Politics

McCain, Palin to campaign together in Arizona

By topix.com on March 15, 2010

John McCain and Sarah Palin will campaign together in Arizona next week. It will be their first public appearance together since they conceded the presidential election in Phoenix in 2008.

Memphis cops sold gun used in Pentagon shooting

By CNN on March 15, 2010

Washington (CNN) — A gun recovered from this months shooting at the Pentagon was once in the possession of the Memphis Police Department, a law enforcement official told CNN.

Memphis, Tennessee, police seized the Ruger 9 mm handgun during a traffic stop in 2005 and in 2008 traded it to a distributor in Georgia. It passed through a distributor in Pennsylvania and a dealer in Las Vegas, Nevada, before being sold at a gun show, after which the trail goes cold.

Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton, a Democrat, said he would review the Police Departments practice of selling or trading guns in police possession, in spite of the revenue it brings.

"I just dont want our city having any role in getting a confiscated gun back on the streets," he told CNN affiliate WREG on Sunday.

Authorities say John Patrick Bedell, 36, of California, armed with two 9 mm handguns, shot and wounded two security guards outside the Pentagon on March 4 before he was fatally shot. Bedell had repeatedly tangled with police and had been institutionalized at least three times for mental problems, according to California authorities.

Some cities destroy weapons that come into their possession. A former New York Police Department official said the city sends as many as 20,000 guns a year to be smelted for scrap metal.

But a bill signed on the same day as the Pentagon shooting bars Tennessee police from destroying contraband guns. It says they must either sell such weapons or use them unless a police official "certifies to the court the weapon is inoperable or unsafe."

Police in Memphis also once possessed the gun used in January shootings at a Las Vegas, Nevada, courthouse, according to the law enforcement official.

As reported first by the Associated Press, the shotgun used in that attack, which killed an officer Stanley Cooper, was confiscated in 1998 in Memphis and handed over to county officials. The Shelby County Sheriffs Office traded it to a gun store in Massachusetts several years ago, and it was shipped to a store in Arizona and eventually sold to someone at a gun show.

Shelby County sheriffs spokesman Steve Shular said trading confiscated guns for upgraded weapons is an efficient way to get adequate equipment for officers protecting the public at a time when law enforcement is asked to make cutbacks in personnel and operating expenses. He added that now, Shelby County trades only used law enforcement weapons, not confiscated weapons.

Wharton said the revenue from trade-ins is not worth it.

"You ask the people in Vegas, and ask those officers at the Pentagon: Was it worth $100,000 for those guns to be used against them?"

Gun rights advocate Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America said it doesnt matter whether a gun has passed through the hands of a police department if it is sold legally.

"Its no different for a law enforcement agency to sell its guns than it is for a private dealer to sell its guns," Pratt said. "Theyre both going to be going into the private market."

The suspects in neither the Las Vegas attack nor the Pentagon case were eligible to buy a gun at a store. In the Las Vegas case, suspect Johnny Wicks would have been ineligible because of a prior felony conviction.

Bedell, who had a history of mental illness, failed a background check when he tried to buy a gun in Sacramento, California, his family said. He received a letter from the California attorney generals office in January saying he could not buy a gun because of his history.

Because both guns were sold at gun shows, where records and background checks are not required, authorities are uncertain how either weapon ultimately got into the hands of the suspects.

While some cities are selling guns, cities including Miami, Florida; Boston, Massachusetts; and Oakland, California, have mounted efforts to buy guns from the public. A federal gun buyback initiative, begun under President Clinton, ended under President George W. Bush amid debate over its effectiveness.

CNNs Carol Cratty and Brian Todd contributed to this report.

California sushi bar sorry for serving whale meat

By CNN on March 15, 2010

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — A trendy California sushi restaurant charged by federal authorities with serving whale meat offered an apology Monday, saying it "ignored its responsibilities" to endangered species.

Prosecutors charged Typhoon Restaurant Inc., the parent company of Santa Monicas The Hump, and chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 45, with the illegal sale of a marine mammal product for an unauthorized purpose.

Although it is considered a delicacy in Japan and some other countries, meat from whales — an endangered species — is illegal to consume in the United States.

"We write to address the misdemeanor charge recently filed by the U.S. attorney," the restaurant said in a statement posted on its Web site.

"The charge against the restaurant is true: The Hump served whale meat to customers looking to eat what in Japan is widely served as a delicacy," the statement continued. "In serving this meat, The Hump ignored its responsibilities to help save endangered whales from extinction and failed to support the world community in its uphill fight to protect all endangered species."

The restaurant pledged to set up procedures to ensure that it complies with laws and "becomes a good corporate citizen."

"We sincerely apologize. We pledge to work hard to re-earn the trust of the public and respect of our customers."

Mom to freed detainee: Please call home

By CNN on March 15, 2010

Leadville, Colorado (CNN) — The mother of a Colorado woman detained by Irish authorities is pleading for her daughter to get in touch now that the woman has been released.

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez reportedly was held in connection with an alleged international murder plot

"Jamie, I love you, call me. Come home. I want you to be safe," Christine Mott said Monday in an interview with CNN, adding, "I want you and your baby to be safe."

Paulin-Ramirez converted to Islam and moved to Ireland with her Algerian-born husband and her 6-year-old son, her mother said. She was detained last week by authorities in Waterford.

She was released from custody during the weekend, with Irish police saying there were no charges and she was not required to post bail. Paulin-Ramirezs son, Christian, is being held by Irish child protective services.

The 31-year-old Leadville, Colorado, woman converted to Islam last year and disappeared on September 11 along with her son, according to her mother. Mott said that her daughter corresponded with extremists on the Internet and adopted increasingly radical beliefs before she left Colorado.

Citing unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Paulin-Ramirez had been arrested in connection with the investigation into an alleged plot to kill a Swedish cartoonist who poked fun at the Muslim prophet, Mohammed.

Paulin-Ramirez would have been the second American woman to be linked to the alleged murder plot. Colleen LaRose, a Pennsylvania woman indicted March 4 for allegedly conspiring to support terrorists and kill a person in a foreign country, is the other.

Last year, LaRose, who authorities say called herself "Jihad Jane," agreed to kill a resident of Sweden, the indictment says, and a U.S. government official familiar with the case identified the target to CNN as Lars Vilks, a cartoonist who outraged some with a drawing of Mohammed.

Erin Andrews\’ video voyeur gets 2½ years

By CNN on March 15, 2010

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — A federal judge sentenced an Illinois man to two and a half years in prison Monday for taping ESPN sports reporter Erin Andrews in the nude.

The taping took place through a hotel-room peephole, and the video was posted on the Internet.

Michael David Barrett, 49, pleaded guilty to a federal stalking charge in December after prosecutors accused him of altering hotel peepholes so he could shoot video of Andrews while she was nude.

"I would have liked longer time, but I know that the judge obviously did the best he could with the parameters that are set," Andrews told reporters outside the courthouse after the sentencing. "But Im glad hell be away from anyone that he could harm for the next 30 months."

In court papers, prosecutors stated that Barrett — an insurance company employee from Westmont, Illinois — posted as many as 10 videos of Andrews to the Internet.

Also in court papers, prosecutors said Barrett had posted videos of another 16 as-yet-unidentified victims to the Internet.

Barrett has been free on bail and has been ordered to report to prison May 3, said Tom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office in Los Angeles.

In a statement issued through his attorney when the plea agreement was announced, Barrett expressed "deep regret" to Andrews "for his conduct that caused her so much pain."

Authorities believe that most of the videos were made at a hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, in September 2008. The peephole into Andrews room was altered with a hacksaw, and the images appeared to have been taken with a cell phone camera, according to the charges against Barrett.

Andrews travels across the country covering college football games for ESPN. According to charges prosecutors filed against Barrett in October, she said that she became aware of the videos in July and that their posting caused her distress, anxiety and trouble sleeping.

Barrett came under scrutiny after attempting to sell the videos to the celebrity gossip site TMZ in January 2009. TMZ did not purchase the images, but employees of the Web site assisted in the investigation by providing information to Andrews attorneys, authorities said.

TMZ, like CNN, is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc.

CNNs Lynn Lamanivong contributed to this report.

Census Could Lead To Congressional Redistricting

By topix.com on March 15, 2010

Usually out of the national spotlight, state legislative races are taking on new prominence this year.

Assassins targeted pregnant woman, others with U.S. ties

By CNN on March 15, 2010

Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) — Authorities believe assassins targeted a pregnant woman and two other people connected with a U.S. consulate who were killed in drive-by shootings over the weekend, Ciudad Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said Monday.

The killings were carried out by a local gang, known as Los Aztecas, that is allied with the Juarez Cartel, Reyes told CNN. No arrests had been made by Monday afternoon.

"We know that the U.S. citizens were targeted," Reyes told CNN, saying a police officer saw gunfire from a car directed at the Americans car. "We know they were chasing them. We know they wanted to kill them."

Two of the victims were a four-months-pregnant employee of the consulate in Juarez and her U.S. citizen husband who was a jailer in nearby El Paso, Texas, U.S. and Mexican officials said. The couples 10-month-old child, who was in the vehicle, was not injured, Reyes and other officials said.

The child has been turned over to U.S. consular officials, Reyes said. The couple lived in El Paso, the State Department said.

The third victim, found dead in a separate vehicle, was identified as the husband of a Mexican employee of the consulate. His wife was not traveling with him, but two of their children in the car were wounded, officials said.

Health care puts House Dems on the line

By cnn.com politics on March 15, 2010

(CNN) — House Democrats wary of the Senate health care bill find themselves in a quandary.

Now that the Senate parliamentarian has made clear to Democrats that they wont be able to take the path they had considered to get a health care bill passed, they must ask themselves: If we vote for the Senates bill, do we trust the senators to make the changes they say they will?

"If the House is going to do this, they are going to have to vote for the Senate bill, holding their nose and trusting that in fact they are going to go through this reconciliation process, and they are going to get the fixes that they are looking for to the legislation," said Cheryl Block, a professor of law and a budget policy expert at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Those "fixes" are a part of a package of changes to the Senate bill that President Obama proposed last month. The idea is for the House to pass the Senate bill, wait for Obama to sign it into law, and then vote separately on Obamas proposal.

The Senate no longer has the 60-seat supermajority it did when it passed its health care bill in December, so it would need to pass Obamas plan using the parliamentary shortcut known as reconciliation.

Reconciliation allows a measure to pass on a simple majority vote of 51, rather than the 60 needed to break a filibuster. The tactic is limited to budget-related bills.

Obama slams insurers, demands health care reform

By cnn.com politics on March 15, 2010

Strongsville, Ohio (CNN) — The yearlong fight over health care reached a fever pitch Monday as President Obama took his call for change to the political swing state of Ohio, slamming insurance companies and repeating his call for a final congressional vote on his sweeping reform plan.

The presidents push came as the House of Representatives prepared for an expected vote this week on the roughly $875 billion bill passed by the Senate in December. Rep. James Clyburn, the Democrat and House majority whip from South Carolina, told CNN Monday he was "very comfortable" that the votes to pass the Senate bill in the House were there.

"I think we have reached a significant consensus in our caucus. The will is there to get this done," Clyburn said on CNNs "Campbell Brown."

"Theyre, as the leaders of the party, going to find a way to do it. I think come the weekend, well be where we need to be in order to get the 216 votes that are required," he said.

Under the strategy adopted by congressional leaders, if the House passes the Senate bill, both chambers of Congress would pass a series of changes designed in part to make the legislation more acceptable to House Democrats.

If enacted, the reform proposal would be the biggest expansion of federal health care guarantees since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid more than four decades ago. The plan is expected to extend insurance coverage to more than 30 million Americans.

The Senate bill would reduce federal deficits by about $118 billion over 10 years, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Man involved in Obama threat…

By topix.com on March 15, 2010

A Colorado man who sparked fears of an assassination plot against Barack Obama has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in a separate theft case.

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