Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Oh bless your sweet heart. This stage will pass. At least, it did for me.

Whereever I go, I take my supplies with me, of whatever amount makes me feel better.

The places I stay and live routinely, I have those pretty well supplied and plan on finishing that up this Summer. I figured if I didn't need it, someone would.

Whatever I can think of to do, that gives me comfort, I do it. No matter who nay says.

"The threat is real. Your top agencies and government take it as real since 9/11. And what is currently planned by the AQ is serious and imminent."

As if we did not already know this.
Well, most of us out here on the TM anyway.

Also, another thing I do, plot different routes to and from where I am going. It helps me to think of ways to escape, should I need to. I then decide on my best bet for getting back home or to my safe place.

Side note. I've discovered alot of really neat places that are off beat, off the track and it's fun to plot new routes. :)

What a pompous a$$!

From the L.A. Daily News Sat paper:

Man Found Fatally Shot near hospital

A tanker truck driver was found shot to death in Willowbrook on Friday after he called his dispatcher several times to say he was being shot at by someone following him on the 105 freeway, authorities said.

The victim, shot in the upper body, was found about 4:50 a.m., on a sidewalk near 118th street and Wilmington Ave, a block or so from Los Angeles County King-Drew Medical Center, authorities said. The tanker truck was parked nearby.

Attempted truck-jacking gone badly?

Here's some more info:

A truck driver who had repeatedly radioed his dispatcher early Friday that someone was shooting at him from another vehicle was found dead next to his truck in Willowbook.

Steven Nguyen, 31, of Westminster was shot multiple times in the chest and was found on the sidewalk just before 5 a.m., said Sheriff's Deputy Josie Woolum.

"We don't know if he was pulled out of his truck or if he got out voluntarily," Woolum said.

Nguyen had hauled fuel for Beneto Bulk Transport for five years, a company employee said. He is survived by his wife and 1-year-old son.

He was en route from Long Beach to Sylmar when he began calling his dispatcher at 4:20 a.m. to say he was being fired upon, Woolum said.

During the next 30 minutes, he drove from the westbound Gardena Freeway to the northbound Harbor Freeway to the eastbound Century Freeway. He exited at Wilmington Avenue.

Sheriff's deputies received a 911 call from the Beneto dispatcher and arrived to find Nguyen's body on Wilmington Avenue, a block from King/Drew Medical Center.

Officials closed the Harbor and Century freeways for almost two hours to search for shell casings.

Woolum called the shooting "very scary, very tragic." Anyone with information has been asked to call the sheriff's homicide bureau at (323) 890-5500.

Woolum also warned motorists to be "extremely cautious."

"If someone is shooting at you … pull right into a sheriff's station, a fire station, a place of safety," Woolum said. "Never pull off to the side of the road and confront somebody."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1149223/posts

The UN sex for food scandal and Abu Ghraib
Peter Jenkins
BrookesNews.Com
Monday 7 June 2004

The Independent has recently reported that UN peacekeeping forces in the Congo have been raping and impregnating girls as young as thirteen years old in exchange for food.

Recently, I penned an article concerning the response of the left wing press to the execution of Nicholas Berg. The response ranged from not reporting the story at all to blaming the incident on the United States and Israel ? the favorite straw men of the Left.

The Left continues to carp on Abu Ghraib even though some of the soldiers have been punished while others still face trial. The Left wants a pound of flesh in the form of resignations from Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice for starters.

This would only undermine the Bush Administration and that is precisely what the Left wants. How else to explain the rantings of Senator Edward Kennedy, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and most recently former Vice President Al Gore in his infamous address in front of MoveOn.org at New York University? If it did not harm the Bush Administration, the Left would not have shed a tear for the prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Those who might doubt this conclusion need look no further than the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly known as Zaire) at the disgraceful behaviour of the United Nations peacekeeping force in that country. Known as MONUC (UN Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo), it was recently revealed by the UK newspaper The Independent that MONUC soldiers have been raping and impregnating girls as young as thirteen years old in exchange for food. The MONUC soldiers are from Morocco and Uruguay.

Kate Holt and Sarah Hughes, who co-authored the article, interviewed more than thirty girls who disclosed that they had been raped by the soldiers. Testimony from one girl named Faela is particularly chilling:

If I go and see the soldiers at night and sleep with them, then they give me food, maybe a banana or a cake,? she says, looking down at her son. ?I have to do it with them because there is nobody to care, nobody else to protect Joseph except me. He is all I have and I must look after him.

Faela is only thirteen years old.

These girls live in a camp for displaced person in Bunia that was set up by Atlas, an NGO, under UN supervision. Many of them came from the Ituri province, in the northeast of the country, which has been devastated by ethnic strife. Many of these girls are without families and have no one to feed, shelter and protect them. NGO workers seem afraid of the MONUC soldiers and are unwilling to help those who are most vulnerable. One relief worker who spoke to Holt and Hughes on the condition of anonymity said:

Yes, we know that girls go and visit the UN soldiers every night. There is nothing to stop them, and the girls need food. It is best to keep quiet, though. I am frightened that if I say something I may lose my job, and I have children of my own to feed.

While the UN has announced an internal investigation into the matter there is little reason to be optimistic. First of all, since the girls are "internally displaced persons" they do not come under the mandate of the UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR). As for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), its head Matteo Frontini, while concerned with the girls, said, "[T]here is an urgent need for more UN agencies to be operational in Bunia, as well as an increased response from the Congolese government."

Well, Frontini did not name the UN agencies he thought should be involved and given that the Congolese government is in the midst of a civil war, don?t count on them to be forthcoming with assistance.

Surely, one would think that the rape of girls in a refugee camp would warrant the same level of attention as abuse of terrorists in a prison. But so far Senator Kennedy, House Minority Leader Pelosi and former Vice President Gore, who can't talk enough about Abu Ghraib, fall silent when it comes to girls being raped by UN peacekeepers.

So far left wing periodicals such as The Nation, The Progressive, The American Prospect and Mother Jones have also been silent, choosing to focus on Abu Ghraib.

And I thought the Left cared about the rights of women and girls and opposed their exploitation. So why the silence concerning the Congo? I can think of three reasons:

A) The Left cannot find the Democratic Republic of the Congo on a map.

B) The Left believes that the UN is above criticism.

C) The Left cannot blame the United States or Israel for the rape of the Congolese girls.

The first reason admittedly is a bit of an exaggeration, of course. But given their tunnel vision concerning the Middle East it is not far from the truth. The second reason has been demonstrated amply in recent years, with the Left looking upon the UN as a sacrosanct organization that need not be accountable for its action. The Left looked the other way as the UN has fumbled its way in Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia and most notably in Rwanda.

As for the third reason, you can bet that if the incident in the Democratic Republic of the Congo involved Americans and Israelis it would make the front page of the New York Times everyday for a month as Abu Ghraib has done. But in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Al Gore has no one to admonish with a "How dare they." Ted Kennedy will not criticize the management of Congolese displacement camps. Nancy Pelosi will not declare that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to be incompetent.

No one should have a monopoly on caring for our fellow man. But in America, the only persons and organizations that have drawn attention are the Fox News Channel, Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review Online and Andrew Sullivan.

Once again, I am left to shake my head and am forced to ask: Where's the Outrage?

My Comment: One might also ask since the Vatican was so quick to jump on the Abu Ghraib scandal, why has it been so silent about this scandal? Well, maybe Bono will five the Pope a new pair of sunglasses.

Unfortunately, oceanview, LI's liberal base seems to wield more power of recent (when I say LI, I mean only Nassau and Suffolk; I don't include the NYC boros). It is a shame. overall, we were always a Republican stronghold except for a few liberal fiefdoms in North Hempstead and on the very east end. Now we are back to having both county legislatures ruled by dems. This last happened in the mid '80s. Do you also reside here? I started noticing shifts when the hitlerybitch ran in 2000; too many sheeple drank the coolaid it seems.

I stopped following the CT power line fight. I last heard that the court ordered it to be powered on again within the last few weeks; I may have misheard. In the end, nuke plants are a no-no for LI.

I agree with you, bethshaya, that it is just ludicrous to place a nuke plant in a heavy populated area with no multiple routes of evacuation (and we know that describes LI). We are water locked all around and the major roadways are way too few and during normal hours with no emergencies the roads are blocked with heavy traffic. Rush hour is now at any hour.

The opposition to Shoreham was successful throughout my childhood years, but if it were to happen all over again, I would now join the fight as an adult. We need other power sources for sure. I keep saying solar, but no one is listening and I really do not have any other ideas.

I've just put up the original image of the Arabic statement put out by Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula. It's at:
http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/ahlam-1086622448.jpg

Al Jernan is a fake and doesn't have any information whatsoever other than what she/they read on the web. Her/Their name(s) are known and they are being investigated by the feds. I think they will be learning that it isn't good form to pull a practical joke like this.

While looking for the Portugal UFO thingie, I found this.

Saturday June 5, 4:22 PM
Air Portugal, South African Airways and Blue1 to join Star Alliance

http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/040605/1/3kuhb.html

Let's see...so far we got power troubles because of tree limbs, birds, squirrels, and now snakes. I wonder what is next?!

In 1999, a cute little squirrel got into trouble on top of a telephone pole across from my house, causing his or her lose of life plus a loud pop and a short power outage to part of my block. I will never forget seeing that squirrel's cute bushy tail laying motionless up on the power box. But still, it was not a wide power outage at all, just a block or so and the power company arrived to quickly fix it.

Thank you for your analysis.

Let's see what the return of the cicadas does!

06/07/2004 # 1
TerroristWarning.com Headlines 06/07/2004 # 1

TerroristWarning.com Terrorism Headlines 06/07/2004 # 1

National:

[REUTERS] USA - Al Qaeda Warns of Attacks on Western Airlines

"All compounds, bases and means of transport, especially Western and American airlines, will be a direct target for our coming operations in the near future," said the statement, posted on an pro-al Qaeda site on the Internet. It asked Muslims to keep away from Americans and Westerners and these locations"

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5362782

[Boston Globe] USA - Are we prepared for the next 9/11?

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/06/04/are_we_prepared_for_the_next_911

[American Daily] USA - George Bush's Wildly Successful War On Terrorism

"in 2003, annual international terrorist attacks dropped to their lowest level since 1969"

http://www.americandaily.com/article/377

[NBC4.TV] CALIFORNIA - Four Brothers Detained For Supporting Alleged Terrorist Group [ 4 Iranians ]

http://www.nbc4.tv/news/3389719/detail.html

[AP] MARYLAND/ DC - Amtrak Train Searched After Report of Passengers Acting Suspiciously

"Dan Stessel, an Amtrak spokesman, said trains are stopped because of similar reports about once a week, although passengers are not usually detained"

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBQ14BW5VD.html

[Newsday] NEW JERSEY - FBI denies mishandling man who told of hijack training

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-nj--hijackerwarning0604jun04,0,4573987.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

[Men's News Daily] USA - Yahoo Continues to Host al Qaeda Mouthpiece

http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/r/reynalds/04/reynalds060404.htm

[ProFindPages.com] GEORGIA - G8 Summit Next "Terrorist" Target? [ TerroristWarning.com does not necessarily agree with the content of this message ]

"There are indications to suggest that the next "terrorist" attack on the US may occur at the G8 Summit, Sea Island Georgia between the 8th and 10th of June 2004 "

http://www.profindpages.com/news/2004/06/03/MN137.htm

[News4Jax.com] GEORGIA - Signs Of G8 Security, Protests Hard To Miss In Coastal Georgia

http://www.news4jax.com/news4georgia/3383495/detail.html

[WTVM] GEORGIA - Local Law Enforcement on Way to Do Security at G-8 Summit

"In all, 20,000 federal, state and local officers will be on hand in case of a terrorist attack or vandalism from protestors"

http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=1919329&nav=8fapNfkJ

[Straits Times] GEORGIA - Fortress Georgia for G-8 summit

"a pre-emptive state of emergency declared in six Georgia counties and intelligence on known activists distributed to law enforcement agencies"

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,254623,00.html

[Access North Georgia] GEORGIA - Brunswick airport closed after fake bomb threat

http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=39554

[SunHerald.com] MISSISSIPPI - Bomb squad checks device at USM's Long Beach campus

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/8841300.htm

[San Diego Union Tribune] CALIFORNIA - Suspicious package prompts mall evacuation

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20040604-1337-bombscare.html

[WHDH-TV] MASS - Airline Hijack Scare [ Possible transponder malfunction, jets scrambled, false alarm ]

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/B44440/

[WJZ] MARYLAND - BioTerror Drill Planned in Baltimore

http://wjz.com/localstories/local_story_156110717.html

[KTBS] LOUISANA - Dentist writing book about hijackers falls ill [ Poisoned ]

"dentist who claims he met three of the Sept. 11 hijackers in Shreveport one year before the attacks has mysteriously fallen ill and is on life support"

http://www.ktbs.com/news-detail.html?cityid=1&hid=23956

[Genome News Network ] TEXAS - Deaths Blamed on Mysterious Microbe with Anthrax Genes

http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/2004/06/04/anthrax_genes.php

[KTVB] IDAHO - Robot explodes pipe bomb left at Twin Falls church

http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-june0404-bomb_church.22bc1e78e.html

[Winston Salem Journal] NORTH CAROLINA - Exercising for Preparedness

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031775888891&path=!localnews!localgov&s=1037645509123

[National Post] CANADA - Several Montreal hospitals hit with outbreak of virulent infection

"We're seeing an increased trend and we're alarmed,"

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=fab1ff7e-2f49-475e-a4b3-ed24480f8630

[Cortez Journal] COLORADO _ Sheriff: Pipe bombs pose serious threat

"Several area homes have been the recipients of not-so-special deliveries within the last two weeks "

http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/news040605_4.htm

[WHIOtv.com] OHIO - Man Tries To Break Airport Security

http://www.whiotv.com/news/3385825/detail.html

[phillyburbs.com] TENNESSEE - Military, FBI look into suspicious calls to guard families

"Clark urged anyone else who receives suspicious phone calls to alert the unit's leadership as well as local law enforcement"

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/104-06052004-312033.html

[CP] CANADA - Canada-U.S. border reopened after bomb-detecting robot checks suspicious car

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2004/06/06/488689-cp.html

[KIFI] IDAHO - Illegal Hazardous Material in Salmon [ FBI, DHS investigating 41 barrels of sodium metal, being sold on internet auction ]

"can cause severe burns of the eyes, digestive and respiratory tracts, and it's highly explosive"

http://www.localnews8.com/home/815307.html

Patriot Act Articles:

[NEWSWEEK] USA - The 'Patriot' Search - Buying a home? Prepare to pay to have your name checked against a government list of suspected terrorists

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5131685/site/newsweek/

[Reuters] USA - Media Subpoenas in U.S. Terror Case Raise Concerns

"The really dangerous precedent I'm seeing from this case is the increasing reliance on journalists to be an investigatory arm of the government."

http://www.reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=5348181

[Wired News] USA - Cities Say No to the Patriot Act

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,63702,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1

[Seattle Post Intelligencer] USA - Security, privacy debated at conference on Patriot Act

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/176395_patriot04.html

International:

[Voice of America] RUSSIA - Bomb Explodes at Russian Oil Refinery

"a second timebomb was found at the scene, but it failed to explode."

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=32274C56-1ACC-4D48-987EB87E61CAE703

[Xinhuanet] SAUDI ARABIA - 2 BBC men shot in Riyadh

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-06/07/content_1511458.htm

[Reuters] SAUDI ARABIA - Saudi Qaeda Leader Lauds Attacks for Hiking Oil Price

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5349105

[International Herald Tribune] SAUDI ARABIA - Saudis let 3 gunmen walk, official says

http://www.iht.com/articles/523223.htm

[NEWS.com.au] PAKISTAN - Pakistan arrest al-Qaeda militants

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9746132%255E1702,00.html

[Pakistan Link] PAKISTAN - General Sultan says an al-Qaeda suspect arrested

http://www.pakistanlink.com/headlines/June04/07/03.html

[AP] PAKISTAN - Pakistan Warns Western Aid Groups of Suicide Attack Plot by Taliban, Al-Qaida

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBL3DHS3VD.html

[AP] AFGHANISTAN - U.S. Troops, Planes Kill Eight Taliban in Growing Clashes in Southern Afghanistan, Official Says

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBR4DIO3VD.html

[Reuters] ITALY - Italian anti - mafia police seize 100 kg explosives [ TNT for sale ]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05551518.htm

[Channel News Asia] SUDAN - Darfur rebels seize 16 Sudanese working for UN: Sudanese government

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/88629/1/.html

[AP] CHINA - Mystery poisoning in Chinese village sickens almost 200

http://www.whnt19.com/Global/story.asp?S=1919978

[Melbourne Herald Sun] GREECE - OLYMPICS - Nuclear fears over Olympics

"NUCLEAR bomb ingredients are missing in Libya, raising fears in the CIA about the security of the Athens Olympic Games"

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,9757004%255E663,00.html

[Reuters] ALGERIA - Algeria Group Linked to Al Qaeda Says Behind Ambush [ Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat ]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=5352223

[AP] COLOMBIA - At Least 10 Injured in Colombia Car Bombing

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBTVNXR6VD.html

[AP] IRAQ - Gunmen Kill Senior Official of Iraq's Largest Shiite Party in Baghdad

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB0VH0R6VD.html

[AP] AFGHANISTAN - U.S. Warplanes Pound Insurgents in Afghan Cave Complex

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB8BZ3Q6VD.html

[Borneo Bulletin] PHILIPPINES - High alert on Abu Sayyaf bombers

"Philippine police have stepped up security in the capital following intelligence reports that Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels would be dispatched from the south to conduct bombings"

http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/mon/jun7w9.htm

Donna, I can't find that UFO in Portugal article. They are full of that soccer match and the Venus transit on the Science sites. Drat. WIsh I'd gotten it when I saw it.

Basically, it said some flashing lights were seen by pilots, and the military and by witnesses on the ground. They don't know what they were, but deemed nothing dangerous. Don't think it was meteors.

If I see it again, I'll grab it.

If you cancel, they've won.

Go, enjoy yourself!

Dang it Calpernia, now I'm thinking about the movie "The Mouse That Roared"!

Air force on alert about UFO

03/06/2004 20:52 - (SA)

Lisbon - The Portuguese airforce has been on alert since late on Tuesday, when several authorities and witnesses reported seeing a luminous unidentified flying object, the national press reported.

"Military radar surveillance has been increased and F16 planes are ready for take-off," reported the tabloid daily, Correio da Manha, on Thursday.

It said the Portuguese civil protection service had received scores of calls from people who reported briefly seeing a silent, luminous object in the sky on Tuesday night, giving off white smoke.

Colonel Carlos Barbosa of the air force confirmed to Lusa news agency that military radars had detected "a target... that was not identified as a plane" for two or three minutes.

The national air traffic control authority, Navegacao Aerea de Portugal (NAV), also confirmed a UFO had been spotted in the north and south of the country just before midnight on Tuesday.

Not a meteorite, says researcher

"The control tower in Oporto (north) detected a flying object which had been observed 25 minutes earlier in Montijo and Beja (south)," said NAV's Paulo Lagarto.
The authorities were unable to say what the mysterious object was.

But José Fernando Monteiro, a geology researcher at Lisbon's science university, said he had consulted United States air defence officials and the UFO could not have been a meteorite.

If it had been a meteorite, it would have travelled much faster and made a lot of noise, he told Correio da Manha and Lusa.

The European Space Agency said the UFO was not a falling satellite either and the Portuguese weather service said there was no meteorological explanation for the phenomenon.
The only person to come up with a possible explanation was astronomist José Matos, who said the UFO might have been an Iridium telecommunications satellite.

"These satellites orbit at a height of about 780km. They each have three antennae, which are polished like mirrors and reflect the light of the sun," he told the media.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1537275,00.html

That's good to hear!