Scary Quotes Time: Gangs In The Military

I want you to look at the picture below and be honest is your first reaction: 1) That is sort of funny or 2) My God the military has been overrun with gangbangers seeking to learn how to commit murder and mayhem.



There is also another misconception perpetuated in this report that I would like to dispel. YOU CAN NOT ENLIST IN THE MILITARY AS A DIVERSIONARY PROGRAM BECAUSE OF A JUDGE!

I am sort of the resident expert on this since I served as an Army recruiter in Alabama in the early 90's. Any applicant who walked in the door and either stated or it was discovered had come there with the intent to enlist to avoid jail was automatically disqualified. Permanently. I wish this urban legend would die because you do not want to know how many people I turned away for just that reason. Sometimes they came down there at the behest of their parents in an attempt to get junior off on some charge or a judge not really understanding that such a thing was not tolerated had given them the option. Think about this for a minute folks. If people could be enlisted in the military instead of going to jail why don't you see recruiters in every courtroom in America? So can we knock it off. And anybody who says they enlisted to avoid jail is lying to you.

Well according to some folks who have taken it upon themselves to interpret the recently released from the FBI it is a clear indication that members of the military are nothing but gangbangers looking to kill a little time in between their incarcerations in the penal system. Of course these are the same folks who wet their pants over pictures of "assault weapons" and the mention of high capacity magazines.

Folks here is the portion of the report dealing with the findings regarding the military. I will call your attention to the lack of specifics so I am not sure what sort of conclusions can really be drawn from this report. There has always been former members of gangs in the military and gang membership does not in itself indicate anything further in most cases then self preservation.

Gangs and the Military

Gang recruitment of active duty military personnel constitutes a significant criminal threat to the US military. Members of nearly every major street gang, as well as some prison gangs and OMGs, have been reported on both domestic and international military installations, according to NGIC analysis and multiple law enforcement reporting. Through transfers and deployments, military-affiliated gang members expand their culture and operations to new regions nationwide and worldwide, undermining security and law enforcement efforts to combat crime. Gang members with military training pose a unique threat to law enforcement personnel because of their distinctive weapons and combat training skills and their ability to transfer these skills to fellow gang members.

NGIC reporting indicates that law enforcement officials in at least 100 jurisdictions have come into contact with, detained, or arrested an active duty or former military gang member within the past three years.

Gang members have been reported in every branch of the US militarym, although a large proportion of these gang members and dependent gang members of military personnel are affiliated with the US Army, Army Reserves, and National Guard branches.

Many street gang members join the military to escape the gang lifestyle or as an alternative to incarceration, but often revert back to their gang associations once they encounter other gang members in the military. Other gangs target the US military and defense systems to expand their territory, facilitate criminal activity such as weapons and drug trafficking, or to receive weapons and combat training that they may transfer back to their gang. Incidents of weapons theft and trafficking may have a negative impact on public safety or pose a threat to law enforcement officials.

As of April 2011, the NGIC has identified members of at least 53 gangs whose members have served in or are affiliated with US military. Among the identified gangs with military-trained members are street gangs such as the Asian Boyz, Bloods, Crips, Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings, MS-13, Sureños, Tiny Rascal Gangsters, and the Juggalos; the Aryan Brotherhood, Barrio Azteca, and Texas Syndicate prison gangs; and OMGs including the Bandidos, Hells Angels, Mongols, Outlaws, and Vagos. Some gangs, particularly OMGs, actively recruit members with military training or advise members without criminal records to join the military for necessary weapons and combat training.

Younger gang members without criminal records are attempting to join the military, as well as concealing tattoos and gang affiliation during the recruitment process, according to NGIC reporting.

Deployments have resulted in integrating gang members with service members and/or dependents on or near overseas military installations, including those in Afghanistan, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Japan, and South Korea. US military officials have reported a rise in gang graffiti both on and off post in Afghanistan and Iraq (see Figure 14).

BTW I think that picture is funny as hell, I watch Sons of Anarchy on a regular basis and back in my youth was known to look at an issue or two of Easy Rider magazine.

New Digitally Altered bin Laden Actually a Spanish Politician

How'd you like to wake up one day and find yourself on a Most Wanted poster? Well, one politician in Spain isn't too amused to find out his likeness has been used to show what Osama bin Laden might look like these days.

A Spanish lawmaker was stunned and horrified to find out that the FBI used his photograph as part of a digitally enhanced image showing what Osama bin Laden might look like today.

Gaspar Llamazares of the United Left party said he would no longer feel safe traveling to the United States after his hair and facial wrinkles appeared on a wanted poster updating the U.S. government's 1998 photo of the al-Qaeda leader.

"I was surprised and angered because it's the most shameless use of a real person to make up the image of a terrorist," Llamazares said at a news conference Saturday.

"It's almost like out of a comedy if it didn't deal with matters as serious as bin Laden and citizens' security."

The Spanish newspaper El Mundo quoted FBI spokesman Ken Hoffman as acknowledging that the agency used a picture of Llamazares taken from Google Images for the digitally altered image of bin Laden.

The photo appeared on a U.S. State Department Web site rewardsforjustice.net, where a reward of up to $25 million is offered for bin Laden, wanted in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya.

Llamazares said he planned to ask the U.S. government for an explanation and reserved the right to take legal action. FBI headquarters in Washington did not respond immediately when asked for comment Saturday, requesting that questions be sent to them by e-mail.

The State Department told a reporter to call back Tuesday after the U.S. federal holiday on Monday.

Llamazares said he couldn't believe it when he was first told about the similarity, but he quickly realized the seriousness of the situation.

The 52-year-old politician said he would not feel safe traveling in the U.S. now, because many airports use biometrics technology that compares the physical characteristics of travelers to passport or other photographs.

"I have no similarity, physically or ideologically, to the terrorist bin Laden," he said.

They do share on characteristic - both are 52. Jose Morales, spokesman for Llamazares' party, told the Associated Press that no one in Spain had any idea that important security computer images such as the retouched bin Laden photo were built up from photographs of real people.

Llamazares, the former leader of his party, was elected to Spain's parliament in 2000.

Llamazares said it was worrying to see elite security services like the FBI resorting to such sloppy techniques, especially in the light of recent security alerts like the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound airplane.

"It might provoke mirth, but it demonstrates that what we're seeing from security services isn't exactly recommendable," he said. Bin Laden is believed to be hiding in the lawless Pakistan frontier bordering Afghanistan.

But, uh, the system works or something.

Here's the actual Llamazares. Not exactly a dead ringer but they obviously Photoshopped his hair onto the "bin Laden" image. Good grief, are they really so lazy at the FBI they're copying images from Google?

Llamazares should also be concerned that someone might mistake him for Paul Krugman.

FBI Raids Office of Obama Appointee; UPDATE: One Official Arrested in Bribery Sting

Damn, it's a shame Rush Limbaugh is off today. He could point out another possible Obama failure.

Federal agents this morning are searching the Judiciary Square office of Washington, D.C.'s Chief Technology Officer.

The search is part of "an ongoing investigation," said a spokeswoman for the FBI's D.C. Field Office, Lindsay Gotwin, said. She declined to comment further.

The outgoing Chief Technology Officer, Vivek Kundra, was appointed last week Chief Information Officer by the Obama administration. His last day at the city government office was February 4, a spokeswoman for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Leslie Kershaw, said.

"We know the FBI is over there but that's all we know," said a staffer in the D.C. CTO's office, Mario Field, who was working from a separate location. Another source familiar with the raid said the FBI had sent all staffers other than senior executives home for the day.

Kundra was responsible for starting up the recovery.gov site.

Not clear what this is all about, but perhaps someone realized he tried to donate more than the legal amount to Obama's campaign. Although that's probably a stretch considering the rampant campaign abuses of the Obama campaign.

Update: WTOP reports an official by the name of Yusuf Acar is in custody.

An official in the D.C.'s Office of the Chief Technology Officer has been arrested in a federal bribery sting, sources tell WTOP.
Sources tell WTOP 40-year-old Yusuf Acar was taken into custody Thursday morning by FBI agents at his home in Northwest D.C.

The FBI is now serving a search warrant at the office of D.C.'s Chief Technology Officer, WTOP has learned.

"We are there as part of a continuing ongoing criminal investigation," FBI Washington Field Office spokesperson Katherine Schweit tells WTOP.

Schweit would not comment on the details of the investigation.

More here.

An official in the D.C. government's office of the chief technology officer has been arrested in a federal bribery sting, according to law enforcement sources.

Yusuf Acar, 40, was taken into custody this morning by FBI agents at his home in Northwest Washington, the sources said. The nature of the charges could not be determined. Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, declined to comment on the arrest, saying the case "is under seal."

Acar serves as an information systems security officer in the D.C. government. He worked for Vivek Kundra, the District's chief technology officer. Kundra recently left D.C. government to become President Obama's federal chief information officer.

Update: The WaPo link has been updated. Now there is another arrest reported.

Yusuf Acar, 40, was taken into custody this morning by FBI agents at his home in Northwest Washington, the sources said.

Sushil Bansal, a former city employee and a contractor with the technology office, also has been arrested.

The nature of the charges could not be determined. Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, declined to comment on the arrest, saying the case "is under seal."

Acar, who has worked for the city since 2004, serves as an information systems security officer in the D.C. government and earns $127,468. He worked for Vivek Kundra, the city's chief technology officer, who recently left D.C. government to become President Obama's federal chief information officer.

Bansal is president and chief executive of Advanced Integrated Technologies Corp. According to the AITC Web site, the company received last year several city contracts, including at least one with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

According to D.C. Council records, Bansal's company was awarded a $10 million, one-year contract in June to provide "information technology services, equipment and software." Payment, however, was to based on task orders and delivery, meaning the company would not necessarily receive the entire $10 million.

Seems as if this might be the same Sushil Bansal.

Gun Sales Continue to Surge in December

Well, there's at least one sector of the economy doing very well.

Despite a weak economy, gun sales are continuing to increase amid concerns that incoming lawmakers will institute a new gun ban on law-abiding Americans. Data derived from the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) shows a 24 percent increase in firearm purchaser background checks for the month of December 2008 (1,523,426 checks) over December 2007 (1,230,525 checks). This increase follows a 42 percent rise in NICS checks for the preceding month, the highest number of checks in NICS history. FBI background checks are required under federal law for all individuals purchasing firearms from federally licensed retailers. These checks serve as a strong indicator of actual sales.

A recent poll of hunters and target shooters by Southwick Associates Inc., in which 80 percent of respondents said they expect it will become more difficult to purchase firearms under the incoming administration and congress, explains the increase in sales.

"Sales of firearms, in particular handguns and semi-automatic hunting and target rifles, are fast outpacing inventory," said NSSF President and CEO Stephen L. Sanetti. "It's clear that many people are concerned about possible gun bans under the incoming Congress and are reacting accordingly."

Uh Oh: Pay for Play in New Mexico?

Add Bill Richardson as another headache for Mr. Transparency.

A federal grand jury is investigating how a company that advised Jefferson County, Alabama, on bond deals that threaten to cause the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, did similar work in New Mexico after making contributions to Governor Bill Richardson’s political action committees.

The grand jury in Albuquerque is looking into Beverly Hills, California-based CDR Financial Products Inc., which received almost $1.5 million in fees from the New Mexico Finance Authority in 2004 after donating $100,000 to Richardson’s efforts to register Hispanic and American Indian voters and pay for expenses at the Democratic National Convention in 2004, people familiar with the matter said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation asked current and former officials from the state agency if any staff members in the governor’s office influenced CDR’s hiring, said the people, who declined to be identified because the proceedings are secret. Richardson, who is President-elect Barack Obama’s designate for Commerce Secretary, has a staff of at least 30 people.

“They’re looking at everything related to CDR,” William Sisneros, the finance agency’s chief executive officer, said of the FBI probe. “They’re just trying to evaluate all the relationships to see what CDR was doing for the money.”

The investigation reflects another front in nationwide efforts by U.S. prosecutors to investigate so-called pay-to-play in the municipal bond market. The term refers to banks and advisers who make political contributions or personal gifts to public officials in return for fee-paying financing assignments.

Naturally, any hint of pay for play is vociferously denied.

A company spokesman denied wrongdoing in New Mexico.

“To suggest that there’s a pay for play element is just inaccurate,” said CDR’s Allan Ripp. “There was no involvement by the governor. CDR knows for certain that they were selected on the basis of their track record.”

New Mexico finance authority officials haven’t complained about the company’s advisory work.

Richardson, a 61-year-old Democrat, is a former U.S. Energy Secretary who ran for president in 2008. He served 15 years in Congress and was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 1997-98. He was a consultant to Salomon Smith Barney Inc., a unit of New York-based Citigroup Inc., from July 2001 to January 2003.

Elected New Mexico’s governor in 2002 and re-elected in 2006, Richardson appoints five directors to the New Mexico Finance Authority’s 12-member board, including the chairman. Five other directors are members of his cabinet.

Using the longheld standard of Democrats, I suggest that any appearance of impropriety warrants a federal investigation. After all, we can't have a double standard, can we?

Isn't it all about transparency these days?

French Anarchists Linked to Times Square Bombing

I had figured the drive-by pipe bombing was likely an act of some domestic anti-military outfit or just a lone wacko, but apparently it may have neen the work of a group of French anarchists.

French anti-terrorist police are holding 10 alleged members of a violent anarchist movement suspected of sabotaging power cables on high speed TGV train lines.

But it now transpires that the alleged culprits were netted thanks to information from the FBI, which allegedly linked two of them to the home-made bomb attack on an army recruitment centre in New York's Times Square in March.

Julien Coupat, 34, the suspected head of the "anarcho-autonomist" group, and his 25-year old girlfriend, known only as Yldune L, were stopped allegedly trying to enter Canada from the US illegally in January. It was claimed they were carrying anarchist texts in English and photos of an army recruitment centre in New York.

Although they had left the US before the bomb attack, they had allegedly been spotted shortly before at American anarchist meetings in New York.
...
"These individuals are characterised by a total rejection of any democratic expression of political opinion and an extremely violent tone," said Michele Alliot-Marie, the interior minister.

Florida Dem Scored Federal Grant for Second Mistress, Now Under FBI Investigation and May Scuttle Re-election Bid

Lowlife Florida Democrat Tim Mahoney apparently is getting in way too deep now.

Current and former aides for Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL) say he was carrying on an affair with a county official from Florida at the same time he lobbied to help her county receive a $3.4 million federal grant.

Current and former aides for Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL) say he was carrying on an affair with a county official from Florida at the same time he lobbied to help her county receive a $3.4 million federal grant. Foley resigned his office amid charges he exchanged sexually explicit emails and instant messages on the internet with congressional pages.

One former top campaign aide says Mahoney acknowledged the woman had spent the week at his Washington apartment but shrugged off warnings such behavior could cause him political trouble. The aides said the woman was also seen with Mahoney at restaurants and at his Washington DC apartment late at night.

Based on interviews with a number of staffers, campaign workers and top Democratic officials in Congress, it appears Mahoney ignored warnings since last year about what now appears to have been multiple extra-marital relationships.

ABC News reported Monday that one former Congressional and campaign staff member, Patricia Allen was paid $121,000 by Mahoney to keep her from filing suit and going public about their alleged affair after she had been fired by Mahoney.

So let's briefly recap: That's at least two girlfriends, a wife, a payoff to one girlfriend and a federal grant for another. Busy guy. But remember, Nancy Pelosi knew nothing about this until Monday. Sure. She's either the dumbest person on the planet or she's lying through her teeth. I suspect the latter.

Well, it looks like lover boy has attracted the attention of the FBI, not a good thing heading into an election. While the Democrats have an amazing tolerance for corruption withing their ranks, it may be too much to protect this loser.

Especially since he's in a competitive district and now has bleak prospects.

Mahoney had so far survived saying that his job as a member of Congress wasn't the best job he's ever had, and his moderate voting record looked as if it would hold him in good stead. But a late-breaking scandal -- reported three weeks before the election -- involving a $121,000 payoff to a former mistress is the type of thing that gets one knocked out of office. Mahoney's re-election chances now appear doomed.

Charlie Rangel and Cold Cash Jefferson they can look the other way for, since they're shoo-ins every election.

Mahoney? He's expendable.

In fact, now it's reported he may not be seeking re-election. I guess Queen Bee Pelosi hates being kept in the dark.

Embattled Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney may not seek reelection in Florida next month after ABC News broke a story earlier this week that the congressman had paid a former aide to keep quiet about their alleged affair, according to a Democratic leadership aide with ties to his campaign.

Sounds to me like he's getting a nice push overboard. Tonight would be convenient timing what with all the debate coverage to overshadow it.

Don't forget when Mark Foley was forced out it was too late to take his name off the ballot. Let's see if the Democrats received special treatment here. It is Palm Beach County, after all.

Speaking of Foley, is it just me or is this story receiving an underwhelming amount of coverage as compared to that scandal?

Muslims Grill FBI Agents on Key Issues

Yes, that is the actual headline of the story in the Arab News today. And who was doing the grilling? Why none other then our good friends from CAIR.

The FBI was interrogated for a change yesterday by members of the Muslim community at an event sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) at the Sunrise Academy in Columbus.

How pathetic is this? Of course it is a gubmint program complete with acronyms and everything.

Officials engaged in the discourse as part of the FBI’s so-called Community Relations Executive Seminar Training (CREST) program, which aims to improve relations with minority groups.

Scheduled speakers at the event were special agents Kevin Bennett, Steve Flowers and Eric Thomas. The No. 1 concern in the audience was related to federal wiretapping, other forms of privacy invasion and the profiling of Muslims.

Do you feel the outrage? Can you sense the seething? Isn't the Islamophobia palpable?

Hind, a Saudi attendee wanted to know why the media singles out Muslims and Middle Easterners as “terrorists and extremists” and never used those terms for domestic terrorists.

Actually, a domestic act of terrorism is more likely to get that name applied to it then any of the acts carried out by the various "insurgents", "supporters", "militants", and what ever other euphemism the mass market media wish to apply to those followers of a certain religion who seem to spontaneously explode in bright sunlight.

FBI Launches Sub-prime Investigation

The FBI is starting their investigation into the sub-prime lending mess. You are going to hear a lot about lending practices and defaulting loans.

Just remember, these really are two different issues, and confusing them will not lead to a solution.

The FBI is investigating 14 companies embroiled in the sub-prime mortgage crisis as part of a crackdown on improper lending.
It did not identify the companies but said the investigation encompassed developers, sub-prime lenders and investment banks.

FBI officials said the agency was looking at instances of accounting fraud and insider trading.

There very well may be some accounting fraud and other inappropriate activities in the lending industry. But I don't think it had much to do the sub-prime meltdown.

The sub-prime market is focused on providing home loans to those with poor or limited credit histories.

Many of these borrowers have been unable to keep up with payments and face losing their homes.

The wider crisis emerged as many of these mortgages were converted into financial instruments and sold on to investors including the big investment banks.

It is a cold, hard fact that at any given time there are only so many people in the mortgage market who can really afford a mortgage. Years ago, those unqualified mortgage applicants would have been turned down until they improved their financial situation.

But due to political correctness and "red-lining" laws, it has become almost impossible for lending institutions to deny those unqualified applicants today without getting sued for discrimination of one sort or another.

So, lending institutions have shifted to making the risky loans, and then packaging the mortgages into other instruments and selling them off to both avoid getting sued and unload the risky loan, all the while making some nice fee income off the deal.

It's like a bookie taking a risky wager and sloughing pieces of it off on other bookies to dump the risk (not that I would have any direct knowledge of such illegal wagering activity, you understand).

The public is looking for someone to blame now for this mess, so I expect to see some bank CEO's get drawn and quartered on TV in the near future. But if we are really interested in avoiding a repeat of this situation down the road, we have to allow lending institutions to turn down unqualified applicants without getting sued into oblivion.

Once those risky loans are made, it's just a matter of time until a large number of them default.

Mexican Drug Cartels Smuggling Terrorists into the U.S.

Not only do we need to get that border fence up, we had better be destroying these tunnels smugglers use underground. Do you need any more evidence than this?

U.S. intel center wary of terrorist attack

The nation's largest intelligence training center changed security measures in May after being warned that Islamist terrorists with the aid of Mexican drug cartels were planning an attack on the facility.

Fort Huachuca changed security measures after sources warned that possibly 60 Afghan and Iraqi terrorists were smuggled into the U.S. through underground tunnels with high powered weapons to attack the post, according to multiple confidential law enforcement documents obtained by The Washington Times.

“A portion of the operatives were in the United States, with the remainder not yet in the United States,” according to one of the documents, an FBI advisory that was disbursed to the Defense Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Justice, among numerous other law enforcement agencies throughout the nation. “The Afghanis and Iraqis shaved their beards so as not to appear to be Middle Easterners.”

According to the FBI advisory, each Middle Easterner paid Mexican drug lords $20,000 “or the equivalent in weapons” for the cartel's assistance in smuggling them through tunnels along the border into the U.S. The numerous tunnels supposedly ended at warehouses in Laredo, Texas, and in Arizona.

No word on the status of these terror operatives or whether they've secured driver's licenses and registered to vote in the Democrat primaries.

H/T: Hot Air.

FBI Probes NBA Referee

Hey, maybe the Knick's were not that bad afterall.

FBI probes allegations NBA ref bet on games he worked

NEW YORK -- The FBI is investigating allegations that a veteran NBA referee bet on basketball games over the past two seasons, including ones in which he officiated.

According to a law enforcement official, authorities are examining whether the referee made calls to affect the point spread in games on which he or associates had wagered.

If this is true, and they can prove this guy made calls to affect points, we got trouble with a capital "T". A lot of professional sports revolves around gambling in one form or another, but it all depends on the games themselves being honest.

I wonder how many Knick's games this ref worked...

The lunatics at the PuffHost blame Bush. Naturally.

UPDATE: The referee's name is Tim Donaghy, and he has apparently already resigned from the NBA. Assuming he was connected to any wise guys, the authorities need to get him someplace safe and away from windows.

JFK Plot 'Tip of the Iceberg'

Some people would like to dismiss the JFK plot as the delusions of an old man who perhaps didn't have the ability to pull it off, but that doesn't mean the potential for other plots doesn't exist.

We bury our head in the sand at our own peril.

Plot to blow up JFK is 'tip of the iceberg'

The alleged conspiracy to blow up John F Kennedy airport, in New York, and a recent plot to kill soldiers at a nearby United States Army base represent only the "tip of the iceberg" of terrorist plots against America, according to US officials.

"There's a lot of activity out there," a counter-terrorism official said yesterday.

"Obviously, you don't want to tip off every suspect that they are being monitored. On the other hand, we are not going to wait until the fuse is lit."

He said that the airport plot, which sparked a lengthy FBI sting operation, was first detected by CIA operatives in the Caribbean and South America nearly 18 months ago.

"Our intelligence agencies pay careful attention to what goes on there," the official told The Daily Telegraph.

"Although a lot of the public focus is on Europe, we're also looking closely at the home-grown threat and what's going on in our own back yard."

He indicated that dozens of other plots were being monitored but that improved co-operation between the CIA and FBI - the patchy nature of which was a major criticism of the 9/11 Commission Report - was bearing fruit.

One tack the left seems to take is that these maniacs weren't close to pulling off the JFK plot.

Would they prefer we wait until the final details are set in motion?

What happense if something like this is pulled off? Well, you know what'll happen. Everyone will blame Bush, the FBI, the CIA and wonder why we didn't "connect the dots".

FBI Expels Bogus African Cop

This really makes you wonder what kind of screening procedures are in place at the FBI, when a foreigner with no police credentials can get into the National Academy and wander around with a video camera for over nine weeks before anyone realizes he shouldn't be there.

The FBI's famed National Academy recently expelled a student from a troubled African nation after learning he was not a cop, as he had claimed, The Post has learned.

The incident raises serious questions about the FBI's screening process for prospective National Academy students.

The 72-year-old National Academy is part of the FBI Academy, which trains G-men. It is located at the U.S. Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Va. - considered a "secured facility" by the government.

The National Academy has trained thousands of U.S., city and state police officers, as well as cops from other countries, during 10-week courses that include classes in law, forensic sciences and leadership development.

After graduation, cops return to their jobs.

The expelled student - Zakaria Sinie of Chad - was one of 270 police-officer students enrolled from Jan. 7 to March 16.

Chad, in central Africa, is one of the world's most troubled nations, plagued by a corrupt government and a desperately poor population.

As with other students, Sinie's application for enrollment was supposed to have been reviewed by the FBI to check his bona fides: most importantly, his status as a cop.

The "quiet" Sinie lived, studied at and strolled around the Quantico facility with a still and video camera for 9 1/2 weeks before he was found not to be a cop, expelled and sent home to Chad, sources said.

Phoenix Engineer Takes Codes to Iran

This doesn't appear to have been material that would prove useful to the Iranians, unless of course they're using an insider for sabotage or a possible terror attack.

A former engineer at the nation's largest nuclear power plant has been charged with taking computer access codes and software to Iran and using it to download details of plant control rooms and reactors, authorities said.

The FBI said there's no indication the plant employee training software had any terrorist connections.

Mohammad Alavi, who worked at the triple-reactor Palo Verde power plant west of Phoenix, was arrested April 9 at Los Angeles International Airport when he arrived on a flight from Iran, authorities said.

Alavi, 49, is a U.S. citizen and denies any wrongdoing, said his attorney, Milagros Cisneros of the Federal Defender's Office in Phoenix.

He is charged with a single count of violating a trade embargo that prohibits Americans from exporting goods and services to Iran. If convicted, he would face up to 21 months in prison.

More at Captain's Quarters.

UPDATE: Also at LGF.

Terror Bride Tells All

An inside look at an American woman named Saraah Olson, who married a man later involved in the 1993 World Trade Center attack and her attempts to get the FBI to listen to her pleas for help, which went unanswered (via LGF).

So I Married a Terrorist . . .

Olson’s bizarre journey through the U.S. war on terror began in 1991, when she first met Hisham Diab while a teaching assistant at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson. For the next several years, Olson says, she lived in fear of Diab as she gradually realized he was infiltrating Orange County’s Muslim community in an effort to establish a terrorist network. She says she watched helplessly as her husband helped Sheik Rahman evade arrest after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and endured a beating when she accidentally foiled Diab’s plot to provide Osama bin Laden with a phony U.S. passport.

She’s sharing her story now because, she says, the FBI ignored her when she tried to warn them about Diab before 9/11—and that they refused to protect her from retaliation by Al-Qaeda once she went public with her story. Olson is also upset because the FBI still doesn’t believe everything she’s told them.

“The last time I talked to them was in December 2004,” she says. “I cut off all contact with them because they misled me and lied to me and tried to make me think I’m crazy—that Hisham had nothing to do with bin Laden.”

It's a long piece, but take the time to read it.

Former FBI Agent Missing in Iran

Of course, details are sketchy, no name is given, and don't expect the Iranians to be cooperative.

The United States asked Iran on Monday to provide information about a former FBI agent believed to have gone missing several weeks ago while on private business there, U.S. officials said.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the family and employer of the man reported him missing and the State Department sent an official inquiry on Monday to Iran via Swiss diplomats, who act as a go-between with Tehran because the two countries do not have diplomatic relations.

Can't Nancy Pelosi just pop over after she's finished sucking up to the chinless opthamologist?

Relations are very tense between the United States and Iran, particularly over its nuclear program. The two nations have not had diplomatic ties for nearly 30 years.

The missing man, described by officials as middle-aged, is believed to have been visiting Kish, an Iranian resort island and free-trade zone in the Gulf. He is not believed to be of Iranian descent and his wife lives in the United States.

Speaking of the Iranian nuclear program, the latest is they'll be ready to go by 2009, according to The Blotter.

A spokesperson for the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, declined to comment citing the "extreme sensitivity" of the situation with Iran.

Yeah, they don't want to upset their bosses in Tehran.

Not that I have must trust in this report, but the time is soon at hand to take out their program, despite the strenuous objection of Democrat foreign policy honcho Rosie O'Donnell.

The United States will be ready to launch a missile attack on Iran's nuclear facilities as soon as early this month, perhaps "from 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. on April 6," according to reports in the Russian media on Saturday.

According to Russian intelligence sources, the reports said, the US has devised a plan to attack several targets in Iran, and an assault could be carried out by launching missiles from fighter jets and warships stationed in the Persian Gulf.

When they start giving specific times and dates like your cable provider, time to perk up and take things seriously.

Others blogging on the latest nuke story include LGF, Hot Air, and Sister Toldjah.

Just Don't Question Their Patriotism

More leftwing thuggery (WXYZ.com photo).

Congressman Mike Rogers' home is under police guard after his Lansing office was severely vandalized last night.

The case is being handled by the FBI and the US Capitol Police, who have requested that the Lansing Police investigate the matter.

According to the Congressman's spokesperson, the office was extensively damaged.

Two security cameras were destroyed and the building was spray painted.

The tapes from the cameras are being reviewed to see if they recorded anything before they were destroyed.

The vandals also spread red paint all over the 8th congressional district sign in front of the building, as well as on a sign that says "We Support Our Troops."

These punks are out of control, but I see no effort on the part of Democrats to tone down the rhetoric.

Meanwhile, they're running amok on college campuses, as noted by Michelle Malkin. Also check out Indoctrinate U.

Have You Seen This Clinton Supporter?

The FBI is looking for fugitive Abdul Rehman Jinnah, who apparently has fled to Pakistan.

A Pakistani immigrant is wanted by federal authorities on charges he channeled $30,000 in illegal contributions to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential war chest.

The FBI is hunting Los Angeles businessman Abdul Rehman Jinnah, who vanished soon after his grand-jury indictment for violating federal election laws last May.

Clinton's camp has denied any knowledge of Jinnah's scheme, which is also alleged to have funneled more than $50,000 in illegal donations to the political action committees of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.

Jinnah, 56, a cellphone and frozen-yogurt businessman, allegedly collected campaign donations from family members, friends and employees at fake fund-raising events - then reimbursed them. The scam allowed him to evade the $2,000 limit on individual contributions to candidates, the feds say.

More from the Los Angeles Times.

Jinnah's case has been handled with discretion by the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, which recently lost a high-profile case against former Clinton campaign official David Rosen. Rosen was acquitted of charges of filing false reports about a Hollywood fundraiser given for Clinton in 2000.

The indictment of Jinnah, handed down in May without a news release, mentions only the initials of the committees that received the illegal donations, referring to them as "HP" and "FB." However, the charging document filed against Stuart Schoenburg, who authorities say is a co-conspirator, identifies one of the committees as HillPac, the leadership committee Clinton formed after her first Senate campaign and which she still uses.

Though Clinton cannot use HillPac to fund her presidential campaign directly, it has allowed her to donate to Democratic candidates and organizations, as well as to pay some political staff and travel expenses.

The Times was able to identify donations to Boxer's campaign by cross-referencing dates and contributors' initials listed in the indictment with campaign finance records. The "FB" in the indictment stood for "Friends of Barbara Boxer."

Clinton and Boxer aren't the only ones mentioned.

Later that year, Jinnah hosted a luncheon fundraiser for then-First Lady Clinton at his house, an event depicted in a photo posted on the website Pakistanlink.com. Jinnah hosted a second fundraiser for Clinton in October 2004.

That year, he also helped form the Pakistani American Leadership Center, which describes itself as a coalition of Pakistani Americans seeking to further U.S.-Pakistan ties. It has helped persuade more than 70 House members to join the Congressional Pakistan Caucus.

The group was particularly jubilant when Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Valley Village), who had previously sponsored a bill targeting Pakistan for sanctions related to its nuclear program, agreed to become a member.

Oh, and just in case The Pantsuit has another in a long series of memory losses (oh, there are those billing records!), she was photographed with the fugitive.

FBI Using Broad New Wiretap Method

Let the freakout begin. The levels of paranoia with the nutroots will increase exponentially.

The FBI appears to have adopted an invasive Internet surveillance technique that collects far more data on innocent Americans than previously has been disclosed.

Instead of recording only what a particular suspect is doing, agents conducting investigations appear to be assembling the activities of thousands of Internet users at a time into massive databases, according to current and former officials. That database can subsequently be queried for names, e-mail addresses or keywords.

Such a technique is broader and potentially more intrusive than the FBI's Carnivore surveillance system, later renamed DCS1000. It raises concerns similar to those stirred by widespread Internet monitoring that the National Security Agency is said to have done, according to documents that have surfaced in one federal lawsuit, and may stretch the bounds of what's legally permissible.