Weekend Update: In 2 Days, 13 More DEAD in Juarez, 10 More in Chihuahua, 23 total

Armed Drug Cartel Members
Drug-related clashes in Mexico's volatile northwestern border state of Chihuahua have resulted in the deaths of 23 people in 24 hours. According to Chihuahua state prosecutors, 13 people were killed between late Friday and Saturday in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from the US city of El Paso, Texas. Ten others lost their lives in separate incidents in other locations around the volatile state. According to officials, one of the deadly incidents took place during a car theft, while a couple was killed in an attack on a shopping mall, AFP reported. Since 2006, Ciudad Juarez -- the scene of violent drug-related crimes -- has been the epicenter of a wave of drug-related violence between rival drug cartels, which have left some 28,000 dead. Read more here:
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Mel: Private Property Rights & Peacemaking

No doubt the constitution is a stubborn document that provides private property rights; sacred rights that must be respected by all American citizens. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Obama are just a few of millions who rightfully agree on this fundamental point.
However, two lingering unanswered question remains. First, who is the Muslim cleric behind the controversial mosque proposal near Ground Zero. And second why is our President and state department so cozy with him?
Feisal Abdul Rauf
Let's begin by answering who Feisal Abdul Rauf is based on what he has said on the record. In 2004, he said the U.S. and the West must acknowledge the harm they have done to Muslims before terrorism can end. Speaking at his New York mosque, Abdul Rauf said, "The Islamic method of waging war is not to kill innocent civilians. But it was Christians in World War II who bombed civilians in Dresden and Hiroshima, neither of which were military targets." Rauf also said that there could be little progress in Western-Islamic relations until the U.S. acknowledged backing Middle East dictators, and the U.S. President gave an "American Culpa" speech to the Muslim world, because there are "an endless supply of angry young Muslim rebels prepared to die for their cause and there is no sign of the attacks ending unless there is a fundamental change in the world".
Apparently Abdul Rauf made a startling statement after 9/11. Just nineteen days after that fateful day on CBS’s 60 Minutes when then asked if the U.S. deserved the attacks, Rauf answered: "I wouldn’t say that the United States deserved what happened. But the United States’ policies were an accessory to the crime that happened." When the 60 Minutes interviewer asked Rauf how he considered the U.S. an accessory, he replied, "Because we have been accessory to a lot of innocent lives dying in the world. In fact, in the most direct sense, Osama bin Laden is made in the USA."
In a column in the Huffington Post Rauf offered advice to President Obama. He wrote: "He should say his administration respects many of the guiding principles of the 1979 revolution -- to establish a government that expresses the will of the people; a just government, based on the idea of Vilayet-i-faqih, that establishes the rule of law. His administration understands that what is going on now in Iran is an attempt by the Iranian people to live up to their own ideals. Just as American democracy developed over many years, the United States recognizes that this election is part of the process of an evolving democracy in Iran."
More troubling than the rubbish Rauf wrote for the Huffington Post is the fact that Obama Administration State Department officials confirmed on Monday that this same Feisal Abdul Rauf will soon be going on a trip of the Middle East and the U.S. government will be picking up the tab. Respecting private property rights in the face of political controversy is admirable. Thinking this clearly delusional man can be useful in the "peacemaking process" casts grave doubt on the cognitive skills of those in charge of foreign policy in Washington D.C.

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Napolitano - That Oughta Do It

Border Security Czar
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Friday said the administration has "enough" resources to secure the border now that President Obama signed into law a $600 million border security spending bill, and she said Congress must now act on a larger overhaul of the nation's immigration laws. "This is what we asked for. And of course, what we asked for was what we thought would be enough," Ms. Napolitano told reporters at the White House, hours after she joined Mr. Obama as he signed the bipartisan bill. The law provides for 1,000 new U.S. Border Patrol agents, hundreds of border inspectors and interior enforcement personnel and two new aerial drones to patrol the remote Southwest. Although it will take about eight months for the new agents to be hired and trained, Ms. Napolitano said the border is already secure enough that it should not be used by critics to "preclude discussions about immigration reform." Read more here:



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Progressive Magazine - Gibbs Should Take a Hike

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs doesn’t know how to back off. On Tuesday, after disparaging “the professional left,” he issued a statement saying that he had spoken “inartfully,” but he didn’t retract his comment or renounce the sentiment. Then, at his press briefing on Wednesday, Gibbs said he stood by his offensive comments. It’s time for Gibbs to take a hike. George Bush and his minions cultivated their conservative base. Obama’s minions poison their liberal base. Obama has regularly snubbed progressives, from health care to jobs, from Copenhagen to Afghanistan, from civil liberties to the Employee Free Choice Act. Read more here:
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NM Driver's License Policy a Magnet

BURIEN, Wash. — Carlos Hernandez packed up his family and left Arizona after the state passed its sweeping immigration crackdown. The illegal immigrant's new home outside Seattle offered something Arizona could not: a driver's license. Three states — Washington, New Mexico and Utah — allow illegal immigrants to get licenses because their laws do not require proof of citizenship or legal residency. An Associated Press analysis found that those states have seen a surge in immigrants seeking IDs in recent months, a trend experts attribute to crackdowns on illegal immigration in Arizona and elsewhere. "It's difficult being undocumented and not having an identification," said Hernandez, of Puebla, Mexico. "You can use the Mexican ID, but people look down on it." An American driver's license is also a requirement for many jobs.
The immigration debate has thrown a spotlight on the license programs, which supporters say make financial sense because unlicensed drivers typically do not carry car insurance. Opponents insist the laws attract illegal immigrants and criminals. Read more here:

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Federal Pulls New Lever - World Markets Fall

Ben Bernanke
Since the financial crisis worsened in 2008, the Federal Reserve has acquired probably dozens of new options for influencing the U.S. and world economies, ranging from propping up the commercial paper market to buying mortgage-backed securities to lending dollars abroad in exchange for euros, yen, and other currencies. The new options, most not currently in use, increase the Fed's flexibility but complicate the job of conducting monetary policy. They also make it harder to communicate that policy to investors and the general public. Read more here:
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John Wooden - Life's Puzzlers

Coach John Wooden
We share words of wisdom with you from the greatest coach in the history of sports.

"Why are there many who want to build up the weak by tearing down the strong?"

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Kathryn Lopez - A Cultural Discussion

Kathryn Lopez
Bill O'Reilly's attention had been on Barack Obama and other national political figures for a stretch - until Jennifer Aniston opened her mouth. Her comments regarding modern motherhood didn't score well in the "no spin zone." During a recent "The O'Reilly Factor" segment, the Fox News star hosted a "culture war" debate addressing Aniston's recent comments about women and motherhood, relating to her new artificial-insemination comedy with Jason Bateman, "The Switch." Read more here:
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O'Reilly - Oprah's Lifeline to Rosie

Oprah Winfrey
By Bill O'Reilly - Oprah Winfrey is a savvy businesswoman whose perspicacity in presenting herself to the public has earned her hundreds of millions of dollars. Recently, Winfrey announced she is getting out of broadcast television and into cable with the startup of her own channel, fittingly entitled the Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN. Yes, she owns much of it.

Rosie O'Donnell
One of Oprah's first moves was to hire Rosie O'Donnell to do a daily afternoon talk show. As you may know, Rosie flamed out on "The View" after saying things like 9/11 was an inside job and radical Christianity is "just as dangerous" as radical Islam. Even Joy Behar blanched at that one.
For years, Rosie has tried to get back into the TV game. In 2008, NBC hired her to host an Ed Sullivan-type variety program, which lasted exactly one episode. Nobody watched. Not even radical Muslims. For many media companies, Rosie is damaged goods, a person who has alienated millions of Americans. Read more here:
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