Category Archives: U.S.A.

Hey! Buddy! You have our attention! Muslim man shoots at stores in Alabama city to draw attention to Islam

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h/t Tundra T

Man in custody after shootout with police in Alabama City

                By
Times Staff Writer
Published: Monday, January 9, 2012 at 9:26 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 12:11 a.m.

A man thought to be an Islamic extremist is believed to have shot the windows out of at least two businesses in Alabama City early Sunday to lure police officers to the area and engage them in a shootout.

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Luis Ibarra-Hernandez was charged with attempted murder. (Special to The Times)

Luis Ibarra-Hernandez, 21, from Albertville, was charged today with attempted murder, according to a news release from the Gadsden Police Department.

“After the man was taken into custody, he reported that he knew he must do something extreme to draw attention to Islam and himself, so he planned to shoot police officers,” Gadsden Police Capt. Regina May said. Continue Reading →

Man Arrested Over ‘Florida Bombing Plan’

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SKY NEWS:

Police arrest photograph of alleged al Qaeda sympathiser Sami Osmakac, arrested in FloridaSami Osmakac was arrested after an undercover operation

7:30pm UK, Monday January 09, 2012

A suspected Islamic extremist has been arrested over an alleged plan to attack businesses and a police station in Florida, US authorities have said.

Sami Osmakac, 25, a naturalised US citizen who was born in the former Yugoslavia, was arrested in Tampa on January 7 following a sting operation.

According to the US justice department he allegedly tried to create a car bomb and obtain an assault rifle and explosives.

His arrest followed a months-long surveillance during which he was closely monitored by law enforcement officials.

Officials said Mr Osmakac has been charged with one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, which they identified as explosives.

More information follows…

Video from FOX NEWS:

Escalation: Iran To Close Strait if Further Sanctioned

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PJ Media

The war of words between Iran and the United States escalated dangerously Sunday over the Islamic regime’s determination to develop nuclear weapons.

The Iranian leadership officially ordered its military commanders to close the Strait of Hormuz should Western sanctions be implemented on Iranian oil. Iran also announced it would be conducting ground war games, which would complement their recent naval war games intended to show they have the capacity to shut down the Strait.

About 35 percent of the world’s seaborne oil supply moves through the Strait of Hormuz — closing the strait would damage economies worldwide and cause gasoline prices to soar.

The United States responded that it will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta stated that such a development was a “red line” for the United States. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that the United States has the ability to reopen the strait should Iran close it:

We made very clear that the United States will not tolerate the blocking of the Straits of Hormuz. … That’s another red line for us and that we will respond to them.

Britain has chosen to send its most sophisticated warship, the HMS Daring, to the Persian Gulf. The destroyer is fitted with new technology that gives it the ability to shoot down any missile in the Iranian armory.

Hadi Mohammadi, political deputy of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, made the announcement regarding the escalation. He told Iranian newspaper Khorasan that the Guards have received orders from the highest authority in the Islamic regime to close the Strait of Hormuz:

Iran cannot remain indifferent to the actions by the West and their threats in implementing sanctions on Iran’s oil. … The Strait of Hormuz is within the strategic space of the Islamic Republic, and the leadership is determined to not allow a drop of oil to pass through if our oil exports are affected.

In reference to the recent naval war games held by the Iranian navy in the strait and the Persian Gulf, and the upcoming war games to be held in the same waterways by the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammadi emphasized:

[Iran has] shown and will show the enemy that without a doubt, our forces are capable of closing this strategic waterway to the world.

Mohammadi added that this new doctrine is based on the orders of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to Iran’s armed forces. He continued:

We will respond to threats with threats but also that we will not always wait for the threats by the enemy to respond.

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Iran, US and Israel announce new war games as tensions rise in the Gulf

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The Guardian:

Surge in military activity in the region comes amid threat of EU embargo on Iranian oil and possible closure of strait of Hormuz

Iran - naval war games in the strait of Hormuz

Iran’s navy conducting the Velayat-90 naval war games in the strait of Hormuz on New Year’s Day. Photograph: Mohsen Shandiz/Corbis

Tensions on the oil shipping lanes in the Gulf have escalated with the announcement of new naval exercises by Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards and news that Israel and the US are planning to carry out extensive joint manoeuvres in the region.

The naval commander for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, said the drill in February would be “different compared to previous exercises held by the IRGC”. The Iranian navy finished 10 days of exercises in the Gulf on Monday, during which it tested a range of new missiles. It warned that Iran could close the strait of Hormuz, the narrowest point in the Gulf, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes.

On the same day, the Israeli military said it was preparing for joint exercises with the US to rehearse missile defence and co-operation between the forces. The manoeuvres involve thousands of troops, have been planned for some time and were hailed by Israeli and US officials as their biggest joint drill.

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US deploys troops in Israel for Iran war

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By: Reza kahlili

USS Kitty Hawk — a 1,000 feet supercarrier with 4,500 personnel on board

According to PressTV, the mouthpiece of the Islamic regime in Iran, the US military is preparing a massive military campaign against Iran, sending thousands of American troops, warships and weaponry to Israel.

An unnamed source said the military deployment of US anti-missile ships and accompanying support personnel will occur in January and later this spring, Global Research reported.

Commander of the US Third Air Force based in Germany Lt.-Gen Frank Gorenc said it is not just an “exercise,” but a “deployment,” The Jerusalem Post said.

Washington and Tel Aviv have planned to hold what they call the largest-ever joint military exercise this spring.

The US commander visited Israel two weeks ago to confirm details for “the deployment of several thousand American soldiers to Israel.”

The US General also visited one of Israel’s three Iron Dome anti-missile outposts. The Israeli Air Force has announced plans to deploy a fourth Iron Dome system in coming months.

While US troops will be stationed in Israel for an unspecified amount of time, Israeli military personnel will be added to United States European Command (EUCOM) in Germany.

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Hate crime charge for man in NYC firebombing

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 CBS news

Ray Lazier Lengend, accused of involvement with hurling crude Molotov cocktails at an Islamic cultural center and four other New York-area sites on New Year’s Day, is led out of the 103rd precinct in Jamaica, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2011, in Queens borough of New York. (AP Photo)

(CBS/AP)NEW YORK – A man who confessed to a string of New Year’s Day arson attacks at an Islamic cultural center and four other sites where he had personal grievances was arrested on a hate crime charge, police said.

 

Ray Lazier Lengend, a 40-year-old of Guyanese descent, hurled crude firebombs at the Islamic center in part because he wasn’t allowed to use its bathrooms, a law enforcement official said.

 

Lengend was tracked through a stolen car with Virginia license plates believed to be at the scene of at least two of the attacks Sunday evening on a convenience store, three homes and the cultural center, police said. He was arrested Tuesday on charges including one count of arson as a hate crime, four counts of arson and five counts of criminal possession of a weapon, they said.

 

Lengend, who lives in Queens, was taken to a hospital for a psychiatric examination Tuesday night. He remained in custody and couldn’t be reached for comment. A man who answered a telephone call at Lengend’s home said he would not give out any information over the phone and hung up. There was no information on whether Lengend had a lawyer.

 

Police spokesman Paul Browne said Lengend made statements implicating himself in the attacks and had personal grievances with each targeted location. Crude firebombs were tossed at the convenience store, two homes in Queens, a home in nearby Nassau County and the Islamic center.

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Police: Man admits firebombing NY Islamic center

SUN: Analysis of Iranian Vs. US naval capabilities

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I found it refreshing to hear the guest expert say that the problem is not the US military’s inabilities, that the US navy is more than enough to deal with Iranian missiles etc. But Obama’s rules of engagement that make Iran superior in the Straights.

Report: Iran tells departed US carrier to ‘stay out’ of Persian Gulf’

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Partial article from:

YNET

Islamic Republic’s army chief warns US to keep its aircraft carriers out of Persian Gulf waters, says warning will not be repeated

News agencies

Published: 01.03.12, 10:30 / Israel News

Iran’s army chief told the United States that a Iran will not repeat its warning … the enemy’s carrier has been moved to the Sea of Oman because of Iran test-fires long range missiles

“I advise, recommend and warn them (the Americans) over the return of this carrier to the Persian Gulf because we are not in the habit of warning more than once,” the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Salehi as saying.

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Iran’s military drill in Gulf 9Photo: MCT)

Salehi did not name the aircraft carrier or give details of the action Iran might take if it returned.

Iran completed 10 days of naval exercises in the Gulf on Monday, and said during the drills that if foreign powers imposed sanctions on its crude exports it could shut the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world’s traded oil is shipped.

 

The US Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, said

 

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday that Iran was continuing to develop nuclear weapons and called for stronger sanctions against Tehran.

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The NDAA’s historic assault on American liberty

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Partial from:

The Guardian:

Barack Obama

Do believe the hype, says Professor Turley: the NDAA, signed into law by President Obama on 31 December, authorises the US military to detain citizens indefinitely without trial. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

President Barack Obama rang in the New Year by signing the NDAA law with its provision allowing him to indefinitely detain citizens. It was a symbolic moment, to say the least. With Americans distracted with drinking and celebrating, Obama signed one of the greatest rollbacks of civil liberties in the history of our country … and citizens partied in unwitting bliss into the New Year.

Ironically, in addition to breaking his promise not to sign the law, Obama broke his promise on signing statements and attached a statement that he really does not want to detain citizens indefinitely (see the text of the statement here).

Obama insisted that he signed the bill simply to keep funding for the troops. It was a continuation of the dishonest treatment of the issue by the White House since the law first came to light. As discussed earlier, the White House told citizens that the president would not sign the NDAA because of the provision. That spin ended after sponsor Senator Carl Levin (Democrat, Michigan) went to the floor and disclosed that it was the White House and insisted that there be no exception for citizens in the indefinite detention provision.

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Suspect detained in LA car fires.

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Suspect is described as a German national driving a van with Canadian plates.

There is video of him here

Here are 2 images from that video below. Click for full size.

Thanks to a commenterDC for this one.

UPDATE on the LA car fires

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I think this is worth tracking. As Richard pointed out, chaos is chaos and serves the interests of anyone who wishes to destabilize Western nations. However I am curious about this series of events. If it is by more than one person, it is less likely to be a random non-political person with a psychopathology of arson. Also, its been a few days now. Surely the police have had a chance to check security camera footage from somewhere at this point. Granted, L.A. is not yet London and thank god for small mercies, but still lots of cameras everywhere in private hands.

Post-9/11 and the problem of abstraction

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From European Son
Architect company MVRDV provoked shock and outrage in early december when its plan for the building of two skyscrapers in Seoul, South Korea, came to public attention.

The two buildings strongly resembled New York’s Twin Towers, destroyed by al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001 — a day that is burned into the national psyche of the USA, and the psyches of individuals all around the world. Incredibly, the fashionable architecture firm designed a kind of exploding center, called the Cloud, that would join the two towers.

Things come into view soft focus. It takes a split second before we see the uniqueness of anything — a face in the crowd, for example. The architectural design does look like a photo of the Twin Towers exploding, at least until you look at it close up, or from above (which most of us won’t be doing).

No surprise that MVRDV quickly issued an apology, saying… read more.