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Showing posts with label Ireland Counterterrorism Task Force. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ireland Counterterrorism Task Force. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

1st-Italy Earthquake,2nd-Parma Heights,Ohio Water Main Break

Rome (CNN) — At least 15 people were killed and some 200 injured in a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in northern Italy on Tuesday, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The earthquake came nine days after a 6.0-magnitude quake in the same region killed seven people.

Italian civil protection authorities confirmed at least 10 people had died and predicted the number would rise as rescue workers search for survivors in the rubble. Several people are missing, ANSA reported.

Tuesday’s quake was followed by dozens of aftershocks. Italy’s Institute of Geology said the aftershocks measured 5.3 and 5.1 magnitude. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded one aftershock of 5.6 magnitude just before 1 p.m. local time.

Look at high-res images of the disaster

Tuesday’s earthquake was centered in the province of Modena, near Bologna. The towns of Mirandola and Cavezzo were closest to the epicenter, civil protection authorities said.





Second quake leaves Italians in shock



MAP: ITALY EARTHQUAKE


MAP: ITALY EARTHQUAKE





Quake witness wants to leave Bologna

Eyewitnesses reported on Twitter that Cavezzo was about 70% destroyed. Pictures purportedly from the town, as well as a video stream from Italian newspaper Corriere de la Serra, show a number of damaged buildings and some structures destroyed. The top of one church steeple was missing, and police tape was strung across several areas.

“People are very scared. It’s been shaking nonstop for the past week,” said journalist Andrea Vogt, who was near the epicenter.

“We don’t know how many are still trapped,” she told CNN. “Telephone lines are overloaded. It’s difficult to get through to emergency personnel.”

The earthquakes in the last 10 days have been “a real shock” to locals, she said, adding that no one could remember so many quakes in such a short period of time.

“Factories were full. Many of the workers were working on repairs to the already damaged buildings,” said Vogt, a freelance journalist based in Bologna.

A spokeswoman for the prefecture, or government office, in Modena said as many as 12,000 people could be displaced, including those affected by the previous earthquakes.

“Damages are very serious. The old centers of many villages have been closed down to (the) public and many little villages have been completely evacuated,” she said.

Authorities are already working to set up more tent camps to house those forced from their homes, she said, and many hotels and campsites have also offered space to those in need.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti was in a meeting discussing last week’s earthquake with the head of the civil protection agency and the governor of the region when the new earthquake hit.

“The state will do all what needs to be done, in the quickest way, to assure the return to normal life to such a special and productive region of the country,” Monti said in a televised statement.

“Some buildings that were damaged already in last week’s earthquake were affected again today. San Felice sul Panaro and Mirandola registered most of the damage,” a spokeswoman said.

Eyewitness Violetta Galia said she was afraid to remain in Bologna after the tremors.

“We’ve been having many quakes, so it’s not safe to go back to work. We are having problems with communications, so it’s not easy to get in contact with somebody by phone,” she told CNN via Skype.

“I don’t feel safe — I need to go away, I don’t want to live (in) Bologna. If I don’t leave Bologna, I will never feel safe because we are still having quakes every three or five minutes.”

CNN iReporter Martina Lunardelli, a freelance translator and interpreter, said she was at work in Pieve di Soligo, Italy, when she felt the earthquake.

She described her fear and bewilderment as it struck, saying she heard “that thunder sound and my head spinning fast, as if I was drunk and could not see the others around since they were out of focus. I felt so strange.”

At least 40 other aftershocks, most shallow and with a magnitude of 2 to 3, shook the region Tuesday, according to the Italian geological service.

A spokeswoman for the prefecture in Ferrara province said people were in need of urgent help.

“We need tents. The number of displaced is increasing. It will take time to check if homes are safe, and also people are terrified and don’t want to sleep in their houses,” she said.

“We had enormous damage to all our factories, and there will be dramatic consequences on employment.”

The area’s cultural heritage has also suffered, she said, with two churches destroyed in the village of Cento and another church facade collapsing.

Many buildings that were damaged in the previous earthquake were unable to withstand the latest tremors. Others have been left unsafe, many of them churches and older buildings with ornamental stonework.

Authorities face an additional logistical challenge in helping local communities because emergency supplies are already depleted from the response to the earlier quake.

Some railway routes were affected by the earthquake, but Trenitalia, the Italian train system, said late Tuesday afternoon that all had been reopened and that train circulation was going back to normal.

Some high-speed services from Bologna to Milan and Florence, among others, were running at slower speeds earlier in the day.

Northern Italy is the heartland of the country’s manufacturing industry.

“It’s going to have an economic impact as well as a human impact,” Vogt said of the earthquake.



Water main break prompts closure of Tri-C’s Western Campus – 19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|Breaking News, Weather, Exclusives.

Water main break prompts closure of Tri-C’s Western Campus
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Posted: May 29, 2012 6:42 AM EDT Updated: May 29, 2012 9:32 AM EDT




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PARMA HEIGHTS, OH (WOIO) -Due to a water main break in Parma Heights, Tri-C’s Western Campus is closed for day classes today.

The break happened just before 2 a.m. on York Road between Independence Boulevard and Meadowbrook Drive.

19 Action News has learned one southbound lane and two northbound lanes are open to traffic.

No word on what caused the water main break at this time.

"Misleading Investors"...

Miami Hedge Fund Adviser Charged for Misleading Investors About
“Skin in the Game” and Related-Party Deals
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2012-104

Washington, D.C., May 29, 2012 – The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Miami-based hedge fund adviser for deceiving investors about whether its executives had personally invested in a Latin America-focused hedge fund.

The SEC’s investigation found that Quantek Asset Management LLC made various misrepresentations about fund managers having “skin in the game” along with investors in the $1 billion Quantek Opportunity Fund. In fact, Quantek’s executives never invested their own money in the fund. The SEC’s investigation also found that Quantek misled investors about the investment process of the funds it managed as well as certain related-party transactions involving its lead executive Javier Guerra and its former parent company Bulltick Capital Markets Holdings LP.


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Additional Materials
•SEC Order Against Quantek Asset Management et al.

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Bulltick, Guerra, and former Quantek operations director Ralph Patino are charged along with Quantek in the SEC’s enforcement action. They agreed to pay more than $3.1 million in total disgorgement and penalties to settle the charges, and Guerra and Patino agreed to securities industry bars.

“When making an investment decision, private fund investors are entitled to the unvarnished truth about material information such as management’s skin in the game or the adviser’s handling of related-party transactions,” said Bruce Karpati, Co-Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit. “Quantek’s investors deserved better than the misleading information they received in marketing materials, side letters, and other fund documents.”

According to the SEC’s order instituting settled administrative proceedings, fund investors frequently inquire about the extent of the manager’s personal investment during their due diligence process, and many require it in fund selection. Quantek, particularly Patino, misrepresented to investors from 2006 to 2008 that management had skin in the game. These misstatements were made when responding to specific questions posed in due diligence questionnaires that were used to market the funds to new investors. Quantek made similar misrepresentations in side letter agreements executed by Guerra with two sought-after institutional investors.

The SEC’s order also found that Quantek misled investors about certain related-party loans made by the fund to affiliates of Guerra and Bulltick. Because the fund permitted related-party transactions with Bulltick and other Quantek affiliates, investors were wary of deals that were not properly disclosed. In 2006 and 2007, Quantek caused the fund to make related-party loans to affiliates of Guerra and Bulltick that were not properly documented or secured at the outset. Quantek and Bulltick employees later re-created the missing related-party loan documents, but misstated key terms of the loans and backdated the materials to give the appearance that the loans had been sufficiently documented and secured at all times. Quantek and Guerra provided this misleading loan information to the fund’s investors.

“The related-party transactions were problematic to begin with, and the false deal documents left investors in the dark about the adviser’s conflicts of interest,” said Scott Weisman, Assistant Director in the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit.

According to the SEC’s order, Quantek also repeatedly failed to follow the robust investment approval process it had described to investors in the fund. Quantek concealed this deficiency by providing investors with backdated and misleading investment approval memoranda signed by Guerra and other Quantek principals.

Quantek, Guerra, Bulltick, and Patino settled the charges without admitting or denying the findings. Quantek and Guerra agreed jointly to pay more than $2.2 million in disgorgement and pre-judgment interest, and to pay financial penalties of $375,000 and $150,000 respectively. Bulltick agreed to pay a penalty of $300,000, and Patino agreed to a penalty of $50,000. Guerra consented to a five-year securities industry bar, and Patino consented to a securities industry bar of one year. Quantek and Bulltick agreed to censures. They all consented to orders that they cease and desist from committing or causing violations of certain antifraud, compliance, and recordkeeping provisions of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Securities Act of 1933.

The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Matthew Rossi in the Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit under the supervision of Mr. Weisman.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

"Please Tell This Internet Writer"..To Lay off the "Moonshine"Please

Yemen: 36 Killed in Fighting With Al-Qaida - ABC News...Al-Qaida..Or..
Al-Qaeda,Ovverran..Or,Overran?

"My Experience at the New Horseshoe Casino"

My Friends ask me to go to the new Horseshoe Casino,In Downtown Cleveland.I say Ok..With a Sigh.We got there about 7:00 PM.We Parked in a Lot..For $10.00..That was fine.You have to show a ID..To Enter the Casino..That was Good.You can get a "Rewards Card"..That has your name on it.So..You enter the Card..You enter your Paper Dollars..And your Off.Ok..So..I'm. playing this Machine..Called,ZEUS.I lost $50.00..In 10 Minutes..I was MAD..Real MAD.So..I didn't play Anymore..Because..I am not a Stupid Human Being.Oh--This Gets Better.I got on the Escalator to go Upstairs..And a Man Approaches me..With a Garage Slip..And wants me to Trade him my $10.00 Corn Beef Sandwich..for the $5.00 Garage Slip...I Looked at him and said.."Why Me",Why do i always have to run into a Stupid Human Being..Like you,Are their anymore of "You"..In this Casino..And if there is..Please tell me where they are,So..I stay away from them.He smelled like "Liquor"and "Pot".So..He keeps on..and say's.."Baby.You Is Fine"..I say..You must be a Glutten for Punishment,He Says "No Baby"..It aint like that,at least "You Is Honest".So..I sat down at a Machine..just waiting for my friends,Eating my Corn Beef Sandwich,Minding My Own Business,And the Man Playing the Machine,Next to me Says"These Fucking Machines,Will Make you take Narcotic Medications"..I thought,i was Gonna Choke to death,On my Sandwich,I was Laughing so Hard.Ok..Then he says..You Should play this Machine,Because he was Leaving,I just looked at him and said"Now..you just told me,That Machine,Makes you wanna take Narcotic Medication"..Why would I Play It?He just walked away,Laughing.
So..We stayed..Until around Midnite.Watching,Rich,Drunk Men,With Young Escorts,Dressed with Hardly,Nothing On,Is not my Idea Of Fun..What So Ever,When the Company they work for ends up with,"The Escorts Stealing From It",Or..Their Life savings is Gone..They Wonder Why.
We Are driving out of the Car Garage..And the Person in Front of us..Almost Ran Into a Concrete Block..Leaving The Garage,because it is really hard...driving out of that garage.Why they Built It like that..I have no
Idea,Why they built it that way.Thats My First Experience,,,at the New Horseshoe Casino.
Here's what i took..From that Experience..
There is 5,ooo People allowed in at 1 time..
at least 1/3 of those people..will be on Drugs.
Drugs Lords..Selling Drugs..
Stealing Money,from someone else,to Gamble,
Killing Someone to gamble..
Killing someone,because of a "Rich Man Or Woman"..Taking your Spouce.
Car Accidents..Increasing,Because of Liquor,And Drugs..



That's Gambling..Crazy-Ness

‘NATO 3’ had targeted Obama campaign HQ, Rahm’s house, police stations, prosecutors say - Chicago Sun-Times

‘NATO 3’ had targeted Obama campaign HQ, Rahm’s house, police stations, prosecutors say - Chicago Sun-Times

3 protesters charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism - Chicago Sun-Times

3 protesters charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism - Chicago Sun-Times

Friday, May 18, 2012

"Gambling Crazy-Ness",In Northeast,Ohio

CLEVELAND -- A Channel 3 crew was there when one person was arrested after a "skimmer" is allegedly found on a 5/3 Bank ATM at Euclid Avenue and East 14th Street Thursday morning.

The Ohio Highway Patrol says a 5/3 Bank security guard contacted them regarding a skimmer being found at the bank's ATM.

OSP took one person into custody, then turned the case over to the FBI and U.S. Secret Service.

Troopers describe the "skimmer" as a device mounted onto the front of an ATM that reads the magnetic strip on a person's card as it's inserted into the machine.'

That allows the skimmer to collect data from the card and gives it to people who then use the card numbers for fraudulent purposes.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Authorities wait out Washington slaying suspect holed up in a bunker By Phil Gast, CNN

CNN) -- Authorities early Saturday waited out a Washington man wanted in the killings of his wife and daughter who is believed to be holed up in a fortified bunker near Seattle. SWAT and other teams aren't forcing the situation because of the danger involved in rushing inside the bunker to try to arrest Peter Keller, 41, said Sgt. Cindi West of the King County Sheriff's Office. "There is no urgency. We have him contained," West said. Authorities fired tear gas late Friday into the bunker set into the Cascade foothills about 25 miles east of Seattle, though it was unclear whether the gas went deep enough to have any effect. Keller has not been seen since Sunday following a fire at his home, where the bodies of his wife and teenage daughter were discovered. His standoff with authorities began Friday after investigators found evidence that led them to the bunker near Rattlesnake Ridge Trail, according to the King County Sheriff's Office. "We do believe somebody is in there. We heard something going on, but nothing lately," West said. "We can't send people in there because of safety." Investigators do not have a clear motive for the slayings, according to West. Keller, who is not believed to have a criminal record, has been described as a survivalist by some relatives, West said. "We gathered he had a doomsday attitude ... family and friends have indicated he thought the world was going to end at some point," West said. Keller was believed to be well armed and well supplied. "We know he in the past has had a number of rifles, scopes and handguns. He purchased some kind of bulletproof vest," she said. Clues to Keller's whereabouts came while investigators were processing evidence at the house, authorities said. People in the area also reported seeing Keller's pickup truck near the trailhead. "This isn't a hole in the ground. This is a large built-up structure," Sheriff Steven D. Strachan said of the bunker. "But hidden. It took some time to find it. In fact our tactical team smelled the wood smoke coming before they actually saw it." Strachan said Keller's house nearby was set afire Sunday after the slayings, but it failed to spread beyond the kitchen. Authorities found a hard drive with photos, he told CNN Seattle affiliate KING. One photo was enhanced and it aided in the search for Keller, who authorities said had been building the bunker for at least eight years. "We believe he has taken pictures from 2004 to the present day," West. said She said she did not know the precise size of the bunker, made partially of earth and logs. "We believe it is very large," the spokeswoman said. "He has had plenty of time to work on it." The sheriff's office this week obtained an arrest warrant for Keller stipulating two counts of first-degree murder and first-degree arson. The bunker was found early Friday about 800 yards off the trail. It's possible the bunker has an escape hatch or door, officials said. Keller works with a company that refurbishes and sells computers, according to West.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

I Love Our Military

DefenceNews ArticleNew Royal Marines unit stands up in Scotland
A History and Honour news article
4 Apr 12


Three-hundred Clyde-based Royal Marines were joined by family members and friends yesterday, 3 April, to mark the official formation of 43 Commando.


Royal Marines mark the official formation of 43 Commando at HM Naval Base Clyde
[Picture: Leading Airman (Photographer) Paul Halliwell, Crown Copyright/MOD 2012]
43 Commando, formed by bringing the former Force Protection Group Royal Marines under the 3 Commando Brigade umbrella, becomes the second Royal Marines unit based in Scotland, and the largest in the UK, with 790 men.

The last unit to hold the name was disbanded in the aftermath of the Second World War after fighting with distinction in the Mediterranean, Italy and the Adriatic.

During a parade at the unit's home base of HM Naval Base Clyde, medals were also presented to 15 commandos and sailors, some of whom had taken part in counter-piracy operations.

Among the decorations awarded were the Long Service and Good Conduct medal, awarded to members of the Armed Forces with 15 years of reckonable service; the Iraq medal; and the NATO African medal.

The day was made all the more poignant for the Marines as it also commemorated the 67th anniversary of the battle of Lake Comacchio, one the Second World War's fiercest fought battles, and an encounter which saw Thomas Hunter – a Royal Marine from Edinburgh – awarded a Victoria Cross.


Royal Marines Corporal Thomas Hunter, from Edinburgh, who was awarded a Victoria Cross following his heroic actions during the battle of Lake Comacchio in 1945 (library image)
[Picture: via MOD]


Travelling from Edinburgh to witness the parade and the resurrection of her brother's old unit, was Agnes Swinney, the sister of Corporal Thomas Hunter.

During the parade there was a short religious service followed by an address by the Royal Navy's Commander Operations, Rear Admiral Ian Corder.

The Rear Admiral praised the valuable contribution of the Royal Marines in support of operations at home and worldwide.

Afterwards, the Royal Marines held a families' day at HM Naval Base Clyde, where visitors were given a chance to see some of the equipment which the commandos have used in operations around the globe.

We need your help! We're trying out designs for a new single website for all of government and we'd love your feedback. Please visit the 'government beta' by clicking on the link under Related Links.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Another Official Member..Of..The Half Stupid All The Way Dumb BlogSpot..Thank You..Interpol.

01 April 2012 - Media release
INTERPOL praises capture of mafia boss in Thailand
Convicted Italian fugitive was subject of INTERPOL Red Notice requested by Italy



LYON, France – The detention in Bangkok of a man wanted in Italy for mafia-related criminal conspiracy and the subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice for internationally-wanted persons has been praised by INTERPOL Chief Ronald K. Noble as an example of effective international police cooperation.

Vito Roberto Palazzolo, aged 64, was stopped by the Royal Thai police on Friday 30 March at Bangkok airport. He was sentenced by a court in Italy in 2009 to nine years in jail for criminal association as a prominent member of the Cosa Nostra Sicilian mafia for whom he had been accused of laundering money from the proceeds of drug trafficking and cigarette smuggling, and for closely associating with the undisputed leaders of the criminal organization.

The convicted mafia fugitive was taken into custody at Bangkok airport by officers from Thailand's Bureau of Immigration, working in collaboration with INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau (NCB) in Bangkok, as well as with the Foreign Affairs and Tourist Police divisions of the Royal Thai Police, with the assistance of INTERPOL’s liaison office in Bangkok.

INTERPOL’s Fugitive Investigative Support (FIS) unit at its General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon has been closely coordinating with INTERPOL’s NCB in Rome and its liaison office in Bangkok, in collaboration with Italian police services and case Prosecutor, as part of initiatives to locate Palazzolo in the Asian region where a previous travel entry by the fugitive was recently detected.

Secretary General Noble praised the authorities in Italy and Thailand for their continued commitment to cross-border law enforcement, which he said was exemplified by Palazzolo’s arrest.

“The capture of this convicted mafia fugitive highlights the very real and valuable results which can be achieved by INTERPOL member countries working together, especially when supported by INTERPOL global policing tools such as Red Notices,” said Secretary General Noble.

“Palazzolo’s arrest will I am sure encourage all INTERPOL member countries to renew their commitment to transnational police cooperation through the INTERPOL community, so that justice can run its course,” concluded Mr Noble.

A Red Notice represents one of INTERPOL’s most powerful tools in tracking international fugitives. Containing identification details and judicial information about a wanted person, a Red Notice seeks the location, the apprehension and the provisional arrest of a wanted person, and is circulated to police in all of INTERPOL’s 190 member countries.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Worlds Importance...The Whales are Gonna Be Mad..

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Shell Oil is one step closer to drilling offshore from Alaska's northern coasts this summer.

The Environmental Protection Agency's appeals board on Friday denied petitions to review the air permit for its drilling ship Kulluk.

Federal authorities earlier denied review petitions for Shell's other ship, the Noble Discoverer. Environmental and Alaska Native groups have appealed the Discoverer's permits in federal court. Shell spokesman Curtis Smith says he expects the Kulluk's permit also to be challenged but both to survive.

Earthjustice, an environmental law firm representing the groups, didn't immediately return a message Friday.

The Discoverer has been granted permits to drill in both the Beaufort and Chukchi seas; the Kulluk is limited to the Beaufort.

Shell still needs three additional approvals before it can begin drilling this summer.

The Associated Press