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25 Aug 2010 10:39

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World: Iraq hit by a huge spate of violence in wake of U.S. troops leaving

  • 45+ people killed in bombings that shook seven Iraqi cities source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 May 2010 20:01

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U.S.: Pssh, tourist. Times Square suspect has been to Times Square before

Faisal Shahzad went with his family and a bunch of other blurry people. In other news, his tie to the Taliban is becoming a little more plausible. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 May 2010 22:21

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U.S.: Data dump: Vital statistics on Times Square suspect Faisal Shahzad

  • Is Faisal Shahzad a weird amalgamation of terrorism and the financial crisis? The Times Square suspect, who admitted to being a lone wolf today (whether or not you believe that is another question), was a financial analyst who lost his job during the financial crisis. He was also Pakistani-born and had a family who was forced to move back to the country after they lost their home. In the midst of that drama, he somehow became radicalized. Here’s some info on the dude you probably didn’t know.
  • 04/17/09 he became a U.S. citizen
  • two number of kids he has; his family (including his wife) now live in Pakistan
  • 11 number of years he had been floating between the U.S. and Pakistan
  • $273k original value of the
    home     his family lost to
    foreclosure last year
  • » His education: Shahzad, like many immigrants, first came to the U.S. on a student visa in 1998, and followed it through with a computer science degree from the University of Bridgeport in 2000 and, later, an MBA in 2005.
  • » His career: From 2006 until June of last year, he was working as a financial analyst for the Affinion Group, which has a shady business history, according to Wikipedia. It’s not clear whether he quit or was fired. Neighbors claimed that he worked on Wall Street.
  • » His financial state: He owed too much money on his Shelton, Conn. house, so he told the broker to let the bank take it, and told him he was moving back to Pakistan. He had been living in his new apartment in Bridgeport for just a couple of months. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 May 2010 10:35

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U.S.: Times Square incident: Faisal Shahzad says he acted alone

“OK, this is where that car bomber dude lives. Scan the place for munitions, stat!” Shahzad was caught thanks to a traced cell phone call. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 May 2010 10:21

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Politics: Times Square incident: Sunday talk shows rife with speculation?

  • When they say it’s certainly a one-off, it’s an appropriate question to say, ‘How do you know that; was this based on real briefings?’ To me, the most basic question in journalism is, ‘How do you know that?’ They won’t always tell you, but you can gauge a lot by their response.
  • Columbia University graduate journalism Professor John Dinges • Regarding the seemingly knowledgeable responses of leaders on the Sunday talk shows about an incident that happened just the night before. Many of them – including New York Sen. Charles Schumer and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano – spoke of the incident as if they had the evidence to say it was a lone wolf incident, at a point when investigators were still working. While each claimed later that they had been briefed about the incident beforehand by authorities, it still raised a lot of questions, especially since the investigation was just beginning. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 May 2010 00:49

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U.S.: Early details on Shahzad Faisal, Times Square bombing suspect

  • one Faisal is an American citizen of Pakistani descent. He’s one of two suspects being looked at.
  • two He was arrested while trying to leave the country. He was at JFK Airport when he was caught. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 May 2010 00:39

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U.S.: Shahzad Faisal the suspected Times Square car bomber. Twitter reacts



Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 May 2010 19:23

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Politics: Does the TSA need to take some style tips from New York City?

  • So far we have seen a New York-style rather than a Washington-style response to the threat. And while New York is the least ‘American’ of U.S. cities, its emotional and social response is just what America’s should be.
  • “The Atlantic” writer James Fallows • Discussing how New York’s response to the Times Square car bombing attempt is so unlike that of the Transportation Security Administration’s response to any problem. Essentially, Fallows argues that it doesn’t put people in constant fear that something’s going to happen, but emphasizes resiliency. (Note how quickly Times Square re-opened after the incident.) Regarding the TSA’s methods, Fallows explains: “It’s not just that they’re pointless, uninformative, and insulting to our collective intelligence; it’s that their larger effect is to make people feel frightened rather than brave.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 May 2010 09:37

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U.S.: So, what’d we miss? *opens browser* Holy crap, Times Square!

  • The guy taking off his shirt in this video is a person of interest in the Times Square car bombing attempt, which managed to clear out one of the most human-saturated areas of the world on Saturday night. The SUV included three propane tanks, a large gun locker, a pressure-cooker-type device with a bunch of wires and some M-88 firecrackers in it, and a bunch of fertilizer that’s incapable of causing explosions. A T-shirt vendor noticed smoke was coming out of it. He stopped a pretty terrible situation. In other words, someone wanted to punish ShortFormBlog for taking a weekend off by nearly blowing up Times Square. Thanks. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Jan 2010 11:32

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World: Pakistan terror: A volleyball match ruined by a car bomb

  • 30+ were killed by a car bomb that hit a volleyball game
  • 200+ people were watching the game when the attack hit
  • 52+ were wounded in the attack on a former terrorist hub source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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