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The Detroit Tigers were a few wins short of going to the World Series last year. Team ownership signed All Star first baseman Prince Fielder to a 9-year, $214 million deal in the hopes that he will help push the team over the top as well as continue strong attendance at Comerica Park. Since the club has all that extra revenue available and expect more from higher attendance, will they consider repaying Michigan taxpayers for the hundreds of millions of dollars that were used to subsidize the team's stadium? Comerica Park opened in 2000 after three years of construction and...

Imagine what would happen if America barged its way into a developing country, buttered up its homicidal dictator and agreed a back-of-the-envelope deal in which he signed over his nation’s mineral wealth in return for roads, railways and sports stadiums. Everyone would benefit, no? No. The problem is that the infrastructure turns out to be worth a hell of a lot less than the minerals. Fortunately, Washington has had the foresight to top up the dictator’s Swiss bank account. Problem solved! As for the mining operation, the Americans really don’t want to be bothered by minimum wages or trade unions....

Gov. Mark Dayton says he will call a special legislative session for a vote on a Vikings stadium bill even if there is not a specific proposal tied to one of several proposed sites. The Democratic governor met Monday with legislative leaders to discuss the team's bid for a new, partially-taxpayer funded stadium. Dayton set a deadline of Wednesday, Nov. 23 for a special session, and says his only requirement to call it is the Legislature's four caucus leaders must agree to limit the agenda to the stadium issue. Dayton says he'll work in the coming weeks toward a specific...

If you can somehow sneak into the Astrodome, first hold your nose, then look up. You won't see a lot of world championship banners. The Astrodome isn't known worldwide as "The House That Don Nottebart Built." The Astros played in the Dome from Day One in 1965 through 1999. No pennants. No World Series titles. No nothing. The Houston Oilers played in the Dome from 1968 to good riddance 1997. No championships. No Super Bowls. Close a few years, but no nothing. The Astrodome hosted a lot of great moments and wonderful memories: UCLA vs. UH basketball, Billie Jean King...

<p>Al Qeada's terror plot in World Cup, S. Africa - 2010 & Somali Jihadists attacking, murdering football fans for watching game.</p> <p>Palestinian gunmen kill Israeli athletes In the early 1970s the PLO is widely condemned for a series of hijackings bombings and killings most notably the kidnapping and killing of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Arafats involvement in these events is unclear he refused to discuss such attacks though he denounced terrorism as a tactic.</p>

ReasonTV looks at whether taxpayers should help provide wealthy team owners with a place to play.

Legislators released their playbook on a $791 million Minnesota Vikings stadium Monday morning, saying only those who benefit from the new complex would pay. The Vikings are asked to pay $222 million for construction, with another $527 million to be financed over 40 years with $31.9 million in annual proceeds from sports lottery tickets and taxes on hotels, jerseys and rental cars.

Obama amputates our nuclear arms By: Charles Krauthammer ...snippet...Under President Obama’s new policy, however, if the state that has just attacked us with biological or chemical weapons is “in compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” explained Gates, then “the U.S. pledges not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against it.” Imagine the scenario: Hundreds of thousands are lying dead in the streets of Boston after a massive anthrax or nerve gas attack. The president immediately calls in the lawyers to determine whether the attacking state is in compliance with the NPT. If it turns out that the attacker...

SNIPPET: "BANGALORE: A day after two low-intensity blasts in the city, an explosive device weighing 2kgs was found wrapped in a yellow bag near Mahatma Gandhi statue on MG road." SNIPPET: "As stands filled on Saturday for the Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers IPL match, two bombs went off at the Chinnaswamy Stadium wounding 12 people and triggering panic. Roughly 20,000 people had packed into the stadium and hundreds more were streaming in when a loud explosion at Gate 12 rocked the arena and rattled nearby buildings. Six policemen were injured when the grill near the wall collapsed on them....

A reminder of another Muslim plot of STADIUM JIHAD (Sep. 2004)Wuith the latest news of Al-Qaeda plot to attack stadium foiled Here's a another STADIUM JIHAD plan by other "freedom fighting" butchers in the name of Islam. Underwear bomber planned to attack soccer stadium. - PTI - The ...Jerusalem, Sept 22 (PTI) A suicide bomber caught wearing an explosive belt sewn into his underpants last month planned to blow up at the Bloomfield Stadium ... http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-122387173.htmlThe Command Post - Global War On Terror - September 2004 Archives JERUSALEM POST: Underwear bomber planned to attack soccer stadium. The would be suicide...

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A Chicago taxi driver who is a Pakistani native was arrested today on charges he provided material support to Al Qaeda by attempting to send money overseas, federal authorities said. Raja Lahrasib Khan, 56, claimed to be an acquaintance of terror leaders in Pakistan, authorities said. He is due in federal court in Chicago later this afternoon. Khan was arrested without incident this morning in downtown Chicago while working, authorities said.

SNIPPET: "Three prestigious global sports events are scheduled to take place in India between now and the end of the year---the World Cup Hockey, the IPL Cricket League and the Commonwealth Games. 2. These events will atract the attention of not only the sports enthusiasts of the world, but also of the terrorists with a global or an anti-Indian agenda who will look upon the events as an opportunity to publicise their cause and to demonstrate their capability to take the intelligence and security agencies by surprise. Even if they are not able to carry out any terrorist strike on...

Vancouver, British Columbia (CNN) -- A man who authorities said apparently suffers from mental illness managed to breach security during the Olympics opening ceremony and get close to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Canadian officials said Wednesday. "Not at any time was the VP in any danger," said Olivier Lapointe, spokesman for the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit. The man, who was not identified, used fake credentials to get inside British Columbia Place, the site of the 2010 Winter Olympic opening ceremony Friday, according to Lapointe. Police apprehended him about 12 rows away from Biden's section, Lapointe said. He briefly...

Note: The following text is a quote: Hamilton Man Sentenced to 30 Months' Imprisonment for Threatening to Bomb Cincinnati Airport and Other Cincinnati-Area Landmarks CINCINNATI—Frederick D. Purvis, 43, of Hamilton, was sentenced in United States District Court here today to 30 months' imprisonment for a series of messages he sent in November, 2008 in which he threatened to blow up seven Cincinnati-area landmarks including the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. He was also sentenced to serve six years of supervised release after his prison term. Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, James A. Zerhusen, United...

Stadiums, Hotels Put On Alert Amid Terror Probe Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009 in New York. Associated Press Writers Tom Hays And Devlin BarrettNEW YORK – The government expanded a terrorism warning from transit systems to U.S. stadiums, hotels and entertainment complexes as investigators searched for more suspects Tuesday in a possible al-Qaida plot to set off hydrogen-peroxide bombs hidden in backpacks. Police bolstered their presence at high-profile locations. Extra officers with bulletproof vests, rifles and dogs were assigned to spots such as Grand Central Terminal in New York. Plainclothes officers handed out fliers at a nearby hotel with a warning...

For Immediate Release SNIPPET: “Enforcement action threatened at Tablighi Jamaat mega-mosque site Newham Council “doing the right thing at last” says Cllr Alan Craig. “Compulsory purchase of site must be next step” Islamic group Tablighi Jamaat (TJ), some of whose supporters in Walthamstow were convicted of planning airline terrorist atrocities last week (see note below), has been threatened with enforcement action by Newham Council over its continued unlawful use of the ‘mega-mosque’ site at West Ham, close to the London 2012 Olympic stadium. TJ has erected a temporary structure on site and has been using it daily without planning permission...

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - Olympic organisers are "very alive" to the threat of a cyber attack on the London 2012 Olympics, made more challenging because of its evolving nature, senior Interior Ministry officials said on Tuesday. Ticketing systems, the transport network and hotel bookings as well as security are among potential targets. Olympic security officials are also planning for the possible diversion of aircraft to protect airspace around the venues from terrorist attacks, the officials said. The greatest threat to security at the Games is international terrorism, the government's latest "Safety and Security Strategy" report said.

BULLETIN -- NEW YORK POLICE AND FBI RAID HOMES IN QUEENS IN TERRORISM INVESTIGATION.6 minutes ago from BNO Headquarters

Terror Suspect's Computer Said to Show Sports Stadiums, Fashion Sites Officials Report Denver Man Sent Texts Suggesting Attack Coming; 'Wedding Cake' Is Ready By RICHARD ESPOSITO, BRIAN ROSS and CLAYTON SANDELL Sept. 19, 2009— --snip-- A computer belonging to alleged al Qaeda suspect Najibullah Zazi showed he had researched baseball and football stadiums and sites used in the recent Fashion Week event in New York City, law enforcement officials tell ABCNews.com. Zazi, 24, had been scheduled to spend a fourth day today being questioned by the FBI but his lawyer, Arthur Folsom, canceled the session. "He has taken the day...

It is so refreshing to see that our own government helped create an Islamic stronghold within the Balkan Peninsula. Serbia jails 4 Muslims for plotting terror attack Tue Sep 8, 2009 12:28 BELGRADE, Sept 8 (Reuters) - A Serbian court on Tuesday sentenced four Muslims to prison terms ranging from four to eight years for plotting to attack a football stadium in a southern town of Novi Pazar, a spokeswoman said.

Awesome list of the best home field advantages by the NFL Network.

Note: Includes photo. # Note: The following text is a quote: FBI Working Extra Innings at MLB All-Star Game ST. LOUIS—Dozens of FBI agents and specialists are among the thousands converging on St. Louis for the Major League Baseball All-Star game and the events leading up to the annual baseball extravaganza. The FBI is teaming up with other law enforcement agencies to support the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, which is responsible for the overall security and emergency management of the event. The FBI’s role is to gather, analyze, and share intelligence related to potential threats. The Major League Baseball...

Sorry for the vanity- I am just monitoring the news Channels here in India and this is on all of them - The Sri Lankan Cricket team, playing a test series against Pakistan has just been attacked by terrorists with assault weapons and grenades. At least 6 of their players have been injured in the chest and leg, 5 guards killed in the attack near the Qaddafi stadium. The Sri lamkan team replaced India who refused to tour after the Mumbai carnage.

NFL stadiums to host collegiate sports security event training Workshops from Center for Spectator Sports Security Management to help train university officials ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The training programs will be hosted by the Center for Spectator Sports Security Management and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, and will be assisted by the Stadium Managers' Association. Funding for the workshops comes from a $3.5 million DHS grant, and the workshops will also see involvement from the U.S. Secret Services, the NBA and MLB. The training will include scenarios-based exercises and discussions for incidents at, during and around sporting events, and...

FBI Warns of Potential Terror Attacks The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives. Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The FBI and DHS analysts said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and...

Man accused of posing as Dodger on field LOS ANGELES — A man faces criminal charges for allegedly stealing a uniform from Dodger Stadium and posing as one of the team's players. Ronald Higgins pleaded not guilty to several charges Friday, including burglary and trespassing. The 47-year-old Higgins was arrested Wednesday morning after a security guard found him walking on the field in a Dodgers uniform and holding a glove with two balls. Higgins allegedly identified himself as a Dodgers player, but the guard recognized him from an earlier incident and called police. Prosecutors say Higgins' clothes were later found...

Al-Qaeda Draws New Recruits Via Internet Al-Qaeda is using the Internet to recruit vulnerable young people to its terrorist network, according to a programme aired on Saudi Arabian TV late on Tuesday. Umm Osama, the founder of al-Qaeda's first women-only website, al-Khansa, joined several others on the programme to discuss how they renounced jihadist ideology. Among those who sought a response to this question was an imam from the Medina mosque, Saleh Ibn Awad al-Mudamsi, and the father of a young al-Qaeda suspect held in an Iraqi prison. Read More Qaeda Targets U.S. Oil Interests in North Africa U.S....

Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years. This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and...

Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In' U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq. They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007. "Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More Militants Assert...

[Snip] Homeland Security Issues Warning on Sports Arenas As the spring sports season moves into high gear, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI today issued an assessment, called "Potential Threats to Popular Sports and Entertainment Venues," that said arenas and stadiums are attractive "potential targets during events." …..[Snip]   

Still in Control Pervez Musharraf was calm, confident and—despite a flurry of rumors—not about to announce his resignation. Instead, the Pakistani president's "concession" to his troubled nation was an announcement that he would allow Britain's Scotland Yard to help local law enforcement agencies with their investigation into last week's assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. Speaking in a nationally televised address two hours after Pakistan's election commission announced the postponement of the ballot to Feb. 18, six weeks later than had been scheduled, Musharraf was notably deferential in his remarks about Bhutto, often invoking her "martyrdom" and extolling...

Al Qaeda 'Re-Emerging' in Pakistan Sanctuaries The U.S. military said Tuesday it expected Al Qaeda to continue its "re-emergence" in sanctuaries in Pakistan's tribal areas from where it supported attacks in Afghanistan. Sanctuary was provided to Al Qaeda and Taliban rebels after Islamabad signed a peace deal with militants in a desperate attempt to quell the unrest in its federally administered areas in September 2006, a U.S. military official said. The militants called off the deal in July this year after Pakistani security forces raided a radical mosque in Islamabad where rebels had massed. Dozens were killed in those...

As captains of mock trial teams at Carnegie Mellon University, Anand Shankar Durvasula and Sudeep Paul learned the inner workings of the courts. They'll soon put that knowledge to use firsthand after being arrested on charges of trying to sneak into Heinz Field early Sunday and triggering a warning to NFL officials. SNIP Police found a video camera and tripod inside a silver Lexus sports utility vehicle with New York plates and registered to Kumar Paul, 51, of Woodbury, N.Y. It was parked at Art Rooney Avenue at North Shore Drive. Two bomb dogs were used to check the SUV...

BREAKING ON CNN

(3/10/06) - With college basketball championships underway around the country, the FBI has warned stadium operators of a possible suicide bomb attack at sporting events. In a directive issued today, obtained by ABC News, the FBI says a posting on an extremist message board "advocated suicide attacks against sporting events as a cost-effective means of killing thousands of Americans." The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security say they cannot confirm the credibility of the threat or whether the message is affiliated with al Qaeda. The FBI says the Internet posting said the suicide attacks would be justified because the...

Iran's hardliners go ballistic over stadium sex threat Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is coming under heavy fire at home -- and it's not because of the worsening international standoff over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme. Last week the president revealed his seldom-seen softer side by ordering an end to a decades-old ban on women entering stadiums for major sporting events, including football matches. But this directive has not gone down well among religious right-wingers eager to maintain the male-female segregation ushered in by Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. Furthermore, some members of Iran's left are also sceptical. "It would have...

The Minnesota Twins swatted their biggest political hit in decades Wednesday when the Minnesota House endorsed a proposal to build a $522 million stadium for the team in downtown Minneapolis. The next stop for the stadium proposal is the Minnesota Senate, where it faces challenges but where Twins spokesman Jerry Bell said he has been assured there is ample support. The Senate Taxes Committee could begin its deliberations today.

FBI: No Credible Threat, but Be Vigilant Saturday March 11, 2006 3:01 AM By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI said Friday there is no specific, credible threat of a terror attack aimed at college basketball arenas or other sports stadiums, but acknowledged alerting law enforcement to a recent Internet posting discussing such attacks. The FBI and Homeland Security Department distributed an intelligence bulletin Friday to state and local law enforcement nationwide describing the online threat against sporting venues, said Special Agent Richard Kolko, an FBI spokesman in Washington. ``We have absolutely no credible intelligence or...

Plans to 'top' 9/11 strikes 23/12/2005 20:13  - (SA)   Related Articles Pullout 'will lead to attacks' US at risk for more attacks US had 'bomber' in their hands Why is Osama so quiet?    Rome - Three Algerians arrested in an anti-terrorist operation in southern Italy are suspected of being linked to a planned new series of attacks in the United States, interior minister Giuseppe Pisanu said Friday. The attacks would have targeted ships, stadiums or railway stations in a bid to outdo the September 11 2001 strikes by al-Qaeda in New York and Washington which killed about 2 700 people, Pisanu...

The mainstream U.S. media outlets have failed to report a major terrorist plot against the U.S. - because it would tend to support President Bush's use of NSA domestic surveillance, according to media watchdog groups. News of a planned attack masterminded by three Algerians operating out of Italy was widely reported outside the U.S., but went virtually unreported in the American media. Italian authorities recently announced that they had used wiretaps to uncover the conspiracy to conduct a series of major attacks inside the U.S. Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said the planned attacks would have targeted stadiums, ships and...

Games and circuses once were provided by government. How better to satiate the desire of the Roman masses than to entertain them in the Arena? Today, governments build stadiums to attract sports franchises for the same purpose. But the American masses seem to be tiring of transferring billions of dollars to billionaire team owners. New York City is beset with wealthy supplicants: Major League Baseball's Yankees and Mets, and the National Football League's Jets all want new stadiums. So do the NFL San Diego. The MLB St. Louis Cardinals did too, before the legislature rejected most of their requested public...

Gov. Rick Perry's ceremonial signing of the eminent domain bill Monday in Waco didn't get a positive reaction from his rival for his 2006 reelection, Republican Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, or from Richmond resident and private property rights activist Jack Myska. Strayhorn accused Perry of grandstanding and said the bill is filled with loopholes, and Myska concurred. "I agree with her wholeheartedly," Myska said Tuesday morning, adding he has not yet read the bill thoroughly. Perry officially signed the law into effect on Sept. 1, but the ceremonial signing was postponed due to hurricanes Rita and Katrina. He said Monday...

If you love cities, this is a week to rejoice. Now that the stadium planned for New York's West Side is dead, no one can fantasize anymore about the Olympics coming to New York. If the city had gotten the 2012 Games, its leaders would have basked for seven years in Olympic photo opportunities, and mayors across America would have watched enviously. They would have succumbed further to what I think of as the Circus Maximus syndrome. The victims of this urban-planning syndrome believe, like some Roman emperors, that a leader's prime civic responsibility is to build entertainment palaces for...

Janice Renee Knight enters Federal court in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005. Knight is a co-defendent charged with conspiracy in the fraud trail of Philadelphia's former treasurer Corey Kemp. Prosecutors say Knight was the mistress of the late Ron White, a lawyer, political fund-raiser and friend of Mayor John Street, who died in November. Prosecutors said White gave money and gifts to Kemp in an attempt to influence which financial services companies the city hired. Knight owned a printing company that investigators said received a series of contracts at White's direction. (AP Photo/Joseph Kaczmarek) PHILADELPHIA Feb 23, 2005 —...

Does Cablevision’s waging such an expensive, messy Fight against the Jets’ West Side stadium make good business sense? The battle between mayor bloomberg and Cablevision CEO James Dolan over the West Side stadium for the Jets has grown nasty, personal, and expensive. According to the latest figures, which run only through October 25, more than $11 million has been spent on ads by both sides, with Cablevision’s accounting for $8.5 million. And the ad war has just escalated since then. But beyond a couple of endlessly repeated cost estimates, numbers on the business impact of the proposal have been scarce....

December 23, 2004 Republican Plans Challenge to Bloomberg in Primary By MICHAEL SLACKMAN teve Shaw was once the president of his co-op board, the only elected office he said he had ever held, and now he wants to be mayor of New York City.Mr. Shaw, 30, an investment banker with a Canadian firm in Midtown Manhattan, is planning to run in a Republican primary against Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.Mr. Shaw is young, a relative newcomer to the city, having moved here eight years ago, and is low on campaign money, but he does have a Web site, a few thousand...

Although the A's say they're pursuing a new home in Oakland, San Jose's city council this week took the first steps toward acquiring property that could be used for a baseball stadium. Meeting behind closed doors, the city council agreed to attempt to buy the former Del Monte cannery on Auzerais Avenue west of downtown as part of a land deal that would also involve selling an alternative property downtown to the home builder that controls the cannery site.

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. The glut of taxpayer-financed sports facilities constructed throughout the 1990s did more than drain local coffers -- it dinged federal taxpayers as well. A report published in The Washington Post on Monday noted that, thanks to a loophole in the Internal Revenue Code, backers of local sports facilities have issued more than $6.3 billion in bonds that are exempt from federal taxes. The cost to the Treasury: as much as $500 million a year. "The advantage of tax-exempt bonds is that they allow cities, counties, stadium authorities and other public entities...

<p>Only 12 years ago, Memphis, Tenn., opened a $69 million arena, the Pyramid, that was supposed to satisfy generations of sports fans and invigorate the downtown district.</p> <p>Developers said it would attract a music hall of fame, a Hard Rock Cafe and a steady supply of visitors who would ride to the top of the arena, 321 feet above the banks of the Mississippi. The building would provide 19,000 seats for basketball and even more for stage shows. City boosters called the Pyramid "the ninth wonder of the world."</p>