Friday, October 19, 2012

The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say)


BY JAMES BAMFORDAIL AUTHOR

03.15.12
7:24 PM



Photo: Name Withheld; Digital Manipulation: Jesse Lenz

The spring air in the small, sand-dusted town has a soft haze to it, and clumps of green-gray sagebrush rustle in the breeze. Bluffdale sits in a bowl-shaped valley in the shadow of Utah’s Wasatch Range to the east and the Oquirrh Mountains to the west. It’s the heart of Mormon country, where religious pioneers first arrived more than 160 years ago. They came to escape the rest of the world, to understand the mysterious words sent down from their god as revealed on buried golden plates, and to practice what has become known as “the principle,” marriage to multiple wives.



Today Bluffdale is home to one of the nation’s largest sects of polygamists, the Apostolic United Brethren, with upwards of 9,000 members. The brethren’s complex includes a chapel, a school, a sports field, and an archive. Membership has doubled since 1978—and the number of plural marriages has tripled—so the sect has recently been looking for ways to purchase more land and expand throughout the town.

But new pioneers have quietly begun moving into the area, secretive outsiders who say little and keep to themselves. Like the pious polygamists, they are focused on deciphering cryptic messages that only they have the power to understand. Just off Beef Hollow Road, less than a mile from brethren headquarters, thousands of hard-hatted construction workers in sweat-soaked T-shirts are laying the groundwork for the newcomers’ own temple and archive, a massive complex so large that it necessitated expanding the town’s boundaries. Once built, it will be more than five times the size of the US Capitol.

Rather than Bibles, prophets, and worshippers, this temple will be filled with servers, computer intelligence experts, and armed guards. And instead of listening for words flowing down from heaven, these newcomers will be secretly capturing, storing, and analyzing vast quantities of words and images hurtling through the world’s telecommunications networks. In the little town of Bluffdale, Big Love and Big Brother have become uneasy neighbors.
The NSA has become the largest, most covert, and potentially most intrusive intelligence agency ever.

Under construction by contractors with top-secret clearances, the blandly named Utah Data Center is being built for the National Security Agency. A project of immense secrecy, it is the final piece in a complex puzzle assembled over the past decade. Its purpose: to intercept, decipher, analyze, and store vast swaths of the world’s communications as they zap down from satellites and zip through the underground and undersea cables of international, foreign, and domestic networks. The heavily fortified $2 billion center should be up and running in September 2013. Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital “pocket litter.” It is, in some measure, the realization of the “total information awareness” program created during the first term of the Bush administration—an effort that was killed by Congress in 2003 after it caused an outcry over its potential for invading Americans’ privacy.

But “this is more than just a data center,” says one senior intelligence official who until recently was involved with the program. The mammoth Bluffdale center will have another important and far more secret role that until now has gone unrevealed. It is also critical, he says, for breaking codes. And code-breaking is crucial, because much of the data that the center will handle—financial information, stock transactions, business deals, foreign military and diplomatic secrets, legal documents, confidential personal communications—will be heavily encrypted. According to another top official also involved with the program, the NSA made an enormous breakthrough several years ago in its ability to cryptanalyze, or break, unfathomably complex encryption systems employed by not only governments around the world but also many average computer users in the US. The upshot, according to this official: “Everybody’s a target; everybody with communication is a target.”

For the NSA, overflowing with tens of billions of dollars in post-9/11 budget awards, the cryptanalysis breakthrough came at a time of explosive growth, in size as well as in power. Established as an arm of the Department of Defense following Pearl Harbor, with the primary purpose of preventing another surprise assault, the NSA suffered a series of humiliations in the post-Cold War years. Caught offguard by an escalating series of terrorist attacks—the first World Trade Center bombing, the blowing up of US embassies in East Africa, the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, and finally the devastation of 9/11—some began questioning the agency’s very reason for being. In response, the NSA has quietly been reborn. And while there is little indication that its actual effectiveness has improved—after all, despite numerous pieces of evidence and intelligence-gathering opportunities, it missed the near-disastrous attempted attacks by the underwear bomber on a flight to Detroit in 2009 and by the car bomber inTimes Square in 2010—there is no doubt that it has transformed itself into the largest, most covert, and potentially most intrusive intelligence agency ever created.

In the process—and for the first time since Watergate and the other scandals of the Nixon administration—the NSA has turned its surveillance apparatus on the US and its citizens. It has established listening posts throughout the nation to collect and sift through billions of email messages and phone calls, whether they originate within the country or overseas. It has created a supercomputer of almost unimaginable speed to look for patterns and unscramble codes. Finally, the agency has begun building a place to store all the trillions of words and thoughts and whispers captured in its electronic net. And, of course, it’s all being done in secret. To those on the inside, the old adage that NSA stands for Never Say Anything applies more than ever.

.

How US Ambassador Chris Stevens May Have Been Linked To Jihadist Rebels In Syria

Michael Kelley | 54 minutes ago



AP

See Also


US Weapons Are Going To Hard-Line Jihadists Fighting To Topple The Syrian Regime


US State Department Official Killed In Libya Was A Top Online Gamer


REPORT: It Was A NATO Mortar That Killed 5 Turkish Civilians Last Week



The details of the September 11 attack that killed four Americans at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi are still murky and there's certainly more to be known.

Former CIA officer Clare Lopez argues that the key issue is "the relationship of the U.S. government, Ambassador Christopher Stevens and the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya with Al Qaeda."

That relationship, Lopez argues, could be connected to the rise of Islamic brigades in Syria, who recently created a "Front to Liberate Syria" to wage jihad against the Syrian regime and turn the country into an Islamic state.

That potential connection starts with who Ambassador Stevens worked with during the Libyan revolution and ends with who he hosted on the night of his death.

In March 2011 Stevens became the official U.S. liaison to the al-Qaeda-linked Libyan opposition and began coordinating U.S. assistance to the rebels.

The top military commander of the rebels, Abdelhakim Belhadj, was the leader of the pro-al-Qaeda Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG).

After Gaddafi fell the LIFG disbanded and some of the fighters joined the amorphous group Ansar al-Shariah (Soldiers of Shariah), which reportedly participated in the attack that took Stevens' life.

In November 2011 The Telegraph reported that Belhadj, acting as head of the Tripoli Military Council, "met with Free Syrian Army [FSA] leaders in Istanbul and on the border with Turkey" in an effort by the new Libyan government to provide money and weapons to the growing insurgency in Syria.

Last month The Times of London reported the a Libyan ship "carrying the largest consignment of weapons for Syria … has docked in Turkey." The shipment reportedly weighed 400 tons and included SA-7 surface-to-air anti-craft missiles and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).

Those heavy weapons are most likely from Muammar Gaddafi's stock of about 20,000 portable heat-seeking missiles—the bulk of them SA-7s—that the Libyan leader obtained from the former Eastern bloc.

Reuters reports that Syrian rebels have been using those heavy weapons to shoot down Syrian helicopters and fighter jets.

The ship's captain was "a Libyan from Benghazi and the head of an organization called the Libyan National Council for Relief and Support," which was presumably established by the new government.

That means that Ambassador Stevens had only one person—Belhadj—between himself and the Benghazi man who brought heavy weapons to Syria. (The official U.S. stance is that it is opposed to providing Syrian rebels with heavy weapons.)

Furthermore, we know that jihadists are the best fighters in the Syrian opposition, but where did they come from?

Last week The Telegraph reported that a FSA commander called them "Libyans" when he explained that the FSA doesn't "want these extremist people here."

So this much is fairly certain: Libya has been sending seasoned Islamic fighters, heavy weapons and presumably money to Syria in support of the opposition.

The uncertain part is where Stevens, and the U.S. government, fits into all of this.

If the new Libyan government was sending jihadists and 400 tons of lethal cargo to Syria through a port in southern Turkey—a deal brokered by Stevens' primary Libyan contact during the Libyan revolution—then the governments of Turkey and the U.S. surely knew about it.

Reuters reported that satellite photos exposed a CIA post in Benghazi, located 1.2 miles from the U.S. consulate, was used as "a base for, among other things, collecting information on the proliferation of weaponry looted from Libyan government arsenals, including surface-to-air missiles" ... and that its security features "were more advanced than those at rented villa where Stevens died."

We also know that about a dozen CIA operatives and contractors left the Benghazi base after it was exposed. Could these two CIA groups be connected as start and end points to help funnel heavy weapons to the Syrian opposition?

We know that the CIA has been funneling weapons to the rebels in southern Turkey, but CNN reports that FSA members are "cutting their own deals to get weapons" from well-armed extremists so it raises questions about who the CIA is arming.

We know that U.S. weapons are ending up in the hands of hard-line Islamists in Syria. It turns out that many of these jihadists are the same ones that Stevens helped arm to topple Gaddafi.

On September 11 Stevens held an evening meeting with a Turkish diplomat before retiring to his room at 9 p.m. Gunfire and explosions began 40 minutes later. Is Steven's guest for his last meeting just another eerie coincidence?

Either way it seems that the connection between Benghazi and the rise of jihadists in Syria is much stronger than has been officially acknowledged.

SEE ALSO: Don't Believe What Politicians Saying About The Benghazi Attack >


Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-syria-heavy-weapons-jihadists-2012-10#ixzz29khCMHWv
.
.

Gamaliel and the Barack Obama Connection


Barack Obama and the Gamaliel Foundation (Community Action utilizing Faith…..and Saul Alinsky Training)



First this:

From the Gamaliel Foundation:
Gamaliel and the Barack Obama Connection

by Gregory A. Galluzzo

President elect Barack Obama has throughout his political career made repeated references to his time as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago. It is important that we all understand the connection between Barack and Gamaliel. In l980 Mary Gonzales and I created the United Neighborhood Organization of Chicago.
In l982 we decided that we needed some expertise from someone who had done faith based community organizing. A person who had worked as such an organizer in Illinois and in Pennsylvania approached me about joining our organizing team. His name was Jerry Kellman. Jerry helped Mary and myself become better organizers. While he was working for us, he connected with a group called the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) operating on the South Side in the South Suburbs of Chicago, and in Indiana. CCRC had been formed in response to the massive shut down of major industry and the resulting job loss and all of the concomitant social tragedies.

Jerry and I reached an understanding that we would support his work in the South Suburbs so that he could become director of his own project. It was Jerry Kellman who put an ad in the New York Times about an organizing position in the Chicago area. Barack responded; Jerry interviewed him and offered him a position. Barack accepted. Almost at this very time, Jerry propositioned an old friend of his to return to Chicago from Texas and work with him in this new organizing venture. His friend was Mike Kruglik. Mike and Jerry were the first mentors of Barack in organizing.

CCRC, which spanned communities in Northwest Indiana, the South Suburbs and parts of the City of Chicago proved to be unwieldy. Jerry and I decided to split it into three parts. Barack would work to found a new independent project in the South side of Chicago, Mike Kruglik would be the director of the South Suburban Action Conference and Jerry Kellman would develop organizing in Northwest Indiana. At that point Jerry asked me to become Barack’s consultant.

And at this time we were just creating the Gamaliel Foundation. I met with Barack on a regular basis as he incorporated the Developing Communities Project, as he moved the organization into action and as he developed the leadership structure for the organization. He would write beautiful and brilliant weekly reports about his work and the people he was engaging.

When Barack decided to go to Harvard Law School, he approached John McKnight, a professor at Northwestern and a Gamaliel Board member for a letter of recommendation. When Barack was leaving he made sure that Gamaliel was the formal consultant to the organization that he had created and to the staff that he had hired.

Barack has acknowledged publicly that he had been the director of a Gamaliel affiliate. He has supported Gamaliel throughout the years by conducting training both at the National Leadership Training events and at the African American Leadership Commission. He has also attended our public meetings.

We are honored and blessed by the connection between Barack and Gamaliel.



Then ADD THIS:

From Discover the Networks:
Network of grassroots organizations working to bring about social change
Models its tactics after those of the radical Sixties activist Saul Alinsky

The stated mission of the Gamaliel Foundation (GF) is “to be a powerful network of grassroots, interfaith, interracial, multi-issue organizations working together to create a more just and more democratic society.” Predicated on the notion that America is a land rife with injustice, GF agitates for social change by supporting the efforts of a network of organizations (the Gamaliel Network) whose goal is to allow for individuals to “effectively participate” in the political, environmental, social and economic arenas. GF offers, for its network affiliates, programs to teach techniques and methodologies for bringing about social change; ongoing consultations; and organizer recruitment campaigns.

The Gamaliel Foundation derives its name from the biblical figure who, according to the New Testament, chastised the Jewish Sanhedrin (rabbinical court) for wanting to give the death penalty to Jesus’s apostles. Says GF, “We work in the hope and the confidence that this work is of God.” GF was established in 1968 to support the Contract Buyers League, an African American organization fighting to protect homeowners on Chicago’s West Side who had been discriminated against by banks and lending institutions.

The Gamaliel Network receives much of its funding from the leftist group Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). Yet according to the Roman Catholic Faithful website, GF’s “goals and philosophies are at fundamental odds with Church teaching.” GF endorses “scriptural relativism“and “encourage[s] a wide range of scriptural interpretations.”

The Gamaliel Foundation models itself after the activism of the 1960s radical Saul Alinsky, who authored the books Reveille for Radicals (1946), The Professional Radical (1970), and Rules for Radicals (1971). Alinsky’s prescription for effective organizing consisted of the following elements: (a) Develop a “trade union in the social factory” to serve as a vehicle by which people in the neighborhood can bargain, strike, and struggle to advance their agendas; (b) create a power-oriented community organization willing to use militant, confrontational tactics; and (c) promote a democratic organization where organizers do not themselves lead, but rather develop local leaders so as to create the veneer of self-determination and grassroots democracy.

GF likens its own mission to that of the biblical apostle Paul. “In Corinthians,” explains GF, “Paul states, ‘I am Paul, a disciple of Gamaliel.’ Saul Alinsky made all of his organizers read the letters of Paul because he regarded his namesake to be one of the greatest organizers of all time.”

The Gamaliel Foundation takes a strong stand against current homeland security measures and immigration restrictions. In September of 2003, for example, Ana Garcia-Ashley, GF’s Director of Civil Rights for Immigrants, described the Patriot Actas an “attack on immigrants.” Moreover, GF seeks to persuade the U.S. government to “legalize and provide rights to tax-paying [illegal] immigrants in this country.” ”We support any immigration legislation,” adds GF, “that secures the civil rights of all immigrants; leads to the legalization of undocumented persons; provides for full labor protection and labor rights of immigrants; ends the inhumane detention and warehousing of asylum seekers; ends deportation for minor offenses; encourages family unity; provides security of our borders; includes humane border enforcement policies; [and] protects the civil liberties of all people.”

The Gamaliel Foundation is a sponsoring organization of theImmigrant Workers Freedom Ride Coalition, which seeks to secure ever-expanding rights and civil liberties protections for illegal immigrants, and policy reforms that diminish or eliminate restrictions on immigration.

At its 2003 National Leadership Assembly in Milwaukee, GF assembled a large number of leftist religious leaders to launch a voter drive against the incumbent Bush administration. At the event, featured speaker Rev. Tommie Pierson of Metropolitan Congregations United stated that he looked forward to the sound “of furniture being moved out of the White House.” Also attending the event were Democratic Senator Russ Feingold and Democratic Presidential candidate and Progressive Caucusmember Dennis Kucinich.

Gregory Galluzzo, a former Jesuit priest, is the Executive Director of the Gamaliel Foundation. In 1980 Galluzzo co-founded, along with his wife Mary Gonzalez, a Chicago Latino activist organization called the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO). Today, Ms. Gonzalez is the Gamaliel Foundation’s Director of Western Territory. UNO, also modeled after Alinsky’s methods, is known for using aggressive organizing and confrontational tactics to push for change.

The President of the Board of the Gamaliel Foundation is Ann Smith, who in 1985 became the first black female to win a statewide election in Illinois when she was voted onto the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

The Gamaliel Foundation receives grants from theBauman Family Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, theW.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Ford Foundation, George Soros‘s Open Society Institute, and others.



..

President Obama and Mitt Romney 'zing' for their supper at annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner

Candidates trade barbs for laughs, raising cash for charities supported by Catholic Archdiocese of New York


BY CELESTE KATZ / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2012, 12:11 AM
UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2012, 4:39 AM

President Obama, Timothy Cardinal Dolan and Mitt Romney share a laugh  (at the hopefuls’ expense) during Al Smith Dinner held in Waldorf-Astoria Thursday.  James Keivom/Daily News

JAMES KEIVOM/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

President Obama, Timothy Cardinal Dolan and Mitt Romney share a laugh during Al Smith Dinner held in Waldorf-Astoria Thursday.

President Obama joked about that “nice, long nap” he took during his first debate with Mitt Romney.

Dressed in a black tuxedo and white tie, Romney remarked that it was nice to “finally relax and wear what Ann and I wear around the house.”

PHOTOS: AL SMITH DINNERS, PRESENT AND PAST
For a few fleeting hours Thursday night, acrimony gave way to laughter, as the presidential candidates joined for a worthy cause: the annual Al Smith charity dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria.

With Timothy Cardinal Dolan seated between them, Obama and Romney dined on poached lobster tail, rack of lamb with risotto and baby zucchini before taking turns at the podium to poke fun at each other and at themselves.

Romney made gentle references to his Mormon faith, saying that usually when he gets invited to such dinners, “It’s to be the designated driver” and that part of his debate prep was “to refrain from alcohol for 65 years.”

After joking about his own wealth, the former Massachusetts governor took aim at Obama.

Romney remarked that the President, who wants to raise taxes on the wealthy, probably was looking at the well-heeled crowd and thinking, “So little time, so much to redistribute.’”
ALSMITH19N_2_WEB

JAMES KEIVOM/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

President Obama and Mitt Romney, seen with Cardinal Dolan, played nice at the annual Al Smith gala.

Romney also invoked his first debate with the President, when he vowed to cut funding for PBS.

“Big Bird didn’t even see it coming,” he kidded. “And by the way, in the spirit of ‘Sesame Street,’ the President’s remarks are brought to you tonight by the letter ‘O’ and the number 16 trillion.”

With his appearance, Obama became the first sitting President to attend the dinner — a New York political tradition for 67 years — since Ronald Reagan in 1984.

“Please take your seats. Otherwise, Clint Eastwood will yell at them,” Obama began, a reference to the actor-director’s dialogue with an empty stool at the Republican National Convention.

Obama made light of his widely panned performance in the first debate.

“I had a lot more energy in our second debate. I felt really well rested after the nice, long nap I had in the first debate,” he said.

And he took aim at Mayor Bloomberg’s ban on large servings of soda. Win or lose, “This is my last campaign, so I’m trying to drink it all in. Unfortunately, Mayor Bloomberg will only let me have 16 ounces,” he added.

The President then poked fun at his opponent’s wealth.

“Earlier today, I went shopping at some stores in midtown. I understand Gov. Romney went shopping FOR some stores in midtown,” he said.

Obama said he and Romney have some things in common, like their unusual middle names. Romney’s is Mitt. “I wish I could use my middle name,” said the President, whose middle name is Hussein.

Obama and Romney found common ground on one other point — their ability to make fun of Vice President Biden.

“I was actually hoping the President would bring Joe Biden along this evening because he will laugh at anything,” Romney said.

The jokes got started long before the candidates got up to do their schtick: Emcee Al Smith 4th, the great-grandson of the former governor for whom the dinner is named, got the crowd going early with a goof on a Romney line from Tuesday night’s debate.

“I want to say a special welcome to all the accomplished women here tonight. It’s good to see you made it out of those binders,” he cracked.

The 1,600-guest dinner raised a record $5 million to benefit Catholic charities — $1 million more than the 2008 dinner, which featured Obama and Arizona Sen. John McCain.

ckatz@nydailynews.com

“Obama Embraced by Catholics; Romney Dines With Rich People.”



Via Waylon Lewis
on Oct 18, 2012







It’s the Al Smith Dinner, one of American politics’ most wonderful traditions.


Previous Al Smith Dinner with McCain and Obama.

In the spirit of coming together despite our differences, and regaining a sense of humor about ourselves and our life…the Al Smith Dinner happened tonight. A welcome respite from an often heated campaign, and partisan culture.


Update: after reading some commentary, have to sadly agree that Mr. Obama’s jokes seem funny, and often self-deprecating, delivered at his own expense…while Mr. Romney’s are critical, laughing “at,” skewering, and in the in the words of a conservative blog, “brutal.” Interesting. In any case, both gents are enjoyable:



Source
.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Mind Control - NLP



Uploaded by miking193 on Dec 2, 2011


Warning graphic

In Brave New World it was called sleep conditioning headed by the College of Emotional Engineering (Department of Writing) Where they'd come of with axioms to best subdue & control their populations. Example - (Ending is better then mending), (everyone belongs to everyone else).

By the way our country is a republic not a democracy. Big difference. Not that it matters Satan is prince of it all, & we know from the scriptures the world is going to get worse & worse regardless of what kind of political paradigm we are seduced into thinking will save us.

Muammar Gaddafi articles
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/news/intrnational/2011/10/23/1309.html

http://empirestrikesblack.com/2011/05/gaddafis-refusal-of-the-world-bank-imf-...

Coca-cola ditches white festive can
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2068952/Coca-Cola-ditch-festive-snow-...

NLP neuro linguistic programming
Everyone on the planet knows what cococola is, yet cocoacola they still spends billions on advertising, commercials, and billboards. why?
If you are not familiar with NLP here are some reasons to become familiar
Elite Politicians & Corporations spend billions on focus groups to find out what images & words resonate best with their targeted audience, IE you.
Could the false prophets the bible warns against do the same thing, knowingly or unknowingly?
Examples -- Killing babies by sucking out their brain is NLPed into Pro Choice, who doesn't like Pro it's positive who is against Choice combined it leaves a very positive impression & repeated routinely leaves a positive imprint in the target audiences mind.
Instead of physical restraint holds it's nlped into therapeutic benefit value holds

This next one will be less accepted & pushing the enevople -- Research it for yourself


Instead of Publically murdering a regime that won't do what the elite coroporations want, it's NLPed into spreading democracy
Humans are conditioned to trust those in authority or the haves,
It's why corroptations loby for the haves to be the face of their product or cause
Elvis Presley was an outsider growing up and he wasn't very popular in school.
Elivis' manager, the former carnie, Colonel Tom Parker knew a trick or two and changed all that. Colonel Tom Parker would go into a town they were going to play, looking for young girls at soda polars etc.. Tom would offer them money to come scream the upcoming show Elvis would be having in their town. After a while he no longer had to pay girls to do this, because girls copied what they heard other girls were doing in previous towns. from the radio, word of mouth etc..

In short
They spend the Billions because they must think it works.

The Crowley Connection



The curiously copious Crowley cluster

Moderator Candy Crowley of CNN addresses the presidential candidates during a town hall style debate at Hofstra University October 16, 2012 in Hempstead, New York.
Photo credit:
AFP/Getty Images

http://www.examiner.com/article/presidential-debate-moderator-candy-crowley-gets-both-praise-and-criticism
 
 

Aleister Crowley (/ˈkrli/ kroh-lee; 12 October 1875–1 December 1947), born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast 666, was an English occultistmysticceremonial magician, poet and mountaineer, who was responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. In his role as the founder of the Thelemite philosophy, he came to see himself as the prophet who was entrusted with informing humanity that it was entering the new Aeon of Horus in the early 20th century.
  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley


Pj Crowley Resigning


P.J. Crowley Resigns As State Department Spokesman


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/13/pj-crowley-resigning-as-s_n_835077.html



File:Crowley and Gates.jpg


Accounts regarding the ensuing confrontation differ, but Gates was arrested by the responding officer,Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley, and charged with disorderly conduct

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates_arrest_controversy


They're everywhere!
.
In case you didn't notice?



The same day that Lot went out of Sodom ---


Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;

But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.

Remember Lot's wife.

Luke 17:28-32.
.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Would-Be Terrorist Tried to Bomb New York Federal Reserve Bank: Feds




Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 21, a Bangladeshi national, allegedly parked a van filled with what he believed to be 1,000 pounds of explosives outside the building in Lower Manhattan near the New York Stock Exchange, and was arrested after he... (Obtained by ABC News) View Full Caption




By RICHARD ESPOSITO, JASON RYAN (@JasonRyanABC) , and PIERRE THOMAS (@PierreTABC)
Oct. 17, 2012




Authorities today arrested a "lone actor" who thought he was about to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City's crowded Financial District on behalf of al Qaeda but instead discovered he was the target of a law enforcement sting.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 21, a Bangladeshi national, allegedly parked a van filled with what he believed to be 1,000 pounds of explosives outside the building in Lower Manhattan near the New York Stock Exchange, and was arrested after he tried to detonate the "bomb" with a cellphone. Officials say there was never any danger to the public.

Nafis faces charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to al-Qaeda.

Nafis allegedly also threatened to kill a "high-ranking government official," according to the federal complaint. A U.S. official briefed on the case told ABC News the target was Obama.

According to the criminal complaint filed today in federal court in Brooklyn, Nafis came to the U.S. this January in hopes of conducting a terror attack on U.S. soil. He tried to recruit others to form a terror cell inside the U.S., and actively sought out al Qaeda contacts.

According to officials, this summer the would-be terror bomber met a man on the internet who he thought was a fellow aspiring terrorist but was actually an undercover FBI agent.

Nafis allegedly indicated a desire to blow up the Federal Reserve, and he and the undercover agent began planning the bombing. At Nafis's request, say officials, the undercover FBI agent supplied him with 20 50-pound bags of purported explosives known as ANFO, a common industrial explosive, that were used to construct the bomb. Nafis allegedly purchased components for the "bomb"'s detonator.

On Wednesday morning, Nafis met the undercover agent and traveled to a warehouse, where he allegedly said he had a "Plan B" that involved a suicide attack if the bombing was stopped by police. At the warehouse he assembled what he thought was a bomb, and then allegedly parked his van outside the bank on Liberty Street.

He then went to a nearby hotel, where he recorded a video statement that was to be released after the attack. On the video, Nafis allegedly stated, "We will not stop until we attain victory or martyrdom." He then called a cellphone attached to the "bomb," trying repeatedly to detonate the device. The device did not explode, and federal agents arrested him.

"Attempting to destroy a landmark building and kill or main untold numbers of innocent bystanders is about as serious as the imagination can conjure," said Mary Galligan, acting assistant FBI director. "It is important to emphasize that the public was never at risk in this case."

New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the latest terror plot meant that the city was at "15 plots and counting" since 9/11. "Whether al Qaeda operatives like Iyman Faris or those inspired by them like Jose Pimentel, terrorists have tried time and again to make New York City their killing field, [with] the Federal Reserve now added to a list of iconic targets that previously included the Brooklyn Bridge, the New York Stock Exchange, and Citicorp Center."

"Vigilance is our watchword now and into the foreseeable future," said Kelly.

Nafis is expected to make his initial court appearance this afternoon in Brooklyn.


Source

.

Maine earthquake felt across New England

Maine earthquake: The 4.0 temblor hit around 7:12 p.m. Tuesday and its epicenter was about 20 miles west of Portland, Maine. The Maine earthquake shook buildings and rattled dishes, but caused no injuries or serious damage.

By David Sharp and Lisa Rathke, Associated Press / October 17, 2012



A US Geological Survey map shows the location of the earthquake about 20 miles west of Portland, Maine.
USGS


PORTLAND, MAINE


Patrons of a pizza parlor near the epicenter of an earthquake in southern Maine may not have known what was happening. But the shaking building was enough to send all 20 of them skedaddling outside.

"It was loudest bang you ever heard in your life. We actually thought it was an explosion of some type," saidJessica Hill, owner of Waterboro House of Pizza. "The back door and door to the basement blew open," she said.

The earthquake that hit southern Maine Tuesday night and was felt in New England states as far away asConnecticut caused no apparent damage or injuries, but it rattled residents throughout the region.

RELATED: Japan's earthquake: Narrow escapes

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 4.0 magnitude quake hit around 7:12 p.m. and its epicenter, about 3 miles west of Hollis Center, Maine, was about 3 miles deep. That location is about 20 miles west of Portland. The quake was first estimated to be 4.6 magnitude but was later downgraded.

In Saco, Sue Hadiaris said, "The whole house shook. ...It was very unnerving because you could feel the floor shaking. There was a queasy feeling."

Afterward, Hadiaris called her 15-year-old niece in Falmouth to make sure she was safe. "She said, 'We can cross that off our bucket list. We've lived through an earthquake,'" Hadiaris said.

Earthquakes are rare in New England but they're not unheard of.

In 2006 there was a series of earthquakes around Maine's Acadia National Park. The strongest earthquake recorded in Maine occurred in 1904 in the Eastport area, near the state's eastern border with Canada according to the Weston Observatory at Boston College. It had an estimated magnitude of 5.7 to 5.9.

The Seabrook Station nuclear plant, about 63 miles away in New Hampshire, declared an unusual event — the lowest of four emergency classifications — but said it was not affected. The plant has been offline for refueling.

"There has been no impact at all to the plant from the earthquake and our refueling maintenance activities have not been affected," said Alan Griffith, spokesman for Next EnergyEra Seabrook Station.

Jim Van Dongen, public information officer for the New Hampshire Department of Safety said New Hampshire 911 got about 1,000 calls in the first hour after the quake, but they later dropped off. He said no major damage was reported.

Brief, but noticeable shaking was felt in downtown Boston and the surrounding area.

Edward Conti, who lives in a four-story apartment building in Cambridge, Mass., he was watching television when "it sounded like a car crash. Then there was another boom-boom. It was no small thing." Conti said there was no damage.

In Melrose, just north of Boston, Peter Ward said the shaking he felt seemed to last about four seconds. "It felt like a big gust of wind shaking the house. I don't want to overstate it, but the glass did rattle a little," he said.

Lynette Miller, a spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency, said her dogs started barking several seconds before the quake on Tuesday. "It was several seconds of good shaking but nothing falling down," Miller said from her home in Readfield, about 60 miles north of Portland.

In Portland, Abbie Miller had just turned on the aging furnace in her house for the first time this season. "An hour later, things started shaking and it sounded almost like a train coming through. I thought my furnace was going to blow," she said.

East Coast quakes are rarely strong enough to be felt over a wide area. A quake of magnitude 5.8 on Aug. 23, 2011, was centered in Virginia and felt all along the coast, including in New York Cityand Boston. Experts say the region's geology can make the effects felt in an area up to 10 times larger than quakes of similar size on the West Coast.

RELATED: Japan's earthquake: Narrow escapes

___

Rathke reported from Montpelier, Vt. Associated Press reporter Sylvia Lee Wingfield contributed from Boston.


.

Beginning of troubles




And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against ki
ngdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

All these are the beginning of sorrows.


Matthew 24:3-8
.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Disgraced Liberal Journalist Teaches Media Bias at Georgetown

Posted By Cliff Kincaid On October 15, 2012 @ 11:32 pm In AIM Column 

Disgraced journalist David Chalian has been hired as the new Vice President for Video Programming at Politico, despite being fired by Yahoo! News for making a vicious “joke” accusing the Romneys of hating black people. A quick look at the syllabus for the course he is teaching at Georgetown University may explain why. His course requires the “daily reading” of Mike Allen’s “Politico Playbook” column in particular and instructs students to read Politico itself on a regular basis.

Chalian had been heard on an ABC News video [1] claiming that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife Ann were unconcerned about black people getting hit by Hurricane Isaac during the GOP convention. “They aren’t concerned at all,” he said. “They are happy to have a party with black people drowning.” Laughing could be heard as the “joke” was made.

Georgetown is the nation’s oldest Catholic university, while Politico is a publication with a definite left-wing bent. The Daily Caller notes [2] that Politico’s writers “have had a penchant for viewing those on the political right through a harsh prism.”

A course syllabus for “Political Reporting: Road to the White House” is not publicly available on the website for the class [3] but we found a copy [4] on the Internet. The course can be counted toward a “Master of Professional Studies in Journalism” and is taught by Chalian in conjunction with Brooke Brower [5], the senior producer for MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd.” Brower was previously a producer for “Hardball with Chris Matthews.”

MSNBC is also considered a left-wing news operation.

An item on the “Required Viewing” part of the course is the HBO propaganda film, “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama (2009) [6].” One of the filmmakers said [7] about the project, “I think my hope for it, too, is that people will see it and be re-inspired to be part of the democratic process again. I think that it was an amazing time for this country.”

Georgetown University still lists [8] Chalian on its faculty as “Yahoo! News Washington bureau chief,” even though he was fired back on August 29—more than a month ago. The news organization said at the time that “David Chalian’s statement was inappropriate and does not represent the views of Yahoo! He has been terminated effective immediately.”

Georgetown’s failure to identity Chalian as having been fired from Yahoo!, and the unprofessional conduct that got him fired, seems to fall far short of the high standards of honesty and integrity required of students. The students at the prestigious institution “are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic and personal integrity” and sign a Georgetown University Honor Pledge that affirms “academic honesty.”

It says, “In the pursuit of the high ideals and rigorous standards of academic life, I commit myself to respect and uphold the Georgetown University Honor System: To be honest in any academic endeavor, and to conduct myself honorably, as a responsible member of the Georgetown community, as we live and work together.”

Politico Editor-in-Chief John Harris announced [9] his hiring, saying that while Chalian had “screwed up” by making the racial attack on the Romneys, it “did not reflect his personal views or professional standards.” He did not explain how he knew this was the case. Harris added that Chalian was “superbly well-qualified to help us achieve a strategic goal that is very important for Politico.”

A writer at Red State called [10] Chalian a “bigot” and added, “I’m sure he is a great fit for a reflexively biased publication like Politico. And to the extent that their ‘strategic goal’ is patently dishonest reporting on Republicans and conservatives I’m sure Chalian will be an ideal fit.”

At the time that the story broke about Chalian’s comments, Rush Limbaugh noted his affiliation with Georgetown, saying [11], “Well, I said he sounded like a kid. I assumed that because he’s at Yahoo, that he’s a kid. He’s not. This guy is an adult. He’s been around for years. In addition to that, he teaches a master’s degree class at Georgetown. He teaches a master’s degree class, Master of Professional Studies in Journalism, at Georgetown. So he’s an objective journalist. Exactly right. He’s a teacher. I erred when I said this kid is just repeating what he’s been taught. This is what he’s teaching! It’s even worse than I thought. This is what he’s teaching.”

Now we know that Chalian “teaches” the left-bias at Politico as something to be read, understood, and appreciated by his students. This may help explain why he is now working there.

But it doesn’t explain why his faculty bio [8] at Georgetown hasn’t been updated to reflect his firing from Yahoo!



Article printed from Accuracy In Media: http://www.aim.org


URL to article: http://www.aim.org/aim-column/disgraced-liberal-journalist-teaches-media-bias-at-georgetown/


URLs in this post:


[1] an ABC News video: http://www.mrctv.org/videos/yahoos-david-chalian-romneys-happy-have-party-black-people-drowning


[2] notes: http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/12/politico-hires-yahoo-bureau-chief-who-was-fired-for-racial-statements/


[3] website for the class: http://courses.georgetown.edu/index.cfm?Action=View&CourseID=MPJO-859


[4] a copy: http://kbpublisher.gu-scs.com/kb_file/MPJO-859-01_Political%20Reporting_12c.pdf


[5] Brooke Brower: http://scs.georgetown.edu/departments/11/master-of-professional-studies-in-journalism/faculty-bio.cfm?a=a&fId=147980


[6] By the People: The Election of Barack Obama (2009): http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/by-the-people-the-election-of-barack-obama/index.html


[7] said: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/3/by_the_people_the_election_of


[8] lists: http://scs.georgetown.edu/departments/11/master-of-professional-studies-in-journalism/faculty-bio.cfm?a=a&fId=161575


[9] announced: http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/10/david-chalian-back-in-business-138292.html


[10] called: http://www.redstate.com/2012/10/14/politico-hires-avowed-bigot-david-chalian/


[11] saying: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2012/08/29/until_karma_gets_them_the_lib_media_will_always_portray_republicans_as_rich_racists

.

Pinellas superintendent wants kids to spend more time in school


By Curtis Krueger, Times Staff Writer 

In Print: Tuesday, October 16, 2012
ST. PETERSBURG — Two weeks into his new job, Pinellas schools superintendent Mike Grego says it's clear to him that many children need more time in the classroom. On Monday he said he wants every school in the county to start offering students extra class hours to boost their academic performance.

He has told principals throughout the county to come up with their own plans for extending the school day, or possibly adding Saturday hours. The voluntary extra time would be spent on reading, math, science and writing — and not only for struggling students, but also for good performers who would do even better with additional challenges.

"More time with high quality instruction provides great returns," Grego said, explaining why he believes the program would help Pinellas students.

One of Grego's major charges when he was hired was to improve lackluster student achievement in a district once considered a model for the state. Earlier this year, Pinellas came in 49th out of Florida's 67 districts in a ranking based on FCAT scores.

Grego discussed his plans during a visit to the Tampa Bay Times editorial board on Monday and answered additional questions from a reporter afterward. He said he also plans to discuss his ideas more at a School Board work session today.

Grego said he has long believed students benefit academically when they have more quality classroom time. He came up with this plan after two weeks of touring Pinellas schools and asking principals how they would extend learning opportunities beyond the traditional school day.

He said some principals already had devised such plans, even before his arrival on the job.

Despite lean financial times, Grego said he believes the district could pay for this expansion by tapping sources such as federal Title I funds for disadvantaged students, a program called Supplemental Academic Intervention, and possibly other sources.

He stressed that one plan won't work everywhere in the county.

In fact, he said it's important for each school to develop a "customized plan that fits the needs of these kids," tailored to the school's students, their parents and community, he said.

One example already in place is "Ridgecrest 360," an after-school program that Ridgecrest Elementary has been developing, along with several nearby community organizations, tailored to some unique aspects of that school.

About half of Ridgecrest's roughly 780 students attend a magnet program, and about half are neighborhood kids enrolled in a traditional curriculum. The neighborhood children are mostly from low-income families, while many magnet students are from more affluent families. So the school does not qualify for the Title I funds for lower-income schools.

Principal Michael Moss said Anona Methodist Church, the Pinellas Education Foundation and other community organizations have pitched in to provide money and other resources so that about 70 students can receive an extra hour of instruction after normal school hours.

He calls it "a true model of the community coming together to support their neighborhood school."

Marshall Ogletree, executive director of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, said he sees several positive aspects to Grego's plan.

Among teachers, "the most critical concern that we hear in the schools on a daily basis is 'I don't have enough time to teach,' '' he said.

So it will help to give students more "time on task.'' He also praised the fact that the program would be voluntary for teachers, who would be paid for their additional hours.

Still, many details remain to be worked out. Ogletree said teachers, not just principals, should be involved in developing these programs.

School Board Chairwoman Robin Wikle called the extra instruction "an exciting concept" but said she wanted to hear more about it from Grego today.

School Board member Terry Krassner said she thinks the idea could be popular among parents. She would have welcomed it when she was principal at St. Petersburg's Westgate Elementary School, she said.

"Parents would probably be excited and I hope our students would be, as long as it was customized for each level of learning," she said.

Curtis Krueger can be reached at ckrueger@tampabay.com.
[Last modified: Oct 16, 2012 08:59 AM]

Source
.

A FEW Hours before the DEBATE -


Clinton takes Obama off Libya hook

USA TODAY - ‎39 minutes ago
David Jackson. David Jackson has been a reporter for more than three decades, and now covers the White House for USA TODAY. He enjoys politics, books, movies, and college football -- not necessarily in that order.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton takes "responsibility" for Benghazi attack


CBS NEWS/ October 15, 2012, 8:41 PM


Updated Oct. 16 at 7:44 a.m. ET



Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought to take responsibility for the attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11 in a series of interviews on Monday.

"I take responsibility" for what happened on September 11, Clinton told CNNMonday after arriving in Lima, Peru, for a visit. The series of interviews with U.S. television networks were Clinton's most direct comments on the deadly attack, which killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

Clinton insisted President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are not involved in security decisions.

"I want to avoid some kind of political gotcha," she told CNN.

Speaking with CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan, Clinton expressed personal regret for Stevens' death.

Benghazi becoming political cudgel for GOP
Amb. Stevens' father wants politics out of his son's death
Rep. Cummings: Benghazi probe turning into witch-hunt



Play VIDEO
Clinton: "I care deeply" about what happened in Benghazi


"Nobody wants to get answers more than I do," Clinton said. "These were people who I care deeply about. I knew Chris Stevens. I asked him personally to be in Benghazi during the revolution. I personally nominated him to be ambassador because I couldn't think of a better person to represent the United States: Somebody who understood what was at stake for Libya what was at stake for U.S. I saw how these revolutions could be so positive or hijacked. He understood that. He was instrumental in working with Libyans. I care deeply about what happened that night."

Since the Sept. 11 attack, the State Department has come under intense scrutiny from Republicans over how it handled security at the consulate in Benghazi in the months before the attacks. In a hearing held by the Republican-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last week, Eric Nordstrom, the former regional chief security officer for the State Department, told the committeehis pleas for more security were ignored.



Play VIDEO
GOP continues attacks on handling of Benghazi crisis


"I don't want us to reach any conclusions about what we did or didn't do without the full context," Clinton told Brennan. "I mean I understand why people want to ask questions but I just caution that we need to look at everything and everything needs to be explained at the same time."


Watch: Graham on Libya: WH misleading or incompetent
Watch: Vice presidential debate: Libya
U.S. taps new top diplomat for Libya

"We have 275 posts around the world. We have more than 60,000 people. We live in a dangerous, risky ... environment today in many places around the world and we are constantly calculating, particularly led by our security professionals, about what needs to be done, where assets need to be."

Republicans have accused some in the Obama administration of misleading Americans on the nature of the attack, initially blaming the violence on an anti-Muslim movie that went viral online and inflamed protests in the Middle East. That explanation has since been discarded, and the administration acknowledges it was a well-organized terrorist attack.

United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice's comments on "Face the Nation," five days after the attack, that there was no indication from U.S. intelligence that the attack was planned in advance have been particularly panned by critics.

But Clinton said Rice had the "same information that everyone got and I think she very clearly said here's what we know now but this is going to change."

" I have to say I know there's been a lot of attention paid to who said what when but I think what happened is more important. We were attacked and four brave Americans were killed. ... Everybody in the administration has tried to say what we knew at the time with the caveat that we would learn more and that's what's happened. ... I think it's part of what the fog of war causes."

In a statement, U.S. Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) said Clinton's acceptance of responsibility was "a laudable gesture" but said President Obama is "bears full responsibility" for both the security failures leading up to the attack and for how it was initially portrayed by administration officials.

Source

 Related: .