Showing posts with label 9/11. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 9/11. Show all posts

Friday, November 13, 2015

The Ongoing Paris Attacks

This is like what happened in Mumbai years ago. Gunmen willing to die show up with automatic weapons, show up at crowded places in a major city, and open fire, wanting to kill anyone in sight, indiscriminately. This is not suicide bombing. The fatalities are much higher.

We are nowhere close to winning the War On Terror. It is an evolving situation. If the War On Terror is like the Cold War, like I have been maintaining since 2001 that it is, we are only in decade two of the War.

This is horrific. The asymmetry gives them the upper hand. It is not hard to smuggle in trained gunmen, or to obtain the weapons.

The scary part is, this could happen anywhere. This is the second time Paris has been attacked. Something similar happened in Australia. They blow up one cafe, and that act scares an entire nation.

There are two ends to the stick. One is, how do you make sure the wrong men don't end up in the wrong places? And that is tough. It is a big world. How do you make sure they don't show up with weapons? That is also tough. Another end of the stick is, once an incident gets reported, how swift is your counter reaction?

Intelligence work is crucial. How deeply have these groups been penetrated? That is also hard. Because they seek a constant feed of new recruits.

It is a tough, sad situation. The innocents getting slain -- your heart goes out to them.

I can imagine all big cities going on high alert after this. The thing is I feel love for big cities. I live in one.

This attack was designed with the intent to grab global media coverage. The impending climate talks in Paris will make sure that happens. The climate talks can not now be taken to a different city. And with 80 heads of state gathering, there will be major media coverage.

Paris attacks: eyewitness accounts
Paris attacks: Dozens dead and hostages held at Bataclan



French president declares state of emergency
Dozens of people dead in attacks across Paris
Several dozen killed in violence around Paris, hostage-taking in theatre
a series of unprecedented attacks around Paris ..... The series of attacks gripped the city in fear and recalled the horrors of the Charlie Hebdo carnage just 10 months ago. ...... One of at least two restaurants targeted Friday, Le Carillon, is in the same general neighbourhood as the Charlie Hebdo offices, as is the Bataclan, among the best-known venues in eastern Paris, near the trendy Oberkampf area known for a vibrant nightlife. The California-based band Eagles of Death Metal was scheduled to play there Friday night. ...... The Charlie Hebdo attackers claimed links to extremists in Yemen, while the kosher market attacker claimed ties to the Islamic State group. ..... France's military is bombing Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq and fighting extremists in Africa, and extremist groups have frequently threatened France in the past...... French authorities are particularly concerned about the threat from hundreds of French Islamic radicals who have travelled to Syria and returned home with skills to stage violence.
What Is Happening in Paris?
President Francois Hollande has declared a state of emergency across France and closed the country’s borders after a series of attacks across seven sites in central Paris killed dozens of people Friday evening. ..... ABC News adds that 60 hostages are believed to be held in what is being described as “an ongoing situation.” The Guardian is reporting that a witness on live radio in France claims “he heard the assailants [at the Bataclan] were screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ while shooting inside the crowd.” If true, this would be the first indication that the attacks were perpetrated by Muslim terrorists. .....

If it’s shown that the attacks are coordinated, it would be the worst violence in Paris since World War II.

So far, there have no reports that any attackers have been apprehended.
NYPD Steps Up Security Citywide After Shootings, Explosions In Paris Kill Dozens
diners fell to the floor when gunshots were directed at the restaurant’s window. She told France 24 that a woman lying next to her had a fatal injury. ..... One of the explosions was reported at a bar at the stadium where the match was going on...... CBS News reported French President François Hollande was in the stadium at the time. He was rushed away and taken to a secure area...... “These are obviously very highly planned attacks, acting in concert at the same time, and it appears to me that they were successful,” said terrorism expert Manny Gomez. ...... Hollande said in an address to the country that the military was being deployed around Paris after the unprecedented attacks. Hollande also announced that the French borders have been closed. ...... Delta airlines said it was monitoring the situation and calling it very fluid. ..... An NYPD official said the department stepped up security at all high-profile locations in New York City as a precaution. The official said there were no specific threats in New York, and the decision to beef up security was precautionary. ......

At the time of the attacks, Paris was already on high alert in preparation for a global climate meeting in a couple of weeks, which 80 world leaders — including President Obama — were planning to attend.

...... The attack comes as France has heightened security measures ahead of a major global climate conference that starts in two weeks, out of fear of violent protests and potential terrorist attacks. ..... Emilioi Macchio, from Ravenna, Italy, was at the Carillon bar near the restaurant that was targeted, having a beer on the sidewalk when the shooting started. He said he didn’t see any gunmen or victims, but hid behind a corner then ran away....... “It sounded like fireworks,” he said. ..... Retired Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer said the U.S. and the international community must be vigilant, since the Friday attacks happened so soon after the Paris attacks...... “We do know already that whoever’s behind this, the scope of it is a mess… the question then becomes,

what more is coming?”

he said. ..... The country has seen several smaller-scale attacks or attempts since the Charlie Hebdo massacre, including an incident on a high-speed train in August in which American travelers thwarted a heavily armed Islamic radical trying to attack passengers.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Obama's Got Momentum: He Could Defy History In November



Barack Obama has momentum. The guy has wind behind his back. Having turned the Great Recession into an upswing, the guy is on his way to his original agenda. History will tell you this guy is supposed to suffer losses in November. Midterm elections are not for presidents. But this guy has a track record of defying history. Black people were not supposed to be president. He became one. Now he is on track to defy history again and do well in November. Passing health care will cement his grip on Congress so he can go on to do bigger and better things.

If this guy can cure the Great Recession, if this guy can deliver Universal Health, I am going to argue this guy could even deliver Peace In The Middle East. Is there an upper limit to how many Nobel Peace Prizes any one individual can get? I am wondering.

This guy has confounded me since I got to know of him. His successes seem so effortless. I guess he is extraordinarily charming. He keeps his cool. He stays positive. He has challenged some of my assumptions.

I was one of those who at some level thought his talk of a new kind of politics was at some level naive, but I was willing to cut him corners as long as he kept scoring political successes, and I watched him primary after primary, caucus after caucus. Finally at one point I declared myself a student of his new kind of politics.

How can you make progress on race if you don't even talk about race, I thought. This guy has done as much for race relations as anyone in history already, and he does not seem to believe in talking about race, not much.

There is tremendous power in positivity, Obama teaches by example. Stay positive, and get things done.

There is this intoxicating mix of idealism, pragmatism and ambition in his personality that really gets me. He smells of possibilities. When he does big things, instead of looking exhausted, he makes you feel like bigger still things are possible, and are in the works.

He has shifted so many major paradigms. He has redefined so many old ways of doing business.

This guy delivers health care, and then he begins his presidency. That is what I am feeling right now. I love this guy as much as ever.

If Obama keeps the House and the Senate in November, he will have defied history. I think he will. November 2010 will be a repeat of November 2008. History will be defied.





New York Times

As Health Vote Awaits, Future Of A Presidency Waits, Too the presidential equivalent of an all-in bet on the poker table .....  his hopes of passing other ambitious legislation like an overhaul of immigration and a market-based cap on carbon emissions to curb climate change.... the legislative procedure Democrats are using to avoid another filibuster.....Democrats have bitter memories. “A lot of them have P.T.S.D. from 1994,” said a White House official, referring to post-traumatic stress disorder. .......Mr. Clinton’s problem was not taking on health care but losing on health care. .......an opposition with its own challenges
A Broader View of Health Care if at least 25,000 people die per year for lack of insurance (it may be twice that), that’s a greater toll than America suffered in World War II
Access, Access, Access one-quarter of Californians are now uninsured......Republicans today are lined up overwhelmingly against a health care package that is more modest and moderate than one that Richard Nixon proposed in the early ’70s........American women are 11 times as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth as Irish women. The average person in Honduras or Vietnam is expected to live longer than the average African-American in New Orleans.........there is one group of Americans who do fine in international comparisons — and that’s the 65-plus crowd. They have Medicare........uninsured people are significantly more likely to die than insured people. That’s because diseases are caught at later stages on uninsured people.......the best way to hold down abortion numbers is to improve access to health care
Obama’s Strong First Round
Fleeing A Sinking Governorship




John Liu, Future Mayor
June 3 Immigration Court Date

DL21C

DL21C Out Of My Mind Forever

The Manhattan District Attorney
Robert Morgenthau, Manhattan District Attorney, 1975-2009 .... he grew up knowing Roosevelt. ..... In 1961, after twelve years of practicing corporate law, Morgenthau accepted an appointment from President John F. Kennedy as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He was the Democratic nominee for governor of New York in 1962, but was defeated by the incumbent Nelson Rockefeller. He then was reappointed U.S. Attorney and served for the remainder of the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. As a United States Attorney Morgenthau established a special unit to investigate securities fraud and prosecuted highly publicized bribery cases against city officials and IRS attorneys and accountants....... He was eventually forced out of office at the end of 1969 ...... seek the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1970 ...... Morgenthau returned to private life until 1974, when he was elected to the office of District Attorney of New York County. This was a special election caused by the death of Frank Hogan, who had served as D.A. for more than thirty years. Morgenthau defeated Hogan's interim successor, Richard Kuh. He was elected to a full term in 1977 and was re-elected seven times. He was not opposed in a general election from 1985 to 2005. ...... In the general election, he was once again the candidate for all political parties in the election, having been nominated by the Democrats, Republicans and the Working Families Party. Morgenthau won re-election with more than 99% of the vote....... On February 27, 2009 Morgenthau announced that he would not seek re-election in 2009, saying "I never expected to be here this long ... [R]ecently I figured that I’d served 25 years beyond the normal retirement age." He was replaced by Cyrus Vance, Jr., a prosecutor under Morgenthau and the son of former President Jimmy Carter's secretary of state Cyrus Vance. Morgenthau officially endorsed Vance on June 25. Vance went on to win the primary election on September 15, 2009 and the subsequent general election on November 3. On January 20, 2010, Morgenthau joined the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. ...... Notable Assistant District Attorneys under Morgenthau ...... Sonia Sotomayor (1979-1984): Current Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Andrew Cuomo (1984-1985): Current New York State Attorney General, and previously served as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton. Eliot Spitzer (1986-1992): Former Governor and Attorney General of New York State. John F. Kennedy, Jr. (1989-1993): First son of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy. Former journalist, lawyer, pilot, and socialite. .... The character of District Attorney Adam Schiff (played by actor Steven Hill), the New York district attorney in the long running TV series Law and Order, was loosely based on Morgenthau. It is reported that Morgenthau was a fan of the character.
Richard Aborn For Manhattan District Attorney

Charlie Rangel

Sorry, Charlie - Rangel Makes More Excuses for His Failure to Pay Taxes Sep 15, 2008
Charlie Rangel, Rental Income, Tax Evasion: Stop The ACLU Sep 5, 2008
Caveat Bettor: The Charlie Rangel Tax Evasion Story keeps on giving Sep 16, 2008
Charlie Rangel Tax Evasion Sep 16, 2008
Charlie Rangel Tax Evasion Sep 16, 2008
GOP calls for Rangel to step down - Los Angeles Times Sep 10, 2008
Charles Rangel's tax problems | flashpoint Sep 15, 2008
2008 Most Embarrassing Re-Elected Members of Congress - Home
Why Charlie Rangel stepped down as Ways and Means chairman / The Christian Science Monitor Mar 3, 2010
Charles Rangel on the brink of losing Ways and Means chairmanship Mar 2, 2010

Governor Paterson Kickoff Event In Harlem

The FBI

If the FBI has a file on me, that would make the FBI people motherfuckers. My guy is in the White House. That would be your boss, assholes. I got the White House. What else do I need to get for you to stop engaging in racist demonization?

I first witnessed this tendency to demonize in Kentucky in 1997. I did not like it. I am not putting up with it. You are going to back off. Fuck 9/11. This is nothing to do with 9/11. Your racism is older than 9/11.

The Obama FDR Parallels
Iran: An Opportunity

February 2007: Jupiter And Obama
November 2006: Switching To Obama




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