It has been two and half years since 62-year old Nick Christie was tortured and pepper-sprayed to death by police at the Lee County Jail. Although the medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, the law enforcement officers who kept him strapped naked to a chair and then pepper sprayed him until he died have not been charged in his death.
On January 20, 2010, the Injury Board?s National News Desk reported that Nick Christie?s wife, Joyce Christie, and her son, were planning to file a federal lawsuit because the police violated her husband?s constitutional rights. The article describes what allegedly happened when Christie was arrested for trespassing:
Christie, 62, was arrested last March after traveling from Ohio to Fort Myers while suffering, what his widow describes as a mental breakdown. Arrested twice for disorderly conduct and trespassing, Nick Christie was pepper sprayed ten times over the course of his 43-hour custody.
Suffering from emphysema, COPD, back and heart problems, the jail staff said his medical files were not available or immediately sought at the time of his arrest. But DiCello says Christie gave his medical history and list of medications to the jail days earlier during his first encounter with law enforcement.
His medication list was found in the back pocket of his pants when Christie?s personal effects were returned to his widow.
Sometime between the time he was arrested on March 27, 2009 around 2:00 p.m., and March 31 at1:23 p.m. when he was pronounced dead, Christie had been sprayed with ten blasts of pepper spray, also known as OC (Oleo-resin Capsicum), which is a derivative of cayenne pepper.
The officers involved in the incident say that Christie was ?combative, despite the fact he was restrained in a chair so he allegedly wouldn?t spit at his jailers.? However, other inmates on the cell block tell a different story. They say that there was excessive use of pepper spray, his whole head was turning purple, he was gasping for air and was telling the officers that he couldn?t breathe and that he had a heart condition. (source: Injury Board)
According to the medical examiner, the death was a homicide caused by the stress that the restraints and repeated use of pepper spray placed on his heart. However, the State Attorney?s office decided there was no wrongdoing, therefore the officers involved in the incident were never charged in the homicide. In a memo issued on January 5, 2010 that is lacking in any detail, Assistant State Attorney Dean R. Plattner wrote:
The evidence presented in this case does not legally prove beyond a reasonable doubt that any individual or group of jail personnel had any intent to kill Nicholas Christie, or otherwise committed an act of murder. Even considering the lowest level of criminal homicide, manslaughter, the evidence does not prove that such criminal offense was committed.
According to Joyce Christie?s attorney, Nick DiCello, it is shocking that the state attorney came to this conclusion. Even if they thought there was probable cause that there was a crime, the case could have gone forward.
Now, Fox News has obtained a photo of the incident, which ?shows the Ohio man restrained inside the Lee County Jail with his body covered in pepper spray.? Di Cello explains that the ?photo is a picture of a man who is strapped to a chair naked inside a jail for hours with a hood over his face. That evokes thoughts of being tortured.?
DiCello told the Injury News Board:
Humanity has failed here. And now they aren?t going to address the failure. Us as a people, we need to recognize we?ve all failed and make it right, not ?Let?s just move on from this failure.? People shouldn?t do this to people. Nothing could warrant the treatment and death this guy experienced.
A 62-yr-old retiree strapped to a chair and died. I don?t get it.
The wrongful death lawsuit is scheduled for the middle of 2012.
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KABUL, Afghanistan ? A suicide bomber struck a crowd of Shiite worshippers who packed a Kabul mosque Tuesday to mark a holy day, killing at least 56 people, and a second bombing in another city killed four more Shiites. They were the first major sectarian assaults since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago.
A third attack, a motorcycle bomb in the southern city of Kandahar, killed one civilian. But police said it did not target Shiites as they commemorated Ashoura, which marks the seventh century death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Imam Hussein.
Religiously motivated attacks on Shiites are rare in Afghanistan although they are common in neighboring Pakistan.
A man who claimed to be from Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, one of Pakistan's most ruthless Sunni militant groups which has carried out attacks against Shiite Muslims, called various media outlets in Pakistan to claim responsibility for the bombing in Kabul, which was reminiscent of the wave of sectarian attacks that shook Iraq during the height of the war there. The validity of the claims could not be determined.
The bomber blew himself up in a crowd of men, women and children gathered outside the Abul Fazl shrine. Mahood Khan, who is in charge of the shrine near the presidential palace, said the explosion occurred just outside a packed courtyard where dozens of worshippers were lined up as they filed in and out of the crowded building.
Some men were beating themselves in mourning, an Ashoura tradition, and food was being distributed.
"It was a very powerful blast," Khan said. "The food was everywhere. It was out of control. Everyone was crying, shouting. It is a disaster."
Bodies of the dead lay on top of one another where they fell. Survivors with blood-smeared faces cried amid the chaos. A few minutes after the blast, bodies could be seen loaded into the trunks of cars while wounded were led away by friends and relatives. Survivors wept in the streets.
Mustafa, a shopkeeper, said he and his mother were delivering food to the worshippers when the blast occurred. Two groups of 150 to 200 people from Kabul had just prayed at the shrine and left.
Another group of more than 100 from Logar province was entering when the explosion occurred. He said the suicide bomber was at the end of the line of worshippers from Logar when he blew himself up near one of the gates to the shrine.
"It was very loud. My ears went deaf and I was blown 3 meters (yards)," said Mustafa, who uses only one name. "There was smoke and red blood on the floor of the shrine. There were people lying everywhere."
The shrine's loudspeaker continued to blast a recitation of the Quran as ambulances carried bodies and wounded away. Women stood outside wailing and holding crying children.
The Public Health Ministry said 56 were killed ? including two women and four children. Sayed Kabir Amiri, who is in charge of Kabul hospitals said more than 160 were wounded. It was the single deadliest attack in the Afghan capital in more than three years.
Four other Shiites were killed in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. A bomb strapped to a bicycle exploded as a convoy of Afghan Shiites was driving down the road, shouting slogans for Ashoura. Health Ministry spokesman Sakhi Kargar gave the death toll and said 21 people were wounded.
The Interior Ministry said police defused another bomb planted in Mazar-i-Sharif near the one that blew up.
The Ministry of Interior blamed the Taliban and "terrorists" for the attacks.
The Taliban strongly condemned the attacks and said they deeply regretted that innocent Afghans were killed and wounded.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, speaking at a news conference after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, said the attack was unprecedented in scope. He said it was "the first time that on such an important religious day in Afghanistan terrorism of that horrible nature is taking place." Karzai cut short his visit to Europe to return to Kabul. He canceled his trip to Britain where he was to meet Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince Charles and deliver a speech to the London School of Economics, British officials said.
Mohammad Bakir Shaikzada, the top Shiite cleric in Kabul, said he could not remember a similar attack having taken place on such a scale.
"This is a crime against Muslims during the holy day of Ashoura. We Muslims will never forget these attacks. It is the enemy of the Muslims who are carrying them out," he said, declining to place blame.
Shiites make up about 20 percent of Afghanistan's 30 million people, most of them ethnic Hazaras. Although thousands of Hazaras were massacred by the Taliban during fighting in the 1990s, Afghan insurgents ? nearly all of them Sunnis ? in recent years have focused their attacks primarily on U.S.-led NATO troops and Afghan security forces.
It was unclear whether Tuesday's attacks mark a change in Afghan Taliban strategy or were carried out by al-Qaida or another group based in Pakistan, where Sunni attacks on Shiites are common. Hard-line Sunnis consider Shiites nonbelievers because their customs and traditions differ from the majority sect.
In neighboring Pakistan, Sunni militants with links to al-Qaida and the Taliban have carried out scores of bombings and shootings across Pakistan against minority Shiites. One of the deadliest groups has been the Punjab-based Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which also claimed responsibility for gunning down 26 Shiites this summer riding in a bus through southwestern Baluchistan province.
Like al-Qaida, the Taliban and other Sunni extremist groups, Lashkar it regards Shiite Muslims as nonbelievers and potential targets for attack.
Pakistan is a majority Sunni state, with Shiites making up about 15 percent of the 180 million population. Most Sunnis and Shiites live together peacefully, but tensions have existed for decades.
The last incident of violence between Shiites and Sunnis following the U.S. invasion 10 years ago occurred in early 2006, during Ashoura commemorations in the western city of Herat. During those riots, blamed on Islamic extremists, five people were killed and more than 50 injured.
The Kabul shrine attacked is close to the palace where Karzai lives and who is in Europe to attend an international conference on Afghanistan. It is named after Abul Fazl, who was an adviser to a 14th century Mogul emperor. The shrine and its blue minaret is one of Kabul's better known shrines. It is located in Murad Khane area near the Kabul river, a district that has been listed by the World Monuments Fund as one of its 100 most endangered sites of cultural heritage.
___
Associated Press writers Sebastian Abbot in Islamabad, Pakistan, David Rising in Berlin, and Deb Riechmann, Heidi Vogt and Patrick Quinn in Kabul contributed to this report.
2 WHOI scientists receive medals from the American Geophysical Union Public release date: 6-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: WHOI Media Relations media@whoi.edu 508-289-3340 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists Henry Dick, a geologist, and Joseph Pedlosky, a physical oceanographer, have been selected to receive two of the American Geophysical Union's prestigious medals this year. The awards will be given at an honors ceremony on December 7 in San Francisco at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, the largest worldwide conference in the geophysical sciences, attracting nearly 20,000 Earth and space scientists, educators, students, and policy makers.
WHOI Senior Scientist Henry Dick has been selected to be the 2011 American Geophysical Union Harry H. Hess Medalist for "outstanding achievements in research of the constitution and evolution of Earth and other planets." Established in 1984, the Hess Medal is named in honor of Harry H. Hess, who made many contributions to geology, mineralogy, and geophysics.
Dick was cited for "his many discoveries, creative efforts and deep insights that have led to the modern understanding of the mantle melting and ocean crust formation along the global ocean ridges."
Among the many accomplishments that Dick was cited for are: "correctly conclud[ing] the significance of low-angle normal faults in exposing mantle peridotites and lower crust gabbros at slow-spreading ridges fundamental to the discovery and understanding of oceanic core complexes" and for recognizing "'ultraslow-spreading class of ocean ridges' that differ from the familiar fast- and slow-spreading ridges, and offer new challenges for understanding how ocean ridges work." Among his discoveries was that the Earth's crust is not a continuous shell around the Earth, but that beneath large areas of the Atlantic, Indian and Arctic Oceans is absent and the deeper layer of the Earth, the mantle is exposed directly on the ocean floor.
Dick began work at WHOI as a post-doctoral investigator in 1975, working as part of project FAMOUS, the first international collaboration to explore the Mid-Ocean Ridge. He was hired onto the scientific staff in 1976, and was appointed a senior scientist in 1990. Dick is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and of the American Geophysical Union.
WHOI Scientist Emeritus Joe Pedlosky of the Physical Oceanography department has been selected the 2011 Maurice Ewing Medalist "for significant original contributions to the scientific understanding of the processes in the ocean" and for "outstanding service to the marine sciences." Established in 1974 and jointly sponsored with the United States Navy, the Ewing Medal is named in honor of Maurice Ewing, who made significant contributions to deep-sea exploration.
The citation letter accompanying Pedlosky's nomination states: "He has made fundamental contributions to the theories of ocean circulation and has defined the field of geophysical fluid dynamics." Among his contributions are "developing the theory for the ventilated thermocline, laying a foundation to the modern dynamics of ocean general circulation." He is also credited with presenting "the first deductive model of nonlinear baroclinic instability without friction and the first deductive model demonstrating the chaotic behavior of weakly nonlinear instabilities." These models help describe how physical forces like wind on the ocean or the uneven heating and cooling of the ocean by the sun can lead to disturbances in, for example, the Gulf Stream of the atmospheric Jet Stream, that bring us our weather or result in eddies and meanders in the ocean. The letter also notes "his passion and devotion to education," stating Pedlosky "has been a role model for educators through his exceptional lecturing and mentoring abilities."
Pedlosky first came to WHOI in 1977 as a guest investigator on a Guggenheim fellowship and was appointed a senior scientist in the Physical Oceanography department in 1979. Pedlosky has numerous prestigious awards and memberships, including the Meisinger Award and Sverdrup Gold Medal of American Meteorological Society, fellow of the American Geophysical Union, member of National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Foreign Member of Earth & Cosmic Sciences Section of Academia Europaea.
###
About WHOI
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
2 WHOI scientists receive medals from the American Geophysical Union Public release date: 6-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: WHOI Media Relations media@whoi.edu 508-289-3340 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists Henry Dick, a geologist, and Joseph Pedlosky, a physical oceanographer, have been selected to receive two of the American Geophysical Union's prestigious medals this year. The awards will be given at an honors ceremony on December 7 in San Francisco at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, the largest worldwide conference in the geophysical sciences, attracting nearly 20,000 Earth and space scientists, educators, students, and policy makers.
WHOI Senior Scientist Henry Dick has been selected to be the 2011 American Geophysical Union Harry H. Hess Medalist for "outstanding achievements in research of the constitution and evolution of Earth and other planets." Established in 1984, the Hess Medal is named in honor of Harry H. Hess, who made many contributions to geology, mineralogy, and geophysics.
Dick was cited for "his many discoveries, creative efforts and deep insights that have led to the modern understanding of the mantle melting and ocean crust formation along the global ocean ridges."
Among the many accomplishments that Dick was cited for are: "correctly conclud[ing] the significance of low-angle normal faults in exposing mantle peridotites and lower crust gabbros at slow-spreading ridges fundamental to the discovery and understanding of oceanic core complexes" and for recognizing "'ultraslow-spreading class of ocean ridges' that differ from the familiar fast- and slow-spreading ridges, and offer new challenges for understanding how ocean ridges work." Among his discoveries was that the Earth's crust is not a continuous shell around the Earth, but that beneath large areas of the Atlantic, Indian and Arctic Oceans is absent and the deeper layer of the Earth, the mantle is exposed directly on the ocean floor.
Dick began work at WHOI as a post-doctoral investigator in 1975, working as part of project FAMOUS, the first international collaboration to explore the Mid-Ocean Ridge. He was hired onto the scientific staff in 1976, and was appointed a senior scientist in 1990. Dick is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and of the American Geophysical Union.
WHOI Scientist Emeritus Joe Pedlosky of the Physical Oceanography department has been selected the 2011 Maurice Ewing Medalist "for significant original contributions to the scientific understanding of the processes in the ocean" and for "outstanding service to the marine sciences." Established in 1974 and jointly sponsored with the United States Navy, the Ewing Medal is named in honor of Maurice Ewing, who made significant contributions to deep-sea exploration.
The citation letter accompanying Pedlosky's nomination states: "He has made fundamental contributions to the theories of ocean circulation and has defined the field of geophysical fluid dynamics." Among his contributions are "developing the theory for the ventilated thermocline, laying a foundation to the modern dynamics of ocean general circulation." He is also credited with presenting "the first deductive model of nonlinear baroclinic instability without friction and the first deductive model demonstrating the chaotic behavior of weakly nonlinear instabilities." These models help describe how physical forces like wind on the ocean or the uneven heating and cooling of the ocean by the sun can lead to disturbances in, for example, the Gulf Stream of the atmospheric Jet Stream, that bring us our weather or result in eddies and meanders in the ocean. The letter also notes "his passion and devotion to education," stating Pedlosky "has been a role model for educators through his exceptional lecturing and mentoring abilities."
Pedlosky first came to WHOI in 1977 as a guest investigator on a Guggenheim fellowship and was appointed a senior scientist in the Physical Oceanography department in 1979. Pedlosky has numerous prestigious awards and memberships, including the Meisinger Award and Sverdrup Gold Medal of American Meteorological Society, fellow of the American Geophysical Union, member of National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Foreign Member of Earth & Cosmic Sciences Section of Academia Europaea.
###
About WHOI
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Did you know you can make your own Cheezburger Site? We created Pets of Cheezburger, a site dedicated to showcasing the pets owned by employees at Cheez HQ! Big shoutout to Bella Davis (pictured above), whose hoomin heads up Marketing Programs here at Cheezburger. Bella, we really like your new marketing ideas, but we also really need to use the sink.
Incorrect source or offensive?
High Five Kitteh
soon i will be butiful butterfly
Scoot teh bed forward a bit. I'z losing my sunbeam.
Kitteh Komic ob teh Day: The Internet Is a Series of Tubes Filled With Cats
This lolcat or funny picture was posted on Monday, December 5th, 2011 at 10:59 am.
FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2011 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks at the Interior Department in Washington. Under attack from Republicans portraying him as harsh toward Israel, President Barack Obama is fighting back at public events and in private talks with donors, rabbis and others to shore up his support among Jewish voters, whose backing could be critical in the 2012 election. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2011 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks at the Interior Department in Washington. Under attack from Republicans portraying him as harsh toward Israel, President Barack Obama is fighting back at public events and in private talks with donors, rabbis and others to shore up his support among Jewish voters, whose backing could be critical in the 2012 election. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama and his Republican opponents are clashing over U.S. policy toward Israel as each side jockeys for support from Jewish voters, who could be critical in the 2012 election.
Aiming to cast Obama as unfairly harsh toward Israel and soft on the Palestinians, Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have called on the president to fire his ambassador to Belgium. The envoy, Howard Gutman, had said that some anti-Semitism stemmed from tensions between Israel and the Palestinians; Romney and Gingrich say his remarks unfairly blamed Israel.
The White House says Obama has a strong record on support for Israel, and quickly fired back with a statement condemning "anti-Semitism in all its forms." The State Department said Gutman would remain in his job.
Republicans also challenged Obama's assertion at a fundraiser last week that "this administration has done more in terms of the security of the state of Israel than any previous administration." Romney said Obama has "repeatedly thrown Israel under the bus" ? an accusation the Republican National Committee repeated Monday.
Firing back, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz called Romney's comments "outrageous" and questioned his own policies. The White House cited military aid to Israel and support at the United Nations, and pointed to statements from Israeli officials backing up Obama's assertion.
The fiery debate will likely continue Wednesday when the GOP presidential candidates attend a Washington forum hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Obama campaign officials say they will be ready to respond. And the next day, Jewish leaders will be at the White House for briefings on Israel and a Hanukkah party, followed by an Obama speech next week to an expected audience of nearly 6,000 at a conference of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Such attention is all being paid in recognition that Jewish voters, though comprising only 2 percent of the electorate nationwide, are an important part of Obama's base and could make the difference in battleground states including Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Nevada in a close election. Moreover, the Jewish community is an important source of donations, and Obama campaign supporters want to maintain that support as much as Republicans want to chip away at it.
"This campaign takes the Jewish vote very, very seriously," said Ira Forman, the Obama campaign Jewish outreach director. "I'm confident this will be the most comprehensive effort in presidential campaign history."
The White House outreach has increased since May when Obama caused a furor by calling for Israel's 1967 borders, with agreed-upon land swaps, as a basis for resuming negotiations toward a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the '67 borders as indefensible and largely disregarded Obama's emphasis on land swaps to account for current conditions.
Republicans seized on the dispute. And while Obama supporters say his argument was widely mischaracterized, damage was done. Now the Obama campaign and its backers say they are determined to respond rapidly to such criticism in future.
"We are trying to responsibly respond to all of these unsubstantiated or false allegations, but there are so many of them, and they are so frequently recited despite the fact that the people who are spreading them have to know that they're false, that it's hard to keep up with them," said Alan Solow, an Obama fundraiser and longtime associate.
The effort involves using surrogates including Vice President Joe Biden, and use of the president's own time in public appearances and private talks with donors and religious leaders, such as a conference call between Obama and rabbis ahead of the Jewish New Year this fall.
The Obama campaign also is going on the offense against Republicans. In conversations about the Jewish vote, Obama backers are quick to bring up comments by Romney, Gingrich and Rick Perry at a debate last month suggesting they would start foreign aid for all countries at zero. Obama supporters say would imperil funding for Israel, even though the candidates also sought to affirm their support for the Jewish state.
Democratic candidates typically enjoy a big electoral advantage among Jewish voters. Obama won 78 percent of the Jewish vote in 2008, compared with 21 percent for Republican John McCain.
But Gallup has found that Obama's approval rating among Jews has fallen from 83 percent in January 2009 to 54 percent in late summer and early fall of this year. Still, that figure is much higher than his overall 41 percent approval rating, and the drop-off in support was about in line with other voter groups.
Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party in Florida, predicted that Obama would be limited to around 60 percent of the Jewish vote in 2012. Obama backers say that won't happen, but it could mean a potentially decisive difference of tens of thousands of votes in key states.
A candidate's position on Israel may not be the top issue for most Jewish voters, who like others are more motivated by jobs and the economy. But it's important to many, and Republicans see an opening, given the consternation over Obama's 1967 borders speech, his administration's rebukes of Israel for building settlements in disputed areas, and a recent incident in which Obama was overheard appearing to endorse criticism of Netanyahu from French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"The reality is that the Jewish community understands that on a number of critical issues this administration has undermined not only the U.S.-Israel relationship, but has made Israel more vulnerable," said Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Brooks points to the recent upset in New York's special election to replace Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, in which Republican Bob Turner won in the heavily Jewish district. Brooks says this was a warning sign to Obama on his stance on Israel. Obama supporters say other factors were at play, including the heavily Orthodox and more conservative makeup of the district.
But even strong supporters are disappointed that Obama has not yet traveled to Israel in his capacity as president, after delivering a major speech in Cairo early in his administration. An Israel trip had been rumored to be in the works but seems unlikely to happen prior to the 2012 election.
Democratic Rep. Steve Rothman said he remains hopeful a trip will happen in the next year.
"No president has been perfect on every subject, though history will record that Obama has been the best president for Israel when it comes to military and intelligence support," said Rothman of New Jersey.
The Israeli army on Friday detonated an espionage device in southern Lebanon that had been monitoring a communications network, Shia group Hezbollah said.
"The Israeli enemy today detonated an espionage apparatus latched onto a communications network between the villages of Srifa and Deir Kifa by drone after the Islamic Resistance [Hezbollah] succeeded in uncovering the device," read a statement released by the Syrian- and Iranian-backed group.
No one was injured in the explosion east of the coastal city of Tyre, the statement said.
A Hezbollah official in southern Lebanon told AFP the militant movement earlier on Friday had sent five of its members to monitor the area where the device had been planted, which could have alerted the Israelis that their equipment had been exposed.
On December 3, 2010, Israel also detonated two espionage devices in the southern Lebanese village of Wadi al-Qaysiyya.
Friday's incident came days after a rocket launched from southern Lebanon landed in Israel, prompting the Jewish state to respond with a volley of rockets.
No one was injured in the attack, which was claimed by an Al-Qaeda-inspired group that calls itself the Brigades of Abdullah Azzam.
Hezbollah in recent weeks has rekindled a campaign against what it says are US and Israeli espionage networks in Lebanon, with the party recently announcing it had exposed infiltrators in the Shia group working for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Lebanese authorities last year launched a crackdown on alleged Israeli spy rings, arresting more than 100 people on suspicion of spying for the Mossad since April 2009.
The arrests included high-ranking security and telecommunications officials.
Hezbollah, which largely controls southern Lebanon, last fought a devastating war with its arch-foe Israel in the summer of 2006.
THEY are our go-to pranksters. No sooner has online skulduggery been spotted than all fingers point to hacker group Anonymous. Like modern-day Scarlet Pimpernels, it is tempting to infer their presence behind every episode of cybernetic mischief-making.
DARPA's Shredder Challenge is the latest locus for Anonymous-spotters. A mysterious team has stormed into the lead, even as its name has turned up in an email purportedly sent by the saboteur of a competitor's efforts ("Inside the race to crack the world's hardest puzzle").
The emailer claims to have support from a favoured Anonymous haunt. Are the lead team connected too? Perhaps. But for all we know, they could just as well be reclusive jigsaw fans for whom the challenge is reason enough to take part.
That's not so different from the Anonymous ethos anyway. Doing it for the lulz, indeed.
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Protesters form a wall of signs at the Occupy Portland camp in downtown Portland, Oregon. (AP)
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Republican Governor's Association met this week in Florida to give GOP state executives a chance to rejuvenate, strategize and team-build. But during a plenary session on Wednesday, one question kept coming up: How can Republicans do a better job of talking about Occupy Wall Street?
"I'm so scared of this anti-Wall Street effort. I'm frightened to death," said Frank Luntz, a Republican strategist and one of the nation's foremost experts on crafting the perfect political message. "They're having an impact on what the American people think of capitalism."
Luntz offered tips on how Republicans could discuss the grievances of the Occupiers, and help the governors better handle all these new questions from constituents about "income inequality" and "paying your fair share."
Yahoo News sat in on the session, and counted 10 do's and don'ts from Luntz covering how Republicans should fight back by changing the way they discuss the movement.
1. Don't say 'capitalism.'
"I'm trying to get that word removed and we're replacing it with either 'economic freedom' or 'free market,' " Luntz said. "The public . . . still prefers capitalism to socialism, but they think capitalism is immoral. And if we're seen as defenders of quote, Wall Street, end quote, we've got a problem."
2. Don't say that the government 'taxes the rich.' Instead, tell them that the government 'takes from the rich.'
"If you talk about raising taxes on the rich," the public responds favorably, Luntz cautioned. But ?"if you talk about government taking the money from hardworking Americans, the public says no. Taxing, the public will say yes."
3. Republicans should forget about winning the battle over the 'middle class.' Call them 'hardworking taxpayers.'
"They cannot win if the fight is on hardworking taxpayers. We can say we defend the 'middle class' and the public will say, I'm not sure about that. But defending 'hardworking taxpayers' and Republicans have the advantage."
4. Don't talk about 'jobs.' Talk about 'careers.'
"Everyone in this room talks about 'jobs,'" Luntz said. "Watch this."
He then asked everyone to raise their hand if they want a "job." Few hands went up. Then he asked who wants a "career." Almost every hand was raised.
"So why are we talking about jobs?"
5. Don't say 'government spending.' Call it 'waste.'
"It's not about 'government spending.' It's about 'waste.' That's what makes people angry."
6. Don't ever say you're willing to 'compromise.'
"If you talk about 'compromise,' they'll say you're selling out. Your side doesn't want you to 'compromise.' What you use in that to replace it with is 'cooperation.' It means the same thing. But cooperation means you stick to your principles but still get the job done. Compromise says that you're selling out those principles."
7. The three most important words you can say to an Occupier: 'I get it.'
"First off, here are three words for you all: 'I get it.' . . . 'I get that you're. I get that you've seen inequality. I get that you want to fix the system."
Then, he instructed, offer Republican solutions to the problem.
8. Out: 'Entrepreneur.' In: 'Job creator.'
Use the phrases "small business owners" and "job creators" instead of "entrepreneurs" and "innovators."
9. Don't ever ask anyone you want them to 'sacrifice.'
"There isn't an America today in November of 2011 who doesn't think they've already sacrificed. If you tell them you want them to 'sacrifice,' they're going to be be pretty angry at you. You talk about how 'we're all in this together.' We either succeed together or we fail together."
10. Always blame Washington.
Tell them, "You shouldn't be occupying Wall Street, you should be occupying Washington. You should occupy the White House because it's the policies over the past few years that have created this problem."
BONUS:
Don't say 'bonus!'
Luntz advised that if they give their employees an income boost during the holiday season, they should never refer to it as a "bonus."
"If you give out a bonus at a time of financial hardship, you're going to make people angry. It's 'pay for performance.'"
Other popular Yahoo! News stories:
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NEW YORK ? NBA owners and players met for more than 11 hours Friday in an attempt to end the 148-day lockout in time to save the league's Christmas Day schedule.
That deadline has created a sense of urgency because the Dec. 25 schedule is traditionally a showcase for the league. This season's three-game slate was to include Miami at Dallas in an NBA finals rematch, plus MVP Derrick Rose leading Chicago into Los Angeles to face Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.
After a secret meeting earlier this week, the sides returned to the table for another marathon session. Commissioner David Stern has said the league needs about 30 days from an agreement to when games could be played.
Participating in the talks for the league were Stern, deputy commissioner Adam Silver, Spurs owner Peter Holt, the chairman of the labor relations committee, and attorneys Rick Buchanan and Dan Rube. The players were represented by executive director Billy Hunter, president Derek Fisher, vice president Maurice Evans, attorney Ron Klempner and economist Kevin Murphy.
The discussions between representatives of the owners and players are now centered on settling their lawsuits: The players filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league in Minnesota, and the league filed a pre-emptive suit in New York, seeking to prove the lockout was legal.
Because the union disbanded, it cannot negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement, but the settlement talks could lead to that. The CBA can only be completed once the union has reformed.
There are still a handful of issues relating to spending rules for teams that must be worked out ? issues that have been an obstacle to a new deal since the lockout began July 1. Players fear that owners' desires to curb spending by the big-market teams would limit their options as free agents.
Talks last broke down Nov. 14 when players rejected the owners' proposal that included opening a 72-game schedule on Dec. 15, instead announcing instead they were disbanding the union, giving them a chance to win several billion dollars in triple damages in an antitrust lawsuit.
On Monday, a group of named plaintiffs including Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash and Kevin Durant filed an amended federal lawsuit against the league in Minnesota, hoping the courts there will be as favorable to them as they have been to NFL players in the past.
The NFL players enjoyed several victories over the owners in federal court in Minnesota, most recently when U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson issued a temporary injunction this summer that lifted the NFL's owner-imposed lockout. That decision was stayed and eventually overturned on appeal by the 8th Circuit in St. Louis.
The legal system could take months to resolve, so both sides repeatedly have said the only way to reach a deal that would save the season is through bargaining. The 1998-99 lockout reduced that season to 50 games. It was settled shortly after the new year and play started in February.
This season games have been canceled through Dec. 15, but in reality another week probably already has been lost, given the time needed to write and approve a new collective bargaining agreement, have a free agency period, hold training camps and play exhibition games.
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Public release date: 6-Dec-2011
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