Month: August 2006

                 

[If YouTube is down, you’ll see nothing in this space. Wait for it to come back up.]

Democrats have finally acknowledged who the enemy is.

Al Qaeda?

North Korea?

Iran?

Nope…

It’s Wal-Mart.

Yes, your friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart. You know, where you go to buy everything you need and save a ton of money. Right. Them.

Moreover, Democrats believe Wal-Mart wants to kill their employees, apparently, since Sen. Joe Biden wonders how a person can live on the income from a job there.

“My problem with Wal-Mart is that I don’t see any indication that they care about the fate of middle-class people,” Mr. Biden said, standing on the sweltering rooftop of the State Historical Society building here. “They talk about paying them $10 an hour. That’s true. How can you live a middle-class life on that?”

Is Wal-Mart holding their employees hostage? It didn’t look that way the last time I was in one of their stores. In fact, most of the workers were smiling, seemingly happy people.

Democrats should be careful in their fight against this recently identified enemy. Wal-Mart employees 1.3 million people, and those people have families, and those families have friends, and so on. Seems to me, if these folks thought that the Democrats were being unfair to their employer, and thereby jeopardizing their employment and future prosperity, they’d not like that none too much, and that anger could manifest itself inside a voting booth. After all, who’d want elected officials in power working every day to get you fired?

…just sayin’.

Here’s a picture of John Mark Karr after being taken into custody today for the murder of JonBenet Ramsey in 1996.

And here’s a picture of the suspected murderer drawn by a Psychic…in 1998!

Now is that weird or what?

MORE: ABC 7 News Denver

The big news this morning is about John Mark Karr, a 41 year-old man who has reportedly confessed to the murder of JonBenet Ramsey nearly 10 years ago.

An American primary school teacher accused of the grisly Christmas 1996 murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey said on Thursday he loved the child beauty queen and her death was an accident.

John Mark Karr, 41, arrested in Thailand on Wednesday in a dramatic twist in the case that has gripped the U.S. media, was charged with murder, kidnapping and sexual abuse of a child.

“I loved JonBenet,” Karr told reporters Bangkok in his first public comment since his arrest. “She died accidentally.” When asked if he had killed the girl, he appeared to shake his head.

While the celebrations have begun within some of the parties involved in the case, a plethora of questions remain unanswered. For instance, Thai police have said that Karr told them he drugged and raped JonBenet, yet investigations have shown that no drugs were found in the little girl’s system. Additionally, Karr’s ex-wife claims that he was with her on the night in question, and even has pictures of him with her in Atlanta at the time the murder occurred.

Is John Mark Karr for real? Personally, I’m waiting for a DNA match.

Minutes from now (9:05 AM PDT), a news conference will get underway in Boulder, Colorado, led by the District Attorney and law enforcement officials. Hopefully, more will become known as the day progresses.

UPDATE: From the news conference…

The district attorney handling the JonBenet Ramsey murder case said Thursday there is “much more work” to be done and warned the public not to “jump to conclusions” when it comes to the suspect sitting in a Thai jail.

Mary Lacy, who has spearheaded the investigation for Boulder County, did not immediately disclose any details about the case involving former schoolteacher John Mark Karr, 41, who was arrested a day earlier at an apartment in Bangkok.

But she suggested that the arrest may have been forced by exigent circumstances, including the need for public safety and fear the suspect might flee.

She refused to answer whether authorities were worried Karr was lying about killing the little girl. Lacy said Karr has not been formally charged, and declined to speculate what counts he might face.

More: Man Says He Drugged, Had Sex With Ramsey | Ex-wife gives alibi for suspect | Told Dad he was behind bars in connection with Ramsey case — in 2001 | Suspects brother: ‘He was researching a book’ | New Audio: Karr Says He Contacted Patsy Ramsey | “It was an accident” | Charged with murder, kidnapping and sexual assault | Suspect obsessed by child slayings | Big break in the case |

…never stop investigating.

JonBenet suspect named

A man arrested in Thailand is being held in connection with the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, law enforcement officials said today.

John Karr, 41, a former Atlanta, Ga., resident, was arrested today in Bangkok, according to two people familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition they not be identified.

The connection to the Ramsey family was not immediately clear.

Federal officials familiar with the case, who spoke with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the suspect was being held in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges.

A third source close to the case who spoke anonymously identified the suspect as one-time resident of Conyers, Ga., and said he was a school teacher.

That source said that authorities had been focusing on him for some time and that Patsy Ramsey had been made aware prior to her death on June 24 that his arrest was being pursued.

Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy today confirmed the arrest,without naming the suspect. She said it followed several months of a focused and complex investigation. “John and Patsy Ramsey both were consulted during the course of the investigation,” Lacy said in a brief press release this afternoon.

I’ll be the first to admit that I was sure John and Patsy Ramsey had something to do with the murder of JonBenet. In each interview I saw with these two, the ‘creepy’ factor was just too prevalent. Then, when Patsy died I was sure the truth died with her. It appears I was wrong.

I’ll be following the progress on the investigation of suspect John Karr.

Andrew Sullivan comments on the lack of publicized evidence which led British and U.S. authorities to bust-up a terror plot whose trigger was to be pulled today (allegedly, of course). Never mind that the investigation is still ongoing. Never mind that tools used to uncover the plot are classified. Now, because neither government has presented to Sir Andy any evidence supporting the contention that such a plot was indeed imminent, he’s become a skeptic.

And a conspiracy theorist.

I wonder if Lieberman’s defeat, the resilience of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the emergence of a Hezbollah-style government in Iraq had any bearing on the decision by Bush and Blair to pre-empt the British police and order this alleged plot disabled. I wish I didn’t find these questions popping into my head. But the alternative is to trust the Bush administration.

It appears as though Mr. Sullivan has been reading Daily Kos a bit more than usual. His transformation into full brotherhood with the clan o’ Michael Moore is nearly complete.

How soon before we read an article on how 9/11 was sponsored by the U.S. government, Andrew?

Today was supposed to be the day a major terrorist attack was to be executed against the United States and the United Kingdom. Up to 10 airplanes were to be exploded in mid-air over the Atlantic Ocean. But for the grace of God, the plan was up-ended by British intelligence with the help of the U.S. Still, it isn’t clear that all the terrorists were caught last week, so it’s no wonder that people are a little edgy today as they travel to and fro by air.

A couple of incidents have already popped up. A flight from London bound for Washington D.C. was diverted to Boston on a report of an unruly passenger. As of now, it doesn’t appear to be terrorism.

A woman panicking from claustrophobia forced a Washington-bound flight from London to make an emergency landing in Boston on Thursday, sparking a major security alert.

United Airlines flight 923, carrying 182 passengers and 12 crew, was escorted by fighter jets to Boston after crew members confronted a 59-year-old U.S. woman who became unruly due to an apparent panic attack, officials said.

Police and other officials said there was no apparent terrorist threat, but the incident set off a major security response a week after British authorities said they had foiled a plot to blow up planes from London to the United States.

The woman was carrying hand cream and matches but was not a terrorist threat, said Christopher White, a Transportation Security Administration spokesman. Those items are not banned on commercial flights, he said.

“There are no known links to terrorism regarding this event at this time,” said White.

Meanwhile, at Charlotte International Airport, authorities arrested a drunken man early yesterday after he was found on the tarmac.

Given the heightened security alert status, it’s unlikely that any act of terrorism will arise today, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t nervous. It’s too bad our vigilance isn’t always this strong, for it’s just a matter of time before security levels are lowered and we all just get back to doing what we do day in and day out.

Yet, we should never forget what happened when we didn’t believe terrorism could hit America. NYC officials released a vivid reminder today, in the form of over 1600 taped calls to 911. The calls recount the heroism of that day, September 11, 2001.

Hezbollah says they won’t hand weapons over to the Lebanese government. But, what they will do is, refrain from exhibiting them publicly.

What the ?

Hizbullah will not hand over its weapons to the Lebanese government but rather refrain from exhibiting them publicly, according to a new compromise that is reportedly brewing between Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Seniora and Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The UN cease-fire resolution specifically demands the demilitarization of the area south of the Litani river. The resolution was approved by the Lebanese cabinet.

In a televised address on Monday night, Nasrallah declared that now was not the time to debate the disarmament of his guerrilla fighters, saying the issue should be done in secret sessions of the government to avoid serving Israeli interests.

Riiiiight. That way, the public won’t see how Nasrallah slaps around Lebanese government officials.

This whole thing is laughable. While U.N. members pat themselves on the back in congratulations over their diplomatic prowess, no one on the ground in the region believes the cease fire will stick. Its reliability is predicated upon the fallacy that Hezbollah is a political party with diplomats who desire peace. They aren’t a state, they aren’t a political party, and they have no diplomats. They are puppet terrorists controlled by Syria and Iran. Their mission is to take out Israel, as in, kill every living thing and rid the territory of any reminder of Jewish existence.

And you can’t negotiate around that.

Mary must have found a more reliable bail bondsman.

A minister’s wife accused of shooting her husband to death after the two argued over money was released from jail Tuesday on $750,000 bond.

Winkler walked out of the jail between two of her defense attorneys, keeping her head down and refusing to answer questions. Her father, Clark Freeman of Knoxville, drove her away from the jail.

As part of her bond, Winkler is required to live with friends in McMinnville, 65 miles southeast of Nashville, where she will work at a dry cleaners and be supervised by the state probation office.

Defense attorneys Steve Farese said Winkler is eager to see her three young daughters, who are living with their paternal grandparents, but no arrangements have been made for visits.

“Her emotional state is fragile. Certainly she’s apprehensive,” Farese said.

Defense lawyers have implied that Mary Winkler was emotionally abused by her husband.

But we’ll never know the truth on that will we, seeing as how Matthew isn’t around anymore to defend himself. Pretty convenient for Mary’s defense, if you ask me.

Previously: Winkler Remains Locked Up | Winkler’s Caught Up in Email Scam | Shot Dead Over Family Finances | Winkler: Opening Up | Winkler Attorneys Waive Fees | The Innocent Victims | Winkler Family Fund | Possible Winkler Defense? | Mary Winkler: “Overwhelmed and Confused” | Winkler Vs. the State of Tennessee | She Did It |

Brian Ross reports on an alleged connection between acting Cuban President Raul Castro and a cocaine smuggling in the ‘90s.

Federal prosecutors in Miami were prepared to indict Raul Castro as the head of a major cocaine smuggling conspiracy in 1993, but the Clinton Administration Justice Department overruled them,  current and former Justice Department officials tell ABC News.

Overruled huh? Heh…that sounds like the Clinton Administration I know. 

The officials say Castro, as Cuban Defense Minister, permitted Colombian drug lords to pay for the use of Cuban waters and airstrips as staging grounds for smuggling runs into the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s.

“It was a major investigation involving numerous witnesses that was killed at the highest levels in Washington,” said a former Justice Department official with direct knowledge of the case.

How high? Did Clinton kill it himself?

“There were numerous national security and intelligence issues that would have made the case difficult,” said Tom Cash, the former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Miami.

And that’s the most interesting part of this whole story. Unfortunately, we’ll never ever know about any of these “issues”. Too bad.

Convicted Colombian drug boss Carlos Lehder of the Medellin cartel testified in a 1991 federal trial that he met twice in Havana with Raul Castro to arrange safe passage for cocaine flights over Cuban airspace.

The draft indictment, as described by a former Justice Department official who saw it, listed Raul Castro as the leader of a conspiracy involved in smuggling seven and a half tons of cocaine into the United States over a 10-year period. At least a dozen other Cubans were also to be indicted.

In 1989, a top Cuban General, Arnoldo Ochoa, was convicted by a Cuban court and ordered executed with three other military officers for their roles in drug smuggling.

Cuban waters continue to be used by drug smugglers, according to federal law enforcement officials.

“The smugglers know that the U.S. Coast Guard can’t go after them in Cuban waters,” one official said.

A commenter on Ross’ site concurs:

Mr. Ross,

This was a well-known secret among the fly-for-hire community of pilots in the Caribbean. I know because I flew all over the Caribbean.

Posted by: Jose Amoros | Aug 14, 2006 11:44:08 AM

Uh, and what were you doing flying all over the Caribbean Mr. Amoros? In the “transport” business, I suppose.