MICHELLE OBAMA ON "COURT ORDERED INACTIVE STATUS"

by Pamela Geller

First off, the media refers to Michelle Obama as a "Distinguished Attorney" despite the fact that Michelle Obama has been"inactive" since 1993.

Click here: ARDC | Lawyer Search

ARDC - Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois

Click to enlarge image. Everyday another Obama skeleton comes careening out of the closet.

This ADRC is for disciplinary reasons...not for those volunteering to stop practicing. It is COURT ORDERED...not "Michelle Obama ordered." Their website is very clear about their function and why they step in. (see below)

If this was a Republican, the Democrooks would have her up on charges already.

Schmoo, an attorney, points out, "sounds more to me like she was drummed right out of the practice of law. I am just dying to know what she did... she ran to have a court ordered inactive status done...and then no malpractice report needed to be provided.

She wanted this to 'go away" fast and furious and the details not come out in depositions, courtroom documents, rulings for the client/plaintiffs...etc..

I would love to know what she did. I believe barack obummer himself was also disciplined--I know that his law license is now "inactive". He lied about ever going by any other names when he applied for bar application. He also failed to state any prior drug use...(which he admitted in his books...and he had outstanding tickets that were never paid)."

Michelle Obama on court ordered inactive status with the Illinois State Attorney hat tip schmoopett

huh?

Michelle Obama is on COURT ORDERED INACTIVE STATUS--order said since she has been placed INACTIVE that "no malpractice record required."

WHAT DID SHE DO THAT in 1993 -- AFTER only 4 YEARS -- HER LICENSE to PRACTICE LAW WAS REVIEWED AND PUT ON INACTIVE by a DISCIPLINARY AGENCY?

What Is the ARDC? (this is NOT the Illinois Bar-where one can voluntarily be inactive) As our name implies, the ARDC is the agency of the Supreme Court of Illinois which registers attorneys and investigates complaints of misconduct filed against attorneys holding a license to practice law in Illinois.

Our principal purpose is to assist the Supreme Court to determine a lawyer's fitness to practice law in Illinois. If a complaint is made that an attorney, licensed to practice law in Illinois, has engaged in illegal, unethical or dishonest conduct, we will investigate and, if warranted, bring formal disciplinary charges. The Supreme Court of Illinois will then ultimately decide if a lawyer should be censured (publicly rebuked), suspended (having the law license to practice either taken away for a certain period of time or placed on a probationary period) or disbarred (having the law license taken away indefinitely).

We cannot impose fines, imprison, obtain monetary damages, enforce remedies between the lawyer and client, or seek civil or criminal relief against a lawyer as part of the disciplinary process. We can affect only the lawyer's ability to practice law in Illinois.

We are not funded by taxpayers' money. We are funded entirely by the annual registration fees paid by attorneys authorized to practice law in Illinois.

What Is a Request for an Investigation of an Attorney?

It is a request to us that we look into the conduct of an attorney who you believe has acted improperly. We will review your request to determine if an investigation is warranted.

In most cases, we will initiate an investigation where the information you provide us suggests that the attorney engaged in illegal, dishonest or unethical conduct. Filing a request accusing an attorney of unethical conduct is a serious matter to the lawyer. We recommend that, whenever practical, you try to resolve any differences or disputes that do not concern claims of unethical conduct directly with the lawyer.

How Do I Request an Investigation of an Attorney?

By mailing to our office, either in Chicago or Springfield, a request that you want an attorney to be investigated by our office. Your request should be in writing. No special form is necessary. For your convenience, you may download a Request for Investigation form. Please return the Request by postal mail or hand-delivery. The ARDC does not accept an e-mail transmission of a Request for Investigation.

UPDATE: Scmoo the attorney adds:

as an attorney I am telling you that people can "choose" to not pay their registration fees or take their continuing education of the bar and therefore go on "suspension...or inactive status
that goes thru the CAL BAR--the California Bar association

UPDATE: What was little Michelle from the Southside of Chicago doing in 1993?

1993: Public Allies Chicago with 30 Allies is launched by founding Executive Director Michelle Obama. President Clinton names Public Allies a model for national service. First Lady Hilary Clinton hosts Rose Garden reception for Public Allies at the White House.

Say what? Michelle and Hillary go back that far?

Shmoo finds more:

In 1992 Michelle Obama left her job at Sidley Austin to launch a career in public service, serving as an assistant to Mayor Daley and then as the assistant commissioner of planning and development for the City of Chicago.

(ask yourself how did a 2-3 year attorney...just wound up being Mayor Daleys "assistant" just like that...and what did she do as an "assistant" what does that even mean when you are a harvard trained attorney?)

Too close for comfort. Coincidental?

Bernardine Dohrn, Bill ayers wife was at Sidley Austin--- a law firm in Chicago from From 1984 to 1988. Dohrn was employed by the law firm Sidley Austin although her criminal record has prevented her from being admitted to either the New York or Illinois bar. (source: wikipedia)

Posted by Pamela Geller on Thursday, December 25, 2008 at 10:23 PM in Obama's Corruption Eruption | Permalink

Let's Be Worthy Of Their Sacrifice

(Compiler's note: A must read item.)

'The wounds I received I got in a job I love.'

By Karl Rove

This holiday season, home in Texas and surrounded by close friends and family, I often found myself thinking about virtual strangers.

I met them this fall when I spoke at the Naval Special Warfare Foundation (NSWF) dinner. The NSWF supports naval commandoes with scholarships and assistance for families of Navy Seals killed or wounded in combat or training.

During my White House years, I came to know of the heroic actions of the Seals and other special operators in the global war on terror. These men willingly follow evil into dark and perilous places. They volunteered to be on the front edge of the conflict whose outcome will shape this century.

The highlight of the NSWF dinner was a video of "snatch and grab" operations in Afghanistan. It showed helicopters lifting off to pounding music, night footage of Seals jumping onto roofs and rappelling into dusty fields, the breathtakingly destructive power of American missiles and machine guns, and compound doors blowing open and terrorist suspects being rounded up.

The Seals who prepared the video had carefully mined President Bush's speeches, using his voice and words as narration. I was touched by this and knew the president would be, too. So when I met the Seal who'd produced the video, we exchanged email addresses. Later, before he left for Afghanistan for his umpteenth deployment, I asked for a copy of the video to show the president.

He was happy to supply one but had a request in return. Could the wives and children of his unit's members see the White House Christmas decorations while their husbands and fathers were deployed?

The First Lady readily agreed and with NSWF's help, 75 Seal family members were greeted at the White House just before Christmas by the president and Laura Bush. It was one of the high points of Mr. Bush's last holiday in Washington.

On Christmas Eve, I received an email from Afghanistan, with thanks for helping to facilitate the tour. Attached was a picture of the videographer and his team, ready for that night's mission. Bearded and scruffy, covered with weapons and standing in a rude shelter, they were all wearing bright red Santa Claus hats. It was the best gift I received this Christmas.

I met another Seal at that NSWF dinner. He'd been shot eight times in Iraq and had undergone nearly two-dozen operations. One bullet had taken off part of his cheek and nose. He was destined for reconstructive surgery in a few days.

Yet he didn't feel sorry for himself. He was full of charisma, confidence, cockiness and joy. After all, he confided, when you're a wounded Seal, the world's best doctors want to operate on you so they can brag about it. Besides, he explained, he was just showing that a Seal really could catch bullets with his teeth.

He said that after a couple more procedures, he'd "be back in the game." I asked what he meant. He was amused and said he was going back into action. "My team needs me," he said before letting out a laugh. But you knew he meant it, and you knew his team did need him.

He went off to get a drink for his wife. I didn't want to pry, but I asked her how she felt about him going back into action. She said she was all for it because that's what he was made for. I had to fight back tears.

The next day, I got an email from the retired Navy Seal buddy who'd talked me into speaking at NSWF. He shared a picture of the sign the wounded Seal put on his Baghdad hospital door.

On it, the Seal had scrawled that visitors shouldn't "feel sorry" for him. "The wounds I received," he wrote, "I got in a job I love, doing it for people I love, supporting the freedom of a country I deeply love. I am incredibly tough." And on his sign he promised "a full recovery" and wrote that his hospital room was a place of "fun, optimism, and intense rapid regrowth. If you are not prepared for that, GO ELSEWHERE." He signed it "The Management."

I keep this picture with me so I think every day about those I met this fall. And I thought about them often during the holidays.

When I did, I felt awe that such men and women exist, and gratitude that they put themselves in harm's way for our nation. I hope America continues to be worthy of such staggering service and sacrifice.

May the New Year bring safety to all who wear our country's uniform, success in the missions they so passionately believe in, peace and comfort to their families, and reunion with all whom they love.

Mr. Rove is the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush. NSWF can be found at nswfoundation.org.

Watch Your Wallet

by Newt Gingrich

Welcome to 2009. Now watch your wallet.

With the economy in the deepest crisis since the Great Depression, higher taxes are precisely what we don’t need to restore jobs and growth. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that President-elect Obama seems to understand this and is proposing tax cuts as part of his stimulus package. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that some of the nation’s governors don’t seem to get it. They’re still eager to take more of your money, recession or no recession.

If you live in New York, Governor David Patterson (D) wants new taxes on everything from the soda you drink to the clothes you buy and the movies you see.

New York is proposing to nickel and dime its tax-payers with a total of 137 new taxes and so-called “fees.” For a complete list, go to www.americansolutions.com.

The New York Times (Still) Wants to Raise Your Taxes

If you live in California, your politicians are proposing a whopping 39 cents per gallon gas tax, more than doubling the already staggering tax Californians pay when they fill up.

And of course, not to be outdone, the New York Times (still) wants Washington to raise your taxes.

In an editorial last weekend, the Times lamented that President-elect Obama seems to be having second thoughts about raising taxes in the midst of the economic crisis. The newspaper urged the incoming President to stick to his original plan to tax the “rich,” if not this year, then soon.

Some things never change.

Albany, Sacramento and Washington Need Reform as Much as General Motors and Chrysler

But here’s a fact that Governor Patterson, Democrats in the California legislature, and the editorial writers of the New York Times might find hard to swallow: The governments in Albany, Sacramento and Washington, that are eager for more of our money, need reform at least as much as General Motors and Chrysler need reform. More tax-dollars to these monstrosities is throwing good money after bad.

Our state and federal governments need to be smaller and more effective, not larger and less efficient. As I’ve argued before and will argue again big government isn’t just expensive and inefficient; it’s corrupting.

Add to the recent Rod Blagojevich (D) and Ted Stevens (R) scandals this latest news: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) asked the taxpayer-rescued insurance giant AIG for a donation to a school being built in his honor at the same time his committee was considering legislation that would save AIG millions of dollars a year.

Like I said, big government breeds big corruption.

The Four Things to Look for in the Stimulus Package

As Congress and the President move forward to pass an economic stimulus package later this month, here are four things to watch for:

1. How does it affect small businesses and the self-employed? Small businesses are the job creation engines of our economy. Any stimulus package should focus first and foremost on them.

2. How are entrepreneurial start-ups supported and encouraged? We should have our economic eye on the General Motors of the next thirty years, not the last thirty years.

3. Does the plan maximize the rate of investment in U.S. companies? By making the United States the best place to invest, we will make it the best place to create new jobs.

4. Does the package encourage growth in productivity? Making American workers more productive not only increases our ability to compete with foreign competitors, it also increases incomes.

Will Congress Display Lincoln’s Bible in the Capitol Visitors Center When Obama’s Done With It?

I was happy to hear that President-elect Obama is planning on using Abraham Lincoln’s Bible to take the oath of office when he is sworn-in as president. Barack Obama placing his hand as president on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible is a wonderful symbol of how far our nation has come in the ensuing 148 years.

It’s ironic to note, however, that Congress has refused to include the very same Bible in its display in the new Capitol Visitors Center.

As Rick Tyler of Renewing American Leadership notes in his ground-breaking report on the new Visitors Center, although the designers of the center include in their display the table that Lincoln used to hold his Bible, the Bible itself is conspicuously absent.

Will Congress return Lincoln’s Bible to its place in the Capitol Visitors Center? Or is President-Elect Obama more respectful of religious belief than the members of the House and Senate?

What Would You Do If Someone Was Firing Missiles Into Your Neighborhood?

I want to end today by asking those who are criticizing Israel for attacking Hamas terrorists in Gaza this simple question:

What would you do if someone were firing missiles into your neighborhood?

Those critics who claim that Israel’s response to years of sustained missile launches deliberately aimed at its civilians is “disproportionate” have it exactly wrong. The problem is not that Israel is doing too much; the problem is that it’s doing too little.

No peace is possible -- no diplomatic solution is reachable -- as long as Hamas maintains its capacity to launch missiles at Israeli civilians. And anyone who is not willing to demand that Hamas immediately and permanently stop this aggression has no moral standing to judge Israel.

Just ask yourself: What would you do?

A Letter from Israel

Source: A friend -- Please forgive me for sending you such a long letter. Take a few minutes to read it, and if you agree with Dr.Zinder, please share it to some of your friends who are shocked at the Israeli response. I think Oren took time to explain the Israeli position quite clearly and it needs to be read in addition to what you read in the local papers and hear on TV .

Dear family and friend,

I feel that events are such I should once again try and relay to you my thoughts, in order that you will be able to have a better understanding of the situation here. Again, as in many times before, I am dismayed at the lack of proportions in the in-depth information from Israel as opposed to that coming from other sources. Due to this unfortunate state of events, the international community is too frequently exposed to communications which are far from being "even-handed" or fair.

As in my former reports to you, I will try to be as fair as possible, in portraying the very sad situation here. This is the first report I will be sending you, and I would welcome any comments or questions, and would certainly be happy if you thought that this was something you would like to pass on to your friends.

First some questions:

When was the last time you ran for your life to a shelter to avoid being bombed?

When was the last time your children were terrorized to the point w here they wet their beds even at ages of 6 and 7?

When was the last time your child demanded that the light stay on all night, and even then told you of his nightmares the next morning - all this on a daily basis?

When was the last time you realized that your child will need a psychologist to help overcome his/her fears of loud noises and sirens?

When was the last time your house had a near miss of a rocket fired at you, or worse, had your house crumble under the impact of a mortar shell?

When was the last time that you could not tend to your crops, because the last time you went out to your fields you were fired on by snipers?

When was the last time you lost your job because you wanted to stay at home with your family when your town was under attack?

When was the last time that your child saw your neighbor lying in a pool of blood?

When was the last time you checked to see if your child's kindergarten had a bomb shelter, and if not you took the child to another kindergarten which had one?

When was the last time you went with friends to have a drink at a pub and had a suicide bomber blow himself up in front of you?

When was the last time you made sure your child had an armed escort when he/she went on a school outing?

When was the last time your government decided to spend over 400 million dollars on bomb shelters for your town?

When was the last time your neighboring country swore to wipe you off the face of the earth, and does not recognize your right to exist?

When…..

Now some facts:

For the last 8 years (yes… eight whole years, which are 96 straight months) , the southern part of Israel (population around 250,000) has had over 22,000 rockets and mortar shells fired into its cities and villages. This is an average of approximately 2500 per year (since January 2008, we have counted over 3000). This means an average of approximately 8 (!!) rockets a day. Can you even imagine such a number?

There is no child in Sderot under the age of 10, who knows any other existence than that of daily fear of a bomb landing on his home, school, or shopping mall. How would you feel if this happened in your town and to your children?

Over three years ago, we unilaterally left the Gaza Strip, removed all vestiges of our army, uprooted all the civilian population which lived there, and abandoned all the homes, fields, and industrial complexes. All this without a reciprocal agreement on the side of the Palestinians to cease all hostilities. This action was intended to allow the Palestinians to fulfill their own dream of a sovereign state, without any interference on our part.

Since June 2008, there has been a "cease-fire" agreement brokered by the Egyptians. The only trouble is that we have "ceased" while the Hammas has "fired" an average of 6 rockets a week (this is their understanding of an agreement). Besides trying to spot the launchers, and pinpoint attacking them if we were able to do so with 100% certainty, and only then, we did not reciprocate in any other way.

During this period, we restrained ourselves not to hit back. The only recourse we had, when words, agreements, unilateral restraint and requests did not work, was to warn the Hammas government that if they did not stop the rock et attacks which totally disrupted any sort of "normal" existence for our citizens in the region, we would reduce the entry of supplies to the Gaza Strip. However, out of humane considerations, we continued to send urgent supplies, even under fire.

To this day, we supply 70% of all the electricity in Gaza, and have never stopped this supply, except for one day when the electric plant in Ashdod, which supplies the "juice" to Gaza, was attacked by a suicide bomber. There is no "darkness" in Gaza, whatever is said or shown to the contrary.

During the three days prior to our attack in Gaza over 200 rockets were fired at southern Israel, mainly at the city of Sderot, but also to many of the agricultural settlements around the Gaza strip – all inside Israel's international borders. This was the response of Hammas to our willingness to sit and discuss the continuation of the so-called "cease-fire" between us.

Every such attack has had the entire civilian population of these towns and agricultural settlements running as fast as they can for a shelter - women, children, the elderly, sick people, in short, the whole civilian population.

These rocket and mortar attacks are aimed specifically at civilian concentrations, to kill and injure as many innocent people as possible.

Countless times over this period, and before, we have deliberated how to combat this situation, and each time we have opted for another concession towards peace, and have responded infrequently and even then at a very specific location from which the rockets were launched

The fact is that of the hundreds of Palestinians killed over the past 2-3 years, 95% have been terrorists either setting up their rocket launchers , or on their way to an attack on one of the settlements in the region

Sgt. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was abducted to Gaza by the Palestinian terrorists over 920 days ago, has not been allowed to send or receive letters, the Red Cross has not been allowed to visit him, and he has spent the whole time, close to three years, in a hole somewhere in the Gaza Strip. This is outrageously inhumane.

During the past ten years, we have signed at least five agreements, in which we requested the same demands that were initiated by the "Quartet" (The USA, Russia, the U.N., and the European Community), namely:

· Recognition of the State of Israel (which all countries of the world have done)

· Cessation of all terrorist activities

In return we would be willing to negotiate for a fair settlement to all the problems between us

Even though the Palestinian leaders, first Arafat then Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Mazen), signed the agreements, the attacks continued unabated

Now to some comments:

When we left Gaza, with all the small industrial works and the very modern and sophisticated greenhouses intact, at the request of the world community so that the Palestinians will have the ability to support themselves, they destroyed all of these down to rubble. This has to mean that they had little intention of trying to help their population to self-reliance and the country to some income.

How can the world sit back for so many years and look upon what was going on in our towns and villages around Gaza, and only become outraged when we finally say: "enough is enough" and hit back?

What is this nonsense about "excessive force"? For years we have restrained ourselves, we have made every effort to find peaceful solutions, such as those we have in our peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, while we are being shelled on a daily basis. How long can any country stand this? I bet not even Norway, which has grave concerns about our intentions, would stand for this for even one month without retaliating

As to excessive force, should we send our kids out to throw stones at passing Arab vehicles, as Arab kids do on our roads? Should we sporadically shell cities in the Gaza Strip, just so that our response is "measured" against theirs? Should we recruit maniacs who are willing to commit ritual suicide in Arab restaurants? What are we, as a normal and democratic country, supposed to do? Continuously "understand" that the Palestinian demands should be met so that the world community can finally have some peace in the Middle East? These "salami" tactics will find us in the Mediterranean within five years!

No. As in any country you are familiar with will do, we will use whatever means we have to achieve peace and quiet for our citizens. If we do not, then are failing our duty as a country to its citizens.

In addition, since we do not intend to carry out such actions on a regular basis, then on the one time we do strike back, we will do so until the Hammas does not have the will to continue its policy. We have attacked only Hammas installations, and if there was a fair reporting of the events, you would notice that over 90% of all the Palestinian casualties were wearing uniforms. We have tried to be as accurate as possible in our attacks so that we spare the civilian population. We have NEVER targeted civilians, as they have ours

No one asked Joe Louis to fight all comers with one hand behind his back because he was stronger than his opponents, and no one has asked Michael Jordan to shoot only with his left hand, because he was so much better than all other basketball players.

We are a country, and we have an army to protect its citizens. Our army has been carefully built so as to be able to answer any threat to our existence. We will use all measures necessary, once all other avenues have been blocked, to thwart this threat.

· The Hammas does not recognize us or our borders.

· The Hammas has sworn to continue to attack us until we drop

· The Hammas gets its weaponry and orders from Iran and the extremist Islam leaders of the world, and will not listen to anyone or any other voice

We cannot allow this to happen, and cannot allow another Holocaust to our people What would you and/or your government do if your border towns were shelled on a regular basis? Sit and wait for the world community to give your neighbor a slap on the hand? I would venture to say that in any Western country, you would hit back after the second or third rocket attack, whether there were casualties or not, irrespective of what the world community says or requests. We have been holding ourselves in restraint for years! Barak Obama, when he visited Sderot a year ago, said that if his house, and his girls, were attacked by rockets, he would not stand for it and retaliate The Hammas, as part of the radical Islamic groups, is a serious threat not only to Israel, but perhaps even more so to the moderate Arab countries, as well as the Western world. It is inflaming the minds of the Islamic youths, teaching them to hate while not giving them any hope for a future During these last few days, we have heard the Egyptian foreign minister and the editor of the official Saudi newspaper, say that the Hammas can only blame itself for what is happening to it now. The other moderate Arab countries have the same sentiments. The Hammas, as the representative of the extremist Islamic groups, is a real and present danger to them and their countries What are the ultimate goals of the Hammas? If it is to establish a sovereign state, then three years ago when we left Gaza they had the opportunity to show themselves and the world, that they can do so. We opened all the crossing points to Palestinian workers, assisted Palestinian officials in all the professional activities that a country needs (agriculture, medicine, sanitation, education, etc), and what we got back were suicide bombers and rocket attacks. In this situation, what does any "normal" country do? It closes the border crossings and discontinues its open policy. Would you shake your neighbor's hand, if on a daily basis his dog attacks your child despite your requests from him to rein in his dog? If the goal is not to establish a state, then it seems as if is their only aim is the annihilation of Israel. We will not stand for this

In order not have this report become unwieldy and long, I will stop here for the moment, and I promise to continue.

With very best wishes,

Oren

Homeland Security ready for drug-war escalation into U.S.

by Darren Hunt

EL PASO -- Civilian and military law enforcement agencies are ready to be mobilized in case drug cartel-related violence spreads into the U.S., officials with the Department of Homeland Security said.

The revelation came forth in a New York Times article citing a plan by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that would confront the drug cartels with military action. The plan involves the mobilization of area police departments and military personnel in addition to the use of armored vehicles, aircraft and special teams.

"If we get a significant spillover, we have the surge capability to bring in -- not only our own assets -- but to even work with the Department of Defense," said Chertoff in the article.

Many El Pasoans ABC-7 spoke with said the proposed plan is needed to protect the city. Some said its mere existence is prove the situation in Mexico is getting worse. "I'm sorry to see it come to that point in our lives, but all that stuff is going on," a local resident said.

Juarez has descended into chaos as rival drug cartels battle for drug routes into the U.S. More than 1,600 people were killed in the city in 2008 alone.

After pointing out he had no prior knowledge of the plan, El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said he's glad it's in place. "It's basically news to me, but you have to have a contingency plan in case anything extreme were to take place," he said.

Still, Allen said his officers have things under control north of the Rio Grande and some in El Paso agree with him, adding troops along the border would be an overreaction to the situation. "It would be strange, it's not necessary and I think it's just going to hurt the cross-border economy even more," said a local resident.

Another resident told ABC-7 he thought the plan was not really thought out. "Chertoff has demonstrated a knee-jerk reaction to situations," he said, "You can compare it to him building a wall around the border and expecting that to solve the problem down here."

Agents track money to find terrorists

from WorldNetDaily

Investigators watch activity on 3,000 Internet gambling sites

LONDON – Staffers for Britain's MI5 intelligence agency have formed a new version of Gambler's Anonymous – assembling a team of spies trained to track Islamic terrorists who are using gambling websites to launder large sums of money that ends up funding al-Qaida groups around the world, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

The spies all have undergone crash courses in how to spot suspicious bets on the mushrooming number of gambling sites on the Internet.

There are now over 3,000 sites where bets can be placed on anything. Millions of British pounds pass through the sites every day. Often the money is diverted to recruit and train potential terrorists in Britain.

Some of the largest bets have been traced to British gamblers using sites operating as far afield as the Netherlands, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Hong Kong. The follow-the-money trail has led the MI5 officers to banks in the Middle East and Pakistan.

Keep in touch with the most important breaking news stories about critical developments in the worldwide war on terror with Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium, online intelligence news source edited and published by the founder of WND.

The officers also suspect some of the gamblers may have access to the high-protection Islamic encryption software known as Mujahideen Secrets-2. Its arrival on the Internet was only discovered late last year.

"It has been designed by some of al-Qaida's best computer experts and allows money launderers to place their bets at far less risk of interception by MI5 or other intelligence services," said a Security Service source.

The software has been created to form the nucleus of al-Qaida's first "jihad university on-line," counter-terrorism specialist Terry Pattar told a closed security conference in London over the New Year.

"The software provides a variety of programs that offer a whole course of how to carry out attacks without having to train abroad. The funding for this comes from money laundered through the gambling websites," he said.

Pictured: The moment a $3million ransom was parachuted to Somali pirates

This is the dramatic moment a ransom of $3million was paid to Somali pirates to end the world's biggest ship hijacking.

The canister full of cash was parachuted onto the Sirius Star - observed by the U.S. Navy who provided these images - and the two-month ordeal of the 25 crew, including two Britons, was finally over.

However things went badly wrong for the pirates soon after the drop - they squabbled over how to split the money and then a wave washed off their getaway boat and drowned five of them.

Enlarge

Dramatic: The apparent ransom payment is delivered via a parachuted container to pirates holding the Sirius Star

The pirates originally wanted more than £16 million to release the boat and its £65 million load of oil. Eventually they accepted the offer of $3million (around £2million). ....

Homeland Security's New Rules on Electronic Data Collection Rile Businesses

by USA Today

The Department of Homeland Security will collect millions of new electronic records about private planes, imported cargo, foreign visitors and federal contractors as part of an array of controversial last-minute security policies imposed by the Bush administration.

Businesses say the policies are costly, and worry that sensitive information could be released if a database is lost or stolen. Some charge the Homeland Security Department with rushing to impose policies and ignoring business concerns.

"Industry keeps reaching out to (them), but our comments are continually dismissed," said Catherine Robinson, director of high-tech trade policy for the National Association of Manufacturers trade group, which represents 14,000 companies.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said that by collecting information electronically, the department can run security checks more quickly than with paper forms, and could flag people or cargo that should be barred from the USA. Some changes have been in the works for more than a year.

There has been a lot of opposition. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and four other groups have sued to block a policy requiring federal contractors to send information about employees electronically to the department to verify that they can work legally in the USA.

The policy takes effect Jan. 15 and applies to employees working on a federal contract worth more than $100,000. ....

Some background info on the two Marines recently awarded the Navy Cross

Source: A friend

ALL,

THE FOLLOWING IS AN EMAIL FROM THE COMMANDER OF MARINE FORCES, IN IRAQ, MAJ GEN JOHN F. KELLY. THIS IS HIS THIRD TOUR OF DUTY IN THAT COUNTRY.

I thought you might want to hear the rest of the story of the
two Marines who earned the Navy Cross out here last April. I believe it
will be awarded in a joint ceremony early in 09. This went to a
reporter friend who is writing their story. I really do think it's a
Rockwell image. Not the killing part, Rockwell was better than that.
It's the picture of the two of them in the early morning heat getting
settled into their watch with the 21 year old "veteran" Corporal Yale
showing the "new kid" the ropes and encouraging him that he'd be OK when
his first action came and how to stay alive in Iraq - seven seconds
before they died.

When I dug into the deaths of these young men, as I always do,
it became obvious to me that there was something more here than just the
"normal" bravery of a couple of young Grunts out on the streets of
Ramadi doing what they are trained to do, what they are paid a measly
amount of money to do, but infinitely more importantly what they join
the Marines to do. Their unit commander knew their deaths were
something different, but was in a quandary as there were no eye
witnesses. Everything pointed to great bravery and an irrational
disregard for their own lives. Then we thought of our allies the
Iraqis. Surely Iraqi policemen must have seen something as it was a
Joint Security Station (JSS). We had to try. As you well know
incredible bravery is routine among these guys and much of it goes
unrecognized because it is so routine. It's everywhere. They do it
naturally and without thought, but this just sounded different.

I drove down to the JSS from Fallujah two days after the blast
and spoke to a number of police officers and we were right, there were
some eye witnesses. They were actually survivors who were only alive to
tell their stories because of these two Grunt Marines who would not save
themselves. I interviewed six or seven cops, but three were most
important and among those who barely survived. A summary of their
statements is below written and signed by me. At the time of submission
for Navy Crosses it was the only "justification" for decorating these
men. Subsequently my computer techs were able to download the entire
event from a security camera that was all but destroyed in the blast.
It documents the event clearly.

This is in many ways a Norman Rockwell story, and I think
can only happen today in our Armed Forces. These men were from
different battalions (1/9 and 2/8) doing their "right seat - left seat"
turnovers, and from different worlds. Yale was a very poor country kid
from western Virginia, Haerter from Long Island. They didn't know each
other, they'd probably only met a few minutes before they were
put on post but they were closer than brothers because they were
Marines. Yale was a few days from going home, Haerter just a few days
in country. As civilians they had very-very little in common. As
Marines they were DNA close and viewed the world through exactly the
same lens. Parris Island and the School of Infantry were their common
experiences. What made them different from everyone in their families
and from everyone they'd grown up with was their desire to serve as
Marines even to their death. As my three condolence letters below the
statement point out (father of one, mother of the other, sister of one)
they were different than all the rest, because they stepped
forward when they didn't have to.

If they were still with us they would not think of
themselves as heroes. They would tell you they were doing their job,
that their lieutenant told them to stand the post they were assigned and
let nothing pass. They wouldn't elaborate much about the event but
would only say that "someone tried to pass...he wasn't authorized to
pass by their lieutenant's order...so we killed him." They had no time
to think about heroics. The truck turned down the alley way (~60 meters
in length) from the main street and accelerated through the jersey wall
serpentine. They knew exactly what was going on. They had it drilled
into them that my greatest fear out here, the biggest threat against us,
the only thing that keeps me awake at night, was a Beirut
suicide-truck bomb. I lost my best friend in that blast back in 1983,
and it was seared into my soul that this was the only means they
(terrorists) had left to really hurt us here in Iraq in a way that would
change everything. The entire event as it appears on the tape was
perhaps six seconds. Six seconds to see the truck, make their
calculation as to what was going on, then decide what was going on, then
make their individual decisions at exactly the same time while flipping
their M-16s off safe and opening up. Six seconds. No time to talk it
over. No time to call the lieutenant. No time to think about their own
lives or even the lives of the American and Iraqi lives they were
protecting. More than enough time, however, to do their duty. They
never hesitated or tried to escape. They never stopped firing until the
tape goes black. We know they are heroes, Tony, but they would not see
it that way.

You ask if you can teach this kind of bravery. The answer to
that is a resounding no. To those of us in uniform who do these kinds
of things, or are expected to do these kinds of things, it's not
bravery, but duty. What you can teach, or better instill, is a sense of
esprit, a sense of commitment to Corps and country, a sense of belonging
to something bigger and more important than any one of us are
individually. It's what the Greek citizens had. What the Roman
legionnaires had. What General Washington's boys had. What the
Greatest Generation had, and what a few of this generation still have.
If you can successfully instill these traits, and the Marine Corps does
it better than anyone else, then what you have is men and women of
character that think in terms of courage, honor and commitment...about
selfless devotion to duty. They don't say it that way, or express it
that way, but they live it in their hearts.

As you know the arithmetic commanders deal with in war,
from the second lieutenant to the commanding general, is not zero deaths
and zero wounded, but how many is too many. Every time you see a convoy
move, or the Marines and our precious Docs at an entry control point, or
clearing a house in Fallujah, it's the same. Commanders do the mental
math and make the deadly calculation. Is five "acceptable"? Perhaps.
Depending on the stakes. Is six too many? Same calculation. In this
case two was what the mission required, and thank God they knew what
they were about. Little consolation for their families I know, and it's
the terrible burden commanders who make these calls carry in their
hearts forever. In the tape an Iraqi policeman can be seen standing
about 20 feet from where the two Marines were firing from inside a
little enclosure. He scrambled like hell and got out of the way before
the huge metal gate, jersey walls, mosque and several houses were all
but consumed--but he survived. "No sane man would have stood there,"
they said. Afterwards my interpreter (30ish, an Iraqi born Kurd but has
lived in the States since he was 13) asked me if I thought they were
crazy. They were not crazy was my response, because not even a crazy
man would have stood his ground like they did. They were nothing more
than a couple of ordinary Marines doing an extraordinary act of
selflessness. They were doing what their lieutenant told them to do and
they were doing their duty, and 50 American families are tonight
spending Christmas Eve with their sons who didn't die that day in
Ramadi.

Semper Fidelis, and Merry Christmas.

Kelly