Citizens for Legitimate Government: 13 November 2013

Cyber attack 'war game' to test London banks prior to big US power grid drill --London's financial firms to be put through 'war game' scenario 12 Nov 2013 Thousands of staff across dozens of London's financial firms will be put through a "war game" scenario on Tuesday to test how well they can handle a major cyber attack. In one of the largest exercises of its kind in the world, the test dubbed "Waking Shark II" [LOL!] will bombard firms with a series of announcements and scenarios, such as a major attack on computer systems hitting stock exchanges and unfolding on social media. It will be co-ordinated from a single room housing regulators, government officials and staff from banks and other financial firms, people familiar with the matter said. [See: Huge Electric Grid Failure Drill Scheduled for 13 -14 November 2013.]

Stuxnet 'badly infected' Russian nuclear plant 08 Nov 2013 Stuxnet had 'badly infected' the internal network of a Russian nuclear plant after the sophisticated malware caused chaos in Iran's nuclear facilities in Natanz. The malware, widely considered to have been developed by the US Government as a means to disrupt Iran's nuclear enrichment plans, had crossed a physically separated 'air-gapped' network in the Russian plant after it was carried across on a USB device. Eugene Kaspersky, the boss of the Russian antivirus company bearing his name, said a staffer at the unnamed nuclear plant informed him of the infection.

Nuclear plant security to be designated as state secret --Legislation designates such information as 'state secret' under category of terrorism prevention 09 Nov 2013 Information on the way Japan's nuclear power plants are guarded by police and security officers will be designated as a state secret by a government-sponsored confidentiality bill, said Masako Mori, minister in charge of the legislation. The controversial bill calls for tougher penalties on government officials and others who leak official state secrets but leaves their designation to top officials of government agencies. The government wants the state secret protection bill to be enacted during the ongoing session of the Diet that ends Dec. 6, insisting it is inextricably linked to a bill to establish a national security council.

Group in U.S. and Canada to participate in 'mock power emergency' --The drill will take place over the span of a day-and-a-half, going live on 16 November. 10 Nov 2013 Will you be ready if the world goes dark? Power companies throughout the United States and Canada will be put to the test this week by participating in a mock power emergency scenario. Conducted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the emergency exercise known as GridEx II will determine whether or not bulk-power system entities are prepared to respond to a physical or cyber attack that leads to widespread power outages and blackouts lasting for long periods of time.

'It's like the United States government is subsidizing the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network' - U.S. Senator --Despite repeated warnings, US 'subsidizing' Afghan companies with ties to terrorism - report 12 Nov 2013 American taxpayers have unwittingly paid more than $150 million to companies throughout the Middle East that are known to have helped finance terrorist attacks on US soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, according to a new internal US government report. At least 43 companies based in Afghanistan were found to have ties to terrorist networks according to findings by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the leading US oversight authority on reconstruction in Afghanistan. SIGAR's report seems to suggest that the very groups being targeted by the US through counter-insurgency operations sometimes become the beneficiaries of the federal government through contracted work. "It's like the United states government is subsidizing the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, the Haqqani network, those groups that are trying to shoot and kill our soldiers," Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a member of the Senate's Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, told ABC News.

Mission accomplished! Afghanistan opium harvest at record high - UNODC 13 Nov 2013 Afghan opium cultivation has reached a record level, with more than 200,000 hectares planted with the poppy for the first time, the United Nations says. The UNODC report said the harvest was 36% up on last year, and if fully realised would outstrip global demand. One of the main reasons the UK sent troops to Helmand was to cut opium production. Half of the cultivation area is in Helmand province.

4 Marines dead in accident at Camp Pendleton 13 Nov 2013 Four Marines were killed at Camp Pendleton in California during a range maintenance operation Wednesday morning, said the Marine Corps in a press release that was confirmed by CBS News. No cause of the accident was offered as it is currently under investigation. CBS News reported that the Marines were clearing an artillery range of unexploded ordnance.

N.C. man arrested after allegedly trying to join al-Qaeda 11 Nov 2013 A North Carolina man is facing federal charges that he sought to join an al-Qaeda[al-CIAduh]-linked militant group fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad. A federal criminal indictment says 29-year-old Basit Javed Sheikh of Cary is charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He was arrested before boarding a flight to Lebanon.

NY National Guard drone crashes in Lake Ontario 12 Nov 2013 A military drone has crashed into Lake Ontario during a New York Air National Guard training mission. State military officials say the MQ-9 Reaper had taken off from Wheeler Sack Army Airfield at Fort Drum and was operating in approved airspace over the eastern side of the lake when it was lost at about 1 p.m. Tuesday. The drone is used by the Air Guard's Syracuse-based 174th Attack Wing to train Air Force pilots who use it on surveillance and attack missions globally.

Connecticut adds $16 mln to boost school security after Newtown 12 Nov 2013 Connecticut on Tuesday released an additional $16 million in state funding toward boosting security at school buildings, nearly a year after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. The funding follows an initial release of $5 million in September to pay for additions including bulletproof glass, panic alarms, surveillance cameras and other technology. Most of the initial funds were meant for Hartford, the state capital city and Bridgeport, its largest city.

Twitter deems CLG link to Fukushima story 'spammy' and 'unsafe' Posted by Lori Price, www.legitgov.org 12 Nov 2013 On Tuesday, I posted a short summary and link to an item regarding the Fukushima/TEPCO disaster on the CLG website. ($30bn for Fukushima 'clean-up'.) I wanted to share it with my Twitter followers. I accessed, 'Share a link with your followers' via the 'ShareThis' feature. I received the following message: 'Oops! A URL in your tweet appears to link to a page that has spammy or unsafe content.' I checked the ShareThis-generated link, and it works fine. Click here to see the screen capture of Twitter's 'warning.'

Plan approved to lower Fukushima radiation readings by one half 12 Nov 2013 The Nuclear Regulation Authority has approved a change in the way radiation doses are monitored around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station that will effectively result in lower readings, but observers warn this could raise public mistrust. The change calls for basing monitoring on data from dosimeters held by individual residents. Dosimeter readings tend to be less than half of those using the existing method based on air dose rates, which assume that residents stay outdoors for a total of eight hours a day, according to the NRA Secretariat. The new method is expected to help promote the return of evacuees as well as reduce costs for decontaminating areas tainted by radioactive fallout from the Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant.

$30bn for Fukushima 'clean-up' 12 Nov 2013 Japan's government is finalising plans to borrow an additional 3tn yen ($30bn) to pay for compensating Fukushima evacuees and cleaning up the area outside the wrecked nuclear plant, said people with knowledge of the situation. The new government borrowing programme would increase the amount earmarked for Fukushima-related expenses to the equivalent of just over $80bn, according to government officials with knowledge of the developing plan who asked not to be named. [Yeah, I'd hide, too.] That $80bn excludes the cost of decommissioning Fukushima's six reactors, a process expected to take decades.

Tepco plans new draining ditch to divert any radioactive spills into No. 1 harbor 12 Nov 2013 Tokyo Electric Power Co. will build a new drainage channel at its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant as part of efforts to prevent radioactive water from directly flowing into the Pacific when there is a storage tank spill, officials said. The current channel drains into the sea outside the plant's man-made harbor, which is protected by breakwaters and its water has been partially enclosed to contain radioactive discharges... Tepco decided on the move after 300 tons of highly radioactive water leaked in August from one of the tanks, some of which is believed to have flowed into the Pacific via the drainage channels.

Japan's ex-PM Koizumi urges Abe to abandon nuclear power 12 Nov 2013 Former Japanese premier Junichiro Koizumi on Tuesday urged his old deputy, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to abandon nuclear power, adding to pressure on the government to re-consider its position on unpopular atomic energy. Koizumi was one of Japan's most popular prime ministers before he stepped down in 2006 and his comments carry influence among the general public and within the ruling bloc, led by his old Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). "If the LDP decided on abandoning nuclear power, all the parties would be for the policy as the opposition is already supporting it," Koizumi told a news conference.

Rob Ford, embattled Toronto mayor, admits he has bought illegal drugs 13 Nov 2013 Toronto Mayor Rob Ford admitted during a heated City Council debate Wednesday that he had bought illegal drugs in the past two years, but he firmly refused to step down from his job even after nearly every councilor stood up to ask him to take a leave of absence. The mayor made the confession under direct questioning by a councilor who has introduced a motion that would ask Ford to take a leave of absence and get help for his admitted drug use. Ford publicly admitted last week that he smoked crack cocaine last year in a "drunken stupor," but his comments Wednesday marked the first time he acknowledged having bought illegal drugs.

Home builder grabs drilling rights beneath thousands of Tampa Bay homes 08 Nov 2013 Selling underground mineral rights has long been big business in the oil- and gas-rich boomtowns of Texas, North Dakota and beyond. But homeowners here might be surprised to learn that they, too, could be part of the prospecting. A Tampa Bay Times analysis found that D.R. Horton, the nation's largest home builder, has pocketed the rights beneath more than 2,500 Tampa Bay homesites, whether the homeowner realizes it or not.

Senate Republicans Block Another Obama Appeals Court Nominee by Filibuster 13 Nov 2013 Another of President Obama's choices to fill a vacancy on a powerful appeals court was blocked by a filibuster on Tuesday as Senate Republicans stalled another White House nominee -- the third in two weeks -- and deepened a festering conflict with Democrats over presidential appointments. By a vote of 56 to 41, the nomination of Cornelia T. L. Pillard, a Georgetown law professor, fell short of clearing the necessary GOP-imposed and corporate-run media accepted 60-vote threshold. Ms. Pillard's record on issues like abortion has troubled was the excuse provided for many conservatives.

Hawaii governor signs bill legalizing gay marriage 13 Nov 2013 Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) signed a bill Wednesday legalizing gay marriage in the state that kicked off a national discussion of the issue more than two decades ago. Now, the island chain is positioning itself for a bump in tourism as people take advantage of the new law and the state provides another example of how differently marriage is viewed in the nation. The law allows gay couples living in Hawaii and tourists to marry in the state starting Dec. 2.

Supreme Court rejects Oklahoma abortion regulation a second time 12 Nov 2013 For the second time in two weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court has let stand a ruling that strikes down a major abortion regulation from Oklahoma. The justices on Tuesday turned down the state’s attempt to reinstate a law that would have required pregnant women to undergo an ultrasound test and hear about the size and possible heartbeat of the fetus. Last year, the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down the state’s ultrasound law on the grounds it put an undue burden on a woman's right to abortion.

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