December 21, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dozens-of-pedestrians-mowed-down-in-vegas-strip-hit-and-run/

Dozens of pedestrians mowed down in Vegas Strip hit-and-run
CBS/AP
December 21, 2015

Photograph -- stripgettyimages-502145772.jpg, Vehicle traffic on the Las Vegas Strip is closed as police investigate the area after a car crashed into a group of pedestrians on the sidewalk in front of the Paris Las Vegas and Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on December 20, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. ETHAN MILLER, GETTY IMAGES
Play VIDEO -- OSU parade crash suspect has bond set at $1 million


LAS VEGAS -- The packed sidewalks on the Las Vegas Strip became a scene of horror as a woman deliberately plowed her car into groups of partyers and tourists, killing one person and injuring dozens of others, authorities said.

The woman in her 20s, who has not been identified, struck pedestrians as she drove onto the walkway in front of the Paris and Planet Hollywood casino-hotels on Sunday evening, police said.

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said Monday that 32-year-old Jessica Valenzuela of Buckeye, Arizona, died in the crash. The coroner said the suburban Phoenix woman was visiting Las Vegas with her husband.

Investigators believe the woman driving a 1996 Oldsmobile intentionally "went up and off these streets, two or possibly three times," Lt. Dan McGrath said. A 3-year-old was in the car with her but was not hurt, police said.

The driver sped away before the vehicle was found at a hotel and she was taken into custody, police said.

Capt. Brett Zimmerman said Monday that the car was fully on the sidewalk twice, including once when it traveled for 200 feet. He said that video of the incident shows that it "looks like it's very intentional."

Authorities did not give a possible motive for the crash on a busy stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard across from the dancing water fountains of the Bellagio hotel-casino where visitors crowd sidewalks as they head from one casino to another. The Miss Universe pageant was being held nearby at Planet Hollywood at the time.

The woman was having her blood drawn and was being held in jail with charges pending. She had recently moved to the area; the car she was driving was registered in Oregon, authorities said.

"This is a huge tragedy that has happened on our Strip," Lt. Peter Boffelli said.

The injured were taken to three hospitals, including the adult who died. University Medical Center was treating three people in critical condition and two others in serious condition.

One of the injured is a 1-year-old child, reports CBS Las Vegas affiliate KLAS-TV.

Of the victims, some were from Montreal and needed a French translator, while four were Oregon college students in town to compete in a wrestling tournament.

One witness told KLAS some men tried to stop the car, but couldn't.

Emergency vehicles on Las Vegas Strip after hit-and-run driver rammed into dozens of pedestrians on December 20, 2015 KLAS-TV

Justin Cochrane, a visitor from Santa Barbara, California, said he was having dinner at a sidewalk restaurant outside the Paris hotel when he saw the car smashing into pedestrians.

"It was just massacring people," he said, adding that the car appeared to be going 30 to 40 mph.

The Oldsmobile then went farther down the road and drove back into another crowd of pedestrians on the sidewalk, he said.

Cochrane said he couldn't understand why the car went into the crowd a second time.

"Why would it slow to go around and then accelerate again?" he said. "I thought, 'It's a crazy person.'"

Cochrane said he saw children and adults injured on the ground as the car drove away.

Police were reviewing video from casino surveillance cameras to get details of what occurred. The pedestrians were not in the road and were not at fault, police said.

Joel Ortega, 31, of Redlands, California, said he and his wife, Carla, were visiting for the weekend and found themselves blocked from walking on the sidewalk toward the Paris hotel. They could see police investigating about a block away from the crash.

"At first, I thought it was a movie shoot," he said. "I thought maybe we'd see someone famous."

But then they learned that it was a crash scene. Ortega said it made them remember how their neighborhood was disrupted after the Dec. 2 mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, near their home.

The crash comes months after another woman was accused of driving into a crowd during Oklahoma State's homecoming parade. Four people were killed and more than 40 were hurt Oct. 24.

In September 2005, three tourists were killed and nearly a dozen injured when a car barreled through the crowd on the Las Vegas Strip and crashed into a cement barrier in front of Bally's hotel-casino.



“Investigators believe the woman driving a 1996 Oldsmobile intentionally "went up and off these streets, two or possibly three times," Lt. Dan McGrath said. A 3-year-old was in the car with her but was not hurt, police said. The driver sped away before the vehicle was found at a hotel and she was taken into custody, police said. Capt. Brett Zimmerman said Monday that the car was fully on the sidewalk twice, including once when it traveled for 200 feet. He said that video of the incident shows that it "looks like it's very intentional."


As AA members sometimes say, “Some are sicker than others,” and this woman is in that group. That doesn’t mean that she shouldn’t be tried for murder. It will be interesting if police do find an actual motive to her actions. Most of these people, when they give their “reason,” make very, very little sense. The good news is that her car was found nearby and identified. A 1996 Oldsmobile looks pretty distinctive in a group of modern cars.



http://www.cbsnews.com/news/retired-policeman-detained-after-fake-bomb-found-on-air-france-flight/

Retired policeman detained after fake bomb found on Air France flight
AP December 21, 2015

Photograph -- Passengers who were onboard the AirFrance plane forced to land in Mombasa, Kenya, Sunday Dec. 20, 2015, react after they were officially informed of the bomb-scare in the plane they were traveling in. AP
Photograph -- Play VIDEO -- Plane on way to Paris makes emergency landing after bomb scare


PARIS -- A retired French police officer traveling on Air France was detained Monday after a fake bomb hidden in a lavatory forced his Paris-bound flight to make an emergency landing in Kenya, according to prosecutors.

The hoax - the fourth against Air France in recent weeks - comes amid heightened concerns about extremist violence in many countries, and aggravated passenger jitters around the holidays.

The man in custody is a former police officer who was detained upon arrival Monday at Charles de Gaulle Airport, according to an official in the prosecutor's office in the nearby Paris suburb of Bobigny. The official, who is not authorized to be publicly identified speaking about an ongoing investigation, did not release the suspect's name or information about what he is suspected of.

Kenyan Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said the suspect was among six passengers questioned Sunday in Kenya. Nkaissery said Kenya alerted French authorities about the suspected involvement of this man and a traveling companion in placing the fake bomb in the bathroom. He said sniffer dogs traced the package back to their seats and the bathroom.

The arrest is part of an investigation prompted by a legal complaint filed by Air France on Monday for reckless endangerment. The lawsuit does not name a perpetrator but leaves it to investigators to determine who might be prosecuted, and allows Air France to seek damages in an eventual trial.

France has been in a state of emergency since Islamic extremist attacks Nov. 13 in Paris killed 130 people and left hundreds wounded. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for those attacks and for downing a plane Oct. 31 carrying Russian tourists out of Egypt, killing all 224 people on board.

On Sunday, Air France Flight 463 from the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius to Paris made an emergency landing in Mombasa, Kenya, after a bomb was reported aboard. All 459 passengers and 14 crew members on the Boeing 777 were safely evacuated down airplane emergency slides.

Authorities later discovered a fake explosive, rigged with cardboard, sheets of paper and a household timer, and declared it a hoax. Air France CEO Frederic Gagey said the homemade apparatus was apparently placed in a lavatory cabinet during the flight.

Overwhelmed with relief, the passengers arrived safely in Paris on Monday, some crying as they embraced loved ones.

"We thought we were going to die. Because of the speed of the airplane going down, we thought we would crash in the sea," said passenger Marine Gorlier of the French town of Melun after landing at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport.

"I really admired the crew, because they thought it was a real bomb and they remained very serene," said Antoine Dupont of the northern city of Lille. "One of my grandchildren said: 'The slide was super!'"



“The hoax - the fourth against Air France in recent weeks - comes amid heightened concerns about extremist violence in many countries, and aggravated passenger jitters around the holidays. The man in custody is a former police officer who was detained upon arrival Monday at Charles de Gaulle Airport, according to an official in the prosecutor's office in the nearby Paris suburb of Bobigny. The official, who is not authorized to be publicly identified speaking about an ongoing investigation, did not release the suspect's name or information about what he is suspected of. …. . Nkaissery said Kenya alerted French authorities about the suspected involvement of this man and a traveling companion in placing the fake bomb in the bathroom. He said sniffer dogs traced the package back to their seats and the bathroom. The arrest is part of an investigation prompted by a legal complaint filed by Air France on Monday for reckless endangerment. …. Authorities later discovered a fake explosive, rigged with cardboard, sheets of paper and a household timer, and declared it a hoax. Air France CEO Frederic Gagey said the homemade apparatus was apparently placed in a lavatory cabinet during the flight. Overwhelmed with relief, the passengers arrived safely in Paris on Monday, some crying as they embraced loved ones. …. "I really admired the crew, because they thought it was a real bomb and they remained very serene," said Antoine Dupont of the northern city of Lille. "One of my grandchildren said: 'The slide was super!'"


This ex-policeman must have been finding civilian life boring. It's good to know that three people enjoyed the misguided and cruel trick – the hoaxers themselves and the little boy or girl who declared that “The slide was super!” I’ve seen people exiting on those chutes and they look a little dangerous to me. Besides passengers are required to leave their personal belongings behind in the plane. There are some 15 crucial items that I keep in my handbag and I avoid being separated from it. Hopefully I will never be in an air emergency like this.



http://www.npr.org/2015/12/21/460281546/watch-obama-says-trump-exploiting-anger-fear-among-blue-collar-men

WATCH: Obama Says Trump 'Exploiting' Anger, Fear Among 'Blue-Collar Men'
Jessica Taylor, Caitlin Sanders/NPR
Updated December 21, 2015

Photograph -- Steve Inskeep (left) and President Obama (right) in conversation at the White House. Nick Michael, Colin Marshall/NPR
Photograph -- At a November rally in Birmingham, Ala., Trump supporters boo the media after a heckler was removed from the event. Eric Schultz/AP
Video And Transcript: NPR's Interview With President Obama. NPR's Steve Inskeep interviews President Obama at the White House. POLITICS


Donald Trump has gained traction in the Republican primary, according to President Obama, because the boisterous billionaire has found a way to play off American anxieties, especially among "blue-collar men."

The president told NPR's Steve Inskeep in an interview late last week that economic and demographic changes in the country, including his own "unique demographic," have left a void that Trump is "exploiting."

"Particularly blue-collar men have had a lot of trouble in this new economy, where they are no longer getting the same bargain that they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their families on a single paycheck," President Obama said. NPR YouTube

Here's part of what the president had to say:

"I do think that when you combine that demographic change with all the economic stresses that people have been going through — because of the financial crisis, because of technology, because of globalization, the fact that wages and incomes have been flat-lining for some time, and that particularly blue-collar men have had a lot of trouble in this new economy, where they are no longer getting the same bargain that they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their families on a single paycheck — you combine those things, and it means that there is going to be potential anger, frustration, fear.

"Some of it justified, but just misdirected. I think somebody like Mr. Trump is taking advantage of that. That's what he's exploiting during the course of his campaign."

Much of that anger and frustration has been directed at this president. Pressed on whether he understands why some regular Americans blame him and believe he is changing the country for the worse, he answered this way:

YouTube --
"Well, look, if what you are asking me, Steve, is are there certain circumstances around being the first African-American president that might not have confronted a previous president, absolutely. ... "If what you are suggesting is that, you know, somebody questioning whether I was born in the United States or not, how do I think about that, I would say that that's something that is actively promoted and may gain traction because of my unique demographic. I don't think that that's a big stretch. ... The fact of the matter is that in a big country like this, there is always going to be folks who are frustrated, don't like the direction of the country, are concerned about the president.

"Some of them may not like my policies, some of them may just not like how I walk, or my big ears or, you know. So, I mean, no politician, I think, aspires to 100 percent approval ratings. If you are referring to specific strains in the Republican Party that suggest that somehow I'm different, I'm Muslim, I'm disloyal to the country, etc., which unfortunately is pretty far out there and gets some traction in certain pockets of the Republican Party, and that have been articulated by some of their elected officials, what I'd say there is that that's probably pretty specific to me and who I am and my background, and that in some ways I may represent change that worries them."

The president noted, however, that there are those who object to his policies and may have "perfectly good reasons for it," like when it comes to coal, for example.

He continued:

"I think if you are talking about the specific virulence of some of the opposition directed towards me, then, you know, that may be explained by the particulars of who I am. On the other hand, I'm not unique to that. I always try to remind people, goodness, if you look at what they said about Jefferson or Lincoln or FDR — finding reasons not to like a president, that's, you know, a well-traveled path here in this country."

Regular refrains at Trump's rallies — headlined with his campaign tagline, "Make America Great Again" — include railing against immigrants entering the U.S. illegally to take jobs, halting Syrian refugee relocation and, more recently, the candidate's call to stop any Muslims from coming into the U.S. (at least temporarily) amid terrorism fears.

Born out of those fears, many of Trump's rallies have taken on a dark tone in recent weeks. There have also been regular dust-ups between attendees and protesters, with insults flying directed at detractors and the press.

An NPR analysis earlier this year found that one reason Trump has been able to sustain his surprising momentum so long is that he has strong support among those blue-collar voters — mostly white men without a college degree.

"The groups that he's doing well with are very often the core of the Republican Party's primary electorate, which is why he's not taking much incoming attacks from his fellow competitors," Lee Miringoff, director of Marist College's polling operation, told NPR back in August.

But that success in a GOP primary may not necessarily translate to a general election, where the electorate is expected to be less white, more educated and more diverse, both demographically and socioeconomically.


“If you are referring to specific strains in the Republican Party that suggest that somehow I'm different, I'm Muslim, I'm disloyal to the country, etc., which unfortunately is pretty far out there and gets some traction in certain pockets of the Republican Party, and that have been articulated by some of their elected officials, what I'd say there is that that's probably pretty specific to me and who I am and my background, and that in some ways I may represent change that worries them." …. "I think if you are talking about the specific virulence of some of the opposition directed towards me, then, you know, that may be explained by the particulars of who I am. On the other hand, I'm not unique to that. I always try to remind people, goodness, if you look at what they said about Jefferson or Lincoln or FDR — finding reasons not to like a president, that's, you know, a well-traveled path here in this country." …. Born out of those fears, many of Trump's rallies have taken on a dark tone in recent weeks. There have also been regular dust-ups between attendees and protesters, with insults flying directed at detractors and the press. An NPR analysis earlier this year found that one reason Trump has been able to sustain his surprising momentum so long is that he has strong support among those blue-collar voters — mostly white men without a college degree. "The groups that he's doing well with are very often the core of the Republican Party's primary electorate, which is why he's not taking much incoming attacks from his fellow competitors, … "


As NPR points out, the whole electorate in a general election is not really dominated by fairly poor, uneducated white men, as Trump’s followers almost exclusively are. It is disturbing that there have been a number of physical tussles between his followers and those of more liberal candidates. We don’t usually have fights between protestors or supporters like that. Of course we may now be entering a new era in our history. If it’s a sign of what is to come it is pretty frightening. Within the last year a member of one of those “militia groups” out in the west and Midwest spoke with relish of the looming “race war.” Personally I think when people go that far, the FBI, NSA etc. should use their spy techniques on them rather than on honest citizens who happen to be liberal.

Advocating a race war is not harmless and shouldn’t be one of our “rights” as a citizen. The freedom of speech is limited by the injunction against “Crying fire in a crowded theater” for the same safety reasons that are involved in the instigation of a class or racial civil war. No normal person would want to do that, I feel, and it should be penalized in the prison system or, if insanity is proven, in a secure mental hospital. Instead they’re out on the street propagating support for the most hateful political candidates’ rants.



http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/20/460463173/60-percent-of-syrian-rebels-share-islamic-state-ideology-think-tank-finds

60 Percent Of Syrian Rebels Are Islamist Extremists, Think Tank
EYDER PERALTA, Twitter
Updated December 21, 2015

Photograph -- Syrians look at the damage following air strikes on the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus in October 2015.
Abd Doumany /AFP/Getty Images


About 60 percent of rebel fighters in Syria hold an Islamist extremist ideology, a British think-tank has found. About a third of them hold the same ideology as the Islamic State.

The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, an initiative of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, warns that's why wiping out the Islamic State would not end the threat to the West from jihadi groups.

The BBC reports:

"The report, due to be published on Monday, says the greatest danger to the international community are groups who share the IS ideology but are currently being ignored - they number about 100,000 fighters.

"Current Western efforts to define 'moderate' and 'extremist' rebels are bound to fail, because the groups themselves rarely make the distinction, the centre says.

"Some 60% of Syria's major rebel groups are Islamist extremists, and many of the groups share the same aims, the study finds.

"Fewer than a quarter of the rebels surveyed were not ideological, and many were willing to fight alongside extremists and would probably accept an Islamist political settlement to the civil war."

In concrete terms, what the think-tank is saying is that if the Islamic State is defeated there are "at least 65,000 fighters belonging to other Salafi-jihadi groups ready to take its place."

Via the Guardian, the report says: "While military efforts against ISIS are necessary, policy makers must recognize that its defeat will not end the threat of Salafi-jihadism unless it is accompanied by an intellectual and theological defeat of the pernicious ideology that drives it."

Correction:
Dec. 21, 2015
An earlier version of this post said that 60 percent of rebel fighters held the views of the Islamic State. The study actually found a third held that view and 60 percent held extreme Islamist views.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salafi_jihadism

Salafi jihadism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Salafi jihadism or Jihadist-Salafism is a transnational religious-political ideology based on a belief in violent jihadism and the Salafi movement of returning to (what adherents believe to be) "true" Sunni Islam.[1][2]

The terms "Salafist jihadists" and "Jihadist-Salafism" were coined by scholar Gilles Kepel in 2002[3][4][5][6] to describe "a hybrid Islamist ideology" developed by international Islamist volunteers in the Afghan anti-Soviet jihad who had become isolated from their national and social class origins.[3] The concept is considered by some (Martin Kramer) to be an academic term that "will inevitably be" simplified to "jihadism" or the "jihadist movement" in popular usage.[7]

Practitioners are referred to as "Salafi jihadis" or "Salafi jihadists". They are sometimes described as a variety of Salafi,[8] and sometimes as separate from "good Salafis"[5] whose movement eschews any political and organisational allegiances as potentially divisive for the Muslim community and a distraction from the study of religion.[9]

In the 1990s, Jihadist-salafists of the Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya were active in the attacks on police, government officials and tourists in Egypt, and Armed Islamic Group of Algeria was a principal group in the Algerian Civil War.[3] Perhaps the most famous Jihadist-Salafist attack was the 2001 9/11 attacks in the United States by al-Qaeda.[10] While Salafism had next to no presence in Europe in the 1980s, by the mid-2000s, Salafist jihadists had acquired "a burgeoning presence in Europe, having attempted more than 30 terrorist attacks among E.U. countries since 2001."[5] While many see the influence and activities of Salafi jihadists as in decline after 2000 (at least in the United States),[11][12] others see the movement as growing in the wake of the Arab Spring and breakdown of state control in Libya and Syria.[13] (see also chart: "Number of Salafi-Jihadist Groups 1988–2013")

Gilles Kepel writes that the Salafis whom he encountered in Europe in the 1980s were "totally apolitical".[3][5] But by the mid-1990s he met some who felt jihad in the form of "violence and terrorism" was "justified to realize their political objectives". The combination of Salafi alienation from all things non-Muslim—including "mainstream European society"—and violent jihad created a "volatile mixture".[5] "When you're in the state of such alienation you become easy prey to the jihadi guys who will feed you more savory propaganda than the old propaganda of the Salafists who tell you to pray, fast and who are not taking action".[5]

According to Kepel, Salafist jihadism combined "respect for the sacred texts in their most literal form, ... with an absolute commitment to jihad, whose number-one target had to be America, perceived as the greatest enemy of the faith."[14]

Salafi jihadists distinguished themselves from salafis they term "sheikist", so named because—the jihadists believed—the "sheikists" had forsaken adoration of God for adoration of "the oil sheiks of the Arabian peninsula, with the Al Saud family at their head". Principal among the sheikist scholars was Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz -- "the archetypal court ulema [ulama al-balat]". These allegedly "false" salafi "had to be striven against and eliminated," but even more infuriating was the Muslim Brotherhood, who were believed by Salafi Jihadists to be excessively moderate and lacking in literal interpretation of holy texts.[14] Iyad El-Baghdadi describes Salafism as "deeply divided" into "mainstream (government-approved, or Islahi) Salafism", and Jihadi Salafism.[8]



“About 60 percent of rebel fighters in Syria hold an Islamist extremist ideology, a British think-tank has found. About a third of them hold the same ideology as the Islamic State. The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, an initiative of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, warns that's why wiping out the Islamic State would not end the threat to the West from jihadi groups. …. "The report, due to be published on Monday, says the greatest danger to the international community are groups who share the IS ideology but are currently being ignored - they number about 100,000 fighters. "Current Western efforts to define 'moderate' and 'extremist' rebels are bound to fail, because the groups themselves rarely make the distinction, the centre says. …. In concrete terms, what the think-tank is saying is that if the Islamic State is defeated there are "at least 65,000 fighters belonging to other Salafi-jihadi groups ready to take its place."


What I tend to call healthy, normal thinking patterns are under attack by these Salafi-jihadist groups of Islam and by the Fundamentalist Christian Dominionists here in the US. It’s really beginning to look like the Crusades. What will our world look like in 5 or 10 more years? I will keep going to my unabashedly rational Unitarian Universalist church, writing my blog and voting for the most liberal Democrats available, hoping that if there is a rising tide of violence it will pass us by.