Illinois Legislator Files Bill to Make Chicago Area 51st State

From The Ticket by Chris Moody, November 23, 2011

A state Republican legislator has introduced a bill to the Illinois General Assembly to separate the Chicago’s county from the state–effectively making the midwestern city the 51st state in the union.

The bill, filed by State Rep. Bill Mitchell of Decatur Tuesday, would “enact legislation dividing Illinois and Cook County into separate states” because county residents “hold different and firmly seated views” on “politics, society, and economics” from people in the rest of the state. The bill’s supporters point to higher tax rates and strict gun laws in the Chicago area and contend that the northern county is out of step with its Illinois neighbors.

“These liberal policies are an insult to the traditional values of downstate families,” Mitchell told the Decatur Tribune. “When I talk to constituents, one of the biggest things I hear is ‘Chicago should be its own state . . . .Our voters’ voices were drowned out by Chicago.”

 The measure would put the issue up to a vote by state residents through a referendum and then would require approval from the United States Congress and the president. As of this writing, the bill has just one other co-sponsor.

Teamsters Expand Legal Action Opposing Mexican Trucks Traveling Deep into U.S.

From The Associated Press, November 23, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has expanded its lawsuit against the government in a long-running battle that has stopped Mexican trucks from coming deep into the United States.

In papers filed in federal appeals court in Washington on Wednesday, the union says the government must first assess the environmental impact of a pilot project before letting it continue. The first Mexican truck in the pilot program crossed the border last month.

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa says opening the border to the trucks is an attack on the environment, on highway safety and on American truckers and warehouse workers.

“It’s outrageous enough that we’ve outsourced millions of jobs to foreign countries, but now we’re bringing foreign workers here to take our jobs,” Hoffa said in a statement. “This is another pressure the American middle-class doesn’t need.”

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement signed nearly two decades ago, trucks from both countries were supposed to have unhindered access to highways on either side of the border.

The Mexican ambassador to the U.S., Arturo Sarukhan, said the teamsters were engaging in protectionism.

“First it was about the safety of the Mexican rigs, no with nowhere to run with that argument, the new red herring is an alleged environmental impact,” he said in a statement.

Mexican Official: 20 Bodies Found in Guadalajara

By E. Eduardo Castillo, Associated Press Writer, November 24, 2011

MEXICO CITY (AP) — More than 20 bodies were discovered early Thursday in vehicles abandoned in the heart of Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city and the site of the recent Pan American Games, an official said.

that the bodies were found early Thursday in three vehicles left near the Milennium Arches, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the western city, an official with the prosecutor’s office in the state of Jalisco, where Guadalajara is located, told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information.

The arches stand less than a 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Expo Guadalajara events center, the site of both Pan Am Games events and the Guadalajara International Book Fair, which opens Saturday and describes itself as the world’s most important Spanish-language book fair. The fair’s website said it was expecting more than 600,000 visitors from around the world.

Guadalajara was flooded with police and soldiers during the Pan American Games and was spared significant violence.

Security officials have feared in recent months, however, that Guadalajara could become the next takeover target of the Zetas drug cartel, which has been using paramilitary-style tactics and headline-grabbing atrocities in a national push to seize territory from older organized crime groups.

Guadalajara was long the home of the methamphetamine-trafficking arm run by Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel, a high-ranking commander in the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, named for its Pacific Coast home state north of Guadalajara.

Less than 24 hours before the bodies were found in Guadalajara, 17 bodies were found burned in two pickup trucks in a strikingly similar attack in Sinaloa. Twelve of the bodies were in the back of one truck, some of them handcuffed and wearing bulletproof vests.

Luis Carlos Najera, public security secretary for the state of Jalisco, told reporters Thursday morning that a message had been found in one of the vehicles. He did not describe it further. Mexican drug cartels frequently leave threatening messages with the bodies of their victims as a way of sowing fear and taking credit for their actions.

Responding to a reporter’s question, Carlos Najera told the Televisa television network that he believed the recent calm in Guadalajara was the result of the increase in security, not that drug cartels had struck a truce during the games.

In Guadalajara, factions of Coronel’s operation have been fighting for control since he was killed in a shootout with federal police in July 2010. The factions include the New Generation and another group known as the Resistance.

The Zetas have taken over neighboring Zacatecas state in their push west, and are eyeing Guadalajara both for the meth trade and for extortion potential.

Analysts have said there are rumors that some factions fighting the New Generation are ready to join with the Zetas, a coalition that would form a potent threat to Sinaloa’s methamphetamine operations.

Texas’ Top Court Suspends Judge in Beating Video

By Christopher Sherman, Associated Press Writer, November 23, 2011

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court suspended a judge Tuesday whose beating of his then-teenage daughter in 2004 was viewed millions of times on the Internet.

Aransas County court-at-law Judge William Adams was suspended immediately with pay pending the outcome of the inquiry started earlier this month by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, according to an order signed Tuesday by the clerk of the state’s highest court.

The order makes clear that while Adams agreed to the commission’s recommended temporary suspension and waived the hearing and notice requirements, he does not admit “guilt, fault or wrongdoing” regarding the allegations. His attorney did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Adams’ now 23-year-old daughter Hillary Adams uploaded the secretly-recorded 2004 video of her father beating her repeatedly with a belt for making illegal downloads from the internet.

William Adams has not sat on the bench since the video went viral. It has been viewed more than 6 million times on YouTube.

The public outcry over the video was so great that in a rare move the, State Commission on Judicial Conduct announced publicly Nov. 2 that it had opened an investigation. A statement from the commission then said that it had been flooded with calls, emails and faxes regarding the video and Adams.

William Adams appeared in court Monday for a day-long hearing regarding the custody of his 10-year-old daughter. His wife had sought a change in their joint custody agreement, and another judge imposed a temporary restraining order effectively keeping William Adams from being alone with his younger daughter until he reached a decision. An order was expected in that dispute Wednesday.

As Aransas County’s top judge, William Adams has dealt with at least 349 family law cases in the past year alone, nearly 50 of which involved state caseworkers seeking determine whether parents were fit to raise their children. A visiting judge has been handling his caseload.

After reviewing the investigation conducted by local police, the Aransas County district attorney said too much time had passed to bring charges against William Adams.

Thai Man Gets 20 Years For “Anti-Royal Texts”

From AFP By Amelie Bottollier-Depois, November 23, 2011

A Thai court sentenced a man to 20 years in prison Wednesday for sending text messages deemed insulting to the monarchy, alarming critics who say the kingdom’s strict lese-majeste laws hamper free speech.

File photo of Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Ampon Tangnoppakul, 61, was found guilty of four counts of sending messages to the private secretary of then-prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in May 2010, according to the criminal court in Bangkok.

“The court found him guilty and sentenced him to 20 years in jail,” his lawyer Anon Nampa told AFP, adding that he had 30 days to lodge an appeal.

Under Thai legislation that has come under increased scrutiny in the country, anyone convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent can face a lengthy prison sentence.

Ampon, who became known in Thailand as “Uncle SMS” during the case, was arrested in August last year and pleaded not guilty during his trial.

After his arrest, Thailand’s Central Bureau of Investigation said the messages were “inappropriate and considered insulting to the monarchy and have upset the recipients,” without revealing their content.

Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International’s Thailand researcher, said Ampon was almost certainly a prisoner of conscience.

“We are not saying Thailand’s monarchy should not be protected, but it should be protected in a way that is consistent with Thailand’s international legal obligation on freedom of expression,” he told AFP.

The royal family is a very sensitive subject in Thailand and 83-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world’s longest-reigning monarch, is revered as a demi-god by many Thais.

Academics have noted a sharp increase in new royal insult cases in recent years and rights groups have expressed concern that the law was used to suppress freedom of expression under the last pro-establishment government.

Observers say the new government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who came to power in August, has yet to improve the situation.

The Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand, set up by the last government in 2010 to investigate political violence, said in September use of the law had been “directly related to political conflict” in recent history.

Paul Chambers, research director at Payap University in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, said the pattern of lese majeste imprisonments “looks like a rapid witch-hunt”.

He said Ampon’s verdict “showed that Thai courts are unwilling to tolerate what they themselves perceive as any appearances of dissent against the country’s paramount institution.”

Last month a Thai-born US citizen, Joe Wichai Commart Gordon, pleaded guilty to insulting the monarchy.

He was arrested in May during a holiday in the kingdom and accused of posting a link to a translation of a banned book on his blog, along with other material deemed offensive, while living in the United States.

In the wake of Gordon’s case, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, Frank La Rue, urged Thailand to amend the lese-majeste laws, saying they stifled debate on matters of important public interest.

The UN call prompted the Thai foreign ministry to accept the laws may have been misused and stress their aim was to protect the dignity of the monarchy, not restrict free speech.

The ministry said a special committee in the Royal Thai Police headquarters had been set up to scrutinise potential prosecutions.

A prominent Thai website editor is also facing up to 20 years in jail for allegedly failing to remove other people’s online remarks deemed critical of the monarchy from her website quickly enough in 2008.

Cleveland Co., NC Deputy Injured While Chasing Robbery Suspect

From The Shelby Star By Alicia Banks, November 22, 2011

 

GROVER — A Cleveland County sheriff’s deputy running after a robbery suspect fell onto iron debris and suffered severe cuts to his face Tuesday.

Deputy Matthew Sadler was at a home on the 100 block of Temple Drive in Grover to serve 29-year-old Cantz Meeks with arrest warrants. From inside the home, Meeks found a way onto the roof when he heard Sadler arrive, according to Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman.

Meeks jumped off the roof of his one-story home and ran. Sadler followed. While in pursuit, Sadler fell and struck a piece of iron.

The iron severely cut Sadler’s face, according to Norman.

“By the grace of God, there was no damage to his eyes,” he said. “I’m more concerned this doesn’t happen to another deputy.”

Sheriff’s deputies at the scene called emergency personnel. Sadler was taken to Cleveland Regional Medical Center. It’s unknown if Sadler will have to undergo cosmetic reconstruction, Norman said.

Norman commended Sadler for his bravery and asked Cleveland County residents to keep the deputy in their prayers.

Sadler has worked for the Sheriff’s Office for less than a year, according to Norman.

“This shows how volatile life is. You can be perfectly fine, and three to four seconds later, you have a brush with death,” he said.

Meeks was arrested on multiple charges after the chase. Charges include common-law robbery, simple assault, first-degree kidnapping and perjury.

He’s in the Cleveland County jail under a $100,000 secured bond, according to the Sheriff’s Office website.

Cleveland Co., NC Deputies Say Man is Leader of 3 State Theft Ring

From The Shelby Star By Alicia Baker, Tuesday, Nov 22 2011

SHELBY — Sheriff’s deputies say a Cleveland County man stole motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and lawn equipment as the leader of a massive three-state theft ring.

Jeffery Daniel Payne Jr., 23, from 1505 Bethlehem Church Road outside Kings Mountain, was arrested Nov. 10 and charged with 11 counts of felony possession of stolen goods/property.

Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Micah Sturgis called Payne “the central person in charge of the theft ring.” The stolen property was valued at more than $200,000.

Stolen property came from Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg and Iredell counties. The operation stretched into Spartanburg, Cherokee and Greenville counties in South Carolina, Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman said.

The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation, Tift County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia and the Georgia State Bureau of Investigations assisted in the operation.

“This shows a great cooperation with the authorities in Georgia as well as assistance from the SBI,” Norman said.

From weed trimmers to trailers

The investigation started more than a year ago. Payne sold the stolen items in and around Tifton, Ga. on a weekly basis, according to sheriff’s deputies. Sturgis didn’t say how many people helped in the illegal operation.

A trailer worth more than $20,000 was also recovered. Weed trimmers, motorcycles and chainsaws were stolen, according to incident reports.

“This case was pretty overwhelming sometimes,” Sturgis said. “It took a lot of time to focus on this case.”

More than 30 victims had property stolen. Businesses were targeted in the theft.

The investigation is ongoing. More people could be arrested and additional property found, according to Sturgis.

Mark Pro, an assistant special agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said his agency hasn’t made any arrests yet.

Payne was also charged with three counts of possessing property with an altered/destroyed serial number and two counts of felony larceny, according to arrest warrants.

Payne was released from the Cleveland County jail after family members posted a property bond.

U.S. House Passes NRA-backed National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Legislation

From The Buckeye Firearms Association By Chad Baus, Thu, 11/17/2011

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an important self-defense measure that would enable millions of Right-to-Carry permit holders across the country to carry concealed firearms while traveling outside their home states. H.R. 822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, passed by a majority bipartisan vote of 272 to 154. All amendments aimed to weaken or damage the integrity of this bill were defeated.

“NRA has made the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act a priority because it enhances the fundamental right to self-defense guaranteed to all law-abiding people,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “People are not immune from crime when they cross state lines. That is why it is vital for them to be able to defend themselves and their loved ones should the need arise.”

H.R. 822, introduced in the U.S. House by Representatives Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), allows any person with a valid state-issued concealed firearm permit to carry a concealed firearm in any state that issues concealed firearm permits, or that does not prohibit the carrying of concealed firearms for lawful purposes.

This bill does not affect existing state laws. State laws governing where concealed firearms may be carried would apply within each state’s borders. H.R. 822 does not create a federal licensing system or impose federal standards on state permits; rather, it requires the states to recognize each others’ carry permits, just as they recognize drivers’ licenses and carry permits held by armored car guards.

As of today, 49 states have laws in place that permit their citizens to carry a concealed firearm in some form. Only Illinois and the District of Columbia deny its residents the right to carry concealed firearms outside their homes or businesses for self-defense.

“We are grateful for the support of Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor, Majority Whip McCarthy, Judiciary Chairman Smith and primary sponsors Congressmen Stearns and Shuler for their steadfast support of H.R. 822. Thanks to the persistence of millions of American gun owners and NRA members, Congress has moved one step closer to improving crucial self-defense laws in this country,” concluded Cox.

No Shame: Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Latest Round of Anti-Gun Rights Editorials Void of Journalistic Integrity

From The Buckeye Firearms Association By Gerald Valentino, Tue, 11/15/2011

Just when it seemed like the Ohio establishment media can’t sink any lower, the crazed ravings of Chris Evans of The Cleveland Plain Dealer remind us of how far they will go to destroy the private ownership of firearms. The editorials in question should also shatter any notion held by the general public that the establishment media plays fair when it comes to the gun issue.

Taken individually, each editorial is best described as a poorly argued, one-sided anti-gun rant devoid of logical foundation, proper research or any semblance of journalistic standards, or journalistic integrity. Together, they expose Chris Evans and the editors at The Plain Dealer as little more than exploitative tabloid hacks more concerned with pushing their ill-conceived agenda than creating thought provoking discourse.

The total lack of restraint shown in his most recent anti-gun screed, entitled “NRA calls the tune and kids pay the price,” includes a claim that the National Rifle Association is a front for illegal gun sales, a notion so outlandish that it creates questions about whether Mr. Evans has lost his mind. As unbelievable as it may seem, however, calling the NRA a front for illegal gun sales is far from the craziest assertion made by Chris Evans on the gun issue.

That title goes to the baseless claim, made by Evans in another editorial, entitled “Bring Accountability to Gun Shows,” that guns shows are “Tupperware parties for criminals” – a statement that is easily refuted by a Department of Justice study that traced guns used in crimes and found less that 1% came from gun shows.

Any journalist researching the issue of illegal gun purchases couldn’t avoid finding the DOJ study because it is widely cited on the Internet and in newspapers. That means Chris Evans flouted all reasonable journalistic standards by ignoring a study from an unbiased source like the DOJ, or is so bad at his job that he missed a piece of evidence that a 3rd grader could easily have found.

By allowing his personal bias against guns to cloud his professional viewpoint on the issue, Chris Evans committed one of the mortal sins for a journalist. He also painted himself into a corner, because once on record as a vehement gun-grabber, he is forced to stick to that position. That forces him to use shoddy research techniques, unfounded theories, and what can only be described as false statements to bolster his argument.

So, when he failed to find a shred of statistical evidence to prove his claims that felons are getting most of their guns at gun shows, and that the NRA is a front for illegal gun sales, Evans chose to back up his flawed premise with anecdotal evidence, and evidence from anti-gun advocacy groups. Anecdotal evidence is a favorite weapon of the anti-gun crowd because it is nearly impossible to refute, and often allows them to sprinkle their propaganda with stories that tug at the public’s heartstrings.

In this case, Evans uses the tragedy of a prospective veterinary student shot during a back to school party as the emotional trigger. He is hoping people are outraged by such a senseless event that they suspend critical thinking in the process of holding someone responsible.

If the emotional blackmail is stripped from either editorial, however, we are left with a sad attempt to vilify guns and gun advocacy groups. We are also left with a misguided attempt to blame pro-gun advocacy groups for the villainous actions of common street thugs.

As we know, street thugs don’t obey the law, and the various anti-gun schemes dreamed up over the last 50 years hasn’t put a dent in their ability to get a gun. They have only succeeded in disarming law-abiding Americans, leaving them as easy prey for armed criminals.

If anti-gun advocates truly cared about keeping the criminal element from getting a gun, they would spend their time demanding that law enforcement use all the tools at their disposal to stop illegal gun transactions. Instead, they get anti-gun law enforcement administrators like Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath to conspire with them in their crusade to destroy gun rights.

But, according to the premise put forth by Chris Evans, Chief McGrath is also to blame for gun crime because he failed to enforce local gun ordinances in the past. Once again, had Evans properly researched the issue, he would find that very few prosecutions took place under Cleveland’s now defunct assault weapons ban. Since including that information in his editorials would have cut the knees from under his arguments, Evans disregarded them, just as he disregards integrity and journalistic standards in order to push a logically flawed anti-gun agenda.

Chris Evans, and his bosses at The Plain Dealer, should be ashamed of their actions. But it is more likely they are so blinded by hatred of guns, and gun owners that they are convinced of the righteousness of their actions.

Gerard Valentino, a former military intelligence analyst, is a member of the Buckeye Firearms Foundation Board of Directors and the author of “The Valentino Chronicles – Observations of a Middle Class Conservative,” available through the Buckeye Firearms Association store.

 

Sarah Palin: “Fire Eric Holder”

From The Buckeye Firearms Association By Chad Baus, Tue, 11/15/2011

Former Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has joined a growing number of people calling for Attorney General Eric Holder to step down in the wake of Operation Fast and Furious, an ATF-led gun-running operation which resulted in more than 2500 guns being smuggled to Mexican drug gangs, and led to the deaths of two, possibly three U.S. agents and more than 200 Mexicans.

Palin posted an op-ed on her Facebook page on Thursday, Nov. 10. From the op-ed:

It’s tempting to get distracted with the horse race aspect of electoral politics during a primary season. But as pundits talk about “who’s up and who’s down” in the 24 hour news cycle, we must keep our eye on the ball with the Obama administration. They rely on distraction to skirt responsibility, but we’re going to hold them accountable for their corruption and incompetence.

When the stories about Operation Fast and Furious first broke, it sounded too crazy even for this administration.

Why would any government official with an ounce of common sense think it’s a good idea to facilitate the smuggling of thousands of guns into the hands of violent Mexican drug cartels? That’s what Operation Fast and Furious did.

You might think Eric Holder’s Department of Justice was setting up a sting operation in which our federal agents would swoop down and arrest the bad guys the minute the guns traded hands. But that’s not what happened. Eric Holder’s DOJ had American gun dealers sell weapons to “straw purchasers” tied to drug cartels without actually following the movement of the guns as they were then sold to Mexican drug lords. They apparently thought this so-called “gun-walking” operation would help them chart the path of gun smuggling, but they didn’t have a plan to actually control the weapons’ movements as the guns were allowed to “walk” into Mexico. All Holder’s DOJ did was arm violent criminals. What manner of fools do we have working in this administration? What’s next? Supplying nuclear weapons components to the Iranians so we can track their activities?

Paling went on to note that “when an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives blew the whistle on this operation, the DOJ leaked sensitive information about him to the press. This week, the former U.S. Attorney for Arizona, who was ousted in the wake of the scandal, admitted to being the leaker.”

And where is President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder in all of this? When did he first know about the operation? In his testimony to the House Oversight Committee on May 3, 2011, Holder stated, “I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.” But the DOJ’s own documents prove that Holder had been receiving briefings on Fast and Furious for nearly a year before that date. In other words, our government’s top law enforcement official, Eric Holder, lied to the American public. He finally admitted this week to the Senate Judiciary Committee, “In my testimony before the House committee [on May 3], I did say a few weeks. I probably could have said a couple of months. What I said about a few weeks was inaccurate based on what happened.”

When the nation’s highest law enforcement official lies to the American people, he must go.

And if he claims that he didn’t lie, then how else do we explain this situation? He’s either lying or he’s so grossly incompetent and lazy that he didn’t read important life and death briefings from his deputy attorney general and didn’t know about this deadly operation run by people under him. So, which is it? Incompetent, lazy, or lying? No matter which explanation fits, he needs to go.

Holder conceded this week, “I have ultimate responsibility for what happens in the department.” He can prove it by resigning. And if he refuses to resign, then President Obama – with whom the bucks ultimately stop – can prove that he respects honesty, transparency, and accountability in his administration by firing Holder.

I stand with the members of Congress who are calling for Holder’s resignation. I stand with the family members of Brian Terry who are demanding transparency and accountability. Mr. President, where do you stand?

Palin added post script to the end of her op-ed, issuing a direct challenge to President Obama, saying “It can be argued that some elements of this scandal give the appearance of perhaps being intended to be used to infringe on our Second Amendment rights. I invite our President to correct concerned Americans if they’re wrong on this.”