A hidden world, growing beyond control
by Dana Priest and William M. Arkin
Monday, July 19, 2010; 1:53 AM
The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work.
These are some of the findings of a two-year investigation by The Washington Post that discovered what amounts to an alternative geography of the United States, a Top Secret America hidden from public view and lacking in thorough oversight. After nine years of unprecedented spending and growth, the result is that the system put in place to keep the United States safe is so massive that its effectiveness is impossible to determine.
The investigation's other findings include:
* Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States.
* An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances.
* In Washington and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built since September 2001. Together they occupy the equivalent of almost three Pentagons or 22 U.S. Capitol buildings - about 17 million square feet of space.
* Many security and intelligence agencies do the same work, creating redundancy and waste. For example, 51 federal organizations and military commands, operating in 15 U.S. cities, track the flow of money to and from terrorist networks.
* Analysts who make sense of documents and conversations obtained by foreign and domestic spying share their judgment by publishing 50,000 intelligence reports each year - a volume so large that many are routinely ignored.
These are not academic issues; lack of focus, not lack of resources, was at the heart of the Fort Hood shooting that left 13 dead, as well as the Christmas Day bomb attempt thwarted not by the thousands of analysts employed to find lone terrorists but by an alert airline passenger who saw smoke coming from his seatmate.
They are also issues that greatly concern some of the people in charge of the nation's security.
"There has been so much growth since 9/11 that getting your arms around that - not just for the DNI [Director of National Intelligence], but for any individual, for the director of the CIA, for the secretary of defense - is a challenge," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in an interview with The Post last week.
In the Department of Defense, where more than two-thirds of the intelligence programs reside, only a handful of senior officials - called Super Users - have the ability to even know about all the department's activities. But as two of the Super Users indicated in interviews, there is simply no way they can keep up with the nation's most sensitive work.
"I'm not going to live long enough to be briefed on everything" was how one Super User put it. The other recounted that for his initial briefing, he was escorted into a tiny, dark room, seated at a small table and told he couldn't take notes. Program after program began flashing on a screen, he said, until he yelled ''Stop!" in frustration.
"I wasn't remembering any of it," he said.
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A hidden world growing beyond control
Monday, July 19, 2010
Little League Coach Died As A Hero
First-Class Little League Coach Meets Tragic End
David Whitley
National Columnist
Darin McGahey did not intend to die a hero. He was just a regular guy who liked to do regular things.
That's how he ended up at the beach that day. McGahey was a youth-league baseball coach, and his team had traveled from Georgia to Florida for a big tournament.
A few kids got caught in the Navarre Beach surf and started yelling for help. McGahey couldn't have known what would happen next. He just did what came naturally and dived right in.
"He loved to help kids," his brother, Jeff, said.
He helped pluck them out of the water. Then the waves swept him away.
"Man, I can't tell you what a tragedy this has been," said Bubba Smith, a USSSA tournament director.
It's been tragic for McGahey's family, of course. And tragic for all his friends around McDonough, Ga.
It hasn't been tragic for the rest of us. It is a shame that it takes a hero's death to appreciate people like McGahey.
"He was just a simple guy," Jeff McGahey said.
go here for more
First Class Little League Coach Meets Tragic End
David Whitley
National Columnist
Darin McGahey did not intend to die a hero. He was just a regular guy who liked to do regular things.
That's how he ended up at the beach that day. McGahey was a youth-league baseball coach, and his team had traveled from Georgia to Florida for a big tournament.
A few kids got caught in the Navarre Beach surf and started yelling for help. McGahey couldn't have known what would happen next. He just did what came naturally and dived right in.
"He loved to help kids," his brother, Jeff, said.
He helped pluck them out of the water. Then the waves swept him away.
"Man, I can't tell you what a tragedy this has been," said Bubba Smith, a USSSA tournament director.
It's been tragic for McGahey's family, of course. And tragic for all his friends around McDonough, Ga.
It hasn't been tragic for the rest of us. It is a shame that it takes a hero's death to appreciate people like McGahey.
"He was just a simple guy," Jeff McGahey said.
go here for more
First Class Little League Coach Meets Tragic End
God's cake
It seems that my life is filled with more trouble than blessings lately. It's often hard to pray with hope or a grateful heart when you are watching your life fall apart or a lot more burdens than you feel you can carry on your own. I know the felling.
Sometimes it feels as if no matter what you do, how hard you try, how much faith you have, it all turns to crap anyway. You may feel as if everyone is out to get you. There are times I'm sure I did something really wrong in a past life or something along those lines, forgetting how much I do really have to be grateful for. When I read the following, it made me look at things in a different way.
If things are going wrong in your life, I hope this helped you too.
Sometimes it feels as if no matter what you do, how hard you try, how much faith you have, it all turns to crap anyway. You may feel as if everyone is out to get you. There are times I'm sure I did something really wrong in a past life or something along those lines, forgetting how much I do really have to be grateful for. When I read the following, it made me look at things in a different way.
God's cake...
This is about the best thing I've ever read as an explanation.
Sometimes we wonder, 'What did I do to deserve this?' or 'Why did God have to do this to me?' Here is a wonderful explanation! A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, 'Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.'
'Here, have some cooking oil,' her Mother offers.
'Yuck' says her daughter.
'How about a couple raw eggs?' 'Gross, Mom!'
'Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?'
'Mom, those are all yucky!'
To which the mother replies: 'Yes , all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! '
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!
God is crazy about you. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.
If you like this, send this on to the people you care about.
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!
If things are going wrong in your life, I hope this helped you too.
Record suicide rates highest with jobless, middle-aged
Record suicide rates highest with jobless, middle-aged
By Chris Bergeron/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Jul 19, 2010 @ 12:00 AM
Over the last year a "record breaking" number of people, including more middle-aged men and women, called the Samaritans suicide prevention hot line, a trend site director Eileen Davis attributes to the current recession.
She said the Framingham and Boston centers of Samaritans Inc. fielded 132,000 calls between July 2009 and June 2010, up from 119,000 calls over the same period the prior year. Davis said the "biggest age group of callers" was men and women from 45 to 54 years old.
"Sadly, we're seeing definite increases in all age groups. But we believe we're getting more calls from people in their 40s and 50s who've been most affected by the downturn in jobs, housing and medical coverage," she said.
Davis' observation echoes a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that men and women between 45 and 54 years old have the highest suicide rates in the country among nine different age groups.
Titled " U.S.A. Suicide: 2007 Official Final Data," the CDC report documents a steady increase in suicides for 45- to 54-year-old men and women over a 10-year-period. In 2007, the last year in which national data was available, 17.7 people out of 100,000 in that age group committed suicide.
read more here
Record suicide rates highest with jobless middle aged
By Chris Bergeron/Daily News staff
The MetroWest Daily News
Posted Jul 19, 2010 @ 12:00 AM
Over the last year a "record breaking" number of people, including more middle-aged men and women, called the Samaritans suicide prevention hot line, a trend site director Eileen Davis attributes to the current recession.
She said the Framingham and Boston centers of Samaritans Inc. fielded 132,000 calls between July 2009 and June 2010, up from 119,000 calls over the same period the prior year. Davis said the "biggest age group of callers" was men and women from 45 to 54 years old.
"Sadly, we're seeing definite increases in all age groups. But we believe we're getting more calls from people in their 40s and 50s who've been most affected by the downturn in jobs, housing and medical coverage," she said.
Davis' observation echoes a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that men and women between 45 and 54 years old have the highest suicide rates in the country among nine different age groups.
Titled " U.S.A. Suicide: 2007 Official Final Data," the CDC report documents a steady increase in suicides for 45- to 54-year-old men and women over a 10-year-period. In 2007, the last year in which national data was available, 17.7 people out of 100,000 in that age group committed suicide.
read more here
Record suicide rates highest with jobless middle aged
Marine suspected of drunk driving in fatal accident
Marine suspected of drunk driving crashes in Reseda, killing woman and seriously injuring her grandson, 5
July 18, 2010 12:39 pm
A 51-year-old woman was killed early Sunday in Reseda and her 5-year-old grandson was in serious condition after a 23-year-old Marine suspected of drunk driving crashed his SUV into their car, police said.
Chandrika De Silva, her husband and their grandson were inside a black Toyota Prius that pulled up to a residence on Strathern Street, just west of Wilbur Avenue about 2 a.m., Los Angeles Police Officer Mary Brady said. De Silva’s husband, the driver, went to unlock the gated driveway of a residence while De Silva got out of the car to tend to her grandson.
read more here
Marine suspected of drunk driving crashes in Reseda
July 18, 2010 12:39 pm
A 51-year-old woman was killed early Sunday in Reseda and her 5-year-old grandson was in serious condition after a 23-year-old Marine suspected of drunk driving crashed his SUV into their car, police said.
Chandrika De Silva, her husband and their grandson were inside a black Toyota Prius that pulled up to a residence on Strathern Street, just west of Wilbur Avenue about 2 a.m., Los Angeles Police Officer Mary Brady said. De Silva’s husband, the driver, went to unlock the gated driveway of a residence while De Silva got out of the car to tend to her grandson.
read more here
Marine suspected of drunk driving crashes in Reseda
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Off-duty Chicago police officer shot outside his home
Off-duty Chicago police officer shot outside his home
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 18, 2010 5:27 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A decorated Chicago police veteran was shot and killed Sunday morning
The officer had just finished his shift and was at his home
Police have no suspects in custody
(CNN) -- A Chicago, Illinois, police officer was shot and killed Sunday morning after finishing his shift, police said.
Officer Michael Bailey, a decorated 20-year veteran of the department, had returned to his home on the south side of Chicago. He was shot outside his personal vehicle about 6 a.m. (7 a.m. ET), police said.
read more here
Off duty Chicago police officer shot outside his home
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 18, 2010 5:27 p.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A decorated Chicago police veteran was shot and killed Sunday morning
The officer had just finished his shift and was at his home
Police have no suspects in custody
(CNN) -- A Chicago, Illinois, police officer was shot and killed Sunday morning after finishing his shift, police said.
Officer Michael Bailey, a decorated 20-year veteran of the department, had returned to his home on the south side of Chicago. He was shot outside his personal vehicle about 6 a.m. (7 a.m. ET), police said.
read more here
Off duty Chicago police officer shot outside his home
Hundreds of the motorcycle riders filled the street in tribute to the fallen soldier
Mourners salute fallen soldier
By Leia Mendoza
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Underwood Avenue was awash in red, white and blue.
Hundreds of people, young and old, friend and stranger, stood along more than three blocks, carrying American flags for Pfc. Edwin Wood.
The Patriot Guard was there, too. Hundreds of the motorcycle riders filled the street in tribute to the fallen soldier.
People who had never met the 18-year-old Omahan came to join his family Saturday in saying goodbye.
read more here
Mourners salute fallen soldier
By Leia Mendoza
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Underwood Avenue was awash in red, white and blue.
Hundreds of people, young and old, friend and stranger, stood along more than three blocks, carrying American flags for Pfc. Edwin Wood.
The Patriot Guard was there, too. Hundreds of the motorcycle riders filled the street in tribute to the fallen soldier.
People who had never met the 18-year-old Omahan came to join his family Saturday in saying goodbye.
read more here
Mourners salute fallen soldier
Two Bronze Stars with V awarded to Camp Pendleton Marines
Two Bronze Stars with V awarded
By Gidget Fuentes - gfuentes@militarytimes.com
Posted : Friday Jul 16, 2010 17:25:17 EDT
A platoon sergeant and a squad leader at Camp Pendleton, Calif., are each receiving the Bronze Star with “V” device for decisive actions while under fire in Afghanistan last year.
Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Biello and Sgt. Timothy G. Eannarino were scheduled to receive the medals today during a July 16 ceremony at the Camp San Mateo headquarters of 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. Biello, a platoon sergeant with 1/5’s Charlie Company, and Eannarino, first squad leader with Bravo Company’s second platoon, deployed last year as part of Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan.
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Two Bronze Stars with V awarded
By Gidget Fuentes - gfuentes@militarytimes.com
Posted : Friday Jul 16, 2010 17:25:17 EDT
A platoon sergeant and a squad leader at Camp Pendleton, Calif., are each receiving the Bronze Star with “V” device for decisive actions while under fire in Afghanistan last year.
Staff Sgt. Christopher J. Biello and Sgt. Timothy G. Eannarino were scheduled to receive the medals today during a July 16 ceremony at the Camp San Mateo headquarters of 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. Biello, a platoon sergeant with 1/5’s Charlie Company, and Eannarino, first squad leader with Bravo Company’s second platoon, deployed last year as part of Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan.
read more here
Two Bronze Stars with V awarded
Warrant officer gets Silver Star down range
Warrant officer gets Silver Star down range
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jul 18, 2010 10:07:39 EDT
OCEANSIDE, Calif. — A Marine warrant officer received the Silver Star on July 15 during a short ceremony in Afghanistan, attended by the top Marine Corps leaders in the region, including Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, commander of Regional Command-Southwest, and Brig. Gen. Charles Hudson, commander of 1st Marine Logistics Group.
On Feb. 26, 2008, then-Staff Sgt. John W. Hermann, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, accompanied a team with Company B, 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, on a combat reconnaissance patrol through Dahaneh, a village in southern Afghanistan held by Taliban forces.
While on the patrol, the team came under a barrage of fire from rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, machine guns and small-arms fire. Hermann, according to the award citation, jumped out of his vehicle with another Marine and ran toward a group of entrenched fighters.
When the other Marine was hit in the leg by automatic fire, Hermann continued moving over open terrain and into the enemy trench line.
“He single-handedly destroyed the enemy assailants and then crossed back through the machine gun fire of another enemy position in order to treat his fallen comrade,” his citation states.
Hermann was hit in the leg by some shrapnel from an RPG, ignored the injury, and instead put a tourniquet on the wounded Marine’s leg. Then Hermann “moved forward and silenced the remaining enemy machine gun,” the citation states.
read more here
Warrant officer gets Silver Star down range
By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jul 18, 2010 10:07:39 EDT
OCEANSIDE, Calif. — A Marine warrant officer received the Silver Star on July 15 during a short ceremony in Afghanistan, attended by the top Marine Corps leaders in the region, including Maj. Gen. Richard Mills, commander of Regional Command-Southwest, and Brig. Gen. Charles Hudson, commander of 1st Marine Logistics Group.
On Feb. 26, 2008, then-Staff Sgt. John W. Hermann, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, accompanied a team with Company B, 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, on a combat reconnaissance patrol through Dahaneh, a village in southern Afghanistan held by Taliban forces.
While on the patrol, the team came under a barrage of fire from rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, machine guns and small-arms fire. Hermann, according to the award citation, jumped out of his vehicle with another Marine and ran toward a group of entrenched fighters.
When the other Marine was hit in the leg by automatic fire, Hermann continued moving over open terrain and into the enemy trench line.
“He single-handedly destroyed the enemy assailants and then crossed back through the machine gun fire of another enemy position in order to treat his fallen comrade,” his citation states.
Hermann was hit in the leg by some shrapnel from an RPG, ignored the injury, and instead put a tourniquet on the wounded Marine’s leg. Then Hermann “moved forward and silenced the remaining enemy machine gun,” the citation states.
read more here
Warrant officer gets Silver Star down range
Lost Korean War battalion awaits MIA decision
Lost Korean War battalion awaits MIA decision
By Charles J. Hanley - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jul 18, 2010 9:59:41 EDT
SEOUL, South Korea — Trapped by two Chinese divisions, troops of the 8th U.S. Cavalry Regiment were left to die in far northern Korea, abandoned by the U.S. command in a Korean War episode viewed as one of the most troubling in American military history.
Sixty years later those fallen soldiers, the lost battalion of Unsan, are stranded anew.
North Korea is offering fresh clues to their remains. American teams are ready to re-enter the North to dig for them. But for five years the U.S. government has refused to work with North Korea to recover the men of Unsan and others among more than 8,000 U.S. missing in action from the 1950 to 1953 war.
Now, under pressure from MIA family groups, the Obama administration is said to be moving slowly to reverse the Bush administration’s suspension of the joint recovery program, a step taken in 2005 as the North Korean nuclear crisis dragged on.
read more here
Lost Korean War battalion awaits MIA decision
By Charles J. Hanley - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jul 18, 2010 9:59:41 EDT
SEOUL, South Korea — Trapped by two Chinese divisions, troops of the 8th U.S. Cavalry Regiment were left to die in far northern Korea, abandoned by the U.S. command in a Korean War episode viewed as one of the most troubling in American military history.
Sixty years later those fallen soldiers, the lost battalion of Unsan, are stranded anew.
North Korea is offering fresh clues to their remains. American teams are ready to re-enter the North to dig for them. But for five years the U.S. government has refused to work with North Korea to recover the men of Unsan and others among more than 8,000 U.S. missing in action from the 1950 to 1953 war.
Now, under pressure from MIA family groups, the Obama administration is said to be moving slowly to reverse the Bush administration’s suspension of the joint recovery program, a step taken in 2005 as the North Korean nuclear crisis dragged on.
read more here
Lost Korean War battalion awaits MIA decision
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