By Hunter Walker, TPM DC, April 15, 2013

[....] Il Woo Park is a 64-year-old South Korean national with legal permanent resident status in the United States. According to court documents, news reports, and filings with the government, Park has had extensive dealings with North Korea, South Korea — and the FBI. His unique relationships with the United States and the two Koreas remain murky and perhaps unprecedented.

[....] In 2007, Park ended up in federal court charged with multiple counts of lying to FBI agents who were investigating South Korean spies living covertly in the United States. His case involved secret phone lines that even the FBI was unable to identify, a meeting at Grant’s Tomb in Manhattan — and envelopes of cash. Park eventually pleaded guilty to all of the charges but was sentenced only to probation. The plea agreement remains sealed. After his conviction Park was still allowed to travel back and forth between New York and Pyongyang even while on probation.

North Korea’s response to Park’s alleged work with South Korean spies was perhaps even more unusal than the gentle handling he received from the United States. At his trial, Park admitted to using his business trips to North Korea to obtain information for South Korean intelligence agencies. In spite of this, the reclusive North Korean government continued to allow him into the country and even deepened their relationships with his business. [....]

By Paige Williams, Elements blog @ newyorker.com, April 17, 2013

[.....] Hall said he was particularly intrigued, looking at pictures from the marathon scene, by the smoke. It was white, and immediate, and there was lots of it, which he said isn’t usually the case. “I was puzzled about that,” he said. Hall is thirty-five but has silvering hair, buzzed short— not unlike that of military guys or the law-enforcement officers he worked with early in his career—and now he ran a hand through it. To him, the color of the smoke, and the volume, suggested a high explosive.

Investigators would be asking witnesses not only what they saw and smelled (you don’t need to be a scientist to know that sulfur smells different than gasoline) but also what they heard. They would be listening to the blasts themselves, via valuable video footage—law-enforcement authorities have put out a call for any and all images. The trained ear can evaluate the brisance, or sound of an explosion, the way an oenophile might be able to tell a Chardonnay from a Pinot Grigio from a Sauvignon Blanc, or a gun enthusiast might tell a cap gun from a handgun from a shotgun. “Higher explosions tend to give a very loud crack rather than a low-toned boom,” Hall said.

The investigators would also consider [....]

By Constanze Letsch in Istanbul, guardian.co.uk, 15 April, 2013

A Turkish court has convicted pianist and composer Fazil Say of blasphemy and inciting hatred over a series of comments he made on Twitter last year.

The musician was given a suspended 10-month jail term. His lawyer, Meltem Akyol, said his client would have to serve the term if he committed a similar offence within the next five years.

Say, who was not present at the hearing, issued a statement calling the verdict "a sad one for Turkey". He denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.

The 43-year-old went on trial in October accused of denigrating Islam in a series of tweets earlier last year. In one message he retweeted a verse from a poem by Omar Khayyám in which the 11th-century Persian poet attacks pious hypocrisy [.....]

By Adam Nossiter, New York Times, April 15/16, 2013

[....] The stakes were high. Millions in cash, guns and drugs were on the table, and a swaggering figure around town, the former chief of the Guinea-Bissau Navy, Rear Adm.José Américo Bubo Na Tchuto, was determined to claim his share: a cool $1 million for each 1,000 kilos of cocaine brought in under his front company. He would then store it in an underground bunker.

Mr. Na Tchuto did not know it, but some in the sweaty negotiations were Drug Enforcement Administration operatives. The trap had been set, and on Monday, the former admiral found himself in a Manhattan courtroom facing federal drug trafficking charges, the culmination of elaborate American stings two weeks ago [.....]

WCVB.com, April 15, 2013, 3:21 pm 4:51 pm

BOSTON —Two explosions have been reported near the Boston Marathon finish line on Boylston Street as thousands of people gathered for the race, and there are reports of injuries.

The blasts happened at about 2:50 p.m. near the intersection of Boylston and Exeter streets. Store fronts have been blown out, and there have been reports of dozens of injuries.

Witnesses said several victims lost limbs, and the area was being evacuated [....]

BOSTON —Two people were killed and at least 23 people were injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line of the  Boston Marathon on Monday.

A senior U.S. intelligence official said two more explosive devices were found near the area, and they were being dismantled.

The first blasts happened at about 2:50 p.m. near the intersection of Boylston and Exeter streets. Bloody spectators were carried away from the area, and witnesses said several victims lost limbs.

A Rhode Island state trooper who had just finished the race ran to help the victims.

"We started grabbing tourniquets and started tying legs," he said. "At least 25 to 30 people have at least one leg missing, or an ankle missing, or two legs missing."

"People started throwing down the barricade and running over one another. I literally saw the garbage barrel explode, and I ran as fast as I could," said one runner. 

Boston police said two people died, and at least 22 were injured. Many tired and scared runners were seen wandering around the area, desperate to find loved ones.

A doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital said the injured looked as if they "were in a war zone." [.....]

Yes the right wing media is lying about Kermit Gosnell, the only question we need to ask is why it took them two years to pay attention to it.

This is not an abstract argument. Obama's gun-control push is on the ropes after the bill banning semi-automatic pistols and weapons, as well as high-capacity magazines, died in the Senate. Remaining measures include providing resources for school "tip lines, surveillance equipment, secured entrances" - such as metal detectors and armed police - and enabling the use of National Guard troops to "ensure schools are safe." That's right. The response to guns in schools is to put soldiers cradling machine guns in schools.

By Sebnem Arsu, New York Times, April 11/12, 2013

ISTANBUL — Turkish police said Thursday that they had found evidence of a plot linked to Al Qaeda to bomb the United States Embassy in Ankara, a synagogue in Istanbul and other targets, from a raid on two houses in February, according to news reports.

The reports said the police had seized nearly 50 pounds of plastic explosives with detonation systems attached, as well as six laptop computers and other evidence. Twelve people were detained during the operation — two Chechens, two Azeris and eight Turks.

The evidence was gathered during a raid on two terrorist cells, one in Istanbul and one in Corlu, a district of Tekirdag on the Sea of Marmara. Forensic analysis of the computers’ contents and other documents, officials said, revealed preparations for bomb attacks on the embassy, the private Rahmi M. Koc Museum and a synagogue in the Balat district of Istanbul [.....]

Now that all the confetti has scattered and the euphoria has died down, we can start looking into what really happened during US President Barack Obama’s visit to Jerusalem March 20.

By Thomas Bollky, The Atlantic, April 10, 2013

By rejecting patent applications, developing countries have kept down the costs of much-needed medications. Can they continue to do so without harming efforts to develop new drugs?

First they bail them out with 0% free money to goose the stock market and bank stock, now they refuse to release documents (can't says the Fed, it's 'trade secrets we must protect') on illegal banking practices, letter to the Fed:

4/10/2013

Dear Chairman Bernanke and Comptroller Curry:
We are writing to urge you to reconsider the position relayed by your staff at a meeting yesterday that you will not provide any documents in response to our January 31, 2013, request as Members of Congress relating to systemic and widespread violations of law committed by mortgage servicing companies.....

Announcing new restrictions on the press covering Bradley Manning’s court-martial trial at Fort Meade, MD, a military spokesperson said, “This media operation center is a privilege, not a requirement. Privileges can be taken away.”