Five Guantanamo Bay detainees with alleged ties to the 9/11 conspiracy, including accused mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be transferred to New York to go on trial in civilian court, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Friday.
Mohammed, Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi will all be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York -- a short distance from the World Trade Center towers that were destroyed in the September 11 attacks.
"After eight years of delay, those allegedly responsible for the attacks of September 11th will finally face justice," Holder said.
He said he expected all five to be tried together and for prosecutors to seek the death penalty. The trial would be open to the public, although some portions that deal with classified information may be closed, Holder said.
"Based on all of my experience and based on all of the recommendations and the great work and the research that has been done, I am quite confident that the outcomes in these cases will be successful," he said.
He also expressed confidence that an impartial jury would be found "to ensure a fair trial in New York."
Of the 2,752 people killed in the 9/11 attacks, 2,606 died when terrorists crashed two hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center towers.
Holder also announced that five other detainees held at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, will be sent to military commissions for trial. They were identified as Omar Khadr, Mohammed Kamin, Ibrahim al Qosi, Noor Uthman Muhammed and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.
Al-Nashiri is an accused mastermind of the deadly 2000 bombing of the USS Cole; Khadr is a Canadian charged with the 2002 murder of a U.S. military officer in Afghanistan. Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured in July 2002.
Holder said a venue for the military commissions has not been set.
Mohammed "will be subject to the most exacting demands of justice," President Obama said Friday in Japan.
"The American people insist on it, and my administration will insist on it," Obama told reporters at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.Mohammed is the confessed organizer of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon. But his confession could be called into question during trial. A 2005 Justice Department memo -- released by the Obama administration -- revealed he had been waterboarded 183 times in March 2003.
The CIA has also admitted using waterboarding on al-Nashiri, the first person charged in the United States for the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen that killed 17 U.S. sailors.
CNN's Lou Dobbs, a lightning rod for criticism following his transition from a business journalist to an opinionated anchor on such issues as illegal immigration, told viewers on Wednesday that he was quitting his nightly show to pursue new opportunities.
"This will be my last broadcast," Dobbs said after giving the day's headlines. Dobbs, who hosts a daily radio show unrelated to CNN, said the network had allowed him to be released early from his contract.
Dobbs was a CNN original, signing on when the cable network started in 1980. For much of that time, he hosted a nightly business broadcast that became one of the most influential shows in the corporate world, and CNN's most profitable show for advertising revenue.
But Dobbs said his world view changed after the 2001 terrorist attacks and corporate corruption scandals, and he began to more freely express his opinions. He was particularly persistent in bringing the immigration issue to the fore, winning him both higher ratings and enemies. Latino groups had an active petition drive seeking his removal.
His presence became awkward for CNN, particularly as it began emphasizing reporting and non-opinion shows. He angered management this summer by pressing questions about President Barack Obama's birth site after CNN reporters determined there was no issue.
Dobbs said the decision came after many months of discussion with CNN U.S. President Jon Klein. Dobbs said he wanted to concentrate on his role as a commentator and on advocacy journalism.
Klein hailed Dobbs' "appetite for big ideas, the megawatt smile and larger than life presence he brought to our newsroom."
"With characteristic forthrightness, Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere," Klein said. "We respect his decision."
Dobbs said he was proud of his role in helping to build the first cable news network. He said some leaders in media, politics and business "have been urging me to go beyond my role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem-solving."
Seated at an anchor desk in front of a screen with a fluttering American flag, Dobbs mentioned his interest in issues such as health care, jobs, immigration, climate change and the wars.
"Unfortunately, these issues are now defined in the public arena by partisanship and ideology rather than rigorous empirical thought and forthright analysis and discussion," he said. "I will be working diligently to change that as best I can."
Continued HERE
Today is Veteran's Day.It is a day chosen to celebrate and give thanks to those brave men and
women that sacrifice their lives so that we may live freely in this great country known as the
United States of America. It will be a day of celebrations, flag waving, parades, patriotic music,
along with hand shaking and pats on the back.
Even if you have no celebrations to attened today be sure to thank a soldier. Most families today
have at least one member in their family that has served our nation. And if not, make it a point
as you travel through your busy day to see just how many veterans you do know. A veteran
could be your mailman, your preacher, a teacher, coworker, or just the guy next door. Take a
moment to thank them for sacrificing their lives so that all of us can sleep safely at night and
rise in the moring to go about our ways freely.
Take time to call a veteran on the phone and thank them. Take time out of your busy day
to listen. Listen to their stories. By listening and learning from them we can understand
and appreciate more fully and deeply what they did and why. Don't let any of the ones you know
think for a second you are not grateful.
Please don't forget to display your yellow ribbons and bows. If yours is currently faded and
frayed replace it. It is just a small symbol to show these great American's we care and they
are not forgotten. And by all means fly that great American flag!
Send a soldier a letter or postcard. Go to this website http://www.anysoldier.com/. This site gives any
information needed for mailing anything from letters to packages. Another website is
http://www.soldiersangels.com/. Here you can find so many wonderful things you or your family or organization can
do for those in the armed forces.
Get a group together to crochet or quilt a warm blanket/lap cover for any of our soldiers. They need
our help now more than ever. They need to know that we care!
Thankyou Gary, Cousin Greg, Todd, Patrick, Ronnie, Don, Mr. Hawkins,
Cousin Bobby, Larry and a very special thankyou to POW Lt. Col. Carlyle (Smitty) Harris and all others for caring enough to serve, fight and defend our wonderful country.
Proud to be an American
MSNBC's Chris Matthews has said some things that would make your scratch your head - like getting a thrill up his leg from a speech given by Barack Obama. However, this one will really make you wonder what he was thinking.
On his Nov. 9 broadcast of "Hardball," in an interview with Zuhdi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, Matthews compared the incident of Maj. Nidal M. Hasan at Ft. Hood to Sirhan Sirhan's 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
"You know, I have a hard time with this because people like Sirhan Sirhan, who is still serving time for killing Bobby Kennedy, didn't like what Bobby Kennedy had said on television," Matthews said. "Bobby Kennedy had made political statements saying we're going to sell arms, fighter planes directly to Israel, not under the table. We're going to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Those are the things that triggered his killing spree. He killed one person - Bobby Kennedy, horrifically. But did he become a different religious person because he committed the crime? And when did this happen?" [Audio: Part I here (925 KB), Part II here (1.18 MB)]
More HERE
John Allen Muhammad will die by lethal injection tonight at 9 P.M., unless there should be a last minute reprieve by the govenor of Virginia.
You're returning from a perfect weekend getaway, and a trooper nabs you while you're still out of state.
Do you admit guilt, drop the payment envelope in the mail, and have it be history…or do throw it in the trash and hope it just goes away?
Neither, exactly. And just to clear up some misconceptions, this is definitely not a case of, "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."
If you understood the massive stakes involved, you'd do your research, maybe hire an attorney, and even if you have a clean record do your best to have the ticket reduced or, better yet, thrown out.
The days of speeding tickets simply going away, even if they're out-of-state, are long gone. And it's important you do something about it because a speeding ticket can come back to haunt you for years, in ways that you probably hadn't thought possible.
Unseen affects, budget-hemorrhaging results
Most drivers know that having speeding tickets on their record will raise their auto insurance rates, but few are aware that, depending on where they live, it can affect them in a myriad of other ways, seemingly unrelated to driving. Like when you apply to get a new life insurance policy, to insure a boat, or even to apply for a business loan.
This could mean thousands of dollars. And that's even before considering that an unsettled ticket could find its way to your credit score to wreak further havoc.
Technically, if you're a repeat speeder, you're risky business, and that risk might apply to other aspects of your life—or so say the actuaries, those who arrive at the methodology that takes all those seemingly insignificant factors in your profile, weighs them with factors like your driving record, and determines whether or not you're high risk. Simply put, whether to charge you a few hundred dollars or a couple thousand on your next insurance premium is a matter of calculated risk.
The business of risk
Read More HERE
Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army major suspected of killing 13 people and wounding 29 others at Fort Hood, worshipped at the same mosque as two of the 9/11 terrorists.
According to the London Sunday Telegraph, Hasan attended services at the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Va., in 2001 at the same time as Sept. 11 hijackers Nawaf al-Hamzi and Hani Hanjour. Funeral services for Hasan's mother also was held at that mosque.
The FBI wants to interrogate Hasan to see if he met or knew al-Hamzi or Hanjour, reports the Telegraph.
The imam at the mosque at the time Hasan attended services there was Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical cleric who has been described as a supporter of al-Qaida. A third 9/11 hijacker attended al-Awlaki's lectures in California.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter in yesterday's massacre at Fort Hood, played a homeland security advisory role in President Barack Obama's transition into the White House, according to a key university policy institute document.
The Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University published a document May 19, entitled "Thinking Anew – Security Priorities for the Next Administration: Proceedings Report of the HSPI Presidential Transition Task Force, April 2008 – January 2009," in which Hasan of the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine is listed on page 29 of the document as a Task Force Event Participant.
Hasan received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University School in Bethesda, Md., in 2001.
Noting that the Obama administration transition was proceeding, the GWU Homeland Security Policy Institute report described on the first page the role of the Presidential Transition Task Force as including "representatives from past Administrations, State government, Fortune 500 companies, academia, research institutions and non-governmental organizations with global reach."
While the GWU task force participants included several members of government, including representatives of the Department of Justice and the U.S Department of Homeland Security, there is no indication in the document that the group played any formal role in the official Obama transition, other than to serve in a university-based advisory capacity.
Daniel Kaniewski, deputy director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University affirmed to WND in a telephone interview this morning that the Nidal Hasan listed as attending the meetings of the HSPI Presidential Transition Task Force was the same person as the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood massacre.
Kaniewski said Hasan attended the meetings in his capacity as a member of the faculty of the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine, not as a member of the HSPI Presidential Task Force.
Kaniewski believed Hasan applied on the institute's website to attend the meeting and was accepted because of his professional credentials.
Kaniewski could not tell WND whether or not Hasan made comments from the audience that influenced the task force recommendations or not.
He further confirmed Hasan had attended several meetings held by the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University and that the institute is currently searching conference records to see if it is possible to determine what additional institute conferences he attended.
Read More HERE
Alan Wade Tyler, 49, was arrested Wednesday after the Coast Guard boarded and then detained his 60-foot boat, the Chelsea Lane Tyler, in Tylerton until Maryland Natural Resources Police arrived.
The five children on board were transported home to Ewell by NRP officers, said Sgt. Art Windemuth, an NRP spokesman.
Tyler was charged with operating a vessel under the influence of alcohol, operating a vessel while impaired by alcohol, operating a vessel while impaired by any drug or combination of drugs and alcohol and negligent operation of a vessel.
The Coast Guard has temporarily suspended his license and will initiate administrative proceedings against him, according to a spokesman for the agency.
Tyler, along with his father, Alan Tyler Sr., share the responsibility of transporting island children to and from Crisfield High School each day.
Alan Tyler Sr. is the owner of the boat and has a contract with the Somerset County Board of Education, similar to contracts the school system has with bus drivers.
Superintendent Karen-Lee Brofee said she did not learn of the incident until about 24 hours later, and still did not know all the details except that the island children did not miss school Thursday.
"There was no break in service," she said. "The children will still get to school safely."
Read More @ DelmarvaNow.com
Showing This Weekend.......
Three thousand local pumpkins have been delivered and the Punkin Chunkin machines have moved in for action.Two gunmen in military uniforms shot and killed as many as nine people and wounded as many as 20 at Fort Hood in Texas on Thursday, officials said.
One of the shooters has been apprehended, Fort Hood spokesman Sgt. Maj. Jamie Posten told CNN.
"At this point we're looking for the other shooter," Posten said. Asked for a description, he said, "we're trying to develop that information."
The shooters were wearing military uniforms, but it was unclear whether they were soldiers, said U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
One of the gunmen was shot and wounded by military police, Hutchinson told CNN. She said she got her information from a general on the base.
Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, said between 20 and 30 were wounded.
President Obama has been informed of the incident, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters.
Officials at Fort Hood, which is the Army's largest U.S. post, were asking people there to stay away from windows, CNN affiliate KXXV said. The incident took place at the sports dome, now known as the soldier readiness area, the station reported.
FBI agents are headed to the scene to assist, said Erik Vasys, spokesman for the FBI office in San Antonio. He had no other details.
On the Fort Hood Web site, the word "closed" is posted with the statement, "Effective immediately, Fort Hood is closed. Organizations/units are instructed to execute a 100 percent accountability of all personnel."
Fort Hood, with about 40,000 troops, is home to the Army's 1st Cavalry Division and elements of the 4th Infantry Division, as well as the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 13th Corps Support Command. It is located near Killeen, Texas.
At least 25,000 people are at Fort Hood on any given day, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon said.
Fort Hood is home to the Warrior Combat Stress Reset Program, which is designed to help soldiers overcome combat stress issues.
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Jim Stevens said he's not particularly religious and is clueless about why an image resembling Jesus Christ keeps appearing on his pickup. Stevens, of Jonesborough, said nearly every morning, an image that looks to him like the face of Jesus Christ has appeared in the condensation on the driver's side window of his Isuzu truck. A Johnson City Press photo of the truck showed a facial image.
Stevens said when he first saw the image, he figured it would evaporate and not return. But it kept reappearing for two weeks now.
Stevens said folks at the grocery store he goes to were amazed to see the image.
He said he isn't going to wash the truck for a while.
Investigators spent five days searching dense vines and marshes for a missing infant, only to find her lying quietly in a 2-foot by 3-foot cedar box that had been shoved under her baby sitter's bed.
Clothing was packed around it to muffle any sounds and baking powder placed inside to mask the stench of dirty diapers.
Authorities say the baby's mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, gave her to baby sitter Susan Elizabeth Baker early Saturday, then reported her missing about 10 hours later.
Washington County Sheriff Bobby Haddock choked up Thursday as he described how 7-month-old Shannon Dedrick was stashed in the box for 12 straight hours before investigators discovered her late Wednesday. They believe she had been in the box on and off for several days before that.
"She was way back under the bed," he said. "But she was not crying."
Baker had written a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist's office in August, pleading for help for the baby and claiming her father shook her and both parents did drugs in front of her. She asked Mercer on Friday if she could have permanent custody, Haddock said. Officials do not believe Shannon's father, who is Baker's stepbrother, was involved in the disappearance.
Haddock said Shannon apparently had been fed and cared for while she was with Baker, who lived about 12 miles from Mercer, though there was no bottle in the box with her. He said Baker became a suspect several days ago but never told them where the baby was, even as they interviewed her for 12 hours while Shannon remained hidden.
Mercer and Baker were jailed and arraignments were scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Mercer was charged with interference of child custody, desertion of a child and several other charges. Charges against Baker included neglect of a child with aggravated circumstances and interference of child custody.
Mercer's mother, Candis Boyer, attended Thursday's news conference and said afterward that she was there to show support for her daughter and granddaughter.
"I love my daughter very deeply," she said.
Baker's husband, James Arthur Baker, was arrested but released. He is still under investigation, Haddock said.
Shannon's parents told investigators they last saw her when they went to bed around 3 a.m. Saturday and investigators thought she had vanished sometime between then and 8 a.m.
About 100 law enforcement agents and others spent days scouring dense vines and marshes around the baby's home in a remote, makeshift community of dirt roads, tin-roof shacks and old mobile homes. Searchers also dug through trash cans and dumpsters.
"Statistically speaking this should not have ever happened, that we found this child alive, especially after so many days," said Haddock, who cradled Shannon in his arms as he spoke to reporters earlier Thursday. "Time was against us."
Read More HERE
NRP found Kevin Matthew Twilley shining a light out a vehicle on Scotty Road in Worcester County at about 7:30 p.m.
Officers observed Twilley shooting deer in the field next to the road. A report says when officers approached Twilley, he fled, but Pocomoke City Police were able to stop the vehicle on Route 13.
A check of Twilley's license revealed it was suspended and a check of the vehicle plate revealed it was stolen.
Twilley was charged with numerous natural resources, criminal and traffic violations.
VIA DelmarvaNow
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| In the General Election for the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Bob McDonnell is the clear winner. McDonnell won over 60% of the popular vote and was heavily favored from the start. McDonnell also won both Accomack and Northampton Counties.
In the General Election for the Lieutenant Governor, the winner is Bill Bolling. Bolling won more than 59 % of the vote. Bolling won Accomack County but Northampton County residents favored challenger Jody Wagner.
In the General Election for Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli is the victor. Cuccinelli won just over 60% of the vote. Cuccinelli carried both Accomack and Northampton Counties.
The local election for the next Delegate in the Virginia 100th district was just as lopsided as the previous three. Incumbent Lynwood Lewis won more than 67% percent of the vote, beating challenger Melody Scalley. Lewis won both counties, winning Northampton by a larger margin. |
| Northampton County Election Results |
| Northampton County also held its Board of Supervisors Election last night. In District 1 the winner was Willie Randall, edging out opponents W.T. Nottingham and Granville Hogg. Randall won more than 48% of the vote.
In District 2 the winner was Samuel Long. Long won more than 63% of the vote to beat opponent David Burden.
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| Election Turnout |
| The real story of this year’s election was voter turnout. In Northampton County the voter turnout was only 37%. In Accomack County it was worse than that; there was only a 33% voter turnout. When it was all said and done, approximately 20,000 voters did not head to the polls, which is almost twice the number who showed up to vote. VIA Shore Daily News |
