Freedom Fighter Radio

By Sherwood Ross - BLN Contributing Writer

The growing use of private armies not only subjects target populations to savage warfare but makes it easier for the White House to subvert domestic public opinion and wage wars.

Americans are less inclined to oppose a war that is being fought by hired foreign mercenaries, even when their own tax dollars are being squandered to fund it.

“The increasing use of contractors, private forces, or, as some would say, ‘mercenaries’ makes wars easier to begin and to fight—it just takes money and not the citizenry,” said Michael Ratner, of New York’s Center for Constitutional Rights. “To the extent a population is called upon to go to war, there is resistance, a necessary resistance to prevent wars of self-aggrandizement, foolish wars, and, in the case of the United States, hegemonic imperialist wars.”

Indeed, the Pentagon learned the perils of the draft from the massive public protests it provoked during the Viet Nam war. Today, it would prefer, and is working toward, an electronic battlefield where the fighting is done by robots guided by sophisticated surveillance systems that will minimize U.S. casualties. Meanwhile, it tolerates the use of private contractors to help fight its battles.

Iraq offers a heart-breaking example of a war in which contract fighters so inflamed the public they were sent to “liberate” that when fighting broke out in Fallujah the bodies of privateer Blackwater’s four slain mercenaries were desecrated by enraged mobs. This horrific scene was televised globally and prompted the U.S. to make a punishing, retaliatory military assault upon Fallujah, causing widespread death and destruction.

Just as the American colonists despised the mercenary Hessians in the Revolutionary War, Iraqis came to hate Blackwater and its kindred contractors worse than U.S. soldiers, who often showed them kindness, according to a journalist with experience in the war zone.

Read full article click here

Public Park OFF LIMITS to Public! Secret Service Says All Protesting is illegal during G20 summit in Pittsburgh Sept 24-27! Secret Service has denied “anti war protestors, anti NWO, anti cap n trade…” permits for Pittsburgh, Pa G20 summit. Our constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Is the secret service above the law? Not no but hell No

Warning: To the Tyrants “Those that make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable” John F. Kennedy

Defy the Government now lets have a Protest so large they cant control RISE UP NOW F- the Secret Service

By: Tom DeWeese

In his book, Earth in the Balance, Al Gore warned that a “wrenching transformation” must take place to lead America away from the “horrors of the Industrial Revolution.” The process to do that is called Sustainable Development and its’ roots can be traced back to a UN policy document called Agenda 21, adopted at the UN’s Earth Summit in 1992.

Sustainable Development calls for changing the very infrastructure of the nation, away from private ownership and control of property to nothing short of central planning of the entire economy – often referred to as top-down control. Truly, Sustainable Development is designed to change our way of life.

In short, it’s all about wealth redistribution. Your wealth into a green rat hole.

During the Cold War, communists tried to get us to surrender our liberties and way of life for the wisdom of Karl Marx. Americans didn’t buy it.

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Dprogram

A new bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives called the National Emergency Centers Act or HR 645. This bill if passed into law will direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish national emergency centers otherwise known as FEMA camp facilities on military installations. This is an incredibly disturbing piece of legislation considering that the powers that be have already set in motion an agenda to setup a nationwide marital law apparatus through U.S. Northern Command and the Department of Homeland Security. Apparently, the fusion centers, militarized police, surveillance cameras and a domestic military command is not enough. Even though we already know that detention facilities are already in place, they now want to legalize the construction of FEMA camps on military installations using the ever popular excuse that the facilities are for the purposes of a national emergency. With the phony debt based economy getting worse and worse by the day, the possibility of civil unrest is becoming a greater threat to the establishment. One need only look at Iceland, Greece and other nations for what might happen in the United States next. With this in mind, it appears as if these so called national emergency centers will be used in a national emergency but only if the national emergency requires large groups of people to be rounded up and detained.

If that isn’t the case, than why have these national emergency facilities been built in military installations?

Let’s look through the various portions of the bill. Here is section 2 of the bill taken directly from the proposed legislation. Click here

Source: Beta News

In what was presented to the public this week as a clarification of its privacy policy, the US Dept. of Homeland Security published a paper referring to new guidelines for its immigration and customs agents regarding how they may conduct border searches of travelers’ computers and electronic media. Clarifying the existing law, both sets of guidelines reiterated the department’s policy created during the previous administration: Agents may seize, detain, and/or retain individuals’ PCs and media without having reason to suspect that those people or those machines and devices are connected with a crime.

“ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] Special Agents acting under border search authority may search, detain, seize, retain, and share electronic devices, or information contained therein, with or without individualized suspicion, consistent with the guidelines and applicable laws set forth herein,” states the new policy for immigration authorities published last August 18 (PDF available here).

Question: When was the last time you heard a country referred to as the homeland prior to the Bush and Obama administrations?

Answer: Nazi Germany

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 29 — Mark E. Zuckerberg is considered the founder of Facebook, the popular social networking Web site estimated to be worth upward of $1 billion.

Three Harvard classmates, the founders of ConnectU, have long claimed that Mr. Zuckerberg stole the idea from them, and they are suing him in Federal District Court in Boston.

Both parties seem to have forgotten Aaron J. Greenspan, yet another Harvard classmate. He says he was actually the one who created the original college social networking system, before either side in the legal dispute. And he has the e-mail messages to show it.

As a Harvard student in 2003 — six months before Facebook started and eight months before ConnectU went online — Mr. Greenspan established a simple Web service that he called houseSYSTEM. It was used by several thousand Harvard students for a variety of online college-related tasks. Mr. Zuckerberg was briefly an early participant.

An e-mail message, circulated widely by Mr. Greenspan to Harvard students on Sept. 19, 2003, describes the newest feature of houseSYSTEM, as “the Face Book,” an online system for quickly locating other students. The date was four months before Mr. Zuckerberg started his own site, originally “thefacebook.com.” (Mr. Greenspan retained his college e-mail messages and provided The New York Times with copies of his communications with Mr. Zuckerberg.)

Call and demand justice Now- No Justice No Peace and remember those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.

By Michael Gaddy

Millions of Americans have joined the NRA, send money for dues and are solicited many times each year for donations to assist with the legal rights of gun owners– or so they say. Well, they are paying their lawyers all right, but not to defend the rights of those they claim to represent.

On October 8th, in a case before the District of Columbia Federal Court, NRA attorney Stephen Halbrook made the following statements to the Court in response to the Judge claiming the right of government to place restrictions on the right to bear arms.

“YOUR HONOR, WE ARE HERE WANTING TO REGISTER HANDGUNS. WE ARE NOT HERE WANTING UNRESTRICTED ACCESS. WE’RE NOT HERE ASKING TO CARRY THEM, OTHER THAN IN THE HOME.

Later in the proceedings there was this exchange.

“THE COURT: YOU’RE SAYING THAT THE GOVERNMENT CAN IMPOSE REASONABLE RESTRICTIONS?

MR. HALBROOK: YES, YOUR HONOR. YES, YOUR HONOR.”

The complete annotated transcripts of the hearing can be found here.

For many years the NRA has been selling us out to the government. They have supported every restriction government could concoct to limit the right of citizens of this country to own and carry firearms. I documented this fact in an article over two years ago. (Republished here)

Not so long ago I was having an email exchange with a writer at another site on the subject of the NRA sell out. I was amazed when this former law enforcement officer, who claims the Second Amendment is the “backbone” of freedom, said he would continue to support the NRA because they have a good youth education program (Eddie Eagle) and you had to be a member to belong to most gun clubs. Hey, Idiot, what damn good is that going to be when we can no longer own a firearm!

Folks, it is time to fish or cut bait. Without the right to own and carry firearms we are done. If you perchance are waiting for those freedom-loving Republicans to come to your aid, please send me a note from the gulag. At least the democrats tell you they are going to take your guns if they get the opportunity.

If you are standing around waiting on the “pretend to be Christian” to stand up for us by doing away with the assault weapons ban right before the election next year — don’t forget to take your Prozac.

Just like the NRA, we give the government power by recognizing and supporting it. It then uses our money to make them more rich and powerful and to ultimately sell us out and enslave us.

Just keep voting and sending money to the turncoats like the NRA. Life as an unarmed slave will be your just reward.

Perhaps they will let you watch as your daughters and wives are sold to the highest bidder, but probably not, as you will not have been seen for several years if you are a threat to government as a former gun-rights zealot. Just can’t beat that” Patriot Act”.

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is a sure sign of insanity.

Don’t forget to put that tooth under your pillow!

Missing Sentence in Transcript Causes Premature HR 1207 Victory Celebration

Several blogs and forums reported during the past 24 hours that Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, said that Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve, HR 1207, will pass in October.

Incorrect Reports about Barney Frank’s Statement on HR 1207

Washington Times: Barney Frank says Ron Paul bill will pass
Politico: Barney: Fed audit bill will pass in October
Business Insider: Barney Frank: Yes, We Will Pass Ron Paul’s “Audit The Fed” Bill
United Liberty: Frank: Vote on HR 1207 in October
Daily Paul: Video: Barney Frank Says House Will Pass HR1207 in October
ZeroHedge: Barney Frank Says The House Will Pass HR 1207 In October
Mish: Barney Frank Says Ron Paul’s Audit The Fed Bill Will Pass In October Washington Independent: Ron Paul’s ‘Audit the Fed’ Bill to Get October Vote?

Read more about this click here

Hear Pastor Steve Anderson who was beaten and tased by the U.S. Border Patrol live tonight. Steve will share what happened and how his rights were violated by the U.S. Govt. along with updates on the continued attacks against him by the US Government.

Steve Anderson is the brave Pastor who stood up to the Thugs known as the Border Patrol and DPS. Gives a live account of his experience as he asserts his constitutional Rights to a Border Patrol Check point outside Yuma Arizona.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall NOT be violated…”

Download this show right click on button below and save as.

“Freedom of movement is basic in our scheme of values. Our nation, wrote Chafee, has thrived on the principle that, outside areas of plainly harmful conduct, every American is left to shape his own life as he thinks best, do what he pleases, go where he pleases.” - Justice William Douglas

Checkpoint USA is dedicated to confronting those who would place roadblocks in the path of free individuals and to exposing the police state - one checkpoint at a time.

Ever since SCOTUS first opened Pandora’s box in the late 1970’s by carving out a 4th Amendment loophole for immigration checkpoints, the use of suspicionless checkpoints across the country has continued to proliferate at an alarming rate. Today, it’s not uncommon to find enforcement agencies across the country utilizing roadblocks of one form or another to control local communities and create new revenue streams for politicians and bureaucrats.

While roadblocks are conducted under a number of different guises, they all share a common set of traits. Specifically, they:

• Operate with no individualized reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing
• Seek to control and intimidate local communities as opposed to serve and protect them
• Raise revenue for expanding government programs through fines, citations & arrest

By:Anonymous

A driver is stuck in a traffic jam going into downtown Chicago . Nothing is moving north or south.

Suddenly a man knocks on his window. The driver rolls down his window and asks, ‘What happened, what’s the hold Up?’

‘Terrorists have kidnapped Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Rosie O’Donnell, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton. They are asking for a $10 Million ransom. Otherwise, they are going to douse them with gasoline and set them on fire. We are going from car to car, taking up a collection.’

The driver asks, ‘On average, how much is everyone giving?’

‘About a gallon.’

By JASON DEAREN
Associated Press Writer

SAN MATEO, Calif. (AP) — A teacher being hailed as a hero said Tuesday he had no time to think when he encountered a 17-year-old boy who detonated two pipe bombs at a Northern California high school while armed with a chain saw, sword and explosives.

Teacher Kennet Santana, 35, is one of a number of Hillsdale High School staffers credited with subduing the boy, who police say walked into the San Mateo school Monday morning and set off two pipe bombs in a hallway near a library.Santana told The Associated Press he saw the commotion and was walking cautiously toward it when he found himself face to face with the teen.”He had a black tactical vest on with lots of pockets,” Santana said by phone Tuesday. “We were maybe six feet away from each other at this point. We’re talking seconds. There was not time for a lot of thinking.”

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Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate and haunted bearer of the Camelot torch after two of his brothers fell to assassins’ bullets, has died at his home in Hyannis Port after battling a brain tumor. He was 77.

He left a girl to drown in a car. For anyone but a liberal Democrat, this would have killed his political career, but since he is a Kennedy he got away with murder. WTF was wrong with you people in Massachusetts that you kept electing this piece of crap?

All politicians who attend his funeral should be deemed enemies of the state also. No true lover of liberty and freedom will honor this man.

Now lets see what this socialist anti- American SOB has done to destroy our liberty and freedoms over the years.

1. Ted Kennedy ADMITTED he was a socialist — in 1995

2. The man who has cast more anti-gun votes than any other lawmaker in U.S. history

3. Voted NO on prohibiting minors crossing state lines for abortion.

4. Voted NO on prohibiting foreign & UN aid that restricts US gun ownership. (Sep 2007)

5. Voted NO on prohibiting lawsuits against gun manufacturers. (Jul 2005)

6. Voted NO on banning lawsuits against gun manufacturers for gun violence. (Mar 2004)

7. Voted YES on allowing illegal aliens to participate in Social Security.(May 2006)

8. Voted NO on declaring English as the official language of the US government. (Jun 2007)

9. Voted YES on continuing federal funds for declared “sanctuary cities”. (Mar 2008)
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Source: Huffington Post - Larry Flynt

The American government — which we once called our government — has been taken over by Wall Street, the mega-corporations and the super-rich. They are the ones who decide our fate. It is this group of powerful elites, the people President Franklin D. Roosevelt called “economic royalists,” who choose our elected officials — indeed, our very form of government. Both Democrats and Republicans dance to the tune of their corporate masters. In America, corporations do not control the government. In America, corporations are the government.

This was never more obvious than with the Wall Street bailout, whereby the very corporations that caused the collapse of our economy were rewarded with taxpayer dollars. So arrogant, so smug were they that, without a moment’s hesitation, they took our money — yours and mine — to pay their executives multimillion-dollar bonuses, something they continue doing to this very day. They have no shame. They don’t care what you and I think about them. Henry Kissinger refers to us as “useless eaters.”

But, you say, we have elected a candidate of change. To which I respond: Do these words of President Obama sound like change?

“A culture of irresponsibility took root, from Wall Street to Washington to Main Street.”
There it is. Right there. We are Main Street. We must, according to our president, share the blame. He went on to say: “And a regulatory regime basically crafted in the wake of a 20th-century economic crisis — the Great Depression — was overwhelmed by the speed, scope and sophistication of a 21st-century global economy.”

This is nonsense. Read more click here

Source: The Guardian

A new Taser that fires wireless electric shock projectiles up to 30 metres is being considered for use by UK police forces, the Home Office has confirmed.

The makers of the XREP, Taser International, say it is a “revolutionary” step that will allow police to safely immobilise potentially dangerous suspects from a much greater distance than before. Read More

Source: World net Daily

Barack Obama spoke with faith-based groups in an effort to scare up support for his planned socialist takeover of the nation’s health care system. In a telling illustration

of his idiosyncratic Christian walk, he referenced the biblical commandment against perjury to call opponents of his plan liars because they assert that the takeover would lead to “death panels” curtailing care to the elderly, or to expansive taxpayer funding of abortion.

By and large, Obama’s critics (like Tom Sowell in this recent WND article or FRC Action in this summary of evidence regarding abortion funding) have used facts and careful reasoning to substantiate their concern over the threat Obama’s takeover scheme poses to seniors and infants

in the womb. What’s required to answer their concerns is an equally careful presentation of facts and reasoning. After all, the biblical standard is respect for truth. If you conscientiously seek and present reasonable grounds for your statements or observations, you may still be wrong, but you’re not bearing false witness. But Obama couldn’t help talking down to people of faith. He assumed that with them, bludgeoning his opponents with a little biblical rhetoric was good enough. Like so many socialist disciples of scientific materialism, he appears to assume that people of faith have abandoned rational thought.

Read full article. Click here

Source: New York Post

Bernie Madoff had little to lose by confessing to masterminding the world’s biggest Ponzi scheme — he’s dying of cancer, sources told The Post.

Madoff, who is serving 150 years at a North Carolina federal lockup after pleading guilty to swindling more than $65 billion, has been telling fellow inmates he does not have much longer to live.

“He’s been taking about 20 pills a day for his cancer,” said one inmate.

“He talks about it all the time. He’s not doing very well.”

Read more click here

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Charles Key returned to the U.S. from a trip to China just in time to learn of what U.S. authorities are calling the largest case of identity theft in the U.S.

The case involves three men who are accused of stealing more than 130 million credit card and debit card numbers from Heatland Payment Systems, 7-Eleven Inc. and Hannaford Brothers Co. Key said that as a longtime advocate of privacy rights, he wants to highlight this case as an example of why he believes government practices need to change.

“I believe it is a legislator’s responsibility to alert his or her constituents of any threat, especially a threat that goes to the very foundation on which our country was founded,” Key said. “I also believe as a lawmaker I have a responsibility to discuss remedies to deal with the threat. This week 130 million Americans had their credit card information and other account information compromised. Data sharing networks were compromised.”
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TABOR CITY, N.C. (AP) — A sheriff says North Carolina’s longest serving state lawmaker has shot one of two intruders who kicked in the front door of his home.

Columbus County Sheriff Chris Batten tells The Star-News of Wilmington that 74-year-old state Sen. R.C. Soles shot the man who was taken to a hospital.

The sheriff’s office referred a call from The Associated Press to the State Bureau of Investigation. An SBI spokeswoman did not immediately return a call.

The SBI is investigating a man’s claim that Soles tried to fondle him more than a decade ago when the man was a teenager. The accuser later said he made up the story. Soles has not been charged and denies the accusation.

Calls to a number listed for Soles’ Tabor City home went unanswered. Soles has been in the General Assembly for 40 years.

By: Byron Tripp

Ladies and Gentlemen, there is a plan that is in place to be executed by the Federals to lock down the cities and towns across our land and to begin gun confiscation.

Throughout the 20th Century, mankind’s governments have sought to gain control over their populations with food, water, bio-warfare, guns, tanks, militarized death squads, militarized police, propaganda, mis-information, entertainment, and the good old original lie. The United States and the West are no different than the “third world” banana republics and dictators; its just the methods the western democracies use have been refined through trial and error. The lies become bigger and the controlled corporate media outlets push the big lie so people end up believing anything the mainstream news endorses. Point of fact - alternative news media or sources are not generally believed by the public until the story breaks on a major news outlet. Enter the FEMA Camps.

Well, in order to understand the subject, we must define a few terms. What indeed is a “camp” ? People have popularized conceptions of Dachau or Ashuwitz, gas chambers, ovens and guard towers with jackbooted thugs patrolling and killing indiscriminately. Is that really what a FEMA camp is or would be like?

A warning . . . apparently you CANNOT rely on Snopes. They may be part of the media that is working to suppress the truth or spreading disinformation. Below you will find refutations of the Snopes’ contention that the NAU is ‘false’.

Snopes apparently never fact-checked and simply ‘parroted’ the propaganda and lies taken from government websites or spewed forth by government staff. The Department of Commerce is in charge of executing the SPP-NAU Presidential orders for the entire Executive Branch in conjunction with the State Department and, of course, the Department of Homeland Security.

You will learn that there is a Canadian government document which PROVES Bush, Fox and Martin actually signed an agreement, which is contrary to the government’s (spp.gov) claim that the trilateral ’summits’ consist merely of ‘dialog’ and discussion’.

The participants claim that nothing of substance is being done during those meetings and that those who say there IS, are nothing but ‘conspiracists’. Harper, after the 2007 trilateral meeting in Montelbello, Quebec, Canada, insulted We the People’s intelligence by saying it consisted of such very boring things as discussing “the color of jelly beans”.

You should know that the SPP-NAU agreement is, by definition, a TREATY. According to Webster’s, a treaty is “a formal agreement between two or more nations, relating to peace, alliance, trade, etc.” You will learn that the SPP is a SIGNED agreement that has NOT come before the Senate for the 2/3rds ‘yea’ vote REQUIRED by our Constitution in order for it to proceed! The SPP is being implemented by EVERY department in the Executive Branch, in secret and without Congressional oversight as detailed in this article in: Treason Abounds ~ Gov’t Cabal Plots North American Union

America is just a few days away from a possible day of reckoning. I again call attention to this day, August 25, when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issues its 2^nd Quarter report for 2009 on the state of health of American banks.

It has not particularly alarmed Americans that its growth and prosperity have been built upon debt. The American public is a bit desensitized, particularly since the Y2K threat fizzled. We must wait and see how Americans respond to the upcoming FDIC report.

The following charts tell the story. There are roughly 8400 American banks that set aside a small portion of their profits to aggregately insure bank depositors should their local bank fail. A plethora of bank failures has depleted the FDIC reserve fund from $52.8 billion in 2008 to $13 billion in the 1^st Quarter of 2009.

Read more and see charts. Click here

David William Hedrick, a member of the silent majority, decided that he was not going to be silent anymore. So, he let U.S. Congressman Brian Baird have it. He was one questioner out of 38, that was called at random from an audience that started at 3,000 earlier in the evening. Not expecting to be called on, He quickly scratched what he wanted to say on a borrowed piece of paper and with a pen that he borrowed from someone else in the audience minutes before he spoke. So much for the planned talking points of the right wing conspiracy.”

Now where are the rest of the Oath Keepers like him? Its time for them to stand up and prove that they truly are also Oath Keepers and not Oath Breakers.America is waiting for you stand up now and prove yourselves.
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Government And Computer Manufacturers Are Caught Installing Hard-Wired Keystroke Loggers Into All New Laptop Computers. Device captures everything you type and sends it via your ethernet card to the Dept. of Homeland Security without your knowledge, consent or a search warrant - every time you log on to the internet!

I was opening up my almost brand new laptop, to replace a broken PCMCIA slot riser on the motherboard. As soon as I got the keyboard off, I noticed a small cable running from the keyboard connection underneath a piece of metal protecting the motherboard.

Read more and see the Department of Homeland Security response on this be prepared to get angry.

Click here

As of Thursday 8/20/09 an unprecedented move is taking place in Jefferson County Alabama, the fiscally troubled county forced into dire straits. According to sources, the two jail facilities will be combined into one ……the 200 inmates in the Bessemer facility will be added to the already 1000 inmates in the Birmingham facility. At sunrise today they are to be transported to Birmingham with all Deputies except a skeleton crew to handle the courts , going to Birmingham to handle the transfer. The jail at Bessemer, the 9th most violent city in America, will be closed this Friday 8/21/09 however, this facility actually has an unopened floor and would provide a combined 400 bed facility perhaps destined for other activities.
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A member of the group La Raza argues with and attacks one of the attendees of Gene Green’s Townhall meeting on Tuesday, August 18. He became violent and Houston Police took him to jail. The LaRaza members continued to confront us over the course of the night… we remained calm and stayed away but they kept it up! The night ended with a Mariachi band… we couldn’t believe it!! This is what’s going on in Texas, folks… and it could happen to America!! They admit they’re “taking over America” and that they want to “kick us out”…. Is this really what you want?????

Source: Examiner.com

Pfc. Michael Jackson Apodaca, 18 who was arrested Monday, is accused of working as a paid hit man, and assassinating a member of the Juarez Cartel who had become an informant for U.S. authorities.

Along with Apodaca, El Paso police have charged Ruben Rodriguez Dorado, 30, and Christopher Andrew Duran, 17 with capital murder.

The informant, Jose Daniel Gonzalez Galeana, was shot several times at his home on May 15.

Both Dorado and Duran told detectives that Apodaca was the one paid to carry out the execution. Witness accounts along with the police investigation have confirmed this.

Pfc. Apodaca enlisted in the Army in September 2008. He is stationed with the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade at Fort Bliss.

While this is the first known instance of a U.S. soldier working as an assassin for the drug cartels, this may simply be a consequence of the evolving threat posed to this country by the cartels, as well as a result of the criminal gang activity which now exists in the U.S. military.

In April 2009, the FBI released a statement on the growing problem of gangs in the military, and the threat they now pose to U.S. police officers. What follows is an excerpt from that statement:

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of Al Qaeda, according to current and former government officials.

Executives from Blackwater, which has generated controversy because of its aggressive tactics in Iraq, helped the spy agency with planning, training and surveillance. The C.I.A. spent several million dollars on the program, which did not successfully capture or kill any terrorist suspects.

The fact that the C.I.A. used an outside company for the program was a major reason that Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A.’s director, became alarmed and called an emergency meeting in June to tell Congress that the agency had withheld details of the program for seven years, the officials said.

Read full article. Click here

Source: Washington Post

A 34-YEAR-OLD woman, the mother of a 12-year-old girl, has been locked up in a Virginia jail for three weeks and could remain there for at least another month. Her crime? Blogging about the police.

Elisha Strom, who appears unable to make the $750 bail, was arrested outside Charlottesville on July 16 when police raided her house, confiscating notebooks, computers and camera equipment. Although the Charlottesville police chief, Timothy J. Longo Sr., had previously written to Ms. Strom warning her that her blog posts were interfering with the work of a local drug enforcement task force, she was not charged with obstruction of justice or any similar offense. Rather, she was indicted on a single count of identifying a police officer with intent to harass, a felony under state law.

Read full article. Click here