A Canadian was one of three persons detained Monday on allegations that they were engaged in growing marijuana.

Agents of the Judicial Investigating Organization confiscated 322 marijuana plants that had been growing hydroponically under artificial light.

The law enforcement action was in San Gerardo de Rivas de Pérez Zeledón. Agents said they had been on the case since they received a tip about suspicious activity in December. They entered the property at 5:30 p.m. Monday and said they found the marijuana growing in a storage facility near the home.

A man and a woman, both Costa Ricans, were detained along with the 40-year-old Canadian, they said. The names have not been released officially.


Crisis times comes early
for the Obama White House


The recent history of second term U.S. presidents indicates trouble will come at some point.  Trouble is not expected to come three at a time with roots both foreign and domestic.  But for the moment that is where the Obama administration finds itself.

All of a sudden last November’s easy re-election victory over Republican Mitt Romney seems like a galaxy far, far away.  And that soaring rhetoric from the second Obama inaugural about all of the hoped-for accomplishments now sounds a bit off key.  Second term presidents often find that their relevance begins to wane after the second congressional midterm election, in the final two years of their presidency.  But in some ways it feels like it’s already waning with this president.

President Obama was rightfully indignant about attempts by America’s taxation authority, the Internal Revenue Service, to target Tea Party and other conservative groups for special scrutiny.  The president told a news conference this week that operating the IRS in “anything less than a neutral and non-partisan way” would be outrageous, and he quickly added that he wouldn’t tolerate it.  He also said he wasn’t aware of it until recently and there is no suggestion the White House was behind the idea.

Allegations of abuse by the IRS conjures up memories of the administration of President Richard Nixon and his efforts to intimidate and punish political opponents, sometimes by threatening IRS audits as political payback.  Nixon is the only president who ever resigned the presidency and the last thing any president wants, especially a Democrat, is to be lumped into the same category with the man who left the office in disgrace back in 1974.  In fact, for both parties, using the IRS as a political tool is one of those no-no’s that would invite certain political peril.

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The IRS has already apologized for scrutinizing the tax-exempt status of some of the conservative groups. But this has already set off a firestorm on the political right and it’s hard to imagine a dumber political move than to play right into the hands of the harshest critics, the Tea Party groups, by putting them in the position of playing the victims.

This is likely to rekindle some of the Tea Party true believers and get them fired up for the 2014 congressional midterm elections.  A pretty neat trick given how distraught and bummed out they were when the president won a second term at the White House last November.

Given the Tea Party influence among Republicans in the House of Representatives, it could also make it even less likely that some of the president’s major domestic goals like immigration reform will have much of a chance getting through the House.  The politics of Washington went sour some years ago but this kind of thing just gets everyone on the political right fired up and ready to go, to borrow a phrase from the Obama campaign, circa 2008.

Add into the mix the revelations that the Justice Department last year secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors at The Associated Press, supposedly in connection with an AP story a year ago that focused on a foiled terror plot.

AP officials described the act as a massive and unprecedented intrusion into their news gathering operation and are demanding explanations from the Justice Department.  The irony here is that it was congressional Republicans who were demanding an investigation into leaks about the Obama administration’s anti-terror efforts that appeared to portray it in a positive light.

Federal prosecutors have been known to request reporter phone records in the past.  But the extent of the Justice Department sweep encompassing so many AP staffers and different bureaus is considered unusual.

Civil libertarians on both ends of the political spectrum are spitting mad about both the IRS missteps and the apparent fishing expedition targeting the Associated Press.  News organizations are usually notified in advance when the government is seeking phone records and very often a negotiation ensues as to what in the end will be turned over.  But the fact this was done secretly and covered a two-month period has sparked an angry reaction, not just from the AP but from journalist watchdog groups around the country.

In his latest news conference, the president was much more forceful in putting up a defense of his administration’s handling of the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, last Sept. 11.  Obama blasted the back and forth over administration talking points about the attack as a political sideshow being fomented by partisan Republicans.

On one hand the story has had some staying power, given that it hasn’t gone away even after congressional hearings featuring former secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  At the same time, some Republicans are coming close to overplaying their hand.  For example, Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe compared it to Watergate and the Iran-Contra scandal and raised the possibility that the president might be impeached over the incident.

An added temptation for some Republicans is that they can’t seem to resist trying to pin much of the responsibility for the problems at Benghazi on Hillary Clinton.  They would like nothing better than to politically knock her down a peg or two well in advance of the 2016 presidential election cycle should she decide to run.

The problem is, even if some Republicans are going overboard on Benghazi, it becomes added into the mix of the IRS flap, plus the new revelations about tapping the AP phones.  These budding all-at-once mini-scandals tend to have a greater cumulative impact on the public and can give the impression that the administration has been weakened and is in political trouble.

All three of these issues relate to the central concern about the president’s credibility, and that is something that could affect the rest of the administration’s second term.  Just a few weeks ago, administration supporters were enthusiastic about the prospects of passing gun control legislation, immigration reform and maybe even getting a long-term deficit reduction deal.

Gun control has now been defeated and the prospects for a sweeping deficit deal seem to be fading.  Immigration reform remains the best hope as a major accomplishment for the second term.  But the worry now is that these three controversies over the IRS, Benghazi and phone monitoring will taint the political waters to the point where compromise on a major piece of legislation becomes untenable.  Few would have predicted that a key turning point in this administration’s second term would come so quickly.  But it appears to be here.


Attorney general defends
massive AP records sweep


U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is defending a leak investigation that included secretly obtaining phone records from The Associated Press.

The Associated Press is protesting what it calls a massive and unprecedented intrusion into its newsgathering operation by the Justice Department in connection with a leak investigation dating back to last year.

But at a Washington news conference Tuesday, Holder defended the investigation.

“I have been a prosecutor since 1976, and I have to say that this is among the, if not the most serious it is within the top two or three most serious leaks that I have ever seen,” Holder said.

Holder did not disclose details about the investigation.  But U.S. officials have said previously they are looking for the sources of a May, 2012, Associated Press story that disclosed details of a CIA operation in Yemen that stopped an Al Qaida plot to bomb an airliner bound for the U.S.

Holder told reporters that he recused himself from the investigation and that it was now in the hands of his deputies.

The attorney general also said he had no doubt that the leak jeopardized national security.

“It put the American people at risk and that is not hyperbole.  It put the American people at risk and trying to determine who was responsible for that I think required very aggressive action,” Holder said.

The Associated Press says the government secretly obtained two months’ worth of phone records last year for 20 separate phone lines.  The AP says more than 100 journalists work in the offices covered by the phone records.

“This is not a very narrow cast inquiry.  It seems to be very broad and we don’t really know what it’s all about since they haven’t told us.  It’s one of the reasons that our CEO, Gary Pruitt, wrote such a strongly worded letter to the attorney general objecting to the broad nature and the unprecedented breadth of this inquiry,” said Kathleen Carroll, AP’s senior vice president and executive editor.

The revelations have brought criticism and concern from some members of Congress and from the American Society of News Editors, which called it a disturbing affront to a free press.


U.S. diplomat is labeled
by Russia as CIA recruiter


Russia is ordering the immediate departure of a U.S. embassy employee it accuses of trying to recruit a Russian intelligence officer to work for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Acting deputy State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell confirms that an officer of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was briefly detained and released.

"We have seen the Russian Foreign Ministry announcement and have no further comment at this time," Ventrell said.

Russia's Federal Security Service says it briefly detained a U.S. citizen it identified as Ryan Fogle, who it says was caught with special technical equipment, disguises, a large amount of cash and a letter to the Russian he was attempting to recruit.

Russian media quoted the letter as offering the Russian intelligence officer $100,000 to begin, and up to $1 million for long-term cooperation with the CIA.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a session of the Arctic Council in Sweden. State Department spokesman Ventrell said allegations of spying would not disrupt efforts to convene an international peace conference on Syria.

"We are very much committed to working with the Russians toward this peace conference, and the secretary's active diplomacy on that continues," Ventrell said.

In a statement Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said that at a time when the Russian and U.S. presidents have declared a readiness to expand bilateral cooperation, "such provocative actions in the spirit of the Cold War by no means promote the strengthening of mutual trust."


Angelina Jolie describes
why she had mastectomies


Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has had a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer and says she hopes her story will inspire other women fighting the life-threatening disease.

Ms. Jolie wrote in The New York Times Tuesday that the operation has made it easier for her to reassure her six children that she would not die young from cancer like her own mother did at 56.

"We often speak of 'Mommy's mommy,' and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us. They have asked if the same could happen to me,'' wrote Jolie, 37.

"I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a faulty gene.''

The Oscar-winning actress said her doctors had estimated she had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

"Once I knew this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much as I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy,'' she said.

Partner and fellow Hollywood star Brad Pitt was by Ms. Jolie's side through three months of treatment that ended late in April, she said. The two got engaged last year.

"Having witnessed this decision firsthand, I find Angie's choice, as well as so many others like her, absolutely heroic,'' Pitt told the London's Evening Standard newspaper. "All I want is for her to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children. This is a happy day for our family.''

Jolie said that even though she had kept silent about her treatment while it was going on, she hoped her story would now help other women.

"I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested.''

Breast cancer alone kills some 458,000 people each year, according to the World Health Organization. It is estimated that one in 300 to one in 500 women carry a BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene mutation, as Ms. Jolie does.

CNN anchor Zoraida Sambolin announced on Tuesday that she had breast cancer and was also getting a double mastectomy.

Ms. Sambolin, who anchors CNN's "Early Start'' morning show, discussed her condition on the show while talking about Ms. Jolie's procedure.

"I struggled for weeks trying to figure out how to tell you that I had been diagnosed with breast cancer and was leaving to have surgery,'' Ms. Sambolin, 47, said on Facebook. "Then ... Angelina Jolie shares her story of a double mastectomy and gives me strength and an opening.''

Ms. Jolie's decision was also welcomed by breast cancer patients and charities.

Richard Francis, head of research at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity in Britain, said it demonstrated the importance of educating women with the gene fault.

"For women like Angelina, it's important that they are made fully aware of all the options that are available, including risk-reducing surgery and extra breast screening,'' Francis said.

Baroness Delyth Morgan, the Breast Cancer Campaign chief executive,  said Ms. Jolie's openness in talking about her experience and her decision to have surgery would raise awareness of the disease and its risk.

Ms. Jolie won a 1999 best supporting actress Oscar for "Girl, Interrupted."

She lends her star power to a range of humanitarian campaigns, including serving more than 10 years as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

In April, she urged governments to step up efforts to bring wartime sex offenders to justice.


BlackBerry to offer messaging
on devices sold by other firms


BlackBerry announced plans Tuesday to offer its popular instant messaging system on rival devices and introduced a new mid-tier smartphone targeted at countries where its faded brand remains strong.
 
Tapping into its popularity outside North America, BlackBerry said the new Q5 smartphone would be available in selected markets in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
 
It gave no prices, but it will clearly target a younger, more price-sensitive crowd with the device, which will be available in colors including pink, red and white.
 
The new phone includes the tiny qwerty keyboard that still sets BlackBerry apart from most rivals.
 
BlackBerry, under its old name Research In Motion, virtually invented the concept of on-your-hip email with a series of blocky devices with tiny thumb-operated keyboards.
 
But in recent years it has bled market share to Apple, Inc.'s iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co's popular line of Galaxy devices powered by Google's Android operating system, forcing it into big job cuts, and a huge rethink of its products and priorities.
 
“You know it hasn't been that easy and you also know there is still a lot of work to do, but man, we have reached solid ground with this company," Chief Executive Thorsten Heins told delegates at the BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando, Florida.
 
To those who ask if the company can survive the drastic changes he brought in, Heins said: “We are not only still here, we are firing on all cylinders as a company.''
 
In a new shift of direction, Heins said BlackBerry would offer BlackBerry Messaging, free of charge, to consumers using rival phones.
 
“This is such a great experience, it is just too good to keep it only to ourselves. It's time to bring BBM to a greater audience," he said to cheers from the audience. BBM is used for 10 billion messages a day, he said.
 
BlackBerry long relied on BBM to keep customers tied to its own devices, so the shift recognizes a new reality where many customers have already fled.
 
Heins said he is confident that BlackBerry can offer the service more broadly without losing its own customers.
 
BlackBerry has gambled its future on a new line of devices using its new BlackBerry 10 operating system, and Heins said the two new BB10 smartphones BlackBerry has already started selling have given it its most successful launch year.
 
The touchscreen Z10 device is now available in many countries, including the United States, and Heins said the keyboard Q10 phone will be launched in the United States next month.
 
BlackBerry's volatile shares were down more than 2 percent at $15.22 in New York late Tuesday morning.


Walmart says it will inspect
Bangladesh suppliers' factories


The world's largest retailer, Walmart, is ordering inspections of all 279 of its suppliers' factories in Bangladesh and will publicly announce the results.

Walmart is acting after a building containing garment factories in Bangladesh collapsed last month, killing more than 1,100 workers.

Walmart says it will no longer buy goods from any factory that fails safety inspection and does not make proper repairs.

Walmart is acting separately from a joint agreement by several top global clothing retailers and brands to demand better working conditions in Bangladesh. They include H&M, Zara, Tesco, Calvin Klein, and Izod. They have set a Wednesday deadline for all retailers to sign on to the agreement.

Last month's building collapse killed 1,127 people. Nearly 2,500 people were pulled alive from the rubble, including a 19 year-old girl who survived in the wreckage for 17 days. Bangladesh authorities have arrested nine people in connection with the collapse.

The government says it has since shut down 18 garment factories for safety reasons. It also plans to raise the minimum wage for garment workers and allow for the easier formation of labor unions.