Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread Twenty-Six

[nwctwx]

Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Thread Twenty-Six (Index)

Google News : Google Images : News Hotlinks

The Threat Matrix

The title refers to a daily report given to the president of the United States detailing the most serious terrorist threats against the country. To tackle those threats, the government has formed a top-notch task force to infiltrate the terror cells and cut off the danger.

"Every morning, the president receives a list of the top ten terrorist threats - this list is known as the threat matrix."

We here at FR are trying to be in conjunction with the daily reports around the world that involve threats. We try to provide a storehouse of information that takes hours of research.

YOU be the judge and get informed!

Details show extent of terror plot against U.S.
Full Story

We now know more about an alleged attack that triggered an increased national threat level last summer.

That's when U.S. officials said they had uncovered a plot targeting financial institutions. The plot involved bombs, banks and British nationals.

The detail was startling, the targets enormous. They included financial buildings in Washington, New York and New Jersey.

Related:
Trio charged for terror plot in US
Threat Matrix #15 (August 31, 2004) :: Big Apple Terror?

"I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat."

Threat Matrix's "TM'er" Tips	Link to Thread Twenty-Five "Code Red Implications: Code Red - Stay Home and Await Word." From Tm'er and Freeper ~MamaDearest~	TM Terrorism Handbook
TM Code of Conduct		ExSoldier's Invaluable Tips
TM's 'Be on the Lookout'		Godzilla's Summaries
Threat Matrix Book List		Tracking the Chatter with TM

TM designed by: Ian Livingston

[freeperfromnj]

Thanks for that update Vel.

[nwctwx]

Questions about al-Zarqawi fuel rumor mill
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/11738490.htm

CAIRO, Egypt — The Internet and Baghdad streets are teeming with statements about terror chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

One says he's being treated outside Iraq for gunshot wounds to the lung. Another calls on Muslims to pray for him, indicating his condition may be dire.

Only one thing is sure: None is confirmed.

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

I know we have been down this falcon road before but. Did you guys see this on Fox news? Some sheet head was on t.v. talking about how the Arabs were using the falcons to pass messages and they were trying to save them. Yeah right!

from there website (and I am to trust this group and send them money?)LOL

About Us


U.C.R. is a coalition of concerned scientists, Congressmen, Senators, Ambassadors, law enforcement personnel, field operatives, lawyers and law reform advocates. While technically a private non-governmental organization (N.G.O.), U.C.R.’s Board members collaborate with Government to a degree that the company may be more accurately characterized as a unique and functional hybrid between the private sector and Government.

http://www.savethefalcons.org/about.aspx


Could have been a signal, could be telling terrorist to use only the falcons for messages, could be terrorist money operation. Paranoid city here.

http://www.savethefalcons.org/default.aspx

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is an exact quote:
===
===

http://www.dot.gov/affairs/shanesp052405.htm

TRANSPORTATION POLICY TRENDS IN THE UNITED STATES:
MEETING THE CHALLENGE OF GLOBALIZATION

Remarks of
Jeffrey N. Shane
Under Secretary for Policy
United States Department of Transportation

European Conference of Ministers of Transport
Moscow, Russia
May 24, 2005

Good morning. I want to thank the ECMT for affording me the opportunity to share a few thoughts about U.S. actions to address global challenges in freight. It is clear from the discussion of Europe-Asia transportation links that we are facing many of the same challenges: as in Europe, every year the U.S. economy grows more dependent on global markets. International trade now accounts for nearly one-third of the U.S. GDP and will continue to climb upward, with freight volumes expected to increase by at least 50 percent by the year 2020.

Furthermore, world trade and sourcing patterns are changing. We are increasingly relying on resources and manufacturing in China and other locations in Asia. For example, over 40 percent of mainland China export value is accounted for by exports to the U.S. and Europe, compared with less than 20 percent in 1990. U.S. shipping companies are forecasting Asia-to-U.S. cargo growth of between ten percent and 12 percent this year alone.

This demand means that we are more dependent on the output of the transportation sector. In fact, transportation is now embedded in the very fabric of our economy as never before. American businesses are integrating transportation into their just-in-time manufacturing and inventory processes so that transportation isn’t just a service to manufacturers; it is an essential part of the manufacturing process. It isn’t just a service to retailing; it is a surrogate for inventory maintenance. Therefore, bottlenecks in the supply chain, if left unaddressed, will have far more serious economic consequences than ever before.

In the U.S., the challenge is that, while we have achieved significant gains from robust service competition, transportation companies are operating on an aging infrastructure network that is performing less reliably and efficiently. Congestion costs are escalating in every urban area of the country because of the inability to efficiently deliver goods to the marketplace.

The same forces of competition, innovation, and customer-driven growth that we unleashed by deregulating the service businesses need to be applied to the underlying network itself. Neither private sector nor the capital markets are being sufficiently used to improve the U.S. national transportation system, particularly highways, airports, and seaports.

The problem is not simply finding sufficient revenues to build new projects. We must also begin tearing down legal, regulatory, and cultural obstacles to creativity and risk-taking in the provision of infrastructure. These obstacles slow the deployment of new technologies, stifle innovation, and lead us to neglect potential efficiencies that could arise from improved system management. We have an enormous and growing demand for transportation services, something that – in a more market-driven system – would readily translate into new infusions of supply.

President Bush’s legislative proposal for the next few years of America’s highway, transit, and safety programs lays an important foundation for reform. The reauthorization package includes a number of actions to improve freight transportation including: dedicated funding for intermodal connectors; the establishment of a freight coordinator in each of the 50 state governments, and a number of public-private financing tools that will help those who carry or accommodate freight. Congress has responded by including much of what we proposed in the legislation that it is considering.

Under the leadership of my boss, Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, our Department has also developed a new “Freight Action Agenda” to help guide our partners, our stakeholders, and ourselves in our efforts to improve goods movement throughout our transportation system. The Freight Action Agenda lays out a vision that reaches far beyond where the Department has gone in the past, recognizing that freight policy, given its inherently intermodal nature, must be driven by strong leadership.

Our agenda includes initiatives to develop better freight data and analytical tools, improve intermodal freight research and technology, educate the next generation of freight professionals, and advance nationally significant freight projects.

We are focusing currently on three nationally significant freight Gateway projects -- in Chicago, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and Seattle -- because rapidly increasing demands on the system are creating serious bottlenecks in these high demand areas. If we fail to alleviate congestion in those particular areas, businesses’ track record of success will be jeopardized.

Equally important, our policy recognizes that State and local governments need greater freedom to pursue new and innovative ways of providing transportation services. That includes the freedom to experiment with dynamic, variable pricing on existing and new highways.

As the ECMT well knows, cutting-edge technologies now available are able to monitor traffic flows and make real-time price adjustments based on those flows. Efficient infrastructure pricing has the potential to significantly reduce congestion in all modes, as well as to significantly increase production. The benefits are evident every day on SR-91 in Southern California where the priced lanes carry twice as many vehicles per lane as the unpriced lanes at speeds 3 to 4 times faster. Not surprisingly, the public overwhelmingly supports continued pricing of the facility.

Our proposed surface transportation legislation would also eliminate the bias against private sector investments in highways and intermodal freight transfer facilities. Under current law, a public entity that turns over bond proceeds to a private developer must retain significant control over the project or else risk spoiling the tax-exempt status of the bonds. That restriction makes a privately constructed and managed project significantly more expensive than the same project built by a public agency, even if the private project is delivering comparable public benefits.

Not surprisingly, there have been no more than a handful of privately-owned and managed highways in the interstate era.

Even without these provisions, signs of change abound at the state level. Texas, Virginia, and the City of Chicago have all announced exciting new agreements with private sector owners and developers in the last six months. These agreements will result in the investment of billions of dollars in the United States transportation system. California, Delaware, and Florida are seriously exploring similar agreements. Major institutional investors, construction companies, and Wall Street are all starting to awaken to these trends.

I know that this is not an exclusively American trend. Both Europe and Asia have witnessed ambitious and creative efforts to harness the power of the private sector to boost transportation infrastructure.

So what are our next steps? Clearly, we must find strategies that can help us better manage and finance network assets. Right after our surface transportation legislation is passed and the full-scale implementation of our long-awaited freight gateway program commences, we will have a frank discussion with our stakeholders about what a more comprehensive set of strategies would look like to ensure that in the 21st Century transportation continues to serve as an engine of economic growth and not an impediment to it.

We will also develop a toolkit beyond what we currently possess. Market-based pricing, tax incentives, and cost service trade-offs are just a few examples of the kinds of policy tools that will help us to address freight capacity. As we explore all of these in more detail going forward, we will keep in mind a few points:

• we will celebrate our past success but realize that it has created a new set of demands;

• we recognize that freight impacts and benefits are not always evenly distributed;

• we acknowledge that we cannot just build our way out of this problem; and

• achieving the kind of integrated, intermodal network we envision will require a team effort of all our stakeholders.

In the global transportation community, of course, we are facing exactly the same kinds of issues and so we must learn from each other. The vision of a high-technology infrastructure brimming with creativity and innovation, and delivering more productivity gains will be realized only if transportation and business leaders are prepared to join in waging a sustained fight for change.

Thank you for allowing me to share these thoughts, and for your attention.

# # #

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

guys, watch out- hope everybody has the essentials, to me it looks like a point on a timeline has past. NFI (No farking idea)
= = = = = = = =
I agree with you it is like everything has hit high gear. Thanks for your post.

[Cindy]

http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050526/NEWS/505260408/1003/NEWS02

Southern Vermont
"Border patrol cuts back at checkpoint"

May 26, 2005
The Associated Press

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "HARTFORD — The U.S. Border Patrol has dramatically curtailed operations at a traffic checkpoint along Interstate 91 at the Hartford rest area, 97 miles from the Canadian border.

Assistant Chief Patrol Agent John Pfeifer of the Border Patrol's Swanton Sector said the cuts were not in response to criticisms about government intrusions nearly 100 miles from the border, but were due to more staff being needed elsewhere, particularly the Southwest.

"Obviously, it's reduced, as you can tell. We have reduced coverage down there based strictly on manpower issues," Pfeifer said.

The Swanton sector covers the three northernmost counties in New Hampshire, all of Vermont, and upstate New York to Ogdensburg. Other interior checkpoints include a stop in North Hudson, N.Y., along Interstate 87.

The Hartford checkpoint has drawn heated criticism from area residents concerned about government intrusion, and its impact on the war on terror was even questioned last month by former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich."

[Cindy]

Good morning pez.

So, what are you up to lately?
Haven't seen you around for awhile.

[Cindy]

That's interesting DC.
Thanks.

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.internet-haganah.us/harchives/004176.html

http://www.ribaat.org
http://ribaat2.forumactif.com/

[Cindy]

OFF TOPIC and giggling....

Sometimes research takes you to weird places...

http://forum.afghansite.com/index.php?s=44a16269ba0dec0d112ea1229045f5af&showtopic=1856

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...


http://www.taliban-online.info/
http://tonline.dkmhosting.com/mpn/viewtopic.php?forum=14&topic=3
http://tonline.dkmhosting.com/mpn/forum.php
http://therevivalforum.5gigs.com/forums/

http://www.jihadicastle.com/

[Velveeta]

I missed the report on Fox news.

It does give one pause...

Good catch, DC.

[Velveeta]

LOL. :-)

[Velveeta]

Chechen man held in Van Gogh murder investigation
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=20434&name=Chechen+man+held+in+Van+Gogh+murder+investigation

Insurgents Use Dogs as Suicide Bombs
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=hotnews&alt=&trh=20050526&hn=20016

U.S. Embassy diagram disclosed on Web site
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/26/news/indo.php

[Cindy]

Yep.

[Velveeta]

Qatar govt. banns use of underage children as child camel jockeys
http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/May05/26/10.htm

(Taking a computer break after reading this one)

[bored at work]

Hot Wax!!! Yikes. I would think thier women would be more concerned about thier mustaches . . .

[Cindy]

Incredible, isn't it?

[Cindy]

Smiling...

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.saintsandheroes.com/stoptosalute/
http://www.mwarrior.com/Utah%20flag%20Memorial.htm