Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said his department aims without exception to expel all those who enter the United States illegally.
"Our goal at DHS (Homeland Security) is to completely eliminate the 'catch and release' enforcement problem, and return every single illegal entrant, no exceptions.
"It should be possible to achieve significant and measurable progress to this end in less than a year," Chertoff told a Senate hearing.
Thousands of "Mexicans who are caught entering the United States illegally are returned immediately to Mexico. But other parts of the system have nearly collapsed under the weight of numbers. The problem is especially severe for non-Mexicans apprehended at the southwest border," Chertoff explained.
"Today, a non-Mexican illegal immigrant caught trying to enter the United States across the southwest border has an 80 percent chance of being released immediately because we lack the holding facilities," he added.
"Through a comprehensive approach, we are moving to end this 'catch and release' style of border enforcement by reengineering our detention and removal process."
Chertoff's remarks in favor of returning "every illegal entrant, no exceptions" appeared to conflict directly with the US policy toward illegal Cuban migrants.
Though Cubans picked up at sea are returned to their country, those who reach US soil by air, sea or ground are allowed to stay and work -- a fact Cuba says encourages dangerous illegal emigration attempts.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Monday, October 17, 2005
ARTICLE: PETA workers face 25 felony counts in North Carolina (The Virginian-Pilot - HamptonRoads.com/PilotOnline.com)
Blogger's note - If you see these people, please spit on them.
PETA workers face 25 felony counts in North Carolina
By DARREN FREEMAN, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 15, 2005 | Last updated 11:24 PM Oct. 14
WINTON, N.C. — The cats and dogs two PETA employees have been charged with euthanizing and dumping in an Ahoskie garbage bin were killed by injections of pentobarbital, a barbiturate commonly used to put down animals, according to new warrants issued and served on Friday.
Additionally, the two employees were charged with three felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. The charges allege that they euthanized three cats from an Ahoskie veterinarian after promising to find the animals new homes, according to the new warrants.
PETA employees Andrew B. Cook, 24, of Virginia Beach, and Adria J. Hinkle, 27, of Norfolk, were served with warrants on 22 felony charges of animal cruelty and the three felony charges of obtaining property by false pretense in court on Friday.
A grand jury is expected to consider formal indictments Oct. 31, Assistant District Attorney Donnie Taylor said.
The new animal cruelty charges replaced 31 previous animal cruelty charges, which were dismissed.
The new warrants now include more information, such as descriptions of animals investigators found, the causes of death and – in some warrants – photographs of the dead dogs.
The new information was added to clarify the charges, which previously did not have such information as the cause of death, Taylor said.
The two employees are still charged with eight misdemeanor counts of illegal disposal of dead animals and one count of trespassing.
Both have been released on $35,000 bail, and PETA is paying their legal fees. PETA suspended Hinkle for 90 days and did not discipline Cook.
Police began investigating this summer after carcasses of cats and dogs in plastic bags were found in a supermarket garbage bin in Ahoskie every Wednesday for four consecutive weeks. At least 80 animals were found.
Officers say that on June 15 they followed a van after it left Bertie County’s animal shelter, then staked out the garbage bins and arrested two PETA employees.
The officers found 18 dead dogs in a bin and 13 other animal carcasses in the van, which was registered to PETA.
PETA had been picking up animals in northeastern North Carolina since 2001, when a caller informed the group of poor conditions in shelters, according to a written apology PETA President Ingrid Newkirk sent to Bertie County officials.
Bertie County and Northampton County officials and one Ahoskie veterinarian said they believed that adoptable animals would find new homes, while sick, injured and wild animals would be euthanized.
Newkirk has since said that dumping the animals into trash bins violates PETA policy.
PETA typically euthanizes animals in Norfolk and cremates the carcasses, Newkirk said in a June 17 press conference.
Newkirk said at the time that the animals found in North Carolina had likely been given a lethal injection of a barbiturate that PETA is licensed to use.
Bertie and Northampton officials cut ties to PETA pending trial.
The counties are now euthanizing animals without help from PETA.
Reach Darren Freeman at (252) 338-0150 or darren.freeman@pilotonline.com.
PETA workers face 25 felony counts in North Carolina
By DARREN FREEMAN, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 15, 2005 | Last updated 11:24 PM Oct. 14
WINTON, N.C. — The cats and dogs two PETA employees have been charged with euthanizing and dumping in an Ahoskie garbage bin were killed by injections of pentobarbital, a barbiturate commonly used to put down animals, according to new warrants issued and served on Friday.
Additionally, the two employees were charged with three felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. The charges allege that they euthanized three cats from an Ahoskie veterinarian after promising to find the animals new homes, according to the new warrants.
PETA employees Andrew B. Cook, 24, of Virginia Beach, and Adria J. Hinkle, 27, of Norfolk, were served with warrants on 22 felony charges of animal cruelty and the three felony charges of obtaining property by false pretense in court on Friday.
A grand jury is expected to consider formal indictments Oct. 31, Assistant District Attorney Donnie Taylor said.
The new animal cruelty charges replaced 31 previous animal cruelty charges, which were dismissed.
The new warrants now include more information, such as descriptions of animals investigators found, the causes of death and – in some warrants – photographs of the dead dogs.
The new information was added to clarify the charges, which previously did not have such information as the cause of death, Taylor said.
The two employees are still charged with eight misdemeanor counts of illegal disposal of dead animals and one count of trespassing.
Both have been released on $35,000 bail, and PETA is paying their legal fees. PETA suspended Hinkle for 90 days and did not discipline Cook.
Police began investigating this summer after carcasses of cats and dogs in plastic bags were found in a supermarket garbage bin in Ahoskie every Wednesday for four consecutive weeks. At least 80 animals were found.
Officers say that on June 15 they followed a van after it left Bertie County’s animal shelter, then staked out the garbage bins and arrested two PETA employees.
The officers found 18 dead dogs in a bin and 13 other animal carcasses in the van, which was registered to PETA.
PETA had been picking up animals in northeastern North Carolina since 2001, when a caller informed the group of poor conditions in shelters, according to a written apology PETA President Ingrid Newkirk sent to Bertie County officials.
Bertie County and Northampton County officials and one Ahoskie veterinarian said they believed that adoptable animals would find new homes, while sick, injured and wild animals would be euthanized.
Newkirk has since said that dumping the animals into trash bins violates PETA policy.
PETA typically euthanizes animals in Norfolk and cremates the carcasses, Newkirk said in a June 17 press conference.
Newkirk said at the time that the animals found in North Carolina had likely been given a lethal injection of a barbiturate that PETA is licensed to use.
Bertie and Northampton officials cut ties to PETA pending trial.
The counties are now euthanizing animals without help from PETA.
Reach Darren Freeman at (252) 338-0150 or darren.freeman@pilotonline.com.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Blogger's Note - Does the phrase "We are our own worst enemy" ring a bell?
Security fears as flu virus that killed 50 million is recreated Ian Sample, science correspondentThursday October 6, 2005The Guardian
Scientists have recreated the 1918 Spanish flu virus, one of the deadliest ever to emerge, to the alarm of many researchers who fear it presents a serious security risk.
Undisclosed quantities of the virus are being held in a high-security government laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia, after a nine-year effort to rebuild the agent that swept the globe in record time and claimed the lives of an estimated 50 million people.
The genetic sequence is also being made available to scientists online, a move which some fear adds a further risk of the virus being created in other labs.
The recreation was carried out in an attempt to understand what made the 1918 outbreak so devastating. Reporting in the journal Science, a team lead by Dr Jeffery Taubenberger at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Maryland shows that the recreated virus is extremely effective. When injected into mice, it quickly took hold and they started to lose weight rapidly, shedding 13% of their original weight in just two days. Within six days, all mice injected with the virus had died.
In a comparison experiment, similar mice were injected with a contemporary strain of flu, and although the mice lost weight initially, they recovered. Tests revealed that the Spanish flu virus multiplied so rapidly that after four days, mice contained 39,000 times more flu virus than those injected with the more common strain of flu.
The government and military researchers who reconstructed the virus say their work has already provided invaluable insight into its unique genetic make-up and helps explain its lethality. But other researchers warned yesterday the that virus could escape from the laboratory. "This will raise clear questions among some as to whether they have really created a biological weapon," said Professor Ronald Atlas at the centre for deterrence of biowarfare and bioterrorism at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.
Publication of the work and the filing of the virus's genetic make-up to an online database followed an emergency meeting last week by the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, which concluded that the benefits of publishing the work outweighed the risks. Many scientists remained sceptical. "Once the genetic sequence is publicly available, there's a theoretical risk that any molecular biologist with sufficient knowledge could recreate this virus," said Dr John Wood, a virologist at the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control in Potters Bar.
Security fears as flu virus that killed 50 million is recreated Ian Sample, science correspondentThursday October 6, 2005The Guardian
Scientists have recreated the 1918 Spanish flu virus, one of the deadliest ever to emerge, to the alarm of many researchers who fear it presents a serious security risk.
Undisclosed quantities of the virus are being held in a high-security government laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia, after a nine-year effort to rebuild the agent that swept the globe in record time and claimed the lives of an estimated 50 million people.
The genetic sequence is also being made available to scientists online, a move which some fear adds a further risk of the virus being created in other labs.
The recreation was carried out in an attempt to understand what made the 1918 outbreak so devastating. Reporting in the journal Science, a team lead by Dr Jeffery Taubenberger at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Maryland shows that the recreated virus is extremely effective. When injected into mice, it quickly took hold and they started to lose weight rapidly, shedding 13% of their original weight in just two days. Within six days, all mice injected with the virus had died.
In a comparison experiment, similar mice were injected with a contemporary strain of flu, and although the mice lost weight initially, they recovered. Tests revealed that the Spanish flu virus multiplied so rapidly that after four days, mice contained 39,000 times more flu virus than those injected with the more common strain of flu.
The government and military researchers who reconstructed the virus say their work has already provided invaluable insight into its unique genetic make-up and helps explain its lethality. But other researchers warned yesterday the that virus could escape from the laboratory. "This will raise clear questions among some as to whether they have really created a biological weapon," said Professor Ronald Atlas at the centre for deterrence of biowarfare and bioterrorism at the University of Louisville in Kentucky.
Publication of the work and the filing of the virus's genetic make-up to an online database followed an emergency meeting last week by the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity, which concluded that the benefits of publishing the work outweighed the risks. Many scientists remained sceptical. "Once the genetic sequence is publicly available, there's a theoretical risk that any molecular biologist with sufficient knowledge could recreate this virus," said Dr John Wood, a virologist at the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control in Potters Bar.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Here Is An Idea for A Tax Break
Let's encourage congress to pass a bill that grants tax breaks to people and businesses that use Solar Energy. It saves money, it saves the environment. The only reason not to use it is if we want to continue to be dependent on the oil companies and the Saudis. Encourage Solar Energy Use!
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