This is anything but a slow news day — But I think that things are really starting to get a little crazy
"... Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..."
The Northeast is going to get belted by lots of snow and high winds and who knows what else; so what more needs to be said about that ? ( See any news or social medium in the NYC metropolitan area).“Our” naughty President caught chewing gum again
President Obama, who has been caught munching on gum during high-profile political events before, was taken to task by the India’s largest newspaper after the U.S. President was spotted taking a piece of gum out of his mouth during a formal appearance at India’s annual Republic Day parade ( See “ GUMMING UP THE WORKS: Obama blasted for chewing gum during visit with Indian prime minister” by Adam Edelman, 1/26/15, NY Daily News [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/obama-blasted-chewing-gum-visit-indian-pm-article-1.2092456]).The News coverage goes on like this: “Obama, currently in the country meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was spotted at India’s annual Republic Day parade, sitting among his fellow dignitaries, removing a piece of chewing gum from his mouth. *** The President, who has been known to chew Nicorette nicotine replacement gum, was blasted by Indian media for the act. *** ‘'In an ungainly sight, cameras caught U.S. President Barack Obama chewing gum during the Republic Day parade on Monday,’ The Times of India wrote. ‘In the picture captured by cameras and posted on Twitter by some users, Obama was spotted removing his chewing gum while PM Modi was seen trying to explain something to the U.S. President.’
Shocking ! Just, shocking !
Meanwhile back home, supposedly, some not so very “guided stuff” is landing on the White House lawn in the middle of the night
This from the New York Times: “WASHINGTON — The small drone that crashed into a tree on the South Lawn of the White House early Monday morning was operated by a government employee who has told the Secret Service that he did not mean to fly it over the White House fence and near the president’s residence, according to law enforcement officials. *** The employee — who does not work for the White House — has told the Secret Service that he was flying the drone for recreational purposes at about 3 a.m. in the area around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when he lost control of it. *** So far, the Secret Service said it believed the man’s account....” (See “Government Employee Flies Small Drone Over White House Fence” by Michael D. Shear & Michael S. Schmidt, 1/26/15, NY Times/ U.S. [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/us/white-house-drone.html]).For now, most news people and officials seem agree that the pre-dawn incident triggered a lockdown of the White House perimeter. Also obvious, is that this drone occurrence has pretty much revived concerns and inquiries about the security of the White House. Not only because, this is the second reported drone incident since last summer, but because of other recent breaches of White House security..
Other news outlets have indicated that the man who says it was his drone has been "been fully cooperative" (See “ [http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/01/26/obama-white-house-device-josh-earnest/22338781/]). Among other matters, that story went on to say, “The Secret Service said ‘an individual called the Secret Service this morning at approximately 9:30 a.m. to self-report that they had been in control of the quad copter device that crashed on the White House grounds early this morning’ *** Investigators believe the man was flying the drone — a 2-foot ‘quad copter,’ weighing only a few pounds — for recreational purposes, but may refer the matter to the U.S. Attorney's Office, said a government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the matter is still under investigation....”
Maybe it’s just me, but isn’t that all a bit too easy ?
8 comments:
UPDATE: THE “MORE HERE THAN MEETS THE EYE” EDITION
NY POST SAYS — DRONES POSE REAL THREAT TO WHITE HOUSE
LATEST WHITE HOUSE INCURSION BY “A 3:00 AM ACCIDENTAL RECREATIONAL DRONE” COULD HAVE BEEN A PRE-OPERATIONAL TEST OF SECURITY ACCORDING TO AN ANTI-TERRORISM EXPERT
THIS IS THE FOURTH DRONE KNOWN TO HAVE VIOLATED THE WHITE HOUSE “NO FLY” SECURITY ZONE IN SIX MONTHS
According to experts interviewed by the NY Post, “... Drones can carry payloads, weapons and bombs, and it’s a very, very difficult thing to control,” said Mike O’Neill, CEO of MSA security, who was also the first commanding officer of the NYPD’s counterterrorism division, from 2002 to 2007....” (See “Drones pose real threat to White House: experts” by Jamie Schram & Bob Fredericks [And Post Wires], 1/26/15, NY Post/ News [http://nypost.com/2015/01/26/drones-pose-real-threat-to-the-white-house-experts/]).
The Post report went on to note that even though the White House minimized the danger from this latest embarrassing security breach, insisting that the 2-foot-long “quadcopter” posed no threat, several Post experts disagreed. O’Neill and others said the danger can’t be ignored.
“In law enforcement and counter-terrorism, you always have to assume the worst.... Terrorists use their imaginations to plan their operations. It could be a test, a pre-operational test of security. You can’t ignore that risk.” O’Neill said. Another counterterrorism expert agreed, saying that anyone could learn to turn a commercially available drone into a deadly weapon.
To underscore the susceptibility of the White House to this new kind of threat, the Post noted that a 3-mile area around the White House is a permanent no-fly zone for all aircraft. However, in the past six months drones have violated that airspace on at least four occasions --- yesterday’s 3:00 AM accidental, recreational penetration of the White House grounds and three prior incidents.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: THE “NANNY STATE ON STEROIDS” EDITION
FIRST-TIME EVER ORDERS FOR A COMPLETE SHUTDOWN OF ALL TRAVEL IN SEVERAL MAJOR NORTH EASTERN CITIES AND METROPOLITAN AREAS IN ADVANCE OF MAJOR SNOW STORM
COMPLIANT PUBLIC STAYS MUM AS AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNORS IN NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, CONNECTICUT, RHODE ISLAND AND MASSACHUSETTS ORDER ROADS SHUT DOWN AND KEPT CLEAR — TRAVEL TERMINALS, MASS TRANSIT, AND OTHER MODES OF TRAVEL SHUTDOWN TOO
BUT IT’S OK — IT’S ALL FOR YOUR OWN GOOD !
According to a report in the NY Times, “Driving bans took effect across New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut at 11 p.m. on Monday, a suspension of subway and bus service began, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey closed Hudson River crossings as a snowstorm bore down on the region....” ( See “Weather Causes Road and Transit Bans as Snowstorm Barrels Into Northeast” by Marc Santora, 1/26/15, NY Times/ NY/ Region [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/nyregion/new-york-blizzard.html?_r=0]). Although this article mentioned many of the reasons for this complete ban on all non-emergency travel and virtual house arrest, there was no mention that something like this has never happened before.
Governor Cuomo even went so far as to say anybody ignoring the orders and being on the roads during the ban would be guilty of a crime. And locally in NYC it was even worse, according to the NY Observer, “[a]fter 11 p.m., it will become largely impossible to get around the city, at least if a resident wants to follow the law. There will be no public transit running in the city, and cars and taxis will not be allowed on the streets. Those trying to evade the driving ban may be arrested, Mr. de Blasio said this evening....” ( See “Gov. Andrew Cuomo Warns Commuters to Go Home, Subways to Shut Down Tonight” by Jillian Jorgensen. 1/26/15, NY Observer [http://observer.com/2015/01/gov-andrew-cuomo-warns-commuters-to-go-home-ahead-of-storm/]).
President Obama didn't go to Catholic school. That's why he chews gum in public and somewhat inappropriately. One only learns not to chew gum from the nuns.
Church Lady’s comment above gets twenty-seven Pinocchios. President Obama attended Catholic School in Jakarta from January 1968 to December 1970. The record of Santo Fransiskus Assisis shows that the person who would later become President “Barack Obama,” or his parents at the time on his behalf, claimed Indonesian citizenship, that his religion was Islam and that the last name he was using at the time was “Soetoro.” Interestingly, that school record also indicates that he was born in Honolulu.
President Obama went to Catholic school? I had no idea. I am corrected. And that tidbit certainly elevates his credibility. So maybe the gum chewing is quiet rebellion against the nuns and their rules.
UPDATE: THE “LIKE MY DAD ALWAYS SAID: NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS AFTER TWO IN THE MORNING” EDITION
DRUNK NATIONAL SECURITY INTELLIGENCE GUY SENDS HIS FRIEND’S DRONE INTO THE WHITE HOUSE “BY ACCIDENT”
YESTERDAY, DIDN’T I SAY THINGS WERE GETTING CRAZY
The New York Times tells it like this: “WASHINGTON — It was 42 degrees, lightly raining and pitch black near the White House when an inebriated, off-duty employee for a government intelligence agency decided it was a good time to test-fly his friend’s quadcopter drone that sells for hundreds of dollars and is popular among hobbyists. *** But officials say the plan was foiled, perhaps by the wind or a tree, when the employee — who is not being named by the Secret Service — lost control of the drone. He texted his friends, worried that the drone had gone down on the White House grounds.... ( See “White House Drone Crash Is Tied to Drinking by Intelligence Worker” by Michael S. Schmidt & Michael D. Shearjan, 1/27/15, NY Times
“http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/us/white-house-drone.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0]).
Among other things, the Times went on to say this: “It was not until the next morning, when he woke to his friends telling him that his drone was all over the news, that he contacted his employer, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and then called the Secret Service to confess.... The geospatial-intelligence agency, with headquarters near Springfield, Va., employs satellites to gather data for the military and other agencies by using imagery to detect human activity and to map out changes in physical features on the ground.... James R. Clapper Jr., the current Director of National Intelligence, became the head of the agency, then called the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, just days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks....”
Let me get this straight.... Wait a minute, I don’t even know where to begin with all the loose ends on this story.
UPDATE: THE “HALL MONITOR STATE” EDITION
COMMENTARY EDITOR JOHN PODHORETZ SAYS THAT ANDREW CUOMO PREMATURELY SHUT DOWN THE SUBWAYS AND HIGHWAYS BECAUSE HE IS IN A PANIC OVER HIS POLITICAL PROBLEMS COMING OUT OF THINGS LIKE THE PAST ELECTION AND THE SHELDON SILVER INDICTMENT
Yesterday John Podhoretz [Editor of Commentary Magazine, On the Board of The Weekly Standard and a Fox News Contributor] was complaining that Governor Andrew Cuomo was running a “Hall Monitor State," because he had closed the subways in NYC along with the highways in sixteen counties of New York State (See “‘Hall Monitor State’ Gov. Andrew Cuomo closes subway along with roads; ‘We are locked in’” by The Twitchy Staff, 1/26/15, Twitchy [http://twitchy.com/2015/01/26/hall-monitor-state-gov-chris-cuomo-closes-subway-along-with-roads-we-are-locked-in/]). Here are some of John Podhorestz’ Tweets, as seen on the site above:
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John Podhoretz @jpodhoretz 5:34 PM - 26 Jan 2015
The amazing thing is that there have been NYC subways for more than 100 yrs and only lately have govs decided to stop them running in storms
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John Podhoretz @jpodhoretz 5:35 PM - 26 Jan 2015
@BuzzFeedBen hey, I didn't vote for him
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John Podhoretz @jpodhoretz 5:56 PM - 26 Jan 2015
It is a misdemeanor to drive a car in New York state after 11 pm, says Andrew Cuomo. Because he writes law now.
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PODHORETZ SAYS THAT CUOMO IS IN A PANIC OVER POLITICS AND IT AFFECTED HIS DECISIONS ABOUT THE STORM
Tonight on the Kelly File, John Podhoretz went so far as to say that Governor Cuomo conducted himself the way that he did during N.E. Winter Storm Juno, because he wanted to show that he was still in charge. Podhoretz also said that the reason that Andrew Cuomo felt compelled to act was that he is in a “Panic,” because of the political atmosphere in the wake of the indictment of Sheldon Silver and other matters since his re-election last year ( See Kelly File [Podhoretz Segment], by Megyn Kelly, 1/27/15, Fox News).
UPDATE: THE “MORE THAN DRONING-ON ABOUT DRONES” EDITION
WALL STREET JOURNAL SAYS CRIMINAL AND TERRORIST USE OF DRONES ARE RAISING CONCERNS
FEDS WORRIED THAT DRONES COULD BE MODIFIED TO ATTACK MAJOR TARGETS WITH EXPLOSIVES OR CHEMICAL WEAPONS
According to the Wall Street Journal, “Drones are becoming a tool for criminals and terrorists, worrying authorities who say the small unmanned aircraft are difficult to detect and stop, a concern heightened this week by the accidental crash of a drone at the White House....” (See “Criminals, Terrorists Find Uses for Drones, Raising Concerns” by Jack Nicas, 1/28/15
WSJ [http://www.wsj.com/articles/criminals-terrorists-find-uses-for-drones-raising-concerns-1422494268]).
In another article, the WSJ article above was mentioned in coverage by Newsmax, which indicated criminals are using small drones popular with kids and hobbyists to smuggle drugs and other contraband across the border and even into prisons. However, Newsmax then pointed out that an even bigger concern is the one posed by terrorists – reporting that authorities in the U.S., Germany, Spain and Egypt have foiled at least six potential terrorist drone attacks since 2011, the newspaper said, noting that the alarm bells were raised in the wake of a drone crashing on the White House grounds this week (See “WSJ: Terror Attacks Using Drones Pose Huge Threat for US” by Drew MacKenzie, 1/29/15, Newsmax [http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/US-terrorists-drones-Secret-Service/2015/01/29/id/621447/]).
The news reports also said that federal intelligence officials are worried that drones could be modified to launch attacks on major targets with explosives or chemical weapons.
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