Citizens for Legitimate Government: 10 April 2013

Breaking: Explosions Heard in Neighborhood Where Firefighters Held Hostage --Police: The man who held firefighters hostage is dead after authorities stormed the home in an Atlanta suburb. --One police officer wounded, but wounds not life-threatening --Gunman holds 4 firefighters hostage in Georgia home 10 Apr 2013 A gunman barricaded himself in a home in suburban Atlanta and was holding four firefighters hostage Wednesday afternoon, authorities in northeast Georgia said. Five firefighters responded to a medical call in Suwanee and were eventually taken hostage by an unidentified suspect inside the house, Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Edwin Ritter said. The gunman released one of the firefighters from the house to move a fire truck. A SWAT team and negotiator had made contact with the suspect Wednesday evening. Ritter said the immediate area around the house has been evacuated and residents were not being allowed into the neighborhood. (CNN, Fox News)

Check your spam bin for Tuesday's CLG Newsletter, as NSA buddy Google relegated it to the spam bin --Lots of Fukushima, H7N9 Flu, and drone updates - Google hates that By Lori Price, www.legitigov.org 09 Apr 2013 Friends, I sent a rather lengthy CLG Newsletter (Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2013 4:32 PM ET), which my detractors just *loathe.* So, if you did NOT receive it, please check your spam or trash bins and mark it as NOT SPAM. If you would like a copy, please write lori at legitgov dot org, and I will forward you today's edition. Thank you.

Chinese colonel says latest bird flu virus is U.S. biological weapon [Well, not just the latest one -- all of them.] 09 Apr 2013 A Chinese Air Force officer on Saturday accused the U.S. government of creating the new strain of bird flu now afflicting parts of China as a biological warfare attack. People’s Liberation Army Sr. Col. Dai Xu said the United States released the H7N9 bird flu virus into China in an act of biological warfare, according to a posting on his blog on Saturday. The charge was first reported in the state-run Guangzhou newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily and then picked up by several news outlets in Asia.

Ex-Regulator Says Reactors Are Flawed 09 Apr 2013 All 104 nuclear power reactors now in operation in the United States have a safety problem that cannot be fixed and they should be replaced with newer technology, the former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Monday. Shutting them all down at once is not practical, he said, but he supports phasing them out rather than trying to extend their lives. The position of the former chairman, Gregory B. Jaczko, is not unusual in that various anti-nuclear groups take the same stance. But it is highly unusual for a former head of the nuclear commission to so bluntly criticize an industry whose safety he was previously in charge of ensuring.

EPA Draft Stirs Fears of Radically Relaxed Radiation Guidelines 10 Apr 2013 The acting EPA director on Friday signed a revised version of the EPA's Protective Action Guide for radiological incidents, which critics say radically relaxes the safety guidelines agencies follow in the wake of a nuclear-reactor meltdown, dirty-bomb attack, or other unexpected release [or false flag] of radiation. Although the document is a draft published for public comment, it takes effect as an "interim use" guideline. And according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), that means agencies responding to radiation emergencies may permit many more civilian fatalities.

Obama's drone war kills 'others,' not just al Qaida leaders 09 Apr 2013 Contrary to assurances it has deployed U.S. drones only against known senior leaders of 'al Qaida' and allied groups, the Obama administration has targeted and killed hundreds of suspected lower-level Afghan, Pakistani and unidentified "other" militants in scores of strikes in Pakistan's tribal area, classified U.S. intelligence reports show. The administration has said that strikes by the CIA's missile-firing Predator and Reaper drones are authorized only against "specific senior operational leaders of al Qaida and associated forces" involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks who are plotting" imminent" violent attacks on Americans... Copies of the top-secret U.S. intelligence reports reviewed by McClatchy, however, show that drone strikes in Pakistan over a four-year period didn’t adhere to those standards.

South Korea blames the North for cyberattacks that hit banks, broadcasters 10 Apr 2013 South Korea accused North Korea Wednesday of carrying out a wave of cyberattacks that paralyzed the networks of major South Korean banks and broadcasters last month. An official investigation found that many of the malignant codes employed in the attacks were similar to ones used by the North previously, said Lee Seung-won, an official at the South Korean science ministry. Although some observers said at the time of the computer crashes that they suspected North Korean involvement, this is the first time that Seoul has formally pointed the finger at Pyongyang. [And, eventually we'll learn that NSAciopaths were behind the cyberattacks.]

U.S., North Korean officials met secretly in March 09 Apr 2013 U.S. and North Korean officials met secretly in New York in the days before North Korea's latest round of threats and provocations, although nothing came of the meeting, according to a source familiar with the matter. The source described the meeting as part of regular back channel exchanges between the countries. Clifford Hart, the U.S. envoy for six-party talks aimed at North Korean denuclearization, met with North Korea's deputy U.N. ambassador, Han Song-ryol, in mid March, according to the source.

Heads up! Let's hope they don't 'go live,' as they did on 9/11! Norad Exercise Planned for National Capital Region 09 Apr 2013 The North American Aerospace Defense Command and its geographical component, the Continental United States NORAD Region (CONR), will conduct exercise Falcon Virgo 13-07a between midnight and 2 a.m. on Wednesday, April 10, in the National Capital Region, Washington, D.C. The exercise is comprised of a series of training flights held in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Coordination Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center (JADOC), Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard and CONR's Eastern Air Defense Sector. Exercise Falcon Virgo is designed to hone NORAD's intercept and identification operations as well as operationally test the NCR Visual Warning System and certify newly assigned command and control personnel at JADOC.

Margaret Thatcher's funeral to involve 700 armed forces personnel --Pallbearers will be from units associated with Falklands war, Downing Street announces 10 Apr 2013 More than 700 armed forces personnel drawn from all three services will take part in the funeral of Lady Thatcher, Downing Street has said. Thatcher's coffin will be carried into St Paul's Cathedral by bearers from units particularly associated with the Falklands war. David Cameron's official spokesman confirmed that details of the cost to the public purse would be published after next Wednesday's service had taken place.

Gunman releases one of five firefighter hostages in Georgia 10 Apr 2013 A gunman who barricaded himself in a home in Georgia on Wednesday with five firefighters as hostages has released one of his captives, officials said. The firefighters were taken hostage after they responded to a home in Suwanee, about 35 miles northeast of Atlanta, on what was believed to be a medical call, police and fire officials said. The hostage-taker has since allowed one of the firefighters to leave in order to move a fire truck away from the front of the home, said Tommy Rutledge, spokesman for the Gwinnett County Fire Department.

Sheriff: Student plotted TX college attack, fantasized about stabbings 10 Apr 2013 The 20-year-old student accused in a stabbing rampage at a Texas college campus told investigators he had fantasies of killing people and had planned the attack, sheriff's officials said late Tuesday. Dylan Quick, 20, was charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after the stabbings, said Donna Hawkins, an official with the Harris County Prosecutor's Office." Quick used "a razor-type knife" to stab victims at the Lone Star College's CyFair campus Tuesday, the sheriff office's statement said. Fourteen people were injured in the attack, officials said.

IRS claims it can read your e-mail without a warrant 10 Apr 2013 The Internal Revenue Service doesn't believe it needs a search warrant to read your e-mail. Newly disclosed documents prepared by IRS lawyers says that Americans enjoy "generally no privacy" in their e-mail, Facebook chats, Twitter direct messages, and similar online communications -- meaning that they can be perused without obtaining a search warrant signed by a judge. That places the IRS at odds with a growing sentiment among many judges and legislators who believe that Americans' e-mail messages should be protected from warrantless search and seizure. They say e-mail should be protected by the same Fourth Amendment privacy standards that require search warrants for hard drives in someone's home, or a physical letter in a filing cabinet.

LulzSec: Hacker Admits Joining in Web Attack 09 Apr 2013 A 26-year-old has pleaded guilty to hacking websites of major institutions including the National Health Service, Sony and News International. Ryan Ackroyd, from Mexborough, South Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to one charge of carrying out an unauthorised act to impair the operation of a computer, contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1977. He had been due to stand trial charged with taking part in a string of cyber attacks but ended up admitting just the one charge. Southwark Crown Court in London heard he admitted being a member of hacking group LulzSec.

Senators Reach Bipartisan Deal on Checks of Gun Buyers 11 Apr 2013 A bipartisan collection of senators on Wednesday announced a compromise measure to expand background checks for gun buyers, increasing the chances that a viable package of new gun safety laws will soon hit the Senate floor. Senators Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, and Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, have spearheaded the deal. Under the terms of the agreement, background checks for gun buyers would expand to gun shows and online sales -- a huge portion of gun sales that are made without the background checks used by gun stores -- and it would maintain record-keeping provisions that law enforcement officials find essential in tracking criminal gun use, but that gun rights groups find anathema.

Greenpeace 'polar bears' protest Arctic oil drilling 10 Apr 2013 Two Greenpeace activists dressed as polar bears boarded an oil platform in Norway on Wednesday to protest against Norwegian oil and gas group Statoil's planned drilling in the Arctic. "No oil company in the world is prepared for Arctic conditions," said the head of Greenpeace Norway, Truls Gulowsen, one of the two activists who boarded the West Hercules platform currently stationed in Oelen in southwestern Norway. Greenpeace sent two "polar bears" to "inspect" the platform and to raise public awareness about the dangers of oil activities in the Arctic, a region with extreme climate conditions and located far from mainland infrastructures.

Suit Settled With Occupy Wall St. Over Seizure of Library at a Park 10 Apr 2013 As myriad court battles pitting the Occupy Wall Street movement against New York City agencies proceed, protesters claimed a victory on Tuesday, based not on how they were treated, but on how their books were mistreated. The City of New York and Brookfield Properties agreed to pay more than $230,000 to settle a lawsuit filed last year in Federal District Court asserting that books and other property had been damaged or destroyed when the police and sanitation workers cleared an encampment from Zuccotti Park in 2011. The books, and other items, had been set up [the People's Library] in the northeast corner of the park soon after the Occupy protests began in September 2011.

'Chained' CPI: Two Million Times 'No!' 09 Apr 2013 President Obama will hear a straightforward and simple message from more than 2 million people today responding to reports that his budget will include cuts to Social Security and Medicare: "The 'Chained' CPI is a benefit cut to a program that does not contribute to the deficit. Do not barter it away in the name of deficit reduction. Stand strongly against all cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid." That message is being delivered this afternoon by representatives of family, health, union, retiree, community, religious and other groups who will take more than 2 million petition signatures to the White House gates following a rally in Lafayette Park across Pennsylvania Avenue.

U.S. stock rally lifts S&P 500 to intraday record 10 Arp 2013 U.S. st*cks climbed Wednesday, lifting the S&P 500 index to an intraday record of 1,576.46, after the release of minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting did not spark fears that the central b*nk would slow its monthly bond purchases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 62.83 points to 14,736.29. The S&P 500 index rose 7.76 points to 1,576.43. The Nasdaq Composite added 22.40 points to 3,260.25.

Sooner Tea Party co-founder charged with blackmailing Oklahoma state senator --Al Gerhart was charged Tuesday with two felonies involving an email that threatened a state senator to pass a bill. 09 Apr 2013 A co-founder of the Sooner Tea Party was charged Tuesday with blackmail over an email that he admits sending to a state senator [Sen. Cliff Branan (R)]. Al Gerhart, 54, of Oklahoma City, also was charged with violating the Oklahoma Computer Crimes Act. Both counts are felonies.

CLG Flu 'Oddities' RSS feed is up! 07 Apr 2013 Folks, CLG has an Flu 'Oddities' RSS feed that you can add to your blog or website. You can also subscribe to it. The CLG Flu 'Oddities' RSS feed is dedicated toward breaking news regarding avian flu and other US bioterror events. Also, the main CLG News RSS feed is here. Instructions for adding the main CLG News feed can be found here. If you have any questions on adding these feeds, please write webmaster at legitgov.org.

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