Breaking News and Commentary from CLG

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government
07 Jan 2012

Breaking: 2 injured in Lafayette package bomb explosion 07 Jan 2012 (CO) A man and a woman were injured after a package they had in their car exploded. Police say the man and woman took a package into their car. It is unclear where the package came from. The package exploded after they had driven a couple of blocks. Both were taken to the hospital with injuries. Police say they believe there may be another package in the car and are currently searching it with a bomb robot.

Pentagon's non-lethal weapon projects leaked - including a laser beam that 'steers enemy planes' 05 Jan 2012 Descriptions of the Pentagon's latest non-lethal weapon projects have been leaked online. Publicintelligence.org recently published the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate's 'Non-Lethal Weapons Reference Book', which includes devices in use and some that have been dreamed up for the future. One of the fantasy weapon systems is a laser device fitted to a plane that can actually steer an enemy aircraft away from a restricted area. It also details some projects that are being worked on... Also on the drawing board is a weapon that blocks cars using high-powered microwaves. Among the non-lethal weapons being used today that the leak details are Tasers, rubber bullets filled with pepper spray that disorientate rioters and 'Acoustic Hailing Devices' that leave targets with 'auditory impairment'.

Chains we can believe in: Torture reported in US-run Afghanistan prison --Bagram is sometimes called the 'Afghan Guantanamo', after the US military detention facility in Cuba. 08 Jan 2012 Inmates in the US-run Bagram prison in Afghanistan have faced abuses including torture, beatings and other mistreatment, a government report says. Publication of the report by the Constitutional Oversight Commission came just days after President Hamid Karzai ordered the transfer of the prison and its inmates to Afghan control within a month. 'In our visit of Bagram Prison, some of the inmates complained that they were tortured', said commission chairman Gul Rahman Qazi. Prisoners had also complained of being held in prison long after they were acquitted or their prison term had come to its end.

Kabul closes Canadian security company for gun smuggling [LOL!] 07 Jan 2012 The Afghan government has shut down the operations of one of the largest foreign security mercenary companies operating in the country after detaining two of its contractors on suspicion of gun smuggling. After months of growing tensions between the government and foreign security contractors, the decision marks a sharp escalation into public action by the Afghan authorities. The Afghan Interior Ministry said it was immediately withdrawing the company's licence, although the company, GardaWorld, a private Canadian security outfit, said it was in discussions with the government and hoped to be able to continue to operate. The ministry said the contractors, two Britons, who were detained on Tuesday after being found with an arsenal of unlicenced Kalashnikov assault rifles in their sport utility vehicle, were among the 341 Afghan guards and 35 foreign contractors employed by GardaWorld in Afghanistan.

8 NATO troops killed in 24 hours in southern Afghanistan 06 Jan 2012 Eight NATO troops were killed in southern Afghanistan in a 24-hour period ending Friday, Western military officials said. NATO's International Security Assistance Force did not disclose the nationalities of the troops, but most of those serving in southern Afghanistan are American or British. Four of the eight were killed Friday in a single explosion, military officials said in a statement, and a fifth died as the result of an earlier "insurgent attack," a phrase often used to characterize a firefight with Taliban militants.

Britain brags about war on Iran 07 Jan 2012 British foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has violated the international law by threatening to attack Iran if it closes its territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz to transit. His threat comes despite Iran's clarification that it does not seek to close the strategic waterway and the fact that under the international law the issue is not Britain's business as it has no sovereignty in the region. Hammond said in a speech in Washington that closure of the World's most important oil artery would be "illegal and unsuccessful" saying Britain and the US would keep the water lane open using the might of their "joint naval presence" in the Persian Gulf.

Royal Navy sends its mightiest ship to take on the Iranian show of force in the Gulf 06 Jan 2012 The Royal Navy's most formidable warship is being sent to the Gulf for its first mission as tensions rise in the strategically vital region, it can be disclosed. Naval commanders believe the deployment of HMS Daring, a Type 45 destroyer, will send a significant message to the Iranians because of the firepower and world-beating technology carried by the warship. Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, has publicly warned Iran that any blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would be "illegal and unsuccessful".

Iran describes US Navy rescue as 'humanitarian' 07 Jan 2012 Iran has described the US Navy's rescue of 13 Iranian fishermen held by Somali pirates as a "humanitarian gesture". Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said his country had also rescued foreign sailors from pirates on occasion. But he said such acts did not affect overall relations between countries. The Americans say they freed the Iranian fishermen in the Arabian Sea after more than a month in captivity, and provided fuel and food for them to return home.

U.S. Navy rescues Iran fishermen held by Somalia pirates 07 Jan 2012 A Navy destroyer rescued 13 Iranian fishermen held hostage by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea only days after Tehran warned the United States to keep its ships out of the nearby Persian Gulf. Sailors from the guided-missile destroyer Kidd boarded the Iranian dhow Thursday and detained 15 Somalis after one of the fishermen was able to reveal in a radio communication that his vessel's crew was being held captive. Seeing a publicity windfall at a time of growing tension with Iran, Pentagon public affairs officers quickly swung into action, setting up a conference call for reporters with Navy commanders in the region.

Blackwater settles Iraq killings suit 06 Jan 2012 A wrongful death lawsuit linked to a defining moment of the Iraq war has ended with the company formerly known as Blackwater agreeing to settle with the families of four security contractors killed in a gruesome 2004 ambush. The victims' survivors reached a confidential settlement with the company's successor, Academi, agreeing to dismiss the case before the Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. The court entered an order dismissing the case on December 29.

Homeland Security monitors journalists 07 Jan 2012 The Department of Homeland Security is on the ready to make sure that the government is keeping dibs on who is saying what. Under the National Operations Center (NOC)'s Media Monitoring Initiative that came out of DHS headquarters in November, Washington has the written permission to retain data on users of social media and online networking platforms. Specifically, the DHS announced the NCO and its Office of Operations Coordination and Planning (OPS) can collect personal information from news anchors, journalists, reporters or anyone who may use "traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed." [Hello, AntiSec? Get busy!]

The watchdog's kennel in clandestine Croydon 07 Jan 2012 An inconspicuous Melbourne apartment block is home to a monitoring service that keeps watch on environment groups at the request of the federal government. The National Open Source Intelligence Centre, a private intelligence company, works under contract for the Australian Federal Police and Federal Attorney-General's Department to monitor activist websites, blogs, Facebook and Twitter to provide warning and analysis of protest activity. It aims to provide law enforcement agencies and other private clients with internet monitoring and analysis directed at groups engaged in "radical activism, criminal (terrorist) activity or unlawful behaviour". Services provided by NOSIC include "issue monitoring", "tactical intelligence", "threat analysis" and "trend analysis and forecasting focus on emerging patterns and trends in activism". [AntiSec? You can add NOSIC to your list.]

'The hackers ought to be shot then hanged upside down in public' - Stratfor client --Stratfor.com and SpecialForces.com hacklog + others 06 Jan 2012 ANTISEC DISMANTLES STRATFOR, A MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR INTELLIGENCE CORPORATION --Shortly after news articles came out about Stratfor's destruction and their customers started to realize how hard they've been owned, hundreds of angry customers rushed to Facebook to rage. Many were rightfully mortified how a self-described intelligence [sic] corporation could fail so hard to protect their customer information. The second irony is when those customers who had some harsh words against Anonymous themselves found out the hard way how maybe it was a bad idea to post using their real names... Victor Gebilaguin: "The hackers ought to be shot then hanged upside down in public." (vgebilaguin@gmail.com)

DHS 'Operation Shield' training exercise with semiautomatic rifles startles locals 04 Jan 2012 (FL) It may have looked like they were ready for war or some deranged person looking for his late Social Security benefits. But it was only Federal Protective Service officers with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security who were conducting a random training operation early Tuesday morning when they surprisingly showed up at the Social Security Administration office in downtown Leesburg. With their blue and white SUVs circled around the Main Street office, at least one official was posted on the door with a semiautomatic rifle, randomly checking identifications. And other officers, some with K-9s, sifted through the building.

New Law Requires Photo ID to Buy Drain Cleaner 05 Jan 2012 (IL) A new state law requires those who buy drain cleaners and other caustic substances to provide photo identification and sign a log. The law, which took effect Sunday, requires those who seek to buy caustic or noxious substances, except for batteries, to provide government-issued photo identification that shows their name and date of birth. The cashier then must log the name and address, the date and time of the purchase, the type of product, the brand and even the net weight.

The scaffolding of an American police state By Bill Van Auken 06 Jan 2012 With his December 31 signing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), allowing for indefinite military detention without charges or trial, Barack Obama has made an infamous contribution to the steady march towards police-state dictatorship in the United States... As one of the legislation's key Democratic sponsors, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, revealed, the Obama White House intervened directly into the legislative process to kill amendments that would have specifically prohibited the military from indefinitely imprisoning US citizens without trial. It viewed such an exemption as an unacceptable restriction on presidential power.

New swine, drug-resistant flu strains tracked 06 Jan 2012 Bay Area infectious disease experts are on the alert for new strains of flu, including another swine flu that's popped up in parts of the United States and a drug-resistant flu circulating in the Southern Hemisphere. Last week, Australian public health officials reported that during their flu season they saw an increase in strains of influenza that were resistant to antiviral drugs. In the United States, public health officials have recorded 12 cases of a new type of swine flu - this one a form of the subtype H3N2, instead of the H1N1 subtype that made up the 2009 pandemic. Federal authorities are already preparing a vaccine to prevent ensure the spread of this new virus.

Leaked: US to Start 'Trade Wars' with Nations Opposed to Monsanto, GMO Crops 03 Jan 2012 The United States is threatening nations who oppose Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) crops with military-style trade wars, according to information obtained and released by the organization WikiLeaks. Nations like France, which have moved to ban one of Monsanto's [deadly] GM corn varieties, were requested to be 'penalized' by the United States for opposing Monsanto and genetically modified foods. The WikiLeaks cable reveals that in late 2007, the United States ambassador to France and business partner to George W. Bush, Craig Stapleton, requested that the European Union along with particular nations that did not support GMO crops be penalized.

Preppy protester: The moment a 19-year-old Mitt Romney demonstrated in favour of Vietnam War draft --Teenage Romney takes unpopular stance in favour of south-east Asian war --But his status as 'Mormon missionary' exempted him from draft 06 Jan 2012 A newly-unearthed photograph showing Mitt Romney demonstrating in favour of the Vietnam War draft might leave the presidential candidate feeling somewhat embarrassed. The veteran Republican, then 19, can be seen picketing an anti-war sit-in at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, in 1966. Romney never served in south-east Asia because his status as a Mormon missionary exempted him from the draft.

Outbreak of endangered seal killings in Hawaii 07 Jan 2012 Two Hawaiian monk seals were found bludgeoned to death on a remote coast of Molokai — one was killed in mid-November and the other shortly before Christmas. Earlier this month, a dead seal showed up on Kauai. A fourth possible killing on Molokai is also under investigation. No one knows who is killing the seals — a critically endangered species — or why. The animal is dangerously close to disappearing. There are only 1,100 left in the world, and scientists say the seal is on course to vanish in 50 to 100 years. [Too bad the monk seals were unable to *bludgeon first.*]

CLG needs your support.
http://www.legitgov.org/donate.html
Or, please mail a check or money order to CLG:
Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG)
P.O. Box 1142
Bristol, CT 06011-1142
Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible.

ends

© Scoop Media