London Braces for Attack; 'Miracle' If There Isn't One

ARTICLE

British intelligence and law enforcement officials have passed on a grim assessment to their U.S. counterparts, "It will be a miracle if there isn't a terror attack over the holidays in London," a senior American law enforcement official tells ABCNews.com.

British police have been quietly carrying out a series of key arrests as they continue to track at least six active "plots" tied to what they call "al Qaeda of England."

Officials said they could not cite any specific date or target but said al Qaeda had planned previous operations during the Christmas holidays that had been disrupted.

"It is not a matter of if there will be an attack, but how bad the attack will be," an intelligence official told ABCNews.com.

Authorities say they are seeking at least 18 suspected suicide bombers.

"They hope they are one step ahead, but they seriously fear they may be one step behind," the senior American official said.

British law enforcement and intelligence officials say the ongoing plots have been in the planning stages for at least three years. The officials say the plots are all connected and track back to al Qaeda commanders in Pakistan who have been recruiting and training British citizens of Pakistan descent.

A report by "Newsweek" says that American al Qaeda figure Adam Gadahn has served as a translator of a 12-member team of Western recruits, the "English brothers," said to be preparing an attack that would be much bigger than last year's attack on the London subway system.

Watch ABCNews' undercover video of the active al Qaeda recruitment efforts inside Pakistan.

U.S. officials say the "Newsweek" report is, in many respects, parallel to intelligence reports they have been receiving.

British Home Minister John Reid recently told reporters that it was "highly likely" that terrorists would attempt an attack before the first of the year.

Investment Bank Morgan Stanley charged with using '9/11 smokescreen' to hide e-mails

RAWSTORY

In a disciplinary complaint, the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) alleges that Morgan Stanley used a "9/11 smokescreen" to hide e-mails sought by angry claimants in numerous arbitration proceedings from October 2001 through March 2005.

The securities industry's self-regulating arm accuses Morgan Stanley of "falsely claiming that millions of emails it possessed had been lost in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, where its email servers were housed."

"In fact, according to the complaint, Morgan Stanley possessed millions of pre-September 11 emails that had been restored to its system shortly after September 11 using back-up tapes," stated an NASD press release obtained by RAW STORY. "Many other emails were maintained on individual users’ computers and were therefore never affected by the attacks, yet Morgan Stanley often failed to search those computers when responding to requests."

According to NASD, "Morgan Stanley later destroyed many of the emails it did possess, in two ways – by overwriting backup tapes that had been used to restore the emails to the firm’s system and by allowing users of the firm’s email system to permanently delete the emails over an extended period of time."

The complaint alleges that "millions of the emails were destroyed" between September 2001 and March 2005.

The security firm is further accused of failing to implement procedures providing for the retention of email, and failing to adopt adequate procedures governing searches for email in response to requests by regulators and in arbitration proceedings.

"Morgan Stanley responded that it has tried to reach a 'fair and appropriate' settlement of the NASD complaint, but the regulator made 'disproportionate and unprecedented demands,'" CNN reports. "As a result, it will litigate the matter, Morgan Stanley said."

Racist Congressman fears more Muslims elected

Va. Congressman fears more Muslims elected - Full Story at MSNBC

Apology called for; Rep. Goode 'stands by the letter'
The Associated Press

Updated: 11:26 a.m. ET Dec 21, 2006

"WASHINGTON - A Republican congressman has told constituents that unless immigration is tightened, "many more Muslims" will be elected and follow the lead of a recently elected lawmaker who plans to use the Quran at his ceremonial swearing-in."

Robots and human rights?

Robots could demand legal rights


Robots could one day demand the same citizen's rights as humans, according to a study by the British government.
If granted, countries would be obligated to provide social benefits including housing and even "robo-healthcare", the report says.

The predictions are contained in nearly 250 papers that look ahead at developments over the next 50 years.

Other papers, or "scans", examine the future of space flight and methods to dramatically lengthen life spans.

"We're not in the business of predicting the future, but we do need to explore the broadest range of different possibilities to help ensure government is prepared in the long-term and considers issues across the spectrum in its planning," said Sir David King, the government's chief scientific adviser.

"The scans are aimed at stimulating debate and critical discussion to enhance government's short and long term policy and strategy."

Robot rights

The research was commissioned by the UK Office of Science and Innovation's Horizon Scanning Centre.

The 246 summary papers, called the Sigma and Delta scans, were complied by futures researchers, Outsights-Ipsos Mori partnership and the US-based Institute for the Future (IFTF).


The papers look forward at emerging trends in science, health and technology.

The scans explore a diverse range of areas from the future of the gulf stream and the economic rise of India, to developments in nanotechnology and the threat posed by HIV/Aids.

As well as assessing the current state of thinking the research also examines the possible implications for society.

The paper which addresses Robo-rights, titled Utopian dream or rise of the machines? examines the developments in artificial intelligence and how this may impact on law and politics.

The paper says a "monumental shift" could occur if robots develop to the point where they can reproduce, improve themselves or develop artificial intelligence.

The research suggests that at some point in the next 20 to 50 years robots could be granted rights.

If this happened, the report says, the robots would have certain responsibilities such as voting, the obligation to pay taxes, and perhaps serving compulsory military service.

Conversely, society would also have a duty of care to their new digital citizens, the report says.

It also warns that the rise of robots could put a strain on resources and the environment.

"These scans are tools for government to identify risks and opportunities in the future," said Sir David.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/6200005.stm

Neocon Lapdogs: "Round Up Traitors And Put Them In Camps"

Congress preserves and improves internment camps and neocon critics call for them to be used to contain "traitors"

infowars


In a discussion concerning Joy Behar comparing Donald Rumsfeld to Hitler, a Fox News guest yesterday asserted that people like her should be rounded up and put in detention camps because they are traitors.

As reported by Fox watchdog newshounds , The program was Fox On Line with Bill Hemmer, his guest was right wing radio host, Mike Gallagher. As Gallagher moved into a tirade against free speech, left wing radio host, Rob Thompson, who was the "fair and balanced" element of the piece, reminded Gallagher what America is and what having free speech means:

Mike Gallagher: You know it's a little bit ridiculous that we continue to watch these TV stars and movie stars who smear our leaders. I just wonder, Rob, if you'll think for a moment what our enemies think of seeing TV personalities comparing the outgoing Defense Secretary to Adolph Hitler.

I mean, you know, conservatives never get a pass. Strom Thurmond is wished a Happy Birthday by Trent Lott and the sky falls in on Trent Lott. But if Joy Behar goes on national TV and compares a good man like Rumsfeld to the evilest man in the world and there's no repercussions for Joy Behar. You know, I think we should round up all of these folks. Round up Joy Behar, round up Matt Damon, who last night on MSNBC attacked George Bush and Dick Cheney. Round up Olbermann, take the whole bunch of them and put them in a detention camp until this war is over because they're a bunch of traitors.

Rob Thompson: They're not traitors, they're Americans. You know what the great thing about America is? You get to say what you like and you don't get thrown into detention camps...

MG:..No, you don't...

RT: ...And that's what the rest of the world sees. They see free Americans say what they like without having any fear of going to jail. So, if I wanted to compare someone to Hitler or anybody else, Pol Pot, whatever it might be, I have no fear of going to jail because that is what an America is.

MG: There's such a thing as treason, Rob.
RT: That's not treason. That's just political talk and satire and it's a little funny at the least.

Witness the bizarre logic of saying you cannot compare to Hitler someone who illegally invades other countries and sanctions torture of their citizens as well as erecting a police state at home. These idiots demonize such allegations against their ilk as the frothing of "leftist internet junkies" while at the same time calling for internment camps to be used against law abiding American citizens in a Hitler-esque fashion.

Who are the real traitors? The Americans who criticize torture and pre-emptive war, or the Americans who go along with it and call for detention camps for anyone who is critical, be it movie stars, news readers, comedians or Billy Bob who works in the gas station?

Satire is a biting behemoth form of political commentary because it separates the wheat from the chaff, the intellectual voices of reason and students of political wisdom from the blockheaded numbskull yes men that would happily throw themselves off a cliff if they believed it was what President Bush wanted them to do.

The art of satire is an alien concept to these neocon lapdogs, primarily because they do not have brains logical enough to decipher serious commentary from incisive satirical wit. These are the kind of people you see on the daily show who don't realise it is not a serious political news show. They totally fail to grasp the fact that just by being there they create their own downfall and prove Jon Stewart's point before he has even told us what it is.



No you morons, Matt Damon did not literally mean he wanted to see the Bush twins running around an Iraqi desert getting shot at by insurgents when he said why not send them there. He was attempting to make a point by highlighting the double standards that you lapdog fools engage in every second you open your mouth and defend the indefensible.

Unfortunately these type of commentators make up a great deal of the new output of the major stations. Even more unfortunately, their suggestions may not be so ridiculous as far as the Bush crime syndicate are concerned.

As reported earlier this month, one of the last acts of Congress was to send President Bush a bill that establishes a $38 million program of National Park Service grants to preserve Japanese POW internment camps in Hawaii, California, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho. Is this really in the name of historical interest or does it dovetail with programs on the books to intern hundreds of thousands of dissidents in a time of crisis?

During the Iran Contra hearings in the 80's, previously classified information came to light about Continuity of Government (CoG) procedures in times of national crisis. The masterminds behind these programs were Oliver North, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney and the Rex-84 'readiness exercise' discussed the plan to round up immigrants and detain them in internment camps in the context of uncontrolled population movements across the Mexican border.

The real agenda was to use the cover of rounding up immigrants and illegal aliens as a smokescreen for targeting political dissidents and American citizens . From 1967 to 1971 the FBI kept a list of persons to be rounded up as subversive, dubbed the "ADEX" list.

Since 9/11 shadow government and CoG programs that were outlined in Rex-84 have been activated, including mass warrantless wiretapping of American citizens. The internment camp program is being readied for execution following the announcement on January 24th that Halliburton subsidiary KBR (formerly Brown and Root) had been awarded a $385 million contingency contract by the Department of Homeland Security to build detention camps.

Footage of a FEMA facility recently surfaced that reveals the model for the upcoming camps.

Under the enemy combatant designation anyone at the behest of the US government, even if they are a US citizen, can be kidnapped and placed in an internment facility forever without trial. Jose Padilla, an American citizen, has spent over four years in a Navy brig.

So we have a government that will have the right to strip American people of their citizenship, we have current internment camps being restored and pristine new ones being built, and we have a lapdog media not questioning this but instead asserting that anyone who does question it should be thrown into the camps.

What was that about Hitler again?

Somali Islamists say at war against Ethiopia

reuters

BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) - Somalia's Islamists are at war against Ethiopia not the government, a hard-line Islamist leader said on Thursday, as fighting raged for a third day between his forces and pro-government troops.

Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who was speaking to Reuters by telephone, also accused Ethiopia of attacking the Islamists in southern Somalia.

Three days of fighting with rockets, artillery and machineguns have increased fears of a devastating Horn of Africa war that could suck in rivals Ethiopia and Eritrea, who diplomats say are conducting a proxy war there.

The most sustained combat so far for control of a nation in anarchy since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, follows two months of increasingly violent skirmishes along a frontline snaking across Somalia.

Aweys's declaration came hours after he called the fighting around the government's encircled stronghold, Baidoa, "a small incident" and a top European Union envoy said the two sides had agreed to stop fighting and resume peace talks.

Thursday's shelling seemed to scuttle the shuttle diplomacy mission by EU aid chief Louis Michel, who flew into Baidoa and later to Mogadishu to try to push the two sides back to the bargaining table.

"The Somali government and the Islamists do not have heavy artillery pieces -- that shows Ethiopia is at war with us," said Aweys, whom Washington says has links to al Qaeda. "If we are attacked we are not going to sit back."

The Somali government had no immediate comment.

ETHIOPIA DENIAL

Ethiopian Information Ministry spokesman Zemedhun Tekele again denied there were any Ethiopian combat troops in Somalia, despite witness reports they have fought in the latest battles.

"These are baseless allegations which Aweys has been saying all along to mislead international public opinion," he said.

Military experts say Ethiopia has sent 15,000-20,000 troops into Somalia, while Eritrea has sent about 2,000 to back the Somalia Islamic Courts Council (SICC).

Asmara denies any involvement and Addis Ababa says it has only a few hundred military trainers in Somalia but has vowed to crush any attack against them.

The fighting started late on Tuesday, the deadline the SICC had given Ethiopian troops protecting the government to leave the country or face holy war.

The latest round of clashes started early on Thursday near Dinsoor, 100 km (62 miles) southwest of Baidoa.

Dinsoor store owner Dayow Hassan told Reuters the rocket, mortar and artillery fire appeared to be moving south, away from Baidoa toward SICC positions.

"I'm hearing heavy artillery shelling, and it sounds like it's coming closer and closer to us," he said by telephone.

Witnesses in Baidoa said an Ethiopian helicopter had flown out of the city on Thursday, and an unmarked C-130 airplane believed to be flying surveillance runs circled the dusty trading post that is the government's only safe ground.

In Mogadishu, a Reuters witness saw a dozen trucks load more than 100 troops and head toward the front.

Troops of the SICC, which controls most of southern Somalia by military might and the strict use of sharia law, and the fragile, Western-backed government have been fighting near Baidoa since late on Tuesday.

No independent casualty figures were available. Government officials said their soldiers had killed hundreds of Islamists, but made no mention of their own casualties.

Islamist deputy spokesman Sheikh Ibrahim Shukri said the Islamists had killed "70 plus, mostly Ethiopians" and had only seven killed and 22 wounded in Wednesday's fighting.