Homeland Security Warning

“It's not like this was planned or anything:

A third source, an official who works under ISI's director, Lieutenant General Ehsan ul-Haq, informed tnr that the Pakistanis "have been told at every level that apprehension or killing of HVTs before [the] election is [an] absolute must." What's more, this source claims that Bush administration officials have told their Pakistani counterparts they have a date in mind for announcing this achievement: "The last ten days of July deadline has been given repeatedly by visitors to Islamabad and during [ul-Haq's] meetings in Washington." Says McCormack: "I'm aware of no such comment." But according to this ISI official, a White House aide told ul-Haq last spring that "it would be best if the arrest or killing of [any] HVT were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July"--the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston. ”

“LOL!”

“I think the article neglects to mention that cutting off this much of the city creates a very dangerous lag time for emergency response in the downtown area.

Security Checks Ordered Near Federal Reserve

By Spencer S. Hsu and Sari Horwitz

Police will be deployed to inspect trucks at checkpoints around the main Federal Reserve building at Constitution Avenue NW in response to a terror alert for financial institutions in Washington, New York City and Newark, the Department of Homeland Security announced last night.

Checkpoints will be located on Constitution Avenue at 20th and 21st streets NW and on Virginia Avenue at C and 21st streets NW during daylight hours, said Thomas J. Lockwood, director of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of National Capital Region Coordination, although he said it was unclear when they would begin.

The announcement came as authorities struggled to control the impact of the terror alert in the nation's capital. A proposal to bar trucks from 15th Street NW near the Treasury Department spurred the highest-level regionwide conference yesterday among federal, District and state homeland security leaders since the alert was raised Sunday.

In addition to the hour-long meeting, the Secret Service discussed protective measures on the east side of the White House complex with Mayor Anthony A. Williams's administration, seeking to avoid a domino effect of excessive security limits in the nation's capital, said federal law enforcement and homeland security officials.

Tony Bullock, a spokesman for Williams (D), said last night that the Secret Service will close the sidewalk facing the Treasury headquarters. An agency spokeswoman, Ann Roman, said no decision had been made. Two other people briefed on the discussions said authorities were inclined to stop short of banning trucks.

The announcement of new security measures came even as Washington's top law enforcement officials said they knew of no imminent threat to the city. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Sunday specifically identified the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as potential targets in Washington, but he gave no indication of the timing of a possible attack.

D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said yesterday that no additional threats have emerged. "There was nothing new about the Capitol or the White House," he said.

Referring to the erection of barricades this week on Capitol Hill and the proposal for 15th Street, Ramsey said: "There was nothing in the information to cause the kind of reaction we have with street closings and checkpoints. There is not an imminent threat, other than the fact that we believe D.C. and New York City have been on top of the target list and people already know that."

U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer also said the intelligence that prompted the alert was limited. "Beyond what Secretary Ridge has said, there is no specific intelligence about an imminent strike in Washington," he said. "There is not some other secret piece of intelligence about an imminent threat. There is not some smoking gun."

The Federal Reserve and Treasury Department developments came a day after Capitol Police closed First Street NE and set up more than a dozen checkpoints on Capitol Hill, part of the increasing fortification of Washington landmarks against a possible truck bomb attack.

According to the federal planning body for the capital region, more than 20 federal agencies are seeking to set up barrier walls, fences, concrete bollards, hydraulic gates, guard booths or other hardened perimeters.

For instance, the National Park Service is building a 35-inch-high vehicle barrier in a ring extending 50 feet to 100 feet from the Lincoln Memorial as part of $7 million road project. The Park Service is contemplating a wider buffer, as much as several hundred feet, around the Jefferson Memorial.

The Smithsonian Institution has completed a $20 million, architecturally sensitive plan to erect low barrier walls and gatehouses at 10 museums on the Mall by 2008. Defenses would include a visitor-friendly rock garden at the Museum of Natural History doubling as an anti-car barrier.

Other plans would secure an off-site Pentagon delivery facility, control vehicles for the State Department, harden the headquarters of the Government Accountability Office and fence the National Arboretum.

"Virtually all of them at this point are blast-related," said Christine Saum, director of urban design and plan review for the National Capital Planning Commission, which reviews the requests.

"No one wants to deny a security risk, but we want to make sure they are valid and thorough," Saum said.

The panel exists to preserve public spaces and is campaigning for uniform, high-quality security designs, she said. Out of about 150 applications the commission receives each year, security projects have grown from 1 to 2 percent before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to 15 percent last year and to 30 percent this year, Saum said.

Other officials note that federal agency heads have to act on their own to improve security because there is no federal clearinghouse that provides technical blast studies, suggests standard countermeasures or sets funding priorities.

The lack of coordination was on display this week at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. On Tuesday, Congress implemented the street closure and checkpoints, at a projected cost of $3 million a month, without conferring with city officials. That prompted the Treasury Department to consider unilaterally heightening its own security.

Concerned that hasty decisions would encourage other agencies to commit to a frenzy of additional closures or restrictions, Lockwood called "a timeout."

Participants in a conference call included Gainer, Ramsey, City Administrator Robert C. Bobb, Secret Service Deputy Assistant Director James E. McDermond, representatives of other federal agencies, representatives of the IMF and the World Bank and Virginia and Maryland homeland security advisers, Lockwood said.

"I wanted everybody to take a step back and understand the implication of the individual actions taken," Lockwood said. "The purpose was to change the tone where people were very reactive."

District leaders have assailed what they called the opportunistic encroachment on city streets by a security lobby taking advantage of the threatening climate. They warned that federal officials are carving a city renowned for its physical symbolism into sterile enclaves.

"You can't close major arteries in a city and expect there will be no problem," Williams said.

On the second day of increased security on Capitol Hill, no major problems were reported.

During yesterday's rush hour, lines of vehicles about 10 deep stopped at a three-lane checkpoint at Maryland Avenue and Second Street NE. Vehicles were stopped briefly and sent on their way.

Washington commuters, largely accustomed to dealing with heavy security measures, seemed undisturbed by the stops.

Dana Duncan, 27, who works on Capitol Hill, waited about two minutes in line. Duncan shrugged her shoulders when asked if the increased security measures put a damper on her morning commute. "It's a necessary evil," Duncan said. "I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Senate Sergeant-at-Arms William H. Pickle agreed.

"We don't want to disrupt traffic, disrupt lives, hurt the District of Columbia or the economy," Pickle said. "However, when you weigh everything, you have to come down on the side of life and safety."

Staff writers Dan Eggen, Nicole Fuller and Dana Priest contributed to this report.”

“http://www.ametsoc.org/amsupdate/index.html#noaaradio

More than Weather on NOAA All-Hazards Network

You can now get more than just weather on your NOAA All Hazards
Radio (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/). That's because NOAA and the
U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Information Analysis and
Infrastructure Protection Directorate recently signed an agreement
that allows Homeland Security to send critical all-hazards alerts
and warnings directly through the NOAA All-Hazards Network.

Under this agreement, Homeland Security now has the authority to
develop an alert and warning message that can be delivered directly
to NOAA and broadcast to affected areas. The system is capable of
reaching more than 97 percent of the United States territory on a
24/7 basis through broadcasts in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, the
Virgin Islands, Guam, and Saipan. Radios and televisions currently
equipped with SAME (Specific Area Message Encoding) allow listeners
to pre-select the categories of alerts they wish to receive in
chosen listening areas. Broadcast receivers are located in emergency
operations centers and many public sites and workplaces. Public
schools in some states are similarly equipped.

Beyond the new capability to broadcast Homeland Security Alerts and
warnings, the NOAA system will continue to broadcast weather
forecasts and warnings, including news about severe storms,
hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and volcanic activity; chemical
spills and bio-hazardous releases; and, in some states, Amber
Alerts. Special populations such as the disabled or the elderly can
connect NOAA All-Hazards radios via plug-ins to attention getting
devices, such as strobe lights, pagers, bed shakers, personal
computers and text printers.



When will they have time to broadcast the WEATHER?”

“My NOAA weather radio went off last night and scared the bejabbers out of me. You haven't seen anything until you've seen a roomful of loose bejabbers!

So after all that, it rained for about 10 minutes, there was no wind, and the lightning was from far off.

Took me all night to round the bejabbers back up.”

“WJR all news radio hear in Detroit ran a piece yesterday about the new precautions that we're taking due to the elevated level. People quoted in the piece voiced concern that IF there were to be anything happen, the feds have everything so locked down and barricaded that it would be very tough to evac people outta there on a massive level.

I ask: Could this be part of Al-Queda's "plan".

Think about this - They send false info down the pipe to:

1. Test to make sure we're listening.

2. Make sure that we panic the public for them.

3. Make sure that everyone is so closed in so that when/if they hit, it will maximize loss of life.



Think out of the box on this ---”

“I know nobody wants to hear this but there is some good news out there.”

“Ready for some slinging, Nigal? ;)


How could the increased security in NY/Newark/DC prevent a shoulder launched missle attack!”

“Ah my old friend! What shall it be? The El Dorado? The fox trot? Or are in the mood for a little tango? LOL!

I'm not sure I understand your question Bear.”

“LOL! Slow dance, puhleeze!

A. The heightened Security/Alert had nothing to do with this arrest

2. The weapon they tried to purchase could be used to hit any target now being "guarded" from outside the "security ring".

I'm just trying to point out that heightened security isn't going to help much.”

“I'll have to save this dance for the morrow my love. Gotta go...”

“It's truly amazing. After doing nothing for decades and finally getting caught with our pants down, now all bin Laden has to do is clear his throat and it sends "Homeland Security" into such a tizzy.


Why would al-Qaida attack when they don't even have to?

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.”

“I've been snubbed by Nigal!”

“Shamelessly slashed out of a Post article:

"But highly visible security can have a detrimental effect for those who must live with it day to day, according to some experts. Rather than make some people feel safer, it can make them feel as though they live in the center of a bull's-eye.

"We can create a neo-medieval society that will profoundly affect our economy, our politics and society itself," said Brian Jenkins, a terrorism expert and senior adviser at the Rand Corp., a nonprofit think tank. "But we are bordering on creating an atmosphere of terror without the benefit of terrorists."

Exactly how many security checkpoints or how big a police presence it takes to provoke this kind of reaction is unclear, experts said.

"But there's a point at which all this extra security makes people feel less secure, because it reinforces the sense that we are not in a safe place, that we are targets and victims," said Anie Kalayjian, a professor of psychology at Fordham University and author of "Disaster and Mass Trauma."

For Deat LaCour, an organizational consultant, the District may have already reached that point. With signs posting the threat level and intercom reminders telling Metro passengers to watch for suspicious people and packages, the District is "no longer the same place it was."”

“I distinctly remember Brian Jenkins appearing on CNN over twenty years ago, saying that it most assuredly was not a question of IF we would be attacked by terrorists, only 'when'.”

“OH,it must be shrubs' revenge against new york, he hates that state anyway, cuz isn't it ?blue? anyways, we have to get our citizens used to the martial law that a proper police state should be under
oh, and how 'bout those jobs. 35,000 versus the 230,000 forecasted? I'm sure that anyone that got a tax cut last year really , really, used it to create jobs- doncha' think?”

“Blue states get terror alerts. Red states get "liberal alerts". It's the winger way of getting out the vote!”

“rofl good one Phaedrus”

“'Winger'?


Customers who bought this title also bought:

Skid Row, Cinderella and Def Leppard, LMAO!”

“Yeah, that's the winger version of Rock the Vote!”

“The Heightened security in DC is costing the Feds $750,000/wk.

Thanks for your support!”

“The effort by U.S. officials to justify raising the terror alert level last week may have shut down an important source of information that has already led to a series of al Qaeda arrests, Pakistani intelligence sources say. Until U.S. officials leaked the arrest of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan to reporters, Pakistan had been using him in a sting operation to track down al Qaeda operatives around the world, the sources said.

--CNN”

“oh, and how 'bout those jobs. 35,000 versus the 230,000 forecasted? I'm sure that anyone that got a tax cut last year really , really, used it to create jobs- doncha' think?"
LaBastillefan
04:42:19 PM
08/06/04

It created jobs, unfortunately, the majority of them are overseas, in Mexico or Canada.”

“So crucify the ego before it's far too late
To leave behind this place so negative and blind and cynical
And you will come to find that we are all one mind
Capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable.
Just let the light touch you and let the words spill through
Just let them pass right through, bringing out our hope and reason”

“Oh noooooooooooooooooooo, bright bright red ..................”

“Your appendix is more likely to kill you than al-Qaida is.

With that in mind, here's a handy ranking of the various dangers confronting America, based on the number of mortalities in each category throughout the 11-year period spanning 1995 through 2005.

S E V E R E
Driving off the road: 254,419
Falling: 146,542
Accidental poisoning: 140,327

H I G H
Dying from work: 59,730
Walking down the street: 52,000.
Accidentally drowning: 38,302

E L E V A T E D
Killed by the flu: 19,415
Dying from a hernia: 16,742

G U A R D E D
Accidental firing of a gun: 8,536
Electrocution: 5,171

L O W
Being shot by law enforcement: 3,949
Terrorism: 3,147
Carbon monoxide: 1,554”

“Oh dear,

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,236517,00.html

I say move him to Cuba and he can live forever with Fidel Castro (LOL)”

“Better go buy some duct tape and plastic wrap, XL!”

“Maybe it was all the Taco Bell the guards were bringing him?”

“No worries here roseypalmer....I am betting the places like the LEFT coast and the North East will be the big targets.....large population centers.....”

“Yeah. Gotta take out all the intelligent people so you can subjugate what remains...”