The U.S. has spent $900 million of its Meridia Initiative money on training of Mexican prosecutors and law enforcement and providing them equipment. The countries just announced another training program:

Proyecto Diamante [is] a comprehensive training program designed and developed jointly by the U.S. Department of Justice and Mexico's Procuraduria General de la Republica to train 2,500 PGR prosecutors and 6,000 investigators over the next 12 months in core competencies.

This week, a senior prosecutor in the Attorney General's Office (PGR) in Saltillo, Coahuila, Claudia Gonzalez Lopez, was among those arrested on organized crime charges of allegedly providing protection to the Zetas in exchange for large sums of money, paid monthly. The former police chief was also arrested. as was the head of the Special Investigations Group.

[More...]

The Associated Press reports the NYPD's monitoring of Muslim students extended far beyond New York City schools and all over the Northeast -- far more widely than previously reported.

Officers from the NYPD's Cyber Intelligence unit visited the websites, blogs and forums of Muslim student associations as a "daily routine."

The universities included Yale; Columbia; the University of Pennsylvania; Syracuse; New York University; Clarkson University; the Newark and New Brunswick campuses of Rutgers; and the State University of New York campuses in Buffalo, Albany, Stony Brook and Potsdam, N.Y.; Queens College, Baruch College, Brooklyn College and La Guardia Community College.

One NYPD report describing the daily monitoring is here.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is almost as bad as Joe Arpaio -- he's often called the "new Arpaio." One example of his over-the top style of policing: In 2010, he mandated the use of lethal force against drug smugglers.

I've given specific instruction, no less than lethal force is going to be used. It's all lethal force only and we go into that environment knowing that we're likely expecting an armed threat from these people," Babeu said.

He's the "face" of Arizona's border war against unlawful immigration and now he's running for Congress. Friday, Phoenix New Times outed him as gay, based on information from a Hispanic man Babeu had a long relationship with and who claims Babeu threatened him with deportation if their relationship became public. Babeu now acknowledges he is gay, but denies making the threat. He's also staying in the Congressional race. [More...]

The U.S. has filed a 90 page superseding indictment against Kim DotCom and the other Megaupload defendants, adding several wire fraud and copyright infringement charges. The U.S. has seized $50 million from the defendants so far. [More...]

CNN and Fox are broadcasting Whitney Houston's funeral live. Skip CNN, it has pundits talking during it. People, the AP, CBS and other sites are streaming it. If you are watching, or if you aren't but have something positive to say, please feel free to comment.

So far it's very upbeat and religious, The point is made that this is a day to celebrate her life.

Photos here.

R.I.P. Whitney.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has vetoed the same-sex marriage bill passed by the state legislature, but he calls it a conditional veto.

Gov. Chris Christie this afternoon conditionally vetoed the gay marriage bill and suggested appointing an ombudsman to address complaints of same-sex couples and strengthen New Jersey’s civil union law.

"I have been just as adamant that same-sex couples in a civil union deserve the very same rights and benefits enjoyed by married couples — as well as the strict enforcement of those rights and benefits,’’ Christie said in a prepared statement.

Is anybody fooled that this is not a veto? A referendum will not happen. Legislative action has ended for now, and the deadline for an override of the veto is Jan. 14. [More...]

Congress has passed the extension of the Payroll Tax Cut.

According to the AP, ICE is now saying the agent shooting involved a workplace matter. A subordinate agent shot a supervising agent, a third agent intervened and shot the subordinate agent. The subordinate agent/first shooter is the one who died. The agent he shot is in the hospital. The intervening agent who killed the shooter is fine.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

A lot of action in Long Beach today. At 2:30 p.m., a small plane crossed into President Obama's airspace in Riverside, CA while he was in the Marine One Helicopter en route to the airport. Fighter jets intercepted the plane and followed it until it landed at Long Beach at 2:30 pm. The plane was searched when it landed, and officials found 40 pounds of marijuana in it. The pilot was questioned by Homeland Security, turned over to local police and booked into the Long Beach jail. The plane is registered to David W. Major and is based in Grover Beach, Calif., near San Luis Obispo.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the department's Homeland Security Investigations unit questioned the pilot, who has been turned over to Long Beach police and remains in custody. He will face local prosecution, Kice said.

Also today, just before 6 pm, three ICE agents were involved in a shootout -- with each other -- on the 7th floor of the federal building in Long Beach. Two died, one is in the hospital. Here's Norad's statement on the incident. The shooter was one of those killed.(Update: ICE says only two agents were involved, one of whom died.)

I wonder if the incidents are related. The Long Beach Courthouse (state) is across the street from the federal building. Were any of the ICE agents in the shootout involved in the earlier search of the plane or questioning of the pilot? Or with Obama's visit? Updates below:

Good news for Patricia Spottedcrow of Oklahama, whose travails I described here. The Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Paroles has agreed to early consideration of her parole, possibly in April.

Patricia pleaded guilty and received a 12 year sentence for selling $20 of marijuana to a police informant at the home she shared with her mother and possession of marijuana in the presence of a child. The severity of her sentence caused her case to receive national media attention. Spottedcrow, age 25, has four children, no prior convictions, was broke and had recently lost her home. cently lost her home. The two children present in the home, one of whom was a 10 month old infant, did not witness the transaction according to Patricia. [More...]

The New Jersey Assembly has passed a bill allowing same-sex marriage. The Senate approved the bill last week, so it now goes to Governor Chris Christie, who has said he will veto it.

Both chambers lack the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto by Christie blocking gay marriage, a hot-button social issue that is gaining traction in the 2012 U.S. presidential election campaign.

Same sex marriage is legal in six states: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Iowa. Washington's governor signed a bill authorizing it on Monday, but it is not yet in effect and may face a voter initiative challenge.

As expected, a federal judge in Detroit today sentenced Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, aka the Underwear Bomber and Captain Underpants, to life in prison for his failed attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight en route to Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009. Since the federal system has no parole, a life sentence means exactly that.

“The defendant has never expressed doubt or regret or remorse about his mission... “To the contrary, he sees that mission as divinely inspired and a continuing mission.” [Judge Nancy Edmonds] said she can't control his motives, but she can control his opportunity.

She ordered the life sentences to be served consecutively. As he was led out of the courtroom, he said, "G-d is Great."

In Abdulmutallab's statement to the Court, he ranted against Jews (see below for quotes): [More...]

It's becoming clear that the old Republican political Wurlitzer is simply not what it used to be. Check out yesterday's story to circulate - the OMB director gaffedbecause he insisted the Obama Administration had not raised taxes and would not raise taxes on any person earning $250,000 or less. That's a gaffe? In a campaign year? Here's the theory, as transmitted through Politico:

On Wednesday, acting Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients appeared to tell the House Budget Committee that the individual mandate isn’t a tax. Which could be a bit of a problem, since the Obama administration is defending the mandate before the Supreme Court by arguing that it is a tax — for legal purposes, anyway.

Oh noes! The ACA is sunk in the Supreme Court now! seems to be the political theory. Needless to say, this will have no effect on what the Supreme Court does. (Hell, I even have a stalwart conservative judge's legal opinion to explain why it does not matter in the legal process.) But in theory, it could matter politically - Republicans are arguing that the Obama Administration will not raise taxes on persons making $250,000 or less. I would think that the Obama Administration would be happy about this. I'm not sure what political purpose it serves Republicans.

Karl Rove must wonder how stupid the people running the GOP Wurlitzer are these days.