MetaFilter posts tagged with newsfilter and terrorism

You Break It, You Bought It, America

saulgoodman — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:58:48 -0800

In his latest national security speech, President Obama unequivocally reaffirms his commitment to closing GITMO. President Obama's strong statements reaffirming his administration's commitment to cleaning up the legal and ethical mess the Bush administration left behind comes just after congressional Democrats recently saw fit to capitulate to the Republican minority by defunding President Obama's efforts to close GITMO, ostensibly to ensure that President Obama proceeds prudently and avoids setting the terrorists loose on America's strip malls. But others interpret these latest maneuvers from the "weak-kneed" congressional Dems as reflecting a sudden acute case of the political jitters, pointing out that, despite all the fearful talk of the imminent dangers of possible terrorists being held and tried on American soil, it's not as though we haven't done it before. Some interesting comments and observations from a Justice Department insider, not only on the subject of Guantanamo, but also on the possibility of future Bush administration prosecutions here.

Anthrax suspect kills himself ahead of arrest

CunningLinguist — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:22:01 -0800

Breaking anthrax attacks update: A new suspect, a US goverment expert on anthrax, kills himself as he's about to be arrested. Bruce Ivins helped analyze the killer powder sent by mail in 2001 that killed five people and freaked out the US right after 9/11. The govt paid out $5.82 million just last month to former govt scientist Steven Hatfill for wrongly targeting him in the investigation.

Kafka-esque doesn't do it justice. This is 'Alice in Wonderland.'

StopMakingSense — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 09:45:27 -0800

Newsfilter: U.S. Seeks Silence on CIA Prisons
"The Bush administration has told a federal judge that terrorism suspects held in secret CIA prisons should not be allowed to reveal details of the "alternative interrogation methods that their captors used to get them to talk...the government, in trying to block lawyers' access to the 14 detainees, effectively asserts that the detainees' experiences are a secret that should never be shared with the public."

Previously: (1) (2)

Plane crashes into building in New York on 10/11

craniac — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 12:07:53 -0800

Plane/Helicopter Crashes into NYC high rise. ???

My analysis of this is somewhat tongue in cheek, please don't flame.

thirteenkiller — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 06:59:14 -0800

The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called for a purge of liberal and secular teachers from the country's universities. Now that this former rogue nation has fallen in line, we can turn out attention to the real terrorist threat: Britain.

Censuring Domestic Surveillance

digaman — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 09:22:26 -0800

"Resolved that the United States Senate does hereby censure George W. Bush, president of the United States, and does condemn his unlawful authorization of wiretaps of Americans." Invoking "high crimes and misdemeanors," Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold introduces a motion to censure [PDF link] President Bush for his controversial, legally dubious NSA wiretapping program. Feingold declares: "The President must be held accountable for authorizing a program that clearly violates the law." Republican leader Frist retorts: "It's a crazy political move" that sends a "terrible" signal to Iran. Democratic bloggers say: Call your senator. [More legal fallout from the NSA program recently discussed here.]

GWOT in the Stacks

digaman — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 09:41:15 -0800

[TotalitarianismFilter] Don't be asking your college librarian for a copy of that Little Red Book to do a class assignment, or your parents might get a visit from the good folks at the Department of Homeland Security. More evidence that the Bush administration cannot restrain itself when granted enhanced surveillance powers.

w00t

Pretty_Generic — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 09:19:49 -0800

Blair loses in the Commons for the first time since his election in 1997. MPs refused to pass laws allowing terrorist suspects to be jailed without trial for 90 days, and Blair's parliamentary majority of 66 turned into a minority of 31. The government has been holding back on the vote for months in an attempt to persuade their party to back the Prime Minister - they failed.

Presidential Re-Election through fear mongering

jdaura — Thu, 31 Jul 2003 22:36:46 -0800

The Last Stage of Delirium Research Group (LSD-PLaNET) have posted code on the Internet that can allow hackers to exploit a previously disclosed vulnerability in Microsoft's Windows operating system. This kind of thing happens all the time. What never happened before is a widespread government and media panic perpetuating the buffer overrun threat as terroristic in nature, originating from the Department of Homeland Security and upsetting the gerneral public at large.

Could have been a close call.

Jubey — Thu, 29 May 2003 02:32:21 -0800

2 stabbed in an attempted Qantas hijacking over Melbourne. I hope this isn't the start of a worrying new trend.

Judge jokes, woman faints

alumshubby — Thu, 22 May 2003 06:15:09 -0800

"Are you a terrorist?" There's a judge in Tarrytown, NY, who's got an interesting spin on applying the Patriot Act. Or something.

David Dark — Sat, 26 Oct 2002 01:45:19 -0800

Russian Forces Set Hostages Free. Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Vasilyev said about three dozen of the estimated 50 hostage-takers had been killed and Federal Security Service director Nikolai Patrushev said, contrary to earlier reports, that none of the gunmen had escaped. Terrorism loses again.

mediareport — Wed, 29 May 2002 20:19:21 -0800

Ok, this one's weird. On May 11, "Jacksonville, Fla., police arrested a Fort Stewart soldier after finding him armed, wearing black clothes and leaving a power plant where he allegedly left an explosive." The story got a tiny bit of play, but searches at CNN and FoxNews turn up no sign of it, despite the possible terror angle and a bond set at $5 million. Days later, a follow-up story (can't find the original) quotes a detective saying, "This has been blown way out of proportion." Bizarre cover-up? Or really nothing worth mentioning?

tomcosgrave — Mon, 13 May 2002 05:03:50 -0800

"Terrorists plan July 4th attack in US" - claim
There are claims that terrorists linked to the al-Qaeda network are planning an attack on a US nuclear power plant to coincide with Independence Day celebrations.

skallas — Fri, 28 Sep 2001 06:54:10 -0800

Newest scare meme: Nukes and the al Qaeda Wired news chimes in bin Ladin's attempts to aquire fissionable materials. If true, why is al Qaeda's history full of low tech attacks?

sugarfish — Thu, 13 Sep 2001 12:57:54 -0800

Ananova reports bodies of hijacker and stewardess found in the WTC wreckage. Does it seem that foreign news outlets are reporting stuff earlier than domestic ones to anyone else? And how could there be bodies still intact, so close to the point of impact?