Archive for May 2011
Prosecutors link Schenectady High suicides to gang activity (Video)
Prosecutors allege the ‘Four Block Gang’ ruled a four street radius in Schenectady’s Hamilton Hill. They were responsible, police say, for a majority–if not all–of the crack, cocaine and heroin deals in the neighborhood and intimidation and violence of rival gangs and residents.
“Gangs poison our neighborhoods. They overtake our community. They injure and kill themselves and innocent people. They ruin neighborhoods and poison our children,” says Richard Hartunian, the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of New York who spearheaded the investigation.
In raids early Thursday morning, police claim they took 35 members of the Four Block Gang off city streets. Charges range from drugs and weapons possession to racketeering. Some of the defendants were as young as 18 and nine additional arrests are expected.
“People who behave this way–with guns and drugs and violence–they need to seriously rethink their behavior and do something productive,” says Robert Carney, the Schenectady County District Attorney.
It’s a Small World: The story of the ‘Disney visa’
Ever hear of a “Disney visa?” If you haven’t, a fascinating article in the Florida Law Review explains that and more about what it terms “The Wonderful World of Disney Visas.”
And what a world it is.
An excerpt from the abstract, posted this morning in the ImmigrationProf Blog, sets it up:
International workers play an important role in perpetuating the carefully crafted fantasy that to visit the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida is to be transported to far-off destinations around the globe.
This article examines how Disney has filled its need for these workers in two ways. For one, Disney has used a blend of chutzpah and ingenuity to forge new federal law establishing the Q visa. Additionally, Disney has dexterously used the existing J visa, along with an on-resort academic program, to bring international workers to Florida as students.
Bloody Mexican Gangs Make It ‘Official,’ with Uniforms, Insignia
Federal police stand guard outside the Attorney General’s office (PGR) in Cuernavaca after the arrest of Victor Valdez, known as “El Gordo Varilla” (The Big Stick).
There are places in Mexico where residents don’t know who the real police are.
Shadowy kidnappers and men committing grisly crimes in broad daylight are often dressed in formal police or military gear, suggesting no difference between the good guys and the bad guys, between the drug cartels and the government trying to stop them.
According to a growing number of reports out of Mexico today, the major drug trafficking operations (DTOs) – like Los Zetas, the Gulf Cartel, La Familia Michoacana and its latest incarnation, Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) — are not only donning uniforms but brandishing insignias, badges, even decals on their vehicles that are indistinguishable from that of the federal or local police forces.
“This has been going on for about five or six years and perhaps even longer – members of Mexican cartels impersonating the cops … or dressed in some sort of dark, scary uniforms,” said Howard Campbell, a professor of anthropology at the University of Texas El Paso.
“They want to wear the disguise that will allow them to carry out their activities more successfully,” noted George Grayson, author of “Mexico: Narco-Violence and a Failed State?”
Supreme Court backs Ariz. employer sanctions law
Demonstrators protest against Arizona’s controversial immigration laws before marching to the State Capitol in Phoenix on May 29, 2010.
The Supreme Court has sustained Arizona’s law that penalizes businesses for hiring workers who are in the United States illegally, rejecting arguments that states have no role in immigration matters.
By a 5-3 vote, the court said Thursday that federal immigration law gives states the authority to impose sanctions on employers who hire unauthorized workers.
The decision upholding the validity of the 2007 law comes as the state is appealing a ruling that blocked key components of a second, more controversial Arizona immigration enforcement law. Thursday’s decision applies only to business licenses and does not signal how the high court might rule if the other law comes before it.
Congressman On Recent Flight: TSA Patted Down Child, Little Old Lady; Ignored Man In Arab Garb (Video)
Video linked here.
The Hill reports: “I walked through … right behind me there was a grandmother — little old lady, and she was was patted down,” Rep. Paul Broun (R-Georgia) said on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.”
Pills linked to The Rape of Nanking author Iris Chang’s death in her mother Ying-Ying’s new book
Rape of Nanking author Iris Chang died in 2004.
American writer Iris Chang has become a mythical figure on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Like many legendary tales, her story offers up numerous interpretations. The daughter of Taiwanese-immigrant academics, Chang blossomed into a best-selling author in her late 20s with a shocking 1997 book, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, which chronicled an unimaginable slaughter by the Japanese imperial army in 1937. According to her detailed research, between 260,000 and 350,000 people perished in the Chinese city. Torture and gang rape of civilians were commonplace.
Chang’s exploration of this sordid and little-known history began after she saw a 1994 photo exhibit in Cupertino, California, on Japanese war crimes in China in the 1930s. Because she could speak Mandarin, Chang was able to interview numerous survivors in the city now known as Nanjing. In the Yale University archives, she also discovered a 500-page diary by an American missionary named Minnie Vautrin, who set up a refugee camp for thousands of Chinese women fleeing the massacre. In addition, Chang made numerous visits to other archives in China and the United States. The cornerstone of her research was a detailed diary by a German Nazi who was stationed in Nanjing and who tried to stop the carnage.
She made the cover of Reader’s Digest; her book was excerpted in Newsweek, and she met then–U.S. president Bill Clinton. However, The Rape of Nanking’s publication caused an uproar in Japan. After writing an op-ed piece in Newsday entitled “Japan Must Pay for Its War Crimes”, Chang received hate mail and, according to her mother, an envelope containing two bullets.
Video: ICE Releases Killer Illegal Alien
Congressional hearing after FOX Undercover report on illegal immigrants: MyFoxBOSTON.com
Fox Undercover’s local example of the national problem was front and center at the hearing before the Immigration Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee.
The subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Elton Gallegly, cited the example in the Fox Undercover report as he kicked off the hearing.
“Mrs. Hutchinson’s son was attacked while walking home from a football game in Suffolk County just outside of Boston,” said Rep. Gallegly.
Gallegly is referring to the murder of 16 year old Ashton Cline-McMurray who was killed by four teenagers in Revere 11 years ago.
Video: Sheriff Joe Arrests 3 of His Own (Crooked Cops)
Wisconsin rep. proposes Arizona-style immigration bill
Don Pridemore
A bill mirroring some of the tough enforcement measures of Arizona’s controversial Immigration bill was introduced Tuesday by a state Republican legislator in Wisconsin.
The legislation introduced by Rep. Don Pridemore of Hartford would force local law enforcement to ask those stopped for civil or criminal violations for proof of citizenship or legal Immigration status. If the person fails to provide any such identification, they can be detained for up to 48 hours until they provide proof that they are in the country legally. During that time, local law enforcement can only verify lawful presence with the authorization of federal officials.
If they still can’t prove their legal status, law enforcement must turn the individual over to federal Immigration or border patrol agencies.
It also would fine municipalities and counties $500 a day if they refuse to comply with the law. Pridemore said this would attempt to discourage any local officials from creating “sanctuary cities” for those in the country unlawfully.
