Please, both of you, let us know how your critters are doing!
More embassies get bomb threats
Police reinforced security at several embassies in Metro Manila on Wednesday after some reported receiving bomb threats a day after the US Embassy closed due to “plausible threat information.”
Police Chief Supt. Wilfredo Garcia, in charge of diplomatic security, doesn’t believe the telephone threats came from terrorists, but he didn’t elaborate.
He said whoever called the US, Singaporean and Swiss embassies “talked about a car bomb,” prompting police to deploy additional officers in those sites.
The Israeli Embassy also requested extra security measures, although it had received no threats, he said.
“We heightened security at these embassies,” Garcia said. “But I don’t think this is coming from terrorists. We don’t have any history of car bombings in the Philippines.”
The US Embassy closed to the public on Tuesday, citing “plausible threat information.” It said in a statement it would reopen on Thursday.
Although often mentioned as a potential terrorist target, the embassy has rarely closed in the past.
The Philippines is home to the al-Qaeda-linked Muslim group Abu Sayyaf, which is on a US list of terrorist organizations.
US intelligence chief John Negroponte, the former US ambassador to the Philippines, arrived unannounced late Tuesday and met that same night with President Arroyo, embassy spokesman Matt Lussenhop said.
Negroponte was also due to meet with other top security officials on intelligence matters and the terrorism threat.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo had dinner with Negroponte on Tuesday, but would not say what the two had discussed.
Negroponte’s visit is believed not to be linked to the threat that prompted the US Embassy to close on Tuesday. It remained shut on Wednesday, and it was still evaluating when it could reopen, Lussenhop said.
During his visit, Negroponte, 65, who heads some 15 US intelligence agencies, will discuss “the full gamut of [security] issues, but obviously terrorism is the highest on the list,” the spokesman added.
The nature of the threat to the embassy has not been disclosed, but police have dispatched bomb squads to scour the area.
Bunye reassured the public that “deep intelligence gathering and preemptive measures are already in place to foreclose any serious breaches in our peace and order situation.”
He said security forces were working with foreign embassies to neutralize any threats, but he did not identify who might be behind the threats.
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2005/dec/08/yehey/top_stories/20051208top5.html
Snip: Osama Bin Laden is still alive and leading a "holy war" against the West, according to a videotaped statement by his right-hand man. Ayman al-Zawahri was speaking in a message posted on the internet and then broadcast by al-Jazeera.
Fuel theft at Harbor Island Fuel Depot
Snip: The IRS agent's affidavit also reveals that the federal government has assumed control of what had been a state investigation into the theft of nearly $3 million worth of fuel from the Harbor Island depot belonging to Texas-based Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, the largest independent terminal operator in the U.S. Federal investigators say the suspects ripped off not only Kinder Morgan, but also oil companies that owned the fuel, a fuel-transport company and consumers.
Five people have been identified as having conspired to steal the fuel, sell it to gas stations in Washington and launder the proceeds through bank accounts. No one has been charged, and a supervising prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle said Tuesday he did not know when charges might be filed.
What killed about 5,000 fish in Ecorse Creek (Michigan)?
Bruce Szczechowski, an environmental science teacher at Southgate Anderson High School, said he disputes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's preliminary finding that a sudden change in water temperature was responsible for the fish kill.
Szczechowski said that students in his environmental science class conducted tests of the water in Ecorse Creek near the LeBlanc Drain on Nov. 14 and Nov.18, within days of the kill.
They were measuring the amount of fecal coliform bacteria, or E.coli, and dissolved solids in the water, as well as its turbidity. Turbid water is water that is muddy or cloudy. Szczechowski said that on Nov. 18 he saw several dead gizzard chad floating in the drain.
The test results showed there were 10,000 bacterial colonies for every 100 milliliters of water, he said. He added that state law recommends no more than 300 colonies per milliliter. Since the water was so turbid and because of the high bacterial content, the fish likely were unable to extract oxygen from the water, Szczechowski said, causing them to suffocate.
Bryan Kelly of the EPA Large Lakes Research Station on Grosse Ile said tests to determine if E. coli was present were not performed by the various county, state and federal agencies that responded to the kill. "We did not look at that as a cause," Kelly said. "In communicating with the other agencies and because of the type of fish, it was our assessment (it) was temperature shock and we did not look at E. coli as a cause. At this point, it's not going to be considered as a cause."
However, should E. coli be found in the creek, Kelly said it would be a matter of concern and that it would be up to the state to handle the issue.