September 2011
33 posts
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Timeline: The 9/11 Decade
In the wake of 9/11 , the U.S. government radically rethought how it ensures the safety of its citizens. Take a look at our timeline to see major events in the 9/11 decade.
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“I just thought, This will freak everyone out. It’ll be so funny. I’ll announce...”
– Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in an interview with Vanity Fair. (via californiawatch)
“It has come to our attention that recent twitter feeds are reporting false...”
– U.S. Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, unamused by the Twitter postings from The Onion, a satirical news site, which claimed that members of Congress had armed themselves with semi-automatic weapons, taken a group of schoolchildren hostage inside the Capitol building, and demanded...
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“I really think that I’ve thought over a lot of cases I’ve written over the...”
– Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News.
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Federal records show that Facebook has more than tripled its federal lobbying spending since 2009, from about $200,000 to more than $730,000 this year. Much of Facebook’s recent lobbying activity has focused on net neutrality and privacy issues. Read more.
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US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,477 →
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Decapitated journalist in Mexico used online... →
Via the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas:
The body of a decapitated journalist was found on the morning of Sept. 24 in a roundabout in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, reported the GlobalPost. The female journalist was identified as María Elizabeth Macías Castro, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Primera Hora.
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SNAKES ON A PLANE: Laugh at the TSA, but they do... →
From CIR’s homeland security reporter G.W. Schulz.
ageofperil:
This list of recent catches comes courtesy of the TSA’s website.
Exotic snakes and tortoises stuffed into nylon and concealed in man’s pants
Double-side 19-inch sword hidden inside of a walking cane
Thirteen different knives hidden in one carry on bag
Knife taped to the inside cover of a DVD player
Several containers...
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California marijuana shipment tracked to NFL...
An operation by state narcotics agents that tracked a shipment of high-grade marijuana from Northern California led police to a suburban Kentucky house and two National Football League players, law enforcement authorities said.
Cincinnati Bengals teammates Jerome Simpson and Anthony Collins, both 25, were at Simpson’s home in Crestview Hills, Ky., yesterday when a package allegedly...
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“We wouldn’t be shooting it down. We’d be ramming the aircraft. I would...”
– Lt. Heather “Lucky” Penney talked to the Washington Post about her experience on Sept. 11, 2001, when she was a F-16 combat pilot at Andrews Air Force Base. After the attack on the World Trade Center, she was ordered into the air. However, her jet did not have live ammunition in it. Penney and her...
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Listen to the continuation of an investigation by...
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WatchThe Mall of America, one of the nation’s largest shopping and entertainment venues, is also home to its own counterterrorism unit. Listen to the joint NPR/CIR investigation Under Suspicion At The Mall Of America and find more information on our website.
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WatchFrom our new homeland security investigation: Mall of America visitors unknowingly end up in counterterrorism reports
Brad Kleinerman lives on a quiet 2-acre lot in the Connecticut countryside with his family. An American flag hangs near the front door. During a trip to the Twin Cities in January 2008, Kleinerman stopped at the Mall of America to return shoes and buy a SpongeBob SquarePants...
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Mall visitors unknowingly end up in counterterror... →
Our homeland security reporter G.W. Schulz. Our new investigation with NPR can be found here: Mall of America visitors unknowingly end up in counterterrorism reports.
ageofperil:
We built a database of suspicious activity reports obtained through open-government laws in Minnesota. Check it out. The database accompanies a package of stories we released today at the Center for Investigative...
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WatchAfter 9/11, the government began encouraging local police, private security and everyday Americans to report so-called “suspicious activity” that may indicate a security threat. Taking photos of landmarks, walking “nervously” and writing in a notebook are all activities that have led to people being stopped and questioned. Could you be next? Watch our Suspect America...
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New document library: Homeland Security audits and...
After 9/11, money flowed into the newly created Department of Homeland Security. But from its inception, the department has struggled to tame bureaucratic disorganization, mismanagement and waste.
Our new document library contains nearly 2,000 internal audits and government reports from the past 10 years completed by the Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Research Service and the...
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Via The New York Times: “The United Nations announced on Monday that Somalia’s famine had spread to a sixth area within the country, with officials warning that 750,000 people could die in the next few months unless aid efforts were scaled up.”
Photo by Dai Kurokawa/European Pressphoto Agency: Fatuma Hassan Yarow, a 12-year-old Somali girl, laid on a grass mat in her shelter at Ifo...
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WatchWhat is a fusion center? Watch an interview with Lt. Tom Monahan, Director of the Southern Nevada Counter-terrorism Center, to learn more about these intelligence-sharing offices run by the Department of Homeland Security. Find more on our new website: America’s War Within: Homeland security and the first 10 years of the war on terror.
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NPR Journalists Reflect: Sept. 11, Then And Now →
npr:
Ten years ago, Americans watched in horror as their nation came under attack. In the hours that followed, NPR reporters and hosts scrambled to report on the tragic news of the day. We asked several of them to look back on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and describe what stands out to them now, a decade later.
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Homeland security office creates 'intelligence...
In the days after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the White House and Congress demanded the government find better ways to “connect the dots” of terror threats to prevent a repeat of the carnage.
A year later, a new bureaucracy was created to gather, analyze and share intelligence related to terrorism inside the United States. Now called the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the...
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AUGUST STAT: In Iraq, no deaths for the first...
From our homeland security reporter G.W. Schulz.
ageofperil:
Here it is, folks — one of the more unpleasant statistics you’ll hear this summer. First, the good news. In Iraq, August marked the first time there were no troop fatalities. Now for the bad news. In Afghanistan, August marked the deadliest month since the war began with 66 troops killed.
Image: Staff Sgt. Brian Ferguson
“This is one of the progressive countries in the Middle Eastern Gulf. I have no...”
– Democratic consultant Joe Trippi on being hired to do P.R. for Bahrain, which has had a brutal crackdown against pro-democracy protestors. (via officialssay)
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California Watch: Pilots sometimes earn less than... →
californiawatch:
Airline pilots are widely seen as having some of the best jobs in America. In reality, pay for pilots has been on the decline for years.
Recent salary records show that a rookie first officer on a regional airline flying out of San Francisco International Airport may be paid less than the worker who washes the airport’s windows.
First officers, sometimes called...
