Divers Find 1,500 Live Ammunition Shells Under New York City Bridge

By Rich Calder

Published October 24, 2010

| New York Post

Here's a bombshell of a discovery.

Brooklyn commercial divers believe they've uncovered what the Navy missed more than 50 years ago during a frantic search that made national headlines: roughly 1,500 live shells that went overboard into the Narrows and Gravesend Bay.

The Post joined the four-person crew last week searching for artifacts in the murky waters off the former Fort Lafayette -- an island near Bay Ridge destroyed in 1960 to pave the way for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

Initially, the team planned to photograph a few small shells they found last year. But this time around, diver Gene Ritter was blown away by what he saw on the sea floor.

Scattered under only 20 feet of water were eight World War II-era copper artillery shells -- including one five feet long -- designed to shoot down airplanes, and about 1,500 large-caliber machine-gun shells designed to explode on contact.

"What a find!" shouted Ritter as he climbed aboard the vessel. "They're all over the place. Hundreds of them."

Ritter and munitions experts believe the ammo came from the stockpile of 14,470 live rounds that splashed into the bay during a military accident on March 4, 1954.

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NPR Funding Under Fire After Williams Ouster

News analyst Juan Williams' firing from National Public Radio for comments he made about being nervous when flying alongside devout Muslims has sparked a public outcry that includes calls for investigations and a cut in public funding to the broadcaster.

"I think the U.S. Congress should investigate NPR and consider cutting off their money," said Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is also a Fox News contributor

Gingrich called the firing "an act of total censorship."

"I think the whole idea that if you honestly say how you feel about Islam -- what he said was very balanced, people should read what he actually said -- the idea that that's the excuse for National Public Radio to censor Juan Williams is an outrage and every listener of NPR should be enraged that there's this kind of bias against an American," Gingrich said.

NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller sent an internal memo Thursday seeking to clarify why Williams' contract was terminated, claiming that the remarks he made on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" weren't the only problem -- he was canned because he's become a pundit rather than an analyst.

"Juan's comments on Fox violated our standards as well as our values and offended many in doing so," Schiller wrote in the memo, obtained by Fox News.

"This isn't the first time we have had serious concerns about some of Juan's public comments," she wrote. "Despite many conversations and warnings over the years, Juan continued to violate this principal (sic). 

Speaking at the Atlanta Press Club Thursday, Schiller defended the firing, saying Williams should keep his feelings about Muslims between him and "his psychiatrist or his publicist."

Williams told Fox News that he was fired Wednesday by Ellen Weiss, NPR's vice president for news. He said Weiss told him he made a bigoted statement and crossed a line.

"I said, 'You mean I don't even get the chance to come in and we do this eyeball-to-eyeball, person-to-person, have a conversation? I've been there more than 10 years," Williams said. He said Weiss responded that "there's nothing you can say that would change my mind."

But Williams has won considerable support from media figures and lawmakers. The hosts of ABC's "The View," whose raucous interview with O'Reilly last week sparked a weeklong back-and-forth about making a distinction between Muslims and Islamic extremists, said NPR was wrong to let Williams go.

"I don't think he should have been fired, because, in fact ... lots of people have this idea," said host Whoopi Goldberg. 

Host Barbara Walters said Williams perhaps should have been chastised, not fired because he was on the show to give his perspective.

"I think they were very wrong," she said of NPR.

Republican Rep. Peter King went further, calling on Congress to nix any federal money NPR gets "because of its indefensible bias."

"NPR has disgraced itself by caving into CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) and by firing Juan Williams for exercising his right of free speech," he said. "This is political correctness carried to its extreme form."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who hosts a show on Fox News, called on Congress to stop cutting checks to NPR and said he will no longer accept interview requests from NPR "as long as they are going to practice a form of censorship."

"NPR has discredited itself as a forum for free speech and a protection of the First Amendment rights of all and has solidified itself as the purveyor of politically correct pabulum and protector of views that lean left," he said.

Free Press, a nonprofit advocating media reform, denounced the calls to defund NPR.

"It is time to stop playing politics with our nation's public media system," Free Press President Josh Silve said in a written statement. 

"Calling for Congress to defund NPR is nothing more than political opportunism by public figures who have built a career on such shenanigans," he said. "Regardless of what you think about Juan Williams' dismissal, calling for the defunding of NPR is like asking for the death penalty in small claims court." 

In June, Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., introduced legislation to end taxpayer funding of PBS and NPR -- a bill that he says would save taxpayers about $450 million each year. But the bill has been largely ignored and gone nowhere.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the parent company of PBS and NPR, received $420 million in taxpayer funds in 2010 and has requested $608 million for the next funding cycle that begins in 2013.

NPR says government funding makes up less than 2 percent of it budget, with the rest coming from station fees, sponsorships and grants. This week, the radio network received $1.8 million from billionaire investor George Soros to hire journalists to cover legislatures in all 50 states.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations had urged NPR to take swift action against Williams. The group said such commentary from a journalist about racial, ethnic or religious minority groups should not be tolerated.

"NPR should address the fact that one of its news analysts seems to believe that all airline passengers who are perceived to be Muslim can legitimately be viewed a security threats," said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.

CAIR national spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told Fox News that the group is "pleased that the network addressed Muslim concerns."

"It was really up to them what to do in response," he said. "I think everyone has recognized now that perhaps it wasn't a good fit between the network and Mr. Williams."

Hooper said he did not think Williams, an African American who has written extensively on civil rights in the United States, is a bigot. But Hooper said, "Everybody's accountable for their words and their actions, and when he seemed to legitimize singling out people who are perceived to be Muslim based on their attire on airlines, I think that crosses the line."

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Congressional Candidate Under Fire for Nazi Re-Enactment Past

An Ohio congressional candidate is under fire after a magazine unearthed a photo showing him dressed in a Waffen-SS uniform as part of a Nazi re-enactment group. 

The Atlantic magazine, which published the photo, reported that Republican candidate Rich Iott was involved for years with Wiking, a group devoted to re-enacting the actions of the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking. He told The Atlantic he joined as a "father-son bonding thing" and quit the organization several years ago after his son lost interest. 

House Republican Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., who is Jewish, said on "Fox News Sunday" that he "would absolutely repudiate" Iott's behavior. 

But Iott, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, defended himself in a statement Saturday after Kaptur's campaign and other groups condemned him. Iott said that as a student of history he has participated in numerous military re-enactments since he was in college and meant no offense by them. 

"Never, in any of my re-enacting of military history, have I meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war, especially the Jewish Community," he said in a written statement. "I have immense respect for veterans who served our country valiantly, particularly those who fought to rid the world of tyranny and aggression by relegating Nazism to the trash heap of history. I also believe we need to 'never forget' what happened to Jews during that war." 

Iott released several other photos on his campaign website that showed him in uniform as part of a World War I re-enactment and Civil War re-enactment in which he and his son donned Union uniforms. 

According to the Wiking website, the organization is devoted to "presenting the history" of the Eastern Front division which fought the Russians, "never against the Americans." 

The site said the members "honor" those "who really experienced the war" no matter their nationality, but stressed that the group prohibits racism "or any type of embracement of Nazi ideology." 

A disclaimer on the home page says: "This page or anyone involved in its creation, or members of reenactment groups listed here, are in no way affiliated with real, radical political organizations (i.e., KKK, Aryan Nation, American Nazi Party, etc.) and do not embrace the philosophies and actions of the original NSDAP (Nazi party), and wholeheartedly condemn the atrocities which made them infamous. May the victims of this unspeakable horror rest in peace."

But Kaptur's campaign condemned the group and called Iott's participation "indefensible," questioning "who would honor such butchers?"  

"My first reaction was shock, then my second reaction was dismay and then my third reaction was disgust, from what I've seen," Kaptur said in an interview with MyFoxToledo. 

"To perpetuate such a twisted and dangerous view of history is outrageous and indefensible," her campaign said in a statement published by the Toledo Blade.

Iott called the charges against him "despicable" and said the election should be about issues, "not false character attacks." 

Click here to read more at MyFoxToledo. 

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Obama's Higher Education Push Under Fire From For-Profit Colleges

President Obama's takeover of the student loan industry this year along with his push to boost community college graduation rates have come under fire from for-profit colleges, which say they are being unfairly targeted for cuts in federal spending and overlooked in the effort to improve the country's competitiveness.

For-profit colleges received more than $24 billion in federal loans and grants last year. But the Obama administration is seeking to tighten regulation of the industry which critics say will limit the types of federal loans available to for-profit college students.

At a White House summit Tuesday, Obama met with officials from some of the nation's 1,200 community colleges along with businesses and philanthropies in an effort to boost the schools that provide millions of students with skills training and a less expensive path to a college degree -- even as they're increasingly challenged by climbing enrollments and high dropout rates.

Obama called for community colleges, which he hailed as the "unsung heroes of America's education system," to produce an additional 5 million graduates by 2020.

Missing from the summit were officials from the nation's for-profit colleges, which are under increased scrutiny after a recent undercover government investigation found misleading recruiting tactics.

"Even though the event Tuesday only focused on community colleges, we would have liked to have had a seat at the table," said Harris Miller, president of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, which represents more than 1,800 members.

He added that he admires Obama for recognizing the country's weakness isn't at the top of the education system.

"Our competitiveness is dropping, not because of elite universities. They're still the best in the world," he said. "Where we're really falling behind is the ability to provide people with associate degrees that are often so necessary to have in a service-based economy."

Miller said the strength of for-profit colleges is meeting that demand when community colleges are badly underfunded by budget-constrained states and forced to spend heavily on remedial education for poorly prepared students.

Justin Hamilton, a spokesman for the Education Department, said the administration believes that "the best for-profit schools will play an important role in helping President Obama to reach his goal in returning America to No. 1 in graduates produced.

"But far too many of these schools are saddling students with debt they can't afford in exchange for degrees and certificates they can't use," he said.

The industry is fighting an Education Department proposal that would cut off aid to vocational programs with high student debt levels and poor loan repayment rates.

Bob Cohen, a spokesman for APSCU, said the proposal is "harmful" to programs and limits choices for students.

Miller called the proposal "absurd" because it uses a formula that he says would disqualify most medical schools if they were included. Further, he says it encourages institutions to manipulate numbers to qualify for the aid even if the program is lousy.

The proposal has "nothing to do with institutional quality," he said. "If it did, it would focus on graduation rates and job placement rates."

Hamilton said the proposal won't limit student choice and protects vulnerable students.

"Nothing would prevent students using federal financial aid from attending a good program that prepares them for gainful employment and helps them get the kind of job they need," he said.

"Our proposal will protect low-income and minority students from being exploited by bad programs and help make sure they can use their federal aid to enroll in an effective program," he said.

Miller said the proposal is "putting literally hundreds of thousand of students at risk." He vowed to advocate against the proposal to the White House and Congress.

"The consumer should decide; not a bureaucrat in Washington," he said.

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Pentagon Under Pressure to Explain Closing of Joint Forces Command

The Pentagon is under fire from U.S. lawmakers and Virginia leaders who are seeking more information on its planned closing of the U.S. Joint Forces Command – an effort that is central to the department's $100 billion efficiency initiative.

Some lawmakers are slamming Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a "lack of analytical rigor" in determining whether the command should be closed. They have all expressed frustration at trying to get a fuller explanation.

U.S. lawmakers have accused the Pentagon of "stonewalling" them while Virginia leaders said they received little more than a promised future meeting with Gates.

Gates announced his decision to close the Joint Forces Command, or JFCOM on Aug. 9, an announcement that surprised lawmakers who say the absence of any cost analysis or Pentagon documentation on the reasons for the closing has been infuriating.

"There was just absolutely no transparency, no prior consultation," Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said. "This was just completely out of the blue."

Gates' announcement was the first step toward identifying $100 billion in savings over the next five years. The cuts also include deep reductions in military contracts, which fuel a big part of northern Virginia's economy as well.

JFCOM occupies more than 1 million square feet of real estate in Norfolk and Suffolk, an area with a huge military presence, including the world's largest naval base. As its name suggests, the command trains troops from all services to work together for specific missions.

The 11-year-old command employs nearly 6,000, many of them civilian contractors.

McDonnell estimated that the JFCOM closing would cost Virginia 10,000 jobs, directly and indirectly, and said other defense cuts would be painful.

"Both these would be devastating to our economy in Virginia," he said, adding there are national security implications as well.

McDonnell and members of the state's congressional delegation met privately in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday with two high-level Pentagon officials in an attempt to pry out more on what went into the military's decision.

The Republican governor was assured that he would get an opportunity to meet with Gates, whom McDonnell said has not taken his calls since the announcement, but he was unable to secure public meetings in northern Virginia and Norfolk on proposed defense cuts.

"The information that came forth was not particularly compelling, not particularly more illuminating," McDonnell said in a teleconference.

McDonnell has established a committee to nudge the military for answers and to develop strategies to keep JFCOM open.

Three Pentagon officials faced a Capitol Hill grilling on Tuesday and Wednesday from members of the Armed Services Committee in each chamber seeking answers and documents leading up to the decision.

Deputy Secretary of Defense William J. Lynn III said Gates had conducted 30 meetings with military advisers before announcing his decision on JFCOM. Gates concluded that the command's functions were redundant and "no longer justified a four-star military command with a billion-dollar budget."

Lynn said President Obama, whose approval is needed, had not acted on Gates' recommendation. Virginia officials have appealed to Obama to delay a decision, possibly until after the fall elections.

U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., pressed to see documentation.

"To this point we've been stonewalled," Webb told Lynn.

"The department has failed to answer even the most basic questions that have come from this delegation with respect to cost-benefit analysis that savings would be gained by closing JFCOM and how they would outweigh elimination of the missions that JFCOM currently performs," Webb said.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich, chairman of the committee, told Pentagon officials "there is an absence here of an analysis."

"That material, seems to me, should have been available prior to the decision, not after the decision," he said.

On Wednesday, Rep. Buck McKeon, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, complained to the Pentagon officials that he and other committee members wrote a letter to Gates last month requesting decision-making documents and didn't receive a reply until recently – one that was incomplete.

"One of the problems is the information we've asked for is late in coming or incomplete in coming and we can't seem to get an answer as to when we'll get the information. Then you say there's no way to deal with this. It leaves us somewhat frustrated."

"We're not saying we're against this," he said. "It's that we haven't seen the rationale or we don't understand the why and the wherewithal."

Lynn said he will go back to the Pentagon to see if there is more information he can provide to the committee.

"We are trying to be as responsive as possible," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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