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Drug dealers' pardons left unexplained The White House has left unexplained the president's decisions to grant pardons to drug dealers, carjackers, thieves and a moonshiner, but deny the same mercy to two former U.S. Border Patrol agents each serving more than a decade in prison for shooting at a fleeing drug smuggler...the White House has released its list of 29 pardons granted traditionally around Christmas time, and they included carjackers, drug dealers, thieves and a moonshiner. But not Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who were convicted of firing their guns at a fleeing drug smuggler while they were protecting the integrity of the U.S. border with Mexico. However, Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., has launched a campaign to assemble a House resolution urging Bush to provide those pardons, and he says more than two dozen members already have signed on as sponsors. "I am completely confident we will be able to pass a bipartisan resolution that includes support from the right and the left," Delahunt said. He said he expects action soon after Congress reconvenes after the Christmas break....
Drug smuggler denied bond Admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, who is at the center of a national controversy over the conviction of two El Paso Border Patrol agents, was denied bond Monday by a federal judge in El Paso, court documents showed. Aldrete, who faces drug conspiracy and possession charges, was ordered detained without bond because "there is a serious risk that the defendant will not appear," according to the detention order signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard P. Mesa. "The potential sentence is severe, the defendant is a citizen of Mexico without legal permission to reside in the United States, the defendant has significant familial ties to Mexico and it is likely, if convicted, the defendant will be deported from the United States," Mesa wrote. If convicted, Aldrete faces a minimum mandatory sentence of five years and up to 40 years in prison. He entered a plea of not guilty Nov. 21, according to court documents. Aldrete, 27, was shot in the buttocks during a botched drug-smuggling run in February 2005 by Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean....
Firefighters asked to report people who express discontent with the government t was revealed last week that firefighters are being trained to not only keep an eye out for illegal materials in the course of their duties, but even to report back any expression of discontent with the government. A year ago, Homeland Security gave security clearances to nine New York City fire chiefs and began sharing intelligence with them. Even before that, fire department personnel were being taught "to identify material or behavior that may indicate terrorist activities" and were also "told to be alert for a person who is hostile, uncooperative or expressing hate or discontent with the United States." Unlike law enforcement officials, firemen can go onto private property without a warrant, not only while fighting fires but also for inspections. "It's the evolution of the fire service," said a Phoenix, AZ fire chief of his information-sharing arrangement with law enforcement...."That's the entire intent," German replied, noting the serious legal issues involved. "There is actually still a fourth amendment," he pointed out, "and what makes a firefighter's search reasonable is that it's done to prevent a fire. If now firefighters are going in with this secondary purpose, that end run around the fourth amendment won't work, and it's likely that they will find themselves in legal trouble." Olbermann, however, was most strongly concerned about the implications for civil liberties. "Is what disturbs you and the ACLU the same thing that just jumped off the page for me?" he asked. "That one phrase, 'look for people who are expressing hatred of or discontent with the United States?' Discontent?"....
Activists see Senate Dems backing down to Bush, ready to give immunity to phone companies As lawmakers hurry to clear their legislative plates before rushing home for Christmas dinner, it appears all-but-certain that Congress will not finish work to update a foreign spy law before the new year. But votes expected this week and next in the Senate have civil libertarians worried about their prospects to block a proposal that would free telecommunications companies from legal oversight of their facilitation of President Bush's post-9/11 warrantless wiretapping scheme. As the timeline appears to be shaking out, Democrats seem headed for an 11th-hour showdown with the White House over updates to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. In a similar showdown this summer, Republicans said a failure to act on FISA would endanger the country. On its way out the door for summer vacation, Congress passed a temporary update to the law that was widely panned for its lack of judicial oversight and constitutional protections. Although Democrats succeeded in keeping telecom immunity out of the August bill, it seems likely to worm its way into this latest version, at least in the Senate, despite voracious opposition from prominent Democrats there, including all the party's presidential candidates....
L.A. Gangs: Nine Miles and Spreading Demond Whiting and a friend left the recreation center at Nickerson Gardens and turned right down Compton Avenue. Whiting was 32 and an original gangster in the Bounty Hunter Bloods. The Bounty Hunters control and terrorize Nickerson Gardens, the sprawling housing development in Watts, and use it as a base for a nationwide drug-trafficking network. Whiting, who was fresh from a long stretch in prison for armed robbery, was chatting about his new life as a civilian, when someone stuck an AK-47 out the window of a passing car and fired two rounds. One hit Whiting in the back, severing his spine and paralyzing him. Early the next morning — Christmas morning — a Bounty Hunter named Antoine Staffer, a.k.a. Pig, left Nickerson Gardens, walked about a half mile to the edge of the dusty, treeless Jordan Downs housing project, strolled up to a car and shot the driver in the face. The victim was Brandon “B.L.” Bullard, a key player in the Grape Street Crips, the gang that controls Jordan Downs. Ten minutes later, a Bounty Hunter heading into Jordan Downs for a Christmas visit with cousins was ambushed and shot seven times. Two more Bounty Hunters were murdered in quick succession. The cycle of retribution — in the form of drive-bys with AK-47s, Uzis, MAC-10s and 9mm semi­automatic handguns — lasted six weeks, left 26 people wounded, nine dead, the local schools largely empty of students, and a large swath of Watts under siege. What triggered all this depends on whom you talk to....