Brooklyn Mutt

shortformblog:

The authorities have arrested a man who law enforcement officials believe was planning to build and detonate a bomb in New York with government workers as the target, a person briefed on the case said on Sunday.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly of the New York Police Department, and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr.were expected to announce the charges against the man at 7:30 p.m. at a news conference at City Hall.

We’ll cover the press conference, all.

(via shortformblog)

theriverwanders:

politicore:

It’s called the Paid Detail Unit and it allows the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street corporations, including those repeatedly charged with crimes, to order up a flank of New York’s finest with the ease of dialing the deli for a pastrami on rye.

The corporations pay an average of $37 an hour (no medical, no pension benefit, no overtime pay) for a member of the NYPD, with gun, handcuffs and the ability to arrest. The officer is indemnified by the taxpayer, not the corporation.

New York City gets a 10 percent administrative fee on top of the $37 per hour paid to the police. The City’s 2011 budget called for $1,184,000 in Paid Detail fees, meaning private corporations were paying wages of $11.8 million to police participating in the Paid Detail Unit. The program has more than doubled in revenue to the city since 2002.

The taxpayer has paid for the training of the rent-a-cop, his uniform and gun, and will pick up the legal tab for lawsuits stemming from the police personnel following illegal instructions from its corporate master. Lawsuits have already sprung up from the program.

Holy shit.  That’s disturbing.

(via sarahlee310)

cognitivedissonance:

U.S. authorities are scrambling to sort through information that the CIA developed in the past 24 hours indicating that at least three individuals entered the U.S. in August by air with the intent to launch a vehicle-borne attack against Washington, D.C. or New York around the anniversary of 9/11, according to intelligence officials.

Officials say the alleged terror plot was initiated by new al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s successor, who had pledged to avenge bin Laden’s death earlier this year in a U.S. raid.

Intelligence and law enforcement officials told ABC News that at least one of the individuals is a U.S. citizen and one official said that two of the individuals may have had U.S. documentation — whether green cards or passports was unclear.

I believe it’s important to be aware, but it’s also important to remember the most powerful weapon terrorists possess is terror. Fear and panic are the desired outcomes of terrorism - besides the attacks themselves. Remember, the threat is specific, but it is also unconfirmed.