Massachusetts case ignites "home grown" attack fears

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

A ''surveillance photo'' that the FBI says was taken of the Pentagon by defendant Rezwan Ferdaus is seen in a handout photo released by the U.S. Justice Department after the photo was submitted to U.S. District Court in Massachusetts as part of a criminal complaint and affidavit filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston, September 28, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/U.S. Department of Justice/Handout

By Ros Krasny

BOSTON | Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:51pm EDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - The arrest of a Massachusetts man who allegedly plotted to fly explosives-packed model planes into the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol has reignited concern about the risk of a home-grown militant attack in the United States.

Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, was indicted on Thursday in the explosives plan, as well as for attempting to provide support and resources to al Qaeda in order to carry out attacks on U.S. soldiers overseas.

"Ferdaus' arrest underscores the need to continue efforts to combat domestic radicalization and the evolving threat of 'lone wolf' extremists," said Peter King, chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee.

Ferdaus was born in the United States. His immigrant parents' national origin was not disclosed, and authorities were treading carefully.

"I want the public to understand that Mr. Ferdaus' conduct, as alleged in the complaint, is not reflective of a particular culture, community or religion," U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said in announcing the arrest.

Massachusetts Congressman Bill Keating said the "home grown" aspect of the Ferdaus case was disturbing.

"People have been told this, but perhaps until now didn't understand how real it is," Keating, a first-term Democrat who sits on the homeland security committee, told Reuters.

"When I got to Congress in January I was told we are at enormous risk. These things are very real, and they present the greatest risk," said Keating.

ROCK BAND

Ferdaus graduated from Boston's Northeastern University in 2008 with a degree in physics, and played drums in an alt-rock jam band, The Silk Road, several years ago.

His only previous brush with the law was in 2003 when, according to the Milford Daily News, he and two other seniors at Ashland High School poured concrete in front of 10 of the school's doors as a prank. They were also accused of burning an American flag.

At the time of his arrest Ferdaus was living with his parents -- an engineer and a healthcare worker -- in a middle-class neighborhood of Ashland, about 25 miles west of Boston. Real estate sites estimate the 3,141-square-foot, four bedroom white colonial house's value at $565,000.

"The threat of Islamic terrorism transcends socioeconomics and does not only emanate from the poor and under-privileged," King said.

Joseph Wippl, a professor at Boston University's Center for International Relations, said it was folly to think that immersion in U.S. culture somehow inoculated potential criminals from wanting to do harm to the country.

"There are a small group of people who are sociopathic, inclined to violence, who crave attention and who are willing to engage in this type of behavior," said Wippl, a former CIA operations officer.

"If we watch -- in the United States, in Germany, Sweden, the U.K. -- things are constantly at a low boil and we always need to be on our guard," he said.

In its affidavit, U.S. authorities said Ferdaus was unwavering in his resolve to stage a violent "jihad." He told undercover agents who he thought were members of, or recruiters for, al Qaeda, that his goal was to kill as many "kafirs," or non-believers, as possible.

Another Massachusetts man, Tarek Mehanna, was arrested in 2009 for a plot to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan and civilians in shopping malls. He is awaiting trial.

In 2010 two men were arrested in Watertown, Massachusetts, in connection with an attempted bombing in New York's Times Square. One, Ali Aftab Kahn, was convicted of unwittingly supplying almost $5,000 to the would-be Times Square bomber.

The incidents do not suggest that Massachusetts is a hotbed of anti-American activity, said Wippl. "This can take place just about anywhere."

(Reporting by Ros Krasny; Editing by Jerry Norton)

View the original article here

Peliculas Online

Read More

Heat, gusty winds fuel renewed fears in fire-weary Texas

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
By Jim Forsyth

SAN ANTONIO | Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:09pm EDT

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Triple-digit temperatures and gusty winds in Texas on Saturday heralded the possible return of the dangerous conditions that sparked devastating brush fires earlier this month, officials said.

Wildfires have charred 3.8 million acres in the state and destroyed 2,742 homes since the current wildfire season began last November, and the months of June through August in Texas were the hottest ever recorded by any state in U.S. history.

"People need to be aware of how critical a situation this is, particularly with vegetation that is so dry," Tom Spencer, head of the Texas Forest Service's forecasting division, told Reuters on Saturday.

"It is very easy for a fire to start, spread, and get out of hand," he said.

This past week, hundreds of firefighters who have converged on Texas received a brief break from the fire lines due to scattered rains and colder temperatures that dampened blazes. But the respite will likely end this weekend, Spencer said.

A weather front moving across the state was generating the same strong winds that blew a pine tree into power lines east of Austin on September 4, sparking a 35,000-acre brush fire, said Holly Huffman, spokeswoman for the Texas Forest Service.

That blaze destroyed nearly 1,600 homes, killed two people and ranks as the most damaging fire in the state's history.

On Sunday, temperatures in Austin were expected to hit 103 degrees Fahrenheit, with winds blowing at 15 to 25 miles per hour and gusts of 30 mph, according to the Weather Channel.

Texas has experienced epic heat since May, and Huffman said the "unrelenting drought" increases the danger from the gusty winds that are now blowing in the state.

The blazes have devastated farms and ranches, stretched firefighting budgets to the limit and killed thousands of heads of livestock.

Blazes fueled by gusty winds earlier this month in east Texas destroyed 175 million cubic feet of timber as flames ripped through a tree-covered region known as Piney Woods.

Forest Service economist Chris Edgar said the lost timber would have produced $1.6 billion worth of products, from plywood to packing products to paper.

Several recording artists, including Willie Nelson, the Dixie Chicks, and Asleep at the Wheel, have agreed to perform at a concert in Austin next month to raise money for rebuilding parts of nearby Bastrop County that were damaged by wildfires.

"I called Willie up and he canceled a show in Ohio so he could make this," said Asleep at the Wheel frontman Ray Benson, who is helping organize the benefit concert.

"It was easy to get people to agree to do this," he said.

(Editing by James B. Kelleher, Alex Dobuzinskis and Cynthia Johnston)

View the original article here

Peliculas Online

Read More

Bolivians voice road march fears

  The marchers oppose government plans to build a highway through their land Indigenous protesters in Bolivia say they are resuming a march against a new road, a day after calling a temporary halt amid fears of confrontation.

They have been walking for weeks in protest at government plans to build a road through their land.
Hundreds of police officers and government supporters have set up road blocks on the route to prevent them reaching Bolivia's main city, La Paz.
There have been several failed attempts at dialogue with the government.
For more than a month, the column of indigenous people has been advancing at a snail's pace on La Paz, more than 500km (310 miles) from its starting point in Bolivia's lowlands.
The protesters say they were not consulted before the construction of the highway began.
After unsuccessful attempts to start talks, hundreds of police officers have been sent to the town of Yucumo, halfway along the route of the march, to prevent the protesters from coming further.
"We fear that the police may assault us. So we don't want to risk it," one of the protesters, Ernesto Sanchez, told the BBC on Monday.
"There are women and children among us. And the police may use tear gas. That's what we're afraid of."
Behind the police cordon, hundreds of government supporters have set up roadblocks.
They say the highway is essential to bring progress and much-needed integration to the country.
Critics of the project say President Evo Morales is alienating his indigenous support base, and that the road will destroy the very environment that the president says he wants to protect.

Read More