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Terror Alerts

Al-Qaeda's Xmas bomb blitz

Shopping centres and sports stadiums are Al-Qaeda's top targets for a Christmas bombing blitz, it was revealed yesterday.

A chilling security report warns that fanatics are determined to inflict a mass casualty attack in the UK.

Gordon Brown is expected to give a terror update to the Commons at midday.

It will come just hours after Security Minister, Alan West has presented his report, Security in Crowded Places, to the PM.

A top security source said the message was stark.

He told The Mirror: 'Al Qaeda are determined to carry out an attack in the UK. They want mass casualties, iconic targets and mass media coverage where the television cameras are present.' He added: 'Sports stadiums and shopping centres are most at risk where large numbers of people are congregated in one place, especially over the festive season.' Live Premiership games and grounds such as Chelsea's Stamford Bridge are seen as vulnerable because of their closeness to major roads. Shopping centres like Bluewater in Kent are known terror targets.

The report will recommend fitting a series of new security measures such as bollards to stop vehicles getting too close and extra searches at sensitive sites.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories ... -20104396/
 
Hmmm, one of those areas where the government are buggered whatever they do. This could be seen as scare-mongering by the cynics amongst us, however if nothing had been said and an attack did take place then again they would have been slated.

Anyway, some more info here:

http://www.nactso.gov.uk/crowdedplaces.php
 
ted_bloody_maul said:
Al-Qaeda's Xmas bomb blitz

Shopping centres and sports stadiums are Al-Qaeda's top targets for a Christmas bombing blitz, it was revealed yesterday.
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My inner Doom & Gloom merchant has always been convinced that the Manchester Arndale would be bombed twice.
 
Somebody having a LAAF poking fun at terrorists I suppose.

Wonder how many other spoof terrorist websites there are?
 
coldelephant said:
Somebody having a LAAF poking fun at terrorists I suppose.

...
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Dutch Public Safety information, warning of the danger of fireworks, actually.

http://www.inc-nieuws.com/Algemeen/4485.html

If you had any idea of the hundreds of tons of illegal fireworks, from China and etc. that get sold and let off here, every New Year, you'd know why they don't think that pictures of young guys with bits blown off, or horribly welded to other parts of their anatomy, just aren't enough anymore.

:(
 
coldelephant said:
Now that is shocking :shock:
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Apparently:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/dec/24/advertising

'Terrorist' firework ads spark row

Mark Sweney Guardian Unlimited, December 24 2007

Dutch government firework safety ads featuring a spoof Islamist terrorist group have been criticised as insensitive and depicting a negative stereotype of the Muslim community.

The online ads, made for the Dutch government's consumer safety institute, have been made to look like a video message filmed by an Islamist military organisation called the Liberation Army Against Freedom.

Featuring a group led by an Osama bin Laden lookalike figure at their camp, the viral ads are dubbed into Iraqi-accented Arabic and have versions with subtitles in Dutch and English.

The tone is intended to be humorous, with the terrorist group seen receiving a shipment of fireworks like an arms cache, wearing suicide vests made of firecrackers, and bungling efforts to "demonstrate to you our true power" by blowing themselves up.

However, the light treatment of such a serious issue has angered some industry insiders.

"What is the campaign hoping to achieve by depicting a negative stereotype of the Muslim community in a fireworks advert?" said Saad Saraf, the chief executive of multicultural marketing specialists Media Reach Advertising.

Saraf, an Iraqi, was particularly offended by images in one ad that show one person strap fireworks around him in a style similar to a suicide belt, which later explodes.

"Are the producers aware that the actors in the advert are speaking in an Iraqi accent; with the current state of affairs in Iraq and the loss of lives as a result of suicide bombing, I question, what were the creatives thinking?," said Saraf.

"This is insensitive to society as a whole. Suicide bombings have destroyed many thousands of lives - using them in a humorous way is totally inappropriate. Are these adverts then for people who have not been affected by terrorism, suicide bombings and the invasion of Iraq in some way?"

Saad described the setting of the adverts as an "al-Qaeda-style camp", an image reinforced in one of the ads when the group are seen hiding out in a mountain cave.

However, Inayat Bunglawala, the assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, did not think the ads were particularly offensive.

"I thought they were very humorous public safety films," he responded by email after being sent several links to the ads.

"Obviously there will always be some who find it to be in bad taste, but I thought it was done light-heartedly and funny and with clear educational value."

The ads were first seeded on YouTube with Dutch subtitles around two weeks ago. Since then, versions of the ads have appeared with English subtitles.

The campaign, which also uses TV ads - featuring a family who has an accident while letting off fireworks - in the Netherlands, was created by local ad agency Selmore to raise safety awareness in the runup to new year festivities.

"We needed to achieve maximum impact with this campaign, a challenge considering that not only is the message of being responsible poorly received but it is also repeated year after year, and the target have become somewhat desensitised to it - I think we will definitely get through to them this year," said Poppe van Pelt, a creative partner at Selmore.
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Of course, if fundamentalist lullen didn't make the florid, propaganda-recruitment videos, on which these Public safety adverts are based, the Dutch, wouldn't have such an easy target for the bad taste humour, with the important and spot on (on several levels), safety message attached. :yeay:

This time of year, the kids round here aren't letting off Astra bangers, it's thunder flashes, often at 3:30 in the morning. More than slightly annoying. And, come midnight, on New Years Eve, it's like those 'Shock and Awe' videos, made on top of the Baghdad Hilton, all over The Netherlands, only with legal and illegal Chinese fireworks. I swear, the clouds of spent gunpowder smoke actually change the New Year's Day weather, round here. Admittedly, there are a lot less dead and wounded, although the casualty figures are still significant.
 
Hmmm apparently the war on terror is over. No doubt to be renamed and rebadged.

The words "war on terror" will no longer be used by the British government to describe attacks on the public, the country's chief prosecutor said Dec. 27.

Sir Ken Macdonald said terrorist fanatics were not soldiers fighting a war but simply members of an aimless "death cult."

The Director of Public Prosecutions said: 'We resist the language of warfare, and I think the government has moved on this. It no longer uses this sort of language."

London is not a battlefield, he said.

"The people who were murdered on July 7 were not the victims of war. The men who killed them were not soldiers," Macdonald said. "They were fantasists, narcissists, murderers and criminals and need to be responded to in that way."

His remarks signal a change in emphasis across Whitehall, where the "war on terror" language has officially been ditched.

Officials were concerned it could act as a recruiting tool for Al Qaeda, which is determined to manufacture a battle between Islam and the West.

The term "Islamic terrorist" will also no longer be used. Officials believe it is unhelpful because it appears to directly link the religion to terrorist atrocities.

In an interview with BBC Radio's World at One, Macdonald made a fresh attack on plans to extend beyond 28 days the length of time a terror suspect can be held without trial.

He said that the evidence had shown that the existing limit was working well and he accused ministers of legislating on the basis of 'hypotheticals'.
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http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,159067,00.html

Has anyone told the government though?
 
Hmm... from TWAT to TWOT to CULT. What's the next logical step? Perhaps the "Campaign for Universal Non-negotiation with Terrorists"... oops... :twisted:
 
lupinwick said:
:D

Aw shucks. More like an "olds" item. Hohum...
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Expect the Daily Mail to follow up with a story about how you can't even call them soldiers anymore, you've got to use watered-down words like "fantasists, narcissists, murderers and criminals" - another example of political correctness gone mad.

Welcome to Brown's Britain :x
 
Couple's 'terror threat' shock

Couple's 'terror threat' shock

A couple say they were branded a "terrorist threat" for taking photographs of their grandchildren in a shopping centre.

Kim and Trevor Sparshott were asked to leave Fareham Shopping Centre after they took pictures of their grandchildren while they were doing their Christmas shopping.

The couple, who live in Malaga, Spain, were visiting their family in Gosport, Hants, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Mrs Sparshott, 51, said: "I wanted the ground to swallow me up whole. Then I started fuming."

A security guard told them cameras were banned because of the risk of a terrorist attack, and barred the couple from the centre for life, according to Mrs Sparshott.

Her 52-year-old husband said: "Instead of being a nice surprise for our family, it turned into a nightmare. In these worrying times we understand the need for caution, but surely a quiet word when he first saw us would have stopped all this unpleasantness."

Pam Gillard, the manager of the centre, said taking photos was a security risk, but not because of a terrorist threat, and that the Sparshotts were welcome back.
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http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2664958.html
 
Cities At Risk For Terrorism Identified By BIO5 Researcher
05 Mar 2008

A University of Arizona researcher has created a new system to dramatically show American cities their relative level of vulnerability to bioterrorism.

Walter W. Piegorsch, an expert on environmental risk, has placed 132 major cities - from Albany, N.Y., to Youngstown, Ohio - on a color-coded map that identifies their level of risk based on factors including critical industries, ports, railroads, population, natural environment and other factors.

Piegorsch is the director of a new UA graduate program in interdisciplinary statistics and a professor of mathematics in the College of Science, as well as a member of the UA's BIO5 Institute.

The map marks high-risk areas as red (for example, Houston and, surprisingly, Boise, ID), midrange risk as yellow (San Francisco) and lower risk as green (Tucson). The map shows a wide swath of highest-risk urban areas running from New York down through the Southeast and into Texas. Boise is the only high-risk urban area that lies outside the swath.

The model employs what risk experts call a benchmark vulnerability metric, which shows risk managers each city's level of risk for urban terrorism.

Piegorsch says terrorism vulnerability involves three dimensions of risk - social aspects, natural hazards and construction of the city and its infrastructure.

He concludes that the allocation of funds for preparedness and response to terrorism should take into account these factors of vulnerability.

"Our capacity to adequately prepare for and respond to these vulnerabilities varies widely across the country, especially in urban areas," he wrote in an article about the research. Piegorsch argues that "any one-size-fits-all strategy" of resource allocation and training ignores the reality of the geographic differences identified in his study. Such failures, he says, would "limit urban areas' abilities to prepare for and respond to terrorist events."

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/99433.php
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You can get the original article and the map here:
http://uanews.org/node/18586
 
Are you convinced by this hardsell?

MAIL DEFENDER Now Available To Combat "White Powder" And Fake Anthrax Bio-Chemical Assaults
03 Nov 2008

BioDefense Corporation, producers of the new MAIL DEFENDER complete mailroom security solution, is on the front lines of combating bio-chemical assaults.

"Incoming mail containing white powder discovered on October 30, 2008 at the Boston Herald, Christian Science Monitor and more than 100 media offices across the country are not 'hoaxes.' Rather, they are 'bio-chemical assaults,' with obvious intent to harm, disrupt, or even kill," said a BioDefense Corporation spokesperson.

Reporters, editors, writers, bloggers and branch offices of major financial institutions are the bio-criminal's 'bull's eye.' The combination of a hotly contested election and continuing bad news about the global economy is partially responsible for this latest outbreak of assaults. Recent media tracking shows that coverage of "anthrax" and "white powder" hoaxes number in the thousands every week.

"MAIL DEFENDER, already hard at work at several high-level government and financial institutions, is the first line of defense against these criminal acts," the BioDefense spokesperson added. "A simple letter mailed for 42 cents should not have the power to disrupt and stop large organizations, unfairly tie up first-responder resources, and otherwise add to today's already anxiety-ridden environment," he said.

Bio-chemical assaults happen continuously -- MAIL DEFENDER is a tested, proven disinfection technology

To combat this continual battering, BioDefense Corporation is now taking orders and shipping MAIL DEFENDER. The easy-to-use system is safe, proven, and kills any bio-pathogen, as well as anthrax, smallpox and/or ricin -- all very dangerous substances.

MAIL DEFENDER is an innovative combination of electronic energy, stainless steel and aluminum hardware, and advanced computer technology that processes up to approximately 200 pieces of mail -- in a disinfection cycle. The system combines Microwave and infrared energy, intense ultraviolet, and broadbeam light. A rotating barrel containing the incoming mail ensures even distribution of the energies during the decontamination process. A complex computer algorithm controls the energy sources and automatic safety features deliver ideal, controllable performance.

About BioDefense Corporation

Boston-based BioDefense Corporation was founded and is dedicated to combating the growing threat of bioterrorism by developing and producing mail decontaminations systems for industrial and governmental applications. The BioDefense Board of Advisors includes well-known and respected members of U.S., U.K. and European anti-terrorism experts. For more details concerning the on-going threat of bioterrorism, please go here.

MAIL DEFENDER pricing, availability and systems specifications are available at http://www.biod.com.

BioDefense Corporation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article URL: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/127881.php
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Terrorists could use 'insect-based' biological weapon
Terrorists would find it "relatively easy" to launch a devastating attack using swarms of insects to spread a deadly disease, an academic has warned.
By Stephen Adams
Last Updated: 8:12AM GMT 05 Jan 2009

Jeffrey Lockwood, professor of entomology at Wyoming University and author of Six-legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War, said such Rift Valley Fever or other diseases could be transported into a country by a terrorist with a suitcase.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I think a small terrorist cell could very easily develop an insect-based weapon."

He said it would "probably be much easier" than developing a nuclear or chemical weapon, arguing: "The raw material is in the back yard."

He continued: "It would be a relatively easy and simple process.

"A few hundred dollars and a plane ticket and you could have a pretty good stab at it."

Governments, he advised, needed to have robust "pest management infrastructure that's able to absorb and respond to an introduction" of infected insects, he said.

Trying to stop everything coming in at the border would not work, he said.

Rift Valley Fever is an east African disease which "can cause severe disease in both animals and humans, leading to high rates of disease and death" according to the World Health Organisation.

However, WHO says that "the vast majority of human infections result from direct or indirect contact with the blood or organs of infected animals."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildli ... eapon.html

Does this plonker have to go about giving terrorists new ideas? :evil:

(Of course, it could be a double-bluff, hoping that would-be terrorists might try this, but end up infecting themselves instead! 8) )
 
Duck hunters spark nuclear weapons plant lockdown
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8462547.stm

Duck in flight (generic image)

The men - who worked at the plant - were hunting ducks on their day off

A pair of duck hunters triggered a security alert at a nuclear weapons assembly plant in Amarillo, Texas.

Officials put the plant into lockdown after getting reports of individuals in camouflage gear stalking across the road from the factory.

They turned out to be two plant employees who had decided to spend their day off hunting fowl.

The plant was briefly shut as a "precautionary measure", a plant official said.

"They were just doing what people do around here," said Carson County Sheriff Tam Terry.

"They just had a lot more company than they were planning on."

The pair, who sparked the alert when spotted early in the morning carrying arms and dressed in camouflage gear, were later found in a nearby field setting up goose decoys.

No charges will be filed against the men who both had permission to hunt from the local landowner.
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UK terror level raised to 'severe'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8476238.stm

From the story...

"The new alert level means a terrorist attack is considered "highly likely"."

However...

"The home secretary stressed there was no intelligence to suggest a terrorist attack was imminent."

:shock:

If there is no intel then why...
 
McAvennie_ said:
...

"The home secretary stressed there was no intelligence to suggest a terrorist attack was imminent."

:shock:

If there is no intel then why...
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Ours is not to reason why, it is sufficient that we tremble in our boots.
 
Clearly we are in the gray area between 'highly likely' and 'imminent'.

If the situation deteriorates, we will be between 'very highly likely' and 'not quite imminent' instead.
 
According to today's Observer the raising of the threat level is partially due to the forthcoming appearance of Tony Blair before Chilcott.
 
It would seem more likely to me that the recent Delta Air 253 "attack", the US statements regarding the state of Yemeni security and the Somalian piracy issue are all linked.

It won't be long before a carrier battle group or 2 are parked in Aden or Hodeidah, at the 'request' of the yemeni government. From there, and working to their own timescale, they can mount operations against the somalian pirate threat, or more usefully, have another theatre for the upcoming Iran conflict.

Bin Laden died years ago, so who is this character that keeps sending tapes to the west?
 
I've often thought that the "terror levels" were more of a handy guide for terrorists.

The level is increased not because of intel but based on what's happening in the country at any given time. So if someone high official is making a public appearance or a visit, the level is raised suggesting that an attack is "highly likely". It may as well say "Now would be a great time".

Days which are "low" could equally read "not worth the effort".
 
Am I being cynical or is the threat level rise not rather good news for Brown?

The issue of anti-terrorism is an area where Brown can steal a march on Cameron. It benefits him in two particular ways. Brown gets a boost in the polls when he's appearing on our TV screens as an international statesman alongside presidential figures like Obama, Sarkozy et al. Remember that the upcoming London conference on the Yemen and terrorism which has helped raise the threat level came about at Brown's instigation. Likewise the Afghanistan conference the following day.

Also, not only does Cameron lack the opportunity to rub shoulders with the big players on the world stage but he's also notoriously weak on foreign policy. The more Brown can present himself as a jet-setting confidante of the world's powerbrokers in contrast to Cameron's fumbling novice the better it'll serve him electorally.
 
A few small explosions and the swift arrest of the "guilty" parties would do wonders for Brown.
 
It's quite simple. After a man set his penis on fire in a plane recently, the government felt the need to switch to Terrordetectorisator 'Arthur' with set of balls 3.
'Severe' is the default setting.
 
The papers this morning report that the reason for the elevation of the threat was the arrest of a terrorist suspect in India, who was apparently the ringleader of a plot to crash Air India jets into UK cities to coincide with a major anti-terrorism conference in London.
 
I'd just like to make clear that this is not my newspaper of choice!

"Britain is facing a new Al Qaeda terror threat from suicide ‘body bombers’ with explosives surgically inserted inside them.
Until now, terrorists have attacked airlines, Underground trains and buses by secreting bombs in bags, shoes or underwear to avoid detection.
But an operation by MI5 has uncovered evidence that Al Qaeda is planning a new stage in its terror campaign by inserting ‘surgical bombs’ inside people for the first time."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... nners.html[/quote]
 
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