WNU Editor: For more pictures of how the President is protected, go here. For the complete archive on how President Obama is protected, go here.

Hat Tip: Extra Good Shit

How The Secret Service Defends The Commander in Chief )Photo Gallery) is a post from: Updated News

The deadly drone could find and dispatch single-person targets, with “very low collateral damage”

Missile strikes by Predators, Reapers, or other aerial drones usually result in messy explosions on the ground. Now the never-ending but perhaps futile quest to attain zero collateral damage may take another step forward, with a small micro-drone missile that can kill individual targets from afar. A new $1.18-million, Phase-III Air Force contract (Phase III is typically the final development phase) for the “Anubis” drone has been awarded to the firm Aerovironment, Aviation Week’s Ares Defense Blog reports.

Read more ….

My Comment: This is probably the ultimate weapon for an assassin. There is no need for a direct line of sight …. you just direct the drone to the area that you want, and it’s eyes becomes your eyes while you seek your target.

Memo to the Secret Service …. one more headache to be aware of in the future.

Mini Drones Built To Kill is a post from: Updated News

Protecting the US president has presented the secret service with the greatest challenge in its history. But who wants to kill him? And how likely are they to succeed?

The Southern Poverty Law Center began life in 1971 as a tiny law firm specialising in civil rights cases. It took on the might of the Ku Klux Klan, and was duly rewarded by having its offices razed and its senior lawyers targeted for assassination. But it kept on going and grew to be one of the most respected monitoring groups of rightwing extremism in America today.

Read more ….

My Comment: A fascinating article that could have been written better …. unfortunately …. this article only focuses on white racist crimes with President Obama being (according to the reporter) the ultimate target and/or reason for this crime.

Case in point …. James von Brunn, aged 88, walks into the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington and shoots dead a security guard. Von Brunn, who died last month in jail awaiting trial, left a note that read: “Obama was created by Jews.”

What the Guardian reporter Ed Pilkington conveniently omits is that Von Brunn also hated President Bush.

In addition, President Bush was also exposed to numerous assassination threats and dangers …. from Islamic to anti-war to radical left wing groups gunning for him …. but this story is also conveniently abbreviated by the Guardian.

Regardless of who occupies the White House …. there will always be fringe groups and radicalized individuals who believe that it is their duty to kill the President. For the Guardian to focus on only one group that wants the President dead is a disservice to its readers, and ignores the bigger picture.

A better article is from the Telegraph in 2009, and that link is here.

The World Of President Obama’s Bodyguards is a post from: Updated News

From The Jerusalem Post:

Was Israel’s secret service behind the unexplained hijacking of a Russian freighter, to foil a secret attempt to ship cruise missiles to Iran?

The mystery surrounding the hijacking of a Russian freighter in July has taken a new twist with reports claiming the pirates were acting in league with the Mossad in order to halt a shipment of modern weapon systems hidden on board and destined for the Islamic republic.

Read more ….

Update: ‘We Found Nothing Conspicuous on Board’ — Der Spiegel

My Comment: Who wants to hijack $1 million dollars of timber and sawdust? Much of this case does not make sense …. and much will probably not be known until the hijackers are put on trial.

But if the hijackers are not put on trial …. hmmmm ….

Did Mossad Hijack Russian Ship To Stop Iran Arms Shipment? is a post from: Updated News

US President Barack Obama is the target of more than 30 potential death threats a day and is being protected by an increasingly over-stretched and under-resourced Secret Service, according to a new book.

Since Mr Obama took office, the rate of threats against the president has increased 400 per cent from the 3,000 a year or so under President George W. Bush, according to Ronald Kessler, author of In the President’s Secret Service.

Some threats to Mr Obama, whose Secret Service codename is Renegade, have been publicised, including an alleged plot by white supremacists in Tennessee late last year to rob a gun store, shoot 88 black people, decapitate another 14 and then assassinate the first black president in American history.

Read more ….

My Comment: I remembered reading that there were over 1,000 active investigations on threats against President Reagan when he was in the White House.

Sigh …. being a leader in a democracy is sometimes a thankless job.

It Is Not Safe To Be The President Of The United States is a post from: Updated News

Painter Alexander Shednov, also known as Shurik, portrayed the former president in a tight, low-cut dress with long hair and large hoop earrings.

He said the image was a protest against Putin – who fosters a reputation as a strongman – trying to return to the Kremlin for a third presidential term.

In the top left hand corner of the picture Shednov shows his subject saying: ‘Oh I don’t know – a third Presidential term? It is a bit too much….on the other hand, three is a charm.’

The artist had attempted to beam the portrait onto the main administrative building in Voronezh, his home city, on Russian Independence Day last Friday.

But Shednov’s endeavour did not go down well with the FSB, which replaced the KGB as Russia’s intelligence agency.

He was arrested by counter-intelligence officials, claims he was questioned for seven hours and beaten.

Friends said his flat had also been searched and some of his paintings removed.

Shednov now faces a charge of inappropriate behaviour and is due before a court.

Critics will see it as the latest evidence of intolerance by the authorities to harmless protests and freedom of expression in Russia.

There is no legal obstacle to Putin standing for a third term in office if the current president Dmitry Medvedev stands aside or in the next scheduled election in 2012.

The portrait of Vladimir Putin as a woman which got artist arrested by secret service is a post from: Updated News

The U.S. Secret Service is asking for $34 million to help upgrade its communication system, and says that without the money the president’s life could be in danger, according to a news report.

The agency says that its communication system is incompatible with the White House communication system, resulting in a “dangerous gap” that could “prevent the attainment of the performance target of 100 percent protection.”

The statements appeared in a 2010 budget request, submitted to Congress this month, according to ABC News. According to the request, the agency’s “degraded” networks and software are “adversely impacting critical operational missions” and could thwart agents communicating in an emergency.

Read more ….

My Comment: The Secret Service will get the money.

Report: Faulty Communications Imperil President is a post from: Updated News

Oh, to be a pool reporter:

President-elect Barack Obama will spend the Christmas and New Year’s holidays on an extended vacation with his family in Hawaii, Democratic sources confirmed today. [...] The Christmas trek to Hawaii may be a regular occurrence for Obama in the White House, which would please the press corps, the Secret Service, WHCA and the locals to no end — though it must be said: Crawford was probably easier to secure.

Mele kalikimaka!

I’m dreaming of a … tropical Christmas is a post from: Updated News

UPDATE: Now they’re saying cell phone records, not cell phone. When they first broke the story, I transcribed it word for word. What can I say? Fixing the title.

UPDATE: It was Obama’s personal flip-cell phone. No calls involved were from the last couple of weeks, since he gave the phone up awhile ago.

He was notified yesterday. The employees accessed his billing records, so had access to the phone numbers, both incoming and outgoing. No word if they leaked the information, nor on how many employees were involved. No word if they figured out his home number or any other numbers. They don’t know the extent of this yet.

It’s reminiscent of the passport breach awhile back. And Joe the Plumber’s records have been violated, too.

An apology was issued.

ORIGINAL POST–
Just breaking on CNN:

The cell phone in question is not the phone he uses now, but an old one he used a few months ago. There is an investigation underway.

No Blackberry or email device was attached to it. Verizon employees went through his billing records, and could have shared his information. That is the speculation, but no facts yet to back that up. Obama has been notified, of course.

No criminal investigation by the Secret Service is being done.

Nobody monitored Obama’s voice mail.

The Obama transition team is trying to downplay the criminal aspect, deciding whether to turn it over to a prosecutor.

UPDATE BY PADDY- Link to the CNN story here.

BREAKING: Verizon employees hacked Obama’s cell phone records is a post from: Updated News