911review/crime

In Bertrand Russell War Crimes Tribunal on Vietnam, 1971

`We are not judges. We are witnesses. Our task is to make mankind bear witness to these terrible crimes and to unite humanity on the side of justice in Vietnam.'

With these words, Bertrand Russell opened the second session of the International War Crimes Tribunal, in November 1967. The American people were given no opportunity, at that time, to bear witness to the terrible crimes recorded in the proceedings of the Tribunal. As Russell writes in the introduction to the first edition, `... it is in the nature of imperialism that citizens of the imperial power are always among the last to know - or care - about circumstances in the colonies'. The evidence brought before the Tribunal was suppressed by the self-censorship of the mass media, and its proceedings, when they appeared in print, were barely reviewed.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Hostage situation at Hillary campaign office in NH
by · 11/30/2007 02:22:00 PM ET
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4:51 pm NBC tentatively identifies the suspect as "Leland Eisenberg." Son-in-law claims he was "drinking and that he was someone who wanted to be hospitalized."

4:48 pm "That was the most pointless press conference of all time" was the message I got from a reader. And, he's right.

4:35 pm Just heard from a very reliable source that all of Clinton's offices in Iowa have been shut down.

3:44 pm MSNBC: From AP, There were four hostages, but three have been released. One hostage is still being held. Also, the suspect is "known to local authorities from a past incident and that he may have a history of emotional problems."

3:19 pm ABC NEWS: Suspect is an older male with a history of mental illness who told his son today "watch the news."

2:58pm You can watch live coverage of the story on the local TV news in NH via this link.

2:52pm UPDATE from Channel 9 in NH:

Officials with the campaign confirmed that there were two workers taken hostage in the office on 28 North Main St., and NBC News reported that the man demanded to speak to Clinton.

Clinton, who is not in New Hampshire, canceled a National Democratic Committee meeting in Virginia....

Witnesses described the man as in his 40s with salt-and-pepper hair. There are several police officers in the area with guns drawn....

"There are sharp shooters on the roof, and police are negotiating with someone in the building," said another witness, who did not want to be identified. "The police are notifying all the business owners on the street to evacuate. There are fire trucks behind the Hillary Clinton office."

Presidential candidate Barack Obama also has an office in Rochester, and it has been evacuated. Staff members in John Edwards' office, which is a few buildings away, were also evacuated.

CNN reports that Hillary just canceled her speech she was going to give momentarily at the DNC winter meeting here in Virginia.

Channel 5 Boston has much more. The national cable TV networks have totally dropped the ball on this story - it took them a good half hour AFTER ABC broke the story on their Web site:

The incident happened at about 1 p.m. Friday at 28 North Main St. in Rochester. The man had what appeared to be a bomb strapped to himself inside the Democrat's office, according to Bill Shaheen, a top state campaign official.

A witness said that she spoke to a woman shortly after she was released from the office by the hostage-taker.

"A young woman with a 6-month or 8-month-old infant came rushing into the store just in tears, and she said, 'You need to call 911. A man has just walked into the Clinton office, opened his coat and showed us a bomb strapped to his chest with duct tape," witness Lettie Tzizik said.

There are several police officers positioned across the street from the office, crouched down behind cruisers with guns drawn, according to a reported at the scene.

"There are sharp shooters on the roof, and police are negotiating with someone in the building," said another witness, who did not want to be identified. "The police are notifying all the business owners on the street to evacuate. There are fire trucks behind the Hillary Clinton office.

"I walked out and I immediately started running, and I saw that the road was blocked off. They told me run and keep going," said Cassandra Hamilton, who works in an office adjacent to the building.

Nearby businesses have been evacuated, and the St. Elizabeth Seaton School has been locked down.

Reuters:

An armed man took people hostage at a New Hampshire campaign office for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton on Friday, New Hampshire's WMUR TV reported.

Clinton, who was scheduled to campaign in Virginia on Friday, was not present at the office in Rochester, New Hampshi

Countdown: Blood Is Thicker Than Blackwater

Earlier today Nicole posted video from a House hearing dealing with allegations that State Department Inspector General Howard "Cookie" Krongard impeded investigations into corruption in Iraq. During the hearing, Krongard repeatedly denied rumors that his brother, Buzzy Krongard was on Blackwater's advisory board -- but on tonight's Countdown we learned that lo and behold, after returning from a break in testimony, Krongard informed the Committee that he had just spoken with his brother and that he did, in fact, sit on Blackwater's board and that he was recusing himself from any further matters dealing with the mercenary contractor. He may want to consider lawyering up.

Cookie said under oath that he had spoken to his brother six weeks prior to the hearing and claims his brother failed to tell him he was going to join Blackwater's advisory board, but according to an interview given to TPM, Buzzy claims he DID tell Cookie he was going to join Blackwater's board two or three weeks before the hearing, which would put his brother's claims in question. Who should be believe, Cookie or Buzzy?

USA World's Biggest Prison

The USA: World's Biggest Prison
The Associated Press
Tuesday 28 June 2005

According to a report published on Monday from King's College, London, the United States continues to have the highest incarceration rate in the world.With 714 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, the United States remains the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world, ahead of Russia and Belarus, according to figures published by the London University King's College International Centre for Prison Studies.

The United States has held first place in this ranking since 2000.

"In 200 years, the United States has succeeded in creating two million prisoners," frets researcher Anton Shelupanov. "It's a very worrying rate of growth."

Of nine million people imprisoned in the whole world, more than two million (22% of the total) are behind American bars.

Russia Is First in Europe
Russia has the highest incarceration rate in Europe, with 550 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, ahead of Belarus (532/100,000) and Ukraine (416/100,000). The rate is 91/100,000 in metropolitan France, between Belgium (88/100,000) and Germany (96/100,000).

South Africa has the highest incarceration rate on the African continent (413/100,000) and Surinam the highest in South America (437/100,000).

The International Centre for Prison Studies gathers data from various
sources, notably the prison administrations of each country.

High Cost of Prisons Not Paying Off, Report Finds
The U.S. spends more than any other nation -- $60 billion a year -- to house inmates, but sees little good as a result, a bipartisan panel says.
by Jenifer Warren

SACRAMENTO -- Americans spend $60 billion a year to imprison 2.2 million people -- exceeding any other nation -- but receive a dismal return on the investment, according to a report to be released today by a commission urging greater public scrutiny of what goes on behind bars.

The report, "Confronting Confinement," by the National Prison Commission, says legislators have passed get-tough laws that have packed the nation's jails and prisons to overflowing with convicts, most of them poor and uneducated. However, politicians have done little to help inmates emerge as better citizens upon release.

The consequences of that failure include financial strain on states, public health threats from parolees with communicable diseases, and a cycle of crime and victimization driven by a recidivism rate of more than 60%, the report says.

"If these were public schools or publicly traded corporations, we'd shut them down," said Alexander Busansky, executive director of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons, established by a private think tank in New York. Rather, the commission said, Americans view prisons with detachment or futility, growing interested when a riot makes the news and then looking away, "hoping the troubles inside the walls will not affect us."

With 20 members representing diverse perspectives, the bipartisan panel urges Americans to ignore the costs of incarceration no longer. Launched in early 2005 amid what panelists called "accumulating doubts about the effectiveness and morality of our country's approach to confinement," the commission will deliver its findings to a Senate subcommittee in Washington today.

From the page: "Blackwater Training US Police Wayne Madsen Report 10-15-7 The mercenary firm Blackwater USA is well known for the controversy involving its "shoot first ask no questions" policy in Iraq. It is also known that Louisiana s Department of Homeland Security contracted with Blackwater to provide public law enforcement services in New Orleans following hurricane Katrina. Blackwater is also planning to establish regional training centers in Potrero California and Mount Carroll Illinois billed as Blackwater West and Blackwater North respectively. These training centers in addition to Blackwater s Lodge and Training Center in Moyock North Carolina -- Blackwater East -- and a possible fourth rumored to be slated for the Pacific Northwest -- Blackwater Northwest -- may result in the establishment of a network of Blackwater-trained police sheriffs and other police units around the country. Given Blackwater s dismal record on human rights and brutality this spells trouble for civilian control of police and paramilitary forces in the United States from major metropolitan areas to small rural towns."