Pascagoula Creature Abductee Dies

Charles E Hickson Sr (left above), one of two men who reported they were abducted from the banks of Mississippi's Pascagoula River by aliens in 1973, has died at the age of 80. Mr Hickson died on Friday, September 9, 2011, in Ocean Springs, officials with O'Bryant-O'Keefe Funeral Home in Gautier said. He spent nearly 40 years reliving the reported encounter. He also co-wrote a book, UFO Contact at Pascagoula. On October 11, 1973, Mr Hickson and Calvin Parker were fishing on the Pascagoula River. What seemed to be the beginning of a peaceful night turned to chaos when the pair said they suddenly found themselves in a close encounter with an alien craft and its occupants. Mr Hickson, then 42, and Mr Parker, then 19, did not want their account publicised, but a reported leak to the newspaper made publicity inevitable. After reporting their account to the sheriff's office, Mr Hickson and Mr Parker both passed lie detector tests and were even questioned under hypnosis. Investigators are on record saying the pair's story never wavered. Mr Hickson said in a 2008 interview with WLOX-TV: 'I am not trying to force anybody to believe anything. I just simply tell them what happened to Calvin and me, and they make up their own minds if they want to believe it or not.' Mr Parker, who was last reported living in Louisiana, has declined to discuss the matter. According to Mr Hickson's account, two of the creatures from the ship seized him and another grabbed Mr Parker, who fainted. He said the aliens held them for about 20-30 minutes. 'Something came out of that wall, like a big eye. It came up in front of me, it went under me, and it came back up my back side. The next time I saw it, it came over my head in front of me. They turned me around and carried me right back out where they pick me up.' Then, Mr Hickson said, within the blink of an eye, it was all over. He said the UFO was gone, and the men were left wondering what had happened. A native of Jones County, Mr Hickson served in the Army during the Korean War. He is survived by two sons, three daughters, a brother and a sister; and 10 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. A graveside service will be held on Thursday at 1pm at McGill Cemetery in Sandersville. Source. Pascagoula is a major industrial city of Mississippi, along the Gulf Coast. Prior to World War II, the town was a sleepy fishing village of only about 5,000. The population exploded with the war-driven shipbuilding industry. Although the city's population seemed to peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s as Cold War defense spending was at its height, Pascagoula experienced some new growth and development in the years beforeHurricane Katrina. Today, Pascagoula is home to the state’s largest employer, Ingalls Shipbuilding, owned by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems. Other major industries include one of the largest Chevron refineries in the country; Signal International, an oil platform builder; and Mississippi Phosphates. The Pascagoula, Mississippi, Incident Hickson/Parker Abduction October 11, 1973 Charles Hickson (42) Calvin Parker (19) Case Preliminary: Witnesses were fishing after dark off a pier in an abandoned shipyard. Heard or happened to turn and detect something behind them. Initial activities: Beings floated toward them from a hovering craft, grabbed Hickson by his arms causing pain in left shoulder and immobilizing him. Another being grabbed Parker by the arm and he lost consciousness. Hickson recalled being lifted off the ground and floated with the beings into the craft. He saw Parker go limp. Air Force sketch depicts the alien being as Charles Hickson and Calvin Parker described it.Craft/Beings: Domed oval object descended, hovered just off the ground emitting a buzzing noise. A door opened revealing a brightly lighted interior. Three robot-like beings just over 5 ft. (1.5 m) tall emerged and floated toward them. They had no visible neck, slit mouth, pointed nose, and ears. Eyes not prominent, maybe slits. Rough gray skin, mummy-like appearance. Unusually long arms with clawlike hands. Feet were elephant-like. Onboard features: Interior was brilliantly lighted. No furniture seen, only a screenlike device on the wall. Hickson seemed to hang suspended in the air at an angle of 45 degrees as an eyelike device appeared out of the wall. In a state of shock, Charles Hickson does not attempt to resist the silvery-looking creatures who lead him into the examination room of their craft.Onboard activities: The device circled Hickson, first moving down his front, then up his back and over his head, stopping in front of his face. The beings moved in a stiff, mechanical way as if robots, but worked quickly and efficiently. One made a buzzing sound. When they were through they disappeared for a while. Communication: Hickson "heard" a message in his mind that the beings were peaceful. Termination/Return: The beings returned and grasped Hickson again, floating him through the opening in the craft and back to the pier. His legs collapsed when he touched the ground. Parker was standing rigidly with a look of terror on his face. Hickson shook Parker and they watched the craft and blue light shoot straight up emitting a whistling sound and quickly disappear Aftermath: Next day Hickson suffered bleeding from his left arm where the being had grasped him, and later he had nightmares. Parker suffered a nervous breakdown, Over the past 20 years Hickson has had an obsession about the encounter and its meaning, leading him to attend UFO conferences as a speaker and observer. He has reported follow-up communications and encounters. Source: Volume II, The UFO Evidence, A Thirty Year Report, Richard H. Hall, Page 534-535. Source: NICAP.

Arkansas Shooting

According to Van Buren Police a lone shooter entered the Crawford County Courthouse in Van Buren, Arkansas, around 4:00 pm.  Police say the suspect then shot a secretary who witnesses have identified as Vicki Jones.

The shooter was shot and injured by Van Buren Police.  Both have been transported to the hospital for their injuries.  A Van Buren police officer was also injured by flying glass as police exchanged gunfire with the shooter.  Van Buren Police are currently not releasing the name of the suspect.

Lt. Brent Grill with the Van Buren Police Department said police were called to a disturbance at the courthouse, and one person was possibly shot inside. A gun battle involving the suspect, VBPD and the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department then ensued outside the courthouse, Grill said.

Sebastian County deputies are at a local hospital guarding the suspect, who is undergoing surgery, Sebastian County Sheriff Bill Hollenbeck said.

Elaine Stanfield, administrative assistant to County Judge John Hall, said she first heard the shots at 3:30 p.m.

“I heard girls screaming upstairs; this all started upstairs,” said Stanfield, whose office is on the first floor of the courthouse. “I pushed the panic button — everyone has panic button under their desk that goes to sheriff’s office — and I picked up the phone and dialed 911.”

The suspect shot off multiple rounds while moving, Grill said, striking a nearby Van Buren police cruiser. Veteran Van Buren police officer Dave Passen received minor injuries from glass, Grill said.

Stanfield says she saw the suspect, a “heavyset man between 35-40 years of age” who was wearing a long duster style coat. Stanfield was still on the phone with 911 and heard a dispatcher say “our guys are being fired at,” then heard the shooting stop.

“This has changed our lives,” Stanfield said.

Fort Smith police Capt. Jarrard Copeland said a call about the shooting came through dispatch at 3:44 p.m.; 20 to 30 officers from Fort Smith were dispatched to the scene.

Hollenbeck said security at courthouses in Fort Smith and Greenwood has been increased as a precautionary measure until law enforcement officials can confirm no one else is involved in the courthouse shooting in Crawford County.

County Judge John Hall says the courthouse will be closed Wednesday but will try to open Thursday morning.

“We’re probably looking at getting security guards,” Hall said. “We have six entrances at the courthouse. Yes, there is going to be a change in security. The days to free access to the oldest courthouse west of the Mississippi is over.”

Crawford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. It is part of the Fort Smith, Arkansas Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 61,948. The county seat is Van Buren. Crawford County was formed on October 18, 1820, and named for William H. Crawford who was United States Secretary of War in 1815.

Thousands of self-claimed "Western Band of Cherokee" (or Arkansas Cherokees) fought for state and federal recognition as a political entity of Native Americans. Crawford County was historically part of the Cherokee Nation, which lost its tribal sovereignty status as a result of the U.S. Civil war in the 1860s. The Cherokee Nation was subsequently relocated to the west in the present-day state of Oklahoma.

The area was settled by David Boyd and Thomas Martin in the year 1818. After Arkansas became a territory in 1819 Daniel and Thomas Phillips constructed a lumber yard in the community to serve as a fuel depot for river traffic. In the year 1831 a post office was constructed for the community, at the time known as Phillips Landing. This post office was named after the newly appointed Secretary of State, Martin Van Buren. The city of Van Buren is a result of that legacy.

IHOP Shooting: Update 5 Dead

The International House of Pancake (IHOP) site in Carson City, Nevada, where a mass shooting occurred on September 6, 2011. Photo: KOLO-ABC News.

This is another view of the same IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nevada, where multiple people were shot. Photo: Reno Journal Gazette.

With bullet holes seen in a window, officers look for evidence at the scene of a shooting at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nevada. Photo: Cathleen Allison.

Three people are dead after a gunman opened fire at a Nevada IHOP restaurant Tuesday morning, wounding himself and nine other people.

The shooting happened at about 9 a.m. local time at the Carson City restaurant, located in a strip mall on the state capital's main street.

At least two of the three people killed were National Guardsmen in uniform.
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UPDATE September 7th
A third National Guard member, an as yet unidentified woman, has died from injuries suffered in a shooting rampage that took place at a Nevada IHOP restaurant, according to the Carson City, Nevada sheriff. The shooting spree has now left five people dead, including the shooter, and left seven wounded.
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It wasn't immediately clear whether the gunman had any connection with the military or the guard, said Nevada National Guard Sgt. Mike Getten. He said guard members were meeting at the restaurant.

Witnesses said a man pulled up in a blue minivan around 9 a.m. at the IHOP restaurant in a strip mall on Carson City's main street. He shot a man on a motorcycle, then walked inside the restaurant and started shooting, said Ralph Swagler, owner of Locals Barbecue in the same strip mall as the IHOP.

Swagler told the Reno Journal Gazette that after several minutes, the man walked outside and began firing into the Locals Barbecue and an H&R Block in the strip mall.

Law enforcement officers responded but fired no shots during the ordeal.

One victim died at a hospital in Carson City. Seven additional victims are now being treated at area hospitals, authorities said.

A man with an AK-47 assault rifle shot an entire group of five uniformed National Guard members eating breakfast at a Nevada IHOP, killing two of them and a woman nearby in a hail of gunfire.

The suspect, 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion of Carson City, also shot himself and later died at a hospital. 

Local and state police and FBI agents descended on the scene on South Carson Street, also called U.S. 395. Yellow tape surrounded the parking lot near a Kohl's department store in a shopping complex across the street from a casino and hotel.

The area formerly known as Eagle Valley was "discovered" by John C. Fremont (who would later be a presidential candidate of the Radical Republicans in 1864) and his exploration party in January 1843. Fremont named the river flowing through the valley Carson River in honor of Christopher "Kit" Carson, the mountain man and scout he had hired for his expedition. 

Carson City is the capital of Nevada and it is the source of a long history. For example, Carson Lodge # 1 has the distinction of being the first Freemason's lodge in the State of Nevada.  Its first records date back to early 1862 (when Nevada was still a Territory).  Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) visited this Lodge during the time when he was in Carson City.  

IHOPs have been the site of previous shootings.

In temporal context:

Monday (September 5, 2011) night...Fairchance, WV and then into Lewis County, KY...6 dead (including shooter)

Also Monday night (September 5, 2011), near Lake George, into Warren County, NY...3 dead (including shooter)

Then Tuesday morning (September 6, 2011), Carson City, NV...5 dead (including shooter)

Finally, Tuesday evening (September 6, 2011), shooting at Lorena's, West Philadelphia, PA...3 dead (apparent robbery)

("Lewis" and "Warren" are two names tied to Freemasonry onomatology.)

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Official IHOP Statements:

A senseless shooting at our IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nevada earlier this morning resulted in a tragic loss of life. I’m on my way there now to assist in any way possible. Our hearts go out to the victims, members of their families and all those affected. Thank you for your continued thoughts and support for those in need. —Jean Birch, President, IHOP Restaurants. 9/6/11, 1:31 p.m. (PDT) Our hearts ache for all the victims of this senseless act of violence. I am in Carson City and am grateful to the public safety officials and first responders here. They could not be kinder or more professional. The people of Carson City have also shown incredible support for the victims and IHOP’s team members. I am grateful tp all and to the IHOP team members for their tremendous resolve during this tragedy. Thank you. Jean Birch President, IHOP Restaurants

9/11/11: Small Planes Into Buildings?

Bank of America, Tampa, Florida, 2002.

Sam Vaknin, Ph.D., in the Global Politician on September 26, 2005, wrote, "the September atrocities [of 9/11] provoked a wave of copycats and renewed awareness of such risks."

Pirelli Tower, Milan, Italy, 2002.

Mentioning the January 2002-Tampa and April 2002-Milan incidents I wrote about in my "Planes into Buildings" chapter of The Copycat Effect (2004), Vaknin also cited another one: "At the beginning of May 2002, an Indian air force jet crashed into a bank building in northwestern India. Eight died in the ensuing fire."

It all began with the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers.

World Trade Center Complex; image of replica by InFocusTech (10% of sales to the American Red Cross).


Could a copycat event occur at the world's other twin towers in the future? 

Petronas Towers are located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Image of replica by InFocusTech.

Were you aware there have been other possible and actual small-planes-into-buildings copycat events in the last decade?

On Monday, September 12, 2005, a father in a "too large for the detectors" wheelchair dodged a checkpoint and smuggled grenades onto a plane. The father and son hijackers surrendered five hours after commandeering an Aires airliner around midday on that Monday after it departed from the southern city of Florencia on a flight headed to Colombia's capital, Bogota. All passengers and crew were eventually freed unharmed before the hijackers, 42-year-old Porfirio Ramirez and his 22-year-old son, Linsen Ramirez, gave up and were arrested.

As to Porfirio Ramirez, one realizes that he had his own motives and reasons, but the copycat factor comes into play regarding the whole theme of my posting - he picked the day after a September 11th.  I don't consider hijackers heroes, no matter their reasons or how many movies are made of them.

On the morning of Tuesday, September 13, 2005, Adane Bayu Arage, an Israeli youth attempted to get a disassembled gun and 22 bullets, hidden inside a tool, onto a plane. He allegedly planned to hijack a passenger plane, Ethiopian Airlines Flight Number 424, in the capital of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The youth was born in Ethiopia and later immigrated to Israel. The Israeli Foreign Ministry questioned whether the suspect was Israeli.

On Saturday, September 17, 2005, a man hijacked a plane in "New Zealand’s commercial capital and biggest city," in direct copycat of 9/11, which occurred in America's commerical, financial, and media "capital," New York City. The N.Z. hijacker said he was going to fly it into Auckland's tallest building, the Sky Tower (shown directly above). Instead, he crashed the plane into the sea on that Saturday night and was rescued and taken to a hospital. Not coincidentally, September 17th is New Zealand's General Election Day. The leaders of the parties were awaiting the election results in Auckland, not in N.Z.'s capital city, Wellington.

On January 5, 2002, Charles Bishara Bishop, 15, crashed a plane into Tampa's Bank of America Building (above and at top), in a copycat of the 9/11 attacks. Bishop died by suicide during that event. It can be done. A sixteen-year-old boy was arrested by FBI agents for plotting to hijack a plane as part of his own bizarre suicide bid, as reported on January 25, 2008. FBI spokesman George Bolds said the teenager was removed Tuesday night (January 22, 2008) from Southwest Airlines Flight 284 by authorities at Nashville International Airport and found with "suspicious" items (handcuffs, rope and duct tape in his bag). The juvenile was alone and suicidal. He remains unidentified.

The airliner reportedly was suppose to be crashed into the "Hannah Montana" concert performing on Friday, January 25, 2008, in Lafayette, Louisiana, at the Lafayette Cajundome (above).

On February 17, 2010, in Palo Alto, California, a twin-engine Cessna 310 crashed in a residential neighborhood (above), killing three employees of electric-car maker Tesla Motors (logo, below) who were aboard the plane. The accident caused a major power outage in Palo Alto, including at the office of Facebook, but no one was injured on the ground.

The pilot was Doug Bourn, 56, a senior electrical engineer who had worked for the electric carmaker for five years and who mentored others. The other two passengers have been identified as Andrew Ingram, 31, of Palo Alto, an electrical engineer; and Brian M. Finn, 42, of East Palo Alto; a senior manager of interactive electronics. Finn reportedly lived with his one-year-old daughter just two blocks from where the plane went down in East Palo Alto. Chief Executive Elon Musk noted: “Tesla is a small, tightly-knit company, and this is a tragic day for us.”

On February 18, 2010, Joseph Andrew Stack, flying a Piper Cherokee PA-28 (registration N2889D) plane, crashed into Building I of the Echelon office complex (above) in Austin, Texas, United States. An Internal Revenue Service (IRS) field office is located in the seven-story office building along with other state and federal government agencies. Stack had posted a manifesto dated February 18, 2010, to his business website. The pilot was killed in the incident along with Vernon Hunter, a 67-year-old Revenue Office Manager for the IRS. Thirteen people were reported as injured, two of them critically. Debris from the crash reportedly struck a Lexus sedan being driven on the southbound access road of U.S. Route 183 in front of the building and shattering the windshield. Another driver on the southbound access road of U.S. Route 183 had his windows and sunroof shattered during the impact and had debris fall inside his car yet escaped uninjured.

The Copycat Effect (2004)

What should you look out for on the 10th anniversary of 9/11? Will there be more copycats?

The FBI and Homeland Security have issued a nationwide warning about al-Qaida threats to small airplanes, just days before the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Authorities say there is no specific or credible terrorist threat for the 10-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. But they have stepped up security across America as a precaution.

According to a five-page law enforcement bulletin issued on September 2, 2011, as recently as early this year, al-Qaida was considering ways to attack airplanes.

The alert, issued ahead of the summer's last busy travel weekend, said terrorists have considered renting private planes and loading them with explosives.

"Al-Qaida and its affiliates have maintained an interest in obtaining aviation training, particularly on small aircraft, and in recruiting Western individuals for training in Europe or the United States, although we do not have current, credible information or intelligence of an imminent attack being planned," according to the bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.

The bulletin also says al-Qaida would like to use sympathetic Westerners to get flight training, then get them to become flight instructors.

Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, described the bulletin as routine.

"We shared this information with our partners to highlight the need for continued awareness and vigilance," he said.

Aviation security is much tighter than it was a decade ago, but al-Qaida remains keenly interested in launching attacks on airplanes, believing large attacks with high body counts are more likely to grab headlines.

Threats to small airplanes are nothing new. After the 2001 attacks, the government grounded thousands of crop dusters amid fears the planes could be used in an attack.

In 2002, U.S. officials said they uncovered an al-Qaida plot to fly a small plane into a U.S. warship in the Gulf. And in 2003, U.S. officials uncovered an al-Qaida plot to crash an explosives-laden small aircraft into the American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.

And, of course, there were all the very real incidents above, as well.

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List analysis 

September 11, 2001 – Four plane events: two fly into two separate buildings at the World Trade Center's Twin Towers; one flies into the Pentagon; one bound for a DC building crashes in Pennsylvania. (common knowledge, referenced in blog and detailed in The Copycat Effect - TCE)

January 5, 2002 – Small plane into Tampa's Bank of America Building (in blog and TCE)

April 18, 2002 – Small plane into Milan's Pirelli Tower (in blog and TCE)

May [4], 2002 – Indian air force jet crashed into Indian bank building (this was in the scholarly paper linked to my two examples above, noted in blog, but this Indian event merely may have been caused by mechanical failure - still it was a bank during a time when banks were being targeted);

November 17, 2002 – Attempted hijacking of plane in a stated "9/11 copycat plan" to fly into a Tel Aviv building (detailed in TCE)

November 27, 2002 – Attempted hijacking of plane by a man saying he was with al-Qaida on Bolonga, Italy to Paris flight (detailed in TCE)

January 7, 2003 – Frankfurt, Germany man stole plan and threatened to fly it into the European Central Bank (detailed in TCE)

September 12, 2005 – Attempted hijacking of plane from Florencia to Colombia's capital, Bogota (in blog)

September 13, 2005 – Attempted hijacking of plane from Addis Ababa to Tel Aviv (in blog)

September 17, 2005 – Small plane hijacked, threatened to be flown into Auckland, New Zealand's Star Tower (in blog)

January 22, 2008 – Attempted hijacking of plane to be flown into the Lafayette Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana (in blog) (Note: This is a young man who mirrored Charles Bishop's age and whose plot somewhat copied that January 2002 event.)

February 17, 2010 – Small plane crashes into Palo Alto, California neighborhood (by Telsa senior engineer) (in blog) (p.s. in TCE, majority of single plane crashes are suicides)

February 18, 2010 – Small plane (with homicidal-suicidal pilot) crashes into IRS field office in Austin, Texas at Building 1 of the Echelon office complex (in blog)

Details on the September 3, 2011, Homeland Security warning advisory on small planes. They include these two uncovered plots: "In 2002, U.S. officials said they uncovered an al-Qaida plot to fly a small plane into a U.S. warship in the Gulf. And in 2003, U.S. officials uncovered an al-Qaida plot to crash an explosives-laden small aircraft into the American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan." (in blog)

Baseball Suicide: Pitcher Mike Flanagan

A Major League Baseball champion and award-winning former Baltimore Orioles great was found dead Wednesday, August 24, 2011, apparently from suicide.

Former Orioles pitcher and general manager Mike Flanagan was found dead on his northern Baltimore County property, WBAL-TV 11 Sports Director Gerry Sandusky confirmed through multiple sources close to Flanagan. He was 59.

Flanagan's body was found outside his house in the 15000 block of York Road in Monkton shortly before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Sheldon Dutes reported from the scene that police had blocked the driveway to the property.

Police did not immediately identify the cause of death, but sources confirmed that Flanagan took his own life "despondent over what he considered a false perception from a community he loved of his role in the team's prolonged failure," Sandusky said.

The soft-spoken and well-liked left-hander grew over the years into a fixture in the Orioles organization. From 2002-08 Flanagan shared or held the top baseball executive position in the organization. During that time Flanagan, according to those closest to him, struggled with not being able to the job the way he wanted to do it, Sandusky said.

A relative confirmed that Flanagan has wrestled for some time now with the perception of fans and colleagues alike of his role in the team's failures. Orioles Managing Partner Peter Angelos issued the following statement at about 10:45 p.m.: "It is with deep sadness that I learned of the death of my friend Mike Flanagan earlier this evening. In over a quarter century with the organization, Flanny became an integral part of the Orioles family, for his accomplishments both on and off the field. His loss will be felt deeply and profoundly by all of us with the ballclub and by Orioles fans everywhere who admired him. On behalf of the club, I extend my condolences to his wife, Alex; and daughters Kerry, Kathryn and Kendall."

Baltimore County police and fire spokeswoman Elise Armacost told WBAL-TV 11 News that police officers discovered a man's body alongside a trail in Monkton late Wednesday afternoon. Armacost did not identify the man.

Police were called to the area for "a person with a suspicious condition." When officers arrived at the scene, they found the man's body along a trail on the property, Armacost said. Police declined to speak about the manner of death until the investigation is complete.

Read more here.

DC Obelisk Tilting?

Is the Washington Monument tilting due to the earthquake?

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centered around Richmond, Virginia was felt as far as New York City and New England on August 23, 2011.

Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly reported at 2:30 pm their bureau received information from a producer saying that a Captiol Hill Police officer was saying the Washington Monument may actually be tilting as a result of the earthquake.

Seismologist John Rundle joined Kelly on her show and confirmed that the Washington Monument could very well be tilting as a result of the earthquake and the structure should be checked out.

Two nuclear reactors have reportedly been taken off line near the epicenter of the earthquake.

According to the AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centered northwest of Richmond, Va., shook much of Washington, D.C., and was felt as far north as Rhode Island, New York City and Martha's Vineyard, Mass., where President Barack Obama is vacationing.The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was half a mile deep.

Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Chapel Hill, N.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

It was centered near Louisa, Va., which is northwest of Richmond and south of Washington.

Obama and many of the nation's leaders were out of town on August vacation when the quake struck at 1:51 p.m. EDT. The shaking was felt on the Martha's Vineyard golf course as Obama was just starting a round.

The East Coast gets earthquakes, but usually smaller ones and is less prepared than California or Alaska for shaking.At Reagan National Airport outside Washington, ceiling tiles fell during a few seconds of shaking.

Authorities announced it was an earthquake and all flights were put on hold.

At the Pentagon in northern Virginia, a low rumbling built and built to the point that the building was shaking. People ran into the corridors of the government's biggest building and as the shaking continued there were shouts of "Evacuate! Evacuate!"

*UPDATE 1: The Hill is reporting that the Park Service is stating there is no serious damage to any of D.C.'s national monuments:

U.S. Park Police in Washington made an initial survey of the city's monuments after a 5.9 magnitude earthquake and found no serious damage.

According to The Washington Post, the Park Police checked the monuments by helicopter shortly after the earthquake on Tuesday.

*UPDATE 2: (via Real Clear Politics): CNN is reporting that "some stones are loose" at the Washington Monument. 

*Update 3: (Via NBC News Washington): National Park Service: Washington Monument is not tilting

The NPS said it is evaluating the structures to ensure that they are structurally sound and safe for all visitors.

Agency spokesman Jeffrey Olson told the AP that there was "absolutely no damage" to the Washington Monument, contrary to media reports elsewhere that it was leaning.

"Absolutely incorrect," U.S. Park Police Sgt. David Schlosser said of media reports that the Washington Monument was leaning.  "It stands tall and proud."

However, the Washington Monument, because of its structural complexities, will remain closed until further notice, according to the NPS. 


Source: Washington Times, Kelly Picket

Tibetan Monk Immolation

An act of protest from the Vietnam War lives on in this photograph and in modern incidents.15 August 2011 Last updated at 08:44 ET BBC News

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Tibetan monk sets himself on fire in China

Continue reading the main story

A Tibetan monk has set himself alight in China's Sichuan province, amid claims of a crackdown on monasteries in the region.

Western-based activists said the monk, who they named as Tsewang Norbu, had died from his injuries.

A similar action sparked weeks of confrontation earlier this year in another town in Sichuan.

Unrest is fuelled by a widespread belief that the government wants to suppress Tibetan culture.

The argument has been going on for decades, with many Tibetans accusing the government of forcing monks to attend re-education camps, encouraging the migration of Han Chinese to Tibetan areas, and crushing any sign of dissent.

But the authorities say they have brought relative wealth and prosperity to a region that was a rural backwater.

The UK-based Free Tibet movement said the 29-year-old monk had doused himself with petrol and set himself alight at the Nyitso Monastery in Dawu town.

The group said he had been calling out "we Tibetan people want freedom", "long live the Dalai Lama" and "let the Dalai Lama Return to Tibet".

Most Tibetan monks are loyal to the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader who has lived in exile in India for decades.

The state-run Xinhua news agency quoted local government officials confirming that a monk had set himself alight, but gave no details of his condition.

In March, a monk set light to himself in Aba, about 100 miles (150km) from the latest incident.

Local people accused the authorities of locking down that monastery and carting off monks to be re-educated.

The UN later said up to 300 monks may have been illegally detained.

China has denied the accusations.