Lancaster County teen cited for going 158 mph
Read more from the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era.
Government Security Fail: Loaded Gun Passes Through TSA Screening
How could a loaded gun pass by dozens of airport security screeners, through an x-ray machine and get on board an international flight out of an American airport? According to Iranian-American businessman Farid Seif, it happened to him last fall when he forgot to remove a loaded snub nose “baby” Glock pistol from his laptop case, but TSA security officers never noticed.
“It’s just impossible to miss it, you know. I mean, this is not a small gun,” Seif said. “How can you miss it? You cannot miss it.”
But the TSA did miss it, and according to ABC News, this faltering security scenario is much more a common than anyone would like to admit.
Experts tell ABC News that every year since the September 11 terror attacks, federal agencies have conducted random, covert “red team tests,” where undercover agents try to see just how much they can get past security checks at major U.S. airports. And while the Department of Homeland Security closely guards the results as classified, those that have leaked in media reports have been shocking.
According to one report, undercover TSA agents testing security at a Newark airport terminal on one day in 2006 found that TSA screeners failed to detect concealed bombs and guns 20 out of 22 times. A 2007 government audit leaked to USA Today revealed that undercover agents were successful slipping simulated explosives and bomb parts through Los Angeles’s LAX airport in 50 out of 70 attempts, and at Chicago‘s O’Hare airport agents made 75 attempts and succeeded in getting through undetected 45 times.
Despite the results, there is no sign that the numbers have changed as the screeners have been tested year after year, former Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin told ABC News.
“Those reports were classified but it’s sufficing to say that reports, both classified and unclassified, are concerning. Too often guns and knives and fake explosives get through the checkpoint,” Ervin said. “And what is particularly concerning is that nine times out of 10 the checkpoint is the most critical layer of aviation security.”
Ironically, news of the TSA’s failure to detect a loaded weapon during a routine x-ray screening of luggage comes amidst public outcries over the security organization’s new, more invasive pat-downs and body scans.
Pa. attorney charged in hunter's shooting death
Associated Press
Lawyer David Manilla was hunting in Bucks County last month with his uncle -- a former district attorney -- and a friend when he mistakenly shot the hunter with the banned rifle, a police affidavit states.
All three men approached the downed victim, who had fallen into a creek, but none used their cell phones to call 911 until they returned to Manilla's residence, officials said. When police arrived, the trio stood silent when an officer wondered if the hunter had had a heart attack, officials said.
Manilla was detained Friday on $2 million bail and did not enter a plea in the killing of hunter Barry Groh of Quakertown. Manilla had previously been cited for the 1994 shooting of the pheasant hunter and was barred from possessing a weapon because of a 1985 felony assault conviction.
Groh, 52, was waiting for help transporting an eight-point buck he had killed the morning of Nov. 29, the first day of hunting season, when the rifle shot tore through his aorta.
A coroner said he would have died within a minute.
The investigation, though, has taken weeks to piece together, as Manilla gave conflicting information over four interviews. His uncle, former Montgomery District Attorney Michael D. Marino, eventually stepped forward to admit he had not disclosed everything he knew, according to the affidavit.
Authorities do not believe Marino or the friend, Robert Monestero, broke any laws through their alleged omissions.
"Does it paint a tawdry picture? Yeah," Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler told The Associated Press on Friday. "But it's not a crime that I can see."
Neither Manilla nor his lawyer, Richard Winters, returned messages Friday. Marino did not return a message left at an apparent home number, and a number for Monestero could not be found.
Manilla, 49, obtained a law license despite his prior aggravated assault conviction and went on to build a career defending drunken drivers.
His girlfriend showed police a stash of nearly 70 rifles and shotguns at her home, including 18 believed to his, authorities said.
Manilla lives in Worcester, Montgomery County, and also owns the hunting property in Richland Township, adjacent to the public area where Groh was hunting. Police said they found three mounds of corn on his property, suggesting someone was illegally trying to bait deer.
Manilla lost his hunting license for two years after the pheasant hunt shooting, which injured Ronald Rautzahn. According to Rautzahn, the shotgun pellets missing an artery by an eighth of an inch.
"I could have been done. I was that close," Rautzahn, 75, of Williamstown, said this week. "And now to hear he's involved in another one?"
Manilla told police he had seen a deer before jumping off the ATV and firing the rifle, striking Groh about 88 yards away. However, investigators do not think he could have seen Groh's buck from his vantage point.
Groh had taken off his blaze orange vest, but not his orange hat, after dragging the deer to the stream, Heckler said.
"The vest, and maybe a couple layers of clothing under the vest, were hung on a tree, so they should have been able to have been seen from some distance," Heckler said. "We believe ... that this was at least a reckless act."
In addition to the involuntary manslaughter charge, Manilla was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment, failure to render aid and other charges.
Groh's son arrived on the scene behind police, expecting to help his father move the deer. Police diverted him before he came across the body.
AP-WF-12-17-10 2150GMT
Bank of America Cuts off WikiLeaks Payments
msnbncBank of America Corp said on Saturday it will not process payments intended for WikiLeaks, which has angered U.S. authorities with the mass release of U.S. diplomatic cables.Wikileaks responds to the payment cutoff on twitter
The largest U.S. bank by assets joins a growing group of financial services companies, including MasterCard, PayPal and Visa Europe, that are restricting payments to the global organization which has said its next large document release will be bank information.
"This decision is based upon our reasonable belief that WikiLeaks may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments," the bank said in a statement obtained by Reuters.
WikiLeaks has said it will release documents early next year that will point to "unethical practices" at a major U.S. bank, widely thought to be Bank of America.
Latest Census data gives snapshot of life in York County
The majority of York County adults drive to work alone. They are white, married, own a home and were born in Pennsylvania.
That's the portrait painted by recently released estimates from the 2005 through 2009 American Community Survey -- a five-year survey that includes information such as marital status, commute time to work, occupation and housing.
To show how the county has changed, the survey has been compared to the 2000 U.S. Census and includes the percent change between both data sets. David Polk, a York College behavioral science professor, has offered his analysis on the comparisons.
Here is data from four sections of the survey:
--- Marital Status
--Never married: 67,854 (Census)
Never married: 85,214 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 26 percent increase.
-- Now married: 188,834 (Census)
Now married: 191,282 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 1.3 percent increase.
-- Divorced: 27,304 (Census)
Divorced: 34,182 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 25 percent increase.
What the numbers mean
In the past, marriage was seen as a precursor to having children, Polk said.
"That is no longer the case," he said. "It's become more socially acceptable to have children outside of marriage."
A growing trend has shown that more women who wait until later in life to have children are doing so without getting married, Polk said.
For example, in the past year, 30.1 percent of all York County women between 15 and 50 years old who gave birth were not married, according to the survey.
"Times have changed," Polk said. During tough economic times, the marriage rate usually goes down, he said. The economy might stop people from getting married, "but it doesn't stop hormones from flowing."
--- Commute to work
-- Car, truck or van (drove alone): 162,775 (Census)
Car, truck or van (drove alone): 175,418 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 7.8 percent increase.
-- Car, truck or van (carpooled): 18,346 (Census)
Car, truck or van (carpooled): 19,121 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 4.2 percent increase.
-- Public transportation: 1,199 (Census)
Public transportation: 2,143 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 78.7 percent increase.
--Walked: 4,177 (Census)
Walked: 4,321 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 3.4 percent increase.
-- Worked at home: 5,171 (Census)
Worked at home: 6,160 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 19 percent increase.
--Mean travel time to work: 23.9 minutes (Census)
Mean travel time to work: 25.8 minutes (ACS estimates)
What the numbers mean
Polk said he wasn't surprised that it was taking people two minutes longer to get to work. "As our infrastructure becomes more and more overloaded because of an increased population, people could be traveling the same distance to work, but it's just taking them longer to get there," he said.
Also, technology such as high-speed internet and smart phones are allowing more people to work at home rather than in the office, Polk said.
"In addition, with the economy, more people may be getting downsized and deciding to open or run businesses from their homes," he said.
--- Occupation
-- Management, professional and related occupations: 55,609 (Census)
Management, professional and related occupations: 65,834 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 18 percent increase.
--Services: 24,565 (Census)
Services: 31,221 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 27.1 percent increase.
--Sales and office occupations: 51,260 (Census)
Sales and office occupations: 54,412 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 6.1 percent increase.
-- Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations: 786 (Census)
Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations: 974 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 24 percent increase.
-- Construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations: 19,334 (Census)
Construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations: 22,411 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 16 percent increase.
-- Production, transportation, and material moving occupations: 44,408 (Census)
Production, transportation, and material moving occupations: 39,295 (ACS estimates)
Percent change: 11.5 percent decrease.
What the numbers mean
The number of service-related jobs have grown because workers are needed to serve customers in specific locations, Polk said.
Production, or manufacturing jobs, have dropped off as more companies opt to move to other locations either in the United States or overseas, he said.
Also, a symptom of the recession was that more people bought fewer products, requiring less labor on the part of many manufacturers.
"Just look at Harley-Davidson and all its layoffs," Polk said. "The economy does play a role."
Also of interest
Steam whistle player's hospitalization won't stop concert
Don Ryan was hospitalized recently, but plans to be full steam ahead come Christmas.
Well, make that full compressed air for Christmas.
Ryan is one of the people who has been performing concerts on the New York Wire Cloth Company steam whistle on Christmas morning since 1955. The boiler broke recently and rather than pay to get it fixed, this year Ryan will use an air compressor to play the whistles.
He spent six days in the hospital with a blood clot in his right leg. He's home recuperating now.
He'll rehearse songs on the whistle Dec. 22 at 4 p.m. His regular performance will start 12:15 a.m. Christmas morning.
Also of interest
IHNN: CIA Waterboarding, Zionist House Resolution, and Community Trash Collectors
IHNN News Update December 17th 2010.
The Intel Hub:
http://theintelhub.com
http://theintelhubradio.com
The Intel Hub News Network:
http://theintelhubnewsnetwork.com
Officials: CIA gave waterboarders 5million dollar legal shield!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_cia_wat…
Zionist Lobby’s New Orders For Obama? Congress lines up for Israel
http://theintelhub.com/2010/12/16/zio…
Tax Collectors To Serve As Eyes And Ears On The Street For Police
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40707906
http://www.activistpost.com/2010/12/t…
Mattison sentenced to death for York City killing
Kevin "Yummy" Mattison will be sentenced to death for killing a York City drug dealer.
The jury this morning found him guilty of all charges related to the 2008 slaying; then determined this afternoon that he should be executed for the crime.
Family members cried after the sentence was read, and Mattison turned to tell them he loved them as sheriff deputies led him away.
Jurors deliberated about three hours Thursday evening and Friday morning before announcing they'd found Mattison guilty of first-degree murder, two counts of robbery, and burglary.
Friday afternoon, they deliberated on whether the defendant will face the death penalty or life in prison.
Prosecutor Tim Barker said the jury had to weigh whether the aggravating circumstances of the case -- the fact that the murder was committed in the perpetration of a felony and the fact that Mattison has already served time for murder -- reached the level necessary to warrant the death penalty in Pennsylvania.
Mattison pleaded guilty in Baltimore to the equivalent of Pennsylvania's third-degree murder in the mid-1990s, when he was 17.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison, with the final 10 years suspended, prosecutors said; he also has a pending rape charge in Maryland.
The jury was also told to consider mitigating circumstances, and whether those outweigh the aggravating circumstances. Defense attorneys called Mattison's mother and sisters to testify about his upbringing. They suggested his childhood and teen years were defined by an abusive father and an illness that left his mother unable to care for him.
Mattison, 34, of Baltimore, was found guilty of breaking into the 610 W. Philadelphia St. home of Christian Agosto, robbing him of a pound of marijuana and shooting him in the head.
Reach Christina Kauffman at 505-5436 or follow her on Twitter at @dispatchbizwiz.
Propaganda 101
By Joe Joseph
The Intel Hub News Network
I have to say that I was taken aback when I saw an article published by CBS titled “How to Survive a Nuclear Attack” by Dan Farber. As we all know by now, the MSM (main stream media) is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the administration and TPTB (the powers that be). Isn’t it odd and don’t you find it a bit disturbing that the administration is pushing information on how to survive a nuclear attack?
In the article Martin Hellman; a professor at Stanford, and a bleeding heart liberal states “A baby born today, with an expected lifetime of 80 years, faces a greater than 50-50 chance that a nuclear weapon attack will occur unless the number of weapons and available weapons grade material is radically reduced.”.
Let me first school people on how statistics can be manipulated to present an argument. Mr. Hellman says greater than 50% chance huh? I wonder where she got the data to arrive at that conclusion… You know, 100% of the people who are afflicted with cancer drink water. Hmmmm… I guess cancer patients should stop drinking water and so should everyone else, lest you want to come down with that dreadful illness.
No, what Mr. Hellman fails to take into account is the same thing that some of the morons in State and Federal government fail to see all the time. The criminal/evil element in the world will always find a way to attack or get their way. It harkens to the old adage “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”. The first thing to understand is reducing the United States nuclear stockpile only weakens our position globally.
You don’t hear of our nuclear weapons and weapons grade material being compromised. That’s not to say it couldn’t, but let’s just say that our track record for guarding that material is a wee bit better than that of other countries in the world. This article plays right into TPTB and Mr. Obama’s hand. You see they are trying like hell to weaken the United States position in the world and bring down. How else can you look at it?
This bozo is using the same argument as the anti-gun lobby. Their stance is you’ve got to take the guns away to make us safer. Let’s dissect that a little bit… Take away the guns, and the ability for law abiding citizens to defend themselves and the criminal elements intent to commit violent crime magically disappears. Yeah right… All that does is hamstring Mr. John Q. Public while the street thug continues to procure weapons through the black market or other illegal means. Oh and as an added bonus you get to usher in the police state! Yippee!
By reading this article I formulate two hypotheses. The first is that this is a propaganda piece for the White House to get the public behind the START treaty that President Obama is trying to shove down our throats. The second is if he can’t do it by pushing propaganda, then a “terrorist” attack utilizing nuclear weapons, or radioactive material will be sufficient to advance his and TPTB agenda.
If I were to believe that things happen the way Government sells it, I would think that the chances would have been greater between 1950 and 1990 when you had an arms race between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. (Do people forget the Cuban missile crisis??) All one needs to do to understand what goes on in this world is read the un-abridged version of history. When you do that, you can plainly that we are repeating events that have occurred before, they were just flavored a bit differently. It is SO incredibly important that we understand history and become vanguards of it to preserve if for future generations. Only then can we understand what is going on today and take the steps necessary to prevent agendas and events from reoccurring.
It is way past time for the people of the U.S. and the world to take the power back from the very small group of people that run the world. It is time for people to wake up and harness the power that they wield and understand that without them, TPTB has no power whatsoever. Oh they have futuristic weapons, but they’re not good without the people to operate them. They make a ton of money through investments, the buying, selling, and trading of goods and services, but they couldn’t make that money without the common folk.
The power is within us to effect the changes needed to ensure our children and grand-children have a bright future. All we need to do is embrace our founding principles of individual liberty, restore morality, and understand that NO HUMAN can take away our rights. They are given to us by our Creator and can only be taken away by our Creator. So call your Senator and tell them where to go shove this START treaty. The only thing it does is further compromise the position of the United States and chip away at what’s left of our sovereignty.
