The LAPD is fighting crime from a high-tech war room that gives it eyes all over the city. The surveillance hub is now a model for police forces around the world and KCAL9 got an exclusive tour inside from Chief Charlie Beck.

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matt 24:37

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great•Strongs 7227: rab, rab; by contracted from 7231; abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality):—(in) abound(-undance, -ant, -antly), captain, elder, enough, exceedingly, full, great(-ly, man, one), increase, long (enough, (time)), (do, have) many(-ifold, things, a time), ((ship-))master, mighty, more, (too, very) much, multiply(-tude), officer, often(-times), plenteous, populous, prince, process (of time), suffice(-lent). in the earth, and that every imagination•Strongs 3336: yetser, yay´-tser; from 3335; a form; figuratively, conception (i.e. purpose):—frame, thing framed, imagination, mind, work. of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
—Genesis 6:5

“We are targets on our own soil,” says Beck. “We have to be ready.”

What began as a grass roots idea following the 9/11 terrorist attacks is now a state-of-the-art real-time analysis critical response center. It’s called RACR, and it’s located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.

“This is a system that cuts through the red tape, that gets information to the people that need it,” says Chief Beck. He calls it “the brains of the department, twenty-four/seven.”

Police in the activity center monitor live feeds of city and traffic cameras, counter-terrorism information, and real-time crime mapping, with cutting edge software.

“If we didn’t have that we would be operating blind,” says Capt. Sean Malinowski, the Commanding Officer at RACR. “Essentially we’re always activated here.”

RACR is a critical crime-fighting tool at the center of every high profile incident in the City of Los Angeles.

“We have some real-time tools that help us analyze crime as it’s happening,” says Malinowski. “And then we feed that information out to the geographic areas and to patrol divisions.”

RACR is relied upon during events like dignitary visits from the Royals and President Obama, as well as the recent Occupy LA showdown and arrests.

“We had eyes on that, both through video cameras that the city owns, and also through video streams that were provided by the actual Occupy LA protesters,” says Malinowski.

Most recently, RACR was invaluable in putting an end to the Hollywood arsons.

Malinowski says RACR plotted each arson fire incident as it happened, creating a three-square-mile geographic hot spot that resulted in the quick arrest of accused fire starter Harry Burkhart.

“At the time he was taken into custody, this area was flooded with sheriffs and with LAPD officers,” says Malinowski. “Based on the fact that we kind of could see his movements in real time.”

RACR was born in a functioning bomb shelter, four stories below the Los Angeles Civic Center.

LAPD Commander Blake Chow remembers a time when tracking crime at RACR was done by hand. “There was very little technology,” says Chow, and RACR had no budget.

Police operated with dry erase boards, personal computers, and simple monitors.

“When we built RACR, there was no template to look at,” says Chow. “There was no police department we could go look at and ask them, ‘how did you build it?’”

Today LAPD’s RACR is the standard operating model for law enforcement agencies worldwide. It’s used as a guidebook on how to protect communities and fight crime.

Jos, Nigeria (CNN) — A string of bombs struck churches in five Nigerian cities Sunday, leaving dozens dead and wounded on the holiday, authorities and witnesses said.

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Ishmael•FYI: Ishmael is the son of Abraham through Hagar, the maid of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Ishmael is the Biblical father of the Arab nations.
•From these nations came Mohammad, who in approximately 632 a.d founded the Religion of Islam.
•The Religion is divided into two main groups, The Sunni’s and The Shiite’s. These two are engaged in a battle to gain control of the religion.
•The Shiite branch claims its right to control because Ali, its founder, was the nephew of Mohammad.
•While the Sunni branch claims its right to control because its founders were the generals in-charge when Mohammad died.
•It is reported that the Muslim Brotherhood is a Sunni based organization.
•The battle continues to this very day.
•The verse below is speaking directly concerning Ishmael and the nations that would come from this direct descendent of Abraham.

“And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
—Genesis 16:12

Perilous Times

“This know also, that in the last days perilous•Strongs 5467: chalepos, khal-ep-os´; perhaps from 5465 through the idea of reducing the strength; difficult, i.e. dangerous, or (by implication) furious:—fierce, perilous. times shall come.”
—2 Timothy 3:1-2a

”But evil•Strongs 4190: poneros, pon-ay-ros´; from a derivative of 4192; hurtful, i.e. evil (properly, in effect or influence, and thus differing from 2556, which refers rather to essential character, as well as from 4550, which indicates degeneracy from original virtue); figuratively, calamitous; also (passively) ill, i.e. diseased; but especially (morally) culpable, i.e. derelict, vicious, facinorous; neuter (singular) mischief, malice, or (plural) guilt; masculine (singular) the devil, or (plural) sinners:—bad, evil, grievous, harm, lewd, malicious, wicked(-ness). See also 4191.
•Strongs 4192: ponos, pon´-os; from the base of 3993; toil, i.e. (by implication) anguish:—pain. men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
—2 Timothy 3:13

Editors note about the word perilous•FYI: The Greek word (chalepos) (perilous) is only used one other time in the New Testament, Matthew 8:28. There it is translated as (fierce) when describing the nature of the devils that possess Legion and his cohort.

Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully. through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
— Genesis 6:13

The blasts mark the second holiday season that bombs have hit Christian houses of worship in the west African nation. In a statement issued late Sunday, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan called the bombings “a dastardly act that must attract the rebuke of all peace-loving Nigerians.”
“These acts of violence against innocent citizens are an unwarranted affront on our collective safety and freedom,” Jonathan said. “Nigerians must stand as one to condemn them.”
Bombs targeted churches across the country, hitting the cities of Madalla, Jos, Kano, and Damaturu and Gadaka, said journalist Hassan John, who witnessed the carnage in Jos. The death toll in Madalla alone was 18, including two people reported dead overnight at a nearby hospital, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency spokesman Yushau Shuaib told CNN.
John said witnesses in Madalla reported a higher death toll, with more than 30 killed. Some victims died after being taken to a hospital, he said.
In Damaturu, a northern town in Yobe state, a police station and a state security building were also bombed, an aid worker said. The worker asked not to be named for security reasons.

Nwakpa Okorie, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross, said the some of the wounded were taken to the capital Abuja for treatment.
“The situation is under control now. The security agents have secured the streets close to the bombed areas … in Madalla, Jos and Dematuru,” he said.
Jonathan said his government “will not relent in its determination to bring to justice all the perpetrators of today’s acts of violence and all others before now.” And in Washington, the White House said U.S. officials would help Nigeria pursue those behind “what initially appear to be terrorist acts.”
“We condemn this senseless violence and tragic loss of life on Christmas Day,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a written statement. “We offer our sincere condolences to the Nigerian people and especially those who lost family and loved ones.”
The first explosion Sunday struck near a Roman Catholic church in Madalla, west of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, the National Emergency Management Agency said. Church officials were trying to get a picture of what happened in the city.
“Lives have been lost but we do not have the details,” said the Rev. Michael Ekpenyong. “The area has been cordoned off. I tried to call the priest, but I couldn’t get through.”
Ekpenyong, the secretary general of the country’s Catholic Secretariat, said the church that was bombed was “not a big church, but lots of people attend.” Photos from the scene showed burned-out cars and at least three bodies on the ground, one covered with a blanket, at the rural church.
Usman Abdallah Baba, who witnessed the bombing, said there were at least 15 or 16 casualties and that authorities were still counting the toll.
Baba said local people were already blaming the violent extremist Muslim Boko Haram sect, which has targeted Christians as well as Muslims its members consider insufficiently Islamic.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the acts “in the strongest terms,” his office said in a statement Sunday.
He expressed his condolences to the Nigerian people and reiterated a call “for an end to all acts of sectarian violence in the country.”
In 2010, five churches in Jos were attacked while residents were celebrating Christmas Eve. The blasts killed dozens in Jos, which lies on a faith-based fault line between the Muslim-dominated north and the mainly Christian south.
On Sunday, two blasts targeted the Mountain of Fire Ministries church in Jos, northeast of the capital, said John. No one was killed in that bombing, which John called a “miracle” — but a police officer who got into a gun battle with the attackers died of his wounds later, John said, citing officials.
The second church, in Jos, was hit by two explosions when young men threw bombs, John said. Police responded quickly and exchanged gunfire with the attackers, who wounded at least one of the police officers, he said.
The injured officer was rushed to the Jos University teaching hospital for medical attention, but died of his wounds, John said. The attackers fled into the crowd and disappeared after the attack, John said.
Police arrested four people and recovered four unexploded devices, Nigerian state television reported.
Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation and has the world’s sixth-largest Christian population — about 80.5 million people as of 2010, according to a report published this month by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington. That makes the country just over 50% Christian, according to the Pew figures.
Dozens killed in fighting in Nigeria
The latest attacks follow two days of clashes between militants and security forces in northern Nigeria. Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, the Nigerian army chief of staff, said the clashes left three soldiers dead and several more wounded.
The fighting began Thursday between Boko Haram militants and the military in the Yobe state town of Damaturu, Ihejirika said.
“There was a major encounter with the Boko Haram in Damaturu,” Ihejirika said Friday. “We lost three of our soldiers, seven were wounded. But we killed over 50 of their members.”
Boko Haram translates from the local Hausa as “Western education is outlawed.” The group has morphed into an insurgency responsible for dozens of attacks in Nigeria in the last two years.
Boko Haram’s targets include police outposts and churches as well as places associated with “Western influence.”

Egyptian police and soldiers fired guns and teargas to try to clear protesters from Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Tuesday, the fifth day of clashes that have killed 13 people and drawn a stinging rebuke from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

Violence

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully.
—Genesis 6:11

Ishmael•FYI: Ishmael is the son of Abraham through Hagar, the maid of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Ishmael is the Biblical father of the Arab nations.
•From these nations came Mohammad, who in approximately 632 a.d founded the Religion of Islam.
•The Religion is divided into two main groups, The Sunni’s and The Shiite’s. These two are engaged in a battle to gain control of the religion.
•The Shiite branch claims its right to control because Ali, its founder, was the nephew of Mohammad.
•While the Sunni branch claims its right to control because its founders were the generals in-charge when Mohammad died.
•It is reported that the Muslim Brotherhood is a Sunni based organization.
•The battle continues to this very day.
•The verse below is speaking directly concerning Ishmael and the nations that would come from this direct descendent of Abraham.

“And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
—Genesis 16:12

Perilous Times

“This know also, that in the last days perilous•Strongs 5467: chalepos, khal-ep-os´; perhaps from 5465 through the idea of reducing the strength; difficult, i.e. dangerous, or (by implication) furious:—fierce, perilous. times shall come.”
—2 Timothy 3:1-2a

”But evil•Strongs 4190: poneros, pon-ay-ros´; from a derivative of 4192; hurtful, i.e. evil (properly, in effect or influence, and thus differing from 2556, which refers rather to essential character, as well as from 4550, which indicates degeneracy from original virtue); figuratively, calamitous; also (passively) ill, i.e. diseased; but especially (morally) culpable, i.e. derelict, vicious, facinorous; neuter (singular) mischief, malice, or (plural) guilt; masculine (singular) the devil, or (plural) sinners:—bad, evil, grievous, harm, lewd, malicious, wicked(-ness). See also 4191.
•Strongs 4192: ponos, pon´-os; from the base of 3993; toil, i.e. (by implication) anguish:—pain. men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
—2 Timothy 3:13

Editors note about the word perilous•FYI: The Greek word (chalepos) (perilous) is only used one other time in the New Testament, Matthew 8:28. There it is translated as (fierce) when describing the nature of the devils that possess Legion and his cohort.

Clinton condemned as “particularly shocking” incidents such as one in which two Egyptian soldiers were filmed dragging a woman protester on the ground by her black full-body veil, exposing her bra, then clubbing and kicking her.

“Women protesters have been rounded up and subjected to horrific abuse. Journalists have been sexually assaulted. And now women are being attacked, stripped and beaten in the streets,” Clinton said in a speech at Washington’s Georgetown University on Monday.

“This systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution, disgraces the state and its uniform and is not worthy of a great people …

“Women are being beaten and humiliated in the same streets where they risked their lives for the revolution only a few short months ago.”

Medical sources say 13 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the violence that began on Friday in Tahrir and nearby streets leading to parliament and the cabinet office.

After a night of clashes, gunfire rang out across the square at dawn as security forces charged hundreds of protesters demanding an immediate end to army rule.

Later thousands of women marched on the square to condemning attacks on female protesters. But by nightfall the square was calm again.

The United States, which saw deposed leader Hosni Mubarak as a staunch ally, gives Cairo $1.3 billion a year in military aid, a commitment that began after Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab state to make peace with Israel.

PRESSURE ON ARMY

Clinton’s remarks, some of the strongest U.S. criticism of Egypt’s new rulers, ratchet up pressure on the army. But Western diplomats said it was unlikely Washington would use its aid budget as leverage. U.S. officials have so far praised the army for promising to hand power to civilians.

A staggered parliamentary election is under way and the army has pledged to hand power to an elected president by July.

The women marchers were dressed in black and accompanied by male demonstrators who vowed to protect them from harassment.

“The women of Egypt are a red line!” they chanted.

Some looked up at male onlookers on surrounding balconies, chanting: “You who are standing by the window, tomorrow it will be your sisters!”

“This is a continuation of the systematic violence we used to witness (under Mubarak),” said Sarah Rifaat, a 27-year old environmentalist. “They manipulate women, thinking they can break the people and scare them this way.

“What happened to the girl who was stripped and dragged was sheer savagery. We cannot be silent about this. I want someone from the military council to admit responsibility.”

In a statement, the army council that took over after Mubarak was overthrown in February apologized, saying it “respects and appreciates Egyptian women and their right to protest and fully participate in political life.”

“ISOLATED INCIDENT”

General Adel Emara, a member of the army council, said on Monday that the attack on the woman protester was an isolated incident and was under investigation.

But other generals and their advisers have condemned the pro-democracy protesters, sometimes in extraordinary terms.

“What is your feeling when you see Egypt and its history burn in front of you?” retired general Abdel Moneim Kato, an army adviser, told the daily al-Shorouk, referring to a government archive building set alight during clashes. “Yet you worry about a vagrant who should be burnt in Hitler’s incinerators.”

Those comments drew fierce criticism from politicians and rights groups, saying they would stir further violence.

“The least that can be said about such comments is they are irresponsible and he must be punished for them, publicly and transparently,” the Arab Network for Human Rights said, adding that “his Nazi opinions incite hatred and justify violence.”

General Emara said “evil forces” wanted to sow chaos and that soldiers had shown “self-restraint” despite provocation.

“What is happening does not belong with the revolution and its pure youth, who never wanted to bring down this nation,” he said. Despite the actions of the security forces in Tahrir, Emara denied that the army had given orders to clear the square.

Hard-core activists have camped in Tahrir since a protest against army rule on November 18, which was sparked by the army-backed cabinet’s proposals to permanently shield the military from civilian oversight in the new constitution.

A week of mayhem in November killed 42 people.

The flare-up has also marred the parliamentary election, which began on November 28 and ends on January 11.

Results so far suggest the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood and hardline Salafi Islamists will have a majority in the lower house – groups the West once looked to Mubarak to keep in check.

Washington has reached out to Islamists in a shift in approach since the summer. A senior U.S. diplomat met Islamist and other newly elected members of parliament in the northern city of Alexandria, the embassy said on Tuesday.

(Additional reporting by Dina Zayed and Alexander Dziadosz; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

A popular North Carolina college student gunned down three years ago pleaded for her life in the moments before her death and asked her assailants to pray with her, according to testimony at the murder trial.

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

Violence

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully.
—Genesis 6:11

Eve Carson, student body president at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, died from multiple gunshot wounds on March 5, 2008, after she was allegedly kidnapped and robbed by two men.
Prosecutors say 21-year-old Laurence Alvin Lovette Jr. and 25-year-old Demario James Atwater kidnapped Carson from her home sometime after 3:30 a.m., took her in her SUV to withdraw money from ATMs and then shot her five times, WRAL-TV reported.

Atwater pleaded guilty last year to state and federal charges in the case and is serving two life sentences in federal prison. Lovette, who is now on trial, faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Jayson McNeil, a lifelong friend of Lovette’s, testified Tuesday about a conversation he says he had with Lovette about the crime on March 12, 2008. McNeil said Lovette called him the day a warrant was issued for his arrest.
“Before (Lovette) even shot her, he explained, she was saying, ‘Let’s pray,’” 20-year-old McNeil told the courtroom. “She wanted them to pray together.”
McNeil, whose testimony was part of a plea deal in a federal drug case, said Lovette told him that he and Atwater went to Chapel Hill to rob and that they saw Carson getting into her SUV, according to WRAL.
“They rushed her,” McNeil testified.
Lovette got into the driver’s seat, and Atwater got into the backseat with Carson and held a gun to her head, McNeil told jurors.
“He said the whole time that Eve Carson was in the backseat that she was pleading for her life and explained that they didn’t have to do what they were doing,” McNeil testified. “Demario was feeling her clothes and touching her in certain parts of her body.”
Lovette said they killed her because she had seen their faces.
Carson was shot four times with a .25-caliber to her right cheek, back, right arm and right buttock. She also was shot through her right hand and right temple with a sawed-off shotgun.
The medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Carson testified Tuesday that the young woman could have survived the four handgun wounds with appropriate medical care, according to the station.
“Only one of these wounds was immediately fatal, and that was the shotgun injury to the head,” Dr. Cynthia Gardner reportedly told jurors.

The occupation at Zuccotti Park may be over, but wary city officials are bracing for trouble tomorrow when a mob of that could number in the “tens of thousands” is expected to answer Occupy Wall Street’s call to shut down the Financial District.

To view popup window put your cursor on the blue words

Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

Violence

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully.
—Genesis 6:11

“Everything that we have seen and heard suggests that we may have tens of thousands of people tomorrow protesting.
The protesters are calling for a massive event aimed at disrupting major parts of the city,” Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson told reporters this afternoon.

Wolfson and Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said all city agencies are on notice and extra cops will be on hand for the massive demonstrations – which could disrupt the morning commute and be among the largest in city history.
Holloway conceded commutes may take longer than usual.
Organizers said they were energized by Mayor Bloomberg’s decision early to end the two-month-long camp-out at Zuccotti Park.
“We will shut down Wall Street,” a post on the movement’s Facebook page said. “We will ring the People’s Bell, and initiate a street carnival in which we rebuild and celebrate the neighborhoods that the Wall Street economy has destroyed.”
The march on Wall Street is slated to start at 7 a.m.
Other events scheduled for the day include “Occupy the Subways” in all five boroughs at 3 p.m., a takeover of Foley Square at 5 p.m. and another march across the Brooklyn Bridge.
“I think we’re certainly going into this with our eyes wide open, but (the march is) to provoke ideas and discussion, not to provoke any violent reactions,” Occupy Wall Street spokesman Ed Needham told Reuters. “I think it is very difficult to do a day of action and not expect some sort of reaction from the [authorities].”
The group promises a “a block party the 1 percent will never forget.”

CAIRO – Flames lit up downtown Cairo, where massive clashes raged Sunday, drawing Christians angry over a recent church attack, hard-line Muslims and Egyptian security forces. At least 24 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February.

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully. through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
— Genesis 6:13

The rioting lasted late into the night, bringing out a deployment of more than 1,000 security forces and armored vehicles to defend the state television building along the Nile, where the trouble began. The military clamped a curfew on the area until 7 a.m.

The clashes spread to nearby Tahrir Square, drawing thousands of people to the vast plaza that served as the epicenter of the protests that ousted Mubarak. On Sunday night, they battled each other with rocks and firebombs, some tearing up pavement for ammunition and others collecting stones in boxes.
At one point, an armored security van sped into the crowd, striking a half-dozen protesters and throwing some into the air. Protesters retaliated by setting fire to military vehicles, a bus and private cars, sending flames rising into the night sky.
After midnight, mobs roamed downtown streets, attacking cars they suspected had Christian passengers. In many areas, there was no visible police or army presence to confront or stop them.
Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 80 million people, blame the country’s ruling military council for being too lenient on those behind a spate of anti-Christian attacks since Mubarak’s ouster. As Egypt undergoes a chaotic power transition and security vacuum in the wake of the uprising, the Coptic Christian minority is particularly worried about the show of force by ultraconservative Islamists.
The Christian protesters said their demonstration began as a peaceful attempt to sit in at the television building. But then, they said, they came under attack by thugs in plainclothes who rained stones down on them and fired pellets.
“The protest was peaceful. We wanted to hold a sit-in, as usual,” said Essam Khalili, a protester wearing a white shirt with a cross on it. “Thugs attacked us and a military vehicle jumped over a sidewalk and ran over at least 10 people. I saw them.”
Wael Roufail, another protester, corroborated the account. “I saw the vehicle running over the protesters. Then they opened fired at us,” he said.
Khalili said protesters set fire to army vehicles when they saw them hitting the protesters.
Ahmed Yahia, a Muslim resident who lives near the TV building, said he saw the military vehicle plow into protesters. “I saw a man’s head split into two halves and a second body flattened when the armored vehicle ran over it. When some Muslims saw the blood they joined the Christians against the army,” he said.
Television footage showed the military vehicle slamming into the crowd. Coptic protesters were shown attacking a soldier, while a priest tried to protect him. One soldier collapsed in tears as ambulances rushed to the scene to take away the injured.
At least 24 people were killed in the clashes, Health Ministry official Hisham Sheiha said on state TV.
State media reported that Egypt’s interim Cabinet was holding an emergency session to discuss the situation.
Writing in his Facebook page, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said: “What is happening now are not clashes between Muslims and Christians but attempts to spark chaos and divisions. I call on all the children of the nation who care about its future, not to comply with calls of sedition, because it is fire that will burn us all.”
The protest began in the Shubra district of northern Cairo, then headed to the state television building along the Nile where men in plainclothes attacked about a thousand Christian protesters as they chanted denunciations of the military rulers.
“The people want to topple the field marshal!” the protesters yelled, referring to the head of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. Some Muslim protesters later joined in the chant.
Later in the evening, a crowd of ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis turned up to challenge the Christian crowds, shouting, “Speak up! An Islamic state until death!”
Armed with sticks, the Muslim assailants chased the Christian protesters from the TV building, banging metal street signs to scare them off. It was not immediately clear who the attackers were.
Gunshots rang out at the scene, where lines of riot police with shields tried to hold back hundreds of Christian protesters chanting, “This is our country!”
Security forces eventually fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. The clashes then moved to nearby Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising against Mubarak. The army closed off streets around the area.
The clashes left streets littered with shattered glass, stones, ash and soot from burned vehicles. Hundreds of curious onlookers gathered at one of the bridges over the Nile to watch the unrest.
After hours of intense clashes, chants of “Muslims, Christians one hand, one hand!” rang out in a call for a truce. The stone-throwing died down briefly, but then began to rage again.
In the past weeks, riots have broken out at two churches in southern Egypt, prompted by Muslim crowds angry over church construction. One riot broke out near the city of Aswan, even after church officials agreed to a demand by local Salafi Muslims that a cross and bells be removed from the building.
Aswan’s governor, Gen. Mustafa Kamel al-Sayyed, further raised tensions by suggesting to the media that the church construction was illegal.
Protesters said the Copts are demanding the ouster of the governor, reconstruction of the church, compensation for people whose houses were set on fire and prosecution of those behind the riots and attacks on the church.
Last week, the military used force to disperse a similar protest in front of the state television building. Christians were angered by the treatment of the protesters and vowed to renew their demonstrations until their demands are met.

One afternoon last fall at Fort Benning, Ga., two model-size planes took off, climbed to 800 and 1,000 feet, and began criss-crossing the military base in search of an orange, green and blue tarp.

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Days of Noah

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great•Strongs 7227: rab, rab; by contracted from 7231; abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality):—(in) abound(-undance, -ant, -antly), captain, elder, enough, exceedingly, full, great(-ly, man, one), increase, long (enough, (time)), (do, have) many(-ifold, things, a time), ((ship-))master, mighty, more, (too, very) much, multiply(-tude), officer, often(-times), plenteous, populous, prince, process (of time), suffice(-lent). in the earth, and that every imagination•Strongs 3336: yetser, yay´-tser; from 3335; a form; figuratively, conception (i.e. purpose):—frame, thing framed, imagination, mind, work. of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
—Genesis 6:5

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

“And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully. through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
— Genesis 6:13

The automated, unpiloted planes worked on their own, with no human guidance, no hand on any control.

After 20 minutes, one of the aircraft, carrying a computer that processed images from an onboard camera, zeroed in on the tarp and contacted the second plane, which flew nearby and used its own sensors to examine the colorful object. Then one of the aircraft signaled to an unmanned car on the ground so it could take a final, close-up look.

Target confirmed.

This successful exercise in autonomous robotics could presage the future of the American way of war: a day when drones hunt, identify and kill the enemy based on calculations made by software, not decisions made by humans. Imagine aerial “Terminators,” minus beefcake and time travel.

The Fort Benning tarp “is a rather simple target, but think of it as a surrogate,” said Charles E. Pippin, a scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, which developed the software to run the demonstration. “You can imagine real-time scenarios where you have 10 of these things up in the air and something is happening on the ground and you don’t have time for a human to say, ‘I need you to do these tasks.’ It needs to happen faster than that.”

The demonstration laid the groundwork for scientific advances that would allow drones to search for a human target and then make an identification based on facial-recognition or other software. Once a match was made, a drone could launch a missile to kill the target.

Military systems with some degree of autonomy — such as robotic, weaponized sentries — have been deployed in the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea and other potential battle areas. Researchers are uncertain how soon machines capable of collaborating and adapting intelligently in battlefield conditions will come online. It could take one or two decades, or longer. The U.S. military is funding numerous research projects on autonomy to develop machines that will perform some dull or dangerous tasks and to maintain its advantage over potential adversaries who are also working on such systems.

The killing of terrorism suspects and insurgents by armed drones, controlled by pilots sitting in bases thousands of miles away in the western United States, has prompted criticism that the technology makes war too antiseptic. Questions also have been raised about the legality of drone strikes when employed in places such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, which are not at war with the United States. This debate will only intensify as technological advances enable what experts call lethal autonomy.

The prospect of machines able to perceive, reason and act in unscripted environments presents a challenge to the current understanding of international humanitarian law. The Geneva Conventions require belligerents to use discrimination and proportionality, standards that would demand that machines distinguish among enemy combatants, surrendering troops and civilians.

“The deployment of such systems would reflect a paradigm shift and a major qualitative change in the conduct of hostilities,” Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said at a conference in Italy this month. “It would also raise a range of fundamental legal, ethical and societal issues, which need to be considered before such systems are developed or deployed.”

Drones flying over Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen can already move automatically from point to point, and it is unclear what surveillance or other tasks, if any, they perform while in autonomous mode. Even when directly linked to human operators, these machines are producing so much data that processors are sifting the material to suggest targets, or at least objects of interest. That trend toward greater autonomy will only increase as the U.S. military shifts from one pilot remotely flying a drone to one pilot remotely managing several drones at once.

But humans still make the decision to fire, and in the case of CIA strikes in Pakistan, that call rests with the director of the agency. In future operations, if drones are deployed against a sophisticated enemy, there may be much less time for deliberation and a greater need for machines that can function on their own.

The U.S. military has begun to grapple with the implications of emerging technologies.

“Authorizing a machine to make lethal combat decisions is contingent upon political and military leaders resolving legal and ethical questions,” according to an Air Force treatise called Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047. “These include the appropriateness of machines having this ability, under what circumstances it should be employed, where responsibility for mistakes lies and what limitations should be placed upon the autonomy of such systems.”

In the future, micro-drones will reconnoiter tunnels and buildings, robotic mules will haul equipment and mobile systems will retrieve the wounded while under fire. Technology will save lives. But the trajectory of military research has led to calls for an arms-control regime to forestall any possibility that autonomous systems could target humans.

In Berlin last year, a group of robotic engineers, philosophers and human rights activists formed the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) and said such technologies might tempt policymakers to think war can be less bloody.

Some experts also worry that hostile states or terrorist organizations could hack robotic systems and redirect them. Malfunctions also are a problem: In South Africa in 2007, a semiautonomous cannon fatally shot nine friendly soldiers.

The ICRAC would like to see an international treaty, such as the one banning antipersonnel mines, that would outlaw some autonomous lethal machines. Such an agreement could still allow automated antimissile systems.

“The question is whether systems are capable of discrimination,” said Peter Asaro, a founder of the ICRAC and a professor at the New School in New York who teaches a course on digital war. “The good technology is far off, but technology that doesn’t work well is already out there. The worry is that these systems are going to be pushed out too soon, and they make a lot of mistakes, and those mistakes are going to be atrocities.”

Research into autonomy, some of it classified, is racing ahead at universities and research centers in the United States, and that effort is beginning to be replicated in other countries, particularly China.

“Lethal autonomy is inevitable,” said Ronald C. Arkin, the author of “Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots,” a study that was funded by the Army Research Office.

Arkin believes it is possible to build ethical military drones and robots, capable of using deadly force while programmed to adhere to international humanitarian law and the rules of engagement. He said software can be created that would lead machines to return fire with proportionality, minimize collateral damage, recognize surrender, and, in the case of uncertainty, maneuver to reassess or wait for a human assessment.

In other words, rules as understood by humans can be converted into algorithms followed by machines for all kinds of actions on the battlefield.

“How a war-fighting unit may think — we are trying to make our systems behave like that,” said Lora G. Weiss, chief scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

Others, however, remain skeptical that humans can be taken out of the loop.

“Autonomy is really the Achilles’ heel of robotics,” said Johann Borenstein, head of the Mobile Robotics Lab at the University of Michigan. “There is a lot of work being done, and still we haven’t gotten to a point where the smallest amount of autonomy is being used in the military field. All robots in the military are remote-controlled. How does that sit with the fact that autonomy has been worked on at universities and companies for well over 20 years?”

Borenstein said human skills will remain critical in battle far into the future.

“The foremost of all skills is common sense,” he said. “Robots don’t have common sense and won’t have common sense in the next 50 years, or however long one might want to guess.”

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matthew 24:37

Violence

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully.
—Genesis 6:11

The use of social media such as Twitter to gather a group in public places is helping those up to no good. Tourists in Chicago are on alert, and security has been beefed up on Michigan Avenue, home of the “Magnificent Mile.”

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matt 24:37

“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just•Strongs 6662: tsaddiyq, tsad-deek´; from 6663; just:—just, lawful, righteous (man). man and perfect•Strongs 8549: tamiym, taw-meem´; from 8552; entire (literally, figuratively or morally); also (as noun) integrity, truth:—without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely (-ity), sound, without spot, undefiled, upright(-ly), whole. in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt•Strongs 7843: shachath, shaw-khath´; a primitive root; to decay, i.e. (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively):—batter, cast off, corrupt(-er, thing), destroy(-er, -uction), lose, mar, perish, spill, spoiler, x utterly, waste(-r). before God, and the earth was filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully..”
— Genesis 6:9-11

Editors note about the word perfect• In James 1:27, when the Holy Spirit wrote the Book of James, through, James, the half brother of Jesus, He used the word unspotted.
• In the Strongs this word is defined •Strongs 2554 (aspilos, as´-pee-los; from 1 (as a negative particle) and 4695; unblemished (physically or morally): — without spot, unspotted.).
• Both in Noah’s generation and this, the Spirit of God is calling us to live purely in our walk with Him. In doing so we become the people like Noah.
• Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Let us continue in God’s Grace and live godly in this evil and perverse generation.
• As Noah and as Lot, we will see the deliverance of God.

“That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”
—Isaiah 30:9-11

Gangs of youths, apparently communicating via text messages, have robbed and severely beaten people including tourists in recent days and weeks. The attacks have been taking places in areas often perceived as safe and affluent.

A Chicago Tribune report tells of a 68-year-old man from Washington State who was set upon while he was smoking a cigar on a bench when youths surrounded him, attacked him and reportedly stole a phone and iPad. The report says a 42-year-old Japanese tourist also was beaten and robbed on a bicycle path bythe lakefront. The paper says seven were arrested, but that the group participating in the felonies was estimated at 15 to 20 people strong. One 20something suburbanite told Chicago’s WGN TV that he was hit so hard in the head with a baseball that it knocked his motorcycle helmet off. he managed to fight his way out of trouble and hail police, he said.

RELATED: Vancouver hockey riots highlight need for tourist awareness

An Msnbc.com report says that the Guardian Angels have stepped in to patrol parts of the Magnificent Mile tourist area (stores in the Water Tower area have been hit by mobs of robbers) and the city’s heavily traveled Red Line of the public transit system, which is believed to be used as transport for the mobs from their homes to the crime sites.

A spokesman for the city tells me that more than two dozen arrests have been made and that new mayor Rahm Emanuel (Barack Obama’s former White House chief of staff) has stepped up police presence.

The good news is that no mob robbings have been reported for a week, as far as I can see, but it’s always good to be aware.

DALLAS – At 2:00 in the afternoon on May 13, Dallas reported its thirteenth murder of the month.

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Days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
—Matt 24:37

“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just•Strongs 6662: tsaddiyq, tsad-deek´; from 6663; just:—just, lawful, righteous (man). man and perfect•Strongs 8549: tamiym, taw-meem´; from 8552; entire (literally, figuratively or morally); also (as noun) integrity, truth:—without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincerely (-ity), sound, without spot, undefiled, upright(-ly), whole. in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt•Strongs 7843: shachath, shaw-khath´; a primitive root; to decay, i.e. (causatively) ruin (literally or figuratively):—batter, cast off, corrupt(-er, thing), destroy(-er, -uction), lose, mar, perish, spill, spoiler, x utterly, waste(-r). before God, and the earth was filled with violence•Strongs 2555: chamacç, khaw-mawce´; from 2554; violence; by implication, wrong; by meton. unjust gain:—cruel(-ty), damage, false, injustice, x oppressor, unrighteous, violence (against, done), violent (dealing), wrong
•Strongs 2554: chamacç, khaw-mas´; a primitive root; to be violent; by implication, to maltreat:—make bare, shake off, violate, do violence, take away violently, wrong, imagine wrongfully..”
— Genesis 6:9-11

Editors note about the word perfect• In James 1:27, when the Holy Spirit wrote the Book of James, through, James, the half brother of Jesus, He used the word unspotted.
• In the Strongs this word is defined •Strongs 2554 (aspilos, as´-pee-los; from 1 (as a negative particle) and 4695; unblemished (physically or morally): — without spot, unspotted.).
• Both in Noah’s generation and this, the Spirit of God is calling us to live purely in our walk with Him. In doing so we become the people like Noah.
• Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Let us continue in God’s Grace and live godly in this evil and perverse generation.
• As Noah and as Lot, we will see the deliverance of God.

A sudden five-percent spike in killings comes after years of declines. In fact, Dallas hit a 50-year low in 2010.
Detectives can’t explain it, though some have suggested that the economy might be to blame.
However, one thing is clear: the homicide unit is scrambling to keep up with the unsolved cases.
Earlier this week, a security guard was killed when he walked in on a robbery at a Wing Stop on Buckner Boulevard. Investigators are seeking the killer.
And at 2 p.m. today, a man was killed in the 10,000 block of Cricket in southeast Dallas. The shooter remains on the run.
Despite the heavy case load, though, detectives have solved some high-profile murders, including the slayings of two people at a convenience store and the fatal shooting of a tow company employee days later .