Threat Matrix- Daily Terror Thread (4):

New York Post ^ | February 24, 2004 | By NILES LATHEM

[Revel]

February 24, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has dispatched the elite commando force that hunted down Saddam Hussein to Afghanistan for a new operation aimed at getting Osama bin Laden, officials said yesterday. Military sources confirmed that members of the shadowy Task Force 121, the unit that conducted the high-tech search for Saddam and his henchmen, have recently begun operating in the remote mountainous region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border where bin Laden and key al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives are believed to be hiding. The Task Force is made up of highly trained Delta and SEAL commandos, as well as CIA paramilitary operators. It operates outside normal military channels.

[JustPiper]

Anyone?

[JustPiper]

I know many reports like this use to mean they were used for food ;(

[JustPiper]

California!!!

FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL OF EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN CA
FROM 6 PM TONIGHT UNTIL NOON THURSDAY.

FLOOD WATCH FOR THE SAN DIEGO RIVER AT FASHION VALLEY FROM 6 PM TONIGHT UNTIL NOON THURSDAY.

A STRONG PACIFIC STORM WILL MOVE INTO EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN
CA TONIGHT. RAIN.HEAVY AT TIMES.IS EXPECTED TO REACH
ORANGE COUNTY & THE INLAND EMPIRE EARLY THIS EVENING.THEN SPREAD SOUTHWARD OVERNIGHT REACHING S. SECTIONS OF SAN DIEGO BY LATE THIS EVENING. RAIN IS EXPECTED TO TURN TO SHOWERS THUR WITH SHOWERS CONTINUING INTO FRIDAY.

RAINFALL TOTALS THROUGH THUR MORNING SHOULD RANGE FROM ABOUT 1 TO 2 INCHES IN THE ORANGE COUNTY COASTAL PLAIN & INLAND EMPIRE WITH 3 TO 5 INCHES ON MOST LWR COASTAL SLOPES.BUT UP TO 7 INCHES ON THE SW FACING SLOPES OF THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS.

SAN DIEGO COUNTY COASTAL AREAS & INLAND VALLEYS SHOULD GET ABOUT 0.75 TO 1.50 INCHES WITH 2 TO 4 INCHES ON THE COASTAL MOUNTAIN SLOPES. DESERT AREAS SHOULD RECEIVE UP TO ABOUT AN INCH OF RAIN.

THE SNOW LEVEL WILL START OUT ABOVE 7000 FEET & THEN LWR TO NEAR 5000 FEET THUR MORNING. MUCH OF THE PRECIPITATION THROUGH TONIGHT WILL FALL AS RAIN EXCEPT AT THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS. THE LARGE RAINFALL TOTALS COULD EVENTUALLY CAUSE THE SAN DIEGO RIVER TO RISE TO NEAR FLOOD STAGE AT FASHION VALLEY.

LOCATIONS IN & BELOW THE RECENTLY BURNED AREAS WILL BE ESPECIALLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLASH FLOODING.MUD SLIDES.ROCK SLIDES.& DEBRIS FLOW. PEOPLE IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO QUICKLY MOVE TO SAFETY IF FLOODING OR MUD SLIDES OCCUR.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS RAPIDLY RISING WATER OR FLOODING IS POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA. IF YOU ARE IN THE WATCH AREA.

CHECK PREPAREDNESS REQUIREMENTS.KEEP INFORMED.& BE READY FOR QUICK ACTION IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED OR IF A WARNING IS ISSUED.

[JustPiper]

Breaking News Alert
WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush: U.S. will turn back Haitian refugees trying to reach American shores.

I want to know why he can't do this at our border's?

[Calpernia]

>>>>I always thought "Legion" was the name of a particular demon

I immediately thought of this:

[JustPiper]

Illinois officials have doubts about federal mercury emissions plan

February 25, 2004 — Some Illinois authorities say a Bush administration plan for limiting mercury emissions from coal-burning power plants won't help reduce pollution in northeastern Illinois.

The Environmental Protection Agency is holding a public hearing in Chicago today to discuss the issue.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/022504_ap_ns_mercuryemissions.html

[JustPiper]

The Aurora Water problem still not rectified!

Aurora's trying to find cause of bad water
By Patrick Waldron Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Wednesday, February 25, 2004
As the city of Aurora begins a state-ordered review of what contaminated the city's water supply, sparking a 9-day boil order, Kane County health officials said Tuesday no illnesses were reported during the incident.

"The illnesses were not there, which is good," county health department Administrator Mary Lou England said. "It went well."

England said the county's emergency response program was put into action as soon as a water problem was discovered the night of Feb. 6 and worked just as it was supposed to.

http://www.dailyherald.com/dupage/main_story.asp?intID=3804299

[Try2Discern]

Never mind about mention of that "coming 3 days" thing. After catching up a bit, I see the date discrepancy has already been pointed out!

[JustPiper]

Do we know of any building, particularly a government building with 100 stairwells?

Or it could be 100 martyrs?

[knak]

thank you

[knak]

District to Issue Warning on Lead -

D.C. health officials plan to announce today that all pregnant women and children younger than 6 who live in homes with lead service lines should immediately stop drinking unfiltered tap water and have their blood tested, a rare safety measure they say is necessary to safeguard the city's most vulnerable population.

[JustPiper]

Also Zawahiri had an easier time completing his threats "pre" 911 and there was what 8 years in between the WTC attacks?

[Calpernia]

>>>Cutting communications would seem to be a key component of causing widespread panic

The good thing though, is that is a double edged sword. They wouldn't be able to communicate either.

[JustPiper]

{{{Mystery illness}}}sickens guests at second wedding

{{{wedding }}}

February 25, 2004

BY DAN LAVOIE ((Chgo Sun Times}}

A virus that sickened guests at a Valentine's Day wedding in Orland Park also made guests at a second wedding sick.

Cook County health investigators at first thought the illness was limited to about 30 people who attended an afternoon wedding Feb. 14 at the Orland Chateau, 14500 La Grange Rd.

Now, they say that at least 19 guests -- and maybe dozens more -- who attended a wedding there that evening also were hit by a virus that caused severe diarrhea, vomiting and a low-grade fever.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-virus25.html

[Calpernia]

So it seems to me that the deal made during Roosevelt is over. The Royals no longer seek our protection.

Can we reopen out rigs in Gull Island?

[Ohioan]

WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush: U.S. will turn back Haitian refugees trying to reach American shores.

I want to know why he can't do this at our border's?

The influence of Karl Rove: Karl Rove--Dysron, Quack Or Mole?. I am sure that many, here, think that I am just "funning," over Karl. But no, there is a definite pattern in the way he is directing Republicans on issues that has to be faced. The sooner enough Republicans face this, the sooner those things which seem incongruous to common sense, will drift out of the picture.

William Flax

[JustPiper]

9/11 Panel: Rice won't appear at public hearing
02/25/04
The commission investigating the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks said Wednesday that National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice had declined their request to testify at a public hearing next month.
FULL STORY at CNN

[JustPiper]

They do this alot with Alias and 24!...and I think think 24 is filmed in Canada, how's that for getting paramoid! And your right Keifer takes the story lines smack out of today's headlines!

[Calpernia]

let me break the Ice
Do you think this is a clue? Coming from the north.

---

??????????????

Russia recently installed ATM for polar routes.

http://www.fsfi.avia.ru/en/3.shtml

Jane's Airport Review
November 2002 Vol. 14 Issue 9

Russia opens polar routes
Russia is making tracks with CNS/ATM technology

Paul Duffy

Òhe Magadan area control centre in far eastern Russia was first to use automatic dependent surveillance (ADS) to serve routes over the far north, and first to achieve certification for its CNS/ÀÒÌ workstation in 2001. Âó the end of next year, Murmansk, Anchorage and Edmonton expect to complete the coverage for the entire polar route system.

The installation of à satellite-based surveillance system enables suitably-equipped airlines to use cross-polar routes to link city pairs in North America and the Pacific. However, take up by the airlines has been slower than anticipated and benefits are still limited to à few routes.

Cross-polar operations were the main focus of the CNS/ÀÒÌ conference organised by IÑÀÎ European and North Atlantic office and the Flight Safety Foundation of Russia (FSFR) in July 2002. The meeting focused on the work being done to upgrade the management and equipment of Russian airspace, an area that covers over 25 million km? according to Leonid Sherbakov of Russia's State Service of Civil Aviation. IÑÀÎ regional director Europe and North Atlantic Christian Eigl opened the conference. "New GNS/GPS technology, and the rationalisation of ÀÒÌ regions from national borders have helped greatly to allow direct routing," he said. "All these will combine to allow us to reach the capacity goals we need to increase airspace capacity by à further 70%."

Magadan is on the coast of the Hunter' s Sea, just west of the Sakhalin peninsula. The centre is equipped with à CNS/ATM satellite based communications system installed by Arinc, and has direct telephone links with the FAA's centre at Anchorage installed by ÀÒ&Ò. Both centres successfully support seamless controller pilot datalink communications (CPDLC) services that allow continuous communications with pilots. General director of North-East Aeronavigatsia Vladimir Libov (recently transferred to St Petersburg-based North West Aeronavigatsia) says the system is in everyday operation serving the cross-polar routes.

The Russian-American Coordination Group for Air Traffic (RACGAT) meets every six months to exchange information on each potential route. "Up to now, we have concentrated on minimum flight time or minimum fuel burn, but little real analysis has been made of overall costs or benefits on each potential route," says Stephen Creamer of the FAA's Alaska Air Traffic Division. Íå adds that close collaboration is needed to ensure that operators can be assured of cost control, and that service providers can be assured of an income level capable of meeting costs.

Several airlines stand to benefit from the opening of long- range services using cross-polar routings from Japan to Europe and between Asia and North America across Russia. As à result of the last 12 years' work, these routes have become reality, offering the possibility for some airlines to shorten tracks, says Creamer. The work included resolving political and cultural differences as well as technical and financial issues. Íå says that regular contact with the airlines has given controllers better insight into the routes, levels and times preferred by the airlines. Different carriers and aircraft types require different levels and different speeds, and controllers have learnt to meet these preferences.

Operating costs dictate whether an airline chooses to fly à route on any given day. Unfavourable winds, for example, result in alter- native routes over the Northern Pacific (NOPAC) and this has meant that less use has been made of the routes than anticipated, with the result that user charges have been increased for subsequent periods.

Aircraft equipped with modern datalink and ADS stand to gain from the routes. United Airlines regional manager International Flight Dispatch Edgar Vaynshteyn says communications are generally good in polar regions and particularly âî in Russia, "CPDLC with Magadan is very good." The situation is different for airlines not equipped with satellite communications. These require greater separation and can reduce the capacity of the system.

On NOPAC routes, peak traffic demand exceeds capacity in busy periods, so the first cross-polar demonstration flights in 1998 were à welcome relief. With the existing trans-east and the Pacific track system on the world's busiest long- range network, they seemed to offer great potential. But the traffic has been slow to develop according to Creamer.

The installation of the satellite surveillance system in Magadan has allowed many additional city pairs to take advantage of cross-polar routes. Other area centres are considering similar investment, but the lack of regular usage by the airlines leaves à cloud of uncertainty over the investment.

[JustPiper]

Tell me something, why would t he alphabets not be interested in something like this? How do we get them to listen on connect the dots 'we' run across?