Ex-Bush Official Willing to Testify Bush, Cheney Knew Gitmo Prisoners Innocent
April 22nd, 2013Via: Truth Out:
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once declared that individuals captured by the US military in the aftermath of 9/11 and shipped off to the Guantanamo Bay prison facility represented the “worst of the worst.”
During a radio interview in June 2005, Rumsfeld said the detainees at Guantanamo, “all of whom were captured on a battlefield,” are “terrorists, trainers, bomb makers, recruiters, financiers, [Osama Bin Laden’s] body guards, would-be suicide bombers, probably the 20th hijacker, 9/11 hijacker.”
But Rumsfeld knowingly lied, according to a former top Bush administration official.
And so did then Vice President Dick Cheney when he said, also in 2002 and in dozens of public statements thereafter, that Guantanamo prisoners “are the worst of a very bad lot” and “dangerous” and “devoted to killing millions of Americans, innocent Americans, if they can, and they are perfectly prepared to die in the effort.”
Now, in a sworn declaration obtained exclusively by Truthout, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell during George W. Bush’s first term in office, said Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld knew the “vast majority” of prisoners captured in the so-called War on Terror were innocent and the administration refused to set them free once those facts were established because of the political repercussions that would have ensued.
Toddlers Becoming So Addicted to iPads They Require Therapy
April 22nd, 2013£16,000 for a 28-day “digital detox” program?!
That’s ridiculous! But in a world where toddlers are being zombified with smartphones and tablets, who’s to say what’s ridiculous and what isn’t anymore…
Anyway, here’s a alternative treatment plan.
1) Get candles, flashlights and books ready. If you normally cook with electricity, get a propane stove.
2) Flip that big, double or triple sized house fuse on your breaker panel to the OFF position.
3) When the sun goes down, use your candles and flashlights to help with getting the children fed/bathed/ready for bed.
4) Read them stories until they’re ready to fall asleep.
5) Once the children are asleep, turn the power back on.
Via: Telegraph:
Children as young as four are becoming so addicted to smartphones and iPads that they require psychological treatment.
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Dr Graham said that young technology addicts experienced the same withdrawal symptoms as alcoholics or heroin addicts, when the devices were taken away.
He warned that the condition prevented young people from forming normal social relationships, leaving them drained by the constant interaction.
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Parents who have found themselves unable to wean their children off computer games and mobile phones are paying up to £16,000 for a 28-day “digital detox” programme designed by Dr Graham at the Capio Nightingale clinic in London.
Shots Fired Overnight at Watts Bar Nuclear Power Plant
April 21st, 2013[???]
Via: WBIR:
TVA Police along with other authorities are investigating after a shooting involving a TVA nuclear security officer at their Watts Bar plant.
Officials at the plant say the shooting happened early Sunday morning just after 2 a.m. on the Tennessee River side of the plant property.
The incident is being labeled as an “unusual event,” the lowest of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s four emergency classifications.
In a release Sunday morning, TVA stated the incident happened several hundred yards from the sites protected area, which houses the reactor and power production facilities.
World’s largest Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Power Plant Planned for China
April 20th, 2013Via: Gizmag:
Lockheed Martin has been getting its feet wet in the renewable energy game for some time. In the 1970s it helped build the world’s first successful floating Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) system that generated net power, and in 2009 it was awarded a contract to develop an OTEC pilot plant in Hawaii. That project has apparently been canceled but the company has now shifted its OTEC sights westward by teaming up with Hong Kong-based Reignwood Group to co-develop a pilot plant that will be built off the coast of southern China.
Apple and Google Keep Voice App Data for Two Years
April 20th, 2013Via: Engadget:
It’s no secret that Apple hangs onto your Siri data for some length of time (as other companies so with search data and the like), but it hasn’t been clear exactly how long it keeps that data sitting on its servers. Wired has now cleared that up somewhat, though, hearing from Apple spokesperson Trudy Muller that the company “may keep anonymized Siri data for up to two years.”
…
The Financial Times has confirmed with Google that it, too, keeps your voice search data for up to two years.
U.S. House of Representatives Shamefully Passes CISPA
April 20th, 2013Via: EFF:
Today, Internet freedom advocates everywhere turned their eyes to the U.S. House of Representatives as that legislative body considered the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act.
For the second year in a row, the House voted to approve CISPA, a bill that would allow companies to bypass all existing privacy law to spy on communications and pass sensitive user data to the government. EFF condemns the vote in the House and vows to continue the fight in the Senate.
“CISPA is a poorly drafted bill that would provide a gaping exception to bedrock privacy law,” EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl said. “While we all agree that our nation needs to address pressing Internet security issues, this bill sacrifices online privacy while failing to take common-sense steps to improve security.”
Fitch Downgrades United Kingdom to ‘AA+’
April 20th, 2013Via: Reuters:
Fitch Ratings has downgraded the United Kingdom’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’. The Outlook is Stable.
DOD Will Now “Push” Assistance to Civil Authorities
April 20th, 2013Via: HongPong:
The strategy, released in February, looks at the lessons learned from past experiences — from Hurricane Katrina through Hurricane Sandy.
They also looked at changes including the growth of communications networks, dependence on private-sector capabilities and “the rising expectations from the president and from the secretary, and certainly from the American people, that we will be prepared to provide support to civil authorities within a 24- to 48-hour window,” Rosenblum said.
This is an incredibly short period of time, he said, and it forces a change in the relationship between DOD and other agencies. The old paradigm was to have civil partners “pull assistance” from DOD, while now DOD will actually push assistance where it is needed.
Research Credit: HongPong
Bitcoin Ramping Up Again
April 19th, 2013Just crossed $135.
Watertown: Police Engaged In Prolonged Gunbattle with Multiple Suspects
April 19th, 2013I’ve merged this into the main Boston Marathon Bombing thread.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Captured
Via: CBS:
A flurry of applause at the scene of a standoff between police and Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev signaled his capture Friday night.
After a nearly two-hour standoff in a Watertown neighborhood, Tsarnaev was taken from the scene by ambulance to a local hospital.
The standoff began just before 7 p.m., minutes after Massachusetts State Police announced that they had completed their door-to-door search in Watertown without locating Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
WBZ-TV’s Jim Armstrong was in the area of Franklin Street when he heard what he described as 15-20 seconds of rapid gunfire. He was forced to take cover, and was quickly moved back to safety by police.
Boston Mayor Tom Menino confirmed to WBZ-TV that police had surrounded the bombing suspect inside a boat in the backyard of a home on Franklin Street. Sources say that a resident called police to report finding blood by the boat.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030 reported that authorities were able to confirm there was a person inside by using a thermal camera from a helicopter.
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Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev
Via: USA Today:
The surviving Boston bomb suspect has been identified as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge, Mass., a federal law enforcement official told USA TODAY.
Police have identified Tsarnaev’s older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, as the other bombing suspect, killed during the manhunt at MIT.
Both suspects have been in the U.S. for at least a year, living as legal U.S. residents in Cambridge, said the official, who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to comment publicly.
The suspects were identified to The Associated Press as coming from the Russian region near Chechnya, which has been plagued by an Islamic insurgency stemming from separatist wars.
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Latest Summary of Incident
Via: The Lookout:
A late-night police chase and shootout has ended with one Boston Marathon bombing suspect dead and another on the run, police said early Friday morning. One police officer was killed and another was seriously wounded during the violent spree.
At sunrise, Gov. Deval Patrick ordered a shutdown of all public transit and residents on the edges of Boston to stay indoors as a massive manhunt for the second suspect was underway.
“This is situation is grave and we are trying to protect the public safety,” said Massachusetts State Police Col. Timothy Alben.
Federal agents swarmed neighboring Watertown after local police were involved in a car chase and shootout with the men identified Thursday by the FBI as Suspect 1 and Suspect 2. During the pursuit, officers could be heard on police radio traffic describing the men as having handguns, grenades and other explosives.
The mayhem began at approximately 10:30 p.m. Thursday when police said the bombing suspects robbed a 7-Eleven store in Cambridge. Minutes later, police said, the men shot and killed an MIT campus officer responding to the robbery call. The terror suspects then fled in a stolen Mercedes-Benz, but were quickly spotted in Watertown where they exchanged dozens of rounds of gunfire with patrol officers.
Suspect 1 was shot by police and brought to Beth Israel Medical Center. He arrived at the hospital under cardiac arrest with multiple gunshot wounds and blast-like injuries to his chest. The second suspect fled on foot, leading to a tense manhunt that is still underway at this hour.
“We believe this to be a terrorist,” said Boston police Commissioner Ed Davis. “We believe this to be a man who has come here to kill people. We need to get him into custody.”
A transit officer was seriously wounded during the exchange of gunfire, officials said.
The FBI has yet to publicly confirm a connection between the events in Watertown and the twin explosions that killed 3 people and injured 170 others at the Boston Marathon on Monday. But according to Boston police, the suspect who remained at large was the “one in the white hat” seen in the photos released by the bureau on Thursday.
In a radio alert sent issued to fellow officers, the suspect was described as a “white male with dark complexion … with thick curly hair wearing a charcoal gray hooded sweatshirt … possibly with an assault rifle and explosives.” Police in Watertown, Newton, Brighton and Cambridge were put on high alert.
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Broadcasting over the scanner 06:20 EST: Persons should not go near transportation facilities. Residents should stay indoors and only open doors for police. Stay away from windows.
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All three occupants of cab in custody now. Got a Boston cab. Occupants white male, Middle Eastern male, another Middle Eastern male.
All on the deck, outside the car.
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Less lethal shotguns needed at Arsenal Mall.
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All MBTA transport services suspended.
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ALL BOSTON SUBWAY LINES SHUTDOWN. Went out over the scanner about 5:44AM EST.
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“You’re gonna need a bomb dog on that.”
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“Three injured officers, BPD command post.”
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Possible explosive vests.
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This is going down now.
Listen: Boston Police, Fire and EMS Scanner
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One in custody dead, one at large.
NBC indicates that the National Guard was also involved:
Police, federal agents and even National Guardsmen descended on a Boston suburb where there were reports of violence, gunshots and two loud booms Thursday night into early Friday morning — all following the fatal shooting of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer.
The large law-enforcement presence gathered in Watertown, Mass., just a few miles from the shooting on MIT’s Cambridge campus, where two men had reportedly shot at police officers.
The Watertown scene was marked by reports of rapid gunfire and explosions.
Via: New York Times:
Two young men, armed with guns and explosives in what appeared to be backpacks, engaged in a violent standoff with dozens of police on a street in Watertown, Mass., Thursday night, police and residents said.
At around 1 a.m., two residents said they heard what sounded like firecrackers began going off in Laurel Street. When they looked out of their windows, they saw two young men taking cover behind a black Mercedes sports utility vehicle, in a shootout with dozens of police about 70 yards away. A police spokesman said there was a strong possibility that the incident was linked to the fatal shooting of a campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The chaos that descended on the residential streets came as the community was still reeling from Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon that killed three and wounded more than 170.
Andrew Kitzenberg, 29, said he looked out of this third floor window to see two young men of slight build in jackets engaged in “constant gunfire” with police officers. A police SUV “drove towards the shooters,” he said, and was shot at until it was severely damaged. It rolled out of control, Mr. Kitzenberg said, and crashed into two cars in his driveway.
The two shooters, he said, had a large and unwieldy bomb. “They lit it, still in the middle of the gunfire, and threw it. But it went 20 yards at most.” It exploded, he said, and one of the two men ran towards the gathered police officers. He was tackled, but it was not clear if he was shot, Mr. Kitzenberg said.
The explosions, said Loretta Kehayias, 65, another resident, “lit up the whole house. I screamed. I’ve never seen anything like this, never, never, never.”
Meanwhile, the other young man, said Mr. Kitzenberg, got back into the SUV, turned it toward officers and “put the pedal to the metal.” The car “went right through the cops, broke right through and continued west.”
The two men left “a few backpacks right by the car, and there is a bomb robot out there now.” Police had told residents to stay away from their windows, he said.
A police spokesman, Dave Procopio, told reporters that one suspects was being taken to an area hospital and another is “on the loose.” Explosives were involved, he confirmed, and bomb disposal units were active. When asked about links to Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon, he said, “We’re investigating that, and the F.B.I. is investigating that.”
