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October 2009

AP Sources: 300-plus arrested in US drug raids

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 03:37 — admin

WASHINGTON – In the largest single strike at Mexican drug operations in the U.S., federal officials on Thursday announced the arrests of more than 300 people in raids across the country aimed at the newest and most violent cartel.
La Familia has earned a reputation for dominating the methamphetamine trade and displaying graphic violence, including beheadings. U.S. officials said the cartel, based in the state of Michoacan, in southwestern Mexico, has a vast network pumping drugs throughout the United States, specializing in methamphetamine.
The arrests took place in 38 cities, from Boston to Seattle and Tampa, Fla., to St. Paul, Minn., in 19 states.
Attorney General Eric Holder pledged to keep hitting La Familia and the cartels responsible for a wave of bloodshed in Mexico. He said the U.S. would attack them at all levels, from the leadership to their supply chains reaching far into the United States.
"To the extent that they do grow back, we have to work with our Mexican counterparts to cut off the heads of these snakes, to get at the heads of the cartels, indict them, try them, if they're in Mexico, extradite them to the United States," Holder said at a news conference.
Michele Leonhart, who heads the Drug Enforcement Administration, said La Familia's power has grown quickly, in part due to its quasi-religious background. DEA officials say the cartel professes a "Robin Hood mentality" of aiding the poor by stealing from the rich. Some drug proceeds are used to give bibles and money to the poor, according to investigators.
The Obama administration has directed more agents, resources and money to fight the cartel's presence along the Mexico-U.S. border. But the arrests over the past two days occurred far beyond that region.
"The problem is not just along the southwest border, it is all over our country now," said Kenneth Melson, head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
In Dallas alone, 77 people were charged by a number of different federal and local law enforcement agencies.
On Wednesday and Thursday, more than 3,000 federal agents and police officers carried out arrests in more than a dozen states, as part of a long-running effort that has netted nearly 1,200 arrests over almost four years.
The suspects face a combination of federal and state charges.
In the latest legal assault on La Familia, a New York grand jury has indicted an alleged cartel leader, Servando Gomez-Martinez. He is linked to one of the more brazen acts of cartel violence.
In July, after a dozen Mexican police officers were found murdered, officials say Gomez-Martinez publicly proclaimed his membership in La Familia and said the cartel was locked in a battle with Mexican police.
Many of the new charges are centered on the cartel's methamphetamine distribution, but other charges involve cocaine and marijuana, the officials said.
The officials said states where arrests were made or charges filed include Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington state.
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On the Net:
Justice Department: http://www.justice.gov/

Drug Enforcement Administration: http://www.dea.gov

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives: http://www.atf.gov/

Red Cross says French employee kidnapped in Darfur

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 02:04 — admin

KHARTOUM (AFP) –
A French employee of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was kidnapped in the war-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur on Thursday, the aid agency said.

"We can confirm the abduction of one of our employees in the vicinity of El-Geneina," capital of West Darfur state, ICRC spokeswoman Tamara al-Rifai said in Khartoum.

The man was named as Gauthier Lefevre and had been working in Darfur for the past 15 months.

Sudan's minister of state for humanitarian affairs Abdel Baqi Gilani told AFP that Lefevre was in "good health" and that he expected him to be released soon.

"He is in good health according to the first report I have received," Gilani said without elaboration.

"I think he will be released soon. The ICRC is very respected and neutral and has no enmity among Darfur groups," Gilani said.

In Geneva, the ICRC said the incident occurred around midday as Lefevre "was returning with other ICRC staff to El-Geneina after completing a field trip north of the town to help local communities upgrade their water supply systems.

"He was travelling in one of two clearly marked ICRC vehicles when he was seized a few kilometres (miles) from the town."

Rifai said that a small group of expatriates as well as local Sudanese staff were travelling with Lefevre when he was abducted but were not harmed and were able to continue the trip.

"We don't know why they targeted him (Lefevre,)" Rifai said.

The ICRC said it had no immediate information concerning the abductors or their motives, while Gilani described the kidnappers as "bandits" and said the Khartoum government "condemns" the incident.

The Red Cross also called for Lefevre's immediate and "unconditional release" -- a demand also made by the French foreign ministry in Paris -- and said it is "in contact with the authorities and other parties with the aim of resolving the situation as swiftly as possible."

Earlier Gilani told AFP that the authorities are "trying to collect information" on the abduction, which he said occurred "in a zone near (the border with) Chad."

A senior Chadian rebel official contacted by AFP denied any Chadian rebel involvement in the abduction.

Thursday's abduction was the fifth of a foreign worker since March, when Sudan's ties with foreign relief organisations soured after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Beshir on charges of war crimes in Darfur.

But it was the first time a Red Cross employee was targeted.

Gilani voiced concern of more abductions and urged foreign relief organisations "to bolster security around their offices."

A relief official echoed his concern and said: "What has been happening in Darfur is very worrisome. I hope that the government will take this seriously."

On Sunday, two female aid workers -- Irishwoman Sharon Commins and Ugandan Hilda Kawuki -- were freed after 107 days of gruelling captivity in Darfur.

The two women's captivity was the longest endured by foreign aid staff in Darfur since the conflict erupted in the region in early 2003.

Two members of Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres MSF) and French aid agency Aide Medicale Internationale (AMI) were kidnapped in March and April but were later freed unharmed.

However two civilian employees of the UN-African Union joint peacekeeping force in Darfur who were kidnapped in August at Zalingei in west Darfur are still in the hands of their abductors.

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have fled their homes since ethnic minority rebels in Darfur rose up against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum in February 2003.

The government says 10,000 people have been killed.

Bangladesh bans Islamic group Hizb ut Tahrir: govt

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 00:57 — admin

DHAKA (AFP) –
Bangladesh banned a controversial Muslim group Thursday for "destabilising" the country, the government said, a day after a bomb attack targeted a ruling party lawmaker related to the prime minister.

Home Minister Sahara Khatun told AFP that Hizb ut Tahrir Bangladesh has been banned for "unleashing destructive activities" and work that goes against the "laws of the land".

"We took the decision after reports from our intelligence agencies. They are found (to be) destabilising the country," she said.

Hizb ut Tahrir is a pan-Islamist group whose goal is to establish a global Islamic caliphate. They have been banned in a number of countries, mainly in Central Asia and the Middle East.

Hizb ut Tahrir's Bangladesh coordinator and spokesman Mohiuddin Ahmed said the allegation against his organisation was "completely baseless".

"We are law-abiding citizens of the country. We are not involved in any militancy activities. The government banned us because we have been raising voices against its fascist character," he told AFP.

"We'll go to the court to overturn the ban."

The latest ban brings the number of outlawed Islamic groups in Bangladesh to five.

Four organisations including the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were banned after they carried out a series of nationwide blasts that left 28 people dead, including four suicide bombers, in 2005.

A bomb exploded Wednesday in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, targeting a ruling party legislator who is also a close relative of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Police said they were investigating the motive behind the attack but wouldn't say whether it was linked to any Islamic militant group. Law-enforcement agencies have also stepped up security in the capital.

Afghan contender mulls run-off boycott

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 00:21 — admin

KABUL (AFP) –
An anti-corruption campaigner who came third in Afghanistan's election said Thursday he may urge a boycott of a run-off next month, as the UN strived to avoid a repeat of the first round's rampant fraud.

The scale of the corruption during the August 20 election, most of which benefited President Hamid Karzai, has led to deep disillusionment in a country beset by a bloody Taliban insurgency.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the run-off on November 7 would be watched closely for fraud and foreign troops would work to protect voters from Taliban attack.

But outspoken lawmaker Ramazan Bashardost, who came a distant third in August with about 10 percent of the vote, damned the entire process as a "failure".

"Elsewhere in the world people involved in fraud are sent to jail but here in our country they are praised," he told AFP.

Bashardost said he would announce early next month whether he is asking his followers to back Karzai or former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, or to boycott the new ballot.

The two contenders had already lobbied for his support, he said, as distribution got under way of ballot papers and indelible ink to polling stations.

"But mark my words, I won't trade the vote of Afghan people or my supporters in return for a position" in government, he said. "I'll do what is best for the people of Afghanistan."

One analyst cast doubt on whether Bashardost, a member of Afghanistan's minority Hazara community, had the political clout to make a difference.

"I don't think he's in a kingmaker position," said Haroun Mir, of Afghanistan's Centre for Research and Policy Studies.

"The people who voted for him were the ones who are fed up with both Karzai and Abdullah and were the ones who were not affiliated to a political party or tribal group -- that's why they voted for him."

But a boycott call could undermine the credibility of a hastily-arranged poll that comes after weeks of political paralysis, threatening to depress August's low turnout rate of 38 percent still further.

Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission said the vote run-up would begin in earnest on Saturday with the start of a 12-day campaign period until November 5 and the first distribution of electoral materials nationwide.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said the poll faces huge challenges and has ordered the replacement of around 200 monitors who oversaw the first round.

UN spokesman Dan McNorton said some polling stations where major ballot-stuffing was detected and where it is not possible for Afghan security forces to be present to ensure safe voting were unlikely to reopen.

Abdullah's camp is also sceptical about the composition of the electoral commission, a nominally independent body seen by many as pro-Karzai.

"If the composition of the leadership of the commission is not changed, no doubt we will still have the crisis of fraud and illegal rule in the country," said a pro-Abdullah political party, the New Way League.

Organisers face a race against time to stage the second round with the onset of winter, as US President Barack Obama considers whether to deploy thousands more troops into the fray and NATO defence ministers discuss strategy changes.

The issue heightened political tension in Washington, with the White House slamming Dick Cheney Thursday, accusing him of years of neglect of Afghanistan, after the ex-vice president said Obama was "dithering" over the decision.

Asked about security problems surrounding the run-off, Gates said almost all countries that increased troop levels before the August polls had kept those additional forces in Afghanistan.

"Everybody has an interest in making sure that there are as few problems with this run-off election as possible in terms of providing legitimacy for the winning candidate," he said.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged member nations and partners to step up efforts to build Afghan security forces, warning that failure would destabilise the region and ultimately export insecurity to Europe.

"Leaving Afghanistan behind would once again turn the country into a training ground for Al-Qaeda," he said.

NATO defence ministers were to discuss Friday the new US and NATO counter-insurgency strategy to protect civilians rather than hunt militant fighters.

Ambulances start charging extra for obese patients

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 23:09 — admin

TOPEKA, Kan. – The memory still bothers Ken Keller: A panicked ambulance crew had a critically ill patient, but the man weighed more than 1,000 pounds and could not fit inside the vehicle. And the stretcher wasn't sturdy enough to hold him.
The crew offered an idea to Keller, who was then an investigator with the Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services. Could they use a forklift to load the man — bed and all — onto a flatbed truck? Keller agreed: There was no other choice.
"I'm sure it was terribly embarrassing to be in his own bed, riding on the back of a flatbed with straps tying him down, going to the hospital, and then have a forklift at the hospital unload him," Keller said.
As the nation battles the obesity crisis, ambulance crews are trying to improve how they transport extremely heavy patients, who become significantly more difficult to move as they surpass 350 pounds. And caring for such patients is expensive, requiring costly equipment and extra workers, so some ambulance companies have started charging higher fees for especially overweight people.
The move to modify ambulances is just the latest effort to accommodate plus-sized patients. Some hospitals already offer specially designed beds, wheelchairs, walkers and even commodes.
Ambulance companies say it's time for insurance providers, Medicaid and Medicare, or patients themselves to begin paying the added costs, which are cutting into their razor-thin profit margins.
In the past, ambulance companies often absorbed the extra expense of serving the obese. Now they are adding charges similar to those already imposed on intensive-care patients, people requiring multiple medications and patients on ventilators.
"In order for these systems to survive and continue to provide their service, there has to be some way to recover those costs," said Jim Buell, a director at the American Ambulance Association.
Transporting extremely heavy people costs about 2 1/2 times as much as normal-weight patients. It takes more time to move them and requires three to four times more crew members, who often must use expensive specialty equipment, Buell said.
Keller, now an operations manager for the American Medical Response unit in Topeka, successfully petitioned the Shawnee County Commission last summer to raise ambulance fees from $629 to $1,172 for critical-care patients and people who are 500 pounds or heavier.
In Colorado Springs, Colo., and the Nebraska cities of Omaha and Lincoln, the fees are $1,421 for an extremely obese patient, compared with $758 for a typical patient.
Before those ambulances had heavy-duty equipment, crews just had to make do, often calling in burly firefighters to help lift patients.
"I've heard stories of people moved by U-Haul trucks and sides of mobile homes having to be removed to move patients out, things of that nature," said Ted Sayer, a general manager for the American Medical Response unit.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has long said that nearly a third of Americans are obese. About 5 percent of the population is morbidly obese, meaning they are more than 100 pounds heavier than their ideal weight.
Some critics say the higher fees are a form of discrimination.
"Ambulance services are a critical public service and should accommodate the needs of all of those who require them at a fair cost," said Joseph Nadglowski, president of the Obesity Action Coalition, a group that advocates for the obese.
Higher payments for heavy patients are commonplace in Oregon and Washington because the insurance industry there acknowledges the additional costs, said Liz Merritt, a spokeswoman for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Rural/Metro Corporation, an ambulance provider.
Ambulance companies say the insurance industry is their best hope for closing the financial gap.

As with any medical service, ambulance companies bill private insurers or government health care programs. Medicare and Medicaid do not pay extra for transporting the extremely obese, although that's something the ambulance industry wants to change. The uninsured are charged directly, but many of them cannot pay.

"It's really an emerging area," said Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for the America's Health Insurance Plans, an insurance industry trade group. "It is one more way that obesity is contributing to health costs."

Proponents of the extra fees say obese patients are grateful for equipment that eliminates the need for flatbed trucks and forklifts.

"We've noticed that people who are heavy know that they are heavy, and they don't want to impose on others, and they don't want someone injured while moving them," Sayer said.

Like many ambulance companies, Keller's unit in Topeka recently spent about $10,000 to retrofit an ambulance with equipment that accommodates patients weighing up to 1,600 pounds. Ambulance services with helicopters also are creating larger patient compartments and adding stronger gurneys.

Sales of specialized lift systems nationwide are expected to reach $193 million by 2012, up from $75 million in 2004, according to EMS Insider, an industry newsletter. The sale of specialized stretchers is expected to nearly double to $50 million in 2012.

Keller is hopeful more companies add the equipment so the very obese will receive better care. He recently went out on a call involving a severely overweight woman.

"The family was there, and we brought the cot in and helped her onto the cot. And she said, 'I appreciate it so much, you looking out for our needs,'" Keller said. "And I thought that was pretty cool."

Feds designate 'critical habitat' for polar bear

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 18:57 — admin

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration said Thursday it is designating more than 200,000 square miles in Alaska and off its coast as "critical habitat" for polar bears, an action that could add restrictions to future offshore drilling for oil and gas.
Federal law prohibits agencies from taking actions that may adversely affect critical habitat and interfere with polar bear recovery.
Assistant Interior Secretary Tom Strickland called the habitat designation a step in the right direction to help polar bears stave off extinction, while recognizing that the greatest threat to the bear is the melting of Arctic sea ice caused by climate change.
"As we move forward with a comprehensive energy and climate strategy, we will continue to work to protect the polar bear and its fragile environment," Strickland said at a news conference.
The total area proposed for critical habitat designation would cover about 200,541 square miles — about half in the rugged Chukchi Sea off Alaska's northwest coast. About 93 percent of the area proposed for the polar bear is sea ice, with the remaining 7 percent made up of barrier islands or land-based dens of snow and ice.
Designation as critical habitat would not, in itself, bar oil or gas development, but would make consideration of the effect on polar bears and their habitat an explicit part of any government-approved activity.
Thursday's announcement starts a 60-day public comment period, with a final rule expected next year. Interior faces a June 30 deadline for critical habitat designation under terms of a settlement agreement between the government and three environmental groups.
The Bush administration last year declared polar bears "threatened," or likely to become endangered. The May 2008 order by then-Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited the bear's need for sea ice, the dramatic loss of such ice in recent decades and computer models that suggest sea ice is likely to recede further in the future.
Environmental groups hailed the habitat announcement, but noted that it came in the same week that the Interior Department approved a plan by a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell to drill exploratory wells on two leases in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska's north coast. The proposed drilling sites are within the area proposed for critical habitat designation.
"If polar bears are to survive in a rapidly melting Arctic, we need to protect their critical habitat, not turn it into a polluted industrial zone," said Brendan Cummings, a lawyer with the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity, which filed a lawsuit in the polar bear case.
Cummings called the Interior Department "schizophrenic" — on the one hand declaring its intent to protect polar bear habitat in the Arctic, yet at the same time "sacrificing that habitat to feed our unsustainable addiction to oil."
The announcement comes one day after the state of Alaska filed a new complaint in its effort to overturn the listing of the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Former Gov. Sarah Palin filed suit last year, saying that Interior did not respond to the state's concerns in a timely manner before listing the polar bears as threatened. State officials say the listing could cripple offshore oil and gas development in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, which provide prime habitat for the polar bears.
Gov. Sean Parnell, who succeeded Palin upon her resignation last summer, said the Endangered Species Act was being used as a way to shut down resource development along Alaska's northern coast. Parnell said he does not intend to let that happen.
Environmental groups monitoring the Arctic have long complained that federal regulators routinely grant permits for petroleum exploration without adequately considering consequences for whales, polar bears, walrus and other marine mammals. They say boats, drilling platforms and aircraft will add to bears' stress by causing them to flee and expend more energy.
Conservation groups also say oil companies have not demonstrated they can clean up an oil spill in broken ice. Cleanup off Alaska's coast could be slowed by extreme cold, moving ice, high wind and low visibility.
Andrew Wetzler of the Natural Resources Defense Council said designation of critical habitat is a powerful tool to protect threatened species, but said more must be done to save the polar bear from extinction.

Lingerie

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 17:54 — admin

In the past, a woman's corset was usually worn over a garment called a chemise or shift, a sleeveless low-necked gown made of washable material (usually cotton or linen). It absorbed perspiration and kept the corset and the gown clean. In modern times, an undershirt or corset liner may be worn.

During the Edwardian period, the straight front corset was introduced. This corset was straight in front, with a pronounced curve at the back that forced the upper body forward, and the derrière out. This style was worn from 1900-1908 (Steele 144).

Lingerie

Catholic priest who fathered child is suspended

Fri, 10/16/2009 - 16:22 — admin

ST. LOUIS – A Wisconsin diocese has suspended a Catholic priest who fathered a child during a five-year relationship.
The Diocese of Superior said late Friday that the Rev. Henry Willenborg had been suspended with pay.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests had urged the move Friday in St. Louis. SNAP also wants church officials to help the mother and their now 22-year-old son, who has cancer.
The demands were in response to a New York Times story Friday about the Ashland, Wis., pastor.
Pat Bond, now of O'Fallon, Mo., has received about $100,000 in financial support from the Franciscans, Willenborg's religious order.
She seeks more, and says the church has made her and her son beggars. The Franciscans say they went beyond what the law required.

Adult Diaper

Fri, 10/16/2009 - 11:16 — admin

The decision to use cloth or disposable diapers is a controversial one, owing to issues ranging from convenience, health, cost, and their effect on the environment. Currently, disposable diapers are the most commonly used, with Pampers and Huggies being the most well-known brands in the industry. Plastic pants can be worn over diapers to avoid leaks.

In the 20th century, the disposable diaper gradually evolved through the inventions of several different people. In 1942, a Swedish paper company known as PauliStróm created the first disposable diaper using sheets of tissue placed inside rubber pants.

http://www.staydryproducts.com

U.N. rights body endorses Gaza war crimes report

Fri, 10/16/2009 - 08:41 — admin

GENEVA (Reuters) –
The U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday endorsed a U.N. report that accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza, passing a resolution that singled it out for censure without referring to wrongdoings by Hamas.

The report by South African jurist Richard Goldstone accuses both sides of war crimes in Gaza but is most critical of the Jewish state. Up to 1,387 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the war last December and January.

In a special session proposed by the Palestinians, 25 states including China, Cuba, Russia and Nigeria endorsed the resolution. Six including the United States voted against, and 11 abstained. Four, including France and Britain, did not vote.

Palestinian officials promptly called for further U.N. inquiries into Israel's actions.

"The international community should make sure that the decision will become a precedent that will ensure the protection of the Palestinian people from any aggression," said Nabil Abu Rdaineh, aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

But Israel, which has wholly rejected the charges in the 575-page report, said the vote would impair the Middle East peace process and also boost militants around the world.

"This resolution provides encouragement for terrorist organizations worldwide and undermines global peace," the Israeli government said in a statement.

The resolution endorsed all Goldstone's recommendations, including the view that the war crimes issue should be referred to the U.N. Security Council if the two sides failed to conduct credible domestic investigations with six months, and possibly then the International Criminal Court.

U.S. OPPOSED

U.S. charge d'affaires Douglas Griffiths said the United States had voted against the resolution because of its one-sided approach and "sweeping conclusions of law," which could unsettle the fragile Middle East peace process.

"This resolution goes far beyond even the initial scope of the Goldstone report into a discussion of elements that should be resolved in the context of permanent status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis," he said.

Taher al-Nono, spokesman of the Hamas government in Gaza, said Hamas would investigate the recommendations of the report.

"We hope that the vote may be the beginning of the prosecution of the leaders of the occupation," he said.

In addition to slamming Israel's lack of cooperation with the Goldstone inquiry, the text "strongly condemns all policies and measures taken by Israel, the occupying power, including those limiting access of Palestinians to their properties and holy sites particularly in Occupied East Jerusalem."

It also called for the U.N. General Assembly to consider the findings and for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to report back on Israel's adherence to them, moves that could keep Israel in the international spotlight.

The Human Rights Council had agreed during its last regular session to postpone discussion of the Gaza report under pressure from Washington aimed at getting the Middle East peace process back on track.

But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas came under sharp criticism at home for agreeing to the delay, leading to the request for a special session.

Half of the 12 special sessions the Human Rights Council has held since its launch in 2006 have related to Israel. Israel's ambassador in Geneva told the forum the vote was another attempt to deflect attention from gross abuses elsewhere.

"Many of the speakers over the past two days showed no genuine interest in the Israelis or Palestinians other than ensuring that the glare of Geneva is never shined toward them," Aharon Leshno Yaar said.

(Additional reporting by Matt Falloon in London and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Editing by Jonathan Lynn and Kevin Liffey)



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