Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Penn State scandal

Jerry Sandusky denies child sex abuse charges

Penn State scandal: Former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky gave his first interview Monday and denied he's a pedophile. Sandusky admitted to showering and touching boys.

Courtesy of the

By Ernest Scheyder and James B. Kelleher, Reuters / November 15, 2011

Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State University assistant football coach charged with child sex abuse, said on Monday he is not a pedophile, but admitted he showered with young boys.
In Pictures: Fallout from the Penn State scandal

In a full-court media press across two television networks, Sandusky and his attorney, Joe Amendola, said they have answers for all 40 charges that Pennsylvania prosecutors have leveled.
"I am innocent of those charges," Sandusky told NBC's Bob Costas in a telephone interview with the television network on Monday.

Jerry Sandusky and Joe Paterno

T
he former coach and founder of The Second Mile charity for disadvantaged youth acknowledged that after workouts he has showered with boys.
"I have hugged them and I have touched their leg without intent of sexual contact," Sandusky told Costas.
He admitted, "I shouldn't have showered with those kids," and stressed, "I am not sexually attracted to young boys."
The allegations of sex crimes and their cover-up have rocked the university. The fallout ended the career of legendary head football coach Joe Paterno, who along with the university's president was fired on Nov. 9 by the board of trustees.
The New York Times reported late Monday that as many as 10 more individuals have come forward, alleging they were abused by Sandusky. The Times cites "people close to the investigation."
Sandusky, once considered a likely successor to Paterno, is accused of sexually assaulting eight boys over more than a decade. The New York Times reported late Monday that ten more suspected victims have come forward and police were working to confirm the allegations.
The 67-year-old Sandusky is just a "big overgrown kid," his lawyer told CNN in a separate interview on Monday night.
For each charge, "We have an answer," Amendola said.
He painted a sympathetic picture of his client, saying he is worried for Sandusky's health.
Amendola said he had advised Sandusky and his wife to leave State College, Pennsylvania, to relax, but Sandusky told him he would be recognizable anywhere.
In addition, the defense team is having trouble finding some of the alleged
victims mentioned in a grand jury report that was released Nov. 4, Amendola said.

INFORMATION ON LOCKER-ROOM INCIDENT
Sandusky retired from Penn State in 1999. The grand jury alleged, among other charges, that Sandusky had sexually assaulted a boy in a Penn State football locker room in 2002 and university officials failed to report the incident.
Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary, who witnessed the alleged incident while a graduate assistant, is on paid administrative leave from the university.
Amendola said he believes he has identified the child involved in the alleged incident.
"What McQueary said he saw, we have information that that child says that never happened," Amendola said.
The intertwined relationship between Penn State, its football program and The Second Mile charity continues to be a focus of the developing scandal.
The intertwined relationship between Penn State, its football program and The Second Mile charity continues to be a focus of the developing scandal.
The charity said on Monday it has accepted the resignation of Jack Raykovitz, its chief executive for 28 years, and that it had opened an internal investigation.
According to a grand jury report, the charity learned almost a decade ago that Sandusky had showered with a young boy. Like Penn State officials, it did not inform police.
Meanwhile, a New York-based charity for disadvantaged kids -- The Fresh Air Fund -- said it was checking on whether any of its members might have spent time at the home of Sandusky.
The Big Ten athletic conference said on Monday it will remove Paterno's name from the trophy that will be given to the winner of its first-ever championship game, scheduled to be played in Indianapolis in December.
"The trophy and its namesake are intended to be celebratory and aspirational, not controversial," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in a statement. (Additional reporting by Edith Honan and Kristina Cooke; Writing by Ernest Scheyder and Ros Krasny; Editing by Jackie Frank)

Flash From the Past! Once In a Life Time

Thursday, October 27, 2011

What Would Happen If We Had a EMP Attack?

Courtesy From: WND

A spokesman for the Center for Security Policy says that the threat of Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) is real. With Iran developing multi-stage Space Launch Vehicles (SLV) the possibility of such an attack will become even more probable than ever before:

This could happen in any U.S. city

And experts forecast if such an attack were a success; it effectively could throw the U.S. back into an age of agriculture.

“Within a year of that attack, nine out of 10 Americans would be dead, because we can’t support a population of the present size in urban centers and the like without electricity,” said Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy. “And that is exactly what I believe the Iranians are working towards.”

A recent launch of an SLV by Iran has sparked renewed concern of an attack that could send an electromagnetic pulse powerful enough to wipe out computer controls for systems on which society has come to rely, officials say.

As the G2 Bulletin reported last week, Ronald Burgess, director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, revealed that Iran successfully launched a multi-stage SLV, the Simorgh. The device ultimately could be equipped with a nuclear bomb, which the U.S. intelligence community assesses Iran is developing.

Officials also report Iran has been testing detonation of its nuclear-capable missiles by remote control while still in high-altitude flight. The development makes a potential EMP attack on the U.S. more probable.

An enemy of the United States, be it Iran, North Korea or a terrorist organization, does not need to detonate a nuclear weapon on the ground. We believe this is the only reason why Iran would be testing SLV’s with in-flight detonations. With this kind of weapon, Iran (or anyone else) would simply need to strike first. Once the weapon goes off, it would be difficult to determine from where it came and to respond appropriately, as all forms of traditional communication would be wiped out.

A small-scale, five to ten kiloton weapon detonated 200 miles above Nebraska, or a few weapons detonated 50 miles or so above the eastern, western and central United States would do the job. The effects would be nothing short of disastrous – literally the end of the world as we know it.

All unprotected and unhardened electrical devices would be left useless. This means that everything, from the refrigerator in your kitchen to the semi-trucks that carry food across the country, would be non-functioning.

If an enemy of the USA wants to bring America to its knees without rendering the land completely useless, they could do so with an EMP weapon.

We’ve always believed that a mainland invasion of the United Stated would be difficult, if not impossible. But, if an EMP weapon were to be used, our country could effectively be invaded within a matter of months, as most of the population would be wiped out and the government and military infrastructures in disarray.

We consider EMP as one of the most significant threats out there. The recovery period from a collapse of this magnitude would be counted in decades, not years, thus, for those who are “prepping” for a worst-case scenario, consider long term sustainability planning when planning for an EMP SHTF scenario.

Recommended Research:

One Second After by William Forstchen

Jericho TV Series (Available on iTunes)

Patriots by James Wesley Rawles

StumbleReddit

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

USC's Community Outreach Programs

Sports and Recreation

After School Sports Connection: $50,000
Community Partner: After School Sports Connection
USC Partners: USC Recreational Sports, USC Civic & Community Relations
Program Description: After School Sports Connection (ASSC) offers high-quality after-school sports instruction in basketball, soccer, volleyball and martial arts as well as Saturday morning swim classes. ASSC fills the gap between the time school ends and the time parents get home from work with safe, productive and healthy programming. This year, ASSC is considering expanding to serve the Health Sciences campus and a few other elementary schools.
Kids in Sports & KISFit Grant: $36,000
Community Partner: Kids in Sports
USC Partner: USC TRiO Programs
Program Description: In conjunction with the USC-sponsored After School Sports Connection, Kids In Sports offers parent-led after-school and weekend sports opportunities for more than 1,000 low-income boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 17 in the University Park area. For many children, this is the only opportunity for regular physical activity and access to the neighborhood’s limited play and practice facilities. Youngsters participate in volleyball and swimming as well as skills clinics, practices and competitions in basketball and soccer.
NYSP Trojan Kids Camp: $19,440
Community Partners: Foshay, Manual Arts, Norwood, and Weemes schools, Blazers Youth Center, EPICC, Kids in Sports
USC Partner: USC Recreational Sports
Program Description: NYSP is an instructional program serving almost 200 boys and girls from low-income households. The program uses sports instruction and competition as a vehicle to enhance self-esteem, promote respect, reinforce the importance of education and foster healthy lifestyles.

Safe Streets

Block by Block Initiative: Building a Peaceful Los Angeles: $45,000
Community Partners: Norwood Elementary School, Peace Games
USC Partner: USC Civic & Community Relations
Program Description: The Block by Block Initiative is aimed at expanding the proven Peace Games model into K-12 schools within a seven-square-mile area of South and East Los Angeles, encompassing both the USC Family of Schools and the HSC Partner Schools. USC and Peace Games are now ready to launch this pilot project that will eventually lead to a comprehensive community response to preventing violence and engaging thousands of young people and families with the critical skills of conflict resolution and civic engagement.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Trade Tech Radio Sample Schedule

KTTC Online Radio Fall 2011 Schedule

This just a sample of a student run internet radio station

AM Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday AM

6 AM Democracy Now! (Syndicated)*

A national, daily, listener-sponsored, news hour hosted by award-winning journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Pacifica Radio's flagship program.

Experience Talks

The Classics

L.A. News 6 AM

6:30 6:30

7 AM Morning Review 7 - 8 am Halfway Down

The Stairs

Freeway Jam: Current Events 7 AM

7:30 Connect The Dots

Sojourner Truth (Syndicated)*

with Margaret Prescod 7:30

8 AM Uprising! (Syndicated)
News and Public Affairs

with Art & John
Alan Watts 8 AM (Syndicated)*

8:30 Labor Review

8:57am Community Calendar 8:57 to 9:00 am M - F 8:57am

9 AM Democracy Now! Repeat (Example the student management may want to go another way)

Current Affairs with Pacifica Host Amy Goodman

Digital the Campus Village

TBA

South America In Focus

Don
9 AM

9:30 9:30

10 AM Letters and Politics

Show Expo: Campus Events
TBA
Music TBA 10 AM

11 AM The Global Village

Music From Around The World and Around the Block

11 am - 1 pm
Community News
w/ commentary

Background Trades and Vocations
TBA

Briefing: Campus Adminstration News
College President or appointed Host

11 AM

Noon Across The Pacific
TBA
Hutchinson Report

Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Maria Armoudian Noon

12:30 12:30

PM Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday PM

1 PM

Health and Spirituality 1 - 2 PM

Liberated Sisters

Free Forum
TBA

1 PM

1:30 Vision

The Sounds Of Transformation Think Outside The Cage

1:30

2 PM

Access Unlimited (Syndicated)*

Truthdig Radio (Syndicated)*

Ring Of Fire Radio
Arts In Review

Mr. Martinez

Afro-Dicia (Syndicated)

D.J. TBA
Reggae Central

TBA
2:30 Campus Performance Showcase 2:30

3 PM

Al Jazeera News in English

3 PM

3:30 DeadlineLA

TBA
In The City

Host TBA
Radio Intifada David Feldman Show

3:30

4 PM Strategy Session

Voices from the Frontline

Spotlight Africa

Host TBA

Melting Pot with Host TBA

4 PM

4:30 4:30

5 PM

Background Briefing - Ian Masters (syndicated)

Behind The Headlines
Host TBA

Dedon Kamathi 5 PM

5:57pm Community Calendar (Rebroadcast from 8:57 am)

5:57pm

PM Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday PM

6:00 Pacifica News

7:00pm - 6:00am Rebroadcast of earlier shows with a mixture of auto DJ music shows...
*= (Syndicated) Shows that are synicated will need their permission and contract with this station.
All these program you have just review are not set in stone but just an example of what can be done. The A.S.O. Will need to choose segments for their shows and choose their rep to follow the station's progress.

Greece Block Flotillas

Greece Continues To Block Gaza-Bound Flotilla

Courtesy of Democracy Now!

The Greek coast guard is continuing to block any Gaza-bound ships from leaving Greek ports. On Monday, Greek authorities intercepted a Canadian ship which had set sail for Gaza carrying medicine. The action came three days after the Greek coast guard intercepted the U.S.-flagged ship, "The Audacity of Hope," minutes after it set sail for Gaza. A group of international activists had hoped to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza aboard a 10-ship flotilla. But the ships have been unable to sail due to acts of sabotage and the ban by the Greek government. Jane Hirschmann helped organize the U.S. Boat to Gaza.

Palestinian children hold Palestinian and Greek flags as they protest in support of the Gaza-bound flotilla in the port of Gaza City, on Sunday. Greek authorities have arrested the captain of a boat that is part of a Gaza-bound flotilla trying to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory, officials said Saturday.

Jane Hirschmann, spokesperson for U.S. boat to Gaza: "We will never give up as long as Gaza is under siege and Palestinian people are not free. It is our responsibility when the governments do not act correctly for the civil society to do the right thing and we will never give up and we will continue to sail to Gaza until Gaza is free."

Huwaida Arraf of the Free Gaza Movement accused the Greek government of unfairly blocking the ships from sailing.
Huwaida Arraf, Free Gaza Movement Organizer: "What we see is that the Greek government is using various forms of administrative delays to stop our boats and these can’t last forever, they’ve been completely irrational in some of the demands that they’ve made from us and yet we’ve run around and tried to satisfy them and every time we satisfy one, they ask for something else. These administrative delays we know are a tactic but in effect our boats are legal, our boats are seaworthy, they can delay us a day, a week, two weeks, but eventually our boats will get out."

The Greek government defended its actions.

Gregory Delavekouras, Greek Foreign Ministry Spokesman: "It is first and foremost an issue of security, for the people themselves and for stability in the region. And this is why the international community in its entirety has taken the same position, everybody believes that there is a real threat for life for those who participate in the flotilla, and also a real danger of escalation in the region which is right now in a very fragile position."

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Alice Walker: Why I'm Joining the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza

Pulitzer prize-winning writer Alice Walker is on board an international flotilla of boats sailing to Gaza to challenge the Israeli blockade.

Pulitzer prize-winning writer Alice Walker

Two black boys appeared, saw his tears, assessed the situation, and took off after the boys who had taken his yarmulke. Chasing the boys down and catching them, they made them climb the fence, retrieve and dust off the yarmulke, and place it respectfully back on his head.

It is justice and respect that I want the world to dust off and put – without delay, and with tenderness – back on the head of the Palestinian child. It will be imperfect justice and respect because the injustice and disrespect have been so severe. But I believe we are right to try.
That is why I sail. The Chicken Chronicles: A Memoir by Alice Walker is published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson. A longer version of this article appears on Alice Walker's blog: alicewalkersgarden.com/blog

After the excitement of the Arab Spring, has the Palestine issue slipped out of view, asks Emine Saner
Just over a year ago, in the middle of the night, Israeli commandos boarded a Turkish ship in international waters just off the coast of Israel, opened fire and killed nine activists. The Mavi Marmara was one of six ships in the Freedom Flotilla, which was attempting to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, and the actions of Israel's military brought widespread international condemnation.

This time, as Freedom Flotilla II sets sail over the next week, with 10 ships carrying many of the same activists who travelled last year, including Swedish writer Henning Mankell, American human rights campaigner Hedy Epstein, and writer and academic Alice Walker, the Israeli government's response will be closely watched.

This week Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to the UN, wrote a letter saying: "Israel calls on the international community to do everything in their ability in order to prevent the flotilla and warn citizens … of the risks of participating in this type of provocation." The purpose of the flotilla, he said, is "to provoke and aid a radical political agenda". He later added: "We are very determined to defend ourselves and to assert our right to a naval blockade on Gaza."

"The threats of violence won't deter us," says Huwaida Arraf, one of the flotilla organisers. "Nobody is going in to this lightly, but we feel it has to be done. Israel has to realise its violence against us is not going to stop our growing civilian effort to challenge its illegal policies. The size of this flotilla, the number of people involved in organising it, even after Israel killed nine of our colleagues last year, is testament to that."
She says half a million people applied for the few hundred places: depending on how many of the 10 boats are seaworthy in time, there should be around 400 people on the flotilla.

The campaign began in August 2008, when 44 activists on two small fishing boats set off from Cyprus and managed to reach Gaza. Later that year, the Free Gaza Movement, as it became known, organised several other voyages, usually sending single boats containing small but symbolic supplies such as medicine and toys, and volunteers, including doctors, lawyers and politicians. Amid allegations of violence and hostility from Israel's naval forces at sea, the activists decided they would need to send a flotilla, and after months of fundraising and negotiating with NGOs from other countries, particularly Turkey, several ships met in the Mediterranean sea in May last year with the intention of reaching Gaza.

"We didn't make it to Gaza and we lost a lot of colleagues," says Arraf, "but one of the things that was achieved was that people realised what Israel's policies meant, and the violence Israel was using to maintain them. We think our action will put pressure on Israel to end its blockade on Gaza, and we hope the respective governments of all the people participating will take action and do what they should be doing, instead of having their nationals putting their lives at risk like this."

It Takes People on the Outside: Prestigious Author Alice Walker to Confront Israeli Naval Blockade of Gaza on U.S. Aid Ship

“AMY GOODMAN: Israel continues to threaten a group of international activists planning to sail to Gaza this week with humanitarian aid. The Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said participants in the 10-boat flotilla are seeking, quote, ‘confrontation and blood.’ Last year Israeli forces killed nine people aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara. One of them was a U.S. citizen.

Meanwhile, activists say one of the 10 boats scheduled to set sail to Gaza has been sabotaged in a Greek port. Saboteurs reportedly cut off the propeller shaft of a ship shared by Swedish, Norwegian and Greek activists. Organizers say the boat will be repaired in time to sail to Gaza.

One of the other ships that will try to reach Gaza from Greece is The Audacity of Hope. It’s set to carry up to 50 U.S. citizens carrying letters to Gaza residents. One of the ship’s passengers is the acclaimed author, the poet, the activist, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Alice Walker. She’s written many books, among them, The Color Purple. On Monday, Alice Walker spoke at a Freedom Flotilla news conference in the Greek capital of Athens…”

–Democracy Now!, 28 June, 2011

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/6/28/it_takes_people_on_the_outside

Monday, June 27, 2011

The Red Cars of Los Angeles

Picture Los Angeles today, and most people summon up images of cars and freeways. But if you talk to people of a certain age who grew up in Los Angeles, and mention the words "red cars", you will hear about a time before the freeways, when a network of rail lines and electric streetcars connected L.A., Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. They reached their peak in popularity in the 1920s, then slowly fell victim to Angelenos' love of their automobiles. By the time the last Red Car was retired from service in 1961, only rail hobbyists expressed much regret. But in the years since, fond memories, and perhaps freeway gridlock, have made the Red Cars more than just a forgotten bit of L.A. history. As the new Metro Green, Red, and Blue lines now follow routes often very close to those once traveled by the old Red Car lines, this seems an opportune time to stop and remember what once was the premiere means of getting around southern California.

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The first streetcar system in L.A. dates back to 1874, when Judge Robert M. Widney convinced his neighbors in the vicinity of Third and Hill Streets (then considered the sticks) that they needed a convenient way to get to the business section of the city. A single-track railroad stretched for 2 1/2 miles from the Mission Plaza down Main and Spring Streets to Sixth Street. Subsequent horse-drawn streetcar systems were developed in other growing communities like Pasadena, Ontatrio, Santa Monica, and San Bernardino. A portion of the L.A. system along Pico Street was electrified in 1887, and expanded in 1890.

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Starting in 1894 Moses Sherman and Eli Clark began acquiring the various cities' horse-car and cablecar systems, eventually forming the Los Angeles Consolidated Electric Railway. One of the new company's first project was the University Line, which included the University of Southern California. Until this time, all the systems had operated within cities. But in 1895 the first intercity line opened; an electric rail line that linked Pasadena and Los Angeles. This intercity line was such a huge success that others soon followed: by 1896 tracks ran from Los Angeles through what would one day be Beverly Hills, Hollywood to Santa Monica.

Third St west from Hill
(street car before Angel's Flight),
ca 1890

Southwest corner of 4th and Grand, 1890

Horse car line up Olive in Burbank, 1887

In 1898, financial difficulties forced Sherman and Clark to give up control of their company. A group of investors, including Collis Huntington, president of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and his nephew Henry Huntington took over control of the Los Angeles Consolidated Electric Railway. This period also marked the birth of "Red Cars". prior to Huntington's takeover, the trolley cars had been olive colored, trimmed in yellow.

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Henry Huntington, seeing an opportunity to move in on the still small public transportation market in southern California, began buying land in growing areas not yet reached by existing public transportation. In 1901 he established the Pacific Electric Railway to handle these holdings. Pacific Electric took over the Los Angeles-Pasadena interurban line, then built a new line to Long Beach in 1902. By 1914, you could go from downtown L.A. to San Bernardino, Santa Ana, San Pedro or San Fernando. Pacific Electric offered low cost trips to a variety of southern California destinations. The Old Mission trip went to San Gabriel Mission, Pasadena, Busch Gardens then back to L.A. The Mount Lowe trolley, which was a narrow-guage cable car ride to the top of Echo Mountain. The Balloon Route ran from downtown through Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Redondo Beach and back to L.A. via Culver City. The Triangle Trolley went to San Pedro, Long Beach and south to Balboa, then east to Santa Ana and back to L.A.

By the 1920s, as the popularity of automobiles increased, service to some communities was discontinued as tracks were paved over, and the trains had to yield their high speed right of ways to traffic crossings. Lack of public support defeated plans for a subway or elevated rail system, and bus lines began to replace the red cars in many areas.

World War II brought a brief resurgence in popularity to rail travel, and the refurbishing of some lines, in fact ridership numbers hit an all-time high in 1944. But by the 1950s it was clear that the automobile had become the premier means of travel in L.A. In 1953, Pacific Electric handed over control of the bus lines and the red car lines to Metropolitan Coach Lines, and then in 1958, the newly created Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority took over both bus and rail passenger service in southern California. The explosive growth and sprawl of L.A. in the postwar years, lack of public money to keep up the existing lines, the huge increase in automobiles and the freeways that were built to accommodate them all conspired to kill the red cars. By 1959 only the Los Angeles to Long Beach trolley line remained, and on April 8, 1961 it, too, ceased operation.
At its peak, the Pacific Electric Railway was huge: 1,150 miles of track covering four counties and 900 cars. 1944 marked the highest ridership: over 109 million passengers.

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Train on the Santa Ana line in Bellflower, 1957

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Train in the Hollywood Subway, 1943

Related Sites

Angels Flight: This remnant of the old trolley system is up and running in downtown L.A.
Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California: Get all the nitty-gritty details you could want on all the electric rail lines that have served southern California over the years (includes route maps for many lines). If you're a hobbyist, check out the American Chicken Coop Project; you may be able to help!
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority: What goes around comes around, and L.A. has a new, high-tech trolley. Find out about that and more here. Also be sure to visit the Metro's Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archive and the Transportation Headlines blog.
Orange Empire Rail Museum: Located in Perris, California, 74 freeway miles east of Los Angeles' Union Station, the Orange Empire Railway Museum (OERM) is the largest operating railway museum in the Western United States, and the third largest railway museum in the country. Most importantly, they have red and yelow cars on display.
Travel Town Transportation Museum: Located in Griffith Park, Travel Town has a nifty collection of rail cars throughout history, including some of L.A.'s old trolley cars.

Bibliography

Crump, Donald. Ride the Big Red Cars. Corona del mar, CA: Trans-Anglo Books, 1962.
Duke, Donald. Pacific Electric Railway: A Pictorial Album of Electric Railroading. San Marino, CA: Pacific Railway Journal, [1959?].
Howard, Danny. Southern California and the Pacific Electric. Los Angeles: Danny Howard, 1980.
Moreau, Jeffrey. The Pacific Electric Pictorial, Volume One. Los Angeles: Pacific Bookwork, 1964.
"Nostalgic Farewell Set for Red Cars," Los Angeles Times. 7 April 1961.

Photo Credits

First electric trolley in L.A., circa 1887 running on Pico, west to Vermont. From the Title Insurance & Trust Co. collection, Regional History Collection, USC.
University Line, Vermont Ave circa 1889. From the Craig Rasmussen collection, Regional History Collection, USC.
#212 on long bridge over San Pedro tracks at Alhambra Ave, 1908. From the Craig Rasmussen collection, Regional History Collection, USC.
Title Insurance Co. collection, Regional History Collection, USC.
Title Insurance Co. collection, Regional History Collection, USC.
Pacific Electric Pictorial, pg 15.
Ride the Big Red Cars, pg 222.
Pacific Electric Pictorial, pg 60.

Special thanks to Dace Taube of the USC Regional History Collection for her assistance and patience.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

US Army 'kill team' in Afghanistan posed for photos of murdered civilians

Commanders in Afghanistan are bracing themselves for possible riots and public fury triggered by the publication of "trophy" photographs of US soldiers posing with the dead bodies of defenceless Afghan civilians they killed.

Senior officials at Nato's International Security Assistance Force in Kabul have compared the pictures published by the German news weekly Der Spiegel to the images of US soldiers abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib in Iraq which sparked waves of anti-US protests around the world.

They fear that the pictures could be even more damaging as they show the aftermath of the deliberate murders of Afghan civilians by a rogue US Stryker tank unit that operated in the southern province of Kandahar last year.

Some of the activities of the self-styled "kill team" are already public, with 12 men currently on trial in Seattle for their role in the killing of three civilians.

Five of the soldiers are on trial for pre-meditated murder, after they staged killings to make it look like they were defending themselves from Taliban attacks.

Other charges include the mutilation of corpses, the possession of images of human casualties and drug abuse.

All of the soldiers have denied the charges. They face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted.

The case has already created shock around the world, particularly with the revelations that the men cut "trophies" from the bodies of the people they killed.

An investigation by Der Spiegel has unearthed approximately 4,000 photos and videos taken by the men.

The magazine, which is planning to publish only three images, said that in addition to the crimes the men were on trial for there are "also entire collections of pictures of other victims that some of the defendants were keeping".

The US military has strived to keep the pictures out of the public domain fearing it could inflame feelings at a time when anti-Americanism in Afghanistan is already running high.

In a statement, the army said it apologised for the distress caused by photographs "depicting actions repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States".

The lengthy Spiegel article that accompanies the photographs contains new details about the sadistic behaviour of the men.

In one incident in May last year, the article says, during a patrol, the team apprehended a mullah who was standing by the road and took him into a ditch where they made him kneel down.

The group's leader, Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs, then allegedly threw a grenade at the man while an order was given for him to be shot.

Afterwards, Gibbs is described cutting off one of the man's little fingers and removing a tooth.

The patrol team later claimed to their superiors that the mullah had tried to threaten them with a grenade and that they had no choice but to shoot.

On Sunday night many organisations employing foreign staff, including the United Nations, ordered their staff into a "lockdown", banning all movements around Kabul and requiring people to remain in their compounds.

In addition to the threat from the publication of the photographs, security has been heightened amid fears the Taliban may try to attack Persian new year celebrations.

There could also be attacks because Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, is due to make a speech declaring which areas of the country should be transferred from international to Afghan control in the coming months.

One security manager for the US company DynCorp sent an email to clients warning that publication of the photos was likely "to incite the local population" as the "severity of the incidents to be revealed are graphic and extreme".