Norway Awakens To Horrifying Details About Terror Attacks

91 people are now confirmed killed in the combined bombings in the heart of Oslo and at a Labour Party youth camp taking place on Utoya Island. The overwhelming majority of those killed are teenagers attending the camp. Norwegian soldiers have secured Oslo and are assisting in securing the Utoya locations as the search for victims continues.

The horrifying events in Oslo and then at a youth camp have shocked Norwegians and everyone is struggling to find out who did this and why. A suspect is in custody, and while law enforcement hasn't officially indicated the name, multiple Norwegian news outlets have indicated that the suspect is Anders Behring Breivik.

While police have not officially named him, Norwegian television and newspaper reports have identified the suspect as 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik, of Norwegian origin.

A picture is emerging, gleaned from official sources and social media, of a right-wing Christian fundamentalist who may have had an issue with Norway's multi-cultural society.

Norwegian and international news outlets have run photographs of a blond man with blue-green eyes and chiseled features, dressed in a preppy style.

A victim who was shot during the attack at the youth camp on Utoya island told CNN Saturday that he had seen pictures of Breivik taken from what is believed to be his Facebook page and shown on NRK and TV2. The victim said he recognized the man from the news reports as the gunman.

Breivik is a member of the Oslo Pistol Club and has three weapons registered in his name, according to leading Norwegian newspaper VG, citing Norway's official weapons register. They are a Glock pistol, a rifle and a shotgun, VG reported.

Police aren't sure whether he had worked alone or had help.

Other reports indicate that he owned and/or operates a farm, and that he had placed an order for six tons of fertilizer on May 4. That isn't out of the ordinary for a farm, but such materials can be used to make a fertilizer bomb and could inflict the kind of damage seen in Oslo. Expect police to test bomb residue to determine the composition of the bomb and whether it used the kind of fertilizer that Breivik had obtained or had access to. Reports this morning indicate that it was indeed a fertilizer bomb.

Yet, no one can quite understand what would drive this person or person to murder so many children in such a brutal fashion.

Survivors indicated that the gunmen yelled that all those teens must die:


Other survivors played dead to avoid being killed.

UPDATE:
Perhaps the scariest thing is that he doesn't appear to have done this with help - he acted alone. He managed to build and detonate a bomb, and then murder so many people on his own.

That's perhaps the worst case scenario for law enforcement the world over.

It's one thing to try and disrupt terror cells (someone can talk). But someone who has access to the materials as Breivik did (fertilizer for the bomb) and the willingness to act on whatever deranged worldview he had; and it seems that he was opposed to the Norwegian government's immigration position; and can carry out this attack on his own is a new and dangerous dimension that will make it more difficult down the road for security officials around the world.

UPDATE:
The Daily Mail is reporting that Breivik was a poster on a Swedish Nazi website.

It has emerged that the man at the centre of the attack is also a member of a Swedish Nazi forum which encourages attacks on government buildings.

The revelations were revealed by Swedish newspaper Expo who claim Anders Breivik is part of 'Nordisk' which has 22,000 members and focuses on political terrorism.

The 32-year-old who has been identified as the suspect by Norwegian media is also said to have anti-Muslim viewed.

Police are searching the blond, blue-eyed man's flat in Oslo and are still searching the surrounding waters, where people fled the attack.

It has also just been revealed that there is a new bomb alert in the capital and police have reportedly sealed off an area called Solli Plass, an area close to the royal palace.

Assad's Crackdown Continues

Bashar Assad's regime continues to brutally crack down against protesters throughout Syria. Much of what the world knows about the ongoing suppression of protests comes from videos and reports smuggled out; the state-run media is a propaganda outlet for Assad.

Yet, we're learning that there may be cracks in the facade of the Syrian military or the opposition has moved into a new phase of fighting the regime with actual force. Reports indicate that there were a series of explosions at the Syrian War College in Homs. Homs has been an epicenter of protests against the regime, so this could be opposition groups taking up arms against the military. At the same time, other reports indicated that unknown individuals sabotaged a train that derailed. Assad's regime blames the protesters.

The UN has come out with its harshest assessment of the situation in Syria; fearing that Assad's regime has carried out crimes against humanity in the brutal crackdown.

The UN concerns were expressed in a statement late Friday by Francis Deng, special adviser to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the prevention of genocide, and Edward Luck, the special adviser on the responsibility to protect.

"Based on available information, the special advisers consider that the scale and gravity of the violations indicate a serious possibility that crimes against humanity may have been committed and continue to be committed in Syria," the joint statement said.

The two called for an "independent, thorough, and objective investigation" of the events in Syria.

They echoed calls by Ban to the Syrian government to allow humanitarian access to areas affected by the unrest and to facilitate the visit of the UN Human Rights Council-mandated fact-finding mission to the country.

"Without these steps, it will be very difficult to defuse existing tensions and to prevent the escalation of violence," they said.

"All actors involved in the current crisis in Syria are urged to refrain from the use of force, from acts of violence, or from incitement to violence."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 1,483 civilians have been killed in four months of protests, and thousands more have been arrested.

I know that's not much, but it's a recognition of the seriousness of the situation. As I've said in the past, if the opposition in Syria gets its act together and forms a group that the international community can recognize as a legitimate opposition, the UN and Western leaders may devote more resources to toppling Assad's regime.

Protesters continue to be murdered by pro-regime militias, who are taking the fight to the protesters all over the country.

80+ Killed In Norway Terror Attacks

At least 80 people, many of them teenagers at a youth camp organized by the Norwegian Labour Party, are dead after a bombing in Oslo and at a nearby island retreat. A right wing extremist, Anders Behring Breivik, is in custody in connection with both incidents.

After the shooting the police seized a 32-year-old Norwegian man on the island, according to the police and Justice Minister Knut Storberget. He was later identified as Anders Behring Breivik and was characterized by officials as a right-wing extremist.

The acting chief of police, Sveinung Sponheim, said Mr. Breivik, who is not known to have any ties to Islamic extremists, had also been seen in Oslo before the explosions. The police and other authorities declined to say what the suspect’s motivations might have been, but many speculated that the target was Mr. Stoltenberg’s liberal government.

“The police have every reason to believe there is a connection between the explosions and what happened at Utoya,” the police said. They said they later recovered explosives on the island.

Mr. Breivik had registered a farm-related business in Rena, in eastern Norway, which authorities said allowed him to order a large quantity of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, an ingredient that can be used to make explosives. Authorities were investigating whether the chemical may have been used in the bombing.

As the investigations continued, the police asked people to leave the center of Oslo, stay indoors and limit their cellphone use. They also said they would initiate border checks.

The attacks bewildered a nation better known for its active diplomacy and peacekeeping missions than as a target for extremists.

In Oslo, office workers and civil servants said that at least two blasts, which ripped through the cluster of modern office buildings around the central Einar Gerhardsen plaza, echoed across the city in quick succession around 3:20 p.m. local time. Giant clouds of light-colored smoke rose hundreds of feet as a fire burned in one of the damaged structures, a six-story office building that houses the Oil Ministry.

Other outlets are putting the death toll at least 87.

The CSM is reporting that Brevik had posted nationalistic and anti-immigrant positions online, and I'm sure that much more information will be forthcoming about whether he had accomplices.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the Norwegians on this terrible day.

Scattered Power Outages As Heat Wave Bakes Big Apple

Con Ed is reporting scattered power outages as its equipment literally fries in the record-breaking heat hitting the New York City metro area. Newark hit a record of 106. Central Park hit 103.

The NY ISO is currently distributing 33,907.9 MW while the PJM is only hitting 150,363 MW.

Developing: Bombing in Oslo Norway and Shootings At Youth Camp; Multiple Casualties Reported

Multiple casualties are being reported with at least two confirmed dead in a massive explosion in downtown Oslo, Norway, near the Prime Minister's office.

Oslo police said the explosion was caused by a bomb, the NTB news agency said.

A Reuters correspondent counted at least eight injured people.

The blast blew out most windows on the 17-story building housing Stoltenberg's office, as well as nearby ministries including the oil ministry, which was on fire.

Heavy debris littered the streets and a tall plume of brown smoke rose over the city center. The tangled wreckage of a car could be seen near the blast site.

The Reuters correspondent said the streets had been fairly quiet in mid-afternoon on a Friday in high summer, when many Oslo residents take vacation or leave for weekend breaks.

Government minister Hans Kristian Amundsen told the U.K.'s BBC News that there were believed to be a number of people trapped in the building.

"We are trying to stay focused, and we are focused, on the rescue operation," he told the BBC.

Reports of shootings at a Labor Party Youth Camp are now confirmed with at least 5 casualties. Allegedly, someone dressed in a police uniform opened fire on crowds at a youth camp near Oslo.

This may be related to the bombing in Oslo, but no way to know for sure.

Based on the speculative reporting, it seems that some terror group was attempting to carry out attacks against the Prime Minister and major political targets. Police operations are ongoing at a youth camp.

UPDATE:
According to Midnight Watcher:

“30 mins ago, a man posing as a police officer has fired several shots at a Labour Party Youth convention, over 700 people attending, on Utøya, an island west of Oslo. It has been reported that the man in a police uniform identified himself as a police officer when boarding the boat to the island. He said it was a ‘routine control’ in connection with the terrorist bombing earlier in Oslo city.

The shooter has not been caught as yet and people are hiding where they can. The police have sealed off the island.

It has not been confirmed that the Oslo bombing and Shooter incidents are connected.

Multiple casualties are reported and there's quite a lot of confusion.

UPDATE:
The two incidents may be related to each other, particularly since the youth camp had a political component and that leading politicians were expected to speak at various points during the current and upcoming week.

Around 1,000 young Labour supporters gathered at Utøya last Wednesday for a five-day summer camp. Prime Minister Stoltenberg, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and former Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland were due to make appearances over the course of the week, newsinenglish.no reports.

The BBC reports that Stoltenberg was not supposed to be on Utøya today, but that the former Prime Minister was due to speak on the island today.

Norwegian journalist Ketil B Stensrud tweeted this afternoon that there had been “reports of shots fired and people ‘swimming’ away in despair” at the location.

The Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that a situation was developing at Utøya, but did not give any details: ”There is a critical situation at Utøya, and several ongoing operations as we speak,” Stoltenberg said.

There's lots of speculation around whether Libya or pro-Libyan terror groups are involved in the actions. Thus far no one has come forward to claim responsibility for the attacks.

UPDATE:
It looks like that there were at least two significant explosions, although the second explosion could have been a secondary blast and not the result of a bomb:



UPDATE:
Via BBC, very bad news about the events on Utøya:

1848:
Eyewitness Andre Scheie told NRK: "There are very many dead by the shore... There are about 20-25 dead." Mr Scheie also said he saw people dead in the water at the camp.
1844:
An eyewitness has told the Norway national broadcaster NRK that he saw more than 20 bodies at the Labour Party youth camp in Utoeya.
1936:
Mr Stoltenberg tells Norwegian broadcaster NRK: "Co-workers have lost their lives today... It's frightening. That's not how we want things in our country.

The shooter involved in the youth camp shootings has apparently been taken into custody. While the BBC reports that no one has come forward to claim responsibility, although other reports indicate that a new group calling itself Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami has claimed responsibility.

A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants, a terrorism analyst at C.N.A., a research institute that studies terrorism. The message said the attack was a response to Norwegian forces’ presence in Afghanistan and to unspecified insults to the Prophet Muhammad. “We have warned since the Stockholm raid of more operations,” the group said, according to Mr. McCants’ translation, apparently referring to a bombing in Sweden in December 2010. “What you see is only the beginning, and there is more to come.” The claim could not be confirmed.

Norway is a member of the NATO alliance and has a small fighting contingent in Afghanistan. It was one of several countries named by Ayman al-Zawahri, the leader of Al Qaeda, as potential targets for attack. In 2006, Norwegian newspapers reprinted Danish cartoons that angered Muslims by lampooning Muhammad. Norway has also historically been a frequent participant in peacekeeping missions and a host for diplomatic talks, including the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinians. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a committee of the Norwegian Parliament.

Muslim leaders in Norway swiftly condemned the attacks. “This is our homeland, this is my homeland; I condemn these attacks and the Islamic Council of Norway condemns these attacks, whoever is behind them,” said Mehtab Afsar, secretary general of the Islamic Council of Norway.

Authorities indiciate that these were coordinated attacks, including targeting the Prime Minister's offices.

Power Grid Groans Under Strain

Yesterday saw near record demand for power despite a sour economy in the New York City metro area even as record demand was hit on the PJM grid that distributed power through much of the Middle Atlantic states. Today is expected to be even hotter with records likely to fall through much of the NYC Metro area - meaning even greater demand.

Already, Con Ed is warning customers in parts of the Westchester and Queens that they may see voltage reductions (aka brownouts) as the grid is ill-equipped to deal with the strain even after billions of dollars have been poured into infrastructure improvements following major failures during the 2006 summer that led parts of Queens to be without power for more than a week.

There were several scattered outages as underground lines burned out due to the tremendous strain and heat but nothing widespread.

Let's hope it stays that way.

Peak usage is expected between 5-6pm.

Real time PJM grid: 140,598 MW.
Real time NY ISO: 32,139.0 MW

UPDATE:
Around 12:30, the NY ISO is reporting 33,835.2 MW while the PJM is showing 148,733 MW, but that's less than what PJM predicted for this time 153,372 MW. (PJM has a chart showing actual versus predicted usage).

UPDATE:
It's nearly 3:30PM, and the NY ISO is reporting 33,919.6 MW. PJM is showing 151,059 MW (peak load so far today of 152,024 MW). With record temperatures falling all around the NYC metro area, the NY ISO is likely to break its prior records.

Death on the Rails

Once again, someone has decided to take their life by trespassing along the NJ Transit Bergen Line, and died when he was struck by a passing locomotive. The man was struck in the vicinity of Midland Avenue in Elmwood Park, which I've previously noted (here and here) was one of the more dangerous intersections for drivers.

It also happened at the top of a stretch notorious for suicide-by-rail. The number of incidents along the stretch has declined after NJ Transit and localities installed fencing, but the area where the latest incident occurred does not have fencing or limited access.

I was on the train immediately behind the one that struck the individual, and we were delayed 30-40 minutes but at least our crew informed us of the situation, whether we could take an alternative route, but at a minimum we were able to enjoy the air conditioning aboard.

That Sound You Hear Is The Power Grid Groaning

Power grids throughout much of the US are groaning under the tremendous power demands due to the heat wave stretching across the country. In New York, the current load is 32905.5 MW (as of around 2pm) according to the NYISO, which operates the grid in New York. Other operators are expecting record or near record demand:

PJM, which operates the biggest power grid in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, forecast electric usage would peak at 154,300 MW on Thursday, which is much higher than the 149,000 MW peak the grid forecast for this summer but still below the 158,448 MW peak record set in August 2006.

New York ISO, which operates the state's grid, forecast the peak would top 33,200 MW Thursday, which is higher than the 32,700 MW peak the grid forecast for the summer but still a little shy of the 33,939 MW peak record set in August 2006.

In New England, ISO New England forecast demand this week would peak on Friday at about 27,400 MW, which is just below the grid's 27,500 MW peak forecast for the summer and the 28,130 MW peak record set in August 2006.

In Ontario, the grid operator forecast demand Thursday would top 25,900 MW, which is much higher than the 23,500 MW peak the grid forecast for this year summer but still below the 27,005 MW peak record set in August 2006.

One of the reasons that the power demands aren't as high as their 2006 peaks has to do with the fact that the ongoing sluggish economy has meant that there are fewer businesses drawing power combined with more energy efficient products being utilized across the marketplace (lighting, air conditioning, computers, and other consumer and business products). Efforts for voluntary reduction of power consumption are also being utilized by power companies to reduce the strain on their grids.

UPDATE:
As of around 3pm, the NY ISO is reporting a Real-Time Load of 33156.5 MW. That's coming close to the peak predicted by the ISO earlier today, but expect the number to rise as people begin leaving work for home and turning on their air conditioners.

PJM interconnect is showing 156,995MW and closing in on their peak predictions.

UPDATE:
4:10 PM - and the PJM is showing 158,122 MW while NY ISO is showing 33257.8 MW. In both instances, they've exceeded their usage estimates from earlier in the day, and we've still got another two hours before the usage slides back. Power usage is expected to be even higher as we go into the weekend meaning that the odds for power problems will increase in the next few days as equipment folds under the severe heat and could cause localized brownouts and blackouts.

Legislative Overreach Following Leiby Kletzky's Murder

Following the brutal murder of 8-year old Leiby Kletzky that shook even the hardened New York City Police Department with the shocking brutality and dismemberment of his body by admitted killer Levi Aron, politicians are rushing to fill a perceived gap.

Brooklyn Councilman David Greenfield is proposing "Leiby's Law," under which businesses could volunteer to be designated as safe places for children who are lost or otherwise in trouble.

Employees would undergo background checks and business owners would put a green sticker in their store windows so children know it's a safe place to get help.

Lawmakers and community leaders gathered to tout the idea on the street in Borough Park where where 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky was last seen alive.

"We are hopeful and optimistic that thousands will sign up," Greenfield said.

Borough Park stores were quick to pledge support.

Considering that many businesses, like grocery stores and supermarkets, have a pretty constant turnover of employees, trying to manage or enforce the safe haven sticker program is hopeless.

This law would not have stopped this particular murder - and wouldn't stop someone from picking an unattended child off the streets. It doesn't resolve any of the issues involved.

Moreover, the law would not have addressed a situation like Aron - who until his arrest for Kletzky's murder had not had a criminal record (other than a public urination citation). This would not have come up in a background check on any business that Aron worked for - meaning that a vulnerable child could still come in contact with Aron.

No, instead of yet another reactionary law to a horrific event, the response should be for parents to help their kids understand the threats and how to identify where to go for help. A voluntary local business group program makes more sense than one managed in the fashion being suggested by the politicians.

A Novel Solution to Persistent Lead Pollution In Soils

The cost of carting away soils laced with lead is one that can no longer be borne by the EPA and state agencies trying to deal with decades of buildup. Lead, which can cause developmental and mental health issues, was in widespread use until the latter part of the 20th century, which means that communities throughout the country have lead issues, especially in urban areas.

That makes the novel use of fish bone meal all the more appealing. The waste product from processing fish for food can be tilled into top soil with high lead concentrations so as to bind with the lead particles and make them incapable of being absorbed by people.

Today, there is more lead contamination in America’s cities than any federal or state agency could ever afford to clean up and haul away. So scientists and regulators are trying a new strategy, transforming the dangerous metal into a form the human body cannot absorb, thus vastly reducing the risk of lead poisoning.

The principle is straightforward, said Victor R. Johnson, an engineer with Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc. “The fish bones are full of calcium phosphate,” he said. “As they degrade, the phosphates migrate into the soil.” The lead in the soil, deposited by car exhaust from the decades when gasoline contained lead or from lead-based paint residue, binds with the phosphate and transforms into pyromorphite, a crystalline mineral that will not harm anyone even if consumed.

This alchemy has been practiced in university and commercial laboratories for more than 15 years, and more recently has been employed at acid-mine sites and military bases.

But now it is also coming to residential neighborhoods like South Prescott in Oakland, which this month became the first in the country where fishbone meal is being mixed into the soil for lead control under a project organized by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“It’s fair to say, looking forward, that just about every urban residential area probably has a lead problem and we just can’t afford economically and socially to move that amount of dirt any more,” said Steve Calanog, the E.P.A. official in the San Francisco office that is overseeing the project. “Topsoil is a precious resource, and we don’t have enough topsoil to replace it.”

News Corp Gearing Up For Scandal Spreading To US?

News Corp is busy hiring big-name lawyers to represent different portions of the company in the US against possible legal action from the hacking scandal that threatens to overtake the company in the UK.

The company's nine independent directors hired former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White and former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, who served under President George W. Bush.

The directors are said to be increasingly concerned about Rupert Murdoch's stewardship of the firm and appear to be bracing for new U.S. legal trouble.

By denying knowledge of the phone hacking, bribery and hush money rampant at News of the World, experts said Rupert Murdoch and his son James may have left themselves open to shareholder charges of incompetence.

Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported News Corp. hired Washington lawyer Mark Mendelsohn, a top expert in the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

These are prudent moves that any corporation would have to take, but it also signals just how serious the company is considering the possibility of charges in the US. They're worried about shareholder suits and criminal investigations.



At the same time, there are reports that there are still other news outlets in the UK that engaged in similar behavior, including ones that aren't affiliated with News Corp. They include The People (operated by The Mirror Group) and even Piers Morgan was accused of such tactics before coming to CNN.

On Tuesday, a member of Parliament accused the CNN anchor Piers Morgan of phone hacking when he was the editor of The Daily Mirror. Mr. Morgan strenuously denied the accusations and demanded an apology. And last week, news reports showed that the actor Jude Law has brought a hacking lawsuit against The News of the World’s sister newspaper, The Sun.

Five former journalists at The News of The World’s rival Sunday newspaper, The People, run by the Mirror group, said in interviews that they regularly witnessed hacking in that newsroom in the late 1990s to early 2000. “I don’t think anyone quite realized the criminality of it,” said one former reporter at The People, who spoke on condition of anonymity. A former reporter for the Sunday Mirror, another News of the World rival, described the extensive use of private detectives to obtain personal information. A former senior News of the World editor, Neil Wallis, who has been arrested on unspecified accusations of phone hacking, left The People in 2003 to join the Murdoch tabloid.

Nick Fullagar, director of communications for Trinity Mirror, the parent company of The Daily Mirror and The People, said, “Trinity Mirror’s position is clear. Our journalists work within the criminal law and the P.C.C. code of conduct,” referring to Britain’s press regulatory body, the Press Complaints Commission. Within Mr. Murdoch’s empire, the flagship daily tabloid The Sun has also been accused of hacking phones. The lawsuit by Mr. Law, filed last month, says that four articles published in 2005 and 2006 were based on intercepted voice mail.

It also comes as no surprise that News Corp affiliates are soft-pedaling the news coverage; the Fox News Network has devoted a fraction of the coverage that CNN or MSNBC has done, and the NY Post has all but buried the scandal as compared to either the Daily News or the NY Times. The Wall Street Journal has covered the story prominently, but that's the exception rather than the rule.

The scandal is also threatening to take down the British government as new revelations about the hiring of former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as Prime Minister David Cameron. Apparently, he didn't undergo the usual top level background checks of others up for similar positions.

News Corp. Subsidiary Involved in NJ Hacking Case?

New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg is calling on the FBI to investigate claims that a New Jersey company was hacked by a subsidiary of News Corporation, which is already under scrutiny for hacking allegations and admissions of wrongdoing in the UK. The allegations go back to 2005 and Lautenberg is now asking the FBI to look at this case in light of the more recent allegations and admissions:

Lautenberg initially wrote to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in 2005 asking him to look into a claim by Hamilton Township-based FLOORgraphics that its computers were hacked by News Corp. subsidiary News America Marketing on 11 occasions over a two-year period.

FLOORgraphics later sued the company for the computer hacking and other questionable competitive practices.

"News employed numerous illicit tactics in a prolonged and concerted effort to destroy (FLOORgraphics)," said a complaint filed by the company in 2006.

FLOORgraphics settled with News America Marketing and was later bought out for $29.5 million.

"At the time of my letter in 2005, I was informed by FLOORgraphics that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service initiated an investigation into allegations that News America illegally gained access to FLOORgraphics’s password-protected computer system and obtained FLOORgraphics’s confidential data," Lautenberg wrote today.

He also wrote that the Department of Justice and FBI should consider the case as it may be relevant to the current investigation of News Corp. subsidiaries.

Bloomberg News reported today that an attorney for News America Marketing conceded a computer there had been used to access the FLOORgraphics site.

That story reported that an investigation by New Jersey's Divison of Criminal Justice ended without charges being filed, according to Rachel Goemat, a spokeswoman for Division of Criminal Justice.

A 2009 trial included revelations that News America Marketing hacked into FLOORgraphics on several occasions in an effort to gain market share. That case was settled when the company was bought out by News America Marketing for $29.5 million. Apparently, the hacking began after the company refused to sell itself to News America.

Syria's Army Continues Occupation of ... Syria

There's perhaps no better way to describe the situation in Syria other than calling it the Syrian army's occupation of the country.

Military forces are everywhere, particularly in and around cities that have continued to field protesters on a regular basis in opposition to Bashar al Assad. Yet, Assad's forces have backed out of Hama for the moment, ceding control to the protesters themselves:

We saw a country that’s very much in revolt. We saw the army deployment inside Syria, which looked like an army occupation of a country.

In Hama, the revolt has begun to help Syrians imagine life after the father-and-son dictatorship.

We went into the city of Hama. It’s the fourth-largest city in Syria. It was interesting to us because it’s the only city where the security forces decided to withdraw after several deadly clashes with antigovernment protesters. Now, they’re basically outside the city. Inside, there’s no police, no army. It’s under the control of the protesters.

It was very tense — to be honest — and very, very difficult to work. We were taken in by some of the leaders of the protest movement. They were very nervous, especially of us getting seen by people who might be informers.

I mostly had to work at night and mostly from cars. I wasn’t allowed to roam around very much. The only thing I was able to do on the ground was join this protest that happened past midnight, which I hear happened every day. I was able to join the protesters for a half hour. Then I was whisked away in a car. The idea was to not get seen. There are a lot of informers for the regime still in the city. That could have created a huge problem for us and for the people who were taking care of us.

Journalists are unable to freely roam the country, and the reporters/photographers who provided the New York Times with this report put their lives in the hands of strangers and had to constantly worry about informers revealing their whereabouts to Syrian authorities.

Syria continues warning US and French diplomats not to leave Damascus to view the scenes of protests themselves.

Up to 50 people have died in Homs this week alone.



Despite the bloodletting and increased carnage, the US has softened its rhetoric towards Assad's regime and has stopped short of calling for regime change after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ramped up the rhetoric last week following the kerfuffle over Ambassador Robert Ford's visit to Hama.

But Clinton backed off on Saturday, saying the administration still hopes that Assad's regime will stop the violence and work with protesters to carry out political reforms. On Monday, European Union ministers also called on Assad to implement reforms and made it clear they still hoped he would do so.

The change in tone reflects the continuing debate over whether Syria's ruler is likely to survive the current turmoil, and how best to use the limited diplomatic tools available to pressure him.

For now, a State Department official said, it's unclear whether the administration will ramp up the rhetoric and officially call for Assad's departure.

"Whether we take it farther will depend on events on the ground," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of diplomatic sensitivities. "We need to think through carefully what we say."

The administration has struggled to send a consistent message since antigovernment protests exploded across the Arab world in January.

I see this as a fundamental mistake as expect Assad to use this opportunity to further engage and eliminate opposition groups and protesters.

Murdoch's Get Grilled By British Parliament; NY Post Silent

Rupert Murdoch, his son James, and Rebekah Brooks are all facing angry British Members of Parliament over the hacking scandal that has resulted in the shuttering of the News of the World and multiple resignations and arrests, including Brooks.

So why is it that the NY Post doesn't have a single link on the front page to the big news of the day - that the Murdoch's are being grilled by the MPs in the UK.

I wonder.

At least the Wall Street Journal is carrying the hearings live (it's another Murdoch-owned paper).

For more coverage, see the NY Times or Memeorandum.

NYC Goes High Tech In Battle Against Gridlock; Setting Stage For Congestion Pricing?

While many reports are indicating that this pilot project is designed to reduce gridlock in Midtown Manhattan by enabling traffic engineers at the Department of Transportation to adjust traffic signals, alert police to hot spots, and otherwise smooth the flow of traffic in Midtown, it is reliant upon signals from dozens of cameras and EZPass sensors mounted throughout the zone.

Dubbed "Midtown in Motion," the $1.6 million system relies on more than 100 motion detectors, dozens of cameras and data gathered from drivers' E-ZPasses to compile immediate info on the most congested streets in the city.

That info is beamed wirelessly back to the windowless control room in Long Island City to the traffic engineers.

Not only will the DOT engineers get immediate notification of traffic backups -- caused by anything from a single car crash to a meeting of the UN General Assembly -- they'll also be able to do something about it.

Armed with pocket protectors and algorithms on city traffic patterns, the engineers will analyze the info and decide whether to speed up or slow down the street's signal changes.

Previously, the signal lights in the city could be wired only to change themselves at certain times of the day -- like for rush hour -- and weren't able to be switched remotely.

The all-seeing DOT engineers can also decide to deploy traffic agents from their command center if the congestion gets particularly thorny.

That's not a particularly expensive project if it can reduce traffic and congestion in Midtown. If successful, DOT is likely to expand that to other parts of the City.

My concern is over the EZPass sensors.

Reducing traffic by adjusting traffic lights is one thing, but installing a system that puts in place the critical infrastructure necessary to toll riders into Midtown Manhattan should worry those who do that drive on a daily basis. This pilot project could conceivably set the congestion pricing tax back in motion.

Assad's Security Thugs Murder 10+ At Funeral Procession; Brutalization of Syria Continues

Bashar al Assad's regime has no intention of ceasing its efforts to murder protesters and those opposed to the regime. It has no qualms about opening fire on funeral processions of those it previously murdered.

In the latest attacks, at least 10 people were murdered at a funeral procession for those slain in protests over the past couple of days.

Syrian activists say security forces have fired on a funeral procession, killing at least 10 people.

The Local Coordination Committees help organize and track the protests in Syria. The group said the mother of a man who was shot dead the day before was among the victims Tuesday.

Another activist in Homs confirmed that security forces opened fire at a funeral procession outside the Khaled bin Al-Waleed mosque. He said people inside the mosque called him to describe the scene.

The shooting in Homs came a day after activists said security forces there killed 10 people in raids.

At the same time, pro-Assad gunmen have opened fire on crowds in places that are hostile to Assad's regime. That kind of action has to be condoned by Assad's regime itself, considering how the regime operates.

Meanwhile, in an effort to deflect attention from his own problems, Assad's regime has declared its recognition of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Assad's ongoing crackdown has limited opposition groups efforts to unite, although a group met in exile in Turkey to establish a National Salvation Council. I consider that a good first step towards establishing an alternative to Assad's brutal regime and putting it in a position to begin soliciting support and recognition as Syria's legitimate government. It will take a whole lot more, particularly defections from Syria's military and diplomatic corps to pull off - and Assad's crackdown has done much to prevent a coalescing of opposition behind a single banner.

Crackdown Continues and Sectarian Violence Ensues In Syria

After yet more protests and demonstrations throughout the country, including hotbeds of Homs and Hama, Syrian security forces loyal to Bashar al Assad continue their crackdown. There have been some reports of sectarian violence as a result of the ongoing crackdowns as well:

As many as 30 people may have died in Homs, Syria over the weekend. The AP cites one Syrian dissident group that says initially three victims died in apparent sectarian violence - a troubling new development in the mostly secular uprising against the rule of Syrian leader Bashir al-Assad. The victims, like Assad, were said to be from Syria's minority Alawite sect, affiliated with Sunni Islam, and members are considered part of Syria's ruling class.

The report cites another Syrian activist who suggested the toll may be lower. The three slayings apparently triggered speedy retaliation in Homs, as six more people from different sects were then murdered. Then, armed Syrian government supporters opened fire in Sunni neighborhoods in apparent attacks of terror and vengeance.

At the same time, Al Arabiya and Voice of America report more Syrian troops are massing the town of al-Boukamal, near the Iraqi border, populated with Sunni residents who oppose Assad. The VOA reports Syrian troops killed five townspeople over the weekend, including a teenage boy, and thousands of angry residents surged into the streets. Dozens of Syrian troops defected to join them. Now the town is reportedly surrounded by hundreds of Syrian troops and tanks. Al Arabiya cites Syrian government newspapers that say the situation in Al Boukkamal is "explosive" so the army will "intervene".

Even as Assad's regime releases dozens of protesters in Hama, his security forces continue gunning down protesters in nearby Homs. The violence appears to be the result of three pro-Assad people being found killed and mutilated, and the security forces and pro-Assad militias taking their vengeance upon other sectarian groups.

Recall that Assad is part of a minority Alawite sect, and are vastly outnumbered by Sunni Muslims so sectarian violence would not bode well for Assad's regime. Assad continues to try and show that his regime has support of the country and they're busy trying to bring out the bodies for demonstrations in Damascus and those videos get shown on national tv, but videos and reports of Assad's thugs brutalizing protesters gets no coverage as Assad tries to bury any evidence of his regime's violent crackdown.

Conflicting Reports Over Former Egyptian Leader Mubarak's Health

There are conflicting reports about the health of former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. Some reports had indicated that he had fallen into a coma or had suffered a stroke, but others are denying this.

Hosni Mubarak's lead doctor denied Sunday that the ousted Egyptian president had suffered a stroke or was in a coma, as Mubarak's lawyer claimed. Doctor Assem Azzam said the 83-year old Mubarak had only suffered a bout of low blood pressure and was in stable condition.

Mubarak's lawyer Farid el-Deeb said earlier that he had a stroke and was in a coma. "I checked on him. He is in stable condition. What happened is he got a little dizzy because his blood pressure was low. The doctors are dealing with that," said Azzam. "It is only hypotension, not a coma." A second official in the same hospital confirmed this, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. Mubarak has been in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since April under arrest on charges he ordered the killings of protesters during Egypt's uprising. He is said to be suffering from heart trouble. (See pictures of the rise and fall of Mubarak.)

The former president is set to face trial in about two weeks on charges he ordered the killings of protesters during the 18-day uprising that ousted him on Feb. 11. A conviction could carry the death penalty and activists suspect his lawyer may be using health problems as a ruse to sway public opinion and perhaps even win amnesty.

Garden State Parkway Drivers Are Worst In Nation

Driving along the Garden State Parkway during the summer can test your nerves and your patience, and it all stems from the fact that no one seems to know how to drive.

At all.

Drivers come to a standstill every time there's a car on the side of the road - and for twice as long when there's a cop along the road.

As for the NJ Troopers who are trying to stop speeders, they were out gunning for speeders just north of a construction zone in the 140s, but were nowhere to be found in the construction zone where everyone was flying by at least 20 miles over the posted speed limit. How exactly is that safe for everyone involved?

The traffic wasn't merely the result of congestion as tens of thousands of people were trying to get to the Jersey Shore, but because so many people simply were starting and stopping and tailgating - all the stop lights ended up filtering back for miles and miles rippling through traffic. It's an avoidable mess.

Oh, and for those who think that mass transit will solve matters, consider that the weekend schedule for trains to the Jersey shore are exceedingly limited, and it's even worse if you're in Northern New Jersey as the trains are even more limited.

The Toughest Ticket in Town

The toughest ticket in NYC looks like it will be at the 9/11 memorial. The 9/11 Memorial set up a ticketing/reservation system to limit the number of people at any one time to 1,500 people on site due to the ongoing construction throughout the surrounding area, but they've quickly run out; and multiple tour companies have swooped in to obtain many of the time slots - and they're charging for access as part of their tours or as standalone items.

New York tour companies are offering the hard-to-get memorial tickets as part of larger sightseeing packages starting Sept. 12, the day the memorial opens to the public for the first time.

New York Water Taxi, for example, will offer timed passes to the 9/11 memorial to customers who buy a $27.50 Hop-On/Hop-Off ticket.

These paid tours, being offered by five companies, are now the only way for visitors to see the 9/11 memorial in the first 10 days it is open because all of the free online tickets for those days have already been snapped up.

The free tickets disappeared quickly after the National September 11 Memorial & Museum opened online reservations on July 11. More than 25,000 people reserved passes on the first day alone, a memorial spokesman said.

The reason the memorial gave some of the free passes to private tour companies, rather than opening more of them up for public reservations, is that the companies have agreed to follow the city's plan for reducing bus traffic in lower Manhattan after the memorial opens, the spokesman said.

The tour companies have agreed to only park in designated bus spaces and to limit their drop-off and layover times, according to the Department of Transportation's new rules.

Private companies are prohibited from directly charging for the memorial passes, which are always free, the memorial spokesman said.

Other companies that are offering the tour packages include New York Waterway, which is offering 9/11 memorial passes in conjunction with its $4 East River ferry service and slightly more expensive Hudson River ferry service, and Big Taxi Tours, which is giving away memorial passes to anyone who buys a $32 downtown bus tour ticket.

Statue Cruises and Gray Line will also offer packages but have not announced them yet and did not respond to requests for comment.

This goes against the very spirit of the memorial and these companies are charging for access to the site at a time when the memorial and museum are complaining that they need millions of dollars to secure the opening and for operating costs for years to come. Some of the tour companies got the tickets in a deal to reduce traffic and congestion around Lower Manhattan - to reduce dwell times at stops, and other efforts to reduce pollution and traffic, but it means that if you want to see the memorial, your best option now appears to be buying a ticket through one of these outfits, rather than directly getting the tickets for free.

So, while these companies aren't directly charging fees, you can't obtain the free tickets unless you're plunking down money for other parts of their tours. They are violating the spirit of the free memorial access.

The News Corp. Hacking Scandal Grows Out of Murdoch's Control

Rupert Murdoch attempted to engage in damage control on Friday, even as two of his top corporate allies resigned on Friday, Les Hinton and Rebekah Brooks. This morning, the other shoe dropped on Brooks, as she was arrested in connection with the British hacking scandal.

No amount of apologies and promises of compensation will make good on the fact that Murdoch's company condoned all manner of illegal activities in the United Kingdom over a period of years.

All the years of shady behavior, criminal violations, and unethical behavior is coming home to roost and Murdoch's media empire is crumbling all around him.

British Labour Party leader Ed Miliband is calling for an overhaul of British media ownership rules, essentially breaking up News Corp's hold on media outlets.

In a fresh salvo against Mr Murdoch's News Corp, the Labour leader said he wanted to forge a cross-party agreement on plans that would reduce the media mogul's UK market share.

In an interview with The Observer, he said: ''I think he has too much power over British public life.''

The News Corp empire has been diminished with the closure of the News of the World over the phone hacking scandal, but it still owns The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times and 39 per cent of BSkyB.

Having already called successfully for the resignation of Rebekah Brooks, the News International chief executive, Mr Miliband said the Government now needed to look at media ownership rules.

He said: ''I think that we've got to look at the situation whereby one person can own more than 20 per cent of the newspaper market, the Sky platform and Sky News.

The scandal is also likely to claim individuals within Scotland Yard, and the all too cozy relationship between the police force and the media outlets has turned into efforts to control the damage. Heads should roll within the police force:

Inside was a treasure-trove of evidence: 11,000 pages of handwritten notes listing nearly 4,000 celebrities, politicians, sports stars, police officials and crime victims whose phones may have been hacked by The News of the World, a now defunct British tabloid newspaper.

Yet from August 2006, when the items were seized, until the autumn of 2010, no one at the Metropolitan Police Service, commonly referred to as Scotland Yard, bothered to sort through all the material and catalog every page, said former and current senior police officials.

During that same time, senior Scotland Yard officials assured Parliament, judges, lawyers, potential hacking victims, the news media and the public that there was no evidence of widespread hacking by the tabloid. They steadfastly maintained that their original inquiry, which led to the conviction of one reporter and one private investigator, had put an end to what they called an isolated incident.

After the past week, that assertion has been reduced to tatters, torn apart by a spectacular avalanche of contradictory evidence, admissions by News International executives that hacking was more widespread, and a reversal by police officials who now admit to mishandling the case.

Murdoch is likely to be grilled by British parliamentarians on Tuesday, and some of the luster and fear of crossing him has faded in the UK.