Threat Matrix: May 2008

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[nwctwx]

U.S. Wary Of Small Boat Terrorism

As boating season approaches, the Bush administration wants to enlist America's 80 million recreational boaters to help reduce the chances that a small boat could deliver a nuclear or radiological bomb somewhere along the 95,000 miles of U.S. coastline and inland waterways.

According to an April 23 intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press, "The use of a small boat as a weapon is likely to remain al Qaeda's weapon of choice in the maritime environment, given its ease in arming and deploying, low cost, and record of success."

While the United States has so far been spared this type of strike in its own waters, terrorists have used small boats to attack in other countries. Read More

	U.S. Confirms Somali Missile Strike
	Fight Al Qaeda's Plan, Not its Ideas
	FACTBOX: Major al Qaeda Leaders Killed or Captured

Threat Matrix:
May 2008

April 2007

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Preparedness

[Cindy]

UPDATE:

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/may08/sandiego_050408.html

“SAN DIEGO COURTHOUSE EXPLOSION INVESTIGATION”
05/05/08 (updated)

PRESS RELEASE SNIPPET: “If you have any information concerning the incident, please contact the San Diego Joint Terrorism Task Force at (858) 565-1255 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-TIPS.”

###

Previously...

http://sandiego.fbi.gov/pressrel/2008/sd050408.htm

“Joint Terrorism Task Force Responds to Explosion at Federal Courthouse”
(May 4, 2008)

[Cindy]

memriiwmp.org/content/en/more_islamist_web_status.htm?param=IStatus

#

http://www.aftau.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6975

“A Digital Haven for Terrorists on Our Own Shores?”
Monday, May 5, 2008

“Mainstream Internet companies a home for terrorist websites, TAU study finds”

(Hat Tip to The Jawa Report for referring to this article on their blog.)

[Cindy]

blog:

http://memriiwmp.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=380

“Islamist Forum Member Proposes Attacks On Saudi Royal Family”

Posted May 5, 2008

[MamaDearest]

You're welcome Oorang.

Suspect charged in Philly cop's slaying, 2nd suspect sought

Cain was shot as police pursued the gunmen, authorities said.

"The sergeant didn't have a chance," Blackburn said, adding that Liczbinski was shot at least five times.

Police recovered two vehicles, one of which contained a high-powered assault rifle with 25 live rounds. They found other weapons, $38,000 and several sets of Muslim clothing that the suspects apparently wore as disguises, police said.

[MamaDearest]

Off topic: Organic produce from Mexico meets US rules

was wondering how strict the standards and inspections of organic produce from Mexico are. I bought some organic celery today that I didn't realize, until I got home, was grown in Mexico. The organic strawberries, tomatoes, celery, etc., have brand names in English but are grown in Mexico.

Imported organic produce undergoes the same certification process as organic produce grown in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, all products, imported and domestic, "sold, labeled or represented as organic in the United States" must be certified by an accredited certifying agent. The USDA has certifying agents in several countries, including Mexico. For more information, visit www.ams.usda.gov/nop.

Border agents discover 61 people in tractor-trailer

Snippets: Border Patrol agents discovered 61 Mexican nationals inside a tractor-trailer during a vehicle stop on eastbound Interstate 8........

Agents stopped the truck at about 9:15 p.m. and interviewed the driver, who admitted he was in the country illegally, officials said.

Border crossing scare

A piece of unattended luggage shut down the Highgate border crossing for nearly three hours Monday.

The crossing was closed shortly after noon when someone noticed a suitcase sitting in the grass. Customs enforcement officials could not find the owner of the luggage so the Vermont State Police bomb squad was called up to investigate.

[MamaDearest]

Date rape drug seized at border

More than 21 vials of date rape drugs were seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge, Friday. CBP officers stopped a car driven by an 18-year-old Toronto man after it crossed the bridge to Lewiston, N.Y.

Train derailment in Mammoth Springs

In Fulton County investigators are looking for the reason a train derailed this morning. It happened in Mammoth Spring just south of the Missouri border. The train was carrying cargo and some hazardous materials derailed around 11:30 Monday morning.

[RDTF]

thanks for the ping. It was mentioned on the DC local news last night that the bomb materials were sent to Quantico. They also mentioned that there was more than one ‘bomb’.

[Cindy]

Thanks RDTF.
I appreciate that the update.

[Cindy]

Thanks MamaDearest for pointing to that article.

I’ll post up the suspects’ (dead and alive) names for archival purposes.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&um=1&tab=wn&q=%22Levon+Warner%22&btnG=Search+News

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=us&q=%22Eric+Floyd%22&btnG=Search+News

[Cindy]

Thanks to a special freepmailer for sending in this article:

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080505__I_would_call_it_an_execution_.html

osted on Mon, May. 5, 2008

“’I would call it an execution’”

By DAFNEY TALES & CHRISTINE OLLEY
Philadelphia Daily News
talesd@phillynews.com 215-854-5084

SNIPPET: “NOTE: THIS STORY HAS BEEN CORRECTED.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “”I would call it an execution,” said Deputy Police Commissioner William Blackburn. “The sergeant had no chance.”

He was hit at least five times, police said, and left to die in the street.

Neighbors who heard the staccato blasts from the weapon rushed out of their homes with towels and any other kind of cloth they could snatch up to help stanch the blood. But it was too late. The 12-year veteran cop, who was to turn 40 tomorrow, died at Temple University Hospital.

A short time later, the alleged gunman, identified as Howard Cain, 33, was shot and killed by police at Louden and Rorer streets. Later on, another suspect, Levon Warner, 38, was arrested. A third man, Eric DeShawn Floyd, 33, remained at large last night and was the subject of a massive police hunt.”

[Cindy]

Thanks MamaDearest.

I’ll check my producsts I buy more carefully.

I didn’t know that.

[MamaDearest]

US organic companies are importing more and more organic foods from overseas

Snippets: Advocates tout organic food as a salvation for small U.S. farms. But more and more, organic food isn't American at all. The apples included.

Companies are cutting costs by importing not only bananas and coffee but also all-American commodities like soybeans, fruits and vegetables, and now even beef. The imports also feed U.S. consumers' growing demand for organic products — sales are increasing 20 percent a year nationwide.

Cascadian Farm, a major name in organic frozen produce that started out buying commodities in the Pacific Northwest, now buys many of its fruits and vegetables from overseas.

According to package labels, the broccoli is from Mexico, the asparagus from China, the green peas from New Zealand, and the cherries and raspberries from Chile. Even the California-style vegetable mix isn't entirely American; some of the veggies originate in China.

Trader Joe's, a fast-growing grocery chain that attracts upscale shoppers with moderately priced natural foods, also is going to China and South America for its produce.

Fresh organic produce, including Chilean apples and Mexican vegetables, also is being widely imported by U.S. stores when domestic product is out of season, according to the Organic Trade Association.

Consumers "don't realize that the USDA seal does not mean made in the USA," said Wende Elliott of Colo, Ia., who founded a cooperative of organic livestock producers.

The USDA has appointed 99 companies and government agencies to certify organic farms and processors. Forty-three of those certifiers are based overseas, and some U.S. agencies also handle foreign certifications.

Organic food facts

CONTAMINANTS: Government tests show that red raspberries, strawberries, apples, and peaches grown in the U.S. and cantaloupe from Mexico are the foods most contaminated with pesticides. The fruits least contaminated with pesticides are watermelon, bananas, kiwi, pineapple, and domestically grown cantaloupe. The least contaminated vegetables include corn, onions and peas.

[MamaDearest]

Manhole security barriers flying off shelves

Snippets: You don't know, it but every time you walk or drive down the street potential threats to your safety are literally under your feet. Those round portals to the sewers are veritable open doors for anyone with a nasty plan and the means of moving 100 pounds of solid metal.

MBSS is urging cities to lock up their manholes to prevent terrorism as well as to avoid liability if sued by someone who falls in one.

FBI confirms stateside terror cells

FBI Director Robert Mueller said last week that the FBI has uncovered small groups of Al Qaida terrorists in the United States, although he declined to provide details.

[AnimalLover]

bingo

[Cindy]

“...small groups of Al Qaida terrorists in the United States...”

OPINION:

Thank you MamaDearest and not surprising.

[Cindy]

blog:

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/192596.php

May 05, 2008
“Taliban Sets Deadline: Stop Shaving Beards”

#

http://howrah.org/World/11487.html

“Taliban: 2 months to grow beard”
05 May, 2008 03:57:49

By OUR PAKISTAN CORRESPONDENT

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Islamabad, May 5: Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has set a deadline of two months for all males to stop shaving beards in tribal areas. The TTP central Naib Amir (deputy leader) Maulvi Faqir Mohammed and spokesperson Maulvi Umar have warned the people in tribal areas to be careful and avoid shaving beards.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Beards were mandatory under the harsh Taliban regime which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 as part of a strict morality code that also made women wear the all-encompassing burka and outlawed music and other entertainment.”

[Cindy]

ON THE INTERNET:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRgEw2FEiE8

###
###

stepping back in time...

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060905-4.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060905-4.v.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060905-4.pod.a.mp3

[Cindy]

http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html

#

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/020905.php
(NEW YORK TIMES)

May 6, 2008

“U.S. officials: Hizballah training Iraq jihadists in Iran”

[Cindy]

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200805/FOR20080506b.html

“India Troubled by Chinese Submarine Reports”
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
May 06, 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “(CNSNews.com) - Revelations of advances in China’s nuclear-powered submarine capabilities and naval expansion are having an impact in India, whose own plans for nuclear submarines have undergone lengthy delays.

New satellite images released by the Jane’s group of defense publications late last week indicate that the Chinese are building a major strategic naval base on Hainan island, south of the mainland.

Jane’s reported that commercially available satellite imagery from the DigitalGlobe Corp. confirmed reports circulating since 2002 about the existence of an underground submarine base. It said 11 tunnel openings were visible at the base near Sanya, on the island’s southern tip.

Also visible at the port was China’s new Type 094 nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), known by NATO as the Jin-class.

According to SinoDefence.com, an independent information source based in Britain, the Jin-class has 12 missile silos and will be equipped with Julang-2 submarine-launched ballistic missiles with a reported maximum range of almost 5,000 miles.”

###

http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/papers27/paper2687.html

Paper no. 2687
01-May-2008

“Security Threats Facing India: External and Internal”
by A. K. Verma

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/veronicaguerin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656223/posts

#

UPDATE...

QUOTE:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656223/posts?page=42#42

http://www.truthusa.com/NewsInternetGuerin.html

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=%22Veronica+Guerin%22&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d

#

Note: Photo included.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/villainous-holland-back-in-familiar-surroundings-1366622.html

“’Villainous’ Holland back in familiar surroundings”

National News Home
By Don Lavery
Sunday May 04 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Career criminal Patrick Dutchy Holland — the Dublin thug named in court by a garda officer as the man who shot dead Sunday Independent journalist Veronica Guerin 12 years ago — will see out much of his old age in the same way as he has spent a lot of his life, behind bars.

Holland, who denied being involved in the journalist’s murder and who was never convicted of the cowardly killing, will be in his mid-70s by the time he gets out of a British prison after his latest bumbling attempt at becoming a master criminal in the UK.”

#

Note: Photos included.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7380495.stm

Page last updated at 14:50 GMT, Friday, 2 May 2008 15:50 UK

“Guerin suspect jailed for kidnap”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “A man police suspect of killing Irish journalist Veronica Guerin has been jailed for planning a £10m “honey trap” plot to kidnap a businessman.

Patrick Holland, 68, and others aimed to place a secretary at Nasir Zahid’s firm and persuade her to ask him on a date before grabbing him.

But she was unable to get a job at his firm, Blackfriars Crown Court heard.
Holland was found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap and jailed for eight years. Four more people have also been jailed.

Kahn Coombs, 24, of no fixed address and the gang’s bait for Mr Zahid, was jailed for four years.

Gerrard Booth, 47, of Co Down, was jailed for seven years and John McDonnell, 45, of Lewisham, south-east London, was jailed for eight years.
They were all found guilty of conspiracy to kidnap.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “During Holland’s recent two-month trial, the jury saw lengthy surveillance evidence of him meeting his alleged paymaster, Patrick Van Cantfort, a wealthy European businessman. He is currently being sought by police.

They heard he ordered the kidnapping apparently believing Mr Zahid had double-crossed him over an alleged £10m VAT fraud.

Crime reporter Ms Guerin was killed by a motorcycle pillion passenger in the Irish Republic on June 26, 1996.

The following year, Holland was arrested and jailed for possession of 10kgs (22lbs) of cannabis resin.

His trial heard the Irish police officer who arrested him believed he killed the 37-year-old.”

42 posted on May 6, 2008 3:17:39 AM PDT by Cindy