Click here to view this media The author of a new article about Eagles quarterback Michael Vick in ESPN The Magazine says he was “dismayed and horrified” when he discovered that the publication had photoshopped the football star into a white man. “I didn’t imagine that they would do that and it contradicts what I’m doing in the story,” Touré told CNN’s Carol Costello Friday. “This whole concept doesn’t really make any sense. Race informs your entire life. So, you wouldn’t even enter the same moment the same way. If Michael Vick were white, if that were even imaginable, he may not even go to the NFL because he might see other options for his life.” “So, just the concept of re-imagining somebody is white or black is extraordinary difficult, and I dismiss the concept of that right away in the story. For the headline and the image to suggest, ‘Let’s look at him as white’ is extremely — it’s just a perpendicular relationship to the story that I wrote.” ESPN The Magazine senior editor Raina Kelly was quick to defend the decision. “Well, the first reason we did it is because, I mean, I’m sure, as you know, the purpose of the art in a magazine, on television, in the newspaper, is to accompany and make the reader think in a way similar to the story,” she explained. “What we wanted to do is discuss Michael Vick as fully as possible and discuss the dog-fighting issue as fully as possible.” “You can use all kinds of code words so that nobody really knows what you’re saying, or you can just put the issue out there and let people talk about it. That’s what we did and that’s what we have done.” “You heard her explanation, what do you think?” Costello asked Touré. “I deal with it as a writer. I can’t even deal with the marketing of the story, putting that image, taking that title. When you see the image in particular, which goes counter to what the story is all about, you come to the story with a pitchfork,” he replied. “I mean, there is so many issues. Race is so layered. You can’t just switch people’s races and know the answer… In America, we love dogs. And for a lot of people, hurting a dog is morally equivalent to hurting a toddler. I think if Tom Brady were found to have a massive dog-fighting ring in his backyard, he would do two years in jail as well, and be thrown out of the Patriots and out of the NFL. And he would not be able to get away with it because he is white.” ESPN briefly removed the photo from their website Thursday, but by Friday morning it reappeared again.
Continue reading …Trains stopped and number of roads closed, as police deal with second incident after small fire discovered Part of a historic city centre has been closed off by police after a suspect package was found near a railway line. Trains have been stopped in Canterbury, Kent, and a number of roads closed after a member of the public reported the package in Old Dover Road just after 4.20pm. Kent police said they were also dealing with a second incident where a small fire had been discovered in a Marks & Spencer stores in St George’s Street. It is not known at this stage what caused it and officers remain at the scene, which was attended by firefighters. A police spokeswoman said: “At the present time we are unable to say whether the incidents are linked. There have been no reported injuries. “People are advised to avoid the city centre and drivers are asked to seek alternative routes.” St George’s Street and part of Old Dover Road have been closed while the bus station, Rose Square and the Marlowe Arcade have been evacuated, she added. She said officers from British Transport police are also in attendance, along with army bomb disposal experts. Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Hogben said: “Kent police and our partners are dealing with a serious incident which I appreciate is causing some disruption to local residents. “I’m grateful for the cooperation that the people of Canterbury have shown so far and I ask that they bear with us as we continue to deal with the two incidents. “We also continue to ask people to avoid both the city centre and Old Dover Road while the incidents are still ongoing. “At the moment we cannot formally connect the two incidents.” Investigations are continuing into the fire at Marks & Spencer, which is being treated as suspicious. Kent fire and rescue service was called at 5.10pm after staff discovered a small fire in the baby changing area on the second floor. It was quickly put out and the store was evacuated. There continues to be no reported injuries at either incident. guardian.co.uk
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President Felipe Calderón calls on Mexicans to unite behind policy against drug cartels after attack in Monterrey Until recently, Monterrey was seen by the rest of Mexico as an oasis of prosperity and peace amid the violence of the country’s drug wars. But this week’s attack on a casino, in which at least 52 people died, was a reminder that nowhere is safe. The victims, mostly women, died after armed men set fire to the Casino Royale, which was filled with gamblers and staff, on Thursday. Rescue workers were continuing to search the remains of the two-storey building for bodies on Friday. Mexico’s president, Felipe Calderón, declared three days of national mourning during a televised address in which he called on Mexicans to unite behind his government’s controversial offensive against the drug cartels, which has coincided with a dramatic escalation of violence around the country. “We are confronting true terrorists,” Calderón said. “We have to combat them with more force. They cannot be the owners of our streets, our cities and our future.” He also laid part of the blame for what he called “the tragedy we are living in Mexico” on the failure of the US to control its drug consumption and prevent Mexican cartels from easily replenishing their arsenals across the border. “We are neighbours, we are allies and we are friends – but you are also responsible,” the visibly angry president said. A surveillance camera outside the casino filmed a Mini Cooper, followed by two larger cars, stopping by the building at 3.40pm on Thursday. Armed men rushed in, carrying containers of what the authorities say was probably petrol. The video shows the convoy driving away at the same time as customers and workers ran from the scene just as black smoke billows into view. The attack on the casino is one of the worst atrocities so far in the drug wars, in which more than 40,000 people have been killed since the president launched a military-led crackdown on organised crime in December 2006. “There was a time when people moved from the capital to Monterrey because they felt safer there,” Jorge Chabat, a drugs analyst, said. “Now they are looking to come back.” Monterrey, the capital of the state of Nuevo Leon, is about 140 miles from Texas and is a hub for big business. The area has also long been attractive to traffickers as a strategic break in the journey for drugs going north and money and weapons flowing south. This all changed after burgeoning tensions between the Gulf cartel and their former enforcers, the Zetas, developed into a full-scale war that began in the north-eastern border state of Tamaulipas early last year and spread to Nuevo Leon. According to government figures, murders in Nuevo Leon jumped from 267 in 2009 to 828 in 2010. That record had already been surpassed by mid-June this year. The governor, Rodrigo Medina, told a press conference that police were investigating whether the attack on the Casino Royale had been revenge for unpaid protection money. He refused to elaborate on other possible lines of investigation or identify which criminal group was suspected of being behind the arson. Emergency services spokesman Reynaldo Ramos said 42 of the victims were women, and almost all the bodies were discovered inside the building’s toilets. Further bodies were found in an office where it seems people sought refuge after running from the gunmen and failing to find open emergency exits. One survivor, who identified herself as Alejandra, said: she was near the entrance when the armed men entered and screamed at them to get out or die. “I heard shots, but I didn’t look back. We got out.” The impact of the tragedy was further increased by the location of the gambling centre that featured bingo and slot machines in a middle class area of the city. Previous attacks on obviously civilian populations have tended to focus on peasants, urban workers, drug addicts and other vulnerable sectors. Exactly a year ago, 72 mostly Central American migrants were killed at a ranch in Tamaulipas. Local business leaders were notably quiet in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy but, in recent times, have underlined their concern about the crumbling image and confidence of a city they once felt proud of. “Nuevo Leon has been an example for the nation because of its drive, and it hurts us that today the state is associated with corruption and insecurity,” Alsonso Garza Garza told La Cronica de Hoy, speaking just a day before the attack. “This cannot get worse.” It appears he was wrong. Mexico Jo Tuckman guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Nigeria attack: Islamist militants claim responsibility for UN building blast
August 26, 2011 No Comment
Al-Qaida-linked group, Boko Haram, says it was behind the deadly explosion in Abuja that left at least 18 people dead Nigeria’s capital was on high alert on after an apparent suicide attack on the United Nations headquarters in Abuja stoked fears that Islamist militants were setting their sights on high-profile targets in Africa’s most populous country. The car bomb – the first attack on the UN in Nigeria – ripped through the heavily fortified UN building, killing at least 18 people. Describing those who carried out the apparent suicide bombing as “barbaric”, President Goodluck Jonathan ordered all relevant government agencies to help in the search and rescue effort. “The president believes that the attack is a most despicable assault on the United Nations’ objectives of global peace and security, and the sanctity of human life to which Nigeria wholly subscribes,” the president’s office said in a statement. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, who asked his deputy, Asha-Rose Migiro, to go to Nigeria immediately, said: “This was an assault on those who devote their lives to helping others. We condemn this terrible act, utterly.” The Islamist group Boko Haram told the BBC in a phone call that it had carried out the attack. If the claim turns out to be genuine, the attack would confirm American fears that al-Qaida-affiliated groups are targeting the important west African state. Witnesses said a car rammed through two separate gates at the UN compound as guards tried to stop it. The suicide bomber drove up to the main reception area before blowing himself up. “I saw scattered bodies,” Michael Ofilaje, a Unicef worker at the building, told the Associated Press. “Many people are dead.” He said it felt like “the blast came from the basement and shook the building.” About 400 UN employees work in the building, grouping several UN agencies, including the UN Development Programme, Unicef, the children’s agency and the UN Population Fund. The building is located in the same area as foreign embassies, including the British embassy, which is currently under construction. Workers brought three large cranes to the wrecked building within hours of the attack, trying to pull away the concrete and rubble to find survivors. Others at the site stood around, stunned, as medical workers began carrying out what appeared to be the dead. Hussaini Abdu, country director of ActionAid, who works in a building close to the explosion, said he and his colleagues felt the shock from the blast. “We were in a meeting on the second floor of our building when we felt it shake,” said Abdu in a telephone interview. “At first we thought it was a blast from the construction that was going on, a minute later we saw smoke from the building. I made a couple of calls that confirmed it was an attack. The five or six people I spoke to are deeply traumatised, some are still in shock, some had brought their children as it’s a school holiday. The UN is in one of the most fortified buildings in Abuja and it is in quite a secure area with all the embassies there.” Boko Haram – Hausa for “western education is sinful” – carried out a similar attack on the Abuja police headquarters in June, nearly killing the police chief. Earlier this month, the commander for US military operations in Africa said Boko Haram may be trying to connect with other al-Qaida-linked groups to mount joint attacks in Nigeria. General Carter Ham told AP during a visit to Nigeria that “multiple sources” indicate Boko Haram made contacts with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in north-west Africa, and with al-Shabaab in Somalia. “I think it would be the most dangerous thing to happen not only to the Africans, but to us as well,” Carter said. Analysts said if Boko Haram had carried out the attack, it indicated how far the group had moved into al-Qaida’s orbit in the past year. “It would also show how Boko Haram is striking out from its normal north-east area,” said Henry Wilkinson, an analyst at Janusian, a risk management company. “It’s probable what we’re seeing is a move away from its parochial approach to ideas of global jihad, which would explain choosing the UN as a target. They also use the same jihadi clearing house, al-Andalus, for issuing their messages.” Nigerian authorities have attempted to clamp down on the group through Operation Flush, following violent clashes with
Continue reading …Huntsman Calls for Shared Sacrifice From the Rich — But Not With Tax Increases
August 26, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media As our friend Jed Lewinson pointed out over at the Daily Kos, GOP candidate and so-called “moderate” Jon Huntsman called for some “shared sacrifice” from the rich on the PBS Newshour this Thursday, but of course that “sacrifice” should not come in the form of a tax increase. I agree completely with this assessment of that statement by Huntsman during the interview: Excuse me, but isn’t punting on that question pretty much the definition of hesitating? And how can you be taken seriously if you simultaneously rule out tax increases? Sure, Huntsman talks a good game, and he’s great at delivering “adult in the room” soundbites, but when comes down to it, on the most important issues, he’s every bit as big a baby as every other Republican in the field. What Lewinson left out was some of the claptrap we heard leading up to that. This guy is supposed to be what’s considered a “moderate” candidate in the GOP presidential primary field, but what was he touting here? The same old tired talking points we’ve heard out of the rest of them. Flatten our tax structure and raise taxes on lower income earners, meaning the poor and the middle class. Qualified with weasel words like we could take a “progressive approach” to raising income taxes on those who don’t make enough money to be paying them now. During this interview he also promoted means testing Social Security which would turn it into a welfare program, which of course is just one step in getting rid of it altogether. He also promoted lowering taxes on corporations to make us “more competitive” and to “attract investment” which just equals another race to the bottom on wages and rewarding our under taxed corporations who still would have no incentive to put Americans back to work if we don’t do something to fix our trade laws and our tax structure which rewards companies for offshore tax havens and for hiring slave labor overseas. I don’t know how much worse things are going to have to get before we move both parties back over to the left instead of what passes for the “center” these days and either party starts enacting policies where they do the right thing and help the unemployment problem we’ve got here before we end up as some third world country with nothing but rich and poor. Sadly the only group of politicians I’ve seen that from who look like they genuinely have the interests of the American worker at heart is the Progressive Caucus in the House. All I heard from this supposedly “moderate” Republican candidate was more of the same promoting the policies that got us to where we are now with our economy being in horrible shape, more tax cuts for those that don’t need them, and more dismantling of our social safety nets. Transcript via PBS below the fold: JEFFREY BROWN: Now, on the main issue of the day, the economy, jobs, you have talked about reforming the tax code – a flat or a flatter tax. JON HUNTSMAN: Right. JEFFREY BROWN: Does that mean that you oppose, or would you like to end the progressive tax code that we have? JON HUNTSMAN: I think that what we have is dated. I think 17,000 pages that make up our tax code make it a little top-heavy and a little unpredictable for a lot of people longer-term, particularly on the business side. I would like to do what we did in the state of Utah, which is: phasing out the deductions; phasing out the loopholes; phasing out corporate welfare, the biases that are inherent at this very top-heavy tax code; buying down the rate in a revenue-neutral fashion, broadening the base and leaving the tax code a whole lot more competitive for the 21st century. JEFFREY BROWN: But does broadening the base bring lower-end lower-wage earners into paying taxes, many who don’t today? And does it end the, as I said, the progressive nature of our tax code, or does it change it so that lower-wage earners pay more in taxes and upper-end come down? JON HUNTSMAN: You – it – it would change elements of the tax code to that end. It would bring more people into the tax code who would then become taxpayers. You could bring that in gradually. I mean, there could be a progressive approach to bringing a certain segment of the population in. But basically, it does – it lowers the rate, flattens the rate, and I think leaves it a whole lot more competitive for where this country needs to be in the future. JEFFREY BROWN: Competitive but fair. I mean, one of the things people would say is, the nature of our tax code has benefited those lower-wage earners. JON HUNTSMAN: Well, the tax code going forward has got to benefit everyone in this country. One of our problems is, we’re not attracting investment, we’re not necessarily attracting brain power, we’re not expanding our economic foundation because our tax code is not up-to-date. It isn’t competitive. And I believe if we’re going to help everybody and bring more people the opportunity that this country traditionally has, we got to have a different tax code. It just can’t continue on as it is. So I look at the options out there, and I think, you know, you can phase out the deductions and the loopholes and the biases, and you can use that revenue to buy down the rate. And I say that because that’s where I’ve been, and that’s what we did in our state. And I think it is applicable here at the national level. And that’s the conversation I would like to have with the people of this country. JEFFREY BROWN: One specific current issue is the question of the extension of the payroll tax cuts. Now, these cuts were made last year to try to get more money into the pockets of working people. They – they’re due to end in January, and there is a question of whether they should be extended. A number of Republicans have suggested that that’s not a priority. What – where do you come down? JON HUNTSMAN: I think the payroll tax cut is a good thing. I think it helps a whole lot of people, and I think it’s something that would serve to stimulate this economy going forward. So it’s something I would – JEFFREY BROWN: So it should be extended. JON HUNTSMAN: I would consider extending it. JEFFREY BROWN: Another on the tax issue – the investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett has written recently of how those at the very, very high end can and should pay more in taxes. Is he right? JON HUNTSMAN: Well, I would say that there’s going to have to be a shared sacrifice in this country. And I think that people at all levels are going to have to step up, whether it’s recognizing that Medicare is going to be done a little differently; Social Security is going to be done a little differently. And as president, I wouldn’t hesitate to call on sacrifice from all of our people, even those at the very highest end of the income spectrum. I think there’s – JEFFREY BROWN: Higher taxes for those at the highest – JON HUNTSMAN: There’s – there is – well, I’m not saying – (chuckles) – higher taxes. I’m saying that there are contributions that they can make, too. And as president, when you look at the full spectrum of options at where this country is and what we need to deliver – a truly competitive economy for our people – we’re going to have to ask for sacrifice. And I’m not going to hesitate to do that. JEFFREY BROWN: What does that mean, though, specifically? JON HUNTSMAN: Over time, we’re going to figure that out. But I’m not going to give a one-size-fits-all scenario there. I know that there are people who can give, perhaps, more than others maybe as it relates to the means testing around Social Security and Medicare – people who don’t need these programs. And I think we need to look realistically at where we are, where our vulnerable spots are, where our vulnerable populations are, recognize that for what it is and recognize those populations that don’t need these programs, and make some choices around that. JEFFREY BROWN: On the foreign policy front, as we sit here today, rebels in Libya have taken Tripoli. Moammar Gadhafi is on the run, and it looks as though his long dictatorship is over. Now, you opposed originally President Obama’s decision to intervene – or working with NATO. Were you, in retrospect, wrong about that? JON HUNTSMAN: I don’t think so. I don’t – I cheer on the rebels. I don’t yet know what that means in terms of leadership going forward. I don’t know what it means in terms of respecting human rights. Although with the National Transition Authority, I heard some of the right language. But there are a lot of question marks, still, about how this is going to play out: what it means to the people of Libya; what it means to the economy and regional stability longer term. So my original premise was based on Libya not being a core U.S. national security interest. And I maintain that view today. Although I cheer on the rebels, and I think it’s terrific, Tunisia and Egypt kind of did it on their own. They didn’t need the United States to move those transitions forward. I think the same is true in Libya. We applaud the rebels, but I have to tell you, the future of the United States is not tied to Libya – and it’s not tied to Afghanistan, and it’s not tied to Iraq. I hate to – I hate to inform you, it’s really tied to whether or not this country is up for the competitive challenges of the 21st century. And that’s an economic battle that’s going to play out across the Pacific Ocean more than anything else.
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Human rights groups condemn proposal allowing officers to hold people for up to six months without informing relatives Chinese police will gain new legal powers to detain suspects for up to six months without telling their families where or why they are held, according to a state newspaper’s account of planned reforms. Human rights activists and legal scholars warned that the change would legitimise an alarming pattern of detentions under the residential surveillance law, which was initially intended as a less punitive measure than formal detention. Most of those who went missing in a crackdown on activists, dissidents and lawyers this year were taken to secret locations chosen by police. They were held for weeks or even months under residential surveillance. The law does not specify that relatives must be informed, presumably because it was assumed suspects would be held at their homes. In comparison, police must inform relatives within 24 hours of detention and must seek prosecutors’ approval for arrest within 30 days. The proposed changes are part of an overhaul of criminal procedure law now being considered by the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s legislature. “The proposed ‘reform’ is designed to legitimise this blatantly unfair, police state practice, while leaving the rest of the criminal procedure law as misleading decoration,” said Professor Jerome Cohen, an expert on China at New York University’s School of Law. He said he believed police were specifically banned from holding a suspect at an address other than his or her home under binding rules issued in 1996. Cohen added: “This is a perfect illustration of the dangers of revising the law in repressive times. The problem is that the police use each law revision round to legitimise their convenient practices and they ignore in practice the legislative and administrative reforms designed to bind them.” The draft text has not been published, but the Legal Daily newspaper reported that police would be able to hold suspects in state security, terrorism or major corruption cases at a “designated residence”, if holding them at home would impede the investigation. The decision would need to be approved by higher officials. In state security and terrorism cases the police would not have to notify the suspect’s family if they believed it might hinder the investigation – a criterion that scholars say is so vague as to be meaningless. Experts say residential surveillance has been misused in the past. But Dr Flora Sapio, of Turin’s Centre of Advanced Studies on Contemporary China, said its use against dissidents was a new phenomenon. Sapio, who has been logging proposed amendments , warned that if the change went ahead it would “entrench the powers of police much more formally” and make it harder to criticise disappearances. Joshua Rosenzweig, an independent human rights researcher in Hong Kong, cautioned that the changes were still at draft stage and might contain restrictions on the use of the measure, but said the change appeared to be “a dangerous legitimisation of a highly suspect practice”. Scholars have praised other amendments for improving protections for individuals, at least on paper. Changes include ruling out the use of confessions obtained through torture and granting the right to judicial review for mental health patients who are forcibly detained. Nicholas Bequelin, of Human Rights Watch, added: “If these are indeed the [residential surveillance] provisions, and they are adopted, it seems to be a trade-off for the public security bureau to sign off on the improvements in criminal procedure law. “There is in any case very little restraint on what the police can do in sensitive cases; what’s worrying is that this would be a tacit endorsement … It is a very dangerous precedent.” No one at the Ministry of Justice or the NPC was available for comment. China Human rights Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
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In the wake of the riots David Cameron declared ‘all-out war’ on gangs. Now zero-tolerance policing is starting to reap rewards “Police! Stand still! Police!” Shortly after 6.30am on Friday, the dawn quiet of a cul-de-sac in Walthamstow was shattered by the arrival of Operation Connect officers at a nondescript terraced house with net curtains at the windows. With the might of a hardened steel enforcer ram, they broke open the door and piled into the house. The muffled tones of an angry man’s voice could be heard through the open door, and a neighbour looked on with world-weary indifference. “It’s not the first time,” said Dave, a 58-year-old who did not want to give his surname. “They’ve been here before.” Officers eventually emerged from the house with a 25-year-old man in handcuffs and a sweatshirt with the words “Smoke Homegrown” emblazoned beneath a large cannabis plant. In a storm of expletives, he gave the finger to the press as he was escorted to the van. Detective sergeant Andy Chandler, who was leading the raid, said the man had been arrested on suspicion of being involved in the supply of drugs and in money-laundering offences. The suspect, whose name was not released, had been targeted as part of Operation Connect, an initiative led by the Metropolitan police aimed at tackling a rise in gang violence in the capital. The project, which draws on successful anti-gang approaches taken by police in cities such as Boston, Massachusetts and Glasgow, has been running since the spring, with Waltham Forest to be used as a blueprint for other boroughs. But, after a summer in which gangs have returned to the headlines in a big way, interest in Connect is greater than ever. Speaking in the aftermath of the riots in English cities this month, David Cameron declared an “all-out war” on criminal gangs. They had been, he told MPs on another occasion, “at the heart of the protests and have been behind the co-ordinated attacks”. Out of the glare of the media and Westminster spotlight, however, Operation Connect has been progressing steadily in Waltham Forest, where a spasm of gang-related violence last summer, among other factors, encouraged the police to single out the borough for particular attention. Using information from a variety of sources – including previous convictions and community intelligence – police have built up a database, or “matrix”, of around 100 people they believe to be the most dangerous gang members in the borough. Ranging from their mid-teens to their early-30s, the individuals are given a rating indicating how dangerous they are thought to be. The next stage in the Connect process is for direct contact to be made with those people, either in person or in writing, and offer them the chance to “disengage” from gang life. This is a modified version of the “call ins” organised by the Boston Gun Project of the mid-1990s and, more recently, by Strathclyde police in Glasgow. But, while those cities held mass events for many gang members at a time, Scotland Yard believes a different approach is more suitable for London, where gangs are structured less hierarchically and such forums, it is felt, would be of limited use. For those who do agree to a “diversion” plan – and around 50 people have done so thus far in Waltham Forest – an array of support services is on offer, ranging from help with employment and substance abuse, to rehoming for members and their families who feel they need to move as a part of the rupture. In parallel with police efforts, Waltham Forest council runs its own gang prevention programme which, in the months since it was launched this year, has claimed many successes including getting one former gang member off the matrix and into work, and another into university outside London. However, sources say its future is uncertain: despite vocal support from Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary who will be joint head of the government’s so-called “gangs committee” and whose constituency includes Waltham Forest, there are concerns that cuts to government grants will make the council unable to follow through on all its targets in the long term. A council source said the situation was “very difficult”. For those gang members who reject the offer of engagement, however, the soft approach is ditched, and no-holds-barred enforcement kicks in. “It’s an Al Capone sort of approach,” said Chandler. “We will target them for their criminality.” That could be dealing in class A drugs or the non-payment of a TV licence. Detective Chief Inspector Tim Champion, from Operation Connect, said officers were justified in their pursuit of those gang members for the smallest of offences. “We would not be targeting them for no insurance if they weren’t a violent gang member,” he said. “We are there to reduce gang-related violence. We will do that by any lawful means. If that individual has been offered … a way out … and they’ve chosen not to do that, they’ve been given a very clear steer that we will target them.” For many in communities blighted by gang violence, the tough approach will be welcome. And there are already signs that Connect is having an impact in Waltham Forest: the latest figures show that, over the first three months of the project, knife crime fell by 5%, robbery by 13%, and gun crime by 25% compared with last year. But Scotland Yard is under no illusions that a big reduction in London gang violence will be anything other than long and fraught with difficulty. In areas such as Waltham Forest and Haringey, the next stage in Connect’s development, gang-related problems remain rife. Yesterday, another raid carried out in a semi-detached house in Leyton led to the arrest of one person, a 39-year-old Vietnamese man, on suspicion of cultivating cannabis in a factory spread over four rooms in the property. In one room, around 250 cannabis plants lay growing under heat lamps, while extractor fans and mothballs were used to lessen the pungent smell. In another, soil lay in a heap next to a pink dust-pan and brush. According to one estimate, the factory had the capacity to bring its owners an income of over £500,000 per year. Although the raid was not part of Connect, it was gang-related: a local officer said they suspected the Vietnamese man was being paid “peanuts” to work for a local street gang. In the area, several gangs have influence, most prominently the Beaumont Crew, which is understood to have several members on the Connect matrix, but also the Boundary Boys and the Drive & Marlow (DM). The officer said that certain features of the factory led him to believe it was being run by “a big gang with a lot of money”. Waltham Forest superintendent Adrian Hutchinson said tackling drug-related criminality was crucial to curbing gang-related violence. “Gangs need money for crime to survive and to grow, and one of the areas they [do that in] is drugs.” Despite the sustained intelligence gathering, some anti-gang work can still be hit and miss: local officers had originally raided the Leyton address expecting to find evidence tying local gang members to the riots. No such items were found. And, while the government is pointing the finger of blame at gangs, officers in the field would prefer to wait and see the evidence before concluding that such a link was justified. “Were there gang members involved [in the riots]? Without a doubt,” said Champion, saying it was “natural” that the riots had refocused attention on gang-busting efforts. “But you have to be very careful because until the actual statistics come out about how much of it was gang-related and how much of it was pure violence, we’re only speculating.” Crime UK riots Gangs Drugs Drugs trade Metropolitan police Communities Police London Lizzy Davies guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Hurricane Irene threatens to plunge US east coast into major power blackout
August 26, 2011 No Comment
‘Storm of a lifetime’ puts up to 65m people in harm’s way as Obama urges Americans to take precautions The entire sweep of the US coast from North Carolina to New England was warned of widespread power outages and public transport shutdowns in the face of a hurricane of historic magnitude at the weekend. As hurricane Irene began to bear down on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, bringing heavy rain and 9ft waves before its expected landfall early on Saturday, officials warned residents of some of the most densely populated parts of the country they could lose some of the essentials of modern life. The New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, told a press conference that the authorities would begin shutting down the subway system from Saturday – for the first time in its history. Meanwhile, officials warned of widespread power black-outs – potentially lasting for days or even weeks in rural areas – because of high winds from the hurricane. As many as 65 million people could be in harm’s way as hurricane Irene begins its slow crawl along the entire east coast. Irene was downgraded to a category two storm early on Friday, with 105mph winds, but authorities said repeatedly it would be folly for people on its path to think they were in the clear. As meteorologists warned them, for people on the east coast, this was the storm of their lifetimes. “All indications point to this being a historic hurricane,” Barack Obama said in a statement from Martha’s Vineyard. The island is also on hurricane watch and Obama was expected to cut short his holiday by a day. “If you are in the path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now,” he said. “Don’t wait, don’t delay.” If it follows its present trajectory, Irene will be the biggest storm to strike on the east coast since 2005, making its first landfall in North Carolina early on Saturday morning. The storm will then lumber up the coast, bringing high winds and flooding to Washington DC, Baltimore, Maryland, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Long Island, New York, and Boston, Massachusetts. The primary concern of meteorologists was the danger of storm surges – with 11ft high waves predicted in North Carolina. Parts of New Jersey and New York City were also at risk. Those threats were magnified by the extraordinary breadth of the storm system. Max Mayfield, a former director of the national hurricane centre, called a storm on such a scale his “greatest nightmare”. “This is going to be a real challenge … There’s going to be millions of people affected,” he told reporters. By mid-morning on Friday, the authorities were warning that time was running out for people to evacuate safely. They said the aftershocks of Hurricane Irene – power outages, downed trees, flooding – could be felt for days, weeks or longer. “It’s going to be a huge geographical area with lots of people affected,” Elizabeth McGovern, president of the Red Cross, told a press conference. “From a time perspective this could take weeks maybe even months to respond to.” The authorities also pleaded with people not to take comfort from the downgrading of the hurricane. Irene could still inflict severe damage well inland. “It does not mean that there will not be damages. It does not mean there will not be power outages,” Craig Fugate, the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told the press conference. Governors in every state from North Carolina to Massachusetts declared states of emergency. Mandatory evacuation orders were declared in low-lying and coastal areas most in harms’ way. “As governor of this state, I want to tell you: this hurricane is real. It is coming our way,” said North Carolina’s governor, Bev Perdue. Eleven counties in the state have made disaster preparations. Flights and trains were cancelled, and travellers warned they would face further delays and the possibility of blocked tunnels and bridges if they waited until Saturday to evacuate. Outdoor concerts were cancelled and major league baseballs games rescheduled. Students at several small colleges were told not to report to their dorm rooms. In Virginia, the US navy took 27 ships and submarines out of its Norfolk base and dispatched them to the north. Meanwhile, the air force shifted more than 70 aircraft from bases along the east coast to Ohio. In the northern Virginia suburbs around Washington DC, the authorities began distributing sandbags in the event of flooding and a storm surge from the Potomac river. Maryland’s governor, Martin O’Malley, warned residents in beach towns they could be forcibly removed by police if they ignored evacuation orders. “It is the height of selfishness not to evacuate,” he told CNN. Authorities in New York City cancelled construction permits for the weekend, and drew up evacuation plans for low-lying, costal areas of New York city including Coney Island in Brooklyn, Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan and parts of Staten Island, said the mayor, Mike Bloomberg. Bloomberg urged able-bodied people in low-lying areas to evacuate and said a decision about wider evacuations would be made Saturday morning. He said said officials had to “assume the worst, prepare for that and hope for the best”. The city evacuated a nursing home and residents were urged to stock up on groceries and flashlights and prepare for potential evacuations. The police commissioner Ray Kelly said rowing boats were being sent to police precincts in flood-prone areas. Forestry contractors have been hired to deal with fallen trees. The city is preparing to shut down its transit system as early as Saturday. Nursing homes in low-lying areas began evacuation residents on Friday/. Events including a concert by the Dave Matthews Band on Governors’ Island have been postponed, street fairs and other outdoor activities have been scrapped to clear the streets for emergency vehicles. In New Jersey, traffic helicopters showed pictures of long lines of cars streaming out of Atlantic City. Holidaymakers began leaving Fire Island, the 32-mile barrier island off the Atlantic coast of Long Island. A mandatory evacuation of barrier islands in Cape May county, New Jersey, began on Friday. New Jersey governor Chris Christie said wider evacuations were being considered. “If I order it, I expect it to be complied with,” he said. “Let me assure you, we are not overreacting.” Hurricane Irene Natural disasters and extreme weather Barack Obama Michael Bloomberg United States North Carolina Washington DC Pennsylvania New Jersey New York Massachusetts Dominic Rushe Suzanne Goldenberg guardian.co.uk
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