Oh boy.

Some Congressional Republicans really want to set up an East Coast missile defense shield to protect the Atlantic Seaboard from Iranian rockets, Mother Jones reports.

If this sounds familiar -- like a throwback to Reagan-era Star Wars shenanigans -- that's because the plan is just like missile defense schemes of the past.

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Sam Levin

Public Advocate and mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio speaks on 43rd Street near the United Nations this morning.

​Running for mayor of New York City? Well, you better stick your nose in some foreign policy issues -- and backing Israel certainly won't hurt your cause.

Enter Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who is expected to run for mayor in 2013, and who held a press conference this morning -- on a plaza on 43rd Street overlooking the United Nations -- to announce the launch of a consumer action campaign to pressure companies to stop doing business in Iran.

Backed by groups Iran180 and United Against Nuclear Iran, de Blasio unveiled an interactive website called IranWatchList.com designed to target companies that are doing business with Iran and in some cases allegedly selling directly to Iran's military. They are starting the campaign by focusing on twelve foreign car companies that continue to sell vehicles in Iran, despite economic sanctions.

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Sen. Chuck Schumer

In the face of steep cuts, the city will receive millions in anti-terror funding, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced this morning.

New York City has secured a total of $151,579,096 in Urban Areas Security Initiative Funding, which comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

In a release sent out this morning, the senators said that the UASI program is the lifeblood of New York's anti-terror programs and funds a massive surveillance program for downtown Manhattan -- which is also being expanded into Times Square and midtown.

They also announced that New York is set to receive the entire funding pot of $22 million for a program called Securing the Cities. It funds a New York Police Department program used to detect potential radiological devices that are brought over bridges and tunnels into Manhattan.

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As the national news media continues to ramp up a crusade against Iran, NYPD officials are now insisting that New York could be the next target of an Iranian attack.

NYPD's director of intelligence analysis, Mitchell Silber, spoke to the NY Daily News about the topic:

"Iran is the subject of the vast majority of our discussions right now. This, right now, is a front-burner issue. I hesitate to say it's No. 1, because we don't want to ignore the other threats, but right now, it's essentially No. 1."

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Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun has tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug, ESPN reports. Braun, who was last season's National League MVP, reportedly failed a test adminstered during the playoffs. "It's B.S.," the 28-year-old told USA Today. A spokesman for Braun released a statement saying, "There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program." If the charges are upheld, Braun faces a 50-game suspension. [ESPN]

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Here a file for download containing more than 10,000 emails lifted from the government of Iran by the hacker group Anonymous. They also took down the website for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, grabbing control of the servers in the process. "It's near the election's anniversary. We had to do something," one of the hackers, an Iranian, told The Next Web.

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Mysterious internet "hacktivist" group Anonymous has announced that it plans to attack Iran tomorrow in support of the country's anti-regime "green" movement. They're trying to take advantage of International Worker's Day to instigate a new wave of protests. Exactly what the attack will consist of is still unknown; in the past, Anonymous has pulled off denial-of-service attacks as well as stealing private data and code. This one is scheduled to begin at 1 a.m. EST. Click through for the video press release:

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