Posts
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Bombs or a Hoax? Suspicious - 'Bomb-Like' - Packages Reported at 3 Different Places in Minnesota
from FoxNews
FBI agents and bomb squads in Minnesota are hunting for explosives — or evidence of a hoax — at a high school and two other locations where suspicious packages were planted early Wednesday.
An official told FOX News that the devices found near the school, a postoffice
and a public utility center about 6:30 a.m. "look like" bombs. But authorities in Princeton, Minn., located about 50 miles north of Minneapolis, were trying to determine Wednesday whether they were real or part of an elaborate ruse.
FBI agents were on-scene at the three locations, a lawenforcement official told FOX.
The source said he was not aware of any threats that had been called in or made by whoever planted the packages.
Traffic in the area was blocked and diverted. Princeton High School and elementaryschool students were evacuated, and later all students from the district were sent home.
FBI agents and bomb squads in Minnesota are hunting for explosives — or evidence of a hoax — at a high school and two other locations where suspicious packages were planted early Wednesday.
An official told FOX News that the devices found near the school, a post
FBI agents were on-scene at the three locations, a law
The source said he was not aware of any threats that had been called in or made by whoever planted the packages.
Traffic in the area was blocked and diverted. Princeton High School and elementary
Dementia Risk Seen in Players in N.F.L. Study
By ALAN SCHWARZ
A study commissioned by the National Football League reports that Alzheimer’s disease or similar memory-related diseases appear to have been diagnosed in the league’s former players vastly more often than in the national population — including a rate of 19 times the normal rate for men ages 30 through 49. ....
A study commissioned by the National Football League reports that Alzheimer’s disease or similar memory-related diseases appear to have been diagnosed in the league’s former players vastly more often than in the national population — including a rate of 19 times the normal rate for men ages 30 through 49. ....
Forget the Nukes
(Analyst's note: Surely we can focus on two related items at once.)
by Robert Kagan
The past two weeks have been a big success for the rulers in Tehran, despite what many in the United States and Europe may think. The Obama administration, the Europeans and the media have been obsessively focused on Iranian missile launches and secret enrichment facilities, on Russia's body language, and on the likely success or failure of Thursday's talks in Geneva. What the world has not focused on is the one thing Iran's rulers care about: their own survival.
You have to give the clerics credit for keeping this grave matter off Western agendas. The fraudulent presidential election in June and the subsequent mass demonstrations produced the biggest regime crisis in years. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei must have been panicked at the prospect of losing control -- and with reason. Western democrats, not knowing what it is like to rule by fear and force, generally underestimate what a scary and uncertain business it can be, how a single wrong move, usually a too-timid response, can spell catastrophe. Even the masterful Deng Xiaoping, faced with much smaller opposition demonstrations in 1989, believed his Communist oligarchy could lose power absent a decisive show of force followed by a thorough purge of unreliable figures in the regime. In Iran, the regime's violent crackdown, its mass arrests of opposition figures -- including the children of high-ranking clerics -- and all the farcical show trials have been signs of weakness and anxiety, not confidence.
In such situations, an autocratic regime's biggest fear, well-grounded in history, is that domestic opponents may gain the support of powerful foreign patrons. ....
by Robert Kagan
The past two weeks have been a big success for the rulers in Tehran, despite what many in the United States and Europe may think. The Obama administration, the Europeans and the media have been obsessively focused on Iranian missile launches and secret enrichment facilities, on Russia's body language, and on the likely success or failure of Thursday's talks in Geneva. What the world has not focused on is the one thing Iran's rulers care about: their own survival.
You have to give the clerics credit for keeping this grave matter off Western agendas. The fraudulent presidential election in June and the subsequent mass demonstrations produced the biggest regime crisis in years. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei must have been panicked at the prospect of losing control -- and with reason. Western democrats, not knowing what it is like to rule by fear and force, generally underestimate what a scary and uncertain business it can be, how a single wrong move, usually a too-timid response, can spell catastrophe. Even the masterful Deng Xiaoping, faced with much smaller opposition demonstrations in 1989, believed his Communist oligarchy could lose power absent a decisive show of force followed by a thorough purge of unreliable figures in the regime. In Iran, the regime's violent crackdown, its mass arrests of opposition figures -- including the children of high-ranking clerics -- and all the farcical show trials have been signs of weakness and anxiety, not confidence.
In such situations, an autocratic regime's biggest fear, well-grounded in history, is that domestic opponents may gain the support of powerful foreign patrons. ....
In Dispute With Iran, Path to Iraq Is in Spotlight
(Analyst's note: This article clearly has a political slant and "agenda." Such doubt as expressed in this article is especially "true" if you've "drunk the cool aid" provided by the jihadist and their sympathizers within the U.S. Academia and other "elites" protecting major sources of their funding by Middle-Eastern money can be traced to the root cause of this failure to understand what is going on.)
WASHINGTON — To many Americans, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s February 2003 speech to the United Nations on Iraq’s unconventional weapons was powerfully persuasive. It was a dazzling performance, featuring satellite images and intercepts of Iraqi communications, delivered by one of the most trusted figures in public life. .... Antiwar activists, with a fool-me-once skepticism, watch the dispute over the Qum plant with an alarmed sense of déjà vu. And some specialists on arms control and Iran are asking for more evidence and warning against hasty conclusions. ....
WASHINGTON — To many Americans, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s February 2003 speech to the United Nations on Iraq’s unconventional weapons was powerfully persuasive. It was a dazzling performance, featuring satellite images and intercepts of Iraqi communications, delivered by one of the most trusted figures in public life. .... Antiwar activists, with a fool-me-once skepticism, watch the dispute over the Qum plant with an alarmed sense of déjà vu. And some specialists on arms control and Iran are asking for more evidence and warning against hasty conclusions. ....
Pentagon Set To Vaccinate Troops, Assist In Flu Crisis
.... The Pentagon has bought 2.7 million doses of vaccine, and 1.4 million of those will go to active-duty military personnel. National Guard troops on active duty are also required to receive the vaccine, as are civilian Defense Department employees who are in critical jobs.
As a result, the military is expected to provide health officials with an early assessment of the vaccine's efficacy.
.... Renuart said that more than two dozen troops have been dispatched so far to each of five regional headquarters to work with officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state leaders.
But the military presence could rise to 80 in each regional office if needed, he said.
For the general population, the first swine flu vaccine should be in some doctors' offices as early as Oct. 5, according to U.S. health officials.
The early batches will protect 6 million to 7 million people, but the government expects to eventually have 250 million doses of the new vaccine. About 10 percent of those have been promised to other countries.
.... Renuart said that more than two dozen troops have been dispatched so far to each of five regional headquarters to work with officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and state leaders.
But the military presence could rise to 80 in each regional office if needed, he said.
For the general population, the first swine flu vaccine should be in some doctors' offices as early as Oct. 5, according to U.S. health officials.
The early batches will protect 6 million to 7 million people, but the government expects to eventually have 250 million doses of the new vaccine. About 10 percent of those have been promised to other countries.
Jihadi Groups Use Web 2.0 Social Media More Effectively Than Western Governments
by Mike Brennan
DEARORN – The Internet has become the platform of choice for extremist activities and in most cases these jihadi groups have use Web 2.0 technology more effectively than Western governments, Jeff Bardin, a Middle Eastern security expert told hundreds of attendees during the first day of the SecureWorld Expo Detroit 2009 conference at the Ford Conference & Event Center.
In his breakfast keynote, Bardin, a principal at Treadstone 71, took an in-depth look at the methods of information dissemination, recruitment, product development, hacking and propaganda examining their encryption tools, methods of dead drops, steganography, use of video, denial of service and online storage capabilities as their recruits access jihadi social networks directly.
They are adroit at using Twitter, Flicker, Facebook and other social networks to put their spin on stories in English and German to reach a Western audience.
Jihadi groups use online audio and video to provide training for everything from bomb making, to web site development, Bardin said. In the 2004 Madrid railroad bombings, Bardin speculated the jihadi groups had access to the security cameras that ringed the city to make sure the bombs killed the most possible people when they went off.
“They are using our web infrastructure against us,” he said. “They are using everything we have created in Web 2.0, but using it better than we are.”
They are so sophisticated that they use cloud storage sites to park their audio and video uploads, he said. They produce Taliban news flashes daily and get leadership videos posted about a week after they are shot in their mountain hideaways.
“They have something for everyone, including a hacked video game,” Bardin said. “They love to hack our security software for their own uses.”
Now their moving their message to mobile devices to protect the information they send, he said. They are also encrypting text messages in Arab, English and French.
Bardin has held CIO, CSO and CISO roles in Fortune 1000 companies and held Top Secret clearances while breaking codes & ciphers and performing Arabic language translations serving in the US Air Force and at the National Security Agency. He also has international experience in the greater Mediterranean region and the Middle East.
Day Two of the SecureWorld Expo Detroit Conference begins at 8:30 am with InfraGard Keynote: The Onerous Data Mountains Should be Our Tactical High-ground, a presentation of the art-of-the-possible in terms of mega source data presented in the context of a national ontology, presented by retired US Marine Major General Bradley Lott, the CEO of True North Logistics.
Lott just stepped down as Executive Director of the Defense Contract Coordination Center, a division of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. For more information, click on SecureWorldExpo.Com
DEARORN – The Internet has become the platform of choice for extremist activities and in most cases these jihadi groups have use Web 2.0 technology more effectively than Western governments, Jeff Bardin, a Middle Eastern security expert told hundreds of attendees during the first day of the SecureWorld Expo Detroit 2009 conference at the Ford Conference & Event Center.
In his breakfast keynote, Bardin, a principal at Treadstone 71, took an in-depth look at the methods of information dissemination, recruitment, product development, hacking and propaganda examining their encryption tools, methods of dead drops, steganography, use of video, denial of service and online storage capabilities as their recruits access jihadi social networks directly.
They are adroit at using Twitter, Flicker, Facebook and other social networks to put their spin on stories in English and German to reach a Western audience.
Jihadi groups use online audio and video to provide training for everything from bomb making, to web site development, Bardin said. In the 2004 Madrid railroad bombings, Bardin speculated the jihadi groups had access to the security cameras that ringed the city to make sure the bombs killed the most possible people when they went off.
“They are using our web infrastructure against us,” he said. “They are using everything we have created in Web 2.0, but using it better than we are.”
They are so sophisticated that they use cloud storage sites to park their audio and video uploads, he said. They produce Taliban news flashes daily and get leadership videos posted about a week after they are shot in their mountain hideaways.
A popular new feature is listing the Top 10 martyrdom operations in video to highlight their terror tactics.
“They have something for everyone, including a hacked video game,” Bardin said. “They love to hack our security software for their own uses.”
Now their moving their message to mobile devices to protect the information they send, he said. They are also encrypting text messages in Arab, English and French.
Bardin has held CIO, CSO and CISO roles in Fortune 1000 companies and held Top Secret clearances while breaking codes & ciphers and performing Arabic language translations serving in the US Air Force and at the National Security Agency. He also has international experience in the greater Mediterranean region and the Middle East.
Day Two of the SecureWorld Expo Detroit Conference begins at 8:30 am with InfraGard Keynote: The Onerous Data Mountains Should be Our Tactical High-ground, a presentation of the art-of-the-possible in terms of mega source data presented in the context of a national ontology, presented by retired US Marine Major General Bradley Lott, the CEO of True North Logistics.
Lott just stepped down as Executive Director of the Defense Contract Coordination Center, a division of the Michigan Economic Development Corp. For more information, click on SecureWorldExpo.Com
Community organizers 'pray' to president 'Hear our cry. Hear our cry. Deliver us'
from WorldNetDaily
A newly publicized video shows leaders of a Chicago-based community organizing group called the Gamaliel Foundation held a rally shortly after President Obama's election and "prayed" to him, seeking his intervention in their difficulties.
"Hear our Cry Obama. Deliver us Obama," the organizers chanted as a single leader recited the organization's perceived problems, based on the philosophies of Saul Alinsky, the radical father of community organizing.
The video has been posted on Breitbart.TV.
The video explains the event took place at a leadership conference just a few weeks after Obama's election in November.
The "leaders" enter a room chanting, "Everybody in, nobody out," apparently referring to health care
.
A newly publicized video shows leaders of a Chicago-based community organizing group called the Gamaliel Foundation held a rally shortly after President Obama's election and "prayed" to him, seeking his intervention in their difficulties.
"Hear our Cry Obama. Deliver us Obama," the organizers chanted as a single leader recited the organization's perceived problems, based on the philosophies of Saul Alinsky, the radical father of community organizing.
The video has been posted on Breitbart.TV.
The video explains the event took place at a leadership conference just a few weeks after Obama's election in November.
The "leaders" enter a room chanting, "Everybody in, nobody out," apparently referring to health care
.
L.A. Times still conceals Obama terror video Reportedly includes glowing testimonial for prof who excuses violence
(Analyst's note: Troubling - this should be a part of public information .)
By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM – The Los Angeles Times has no plan to ever release a video it stated it obtained of President Obama attending an anti-Israel event in which he delivered a glowing testimonial for Rashid Khalidi, a pro-Palestinian professor who excuses terrorism.
At the 2003 event, poetry reportedly was read comparing Israelis to Osama bin Laden and accusing the Jewish state of terrorism.
"The story ran in 2008 and we pretty much said everything we are going to say about that event," Peter Wallsten, the Times reporter who claimed to have obtained the video, told WND yesterday.
Asked for details of the footage captured in the video, Wallsten replied, "I wrote an extensive article that described the event."
Wallsten referred to a previous statement from the newspaper's editor, Russ Stanton, explaining, "The Los Angeles Times did not publish the videotape because it was provided to us by a confidential source who did so on the condition that we not release it."
"The Times keeps its promises to sources," Stanton said. ....
By Aaron Klein
 Rashid Khalidi |
At the 2003 event, poetry reportedly was read comparing Israelis to Osama bin Laden and accusing the Jewish state of terrorism.
"The story ran in 2008 and we pretty much said everything we are going to say about that event," Peter Wallsten, the Times reporter who claimed to have obtained the video, told WND yesterday.
Asked for details of the footage captured in the video, Wallsten replied, "I wrote an extensive article that described the event."
Wallsten referred to a previous statement from the newspaper's editor, Russ Stanton, explaining, "The Los Angeles Times did not publish the videotape because it was provided to us by a confidential source who did so on the condition that we not release it."
"The Times keeps its promises to sources," Stanton said. ....
Girl dies after receiving cervical cancer vaccine
(Reuters) The 14-year-old fell ill after she was given the Cervarix vaccination against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus at her school ...
Empire State Building celebrates communism
(Agence France-Presse) New York's iconic Empire State Building will light up red and yellow Wednesday in honor of the 60th anniversary of communist China ...
Hillary Clinton fundraiser heads to prison
(Associated Press) Former Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu is headed for a lengthy prison sentence after his conviction for violating campaign finance laws ...
Real hope: U.S. accelerates monster bunker busting bombs project
(Debka) The rush job was triggered by the discovery that Iran was hiding a second uranium enrichment plant under a mountain near Qom ...
Israel removes roadblocks for Palestinians, Palestinians shoot Israeli
by Robert Spencer
"This attack is a direct result of the removal of roadblocks." The Israelis removed 100 roadblocks a couple of weeks ago "to make life easier for Palestinians" and, apparently, to please George Mitchell and Barack Obama. "Israeli shot in West Bank," by Efrat Weiss for Ynet, September 29 (thanks to Pamela):
"This attack is a direct result of the removal of roadblocks." The Israelis removed 100 roadblocks a couple of weeks ago "to make life easier for Palestinians" and, apparently, to please George Mitchell and Barack Obama. "Israeli shot in West Bank," by Efrat Weiss for Ynet, September 29 (thanks to Pamela):
An Israeli citizen suffered mild to moderate gunshot wounds to his hand Tuesday evening near the West Bank settlement of Shvut Rachel, north of Jerusalem.
According to local settlers, at approximately 8 pm unknown assailants opened fire at an Israeli vehicle travelling east of Shvut Rachel....
The shots apparently came from terrorists positioned at the side of the road."This attack is a direct result of the removal of roadblocks. It's only by some miracle that the outcome of these attacks has been no worse than injuries, but you cannot base security policies on miracles."
"This is the fourth shooting in the area in the past four months," Binyamin Council Head Avi Roeh told Ynet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
