Website and automated forms processes, Copyright
2007, Matthew August LeFande.
All
rights reserved. No claim to original government forms
Website and automated forms processes, Copyright
2007, Matthew August LeFande.
All
rights reserved. No claim to original government forms
Split court rules garbage is presumed private
CONCORD, N.H. -- A divided state Supreme Court ruled Monday that garbage is private, even when it is placed near the street for collection.
The 4-1 ruling contradicts decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and high courts in most other states. But the majority of the court said New Hampshire's constitution provides a stronger expectation of privacy than the federal constitution.
The decision came in a marijuana possession case in which police searched an Enfield man's trash twice and found wire scrapers coated with marijuana residue.
Based on that evidence and their observation that John Goss appeared to have a plant grow-light in his window, the police got a warrant to search his home, where they seized some marijuana and three pipes.
Goss appealed, saying it was illegal for police to search his garbage without a warrant.
The high court agreed, and ordered a lower court judge to decide whether the search warrant for Goss' home could have been obtained without the illegal evidence from the trash. Goss argued it could not.
"Personal letters, bills, receipts, prescription bottles and similar items that are regularly disposed of in household trash disclose information about the resident that few people would want to be made public," Justice Joseph Nadeau wrote for the majority.
"Nor do we believe that people voluntarily expose such information to the public when they leave trash, in sealed bags, out for regular collection," the ruling said.
Justice John Broderick dissented, citing a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that it was unreasonable for people to expect their trash to remain private, given that "plastic garbage bags left on or at the side of a public street are readily accessible to animals, children, scavengers, snoops, and other members of the public."
In that decision -- which also was split -- a majority of judges on the nation's highest court concluded "the police cannot reasonably be expected to avert their eyes from evidence of criminal activity that could have been observed by any member of the public."
http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2003/09/29/split_court_rules_garbage_is_presumed_private/
posted by Matthew LeFande 9:09 PM
matt@lefande.com
CIA pursues video game
The agency's Counter Terrorist Center, or CTC, is working with the Los Angeles-based Institute for Creative Technologies on a project designed to help its analysts, "think outside the box," a CIA spokesman said.
The institute, part of the University of Southern California, works with Hollywood movie and video game specialists.
CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield called it an "innovative approach" to counterterrorism. The game will select a scenario that could involve analysts playing terrorist-cell leaders or members, a terrorist "money mover" or a facilitator, he said.
"For out-of-the-box thinking, we are reaching out to academics, think tanks and external research institutes that are critical in the fight against terrorism," Mr. Mansfield said. "If it will help us to prevent terrorist attacks, it is worthwhile."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20030929-123116-1145r.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:23 AM
matt@lefande.com
Off-Duty Officer Carjacked in Oxon Hill
An off-duty D.C. police officer lost his weapon and his truck in a carjacking in the 3300 block of Branch Avenue in Oxon Hill about 4 a.m. yesterday.
Prince George's County police spokeswoman Cpl. Diane Richardson said the officer was in civilian clothes and had stopped at a convenience store. The officer reported that he was approached by several people, one of whom pointed a gun at him, as he got back into his 2001 Ford Expedition, Richardson said. He said his jewelry, watch and weapon also were stolen.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15159-2003Sep28.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:53 AM
matt@lefande.com
One Fine September Morning...
Ah, serendipity. Being in the right place at the right time.
As it happened, this fine and sunny September Sunday morning found these guys at the local gun range, sighting in- or trying to- some rifles. Some were cooperating, some weren't. A normal outing to the range, really...
Until this fellow pulls up and starts unloading a big 'ol hunk o' pipe.
Three ounces of Pyrodex, an old garage-sale-special bowling ball, an old chair and some sewer pipe... Fire in the hole!
http://www.docsmachine.com/nonPB/mortar
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:21 PM
matt@lefande.com
Armed Citizen of the Week
A Lenwood California resident pulled a gun on two men he said had broken into his home, shooting one to death and injuring the other, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
According to the report, a 66-year-old homeowner in the 34700 block of Birch Road called 911 at 12:20 a.m. Wednesday and said two men had just broken into his home. He said he had shot at the men, but one of them had fled on foot.
When deputies arrived at the home, they found Antonio Guerra, 23, a Barstow resident, dead from a gunshot wound to the head. According to the report, Guerra was wearing dark clothing, gloves and was armed with a handgun.
A sheriff’s homicide team was sent to the scene to investigate. According to their report, evidence at the scene indicated that Guerra and an accomplice forced entry into the home in order to commit burglary. The homeowner, fearing for his life, shot at both men with a handgun. Guerra was struck at least once in the head and killed.
http://www.desertdispatch.com/cgi-bin/newspro/viewnews.cgi?newsid1040924757,33920,
posted by Matthew LeFande 9:14 AM
matt@lefande.com
Ocala 'Bomb Makers' Videotaped Public Explosions
Police in Ocala, Fla., arrested a 17-year-old and a 20-year-old man who allegedly traveled around the city videotaping themselves making and detonating homemade bombs, according to Local 6 News.
Authorities arrested Cody Stevens, 20, and the 17-year-old Tuesday night after about a week of making and exploding bombs around the city, Local 6 News reported.
Police called the pair "the bomb makers," according to Local 6 News.
Investigators said they apparently traveled around Ocala not only filming explosions but also people's reactions.
The videotape shows the pair placing the devices in vending machines, parking lots, dumpsters and even mailboxes, Local 6 News reported.
An explosion at a mailbox this week injured a homeowner.
"The victim apparently saw the boys or was somehow drawn to his mailbox, Ocala Police Lt. Ken Devilling told Local 6 News reporter Louis Bolden. "As he approached, the device detonated. And I believe that it blew the door of the mailbox off and hit the man in the head."
Each of the suspects faces four felony charges in connection with the detonations.
Stevens is being held on $40,000 bond and the 17-year-old was released to his parents.
http://www.local6.com/news/2508101/detail.html
Includes Video
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:53 AM
matt@lefande.com
Iraq - Near Mint Country for Sale
Regime free, completely demolished and ready for reconstruction. This country is for auction to a private owner because I just cannot afford paying higher taxes to support the 80-90 billion dollars in reconstruction costs. I will accept money orders only. Please no personal checks. Shipping internationally or domestically is out of the question. Feel free to email me with any questions. BONUS - Iraqi residents come free with purchase of country. Serious bidders only.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3244308869
posted by Matthew LeFande 3:28 PM
matt@lefande.com
Why we don't believe the Post...
A Sept. 21 item in the Metro in Brief column about a woman fatally shot in Prince George's County and a child who was wounded incorrectly reported the woman's age, the child's sex, the child's location at the time of the shooting, and the street on which the shooting occurred. A correct account of the incident appears in today's Metro in Brief column.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45014-2003Sep21.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:35 AM
matt@lefande.com
Ashcroft Reducing Plea Bargain Discretion
Federal prosecutors were ordered Monday by Attorney General John Ashcroft to pursue maximum criminal charges and sentences whenever possible and to seek lesser penalties through plea bargains only in limited circumstances.
An Ashcroft memo sent to all 94 U.S. attorneys' offices supersedes policy during former Attorney General Janet Reno's tenure that allowed prosecutors greater individual discretion to determine if the charges and potential punishment fit the crime.
Ashcroft said his intent is to bring greater consistency to criminal prosecutions around the country.
"It's a direction for the way we prosecute criminal behavior at the federal level," Ashcroft said Monday after a speech in Cincinnati. "If you violate a federal law, punishment will be uniform."
The policy change is the latest example of Ashcroft's attempts to bring greater symmetry - critics say inflexibility - to the federal justice system. During the summer Ashcroft instructed U.S. attorneys to seek the death penalty whenever applicable, overruling some who would not, and to vigorously oppose sentences imposed by judges that are lighter than recommended by federal guidelines.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48370-2003Sep22.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:23 PM
matt@lefande.com
Hoax Triggers Amber Alert
A Dallas man was in jail Saturday morning, accused in a hoax that triggered an Amber Alert.
Police said Amon Mohammed reported two children were in a car stolen from his south Dallas home. But later, Mohammed admitted making that up to get officers to do more to look for his car, police said.
Mohammed was jailed on charges of making a false report. Police said any misuse of the Amber Alert will be treated seriously.
"It's a very powerful tool," said Dallas police Lt. Bill Walsh. "But it's tenuous because if it's misused, we are going to lose the support of the media, and the public is going to turn a deaf ear when they do have an Amber Alert."
A friend of the suspect said lying to the police was "a big mistake."
http://www.msnbc.com/local/kxas/A1797142.asp
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:45 AM
matt@lefande.com
Bikini Bandits and GTO's at the Gmart
http://www.supertracks.nl/bong-ra/bongra666mph.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:57 AM
matt@lefande.com
Armed Citizen of the Week
The Hawkins County Sheriff's Department (HCSD) is investigating a complaint filed by a Mooresburg man claiming he was attacked Thursday night by four gun-wielding men wearing clown masks.
Billy Stuffle, 1829 Slate Hill Road, Lot 10, told the HCSD that he saw four people around his residence Thursday around 8:40 p.m.
"Billy said the subjects had clown masks on," HCSD Sgt. Tony Allen said in his report. "Billy advised that he yelled for them to leave and they fired three rounds at him. Billy returned fire and the subjects ran off."
Allen said in his report that he found no suspects at the scene when he investigated shortly after the incident.
http://www.timesnews.net/article.dna?_StoryID=3275694
(Registration Required)
posted by Matthew LeFande 6:24 AM
matt@lefande.com
New England police test name software
State and local law enforcement agencies are turning to software predominantly used by intelligence agencies to help them recognize the structure and cultural history of personal names as another tool in battling street crime and terrorism.
This summer, about 16 law enforcement officers, all members of the New England State Police Information Network (NESPIN), tested Name Reference Library (NRL) software developed by Herndon, Va.-based Language Analysis Systems Inc.
The software provides an in-depth understanding of names, their formats, what meanings they carry within families, their gender association and their likely country of origin. Foreign names do not always fit the three-part Western format — a given name, middle name and surname — that Americans are used to. There could also be different spellings of names identifying the same individual.
This understanding is important because law enforcement officers say they may be at a disadvantage by not knowing a nationality or ethnicity of an individual involved in an investigation.
The training would allow police officers to be more knowledgeable about how to record certain foreign names when they ask individuals, rather than relying on the individuals' ability to spell them.
For example, Korean surnames come first and are most likely one syllable. Their given names are likely two syllables. They are much shorter than Arabic names, which can be composed of up to 10 parts and reference family lineage, he added.
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0915/tec-law-09-15-03.asp
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:48 AM
matt@lefande.com
Homicide Prosecutions Flounder in D.C.
Homicide prosecutors in the District have failed to win convictions against 11 of the 15 people who stood trial for murder this summer, even in cases in which they said they had eyewitnesses.
The acquittals came in the sorts of slayings that have long plagued the District and frustrated homicide detectives -- from an attempted robbery to a drive-by shooting to an argument over drugs.
For the U.S. attorney's office, accustomed to winning more than it loses, the series of defeats is striking. Heading into the summer, the office, which prosecutes local and federal law in the District, had won all but a couple of its Superior Court murder trials dating back to the start of the year -- keeping with its recent conviction rate of 80 to 90 percent.
But the past few months have been a different story, and until last week, the U.S. attorney's office had won a conviction in only one of eight murder trials this summer. Even in that case, three of the six defendants were acquitted. Another murder trial ended in a conviction earlier last week, but only one defendant was found guilty. The jury deadlocked on the other.
Whether it was the right person and the wrong verdict, as prosecutors maintain, or the wrong person and the right verdict, as defense attorneys would say, the result is hardly reassuring: In each of the cases, the killer is almost certainly walking free, more than likely on the streets of the District, which police say is in the throes of a "crime emergency."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15851-2003Sep15.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:42 AM
matt@lefande.com
Passengers Duct-Tape Troublesome Traveler
Airplane passengers and an air marshal subdued and then duct-taped a man who was pacing the aisle and reading loudly from the Bible during a flight from Hawaii, police and witnesses said.
No one was injured, and the man was handed over to authorities after the plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport early Sunday, said Sgt. Carl Sansbury of the airport police.
Sansbury said he didn't know what prompted the outburst on the United Airlines flight from Honolulu. He said the FBI was investigating.
The man, whose name was not immediately released, could be charged with interfering with a flight crew, a federal offense, Sansbury said.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20030914_712.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:56 AM
matt@lefande.com
Superclerk roams streets freeing booted cars with sawzall
A VIGILANTE dressed in a Superman-style costume is roaming the streets — freeing wheel-clamped cars with an angle grinder.
The parking crusader REFUSES to take money from grateful drivers, despite saving them a fee of around £150.
By day, the anonymous hero is an office clerk. But the moment he clocks off, he slips on a cape, pair of tights and mask — and heads for the streets.
Equipped with a van and a big petrol angle grinder, he cruises around until he finds stricken cars and drivers. Then he sets to work, sawing off the clamp in a shower of sparks.
Shunning offers of payment, he gives drivers a wave and heads off for his next assignment. The 38-year-old, who refuses to be named, even calls himself Angle Grinder Man.
The vigilante has already freed a dozen vehicles since he started the campaign in South East London, after HE was clamped.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003422773,00.html
http://www.anglegrinderman.co.uk/
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:36 AM
matt@lefande.com
If You Need To Program A Motorola Radio, You Probably Need The RLN4008B Radio Interface Box (RIB). So, Build It!
Most of the information in here has come from service manuals which you can order directly from Motorola (1-800-422-4210) for a reasonable price (usually).
We are fed up with people on the "net" trying to rip others off by charging outrageous prices (Motorola included) for stuff you can build for a few dollars.
The 2-way programming cable schematics will let you program the radio in question, if you need to align the radio via RSS, you will have to buy the real thing.
We have built the RLN4008B RIB and the Universal Programming Interface on perfboard without any problems. The schematics contained in here are the real thing and not some knock off that just happens to work, this is what is really inside those boxes, use the right hardware and it is 100% compatible with the store bought version. Some parts have been substituted where possible because of their availability.
This information is to help out all the people who want to be able to program their equipment, but can't afford to pay Motorola's prices.
http://www.batlabs.com
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:25 AM
matt@lefande.com
In the name of Islam
Many Muslims do not like the label “Islamic terrorism” attached to the mass murders perpetrated by Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda organisation. Islam, they say, is a religion of peace, at peace, which has no more connection to the terrorism of Mr bin Laden than Christianity had to the 1970s terrorism of, say, the Baader-Meinhof gang in Germany or the Red Brigades in Italy. Just call it terrorism, they say: keep Islam out of it.
That is not quite possible. When people are trying to kill you, especially when they are good at it, it is prudent to listen to the reasons they give. And Mr bin Laden launched his “war” explicitly in Islam's name. Indeed, three years before the twin towers, he went to the trouble of issuing a lengthy “Declaration of the World Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews and the Crusaders”, stating that “to kill Americans and their allies, both civil and military, is the individual duty of every Muslim who is able, until the Aqsa mosque [in Jerusalem] and the Haram mosque [in Mecca] are freed from their grip, and until their armies, shattered and broken-winged, depart from all the lands of Islam.”
It may be objected that any bunch of psychopaths bent on mayhem is free to say whatever it likes about its motives. Just because al-Qaeda's people kill in the name of Islam does not mean that conflict with the West is an essential part of the faith. A Marxist terrorist may say that he is killing for the sake of the working class, and that he possesses a whole body of theory to justify this activity, and that this theory is subscribed to by many people. Does that mean that it is somehow in the essence of the working class to wage war on capitalism? No. But it does suggest that societies trying to deal with Marxist terrorism need to look at Marxist ideas, and gauge the extent to which they are believed.
No more than a few thousand people are involved in the violent activities of al-Qaeda and like-minded jihadi organisations. After September 11th, moreover, Muslim clerics and intellectuals joined ordinary Muslims throughout the world in denouncing the atrocity al-Qaeda had perpetrated in their name. By no means all of these were “moderates”. One was Sheikh Fadlallah, the Beirut-based ayatollah often described as the spiritual guide of Hizbullah, the Iranian-inspired “party of God”. He issued a fatwa condemning the attack. Another condemnation came from Yusuf Qaradawi, a Qatar-based Egyptian television cleric with some fiery views and a following of millions.
All that is heartening. The trouble is that small groups can produce big consequences. Only 19 young men took part in the attacks of September 11th. But the 19 changed history. Their action led within two years to an American-led invasion and military occupation of two Muslim countries, Afghanistan and Iraq. This in turn has damaged Muslim perceptions of the United States, and perhaps by extension of the West at large.
Islam and Christendom have clashed for centuries. But if there is something in the essence of Islam that predisposes its adherents to violent conflict with the West, it is hard to say what it might be. The search for the something might anyway be an exercise in futility, given that the essentials of the faith are so hotly contested. Islam has no pope or equivalent central authority (though some Shias aspire to one). This means, as Oxford University's James Piscatori has argued, that the religious authorities and the official ulema find themselves in competition with unofficial or popular religious leaders and preachers, Sufi movements, Islamist groups and lay intellectuals. “All of these and others claim direct access to scripture, purport to interpret its contemporary meaning, and thus effectively question whether any one individual or group has a monopoly on the sacred—even as they appropriate that right for themselves.”
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2035107
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:59 AM
matt@lefande.com
IMF Arrests Improper, Police Found
An internal police investigation into the roundup of protesters and bystanders at a downtown Washington park last September found that all 400 people were wrongfully arrested.
The internal report, released yesterday by order of a federal judge, also said that a federal police official on the scene had earlier warned D.C. police that the mass arrests would be improper.
The report revealed significant contradictions between what top city officials have said publicly about the controversial Sept. 27, 2002, arrests at Pershing Park and what they knew privately about the tightly held investigative findings.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3237-2003Sep12.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:54 AM
matt@lefande.com
Man pays with $200 bill at grocery store. Gets change.
Police are searching for a man who paid for $150 in groceries at a Food Lion grocery store with a $200 bill.
The man walked out of the store with his groceries and $50 in change before the fake bill was discovered Sept. 6.
The bogus bill -- the U.S. Mint does not print a $200 bill -- bore the image of President Bush on the front and had the White House on the back. It also included signs on the front lawn of the White House with slogans such as "We like broccoli" and "USA deserves a tax cut," Roanoke Rapids police said.
Instead of being labeled a Federal Reserve note, the fake bill was marked as a "Moral Reserve Note." The bill bore the signatures of Ronald Reagan, political mentor; and George H.W. Bush, campaign adviser and mentor.
Food Lion said normal policy is not to accept bills over $100.
http://newsobserver.com/news/story/2855036p-2634600c.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:41 PM
matt@lefande.com
D.C. Inspector General Announces Resignation
D.C. Inspector General Charles C. Maddox announced today that he will resign on Dec. 31, more than a year before the official end of his term, saying he had stood up to a hostile D.C. Council and had "nothing left to prove."
Maddox, 60, had outlasted several attempts by the council to remove him from his job, including a recent court fight in which the council sued Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) after he refused to enforce a new law that would have made Maddox ineligible to be the inspector general. But a Superior Court judge sided with Williams, ruling that the mayor has authority over personnel matters, and Maddox was able to remain in his role as the city's chief independent watchdog.
Maddox informed Williams of his decision Thursday night and submitted a formal letter of resignation today. He said he would not seek a severance package, even though his contract runs until 2005, and he said he has accepted a position at a Virginia law firm.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1974-2003Sep12.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:14 PM
matt@lefande.com
Armed Citizen of the Week
Kenneth V. F. Blanchard
The gun debate should not be made into a black and white issue. The right to keep and bear arms is not just for hunters, the National Rifle Association (NRA) or the elite. Unfortunately, many people of color have selectively forgotten the struggles of their ancestors. The legacy of my grandparents still lives. The firearms I saw daily in their modest backwater Virginia home were never misused and did not become the tool of suicide. Grandma’s shotgun sat unlocked and loaded in the kitchen 24-hours a day with 30 plus grandchildren sometimes around. My grandparents' firearms brought home food, protected them from robbers and the Ku Klux Klan.
Growing up in that environment, it is easy for me to disbelieve the hype that is promoted today. Proper firearms training and responsible ownership will still protect you from an advanced society stuck in reverse. Forget lobbying groups and politics for a minute. There are children and teens out there on our streets that are growing up into or are sociopath. There are increasing numbers of people who cannot handle today’s stress and opt to hurt others and themselves. There are areas that where a combination of poverty, unemployment and substance abuse has made criminals out of the disenfranchised. Unfortunately, many people have to live near and in all these areas. The average citizen, regardless of color, does not have the luxury of the elite with armed sentries in their communities, bodyguards or special police patrols. In any of these circumstances you will have to protect yourself and your family until order is restored, black, white, pro-gun or anti-gun. As long as the fear of guns is used to separate and divide the country, the rights of all Americans are at risk.
http://www.blackmanwithagun.com
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:08 AM
matt@lefande.com
Hunt for Osama bin Laden Narrowed to Hostile, Rugged Region of Pakistan
The hunt for Osama bin Laden has been narrowed to a 40-square-mile section of the Waziristan region of Pakistan, senior U.S. officials told ABCNEWS.
"[It is] a very hostile area in terms of geography, mountains, terrain, ravines and two ferocious tribes, the Wazirs and the Mahsuds who dominate the area," said Dr. Akbar Ahmed, professor of International Relations at American University in Washington, D.C.
Authorities are casting a net around the towns of Angoor Ada and Wana in southern Waziristan, which are infested with al Qaeda supporters, but it is a difficult and dangerous area to operate in.
Even though bin Laden has continued to issue audiotapes confirmed by the CIA as his voice, he was last seen on a video 17 months ago, on April 15, 2002. Four months prior, when he released a tape claiming credit for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, his gaunt appearance suggested he was ill or injured.
But authorities told ABCNEWS there is new information from electronic intercepts and intelligence on the ground that shows bin Laden is very much alive, somewhere in the rugged terrain of Waziristan. Local sources there said al Qaeda has affiliates in different cities from Wana to Karachi, who are responsible for transporting al Qaeda members and sending messages by camel, enabling bin Laden to avoid U.S. spy planes and satellites overhead.
"The problem has been that bin Laden has gone quiet," said former CIA counter-terrorism chief Vince Cannistraro, who is also an ABCNEWS consultant. "He is not using electronic communications devices. And there haven't been any recent sightings of him."
Earlier this year, electronic intercepts led the U.S. to another region of Pakistan, Baluchistan, where authorities thought they had found bin Laden moving in a convoy of trucks.
"They thought they were very close to locating him and fixing his position about two months ago," said Cannistraro. "But they failed in the end to locate him."
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/US/sept11_OBL_030908.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:42 PM
matt@lefande.com
Police van gets booted while police are arresting shoplifters
A Police chief lashed out last night at security staff who clamped a police van while officers were dealing with suspect shoplifters. The incident happened at the entrance to Flicks private car park in Yeovil where the marked police vehicle was said to be blocking the way.
Police had been following suspected shoplifters, stopped to pursue them and arrested three people. While they were still at the scene the clampers struck. But one eyewitness said that police warned that the security staff would be arrested if they did not remove the clamps.
Chief Inspector Nick Walker of Yeovil Police said yesterday: "The police were clearly engaged in lawful activity. I heard that someone had clamped an overtly marked police vehicle and consider this action to be totally irresponsible."
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=127638&command=displayContent&sourceNode=127637&contentPK=6976157
posted by Matthew LeFande 4:52 PM
matt@lefande.com
A trio with cocaine in their car mistake MacDill AFB gate for toll booth.
Carrying cocaine, drug paraphernalia and $1,000 in cash, the three young men in the 1983 Toyota Tercel thought they were entering the toll booth for the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.
They tried to blow past it, authorities said, but didn't get far.
It turned out to be the gate to MacDill Air Force Base.
In seconds, they were swarmed by uniformed guards, military vehicles and machine guns.
"They had guards all over it. Machine guns in the windows," said Tampa police Capt. Bob Guidara. "They were surrounded."
In plain view on the car's front seat, according to authorities: rock cocaine.
"They were (messed) up," Guidara said. Any time you try to drive onto a heavily guarded military base thinking it's a highway entrance, he said, "You're playing with a few cards short of a deck."
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/09/news_pf/Hillsborough/Machine_guns_told_the.shtml
posted by Matthew LeFande 4:49 PM
matt@lefande.com
Trade Centre steel to be in navy ship
ABOUT 24 tons of steel from the ruins of the World Trade Centre is being melted down to form part of a US Navy ship that will be named the USS New York.
Casting of a section called the bow stem was set for today at a foundry in Amite. The section will later be shipped to the shipyard of the Northrop Grumman Corp at Avondale, just outside New Orleans.
"Symbolically, the World Trade Centre steel will be the first part of the ship slicing through the water," Ed Winter, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman's shipbuilding division, said.
The steel, primarily from a section of beam about 6m long, was salvaged in December from a New York landfill that received much of the debris from the twin towers.
It was believed to have been part of the south tower, the second of the skyscrapers hit by hijacked airliners but the first to collapse.
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7212134^1702,00.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:49 AM
matt@lefande.com
Terror Expert Wants Bottles Banned From Airline Passengers
An Australian terrorism expert is recommending a ban on all bottles on airplanes.
The Australian National University professor says that should include bottles of duty-free alcohol because they could be used as fire bombs and other weapons.
Professor Clive Williams testified in Canberra Friday at a government inquiry into aviation security. Williams says both plastic and glass bottles can be turned into weapons.
The Flight Attendants Association of Australia agrees, but says a duty-free ban would be difficult to implement. A spokesman instead recommends screening bottles taken on board for content.
http://www.local6.com/technology/2457932/detail.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:47 AM
matt@lefande.com
Camp Delta inmates will talk for burgers
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - American interrogators here have come up with a few new weapons as they try to pry loose the secrets of prisoners captured on the battlefields of Afghanistan.
"It could be cupcakes, it could be Twinkies, it could even be a McDonald's hamburger," says Warrant Officer James Kluck, who, as the ranking food service officer, helps supply some of the unlikely ammunition.
"Sometimes, they go up on the base and get [the prisoner] a Happy Meal."
A McDonald's Happy Meal?
"Oh, yes, from what I'm told. It's got a toy and everything."
http://www.sunspot.net/news/nationworld/bal-te.camp07sep07,0,6370963.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
posted by Matthew LeFande 4:43 PM
matt@lefande.com
Border Disorders
By Dennis Miller
I live in California where the border with Mexico is more porous than a colander in Luciano Pavarotti's kitchen. And on any given night in Texas, a pair of night vision goggles reveals a spectacle resembling the start of the Boston Marathon in ponchos.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I welcome new neighbors if for no other reason than it's nice to have an eclectic mix of music blaring from next door to keep me up all night. The Mexican people I know seem to respect the country in a way that many spoiled brats who were born here don’t. So come on over folks, the more the merrier. But please, sign the guest book on the way in.
And that goes double for you wacky Canadians sneaking in here and foisting your good manners and your politeness and your measured sense of expectations on us. We know what you’re up to pal!
We now have better security at Border’s bookstores than at our actual borders. Meanwhile, all we can do is kvetch about how wrong it is to search and profile people. Profiling? If you know that 15 out of the 19 Sept. 11 terrorists are from one country and you happen to notice that, it’s not profiling, that’s minimally observant.
Here’s one way we can solve our border problems: Why don’t we just buy Mexico and Canada? I mean the continent is already called North America. Somebody was trying to tell us something. Thank about it: That border to the south would just be that little Central America thing. We could put in some turnstiles. Our border to the north would be Santa -- he’s not going to rock the boat! Crazy idea? You never know. Put in an offer, maybe they’re motivated.
You know, we’ve got the best country in the world and its greatness is based on inclusion. But someone should turn over that plaque on the Statue of Liberty and check underneath because I’m pretty sure it’ll say, “But for God sakes, don’t let people in who want to blow up this statue!”
By the way, I find it ironic that the French gave us the Statue of Liberty because you know when it comes to being gracious to foreigners, well, the French wrote the book on that, didn’t they?
Got that?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96602,00.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:20 PM
matt@lefande.com
Rare Tape of WTC Attack Surfaces
The only videotape known to have captured both planes slamming into the World Trade Center, and only the second image of the first strike, has surfaced days before the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
They did not even see the pale fleck of the airplane streak across the corner of the video camera's field of view at 8:46 a.m. But the camera, pointed at the twin towers from the passenger seat of an S.U.V. in Brooklyn near the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, kept rolling when the plane disappeared for an instant and then a silent, billowing cloud of smoke and dust slowly emerged from the north tower, as if it had sprung a mysterious kind of leak.
The S.U.V., carrying an immigrant worker from the Czech Republic who was making a video postcard to send home, then entered the mouth of the tunnel and emerged, to the shock of the three men inside the vehicle, nearly at the foot of the now burning tower.
The camera, pointed upward, zoomed in and out, and then, with a roar in the background that built to a piercing screech, it locked on the terrifying image of the second plane as it soared, like some awful bird of prey, almost straight overhead, banking steeply, and blasted into the south tower.
It was not until almost two weeks later that the worker, Pavel Hlava, even realized that he had captured the first plane on video. Even then, Mr. Hlava, who speaks almost no English, did not realize that he had some of the rarest footage collected of the World Trade Center disaster. His is the only videotape known to have recorded both planes on impact, and only the second image of any kind showing the first strike.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/07/nyregion/07TAPE.html?hp
posted by Matthew LeFande 2:28 PM
matt@lefande.com
Beer, cocaine, dancing and a broken toe
A Florida man who crashed his car while talking on a cell phone smelled of beer, had cocaine and had a broken toe.
The plot thickened for police when they identified the man as a senior vice-president and spokesman for the Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, who was driving home from a fund-raising talent show.
Ron Brafford, 51, of Tallahassee, Fla., reportedly had a "strong odor of alcoholic beer on (his) breath, bloodshot/watery eyes (and) dil(ated) pupils," the police report said.
But his blood-alcohol level tested at .069 and .071, below the legal limit for drunken driving, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
The officers noted Brafford had a broken toe on his right foot, but Brafford said "he could dance fairly well and did so tonight at the talent show," according to the report.
The man denied any knowledge of how the half gram of cocaine ended up in his 2003 Infiniti.
He is free on $3,000 bail.
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20030906-085926-9054r.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:40 PM
matt@lefande.com
Arlington police charge man in Hispanic gang murder plot
Arlington County police have charged a Hispanic gang member with conspiring to kill a police officer, the first arrest since authorities learned last year that gang members were being sent to the Washington area to target police.
The Washington Times first reported in August 2002 that an international Hispanic gang that had ties to the District, Maryland and Virginia sent about 20 of its members from California to Fairfax County to kill a police officer at random. No police officers in the area have been killed in gang-related incidents.
Detectives with Arlington County's gang and homicide/robbery units on Wednesday arrested Freddy Alberto Juarez, of the 5500 block of Columbia Pike, and charged him with conspiracy to commit murder and participation in a criminal street gang.
Mr. Juarez, 24, faces 30 years in prison if convicted of the two felony charges.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20030905-105640-5499r.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 12:10 PM
matt@lefande.com
Armed Citizen of the Week
A 75-year-old man apparently thwarted a break-in attempt by firing several shots at intruders in his home, investigators said.
Oakland County Sheriff's Detective Scott Patterson said no one was hurt and nothing was taken when the man found three men entering his home in the 5400 block of Mary Sue near the intersection of Maybee and Pine Knob roads about 11:15 p.m. Sunday.
"He was just sitting on his couch watching television," Patterson said. "He heard a loud banging noise and went to investigate it."
When the man entered the kitchen, he found three men coming through the back door, which had been kicked open.
"There was apparently an exchange of gunfire," Patterson said.
Investigators were still determining how many shots were fired.
The intruders fled after the shooting. The man was not able to get a description of the intruders.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7995153&BRD=982&PAG=461&dept_id=467992&rfi=8
posted by Matthew LeFande 1:15 PM
matt@lefande.com
The brazen airport computer theft that has Australia's anti-terror fighters up in arms
On the night of Wednesday, August 27, two men dressed as computer technicians and carrying tool bags entered the cargo processing and intelligence centre at Sydney International Airport.
The men, described as being of Pakistani-Indian-Arabic appearance, took a lift to the third floor of the Charles Ulm building in Link Road, next to the customs handling depot and the Qantas Jet Base.
They presented themselves to the security desk as technicians sent by Electronic Data Systems, the outsourced customs computer services provider which regularly sends people to work on computers after normal office hours.
After supplying false names and signatures, they were given access to the top-security mainframe room. They knew the room's location and no directions were needed.
Inside, they spent two hours disconnecting two computers, which they put on trolleys and wheeled out of the room, past the security desk, into the lift and out of the building.
The brazen theft has prompted Australia's top security agencies to conduct emergency damage audits amid fears that terrorists may have gained access to highly sensitive intelligence from the computers.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/09/04/1062548967124.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 12:57 PM
matt@lefande.com
Detroit reserve cop ambushed, killed
Detroit Police are searching for suspects in the shooting death of a volunteer reserve officer.
Michael Willingham, 39, was killed at 9:15 p.m. Monday, when he opened his front door on Glendale Street and a gunman on his porch opened fire, police said.
He was shot several times in the face and stomach, police said. No motive has yet been determined.
Willingham was an engineer and father of three children, police said.
http://www.freep.com/news/locway/wcop3_20030903.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:37 AM
matt@lefande.com
Court Date Set for 182mph Driver
Just how fast will a Lamborghini go?
Police in Lehighton, Pennsylvania, charge William Faenza Junior was doing 182 in his Lamborghini Diablo. Officers also charge Faenza was driving drunk. Police say they caught up with him when he pulled into a gas station.
While Faenza concedes he may have been doing 100, he denies going nearly 200 miles per hour. He says if he was going that fast, the police would have never caught him.
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/news/09042003_bb_182mph-update.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:01 AM
matt@lefande.com
Entrenados para ser policías voluntarios en D.C.
Mathew LeFande es otro de los voluntarios veteranos con los que cuenta el Cuerpo de Policías Reservistas, se integró al programa en 1993. Ambos, LeFande y De Soria han trabajado juntos por muchos años. “Hemos sido pareja en misión por mucho tiempo”, señaló LeFande, quien es abogado de profesión y uno de los más reconocidos policías voluntarios. Recientemente fue galardonado por el Jefe Charles Ramsey por arrestar. en febrero, a dos ladrones en Georgetown.
http://www.eltiempolatino.com/metro.htm#
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:10 PM
matt@lefande.com
