Anders Brehing Breivik took part in online discussions with members of the EDL and other anti-Islamic groups Anders Brehing Breivik, the man accused of the murder of at least 91 Norwegians in a twin bomb and gun massacre, boasted online about his discussions with the far right English Defence League and other anti-Islamic European organisations. The Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, said Norwegian officials were working with foreign intelligence agencies to see if there was any international involvement in the slaughter. “We have running contact with other countries’ intelligence services,” he said. Breivik was arrested on Utøya island where he shot and killed at least 84 people, mostly teenagers, at a youth summer camp for supporters of Norway’s Labour Party after bombing Oslo’s government district just hours before.Dressed as a policeman, he ordered the teenagers to gather round him before opening fire on them. Survivors described how dozens of people were mown down. Edvard Fornes, 16, described how the gunman told the youths, “Don’t be shy,” and, “Come and play with me,” before executing them. “There were two kids lying, hiding, in a ditch saying, ‘please, please don’t shoot us,’ and he shot them.” Another youth, Ida Knudsen, 16, said she had been in a group of 100 who had initially ran from the killer, but that was reduced to around 60 as the gunman pursued them. Eventually she was one of 12 who climbed into a boat and escaped. With the entire island a crime scene, officers were still combing the shoreline on Saturday and boats were searching the water for more bodies amid fears the toll could rise further. The police were continuing to investigate whether there had been a second gunman on the island. The disclosure of Breivik’s claimed links with other far right organisations came as details emerged about the rightwing Christian fundamentalist and freemason behind Norway’s worst post-war act of violence. It was revealed that the 32-year-old former member of the country’s conservative Progress Party – who had become ever more extreme in his hatred of Muslims, left wingers and the country’s political establishment – had ordered six tonnes of fertiliser in May to be used in the bombing. While police continued to interrogate Breivik, who was charged with the mass killings, evidence of his increasingly far right world view emerged from an article he had posted on several Scandinavian websites, including Nordisk – a site frequented by neo-Nazis, far right radicals and Islamophobes since 2009. The Norwegian daily VG quoted one of Breivik’s friends saying that he had become a rightwing extremist in his late 20s and was now a strong opponent of multi-culturalism, expressing strong nationalistic views in online debates. Breivik had talked admiringly about conversations he had had with unnamed English Defence League members and the organisation Stop the Islamification of Europe over the success of provocative street actions leading to violence. “I have on some occasions had discussions with SIOE and EDL and recommended them to use certain strategies,” he wrote two years ago. “The tactics of the EDL are now to ‘lure’ an overreaction from the Jihad Youth/Extreme-Marxists, something they have succeeded in doing several times already.” Contacted about the allegation by email by last night the EDL had not answered. The latest disclosures came as the Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg flew by helicopter to a hotel in the town of Sundvollen – close to the island of Utøya – where many survivors were taken and where relatives converged to reunite with their loved ones or to identify their dead. “A whole world is thinking of them,” Stoltenberg said, his voice cracking with emotion. He said the twin attacks made Friday the deadliest day in peacetime Norway. “This is beyond comprehension. It’s a nightmare. It’s a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends,” he said. Buildings around the capital lowered their flags to half-staff. People streamed to Oslo cathedral to light candles and lay flowers; outside, mourners began building a makeshift altar from dug-up cobblestones. On Saturday the Queen wrote to Norway’s King Harald to offer her condolences and express her shock and sadness. Breivik’s Facebook page was blocked, but a cached version describes a conservative Christian from Oslo. The profile veers between references to lofty political philosophers and gory popular films, television shows and video games. The account appears to have been set up on 17 July. The site lists no “friends” or social connections. Norway Europe Mark Townsend Peter Beaumont Tracy McVeigh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Anders Brehing Breivik took part in online discussions with members of the EDL and other anti-Islamic groups Anders Brehing Breivik, the man accused of the murder of at least 91 Norwegians in a twin bomb and gun massacre, boasted online about his discussions with the far right English Defence League and other anti-Islamic European organisations. The Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, said Norwegian officials were working with foreign intelligence agencies to see if there was any international involvement in the slaughter. “We have running contact with other countries’ intelligence services,” he said. Breivik was arrested on Utøya island where he shot and killed at least 84 people, mostly teenagers, at a youth summer camp for supporters of Norway’s Labour Party after bombing Oslo’s government district just hours before.Dressed as a policeman, he ordered the teenagers to gather round him before opening fire on them. Survivors described how dozens of people were mown down. Edvard Fornes, 16, described how the gunman told the youths, “Don’t be shy,” and, “Come and play with me,” before executing them. “There were two kids lying, hiding, in a ditch saying, ‘please, please don’t shoot us,’ and he shot them.” Another youth, Ida Knudsen, 16, said she had been in a group of 100 who had initially ran from the killer, but that was reduced to around 60 as the gunman pursued them. Eventually she was one of 12 who climbed into a boat and escaped. With the entire island a crime scene, officers were still combing the shoreline on Saturday and boats were searching the water for more bodies amid fears the toll could rise further. The police were continuing to investigate whether there had been a second gunman on the island. The disclosure of Breivik’s claimed links with other far right organisations came as details emerged about the rightwing Christian fundamentalist and freemason behind Norway’s worst post-war act of violence. It was revealed that the 32-year-old former member of the country’s conservative Progress Party – who had become ever more extreme in his hatred of Muslims, left wingers and the country’s political establishment – had ordered six tonnes of fertiliser in May to be used in the bombing. While police continued to interrogate Breivik, who was charged with the mass killings, evidence of his increasingly far right world view emerged from an article he had posted on several Scandinavian websites, including Nordisk – a site frequented by neo-Nazis, far right radicals and Islamophobes since 2009. The Norwegian daily VG quoted one of Breivik’s friends saying that he had become a rightwing extremist in his late 20s and was now a strong opponent of multi-culturalism, expressing strong nationalistic views in online debates. Breivik had talked admiringly about conversations he had had with unnamed English Defence League members and the organisation Stop the Islamification of Europe over the success of provocative street actions leading to violence. “I have on some occasions had discussions with SIOE and EDL and recommended them to use certain strategies,” he wrote two years ago. “The tactics of the EDL are now to ‘lure’ an overreaction from the Jihad Youth/Extreme-Marxists, something they have succeeded in doing several times already.” Contacted about the allegation by email by last night the EDL had not answered. The latest disclosures came as the Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg flew by helicopter to a hotel in the town of Sundvollen – close to the island of Utøya – where many survivors were taken and where relatives converged to reunite with their loved ones or to identify their dead. “A whole world is thinking of them,” Stoltenberg said, his voice cracking with emotion. He said the twin attacks made Friday the deadliest day in peacetime Norway. “This is beyond comprehension. It’s a nightmare. It’s a nightmare for those who have been killed, for their mothers and fathers, family and friends,” he said. Buildings around the capital lowered their flags to half-staff. People streamed to Oslo cathedral to light candles and lay flowers; outside, mourners began building a makeshift altar from dug-up cobblestones. On Saturday the Queen wrote to Norway’s King Harald to offer her condolences and express her shock and sadness. Breivik’s Facebook page was blocked, but a cached version describes a conservative Christian from Oslo. The profile veers between references to lofty political philosophers and gory popular films, television shows and video games. The account appears to have been set up on 17 July. The site lists no “friends” or social connections. Norway Europe Mark Townsend Peter Beaumont Tracy McVeigh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …It’s been almost two months since a House Democrat got into sex-related trouble, so Oregon’s David Wu— he of mentally instable, tiger-suited fame —is again making headlines. A young woman is accusing the rep of an unwanted sexual encounter, which she says took place last Thanksgiving. The woman, whom the…
Continue reading …Google’s quietly pitter-pattering its acquisitive ways back into the controversial realm of facial recognition technology . To do that, the company busted out its oversized wallet to fold Pittsburgh-based PittPatt into the Mountain View borg. Founded by a trio of PhD’s from Carnegie Mellon University, this three-man strong outfit specializes in the sort of object recognition software you’ve come to know as “tagging.” Is this a reversal of the Do No Evil tech giant’s prior waffling on the dubious visioning tech , or just another massive weapon in its social networking crusade against Facebook ? We’d err on the side of both, although the company’s new employees aren’t exactly playing their cards for us to see. A brief statement on the triumvirate’s site makes vague mention of “computer vision technology” being core to Google’s products and points to the tech’s planned integration in photo, video and mobile applications. So, basically, expect to see Picasa, Goggles, YouTube and Google+ watch you as you flaunt your internet celebrity ways to that front-facing camera. Google acquires PittPatt, wants to know you on a face-to-face basis originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 23 Jul 2011 11:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Happy hour never comes, you’ll never see a restaurant bartender mix your drink, stiff drinks are a no-no, and don’t even bother asking about a drink special … welcome to Utah! Though the state’s infamously strict liquor laws lightened up considerably in 2009, the system remains rife with quirks—but…
Continue reading …Beyonce gets seriously sexy in this never-before-seen photo from the photo shoot for her latest album, 4, taken on Saturday (April 23) in Paris, France. The 29-year-old entertainer rocked a corset and shoes by Alexander McQueen paired with a Missoni bodysuit and an Azzedine Alaia fur coat. Bey finished her look with bracelets by Aurelie Bidermann. Also Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : Just Jared Discovery Date : 22/07/2011 03:20 Number of articles : 3
Continue reading …One of the thing I learned while in the Clinton White House is that most Washington rumors, I’d say generally around two out of three, are false. In a deadline/crisis period that number goes to about 95 percent false. And by rumors, I am including most news reports, which trade in rumor, gossip, and leaks designed to help the agenda of the leaker. So most of what is coming out of D.C. right now on the default crisis is garbage. What deal is up and what deal is fading changes so fast that it may even be true at the moment it is reported, but could be completely reversed 15 minutes later. So every time your blood pressure spikes in the coming days, just take a Valium like a normal person (as the sister-in-law character from “Desperately Seeking Susan” would say), and go do something other than watching cable TV. Having said all that, though, there are some things that seem a lot more certain. The economy, already stalled, will have more roadblocks piled in its way. Middle-class and poor people will get more cuts in government programs that really do matter to their lives and their incomes. Nothing will be done to actually make the investments in infrastructure and housing and manufacturing we so desperately need. It is a sad state of affairs. Many people, me included, have all kinds of theories — short-term and long-term — as to how we have gotten into this terrible place, but that is not my subject today. I want to talk about what happens if the worst of the rumors becomes mainly what happens. I still am hoping against hope that the final deal the President agrees to will not be as bad as the current rumors have it. Maybe the details will be a lot better than what they sound like today. Maybe the rumor mill just has it wrong, and that the deal that happens doesn’t have cuts in Social Security or Medicare that hurt the middle class. Maybe the McConnell-Reid compromise, which right now is the best of the deals out there, will come back into favor. But if this deal does as much damage to the middle class and poor as is currently rumored, if any tax increases are fudged so that might not even happen at all, then I think progressives have to declare all-out war on the deal and try to rally Democratic members of the House and Senate to vote against it and defeat it. I want to be clear: I don’t believe that means declaring war on the President. The idea of Bachmann or Romney or one of these other Ryan-budget loving extremists as President, with these Republicans in charge of Congress, is a mortal threat to everything any progressive person, or for that matter any of the 80 percent of Americans who care about the middle class, cares about. Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and Pell Grants would likely be gone, not just cut, by the time they were through. We still have to help get Obama re-elected, no matter how much we oppose him on specific issues. But just because you support his re-election doesn’t mean you have to support a terrible budget deal. If it is as bad as it looks like it might be, we have to leave no stone unturned in tracking down every Democratic vote to beat this bill. As bad as a default will be, and it would be very bad for the economy, decimating the middle class for generations would be worse. I also think if a bad deal goes down, the President and Congressional leaders would very quickly pass a version of the McConnell compromise, which would not be nearly as damaging as a bad deal. We live in dark times, and they will get darker if the President is not re-elected. But that doesn’t mean the rest of the Democratic Party has to support him when he is wrong on policy.
Continue reading …A strong earthquake has jolted northeastern Japan, the same region devastated by March’s massive quake and tsunami. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the quake, and no tsunami warning was issued. Japanese utility Tepco reported no damage at its Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.
Continue reading …At least 11 dead and dozens injured after two trains crash in Zhejiang province, causing carriages to fall from a bridge At least 11 people have died after two high-speed trains crashed into each other in China’s eastern province of Zhejiang on Saturday, causing two carriages to fall off a bridge, the state news agency Xinhua reported. Another 89 people have been sent to hospital, it added. Each carriage could carry about 100 people, Xinhua said. The accident occurred after the first train was hit by lightning and lost power, and was then rear-ended by another bullet train, Xinhua added, citing provincial television. Pictures on state television’s main news channel showed one carriage on the ground under the bridge, with another hanging above it. The government has spent billions of dollars boosting the railway network of the world’s most populous country and has said it plans to spend $120bn (£73bn) a year, over several years, on railway construction. But the vast network has been hit by a series of scandals and safety incidents over the past few months. Three railway officials have been investigated for corruption so far this year, according to local media reports. In February, Liu Zhijun was sacked as railways minister for “serious disciplinary violations”. He had spearheaded the investment drive into the rail sector over the last decade. The flagship Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail line that opened earlier this month has been plagued by power outages, leaving passengers stranded for hours on stuffy trains on at least three times since it was opened. The Beijing-Shanghai link is the latest and most celebrated portion of a network the government hopes will stretch over 28,000 miles by the end of 2015. China Rail transport guardian.co.uk
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