Santa Ana Winds Return – Fire Breaks Out In Malibu Forces Evacuations

Residents were ordered to evacuate their homes early Saturday ahead of a wildfire that scorched about 400 acres in the hills above Malibu as the dry Santa Ana wind returned to Southern California.

The blaze began shortly before 3:30 a.m. PST near Malibu Lake on state park land, said Los Angeles County fire Capt. Mike Brown.

About 100 homes in three communities were evacuated, Brown said. Flames had reached some of the homes but there were no immediate reports of damage.

TV images are showing a line of flames running along the canyon.

Hundreds of firefighters were placed on watch this weekend as Santa Ana wind returned to Southern California. Gusts up to 60 mph were reported in some mountain passes overnight.

News Coverage

Local Coverage – KCAL

MSNBC

CNN

Fox News – Live Video/No Audio

Firefighters To Help In Fight Against Terrorism – ACLU Speaks Out

Firefighters in major cities around the country are being trained for a new role in the fight against terrorism… As lookouts.

Unlike police, firefighters and emergency medical personnel don’t need warrants to enter a building. And now, they are being asked to keep an eye out for suspicious items like building blueprints or bomb-making materials that could be a sign of terrorist activity or planning.

The Department of Homeland Security began testing a program in December with the New York City fire department. It’s sharing intelligence information so firefighters are better prepared when they respond to emergency calls and it’s training them to identify materials and behavior that may indicate terrorist activities.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is opposed to the idea. Mike German, a former FBI agent who is now the National Security Policy Counsel to the ACLU feels this is another step toward Americans giving up personal privacy rights.

There are no doubt very good arguments on both sides of this issue.

Comments are open on this thread.

Eileen Sullivan of The Associated Press has written a very detailed article.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Americans have given up some of their privacy rights in an effort to prevent future strikes. The government monitors phone calls and e-mails; people who fly have their belongings searched before boarding and are limited in what they can carry; and some people have trouble traveling because their names are similar to those on terrorist watch lists.

The American Civil Liberties Union says using firefighters to gather intelligence is another step in that direction. Mike German, a former FBI agent who is now national security policy counsel to the ACLU, said the concept is dangerously close to the Bush administration’s 2002 proposal to have workers with access to private homes such as postal carriers and telephone repairmen report suspicious behavior to the FBI.

“Americans universally abhorred that idea,” German said.

The Homeland Security Department is testing a program with the New York City fire department to share intelligence information so firefighters are better prepared when they respond to emergency calls. Homeland Security also trains the New York City fire service in how to identify material or behavior that may indicate terrorist activities. If it’s successful, the government intends to expand the program to other major metropolitan areas.

As part of the program, which started last December, Homeland Security gave secret clearances to nine New York fire chiefs, according to reports obtained by The Associated Press.

“They’re really doing technical inspections, and if perchance they find something like, you know, a bunch of RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) rounds in somebody’s basement, I think it’s a no-brainer,” said Jack Tomarchio, a senior official in Homeland Security’s intelligence division. “The police ought to know about that; the fire service ought to know about that; and potentially maybe somebody in the intelligence community should know about that.”

Even before the federal program began, New York firefighters and inspectors had been training to recognize materials and behavior the government identifies as “signs of planning and support for terrorism.”

When going to private residences, for example, they are told to be alert for a person who is hostile, uncooperative or expressing hate or discontent with the United States; unusual chemicals or other materials that seem out of place; ammunition, firearms or weapons boxes; surveillance equipment; still and video cameras; night-vision goggles; maps, photos, blueprints; police manuals, training manuals, flight manuals; and little or no furniture other than a bed or mattress.

The trial program with Homeland Security opens a clear information-sharing channel which did not exist before between the fire service and Homeland Security’s intelligence division.

“We’re there to help people, and by discovering these type of events, we’re helping people,” said New York City Fire Chief Salvatore Cassano. “There are many things that firefighters do that other law enforcement or other agents aren’t able to do.” He added, “A normal person that doesn’t have this training wouldn’t be looking for it.”

Cassano would not discuss specifics, but he did say that some terrorism-related information has been passed along to law enforcement since firefighters and officers began the training three years ago. “They’ve had some hits,” Cassano said. “It’s working.”

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Toronto – Shooting Forces Lockdown of 5 Schools

Five Toronto schools were locked down for one hour Friday afternoon following a nearby shooting that left one male in critical condition in hospital.

The incident occurred in Scarborough around 1 p.m.

The schools in the vicinity were locked down at 1:52 p.m. for about one hour as a safety precaution, said Toronto police Const. Wendy Drummond. She said it was standard procedure whenever there is an incident such as a shooting near a school.

No one was allowed in or out of the school during the lockdown.

It is not clear what started the altercation but police are looking for numerous suspects.

The male victim was shot in the chest.

The schools locked down were Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute, John Buchan Senior Public School, Pauline Johnson Public School, Bridletown Junior School and Tam O’Shanter Public School.

Source

FBI and Homeland Security Watch for Lone Wolf Terrorists Leading Up To Annapolis Peace Talks

An unclassified threat assessment written by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI in advance of the Middle-East peace conference at the U.S. Naval Academy on Nov. 27. has been obtained by Fox News. The document apparently points out that there are no specific terror threats to next week’s Mideast peace conference scheduled in Annapolis, Md. however; authorities will be keeping an eye out for “lone-wolf” terrorists.

“To date, DHS and the FBI have no intelligence reports indicating a possible threat to the Annapolis Peace Conference (APC); nevertheless, with the media coverage and the sensitive issues involved, the possibility of a terrorist attack against such a prominent event remains,” the report says.

The report found no evidence that the Palestinian political faction Hamas — deemed by the U.S. as a terror group — plans an attack, and also found that other terror groups like the Al Qaeda and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade have not expressed interest in mounting an attack.

The report notes that “domestic extremist organizations” have a presence in Maryland, but there is “no information suggesting any of these organizations pose a threat to the conference or Islamic or Jewish sites in the vicinity.”

“Nonetheless,” the report continues, “DHS does not discount the threat of the lone-wolf terrorists, including individuals radicalized by homegrown extremist groups or Internet content.

“Anti-U.S. rhetoric from Palestinian terrorist or organizations opposing the conference has the potential to spark violence by unaffiliated Palestinian sympathizers or lone-wolf terrorists. Many lone-wolf terrorists have conducted attacks against targets they perceived as being associated with Israelis or Jews.

“DHS and the FBI have no credible information indicating that Jewish extremist groups seek to target Muslim sites in the vicinity of the event or the USNA other than an extremist Israeli website run by Russian emigres has called for acts of civil disobedience by American Jews to protest the conference.”

Source – Fox News

Bremerton – Bomb Squad Removes Suspicious Device

Bremerton police called in the state patrol bomb squad Sunday evening after discovering a suspicious device near the Westpark housing area.

The item was found at about 6:30 p.m. off of Russell Road. It was a large plastic water bottle wrapped in a sweatshirt and secured with electrical wire. The bottle’s opening was sealed with plastic, tape and a zip tie to possibly contain pressure. The bottle had broken into several pieces, possibly from pressure inside it.

It appeared to be some sort of pressure device, like a dry ice bomb, according to a police report.

The device was checked out by a robot, loaded into an explosives trailer and taken to the Bremerton firing range, where it was rendered safe.

Source

Nothing Found on Suspicious Plane That Flew In From Canada To Pasco Washington

This is one of those stories that asks more questions than it answers. For instance, isn’t Pasco Washington about 300 miles from the Canadian Border?

Investigators say the suspicious plane that landed at the Pasco Airport Tuesday flew in from Canada but never filed a flightplan or stopped for customs.

Investigators now say the suspicious plane that landed was coming from Saskatchewan.

They won’t say who was on the plane, only that it was just the pilot and a passenger.

Neither were detained and nothing was seized from the plane.

Investigators say the reason the plane was searched was because it didn’t radio or land after it crossed the U.S.-Canada border.

“We keep track of all international aircraft arriving in the U.S. from foreign countries and this particular one had not either given us advance notification and had not landed at an international airport that provides customs and border protection clearance,” said Mike Milne with Customs.

Customs enforcement says the plane was intercepted by a customs jet as it landed here in Pasco, but that it did land voluntarily, and it was after that that police surrounded the plane.

Brisbane Australia – School In Lockdown Over Mystery Rash

This may turn out to be nothing, but as of right now 69 Students have been isolated, parents have been asked to stay away and 11 ambulances are on the scene at Stretton State College, south of Brisbane. Scientists are on scene attempting to determine what the students may have come in contact with.

A Queensland school has been placed in lockdown for scientific testing after several students developed rashes. Queensland Ambulance Service officers were called to Stretton State College, south of Brisbane, around 10.30am (AEST) after three students rapidly developed a rash.

An additional 69 students, all believed to be in Year Two, were isolated from the rest of the student population amid fears they may have come into contact with an unknown substance.

The three students were to be taken to hospital for observation while the remainder showered as a precaution.

The school has been placed in lockdown while Queensland Fire and Rescue Service officers conduct scientific testing of the area to determine the cause of the reactions.

Parents were notified but told they could not collect their children until the lockdown finished. They were advised to avoid the area, although up to 30 turned up at the school.

“The whole school is in lockdown at the moment, which means that kids are being held in the classrooms where they were at (at the time of the contamination),” the police spokesman said.

“It will be in lockdown until the QFRS have completed their scientific tests or until they are satisfied to such an extent that there’s no danger present.”

Eleven ambulances have been called to the school including the Special Operations Response team.

Source

Bomb Squad Detonates Suspicious Device Strapped To RV

Interesting story out of Contra Costa County.

A suspicious device that caused an evacuation in the unincorporated township of Knightsen in east Contra Costa County on Wednesday has been detonated, said a sheriff’s spokeswoman.

Even so, residents have not been allowed back in their homes.

A bomb squad with the Walnut Creek Police Department arrived at 60 Broadway in Knightsen to investigate a possible explosive device found in a motor home, sheriff spokesman Jimmy Lee said.

The device was found at about 1:30 p.m. by a man who saw what he thought looked like dynamite in a residential motor home, Lee said. It was detonated in a safe area about four hours later.

It is unclear what the device is.

Residents within a one-mile radius of the Broadway residence have been evacuated from their homes and directed to the Delta Vista Middle School on Frank Hengel Way near East Cypress Road, Lee said.

Evacuees were notified by an emergency telephone alert system that called 220 households in the area, Lee said. Residents who did not receive the call do not have to evacuate, he added.

Walnut Creek is the only city in Contra Costa County that has a bomb team at its disposal, Mark Covington of Walnut Creek police said. The team was sent out after receiving a request from the sheriff’s department, which is managing the incident.

The reporting party described four sticks of dynamite tied to a motor home at 60 Broadway in Knightsen.

The device was found at about 1:30 p.m. by a man who saw what he thought looked like dynamite in a residential motor home, Lee said.

It is unclear what the device is, he said.

Residents within a 1-mile radius of 60 Broadway are being evacuated from their homes and are being directed to the Delta Vista Middle School on Frank Hengel Way near East Cypress Road, Lee said.

Evacuees were notified by an emergency telephone alert system that called 220 households in the area, Lee said.

Residents who did not receive the call do not have to evacuate, he added.

On Wednesday afternoon a robot approached the camper to investigate the possible explosive device.

Slide Show

Source

FBI Warns Al Sharpton Of Possible Package Threat

The FBI warned the Rev. Al Sharpton that an inmate at an upstate New York prison was talking about sending a “dangerous substance” in the mail to his New York City offices.

An official said the inmate might have sent as many as 12 threatening letters, some containing a powder believed to be harmless.

“A couple of the letters have already arrived and tested negative,” the official said speaking on condition of anonymity.

“For his safety, we have been advised that he or his staff should not open any packages or letters from a specific addressee or any mail that looks suspicious,” said lawyer Sanford Rubenstein, an associate of Sharpton.

Sharpton also sent word to National Action Network offices around the nation “of this potential danger,” Rubenstein said.

The FBI has confirmed the reported threat.

Bomb That Killed 170 in Pakistan Was Strapped to a 1-Year-Old Child

For those who still believe there are some lines even a militant jihadist won’t cross.

The homicide terror bomb used in an assassination attempt on former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto last month may have been strapped to a 1-year-old child who was being carried by his jihadist father, The Australian newspaper reported Thursday.

The bomb, which killed 170 people and injured hundreds more, detonated during a crowded procession for Bhutto as she returned from exile.

Investigators from Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party said the homicide bomber tried repeatedly to carry the baby to Bhutto’s vehicle as it proceeded through the streets of Karachi.

“At the point where the bombs exploded, Benazir Bhutto herself saw the man with the child and asked him to come closer so that she could hug or kiss the infant,” investigators were reported as saying.

“But someone came in between and a guard felt that the man with the child was not behaving normally. So the child was not allowed to come aboard Benazir’s vehicle.”

According to The Australian, Bhutto said she recalls the face of the man who was carrying the infant and has asked to see recordings of the incident in hopes of identifying the man.

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Bronx – ATF Agents Shoot Suspect With Hand Grenade During Undercover Operation

Two officers were injured and a suspect was shot and killed Tuesday night after what authorities say was an undercover explosives buy gone bad in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx.

Officials from the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms say they were trying to negotiate the sale of a grenade.

But when the suspect brought the grenade with him, agents tried to arrest him.

An ATF spokesman says the suspect tried to make a quick getaway, dragging an agent alongside his car. That’s when the agent fired once, striking the suspect in the head.

The bomb squad was called in to secure the area. The ATF agent and an NYPD detective were taken to the hospital.

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UK Families on Fraud Alert – Computer Disks With Details On 25 Million Missing

In what is being called a ” catastrophic failure” two computer discs holding the personal details of all families in the UK with a child under 16, receiving child benefits are missing. The discs apparently contain personal details including where relevant.

The unimaginable loss means information on senior politicians, police officers and leading industrialists will be included in the missing data, which contains records on nearly half the UK’s 60.5 million population.

It is reported that MPs gasped as Mr Darling revealed the scale of the loss in an emergency statement to the Commons.

Two computer discs holding the personal details of all families in the UK with a child under 16 have gone missing.

The Child Benefit data on them includes name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number and, where relevant, bank details of 25m people.

Chancellor Alistair Darling said there was no evidence the data had gone to criminals – but urged people to monitor bank accounts “for unusual activity”.

The Conservatives described the incident as a “catastrophic” failure.

CHILD BENEFIT HELPLINE
0845 302 1444

In an emergency statement to MPs, Mr Darling apologized for what he described as an “extremely serious failure on the part of HMRC to protect sensitive personal data entrusted to it in breach of its own guidelines”.

MPs gasped as Mr Darling told them: “The missing information contains details of all Child Benefit recipients: records for 25 million individuals and 7.25 million families. “

The chancellor blamed mistakes by junior officials at HMRC, who he said had ignored security procedures when they sent information to the National Audit Office (NAO) for auditing.

Mr Darling told MPs: “Two password protected discs containing a full copy of HMRC’s entire data in relation to the payment of child benefit was sent to the NAO, by HMRC’s internal post system operated by the courier TNT.

The package was not recorded or registered. It appears the data has failed to reach the addressee in the NAO.”

He added: “The police tell me that they have no reason to believe that this data has found its way into the wrong hands.

“The police are not aware of any evidence that it has been used for fraudulent purposes or criminal activity.”

Timeline of events

US Plans Case Against AP Photographer Bilal Hussein – Labeled Terrorist Operative

Michelle Malkin and My Pet Jawa have both written extensively on this story. Michelle features several photos on her site.

The U.S. military plans to seek a criminal case in an Iraqi court against an award-winning Associated Press photographer but is refusing to disclose what evidence or accusations would be presented.

The journalist, Bilal Hussein, been imprisoned without charges for more than 19 months.

In Washington, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell explained the decision to bring charges now by saying “new evidence has come to light” about Hussein, but said the information would remain in government hands until the formal complaint is filed with Iraqi authorities.

Morrell asserted the military has “convincing and irrefutable evidence that Bilal Hussein is a threat to stability and security in Iraq as a link to insurgent activity” and called Hussein “a terrorist operative who infiltrated the AP.”

Tucson TV Station Broadcasts Arizona Fort Huachuca Terror Threat Report

This story was updated 11/25/07.  Read it here.

KOLD News 13 Tucson is currently running a special report focused on a urgent FBI report outlining a possible terrorist threat in southern Arizona. It speaks specifically to Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista.

The document gives no timetable or explanation of how the threat will be carried out.

But it does say, “a group of Iraqis may have entered the United States through tunnels from Mexico into Arizona,” and those same “Iraqis are believed to be the ones who will perpetrate the attack on Fort Huachuca.

Special Report Part 1

Special Report Part 2

In posting this story, I don’t want to imply that we are in favor of KOLD releasing the report. However, as it is now in the public domain and being broadcast on TV we feel it’s an important story to cover.

It may surprise you, but Tucson has had more than it’s share of attention from al Qaeda.

American al Qaeda

American al Qaeda, Adam Gadahn grew up in Riverside County, California. But a search on the Internet reveals he also worked in Tucson as a student reporter for a TV news magazine called “EcoNews.”

Gadahn helped cover a story on a garbage project at the University of Arizona, but he never attended college.

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Terrorist Alley

In 2004, The Investigators on Eyewitness News 4 reported the possible threat of terrorists using the Arizona/Mexico border to cross into the U.S.

While local government officials and immigration advocates questioned the validity of such a threat, the report, “Terrorist Alley,” gained national attention.

Read More

Arizona: Long Range Nexus for Islamic Extremists

With the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. government took notice of the radical leanings held by some Arizona Muslims.

A joint FBI-CIA analysis titled, “Arizona: Long Range Nexus for Islamic Extremists,” likely explores the history of Tucson’s rise to prominence among Muslim radicals but remains classified. Its existence was revealed in the bipartisan 9/11 commission’s final report released Thursday.

That leaves others to explore the reasons why Tucson and Arizona became a destination for Islamic fundamentalists.

FBI spokeswoman Susan Herskovits would not talk specifically about the analysis but said Arizona offers numerous attractions that make it a destination for many Arabs, including legitimate scholars and law-abiding residents.

The University of Arizona recruited Middle Easterners for its science programs, and Arizona’s weather makes flight training schools popular.

The desert climate reminds Middle Easterners of home. And Tucson’s popularity spread through word of mouth, she said.

“Once people from another culture end up in a place like Tucson, other people hear about it and want to be there,” Herskovits said.

In addition to el-Hage, Tucson and the Phoenix area have been home to numerous al-Qaida operatives, including:

Åú Hani Hanjour, who attended the UA and a flight school in the Phoenix area before piloting American Airlines 77 into the Pentagon on Sept. 11.

Åú Mubarak al Duri, who lived in Tucson and, according to the 9/11 commission’s report, served as bin Laden’s principal procurement agent for weapons of mass destruction.

Åú Wa’el Jelaidan, who was president of the Tucson Islamic Center in 1984-’85 and helped found al-Qaida later that decade.

Most known or suspected terrorists seem to have been drawn to Tucson and Arizona by two lures – the availability of flight schools and student visas, said David D. Van Fleet, a professor and terrorism expert in the School of Management at Arizona State

Source

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