News Updates from CLG
22 February 2015
22 February 2015
http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
Previous edition: Obama Signs Executive Order Encouraging Companies to Share
Cyber Security Information With U.S.
Government
Top-secret military warning on Ebola biological weapon terror
threat --Porton Down memo marked
'UK secret UK eyes only' reveals scientists analysed use of virus by al-Qaida or
Isis [or the Pentagon, to facilitate the theft of Africa's oil] | 21
Feb 2015 |Scientists at the top-secret military research unit at Porton Down,
Wiltshire, have been assessing the potential use of Ebola as a bioterrorism
weapon, according to confidential documents. A three-page memo, marked 'UK secret UK
eyes only', reveals that the unit, where chemical, radiological and biological
threats are analysed, was tasked with evaluating whether terrorist organisations
such as al-Qaida and Islamic State (Isis) could use the deadly virus to attack
western targets. The heavily redacted document, which has been released under
the Freedom of Information Act, reveals that the unit was asked last October to
provide "guidance on the feasibility and potential impact of a non-state actor
exploiting the Ebola outbreak in west Africa for bioterrorism".
U.S. and Iraq Planning Massive Mosul Offensive With 20,000 Iraqi
Troops | 19 Feb 2015 | The U.S. and Iraq
are planning a spring offensive to retake the city of Mosul that will require
20,000 to 25,000 Iraqi troops to defeat 1,000 to 2,000 Islamic State fighters,
according to an official from U.S. Central Command. The main attack force of
five Iraqi army brigades will need to be trained first by U.S. advisers, said
the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity at a briefing Thursday to
discuss military operations...The U.S. is considering offering a range of
backing for the offensive, such as air support, intelligence and logistics, the
official said. The military also hasn't ruled out deploying a small number of
U.S. troops on the ground to find targets and call in airstrikes.
US Reveals Mosul Assault Timing in Rare Move --A force of 20,000-25,000 Iraqi and Kurdish forces will aim
to seize the city back from thousands of Islamic State fighters. | 20
Feb 2015 | An Iraqi military operation to retake the country's second largest
city [Mosul] from Islamic State is likely to begin in April or May, according to
a US official...The planned spring assault on the city, with a population of
over a million, will involve about 12 brigades, five of whom will soon have
coalition training, the official at US Central Command added. No decision has
been made on whether small numbers of US military advisers might need [sic] to
be on the ground close to Mosul to direct close air support.
US and Turkey agree to train, equip Syrian 'rebels' against
ISIS | 20 Feb 2015 | After months of
negotiations, the United States and Turkey have agreed on a plan to train and
equip moderate Syrian rebels [aka future ISIS fighters] in the battle against
Islamic State militants. As part of the plan, the US will send more than 400
troops to Turkey – a number that includes special operations forces – where
Ankara will host the 'rebels' while training is underway. American officials
told Reuters that the program is expected to last three years and train up to
5,000 rebels annually. In addition to Turkey hosting 'rebels' on its soil,
Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia will also take part.
Iran nuclear talks: US accuses Israel of
'leaks' | 19 Feb 2015 | The US has accused
Israel of selectively leaking information from the Iran nuclear talks to
misrepresent its position in the negotiations. White House spokesman Josh
Earnest said that Israel was "cherry-picking" information and using it out of
context. Six world powers want Iran to curb its nuclear programme in return for
the lifting of sanctions. Negotiations with Iran are due to begin again on
Friday.
US military officers guilty of 'dishonesty and deception' at all
levels, finds d-mning official report --Shock 52-page report finds dishonesty at all levels in the
U.S. Army | 20 Feb 2015 | A d-mning official report claims dishonesty
within the U.S. military is so endemic that everyone assumes they are being lied
to at all times. The shock report calls on officials to 'urgently confront the
corrupting influence of dishonesty' within the army, warning officers have
become 'ethically numb'. The situation has become so bad, the executive summary
concludes it has 'allowed leaders to espouse lofty professional values while
slogging through the mire of dishonesty and deceit'.
Did NSA, GCHQ steal the secret key in your phone SIM? It's
LIKELY | 19 Feb 2015 | The NSA and
Britain's GCHQ hacked the world's biggest SIM card maker to harvest the
encryption keys needed to silently and effortlessly eavesdrop on potentially
millions of people. That's according to documents obtained by surveillance
whistleblower Edward Snowden and leaked to the web on Thursday. The damning
slides, published by Snowden's chums at The Intercept, detail the activities of the
as-yet unheard-of Mobile Handset Exploitation Team (MHET), run by the US and UK.
The group targeted Gemalto, which churns out about two billion SIM cards each
year for use around the world, and targeted it in an operation dubbed DAPINO
GAMMA.
Australia's most senior Muslim says
it was a mistake to vote for Tony Abbott |
20 Feb 2015 | Australia's most senior Muslim leader has said he won't "repeat
the mistake" of voting for Tony Abbott, and publicly advised the prime minister
to "work in any field other than politics". The strong comments by the Grand
Mufti Ibrahim Abu Mohammed come amid other signs of a serious breakdown in
relations between the Abbott government and large elements of Australia's Muslim
communities, ahead of the expected announcement of new security legislation on
Monday. Nearly 100 Islamic clerics, activists and organisations released a
petition
on Thursday rejecting what they called "the Abbott government's predictable use
of Muslim affairs and the 'terror threat' to attempt to stabilise a fragile
leadership and advance its own political agendas".
Work of prominent global warming denier was funded by energy
industry --Documents: Koch brothers
foundation among groups that gave total of 1.25m | 21 Feb 2015 | A
prominent academic and climate
change global warming denier's work was funded almost entirely by the
energy industry, receiving more than 1.2m from companies, lobby groups and oil
billionaires over more than a decade, newly released documents show. Over the
last 14 years Willie Soon, a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for
Astrophysics, received a total of
1.25m from Exxon Mobil, Southern Company, the American Petroleum Institute (API)
and a foundation run by the ultra-conservative Koch brothers,
the documents obtained by Greenpeace through freedom of information filings
show. According to the documents, the biggest single funder was Southern
Company, one of the country's biggest electricity providers that relies heavily
on coal.
Ohio high court rules against local fracking ban, opponents may seek
civil rights argument | 19
Feb 2015 | The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled [Munroe Falls v. Beck
Energy] that a local ordinance couldn't block a
fracking company from drilling, affirming priority of state law. Yet observers
say the decision leaves room for a challenge based on civil rights. The court
ruled on Tuesday in a split 4-3 decision that a Munroe Falls ordinance that
banned hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the town did not trump state
permitting power.
W. Va. oil train explosion has N.J. raising concerns over rail
safety | 19 Feb 2015 | Each day, long
trains trailing hundreds of matte-black tank cars filled with highly flammable
crude oil snake along the rails through New Jersey to a refinery in Linden. On
one stretch through Edison and Metuchen, the tracks weave through backyards of
tree-lined residential neighborhoods. There, the mile-long trains pass within a
few hundred yards of a parochial school, a public high school and an elementary
school -- carrying the same volatile liquid cargo that so spectacularly exploded
in West Virginia earlier this week, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of
residents. The rail accident on Monday, along with a deadly 2013 incident in Lac-Megantic,
Quebec, where 47 people were killed by an explosive oil train derailment, are
among a string of mishaps in recent months that have raised growing new concerns
over the safety of crude oil shipments by rail--both here in New Jersey, and
nationally.
Race for Chicago Mayor: Bob Fioretti likes being
the underdog | 19 Feb 2015 | (WGN) Bob
Fioretti is leaving his post as 2nd Ward alderman to take on Mayor Emanuel. He
believes Chicago needs new leadership and has lost its way. He wants to be the
candidate to put the city back on the right path. Fioretti has been an Alderman
for the last 8 years but this political fight is the toughest he has ever been
in. He hopes to separate himself from the incumbent and front-runner Rahm
Emanuel, by calling the mayor an elitist and himself a grass-roots guy fighting
for the disenfranchised.
Jeb Bush's foreign policy team is eerily familiar, in one Venn
diagram | 18 Feb 2015 | Former Florida
governor Jeb Bush will announce his foreign policy vision in a speech Wednesday
in Chicago. Accompanying that speech is a rollout of a slate of experts who will
help guide the candidate on foreign policy issues. If Bush's goal is to present
himself as his "own man," that list of advisers undermines the point somewhat: 19 of the 21
people on it worked in the administrations of his father or
brother.
Rudy Giuliani: President Obama doesn't love
America | 18 Feb 2015 | Rudy Giuliani went
straight for the jugular Wednesday night during a private group dinner here
featuring Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker by openly questioning whether President
Barack Obama "loves America." The former New York mayor, speaking in front of
the 2016 Republican presidential contender [unindicted 9/11
co-conspirator/profiteer] and about 60 right-leaning business
executives and conservative media types, directly challenged Obama’s patriotism,
discussing what he called weak foreign policy decisions and questionable public
remarks when confronting terrorists. "I do not believe, and I know this is a
horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America,"
Giuliani said during the dinner at the 21 Club, a former Prohibition-era
speakeasy in midtown Manhattan. "He wasn't brought up the way you were brought
up and I was brought up through love of this country."
Texas Supreme Court Stops Gay Marriage After First
Wedding | 19 Feb 2015 | The Texas Supreme
Court late Thursday imposed a stay on county court rulings striking down the
state's gay marriage ban hours after a lesbian couple became the first to wed in
the Lone Star state. A short statement on the state supreme court website said
the justices had issued a special order.
Minneapolis policeman wounded amid concerns of 'targeted'
shooting | 21 Feb 2015 | Minneapolis police
arrested a man on Saturday afternoon in connection with what they called a
targeted attack on an officer who was shot and wounded after responding to an
early-morning burglary call. The officer, whose name authorities have not
released, was taken to a hospital by his partner with wounds that were not life
threatening, police said. After a search lasting for hours, police announced
they had arrested Andrew Neal, 43, on burglary and domestic assault charges,
adding that they were exploring the connection between the incidents from which
those charges stemmed and the shooting.
The coldest day ever! Temperature records broken across the country
by the 'Siberian Express' cold snap as Manhattan hits
1F | 20 Feb 2015 | The weather phenomenon
dubbed the Siberian Express caused record-breaking low temperatures in almost
every single area in the central and eastern US on Friday, with all major cities
reporting record lows for this date and many reporting record lows for the month
of February. The temperature dropped to a 60-year-low of 1F in New York City
Friday morning, caused fruit crops to freeze in Florida, and in Embarrass,
Minnesota, it got all the way down to -41F on Thursday. The air mass known as
the Siberian Express traces a line all the way back to the Russian territory,
crossing over the North Pole on its way to Canada and into the U.S.
Snowy owls have come to New York City --These owls are from the Arctic. | 20 Feb 2015 |
Snowy owls are invading New York. And the freezing cold temperatures are to
thank for their arrival. So far, at least seven of the owls have been spotted in
the New York City area, including on Governor's Island which tweeted a picture
of a new feathered friend. New York Magazine reports
bird experts believe this may be the first time snowy owls have started living
on that island.
Knock knock, who's bear? Inquisitive polar bear invites himself to
dinner after smelling food inside photographer's wooden
cabin --Not long after his arrival,
he was joined by a second polar bear, but the two caused little trouble
| 19 Feb 2015 | A hungry polar bear surprised staff in a remote wooden cabin
when he tried knocking on the lodge's front door in order to scavenge a free
meal. The remarkable pictures were captured in Manitoba, Canada, by Terry Allen,
a 72-year-old retired professor, after the bear was drawn to the cabin by the
smell of food. Mr Allen said: 'It made me aware of how important it is to
protect these magnificent animals whose existence is endangered from rapid
declines in the levels of Arctic ice, resulting from climate change [global
warming].'
*****
CLG needs your support.
Or, please mail a check or m*ney order to CLG:
Citizens for Legitimate Government (CLG)
P.O. Box 1142
Bristol, CT 06011-1142
Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible.
P.O. Box 1142
Bristol, CT 06011-1142
Contributions to CLG are not tax deductible.
Feel free -- and CLG encourages you --
to forward this newsletter to your lists and friends!
Those who wish to be added to the list can go here: http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg and add your name.
Those who wish to be added to the list can go here: http://www.legitgov.org/#subscribe_clg and add your name.
No comments:
Post a Comment