Recent cases show rise in homegrown terrorist threats

Posted on 18. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in 9/11, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Immigration, Religion, Shera Crossan

The terror cases that have emerged in the past week have one common characteristic: The suspects are all Americans.
One is a woman who looked after the elderly in suburban Pennsylvania. Another a security guard from New Jersey.  Denver-area airport shuttle driver, Najibullah Zazi. Zazi pleaded guilty in February as the leader of a plot to [...]

Judge in Anthony Sowell backs off from Reporter

Posted on 17. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Hidden Crimes, Shera Crossan

A judge threatened to arrest a newspaper reporter who saw a psychiatric evaluation of a serial-killing suspect, then backed off Wednesday when she learned that her predecessor in the case had made it available.

The story by Gabriel Baird of The Plain Dealer said the psychiatric report concluded that suspect Anthony Sowell was unlikely to assault [...]

Osama bin Laden will never face US trial

Posted on 16. Mar, 2010 by Rob Belatucadros in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Politics, Rob Belatucadros, War Coverage

Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress on Tuesday that Osama bin Laden will never face trial in the United States because he will not be captured alive.
In testy exchanges with House Republicans, the attorney general compared terrorists to mass murderer Charles Manson and predicted that events would ensure “we will be reading Miranda rights to [...]

Neos’ using the softer side experts say

Posted on 16. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Feedback, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Opinion, Politics

According to Burkhard Freier, the deputy head of North Rhine-Westphalia’s Verfassungsschutz agency, right-wing extremists are no longer seeking open confrontation. Instead some are attempting to seduce the middle class with their ideology behind closed doors.
Agitation, public appearances and advertising have become “significantly more subtle” and therefore harder to recognise, Freier told daily Neue Westfälische [...]

Israeli settlement action ‘an insult’

Posted on 14. Mar, 2010 by Rob Belatucadros in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Israel & Jewish Issues, Politics, Rob Belatucadros

Israel’s announcement of plans to build 1,600 settler homes in east Jerusalem was not only an “insult” to the United States but “destructive” of the Middle East peace process, a top White House official said Sunday.
“This was an affront, it was an insult but most importantly it undermined this very fragile effort to bring peace [...]

James Ford Seale Loses Appeal in 1964 Murders

Posted on 14. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Race

A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of a reputed Ku Klux Klan member accused in the kidnapping of two black men who were abducted and killed in rural Mississippi in 1964.

In a two-to-one ruling, the panel of judges said the evidence in the case against James Ford Seale was sufficient for the jury [...]

Lars Vilks and other artists building ‘Panic Rooms’

Posted on 14. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Arts/Entertainment, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Hidden Crimes, Shera Crossan

Why did Lars Vilks, a mild-mannered Swede who calls himself “the artist,” booby-trap his art with electrified barbed wire, keep an ax by his bedside, and build a panic room upstairs?
Since various cartoon controversies erupted after 9/11, European governments from Finland to the Netherlands have publicly upheld constitutional ideals of free speech and expression. But [...]

‘Jihad’ Jamie among detained in Ireland

Posted on 13. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Hidden Crimes, Religion, Shera Crossan

Colo. Woman Held in Terror Probe
A Colorado woman has been detained in Ireland in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate a Swedish cartoonist whose sketch offended many Muslims,

Jamie Paulin-Ramirez, 31, was among seven people arrested in Ireland this week as authorities investigate an alleged plot to kill cartoonist Lars Vilks over a 2007 sketch [...]

Global Health Initiative: Abortion a Non-Issue

Posted on 13. Mar, 2010 by Rob Belatucadros in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Health, Politics, Rob Belatucadros

UNITED NATIONS – A U.N. meeting to assess progress in advancing the fight for women’s equality that ended Friday had a dramatically different slant than a similar session held five years ago: This time, the United States was not trying to make an anti-abortion declaration a crucial theme.
Much of the 2005 meeting to take stock [...]

Ireland frees three cartoonist plot suspects

Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Hidden Crimes, Religion

Police have released three of the seven Muslims arrested in the Irish Republic over an alleged plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist.
They were freed without charge after three-and-a-half days of questioning.
The trio were held on suspicion of plotting to kill Lars Vilks over a cartoon he drew depicting the Prophet Muhammad with the body of [...]

Evil Instrument of Control

Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Rob Belatucadros in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Immigration, Politics, Rob Belatucadros

First, here’s Ron Paul to explain the card.
 
Once a card is instituted into the system, card creep will begin. It will begin to be used for other purposes. First, what they will do is mark the easy ones, sex offenders and those found guilty of domestic violence. Then they’ll do those who have a DUI [...]

$2,250 US will help potential immigrants come to Canada as tourists

Posted on 12. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Feedback, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Hidden Crimes, Immigration

RCMP investigates immigration website
The RCMP has launched an investigation into a website guaranteeing immigrants easy access to Canada and advising them to use false pretexts in order to take advantage of the countrys free health care and social programs.
On its website, which was taken offline on Thursday, Quick Visa Canada offered clients “a cheap, quick [...]

HSBC: info on 24,000 Swiss bank accounts stolen

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Business & Finance, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Shera Crossan

GENEVA – Information on 24,000 HSBC customers with Swiss accounts has been stolen, the British bank said Thursday, potentially exposing large numbers of international clients to prosecution by tax authorities in their home countries.
A former IT employee of Swiss subsidiary HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA, identified by French authorities as Herve Falciani, obtained the information [...]

‘JihadJane’ Charged With Recruiting Terrorists

Posted on 10. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Religion, Shera Crossan

The suburban Philadelphia woman, Colleen R. LaRose, is accused in the indictment filed Tuesday of actively recruiting fighters, as well as agreeing to murder the artist, marry a terrorism suspect so he could move to Europe and martyr herself if necessary.
LaRose is “one of only a few such cases nationwide in which females have been [...]

Meet JihadJane Pa. woman accused of recruiting jihadists

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Hidden Crimes, Religion, Shera Crossan

PHILADELPHIA – A suburban woman “desperate to do something” to help suffering Muslims has been accused of using the Internet to recruit jihadist fighters and help terrorists overseas, even agreeing to move to Europe to try to kill a Swedish artist, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Authorities said the case shows how terror groups are looking to recruit [...]

9 illegal immigrants accused of fraud

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Immigration, Politics, Shera Crossan

CHATTANOOGA — A local federal judge calls it the most “bizarre, Alice-in-Wonderland” scenario he ever has encountered in the world of government prosecutions.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Tennessee is prosecuting nine illegal immigrants for the routine crime of using fake Social Security numbers to gain employment. Deportation is the routine punishment.
But [...]

Turner Testifies His Violent Words Were ‘All Talk, No Action’

Posted on 07. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Events, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Hidden Crimes, Shera Crossan, Top Stories

Federal prosecutors on Thursday sought to portray Harold C. Turner, the incendiary radio talk show host, as a white supremacist whose racist and at times violent rhetoric predated his recruitment as a paid government informant and continued after the Federal Bureau of Investigation dropped him for what it called “serious control problems.”
Mr. Turner, known as [...]

US hunts radicalised Americans

Posted on 07. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Immigration, Top Stories, War Coverage

America’s top diplomat in Pakistan said the US is urgently trying to establish how many Americans may have disappeared overseas to train with al Qaida or other terror groups.
The number is not thought to be large, but ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson outlined a possible “nightmare scenario” – people holding US passports receiving terrorist training, [...]

Cyberwar Hype Intended to Destroy the Open Internet?

Posted on 07. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Feedback, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Free Speech, Science and Technology

thank you franklin
The biggest threat to the open internet is not Chinese government hackers or greedy anti-net-neutrality ISPs, it’s Michael McConnell, the former director of national intelligence.
McConnell’s not dangerous because he knows anything about SQL injection hacks, but because he knows about social engineering. He’s the nice-seeming guy who’s willing and able to use fear-mongering [...]

“Operation Exodus”

Posted on 06. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Audio-Video, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Shera Crossan, Top Stories

“Somewhere right now your enemy is training so that when he meets you he defeats you.”
(March 6) –Terrorist attacks and natural disasters often happen without warning. For one Louisiana sheriff, that’s reason enough to start training a 200-member paramilitary force — just don’t call it a militia.  Larry Deen, the sheriff of Bossier Parish, told [...]

Meet the Pentagon Shooter

Posted on 05. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Events, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Politics, Shera Crossan, Top Stories

In a culture awash in conspiracy theories and raw anger at government, they are lone wolves who find a sense of community for their hate — yet act alone.
They are, in some ways, more unsettling than organized and trained terrorists because they come from us.  Their diatribes and smoldering grievances are familiar and homegrown.
For the [...]

Wyoming Legislature Passes the Firearms Freedom Act

Posted on 05. Mar, 2010 by Rob Belatucadros in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Gun Control, Rob Belatucadros, Top Stories

Today, on its 3rd reading, the Wyoming Senate passed HB95, the Firearms Freedom Act, by a vote of 30–0. (h/t Kristy Tyrney, Wyoming10A.org)
The bill states:
A personal firearm, a firearm action or receiver, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in the state to be used or sold within the state is [...]

Bulger killer ‘had fight at work’

Posted on 04. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Hidden Crimes, Shera Crossan, Top Stories

Jon Venables was taken back into custody after a bust-up at work, it has been reported.  The 27-year-old grappled with a colleague and had to be pulled away – eventually being suspended from his workplace after an official complaint was made and then recalled to prison, the Daily Mirror reported.
James Bulger murder: timeline
He is also [...]

Immunity for the ‘Hero’ or ‘Torturer’?

Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Hidden Crimes, Immigration, Shera Crossan

A hero or a criminal?

Talk to Somalis about Mohamed Ali Samantar and the lawsuit, or cruise through Somali chat rooms on the Internet, and you will find vehement, dizzyingly divergent opinions. Samantar’s a war criminal who should be brought to justice, or he’s a nationalist hero being scapegoated. He’s a demon. He’s an Abraham [...]

Put The Phone Down! Keep Your Eyes On The Road!

Posted on 03. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Health, Politics, Shera Crossan

Nearly 6,000 people were killed and a half-million injured last year in U.S. auto accidents due to drivers being distracted, particularly by mobile phones, the government said Wednesday.
The Transportation Department brought together experts for a two-day “distracted driving summit” on highway hazards caused by drivers talking on cell phones or texting from behind the wheel. [...]

Spy cameras won’t make us safer

Posted on 01. Mar, 2010 by Shera Crossan in 9/11, Audio-Video, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Shera Crossan

Editor’s note: Bruce Schneier is a security technologist and author of “Beyond Fear: Thinking Sensibly About Security in an Uncertain World.” Read more of his writing at http://www.schneier.com/.
(CNN) — On January 19, a team of at least 15 people assassinated Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Dubai police released video footage of 11 of them. Although [...]

Corruption At Federal Reserve Bank Ignored By The MSM

Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Business & Finance, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Immigration, Shera Crossan

America’s banking industry is aiding and abetting lawbreakers and there appears to be no one in Washington, D.C. interested in conducting an investigation into this corruption.
While the mainstream news media are hard at work covering the Democrats striving to achieve their dream of taking control of Americans’ health care, the Federal Reserve Bank continues working [...]

Mistakenly released inmate caught in W.Va.

Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Shera Crossan, Top Stories

BALTIMORE – An inmate serving three life terms for attempted murderwas back behind bars Friday, a day after he conned his way out of a Baltimore prison with the help of his cellmate, authorities said.
Taylor was convicted of lining up his former girlfriend and her two daughters, who were 14 and 16 at the time, on [...]

CDC Says Racial Difference In Flu Hospitalizations

Posted on 26. Feb, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Health, Race, Shera Crossan

Feb 25, 2010 (CIDRAP News) – Racial minority groups have been more heavily impacted by pandemic H1N1 flu hospitalizations, with severe illness during the fall wave hitting American Indian and Alaska Native populations especially hard, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said yesterday in an update.
During both pandemic waves, minority groups have [...]

Israel ‘I’m so excited’! Hungary Approves Holocaust Denial Law

Posted on 25. Feb, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Israel & Jewish Issues, Politics

Halifax apologizes and compensates Africville

Posted on 24. Feb, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Audio-Video, Feedback, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Race

\'Apology At Last\' video
“I’m here today on behalf of Halifax regional council to deliver a formal apology to all those whose lives have been altered by the loss of Africville in the 1960s,” Kelly said at a ceremony held at the YMCA in north-end Halifax.
“We realize words cannot undo what has been done. But [...]

‘Fighting the Subversion of Our People’s Sovereignty’

Posted on 24. Feb, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Business & Finance, Editorials, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Politics

By Jim Hightower
February 24, 2010 “Creators” — As you’ve probably heard, corporations are now “people” — humanoids that are equivalent to you and me. This miraculous metamorphosis happened on Jan. 21. Accompanied by a blinding bolt of lightning, and a terrifying jolt of thunder, five Dr. Frankensteins on the Supreme Court threw a judicial switch [...]

VA. man charged with getting 272 Somalis into US

Posted on 24. Feb, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Hidden Crimes, Immigration, Shera Crossan

US authorities have arrested and charged a Virginia man with trying to help nearly 300 people illegally enter the United States from the war-torn country of Somalia where al Qaeda militants have been active.
The man, Anthony Joseph Tracy, admitted to law enforcement officials he helped some 272 Somalis obtain fraudulent visas in Kenya with the [...]

Secret Labour plan to increase immigration for social reasons dismissed public’s opposition as ‘racist’

Posted on 23. Feb, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Events, Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Immigration, Politics, Shera Crossan

Labour encouraged mass immigration even though it knew that voters opposed it, Whitehall documents confirmed yesterday.
The Government said the public disagreed with immigration because of ‘racism’ and ministers were told to try to alter public attitudes.
The thinking on immigration among Labour leaders was set down in 2000 in a document prepared for the Cabinet Office [...]

Could a ‘warlord’ Be Your New Nextdoor Neighbor?

Posted on 22. Feb, 2010 by Shera Crossan in Foreign and Domestic Intelligence, Israel & Jewish Issues, Politics, Shera Crossan, War Coverage

In March, the Supreme Court is to begin hearing oral arguments in a case that may breathe new life into the field of human rights law in the United States, by exposing foreign government officials to civil liability for war crimes and other violations of international law—even when the crimes occurred in their own country, [...]