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Sunday, February 21, 2010
If Teamsters General President James Hoffa is correct, there will never be another Mexican truck to come into the U.S. past the commercial trade zone and vice versa because the border will remain closed.“Wall Street and big business got NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and CAFTA (Central America Trade Agreement) and the workers got the SHAFTA,” Hoffa told a rally of some 200 representatives from a local union here today in a play on acronyms. “We’re telling Washington to stop with these bad trade deals.
“We got the border closed to unsafe Mexican trucks and we’re keeping it closed. The Teamsters did that, nobody else did that – the Teamsters did that.”
Hoffa ended the rally by calling for more action.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us. There’s change going on. The tea-baggers show up and are against Social Security and Medicare,” Hoffa told those gathered at the rally. “They even want to shut down the VA hospitals. The Republicans are moving to the far, far right. We have to have a government that fights for us. We have to change everything that we’re doing to put Americans and Teamsters back to work. That’s our message. Let’s get to work.”
Congress killed the Cross Border Demonstration Project last March.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told a news conference in Mexico last week that the Obama administration had taken the first step in coming up with a new program when it convinced Congress not to prohibit a cross-border program in the 2010 omnibus spending bill.
The 2009 bill included the language that stopped the program.
The Trucker staff may be contacted to comment at editor@thetrucker.com.
http://www.pocomoketattler.com/?p=353
Dark Warriors Of Evil - World War III is being staged; starting with Israel and Iran
0 comments at 4:37 AM
US “leadership” and their corporate media minions are pushing juvenile-level propaganda for war with Iran; lies that anyone can verify with a few moments’ attention. If you haven’t already confirmed the Orwellian-level disinformation, stop and read the above two links now.Many people hypothesize the confirmed lies for wars with Iraq and Afghanistan, and a final war with Iran, is to control oil. Connected is the theory that US political and economic “masters” are so confident in their propaganda, and so correct in their conclusion that the critical mass of humanity is too feeble to stop them, that they brazenly move forward for global hegemony.
This article provides a different explanation of the facts; with heightened urgency to prevent war with Iran, as it is a planned step to begin a Third World War.
Project Camelot is a world-renowned safe-haven for whistle-blowers on the inside of the military and economic “Big Lies” that millions of Americans are discovering. Below is Bill Ryan’s video explanation of his interview with a vetted British military insider discussing the planning of manipulated global war (transcript here).
The highlights from Bill Ryan in five bullet-points and nine paragraphs:
• There is a planned Third World War, which will be nuclear and biological. Our source believes that this is on track to be initiated within the next 18-24 months.
• It is planned to begin with a strike by Israel on Iran. Either Iran or China will be provoked into a nuclear response. After a brief nuclear exchange, there will be a ceasefire. The world will be thrown into fear and chaos - all carefully engineered.
• The extreme state of tension will be used to justify heavy social and military controls in all western first world nations. Plans are already in place for that.
• During the nuclear ceasefire, there is planned to be a covert release of biological weapons. These will initially be targeted against the Chinese. As our source chillingly told us, "China will catch a cold". Biological warfare will spread further, to the west. Infrastructure will be critically weakened.
• This is intended to be just the beginning. After this, a full nuclear exchange would be triggered: the "real" war, with widespread destruction and loss of life. Our source tells us that the planned population reduction through these combined means is 50%. He heard this figure stated in the meeting.
This horrific scenario has been planned for generations. The first two world wars were part of the set-up for this final apocalypse - as is the centralization of financial resources that was precipitated with the equally well-planned financial collapse of October 2008.
As if all this were not enough, our source speculates this is all set against the backdrop of a coming "geophysical event" - the same kind of event as was experienced by our ancestors approximately 11,500 years ago. If this event occurs - not necessarily expected in 2012, but sometime in the next decade - it would destroy civilization as we know it, dwarfing even the effects of a nuclear war.
I asked the question to our source: If there's an expected catastrophe, then why initiate a Third World War? His answer, for the first time to me, made terrible sense.
The real goal, he explained, is to set up the post-catastrophic world. To ensure that this "New World" [note the term] is the one the controllers want, totalitarian control structures need to be in place when the catastrophe occurs - with an excuse that the populace will accept and demand them. Martial law in the right, carefully chosen countries before the catastrophe occurs will enable the "right" people to survive and prosper in the post-catastrophic world, and the beginning of the next 11,500 year cycle. What may have been carefully planned on a covert global scale, for the last several generations, is nothing less than who will inherit the Earth.
Who are the "right" people? The white Caucasians. This may be why the name of this project is The Anglo-Saxon Mission. Hence the justification for the planned genocide of the Chinese people - so that the New World is inherited by "us", not "them".
Our source was not informed about the planned fate of the second and third world countries such as those in South America, Africa and Asia. But he presumes that these would be allowed to fend for themselves and probably not survive well - or maybe not at all. The totalitarian military governments of the western, white, people are set to be the inheritors.
This is a plan so evil, so racist, so diabolical, so huge, that it almost defies belief. But it all aligns with what many commentators, researchers and whistleblowing insiders have been identifying for some years now. For me personally, it's the clearest picture yet of why the world is the way it is, and why the secrets are protected so fiercely: it may be all about racial supremacy. The Fourth Reich is alive and well.
Astonishingly, our source was not pessimistic. He stressed, as do we and many other researchers and commentators, that consciousness is awakening rapidly all over the planet and that THESE PLANNED EVENTS ARE NOT INEVITABLE. If ever there was a reason to work closely together to raise awareness of the real threat to us all, this is it.
Watch this video, listen carefully to the strong message of hope and encouragement, and spread it far and wide. We plan to create subtitles in many languages - including Chinese. We stand for the potential magnificence of a united humanity that knows no racial boundaries or distinctions. Whether or not the catastrophe occurs - and many, including ourselves, maintain that it will not - we must co-create our own future, claim our power, and do whatever we can to alert people to the dangers around us... so that we can be stronger together, for the sake of our descendants and for the heritage of all living beings on Planet Earth."
Please share this article with all who can benefit. If you appreciate my work, please subscribe by clicking under the article title (it’s free). Please use my archive of work to help build a brighter future.
Carl Herman is a National Board Certified Teacher in economics, government, and history. His hobby is research, education, and lobbying for improved public policy. He is among 20,000 laid-off California teachers and seeking employment. His primary interest is funding and/or work for his hobby to become his profession; and any inquiry for employment is welcome. He can be reached at Carl_Herman@post.harvard.edu.
Mossad, The CIA's Puppet, On The Loose Ramping Up Booga-Booga For Nuclear War With Iran
0 comments at 4:03 AM
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DUBAI (Reuters) - New evidence incriminating Israel's spy agency in the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai includes credit card payments and phone calls made by suspects, an Arabic-language daily reported on Saturday.
World
Police have already said the 11 suspects used forged passports in the names of innocent individuals of several European nationalities.
"Dubai police have information confirming that the suspects purchased travel tickets from companies in other countries with credit cards carrying the same names we have publicized (in the passports)," Al Bayan daily on Saturday quoted Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim as saying.
It did not give further details.
Palestinian Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found dead in his room in a luxury Dubai hotel on January 20, a day after arriving in the emirate.
Dubai police have released photographs of the 11 suspects. The international criminal police organization Interpol said on Thursday it had issued "red notices" for their arrest in any of its 188 member countries.
Dubai's police chief said on Thursday he believed Israeli agents were responsible for killing al-Mabhouh, a senior member of the Islamist group which rules Gaza, and called for the Mossad spy agency's chief to be arrested if its responsibility was proved.
Britain offered on Friday new passports to six British citizens whose identities were used by the suspects and all of whom live in Israel, to protect them from inadvertent arrest through Interpol.
Other suspects identified by Dubai used cloned passports from Ireland, France and Germany.
(Reporting by Tamara Walid; editing by Andrew Roche)
World
Police have already said the 11 suspects used forged passports in the names of innocent individuals of several European nationalities.
"Dubai police have information confirming that the suspects purchased travel tickets from companies in other countries with credit cards carrying the same names we have publicized (in the passports)," Al Bayan daily on Saturday quoted Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim as saying.
It did not give further details.
Palestinian Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was found dead in his room in a luxury Dubai hotel on January 20, a day after arriving in the emirate.
Dubai police have released photographs of the 11 suspects. The international criminal police organization Interpol said on Thursday it had issued "red notices" for their arrest in any of its 188 member countries.
Dubai's police chief said on Thursday he believed Israeli agents were responsible for killing al-Mabhouh, a senior member of the Islamist group which rules Gaza, and called for the Mossad spy agency's chief to be arrested if its responsibility was proved.
Britain offered on Friday new passports to six British citizens whose identities were used by the suspects and all of whom live in Israel, to protect them from inadvertent arrest through Interpol.
Other suspects identified by Dubai used cloned passports from Ireland, France and Germany.
(Reporting by Tamara Walid; editing by Andrew Roche)
Israel Goes Rogue
From identity theft to war crimes – is there anything the Israelis won't do?
From identity theft to war crimes – is there anything the Israelis won't do?
by Justin Raimondo, February 19, 2010
When is the world going to finally decide Israel has gone too far – and do something about it?
When Israel invaded and retained the occupied territories, imposing a regime that resembles the old South African apartheid system, the world looked the other way – after all, beleaguered Israel was fighting for its survival, and, besides that, peace talks were underway. The daily grinding down of the Palestinians could be accepted as a temporary and even necessary evil as long as there was some sort of vague expiration date attached to the arrangement.
When it began to look like peace might be just a pipedream, and the Israelis continued sponsoring invasive "settlements" to cement their conquest, the world looked the other way. After all, everybody knew Netanyahu had to deal with an increasingly right-wing Israeli electorate, and his government could fall apart at any moment: no one expected President Obama to get tough with Tel Aviv anyway, and so no one was too surprised when the US caved on the settlements issue.
The bombing and continued blockade of Gaza, the barbaric invasions of Lebanon, and the continuing refusal to correct the widespread human rights violations documented in the Goldstone report – all of this has darkened Israel’s image considerably, even among its staunch supporters. On account of this record, Israel is now widely considered a "rogue" nation, at least outside the US. One of the major reasons for this shift in perception has to do with the wide-ranging activities of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service.
With a fearsome reputation for ruthlessness second only to the old KGB, the Israeli intelligence services are known for their boldness and their buccaneering tactics. This was once a public relations advantage: their raid on Entebbe was made into a successful movie for a reason. From rescuing hostages, however, the Mossad has lately gone in for assassinations on foreign soil, most recently in Dubai, where they offed Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
This is nothing new for the Israelis: picking off their enemies on foreign soil is a longtime favorite sport of the Mossad. The innovation that’s got Israel’s allies in an uproar, however, is a relatively new weapon in the Mossad’s arsenal: identity theft. As the Telegraph reports:
"Ministers are understood to be furious that an alleged hit squad which murdered a Hamas leader in Dubai last month cloned the passports of six unsuspecting Britons, who are now living in fear of reprisals.
"Israel, which has not denied involvement in the murder, had previously promised that Mossad, its secret intelligence service, would never use British passports to help its agents carry out covert operations."
The six are all British citizens living in Israel, where the Mossad had full access to their essential documents: they simply cloned the passports and sent their agents into Dubai. There the Israelis reportedly assembled quite a contingent, as many as 18, enough to qualify the effort as a full-scale military operation. In effect, the Israelis carried out a mini-invasion of Dubai, a fact not lost on the Emirate authorities.
Interpol has posted the photos of the eleven (so far) known suspects, and issued a statement, including the following:
"Since INTERPOL has reason to believe that the suspects linked to this murder have stolen the identities of real people, the Red Notices specify that the names used were aliases used to commit murder. INTERPOL has officially made public the photos and the names fraudulently used on the passports in order to limit the ability of accused murderers from traveling freely using the same false passports."
If any institution embodies that vague abstraction known as "the international community," then surely it is Interpol, which coordinates the capture of transnational criminal gangs – sex traffickers, drug lords, and, yes, Mossad assassins. That they see Israel’s intelligence agency as an obstacle in their task of limiting "the ability of accused murderers from traveling freely" speaks volumes about the degree to which Israel has truly crossed the line.
This isn’t exactly an innovation on the part of the Israelis: in New Zealand, you’ll recall, they had a large-scale passport "farm" in operation a few years ago. Their agents would identify someone completely disabled, or otherwise unlikely to travel abroad, and – unbeknownst to the victim — apply for a passport in their name. When discovered, the Israelis denied everything, but the cops had the goods and the trial of the Israeli spies was front page news for weeks. The New Zealanders all but broke off diplomatic relations with Israel over the matter, and the Israelis, while never admitting anything, made apologetic noises while the issue – mostly ignored by the Western media outside New Zealand — faded into obscurity.
Now it has arisen once again, but this time in a far more serious context: this isn’t inconsequential-albeit-lovely New Zealand but Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, and possibly other Western nations who have had their passport systems violated. However, the worst of it is that the Mossad has apparently taken to "farming" the passports of Israelis who hold dual citizenships. According to Ha’aretz: "Five Israelis who hold dual citizenship in Britain and Germany and whose names were on some of the passports denied any connection with the Dubai death."
If Israel’s intelligence services are now "farming" the passports of those numerous Israelis who hold dual citizenship, then the passport system – the key to maintaining security in the age of terrorism – is no longer reliable or even functional. Israel is a multi-national "nation," one created by a state-sponsored effort to get people the world over to move there, and many retain citizenship in their country of origin. The US doesn’t compile statistics on dual citizenship, but the number who hold dual Israeli and US citizenship is substantial: they are now all at risk of having their identities stolen by a covert army of assassins.
There’s just one way to solve this growing problem, and that is to ban all dual citizenship, and ask Americans to choose. Yes, there’s a Supreme Court decision standing in the way, but if it requires a constitutional amendment, then so be it. At a time when maintaining the integrity of our passport system is key to preventing terrorist attacks on our territory and against our citizens abroad, it’s worth taking the trouble to patch up this gaping hole in our national security.
That Israel has gone this far in its international campaign of murder and intimidation ought to motivate the civilized nations of the world to unite in protest. The government of Dubai is petitioning to have the head of the Mossad arrested for murder, and, come to think of it, issuing a warrant might not be such a bad idea. With a foreign minister who is the Israeli equivalent of David Duke, and a foreign policy that owes much to the Klingons, Israel, which is veering off into Asiatic despotism, needs to be pulled back toward the West. The way to do that is not to offer the Jewish state unconditional support, no matter how potty and self-destructive its policies may be, but to offer the kind of "tough love" that can bring it back into the Western orbit.
We can’t afford to look away anymore: Israel has massively compromised the security of international travel, and has brought this on itself. Now is the time for the US and other Western countries to rein in their client state gone rogue – before it’s too late.
When Israel invaded and retained the occupied territories, imposing a regime that resembles the old South African apartheid system, the world looked the other way – after all, beleaguered Israel was fighting for its survival, and, besides that, peace talks were underway. The daily grinding down of the Palestinians could be accepted as a temporary and even necessary evil as long as there was some sort of vague expiration date attached to the arrangement.
When it began to look like peace might be just a pipedream, and the Israelis continued sponsoring invasive "settlements" to cement their conquest, the world looked the other way. After all, everybody knew Netanyahu had to deal with an increasingly right-wing Israeli electorate, and his government could fall apart at any moment: no one expected President Obama to get tough with Tel Aviv anyway, and so no one was too surprised when the US caved on the settlements issue.
The bombing and continued blockade of Gaza, the barbaric invasions of Lebanon, and the continuing refusal to correct the widespread human rights violations documented in the Goldstone report – all of this has darkened Israel’s image considerably, even among its staunch supporters. On account of this record, Israel is now widely considered a "rogue" nation, at least outside the US. One of the major reasons for this shift in perception has to do with the wide-ranging activities of the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service.
With a fearsome reputation for ruthlessness second only to the old KGB, the Israeli intelligence services are known for their boldness and their buccaneering tactics. This was once a public relations advantage: their raid on Entebbe was made into a successful movie for a reason. From rescuing hostages, however, the Mossad has lately gone in for assassinations on foreign soil, most recently in Dubai, where they offed Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
This is nothing new for the Israelis: picking off their enemies on foreign soil is a longtime favorite sport of the Mossad. The innovation that’s got Israel’s allies in an uproar, however, is a relatively new weapon in the Mossad’s arsenal: identity theft. As the Telegraph reports:
"Ministers are understood to be furious that an alleged hit squad which murdered a Hamas leader in Dubai last month cloned the passports of six unsuspecting Britons, who are now living in fear of reprisals.
"Israel, which has not denied involvement in the murder, had previously promised that Mossad, its secret intelligence service, would never use British passports to help its agents carry out covert operations."
The six are all British citizens living in Israel, where the Mossad had full access to their essential documents: they simply cloned the passports and sent their agents into Dubai. There the Israelis reportedly assembled quite a contingent, as many as 18, enough to qualify the effort as a full-scale military operation. In effect, the Israelis carried out a mini-invasion of Dubai, a fact not lost on the Emirate authorities.
Interpol has posted the photos of the eleven (so far) known suspects, and issued a statement, including the following:
"Since INTERPOL has reason to believe that the suspects linked to this murder have stolen the identities of real people, the Red Notices specify that the names used were aliases used to commit murder. INTERPOL has officially made public the photos and the names fraudulently used on the passports in order to limit the ability of accused murderers from traveling freely using the same false passports."
If any institution embodies that vague abstraction known as "the international community," then surely it is Interpol, which coordinates the capture of transnational criminal gangs – sex traffickers, drug lords, and, yes, Mossad assassins. That they see Israel’s intelligence agency as an obstacle in their task of limiting "the ability of accused murderers from traveling freely" speaks volumes about the degree to which Israel has truly crossed the line.
This isn’t exactly an innovation on the part of the Israelis: in New Zealand, you’ll recall, they had a large-scale passport "farm" in operation a few years ago. Their agents would identify someone completely disabled, or otherwise unlikely to travel abroad, and – unbeknownst to the victim — apply for a passport in their name. When discovered, the Israelis denied everything, but the cops had the goods and the trial of the Israeli spies was front page news for weeks. The New Zealanders all but broke off diplomatic relations with Israel over the matter, and the Israelis, while never admitting anything, made apologetic noises while the issue – mostly ignored by the Western media outside New Zealand — faded into obscurity.
Now it has arisen once again, but this time in a far more serious context: this isn’t inconsequential-albeit-lovely New Zealand but Britain, France, Germany, Ireland, and possibly other Western nations who have had their passport systems violated. However, the worst of it is that the Mossad has apparently taken to "farming" the passports of Israelis who hold dual citizenships. According to Ha’aretz: "Five Israelis who hold dual citizenship in Britain and Germany and whose names were on some of the passports denied any connection with the Dubai death."
If Israel’s intelligence services are now "farming" the passports of those numerous Israelis who hold dual citizenship, then the passport system – the key to maintaining security in the age of terrorism – is no longer reliable or even functional. Israel is a multi-national "nation," one created by a state-sponsored effort to get people the world over to move there, and many retain citizenship in their country of origin. The US doesn’t compile statistics on dual citizenship, but the number who hold dual Israeli and US citizenship is substantial: they are now all at risk of having their identities stolen by a covert army of assassins.
There’s just one way to solve this growing problem, and that is to ban all dual citizenship, and ask Americans to choose. Yes, there’s a Supreme Court decision standing in the way, but if it requires a constitutional amendment, then so be it. At a time when maintaining the integrity of our passport system is key to preventing terrorist attacks on our territory and against our citizens abroad, it’s worth taking the trouble to patch up this gaping hole in our national security.
That Israel has gone this far in its international campaign of murder and intimidation ought to motivate the civilized nations of the world to unite in protest. The government of Dubai is petitioning to have the head of the Mossad arrested for murder, and, come to think of it, issuing a warrant might not be such a bad idea. With a foreign minister who is the Israeli equivalent of David Duke, and a foreign policy that owes much to the Klingons, Israel, which is veering off into Asiatic despotism, needs to be pulled back toward the West. The way to do that is not to offer the Jewish state unconditional support, no matter how potty and self-destructive its policies may be, but to offer the kind of "tough love" that can bring it back into the Western orbit.
We can’t afford to look away anymore: Israel has massively compromised the security of international travel, and has brought this on itself. Now is the time for the US and other Western countries to rein in their client state gone rogue – before it’s too late.
Report: Israeli warships on way to Persian Gulf
As Israel keeps threatening the regional countries with war, Egyptian maritime sources say the Israeli navy has deployed two missile ships to the Persian Gulf.
Citing the sources, Yediot Ahronot reported Saturday that two Israeli missile ships passed through the Suez Canal en rout to the Red Sea on Thursday morning.
The sources said the ships are expected to reach the Persian Gulf within the next four days.
According to the report, Cairo adopted tight security measures to ensure the safe passage of the Israeli ships through the canal.
The waterway, which had not previously been used by Israeli vessels for intelligence reasons, was traversed for the first time in June 2009 when a Dolphin-class submarine (a nuclear German-made submarine) reportedly sailed from the Mediterranean to reach military exercises in the Red Sea.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118083§ionid=351020205
Citing the sources, Yediot Ahronot reported Saturday that two Israeli missile ships passed through the Suez Canal en rout to the Red Sea on Thursday morning.
The sources said the ships are expected to reach the Persian Gulf within the next four days.
According to the report, Cairo adopted tight security measures to ensure the safe passage of the Israeli ships through the canal.
The waterway, which had not previously been used by Israeli vessels for intelligence reasons, was traversed for the first time in June 2009 when a Dolphin-class submarine (a nuclear German-made submarine) reportedly sailed from the Mediterranean to reach military exercises in the Red Sea.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118083§ionid=351020205
'Dubai hit squad stole my identity': British man's name used by assassins who executed senior Hamas leader
By Nick Mcdermott and Kate Loveys Last updated at 11:33 PM on 16th February 2010
Comments (191)
Videos
A British man in Israel with the same name as an alleged member of a hit squad that assassinated a top Hamas militant in Dubai said his identity had been stolen.
Melvyn Adam Mildiner said he was 'angry, upset and scared' over what he called a misidentification.
He spoke as the Foreign Office confirmed the British passports used in the killing were fraudulent. The FCO has launched an investigation, it said in a statement.
Scroll down for CCTV of the alleged assassins.
By Nick Mcdermott and Kate Loveys Last updated at 11:33 PM on 16th February 2010
Comments (191)
Videos
A British man in Israel with the same name as an alleged member of a hit squad that assassinated a top Hamas militant in Dubai said his identity had been stolen.
Melvyn Adam Mildiner said he was 'angry, upset and scared' over what he called a misidentification.
He spoke as the Foreign Office confirmed the British passports used in the killing were fraudulent. The FCO has launched an investigation, it said in a statement.
Scroll down for CCTV of the alleged assassins.
Last night Dubai police said they were working on the premise that the passports were genuine.
It is not clear if they contacted the Foreign Office to say they believed people carrying British passports were involved in the killing before releasing the information yesterday.
'This is an ongoing Emirati investigation to which we have offered our assistance and support.
We are aware that the holders of six British passports have been named in this case. We believe the passports used were fraudulent and have begun our own investigation.
We have informed the authorities in the UAE that this is the case, and continue to cooperate closely with the Emiratis on this matter.'
- Foreign Office spokesman
'We are not aware of the process they went through in making the decision to release the information,' an FCO spokesman said.
He would not comment when asked if the British Government had been contacted by the Dubai police prior to yesterday's announcement.
Dubai police listed Mr Mildiner as one of six men carrying British passports suspected of being part of an 11-man hit squad that killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a luxury hotel in the Gulf emirate last month.
But the British national, a resident of a town near Jerusalem, today insisted he had nothing to do with the assassination and had never been to Dubai.
'I woke up this morning to a world of fun,' he said, after newspapers around the world splashed names and photos of the suspects distributed by Dubai.
'I am obviously angry, upset and scared - any number of things. And I'm looking into what I can do to try to sort things out and clear my name,' he said in a telephone interview.
'I don't know how this happened or who chose my name or why, but hopefully we'll find out soon.'
'It's not me. Which is one silver lining on this entire story because at least I can point to it and say, 'Look, that's not me. It's not the picture that I have in my passport, and it's not the picture that I have on my face that I walk around with every day',' Mr Mildiner said.
It is not clear if they contacted the Foreign Office to say they believed people carrying British passports were involved in the killing before releasing the information yesterday.
'This is an ongoing Emirati investigation to which we have offered our assistance and support.
We are aware that the holders of six British passports have been named in this case. We believe the passports used were fraudulent and have begun our own investigation.
We have informed the authorities in the UAE that this is the case, and continue to cooperate closely with the Emiratis on this matter.'
- Foreign Office spokesman
'We are not aware of the process they went through in making the decision to release the information,' an FCO spokesman said.
He would not comment when asked if the British Government had been contacted by the Dubai police prior to yesterday's announcement.
Dubai police listed Mr Mildiner as one of six men carrying British passports suspected of being part of an 11-man hit squad that killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a luxury hotel in the Gulf emirate last month.
But the British national, a resident of a town near Jerusalem, today insisted he had nothing to do with the assassination and had never been to Dubai.
'I woke up this morning to a world of fun,' he said, after newspapers around the world splashed names and photos of the suspects distributed by Dubai.
'I am obviously angry, upset and scared - any number of things. And I'm looking into what I can do to try to sort things out and clear my name,' he said in a telephone interview.
'I don't know how this happened or who chose my name or why, but hopefully we'll find out soon.'
'It's not me. Which is one silver lining on this entire story because at least I can point to it and say, 'Look, that's not me. It's not the picture that I have in my passport, and it's not the picture that I have on my face that I walk around with every day',' Mr Mildiner said.
'I have my passport. It is in my house, along with the passports of everybody else in my family, and there's no Dubai stamps in it because I've never been to Dubai,' he said.
Acknowledging that his name was uncommon, Mr Mildiner said: 'There's probably not many of us.'
Mr Mildiner, who made aliya (the emigration of Jews to Israel) from London nine years ago, does appear to have a Twitter account, though his tweets are now being protected.
He was however tweeting on the day of the assassination, seeming about IT-related things. His tweet, sent from a SPB Mobile Shell phone at 2.33 p.m., reads: 'Is it possible to install something like #Swype on an #iPhone and set it as the default input device?'
He spoke out as Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that none of the alleged Irish citizens named as being part of the hit squad exist.
‘We’ve been unable to find any record of Irish passports having been issued with details corresponding to the details published today in a number of UAE newspapers,' the Deparment said today.
'We are in ongoing contact with UAE authorities to try and ascertain the exact facts of the case.
'To date we’ve received no evidence that any Irish people were involved.’
More...
Two Britons arrested in Delhi hotel for 'plane-spotting activities'
Hamas detains British journalist in Gaza Strip over 'security crimes'
The British Home Office declined to comment, saying it was an ongoing investigation.
There was no comment from Dubai-based diplomats from the countries linked to passports.
COUNTDOWN TO AN ASSASSINATION
January 19, 2010: Victim Mahmoud al-Mabhouh arrives in Dubai - mysteriously without his bodyguards. It is still not clear what he was doing in the country.
January 20: Shortly after midnight, the suspects are spotted on airport and hotel CCTV cameras arriving in Dubai.
They split into five teams - four surveillance, and one execution squad.
Acknowledging that his name was uncommon, Mr Mildiner said: 'There's probably not many of us.'
Mr Mildiner, who made aliya (the emigration of Jews to Israel) from London nine years ago, does appear to have a Twitter account, though his tweets are now being protected.
He was however tweeting on the day of the assassination, seeming about IT-related things. His tweet, sent from a SPB Mobile Shell phone at 2.33 p.m., reads: 'Is it possible to install something like #Swype on an #iPhone and set it as the default input device?'
He spoke out as Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that none of the alleged Irish citizens named as being part of the hit squad exist.
‘We’ve been unable to find any record of Irish passports having been issued with details corresponding to the details published today in a number of UAE newspapers,' the Deparment said today.
'We are in ongoing contact with UAE authorities to try and ascertain the exact facts of the case.
'To date we’ve received no evidence that any Irish people were involved.’
More...
Two Britons arrested in Delhi hotel for 'plane-spotting activities'
Hamas detains British journalist in Gaza Strip over 'security crimes'
The British Home Office declined to comment, saying it was an ongoing investigation.
There was no comment from Dubai-based diplomats from the countries linked to passports.
COUNTDOWN TO AN ASSASSINATION
January 19, 2010: Victim Mahmoud al-Mabhouh arrives in Dubai - mysteriously without his bodyguards. It is still not clear what he was doing in the country.
January 20: Shortly after midnight, the suspects are spotted on airport and hotel CCTV cameras arriving in Dubai.
They split into five teams - four surveillance, and one execution squad.
Tennis disguise
During the day several of the suspects are seen in the hotel disguised as tourists.
Like something out of a spy caper novel, they wear false beards and glasses and even dress up in sports gear with tennis racquets to fool any suspicious onlookers.
CCTV shows one entering a bathroom and emerging again in his disguise.
At one point they even get in to the same lift as Mabhouh to confirm the room he is in - room 230.
Peter Elvinger books the room down the hall - room 237. Some of the assassins take up position.
4.25p.m.: One of the suspects arrives at the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel, where Mabhouh is staying.
During the day several of the suspects are seen in the hotel disguised as tourists.
Like something out of a spy caper novel, they wear false beards and glasses and even dress up in sports gear with tennis racquets to fool any suspicious onlookers.
CCTV shows one entering a bathroom and emerging again in his disguise.
At one point they even get in to the same lift as Mabhouh to confirm the room he is in - room 230.
Peter Elvinger books the room down the hall - room 237. Some of the assassins take up position.
4.25p.m.: One of the suspects arrives at the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel, where Mabhouh is staying.
Mabhouh
8.24p.m. Mabhouh arrives back at the hotel.
8.27 p.m.: Gail and Kevin can be seen monitoring the hallway outside his room.
The killing, believed to have taken only ten minutes, takes place.
8.46p.m.: The alleged execution team are caught on CCTV apparently leaving the victim's room and walking out of the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel after the hit is believed to have taken place.
8.47p.m.: Gail is seen stepping in to the lift and leaving the hotel
Within two hours, the entire team has fled the country to destinations in Europe and Asia.
Dubai police said last night they are working on the premise the passports are genuine - though that premise is false, according to the Foreign Office statement.
Last night the Daily Mail confirmed that people with the same names and birthdates as those on the passports were all born in Britain. Mr Mildiner is the only one to have spoken out so far.
The 11-strong gang - some wearing fake beards and wigs - who disguised themselves as tourists with tennis clothes and rackets in a highly orchestrated murder.
They are believed to have fled the emirate after the killing and are now on the run. Dubai's attorney general, Essam al-Hemaydan, said international arrest warrants have been issued.
They arrived on separate flights and spent less than a day in the emirate, tracking their victim to his five-star residence, the al-Bustan Rotana, near the airport before ambushing and suffocating him.
It was earlier alleged he was electrocuted before being murdered.
Dubai's chief of police, Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, last night released the names of six people claiming to be British and three claiming to be Irish among the killers.
'We have no doubts that it was 11 people holding these passports, and we regret that they used the travel documents of friendly countries,' he said.
The other members of the gang were carrying French and German passports.
Within two hours of the attack on Mahmoud al-Mabhouh on January 20, the assassins fled Dubai, heading to airports in Europe and Asia.
It is believed that they were in the country for only 19 hours in all.
It is believed a request has been placed with Interpol for arrest warrants for the gang.
Al-Mabhouh was found dead in his hotel room without any injuries to his body, according to initial reports from Palestinian sources.
He had barricaded the door of his room with chairs, a standard precaution by a man who felt that Israeli intelligence had been after his life for 20 years.
But Lt Gen Tamim did not go as far as blaming Israel directly, saying it was possible that 'leaders of certain countries gave orders to their intelligence agents to kill' the Hamas man.
Outlining how he believed the assassination was carried out, he said it was a highly organised operation, carried out with advance knowledge of the victim's movements.
Forensic tests indicated al-Mabhouh died of suffocation, but examinations are continuing to establish other possible factors in his death - including the possibility of electrocution and torture.
Airport surveillance video of the alleged killers arriving on separate flights to Dubai the day before al-Mabhouh was found dead, were shown at a news conference yesterday.
The members of the hit-squad divided into teams - four surveillance teams and the execution squad who would actually carry out the assassination. Three of the execution squad were carrying British passports, one was carrying an Irish passport.
8.24p.m. Mabhouh arrives back at the hotel.
8.27 p.m.: Gail and Kevin can be seen monitoring the hallway outside his room.
The killing, believed to have taken only ten minutes, takes place.
8.46p.m.: The alleged execution team are caught on CCTV apparently leaving the victim's room and walking out of the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel after the hit is believed to have taken place.
8.47p.m.: Gail is seen stepping in to the lift and leaving the hotel
Within two hours, the entire team has fled the country to destinations in Europe and Asia.
Dubai police said last night they are working on the premise the passports are genuine - though that premise is false, according to the Foreign Office statement.
Last night the Daily Mail confirmed that people with the same names and birthdates as those on the passports were all born in Britain. Mr Mildiner is the only one to have spoken out so far.
The 11-strong gang - some wearing fake beards and wigs - who disguised themselves as tourists with tennis clothes and rackets in a highly orchestrated murder.
They are believed to have fled the emirate after the killing and are now on the run. Dubai's attorney general, Essam al-Hemaydan, said international arrest warrants have been issued.
They arrived on separate flights and spent less than a day in the emirate, tracking their victim to his five-star residence, the al-Bustan Rotana, near the airport before ambushing and suffocating him.
It was earlier alleged he was electrocuted before being murdered.
Dubai's chief of police, Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, last night released the names of six people claiming to be British and three claiming to be Irish among the killers.
'We have no doubts that it was 11 people holding these passports, and we regret that they used the travel documents of friendly countries,' he said.
The other members of the gang were carrying French and German passports.
Within two hours of the attack on Mahmoud al-Mabhouh on January 20, the assassins fled Dubai, heading to airports in Europe and Asia.
It is believed that they were in the country for only 19 hours in all.
It is believed a request has been placed with Interpol for arrest warrants for the gang.
Al-Mabhouh was found dead in his hotel room without any injuries to his body, according to initial reports from Palestinian sources.
He had barricaded the door of his room with chairs, a standard precaution by a man who felt that Israeli intelligence had been after his life for 20 years.
But Lt Gen Tamim did not go as far as blaming Israel directly, saying it was possible that 'leaders of certain countries gave orders to their intelligence agents to kill' the Hamas man.
Outlining how he believed the assassination was carried out, he said it was a highly organised operation, carried out with advance knowledge of the victim's movements.
Forensic tests indicated al-Mabhouh died of suffocation, but examinations are continuing to establish other possible factors in his death - including the possibility of electrocution and torture.
Airport surveillance video of the alleged killers arriving on separate flights to Dubai the day before al-Mabhouh was found dead, were shown at a news conference yesterday.
The members of the hit-squad divided into teams - four surveillance teams and the execution squad who would actually carry out the assassination. Three of the execution squad were carrying British passports, one was carrying an Irish passport.
They used 'coded communication tools' to keep in contact.
CCTV footage shows the female member of the gang apparently wearing a dark wig, big hat and sunglasses to blend in with tourists.
Others in the hit squad were also seen on the film dressed as holidaymakers, wearing tennis clothes and carrying rackets and athletic bags.
The footage also showed the gang gathering in groups at the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel.
All of the gang paid for their expenses in cash to avoid being traced.
Investigators saying that several members of the hit squad followed Al-Mabhouh to his room, even riding in the elevator with him to confirm his room number.
Then some of the team checked in to a room across the hall.
Four assassins then entered his room while he was out, using an electronic device to open the door, waiting to pounce when he returned.
The killing took just ten minutes.
The gang were careful not to disturb anything in the room and left the door locked from the inside to try to hide their actions, said Dubai police.
All of the suspects left the country within 19 hours of their arrival. Police said some went to Europe, some to Asia.
But there were clues, police said - the alleged assassins hired cars, and even apparently left fingerprints.
And the CCTV footage used to map the suspects' movements from their arrival in Dubai up until the murder was the most damning of all, police said.
CCTV footage shows the female member of the gang apparently wearing a dark wig, big hat and sunglasses to blend in with tourists.
Others in the hit squad were also seen on the film dressed as holidaymakers, wearing tennis clothes and carrying rackets and athletic bags.
The footage also showed the gang gathering in groups at the Al-Bustan Rotana Hotel.
All of the gang paid for their expenses in cash to avoid being traced.
Investigators saying that several members of the hit squad followed Al-Mabhouh to his room, even riding in the elevator with him to confirm his room number.
Then some of the team checked in to a room across the hall.
Four assassins then entered his room while he was out, using an electronic device to open the door, waiting to pounce when he returned.
The killing took just ten minutes.
The gang were careful not to disturb anything in the room and left the door locked from the inside to try to hide their actions, said Dubai police.
All of the suspects left the country within 19 hours of their arrival. Police said some went to Europe, some to Asia.
But there were clues, police said - the alleged assassins hired cars, and even apparently left fingerprints.
And the CCTV footage used to map the suspects' movements from their arrival in Dubai up until the murder was the most damning of all, police said.
'DAY OF THE JACKAL'-LIKE ASSASSINATION PLOT
The elaborate plan to kill Mabhouh reads like something out of a Frederick Forsyth-style spy caper - which, in fact, it is.
Forsyth wrote 'The Day of the Jackal', in which an assassin uses false passports in a plot to kill French President Charles de Gaulle, in 1971.
'The Jackal'
It was turned into a film in 1973, with a remake loosely based on the original and starring Bruce Willis made in 1997.
Israeli hit squads have used non-Israeli passports in the past, notably in 1997 when agents who bungled an attempt to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Jordan entered the country on Canadian passports.
One of the agents had a passport bearing the name of a Canadian living in Israel, who later said he was the victim of identity theft.
In 2005, Israel apologised to New Zealand after two suspected Mossad agents were sentenced to six months in jail by a court in Auckland that found they had sought to obtain a New Zealand passport illegally.
'We have identified the suspects and will issue arrest warrants against them and will take legal action against anyone or any party which will prove to stand behind the murder,' Lt Gen Tamim said.
'Currently we do not have clear evidence that a specific apparatus has carried out the act,' he added.
'We are dealing with the passports as original unless it is proven otherwise. We are asking for the co-operation of the respective countries.'
Police said the ringleader is Peter Elvinger, 49, who holds a French passport.
They accused him of being the squad’s logistical coordinator and the one who booked room 237 in Al Bustan Rotana, down the corridor from the victim’s room – 230.
Yesterday police said that there was ‘serious penetration into al-Mabhouh's security prior to his arrival’ in Dubai, but that it appeared al-Mabhouh was travelling alone.
Other reports suggested he was in Dubai to buy weapons for Hamas.
It is understood he entered Dubai on a false passport the day before his murder.
Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement, denied al-Mabhouh - one of the founders of the group's military wing - was en route to Iran, one of the group's major backers.
Top Hamas figures have accused Israeli agents of killing him.
Lt Gen Tamin said Israeli involvement could not be ruled out.
'We do not rule out Mossad, but when we arrest those suspects we will know who masterminded it,' he said.
'If the law of the jungle is the system for some countries, in the UAE it is rule of law that governs us, and if leaders of some countries give orders to their intelligence services to kill, this practice is rejected and is a crime in our laws, religion and Islamic traditions,' Gen Tamin said.
He added that the UAE would follow the proper legal procedures and work with Interpol to track down the perpetrators – “even if it’s some countries’ leaders'.
n a statement released last month, Hamas acknowledged that al-Mabhouh was involved in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989.
The organisation said that until his death, he had played a 'continuous role in supporting his brothers in the resistance inside the occupied homeland'.
The Al Bustan Rotana in Dubai is a luxury 275 room 5 star hotel, catering for business and leisure travellers. It has seven restaurants and cafes, a health club, two swimming pools, tennis courts and beach access.
It was turned into a film in 1973, with a remake loosely based on the original and starring Bruce Willis made in 1997.
Israeli hit squads have used non-Israeli passports in the past, notably in 1997 when agents who bungled an attempt to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Jordan entered the country on Canadian passports.
One of the agents had a passport bearing the name of a Canadian living in Israel, who later said he was the victim of identity theft.
In 2005, Israel apologised to New Zealand after two suspected Mossad agents were sentenced to six months in jail by a court in Auckland that found they had sought to obtain a New Zealand passport illegally.
'We have identified the suspects and will issue arrest warrants against them and will take legal action against anyone or any party which will prove to stand behind the murder,' Lt Gen Tamim said.
'Currently we do not have clear evidence that a specific apparatus has carried out the act,' he added.
'We are dealing with the passports as original unless it is proven otherwise. We are asking for the co-operation of the respective countries.'
Police said the ringleader is Peter Elvinger, 49, who holds a French passport.
They accused him of being the squad’s logistical coordinator and the one who booked room 237 in Al Bustan Rotana, down the corridor from the victim’s room – 230.
Yesterday police said that there was ‘serious penetration into al-Mabhouh's security prior to his arrival’ in Dubai, but that it appeared al-Mabhouh was travelling alone.
Other reports suggested he was in Dubai to buy weapons for Hamas.
It is understood he entered Dubai on a false passport the day before his murder.
Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement, denied al-Mabhouh - one of the founders of the group's military wing - was en route to Iran, one of the group's major backers.
Top Hamas figures have accused Israeli agents of killing him.
Lt Gen Tamin said Israeli involvement could not be ruled out.
'We do not rule out Mossad, but when we arrest those suspects we will know who masterminded it,' he said.
'If the law of the jungle is the system for some countries, in the UAE it is rule of law that governs us, and if leaders of some countries give orders to their intelligence services to kill, this practice is rejected and is a crime in our laws, religion and Islamic traditions,' Gen Tamin said.
He added that the UAE would follow the proper legal procedures and work with Interpol to track down the perpetrators – “even if it’s some countries’ leaders'.
n a statement released last month, Hamas acknowledged that al-Mabhouh was involved in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers in 1989.
The organisation said that until his death, he had played a 'continuous role in supporting his brothers in the resistance inside the occupied homeland'.
The Al Bustan Rotana in Dubai is a luxury 275 room 5 star hotel, catering for business and leisure travellers. It has seven restaurants and cafes, a health club, two swimming pools, tennis courts and beach access.
It is located just minutes from Dubai International airport and close to the city's main shopping areas.
The British suspects are Melvyn Mildiner, Stephen Hodes, Paul Keeley, Jonathan Graham, James Clarke and Michael Barney.
Folliard, Evan Dennings and Kevin Daveron are the alleged Irish assassins.
Two Palestinian nationals, who are UAE residents, are also currently being detained by Dubai Police in connection to al Mabhouh’s murder. One of them has confessed that he provided logistic help, said Lt Gen Tamin.
He did not say whether any of the suspects have been formally charged by prosecutors in Dubai, one of seven semiautonomous emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates.
But local charges would be needed before the suspects could be added to the Interpol database or to begin any possible extradition efforts in the future.
Edward, Kent; I deal with forged documents and false passports etc and i would bet my life that this woman Gail is actually a man. Its a bad photo with him clearly exhibiting a adams apple and bad wig.
The British suspects are Melvyn Mildiner, Stephen Hodes, Paul Keeley, Jonathan Graham, James Clarke and Michael Barney.
Folliard, Evan Dennings and Kevin Daveron are the alleged Irish assassins.
Two Palestinian nationals, who are UAE residents, are also currently being detained by Dubai Police in connection to al Mabhouh’s murder. One of them has confessed that he provided logistic help, said Lt Gen Tamin.
He did not say whether any of the suspects have been formally charged by prosecutors in Dubai, one of seven semiautonomous emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates.
But local charges would be needed before the suspects could be added to the Interpol database or to begin any possible extradition efforts in the future.
Edward, Kent; I deal with forged documents and false passports etc and i would bet my life that this woman Gail is actually a man. Its a bad photo with him clearly exhibiting a adams apple and bad wig.
Dubai police said they are working on the premise the passports are genuine. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
- Alistair Hillier, Sandbanks UK
- Alistair Hillier, Sandbanks UK
Israel's history of state-sponsored assassination
Israel’s spy agency Mossad and the country's special forces have carried out a number of assassinations of Palestinian militants in the past and have also been blamed for killings which the Jewish state has never publicly taken responsibility for.
In addition, the army and air force have carried out so-called ‘targeted killings’ of numerous Palestinian leaders accused of masterminding attacks inside Israel.
One of the highest profile assassinations was the 1988 killing of Khalil al-Wazir, widely known as Abu Jihad, who had been a co-founder of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement. He was killed in his home with his family in Tunis when a hit squad from the Israeli army’s elite Sayeret Matkal, travelling with fake Lebanese passports, burst in as he was watching the news of the Palestinian uprising on the television.
In 1997, Israeli agents also tried to assassinate Khaled Meshaal, a senior member of Hamas’ political bureau, in his office in Amman at a time when the Islamist group was carrying out suicide bombings inside Israel’s cities.
One of the agents who had infiltrated his office sprayed a powerful nerve agent into his ear, but one of his bodyguards helped Jordanian authorities track down the assassins. They were arrested and held until Binyamin Netanyahu, who was then in his first term as prime minister, agreed to hand over the antidote.
One of the most successful assassinations attributed to Israel, but which it has never acknowledged publicly, was the death of Imad Mughniyah, the head of Hezbollah’s armed wing and the world’s most wanted terrorist before Osama bin Laden carried out the September 11 2001 attacks.
He had been behind deadly attacks against Jewish organisations in Argentina and had transformed the Lebanese militia into the most successful guerrilla group in the Arab world. Israeli and other western spy agencies had been trying to kill him for years when he died in a mysterious explosion In his car in Damascus in 2008.
Israel has also carried out a series of air strikes that killed Hamas leaders, including a rocket attack on the home of the group’s founder and spiritual leader, the quadriplegic Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza in 2004, and then killed his successor, Abdelaziz al-Rantissi, in an almost identical strike just four weeks later.
In addition, the army and air force have carried out so-called ‘targeted killings’ of numerous Palestinian leaders accused of masterminding attacks inside Israel.
One of the highest profile assassinations was the 1988 killing of Khalil al-Wazir, widely known as Abu Jihad, who had been a co-founder of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement. He was killed in his home with his family in Tunis when a hit squad from the Israeli army’s elite Sayeret Matkal, travelling with fake Lebanese passports, burst in as he was watching the news of the Palestinian uprising on the television.
In 1997, Israeli agents also tried to assassinate Khaled Meshaal, a senior member of Hamas’ political bureau, in his office in Amman at a time when the Islamist group was carrying out suicide bombings inside Israel’s cities.
One of the agents who had infiltrated his office sprayed a powerful nerve agent into his ear, but one of his bodyguards helped Jordanian authorities track down the assassins. They were arrested and held until Binyamin Netanyahu, who was then in his first term as prime minister, agreed to hand over the antidote.
One of the most successful assassinations attributed to Israel, but which it has never acknowledged publicly, was the death of Imad Mughniyah, the head of Hezbollah’s armed wing and the world’s most wanted terrorist before Osama bin Laden carried out the September 11 2001 attacks.
He had been behind deadly attacks against Jewish organisations in Argentina and had transformed the Lebanese militia into the most successful guerrilla group in the Arab world. Israeli and other western spy agencies had been trying to kill him for years when he died in a mysterious explosion In his car in Damascus in 2008.
Israel has also carried out a series of air strikes that killed Hamas leaders, including a rocket attack on the home of the group’s founder and spiritual leader, the quadriplegic Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza in 2004, and then killed his successor, Abdelaziz al-Rantissi, in an almost identical strike just four weeks later.
Why I’m Leaving the SenateBASEBALL may be our national pastime, but the age-old tradition of taking a swing at Congress is a sport with even deeper historical roots in the American experience. Since the founding of our country, citizens from Ben Franklin to David Letterman have made fun of their elected officials. Milton Berle famously joked: “You can lead a man to Congress, but you can’t make him think.” These days, though, the institutional inertia gripping Congress is no laughing matter.
Challenges of historic import threaten America’s future. Action on the deficit, economy, energy, health care and much more is imperative, yet our legislative institutions fail to act. Congress must be reformed.
There are many causes for the dysfunction: strident partisanship, unyielding ideology, a corrosive system of campaign financing, gerrymandering of House districts, endless filibusters, holds on executive appointees in the Senate, dwindling social interaction between senators of opposing parties and a caucus system that promotes party unity at the expense of bipartisan consensus.
Many good people serve in Congress. They are patriotic, hard-working and devoted to the public good as they see it, but the institutional and cultural impediments to change frustrate the intentions of these well-meaning people as rarely before. It was not always thus.
Many good people serve in Congress. They are patriotic, hard-working and devoted to the public good as they see it, but the institutional and cultural impediments to change frustrate the intentions of these well-meaning people as rarely before. It was not always thus.
While romanticizing the Senate of yore would be a mistake, it was certainly better in my father’s time. My father, Birch Bayh, represented Indiana in the Senate from 1963 to 1981. A progressive, he nonetheless enjoyed many friendships with moderate Republicans and Southern Democrats.
One incident from his career vividly demonstrates how times have changed. In 1968, when my father was running for re-election, Everett Dirksen, the Republican leader, approached him on the Senate floor, put his arm around my dad’s shoulder, and asked what he could do to help. This is unimaginable today.
When I was a boy, members of Congress from both parties, along with their families, would routinely visit our home for dinner or the holidays. This type of social interaction hardly ever happens today and we are the poorer for it. It is much harder to demonize someone when you know his family or have visited his home. Today, members routinely campaign against each other, raise donations against each other and force votes on trivial amendments written solely to provide fodder for the next negative attack ad. It’s difficult to work with members actively plotting your demise.
When I was a boy, members of Congress from both parties, along with their families, would routinely visit our home for dinner or the holidays. This type of social interaction hardly ever happens today and we are the poorer for it. It is much harder to demonize someone when you know his family or have visited his home. Today, members routinely campaign against each other, raise donations against each other and force votes on trivial amendments written solely to provide fodder for the next negative attack ad. It’s difficult to work with members actively plotting your demise.
Any improvement must begin by changing the personal chemistry among senators. More interaction in a non-adversarial atmosphere would help.
I’m beginning my 12th year in the Senate and only twice have all the senators gathered for something other than purely ceremonial occasions. The first was during my initial week in office. President Bill Clinton had been impeached and the Senate had to conduct his trial. This hadn’t happened since 1868, and there were no rules in place for conducting the proceedings.
I’m beginning my 12th year in the Senate and only twice have all the senators gathered for something other than purely ceremonial occasions. The first was during my initial week in office. President Bill Clinton had been impeached and the Senate had to conduct his trial. This hadn’t happened since 1868, and there were no rules in place for conducting the proceedings.
All of us gathered in the Old Senate Chamber. For several hours we debated how to proceed. Finally, Ted Kennedy and Phil Gramm, ideological opposites, were given the task of forging a compromise. They did, and it was unanimously ratified.
The second occasion was just days after Sept. 11. Every senator who could make it to Washington gathered in the Senate dining room to discuss the American response. The nation had been attacked. The building in which we sat had been among the targets, and only the heroism of the passengers prevented the plane from reaching its destination. We had to respond to protect the country. There were no Republicans or Democrats in the room that day, just Americans. The spirit of patriotism and togetherness was palpable. That atmosphere prevailed for only two or three weeks before politics once again intervened.
It shouldn’t take a constitutional crisis or an attack on the nation to create honest dialogue in the Senate. Let’s start with a simple proposal: why not have a monthly lunch of all 100 senators? Every week, the parties already meet for a caucus lunch. Democrats gather in one room, Republicans in another, and no bipartisan interaction takes place. With a monthly lunch of all senators, we could pick a topic and have each side make a brief presentation followed by questions and answers. Listening to one another, absent the posturing and public talking points, could only promote greater understanding, which is necessary to real progress.
Perhaps from this starting point, we can move onto more intractable problems, like the current campaign finance system that has such a corrosive effect on Congress. In the Senate, raising in small increments the $10 million to $20 million a competitive race requires takes huge amounts of time that could otherwise be spent talking with constituents, legislating or becoming well-versed on public policy. In my father’s time there was a saying: “A senator legislates for four years and campaigns for two.” Because of the incessant need to raise campaign cash, we now have perpetual campaigns. If fund-raising is constantly on members’ minds, it’s difficult for policy compromise to trump political calculation.
The recent Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, allowing corporations and unions to spend freely on ads explicitly supporting or opposing political candidates, will worsen matters. The threat of unlimited amounts of negative advertising from special interest groups will only make members more beholden to their natural constituencies and more afraid of violating party orthodoxies.
I can easily imagine vulnerable members approaching a corporation or union for support and being told: “We’d love to support you, but we have a rule. We only support candidates who are with us at least 90 percent of the time. Here is our questionnaire with our top 10 concerns. Fill it out.” Millions of campaign dollars now ride on the member’s response. The cause of good government is not served.
What to do? While fundamental campaign finance reform may ultimately require a constitutional amendment, there are less drastic steps we can take to curb the distorting influence of money in politics. Congress should consider ways to lessen the impact of the Citizens United decision through legislation to enhance disclosure requirements, require corporate donors to appear in the political ads they finance and prohibit government contractors or bailout beneficiaries from spending money on political campaigns.
Congress and state legislators should also consider incentives, including public matching funds for smaller contributions, to expand democratic participation and increase the influence of small donors relative to corporations and other special interests.
Congress and state legislators should also consider incentives, including public matching funds for smaller contributions, to expand democratic participation and increase the influence of small donors relative to corporations and other special interests.
In addition, the Senate should reform a practice increasingly abused by both parties, the filibuster. Historically, the filibuster was employed to ensure that momentous issues receive a full and fair hearing. Instead, it has come to serve the exact opposite purpose — to prevent the Senate from even conducting routine business.
Last fall, the Senate had to overcome two successive filibusters to pass a bill to provide millions of Americans with extended unemployment insurance. There was no opposition to the bill; it passed on a 98-0 vote. But some senators saw political advantage in drawing out debate, thus preventing the Senate from addressing other pressing matters.
Admittedly, I have participated in filibusters. If not abused, the filibuster can foster consensus-building. The minority has a right to voice legitimate concerns, but it must not employ this tactic to prevent progress on everything at a critical juncture for our country. We need to reduce the power of the minority to frustrate progress while still affording them some say.
Filibusters have proliferated because under current rules just one or two determined senators can stop the Senate from functioning. Today, the mere threat of a filibuster is enough to stop a vote; senators are rarely asked to pull all-nighters like Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”
For this reason, filibusters should require 35 senators to sign a public petition and make a commitment to continually debate an issue in reality, not just in theory. Those who obstruct the Senate should pay a price in public notoriety and physical exhaustion. That would lead to a significant decline in frivolous filibusters.
Filibusters should also be limited to no more than one for any piece of legislation. Currently, the decision to begin debate on a bill can be filibustered, followed by another filibuster on each amendment, followed by yet another filibuster before a final vote. This leads to multiple legislative delays and effectively grinds the Senate to a halt.
What’s more, the number of votes needed to overcome a filibuster should be reduced to 55 from 60. During my father’s era, filibusters were commonly used to block civil rights legislation and, in 1975, the requisite number of votes was reduced to 60 from 67. The challenges facing the country today are so substantial that further delay imperils the Republic and warrants another reduction in the supermajority requirement.
Of course, the genesis of a good portion of the gridlock in Congress does not reside in Congress itself. Ultimate reform will require each of us, as voters and Americans, to take a long look in the mirror, because in many ways, our representatives in Washington reflect the people who have sent them there.
The most ideologically devoted elements in both parties must accept that not every compromise is a sign of betrayal or an indication of moral lassitude. When too many of our citizens take an all-or-nothing approach, we should not be surprised when nothing is the result.
The most ideologically devoted elements in both parties must accept that not every compromise is a sign of betrayal or an indication of moral lassitude. When too many of our citizens take an all-or-nothing approach, we should not be surprised when nothing is the result.
Our most strident partisans must learn to occasionally sacrifice short-term tactical political advantage for the sake of the nation. Otherwise, Congress will remain stuck in an endless cycle of recrimination and revenge. The minority seeks to frustrate the majority, and when the majority is displaced it returns the favor. Power is constantly sought through the use of means which render its effective use, once acquired, impossible.
What is required from members of Congress and the public alike is a new spirit of devotion to the national welfare beyond party or self-interest. In a time of national peril, with our problems compounding, we must remember that more unites us as Americans than divides us.
Meeting America’s profound challenges and reforming Congress will not be easy. Old habits die hard. Special interests are entrenched. Still, my optimism as I serve out the remainder of my final term in the Senate is undiminished. With the right reforms, members of Congress can once again embody our best selves and our highest aspirations.
In my final 11 months, I will advocate for the reforms that will help Congress function as it once did, so that our generation can do what Americans have always done: convey to our children, and our children’s children, an America that is stronger, more prosperous, more decent and more just.
Evan Bayh, the governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1996 and a senator since 1999, announced his retirement from the Senate last week.
The Tyranny of the Minority in the U.S. Senate February 20, 2010 Editorial Writer
Posted on Saturday, February 20, 2010 8:31:26 PM by Diana in Wisconsin
(As distasteful as a tyranny of the majority, it should compel the Senate to change its filibuster rules.)
There may well be more behind Evan Bayh's announced departure from the U.S. Senate than meets the eye. That doesn't mean that the Indiana Democrat's parting shots about gridlock, loss of comity, unbridled partisanship and general congressional ineffectiveness are any less true.
Congress is paralyzed.
The hard stuff is just not getting done. And there is little reason to doubt, absent reform of U.S. Senate rules in particular or a genuine change in the culture, that what the country has just seen on health care won't be repeated when it comes to the nation's other pressing problems.
Jobs. Economic stimulus. Infrastructure rebuilding. Cap-and-trade or dealing with climate change generally. Immigration reform. The deficit. A looming reckoning on Medicare and Social Security.
They are all - or should be - on Congress' plate. And that's where they will likely stay - with the nation stuck at the window eyeing the morsels longingly.
Distressingly, however, with control of Congress potentially hanging in the balance in November elections, partisans see more advantage in obstruction than true negotiation - though it doesn't take an election year to trigger these base instincts. As others have observed, a culture of perpetual electioneering has descended on Congress - every issue with even the faintest hint of political advantage is held hostage to partisan ideology masquerading as principle.
And that's evident even in the U.S. Senate, the "deliberative body." "Dithering body" is more like it these days.
Blame that magic number: 60.
Sen. Tom Harkin has some other numbers in mind: 57, 54, down to simple majority in a 100-member Senate. The Iowa Democrat has reprised his proposal to change the Senate's filibuster rule. Sixty, of course, is the number of votes it now takes to shut down debate and proceed to a vote for a bill. It wasn't always so. The Senate decreased that from 67 in 1975. And, arguably, the filibuster - unmentioned in the U.S. Constitution - wasn't even intended to block legislation in perpetuity but to simply delay it.
Whether Senate Republicans or Democrats have been in charge, this tool has been misused. But Republicans have developed it into an art form more recently. From 1949 to 1970, there were 30 cloture votes; in 2009, there were 39 alone. There were 112 cloture votes in the 110th Congress, from 2007-2009.
Harkin's proposal - which he first introduced in 1995 when Democrats were in the Senate minority - has merit. Up to a point. And that point for us is 50 + 1, a simple Senate majority.
Built into the Senate by the Founding Fathers is fear of a tyranny of the majority. Rhode Island has the same number of senators as California. And by serving six years rather than House members' two-year terms, senators were thought to be more immune to political expediencies.
Yes, by all means, the Senate should reform its rules as Harkins suggests - the number of votes necessary after two weeks going down to 57 and to 54 two weeks later. But not down to simple majority. A progressive diminishment will, in our view, spur good-faith negotiation as a matter of necessity. But a simple majority would allow the minority to be treated too roughly - to the detriment of a nation whose electorate does show all the signs of being split on major issues.
Most citizens, however, don't elect senators with the thought in mind, "OK, that'll make sure nothing gets done." They elect them to vote convictions - to actually accomplish something by putting country first.
Yes to filibuster reform. Otherwise, what we're left with is a tyranny of the minority, every bit as offensive as the opposite.
Posted on Saturday, February 20, 2010 8:31:26 PM by Diana in Wisconsin
(As distasteful as a tyranny of the majority, it should compel the Senate to change its filibuster rules.)
There may well be more behind Evan Bayh's announced departure from the U.S. Senate than meets the eye. That doesn't mean that the Indiana Democrat's parting shots about gridlock, loss of comity, unbridled partisanship and general congressional ineffectiveness are any less true.
Congress is paralyzed.
The hard stuff is just not getting done. And there is little reason to doubt, absent reform of U.S. Senate rules in particular or a genuine change in the culture, that what the country has just seen on health care won't be repeated when it comes to the nation's other pressing problems.
Jobs. Economic stimulus. Infrastructure rebuilding. Cap-and-trade or dealing with climate change generally. Immigration reform. The deficit. A looming reckoning on Medicare and Social Security.
They are all - or should be - on Congress' plate. And that's where they will likely stay - with the nation stuck at the window eyeing the morsels longingly.
Distressingly, however, with control of Congress potentially hanging in the balance in November elections, partisans see more advantage in obstruction than true negotiation - though it doesn't take an election year to trigger these base instincts. As others have observed, a culture of perpetual electioneering has descended on Congress - every issue with even the faintest hint of political advantage is held hostage to partisan ideology masquerading as principle.
And that's evident even in the U.S. Senate, the "deliberative body." "Dithering body" is more like it these days.
Blame that magic number: 60.
Sen. Tom Harkin has some other numbers in mind: 57, 54, down to simple majority in a 100-member Senate. The Iowa Democrat has reprised his proposal to change the Senate's filibuster rule. Sixty, of course, is the number of votes it now takes to shut down debate and proceed to a vote for a bill. It wasn't always so. The Senate decreased that from 67 in 1975. And, arguably, the filibuster - unmentioned in the U.S. Constitution - wasn't even intended to block legislation in perpetuity but to simply delay it.
Whether Senate Republicans or Democrats have been in charge, this tool has been misused. But Republicans have developed it into an art form more recently. From 1949 to 1970, there were 30 cloture votes; in 2009, there were 39 alone. There were 112 cloture votes in the 110th Congress, from 2007-2009.
Harkin's proposal - which he first introduced in 1995 when Democrats were in the Senate minority - has merit. Up to a point. And that point for us is 50 + 1, a simple Senate majority.
Built into the Senate by the Founding Fathers is fear of a tyranny of the majority. Rhode Island has the same number of senators as California. And by serving six years rather than House members' two-year terms, senators were thought to be more immune to political expediencies.
Yes, by all means, the Senate should reform its rules as Harkins suggests - the number of votes necessary after two weeks going down to 57 and to 54 two weeks later. But not down to simple majority. A progressive diminishment will, in our view, spur good-faith negotiation as a matter of necessity. But a simple majority would allow the minority to be treated too roughly - to the detriment of a nation whose electorate does show all the signs of being split on major issues.
Most citizens, however, don't elect senators with the thought in mind, "OK, that'll make sure nothing gets done." They elect them to vote convictions - to actually accomplish something by putting country first.
Yes to filibuster reform. Otherwise, what we're left with is a tyranny of the minority, every bit as offensive as the opposite.
By Sadie Gurman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In his first call to 911, Curtis Mitchell sounded calm, explaining to dispatchers that his "entire stomach [was] in pain."
By the time his longtime girlfriend made a 10th call nearly 30 hours later, she was frantic. He wasn't breathing. He was cold to the touch.
"Oh God, oh God," Sharon Edge sobbed to dispatchers. "I've been trying to get an ambulance over here for three days."
Paramedics arrived at their Hazelwood home as Ms. Edge tried to resuscitate the 50-year-old, but it was too late.
"I sat up here with him, watching him die," Ms. Edge said Tuesday, after city officials apologized to her and pledged immediate changes in emergency response after Mr. Mitchell's death on Feb. 7. "They didn't do their jobs like they were supposed to."
Snow-covered roads, poor communication and a 911 center deluged with more than double the average number of calls during last week's crippling snowstorms combined to cause Mr. Mitchell's long wait, city officials said.
Ambulances were dispatched three times on Saturday, Feb. 6, to the couple's home in the 5100 block of narrow Chaplain Way, but couldn't get there because of the snow. Paramedics twice asked whether Mr. Mitchell could walk to an intersection, even after he told them that he could not because he was in too much pain.
Emergency vehicles were within blocks of his home three times -- once so close Ms. Edge could see the ambulance lights from her porch -- but did not make contact with him. They finally reached the home on Sunday morning, Feb. 7, but Mr. Mitchell was already dead.
"We should have gotten there," Public Safety Director Michael Huss said. "It's that simple."
Complicating matters, communication problems meant that each call was seen as an individual request for help. Information gained on previous calls was not passed down during the next request, said Ron Roth, medical director for the city's public safety department and Allegheny County's emergency operations center.
"As a result, we made the same request over and over," he said.
Dispatchers sent the first ambulance to Mr. Mitchell's home just after 2 a.m. on Feb. 6, after he called complaining of abdominal pain, according to dispatch records. The call was graded E-2, or less pressing, as his symptoms were deemed not life-threatening. He called 911 again two hours later, asking what the hold-up was.
The call-taker told him medics were on their way, but the ambulance got stuck in the snow near the Elizabeth Street Bridge. The call was canceled after paramedics learned that Mr. Mitchell was in too much pain to walk out to them. Mr. Mitchell said he would try again later.
A second request for help was made about an hour after the first was canceled, though medics were not aware that an ambulance had gotten stuck while en route the house earlier. They, too, became stuck, according to Dr. Roth's report.
"If he wants a ride to the hospital, he is just going to have to come down to the truck," a medic told the dispatcher. Mr. Mitchell said he would try to walk to the truck, but later told them he couldn't make it across the bridge. The second call was canceled.
The third call for an ambulance came nearly five hours later, at 11:17 a.m. Saturday. Mr. Mitchell reported similar abdominal pain, and officials identified "no priority symptoms," and the call was held because of limited availability, Dr. Roth wrote in his report.
"At this point in time, higher priority calls are being held, there are over 30 calls in the pending queue," he wrote.
At about 8:15 p.m. Saturday, nine hours later, the call was upgraded to E-1, or higher priority, because Ms. Edge, who had begun making the calls on Mr. Mitchell's behalf, told call-takers he was short of breath and that they'd been waiting all day.
Less than an hour later, Ms. Edge called again to tell dispatchers that her boyfriend took sleeping and pain pills and she "could not get him up."
A doctor who called Ms. Edge back was "convinced he took his prescribed medications and went to sleep," Dr. Roth said, and the call was canceled.
In the final call, about 8 a.m. Sunday, she screamed for help. The call was graded E-0 -- a top priority. But when paramedics arrived, Mr. Mitchell had already died.
The cause of death is pending toxicology test results, the medical examiner's office said. Dr. Roth wrote that Mr. Mitchell had a history of pancreatitis, though his reported symptoms were not exclusive to that disease.
"It's unacceptable what happened," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said. "It needs to change. We're talking about somebody who lost their life, and it's no small matter."
The city planned today to start dispatching firefighters as first responders on medical calls of the two highest grades of severity, and on calls of the third highest level that remained unanswered for more than 30 minutes. Firefighters are currently only called as first responders to the most severe incidents.
Sadie Gurman: sgurman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1878.
http://boards.medscape.com/forums?128@659.RWIFaip3mJf@.29fa9e1d!comment=1
By the time his longtime girlfriend made a 10th call nearly 30 hours later, she was frantic. He wasn't breathing. He was cold to the touch.
"Oh God, oh God," Sharon Edge sobbed to dispatchers. "I've been trying to get an ambulance over here for three days."
Paramedics arrived at their Hazelwood home as Ms. Edge tried to resuscitate the 50-year-old, but it was too late.
"I sat up here with him, watching him die," Ms. Edge said Tuesday, after city officials apologized to her and pledged immediate changes in emergency response after Mr. Mitchell's death on Feb. 7. "They didn't do their jobs like they were supposed to."
Snow-covered roads, poor communication and a 911 center deluged with more than double the average number of calls during last week's crippling snowstorms combined to cause Mr. Mitchell's long wait, city officials said.
Ambulances were dispatched three times on Saturday, Feb. 6, to the couple's home in the 5100 block of narrow Chaplain Way, but couldn't get there because of the snow. Paramedics twice asked whether Mr. Mitchell could walk to an intersection, even after he told them that he could not because he was in too much pain.
Emergency vehicles were within blocks of his home three times -- once so close Ms. Edge could see the ambulance lights from her porch -- but did not make contact with him. They finally reached the home on Sunday morning, Feb. 7, but Mr. Mitchell was already dead.
"We should have gotten there," Public Safety Director Michael Huss said. "It's that simple."
Complicating matters, communication problems meant that each call was seen as an individual request for help. Information gained on previous calls was not passed down during the next request, said Ron Roth, medical director for the city's public safety department and Allegheny County's emergency operations center.
"As a result, we made the same request over and over," he said.
Dispatchers sent the first ambulance to Mr. Mitchell's home just after 2 a.m. on Feb. 6, after he called complaining of abdominal pain, according to dispatch records. The call was graded E-2, or less pressing, as his symptoms were deemed not life-threatening. He called 911 again two hours later, asking what the hold-up was.
The call-taker told him medics were on their way, but the ambulance got stuck in the snow near the Elizabeth Street Bridge. The call was canceled after paramedics learned that Mr. Mitchell was in too much pain to walk out to them. Mr. Mitchell said he would try again later.
A second request for help was made about an hour after the first was canceled, though medics were not aware that an ambulance had gotten stuck while en route the house earlier. They, too, became stuck, according to Dr. Roth's report.
"If he wants a ride to the hospital, he is just going to have to come down to the truck," a medic told the dispatcher. Mr. Mitchell said he would try to walk to the truck, but later told them he couldn't make it across the bridge. The second call was canceled.
The third call for an ambulance came nearly five hours later, at 11:17 a.m. Saturday. Mr. Mitchell reported similar abdominal pain, and officials identified "no priority symptoms," and the call was held because of limited availability, Dr. Roth wrote in his report.
"At this point in time, higher priority calls are being held, there are over 30 calls in the pending queue," he wrote.
At about 8:15 p.m. Saturday, nine hours later, the call was upgraded to E-1, or higher priority, because Ms. Edge, who had begun making the calls on Mr. Mitchell's behalf, told call-takers he was short of breath and that they'd been waiting all day.
Less than an hour later, Ms. Edge called again to tell dispatchers that her boyfriend took sleeping and pain pills and she "could not get him up."
A doctor who called Ms. Edge back was "convinced he took his prescribed medications and went to sleep," Dr. Roth said, and the call was canceled.
In the final call, about 8 a.m. Sunday, she screamed for help. The call was graded E-0 -- a top priority. But when paramedics arrived, Mr. Mitchell had already died.
The cause of death is pending toxicology test results, the medical examiner's office said. Dr. Roth wrote that Mr. Mitchell had a history of pancreatitis, though his reported symptoms were not exclusive to that disease.
"It's unacceptable what happened," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said. "It needs to change. We're talking about somebody who lost their life, and it's no small matter."
The city planned today to start dispatching firefighters as first responders on medical calls of the two highest grades of severity, and on calls of the third highest level that remained unanswered for more than 30 minutes. Firefighters are currently only called as first responders to the most severe incidents.
Sadie Gurman: sgurman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1878.
http://boards.medscape.com/forums?128@659.RWIFaip3mJf@.29fa9e1d!comment=1
RIO DE JANEIRO – When wind and rough seas drove the Canadian sailing ship carrying dozens of teenage students to lean precariously to one side, the captain figured it was just another day of sailing in rough weather.
When the boat immediately keeled again, he knew it was going down.
"The ship had gone from sailing upright to being on her side in the water in about 15 or 20 seconds," William Curry said. "I knew, of course, that the blow to the ship was fatal and that she was not going to right."
Just like that, a five-month academic dream cruise for 64 young students and crew ended in a mad scramble for life rafts as the SV Concordia was quickly sucked beneath the waves. Back on land Saturday, they recounted how fears of starvation and a lonely death far from land filled their heads during two nightmarish days adrift at sea.
Curry called it a miracle that everyone on board made it into rafts and survived after the three-masted Concordia apparently experienced a weather phenomenon known as a "microburst" — a sudden, violent downdraft of wind — that instantly crippled the vessel Wednesday.
The gust that knocked the ship on its side came so suddenly there was no time to radio for help before all communications equipment was submerged and ruined. So hope rested on a distress beacon that launched automatically when the vessel capsized.
"My biggest fear was that nobody knew we had sunk," said 17-year-old Keaton Farwell of Toronto. "We thought our signal had failed and nobody knew and it could be weeks before we were saved. The worst life-and-death thoughts were going through our heads, and everybody was panicking."
After 30 hours in life rafts 300 miles (480 kilometers) off Brazil, hope arrived as "a light in the sky" — a Brazilian air force jet flying high overhead sent to search the area after the beacon was finally detected.
"When we saw the plane, we were crying because of happiness. We knew somebody was coming for us, we knew we weren't going to die in a life raft," Farwell said.
Brazil's navy said the distress signal was first picked up about 5 p.m. Thursday, and an air force plane later the spotted rafts. Passing merchant ships plucked the castaways from the water, and by Saturday afternoon they were all back on land in Rio de Janeiro.
The first to dock looked disheveled and teary-eyed, wearing navy caps and clothing borrowed from their rescuers. They smiled brightly at times, but also broke down and cried as they spoke to reporters on the navy frigate that brought them to port.
Curry said the Concordia's crew had begun preparing 24 hours in advance after getting a forecast of rough weather and high seas, but nothing unusual.
"Those conditions are not at all extreme. It's kind of just another day at sea," Curry said. "It was an extraordinary event — just bad luck to be in that tiny patch of ocean at that time."
While his young charges receive extensive sailing training as part of the study program, luck also had a hand in keeping everyone alive.
The storm hit in the early afternoon at a time when most of the students were studying in protected structures on deck — which made it easier for them to scramble to life rafts.
Two rafts got tangled in the rigging — but the ship's cook had rushed so quickly from her chores that she was still clutching a kitchen knife, which was used to slice through the ropes and free the rafts.
Curry also said the school that operates the ship outfitted it with twice as many life rafts as actually needed for 64 people, so there was plenty of room for everyone even though all the rafts on one side were under water.
The 188-foot (57.5-meter) Concordia was carrying 48 students plus the crew, according to Kate Knight, head of West Island College International of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which operates the Class Afloat program for students in the final two years of high school and the first year of college.
School officials said 42 of those aboard were from Canada. Knight said others hail from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Europe and the West Indies.
Nigel McCarthy, president and CEO of the school, said a London-based maritime agency would conduct an investigation to determine why it took so long for the emergency beacon to be heard.
"I'm concerned, I'm concerned," he told The Associated Press. "Obviously we don't know the reality of what's happened at every stage of this process, and we're just thankful to the Brazilian navy for having gone and got them."
Katherine Irwin, a 16-year-old from Calgary, Alberta, had mixed thoughts about how the shipwreck would affect her sailing future.
"This was only my 15th day at sea. It was definitely a shocker," she said, eyes welling with tears. "At first I was, like, I'm never going back into the ocean. But after thinking about the friendships I made in the raft, I definitely would do it again."
Touching solid land for the first time, Irwin jumped about with her friends and did a little dance on a naval pier, smiling and giggling.
She headed to a waiting bus, and as it pulled out Irwin and the others waved to the Brazilian sailors and shouted out their thanks.
When the boat immediately keeled again, he knew it was going down.
"The ship had gone from sailing upright to being on her side in the water in about 15 or 20 seconds," William Curry said. "I knew, of course, that the blow to the ship was fatal and that she was not going to right."
Just like that, a five-month academic dream cruise for 64 young students and crew ended in a mad scramble for life rafts as the SV Concordia was quickly sucked beneath the waves. Back on land Saturday, they recounted how fears of starvation and a lonely death far from land filled their heads during two nightmarish days adrift at sea.
Curry called it a miracle that everyone on board made it into rafts and survived after the three-masted Concordia apparently experienced a weather phenomenon known as a "microburst" — a sudden, violent downdraft of wind — that instantly crippled the vessel Wednesday.
The gust that knocked the ship on its side came so suddenly there was no time to radio for help before all communications equipment was submerged and ruined. So hope rested on a distress beacon that launched automatically when the vessel capsized.
"My biggest fear was that nobody knew we had sunk," said 17-year-old Keaton Farwell of Toronto. "We thought our signal had failed and nobody knew and it could be weeks before we were saved. The worst life-and-death thoughts were going through our heads, and everybody was panicking."
After 30 hours in life rafts 300 miles (480 kilometers) off Brazil, hope arrived as "a light in the sky" — a Brazilian air force jet flying high overhead sent to search the area after the beacon was finally detected.
"When we saw the plane, we were crying because of happiness. We knew somebody was coming for us, we knew we weren't going to die in a life raft," Farwell said.
Brazil's navy said the distress signal was first picked up about 5 p.m. Thursday, and an air force plane later the spotted rafts. Passing merchant ships plucked the castaways from the water, and by Saturday afternoon they were all back on land in Rio de Janeiro.
The first to dock looked disheveled and teary-eyed, wearing navy caps and clothing borrowed from their rescuers. They smiled brightly at times, but also broke down and cried as they spoke to reporters on the navy frigate that brought them to port.
Curry said the Concordia's crew had begun preparing 24 hours in advance after getting a forecast of rough weather and high seas, but nothing unusual.
"Those conditions are not at all extreme. It's kind of just another day at sea," Curry said. "It was an extraordinary event — just bad luck to be in that tiny patch of ocean at that time."
While his young charges receive extensive sailing training as part of the study program, luck also had a hand in keeping everyone alive.
The storm hit in the early afternoon at a time when most of the students were studying in protected structures on deck — which made it easier for them to scramble to life rafts.
Two rafts got tangled in the rigging — but the ship's cook had rushed so quickly from her chores that she was still clutching a kitchen knife, which was used to slice through the ropes and free the rafts.
Curry also said the school that operates the ship outfitted it with twice as many life rafts as actually needed for 64 people, so there was plenty of room for everyone even though all the rafts on one side were under water.
The 188-foot (57.5-meter) Concordia was carrying 48 students plus the crew, according to Kate Knight, head of West Island College International of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which operates the Class Afloat program for students in the final two years of high school and the first year of college.
School officials said 42 of those aboard were from Canada. Knight said others hail from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Europe and the West Indies.
Nigel McCarthy, president and CEO of the school, said a London-based maritime agency would conduct an investigation to determine why it took so long for the emergency beacon to be heard.
"I'm concerned, I'm concerned," he told The Associated Press. "Obviously we don't know the reality of what's happened at every stage of this process, and we're just thankful to the Brazilian navy for having gone and got them."
Katherine Irwin, a 16-year-old from Calgary, Alberta, had mixed thoughts about how the shipwreck would affect her sailing future.
"This was only my 15th day at sea. It was definitely a shocker," she said, eyes welling with tears. "At first I was, like, I'm never going back into the ocean. But after thinking about the friendships I made in the raft, I definitely would do it again."
Touching solid land for the first time, Irwin jumped about with her friends and did a little dance on a naval pier, smiling and giggling.
She headed to a waiting bus, and as it pulled out Irwin and the others waved to the Brazilian sailors and shouted out their thanks.
By BRADLEY BROOKS, Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
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