CLG: Vaccine - Not Ebola - Made Doctor Sick, Study Finds, CIA to create 10 new centers, expand focus on digital espionage

News Updates from CLG
8 March 2015

http://www.legitgov.org/
All links are here:http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news

Previous edition: Shots Fired Near NSA Headquarters, Building Damaged, which Yahoo relegated to the sp*m bin.

CIA to create 10 new centers, expand focus on digital espionage | 7 Mar 2015 | The CIA embarked on a sweeping restructuring Friday that will bring an end to divisions that have been in place for decades, create 10 new centers that team analysts with operators, and significantly expand the agency's focus on digital espionage...The CIA will also create a new directorate focused exclusively on exploiting advances in computer technology and communications. The Directorate of Digital Innovation will rank alongside the agency's operations and analysis branches, and be responsible for missions ranging from cyber-espionage to the security of the CIA's internal email.

US-backed Afghanistan officials sanctioned murder, torture and rape, says report | 3 Mar 2015 | Top Afghan officials have presided over murders, abduction, and other abuses with the tacit backing of their government and its western allies, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. A grim account of deaths, robbery, rapes and extrajudicial killings, Today We Shall All Die, details a culture of impunity that the rights group says flourished after the fall of the Taliban...When Assadullah Khalid, the former head of the country's spy agency, was badly injured in a Taliban assassination attempt, Barack Obama and the former defence secretary Leon Panetta both went to visit him in the American hospital where he was recovering. In doing so they chose to ignore a long history of accusations of rape, torture, corruption and illegal detentions, some of it from US diplomats or their allies, detailed in the HRW report. [See, it's only bad when 'ISIS' does it.]

New Zealand spying on Pacific allies for 'Five Eyes' and NSA, Snowden files show | 4 Mar 2015 | New Zealand is spying indiscriminately on its allies in the Pacific region and sharing the information with the US and the other "Five Eyes" alliance states, according to documents from the whistleblower Edward Snowden. The secret papers, published by the New Zealand Herald, show that the New Zealand Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) collects phone calls and internet communications in bulk in the region at its Waihopai Station intercept facility in the South Island...The data is then channelled into the XKeyscore database run by the US National Security Agency, where it also becomes available to agencies in each of the "Five Eyes" countries: the US, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

'Military pressure' may be needed to oust Assad: Kerry | 6 Mar 2015 | Military pressure may be needed to oust Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Saudi Arabia on Thursday. "He's lost any semblance of legitimacy, but we have no higher priority than disrupting and defeating Daesh and other terror networks", he told reporters, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group which has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq.

Boko Haram purportedly pledges allegiance to ISIS | 7 Mar 2015 | Boko Haram, the Islamist terror group, has pledged allegiance to ISIS, according to an audio message purported to be from Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau. In the audio, which was posted online Saturday, the speaker says Boko Haram is announcing its "allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims, Ibrahim ibn Awad ibn Ibrahim al-Husseini al-Qurashi," which is another name for ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. [LOL! That way, the CIA only has to cut one check.]

US Ambassador Attacked in South Korea | 4 Feb 2015 | The U.S. Ambassador to South Korea was attacked in the country's capital today while giving a speech, officials say. Photos from South Korea's official news agency show Ambassador Mark Lippert with blood on his hand and holding his face. He was attacked by what the Yonhap news agency described was "an armed man" who shouted, "No to war training!" before attacking him. He was assaulted Thursday morning local and is being treated at a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries, according to the State Department.

Snowden in talks on returning to U.S., Russian lawyer says | 3 Mar 2015 | A Russian lawyer for Edward Snowden said on Tuesday the fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor who leaked details of the government's mass surveillance programs was working with American and German lawyers to return home. Anatoly Kucherena, who has links to the Kremlin, was speaking at a news conference to present a book he has written about his client. Moscow granted Snowden asylum in 2013...Kucherena said last August Snowden had been granted a three-year residence permit in Russia.

Hillary Clinton asks State Dept. to release her e-mails | 5 Mar 2015 | Hillary Rodham Clinton said she requested the State Department to disclose all of her e-mails from her tenure as the nation's top diplomat, as the revelation that she used a private e-mail address for government business loomed over her likely presidential campaign. Clinton posted on Twitter late Wednesday that she wants the public to see her e-mail, marking the first time she has commented publicly about the controversy.

Fire alarm prompts unscheduled shutdown of Prairie Island nuclear unit | 5 Mar 2015 | One of the Prairie Island nuclear power plant's two units in Red Wing is being shut down Thursday in response to what Xcel Energy is calling an "unusual event." According to the utility, a fire alarm went off overnight in the Unit 2 containment building. While there was no indication of a fire, plant personnel are "taking conservative actions" and putting the unit out of service to investigate what happened, a statement from the Minneapolis-based utility said. In December, Unit 1 was taken out of service to allow workers to replace a reactor coolant pump seal during an outage.

Vaccine - Not Ebola - Made Doctor Sick, Study Finds | 5 Mar 2015 | Just 12 hours after he got an experimental Ebola vaccine, and just two days after he stuck himself with a needle while caring for Ebola patients in September, Dr. Lewis Rubinson started getting sick. By then, Rubinson was aboard a jet, being evacuated from Sierra Leone to the United States. He wasn't sure if he was infected with Ebola or if the vaccine was causing a reaction. He was en route to strict isolation at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington D.C. Months later, it's fairly clear the vaccine caused the reaction..."The patient developed malaise, nausea and fever 12 hours after the vaccination while on the transport jet," Dr. Mark Mulligan of Emory University and colleagues wrote in a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Thursday.

Sandy Hook Commission Final Report | 6 Mar 2015 | Sandy Hook Commission Final Report (.pdf) 'RECOMMENDATION NO. 20 Provide funding for the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, to establish positions for regional School Safety Planners charged with assisting districts in the planning for all hazards emergencies and the effective exercising of those plans. Because local school and law enforcement officials are already overwhelmed with existing responsibilities, the Commission recommends the creation of, and funding for, a new position of regional School Safety Planner. The proposed School Safety Planner would be responsible for developing and overseeing drilling and training at all schools in his/her jurisdiction.'

Ohio terrorism suspect wanted to shoot Obama in head | 7 Mar 2015 |A man accused of plotting an attack at the U.S. Capitol said in an interview with an Ohio television station if he hadn't been arrested he would have gone to Washington and shot President Obama in the head. Christopher Lee Cornell called into WXIX-TV in Cincinnati from a Kentucky jail and confessed to being a supporter of the Islamic State terror group and said he planned to kill government officials in retaliation for U.S. strikes on ISIS. The station aired part of the interview Friday night, hours after Cornell's attorney argued unsuccessfully in court that it could violate the defendant's right to a fair trial.

Obama in Selma: Ferguson report shows civil rights 'march is not yet finished' --President delivers passionate speech on 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday | 7 Mar 2015 | Barack Obama delivered one of the most poignant speeches of his presidency on Saturday, using the backdrop of Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge to call for an end to the discrimination he said still casts "a long shadow" over America. "Fifty years from Bloody Sunday, our march is not yet finished," the president told tens of thousands who converged on the Alabama town...In a segment of the speech that linked this week's Department of Justice (DoJ) report that condemned racist policing tactics in Ferguson, Missouri with a famous quote by civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Obama said it was a common mistake to assume racism had been banished from the US.

Hundreds walk Brooklyn Bridge to commemorate 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday | 7 Mar 2015 |Hundreds of people -- black and white -- walked across the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday march in Selma. Their arms linked, former Mayor David Dinkins and other political and civil rights leaders led the singing, sign-holding procession of marchers. "The idea is to remind people of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Ala.," said Dinkins, 87, New York’s first African-American mayor.

Angry protests as cops kill unarmed teenager in Wisconsin - days after release of Ferguson report and on Selma anniversary weekend --Killing prompted over 100 angry demonstrators to protest outside home | 7 Mar 2015 | An unarmed black teenager has been shot dead by a police officer at a Wisconsin home - just days after the release of a damning report into racial prejudice by cops in Ferguson, Missouri. Tony Robinson, 19, who was suspected of a recent battery, was reportedly gunned down by officer Matt Kenny, 45, who had followed him into an apartment in Madison at 6.30pm local time Friday. The killing, which sparked a mass protest outside the home, came only two days after a Justice Department report revealed that seven racist emails had been sent by officials in Ferguson.

2 Ferguson police officers resign in wake of FBI investigation, racist emails | 7 Mar 2015 | Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson was still on the job Friday, two days after a government report blasted his beleaguered department for years of racial profiling, and the mayor refused to speculate about the chief's future, saying his role was not to "just chop heads." Meanwhile, three Ferguson employees implicated in racist emails exposed by that report are now gone from their jobs, the mayor said. One was identified as a city court clerk. Two police officers have since resigned in the wake of the released emails.

Ferguson fires city court clerk over racist emails | 6 mar 2015 | The city of Ferguson has identified an employee fired for sending racist emails to co-workers as its former municipal court clerk. City spokesman Jeff Small on Friday identified the fired worker as court clerk Mary Ann Twitty. A Justice Department report released Wednesday cited a series of inappropriate messages sent by an unspecified number of city employees, including one message that depicted President Barack Obama as a chimpanzee and another that compared black welfare recipients to mixed-breed dogs.

Discrimination in Ferguson: full extent of police bias laid bare in d-mning report | 5 Mar 2015 | The full extent of the racial persecution of black residents in Ferguson, Missouri, by the city's overwhelmingly white law enforcement authorities was disclosed on Wednesday in a d-mning report by the US Department of Justice. Ferguson's police department and court system "reflect and exacerbate existing racial bias", the 105-page study found, adding that "discriminatory intent" among city officials -- several of whom were found to have sent racist emails -- was partly to blame...Detailing an extensive list of individual injustices, the investigators concluded officers showed a pattern of stops without reasonable suspicion, arrests without probable cause and excessive force, all in violation of the fourth amendment to the US constitution.

Ex-prison guard held in NSA, other D.C.-area shootings | 4 Mar 2015 | A man suspected of five shootings in Maryland, including a building at the National Security Agency, is in custody at a hospital, police said Wednesday. Hong Young, 35, of Beltsville, Md., a former correctional officer, is charged with attempted first-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault, firearm in the use of a violent felony crime, handgun in vehicle and reckless endangerment for a Feb. 24 incident on Arundel Mills Boulevard in Hanover, Md. In addition to those incidents, police say Young also is believed to be responsible for shootings at a Walmart in Laurel, Md., an AMC movie theater in Columbia, Md., and a shooting incident on the Maryland Intercounty Connector where a vehicle was hit by gunfire. Law enforcement officials from several jurisdictions worked on the case.

Is there a sniper on the loose in Maryland? Cops hunt for blue car linked to five mystery shootings at NSA headquarters, malls and theaters that left two hurt, 12 years after the DC Sniper terrorized the capital --First shooting took place last Tuesday and most recent shooting involved office building at NSA Headquarters around 5pm on Tuesday, March 3 --Sources said police are looking into whether they are all linked | 4 Mar 2015 | Police are today investigating the possibility that one gunman has randomly opened fire on five public places in Maryland over the past week, in attacks that left two reportedly injured. What appears to be the same blue car has been linked to the attacks in which a gunman opened fire on a a driver at a mall, a Walmart, a movie theater, a truck on a highway and headquarters of the NSA over the last seven days.

U.S. Senate fails to override Obama's veto of Keystone XL approval | 4 Mar 2015 | The U.S. Senate failed on Wednesday to override President Barack Obama's veto of legislation approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline, leaving the controversial project to await an administration decision on whether to permit or deny it. The Senate mustered just 62 votes in favor of overriding the veto, short of the two-thirds needed. Thirty-seven senators voted to sustain Obama's veto. The Senate action means the House of Representatives will not vote on override.

Chris Christie's Exxon Settlement is Bad for New Jersey --Shortchanging New Jersey by Billions | 4 Mar 2015 | The decision by the administration of Gov. Chris Christie to settle an environmental lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corporation for roughly three cents on the dollar after more than a decade of litigation is an embarrassment to law enforcement and good government. Even more troubling are the circumstances surrounding the decision, which recently came to light. As a judge deliberated whether to assess the 8.9 billion in damages New Jersey sought, the administration stepped in and agreed to take about 250 million and settle the case...The administration has so far refused to release the text of the agreement.

Chris Christie sells out New Jersey taxpayers | 5 Mar 2015 | ...Historically, under [NJ] state law, m-ney received from environmental settlements has to be used on environmental efforts. But last year the Christie administration snuck some language into the state budget that effectively overrode this. For this fiscal year -- and potentially this fiscal year only -- the first 50 million of any environmental settlement will go toward environmental programs; anything above that can be diverted to plug holes in the state's general fund. This meant there was great pressure for the state to settle the [Exxon Mobil] case now for whatever it could get, rather than wait -- possibly for years -- for the much larger amount likely to have been awarded by the judge.

U.S. said to prepare corruption charges against Sen. Menendez | 6 Mar 2015 | The U.S. Justice Department is preparing criminal corruption charges against New Jersey Democratic Senator [and warmonger] Robert Menendez, CNN reported on Friday. Citing unnamed sources briefed on the case, CNN said the charges center on allegations that Menendez used his office to promote the business interests of a Democratic donor and friend in exchange for gifts...CNN said Attorney General Eric Holder has given the green light for prosecutors to proceed with charges and an announcement could arrive in coming weeks.

Delta jet skids off runway during snowstorm at NY airport | 5 Mar 2015 | A Delta Air Lines Inc jet landing during a snowstorm at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Thursday slid off the runway and struck a fence before coming to rest on a snow-covered embankment just feet from the frigid waters of Flushing Bay. None of the 127 passengers and five crew members were seriously injured as Delta flight 1086 from Atlanta skidded on the tarmac at about 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT). Images on local media showed the plane's nose had pushed through a chain-link fence and was jutting out over an embankment.

Eagles covered in snow while protecting nest in Pennsylvania | 5 Mar 2015 | Think you've had it up to your neck with snow? Try being one of the bald eagles at Codorus State Park. The eagles took dedication and parenting to a whole new level Thursday as several inches of snow covered their nest near Lake Marburg. As the snow piled higher, one of the eagles remained on the nest and the pair's two eggs -- even when everything was covered but the bird's head. Pennsylvania Game Commission has placed a camera at the nest and has a live stream on its website.

Keep digging until you see spring: People of Boston pictured from the air as they toil to get their city back from under more than eight feet of snow | 3 Mar 2015 | It may be the first week of March, but it still looks a lot like Christmas in snow-covered Boston. The winter storms took a brief break on Tuesday, when a Boston Globe photographer set out to capture the city turned into a real-life snowglobe from the air. Boston has received some 8 1/2 feet of the snow in the past few weeks, and is just a few inches shy of their snowiest winter yet - a record that was set 20 years ago. That record could be broken as soon as Wednesday evening, when yet another storm front is expected to hit the city...The sun peaked out over snow-covered Boston on Tuesday, but a new storm system is already working its way through the New England city, with another waiting in the wings for Wednesday night. Pictured: a snow farm near the Mass Turnpike Allston dwarfs trucks and front-end loaders.

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