New York Governor Cuomo Says Chelsea Explosion 'Obviously An Act Of Terrorism'

The New York Post reports that New York Governor Cuomo called the explosion in Chelsea 'an act of terrorism.'

Gov. Cuomo on Sunday called the Chelsea explosion “an act of terrorism” but said there was “no evidence” of ties to an international group.

Cuomo urged calm on the morning after the blast and said federal authorities were investigating the explosion that injured 29 people.

“We have no reason to believe at this time that there is any further immediate threat,” Cuomo said.

“But just to err on the side of caution, we will be deploying close to 1,000 state police and National Guard people to police the bus terminals, airports, and subway stations”

Cuomo added that “a bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism” and vowed to find those responsible.

You can read the rest of the piece and watch a video clip of the explosion via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2016/09/18/cuomo-says-chelsea-explosion-obviously-an-act-of-terrorism/

War On Cops? 2 Cops Shot, Suspect And Bystander Killed In West Philly Rampage

The Philadelphia Inquirer offers a piece on the shooting of police officers and bystanders in West Philadelphia.

A gunnman first ambushed a Philadelphia police sergeant late Friday night and then went on a shooting rampage killing a young woman and wounding two law enforcement officers and three other civilians before police shot him to death. 

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross identified the gunman Saturday as 25-year-old Nicholas Glenn, of West Philadelphia. 

The shooting rampage started about 11:18 p.m. when Glenn walked up to a marked police cruiser at 52nd and Sansom Streets and just began firing, police said. 

Sgt. Sylvia Young, 46, who was sitting inside the car, was shot several times after Glenn fired off 18 shots, Ross said at a Saturday afternoon news conference. Her gun was hit as well. A 19-year veteran assigned to North Philadelphia's 22d Police District, Young on Friday was working with a task force in West Philadelphia. 

She and another officer, who was later shot - University of Pennsylvania officer Eddie Miller, 56, a former Philadelphia police sergeant who joined Penn's force two years ago - were both in stable condition Saturday at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. 

One of the four civilians who was shot, Sara Salih, 25, who was sitting in a car at 49th and Sansom Streets, near where she lived, died. She was shot seven times in her torso and was pronounced dead at Penn Presbyterian at 1:56 a.m. Saturday.

The three other civilians who were shot - a 36-year-old man shot twice in his left arm and once in his right arm; a 42-year-old man shot twice in his left leg; and a 41-year-old woman shot once in her right ankle - were all in stable condition at Penn Presbyterian Saturday afternoon, police said.

"A horrific night," Ross said.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160917_Police_sergeant_and_a_second_officer_shot__wounded_in_West_Philadelphia.html

Biographer Adam Sisman: John le Carré And I Worked For Years On His biography. Why Is He Telling His Own Story 12 Months Later?

Adam Sisman, author of a biography of spy novelist Jon le Carre, offers a piece in the British newspaper the Guardian on why le Carre came out with a memoir only a year after the biography was published.

“He’s trying to wrest back control of the agenda,” said my editor, on hearing the announcement that David Cornwell, aka John le Carré, was writing a memoir, only days before the publication of my John le Carré: The Biography. Several people have suggested to me that to bring out such a memoir – The Pigeon Tunnel, published last week – within 12 months of the publication of my book is an “unhelpful” act on his part – even, perhaps, an unfriendly one.

A degree of disgruntlement on his part would not be surprising. Though my biography was written with my subject’s cooperation, it would be disingenuous to pretend that there was no strain between us during the four years I spent writing his life. I don’t think that I should have been doing my job properly if there hadn’t been: I saw it as my job to uncover the truth, however painful that might be. “I’m not sure how much more of this I can stand,” David said to me after one session. I can only imagine how hard it was for him to have a comparative stranger explore every room of his life, from attic to basement, to expose his mistakes and quarrels, and to probe his sore spots. “I think our continuing relationship is an achievement in itself,” David wrote to me in 2014. So it is only right that I should acknowledge his generosity, his tolerance and his continuing sense of humour. There were some tense moments during those four years, but there were also a lot of laughs. “I know it’s supposed to be warts and all,” he said to me at one point, “but so far as I can gather, it’s going to be all warts and no all.”

... The Pigeon Tunnel is subtitled “Stories from a Life”. Its introduction contains a passing reference to my book: “A recently published account of my life offers thumbnail versions of one or two of the stories, so it naturally pleases me to reclaim them as my own, tell them in my own voice, and invest them as best I can with my own feelings.” 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/16/john-le-carre-biography-own-story-adam-sisman 

Pardon Me? National Review Says No Pardon For Snowden

The editors of National Review says no to a pardon for NSA leaker and traitor Edward Snowden.

Edward Snowden, the former CIA and NSA contractor responsible for the worst leak in the history of American intelligence, is seeking a presidential pardon. “These were necessary things, these were vital things” to disclose, Snowden told the Guardian in an interview published this week. He has behind him the ACLU, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, and a letter encouraging President Obama to grant the pardon has been signed by a swath of celebrities ranging from George Soros and Noam Chomsky to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and actor Danny Glover. Snowden, a biopic directed by Oliver Stone, opens in theaters this weekend. 

But the hype and high-profile support do not change the facts. Edward Snowden should not be pardoned; he should be prosecuted.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/440096/edward-snowden-pardon-opposition?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Trending%20Email%20Reoccurring-%20Monday%20to%20Thursday%202016-09-16&utm_term=NR5PM%20Actives 

Oliver Stone Bombs Again With His True-Life Tale 'Snowden'

Kyle Smith at the New York Post shreds director Oliver Stone's Snowden, a film bio about NSA leaker and traitor Edward Snowden.

“Snowden” could have been a character portrait, but instead it’s like “The Bourne Identity” minus the chases and fights, which is like a ham and cheese sandwich minus the ham and cheese. As a consequence, I suspect, this film will make no bread.

Edward Snowden (strenuously played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt), after washing out of the military with a broken leg, becomes a spy with the NSA. He steals secrets about stealing secrets and hands them to documentarian Laura Poitras (Melissa Leo) and journalist Glenn Greenwald (Zachary Quinto) of the Guardian at a clandestine meeting in a Hong Kong hotel room.

That act, which is unnecessarily drawn out with much squabbling about newspaper deadlines and yipping about whether anyone is on the trail, forms the drab centerpiece of a movie filled out with flashbacks. Accompanied by his stripper girlfriend (Shailene Woodley) and advised by two NSA mentors (Rhys Ifans, Nicolas Cage), Snowden emerges in sickly green monitors, data reflected in eyeglasses and a tech-music soundtack (bleep! blurp!) left over from a mid-’90s Sandra Bullock thriller.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2016/09/15/oliver-stone-bombs-again-with-his-true-life-spy-tale-snowden/

You can also read an earlier post about Edward Snowden via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2015/04/the-damning-truth-about-snowden-traitor.html

Two Former Executives Of Foreign Defense Contractor Charged In Expanding Fraud and Corruption Probe

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

Two former executives of a foreign defense contractor have been charged in an indictment unsealed today with participating in a conspiracy to submit fraudulent information, price quotes, claims and invoices to the U.S. Navy in an effort to steal millions of dollars as part of a years-long corruption and fraud scheme.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy of the Southern District of California, Acting Director Dermot O’Reilly of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and Director Andrew Traver of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) made the announcement.

Neil Peterson, 38, and Linda Raja, 43, both of Singapore, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States with respect to claims; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; and multiple counts of making false claims.  Both defendants have been arrested by authorities in Singapore at the request of the U.S. government.

According to the indictment, Peterson and Raja worked for Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA) and conspired with Leonard Glenn Francis, the owner of GDMA, in order to defraud the U.S. Navy for GDMA’s financial benefit.  The indictment alleges that Peterson served as the Vice President for Global Operations for GDMA and Raja served as GDMA’s General Manager for Singapore, Australia and the Pacific Isles. 

The indictment alleges that Peterson and Raja submitted more than $5 million in false claims and invoices to the U.S. Navy.  In addition, Peterson and Raja allegedly worked to perpetuate and cover up their fraud by consistently misrepresenting to the U.S. Navy the cost of providing services to its ships in Asia, even going so far as to submit false price quotes from non-existent companies on letterhead created from graphics cut and pasted from the internet.

Including Peterson and Raja, a total of 16 individuals have been charged in connection with the GDMA corruption and fraud investigation.  Of those, 11 are current or former U.S. Navy officials, including Admiral Robert Gilbeau; Captain (ret.) Michael Brooks; Commander Bobby Pitts; Lt. Commander Gentry Debord; Captain Daniel Dusek; Commander Michael Misiewicz; Lt. Commander Todd Malaki; Commander Jose Luis Sanchez; Petty Officer First Class Daniel Layug; NCIS Supervisory Special Agent John Beliveau; and Paul Simpkins, a former DoD civilian employee who oversaw contracting in Singapore.

Gilbeau, Dusek, Misiewicz, Malaki, Beliveau, Sanchez, Layug and Simpkins have pleaded guilty.  On Jan. 21, 2016, Layug was sentenced to 27 months in prison and a $15,000 fine; on Jan. 29, 2016, Malaki was sentenced to 40 months in prison and ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to the Navy and a $15,000 fine; on March 25, 2016, Dusek was sentenced to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay $30,000 in restitution to the Navy and a $70,000 fine; and on April 29, 2016, Misiewicz was sentenced to 78 months in prison and ordered to pay $95,000 in restitution to the Navy and a $100,000 fine.  Gilbeau, Beliveau, Sanchez and Simpkins await sentencing.

Brooks, Pitts and Debord were charged in May 2016 and their cases are pending.

Also charged are three additional GDMA executives: Francis, Alex Wisidagama and Ed Aruffo, and all three have pleaded guilty.  Wisidagama was sentenced on March 18, 2016, to 63 months in prison and was ordered to pay $34.8 million in restitution to the Navy.  Francis and Aruffo await sentencing.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

DCIS, NCIS and the Defense Contract Audit Agency are investigating.  Assistant Chief Brian R. Young of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark W. Pletcher and Patrick Hovakimian of the Southern District of California are prosecuting the case.  The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in this matter.

Anyone with information relating to fraud or corruption should contact the NCIS anonymous tip line at www.ncis.navy.milor the DOD hotline at www.dodig.mil/hotline, or call (800) 424-9098.

Frederick Forsyth To Stop Writing Thrillers

The Britsh newspaper the Guardian reports that Frederick Forsyth, the author of such classic thrillers as The Day of the Jackal and The Odessa File, is through writing thrillers.

After a dozen novels and 70m book sales, British writer Frederick Forsyth has said he is giving up on thrillers because his wife told him he can no longer travel to adventurous places.

“I’m tired of it and I can’t just sit at home and do a nice little romance from my study,” said the 78-year-old, who revealed in a memoir last year that he had worked extensively for the MI6 spy service.

Frederick Forsyth: I was an MI6 agent

 

Read more

“I ran out of things to say,” said Forsyth, who trained as a Royal Air Force pilot before joining Reuters news agency in 1961 and beginning his career as a novelist in the 1970s.

After his last trip to Somalia as research for The Kill List, Forsyth said his wife told him: “You’re far too old, these places are bloody dangerous and you don’t run as avidly, as nimbly as you used to.”

... He said his memoir The Outsider was his swan song.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/14/frederick-forsyth-to-stop-writing-thrillers