Insider Report from Newsmax.com
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Al-Qaida Threatened Nuke Strike if bin Laden Killed
2. Lair Violated bin Laden’s Own Hiding-Place Rules
3. Poll: O’Reilly, Krauthammer Conservatives’ Favorites
4. Juan Williams Wins Freedom of Speech Award
5. Charlie Crist Now Pitchman for Law Firm
6. Jim Caviezel: Gibson’s ‘Passion’ Wrecked My Career
7. We Heard: Mitt Romney, ‘Home Alone’
1. Al-Qaida Threatened Nuke Strike if
bin Laden Killed
The killing of Osama bin Laden has raised new concerns over an earlier
al-Qaida threat to detonate a nuclear weapon in Europe if the terrorist
leader was killed or captured.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, told
Guantanamo Bay interrogators that al-Qaida would unleash a “nuclear
hellstorm,” according to Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
“A senior al-Qaida commander claimed that the terrorist group has
hidden a nuclear bomb somewhere in Europe which will be detonated if
Osama bin Laden is ever caught or assassinated,” the newspaper reported.
The claim came to light in classified files released by the WikiLeaks
website, according to AFP.
The files also disclosed that al-Qaida plotted a 9/11-style attack on
London’s Heathrow airport that would crash a hijacked plane into one of
the terminals.
There was also a plot to put cyanide into the air-conditioning units of
public buildings in the United States.
2. Lair Violated bin Laden’s Own
Hiding-Place Rules
The discovery of Osama bin Laden’s hiding place in Pakistan shows that
the al-Qaida leader violated several precepts of his group’s how-to
terrorism guide.
The Arabic-language terrorism manual, “Military Studies in the Jihad
Against the Tyrants,” was obtained during a raid on the home of a bin
Laden follower in England, and an English translation was produced by
federal investigators.
One of the manual’s lessons addresses “Apartments-Hiding Places,” and
instructs Osama’s disciples on “Security Precautions Related to
Apartments.”
The manual stipulates that followers should avoid “police stations and
government buildings. Apartments should not be rented near those
places.”
But bin Laden’s hiding place was in Abbottabad, home to several large
Pakistani military training bases.
Hiding places, according to the manual, should include “secret
locations” where “documents, records, arms and other important items”
can be hidden.
But when bin Laden’s lair was raided, American forces found computer
equipment and other potentially valuable intelligence information in
plain sight, according to The Smoking Gun website.
The manual also said followers should prepare “ways of vacating the
apartment in case of a surprise attack,” including the possible use of
“wooden ladders.”
Bin Laden evidently had not prepared a way of vacating his hideout when
American forces closed in.
One of the manual’s 15 rules instructed followers to avoid “seclusion
and isolation from the population.” Reports from Abbottabad disclose
that the residents of bin Laden’s hideout had almost no contact with
outsiders, and neighbors say they had no idea who was living in bin
Laden’s home.
3. Poll: O’Reilly, Krauthammer
Conservatives’ Favorites
Bill O’Reilly and Charles Krauthammer are the favorite conservative
voices of Campaigns & Elections readers who voted in the magazine’s
online poll.
Readers were asked: “Who is your favorite conservative talk politics
show host?” Fox News host O’Reilly led with 35 percent of the votes,
followed by talk radio star Rush Limbaugh with 30 percent.
Syndicated columnist Krauthammer was readers’ favorite conservative
pundit, garnering 36 percent, while syndicated columnist and MSNBC
commentator Pat Buchanan got 22 percent.
Asked for their favorite progressive talk politics show host, readers
chose MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, who got 32 percent of the vote to narrowly
beat out “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart’s 31 percent.
CNN pundit and XM Radio host James Carville was the overwhelming
favorite among progressive pundits. He got 50 percent of the votes,
trouncing second-place finisher Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The
Nation, with 13 percent.
4. Juan Williams Wins Freedom of
Speech Award
Fox News Channel political analyst Juan Williams is the 2011 winner of
the Freedom of Speech Award bestowed annually by Talkers magazine.
Williams was fired as NPR’s senior news correspondent in October over
comments he made that were judged offensive to Muslims. He said that he
was often nervous when boarding a plane with people dressed in “Muslim
garb.”
He was quickly hired as a Fox News correspondent.
“Williams’ high profile termination from NPR to landing a new deal at
Fox stirred up productive debate and discussion of the roles free
speech, bias, partisanship, ethics and hypocrisy play in the news
media,” according to Talkers, the bible of the talk media world.
Williams will receive the Freedom of Speech Award at Talkers’ New Media
Seminar in New York City on June 11.
In an exclusive interview with Talkers, Williams said: “When this
situation with NPR first came up, I was so afraid because they have the
big megaphone, obviously, they are a broadcaster. And they also have a
fabulous brand that’s widely respected.
“I thought, ‘These people are attacking me, they have just fired me.’
Subsequently there were suggestions that I was a bigot, that I needed
psychiatric care, and all the rest.
“I was so fearful that . . . I would be maligned and marginalized by
this effort and my career would be ruined.
“In the midst of this, Roger Ailes, who runs Fox, said to me, ‘The
conservatives will defend you because they don’t like being called
bigots, either.’”
5. Charlie Crist Now Pitchman for Law
Firm
Charlie Crist, who served as Florida’s governor and was mentioned as a
possible GOP vice presidential candidate, has a new job: pitchman for a
law firm in a TV ad that began airing this week.
Just three years ago, Gov. Crist’s endorsement of John McCain shortly
before the Florida GOP presidential primary helped seal the nomination
for McCain. Most political observers thought Crist was at the top of
McCain’s list for a running mate, NBC Miami reported.
But when Crist gave President Barack Obama a hug and literally embraced
Obama’s stimulus plan in February 2009, he alienated many Republicans
and never recovered politically. He ran for the U.S. Senate last year
but abandoned the Republican Party to become an independent after Marco
Rubio beat him in the GOP primary.
He joined the Orlando, Fla.-based law firm Morgan & Morgan after he
lost in November.
“I’m Charlie Crist,” he says in the television spot. “If you need help
sorting out your legal issues as a result of an accident or insurance
dispute, visit me at Charlie@forthepeople.com.
“Morgan and Morgan. For the people.”
6. Jim Caviezel: Gibson’s ‘Passion’
Wrecked My Career
Jim Caviezel says playing Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s movie “The
Passion of the Christ” ruined what had been a very promising acting
career.
Caviezel has been “rejected in my own industry” since playing Jesus in
the 2004 movie, he disclosed during an appearance at an Orlando, Fla.,
church on April 30.
He said movie offers “dried up” and he is shunned by many within the
industry.
Before doing the “Passion” movie, Caviezel had appeared in nearly 20
films, including “The Thin Red Line” and “The Count of Monte Cristo,”
and was considered a rising star.
He admitted he decided to take the role in “The Passion” despite
warnings from director Gibson, who told him: “You’ll never work in this
town again.”
Caviezel, a devout Catholic, responded: “We all have to embrace our
crosses.”
Since then, he has appeared in just a handful of movies.
“Jesus is as controversial now as he has ever been,” Caviezel told the
church gathering, according to the Orlando Sentinel. “Not much has
changed in 2,000 years.”
About Gibson, who has been labeled an anti-Semite and was caught on
tape cursing out the mother of his youngest child, Caviezel said: “He
doesn’t need your judgment, he needs your prayers.”
7. We Heard…
THAT Mitt Romney’s campaign manager in New Hampshire during the 2008
presidential race, Bruce Keough, says he won’t sign on for another
campaign with Romney in 2012.
Keough, a former state senator, says he chose not to join Romney’s
campaign in the crucial first primary state because the former
Massachusetts governor “could not articulate consistent positions on
key issues,” according to the Boston Globe.
Keough told Mother Jones, which first reported Keough’s decision: “He
struggled with that in the last campaign. And to some extent I think
he’s still struggling with it.”
Romney is considered the front-runner in New Hampshire. But Keough said
voters “want somebody who’s been true to a certain set of political
ideals for a while.”
THAT the Chicago-area house that was the setting for the original “Home
Alone” movie is on sale for $2.4 million.
The 14-room, 4,250-square-foot home sits on half an acre in Winnetka,
Ill.
The current owners bought the home in 1988 for $875,000, according to
the Chicago Tribune.
To prevent gawkers, there will reportedly be no open houses and all
potential buyers will be pre-screened.
|
