A New Month, A New Bunch Of Terror Fears

Citi employee(s) can someone email me at the above address.

We have recently been taken over by Citigroup and no one will talk to us about estimated benefit costs, etc.

Can anyone tell me what the medical/vision/dental benefits run for low/high plan for single and then family (me & child) and then family (me/sign other & child)?

I would really appreciate it...HR says they cannot give estimates because it might give false expectations....I don't want to lock them down on anything, I just wonder what the current people see for benefit costs and what I "might" expect when we get switched over.

Thanks!

Bush is totally whacked and on antidepressants:

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_4921.shtml

Sterling,

And YES, the Reagan administration supported the poor, downtrodden and oppressed indigenous population of Afghanistan in their noble struggle against imperialism. You have a problem with that?

Um, I do. by "supported the poor, downtrodden and oppressed indigenous population" of course you mean funding the establishment of terrorist training camps, paid for by the CIA and run by Pakistani intelligence, where TENS OF THOUSANDS of "freedom fighters" were trained in tactics such as guerilla fighting, assasinations and bombings. We also armed them to the teeth.

And this was all in the environment of the mid-1980s in which we were being attacked by islamic fundamentalists in Lebanon, Pakistan, Iraq and Libya To get into bed with these same folks to the tune of a billion$ in aid annually, while it was clear they were posing an increasing threat to us, was as nearsighted a foreign policy as I can possibly imagine.

Sterling, you are truly a Bush supporter. Full of lies. Not worth responding to.

Sounds like faux-clinical horseshit to me.

I mean, I hate to burst your bubble but I don't know that Bush didn't go to AA meetings, and neither does Frank. (We all remember what the second "A" is for, right?) Also, regarding the "strict Christian beliefs" - I don't know how strict they are and neither does Frank. And not for nothing, but most of the original colonies were founded by strict Christians, especially the ones that vote Democrat now.

It's fine if you want to read it, Heather, but don't mistake a partisan broadside for fact.

Jerry - you're just wrong. Whatever Afhgani resistance movements came to the fore can more properly be understood as a response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. (It's lovely how you folks always leave that part out.) And YES, the Reagan administration supported the poor, downtrodden and oppressed indigenous population of Afghanistan in their noble struggle against imperialism. You have a problem with that?

As for Osama, he was rich beyond describing, and his involvement in Afghanistan shows that he's been directed to mischief for 20 years or more. He'd be a problem today regardless of US foreign policy during the 80s and 90s.

Bush is attempting to affect transformation in the Middle East, to short-circuit the reactionary Islamism by allowing malcontents voices within their home countries' political systems. Will this breed hostility to America while it's underway? Yes. Will it prevent consolidation of terror entities over the long term? Probably.

I don't think Bush is promising anyone a panacea. But what he's saying is, by toppling some odious regimes and replacing them with more responsive systems, we might be able to eliminate a major root cause of Islamic rage over the next 20 years. I admit I'm not sure that this will work, but it's a reasonable and arguably valid approach. And the minute I encounter someone who is unwilling to admit the potential validity of the approach - someone who voices unmitigated certainty that it can't work and that Bush's motives are venal - I know that I'm dealing with an unhearing, unreasoning fanatic.

People forget that Osama and the origins of the Taliban were results of Reagen's (through the CIA) foreign policy in the 1980s--they trained these people as terrorists to fight the Soviets. And people forget the pictures of Rumsfeld being cozy with Saddam. This terrorist threat is the long term result of American foreign policy. Bush's Iraq stupidity is producing a new generation of terrorists. Wait a few years and we unfortunately will experience the blowback from Iraq right here in New York. And today will be a picnic in comparison. This will not stop until people own up to the long term consequences of foreign policy and act accordingly.

Wag the dog - you're aware that a chunk of Manhattan was leveled by Al Qaeda three years ago, right? And I suppose the Bush Administration has some ulterior motive for terrifying the residents of Newark?

It never ceases to amaze me - the logical gymnastics you people do to blame Bush for everything that goes wrong.

From Tuesday's New York Times (reg. required):

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/politics/03intel.html?hp

"Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terrorist plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way.

Wagging the Dog? Politically motivated? Yup.

If you want to see why Al Qaeda is still a threat to us three years after 9/11, read "Imperial Hubris" by Anonymous (a CIA analyst).

Who's terrorizing who here? Is it Middle Eastern 'evildoers' scaring the shit out of New Yorkers or is it just local law enforcement?

Sizing up these posts from over here in L.A. it seems quite clear that somebody has decided to scare the crap out of you New Yorkers.

I'd imagine the early efforts are being undertaken for the following reasons:

1. It's a good practice drill for local law enforcement prior to RNC's arrival

2. It's strategically smart to terrify NYC residents, remind you of your fragility, soften you up and turn you into a bunch of weak-kneed scardey-cats afraid to voice any opinions counter to the current administration's

3. It's an interesting challenge for government troops to to try turn all of Manhattan into an annexed militarily controlled territory

4. It's got to be fun to freak out major media outlets based in Manhattan since many are astutely analyzing current events (i.e., beat the brain trust into submission!)

5. Test the local climate early to see what levels of protest the RNC might encounter when it descends unto the grid

Remember in 1969 Ronald Reagan proved that peace-loving liberals are easy targets when with the help of the National Guard he teargassed Berekley students. Let's see what weapons of mass disillusionment W. can use against Manhattanites.

Hey Heather - Did Dr. Frank actually get Bush on the psychiatric couch or is the title just a fallacy in metaphoric clothing?

I'll tell you what I suspect about Bush's mental state - feelings of guilt that the 9/11 attack occurred on his watch, and a savage determination to make sure it doesn't happen again. That's what it's like to be president - the whole world rests on your shoulders. It's not a job I would want, and I doubt it's one that Bush enjoys. But he's sticking with it and I'll vote for him again.

And that blundering Bush will be bringing his circus to New York, seeing how many people he could fool. I agree, under Bush, the whole terrorist situation is so poorly handled--it is more public relations than substance.

There's a book out by Dr. Justin Frank, a professor of psychiatry, entitled "Bush on the Couch: Inside the Mind of the President." He talks about the Presidents paranoid, self-righteousness, inability to have feeling, etc. He concludes that the president is unfit to lead this country. Sure we had 9/11, but with Bush it has become worse and worse and worse. I live in downtown Manhattan and even during the worse of those days after 9/11 I was optimistic that we as a country could deal with this crisis. But as Bush has blundered and blundered again, I am no longer optimistic. Days like today are a reflection of the pathetic and stupid leadership of this country.

from my website:

I work in one of the buildings that they are saying is being targeted by Al-Qaida.

I know that the fact that this has been publicized makes it unlikely that the attack will occur. I know that this may just be a publicity ploy by the Bush administration to influence the election. I know a lot of things.

That doesn't mean this hard knot in the pit of my stomach will go away. This doesn't mean that each time they show my building on the news, a wave of nausea doesn't make me run to the bathroom. That doesn't mean I can be calm, cool and collected.

It's going to be a very long night. And an even longer work day tomorrow.

Update

It is very, very strange here. There are concrete barricades all around the four buildings we have here. There are national guardsmen with machine guns. There is a lot of media people walking around. We have to wear our employee IDs around our necks and carry them at all times. Everyone is a bit jumpy and everyone has bags under their eyes. I don't think any of us slept much last night.

It's going to be ok. We are very well protected. But it's still very scary. And it's sad that we have to live in times like these when people can have such a high capacity for hatred.

We just had a bomb threat around Columbus Circle--I think it was the AOL-Time Warner building. The police blocked off several streets 'n such, but it appears to be ok now.

We just had a bomb threat around Columbus Circle--I think it was the AOL-Time Warner building. The police blocked off several streets 'n such, but it appears to be ok now.

Any supporters of Dennis Kucinich? Check out the website: hagelin.org John Hagelin ran for president twice. He has an approach towards terrorism that is supposed to be scientifically validated and would surprise (and dumbfound) a lot of people.

the skyscraper i work in adjacent to the seaport says PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL in huge letters on the front of it. Prudential used to have staff on several floors here, not they just have a few employees stationed here. We asked our boss why there's no extra security today and he told us that he is sure that the terrorists know that Prudential doesn't have a lot of staff in our building anymore. Now we all have to hope is that the terrorists did really good research and that they are not after any place because it's big, near a big tourist spot (the seaport) and unprotected.

Woo-hoo! I win the double whammy! I transfer underneath the Long Island City Citibank to the E train, which takes me under the Manhattan Citibank building.

Actually, since I owe Citibank 10k in credit card debt, it's really a triple whammy. I now face the distinct possibility of being "buried under debt" both literally and figuratively. Not good times. Bad times.

WindsOfChange.net has a post on the intelligence sources for this alert. It cites a NY Times article about the intelligence coming from a captured Al Qaeda operative (and his laptop) from a few weeks ago.

Regarding how long it took to stomp particular groups of terrorists out of existence, consider the Red Army Faction/Bader-Meinhof Gang, which operated in Germany for decades. Note that this is Germany, where the state aparatus is strong, as opposed to, say, the wilds of Pakistan's western frontier. We will be living with Al Qaeda and its like for generations; they will go away only when a particular segment of the world finds it no longer a perfectly reasonable idea to kill millions of Americans, or at least excuse those who want to.

And with all this chaos what INFINITELY INGENIOUS political figure decided to have the republican convention here?? The end of August is gonna be a nightmare, if not a tragedy...

I work just down the street from the Prudential Building in Newark. They've closed some streets around the building and I've seen some security, but what I first noticed were all the TV trucks, and someone on the street being interviewed.

Awesome. My 7 train goes by the Citicorp building in LIC everyday.

the citibank building in long island city might not have been on the list, but the police commish specifically mentioned it in the press conference yesterday as a place with a possible increase in security.

The bottom line should not be overlooked: the skyline logo of gothamist.com must be protected at all costs. Is Jen taking the necessary steps to protect this precious NYC landmark?

How exactly will you know if this is a Tom Ridge trick? If those of us on Wall Street are all killed today, I guess it wasn't a trick. Assuming I can go home tonight and have dinner, I guess it was a trick. Talk about a no-win situation.

Anyone taking bets on whether we'll be at code red by the time of the GOP convention?

And CS, I think part of the answer as to why the f*ck Al Qaeda still threatens us is that Bush and Co. wasted $100 billion on a war in Iraq that had absolutely nothing to do with Al Qaeda or the war on terror. $100 billion which we could have spent on, I dunno, counterrorism? Homeland security?

Even though it's not on the official list, the Citicorp building in Queens was getting a lot of attention this morning. A big helicopter circled the area this morning starting aroung 6 AM (needless to say, I'm tired), and my V train to the city was searched at Lexington Ave.

I was in Times Sq. on Friday afternoon and they already had cops in front of the bank buildings there...

As I remember, they put a lot of money into adding blast protection to the exposed "leg" of the Citigroup Center last year (link anyone?).... I guess they're happy about that budget decision now.

I work in the citicorp building. Cops and city authorities surround the building, only one entrance to the building is open, and guarded by a security checkpoint. All employees have to show i.d. that proves they work here in order to get in, and they are checking all bags.

My question is this: 3 years later, why the f*ck does Al Qaeda still a threat to us? Clearly our government's attentions have NOT been on taking these 'evildoers' down, as we were told they would.

Wall Street's a bit of a mob scene today, mostly with camera crews, though I did see a couple of guys with assault rifles. There's a guy from Fox News sitting in a lawn chair with an umbrella filming the threat non-stop.

I work in the citicorp building. Cops and city authorities surround the building, only one entrance to the building is open, and guarded by a security checkpoint. All employees have to show i.d. that proves they work here in order to get in, and they are checking all bags.

My question is this: 3 years later, why the f*ck does Al Qaeda still a threat to us? Clearly our government's attentions have NOT been on taking these 'evildoers' down, as we were told they would.

No cheery grin and casual hello from my favourite security guard as i walked through the pink marble lobby into work this morning. I work on the seventh floor in the head office of Citigroup at 399 Park Ave New York. This building is one of the five designated financial designated as high risk targets for a terrorist attack today.

The New York Times front page carries a picture of a NYPD officer helmeted and in full body armour carrying a huge machine gun standing outside the entrance of my building. That was yesterday. Today as I walked up Park Ave there were at least 20 squad cars and half a dozen black Escalades surrounding the building with their red and blue lights flashing. Sirens can be heard periodically as new cars moved through the congestion toward the building.

Ropes stretched outside the revolving doors and grim faced pistoil toting guards examined faces intently as you passed through the cordon. Inside the lobby everyone now had to pass their bags through the detectors. Our ususal friendly security guys were now augmented by at least twenty more security personnel. A feeling of dread and steely determination seeped through the normally quiet lobby. The Lexington ave lobby is totally closed and the street is full of toting policemen.

Our two buildings on Park ave and across the road at Lexington are particularly vulnerable. My head office building has a large branch that is publically accessible on two sides. The Executive Offices are only on floors two and three overhanging the Streets. They are so low as the previous CEO and Chairman (before Sandy Weill) was afraid of heights. Sandy retained the low floor offices so he could install the working fireplace he has in all his offices. Citicorp Centre, across the road, which we no longer own but contains the Private Bank is built on giant legs that rise some 6 stories above ground level. Including one that rises above St Peters church. The building when initially built was found to be inherently unstable and extra supports had to be built inbto the superstructure. It would not take much to take out one of the legs and the structure would undoubtedly collapse. For two years now giant concrete barriers and flower pots were placed around the perimeter of both buildings, defences against vehicles ramming through into the buildings.

The office is very quiet today. Little chatter. Even the banter on the trading floor is minimal. The TV's are as usual tuned into CNBC, CNN and Bloomberg, but are kept low volume. some staff have chosen to remain working from home. Those of us that are here just want to get on.

There will be some mad people if we find that this is another Ridge political trick to frighten us. Even having to make that statement shows how far the Bush Administration has debased this serious issue. How scepticism and cynicism has grown in the aftermath of the 911 tragedy and the Iraq misadventure.

I work at Madison and 56th and I haven't seen very much happening. I did hear a few helicopters overhead, but that is about it. My subway stop had no visible cops and it is the same subway line that stops under the Citigroup building.

I work at Wall and Broadway - crews were welding manholes shut on Nassau, and cops stood at every corner block. Surprsingly, I saw no cops in the subway stations coming in from Brooklyn. The square in front of the NYSE has more rifle-toting cops than usual.

I'll post pictures later...