TA-THREATS: Group Threatens to Execute American Hostage Paul Johnson

I too feel for this gentleman's family and especially for his state of mind. Ultimately and unfortunately I already feel what the outcome will be, but in the meantime hope for modern-day miracles.

Personally, I would lobby to have world-wide public executions of all culprits involved if ever captured, especially Bin Laden...even have it pay-per-view to assist in offsetting the cost of this war that will probably never end. Just my opinion...

US firm spread hostage video

This is old news, and for that I apologize, but I am trying to get caught up.

This marks a break in the pattern normally associated with al-Qaeda in that they have previously released video, written, and audio statements using Islamic websites. In this case, a server operated by a California land surveying and mapping company was hijacked and used to host the video file about an hour before it was announced to the media.

So far, I have not found any detail on the method of releasing the actual execution video. If it was also released using a compromised third-party Internet host this could indicate a shift in tactics reflecting a more cautious approach to avoiding detection by electronic surveillance.