Also in Illegal News

September 25, 2007
Illegal Immigrants Charged In Maryland Terrorism Ring

Proving that immigration enforcement is crucial to national security, at least nine of the Middle Easterners recently arrested in Maryland for laundering millions to finance al-Qaida lived in the United States illegally.

A lengthy FBI investigation led to the indictments of dozens of Muslims, many of Pakistani descent, involved in a $5 million money-laundering scheme that financed illegal activities worldwide as well as terrorist organizations.

At least nine of the Muslims arrested are illegal immigrants who tried to bribe a public official to provide them with green cards that would have made them legal U.S. residents. The operation’s ringleader was Pakistani-born Mohammad Riaz Guijar who along with his brother ran a Maryland convenience store.

A federal indictment says that Guijar conspired with dozens of other defendants to pay an individual he believed was an official with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services nearly half a million dollars for residency cards. The same group gave $450,000 to a man they believed was a corrupt official with the Maryland Comptroller’s Office to release nearly $2 million levied against their store.

Federal authorities say the terrorist money-laundering ring has been operating for years and one of the masterminds with the strong al-Qaida connection, a Pakistani-American, lived in the Washington D.C. suburb of Laurel.

Pakistan's Ambassador in the U.S., Mahmud Ali Durrani, criticized federal officials, saying that similar cases in the past have shown that American authorities were often “too zealous.” The bottom line, however, is that investigators and prosecutors have sufficient evidence to indict nine illegal immigrants with terrorist ties.

This certainly contradicts the nation’s vast pro illegal immigration movement, which consistently paints the portrait of humble and desperate poor people--mostly Hispanic—who present no threat to the country because they seek only a better life and possess a willingness to do jobs that Americans refuse to do.

Posted by at September 25, 2007 02:53 PM

Illegal Immigrants in Illinois Seceed From Union!

The latest from Judicial Watch (http://www.corruptionchronicles.com/2007/09/us_sues_illinois_for_defying_i.html)

U.S. Sues Illinois For Defying Immigration Law

Indicating that perhaps it’s finally cracking down on states that defy federal immigration laws, the U.S. government is suing Illinois for banning use of a federal system to check the legal status of workers.

The Department of Homeland Security announced recently that it would begin fining employers who hire illegal immigrants as well as those who don’t fire workers caught using fake Social Security numbers. Reluctant to abide by the new rules, Illinois passed legislation prohibiting the use of a federal database utilized to verify identities and therefore detect illegal workers.

Signed into law by Governor Rod Blagojevich last month, the measure actually prevents the state’s 750 employers that currently participate in the federal program from continuing to do so. The Illinois law is scheduled to take effect in January 2008 and would clearly protect the state’s large illegal immigrant population which is estimated to be around 500,000.

In an effort to block its implementation, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit (United States of America vs. the State of Illinois) in federal court this week. The suit seeks to invalidate the state law because it hampers the government’s ability to assist employers in making sure their workforce is legal. More importantly, as Justice Department attorneys point out, the Illinois measure conflicts with federal law.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called the Illinois measure a “direct assault on federal law” and the boldest “anti-enforcement” measure he has seen. Perhaps the federal government will start going after the nation’s illegal immigrant sanctuary cities and the nine states that offer driver’s licenses to illegal aliens since they too are defying federal law.

Oktoberfest - Oh to be back in old Munchen

Oktoberfest is hard on us all...

Last Week @ NOAA

Last week with my current company begins today. The hunt for a new contract continues. Maybe Blackwater is hiring?

Headlines

The thing I love about firefox (web browser) is that you can set multiple tabs as home pages. When I start up firefox it loads the following websites:

Google Mail
My Blog
Google News
Wonkette.com
CNN.com
BBC News
Al Jazeera
Alarabiya
ITAR-TASS
Xinhua
France 24

Basically, I like to get my world news from multiple viewpoints.

It's also interesting to see what articles are running on the various outlets as the top story.

Here's the same list with the top stories:

Google Mail - "Loading... TenTonHammer's Daily MMOG Newsletter" (First e-mail in Inbox)
My Blog - (you're reading it)
Google News - "Lebanon Explosion Hits Beirut Suburb, Killing Deputy (Update1)Bloomberg - 49 minutes ago"
Wonkette.com - "dept. of hilarious parodies of our national anthems America-Hating Religious Extremists Release New Video Threatening Americans"
CNN.com - "Simpson bail set at $125,000"
BBC News - "Lebanese MP 'killed in bombing'"
Al Jazeera - "Politician killed in Beirut blast"
Alarabiya - "Anti-Syrian MP killed in Lebanon car bomb"
ITAR-TASS - "19.09.2007, 18.29 Ministry transfers Rbl 800 mln to Sakhalin for Nevelsk"
Xinhua - "Lebanese lawmaker killed in explosion in east Beirut"
France 24 - "Car bomb kills Christian lawmaker"

Leisure Suit Larry (Craig) Loveshack...

as captured by a flickr user.

http://flickr.com/photos/christaki/1375810224/

Behold My New Addiction...

It's like Yoohoo, but for adults!

French Hawks?

Apparently the French Foreign Minister has been telling Europe to get ready for war should Iran deploy nuclear weapons. FRANCE? Yes, as hard as it is to believe, the French appear to be sabre rattling... of course, it should be noted that the French Foreign Minister (Bernard Kouchner) has a Germanic name...

Kind of like France's Italian emperor...

Quality Comment from Wonkette.com

BY DAVID FLORES AT 04:13 PM

The Gay, Republican Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech.

Would go something like this.

I have a DREAM... that one day gay Republicans and straight Republicans will cast aside the barriers that separate them and unite to weaken workplace safety regulations. I have a dream.

I have a DREAM... that one day a Republican will be judged not by the orifice into which he inserts his member, but by his fealty to business interests. I have a dream!

I have a DREAM... that in this great nation one day gay Republicans and straight Republicans will join hands and work to convince middle-class Americans and red-neck shit shovellers alike that Estate Taxes place a greater burden on them than on any other group in the country. I have a dream.

I have a DREAM... that gay Republicans and straight Republicans might one day cast aside their differences and find common cause in demonizing Hispanic immigrants for electoral advantage, even as they secretly assure corporate interests that it's all for show and their cheap labor will still be there, waiting at the curbside, tomorrow morning, just as they were yesterday morning and the morning before that. I have a dream.

I have a DREAM that multi-retroviral-coctail imbibing gay Republicans (like Andrew Sullivan) will one day join hands with expensive, experimental, hi-tech pacemaker wearing Republicans (like Dick Cheney) and fight back the scourge of universal access to medical care and a single-payer insurance system that delivers medical care to all regardless of their financial means. I have a dream.


Oh where, oh where are you, gay Republican Martin Luther King? America needs you now more than ever, sir!