Sunday sept 22

Tylenol (Acetaminophen) overdose is DEADLY AND EASY (This American Life and ProPobulica Reports) link here


The Last Tweets From An American Jihadist In Somalia   link here

Omar Hammami grew up in a [Muslim-Christian family link]  in the small of town of Daphne, Ala., but ended up in southern Somalia on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist list. Last week, Hammami was reportedly killed by members of al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked militant group, after a falling out with its leadership.
He also went by the name of Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki, or "the American."

The story of how a young, charismatic kid from Alabama became a self-described terrorist has fascinated many people, including counterterrorism expert J.M. Berger, author of Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam.

Omar and Me My strange, frustrating relationship with an American terrorist   link here

On March 16, 2012, Hammami got a lot more interesting when he uploaded a video to YouTube, a virtual message in a bottle. Speaking directly to the camera in Arabic and then repeating the message in English, a grim-faced Omar made a shaky plea for help.

"To whomever it may reach from the Muslims … I record this message today because I fear my life may be endangered by [al-Shabab] because of some differences that occurred regarding matters of the sharia and of strategy."

KENYA Update from @911Buff 9:30am 

KENYA'S WESTGATE MALL SHOOTING: -

59 DEAD -

160 WOUNDED -

MORE THAN 30 HOURS -TERRORISTS STILL IN MALL -STILL HOLDING HOSTAGES 

3 BRITISH DEAD

DC NAVY YARD 'Stand Down' Controversy Continues to Reverberate on Capitol Hill    link here
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, had no knowledge until late Tuesday of allegations first reported by the BBC that a heavily armed Capitol Police team was told to stand down when it arrived at the scene.

Issa debunks Issa on Benghazi 

BENGHAZI MORE documents disprove GOP claims link here

Earlier this week, House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa released a scathing critique of the State Department's investigation into the Benghazi incident. Hours later, the committee quietly released documents that run against a number of claims in Issa's report, including the idea that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to blame for security failures in Benghazi.

Issa's report said ""the ARB was not comprehensive; it did not conduct thorough interviews, it was plagued by conflicts of interest; and the board failed to hold senior State Department officials accountable, such as Clinton."" BUT The retired admiral [Mullen] added that it was impossible to peg Clinton to the security failures because she was too far removed from those decisions. "[W]e found no evidence whatsoever that [Secretary Clinton] was involved in security decisions [in Libya]," he said.

Part of the animosity stems from the fact that Issa fought tooth and nail to get Pickering to testify in a private deposition. When Pickering finally agreed to talk, Issa kept it under wraps for months and ignored the substance of Pickering's testimony.
This, of course, is what Pickering feared all along, which is why he resisted Issa's deposition invitation in May and offered instead to testify in public before the committee. But Issa balked at the idea and used the threat of subpoena to bring him into a closed door deposition. It was only until Thursday that Pickering and Mullen finally testified in public, much to the relief of the Oversight Committee's ranking member, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).

GOP Healthcare Plan 

OBAMACARE after 3 years, 1 presidential election, and 42 votes in Congress to defund or repeal, GOP finally released THEIR replacement Health care law----they have been chanting ""repeal and replace obamacare"" for 3 years now, and now they have replace option    GOP Plan

http://rsc.scalise.house.gov/solutions/rsc-betterway.htm

Article on GOP Healthcare plan link here

Senator Coburn predicts latest defunding tactic won't be successful link here
cites CBO report and lack of GOP votes in passing bill


BUSINESS GROUPS HATE GOVT GRIDLOCK ""do something, anything, to help economy""  link here
Groups representing all sizes of the private sector are ramping up calls for Washington to do something – anything – to help the economy, rather than hurt it. 
“It’s exasperating because there are real consequences,” said David French, top lobbyist for the National Retail Federation. “The business community sometimes feels like it’s a hostage situation, and they prefer not to have a front row seat.“

They urged Congress to promptly raise the debt ceiling, but refused to call one party out over another.


IMMIGRATION
House "Gang of 7" loses 2 more GOP members  (was gang of 8, is now gang of 5)   link here
Texas GOP Reps. Sam Johnson and John Carter said in a joint statement that they decided to leave the “gang of seven” because of “a lack of faith in President [Barack] Obama to enforce the current and new laws necessary to solve the immigration problem.”
The first Republican to leave the one-time “gang of eight” earlier this year was Rep. Raúl R. Labrador of Idaho, citing irreconcilable differences with the other members.
That now leaves a “gang of five” with one lone Republican: Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida. The Democrats are Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra and his fellow Californian Zoe Lofgren, Luis V. Gutierrez of Illinois and John Yarmuth of Kentucky.



House Dems outraise GOP in August, have more cash overall as well link here
Dems raised $800,000 more than the National Republican Congressional Committee
House Democrats also have more cash on hand--they reported $4.6 million raised last month and $16.1 million in the bank, while House Republicans raised $3.8 million and ended the month with $12.7 million in cash on hand.
Both committees previously eliminated their outstanding debt from the 2012 cycle.

Glenn Greenwald article -----The War on Whistleblowers and Journalists link here

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has scrapped a scheduled state visit to the White House amid Brazilian outrage over news that the U.S. spied on her and a Brazilian oil company.  link here

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/17/202443/brazil-to-obama-were-not-coming.html#.UjrVjsaPMnI#storylink=cpy

FOIA NSA story   link here

FOIA MuckRock link here

a website that helps with Government Freedom of Information Act requests

My Detainment Story by Sarah Abdurrahman   link here

Border detainments of Sarah and her family (all American Citizens, practicing Muslims) returning from a wedding in Canada, information from Border Patrol and other stories of detention and deportation.  

Barrett Brown Story  link here

the story of Journalist and Activist Barrett Brown, and how his trial and prosecution can affect journalism in the future 

DRBG Validation List Last Update: 9/20/2013

I dont understand this----but here it is anyway link here

NIST link here

NIST ITL link here

thursday sept 19

I've been busy last few days, so no posts, this will include all links     VERY VERY LONG!!!


DC NAVY YARD SHOOTING  Wikipedia links to everything else link

VICTIMS  list from Wikipedia article from ABC news  link

1. Michael Arnold, age 59
2. Martin Bodrog, age 53
3. Arthur Daniels, age 51
4. Sylvia Frasier, age 53
5. Kathy Gaarde, age 62
6. John Roger Johnson, age 73
7. Mary Francis Knight, age 51
8. Frank Kohler, age 50
9. Vishnu Pandit, age 61
10. Kenneth Bernard Proctor, age 46
11. Gerald Read, age 58
12. Richard Michael Ridgell, age 52

Anti gay hate crimes are up in NYC  link

Iran releases political prisoners multiple links below
NPR link

Washington Post link
Still unclear, however, is whether Wednesday’s releases will have any bearing on the fates of the two main leaders of the 2009 opposition movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who have been under house arrest since 2011. Mousavi and Karroubi were presidential candidates and had contested the validity of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reelection.

BBC link

NYT link
2 Presidential Candidates from 2009 and an American Marine of Iranian descent are NOT yet released

Two presidential candidates in 2009 — former Prime Minister Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, a former Parliament speaker — have been under house arrest since 2011, along with Mr. Mousavi’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard. During his election campaign, Mr. Rouhani said he would work to secure their release.

An imprisoned American of Iranian descent, Amir Hekmati, was not among those freed on Wednesday. Mr. Hekmati, 30, a former Marine, was arrested more than two years ago on espionage charges during what his family called an innocent visit to his grandmother. Mr. Hekmati’s family, who is from Flint, Mich., has been publicly pleading for his release, and American officials, including Secretary of State John Kerry, have been calling on Mr. Rouhani’s government to let Mr. Hekmati go home.

On Tuesday, Mr. Hekmati’s congressman, Daniel T. Kildee, sent a letter to Samantha Power, the new American ambassador to the United Nations, urging her to press the issue when Mr. Rouhani visits for the General Assembly session next week.

Gates, Panetta Criticize Obama on Syria,  
POLITICO link
they would have told him not to seek Congress' approval for a strike on President Bashar Assad's forces.
both were skeptical and sometimes sarcastic about the current Russia-backed negotiations to have Syria turn over its chemical weapons.

(personal note, MAN I LOVE Robert Gates)

Panetta said he supported a strike because Obama needed to enforce the "red line" he set over Syria's use of chemical weapons.

"When the president of the United States draws a red line, the credibility of this country is dependent on him backing up his word," Panetta said.

But Gates said a strike would be like "throwing gasoline on an extremely complex fire in the Middle East." He brought up past interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya as examples of how American military action can lead to unintended consequences.

He also dismissed attacking Syria to enforce a red line.

"I believe to blow a bunch of stuff up over a couple of days to underscore or validate a point or principle is not a strategy," he said.

he thought America's most recent presidents "have become too quick to reach for a gun to solve an international problem."


Foreign Policy Article on Gates, Panetta and Navy Yard Shooting  (brought to you by Lockheed Martin??!!) link 

But Gates two weeks ago urged Congress to vote yes to a strike. Politico's Mike Allen, on Sept. 5: "[Gates]... is urging Congress to back the administration on Syria - and says a defeat for the White House would have ‘dangerous consequences' for the U.S. around the world. Gates, in a statement to POLITICO Sept. 5: "I strongly urge the Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, to approve the president's request for authorization to use force in Syria. "Whatever one's views on current U.S. policy toward Syria, failure by Congress to approve the request would, in my view, have profoundly negative and dangerous consequences for the United States not just in the Middle East but around the world both now and in the future." That bit here.

Did Gates contradict himself? Probably not, but something may have been lost to nuance. Although Gates urged Congress to act, his statement to Politico is based on his position that once Obama asked Congress to vote on the authorization of force, Congress should act. That's one thing. But Gates' own views on Syria policy are another, and came out last night: the administration's attempt to adhere to its redline isn't a strategy.

from Democracy Now! link

Ex-Pentagon Chiefs Criticize Obama on Syria 

President Obama’s approach to Syria has came under criticism from his first two defense secretaries. At a public event in Dallas, Leon Panetta said Obama should have followed through on a threat of U.S. military attack, while Robert Gates called for increased military aid to Syrian rebels.

Leon Panetta: "My view would have been that once the president came to that conclusion, that he should have directed limited action going after Assad to make very clear to the world that when we draw a line and we give our word, dammit, we back it up."

Robert Gates: "My view is significantly increasing the amount of covert assistance to selected rebel groups, opposition groups. I would not provide them with surfaced air missiles, but I would give them heavier weapons and more of them."

Fed Chair ""Govt spending cuts hurts economy"" 
"The tightening of financial conditions observed in recent months, if sustained, could slow the pace of improvement in the economy and labor market," the Fed said in a statement after the meeting. "The [Fed] decided to await more evidence that progress will be sustained before adjusting the pace of its purchases." link

"A government shutdown, and perhaps even more so a failure to raise the debt limit, could have very serious consequences for the financial markets and for the economy," Fed chairman Ben Bernanke warned at a news conference.  link

Boehner ""we need to cut govt spending to help economy, ""JOBS, JOBS, JOBS,"" repeal obamacare  

But a bloc of 43 House Republicans undercut the speaker’s deficit-reduction focus, introducing yearlong funding legislation that would increase Pentagon and veterans spending and delay President Obama’s health care law for a year — most likely adding to the budget deficit. That bloc is large enough to thwart any compromise that does not attract Democratic support link

REMINDERS OF 2011 MARKET SWOON link
In 2011, as Republicans and Democrats fought over spending cuts and a debt limit hike, U.S. financial markets swooned because of all the uncertainty created by the inability of the two parties to work together. Between July 7 and August 9 of that year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average blue-chip stocks fell 16.9 percent.

S & P 2011 STATEMENT REDUCING CREDIT RATING----IT WAS ABOUT POLITICS MORE THAN  FINANCES!!!!!  link

• The downgrade reflects our opinion that the fiscal consolidation plan that Congress and the Administration recently agreed to falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics.
• More broadly, the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011.

NC police shoot unarmed man link
Officer Randall Kerrick, 27, is charged with voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Jonathan Ferrell, 24, shot 10 times after asking for help in the middle of the night after getting into a car accident.
Police said in a statement that Kerrick "did not have a lawful right to discharge his weapon during this encounter."

NSA sends letter to its ""family"" saying ""we will weather storm'' link


Occupy Wall Street turns 2 years old (September 17th)

From Wall St. Journal 5 Ways OCCUPY Changed the Debate link

Occupy Offshoots continue activism link

"Operation Tripwire" -- the FBI, the Private Sector, and the Monitoring of Occupy Wall Street link





SENATE COMMITTEE’S SHIELD LAW PROJECT THREATENS INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM  link

The draft federal law on the protection of journalists’ sources – the so-called media “shield law” - that the Senate Judiciary Committee approved on 12 September unfortunately falls far short of Reporters Without Borders’s recommendation on this subject.  RWB RECOMMENDATIONS HERE

“There is no freedom of information worthy of its name without protection of journalists’ sources,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said. “Spying on journalists’ investigative reporting violates democratic principles.”  

The future law must extend the categories covered by protection of sources.
The protection of sources must apply not only to journalists but also to all media employees and to all those who help to gather, process, prepare, produce or disseminate news and information, regardless of the media. The protection of sources should also apply to documentary filmmakers, the authors of books of a journalistic nature (even if they are not “journalists”), bloggers and netizens who provide information.




Old news very relevant these past few weeks (John Kerry in 1971, Bloomberg and Guns, )

US News and World Report (may 3, 2004) 1971, The Way They (Kerry and Bush)
2004 John Kerry names 1969 version of himself as running mate (THE ONION) link

Newsweek February 16, 2004 How "Liberal" is Kerry? (Article Titled THE WEDGE WAR) link
The aim: to define Kerry as a tax-raising, big-spending, criminal-coddling lefty who opposes the death penalty and restrictions on abortion, and who has advocated cutting funding for intelligence agencies and for weapons programs during his 20 years in national politics. 

They [Bush Campaign] will focus on his advocacy, early in his [Kerry's] tenure, of cuts in spending on the CIA and on his opposition--as a candidate for the first time in 1984--to an array of weapons, among them the B-1 bomber and the Tomahawk and Patriot missiles.



Sunday, January 8, 2006 NY Daily News by David Saltonstall    Mike Bloomberg will round up Mayor's and use his cash to push for US gun laws  (Article was announcing Mayors Against Illegal Guns, )