only 'virtual protests' allowed at north american summit

from afp: Protesters will be "seen and heard" when North American leaders meet next week in Montebello, near Ottawa, but only virtually - via an audio-video feed set up by organizers. And the heads of the United States, Canada and Mexico may opt to change the channel.

The arrangement is "in compliance with (a Canadian) court's decision that protesters have a right to be 'seen and heard,'" said Sandra Buckler, a spokeswoman for host Stephen Harper, the prime minister of Canada.

However, the novel plan to give protesters a voice, while maintaining strict security for the talks, has riled protesters being kept out by a fence, three meters (10 feet) high and 2.5-kilometers (1.5 miles) around the meeting place.

"It's a travesty of democracy," Sophie Shoen of People's Global Action told Agence France-Presse. "We must be allowed to directly confront political leaders where and when we choose, not virtually."

The hundreds of demonstrators expected to try to disrupt the summit "must be able to make their protests heard by the leaders they are addressing," echoed Grace Pastine, of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, in a statement.

"They must be allowed to protest in Montebello," a luxury log-cabin hotel nestled in a lush forest between Ottawa and Montreal, she said.

In defiance, several anti-globalization groups said they planned to try to get as close to the meeting site as possible, refusing to be "caged" in a forest clearing set up for them by summit organizers.

A parallel counter-summit uniting academics and opposition MPs is also planned in Ottawa...

Activists, labor groups, academics and opposition politicians are decrying the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), a framework for greater trade and security integration of Canada, the United States and Mexico.

'jfk, 9/11 & war'

from peter dale scott: In American history there are two types of event: ordinary events which the information systems of the country can understand and establish. There are also deep events, or meta-events, which the mainstream information systems of the country cannot digest. I mean by a “deep event” an event in which it is clear from the outset that there are aspects which will not be dealt with in the mainstream media, and will be studied only by those so-called “conspiracy theorists” who specialize in deep history.

The events I shall discuss today exhibit continuities with each other and with other deep events, notably the Iran-Contra affair of the mid 1980s and the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. But the three I shall discuss today – the JFK assassination, the initial Watergate break-ins, and 9/11 – are outstanding in this respect: that while they were attributed to insignificant and very marginal people, they had momentous impact, far more than most daily events by more important people, in redirecting American history.

ground zero blaze kills 2 firefighters

from new york times: Two firefighters were killed yesterday battling a blaze in the Deutsche Bank skyscraper, a vacant relic of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack that was in the process of being dismantled.

The firefighters were among hundreds who poured into ground zero all afternoon to fight the high-rise fire, which was finally brought under control after seven hours.

At least five others were hospitalized with smoke-related injuries that were not believed to be life threatening.

The building, at 130 Liberty Street, had stood as a ghost since parts of the World Trade Center towers came crashing into it nearly six years ago, leaving it severely damaged and filled with toxic debris, including asbestos, dioxin, lead and chromium.


‘no danger’ of collapse at deutsche bank, mayor says
from new york times: Two firefighters are dead from injuries they sustained fighting a fire at the vacant Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty Street opposite ground zero today, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg confirmed at a news conference this evening. Mr. Bloomberg said the fire was not yet under control but there was “no danger” that the building would collapse.

He identified one of the dead as Firefighter Joseph Graffagnino, 34, of Brooklyn, who had with the department for eight years. The other firefighter was subsequently identified as Robert Beddia, 53, of Staten Island. Both firefighters were from a fire house — Engine 24, Ladder 5 and Battalion 2 — that lost 11 firefighters on Sept. 11, 2001.

The firefighters, in cardiac arrest, were taken to New York Downtown Hospital, where they were pronounced dead. “Sadly today once again two of New York City’s bravest have made the ultimate sacrifice answering the call of duty,” the mayor said after 9 p.m. at a news conference at the hospital.

Mr. Bloomberg added, “As of now the fire is still not under control. The cause of the fire will be investigated by fire marshals as soon as firefighters have extinguished the remaining pockets of fire.”

bloomberg to manhattan residents:
ignore toxic peril of deutsche bank fire
from kurt nimmo: Residents of Manhattan, beware of the flaccid reassurances of mayor Michael Bloomberg. In the wake of a fire in the abandoned Deutsche Bank office building near ground zero, “Mr. Bloomberg sought to reassure residents that the chemicals in the building likely did not present a significant health risk, saying air-quality tests so far showed no danger,” the Herald Sun reports.

Moreover, Bloomberg indicated that the strange X-Files effect we are told went into effect on September 11, 2001—i.e., cave dwelling terrorists were able to defeat the laws of physics—no longer applies. “Officers were preventing nearby residents from returning to their homes, telling them authorities were concerned the former Deutsche Bank office building, vacant since the terrorist attacks six years ago turned it into a toxic nightmare, could fall. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that fear turned out to be unfounded.”

US military practices genetic discrimination in denying benefits

from los angeles times: Eric Miller's career as an Army Ranger wasn't ended by a battlefield wound, but his DNA.

Lurking in his genes was a mutation that made him vulnerable to uncontrolled tumor growth. After suffering back pain during a tour in Afghanistan, he underwent three surgeries to remove tumors from his brain and spine that left him with numbness throughout the left side of his body.

So began his journey into a dreaded scenario of the genetic age.

Because he was born with the mutation, the Army argued it bore no responsibility for his illness and medically discharged him in 2005 without the disability benefits or health insurance he needed to fight his disease.

"The Army didn't give me anything," said Miller, 28, a seven-year veteran who is training to join the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

While genetic discrimination is banned in most cases throughout the country, it is alive and well in the U.S. military.

For more than 20 years, the armed forces have held a policy that specifically denies disability benefits to servicemen and women with congenital or hereditary conditions. The practice would be illegal in almost any other workplace.

There is one exception, instituted in 1999, that grants benefits to personnel who have served eight years.

"You could be in the military and be a six-pack-a-day smoker, and if you come down with emphysema, 'That's OK. We've got you covered,' " said Kathy Hudson, director of the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University."But if you happen to have a disease where there is an identified genetic contribution, you are screwed."

Representatives from the Pentagon declined multiple requests to discuss the policy.

outside the box #114

here is the latest episode of "outside the box," hosted by alex ansary.
it was originally broadcast by portland community media on august 16, 2007.

from alex ansary: Tonight I summarized the latest developments in wall street and the possibility of hyperinflation. Later I covered some of the other top stories of the week.

media monarchy episode038

here is the latest podcast from media monarchy...
episode038 - august 17, 2007 download/stream/subscribe

media monarchy is originally broadcast on the portland radio authority every friday at 10am pacific/1pm eastern and can also be heard on the revere radio network every monday at 4pm pacific/7pm eastern...

plus, you can always get podcasts of previous episodes thanks to radio4all.net

portland to host terrorism drill 'noble resolve' aug 20-24

Citizens Warn of Established Pattern for Such Drills to go “live”
Contact: Info [at] OregonTruthAlliance dot org
Click here for a printable version of this release

from oregon truth alliance: This is an urgent advisory notice from concerned citizens of Oregon and Washington about an upcoming U.S. Joint Forces Command emergency management exercise known as NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 that will simulate terrorism or disaster scenarios in the Lower Columbia River Basin between Aug. 20th and Aug 24th, 2007.

NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 was designed and will be directed by U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) and the Department of Homeland Security. We are aware of no public notice concerning this exercise, but preliminary investigation has revealed that Oregon National Guard officials and federal officials will conduct the drill. Details from official sources are minimal.

This advisory is to document our concerns, raise public awareness and urge citizen action based on the following facts:

1. NOBLE RESOLVE is a computer-based simulation of a large-scale emergency situation (e.g. earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, or terrorist attack with nuclear weapon) in order to train for managing all aspects of the emergency response through comprehensive software.

2. Military exercises such as NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 have a recent history of coinciding with lethal “live” events. This occurred both at the start of Desert Storm in 1990 and on 9/11/01 when five or more major military or security exercises were in progress on the very day of the actual attacks. The same phenomenon occurred with the London Bombings of 7/7/05 during which a drill concerning multiple bomb attacks was being staged on that day.

3. Vice President Cheney, Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff and former Senator Rick Santorum have all warned of a new 9/11 attack this summer, but are giving no evidence in support. Chertoff based his prediction on a “gut feeling”.

4. The May 2007 Presidential Directive NSPD 51 (HSPD 20) addressing “continuity of government” in the event of a massive emergency, includes secret "annexes" which are pertinent additional documents. Some US Congressional Committee on Homeland Security members such as Rep. Peter DeFazio have written to formally request permission to review these secret "annexes" and have twice been denied access by the White House.

5. This particular exercise, NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2, includes one scenario involving an unaccounted for, "loose," ten kiloton nuclear weapon, exactly as Vice President Cheney hinted in recent interviews. Department of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff claims he fears the same.

6. The plummeting support for the GOP has triggered comments from its members and analyses of its current political strategy that point to a new 9/11 attack as a contributing factor to GOP political salvation. Moreover, it appears that legends or back stories are being disseminated to support just such an event.

Transparency concerning NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 is vital for the public safety of everyone in the Lower Columbia River Basin. We call on the planners, directors and participants in NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 to be vigilant and to maintain transparency with respect to these military exercises. We also urge citizens and our elected officials to monitor the activities of participants connected with the exercises and alert authorities to any suspicious behavior. These exercises have an established pattern of becoming “live” events. (Please read references below.) We recommend that officials of the Ports of Astoria, Longview, Vancouver and Portland on the Lower Columbia River take extra care in their monitoring and examination of all shipping on the Lower Columbia River while NOBLE RESOLVE 07-2 is in progress. Finally, we urge all concerned to voice that concern in letters and calls to elected officials and civil servants requesting full transparency and citizen oversight.

REFERENCES:
1. About Noble Resolve
“Four days of “simulated” nuclear terrorist scenarios in the US & Europe” http://tinyurl.com/ynq8oq
USJFOCM - 1 http://www.jfcom.mil/index.htm
USJFOCM – 2: http://tinyurl.com/328eoj

2. History of Military Exercises Coinciding with live events
Internal Look Simulation of Iraq Invading Kuwait Coincides with Start of Desert Storm - Norman Schwarzkopf: "We went ahead and did an exercise, what's called a command post exercise, which is what Internal Look was to test our ability to deal with this particular scenario ... Just so happened we were in the middle of conducting the Internal Look command post exercise at the same time the crisis developed in the gulf." http://tinyurl.com/yt3v2k
NYC / Washington DC / Pennsylvania on 9/11/01
http://tinyurl.com/bdfsv
London Bombings
http://tinyurl.com/8um9d

3. New 9/11 warnings
Cheney http://tinyurl.com/3bqxq4 (page 8)
Chertoff http://tinyurl.com/2routa
Al Qaeda http://tinyurl.com/2peoqb
Santorum http://tinyurl.com/ypkybx

4. NSPD 51 Grants Martial Law authority
Text of NSPD 51
http://tinyurl.com/yqthor
DeFazio denied access to COG plans
http://tinyurl.com/36snph

5. Scenario Involving Nuclear Attack in Portland
Harvard Study Maps Results of 10 Kiloton Nuclear Blast in Portland, OR http://tinyurl.com/2fmtpl (Pg. 9)
Ten kiloton nuclear bomb fact sheet http://tinyurl.com/2q48qa

6. Associating terrorist act to revival of GOP
Republican Party of Arkansas http://tinyurl.com/27hgez
Paul Craig Roberts http://tinyurl.com/38wn5v

Portland Connections:
Uncertain future (Portland, Oregon) Oregon gets terror drills http://tinyurl.com/26we5b
Portland Withdraws from Joint Terrorism Task Force http://tinyurl.com/2564to
Swan Island Networks is providing logistical support for Operation Noble Resolve http://tinyurl.com/ytza2a
http://tinyurl.com/2adgch
Mobius & Swan Island http://tinyurl.com/2zsgsa
Maersk Lines now primary US military shipper http://tinyurl.com/23ssy8
Maersk Lines involved with NOBLE RESOVE http://tinyurl.com/2q48qa
SeaSecure & Mobius http://www.seasecure.com/

General Background:
Is America Preparing for Martial Law? http://tinyurl.com/a3ot9
Martial Law is Now a Real Threat: Declaring the US a Battlefield http://tinyurl.com/2zg67l
BAE joins RAINS http://tinyurl.com/2g55y9
London Bombing Drill conducted by Visor http://www.visorconsultants.com/index.html
Guiliani in London on 7/7/05 http://www.prismwebcastnews.com/pwn/?p=969
Giuliani Security & Safety LLC http://tinyurl.com/2f3gke
Dirty Bomb Threat (backstory) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20221065/
New 911-style plot (backstory) http://tinyurl.com/2j7cxu
Al Qaeda cell may be loose in US (backstory) http://tinyurl.com/ytmfdm
Plot would have killed thousands (backstory) http://tinyurl.com/ynl6b8
Doubt cast on 'liquid explosives' threat, Al Qaeda network in UK Identified http://tinyurl.com/2c9654

********************************************************************
Capt. Eric May & Noble Resolve: Death Map
from presswatch: Capt. May of Ghost Troop, military affairs correspondent for the Texas Iconoclast, discusses the ongoing revelations about the Noble Resolve exercise scheduled for Aug. 20 in Portland, including the exposure of a detailed atomic blast map composed in April by a neocon-led study group.

Download Presswatch interview with Capt Eric May, August 16, 2007 (22mb mp3)

where's the transparency in the 'security & prosperity partnership'?

from globe & mail: On Aug. 20 and 21, the leaders of Mexico, Canada and the United States will meet in Montebello, Que., to discuss the so-called Security and Prosperity Partnership. It provides a vision for North American integration that most Canadians, Americans and Mexicans would reject.

Governments in all three countries have dodged political or public debate about the SPP, and it is often those of us against its vision for North America who end up on the defensive, accused of hampering discussion.

The Council of Canadians, Canada's largest citizens' advocacy group, has been following SPP developments since it was launched in March of 2005. Our organization is not against international co-operation. We are concerned, however, about the nature of the co-operation between the executive branches of our government and the big business community established by the SPP.

flashback: goodbye usa, hello north american union

run on banks in los angeles amid crisis

from raw story: Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. says customers are "running out of money."

Earlier this week, consumer juggernauts Home Depot and Wal-Mart reported softer than expected earnings.

Penned the New York Times,

"the sober forecasts reverberated across Wall Street, sending the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index down by nearly 2 percent, with the Dow dropping more than 200 points. Shares of both Wal-Mart and Home Depot fell around 5 percent.

"Economists said the sluggish performance of the chains — Wal-Mart missed its profit forecast and Home Depot’s earnings dropped — could signal broader troubles in the economy."

Buried in the article was a sobering remark indeed: “Many customers are running out of money at the end of the month,” said H. Lee Scott Jr., the chief executive of Wal-Mart.

In Los Angeles, economic concerns hit close to home.

Anxious customers of Countrywide Bank jammed its phone lines, branches and website after the nation's largest mortgage lender -- which owns the bank -- announced it was facing problems from a credit meltdown.

"Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest home-loan company in the nation, sought Thursday to assure depositors and the financial industry that both it and its bank were fiscally stable," wrote the LA Times Friday. "And federal regulators said they weren't alarmed by the volume of withdrawals from the bank."

"The rush to withdraw money - by depositors that included a former Los Angeles Kings star hockey player and an executive of a rival home-loan company - came a day after fears arose that Countrywide Financial could file for bankruptcy protection because of a worsening credit crunch stemming from the sub-prime mortgage meltdown," the paper continued.

"At Countrywide Bank offices, in a scene rare since the U.S. savings-and-loan crisis ended in the early '90s, so many people showed up to take out some or all of their money that in some cases they had to leave their names," the Times added. "Bill Ashmore drove his Porsche Cayenne to Countrywide's Laguna Niguel office and waited half an hour to cash out $500,000, which he then wired to an account at Bank of America."

"It's because of the fear of the bankruptcy," Ashmore, president of Irvine's Impac Mortgage Holdings, which escaped bankruptcy itself recently by shutting down virtually all its lending and laying off hundreds of employees told the paper. "It's got my wife totally freaked out. I just don't want to deal with it. I don't care about losing 90 days' interest, I don't care if it's FDIC-insured -- I just want it out."

$80k settlement in anti-bush t-shirt case

from msnbc/ap: A couple arrested at a rally after refusing to cover T-shirts that bore anti-President Bush slogans settled their lawsuit against the federal government for $80,000, the American Civil Liberties Union announced Thursday.

Nicole and Jeffery Rank of Corpus Christi, Texas, were handcuffed and removed from the July 4, 2004, rally at the state Capitol, where Bush gave a speech. A judge dismissed trespassing charges against them, and an order closing the case was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Charleston.

“This settlement is a real victory not only for our clients but for the First Amendment,” said Andrew Schneider, executive director of the ACLU of West Virginia. “As a result of the Ranks’ courageous stand, public officials will think twice before they eject peaceful protesters from public events for exercising their right to dissent.”

A call to the White House seeking comment on the case was not immediately returned Thursday.

The front of the Ranks’ homemade T-shirts bore the international symbol for “no” superimposed over the word “Bush.” The back of Nicole Rank’s T-shirt said “Love America, Hate Bush.” On the back of Jeffery Rank’s T-shirt was the message “Regime Change Starts at Home.”

The ACLU said in a statement that a presidential advance manual makes it clear that the government tries to exclude dissenters from the president’s appearances. “As a last resort,” the manual says, “security should remove the demonstrators from the event.”

how great thou, bart

from jim amrhein: I was afraid that, in the movie version of The Simpsons, these elements would be diluted or tempered in pursuit of the wide-reaching mega-appeal summer blockbusters strive for. I needn’t have worried. This dissenting spirit is not only alive and well on the big screen, but applied with such alternately brutish and near-subliminal expertise that, in my humble opinion, The Simpsons Movie sets a new American cinematic benchmark (not to mention sounds a new wake-up call) for the criticism of government, Big Business and the major media in this country...

But especially the government.

In fact, the entire premise of the movie casts government as the antagonist. Basically, the plotline is that after the town lake becomes hopelessly contaminated with all sorts of pollutants (Homer himself administering the toxic coup de grâce), the Environmental Protection Agency seizes control of Springfield. In short order, the entire town is wiped off maps and GPS grids by the government, then sealed under an impregnable glass dome and left to implode into an anarchic, might-makes-right state that’s like something out of Lord of the Flies or Hobbes’ Leviathan...

Of course, The Simpsons Movie is farfetched and nonsensical. But it’s also brilliantly crystalline in its illustration of the very essence of government – how it does exactly the wrong things, for the wrong reasons (like their own enrichment and expansion), while selling it to the public under the auspices of acting in their interests.

It’s simultaneously stupid slapstick camp and quasi-polemical high art. And it’s hilariously funny, especially if you’re alert... Among the funniest highlights in The Simpsons Movie that poke a hot stick in the eye of government are:

* When EPA Chief Cargill – a business wizard who was appointed to bring his PR savvy to the largely invisible agency – presents President Schwarzenegger with dossiers outlining five options for dealing with the environmental crisis in Springfield, he chooses one at random, offering the heavily-accented justification "I was elected to lead, not to read."

* Later in the movie, the same scenario plays out in the Oval Office after the containment dome plan begins to show weaknesses that could backfire, hurting the EPA’s image. Villain Cargill again presents the President with five options – but hints and prods and coaches him until he picks Option 4, which calls for the nuclear annihilation of Springfield. At other points in the film, we discover that Cargill’s conglomerate had a hand in making not only the bomb, but also the dome that originally sealed off the town...

* In an attempt to win public support for the creation of a "new Grand Canyon" where Springfield used to be, the Feds enlist the aid of über-popular Tom Hanks to appear in a public service announcement, in which he says: "Hello, I'm Tom Hanks. The U.S. Government has lost its credibility, so it’s borrowing some of mine…" And later, "Because if you have to trust a government, why not this one?"

* When Cargill calls in the troops to protect Springfield from Homer’s attempt to rescue both his family (whom the EPA has taken prisoner) and the town, one of his minions calls him on the carpet – accusing the bureaucrat of having let power go to his head. Cargill answers: "Of course I've gone mad with power! Have you ever tried going mad without power? It's boring and no one listens to you!"

* Having fled Springfield as wanted fugitives, the Simpson family takes refuge in Alaska... While on a train across the tundra, they talk openly, Marge assuring the kids that they’re far from the prying eyes and ears of government. Just then, the conductor – who’s actually a surveillance robot – picks up and starts transmitting their conversation to a vast installation of the NSA, where hundreds of Federal agents are eavesdropping on thousands of conversations across the nation. The pointy-headed geek who hears them jumps up and gleefully screams to the whole cavernous room: "The government finally found someone we were looking for!"

These are just a few from many of the comedic barbs The Simpsons Movie hurls at our government. And it would take multiple essays to catalog even the most obvious shots the film takes at the media, popular culture and big business. If you see the film (and you should), keep an eye out for Bart’s almost under-the-radar swipe at Disney. It’s priceless!

media monarchy's google video account cancelled

Thanks for your email. Despite repeated warnings to cease uploading videos in violation of our Program Policies, we found that you've uploaded additional videos which are also in violation of our Program Policies.

We will be terminating your Google Video account. You will no longer be able to upload videos into your account.

so unfortunately all of the following videos are now gone from google. i have backups of them all & hopefully you do too... most of them came from conspiracy central & nw0.info

'possible' new message from osama bin laden
Montauk Project: One Man's Story
Evidence of Revision (4 of 5): The RFK Assassination as Never Seen Before
Hindenburg Disaster
On The Map with Avi Lewis - Iran Under Pressure (June 26, 2007)
Final Report: Jonestown
Congressman Meehan Questions Defense Secretary Gates
Aryan Brotherhood
On The Map with Avi Lewis - War On Drugs (June 21, 2007)
Maxed Out
Cocaine & Crack: The New Epidemic
Corporations In The Classroom
The Onassis Dynasty
Posada Carriles: Terrorism Made in U.S.A.
Rachel Corrie: An American Conscience
Conspiracies: The Pope & the Mafia Millions
Fritz Springmeier: Undetectable Mind Control
Conspiracies: Iraq
The Lazar Tape... and excerpts from the Government Bible (1991)
What is AIPAC?
Ringworm Children
Conspiracies: Waco Assault
Mullah Dadullah on Channel 4
Robert F. Kennedy Assassination
Lockerbie & the CIA
ABC's 'The View' Plugs The Resistance Manifesto By John Conner
Secret Nuremberg Notebooks
The Wealth of Nations
Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy
Rendezvous With Death: JFK & the Cuban Connection
Relocation Camps (ca. 1943)
Coverup: Behind the Iran Contra Affair
Sister Cindy Mahoney: 9/11 Nun
9/11: Revealing the Truth - Annie Machon
9/11: Revealing the Truth - Steven Jones
9/11: Revealing the Truth - William Pepper
CIA's Secret War
Gitmo: The New Rules of War
Daisy, 1964 Presidential Election Advertisement for LBJ
G. Edward Griffin: America - Bastion of Freedom
Phenomenon Archives: Heavy Watergate, The War Against Cold Fusion
Eustace Mullins: The Neo-Zionist Order
They Sold Their Souls For Rock N' Roll
G. Edward Griffin: Truth About Communism
Death & Taxes
Good Conduct: The Story of Michael New
G. Edward Griffin: No Place to Hide - The Strategy and Tactics of Terrorism
G. Edward Griffin: Hidden Agenda for World Government
Changing Commands: The Betrayal of America's Military
New Orleans: Big Easy to Big Empty
Google: Behind the Screen
Mohamed Atta and the Venice Flying Circus
Jim Marrs - From JFK to 9/11 (August 26th, 2006)
Assassination of JFK Jr

padilla convicted of terrorism support

from ap: Jose Padilla was convicted of federal terrorism support charges Thursday after being held for 3 1/2 years as an enemy combatant in a case that came to symbolize the Bush administration's zeal to stop homegrown terror.

Padilla, a U.S. citizen from Chicago, was once accused of being part of an al-Qaida plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the U.S., but those allegations were not part of his trial.

Padilla, 36, and his foreign-born co-defendants, Adham Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi, were convicted of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas, which carries a penalty of life in prison. All three were also convicted of two terrorism material support counts, which carry potential 15-year sentences each.

Jurors deliberated a day and a half after a three-month trial. U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke set a Dec. 5 sentencing date.

The three were accused of being part of a North American support cell that provided supplies, money and recruits to groups of Islamic extremists. The defense contended they were trying to help persecuted Muslims in war zones with relief and humanitarian aid.

The White House thanked the jury for a "just" verdict.

flashback: prosecutors can't find tape of padilla's final interrogation in navy brig

'clergy response teams' to quell unrest during martial law

from ksla: Could martial law ever become a reality in America? Some fear any nuclear, biological or chemical attack on U.S. soil might trigger just that. KSLA News 12 has discovered that the clergy would help the government with potentially their biggest problem: Us.

Charlton Heston's now-famous speech before the National Rifle Association at a convention back in 2000 will forever be remembered as a stirring moment for all 2nd Amendment advocates. At the end of his remarks, Heston held up his antique rifle and told the crowd in his Moses-like voice, "over my cold, dead hands."

While Heston, then serving as the NRA President, made those remarks in response to calls for more gun control laws at the time, those words live on. Heston's declaration captured a truly American value: An over-arching desire to protect our freedoms.

But gun confiscation is exactly what happened during the state of emergency following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, along with forced relocation. U.S. Troops also arrived, something far easier to do now, thanks to last year's elimination of the 1878 Posse Comitatus act, which had forbid regular U.S. Army troops from policing on American soil.

If martial law were enacted here at home, like depicted in the movie "The Siege", easing public fears and quelling dissent would be critical. And that's exactly what the 'Clergy Response Team' helped accomplish in the wake of Katrina.

Dr. Durell Tuberville serves as chaplain for the Shreveport Fire Department and the Caddo Sheriff's Office. Tuberville said of the clergy team's mission, "the primary thing that we say to anybody is, 'let's cooperate and get this thing over with and then we'll settle the differences once the crisis is over.'"

Such clergy response teams would walk a tight-rope during martial law between the demands of the government on the one side, versus the wishes of the public on the other. "In a lot of cases, these clergy would already be known in the neighborhoods in which they're helping to diffuse that situation," assured Sandy Davis. He serves as the director of the Caddo-Bossier Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.

For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13. Dr. Tuberville elaborated, "because the government's established by the Lord, you know. And, that's what we believe in the Christian faith. That's what's stated in the scripture."

Civil rights advocates believe the amount of public cooperation during such a time of unrest may ultimately depend on how long they expect a suspension of rights might last.

new tsa agents check for danger in fliers' facial expressions

from mcclatchy: Next time you go to the airport, there may be more eyes on you than you notice.

Specially trained security personnel are watching body language and facial cues of passengers for signs of bad intentions. The watcher could be the attendant who hands you the tray for your laptop or the one standing behind the ticket-checker. Or the one next to the curbside baggage attendant.

They're called Behavior Detection Officers, and they're part of several recent security upgrades, Transportation Security Administrator Kip Hawley told an aviation industry group in Washington last month. He described them as "a wonderful tool to be able to identify and do risk management prior to somebody coming into the airport or approaching the crowded checkpoint."

US spy satellites to be used on americans

from wall street journal: The U.S.'s top intelligence official has greatly expanded the range of federal and local authorities who can get access to information from the nation's vast network of spy satellites in the U.S.

The decision, made three months ago by Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, places for the first time some of the U.S.'s most powerful intelligence-gathering tools at the disposal of domestic security officials. The move was authorized in a May 25 memo sent to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asking his department to facilitate access to the spy network on behalf of civilian agencies and law enforcement.

nypd warns of homegrown terror threat

from ap: Average citizens who quietly band together and adopt radical ways pose a mounting threat to American security that could exceed that of established terrorist groups like al-Qaida, a new police analysis has concluded.

The New York Police Department report released Wednesday describes a process in which young men - often legal immigrants from the Middle East who are frustrated with their lives in their adopted country - adopt a philosophy that puts them on a path to violence...

The study is based on an analysis of a series of domestic plots thwarted since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including those in Lackawanna, N.Y.; Portland, Ore.; and Virginia. It was prepared by senior analysts with the NYPD Intelligence Division who traveled to Hamburg, Madrid and other overseas spots to confer with authorities about similar cases.

The report found homegrown terrorists often were indoctrinated in local "radicalization incubators" that are "rife with extremist rhetoric."

Instead of mosques, those places were more likely to be "cafes, cab driver hangouts, flop houses, prisons, student associations, non-governmental organizations, hookah bars, butcher shops and bookstores," the report says.

The Internet also provides "the wandering mind of the conflicted young Muslim or potential convert with direct access to unfiltered radical and extremist ideology."

The threat posed by homegrown extremists - from "eco-terrorist" groups to neo-Nazis - has long been a top concern for federal counterterror officials.

The full report is available at this link (2.11mb pdf) on the department’s Web site.

job seekers must obtain homeland security approval

from press esc: US citizens and other residents will require prior approval from Department of Homeland Security to get a job, under new immigration guidelines introduced by the Cabinet and sanctioned by President George W. Bush today.

This requirement was initially part of the failed immigration bill which has now been "within the boundaries of existing law to secure our borders more effectively," according to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff And Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.

The Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS) has been renamed E-verify and will initially require more than 200,000 companies doing Federal business to use the system to establish employment eligibility of new hires and the validity of their Social Security Numbers.

flashback: the "no-work" list

'red dragon' terror drills in wisconsin

from tomah journal: The Fort McCoy Red Dragon training exercise will simulate reacting to weapons of mass destruction over the next two weeks. Local firefighters and volunteer groups will participate in the training on and off base.

who's editing wikipedia? diebold, cia & wal-mart

from wired: On November 17th, 2005, an anonymous Wikipedia user deleted 15 paragraphs from an article on e-voting machine-vendor Diebold, excising an entire section critical of the company's machines. While anonymous, such changes typically leave behind digital fingerprints offering hints about the contributor, such as the location of the computer used to make the edits.

In this case, the changes came from an IP address reserved for the corporate offices of Diebold itself. And it is far from an isolated case. A new data-mining service launched Monday traces millions of Wikipedia entries to their corporate sources, and for the first time puts comprehensive data behind longstanding suspicions of manipulation, which until now have surfaced only piecemeal in investigations of specific allegations.

Wikipedia Scanner - the brainchild of CalTech computation and neural-systems graduate student Virgil Griffith - offers users a searchable database that ties millions of anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on who owns the associated block of internet IP addresses.

Inspired by news last year that Congress members' offices had been editing their own entries, Griffith says he got curious, and wanted to know whether big companies and other organizations were doing things in a similarly self-interested vein...

The result: A database of 5.3 million edits, performed by 2.6 million organizations or individuals ranging from the CIA to Microsoft to Congressional offices, now linked to the edits they or someone at their organization's net address has made.

Some of this appears to be transparently self-interested, either adding positive, press release-like material to entries, or deleting whole swaths of critical material.

Voting-machine company Diebold provides a good example of the latter, with someone at the company's IP address apparently deleting long paragraphs detailing the security industry's concerns over the integrity of their voting machines, and information about the company's CEO's fund-raising for President George Bush.