9/11...A Day To Remember

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Ten years after 9/11, U.S. policymakers have been remarkably disinclined to learn from their mistakes.

In the 10 years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. policymakers have done some things right and many things wrong. Yet they have been remarkably disinclined to learn from their mistakes.

To mark the anniversary, many media reports have assessed the impacts of the federal spending and policy changes that resulted from the attacks. In The Times, for example, staff writer Ken Dilanian examined the effects of laws making it possible for federal investigators to collect, analyze and store digital data and other communications from Americans, with little or no judicial or congressional oversight. The extent of this eavesdropping is kept secret, but a handful of high-profile cases have shown that even the once-privileged communications between a defendant and his lawyer are no longer off-limits, and that the ability to obtain a warrant without probable cause is leading to snafus such as the investigation of Oregon lawyer Brandon Mayfield, mistakenly considered a suspect in the 2004 Madrid train bombings. That doesn't appear to bother Congress, which in May overwhelmingly approved a four-year extension of the Patriot Act.

Meanwhile, the House in May approved a defense spending bill giving the president the authority to use military force against "Al Qaeda, the Taliban and associated forces" whether they have any connection to the 9/11 attacks or not. That goes well beyond the powers handed to President Bush after the attacks and is in essence an authorization for endless war, against enemies of the commander in chief's choosing. It comes amid military-led nation-building exercises in two countries that have largely failed to create their own democratic institutions despite vast expenditures of American blood and treasure.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-911-20110911,0,3353851,print.story

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A legacy of resilience and fear

The attacks of Sept. 11 awakened Americans to a dangerous world. Ten years later, we still worry, but we also refuse to give in to terrorism.

In the first days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Americans emerged with a deeper, painful sense of community. Mourning begot a frenzy of patriotism. Miniature flags adorned jacket lapels and flapped from car windows, at least for a few months. People tended to the grieving, made heroes of firefighters and vowed to band together on airplanes to take down any further in-flight threats. And they did. Passengers and flight attendants on a trans-Atlantic flight successfully tackled Richard Reid three months later as he attempted to detonate a bomb in his shoe. Terrorists could break our skyscrapers but not our spirit. Instead, it was a reckless banking industry that set off an economic catastrophe in 2008 that shook Americans' faith in the future.

Photos: World Trade Center attack site, then and now

There are many ways to measure the effects of 9/11 on Americans, but it's surprising how fleeting some of them were. If the tragedy moved us to be more concerned neighbors, it didn't necessarily make us more accepting. Some panicked or became aggressive when they saw a Muslim, or a person they thought looked like one, on a plane. Plans for an Islamic center just a few blocks from the World Trade Center site provoked such intense protest that President Obama had to call for something elementally American: religious tolerance. As for the much-discussed sense of national unity, the George W. Bush administration's response to 9/11 ushered in a period of intense political polarization that has, if anything, worsened under Obama.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-fear-20110909,0,5736192.story

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Massachusetts

Amherst police extending outreach

Capt. Chris Pronovost said the sessions are part of a renewed emphasis on community policing that goes beyond handing out bicycle helmets and installing child safety seats.

The idea behind the program, he said, is for officers to get feedback from residents about issues that police may be able to deal with, especially as it relates to student behavior and off-campus rental properties.

"It's more accurate to hear directly from residents," Pronovost said. "There are some issues we just can't identify on our own."

Officers who patrol in specific sectors of town will be holding office hours at locations within or near where they typically work.

http://www.gazettenet.com/2011/09/10/amherst-police-extending-outreach

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Sept 10, 2011

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U.S. seeks suspects in alleged 9/11 anniversary plot

Two or three men, possibly including a U.S. citizen, with close ties to Al Qaeda are sought in a suspected plan to bomb bridges or tunnels. Al Qaeda's chief is believed to have signed off on the plot.

U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials scrambled Friday to identify and find as many as three men who supposedly planned to travel from Afghanistan to detonate car bombs on bridges or in tunnels this weekend in New York and Washington.

Officials said they obtained specific but uncorroborated intelligence this week that two or three individuals with close ties to Al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan had entered the United States in a plot to disrupt events planned to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Vice President Joe Biden told morning TV shows that the intelligence came from a "credible source."

"We cannot confirm it. We are doing everything in our power. All hands are on deck," Biden told NBC's "Today."

The men — possibly including a U.S. citizen — were said to have crossed by land from Pakistan to Afghanistan and then to have boarded a series of flights bound for the United States, possibly connecting through Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, according to a source who has read the intelligence and who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-terror-threat-20110910,0,7102179,print.story

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This Sept. 11 is a weekend to remember across America

New Yorkers, especially, will carve out time to ponder the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

For a while, the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks seemed to slowly shrink. A little less each year. But the passing of a decade is galvanizing people.

President Obama is observing Sunday at all three sites — New York, Washington, and Shanksville, Pa., where United flight 93 crashed. Members of Congress and other dignitaries will be alongside him. Governors and mayors are leading candlelighting ceremonies and service projects in their cities and states. In the media, commemoration will be omnipresent — with some Sunday newspapers thickened by special sections and television networks airing tributes and documentaries as well as replaying the horrifying scenes of that day over and over again.

But while this weekend will be marked by moments of official grandeur, many more memorials will play out on street corners and inside small churches from one end of the country to the other.

Congress expands Fast and Furious probe to White House

Congressional investigators reviewing the failed gun-tracking program Operation Fast and Furious have formally asked the Obama administration to turn over copies of "all records" involving three key White House national security officials and the program, other ATF gun cases in Phoenix, and all communications between the White House and the ATF field office in Arizona.

The letter signed Friday by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, was sent to National Security Advisor Thomas E. Donilon, a top aide to President Obama.

It marks a significant step in the committee's investigation into the failed gun-tracking operation, as the committee begins to broaden its investigation from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and targets White House and Department of Justice officials.

This material, Issa and Grassley said, "will enable us to determine the extent of the involvement of White House staff in Operation Fast and Furious."

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-white-house-atf-20110909,0,5477610,print.story

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Cyber-attack in Europe highlights Internet risks

The assault, apparently launched from Iran, focused on the digital security systems used to authenticate websites for banking, email and e-commerce around the world.

A major cyber-attack in Europe that apparently was launched from Iran has revealed significant vulnerabilities in the Internet security systems used to authenticate websites for banking, email and e-commerce around the world.

The attack this summer wreaked havoc in the Netherlands, where the justice minister on Sunday warned the public that the only secure way to communicate with the Dutch government was with pen, paper and fax machine.

The digital assault compromised a Dutch company called DigiNotar, which issues digital certificates, computer code that assures browsers that a website is what it appears to be. The certificates also encrypt communications between the user and the site so they can't be intercepted.

The attackers produced 531 fake DigiNotar certificates for heavily used websites, including Google, Microsoft, Twitter and Facebook, as well as the public websites for the CIA and the spy services for Britain and Israel, according to an interim audit by Fox-IT, a Dutch security company.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cyber-attack-20110910,0,7313791,print.story

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Decade after September 11, New Yorkers ready to move on

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The attacks of September 11, 2001 changed life in the United States forever, but 10 years after the devastating hit, New Yorkers have learned to live in a more dangerous world and are ready to move on.

Police heightened security in New York on Friday in response to a credible but unconfirmed threat of an al Qaeda plot to attack the city again on the anniversary of the downing of the World Trade Center towers by hijaked airplanes.

In Manhattan, police set up impromptu check points and searched vehicles, but New Yorkers took the security alerts in their stride as a normal part of their life.

Ahead of Sunday's commerative ceremonies at Ground Zero, there are signs that some New Yorkers are tired of it all.

Don't call it Ground Zero, don't use the term 9/11 widow and don't read the names of the dead, they say.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/09/us-sept-idUSTRE78866G20110909

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New York

Community policing would make city safer

Unfortunately, true community policing has been abandoned by police agencies all over the country since the advent of the statistics-driven style of policing debuted by the Rudy Giuliani administration in the mid-1990s. Under the New York City Police Department's much imitated CompStat program, statistics and computer crime maps drive deployment of police manpower and resources. The limitations of this tactic are becoming appallingly evident. Years of relentless pressure on precinct commanders to produce steadily downward trending crime statistics on the threat of having their careers dead-ended is having a variety of predictably negative results.

A community policing movement is slowly growing in New York. I date its inception to a series of Albany homicides beginning five years ago involving perpetrators as young as 15 and victims as young as 10. This galvanized questions about police's insistent invocation of declining crime statistics to indicate that things could not be better. What the department didn't get was that the decline in reported crime was being offset by a decline in public satisfaction with police response.

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20110910/VIEWPOINTS02/109100309/Community-policing-would-make-city-safer

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DSP receive COPS funding for ‘Secure Our Schools' program

Delaware's Congressional Delegation announces over $260,000 in COPS grant funding to the Delaware State Police for the “Secure Our Schools” program. The program helps law enforcement agencies work with schools to help protect children and prevent school-related violence in their communities.

WILMINGTON, Del. – U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, and Representative John Carney (all D-Del.) today announced a total of $260,473 for the Delaware State Police from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). This funding, which was awarded on Thursday, is part of COPS' Secure Our Schools grant program to help local law enforcement agencies work with schools in responding to growing safety and security concerns.

“Parents trust that their children will be safe while they are at school,” Senator Carper said. “This grant will not only help to ensure students will be safe at school so they are free to concentrate on learning, but also forge key ties between parents, students, community members and the police. It takes a combination of factors in the community working together to keep our children out of harm's way and on the right path, and this grant works to bring those factors together for the greater good of our students.”

http://www.wgmd.com/?p=34488

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Pregnant 9/11 survivors transmitted trauma to their children

The emerging field of epigenetics shows how traumatic experiences can be transmitted from one generation to the next

For New Yorkers, the events that transpired on the morning of 11 September, 2001 must have seemed like a nightmare. Immediately after the attack on the World Trade Centre that day, psychologists predicted that a wave of trauma would sweep across the country. Although this prediction turned out to be wrong, it is estimated that some 530,000 New York City residents suffered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the months following the attack.

Among the tens of thousands of people directly exposed to the World Trade Centre attack were approximately 1,700 pregnant women. Some of these women went on to develop symptoms of PTSD, and some of the children have inherited the nightmare that their mothers experienced on that day.

Within weeks of the attack, researchers at the Traumatic Stress Studies Division at the Mount Sinai Medical Centre in New York were inundated with telephone calls from people who had been traumatised by the event, including pregnant women. Rachel Yehuda, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience in charge of the division, set out to investigate how these women's experiences might affect their children.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/neurophilosophy/2011/sep/09/pregnant-911-survivors-transmitted-trauma/print

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WEEKLY ADDRESS: Remembering September 11th

WASHINGTON— In this week's address, President Obama marked the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks and paid tribute to the first responders, those serving our nation in the military, and those who lost their lives on that tragic day. In the difficult decade since 9/11, our nation has stayed strong in the face of threat, and we have strengthened our homeland security, enhanced our partnerships, and put al Qaeda on the path to defeat. As we look to the future, we will continue to prove that the terrorists who attacked us are no match for the courage, resilience, and endurance of the American people.

Remarks of President Barack Obama

This weekend, we're coming together, as one nation, to mark the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. We're remembering the lives we lost—nearly 3,000 innocent men, women and children. We're reaffirming our commitment to always keep faith with their families.

We're honoring the heroism of first responders who risked their lives—and gave their lives—to save others. And we're giving thanks to all who serve on our behalf, especially our troops and military families—our extraordinary 9/11 Generation.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/10/weekly-address-remembering-september-11th

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Statement by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano Urging Public Vigilance

“As we head into the 9/11 anniversary weekend, we continue to urge the American public to be vigilant and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities. Simply put, if you see something, say something. We take all threat reporting, including the recent specific, credible but unconfirmed threat information, seriously. We continue to be in close contact with our federal, state and local law enforcement partners to ensure that all steps necessary to mitigate any threats are taken. Our security posture includes a number of measures both seen and unseen and we will continue to respond appropriately to protect the American people from an evolving threat picture both in the coming days and beyond. Homeland security is a shared responsibility, and everyone plays an important role in helping to keep our communities safe and secure.”

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/20110909-napolitano-urging-public-vigilance.shtm

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Sept 9, 2011

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A 'specific, credible' terror threat aimed at 9/11 memorials

The suspicion stems in part from intelligence gathering during the raid that led to the death of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The terrorist organization has shown an interest in important dates and anniversaries as symbol-rich times to stage an offensive.

"In this instance, it's accurate that there is specific, credible but unconfirmed threat information," Matt Chandler, press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement.

ABC News was reporting Thursday that U.S. authorities are looking for at least three people who entered the country in August by air with the intent to launch a vehicle-borne attack, possibly in New York or Washington, D.C. ABC News said that one of those people may be a U.S. citizen.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Fast and Furious guns tied to second violent crime

In the second violent crime in this country connected with the ATF's failed Fast and Furious program, two Arizona undercover police officers were allegedly assaulted last year when they attempted to stop two men in a stolen vehicle with two of the program's weapons in a confrontation south of Phoenix.

The officers, members of an elite Arizona Department of Public Safety law enforcement unit, said the driver rammed their cars and threatened them with the firearms, and then fled into the Arizona desert. The driver was caught and arrested, and two firearms –- a Beretta pistol and AK-47 semiautomatic assault rifle -- were found in the stolen Ford truck, the police said.

The suspect, Angel Hernandez-Diaz, 48, believed to be a Mexican national, was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, driving the stolen vehicle and illegal possession of the weapons. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial in Pinal County, Ariz., next month.

Also arrested in the incident was the passenger, Rosario Zavala, 30, of Mexico, who was charged with possession of narcotics and the stolen vehicle.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-atf-gun-20110908,0,7402255,print.story

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Growing up without a father after 9/11

Tiffany Ramsaroop has spent the last decade growing from a third-grader to a college freshman. Yet at every milestone there has been a hole where her dad should have been.

Every morning, Tiffany Ramsaroop wakes up to a picture of her dad. It's tacked in the middle of a bulletin board in her lavender bedroom.

Vishnoo Ramsaroop died 10 years ago in the south tower of the World Trade Center. He was a maintenance worker who supported a wife and three girls on $43,000 a year.

Tiffany, his oldest, was 8 when it happened. It was two years before she stopped believing he got hit in the head by debris and would stroll through the door having recovered from amnesia. Two more passed before she really cried.

Tiffany has walked the terrible line of people in grief, trying to move forward without forgetting. At 15, she flew to his native Trinidad and let his accent wash over her. His starched work shirt with his name ironed on the back of the collar hangs in her closet between the dresses and blouses. She put it on once, but doesn't want to talk about that.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/september11/la-na-911-children-20110909,0,2058949,print.story

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Remembering the heroes of Flight 93

Ten years after the United Airlines flight was hijacked and crashed into a remote area in Pennsylvania, a memorial to the 40 crew members and passengers who died will be unveiled.

In the remote, rolling hills near this tiny southwestern Pennsylvania borough, signs of the thunderous jolts that shook the town on Sept. 11, 2001, and then rippled across the world have mostly faded.

The 40-foot-deep crater created by the chaotic, 500-mph descent of United Airlines Flight 93 has long been covered. Nearby, wildflowers blanket the 60-plus acres that serve as a burial ground for 40 crew members and passengers.

A serene walkway overlooks the seasonal blooms and leads to a granite wall inscribed with the names of all who were aboard Flight 93.

It took 10 years, but the National Park Service's Flight 93 National Memorial in Stonycreek Township will be unveiled Saturday during events that are expected to draw 10,000 people, including President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-shanksville-memorial-20110909,0,894604,print.story

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Counter-terrorism becomes part of law enforcement

Since Sept. 11, local policing has been reshaped — with officers studying Taliban tactics, traveling overseas and reaching out to Muslim communities in the U.S. Some wonder if it's working.

On a sunny afternoon this summer, dozens of Los Angeles police officers converged on the Iman Cultural Center and mosque in West Los Angeles.

They brought bureaucratic swag — pens and mugs emblazoned with the LAPD insignia — and then, accompanied by a smiling Chief Charlie Beck, crowded into a banquet hall in a blue swarm of friendly handshakes and words of welcome and fellowship.

When it was his turn at the microphone, Deputy Chief Michael Downing added another point: that the LAPD values its relationship with Muslim communities and wants people to continue to reach out if they suspect someone they know is becoming radicalized.

The event was a sign of how terrorism concerns have reshaped local policing in the decade since 9/11.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/september11/la-na-911-homeland-security-enforcement-20110907,0,5656820,print.story

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9/11: A decade after -- Thinking outside the 'Muslim bubble'

Many American Muslims have hunkered down since Sept. 11, fearful of the anti-Islamic backlash. But some have found that reaching out to non-Muslim neighbors in small ways can have big results.

Maria Khani was at her computer that September morning, working on an Arabic textbook. The small TV on the desk was turned to Al Jazeera. Suddenly, news came: A plane had struck the World Trade Center. Minutes later, she watched the screen as the second plane hit.

Khani sat frozen, questions racing through her mind: "Oh, my God, what do I do right now? Is everything that I built … gone?"

For five years, she had been planting the seeds of goodwill with Americans of other faiths. What if it was all for naught?

Unlike many Muslims who hunkered down after Sept. 11 and let national religious organizations defend their rights and make their case in the public square, Khani resolved not to retreat into the safety of silence, but to press on with her efforts over the years to become a part of her community, one neighbor at a time.

When Khani walked out of her house that day in a well-to-do Huntington Beach neighborhood, on a block of large houses and palm-shaded driveways, neighbors approached with no hint of rancor or suspicion. Their message: "We know who you are, we know about your faith, and we support you and we will take care of your kids."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/september11/la-na-911-muslim-america-20110904,0,4162852,print.story

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Eyewitness testimony done right

The New Jersey Supreme Court has instructed police and judges to take into account an array of responses that might prevent mistaken identifications. California should do the same.

To many Americans — including many jurors — eyewitness testimony is the gold standard when it comes to evidence. But studies demonstrate that a variety of factors can lead to the misidentification of criminals. Nationally, more than 75% of convictions that have been overturned because of DNA evidence involved erroneous eyewitness testimony. Now the influential New Jersey Supreme Court has instructed police and judges to take into account an array of responses that might prevent mistaken identifications.

Ruling in the case of a man convicted of manslaughter and aggravated assault, the court noted that several variables can produce mistaken eyewitness testimony. They range from photo lineups in which none of the other images resembles the suspect to subtle pressure on a witness from an officer who knows which picture is the correct one. Finally, a witness may have more difficulty making a correct identification when he and the suspect are of different races.

The court tried to deter false identification with a stepped process. Once a suspect has established that he was the victim of suggestiveness, a pretrial hearing will be held in which the full range of reasons for possible misidentification are examined. If a judge finds the eyewitness testimony unreliable, he can suppress its use at trial. Even if he allows it, he will have to instruct the jury about the variables that can lead to misidentification.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-eyewitness-20110908,0,7282809,print.story

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Wisconsin

Waukesha Citizens Academy Week 2 - Community Policing Involves Everyone

Did you know that when you are out for a stroll at Frame Park, walking along the streets of downtown Waukesha or taking the kids to Horeb Spring Park, there are cameras watching you?

It's not as scary as it sounds. But there are seven OptiCop cameras that feed into the dispatch center at the Waukesha Police Department to keep an extra, visual watch on Frame Park, the downtown and Horeb Spring Park.

Great, so the dispatchers probably saw that spur-of the moment dance when a good jam came on my iPod while I was in Frame Park...

Sgt. Gregg Satula led the Waukesha Citizens Police Academy through the awesome capabilities that the program that allows dispatch to monitor the areas and keep a camera trained to specific situations when a call comes.

http://waukesha.patch.com/articles/waukesha-citizens-academy-week-2-community-policing-involves-everyone

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Syracuse police start programs to battle burglaries, help areas most in need

The first program will send officers to do a safety assessment on occupied homes that have been burglarized, said Police Chief Frank Fowler. The suggestions might include trimming down a hedge hiding a window or replacing the locks.

These assessments will be done within days after a burglary is reported, the chief said. This won't change the response to a burglary when it happens. An officer will still respond to take a police report and investigate the crime. But now, a community service officer will respond later to do the assessment, Fowler said.

http://blog.syracuse.com/news/print.html?entry=/2011/09/syracuse_police_start_programs.html

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Mom abandons 4 kids at restaurant

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A Fort Wayne mother was charged with neglect Wednesday after leaving her four children at a Burger King restaurant while they used the restroom.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Allen Superior Court Wednesday, Monique Antionette Mays, 26, and her children, ages, eight, six, six, and five were walking in the downtown area around 3 p.m. Monday, when they told her they needed to use the restroom.

While at the corner of Barr Street and Washington Boulevard, Mays told her children to use the restroom at the Burger King restaurant nearby and she would wait for them at the intersection.

When the children returned to the Barr and Washington intersection, they were unable to find their mother. They returned to the Burger King in case she had gone there to meet them, but still could not find her. The children told police Mays had threatened to abandon them so that she could have alone time with her boyfriend.

At the time of the incident, police checked numerous locations to find Mays, but those were unsuccessful. Police were also not able to find any suitable relative to take the children to, and were placed in foster care instead.

http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/mom-abandons-4-kids-at-restaurant

The New Surveillance Society: How "Community" Policing Follows Your Every Move

Ten Years Later: Surveillance in the "Homeland" is a collaborative project with Truthout and ACLU Massachusetts.

Surveillance now is everyone's business, as the line between intelligence-gathering and crimefighting rapidly fades and the public is conditioned to play its part.

The work of Deputy Police Chief Michael Downing of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) exemplifies the new surveillance paradigm. The head of the 750-strong counterterrorism force within the LAPD, he is on the hunt for "people who follow al-Qaeda's goals and objectives and mission and ideology." He says his officers collect intelligence and practice the "essence of community policing" by reaching out to Muslims and asking them to "weed out" the "hard-core radicals."

He adds that he is pleased that many Muslims have adopted the LAPD's iWatch program and are prepared, along with the general public, to call in tips about suspicious activity. With "violent Islamists" as his main target, Chief Downing is also keeping track of "black separatists, white supremacist/sovereign citizen extremists and animal rights terrorists." If threats materialize, he can draw upon the LAPD's "amazing" backup capacity - SWAT units, direct-action teams, air support, counterassault teams and squads that specialize in disrupting vehicle bombs.

http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/152346

War on terrorism a priority to California voters, poll finds

Of those surveyed in a USC/Times poll, four-fifths say the need to combat terrorism remains the same or is increasing since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Ten years after Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked jetliners, steered them into the World Trade Center towers and plunged a stunned country into a transformative war on terrorism, California voters overwhelmingly believe the fight remains a crucial priority, according to a new poll.

Four-fifths of the voters surveyed in the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll said the need to combat terrorism remained the same or was increasing. Just 13% believed the need was decreasing.

And, as the intensely ideological conflicts over how best to keep Americans safe have cooled, many voters have come to terms with once-controversial initiatives that have helped foil plans for terrorist attacks and protect the country from another deadly cataclysm.

"People have generally accepted the new status quo and want us to continue on the current course when it comes to security measures and protecting civil liberties," said Stanley Greenberg, head of the Democratic firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, which polled 1,508 registered voters with the Republican firm American Viewpoint. "They don't want to back down on the fight against terrorism, but they are generally pleased with the way it's going."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-0908-poll-911-20110908,0,5467013,print.story

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Daum: Sept. 11 and the impulse to pay tribute

It's a date that will never be forgotten. Ten years out, the events remain as surreal as if they'd happened yesterday.

Not that you needed reminding, but Sunday is the 10th anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Around the world, memorials will be held, prayers said, tears shed. President Obama has called on the nation to "reaffirm the strength of our nation with acts of service and charity." Mozart's Requiem will be performed in countless venues.

But anniversaries of historic events — particularly less-than-happy ones — can be tricky things, not least of all because dates don't often lodge themselves in the brain the way events themselves do. People of a certain age might know that Pearl Harbor Day is Dec. 7 or that President Kennedy was killed on Nov. 22, 1963. But to younger generations, it's the event that matters, not the date itself. Devoted fans of Princess Diana or Michael Jackson might have the dates of their heroes' deaths etched in their brains. But I'd hazard a guess that most of us couldn't come up with Aug. 31, 1997, or June 25, 2009, even if we remember what we were doing when we heard the news.

But 9/11, of course, is different. So comprehensive and widespread was the tragedy that it soon became clear the events of that day could only be referred to by their date. And so Sept. 11 has become something of a permanent national blackout date. Weddings, "gala" fundraisers and retirement parties are scheduled around it, and expectant parents hope their babies won't be born on it. Unlike the infamous day that kicked off America's entrance into World War II, there's no chance that, generations from now, people will need to check the Internet to get the date right. Like the Fourth of July, the "when" is part of the commemorative package.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-daum-911-20110908,0,3495180.column

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Chinese police rescue 30 disabled men in brick factory raids

Authorities say the mentally disabled men had been held as slave laborers. The raids occurred after an undercover TV reporter in Henan province who was sold to a brick factory exposed the abuse.

Chinese police have raided brick factories scattered through a rural swath of Henan province and rescued 30 mentally disabled men who authorities say had been held as slave laborers.

The unusually public raids Monday were prompted by a report on Henan provincial television by a journalist who had gone undercover posing as a disabled man at a train station, where he was grabbed by a recruiter and says he was sold to a brick factory.

The case is an embarrassment for Chinese authorities, who have promised to stamp out slavery and the abuse of the disabled. In a 2007 scandal that shocked the nation, hundreds of people, including many teenagers, were rescued from brick factories and coal mines where they'd been held captive, tortured and poorly fed.

In the latest case, some of the slave laborers were reported to be blind. They had been held as long as seven years, working without pay. They had been beaten with belts on the back and the groin, according to the television report.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-china-slave-labor-20110908,0,4735916,print.story

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Man gets 25 years in plot to blow up Jewish targets in New York

The "weapons" turned out to be fakes provided by an FBI informant, whose taped conversations with the defendant, Laguerre Payen, and three other men convinced a jury last October that they were guilty. The jurors rejected defense claims that the men, from the city of Newburgh, N.Y., north of New York City, were victims of entrapment.

All were convicted of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in what prosecutors called a major blow to homegrown terrorism.

"Laguerre Payen was a willing participant in a plot to use bombs and missiles to target New York synagogues and U.S. military planes," U.S. Atty. Preet Bharara said in a statement after Judge Colleen McMahon handed down the sentence. "Although these weapons were fake, the defendant believed they were real, and today's sentence underscores the gravity of these crimes."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Sacramento's inmate dodge

If prisoner realignment is to become more than the latest California exercise in passing the buck (while keeping the bucks), state officials must step up with a constitutional commitment to funding.

There are two ways to break a promise: all at once, short and to the point, perhaps with a word of regret, or over the course of months, in a silent, maybe-yes maybe-no passive-aggressive snub. Sacramento, in its cruel brilliance, managed to use both methods simultaneously as it broke, and continues to break, a promise to fund the transfer of state parolees and prisoners to county control.

Too bad it's not just some internal government versus government spat. It's a major breach of faith that could kill long-held hopes for prison reform — and in the process threaten to end the statewide decline in crime.

At issue is public safety "realignment," which is wonkese for the state government's plan to offload its prison overcrowding problem onto the 58 counties. Gov. Jerry Brown in January said the state would transfer money along with the parolees and inmates on the theory that counties could be more efficient and effective than the state prisons, perhaps by spending on rehabilitation instead of just on imprisonment.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-realignment-20110907,0,3078137,print.story

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PM's terrorism 'rhetoric' slammed

Liberals, NDP critical of Harper's plan to adopt sweeping changes to laws

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has come under attack for saying that "Islamicism" poses the greatest security threat to Canada and for declaring that his government will give police broad new anti-terrorism powers that were stripped from them four years ago.

Harper made the comments in a CBC interview to be televised tonight.

Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae said Harper is putting too much focus on Islamic extremists without noting that there are terrorists from other backgrounds.

"We don't have to single out just one," Rae told reporters Wednesday. "I think if you look at the outbursts of extremism around the world, I don't think that you can limit it to just one religion, or ideology or form of nationalism."

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/terrorism+rhetoric+slammed/5369278/story.html

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Noted Scientist Pleads Guilty to Attempted Espionage
Scientist Arrested in 2009 Following Undercover Operation

The guilty plea, which took place this morning in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was announced by Lisa Monaco, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; and James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office.

Nozette, 54, of Chevy Chase, Md., pleaded guilty to one count of attempted espionage. Senior Judge Paul L. Friedman, who presided at the plea hearing, scheduled a status hearing for Nov. 15, 2011. No sentencing date was set. The plea agreement, which is subject to the judge's approval, calls for an agreed-upon prison term of 13 years.

http://www.fbi.gov/washingtondc/press-releases/2011/noted-scientist-pleads-guilty-to-attempted-espionage

Is it time to retire 'ground zero'?

As the nation prepares for the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg wants to bring new symbolism to that date, and suggested that perhaps it's time to retire the "ground zero" moniker.

Instead of remembering Sept. 11, 2001, as the day the terrorists attacked America, he said, it's time to recognize it as the day that American began to rebuild. He called the transformation of the site -- with its new skyscrapers, and its stark and stirring memorial to all the lives lost -- a symbol of triumph over the terrorists. So is the revitalization of Lower Manhattan, Bloomberg said at a breakfast this week hosted by the Assn. for a Better New York.

"As we look back on the past decade, and as the picture of what has happened here comes into sharper focus, I believe the rebirth and revitalization of Lower Manhattan will be remembered as one of the greatest comeback stories in American history," Bloomberg said.

He went on to highlight some of the hallmarks of the city's stubborn determination to rebuild and thrive. Today, Lower Manhattan is not known just for its business district but also for a creative community, as a destination for visitors and a place that many families now call home, thanks to incentives for the TV and film industry, the expansion of parkland and tourist attractions, and new schools and residential buildings. "Ten years ago, none of that was possible," he said.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Al Qaeda is down, not out

U.S. talk of defeating terrorism is dangerously premature.

Talk of strategically defeating Al Qaeda is all the rage in the White House these days. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta used the "D-word" in July. President Obama declared in his new counter-terrorism strategy, "We can say with growing confidence… that we have put Al Qaeda on the path to defeat." Compared to the woeful state of the economy, terrorism has become the administration's feel-good story of the year.

"Defeat" is a big word. It is also dangerously misleading. Yes, the United States has made great strides in the last decade to harden targets, improve intelligence and degrade the capabilities of violent Islamist extremists. Osama bin Laden's death was a major accomplishment. But the fight is nowhere close to being won, and America's most perilous times may lie ahead. Three reasons explain why.

The first is that strategically defeating Al Qaeda is not nearly as important as it sounds. After 9/11, Al Qaeda morphed into a more complicated, decentralized and elusive threat consisting of three elements: core Al Qaeda; affiliates or franchise groups operating in places like Yemen and Somalia with loose ties to the core group; and homegrown terrorists inspired by violent extremism, often through the Internet in the comfort of their own living rooms.

Core Al Qaeda's capabilities started degrading in 2001, when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, dismantled training camps, ousted the Taliban and sent Bin Laden running. The CIA has estimated the core group remaining in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region to number 50 to 100 fighters. The last time Bin Laden oversaw a successful operation was 2005, when Al Qaeda struck the London transit system.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-zegart-alqaeda-20110907,0,4278355,print.story

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3rd National Guard member dies after Carson City IHOP rampage

A third National Guard member has died following the shooting rampage inside an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nev., authorities said late Tuesday.

Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said the third Guard member, a woman, died at an area hospital, the Associated Press reported.

Her death brought the toll to five in Tuesday morning's shootings: three members of the National Guard, a civilian woman in the restaurant, and the gunman, who took his own life. Seven others were wounded.

Authorities identified the gunman as Eduardo Sencion, 32, of Carson City. They say he entered the restaurant about 9 a.m., went to the back where five uniformed National Guard members were eating breakfast, and began firing, hitting all five.

The man's motive was unclear. Interviews with Sencion's family suggest he was mentally unstable. He had no criminal history, was not a member of the military and had no connection to the diners at the restaurant, Furlong said.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/

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Ten years later, what kind of ally is Canada?

Well before 9/11, I testified before a congressional subcommittee concerned about the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's 1998 warning that more terror groups were in Canada than in any other country, except perhaps the U.S. Imagine American officials' discomfort with today's Canadian security problems.

Canadian-based Sikh extremists caused the world's biggest pre-9/11 aviation-terror disaster, the 1985 Air India bombing. Today, India's security officials privately regard Canada - not India - as a font of international Sikh extremism.

CSIS director Richard Fadden warned of illicit foreign-influence operations in Canada. One or two provincial cabinets could be penetrated, he said, as might local governments. Yet MPs shy away from asking whether Canada's politicobureaucratic system is infiltrated.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/years+later+what+kind+ally+Canada/5362915/story.html

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Canada dropped $92 billion on security post-9/11: Report

The report, obtained by the Ottawa Citizen, tracks the increased funding over and above the amount that would have been spent had budgets remained with pre-9/11 spending.

The organizations involved include the Defence Department, the RCMP, Foreign Affairs, Public Safety, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Justice Department and Canada Border Services Agency, according to the report written for the Rideau Institute.

The Ottawa-based institute has in the past questioned what it calls high levels of military spending.

According to the report by economist David Macdonald, such spending is not showing any signs of easing.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/9-11-anniversary/Canada+dropped+billion+security+post+Report/5362869/story.html

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Austin's Warrior Playroom: A New Space for Families at Walter Reed

Tomorrow is the grand opening of Austin's Warrior Playroom, a great new addition to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Austin's Playroom is a space for young family members of wounded warriors to play and relax while their parents attend to medical needs.

The Austin's Warrior Playroom located in the newly-established Warrior Transition Unit on the campus of the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.

Mario Lemieux, the current owner and former NHL player who led the Pittsburgh Penguins to two consecutive Stanley Cups, and his wife Nathalie Lemieux helped make Austin's Warrior Playroom possible as an initiative of the Mario Lemieux Foundation. Before the grand opening they received a preview of the playroom.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/09/06/austin-s-warrior-playroom-new-space-families-walter-reed

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Ten Years Later: Air Traffic Controllers Remember 9/11

Ed. Note: Cross-posted on Fast Lane, the blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. See more 9/11 reflections and remembrances.

This Sunday, our nation will mark a somber occasion, the tenth anniversary of September 11th. There is much to remember about that day--the thousands of lives lost and families upended, the life-saving first responders at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the heroes of United Airlines flight 93.

Today, the Federal Aviation Administration is sharing a video about the quick-thinking air traffic professionals who recognized that the errant blips on their radar screens posed a potential threat to every passenger on every plane in our skies that morning. In response, they were able to completely shut down U.S. airspace.

“The men and women who control air traffic in this country realized we were under attack on that terrible day and had the skill to quickly land thousands of planes,” said FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. “Ten years later we are still incredibly proud of their work.”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/09/06/ten-years-later-air-traffic-controllers-remember-911

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Sept 6, 2011

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Indefinite solitary confinement persists in California prisons

Long abandoned by many states, the practice is a last resort for California authorities struggling to thwart gang activity and extract information from the most hardened members. Critics say it amounts to torture.

U.S. prisons typically reserve solitary confinement for inmates who commit serious offenses behind bars. In California, however, suspected gang members — even those with clean prison records — can be held in isolation indefinitely with no legal recourse.

Indeed, hundreds have been kept for more than a decade in 8-by-10-foot cells, with virtually no human contact for nearly 23 hours per day. Dozens have spent more than two decades in solitary, according to state figures.

It's a harsh fate even by prison standards: Under current policy, an inmate who kills a guard faces a maximum of five years of isolation.

Long abandoned by many states, the practice of indefinite solitary confinement persists in California as a last resort for prison officials struggling to thwart gang activity and extract information from the most hardened gang members.

The policy attracted international attention earlier this summer, when thousands of protesting California inmates joined a three-week hunger strike by prisoners at the state's maximum-security lockup at Pelican Bay.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solitary-confinement-20110906,0,7287388,print.story

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Community policing and crime rate reduction

Two homicides and other violent crimes in one Georgia community this week is prompting citizen outcry about the need for more protection and prevention in their neighborhood, according to WRBL, but an article featured in the Guardian recently asked "Why is crime in the US at a historic low?"

The article in the Guardian highlighted the fact that community policing is helping to make crime rate reduction a reality across the U.S., despite the continuing crime problem at Decatur Court in Columbus, Georgia. This points to the fact that some police agencies may not have neighborhood watch programs in place or that community support or participation might not be embraced by the residents who live there.

Bartow County Sheriff's Office is one of the agencies in the state of Georgia who promote the crime prevention efforts making the country and state a safer place for many.

Bartow County S.O. encourages citizens to get involved in their neighborhoods, taking an active role in helping to police their own communities by being vigilant about what they see and report. It isn't enough for residents to want a safer neighborhood, such as Decatur Court in Columbus, they also have to be willing to get involved and work with police to accomplish it.

Citizens aren't asked to act as police officers, however, but rather to report unusual behavior or activities that mandated officers can then check out and address.This makes your neighborhood a safer place for you and your family and keeps you -- not criminals -- in the driver's seat.

http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-atlanta/community-policing-and-crime-rate-reduction?render=print#print

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Virginia

Neighborhood watch
Crescent Hall residents ask for improved policing

Residents of Crescent Hall and Fifeville want more police officers patrolling their neighborhood during the day and night, especially in Tonsler Park. For several years, concerns over community policing, in which officers are assigned to specific neighborhoods, have been persistent at both sites. But last Wednesday night, during an open meeting with City Council members at the Crescent Hall public housing project, residents put their calls for improved law enforcement ahead of numerous maintenance issues, from broken elevators to overflowing toilets.

While Tonsler Park is finally undergoing improvements, some residents said they don't feel comfortable sending their children to play in an area they claim is known for drug problems. (An eighth grade student from Buford Middle School confirmed the sentiment.) The park, part of the Fifeville neighborhood, is only a half-mile walk from Crescent Hall, but that half-mile is enough for some parents to keep their children indoors. The city's CrimeView website lists 106 drug violations within a half-mile radius of the park in the last year. Narrowed to within 1,000' of the park, the search produced 26 drug violations.

http://www.c-ville.com/Article/News_Extra/Neighborhood_watch/?z_Issue_ID=11100209110402530

After 17 years, three-strikes law is still hotly debated

Supporters of the tough sentencing rules say the law applies to a lifetime of crime, while opponents say tough punishments often are out of proportion to the underlying crimes.

Scott Andrew Hove tucked a spool of welding wire and work gloves inside his waistband and headed for the Home Depot store's exit without paying.

As he made his way out of the Lake Elsinore store, employees stopped Hove and found the stolen merchandise hidden under his sweat shirt.

"I was stupid," the certified welder told them.

The items were worth only $20.94. But the theft cost Hove, 45, a life prison sentence recently, when a Riverside County judge ordered him to spend 29 years to life behind bars under California's three-strikes law.

His sentence points to the legal debate that continues to rage 17 years after voters approved the law: whether its tough sentences sometimes far exceed the crimes. Unlike other three-strikes laws across the country, California treats any felony as a third strike — even a nonviolent offense such as petty theft or drug possession — as long as an offender's criminal history includes at least two violent or serious crimes, such as rape, robbery or residential burglary.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-home-depot-theft-20110905,0,3441351,print.story

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It's all about jobs

A few thoughts of American leaders past and present on how to create jobs — and how not to.

Labor Day was established as a national holiday in 1894, in the midst of a violent conflict between workers and railroad owners. Ever since, federal policymakers have been trying to strike a balance between the rights of workers versus those of corporations, free trade versus protectionism, business taxation versus spending on programs to boost employment or to support those out of work, and the regulation of industry versus market freedom. With unemployment in the United States at 9.1% this Labor Day, it's clear we haven't quite figured it out yet. So here are a few thoughts of leaders past and present on how to create jobs — and how not to.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-labor-20110905,0,549756,print.story

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Michigan

Jackson County authorities working to determine who pays for cleanup of meth labs

With federal funding to clean up methamphetamine labs exhausted, Jackson County authorities are working to determine who should pay for the pricey disposal of chemicals associated with making the drug.

Some argue the Jackson Narcotics Enforcement Team — a drug interdiction unit made up of Jackson County sheriff's deputies, Michigan State Police troopers and Jackson police officers —should bear the cost of all county cleanups.

“It's just not feasible for small communities to pick up that cost,” said Columbia Township Police Chief David Elwell.

Michigan State Police Detective Lt. Dave Cook, however, said the drug team cannot afford to always pay the tab. “JNET would go under if we paid for every single meth cleanup in the county,” said Cook, the team's commander.

In February, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced that funding for its Community Oriented Policing Services Methamphetamine Program had been drained, and likely would not be renewed. That left local communities and states to pay the costs themselves or avoid the messes entirely.

http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2011/09/jackson_county_authorities_wor.html

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