Breaking News from Citizens for Legitimate Government

Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government
17 Apr 2013

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U.S. Practiced Torture After 9/11, Review Concludes 16 Apr 2013 A nonpartisan, independent review of interrogation and detention programs in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks concludes that "it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture" and that the nation's highest officials bore ultimate responsibility for it. The sweeping, 577-page report [by an 11-member panel convened by the Constitution Project] says that while brutality has occurred in every American war, there never before had been "the kind of considered and detailed discussions that occurred after 9/11 directly involving a president and his top advisers on the wisdom, propriety and legality of inflicting pain and torment on some detainees in our custody."
 
Boston explosions: 'Mystery' person spotted on roof as bomb detonates Posted by Lori Price, www.legitgov.org 16 Apr 2013 (Photo submitted to CLG by SimonJCP)
 
CLG: Security on Alert --'Numerous Amtrak, local, state and Department of Homeland Security police agents swarmed' by Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D. 16 Apr 2013 Today, one day after the massacre at the Boston Marathon in Copley Square, the nation's security apparatuses were on full display. In the train stations from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Stamford, Connecticut, numerous Amtrak, local, state and Department of Homeland Security police agents swarmed. Bomb-sniffing dogs abounded. In Stamford, CT, for example, a relatively small station, three bomb-sniffing dogs could be seen, and police numbered in the dozens. Bags were being randomly searched in Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut. Officers stood on platforms and in the terminals, even boarding and searching trains.
 
Bomb Details Emerge in Boston Case 17 Apr 2013 The explosives that killed three people and injured more than 170 during the Boston Marathon on Monday were most likely rudimentary devices made from ordinary kitchen pressure cookers, except they were rigged to shoot sharp bits of shrapnel into anyone within reach of their blast and maim them severely, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. The pressure cookers were filled with nails, ball bearings and black powder, and the devices were triggered by "kitchen-type" egg timers, one official said. Law enforcement officials said the devices were probably hidden inside dark nylon duffel bags or backpacks and left on the street or sidewalk near the finish line. Forensic experts said the design and components of the homemade devices were generic but that the marking "6L," indicating a six-liter container, could help identify a brand and manufacturer and possibly lead to information on a purchase.
 
Boston Marathon bombs believed carried in dark, heavy bags 16 Apr 2013 Authorities suspect whoever perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombings carried heavy devices made out of pressure cookers in dark-colored nylon bags or backpacks before dropping them near the finish line, causing the worst attack on U.S. soil since September 11, 2001 [an inside job]. The twin blasts on Monday killed three people including an 8-year-old boy and injured 176 others, some of whom were maimed by bombs packed with ball bearings and nails. President Barack Obama, who will travel to Boston on Thursday for a memorial service, on Tuesday called the bombings an "act of terror" and police said parts of central Boston could be closed for days.
 
In a coincidence that would boggle the minds of those who serve on the Panel on Probability and Algorithms *and* the Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics: --Sandy Hook Families at Boston Marathon Traumatized Again 16 Apr 2013 Several parents from Sandy Hook, Conn., ran in the Boston Marathon as guests of honor as a way for Boston to help those families heal from last December's massacre of children. Instead, the six Sandy Hook families found themselves again besieged by sirens, ambulances and shocking carnage. "It was all those same things, the police and fire and all of that. It's severely traumatic," said Lauren Nowacki, one of the Connecticut moms who competed in Monday's marathon. [Was the Aurora theater shooting/Sandy Hook guy there, too? The man (Stephen Barton) who found himself at both tragedies -- hundreds of miles apart -- and now works for Mayor Bloomberg? If so, that would mean he made it to *all three* events. Now, if you're going to call me a 'nut,' call me a MATH nut, because I'm just stickin' with the NUMBERS. --LRP]
 
FBI scanning cell phone tower records to search for clues in Boston bombings 16 Apr 2013 (Wires)
 
Obama says Boston bombings an act of terrorism 16 Apr 2013 President Barack Obama said Tuesday the deadly Boston Marathon bombings were an act of terrorism but investigators do not know if they were carried out by an international or domestic organization, or perhaps by a "malevolent individual." In his second public statement in less than 24 hours since the explosions, the president said, "Clearly we are at the beginning of our investigation." He urged anyone with information relating to the events to contact authorities.
 
NORAD/NORTHCOM's command center scrambled into action by Boston bombing 16 Apr 2013 When a bomb exploded in Boston, first responders rushed to help victims on the street. At the same time, deep inside Cheyenne Mountain, the military's North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) began their own scramble to determine if something more was happening -- was America under attack? The U.S. military got its first information about the Boston Marathon bombing the same way the rest of the country did -- from live images on cable television. Quickly the NORAD/NORTHCOM Command Center, or N2C2, began a threat assessment. "Are we seeing things in different threat streams?" the team asked itself, according to a U.S. defense official who briefed the E-Ring about the military’s reaction to Monday's bombing. It's one of the products of the September 11, 2001, attacks [when Dick Cheney gave the order for NORAD to stand down].
 
Senate closes mail facility for ricin investigation 17 Apr 2013 The Senate's chief security office said on Tuesday that the Senate's mail facility had received mail that tested positive for ricin and said it was closing the facility for the next two to three days for investigations. An envelope that had tested positive for ricin had been sent to Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, senators told reporters earlier on Tuesday. The Senate's chief security office did not disclose the recipient's name but said: "The exterior marking on the envelope in this case were not outwardly suspicious, but it was postmarked from Memphis, Tennessee."
 
Letter Mailed to Senator Tests Positive for Ricin 17 Apr 2013 A letter sent to a Mississippi senator tested positive for the poison ricin, federal authorities revealed Tuesday, adding to security concerns in the Capitol after the Boston Marathon bombing. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, confirmed that an envelope addressed to Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, a Republican, had been tested twice for ricin in a mail facility away from the Capitol with positive results both times. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano was briefing senators on the Boston attack when she told them about the ricin. The letter was postmarked in Memphis and had no suspicious markings or return address, the office of the Senate sergeant-at-arms reported.
 
Letter with ricin sent to Miss. senator 16 Apr 2013 An envelope addressed to Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi twice tested positive Tuesday for ricin, a potentially fatal poison, congressional officials said, heightening concerns about terrorism a day after a bombing killed three and left more than 170 injured at the Boston Marathon. One senator, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, said authorities have a suspect in the fast-moving ricin case, but she did not say if an arrest had been made. She added the letter was from an individual who frequently writes lawmakers. The FBI and U.S. Capitol Police are both investigating.
 
LaGuardia Terminal Evacuated Over Suspicious Package 16 Apr 2013 The central terminal building at LaGuardia Airport in New York City was evacuated due to a suspicious package, Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said today in an e-mail. The Port Authority Police Department's Emergency Services Unit and the New York City Police Department’s bomb squad are responding to the scene, said Coleman, who could provide no further immediate details.
 
Report: 2 escorted off Boston plane 16 Apr 2013 Officials in Boston are taking no chances, a day after the tragedy at the Boston Marathon -- including on flights out of nearby Logan Airport. A plane headed to Chicago was brought back to the gate at Logan Airport, after some passengers — who also participated in the marathon — expressed concern over two men, who were apparently not sitting next to each other but were speaking in Arabic, Fox 25 reports. The men were escorted off the plane.
 
American Airlines grounds all U.S. flights due to computer woes 16 Apr 2013 American Airlines, the No. 3 U.S. carrier, on Tuesday grounded all its domestic flights due to a problem that paralyzed its electronic reservation system. In a message via Twitter, AA announced that none of its aircraft flying domestic routes would be taking off until 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) while problems with the system were resolved. The airline had announced around midday that the tool it uses for its reservations network, Sabre, had gone down, but shortly thereafter it said that the problems that were preventing access to its system were not related to Sabre.
 
Thatcher Funeral: Security Tight After Boston --Police with sniffer dogs patrol the streets ahead of Baroness Thatcher's funeral amid tight security after the Boston bombings. Four thousand police officers will line the route of Baroness Thatcher's funeral procession amid tightened security in the wake of the Boston bombings. In the last 24 hours, hundreds of police officers have patrolled the streets with sniffer dogs trained to detect explosives. The security operation for the funeral and procession from Westminster to St Paul's Cathedral will be a mix of plain clothes and high visibility policing, according to former Scotland Yard Specialist Commander Roy Ramm.
 
Iraq deadly bombings hit Nasariyah, Kirkuk and Baghdad 15 Apr 2013 At least 31 people have been killed and more than 200 others wounded in a series of early-morning explosions in cities across Iraq, officials say. Attacks were reported in Baghdad, as well as Tuz Khurmatu and Kirkuk in the north and Nasariyah in the south. The co-ordinated attacks occurred during the morning rush hour and mainly involved car bombs.
 
Pro-Taliban militants deny involvement in Boston twin bombings 16 Apr 2013 The pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan have denied all involvement regarding the bombings at the Boston Marathon that killed at least three people and injured more than 150 others. "We believe in attacking the US and its allies but we are not involved in this attack," the Agence Free Press quoted Ehsanullah Ehsan, spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), on Tuesday. "We have no connection to this bombing, but we will continue to target them wherever possible," added the militant.
 
US trained DRC troops accused of mass rape: UN official 16 Apr 2013 A senior UN envoy says the United States trained an army battalion in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), some of whose members are accused of mass rape. "We do know in the UN which are the two battalions. Interestingly, one of them was trained by the Americans, that's what the American ambassador [to DRC] himself told me," Bangura said. Zainab Hawa Bangura, the UN's special representative on sexual violence in conflict, made the remarks at a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday, Reuters reported. UN said earlier that at least 126 women had been raped in the eastern town of Minova in November.
 
CISPA vote means companies can't promise to protect privacy --Proposed amendment to CISPA says Internet companies' promises to protect customer privacy were legally enforceable. But then Republicans vote it down. 16 Apr 2013 Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other Internet companies and e-mail providers will be prohibited from making legally binding promises to protect your privacy, thanks to a vote this afternoon in the U.S. House of Representatives. By a 5-8 vote, the House Rules committee rejected a bipartisan fix to the CISPA data-sharing bill that would have ensured companies' privacy promises -- including their terms of use and privacy policies -- remained valid and legally enforceable in the future. The vote came after Rep. Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican who's the committee's influential chairman, urged his colleagues to vote against the (amendment). All of the committee's eight GOP members voted against the amendment, and all the Democrats supported it. It also came hours after a formal veto threat from the Obama administration, citing privacy and other concerns about CISPA.
 
China confirms 77 H7N9 cases, 16 deaths 17 Apr 2013 During the period from 6 p.m. on Monday to 8 p.m. Tuesday, China confirmed 14 new cases of H7N9 avian influenza, with two more death reported in Shanghai. The National Health and Family Planning Commission said in its daily update on H7N9 cases that a total of 77 H7N9 cases have been reported in China, including 16 cases that have ended in death.
 
Health Officials on Alert For Bird Flu 16 Apr 2013 U.S. health officials are on high alert because of a new strain of bird flu that's already killed several people in China. So far no cases have been reported in the United States, but health departments across the country are ready to respond. Those who have gotten sick in China, have all gotten the virus from animals. Nevertheless, the CDC has raised its alert level because it's always possible for viruses to mutate [which happens when they're mutated].
 
Beijing fears over 4-year-old bird flu 'carrier' --Doctors find 4-year-old asymptomatic 'carrier' of H7N9 16 Apr 2013 Doctors say the discovery of a 4-year-old carrier of the H7N9 bird flu virus who shows no symptoms of the potentially lethal virus is a worrying development that could make the spread of the infection more difficult to monitor. The Beijing Municipal Health Bureau said the boy was detected from a group of close contacts of the first infection in Beijing and the laboratory results showed the boy was an asymptomatic carrier of the disease.
 

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