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AP, via ABC News:

A former Houston man arrested in Kenya last month has been charged in Texas with teaming with al-Qaida to overthrow the Somali government and form an Islamic state there.

Daniel Joseph Maldonado, 28, also known as Daniel Aljughaifi, was ordered held without bail Tuesday on federal charges of undergoing military training with a terrorist organization and conspiring to use a destructive device.

Maldonado was returned to the United States on Monday night and appeared Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley, the U.S. attorney’s office in Houston said. A detention hearing is set for next week.

Maldonado’s arrest marks the first criminal prosecution of an American suspected of joining terrorists in Somalia, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein said in a statement.

According to the criminal complaint, Maldonado traveled from Houston to Africa in November 2005. By December 2006, the complaint says, he was in Somalia and had joined with the Islamic Courts Union and elements of al-Qaida to fight in a rebellion designed to overthrow the Somali government and install an Islamic state.

The complaint says Maldonado was issued an AK-47 rifle and attended two military training camps at which members of al-Qaida were present.

Maldonado was captured by the Kenyan military on Jan. 21 as he fled Ethiopian and Somali forces. He was expelled by Kenya and turned over to U.S. officials for his return to Houston.

Let me preface what follows with the BIG disclaimer that everything I’m about to write is entirely circumstantial.

That said, there only appears to be one Daniel Aljughaifi bouncing around the Internet… and he has a blog.

He also appears to be an administrator and heavily involved with an online forum called The Islamic Network, although his last activity on the site appears to have been on 9/16/06.

Maybe we’re talking about two completely separate Daniel Aljughaifis here, in which case I apologize.

But not too much, since the Daniel Aljughaifi I’ve identified in the Islamic Network forum seems content to bitch about how unfair it was to convict Holocaust denier David Irving in Austria.

Other tidbits I noticed–Aljughaifi claims to be “half Puerto Rican and half white” and is “married to a black woman.” Good for him.

Also, a different forum user in April complained that Aljughaifi had suddenly dropped out of sight, and someone else named “Talib” (i.e, “student,” the root of the word “Taliban”) says they are looking to contact “Daniel” themselves.

All very innocuous, I’m sure, but I thought it was worth noting publicly.

DHS–are you listening?

NOTE–I’ve been meaning to write this for some time, but haven’t gotten around to it; now is the perfect opportunity.

I am friends with some very religious Muslims–wife wears the full-body covering, husband has a beard and prays five times a day, only eat Hallal meat, etc.–and they are some of the finest people I know.

Go ahead and express your opinions vigorously; feel free to be honest and blunt.

But anyone expressing racism or advocating violence will be banned, regardless of whether or not you or someone else has expressed similar sentiments on LST previously.

If you honestly have to wonder and worry that your comment might be considered racist and/or violent… there’s a clue that maybe you should tone it down or not post it at all.

If you’re not capable of expressing your opinion in a manner that respects the essential decency of other human beings (absent proactive proof to the contrary), your opinion is a better fit somewhere else.

David Benzion, Publisher

State Sen. Dan Patrick has announced a press conference for tomorrow morning, in which he’ll discuss his strategy for taking on SJR 13, the measure that will bust the constitutional spending cap:

In making the event arrangements, Senator Patrick said “we have information proving the Legislature does not need to bust the spending cap or change the rules to provide tax relief to seniors and the disabled.” Patrick added, “we will show how SJR 13 will break the bank, and you won’t want to miss the show.”

It’ll be interesting to see what Dan has in mind, but it’s clear that he’s confident in fighting SJR 13. When he ran for the seat, Dan promised to give his constituents and listeners insight into the Byzantine nature of Austin, and he’s following through.

More on this tomorrow morning!

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Men across the country will be buying fancy dinners, roses, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, and bottles of perfume.

They’re chumps.

Guys, if you really want to woo that special Juliet, here’s how to get her in the mood:

Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo calls it the “Wild at Heart” tour. At New York’s Central Park Zoo, it’s “Jungle Love.” San Francisco offers “Woo at the Zoo,” and in Boise, Idaho, it’s possible to enjoy “Wild Love at the Zoo.”

When Valentine’s Day rolls around, zoos around the U.S. have become an unlikely locale for adult-oriented entertainment with risque tours that couple champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries and candlelight dining with impressive facts about how animals mate.

Rrrrowr! Nothing says “I love you” like hot zebra-on-zebra action.

Not to be outdone, our own Houston Zoo is feeling frisky, too:

Looking for a way to spice up your Valentine’s Day celebration this year? Bring your special someone to the Houston Zoo for dinner on February 13 or 14 for the “Go Wild for Love” Valentine’s lectures. Bill Konstant, the Houston Zoo’s Director of Conservation and Science will share an amusing and amazing glimpse into the private lives of animals from around the world.

The menu looks pretty good, but sadly, this event is sold out.

[Hat-tip: LST reader "Nechasin"]

And you thought that everything happening in South Texas was border related:

A thief apparently in need of a Valentine’s Day gift led local police on an early morning chase into Mercedes on Monday.

As they drove up, he bolted from the shop, carrying a large white teddy bear in a decorative basket, Chief Ruben “Ram” De Leon said.

He wanted that teddy bear so bad that he led police:

on a 10-mile chase through the downtown areas of Donna and Weslaco.

Fleeing at speeds near 50 miles an hour

Downtown and Donna/Weslaco in the same sentence is the definition of an oxymoron. Gotta love a good high speed chase at 50 mph. But wait:

Police told Santana the thief had buckled the bear into the back seat of his car.

“It was a two-door car,” she said. “He must have actually reclined the front seat to put him in the back and then buckled him in. I don’t know why he didn’t just throw it in the front.”

But….I thought the thief “bolted from the shop” while police were observing him. Perhaps they didn’t want the bear to get hurt.

From there, he escaped on foot, De Leon said.

Stellar police work, “Ram”.

After returning the stuffed toy to its display perch later Monday morning, she placed a pair of handcuffs around its wrists to underscore the bear’s wild night.

Flower shop owner. Teddy’s. Handcuffs. Who was it again that had the wild night?

Americans for Prosperity will be rallying at Houston City Hall tomorrow denouncing the Mayor and city council for not enacting the TABOR that Houston voters approved two years ago.

While I was searching for more info on this, I was surprised to find a Democrat Republican City Council person from Keller, TX that was brave enough to denounce the TML’s outrageous characterization of taxpayers:

My goodness. Radical…ludicrous…misguided extremists—on a Jihad. These AFP people are dangerous, no? They want to subvert our republic or incite violent revolution?

Not quite—their “all-out attack on the hard-working volunteers” is nothing more than a call to make taxpayer-funded lobbying illegal in Texas. Thomas Jefferson—himself a radical, ludicrous, misguided extremist to some—said, “To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.”

Good for him, we need more like him at every level of government. And if you can’t make the Houston meeting Wednesday, the tour will continue Thursday, 2/15 at Noon at the Doyle Center in Texas City. AFP and the Texas City Roll Back committee will co-sponsor this rally. If you are lucky, Galveston County’s official babewatch Tax Assessor-Collector Cheryl Johnson will be there.

PREVIOUSLY–Peggy Venable, Thug.

Oopsie, CORRECTION TIME: See above and below from comments. Mr. Carson is a Republican. Damn. Now I’m exposed as a Chron copy editor. My bad. bj

For the record, I think Democrats are the greater evil and Republicans the lesser evil. If you’re going to label me, I prefer Reaganite.

You may recall Mayor Whi-fi’s proposal from late 2005 to equip all of Houston with Wi-Fi access. According to the Chron a decision has been made.

The city disclosed today that it has chosen Atlanta-based EarthLink Municipal Networks to provide a citywide, wireless Internet network within the next two years.

In an interview with the Chronicle Monday, Mayor Bill White declined to disclose which of two finalists won the contract for the $60 million project, but some of his comments pointed to EarthLink.

All the plan needs is the rubber stamp.

While the agreement still needs City Council approval…

Our fair city seems to be banking that enough of you will sign up for this service to keep the Earthlink folks viable.

Some cities have used tax money to install wireless networks, but under the city’s plan the contractor would pay to build the network, earning a return on its investment by selling access and advertising.

The agreement sets a wholesale rate of $12 per subscriber per month, which the builder of the network would sell to various Internet service providers, White said. Those ISPs would add a profit margin to the base price and sell access to residents and businesses.

And of course it wouldn’t be a Houston city project without some unintended consequences. The perverts can take their laptops to parks and libraries for a free wireless porn fix.

The agreement calls for free access in some public places, including parks and libraries, and a discounted rate to the city for its government facilities, White said.

And we might be creating a 620 square-mile cyber-crime zone.

Another drawback to citywide networks is that they can provide cover for online criminals, because there’s no way to track their activity to specific locations.

Mayor Whi-Fi says, “Log on, Houston!”

Another Democrat campaign, another smear of our armed forces.

During his first press conference as a presidential candidate at Iowa State University, Obama, discussing his opposition to the Iraq war, said the war “should have never been authorized, and should have never been waged, and on which we’ve now spent $400 billion, and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted.”

Obama backtracked on Monday after sticking his foot in his mouth, saying he did not mean what he said and blaming “politics” for his difficulties.

…he assailed the “trivialization of politics” where “it is all about who makes a gaffe.”

Senator Obama may wish to seek advice on damage control from someone with similar experience. Then again, maybe not.

Here is an encouraging headline from Iraq.

Iraq says closes borders with Syria, Iran

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq’s government said on Tuesday it had closed its borders with Syria and Iran and extended the hours of a night curfew in Baghdad under a U.S.- backed security plan to rein in violence in the capital.

That sounds like a good start. It seems to be long past time to make a serious effort to interrupt the flow of money, weapons, explosives, and terrorists from Syria and Iran into Iraq. Perhaps a long-term effort to disrupt these supply lines will make a real difference. Oh wait, never mind.

Qanbar said the border with Iran would be closed for 72 hours. He did not say how long the border with Syria will be closed.

This looks like a job for American border experts.

Hey, at least here in the states we only have to worry about hunters with a buzz. Imagine playing by the river in Brazil:

Pereira’s 8-year-old grandson, Mateus, was attacked by the anaconda while wandering near a creek on his grandfather’s ranch in the city of Cosmorama, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) northwest of Sao Paulo.

I can’t even handle a grass snake without going bonkers. An anaconda? Good thing the 66 year old grandpa was around:

Mateus’ friends ran to get his grandfather, who reached the scene and battled with the snake until he had hurt it so badly that it let go of his grandson.

Way to go grandpa! No word on what he cooked for supper.

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