Government Report: Air Force Blocks Access to 25 Websites Over WikiLeaks

Amplify’d from www.theblaze.com

Government Report: Air Force Blocks Access to 25 Websites Over WikiLeaks

Meredith Jessup

The U.S. Air Force has restricted access to websites like that of the New York Times and other major publications for employees after the online sites published secret materials obtained by WikiLeaks, the Wall Street Journal reports. Air Force users who try to view the websites of the New York Times, Britain’s Guardian, Spain’s El Pais, France’s Le Monde or German magazine Der Spiegel instead get a page that says, “ACCESS DENIED. Internet Usage is Logged & Monitored,” according to a screen shot reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The notice warns that anyone who accesses unauthorized sites from military computers could be punished. The Air Force says it has blocked more than 25 websites that contain WikiLeaks documents, in order to keep classified material off unclassified computer systems. Major Toni Tones, a spokeswoman for Air Force Space Command, wouldn’t name the websites but said they may include media sites. Removing such material after it ends up on a computer could require “unnecessary time and resources,” Major Tones said. The move was ordered by the 24th Air Force, commanded by Major Gen. Richard E. Webber, following the late November publication of U.S. diplomatic cables. The Army, Navy and Marines aren’t blocking the sites, and the Defense Department hasn’t told the services to do so, according to spokespeople for the services and the Pentagon. The Office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates has issued internet guidelines for DoD personnell regarding visits to WikiLeaks sites or the downloading of documents posted there and the Air Force has reiterated this stance to its own personnel in the past.

An unnamed senior Defense official told the Wall Street Journal that blocking the newspaper sites may not be the smartest move, suggesting blocking sites like the New York Times’ is a “misinterpretation” of military guidelines. But not everyone is condemning the Air Force’s move against sites publishing secret government documents.  Congressman-elect Allen West, R-Fla., recently suggested the government should censor American news agencies helping to disperse the classified materials: There are different means by which you can be attacked. I mean it doesnt have to be a bomb or an airplane flying into a building. It doesn’t have to be a shooting. It can be through cyber attacks, it could be through leaking of very sensitive classified information. Regardless of whether you think it causes any harm, the fact that here is an individual that is not an American citizen first and foremost, for whatever reason gotten his hands on classified American material and put it out there in the public domain. And I think that we also should be censoring the American news agencies which enabled him to do this and also supported him and applauding him for the efforts. So that’s kind of aiding and abetting of a serious crime. The Air Force‘s new order doesn’t prevent its personnel from viewing the blocked media on non-military computers and the block may be lifted if access to the various sites is essential to a worker’s job. Read more at www.theblaze.com

 

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Crime FBI: VA Man Arrested After Threatening to Blow up D.C. Metro

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Crime FBI: VA Man Arrested After Threatening to Blow up D.C. Metro

Jonathon M. Seidl

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (The Blaze/AP) — Federal authorities say an Arlington man is accused of making a threat on Facebook to blow up the D.C. subway system. A judge ordered a mental evaluation for Awais Younis on Tuesday. He was arrested last week on charges of communicating threats across state lines. A sworn statement from an FBI agent says Younis told a friend on the social networking site that he could use pipe bombs to kill people on the Metro system and in D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood. The friend alerted the FBI. The statement, obtained by TPM, gives more details about Younis’s threat. Apparently he wanted to place the pipe bombs on the third and fifth cars of a metro train since they usually contain the most passengers. He also entertained the idea of placing a bomb underneath a sewer head in Georgetown during rush hour. Younis also made threats online against the friend who reported him. The Washington Examiner says Younis was born in Afghanistan, while his Facebook profile reveals he attended George Mason University. Read more at www.theblaze.com

 

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World Italians Riot After Prime Minister Gets Votes of Confidence

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World Italians Riot After Prime Minister Gets Votes of Confidence

ROME (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi pulled off another astonishing escape from the political dead, scraping through two confidence votes Tuesday in a dramatic parliamentary showdown. But the Italian leader’s hold on power remains precarious as his razor-thin victory makes political gridlock a near certainty – and violent street protests show growing unease with his rule. Masked protesters torched cars and trash bins, smashed shop windows and clashed with police. Clouds of white tear gas and orange flares engulfed streets, as shops full of Christmas goods hurriedly closed down. Employees at one bank cowered in fear as a group of stone-throwing youths swept by.

Protesters rampaged in the the area around parliament and Berlusconi’s residence, which had been cordoned off by heavy police presence. By sundown, almost 100 people, both protesters and police, were reported injured, including about two dozen hospitalized. About 40 were reportedly taken into police custody.

The chaos followed speculation in recent weeks that the end of the Berlusconi era was near.

Weakened by sex scandals and a bitter breakup with his one-time closest ally, Berlusconi seemed destined to be sent packing. The split with Gianfranco Fini had eroded the premier’s once comfortable parliamentary majority and left him vulnerable in the lower house.

But Berlusconi battled back, as he has countless times when his political career seemed to be on the ropes. Tuesday’s drama confirmed his status as the ultimate political survivor – but he emerges from the battle severely weakened and one top opposition lawmaker called his success a “Pyrrhic victory.”

In the most dramatic and closest of the two tests, Berlusconi survived the no-confidence motion in the lower house by just three votes. Scuffles between lawmakers forced a brief suspension in the voting session.

Earlier in the day, Berlusconi had secured a more comfortable victory in a confidence vote at the Senate.

The vote’s slim margin means Berlusconi can no longer count on a secure parliamentary majority for passing legislation. Some experts predict he might resign in upcoming weeks, a move that could lead to early elections, which he hopes to win again.

Berlusconi survived Tuesday‘s challenge by exploiting rifts inside Fini’s camp – at the moment of truth, three defected – and managed to sway a handful of undecided lawmakers to his side. In the process, he drew accusations of vote-buying, amid claims of cash changing hands and favors lavished. Berlusconi’s allies reject the allegations.

“I’m not a survivor – I’m strong, robust,” a smiling Berlusconi joked after the vote.

Pressing his case before lawmakers on the eve of the showdown, the premier argued that his government had successfully worked to protect Italy from becoming engulfed in the eurozone’s debt crisis. He warned that political instability would hurt Italy as it fights for its economic future.

Italy is plagued by a high public debt level and slow growth. The country is still widely viewed as low-risk due to the low level of private debt, a relatively sound banking system, and experience in dealing with high public debt levels. Still, markets were closely monitoring the results of the votes; Italy’s main bourse closed little changed on Tuesday.

Berlusconi said after the vote that he would press ahead despite his uncertain majority in the lower house. “Even (President) Obama doesn’t have the majority in one of the chambers,” Berlusconi said.

One of the biggest casualties of the vote was Fini – who had staked major political capital on toppling Berlusconi. Fini’s chances of replacing Berlusconi as conservative leader now appear slimmer, at least in the short term.

Ironically, it was Fini in his capacity as speaker of the lower house who announced the result: 314-311 in favor of the government. Applause broke out and Fini quickly ended the session.

Italy must now brace for a period of deep uncertainty.

Pierluigi Bersani, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party, called the result a “Pyrrhic victory” for Berlusconi. And even Berlusconi ally Roberto Maroni, the interior minister, said new elections may be necessary unless the government secures a broader majority.

Berlusconi is halfway through his five-year term and the next parliamentary election is scheduled for 2013.

“From the political and parliamentary point of view, Berlusconi scored a clear victory,” said Stefano Folli, one of the leading Italian analysts. “But on the other hand, the government was weak before this vote and will be weak after it.”

The down-to-the-wire vote capped hours of tension inside and outside parliament.

Three pregnant women whose presence had been in doubt until the last minute showed up and were among the first to cast their votes, all against Berlusconi, to the applause of their allies. One of them arrived by ambulance, another in a wheelchair. As undecided lawmakers were called to cast their vote, some in the house cheered them on, while others jeered.

The scuffles that forced the brief suspension of voting broke out as one of Fini’s defectors announced her vote in favor of Berlusconi.

Outside parliament, thousands of people had descended on Rome for protests timed to coincide with the votes on a variety of causes. A core group of people soon turned violent, with aggression escalating after Berlusconi won the second vote.

Hundreds of students, some of them downing beers as they marched, smashed shop windows, destroyed bank ATMs and set vehicles on fire. Near Berlusconi’s residence, police fired tear gas to disperse the approaching crowd.

The pavement of the central Piazza del Popolo was pocked by holes after protesters ripped out cobblestones to hurl. Police hit some protesters with clubs.

“What happened today depended on the rage that was felt after the vote of confidence,” said Dalila Parrano, a student who said she had taken part in more peaceful protests.

Associated Press Writer Martino Villosio contributed to this report. Read more at www.theblaze.com

 

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No Black Holes Formed at Large Hadron Collider

Amplify’d from www.scientificamerican.com

No Black Holes Formed at Large Hadron Collider

Upgrade likely to be delayed in bid to capture Higgs particle.

By Geoff Brumfiel The end of the world is not nigh after all. Flouting predictions from some theorists, microscopic black holes have so far failed to appear inside the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), scientists there have revealed. The result, which will be posted this week on arXiv.org, comes as researchers make plans to keep the LHC running until the end of 2012, rather than 2011 as previously scheduled. The 27-kilometre collider at the particle-physics laboratory CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, had endured delays and a crippling breakdown before finally surging to life late in 2009, and physicists say it is now performing above expectations. Predictions of mini black holes forming at collision energies of a few teraelectronvolts (TeV) were based on theories that consider the gravitational effects of extra dimensions of space. Although the holes were expected to evaporate quickly, some suggested that they might linger long enough to consume the planet. But scientists at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector now say they found no signs of mini black holes at energies of 3.5-4.5 TeV. Physicist Guido Tonelli, the detector's spokesperson, says that by the end of the next run, the LHC should be able to exclude the creation of black holes almost entirely. The find is one of a stream of recent papers from the LHC, made possible by the machine's unexpectedly high performance. "We were very surprised by how well behaved the machine was when we started really pushing it to its limit," says Steve Myers, the CERN physicist who oversaw this year's LHC operations. As a consequence, physicists are increasingly optimistic that they may be able to detect the elusive Higgs boson earlier than expected. The particle, the LHC's best-known quarry, and its associated field are thought to endow other particles with mass. Initially, physicists were not sure that the LHC could create and detect the Higgs at the machine's current energies, and CERN managers had planned a 15-month hiatus from the start of 2012 for an upgrade that would allow it to run at higher energies. But a growing consensus holds that even without the upgrade, the LHC will be able to explore most of the energy range in which a standard Higgs particle might be found. Sergio Bertolucci, CERN's director for research and computing, adds that there are political reasons to extend the run. The world's second most powerful accelerator, the Tevatron at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, is nipping at the LHC's heels as it gathers a growing body of data in its own Higgs hunt. Moreover, the potential success of the LHC is likely to influence European plans for high-energy physics, as well as a global plan for a next-generation linear collider. Both face big budget decisions in the next few years. The plan to extend the LHC's run will be discussed at a meeting of LHC managers in Chamonix, France, in late January, with a final decision expected shortly after. Read more at www.scientificamerican.com

 

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Dallastown seeks applicants for mayor after existing mayor drowned in ice covered backyard swimming pool

Amplify’d from www.yorkdispatch.com

Dallastown seeks applicants for mayor

ANDREW RUSONIS For The York Dispatch

Scott...late mayor of Dallastown.

Dallastown will soon know who will replace the late Beverly Scott as the borough's mayor.

Borough council outlined its process for appointing a new mayor at its Monday meeting.

Scott, who been Dallastown's mayor since 1995, was found in her backyard swimming pool Wednesday night and later died at York Hospital. An autopsy performed Friday determined Scott's cause of death to be drowning; it was ruled accidental.

Council president Ronald Smith -- who, under state law, must serve as acting mayor until Scott's successor can be appointed -- began the meeting with some heartfelt words.

"Dallastown has truly lost an advocate for the people she served," said Smith, who praised the "beloved" mayor for her "commitment to her county and community."

Smith also thanked the police and emergency medical personnel who responded to the scene.

Rules: Council vice president David Simpson explained the borough's process for appointing a new mayor, which is regulated by the borough code under Pennsylvania state law.

Any borough resident interested in becoming mayor must submit a letter of intent to the borough office by Thursday, Dec. 23.

The borough will then hold a special meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 29, to interview those who have submitted letters. Smith said he does not believe the board will make any decisions that night. The borough will then move its first January meeting from Jan. 7 to Jan. 3, when it will make a decision and appoint a mayor.

Service

A celebration of life service for Beverly Scott will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Olewiler & Heffner Funeral Chapel, 35 Gotham Place in Red Lion. Viewings will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and 10 to 11 a.m. Thursday, both at Olewiler & Heffner. After the Thursday service, a procession will head to Prospect Cemetery, where Scott will be interred. Friends and family will gather at the Dallastown Fire Co. afterward. Read more at www.yorkdispatch.com

 

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Pennsylvania Mayor Dies After Being Pulled From Icy Pool

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Pennsylvania Mayor Dies After Being Pulled From Icy Pool

By Joshua Rhett Miller

Beverly Scott, 69, was pronounced dead Wednesday night after emergency responders pulled the mayor of Dallastown, Pa., from the in-ground pool behind her home, police officials said. An investigation into her death is ongoing. (DallastownBoro.com)

DALLASTOWN, Pa. -- Authorities are investigating the death of the mayor of a central Pennsylvania town who was found in her icy backyard pool late Wednesday.

Beverly Scott, 69, was pronounced dead Wednesday night after emergency responders pulled the mayor of Dallastown from the "medium-sized" in-ground pool behind her home, York Area Regional Police spokesman Rod Varner told FoxNews.com.

"The incident is under investigation," said Varner, who declined to indicate whether any evidence of foul play was found pending an autopsy, which has been scheduled for Friday.

Varner also declined to indicate whether Scott's body had suffered any trauma.

Scott, who had been mayor of the 4,000-resident town in York County since 1995, was discovered in the pool by her adult daughter, Varner said.

Scott did have known "health problems," Varner said, but he declined to elaborate.

Scott's daughter declined to comment when reached by FoxNews.com early Thursday. Read more at www.foxnews.com

 

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Report: Mayor of Springfield, Illinois, Commits Suicide

Amplify’d from www.foxnews.com

Report: Mayor of Springfield, Illinois, Commits Suicide

MyFoxSpringfield.com

Mayor Tim Davlin

The mayor of Springfield, Illinois, Tim Davlin, was found dead Tuesday morning from what apparently was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the State-Journal Register.

Illinois State Police are investigating his death.

Police Chief Robert Williams says officers responded to a 911 call shortly before 9 a.m. Tuesday at Timothy Davlin's home and found the Democratic mayor dead.

Williams declines to offer details about how Davlin died, saying the investigation is in its infancy.

Springfield Alderman Frank Kunz, who will take over mayoral duties, tells the paper he is shocked and that "it's a sad day."

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin released a statement saying he was shocked by the news of Davlin's death.

"I was stunned and saddened by the news of Mayor Tim Davlin's passing. His work with my office always reflected his dedication to our hometown. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this tragic moment."

Mayor Davlin did not show up for a court ordered appearance Tuesday morning in a pending estate case involving his late cousin.

Records show that Mayor Davlin owes the federal government nearly $90,000 in unpaid income taxes and liens have been filed against his home.

The lien notice filed in the Sangamon County recorder’s office shows Davlin owes income taxes for the years 2003, 2005 and 2006.

The (Springfield) State Journal-Register reports that the mayor blames the problem on a dispute with the IRS over taxes owed on investments he cashed in to buy the home.

Sangamon County property records show that Davlin bought the home for $237,500 in 2004.

City payroll records from earlier this year show that Davlin earns more than $119,000 a year.

Click here for more on this story from the State Journal-Register.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Read more at www.foxnews.com

 

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Dallas Police: Dead Toddler Dropped in Boiling Water

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Dallas Police: Dead Toddler Dropped in Boiling Water

MyFoxDFW.com

Undated photo of Carlnelus Delaney Simmons

A Dallas toddler has died after police say he was dropped in a pot of boiling water. Dallas police told The Dallas Morning News in a story Tuesday that 16-month-old Jabraylon Bables appeared to have been dipped in boiling water. The toddler died Saturday from injuries and infections, 36 days after police say he was deliberately burned.

Police say the burns covered the toddler's legs, feet, hands and buttocks.

"It's a horrible case. It's heartbreaking for everybody involved," Dallas police Sgt. Brenda Nichols, supervisor of the child abuse unit, told the paper.

The boyfriend of the child's mother is a convicted murderer named Carlnelus Delaney Simmons. He remains in the Dallas County Jail on a felony charge of injury to a child.

Simmons told police he accidentally dropped hot water on the boy.

"From the injuries on the baby, I think he did it intentionally," the boy's aunt, Veronica Bables, told the paper. "I feel like he tortured him."

Attorney information was not available. Jabraylon's mother, Jasmine Thompson, said she does not believe Simmons would have deliberately hurt her child.

The Dallas County medical examiner has ruled the death a homicide.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Read more at www.foxnews.com

 

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UFO’s And "Explosions" Recorded Near Japan’s Sakurajima Volcano

Amplify’d from ohlundonline.blogspot.com

UFO’s And "Explosions" Recorded Near Japan’s Sakurajima Volcano

Adveniet autem dies Domini ut fur, in qua caeli magno impetu transient, elementa vero calore solventur, et terra et opera, quae in ea invenientur. (2 Peter 3:10) Death By 1000 Papercuts reports of unidentified flying objects, and what seems to be unidentified "explosions" near Japan’s Sakurajima Volcano. It is easy to understand why the U.N. hired someone to be the "official greeter" when the aliens arrive. "Arescentibus hominibus prae timore et exspectatione eorum, quae supervenient orbi, nam virtutes caelorum movebuntur", Luke 21:26. Read more at ohlundonline.blogspot.com

 

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Amplify’d from www.ydr.com

York City Police plan news conference on alleged brutality video

Daily Record/Sunday News

York, PA - York City Police plan to hold a news conference Thursday morning about their investigation into a YouTube video that some have said depicts police brutality. Police said they will not comment on the investigation's findings until the event, set to start at 9 a.m. at York City Hall. In the shaky, grainy video, it appears that several York City Police officers are taking a suspect -- later identified as Alfredo Montanez Jr. -- into custody. At one point, Montanez, 27, hands cuffed behind his back, turns away from the camera and something happens. York City Police Chief Wes Kahley said earlier this month that police "really don't know what happened at this point" and are investigating. Montanez's lawyer, Clarence Allen, maintains the police officer "violently" struck his client. According to charging documents, police responded to the 700 block of East Market Street at 2:22 a.m. Aug. 6 for a report of a man with a gun outside. Police began chasing Montanez, and during the chase, a gun fell from his waistband, police said. Officers then stunned him with a Taser. When they searched him, they found a small rock of what appeared to be crack cocaine in his pocket, along with a small packet containing marijuana, according to charging documents. Read more at www.ydr.com

 

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