re: "James Hogan Case: Wife of Missing Diplomat Charged with Witness Tampering, False Statements, and Obstruction of Justice"

Domani Spero at Diplopundit ("an obsessive compulsive observer, diplomatic watcher, and opinionator who monitors the goings on at ‘Foggy-Bottom’ (i.e. the State Department) and the “worldwide available” universe from Albania to Zimbabwe") had a major update to the case of the missing vice consul.

Money quote(s):

"James Hogan Case: Missing Diplomat’s Wife Pleads Guilty to Obstruction of Justice"

&

"We have been following this case since September 2009 when FSO James Hogan was first reported missing in the Netherlands Antilles.... Despite the obstruction of justice guilty plea here, we are nowhere closer to understanding what happened to Mr. Hogan over there."

From the old Diplopundit site (8/26/2011):


"James Hogan Case: Wife of Missing Diplomat Charged with Witness Tampering, False Statements, and Obstruction of Justice

The spouse of James Hogan, the U.S. diplomat who disappeared in the Netherlands Antilles has been charged by DOJ in a multiple count indictment for her alleged role in the "obstruction of a multi-national investigation into the disappearance of her husband": "

Clearly, this raises a set of some fairly obvious suspicions about whatever fate (or fates) befell our colleague V/C Hogan. And just as obviously I'm going to not air any unfounded speculation on that score in this venue. CAA has no inside scoop on this, and if I did I wouldn't discuss that here.

I will say that the police force(s) and investigator(s) on this case seem to be turning over pretty much exactly the rocks they should be overturning in their effort to discover what befell V/C Hogan. And it may be that, whatever guilt may actually attach to Mrs. Hogan, this is as much as can be proven in a court of law.

Read the whole update here.


8/26

JG - Millions spent on bullets - Approximately $140m in one year

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

Millions spent on bullets - Approximately $140m in one year

Published: Sunday March 7, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions

Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

ARMING THE police force is not cheap.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Documents viewed under the Access to Information (ATI) Act have revealed that from August 2007 to September 2008, the police spent US$400,242 (J$35.925 million) to purchase ammunition, while ?840,750 (J$122.7 million) was used to purchase guns.

At today's rate of exchange, that amounts to approxi-mately $140 million on ammunition for the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF)."

"The official document made mention of Taylor and Associates, an arms-brokering business in Lauderhill, Florida, that was at the centre of a major security blunder involving the JCF.

But the police argued that the botched deal with Taylor and Associates was a "first-time purchase".
Notwithstanding, senior operatives in the constabulary were embarrassed after US authorities advised them that they bad been buying bullets from an unlicensed dealer. That dealer - Lance Brooks - is now behind bars.

But not before the blunder cost Jamaican taxpayers close to US$61,000, as the State was only able to recover US$20,122 of the US$81,100 (approximately J$6 million at the time) that was paid to Brooks for 270,000 rounds of jacketed soft-point ammunition."

&

"The documents also revealed that the assistant commissioner of police for the Firearm and Tactical Training Unit, in conjunction with Police Headquarters Stores and Armoury, are responsible for ensuring that adequate stocks of bullets are available."

tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com

MH - Injured Haitian children win humanitarian visas to the U.S.

From my archive of press clippings:

Miami Herald

Posted on Thursday, 01.21.10


Injured Haitian children win humanitarian visas to the U.S.

Injured Haitian children win humanitarian visas to the U.S.

As many as 260 injured Haitian children will be eligible to travel to the United States for life-saving medical care, thanks to a Miami doctor and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

The youngest earthquake victims are being granted humanitarian visas so long as a doctor in Haiti deems that the child will die without advanced medical care. Immigration officials could follow the doctor's advice in issuing the exit visas.

By LUISA YANEZ
lyanez@MiamiHerald.com

Some 200 injured Haitian children -- the largest group to be given passage to the U.S. without adoptive parents -- will travel to Florida for life-saving medical care, thanks to a Miami doctor and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

Read the whole article here.

JG - IMMIGRATION CORNER - Filing for my fiancée

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner


IMMIGRATION CORNER - Filing for my fiancée

Published: Tuesday July 7, 2009

Your articles in Jamaica Gleaner is where I got your information. My name is C.J.; my fiancée is from Ethiopia, and lives and works in Doha, Qatar. I am a US citizen over 32 years, retired from the US Air Force, working in Iraq as a contractor, and my home of record is Miami, Florida. I have known her more than two years. My questions are:

Should I apply for a fiancée visa or get married and file for a resident visa in Qatar?

Which procedure is more feasible, less time consuming? Based on your experience in immigration law, which method is more logical?

- CJ

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"A citizen of the United States is entitled to file a petition for a fiancée visa to bring your fiancée and the fiancée's minor children to the United States.

There are several requirements to obtain approval for this visa. Premier among these requirements are that you must both be free to be married, must have met each other within the last two years - unless there is a cultural prohibition against the meeting, and you and your fiancée plan to be married within 90 days of her arrival in the US. You must show proof that you are legally divorced, if previously married, or proof of your prior spouse's death, if that is the case. "

_____

Dahlia A. Walker-Huntington, Esq. is a Jamaican-American attorney who practices law in Florida in the areas of immigration, family, corporate & personal injury law. She is a mediator, arbitrator and special magistrate in Broward County, Florida. Send your questions and comments to info@walkerhuntington.com or editor@gleanerjm.com

TW - Full implementation of ESTA delayed

Travel Weekly

Full implementation of ESTA delayed

(20 May 2009)

Full implementation of the US Customs and Border Protection ESTA Visa Waiver Programme has been delayed by up to a year to allow airlines and the public more time to comply with the scheme.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The flagship security project - the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) - is an online version of the I-94 Green Card, which is currently completed by passengers on inbound flights.

ESTA went live in January as planned, but all travellers from the 35 visa waiver countries are still required to fill in the I-94 for the time being."

_____


By Matthew Hampton reporting from Pow Wow in Miami

S&S - Carrier homeport decision delayed until next year

From my archive of press clippings:

Stars and Stripes


Carrier homeport decision delayed until next year


By Kevin Baron, Stars and Stripes

Pacific edition, Sunday, April 12, 2009


ARLINGTON, Va. – The Pentagon confirmed Friday that it was delaying until 2010 any further decisions on a controversial plan to move the homeport of one aircraft carrier from Norfolk, Va., to Naval Station Mayport in Florida.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The Defense Department announced that it intends to dredge the Mayport channel in fiscal 2010 to “provide an alternative port for a carrier on the East Coast if a manmade or natural disaster or other emergency closes the Navy’s base in Norfolk, Va., or the surrounding sea approaches.”

But the U.S. will not move forward with other costly improvements required to base a carrier in Mayport, including expanding the wharf and upgrading infrastructure for nuclear maintenance facilities, the statement said."

WP - Sosa Finally Gets His Work Visa

Washington Post

Sosa Finally Gets His Work Visa


By Chico Harlan


Washington Post Staff Writer


Friday, April 3, 2009; Page D05


CLEARWATER, Fla., April 2 -- Jorge Sosa signed with the Washington Nationals about four months ago. Only on Thursday, though, did Sosa receive approval to actually join them. The relief pitcher, stranded in the Dominican Republic because of visa problems, was finally granted his work visa and will join the organization's extended spring training in Viera, Fla.

Read the whole article here.

JO - Air Jamaica needs to explain Miami route cut

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Observer

Air Jamaica needs to explain Miami route cut

Thursday, January 29, 2009

We have to believe that the decision by Air Jamaica, the national airline, to drop its Miami route, among others, was based on very strong financial reasons.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"Over time, Miami became the heart and soul of Air Jamaica. For convenience, it is hard to beat. Jamaicans needing to do business and shopping in Miami, a little over an hour away, and return home the same day, depended on those flights."

&

"Miami has become for Jamaicans, "Kingston 21", a virtual extension of Kingston and St Andrew, because of the many nationals living in Florida and the heavy traffic between the two gateways."

WVN-JO - Patriotism, sense of belonging rewards of citizenship journey

From my archive of press clippings:

West Volusia News-Journal Online

Patriotism, sense of belonging rewards of citizenship journey

January 22, 2009

By PATRICIO G. BALONA Staff writer

ORLANDO -- "I pledge allegiance to U.S. flag and the country. . ."

"Daddy, you are not saying it right," my daughter interrupted.

Her tiny hand over her heart, my daughter, Josee, recited the 31-word pledge so naturally.
I repeated after her, memorizing the verse as I drove to the Orlando office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to become a U.S. citizen.

Read the whole article here.

Forbes - Judge Yanks Snipes' Passport

From my archive of press clippings:

Forbes

Judge Yanks Snipes' Passport

William P. Barrett, 01.21.09, 06:45 PM EST
Convicted actor's appearance at Dubai bash was unauthorized.

Wesley Snipes

They're all over the Internet. Photographs and news accounts put actor Wesley Trent Snipes at the Nov. 20 grand opening of the $1.5 billion Atlantis, The Palm hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He was attending an event the local press dubbed "the party of the decade," a $20 million star-studded bash that drew the likes of Robert de Niro, Charlize Theron and Mischa Barton.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"But the geography presented a problem. The hard-partying Snipes--now appealing his conviction and three-year sentence in the U.S. for willfully failing to file income tax returns--was out on bail and had been given permission to travel abroad only to London and Bangkok for film commitments. Dubai is more than 3,000 miles from either.

The result: A federal judge in Ocala, Fla., where Snipes was convicted, granted a request from the office that supervises unjailed criminal defendants that the 46-year-old actor be ordered to return to the U.S. and to surrender his passport. Snipes complied."

JG - A labour of love: Passport drive helps desperate farm workers

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

A labour of love: Passport drive helps desperate farm workers

published: Sunday May 25, 2008

McGowan-Arscott

Since 1998, the Jamaica United Relief Association (JURA), a voluntary organisation, has teamed with local civic bodies, churches and government agencies, to offer passport renewals, citizenship and voter-registration services to displaced farm workers in Florida.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The group draws on the resources of local, and Jamaica-based lawyers, as well as representatives from Jamaica's Administrator General's Department, while the Registrar General Department (RGD) assists with accessing birth certificates."

&

"The workers' basic needs are for identification documents, including passports, birth certificates and other documents."

JG - Tales of hope, despair

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

Tales of hope, despair

published: Sunday May 25, 2008

Glenda Anderson, Staff Reporter

Hundreds of farm work applicants converged at the St Paul's United Church in Montego Bay in this 2005 photo. Over the years, thousands of Jamaicans have been recruited by US and Canadian companies to work on farms. - File

A sixty-five-year-old Jamaican farm worker - who does not want his identity disclosed - was recruited under the H-2A Agricultural programme by Florida Fruit and Vegetables Association in Orlando Florida, in November 1982 until 1989, and was assigned to the Sugar Cane Growers' Cooperative.

Read the whole article here.

JG - Displaced farm workers seek compensation

From my archive of press clippings:

Jamaica Gleaner

Displaced farm workers seek compensation

published: Sunday May 25, 2008

Glenda Anderson, Staff Reporter

AS MANY AS 4,000 Jamaican former farm workers, who were shunted off Florida's sugar cane fields following the mechanisation of the farms in the 1990s, are now being told to go home, or face further distress.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"One-time recruiter Jamaica Central Labour Organisation, says the men - now frustrated and angry after many years of waiting and several failed lawsuits - should leave the shores of the United States and head back to Jamaica."

"The matter involves some 2,000 Jamaican men who worked as cane cutters in Florida between 1987 and 1993, and are eligible to join a lawsuit to recover an estimated US$10 million (J$720 million) in unpaid wages from their employer, Osceola Farms."

&

"The group's troubles began in the early 1990s, following changes to a major agricultural provision.

The USA's Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986) allowed persons to qualify by either being in the country continuously for five years, or having worked under the Special Agricultural Workers programme.

This meant being employed for at least 90 days in fruit, sugar cane or vegetable.

By 1988, the US government allowed the men to apply and then issued them with temporary work-authorisation cards.

This allowed some 10,000 farm workers to work and live in the US, travel back and forth to Jamaica (similar to the privileges of a green-card holder, with the only restriction being that they could not apply for their family members)."

glenda.anderson@gleanerjm.com

TTT - Love Cruises? New Card Is Your Passport

From my archive of press clippings:

The Tampa Tribune

Love Cruises? New Card Is Your Passport

Applications for the passport card are being accepted. The cards will be issued starting next month.

By NICOLA M. WHITE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 13, 2008 Updated: 06/13/2008 12:16 am

TAMPA - So long, bulky passport book. Hello, plastic card. For U.S. citizens hopping on cruise ships to the Caribbean or crossing to Canada or Mexico by car, the State Department has introduced a wallet-sized swipe-y card that costs less than half the price of the traditional passport.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"The catch: You can't fly with it."

"(B)y June 1, 2009, all travelers visiting those nearby countries will be required to have a passport; a certified birth certificate will no longer be sufficient as proof of citizenship."

"The passport card contains all the vital information featured in a standard passport, minus the pages for cool stamps.

It carries the cardholder's photograph and a chip inside that holds travel information.

U.S. citizens are currently required to present some form of ID proving their U.S. citizenship when they travel to and from border countries such as Mexico, Canada and the islands in the Caribbean.

While some travelers carry passports, others bring certified copies of birth certificates."

"Costs for a certified birth certificate vary, but the cost of a passport card is $45 for an adult and $35 for a child.

A regular passport costs $100 for an adult and $85 for a child."

&

"They are only valid for land or sea crossings between border countries such as Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.

They are not valid for traveling by plane.

To apply: Go to any passport application facility."