Illegal Arrests: Search Warrant Issued In Murder Case, Targets Arrested For Growing Marijuana
 |
| Police Search Home in Murder of Teen Whose Phone Was Used to Text 'OMG I'm Being Kidnapped' (ABC News) |
Police have searched a
house in connection with the murder of a 14-year-old Michigan girl who
was killed while walking her dog on a wooded hiking path, authorities
said today.
Police and the FBI
executed the search this afternoon outside the town of Armada and would
not release any information about the subject of the search, but they
did confirm it was related to the murder of April Millsap. Police have
not revealed how the teen was killed.
David Porter, a spokesman for
the FBI's Detroit field office, confirmed to ABC News that a search
warrant had been issued, prompting the search but no arrests have been
made in connection to the murder. Two individuals are in custody after
police discovered a marijuana growing operation inside the house, police
said, noting charges have yet to be filed.
The probable cause statement and
search warrant connected to today's search are under seal so the name
of the individual whose home was searched has not been publicly
released, but Porter said it is not the end of the investigation.
Early reports about Millsap's
murder included claims from a relative that she had texted her boyfriend
on July 24 saying "OMG. ... I think I'm being kidnapped." But Michigan
State Police spokesman Lt. Michael Shaw told ABC News that the message
was phrased differently and may not have come from April herself.
"We don't know who sent it," Shaw said, without revealing what time the text was sent.
Porter also told ABC News that the investigative team is "aware of a number of text messages that were sent from April's phone."
Investigators have not released
any information about the way in which April was killed, saying that it
is "a crucial part of the investigation," but have officially declared
it a homicide. The 14-year-old's body was found in a ditch by joggers in
the Macomb Orchard Trail on the night of July 24 with her dog Penny
sitting by her body, police said.
Shaw said that while no one is
ever truly ruled out as a suspect, April's relatives and boyfriend
"don't appear to be responsible."
Investigators have released a
sketch of a suspect that they said was compiled from tips from others
inside the park around the time that Millsap is believed to have been
killed. They are also interested in any information pertaining to a
blue-and-white motorbike that Porter described as looking more like a
motocross bike than a Harley Davidson.
Porter added that today's search
outside of Armada is not the first search to be executed in this case,
and without specifying the targets, he confirmed that phone records have
been part of that search.
"When we are conducting a search warrant, sometimes it is not right at the end of an investigation," Porter said.
The teen’s funeral is scheduled
for Friday and a GoFundMe page started by a family friend has already
raised more than $11,700 -- quickly surpassing the $5,000 goal -- and is
set to cover the burial expenses, according to the page.
Examining the Terrorist Threat from America's Southern Border
By Scott Stewart
Stratfor Security Weekly
On July 21, Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced he was deploying 1,000 members of the Texas National Guard to the Mexican border to help strengthen border security. The move is the latest in a chain of events involving the emigration of Central Americans that has become heavily publicized -- and politicized.
Clearly, illegal immigration flows are shifting from Arizona and California to Texas. In fiscal year 2013 (all Border Patrol data is recorded by fiscal year), the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol sector surpassed Tucson as the leading sector for the number of apprehensions (154,453 in Rio Grande Valley versus 120,939 for Tucson). Also, between fiscal years 2011 and 2013, the number of Border Patrol determined "other than Mexicans" -- mostly Central Americans -- apprehended by the Rio Grande Valley sector increased by more than 360 percent, from 20,890 to 96,829. (By comparison, the Tucson sector apprehended 19,847 "other than Mexicans" in 2013.) Significantly, minors constituted a large percentage of the "other than Mexicans" apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley in 2013: 21,553 (compared to 9,070 in Tucson sector). However, the majority (84 percent) of those labeled Unaccompanied Alien Children by the Border Patrol are teenage minors and not younger children.
Lost in all the media hype over this "border crisis" is the fact that in 2013 overall immigration was down significantly from historical levels. According to U.S. Border Patrol apprehension statistics, there were only 420,789 apprehensions in 2013 compared to 1,160,395 in 2004. In fact, from fiscal 1976 to 2010, apprehensions never dropped below 500,000. During that same period, the Border Patrol averaged 1,083,495 apprehensions per year compared to just 420,789 last year.
Of course, apprehension statistics are not an accurate count of total immigration and do not account for those who cross without being caught, and the statistics are also slightly skewed by the fact that Unaccompanied Alien Minors are far more likely to surrender to authorities rather than attempt to avoid them. In 2011, the Border Patrol apprehended 4,059 unaccompanied children; by 2013 that number had reached 38,759. Year to date, the Border Patrol has apprehended more than 46,000 unaccompanied children and estimates it will apprehend around 60,000 total in 2014. Still, overall, the Border Patrol will apprehend and process hundreds of thousands fewer people this year than it did each fiscal year from 1976 until 2010.
This type of hype and politicization of the U.S.-Mexico border is not new. It is something that has surfaced at irregular intervals for years now, along with scaremongering using the boogeyman of terrorism, and it appears to be happening again.
I've recently done a number of media interviews regarding immigration, and during several of these interviews, reporters have asked me the question: "Does the crisis on the border give terrorists an opportunity to sneak into the country?" While other border security analysts have told reporters that they believe terrorists would take advantage of the border crisis and that the cartels would be willing to work with terrorists for the right price, I disagree. I believe that an analysis of the history of plots directed against the U.S. homeland from overseas and an examination of the changes in the dynamics of transnational terrorism show such claims to be unfounded.
For example, in 2005, rumors were frequently published on a popular web media outlet claiming that al Qaeda had smuggled several tactical nuclear devices into the United States with the help of the Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha street gang. According to the rumors, al Qaeda was planning to launch a horrific surprise nuclear attack against several U.S. cities in what was termed "American Hiroshima." Clearly this never happened.
But American fearmongers are not the only ones who can cause a panic. In a 2009 speech, radical Kuwaiti university professor Abdullah al-Nafisi talked about the possibility that jihadists could smuggle anthrax in a suitcase through a drug tunnel on the U.S.-Mexico border, a claim that sparked considerable concern because it came on the heels of other hyped-up anthrax threats.
However, an examination of all jihadist plots since the first such attack in the United States -- the November 1990 assassination of the radical founder of the Jewish Defense League, Meir Kahane -- shows that none had any U.S.-Mexico border link. Indeed, as we've noted elsewhere, there have been more plots against the U.S. homeland that have involved the U.S.-Canada border, including the 1997 plot to bomb the New York Subway and the Millennium Bomb Plot. But by and large, most terrorists, including those behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 9/11 attacks, have entered the United States by flying directly to the country. There is not one jihadist attack or thwarted plot in which Mexican criminal organizations smuggled the operative into the United States.
There was one bumbling plot by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in which Manssor Arbabsiar, a U.S. citizen born in Iran and residing in Texas, traveled to Mexico in an attempt to contract a team of Mexican cartel hit men to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. Instead of Los Zetas, he encountered a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informant and was set up for a sting. There is no evidence that an actual Mexican cartel leader would have accepted the money Arbabsiar offered for the assassination.
Mexican criminal leaders have witnessed U.S. government operations against al Qaeda and the pressure that the U.S. government can put on an organization that has been involved in an attack on the U.S. homeland. Mexican organized crime bosses are businessmen, and even if they were morally willing to work with terrorists -- a questionable assumption -- working with a terrorist group would be bad for business. It is quite doubtful that Mexican crime bosses would risk their multibillion-dollar smuggling empires for a one-time payment from a terrorist group. It is also doubtful that an ideologically driven militant group like a jihadist organization would trust a Mexican criminal organization with its weapons and personnel.
Even jihadist groups such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula have been forced to undertake remote operations involving bombs placed aboard aircraft overseas rather than placing operatives in the country. This indicates that the group does not have the ability or the network to support such operatives. In addition to remote operations launched from its base in Yemen, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has also undertaken efforts to radicalize grassroots operatives residing in the United States, equipping them with easy-to-follow instructions for attack through its English-language magazine, Inspire.
This focus on radicalizing and equipping grassroots operatives is also reflected in the fact that the majority of the attacks and failed plots inside the United States since 2001 have involved such grassroots operatives rather than trained terrorists. These operatives are either U.S. citizens, such as Nidal Hasan, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Faisal Shahzad, or resident aliens such as Najibullah Zazi. Failed shoe bomber Richard Reid was traveling on a British passport (no U.S. visa required) and the would-be underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had obtained a valid U.S. visa. The operatives had the ability to legally reside in the United States or to enter the country legally without having to sneak across the border from Mexico.
Could a terrorist operative take advantage of the U.S.-Mexico border? Possibly. Is one likely to attempt such a crossing when so much publicity and extra enforcement has been directed to that border? Probably not.
Stratfor Security Weekly
On July 21, Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced he was deploying 1,000 members of the Texas National Guard to the Mexican border to help strengthen border security. The move is the latest in a chain of events involving the emigration of Central Americans that has become heavily publicized -- and politicized.
Clearly, illegal immigration flows are shifting from Arizona and California to Texas. In fiscal year 2013 (all Border Patrol data is recorded by fiscal year), the Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol sector surpassed Tucson as the leading sector for the number of apprehensions (154,453 in Rio Grande Valley versus 120,939 for Tucson). Also, between fiscal years 2011 and 2013, the number of Border Patrol determined "other than Mexicans" -- mostly Central Americans -- apprehended by the Rio Grande Valley sector increased by more than 360 percent, from 20,890 to 96,829. (By comparison, the Tucson sector apprehended 19,847 "other than Mexicans" in 2013.) Significantly, minors constituted a large percentage of the "other than Mexicans" apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley in 2013: 21,553 (compared to 9,070 in Tucson sector). However, the majority (84 percent) of those labeled Unaccompanied Alien Children by the Border Patrol are teenage minors and not younger children.
Lost in all the media hype over this "border crisis" is the fact that in 2013 overall immigration was down significantly from historical levels. According to U.S. Border Patrol apprehension statistics, there were only 420,789 apprehensions in 2013 compared to 1,160,395 in 2004. In fact, from fiscal 1976 to 2010, apprehensions never dropped below 500,000. During that same period, the Border Patrol averaged 1,083,495 apprehensions per year compared to just 420,789 last year.
Of course, apprehension statistics are not an accurate count of total immigration and do not account for those who cross without being caught, and the statistics are also slightly skewed by the fact that Unaccompanied Alien Minors are far more likely to surrender to authorities rather than attempt to avoid them. In 2011, the Border Patrol apprehended 4,059 unaccompanied children; by 2013 that number had reached 38,759. Year to date, the Border Patrol has apprehended more than 46,000 unaccompanied children and estimates it will apprehend around 60,000 total in 2014. Still, overall, the Border Patrol will apprehend and process hundreds of thousands fewer people this year than it did each fiscal year from 1976 until 2010.
This type of hype and politicization of the U.S.-Mexico border is not new. It is something that has surfaced at irregular intervals for years now, along with scaremongering using the boogeyman of terrorism, and it appears to be happening again.
I've recently done a number of media interviews regarding immigration, and during several of these interviews, reporters have asked me the question: "Does the crisis on the border give terrorists an opportunity to sneak into the country?" While other border security analysts have told reporters that they believe terrorists would take advantage of the border crisis and that the cartels would be willing to work with terrorists for the right price, I disagree. I believe that an analysis of the history of plots directed against the U.S. homeland from overseas and an examination of the changes in the dynamics of transnational terrorism show such claims to be unfounded.
No Link to the U.S.-Mexico Border
As chaos has wracked Mexican towns just south of the U.S. border such as Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, Juarez and Tijuana, there has been repeated speculation that al Qaeda could partner with some street gang or Mexican cartel to smuggle terrorist operatives or weapons into the United States to conduct a spectacular terrorist attack.For example, in 2005, rumors were frequently published on a popular web media outlet claiming that al Qaeda had smuggled several tactical nuclear devices into the United States with the help of the Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha street gang. According to the rumors, al Qaeda was planning to launch a horrific surprise nuclear attack against several U.S. cities in what was termed "American Hiroshima." Clearly this never happened.
But American fearmongers are not the only ones who can cause a panic. In a 2009 speech, radical Kuwaiti university professor Abdullah al-Nafisi talked about the possibility that jihadists could smuggle anthrax in a suitcase through a drug tunnel on the U.S.-Mexico border, a claim that sparked considerable concern because it came on the heels of other hyped-up anthrax threats.
However, an examination of all jihadist plots since the first such attack in the United States -- the November 1990 assassination of the radical founder of the Jewish Defense League, Meir Kahane -- shows that none had any U.S.-Mexico border link. Indeed, as we've noted elsewhere, there have been more plots against the U.S. homeland that have involved the U.S.-Canada border, including the 1997 plot to bomb the New York Subway and the Millennium Bomb Plot. But by and large, most terrorists, including those behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 9/11 attacks, have entered the United States by flying directly to the country. There is not one jihadist attack or thwarted plot in which Mexican criminal organizations smuggled the operative into the United States.
There was one bumbling plot by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in which Manssor Arbabsiar, a U.S. citizen born in Iran and residing in Texas, traveled to Mexico in an attempt to contract a team of Mexican cartel hit men to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. Instead of Los Zetas, he encountered a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration informant and was set up for a sting. There is no evidence that an actual Mexican cartel leader would have accepted the money Arbabsiar offered for the assassination.
Mexican criminal leaders have witnessed U.S. government operations against al Qaeda and the pressure that the U.S. government can put on an organization that has been involved in an attack on the U.S. homeland. Mexican organized crime bosses are businessmen, and even if they were morally willing to work with terrorists -- a questionable assumption -- working with a terrorist group would be bad for business. It is quite doubtful that Mexican crime bosses would risk their multibillion-dollar smuggling empires for a one-time payment from a terrorist group. It is also doubtful that an ideologically driven militant group like a jihadist organization would trust a Mexican criminal organization with its weapons and personnel.
Changes in Terrorist Dynamics
Another factor to consider is the changes in the way militant groups have operated against the United States since 9/11. Because of increased counterterrorism operations and changes in immigration policies intended to help combat terrorist travel, it has become increasingly difficult for terrorist groups to get trained operatives into the United States.Even jihadist groups such as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula have been forced to undertake remote operations involving bombs placed aboard aircraft overseas rather than placing operatives in the country. This indicates that the group does not have the ability or the network to support such operatives. In addition to remote operations launched from its base in Yemen, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has also undertaken efforts to radicalize grassroots operatives residing in the United States, equipping them with easy-to-follow instructions for attack through its English-language magazine, Inspire.
This focus on radicalizing and equipping grassroots operatives is also reflected in the fact that the majority of the attacks and failed plots inside the United States since 2001 have involved such grassroots operatives rather than trained terrorists. These operatives are either U.S. citizens, such as Nidal Hasan, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Faisal Shahzad, or resident aliens such as Najibullah Zazi. Failed shoe bomber Richard Reid was traveling on a British passport (no U.S. visa required) and the would-be underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, had obtained a valid U.S. visa. The operatives had the ability to legally reside in the United States or to enter the country legally without having to sneak across the border from Mexico.
Could a terrorist operative take advantage of the U.S.-Mexico border? Possibly. Is one likely to attempt such a crossing when so much publicity and extra enforcement has been directed to that border? Probably not.
Read more: Examining the Terrorist Threat from America's Southern Border | Stratfor
Follow us: @stratfor on Twitter | Stratfor on Facebook
Here’s What Happened After an Ohio Sheriff Sent a Bill to the Mexican President for the Illegals in His Jail
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones appears on TheBlaze TV’s ‘Dana’ with Dana Loesch July 25, 2014. (Photo: TheBlaze TV)
Brat — The protesting Protestant?
By Robert Lehrman, contributor
There's
an early Philip Roth story about a bunch of Jewish kids in Hebrew
school trying to figure out whether Jesus lived or not.
"The Catholics," Itzie Lieberman says, "they believe in Jesus Christ, that he's God."
Lieberman, Roth adds, "used 'the Catholics' in its broadest sense — to include the Protestants."
I confess, when I was a kid in a largely Jewish town, I was similarly confused.
I think I have it straight, now. But I was confused again this week, reading about Dave Brat's surprising primary election win over Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), because of what I learned about Brat's certainty that what makes America great is not just God, or even Christianity. It's Protestantism.
"The Catholics," Itzie Lieberman says, "they believe in Jesus Christ, that he's God."
Lieberman, Roth adds, "used 'the Catholics' in its broadest sense — to include the Protestants."
I confess, when I was a kid in a largely Jewish town, I was similarly confused.
I think I have it straight, now. But I was confused again this week, reading about Dave Brat's surprising primary election win over Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), because of what I learned about Brat's certainty that what makes America great is not just God, or even Christianity. It's Protestantism.
Reporters have mentioned Brat's embrace of both "Ayn
Rand and Protestantism," but this view hasn't gotten enough attention.
He's held it for a long time.
"Don't underestimate the value of Protestants," he warned now former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in 2005. "Give me a country in 1600 that had a Protestant-led contest for religious and political power," he said, "and I will show you a country that is rich today."
Brat has also made it clear why: the Protestant "work ethic." In the campaign he stressed the need for a religious-based approach to "ethics.” ("I believe in telling the truth.")
It is a reflex in American politics to praise God, religion and sometimes Christianity. To boast about the superiority of one Christian denomination? That's unusual in modern politics.
To be fair, there's no evidence that Brat seems bent on exterminating less productive sects. And while, to this Jewish person, there's a suspicious whiff of anti-Semitism in the way he warned Bernanke, a Jew, and gave it prominence in this year's race against Cantor, also Jewish, that might be coincidence. Brat is also a Rand enthusiast. Alisa Rosenbaum (her real name) was, like Cantor and Bernanke, a Jew.
But isn't there a double standard here? Let's say Cantor went around touting the superior work ethic of Jews? What if President Kennedy had based his famous appeal to mainstream Protestant ministers at the 1960 Houston Ministerial Association conference by arguing not that he had a right to run, but that really Catholics made America rich? How would that have gone over?
Now, Brat is an economist. He looks at data. Protestantism makes the United States rich? Maybe he's right. Maybe we should see whether Protestants are richer than other religious groups, say, when it comes to family income.
I looked up the Pew Foundation research on U.S. income by religion. Black Protestant church members are at the bottom, not surprising considering this country's long history of racism. Surely Brat's group — evangelical Protestants — does well.
As I scroll down the list of eleven, at the top are Jews, then Hindus ... Orthodox Christians ... Buddhists ... Ah! Mainline Protestants finish fifth. Not bad.
Keep going: Catholics ... Muslims ... Mormons.
Here they are: evangelical Protestants, ninth, deep in the second division.
Of course, there might be other ways to find support for Brat's idea. So I went back to find more detail about what Brat himself has argued.
Brat's attack on Bernanke came because Bernanke had written about factors influencing prosperity.
Brat agreed that his list included sensible ones but missed the big reason: "the Protestant religious establishment" and Protestantism's "efficient set of property rights."
Space doesn't allow for a full discussion of this notion or of the more sophisticated argument he makes in his research, some of which I'm not equipped to dispute.
But I can see what it lacks. Among them the woefully inadequate use of comparative data, discussion of confounders, and detailed rebuttal of those who disagree.
Am I alone in finding the campaign version not just badly argued, but offensive?
By contrast, look back to another discussion of religion and politics: that JFK appearance 54 years ago. It's remarkable not just for what Kennedy said in his speech but for his full and usually thoughtful answers to the hostile, patronizing views of the Protestant ministers questioning him.
After one answer, the questioner said, "Do you say that with the permission of the Vatican?"
You can hear Kennedy keeping his voice calm. "I don't have to have approval in that sense."
At the end, Kennedy tried to sum things up. First, having barely concealed his anger about the meeting, he lied ("I am delighted to come here today"). But then he said something sensible.
"This fight for religious freedom is basic in the establishment of the American system, and therefore any candidate for the office ... should submit himself to the questions of any reasonable man."
Here are some for Brat.
Where's the nuanced discussion of alternate possibilities?
Where's the thorough look at comparative data that show Protestantism promotes "rich" countries better than others?
How do you contend with the vast amount of research on different variables, such as the influence of climate, argued by people like Jared Diamond?
And then there are other questions.
Brat, the truth-teller, links his views on religion to "ethics." I encourage people to look at Brat's campaign stump speech to see what he means by truth.
Is immigration reform really only the idea of what Brat calls "Zuckerberg and the big boys?" Hmm. Another Jew, because they want "cheap labor?”
How about this? "Number one principle Eric runs on is stability in Washington — kick the can down the road."
I'm amazed to find myself defending Cantor. But Brat isn't telling the truth. If anything, Cantor thinks we don't need to deal with many of those cans at all. He's not kicking cans down the road. He wants to discard them.
And "stability" from someone who urged a government shutdown? Even allowing for the hyperbole of politics, that's not "telling the truth," either. Not close.
Answers, Mr. Brat?
The primary's over, But Itzie Lieberman might still like to know.
Lehrman is the former White House chief speechwriter to Vice President Gore and has published four novels and the widely used Political Speechwriter's Companion. He teaches public speaking and political speechwriting at American University and writes often about politics. This is his second piece for thehill.com.
"Don't underestimate the value of Protestants," he warned now former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in 2005. "Give me a country in 1600 that had a Protestant-led contest for religious and political power," he said, "and I will show you a country that is rich today."
Brat has also made it clear why: the Protestant "work ethic." In the campaign he stressed the need for a religious-based approach to "ethics.” ("I believe in telling the truth.")
It is a reflex in American politics to praise God, religion and sometimes Christianity. To boast about the superiority of one Christian denomination? That's unusual in modern politics.
To be fair, there's no evidence that Brat seems bent on exterminating less productive sects. And while, to this Jewish person, there's a suspicious whiff of anti-Semitism in the way he warned Bernanke, a Jew, and gave it prominence in this year's race against Cantor, also Jewish, that might be coincidence. Brat is also a Rand enthusiast. Alisa Rosenbaum (her real name) was, like Cantor and Bernanke, a Jew.
But isn't there a double standard here? Let's say Cantor went around touting the superior work ethic of Jews? What if President Kennedy had based his famous appeal to mainstream Protestant ministers at the 1960 Houston Ministerial Association conference by arguing not that he had a right to run, but that really Catholics made America rich? How would that have gone over?
Now, Brat is an economist. He looks at data. Protestantism makes the United States rich? Maybe he's right. Maybe we should see whether Protestants are richer than other religious groups, say, when it comes to family income.
I looked up the Pew Foundation research on U.S. income by religion. Black Protestant church members are at the bottom, not surprising considering this country's long history of racism. Surely Brat's group — evangelical Protestants — does well.
As I scroll down the list of eleven, at the top are Jews, then Hindus ... Orthodox Christians ... Buddhists ... Ah! Mainline Protestants finish fifth. Not bad.
Keep going: Catholics ... Muslims ... Mormons.
Here they are: evangelical Protestants, ninth, deep in the second division.
Of course, there might be other ways to find support for Brat's idea. So I went back to find more detail about what Brat himself has argued.
Brat's attack on Bernanke came because Bernanke had written about factors influencing prosperity.
Brat agreed that his list included sensible ones but missed the big reason: "the Protestant religious establishment" and Protestantism's "efficient set of property rights."
Space doesn't allow for a full discussion of this notion or of the more sophisticated argument he makes in his research, some of which I'm not equipped to dispute.
But I can see what it lacks. Among them the woefully inadequate use of comparative data, discussion of confounders, and detailed rebuttal of those who disagree.
Am I alone in finding the campaign version not just badly argued, but offensive?
By contrast, look back to another discussion of religion and politics: that JFK appearance 54 years ago. It's remarkable not just for what Kennedy said in his speech but for his full and usually thoughtful answers to the hostile, patronizing views of the Protestant ministers questioning him.
After one answer, the questioner said, "Do you say that with the permission of the Vatican?"
You can hear Kennedy keeping his voice calm. "I don't have to have approval in that sense."
At the end, Kennedy tried to sum things up. First, having barely concealed his anger about the meeting, he lied ("I am delighted to come here today"). But then he said something sensible.
"This fight for religious freedom is basic in the establishment of the American system, and therefore any candidate for the office ... should submit himself to the questions of any reasonable man."
Here are some for Brat.
Where's the nuanced discussion of alternate possibilities?
Where's the thorough look at comparative data that show Protestantism promotes "rich" countries better than others?
How do you contend with the vast amount of research on different variables, such as the influence of climate, argued by people like Jared Diamond?
And then there are other questions.
Brat, the truth-teller, links his views on religion to "ethics." I encourage people to look at Brat's campaign stump speech to see what he means by truth.
Is immigration reform really only the idea of what Brat calls "Zuckerberg and the big boys?" Hmm. Another Jew, because they want "cheap labor?”
How about this? "Number one principle Eric runs on is stability in Washington — kick the can down the road."
I'm amazed to find myself defending Cantor. But Brat isn't telling the truth. If anything, Cantor thinks we don't need to deal with many of those cans at all. He's not kicking cans down the road. He wants to discard them.
And "stability" from someone who urged a government shutdown? Even allowing for the hyperbole of politics, that's not "telling the truth," either. Not close.
Answers, Mr. Brat?
The primary's over, But Itzie Lieberman might still like to know.
Lehrman is the former White House chief speechwriter to Vice President Gore and has published four novels and the widely used Political Speechwriter's Companion. He teaches public speaking and political speechwriting at American University and writes often about politics. This is his second piece for thehill.com.
Eric John Phelps on The Hagmann & Hagmann Report
Eric John Phelps on The Hagmann & Hagmann Report http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cfp-radio/2014/07/10/author-eric-john-phelps-on-the-hagmann-hagmann-report
TV Preachers Glowingly Describe Meeting with Pope to Tear Down ‘Walls of Division’
For 500 years all Protestants knew Rome to be antichrist. Now they are bowing down.
ROME – Two controversial TV preachers recently met Pope Francis in an effort to work toward tearing down the ‘walls of division’ between Catholics and Protestants.
Kenneth Copeland and James Robison are two religious leaders in northeast Texas known for drawing huge crowds to their services and events, and who were a part of leading the group identifying as a “delegation of Evangelical Christian leaders” in its meeting with the Roman Catholic pontiff late last month.
Copeland heads Kenneth Copeland Ministries and Eagle Mountain International Church, while Robison is an “apostolic elder” at Gateway Church and co-hosts the Life Today TV program.
In 2008, CBS News released a detailed report on Kenneth Copeland Ministries, saying an investigation “raises serious questions about the Copeland’s religious empire.” For example, according to the report, the “ministry” operates private jets which are often used for vacation trips.
“In my viewpoint,” one of the Copelands’ former employees told CBS News, “I believe that they were using a lot of the ministry’s assets for personal businesses.”
The Copelands have also been accused of promoting the so-called “prosperity gospel.”
“God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” Copeland’s wife, Gloria, once preached, according to The New York Times.
Like the Copelands, Robison has been criticized for straying from traditional biblical teaching. He once invited “Father” Jonathan Morris to his Life Today TV program and praised his Catholic beliefs and practices.
“As a Protestant, every time you talk—every time I see you, I see Jesus,” Robison told Morris, according to Ken Silva at Apprising.org.
“I wish most Protestant preachers had the sensitivity, and discernment, and gift to communicate that you have,” Robison added.
This month, Copeland and Robison are once again the focus of controversy after news surfaced that they both visited Pope Francis at the Vatican in late June. Afterward, Robison said the meeting was an answered prayer, describing it as a “supernatural gathering” and “an unprecedented moment between evangelicals and the Catholic Pope.”
“On [June 24], for nearly three hours, a few of us were blessed to meet in an intimate circle of prayerful discussion,” Robison wrote in a blog post.
Several other evangelicals, including Robison’s wife, were present at the meeting, which was organized by an Episcopal bishop.
“This meeting was a miracle,” Robison told Fort Worth’s Star-Telegram after returning from Rome.
“This is something God has done. God wants his arms around the world. And he wants Christians to put his arms around the world by working together.”
“The world is suffering,” Robison added. “We as Christians have too much love to share without fighting one another.”
Robison said he enjoyed every moment with the leader of the Roman Catholic church, saying he even gave Pope Francis a friendly high-five.
“We continued in such glorious fellowship that words could never begin to describe it,” he wrote. “I am fighting back tears even as I write, so glorious was the manifest presence of Jesus.”
Copeland shared similarly positive sentiments about the visit. According to Robison’s blog post, Copeland “lovingly” spoke “a few words of encouragement” to Pope Francis, afterward praying for him.
When news of the ecumenical get-together at the Vatican was publicized, many Christians expressed disappointment, saying it was unwise for the evangelical leaders to meet with Pope Francis.
“What fellowship does light have with darkness?” one commenter asked. “Roman Catholicism has never been and never will be Christian. You cannot unite what is not the same—that is called being unequally yoked!”
“We should bear in mind [that] Catholic doctrine can never marry with the doctrine of Jesus Christ,” another argued.
“There is a huge difference between loving and helping your neighbor and adopting their heresies,” a third asserted.
As previously reported, megachurch speaker Joel Osteen similarly met with Pope Francis at the Vatican in early June. After the meeting, Osteen praised the Pope’s attempts to make the church “more inclusive.”
Photos: JamesRobison.net
http://christiannews.net/2014/07/03/tv-preachers-glowingly-describe-meeting-with-pope-to-tear-down-walls-of-division/
ROME – Two controversial TV preachers recently met Pope Francis in an effort to work toward tearing down the ‘walls of division’ between Catholics and Protestants.
Kenneth Copeland and James Robison are two religious leaders in northeast Texas known for drawing huge crowds to their services and events, and who were a part of leading the group identifying as a “delegation of Evangelical Christian leaders” in its meeting with the Roman Catholic pontiff late last month.
Copeland heads Kenneth Copeland Ministries and Eagle Mountain International Church, while Robison is an “apostolic elder” at Gateway Church and co-hosts the Life Today TV program.
In 2008, CBS News released a detailed report on Kenneth Copeland Ministries, saying an investigation “raises serious questions about the Copeland’s religious empire.” For example, according to the report, the “ministry” operates private jets which are often used for vacation trips.
“In my viewpoint,” one of the Copelands’ former employees told CBS News, “I believe that they were using a lot of the ministry’s assets for personal businesses.”
The Copelands have also been accused of promoting the so-called “prosperity gospel.”
“God knows where the money is, and he knows how to get the money to you,” Copeland’s wife, Gloria, once preached, according to The New York Times.
Like the Copelands, Robison has been criticized for straying from traditional biblical teaching. He once invited “Father” Jonathan Morris to his Life Today TV program and praised his Catholic beliefs and practices.
“As a Protestant, every time you talk—every time I see you, I see Jesus,” Robison told Morris, according to Ken Silva at Apprising.org.
“I wish most Protestant preachers had the sensitivity, and discernment, and gift to communicate that you have,” Robison added.
This month, Copeland and Robison are once again the focus of controversy after news surfaced that they both visited Pope Francis at the Vatican in late June. Afterward, Robison said the meeting was an answered prayer, describing it as a “supernatural gathering” and “an unprecedented moment between evangelicals and the Catholic Pope.”
“On [June 24], for nearly three hours, a few of us were blessed to meet in an intimate circle of prayerful discussion,” Robison wrote in a blog post.
Several other evangelicals, including Robison’s wife, were present at the meeting, which was organized by an Episcopal bishop.
“This meeting was a miracle,” Robison told Fort Worth’s Star-Telegram after returning from Rome.
“This is something God has done. God wants his arms around the world. And he wants Christians to put his arms around the world by working together.”
 |
| Robison gives Pope high-five |
Robison said he enjoyed every moment with the leader of the Roman Catholic church, saying he even gave Pope Francis a friendly high-five.
“We continued in such glorious fellowship that words could never begin to describe it,” he wrote. “I am fighting back tears even as I write, so glorious was the manifest presence of Jesus.”
Copeland shared similarly positive sentiments about the visit. According to Robison’s blog post, Copeland “lovingly” spoke “a few words of encouragement” to Pope Francis, afterward praying for him.
When news of the ecumenical get-together at the Vatican was publicized, many Christians expressed disappointment, saying it was unwise for the evangelical leaders to meet with Pope Francis.
“What fellowship does light have with darkness?” one commenter asked. “Roman Catholicism has never been and never will be Christian. You cannot unite what is not the same—that is called being unequally yoked!”
“We should bear in mind [that] Catholic doctrine can never marry with the doctrine of Jesus Christ,” another argued.
“There is a huge difference between loving and helping your neighbor and adopting their heresies,” a third asserted.
As previously reported, megachurch speaker Joel Osteen similarly met with Pope Francis at the Vatican in early June. After the meeting, Osteen praised the Pope’s attempts to make the church “more inclusive.”
Photos: JamesRobison.net
http://christiannews.net/2014/07/03/tv-preachers-glowingly-describe-meeting-with-pope-to-tear-down-walls-of-division/
Sun 7PM Eastern TalkShoe - Call - "Romanism & the Reformation Book Study"
TalkShoe - Call - "Romanism & the Reformation Book Study"
7PM Eastern "Romanism and the Reformation" written by H. Grattan
Guinness in 1887. The book also is being read by Tom Friess on
Inquisition Update at First Amendment Radio, M-F at 11 AM Eastern. The
book is on the Internet so everyone can have text in hand for the
in-depth study of Futurism. http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=131199&cmd=tc
7PM Eastern "Romanism and the Reformation" written by H. Grattan
Guinness in 1887. The book also is being read by Tom Friess on
Inquisition Update at First Amendment Radio, M-F at 11 AM Eastern. The
book is on the Internet so everyone can have text in hand for the
in-depth study of Futurism. http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=131199&cmd=tc
Shoebat: The Vatican Makes Itself The Seat Of The Antichrist, And Pope Francis Has Muslim Prayers Declared Within The Vatican For The First Time In Its History
By Theodore Shoebat
The Vatican has made itself the seat of the Antichrist, because for the first time in its history it will be having Islamic prayers declared from its premises, a measure planned and organized by Pope Francis himself.
Islam is the religion of the Antichrist, and for the Vatican to do this makes it a seat, or harborer, of the Antichrist religion. Faithful Catholics should be up in arms about this!
The Vatican has stated that the prayers would be a “pause in politics”, but the entire procession will naturally be political because Islam is political, and additionally, the event is being conducted “to rekindle the desire for Israeli-Palestinian peace at the political and popular level”, a blatantly political move.
A Middle East report stated:
The permeation of Antichrist within the Catholic Church is to no surprise, since the homosexual infiltration within the Roman Church is immense, as Shoebat.com exposed yesterday the defense of a pedophile by Catholic priest Robert L. Kincl (AKA Fr. Bob Kincl).
Now, of course this does not mean that the Vatican is the Harlot of Babylon, but that it is harloting itself with the religion of the Antichrist. This idea that the Catholic Church is the Antichrist and the Harlot of Babylon is absurd.
In fact, I did a debate with Chris Pinto, a conspiracy theorist who peddles false history to slander the Catholic Church and make money. Pinto attacked me and my father in 2013, and so I challenged him as soon as he made his slander against us.
He agreed to the debate, but stalled and procrastinated for over a year. It was only a number of days ago when he finally lived up to his agreement. We did the debate, and he never aired it. Unfortunately for Chris Pinto, I recorded the entire thing. Not only did I record the debate, but also the argument that we did the night before the debate. Here is the debate from beginning to end in which I completely expose Pinto for the slanderer that he is.
Here is the first debate:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Here is the second half of the debate, which is the one Pinto has never aired (thanks to Chris G for uploading it in one video)
After watching this, please understand that we must fight for Christendom. We must become militant and fight the Antichrist. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GET OUR NEW 2-DISK DVD SET ON CHRISTIAN MILITANCY AND WARFARE AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!
CHRISTUS VINCIT!
http://shoebat.com/2014/06/07/vatican-makes-seat-antichrist-pope-francis-muslim-prayers-declared-within-vatican-first-time-history/
The Vatican has made itself the seat of the Antichrist, because for the first time in its history it will be having Islamic prayers declared from its premises, a measure planned and organized by Pope Francis himself.
Islam is the religion of the Antichrist, and for the Vatican to do this makes it a seat, or harborer, of the Antichrist religion. Faithful Catholics should be up in arms about this!
The Vatican has stated that the prayers would be a “pause in politics”, but the entire procession will naturally be political because Islam is political, and additionally, the event is being conducted “to rekindle the desire for Israeli-Palestinian peace at the political and popular level”, a blatantly political move.
A Middle East report stated:
For the first time in history, Islamic prayers and readings from the Quran will be heard at the Vatican on Sunday, in a move by Pope Francis to usher in peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Francis issued the invitation to Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas during his visit last week to Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority.I do not write this to attack Catholics, but to warn them of the Antichrist spirit that has entered the Vatican. What is happening in the Vatican is actually a fulfillment of what Pope Leo XIII actually warned about, in 1846, that the Vatican will one day become the seat of Antichrist:
Rome will lose the faith and become the Seat of the Antichrist… the Church will be in eclipse.Pope Leo XIII also wrote:
In the Holy Place itself, where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter… they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety…Faithful Catholics are going to have to make the choice to trust a pope like Leo XIII or Francis.
The permeation of Antichrist within the Catholic Church is to no surprise, since the homosexual infiltration within the Roman Church is immense, as Shoebat.com exposed yesterday the defense of a pedophile by Catholic priest Robert L. Kincl (AKA Fr. Bob Kincl).
Now, of course this does not mean that the Vatican is the Harlot of Babylon, but that it is harloting itself with the religion of the Antichrist. This idea that the Catholic Church is the Antichrist and the Harlot of Babylon is absurd.
In fact, I did a debate with Chris Pinto, a conspiracy theorist who peddles false history to slander the Catholic Church and make money. Pinto attacked me and my father in 2013, and so I challenged him as soon as he made his slander against us.
He agreed to the debate, but stalled and procrastinated for over a year. It was only a number of days ago when he finally lived up to his agreement. We did the debate, and he never aired it. Unfortunately for Chris Pinto, I recorded the entire thing. Not only did I record the debate, but also the argument that we did the night before the debate. Here is the debate from beginning to end in which I completely expose Pinto for the slanderer that he is.
Here is the first debate:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Here is the second half of the debate, which is the one Pinto has never aired (thanks to Chris G for uploading it in one video)
After watching this, please understand that we must fight for Christendom. We must become militant and fight the Antichrist. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO GET OUR NEW 2-DISK DVD SET ON CHRISTIAN MILITANCY AND WARFARE AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST
FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!
CHRISTUS VINCIT!
http://shoebat.com/2014/06/07/vatican-makes-seat-antichrist-pope-francis-muslim-prayers-declared-within-vatican-first-time-history/
Update: Religious orders allowed over 2,000 Irish children to be used in medical experiments
 |
| A new report has revealed that more than 2000 Irish children living in religious run homes in the 1930s were subjected to drugs trials. |
More than 2000 Irish children in religious run homes were subjected to drugs trials in the 1930s according to a shocking new report.
As the Tuam burial ground scandal erupts, it has now emerged that Catholic Church run homes and state institutions let the children of unmarried mothers be used in medical experiments.
The Irish Daily Mail has published a damning report which outlines how scientists secretly vaccinated more than 2,000 children in religious-run homes in suspected illegal drug trials.
The paper says that old medical records show that 2,051 children and babies in Irish care homes were given a one-shot diphtheria vaccine for international drugs giant Burroughs Wellcome between 1930 and 1936.
The report adds that no evidence exists that consent was ever sought.
Historian Michael Dwyer who unearthed the documentations says that no records of how many may have died or suffered debilitating side-effects as a result are in existence.
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, on a trade mission in America, has been made aware of the scandal by the paper and has ordered ministers to see whether there are more mass baby graves scattered across the country.
His move comes after claims that more than 800 infants may be buried in a septic tank outside a former mother and baby home in Tuam.
Kenny confirmed: “I have ordered my officials to see what the scale is, what’s involved here, and whether this is isolated or if there are others around the country that need to be looked at.”
Dwyer, a lecturer at Cork University’s School of History, told the Irish Daily Mail that he found the child vaccination data by trawling through tens of thousands of medical journal articles and archive files.
He said the trials were carried out before the vaccine was made available for commercial use in the UK.
Irish homes where children were secretly tested included Bessborough, in Co. Cork and Sean Ross Abbey in Roscrea, Co. Tipperary, both of which are at the centre of the mass baby graves scandal.
The paper names other institutions where children may also have been vaccinated including Cork orphanages St Joseph’s Industrial School for Boys, run by the Presentation Brothers, and St Finbarr’s Industrial School for Girls, run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.
Dublin trials may have involved children from St Vincent’s Industrial School, Goldenbridge, St Joseph’s School for Deaf Boys, Cabra, and St Saviours’s Dominican Orphanage.
Dwyer warned: “What I have found is just the tip of a very large and submerged iceberg.
“The fact that no record of these trials can be found in the files relating to the Department of Local Government and Public Health, the Municipal Health Reports relating to Cork and Dublin, or the Wellcome Archives in London, suggests that vaccine trials would not have been acceptable to government, municipal authorities, or the general public.
“However, the fact that reports of these trials were published in the most prestigious medical journals suggests that this type of human experimentation was largely accepted by medical practitioners and facilitated by authorities in charge of children’s residential institutions.”
A spokesman for GSK -formerly Wellcome – told the Irish Daily Mail: “The activities that have been described to us date back over 70 years and, if true, are clearly very distressing.
“We would need further details to investigate what actually took place, but the practices outlined certainly don’t reflect how modern clinical trials are carried out. We conduct our trials to the same high scientific and ethical standards, no matter where in the world they are run.”
A spokeswoman for the Sisters of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the order that ran Bessborough and Sean Ross Abbey, has said that like GSK, they would also welcome an independent inquiry.
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Religious-orders-allowed-over-2000-Irish-children-to-be-used-in-medical-experiments.html
Earlier Report: http://inquisitionnews.blogspot.com/2014/06/bodies-of-800-babies-found-in-septic.html
Bodies Of 800 Babies Found In Septic Tank At Catholic Home For Unwed Mothers In Ireland
The bodies of nearly 800 babies were found in a septic tank near an Irish home for unwed mothers in Galway.
The infants were likely buried in secret at St. Mary’s Mother and Baby Home. Run by nuns in Tuam for 36 years, the facility supposedly helped women get a new start until it closed in 1961. Their children were not so lucky.
Many of them died from neglect, malnutrition and complications from illnesses like pneumonia, measles, tuberculosis and gastroenteritis.
The mass grave was uncovered by a local historian, Catherine Corless, who is asking authorities to investigate the facility as well as construct a memorial on the site.
“The bones are still there,” Corless told The Washington Post in a phone interview. “The children who died in the Home, this was them.”
“If you look at the records, babies were dying two a week, but I’m still trying to figure out how they could [put the bodies in a septic tank],” she added. “Couldn’t they have afforded baby coffins?”
Even when St. Mary’s was open, authorities were aware of the shocking conditions inside. A 1944 inspection from the board of health notes 333 unwed women and their children living in the facility, when its capacity was only 243.
Infants between the ages of 3 weeks and 13 months were described as "fragile, pot-bellied and emaciated.” The inspector noted a 13-month-old boy who had "no control over bodily functions" and was "probably mentally defective."
Homes for unwed mothers run by the Catholic church were common in Ireland in the 20th century, according to the Global Post.
One such home, Sean Ross Abbey in Tipperary, was depicted in Dame Judi Dench’s Oscar-nominated movie “Philomena."
“When daughters became pregnant they were ostracized completely,” Corless said. “Families would be afraid of neighbors finding out because to get pregnant out of marriage was the worst thing on Earth. It was the worst crime a woman could commit, even though a lot of the time it had been because of a rape.”
Once excavated, the number of those buried at the site could be higher than 800.
“God knows who else is in the grave,” an anonymous source told the Daily Mail. “It’s been lying there for years and no one knows the full extent of the total of bodies down there.”
The infants were likely buried in secret at St. Mary’s Mother and Baby Home. Run by nuns in Tuam for 36 years, the facility supposedly helped women get a new start until it closed in 1961. Their children were not so lucky.
Many of them died from neglect, malnutrition and complications from illnesses like pneumonia, measles, tuberculosis and gastroenteritis.
The mass grave was uncovered by a local historian, Catherine Corless, who is asking authorities to investigate the facility as well as construct a memorial on the site.
“The bones are still there,” Corless told The Washington Post in a phone interview. “The children who died in the Home, this was them.”
“If you look at the records, babies were dying two a week, but I’m still trying to figure out how they could [put the bodies in a septic tank],” she added. “Couldn’t they have afforded baby coffins?”
Even when St. Mary’s was open, authorities were aware of the shocking conditions inside. A 1944 inspection from the board of health notes 333 unwed women and their children living in the facility, when its capacity was only 243.
Infants between the ages of 3 weeks and 13 months were described as "fragile, pot-bellied and emaciated.” The inspector noted a 13-month-old boy who had "no control over bodily functions" and was "probably mentally defective."
Homes for unwed mothers run by the Catholic church were common in Ireland in the 20th century, according to the Global Post.
One such home, Sean Ross Abbey in Tipperary, was depicted in Dame Judi Dench’s Oscar-nominated movie “Philomena."
“When daughters became pregnant they were ostracized completely,” Corless said. “Families would be afraid of neighbors finding out because to get pregnant out of marriage was the worst thing on Earth. It was the worst crime a woman could commit, even though a lot of the time it had been because of a rape.”
Once excavated, the number of those buried at the site could be higher than 800.
“God knows who else is in the grave,” an anonymous source told the Daily Mail. “It’s been lying there for years and no one knows the full extent of the total of bodies down there.”
Dark secrets: Children at the tea room at Sean Ross Abbey in Tipperary eat under the stern gaze of a nun
The nursery at Sean Ross: The home, which opened in 1930, had an astonishingly high infant mortality rate
Life at the home: Babies and children enjoy the sunshine outside the children's home at Sean Ross Abbey
Cribs and playpens: The homes were run by nuns, both from the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches
The mothers of children given up for adoption by nuns are now calling for more information about their babies
Sources: Washington Post, Global Post, Daily Mail
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/bodies-800-babies-found-septic-system-irish-unwed-mothers-home#sthash.NnUO8ThY.dpuf
Update: Religious orders allowed over 2,000 Irish children to be used in medical experiments
http://inquisitionnews.blogspot.com/2014/06/update-religious-orders-allowed-over.html
TalkShoe - Call - "Romanism & the Reformation Book Study"
TalkShoe - Call - "Romanism & the Reformation Book Study"
7PM Eastern TalkShoe - Call - "Romanism & the Reformation Book Study" http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=131199&cmd=tc
7PM Eastern TalkShoe - Call - "Romanism & the Reformation Book Study" http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=131199&cmd=tc
Dozens charged in child porn case in NYC area
NEW YORK (AP) — Seemingly
respectable members of the mainstream — a police officer, a paramedic, a
rabbi, an airline pilot, an architect, a Boy Scout leader — were caught
using the Internet to collect and trade child pornography, federal
officials said Wednesday.
The six were
among 70 New York City-area men and one woman charged as the result of a
five-week investigation by the Homeland Security Investigations arm of
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Some
of the defendants, using search terms like "real child rape" and
"family sex," had downloaded thousands of disturbing images on their
computers inside suburban homes they shared with their families. The
lone woman was accused of allowing another suspect to videotape her son.
Federal
and state officials who announced the arrests on Wednesday called it
one of the largest local roundups ever of people who seek to anonymously
share the porn online — and a stark reminder that they come from all
walks of life.
"This operation
puts the lie to the classic, stereotypical profile that child predators
are nothing more than unemployed drifters," said James Hayes, head of
ICE's New York office.
Authorities
say an alarming number of the defendants held positions of trust that
gave them access to young children. The Boy Scout leader also coached a
youth baseball team. The rabbi home-schooled his children and others.
Another person used hidden cameras to secretly film his children's
friends.
 |
| In this Jan. 23, 2014 photo, Mount Pleasant, N.Y. police Chief Brian Fanelli and his wife Sonja exit Federal Court in White Plains, N.Y. A five-week investigation has resulted in charges against at least 70 men and one woman in the New York City area in what officials called one of the largest-ever roundups locally of people who anonymously trade child porn over the Internet. Authorities decided to launch the operation after the arrest of Fanelli, who pleaded not guilty this week to federal charges of knowingly receiving and distributing child pornography. (AP Photo/The Journal News, Tania Savayan) NYC OUT, NO SALES |
Authorities say advances in technology and computer capacity have allowed child-porn collectors to easily amass vast troves of images and to exchange files with each other directly. The New York effort resulted in the seizure of nearly 600 desktop and laptop computers, tablets, smartphones and other devices containing massive amounts of storage.
Agents
were still examining the devices to locate and catalog evidence, an
arduous task that could result in more arrests. The National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children also will have analysts review the images
to see whether it can identify children using databases of known
victims.
"We refer to each of
these images as a crime scene photo because that's exactly what they
are," said John Ryan, the organization's chief executive officer.
Authorities
decided to launch the operation after the arrest in January of the
Mount Pleasant, New York, police chief, who pleaded not guilty this week
to federal charges of knowingly receiving and distributing child
pornography. Court papers allege that Brian Fanelli told investigators
he began looking at child porn as research before it grew into a
"personal interest."
In May,
agents on computers created a digital dragnet with the same tactics used
in the Fanelli case: Agents posed as collectors of child porn who
wanted to anonymously trade it through file-sharing programs others use
to share pirated hit music and movies. Once given access to personal
libraries of child porn photos and videos, the agents identified the
numeric IP addresses of the sources of the material.
The
next step as was to subpoena Internet service providers to obtain names
associated with the IP addresses. The investigators narrowed the list
down to 100 people who were the most active and recent traders, and
obtained search and arrest warrants.
Follow Hays on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APtomhays
http://news.yahoo.com/dozens-charged-child-porn-case-nyc-area-122955761.html
Do a little research and visit the 3 major search engines Google, Bing and Yahoo with safe search turned off and type in the search query> Nude Children: And you will see Bing and Google produce hundreds of nude photos of children, while Yahoo does not produce any! In my view Google and Bing are 2 of the biggest offenders of disseminating child pornography in the world!!! Congrats to Yahoo!!!
Video example that even the police can not be trusted:
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