From the Los Angeles Times

2 injured in bomb blasts at Swiss, Chilean embassies in Rome

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but police suspect anarchist movements. One victim is in danger of losing one, if not both, hands.

By Janet Stobart, Los Angeles Times

December 24, 2010

Reporting from London

Two parcel bombs exploded in the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome on Thursday, wounding two men in attacks that bore similarities to a wave of diplomatic letter bombs in Greece last month.

An anarchist organization claimed responsibility for at least one of the blasts, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. The group, calling itself the Informal Anarchist Federation, left a note in a box found near one of the victims that said, "Long live anarchy."

The explosions came during a period of heightened nervousness throughout Europe over the possibility that Islamic terrorists might try to stage a major attack over the Christmas holiday.

But Italian news reports say police inquiries are veering toward anarchist movements that have launched similar attacks around Europe recently, particularly in Greece and Italy, where public austerity plans have sparked anti-government protests, some of them violent.

One anarchist group targeted the Swiss Embassy in Rome two months ago. An explosive device found in the street outside the mission's wall Oct. 5 contained a message demanding the release of three convicted militant environmental activists being held in Swiss jails.

ANSA quoted Interior Minister Roberto Maroni as saying that police were following an "anarchic" trail "because there are precedents." Last month, suspected anarchists sent letter bombs to a number of embassies in Athens.

"Greece, Spain and Italy have anarchic insurgent groups that are tightly interconnected," Maroni said. "The fact that these package bombs have arrived at two embassies lead us to think that this is the right track."

Other embassies in Rome were placed on alert after the explosions. Suspicious packages were examined at the Ukrainian, Slovenian and Estonian embassies, but those turned out to be false alarms.

The first blast Thursday morning wounded a Swiss Embassy employee who opened the small package and is now in danger of losing one, if not both, hands. Hours later, the second blast, at the Chilean Embassy, injured employee Cesar Mella, 50.

Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini called the attacks "a deplorable act of violence" and ordered a warning be put out to all embassies as well as Italian diplomatic missions abroad.

The Roman daily newspaper Il Messaggero reported that Greek police have been called in by their Italian counterparts to help with the investigation.

In the Athens incidents last month, a letter bomb addressed to the Mexican Embassy exploded at the offices of a private courier company, lightly injuring an employee. Other parcel bombs bound for the embassies of Bulgaria, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia and Switzerland were intercepted, as was one addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

But a letter bomb slipped past security at Athens International Airport and arrived at German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office in Berlin. Another addressed to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi caught fire at the airport in the city of Bologna.

Greek police arrested two suspected anarchists in connection with the bombs.

Thursday's attacks in Rome showed "technical affinities" with the Athens letter bombs, commentator Antonio Ferrari said on the website of the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. He warned of a "very high risk" of further bombs.

Il Messaggero noted that there also had been minor attacks recently against targets in northern Italy by a group claiming to be close to a Chilean anarchist group.

Italy has a long tradition of anti-government extremism in times of political and economic crisis. The 1970s political turmoil in Europe during the Cold War included the growth of both left-wing militants and neo-fascist groups. The diehard ultra-leftist Red Brigades carried out kidnappings and the assassination of onetime Christian Democrat Prime Minister Aldo Moro.

The latest attacks jangled European nerves already frayed by warnings of possible terrorist attacks during the holiday season.

A suicide bomber killed himself and injured two others two weeks ago in a crowded shopping district in Stockholm, the Swedish capital.

This week, British authorities arrested 12 suspected Islamic militants who they feared were plotting a large-scale attack, possibly on high-profile targets in London.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-italy-blasts-20101224,0,1392575,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maintaining the memories of genocide

The late J. Michael Hagopian escaped the mass murder that claimed the lives of as many as 1.5 million Armenians. Through his 12 films, the atrocity will remain visible to all who are willing to see.

December 24, 2010

Most who suffer unspeakably at the hands of others look for ways to forget, to resume a normal life as best they can. Some, however, assume the duty of witness in the hope that truthful memory will protect those who come after them. The passing of these heroic men and women ought not to go unremarked upon.

J. Michael Hagopian, who died this month in Thousand Oaks, was one such man. He was just 2 years old in 1915, when his parents hid him in a well behind their home because they believed they were about to be killed by Ottoman Turkish soldiers, who were massacring Armenians across eastern Anatolia. The soldiers ultimately passed them by because the boy's father, a physician, had treated his Turkish neighbors. The Hagopians immigrated to Fresno, escaping the mass murder that claimed the lives of as many as 1.5 million of their fellow Armenians in the 20th century's first genocide.

The toddler who'd sheltered in a well went on to earn advanced degrees from UC Berkeley and Harvard and to become a distinguished teacher at UCLA and Oregon State. His great contribution, though, was a series of 12 moving — indeed, heartbreaking — films documenting the attempted genocide of his people. The most sweeping of these, "The Forgotten Genocide," was nominated for an Emmy in 1976. He appeared in one of his own films, "Voices From the Lake," recalling that his mother had told him, "You can kill a people, but their voices will never die."

The voices of the Armenians still are struggling to be heard in some quarters. Contemporary Turkey, which has no political connection to the Ottomans, continues to defy history and decency, and denies the mass murder was the result of anything but wartime civil strife. It is a claim refuted by every serious observer in that period. Raphael Lemkin, the Polish lawyer of Jewish descent who coined the term "genocide" in 1943, began his lifetime's work on the subject by studying the organized murder of the Armenians and that of Iraq's Assyrians in 1933.

Thanks to an agreement Hagopian reached last spring with USC's Shoah Foundation, his vast archive of firsthand testimony by Armenian genocide survivors and witnesses to the Ottoman atrocities will be preserved and made available for study by scholars. Because of his courage and the Shoah Foundation, the voices of the Armenians will continue speaking to all who are willing to hear.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-hagopian-20101224,0,6046769,print.story

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From Google News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terror Fears Put Mumbai on Alert

MUMBAI, India — India's financial capital was on high alert Friday after authorities said four terrorists had entered the country and were plotting attacks here during the holidays.

Mumbai police officials said late Thursday night that they suspected that the men belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani group that Indian and American officials blame for the November 2008 attacks in this city that killed more than 163 people. They released a sketch of one of the men, identified as Waleed Jinnah, and asked the public to call the police if they saw him or had any information about the attackers.

“We are getting information in bits and pieces,” Deven Bharti, who heads the Mumbai police's crime branch, said in a telephone interview on Friday. “We are trying to work on it.”

This is the second time in four months that police here have said terrorists were planning to attack Mumbai, India's largest and most dynamic city. In September, police released the sketch of another terrorist who they said was planning an attack to coincide with a religious festival.

Worries about terrorism have been high for much of this year, especially during President Obama's visit in early November. Security has been increased at five-star hotels, train stations and other public places that are considered high-profile targets, but few security experts believe that a city as populous and sprawling as this can be fully protected against determined attackers.

During the 2008 attacks, 10 terrorists laid siege to the city for three days, killing people at the city's busiest train station, a bar, two five-star hotels and a Jewish center. Although more people have been killed here in riots and bomb blasts, that attack had a lasting impact,. heightening tensions between India and Pakistan, nuclear-armed neighbors that have fought several wars with each other since becoming independent from the British in 1947.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/25/world/asia/25mumbai.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whistleblower: Pilot Posts Video Exposing Airport Security Flaws

In An Exclusive Interview with ABC News, Pilot Says TSA's Reaction Was 'Overkill'

The airline pilot who was reprimanded by the TSA for posting videos showing security flaws at a major airport is speaking out exclusively for the first time, saying that it was the "fallacy of the system" that inspired him to take this action.

Late last month a 50-year-old pilot, who asked that his name and the airline he works for not be made public, took a series of videos with his cell phone to show major flaws he says still exist in airport security systems. The videos show how easily ground crews at San Francisco International Airport were able to access secure areas. "As you can see, airport security is kind of a farce. It's only smoke and mirrors so you people believe there is actually something going on here," the pilot says on one video.

"People don't understand that when they walk through the TSA checkpoints, well, they are getting, now they are getting a groping, but they don't understand that all those people you see outside, the ground personal, all the caterers, all the airline cleaners, they get virtually nothing," the pilot said in an interview with ABC News.

He uses the videos to make his point.

"I wanted to give you an idea of what type of security the ground crews go through, their screening is sliding a card and going through a door. Not screened at all," the pilot says in one clip.

This pilot is not the first person to raise these security issues. The unfettered access that ground crews, baggage handlers and others have at most major airports has been reported on in the past, especially after 9/11.

He first posted the videos to YouTube on November 28. Three days later, he says, four federal air marshals and two local sheriff's deputies showed up at his home to question him about the footage. The pilot filmed the conversation, during which the federal marshals confiscated his federally-issued firearm.

"I was surprised by the response. It was a bit of overkill. I could have just dropped my badge and weapon in a FedEx box and FedExed it in for 20 bucks," said the pilot. "They sent six people over to pick up a handgun and a badge. I said, that is your federal government with your tax dollars."

The pilot also recieved a letter directly from the TSA that said, "an administrative review into your deputation status as a Federal Flight Deck Officer has been initiated."

In a statement sent to ABC News, the TSA said it holds "all employees and those serving as Federal Flight Deck Officers (FFDOs) to the highest ethical standards. The TSA responded and took action in this situation because the pilot in question was an FFDO. FFDOs must be able to maintain sensitive security information as a condition of the FFDO program. As the issuing authority of credentials and firearms, TSA reviews each possible violation of those standards and acts accordingly up to and including removing an individual from the assigned role. As to access control at SFO, TSA is confident in the tools the airport has implemented and reminds passengers there are security measures in place that are both seen and unseen."

Reaction in the aviation community has been mixed.

I'm not aware of a commercial airline pilot going this far," said ABC News Aviation Consultant John Nance. "On one side every airline pilot in the country is virtually outraged at the insanity of putting pilots through security. On the other hand you've got people who can just swipe their way in or out." Still, Nance says others argue, "What we don't want to do is wave a red flag at our enemies and say, 'Hey, take a look at this vulnerability.'"

"I just tried to address my concerns and voice it on YouTube," said the pilot. "Basically all you have to do, is we have an emplopyee line, you just put them through the employee screener."

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/pilot-hasseled-tsa-uncovering-security-breaches-major-airport/story?id=12470082&page=1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From MSNBC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Strangers bring holiday cheer to less fortunate

Young, old share Christmas spirit of giving with good deeds 

Five-year-old Simon Fieler refused to let illness rob him of his season's mission: Make sure youngsters at Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio got a special toy.

Simon, who suffers from aplastic anemia, a disorder in which the bone marrow doesn't produce enough new blood cells, donated 250 toys to children on Thursday.

His story is just one of the tales of unexpected gifts and acts of kindness found by NBC stations and msnbc.com local partner newspapers nationwide.

 Simon spent 11 days at the Cincinnati hospital in August undergoing treatments to restart his immune system. Now, he visits the hospital once or twice per week for blood tests and infusions.

During the Thanksgiving holiday, Simon's mother, Stephanie Fieler, posted on her blog how thankful she was for the hospital staff and said she wanted to donate to the program, according to WLWT in Ohio.

Soon after, Simon and his brother, Elliott, 2, bought toys with their own money, and their community rallied around the cause.

Wearing a mask to protect him from germs, Simon and his mother unloaded the toys from an SUV and delivered them to the hospital.

"Deep down, Simon's really beaming inside. And under that mask, there is a smile," his mother said.

Skid Row Santa strikes again

Skid Row's own Santa Claus has made his annual visit to Los Angeles' Skid Row — handing out $10 bills to thousands of destitute people who queued up for several hours to receive the gift.

The 69-year-old retired lawyer, who wishes to remain anonymous, said Thursday he's been giving away $20,000 of his own money every year over the past 30 years at the Midnight Mission.

Dressed in red, the benefactor says he's always moved by the appreciation and gratitude that homeless people show. He estimates about 3,000 people receive $10 bills every Yuletide.

The donor is one of several who hand out money on Skid Row on certain days of the year. Critics say the homeless would be better served if donations were made to one of the many area charities.

Facebook friends share Christmas spirit

A mother of two with disabilities received holiday gifts for the first time, thanks to Facebook friends.

"My children and I have never celebrated Christmas," Josefina Martinez, 34, told NBC 5 News in Chicago.

It all started when NBC 5 News asked its Facebook friends to suggest a family in need of donations.

"I thought a light needed to be shined on children with disabilities," said Julie Lee, a social worker who reached out to NBC 5's Zoraida Sambolin.

Josefina's life had been a constant struggle.

Her 22-month-old daughter, Yudith, has cerebral palsy and limited eyesight. Her son, Jose, 8, is blind and has multiple learning disabilities, Martinez said.

She said her husband abandoned her.

Once Martinez and her family were selected, Facebook friends descended on her tiny apartment to bring Christmas cheer earlier in the week, NBC 5 reported.  Families stocked the pantry with nonperishable food items and flooded the family with gifts.

"I've never received gifts like this, I never have," Martinez said.

'Signing Santa'

The Santa at the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, Texas, speaks a special language.

More than 150 children from the Plano-area's hearing-impaired community went on a field trip to Willow Bend to see the Santa who knows sign language.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40796989/ns/us_news-wonderful_world/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drugs disguised as bath salts send users to ERs

Some have attacked family members, committed suicide after using MDVP

NEW ORLEANS — Dangerous new drugs are being sold as fake bath salts, fake fertilizer or fake insect repellent — and sending drug abusers to emergency rooms around the country after snorting or smoking them, poison center officials say.

At least 84 people around Louisiana have been hospitalized because of paranoia, fighting, hallucinations, suicidal thoughts and physical effects such as hypertension and rapid heartbeat — most for a day or two but at least three of them for weeks, Mark Ryan, head of the Louisiana Poison Center, said Wednesday.

Although they're labeled as bath products or even poison, always including the warning "Not for human consumption," word on the street and the Internet is that they can be sniffed as "legal cocaine" or "legal speed," Henry A. Spiller, director of the Kentucky Regional Poison Center in Louisville, said Wednesday.

Ryan said users describe the drugs as many times more potent than Ritalin or cocaine. Spiller said several people had tried to kill themselves, and others attacked friends or family.

Julie Sanders, an emergency room doctor in Covington, said her stepson, 21-year-old Dickie Sanders, shot and killed himself three days after sniffing "Cloud 9" — one of the names under which MDPV, short for methylenedioxypyrovalerone (METH-uh-leen-di-OX-ee-PY-ro-VAL-uh-rone), is sold.

She said he felt so ill and paranoid the first morning that he repeatedly called his father, family physician Richard J. Sanders, telling him how he was feeling and what he'd taken. The drug kept him awake and paranoid for three nights, she said. The last night he hallucinated that their house was surrounded by police helicopters and dozens of police cars.

The coroner is investigating a possible suicide but has not officially ruled on it, said Capt. George Bonnett of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office.

Ryan said poison centers around the country have gotten 160 calls — 91 of them in Louisiana — about problems from mephedrone (MEF-uh-drone) and MDPV.

The drugs have been sold over the Internet and on the street, in headshops and in convenience, gas station and truck stop stores, said Ryan.

Spiller, who bought some for analysis, said they cost $40 for about two-hundredths of an ounce.

"You and I know that Bath and Body Works would make a fortune if that's what they charged for real bath salts," he said.

Dickie Sanders was in the drug court system after being caught with marijuana, Sanders said. She said he'd passed all his drug tests and attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for some six months. Someone else convicted in drug court sold him Cloud 9, saying, "You can try this stuff and it won't show up on a drug screen."

Sanders said her stepdaughter bought Cloud 9 at a gas station where the clerk had it under the counter.

"It was like a sugar or sweetener packet. When you feel it, it feels like only a few granules," she said. "There's no way it's a true bath salt."

Ryan said the marketing is similar to that for the synthetic marijuana called "spice" or "K2," Ryan said. "It was being marketed as potpourri and incense. It was neither. It was meant to be smoked."

"This is an emerging health threat that needs to be taken seriously," Alvin C. Bronstein, medical director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center and acting director of toxicosurveillance for the American Association of Poison Control Centers, said in a news release.

'A really bad trip'

Ryan said other state poison centers have had a total of 69 calls about the drugs as of midday Wednesday: 19 in Kentucky, 13 in Florida, 12 in Mississippi, 10 in Missouri, six each in Tennessee and Texas, and four in Utah.

"Many of the people who came in described this as a really bad trip," Ryan said. "But because it causes such intense cravings, like methamphetamine, they keep using it."

Ryan said the products are illegal in the United Kingdom and a number of European countries. England outlawed them in April, according to the North Yorkshire Police website.

The powders are sold under other names such as Ivory Wave, Ocean, Charge plus, White Lightning, Scarface, Hurricane Charlie, Red Dove and White Dove, Ryan said.

It wasn't a big problem when it was sold only on the Internet, Spiller said. "The group we're getting it from is paying cash at the gas station, not using a credit card over the Internet," he said.

Ryan noted that, whether labeled bath salts, plant food or insect repellent, the packages have clear warnings, but buyers are looking for drugs.

"Their use is, by the blogs, to be snorted," he said, adding that at least two Louisiana patients injected a drug and one tried to smoke it.

Sanders said her stepson took the drug on a Tuesday night. Late Wednesday night, he called his father and said he was afraid people outside his RV would try to break in.

"We didn't realize at the time this was an illusion he was having," she said.

Thursday he seemed better but later had severe vomiting and cold sweats. That night, he thought the house was surrounded by police and helicopters, she said.

Sanders said her husband took him to the emergency room and blood work, a CAT scan and other tests all came back normal. The doctor also talked to her son for 15 or 20 minutes to make sure he wasn't suicidal, she said.

Richard Sanders apparently fell asleep while trying to keep his son calm, she said. The next morning, they found him dead. At first they thought it might be an accident, but she said they found a gun next to his legs.

"We realized he probably shot himself," she said.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40797021/ns/health-addictions/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Does Santa Claus really exist? Yes, in Indiana

Town named after the Jolly Ol' Elf celebrates the virtues of Christmas year-round

Welcome to Santa Claus, Ind., population 2,041, the only town in all America named after the Jolly Ol' Elf and dedicated to celebrating the evergreen virtues of Christmas.

“It's year-round, but we really ramp it all up come Christmas,” says Melissa Wilkinson of the Spencer County Visitors Bureau. “There are parades, tree lightings, chestnut roastings and fierce competitions between homes vying to be best decorated.”

This is a town so crazy for Christmas that every street is named after something involving the holiday. There's Candy Cane Lane, Mistletoe Drive, Arctic Circle and Balthazar, Melchior, and Kasper drives — the biblical names of the Three Wise Men.

The three fire trucks at the Santa Claus Volunteer Fire Department are named Rudolph, Dasher and Blitzen, and a new EMT vehicle was dubbed Comet.

That's not all. In Santa Claus, local Catholics worship at a church named St. Nicholas, guests overnight at Santa's Lodge, and golfers from all over the world order Christmas Lake Golf Course logo golf balls to convert into dimpled, snow-white ornaments.

It's almost like the town is striving to become some sort of holiday theme park, which is exactly what it would be if there wasn't already an existing theme park devoted to that very purpose.

That would be Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, located in — you guessed it — Santa Claus, Ind., about an hour west of Louisville.

Town history

“Since 1852, we've been the only town in America with a postal designation of Santa Claus,” says Wilkinson. The town is also the birthplace of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and was the boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln.

Sure, both men have their historic cheering sections, but neither has the fan base of the big boy with the long white beard.

Local legend has it the town sought to be named Santa Fe, but the name was taken. So residents met to choose a more unique name, coincidentally, after church on Christmas Eve.

“The story goes that the winds blew open the doors and the sound of nearby sleigh bells drifted in,” Wilkinson says. “The kids all yelled, ‘It must be Santa Claus!' ”

The fabled decision from long ago, one with all the mystic elements of a Hallmark Christmas movie, would end up having a dramatic impact on the holidays of current Santa Claus post mistress Marian Balbach.

“The rest of the year is pretty calm,” she says. “Come Christmas, it's a whole new ballgame. It seems everyone in the world wants to have their Christmas cards stamped with Santa Claus, Indiana, 47579.”

The post office goes from about 10,000 letters a month and one full-time employee to five full timers who handle about 400,000 letters in just three weeks.

Is Balbach stressed? Does she hate Christmas? Does she throw darts at Santa's likeness?

Ho! Ho! Ho!, er, No! No! No! she insists.

“Oh, I just love it,” she says. “You can't help but share the happiness of people who've driven six or seven hours just to mail Christmas cards from Santa Claus. We had one gentleman who used to gather cards and drive them here just so they could be sent from Santa Claus. He was 90, and I finally convinced him just to send them and we'd be happy to take care of it.”

The real Santa Claus

Yes, postal patrons, there is a Santa Claus and not only does he receive your letters, he goes to great lengths to individually answer each and every one.

A team of Santa Claus volunteers, dubbed, of course, Santa's Elves, answers and returns the letters sent to the post office, many of them dusted with cookie crumbs from a bumpy journey, according to chief elf Pat Koch.

“Kids all around the world think if they drop a letter to Santa Claus in the mailbox, he's going to get it,” she says. “It's our job to see that Santa answers his mail. Really, that's what Santa Claus is all about.”

Koch is the daughter-in-law of Holiday World founder Louis Koch, whose Santa Claus Land in 1946 became the world's first themed amusement park, pre-dating Disneyland by nine years.

In the mid-1990s, the theme park, led by Koch's son, Will, began investing heavily in roller coasters and a water park that would rival the world's best.

By 2005, Holiday World edged out all the Disneys, the Six Flags and a host of better-known others when the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions awarded it Best Park, the smallest park to ever earn the distinction.

Sadly, this visionary father of three died of complications of diabetes in June at the age of 47. On Nov. 16, Koch was posthumously inducted into the IAAPA's Hall of Fame alongside industry legends Walt Disney and Milton Hershey. His induction ceremony noted his eagerness to give rather than gouge.

Besides free parking, the park (open May through October) offers free sunscreen and everywhere are unattended soda oases that allow guests to drink as much Pepsi product as they want all day for free all summer. In an age when others in the entertainment industry routinely charge $4.50 or more for 12-ounces of flat soda, the gesture is flabbergasting.

“He really wanted to give as much back to the guests as he could,” says park spokeswoman Paula Werne. “That's just the kind of guy he was.”

What do you expect from a man who devoted his life to helping really put Santa Claus on the map?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40442986/ns/travel-destination_travel/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Department of Homeland Security

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Video on site)

Helpful Hints for Holiday Travelers

Every holiday travel season, TSA prepares its workforce of 50,000 Transportation Security Officers to ensure we provide a smooth holiday travel experience for travelers. Since this is during the busiest travel time of the year, TSA wants to remind passengers of the security procedures in place and help travelers be prepared for security, before they leave home.

The ‘Why's' Behind Security

TSA strives to inform the traveling public about the ‘Why's' behind security. The goal is to improve security by compelling airline passengers to be better prepared for the security processes, thereby resulting in less frustration and a safer and more positive experience. To learn the ‘Why's' behind TSA's security procedures, Click Here.

Advanced Imaging Technology

TSA has deployed hundreds of advanced imaging technology units to airports across the country to keep the traveling public safe. To learn more about their safety, privacy, and how the technologies work, Click Here.

Pat-downs

What triggers a pat-down?
Pat-downs are used to resolve alarms at the checkpoint, including those triggered by metal detectors and AIT units. Pat-downs are also used when a person opts out of AIT screening in order to detect potentially dangerous and prohibited items. Because pat-downs are specifically used to resolve alarms and prevent dangerous items from going on a plane, the vast majority of passengers will not receive a pat-down at the checkpoint.

What can I do to prevent an alarm at the security checkpoint?
The majority of pat-downs occur when a passenger alarms either the metal detector or the AIT unit. To reduce this circumstance, the most important thing you can do is take everything out of your pockets before you go through screening. Also, when traveling, avoid wearing clothes with a high metal content, and put heavy jewelry on after you go through security.

What do I do during a pat-down?
All passengers have important rights during a pat-down. You have the right to request the pat-down be conducted in a private room and you have the right to have the pat-down witnessed by a person of your choice. All pat-downs are only conducted by same-gender officers. The officer will explain the pat-down process before and during the pat-down. If you have a medical device, please inform the officer.

Will children receive pat-downs?
Transportation Security Officers will work with parents to resolve any alarms at the checkpoint. If required, a child may receive a modified pat-down. Parents are encouraged to ensure their children have taken all items out of their pockets as they go through the security checkpoint.

Secure Flight

Secure Flight requires airlines to collect a passenger's full name (as it appears on their government-issued ID), date of birth, gender and Redress Number (if applicable). By providing complete information, passengers can significantly decrease the likelihood of watch list misidentification. To learn more about Secure Flight and what it means this holiday travel season, Click Here.

The MyTSA App

To provide passengers with 24/7 access to the most commonly requested TSA information on their mobile device, TSA has developed the MyTSA mobile application. No matter where you are, you'll have easy access to information you need to get through security and onto the plane safely and smoothly. To learn more, Click Here.

The 3-1-1 Policy for Liquids, Gels, and Aerosols

Liquid explosives still pose a threat and for that reason TSA limits the amount of liquids passengers can safely carry through the security checkpoint. This limitation applies only to carry-on bags. Larger quantities of liquids, gels, and aerosols can be safely packed in checked baggage.

Here are the rules:

• 3.4 ounce (100ml) bottle or less for all liquids, gels and aerosols; placed in a
• 1 quart-sized, clear, plastic, zip-top bag to hold all small bottles;
• 1 bag per passenger placed in a screening bin

Larger quantities of breast milk/baby formula and medically necessary liquids are permitted but must be presented to an officer for further inspection. For more information on traveling with medically necessary liquids, click here.

Traveling With Kids or Your Parents? Use Family Lanes

Families or individuals traveling with medically necessary liquids this holiday season can use TSA's Family Lanes to have a more pleasant travel experience. There are Family Lanes at every security checkpoint allowing families and travelers with special needs to go through security at their own pace. Individuals carrying medically necessary liquids, gels and aerosols in excess of three ounces will also be directed to these popular lanes. Individuals traveling with liquids, gels and aerosols within 3-1-1 limits will not experience any change to their screening procedures. These lanes are marked by signage at each security checkpoint.

Traveling with Food

Everyone has favorite foods from home that they want to bring to holiday dinners, or items from their destination that they want to bring back home. Travelers should know that while pies are permitted through the security checkpoint, here is a list of liquids, gels and aerosol items that you should put in your checked bag, ship ahead, or leave at home.

Items that are purchased after the security checkpoint have been pre-screened and can be taken on the plane.

Traveling with Gifts and Snow Globes

Remember not to wrap gifts before you travel. Our security officers may have to un-wrap a gift if they need to take a closer look inside. This applies to both carry-ons at the security checkpoint and to checked baggage. Please ship wrapped gifts ahead of time or wait until you arrive at your destination to wrap them. Additionally, TSA does not permit snow globes through the security checkpoint because they contain an undetermined amount of liquid. Snow globes are permitted in checked baggage.

TSA Travel Checklist

• Click here to download TSA's Helpful Hints for Holiday Travelers Checklist
  (pdf, 318Kb)

Before Packing

• Quart sized zip top bag (Hint: 1 bag per passenger is permitted)
• 3 ounces or less sized containers of liquids, gels and aerosols ( 3-1-1 )
• Visit TSA.gov to review the prohibited items list for both carry-on and checked baggage
• If purchasing a luggage lock, be sure to look for those that are recognized by TSA ( Locks )
• It can be helpful to tape a card with your name and contact information on any large electronics (like laptops)

When Packing

• Pack items in layers (shoes one layer, clothes one layer, electronics one layer, etc.) ( Pack For Security )
• Pack large electronics on top layer of carry-on for easy accessibility
• Place your 3-1-1 bag with liquids, gels and aerosols in front pocket of your carry-on for easy accessibility

Before Leaving for Airport

• Give yourself enough time to arrive at airport early
• Wear easily removable shoes
• Make sure to have accepted government issued identification and boarding pass if printed at home ( Acceptable Identification )

Before Entering Checkpoint

• Look for Family/Medical Liquids Lanes if special assistance is needed for families ( Family Lanes )
• Be sure to place all items from pockets and any bulky metal jewelry in carry-on bag or purse
• Have ID and boarding pass out for inspection

After Entering Checkpoint

• Remove 3-1-1 bag and place in bin
• Remove shoes and place directly on belt for quick screening ( Shoes )
• Remove coats and jackets and place in bin ( Outerwear )
• Remove computers and large electronics from carry on and place in bin alone (video game consoles, remote control toys, etc.) ( Large Electronics )
• Ensure no items remain in your pockets before proceeding to the walk-through metal detector or imaging technology (keys, cell phones, comb, eyeglasses, etc.) ( Imaging Technology )
• Remember to check bins and collect all belongings following screening

Helpful Travel Information

• Information on traveling with food and gifts
• Learn more about the 3-1-1 Policy
• Tips on traveling with children
• Tips on traveling with passengers with special needs
• Complete list of prohibited items
• Identification requirements
• Information on traveling with unique items, including sporting equipment
• Tips on how to pack for security

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/holiday_travel.shtm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Critical Infrastructure Protection

From energy systems that power our neighborhoods, to transportation networks that move us around our communities and the country, to facilities that provide our families with safe drinking water, critical infrastructure impacts nearly every aspect of our daily lives.

"Critical infrastructure" is defined by federal law as "systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters." The Department has identified 18 critical infrastructure sectors, as diverse as agriculture and food, emergency services, and cyber networks. More about critical infrastructure sectors.

Critical infrastructure provides enormous benefits, services, and opportunities on which we rely, and the Department is very mindful of the risks to this infrastructure posed by terrorists, pandemic diseases and natural disasters. We know that these threats can have serious effects, such as cutting populations off from clean water, power, transportation, or emergency supplies.

Secretary Napolitano is working to raise awareness about the importance of our nation's critical infrastructure and strengthen our ability to protect it. The Department oversees programs and resources that foster public-private partnerships, enhance protective programs, and build resilience to withstand and recover rapidly from the impacts from natural disasters or terrorist threats. Key activities in those areas include:

• Assessing vulnerabilities, implementing protective programs, and improving security protocols
• Enhancing preparedness through training and exercises
• Assisting with contingency planning, response, and recovery
• Implementing real-time information sharing
• Implementing cybersecurity measures
• Assisting with infrastructure data collection and management
• Implementing regulations for high-risk chemical facilities
• Developing standards for federal building security

http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/critical.shtm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the Department of Justice

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beacon, New York, Police Department Enters into Agreement with the United States to Reform Its Policies and Practices

NEW YORK – The Justice Department announced today an agreement with the Beacon, N.Y., Police Department (BPD) to resolve the department's investigation of the BPD, in accordance with the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. That law authorizes the attorney general to file suit to reform police departments that may be engaging in a pattern or practice of violating citizens' federal rights.

"Communities must be able to trust their police departments to protect and promote public safety," said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez. "This agreement will ensure that residents of Beacon can feel confident that their police department will always act in their best interest and will improve the department's operations that will protect the community."

"We are pleased that the Beacon Police Department has concluded a cooperative effort to improve its policies and procedures regarding use of force, review of officer conduct and citizen complaints so that they may better protect all of the people of Beacon," said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara. "We will continue to monitor and enforce the civil rights laws."

Today's agreement concludes the investigation without any finding that the BPD violated the law, but implements a series of reforms and improvements designed to improve the operation of the BPD. On June 21, 2005, and Nov. 14, 2008, the department's Civil Rights Division Special Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorney's Office issued technical assistance letters to the BPD. The agreement, signed today by the department, implements those recommendations. Under the terms of the agreement finalized today, the BPD has agreed to, among other things:

• Revise its use of force policy to emphasize verbal de-escalation techniques, and specifically prohibit the use of the carotid hold absent exigent circumstances;
  
  
• Specifically limit the type of ammunition allowed and mandate the exact amount of ammunition officers must carry;
  
  
• Revise its OC spray policies to ensure that OC spray is appropriately used and that all uses are reported;
  
  
• Revise its policies requiring the review and/or investigation of all uses of force, beyond unresisted handcuffing, to be consistent as to the requirements for investigation and review of uses of force;
  
  
• Develop standards for its vehicle pursuit/roadblock policy to clarify the circumstances in which pursuits should be authorized;
  
  
• Implement a formal, structured, and consistent system for handling complaints from members of the public;
  
  
• Create a policy development committee and, where appropriate, seek input from the community on new policies; and
  
  
• Develop a risk assessment and management system that will examine and review officer conduct on a regular basis as a proactive measure to minimize and detect misconduct, and to identify training and policy issues.

The agreement will remain in place for two years, provided that the parties agree that the BPD has maintained substantial compliance with its terms.

The relevant provision of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, known by its statutory provision as "Section 14141," requires the Department of Justice to focus on systemic problems in police departments rather than individual, isolated problems. The department may enforce the statute through the filing of a federal court complaint or, as here, by voluntary compliance agreement.

Special Litigation Section Trial Attorney Cathleen Trainor and Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Kennedy of the Southern District of New York are handling the case.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/December/10-crt-1479.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Former Bell, California, Police Officer Sentenced to Nine Years on Federal Civil Rights Charge for Sexual Assault

WASHINGTON – A judge sentenced Feliciano Sanchez, a former officer with the Bell, Calif., Police Department, to nine years in federal prison and three years of supervised release for sexually assaulting a female motorist and violating her civil rights, the Justice Department announced.

Sanchez, 35, of Pico Rivera, Calif., pleaded guilty last year to violating the female victim's civil rights when he forced her to perform oral sex after stopping her for a traffic violation. Sanchez admitted in court that on May 16, 2007, he took the victim in his patrol car to an isolated parking lot away from the traffic stop. During the assault, Sanchez placed his hand on his duty weapon and forced the victim to perform the sex act.

According to evidence presented in court and in documents filed by prosecutors, Sanchez forced the victim to commit the sex act while armed and in his full police uniform. After the incident, Sanchez twice went to the victim's workplace to tell her that he would be watching her, which caused her to quit her job.

"These actions not only brutalized the victim, but undermined the public's trust in its law enforcement officers," said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "The Department will aggressively prosecute law enforcement officers who violate the rights of the people they have sworn to protect and disregard the laws they have pledged to uphold."

“This former police officer violated his oath to serve and protect the community by committing a crime that was particularly offensive, dehumanizing and harmful,” said U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. “In this case, Mr. Sanchez committed an egregious assault, caused incalculable pain and suffering to the victim, and damaged the honor of the thousands of men and women in law enforcement who serve us every day.”

This case was investigated by agents from the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office.  The case was prosecuted by former Assistant U.S. Attorney Tammy Spertus of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, and Trial Attorney Karen Ruckert Lopez and former Trial Attorney Christine Dunn of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/December/10-crt-1478.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From ICE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An inside look at ICE

(Videos on site)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) consists of two main program areas – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Our HSI agents and ERO officers take down drug trafficking rings, save victims from sexual predators, remove criminal aliens from the United States and more. When ICE is in action, communities across the world are safer places to live. Take an inside look at what's happening at ICE.

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1012/101223washington.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From the FBI

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FBI Releases Preliminary Semiannual Crime Statistics for 2010

According to the FBI's Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report released today, the nation experienced a 6.2 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 2.8 percent decline in the number of property crimes from January to June 2010, when compared with data from the same time period in the prior year. The report is based on information from more than 12,000 law enforcement agencies that submitted three to six comparable months of data to the FBI during the first six months of both 2009 and 2010.

Violent Crime

• From January to June 2010, all four of the offense types in the violent crime category declined nationwide when compared with data for the same time period in 2009. Robbery fell 10.7 percent, murder was down 7.1 percent, forcible rape declined 6.2 percent, and aggravated assault decreased 3.9 percent.
  
  
• Violent crime declined in all city groups, with the largest decrease, 8.3 percent, in cities with populations of 500,000 to 999,999 persons. Violent crime was also down in both nonmetropolitan and metropolitan counties, with declines of 7.6 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.
  
  
• For the six-month comparison period, violent crime fell in all four regions of the nation: 7.8 percent in the South, 7.2 percent in both the Midwest and the West, and 0.2 percent in the Northeast. The Northeast was the only region to experience an increase in murders, 5.7 percent. Murder declined in the other three regions—12.0 percent in the South, 7.1 percent in the West, and 6.3 percent in the Midwest.

Property Crime

• Property crime was down 2.8 percent nationwide for the first six months of 2010 compared with data for the same months of 2009. Motor vehicle theft dropped 9.7 percent, larceny-theft fell 2.3 percent, and burglary decreased 1.4 percent.
  
  
• Property crime declined in all four regions, with a 3.6 percent decrease in the South, a 3.1 percent decrease in the West, a 2.5 decrease in the Midwest, and a 0.2 percent decrease in the Northeast.
  
  
• Cities with 500,000 to 999,999 inhabitants experienced a 4.8 percent drop in property crime. In nonmetropolitan counties, property crime increased 1.0 percent, but it decreased 2.4 percent in metropolitan counties.

Arson

Arson offenses, which are tracked separately from other property crimes, decreased 14.6 percent nationwide. By population group, the largest decline in the number of arson offenses (17.2 percent) was in cities with populations of 50,000 to 99,999 residents. Arson also fell in metropolitan counties by 21.6 percent and in nonmetropolitan counties by 19.4 percent. Law enforcement agencies in all four regions reported fewer arsons, including declines of 17.6 percent in the West, 14.3 percent in the South, 12.6 percent in the Midwest, and 10.2 percent in the Northeast.

Note: Caution against Ranking —When the FBI publishes crime data in its Uniform Crime Reports throughout the year, some entities use the figures to compile rankings of cities and counties. These rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state, tribal area, or region. Consequently, they lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents. Valid assessments are possible only with careful study and analysis of the range of unique conditions affecting each local law enforcement jurisdiction. The data user is, therefore, cautioned against comparing statistical data of individual reporting units from cities, metropolitan areas, states, or colleges or universities solely on the basis of their population coverage or student enrollment.

The complete Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report , January to June 2010, is available exclusively at http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/crimestats

A New Breed

Scent Dog Program Gets Results

(Video on site)

12/23/10

When an Anchorage, Alaska nurse went missing in 2007 and was found dead six weeks later, the FBI Laboratory's Evidence Response Team Unit (ERTU) was called in and asked to bring some experts—our specially trained human scent evidence canines Tinkerbelle, Lucy, and Casey. Following human scent trails from several places linked to the killing, the dogs kept ending up at the same location—the house of a man who lived near the victim.

The neighbor was eventually charged with the murder. In a pre-trial hearing his lawyer challenged the science behind the scent evidence and asked that it be thrown out. The judge ruled that the science was indeed sound, and fully admissible in court. Last February, the man pled guilty to the killing and was sentenced to life without parole.

Human scent evidence has been used in federal court before.  However, the federal court judge's ruling sets an important precedent —and by extension acknowledges the Bureau's efforts to promote the highest standards when scent dogs are used in investigations.

The use of dogs by law enforcement is nothing new. Bloodhounds have traditionally been called upon to pick up the trail of fugitives and missing persons. FBI police and our special agent bomb technicians use dogs trained to sniff for explosives, and we have victim recovery dogs trained specifically to seek out the smell of blood and decomposing bodies.

But our Human Scent Evidence Team (HSET), established in 2002 and now a full-time program in the ERTU, is something of a new breed. After they are trained and certified—a process that can take two to three years—HSET dogs can help point investigators in the right direction when time and resources may be in limited supply—and their efforts may later be scrutinized in the courtroom.

Here's how the program works:

• At the crime scene, in addition to collecting fingerprints, DNA, and other evidence, ERT technicians collect scents by using a trace evidence vacuum similar to those used for collection of hair and fibers. Human scent traces, which can be obtained from almost any object, are vacuumed onto a sterile surgical dressing and placed in an airtight glass jar (they can be stored that way for an extended period of time).
  
  
• Dogs are trained to smell the collected scent by sniffing the scent pad and indicating either a scent match or a non-match. If there is a matching trail of human odor, the dog will follow an invisible “odor highway” in the same way humans might recognize streets, roadways, and intersections.
  
  
• In most cases handlers know nothing about the cases they are called in to work. They are simply given a scent pad and asked to follow a trail if one is found.

Stockham is working with the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies to establish a uniform set of training and certification standards that would apply to all scent dogs used in investigations.

 “Our goal is to promote a science-driven program with the highest standards of training, certification, and professionalism,” Stockham explained. “It's part of the FBI Laboratory's commitment to provide exceptional forensic science services to our federal, state, local, and international law enforcement partners.”

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2010/december/scent_122310/scent_122310

.