Author Archives: Jonathan Soroko

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Revived from the dead, 18-July-2013

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As the BBC reports further details, the Norway attacks have taken on a particularly cold-blooded and calculated character. It appears that, after bombing the government center in Oslo, dressed as a police officer, the killer went to an island on which the Labour Party was holding a recreational event for teenagers. Posing as a police officer conducting an investigation, he asked a large number of children to gather in a crowd, and began to open fire. (Current counts seem to vary between 84 and 85 reported deaths among the teenagers on the island of  Utoeya.

From BBC: Norway youth camp attack kills 84

At least 85 people died when a gunman opened fire at an island youth camp in Norway, hours after a bombing in the capital Oslo killed seven, police say.

Police have charged a 32-year-old Norwegian man over both attacks.

The man dressed as a police officer was arrested on tiny Utoeya island after an hour-long shooting spree.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said many people were still looking for their children and had not so far been able to locate them.

He was speaking after meeting victims and relatives with Norway’s King Harald, Queen Sonja and Crown Prince Haakon in the town of Sundvollen near the island.

 

These images, via the BBC, may help to illustrate the sequence of events. Motive will be harder to discern; the suspect in custody is believed to have right-of-center politics.

two attacks in Norway

Via the  BBC,  Twin terror attacks shock Norway

Norway has been hit by twin attacks – a massive bomb blast in the capital and a shooting attack on young people at a governing Labour Party youth camp

At least seven people were killed in the bombing, which inflicted huge damage on government buildings in Oslo city centre.   Four more died at the camp, on an island outside Oslo, local media said.  One witness later said he had seen more than 20 bodies on the island, but police have not confirmed this.   Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, whose Oslo offices were among those damaged by the bomb, described the situation as “very serious”.  Norwegian media reports said the shootings on the island were carried out by a man in police uniform.    Police said the suspected gunman had been arrested, and later said he was also linked with the bomb attack, reports said.

No group has said it carried out the attacks.

Hours after the bomb struck Oslo, officials said some people were still inside the damaged buildings, some of which were on fire.

 

Dutch apartments built from defunct water treatment plant

Tafline Laylin, writing at Inhabitat   – a brilliant blog whose work we should be bringing to our readers’ attention more often, describes how – instead of demolishing a water treatment plant’s structures to make space for housing – it was repurposed and made part of the  housing.  This is a multiple success – resources conserved in demolition, construction, a “dirty”  site made functional,  and  top all that, it’s beautiful. Here’s one image from Laylin’s piece, Defunct Dutch Sewage Plant Converted into Fresh Green Apartments:

Missile Warheads, stolen while under military guard, pose "no risk"

From the BBC, Missile warheads stolen from Romanian train

Romanian officials have reassured the public after the theft of more than 60 missile warheads from a train.

The warheads were taken from a railway car carrying military equipment to neighbouring Bulgaria on Saturday.

Officials said the stolen warheads could not be detonated because they were in component form without explosives.

Investigators say the missiles could have been stolen for their scrap metal value.

Romanian media said when the freight train stopped in Giurgiu, southern Romania, it was found that doors on the railway car had been forced and four boxes of 16 warheads stolen.

Officials are investigating how the theft could have happened while the consignment was being guarded by paramilitary police.

Bulgaria’s economy ministry said the warheads belonged to Grad missiles which are normally fired from multiple-rocket launchers.

In a statement it said the shipment was part of a transfer of “nonfunctional components and parts” for reprocessing at the VMZ factory – one of Bulgaria’s largest military factories – in Sopot.

Romanian officials close to the investigation told two daily newspapers that the warheads did not contain explosives.

Romanian police spokesman Florin Hulea also reassured the public, saying the warheads posed no risk.

via BBC News – Missile warheads stolen from Romanian train.

If the missiles posed no threat, why were they under heavy guard?

Terrorism Training Casts Pall Over Muslim Employee : NPR

If terrorism can make Americans afraid of each other, they’ve advanced their agenda both by bring divisive, and also by diverting attention from real threats. From Dina Temple-Raston, NPR national security correspondent, on NPR’s Morning Edition. Audio available later today.  Excerpted from NPR’s Terrorism Training Casts Pall Over Muslim Employee

In the first of two stories on counterterrorism training, NPR reports on one training session that turned a state employee into a suspect.

The man at the center of this story is a 59-year-old Jordanian-American named Omar al-Omari. He looks very much like the college professor that he is — all tweed jacket, button-down shirt, thick round glasses, drinking coffee. We met at a coffee shop near downtown Columbus, Ohio, where he laid out a series of events that ended with him being accused of having links to terrorism.

“Actually I was out of town, out of state, attending a conference and on my way back to Columbus,” Omari said, “and I received a call from one of the attendees of this conference in which I was told my name was used repeatedly during the training. Apparently I was labeled as a suspect. They personalized the attacks. There was a promise to dig into my background and basically as an Arab-Muslim American — they thought I’m a suspect.”

via Terrorism Training Casts Pall Over Muslim Employee : NPR.

Unfortunately, there’s no happy ending. And Professor Omari had been a leading consultant to the Bureau and other law enforcement agencies in communicating with American Muslims.

Cryptome: declassified account of two CIA officers who spent 20 years imprisoned by Chinese

Cryptome has published a previously classified account of John T. Downey and Richard G. Fecteau, two CIA officers captured on a mission to exfiltrate a dissident from China in 1952.  From Two CIA Prisoners in China, 1952-73, itself derived from Two CIA Prisoners in China, 1952-73, Extraordinary Fidelity, by Nicholas Dujmovic

This article draws extensively on operational files and other internal CIA records that of necessity remain classified. Because the true story of these two CIA officers is compelling and has been distorted in many public accounts, it is retold here in as much detail as possible, despite minimal source citations. Whenever possible, references to open sources are made in the footnotes.

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Levinson now missing for over three years

We missed this when it appeared on the Christian Science Monitor website in March. From Former FBI Agent Robert Levinson still missing in Iran, dated 9 March 2010.

The US State Department marked the third anniversary of the disappearance of Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent turned private investigator, from Kish Island in Iran by appealing to the authorities in Tehran to cooperate with the efforts of the US and his wife, Christine, to locate him.

“In December 2007, Mrs. Levinson first met with Iranian officials who expressed a willingness to share information about their investigation into her husband’s disappearance with the family,” the State Department said in a press release. “We ask that Iran stand behind its commitment to provide full details about their authorities’ investigation.”

The State Department also marked the anniversary by calling on “Iran to resolve the cases of the five American citizens who are unjustly detained in Iran:Joshua Fattal, Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, Kian Tajbakhsh, and Reza Taghavi.”

Mr. Levinson, who served 27 years as an FBI agent and also worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration, disappeared from Kish Island, a free trade zone and smuggling center where Iran’s typically strict visa requirements are not enforced, while investigating a cigarette smuggling ring for a private client. He has seven children and two grandchildren.

The US has said in the past that despite promises of full cooperation from Iran that it believes the country has information about Levinson’s disappearance that it isn’t sharing.

“Over the past three years, my family has desperately has desperately reached out to you as much as possible,” his daughter, Sarah, wrote in an open letter to the US and Iranian governments on a website the family maintains about Levinson’s disappearance. “Unfortunately, none of our messages have brought us any closer to finding our father and bringing him home.”

The family in the past has said Levinson expected to spend only a day on Kish Island. Shortly after his disappearance, Iran’s state-run Press TV carried an article that said Levinson had been taken into Iranian custody on March 9, 2007, and predicted he would be freed within a “matter of days.”

In a statement on the family website this past December, Mrs. Levinson said she and her relatives “respectfully ask for clarification” about the Press TV article and called for Iranian government help in securing his return home as a “humanitarian gesture.”

In 2007, the Financial Times quoted Dawud Salahuddin – a man wanted by the FBI and connected to Press TV – as saying he’d shared a hotel room with Levinson on March 8. Mr. Salahuddin said he was detained by Iranian authorities himself that day and upon his release the next day Levinson was gone. “I don’t think he is missing, but don’t want to point my finger at anyone,” he said. “Some people know exactly where he is … he came only to see me.”

In September 2009, the Times of London reported that Salahuddin had worked for three years as a senior editor at Press TV under the alias Hassan Abdulrahman. The paper also said that he was an African-American who was originally called David Belfield before converting to Islam in 1969 and changing his name to Dawud Salahuddin.

Abdulrahman, as he’s now called, is wanted by the FBI for the murder of Ali Akbar Tabatabai, a former aide to the Shah who was murdered at his home in Maryland in 1980. The paper, which said it reached Abdulrahman by telephone at his home in Iran, said he admitted to the murder and showed no remorse. “I don’t regret that, no,” he said.

 

Karzai half-brother assassinated by confidant

Ahmed Wali Karzai  Tweet Follow LJF97 on Twitter   As reported in The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and elsewhere, Ahmed Wali Karzi was killed by Sardar Mohammed. Mr. Mohammed, who is described as “an associate,” was a commander of security posts south of Kandahar. He was reported killed by Mr. Karzai’s bodyguards. The late Mr. Karzai had been linked to the drug trade and corrupt security companies.  The Christian Science Monitor sited Wikileaks here as quoting official US concern regarding Ahmad Karzi.

“AWK [Ahmad Wali Karzai] operates parallel to formal government structures, through a network of political clans that use state institutions to protect and enable licit and illicit enterprises,” wrote a US official in one of the leaked cables.

What will happen next? What other shoes will drop?

Given the relative opacity of the situation(s)  in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States’ troubled relationships with both countries, the potential parallels to the plot of The Godfather and MacBeth are unsettling. Continue reading →

BBC: Poor countries outspend wealthy countries 10:1 on renewables

Mark Kinver, BBC News Environment Reporter, writes that a study commissioned by the United Nations reports that less-developed nations invested in renewable energy tenfold the amount spent by developed countries.  Viewed as an investment, assuming that the renewable energy infrastructure lasts long enough to pay for itself (a safe bet), the energy produced thereafter is essentially without cost. And the higher energy prices rise – and the faster they rise – the better the return on investment. The worst of the likely outcomes is that energy prices rise slowly – but the countries with the biggest investment in clean renewables will still have a direct economic advantage (lower energy costs), and such indirect advantages as lowered health and environmental costs. Taken to an extreme, this trend could reverse the standing of “less-developed” and “more-developed” countries within a generation or two.  From “Green Energy Investment Hits Record High“:

Global investment in renewable energy sources grew by 32% during 2010 to reach a record level of US$211bn £132bn, a UN study has reported.The main growth drivers were backing for wind farms in China and rooftop solar panels in Europe, it said.It also found that developing nations invested more in green power than rich nations for the first time last year.The Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2011 report was prepared for the UN by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.”The continuing growth in this core segment of the green economy is not happening by chance,” said Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme.”The combination of government target-setting, policy support and stimulus funding is underpinning the renewable industry’s rise and bringing the much needed transformation of our global energy system within reach.”In 2010, developing economies spent more on “financial new investment”, pumping $72bn into renewable projects compared with the $70bn outlay by developed economies.

via BBC News – Green energy investment hits record global high.

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Dirtier Air and Higher Costs May Follow Indian Point Closing – NYTimes.com

The New York Times reports on some of the complexities associated with closing the Indian Point nuclear power plants.  But what is missing from the story?  Patrick McGeehan’s   Dirtier Air and Higher Costs May Follow Indian Point Closing:

Shutting down the Indian Point nuclear power plant would lead to significantly dirtier air and higher electric bills for New York City residents, according to a report commissioned by the city that is circulating among state officials in Albany.

To read a further excerpt – and a discussion of other possible responses to closing Indian Point – see the rest of this post after the jump.

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Social Networks Reduce Disaster Risk

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Long-time readers know that it is our firmly-held conviction that social networks matter more than any single type of preparation or cached equipment. Here is an excerpt from The Key To Disaster Survival? Pals, Neighbors broadcast on the July 4, 2011 edition of All Things Considered:

A researcher’s data suggest that ambulances, firetrucks and government aid aren’t the principal ways most people survive during and recover after a disaster. Instead, it’s the personal ties between members of a community that really matter.

If you want an easy template for doing this in your community, check out the 3 Steps Program.

The Costs Of War: Billions In Air Conditioning

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Steven Anderson, Brigadier General, Retired, has estimated the costs of air-conditioning U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan to $20.2 Billion. Anderson served  as chief logistics officer for General David Petraeus in Iraq.

The amount the U.S. military spends annually on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan: $20.2 billion, according to a former Pentagon official.That’s more than NASA’s budget. It’s more than BP has paid so far for damage from the Gulf oil spill. It’s what the G-8 has pledged to help foster new democracies in Egypt and Tunisia.”When you consider the cost to deliver the fuel to some of the most isolated places in the world — escorting, command and control, medevac support — when you throw all that infrastructure in, we’re talking over $20 billion,” Steven Anderson tells weekends on All Things Considered guest host Rachel Martin. He’s a retired brigadier general who served as chief logistician for Gen. David Petraeus in Iraq. He’s now in the private sector, selling technologies branded as energy-efficient to the Defense Department.

Excerpted from”Among The Costs Of War: Billions A Year In A.C.?”, broadcast June  25th on the weekend edition of All Things Considered:

This is a more complicated because it includes the logistics costs of building roads in order to deliver equipment and fuel. Building and rebuilding road infrastructure, of course, have lasting value apart their use for delivering fuel to U.S. outposts.

Anderson further estimates that 1,000 U.S. troops – excluding private contractors – have been killed guarding fuel convoys.

This is illustrative of the scale of our logistical lines and expenses – and the centrality of energy in military logistics.

What can be done and what could have been done?

Having invested this much in capital and overhead (fuel), and with the future of our engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan uncertain, what can be done. From Among The Costs Of War: Billions A Year In A.C.?”

The 33,000 troops who will return home by the end of next year match the numbers sent to Afghanistan in 2010, at a cost of about $30 billion. That comes out to about $1 million a soldier. But the savings of withdrawing those troops won’t equal out, experts say.

“What history has told us is that you don’t see a proportional decrease in spending based on the number of troops when you draw them down,” says Chris Hellman, a senior research analyst at the National Priorities Project.

“In Afghanistan that’s going to be particularly true because it’s a very difficult and austere environment in which to operate,” he says.

That means most war expenditures lie not in the troops themselves but in the infrastructure that supports them — infrastructure that in some cases will remain in place long after troops are gone.

“We’re building big bases,” American University professor Gordon Adams says, describing the money invested as, in economic terms, “sunk” costs.

“We’re seeing this in Iraq. We’re turning over to the Iraqis — mostly either for a small penny or for free — the infrastructure that we built in Iraq. But we won’t see back any money from that infrastructure.”

General Anderson has proposed what is usually the most efficient initial strategy: “negawatts, which is to say, conserving energy and reconfiguring the U.S. tents to resist heat and thereby use less power in keeping the tents comfortable.  Below are images of tents modified with polyurethane to increase their ability to resist heat:

Courtesy Steven Anderson and NPR/All Things Considered (weekend edition).

Courtesy Brig. General Steven Anderson (United States Army, retired) and NPR's All Things Considered (weekend editio).

BBC News – Common medicines for elderly linked to death

Callout:

Drugs examined

Category one, mild

  • Codeine (painkiller)
  • Warfarin (blood thinner)
  • Timolol maleate (eye drops)

Category three, severe

  • Piriton (antihistamine)
  • Ditropan (incontinence drug)
  • Seroxat (antidepressant)

End of Callout

 

 

Commonly used drugs – for conditions such as heart disease, depression and allergies – have been linked to a greater risk of death and declining brain function by UK researchers.

They said half of people over 65 were prescribed these drugs.

The effect was greatest in patients taking multiple courses of medication, according to the study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Experts said patients must not panic or stop taking their medicines.

The researchers were investigating medicines which affect a chemical in the brain – acetylcholine. The neurotransmitter is vital for passing messages from nerve cell to nerve cell, but many common drugs interfere with it as a side effect.

Eighty drugs were rated for their “anticholinergic” activity: they were given a score of one for a mild effect, two for moderate and three for severe. Some were given by prescription only, while others were available over the counter.

A combined score was calculated in 13,000 patients aged 65 or over, by adding together the scores for all the medicines they were taking.

A patient taking one severe drug and two mild ones would have an overall score of five.

Deadly consequences

Between 1991 and 1993, 20% of patients with a score of four or more died. Of those taking no anticholinergic drugs only 7% died.

Patients with a score of five or more showed a 4% drop in ratings of brain function.

Other factors, such as increased mortality from underlying diseases, were removed from the analysis.

However, this study cannot say that the drugs caused death or reduced brain function, merely that there was an association.

Dr Chris Fox, who led the research at the University of East Anglia, said: “Clinicians should conduct regular reviews of the medication taken by their older patients, both prescribed and over the counter, and wherever possible avoid prescribing multiple drugs with anticholinergic effects.

Dr Clare Gerada, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said the findings of the study were important.

She told patients: “The first thing is not to worry too much, the second thing is to discuss it with your doctor or the pharmacist, and the third thing is do not stop your medicines without taking advice first.”

She said doctors reviewed medication every 15 months and were aware of the risks of combining different drugs.

Dr Fox said he wanted to conduct further research to investigate how anticholinergic drugs might increase mortality.

A more modern study is also thought to be desirable. Practices and drugs have changed since the data was collected two decades ago.

Ian Maidment, an NHS pharmacist in Kent and Medway, believes the situation may now be even worse.

He said the use of anticholinergic drugs had “probably increased as more things are being treated and more drugs are being used.”

Brain decline

Reduction of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine has already been implicated in dementia.

The drug Aricept is given to some patients with Alzheimer’s disease to boost acetylcholine levels.

Dr Susanne Sorensen, head of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said a 4% drop in brain function for a healthy person would feel like a slow, sluggish day.

“If you are at a level where one little thing pushes you over into confusion, then that is much more serious,” she added.

“However, it is vital that people do not panic or stop taking their medication without consulting their GP.”

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “This comprehensive study could have some far-reaching effects. The results underline the critical importance of calculated drug prescription.”

 

 

via BBC News – Common medicines for elderly linked to death.

David Protess of the Innocence Project Now Defends Himself – NYTimes.com

Mr. Protess, who taught at the Medill journalism school at Northwestern University, was the founder and driving force behind the Medill Innocence Project, which was instrumental in exonerating at least 12 wrongly convicted defendants and freeing them from prison, including five who were on death row in Illinois, and in prompting then-governor George Ryan to clear the rest of death row in 2003.

via David Protess of the Innocence Project Now Defends Himself – NYTimes.com.