New York ‘lone wolf’ was one hour away from finishing his bomb
She also praised the New York Police Department, saying, “I think they handled it well.”
Officials with the NYPD, which conducted the undercover investigation using a confidential informant and a bugged apartment, said the department had to move quickly because Pimentel was about to test a pipe bomb made out of match heads, nails and other ingredients bought at neighborhood hardware and discount stores.
Two law enforcement officials said Monday that the NYPD’s Intelligence Division had sought to get the FBI involved at least twice as the investigation unfolded. Both times, the FBI concluded that Pimentel lacked the mental capacity to act on his own, they said.
The FBI thought Pimentel “didn’t have the predisposition or the ability to do anything on his own,” one of the officials said.
The officials were not authorized to speak about the case and spoke on condition of anonymity. The FBI’s New York office and the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan both declined to comment on Monday.
Pimentel’s lawyer, Joseph Zablocki, said his client was never a true threat.
“If the goal here is to be stopping terror … I’m not sure that this is where we should be spending our resources,” he said.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly defended the handling of the case Monday, saying the NYPD kept federal authorities in the loop “all along” before circumstances forced investigators to take swift measures using state charges.
“No question in my mind that we had to take this case down,” Kelly said. “There was an imminent threat.”
Added Kelly: “This is a classic case of what we’ve been talking about �� the lone wolf, an individual, self-radicalized. This is the needle in the haystack problem we face as a country and as a city.”
Authorities described Pimentel as an unemployed U.S. citizen and “al-Qaida sympathizer” who was born in the Dominican Republic. He had lived most of his life in Manhattan, aside from about five years in the upstate city of Schenectady, where authorities say he had an arrested for credit card fraud.
His mother said he was raised Roman Catholic. But he converted to Islam in 2004 and went by the name Muhammad Yusuf, authorities said.
Using a tip from police in Albany, the NYPD had been watching Pimentel using a confidential informant for the past year. Investigators learned that he was energized and motivated to carry out his plan by the Sept. 30 killing of al-Qaida’s U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, police said.
Pimentel was under constant surveillance as he shopped for the pipe bombmaterials. He also was overheard talking about attacking police patrol cars and postal facilities, killing soldiers returning home from abroad andbombing a police station in Bayonne, N.J., authorizes said.
Presidential Election (as a current event- watch the tone or it's gone)
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The problem is that the fed supplies between 2 and 7% of a school district’s budget, depending on the poverty level in that district IF, and ONLY IF, they meet or exceed the minimum standards.
Another problem is that the fed standard has become the only standard and it is set so ridiculously low it isn’t even funny.
I think the solution to the problem is to cut federal funding period. Reimburse the money to the states and leave it up to each state to determine if a school district needs the money or not. This is a ridiculously small percentage of the over all budget and it would be very easy to curtail spending to compensate if it comes to that. (Don’t buy MLK Day decorations, don’t waste money on new flowers, etc.)
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i would love the Fed to get out of it, the problem comes in though that we also have diffrent standards state to state. for example if in IL the students in 1st grade learn to count to 100 and can do spelling up to a few simple 4 letter words (not that kind get your mind out of the gutter ppl), well in say SC the standard is count to 50 and spell a lot of 3 letter words. then we perpetuate the problem so that in SC by the time they graduate collage the students can’t do some basic (by IL standards) math or have gooder English skills.
a standard should be set accross the board. if it’s a low standard then thats fine, good teachers should have no problem with it because they can teach the majority of there students to reach that standard with little trouble. this will cause poor teachers to ether step up or get out of the way for new teachers. as the teacher base increases in skill then so will the standard (or should).
now i do think schools need to cut the cr@p spending, with or with out the Fed invalved, there is no need to spend on things that don’t increase the learning.
the act may not be perfect but to me it is better then what was in place before. -
Yes, but with different standards between the states, then the states can compete for students. It’s like universities. In Southern Illinois University at Carbondale you have to take College Algebra to get a Bachelor’s degree. At Yale you probably have to take Calculus II to get a Bachelor’s degree.
Which is the better school? If cost was not an object, which would you rather send your children too?
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your compairing Unis, i’m talking about public schools, the kind that kids go to for free and must go to. there must be a standard that is unaversal at atleast the high school level. even if it is just 3 years Englash, 2 years math, and 2 years science with a test by the fed OR better then that an indapendent organization on these areas. give the states there room, but give a standard that makes it equal for all states. it’s not right that some schools (even with in the same state) are graduating students who turn around and go to uni and the first thing they have to do is take refresher courses, or after graduation they don’t have basic skills that there class’ on there transcript say they should have.
teachers pass students just to pass them and are not held accountable. a standard that holds them accountable is the only way to fix it. if that standard is a nation wide test that if failed out waighs the passing grade the teacher gave or if it is on open and free market for the schools where parants are given non cash value vouchers that are good for admission into schools that are reconized by the state so that the schools will compeat with other schools for the students by providing the best staff and learning experiance.i’m done with this part, it’s off topic, i don’t want it to go further on my part off topic. my view is there. if we have a new topic on this subject i will continue though.
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I can’t compare grade schools because even the private schools have been polluted with federal influence. The only realistic corellation I can think of is universities where you have some that are polluted and some that are pollution free.
That’s the problem.
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Back on topic of CANDIDATES folks…
Florida Primary day, so I am sure you can talk about the people (on topic for the thread) :-)
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Funny, I just tried to find some results for Florida, it’s gotta be 1800 hours in parts of Florida now, and nothing. /sigh.
Watch it turn out to be a hanging chad situation. :P
Ya know,if they could keep those blasted New Yorkers out of Florida, they might raise the state IQ a few dozen points, hehe.
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i have been trying to get anything from there all day. nota :cry:
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The only comment I heard today (I was in meetings most of the day) was that there were reports of “problems voting” in Broward County about 9:30 a.m.
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I heard that John McCain’s campaign was calling voters and lying about Mitt Romney, though, of course, he is denying it. (When has a politician ever owned up to their unethical, immoral campaigning!?)
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Geez…more problems with voting. If those old cogers in florida can’t figure out how to vote they should stay home and have an extra shot of Musilex. :-D
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Looks like I had the McCain/Romney spread dead-balls on (3% McCain lead in the mid-30% range with half the votes counted).
But I overstated Huckabee’s support by several percent…
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@ncscswitch:
Looks like I had the McCain/Romney spread dead-balls on (3% McCain lead in the mid-30% range with half the votes counted).
But I overstated Huckabee’s support by several percent…
doesn’t look good for Guiliani.
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not quite half counted and the spread just came up to about 3points about 10min ago, before that (with the same % counted) the spread was 1 point. so i’m not holding my breath yet on this.
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McCain lead over Romney has been steadily growing according to Fox’s numbers all evening. Last I looked it was up to almost 50,000 votes and was 3% lead.
As for Guiliani… stick a fork in him… he is DONE!
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Fox just called it for McCain, up to a 4% lead, 55,000 votes.
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dosn’t mean there can’t be a shift in the favor of one of our leaders (also dosn’t mean it can’t shift back). unless it turns to a big lead (10%ish) or over 80% counted with the lead as is now it’s still ethers race. not to be hopfull or down play the lead, i’m just stating that things can shift still.
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I am prepared to call the candidates for the 2008 Presidential Election…
Democrat: Clinton/Richardson
Republican: McCain/Huckabee -
Hmmmm, I only agree with you on the McCain call. For one, it’s WAY too early to call the Democrat race for Hillary. For another, I just don’t see McCain running with Hickabee, errrr, I mean Huckabee. Joe Lieberman, maybe, or perhaps Rudy, but no way he taps Huckabee. What does that get him? Arkansas???
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McCain has an issue with gaining support from the Religious Right… the hard core base of the Republican Party. A Baptist Minister for a VP helps to solve that problem. Also, with Huckabee as a Fair Tax supporter, it helps to reduce the “vote bleed” from any Libertarian candidate. Not a huge factor, but as we have seen in several recent elections even a small 3rd party vote can play havoc with the national results.
As for Richardson with Hillary, that broadens her appeal. She has “roots” in Arkansas and New York. Richardson in the Southwest. Richardson polls very well among Latino voters, Hillary polls well with Caucasians. And it is not like the Black vote is going to vote for McCain… the Democrats can again take that for granted.
So, as always, it comes down to a fight for the middle. McCain is strong among moderates of BOTH parties, but lacks the ability to energize the Republican Base. Hillary, by her own actions, is seen as a New England elitist and needs that diversity from another part of the nation to help push her over the top. Richardson also has strong support among the typical McCain voter, and would help Hillary actually take some “safe” McCain votes away.
Clinton/Obama will NOT happen. Hillary destroys her enemies, she does not make them into Vice Presidents. Guiliani has not shown anything that would make him be a positive choice for VP. His BEST showing was 4th. And McCain will NOT choose Mitt for a VP. Too much bad blood there. That leaves Huckabee… to unite the party (McCain’s 30 something percent and Huckabee’s teens for a functional majority)
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