Remember the One About the Couple with the “Hit List” in Alaska? Drug Addled Husband Had Some Help from Undercover Cop

August 17th, 2010

Via: AP:

A rural Alaska couple accused of domestic terrorism compiled a hit list of 20 targets, including members of the military and media, and had moved to the operational phase of their plan, according to documents filed in federal court Monday.

Paul and Nadia Rockwood of King Salmon have pleaded guilty to lying about the list and making false statements to the FBI in May.

Under a plea agreement, Paul Rockwood will serve eight years in prison and three years probation while his pregnant wife will serve probation. Sentencing is scheduled Aug. 23 in U.S. District Court in Anchorage.

Rockwood’s public defender claims her client was lonely in King Salmon and befriended an undercover Alaska State Trooper while attending mosque during trips to Anchorage.

“The relationship clearly was fed by the trooper’s interest in Mr. Rockwood and the drama created by their conversations,” his attorney, Sue Ellen Tatter, wrote in her sentencing memo.

“All of Mr. Rockwood’s behavior with the state trooper was talk or paperwork. None of Mr. Rockwood’s close associates, including his father, his wife and friends in King Salmon, believed he was capable of planned violence,” Tatter wrote.

Prosecutors alleged that Paul Rockwood, also known as “Bilal,” converted to Islam about a decade ago and began studying the teachings of American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who has professed hatred for the United States and supports acts of terrorism. The couple then moved to King Salmon, where he worked for the National Weather Service.

“While in Alaska, Rockwood researched and discussed methods of execution often at great length and in significant detail, components for mail bombs were purchased, the targets had been selected and a loose time line was established,” assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Skrocki and Bryan Schroder wrote in their sentencing memo.

Prosecutors said he gave the list of targets to his wife in April, and she carried it with her on a trip to Anchorage, where the FBI obtained it.

The court documents didn’t disclose any names, only a summary of those on the list. It included a publishing company executive, a media personality, seven members of the military, seven other individuals, two religious organizations and two publishing companies.

Federal authorities also claim Paul Rockwood began researching ways to kill them.

“With some, this included discussing the use of mail bombs and the possibility of killing targets by gunshot to the head,” federal attorneys said.

“This was not a case of ‘if’, but a case of ‘when’ with the ‘when’ becoming more likely with Rockwood’s departure from King Salmon,” the government said.

Tatter counters that Rockwood was lonely, suffering from an inner ear disease that can cause dizziness, nausea and hearing loss, and that he was addicted to opiate painkillers and was in treatment during his relationship with the trooper.

She said he quit his job, and the family was moving from King Salmon to Boston on the first leg of a journey to England when they were intercepted May 19 by the FBI.

“When federal agents showed him the list — which they obviously obtained from the undercover trooper — Mr. Rockwood stated: ‘I’m surprised he (the Trooper Sgt.) compiled this …’ Mr. Rockwood did not admit that he himself compiled the list,” Tatter wrote.

She characterized Rockwood as “unsophisticated mechanically” and said he has never been committed to a plan of action. She said he was “soft-hearted and extremely committed to his family.”

King Salmon is a small community of a few hundred people on the Alaska Peninsula.

Related: Terrorism Case Baffles Remote Alaska Town


U.S. Sends Mobile Factories to Afghanistan

August 17th, 2010

Via: Strategy Page:

U.S. SOCOM (Special Operations Command) has adopted an old U.S. Army concept to create mobile workshops (MTCs or Mobile Technology Complex) that can fix exotic gear (which SOCOM has a lot of), modify their special gear, or even create something new. The MTC is a modified (with new some gear) version of the decade old U.S. Army MPH (Mobile Parts Hospital).

The MPH was developed when the army realized that the easiest way to get the many rarely requested, but vital, replacement parts to the troops, was to manufacture the parts in the combat zone. In short order, this led to the construction of a portable parts fabrication system, called MPH, that fit into a standard 8x8x20 foot shipping container. The original version used two containers, but smaller equipment and more powerful computers eventually made it possible to use one container.

Research Credit: ltcolonelnemo


Illegal Immigrants Account for 8% of U.S. Newborns

August 16th, 2010

Via: Bloomberg:

As many as 340,000 of the 4.3 million babies born in the U.S. in 2008 had at least one parent who was an illegal immigrant, according to a Pew Hispanic Center study of Census Bureau data.

Unauthorized immigrants, who make up a little more than 4 percent of the population, are for the most part young and have high birth rates, according to the Pew study. Their children make up 8 percent of the newborn population and 7 percent of those under 18.


Oakland: Mr. Lee’s Greater Hong Kong

August 16th, 2010

It’s right out of Snow Crash. Where are the Kong Bucks?

Via: New York Times:

In a basement office that serves as a police headquarters and community center, Oakland Chinatown leaders pored over maps of the neighborhood with representatives from a private security firm last week.

“Many of our merchants are already installing cameras,” said Carl Chan, the chairman of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, outlining in highlighter the several blocks that form the core of the area. “Eventually, we will be hiring security guards to patrol Chinatown.”

In the wake of the city’s laying off 80 police officers last month, Chinatown is leading a new trend in the crime-ridden city: an increase in privately financed public safety. Mr. Chan has asked every business owner to install a street-facing camera. A new Chinatown security force, perhaps staffed by armed guards, could be on the streets as soon as next month, he said.

The layoffs, which helped close a budget deficit of more than $30 million, eliminated a community-policing program that assigned officers to walk their beats and attend neighborhood meetings. Now some residents are pooling resources to restore a law-enforcement presence. The affluent Montclair District in the Oakland Hills and the Kings Estates neighborhood in East Oakland are also looking into private patrols.

Experts say the combination of police and private security that Chinatown is pursuing reflects a new approach to public safety.

“We’ve been doing policing more or less the same way for a couple hundred years,” said Barry Krisberg, a criminologist at the Center for Criminal Justice at the University of California, Berkeley. “We’ve reached a point financially where we have to start exploring new ways to deliver law enforcement.”


Goldman Sachs Could be Largely Unaffected by ‘Financial Overhaul’

August 16th, 2010

Don’t worry, I won’t bring back the smirking Blankfein banner.

Via: Los Angeles Times:

As Wall Street scrambles to find the best and most profitable way to operate under the new financial reform law, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. — the firm that was expected to suffer the most under the legislation — could emerge practically unscathed.

Right after Congress passed the regulatory overhaul bill last month, analysts estimated that as much as one-tenth of the preeminent investment bank’s earnings could vanish because of new restrictions on activities targeted by the regulatory overhaul.

More recently, however, top Goldman executives privately advised analysts that the bank did not expect the reform measure to cost it any revenue.


UAE Imports Five Tons of Fake Gold

August 16th, 2010

Via: Emirates 24|7:

Several tons of gold imported into the UAE by traders and investors turned out to be fake on closer inspection, resulting in millions of dirhams in losses and high levels of stress to the victims.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, Mohamad Shakarchi,, Managing Director of Emirates Gold, said: “A lot of people in the UAE who tried to import gold at lower prices or through dubious overseas companies have been cheated.

We have inspected many consignments from African countries, especially Ghana, and found that there is not an ounce of gold in them.

For importing pure dust or other metals with yellow colour, these traders have paid several million dirhams.”

Dubai Customs sources confirmed the incidence of fake gold imports, but did not reply to a questionnaire sent by Emirates 24|7 ten days ago.

“The concerned official is on leave,” said a spokesman.

Emirates Gold has stopped examining gold imported from Africa. “We send specialists to examine a gold consignment only if it is routed through a local company.

We don’t have time to waste because most of these so called gold imports are fake. The traders got greedy. They thought they were getting gold at a discounted rate.”

Mohammed said that at least five tonnes of fake yellow metal is lying with Dubai Customs.


Another Threat to Economy: Boomers Cutting Back

August 16th, 2010

See the Bloomberg piece, U.S. Is Bankrupt and We Don’t Even Know It:

We have 78 million baby boomers who, when fully retired, will collect benefits from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid that, on average, exceed per-capita GDP. The annual costs of these entitlements will total about $4 trillion in today’s dollars. Yes, our economy will be bigger in 20 years, but not big enough to handle this size load year after year.

This is what happens when you run a massive Ponzi scheme for six decades straight, taking ever larger resources from the young and giving them to the old while promising the young their eventual turn at passing the generational buck.

And now, the Baby Boomers know they’re getting screwed all over, and that younger people can’t/aren’t stepping into the role of greater fool to keep Social Security bubble going.

Via: Wall Street Journal:

America’s baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—face a problem that could weigh on the economy for years to come: The longer it takes for the economy to recover, the less money they’ll have to spend in retirement.

Policy makers have long worried that Americans aren’t saving enough for old age. And lately, current and prospective retirees have been hit on many fronts at once: They have less money, they earn less on what they have, their houses aren’t rising in value and the prospect of working longer to make up the shortfall has dimmed significantly in a lousy job market.

“We will have to learn to make do with a lot less in material things,” says Gary Snodgrass, a 63-year-old health-care consultant in Placerville, Calif. The financial crisis, he says, slashed his retirement savings 40% and the value of his house by about half.

Banks, home buyers and bond issuers are all benefiting as the U.S. Federal Reserve holds short-term interest rates near zero to support a recovery. But for many of the 36 million Americans who will turn 65 over the next decade—and even for the 45 million who have another decade to go— the resulting low bond yields, combined with a volatile stock market, are making a dire retirement picture look even worse.

Low yields present retirees with a difficult choice: Accept the lower income offered by safer bonds, or take the risk of staying in the stock market. Either way, their predicament could put a long-term damper on the consumer spending that typically drives U.S. growth.


Companies Rush to Issue Riskier Debt as Investors Look for Higher Returns

August 16th, 2010

Via: Wall Street Journal:

U.S. companies issued risky “junk” bonds at a record clip this week, taking advantage of keen investor appetite for returns amid declining interest rates and tepid stock markets.

The borrowing binge comes as the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates near zero and yields on U.S. government debt are near record lows. Those low rates have spread across a variety of markets, making it cheaper for companies with low credit ratings to borrow from investors.

Corporate borrowers with less than investment-grade ratings sold $15.4 billion in junk bonds this week, a record total for a single week, according to data provider Dealogic. The month-to-date total, $21.1 billion, is especially high for August, typically a quiet month that has seen an average of just $6.5 billion in issuance over the past decade.


Cattle Cloned from Dead Animals to Produce ‘That Memorable Taste’

August 16th, 2010

Bon Appétit!

Via: BBC:

Some of the cattle cloned to boost food production in the US have been created from the cells of dead animals, according to a US cloning company.

Farmers say it is being done because it is only possible to tell that the animal’s meat is of exceptionally high quality by inspecting its carcass.

US scientists are using a variety of techniques to assess which animals have exceptional qualities.

These attributes include meat quality, productivity or longevity.

These exceptional animals are cloned to be used as breeding stock, with the aim of raising the quality of herds on beef, dairy and pig farms in the US.

There is a long tradition of resurrecting dead animals for cloning – Dolly the sheep being a case in point.

The head of the leading US animal cloning company has said that European farmers will fall behind the rest of the world unless they are allowed to use such techniques to improve the productivity of their livestock.

The aim of livestock cloning is to clone the best animals to produce the best beef.

But some cattle farmers believe it is impossible to pick the best quality animals until their meat has been properly analysed.

That is why there are cloned bulls here that have been produced from the cells taken from the carcasses of dead animals.

Brady Hicks of the JR Simplot company in Idaho said his organisation was among many that had tried out the technique successfully.

“The animals are hanging on a rail ready to go to the meat counter,” he told BBC News.


Even Street Criminals Are Spending Less

August 16th, 2010

Via: Guardian:

Richard Gaines is one of the best-known faces on Camden’s Haddon Avenue. It is a rough-and-tumble street, lined with cheap businesses and boarded-up houses, and is prey to drug gangs. Gaines, 50, runs a barbershop, a hair salon and a fitness business. He works hard and is committed to his community. But Haddon Avenue is not an easy place to make a living in the best of times. And these are far from the best of times.

Just how badly the great recession has struck this fragile New Jersey city, which is currently the poorest in America, was recently spelled out to Gaines. In happier times – whatever that might mean for a city as destitute as Camden – local businesses on Haddon Avenue could at least rely on a bit of trade from those who made their money on the street.

Young men bought flashy clothes and got sharp haircuts and always paid in cash. But no longer. The economy is now so bad in Camden that even the criminals are struggling and going short. “Even the guys who got money from illegal means really don’t want to spend it,” Gaines said.

Such a development, though, is just a snapshot of the deep problems still hitting the wider American economy. Growth rates are stuttering and a recovery is struggling to take hold. It may even now be showing signs of going backwards again, as countries such as Germany start to power forward. Joblessness has taken hold in America, with the numbers of long-term unemployed reaching levels not seen since the Depression of the 1930s. The figures are frightening and illustrate a society that remains in deep trouble.


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