the terrorist and burned himself severely while he took the terrorist down.

Today, as I read about Flight 253, my mind was boggled! How on earth are we going to stop the terrorists?
We have troops in Iraq. We have troops in Afghanistan. Bin Laden is supposedly hidden in the hills and caves along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. We hear most of the actual terrorists are in Afghanistan and Pakistan and we should have never taken that left turn to Iraq because we are wasting our resources and making more enemies. Now, we are hearing that the latest terrorists are being trained in Yemen. Two of the Al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen were prisoners Bush released in 2007 from Guantanamo. According to ABC news: "American officials agreed to send the two terrorists from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia where they entered into an "art therapy rehabilitation program" and were set free, according to U.S. and Saudi officials."

This latest terrorist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, is not your typical terrorist. He looks like a young Eddie Murphy. He is Nigerian and comes from a very wealthy family. He was educated abroad, including studying mechanical engineering in London graduating in 2008. He was to continue his education but instead abandoned his plans and moved to Yemen. His family became worried about him. They said he was changed.. brainwashed. About 2 months ago, they reported him to the Nigerian security agency and other agencies to gain their assistance in returning him home.

The terrorist boarded his flight in Kenya, carrying only a small bag; then stopped in The Netherlands, then on to Detroit. (this was NOT in the U.S.--- the security was in Nigeria and The Netherlands) One of the passengers of Flight 253 relates his experience with airport security in The Netherlands, "At Amsterdam we went through security, and what seemed like the time was good security. At the gate everyone was interviewed by a team of around 10 personal screeners, who asked us a battery of questions in quick succession. This was something I had only experienced at Tel Aviv airports and it came as quite a surprise, but one that I welcomed. After personal screening we passed through metal detectors and a baggage X-ray. Even though I had all the change out of my pockets, cell phones, and belt removed I still set off the detector (perhaps the rivets in my jeans). As soon as that happened I was frisked so thoroughly by the young Dutch security guard that I began to wonder if he was enjoying himself. Later on when I read the news reports I realized that if Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab had the explosives stashed in his underwear, even if he had been thoroughly frisked the only way the guard would have noticed anything is if he literally put his hands down the guy's pants, and searched his groin."
I have to agree with the Flight 253 passenger. ABCNews provided this picture of the bomb that the terrorist was carrying. It was small, not much larger than a tampon. The lower picture shows the PETN explosive. It's just a powder. The tragedy was averted because the detonator, acid in a syringe, didn't work. There was no metal. Merely powder and plastic, again, the size of a plastic tampon. Officials indicated this tiny bit of powder was more than sufficient to blow a hole in the plane. There was no way for anyone to find this small amount of powder in his underwear unless they made him do a complete strip search, and once his underwear was off, tear apart the underwear. Women wear much larger pads just in the course of their monthly cycles.

What boggles my mind is, this young man came from a very wealthy family. He had the world at his fingertips. He was educated in one of the best schools in the world, in London. He never suffered anything. His family was utterly shocked by the immediate change in him. He was willing to die for this new cause he was "brainwashed" into believing.

What is becoming abundantly clear is, we are NOT going to stop any terrorists if we are not UNITED in our fight against them. I go back and think of that right wing shock jock promoting racial profiling of all Muslims or anyone he thinks "fits the profile." He blames Obama. He blames Napolitano. He keeps pointing his fingers back at our own people. We cannot blame ourselves. We need to unite with each other and try to understand what each of us should do to help each other and stop the insanity of terrorism.
Here are the questions we should be asking ourselves:
1. How do we stop the Brainwashing?
2. How do we stop people who are willing to kill themselves for their cause?
3. How do we UNITE and help Homeland Security/our Country?

Racial Profiling Sheriff Arpaio Says: ICE "Just Don't Want Me Anymore!"

Preliminary reports indicate Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have chosen not to renew their federal immigration arrest authority agreement (287(g) with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpiao indicated he will no longer be able to complete his "suppression sweeps" however he continues to maintain his authority over the jails. Apraio said of the changes, "this (ICE agreement) just includes the jail, and deep down, I feel that I ought to take it and rip it all up," Arpaio said. Federal officials also refused to comment further.

Under the new agreement deputies and detention officers could continue screening individuals once they are booked into the Maricopa County jail, but federal authorities had not offered to allow Arpaio's street-level "suppression sweeps" to continue. The Racial Profiling Sheriff said in a radio interview last night: "They (ICE) just don't want me, I'm the poster boy," snarled Arpaio. "I say, `they,' that's the Obama administration, the White House, certain members of congress, certain politicians here, [DHS honcho Janet] Napolitano, don't want me enforcing the 287 federal immigration laws on the streets. So they came down here last week. I shocked them by signing both parts of that agreement, on the streets and in the jails. They sent their top guy down the next day -- he took away my street operations and stuck us with the jails."

Without an agreement that authorizes immigration "suppression sweeps" screenings on the street, deputies will need probable cause to detain a suspected illegal immigrant until federal agents can determine the suspect's immigration status.

"He's not going to be able to arrest people for those kind of routine civil-immigration violations," said Alessandra Soler Meetze, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Arizona. The news was met with cautious optimism at the ACLU, which is working with plaintiffs in two lawsuits that accuse Arpaio's deputies of racial profiling in the normal course of their duties and in the "crime-suppression operations" the Sheriff's Office has conducted during the past 18 months.

A Republic analysis of arrest records from 10 of the sheriff's crime-suppression operations showed that MORE THAN HALF of the illegal immigrants arrested during the sweeps were held on federal immigration violations and hadn't committed another crime. During a crime-suppression operation in Chandler this summer, ICE agents told sheriff's deputies that they could not arrest suspected illegal immigrants who met that criteria and instead had to free them after giving them a "notice to appear" at ICE for processing.
References:
Sheriff Arpaio may lose some immigration authority
arpaio defiant on 287(g)

This New Swine Flu Reminds Me of Reye's Syndrome of the Past! Please Take Early Prevention Measures!

When my oldest son was a baby, there was a terrible flu-virus like disease going around. It attacked little children and old people. They called it Reye's syndrome. This was primarily a good old American disease although it occurred in other places too. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, studies in Ohio, Michigan and Arizona pointed to the use of aspirin during an upper respiratory tract or chickenpox infection as a possible trigger of the syndrome. The CDC cautioned doctors and parents about the association between Reye’s syndrome and the use of aspirin in children and teenagers with chickenpox or viruslike illnesses. Like other parents, I was very cautious about this disease and stopped using baby aspirin completely. As careful as I was, my son still developed the flu in 1980 and it lingered. He became sicker. This was over a weekend so I took him to the emergency room twice. Both times they sent me away saying I was over protective. I was so insistent however that on my final trip they finally gave him an antibiotic shot and provided me suppositorities to keep his temperature down overnight and they also said I should take him to his pediatrician in the morning. We sat up all night giving him cold baths and the suppository to keep his temperature down. When we walked into the Pediatrician's office, he knew right away. My son had Meningitis, NOT Reye's Syndrome. My son stayed in the hospital for two weeks to recieve his full treatment. The doctors said it was lucky he received the shot and suppository the 1st night and the cold baths. This precaution prevented him from developing brain damage and death. Though it took two weeks for his complete recovery, my baby was saved!

I share this with you because there is a new flu-virus that may become a pandemic and we should all be on the alert for our family's sake. Please take every precaution. This flu is called the swine flu. It has hit Mexico and they currently have a death toll of 149. CDC / News reports indicate this is a particularly severe version of the flu. This version not only impacts children and the elderly, but many of the early victims were young adults and some adults from 25 - 37. Adults who were in good health and strong. This flu is following the same pattern that emerged during the 1918-1919 Spanish influenza epidemic, which killed at least 50 million people, and it remains unexplained in that case as well. One theory is that the virus triggers an excessively aggressive immune response that destroys the throat and lung tissue.

Researchers are saying that one reason people have died in Mexico as opposed to the U.S. (which has had several cases but no fatalities) is that similar to Reye's syndrome, it is NOT the flu that kills you, it is the After-Flu "super-infection" that kills you. This is a new virus that no one has seen before. It must be taken seriously and treated immediately. In Mexico, apparently the early victims did not address their illnesses quickly enough.

However, this has changed. The entire nation has made solving this crisis their main priority. President Calderón has given Mexico a national lesson on public health, instructing people to wash their hands regularly, wear surgical masks, cover their mouths when they cough and avoid sharing food. Officials in Mexico City have handed out 6 million masks.

In the U.S., Janet Napolitano, the head of the Dept of Homeland Security, and the CDC are holding press conferences every day at 3pm ET to provide U.S. updates on what is happening with this Flu virus. Today she advised that the CDC/DHS are in close communications with Mexico, their officials/health officials. Mexico and the U.S. are partnering in sharing information and developing solutions. Napolitano has asked that for the time being, travel to Mexico should be limited. Border/Airport/Port security is on the alert to watch for anyone who may be entering the country with the flu. They will be advised to seek medical treatment and asked to postpone their trips to the U.S. The key to this illness is receiving medical treatment very quickly. It is not the flu, it is the after-flu superinfection that is causing the deaths. The CDC is also monitoring all flu activity across the nation.

Napolitano also advised that we all be pro-active in mitigating the impact of the flu. Primarily, if you feel the flu coming on, seek treatment. Do not go to populated places. Cover your mouth when you sneeze. She advised we access the CDC website and take the listed precautions.

From the CDC website:

There are everyday actions people can take to stay healthy.
. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.

. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
. Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze.

. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.

Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
. Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
. If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

References:

Mexico Raises Swine Flu Death Toll to 149

Map of Swine Flu Cases

Janet Napolitano Restructures ICE Policies to Focus on Employers, Drug Cartels/Felonious Criminals but Faces Fierce Opposition!

As Janet Napolitano, head of Homeland Security, moves forward with plans to restructure ICE policies to focus on incarcerating Employers and Drug Cartels/Felonious Criminals versus workers, she is facing fierce opposition not only from "The Party of NO" (Republicans), but also from rogue Agents from within her own ICE Divisions who are only interested in sidling up with the owners of the "for profit" prisons where entire families of workers are jailed for PROFIT at tax payers expense. ANTIs, of course, are cheering on Napolitano's opposition.

Delay in Immigration Raids May Signal Policy Change

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has delayed a series of proposed immigration raids and other enforcement actions at U.S. workplaces in recent weeks, asking agents in her department to apply more scrutiny to the selection and investigation of targets as well as the timing of raids, federal officials said.
A senior department official said the delays signal a pending change in whom agents at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement choose to prosecute -- increasing the focus on businesses and executives (employers) instead of ordinary workers.
"ICE is now scrutinizing these cases more thoroughly to ensure that [targets] are being taken down when they should be taken down, and that the employer is being targeted and the surveillance and the investigation is being done how it should be done," said the official, discussing Napolitano's views about sensitive law enforcement matters on the condition of anonymity.
"There will be a change in policy, but in the interim, you've got to scrutinize the cases coming up," the senior DHS official said, noting Napolitano's expectations as a former federal prosecutor and state attorney general.
Another DHS official said Napolitano plans to release protocols this week to ensure more consistent work-site investigations and less "haphazard" decision-making...
Critics say workplace and neighborhood sweeps are harsh and indiscriminate, and they accuse the government of racial profiling, violating due process rights and committing other humanitarian abuses...
"Raids that break up families in that way, just kick in the door in the middle of the night, taking [a] father, a parent away, that's just not the American way. It must stop," Pelosi added at a Capitol Hill conference on border issues sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

But Obama also faces pressure from conservative lawmakers and many centrist Democrats, who say that workplace enforcement is needed to reduce the supply of jobs that attract illegal immigrants, and that any retreat in defending American jobs in a recession could ignite a populist backlash. When the White House announced plans last week to move more than 450 federal agents and equipment to the border to counter Mexico's drug cartels, lawmakers warned Napolitano against diverting money from workplace operations.
Rep. Lamar Smith (Tex.), ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said the administration "appears to be using border violence as an excuse" to undercut immigration enforcement in the nation's interior. "It makes no sense to take funds from one priority (worksite enforcement) to address a new priority (the growth in border violence). This is just robbing Peter to pay Paul," Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), the powerful chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee for homeland security, said in an e-mail. Led by Byrd, Congress this year ordered ICE to spend $127 million on workplace operations, $34 million more than President George W. Bush had requested. Reducing those amounts, even in ICE's overall $5 billion budget, would provoke a fight, senior aides in both parties said.
Napolitano has sought to chart a middle course by ordering a review of which immigrants are targeted for arrest. While a policy is still under development, Napolitano has said she intends to focus more on prosecuting criminal cases of wrongdoing by companies. Analysts say they also think ICE may conduct fewer raids, focusing routine enforcement on civil infractions of worker eligibility verification rules...

(ANTI) Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which seeks to reduce immigration, said Obama aides are trying to manage the issue until an economic turnaround permits an attempt to overhaul immigration laws. "I think their calculus is, how do they keep Hispanic groups happy enough without angering the broader public so much that they sabotage health care and their other priorities?" Krikorian said...
Within ICE, the front-office vetting of cases has led to some doubts. Last week, for example, ICE postponed plans to raid employers at a military-related facility in Chicago for which they had arranged to temporarily detain as many as 100 illegal immigrants, according to one (Rogue) official. A second official said Napolitano thought the investigative work was inadequate.
The raid would have been the second under the Obama administration. After the first, a Feb. 24 sweep of an engine-parts maker in Bellingham, Wash., that led to 28 arrests, Napolitano publicly expressed disappointment that ICE did not inform her beforehand and announced an investigation into agency communication practices.
In response, Leigh H. Winchell, the ICE special agent in charge (Rogue ICE Agent) in Seattle, wrote an e-mail to his staff -- subsequently leaked to conservative bloggers -- saying they had acted correctly. He (Rogue ICE Agent) also copied a statement from House Republicans calling Napolitano's review "beyond backwards."
"You did nothing wrong and you did everything right," Winchell wrote. "I cannot control the politics that take place with these types of situations, but I can remind you that you are great servants of this country and this agency."

Associated Press Study Proves ICE Detention Centers Inhumane, Violate their own Standards and Cost Taxpayers Billions!

AP/USA Today reports: (summary)
An Associated Press computer analysis conducted in Jan. 2009 indicates the total detainee population of 32,000, most in crony-owned private prisons. Since 2003, the incarceration expenses for these detainees have nearly doubled to an annual amount of $1.7 billion as furor over "criminal aliens" intertwined with post-9/11 fears and anti-immigrant political rhetoric. The data show nearly 60% (18,690) of the detainees have no criminal conviction, including none for illegal entry or low-level crimes like trespassing. More than 400 of those with no criminal record had been incarcerated for at least a year. A dozen had been held for three years or more; one man from China had been locked up for more than five years. Nearly 10,000 had been in custody longer than 31 days -- the average detention stay that ICE cites as evidence of its effective detention management. Especially tough bail conditions are exacerbated by disregard or bending of the rules regarding how long immigrants can be detained. Based on a 2001 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, ICE has about six months to deport or release immigrants after their case is decided, however that deadline is routinely missed. In the system snapshot provided to the AP, 950 people were in that category.
Most detainees have not had their day in court, are not provided a lawyer, are not classified as prisoners, nor are they allowed to post bond, even those with no criminal record. U.S. taxpayers pay about $141 a night for each detainees to these crony owned private prisons. The use of detention to ensure immigrants show up for immigration court comes at a high cost compared to alternatives like electronic ankle monitoring, which can track people for an average daily cost of $13 per day and, per ICE stats, has an almost perfect compliance rate. Taxpayers are grossly overpaying political cronies for inhumane, understaffed and vermin/disease infested private prisons.
Examples of Detainees: an honors student who was raised in Orlando, Fla.; a convenience store clerk who begged to go back to Canada; and a Pentecostal minister who was forcibly drugged by ICE agents after he asked to contact his wife, according to court records.
Many Detainees are Asylum Seekers vs Illegal Immigrants:
Immigration lawyers note that substantial numbers of detainees, from 177 countries in the data provided, are not illegal immigrants at all. Many of the longest-term non-criminal detainees are asylum seekers fighting to stay here because they fear being killed in their home country. Others are longtime residents who may be eligible to stay under other criteria, or whose applications for permanent residency were lost or mishandled, the lawyers say.
Still other long-term detainees include people who can't be deported because their home country won't accept them or people who seemingly have been forgotten in the behemoth system, where 58 percent have no lawyers or anyone else advocating on their behalf.
-----------------
Longer Detention Means More Taxpayer Money for Cronies:
But even giving up, or winning a claim, doesn't always spell freedom for detainees because ICE acts as police officer, arraignment judge, jailer and prosecutor. It has sole jurisdiction over when a detained immigrant is sent back after a deportation order is issued, and can continue to hold immigrants while it appeals a decision that didn't go its way. In 2007, an immigration judge ruled that Samuel Kambo, a former energy minister of Sierra Leone who had a master's degree and no criminal history, should be granted permanent residency after being detained for eight months. But ICE continued to hold him for four more months while it appealed. Kambo was released only after his lawyer went to federal court and made a successful constitutional challenge.
In another telling case, Ahmad Al-Shrmany, a 34-year-old Iraqi with no appeal pending, begged for a year to be deported and yet remained in detention. He wanted to be allowed to go to his native Iraq or his adopted Canada, where he had been granted asylum a decade ago. A lawyer filed a habeas corpus petition in December that went unanswered. "Just deport me. That's your job," he said in a late January interview with the AP that ICE officials tried to block minutes before it was scheduled at a Houston lockup. Less than a week after the interview, Al-Shrmany was deported to Canada, said his lawyer, Afreen Ahmed. ICE said later the timing of the deportation was "completely coincidental."

Napolitano to increase number of U.S. Agents on Border to Check Flow of Illegal Guns & Drugs into Mexico

Janet Napolitano, Director of Homeland Security, has announced the U.S. will soon send a large contingent of federal agents to its southern border to help stem recent violence in northern Mexico. The new initiative will mobilize more border-enforcement teams, multiply the number of intelligence analysts working on the border, step up searches of vehicles going into Mexico from the U.S. and stem the flow of illegal guns and drugs going into Mexico. Napolitano said the increase in agents is in response to violence by drug cartels, including murders of police, kidnappings and beheadings in Mexican border towns in the past year.

As the number 1 user of illegal drugs in the world and the largest provider of illegal weapons to Mexican Drug Cartels, the U.S. has culpability in these Drug Wars. Law-enforcement officials say gun dealers in Arizona and other southern border states provide three-quarters (MSNBC reports 95%) of the black-market firearms to Mexico, a nation that strictly controls gun ownership. Phoenix is considered a hub for illegal exportation of AK-47s, SKS rifles, .50-caliber rifles and other weapons favored by narcotics gangsters.

Democratic House members pressed officials about whether Congress should strengthen U.S. gun laws to try to make it more difficult for the cartels to arm themselves. "My personal opinion is we could tighten up our gun laws," said retired Vice Adm. Roger T. Rufe Jr., director of Homeland Security's Office of Operations Coordination. "We shouldn't be selling assault weapons on the streets."

"We take this extremely seriously and intend to make some significant movements to the southwest border," Napolitano said. "Every American has a stake in this. Violence on the border can easily seep into our communities. It also creates a fear in border communities that the rule of law doesn't apply anymore, and that's just unacceptable."

Reference:

Napolitano: U.S. agents to increase on border

Northern Washington Residents Object to Border Agents on Canadian Border: "Don't Try to Scare Us!"

Port Townsend, Washington:

Recently, the Border Patrol set up five checkpoints on the North Olympic Peninsula, including one on state Highway 104 in Jefferson County near Hood Canal Bride and another on U.S. Highway 101 and Discovery Bay.

Since the checkpoints were established, 15 immigration-related arrests were made, 10 of which were turned over to other agencies due to suspected criminal backgrounds.

Now, Port Townsend residents are objecting to the increased number of Border Patrol Agents in their area. About 50 local residents attended a forum hosted by the Jefferson County Democrats and attended by Border Patrol agents Cmdr. Todd McCool, Deputy Cmdr. Jason Carroll, and Chris Dyer, public affairs officer.

One Port Townsend resident, Dave Woodruff, directed his sentiments to the Border Patrol: "If you are here to protect us from foreign terrorists, that's one thing, but if you are just trying to perpetuate your agency that's another," Woodruff said. "Don't try to scare us and tell us about the bogeymen . . . tell us how you are here and how you are interdicting terrorists."

Libby Palmer talked of living in the "Red scare" in the 1950s and 1960s. "Many of us remember that era, when everybody was a communist living under everything around us. That fear was spread in order to perpetuate aspects of the policy at the time and it was intense."

Deputy Cmdr. Carroll said he would prefer that agents worked off the Peninsula's mainland, in the surrounding waterways, even on the other side of the border, so as not to upset residents.

Two audience members objected to the agents showing up carrying sidearms, but Officer Dyer explained it was just a part of the uniform, like a shirt. He added that they were no different than police officers showing up at a function carrying weapons."This is our uniform," he said.

Chimacum resident John Cantlon asked why the Border Patrol appeared to be applying the southern border strategy to the northern border, by adding agents."I don't have a problem with the Border Patrol," Cantlon said. "But to take the southern strategy at the southern border and move it up here is completely mind boggling."

Carroll said the extent of the Border Patrol's staffing now amounts to 19 agents on actual patrol "working the border."The number of agents for the entire Peninsula's shoreline border was "a drop in the bucket, but that helps with the deterring effect," he said with a smile."We analyze our strategy," Carroll said. "The threat up here is terrorists. Canada is an easy country to get asylum."

Reference:

Jefferson Democrats host Border Patrol officers: 'Don't try to scare us'

Prez pays off Cronies before Leaving Office! Chertoff Authorizes Seven Miles of Fence for $37M

As the Prez is leaving office, he is making his list and checking it twice! He wants to be sure all of his friends and cronies are taken care of before he leaves office.

Bush To Do List before he leaves Office:
1. Mortgage Co. Bailout
2. Gas prices through the roof ($5)
3. Nafta-Cafta extended to other countries
4. Filling up Crony Owned Private Prisons

5. Hiring Cronies to build the Border Fence in 3 sleepy little towns along the border! 7.6 miles of fence = $37M to cronies!

(List will be updated as the Prez updates it)

Who will build the fence?
U.S. government awards 3 contracts for border barrier construction - September 23, 2008 - 10:14PM
Contracts to build the border fence in Cameron County were awarded to three private companies Monday, after Congress approved a $378 million appropriations request to continue the barrier's construction.
Despite longstanding opposition from the county's residents and politicians, construction could begin soon on the Texas border's southernmost stretch. The contracts are for fence segments in Bluetown, Los Indios, El Calaboz and La Paloma, all rural communities established by 18th century Spanish land grants. The communities are now home to some of the border fence's most vociferous opponents, many of whom have been fighting the barrier in court for nearly a year.

Clute, Texas-based Jaco Construction, Colorado-based MCC Construction and Omaha-based Kiewit Corporation were each awarded contracts to build a total of 7.6 miles of fencing for almost $37 million. The government must now clear mounting judicial obstacles in order to meet Congress' mandate to build 670 miles of fencing by Dec. 31. So far, 340 miles of fencing have been constructed along the southwest border. Ninety-seven landowners in the Rio Grande Valley have refused to sell their property to the federal government, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Sept. 10. Some of those property owners, including Eloisa Tamez of El Calaboz, wonder how contracts can be awarded before lawsuits have been resolved. "(Homeland Security Secretary) Chertoff is going completely outside of the Constitution, not allowing the federal court to make its decision before he moves on," Tamez said. Cameron County Judge Carlos H. Cascos said he had always maintained that DHS was going to build "something" if the county did not offer an alternative to them. "I still think that the border/levee combo project was a viable alternative, and I'm just saddened that DHS thought it was not," Cascos said. "For now, we are just going to wait and see what the fence is going to look like." The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not announce when construction is expected to begin in Cameron County.

Unbelievable! Homeland Security works with Sci-Fi Consultants to Scare LATINOs out of Emergency Rooms!

Had this report not been in the "National Defense" news magazine I wouldn´t have believed it myself! The Department of Homeland Security is working with Sci-Fi writers to develop outlandish ideas to scare the Latino Community. Also, note in the article how they DO NOT distinguish between Latino and those they term Illegal Aliens. Notice all the negative economic assumptions then all the consultants worry about is whether they are labeled "politically correct." These are scare tactics against ALL LATINOS in a Dept of Homeland Security Conference! Read it for yourself. Filed under "Read it and Weep:"

Science Fiction Mavens Offer Far Out Homeland Security Advice :
Now a fixture at Department of Homeland Security science and technology conferences, SIGMA is a loosely affiliated group of science fiction writers who are offering pro bono advice to anyone in government who want their thoughts on how to protect the nation. The group has the ear of Department of Homeland Security Undersecretary Jay Cohen, head of the science and technology directorate, who has said he likes their unconventional thinking. Members of the group recently offered a rambling, sometimes strident string of ideas at a panel discussion promoting the group at the DHS science and technology conference. Among the group’s approximately 24 members is Larry Niven, the bestselling and award-winning author of such books as “Ringworld” and “Lucifer’s Hammer,” which he co-wrote with SIGMA member Jerry Pournelle. Niven said a good way to help hospitals stem financial losses is to spread rumors in Spanish within the Latino community that emergency rooms are killing patients in order to harvest their organs for transplants. “The problem [of hospitals going broke] is hugely exaggerated by illegal aliens who aren’t going to pay for anything anyway,” Niven said. “Do you know how politically incorrect you are?” Pournelle asked.“I know it may not be possible to use this solution, but it does work,” Niven replied.