Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

RECAP ON THE NET...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=trains
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=train

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,202859,00.html
"Some Train Workers Fret Over Lax Security At Nation's Rail Yards"
Monday, July 10, 2006

SAN FRANCICSO —

Thanks to NanaDora8 for the ping to this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1669275/posts?page=22#22

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1669275/posts

Wildfire news, 7/20: Sawtooth Contained, Large Fires Burn in 15 states
NICC, NIFC, WFAS, FS, others ^ | 7/20/06 | Various

Posted on 07/20/2006 10:23:39 AM PDT by Knitting A Conundrum

UPDATE...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1669446/posts

"Summary of IDF activity in the Gaza Strip"
Israel Defense Forces ^ | 20/07/2006 | Israel Defense Forces

Posted on 07/20/2006 3:15:46 PM PDT by mdittmar

Thanks to Pine Mtn. Maverick for pointing to this wanted poster on the fire thread:
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http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/fugitives/dt/dibee_jm.htm
"WANTED BY THE FBI"

"JOSEPH MAHMOUD DIBEE"

Sorry, but this will be the last of these until the 27th. Out of town and away from the computer. Will try to catch-up and continue if the situation warrants.

Special Terrorism Summary 07/20/06 #2
Israel At War

This is not a blow by blow, but a summary of the information I’ve seen and heard. The situation is still critical and IMHO Israel still has the green light to continue for an indefinite period.

Lebanon’s Army to join the fight
In a stupid move, the minister of defense for Lebanon said the army would fight alongside Hezbollah if Israel invaded S. Lebanon.

Ground Action
Hizbullah terrorists have knocked out two Israeli tanks in intense day-long fighting along the Lebanese-Israeli border, north of Kiryat Shemona, according to the Associated Press. They have inflicted wounds on at least eight IDF soldiers, who in turn have killed three Hizbullah terrorists. Hizbullah said the IDF tanks were trying to enter a Lebanese village across from Kibbutz Avivim. Following Wednesday's clash which resulted in the death of two soldiers, the IDF began clearing an area over the border to expose terrorists.
The fiercest ground fighting has occurred in this area. Hezbollah is dug in very deep with lots of tunnels and bunkers.

Israel warned residents to flee a nearly 20-mile swath of south Lebanon along the border. Its warplanes also launched new airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, shortly after daybreak, followed by strikes in the guerrillas' heartland in the south and eastern Bekaa Valley.

Rocket Attacks
Estimated drop in rocket attacks by 66-75% following the strike on the Hezbollah bunker suspected of holding the Hezbollah leader.

Gaza
IDF ground forces entered the central Gaza Strip last night and are operating there, as part of the operation to stop the launching of rockets at Israel and destroying terror infrastructure in the area.

Thanks Godzilla, we appreciate it.

Have a good and safe trip. We'll be here when you are.

***I absolutely cannot believe they are that stupid.***

I believe they are. Fueled by nations that support terrorist elements and who supply goods and services supportive of terrorism and nuclear conquest, the Lebanese now have Hezbollah leading them, contrary to whatever Lebanese leadership would have the world believe (terrorists always place themselves above the laws of the land in which they plunder).

I feel sadness for Lebanese Americans with peace-loving family members in their native country. Their government has subjugated itself to Hezbollah and terrorism in a single day.

Praying for Israel to swiftly and efficiently remove this chapter of Hezbollah from the planet. It will be up the the the rest of the world to remove the remnants thereafter, or face the consequences of their reformulation.

US says Iranians witnessed N. Korea missile test

Snip: One or more Iranians witnessed North Korea's recent missile tests, deepening U.S. concerns about growing ties between two countries with troubling nuclear capabilities, a top U.S. official said on Thursday.

Asked at a U.S. Senate hearing about reports that Iranians witnessed the July 4 tests, Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill, the chief U.S. negotiator with Pyongyang, replied: "Yes, that is my understanding" and it is "absolutely correct" that the relationship is worrisome.

Hill's comments are believed to be the first public U.S. confirmation that Iranian representatives observed the seven tests, which involved one launch of a long-range ballistic missile, which failed soon after being fired, and six tests of short and medium-range missiles. Hill said the six succeeded in hitting their target range.

Israel hints at full scale Lebanon attack

Snip: Pitched battles raged between Israeli forces and Hezbollah fighters on the border Thursday, and Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to flee southern Lebanon "immediately," preparing for a likely ground offensive to set up a buffer zone.

Iranians/North Korea...........

I'm sure we read these same reports about ten days ago. Amazing how long it takes the MSM to catch up with FR.

I just read this today for the first time... great crash course on what's going on, and what can be expected.

Should Hezbollah Be Next?
Daniel Byman, Foreign Affairs (November, 2003)

On September 20, 2001, in a historic speech to a joint session of Congress, President George W. Bush famously declared, "Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped, and defeated." Few terrorist organizations meet this standard, but Hezbollah is de?nitely one of them. The Lebanon-based group has cells on every continent, and its highly skilled operatives have committed horrifying attacks as far away as Argentina. Before September 11, 2001, it was responsible for more American deaths than any other terrorist organization. Hassan Nasrallah, the group's secretary-general, recently proclaimed, "Death to America was, is, and will stay our slogan." Since the outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada in September 2000, Hezbollah has armed and trained Palestinian terrorists, further fraying the already tattered peace process. Hezbollah operatives have reportedly traveled to postwar Iraq to rekindle historic ties with Iraqi Shi'ites.

File File (PDF): http://www.brookings.edu/views/articles/byman20031101.pdf

Thanks Godzilla, you're efforts are appreciated.

Battle Over Mt. Soledad Memorial Cross Heats Up

President Bush Supports Cross; House Passes Bill To Preserve It; Senate Bill Introduced - ACLU Continues Its Campaign to Stop It

ANN ARBOR, MI – The Bill to protect the Mt. Soledad memorial cross, H. R. 5863, overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 349-74. The Bill transfers possession of the veterans memorial in San Diego, California to the federal government. The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, worked closely with Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), the main sponsor of the Bill, on the language of the legislation.

Over the last two years, the Law Center has been working tirelessly to preserve the veterans memorial from the attack of ACLU-backed atheist Philip Paulson, who filed a lawsuit in 1989 to remove the memorial cross. In addition to supporting this bill, the Law Center is directly involved in both state court and federal court appeals on behalf of San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial, the organization that played a major role in the hugely successful petition drive to transfer the land on which the memorial sits to the federal government.

Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel for the Law Center, commended a number of organizations that have joined the fight to keep the memorial cross, including the American Legion Department of California, represented by the Alliance Defense Fund, the American Center for Law and Justice, which filed an amicus brief on behalf of several Congressmen, and the American Family Association.

Commented Thompson, “The overwhelming support for this bill demonstrates that the ACLU and the liberal judges who support the ACLU’s anti-Christian agenda are out of touch with America. No doubt, the ACLU will return to its liberal judges to try to undo, once again, the democratic process and the will of the people. However, an effective coalition of veterans groups, political leaders, and public interest organizations is developing to stop them.”

President Bush, on the day of the vote, issued a “Statement of Administration Policy” that “strongly” supported H.R. 5683. The Statement read, in part, “In the face of legal action threatening the continued existence of the current Memorial, the people of San Diego have clearly expressed their desire to keep the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in its present form. Judicial activism should not stand in the way of the people, and the Administration commends Rep. Hunter for his efforts in introducing this bill.”

Over the past two years, the Law Center has provided thousands of attorney hours without charge to preserve the memorial cross from destruction by the ACLU-backed atheist Paulson. Charles LiMandri, the west coast director of the Thomas More Law Center, commented, “This case is one that should concern all Americans. It is a direct attack on our national heritage, and it is an attack that is occurring on our own soil. The ACLU and its minions, with the help of activist judges, seek to destroy what our Founding Fathers created—One Nation Under God.”

U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) on Tuesday, introduced legislation in the Senate identical to H. R. 5683.

The ACLU officially opposed H.R. 5683 in a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives. However, the ACLU misstated important facts and misrepresented the law. For example, the ACLU claimed that “service members are unable to choose their symbols when, as in Mt. Soledad, the government erects a 43-foot Latin cross upon public property.” In fact, the memorial cross was erected by a private organization and many family members, friends, and comrades of our fallen veterans have chosen to honor their fallen heroes by placing nearly 2,000 memorial plaques at the foot of the cross. Many of the plaques contain the Star of David, honoring fallen Jewish veterans.

Moreover, the ACLU also made the specious claim that “Chief Justice Rehnquist, Justice Scalia, and Justice White joined Justice Kennedy in noting that Latin crosses on government property violate the Constitution.” In support of this prevarication, the ACLU cited dicta from a dissent written by Justice Kennedy in which he hypothetically claimed that the Establishment Clause would forbid “a city to permit the permanent erection of a large Latin cross on the roof of city hall.” The ACLU failed to mention that Justice Kennedy was dissenting from a decision in which liberal members of the Court held that it was unconstitutional for the government to display a Nativity scene at a county courthouse. In his dissent, Justice Kennedy stated that the ACLU-backed decision to remove the Nativity “reflects an unjustified hostility toward religion, a hostility inconsistent with our history and our precedents.” Furthermore, it was Justice Kennedy who recently issued the stay to prevent! the removal of the memorial cross until all of the legal appeals had been exhausted.

Robert Muise, a trial attorney for the Law Center working on this case, commented, “Any first-year law student knows that dicta is not the law, particularly dicta from a dissenting opinion that does not directly address the legal issue at stake. The ACLU’s misrepresentations may work on activist judges, but they are not fooling the American public or Congress. This case is plainly exposing the ACLU’s anti-Christian agenda.”

Help Save the Mt. Soledad Cross

If you are interested in supporting our efforts to preserve the Mt. Soledad Cross, please consider giving a secure, online gift today.

Contributions to TMLC are deductible for charitable purposes.

Sincerely,

Richard Thompson, President & Chief Counsel
Thomas More Law Center

Scientists teaching power grid, dam operators how to thwart hackers

Snip: Federal scientists who study how hackers try to break into computer-based controls for water treatment plants, power grids, nuclear reactors and other automated industrial systems are passing the secrets on to private operators of such facilities at no charge.

The U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Homeland Security will sponsor classes in protecting remote controls of critical infrastructure from hackers during an international cybersecurity summit in Las Vegas Sept. 28-30.

Eurasian Secret Services Daily Review - Bin Laden does not hide in Central Asian States

Snip: Vyacheslav Kasymov, Director of the executive committee of the regional anti-terrorist structure of the Shanghai organization of cooperation has refuted the statements of western media about a possible stay in the Central Asian region of 5 the terrorist Osama bin Laden. Previously the media outlets have extended the statement of the former coordinator of the White House Richard Clark, who asserted that Osama bin Laden might be hiding in one of the Central Asian states of the former USSR and also in Somalia and Iran. "The analysis of the materi? ”? ?“ls at our disposal shows that the statements about a possible stay in the Central Asian region of Osama bin Laden are groundless", Kasymov told the Kyrgyz state news agency "Kabar". The head of the anti-terrorist centre stated that his data was confirmed also by the leaders of the security forces of other organization member states. According to Kasymov, the representatives of those structures consider that Clark’s statement "had a purpose to discredit the work of numerous anti-terrorist centres that are providing security in Central Asia". He also noted that the basic threat for the region today are the "increasing terrorist aspirations of the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan, especially in Fergana valley".

Produce Safety & Security International responds to fresh produce industry concerns over presence of E.Coli-H-157

Snip: Produce Safety and Security International, Inc (Other OTC:PDSC.PK - News), ("PDSC"), an ozone and chemical sanitation disinfectant process supplier to the food and medical industries, responds to the fresh produce industry's concern over recent outbreaks of E.coli H157 virus. The FDA has directed the fresh produce industry to take preventative measures to prevent these outbreaks from occurring; therefore PDSC would like to provide further information concerning its FDA approved Ozone Process.

Decontamination training begins

Snip: The blue and white inflatable tent, with color-coded spiral hoses dangling from the ceiling over a portable shower floor, looks like something out of a disaster movie. But the equipment is functional, and the possibility of using it to clean civilians caught in a biological or chemical attack is real.

4 Dominican men suffocate in shipping container

Snip: Four Dominican migrants died and two were seriously ill after suffocating in a container on a ship that they hoped would smuggle them into the United States. According to a police spokesman, three of the dead men, age 23 to 26, had been identified but the fourth had no identity documents.

Dominican officials said the dead migrants had evaded security in Puerto Plata port, 117 miles (190 km) north of the capital Santo Domingo, and hidden in the container on board the vessel, which had been due to depart for Miami on Monday.

Hundreds to be tested after TB case on Navy ship

Snip: A sailor on an aircraft carrier that made a one day stop in Hawaii a few weeks ago has tested positive for active tuberculosis. The USS Ronald Reagan was in Hawaii at the end of June before it returned to it's homeport of San Diego.

At the time, there were more than 5,000 people onboard the ship. Navy doctors are trying to figure out how the sailor contracted the TB.

TB cases skyrocket in Arizona

Snip: "The Bullhead City area recorded the highest numbers in tuberculosis during the last year," Bronston said. "This is a highly contagious disease that was greatly reduced in prior years but has returned to this border state through immigration and massive growth. The numbers we are reporting are known cases. Who knows how many residents and visitors have been infected and have yet to show signs of the disease."

THANK YOU Godzilla.
Have a safe trip.

Thank you nw.
I'll read it.

Nooooooooooooo!

Radio talking heads don't seem to cover the UN and its dysfunctional operation at any length. The idea of Anwar Ibrahim as a potential UN Secretary-General is mind-boggling (unfathomable) to say the least.

Senator Rick Santorum says US in war against Islamic fascism

Snip: Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum says the United States is engaged in a new world war against Islamic fascism. He says many Americans won't say so for fear of offending Muslims.

Santorum says terrorist attacks worldwide, the war in Iraq and Israel's fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah are all battlefronts in a war that Americans will either win or lose, but cannot avoid.

Judge permits defamation suit

Snip: A Norfolk Superior Court judge indicated yesterday a defamation suit filed against the Herald, WFXT-TV (FOX 25) and a number of other organizations by the Islamic Society of Boston will likely go forward.

Judge Janet L. Sanders said, at this time, she did not foresee throwing out the entire case, but she said she would take the case under advisement. Attorneys representing the media outlets, nonprofit groups and individuals named in the ISB’s suit argued that the case should be thrown out yesterday.

FBI mosque raid sparks united outcry

Snip: PITTSBURGH — As the mostly African American and Latino congregation was preparing for weekly Friday prayers at Light of the Age mosque here on June 30, a dozen FBI agents raided the building and lined up worshippers outside at gunpoint. Agents ransacked the building and asked individuals detailed personal questions, demonstrating intimate knowledge of their private lives.

The agents had a warrant for a mosque member over a parole violation, but he and his vehicle were already seized outside hours before. Later a federal judge declared the man was no threat and released him without bail. The formerly incarcerated member had been pulled over in Utah for tinted windows. Because he was “nervous” his van was searched, turning up pieces of his wife’s permitted handgun. He was allowed to leave Utah and spent the night at the mosque. The FBI also tried to charge a parole violation in the State of Washington but the state wasn’t interested.

I don't know why that clickable url didn't work for me; let's try it again.

"Should Hezbollah Be Next?
Daniel Byman, Foreign Affairs (November, 2003)"
http://www.brookings.edu/views/articles/byman20031101.pdf

Ok.

THANK YOU for that update Smartass.
I appreciate it.

Thwarting hackers --- now that's a course we can all use.