Switzerland arming in preparation for European meltdown?

The Swiss Army is preparing contingency plans for violent unrest across Europe. A nation mostly famous for its banks, watches and chocolate fears it may face a massive influx of European refugees in the near future.

One of the world’s richest nations openly expressed concerns over the possible outcome of Europe’s continuing financial troubles, and is currently conducting army exercises against the possibility of riots along its borders.

In September, the Swiss military conducted exercises dubbed ‘Stabilo Due,’ with scenarios involving violent instability across the EU.

Switzerland has maintained an avowedly neutral stance for decades, and refused to join the eurozone when presented with the opportunity.

Bern’s biggest fear is likely the disorganization of neighboring nations’ armies that would follow general instability; the eurozone crisis and the severe austerity measures in the EU are forcing member-states to significantly slash their military budgets. If protest continues to spread across Europe, police and armed forces may find themselves ill-equipped to manage the unrest.

"I will not rule out that we will need the army in the coming years,” Swiss Defense Minister Ueli Maurer said last Sunday.

The Swiss Defense Ministry has pressed ahead to modernize the country’s army despite political opposition. With its multibillion-Franc military budget and an army of around 200,000 soldiers, the country also plans to purchase new ‘Saab Gripen’ jet fighters.

 “Minister Maurer, accompanied by whispers from the top uniformed leadership in Switzerland, is trying to raise awareness that Europe’s massive fiscal-cum-political crisis could get very unpleasant,” John R. Schindler, a professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College wrote in an article for the XX Committee website.

The Chief of the Swiss Armed Forces, Lieutenant General André Blattmann, likewise revealed plans to deploy an additional four battalions of military police (1,600 soldiers) to protect strategic points across the country. Blattmann is expected to present the plan in December.

Professor Schindler predicts that, “if the next Anders Brievik were to target Muslims, not fellow Europeans, things could get unimaginably ugly very quickly,” which could trigger widespread Muslim uprisings in Europe.

Switzerland, however, stands in stark opposition to the multicultural policies and thinking now common in other European nations. In 2009, Switzerland passed a national referendum banning the construction of Islamic minarets .

And while the global economic crisis has forced several European nations to cut military expenditures, Switzerland has maintained relatively consistent levels of defense spending.

WikiLeaks’ web host raided by Swedish police

The Stockholm-based web host for WikiLeaks and The Pirate Bay has been raided by Swedish police. Four of the firm’s servers were seized, though it remains unclear exactly who was being targeted.

The Stockholm-based web host PeRiQuito AB, or PRQ, was targeted by police on Monday, the company’s owner Mikael Viborg told local media.

"PRQ.se, one of a number of ISPs used by WikiLeaks has been raided by Swedish police; 4 servers seized. Police still in office," WikiLeaks tweeted on Monday.

A large swatch of filesharing sites, including The Pirate Bay and PRQ’s own website have been down since the raid, though Viborg says the technical issues were unrelated to the seizure of the servers.

Other bittorrent sites which are currently unavailable include torrenthound.com, linkomanija.net and tankafetast.nu, release blog RLSLOG.net, and the sports streaming sites atdhenet.tv, hahasport.com, sportlemon.tv and stopstream.tv, Torrent Freak reports.

Viborg says the search warrant was related to intellectual property violations, though it remains unclear whose servers were impounded.

The Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed that a raid had taken place, but did not provide any additional information.

Several Swedish government agencies and businesses were the victims of cyber attacks in the days leading up to the raid. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, though Swedish police claim they are linked to the ongoing sex crimes investigation against WikiLeaks-founder Julian Assange.

PRQ became infamous for its maximalist approach to free speech issues concerning its policy on hosting.

Among its 2,000 or so clients, the firm has hosted WikiLeaks, the North America Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), Pedophile.se, and the Chechen rebel site Kavkaz Central.

The Pirate Bay said PRQ is no longer their host, though Viborg said WikiLeaks was still hosted by PRQ as of last summer, Forbes reported.

“Even though I loathe what they say, I defend them,” Viborg told Forbes last August regarding his pro-pedophile clients. “We don’t cooperate with the authorities unless we absolutely have to.”

PQR was founded by The Pirate Bay members back in 2004 and has been raided by police on two separate occasions.

In 2006, Swedish police confiscated 180 servers in connection with an investigation targeting The Pirate Bay. A second raid occurred in 2010 targeting a filesharing network known as “The Scene.”

The Pirate Bay and PRQ co-founder Svartholm Warg was extradited to Sweden last month to serve a one-year sentence for breaching copyright laws. He is also being charged with hacking into the Swedish IT security company Logica, a firm that services the Swedish tax office. The tax numbers of 9,000 Swedes were later leaked online, making headlines around the country.

Ex-TSA agent: We steal from travelers all the time

A TSA agent convicted of stealing more than $800,000 worth of goods from travelers said this type of theft is “commonplace” among airport security. Almost 400 TSA officers have been fired for stealing from passengers since 2003.

­Pythias Brown, a former Transportation Security Administration officer at Newark Liberty International Airport, spent four years stealing everything he could from luggage and security checkpoints, including clothing, laptops, cameras, Nintendo Wiis, video games and cash.

Speaking publicly for the first time after being released after three years in prison, Brown told ABC News that he used the X-ray scanners to locate the most valuable items to snatch.

“I could tell whether it was cameras or laptops or portable cameras or whatever kind of electronic was in the bag,” he said.

Brown often worked alone, screening luggage behind the ticket counters. He was frequently told the overhead surveillance cameras, installed to prevent theft, were not working.

“It was so easy,” he said. “I walked right out of the checkpoint with a Nintendo Wii in my hand. Nobody said a word.”

With more electronics than any one individual could need, Brown began to sell the stolen items on eBay. At the time of his arrest, he was selling 80 cameras, video games and computers online. Brown said the theft was comparable to an addiction.

“It was like being on drugs,” he said. “I was like, ‘What am I doing?’ but the next day I was right back at it.”

Brown was finally caught after selling a camera he stole from the luggage of a CNN producer. When he sold the camera on eBay, he forgot to remove the news networks’ logo stickers.

“I got complacent,” he said.

TSA’s culture of theft

But while Brown believes he might have been one of the worst thieves at the TSA, he imagines the agency’s culture makes it easy for others to do the same. Many officers don’t care about their work and complain about low pay and being treated badly, he claims, which prompts them to steal. To make it even easier to get away with, TSA managers also never search their employees’ bags.

The agency says it has a zero-tolerance policy for theft and terminates the contracts of all thieves within the TSA. In the past ten years, almost 400 TSA officers have been fired for stealing, 11 of which were fired this year.

ABC’s interview with Brown highlights the extent of the dilemma passengers face when traveling with valuables. Brown is just one of many officers caught in the act of stealing goods worth thousands.

In February, 2011, two TSA officers were arrested for stealing $40,000 in cash from a checked bag in New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. Using an X-ray machine, the men found that the bag contained $170,000 and removed some of the money.

In the first two months of this year, a TSA baggage screener in Orlando was arrested for stealing valuables by hiding them in a laptop-sized hidden pocket in his jacket and selling the goods on Craigslist. And, a New Jersey-based agent stole $5,000 in cash from a passenger’s jacket as he was going through security

While in April, a Texas-based TSA officer stole eight iPads from checked bags, while another officer stole a $15,000 watch from a passenger at the Los Angeles International Airport in May.

“It was very commonplace, very,” Brown said, describing the frequency of theft within the TSA.

“TSA is probably the worst personnel manager that we have in the entire federal government,” said Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation Committee. “It is an outrage to the public and, actually, to our aviation security system.”

Islamic Terrorists, - At least 26 killed in Iraq in wave of car bomb attacks

A series of car bomb explosions has killed at least 26 people and injured 94 others in Iraq. The attackers targeted Shia neighborhoods, police checkpoints, and security forces across the country.

The deadliest attacks were bombs in three parked cars that went off in Taji, 20 kilometers north of Baghdad, killing eight people and wounding 28, AP reported.

Two police officers were killed when a car bomb went off in the town of Balad Ruz, 90 kilometers northeast of the Iraqi capital.

In Shula, northwestern Baghdad's Shia neighborhood, a suicide bomber detonated a car packed with explosives, killing one and injuring seven others, an Iraqi police source told AP.

In a separate incident, an unidentified gunman killed an Iraqi police colonel in the Amel neighborhood south of the capital. The shootout was followed by a car bomb explosion, Al Jazeera reported.

Bombings also reportedly targeted a police convoy and two police officers in Baquba, north of Baghdad, and in Kut, south of the capital.

Iraqi militants often use explosives against security troops. The last large-scale attack was on September 26, when two roadside bombs killed five people near Hilla south of Baghdad, including a police lieutenant colonel and two other officers. The incident came the day after a series of insurgent attacks across central Iraq that left nine people dead.

For Those Who Cannot Afford The Real Thing

Spanish port police recently checked a cargo container going from Turkey to Djibouti (via Algeciras) and found 22,272 starter pistols and 13,500 additional pistol magazines. The container was supposed to contain clothing. These pistols are built to fire blank (no bullets) ammo and have an obstruction in the unrifled barrel to prevent a bullet from passing.

But Djibouti is in Africa, north of Somalia, and Africa has been building crude firearms, and modifying starter pistols to fire real ammo, for many years. Starter pistols cost less than half the real thing, use 9mm ammo and can be converted in a few hours by a skilled metal worker. Starter pistols use lower quality metal because the blank rounds impose less stress on the weapon. The conversion results in a weapon that is less reliable and more prone to blowing up.

Most parts of Africa have a metal working tradition that goes back over a thousand years. The manufacture of crude weapons is mainly to supply hunters, gangsters, and anyone needing an illegal firearm for any reason and cannot afford to buy a factory made model (even the cheap stuff from China). The cheapest of these weapons is basically a single shot pistol firing a .410 (10.4mm) or 20 gauge (15.6mm) shotgun shell. This is for a young thug, or a homeowner desiring protection. These are accurate enough for something within 2-3 meters (5-10 feet). Not much good for hunting. These cost $25-$40 each. These gunsmiths can also make full size (or sawed off) shotguns (single or double barrel), that sell for $80-$250. These could be used for hunting. There are also handmade, 9mm revolvers for about $100. These weapons are found all over the place, mostly among those who can't afford to pay a thousand dollars or more for a factory made weapon. On the down side, these weapons are more dangerous to use, often lacking a safety switch, and prone to exploding, rather than firing, when the trigger is pulled.

The converted starter pistols look like the real thing (an intentional design and marketing decision, and it's legal) and once converted sell for $300 or more. At close range (under 10 meters/31 feet) they are about as effective as they real thing.