NYPD stop terror...

Hey guys,

Yesterday two men were arrested in New York City after police discovered a plot to bomb several Jewish synagogues in the city.  The arrests were the culmination of a seven month long sting operation. The men were finally caught when they attempted to buy several guns and grenades from undercover police officers.

The police eventually discovered the men had plans of attempting to destroy the Empire State Building as well. 

Authorities claim that the men were working alone and were not part of al-Qaida or any other known terror group.  Police want to make clear that these men were not acting in response to the death of Osama bin Laden as this investigation has been ongoing long before bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan.

According to reports this is the 13^th attempted terror plot since 9/11 that law enforcement officials have stopped. 

Take some time to read the attached article (it’s not that long)… then read the comments from other readers.  You will see some comments from frightened people, some comments from educated people, and then you will see some statements made by people who simply do not understand the difference between faith and extremism… faith and extremism of any religion.

After reading the comments, I’m convinced that our discussion with the religious leaders of our community taking place next week in school is more necessary than ever.

What do you think?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110512/us_nm/us_newyork_security_2

Never too late for justice...

Hey guys,

It would seem that justice may have finally caught up with some of the last surviving Nazi war criminals.

John Demjanjuk (photo) was found guilty of war crimes this morning; the verdict comes one day after he refused to make a final statement in court.  The verdict marks the end of the 18 month long trial. Demjanuk, age 91,  is guilty of 28,060 counts of accessory to murder, the number of people who were killed while he was a guard at the Sobibor death camp in Nazi occupied Poland.

“The World’s Most Wanted Nazi”, Sandor Kepiro, a 97 year old former Hungarian police captain proclaimed his innocence last week as his war crimes trial began.  Kepiro has been accused of leading and participating in raids which targeted Jews, Serbs, Gypsies, and other “undesirables.”   Kepiro acknowledges that he participated in the raids, but denied any responsibility in the killings.  Kepiro had been living in hiding in Argentina.

Klaas Carel Faber, age 89, is currently living freely in the Bavarian city of Ingolostadt.  Faber was a member of Hitler’s SS and was convicted in 1947 of the murders of 22 Jews in the occupied Netherlands, his sentence was eventually commuted to life imprisonment.  Faber escaped in 1952.  Germany currently refuses to extradite Faber back to the Netherlands as they recognize citizenship granted by Hitler for members of his SS, and Germany does not extradite its citizens.

It is too late to go after these men for their crimes?  What is the point of prosecuting such old men for crimes committed over 70 years ago?  However old a person is, do authorities have a responsibility for making these people answer for what they have done?

What do you think?

New threats...

Hey guys,

This past weekend saw two potential “would be” terror incidents in the skies over the U.S.  On Sunday Rageh Al-Murisis, a 28 year old from Yemen, charged the cockpit door of an American Airlines flight traveling from Chicago to San Francisco.

According to reports, about twenty minutes before the plane was to land, al-Murisis tried to open the cockpit door by ramming his shoulder into it.  He was quickly subdued by flight attendants and passengers.

Also on Sunday, on a Continental flight from Houston to Chicago, Reynel Alcaide tried to open the emergency door mid-flight.   He too was taken down by passengers and the flight was diverted to St. Louis where it landed safely.

Investigators are looking into possible links between the two cases.

This morning information was released that the leader of al-Qaida’s Yemeni offshoot has warned the United States that the death of bin Laden does not signal the end of the fight, and that even worse attacks will be carried out in the future. 

The leader, Nasser al-Wahishi, who was once a close friend of bin Laden, posted a eulogy and the warning on Islamic extremist websites on Tuesday.  Al-Wahishi claims that “Jihad is growing brighter…”

What do you think?

The only thing we have to fear is...

Hey guys,

Tourists in Rome may find the eternal city a bit quieter than usual this week.  The reason… a predicted earthquake.  Now I know what you are thinking, there is no way to predict an earthquake… and you are correct, that is the official scientific stand on the topic.  But that is not stopping thousands of Roman citizens from getting out of the city ahead of the May 11^th “D-day.”

According to Raffaele Bendandi, who died in 1979, earthquakes can be predicted by analyzing the movement of the planets, the moon, and the sun.  Though the scientific community disagrees with Bendandi, history records that he did predict the 1923 earthquake which hit the eastern coast of Italy.  So impressed with Bendandi was fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, that he knighted him in 1927.

National television stations in Italy have been running television promotions and commercials trying to calm the fears of the populous, but the fear still grips Italy…  and Rome in particular.

Even odder, Bendandi probably never even predicted a May 11 earthquake.  According to Paola Lagorio, the president of an association dedicated to Bendandi, there is no reference to any earthquake around Rome in 2011 in any of Bendandi’s writings.

Thousands of Romans are not taking any chances… the government expects mass work stoppages and a huge exodus from the city today…

I guess we will wait and see… bum bum bum…

Never the victim's fault...

Hey guys,

On January 24, 2011 a Toronto police officer gave a speech to hundreds of university students.  One of the topics of the speech was on how females could better protect themselves against assaults.

The advice given by this member of the city’s police force was as follows and I quote, “women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”

These comments have lead to an international movement; one which pledges to stop the myth that when a woman is the victim of a sexual assault it is somehow her fault. 

Being assaulted is not about what you wear, or how you speak… placing the blame on the victim is irresponsible and dangerous!  It gives the impression that under certain circumstances it is somehow acceptable to force a woman into actions or acts against her will…

In response to the comments made by the Toronto police department, several “SlutWalks” have been organized in Canada and the United States to spread awareness – the message…  it is NEVER the victim’s fault. 

This past Saturday, Boston held its first “SlutWalk”.  Events are planned for all across the country including New York, Chicago, Reno, Philadelphia, and Austin.

When asked why they chose the name “SlutWalk”, organizers said they want to take the power away from the word… if the word has no power, it becomes just another word…

What do you think?

 (For information on how to better protect yourself from sexual assault, clink the link below)

 http://www.rainn.org/get-information

(If you or anyone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, click the link below for the national sexual assault hotline)

http://www.rainn.org/get-help/national-sexual-assault-hotline

Threat still exists...

Hey guys,

Just a few days after the death of Osama bin Laden, we are reminded that the threat of terrorism did not die with him.

New information has come to light that the terror network once headed by bin Laden had planned to launch attacks on trains in the United States on the 10^th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.  According to U.S. officials they have no information on an “imminent threat” but that they were aware that such an attack was at least in the planning stages.

In addition, information is coming to light yesterday over twenty letters were sent to Washington D.C. school containing suspicious white powder.  The FBI is investigating but claims that the powder appears to harmless.  This reminds us of the Anthrax scare of a few years ago…

The White House issues a statement in regards to the potential train attacks and the mystery letters saying, we must still be on guard against the threat of terror, both foreign and domestic.

What do you think?

New Cyber Crimes Laws...

Hey guys,

According to recent studies conducted by various online task force teams and confirmed by an independent investigation by local news channel NBC 10, Rhode Island has the highest number per capita of people participating in the trading of child pornography.

According to the investigation, every minute of every day there are hundreds of adults trading illicit images of children, and lawmakers are trying to figure out new ways to combat this cyber crime.

State Police are seeking the authority to issue something called an “administrative subpoena” which would allow the Superintendent of State Police to issue a subpoena based on evidence developed at the Cyber Crimes Unit. It would allow police to identify the account holder of IP addresses of suspected child pornographers or other sexual predators.

Members of the Rhode Island ACLU are arguing that such authority is dangerous as it would lead the officials using the IP addresses to illegally track other criminal activity; they argue that the law in an invasion of privacy.

In other related stories, last month a man in New York was arrested for trading illegal images when his unsecured wireless internet connection was hacked by a neighbor.   The police tracked the images to his home router and arrested him.  When they examined his computer they found nothing illegal.  Instead his neighbor was found with thousands of illegal images which were downloaded using the connection from his neighbor’s internet.

Aaron’s furniture may be in some trouble as well.  They have been found to be secretly installing tracking software on the computers they rent out to customers.  The software records key strokes, visited websites, and even takes picture and video images of the users in an effort to ensure no illegal activity is conducted.

How can we better protect our children while still securing the rights of the individual?  Is the ACLU correct or the State Police?  Does Aaron’s furniture have the right to secretly install such software? 

Whatever the case… make sure you secure that internet connection!!!!

What do you think?

***If you have any information about child predators, you can call the Cyber Crimes Unit tipline at 401-275-5100***