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Men’s Righters should enjoy INFERNO 74 which concerns Sarah Palin and feminist orcs.

The Center for Empowered Living and Learning (The CELL)  held a reception yesterday in Denver to introduce its inaugural exhibit, entitled “Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: Understanding the Threat of Terrorism.”

The CELL is a non-profit, non-partisan institution dedicated to educating citizens on the most important issue of our time — terrorism. The exhibit will make available to the public for the first time learning tools that are capable of teaching citizens about the true nature of terrorism and how it affects each and every one of us in our daily lives.

“The CELL is becoming one of the most talked-about institutions to take root in our great city,” said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. “The exhibit does a great job of addressing and explaining the difficult subject of terrorism, and while it is a serious experience, The CELL allows individuals to educate and ultimately empower themselves in the goal of terrorism prevention.”

The keynote speaker at Wednesday’s reception was Brian Jenkins, a senior advisor to the RAND Corporation, and an expert in terrorism, counterinsurgency and homeland security. He is a highly-respected author and commentator and was part of The CELL’s content development team. Mayor John Hickenlooper and The CELL founder Larry A. Mizel introduced Jenkins to the audience.

“It is our intent that once people experience The CELL exhibit, they will be more engaged and focused on the need for community involvement and preparedness in response to the current ongoing global terrorism threat,” said Melanie Pearlman, Executive Director of The CELL. “This is an educational and interactive exhibit that uses state-of-the-art multi-media tools, and was created in consultation with world-renowned terrorism experts and designed by Academy Award-winning artists.”

“We are pleased to have introduced the exhibit today in front of many visitors who are here in Denver attending the Democratic National Convention,” said Pearlman. “They might not otherwise get the opportunity to explore this complex subject matter in a state-of-the-art facility,” Pearlman added. During the past three days of the DNC, The CELL has played host to such dignitaries as Senators Daniel K. Inouye and Jim DeMint, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, as well as CELL contributor and former Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani.

The CELL also intends to begin working with universities, first-responders and law enforcement officials on programs and outreach that will promote greater awareness and more effective means of combating terrorism. Early efforts have already included co-hosting a seminar with the Naval Post Graduate School on preparedness and response coordination for the Democratic National Convention activities here in Denver for local business and first- responder communities.

The design, concept and production of The CELL and its exhibit began in 2004. It will be open to the public beginning Tuesday, September 2, 2008.

The Center for Empowered Living & Learning is located within the Denver Civic Center Cultural Complex, adjacent to the new Denver Art Museum. For more information, please visit http://www.thecell.org/.

Source: Center for Empowered Living and Learning

In 2007, the US Department of State reported that some foreign diplomats are suspected of abusing the household workers they brought to the United States on A-3 or G-5 visas.

The US Congress directed the Government Accounting Office to determine the number of A-3 or G-5 visa holders who have alleged abuse by foreign diplomats with immunity since 2000 and to review the US government’s process for investigating these allegations.

The GAO was also directed to assess how the State Department ensures that its policies for issuing A-3 and G-5 visas are implemented correctly and consistently. The GAO analyzed documents, interviewed officials, and conducted fieldwork at four consular posts that issue large numbers of A-3 or G-5 visas.

The GAO identified 42 household workers with A-3 or G-5 visas who alleged that they were abused by foreign diplomats with immunity from 2000 through 2008, but the total number is likely higher. The total number of alleged incidents since 2000 is likely higher for four reasons: household workers’ fear of contacting law enforcement, nongovernmental organizations’ protection of victim confidentiality, limited information on some cases handled by the US government, and federal agencies’ challenges identifying cases.

For example, the State Department has several offices that receive allegations of abuse by foreign diplomats, but no single office maintains information on all allegations. The US government’s process for investigating alleged abuse of household workers by foreign diplomats is complicated by three factors.

First, immunity can pose constraints for law enforcement in collecting evidence. Second, the status of foreign diplomats can heighten their workers’ sense of vulnerability, causing the workers to fear cooperating with investigators. Third, the length of time it takes to obtain a legal opinion from State on the permissibility of using certain investigative techniques can hamper investigations.

According to the State Department, although some techniques are clearly prohibited by international law (such as searching certain diplomats’ residences), the permissibility of others under international law is less clear. In advising on the use of investigative techniques, the State Department considers legal and policy issues, such as reciprocity–assessing how US diplomats abroad might be affected by actions taken toward a foreign diplomat on US soil.

State Department officials may ask the Justice Department to provide information to help determine the permissibility of certain techniques, but the process of obtaining this information can be difficult and time consuming for Justice officials.

Although both State and Justice Departments have discussed creating a process to avoid delays, no formal actions have, thus far, been taken to establish one. Weaknesses exist in State’s process for ensuring correct and consistent implementation of policies and procedures for issuing A-3 and G-5 visas.

The GAO’s review of employment contracts submitted at four consular posts by A-3 and G-5 visa applicants showed that they often did not include State’s required components, such as a guarantee of the minimum or prevailing wage.

The GAO also found that officers at the four posts were unclear about or unfamiliar with certain aspects of State’s guidance. Few of the officers were aware that they should inform A-3 and G-5 visa applicants of their rights under US law during their interview. Some officers at the four posts also were uncertain about the reasons for refusing A-3 or G-5 visas. State is considering adding provisions to its guidance that would more clearly stipulate reasons for refusing these visas, such as if an A-3 or G-5 applicant seeks to work for a foreign diplomat who is linked to a pattern of employee disappearance, abuse allegations, or other irregularities.

However, the State Department has not reached internal agreement on these provisions and has set no timetable for doing so. State headquarters officials said they rely on individual posts to monitor implementation of A-3 and G-5 visa policies and procedures and do not routinely assess posts’ compliance

Oil rivals cocaine as one of Colombia’s principal exports. The Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline transports almost 20 percent of Colombia’s oil production. The pipeline originates in the Department of Arauca in northeast region of Colombia. It carries oil nearly 500 miles to the Caribbean port of Covenas. And it’s the most vulnerable and desirable target in Colombia for terrorists such as members of the ruthless and deadly narco-terrorists FARC.

With oil prices continuing to climb, oil production in South America becomes more important to American interests and the economy. The terrorists throughout the worlld know this. The Colombian pipeline has been a principal infrastructure target for terrorist attacks by Colombia’s insurgent groups for many years. In just one year, attacks on the pipeline cost the Colombian government an estimated $500 million in lost revenues for the year. The United States agreed to assist Colombia in protecting the first 110 miles of the pipeline where most of the attacks were occurring.

Since 2002, the United States has provided about $99 million in equipment and training to the Colombian Army to minimize terrorist attacks along the first 110 miles of the Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline, mostly in the Arauca department. US Special Forces have provided training and equipment to about 1,600 Colombian Army soldiers who comprise the security forces for the pipeline.

However, the delivery of 10 helicopters purchased for the program was delayed — arriving in mid-2005. Without the helicopters, the Colombian Army’s ability to respond rapidly to pipeline attacks had been limited. In addition, some equipment, such as night vision goggles, has not arrived yet due to the long lead-time required to obtain these items because of US military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Despite the delays in equipment deliveries, the number of attacks on the Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline has declined and security in the area has improved. Also, the Colombian Army and Colombian National Police have improved relations with the civilian population and new oil exploration is occurring in the area due to the improved security.

Still, challenges to securing the pipeline remain. More attacks are occurring on the Cano Limon-Covenas oil pipeline outside the 110-mile long area originally addressed. Most of the Colombian Army stationed in these other areas has not received US training. In addition, the insurgents have attacked the electrical grid system that provides energy to the Cano Limon oil field. Without electricity, oil cannot be pumped.

Because the US funds provided for the program will be depleted, sustainability of the progress made is uncertain. Colombia cannot fully operate and maintain the helicopters provided without continued US support; and due to US commitments in other parts of the world, US Special Forces will be reducing personnel in Colombia, which will limit future training.

Fleeing North Koreans — especially Christians — are finding that the Chinese are no big help in providing asylum from the brutality and state-sanctioned killing in North Korea.

Kim Jong Il’s government wields unrestricted power in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and his minions continue to run a de factor concentration-camp system that enslaves tens of thousands, including young children.

Periodically, it publicly executes people for offenses such as stealing state property or other “anti-communist” behavior. The North Korean people also secretly complain of the rising problem of government corruption and extortion by officials.  

While thousands of North Koreans seek asylum in China, it is believed by Human Rights Watch and other human-rights organizations that China actively contributes to the misery of North Koreans by arresting and forcibly repatriating the tens or hundreds of thousands of them — no one knows how many for sure — who live in hiding in China.

Once returned to North Korea, they face abuse, mistreatment, torture, incarceration and sometimes even death. These victims include women, some with children, who may be in de facto marriages with Chinese men.  Some of the worst torture and mistreatment is said to be perpetrated against North Korean Christians
 
Upon their return, North Koreans are punished under a penal code that defines leaving without permission as an act of treason punishable by death.

Yet Chinese government officials — no paragons of human rights — continue to routinely repatriate the North Koreans it finds, saying their plight is a “domestic matter” for North Korea.

This is a violation of Beijing’s duty as a party to the International Refugee Convention and Protocol: people who have a well-founded fear of persecution in their home are not to be repatriated. The Chinese government goes as far as refusing to give the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees access to the border area in order to investigate complaints. This is a bold act designed to coverup the atrocities committed against North Koreans.  
 
The North Korean government ranks among the world’s most repressive, and it respects hardly any basic human rights, according to human-rights experts. The worst treatment by the North Korean government appears to be reserved for those who profess their Christianity, according to the human-rights group Open Doors.

However, the brutal regime denies its citizens the freedoms of information, association, religion, organized political opposition and labor activism. The regime arrests and tortures them arbitrarily and runs large-scale prison camps for those who are accused of having committed a political offense.  
 
Just recently, the World Food Program’s Pyongyang office warned of yet another severe food shortage in the country, noting crop damage from flooding last summer. North Korea’s chronic food shortage, which in the 1990s deteriorated to a famine that killed an estimated one million people, along with the government’s severe repression against its citizens, drove thousands of North Koreans across the border into China, according to Human Rights Watch. 
 
As North Koreans in China continue to face the threat of arrest and forced repatriation, many of them take long and dangerous journeys across China to Southeast Asia, Mongolia and even Western Europe. Yet recently there have been signs that China is more aggressively attempting to arrest even the North Koreans who are simply trying to reach a third country.

According to a Bangkok Post article on Dec. 20, 2007, Thai officials hinted they would tip off Chinese officials on the whereabouts of North Koreans hiding in China before they could cross the Mekong River to arrive in Thailand, which has long been among the most friendly countries for North Korean refugees.  
 
In the past, activists or brokers helping North Koreans were often charged by the Chinese authorities with human smuggling, and the North Koreans were repatriated. According to Human Rights Watch interviews with recent escapees, the North Korean government has hardened its policy against those who cross the border without state permission, including “first-time offenders.”  
 
The government of China is facing its own human-rights problem with its treatment of the people of Tibet. Most nations in the free world have condemned the Chinese officials for their flagrant brutality.

As an emerging power and North Korea’s ally, China is in a position to help ensure real economic and social progress. But without those steps, statements like Qin Gang’s do nothing except demonstrate how grotesquely indifferent Beijing remains to the plight of ordinary North Koreans.  
 
North Korea is a nation cloaked in secrecy, yet enough information was garnered so that it has been topping the list of Christion persecutors for over five years, according to Open Doors.

In no other country in the world are Christians persecuted as severely as in the empire of the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, the Christian group said.

Human Rights Watch http://hrw.org

To discover how you can help stop the persecution of believing Christians in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, please visit:
http://www.helpNK.com/. The web site contains information on religious persecution including an online petition to the US Congress.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). In addition, he’s the new editor for the House Conservatives Fund’s weblog. Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us

Christians living in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea, have suffered government-sanctioned persecution since the brutal communist regime came to power.

However, according to a recent human rights report, North Korean Christians are experiencing more brutality and violence than at any time in history.

The Christian human-rights group Open Doors, based in Holland, reports that North Korea is number one on its annual World Watch List (WWL), which “ranks countries by the “intensity of persecution that Christians face for actively pursuing their faith.”

For the first time, North Korea received over 90 of the maximum 100 points given to the most serious persecutors of practicing Christians.

North Korea, a nation cloaked in secrecy, has been topping the list of Christion persecutors for over five years, according to Open Doors.

In no other country in the world are Christians persecuted as severely as in the empire of the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il, the Christian group said.

According to officials at Open Door, more Christians had been imprisoned last year than the previous year, and the persecution “is getting worse” by the day.

North Korea’s Stalinist system of implementing a Communist economy is based on “total devotion” of the individual to an ideology promoted by the late leader Kim Il Sung and his successor and son, Kim Jong Il, according to observers who visited the isolated nation.

Officials in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea see Christianity as a threat to their philosophy of state control. North Korean authorities, however, deny imprisoning, torturing and killing Christians in the same way they denied working on creating a nuclear weapon.

Open Doors’ International Director Johan Companjen said, “Christians in North Korea say they have become more courageous thanks to [the] prayers,” of fellow believers around the world.

“Perhaps that’s why more believers have been jailed,” he stressed.

To discover how you can help stop the persecution of believing Christians in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, please visit:
http://www.helpNK.com/. The web site contains information on religious persecution including an online petition to the US Congress.

In spite of all the talk in both houses of congress about revamping or restructuring the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), there’s a new Hurricane Katrina scandal brewing in Washington.

Several news organizations, including the Cable News Network (CNN), have uncovered irrefutable evidence that mobile-home trailers used to temporarily house thousands of victims of New Orleans’ devastating hurricane, and subsequent flood, were treated with a toxic substance known as formaldehyde.

For example, CNN ran a story on January 29 that accused FEMA of “twisting science” in a report they created for public consumption. The CNN news story cites an investigation being conducted of the trailers by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and that CDC scientists wish to conduct further tests of the formaldehyde-laced trailers.

The CNN report went on to state: “Almost 150,000 households have lived in FEMA trailers at some point since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005. FEMA says about 40,000 families are still living in the travel trailers. Formaldehyde is a preservative used in construction materials like plywood. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies it as a probable human carcinogen, according to the EPA Web site.”

CNN said, “The CDC, did an initial assessment for FEMA that wasn’t intended to address the long-term effects of extended exposure to formaldehyde.” “The original response focused on the acute health effects of formaldehyde exposure — to meet the urgent needs expressed by FEMA in its original request,” said the CDC statement.

“The initial consultation [was] intended to determine effective mitigation measures, and did not discuss long-term health impacts,” a FEMA statement agreed.

“One person [from the CDC] who came to us told us they wouldn’t write the report,” a FEMA spokesperson said. “That person was circumvented and another person at the agency agreed to write a report to say that levels of formaldehyde were safe for a couple of weeks.”

Another cable news organization — MSNBC — ran a story on July 25, 2006 that posed the question “Are FEMA Trailers Toxic Tin Cans,” but apparently there was no reaction to the news that formaldehyde was rampant throughout the makeshift trailer park in New Orleans.

Political strategist Mike Baker asked,”How come CNN reported this and there was no mention of this on Fox News? Is it possible that Fox News is avoiding this in order not to embarrass the Bush administration?”

But then Baker adds that FEMA was a poorly run agency during the Clinton Administration, as well. He points to FEMA’s response to Hurricane Floyd, a storm that devastated the Carolinas in 1995. “It took three weeks for FEMA to actually send help to those people in distress. In fact, Rev. Jesse Jackson complained on CNN that the Clinton Administration disregarded the suffering of thousands of people — black and white,” said Baker.

Political pundit and conservative strategist Rachel Marsden added, “Is it any wonder that poor people — especially African-Americans — have a strong distrust of government officials, especially at the federal level.”

She also finds it appalling that members of congress such as Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Olympia Snow (R-ME) want to take a failing bureaucracy and actually make it bigger. Marsden claims that these liberals wish to create a paramilitary organization that will enter states having an emergency.

“Remember the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina? The federal cops entered New Orleans and disarmed law-abiding citizens thereby leaving them vulnerable to looters and thugs. Do we want those kinds of agents working for FEMA?” she asked.

According to CNN report seen on TV, people were complaining of eyes burning, choking, etc. while inside these FEMA trailers, even a CNN reporter said on TV he experienced similar eyes burning while covering the story.  Also, neighbors living near FEMA trailer storage area, when the wind blew from these storage areas toward their homes they could smell the formaldehyde, even though they lived blocks away.

CNN also reported that FEMA was selling these trailers to the public at 40 cents on the dollar, and then, after everyone was complaining about the formaldehyde odor, they wound up buying the trailers back.

“Can’t the government do anything right? How much did this blunder cost the taxpayers?” asked pundit Rachel Marsden.

“CNN also mentioned that these trailers, now rotting in storage lots, cost the government over $1.6 Billion,” she said/

In a Sun Herald article Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC) claims his state was a “bull’s-eye” for hurricanes. He pointed to a FEMA memorandum that warned agency employees of formaldehyde concerns in 2006.

“If FEMA knew health hazards [existed], why weren’t people in the trailers warned in ‘06?” he asked.

Carlos Castillo, a FEMA assistant administrator, told lawmakers the agency wasn’t aware of problems until May 2007. “We have a very active program to provide information to occupants of trailers,” he said, adding that trailer residents were hand-delivered information, according to the Sun Herald news story.

“When FEMA first began to receive reports about formaldehyde concerns from occupants of travel trailers, the response was on a one-by-one basis and was immediate. As FEMA came to realize the scope of the issues, the agency has been taking aggressive action to share information with the public and address concerns about formaldehyde,” according to government officials.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us

Jose Rodriguez Nieves, a/k/a “Menor,” a/k/a “Cuba,” was found guilty late Friday of charges related to his leadership of a highly lucrative drug organization responsible for distributing hundreds of kilograms of heroin in the Bronx from 1995 to January 2006.

Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John Gilbride told reporters, “Throughout this operation the DEA and our law enforcement partners identified an organization responsible for importing, packaging and distributing thousands of bags of heroin to be distributed in New York. All those responsible have been placed under arrest and last week the leader of the drug organization had been convicted by members of the same community he was poisoning with heroin.”

According to the evidence at trial: Rodriguez was the principal organizer, leader, and administrator of a drug organization that obtained hundreds of kilograms of heroin from Colombian suppliers in Queens, New York, and then prepared the heroin for distribution in the Bronx. During the ten-year period, Rodrriguez employed over a dozen people to work in heroin “mills” where bags of heroin were prepared, packaged, and delivered to heroin distribution “spots” in the Bronx.

In preparing the heroin, the suspect and his workers mixed the heroin with chemicals including animal tranquilizers to create a potent and addictive drug that became popular with drug addicts and other users in the Bronx. Rodriguez and other members of the drug organization used a number of vehicles with hidden compartments or “traps” to transport the kilograms of heroin within the New York City area.

Specifically, Rodriguez’s heroin was sold in the vicinity of Bryant Avenue in Bronx, New York — where his mother used to own a townhouse in which agents seized ammunition and evidence relating to his heroin organization — and in the vicinity of Vyse Avenue, also in the Bronx.

In the ten years that his organization was in operation, it earned millions of dollars from heroin sales. During the course of the investigation, law enforcement agents and officers seized over $2.7 million in cash, 108 pieces of jewelry worth more than $160,000, and several expensive and antique vehicles.

Rodriguez was convicted of leading and organizing a continuing criminal enterprise (”CCE”), conspiring to distribute heroin, and possessing heroin with the intent to distribute it. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment on the CCE count, and mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years and maximum sentences of life on the heroin conspiracy and distribution counts. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge PRESKA on May 7, 2008.

Other individuals who participated in Rodriguez’s heroin organization were arrested and have subsequently pleaded guilty to heroin trafficking and/or firearms offenses.

Many law enforcement commanders have praised the investigative efforts of the DEA’s New York Drug Enforcement Task Force — which includes agents and officers of the DEA, New York City Police Department, and New York State Police — for their assistance in the investigation, arrest and prosecution of Rodriguez and many members of his organization.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he’s a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). Kouri also serves as political advisor for Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Michael Moriarty.

He’s former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed “Crack City” by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He’s also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He’s a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He’s also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he’s syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He’s appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri’s own website is located at http://jimkouri.us