Alleged Nigeria terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutall tries to explode Northwest Airlines 253 to Detroit

An Al Qaeda-linked terrorist attempted to blow up a packed commercial jet over Detroit on Friday, but was tackled by heroic passengers as he tried to explode the bomb, officials said.

Nigerian extremist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, was subdued immediately aboard Northwest Flight 253 - carrying 278 passengers and 11 crew members - minutes before the plane landed, officials said.

A White House official called the incident "an attempted act of terrorism" and said President Obama was monitoring events.

"It was a fairly sophisticated device," Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.) told the Daily News after counterterrorism officials briefed him. "If it would have worked, he could have brought the plane down."

Obama immediately ordered security tightened at airports across the nation, raising travelers' fears on one of the busiest days of the year.

Abdulmutallab, who suffered third-degree burns, told authorities he got the explosives in Yemen and received orders from Al Qaeda operatives to detonate the device aboard a plane over U.S. soil, officials said.

The suspect, reportedly an engineering student at University College of London, said he had explosive powder taped to his leg.

He confessed to trying to use a chemical-filled syringe designed to ignite the powder, ABC News reported.

King called the explosive "a new device."

"The subject is claiming to have extremist affiliation and that the device was acquired in Yemen along with instructions as to when it should be used," a federal bulletin warned.

King said Abdulmutallab was not on a no-fly list, but was known to have terrorist connections in northern Africa - a hotbed of militant activity.

"He's part of a terrorist nexus," King said.

Officials said Abdulmutallab was traveling one way, without a return ticket. He boarded the Airbus 330 in Amsterdam after transferring from another flight out of Lagos, Nigeria. The flight then continued to Detroit.

Passengers said the frightening incident lasted only a few, chaotic minutes.

Several said they heard a loud popping noise, smelled smoke and then spotted flames leaping from the man's lap.

"It was higher than the seat," Stephanie van Herk, 22, told The Wall Street Journal.

Pandemonium ensued as crew members tried to douse the suspect with water.

Passenger Syed Jafry said that's when a burly man jumped over several seats and tackled the blood-thirsty extremist.

"He took him under his arm and got hold of his neck and then other people helped him," Jafry, who was sitting three rows behind the suspect, told Fox News. "He handled it very well."

"It was terrifying," Richelle Keepman told CNN. "We all thought we weren't going to land, we weren't going to make it."

Once the severely burned terrorist was subdued, he was dragged to the front of the plane and restrained there until the jet landed a few minutes later.

A passenger sitting nearby said the man, his legs charred and his pants cut off, appeared eerily calm.

"He didn't show any reaction to pain or to any feeling of shock or nervousness," said Melinda Dennis. "He just looked like a normal individual."

The heroic passenger was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center and was still hospitalized Friday night. The extent of his injuries was not revealed. The suspect was being treated at the same hospital under heavy guard and was expected to survive, officials said.

Obama spoke by conference call with national security advisers and then he "instructed that all appropriate measures be taken to increase security for air travel," White House spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.

Authorities on Friday night were investigating how Abdulmutallab got on the plane with explosives.

The Homeland Security Department said passengers may see additional screening measures on all flights because of the incident.

"We encourage those with future travel plans to stay in touch with their airline and to visit www.tsa.gov for updates," the department said.

"ALLEGED" terrorist?  You think it's possible we are misinterpreting this guys actions or motives at this point? 

 

Senate 'Liberal Fat Ass' Remembered in Health Debate

The memory of Sen. Drunk as a Skunk Kennedy loomed over the Senate Thursday (much as his bloated corpulent carcass did) when his weary colleagues moved his life's work, booze,broads, and healthcare to cure his various VD and liver ailments, to the brink of reality.

''He's having a Merry Christmas in the Cemetery,'' said an emotional Sen. Brownnose Kirk, D-Mass., who was appointed to fill the seat after Kennedy succumbed to brain cancer in August. Kirk said it was an honor to essentially cast Kennedy's vote as majority Democrats passed the Senate's version of a bill that would extend insurance to 30 million Americans. "If this was Chicago, he would still be voting." Kirk said.

The sunrise vote was a dramatic end to a tortured debate in which Majority Leader Harried struggled and ultimately succeeded to line up 60 votes to overcome a Republican half hearted effort to stop this travesty.

The pre-dawn procession to the Senate had the feel of a bittersweet, Christmas Eve memorial, with Kennedy's close friends and former staffers nearly filling the galleries, his name on the tips of everyone's tongues, and his fat, undead corpse roaming the halls looking for interns to bang, and then eat. With the dawn, he would return to his zombie lair in Hyannis Port.

''With Sen. Ted Kennedy's rasping voice in our ears, with his evil in our hearts, we say, as he said: The work goes on, the cause endures,'' said Reid, D-Nev. At that moment an intern reached over and pinched Senator Reids Depends Undergarment saying, "Did you poopie? Yes I think you did poopie! Let's get you kweaned up... such a big boy!"

Vice President Joe Biden's motorcade lit up a nearly-empty Pennsylvania Avenue at 6:30 a.m. EST, Capitol Police bringing the mini-traffic jam near the Senate parking spaces to a halt as it passed. As his presence was not required in the Senate or the White House, no one is really sure why he did this, other than the fact that he could. And that spending taxpayer dollars on useless motorcades somehow "stimulates him". People in dark suits climbed the hill and lined up at the security entrances with their Neuralyzers at the ready.

Michigan Democrat John Dingell, at 83 the longest-serving member of the House, used two crutches to navigate the ice outside the Senate chamber as he made his way inside with his wife, Debbie, at his side. Debbie Dingell.... say it out loud. Poor woman.

The galleries quickly filled with the guests of senators, as the lawmakers themselves trickled into the chamber and took their seats under the baleful gaze of Kennedy's widow, Vicki.

''Mr. President, this is for my friend, Ted Kennedy,'' intoned Sen Robert Byrd D-W.Va., the longest-serving member of Congress in history, as he cast his vote for the bill. At that moment, Senator Byrd cackled aloud, threw back his head and crumbled to dust, his task of screwing American Taxpayers nearly completed. He was then sucked up by the Sergeant at Arms with a 15 gallon Shop-Vac, to be reconstituted at a future date with the blood of virgins in a secret ceremony held by his "former" fraternity, The Invisible Empire of the Ku Klux Klan.

The news as I see it...

The Magical Years

PHOENIX -- A man was hit and killed by a city of Phoenix bus Saturday night. It happened near the intersection of 27th Avenue and Maryland.

According to police, the 20-year-old man and his girlfriend were trying to make it to the bus stop and couldn't. They were on the west side of Maryland when the bus pulled out of the stop and started heading southbound.

That's when police said the man ran across the five lanes of traffic and jumped in front of the bus, trying to get it to stop. The bus driver didn't see him in time and couldn't stop. The bus ran him over and killed him.

Police said if there's one lesson to be learned tonight, it's the importance of properly crossing the street, especially at night.

Phoenix police Lt. Ben Leuschner said, "We'd like to have people use crosswalks, jaywalking is a minor offense but obviously in this case you can see how serious the consequences can be if you're not careful."

There were about six people left on the bus at the time of the accident. No one else was hurt. Police said the bus driver won't face any charges.

 

I remember when I thought I was the center of the Universe and had some sort of invulnerablity to harm; it lasted from about age 17 to 25.  What ran through this guys head (other than the bike rack on the front of the bus)?  Did he think he glowed in the dark?  That the power of Christ would compel the bus to stop?  Was he friggin drunk or trying to impress his girl?  She's impressed now... but not nearly as much as those tire imprints are impressed on his head.

911 Call Released From Home Invasion Shooting

   posted 5:56 pm Fri December 04, 2009 - Cushing

Officials have released the 911 tape from this morning's home invasion shooting that left an intruder dead from a shotgun blast.

It happened in Cushing, about 50 miles west of Tulsa in Lincoln County. Police say the female homeowner was awakened by her barking dog and called 911. While she was on the phone with dispatchers, police say she warned the intruder that she had a rifle.

Authorities say the intruder, identified as Billy Dean Riley, ignored the woman's warning and threw a chair through the window. That's when the woman opened fire.

The 911 call details the tense moments before the woman opened fire. It does not contain the actual shooting.

RESIDENT - "Oh crap he's coming around the front..."

911 -  "Is your front door locked?"

RESIDENT - "Yes ma'am but it's only got a lock on the handle."

911 - "Okay, do you have a place inside your house and lock yourself in a room?"

RESIDENT -  "Uh, not really."

911 - "He's trying to come through the front door."

RESIDENT - "i've got a big shotgun. I'm not going into a tiny bathroom..."

RESIDENT - "He's walking around the house trying to find a way in..."

RESIDENT - "Oh crap, he's at the back..."

911 - "Okay , (unintelligible) is advising that you can defend your property if you need to."

RESIDENT - "Alright he's at the garage."

911 - "He's at the garage? Is it attached to your house?"

RESIDENT - "Nope, he's at the patio door again."

911 - "I can hear him banging again."

RESIDENT - "I don't want to have to kill this man, but i'll kill him graveyard dead ma'am."

911 - "I understand."

RESIDENT - "Alright."

RESIDENT - Oh crap he's breaking in. he's breaking in now, he's breaking in now. He's breaking the window, i'm going to kill him. He's walking back and forth on the porch. He looks to be an older man, I don't want to kill him. He's kicking the door please hurry. He's going to make it in please hurry ma'am. I think he's drunk . He doesn't know where his pickup's at. God I don't want to kill this man."

RESIDENT - "I cant keep this gun and keep on the phone darling, it's a big shotgun, it will break my arm. As soon as  you tell me they're here im taking the safety, uh.. Im putting the safety back on this sucker."

Random Killing

PHOENIX - It has been about 24 hours since a nearly 50-year-old shopper was gunned down outside a Phoenix Kmart. 

That woman's killer is still on the loose. The killing happened Monday night in the 300 block of Baseline. Police released the victim's name as 48-year-old Luz Navarro. 

3TV talked to a family member who says they are obviously devastated. Police say the crime was completely random, probably a botched robbery. 

Word of the parking lot murder is rippling through the plaza and has left other shoppers stunned. One woman says, "Can't believe it." 

Witnesses say the attacker approached other people outside the Kmart asking for cigarettes. Police say the suspect lurked in the lot for half an hour before targeting the 48-year-old victim, who was alone and carrying bags. 

James Holmes, with Phoenix police, says, "It's absolutely terrible, tragic, and senseless." 

This is a tragic reminder that parking lot crime goes up during holiday shopping season. 

Holmes says, "The economy has nothing to do with it. It's the time of the year and predators know more people are out shopping right now." Their annual advice is to shop in groups, carry your keys in your hand and do not linger too long in your car. 

Now Phoenix police stand guard at the store doors as the hunt for the attacker continues. 

Police are looking for a black male in his 20s. He was wearing a black hoodie and jeans Monday night. He had been seen earlier in an old, grey Chevy pickup. Police are hoping tips from the public can help them solve this murder. 

Anybody with any information about the suspect or the person of interest in this deadly shooting should contact the police or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS (480-TESTIGO).

The Wolves

 

I was discussing my fathers Alzheimer death with someone who was experiencing the same.  I said that knowing that there was Alzheimers in your genetics was like " knowing there are are wolves in the forest where you live."  They are there, they are killers, and they may or may not attack you.  It's not that I hate them, or they hate me: it's the impersonal nature of biology and life in general.  The wolves are there, whether or not you choose to acknowledge it.  One of them will get you eventually. 

I went in for my follow up EKG yesterday.  Again, anxious to the point of elevated blood pressure, but not too bad.  I was expecting/hoping that it would show nothing and I could get on with feeling normal again.  The whole reason for the first EKG turned out to be a toothache, so there was no reason to worry, right?  Let's just be done with this whole thing: confirm I am ok, and send me on my way.  Please?

No.

After discussing with the cardiologist all of the pertinent information (no symptoms, blood pressure is lowered, no events indicating an attack.)  He showed me the EKG.  Simple really: where this little line should lay flat, it actually dips down below the baseline of the graph.  What does it mean?  Can't say until we do more tests (stress test, ultrasound, nuclear imaging will be scheduled later).  The possibilities are:

a) Nothing wrong.  The EKG is not "way out of whack", so this might just be an electrical anomaly of my heart.

b) Minor blockage of an artery, causing an electrical anomaly.

c) Previous heart attack.

So I left their office with the same cloud over me that I went in with.  I feel fine.  I never had any events that stand out in my memory.  I feel fine on my bike or elliptical machine.  But there is no resolution for me yet.  I'm scaring myself in my quiet moments, and it's stressing me out.  "Is that a pain in my chest?  My arm?  Do I feel dizzy?  Am I going to die from this?  Soon?"  As much as logic says I am OK, there is no pain or symptoms, I may not be.  As much as Melissa and my friends say not to worry, how can I not?

I think I can hear him, out there.  Hidden in the trees.

Good Way to Get Dead

PHOENIX -- Police arrested a man Wednesday on aggravated assault charges after he allegedly brandished a weapon and threatened people at the Cobblestone Store in Surprise, authorities said.

According to a news release from the Surprise Police Department, William McDougle, 20, threatened several customers outside the store on West Bell Road and brandished a black pistol out the driver's side door as he drove off the property.

Officers stopped him several blocks away and discovered a black pellet gun disguised as a 9mm semiautomatic pistol in his car, police said.

McDougle was charged with aggravated assault, threatening and disorderly conduct.

 

 

 

Stay Classy, Mr. Ex-Presdent

 

Former President Bill Clinton told a room full of Democratic senators Tuesday that passing health care reform — which he failed to do 15 years ago — is not only a moral issue but also “an economic imperative.”

Clinton argued that even “the most cold-hearted person” ought to support health care reform simply from an economic standpoint. He reminded Democrats of the political momentum their failure to pass reform in 1993 delivered the House of Representatives to the Republicans the following year.

"The point I want to make is: Just pass the bill, even if it's not exactly what you want," Clinton told Democrats. "When you try and fail, the other guys write history.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Clinton described the ongoing tea party protests against the Democratic agenda as a sign his party was making progress.

Whitehouse quoted Clinton arguing: "The reason the tea-baggers are so inflamed is because we are winning."

 

 

And he should know about tea-bagging.  Hillary subjects him to it regularly.

 

 

 

 

Obama Gives Shout Out to 'Congressional Medal of Honor Winner' Who Isn't

 

By Mike Bates November 6, 2009 - 01:18 ET

 

The Washington Post this afternoon reported "President Obama delivers remarks on Ft. Hood shooting at end of tribal leaders conference." The transcript begins:

SPEAKER: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

OBAMA: Please, everybody, have a seat. Let me first of all just thank Ken and the entire Department of the Interior staff for organizing just an extraordinary conference.  I want to thank my Cabinet members and senior administration officials who participated today. I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow (ph) was around, and so I want to give a shout out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It's good to see you.

Ah, the dangers of giving shout outs without a teleprompter.  Crow is not a Medal of Honor recipient.  As noted by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society:

The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Generally presented to its recipient by the President of the United States of America in the name of Congress, it is often called the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Crow's name is not included on the Society's Medal of Honor recipient list.  He was, however, awarded the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in August.

Obama, often described as "cerebral" by the mainstream media, should know the difference between the Medal of Honor and the Medal of Freedom, especially since he personally awarded the latter to Crow.  Don't expect his blunder to receive wide coverage.  It's not something he can blame George Bush for.

 

This is the dumbest thing I have ever heard...

PELOSI: Buy a $15,000 Policy or Go to Jail

JCT Confirms Failure to Comply with Democrats' Mandate Can Lead to 5 Years in Jail

Friday, November 06, 2009

Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail.  The JCT letter  makes clear that Americans who do not maintain "acceptable health insurance coverage" and who choose not to pay the bill's new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.

In response to the JCT letter, Camp said:  "This is the ultimate example of the Democrats' command-and-control style of governing – buy what we tell you or go to jail.  It is outrageous and it should be stopped immediately."

Key excerpts from the JCT letter appear below:

"H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax." [page 1]

                                                         - - - - - - - - - -                                                   

"If the government determines that the taxpayer's unpaid tax liability results from willful behavior, the following penalties could apply…" [page 2]

                                                         - - - - - - - - - -    
                                                

"Criminal penalties

Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses.  Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:

• Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

• Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years." [page 3]

When confronted with this same issue during its consideration of a similar individual mandate tax, the Senate Finance Committee worked on a bipartisan basis to include language in its bill that shielded Americans from civil and criminal penalties.  The Pelosi bill, however, contains no similar language protecting American citizens from civil and criminal tax penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and five years in jail.

"The Senate Finance Committee had the good sense to eliminate the extreme penalty of incarceration.  Speaker Pelosi's decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates.  Fortunately, Republicans have an alternative that will lower health insurance costs without raising taxes or cutting Medicare," said Camp.

According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker's bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.

If he's guilty, I don't really have aproblem with this....

 

Saudi court upholds child rapist crucifixion ruling

Tue Nov 3, 2009 2:22pm IST

 

RIYADH (Reuters) - A Saudi court of cassation upheld a ruling to behead and crucify a 22-year-old man convicted of raping five children and leaving one of them to die in the desert, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

The convict was arrested earlier this year after a seven-year old boy helped police in their investigation. The child left in the desert after the rape was three years old, Okaz newspaper said.

International rights groups have accused the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, of applying draconian justice, beheading murderers, rapists and drug traffickers in public. So far this year about 40 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia.

In Saudi Arabia, crucifixion means tying the body of the convict to wooden beams to be displayed to the public after beheading.

(Reporting by Souhail Karam; editing by Inal Ersan)

 

 

We are governed at all levels by America's luckiest children, sons and daughters of the abundance, and they call themselves optimists but they're not optimists—they're unimaginative. They don't have faith, they've just never been foreclosed on. They are stupid and they are callous, and they don't mind it when people become disheartened. They don't even notice.

 

PEGGY NOONAN

George Bush liberates 50 million Muslims. Ronald Reagan liberates hundreds of millions of Europeans, saves parts of Latin America. Any awards? No. Just derision. Obama gives speeches trashing his own country and he gets a prize for it.

Nobels For Nothing

Did you hear that Obama won the Nobel Prize? There’s no punchline. For real. Next thing you know we’ll all be getting one for the same reason: good wishes and hope. Those 2 things and 5 dollars get you a footlong sam’mich at Subway.

It's kind of strange, isn't it? How the mountains pay us no attention at all. You laugh or you cry... The wind just keeps on blowing.

 

 

How about we call it a "Crazy Murderous Evil and Fucked Up Crime?"

Phoenix Police Probe Drive-By Shooting

Woman Killed In What Police Say Might Be A Hate Crime

PHOENIX -- Police need the public's help in finding a man they said killed a woman with a shotgun and then drove off in north Phoenix.

Detectives said this might be a hate crime. The victim, a white woman, was with a black man when the white male suspect asked what he was doing with a white woman, said Detective James Holmes with the Phoenix Police Department.

It all started in a park near 12th Street and Dunlap Avenue.

At about 1:15 a.m. Saturday, the 39-year-old white woman and 48-year-old black man were walking in the park when a white man walked up to them, Holmes said.

That's when police said the suspect questioned why the two were together. The couple ignored the comment and walked away, police said.

The suspect followed them on foot for a little while before the pair lost track of him, Holmes said.

Officers said the man came back in the passenger seat of a white car with a shotgun and fired two shots, one of them hit the woman and killed her. The man was not injured.

"You know the guy is bald, he's got tattoos, he's making a comment about a white woman with a black man," Holmes said. "One could assume it might be a hate crime or racially motivated. I won't come out and say it is, it's something we have to look into."

Police are looking for a man about 5 feet 6 inches tall. They said he weighed around 200 pounds, had a shaved head and multiple tattoos.

He was last seen in a white, four-door car with dark tinted windows.

 

What would they call it if the shooter was anything other than white?  "Gang Related", of course.  But aren't all crimes of violence really  Hate Crimes?  Other than collateral damage killings, where someone other than your target gets killed,  don't you have to have some kind of hatred motivating you to pick up something lethal with the intent to use it to criminally kill or injure?  I guess the HATE CRIME label sells more papers, evokes more emotion.  I admit the shooter as described sounds like your stereotypical White Power Racist, and he may truly be one.  But when the black students beat the fucking snot out of some white kid, "they" are hesitant to call it a hate crime. 

Didn't mom warn you about taking rides from strangers?

Police asking for help to find kidnapped Phoenix woman

Police are asking for the public's help to find a woman who was kidnapped after she and her boyfriend accepted a ride from home from a stranger.

It happened at about 2:15 Thursday morning.

According to investigators, Vivian Franklin Kelly was with her boyfriend in the area of Seventh Avenue and Osborn Road. The couple got a ride home from a man in a white pickup truck.

When the man dropped them off at a nearby apartment complex, the boyfriend got out of the car. Police said he turned around to help Kelly, who reportedly was quite intoxicated, but the driver took off. Kelly has not been seen since.

Kelly, 29, is a white female about 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 155 pounds. She has brown hair and green eyes. Kelly has numerous tattoos, including ones on her neck, chest, lower back, right hip, left ear, and left foot. She has a gold hoop earring on the right side of her nose, gauges in her ears, and a barbell piercing in her left eyebrow. Kelly also has scars on her forehead and chest.

Kelly was last seen wearing blue jeans, a long-sleeve light blue plaid shirt, dark blue flip flops, and a belt with silver studs and a silver buckle. She was also wearing numerous rings on her fingers.

The suspect vehicle is a late '80s or early '90s model single-cab white pickup truck.

Anyone having information regarding this case is asked to contact the Phoenix Police Department Missing Persons Unit at 602-534-2121 or phoenix.tips.ppd@phoenix.gov.

Obama to take weeks to study Afghanistan strategy

30 Sep 2009 23:57:07 GMT

Source: Reuters

 

WASHINGTON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will take several weeks to review U.S. strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan, the White House said on Wednesday after a meeting between top U.S. officials about the region.

"When it comes to decisions as important as keeping this country safe and putting our troops into harm's way, the president has made it clear that he will rigorously assess our progress," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

"That is why he held this meeting today and will take the next several weeks to review our strategy." (Reporting by Jeff Mason, editing by Chris Wilson)

 

OBAMA TO FIDDLE WHILE AFGHANISTAN BURNS. 

Why?

 

Boo Hoo; We have opposition..... Boo Hoo.

Bill Clinton speaks of vast, right-wing conspiracy

(AP)

WASHINGTON — Bill Clinton says a vast, right-wing conspiracy that once targeted him is now focusing on President Barack Obama.

The ex-president made the comment in a television interview when he was asked about one of the signature moments of the Monica Lewinsky affair over a decade ago. Back then, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton used the term "vast, right-wing conspiracy" to describe how her husband's political enemies were out to destroy his presidency.

Bill Clinton was asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" whether the conspiracy is still there. He replied: "You bet. Sure it is. It's not as strong as it was because America has changed demographically. But it's as virulent as it was."

Clinton said that this time around, the focus is on Obama and "their agenda seems to be wanting him to fail."

No shit... did he just now figure out that opposing parties always want the other guy to fail?  Or is this the "epiphany of insight" only available to former Presidents?  And by "conspiracy", does he mean "hidden agenda serving the selfish desires of the few" (like a blowjob or the ruination of a good cigar) or does he mean an "organized and loud opposition to your own conspiracy"?

Cut my taxes... I promise to buy American made.

Holy Crap, I'm Psychic....

This is actually a follow up to the post from this morning....  Turns out Crazy Woman was doing excatly what I thought she could be doing... barricades, gas lines etc...  Weird.

 

 

 

PHOENIX -- Officials have identified a 32-year-old woman who was shot and killed by police Saturday after she allegedly stabbed an officer several times.

Police identified the woman as Katherine Hysaw.

Officials say police responded to a call of a subject threatening with a knife around noon at an apartment complex on 19th Avenue, just south of Glendale Avenue.

Police say neighbors reported the woman was threatening other residents with a butcher knife.

Neighbor Mike Rocha said the woman thought he was being loud and started pounding on his door.

"She was banging a toilet seat on my door," Rocha said.

Rocha and his girlfriend stayed inside their apartment, but when Celestina Berumen looked out the peek hole she noticed the suspect stabbing her front door.

Rocha said the couple got scared and called police.

"We have a 3-month-old," he said.

Phoenix police Sgt. Andy Hill said when officers arrived the suspect had barricaded herself in her apartment. He said they tried to talk the woman out, but she had barricaded the door with a sofa.

Hill said when officers smelled natural gas, they broke through the door and Hysaw began throwing glass beer bottles at them, striking two officers.

Hill said officers tried using a Taser but it missed Hysaw.

As two other officers entered the apartment, Hysaw advanced on one of them and began striking him repeatedly in the upper chest with a large butcher knife, Hill said.

Hill said the blade was deflected by the officer's ballistic vest and neck protector. The officer fired two sage (rubber) rounds without effect.

Another officer, described as a 27-year veteran, fired his rifle twice and Hysaw fell back into the bathroom, dropping the knife, Hill said. She was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

None of the officers was injured.

Neighbors said she only lived in the apartment for a short time and seemed agitated the night before.

When Rocha heard the woman had stabbed the officer he believed the shooting was justified.

"They did what they had to do," Rocha said.

The investigation is ongoing.

If I commented on the headline the way I want to, my wife would whup my ass.....

Police Shoot Bizarre-Acting Woman

POSTED: 5:34 pm MST September 19, 2009

UPDATED: 6:13 am MST September 20, 2009

 

PHOENIX -- Phoenix police shot and killed a woman on Saturday after she tried to stab an officer in a barricade situation near 19th Avenue and Bethany Home Road, investigators said.

The woman's neighbors, Mike Rocha and Celestina Berumen, said the woman was carrying a toilet seat lid when she showed up and complained there was too much noise coming from their apartment.

Berumen said the woman threw a porcelain toilet lid at their door, and then a couple of minutes later, came armed with a knife and bottle and started stabbing the door.

"I'm scared," Rocha said. "I've got a newborn. What's going through my head is, 'Keep that door shut. Do everything you can to keep this crazy lady out.'

 

Rocha said he called 911. The SWAT team responded.

"The woman that lived there stabbed one of the officers with a knife," said Sgt. Andy Hill. "His vest protected him."

Police said another officer shot and killed the woman. Rocha said it's hard to believe all this happened over a noise complaint.

"Somebody's life was taken today for nothing," Rocha said.

The officer who shot the woman has more than 20 years on the force, Hill said.

 

Hill said the SWAT team did try a Taser first, but it wasn't effective.

As for the officer stabbed, we're told his vest was cut but he was not hurt.

The officer who shot the woman is a veteran officer with more than 20 years on the police force. He is on routine paid leave while officers investigate whether the shooting was justified.

 

 

First question a wiener would ask is:  "Why did they have to shoot an unarmed, mentally unstable woman?"   It's called Escalation of Force, and it's kind of tricky.   She already displayed a tendency for violence by stabbing a door, then a uniformed police officer, and they tried the taser to no avail.  Why couldn't they just get riot shields and pin her to a wall?  Ever chase someone with a riot shield?  And she could still reach around and potentially kill an officer.  Pepper spray?  Good stuff... the story doesn't say why or if it was deployed.   But the fact is this: there isn't time to fuck around in most of these cases.  Crazy woman can bolt into traffic, run off into a store full of people, retreat to her house for a little barricade action with more guns inside or a little disconnected gas line excitement.  The decision to shoot someone is usually made in the time it takes to say "aw fuck!"  And then come the retroactive quarterback of the community and press.

I support the officer until it is proven he acted maliciously and without cause, perhaps criminally.  I feel bad for the woman because it didn't have to end this way, but her mind put her in harms way. 

 

Here's a tip from my weapons instructors past and present:  if you carry a gun, always spend some time every day imagining when you may have to use deadly force.  Then try to avoid those situations.  The result is never good for anyone.

Just me this time.

I am a conservative.  Have been since Reagan took office.  I don't toe the "Party Line", and tend to take issues one at a time.  It's never good to be a sheep.  In support of this, I would produce my voter registration card which shows my Independent status for about 20 years.  I have my beliefs and core values, and while they tend to stay the same, I am open to discussion on many things.  I can't imagine I will ever have all the facts on anything.

 

A core belief of mine is this:  American Republicans and Democrats are overwhelmingly conservative. 

 

There is a center to this country that has Faith in a God.  They think abortion should never happen because you shouldn't get pregnant with all the precautions available, and if you do...... what the hell did you think sex was for?  It is the Law of the Land that abortion is legal, but it is the Law of Biology and God that it is also murdering an innocent (if not yet viable) life form.

 

There is a large part of us who believe gun ownership is a right not to be tampered with.  We like to hunt, plink, look tough, blow things apart and as long as we do so safely, what's the problem?  I also feel that those of us who carry for protection have a realistic view of the craziness of our unpredictable world and police response times.  First there's the crime, then call 911, then the cops arrive.  The crime and violence is usually over with when they arrive.  Not their fault, it's the way the Constitution prevents them from rounding up criminals before the crime has been committed.

 

Most of the country also believes that it's a bad idea to spend money you have not earned yet, from people who may not be old enough to earn it yet.    While deficit spending is useful in mortgages, if you go crazy spending money based on future earnings you will get fucked up.  And spending money to stimulate the economy is the worst idea ever.  All it does is create short term activity, like caffiene.  If there is not ongoing spending (like thru a tax cut) there  will be no good done to the economy.

 

I also believe the far right and far left of both Parties are nothing but self serving, concieted attention whores.  Don't preach values and morals to me and get caught jacking off in a bathroom.  Don't tell me I have to sacrifice for country and health care when you live in a mansion and will not be part of this new utopian folly you want to foist on us.

And stop calling Tea-Party activists Tea Baggers.  It shows nothing more than your juvenile mentality and lack of decency when you keep repeating this on national TV and radio.  Yeah, we got it the first time you said it..... we ignored you because sticks and stones etc.

Carter comes from Georgia/Gerogia was part of the Confederacy/Therefore Carter is a racist too and he should know.

Jimmy Carter: Wilson comments 'based on racism'

By GREG BLUESTEIN

ATLANTA (AP) - Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst to President Barack Obama during a speech to Congress last week was an act "based on racism" and rooted in fears of a black president.

"I think it's based on racism," Carter said in response to an audience question at a town hall held at his presidential center in Atlanta. "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president."

The Georgia Democrat said the outburst was a part of a disturbing trend directed at the president that has included demonstrators equating Obama to Nazi leaders.

"Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care," he said. "It's deeper than that."

Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, was formally rebuked Tuesday in a House vote for shouting "You lie!" during Obama's speech to Congress last Wednesday.

The shout came after the president commented that illegal aliens would be ineligible for federal subsidies to buy health insurance. Republicans expressed their disbelief with sounds of disapproval, punctuated by Wilson's outburst.

Tuesday's rebuke was a rare resolution of disapproval pushed through by Democrats who insisted that Wilson had violated basic rules of decorum and civility. Republicans characterized the measure as a witch hunt and Wilson, who had already apologized to Obama, insisted he owed the House no apology.

Wilson's spokesman was not immediately available for comment, but his eldest son defended his father.

"There is not a racist bone in my dad's body," said Alan Wilson, an Iraq veteran who is running for state attorney general. "He doesn't even laugh at distasteful jokes. I won't comment on former President Carter, because I don't know President Carter. But I know my dad, and it's just not in him."

"It's unfortunate people make that jump. People can disagree - and appropriately disagree - on issues of substance, but when they make the jump to race it's absolutely ludicrous. My brothers and I were raised by our parents to respect everyone regardless of background or race."

South Carolina's former Democratic Party chairman said that he doesn't believe Wilson was motivated by racism, but said the outburst encouraged racist views.

"I think Joe's conduct was asinine, but I think it would be asinine no matter what the color of the president," said Dick Harpootlian, who has known Wilson for decades. "I don't think Joe's outburst was caused by President Obama being African-American. I think it was caused by no filter being between his brain and his mouth."

Harpootlian said he received scores of racial e-mails from outside South Carolina after he talked about the vote on Fox News.

"You have a bunch of folks out there looking for some comfort in their racial issues. They have a problem with an African-American president," he said. "But was he motivated by that? I don't think so. I respectfully disagree with President Carter, though it gives validity to racism."

Carter called Wilson's comment "dastardly" and an aftershock of racist views that have permeated American politics for decades.

"The president is not only the head of government, he is the head of state," he said. "And no matter who he is or how much we disagree with his policies, the president should be treated with respect."

 

Thank you, Mr. Worst President Ever.  Please return to your penance of building shanties for the poor and be quiet.  Since when does being non-white mean you are immune from criticism, anger or unruly outbursts?  I dislike Obama and his policies severely, yet I think JC Watts is a great politician... and he's darker than Obama!  If we judge people based on content of character rather than color of skin, we still may really dislike their character.

Barack Obama accused of making 'Depression' mistakes

By Edmund Conway
Published: 9:55PM BST 06 Sep 2009

 

Barack Obama is committing the same mistakes made by policymakers during the Great Depression, according to a new study endorsed by Nobel laureate James Buchanan.

 His policies even have the potential to consign the US to a similar fate as Argentina, which suffered a painful and humiliating slide from first to Third World status last century, the paper says.

There are "troubling similarities" between the US President's actions since taking office and those which in the 1930s sent the US and much of the world spiralling into the worst economic collapse in recorded history, says the new pamphlet, published by the Institute of Economic Affairs.

In particular, the authors, economists Charles Rowley of George Mason University and Nathanael Smith of the Locke Institute, claim that the White House's plans to pour hundreds of billions of dollars of cash into the economy will undermine it in the long run. They say that by employing deficit spending and increased state intervention President Obama will ultimately hamper the long-term growth potential of the US economy and may risk delaying full economic recovery by several years.

The study represents a challenge to the widely held view that Keynesian fiscal policies helped the US recover from the Depression which started in the early 1930s. The authors say: "[Franklin D Roosevelt's] interventionist policies and draconian tax increases delayed full economic recovery by several years by exacerbating a climate of pessimistic expectations that drove down private capital formation and household consumption to unprecedented lows."

Although the authors support the Federal Reserve's moves to slash interest rates to just above zero and embark on quantitative easing, pumping cash directly into the system, they warn that greater intervention could set the US back further. Rowley says: "It is also not impossible that the US will experience the kind of economic collapse from first to Third World status experienced by Argentina under the national-socialist governance of Juan Peron."

The paper, which recommends that the US return to a more laissez-faire economic system rather than intervening further in activity, has been endorsed by Nobel laureate James Buchanan, who said: "We have learned some things from comparable experiences of the 1930s' Great Depression, perhaps enough to reduce the severity of the current contraction. But we have made no progress toward putting limits on political leaders, who act out their natural proclivities without any basic understanding of what makes capitalism work."

 

 

Why did you elect this jerk?

President Obama says 'sin tax' on sodas is food for thought, despite Gov. Paterson's failed proposal

The President, in an interview with Men's Health magazine released yesterday, said he thought taxing soda and other sugary drinks is worth putting on the table as Congress debates health care reform.

"It's an idea that we should be exploring," the president said. "There's no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda. And every study that's been done about obesity shows that there is as high a correlation between increased soda consumption and obesity as just about anything else."

Obama is floating the idea seven months after a storm of protest forced poll-challenged Gov. Paterson to drop his plans for an 18% tax on soda and other sugary drinks.

Despite that debacle, congressional lawmakers have considered soda taxes as one way to cover the cost of revamping the nation's health care system, estimated to eat up much as $1 trillion over the next decade.

But Obama - who works out six days a week and keeps a bowl of apples in the Oval Office - has been largely mum on the controversial topic, at least until now.

As in Paterson's case, Obama's comments drew the immediate wrath of industry and consumer-choice groups yesterday.

"The tax code should not be used as a method for social engineering, and that's what this is," said J. Justin Wilson, the senior research analyst for the Center for Consumer Freedom, a group funded in part by the food and beverage industry. "It smacks of the regulation that government imposed on tobacco, but soda is not tobacco."

Obama acknowledged that the idea could lead to charges that Uncle Sam is trying to dictate personal diets, but he hinted the trade-off may be worth it.

"Look, people's attitude is that they don't necessarily want Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that," Obama said.  But I will do it anyway, for I am the chosen one........

"It is true, though, that if you wanted to make a big impact on people's health in this country, reducing things like soda consumption would be helpful."

Let's raise taxes on soda to punish people and make money to pay for my Utopian plans.  When people start to drink less soda, we'll collect less money and have to tax something else.....bacon?

I could start a blog called "Why We Never Go Out Anymore"

2 killed, 7 hurt when SUV runs red light in Phoenix

 

PHOENIX -- Officials say two men are dead after an SUV ran a red light, striking their vehicle in a West Phoenix intersection early Saturday morning.

Seven other people were injured.

Phoenix police spokesman James Holmes said the accident happened about 2:30 a.m. at the intersection of Grand and 35th avenues and Indian School Road.

Investigators said that 27-year-old Jesus Manuel Briseno was driving a Cadillac Escalade northwest on Grand Avenue when he failed to stop for a red left turn signal onto Indian School Road.

The SUV struck a Chevrolet Impala which was traveling southeast on Grand Avenue.

Holmes said the driver of the Impala was killed in the crash, along with one of the passengers. The victims have only been identified as two Hispanic males, ages 18 and 20.

Seven other people from both vehicles suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Alcohol was determined to be a factor in the crash and Briseno was booked into jail on two counts of manslaughter and several counts of aggravated assault, Holmes said.

 

Awwww, don't arrest him... he didn't mean to do it... he was drunk....  drunks are silly... like Otis from Mayberry.

 

Now it makes sense....

Oh so close to home

 

4-5 armed men bust into Phoenix home, claim to be with sheriff's office

PHOENIX -- Several men busted into a Phoenix home early Wednesday morning and tied up four people in a home-invasion style robbery.

It happened at about 5 a.m. in the area of 19th Avenue and Beardsley.

Officer Luis Samudio of the Phoenix Police Department said the four to five suspects who stormed the home were wearing tactical gear and black clothing and were armed with high-powered rifles. The men said several times that they were with the sheriff's office before they zip-tied four people -- two men and two women -- and began ransacking the home.

One of the victims was able to escape through a window while the suspects were busy. That man went to a neighbor's house and called 911.

"That's how we were to respond very quickly and get our Special Assignments Unit here," Samudio said.

By the time the SAU arrived on the scene, the suspects were gone. Police don't know anything about the suspects' vehicle.

It's not yet clear what the men were looking for or why that particular home was targeted.

Investigators are talking to the four victims, none of whom was hurt.

Samudio said this morning's incident bears some resemblance to previous crimes, but investigators are not yet sure if it's the same crew at work.

"We're asking the community ... if they see anything or of they know of anything to please give us a call so we can put a stop to this," he said.

 

I don't really have a problem with this...

CIA memo details procedures for breaking detainees

WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Sleep deprivation, "insult slaps", water dousing and "walling", or slamming a detainee's head against a wall, were techniques used by CIA interrogators to break high-value detainees, according to an agency memo.

The memo, sent to the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel on Dec. 30, 2004, was released on Monday under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Amnesty International USA and the American Civil Liberties Union.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday named a special prosecutor to probe Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) prisoner abuse cases.

His decision, which promises political headaches for President Barack Obama, came after the Justice Department's ethics watchdog recommended considering prosecution of CIA employees or contractors for interrogations in Iraq and Afghanistan that went beyond approved limits.

"The goal of interrogation is to create a state of learned helplessness and dependence conducive to the collection of intelligence," the memo, outlining procedures for handling captured al Qaeda leaders sent to CIA "black site" prisons, said.

The document, first reported by The Washington Post, said prior to an interrogation session, detainees may be stripped and held in a "vertical shackling position" to begin sleep deprivation.

Once the interrogation begins, the "insult slap" on the face may be used when the interrogator needs to immediately correct the detainee, the memo said.

The document said "walling" was one of the most effective interrogation techniques for wearing down detainees physically.

"An HVD (high-value detainee) may be walled one time (one impact with the wall) to make a point or 20 to 30 times consecutively when the interrogator requires a more significant response to a question," the document said.

Interrogations at CIA prisons occurred in special cells outfitted on one side with a plywood wall to prevent severe head injuries, The Washington Post reported.

The paper said agency spokesman George Little noted that the interrogation programme operated under guidelines approved by top legal officials of the Bush administration.

"This programme, which always constituted a fraction of the CIA's counterterrorism efforts, is over," Little was quoted as saying.

CIA officials have also noted that harsh techniques were reserved for a small group of top-level terrorism suspects believed to be knowledgeable about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Post said.

Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney criticised Obama's ability to handle national security after the special prosecutor was appointed.
Cheney, who has emerged as a vocal defender of Bush administration policies since leaving the White House, said the intelligence obtained from harsh interrogation techniques had saved lives.

"The people involved deserve our gratitude. They do not deserve to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions," he said in a statement.

Holy crap. Are we apologizing for this sort of thing? At least we are not ripping out finger nails and electrocuting testicles (not officially), but I don't think we should treat these guys with love and understanding. They are likely to really be killers, and if we get it wrong a few times, then we apologize, offer the innocent some money, and if they refuse and won't shut up..... they disappear. Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet.

CASH FOR CLUNKERS = SUCKERS!!!

Cash for Clunkers = SUCKERS

Alright, lets get to the point: who is really going to benefit from the so-called Cash for Clunkers Redistribution of Income? 

DEALERS:  So far most of them are afraid they aren't going to get paid, and if they do, will it cover the costs associated with taking in all these POC vehicles and transporting them to their destruction?  Who is paying for the destruction, by the way?  But for now, the straggly and hungry wolves roaming car lots are just happy to see sheep return to the aisles.

BUYERS:  What is the best way to fuck up your credit?  Trade in an old (but paid off) jalopy for a new car with a great new payment!  And don't forget the insurance rates on a new car are much higher than on your old car.... I believe this will end the same way the Zero Percent Financing spree resulting from the September 11th attacks did:  massive repossessions.  Only this will take just a few month, not a year like it did then.

TAX PAYERS:  Riiight.... who do you think is paying for this?  Santa?  Have you heard the new phrase "ten year deficit " projections?  This means we are not raising taxes just now.... we are getting you slobs used to hand outs first.  There will be health care, stimulus spending, all the grand and glorious things with pretty utopian names or acronyms, all slop for greedy, lazy piggies.  But ten years from now.... when Obama cannot possibly still be in office, the bill comes due.  To be laid at the feet of a different president, and different taxpayers... who probably are too young to have gotten much benefit out of this stupid spending spree.

I have said it before: the economy runs in cycles, it goes up and down.  Sometimes a little farther than we'd like.. but it cycles back eventually.  Raising ta taxes and government spending is not the answer.  Paradoxically, lowering taxes is the answer.  The more money I keep from my paycheck is what drives the economy: if I spend it.. you sell something, and the guys who made it and delivered it all get something from my buying.  If I save it in a bank, the bank loans it out and someone buys something.  Put put goes the economy.  Taking more from me when I am already hurting and then giving it away as a "stimulus" generates nothing but anger from me and a feeling of entitlement from the recipient.

BEHOLD:  CLASS WARFARE.

Travel Expert To Skip Ariz. After Gun Display

Arthur Frommer Stops Short Of Issuing Travel Boycott

 

Arthur Frommer wrote on his Web site, "I will not personally travel in a state where civilians carry loaded weapons onto the sidewalks and as a means of political protest."

 

Frommer was referring to a gathering of protesters, some of whom carried firearms, including an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle slung over one man's shoulder.

 

"I not only believe such practices are a threat to the future of our democracy, but I am firmly convinced that they would also endanger my own personal safety there," Frommer said in his blog.

"And therefore I will cancel any plans to vacation or otherwise visit in Arizona until I learn more. And I will begin thinking about whether tourists should safeguard themselves by avoiding stays in Arizona."

Phoenix police said the gun-toters at Monday's event didn't need permits. No crimes were committed, and no one was arrested.

Gun-rights advocates said they were exercising their constitutional right to bear arms and protest, while those who argue for more gun control said it could be a disaster waiting to happen.

Arizona is an "open-carry" state, which means anyone legally allowed to have a firearm can carry it in public as long as it's visible. Only someone carrying a concealed weapon is required to have a permit.

"The continued tolerance of extremists carrying guns is a frightening development which strikes at the heart of the political process and endangers the ability to carry out a reasoned debate," Frommer wrote.

 

He wasn't an extremist, he was a law abiding Libertarian Crackpot with an agenda of self promotion.  There is a difference ya know....

No! do you really think so?

Many deported felons just sneak back across border
U.S. pushing prosecution, lengthy prison terms to deter re-entry

by Daniel González - Aug. 16, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic .

The goal of the U.S. government's expanding program to rid the country of foreign-born criminals is clear: Find illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes and deport them so they no longer pose a threat to the public.

The government has successfully deported hundreds of thousands of foreign-born criminals in recent years. But a significant number have come back again, illegally, to the United States, often to commit more crimes, according to government data and interviews with law-enforcement authorities, federal prosecutors and criminal-defense lawyers.

There are no broad government statistics on how many deported criminals re-enter the United States illegally, but arrests by Border Patrol agents in the Tucson region alone suggest the number is high. In fiscal year 2008, 16 percent of the 317,696 immigrants arrested by agents in Tucson, one of nine sectors on the U.S.-Mexican border, were charged with felony counts of re-entering illegally, either because they had prior felony convictions in the U.S. or previously had been formally deported. Crossing the border illegally is typically a misdemeanor.The illegal re-entry of people who have been deported, especially those with criminal histories, represents one of the most vexing and persistent problems in the government's stepped-up effort to battle illegal immigration. The government doesn't have the resources to prosecute all of them, and in the past most were simply just deported again.
There is no easy answer, especially as authorities struggle with shrinking budgets and increasing responsibilities.

But now to deter re-entry, the government is beefing up efforts to prosecute violent criminals who come back to the country after they've been incarcerated and then deported, sentencing the most dangerous and egregious offenders to lengthy prison terms, rather than just automatically sending them back home.

The goal is to prevent deported criminals who re-enter the U.S. from committing more crimes and to deter others from re-entering, said Joseph Koehler, an assistant U.S. attorney in Phoenix who supervises a unit that prosecutes these cases.

The only way to deter violent criminals who get "formally kicked out of the country" and repeatedly return is to "make it very clear that there is a sanction for coming into the United States," Koehler said.

But even that is no guarantee that a criminal prosecuted for re-entering the country illegally, sent to prison and then deported again won't sneak back into the country.

"I'd say it happens fairly frequently," Koehler said. "It certainly is not the majority of the people we prosecute, but there are a significant number who do."

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank in Washington, D.C., that favors less immigration, said prosecuting deported criminals who return to the United States is effective at preserving public safety because it takes criminals off the street.

"These are not just people coming to work as bus boys," she said. "They are coming to return to a life of crime."

But, she said, it is difficult to say whether prosecuting deported criminals actually deters them or others from re-entering illegally.

"The only way to stop that is to have better security at the border," she said.

Atmore Baggat, a defense attorney who has represented immigrants charged with felony counts of illegal re-entry, said deported immigrants often return for jobs or because their spouses or children are still in this country, not necessarily to commit crimes.

He said many often do not realize the penalty for re-entry can be so harsh.

"I don't know how much the government impresses upon them the penalties for coming back," he said.

Federal officials say deportees are given plenty of warning, including a written statement that notifies them that re-entering the U.S. illegally is a federal offense that could cost them up to 20 years in prison. Helloooo? They are criminals.....they commit crimes.... they are not planning on being caught, so they don't really think about penalties in the here and now.... duh.

Marc Rosenblum, a senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research organization in Washington, D.C., said the United States has tried developing programs with other countries to integrate deported criminals into their homelands rather than just "dumping them at the border or kicking them off an airplane." But those efforts fell off following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he said.

Rosenblum said, however, that countries are often reluctant to take in deported criminals.

"When you talk about real bad guys, they are not real attractive to take back," Rosenblum said.

He said there is strong public support for deporting illegal immigrants who commit crimes and for prosecuting those who return. But, he stressed, studies have shown that illegal immigrants tend to commit fewer crimes than people born in the United States.

The U.S. government is deporting more criminals than ever before.

In fiscal year 2008, ICE deported 369,221 people, 31 percent of whom had criminal records. The year before, 35 percent of the 291,060 people deported had criminal records.

Over the past two years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement also has greatly ramped up a program to identify illegal immigrants in the federal prison system and deport them. In fiscal 2008, ICE began proceedings to deport 46 percent more illegal-immigrant criminals than it did the previous year and 225 percent more than in fiscal year 2006, according to the agency's annual report.

Those numbers do not include the more than 78,000 illegal immigrants who have been placed in deportation proceedings over the past five years through a separate ICE program that trains state and local jail officials on how to identify inmates who are in the country illegally.

In Arizona, the number of people prosecuted for felony re-entry jumped 300 percent from 1997 to 2007, according to the Justice Department. Nationwide, prosecutions increased 150 percent during the same period.

Vincent Picard, an ICE spokesman in Phoenix, said the agency's Detention and Removal Operations has placed highest priority on those who "pose the most danger to our community," primarily illegal immigrants who have been convicted of violent crimes and major drug offenses.

From Jan. 1 through June 30 of this year, the ICE office in Phoenix had initiated 1,497 such cases, more than any other ICE office in the nation. The San Antonio office initiated the second-highest number, 997, and 96 percent of those cases were accepted for prosecution.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix, however, because of limited resour- ces, accepted less than half of the Phoenix cases, 659, according to ICE records.

Nationwide, ICE has initiated 9,954 cases through June 30; 6,462 were accepted for prosecution.

Koehler, the assistant U.S. attorney in Phoenix, said the office can't keep up with all the cases, despite the addition of four prosecutors over the past year. As a result, the office focuses on the worst offenders, including deported immigrants with violent criminal histories and illegal immigrants who have re-entered multiple times.

"In a world of limited resources, you always have to prioritize your targets," Koehler said.

Illegal immigrants who aren't prosecuted are deported again. Koehler acknowledged that there is a chance some will return and commit more crimes.

"I think that there is always a class of people that is hard to deter from committing further crime," he said.