March 18, 2016


News Clips For The Day


1http://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-attacks-lead-fugitive-salah-abdeslam-new-raids-belgium/

Paris attack fugitive captured in Belgium terror raid
CBS/AP March 18, 2016, 12:42 PM


View Gallery -- A handout picture shows Belgian-born Salah Abdeslam on a call-for-witnesses notice released by French Police Nationale information services Nov. 15, 2015. POLICE NATIONALE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS
Play VIDEO -- Molenbeek: Terror recruiting ground
Armed Belgian police secure the area in this still image taken from video upon their arrival in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, March 18, 2016. VTM VIA REUTERS TV
View Gallery -- Armed Belgian police secure the area in this still image taken from video upon their arrival in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, March 18, 2016. VTM VIA REUTERS TV
Play VIDEO -- Belgian police search for mastermind of Paris terror attack


BRUSSELS -- The main fugitive from Islamic extremist attacks in Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, has been arrested in Belgium's capital after four months at large, Belgian officials said Friday.

He was arrested Friday in a major police operation in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek. The operation was ongoing, and explosions were heard in the area.

Belgian public television reports that Abdeslam has been taken to a hospital under a massive security presence.

The Reuters news agency reports that Theo Francken, the Belgian secretary of state for asylum and migration, said "We got him" on Twitter.

In Washington, President Obama was briefed on the arrest by his homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, Lisa Monaco, a White House official told CBS News. Later, a tweet from Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Mr. Obama called to congratulate him.

Abdeslam, 26, was among the attackers who killed 130 people at a rock concert, the national stadium and cafes on Nov. 13 in Paris.

The deputy mayor of Molenbeek, Ahmed El Khannouss, said he's received confirmation from the Belgian federal prosecutor's office that Abdeslam has been shot in the leg and detained.

El Khannouss said police are still searching for one person who is holed up in a house.

During Friday's police operation, a man was seen fleeing from a building, Belgian TV station RTL reported. Police fired at the man, who fell to the ground.

The whereabouts of two Paris attack suspects remains unknown, including fellow Molenbeek resident Mohamed Abrini and a man known under the alias of Soufiane Kayal.

Friday's caputure [sic] of Abdeslam comes after Belgian authorities say they found his fingerprints in an apartment raided earlier this week in another Brussels neighborhood.

In that raid, a man believed to have been an accomplice of Abdeslam - Mohamed Belkaid - was shot dead, Belgian prosecutors say. But two men escaped from the apartment, one of whom appears to have been Abdeslam.

Federal prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt said it was possible Abdeslam had spent "days, weeks or months," in the apartment.

Abdeslam fled Paris after the Nov. 13 attacks. Most of the Paris attackers died that night, including Abdeslam's brother Brahim, who blew himself up. Brahim Abdeslam was buried in the area Thursday.

Brussels-born Abdeslam, a childhood friend of suspected ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, is believed to have driven a group of gunmen who took part.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria claimed responsibility for the attacks, in which Belgian nationals played key roles.

On Tuesday, a joint team of Belgian and French police showed up to search a residence in the Forest area of Brussels in connection with the Paris investigation, and were unexpectedly fired upon by at least two people inside. Four officers were slightly wounded.

An occupant of the residence was shot dead by a police sniper as he prepared to open fire on police from a window. Police identified him as Belkaid, 35, an Algerian national living illegally in Belgium.

A Kalashnikov assault rifle was found by his body, as well as a book on Salafism, an ultraconservative strain of Islam. Elsewhere in the apartment, police found an ISIS banner as well as 11 Kalashnikov loaders and a large quantity of ammunition, the prosecutor said.

Belgian authorities initially said Belkaid had no known background in radical Islamic activities. But Friday afternoon, prosecutors issued a statement saying he was "most probably" an accomplice of Abdeslam who had been using a fake Belgian ID card in the name of Samir Bouzid.

A man using that ID card was one of the two men seen with Abdeslam in a rental car on the Hungarian-Austrian border in September.

Four days after the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, the same false ID card was used to transfer 750 euros ($847) to Hasna Ait Boulahcen, Abaaoud's niece. Both Ait Boulahcen and Abaaoud died afterward in a police siege.

Abdeslam slipped through a police dragnet to return to Brussels after the bloodbath in Paris, and though the target of an international manhunt, has not been found since.

In January, Belgian authorities said one of his fingerprints was found alongside homemade suicide bomb belts at an apartment in another area of Brussels. Belgian prosecutors said it wasn't known whether he had been at the address in the Schaerbeek district before or after the Paris attacks, or how long he had spent there.



“The main fugitive from Islamic extremist attacks in Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, has been arrested in Belgium's capital after four months at large, Belgian officials said Friday. He was arrested Friday in a major police operation in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek. The operation was ongoing, and explosions were heard in the area. Belgian public television reports that Abdeslam has been taken to a hospital under a massive security presence. …. In Washington, President Obama was briefed on the arrest by his homeland security and counterterrorism adviser, Lisa Monaco, a White House official told CBS News. Later, a tweet from Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said Mr. Obama called to congratulate him. …. El Khannouss said police are still searching for one person who is holed up in a house. During Friday's police operation, a man was seen fleeing from a building, Belgian TV station RTL reported. Police fired at the man, who fell to the ground. The whereabouts of two Paris attack suspects remains unknown, including fellow Molenbeek resident Mohamed Abrini and a man known under the alias of Soufiane Kayal. …. An occupant of the residence was shot dead by a police sniper as he prepared to open fire on police from a window. Police identified him as Belkaid, 35, an Algerian national living illegally in Belgium. A Kalashnikov assault rifle was found by his body, as well as a book on Salafism, an ultraconservative strain of Islam. …. Abdeslam slipped through a police dragnet to return to Brussels after the bloodbath in Paris, and though the target of an international manhunt, has not been found since. In January, Belgian authorities said one of his fingerprints was found alongside homemade suicide bomb belts at an apartment in another area of Brussels.”


The European authorities are doing a thorough job of investigation, so I feel sure they haven’t picked up the wrong people. They also managed to take the man alive so that he can be questioned. That’s very good. There does seem to be a definite chain linking the various attackers including those who have only helped the cause by making homemade bombs, etc. This kind of police action is responsible and very effective in that it is picking up lots of connections in the terroristic efforts. The presence of ISIS banners, etc. is proof of the organization’s contact, but all these players are born in or residents of European nations. Belgium has been in the news several times since the assaults began. I wonder if the center of the conspiracy is based there. To find the terrorist who is the mastermind needs to be done, and to determine the central control area – Europe or Syria/Iraq? I will look for follow up stories in the future.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bail-revoked-for-prep-school-grad-owen-labrie-whos-taken-into-custody/

Bail revoked for prep school grad, who's taken into custody
By CRIMESIDER STAFF AP
March 18, 2016, 3:31 PM


CONCORD, N.H. -- A graduate of a New England prep school who was convicted of sexually assaulting a younger student was taken into custody Friday after acknowledging that he violated conditions of his bail agreement by missing curfew.

A judge in Merrimack County Superior Court said Owen Labrie would begin his one-year jail sentence immediately.

Labrie had been living with his mother in Tunbridge, Vermont, as he appealed his sentence and the requirement that he register as a sex offender. He was supposed to be home between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. each night, but a prosecutor said he violated it at least eight times.

In court papers, prosecutor Catherine Ruffle said that on or about Feb. 29, a journalist spoke with the 20-year-old Labrie on a train in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That prompted an investigation into Labrie's travels.

In court Friday, a lawyer for the 20-year-old Labrie acknowledged that his client "tried, admittedly, to fly under the radar on three occasions." He said Labrie was sorry.

Labrie was arrested in 2014 days after graduating from St. Paul's School, an elite prep school in Concord.

Labrie was 18 at the time of the encounter in a near-deserted building on the St. Paul's campus. Prosecutors linked the assault to a competition at St. Paul's known as the "Senior Salute" in which seniors seek to have sex with underclassmen.

A jury in August convicted Labrie of misdemeanor sex assault charges and a felony charge of using a computer to lure an underage student for sex. The computer charge, a felony, carries the mandate to register as a sex offender for life.



“Labrie had been living with his mother in Tunbridge, Vermont, as he appealed his sentence and the requirement that he register as a sex offender. He was supposed to be home between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. each night, but a prosecutor said he violated it at least eight times. In court papers, prosecutor Catherine Ruffle said that on or about Feb. 29, a journalist spoke with the 20-year-old Labrie on a train in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That prompted an investigation into Labrie's travels. …. A jury in August convicted Labrie of misdemeanor sex assault charges and a felony charge of using a computer to lure an underage student for sex. The computer charge, a felony, carries the mandate to register as a sex offender for life.”


People from “elite” environments apparently have more leeway on how they serve their time. While appealing his sentence, he is living with his mother whose supervision it seems is not good enough to keep him from wandering at will. The tiny little one-year sentence seems to be for violating his bail agreement. What did he get for sexually assaulting a much younger girl because it was his right as a senior?




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/elections-2016-florida-voters-anti-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-focus-group/

Florida voters "fed up" with Trump and Clinton speak out
CBS NEWS
March 18, 2016, 7:05 AM


Voters in the key swing state of Florida are sharing their frustration about their options in the 2016 presidential race. A focus group comprised of Republican and Democratic voters who oppose both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump offered a revealing look at the anger toward the front-runners in both parties.

Clinton and Trump share the distinction of being among the least-liked candidates.

"I would rather not vote than vote for either one of these candidates," one woman told CBS News contributor and Republican strategist Frank Luntz, who led the group at the Orlando Public Library. "And it pains me to say that, because I feel it's my right as a member of this democratic society to be able to vote. But given those two candidates, I can't vote for either one of them."

"Why none of the above?" Luntz asked.

"I just think that none of the-- either party doesn't deserve my vote. They're not giving me what I feel we need as a country," another woman explained. "So why give the support to someone who's not gonna do what I need them to do for me and my family?"

"I don't believe Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton really care about the American people. I don't trust either of them. I don't think they are presidential," one man said.

"Who's mad as hell?" Luntz asked the focus group. Multiple people responded affirmatively.

"But I'm mad at the voters," a woman said. "I'm not mad at the candidates. People are voting for them. And I'm angry for people that settle for sound bites for their information."

Others in the group agreed.

The group responded favorably to one particular "Outsourcer" ad about Trump that pointed out Donald J. Trump Collection ties were made in China.

"Who thought that out-sourcing ad was really powerful and credible? Tell me why," Luntz said.

"I just feel like he always talks about making America great again, and bringing back business here. But it's-- he's being hypocritical," a woman said.

"That Donald Trump is doing, he's doing something that this country's never seen before. He's bringing out voters to the polls to -- that have never voted in the decade," one man said.

The woman sitting behind him disagreed.

"If he were bringing' out all the voters to vote for him, he'd be doing a lot better than he is. There's just as many coming out to vote against him as there are voting for him," she said, as the group responded affirmatively.

"The only way I wanna see Donald Trump in the White House is on a guided tour. The only way I wanna see Hillary Clinton in the White House ... is if her prison's on a guided tour," one man said.

"The thing about Hillary Clinton is that all of her flaws are verifiable and provable. Because we see one scandal after another that followed her husband and now it's following her, between Benghazi, and also The Clinton Foundation, the money that's coming in, the email scandal. It's all there," one man pointed out.

"You talked about Benghazi being important to you. And you don't feel that she's been candid about what happened. There's one ad that's been run against her that was particularly effective with you all," Luntz said, showing the ad below.

"As an Army person, somebody that's served in combat, you sit there, and I can relate to what those guys were goin' through on the ground. And you always realize your country had your back. And I feel like we abandoned those guys. And I can't imagine what was goin' through their minds," a man said.

"But you blame her, not the president?" Luntz asked.

"I blame both of 'em," he said. "They both knew what was goin' on. And she did not give them adequate security. ... And you cannot tell me, having been a commissioned Army officer and a planner, that we could not have gotten support to them."

"Then vote for Trump," Luntz said.

"No, because I don't believe anything that man says. His word is as good as that degree from Trump University," the man responded.

They said they don't trust Clinton or Trump.

"There is a great opportunity for someone. And that person had better come forward fast, because if the Republicans put Donald Trump up, and if the Democrats put Hillary Clinton, it will be the worst turnout election ever," a woman said.

"I have been voting straight Republican for over 30 years. And at this point in time, I need to be able to look my grandson in the eye and tell him that I voted with principle -- or I supported a candidate of principle," another woman said. "And right now, we don't have one."

"Amen," a participant responded.

"I cannot support the Republican Party as it currently exists. It's time. I'm fed up. It's time," a man said. "You wanna do something about it? It's truly time to start a third party. This election is gone. I will not vote for Hillary, I will not vote for Trump."



“A focus group comprised of Republican and Democratic voters who oppose both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump offered a revealing look at the anger toward the front-runners in both parties. Clinton and Trump share the distinction of being among the least-liked candidates. "I would rather not vote than vote for either one of these candidates," one woman told CBS News contributor and Republican strategist Frank Luntz, who led the group at the Orlando Public Library. …. "There is a great opportunity for someone. And that person had better come forward fast, because if the Republicans put Donald Trump up, and if the Democrats put Hillary Clinton, it will be the worst turnout election ever," a woman said. …. "I cannot support the Republican Party as it currently exists. It's time. I'm fed up. It's time," a man said. "You wanna do something about it? It's truly time to start a third party. This election is gone. I will not vote for Hillary, I will not vote for Trump."


A third party would be very interesting, actually, but four might be better, because the Dems who don’t like Hillary are surely not going to vote for Trump, and if a left and a center Dems party were to emerge with Danders at the top of the Left party, I would be happy. Sanders does NOT want to set up federal control of industry or any of those 1930s Communist things to do. He believes in the Democratic system fully. He just wants the wealthy to be less wealthy so the poor don’t have to be so very poor!

The centrist Republicans, likewise don’t like the Tea Party crowd in many cases – and Trump leans in the Tea Party direction. He does seem to be more of an Independent, however, to me. I think he’s just not a party man at all. He’s a ME FIRST kind of guy. As for Hillary being untrustworthy, that’s one of warts on her nose to me. I think in her economic philosophy she isn’t what I want, but I think on social issues of helping the poor, fair voting practices, women’s issues, she’s good, so I will be able to “hold my nose” and vote for her. No, that’s unfair. It’s just been so long since a “real Democrat” was running that I’d given up hope, and then along came Bernie. I’m suffering from disappointment, but not surprise. I know what the American people are like.



http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/03/17/470809148/automatic-braking-systems-to-become-standard-on-most-u-s-vehicles

Automatic Braking Systems To Become Standard On Most U.S. Vehicles
BILL CHAPPELL
Updated March 17, 201611:31 AM ET
Published March 17, 201611:17 AM ET


Some 20 carmakers have committed to making automatic emergency braking systems a standard feature on virtually all new cars sold in the U.S. by 2022, according to a new plan from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Automatic brakes are designed to stop a vehicle before it collides with a car or another object. Experts say that making them standard could prevent as much as 20 percent of accidents.

NPR's Sonari Glinton reports for our Newscast unit:

"Many cars on the road now have automated brakes. And when you're new to them, it's pretty scary when the car stops on its own. But experts say automatic brakes could make the fender bender a thing of the past.
...
"It's part of a push to fight the growing problem of driver distraction and a step closer to driverless cars. Now carmakers have to figure out by 2022 how they'll integrate the systems."

NHTSA released a list of the car companies that have committed to the system:

"Audi, BMW, FCA US LLC, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Tesla Motors Inc., Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo."

"In 2012, one-third of all police-reported crashes involved a rear-end collision with another vehicle as the first harmful event in the crash," according to the government's information page on Automatic Emergency Braking systems. It adds that AEB systems can either avoid or reduce the severity of some of those rear-end crashes.

In a statement about the plan, NHTSA says the "unprecedented commitment" from the automakers will bring the safety technology to "more consumers more quickly than would be possible through the regulatory process."



"Many cars on the road now have automated brakes. And when you're new to them, it's pretty scary when the car stops on its own. But experts say automatic brakes could make the fender bender a thing of the past. "It's part of a push to fight the growing problem of driver distraction and a step closer to driverless cars. Now carmakers have to figure out by 2022 how they'll integrate the systems." NHTSA released a list of the car companies that have committed to the system: "Audi, BMW, FCA US LLC, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Tesla Motors Inc., Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo."


Automatic cars and brakes, etc. are shocking to me because I absolutely don’t trust them. It does remind me, however, of years ago when I read a wonderful futuristic book by Walter Miller, Jr. called “A Canticle For Leibowitz,” which was written in 1960 about a post nuclear holocaust desert setting, in which almost every bit of technology, government, scientific knowledge, public literacy, etc. had been obliterated from the American scene except in one place -- a Catholic monastery where a humble monk named Leibowitz was one of a group called “bookleggers.” The story is completely enthralling much like the Hobbit stories, so read it for yourself. You will laugh, cry and above all, think!

“But I digress …” In that book one of the futuristic devices was the highly developed automated car just about like what auto makers are working on today, except that if you wanted a ride you held a kind of cane out toward the vehicle and it would pull over to the side and let you in. That was set a couple of thousand years in the future from Leibowitz’s time which was not much later than the 2000s, i.e. today, but then we haven't had a total societal breakdown -- yet. Technology has indeed moved so fast in my lifetime alone that I can barely grasp it. I hope it doesn’t become the only thing that our people care about. I also hope we don’t have an actual nuclear holocaust, but like most kids from the 1940s, I live with that fear in the back of my mind. I was conscious of what the mushroom cloud looked like before I went to school. I do sometimes wish I could have been born in 1830 or so in a New England Quaker village, whose only excitement is the occasional black family hiding in the barn.


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

A Canticle for Leibowitz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller, Jr., first published in 1960. Set in a Catholic monastery in the desert of the Southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war, the story spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds itself. The monks of the fictional Albertian Order of Leibowitz take up the mission of preserving the surviving remnants of man's scientific knowledge until the day the outside world is again ready for it.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is based on three short stories Miller contributed to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.[1][2] It is the only novel published by the author during his lifetime. Considered one of the classics of science fiction, it has never been out of print and has seen over 25 reprints and editions. Appealing to mainstream and genre critics and readers alike, it won the 1961 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel.

Inspired by the author's participation in the Allied bombing of the monastery at Monte Cassino during World War II, the novel is considered a masterpiece by literary critics. It has been compared favorably with the works of Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, and Walker Percy, and its themes of religion, recurrence, and church versus state have generated a significant body of scholarly research. Miller's follow-up work, Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman, was published posthumously in 1997.



I HAD ERRANDS TO DO TODAY, SO I DIDN’T GET TO ALL THE STORIES. I’LL HAVE ANOTHER GO AT IT TOMORROW.