Everyday Citizens Can Defend the Homeland

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Information Technology Sector:

Online terror camps cut overhead, teach Google Earth target acquisition. Western governments have ceded the Internet to terrorists, security experts are warning. Most European Union governments as well as the United States have dismissed pro-Al Qaida websites as merely propaganda without understanding their capability to recruit and carry out operations. Western experts said Al Qaida’s use of the Internet has been so successful that the movement has shut down training camps in Afghanistan. Instead, they said, the Internet is used to teach operatives how to kill and maim. “Now they meet in cyberspace,” a professor in Israel and Germany told a conference on Internet security at the headquarters of Germany’s Federal Police Office. “They teach people how to become terrorists on-line. Al Qaida has launched a practical website that shows how to use weapons, how to carry out a kidnapping, how to use fertilizer to make bombs.” Here is how it works: Al Qaida operates a series of websites that covers everything from indoctrination, recruitment, targeting, and operations. Those with questions can use Al Qaida’s chat rooms. The Internet has vastly reduced the need for target reconnaissance by Al Qaida. The professor, regarded as a leading expert in Al Qaida-aligned websites, told the November 21 conference in Wiesbaden, Germany, that Al Qaida uses Google Earth, which scours satellite images, to locate targets. But Western governments have been torn between following Internet crime and terrorism. The president of the German Federal Police Office raised another issue. Terrorists and other criminals often use laptops in apartment buildings where they latch on to the connections of other wireless users, which he said often prevents authorities from identifying users of Al Qaida websites. A former British parliamentarian and president of the British Defence and Security Forum agreed, saying terrorists operate 7,000 websites that remain in operation and uncensored. Source: http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2007/me_terror_12_10.asp

[Adlerian Thinker]

Something most of us don't think about, from the Emergency Services Sector:

Training teaches dangers of new car technologies. With a body made entirely of carbon fiber that is lighter than fiberglass and stronger than steel, how could a new, higher mileage Corvette possibly be a bad thing? When a firefighter who shows up on the scene of a crash and touches the broken material gets a severe skin rash that hospital staff have to scrub out of the skin with a stiff brush. The new Corvette -- along with hybrid cars and cars with alternative construction materials -- is one of several automotive advances that could harm emergency workers who respond to car accidents. With gasoline prices soaring, more of the vehicles are around. About 50 York County firefighters turned out for a North York training session Sunday to teach emergency responders how to safely work with new technologies. Firefighters learned about safety practices on a variety of subjects, from hydrogen-powered cars and air bags to new motorist extrication methods. When the vehicle reaches its operating temperature, the gasoline engine shuts down. “You would not even know the car is running because it’s silent,” said the coordinator. Firefighters have to be aware of such vehicles -- and turn them off before they begin a rescue -- because they carry extremely high voltages, he said. An electric car’s power system can require 140 to 700 volts. The normal voltage level for a house is 120, he said. To his knowledge, no firefighters have had encounters with the new technologies; the idea behind the training is to allow firefighters to be proactive instead of reactive and avoid getting hurt. Source: http://www.emsresponder.com/web/online/Top-EMS-News/Training-Teaches-Dangers-of-New-Car-Technologies/1$6694

[rhet 2]

Something most of us don't think about, from the Emergency Services Sector:

Training teaches dangers of new car technologies. With a body made entirely of carbon fiber that is lighter than fiberglass and stronger than steel, how could a new, higher mileage Corvette possibly be a bad thing? When a firefighter who shows up on the scene of a crash and touches the broken material gets a severe skin rash that hospital staff have to scrub out of the skin with a stiff brush. The new Corvette -- along with hybrid cars and cars with alternative construction materials -- is one of several automotive advances that could harm emergency workers who respond to car accidents. With gasoline prices soaring, more of the vehicles are around. About 50 York County firefighters turned out for a North York training session Sunday to teach emergency responders how to safely work with new technologies. Firefighters learned about safety practices on a variety of subjects, from hydrogen-powered cars and air bags to new motorist extrication methods. When the vehicle reaches its operating temperature, the gasoline engine shuts down. “You would not even know the car is running because it’s silent,” said the coordinator. Firefighters have to be aware of such vehicles -- and turn them off before they begin a rescue -- because they carry extremely high voltages, he said. An electric car’s power system can require 140 to 700 volts. The normal voltage level for a house is 120, he said. To his knowledge, no firefighters have had encounters with the new technologies; the idea behind the training is to allow firefighters to be proactive instead of reactive and avoid getting hurt. Source: http://www.emsresponder.com/web/online/Top-EMS-News/Training-Teaches-Dangers-of-New-Car-Technologies/1$6694

Wow!

Thank you for the heads up.

As a trained first aid giver -- just the usual CPR, Heimlichs, etc., first aid type stuff, I'd be doing what I could till EMS got there to take over -- and might myself try to get a kid or something out, if I knew I wouldn't risk further injury doing it -- could easily walk into the same uh-oh in the process.

wouldn't stop me from getting a vic out of the car and on the ground for first aid or climbing in for CPR or stopping an arterial bleed out -- but I sure will be trying to keep something between me and the debris field when I do it.

I'm definitely going to make sure I've got those asbestos gloves in the first aid/emergency kits in the cars.

I'm glad the pros are getting the headsup training -- but it'll be several more months till I'm scheduled for a refresher as just first aid giver.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Wow!

Thank you for the heads up.

As a trained first aid giver -- just the usual CPR, Heimlichs, etc., first aid type stuff, I'd be doing what I could till EMS got there to take over -- and might myself try to get a kid or something out, if I knew I wouldn't risk further injury doing it -- could easily walk into the same uh-oh in the process.

wouldn't stop me from getting a vic out of the car and on the ground for first aid or climbing in for CPR or stopping an arterial bleed out -- but I sure will be trying to keep something between me and the debris field when I do it.

I'm definitely going to make sure I've got those asbestos gloves in the first aid/emergency kits in the cars.

I'm glad the pros are getting the headsup training -- but it'll be several more months till I'm scheduled for a refresher as just first aid giver.

I am here to serve.

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Transportation Sector:

New screening machine sees your carry-on in 3-D. A pilot program featuring a carry-on-baggage screening machine called the Analogic COBRA will go on line Saturday at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport’s Terminal D north security checkpoint. The Automatic Explosive Detection System, or Auto-EDS, creates three-dimensional representations of a bag’s contents using technology similar to medical CT scans and does not require the contents to be removed. It also features an automated bin return system. Source: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/355300.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Government Facilities Sector:

Fort Dix attack plot suspects promoting terror in jail. Federal authorities say one of the men accused of planning an attack on soldiers at the Fort Dix army base gave another inmate in a federal detention center an Al Qaeda recruitment video and another wrote a note referring to the fight “we weren’t able to finish.” The five men — all foreign-born Muslims in their 20s — were arrested in May and charged with conspiring to kill uniformed military personnel. Authorities said they planned to sneak onto Fort Dix, a base in New Jersey used primarily to train reservists for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. A sixth man later pleaded guilty to providing weapons to some of the five charged in the alleged conspiracy. There was no attack, however. The five suspects include three ethnic Albanians from the former Yugoslavia, a Jordanian, and a Turk. A hearing on the men’s bail motion is scheduled for December 20. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,316514,00.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

More from the Government Facilities Sector:

Hastings High opens late after second bomb scare. For the second time in two days, Hastings High School in New York has been the subject of a bomb scare. Shortly after 8 a.m. on Wednesday police said the school has been evacuated. There was no estimate on when students and staff would be allowed to return. The incident was still being investigated, police said. As of 8:15 a.m. police were not able to tell if the circumstances of the threat today were similar to the one received yesterday by the school. No one at the school could be reached Source: http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071212/NEWS02/712120418/1018/NEWS02

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the IT Sector:

US-CERT: Attackers targeting Microsoft Access files. Online criminals are exploiting a flaw in the Microsoft Office Access database to install unauthorized software on computers, the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) warned in a brief warning on Monday. US-CERT offered few details on the attack, saying simply that the organization is “aware of active exploitation” of the problem by criminals who have sent specially crafted Microsoft Access Database (.mdb) files to victims. These files are “designed for the sole purpose of executing commands,” so they should not be accepted from un-trusted sources, Microsoft said in a note on its Web site. The senior manager for Symantec Corp.’s security response expressed surprise at the attacks as .mdb files “are not something that the average user would come across on a daily basis…” and they “are blocked by default in most installations of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express.” Source: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9052538&source=rss_topic17

[Adlerian Thinker]

Windows into the Jihadist Mindset
By Douglas Farah

The Middle East Media Research Institute and the NEFA Foundation offer two interesting and enlightening views into the current mindset of Islamist jihadis, particularly as it relates to the Iraq conflict.

MEMRI transcribes and interview with a person claiming to be a former leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. Several things are striking. One is the rather striking disregard for human life, and the assumption in the discussion that one human being (if of the proper Muslim stripe) can and should kill everyone else. There is no wavering on this, as seen in the response to who the Islamists are targeting:

Everybody was targeted, but the Americans took precedence."

Interviewer: "Who is 'everybody'?"

Jawhar: "Whoever fights against 'there is no god but Allah.' Is there anyone who defends the Americans any better than them? The infidels are one and the same. An infidel is an infidel - whether he is a Palestinian, a Jew, or an Argentinean. The infidels are one and the same, while an American Muslim is a Muslim. So what's the problem? What, an Iraqi who is an apostate and who helps the Americans should be treated like a VIP? He is worse than the Americans."

It is also interesting to note the claim not to hold Iraqis for ransom, which would be against Islamic law. Unfortunately, that means they are usually killed.
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/windows_into_the_jihadist_mind.php

That makes it pretty clear, doesn't it?

[rhet 2]

Windows into the Jihadist Mindset
By Douglas Farah

The Middle East Media Research Institute and the NEFA Foundation offer two interesting and enlightening views into the current mindset of Islamist jihadis, particularly as it relates to the Iraq conflict.

MEMRI transcribes and interview with a person claiming to be a former leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. Several things are striking. One is the rather striking disregard for human life, and the assumption in the discussion that one human being (if of the proper Muslim stripe) can and should kill everyone else. There is no wavering on this, as seen in the response to who the Islamists are targeting:

Everybody was targeted, but the Americans took precedence."

Interviewer: "Who is 'everybody'?"

Jawhar: "Whoever fights against 'there is no god but Allah.' Is there anyone who defends the Americans any better than them? The infidels are one and the same. An infidel is an infidel - whether he is a Palestinian, a Jew, or an Argentinean. The infidels are one and the same, while an American Muslim is a Muslim. So what's the problem? What, an Iraqi who is an apostate and who helps the Americans should be treated like a VIP? He is worse than the Americans."

It is also interesting to note the claim not to hold Iraqis for ransom, which would be against Islamic law. Unfortunately, that means they are usually killed.
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/windows_into_the_jihadist_mind.php

That makes it pretty clear, doesn't it?

What we've all been saying all along.

Good source. Confirmation from the mouth of a jihadi.

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Government Facilities Sector:

Bomb scare forces Westmoreland courthouse evacuation. On Wednesday, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, authorities said they had no suspects in a bomb scare that forced the evacuation of the courthouse. A man telephoned an anonymous threat to the courthouse at 9:20 a.m. and said that “the device would go off at 12:30 p.m.” The call was answered in the county sheriff’s office. County police, along with officers from Greensburg and the state police and county sheriff’s deputies, spent more than two hours searching the perimeter of the courthouse and adjacent buildings with bomb-sniffing dogs. No bomb or other suspicious devices were found, and the courthouse was reopened yesterday shortly after 1 p.m. Source: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/westmoreland/s_542510.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Commercial Facilities Sector:

Lombard Von Maur evacuated after bomb threat. The Von Maur department store at Yorktown Center in Lombard, Illinois, was evacuated Wednesday afternoon after someone called in a bomb threat, police said. No bomb was found and no one was injured, but tensions were high because a Von Maur store in Omaha was the scene of last Wednesday’s shooting rampage, in which a gunman killed eight people and himself. The Lombard store remained closed for about 1 hour. Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-vonmaur_13_bothdec13,1,7149430.story

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Dams Sector:

Buford Dam bomb scare over. The Gwinnett County Police Department bomb squad was called to investigate a suspicious package at the Lake Lanier Management Office at the Buford Dam about 10:00 a.m. Police said their preliminary investigation indicated that an employee went to a post office for the usual mail pick up. Included in the mail was a box package. When the package was opened, there were two metal tins inside, but there was no note or anything else to show who sent them or where they were mailed, because of that, the employee called police. A routine evacuation of the office was conducted, according to police, and the bomb squad deployed its robot to x-ray and neutralize the package. It turns out there were cookies in the tins. Apparently, according to police, the office has received threats in the past and those threats coupled with the suspicious package prompted the 911 call to police. Police had no other information on those threats. Officers say they will investigate further to try to determine who mailed the cookies and from where. Source: http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=204815&c=10

[Adlerian Thinker]

This has implications for our own sites:

Spain Increases Security At Nuclear Power Plants Amid Threatened Terror Attack

December 12, 2007

After several security lapses in and around it’s nuclear power plants and mounting fears of a threatened al Qaeda terror attack, Spain has stepped up security at it’s nuclear facilities.

Security at the nuclear power plants has been beefed up since February,and was prompted by the trial of those responsible for the 11 March 2004 bomb attacks in Madrid. In June 2006, the CSN said in a report that those attacks “highlight the existence of threats that could affect installations and nuclear or radioactive material.”

The Interior Ministry says the country is still a target for Islamic extremists, and cites recent statements by Osama bin Laden’s second-in-command, Ayman Al Zawahiri, calling for attacks on Spanish targets.

“The biggest damage would be caused by hitting a nuclear power plant,” says a CNI source.

Access to Spain’s eight currently operating nuclear plants has been toughened. At the Cofrentes plant in Valencia, workers pass through four different security points: at the first they identify themselves to guards; then they must pass through a finger-print check; and at the third they are scanned for metals and explosives; at the fourth, they are again, checked. Iberdrola, the company that runs Cofrentes, has placed two wire fences round the site. One is electrified, and the other has razor wire around the top of it.

Meanwhile, the ease with which Greenpeace activists were able to occupy the Almaraz plant in June prompted a review of security at the Extremaduran installation. IN general, the CNI has intensified security checks into the workforce at Spain’s nuclear power stations, say anti-terrorist sources. Even so, there have been incidents. The attempt to steal uranium tablets from the Juzbado fuel-element producing facility in Salamanca earlier this year reveals that security is still lax in many places. A member of the workforce is suspected of trying to smuggle the tablets out, which were found by a perimeter fence in September, but so far, nobody has been charged. Enusa, the company that runs Juzbado, says no stock is missing. The CSN says the tablets cannot be used to make a bomb.

Joan Mesquida, the head of the police and Civil Guard, spoke at a recent international conference in Madrid on Europe’s terrorist threat. “Spain is taking the possibility of an attack with non-conventional weapons very seriously.”

He added that both “intuition and information” suggest that Islamist terrorists will try to carry out an attack using a dirty bomb or non-conventional weapon.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/12/spain-increases-security-at-nuclear-power-plants-amid-threatened-terror-attack/

[Adlerian Thinker]

Why al Qaeda 1.0 Still Matters
By Douglas Farah

The Dec. 11 attack in Algiers by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb shows that the old guard of al Qaeda, what some analysts call al Qaeda 1.0 (rather than the new, decentralized structure) still matters.

As Craig Whitlock noted in the Washington Post, the group (formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat-GSPC) has markedly improved is capabilities since formally allying with al Qaeda 14 months ago.

What is striking, as noted by my colleague Evan Kohlmann in that piece and elsewhere, is the quantum leap in the propaganda capabilities of AQIM, the ability to film the attack and rapidly make high-quality video available on the Internet.

The simultaneous rising sophistication of AQIM, particularly its "media" wing, and the formal alliance with al Qaeda central strike me as more than a passing coincidence.

It is increasingly clear that the old guard, operating from Pakistan and the border region with Afghanistan, has regrouped and is in more direct communication with its affiliates than it was 6 months ago.
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/why_al_qaeda_10_still_matters.php

Time to turn up the heat.

[Adlerian Thinker]

2 Men Plead Guilty To Domestic Terrorism Charges In Los Angeles
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/14/2-men-plead-guilty-to-domestic-terrorism-charges-in-los-angeles/

December 14, 2007

"Two men who were part of a domestic terrorist cell pleaded guilty this morning to federal terrorism charges, admitting that they conspired to attack United States military operations, “infidels,” and Israeli and Jewish facilities in the Los Angeles area.

The two men – Kevin James, who formed the terror group while in a California state prison, and Levar Washington, who was recruited by James while in state prison and recruited others into the plot – pleaded guilty to conspiring to wage war against the United States.

A third member of the radical Islamic organization which James dubbed Jam’iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS – Gregory Patterson – is expected to plead guilty to the terrorism conspiracy charge on Monday. The fourth member of JIS named in an indictment – Hammad Samana – has been found unfit to stand trial and is currently receiving psychiatric care at a federal prison facility.

“We are keenly aware of the threat posed by home-grown terrorism. As the guilty pleas today demonstrate, we will continue to identify and disrupt extremist cells before they can inflict harm. This case demonstrates how law enforcement cooperation at all levels thwarted a domestic plot that targeted U.S. military facilities as well as Israeli and Jewish facilities in the Los Angeles area,” said Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey.

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III stated: “This is a case in which a terrorist cell grew out of a prison cell. Despite the fact that they had no connection to al-Qaeda leaders, they had adopted their cause. These home-grown terrorists had raised the money, recruited the people, chosen the targets, obtained the weapons and set the date. All they had left to do was to strike. The JIS case is an outstanding example of how the Joint Terrorist Task Force system works. A local crime yielded clues that pointed to terrorism. That information was brought to the JTTF and soon over 300 FBI personnel and police officers were tracking suspects and unraveling the plot. It was the superb partnership between law enforcement agencies that prevented that.”

United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien commented: “The prevention of future terrorist attacks is the number one priority of the Justice Department, and the investigation and successful prosecution of the JIS terrorist organization stands out as a landmark case in Southern California. With the defendants considering a series of targets to attack – including U.S. Army personnel, synagogues and others perceived as ‘infidels’– this terror plot had reached an advanced level. Because these men were driven by ideological fervor, had a demonstrated ability to obtain weapons, and had planned attacks on identified targets, an untold number of lives may have been saved when this terrorist cell was dismantled.”

snip

After forming JIS in 1997 while in state prison, James recruited Washington into the organization in late 2004 while both were prisoners at New Folsom Prison, where James had Washington swear an oath of loyalty and obedience to James and to JIS. After his release from prison several weeks after taking the JIS oath, Washington recruited Patterson and Samana into JIS and had them swear oaths of allegiance and obedience to JIS. After forming this cell, Washington and Patterson conducted about a dozen armed robberies of gas stations to supply money for the group’s planned attacks in the Los Angeles area.

Samana researched targets and prepared a document called “Modes of Attack.” The document listed “LAX and Consulate of Zion,” “Military Targets,” “Army Recruiting centers throughout the county,” “Military base in Manhattan Beach” and “Campsite of Zion.”

After Torrance Police investigators linked the two to a gas station robbery, various Jihadist documents were found at a South Los Angeles apartment where Washington and Patterson lived. In addition to the “Modes of Attack” document, investigators discovered a document titled “Notoriety Moves,” which contained a James-authored statement to be given to the media after a deadly attack. The proposed press statement reads, in part, “This incident is the first in a series of incidents to come in a plight to defend and propagate traditional Islam in its purity.” The document also warns “sincere Muslims” to avoid a series of targets, including “Those Jewish and non-Jewish supporters of an Israeli state.”

snip

Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Michael Downing, Commanding Officer, Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau, stated: “This case was an outstanding example of cooperation between local, state and federal law enforcement and in particular the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) model. It also illustrates that the best information comes from the cops on the beat and those involved in criminal investigations, hence the all-crimes approach to terrorism prevention. Homegrown terrorism remains a grave concern for the security of our country and this cell was closer to going operational than any we have seen post-911. Jamiyyat UI Is Saheeh (JIS), translated as Assembly of Authentic Islam, practiced a form radicalized Islam that was neither authentic nor peaceful.”

James and Patterson pleaded guilty this morning before United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney, who is scheduled to sentence James on March 31 and Washington on April 28. As a result of his guilty plea, James faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Washington, who also pleaded guilty to using a firearm in relation to the terrorist plot, faces up to 25 years in prison.

snip

The investigation into the terrorist conspiracy was led by the FBI’s Long Beach Joint Terrorism Task Force, whose participating agencies include the Los Angeles Police Department; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Torrance Police Department; the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; the Long Beach Police Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Los Angeles Port Police; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Redondo Beach Police Department.

Substantial assistance during the investigation was provided by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Bureau of Investigations; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the California Department of Justice; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations; and the Department of Defense.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office worked collaboratively with the United States Attorney’s Office during the investigation."

A prime example of the increasing cooperation between various LEAs. This kicks in with tips from concerned citizens like you.

[rhet 2]

2 Men Plead Guilty To Domestic Terrorism Charges In Los Angeles
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/14/2-men-plead-guilty-to-domestic-terrorism-charges-in-los-angeles/

December 14, 2007

"Two men who were part of a domestic terrorist cell pleaded guilty this morning to federal terrorism charges, admitting that they conspired to attack United States military operations, “infidels,” and Israeli and Jewish facilities in the Los Angeles area.

The two men – Kevin James, who formed the terror group while in a California state prison, and Levar Washington, who was recruited by James while in state prison and recruited others into the plot – pleaded guilty to conspiring to wage war against the United States.

A third member of the radical Islamic organization which James dubbed Jam’iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, or JIS – Gregory Patterson – is expected to plead guilty to the terrorism conspiracy charge on Monday. The fourth member of JIS named in an indictment – Hammad Samana – has been found unfit to stand trial and is currently receiving psychiatric care at a federal prison facility.

“We are keenly aware of the threat posed by home-grown terrorism. As the guilty pleas today demonstrate, we will continue to identify and disrupt extremist cells before they can inflict harm. This case demonstrates how law enforcement cooperation at all levels thwarted a domestic plot that targeted U.S. military facilities as well as Israeli and Jewish facilities in the Los Angeles area,” said Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey.

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III stated: “This is a case in which a terrorist cell grew out of a prison cell. Despite the fact that they had no connection to al-Qaeda leaders, they had adopted their cause. These home-grown terrorists had raised the money, recruited the people, chosen the targets, obtained the weapons and set the date. All they had left to do was to strike. The JIS case is an outstanding example of how the Joint Terrorist Task Force system works. A local crime yielded clues that pointed to terrorism. That information was brought to the JTTF and soon over 300 FBI personnel and police officers were tracking suspects and unraveling the plot. It was the superb partnership between law enforcement agencies that prevented that.”

United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien commented: “The prevention of future terrorist attacks is the number one priority of the Justice Department, and the investigation and successful prosecution of the JIS terrorist organization stands out as a landmark case in Southern California. With the defendants considering a series of targets to attack – including U.S. Army personnel, synagogues and others perceived as ‘infidels’– this terror plot had reached an advanced level. Because these men were driven by ideological fervor, had a demonstrated ability to obtain weapons, and had planned attacks on identified targets, an untold number of lives may have been saved when this terrorist cell was dismantled.”

snip

After forming JIS in 1997 while in state prison, James recruited Washington into the organization in late 2004 while both were prisoners at New Folsom Prison, where James had Washington swear an oath of loyalty and obedience to James and to JIS. After his release from prison several weeks after taking the JIS oath, Washington recruited Patterson and Samana into JIS and had them swear oaths of allegiance and obedience to JIS. After forming this cell, Washington and Patterson conducted about a dozen armed robberies of gas stations to supply money for the group’s planned attacks in the Los Angeles area.

Samana researched targets and prepared a document called “Modes of Attack.” The document listed “LAX and Consulate of Zion,” “Military Targets,” “Army Recruiting centers throughout the county,” “Military base in Manhattan Beach” and “Campsite of Zion.”

After Torrance Police investigators linked the two to a gas station robbery, various Jihadist documents were found at a South Los Angeles apartment where Washington and Patterson lived. In addition to the “Modes of Attack” document, investigators discovered a document titled “Notoriety Moves,” which contained a James-authored statement to be given to the media after a deadly attack. The proposed press statement reads, in part, “This incident is the first in a series of incidents to come in a plight to defend and propagate traditional Islam in its purity.” The document also warns “sincere Muslims” to avoid a series of targets, including “Those Jewish and non-Jewish supporters of an Israeli state.”

snip

Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Michael Downing, Commanding Officer, Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau, stated: “This case was an outstanding example of cooperation between local, state and federal law enforcement and in particular the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) model. It also illustrates that the best information comes from the cops on the beat and those involved in criminal investigations, hence the all-crimes approach to terrorism prevention. Homegrown terrorism remains a grave concern for the security of our country and this cell was closer to going operational than any we have seen post-911. Jamiyyat UI Is Saheeh (JIS), translated as Assembly of Authentic Islam, practiced a form radicalized Islam that was neither authentic nor peaceful.”

James and Patterson pleaded guilty this morning before United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney, who is scheduled to sentence James on March 31 and Washington on April 28. As a result of his guilty plea, James faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Washington, who also pleaded guilty to using a firearm in relation to the terrorist plot, faces up to 25 years in prison.

snip

The investigation into the terrorist conspiracy was led by the FBI’s Long Beach Joint Terrorism Task Force, whose participating agencies include the Los Angeles Police Department; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Torrance Police Department; the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; the Long Beach Police Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Los Angeles Port Police; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Redondo Beach Police Department.

Substantial assistance during the investigation was provided by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Bureau of Investigations; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; the California Department of Justice; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations; and the Department of Defense.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office worked collaboratively with the United States Attorney’s Office during the investigation."

A prime example of the increasing cooperation between various LEAs. This kicks in with tips from concerned citizens like you.

No recruitment among criminals already doing time for their anti-American hatred of their fellow citizens........... riiiiiiight.

Can CAIR lie about anything else they are NOT doing?

[Adlerian Thinker]

No recruitment among criminals already doing time for their anti-American hatred of their fellow citizens........... riiiiiiight.

Can CAIR lie about anything else they are NOT doing?

Sure. Just give them a second.....

[rhet 2]

Sure. Just give them a second.....

Do note: the other conspirator is too insane to stand trial. Which does raise the question of just how sane the other recruits to allah's human sacrifices may be, doesn't it?

[Adlerian Thinker]

Do note: the other conspirator is too insane to stand trial. Which does raise the question of just how sane the other recruits to allah's human sacrifices may be, doesn't it?

People who think that way are, by definition, insane.

[rhet 2]

People who think that way are, by definition, insane.

Deliberately made so by the slime who recruit them into that damned cult -- which is every bit as corrupt and disgusting as the Jim Jones horrors in Brazil.

Swallow that garbage, and you're dead men walking. Might as well swallow kool-aid.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Deliberately made so by the slime who recruit them into that damned cult -- which is every bit as corrupt and disgusting as the Jim Jones horrors in Brazil.

Swallow that garbage, and you're dead men walking. Might as well swallow kool-aid.

Mmmmmm. Kool aid. :))

[Adlerian Thinker]

New York - Chemical Explosion At Fox News Corp Building

December 17, 2007

There was a “chemical explosion” this morning at the headquarters of Fox News Channel in Manhattan.

The network, which says it confirmed this report with the fire department, is reporting that four floors were evacuated. Some 700 people have evacuated the building, including at least one person who was burned in the blast.

Update at 11:47 a.m. ET: Fox News Channel is still on the air. The network reports that the chemical explosion occurred on the 45th floor of the building.

Updates at 11:52 a.m. ET: Reports indicate that the explosion happened in a cooling station in the building.”

Update at 12:45 p.m. ET: The Associated Press is reporting that fire department officials say it was a small explosion on the 45th floor. It was caused by an interaction between two chemicals, the wire service says.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/17/new-york-chemical-explosion-at-fox-news-corp-building/

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Transportation Sector:
All's well that ends well.

Stretch of 408 reopened. Authorities have reopened the East-West Expressway in Florida after determining that a suspicious package found Friday afternoon on Pine Hills Road underneath the overpass was not a danger. East and west bound lanes were shut down when someone spotted the package and called authorities. Traffic was detoured to State Road 50 and surrounding streets. A sheriff’s team was called in to inspect the package after a police dog picked up a scent. Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-408close121507,0,1862651.story

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Government Facilities Sector:

Plot posed a real, immediate threat, experts say. The guilty pleas announced Friday in what is known as the JIS case represented an important win for the Justice Department. The case posed a real and immediate threat, as the audacious scheme to attack more than a dozen military centers, synagogues, and other sites in Southern California was within 60 days of launching, according to sources close to the investigation. In a matter of weeks, the FBI, Los Angeles, and Torrance police departments and two dozen other agencies conducted 19 searches, seized two dozen computer hard drives, and examined about 53,000 documents, all without the normal luxury of moving at their own pace with undercover informants, surveillance, and wiretaps. The plotters “were flying dangerously below the radar,” said the L.A. police department’s counter-terrorism head at the time the case broke. He added that the defendants had robbed gas stations for the money to buy rifles, had picked their targets, and had set a date. The prison-hatched scheme raised another fear in U.S. counter-terrorism circles, particularly within California, which has the nation’s largest inmate population, that there were other members of the conspiracy preparing to carry on the plan. More than 350 federal agents, state investigators, and local police worked five weeks, around the clock, to determine if others had escaped their dragnet. In the end, they did not find additional accomplices, but their investigation led to new intelligence coordination between prison officials and outside law enforcement. Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-analysis15dec15,0,5411928.story?coll=la-home-center

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Information Technology Sector:

Sharp hike in cyber-attacks from China. Security experts have warned of a sharp hike in malicious activity coming out of China. Finjan has examined the new wave of Chinese attacks and the mechanisms used and claims to have identified an “intricate network of connections” between China-based servers run by cyber-criminals. The security firm has discovered that the entry points that initiate the attack on users “in the wild” exist all over the world and are eventually associated with servers registered as Chinese domains. The attackers are spreading the assaults by placing entry points on a variety of websites in different regions and listed differently by URL categorization engines. The infection consists of either an Iframe or a Script tag placed on the website that causes users visiting the site to be attacked. Examples for such entry point regions are shown in Finjan’s December 2007 Malicious Page of the Month Report, and were found on trusted websites in the U.S., China, and Western Europe, including government and education sites. After the victim reaches an entry point, the attackers use dynamic code obfuscation methods to limit signature-based technologies from detecting the attack. The victim is redirected to a series of sites containing Iframes that will eventually force the victim to visit a site that belongs to the Chinese network. In the first part of the actual malicious attack, the cyber-criminals use new or known exploits that will infect the victim with a crimeware Trojan. “After the initial Trojan is loaded it initiates the downloading of other Trojans from different locations. The compromised computer will then redirect to other sites in order to send statistical information about the infected PC,” the firm stated. “Finjan has discovered that different Trojans send encoded information to the same sites in China that we identified as being unique to the attack.” Source: http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2205903/sharp-hike-cyber-attacks-china

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Commercial Facilities Sector:

Bomb scare gridlocks downtown SLC on busy night. Authorities closed State Street just before 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, after a suspicious briefcase was found at the Chase Bank building in Salt Lake City. The road was closed and bomb squad technicians were summoned after an officer saw what he believed to be wiring inside the briefcase. A robot eventually opened the case but nothing dangerous was found inside. Officials later learned that a maintenance worker left the briefcase at the building. Traffic was detoured around the area for almost three hours. Source: http://www.kutv.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=f4784305-46a1-4fcc-9d07-bcdff531af15

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Dams Sector:

Truck bomb explodes near Iraq’s largest dam. A truck packed with explosives blew up on Monday close to Iraq’s largest dam, partly destroying the main access bridge and killing a policeman, police said. The blast caused no damage to the Mosul Dam itself, which U.S. Army engineers have previously warned is poorly constructed and in danger of imminent collapse. An engineer at the dam said a section of the 820-foot long metal bridge, which is about .6 miles from the dam, had been destroyed in the explosion. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSCOL750660

This can happen here too!

[Adlerian Thinker]

Another Dam Sectors report:

Armed group wants to blow up Mosul Dam. Security officials say scores of armed men have entered the Province of Nineveh with orders to detonate Mosul Dam. “Some 250 armed men have entered Nineveh Province with the aim of detonating the Mosul Dam,” one source said. Last month, the U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) warned that the dam was the most dangerous in the world and its foundations could give away any moment. The Iraqi government has dismissed the warning, describing SIGIR’s remarks as inaccurate and “totally untrue.” The sources said the government feared the rebels would seized on SIGIR’s warning to attack the dam and cause massive damage and casualties to downstream cities and towns particularly Mosul. The government is reported to have sent more reinforcements to the area. The sources said the rebels might delay an attack on the dam until May when the reservoir is almost full with the melting of snow on Turkish mountains. Source: http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news%5C2007-12-15%5Ckurd.htm

[rhet 2]

From the Dams Sector:

Truck bomb explodes near Iraq’s largest dam. A truck packed with explosives blew up on Monday close to Iraq’s largest dam, partly destroying the main access bridge and killing a policeman, police said. The blast caused no damage to the Mosul Dam itself, which U.S. Army engineers have previously warned is poorly constructed and in danger of imminent collapse. An engineer at the dam said a section of the 820-foot long metal bridge, which is about .6 miles from the dam, had been destroyed in the explosion. Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/featuredCrisis/idUSCOL750660

This can happen here too!

Truth.

Am thinking about reports of people acting suspiciously in the vicinity of the Niagara dam.

And no way Hoover is more secure, either.

Just one of many potential targets for knocking out electricity to widespread territories.

Alert citizens are the ones who reported those near Niagara -- and also reported the two Muslim women snooping out DFW, too.

[rhet 2]

From the Information Technology Sector:

Sharp hike in cyber-attacks from China. Security experts have warned of a sharp hike in malicious activity coming out of China. Finjan has examined the new wave of Chinese attacks and the mechanisms used and claims to have identified an “intricate network of connections” between China-based servers run by cyber-criminals. The security firm has discovered that the entry points that initiate the attack on users “in the wild” exist all over the world and are eventually associated with servers registered as Chinese domains. The attackers are spreading the assaults by placing entry points on a variety of websites in different regions and listed differently by URL categorization engines. The infection consists of either an Iframe or a Script tag placed on the website that causes users visiting the site to be attacked. Examples for such entry point regions are shown in Finjan’s December 2007 Malicious Page of the Month Report, and were found on trusted websites in the U.S., China, and Western Europe, including government and education sites. After the victim reaches an entry point, the attackers use dynamic code obfuscation methods to limit signature-based technologies from detecting the attack. The victim is redirected to a series of sites containing Iframes that will eventually force the victim to visit a site that belongs to the Chinese network. In the first part of the actual malicious attack, the cyber-criminals use new or known exploits that will infect the victim with a crimeware Trojan. “After the initial Trojan is loaded it initiates the downloading of other Trojans from different locations. The compromised computer will then redirect to other sites in order to send statistical information about the infected PC,” the firm stated. “Finjan has discovered that different Trojans send encoded information to the same sites in China that we identified as being unique to the attack.” Source: http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2205903/sharp-hike-cyber-attacks-china

Question: as a private citizen with zero computer knowledge or skills, how can I personally be sure my own pc cannot be used like this?

[Adlerian Thinker]

Question: as a private citizen with zero computer knowledge or skills, how can I personally be sure my own pc cannot be used like this?

Find a trusted person with IT knowledge and pick their brains.

It might be a great idea to start a thread on it and get some help from our IT guys here.

Cypher might be a good one to ask, or even Lee.

[rhet 2]

Find a trusted person with IT knowledge and pick their brains.

It might be a great idea to start a thread on it and get some help from our IT guys here.

Cypher might be a good one to ask, or even Lee.

The head of the university computer maintenance dept. owes me anyway -- and is scheduled for the 6 month scan/clean right after New Year's anyway.

I just don't my system hijacked to damage my country.

[Adlerian Thinker]

The head of the university computer maintenance dept. owes me anyway -- and is scheduled for the 6 month scan/clean right after New Year's anyway.

I just don't my system hijacked to damage my country.

Ask him how to protect your computer from botnets.

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Government Facilities Sector:

Investigators suspect bomb to blame in car explosion. Police believe someone broke a window and placed an incendiary device inside the city employee’s car that blew up Monday in a downtown parking lot near City Hall in Watsonville, California. The blast shattered windows on the second floor of Watsonville/Aptos Adult School offices and classrooms across the parking lot, sending students scurrying for cover. Investigators were unable to confirm Tuesday what caused the unoccupied Chrysler 300 sedan to explode about 7:40 p.m. It is still unknown whether the incident was a random act or the employee’s car was targeted. Source: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/story.php?storySection=Local&sid=51707

[rhet 2]

Ask him how to protect your computer from botnets.

Thank you for the term.

And these updates. You perform a vital service to us all in keeping us aware of the domestic situations we face, helping us see where we need to do our bit, too! :clap:

[Adlerian Thinker]

Thank you for the term.

And these updates. You perform a vital service to us all in keeping us aware of the domestic situations we face, helping us see where we need to do our bit, too! :clap:

My pleasure. Information to all can save someone. I can live with that! :)

[rhet 2]

My pleasure. Information to all can save someone. I can live with that! :)

:))

Email on this term and the situation will go out to over 537 former students and a whole bunch of professional colleagues and still more political goofballs.

:))

[Adlerian Thinker]

From the Energy Sector:

Irate Unix administrator admits trying to sabotage California power grid. A contract Unix system administrator pleaded guilty to trying to disrupt a data center where he was employed in Folsom, California, by hammering the safety glass of an emergency power shut-off, then pushing the shut-down button. The case drew the attention of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Sacramento, California, because it involved an attempt to shut down a data center of the California Independent System Operator Corp., an electrical power consortium chartered by the state to manage the statewide energy grid. The incident occurred April 15 and disabled the data center for two hours. No blackouts occurred because of the interruption, but the agency’s director of grid operations, told investigators that if the outage had happened in the morning, the “results would have been far more severe.” The criminal complaint added that electric consumers in the western United States would have experienced disruption in their electrical supply. Source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=40JRCR0HMLKX4QSNDLOSK HSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=205100250&subSection=News

[Adlerian Thinker]

Passengers’ behavior leads to airport arrests. Federal aviation officers with special training detecting suspicious behavior helped Phoenix police arrest three men at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on December 4. The men tried to pass through a Terminal 4 security checkpoint with suspicious documents, a Phoenix police spokeswoman said. Source: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1220tsa1220.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

Briefs: Letter sparks powder scare. Police and fire crews responded to an apartment at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday after a man opened a credit card application and white powder spilled out. Fire department tests determined the powder was 98 percent cornstarch and investigators were checking with the credit card firm about the powder’s origins. Police said the powder did not present a danger and authorities consider it an isolated incident. Source: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=98145&src=5

[Adlerian Thinker]

Fort Oglethorpe city employees get a scare. A suspicious letter and a white powder caused a scare in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, on November 19. Haz-mat crews were called in around 3:00 p.m. after the letter, addressed to the Municipal Court Clerk, was delivered to the courthouse. Part of the courthouse was closed off while the substance was removed. The employee who handled the letter is being treated as a precaution while the substance is analyzed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Source: http://wdef.com/news/fort_oglethorpe_city_employees_get_a_scare/12/2007

[rhet 2]

From the Energy Sector:

Irate Unix administrator admits trying to sabotage California power grid. A contract Unix system administrator pleaded guilty to trying to disrupt a data center where he was employed in Folsom, California, by hammering the safety glass of an emergency power shut-off, then pushing the shut-down button. The case drew the attention of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Sacramento, California, because it involved an attempt to shut down a data center of the California Independent System Operator Corp., an electrical power consortium chartered by the state to manage the statewide energy grid. The incident occurred April 15 and disabled the data center for two hours. No blackouts occurred because of the interruption, but the agency’s director of grid operations, told investigators that if the outage had happened in the morning, the “results would have been far more severe.” The criminal complaint added that electric consumers in the western United States would have experienced disruption in their electrical supply. Source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=40JRCR0HMLKX4QSNDLOSK HSCJUNN2JVN?articleID=205100250&subSection=News

Yeah. The power grids have me concerned big time. Remember Ahmahdinejad's boast that they've already scoped out some 29 vulnerable big-hit points? Could be mere braggadocio -- gorilla chest pounding -- but where there's smoke there's fire, too.

WHAT sites, precisely?

[Adlerian Thinker]

Outlet businesses evacuated for bomb investigation. Seven businesses at the Outlets of Loveland in Colorado had to be evacuated Wednesday evening while police investigated a suitcase left in the parking lot. Loveland police said no explosives were discovered in the suitcase, left propped against a car that belonged to a district manager of a store at the shopping center. The manager had told police he had terminated an employee earlier in the day and was concerned about the contents of the suitcase. Loveland police called the Northern Colorado Bomb Squad and evacuated businesses in the immediate area of Wilson’s Leather Outlet. Source: http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20071220/NEWS/864026455

[Adlerian Thinker]

Yeah. The power grids have me concerned big time. Remember Ahmahdinejad's boast that they've already scoped out some 29 vulnerable big-hit points? Could be mere braggadocio -- gorilla chest pounding -- but where there's smoke there's fire, too.

WHAT sites, precisely?

The power grids have several "nodes" where critical junctures are housed and monitored. Most of them are well guarded and exercise regularly.

We have one here in Indianapolis that would take out the Eastern seaboard if it were taken out, but it would require a company-sized military operation, or a small-yield nuke.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Suspicious package outside Studio 5 a ‘hoax.’ Charges were filed against a 29-year-old man who carried a briefcase into the Equitable Building in Chicago and said it was a bomb Wednesday afternoon. Officials told a local reporter that the man was carrying a briefcase when he walked into the Italian Trade Commission on the 30th floor of the building and announced he had a bomb. The man was escorted out of the building, where he apparently dropped the briefcase. Police detonated the suspicious case Wednesday outside of building. They said the detonated briefcase contained wires, but no actual explosive device. Source: http://www.nbc5.com/news/14892383/detail.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

FedEx Truck Hijacked In New York City - Strange Event

December 23, 2007

Many aspects of this story just don’t make sense to me. Maybe I’ve just been doing this too long and I over analyze things.

On one hand it appears to be a planned crime and not a crime of opportunity (guns, handcuffs, badge). However, if that was the case why didn’t the hijackers bring along some type of tools to break open the seals on the containers?

Next, the hijackers had the truck for nearly 9 hours. To me that seems like plenty of time to figure out some method for opening the containers (hack saw, bolt cutters, etc), even if you hadn’t planned for this.

This is where I begin to over-analyze. What if the truck was hijacked for some other purpose and the hijackers hadn’t planned on it being full of merchandise? What if they were actually hoping to take control of an empty truck just before Christmas and use it for some other purpose?

What other purpose you ask?

Oh, I don’t know… Do you suppose that a large FedEx truck might be able to access some area of a mall or airport during the holidays without raising suspicions?

When you add to this, the hijackers talk of their Albanian homeland, the driver being released and given $60.00 to get back to Manhattan, and the fact nothing was missing when the truck was located, this story just doesn’t add up.

For now, I’ll chalk it up to too much coffee on a Sunday afternoon and an over-stimulated imagination.

The hapless hijackers who stole a loaded FedEx truck and kidnapped its driver only to abandon both after they were unable to get at the locked-up loot told their captive stories about their supposed lives in Albania and stopped for pizza during an odd five-hour odyssey, the driver said.

Forced to ride face-down and handcuffed in a sport utility vehicle with a gun to the back of his head, “I kept saying to myself, ‘If they’re going to kill me, I hope it’s fast and doesn’t hurt,” Robert McGarry said Saturday, a day after he was released on a Brooklyn street. “It was a nightmare.”

Police said Sunday no arrests had been made in the case.

McGarry, 47, said he was ambushed shortly after driving out of a FedEx facility on Manhattan’s West Side around 8:30 p.m. Thursday. A swerving SUV cut him off on 11th Avenue, and one of the hijackers leaped out, rammed a gun against the FedEx truck window, flashed a badge and yelled “police,” McGarry said.

Two forced him into the SUV while a third drove off in his delivery truck. McGarry’s captors drove him through the city, one threatening him while the other struck a more congenial, calming tone, he said.

The 18-wheeler was laden with holiday shipments, but the thieves weren’t able to get at them. They let the driver go at about 1:30 a.m. Friday in the Williamsburg neighborhood. He said the robbers gave him $60 so he could get back to Manhattan; instead, he quickly waved down a police car.

The truck was found abandoned, its contents still locked in metal air freight containers, at about 5:30 a.m. in nearby Greenpoint, police said.

Representatives for Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Corp. said no packages were missing.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/23/fedex-truck-hijacked-in-new-york-city-strange-event/

Why steal it and do nothing?

[Adlerian Thinker]

Saudi Terrorism Suspect Identified As a Brother-in-law of Sept. 11 Hijacker

December 22, 2007

A Saudi terrorism suspect facing possible charges before a military tribunal at Guantanamo has been identified as a brother-in-law of one of the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi, who is accused of helping to organize an al-Qaida plot to attack a ship, is a brother-in-law of Khalid al-Mihdhar, a Saudi who was one of the hijackers who crashed a plane into the Pentagon, the military said in a statement late Friday.

Al-Darbi, 32, faces possible charges that include conspiracy and providing support to terrorism and could be sentenced to up to life in prison if convicted by the military court at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba.

Prosecutors have drawn up the charges and informed the detainee of the accusations against him, but military legal authorities are still reviewing the case and he has not yet been formally charged.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/22/saudi-terrorism-suspect-identified-as-a-brother-in-law-of-sept-11-hijacker/

[Adlerian Thinker]

Police in Metro Vancouver Seeing New Gang Fashion - Armored Vehicles

December 23, 2007

As if police don’t have enough difficulty combating the ever growing arsenals of street gangs…. Vancouver Metro police are now reporting that gang members there are equipping their vehicles with bullet-proof glass, armored plating and high-tech surveillance cameras.

Police in Metro Vancouver have had their hands full for years trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to control gang-related violence and killings that make Vancouver look like Chicago in the Al Capone era.

Last week, they found something they hadn’t seen before - street vehicles outfitted with armour, surveillance cameras and bulletproof glass.

Police forces in the city have had little success in arresting and charging people involved in the dozens of murders in the past several years.

And it appears they won’t have any greater success in curbing these fortified vehicles.

It’s not illegal to outfit your vehicle with bulletproof glass or surround it with armour as long as it’s inspected and passes safety regulations and Insurance Corp. of B.C. licensing requirements.

“That’s pretty much what we’re left with from what I can see at this point,” said Sgt. Shinder Kirk, a member of the Abbotsford police department and the spokesman for the Integrated Gang Task Force.

“Our enforcement opportunities with respect to this issue lie strictly with the motor vehicle regulations that prohibit this type of modification.”

The anti-gang unit, set up in November after a rash of gang-related murders, has begun to make more traffic checks as well as frequent the bars and nightclubs where police say gang members hang out.

Recently, the unit seized seven guns, body armour and two vehicles equipped with bullet-proof glass, armour plating and high-tech surveillance cameras.

The vehicles were impounded because they failed inspection standards for the Insurance Corp. of B.C.

But police are handicapped because outfitting the vehicle is not illegal. It’s also not illegal for a body shop to do the work.

“If a vehicle is modified from the original, then that vehicle, before it is insured and put into service, must be re-inspected to determine if the modifications are in keeping with safety standards in the province and the Motor Vehicle Act,” said Kirk.

People buy various vehicle accessories all the time.

“They are not illegal to sell and illegal to put on your car. But for that car to then operate on a public street, they must meet the same safety standards as any other vehicle.”

An SUV is not designed to carry the type of weight that’s going to be added, he said.

Last month, police stopped a luxury SUV and found the vehicle had been fitted with bullet-proof windows and it also had a secondary rear gate that police described as having “ballistic integrity.”
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/23/police-in-metro-vancouver-seeing-new-gang-fashion-armoured-vehicles/

How long before this happens here, if it hasn't already?

[HiredGoon]

In the AAW Forum, we have often spoken of our wonderful troops, and the job they are doing in defending us from terror.

Yet I have seen very little talk of what we can do. Yes, us home folk who aren't wearing cammo, or toting military issue weaponry. (If you are, please don't tell me about it! LOL)

What can regular citizens do?

I wanted to start a thread to discuss it.

Here are some ideas:
1) InfraGard - a private, not-for-profit group sponsored by the FBI that is tasked with protecting 17 sectors of critical infrastructure as indentified in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP)
2) LEPC Committees - Local Emergency Planning Committees are under the aegis of the state DHS. They have to do with hazardous materials safety.
3) School Safety Commissions/Committees - Some states mandate such committees to help schools develop school safety plans

Info will be given on each. What are some things you can do in your neck of the woods?

We all have a vested interest in protecting our homeland.How about claiming the country back from the current administration? How about restoring some respect for the constitution?

Or are you too busy worrying about the boogymen (currently Mexicans and Moslems) under the bed?

[Adlerian Thinker]

How about claiming the country back from the current administration? How about restoring some respect for the constitution?

Or are you too busy worrying about the boogymen (currently Mexicans and Moslems) under the bed?

You can troll elsewhere.

[Radioflyer]

The current administration was duly elected and are serving( far better than the alternative ) to protect this nation from a very real threat, not an imagined one. Although it ( the administration ) could do a lot better at the boarder. Illegal Aliens have committed an illegal act just by coming into this country illegally and some ( far too many ) pose a serious danger to law abiding citizens.


Please ( Hired Goon ) seek professional help with that wayward thinking of yours.

[free2B]

Immigration needs attention, too many chavez symps are trying to find a way in

[The Bos'un]

In the AAW Forum, we have often spoken of our wonderful troops, and the job they are doing in defending us from terror.

Yet I have seen very little talk of what we can do. Yes, us home folk who aren't wearing cammo, or toting military issue weaponry. (If you are, please don't tell me about it! LOL)

What can regular citizens do?

I wanted to start a thread to discuss it.

Here are some ideas:
1) InfraGard - a private, not-for-profit group sponsored by the FBI that is tasked with protecting 17 sectors of critical infrastructure as indentified in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP)
2) LEPC Committees - Local Emergency Planning Committees are under the aegis of the state DHS. They have to do with hazardous materials safety.
3) School Safety Commissions/Committees - Some states mandate such committees to help schools develop school safety plans

Info will be given on each. What are some things you can do in your neck of the woods?

We all have a vested interest in protecting our homeland.
Everyday Citizens Can Defend the Homeland (unless they are liberal intolerants, apologists, appeasers, or weak kneed spineless ...............)

[Adlerian Thinker]

Everyday Citizens Can Defend the Homeland (unless they are liberal intolerants, apologists, appeasers, or weak kneed spineless ...............)

I guess there must be some sheep for the sheep dogs to watch over......

[Radioflyer]

Immigration needs attention, too many chavez symps are trying to find a way in Too many chavez symps were born here too.

[The Bos'un]

I guess there must be some sheep for the sheep dogs to watch over......
We have an excessive number of sheep and not enough sheep dogs if we are going to survive as a country. G_d help us. The (oops some) liberals certainly will not help.

[Adlerian Thinker]

We have an excessive number of sheep and not enough sheep dogs if we are going to survive as a country. G_d help us. The (oops some) liberals certainly will not help.

Does it seem to you that more and more people are falling back asleep? (Pre-9/11?)

[Adlerian Thinker]

TSA Airport Profilers Watch Expressions and Behavior

December 26, 2007

If a pair of Transportation Security Administration officers strolling by a Sea-Tac Airport ticket counter wish you happy holidays and ask where you’re traveling, it might be more than just Christmas spirit.

Travelers at Sea-Tac and dozens of other major airports across America are being scrutinized by teams of TSA behavior-detection officers specially trained to discern the subtlest suspicious behaviors.

TSA officials will not reveal specific behaviors identified by the program — called SPOT (Screening Passengers by Observation Technique) — that are considered indicators of possible terrorist intent.

But a central task is to recognize microfacial expressions — a flash of feelings that in a fraction of a second reflects emotions such as fear, anger, surprise or contempt, said Carl Maccario, who helped start the program for TSA.

“In the SPOT program, we have a conversation with (passengers) and we ask them about their trip,” said Maccario from his office in Boston. “When someone lies or tries to be deceptive, … there are behavior cues that show it. … A brief flash of fear.”

Such people are referred for secondary screening, which can include a pat-down search and an X-ray exam. The microfacial expressions, he said, are the same across many cultures.

Since January 2006, behavior-detection officers have referred about 70,000 people for secondary screening, Maccario said. Of those, about 600 to 700 were arrested on a variety of charges, including possession of drugs, weapons violations and outstanding warrants.

Maccario will not say whether the teams have disrupted any terrorist operations. But he did say that there are active counterterrorism investigations under way that began with referrals from the program.

SPOT began spreading out to airports across the nation two years after initial testing began in 2003 in Boston, Providence, R.I., and Portland, Maine. It’s now at more than 50 airports and continues to grow.

Lynette Blas-Bamba manages Sea-Tac’s 12-officer behavior-detection team. Since the program started here in November 2006, more than 600 people have been referred for secondary inspections, she said. Of those, 11 were arrested.

The officers ask simple questions:

“How are you today?”

“Where are you heading?”

“Is this all your property?”

“It’s almost irrelevant what your answers are,” Maccario said. “It’s more relevant how you respond. Vague, evasive responses — fear shows itself. When you do this long enough, you see it right away.”

Maccario emphasized that the program takes into account the typical stress many of us experience when traveling, especially during the holidays.

Ordinary people who are feeling anxious are “much more open with their body movements and their facial expressions as compared to an operational terrorist (thinking) ‘I’ve got to defeat security,’ ” Maccario said. “We’re looking for behavior indicators that show a certain level of stress, fear or anxiety above and beyond that shown by an anxious member of the traveling public.”

The detection teams look for those indicators to spike when a traveler with something to hide approaches security checkpoints.

Blas-Bamba and her team were trained in fall 2006. She says she did behavioral detection of a sort in her last job as a probation officer. “We all do it to a degree. It’s just a matter of understanding and articulating what we see.”

Part of the training is a cultural awareness component, Maccario said. For example, in some cultures people don’t make eye contact with people in authority.

And to emphasize the sensitivity TSA is bringing to the program, he recalled a meeting with an association for people with Tourette’s disorder to assure them that having a tic will not result in a pat-down.

The TSA considers the program a powerful tool to root out terrorists, but also an antidote to racial profiling.

“We don’t care where you are from,” Maccario said. “It’s no longer subjective. If you are acting a certain way, that’s what is going to attract our attention.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/26/tsa-airport-profilers-watch-expressions-and-behavior/

This is a psychological approach that transcends race. It can be very effective, and non-invasive.

We should expand this program.

[Adlerian Thinker]

55 Year Old Woman Caught With Bomb Under Burqa

December 24, 2007

Afghan intelligence agents said Monday they had detained a woman hiding a bomb-filled waistcoat of the type used in Taliban suicide attacks under her all-covering burqa.

The 55-year-old woman was followed from the eastern province of Kunar after a tip-off and arrested in the town of Jalalabad, an official in Kunar’s intelligence department told AFP.

“She was carrying the suicide waistcoat for the Taliban. We had intelligence reports that she was working for the Taliban,” said the official, who asked not to be identified by name.

The woman was being questioned “to find out more about her network,” he said.

Most Afghan women still wear the burqa, which was mandatory under the 1996-2001 Taleban government, and cannot be searched by men at security checkposts.

The Taleban, the main Islamic militant group behind a bloody insurgency, have stepped up their attacks in recent years, notably their use of suicide bombings.

Hundreds of people, most of them civilians, have been killed in about 140 such attacks in Afghanistan this year alone.

In neighboring Pakistan, also facing a wave of Taliban-linked unrest, a woman in a burqa blew herself up at an army checkpost in early December, killing only herself.

It was the country’s first such attack involving a woman, police said.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/24/55-year-old-woman-caught-with-bomb-under-burqa/

It's OK if they only blow themselves up.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Police investigate bomb threat at Lenexa post office. Lenexa Police investigated a report of an explosive device in a post office. Police said a white male walked into the post office, demanded money, and said he had a bomb. A few minutes later, the suspect turned himself in at the Lenexa Police Station across the street. Investigators and bomb-sniffing dogs are searching the man’s vehicle and the post office. The police station, city hall, and the post office were locked down. Source: http://www.myfoxkc.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?

[Adlerian Thinker]

Bomb threat at theater in Huber Heights. Huber Heights police said a man called in a bomb threat to the Showcase from a payphone inside the theater at about 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The management at Showcase Cinemas instructed police to evacuate all 700 people that were inside the building at the time. No one was injured. Police said they found nothing suspicious. Source: http://www.whiotv.com/news/14922581/detail.html

This seems to be happening with more and more frequency.

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/dec07/tips122107.html
SUBMITTING TIPS ONLINE
A Life-Saving Story
12/21/07

In the early morning hours of this past September 11, an Arizona man logged into our website, went to our electronic tips page, and reported what he had just seen on the Internet. And we are so glad he did.

Turns out, he’d come across a plot by several high school students in a central Texas town called Pflugerville to mark the 9/11 anniversary in a deadly way—by setting off pipe bombs at the school, then attacking students with high caliber firearms. The students bragged of their plan by posting photographs of themselves and their pipe bombs on the web.

Our counterterrorism experts monitor our public tips page around the clock, so they were on it immediately. Time was of the essence; we had to stop this plot before the school day began in just a few short hours. They checked out the student website, but a vital piece of information—the photographs of the attackers—had already been removed. Time was running out.

The next step was to notify our local field office in San Antonio and the Pflugerville Police Department of the threat. Then, at about 2 a.m., our agents called the tipster to see if he could provide any additional information.

It was at this point that he delivered in an even more remarkable and important way. The tipster had saved on his computer the only immediately available photograph of one of the attack planners, which he quickly e-mailed to us.

That photograph paid off. It enabled the Pflugerville Police Department, the Pflugerville Independent School District, and our local field office to identify the student in the photograph and arrest him and his co-conspirators without incident before the school day started. Whew!

Lives were likely saved and a terrible tragedy prevented—all because one man took the time, in the wee hours of the morning, to let us know about an impending attack. For his efforts, he was recently presented with a special commendation from the FBI Director.

“This tipster is a hero, plain and simple,” said the special agent who heads the unit in our Counterterrorism Division that runs the web tip line. “We receive about 25,000 tips and leads like his every month, and we take each one seriously. You just never know when they might solve a case or save a life.”

You can help, too. If you have any information about a crime or an act of terrorism that has happened or may happen, please go straightaway to our tip line and give us the facts. You, too, can play an important role in keeping communities and our nation safe.

To submit a tip, go to: https://tips.fbi.gov/.

You can defend the Homeland!

[rhet 2]

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/dec07/tips122107.html
SUBMITTING TIPS ONLINE
A Life-Saving Story
12/21/07

In the early morning hours of this past September 11, an Arizona man logged into our website, went to our electronic tips page, and reported what he had just seen on the Internet. And we are so glad he did.

Turns out, he’d come across a plot by several high school students in a central Texas town called Pflugerville to mark the 9/11 anniversary in a deadly way—by setting off pipe bombs at the school, then attacking students with high caliber firearms. The students bragged of their plan by posting photographs of themselves and their pipe bombs on the web.

Our counterterrorism experts monitor our public tips page around the clock, so they were on it immediately. Time was of the essence; we had to stop this plot before the school day began in just a few short hours. They checked out the student website, but a vital piece of information—the photographs of the attackers—had already been removed. Time was running out.

The next step was to notify our local field office in San Antonio and the Pflugerville Police Department of the threat. Then, at about 2 a.m., our agents called the tipster to see if he could provide any additional information.

It was at this point that he delivered in an even more remarkable and important way. The tipster had saved on his computer the only immediately available photograph of one of the attack planners, which he quickly e-mailed to us.

That photograph paid off. It enabled the Pflugerville Police Department, the Pflugerville Independent School District, and our local field office to identify the student in the photograph and arrest him and his co-conspirators without incident before the school day started. Whew!

Lives were likely saved and a terrible tragedy prevented—all because one man took the time, in the wee hours of the morning, to let us know about an impending attack. For his efforts, he was recently presented with a special commendation from the FBI Director.

“This tipster is a hero, plain and simple,” said the special agent who heads the unit in our Counterterrorism Division that runs the web tip line. “We receive about 25,000 tips and leads like his every month, and we take each one seriously. You just never know when they might solve a case or save a life.”

You can help, too. If you have any information about a crime or an act of terrorism that has happened or may happen, please go straightaway to our tip line and give us the facts. You, too, can play an important role in keeping communities and our nation safe.

To submit a tip, go to: https://tips.fbi.gov/.

You can defend the Homeland!

Wow!

Thank you for that link!

And the tipster not only saved the other students, he saved those kids, too, and those kids are getting the help they need to get past this, not just legally, but psychologically, too.

And you can bet the school personnel are going to be a bit more careful in future, too.

[rhet 2]

TSA Airport Profilers Watch Expressions and Behavior

December 26, 2007

If a pair of Transportation Security Administration officers strolling by a Sea-Tac Airport ticket counter wish you happy holidays and ask where you’re traveling, it might be more than just Christmas spirit.

Travelers at Sea-Tac and dozens of other major airports across America are being scrutinized by teams of TSA behavior-detection officers specially trained to discern the subtlest suspicious behaviors.

TSA officials will not reveal specific behaviors identified by the program — called SPOT (Screening Passengers by Observation Technique) — that are considered indicators of possible terrorist intent.

But a central task is to recognize microfacial expressions — a flash of feelings that in a fraction of a second reflects emotions such as fear, anger, surprise or contempt, said Carl Maccario, who helped start the program for TSA.

“In the SPOT program, we have a conversation with (passengers) and we ask them about their trip,” said Maccario from his office in Boston. “When someone lies or tries to be deceptive, … there are behavior cues that show it. … A brief flash of fear.”

Such people are referred for secondary screening, which can include a pat-down search and an X-ray exam. The microfacial expressions, he said, are the same across many cultures.

Since January 2006, behavior-detection officers have referred about 70,000 people for secondary screening, Maccario said. Of those, about 600 to 700 were arrested on a variety of charges, including possession of drugs, weapons violations and outstanding warrants.

Maccario will not say whether the teams have disrupted any terrorist operations. But he did say that there are active counterterrorism investigations under way that began with referrals from the program.

SPOT began spreading out to airports across the nation two years after initial testing began in 2003 in Boston, Providence, R.I., and Portland, Maine. It’s now at more than 50 airports and continues to grow.

Lynette Blas-Bamba manages Sea-Tac’s 12-officer behavior-detection team. Since the program started here in November 2006, more than 600 people have been referred for secondary inspections, she said. Of those, 11 were arrested.

The officers ask simple questions:

“How are you today?”

“Where are you heading?”

“Is this all your property?”

“It’s almost irrelevant what your answers are,” Maccario said. “It’s more relevant how you respond. Vague, evasive responses — fear shows itself. When you do this long enough, you see it right away.”

Maccario emphasized that the program takes into account the typical stress many of us experience when traveling, especially during the holidays.

Ordinary people who are feeling anxious are “much more open with their body movements and their facial expressions as compared to an operational terrorist (thinking) ‘I’ve got to defeat security,’ ” Maccario said. “We’re looking for behavior indicators that show a certain level of stress, fear or anxiety above and beyond that shown by an anxious member of the traveling public.”

The detection teams look for those indicators to spike when a traveler with something to hide approaches security checkpoints.

Blas-Bamba and her team were trained in fall 2006. She says she did behavioral detection of a sort in her last job as a probation officer. “We all do it to a degree. It’s just a matter of understanding and articulating what we see.”

Part of the training is a cultural awareness component, Maccario said. For example, in some cultures people don’t make eye contact with people in authority.

And to emphasize the sensitivity TSA is bringing to the program, he recalled a meeting with an association for people with Tourette’s disorder to assure them that having a tic will not result in a pat-down.

The TSA considers the program a powerful tool to root out terrorists, but also an antidote to racial profiling.

“We don’t care where you are from,” Maccario said. “It’s no longer subjective. If you are acting a certain way, that’s what is going to attract our attention.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/26/tsa-airport-profilers-watch-expressions-and-behavior/

This is a psychological approach that transcends race. It can be very effective, and non-invasive.

We should expand this program.

Completely agree.

Behavioral profiling is something we all do instinctively anyway. And combined with that tip line link you posted just now, this CAN save lives.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Wow!

Thank you for that link!

And the tipster not only saved the other students, he saved those kids, too, and those kids are getting the help they need to get past this, not just legally, but psychologically, too.

And you can bet the school personnel are going to be a bit more careful in future, too.

Yeppers.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Completely agree.

Behavioral profiling is something we all do instinctively anyway. And combined with that tip line link you posted just now, this CAN save lives.

If it saves just one, it will have been worth it.

I like that the techniques, like the interrogation techniques I learned, are not culture-specific.

[rhet 2]

If it saves just one, it will have been worth it.

I like that the techniques, like the interrogation techniques I learned, are not culture-specific.

Fully concur.

Both culture and biological appearance are totally deceptive in this one.

Witness Gadahn: fully committed to destroying us -- born and raised here AND raised a Christian (sort of).

[_Airborne]

Murderers kill people. Period. I don't celebrate war that is not in direct defense of our nation.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Murderers kill people. Period. I don't celebrate war that is not in direct defense of our nation.

Good for you.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Suspicious package at federal building under investigation. At least part of the Federal Building in Aberdeen, South Dakota, was evacuated December 26 after employees spotted a suspicious package while opening mail. The unusual looking envelope appeared to have brown powder on the seal. Authorities immediately evacuated the third floor of the building. Aberdeen firefighters protected by masks and gloves took the letter and sealed it in a bag and containers. A postal service inspector from Sioux Falls was sent to Aberdeen. Source: http://www.kotatv.com/Global/story.asp?S=7545359&nav=menu411_2

[Adlerian Thinker]

TB rising. The United States has experienced an overall decrease in the number of tuberculosis infections in recent years, with 13,767 cases reported in 2006, down 3.2 percent from 2005. That represents the lowest rate since 1953, when national reporting began. In Minnesota, however, the rate of tuberculosis infection increased 9 percent between 2005 and 2006. Minnesota’s Department of Health TB program manager expects a total of 235 to 240 cases this year, marking the highest rate of infection “in recent memory.” About 15 percent of the TB cases diagnosed in Minnesota are resistant to at least one of the four drugs commonly used to treat the disease. There was also a recent case of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis – the same kind that triggered a nationwide panic earlier this year when an infected Georgia resident flew on an international commercial flight after being diagnosed. According to officials, 82 to 85 percent of TB in Minnesota is diagnosed in foreign-born people, above the national average of about 50 percent, and local doctors are reluctant to sound the alarm about the upswing in TB too loudly for fear of stirring up anti-immigrant backlash. Source: http://articles.citypages.com/2007-12-26/news/tb-rising/

[Adlerian Thinker]

Capitol employees returning after evacuation. State employees returned to work at the Georgia Capitol after suspicious packages prompted a partial evacuation Wednesday morning. A spokesman for the Capitol Police said one or more suspicious packages were found at the Capitol at about 10 a.m. State local and federal authorities responded. Part of the Capitol was evacuated while a bomb detection unit investigated. The packages were removed and employees were being allowed back into the building. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will take over the investigation. Source: http://www.ajc.com/traffic/content/metro/stories/2007/12/26/package_1226.html

[rhet 2]

Capitol employees returning after evacuation. State employees returned to work at the Georgia Capitol after suspicious packages prompted a partial evacuation Wednesday morning. A spokesman for the Capitol Police said one or more suspicious packages were found at the Capitol at about 10 a.m. State local and federal authorities responded. Part of the Capitol was evacuated while a bomb detection unit investigated. The packages were removed and employees were being allowed back into the building. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will take over the investigation. Source: http://www.ajc.com/traffic/content/metro/stories/2007/12/26/package_1226.html

Is it me, or does the possibility of a whole lot of dry runs occur to anyone else?

Too damned many "suspicious packages" lately.

1) Great way to figure out hows and details for plans underway.

2) Great way to sucker defensive measures -- especially people like untrained office personnel -- into careless expectations that a real one is just another fake, no big deal.

One failure to report such a "suspicious package" and undertake proper emergency responses is all the animals out there would need.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Is it me, or does the possibility of a whole lot of dry runs occur to anyone else?

Too damned many "suspicious packages" lately.

1) Great way to figure out hows and details for plans underway.

2) Great way to sucker defensive measures -- especially people like untrained office personnel -- into careless expectations that a real one is just another fake, no big deal.

One failure to report such a "suspicious package" and undertake proper emergency responses is all the animals out there would need.

That's one of the reasons I post stuff like this. People can see how widespread and common this stuff is, and can start to think about what we can do about it. Whether they are domestic nutjobs (And there are a LOT of those) or foreign enemies of the state, we need to seriously buttress our security.

[rhet 2]

That's one of the reasons I post stuff like this. People can see how widespread and common this stuff is, and can start to think about what we can do about it. Whether they are domestic nutjobs (And there are a LOT of those) or foreign enemies of the state, we need to seriously buttress our security.

Totally.

And Civil Defense -- citizens who USE THEIR EYEBALLS and are willing to act RESPONSIBLY -- are worth their weight in solid gold.

For example, who LEFT THOSE PACKAGES? Spot the person(s) abandoning them and yell for him that he forgot something, come get it back.

If he runs, flatten the sob till the cops get there. And get the evac alarm going asap.

Those packages were NOT delivered after closing hours and planted inside a locked building.

Where were the eyeballs that could have/should have seen those packages being "delivered"? And the voices yelling for Mr. Delivery to get his rear end back there and pick them up again? And the cell phone photos of Mr. Delivery for the cops to use to identify him?

Where are the security cameras that should have witnessed this "delivery" -- and the photos published for others to identify Mr. Delivery for the cops to pick up and have a little talk with?

For that matter, where was the security guy at the door checking those packages to make sure they were being delivered to people who expected a delivery and would have welcomed a package?

Too loose. WAY too loose.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Totally.

And Civil Defense -- citizens who USE THEIR EYEBALLS and are willing to act RESPONSIBLY -- are worth their weight in solid gold.

For example, who LEFT THOSE PACKAGES? Spot the person(s) abandoning them and yell for him that he forgot something, come get it back.

If he runs, flatten the sob till the cops get there. And get the evac alarm going asap.

Those packages were NOT delivered after closing hours and planted inside a locked building.

Where were the eyeballs that could have/should have seen those packages being "delivered"? And the voices yelling for Mr. Delivery to get his rear end back there and pick them up again? And the cell phone photos of Mr. Delivery for the cops to use to identify him?

Where are the security cameras that should have witnessed this "delivery" -- and the photos published for others to identify Mr. Delivery for the cops to pick up and have a little talk with?

For that matter, where was the security guy at the door checking those packages to make sure they were being delivered to people who expected a delivery and would have welcomed a package?

Too loose. WAY too loose.

What can I say, Rhet? You make too much damned sense.

[rhet 2]

What can I say, Rhet? You make too much damned sense.

Just keep preaching the truth -- SOME citizens hear and ARE watching.

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/28/south-carolina-deputies-discover-grenade-at-restaurant-parking-lot/
South Carolina - Deputies Discover Grenade at Restaurant Parking Lot

December 28, 2007

Lexington deputies are investigating a Hardee’s parking lot in West Columbia, after they discovered a live grenade there.

Major John Allard with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department say they received called at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Deputies say they found what appeard to be a live grenade that was in rear of parking lot at Hardee’s, near the Wal-Mart Supercenter in West Columbia.

Lexington County Bomb Squad investigators sent a truck to remove the grenade. They say they will dispose of the grenade at a later date.

Authorities are still investigating how the explosive made its way to the restaurant.

Deputies say there was no indication of the grenade being used to damage the building or harming anyone.

How does one misplace a live hand grenade?

"Well, officer, I was on my way to the hunt....."

[rhet 2]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/28/south-carolina-deputies-discover-grenade-at-restaurant-parking-lot/
South Carolina - Deputies Discover Grenade at Restaurant Parking Lot

December 28, 2007

Lexington deputies are investigating a Hardee’s parking lot in West Columbia, after they discovered a live grenade there.

Major John Allard with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department say they received called at about 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

Deputies say they found what appeard to be a live grenade that was in rear of parking lot at Hardee’s, near the Wal-Mart Supercenter in West Columbia.

Lexington County Bomb Squad investigators sent a truck to remove the grenade. They say they will dispose of the grenade at a later date.

Authorities are still investigating how the explosive made its way to the restaurant.

Deputies say there was no indication of the grenade being used to damage the building or harming anyone.

How does one misplace a live hand grenade?

"Well, officer, I was on my way to the hunt....."

How the hell do people get hold of real grenades........... never mind. El Patron and illegal weapons dealing, of course. :wall:

[Adlerian Thinker]

This mirrors my thoughts, almost exactly.

Reflections Concerning National Security
By Dennis Lormel

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto once again demonstrates how fragile life is. It also reinforces how vulnerable democratic and open societies and those seeking free societies are to devastating terrorist attacks. This underscores the importance of national security.
The intelligence and law enforcement community, most notably the CIA and FBI, should be afforded the best mechanisms to collect, assess and act upon intelligence information. Agency leaders along with Director of National Security Mike McConnell have consistently articulated the need for enhanced intelligence collection capabilities. Unfortunately, over the past year a debate has raged in the media between enhanced intelligence capabilities, which would improve national security and the need to protect civil liberties. There is a perception in certain circles that enhanced intelligence capabilities place civil liberties at risk. The reality is, the lack of enhanced intelligence capabilities place our national security at risk. The assassination of Ms. Bhutto is a stark reminder of this.

We have been fortunate that we have not experienced a terrorist attack in the United States since September 11, 2001. An important reason for this has been the outstanding performance of the dedicated public professionals responsible for ensuring our national security and safety. They deserve our admiration and support. Many of these individuals work tireless hours, under constant stress, and adverse conditions. They seldom receive recognition for their dedication or accomplishments. To a great extent, these seemingly faceless people are the ones responsible for the fact that there has not been a terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11.

Unfortunately, the contributions, sacrifices and accomplishments of our protectors have been overshadowed. It’s somewhat disheartening that instead of accolades, the government seems to be mired down by those heaping inordinate fault and criticism. Certain media outlets and detractors of government intelligence gathering operations and techniques have excessively railed against select issues. Earlier this year, the FBI was taken to task over deficiencies in the use of National Security Letters (NSLs). At the present time, the CIA is on the firing line over interrogation techniques and the destruction of interview video tapes. These are serious issues that deserve serious attention. However, in the case of the NSL deficiencies the criticisms were overblown and out of context. The criticisms over the interrogation techniques have been relentless and verge on being overblown. In any event the harsh criticisms leveled at select issues have eclipsed the tremendous successes achieved on a daily basis.

This type of relentless media coverage and criticism is counterproductive and more harmful than helpful. The constant portrayal of government agencies as being more villainous than terrorists only serves to facilitate the ideological war being waged by terrorists. The fact of the matter is the terrorists are heinous villains. There have been few if any protracted media stories criticizing the reality that terrorists want to kill Americans and people like Benazir Bhutto who identify with Western values. A constant stream of stories exposing the senseless and cowardly acts of suicide bombers and terrorists would undermine their ideological war.
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/reflections_concerning_nationa.php

So why don't the media do such stories?

[rhet 2]

This mirrors my thoughts, almost exactly.

Reflections Concerning National Security
By Dennis Lormel

The assassination of Benazir Bhutto once again demonstrates how fragile life is. It also reinforces how vulnerable democratic and open societies and those seeking free societies are to devastating terrorist attacks. This underscores the importance of national security.
The intelligence and law enforcement community, most notably the CIA and FBI, should be afforded the best mechanisms to collect, assess and act upon intelligence information. Agency leaders along with Director of National Security Mike McConnell have consistently articulated the need for enhanced intelligence collection capabilities. Unfortunately, over the past year a debate has raged in the media between enhanced intelligence capabilities, which would improve national security and the need to protect civil liberties. There is a perception in certain circles that enhanced intelligence capabilities place civil liberties at risk. The reality is, the lack of enhanced intelligence capabilities place our national security at risk. The assassination of Ms. Bhutto is a stark reminder of this.

We have been fortunate that we have not experienced a terrorist attack in the United States since September 11, 2001. An important reason for this has been the outstanding performance of the dedicated public professionals responsible for ensuring our national security and safety. They deserve our admiration and support. Many of these individuals work tireless hours, under constant stress, and adverse conditions. They seldom receive recognition for their dedication or accomplishments. To a great extent, these seemingly faceless people are the ones responsible for the fact that there has not been a terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11.

Unfortunately, the contributions, sacrifices and accomplishments of our protectors have been overshadowed. It’s somewhat disheartening that instead of accolades, the government seems to be mired down by those heaping inordinate fault and criticism. Certain media outlets and detractors of government intelligence gathering operations and techniques have excessively railed against select issues. Earlier this year, the FBI was taken to task over deficiencies in the use of National Security Letters (NSLs). At the present time, the CIA is on the firing line over interrogation techniques and the destruction of interview video tapes. These are serious issues that deserve serious attention. However, in the case of the NSL deficiencies the criticisms were overblown and out of context. The criticisms over the interrogation techniques have been relentless and verge on being overblown. In any event the harsh criticisms leveled at select issues have eclipsed the tremendous successes achieved on a daily basis.

This type of relentless media coverage and criticism is counterproductive and more harmful than helpful. The constant portrayal of government agencies as being more villainous than terrorists only serves to facilitate the ideological war being waged by terrorists. The fact of the matter is the terrorists are heinous villains. There have been few if any protracted media stories criticizing the reality that terrorists want to kill Americans and people like Benazir Bhutto who identify with Western values. A constant stream of stories exposing the senseless and cowardly acts of suicide bombers and terrorists would undermine their ideological war.
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/reflections_concerning_nationa.php

So why don't the media do such stories?

MSM is locked into its wars for the destruction of conservativism. If it doesn't advance a Lib Tank mentality, it's not "newsworthy."

And Bush is too cowardly -- and too weak-- to do the FDR Censorship Board tactic to stop the anti-war crap.

And the illegals ARE one of the wars we're fighting.
As are the entire chain LEA, empower crime games being played by the Lunatic Left.

Ex-hippies who cut their hair and put on suits but never grew up.

[USCGAUX]

Here's a better Idea, Go join the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. We do more Homeland security patrols and Help defend ports and waterways than anybody else. Never mind an CERT or a block watch because those do not do anything. At least with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, you get to do things that impact this country and help the US Coast Guard and the US Military.

People can talk all they want about defending the homeland, but unless you really get involve and do it every day like I do, then all their is talk and talk is cheap. So if you all talk about wanting to defend the homeland, then start looking at Joining the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and be part of the Action.

So if you all want to defend the homeland so badly, then go join the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. I'm a member of the US Coast Guard and a US Coast Guard Auxiliarist. I make disasters look like another day in the office. I defend ports and waterways. I patrol the waters and stand comms watch and SAR watch. I fly patrols around this country I keep this country safe, secure and I do a thankless job everyday :flag:

[rhet 2]

Here's a better Idea, Go join the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. We do more Homeland security patrols and Help defend ports and waterways than anybody else. Never mind an CERT or a block watch because those do not do anything. At least with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, you get to do things that impact this country and help the US Coast Guard and the US Military.

People can talk all they want about defending the homeland, but unless you really get involve and do it every day like I do, then all their is talk and talk is cheap. So if you all talk about wanting to defend the homeland, then start looking at Joining the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and be part of the Action.

So if you all want to defend the homeland so badly, then go join the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. I'm a member of the US Coast Guard and a US Coast Guard Auxiliarist. I make disasters look like another day in the office. I defend ports and waterways. I patrol the waters and stand comms watch and SAR watch. I fly patrols around this country I keep this country safe, secure and I do a thankless job everyday :flag:

Not thankless at all, dear sir! Many of us, including this aging grandma KNOW how much we depend on our Coast Guard heroes, too!

Thank you, a thousand times!

And, may I say, I am thrilled to have the Guard represented among the other men and women who wear OUR uniform who also share their valuable time and insight with us!

I am, unfortunately, in too poor health for such physically demanding activities these days. Otherwise, I would be thrilled to join the Auxillaries.

So, I do what I can, like stand outside and watch children walking to and from school, and observe when I'm on campus, trying to be alert for strange and out-of-norm developments.

For others, I'd recommend this program as well:

https://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/

We should ALL of us do our own part to protect, especially to support those like yourself who do wear the uniform with cause for great pride in your service to us all.

:clap: Thank you again and again, sir! The Guard takes an equal place in my prayers for ALL our troops, as vital a service as any other branch of our military and our LEAs! :clap:

[USCGAUX]

I do my part and Yes, I know Auxiliarist who are in their 80's and 90's still on duty. They stand comms watch or help out on the mess hall freeing them up to do their military and law enforcement duties.

I will say that the citizen corp does not do anything other than being a block watch with no benefits whatsoever. I've seen how they work and how they do nothing more than just watch people. No impact on homeland security or national defense whatsoever.

I always say, people talk alot about wanting to defend the homeland and all that talk leads to no action. So those who talk about wanting to defend this country, Join the Coast Guard Auxiliary. At least you can say you defend this country and do it every day and make it look like another day in the office. I'm all for those who support our troops, but those who talk more need to actually do more.

[rhet 2]

I do my part and Yes, I know Auxiliarist who are in their 80's and 90's still on duty. They stand comms watch or help out on the mess hall freeing them up to do their military and law enforcement duties.

I will say that the citizen corp does not do anything other than being a block watch with no benefits whatsoever. I've seen how they work and how they do nothing more than just watch people. No impact on homeland security or national defense whatsoever.

I always say, people talk alot about wanting to defend the homeland and all that talk leads to no action. So those who talk about wanting to defend this country, Join the Coast Guard Auxiliary. At least you can say you defend this country and do it every day and make it look like another day in the office. I'm all for those who support our troops, but those who talk more need to actually do more.

Whoa, now. Our own neighborhood watch just last week caught three teens setting fire to trash bins -- and got the fire department out before the neighbor's fence was totally destroyed.

We have called the cops on more than one occasion and one of our gentlemen with a cell phone photographed a sex offender talking to kids at the local grade school, so that one's back in the pen where he belongs.

And a lady down the street slipped on ice and couldn't get up -- neither she nor the baby in the carrier were down for long because somebody else was there to get them help.

I'm sure what you and the Auxillary do is just as, if not more, important -- but what we do is also necessary in its own ways.

And for those of us who cannot stand a formal watch or have no access to the Coast Guard in our own areas also do what we can to help out.

And every little bit does help.

Just being alert when we stop at the store on our way home from work can and has made a difference.

Mind you, I like the idea of the Auxillary, which I didn't even know existed until just now. But not all of us are free or able to do so much. but we all have eyes and ears and most these days have a cell phone. And just watching CAN make a big difference.

[Adlerian Thinker]

I do my part and Yes, I know Auxiliarist who are in their 80's and 90's still on duty. They stand comms watch or help out on the mess hall freeing them up to do their military and law enforcement duties.

I will say that the citizen corp does not do anything other than being a block watch with no benefits whatsoever. I've seen how they work and how they do nothing more than just watch people. No impact on homeland security or national defense whatsoever.

I always say, people talk alot about wanting to defend the homeland and all that talk leads to no action. So those who talk about wanting to defend this country, Join the Coast Guard Auxiliary. At least you can say you defend this country and do it every day and make it look like another day in the office. I'm all for those who support our troops, but those who talk more need to actually do more.

I thought maybe the first post was youthful exhuberence. Now I see it just edging into ignorant ranting. :naughty:

It's one thing to hype your branch of service, but there is no reason to downplay neighborhood watches, CERTs, or any other actions of the citizenry to protect itself. Sheep dogs are greet, but no self-respecting sheep dog willingly tells sheep that their efforts to keep themselves safe is no good. What is wrong with you?

I served 12 years before the Army docs told me that my Crohn's disease was an automatic disqualifier. Since then I have found other ways to serve, keeping kids and teachers safe, learning law enforcement techniques, emergency management techniques, and working with local, state, and federal agencies to keep thousands of Hoosier children safe in their schools.

US citizens rely on their armed forces and LEAs to keep them safe, but they can also rely on themselves. I fully reject anyone who comes in to say they shouldn't do such things, and then proceeds to tell them to join an auxiliary.

Power down, reconsider, and try again.

[Cav Scout]

I do my part and Yes, I know Auxiliarist who are in their 80's and 90's still on duty. They stand comms watch or help out on the mess hall freeing them up to do their military and law enforcement duties.

I will say that the citizen corp does not do anything other than being a block watch with no benefits whatsoever. I've seen how they work and how they do nothing more than just watch people. No impact on homeland security or national defense whatsoever.

I always say, people talk alot about wanting to defend the homeland and all that talk leads to no action. So those who talk about wanting to defend this country, Join the Coast Guard Auxiliary. At least you can say you defend this country and do it every day and make it look like another day in the office. I'm all for those who support our troops, but those who talk more need to actually do more.

Hey there puddle pirate wannabe, you are insulting a lot of folks that work hard at ensuring the safety of their neighborhoods.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Hey there puddle pirate wannabe, you are insulting a lot of folks that work hard at ensuring the safety of their neighborhoods.

Gotta be a youngster......

[Cav Scout]

Gotta be a youngster......

Something. Also sounds like he is trying really hard to earn his grand for an enlistment too.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Something. Also sounds like he is trying really hard to earn his grand for an enlistment too.

What is up with kids these days?

[rhet 2]

What is up with kids these days?

Hippies for parents -- and teachers

[Adlerian Thinker]

Hippies for parents -- and teachers

Damn hippies.....

[USCGAUX]

I'm just saying that everything done for this country is all fine and dandy. Though the problem you have here and I have seen it, is that Block watches and CERTS have no real standards of training and no real oversight or someone to be put in charge of. Yes, I have seen how block watches are and some of them can be a real pain when i do patrols around the harbors and they call the cops on us for no reason all because were patrolling the waters on Coast Guard Orders. You have some that are overbearing and overprotective for no reason what so ever. I have even seen ones who think they can do the same thing that the Auxiliary dose without any proper backing or training from DHS.

Even with CERT's you have those who try and go beyond what they are told what they can do and can't do. See, CERTS and Block watches are okay, as long as their are standards and oversight. I have seen CERTS who think they can do the military thing like self deploy to disasters which in turn causes a major headache when they do show up and become a major distraction.

The reason why I say if you want to do something for this country, go join either the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Volunteer fire or EMS squad instead of a block watch or CERTS. Why spend your time watching people and doing things your not going to use on a daily basis or use on a real mission or a disaster, when you can do things in the Auxiliary, Vol Fire depts or Vol EMS squads. They way i see it, CERTS, Citizencorp and block watches are another bureaucratic waste and are useless when crap hits the fan like in Katrina or days after 9/11.

That's why as a Coast Guard Auxiliarist, I do more things that your average block watch or CERT, Citizencorp will ever do in their lifetime. I know Auxiliarist who are in the 80's and 90s who still are on duty and even if they don't go out on patrols, they still man radio stations and assist at their local Coast Guard station.

What I think problem is that people want to do things to protect their homeland and that's all fine, but what i tend to see is that people take upon themselves to do things that they are not trained for or beyond the scope. It's more disorganized and a mess.

See for the Coast Guard Auxiliary all orders come from the commandant and are under the direct control of the commandant that are set forth under US title code 14 chapter 23. With the Auxiliary, we have no upper age limit or health requirement. I know Auxiliarist in their 70's who are out on patrol or man the radio stations.

[Cav Scout]

I'm just saying that everything done for this country is all fine and dandy. Though the problem you have here and I have seen it, is that Block watches and CERTS have no real standards of training and no real oversight or someone to be put in charge of. Yes, I have seen how block watches are and some of them can be a real pain when i do patrols around the harbors and they call the cops on us for no reason all because were patrolling the waters on Coast Guard Orders. You have some that are overbearing and overprotective for no reason what so ever. I have even seen ones who think they can do the same thing that the Auxiliary dose without any proper backing or training from DHS.

Even with CERT's you have those who try and go beyond what they are told what they can do and can't do. See, CERTS and Block watches are okay, as long as their are standards and oversight. I have seen CERTS who think they can do the military thing like self deploy to disasters which in turn causes a major headache when they do show up and become a major distraction.

The reason why I say if you want to do something for this country, go join either the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Volunteer fire or EMS squad instead of a block watch or CERTS. Why spend your time watching people and doing things your not going to use on a daily basis or use on a real mission or a disaster, when you can do things in the Auxiliary, Vol Fire depts or Vol EMS squads. They way i see it, CERTS, Citizencorp and block watches are another bureaucratic waste and are useless when crap hits the fan like in Katrina or days after 9/11.

That's why as a Coast Guard Auxiliarist, I do more things that your average block watch or CERT, Citizencorp will ever do in their lifetime. I know Auxiliarist who are in the 80's and 90s who still are on duty and even if they don't go out on patrols, they still man radio stations and assist at their local Coast Guard station.

What I think problem is that people want to do things to protect their homeland and that's all fine, but what i tend to see is that people take upon themselves to do things that they are not trained for or beyond the scope. It's more disorganized and a mess.

See for the Coast Guard Auxiliary all orders come from the commandant and are under the direct control of the commandant that are set forth under US title code 14 chapter 23. With the Auxiliary, we have no upper age limit or health requirement. I know Auxiliarist in their 70's who are out on patrol or man the radio stations.

You know I understand that you are very proud of your service. That is a good thing. The purpose of this thread is to show everyday average joe's what they can do to help out. That is its purpose. Not to orginize a militia with a chain of command that reports to the DOT.........I know your chain of command. Better then you most likely. The CG belongs to the DOT until the Pres says otherwise, and then the Navy. Understand we all apreciate the CG, Hell I worked with them in South and Central America. Understand you are talking to a lot of people here who are either still active military or are old vets. They kinda no their ****.

[rhet 2]

You know I understand that you are very proud of your service. That is a good thing. The purpose of this thread is to show everyday average joe's what they can do to help out. That is its purpose. Not to orginize a militia with a chain of command that reports to the DOT.........I know your chain of command. Better then you most likely. The CG belongs to the DOT until the Pres says otherwise, and then the Navy. Understand we all apreciate the CG, Hell I worked with them in South and Central America. Understand you are talking to a lot of people here who are either still active military or are old vets. They kinda no their ****.

I do try to know what the hell I'm doing. And, since I keep getting shoved into UNSOUGHT leadership roles, I do try to keep my own "look-tos" from causing more problems than they help solve.

But, with or without the CG Auxillary or CERT or any other formal program of command-and-control, individuals ARE going to respond to any immediate threat, whether it's real or not, whether their responses are constructive or not. That's just human nature.

Better we should all be accustomed to and familiar with each other when the crisis hits than not, because natural leaders with surge to the front and can go in the WRONG direction -- whereas already in place volunteer and instinctive leader/follower relationships strengthened by familiar cooperation CAN make a group of volunteers cohesive and responsive to still higher authority.

For example, my group of Watchers -- every one I can get my grubby mitts on, anyway -- WILL report to the nearest fire station to do what we're told to do -- and each of us knows EXACTLY who to take to safety first -- and who to call if a rescue op is required. Courtesy of a sergeant in the local LEA and a very nice fire chief who works with us often and often and have yet to miss a meeting of "the team."

We are NOT going to run around like a bunch of headless chickens -- and we are NOT chaotic or out of control -- and we DO know exactly who's in charge -- which is NOT US.

We're just an extra set of eyes and ears for the LEAs. One man can't be everywhere at the same time -- UNLESS he's got extra eyes, ears and cell phones working for him. That's our job: be LEA's eyes, ears, cell phones -- and IF ASKED an extra set of arms and legs.

[USCGAUX]

Where's the Liability their if something goes horribly wrong or what you saw can haul you into court. Who's backing the Block watches and CERTS. I mean LEPC's are very nice and good at the committee level, but when it boils down to boots on the ground and who's responsible if something happens on those block watch.

That's where I have issues with the guardian angels as well because they are doing the work that Security Guards are suppose to be doing and that they are not certified to the standards of private security guards. What the Guardian Angels do, i see borders on being a community security guard agency more than a block watch type.

Even with CERTS, Block watches and Guardian Angels. Their's no way of knowing who's on the block watch and what kind of background do they have. Their no formal background check for people who want to be on the block watch, CERT or Guardian Angels or formal training. Who knows who could be on that block watch, someone with a history of abuse, drug or liquor problems. Their needs to be a State police and FBI background check for those who want to be on block watch, CERT or Guardian Angels.

I'm all for the standard FBI Background checks on everything from employment to volunteer activities.

I frankly hate to hear or read on the news that some granny is forming and organized militia of senior block watch armed with weapons and doing block watch patrols and homeland security patrols.

[rhet 2]

Where's the Liability their if something goes horribly wrong or what you saw can haul you into court. Who's backing the Block watches and CERTS. I mean LEPC's are very nice and good at the committee level, but when it boils down to boots on the ground and who's responsible if something happens on those block watch.

That's where I have issues with the guardian angels as well because they are doing the work that Security Guards are suppose to be doing and that they are not certified to the standards of private security guards. What the Guardian Angels do, i see borders on being a community security guard agency more than a block watch type.

Even with CERTS, Block watches and Guardian Angels. Their's no way of knowing who's on the block watch and what kind of background do they have. Their no formal background check for people who want to be on the block watch, CERT or Guardian Angels or formal training. Who knows who could be on that block watch, someone with a history of abuse, drug or liquor problems. Their needs to be a State police and FBI background check for those who want to be on block watch, CERT or Guardian Angels.

I'm all for the standard FBI Background checks on everything from employment to volunteer activities.

I frankly hate to hear or read on the news that some granny is forming and organized militia of senior block watch armed with weapons and doing block watch patrols and homeland security patrols.

Thanks heaps.

FYI: I qualified on an M16 -- and fired on the SAC pistol team with a ribbon or two to show for it. And I NEVER miss with the .45 or the .32 -- and don't even think about me and my mossburg.

AND WE DO NOT CARRY FIREARMS OR WEAPONS OF ANY KIND. Our cameras and phones are our ONLY equipment.

We are eyes and ears ONLY -- to call in the pros when help is needed.

Man, you really have no idea what Neighborhood Watch is all about.

Do you know how fast the BGs run elsewhere when they see us "old grannies" just watching? BGs don't LIKE eyeballs able and willing to testify in a court of law. Which is the entire object of the Watch program: run 'em off by letting them know EYES are watching every move they make.

Eyes and ears only -- an auxillary -- unpaid but highly appreciated -- to the cop on the beat. They know us. We know them. And we work together to keep kids SAFE.

[Cav Scout]

Where's the Liability their if something goes horribly wrong or what you saw can haul you into court. Who's backing the Block watches and CERTS. I mean LEPC's are very nice and good at the committee level, but when it boils down to boots on the ground and who's responsible if something happens on those block watch.

That's where I have issues with the guardian angels as well because they are doing the work that Security Guards are suppose to be doing and that they are not certified to the standards of private security guards. What the Guardian Angels do, i see borders on being a community security guard agency more than a block watch type.

Even with CERTS, Block watches and Guardian Angels. Their's no way of knowing who's on the block watch and what kind of background do they have. Their no formal background check for people who want to be on the block watch, CERT or Guardian Angels or formal training. Who knows who could be on that block watch, someone with a history of abuse, drug or liquor problems. Their needs to be a State police and FBI background check for those who want to be on block watch, CERT or Guardian Angels.

I'm all for the standard FBI Background checks on everything from employment to volunteer activities.

I frankly hate to hear or read on the news that some granny is forming and organized militia of senior block watch armed with weapons and doing block watch patrols and homeland security patrols.

Well frankly chief of the row boat, I am damn happy to everyday citizenes taking an intrest in their own security, I am damn sick of this notion that it our job alone to babysit sheep. You ought to think about what your saying. Do you know how much an FBI background check costs, how long it takes when its a priority zero and so on. Yes I dont think we need armed militia wandering the street, but I tell you from living in Chicago, Niegbor hood watch is a damn fine thing, even if they get a little over zealous at times. It is high time WE took control of our lives instead of watching it go to ****. You do realize that citizeneship is a duty as well as a right? You should read what is required sometime, as should all who dont know. I think it should be mandatory to graduate 8th grade, the same things that any NATURALIZED citizene knows, cause a lot of you do not.

[theant]

I would like to add to this if you dont mind. One of the things, or changes I have noticed in todays America, is the complete and almost total lack of the younger generations to get involved in their communities. It seems to me that the 18 to 35 year old group that should be involved in the various community functions and orginizations, are mysteriously absent. That sets a horrid example for the kids comming up. Sad.
PEOPLE GET INVOLVED IN YOUR HOME COMMUNITY, THEY NEED YOU!

Thise years were focused on finishing college, getting married, finishing college (still), then enjoying financial independance and freedoms of adulthood, having and raising kids and lamenting the loss of the aforementioned freedoms.

Seriously, that portion of life is busy enough starting a family.

I think young folks need to learn a love of their country earlier so that they are thinking about it and it is a consideration in every decision as is getting an education and job.

Most of my love for USA grew as I learned more about her history, other countries, and our way of life vs. anywhere else.

Our education system did poorly for my peers in grade school. I try to pass on as much as I can to my children. Obviously they are distracted as well. I will not stop trying though!

[theant]

But it can mean calling if they are here attending college and never go to classes! I've done that and they got sent back to Saudi Arabia.

Sometimes automatically lumping many persons from a certain ethnic or racial group into one large pile based upon what might otherwise be erroneous stereotypical interpretation based perhaps somewhat on preconceived biases along with some real evidence nails a perp.

It is OK to be suspicious about people based on your gut feel that happens to include otherwise non-PC bias based on your experience. What you do with that bias may or may not prove valuable.

I happen to have a rather knee jerk reaction when I see a snake. Some snakes are good; many are bad. I looked stupid a time or two jumping from a harmless one. I have never been bitten by a snake despite my having been close enough to many to be bitten.

I won't kill one until I know what it is but I certainly will run from one and report it to anyone who may otherwise approach it.

[rhet 2]

Sometimes automatically lumping many persons from a certain ethnic or racial group into one large pile based upon what might otherwise be erroneous stereotypical interpretation based perhaps somewhat on preconceived biases along with some real evidence nails a perp.

It is OK to be suspicious about people based on your gut feel that happens to include otherwise non-PC bias based on your experience. What you do with that bias may or may not prove valuable.

I happen to have a rather knee jerk reaction when I see a snake. Some snakes are good; many are bad. I looked stupid a time or two jumping from a harmless one. I have never been bitten by a snake despite my having been close enough to many to be bitten.

I won't kill one until I know what it is but I certainly will run from one and report it to anyone who may otherwise approach it.

Truth.

The function of citizens is to WATCH -- be eternally vigilant -- but to CALL THE EXPERTS for the action part of the vigilance game.

KNOWING my neighbors -- their strengths, their weaknesses, their gifts and their needs -- and being SURE that their needs are met -- that's just good citizenship.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Morons. Total morons.

http://sacramento.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/sc121707.pdf

Hand-held lasers are NOT toys, folks.

20 years in prison..........

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://baltimore.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/ba121407.htm

Damn fine jobs, boys.

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://cleveland.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2007/clevelandterrorism121407.htm

More good work by the Boys in Blue.

[rhet 2]

Morons. Total morons.

http://sacramento.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/sc121707.pdf

Hand-held lasers are NOT toys, folks.

20 years in prison..........

What blinking ANTI-American FOOLS!

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://saltlakecity.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/hatecrime121407.htm

57 months for the racially motivated beating of a Mexican-American. Not enough for that skin head.

[Adlerian Thinker]

What blinking ANTI-American FOOLS!

Can you believe that? I can't help but think alcohol was involved.

[rhet 2]

http://baltimore.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/ba121407.htm

Damn fine jobs, boys.

Only 37 months?

Damned poor judge, IMO.

Should be minimum of life for accessory to MURDER

[Adlerian Thinker]

Another reason to seal our borders. This scum is getting what he deserves.

http://memphis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/me121307.htm

[Adlerian Thinker]

Only 37 months?

Damned poor judge, IMO.

Should be minimum of life for accessory to MURDER

Federal laws are pretty straight forward on what a judge can and can't do. I would need to see actual court transcripts before condemning the judge.

[rhet 2]

Can you believe that? I can't help but think alcohol was involved.

Or worse.

DAMNED bad citizenship, whatever the cause.

Visions of tar and feathers and railroad tie rides out of town do sort of pop into the old skull. Also total social ostracism.

When they get out, EVERYBODY should spit on the sidewalk in front of their feet and move to the other side, as far as possible. Walk into a store and NOBODY is there because NOBODY wants to have a damned thing to do with such scum.

BAD BAD BAD neighbors.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Or worse.

DAMNED bad citizenship, whatever the cause.

Visions of tar and feathers and railroad tie rides out of town do sort of pop into the old skull. Also total social ostracism.

When they get out, EVERYBODY should spit on the sidewalk in front of their feet and move to the other side, as far as possible. Walk into a store and NOBODY is there because NOBODY wants to have a damned thing to do with such scum.

BAD BAD BAD neighbors.

I'm glad the deputy wasn't permanently hurt.

[rhet 2]

I'm glad the deputy wasn't permanently hurt.

True, that.

And you're right about the judge. It's those guidelines which are NOT adapted to fit the jihad crimes against humanity that need revision.

And Mendez is NOT an exception to the normal mafia operations.

Sexual slavery is one of their biggest money making enterprises.

Along with gun running.

Along with the drugs.

Every person who buys marijuana HELPS enslave kids to sexual predators and HELPS buy the guns that will murder somebody else in another American town.

Every man or woman who buys and watches a porn film HELPS addict some kid to crack and HELPS buy the guns that will murder somebody else in another American town.

The three crimes ARE interconnected -- and ARE supported by American sleaze bags who only thing they're engaging in a "little harmless fun."

[Adlerian Thinker]

True, that.

And you're right about the judge. It's those guidelines which are NOT adapted to fit the jihad crimes against humanity that need revision.

And Mendez is NOT an exception to the normal mafia operations.

Sexual slavery is one of their biggest money making enterprises.

Along with gun running.

Along with the drugs.

Every person who buys marijuana HELPS enslave kids to sexual predators and HELPS buy the guns that will murder somebody else in another American town.

Every man or woman who buys and watches a porn film HELPS addict some kid to crack and HELPS buy the guns that will murder somebody else in another American town.

The three crimes ARE interconnected -- and ARE supported by American sleaze bags who only thing they're engaging in a "little harmless fun."

You know, we can't stop it, so let's make it legal, and tax it. (J/K!)

[rhet 2]

You know, we can't stop it, so let's make it legal, and tax it. (J/K!)

That's what a defense attorney said to the jury pool I was in -- with his tatooed and clearly connected client sitting staring blankly across the room.

"Drugs are everywhere. You can't stop them." Direct quote.

Old grandma thought to herself, "Let me get the mossburg, and we'll see."

Told that to the judge's face, too, when they couldn't make up their minds whether to exclude me from the jury or not.

He grinned and asked me if it was registered or not. It is.

Then the ******* defense attorney asked me what I'd do in the punishment debates with a convicted drug distributor. I suggested an airplane ride and a drop over a certain palaccio on the other side of the border -- without a chute. The judge grinned from ear to ear -- and sent me home.

And me an ENGLISH PROFESSOR. NOT liberal. NOT tolerant of the Mexican mafia.

I laughed for days.

[Adlerian Thinker]

That's what a defense attorney said to the jury pool I was in -- with his tatooed and clearly connected client sitting staring blankly across the room.

"Drugs are everywhere. You can't stop them." Direct quote.

Old grandma thought to herself, "Let me get the mossburg, and we'll see."

Told that to the judge's face, too, when they couldn't make up their minds whether to exclude me from the jury or not.

He grinned and asked me if it was registered or not. It is.

Then the ******* defense attorney asked me what I'd do in the punishment debates with a convicted drug distributor. I suggested an airplane ride and a drop over a certain palaccio on the other side of the border -- without a chute. The judge grinned from ear to ear -- and sent me home.

And me an ENGLISH PROFESSOR. NOT liberal. NOT tolerant of the Mexican mafia.

I laughed for days.

Maybe they shoulda waterboarded him.... ;)

[rhet 2]

Maybe they shoulda waterboarded him.... ;)

A thought.......

Wouldn't I KILL for the cops to take out his own bosses -- including the attorney's -- imported from a legal firm in El Paso that is employed/funded by TOTALLY exclusive to getting mid-level mafia weasels out of jail. One of several -- owned by the mafia.

This tatooed wonder man, BTW, got the max for his own drug distribution games. NOT his first conviction. And he's also an illegal. So the Mexican consulate is funding the appeal.

Happy happy happy.

[Adlerian Thinker]

A thought.......

Wouldn't I KILL for the cops to take out his own bosses -- including the attorney's -- imported from a legal firm in El Paso that is employed/funded by TOTALLY exclusive to getting mid-level mafia weasels out of jail. One of several -- owned by the mafia.

This tatooed wonder man, BTW, got the max for his own drug distribution games. NOT his first conviction. And he's also an illegal. So the Mexican consulate is funding the appeal.

Happy happy happy.

Let Mexico throw bad money after bad.

[rhet 2]

Let Mexico throw bad money after bad.

Except too damned many who NEED KILLING are getting off because of judicial corruption -- yeah, bribe taking.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Except too damned many who NEED KILLING are getting off because of judicial corruption -- yeah, bribe taking.

Remind me to never get you ****ed at me..... ;)

[rhet 2]

Remind me to never get you ****ed at me..... ;)

Don't touch the hair on a kid's head, and you're more than safe around me. :))

NAMBLA, on the other hand, has real cause to worry. And NAMBLA hugging judges and lawyers and other freaks.

Some way or another, those animals get locked up -- permanently.

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/30/man-arrested-after-loaded-guns-found-in-luggage-at-honolulu-airport/
Man Arrested After Loaded Guns Found In Luggage At Honolulu Airport

December 30, 2007

A man was arrested Saturday night after he tried to board a plane at Honolulu’s airport to the Mainland with two fully-loaded guns.

The State Sheriff’s Office said Christopher Hollie had hidden the semi-automatics in his luggage and refused to tell officers why.

The Sheriffs’ Office said this was a very unusual incident, and that it’s extremely rare for them to arrest a passenger trying to fly out of Hawaii with loaded guns hidden in his or her luggage.

The Sheriff’s Office in charge of airport law enforcement said Hollie was arrested at about 9 p.m. on Saturday.

TSA security said they found a .45 handgun and a .9 mm semi-automatic weapon. Both guns were loaded and concealed in his packed clothes, officials said.

Sheriffs said even though the guns were in checked luggage and were not going into the passenger section of the plane, it was of grave concern because both guns were fully-loaded and ready to use.

The Sheriff’s Office said Hollie told them he was going to Ohio.

Sheriffs said Hollie was uncooperative after he was arrested.

He told them he worked at Tripler Hospital, but he would not say why he was traveling with loaded guns.

The TSA in Washington told KITV that this was a good example of how TSA works with local law enforcement to provide airport security.

Hollie was booked into the Honolulu Police Cellblock Saturday night, unable to post $25,000 bail.

Police said Hollie faces four felony gun charges, including carrying unregistered weapons.

Hollie makes his first court appearance in Honolulu District Court Monday.

Why do people think they can get away with this?

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/30/brussels-cancels-new-years-festivities-amid-terror-fears/
Brussels Cancels New Years Festivities Amid Terror Fears

December 30, 2007

Traditional New year’s Eve fireworks in the Belgian capital Brussels have been canceled because of a security alert.

The Christmas market will close at 1800 instead of staying open all night, and even the ice rink will close early.

“We are still facing a potential threat,” a spokesman for the Belgian capital said.

The alert follows police saying they had discovered a plot to free a jailed al-Qaeda suspect, Nizar Trabelsi. He has denied any such plot.

Last week police detained 14 people suspected of taking part in the alleged plot. But a judge said there was not enough evidence to hold any of them.

Trabelsi himself wrote to a Belgian newspaper to deny any attempt to carry out a jailbreak or terror attack.

The terrorists win this one.

[rhet 2]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/30/brussels-cancels-new-years-festivities-amid-terror-fears/
Brussels Cancels New Years Festivities Amid Terror Fears

December 30, 2007

Traditional New year’s Eve fireworks in the Belgian capital Brussels have been canceled because of a security alert.

The Christmas market will close at 1800 instead of staying open all night, and even the ice rink will close early.

“We are still facing a potential threat,” a spokesman for the Belgian capital said.

The alert follows police saying they had discovered a plot to free a jailed al-Qaeda suspect, Nizar Trabelsi. He has denied any such plot.

Last week police detained 14 people suspected of taking part in the alleged plot. But a judge said there was not enough evidence to hold any of them.

Trabelsi himself wrote to a Belgian newspaper to deny any attempt to carry out a jailbreak or terror attack.

The terrorists win this one.

I watched a documentary about a bunch of "refugees" in the Netherlands who hijacked both a train and a school full of kids -- three weeks of total hell, ending with a marine assault that killed all the MUSLIM kidnappers --

IN 1977 --

They were also demanding the release of several convicted jihadis.

When the hell are people going to wake up to the reality of the war?

How many such incidents does it take to convince people that very dangerous groups of very wild and vicious, violent men DO exist?

[Adlerian Thinker]

I watched a documentary about a bunch of "refugees" in the Netherlands who hijacked both a train and a school full of kids -- three weeks of total hell, ending with a marine assault that killed all the MUSLIM kidnappers --

IN 1977 --

They were also demanding the release of several convicted jihadis.

When the hell are people going to wake up to the reality of the war?

How many such incidents does it take to convince people that very dangerous groups of very wild and vicious, violent men DO exist?

It is in human nature to ignore such things, and focus on the mundane.

[rhet 2]

It is in human nature to ignore such things, and focus on the mundane.

Yes.

But it should NOT be government nature to do so, when "provide for the common defense" is government's first and foremost reason for existing in the first place.

We've got DECADES of this crap that has been ignored, excused, tossed out as comparatively insignificant, until the mess is now so monstrously large as to be downright deadly.

In every non-Muslim nation on earth.

[Adlerian Thinker]

WHO confirms human-to-human bird flu case. The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on Thursday a single case of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 bird flu virus in a family in Pakistan, but said there was no apparent risk of it spreading wider. A statement from the U.N. agency said tests in its special laboratories in Cairo and London had established the “human infection” through presence of the virus “collected from one case in an affected family.” The WHO team invited to Pakistan to look into an outbreak involving up to nine people, from late October to December 6 found no evidence of sustained or community human-to-human transmission. The outbreak followed a culling of infected chickens in the Peshawar region, in which a veterinary doctor was involved. Subsequently he and three of his brothers developed proven or suspected pneumonia. The brothers cared for one another and had close personal contact both at home and in the hospital, a WHO spokesman in Geneva said. One of them, who was not involved in the culling, died on November 23. “All the evidence suggests that the outbreak within this family does not pose a broader risk,” the WHO spokesman told Reuters. “But there is already heightened surveillance and there is a need for ongoing vigilance.” Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22410007/

[Adlerian Thinker]

What the hell?

Governors: Only half of states use DHS info-sharing networks. Only 52 percent of the states’ homeland security directors regularly participated in information-sharing networks run by the Homeland Security Department in 2007, according to a new survey. The other 48 percent said they had little participation in the Homeland Security Information Network, the DHS alert system, and the Disaster Management Information System, according to a report published by the National Governors Association December 18. The annual survey queries state homeland security directors, who are typically appointed by governors. States were generally critical of DHS’ information-sharing initiatives in 2007, according to the report. The department’s inspector general has noted the low participation in HSIN and other networks and criticized the lack of input from state and local officials in their design. On the other hand, state officials reported higher levels of satisfaction with federal participation in the states’ intelligence fusion centers. More than half -- 56 percent -- said they were satisfied with the timeliness of the intelligence they are receiving, 47 percent said they were satisfied with the specificity of the intelligence, and 50 percent said they were satisfied that the intelligence was detailed enough to be acted on, according to the report. However, two-thirds of the state directors said they would be unable to continue funding the fusion centers without federal aid. Furthermore, under current DHS rules, states can only use federal grants to pay intelligence analysts’ salaries for two years. Therefore, states must replace and retrain their analysts every two years, the report said. The survey also covered topics such as the status of state governments’ homeland security structures, state and local coordination, and critical infrastructure protection. Source: http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/32016-1.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

Yikes!

Bomb squad detonates military anti-tank mine. In Pennsylvania, Scranton’s bomb unit was called to a West Scranton storage-unit business Thursday after the discovery of what was identified as a military-issue anti-tank mine on the ground in front of a commercial trash bin. A technician later removed and detonated the device. Officers blocked off Seventh Avenue, while waiting for the police Hazardous Device Unit to arrive. The street reopened about 2:15 p.m. Source: http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19151134&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://miami.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel07/mm20071220.htm

Good catch, men.

[rhet 2]

Yikes!

Bomb squad detonates military anti-tank mine. In Pennsylvania, Scranton’s bomb unit was called to a West Scranton storage-unit business Thursday after the discovery of what was identified as a military-issue anti-tank mine on the ground in front of a commercial trash bin. A technician later removed and detonated the device. Officers blocked off Seventh Avenue, while waiting for the police Hazardous Device Unit to arrive. The street reopened about 2:15 p.m. Source: http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19151134&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6


"“Where it came from, nobody knows,” Sgt. Martin said."

How totally cute. NOT! :evil:

This plus your previous post about the IDIOTIC STUPID JACKASS IGNORAMOUSES WHO CALL THEMSELVES GOVERNORS WHEN THE *******S CAN'T BE BOTHERED WITH A LITTLE THING LIKE PUBLIC DEFENSE DURING A WAR could make grandma feel really really really just a tad bit red hairish, if you know what I mean.

Where the hell did that anit-tank REAL EXPLOSIVE come from?
Why the hell don't the cops know where it came from?

And why the hell isn't every governor NOT working his/her ass off to fight the war and block intifada whacks at the US under indictment for dereliction of duty?

Further, if Chavez is buying elections in Argentina -- as the FBI case in Florida indicates -- how many of those same damned governors -- and FEDERAL politicians -- and both state and federal bureaucrats has he also bought in the US and Mexico?

[Adlerian Thinker]

"“Where it came from, nobody knows,” Sgt. Martin said."

How totally cute. NOT! :evil:

This plus your previous post about the IDIOTIC STUPID JACKASS IGNORAMOUSES WHO CALL THEMSELVES GOVERNORS WHEN THE *******S CAN'T BE BOTHERED WITH A LITTLE THING LIKE PUBLIC DEFENSE DURING A WAR could make grandma feel really really really just a tad bit red hairish, if you know what I mean.

Where the hell did that anit-tank REAL EXPLOSIVE come from?
Why the hell don't the cops know where it came from?

And why the hell isn't every governor NOT working his/her ass off to fight the war and block intifada whacks at the US under indictment for dereliction of duty?

Further, if Chavez is buying elections in Argentina -- as the FBI case in Florida indicates -- how many of those same damned governors -- and FEDERAL politicians -- and both state and federal bureaucrats has he also bought in the US and Mexico?

According to libs in WP, it doesn't matter, because voter fraud doesn't exist.

[rhet 2]

According to libs in WP, it doesn't matter, because voter fraud doesn't exist.

And none of THEM would EVER take donations from suspicious sources, now would they?

[Adlerian Thinker]

A dry run?

Rome Georgia - Pipe Bomb Found At Mt Berry Square Mall

December 31, 2007

A suspected pipe bomb was found at Rome’s Mt. Berry Square mall this morning, prompting an evacuation of the shopping center, and Emergency Management Agency Director Scotty Han**** said it was still unclear whether the device was explosive.

Han**** said it had the physical appearance of a pipe bomb, but no detonator.

“I don’t know if it had the insides to make it explode,” he said.

According to Travis Goss of the Rome Police Department, shortly after 7 a.m., a maintenance worker found a suspicious package and called 911. Officers set up a command center at Treasure Island, as well as barriers around the mall.

At around 9:15 a.m., reporters on the scene heard a call of “fire in the hole,” and then a small explosion from near the main entrance around 10 seconds later. The package was then removed from the site.

Sheriff Tim Burkhalter said the “bomb” was found in a parking island near the front entrance. No suspects have been named, and Burkhalter said the bomb appeared to have been placed at the mall intentionally.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/31/rome-georgia-pipe-bomb-found-at-mt-berry-square-mall/

[rhet 2]

A dry run?

Rome Georgia - Pipe Bomb Found At Mt Berry Square Mall

December 31, 2007

A suspected pipe bomb was found at Rome’s Mt. Berry Square mall this morning, prompting an evacuation of the shopping center, and Emergency Management Agency Director Scotty Han**** said it was still unclear whether the device was explosive.

Han**** said it had the physical appearance of a pipe bomb, but no detonator.

“I don’t know if it had the insides to make it explode,” he said.

According to Travis Goss of the Rome Police Department, shortly after 7 a.m., a maintenance worker found a suspicious package and called 911. Officers set up a command center at Treasure Island, as well as barriers around the mall.

At around 9:15 a.m., reporters on the scene heard a call of “fire in the hole,” and then a small explosion from near the main entrance around 10 seconds later. The package was then removed from the site.

Sheriff Tim Burkhalter said the “bomb” was found in a parking island near the front entrance. No suspects have been named, and Burkhalter said the bomb appeared to have been placed at the mall intentionally.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/31/rome-georgia-pipe-bomb-found-at-mt-berry-square-mall/

You know the fascists' pattern of intifada violence just prior to elections?

Think Madrid.

[Adlerian Thinker]

You know the fascists' pattern of intifada violence just prior to elections?

Think Madrid.

I am thinking my sense are going to be heightened where ever I go shopping.

[rhet 2]

I am thinking my sense are going to be heightened where ever I go shopping.

Yeah.

Especially when the grandbabies are along.

I find myself watching, noting who's who and who's where and what they've got with them -- and what ISN"T with them, too.

Funny how the guy with the loaded shopping cart studying which brand of mustard to buy doesn't bug me -- but others with eyes not doing what eyes should do in a store sort of makes for a creepy between the shoulder blades. And not just guys.

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/31/mystery-surrounds-death-bird-deaths-on-staten-island/
Last week, dozens of dying birds fell to the ground in a Staten Island neighborhood, and officials say they don’t yet know what caused it. The dead birds have been sent for testing but findings have not yet been released.

Read More From 1010 WINS

Residents and city officials say roughly 40 to 50 black birds were seen tumbling from the sky, flailing on the ground and expiring on a street near Great Kills Harbor around 3 p.m. Friday. Fire Department Battalion Chief John Giacella says firefighters arrived to find the creatures “floundering and foaming at the mouth.”

Some residents say they noticed a strong chemical smell around the same time. Authorities blocked off the street and advised residents to stay indoors for a time. But officials now say air-quality tests have found no hazards.

Staten Island Live

Sightings of dead birds in Staten Island’s Great Kills and Eltingville neighborhoods have continued through this morning.

Last week, the carcasses of dozens of the feathered animals were suddenly discovered around the intersection of Wiman and Sweetwater avenues. Now the latest sightings appear to be branching out further, from the other side of Hylan Boulevard.

Last night several dead birds were spotted in the Burger King parking lot on Richmond Avenue and Amboy Road, and the Advance received another report from that area this morning. This map shows where the dead birds have been found.

Last week, the bodies of birds were collected for testing, though the results could take weeks. The Health Department said there was nothing to suggest a risk to humans. Officials on the scene last week suspected ammonia fumes emanating from a nearby pile of mulch as the cause. Lately the official guess has leaned toward pesticide.

From The Gothamist

On Friday, dozens of birds fell out of the sky and died on a street in the Great Kills section of Staten Island. Residents grew concerned as, the Staten Island Advance reported, birds “flopped and twitched…as they breathed their last” (video here). One resident said the birds were flying “as if they were drunk” before falling to the ground.

Residents were advised to stay in their homes as the fire department, police and as well as other city agencies were on the scene, trying to determine why the birds were dying. Some residents returning home weren’t even allowed out of their cars for a while. The dead birds, either blackbirds or purple martins, were all around Wiman Avenue and Tennyson Drive.

[Hereintheusa]

If we are having as many foiled terrorist attacks or dry runs as this thread implies, I just cannot fathom why not one attack has been succesfull.

I am begining to wonder if AQ has the all encompassing network in the US that we have previously thought. Suicide bombers are a regular event in the middle east and you would have thought by now, someone would have strapped explosives, walking into a mall or Walmart and sent themselves to Allah.

Human nature is that people can only remain vigilant for so long. In another 5 years if we have not had one attack on US soil, you will be hard pressed to find a majority that feels we are in imminent danger.

[Adlerian Thinker]

If we are having as many foiled terrorist attacks or dry runs as this thread implies, I just cannot fathom why not one attack has been succesfull.

I cannot fathom why you feel it necessary to come into this thread and say anything non-productive. Does it make you feel better?

I am begining to wonder if AQ has the all encompassing network in the US that we have previously thought. Suicide bombers are a regular event in the middle east and you would have thought by now, someone would have strapped explosives, walking into a mall or Walmart and sent themselves to Allah.

Even in the ME, suicide bombers are caught, because people know what to look for. As I haven't seen ANYONE describe an "all encompassing AQ network" in the US, I have to wonder at your rhetoric. Why is it so important for you to poo-poo the calls for vigilance? There is no cost to vigilance. None. So what is your ulterior motive to come into this thread and do nothing but be critical? Arrogantly appoint yourself guardian?

Human nature is that people can only remain vigilant for so long. In another 5 years if we have not had one attack on US soil, you will be hard pressed to find a majority that feels we are in imminent danger.

We have a majority now that feels we are not in danger. As for your statement on human nature, talk to the Israelis about that. They do pretty well.

Now go find another thread.

[Hereintheusa]

Adlerian just on another post you said this forum was a place to discuss things, now you question why I posted in this forum.

I grew up during the IRA bombing campaign of mainland UK so dont tell me I question the need for vigilance, we were dealing with terrorism while your countrymen were providing those same terrorists with funds to purchase arms and ordnance to kill British soldiers and civillians.

I know all I need to about vigilance but you seem to think that every single little incident is related to some terrorist plot, time and time again you talk about dry runs but not one of your theories has ever been backed up by any real evidence.

You want to live in a constant state of paranoia, fortunately the majority of people can be vigilant without constantly thinking "this is it" or "its begining". I am vigilant but I do not believe that the terrorists can destroy America, if they can then this nation is obviously not what I thought it was.

BTW your last point about Israel makes no sense. They are constantly under attack by their enemies. Maybe if they could go five or six years without any form of terrorist attack people would drop their guard a little but thats not the case.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Adlerian just on another post you said this forum was a place to discuss things, now you question why I posted in this forum.

You are not discussing, you a poo-pooing. You haven't added anything useful here.

I grew up during the IRA bombing campaign of mainland UK so dont tell me I question the need for vigilance, we were dealing with terrorism while your countrymen were providing those same terrorists with funds to purchase arms and ordnance to kill British soldiers and civillians.

I'll tell it to you as I see it. You are questioning the need for vigilance. To assert otherwise after the posts you made would be foolish.

I know all I need to about vigilance but you seem to think that every single little incident is related to some terrorist plot, time and time again you talk about dry runs but not one of your theories has ever been backed up by any real evidence.

No, apparently you don't know all there is to know about vigilance, or you wouldn't be making such statements as you have.

You want to live in a constant state of paranoia, fortunately the majority of people can be vigilant without constantly thinking "this is it" or "its begining". I am vigilant but I do not believe that the terrorists can destroy America, if they can then this nation is obviously not what I thought it was.

Then you are deluded.

BTW your last point about Israel makes no sense. They are constantly under attack by their enemies. Maybe if they could go five or six years without any form of terrorist attack people would drop their guard a little but thats not the case.

Of course it doesn't make any sense to you. We have been under constant attack, and threats of attack for years now. We woke up to it on 9/11, even though it had been going on for years before. Terrorists have threatened to assassinate our Presidents, have attacked, and threatened to attack our buildings, our citizens, our way of life here and around the world. Bury your head in the sand, if that's what you want to do. I have been very clear about why I started this thread. Some of what I post has to do with crime, and with domestic terrorism, as well as foreign terrorism. Vigilance is vigilance. Your efforts to poo-poo this are wasted.

Bye bye.

[Hereintheusa]

Interesting how you dismiss out of hand everything I say but will then complain if the same is done to you.

Im sorry but you come across as a total sheep, unable to think for yourself and absolutley unable to consider there might be another point of view that is not diametrically opposed to your view but simply a differnt take.

Its a pity you have such a low opinon of America and how easily it can be destroyed but then I am sure you also believe AQ has smuggled in 40 nuclear bombs and have been waiting the past 1 or 2 years just to detonante them.

But we are getting nowhere with this. SO I think its time to bring this section of the discussion to an end.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Interesting how you dismiss out of hand everything I say but will then complain if the same is done to you.

Interesting how you dismiss the purpose of this thread, and mischaracterize it. Why is that?

Im sorry but you come across as a total sheep, unable to think for yourself and absolutley unable to consider there might be another point of view that is not diametrically opposed to your view but simply a differnt take.

:)) Thanks! You have succeeded in dismissing yourself! :))

Its a pity you have such a low opinon of America and how easily it can be destroyed but then I am sure you also believe AQ has smuggled in 40 nuclear bombs and have been waiting the past 1 or 2 years just to detonante them.

I am now positive you will make up whatever **** you want to make up. What a maroon.

But we are getting nowhere with this. SO I think its time to bring this section of the discussion to an end.

Yes. Don't let the thread door hit you in the ass on the way out.

[rhet 2]

If we are having as many foiled terrorist attacks or dry runs as this thread implies, I just cannot fathom why not one attack has been succesfull.

I am begining to wonder if AQ has the all encompassing network in the US that we have previously thought. Suicide bombers are a regular event in the middle east and you would have thought by now, someone would have strapped explosives, walking into a mall or Walmart and sent themselves to Allah.

Human nature is that people can only remain vigilant for so long. In another 5 years if we have not had one attack on US soil, you will be hard pressed to find a majority that feels we are in imminent danger.

Why would they murder themselves when they have a substantial number of people doing their work for them by denying the reality of the threat?

Their Propaganda unwitting tools are winning the war for them -- no need to die at all.

Unlike in Iraq where the Muslims KNOW the truth and must be physically terrified into submission, here their buddies in in the American populace do the work without shedding a single drop of blood.

The imams KNOW what happens when the blood starts flowing in American streets: all those guns they want taken away come out of closets.

The blood will flow ONLY when the imams decide they can't win through subversion of our courts and our politicians and conning fools into handing them power over our courts and our politicians.

Or the imams decide they can no longer afford to take the slow indirect subversion route to power.

Which you would know if you'd bothered to actually listen to the imams.

[Hereintheusa]

Im sorry but I just dont think the extremists are capable of that type political skullduggery or have an organized network.

I also fail to see where any power has been given to radical Muslims in the US (or Europe).

I do believe we face a threat from extremism but the way you talk its as if they have penetrated every part of social and political institutions.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Im sorry but I just dont think the extremists are capable of that type political skullduggery or have an organized network.

I also fail to see where any power has been given to radical Muslims in the US (or Europe).

I do believe we face a threat from extremism but the way you talk its as if they have penetrated every part of social and political institutions.

You have stated that's your opinion, but have done nothing to support it.

This thread is about defending the homeland. It involves terrorism, crime and comes from open source DHS reports concerning US infrastructure. It seeks to educate people, increase awareness, and highlight areas of concern.

You have taken from that that I am paranoid, and attempting to build up something that isn't there.

That describes you.

Makes one wonder why you are so intent on derailing this thread.

[rhet 2]

You have stated that's your opinion, but have done nothing to support it.

This thread is about defending the homeland. It involves terrorism, crime and comes from open source DHS reports concerning US infrastructure. It seeks to educate people, increase awareness, and highlight areas of concern.

You have taken from that that I am paranoid, and attempting to build up something that isn't there.

That describes you.

Makes one wonder why you are so intent on derailing this thread.

So ignore and get back on topic.

Got any more reports for us "paranoid extremists" who know the reality of the threat we face and are willing to deal with it?

[Adlerian Thinker]

So ignore and get back on topic.

Got any more reports for us "paranoid extremists" who know the reality of the threat we face and are willing to deal with it?

What? I' sorry, wait one..........<SQUEAL!>

There, I've adjusted my squelch.

I will keep scanning the net for us "paranoid extremists."

[Adlerian Thinker]

Security Guard At Juarez Mexico - El Paso Texas Border Bridge Killed

January 2, 2008

A security guard, who was working for a company contracted to maintain order at toll booths at the Paso del Norte Bridge, was killed Tuesday, marking the city’s first homicide of the year, police said.

As of Tuesday night, police officers were still investigating the details of the case, and said they had limited information on the incident.

Officers did say that at about 5:30 p.m. a male pedestrian, who was crossing into Juárez, had a confrontation with the security guard. Officials were unable to pinpoint what caused the confrontation.

“We know that (the security guard) was physically assaulted but we are still trying to determine what injuries were received and what inflicted those injuries,” police spokesman Officer Chris Mears said Tuesday night.

A man was detained at the scene and witnesses are being interviewed, according to police. The names and ages of the two men were not released Tuesday night.

The security guard was taken to Thomason Hospital where he later died. Both men are believed to be from El Paso.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/02/security-guard-at-juarez-mexico-el-paso-texas-border-bridge-killed/

We should wait and see what actually happened, but it appears these guards are a bit isolated.

[rhet 2]

Security Guard At Juarez Mexico - El Paso Texas Border Bridge Killed

January 2, 2008

A security guard, who was working for a company contracted to maintain order at toll booths at the Paso del Norte Bridge, was killed Tuesday, marking the city’s first homicide of the year, police said.

As of Tuesday night, police officers were still investigating the details of the case, and said they had limited information on the incident.

Officers did say that at about 5:30 p.m. a male pedestrian, who was crossing into Juárez, had a confrontation with the security guard. Officials were unable to pinpoint what caused the confrontation.

“We know that (the security guard) was physically assaulted but we are still trying to determine what injuries were received and what inflicted those injuries,” police spokesman Officer Chris Mears said Tuesday night.

A man was detained at the scene and witnesses are being interviewed, according to police. The names and ages of the two men were not released Tuesday night.

The security guard was taken to Thomason Hospital where he later died. Both men are believed to be from El Paso.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/02/security-guard-at-juarez-mexico-el-paso-texas-border-bridge-killed/

We should wait and see what actually happened, but it appears these guards are a bit isolated.

Somewhat. But I've crossed there thousands of times. I wouldn't have thought the risk that high.

You're right about the wait and see. But friends in El Paso tell me the city's getting really rough. They're trying to get jobs elsewhere.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Somewhat. But I've crossed there thousands of times. I wouldn't have thought the risk that high.

You're right about the wait and see. But friends in El Paso tell me the city's getting really rough. They're trying to get jobs elsewhere.

Which US city is across from, what was that Mexican city, Nuevo something or other?

[Adlerian Thinker]

$2.5 million security project nearly complete. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is finishing a $2.5 million project to update radiation detectors at the Virginia Port Authority’s three Hampton Roads terminals, a project that port officials say will help improve efficiency and security at the ports. The detectors, positioned near exit lanes at each terminal, scan all imported cargo containers shipped out of the ports for radiation. Elevated levels of radiation could indicate the presence of a nuclear bomb or other explosive device. Customs is replacing many of the terminals’ existing scanners with more modernized equipment and updating other equipment with new technology. The update was required by a congressional mandate. The busiest U.S. ports must scan all incoming cargo for radiation by the end of the year. Scanning all containers greatly reduces the chance a terrorist could hide dangerous materials inside a normal-looking container, port officials said. Source: http://www.dailypress.com/business/dp-biz_sensors_1229dec29,0,435843.story

[Adlerian Thinker]

Max service disrupted after suspicious device found. Max service was disrupted Sunday after the bomb squad was called in to investigate a suspicious device. A trimet operator found the device after pulling into the Hatfield/Government Center Station in Hillsboro, Oregon. The operator reported finding an object wrapped in plastic and duct tape, measuring about a foot in length and two to three inches in diameter on the floor of the train. The object was later determined to be two aerosol cans of pesticide taped together to look like a bomb. The max station was evacuated of all trimet employees, riders, and passengers while the bomb squad investigated. Source: http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_123007_news_max_bomb_scare.690e49de.html

[rhet 2]

Which US city is across from, what was that Mexican city, Nuevo something or other?

Lots of "Nuevos" on the other side all up and down the border.

Juarez is the city paired most with El Paso.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Educators training students how to manage disasters, emergencies. An associate professor with Northern Illinois University’s Department of Technology and an assistant professor want to purchase the body of an airplane to teach students how to effectively handle disasters and emergencies in a productive, methodical manner. “You can’t manage what you don’t know,” the associate professor said. “If you don’t have the equipment, it’s hard to train your people. You want to expose students to as many learning opportunities as possible.” NIU is one of eight Illinois universities offering certificates for completing classes involving skills that can be used to mitigate homeland security emergencies. Between terrorist attacks and natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and wildfires in southern California, the need has grown for people familiar with the proper way to manage an array of disasters. The two professors from NIU have students study natural disasters and terrorist attacks to show that while disasters might differ in size, scope, and circumstance, all call for a level of strict organization, confident decision-making, and cooperation among different specialists. Source: http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2007/12/31/news/doc47786b6a9b3c0344061161.txt

Sign up for classes today!

[Adlerian Thinker]

Lots of "Nuevos" on the other side all up and down the border.

Juarez is the city paired most with El Paso.

I was thinking of one that Glenn Beck talked about, that had a lot of Americans kidnapped.

I'll try to remember.

[rhet 2]

Max service disrupted after suspicious device found. Max service was disrupted Sunday after the bomb squad was called in to investigate a suspicious device. A trimet operator found the device after pulling into the Hatfield/Government Center Station in Hillsboro, Oregon. The operator reported finding an object wrapped in plastic and duct tape, measuring about a foot in length and two to three inches in diameter on the floor of the train. The object was later determined to be two aerosol cans of pesticide taped together to look like a bomb. The max station was evacuated of all trimet employees, riders, and passengers while the bomb squad investigated. Source: http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_123007_news_max_bomb_scare.690e49de.html

No way two pesticide cans were duck taped together and "accidentally" left on a train.

Besides which, just think of two cans of pesticide exploding in a crowded train car.

NOT GOOD.

Too damned much of this crap happening.

Whether its jihad or "just kids" -- NOT GOOD.

[Adlerian Thinker]

No way two pesticide cans were duck taped together and "accidentally" left on a train.

Besides which, just think of two cans of pesticide exploding in a crowded train car.

NOT GOOD.

Too damned much of this crap happening.

Whether its jihad or "just kids" -- NOT GOOD.

Paranoid delusionist. :mrgreen:

[rhet 2]

Paranoid delusionist. :mrgreen:

I know.

"There are no TERRORISTS." A fat-assed (literally) freako (literally) movie producer says so.

My, how stupid of me not to take the word of a fat-assed freako movie producer as authoritative about ALL issues.

[Adlerian Thinker]

I know.

"There are no TERRORISTS." A fat-assed (literally) freako (literally) movie producer says so.

My, how stupid of me not to take the word of a fat-assed freako movie producer as authoritative about ALL issues.

I am heading out to visit the in-laws in state, so I will be scarce for awhile. I will be able to check in on my smartphone, but navigating here with one of those is cumbersome.

I'll keep posting my paranoid delusions.

Keep fighting the good fight!

[rhet 2]

I am heading out to visit the in-laws in state, so I will be scarce for awhile. I will be able to check in on my smartphone, but navigating here with one of those is cumbersome.

I'll keep posting my paranoid delusions.

Keep fighting the good fight!

Safe trip. And may your in-laws be easier to have fun with than mine were. :) Hugs.

And remember: spread the word wherever you travel! Internet is NOT the only means of information distribution.

[Adlerian Thinker]

I found it. Nuevo Laredo. :eek:

Take a read, it will make your blood boil!

http://archive.glennbeck.com/news/11262007b.shtml

[ICRed]

Safe trip. And may your in-laws be easier to have fun with than mine were. :) Hugs. Wow.....I'm not the only one that has that problem, huh?:rolleyes: When you have a bunch of big-mouth libs for in-laws, it does not make for a very "enjoyable" holiday, especially if you're one that has difficulty keeping your mouth shut....not that I'm like that or anything.:redface:

[rhet 2]

I found it. Nuevo Laredo. :eek:

Take a read, it will make your blood boil!

http://archive.glennbeck.com/news/11262007b.shtml

Laredo is BAD.

They're getting open attacks in broad daylight -- WITH cops right there on the scene. BAD.

Even worse than on the other side was when I was a kid.

If our side is that bad, I don't even want to think what the hellhole in Nuevo Laredo must be like.

[rhet 2]

Wow.....I'm not the only one that has that problem, huh?:rolleyes: When you have a bunch of big-mouth libs for in-laws, it does not make for a very "enjoyable" holiday, especially if you're one that has difficulty keeping your mouth shut....not that I'm like that or anything.:redface:

:))

You should be me and have both libbie and far right Christian fanatics at the same gathering. :))

The Bear Who Is Cuddly has many times in the past 40 years had to rescue me from assault by both sides at once.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Bomb squad called to mall, package exploded. A suspicious package that led to the evacuation of Mount Berry Square mall Monday morning was apparently a hoax, but investigators said they are continuing to seek its source. A police spokesman said that while it could be called a hoax, it consumed “a lot of manpower.” Investigators are processing the evidence for prints and other clues to its origin. The Northwest Georgia Bomb Squad blew up the device on site but “there wasn’t anything explosive in it or it would have made a much bigger bang.” Source: http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news865284.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

NCTC releases 2008 Counterterrorism Calendar. The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) today announced the release of its 2008 counterterrorism calendar. The calendar is now available in print and via NCTC’s website at: http://www.nctc.gov in both a downloadable PDF and an online, interactive version. NCTC has published a “daily planner” print version of its counterterrorism calendar since 2005. This year’s calendar is the largest ever, with 160 pages of information on known terrorist groups, individual terrorists, and technical information on topics such as biological and chemical threats. The interactive online version of the calendar provides the public with user-friendly access to the same information, with the addition of locator maps, photographs, and lists of helpful links specific to each threat area. An NCTC spokesperson said, “The NCTC ‘daily planner’ version of the calendar is a prized resource for law enforcement and national security personnel, providing easy access to terrorist profiles and information on terrorist groups. The calendar also provides invaluable first-responder information on biological threats, chemical agents, medical symptoms of nerve agent exposure, and more. Our new, interactive calendar provides easier, broader access to this information, and should serve as a valuable research tool for emergency services providers, government personnel, and the general public.” Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-02-2008/0004729564&EDATE

[Adlerian Thinker]

Explosive device disrupts phone service. Residents in the northeast area of the Las Vegas Valley were without phone service while repair crews work on a transmitter that was damaged by an explosive device. Residents told police they heard an explosion around 3 a.m. Wednesday. Las Vegas police, the FBI, and ATF were on the scene investigating. Phone service was expected to be out until Wednesday evening. Source: http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?s=7568343

[Adlerian Thinker]

Police: Gunpowder-filled pipe source of deadly explosion. The blast that killed a West Chester Township, Ohio, teen Wednesday afternoon came from a pipe filled with gunpowder, according to police. He was nearly 110 feet away from the explosion, according to a Police Department official. Two juveniles were transported to the Butler County Juvenile Detention Center for involvement in the explosion. Source: http://www.oxfordpress.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/03/HJN010408explosionfolo.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

Davis County drops pipe bomb charges, will let feds prosecute. Davis County, Utah, prosecutors are dropping charges against a Hill Air Force Base employee who crafted more than 40 pipe bombs found stashed behind two area businesses. The county says it will dismiss its case in lieu of federal charges that carry stiffer potential penalties. Forty bombs stolen from a Clearfield storage unit owned by the man were found behind a Layton car wash on September 5. Five days later at least four more bombs were found behind a Roy convenience store. Federal prosecutors have charged the man with one count of possessing improvised explosives devices or bombs and one count of storing explosive material in a manner not in conformity with regulations. Source: http://origin.sltrib.com/news/ci_7862715

[Adlerian Thinker]

Here's one all you business folks should take a look at!

State Department issues list of threats U.S. businesses face. U.S. businesses faced varied threats in 2007 — including cyberattacks in Europe, theft of intellectual property in Asia, natural disasters in Latin America, terrorism on many continents — according to a year-end analysis by the U.S. State Department’s Overseas Security Advisory Council. In Europe, two weeks of attacks by computer interlopers that crippled government and corporate Web sites beginning in late April raised a new worry that U.S. companies also could be vulnerable to attack by computer. Among 10 security issues cited in the report, the council also warned of rising homegrown political radicalism and terrorism in Europe. Intellectual property theft, terrorism, natural disasters, and political instability were listed as the most serious security challenges in Asia. The threat from fraud and theft of trade secrets has been rising exponentially, the report said. It cited China and India as countries of greatest concern and warned that much of the damage comes from within companies. Source: http://www.buffalonews.com/145/story/241556.html

[rhet 2]

What the hell gives with all these total nutjobs?

Have they NO CONSCIENCE?

[Adlerian Thinker]

What the hell gives with all these total nutjobs?

Have they NO CONSCIENCE?

That requires a brain.

[rhet 2]

That requires a brain.

I'm very tired of the corruption of American kids, you know.

Where the hell were their parents when MORALITY was being handed out?

NO SELF_RESTRAINT AND NO RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE ITSELF


Even wolves do not exhibit such violent assaults on their own "people"

[Adlerian Thinker]

Kane County judges on alert after bomb threat. Security at the Kane County, Illinois, courthouse remained tight Thursday after police said they arrested a man armed with a homemade bomb, who threatened the entire judicial system, including two specific judges. The man had several run-ins with police in recent months, court records revealed. On New Year’s Day, a police officer noticed a man sitting in a truck with camouflage clothing, full face paint, an empty gun holster, and a knife tucked in his waistband. The man made several nonsensical homicidal remarks, and the officer called for an ambulance. Afterward, officers searched the truck and found a bottle filled with gas that had what appeared to be a wick sticking out the top and several fireworks taped to it, which was next to larger container that also looked suspicious. Experts determined the bottle was an incendiary device and rendered it useless a short time later. No one was injured. Also inside the truck were Kane County court papers and Watts’ written ramblings alleging judicial hypocrisy and targeting specific judges who handled his cases. Police alerted Kane County sheriff’s officials, who called the chief judge. The judge said he immediately notified the appropriate authorities, including a state terrorist center and the Illinois Supreme Court, which is protocol. Source: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=106745&src=2

[Adlerian Thinker]

Explosive device found at Norton Shores Goodwill store. Police, fire crews, and the Michigan State Police Bomb Squad were called to the Goodwill store in Norton Shores on Thursday morning when an explosive device was found in a donation bin. Around noon, the bomb squad and military partners determined that the device was a military M905 tail fuse, which is used as a detonation device for a variety of military explosives. The fuse was live and armed with about a half pound of explosives. The bomb squad moved the device and detonated it. No one was hurt in the incident. Source: http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=85741

[Adlerian Thinker]

2008 seems to be picking up where 2007 left off.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Elite Teams of Scientists And FBI Prepare For Nuclear Terrorism

January 6, 2008

An elite team of scientists and FBI agents are ready to deploy in a worse-case scenario of nuclear terrorism somewhere in the U.S. It may sound like the something out of a Die Hard movie, or an episode of 24 nut this team is real and they’re ready to respond if called upon.

The Los Angeles Times has more.

About every three days, unknown to most Americans, an elite team of federal scientists hits the streets in the fight against nuclear terrorism.

More than two dozen specialized teams have been positioned to respond to threats of nuclear terrorism, and as many as 2,000 scientists and bomb experts participate in the effort.

And a national policy is evolving that aims to create a system of deterrence in which scientific analysis could quickly identify the state sponsors of an attempted or successful nuclear device attack and enable the U.S. to retaliate. A key report on the approach, known as nuclear forensics, is due in February.

The counterterrorism efforts are becoming routine. Scientists fly over cities in specially equipped helicopters and airplanes using radiation detectors to search for signs of weapons. They blend into crowds at major sporting events, wearing backpacks equipped with special instruments that can identify plutonium or highly enriched uranium.

So far, they haven’t found a terrorist. Near the Las Vegas strip, they investigated a homeless person who somehow had picked up a piece of radioactive material. On the streets of Manhattan, a hot-dog vendor fresh from a medical test triggered a police officer’s radioactivity sensor.

But the teams haven’t become complacent. If the government’s many layers of defense against nuclear smuggling break down, the unarmed weapons designers and physicists, along with experts from the FBI, may be the last hope of staving off a potentially catastrophic attack.

Without hesitation, they are supposed to rush up to a ticking nuclear weapon (or a dirty bomb that would disperse radioactive material) and defuse it before it’s too late — a situation depicted often by Hollywood.

“After everything else fails, we come in,” said Deborah Wilber, a scientist who directs the Office of Emergency Response at the National Nuclear Security Administration. “I don’t believe it is a question of if it will happen. It is a question of when.”

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the office has created 26 rapid-response units. If a nuclear device is found, two other specialized teams would rush to the scene, one from a base in Albuquerque, N.M., where a fueled jetliner is on 24-hour alert. Another FBI team would depart from rural Virginia.

The teams would first try to disable a bomb’s electrical firing system and then quickly transfer the weapon to the Nevada desert. There, the bomb would be lowered into the G Tunnel, a 5,000-foot shaft, where a crew of scientists and FBI agents would try to disassemble the device behind steel blast doors and log the evidence.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/06/elite-teams-of-scientists-and-fbi-prepare-for-nuclear-terrorism/

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/06/live-grenade-brought-into-detroit-receiving-hospital-emergency-room-by-man/
Live Grenade Brought Into Detroit Receiving Hospital Emergency Room By Man

January 6, 2008

The emergency room at Detroit Receiving Hospital was given the “all clear” Saturday after a man tried to enter the hospital with what police said was a live grenade.

Bomb squads and police cleared out the ER and secured the hospital after the man was taken into custody.

Police said a man came to the ER claiming he needed medical attention, and when he went through the metal detectors they went off.

When a security guard went to check the man with a metal detector wand, he pulled out a device that resembled a grenade with the pin out, police said.

Hospital security guards wrestled the man to the ground and found that he had another grenade with the pin in it. The bomb squad safely took the devices and secured the hospital.

Police said the man is in custody and is undergoing evaluation.

One of the security guards suffered from a fractured ankle.

[Adlerian Thinker]

200 Sticks of Dynamite, Blasting Caps and Ammonium Nitrate Stolen From Storage Facility
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/06/200-sticks-of-dynamite-blasting-caps-and-ammonium-nitrate-stolen-from-storage-facility/
January 6, 2008

Almost 200 sticks of dynamite along with blasting caps and several bags of ammonium nitrate were stolen Thursday from three storage buildings on Carpenter Road off Highway 321.

According to reports by Dep. David Parton and Chief Detective Robert Caldwell, the dynamite, blasting caps and bags of ammonium nitrate were stolen from Elmo Greer and Sons Construction Company, which has been contracted to construct the new Highway 321 project.

Chief Detective Caldwell said the ATF sent three agents to the area yesterday to investigate the crime and the FBI along with TBI agents have been notified. Neither estimates regarding the value of the stolen dynamite, nor suspects involved in the crime have been reported at present time.

Now THERE'S something to help you sleep at night!

[Adlerian Thinker]

Camping, anyone?
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/06/terror-suspects-hone-skills-make-detection-difficult/

Terror Suspects Hone Skills Making Detection Difficult

January 6, 2008

Excellent Article in The Washington Post.

In an age of spy satellites, security cameras and an Internet that stores every keystroke, terrorism suspects are using simple, low-tech tricks to cloak their communications, making life difficult for authorities who had hoped technology would give them the upper hand.

Across Europe, al-Qaeda operatives and sympathizers are avoiding places that they assume are bugged or monitored, such as mosques and Islamic bookshops, counterterrorism experts said. In several cases, suspects have gone back to nature — leaving the cities on camping trips or wilderness expeditions so they can discuss plots without fear of being overheard.

In Britain, a man who called himself “Osama bin London” is among five people being tried on charges of operating terrorist training camps in remote areas, sometimes under the guise of paintball fights in the woods. The camps’ participants included four men who later tried to set off backpack bombs on the London transit system on July 21, 2005.

In a separate case in London, a Ugandan immigrant is scheduled to go on trial this month on charges of receiving terrorist training in the New Forest, site of a former royal hunting ground established in the 11th century by William the Conqueror.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Probably not a big deal, but what was someone thinking?

Pilot reports model rocket near airliner. The pilot of a jet carrying passengers to Logan International Airport reported yesterday that a model rocket appeared to have been fired toward his craft, a Federal Aviation Administration official said. The pilot of Air Wisconsin flight 180A saw what appeared to be a spark or firework in front of the plane around 12:26 p.m., after the jet had descended to 500 feet and was preparing to land, said an FAA spokeswoman. The model rocket did not hit the aircraft, she said, and the 40-passenger plane, which had three crew members, landed safely. A State Police spokesman said the plane was flying over the Winthrop-Revere area at the time and the rocket was believed to have been fired from the vicinity of the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation. The state reservation is about a half-mile northeast of two of the airport’s runways. State Police are investigating the incident. Source: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/01/06/pilot_reports_model_rocket_near_airliner/

[Adlerian Thinker]

There's no excuse for this.

El Pasoans could wait weeks for medicine in bioterrorism attack. If something like an anthrax attack or the pandemic flu hits El Paso, Texas, El Paso’s Bioterrorism Pandemic Flu Preparedness Program said it will be mass chaos. The city’s department of health will have enough medicine to treat people, but the department said it needs more than 2,000 extra volunteers to give out medicine. As of now the department has about 450 volunteers. At that rate people will be waiting for a long time to get medicine they need. Hospitals will be the first place to fill up if a bioterrorism attack or pandemic flu outbreak happens. That is why the city’s health department needs volunteers to run its 29 emergency clinics out of local schools. Right now they can only open about three. Source: http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/14981114/detail.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

Man walks into Detroit emergency room with grenades, tackled by security. Detroit Receiving Hospital guards searched a man after he triggered a metal detector Saturday night. An officer found the man had a grenade in one hand with the pin out, the Detroit Free Press reported. The officer tackled him, and the emergency room was evacuated. No injuries were reported. The grenades were a type that might be used in training and much less powerful than combat grenades. Police found two pipe bombs and two grenades in his house. The man, who has a history of mental illness, was hospitalized for evaluation. Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,320538,00.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

Another reason to want to see MS-13 dead.

War memorial vandalized again. For the second time in a week vandals marked up the Vietnam War memorial at Long Wharf in New Haven, Connecticut. This time they did it by spray painting over the names of those who fought and died in the Vietnam War. This is the third time vandals defaced the memorials at the park. White spray paint was cleaned off the memorials stone “V” in early December. Last week, the vandals used bright orange spray paint to write “MS-13”. The city is now considering installing cameras at the memorial. Source: http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=7582672&nav=menu29_2

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/08/virginia-pipe-bombs-found-on-railroad-tracks-over-bridge/
Virginia - Pipe Bombs Found On Railroad Tracks Over Bridge

January 8, 2008

Two pipe bombs found on railroad tracks in Newport News over the weekend were safely detonated.

Police responded to the tracks near the James River Bridge Saturday around 2:00 p.m.

By nightfall, a second device had been found, so authorities had to stop train traffic until the situation was cleared.

[Cav Scout]

I'm very tired of the corruption of American kids, you know.

Where the hell were their parents when MORALITY was being handed out?

NO SELF_RESTRAINT AND NO RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE ITSELF


Even wolves do not exhibit such violent assaults on their own "people"

I have been asking this question for years now.

[rhet 2]

I have been asking this question for years now.

Hippies -- should never have been allowed to breed. No common decency and respect for others to teach their whelps. And no self-discipline required to control their cubs, either.

[Cav Scout]

Hippies -- should never have been allowed to breed. No common decency and respect for others to teach their whelps. And no self-discipline required to control their cubs, either.

LOL yes.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Pipe bombs found on railroad tracks. Two pipe bombs found on railroad tracks in Newport News, Virginia, over the weekend were safely detonated. Police responded to the tracks near the James River Bridge Saturday around 2:00 p.m. By nightfall, a second device had been found, so authorities had to stop train traffic until the situation was cleared. Source: http://www.wvec.com/news/topstories/stories/wvec_local_010708_nn_pipe_bombs.1a8e5fe2.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

Suspicious package reported at office. Shortly after noon on January 7 in Monroe, Michigan, a security guard notified authorities when he came across a suspicious package left at the new Social Security office. The area was cordoned off and the public was not allowed to enter the building. Officials have cleared the scene and the area has since been reopened after a police dog determined the package did not contain explosives. The parcel was delivered by the post office and reportedly left near or outside the office door. The security guard then became suspicious either based on the way it was left behind or because of the writing on the package. Source: http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080107/NEWS01/232694066

[Adlerian Thinker]

Entire military tank, bombs found buried near Central Florida school. Workers, who found and detonated more than 400 pounds of World War II-era bombs and munitions near a Central Florida middle school, have discovered an entire military tank buried underground near the campus. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said about 50 23-pound bombs, several rockets, a rocket booster, and a cannon have been found buried near Odyssey Middle School since December 27. Part of the school grounds was used by the Army in the 1940s to train bombardiers for combat. Three small areas on school grounds still have to be checked for munitions. School leaders and the Army officials said children at the school are safe. Source: http://www.local6.com/news/14992012/detail.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

This is one lucky deputy!

Explosive devices located, blown up in Indian River County. An off-duty sheriff’s deputy Sunday afternoon ran over an explosive device that was so powerful it jolted her 8,600-pound sport utility vehicle. And upon further inspection, three more suspicious devices were found prompting officials to shut down the road and request one family consider evacuating their home. The Indian River County Fire Rescue and the St. Lucie County bomb squad, along with its new $164,000 high-tech robot and $258,000 bomb disposal truck, responded to the scene, where bomb technicians blew up the devices with a 12-gauge water cannon. Source: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jan/06/30explosive-devices-located-blown-up/

[Adlerian Thinker]

Stolen Fuel Truck From Pennsylvania Prompts National Alert

January 9, 2008

A stolen fuel truck from Leffler Oil Company in Lancaster County, PA is the focus of a nationwide alert. The 1992 truck has Leffler markings on the doors but not on the tank.

The truck was last seen parked at a fuel station on North Sixth Street in Denver, Lancaster County

The alert went out on Monday when a driver noticed the truck was missing. The truck was carrying about $3,500 worth of a low-sulphur fuel.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/09/stolen-fuel-truck-from-pennsylvania-prompts-national-alert/

[Adlerian Thinker]

Yes, even here in the US:

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan08/tamil_tigers011008.html

[rhet 2]

Yes, even here in the US:

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan08/tamil_tigers011008.html

How cute.

Do Americans fund all the hell-raising vicious animals in the world? :wall:

The warning at the bottom of the link is VITAL:

Do your share: know where your money is going!

[Adlerian Thinker]

How cute.

Do Americans fund all the hell-raising vicious animals in the world? :wall:

The warning at the bottom of the link is VITAL:

Do your share: know where your money is going!

Yes. Be alert. The word needs more lerts. :mrgreen:

[rhet 2]

Yes. Be alert. The word needs more lerts. :mrgreen:

You do know that I send out your links as emails to students and profs and academics all over the world, don't you? :mrgreen:

[Adlerian Thinker]

You do know that I send out your links as emails to students and profs and academics all over the world, don't you? :mrgreen:

I hope they get a chuckle.

[rhet 2]

I hope they get a chuckle.

Actually, they then ask for links for the cop scouts thing. :mrgreen:

[Adlerian Thinker]

Suspicious package causes mall evacuation. Myrtle Beach Police cordoned off a section of Coastal Grand Mall Tuesday after someone discovered a suspicious package near a service entrance. An explosive ordnance disposal team later detonated the package, which they determined contained books and clothing. Police also evacuated the Dillard’s wing of the mall, and were diverting traffic around a portion of the mall Source: http://www.scnow.com/midatlantic/scp/news.apx.-content-articles-BTW-2008-01-08-0006.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

Hazmat drill conducted at Philadelphia business. A drill simulating a chemical spill was conducted at a Philadelphia packaging company Wednesday. The drill, which was conducted at the Altivity Packaging Company, simulated a spill involving ammonium hydroxide, which can cause burns if exposed to the skin and death if inhaled. Firefighters and medic units were at the scene as the business was evacuated as if there was a chemical leak.
Source: http://cbs3.com/topstories/Hazmat.Altivity.Packaging.2.626206.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

Alert for fuel rig stolen in Denver, PA. A nationwide security alert has been broadcast for a diesel fuel tanker truck stolen this weekend from a Lancaster County oil company. The Leffler Oil truck was stolen between 4 p.m. Friday and 6:30 a.m. Monday, said the general manger of Leffler Oil. The 3,200-gallon fuel tank was about a third full, he said. The highway diesel fuel inside has a street price of about $3.50 per gallon, he said. The manager does not suspect the truck was stolen for terrorist use. Homeland Security broadcasts a national alert
whenever there is a fuel theft of such magnitude, he said. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security broadcast an alert about the truck Monday afternoon to all police departments in the country. Source: http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/214901

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/13/ricin-scare-at-phoenix-hospital-man-attempts-suicide-by-eating-castor-beans/
Ricin Scare At Phoenix Hospital - Man Attempts Suicide By Eating Castor Beans

January 13, 2008

Ricin was apparently not the culprit in an incident involving poisonous castor beans that caused a ruckus at a Phoenix hospital Friday night.

Maryvale Hospital was temporarily closed after police responded to a 10 p.m. call regarding a man who may have attempted suicide by ingesting the beans, which contain a toxin that can be lethal to humans.

Castor beans can be used to make ricin, which can be used in a biological weapon.

Police secured possible exposure areas at the hospital, 5102 W. Campbell Ave., and the two Phoenix police officers who responded to the call were found negative for contamination.

The 30-year-old man who consumed the beans is being hospitalized, and will be evaluated in light of his apparent suicide attempt, police said.

Investigators continue to search the man’s apartment Saturday for signs of the hazardous material.

So far, nothing has been found, officials said.

The castor bean plant, which grows wild but is also cultivated as an ornamental, is the most deadly of all plants, according to USA Today.

Eating just one bean can be deadly, but patients who live more than five days usually survive.

In 2006, a Phoenix man was sentenced to prison for trying to manufacture ricin from the beans to use as a biological weapon.

I had not known about castor beans. :eek:

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/13/germany-terror-warning-issued/
Germany - Terror Warning Issued

January 13, 2008

Lebanese authorities warned of terrorist attacks on targets within Germany after arresting an al-Qaeda suspect in Beirut, prompting the Justice Ministry in Berlin increase security, authorities said on Saturday.

“There was a tip from Lebanon - a warning tip,” said Stefanie Amft, a spokesperson for German federal police.

She gave no further details, except to say it was part of a global threat. “It is known that Germany is part of this worldwide threat,” she said.

Germany was alerted after Lebanese authorities arrested a suspect on Thursday who was believed to have phoned a threat to the German Embassy in Beirut earlier in the week, a senior Beirut police official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation, said suspect Mohammed Naddoum was arrested after allegedly threatening to strike German security targets.

“Using special technology, the police were able to trace the man’s location and identity and arrest him,” the official said.

Naddoum confessed to making the call and having ties to al-Qaeda, the official said, adding that “investigations are still under way to confirm his affiliations and intentions”.

The official said police also arrested a Palestinian identified as Khodr al-Hinnawi on Friday after Naddoum repeatedly mentioned his name in interrogations.

Police were in contact with officials from the German Embassy in Lebanon, the official said.

Germany’s Focus magazine, identified the suspect as “Mohammed N,” reported that he was a Syrian accused of al-Qaeda ties. It did not cite its sources.

The suspect allegedly said a German-Turk, a Saudi and an Australian already were in Germany planning an attack on Berlin’s Justice Ministry or other agencies to avenge the prosecution of al-Qaeda suspects in that country, the Focus report said. It said explosives for the alleged attack were already inside Germany.

A Justice Ministry spokesperson, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, refused to confirm any details but said officials were aware of the issue and had taken “increased security measures” to protect employees.

Amft would not elaborate on security precautions.

Der Spiegel magazine, also without citing sources, reported that explosives were still on their way and were thought to be coming to the northern city of Rostock through Russia and Finland.

It said the potential attackers wanted revenge for the September 2007, arrest of Fritz Martin Gelowicz and other suspects accused of plotting to attack a US military base in Germany and other targets.

The group was also inspired to act against Germany by the prosecution of Youssef Mohammed el-Hajdib, Der Spiegel reported.

El-Hajdib, a 22-year-old Lebanese citizen, is accused of attempting to blow up two commuter trains in July 2006 along with Jihad Hamad, who was sentenced last year by a Lebanese court to 12 years in prison.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Hmmm. I could have sworn some Brits were saying that Great Britain had a handle on the terror problem.....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,322419,00.html
Report: Al Qaeda Is Building a White Army of Terror

Sunday, January 13, 2008
Al Qaeda is building a white army of terror in the United Kingdom, according to the U.K.'s Scotland on Sunday.

According to a source at MI5 — the British equivalent of the CIA — 1,500 white Britons are believed to have converted to Islam with the purpose of funding, planning, and carrying out surprise terror attacks, the newspaper reported.

Security experts say the growing number of white terrorists poses a serious threat because they are less likely to be detected than members of the Asian community.

But, but, how can this be?

[rhet 2]

Hmmm. I could have sworn some Brits were saying that Great Britain had a handle on the terror problem.....
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,322419,00.html
Report: Al Qaeda Is Building a White Army of Terror

Sunday, January 13, 2008
Al Qaeda is building a white army of terror in the United Kingdom, according to the U.K.'s Scotland on Sunday.

According to a source at MI5 — the British equivalent of the CIA — 1,500 white Britons are believed to have converted to Islam with the purpose of funding, planning, and carrying out surprise terror attacks, the newspaper reported.

Security experts say the growing number of white terrorists poses a serious threat because they are less likely to be detected than members of the Asian community.

But, but, how can this be?

Seems Europe has it's own share of Hippies stuck in the 1960s and 1970s, yes.

Rude awakenings coming, I'm afraid. They still haven't learned a damned thing.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Direct from Scotland:
http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/AlQaeda39s-white-army-of-terror.3667425.jp
Al-Qaeda's white army of terror

By Richard Elias
HUNDREDS of British non-Muslims have been recruited by al-Qaeda to wage war against the West, senior security sources warned last night.
As many as 1,500 white Britons are believed to have converted to Islam for the purpose of funding, planning and carrying out surprise terror attacks inside the UK, according to one MI5 source.

Lord Carlile, the Government's independent reviewer of anti-terrorism legislation, said many of the converts had been targeted by radical Muslims while serving prison terms.

Security experts say the growing secret army of white terrorists poses a particularly serious threat as they are far less likely to be detected than members of the Asian community.

Since the 7/7 and 21/7 London bombings, police and intelligence services have had considerable success in identifying, disrupting and stopping extremist plots. As a result, groups such as al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen have been forced to change tack. Converting white non-Muslims has been one response.

Nothing to see here, folks. Ignore the threat in your towns.......

[Adlerian Thinker]

Seems Europe has it's own share of Hippies stuck in the 1960s and 1970s, yes.

Rude awakenings coming, I'm afraid. They still haven't learned a damned thing.

Having your head cut off will wake you up for an instant, then it all fades to black.....

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan08/ms13_011408.html
THE MS-13 THREAT
A National Assessment
01/14/08

Member of MS-13

They perpetrate violence—from assaults to homicides, using firearms, machetes, or blunt objects—to intimidate rival gangs, law enforcement, and the general public. They often target middle and high school students for recruitment. And they form tenuous alliances...and sometimes vicious rivalries...with other criminal groups, depending on their needs at the time.

Who are they? Members of Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, who are mostly Salvadoran nationals or first generation Salvadoran-Americans, but also Hondurans, Guatemalans, Mexicans, and other Central and South American immigrants. And according to our recent national threat assessment of this growing, mobile street gang, they could be operating in your community...now or in the near future.

Learn what signs to look for, and report these a-holes to the authorities.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Fake bomb aids in theft at post office. Authorities in Boston were searching last night for a man who allegedly robbed one of the city’s main post offices with what he said was a bomb, triggering the closure of several surrounding streets yesterday, officials said. A man placed a shoe box on the counter of the Post Office, as if he wanted to mail it, said spokesmen for the Boston Police Department and the U.S. Postal Service. The box, which turned out to contain two bottles of an unknown liquid, had wires protruding from it. He then handed the clerk a note, “it said, ‘This is a bomb, put all your larger bills, 20s and 50s, within the box and do it within two minutes, or I’ll blow this place up,” said a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, who said he was paraphrasing and had not seen the note. The clerk had only $40 in the cash register, which angered the man, who took the cash and fled. Authorities evacuated the Post Office and closed surrounding streets. Investigators determined that the device was not hazardous at about 5:30 p.m. and streets reopened about 6 p.m. Source: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/01/11/fake_bomb_aids_in_theft_at_post_office/

[Adlerian Thinker]

Bomb scare delayed Giuliani speech. A speech by a U.S. Republican presidential candidate was relocated at the last minute because of a bomb threat. The speech began an hour late in a nearby airport hanger yesterday after six Harris Corp. buildings were evacuated by the threat. Source: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080038182&ch=1/10/2008%208:31:00%20AM

[rhet 2]

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan08/ms13_011408.html
THE MS-13 THREAT
A National Assessment
01/14/08

Member of MS-13

They perpetrate violence—from assaults to homicides, using firearms, machetes, or blunt objects—to intimidate rival gangs, law enforcement, and the general public. They often target middle and high school students for recruitment. And they form tenuous alliances...and sometimes vicious rivalries...with other criminal groups, depending on their needs at the time.

Who are they? Members of Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, who are mostly Salvadoran nationals or first generation Salvadoran-Americans, but also Hondurans, Guatemalans, Mexicans, and other Central and South American immigrants. And according to our recent national threat assessment of this growing, mobile street gang, they could be operating in your community...now or in the near future.

Learn what signs to look for, and report these a-holes to the authorities.

MS 13 is primarily illegals -- and vicious -- and connected heavily to the drug trade. Those who use ANY illegal drugs ARE supporting terrorist monsters.

We desperately need a single day in which LEAs and the NG across the nation deliberately target MS 13 operatives -- not for deportation, for holding without bail, trial, and execution asap.

One of their favorite games: sell drugs for us or your sister/little brother/mother/father dies. And they do honor the threat. The kid winds up doing prison time because the next favorite game is tell anyone about the threat and your entire family dies anyway.

[Adlerian Thinker]

MS 13 is primarily illegals -- and vicious -- and connected heavily to the drug trade. Those who use ANY illegal drugs ARE supporting terrorist monsters.

We desperately need a single day in which LEAs and the NG across the nation deliberately target MS 13 operatives -- not for deportation, for holding without bail, trial, and execution asap.

One of their favorite games: sell drugs for us or your sister/little brother/mother/father dies. And they do honor the threat. The kid winds up doing prison time because the next favorite game is tell anyone about the threat and your entire family dies anyway.

Double tap justice, indeed.

[ayn]

In the AAW Forum, we have often spoken of our wonderful troops, and the job they are doing in defending us from terror.

Yet I have seen very little talk of what we can do. Yes, us home folk who aren't wearing cammo, or toting military issue weaponry. (If you are, please don't tell me about it! LOL)

What can regular citizens do?

I wanted to start a thread to discuss it.

Here are some ideas:
1) InfraGard - a private, not-for-profit group sponsored by the FBI that is tasked with protecting 17 sectors of critical infrastructure as indentified in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP)
2) LEPC Committees - Local Emergency Planning Committees are under the aegis of the state DHS. They have to do with hazardous materials safety.
3) School Safety Commissions/Committees - Some states mandate such committees to help schools develop school safety plans

Info will be given on each. What are some things you can do in your neck of the woods?

We all have a vested interest in protecting our homeland.

Learn to speak Arabic. It's really not that hard. Habibi.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Learn to speak Arabic. It's really not that hard. Habibi.

The things I listed are easier.

[rhet 2]

Learn to speak Arabic. It's really not that hard. Habibi.

No, thank you.

Got a lot more important things to do.

Like verbally bashing my State and Fed Useless Pigs to demand "provide for the common defense" and some small measure of common sense instead of perpetual stupidities.

AND Neighborhood Watching. :mrgreen:

[educ8er]

Are we relying on the same community that allows a girl to die from gunshots without stepping up and naming the shooter? The same group that watches a thief in the store and just shrugs their shoulders? The same people that watch a youngster get kicked in the streets by a gang?

Yep, I would bet on that happening.

[rhet 2]

Are we relying on the same community that allows a girl to die from gunshots without stepping up and naming the shooter? The same group that watches a thief in the store and just shrugs their shoulders? The same people that watch a youngster get kicked in the streets by a gang?

Yep, I would bet on that happening.

Nope.

The OTHER half of America -- REAL Americans who remember the values of their fathers and grandfathers all the way back to Jamestown and the Mayflower.

Some hippies and their kids don't give a **** about other people.

Most Americans still do. The entire purpose of this thread is to encourage the MEMORY of humanist responsibility for others that used to exist before LIBERAL HIPPIES stole the courts and stole the schools to CORRUPT American cultural values.

Guess what I would love to do with your own deliberate and conscious attempt to DISCOURAGE the rediscovery of the culture that is NOT YET DEAD despite your best efforts to slaughter it?

[Adlerian Thinker]

Are we relying on the same community that allows a girl to die from gunshots without stepping up and naming the shooter? The same group that watches a thief in the store and just shrugs their shoulders? The same people that watch a youngster get kicked in the streets by a gang?

Yep, I would bet on that happening.

There are sound psychological reasons that people do such things. People in a group dynamic will often wait for someone else to take the lead. People son't know what to do. One is a leadership function, the other is knowledge.

I can help with one. The leadership function has to come from within.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Abandoned backpack prompts Hood Canal Bridge closure. The Washington State Patrol closed the Hood Canal Bridge to traffic for more than an hour after a bomb squad was called in to investigate an abandoned backpack. The closure began shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday, after the abandoned bag was found on the bridge between the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas. Troopers have not said what they found in the backpack. Source: http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=7618120

[Adlerian Thinker]

Suspicious device found outside OIA maintenance hangar. A suspicious device found outside of the Continental Airlines maintenance hangar at Orlando International Airport (OIA) halted traffic and forced an evacuation for several hours Monday night as officials investigated, according to OIA officials. The package was found by an Orlando police officer on routine patrol in an un-secured parking lot. Several agencies, including Orlando Fire Department’s bomb squad, responded to the scene, said an OIA spokeswoman. The device was destroyed by the fire department and the pieces of the device will be sent to a crime lab for further investigation. No one was injured. The device did not affected flights or passengers, she said. Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-oia011407,0,6497262.story?coll=orl_tab01_layout

[Adlerian Thinker]

Agro-terror?

In fruits and vegetables, a terrorist threat lurks. New research at Arizona State University’s Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness is examining how safe food imported from Mexico is. A group of five professors received approximately $263,800 from the National Center for Food Protection and Defense — an agency under the Department of Homeland Security. The money will be used to research the possibility of agro-terrorism, or terrorists contaminating fruits and vegetables, coming through the border at Nogales. Members of the group will be traveling to Nogales to work with Mexican authorities to finalize the survey next month. The study will run through May 2009. The supply chain at Nogales is especially important for the economy, one researcher said. Between October and May, almost half of the produce coming from Mexico to the U.S. passes through its security checkpoints. Approximately 900 trucks of food cross the border every day. Source: http://www.asuwebdevil.com/issues/2008/01/14/news/703058

[Adlerian Thinker]

FBI: U.S., Canadian terror suspects met in ‘05. Two U.S. citizens accused of plotting to attack civilian and government targets shot “casing videos” of Washington landmarks, later found on a terrorism suspect’s computer in Britain, and met with suspects in a Canadian terrorism case, an FBI agent testified Monday. The suspects wanted to plan attacks for “defense of Muslims or retaliation for acts committed against Muslims,” authorities have said. They have pleaded not guilty to a July 19, 2006, indictment charging them with providing material support to terrorists and related conspiracy counts. No trial date has been set. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22655629/

[Adlerian Thinker]

Terror threat from Europe could lead to strict controls on traveling to America. The growing threat of terrorists from Europe has led America to consider forcing Britons and other visitors to go through tougher checks when they enter the country, according to the U.S.’s head of homeland security. He told the BBC that Europe was increasingly seen as a platform for a potential terror attack in America. He explained that he had no plans to scrap the visa waiver program, but could force Britons and others to register online before traveling. The BBC also reported that a posting to a known Islamic extremist website talked about founding a branch of Al Qaida in the U.K. and killing British politicians, including the prime minister. Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=508535&in_page_id=1770

[Adlerian Thinker]

Bomb threat prompts evacuations at WPAFB. Security forces at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base evacuated a part of the base as part of an investigation into a bomb threat made to the 445th Airlift Wing about 2:45pm Tuesday. A search of the area is underway and the evacuation order will remain in effect until the area is deemed safe. Source: http://www.whiotv.com/news/15056186/detail.html

[Adlerian Thinker]

U.S. intel alerted to threat of ‘Forest Fire Jihad’. U.S. officials monitoring terrorist web sites have discovered a call for using forest fires as weapons against “crusader” nations. A terrorist website carried a posting that called for “Forest Jihad.” The posting was listed on the Internet on November 26 and reported in U.S. intelligence channels last week. The statement, in Arabic, said that “summer has begun so do not forget the Forest Jihad.” The writer called on all Muslims in the United States, Europe, Russia, and Australia to “start forest fires.” On damage caused by wildfires, the report said that the fires typically take months to put out which means that “this terror will haunt them for an extended period of time.” The fires also will cause economic damage because it will limit exports of timber used to make furniture and also will cause losses to pharmaceutical companies that use trees for ingredients for drugs, the posting said. Smoke caused by the fires will create pollution and military forces could be tied up fighting fires. The post noted that U.S. military forces in Iraq or Afghanistan “could even be recalled” as occurred following hurricane Katrina, which did not occur. “Imagine if, after all the losses caused by such an event, a jihadist organization were to claim responsibility for (starting) the forest fires,” the writer said. “You can hardly begin to imagine the level of the fear that would take hold of people in the United States, in Europe, in Russia, and in Australia.” The post urges terrorists to use sulphuric acid to start a forest fire, as well as gasoline. Source: http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2008/me_terror_01_15.asp

[rhet 2]

U.S. intel alerted to threat of ‘Forest Fire Jihad’. U.S. officials monitoring terrorist web sites have discovered a call for using forest fires as weapons against “crusader” nations. A terrorist website carried a posting that called for “Forest Jihad.” The posting was listed on the Internet on November 26 and reported in U.S. intelligence channels last week. The statement, in Arabic, said that “summer has begun so do not forget the Forest Jihad.” The writer called on all Muslims in the United States, Europe, Russia, and Australia to “start forest fires.” On damage caused by wildfires, the report said that the fires typically take months to put out which means that “this terror will haunt them for an extended period of time.” The fires also will cause economic damage because it will limit exports of timber used to make furniture and also will cause losses to pharmaceutical companies that use trees for ingredients for drugs, the posting said. Smoke caused by the fires will create pollution and military forces could be tied up fighting fires. The post noted that U.S. military forces in Iraq or Afghanistan “could even be recalled” as occurred following hurricane Katrina, which did not occur. “Imagine if, after all the losses caused by such an event, a jihadist organization were to claim responsibility for (starting) the forest fires,” the writer said. “You can hardly begin to imagine the level of the fear that would take hold of people in the United States, in Europe, in Russia, and in Australia.” The post urges terrorists to use sulphuric acid to start a forest fire, as well as gasoline. Source: http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2008/me_terror_01_15.asp

What total fools! Fear, nothing. RAGE. Fire or food jihad either one would see every Muslim in the nation hiding in sheer terror for his/her own life.

Damned fools are just BEGGING for counter-terrorism the old-fashioned way. :wall:

And, as a Christian humanist, I'd have to go out and try to save their damned fool lives.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Airport cleared, locked down over grenade scare. A northwest Kansas regional airport was evacuated and locked down for three hours because an inactive hand grenade was found in a traveler’s carry-on bag. The grenade, which had been emptied of explosive and disarmed so it could be used for decoration or display, was found Tuesday by security screeners at Hays Regional Airport. “They moved the bag from the terminal and, upon further inspection, determined what looked like a grenade was a grenade, but it was inert,” said the assistant police chief. Airport officials said they believe the traveler, who was later allowed to board a flight, had put the grenade in the bag by accident. Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22687529/

[Adlerian Thinker]

Thyme sends Durham Police into lockdown. The Durham Police Department was locked down briefly Wednesday afternoon when an envelope containing a suspicious white powder was delivered to someone in the department, authorities said. The fire department’s hazmat team and the police department’s Biological Chemical Emergency Response Team suited up in protective gear and set up a decontamination tent to investigate the incident. The building was reopened about 90 minutes later when authorities determined the suspicious material was thyme seeds. Source: http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/2312620/

Who's got the thyme for Homeland Security?

[Adlerian Thinker]

SUV driver rams into gate outside Davis-Monthan. The driver of a dark sport utility vehicle smashed into a gate outside Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Monday night, an official said. The SUV sustained front-end damage and the driver fled after ramming into the fence about 8:30 p.m. said a base spokesman. The gate was damaged and will have to be replaced, but the SUV was not able to smash through it. “I don’t think it was their intention to enter” the base, he said. The Tucson Police Department is assisting base officials with the investigation. Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/16/MN4NUFPGF.DTL

[Adlerian Thinker]

About a dozen uniformed police in riot gear, and a handful of detectives, gathered outside the four-story terraced house on a quiet street just off Shepherds Bush roundabout in West London.

After a tip-off from overseas colleagues, they knew that inside was a man in contact with a group planning a bombing in Central Europe. His name was Younes Tsouli, but the detectives knew little more about him.

As they tried to shove their way in, the young man in the top-floor flat forced his door shut. It didn’t hold for long. Once the police flooded in, there was a struggle. A mirror smashed and one officer emerged bloodied from a shard of glass. Tsouli was overpowered. “He was thoroughly detained,” one detective recalls. At first, officers were not sure that they had the right person: the long-haired young man in jogging shorts bore little resemblance to the short-haired man in the photo they had been given. But when he confirmed his name, they knew they had their man. Two detectives led him away.

Amid the mess typical of any 22-year-old’s room, detectives found a laptop on a desk, still switched on and with programes running. When specialist forensic science officers arrived, they found that Tsouli had been creating a website called YOUBOMBIT. A banner with the title and flames was across the bottom of the screen. Also on his screen was a search box with the word “bomb” as the search term. Tsouli was logged in under the username IRH007. The detectives didn’t know it – and wouldn’t realize for some weeks – but they had caught one of the most notorious, most wanted cyber-jihadists in the world: a man whose case illustrated perfectly how terrorists are using the internet not just to spread propaganda, but to organize attacks.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/17/the-capture-of-al-qaedas-most-notorious-cyber-jihadist-irh007/

[Adlerian Thinker]

Police Hunt “Sexy” Suicide Bombers In Southern Philippines
January 16, 2008
Authorities in the Philippines on Tuesday announced they were looking for suspected female bombers of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group in southern Philippines.

In a statement to reporters in the capital Manila, Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon Jr. said he dispatched orders to all police commanders in southern Philippines to verify intelligence reports the JI Islamic terrorist group has deployed female bombers in the region.

Some local newspapers described the terrorists as “sexy bombers,” apparently because of their good looks.

Avelino said, “We have not verified it yet. But I ordered our commanders on the ground to look into these reports, and I’m waiting for their response now.”

The police made the decision after intelligence reports indicate that 10 alleged “sexy bombers” were deployed by the JI Islamic terrorists to launch attacks in at least 10 key cities in southern Philippines, including Davao, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Cotabato, Kidapawan, Digos and Pagadian.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/16/police-hunt-sexy-suicide-bombers-in-southern-philippines/

[ayn]

Where are you getting all this? Is there a website somewhere?

[Adlerian Thinker]

Where are you getting all this? Is there a website somewhere?

nationalterroralert.com is a good site. counterterrorismblog.com is another one.

The others I get from Open Source reports from the FBI and DHS.

There's some stuff I've seen I can't post about that is at least law enforcement sensitive.

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/19/spain-arrests-14-terror-suspects-imminent-terror-attack-was-being-prepared/
Spain Arrests 14 Terror Suspects - Imminent Terror Attack Was Being Prepared

January 19, 2008

Bomb-related material has been found during raids in Barcelona which led to the arrest of 14 people suspected of links with an Islamist terror network.

Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said the suspects included 12 from Pakistan and two from India.

Local media reports that the Spanish intelligence agency had warned France, the UK and Portugal that a terror cell was preparing an imminent attack.

This coincides with a European tour by Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf.

The Civil Guard detained the suspects in Barcelona as part of a joint operation with Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI).

Several premises were searched and officers seized computers and materials to produce explosives.

The operation is ongoing and more arrests have not been ruled out.

Mr Rubalcaba said the evidence suggested that they were faced with “a radical Islamist group with a significant level of organization which seems to have taken a step beyond ideological radicalization”.

He said the group appeared to have been “planning to equip itself with material to make explosives and so to carry out violent actions”.

Spain suffered at the hands of Islamist militants in 2004 when 191 people were killed in the Madrid train bombings.

Most of the 21 people convicted of the attacks were found to have been part of a local Islamist militant group inspired by al-Qaeda, but not part of that organization.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said that it was too early to arrive at any conclusions as to what the suspects might have been planning.

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/19/cia-says-hackers-have-accessed-power-grid-computers-cut-power-to-several-cities/
CIA Says Hackers Have Accessed Power Grid Computers Cut Power To Several Cities

January 19, 2008

The implications to this are serious. Recently declassified documents show that there have been several instances in cities around the world, in which hackers have accessed the power grid via the Internet and successfully cut power to various regions and cities.

National Terror Alert featured a similar story, Video Shows Simulated Attack of Power Grid,
in September of 2007.

Criminals have been able to hack into computer systems via the Internet and cut power to several cities, a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency analyst said this week.

Speaking at a conference of security professionals on Wednesday, CIA analyst Tom Donahue disclosed the recently declassified attacks while offering few specifics on what actually went wrong.

Criminals have launched online attacks that disrupted power equipment in several regions outside of the U.S., he said, without identifying the countries affected. The goal of the attacks was extortion, he said.

“We have information, from multiple regions outside the United States, of cyber intrusions into utilities, followed by extortion demands,” he said in a statement posted to the Web on Friday by the conference’s organizers, the SANS Institute. “In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the Internet.”

“According to Mr. Donahue, the CIA actively and thoroughly considered the benefits and risks of making this information public, and came down on the side of disclosure,” SANS said in the statement.

One conference attendee said the disclosure came as news to many of the government and industry security professionals in attendance. “It appeared that there were a lot of people who didn’t know this already,” said the attendee, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak with the press.

He confirmed SANS’ report of the talk. “There were apparently a couple of incidents where extortionists cut off power to several cities using some sort of attack on the power grid, and it does not appear to be a physical attack,” he said.

Hacking the power grid made front-page headlines in September when CNN aired a video showing an Idaho National Laboratory demonstration of a software attack on the computer system used to control a power generator. In the demonstration, the smoking generator was rendered inoperable.

The U.S. is taking steps to lock down the computers that manage its power systems, however.

On Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved new mandatory standards designed to improve cybersecurity.

CIA representatives could not be reached immediately for comment.

[rhet 2]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/19/cia-says-hackers-have-accessed-power-grid-computers-cut-power-to-several-cities/
CIA Says Hackers Have Accessed Power Grid Computers Cut Power To Several Cities

January 19, 2008

The implications to this are serious. Recently declassified documents show that there have been several instances in cities around the world, in which hackers have accessed the power grid via the Internet and successfully cut power to various regions and cities.

National Terror Alert featured a similar story, Video Shows Simulated Attack of Power Grid,
in September of 2007.

Criminals have been able to hack into computer systems via the Internet and cut power to several cities, a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency analyst said this week.

Speaking at a conference of security professionals on Wednesday, CIA analyst Tom Donahue disclosed the recently declassified attacks while offering few specifics on what actually went wrong.

Criminals have launched online attacks that disrupted power equipment in several regions outside of the U.S., he said, without identifying the countries affected. The goal of the attacks was extortion, he said.

“We have information, from multiple regions outside the United States, of cyber intrusions into utilities, followed by extortion demands,” he said in a statement posted to the Web on Friday by the conference’s organizers, the SANS Institute. “In at least one case, the disruption caused a power outage affecting multiple cities. We do not know who executed these attacks or why, but all involved intrusions through the Internet.”

“According to Mr. Donahue, the CIA actively and thoroughly considered the benefits and risks of making this information public, and came down on the side of disclosure,” SANS said in the statement.

One conference attendee said the disclosure came as news to many of the government and industry security professionals in attendance. “It appeared that there were a lot of people who didn’t know this already,” said the attendee, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak with the press.

He confirmed SANS’ report of the talk. “There were apparently a couple of incidents where extortionists cut off power to several cities using some sort of attack on the power grid, and it does not appear to be a physical attack,” he said.

Hacking the power grid made front-page headlines in September when CNN aired a video showing an Idaho National Laboratory demonstration of a software attack on the computer system used to control a power generator. In the demonstration, the smoking generator was rendered inoperable.

The U.S. is taking steps to lock down the computers that manage its power systems, however.

On Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved new mandatory standards designed to improve cybersecurity.

CIA representatives could not be reached immediately for comment.

Now THAT has long been one of my greatest concerns!

[Adlerian Thinker]

Now THAT has long been one of my greatest concerns!

Any cyber intrusion is of concern.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Don't taze me, Bro!

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/20/fbi-arrests-man-accused-of-threatening-passengers-on-skybus-flight/
FBI Arrests Man Accused Of Threatening Passengers On Skybus Flight

January 20, 2008

A man on a Skybus Airlines flight claimed he was an airport security agent and threatened other passengers by suggesting he had a gun, the FBI said Friday.

Todd Tornstrom, 35, was arrested Thursday night shortly after the pilot of the flight from Columbus to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., decided to turn around and land at Port Columbus International Airport.

Tornstrom and a female passenger were disruptive and appeared to have been drinking, said airport spokeswoman Angie Tabor.

When asked by a flight attendant to stow a carry-on baggage, Tornstrom claimed he was a Transportation Security Administration agent and that he had a gun, the FBI said in a statement. The pilot decided to return to Columbus after Tornstrom couldn’t produce a TSA identification badge. The plane had 134 passengers.

The FBI also said Tornstrom was overheard by a flight attendant telling passengers that he was carrying “enough bullets for everyone on the plane.”

The plane was searched and no gun was found. All passengers were re-screened by security and the flight took off again just after midnight.

Tornstrom, of Chesterland, Ohio, was charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants. He appeared in federal court Friday and was released on the condition that he not abuse alcohol and not fly on commercial planes, said Fred Alverson, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. No plea was entered. A hearing was scheduled for Feb. 7.

If convicted, Tornstrom could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Tornstrom could not be reached for comment. There is no number listed for him in Chesterland, about 20 miles east of Cleveland.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Ain't this some ****?
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/21/us-intelligence-agents-get-insured-against-terror-lawsuits/
U.S. Intelligence Agents Get Insured Against Terror Lawsuits

January 21, 2008

Thousands of CIA, FBI and Secret Service agents are taking out insurance policies to cover them against the growing risk of being sued in the line of duty.

With the United States government’s controversial post-September 11 crackdown producing a series of lawsuits and criminal prosecutions, those on the front line of the “war on terror” are finding themselves vulnerable.

Wright & Company, a Virginia-based law firm specializing in insuring such government employees, said its federal client list had grown from 17,000 to 32,000 since the 2001 attacks.
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The firm, founded by a former FBI agent, said much of its new business was prompted by official investigations over the prisoner treatment at Guantanamo Bay, immigration crackdowns and other consequences of 9/11.

“The things that help us are any negative events related to the federal government, and there have been plenty,” Bryan Lewis, Wright’s chief executive, told The New York Times.

The government pays half the insurance premium for “high-risk” employees, including hundreds of CIA staff.

So we pay for the insurance, at tax-payer expense, to protect government employees who are protect the tax payers, at tax payer's expense? ***?

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/20/weapons-arsenal-is-found-at-home-of-columbia-professor/
Weapons Arsenal Is Found at Home of Columbia Professor

January 20, 2008

Police stumbled upon a bomb-making factory Sunday in the home of a Columbia professor who specializes in the spread of infectious disease and are now investigating whether he and his roommate have any connection to terror.

One of the pipe bombs was described as being inserted into a Nerf football. Investigators with the NYPD and FBI were questioning Ivaylo Ivanov, a native of Bulgaria, to determine whether he has any terrorism or Russian Mafia connections, a source told New York’s Daily News.

An arsenal of weapons and explosive devices was found in the Brooklyn Heights apartment of a Columbia University professor yesterday morning after the professor’s roommate accidentally shot himself, police said.

Police said they removed seven homemade pipe bombs, a 9 mm shotgun, a rifle, a crossbow and arrows, a machete, ammunition, gun silencers, and several bulletproof vests from a small one-bedroom apartment at 58 Remsen St. that neighbors say is owned by Michael Clatts, an AIDS researcher at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health and the National Development and Research Institutes.

The arsenal was discovered after a man who also lived in the one-bedroom attic apartment, identified by sources as Ivaylo Ivanov, 31, shot himself in the hand.

After telling police officers on patrol on Montague Terrace that someone had shot him at around 1 a.m. on Sunday, he was taken to Long Island College Hospital, where he later admitted to police that he had shot himself.

A downstairs neighbor, Penny Kaufman, said she escorted police to the fourth floor apartment at around 3:30 a.m. yesterday to help them subdue the two men’s dog. Through the door of the apartment, Ms. Kaufman, a legal secretary, said she saw a handgun and several bullets lying on a desk chair near the door. She also saw blood smeared on a wall near the light switch and towels balled up in the sinks and bathtub.

“The apartment was in total disarray,” she said.

[Adlerian Thinker]

UPDATE: NY Daily News

Police stumbled upon a bomb-making factory Sunday in the home of a Columbia professor who specializes in the spread of infectious disease - and are investigating whether he and his roommate have terror ties.

Cops evacuated the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood around the Remsen St. home of Michael Clatts, a medical anthropologist, after finding seven pipe bombs fitted with fuses in his flat, police sources said.

The frightening cache was discovered almost by accident - Ivaylo Ivanov, the man living with Clatts, accidentally shot off the tip of his left index finger and sought police help in the street about 1:15 a.m.

When investigators went to the 37-year-old Ivanov’s apartment, they found the bombs, already capped on both ends and filled with powder. One of the pipe bombs was inserted into a Nerf football, cops said.

A 9-mm. handgun, two ammunition magazines, a 12-gauge shotgun, silencers, a bulletproof vest, a crossbow and bomb-making equipment, including a drill and threading machine that could be used to make pipe bombs, were also recovered, cops said.

Investigators with the NYPD-FBI were questioning Ivanov, a native of Bulgaria, to determine whether he had any terrorism or Russian Mafia connections, a source told the Daily News.

“Russian Mafia aren’t fazed by getting a fingertip shot off - and they certainly don’t go to the cops for help,” the source said.

Neither man so far has popped up on any foreign criminal watch list or is a known member of an organized crime ring, sources said.

Sunday night, police were seeking additional search warrants, possibly for computers, other electronic devices and papers and books.

Ivanov was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, unlawful wearing of a body vest and reporting a false incident, cops said. He was expected to be arraigned this morning.

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/21/police-avert-bomb-and-cyanide-terror-attack-in-karachi/
Police Avert Bomb and Cyanide Terror Attack In Karachi

January 21, 2008

Police on Saturday arrested five suspected terrorists who planned to mix cyanide with the water distributed at Sabeels (kiosks) during Ashura processions.

The Sindh police chief, Azhar Ali Farooqi, told a press conference that the arrests, made in different parts of the city, had averted a big disaster. But the threat of suicide attacks is still there, he added.

The suspects were also making plans to carry out suicide attacks on the processions.

He said three hand-grenades, six kilograms of explosives, six detonators, 500 grams of cyanide, a remote-control generator, a frequency generator, two kilograms of ball-bearings, one kilogram of nails and two pistols had been recovered from the suspects, one of whom was training to become a suicide bomber.

They also planned to launch terrorist attacks on military installations in Karachi.

The Inspector General of Sindh Police said Jamil had hired a house in North Karachi a few months ago. A few days before Eidul Azha he brought ammunition, explosives, hand-grenades and items used in explosive jacket from southern Punjab and stored them in the house.

He said gang leader Mohammed Aijaz reached Karachi on Jan 11 along with Mohammed Hamid and Aziz Ahmed.

Mr Farooqi said the suspects had also planned to mix cyanide with the water distributed at kiosks during Ashura.They were arrested when they were leaving with the subversive material to carry out terrorist attacks, he added.

The IGP said the terrorists had planned to launch grenade and suicide attacks on processions. The aim was to cause widespread human losses.

[rhet 2]

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/01/21/police-avert-bomb-and-cyanide-terror-attack-in-karachi/
Police Avert Bomb and Cyanide Terror Attack In Karachi

January 21, 2008

Police on Saturday arrested five suspected terrorists who planned to mix cyanide with the water distributed at Sabeels (kiosks) during Ashura processions.

The Sindh police chief, Azhar Ali Farooqi, told a press conference that the arrests, made in different parts of the city, had averted a big disaster. But the threat of suicide attacks is still there, he added.

The suspects were also making plans to carry out suicide attacks on the processions.

He said three hand-grenades, six kilograms of explosives, six detonators, 500 grams of cyanide, a remote-control generator, a frequency generator, two kilograms of ball-bearings, one kilogram of nails and two pistols had been recovered from the suspects, one of whom was training to become a suicide bomber.

They also planned to launch terrorist attacks on military installations in Karachi.

The Inspector General of Sindh Police said Jamil had hired a house in North Karachi a few months ago. A few days before Eidul Azha he brought ammunition, explosives, hand-grenades and items used in explosive jacket from southern Punjab and stored them in the house.

He said gang leader Mohammed Aijaz reached Karachi on Jan 11 along with Mohammed Hamid and Aziz Ahmed.

Mr Farooqi said the suspects had also planned to mix cyanide with the water distributed at kiosks during Ashura.They were arrested when they were leaving with the subversive material to carry out terrorist attacks, he added.

The IGP said the terrorists had planned to launch grenade and suicide attacks on processions. The aim was to cause widespread human losses.

The fascist empire of eternal hell at work.

If the imams don't retake India and commit the same horrors there that they've committed in Arabia and Malasia and Lebanon and the part of Judea and Sumaria they already own, the imams lose all credibility and POWER over the hearts and minds of dumb ass ILLITERATE Muslim stupids.

[Adlerian Thinker]

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2008/01/my_colleague_andrew_cochrans_p.php
The Real Issue on the Latin American Landscape
By Douglas Farah

My colleague Andrew Cochran's post on the threat (or not) to the Panama Canal seems to me to miss the larger picture of the threat from Latin America.

That threat is contained in the recent statements by Adm. James Stavridis, head of the US Southern Command at a recent CSIS conference.

Stavridis warned that "the connectivity between narcoterrorism and Islamic radical terrorism could be disastrous in this region. What I worry about in this region with outside actors coming into it is the potential for those streams to cross, if you will, for the fuel of narcoterrorism to become engaged in Islamic radicalism here in the Americas."

That is it in a nutshell. It is the Iran-Venezuela-Nicaragua nexus, built on a foundation of already-existing Hezbollah and Hamas operatives who have been economically active in the region for decades.

[rhet 2]

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2008/01/my_colleague_andrew_cochrans_p.php
The Real Issue on the Latin American Landscape
By Douglas Farah

My colleague Andrew Cochran's post on the threat (or not) to the Panama Canal seems to me to miss the larger picture of the threat from Latin America.

That threat is contained in the recent statements by Adm. James Stavridis, head of the US Southern Command at a recent CSIS conference.

Stavridis warned that "the connectivity between narcoterrorism and Islamic radical terrorism could be disastrous in this region. What I worry about in this region with outside actors coming into it is the potential for those streams to cross, if you will, for the fuel of narcoterrorism to become engaged in Islamic radicalism here in the Americas."

That is it in a nutshell. It is the Iran-Venezuela-Nicaragua nexus, built on a foundation of already-existing Hezbollah and Hamas operatives who have been economically active in the region for decades.

Precisely.

Any open military aggression will come out of that nexus. And Mexico cooperates with the enemy or collapses and loses the entire nation.

Florida and Texas are in missile range of Venezuela, you know.

[Adlerian Thinker]

Precisely.

Any open military aggression will come out of that nexus. And Mexico cooperates with the enemy or collapses and loses the entire nation.

Florida and Texas are in missile range of Venezuela, you know.

A corollary of Murphy's Law on Combat is that if we are in range of their missiles, they are in range of ours.

Ours are more powerful, more accurate, and we have more of them.

Nuke Chavez until he glows, then shoot him in the dark.