Tuesday, November 4, 2014

CLG: US air force fires two more nuclear commanders, third officer disciplined amid leadership crisis




News Updates from CLG
4 November 2014



Previous edition: 'British spies can go through Americans' telephone calls and emails without a warrant, reveals UK legal challenge.' See: Google Filter Instructions for CLG Newsletter.


US air force fires two more nuclear commanders, third officer disciplined amid leadership crisis 3 Nov 2014 The US air force has fired two more nuclear commanders and disciplined a third, fresh evidence of leadership lapses in a nuclear missile corps that has suffered several recent setbacks including the removal of its top commander. The most senior officer to be relieved of command was Colonel Carl Jones, second in command of the 90th Missile Wing at FE Warren air force base, Wyoming, in charge of 150 of the air forces 450 Minuteman 3 nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles...At the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, which also is responsible for 150 Minuteman 3 missiles, Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy "Keith" Brown was relieved of command "because of a loss of confidence in Brown's ability to lead his squadron", the air force said. [For the mysterious historical saga of Minot Air Force Base, see: Minot AFB Clandestine Nukes 'Oddities' By Lori Price (Updated).]


F-16s to fly over D.C. in calibration, training flights, NORAD says 3 Nov 2014 Don't be surprised if you see two F-16s flying over the southeastern part of Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. NORAD said on Monday that it will be conducting calibration and training flights. The North American Aerospace Defense Command said the tests will be coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.


NATO asks US for more troops in Baltic states, Poland to counter 'Russia threat' 4 Nov 2014 The North Atlantic bloc has asked the Pentagon to send more troops to Eastern Europe to counter the perceived threat of Russia. There are currently 750 US soldiers in Poland and the Baltic states, but the organization believes that this is not enough. The alliance cites the current situation in Ukraine, as well as Russian military aircraft "incursions" into the airspace of the organization's allies.


Israeli ministers pass bill jailing stone-throwers for 20 years 2 Nov 2014 Government ministers in Israel have voted to increase penalties ten-fold on people convicted of throwing stones at vehicles from two to 20 years, in a move designed to deal with a wave of violence that has hit some of Jerusalem's Arab districts. If Israeli courts can prove that someone threw a stone with the intent of causing serious bodily harm, they may be able to impose a jail sentence of 20 years. The law would also allow the conviction of people who hurl rocks at police cars or police officers with the aim of hindering them from carrying out their duty.


Gaza cut off: Israel closes border crossings indefinitely 2 Nov 2014 Israel has said it's shutting the only two operating Gaza border crossings indefinitely. This comes a day after a projectile hit Israel from the strip, but caused no damage. Border closures threaten to isolate already devastated Gaza completely. The move will affect both the Kerem Shalom and Erez border crossings, Haaretz reported, quoting Israel's defense establishment.


Appeals court to weigh NSA phone data program 3 Nov 2014 A federal appeals court will hear arguments Tuesday in a case challenging the NSA's vast phone data collection program -- the next act in the legal battle pitting the agency's antiterrorism efforts against the privacy rights of Americans. Privacy advocates head into the arguments with a lower court victory in hand: A judge in Washington ruled in their favor in December, calling the technology to gather and analyze the phone records "almost Orwellian."


House Dem calls for undiluted NSA reforms 3 Nov 2014 With an eye on the Senate's lame duck session, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) is pressing the upper chamber to vote on a bill curbing National Security Agency (NSA) authority. "We have the first chance in more than a decade to finally place some real limits on the sweeping, unwarranted -- and at times unlawful -- government surveillance that many of us have fought against for the past several years," said Nadler, a member of the Judiciary Committee, which unanimously approved the House version of the bill in May. The full House passed the measure, the USA Freedom Act, later that month. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has introduced a version of the bill, but changes are expected before the lame-duck Senate considers it.


U.K. Government Updates Travel Advice to Reflect Threat of Terrorism 31 Oct 2014 The U.K. government on Friday updated its travel advice to reflect an increased threat of terrorism from extremists and said its citizens should be vigilant when traveling. "There is considered to be a heightened threat of terrorist attack globally against U.K. interests and British nationals from groups or individuals motivated by the conflict in Iraq and Syria," the U.K. foreign office said. The update Friday wasn't in response to a specific threat to the U.K., but was based on public threats to the U.K. and its interests, according to a source familiar with the matter.


Midterm elections: Fear of terrorism once against haunts American politics 2 Nov 2014 As Americans head to the polls for Tuesday’s midterm congressional elections, their country once again at war in the Middle East, many have reached to the same conclusion as Mr Dow. For the first time in nearly a decade, the fear of terrorism is playing a major a role in an election and giving Republicans an edge [due to the push 24/7 of that meme by the corporate-owned media] as the party most trusted to keep the country safe...Around 55 per cent said they backed the Republican Party on preventing terrorism, compared to 32 per cent for Democrats - the largest gap since voters rallied around George W Bush in the aftermath of 9/11 [, the inside job].


Midterm Elections 2014: Live Updates 04 Nov 2014 It’s Election Day 2014! With control of the U.S. Senate hanging in the balance, voters across the nation are headed to their polling places to cast ballots today...Up for grabs this year are 36 Senate seats. ABC News is working off a list of 16 states that we see potentially swinging to a different party. Democrats are hoping they can hold onto the upper chamber, but Republicans say they’re confident they can wrestle six seats away from Democratic hands, which would put them back in the majority.


US mid-terms: Battle for the Senate as polls open 4 Nov 2014 Americans are voting in mid-term elections which will decide who controls the Senate and pave the way for the 2016 race for the White House. Polling booths opened in the eastern states at 06:00 local time (11:00 GMT). The Republicans, who already control the House of Representatives, need to gain just six seats to take the Senate. Meanwhile the Democrats are battling to stay ahead as President Barack Obama's approval ratings fall to the lowest they have been since he was elected.


Court rejects appeal over Senate filibuster rules 3 Nov 2014 The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a public interest group and four members of Congress who challenged the Senate filibuster as unconstitutional. The justices on Monday let stand a lower court ruling that said Common Cause and the lawmakers did not have legal standing to pursue the case. The plaintiffs argued that Senate rules requiring at least 60 votes to bring legislation to a vote violates the constitutional principle of majority rule. [Right, so since the Koch Suckers on the Supreme Court let the 60-vote rule stand, if the GOP takes the Senate, Democrats need to filibuster *everything,* or else Wall Street/CIA troll Obama and his Republican friends will ram through the TPP, the deadly Keystone XL Pipeline, cuts to Social Security, and more wars for Exxon Mobil and Monsanto, etc. -LRP]


UN Ebola patient being treated in French hospital 1 Nov 2014 France is treating a UN employee who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone, the health ministry said on Sunday. "This person, who worked in Sierra Leone in the fight against Ebola, has undergone a secure medical evacuation by specialised aircraft," the ministry said in a statement. The victim has been placed in isolation under high security in an army training hospital in Saint-Mande near Paris.


Anti-quarantine nurse Hickox was trained as intelligence officer by the CDC 30 Oct 2014 Nurse Kaci Hickox, who has made headlines over the last few days by refusing to quarantine herself after returning from the Ebola front lines in Africa, turns out to have been trained as an "intelligence officer" under a two-year CDC program modeled after the U.S. military. Hickox graduated from a two-year CDC intelligence officer training program in 2012. The official intelligence designation granted to Nurse Hickox by the CDC was "Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer," and she is a graduate of the 2012 EIS program according to this CDC document. (See page 138-139 for Hickox's name and photo.)


Ferguson no-fly zone was reportedly aimed at media 2 Nov 2014 Police in Ferguson, Missouri requested the federal government institute a no-fly zone in more than 37 square miles of airspace surrounding the city in an effort to keep news helicopters away during violent protests, the Associated Press reported Sunday. The Federal Aviation Administration in August agreed to the police request to restrict the airspace surrounding Ferguson for 12 days, saying it was for safety due to the demonstrations following the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown. However, officials reportedly acknowledged in taped telephone conversations that the real reason for the no-fly zone was to keep media helicopters away.


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