nuke plant close to being totally flooded, but saved - for now from raw replay: Two U.S. nuclear electricity facilities, the Fort Calhoun and Cooper nuclear plants in Nebraska, are facing the threat of rising flood waters from the Missouri river. Though safety regulators insist the plants were designed to withstand flooding and no risk of disaster exists, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been enforcing a no-fly zone over the Fort Calhoun plant since early this month, even though the plant has been shut down since early April for refueling. That may be due in part to a reportedly minor fire at the plant which temporarily knocked out pumps that inject cool water into a pool of used nuclear fuel — or it may be due to something else entirely. The FAA reportedly told “Big Picture” host Thom Hartmann that it was maintaining the aircraft ban for security reasons, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has insisted there was no danger to people in surrounding areas. But that still begs the question: Why would anyone build a nuclear plant so close to a river - or any other potentially dangerous region?
Details of Wisner's conversation with Mubarak were not disclosed, but an administration official said the envoy sought to impress upon the leader the need both to declare he would not seek reelection and to step aside immediately in favor of a transitional government.
Former U.S. government officials who have worked with Wisner, 72, said the retired diplomat developed a close relationship with Mubarak during his assignment in Egypt as ambassador from 1986 to 1991.
After his retirement from the State Department, Wisner worked for Patton Boggs, a Washington lobbying firm that has represented Egypt in the past. He also served on the board of Egypt's largest bank, Commercial International Bank Egypt SAE.
It was not the first time that a U.S. administration had called on Wisner to intervene in a foreign crisis. In 2005, the George W. Bush administration appointed the New York native as a special U.S. representative to international talks on Kosovo's future. The negotiations ended with Kosovo's declaration of independence.
from myfoxdc: It was a vicious crime, a couple attacked and beaten in Northern Virginia, one year ago Monday [mar22]. The husband, a former green beret, died. A year later, the suspects in the crime have yet to go on trial and two haven't even been charged. William and Cynthia Bennett had gone out for their morning jog in their Lansdowne neighborhood. They were at Riverside Parkway near Rocky Creek Drive when they were attacked. Back at the one time crime scene today, a makeshift memorial is fading, except for a bouquet of fresh flowers. It's a fresh reminder one year later of the brutal attack that killed William Bennett and nearly killed his wife. At the time, Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney James Plowman said, "This was a particularly violent case. I've never seen anything like this before, and I hope I never do again."
slaying victim's ashes laid rest from loudoun times: William Bennett's family received a bit of closure Oct. 19, when he was laid to rest in Arlington Cemetery in a 9 a.m. full military ceremony. The Ashburn resident, 57, was slain earlier this year. The private inurnment was followed by a two-hour memorial service at Fort Myer, which nearly 100 guests attended. Bennett and his wife, Cynthia, Potomac Station residents, were attacked March 22 in Lansdowne during an early morning jog. Bennett was slain and his wife severely beaten. She attended Monday and continues to recover. Bennett was a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and decorated Special Forces officer. “It was very moving," said a Potomac Station neighbor of the Bennetts who attended the memorial service but did not want his name printed. Kraig Troxell, spokesman for the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, said investigators from the case also attended. Sheriff Steve Simpson also was present. Suspects in the attack have been arrested and are being held awaiting trial.
alleged gang members arrested in lansdowne murder [apr27] from nbcwashington: Two men have been arrested and two more are being held in the murder and brutal attack of William Bennett of Lansdowne. The suspects are allegedly members of - or associated with - an established criminal street gang, but the crimes against the Bennetts don't appear to be a part of a gang initiation or specific gang-ritual, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said. "They [the Bennetts] were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time," Loudoun Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson said. Two of the men - Darwin G. Bowman, 18, of Annandale, VA, and an unidentified 17-year-old male from Sterling, VA - have been charged with capital murder, a charge made in crimes that usually show motive. A third man, Anthony R. Roberts, 20, of Middleburg, VA, is currently being held on burglary charges; he is also expected to receive the same murder charge. A fourth suspect, an unidentified 18-year-old man from Sterling, VA, is also being held in custody on unrelated charges. The motive behind the March 22 attacks was robbery, according to officials. A white panel van seen in the area of the attacks was key to breaking the case; it had also been spotted during a gang-on-gang assault in Sterling on February 28. All suspects are currently being held without bond. Further charges for the attack of Cynthia Bennett, who remains hospitalized, are pending, as are more arrests.
sheriff expects at least 5th suspect in lansdowne homicide [apr28]
from nbcwashington: The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office expects at least one more arrest in the death of William Bennett and brutal beating of his wife in Lansdowne despite four arrests... Investigators have executed 20 search warrants and conducted at least 100 interviews, but more police work is ahead of them. "We feel fairly confident that there's probably a fifth person, maybe a sixth, but we're not as confident on that," Sheriff Steve Simpson said... The motive behind the March 22 attacks was robbery, according to officials. "Well it is hard for us to grasp something like that, but we don't think like they do," Simpson said. "Violence is their way of life. It's a sign of authority, it's a sign of power, it's a sign of control. So violence is second nature. So to them it's nothing, probably. To most normal decent people, it shocks them beyond belief."
on the record: jim plowman addresses murder in lansdowne from loudoun independent: In an exclusive video interview with Jim Plowman, the Loudoun Independent asks the Commonwealth’s Attorney about the tragic murder of William Bennett and the brutal beating of his wife, Cynthia last Sunday morning [mar22] in the Lansdowne area. A rattled community is left with more questions than answers.
slain man had been contractor for cia [mar25] from washington post/loudoun extra: A Loudoun County man slain while out for an early morning walk with his wife worked as a contractor at the Central Intelligence Agency for several years until 2000, the CIA confirmed yesterday, and investigators said they want to meet with agency officials to learn more about the nature of his work. The sheriff said his officers have not determined a motive for Sunday's attack, in which William Bennett, 57, was killed and his wife, Cynthia, 55, was critically injured. The assault might have been random, but deputies have not ruled out the possibility that they were targeted. "We're just trying to find out if there's anything in his background that could have led to this," Loudoun Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson said. "We do that with anybody; it's not just because he's with the government. You talk with family. You talk with friends. You talk with co-workers. You look for enemies."
fbi helps loudoun county sheriff with ex-cia slaying [mar30] from nbc washington: The FBI has joined the investigation into the death of a Loudoun County man who used to be a contractor for the CIA. Agents are checking to see if William Bennett has any enemies from his CIA days, sources said. Deputies found Bennett's body in a grassy area next to Riverside Parkway early on March 22. His wife, Cynthia Bennett, was found injured nearby. She was airlifted to an area hospital, where she remains in critical condition. The couple may have been attacked by three people seen driving suspiciously in the area in a white-panel van, investigators said. The Bennetts were wearing jogging outfits. Investigators still do not know the motive for the attack or whether it was gang-related or random. They also don't know if the attack took place were the couple was found or if the bodies were moved to that location. What they do know is that William Bennett was a CIA contractor until 2000. He was involved in a mistaken bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May 1999 during the conflict with Kosovo, according to intelligence sources. Three people were killed and 20 injured in that bombing. The CIA later took responsibility. Bennett was one of the officials who helped identify targets in Belgrade, according to a retired senior intelligence officer.
cleveland installs downtown surveillance cameras from wkyc: The city is installing 13 new surveillance cameras downtown to send a safety message. Four of the cameras are operating now and nine more will be working by next weekend in time for the city's annual holiday display on Public Square. The city will monitor and control the cameras and record images around the clock. Public Safety Director Martin Flask says the cameras are mounted on poles and have blue strobe lights attached to them so people can see them and feel safe. The wireless system operating the cameras will store images for a month.
license-plate scanning catching crooks & raising privacy worries from arizona republic: Officer David Callister parks his patrol car under a shady interstate overpass, angling his cameras to target a flurry of passing traffic. Then he waits. Infrared units mounted to the front of Callister's vehicle scan the license plates of a Casa Grande firefighter, an Ohio State football fan and everyone else who drives past as he hunts for stolen vehicles. Every plate is photographed, time-stamped, labeled on a GPS map and automatically logged into an Arizona Department of Public Safety database. An electronic voice alerts Callister to stolen vehicles within seconds after they pass, giving him the ability to make quick arrests.
US rolls out 'vicinity rfid' to check id's in moving vehicles from the register: RFID technology that allows the remote identification of travellers in moving vehicles is being rolled out at US land border crossings this month. Crossing points with Canada at Blaine, and with Mexico at Nogales, came online last week, with Buffalo, Detroit and San Ysidro to follow, and a total of 39 planned. The system uses the US PASSport (People, Access Security Service) card, which is intended to operate within the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) for US citizens entering the US via land and sea ports. Using "Vicinity RFID" it can read the cards from a healthy skimming distance of 20-30 feet, but according to the Department of Homeland Security this isn't a problem. The RFID chip on the card doesn't contain any personal information, only a unique identification number, and skimmers wouldn't have access to the data the number matches up with.
uk social services 'set up cctv camera in couple's bedroom' from telegraph: Council staff are said to have spied on the young parents at night as part of a plan to see if they were fit to look after their baby, who was sleeping in another room. The mother and father were forced to cite the Human Rights Act, which protects the right to a private life, before the social services team backed down and agreed to switch off the surveillance camera while they were in bed together. The case is highlighted in a new dossier of human rights abuses carried out against vulnerable and elderly adults in nursing homes and hospitals across Britain. It comes just days after the Government admitted town halls have gone too far in using anti-terror laws to snoop on members of the public.
cynthia mckinney prevented from leaving US from paul joseph watson: Former Congresswoman and presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney has been prevented from leaving the country after she planned to give a speech in Damascus Syria at a Conference being held to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. “Today, November 23rd, I was slated to give remarks in Damascus, Syria at a Conference being held to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, sadly, the 60th year that the Palestinian people have been denied their Right of Return enshrined in that Universal Declaration. But a funny thing happened to me while at the Atlanta airport on my way to the Conference: I was not allowed to exit the country,” writes McKinney.
military examines role in domestic defense from ap: Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday ordered his top department leaders to conduct a broad review to determine whether the military, National Guard and Reserve can adequately deal with domestic disasters and whether they have the training and equipment to defend the homeland. The 41-page memo signaled an acknowledgment that the military must better recognize the critical role of the National Guard and Reserves in homeland defense, but stopped short of requiring many specific policy changes. His memo comes in the wake of a stinging 400-page independent commission report that concluded the military isn't ready for a catastrophic attack on the country, and that National Guard forces don't have the equipment or training they need for the job.
US army to equip national guard unit with future combat system aerial robots from usarmy: The Army's commitment to equipping its total force with Future Combat System (FCS) capabilities continues as the first Army National Guard unit - the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the Pennsylvania National Guard begins training next month with the FCS-developed gasoline-powered Micro Air Vehicle (gMAV) prior to the unit's deployment to Iraq in January.
US govt taps facebook, google & mtv to 'fight terrorism' from afp: The US State Department announced plans on Monday to promote online youth groups as a new and powerful way to fight crime, political oppression and terrorism. Drawing inspiration from a movement against FARC rebels in Colombia, the State Department is joining forces with Facebook, Google, MTV, Howcast and others in New York City next week to get the "ball rolling." It said 17 groups from South Africa, Britain and the Middle East which have an online presence like the "Million Voices Against the FARC" will attend a conference at Columbia University Law School from December 3-5.
robot may be more 'humane' soldier from iht: In the heat of battle, their minds clouded by fear, anger or vengefulness, even the best-trained soldiers can act in ways that violate the Geneva Conventions or battlefield rules of engagement. Now some researchers suggest that robots could do better. "My research hypothesis is that intelligent robots can behave more ethically in the battlefield than humans currently can," said Ronald Arkin, a computer scientist at Georgia Tech, who is designing software for battlefield robots under contract with the U.S. Army. "That's the case I make."
super soldiers & beyond from discover magazine: The military’s most farseeing agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, required the services of Eleventh Hour’s Jacob Hood in last night’s episode to figure who violently killed some test-chimps and a veterinarian in the agency’s super soldier program. It seems a mad scientist had found some way to increase the size of a human amygdala, which led the soldier to have extreme, and unthinking, fight-or-flight reactions. Whenever someone approached this super soldier in a threatening way, he reacted with extreme prejudice. Naturally, the mad scientist wasn’t supposed to be testing on people, which is why by the end of the show he was off to prison. But DARPA is pretty serious about improving the, ahem, human component of soldiering. After decades of focusing on machines (like unmanned flying drones, GPS, and Internet), DARPA decided toward the end of the 1990s to focus on improving the actual biology of the soldiers. Contrary to the show, the goal is not extremely obedient killers. The modern military is focused on small teams functioning independently, far from base and reinforcements of any kind. To succeed in this kind of environment, they want to actually increase the ability of soldiers to think creatively, to stay awake longer, and to be physically active longer without becoming tired.
US sends warships to eastern mediterranean from ap: The U.S. Navy is sending three ships to the eastern Mediterranean Sea in a show of strength during a period of tensions with Syria and political uncertainty in Lebanon. Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters the deployment should not be viewed as threatening or in response to events in any single country in that volatile region.
US terror watch list surpasses 900,000 names from threat level: The government's centralized terrorist watch list passed the 900,000 name mark this month, according to the ACLU, which estimated the new total by relying on Congressional testimony from the fall that the sprawling list was growing by 20,000 names a month. The report the ACLU relied on to create its Watch List Counter included the following chart demonstrating the clear growth trajectory of the nation's centralized watch lists over the last several years. The Terrorist Screening Center runs the list, accepting nominations of new names from a large range of government agencies.
washington gets a new colony in the balkans from global research: In evaluating the recent "declaration of independence" by Kosovo, a province of Serbia, and its immediate recognition as a state by the U.S., Germany, Britain and France, it is important to know three things. First, Kosovo is not gaining independence or even minimal self-government. It will be run by an appointed High Representative and bodies appointed by the U.S., European Union and NATO... Second, Washington's immediate recognition of Kosovo confirms once again that U.S. Imperialism will break any and every treaty or international agreement it has ever signed... Thirdly, U.S. Imperialist domination does not benefit the occupied people.
armed-intruder drill terrifies university class from charlotte observer: Last Friday, an intruder entered a classroom in Moore Hall at Elizabeth City State University and pointed what appeared to be a gun at assistant professor Jingbin Wang. The man ordered students in Wang's American foreign policy class to line up against a wall and threatened to kill the student with the lowest grade-point average. "I was prepared to die," Wang recalled this week. Ten minutes after the siege began, police stormed the class and subdued the intruder. His weapon, it turned out, was red and plastic - a fake. So was the entire incident.
from washington post: A rampaging crowd of several hundred Serb demonstrators, incensed by the U.S. recognition of Kosovo's independence, overran and burned part of the American Embassy in the Serbian capital of Belgrade on Thursday. The assault drew fierce protests from Washington and illustrated the rage in Serbia over the loss of its historic province. "I'm outraged by the mob attack," said Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned the attacks. All U.S. personnel at the embassy were accounted for, but a badly burned body, apparently the remains of a protester, was found inside, U.S. officials said.
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from raw replay: Two U.S. nuclear electricity facilities, the Fort Calhoun and Cooper nuclear plants in Nebraska, are facing the threat of rising flood waters from the Missouri river. Though safety regulators insist the plants were designed to withstand flooding and no risk of disaster exists, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been enforcing a no-fly zone over the Fort Calhoun plant since early this month, even though the plant has been shut down since early April for refueling. That may be due in part to a reportedly minor fire at the plant which temporarily knocked out pumps that inject cool water into a pool of used nuclear fuel — or it may be due to something else entirely. The FAA reportedly told “Big Picture” host Thom Hartmann that it was maintaining the aircraft ban for security reasons, and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has insisted there was no danger to people in surrounding areas. But that still begs the question: Why would anyone build a nuclear plant so close to a river - or any other potentially dangerous region?
