Links - News 3

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Revision as of 01:44, 5 November 2010

Environment

Pollution

Oil on water. Sheens spotted off the coast of San Diego remain a mystery for the Coast Guard. http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/article-8255-oil-on-water.html

Recycling

Trash Inc. http://www.cnbc.com/id/38830389

Wildlife

Biologists scour Mojave in desert tortoise roundup. Reptiles are being moved to make way for a solar-powered generating station. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tortoise-removal-20101009,0,5440740.story

Crime

DETROIT – Police said Shawn Patrick, coach of the Ferndale High school girls basketball team, was shot and killed Wednesday night on Milwaukee Street in front of his two teenaged children. According to a published report, neighbors of Patrick said the children's mother died earlier this year. Police said two men wearing masks shot Patrick execution-style just after 9 p.m. No motive has been established and police are seeking help in identifying the killers. http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2010/10/08/news/doc4caf03b7ef363539787832.txt

Lawsuit says missing bank CEO bilked senior. The disappearance of David Widlak, president and CEO of a Mt. Clemens bank, puts in limbo a lawsuit that accuses him of bilking a Windsor woman of $150,000. Read more: Lawsuit says missing bank CEO bilked senior | freep.com | Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20101002/NEWS04/10020308/1322/Lawsuit-says-missing-bank-CEO-bilked-senior#ixzz11FW3GABw

LA Area

Woman drove with mummified remains in front seat of car for months, Costa Mesa police say. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/costa-mesa-police-are-investigating-a-bizarre-case-in-which-a-woman-drove-around-with-a-mummified-body-for-months-before-auth.html

Sheriff's deputy mistakenly shoots at West Hollywood liquor store clerk. A sheriff's deputy fired eight shots early Sunday morning at a man he believed had just robbed a West Hollywood liquor store, only to learn that his target was the clerk who had been held up, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The clerk was not hit, and the suspects, described as a black man armed with a handgun and a black woman, escaped. The shooting happened about 1:15 a.m. near Havenhurst Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard, said sheriff’s Deputy Lillian Peck. “Deputies responded to a robbery call of a liquor store in the 8200 block of Santa Monica Boulevard,” she said. “The call indicated the suspects were armed with a handgun.” Peck said one deputy fired after seeing a man who matched the description of one suspect run from the area of the liquor store, holding what he believed to be a gun. “The man was detained by deputies and was determined not to be a suspect,” Peck said. Windows at a store across the street from the robbery site were shattered by the gunfire. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/sheriffs-deputy-shoots-at-west-hollywood-liquor-store-clerk-.html

10 charged in group attack on pedestrian in Costa Mesa. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/10-charged-in-group-attack-on-pedestrian-in-costa-mesa.html#more

Cop Crimes

A suburban Oregon police department is paying a local man $4,000 to settle a civil rights lawsuit in which he claimed he was pulled over for flipping off the cops in traffic. Twice he saluted with his middle finger while driving, and was pulled over each time by a Clackamas County patrol officer, resulting in what he said was a tongue lashing and “bogus” citations that were later dismissed. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/11/middle-finger-case/

Ex-CHP Officer Who Dismissed Speeding Ticket for Sex Gets Two-Year Term. http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Ex-CHP-Officer-Who-Dismissed-Speeding-Ticket-for/Uk3weIlAt0il6Jm3VJLgAA.cspx

San Diego County to pay $1.2 million to eight allegedly roughed up by deputies. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/10/san-diego-county-to-pay-12-million-to-eight-persons-who-say-they-were-roughede-up-by-deputies.html

TSA Crime

A TSA bomb appraisal officer in Philadelphia International Airport repeatedly "pranked" fliers by slipping a bag of white powder (creatine, a nutritional supplement, being used in equipment testing) into their luggage and then threatening them with arrest. Though his colleagues saw him pull this stunt, he was not removed from duty or reported -- merely told "don't do that," by another TSA worker. It wasn't until he reduced a woman to tears that he was disciplined. It's not clear whether the officer -- whose name has been redacted from the TSA memo that was released under a Freedom of Information Act request -- was fired, or quit, though reportedly he isn't working for the TSA any longer. You know how the TSA has all those signs saying you can be arrested for joking or "making remarks" about bombs? One law for them, another for us, apparently. http://www.boingboing.net/2010/11/04/tsa-official-slipped.html

War

Bush War Crimes

In new memoir, Bush makes clear he approved use of waterboarding. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110308082.html

Iraq

Superbombs and Secret Jails: What to Look for in WikiLeaks’ Iraq Docs. Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/10/superbombs-and-secret-jails-what-to-look-for-in-wikileaks-iraq-docs/

Beaten, Shocked, Eyes Gouged: Iraq Abuse, WikiLeaked. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/10/beaten-shocked-eyes-gouged-wikileaks-details-iraq-abuse/

WikiLeaks Show WMD Hunt Continued in Iraq – With Surprising Results. Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/10/wikileaks-show-wmd-hunt-continued-in-iraq-with-surprising-results/

A Grim Portrait of Civilian Deaths in Iraq. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/world/middleeast/23casualties.html?_r=1&ref=world

Iraq war logs: secret files show how US ignored torture. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/22/iraq-war-logs-military-leaks

Terror

In a 48-minute recording posted on the Internet, Adam Gadahn -- a native of California who is now al-Qaida's American spokesman -- specifically called upon Muslims living in what he called "the miserable suburbs of Paris, London, Detroit" to attack Americans, citing as examples the Ft. Hood shooting last November in Texas and the Dec. 25 attempted bombing of an airplane descending into Detroit Metro Airport. The region is known for its sizable Muslim population, and Detroit was the only American city mentioned by the al-Qaida leader. London and Paris also have significant Muslim communities. Gadahn's comments were condemned by Dawud Walid, head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "He obviously doesn't know Muslims in Detroit," Walid of Detroit said Saturday. "It appears to be a desperate plea by al-Qaida, which has virtually no support among Muslims in any Western countries." This was the first time in memory that al-Qaida referenced metro Detroit's Muslim population, local leaders said. Read more: Al-Qaida message aimed at region | freep.com | Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20101024/NEWS01/10240544/1322/Al-Qaida-message-aimed-at-region#ixzz13IVXPIBE

Troops

Senior Airman Michael Kearns had been back from Iraq for only two months when he was pulled over on a Florida highway for going more than 120 miles per hour on his new Suzuki. He knew his motorcycle riding was reckless, but after living through daily mortar attacks on his base in Iraq, he said he needed the adrenaline rush. “When you get here, there’s nothing that’s very exciting that keeps your pulse going,” Airman Kearns, 27, said in a recent interview. His experience is so common that the United States military, alarmed by a rising suicide rate and the record number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who die in highway accidents back home, is asking a provocative new question: Nearly a decade into two bloody wars, are the armed forces attracting recruits drawn to high-risk behavior? http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/us/31memo.html

If we were interested, we might notice that record numbers of soldiers are killing themselves. At least 125 committed suicide through August of this year, an awful pace that if continued would surpass last year’s all-time high of 162. Stressed-out, depressed and despondent soldiers are seeking help for their mental difficulties at a rate that is overwhelming the capacity of available professionals. And you can bet that there are even higher numbers of troubled service members who are not seeking help. In the war zones, we medicate the troubled troops and send them right back into action, loading them up with antidepressants, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety drugs and lord knows what other kinds of medication. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/23/opinion/23herbert.html?ref=opinion

Crime, Corruption, Cheating, Incompetence, Blackwater

Two active duty Marines were behind bars Monday on suspicion of robbing a La Mesa credit union at gunpoint, after one of them allegedly led police on a chase that included gunfire and the evacuation of a Rolando neighborhood. Davon Jacques Darden, 23, and Dominique Dontae Lasker, 26, are suspected of robbing the California Coast Credit Union at 8002 La Mesa Blvd. about 2 p.m. Saturday, according to FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth. They wore masks and one of them was armed with a handgun, he said, adding that they jumped over the teller counter and held up several tellers at gunpoint. http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Two-Marines-Arrested-for-La-Mesa-Armed-Robbery/JC5zYqTj4kuOI02zA2GTSA.cspx

Recent revelations by WikiLeaks show how top American leaders lied, knowingly, to the American public, to American troops, and to the world. Ellen Knickmeyer on the carnage she saw as Baghdad bureau chief. In the dark morning hours of Feb. 22, 2006, a group of unknown attackers detonated bombs in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra, bringing down the golden dome of a revered Shia Muslim shrine. A few hours later, I drove through Baghdad and watched the country descend into civil war. Then the Baghdad bureau chief for The Washington Post, I drove with Iraqi and American colleagues to Sadr City, the sprawling slum on the outskirts of the city. We watched hundreds of black-clad religious militiamen, waving their AK 47s in the air and calling for revenge, in what would be the start to a campaign of sectarian killing and torture. During visits to Baghdad's morgue over the next two days, I saw Sunni families thronging to find the bodies of loved ones killed by the militias. The morgue's computer registrar told the grim-faced families and me that we would have to be patient; the morgue had taken in more than 1,000 bodies since the Samarra bombing, and was way behind on processing corpses. Here's the thing, though: According to then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and his top commanders, it never happened. These killings, these dead, did not exist. According to them, reporters like myself were lying. "The country is not awash in sectarian violence, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey said, on talk show after talk show, making the rounds to tell the American home-front not to worry. Civil war? "I don't see it happening, certainly anytime in the near term,” he said, as he denied the surge in sectarian violence. http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-10-25/wikileaks-shows-rumsfeld-and-casey-lied-about-the-iraq-war/

U.S Hires Gun-Runner, Coup-Plotter to Guard Diplos. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/10/u-s-hires-gun-runner-coup-plotter-to-guard-diplos/

Retired lt. cmdr. charged in bribery scheme. NORFOLK, Va. — A retired Navy officer and two contractors have been charged in a bribery conspiracy involving projects at a military installation in Iraq. Frankie J. Hand Jr., who retired as a lieutenant commander in 2008, made his first appearance in federal court in Norfolk on Thursday. He's charged with defrauding the government, bribery and receiving illegal gratuities. Also charged are contractors Michelle L. Adams and Peter D. Dunn. An indictment unsealed Thursday accuses the defendants of operating a bribery and kickback scheme to obtain contracts for two dining hall projects at Camp Taji near Baghdad. The case was first reported by The Virginian-Pilot. Hand's arraignment was set for Wednesday. Court records did not list an attorney for Hand or the contractors. http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/10/ap-bribery-scheme-100110/

Never mind the dead civilians. Forget about the stolen guns. Get over the murder arrests, the fraud allegations, and the accusations of guards pumping themselves up with steroids and cocaine. Through a “joint venture,” the notorious private-security firm Blackwater has won a piece of a five-year State Department contract worth up to $10 billion, Danger Room has learned. Apparently, there is no misdeed so big that it can keep guns-for-hire from working for the government. And this is despite a 2008 campaign pledge from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ban the company from federal contracts. Eight private security firms have won State’s giant Worldwide Protective Services contract, the big Foggy Bottom partnership to keep embassies and their inhabitants safe. Two of those firms are longtime State contract holders DynCorp and Triple Canopy. The others are newcomers to the big security contract: EOD Technology, SOC, Aegis Defense Services, Global Strategies Group, Torres International Services and International Development Solutions LLC. Don’t see any of Blackwater’s myriad business names on there? That’s apparently by design. Blackwater and the State Department tried their best to obscure their renewed relationship. As Danger Room reported Wednesday, Blackwater did not appear on the vendors’ list for Worldwide Protective Services. And the State Department confirms that the company, renamed Xe Services, didn’t actually submit its own independent bid. Instead, they used a blandly named cut-out, “International Development Solutions,” to retain a toehold into State’s lucrative security business. No one who looks at the official announcement of the contract award would have any idea that firm is connected to Blackwater. Read More http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/10/exclusive-blackwater-wins-piece-of-10-billion-merc-deal

Ships and Ship Building

More engine woes found with LPD-17. The troubles of the USS San Antonio, first of a large class of amphibious transport ships, haven’t quite come to an end yet; the Navy and its engineers are continuing to find and fix a host of problems plaguing the 25,000-ton ship. Earlier this year, engineers searching for the cause of vibrations in the drive train discovered that imperfections in the way the ship’s engines and main reduction gears were installed were threatening to eventually wreck the vessel. “The foundation bolts were not properly aligned or tightened. The main reduction gear was not properly installed and checked out,” Adm. John Harvey, commander of Fleet Forces Command, said in a Sept. 20 interview at his headquarters in Norfolk, Va. “There was vibration of the entire diesel which was reflected through the crankshaft, down to the couplings with the reduction gear, to the shaft,” Harvey said. “And you’re trying to figure out where this thing …” he said, pausing. “Over time on that ship we had tremendous alignment problems within the drive train and within the diesel.” http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/10/navy-more-engine-woes-for-lpd-17-093010w/

Weapons

Test fails for airborne laser designed to shoot down missiles. It's the second consecutive setback for a key missile defense program that is years behind schedule and plagued with cost overruns. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-airborne-laser-20101023,0,6448960.story

Economy

Taxes

Prospect Theory and the Taxpayer Receipt. http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/10/prospect-theory-and-taxpayer-receipt

http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/10/where-your-taxes-go

Spying

news

Caught Spying on Student, FBI Demands GPS Tracker Back. Read More http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/10/fbi-tracking-device/#ixzz11mhE1j4T

Immigration and border fence

Border Fence

Costly virtual border fence in tatters. The U.S. is set to defund the troubled project. It was intended to keep a high-tech eye on the Mexican border. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-invisible-fence-20101022,0,5546525.story

Retrieved from "http://beachblogger.net/bwtm/index.php?title=Links_-_News_3"

Categories: BWTM

 ==War==
+===Bush War Crimes===
+In new memoir, Bush makes clear he approved use of waterboarding. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110308082.html
 ===Iraq===