Welcome back to New World Next Week - the video series from Corbett Report & Media Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in alternative news & open source intelligence. This week:
Subscribe to NewWorldNextWeek.com to get hi-quality episodes to download, burn & share. And as always, stay up-to-date by subscribing to the feeds from Corbett Report here & Media Monarchy here. Thank you.
Welcome back to New World Next Week - the video series from Corbett Report & Media Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in alternative news & open source intelligence. This week:
Subscribe to NewWorldNextWeek.com to get hi-quality episodes to download, burn & share. And as always, stay up-to-date by subscribing to the feeds from Corbett Report here & Media Monarchy here. Thank you.
'state of emergency' declared for inauguration from nytimes: It is true, President Bush sounded alarms about Barack Obama during the campaign season. On Tuesday, Mr. Bush went one step further: He declared Mr. Obama’s inauguration an actual emergency. The declaration, though, was not a political statement about Republicans being run out of town. Rather, it was a bureaucratic move intended to provide additional federal money to help Washington cope with the huge crowds that are expected to turn out for the ceremony next Tuesday that will make Mr. Obama the nation’s first black president. The government has set aside $15 million to help pay for security and medical personnel. But Mayor Adrian M. Fenty asked for more money, citing possible crowds of 1.5 million to 2 million and “the associated stresses that it would place on the city’s capabilities, particularly the medical community,” said Scott Stanzel, a spokesman for Mr. Bush. Mr. Bush granted the request as “a precaution,” Mr. Stanzel said; if Washington needs the money, it can apply for reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The declaration will also allow federal public health workers to join in the public safety effort. The president’s power to declare a state of emergency is typically used after natural disasters, although Mr. Stanzel said presidents had occasionally declared emergencies before an anticipated event. But never before, he said, has an advance declaration been used for a “non-disaster.”
nasa to show off new lunar module at inauguration from rogue government: NASA is sending a prototype of its new lunar rover to appear in the Presidential Inauguration Parade in Washington, D.C. The six-wheeled Small Pressurized Rover, or SPR, will provide the big, geeky finish to the line of floats and marching bands scheduled to head down Pennsylvania Avenue on Jan. 20. The hope is that the new Obama Administration will support NASA's current plan to return to the moon, on or around 2020. The battery powered, lunar SUV will be piloted by astronaut and SPR project manager Mike Gernhardt. When it reaches President Barack Obama's box at the end of the parade route, spacesuited astronaut Rex Walheim will detach from the vehicle, carrying the American flag. He will take several step towards toward the reviewing stand, stop, and salute the new President, ending the parade.
'arrest bush 2009' plans inauguration day protest from raw story: A group calling itself "Arrest Bush 2009" has announced its intention to hold a "Yes We Can Arrest Bush" event in front of the FBI Building in Washington, DC during the Inaugural Parade. However, coordinator Jose Rodriguez insists, "It's not a protest; it's a celebratory event." Arrest Bush 2009, which is sponsored by the Washington Peace Center, After Downing Street, and Shoes For Bush, is demanding that Bush be arrested for war crimes and for lying to the American people.
feds cite racist chatter for 'higher state of alert' in inauguration from nydailynews: Federal agents are on “a higher state of alert” because of hate talk by white supremacists about Barack Obama’s inauguration, officials told the Daily News on Tuesday. “That chatter is out there, no doubt about it,” one senior FBI agent in Washington said this afternoon, adding that no credible plots against the 56th Presidential Inauguration have been detected. The Bureau has ordered agents in all 56 field offices to “shake the trees” in advance of the Jan. 20 swearing-in of the 44th President, who will become the first African-American to occupy the Oval Office. “They’re talking to sources to determine if there is any threat information in regard to the Inauguration,” the FBI source said. “Everybody in law enforcement dealing with that particular (white supremacist) ‘clientele’ is on a higher state of alert,” a senior agent at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told The News. The ATF has expertise infiltrating white supremacist groups. A classified threat assessment for the Inauguration by the FBI and Homeland Security Department citing agitated hate groups was sent to police agencies this week. Counterterrorism officials have also picked up chatter from Islamic militants, but the agitated domestic hate groups are “the big concern,” said another FBI official. But Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told reporters at a briefing with local officials: “We have no credible intelligence to suggest a credible threat (to Obama’s Inauguration).” During Obama’s campaign, white racists in Colorado and Tennessee were charged in separate plots against the candidate. Local officials from D.C., Maryland and Virginia cited security concerns Tuesday for new restrictions on those attending the ceremonies - a throng estimated between 1.5 and 3 million. The historic ceremonies will be the largest National Special Security Event ever. At least 20,000 cops, federal agents and National Guard troops will be deployed.
obama's high-tech inauguration day from techradar: Washington DC will be the focus of the world's media next Tuesday for Barack Obama's Inauguration as the 44th President of the USA - and that means it will also be home to some cutting edge technology. The Department of the Interior is responsible for all streets but one entering the downtown Mall area where the parade and ceremony will occur. It plans to oversee the event using a wall-sized display of flat-screen LCD monitors called the OptiPortal, made by the Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) at the University of Chicago. The OptiPortal takes ultra-high-resolution images backed by supercomputer power to provide expansive, razor-sharp, eagle's eye aerial pictures of the inauguration site.
geithner faces tough questions on taxes & housekeeper from dpa: President-elect Barack Obama's pick for treasury secretary could face tough questions in his confirmation hearing after problems arose Tuesday with his taxes and the immigration status of his former housekeeper.
obama's intel adviser involved in security breach from newsmax: Obama’s top terrorism and intelligence adviser, John O. Brennan, heads a firm that was cited in March for breaching sensitive files in the State Department’s passport office, according to a State Department Inspector General’s report released this past July.
obama picks cfr president to be foreign policy advisor/envoy from lefemineforlife: U.S. President-elect Obama has chosen president of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Richard Haass, along with senior CFR-member Richard Holbrooke, and CFR-member Dennis Ross as special Foreign Envoys/ Foreign Policy Advisors, reporting directly to Obama (as reported by CBS News). Richard Holbrooke has also been a CFR director three times, as he is presently. Richard Haas is also a CFR director. Even the CBS Evening News (reported by CFR-member anchor-propagandist Katie Couric) identified Haass as the president of the Council on Foreign Relations. Not surprisingly, CBS did not bother to mention that both Richard Holbrooke and Dennis Ross are also members of the Council on Foreign Relations.
senate approves $350bn in bail-out funds requested by obama from guardian: A divided US Senate has approved president-elect Barack Obama's request for $350bn in unspent financial bail-out funds. The 52-42 vote releases the money in the midst of rising foreclosures and a worsening climate for US banks. It marked Obama's first legislative victory, days before he assumes office. The vote today came amid strong opposition from critics of how the first $350bn has been spent. Obama has said he wants to use the money to unclog the credit markets and extend loans to consumers, small businesses and municipalities. Obama's transition team said he also would use $50bn to $100bn of the money to reduce the number of house foreclosures.
'vigilant guard' managers put the kaboom in terrorism exercises from national guard bureau: KaBOOM! Exercise managers for the Vigilant Guard homeland security exercise here added realism Sept. 16 by blowing up balloons filled with explosive gas. KaPOW! They tested the balloons today. Tomorrow the noisemakers will prompt police swat teams to move in on a suspected fake terrorist hideout at a hotel. Along with phony blown up cars, it’s all been fabricated by the National Guard’s civilian exercise managers. Vigilant Guard began here Sept. 12 with a regional tabletop exercise at the Guam Guard’s Joint Forces Headquarters. It continues through this week, culminating with a simulated terrorist attack on the island’s Tumon Beach, which is a popular tourist and vacation spot.
atf missing 418 laptops & 76 guns from ap: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) lost 76 weapons and hundreds of laptops over five years, the Justice Department reported Wednesday(3.4mb PDF), blaming carelessness and sloppy record-keeping. Thirty-five of the missing handguns, rifles, Tasers and other weapons were stolen, as were 50 laptops, the internal audit found. Two of the stolen weapons were used in crimes. The audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found "inadequate" oversight of weapons and laptops resulted in "significant rates of losses" at the ATF.
oklahoma firefighters team up with wmd unit for drill from kten: Wednesday in Ardmore, The National Guard's 63rd Weapons Of Mass Destruction Team out of Norman, paired up with local emergency responders to conduct a mock drill. The drill involved a chemical release in The Ardmore Convention Center with a large group of people inside. KTEN's Hailee Holliday reports.
drive-through clinic offers booster shots targeting hepatitis a from buffalo news: There were no burgers or fries at this drive-through. This weekend, hepatitis A booster shots are being given out drive-through style at the Amherst Highway Garage. On Saturday, hundreds of people rolled down their windows and pulled up their sleeves to receive the booster shot in their arms — without leaving their cars. “We’ve had minivans with entire families pull up and single cars, too,” said Daniel Neaverth, Erie County deputy commissioner of emergency medical services. By 3 p. m., more than 300 people had participated... The idea was to administer the shots in the most efficient way possible. But it also served as an exercise in giving out mass doses of a vaccine in the event of a pandemic outbreak or a biological attack. Neaverth said Erie County is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “City Readiness Initiative.” Participants are encouraged to develop new ways to administer medicines to the masses.
military aircraft to conduct training exercises over washdc from wtop: If you see and hear military aircraft overhead Wednesday and Thursday, it's just an exercise. The North American Aerospace Defense Command starts conducting a two-day exercise in the D.C. area Wednesday. The exercise, a series of training flights, is designed to hone NORAD's intercept and identification operations. Civil Air Patrol and Coast Guard helicopters will participate in the exercise. The training flights were occur during late night and early morning hours. In the event of inclement weather, NORAD will run the exercise on the next clear day until the exercise has been completed.
nation inadequately prepared for severe pandemic from govtech: States are making significant progress toward safeguarding their citizens against an influenza pandemic, but the nation as a whole remains inadequately prepared for a severe pandemic outbreak according to a new report by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center). The report, Pandemic Preparedness in the States: An Assessment of Progress and Opportunity(412kb PDF), presents an overall appraisal of the current level of pandemic preparedness in the states and offers recommendations for improvement in five areas. "Even though this issue largely has fallen off the public's radar, states recognize that successfully managing a pandemic outbreak requires a sustained effort to combat the threat in all sectors of the economy and in society as a whole," said Chris Logan, program director of the NGA Center's Homeland Security and Technology Division. "The conclusions of this report serve a vital national service: they demonstrate both the extent of our readiness as well as the gaps in our current preparedness."
neocon think tank says US still lacks good continuity plan from aei: Seven years is a long time, but the enormity and depravity of the acts are fresh. Nonetheless, one would think that seven years is enough time for even a slow-moving political system to create basic insurance to prevent the kind of chaos and injury to the American constitutional system that would come with another, more successful, attack on official Washington. Never mind. In one of the more shameworthy lapses in our dysfunctional government, especially in Congress, nothing constructive has been done to protect our elections, our legislative branch, our presidential succession process or our Supreme Court from the consequences of the kind of terrorist attack that every expert we have believes is quite likely to occur in the future... The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 has no relevance to the challenges and potential disasters of 2008 and beyond... We are approaching an inauguration that will be historic in many ways--and also the single most vulnerable day for our constitutional system. The plans to ensure that the worst-case scenario there will not turn into an even worse scenario for the country and its future? Zero. Happy seventh anniversary.
new york offers 'enhanced' rfid driver’s licenses from times union: Starting Tuesday, New Yorkers will be able to buy new driver's licenses containing a radio chip that will let them travel between the U.S. and Canada or Mexico without a passport. The new Enhanced Drivers License, which will cost an additional $30 on top of the standard $50 license fee, also will allow those on boats or ships to travel to Bermuda and Caribbean nations without a passport. Starting in June, federal law will dictate that passports or other proof of citizenship - or an enhanced license - will be needed to visit neighboring countries, including Canada and Mexico. "This is an opportunity for individuals, at their option, to get through the borders more quickly," said Ken Brown, a spokesman for the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
mukasey's justice dept codifies cointelpro into fbi 'ground rules' from 9/11 blogger: Every once in a while, the Washington Post actually prints something of note. Yesterday, they published this article, Rule Changes Would Give FBI Agents Extensive New Powers. Previously, the FBI was required to have a case before they started screwing around with you. Under Mukasey's "New Rules", we now have a situation ripe for abuse. The Justice Department is currently working out the wording for placing "undisclosed participants" in organizations... Just in time for the November elections.
lieberman wins: youtube bans videos that incite violence from washington post: The video-sharing service YouTube is banning submissions that involve "inciting others to violence," following criticism from Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) that the site was too open to terrorist groups disseminating militant propaganda. The company earlier this year removed some of the videos that Lieberman targeted, many of which were marked with the logos of al-Qaeda and affiliated groups. But the company refused to take down most of the videos on the senator's list, saying they did not violate the Web site's guidelines against graphic violence or hate speech. Now that videos inciting others to violence are banned, more videos by the terrorist groups in question may be removed. "YouTube reviews its content guidelines a few times a year, and we take the community's input seriously," YouTube spokesman Ricardo Reyes said. "The senator made some good points."
military industrial complex 2.0 from information clearinghouse: Seven years into George W. Bush's Global War on Terror, the Pentagon is embroiled in two big wars, a potentially explosive war of words with Tehran, and numerous smaller conflicts – and it is leaning ever more heavily on private military contractors to get by. Once upon a time, soldiers did more than pick up a gun. They picked up trash. They cut hair and delivered mail. They fixed airplanes and inflated truck tires. Not anymore. All of those tasks are now the responsibility of private military corporations. In the service of the Pentagon, their employees also man computers, write software code, create integrating systems, train technicians, manufacture and service high-tech weapons, market munitions, and interpret satellite images. People in ties or heels, not berets or fatigues, today translate documents, collect intelligence, interpret for soldiers and interrogators, approve contracts, draft reports to Congress, and provide oversight for other private contractors. They also fill prescriptions, fit prosthetics, and arrange for physical therapy and psychiatric care. Top to bottom, the Pentagon's war machine is no longer just driven by, but staffed by, corporations.
photo ticket cameras to track drivers nationwide from the newspaper: Private companies in the US are hoping to use red light cameras and speed cameras as the basis for a nationwide surveillance network similar to one that will be active next year in the UK. Redflex and American Traffic Solutions (ATS), the top two photo enforcement providers in the US, are quietly shopping new motorist tracking options to prospective state and local government clients. Redflex explained the company's latest developments in an August 7 meeting with Homestead, Florida officials.
smile for the cameras from willamette week: Portland Public Schools is giving the bus company that schleps around students $18,000 to buy 20 digital cameras to monitor rider behavior on district buses. The school board OK’d the expenditure at its Sept. 15 meeting on top of the district’s $58 million contract with Laidlaw Transit, now doing business as First Student. Andy Leibenguth, of the district’s transportation office, says no incident precipitated the camera purchase. The district isn’t targeting a specific route; it plans to rotate the cameras, which will supplement the 15 cameras First Student already uses.
from usa today: Federal agents raided a Blackwater armory Tuesday and seized 34 automatic rifles that the company purchased and stored on behalf of a local law enforcement agency, the Associated Press reports. Anne Tyrrell, a Blackwater spokeswoman, tells AP that ATF agents searched the Moyock, N.C., facility. The raid came after reports on a deal in which the company paid for weapons that were registered in the name of the Camden County, N.C., Sheriff's Office.
"The 2005 agreements gives the sheriff's office unlimited access to the weapons, including 17 Romanian AK-47s and 17 Bushmasters," the wire service says. "But [Sheriff Tony] Perry said his department has only used the AK-47s in shooting practice at Blackwater and that none of his 19 deputies are qualified to use them." Federal law prohibits private companies or individuals from purchasing automatic weapons.
fair use notice: this site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. we are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, & social justice issues, etc. we believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US copyright law. In accordance with title 17 usc section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
Welcome back to New World Next Week - the video series from Corbett Report & Media Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in alternative news & open source intelligence. This week: 
Subscribe to NewWorldNextWeek.com to get hi-quality episodes to download, burn & share. And as always, stay up-to-date by subscribing to the feeds from Corbett Report here & Media Monarchy here. Thank you.
