A man who planted a Mason jar filled with explosive chemicals and nails at a western North Carolina airport last week vowed to “fight a war on U.S. soil,” according to court documents released Tuesday. The criminal complaint accuses Michael Christopher Estes of attempted malicious use of explosive materials and unlawful possession of explosives at an airport.
According to CBS News, thecomplaint, which was written by an FBI agent, said investigators found the improvised explosive device Friday morning at the Asheville airport near a terminal entrance. Asheville police bomb technicians then rendered it safe.
Person of interest identified & detained. Federal investigation ongoing. https://t.co/K7QjOrbH0G
Court documents say that the authorities found the improvised explosive device around 7 a.m. Friday at Asheville Regional Airport. The IED contained ammonium nitrate and Sterno fuel, along with steel wool that was then wrapped around nails and a .410 gauge Winchester shotgun cartridge. An alarm clock was taped to the outside of the jar with and matches were attached to the arm that strikes the bells of the alarm clock. The alarm had been set for Friday at 6, according to the complaint.
Surveillance video showed Estes dressed in black pants, a jacket, and black hat approaching the terminal entrance shortly after 12:30 a.m. Friday and appearing to leave behind a bag, the FBI agent wrote. In nearby woods, investigators later found a backpack and a toolkit containing similar items to what was used in the explosive device: tape, Sterno fuel, and more shotgun shells. Investigators determined such items had been purchased at nearby stores earlier in the week, providing more surveillance video.
Estes was arrested Saturday, and the complaint says he admitted to leaving the explosive device at the airport. The complaint also states that Estes “claimed he was getting ready to ‘fight a war on U.S. soil,"” but didn’t elaborate on this alleged motive. He was being held at the Buncombe County jail without bond after a brief court hearing Tuesday. Jail records list him as a 46-year-old Native American.
The complaint said Estes waived his Miranda rights, answering questions and admitting to the building and planting of the device. “Estes described how he created the device … and then rigged the alarm clock to strike the matches and cause the flame necessary to trigger the device,” the complaint states. “More specifically, the alarm clock would go off, the matches would strike, the Sterno would heat up, and then the Ammonium Nitrate would explode.”
Estes claims he never actually set the device to go off, but the criminal complaint alleges that he had.
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Author: Mac Slavo Views: Read by 1 people Date: October 12th, 2017 Website:www.SHTFplan.com
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Airport computer systems crashed around the globe yesterday. The crash caused passenger delays, angst, and fright among travelers, but a more ominous question has arisen in light of this glitch. Could the next failure be a worldwide power grid outage?
The glitch affected even massive airports, such London’s Heathrow International Airport, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, and Ronald Reagan International Airport in Washington, D.C. “Technical teams are working on the problem, services are gradually being restored,” the software company said. After a few hours, officials at Gatwick and Heathrow airports said their systems were “back up and running” after the “momentary IT glitch,” adding there may be a delay due to the outage.
A statement on the glitch read, “A small number of airlines are currently experiencing intermittent issues with their check-in systems at airports around the world — including at Heathrow.”
It continued, “Passengers will still be able to check-in for their flight, although the process may take slightly longer than usual.”
Passengers took to social media to complain about the crash.
According to Fox News, it is still unclear when all the systems will be back up and running, but it begs the question: what if a power grid failure is next?
It isn’t like it’s never happened, but it may only be a matter of time before it occurs on a massive scale.
In December of 2015, 230,000 people in Western Ukraine lost power after 30 substations were mysteriously shut off. Contrary to what most people assumed at the time, this wasn’t an innocuous power outage. The authorities would later admit that the loss of power was caused by a cyber attack, which marked the first time that malware was successfully used to attack a power grid. A similar, albeit more sophisticated cyber attack, occurred one year later just outside of Kiev. Given the current tensions between Russia and Ukraine, it’s widely believed that the Russian government was responsible for these incidents.
However, there’s more to this story than meets the eye. A computer security company has been investigating these attacks, and has discovered the malware that was used to take down the grid. They’ve found that it’s far more dangerous and easier to use than anyone realized before. –Ready Nutrition
It may not necessarily be malicious malware that takes down the grid either. Even solar flares can cause some incredibly intense issues.
If such an event were to happen Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, who has advised people to develop individual preparedness plans based on the threat of massive solar flares or electro-magnetic pulse detonations, says that it would take upwards of 18 months to bring the grid back online because of a decaying national infrastructure. –SHTFPlan
With the crash of the airport system affecting people worldwide, imagine how much chaos would ensue should the power grid go down over most of earth.
Less than two hours after the United States defense secretary James Mattis landed in Kabul, about forty rockets and rocket-propelled grenades were fired at the airport. Mattis was not injured.
This is Mattis’ first trip to Afghanistan since President Donald Trump announced a new strategy for Afghanistan, recommitting to the country and declaring during a prime-time address back in August that U.S. troops must “fight to win.” According to Fox News, the new strategy for the 16-year-old war includes sending roughly 3,500 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to join the 11,000 on the ground. Sixteen years after the 9/11 attacks, Kabul is still being attacked by the Taliban. On Tuesday in Washington, General Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it’s time to demand that Pakistan stop giving sanctuary to the Taliban.
The Defense Secretary had already left the airport to meet with Afghanistan’s President Ghani when the attack occurred. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack and one unconfirmed report had alleged that there was an injury. CNN reported that Mattis was the target of the attack, but wasn’t injured.
Mattis arrived in Kabul just after 11 p.m. ET (7:30 a.m. in Kabul) after spending Tuesday in India. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was also on the flight. Mattis spoke about the attack at a news conference in Kabul, alongside Afghanistan’s president. “If in fact there was an attack on an international airport anywhere in the world, if it’s an attack by a terrorist it’s designed to go after innocent people,” Mattis said. “And this is a classic definition of what the Taliban is up to now. We will suffocate any hope that Al-Qaida or ISIS or the Taliban have of winning by killing. I want to reinforce to the Taliban that the only path to peace and political legitimacy to them is through a negotiated settlement,” Mattis added.
The director of the Kabul airport said all flights have been halted as result of the mortar attack at the airport for the time being.
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Author: Mac Slavo Views: Read by 1 people Date: September 27th, 2017 Website:www.SHTFplan.com
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Amid the bombed-out ruins of Mosul University, U.S. officials say they have uncovered evidence that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was developing a new type of bomb that could pass through an airport scanner undetected.
CBS News joined Iraqi Special Forces in Mosul just days after the hard-fought battle to recapture the University in January. It’s long been believed that Mosul University was the center of the militants’ bomb-making projects, using the school’s equipment and labs.
Now, U.S. officials believe that research includes a new generation of more powerful explosives that could be concealed in a computer.
When ISIS overran Mosul in 2014, they also captured the city’s international airport. And with it, all the modern security scanner and screening equipment necessary to test their new bombs.
Professional Pilots Discussion
The Professional Pilots Rumor Network, PPRuNE Website, has a discussion on undetectable bombs.
Dubaian: What’s to stop ISIS putting this clever new ‘undetectable’ stuff in pretty well anything a PAX might take on board. And it’d be easier than replumbing a laptop.
Peekay4: A working explosive is composed of several elements. These elements can be disguised within a laptop, large tablet, etc. Put them into a box of chocolates or a can of Pringles, they would be very easy to detect.
EDLB: What can they detect in checked luggage but not in a carry-on?
Peekay4: Not going into specifics but part of the reason for requiring them in checked luggage is not only for detection but also isolation (containment).
Lomapaseo: Containment from what? If they go boom as baggage the damage is variable as hell based on location. If they go boom in the cabin the damage is predictable based on seat location and/or overhead storage which is specific by PNR (boarding pass). And then there is the fire hazard from a typical LI cheap battery in passenger luggage. In the overhead or cabin, it’s specific in location and ability to assess and contain.
Infrequentflyer789: If they go boom in the cabin the damage is predictable based on exactly where the attacker decides to set it off, which is nothing to do with a boarding pass. A small boom set by a clever attacker in the right place is going to be as big a threat as a large boom placed randomly, and that’s before we get onto stuff like shaped charges and really clever placement.
Edmundronald: This will make Chromebooks and other net-connected empty-shell computers the tool of choice for biz travelers. Rent one or buy a cheap one as soon as you touch down.
RTD1: Rather, this will result in a massive push towards video conferencing/telepresence in lieu of business travel. I’ve been a management/technology consultant flying weekly for 20 years now, and if this ban were extended to all domestic and international flights, I’d likely either find an alternative to in-person meetings or switch careers if it were not feasible. I haven’t checked a bag (save for gate checking carry-ons on puddle jumpers) in years. I keep my timelines from landing to meeting starts pretty tight, and I count on flying time for working. I’m not unique, such a rule would be devastating for business travel.
Pax Britanica: There is always an element of business travel that is not really necessary but its hard line to draw between beneficial and essential. There are also events like conferences where most of the attendees don’t’ actually attend but meet with peers from other companies and do business just because a lot of people from one industry are in the same place. Ie the conference itself isn’t really ‘necessary’ but it’s a good opportunity to meet clients and suppliers without doing separate trips. Video links are usually fine for inside the company work and some external stuff but many cultures like the physical presence bit.
Mickjoebill: What about camera crews and photographers who carry kilos of lumpy electronic gear onboard? It is trivial to provide enough power to activate a camera to make the battery appear unadulterated when the cells have been repacked with something deadly.Unless every item is sniffed, a laptop ban seems half arsed.
ISIS Knows What We Know About Them
The preceding comment by Mickjoebill gets to the heart of the matter. And that was the point of my satirical suggestion on a Surefire Way to Stop Bombs on Planes.
ISIS knows, that we know, that they had been working on laptops. As a result, ISIS will likely shift to an electronic toy or camera equipment (as I suggested in my post).
FAA Traffic by the Numbers
In 2105, the FAA Traffic by Numbers website shows some interesting air traffic statistics.
There were 8,727,691 commercial flights in 2015.
There are 7,000 planes in the sky at any given time.
There are 23,911 flights a day
Convenience vs Safety
Does it make sense to ban all laptops on all flights as they are discussing now?
Banning laptops alone is insufficient. It is impossible to eliminate all airplane risk without banning all flights.
Reader Maxx offered this pertinent thought:
At some point to unravel a knot, you have to start pulling on the other end of the string. Technology chasing technology only goes so far.
For all the time spent harassing a new mom about baby formula, we could be using those hours to interview a 20-year-old “quiet” male with no real friends and an extensive Facebook trail to a Pakistani ISP.
When are people going to wake up and realize politically correct bull&h!t is FATAL. This is costing our economy enormously.
British Airways canceled all flights from London"s Heathrow and Getwick airports scheduled before 6 pm, after a global computer system outage caused massive delays and left planes stuck on runways. Earlier on Saturday, there were reports of BA staff telling disgruntled passengers trying to get away for the Bank Holiday weekend that the company was under cyber attack but this was denied by the airline.
#Breaking British Airways apologises to customers who are facing delays "following an IT outage"
The airline said terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick had become extremely congested because of the IT failure and all BA flights scheduled before 1700 GMT had been canceled. he airline also advised passengers against coming to the airports as it would not be able to help them.
"Please do not come to the airports. We have experienced a major IT system failure that is causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwide," the airline said in a statement. "We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience this is causing our customers and we are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible."
We apologise for the current IT systems outage. We are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
Passengers who were already at the airports were angry with the resulting chaos:
"Still on the tarmac at Leeds. #britishairways reckon Heathrow is so backed up we can"t set off. No way we"ll make our Vegas flight," one passenger David Raine wrote on Twitter.
Another, journalist Martyn Kent, wrote: "Sat on plane at Heathrow for hour and a half now. @British_Airways Captain describes IT problem as "catastrophic"."
Passenger Roshni Burt, who was flying from Heathrow to Bahrain with her young son, said there was no news about when her flight would depart.
"When we left the check-in area there were angry people, people getting frustrated that their flights were coming up or near to departure, people getting turned away ... with BA staff basically saying "if you"ve not checked in online, you"ve missed your flight"," she told Sky News.
The official Twitter account of Heathrow Airport, the busiest airport in Europe, confirmed the IT failure abd said it was working with BA.
We"re working with @British_Airways following an issue with their IT system this morning that has caused some delays for passengers. 1/2
— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) May 27, 2017
Following initial reports that the ground halt was the result of a computer hacks, British Airways refuted media claims that the outage had been caused by a cyber attack, saying that there was no evidence to support that.
The problems, which passengers said were had affected flights across Britain, came on a particularly busy weekend with a public holiday on Monday and many children starting their school half-term breaks.
BA became the latest airline to be hit by computer problems. Last month Lufthansa and Air France suffered a global system outage which prevented them from boarding passengers. Passengers trying to catch planes in Britain on Saturday reported long delays at check-in desks and flights being held on runways.
The TSA — one of America’s most corrupt and incompetent agencies whose ostensible job is fighting terrorism — is apparently so unsatisfied with the mere ability to strip search babies, remove colostomy bags, beat up blind cancer patients, and fondle your genitalia, that they announced a more invasive physical pat-down earlier this month. The pat-downs, which TSA warned would probably prompt assault complaints with the police department because of their invasive nature, are now apparently being implemented. And a new video uploaded to Facebook this week shows their horrifying implementation.
Jennifer Williamson and her son Aaron were traveling through the DFW airport this weekend when they were targeted by power-tripping TSA agents and police. Apparently, Williamson’s young son, who has Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), was deemed a threat by ‘security’ and pulled off to the side for extra screening. Scared for her and her son’s safety, Williamson filmed the interaction. The result is nothing short of infuriating.
As the video begins, Aaron is being treated as if he is checking into a maximum security prison. Then, the sicko TSA agent, ‘just doing his job,’ begins to grope and prod the young boy. At some points during the molestation, the agent’s hands can be seen in direct contact with the boy’s genitalia.
Williamson posted the video to her Facebook profile, with the following description:
We have been through hell this morning. They detained Aaron for well over an hour at DFW. (And deliberately kept us from our flight… we are now on an alternate) We were treated like dogs because I requested they attempt to screen him in other ways per TSA rules. He has SPD and I didn’t want my child given a pat down like this. Let me make something else crystal clear. He set off NO alarms. He physically did not alarm at all during screening, he passed through the detector just fine. He is still several hours later saying “I don’t know what I did. What did I do?” I am livid. Please, share… make this viral like the other children’s videos with TSA… I wish I had taped the entire interchange because it was horrifying. We had two DFW police officers that were called and flanking him on each side. Somehow these power tripping TSA agents who are traumatizing children and doing whatever they feel like without any cause, need to be reined in.
As Williamson wished, the video has since gone viral and exposes this ominous practice of molesting children to ‘keep you safe.’
READ MORE:WATCH: Ron Paul Just Destroyed TSA in Epic Rant Every American Should Hear
On its website, in regards to the new patdown techniques, the TSA says employees “use the back of the hands for pat-downs over sensitive areas of the body. In limited cases, additional screening involving a sensitive area pat-down with the front of the hand may be needed to determine that a threat does not exist.”
We are now witnessing the infuriating effects of such a practice. In the video below, the agent is clearly using the front of his hands to grope this little boy.
“Due to this change, TSA asked FSDs [field security directors] to contact airport law enforcement and brief them on the procedures in case they are notified that a passenger believes a [TSA employee] has subjected them to an abnormal screening practice,” Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) wrote earlier this month.
As the Free Thought Project has pointed out countless times, the TSA has been caught in a myriad of criminal activity — including everything from massive drug trafficking conspiracies to brutal beat downs. Granting this already despicable group of cronies the ability to further dehumanize Americans for the facade of safety is nothing short of irresponsible and tyrannical — and, as this video shows, disgusting.
To the average American who buys into the ‘terrorists hate our freedom’ propaganda, this move by the TSA to grant them the legal ability to grope themselves and their children, has been mostly accepted. However, to those of us who pay attention and realize that the TSA has a 95% failure rate at stopping anything from coming through, as well as being a massively corrupt and predatory organization, this move is seen for what it actually is — conditioning for the police state.
READ MORE:Man Makes Bold Stand Against TSA -- By Going to the Airport Totally Nude
Hopefully, the sharing of this video and article will serve as a wake wake-up to those unaware of this tyranny unfolding before our eyes.
The Free Thought Project reached out to the TSA for comment, however, we’ve yet to receive a response.
Something ominous is taking place at the Transportation Security Administration right now having to do with a more aggressive version of the already invasive pat-down method. The TSA is so certain their new groping method will offend that they have taken action to warn police ahead of time that they will undoubtedly be receiving complaints.
The TSA, one of America’s most corrupt and incompetent agencies whose ostensible job is fighting terrorism, who’s apparently so unsatisfied with the mere ability to strip search babies, remove colostomy bags, beat up blind cancer patients, and fondle your genitalia, that they announced a more invasive physical pat-down this week.
Taking note of their increased ability to grope anyone who wishes to fly on an airplane, the agency expects passengers to consider the examination unusual.
In fact, as Bloomberg reports,the TSA decided to inform local police in case anyone calls to report an “abnormal” federal frisking, according to a memo from an airport trade association obtained by Bloomberg News. The physical search, for those selected to have one, is what the agency described as a more “comprehensive” screening, replacing five separate kinds of pat-downs it previously used.
“Passengers who have not previously experienced the now standardized pat-down screening may not realize that they did in fact receive the correct procedure, and may ask our partners, including law enforcement at the airport, about the procedure,” TSA spokesman Bruce Anderson wrote March 3 in an email, describing why the agency notified police.
The fact that the TSA is alerting police to the fact that there will likely be an increase in complaints is bad enough. However, their vague details about the newly enhanced sexual assault with the fronts of their hands leave the imagination open for the worst.
READ MORE:Cops Go "Undercover" as Homeless People in Elaborate Scheme to Separate You from Your Money
On its website, the TSA says employees “use the back of the hands for pat-downs over sensitive areas of the body. In limited cases, additional screening involving a sensitive area pat-down with the front of the hand may be needed to determine that a threat does not exist.”
“Due to this change, TSA asked FSDs [field security directors] to contact airport law enforcement and brief them on the procedures in case they are notified that a passenger believes a [TSA employee] has subjected them to an abnormal screening practice,” Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) wrote
As the Free Thought Project has pointed out countless times, the TSA has been caught in a myriad of criminal activity — including everything from massive drug trafficking conspiracies to brutal beat downs. Granting this already despicable group of cronies the ability to further dehumanize Americans for the facade of safety is nothing short of irresponsible and tyrannical.
Laughably, the ACI-NA is justifying these enhanced pat-downs by claiming TSA agents aren’t intelligent enough to remember all the procedures.
The pat-down change is “intended to reduce the cognitive burden on [employees] who previously had to choose from various pat-down procedures depending on the type of screening lane,” the ACI-NA wrote in its notice, as reported by Bloomberg.
Now, instead of a dimwitted TSA agent fumbling to remember what pat-down to do in which lane, they can just pull the person off to a secret room and have their way with the front of their hands. Thanks, America!
Of course, when they were pressed for questions in regards to their new molestation techniques, the TSA said they couldn’t comment because “knowing our specific procedures could aid those who wish to do travelers harm in evading our measures.”
READ MORE:Video, Featuring Terrorist Who Dined at Pentagon - Exposes Trump as Terror Recruiting Tool & More
To the average American, who buys into the ‘terrorists hate our freedom’ propaganda, this move by the TSA to grant them the legal ability to grope themselves and their children, will be mostly accepted. However, to those of us who pay attention and realize that the TSA has a 95% failure rate at stopping anything from coming through, as well as being a massively corrupt and predatory organization — this move is seen for what it actually is — conditioning for the police state.
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter, Steemit, and now on Facebook.
During the war on terrorism, Americans compromised their liberties to fight for freedom. Now, during the war on immigration, Americans will again be compelled to sacrifice liberties for American sovereignty.
In the name of security, anywhere, anytime. All measures will be justified, everyone will be authorized and the population will be controlled.
That is the moment we have arrived at in America.
A combination of policies that President Obama put into place, as well as fresh executive orders put in place by President Trump’s executive orders, have created a new front in the world of national security. They are now using biometrics to verify passport and identity, in the name of cracking down on immigration.
Additional scrutiny, and an over-bearing scent of gestapo is again cropping up in airports, as yet another layer of surveillance is added to the line up.
Here’s a look at one version of the machines now being tested and phased in at airports and other checkpoints:
Both visitors from abroad, and American citizens alike have now been required to submit to biometric iris scans in order to board a flight. Wow.
For some 15 years, airport security has become steadily more invasive. There are ever more checkpoints, ever more requests for documents as you make your way from the airport entrance to the airplane. Passengers adapt to the new changes as they come. But my latest flight to Mexico, originating in Atlanta, presented all passengers with something I had never seen before.
We had already been through boarding pass checks, passport checks, scanners, and pat downs. At the gate, each passenger had already had their tickets scanned and we were all walking on the jet bridge to board. It’s at this point that most people assume that it is all done: finally we can enjoy some sense of normalcy.
This time was different. Halfway down the jetbridge, there was a new layer of security. Two US Marshals, heavily armed and dressed in dystopian-style black regalia, stood next to an upright machine with a glowing green eye. Every passenger, one by one, was told to step on a mat and look into the green scanner. It was scanning our eyes and matching that scan with the passport, which was also scanned (yet again).
Like everyone else, I complied. What was my choice? I guess I could have turned back at the point, decline to take the flight I had paid for, but it would be unclear what would then happen. After standing there for perhaps 8 seconds, the machine gave the go signal and I boarded.
I talked to a few passengers about this and others were just as shaken by the experience. They were reticent even to talk about it, as people tend to be when confronted with something like this.
I couldn’t find anyone who had ever seen something like this before. I wrote friends who travel internationally and none said they had ever seen anything like this.
I will tell you how it made me feel: like a prisoner in my own country. It’s one thing to control who comes into a country. But surveilling and permissioning American citizens as they leave their own country, even as they are about to board, is something else.
This isn’t required for all flights, yet.
This writer encountered a Homeland Security / U.S. Customs and Border Protection test at select airports… they are still working out the kinks.
But the question is, after all the frustrations that Americans had with flying after 9/11, and watching their liberties sacrificed at the alter security, after dealing with ridiculously long lines – are Americans now willing sacrifice even more liberties and submit their biometric scans?
Unfortunately, they may be.
As a general mass, Americans have proved underwhelming in their opposition to invasions of privacy on the part of private corporations, especially those online and in computing and communication devices. They have also shrugged off and become immune to fifteen years of airport harassment and additional checks and scans.
Now, iris scans might even one day make security faster – but it’s a devilish tradeoff, and an enormous trust of power an agency that was created into existence out of the 9/11 emergency atmosphere, and which grows only when feeding the machine fear and terror.
Update: a reader has pointed me to this page at Homeland Security:
As part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) border security mission, the agency is deploying new technologies to verify travelers’ identities – both when they arrive and when they leave the United States – by matching a traveler to the document they are presenting. CBP’s goal is to enhance national security and protect a traveler’s identity against theft through the use of biometrics.
Biometric information (such as finger, face, or iris) measures a person’s unique physical characteristics. CBP incorporated fingerprints for biometric identification and verification in 2004, and is now testing facial and iris imaging capabilities to help improve travelers’ identity protection, the integrity of our immigration system, and our national security.
I happened to be on the “one daily flight” that gets exit scanned.
[…]
What people don’t often consider is that every rule that pertains to immigration ultimately applies to emigration as well. Every rule that government has to treat immigrants a certain way also necessarily applies to citizens as well.
Chandran Kukathas is right when he says that “controlling immigration means controlling everyone.” (source)
It looks like their tests have so far met with very little resistance, and all signs green, as support for Trump’s new order of police, border, military and security agencies are given new mandates to enforce laws, and take necessary measures to control borders, verify individuals and protect the country. That’s the narrative, and Americans are cheering it on with very little forethought about the consequences it could hold.
For now, Americans are willing to accept new controls.
That is, if nobody reawakens to the massive civil liberties issue that is going on.
Welcome Aboard, But First US Marshals Will Scan Your Retina,BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT FREE
(ZHE) Just two days after North Korea embarrassed both the US and Japan by test-firing a new, nuclear-capable ICBM with a 2000 mile range, with neither Trump nor Abe able to articulate a clear retaliation strategy, moments ago Yonhap news agency reported that the elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been assassinated at Kuala Lumpur airport.
Kim Jong Nam, 45, who had lived outside North Korea for years, was reported to have been killed by poison needle by two women who fled the scene by taxi, the reports said.
He was once considered to be the heir to late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il but he fell out of favor with his father in 2001 after he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport, and was arrested at Tokyo airport, apparently en route to Disneyland. Kim Jong Nam had been critical of Kim Jong Un, reportedly saying in 2012 that he “won’t last long” because of his youth and inexperience. The two brothers have different mothers, Bloomberg reports.
Who is behind the murder? As BBG adds, Kim has carried out a series of executions since taking power in 2011, the most high profile of which was the 2013 killing of his uncle and one-time deputy Jang Song Thaek. If Kim Jong Nam was killed by a North Korean spy, it indicates that Kim Jong Un felt a sense of paranoia about his own future and wanted to remove any potential successors, according to Namkoong Young, who has been teaching inter-Korean politics at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies for more than 25 years.
“Jong Nam has been in exile for years away from North’s politics for a long time but he is still the eldest son of Kim Jong Il,” Namkoong said. “And if there was any move or plan by some elite there to have him replace Jong Un, he probably should be removed.”
Of course, it is just as likely that a certain spy agency could have staged the murder, making it seem like it was preemptive retaliation by Un. For now there are no further details.
A person in the Malaysian prime minister’s office, who did not want to be named, confirmed that a North Korean national had been killed at the airport and taken to hospital. The person said police were still waiting for the autopsy report. South Korean officials have yet to comment publicly on the matter. Malaysia’s foreign ministry is still waiting for information from the police on the identity of the deceased man. The death is under the purview of the home affairs ministry, she said. The police didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2014, Kim Jong Un had about 50 officials executed on charges ranging from graft to watching South Korean soap operas. Two senior officials were executed with an anti-aircraft gun in August last year on Kim’s orders, South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported, citing people it did not identify.
A recap of the key soundbites from the meeting between Trump and US airline CEOs in the White House:
“You’ve done an amazing job. I know you’re under pressure from a lot of foreign elements”
“We want to take care of you”
“We want the traveling public to have” the best “customer service”
“We have obsolete airports and train systems and bad roads”
Says regulations will be rolled back
Speaking to the CEOs, Trump asked “what can we do to make your airlines better, to make your bottomlines better?” adding “You’ve got a lot of competition”; “a lot of that competition is subsidized by governments, big league"; ‘‘I heard that from the minute I got elected”
Trump lamented an out-of-date U.S. air traffic control system and criticized a federal government contract for a new system that he said was not good. As he met with airline executives, Trump said he believes the head of the Federal Aviation Administration should be a pilot. Trump said the air-traffic control system is “totally out of whack” and “its way over budget"; ‘‘It’s already outdated” as he promised to make a tax announcement in a few weeks.
He asks Southwest CEO Gary Kelly, “Why did they allow the government to put in the wrong system?” Kelly responds, “We want to get the government out of the air traffic control sytem”
Trump also says in meeting that head of FAA should be a pilot
Says “I don’t like aviation fees and taxes, I’ll be honest with you” and “raising fees will just hurt you”
And the punchline from Trump: “don’t worry about the money. I’ll be able to get the money”
At that point, reporters were escorted from the room as the meeting continued, although the message was clear: Washington subsidies are coming.
The reaction was clear:
The bottom line: "you"re going to be so happy with Trump"...
Johnson Beharry was on his way to a veterans’ event in New York when he was detained by authorities at JFK airport. Thanks to the nature of the travel ban in the United States, Beharry would miss that event — where he was the guest of honor.
In 2004, Beharry was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award of the United Kingdom honors system. Only 15 medals, 11 to members of the British Army, and four to the Australian Army have been awarded since the Second World War. Beharry was one of those.
In 2004, Beharry was seriously injured while saving the lives of 30 of his fellow soldiers.
However, his valor and gallantry in the face of the enemy meant nothing to the modern police state who detained him for hours because he had brown skin and a stamp in his passport from Iraq.
“I think they held me because my passport showed I had been to Iraq,” Beharry told ITV. “Maybe I am a bit Asian-looking but that doesn’t mean I should be treated with the same suspicion as a terrorist.”
Beharry noted that officials were unapologetic about their newly defined duty to detain anyone coming from one of the seven countries on the ban. “I explained that I had been in Iraq fighting for the British Army but they didn’t seem to care.”
“The officials only let me in after I kicked up a fuss. It was the worst travel experience of my life,” explained Beharry — who’d flown all over the Middle East.
“It’s how his (Trump’s) orders were implemented,” explained Beharry as he noted that there is still a need for security. And this is the problem with such a sweeping ban. There is no absolute way to enforce it.
READ MORE:An ex-police Sergent tells how and why you should fight ALL speeding fines
This travel ban is being enforced by other human beings. Because they have a badge and a gun does not mean that they will all of the sudden be able to carry out this order flawlessly and without mistakes, like some computer program.
Beharry’s case shows exactly what this kind of ridiculous order causes — a bunch of airport security and police on power trips stopping every brown person they see and demanding they prove they are not a terrorist. It is despotism.
“I’m not political so don’t want to get into an argument with Donald Trump,” Beharry recalled. “I understand the need for security but it’s how his orders were implemented.”
“I feel for the other people being held with me,” Beharry said, noting that he witnessed lots of “Middle Eastern-looking passengers” being pulled aside by officials and given the same degree of harassment.
“The experience has made me think twice about going to New York again, that’s for sure.”
When war heroes, who fought alongside US troops, for the same cause, fear coming to the ostensible Land of the Free because there is a real chance they might be detained, harassed, or worse — something is seriously wrong.
Also, as the Free Thought Project has reported, out of the 43 people who carried out terrorist attacks on US soil, only three of them came from the seven countries on this ban list — the other 40 terrorists came from countries who were not banned.
This handful of attacks on American soil hardly justifies restricting the travel from these countries once we look at the countries Trump did not ban — who are responsible for 93% of all terrorism in the United States causing death on a massive scale.
READ MORE:Homeland Security Snipers Terrorize Residents During Raid
During the same period those three terrorists mentioned above attempted to cause harm to Americans, 40 terrorists from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Guinea wreaked havoc in America.
However, people from those countries are still welcome to apply for U.S. visas and travel permits.
So why is it that all these other countries were left off the ban list when it is common knowledge that they are responsible for the overwhelming majority of the terrorism within the United States?
Well, if we zoom out again, we can a propose a potential reason for Trump conveniently leaving these known producers of terrorism off the list.
Trump, being the international businessman that he is, has business holdings worldwide. None of those holdings are in those seven banned countries. On the other hand, however, Trump holds major business stakes in several of the countries absent from this list.
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter and now on Steemit
Buried deep in the heart of one of the most barren deserts in Saudi Arabia, and the entire planet for that matter, a commercial satellite happened upon what appears to be a very modern airport that suddenly appeared out of thin air from one year to the next. What makes the airport even more mysterious is the fact that there are no planes on site and no government claims ownership of the facility. So, is this airport a mere "Border Guard" facility, as Google Maps would suggest, or did this satellite just happen to reveal the location of a secret U.S. military airport used to conduct drone operations in Yemen?
Certainly, the proximity to the Yemen border would make this an ideal location for drone operations.
And it does seem somewhat odd that such a massive airport, with 3 large hangars, would be required to conduct "border operations." Moreover, while we understand that the Saudi border police are probably using some pretty sophisticated prop planes to conduct their operations, it does seem a bit odd that not a single plane would be visible at the airport.
While we may never know the true owner/function of this mysterious facility, we"re almost certain that Russia hackers are behind the leak of it"s location.
