What Adam Curry is reading

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  "Did Israel Has Any Choice But To Bomb These Truck Convoys?"
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    Thu, 31 Jan 2013 03:46
  VIDEO-Hitler says NEIN (Metal remix) - YouTube
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    Thu, 31 Jan 2013 03:44
  BREAKING! ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE IN SYRIA! Confirmed By US Sources
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    Thu, 31 Jan 2013 03:08
  "Islamic People Believe Lies! And They Live Lies! And They Tell Lies!"
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:05
  Hostage Situation: Special Needs Child Taken From School Bus, Driver Shot And Killed
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:36
  Gabrielle Giffords Gives Opening Statement At Senate Hearing On Gun Control
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:34
  YouTube To Begin Charging Monthly Fee To Subscribe To Some Pages
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:33
  Mother Suing World's Largest Frozen Pizza Manufacture For Adding Cancer Causing Ingredient
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:33
  Car Remote Triggers Car To Explode!
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 02:16
  Hillary Clinton Legacy Project Kicks Into Overdrive
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 02:14
  CIA Interrogations, Torture And The Hunt For Osama Bin Laden
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 01:19
  "We Need To Implement A National System That Allows Businesses To Verify Someone's Employment Status
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 01:18
  Sandy Hook Father Pleads For Someone To Tell Him Why Civilians Should Have SEMI-AUTOMATIC Weapons
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 01:14
  Senate Approves John Kerry As Next Secretary Of State
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 01:13
  CNBC: Large Explosion At Iranian Underground Nuclear Facility Believe To Be Israeli Attack
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    Tue, 29 Jan 2013 03:48
  Pres Obama "We Need Serious Laws That Restrict Assault Weapons & Ammo"
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    Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:48
  Britain Orders All Citizens To Leave Somalia NOW!
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    Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:00
  12 Year Old Escapes Taliban Control Says They Wanted Him To Be Suicide Bomber
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    Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:57
  Egyptian President Declares State Of Emergency In 3 Cities
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    Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:51
  CBS Falsely Labels Handgun Used in Tucson Massacre an 'Assault Weapon'
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    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Thu, 31 Jan 2013 03:06
    On the 30 January 2013 edition of CBS This Morning, Nancy Cordes falsely characterized the weapon used in the 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona. Cordes noted that astronaut Mark Kelly, "whose wife...Gabrielle Giffords was badly injured in the Tucson shooting," would call for a ban on "assault weapons like the one that was used to wound his wife and kill six others."
    However, Jared Loughner, the perpetrator of the massacre, used a Glock 19 handgun with a 33-round magazine, not the military-style, semi-automatic rifles that are often labeled "assault weapons" by gun control supporters. The journalist even showed a photo of the firearm in question as she misrepresented its type.
  Andrea Mitchell: Hillary Has Done 'Such a Job by Everyone's Account' as Secretary of State
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    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:37
    MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them -- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.
    MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 325 South Patrick Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.
    Copyright (C) 2013, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.
  VIDEO-New details surface on Iran nuclear explosion
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    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:48
    Editor's Note: Breaking update '' Although the regime's rescue team drilled into the site through the entrance of the smaller elevator used by the personnel, no information is available on those trapped inside and the number of casualties or injured.
    Further, the International Atomic Energy Agency today, in an unusual move, made a brief statement following media reports over the weekend of significant damage at the underground Fordow uranium enrichment site.
    ''We understand that Iran has denied that there has been an incident at Fordow. This is consistent with our observations,'' IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said in an emailed statement in response to a question.
    Though IAEA officials did not make it clear as to what observation was being cited, Reuters, reporting the statement, changed its original story by midday stating that the IAEA suggested in its comment that officials had been at the facility after the reports of an explosion there.
    However, no official statement by the IAEA has taken place since officials' last unsuccessful trip to Tehran weeks ago when they requested to visit the suspected Parchin site. The last time IAEA inspectors were at Fordow was late last year. It also has not been allowed to install cameras at Fordow by the Islamic regime in Iran.
    Sixteen North Koreans, including 14 technicians and two top military officers, are among those trapped after a Jan. 21 explosion destroyed much of Iran's Fordow nuclear site, a source reveals.
    The source who provided the initial information on the explosion at one of Iran's most important nuclear sites has now provided details about the degree of the destruction.
    The report, published exclusively by WND Jan. 24, is being covered internationally by major media, with independent intelligence sources confirming the explosion for the Times of London and the German Die Welt.
    But White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Monday: ''We have no information to confirm the allegations in the report and we do not believe the report is credible.''
    The short White House response, the source said, is an indication that the U.S. wants to steer away from the subject as any covert operation against the regime's nuclear installations will have consequences, including retaliation.
    Get the inside story in Reza Kahlili's ''A Time To Betray'' and learn how the Islamic regime ''bought the bomb'' in ''Atomic Iran.''
    The Islamic regime's media, in a coordinated effort, reflected a similarly short response Sunday night in its denial and remained silent Monday.
    A senior researcher and director of the Centre for Arab & Iranian Studies in London, Ali Reza Nourizadeh, who has many contacts in Iran, confirmed that the explosion had trapped many inside.
    According WND's source, a member of the security forces protecting Fordow, 36 North Korean technicians and military officers arrived in Tehran Jan. 15 and 17 and subsequently visited two Iranian nuclear sites under heavy security. One site, still unknown to the West with its vast installation of centrifuges, will be revealed soon by WND. At the other, the Fordow site, the North Koreans were to witness the start-up of six cascades of 174 new-generation, speedier centrifuges.
    Hamidreza Zakeri, a former member of the regime's Intelligence Ministry, said 17 technicians and two military supervisors are stationed at the secret site, and 14 technicians and two military officers were at Fordow.
    The source said a log on closed-circuit cameras installed by the regime to monitor the site's three centrifuge chambers and two highly enriched uranium reserves gave this account:
    On Jan 21, 14 members of the North Korean team and two military officers now stationed at Fordow along with Iranian scientists started the process of feeding uranium gas into the newly set-up cascades at 9:15 a.m. Tehran timeAt 10:43 a.m., due to a drop in power pressure, system warning signs went off, but everything went back to normal after two minutes.At 11:36 a.m., five explosions occurred concurrently in the centrifuge chambers, two explosions in the uranium reserve enclosures and a subsequent explosion in the main hallway close to the exit.At the time of the explosions, a very bright red and purple light distorted the image and an extremely loud noise could be heard. Before the explosions knocked out the cameras, interior walls could be seen coming down within the centrifuge chambers. All the explosions seemed to have been initiated from the ceilings.All cameras on the lowest floor (about 300 feet deep under a mountain) and the floor above it (about 250 feet deep) were knocked out, and only two cameras above the installation where security personnel are stationed were working.Security forces immediately informed their superiors, who ordered them to remain in the monitoring room and avoid further communication with the outside world until counterintelligence forces arrived. Twenty-one personnel were gathered in a conference room to await further instruction.Security forces were then told to close down all surrounding roads.Approximately two hours after the explosions, counterintelligence agents arrived and, after interviewing personnel and reviewing tapes, initially concluded that explosives may have been placed in ceiling lamps with some kind of trigger mechanism controlled by a power voltage frequency.The last images show eight personnel in anti-radiation clothing trying desperately to secure one of the rooms.The regime believes the technology used with the explosives is unknown to their forces, the source said.
    Iranian authorities fear that opening the site from the outside in a rescue mission could possibly release radiation and uranium gas or cause further explosions, which could contaminate thousands of people living nearby, the source said.
    As of Monday, the regime had not come up with any concrete rescue plan, though more than 200 people remain trapped, including the North Koreans, he said. He added that an agreement reached last September between North Korea and Iran called for further collaboration on Iran's nuclear bomb project and the arming of missiles with nuclear warheads.
    Another source in the Intelligence Ministry said that in a meeting Monday among top officials, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, it was decided that the international community would be kept in the dark about the disaster because any validation would undermine current negotiating with the 5+1 world powers.
    An admission would also undermine the regime from within should Iranians react to its illicit nuclear activity and the international sanctions it caused, which are being felt deeply.
    The source added that the regime is contemplating showing old images of the interior of the site to buy time until it can accurately estimate the extent of damage and possible loss of lives. Ahmadinejad will hold a parliamentary meeting behind closed doors on the issue Thursday.
    Despite severe international pressure and sanctions, Iran had refused to halt the 20-percent uranium enrichment process at Fordow. It takes only weeks to further enrich the stock at the 20-percent level to weaponization grade for a nuclear bomb.
  Letterman: 'You, Al Gore, Are Doing Business With Country That's Enabling Your Ultimate Foe of Climate Change'
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    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:47
    MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them -- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.
    MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 325 South Patrick Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.
    Copyright (C) 2013, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.
  Obama Claims Illegal Immigration Down 80%
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    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 02:15
    During President Obama's speech on Immigration reform today, he stated that illegal immigration crossings are down 80% from its peak in 2000.
    However, the Washington Times reports that arrest numbers signal a 9% jump in illegal immigration in 2012.
    They write:
    "Even as President Obama travels to Las Vegas Tuesday to call for legalizing illegal immigrants, the latest numbers from the U.S. Border Patrol suggest that the flow across the nation's southwest border jumped by 9 percent last year.
    The Border Patrol made 356,873 arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2012, up from 327,577 in 2011, according to figures obtained by the Associated Press and confirmed by The Washington Times. Border Patrol officials estimate that apprehensions are a good proxy for illegal crossings, so when the numbers go up, it means that the flow of illegal immigrants is going up as well."
  Sharpton & Friends Demand PAYBACK For Support: 'A Black Agenda'
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    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 02:14
    REV AL SHARPTON (28 January 2013): We're serious about this, a black agenda that we are raising from the civil rights leadership and this is convened by Mark Morial of the National Urban League and Ben Jealous of the NAACP and Melanie Campbell of National Civic Participation and myself from National Action Network and we've convened 61 groups. Now, there are gonna be other with agenda's and that's fine, but we wanted to come with a concrete agenda to say to the President say to the Congress these are the areas from jobs across the board that we want to see dealt with and HOW we want to see it dealt with. In the first term of this Administration we met on jobs and worked toward the Jobs Bill passage. We dealt with Education we dealt with the question of voter rights, but now we want to deal with it as a collective way. We think a lot was done on the first term and a lot was done that directly dealt with some of the issues in our community. Now we want to deal with it collectively.
  NBC's Lauer Asks if Gore Feels 'Vindicated' By Deadly Natural Disasters
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    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Wed, 30 Jan 2013 01:21
    After initially hitting Al Gore from the left for global warming "hypocrisy" during an interview on Tuesday's NBC Today, in the second part of that interview later on the broadcast, co-host Matt Lauer praised the former Vice President for having "never shied away from the very tough issues" and wondered: "After years of calling people's attention to this issue, and now we've seen Superstorm Sandy and tornadoes and drought and extreme temperatures, do you feel vindicated?"
  NBC Hits Gore From Left on Climate 'Hypocrisy'; Ignores Al Jazeera's Anti-Americanism
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    Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
    Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:23
    In an interview with former Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday's Today, co-host Matt Lauer fretted over the "hypocrisy" of the global warming crusader selling his news channel Current TV to the oil-funded Al Jazeera network. However, Lauer completely ignored the Arab news organization's history of anti-Americanism and promotion of Islamic fundamentalism.
  VIDEO-US Department of State Unveils Open Book Project - Creative Commons
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    Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:50
    Cable Green, January 28th, 2013
    Earlier today, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton unveiled the Open Book Project (remarks, fact sheet, press notice), an initiative to expand access to free, high-quality educational materials in Arabic, with a particular focus on science and technology. These resources will be released under open licenses that allow their free use, sharing, and adaptation to local context.
    The initiative will:
    Support the creation of Arabic-language Open Educational Resources (OER) and the translation of existing OER into Arabic.Disseminate the resources free of charge through project partners and their platforms.Offer training and support to governments, educators, and students to put existing OER to use and develop their own.Raise awareness of the potential of OER and promote uptake of online learning materials.Creative Commons is proud to be a part of the Open Book Project, partnering with the Department of State; the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization; and our open colleagues around the world. CC licenses are core to OER, providing the world's teachers and students the rights needed to legally reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute educational resources. When education content is CC licensed, it may be legally translated into (or from) Arabic and any other language. Using CC licenses provides an unprecedented opportunity to ensure OER are able to bridge cultures and fill educational gaps that exist on a global, regional, and local level.
    In Clinton's words, ''Talent is universal, but opportunity is not. It's incumbent upon all of us to keep opening doors of opportunity, because walking through it may be a young man or young woman who becomes a medical researcher and discovers a cure for a terrible disease, becomes an entrepreneur, or becomes a professor who then creates the next generation of those who contribute.''
    When digital learning resources can be openly licensed and shared for the marginal cost of $0, many educators believe we collectively have an ethical and moral obligation to do so. Congratulations to all of the partners who will work together to help more people access high quality, affordable educational resources.
Concealed Handguns Are A Major Problem! Police Commissioner Ray Kelly
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  Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:31
As Music Streaming Grows, Royalties Slow to a Trickle
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  Source: LIVE@LEEDS
  Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:26
  BEN SISARIO 01/28/13 NY Times
  Like plenty of music fans, Sam Broe jumped at the chance to join Spotify two summers ago, and he hasn't looked back.
  Spotify, which began streaming music in Sweden in 2008, lets users choose from millions of songs over the Internet free or by subscription, and is increasingly seen as representing the future of music consumption. Mr. Broe, a 26-year-old from Brooklyn, said that having all that music at his fingertips helped him trim his monthly music budget from $30 to the $10 fee he pays for Spotify's premium service.
  ''The only time I download anything on iTunes is in the rare case that I can't find it on Spotify,'' he said.
  A decade after Apple revolutionized the music world with its iTunes store, the music industry is undergoing another, even more radical, digital transformation as listeners begin to move from CDs and downloads to streaming services like Spotify, Pandora and YouTube.
  As purveyors of legally licensed music, they have been largely welcomed by an industry still buffeted by piracy. But as the companies behind these digital services swell into multibillion-dollar enterprises, the relative trickle of money that has made its way to artists is causing anxiety at every level of the business.
  Late last year, Zoe Keating, an independent musician from Northern California, provided an unusually detailed case in point. In voluminous spreadsheets posted to her Tumblr blog, she revealed the royalties she gets from various services, down to the ten-thousandth of a cent.
  Even for an under-the-radar artist like Ms. Keating, who describes her style as ''avant cello,'' the numbers painted a stark picture of what it is like to be a working musician these days. After her songs had been played more than 1.5 million times on Pandora over six months, she earned $1,652.74. On Spotify, 131,000 plays last year netted just $547.71, or an average of 0.42 cent a play.
  ''In certain types of music, like classical or jazz, we are condemning them to poverty if this is going to be the only way people consume music,'' Ms. Keating said.
  The way streaming services pay royalties represents a major shift in the economic gears that have been underlying the industry for decades.
  From 78 r.p.m. records to the age of iTunes, artists' record royalties have been counted as a percentage of a sale price. On a 99-cent download, a typical artist may earn 7 to 10 cents after deductions for the retailer, the record company and the songwriter, music executives say. One industry joke calls the flow of these royalties a ''river of nickels.''
  In the new economics of streaming music, however, the river of nickels looks more like a torrent of micropennies.
  Spotify, Pandora and others like them pay fractions of a cent to record companies and publishers each time a song is played, some portion of which goes to performers and songwriters as royalties. Unlike the royalties from a sale, these payments accrue every time a listener clicks on a song, year after year.
  The question dogging the music industry is whether these micropayments can add up to anything substantial.
  ''No artist will be able to survive to be professionals except those who have a significant live business, and that's very few,'' said Hartwig Masuch, chief executive of BMG Rights Management.
  Spotify has 20 million users in 17 countries, with five million of them paying $5 to $10 a month to eliminate the ads seen by freeloaders.
  In a recent interview, Sean Parker, a board member, said he believed Spotify would eventually attract enough subscribers to help return the music industry to its former glory '-- that is, to the days before Mr. Parker's first major enterprise, Napster, came along.
  ''I believe that Spotify is the company that will make it succeed,'' said Mr. Parker, who is also a former president of Facebook. ''It's the right model if you want to build the pot of money back up to where it was in the late '90s, when the industry was at its peak. This is the only model that's going to get you there.''
  As the largest music market, the United States has been a critical proving ground for streaming companies, but competition is also quickly spreading globally. Deezer, a French on-demand service, has announced plans to be in more than 100 countries. And localized streaming services have also sprouted up: Anghami, for example, serves listeners in the Middle East, and the Indian music market has Dhingana and Saavn.
  For the biggest pop stars, hit streams can provide substantial revenue. Last week, a Google executive said in a company earnings call that Psy's viral video sensation ''Gangnam Style'' had generated $8 million from YouTube, where it had been watched 1.2 billion times, yielding a royalty of about 0.6 cent a viewing.
  Many musicians whose work does not reach the top of the charts, however, are not as sanguine.
  Complicating the issue, each type of service pays different rates. Pandora's are set by law. Spotify declined to comment on its rates, but according to a number of music executives who have negotiated with the company, it generally pays 0.5 to 0.7 cent a stream (or $5,000 to $7,000 per million plays) for its paid tier, and as much as 90 percent less for its free tier.
  The companies behind streaming are ballooning quickly. Pandora, with 67 million regular users, is publicly traded, with a market capitalization of nearly $2 billion, and Spotify's investors have reportedly valued the company at $3 billion. Yet so far they have contributed relatively little to the American recording industry's $7 billion in annual revenue.
  In its last four reported quarters, Pandora paid $202 million in ''content acquisition costs,'' including licensing fees, and Spotify recently announced that it has paid $500 million in royalties since its inception. Downloads, by comparison, had $2.6 billion in sales in 2011, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
  For those whose income depends on royalties, the biggest concern has been whether streaming cannibalizes CD and download sales by offering a cheap or free alternative.
  Cliff Burnstein, whose company, Q Prime, manages Metallica and other major acts, said that even if streaming hurts sales, all is not lost as long as the number of paying subscribers continues to climb rapidly.
  ''There is a point at which there could be 100 percent cannibalization, and we would make more money through subscriptions services,'' Mr. Burnstein said. ''We calculate that point at approximately 20 million worldwide subscribers.''
  Metallica recently announced an exclusive deal with Spotify.
  If those subscriber ranks grow, royalty rates will also climb, recapitulating a process seen whenever new technologies have been introduced, said Donald S. Passman, a top music lawyer and the author of the book ''All You Need to Know About the Music Business.''
  ''Artists didn't make big money from CDs when they were introduced, either,'' Mr. Passman said. ''They were a specialty thing, and had a lower royalty rate. Then, as it became mainstream, the royalties went up. And that's what will happen here.''
  This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
  Correction: January 31, 2013
  An article on Tuesday about the royalties paid by streaming music companies like Spotify gave an incorrect estimate of the potential earnings of a song on Spotify's paid tier. Spotify generally pays 0.5 to 0.7 cent a stream for the paid tier, which results in $5,000 to $7,000 per million plays, not $5,000 to $8,000. The article also described the $7 billion American recording industry incorrectly. That figure was its annual revenue in 2011 '-- not its ''bottom line,'' which refers to net profit, not sales.
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  Tags: digital streaming, royalties, Spotify
  This entry was posted on January 31, 2013 at 12:31 pm and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Gordon ziet droom in rook opgaan
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  Source: Telegraaf.nl - prive
  Thu, 31 Jan 2013 06:50
  Gordon ziet droom in rook opgaan - Priv(C) | Het laatste Priv(C) nieuws leest u op Prive.nl van De Telegraaf [prive]Uw browser ondersteund geen javascript of javascript staat uitgeschakeld. Hierdoor kunnen er cookies geplaatst worden waar u geen toestemming voor heeft gegeven.
"Did Israel Has Any Choice But To Bomb These Truck Convoys?"
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  Thu, 31 Jan 2013 03:46
Boeing sees no big impact from 787 woes, profit beats
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  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:47
  Boeing sees no big impact from 787 woes, profit beatsTop News
  Boeing sees no big impact from 787 woes, profit beats
  Wed, Jan 30 11:16 AM EST
  By Alwyn Scott
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co posted stronger-than-expected profit on Wednesday as its backlog of orders rose, and said its 2013 forecast assumed no significant financial impact from the grounding of its 787 Dreamliner jet by regulators.
  Its shares were up 1.2 percent at $74.50.
  Aviation safety agencies in the United States and Japan are investigating what caused lithium-ion batteries to burn on two 787 passenger jets earlier this month, prompting regulators to ground the planes worldwide.
  Boeing said it is continuing to build the Dreamliner but has halted deliveries, and analysts have raised concerns about the cost of the grounding and fixing the battery problem on about 125 jets that Boeing has built so far.
  "Our first order of business for 2013 is to resolve the battery issue on the 787 and return the airplanes safely to service with our customers," said Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney.
  Boeing said it expects to deliver at least 60 Dreamliners in 2013, compared with 80 or more that analysts expected. That gap of 20 jets implies a four-month delay in delivery, since Boeing is making five 787s a month. The company intends to increase production to 10 Dreamliners a month by the end of the year.
  Boeing's quarterly report came as its Dreamliner woes appeared to deepen. Earlier Wednesday, Japan's two biggest airlines said they had repeatedly replaced sub-par lithium-ion batteries on their Dreamliners in the months before the two incidents that led to the 787 groundings.
  The comments from All Nippon Airways Co Ltd, the biggest 787 customer to date, and Japan Airlines Co Ltd indicated there appeared to be problems with the battery's reliability long before one caught fire on a JAL 787 at Boston's Logan Airport on January 7, and a second was badly charred and melted on an ANA domestic flight a few days later. The flight was forced to make an emergency landing.
  On January 16, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ordered U.S. airlines to stop flying 787s, and other regulators around the world quickly followed suit.
  The two airlines operate 24 of the 50 787s in service. United Airlines is the only U.S. carrier currently flying the 787.
  Boeing later said the replacements of potentially flammable lithium-ion batteries were not made because of safety concerns. "Batteries are a replaceable unit on airplanes, regardless of the technology used," the company said in a statement.
  But in giving its outlook for 2013, the company said its numbers assume "no significant financial impact from the FAA directive."
  Ken Herbert, an analyst at Imperial Capital, said it was difficult to estimate the impact from the grounding. "It's too early, and too risky, to say," he said, noting there were numerous grounding-related issues for Boeing and for airlines, and many unknowns.
  The NTSB has not yet established a cause for either of the two battery incidents.
  NET FALLS, STILL BEATS
  Meanwhile, Boeing said net income fell to $978 million, or $1.28 per share, in the fourth quarter, from $1.39 billion, or $1.84, in the year-ago period, when it posted a special tax gain.
  Analysts expected earnings of $1.19 a share.
  Herbert said wider profit margins from its commercial airplanes helped the company to beat estimates.
  But he was disappointed by its 2013 profit outlook of $5.00 to $5.20 a share, compared with his target of $5.60. The figures include pension charges.
  The consensus Wall Street estimate was $5.13 a share for 2013, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
  Revenue for the quarter rose 14 percent to $22.3 billion.
  The company said it booked 394 net aircraft orders in the quarter, adding that its total order backlog was nearly 4,400 planes valued at $319 billion, a record tally. In the third quarter, it recorded 369 net orders and had a backlog of about 4,100 airplanes valued at $307 billion.
  For the first time, Boeing released so-called core results, which exclude most pension expenses that are part of standard accounting measures. Boeing said core earnings rose 9 percent to $1.84 billion in the quarter from $1.69 billion a year ago.
  Core earnings per share fell 24 percent to $1.46 from $1.92, but the year-earlier figure included a one-time tax benefit of about 52 cents a share.
  Boeing said the new measures better reflected its operating performance by factoring out market fluctuations and interest rate assumptions that can make pension expenses change significantly from quarter to quarter.
  (Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
  Boeing sees no big impact from 787 woes, profit beatsTop News
  Boeing sees no big impact from 787 woes, profit beats
  Wed, Jan 30 11:16 AM EST
  By Alwyn Scott
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co posted stronger-than-expected profit on Wednesday as its backlog of orders rose, and said its 2013 forecast assumed no significant financial impact from the grounding of its 787 Dreamliner jet by regulators.
  Its shares were up 1.2 percent at $74.50.
  Aviation safety agencies in the United States and Japan are investigating what caused lithium-ion batteries to burn on two 787 passenger jets earlier this month, prompting regulators to ground the planes worldwide.
  Boeing said it is continuing to build the Dreamliner but has halted deliveries, and analysts have raised concerns about the cost of the grounding and fixing the battery problem on about 125 jets that Boeing has built so far.
  "Our first order of business for 2013 is to resolve the battery issue on the 787 and return the airplanes safely to service with our customers," said Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney.
  Boeing said it expects to deliver at least 60 Dreamliners in 2013, compared with 80 or more that analysts expected. That gap of 20 jets implies a four-month delay in delivery, since Boeing is making five 787s a month. The company intends to increase production to 10 Dreamliners a month by the end of the year.
  Boeing's quarterly report came as its Dreamliner woes appeared to deepen. Earlier Wednesday, Japan's two biggest airlines said they had repeatedly replaced sub-par lithium-ion batteries on their Dreamliners in the months before the two incidents that led to the 787 groundings.
  The comments from All Nippon Airways Co Ltd, the biggest 787 customer to date, and Japan Airlines Co Ltd indicated there appeared to be problems with the battery's reliability long before one caught fire on a JAL 787 at Boston's Logan Airport on January 7, and a second was badly charred and melted on an ANA domestic flight a few days later. The flight was forced to make an emergency landing.
  On January 16, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ordered U.S. airlines to stop flying 787s, and other regulators around the world quickly followed suit.
  The two airlines operate 24 of the 50 787s in service. United Airlines is the only U.S. carrier currently flying the 787.
  Boeing later said the replacements of potentially flammable lithium-ion batteries were not made because of safety concerns. "Batteries are a replaceable unit on airplanes, regardless of the technology used," the company said in a statement.
  But in giving its outlook for 2013, the company said its numbers assume "no significant financial impact from the FAA directive."
  Ken Herbert, an analyst at Imperial Capital, said it was difficult to estimate the impact from the grounding. "It's too early, and too risky, to say," he said, noting there were numerous grounding-related issues for Boeing and for airlines, and many unknowns.
  The NTSB has not yet established a cause for either of the two battery incidents.
  NET FALLS, STILL BEATS
  Meanwhile, Boeing said net income fell to $978 million, or $1.28 per share, in the fourth quarter, from $1.39 billion, or $1.84, in the year-ago period, when it posted a special tax gain.
  Analysts expected earnings of $1.19 a share.
  Herbert said wider profit margins from its commercial airplanes helped the company to beat estimates.
  But he was disappointed by its 2013 profit outlook of $5.00 to $5.20 a share, compared with his target of $5.60. The figures include pension charges.
  The consensus Wall Street estimate was $5.13 a share for 2013, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
  Revenue for the quarter rose 14 percent to $22.3 billion.
  The company said it booked 394 net aircraft orders in the quarter, adding that its total order backlog was nearly 4,400 planes valued at $319 billion, a record tally. In the third quarter, it recorded 369 net orders and had a backlog of about 4,100 airplanes valued at $307 billion.
  For the first time, Boeing released so-called core results, which exclude most pension expenses that are part of standard accounting measures. Boeing said core earnings rose 9 percent to $1.84 billion in the quarter from $1.69 billion a year ago.
  Core earnings per share fell 24 percent to $1.46 from $1.92, but the year-earlier figure included a one-time tax benefit of about 52 cents a share.
  Boeing said the new measures better reflected its operating performance by factoring out market fluctuations and interest rate assumptions that can make pension expenses change significantly from quarter to quarter.
  (Reporting by Alwyn Scott; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
AF Identifies Missing F-16 Pilot
  Link to Article
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:51
  TWAIN HARTE, Calif. -- An Air Force pilot reported missing Monday night when his F-16 fighter jet disappeared over the Adriatic Sea off the Italian coast is from Tuolumne County, Calif.
  Search teams recovered debris Tuesday believed to be from the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Rescuers continued to search for the pilot, Capt. Lucas "Luc" Gruenther, who grew up in Twain Harte and is a 1999 graduate of Summerville High in Tuolumne.
  His wife, Cassy, is expecting their first child in a few weeks. The Gruenthers were high school sweethearts at Summerville.
  Twain Harte resident Chance Hildreth, one of Gruenther's brothers, said family and friends have been praying for his safe return. Hildreth asked community members to keep Gruenther in their prayers as well.
  Family members learned Monday that Gruenther, 32, was missing.
  "I thought, 'They will find him,' " said Gruenther's father-in-law, Randy Williams of Tuolumne. "But we haven't heard anything."
  Williams said his wife and Gruenther's mother are on their way to Italy to be with Cassy Gruenther. He said he last saw his daughter and son-in-law over Thanksgiving when they were home for about three weeks.
  Gruenther was a standout athlete, leader and student at Summerville who played varsity soccer, was involved in more than a half-dozen campus clubs and served as student body president.
  "He had the personality -- 'I'm going to make this a better place,' " said Mitch Heldstab, Gruenther's grade-level coordinator at Summerville. "When he believed in something, he went after it."
  Heldstab said Gruenther and the student body vice president were so successful in tackling the campus' litter problem that the state fire marshal used Summerville as an example of keeping high schools free of trash.
  Gruenther came back to Summerville in April to give two presentations to students.
  Heldstab said Gruenther comes from an athletic family and that one of his grandfathers is Olympic champion Bob Mathias, who won the gold medal in the decathlon in 1948 and 1952.
  Gruenther is an Air Force Academy distinguished graduate. He is the 31st Fighter Wing's chief of flight safety at the Aviano Air Base in Italy. He was performing a training mission when the base lost contact with him about 8 p.m. Monday, according to an air base news release.
  U.S. military officials are coordinating search and rescue efforts with Italian military and civilian teams. U.S. military resources joined the search including an Air Force HC-130 from U.S. Africa Command and a rotation of Navy P-3s from U.S. Naval Forces Europe.
  "We are dedicating all available resources to the search and rescue operation," said Brig. Gen Scott J. Zobrist, 31st Fighter Wing commander. "I'm grateful to the many Italian and U.S. professionals who are executing this mission. I am hopeful that we will bring him home safely.
  "Our thoughts and prayers are with Capt. Gruenther and his family. I personally appreciate the efforts of the many people who are supporting the Gruenthers in this difficult time."
  (C) Copyright 2013 The Modesto Bee. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Secretary Clinton Holds a Global Townterview
  Link to Article
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:43
  Video is available with closed captioning on YouTube.
  MS. SALES: Hello. I'm Leigh Sales from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Welcome to this town hall-style event with the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who has her last day at the State Department this Friday. This is a town hall with a difference though because we have people all around the world ready to ask to questions from Britain to Beirut to Colombia.Here's how the event will run in front of our live audience here in the Newseum's Knight Studio in Washington, D.C. I'll start the ball rolling with five minutes of discussion with the Secretary, and then we'll cross to locations around the globe to hear other questions, and we'll also be taking submissions from social media. Now, of course, live TV is fraught with peril to begin with, but when you throw in six lives satellites around the world, it's a bit of a high-wire act, so please bear with us if the technology doesn't quite cooperate as we'd like.
  So to start, and for her final town hall, please welcome the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (Applause.)
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Hello, Leigh.
  MS. SALES: Hi Secretary Clinton. Have a seat.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Hello, everyone. Hello.
  MS. SALES: Super warm welcome there. This is your 59th event like this, so there's nothing new I can ask you, is there?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, I'm sure there is. (Laughter.)
  MS. SALES: I've had a look at some of the transcripts of previous events like this and you've been asked some very funny things, from what was Chelsea's first word, which was Mommy, for the record, to what you favorite film was. I bet they're all quite memorable in their own way.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: They really are because part of what I've tried to do in the last four years is to reach out to people across the world, particularly young people, and I'm so happy to see so many of them here in the Newseum. And for me it's been a learning experience as well, because as I've traveled around doing these '' this is the 59th, as you said '' of these kinds of events, all over the globe I've heard what's on people's minds and what their questions were, and so it's been a great two-way communication.
  MS. SALES: I have seen some interesting statistics: You've had 1,700 meetings with world leaders, 755 meetings at the White House, 570 airplane meals '' (laughter) '' and three times caught dancing on camera.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, dear. Yes. (Laughter.) That's supposed to be erased from the record, you know. (Laughter.)
  MS. SALES: Now, in a moment I'm going to throw to questions around the world, as I just explained. But first of all, I just want to us to set the scene a little bit by talking about some of the big foreign policy issues that are around in the news. So let's start with North Africa, which has been very prominent lately. We've seen the Islamist extremists in Algeria, of course the ongoing problems in Libya, the crisis in Mali, in recent days violent protests in Egypt. How much of a global security threat is this region?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Leigh, it is becoming a threat, first and foremost, to the people of the region. This is not what the Arab revolution was about, and there's a great deal of concern across the region about people who choose to use violence to try to impose their extremist views rather than participate in politics. It does have the potential, however, of expanding beyond the region, which is why I think you're seeing an international concern and coalition coming together to support the people of Mali, to stand by the Government of Algeria, to work with the Government of Libya, so that they themselves are given the tools they need to combat this extremist threat.
  MS. SALES: Has there been an insufficient global focus on that part of the world to now?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think historically there has been exactly that, that much of Africa '' you can separate North Africa from Sub-Saharan Africa '' have not had the kind of attention on a range of issues, whether it's security or development. But that is changing, and it's very exciting to me that I think seven of the fastest performing economies in the world now are in Sub-Saharan Africa. It's also exciting to see people in North Africa, after so many decades of oppression, looking to find their own way forward democratically.
  But transformations are never easy and they are never preordained. If North Africa and the fruits of the Arab revolution are to be democracy, prosperity, better opportunities particularly for the young people of the region, the people themselves will have to ensure that. And in Sub-Saharan Africa, helping to improve governance and create more opportunity has been one of my primary goals.
  MS. SALES: The world saw your passionate response to a Senate committee last week about what happened in Benghazi. You said that you want the focus to be on making sure that something like that can't happen again. But is it really possible to prevent things like that from happening?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we live in a dangerous world and it's unpredictable and complex. I think we in government have to do everything we can to provide as secure conditions as possible for our diplomats, our development experts, in order that we don't end up in bunkers, abdicating from regions that are important to us. But it's also now an increasing threat, as we saw with the Algerian hostage taking, to businesses, to cultural institutions. We've seen the extremists destroying shrines and libraries that were holding priceless remnants and artifacts that were of great meaning to people. So yes, it's something we have to deal with, but we have to also be realistic that we live in this dangerous world and we can't retreat from it.
  MS. SALES: When we were watching that hearing, we saw the Republican committee members go on the attack. Is Washington today more bitterly partisan than it was when you were first lady, or has it always been like this and we just have a recency bias?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: It has been increasingly partisan. It was 20 years ago, 30 years ago, you can go back in history and see certain constituencies represented in our Congress and our politics certainly squaring off against each other. But it's become more so, and it's also resulted in less productivity. You can be partisan, you can have a strong sense of the rightness of your position, but democracy and certainly legislative bodies require compromise. And you can't let compromise become a dirty word because then you veer toward fanaticism.
  I mean, we were just talking about extremists who think it's only their way, they are the ones who have the truth, none of the rest of us have any kind of claim on what is real in their views. And so it's important in our democracies '' like Australia, like the United States '' that yes, be passionate, be intense about your feelings, but at the end of the day you've got to serve the people who sent you there, and that requires compromise.
  MS. SALES: I think at these events you are always asked a question that involves the year 2016, and so I'm not going to ask it because I think somebody else around the world will. So let's start our criss-cross discussions around the world with the Middle East Broadcasting Corporation, which is based in Dubai. Presenter Muna AbuSulayman is standing by in Beirut.
  Muna.
  MS. ABUSULAYMAN: Hello, hi. I just wanted to tell you thank you for inviting us to this global town hall. We are very happy to be a part of this. We have a lot of Arab students in the studio in Beirut to ask Madam Secretary a few questions. But I want to actually start the ball rolling and ask the first question myself: Madame Secretary, what is your biggest unfulfilled mission in leaving the Department of State?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Muna, it's wonderful to see you in Beirut and to have the students there with you. Obviously, I want to see peace in the Middle East and I want to see prosperity that includes all people, and I want to see women and girls given their rights and opportunities. So those are three of the pieces of unfinished business.
  Now, as a Secretary of State, a diplomat, I know that a lot of the work that I have done is, by its very nature, complicated and difficult. So it's not a surprise that some of these big issues would be unfinished. But what's important is that we continue the work and that we build bridges across our world, across cultures and societies, so that we engage in moving toward a better world that will certainly give more opportunity, peace, and prosperity to the young people in your studio.
  MS. ABUSULAYMAN: Well, thank you. We all know how much you've worked on linking women rights with human rights, so it is quite appreciated in our parts of the world, but I also have a few questions from the students. And the first question is from Haled.
  QUESTION: Yes. Good afternoon, Madam Secretary. Haled Kaber from the Lebanese American University.
  My question to you, Madam Secretary is: What is your opinion? The main obstacle these opposition-led demonstrations that are being held in the Arab world are facing, is it the lack of clear organization between its members and not having a unified, clear vision for the future of the country? Is it the involvement of international or regional actors, or maybe the actions that are practiced by the ruling regimes? Thank you.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, it probably is all three. I think you did an excellent summary of three factors that are involved, and let me quickly respond.
  The Arab revolutions which have swept the region hold such great promise. But I don't think that you go from a top-down society that often imposed oppressive regulations and punishments on people for expressing themselves to a democracy overnight. And so when you look at the trajectory, this will take some time, and there has to be a combination of persistence and patience, and I would hope that the opposition demonstrators are demonstrating because they want to participate in the political process, not to derail it. Part of our problem is that there are elements within the countries, certainly in North Africa, who don't believe in democracy, who don't believe in equal rights for women and men, who don't believe that there can be cooperation among people who have different points of view. That has to be overcome.
  Now, Lebanon, which has suffered for so many years, as you all know better than I, has this uneasy balance in your democracy, but so far it has sustained the stability of your country. So different countries will reach different conclusions about how to fashion and manage their democracy, but everyone should stand against those who wish to hijack it, whether they are internal or external, who believe that their extremist point of view should cancel out everyone else's point of view, and really stand up and speak out and work toward what were the aspirations of the people, particularly the young people who stood up and said, ''We want a better, different life.''
  MS. ABUSULAYMAN: Thank you, Madam Secretary. Of course, extremism is something that we actually have to deal with a lot in the Middle East, and is something that needs to be negotiated quite delicately. And I think the second question from one of our students will lead to that.
  QUESTION: Good afternoon. Ahmadin Mohaissen, American University of Beirut. I would like to ask you: With the recent reelection of Benjamin Netanyahu, the chances of peace are almost negligible. Out of your experience, what's needed to achieve to the most comprehensive and long-lasting peace in the Middle East? What about the role of the USA? Thank you.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I actually think that this election opens doors, not nails them shut. I think the outcome of the election in which a significant percentage of the Israeli electorate chose to express themselves by saying, ''We need a different path than the one we have been pursuing internally and with respect to the Middle East peace process.'' So I know that President Obama, my successor, soon-to-be Secretary of State John Kerry, will pursue this, will look for every possible opening.
  I have been involved in, one way or another, working toward peace for more than 20 years, first with my husband, then as a senator, now as Secretary of State. And what rests at the core of the problem is great mistrust, great concern on both sides, because I also speak frequently with our Palestinian counterparts. And somehow, we have to look for ways to give the Palestinian people the pathway to peace, prosperity, and statehood that they deserve and give the Israeli people the security and stability that they seek. I think that still is possible, and I can assure you the United States under President Obama will continue to do everything we can to move the parties toward some resolution.
  MS. SALES: We're going to leave Beirut there for now, Muna and the people there. Thank you so much. I mentioned before that maybe we would have some technical issues, and as you could see with the audio there, we did indeed. And also, please just bear with the delay that you have when you're traveling enormous distances like this.
  Let's go across the other side of the world now to NHK in Tokyo, Japan's national public broadcaster, where the director of the international news division, Kenji Kohno, is ready with a question.
  MR. KOHNO: Good evening from Tokyo. Madam Secretary, thank you very much for this opportunity to talk to you again. We have here a group of 10 Japanese college students, very good students, and let me turn this microphone to them. They have some questions. So who wants to ask the first question? Okay. Here you go.
  QUESTION: Hello, Madam Secretary. I'm Yuki Kao coming from the University of Tokyo, so I would like to ask about the future of U.S.-Japan economic relationship. It is widely said that the U.S.-Japan relationship, especially in the field of economy, are becoming weaker and weaker. In my opinion, it is because a lot of Japanese companies are switching their focus onto the emerging markets in Asia.
  So how can we reinforce or maintain the U.S.-Japan relationship? Could the Trans-Pacific Partnership be one of the solutions?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I'm glad you mentioned that at the end of your question, because I certainly believe the Trans-Pacific Partnership holds great benefits for Japan's economy. And it is true that the United States and Japan have both expanded economically on a broader scale, which of course is necessary because consumers in the middle class in many emerging democracies or emerging economies are now demanding more goods and services.
  But I think the Japanese-U.S. relationship is a very secure one, and what we want is to look for new ways that we can work together on behalf of our common values and our hopes for the future. I highly appreciate the excellent working relationship that I've had over the last four years with my Japanese counterparts. But I think you're right to point out that in today's world, we have to be more creative, innovative, open and transparent about our economies, because Japan and the United States have comparative advantage. We're high tech, we have highly educated workforces. In order to keep producing jobs and rising incomes, we have to be smart about how we use our economies. So I think the Trans-Pacific Partnership is one way that could really enhance our relationship.
  MR. KOHNO: Madam Secretary, let me add my questions, which is on the possibly imminent nuclear test by North Korea. North Korea has still threatened to do this, but your spokesperson said that if they do, the U.S. would take very significant action. I wonder what this significant action means, and I wonder this '' more '' simply more sanctions would be enough to stop their provocations?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, thank you for that, because we, of course, share Japan's concerns and the concerns of the entire region about what the new regime in North Korea is doing and threatening. And let me express my regret, because I think with a new young leader we all expected something different. We expected him to focus on improving the lives of the North Korean people, not just the elite, but everyone to have more education, more openness, more opportunity. And instead, he has engaged in very provocative rhetoric and behavior.
  So we did go to the United Nations after the missile launch, and with very good work on behalf of our teams, we came up with additional and much tougher sanctions. But we're going to have to work closely together to try to change the behavior of the North Korean regime. I've had long conversations with my Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Chinese counterparts, because this is a threat to all of us. And it is something that is so regrettable when young people the world over, including in North Korea, are getting better connected with the rest of the world, to remain as closed off and denied the opportunities they should have.
  So it's going to be a lengthy consultation. I don't want to preview what the outcome might be in terms of actions that would have to be taken, because we still hope that there is a way to convince the North Korean regime not to pursue this path.
  MR. KOHNO: Now, let me have a student to have the second question. Who wants to have the second question? Okay, you.
  QUESTION: Good evening, Madam Secretary. I'm Yosuke Kawanebe from Tokyo University of Science. As mentioned, I think Japan and U.S. will need to have stronger relationships in the future. And I'm an entrepreneur, and I feel our generation is now taking over important positions in politics and businesses. So I want to ask your advice for younger people who want to become leaders, tomorrow's leaders in the future.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I'm so happy you asked that question because I think that is something every young person should be considering, particularly in a democracy like Japan. There are many roads to leadership. You mentioned being interested in entrepreneurship. Those kinds of business investment opportunities are leadership ones '' starting businesses, building businesses, creating employment. That has to go hand in hand with whatever the political leadership is able to do.
  And I believe strongly that we need to open up all of our economies, knock down barriers to the participation of young people, of women. I think you can take any economy in the world, including mine and including yours, and see that there are still barriers to the dreams of young business leaders. And I hope that in the next few years, we will do more to open up our markets, open up credit, clear away the barriers so that a young man like yourself will have a chance to make a real contribution to your country's economy.
  MS. SALES: That's where we're going to leave Tokyo; wonderful to see that enthusiasm there with the hands. We might take a Facebook question that we received, Secretary Clinton. It was received in Farsi from Rasoul Ali Asgari.
  It said: I'm glad she '' meaning you '' has regained her health. My only question is if you have issues with the Government of Iran, why destroy the people with the current sanctions in place? It's very difficult to find medicine in Iran. Where is your sense of humanity?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first, let me say on the medicine and on food and other necessities, there are no sanctions. And what we have tried to do, and in fact, I have approved the sending of medicines to Iran for exactly the purpose that is pointed out. We do not want the people of Iran to suffer and certainly to be deprived of necessary medicines. But this is a dilemma for us, and for the entire world, because when I say ''us,'' I'm not talking only about the United States. But if you look at the United Nations sanctions, the European Union sanctions, across the globe, people are very worried about what the Iranian Government's actions and intentions are.
  We know that there is a lot of support for terrorism by the Iranian Government. We know they send out agents and proxies across the world to do bombings and assassinations. That's deeply troubling. And we also know that their pursuit of a nuclear weapon would be incredibly dangerous to Iran, to the region and the world.
  So we have tried diplomatic outreach. President Obama came into office saying that he wanted to engage in diplomacy with Iran to see if there were a way to end their nuclear weapons program. And we hope that that will still be possible. And we think the people of Iran, in their upcoming election, have the opportunity to send a very clear message. Iranian people are educated, intelligent, historically significant; they deserve to have a government that integrates them into the world, not isolates from the world. So we hope that the Iranian people will speak out and make known their views to their own government.
  MS. SALES: Secretary Clinton, let's see if we can go now to Bogota, in Colombia, to journalist Andrea Bernal. She interviewed you in 2010 in Ecuador, and she's at NTN24, which is a 24-hour news channel based in South America.
  Andrea.
  We'll just wait for the audio to come up on that. Hopefully we can get it. No, we might just see if we can go somewhere else while we wait for that to come up. Let's go for a Twitter question, Secretary Clinton. We have one here from @ManxNige, Nigel Walker to the State Department: ''Can you tell me why the USA didn't engage with the democratically elected Hamas government in Gaza?''
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, because we believe, and there's unfortunately a lot of evidence to support this, that Hamas is not interested in democracy, not interested in political participation and pursuits, but instead is largely still a military resistance group. And we've made it very clear that if Hamas renounces violence, if they morph themselves into a political entity the way that Fatah and the Palestinian Authority have, from the origins in the PLO. If they accept the previous commitments by the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, there's a place for them at the table. And it would be my great hope that they would do that.
  MS. SALES: We've had an email question that's come in from the Antarctic.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, the Antarctic. (Laughter.)
  MS. SALES: We're going everywhere in this discussion --
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, my goodness.
  MS. SALES: -- all around the world. From Marcelo Leppe, a Chilean scientist, he wants to ask if your government has defined any position about the future of the mineral resources in Antarctica.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Excellent question, and hello to everybody in Antarctica. It's the one continent I haven't been to so I'm very jealous that you're down there. (Laughter.) We are working on that. We want the same kind of international agreements and enforcement that has preserved the Antarctic as an international treasure and resource for research and scientific experimentation. I think it's an important question to raise. I thank you for doing so. I hope that we'll make progress in order to protect the treasure of the Antarctic that belongs to all of us.
  MS. SALES: Let's have one more Twitter question. It's from @OliverSB022: ''Which former Secretary of State does Hillary Clinton most admire and why?''
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, well, if I say any of my recent successors, I will lose friends, which I don't want to do. (Laughter.) But I will say that one of the people who I especially admire and am identifying with is Secretary Seward, who was President Lincoln's Secretary of State. And he was from New York. He was a very successful politician from New York when he became Secretary of State. He had run against President Lincoln '' (laughter) '' so there's a little bit of parallel here in the whole team-of-rivals concept. And if anyone has seen the Steven Spielberg movie, ''Lincoln,'' you see Secretary Seward by Lincoln's side the whole time, advising and supporting him. And in fact, the night that President Lincoln was assassinated, the conspirators broke into his house and tried to kill him. So I don't want that to happen to anybody '' (laughter ) '' but I like his willingness to work with President Lincoln, he made a real difference during our civil war, and I admire him greatly.
  MS. SALES: We will try to go to Colombia again shortly, we're just having some technical issues getting that up. So instead let's swing over to London, to the BBC, where Ros Atkins is waiting. He's the presenter of the BBC World Service program ''World Have Your Say.'' Ros, tells us who's with you there.
  MR. ATKINS: Leigh, hi. And, Secretary Clinton, you're very welcome to the BBC's new home here in London. I've got five guests; they come from Britain, Greece, Germany and Italy. And our first question is from Carolina.
  QUESTION: Madam Secretary, my name is Carolina. I come from Turin, in Italy. And I wanted to ask you, what do you think is the most powerful diplomatic tool? Do you think that it's more economic preponderance or legitimacy in international status, or perhaps just access to the media? And would you have given me the same answer four years ago?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: That's a great question. I think all three are different and they are used differently at different times. Certainly one of my responsibilities, when I became Secretary of State, was to restore American leadership in the world. It had been somewhat damaged and we needed to get out there and reach out to people, demonstrate our willingness to be everywhere in the world, working with people who shared our values and our aspirations, solving crises, doing what we could to deal with many of the underlying problems.
  It's also very important, however, to focus on technology and communication because four years ago, that was not part of diplomacy. We have brought a lot of the tools of modern technology '' social media '' into the State Department. In fact, we're using them now with Twitter and Facebook. Because there needs to be a two-way conversation. It's no longer governments just talking at people, whether it's talking at other leaders or talking at populations. There has to be a dialogue and people are hungry for that, young people in particular. They deserve to have their views heard and acted on as we shape the world for the future. So these are the kinds of considerations that we are constantly balancing, and we need to do a better job, frankly, at those tools you mentioned and others that have to be deployed.
  MR. ATKINS: Secretary Clinton, thank you very much for answering Carolina's question. We certainly appreciate the chance to connect BBC viewers and listeners with you today. Our next question comes from Octavia, who's from Germany.
  QUESTION: Good morning, Madam Secretary. My name is Octavia. I'm from Frankfurt, in Germany.
  My question is the following: The Obama Administration has stressed its intentions to reset and improve its relationship with Russia. So far, however, it seems like this project has failed, if we think, for example, of recent disputes over Russia's stance towards the Assad regime in Syria, Iran's nuclear ambitions, and the Magnitsky bill. In your opinion, do the United States need Europe as an intermediary in order to achieve a relationship of mutual trust and cooperation with Russia one day?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, another excellent question. I think it's not either/or. The United States has a very important bilateral relationship with Russia. During the last four years, we got a new nuclear weapons agreement to decrease our stockpiles, we worked together to enhance our efforts in Afghanistan, we had a bilateral commission that didn't draw headlines but produced results in many areas of mutual interest and concern.
  But it's also important that we work with Europe and that Europe also work to make sure that we try to shape and create a positive relationship with Russia. And I will admit it is challenging right now. Russia ended all of our aid programs where we were working on ending tuberculosis, helping abused children, and so much else.
  So it's going to have to be a mutual effort, Europe and the United States both bilaterally and together, working to try to persuade Russia and particularly Russian leadership that they should become more integrated into and connected with Europe and the West. That's where the future lies, and we hope that the next few years will be more successful doing that.
  MR. ATKINS: (Inaudible) Octavia's question, and I should mention that before this program began, we all sat around discussing the kind of questions everyone here would like to ask you, and one came up a number of times. Sahara is a British Pakistanian; you were suggesting this one.
  QUESTION: Secretary Clinton, my name is Sahara Sawar. I'm from Dubai, but a British Pakistani. My biggest question to you was: Firstly, are you planning on writing your memoirs already? And if you are following in the footsteps of Madeleine Albright in hers, where she said that her lasting regret was what happened in Rwanda, what would you say was your lasting regret?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, certainly, the loss of American lives in Benghazi was something that I deeply regret and am working hard to make sure we do everything we can to prevent.
  When you do these jobs, you have to understand at the very beginning that you can't control everything. There are terrible situations right now being played out in the Congo, Syria, where we all wish that there were clear paths that we could follow together in the international community to try to resolve. So every day is a mixture of trying to end crises, help people be smart about using the tools of American diplomacy and development to join in with others who are facing similar crises as we are.
  But I take away far more positive memories. And yes, I will write a memoir. I don't know what I'll say in it yet, but '' (laughter) '' I'll have a chance to go into greater detail on this and other matters.
  MS. SALES: That's where we'll leave London, and we will pick up instead in New Delhi, to NDTV, which is one of India's top broadcasters, and presenter Barkha Dutt, India's top female journalist and news anchor, who did one of these events with you, Secretary Clinton, last year.
  Barkha, are you there with us?
  MS. DUTT: I absolutely am. And Secretary Clinton, good evening from India. It's an absolute pleasure to be talking with you again. We all remember that wonderful town hall with you in Kolkata on your last trip here to India. I have here with me a bunch of very bright young students all itching to ask you a question.
  But before I take my microphone to the students, just by way of comment, Secretary Clinton, I know despite all your denials, all of us are waiting to see you back in political action in 2016 as possibly '' (laughter) '' the United States' first woman president. So I'm not saying that as a question. I'm just observing that we think '' (laughter) '' that might happen. Great to have you on the show, Secretary.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Good to see you again. Thank you so much.
  MS. DUTT: I notice that you didn't answer that. I'll try get a little more out of you as this program goes along.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.) That's why you're such a good journalist, Barkha.
  MS. DUTT: We have a lot of people here '' (laughter) '' thank you. And I will probe that a little further, but I'm going to hand over the mike to a young boy on my right who has a question for you, Secretary Clinton.
  QUESTION: Thank you. Good evening, ma'am. My question concerns the recent Richard Headley case and the sentence that was handed out.
  MS. DUTT: David Headley.
  QUESTION: Sorry, David Headley case and the sentence that was handed out to him. Given that he's pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the 26/11 attacks, why is America so hesitant to extradite him to India?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, that is not directly under my jurisdiction, but I will say this: There was intensive amount of investigation and interrogation of him by Indian authorities as well as American authorities. A lot of useful information was obtained, and I think that this sentence represents both the punishment that he richly deserves for his participation, but also a recognition of the role that he has played and is expected to continue to play in supporting Indian and American efforts to prevent the kind of horrific attack that occurred in Mumbai.
  MS. DUTT: Secretary Clinton, if I can just pick up on that question by this young boy here, I know that when we were doing the town hall in Kolkata, you assured Indians that it was you who had cleared the $10 million bounty on Hafiz Saeed's head, who, as you know, is a key architect of the Lashkar-e Tayyiba, the terrorist group. You also spoke about al-Zawahiri being in Pakistan according to your information.
  I know a lot of people in India want to hear from you tonight. When you look back at your term, are you satisfied with the success that you were able to achieve in bringing the perpetrators of 26/11 to justice? Or are you left with a sense of regret? Are you left with a sense that more could have been done, and somehow you didn't have enough time or weren't able to put enough pressure on Pakistan to get it done?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Barkha, I think it is unfinished business that we are not in any way walking away from. I'm leaving office, but I can assure you and the Indian people this remains one of our very highest priorities.
  We were successful in capturing and eliminating a number of the most dangerous terrorists who have safe haven inside Pakistan. We have continued to press the Pakistani Government, because of course the terrorists inside Pakistan are first and foremost an ongoing threat to the stability of Pakistan, and they need to deal with it because of that, as well as the implications for India, Afghanistan, the United States, and elsewhere.
  I also think that the efforts that both Prime Minister Singh and President Zardari in Pakistan have made to improve communication, business, trade, commerce between India and Pakistan helps to create a more receptive environment for dealing with these serious threats. So of course, I'm not satisfied. As I told you in Kolkata, I believe going after terrorism is an obligation of every country, everywhere, every sensible person. We can have disagreements, but they cannot be in any way using violence or condoning the use of violence.
  So we're not giving up. We are on this job literally every single day. And we've improved our information sharing, our law enforcement cooperation with India, and I think that will pay dividends in years to come.
  MS. DUTT: We're testing (inaudible).
  MS. SALES: Just lost audio to Barkha there. Let's see if we can get that back up because it would be great to hear one more question from India if we can.
  MS. DUTT: As you must know, we've been seeing street protests by young students here related to the horrific gang rape that took place in Delhi recently, and gender rights are really on the top of public consciousness here in India. So, a question from this young boy here.
  QUESTION: So my question to you is this: Why is it that women in politics, even in supposedly progressive societies like the United States, have to conform to masculinist and privileged constructions of a statesman in the public sphere? And I must ask you, how difficult is it for a woman politician to access political space that is heavily gendered and that dictates how a woman leader has to behave and conduct herself?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.) That could be a topic for a whole show because it's a profound question, but let me make two brief points. First, although it is better than it was, having been in and around politics for many years now, there is still a double standard. And it is a double standard that exists from the trivial, like what you wear, to the incredibly serious, like women can't vote, women can't run for office, women are not supposed to be in the public sphere. But there is a spectrum of the double standard, and of the both legal and cultural barriers to respect for women, for the full participation of women.
  So we do have a ways to go, and even in democracies. And a democracy like yours, unlike mine, that's had a woman leader and has a woman at the head of the current governing party where women have achieved a lot of political success, there is still a tremendous amount of discrimination and just outright abuse of women, particularly uneducated women, women who can't stand up for themselves, but clearly, even as we saw in the terrible gang rape, a woman trying to better herself, go to school.
  Secondly, this has been the cause of my life and will continue to be as I leave the Secretary of State's office, because we are hurting ourselves. The young woman who essentially was raped and then died of her terrible injuries, who knows what she could have contributed to India's future? When you put barriers in the way of half the population, you, in effect, are putting brakes on your own development as a nation.
  And there is more than adequate research to prove this, but just in a personal, everyday life example, I'm looking at one of the leading journalists in the world, certainly one of the leading journalists in India, Barkha. She brings to her job her experiences that are then infusing the coverage that she provides. And if you lose that kind of perspective, you are really doing a disservice to your society. So I personally was very encouraged and even proud to see young men and young women out in the streets protesting the way that young women are treated by men who do not understand or have never been taught to accept that it's not just their sisters and their mothers that they should respect, but all girls and women. So I'm looking for big changes in India in the years to come.
  MS. SALES: Thank you, Secretary Clinton, and thank you Barkha and our friends in India. Now, I can already tell you, we're probably going to have some technical issues with this but we would really like to try to go to Lagos in Nigeria. So let's give it a go. We have some people there at Channels Television, and news presenter Maupe Ogun is waiting with some young people.
  Maupe, can you hear us?
  MS. OGUN: Yes, I can, loudly, too. Well, it's a pleasure to be here, and I'm joined by a group of people who have warned me not to call them young boys or girls. (Laughter.) They're all young professionals and we're absolutely delighted to be a part of this conversation. Well, Madam Secretary, I'm going to take my first question, and it's from in-house. We're asking that, in 2009, when President Obama did visit Ghana, he said that what Africa needed was strong institutions, not strongmen, something that you've also echoed as well. Can you uphold any models in Africa where you can say that they're making progress in building strong institutions?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Yes, and in fact, both politically and economically, I see progress happening in Africa. I don't want to overstate it because some places are more stable, but let me give you just an example or two. When the President of Malawi recently died, the Vice President '' now President Banda '' was in line to become President. But there was an immediate reaction by some in the government and some in society who said, we can't have a woman president, or we don't agree with her politics. But thankfully, the people of Malawi said, no, we have a constitution, we want the rule of law, we want Joyce Banda to be the President since she is in line to be President. That was a big move, and it was very important, and we obviously supported it.
  When you look at the reelection of President Sirleaf in Liberia '' tough job, post-conflict society, but peaceful transition despite a hard-fought election. The recent election in Ghana, another example where President Atta had passed away, his Vice President came into office, but he still had to go through an election. So when you look through the countries in Africa, you can see democratic institutions getting stronger and you can see economies getting stronger. Now, you are sitting in one of the most important countries in Africa '' I would say in the world. It really matters how well the next election in Nigeria goes, whether it's free and fair and transparent. It really matters whether the endemic corruption is finally pursued so that everybody in Nigeria feels that they're not going to be left out.
  So I think there is work being done and challenges ahead, but I see positive steps that I want to recognize.
  MS. OGUN: Well, we'll take the next question now. Chude would like to ask the next question.
  QUESTION: Right. Hello, Madam Secretary. Congratulations on the spectacular run and we're looking forward to the next one in 2016. But moving on quickly, when you look at the things that have happened in '' I mean, some the crises in Mali or South Sudan or Benghazi, Libya, some people have said that the U.S. has led from behind mostly, and perhaps that's a mistake in some of these cases. What would you say is the biggest mistake? I (inaudible) even though you've had the June 2012 review. What would you say is the biggest mistake that you '' that has happened over the past few years, and how will the incoming Secretary of State be able to work on those issues moving forward after you're gone?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, let me clarify that I think what President Obama and I have tried to do is to build international coalitions to address serious crises. We believe that, of course, the United States remains the paramount military and economic power in the world, but the future we want to see are more nations taking responsibility and playing a role. And I think that is visionary leadership. I think it is looking over the horizon and recognizing that in Africa, for example, what we hope to see are key countries, anchor countries like Nigeria, dealing with your own internal challenges, but also playing a role externally in order to help keep and create peace.
  We just had a quite successful outcome in Somalia. Still a long way to go for Somalia, but thanks to African troops '' from Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya '' trained and funded by the United States along with others, they were able to push al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida affiliate, out of key cities and territory in Somalia, and then we were able to have an election. So we now have an elected government for the first time in many decades, and we want to support that. Because one thing that President Obama and I believe is that ultimately what happens inside a country is up to the people of that country; they are the ones who have to stand up against oppression, corruption, the kind of poor governance that holds countries back. The United States wants to be your partner. We want to help you economically and in other ways. But we want to create the conditions where more countries can achieve the kind of outcomes that will benefit them.
  So it's a different model than what we had in the prior Administration to the Obama Administration. But we believe strongly in supporting reform in Burma, for example, where I was privileged to go to make a statement and then accompany President Obama back there, to helping Mali fend off these extremists who are trying to disrupt and destabilize the country. But we want other people to step up and learn more about what they are capable of doing themselves.
  MS. SALES: Okay, we're going to leave Nigeria there and we will take another Twitter question, Secretary Clinton. This one was received via Sina Weibo, which is the Chinese sort of micro-blogging network, like Twitter. It's from somebody named ''Terracotta Warriors on Horseback.'' (Laughter.) The question is: ''Do you not think that competition between the United States and China in Asia will not lead to both sides losing?''
  SECRETARY CLINTON: No, I don't. I think healthy competition is part of development, human nature. I don't see any problem with healthy competition as long as it is rules-based. Healthy competition requires that everybody know what the rules are, and then you go out and compete, whether it's on the sporting field or in the economic or political arena.
  My hope '' and I have written about this, I've spoken about it '' is that the United States and China will together defy history. Historically, a rising power and a predominant power have had clashes, whether they were economic or military. Neither of us want to see that happen. We want to see a rising power like China join the international community as a responsible stakeholder, continue its extraordinary efforts to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, create a strong, vital middle class, have respectful relations with its neighbors in all of the ways on land and sea that that is required.
  And the United States wants to deepen and broaden our engagement with China. I helped to put together the strategic and economic dialogues, which we then used to discuss everything, from border security to food safety to cyber matters. And we want to continue that, because we believe strongly that the world is big enough for a lot of nations to be important players, and that is certainly true of China, and we want to see the kind of cooperative, comprehensive, positive relationship that I worked for.
  MS. SALES: We're still desperately hoping we can get up the Bogota satellite, but in the meantime we'll take one quick question again from London once more. So Ros, are you standing by there?
  MR. ATKINS: I am. Hello, Leigh. Secretary Clinton, our next question comes from Elisa, who's German. It's as much a plea as a question, I think.
  QUESTION: Yes, very much. Dear Madam Secretary, I'm Elisa from Germany, and just before the show, we've been talking about how we would really like you to run for president. And we were wondering when you're going to make a decision on this really important question, and we believe that would be a really important symbol for women essentially all over the world. (Laughter.)
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I am not thinking about anything like that right now. I am looking forward to finishing up my tenure as Secretary of State and then catching up on about 20 years of sleep deprivation. (Laughter.)
  In fact, you say you're from Germany. I spoke this morning to your chancellor, Chancellor Merkel, and someone I have admired and watched over a number of years. I do want to see more women compete for the highest positions in their countries, and I will do what I can, whether or not it is up to me to make a decision on my own future. I right now am not inclined to do that, but I will do everything I can to make sure that women compete at the highest levels not only in the United States, but around the world, because I take seriously your question, and I think it's not only for young women; it's for young men, it's for our future.
  We have to break down these attitudes that kind of pigeonhole and stereotype people. Like what does a leader look like; well, a leader looks like somebody who's a man. And in so many ways around the world today, sitting here with a journalist from Australia, which has a woman prime minister, women are subjecting themselves to the political process, which is never easy anywhere, and I want to see more of that. You have to have a thick skin. I will tell you that. But it's really important that women are out there competing at the highest levels of government and business not only to demonstrate the capacity and quality of women's leadership, but also to take advantage of the talents of every person we have.
  MS. SALES: All right. Let's see if we can get lucky now with Bogota, and journalist Andrea Bernal hopefully is able to speak to us this time. Andrea, are you there?
  MS. BERNAL: Leigh, how are you? I'm here. Thanks again for giving us the entrance. Good morning, Mrs. Secretary Hillary Clinton.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Good morning.
  MS. BERNAL: Thanks for being here with us at NTN24, the international news network for the Hispanic audience. We had the chance to have a conversation back three years ago in Quito, Ecuador. Thanks for being again with us here.
  I would want to start with a question. Barack Obama's government and you as a Secretary of head '' State have led an international policy acknowledging the fact that the United States is not the only powerful nation in the world, recognizing the relevant roles of other countries in the world's order, and considering dialogue as the right path. However, Latin America does not seem still to be a high priority for the United States. If it were in your decision, in your hands, how could the United States build a closer, more productive relationship with Latin America?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I want to say very clearly that Latin America has been a very high priority. I have spent a lot of time, as you know when I saw you in Ecuador, traveling throughout Latin America. We want to build on a couple of very important initiatives that the United States is partnering on.
  One is energy. We are working hard to help bring greater access to affordable energy to all of Latin America. In fact, we're working very closely with Colombia to do that, to come down from Mexico all the way down through Chile as well as in the Caribbean. We are working on climate change together, because a lot of the Latin American countries are quite advanced in using alternative forms of energy. We're working on security now, particularly in Central America. The United States, Mexico, and Colombia are working to help our neighbors in Central America. We're working on expanding education. I want to see many more students from Latin America coming to the United States and more students from the United States coming to Latin America. We're working on technology transfers. So there's a long list of what we're working on.
  But I must say, in part because Latin America is doing so well, your countries are resolving old problems and making progress democratically and economically. A lot of the conflict that was present decades ago has been resolved, and so it's not a relationship that's in the headlines all the time, because it's so positive. We spend time working together. We don't have to worry about threats to democracy, to security that have unfortunately found their way around the world. So I think we have a very close working relationship. I want it to be even closer. I'm working with President Obama for some second term initiatives that I think will be more headline comprehensive initiatives so that everybody knows how much we value our relationships with our closest neighbors.
  MS. SALES: We've unfortunately lost --
  MS. BERNAL: (Inaudible) a business management student at the University of Tolima in Colombia.
  MS. SALES: Andrea, can you repeat that, please? Here we go.
  QUESTION: Hi, Ms. Clinton. Well, it's a pleasure to have you here. And since we have you here, I would like to ask you about democracy. Okay. Latin America, it's currently experiencing an economic breakthrough that has helped most country in the region reduce poverty. However, it is not clear if this economic progress has actually strengthened our democracies.
  So now with that in mind, the question would be: How do you evaluate the diverse democracies in our region, and how do you see our future?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: I think I see a lot of progress, but still work that needs to be done. If you look at Colombia, you are not the country you were 15 years ago. You have consolidated democracy. You '' I know President Santos is attempting to try to negotiate a peace agreement so that people will turn away from violence and participate politically. In Mexico, we see great economic growth but also a very vibrant political system in the last election. In Brazil, similarly, we see the same kind of trends. There are others that you can point to.
  But there are some outliers. Unfortunately, we still have a dictatorship in Cuba, which we hope will change soon. We have democratic challenges in other countries in Latin America. But overall, I think that progress has been made and you have to stay the course. It doesn't happen quickly, but there is great reason to be quite optimistic about the institutionalization of democracy throughout Latin America.
  MS. BERNAL: And we have a last question, Mrs. Secretary, thanks for your time, from Ana Maria Rodriguez. She's a journalist and a student here in our studio. Ana Maria.
  QUESTION: Ms. Clinton, good morning. I am Ana Maria Rodriguez. I'm a journalism student. I want to know, today, President Barack Obama will talk about immigration in Vegas. This is a very important (inaudible). And I want to know exactly, all of those immigrants at U.S., what can they expect from this speech from President Barack Obama?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, they can expect that the President will put specifics behind his commitment to provide a path to citizenship for the immigrants who are here undocumented in the United States. And I was very pleased that even before the President's speech, we had a bipartisan group of senators come out with a plan that would accomplish the same goal. So the President is very committed. We have leaders in our Congress who are very committed. And we're going to do everything we can finally to achieve immigration reform.
  MS. SALES: And that is where we're going to leave Colombia. We have one final request today, Secretary, and we're going to go to Australia via Skype to hear from two very serious, experienced foreign policy experts '' people I know you rely on '' your old mates, Hamish and Andy. (Laughter.) For those of you in the audience who don't know, they're Australian comedians. (Laughter.)
  QUESTION: Madam Secretary, hello. Welcome.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: These guys are hilarious.
  QUESTION: Hamish and Andy here. It was an honor to interview you a couple of years ago. Here we are at Government House.
  QUESTION: Yeah, this is it.
  QUESTION: The Royal Palace here in Australia. It's wonderful. We're out in the back, so it's not as fancy as it is from out in the front. But we just wanted to say, first of all, congratulations on a wonderful term as Secretary of State, and it was amazing having you out here. Certainly a career highlight for us to get to meet you. So many Australians took a lot away from your trip, Madam Secretary. We were just wondering, what was the best thing you took away from Australia?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, clearly my interview with you two.
  MS. SALES: Oh, excuse me. (Laughter.) Excuse me. (Laughter.)
  QUESTION: (Inaudible) a lot of people will accuse us of having scripted this. (Laughter.) But thank you. Obviously, someone is saying that to you in your ear.
  QUESTION: We were hoping it might have been the gravy chips that we gave you, but that was part of the interview, so that's fine. We must stress, do not eat them under any circumstances. They're well past their use-by date.
  QUESTION: They're still poisonous.
  QUESTION: Madam Secretary, obviously a lot of the good questions that we had were taken earlier tonight by some of the wonderful participants around the world, but luckily we still have a few. I have a friend, and I know obviously as you're stepping back from the Secretary of State position, I have a friend who is about 31. He's a cute-looking brunette.
  QUESTION: Just a friend.
  QUESTION: He's very good, he's been to university. He did two degrees; he graduated from one, so that's quite good. (Laughter.) What qualifications '' let's just say John Kerry, something comes up, he can't do the job, he can't be the next Secretary of State. What qualifications could I tell my friend he should put on his CV if he wants to become the Secretary of State of the United States?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think his educational background is important '' the fact that he finished one degree out of two, that gives him a 50 percent record. (Laughter.) Better than most baseball players or other professional athletes. I think his good looks, that's important. Yeah, because you're going to be given a lot of TV time. I know you guys are radio guys, but it's good that he doesn't have just a face for radio. (Laughter.)
  QUESTION: Nothing (inaudible).
  SECRETARY CLINTON: I guess, thirdly, broad travel, willingness to meet other people, listen to them, as you --
  QUESTION: He loves petting zoos.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: -- have a lot of experience from interviewing. I would drop the gravy chips. I think the gravy chips would be misunderstood in diplomatic settings, especially since I sent them to a lab to be analyzed and you don't want to know what's in them. (Laughter.) So '' but I think he's got a good start here.
  QUESTION: Unfortunately, gravy chips are the center of our policy, so I guess we're (inaudible). (Laughter.) But you did say politics is about compromise, so I'm sure we could find a way there. Probably the big question on everyone's lips is when you step back from being Secretary of State --
  QUESTION: Well, she won't be having to be called Madam Secretary.
  QUESTION: You're no longer Madam Secretary.
  QUESTION: No.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Right.
  QUESTION: I think on behalf of all the global citizens joining in the town hall meeting tonight, which of these three names would you like to adopt? (Laughter.)
  QUESTION: We spent three or four months on this.
  QUESTION: The Incredible Hillary, the Artist Formerly Known as the Secretary '' (laughter), or just Hill Clinton '' but it does sound a bit like your husband.
  QUESTION: Like Bill, yeah.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Yeah, I think we're going to have to work on that list. (Laughter.)
  QUESTION: None. Okay.
  QUESTION: None. (Laughter.) We will need another four or five months then to come back with another three at least. (Laughter.)
  QUESTION: We're going to sack it. We're here at Government House so we can sack some of our advisors right now. (Laughter.) Junk.
  QUESTION: We understand that you've been trying to cross to every single continent today at the town hall meeting. You haven't got down to Antarctica. There's one email '' we've got a recent telegram that's just come in here.
  QUESTION: Yes, because we're closest to Antarctica, our signals are a little bit better from them. Just a little telegram from Antarctica. I think it's very important, obviously, that we recognize the frozen continent.
  QUESTION: Yeah.
  QUESTION: It says, ''Dear Madam Secretary '' stop. Alien spaceship reactivated '' stop. Help '' stop. Send'' '' and then that's it.
  QUESTION: That's it. (Laughter.)
  QUESTION: So what should we write back to our stricken comrades in Antarctica? (Laughter.)
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, that's quite distressing. I think, as your first diplomatic mission, you may have to go to Antarctica and find evidence about what happened. The person sending that to you clearly is counting on you. (Laughter.) We will be happy to provide satellite support. I don't know how fast you can get there, and you're going to need different clothes than the ones you have on. But I think you need to follow through on this. You guys need to go to Antarctica and broadcast from Antarctica what you find.
  QUESTION: That's nice. Can we have a --
  QUESTION: That's so late here, it's 2:30, and these are such cheap suits. (Laughter.)
  QUESTION: We'll have a swell, and then we'll get right on. (Laughter.)
  QUESTION: We're going to have the first (inaudible) for having that comment. (Laughter.) Thank you. Amazing advice. This is why '' we always say this. This is why you're the Secretary of State, and we are not. (Laughter.)
  MS. SALES: That's exactly why.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Bye. (Laughter.)
  QUESTION: Thanks. Congratulations.
  MS. SALES: I hope everyone around the world gets them.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, Leigh, I meant radio interview. Yes, great.
  MS. SALES: Well, thank you. Thank you very much, Secretary Clinton. (Laughter.) I think Andy is unfortunately out of luck because while we have been talking, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has confirmed John Kerry as Secretary of State.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Good. Excellent. Well, that's good news. (Applause.)
  MS. SALES: Have they hit you up for John Kerry's number yet?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.) No, but they will.
  MS. SALES: They will.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Don't you think?
  MS. SALES: They will. They absolutely will. To wrap it up, let me just ask you one question. As you prepare to hand over to John Kerry, what would you like to see American diplomacy focused on?
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I don't think we have a choice. We have to deal with the immediate crises that come across our desk every day. We have to work on the longer-term challenges like security in North Africa. And we have to deal with what I call the trend lines, not the headlines. So continuing to use technology, women and girls, climate change, alternative energy '' the kind of big projects that will have a tremendous impact on what kind of world we have. And there will be two alternative visions. If we don't deal with climate change, food security, energy access that is sustainable, we could have increasing conflict over resources, for example. That's not in the headlines today, but in ten years, it could be.
  So when I think about the sort of buckets of responsibilities I have, very often what first comes across my desk is an attack here, a terrorist threat there, the immediate crises. And then I also am constantly asking for what are we '' what do we do to get ahead of the crises, and then thirdly, what do we do that is not in those two buckets, but instead helps us shape the kind of world that these young people deserve to have.
  MS. SALES: Secretary Clinton, thank you so much for making time in your schedule all throughout your term as Secretary of State to speak directly to people all around the world. And all the very best for the next leg of your journey. Thank you so much. Please thank Hillary Clinton. (Applause.)
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Oh, Leigh, thank you so much. You were masterful.
  MS. SALES: Oh, thank you.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Just masterful. Have you ever done anything like that, with satellites?
  MS. SALES: I have done a few things.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: That was really good. Thank you all.
  MS. SALES: Thank you. And wherever you are in the world, thank you for your company. Goodbye.
  SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you all. (Applause.)
US signs pact with Niger for anti-al-Qaida drone bases
  Link to Article
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:41
  With the growing threat of Islamist rebels in the Sahara Desert sands of northwest Africa, the US has signed an agreement with Niger to permit it to base drones in the former French colony.
  Until now the only permanent drone base in Africa has been in Djibouti 3,000 miles to the east.
  NATO drones have a range of only 100 miles, flying at 18,000 feet. Lower-flying drones have a much shorter range. Higher-flying surveillance aircraft can travel much farther but are much less effective in immediately identifying threats.
  It means no insurgents or terrorists will be safe from observation, even in one of the most remote regions of the world.
  Several major media outlets had reported an agreement was being negotiated with Niger.
  Reuters reported the agreement was signed Tuesday by Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou.
  The news agency quoted an unidentified source as saying: "Niger has given the green light to accepting American surveillance drones on its soil to improve the collection of intelligence on Islamist movements.''
  The drones can be very effective in tracking the movement of hostile forces. The presence of al-Qaida-backed insurgents in the Maghreb had been known for some time, but their rapid advance in Mali appeared to catch the French off-guard.
  The attack on an Algerian natural gas facility near the Libyan border, at least 500 miles from Mali, showed the danger in the region.
  France has asked Algeria to closely monitor its border with Mali to prevent the Islamists from escaping onto its territory.
  Far more important than Mali and Niger is Nigeria, a major oil producer. It has been battling its own Islamist group, Boko Haram. Nigeria was quick to send forces to help the French and Malian armies.
  The reaction of France, the US and Europe, as well as the African Union, may have been a factor in Boko Haram offering a cease fire Tuesday.
  The US already has military trainers in Niger, and may add more as part of the new agreement.
  Niger has its own history with militant Islam. In 1989, a French commercial airliner with 171 aboard, including some Americans, was blown up over its territory by Libya.
  ANALYSIS:
  It was the dream of inventor Nikola Tesla a century ago and the nightmare of civil libertarians today: flying surveillance cameras.
  The military calls these pilotless drones ISR, for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
  They also can be used to fire missiles, and are often accused of collateral damage when civilians are killed.
  Some believe non-military personnel operating armed drones from distant locations is a violation of international law. It is killing twice removed from the traditional military: there is no pilot aboard and a civilian operates the device.
U weet het niet, maar uw lichaam wordt gebruikt - De Standaard
  Link to Article
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:23
  BRUSSEL - Botten, ogen, hersenen, huid. Als u bij leven niet expliciet zegt dat u dat niet wilt, worden uw weefsels na overlijden gebruikt voor onderzoek. Ethicus Sigrid Sterckx vindt dat onaanvaardbaar.
  Lichaamsmateriaal. Zo heet het in een wet van 2008. Het gaat om alle delen van het lichaam die na een overlijden gebruikt mogen worden voor wetenschappelijk onderzoek of therapeutische doeleinden.
  Dat kan gebeuren zonder dat de betrokkene of zijn familie ooit toestemming heeft gegeven Het is een verruiming van de regels rond transplantatie. Wie niet wil dat zijn organen worden gebruikt, moet dat tijdens zijn leven laten registeren. Anders geldt stilzwijgende toestemming. Met die regeling, die breed gecommuniceerd is bij de bevolking, kan iedereen vrede nemen.
  Niet zo met een uitbreiding ervan voor andere doeleinden. Bio-ethici uitten in 2008 al bezwaren. Dat doen ze vandaag opnieuw. Er ligt vandaag in de commissie Volksgezondheid een ontwerp van gezondheidswet voor, een gelegenheid om het bewuste artikel 12 bij te sturen.
  Half december formuleerde het Raadgevend Comit(C) voor Bio-ethiek een advies op vraag van de minister van Volksgezondheid, Laurette Onkelinx (PS). Maar van een aanpassing van het artikel is in het ontwerp niets terug te vinden.
  Sigrid Sterckx (UGent, VUB), die ook lid is van het Comit(C), luidt de alarmbel. 'Onaanvaardbaar', zegt ze, 'er wordt op grote schaal lichaamsmateriaal weggenomen, zonder dat de familie dat weet of toestemming geeft. Ook van kinderen, zonder dat de ouders het weten. Het is een mirakel dat er nog geen ophef rond ontstaan is.'
  'De bevolking is hier ook helemaal niet van op de hoogte, er is nooit campagne rond gevoerd', zegt Sterckx. 'En daar schuilt een gevaar. Stel dat om deze reden mensen zich massaal gaan verzetten tegen het wegnemen van organen. Dan zitten we met een probleem voor de transplantaties.'
  Aparte registratie
  Vandaar dat het Raadgevend Comit(C) pleit voor een gedifferentieerde registratie. Zodat mensen kunnen aangeven dat ze wel akkoord gaan met het wegnemen van organen voor transplantatie, maar dat ze tegen het gebruik van andere weefsels voor onderzoek bezwaar hebben.
  Sterckx schreef alle fracties in de Kamer aan maar kreeg amper respons.
  Professor Martin Hiele, voorzitter van het ethische comit(C) van de Leuvense faculteit Geneeskunde, kan zich vinden in de kritiek van het Raadgevend Comit(C) Bio-ethiek. Ook hij is voorstander van de differentiatie. 'Als zulke ingrepen gebeuren zonder medeweten van de nabestaanden, is dat niet goed voor het vertrouwen in de medici', geeft hij toe. 'Maar aan de andere kant: wetenschappelijk onderzoek is nodig en dat heeft een prijs'.
  Hiele heeft geen weet van een piek in gebruik van lichaamsmateriaal sinds de wet van 2008. 'En iedere aanvraag moet via ons ethisch comit(C) passeren.'
  Op het kabinet van minister Onkelinx kregen we gisteren geen reactie.
Lame Cherry: Operation Invisible Dragon
  Link to Article
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:59
  When Barack Hussein Obama announced that Sheik Ossama bin Laden was killed, this fabrication set in motion the murders of key Americans as Andrew Breitbart and the Navy SEALS.
  Here is the story they were murdered for.............
  When the George Bush war in Afghanistan was in the final process of flushing Ossama bin Laden from the Tora Bora mountain complex, it was the breaking point of the Sheik in his pleading for his men to die for him, as the reality of his grandiose delusion struck home.
  Pakistani intelligence had a great deal riding on the control of the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan and their primitive Muslim enclaves. It was they who assisted the Sheik in his escape from the American slaughter when a window of opportunity was afforded the leadership of al Qaeda to slip away into Pakistan.It was deemed by certain American intelligence that the decapitation of al Qaeda would accomplish nothing, but only splinter in hydra a dozen more bin Laden's spreading the flame of Islam in more terror attacks.
  When Benazhir Bhutto announced the intelligence she had been given that Sheik bin Laden had been killed by a Pakistani intelligence operative, it was PAK intel covering up the operation of getting Ossama bin Laden out of the country, so as to not track into American reprisals.
  The Chicoms were key in this, and it was they who were approached and they accepted a deal whereby the Sheik would be allowed safe haven in Xiangxang province, which was a Muslim hotstpot, in return for al Qaeda not stepping up then terror operations in China proper.In return, the Sheik and Dr. Zawahiri, would receive necessary medical care, assurances that the Americans would not be allowed to cross the border in the future and that the Chicoms would not assassinate Sheik bin Laden themselves.
  This was the status quo during the remaining 7 years of the Bush43 administration, with full knowledge that Sheik bin Laden was secured away in Xiangxang with frequent forrays of Dr. Zawahiri into Pakistan and the hinterlands of Afghanistan for propaganda purposes.
  With the advent of Barack Obama, a new creedo was in the process of being worked out, for the time the Sheik would succumb to his medical conditions, as his operations had been splicing together commentaries from the Sheik for some time both due to his illness and the Chinese were not about to allow a digital recording showing his presence in China.
  When Jerome Corsi of the Swiftboaters, engaged in the informatoin campaign to expose the nefarious roots of Barack Obama's phantom birth in Hawaii, the entire bin Laden scenario as laid out in the Obama Ledger was in process revamped, as Barack Hussein Obama without a birth certificate was about to be exposed for the foreign agent he was.In this, Ossama bin Laden according to the Obama 2012 was to be killed in a SEAL strike during an October Surprise for Mr. Obama to hide his election theft in which was being engaged using electronic voting programs. All was though necessary then in that spring and early summer to change the subject from Obama Birther issues, and that meant to kill Ossama bin Laden.
  US Intelligence had reported via DOD assests that the Sheik was in a safe house in Pakistan. This "sheik" who was being protected by the PAK Intel, was not Ossama bin Laden in the least, but the beginning of the process of setting up a SEAL strike zone in the previous year of 2011 for the October Surprise of 2012.The chicken farm with garden that became the "bin Laden" red herring, was inhabitted by a group of mid level terrorists who were protected by the Pakistani's in their network operating out of Afghanistan in commerce and leverage.This was the shadow family of bin Laden as it was referred to. PAK Intel in part laid the groundwork for this "protection" of bin Laden in order to gain more leverage with terror assets in the region.
  This Ossama house, was known by DOD and reported to Barack Husein Obama in August of 2011, but Mr. Obama did not move on the intelligence as it was in the ledger file to be operational in October 2012.It was not until the spring of 2012 in distinct problems with Obama's birth records, that the timetable was advanced and the murder of Sheik bin Laden was carried out. It was nothing of guns blazing, but of simply fudging the treatment on dying man. The Sheik probably would have expired before October and he simply was expired in the spring of 2012 and the Chicoms took possession of his body, into which negotiations were entered into for the Sheik's DNA.This is the DNA Obama blundered over in stating he had the DNA and it was bin Laden's, within hours of the "SEAL raid", which was impossible as it would have required time to send samples out to technical labs and hours to process it.
  Once the DNA was confirmed the Chicoms bargained for something invisible which they had been tracking, and that was the Stealth helicopters which the Americans had created.There was absolutely no viable reason for America to fly stealth technology into Pakistan in risking it, as they were in control of the airspace. The reality is the deal was worked out that Obama intelligence assets put in a technical gliche into the helo's system which showed non fixable damage to the machine. Protocols were engaged for blowing up the helo, which the Chicoms had coordinated with to be able to salvage the entire systems.This is why the helicopter with stealth technology was blown in the faux bin Laden grounds and PAK Intel allowed the Chicoms in. The operation was in exchange for bin Laden's corpse out of Xiangxang.
  The faux bin Laden group, never knew what hit them. The SEALS were pro active and the terrorists were disarmed and promised complete safety.This is why the "bin Laden" women and children were secured afterwards by PAK Intel, and full Mockingbird media never attempted to interview them. They were not bin Laden family in the least. This was a different group altogether and to the day, they had no comprehension in the Farsi illiteracy that they were the bin Laden stand ins.
  The stealth helicopter was coded Operations INVISIBLE DRAGON. That part of the operation was successful and the DOD was "told" a cover story that a bogus stealth technology was involved in this blow up, and when the Chicoms retrieved it, that it would do them no good and make them more vulnerable to being exposed as the American radars knew the wave lengths it was visible at.
  The Navy SEALS were never allowed to piece all of the information together in the operation, and would have in time. It was for this reason they were mass assassinated by being loaded into one transport helo, into a predetermined staged area where al Qaeda was waiting for a coup de grace.al Qaeda was not part of the cover up, but had been promised by the regime as they had for other American murders, to "get the SEALS" who sanctioned bin Laden, in return for their not bringing terror attacks to America again.
  This is what was behind the introduction of the kidnapping of Chris Stevens for the Obama 2012 election theft. It was to be a hostage rescue and terrorists being killed to boost Obama's voter appeal, which the polls all pointed to his losing to Romney badly.The margin to make this happen was in the 5 points, as numbers larger than that, the public would be suspicious it was deemed. In reality, the American public is so delusional now, they will believe anything as their attention span is 15 seconds. When the Sandy Hook terror events were unleashed for the gun control distraction to keep the public from focusing on ANALGATE at Benghazi, the confidence of Mr. Obama soared as he had literally killed two birds with one stone in the cover up and advancing disarming of Americans by criminalizing them.
  The stand in for Sheik bin Laden was examined, and the data sealed a well as photographs which would have shown discrepancies not gone into here. The body was buried at sea and the corpse of bin Laden was burned with the ashes spread over the ocean.Clinical evidence of this was garnered though as it always is for the vaults for leverage purposes.
  That brings the closing of the story in the neutralization of Col. Khadaffi, President Mubarak and Dictator Assad with the Pan Caliph being installed on the old feudal system.
  Operation Invisible Dragon, a Lame Cherry matter anti matter exclusive.
  agtG 276 Y
Terrorism fears trigger push to stop Islamist violence in Mali
  Link to Article
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:57
  Wanting an earlier deployment '... Bob Carr. Photo: Rob Homer
  AUSTRALIA is considering providing military equipment and funding to speed up the deployment of African troops to Mali to quell an Islamist insurgency amid fears the west African nation could become a haven for terrorism.
  In a sign the Gillard government means to use Australia's new seat on the United Nations Security Council to boost its role in tackling hot spots around the world, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, said on Monday Australia would push to accelerate the mobilisation of African forces at a meeting of the council on Tuesday.
  This may include providing funding and equipment - along with help from other countries - for activities such as clearing improvised explosive devices if that will help get African troops into the strife-torn nation faster.
  ''We're looking at facilitating the earlier deployment of the African force,'' Senator Carr said. ''If the constraints on an earlier deployment are a matter of funding or equipment, Australia could potentially assist in conjunction with other UN member states.''
  Analysts warn that Mali could become like Afghanistan under the Taliban if the Islamist insurgency in the north - which includes al-Qaeda's north-west African affiliate - is allowed to sweep south and overrun government forces.
  Speaking before a special meeting of the Security Council in New York on Tuesday morning, Sydney time, to discuss the Mali crisis, Senator Carr said Australia ''strongly supports'' the dramatic military intervention by France over the past week.
  France is backing the fragile Mali government in its former colony against the Islamic militants in the north of the country, sending fighter planes. Britain has sent C17 military transport planes to help.
  France stepped in amid concerns a planned coalition of Mali's neighbours in Africa - which already has the backing of the UN - could not mobilise its intervention force in time to prevent the Islamists from sweeping south. They were due to be deployed around the middle of this year.
  However, the French government has stressed that its intervention will be short term only. Troops provided by the Economic Community of West African States are considered essential to stabilise Mali in the longer term.
  The executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Peter Jennings, said Australia would increasingly be involved in tackling problems in regions beyond Asia as part of its UN spot.
  ''Two-thirds of the Security Council business in the coming two years is likely to be concerning Africa or the Middle East, so we are rapidly going to have to increase our expertise in some places [we] wouldn't normally cover closely, of which Mali will definitely be one,'' he said. ''That is part of the price of being an active and engaged middle power.''
  Tobias Feakin, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said that Islamist militants came within 400 kilometres of the Mali capital, Bamako, last week, before they were beaten back by the French planes and Malian government troops.
  ''The concern is that if that was left alone, you might begin to see the development of the kind of Afghanistan of pre-2001, especially when you've got a group like al-Qaeda in the Maghreb taking advantage,'' he said.
  Since taking up its two-year seat on the UN's top decision-making body, Australia has won a lead role in managing global sanctions against al-Qaeda and the Taliban as well as against Iran over its nuclear ambitions.
To provide that a former Member of Congress or former Congressional employee who receives compensation as a lobbyist shall not be eligible for retirement benefits or certain other Federal benefits. (H.R. 442) - GovTrack.us
  Link to Article
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:54
  GovTrack's Bill SummaryWe don't have a summary available yet.
  Library of Congress SummaryThe summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
  No summary available.
  House Republican Conference SummaryThe summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
  No summary available.
  House Democratic Caucus SummaryThe House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
  So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference's summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That's because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
  We'll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.
To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the enlistment in the Armed Forces of additional persons who are residing in the United States and to lawfully admit for permanent residence certain enlistees who are not citizens or other nationals of t
  Link to Article
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:53
  GovTrack's Bill SummaryWe don't have a summary available yet.
  Library of Congress SummaryThe summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
  No summary available.
  House Republican Conference SummaryThe summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
  No summary available.
  House Democratic Caucus SummaryThe House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
  So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference's summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That's because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
  We'll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.
Vaccination Rates for Adults 'Unacceptably Low,' U.S. Says (Washn) - OrlandoSentinel.com
  Link to Article
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 14:40
  WASHINGTON '-- Vaccination rates for diseases including pneumonia, shingles and human papillomavirus are "unacceptably low" among adults, U.S. health authorities said.
  About 20 percent of U.S. adults younger than age 65 are vaccinated against pneumococcal diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday in a report. The illnesses killed about 50,000 people in 2010. About 16 percent of adults 60 and older are vaccinated against shingles.
  Rates aren't much better for vaccination against human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer in women and malignancies of the penis and anus in men. About 30 percent of women ages 19 to 26 have received the HPV vaccine and 2.1 percent of men in the same age group. The CDC is calling for greater public education about vaccines and for health-care providers to more frequently recommend them to patients.
  "Too few adults are taking advantage of protection from vaccines, leaving themselves and those around them at greater risk for vaccine-preventable diseases," said Howard Koh, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services.
  The CDC wants 60 percent of adults, and 90 percent of those older than 65, to be vaccinated against pneumonia, said Carolyn Bridges, associate director for adult immunization at the agency.
  There was "little progress" in adult vaccine rates from 2010 to 2011, Bridges said, except for HPV. There was a nine- percentage-point increase in the number of young women vaccinated against the virus in 2011, she said. HPV causes about 70 percent of cervical cancers, she said.
  The government didn't recommend HPV vaccination for males until late 2011.
  There were an estimated 42,000 U.S. cases of pertussis, known as whooping cough, in 2012, the most since 1955, Koh said. Eighteen people died of the disease, most of them infants. About 13 percent of adults younger than 65 have received a combined vaccine for tetanus and pertussis, according to the CDC.
  "When the source is identified, four out of five babies who got whooping cough caught it from someone in their home," Koh said today during a conference call.
  The 2010 health-care law, the Affordable Care Act, allows people with insurance to receive government-recommended vaccines at no out-of-pocket cost, Koh said.
CIA Director-designate John Brennan wrote the following in his 1980 graduate thesis. Re-read the Declaration...
  Link to Article
  Source: 101292674006572799842 - Google+ Posts
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 02:17
  CIA Director-designate John Brennan wrote the following in his 1980 graduate thesis. Re-read the Declaration of Independence, and this should send chills throughout your very being. (emphasis mine)''Human rights, therefore, does [sic] not take precedence over all other political goals,'' Brennan concluded. ''Since absolute rights do not exist, any attempt by a nation to apply a human rights test to another nation (e. g. Carter administration human rights policy) is extremely difficult. Such a policy would be full of inconsistencies and therefore its implementation would be onerous.''
  Brennan also praised the Egyptian government's promised involvement in health care. ''Government intervention in health care, especially in developing nations, benefits both the citizens as well as the government. The citizen that is benefitted by the health services that are provided by the government is more likely to feel a greater degree of allegiance to the government than had the service not been provided.''
  Link to the entire article:http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/23/in-graduat
US court approves $4bn BP criminal penalty - Americas - Al Jazeera English
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:03
  A US judge has approved an agreement for British oil giant BP PLC to plead guilty to manslaughter and other charges and pay a record $4bn in criminal penalties for the company's role in the 2010 oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
  More than 200 million gallons of oil spewed in the three months before BP's blown-out Macondo well could be capped. It was one of the worst environmental disasters in US history.
  BP agreed in November to plead guilty to charges involving the deaths of 11 workers in the drilling rig explosion that started the spill and for lying to Congress about the size of the spill.
  The company could have withdrawn from the agreement if US District Judge Sarah Vance had rejected it.
  Neither the Justice Department nor BP presented arguments to the judge before her decision.
  Vance said the plea deal was "just punishment" considering the risks of litigation for BP and the alternatives to the settlement.
  She told victims' relatives who were in court that she read their "truly gut-wrenching" written statements and factored their words into her decision.
  BP America vice president Luke Keller apologized to the relatives of the workers who died and for the spill's environmental damage to the Gulf Coast.
  "BP knows there is nothing we can say to diminish their loss," he said. "The lives lost and those forever changed will stay with us. We are truly sorry."
  The deal doesn't resolve the federal government's civil claims against BP. The company could pay billions more in penalties for environmental damage.
  One of many legal decisions
  A series of government investigations have blamed the April 20, 2010, blowout on time-saving, cost-cutting decisions by BP and its partners on the drilling project.
  BP separately agreed to a settlement with lawyers for Gulf Coast residents and businesses who claim the spill cost them money.
  BP estimates the deal with private attorneys will cost the company roughly $7.8bn.
  For the criminal settlement, BP agreed to pay nearly $1.3bn in fines. The largest previous corporate criminal penalty assessed by the Justice Department was a $1.2bn fine against drug maker Pfizer in 2009.
  The criminal settlement also includes payments of nearly $2.4bn to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and $350m to the National Academy of Sciences.
  In a court filing before the hearing, attorneys for BP and the Justice Department argued that the plea agreement imposes "severe corporate punishment" and will deter BP and other deep-water drilling companies from allowing another disaster to occur.
  The Justice Department has reached a separate settlement with rig owner Transocean Ltd. that resolves the government's civil and criminal claims over the Swiss-based company's role in the disaster.
  Transocean agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of violating the Clean Water Act and pay $1.4bn in civil and criminal penalties.
  Another US district judge has scheduled a February 14 hearing to decide whether to accept that criminal settlement. A different judge will decide whether to accept Transocean's civil settlement.
  Many relatives of rig workers who died in the blast submitted written statements that were critical of BP's deal.
  Four current or former BP employees have been indicted on separate criminal charges.
  553
President Obama Announces Additional Humanitarian Aid for the Syrian People
  Link to Article
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:38
  Gayle SmithJanuary 29, 201309:09 AM EST
  Americans and people all over the world have been moved by the images of courageous Syrians standing up to a brutal regime, even as they suffer the consequences of the violence waged against them by the Assad government. Right now, humanitarian conditions in Syria are deteriorating in the face of a massive, man-made humanitarian emergency. People have been forced from their homes; schools, clinics and bakeries continue to be targeted; and food prices are on the rise as winter takes hold.
  The numbers are staggering. According to the United Nations, an estimated 2.5 million people are displaced inside of Syria, and over 678,000 people have fled to neighboring countries. Their stories touch us all, and the American people will continue to stand with them. That is why President Obama announced today that he has approved a new round of humanitarian assistance, an additional $155 million to provide for the urgent and pressing needs of civilians in Syria and refugees forced to flee the violence of the Assad regime. This brings America's contribution to date to $365 million, making the United States the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people.
  Read the President's message in Arabic (pdf). You can also watch the video with Arabic subtitles.
  Our assistance is being delivered all across Syria and is providing food, clean water, medicines and medical treatment for hundreds of thousands of people. It will expand the delivery of vaccines for children and clothing and winter supplies for millions of people facing both the regime's brutality and the hardships of winter. It will supply flour to bakeries in Aleppo to provide daily bread, and allow families to feed their children; it will finance field hospitals to care for those who are wounded; and it will provide care and services for the growing number of victims of sexual violence. Our assistance also supports a growing number of refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
  Humanitarian assistance sometimes means the difference between life and death, and that is why courageous men and women have been working day and night to ensure that these supplies are reaching those who need it most. The dangers of operating in Syria mean that many Syrians may not know that the medical care, supplies, and food that they are receiving is being provided by the people and government of the United States. It is a cruel fact that humanitarian aid providers and recipients are being deliberately targeted in Syria. Our priority is to get American aid to those in need without endangering them or our humanitarian partners, which is why much of our aid is provided quietly and without fanfare and acknowledgement.
  The good news is that we are able to work with a wide range of dedicated and courageous international partners and Syrian humanitarian organizations whose commitment to reaching those in need is unwavering, and that we are also able to work with the Syrian Opposition Coalition to identify and locate those in need. Also among the many unsung heroes of the humanitarian response in Syria are Syrian-American individuals and organizations, with whom we are working to meet urgent needs now and help lay the ground for a more peaceful future.
  The Assad regime is using a destructive and, sadly, not unfamiliar tactic as it attempts to destroy the livelihoods of the Syrian people. But as President Obama said in his video remarks, ''We're under no illusions. The days ahead will continue to be very difficult. But what's clear is that the regime continues to weaken and lose control of territory. The opposition continues to grow stronger. More Syrians are standing up for their dignity. The Assad regime will come to an end. The Syrian people will have their chance to forge their own future. And they will continue to find a partner in the United States of America.''
  Read the President's message in Arabic (pdf). You can also watch the video with Arabic subtitles.
  Related Topics: Foreign Policy
U.S. Drone Base In Africa Approved By Niger
  Link to Article
  Wed, 30 Jan 2013 00:08
  NIAMEY, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Niger has given permission for U.S. surveillance drones to be stationed on its territory to improve intelligence on al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters in northern Mali and the wider Sahara, a senior government source said.
  The U.S. ambassador to Niger, Bisa Williams, made the request at a meeting on Monday with President Mahamadou Issoufou, who immediately accepted it, the source said.
  "Niger has given the green light to accepting American surveillance drones on its soil to improve the collection of intelligence on Islamist movements," said the source, who asked not to be identified.
  The drones could be stationed in Niger's northern desert region of Agadez, which borders Mali, Algeria and Libya, the source said.
  A spokesperson for the United States' African Command (AFRICOM) declined to comment.
  The United States already has drones and surveillance aircraft stationed at several points around Africa. Its only permanent military base is in the small country of Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, more than 3,000 miles (5,000 km) from Mali.
  After her talks with Issoufou, Williams told reporters they had discussed economic and military cooperation and development issues. She also expressed Washington's appreciation for the French-led military mission to expel an alliance of al Qaeda-linked fighters from northern Mali.
  French and Malian troops retook control of the ancient trading town of Timbuktu on Monday, as they drove deep into the heart of the desert region the size of Texas seized by Islamist fighters last year.
  Washington has provided military transport planes to airlift men and equipment into Mali but said it will not send combat troops.
  The head of the U.S. Africa Command, General Carter Ham, visited Niger last month. The poor, landlocked West Africa state has said it wants to have closer security cooperation with Washington. (Reporting by Abdoulaye Massalatchi, Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris; Writing by Daniel Flynn. Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)
  Also on HuffPost:
Israel Now Says Iran Nuke Threat Not Imminent
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:40
  TEL AVIV, Israel - Israeli intelligence officials now estimate that Iran won't be able to build a nuclear weapon before 2015 or 2016, pushing back by several years previous assessments of Iran's nuclear ambitions.
  Intelligence briefings given to McClatchy Newspapers over the last two months have confirmed that various officials across Israel's military and political echelons now think it's unrealistic that Iran could develop a nuclear weapons arsenal before 2015. Others pushed the date back even further, to the winter of 2016.
  "Previous assessments were built on a set of data that has since shifted," said one Israeli intelligence officer, who spoke to McClatchy Newspapers only on the condition that he not be identified. He said that in addition to a series of "mishaps" that interrupted work at Iran's nuclear facilities, Iranian officials appeared to have slowed the program on their own.
  "We can't attribute the delays in Iran's nuclear program to accidents and sabotage alone," he said. "There has not been the run towards a nuclear bomb that some people feared. There is a deliberate slowing on their end."
  Reports that Iran's nuclear facility at Fordow had been damaged in a nuclear explosion were still being investigated Monday, Israeli officials said. Satellite imagery shared with McClatchy Newspapers showed that new fortifications had been built around the perimeter of the facility.
  "This is already Iran's most heavily fortified facility," said another intelligence officer, based in Israel's central command. "The new construction we are seeing here is meant to prevent access to the facility through land routes."
  He speculated that Iran had taken special care to protect its facilities in Fordow because it was a "highly attractive target for an attack."
  "Despite repeated efforts by Iran to reinforce and protect their nuclear facilities, there have been accidents that some call sabotage that may have been carried out by a number of interested parties," he said, listing Iranian dissident groups that he said would try to attack Iranian military and nuclear facilities. "One way or another, Iran has been forced to slow down."
  Writing in Israel's Hebrew-language daily newspaper Yediot Ahronot, military correspondent Alex Fishman said, "Officials responsible for assessing the state of the Iranian nuclear program, both in the West and in the International Atomic Energy Agency, believe that while the Iranians have continued to pursue their nuclear program, they have been doing so cautiously and slowly, making sure not to cross the point of no return."
  Fishman wrote that Israel's allies in the West, including Europe and the United States, had been notified of the new calculations that Iran couldn't possess nuclear weapons before 2015.
  That assessment, he said, has been unpopular in Israel's highest political echelons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly has called 2013 a "decisive year" for Iran's nuclear program. During his speech at the U.N. General Assembly in September, Netanyahu displayed a rudimentary bomb diagram to illustrate Iran's progress toward a nuclear weapon.
  "By next spring, at most next summer, at current enrichment rates, they will have finished the medium enrichment and moved on to the final stage," Netanyahu said, laying out a timeline for the summer of 2013. "From there it's only a few months, possibly a few weeks, before they get enough enriched uranium for the first bomb."
  Netanyahu, who's forming his country's next government despite disappointing results in national elections, has continued to emphasize a sense of urgency on Iran's nuclear program, citing it first among his new government's priorities in his election victory speech.
  Israeli officials, however, have said there's a widening gulf between Netanyahu's remarks and the intelligence reports he receives.
  "There is a question we have to ask ourselves, of 'Did we cry wolf too early?'" the intelligence officer said.
  (C) Copyright 2013 McClatchy-Tribune News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Tankers Ramp Up US Role in Mali
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:45
  U.S. tanker planes have begun flying missions to refuel French attack aircraft supporting French ground troops advancing into northern Mali in the push to oust al-Qaeda-backed rebel forces, Pentagon officials said Monday.
  The U.S. is also considering setting up a small base in northwest Africa, possibly in Niger to the east of Mali, from which to fly unarmed drone reconnaissance flights for the French, the New York Times reported.
  The U.S. has designated three of the KC-135 Stratotankers based in Moron, Spain for the refueling missions. One of them delivered 33,000 pounds of fuel on Sunday night to French Rafale and Mirage aircraft over northern Africa, a Pentagon official said.
  Last week, the U.S. began ferrying troops and supplies to the French aboard C-17 Globemasters flying out of the French airbase at Istres in southeast France after agreeing to the French demand not to seek reimbursement for the flights, French and U.S. officials said.
  According to the Pentagon, a small contingent of U.S. Air Force personnel was sent to the airport in the Malian capital of Bamako to assist with air traffic control and the unloading of the C-17 flights.
  The U.S. initially had balked at refueling missions but agreed to assign the KC-135s, also without reimbursement, after phone discussions last Friday between President Obama and French President Francois Hollande, and on Saturday between Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian.
  In their phone conversation, Panetta and Le Drian agreed that the U.S. would supply aircraft to ferry African troops from neighboring Togo and Chad to Mali to join in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peacekeeping force that is building in Mali to support the advance by French and Malian troops.
  Panetta and Le Drian ''resolved to remain in close contact as aggressive operations against terrorist networks in Mali are ongoing,'' according to a Defense Department statement on the conversation.
  Panetta has ruled out sending U.S. ground forces to back the French. Britain and Canada have also ruled out ground forces, but both nations have been aiding the French with their own C-17s.
  In their drive northward, French forces entered the fabled desert city of Timbuktu on Monday and met no resistance from the rebels, who appeared to have abandoned the city.
  Residents charged that the rebels set fire to the main library housing priceless Islamic manuscripts.
  ''It's truly alarming that this has happened,'' Mayor Ousmane Halle told The Associated Press. ''They torched all the important ancient manuscripts. The ancient books of geography and science. It is the history of Timbuktu, of its people.''
  (C) Copyright 2013 Military.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Lawyer Fired in 9/11 Case at Guantanamo - ABC News
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:53
  A Guantanamo Bay prisoner charged in the Sept. 11 attacks fired one of his military attorneys Monday in an apparent sign of distrust of his Pentagon-appointed legal counsel.
  Waleed bin Attash at first refused to speak when questioned by the judge about his desire to dismiss one of his three lawyers, Marine Corps Maj. William Hennessy. He hinted at his motivation later in an exchange with the judge about whether he wished to attend future sessions of the court.
  "We have been dealing with our attorneys for about a year and a half and we have not been able to get any trust with them," the Yemeni said through an Arabic translator.
  The dismissal of the attorney came at the start of what is expected to be a four-day hearing to address a wide range of often abstract pretrial legal issues.
  Bin Attash is one of the lesser figures among the five defendants in the Sept. 11 case. He allegedly ran an al-Qaida training camp in Afghanistan where two of the 19 hijackers in the terrorist attacks trained. He is also believed to have been a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden.
  Defendants in the military tribunal have civilian counsel in addition to military lawyers. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who has portrayed himself as the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, added an additional death penalty specialist, California lawyer Gary Sowards, to his team Monday.
  The lawyer ousted by bin Attash said in an interview outside court that he is prohibited from discussing the details of his conversations with the defendant. But he said there was no specific incident that precipitated his dismissal.
  "It had nothing to do with substance, nothing to do with my work on the team, no disagreements over anything," he said.
  Instead, he said the move was sparked by the defendant's distrust of the military tribunals. He said all five defendants generally distrust the military attorneys appointed to represent them.
  "It's not a surprise if one of us gets released," he said. "It's understood that there is a sense of 'I'll use you but don't get too comfortable.' ... For all of us on the defense teams it's day to day."
  Cheryl Bormann, the civilian lawyer for bin Attash, said the ability to build a relationship with him has been hampered by the inconvenience of traveling to the U.S. base in Cuba and security rules that include requirements that all written communications with the defendants be monitored in what she says is a violation of the attorney-client privilege.
  "Clearly, the ongoing interference ... with the attorney-client privilege has caused harm and he expressed that," she said outside court.
  Most of the hearing Monday, in both open court and in a separate closed session, focused on arguments over the rules for handling classified evidence in a case considered one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in U.S. history.
  At one point, as a lawyer for Mohammed was discussing a motion to preserve the clandestine CIA prisons as evidence, part of a defense move to prove their clients were tortured, a courtroom monitor turned on a white noise machine, preventing spectators from hearing the proceedings.
  The five defendants face charges that include nearly 3,000 counts of murder for their alleged roles in planning and aiding the Sept. 11 attacks. They could get the death penalty if convicted in a trial that is likely at least a year away.
Psychiatric Drug Facts with Dr. Peter Breggin - MASS MURDER
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:47
  Scrutinizing violence's ties to antidepressants
  By Peter R. Breggin, MDJanuary 19, 2013
  Huge efforts have been made by the pharmaceutical industry to prevent the public and the health professions from knowing that antidepressant drugs can cause violence and suicide.
  Joe Wesbecker had threatened his co-workers in the past, but had never been violent. In 1989, Wesbecker was placed on Prozac (fluoxetine). One month later, he became agitated and delusional. Suspecting Prozac as the cause, his psychiatrist stopped the antidepressant. Two days later, with most of the drug remaining in his system, a heavily armed Wesbecker walked into his former place of work in Louisville, Ky., where he killed eight people and wounded many others.
  Read more...
  Obama executive orders vastly empower psychiatrywhile gutting patient rights
  By Peter R. Breggin, MDJanuary 18, 2013
  The history of psychiatry has been one of egregious abuses against its patients. The several-hundred year history of the state mental hospital system is proof of that. Until the states found the giant lockups too expensive and began arbitrarily throwing the inmates out, millions of people were deprived of their liberty and all human amenities, humiliated, abused, and finally tortured with treatments like lobotomy, insulin comma, and shock treatment. The only reason we don't have thousands of lobotomies being perpetrated yearly in America today is that I took several years out of my life to fight against organized psychiatry to stop the return of psychosurgery in the early 1970s.
  Read more...
  Sanjay Gupta and Tom Ridge Warn aboutPsychiatric Drugs in Mass Murders
  By Peter R. Breggin, MDJanuary 14, 2013
  For the first time ever, and for a brief moment in time, two knowledgeable and highly credentialed public figures have commented on the fact that psychiatric medications cause violence and must be considered suspect in the case of the Newtown shooter. But then, as if it never happened, and as if psychiatric drugs could not possibly be implicated in violence, the issue was dropped by the media.
  Read more...
Captured from the preshow, recorded on 1/22/13 '--...
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 06:21
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: www.uruknet.info :: informazione dal medio oriente :: information from middle east :: [gd]
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 06:19
  January 25, 2013
  Barely two weeks after invading Mali with over 2,000 troops of the Foreign Legion, France has dispatched special forces troops to neighboring Niger to secure uranium mines run by the French state-owned nuclear power company Areva.
  The new French military intervention in northwest Africa was first reported by the weekly magazine Le Point and confirmed by military sources contacted by other sections of the French media. Le Point reported that French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had quickly agreed earlier this week to a "major innovation" in ordering the Special Forces Command to send troops to protect the Areva uranium production sites in Imouraren, and 80 kilometers away in Arlit. The magazine noted that this is the first ever use of the French commandos to directly defend the assets of a corporation.
  The magazine reported that French government officials had taken the decision following the botched attempt to rescue the French hostage, Denis Allex, in Somalia and the recent bloody hostage-taking incident and siege at the Armenas gas facility in Algeria, where over 80 people were killed.
  Those two events "in addition to launching the 'Serval½ operation in Mali have significantly increased risk factors for French installations, including industry and mining in the region," Le Point reported.
  In reality, the dispatch of French commandos to the uranium mines in Niger only underscores the overriding economic and geo-strategic motives behind the French military intervention in Mali. Under the cover of a supposed war against Islamist "terrorists" and a defense of the central government in Mali, French imperialism is using its military might to tighten its grip on its resource-rich former African colonies.
  Official spokesmen at both Areva and the French Defense Ministry refused to discuss the new military deployment, citing security concerns.
  In Niger itself, officials denied any knowledge of the dispatch of the special forces commandos. "It½s true that the terrorist threat has increased today, but as far as I know there is no such agreement in place at the moment," one official told Reuters.
  A Niger army officer told the news agency that there were already security arrangements in place that had been agreed to with France and imposed after the September 2010 kidnapping of seven employees of Areva and one of its contractors in the northern Nigerien town of Arlit.
  "We also have counter-terrorism units in the Agadez region," said the officer. "For now, I don½t know of a decision by the Nigerien government to allow French special forces to base themselves in the north."
  Failure to inform the Nigerien government of its plans would not be out of the question. Ever since its independence in 1960, France, which had ruled the country as a colony for 60 years, has treated Niger as a semi-colony.
  The uranium extracted from the mines in Niger have been considered of strategic importance by successive French governments. The yellowcake produced from Niger½s uranium ore has been used to make France½s nuclear bombs as well as to fuel its nuclear reactors, which account for over 75 percent of the country½s electricity.
  While vast profits have been reaped from Niger½s uranium, the mining operation has benefited only a thin layer of the country½s subservient bourgeoisie. According to the United Nations human development index, Niger is the third poorest country on the planet, with 70 percent of the population continuing to live on less than $1 a day and life expectancy reaching only 45.
  Moreover, the mining has exacerbated ethnic and regional tensions within Niger. Uranium production is concentrated in the northern homeland of the nomadic Tuareg minority, which repeatedly has risen in revolt, charging that whatever resources do accrue from the mining operations go to the southern capital of Niamey. One of the main demands of the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ), a largely Tuareg armed militia that has battled the Nigerien army, has been the more equitable distribution of uranium revenues.
  Moreover, the exploitation of uranium by Areva has created an environmental and health disaster in the mining areas. The environmental group Greenpeace found in a 2010 report that water wells in the region were contaminated with radiation levels up to 500 times higher than normal. In Arlit, site of one of the major Areva mines, deaths from respiratory diseases occur at twice the national average.
  France has every reason to fear that its intervention in Mali, which has already seen the bombing of civilian populations and the torture and execution of civilians by the French-backed Malian army in predominantly Tuareg areas, could cause armed conflict to spill over the border into Niger.
  However, in addition to securing its profitable facilities from "terrorism" or popular revolt, France has other reasons to flex its military muscle in Niger. In an attempt to increase its share of the uranium profits, the Nigerien government has recently issued exploration permits to Chinese and Indian firms. By dispatching armed commandos, Paris is asserting its domination of the former colony as part of its African sphere of influence.
  As France stepped up its African intervention, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used testimony before a Senate committee Wednesday to affirm Washington½s determination to escalate its own intervention in the region.
  "We are in a struggle, but it is a necessary struggle," said Clinton. "We cannot permit northern Mali to become a safe haven."
  Clinton acknowledged that the rebellion in Mali as well as the hostage siege at the gas plant in Algeria had been fueled in large measure by the US-NATO toppling of the Gaddafi regime in Libya, where Washington and its allies armed and supported Islamist militias as a proxy ground force in the war for regime change.
  "There is no doubt that the Algerian terrorists had weapons from Libya," she said. "There is no doubt that the Malian remnants of AQIM [Al Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb] have weapons from Libya."
  She argued that, while there was no evidence that any of these forces in North Africa posed a direct threat to the US, Washington should launch a preemptive campaign against them anyway. "You can½t say because they haven½t done something they½re not going to do it," she said.
  Source
Ham-Apps.com
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 05:44
  JT-UtilitiesUseful helper applications for JT65-HF
  For problems or questions please join the Ham-Apps Yahoo Group and post a message.http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/Ham-Apps/
  JT-Alert 2.0.9
  2.0.9 Install Instructions for first JT-Alert install.
  Download Ham-Apps_JT-Alert_2.0.9_Setup.exe (size: 2.65 MB)Run Ham-Apps_JT-Alert_2.0.9_Setup.exe to install.Start JT-Alert.Visit the "Program Updates" section of the Settings Window to install the Sound and Database files.2.0.9 Install Instructions for 2.0.x upgrades.
  Download Ham-Apps_JT-Alert_2.0.9_Setup.exe (size: 2.65 MB)Stop JT-Alert if running.Run Ham-Apps_JT-Alert_2.0.9_Setup.exe to install (All previous settings are saved and will not be lost).JT-Alert 2.0.9 is now ready to run.Downloads :
  Download Ham-Apps JT-Alert v2.0.9 : Here (size: 2.65 MB)Support File Downloads :
  Download Ham-Apps Sounds v2.0.1 : Here (size: 4.78 MB)Download Ham-Apps Callsign Database v13.01.22 : Here (size: 7.10 MB)Release Notes :Here
  If you experience problems or have questions post a message to the Ham-Apps Yahoo Group.Please start a new message with a subject line that reflects the question or problem.
  JT-Macros 2.0.2
  JT-Macros provides 18 to 31 additional "free Text" macro buttons for JT65-HF
  Download V2.0.2 : Here(size: 1.3 MB)
  Release Notes : Here
  2.0.2 Install Instructions :
  Download Ham-Apps_JT-Macros_2.0.2_Setup.exe (size: 1.3 MB)Stop JT-Macros if running.Uninstall any previous versions of JT-Macros.Run Ham-Apps_JT-Macros_2.0.2_Setup.exe to install.(All previous settings are saved and will not be lost)JT-Macros is now ready to run.JT65-HF by W6CQZ
  JT65-HF (c)2008...2011 Joe Large W6CQZJT65-HF is an implementation of the JT65 protocol withan emphasis upon its usage in the HF Amateur Radio bands.
  Download Latest JT65-HF release : Here
US Plans Base for Drones Near Mali
  Link to Article
  Source: News From Antiwar.com
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:43
  The US military is planning to establish a base for drones in northwest Africa on the Mali-Niger border, with the alleged justification of having greater surveillance of Islamist groups in the region.
  US officials told the New York Times that the drone base would be used for unarmed drones only, but that is highly unlikely. Armed drones '' a secret, unaccountable way to bomb unidentified groups of people in foreign countries '' have become the central ''counter-terrorism'' tool at the Obama administration's disposal.
  The Pentagon is using the US-backed French military intervention in Mali as a way to justify the drone base.
  ''This is directly related to the Mali mission, but it could also give Africom a more enduring presence for I.S.R.,'' one US military official told the Times, referring to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
  US military and intelligence involvement in Africa has increased markedly since the establishment of AFRICOM in 2007. Much of this has been justified by unnecessary military interventions that don't address direct threats to the US, like the NATO-backed regime change operation in Libya and the deployment of US forces to Uganda.
  Beyond that, these expansions into Africa are justified by citing militant groups which are also non-threats, like al-Shabab in Somalia, Boko Haram in Nigeria, and the militants now fighting in Mali.
  One of the real threats Washington perceives in the increasing presence in Africa of Chinese economic interests. China is viewed by Washington as a rising power and a peer competitor in terms of economic weight, military strength, and geo-political sway.
  The Obama administration has already assembled ''a constellation of secret drone bases'' in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, as the Washington Postreported in 2011. Drones lifting off from these bases '' which lie in Ehtiopia, Djibouti, the Seychelles, and beyond - go on to bomb Yemen and Somalia and most likely perform surveillance missions in East Africa and the Persian Gulf.
  Last 5 posts by John Glaser
Jacqueline Kennedy The Murderer of JFK - The Murder Of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy by Dr. Neville Thomas Jones, Ph.D.
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:42
  The Murder Of President John Fitzgerald KennedyResearched By Dr. Neville Thomas Jones, Ph.D.
  [Note: We have posted this article in its entirety as well as some work from other researchers. However, we would like to stress that we are not "anti Jew" and do not blame the Jews for the problems of the world. As we have explained before, the Jews are often used as the "fall guys" for a lot of Establishment operations and, indeed, as a front for the Establishment in general. The Establishment love to have many fingers pointing at the Jews because it only fuels animosity between them and other groups such as Muslims or Christians, adding to the tension and hatred that is leading us inevitably to even more chaos and mayhem until we accept the Establishment "remedy" to the chaos, their New World Order, with open arms. The Establishment uses us ALL as pawns in their evil game of world domination. To Learn More About Our Work Please Explore Our Articles, Podcasts And A Video Here: http://loveforlife.com.au/node/3385 - Arthur & Fiona Cristian - Love For Life]
  IntroductionOn the 22nd November, 1963, the United States President, John F. Kennedy, was murdered in Dallas, Texas. The method of assassination was a single gunshot to the head. Someone travelling in Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson's car, immediately behind the president's limousine, was filming the whole thing (as the following still demonstrates)!
  (Click here to view the video.)
  Lyndon 'Lyin' Johnson, as he was called, was a Zionist Jew and became the unelected President of the United States at the instant of the real President's death. He then made it his top priority to instantly reverse several programmes instigated by President Kennedy; these Kennedy initiatives would have been to the benefit of the American people and the betterment of mankind in general, but were contrary to the interests of Zionism.
  Another Jew, Abraham Zapruder, was standing in exactly the right place to capture the murder of President Kennedy on cine film. The Zapruder family subsequently made a fortune selling the rights to this piece of film to the American government.
  It is interesting to note that the route of the presidential cavalcade was changed at the last minute to bring JFK along this particular road, so why was Zapruder already set up with his cine camera at this precise spot?
  The Zapruder FilmUsing a Bell and Howell 414PD 8mm roll-film movie camera, Zapruder caught the assassination from the side of the limousine closest to the president. The owner's manual for this model of cine camera quoted the film speed as 16 frames per second (fps). However, the FBI claimed that Zapruder's camera was running at 18.3 fps in their tests, seemingly confirmed by the camera manufacturers, Bell and Howell (whose independent tests produced a speed of slightly over 18 fps). (Roland Zavada).
  Several copies (at least 4) of the film were made by Zapruder, of which one was taken by the FBI.
  The film was not seen by the public until twelve years after it was taken, when it was aired on a late-night talk show in America. Today it appears in many places and forms on the Internet (YouTube, for example), and is used here as the basis of the photographic evidence examined.
  From Which Direction Was JFK Shot In The Head?Zapruder frame 313 captures the instant of JFK's assassination. Analysis of subsequent frames, such as 326 (below), show no sign of any blood, brain tissue or skull fragments on the back seat of the presidential limousine, nor on its boot. From this we deduce that JFK was not shot from the back. Also, if the bullet passed right through his head, as seems almost certain, then, by this lack of morbid debris, he could not have been shot from the front either.
  This leaves only three possible directions: from the left side, the right side, or upwards through his head.
  Exiting ProjectilesViewing Zapruder's film at normal speed, something flies out upwards and to the right from President Kennedy's head when he receives the fatal shot. In frames 313 and 314, two distinct projectiles, slightly separated but travelling in the same direction, can clearly be seen. Both of these ejections have flown out of the camera's field of view by the time that frame 315 is captured.
  The leading projectile, number 1, has travelled (235 - 34) - (146 - 38) pixels in the +ve x-direction and (415 - 110) - (408 - 297) pixels in the +ve y-direction, in the time between these two frames being captured (0.0625s at 16 fps, or 0.0546s at 18.3 fps). I.e., its speed is between 3,442.24 and 3,940.29 pixels per second.
  President Kennedy was 6'1" tall (Wallechinsky & Wallace). Using the full-length photo of JFK in Berlin (Freie Universitaet, 26th June, 1963), and having calculated the line AB in frame 313 to be 30.23 pixels, it can be shown that the projectile material was leaving the top of President Kennedy's head at a minimum* speed of between 31.6 and 36.2 metres per second (equivalent to between 104 and 119 ft/s).
  * This is a minimum value because frames 313 and 314 are two-dimensional images providing no depth information.
  SmokeFrames 312 to 317, inclusive, of the Zapruder film are reproduced here, having been contrast-enhanced and converted to greyscale images, in order to highlight a definite puff of smoke right next to the left side of the President's head.
  The smoke rapidly expands and dissipates in about 3 tenths of a second (0.2732s at 18.3 fps and 0.3125s at 16 fps), being just discernable in the last frame of this sequence.
  Material from the head wound has exited at high speed, as we have observed, and would not wispily linger in the air as smoke does. Moreover, it is evident that this smoke has an initial component of velocity in the horizontal direction equal to that of the limousine and that this component is slowed by air resistance (compare the expanding smoke cloud with the white object on the lawn and with the fixed features of the president's car, such as the top of the rear seat). The separation between the smoke cloud and the white object on the grass decreases at a rate that is very slightly less than the rate at which the white object is perceived to travel with respect to the limousine.
  Neither John nor Jackie Kennedy are smoking a cigarette. The smoke has been caused by some explosive reaction, such as the detonation of a firearm cartridge. Such smoke remains where the gun is; it does not travel with the bullet. The fact that this smoke appears in the sequence at the same time as the fatal injury, and that it emanates from the left-hand-side of JFK's head, where Jackie Kennedy has positioned herself, means that President Kennedy was killed by his wife.
  I am not the first to reach this conclusion. This view is shared by someone calling themselves 'Nohup' who, in a public forum on 3rd April 2008, wrote "After studying the Zapruder film for nearly 20 years, I've come to the conclusion that the only person verified to have the access and angle to have delivered the fatal gunshot to JFK was Jackie Kennedy. The telltale sign is right before his head explodes, where she moves forward with something in her hand."
  That JFK was shot at point blank range from the lower left side of his head is also supported by the amount and distribution of blood on JFK's shirt, as photographed from the back,
  And from the front,The so-called bullet hole is no such thing; it seems to have been hastily made by snipping along three sides with scissors and then tearing the resulting flap of material off. Notice, for instance, how the rightmost snip extends a little way past the start of the topmost snip which, in turn, extends slightly past the top of the leftmost snip:
  There is no doubt, if one studies the Zapruder film running at normal speed, that Mrs. Kennedy seems to whip something quickly away after her husband is shot, before she clambers out onto the boot. (Johnson had the whole of the presidential limousine immediately ripped out and shredded, before having the car re-fitted and using it for himself.)
  In the next animated gif, produced by the author in October 2009 and uploaded on 13th October 2009, Jacqueline Kennedy's actions at the instant of her husband's fatal gunshot wound are very clearly seen ...
  A bullet doesn't cause smoke; the barrel of a gun does.
  Video: The Undamaged Zapruder Film - 1 Minute 25 Seconds
  Jackie KennedyMrs. Jacqueline Kennedy (n(C)e Bouvier) was a Jewess, a fact well hidden, but revealed by her cousin/step-brother, Gore Vidal, in his autobiography:
  "... the ethnic surprise buried deep inside Gore Vidal's much-hyped autobiography, ... 'Palimpsest: A Memoir,' ... [is that Jackie Kennedy's] mother, Janet, was Jewish. Janet, who had Jackie with her husband John 'Black Jack' Bouvier, eventually divorced him and married Hugh Auchincloss, who was also Vidal's stepfather.
  "In the book, ... Vidal offhandedly writes on page 372, 'One should note that the first of Hughdie's (Hugh Dudley Auchincloss) three high-powered wives was Russian, the second my mother, the third Jackie's mother, Janet, born Lee or, as my mother used to observe thoughtfully, Levy.' Vidal continues, 'Apparently, Janet's father had changed his name in order to become the first Jew to be a vice president of the Morgan bank. My mother wondered how Hughdie, a quiet but sincere anti-Semite, would respond when he found out.' As for Janet Lee, he writes she used to say she was 'of the Virginia Lees'...until the real Lees ordered her to shut up.'..." (Ahmed Rami quoting from the New York Post of 9th November, 1995.)
  Peter Kurth during his very brief review of Christopher Andersen's book, "Jackie After Jack," writes: "America's grieving first widow, during those terrible Four Days in November, was chain-smoking Salems and shot up on speed. She was also entertaining everyone in earshot with the grisly details of Kennedy's death, compelled ... to describe the way his head blew off in her lap, how she tried to stick the skull back on in the hope it would keep him alive, how Texas Gov. John Connally was 'squealing like a stuck pig,' etc. (For the record, she did not remember trying to crawl out of the car.)"
  The weaponAccording to his long-term mistress, who bore him a son, Johnson was sure the day before this atrocity took place that President J.F. Kennedy was going to be killed whilst being driven through Dallas. This implies that he knew there would be no untoward problem with the assassin, since she would be right next to her victim. However, a sophisticated weapon, such as a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic handgun, could quite possibly jam at the predetermined moment, spoiling Johnson's (and his backers, including Aristotle Onassis) murderous plan. At such close range, however, a simple, crude pistol would be all that was required.
  Something like this Deringer (more often spelt with a double 'r') would thus have been chosen; an extremely simple, easily concealed, one shot, miniture cannon.
  "The .41 rimfire cartridge was created for use in small Derringer type pistols. The .41 rimfire round was very slow, 13 grains of black powder propelling a 130 grain lead bullet at 425 feet per second, yielding a muzzle energy of 52 ft lb." (Cushman). This would be more than capable of taking part of President Kennedy's skull off, as Mrs. Kennedy implies.
  If the leading projectile captured in frames 313 and 314 of Zapruder's cine film was indeed the bullet from a .41 calibre rimfire cartridge, then its analysed speed of at least 104-119 ft/s is commensurate with an accelerated lump of lead that has lost kinetic energy during its passage through human tissue, and in particular in breaking through the top of the skull.
  Just such a single shot, .41 calibre pistol was used to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, again at point-blank range, again by his wife, and again with the blame attached to some patsie. How Zionists seem to revel in this sort of obscene deception and repetition.
  Look again at frame 326, above. Does this small-barrelled pistol not remarkably resemble what Jacqueline Kennedy seems to be holding in her right hand?
  IncapacitationObviously Jacqueline Kennedy could not just produce a gun and shoot her husband from point blank range in broad daylight, at least not with any degree of certainty. Who knows where he would be looking at the designated time and place, and the type of weapon identified here only has one bullet in the chamber.
  Solution? He had to be incapacitated in a way that was sure and precise, such that he was unable to react.
  When viewing the Zapruder film it is easily seen that John Kennedy is smiling and waving to people along the roadside as his limousine starts to be obscured by the street sign, but is suffering pain and discomfort of the upper respiratory tract as he comes back into view at the rightmost edge of the sign.
  Whatever effect has caused this change has happened between frames 206 and 221, inclusive, and by frame 230 (below) the President is in clear distress.
  This problem very rapidly takes hold, as captured in frames 237:240:243:and 246:And he becomes completely incapacitated by frame 254:
  We can work out the minimum and maximum time involved from these observations. The minimum time is obtained by assuming (254 - 221) frames at 18.3 fps and the maximum time by assuming (254 - 206) frames at 16 fps. Hence, from the onset of pain until incapacitation must have taken from 1.8 to 3.0 seconds. This is very rapid. It is also not caused by a bullet wound, as the official storyline goes, because there is no blood, no violent lurching of the body, no concern on Mrs. Kennedy's face, no concern on Connally's face (when he turns around) and no attempt by John Kennedy to dive for cover or to protect his wife.
  Mrs. Kennedy keeps her full attention on Governor Connally from frame 255, when he starts to look behind, up to and including frame 291, when he looks away. This corresponds to a time span of between 2.0 and 2.3 seconds. Not long, but long enough for Connally to ascertain that JFK is fully incapacitated and to give the signal to Jacqueline Kennedy.
  For example, frame 262:
  and frame 274:
  In frame 274, above, she definitely seems to be waiting for the okay from Connally.
  She then begins her preparations to murder her husband from frame 292. Here is frame 294:
  Note in particular that up until this point Jacqueline Kennedy had kept as much distance as possible from her clearly distressed husband, keeping him at bay with her gloved hands.
  The point where President Kennedy was to be sacrificed had been marked out. The big, black man in the foreground, seen in several of the above frames, positioned to the right of the sign, with his right arm extended was probably the marker for the car to slow down almost to a standstill (a cine film taken from the other side of the car distinctly shows how slow the car was going from the sign to the murder spot), someone then disabled the victim via a remote, electronic trigger, Connally examined the extent of incapacity and then Jacqueline Kennedy, once given the nod by Connally, immediately placed the gun in the predetermined position and discharged the chamber through her husband's head. All of it to be captured on Abraham Zapruder's film for later gleeful gloating, with other films being taken to be sure of having a record of this extreme baseness from every possible angle. (In fact, Zapruder almost did misalign his camera, getting the car right down at the bottom edge of the emulsion for a while.)
  As for who had the electronic trigger, a strong possibility is that it was the passenger next to the driver of President Kennedy's limousine, since he had a view of the human marker in front of him and of President Kennedy, by way of the door mirror, behind him. The transmitter would be wired into the passenger door and would have been powered by the car's battery for very high signal strength.
  Then the cavalcade speeds up and takes the victim straight to the "hospital," where John Kennedy could be pronounced dead (after keeping the American people in hope and suspense for some predetermined length of time).
  So, how could they incapacitate the president? The answer lies with Connally.
  Nerve agentsPresident Kennedy's reaction is not that of a victim of a gunshot or an electric shock, but that of someone who has been exposed to a lachrymatory agent (or lachrymator). These cause difficulty in breathing, paralysis and general respiratory discomfort. Even relatively mild ones can be very fast acting: "Tear gas is so fast-acting it's amazing. It affects your throat more than it affects your eyes, in fact. I honestly felt like if I didn't drink something my throat was literally going to fall out of my body." (Source.)
  There were many chemical and/or biological agents known to research laboratories and the military, even back in 1963. These are classified in various categories, three of which are the harassing agents (such as CN and CS gas), blister agents (such as mustard gas) and nerve agents (such as sarin - discovered in 1939 - and tabun).
  They are all incapacitating in nature and their characteristics depend upon the type of agent, the concentration and the method of dissemination. "Usefulness," in the military sense of the word, depends upon the time taken to have the desired effect, the predictability of behaviour and the antidotes available for friendly personnel.
  There is insufficient information available to the public to be able to identify which agent was used to incapacitate John F. Kennedy, but we can narrow the field down a little.
  Blister vesicants, such as mustard gas, burn the skin and respiratory tract, but can be ruled out because their effects do not manifest themselves until long after exposure.
  Harassing gases or sprays can be eliminated, since they would be highly likely to incapacitate Jacqueline Kennedy as well, and would not render the victim totally incapable or unaware.
  An agent which is liquid in its normal state, highly incapacitating, very rapid in taking effect, safe to handle (constituents being kept apart) and for which antidotes are available, would be needed.
  A nerve agent developed by the British at Porton Down Chemical Weapons Research Centre between 1952 and 1954, subsequently called VX gas after its production technology was traded with the Americans in return for nuclear weapons secrets, or one of the variants thereof, is a distinct possibility. Although called a gas, it is actually a clear, odourless liquid at room temperature.
  A stronger candidate though is cyclosarin, cyclohexyl methylphosphonofluoridate (or GF). This is a colourless and odourless liquid at room temperature in its pure form, which is highly persistent (i.e., gives off almost no vapour) and is highly toxic when absorbed through the skin. It was initially developed by Germany in the Second World War (not used by them) and then further studied and developed by both Britain and the United States in the early 1950s.
  It was necessary to get the liquid nerve agent onto JFK's skin and to facilitate this the murderers made use of the fact that President Kennedy had a long-term back problem and always wore a steel-boned brace. The following two sets of photos purport to show this contraption after it had been taken off his body. They cannot be showing the original, of course, since there is no blood on the material. It is more likely that they are photos of one of JFK's bona fide back supports (probably off Air Force One). Special precautions would have been necessary to remove and dispose of the one he was actually wearing.
  The agent would be stored in the girdle as two precursors, separated until required to be combined. To quote Wikipedia, "A cyclosarin binary weapon would most likely contain methylphosphonyl difluoride in one capsule, with the other capsule containing either cyclohexanol or a mixture of cyclohexylamine and cyclohexanol."
  Two small vials of the chemical precursors would have been stitched into the corset, together with the battery and the method of breaking the vial(s). John Kennedy was used to having steel rods in his back support and would never have noticed any difference with this one. He was probably helped into it on the airplane.
  The median lethal dose (referred to by the designation, LD50) necessary to kill a person of around 90kg would be 31.5g by percutaneous (through the skin) delivery (at 0.35mg/kg - source), and I would think it highly likely that this would have been roughly the quantity used, since one way or another (i.e., outside the "hospital" or inside it), President Kennedy's fate was sealed as soon as that device deposited the nerve agent onto his skin. Also, death would follow such a dose within 15 minutes, but the higher the initial dosage, the faster the incapacitation would occur and the quicker John Kennedy could be killed (by a bullet).
  John Bowden Connally, Jr., a Johnson supporter and leader of the Johnson presidential campaign at the 1960 Democratic convention in Los Angeles, was named Secretary of the United States Navy (by President Kennedy) in 1961 and directed the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. Although resigning from the navy to run for governorship of Texas, he would have been well used to (and privy to) all the nerve agent testing information that the navy had been doing, including personal observation of effectiveness and reaction times on actual subjects.
  The urgent need to bleach and then incinerate the actual back support cut from JFK's body, not only due to the residual nerve agent present, but also to destroy the vials and electromechanical circuitry, explains why we get photos of JFK's shirt, but not of the brace that he wore that day.
  The only thing that the U.S. Navy man, John Connally, had to ensure was that JFK did indeed have the back-support brace on. How would Connally ensure this to his satisfaction, since he had not been on the plane with the presidential party? That's easy. How would you do that if you were in his position as the Governor of Texas? Just feel for it, using the pretext of giving the victim a friendly stroke on the back.
  This animated gif was created with frames extracted from a video that is up on YouTube (these frames start at 2 minutes 41 seconds into the film).
  Connally, having assurred himself that the David-ben-Gurion-ordered "wet op" (U.S. Navy parlance for a bloody assassination) to remove "an enemy of Israel" was going according to the detailed plan that he, Johnson and Aristotle Onassis had devised and rehearsed during the three months that Jacqueline Kennedy was on holiday with Aristotle Onassis (against her husband's wishes and advice, by the way), then sits in the car, waits for the signal during the trip along the appropriate road, checks the effectiveness of the nerve agent used and, when Kennedy is displaying the symptoms that Connally would recognize from navy experiments, gives the nod to Mrs. Kennedy before turning away again and waiting for the shot.
  Mrs. Kennedy was wearing white gloves, to ensure no chance of touching the liquid, and had probably had a prior intravenous injection of 2mg of atropine sulfate, to cover the very small risk that she might be exposed to a tiny amount of vapour (was this the reason for pushing her husband disdainfully away and clambering out onto the boot?).
  The boot-clambering incident excluded, all of this was meticulously planned to sacrificially murder a decent, na¯ve family man in broad daylight, just minutes after he had happily disembarked from Air Force One at Love Field Airport, Dallas.
  John Kennedy was flown in, murdered within minutes and flown out, rather like a meat packaging plant operation.
  ConclusionsHow do you ensure that 'Lyin' Johnson is not shot? You do not shoot JFK from the front, because Johnson was travelling in the car behind. How do you ensure that Jewess Jacqueline Kennedy is not shot? You do not fire from either side, nor from the front or back. How do you ensure that President Kennedy is killed? You have to shoot him in the head from very close range. When a shot is fired from a gun, where is the smoke from the gunpowder? At the place of firing.
  A little later that same day, 22nd November 1963, on board Air Force One, Johnson was sworn in as U.S. President in his home state of Texas, with a composed Jewess, Jacqueline Bouvier, faithfully by his left side and another Jewess (Johnson's wife, Ladybug) on his right side.
  Congress'man' Albert Thomas perhaps knows more than a little about this plan, as he winks at smilin' 'Lyin' Johnson. Mrs. Kennedy has maybe a twinge of remorse here, but Ladybug Johnson appears satisfied with the day's events (like her husband, Ladybug was a rabid Zionist).
  "Congressman Johnson used legal and sometimes illegal methods to smuggle hundreds of Jews into Texas, using Galveston as the entry port. ... Johnson smuggled boatloads and planeloads of Jews into Texas." (Source.)
  "It is interesting, but not surprising, to note that in all the words written and uttered about the Kennedy assassination, Israel's intelligence service agency, the Mossad, has never been mentioned. And yet a Mossad motive is obvious. On this question, as on almost all others, American reporters cannot bring themselves to cast Israel in an unfavourable light - despite the fact that Mossad complicity is as plausible as any of the other theories." - US Representative Paul Findley, March 1992.
  As recorded in the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, John F. Kennedy was completely against nuclear weapons technology falling into the hands of the Israelis: "Personally I am haunted by the feeling that by 1970, unless we are successful, there may be ten nuclear powers instead of four, and by 1975, 15 to 20. ... I see the possibility in the 1970s of the president of the United States having to face a world in which 15 or 25 nations may have these weapons. I regard this as the greatest possible danger and hazard."
  From an article on jewwatch.com, quote: "His [JFK's] personal commitment is apparent in the way he dealt with the Israeli nuclear issue after he assumed office on January 20, 1961. Only ten days later, Secretary of State Dean Rusk gave the president a secret two-page memo on Israel's atomic activities, which noted the 'categoric assurances' obtained from Ben Gurion 'that Israel does not have plans for developing atomic weaponry.'
  David ben Gurion was nothing more than a dangerous, pathological liar and terrorist. John Kennedy maybe did not see this in 1961, but was almost certainly aware of it by mid-1963. President John F. Kennedy tried to stop Israel from starting a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. In a June 1963 letter to Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, he insisted on proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Israel was not developing nuclear weapons at its Dimona reactor facility. Though his letter was cabled to the U.S. embassy, Ben-Gurion resigned (citing undisclosed personal reasons) before the message could be physically delivered.
  Lyndon 'Lyin' Johnson was a Zionist and hence favourable to Ezra-hell (nuclear weapons of mass destruction given to the enemies of humanity, prolonging and escalating the Vietnam war, allowing the Federal Reserve Bank scam to continue, etc.), whereas President John F. Kennedy saw the Zionist entity for what it is and would have curbed its power and influence (no nuclear weapons allowed to the enemies of humanity, an end to the Vietnam war, abolition of the Federal Reserve Bank, dismantling of the CIA, etc.)
  The evidence contained within Zapruder's movie points to the murderess being John Kennedy's own wife, Jacqueline, who placed a small handgun either under JFK's chin or just below his left ear and fired a single, low velocity bullet straight up through his brain.
  Johnson & Co. made sure that they captured this moment, by having it filmed from three different perspectives. (There are other films in existence.)
  The extent to which the Zionists ensured that this heinous crime against a decent family man was caught on cine film gives some insight into their depraved and spiritually dead minds. No doubt this assassination is gleefully watched by the offspring of the Devil, behind closed doors, to this day.
  Notice, for instance, a couple of similarly-dressed men, marked 'A' and 'B' (with an equipment bag, marked 'C'), who are almost certainly CIA operatives. President Kennedy is shot in the head right before their eyes, but they do not even flinch, because they are there to document the event, just as the Dancing Israelis were there in New York City to document the controlled demolition of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Centre (as discussed elsewhere on this web site).
  Where is their film?Why were they already set up there, just like Zapruder was, along a street that President Kennedy was not scheduled to go down?
  In answer to these questions and in line with the facts presented here, I contend that President John F. Kennedy, arguably the finest United States president of all time, was murdered by David ben Gurion, Lyndon 'Lyin' Johnson, Aristotle Onassis, John Connally and the one who actually pulled the trigger ... Jacqueline Kennedy, n(C)e Bouvier.
  ReferencesCushman, D.A., 2008, "Single shot Pistols and Derringers," accessed 2nd September 2008.
  Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1964, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., p. 280.
  Rami, A., 2003, "1000 Quotes by and about Jews," numbers 301-350, accessed 1st September 2008.
  Zavada, R.J., 1998, "Dissecting the Zapruder Bell & Howell 8mm Movie Camera," accessed 1st September 2008.
  CreditsThis research stemmed from an e-mail discussion between myself and Bernie Brauer of Canada. I am indebited to Bernie for his encouragement, opinions, support and enthusiasm.
  Additional InformationThe bulk of this analysis went live on the Internet on 2nd September 2008, but I have since been stimulated into further research on this topic by some of the possibilities discussed on a David Icke forum that was started on 26th July 2009.
  Some interesting supportive material has been collectedby someone called "JR" in an article entitled, Jewess Jacqueline Kennedy Kills JFK.On the 8th January 2009, Bernie drew my attention to a blog on abovetopsecret.com which was started on 2nd November 2007. An extract of the initial posting is as follows (with slight corrections for spelling mistakes, etc.) ...
  "I got talking to an old American guy tonight in an old London pub. He was a normal, likeable chap who seemed very honest and proud of his work; he didn't seem like a liar and was quite humble and quiet as we chatted.
  "He claimed he worked for the CIA from 1960 to '69 ... I'd say he was about 80ish.
  "He quickly changed the subject [of conversation] to the JFK assassination and stated Jackie shot him with a small weapon that was hidden up her sleeve.
  "He said she was an MK-ultra victim and the best way to take him out 'was in full view to dazzle the spectators, in plain view'.
  "He said it was captured in the Zapruder film and was amazed it still hasn't been spotted.
  "It was a kind of weird conversation; he wasn't drunk as he was drinking pints of water! Then he left ... quickly and silently without even a goodbye. I'm still kinda spooked!
  "What freaks me out mostly is he was smoking a really fat cigar and the people behind the bar didn't even bat an eyelid. I tried to have a cigarette with him but was promptly told to go to the garden! Almost like he owned the place, or was invisible to the new smoking laws!
  "Creepy."
  -----------------------------------------------------------Copy/Pasted From: Jewess Jacqueline Kennedy Kills JFK: Full article including videos and pictures are posted below in the comments section.......The following video makes it plain that the Zapruder film was indeed tampered with by developers after being left with Secret Service Agents, especially by overlaying one of the frames with a lampost so that the line of sight to the actual event of Jackie pulling the trigger on JFK is obscured
  more about ''The Zapruder Film: Truth or Deception?'', posted with vodpod
  This video makes it equally plain that the Zapruder film was tampered with, especially by cutting, editing, splicing, or removing frames as the limousine goes in front of the large grey sign, just moments before the fatal shot '...
  Zapruder didn't want to botch his record of the event, so he used Kodak Kodachrome II safety film and was assisted by Marilyn Sitzman who was commissioned to ''steady him if he got dizzy''. The ''Zapruder film'' was altered by developers after being received by Dallas Secret Service head Forrest Sorrels, primarily by removing and layering frames, and putting artificial obstacles in the line of sight, making it more difficult to see Jacqueline Kennedy discharging the fatal shot.-----------------------------------------------------------
  Link to this article: http://www.realityreviewed.com/JFK%20murder.htm
  Video: JFK Conspiracy Fact He Was Murdered By The CIA, NWO, SECRET Government! - 1 Hour 33 Minutes 36 Seconds
Obama's $250,000 Parting Gift to Hillary Clinton
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:22
  Obama's $250,000 Parting Gift to Hillary Clinton
  By Joshua GreenJanuary 28, 2013 0:14 PM EST
  Last week campaign disclosure reports revealed that Hillary Clinton had finally retired the debt from her 2008 presidential campaign'--with a little help from the guy who beat her, Barack Obama. Clinton's debt once totaled more than $20 million, although it had dwindled to about $250,000 by last year. That's when a team of top Obama donors decided to surprise Clinton, and thank her for her loyal service, by raising enough money to pay off her bills. As secretary of state, she was forbidden from political fundraising.
  According to a person involved in the effort who did not want to be named talking about internal fundraising strategy, the effort was launched last April by Steve Spinner, a California finance chairman for the Obama campaign; Jane Stetson, the former Democratic National Committee finance chairwoman; and Henry Munoz, the incoming DNC finance chairman. The challenge was tougher than it may appear, since it required a particular kind of donor. In order not to run afoul of campaign finance laws, the Obama team had to find people who had not already given Clinton the 2008 maximum primary donation of $2,300 or maxed out their total federal candidate donations during the 2012 cycle ($46,200). And of course, those people also had to be warmly disposed toward Clinton and still have plenty of free cash on hand.
  The team found them by assigning an intern to comb through the records at OpenSecrets.org and see who still had room to give. In the end, it took the checkbooks of about 120 people and several months to retire the debt'--I'm told the last check arrived in early July. And as it turned out, the Obama folks substantially overshot the mark. Clinton's campaign, which has not yet formally been shut down, now shows a surplus of about $205,000.
Marissa Mayer's plan to rewire Yahoo
  Link to Article
  Source: CNET News
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:18
  The new CEO has an ambitious plan to transform Yahoo into a mobile content portal, with social baked in and deep personalization to drive the user experience and monetization.
  Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer
  (Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET)After six months at the helm, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer can claim a small victory. The company showed revenue growth for the first time in 4 years, up 2 percent year-over-year. However, Bloomberg's poll of analysts was looking for a 3 percent revenue boost from the year-ago quarter.
  Nonetheless, Yahoo's fourth-quarter financial results indicate that Yahoo isn't going backward. Since Mayer's appointment, Yahoo's ratings have improved -- the stock price is up more than 30 percent and the cloud hanging over employee moral has largely dissipated. In fact, according to Mayer, 95 percent of Yahoo's employees are now optimistic about the company's future.
  Six months into the job, Mayer has sprung for free food worldwide, ditched the BlackBerry, instituted weekly company update meetings, recruited ex-Googlers, revamped sales, launched flagship products including Yahoo Mail and Flickr, and signed deals with top content providers, such as NBC Sports and Wenner Media.
  But Mayer's most important job is to articulate a vision of what Yahoo can be beyond what she has described as giving "end users something valuable and delightful that makes them want to come to Yahoo every day." That mission statement is not different from that offered by her many CEO predecessors at Yahoo.
  Yahoo's iconic San Francisco billboard that no longer exists.
  (Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET)A year ago, then Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson said the company needed to improve the user experience for its 702 million monthly visitors with better interfaces, faster speed, and deeper, more relevant content, and deliver better results for advertisers.
  Like every other company making its living on the Internet, Mayer is placing mobile at the center of her product strategy. Yahoo currently has 200 million unique monthly users on mobile devices, Mayer said, and this is just the first phase of a shift to mobile.
  In an interview with Bloomberg's Erik Schatzker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week, Mayer predicted that Yahoo will be one of -- if not the -- predominant platforms in the mobile era. She indicated that Yahoo was well positioned with its comprehensive content and mobile apps for email, weather, news, sports, financial information, games and photos.
  "The nice thing at Yahoo is that we have all the content that people want on their phones. We have these daily habits," Mayer said. "I think whenever you have a daily habit and providing a lot of value around it, there is opportunity to not only provide that value to the end user but to create a great business."
  The idea to focus Yahoo on mobile and social echoes how Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang described the future of the Web portal five years ago.
  "At Yahoo we want to be most essential starting point for your life," and "take the complexity of the Web and simplify your life through very powerful technologies," Yang said. Yahoo would be rewired from the inside out, providing developers access to Yahoo assets that would make the consumer experience deeply social and personal.
  Yang and his successors weren't able to achieve that goal, but Mayer appears ready to take on the task of completely rewiring Yahoo, optimizing its content for mobile devices, baking in social and location services, and utilizing deep personalization to improve the user experience and monetization potential.
  "With the Web becoming so vast, there's so much content and there's so much social context, and now with mobile, there's so much location context and activity context," Mayer said in her interview at Davos. Yahoo's role is to provide "a feed of information that is ordered, the Web is ordered for you and is also on your mobile phone."
  "In the future you become the query, using profile input to inform the result," she added.
  On the social and search front, Mayer said that key partnerships will bring "a lot of strength to bolster what is on Yahoo side," which includes industry leading news, sports and finance content sites.
  Speaking to analysts after the earnings report today, Mayer cautioned that achieving more substantial growth will take multiple years to achieve. It's another way of saying don't expect Yahoo to generate revenue on the scale of Google, Apple, or Facebook as its mobile advertising gets rolling. But Mayer's effort to rewire Yahoo and reinvent the notion of an Internet portal could have a big payoff. As she said signing off from the earnings call: "The best is yet to come." Time will tell.
The Coming Oil War ... Against al-Qaeda
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:05
  A consortium minding security issues for journalists working in hostile territory warned that credible reports revealed a threat to oil installations in Libya. Islamists based in Libya were said to have played a role in deadly January attacks on the In Amenas natural gas facility in eastern Algeria. Those attacks were said to be in response to an Algerian decision to let French forces use its airspace to fight al-Qaida supporters in nearby Mali. Now, it seems the threat focus has shifted back to Libya, where the government of Moamar Gadhafi has ended and the new war on terror begins.
  The International News Safety Institute said it was alerted by "credible sources'" that terrorist groups may be planning attacks on oil fields in Libya. The warning said it considered Benghazi a likely target given the large number of oil fields in the western port city. INSI's advisory came as the U.S. and British government issued similar warning for citizens remaining in Libya.
  Related Article: Is Iraq Slipping into Civil War?
  "We are aware of a specific, imminent threat to Westerners in Benghazi," a warning from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office read. "We advise against all travel to Benghazi and urge any British nationals who are there against our advice to leave immediately."
  In mid-January, a faction of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb stormed the In Amenas natural gas facility in eastern Algeria. That raid left several hostages and foreign fighters dead. Sources close to militant groups in Libya said the Algerian attack had the logistical support of Islamic fighters who traveled across the western border.
  Related Article: Jordan - Problems Ahead?
  For post-war Libya, oil and natural gas makes up nearly all of the country's export revenues and about 80 percent of all government revenues. The government in response to renewed al-Qaida tensions and a high level of violence in Benghazi ordered a petroleum security team on high alert. In Algeria, the military there wasted no time, and gave no quarter, when al-Qaida stormed its energy interests. Oil and natural gas accounts for about 98 percent of the country's exports, prompting the IMF in 2011 to warn that the government needed to take action to diversify its economy.
  Revealed in the documents seized from Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, were al-Qaida plots to target oil tankers. Those documents prompted the FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2011 to issue warnings to the energy sector of a possible al-Qaida threat. Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer now working for the Brookings Institution, notes that "al-Qaida 3.0" is more decentralized than its predecessor and more ready to learn from its past mistakes. The 9/11 Commission report notes that resentment over oil riches was in part the reason for bin Laden's frustrations in the 1990s when he declared war on the United States. With the Pentagon tilting toward Asia, it's not the West, but the rest, that may have to fight the new war on terror.
  By. Daniel J. Graeber of Oilprice.com
Youth in ham radio
  Link to Article
  Source: QRZ Forums
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:03
  Josh,
  First thing you have to look at is how are you "marketing" this club to your peers? To those of your age group it is very difficult to sell the concept of "Ham Radio", just as it was when I was your age (note: I was first licensed at age 15; been in the hobby for 36 years now). Along with this I would enlist the support of someone on your school staff, such as a teacher. The school staff will act as an advisor to your club & would act as trustee on an eventual club license.
  Second, I would write or e-mail "established" school club organizations: one that immediately comes to mind is the WB2JKJ school club in New York City. Ask them what they do to keep their club (&, the interest in it,) going.
  Finally, with the help of your advisor provide a demonstration of amateur radio to your classmates. Nothing spurns real interest in something than seeing it in operation. As an Extra you can act as a control operator to allow your peers to talk on the air. That opportunity just might set the spark for one to also enjoy a lifetime hobby, just as it sounds worked for you.
  These are just suggestions, Josh. How you eventually "plan your work" and "work your plan" is entirely up to you. If you do take anything from this please note that, without a demonstration, Amateur Radio means little to your peers.
  Mark (NM7L)
UK troops set for EU Mali mission
  Link to Article
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:01
  28 January 2013Last updated at22:21 ETThe UK is expected to agree to send troops to train forces in Mali, as part of a joint EU mission, at a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.
  Number 10 said David Cameron spoke to French President Francois Hollande on Sunday evening about further possible British help for French forces in Mali.
  The UK said it was "ready to provide further assistance where we can and depending what French requests may be".
  French-led troops have taken Timbuktu in their operation against Islamists.
  BBC defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt said there was still no question of British forces taking on a combat role in Mali.
  But the UK has made clear to France that it is ready to offer more help towards its operations there.
  Any further assistance is likely to be in the areas of logistics, surveillance, intelligence and transport, on top of the training already being discussed.
  The UK's National Security Adviser, Sir Kim Darroch, has been in Paris to discuss what further help the UK could provide to France's operation to drive Islamist militants from its former colony.
  Downing Street said Prime Minister David Cameron told Mr Hollande that Britain was "keen" to provide further military assistance.
  The UK is likely to form part of a European Union military training mission in Mali.
  Numbers for this will be discussed in Brussels, with the British contribution likely to be in the tens.
  The UK may also help to provide more military trainers for forces such as Nigeria's, for operations under the banner of the African-led international support mission to Mali.
  RAF C17 transport planes are already flying French equipment to Mali, and the UK has also contributed a Sentinel reconnaissance aircraft for intelligence gathering.
  The French and Malian military said troops encountered little resistance when they entered the historic city of Timbuktu.
  Mr Hollande said joint forces, which have been pushing north in their offensive against Islamist rebels, were "winning this battle".
  They seized Gao, northern Mali's biggest city, on Saturday.
  Islamists took the north of the country last year, but have been losing ground since French forces launched an operation earlier this month.
Congress Faces Deep-Seated Resistance to Immigration Plan
  Link to Article
  Source: NYT > Home Page
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 03:56
  Doug Mills/The New York Times
  Senator Marco Rubio, at lectern, and other members of a bipartisan group of lawmakers offered an immigration plan on Monday.
  GREENVILLE, S.C. '-- At Tommy's Country Ham House, a popular spot downtown for politics and comfort food, not much has changed since 2007, the last time conservatives here made it crystal clear to politicians how they felt about what they see as amnesty for people who entered the country illegally.
  ''What we need to do is put them on a bus,'' said Ken Sowell, 63, a lawyer from Greenville, as he ate lunch recently at the diner. ''We need to enforce the border. If they want to apply legally more power to them. I don't think just because a bunch of people violate the law, we ought to change the law for them.''
  Six years ago, the intensity of that kind of sentiment was enough to scuttle immigration overhaul efforts led by President George W. Bush and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Senators John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, both Republicans.
  Now, as a new bipartisan group of eight senators, including Mr. Graham and Mr. McCain, try again '-- this time with President Obama as their partner in the White House '-- members of Congress will have to overcome deep-seated resistance like that expressed in the restaurant if they are to push legislation forward.
  Republicans are betting that opposition from Tea Party activists and the party's most conservative supporters will have less impact because of the dire electoral consequences of continuing to take a hard line regarding immigrants. The senators on Monday released a blueprint for a new immigration policy that opens the door to possible citizenship ahead of a Tuesday speech on the subject by Mr. Obama in Las Vegas.
  There is some evidence that the politics of immigration may be changing. Sean Hannity, the conservative host at Fox News, said days after the 2012 presidential election that he has ''evolved'' on immigration and now supports a comprehensive approach that could ''get rid of'' the issue for Republicans. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a rising star in the Republican Party, is pushing his own version of broad immigration changes '-- and getting praise from conservative icons like Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed.
  But the Republican-controlled House remains a big hurdle. Speaker John A. Boehner on Monday was noncommittal about the emerging proposal, with a spokesman saying that Mr. Boehner ''welcomes the work of leaders like Senator Rubio on this issue, and is looking forward to learning more about the proposal.''
  Representative Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas and a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said that ''when you legalize those who are in the country illegally, it costs taxpayers millions of dollars, costs American workers thousands of jobs and encourages more illegal immigration.''
  And if the lunch rush conversation at Tommy's is any indication, many Republican lawmakers will soon return home to find their constituents just as opposed to the idea as they were before. Concern about immigration varies regionally. But in many Congressional districts around the country, the prospect of intense opposition carries with it the threat of a primary challenger if Republican lawmakers stray too far from hawkish orthodoxy on the issue.
  ''The people who are coming across the border '-- as far as I'm concerned, they are common criminals,'' said Bill Storey, 68, a retired civil engineer from Greenville. ''We should not adopt policies to reward them for coming into this country illegally. I have all the regard for them in the world if they come through the legal system, but not the illegal system.''
  Charlie Newton, a construction worker in the Greenville area, praised the work ethic of Hispanic co-workers, but said he opposes any laws that would provide benefits to illegal immigrants, including help becoming citizens.
  ''I think we need to help our own people before we keep helping somebody else,'' he said.
  The president's proposals are expected to include more border enforcement, work site verification systems that allow employers to check the status of their employees online, and a road map to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants now living in the country. Democratic senators could begin work on a bill in the next couple of weeks.
  In the Fourth Congressional District in South Carolina, which includes Greenville, the formal arrival of such a plan is likely to anger the constituents of Trey Gowdy, a Republican House member who was elected in the 2010 Tea Party wave and is now the chairman of a key subcommittee that will deal with immigration.
  Mr. Gowdy has already taken a hard line, signing on last year to the ''Prohibiting Backdoor Amnesty Act,'' which aimed to reverse Mr. Obama's plans to delay deportations for some young illegal immigrants. The congressman will be under pressure to change his mind from the White House and its allies, including groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But when he goes home to Greenville, Mr. Gowdy may find that his constituents want him to hold firm in his opposition.
Battle in States on Generic Copies of Biotech Drugs
  Link to Article
  Source: NYT > Home Page
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 03:50
  In statehouses around the country, some of the nation's biggest biotechnology companies are lobbying intensively to limit generic competition to their blockbuster drugs, potentially cutting into the billions of dollars in savings on drug costs contemplated in the federal health care overhaul law.
  Genentech, via Associated PressThe biological drug Avastin for cancer from Genentech.
  The complex drugs, made in living cells instead of chemical factories, account for roughly one-quarter of the nation's $320 billion in spending on drugs, according to IMS Health. And that percentage is growing. They include some of the world's best-selling drugs, like the rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis drugs Humira and Enbrel and the cancer treatments Herceptin, Avastin and Rituxan. The drugs now cost patients '-- or their insurers '-- tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
  Two companies, Amgen and Genentech, are proposing bills that would restrict the ability of pharmacists to substitute generic versions of biological drugs for brand name products.
  Bills have been introduced in at least eight states since the new legislative sessions began this month. Others are pending.
  The Virginia House of Delegates already passed one such bill last week, by a 91-to-6 vote.
  The companies and other proponents say such measures are needed to protect patient safety because the generic versions of biological drugs are not identical to the originals. For that reason, they are usually called biosimilars rather than generics.
  Generic drug companies and insurers are taking their own steps to oppose or amend the state bills, which they characterize as pre-emptive moves to deter the use of biosimilars, even before any get to market.
  ''All of these things are put in there for a chilling effect on these biosimilars,'' said Brynna M. Clark, director of state affairs for the Generic Pharmaceutical Association. The limits, she said, ''don't sound too onerous but undermine confidence in these drugs and are burdensome.''
  Genentech, which is owned by Roche, makes Rituxan, Herceptin and Avastin, the best-selling cancer drugs in the world Amgen makes Enbrel, the anemia drugs Epogen and Aranesp, and the drugs Neupogen and Neulasta for protecting chemotherapy patients from infections. All have billions of dollars in annual sales and, with the possible exception of Enbrel, are expected to lose patent protection in the next several years.
  The trench fighting at the state level is the latest phase in a battle over the rules for adding competition to the biotechnology drug market as called for in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
  A related battle on the federal level is whether biosimilars will have the same generic name as the brand name product. If they did not, pharmacists could not substitute the biosimilar for the original, even if states allowed it.
  Biosimilars are unlikely to be available in the United States for at least two more years, though they have been on the market in Europe for several years. And the regulatory uncertainty appears to be diminishing enthusiasm among some companies for developing such drugs.
  ''We're still dealing with chaos,'' said Craig A. Wheeler, the chief executive of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, which is developing biosimilars. ''This is a pathway that neither industry nor the F.D.A. knows how to use.''
  Biotech drugs, known in the industry as biologics, are much more complex than pills like Lipitor or Prozac.
  That makes it extremely difficult to tell if a copy of a biological drug is identical to the original. Even slight changes in the cells that make the proteins can change the drug's properties.
  The 1984 law governing generics does not cover biologicals, which barely existed then. That is why it was addressed in the 2010 law.
  One reason generic pills are so inexpensive is that state laws generally allow pharmacists to substitute a generic for a brand-name drug unless the doctor explicitly asks them not to. That means generic drug manufacturers need not spend money on sales and marketing.
  The bills being proposed in state legislatures would expand state substitution laws to include biosimilars. So Amgen and Genentech say the bills support the development of biosimilars.
Future Energy - Startup Investor Community - ARPA-E Voting: Altenera
  Link to Article
  Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:47
  Provide one sentence describing your core technology.A new kind of wind energy solution, BreezBee® is an affordable, mobile, lightweight wind harvester panel system with high output and high ROI for virtually any wind conditions.
  Short description of your technologyBreezBee® is a completely new wind harvesting solution that uses a patented, technically sound and highly efficient technology incorporating vibrating reeds to produce energy under virtually all wind conditions. The reeds are organized in lightweight, modular and easily mountable panels which, like LEGOs, can be combined in arrays to scale to any size. Easily customizable for any situation, potential applications include:Energy producing screens for homes and buildingsRepurposing existing structures as wind energy generatorsMobile, field-ready generator units for remote locations and structures
  What is the key element of your technology that differentiates it from existing solutionsLightweight, mobile, no noise, no rotating parts, no radio interference, the BreezBee® panel is built from simple, low cost, readily available materials; has low maintenance with hot swap capability and provides a higher capacity and higher ROI than either solar PV or many wind harvesting technologies currently available. While still under final development, the modular design of BreezBee® will allow it to scale to residential, commercial or utility capacity with attractive ROIs at all levels. Wind farms are typically located in remote locales requiring long distance power transmission. The BreezBee® panel's features allow it to be installed much closer to consumer markets including homes, existing tall structures, urban rooftops and building facades - thus lowering power transmission infrastructure, power loss and related costs.
  Company/project websiteAltenera Website
  Primary Contact
  Morris KaplanCo-founderDr. M. Kaplan is an internationally-recognized researcher in micro-component innovation, modeling, design and fabrication of various mechanical and electro-optical components. Seasoned R&D startup manager: communications, remote detection systems, gyroscopes and security devices. 25+ patents. Ph.D. in Electro-optics.
  Team Members
  Chase McCarthyCo-founderChase McCarthy has over 20 years of international experience in technology and service companies ranging from startups to Global Fortune 1000. He has worked as a COO or a CIO in financial services, real estate development and technology. With a diverse background in technology management, he has brought product and market definition, fiscal discipline and operational streamlining to companies typically when they are in stages of aggressive growth or change. He actively volunteers his time in startup organizations such as TEDCO, ACTiVATE and the Florida Institute. He holds dual bachelor degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, a graduate degree from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business.
Obama Chooses Former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White To Head SEC : The Two-Way : NPR
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:04
  Mary Jo White, who President Obama wants to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.
  Brendan McDermid /Reuters /LandovMary Jo White, who President Obama wants to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission.
  Brendan McDermid /Reuters /LandovMary Jo White, a former U.S. attorney in New York who prosecuted terrorists responsible for the bombings of the World Trade Center and U.S. embassies in Africa, will be nominated by President Obama to head the Securities and Exchange Commission.
  NPR's Scott Horsley gets that word from a senior White House official. Other news outlets are being told the same thing. The president is expected to make the announcement this afternoon. White would succeed Mary Schapiro, who stepped down last month.
  White was U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York for nine years, until January 2002. That year, she joined the New York-based law firm Debevoise & Plimpton. She has been a director of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.
  Obama is also expected to say he will renominate Richard Cordray to lead the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Last January, Obama used a "recess appointment" to put Cordray in that job while the Senate was on vacation. Republicans had been trying to block Cordray's appointment.
  Update at 10:43 a.m. ET:
  "The SEC plays an essential role in the implementation of Wall Street reform and rooting out reckless behavior in the financial industry, and White's background in enforcement and record of success make her the perfect choice to lead the agency at this important time," a White House official said.
  Bloomberg noted that White's nomination "is a departure for the agency, because it has tended to be run by lawyers steeped in financial policy making and the securities industry."
  Her nomination "could signal a move to get tougher on Wall Street," The Wall Street Journal reported. "It also could help quiet criticism that Mr. Obama isn't putting enough women or minorities in key posts in his second term. The SEC chairman, who leads an independent agency, isn't a member of the president's cabinet, but the post is a key link between Washington and the nation's financial markets, hedge funds and banks."
  White's husband, John W. White, is an SEC veteran, The New York Times notes. "From 2006 through 2008, he was head of the S.E.C.'s division of corporation finance, which oversees public companies' disclosures and reporting," the Times said.
Logical Fallacies: The Financial Times on Syria and Uranium Stockpiles
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 22:51
  On 8 January the Financial Times published an article by James Blitz, entitled 'Fears raised over Syria uranium stockpile', premised primarily on the 'fears' and otherwise subjective ruminations of unnamed 'official' and 'expert' sources, one the two named sources being former weapons inspector David Albright (discussed further below).
  The claims of Blitz's sources rest on the argument that, because we lack proof that something is false, it must be true (an ad ignorantiam argument). For example, Blitz states that, 'Three satellite pictures of the Marj al-Sultan site taken in October, November and December of 2012 and shown to the FT [...] appear to show the gradual clearance of a large orchard there, for no apparent reason'. And so, the clearance has triggered fears that (a) the site is 'a secret uranium conversion facility', and (b) that tonnes of uranium have been transferred to the site. Because we do not have proof that the orchard has not been cleared for the transfer of uranium, this is cause for concern that this may be the case, according to the article.
  Blitz's sources claim that they have legitimate concerns about a uranium stockpile in Syria, enough uranium they say 'to provide weapons-grade fuel for five atomic devices', which could then be transferred 'from Syria to Iran by air'.
  The overarching concern of the article is that Iran would be provided with 'a ''vital resource'' [which could] possibly be used to build a bomb'. This depends on a series of speculative claims made by Blitz's sources turning out to be simultaneously true, with the addition of Iran 'attempt[ing] to build another secret uranium plant' (Blitz doesn't expand on the meaning of 'another'). To reach this conclusion, the following must all occur:
  1. Syria must be in possession of 50 tonnes of unenriched uranium. (Blitz plainly states, in the opening paragraph, that cause for concern lies with 'up to 50 tonnes of unenriched uranium' '' the implication being that such a thing actually exists '' before later backtracking to suggest uncertainty with the inclusion of the clause 'if it exists' in reference to the uranium.)
  2. The Marj al-Sultan site must actually be a uranium conversion facility. (The report notes that such claims are alleged: 'what [the experts] allege is a secret uranium conversion facility that the Syrian regime built at the town of Marj al-Sultan near Damascus'.)
  3. The uranium must be at the site. ('Whether the uranium is at the site is unclear, the officials conceded'.)
  4. Iran must be trying to 'seize' the uranium. ('Iran, which is closely allied to the Syrian regime and urgently needs uranium for its nuclear programme, might be trying to seize such a stockpile'.)
  Given that the above scenarios are at best uncertain and at worst hypothetical, the credibility given to the argument that this might result in Iran 'building the bomb' is questionable.
  One of Blitz's two named sources is David Albright, former weapons inspector and head of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS). Put forward as a 'leading expert' on the Iranian nuclear programme, he is quoted as having concerns about the 'whereabouts of this uranium', which Blitz concedes may or may not exist. Albright's past speculations on states he supposed had been hiding nuclear weapons is worth considering. In August 2002, eight months before the US-led invasion of Iraq, he was interviewed by The Guardian in an article entitled 'Does Iraq have a nuclear weapon?' Below are three quotes from the article, which highlight to some degree the lack of substance to his arguments:
  'People have argued that you could find nuclear facilities quickly as they are big, but Iraq knows how to make them small'...The clock is ticking'.
  'You would think that if Iraq had a nuclear weapon, it would have done something to show it. But then you can't be certain'.
  'Once it gets the gas-centrifuge programme, you have to assume that it could make [a bomb] in half a year'.
  More recently, Albright has been the co-author of a report from ISIS entitled 'New Satellite Image Shows Activity at Parchin Site in Iran'. The introduction to the report discusses a satellite image which 'shows what appears to be a stream of water that emanates from or near the building' that 'raises concerns that Iran may have been washing inside the building, or perhaps washing the items outside the building'. This and other activities at the Parchin site that have been seen in the last year on satellite images, such as the movement of lorries, and the demolishing of a building, provide the sole basis for Albright's argument that there has been a nuclear cover-up. In the Financial Times article, Blitz's reference to 'the gradual clearance of a large orchard' is in a similar vein to the speculations that ISIS have made in the past about Iran.
  As Albright's targets are generally the official 'enemies' of the west, he receives respectful attention from the UK media, despite an absence of any factual substance to his work.
  The 'concerns' Blitz reports on belong to his sources, so it is their judgement, and not just his, which is premised on fallacy. Blitz, however, has based his entire argument, without criticism, on the opinions of these officials, and has further developed them into a foretelling narrative, one which doesn't stand up to even the slightest scrutiny.
Senators Agree on Blueprint fo
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 22:46
  Doug Mills/The New York Times
  Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, right, and Dick Durbin of Illinois, left, appeared with Republican John McCain of Arizona on Monday as part of a bi-partisan group of senators who have reached agreement on the principles of legislation to rewrite the nation's immigration laws.
  Correction Appended
  A bipartisan group of senators has agreed on a set of principles for a sweeping overhaul of the immigration system, including a pathway to American citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants that would hinge on progress in securing the borders and ensuring that foreigners leave the country when their visas expire.
  The senators were able to reach a deal by incorporating the Democrats' insistence on a single comprehensive bill that would not deny eventual citizenship to illegal immigrants, with Republican demands that strong border and interior enforcement had to be clearly in place before Congress could consider legal status for illegal immigrants.
  Their blueprint, unveiled on Monday, will allow them to stake out their position one day before President Obama outlines his immigration proposals in a speech on Tuesday in Las Vegas, in the opening moves of what lawmakers expect will be a protracted and contentious debate in Congress this year.
  Lawmakers said they were optimistic that the political mood had changed since a similar effort collapsed in acrimony in 2010. Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona and one of the negotiators, said he saw "a new appreciation" among Republicans of the need for an overhaul.
  "Look at the last election," Mr. McCain said Sunday morning on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos." "We are losing dramatically the Hispanic vote, which we think should be ours." The senator also said he had seen "significant improvements" in border enforcement, although "we've still got a ways to go."
  He added, "We can't go on forever with 11 million people living in this country in the shadows in an illegal status."
LOL!!! Seattle Gun BuyBack turns Into a Gun Show instead The Ugly Truth
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 22:27
  dcxposed.com
  Police officers in Seattle, Washington held their first gun buyback program in 20 years this weekend, underneath interstate 5, and soon found that private gun collectors were working the large crowd as little makeshift gun showsbegan dotting the parking lot and sidewalks. Some even had ''cash for guns'' signs prominently displayed.
  Police stood in awe as gun enthusiasts and collectors waved wads of cash for the guns being held by those standing in line for the buyback program.
  People that had arrived to trade in their weapons for $100 or $200 BuyBack gift cards($100 for handguns, shotguns and rifles, and $200 for assault weapons) soon realized that gun collectors were there and paying top dollar for collectible firearms. So, as the line for the chump cards got longer and longer people began to jump ship and head over to the dealers.
  John Diaz, Seattles Police Chief, wasn't pleased with the turn of events stating ''I'd prefer they wouldn't sell them,'' but admitted it's perfectly legal for private individuals to buy and sell guns, FOR NOW. Mayor Mike McGinn said at a news conference the private transactions are a loophole that needs to be closed. ''There's no background checks, and some (guns) could be exchanged on the streets that shouldn't be in circulation.''
  But Schuyler Taylor, a previous gun retailer attending the event in hopes of buying weapons, asked ''Why not offer them cash versus a gift card? I'm still taking the guns off the streets; they're just going in my safe.''
  People were reportedly, at one point, jumping out of vehicles whilst sitting in traffic '' making on the spot deals with the gun buyers.
  But the BuyBack wasn't a bust. On the contrary '' their $80,000 supply of gift cards didn't last but 2 hours, and by 11:00 am they began attempting to issue IOU's at which point the entire crowd responded by turning and marching toward the gun dealers, forcing the police officers to pack it up for the day.
  On one last note of hilarity, the Seattle Police department claims that they will check the buyback guns to see if any were previously stolen and, if so, try to return them to the rightful owners! LOL. Brilliant!
  In 1992, Seattle police collected more than 1,200 guns in a four-day buyback program.
  Now the only question is, when will the Seattle Police department stage the next gun show?
  This entry was posted on January 28, 2013, 8:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
U.S. Plans Base for Surveillance Drones in Africa.
  Link to Article
  Source: WT news feed
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:56
  WASHINGTON '-- The United States military command in Africa is preparing plans to establish a drone base in northwest Africa to increase unarmed surveillance missions on the local affiliate of Al Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups that American and other Western officials say pose a growing menace to the region.
  For now, officials say they envision flying only unarmed surveillance drones from the base, though they have not ruled out conducting missile strikes at some point if the threat worsens.
  If the base is approved, the most likely location for it would be in Niger, a largely desert nation on the eastern border of Mali, where French and Malian troops are now battling Qaeda-backed fighters who control the northern part of that country. The American military's Africa Command is also discussing options for the base with other countries in the region, including Burkina Faso, officials said.
  The immediate impetus for a drone base in the region is to provide surveillance assistance to the French-led operation in Mali. ''This is directly related to the Mali mission, but it could also give Africom a more enduring presence for I.S.R.,'' one American military official said Sunday, referring to intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
  A handful of unarmed Predator drones would carry out surveillance missions in the region and fill a desperate need for more detailed information on a range of regional threats, including militants in Mali and the unabated flow of fighters and weapons from Libya. American military commanders and intelligence analysts complain that such information has been sorely lacking.
  The United States military has a very limited presence in Africa, with only one permanent base, in Djibouti, more than 3,000 miles from Mali. A new drone base in northwest Africa would join a constellation of small air bases in recent years on the continent, including in Ethiopia, for surveillance missions flown by drones or turboprop planes designed to look like civilian aircraft.
  The Africa Command's planning still needs approval from the Pentagon and eventually from the White House, as well as from Nigerien officials. American military officials said that they were still working out some details, and that no final decision had been made. But in Niger on Monday, the two countries reached a status-of-forces agreement that provides legal protection to American troops in the country, including any who might deploy to a new drone base. The plan could face resistance from some in the White House who are wary of committing any additional American forces to a fight against a poorly understood web of extremist groups in North Africa.
  If approved, the base could ultimately have as many as 300 United States military and contractor personnel, but it would probably begin with far fewer people than that, military officials said.
  Some Africa specialists expressed concern that setting up a drone base in Niger or in a neighboring country, even if only to fly surveillance missions, could alienate local people who may associate the distinctive aircraft with deadly attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
  Officials from Niger did not respond to e-mails over the weekend about the plan, but its president, Mahamadou Issoufou, has expressed a willingness to establish what he called in a recent interview ''a long-term strategic relationship with the U.S.''
  ''What's happening in northern Mali is a big concern for us because what's happening in northern Mali can also happen to us,'' Mr. Issoufou said in an interview at the presidential palace in Niamey, Niger's capital, the day before French troops swept into Mali on Jan. 11 to blunt the militant advance.
  Gen. Carter F. Ham, the head of the Africa Command, who visited Niger this month to discuss expanding the country's security cooperation with the United States, declined to comment on the proposed drone base, saying in an e-mail that the subject was ''too operational for me to confirm or deny.''
  Discussions about the drone base come at a time when the French operation in Mali and a militant attack on a remote gas field in the Algerian desert that left at least 37 foreign hostages, including 3 Americans, dead have thrown a spotlight on Al Qaeda's franchise in the region, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and forced Western governments and their allies in the region to accelerate efforts to combat it.
  Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who heads the Intelligence Committee, said on the CBS program ''Face the Nation'' on Sunday that in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death and the turmoil of the Arab Spring, there was ''an effort to establish a beachhead for terrorism, a joining together of terrorist organizations.''
  According to current and former American government officials, as well as classified government cables made public by the group WikiLeaks, the surveillance missions flown by American turboprop planes in northern Mali have had only a limited effect.
CO of Attack Sub USS Pasadena Relieved of Duty
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:03
  GROTON, Conn. -- The commanding officer of an attack submarine currently undergoing maintenance at a Maine shipyard has been relieved of duty.
  Navy Cmdr. Luis Molina was dismissed Friday as commander of the USS Pasadena, which was formerly based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
  Navy Rear Adm. Rick Breckenridge, the commander of Submarine Group Two, says he lost confidence in Molina's ability to lead the submarine through its maintenance overhaul at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, in Kittery, Maine. The submarine has been at the shipyard since September of 2011.
  A spokeswoman for the submarine group in Groton, Conn., Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, said she could not comment on why Molina had been removed.
  Molina has been reassigned to administrative duties.
  According to a Navy press release, Cmdr. Mark E. Cooper has assumed all duties as commanding officer. Cooper recently spent one year at the National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., earning a Master of Arts degree in National Security Strategy.
  (C) Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Debt Deal May Increase Risk of Sequestration
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:04
  WASHINGTON -- The federal debt limit extension deal passed by House Republicans last week assures that the federal government will not default on its loans through mid-May. But that might not be good news for Pentagon officials gearing up for the next showdown: sequestration.
  Military budget experts say the extension deal could increase the risk that the automatic budget cuts set for March 1 will kick in -- at least temporarily.
  ''It increases the chances of sequestration,'' said David Berteau, director of International Security Programs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, because with the debt ceiling issue out of the way, the spotlight falls directly on the sequestration debate.
  Since the automatic cuts could be undone quickly with legislation needed to avert a government shutdown on March 27, more Democrats and Republicans have been signaling that they would be willing to see sequestration happen said Gordon Adams, a professor of international relations at American University and a former senior White House budget official for national security. Republican lawmakers -- including Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas; Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. -- have made recent comments that they expect some form of sequestration to happen.
  Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., said one reason he opposed the recent debt ceiling deal in the House was that the Republicans' ''no budget, no pay'' strategy ''involves letting sequestration take effect in March, cutting $500 billion from the Department of Defense.'' The cuts would come over the next 10 years.
  ''This is intended to put pressure on the Democrats to reform entitlements,'' Bridenstine wrote on his blog, but ''using threats to curtail military funding to create a crisis for the purpose of political advantage is an inappropriate policy.''
  Congressional observers say the latest move indicates that congressional Republicans were willing to sacrifice the leverage they once wielded with the debt ceiling showdown in the hopes that they will regain it by refocusing on the fight over sequestration.
  It's a strategy that could backfire, said Todd Harrison, a military budget expert with the Center for Budgetary and Strategic Assessments, a Washington think tank.
  ''It's interesting that both sides kind of use sequestration as their leverage to get something out of the other side, but the hostage can't belong to both sides -- or it doesn't work,'' he said. ''That's kind of the risk right now. If both sides think it's giving them leverage and it's not, it really could go into effect.''
  Most agree the debt ceiling deal ''puts more pressure on the sequestration debate than before because it takes other issues off the table,'' said Heather Hurlburt, executive director of the left-leaning National Security Network.
  Harrison agreed, adding, ''Don't think that's good news for DoD.''
  In the continuing budget fight, both parties are so well-entrenched in their opposition of other alternatives, such as tax increases or entitlement cuts, it's possible that sequestration ''may be the least common denominator between the two parties,'' he said.
  ''And it may kick in, simply because they can't find a way for both sides to agree to avoid it.''
  (C) Copyright 2013 Stars and Stripes. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Master Meme
  Link to Article
  Source: Clusterfuck Nation
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:59
  The gentlemen and ladies of the meme-o-sphere, where collective notions are birthed like sleet from clouds, have decided lately that the USA has entered a full-on broad-based bull market - a condition of general happiness and prosperity as far advanced beyond mere "recovery" as a wedge of triple-cream Saint-Andre cheese is advanced over a Cheez Doodle. It has become the master fantasy of the moment, following the birth of some junior memes such as... we have a hundred years of shale gas and the "housing sector" (i.e. the suburban sprawl-building industry) is "bouncing back." What a sad-sack nation of credulous twits we have become. You can be sure that when a nation is led by the reality-deficient, unhappy outcomes are a sure thing. They will systematically destroy trust in the way things actually work and beat a fast path to either tyranny (where reality doesn't matter) or anarchy (where reality cannot be managed at all). This is what happens when nations go mad. Even when they are led by people later-determined to be "evil" (Hitler, Lenin) this sad process is allowed to happen because it just seems like a good idea at the time - which is the central political tragedy of human history. To the beaten-down Russians, Bolshevism seemed like a good-idea at the time. To the bankrupt, hopeless Germans, Naziism seemed like a good idea. I'm not even sure what to call the current disposition of unreality in the USA, though it is clearly tinged with different colors of grandiosity ranging from the plain dopey idea of "American exceptionalism" to the wishful claim that we're about to become "energy independent," to the lame assertion so popular in presidential addresses that "together we can do anything." Speaking of the inaugural, in all the Second-Coming-of-Lincoln-Meets-MLK hoopla of the grand day, with the national mall lined by gigantic flat screen TVs (an Orwellian nightmare), and the heartwarming displays of ethnic diversity, and the stridently inoffensive songs and poem, there was the genial Mr. Obama at the epicenter of the huge ceremony delivering a bouquet of platitudes so stale and trite that it could have been composed in a first-year Harvard Law School ethics skull session at a back table of Wagamama. Despite all the blather about his graying hair, and the wisdom of age, and the supposed music of his rhetoric, I couldn't detect a single idea in Mr. Obama's inaugural address that wasn't either self-evident, or devised to flatter some "identity" bloc, or an imitation of old tropes out of the "Great Speeches" book. What's obvious to me is what I have been fearing about this country for some time now: that all the disorders of our time would prompt a campaign to defend the status quo at all costs and to sustain the unsustainable. That is really the master wish behind all the political hijinks of the day, especially the pervasive accounting fraud in all high-order money matters. We see the comforts and conveniences of modernity slipping away and we'll do anything to try to hang onto them, including lying to ourselves to such an immersive degree about what is really happening that we suppose we can manufacture a happy counter-reality. That's at the heart of zero interest rate policies, and Federal Reserve manipulation of markets, and statistical misreporting from all the national agencies charged with adding things up. So, the Fed pumps its $90 billion-a-month and the Standard & Poor's index inflates like an old tire while ten thousand more families get added to the food stamp rolls, and the banks sit on enough foreclosed property to fill the state of Indiana, and another 25-year-old college loan debt serf ODs on vodka and Xanax because he finally understands that even bankruptcy will not save him from perpetual penury. Apparently, there are moments in history when nations just get lost. I maintain that things would go a whole lot better for us if we acknowledge what is actually going on, namely: a major shift of direction into economic contraction after 200-plus thrilling years of expanding energy resources and easy-to-get material riches. It's in the nature of this world that things cycle and pulse, and we have entered a certain phase of the cycle that demands certain responses. We have to make the scale of human activities smaller, finer, simpler, and more rooted to the local particulars of place. We have to let go of WalMart and globalism and driving cars incessantly and attempting to manage the affairs of people half a world a way... and we just can't imagine engaging with this endeavor. That is true poverty of imagination.____________________________________
Readout of the President's Phone Call with President Hollande of France
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:56
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  January 25, 2013
  The President and French President Hollande spoke today to continue their ongoing consultations on shared security concerns, including Mali, Algeria, Libya, and Syria. On Mali, the President expressed his support for France's leadership of the international community's efforts to deny terrorists a safehaven in Mali. President Hollande thanked President Obama for the significant support provided by the United States to this effort. The two leaders emphasized the need to rapidly establish the African-led International Support Mission in Mali, as well as the importance of the Interim Government of Mali establishing a political roadmap that will lead to elections and restoration of democratic governance. President Obama and President Hollande condemned last week's terrorist act in Algeria and affirmed their mutual commitment to countering terrorism more broadly in North Africa. They noted the importance of sustained assistance to Libya as it works to build effective security sector institutions. The two leaders also discussed the situation in Syria, expressing their strong concern about the humanitarian crisis affecting not just Syria but also neighboring countries and reiterating their commitment to assisting the Syrian people achieve political transition to a post-Asad Syria.
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney, 1/25/2013
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:53
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  January 25, 2013
  James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
  2:00 P.M. EST
  MR. CARNEY: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for being here. Of course, the President had an announcement earlier today, so we put the briefing after that so I can take all your questions about those announcements, if you like.
  I have nothing else for you to start with, so we'll go to Nedra.
  Q Thank you, Jay. On immigration, should we be expecting some new proposals from the President, or will this basically be about his 2011 blueprint again?
  MR. CARNEY: Well, you make a good point. The President's commitment to comprehensive immigration reform has been clear for a very long time, and it has been detailed for a very long time. So you can fully expect that when the President speaks about the need to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform, which he will do in Nevada next week, that he will speak about the blueprint that has been available to the public for more than a year and is available as I speak on Whitehouse.gov/immigration.
  These are the principles that the President believes we can now move forward on together as a nation. What has been absent in the time since he put those principles forward has been a willingness by Republicans, generally speaking, to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform. What he hopes is that that dynamic has changed. And there are certainly indications now that what was once a bipartisan effort to push forward with comprehensive immigration reform will again be a bipartisan effort to do so, because the President firmly believes that it should be. This is not a partisan or ideological pursuit. It's the right thing to do for our economy, and he looks forward to speaking about it next week and to working with Republicans and Democrats to get it done.
  Q On another topic -- will the administration appeal the D.C. Circuit's ruling on the recess appointments to the NLRB?
  MR. CARNEY: Let me say, first, that with regards to next steps, I would refer you to the Justice Department. But the decision is novel and unprecedented. It contradicts 150 years of practice by Democratic and Republican administrations, so we respectfully but strongly disagree with the rulings. There have been, according to the Congressional Research Service, something like 280-plus intrasession recess appointments by, again, Democratic and Republican administrations, dating back to 1867. That's a long time and quite a significant precedent.
  So next steps, I'd refer you to the Justice Department, but our view is that we disagree strongly with the decision.
  Reuters.
  Q Jay, following up on that question, what -- without going through next steps if you don't want to talk about that -- what does this mean for you guys? What does it mean for the NLRB appointments? And what does it mean for other recess appointments like Richard Cordray?
  MR. CARNEY: Well, the case that was -- the decision that was put forward today had to do with one case, one company, one court. It does not have any impact, as I think the NLRB has already put out, on their operations or functions, or on the board itself. It has no bearing on Richard Cordray. And we, as I said, strongly disagree with it.
  Q So you don't think that this will invalidate the decisions that the board has made?
  MR. CARNEY: Again, if you look at the case, the court decided a case brought by a specific company, and the decision applies to that case, it does not apply more broadly than that.
  Q And you're not concerned that it may call in question Cordray or his decisions, or anything out of that board?
  MR. CARNEY: Again, it simply doesn't as a legal matter. I'm not going to predict what happens in the future, but in terms of this case, it does not bear on Mr. Cordray.
  Q And you said, obviously, next week, on a separate issue, that the Las Vegas trip will be focused on immigration. When can we see some of the gun control trips that you've also been --
  MR. CARNEY: I have no other scheduling announcements to make. As you know, the Vice President is traveling in support of the President's efforts to move forward on common-sense measures to reduce gun violence in this country. The President will be pressing that issue as well. I just don't have any travel announcements to make, but you can be sure that he will be continuing that effort.
  Q The President has made clear that he believes more needs to be done to promote women's equality. What specific steps are on his agenda to promote women's issues?
  MR. CARNEY: Well, look, I mean, the President's commitment to gender equality I think is quite clear and demonstrated by the very first law -- act or bill he signed into law as President, and that will continue to be the case. I don't have a preview for you for future actions, but, again, his record is strong on this and he will work with members of Congress and through his administration to continue to advance the cause that he believes is very important.
  Again, as all things, it's tied to his central principle, which is we need to do everything we can to help our economy grow, help it be more vibrant, help it create more and better jobs.
  Q In his inaugural address, he said, "Our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts." So why doesn't he have a proposal ready to act on?
  MR. CARNEY: Again, I wouldn't want to steal his thunder by presenting everything he's going to do in the second term on the fifth day of the second term. (Laughter.)
  Q Jay, today, he's already spoken to a gay rights group today. He's met with immigration advocates today. Women were 58 percent of the electorate that brought him into office, and you don't have a single policy agenda item you can point to that he promises to act on?
  MR. CARNEY: The President's commitment to women, to women's equality is incredibly strong. It has been demonstrated throughout his first term and will continue to be demonstrated. It is reflected in the positions he took and the proposals he --
  Q Will he advocate for the Paycheck Fairness Act?
  MR. CARNEY: Again, I'm not -- I don't have actions of the future to announce today, but I promise you that the commitment he --
  Q For expanded sick leave?
  MR. CARNEY: Again, you can throw things at me and I promise you I'm not going to get ahead of the President, but his commitment will be as strong in the second term as it was in his first.
  John.
  Q Jay, the circuit court in this ruling said that the President violated the Constitution by making a recess appointment when Congress was not in recess. It was January 4th, 2012 -- that is the same day that he appointed Richard Cordray. If this decision stands for the NLRB, doesn't it stand to reason --
  MR. CARNEY: Well, I think you should consult lawyers. But this decision applies to and is written about a specific case that the court considered.
  Again, it does not apply to Richard Cordray. It doesn't -- as the NLRB has already stated, it doesn't apply to -- it doesn't affect their functions. It applies to a specific case.
  There are a lot of cases out there in different courts regarding recess appointments. I would simply say, again, we respectfully but strongly disagree with this decision. It counters 150 years of precedent. There are over 280 recess appointments made in -- during intrasession recess appointments by Democratic and Republican administrations alike.
  So I think our view on this in terms of the precedent here is buttressed by some significant facts. As for next steps, I refer you to the Justice Department. For interpretation of its legal implications, I suggest you go to the lawyers.
  Q But what is different here is that these appointments were made when the Congress was not in recess. They were in --
  MR. CARNEY: I think if you look at the ruling it calls into question -- or asserts that intrasession recess appointments -- or that recess appointments can only be made intrasession, I believe. And it basically calls into question 150 years of precedent of more than 280 appointments made by Democratic and Republican administrations alike.
  Again, our disagreement with this is respectful but it's strong. And it applies -- it's one court, one case, one company. And we'll obviously see how we move forward, and I would refer you to Justice for that.
  Q I have got a list -- I mean, I'm sure you're familiar -- there have been about three dozen, maybe more -- and this is just what I was able to look at very quickly -- of recess appointments made by this President when Congress was not technically in recess, in pro forma session. What are the implications for this administration if this ruling stands and applies to these other cases?
  MR. CARNEY: You're asking me to make legal analysis that I am not qualified to make. I can tell you what I know about this decision and how it -- what it does apply to and what it doesn't. I can tell you our position of respectful but strong disagreement with the decision. I can tell you about the fact that it contradicts 150 years of precedent. In terms of broader issues of its implications, I would ask you to consult the Justice Department or outside legal experts.
  Q Can you at least tell me, are you concerned about those broader implications? Will they be part of the decision whether or not to challenge it?
  MR. CARNEY: Again, we strongly disagree with the opinion, and I would point you to the fact that there are -- this is one court, one case, one company. There are many cases in different courts around the country that apply to these issues, so we will assess it in toto.
  Q I'm not a lawyer, you're not a lawyer, and I'm not asking you to be one. But when you say the word ''precedent,'' you are talking about practices of Presidents, not something adjudicated by the courts, correct?MR. CARNEY: Again, I'm not a lawyer. And I think that I've kind of said what I can say about this.Q But, I mean, this is a new issue raised before the court, at this appellate court level, is it not?MR. CARNEY: Its opinion is very sweeping, as I understand it. It contradicts 150 years of history --Q Not a legal precedent.MR. CARNEY: -- significant precedent by administrations that are both Democratic and Republican. Again, beyond that I would ask you to consult with the Justice Department, consult with outside legal experts about the --Q But the precedent that you're referring to is of precedents in Congress, not of something that has been in U.S. law?MR. CARNEY: Again, that's all I have on it.Q Can you give us a sense of the tone or tenor of the meeting the President had with various members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus? Was that to put together new ideas, or for the President to explain to them things he's going to be pressing forward and getting their either sign-off or evaluation?MR. CARNEY: I can tell you a little bit about that. As you know and as just stated, the President and senior administration officials met this morning with leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to discuss a need to make things fairer for and grow the middle class by fixing our broken immigration system so that everyone plays by the same rules. The President thanked the members for their longstanding leadership on the issue and reiterated that this is a top legislative priority. The President was pleased to hear from CHC members and noted that they share the same vision, including that any legislation must include a path to earned citizenship. The President further noted that there is no excuse for stalling or delay. The President made it clear that he will continue to lead on this issue and that he looks forward to working with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other key members of Congress in a bipartisan process, as I mentioned earlier, to move this debate forward at the earliest possible opportunity. And then, as you know, the President is headed to Nevada next week.Q In addition to earned citizenship, could you enumerate the other priorities for the President in this particular approach to immigration?MR. CARNEY: I mean, I could but -- again, I'm not making an announcement here. The President has had a blueprint that outlines all of this at www.whitehouse.gov/immigration since he gave a speech in El Paso in 2011. His support for this has not changed. The elements of his --Q But no changes to that blueprint?MR. CARNEY: And I would note that this blueprint that the President has had in place and that provides these details has been -- is reflected now in some of the generalized proposals that have been discussed by Republicans in Congress, and that is a welcome development. We think that it at least suggests a possibility that an issue that was once embraced by leading Republicans like John McCain and President George W. Bush will again be taken up and embraced by Republicans, which would then afford an opportunity for a bipartisan consensus to move forward on this important issue.Q Back to the NLRB decision, just one thing -- what do you think is at stake here? Because the President thought he was advancing something by putting these members of the administration in positions because he was getting from his vantage point unsatisfactory or zero cooperation from the Senate in the advise and consent process itself. What's at stake here from the President's executive power?MR. CARNEY: Well, I would simply make the point again that this is one case, in one court, that applies to one case that involves one company. So we disagree with the decision, so I'm not dismissing it as irrelevant, or else we wouldn't make clear our strong disagreement with it. I would simply note that it is one case that applies to one company, decided by one court, in a universe in which similar cases are pending in different courts around the country. And it is a decision that does contradict more than 280 appointments made by administrations both Democratic and Republican.Q Jay, can I just follow up on the question of what the Republicans in Congress are doing? Is the President's announcement next week going to be coordinated in any way with the Senate group who apparently is working up a bipartisan proposal? MR. CARNEY: I'm not sure what you mean. The President and his team have been and will look forward to consulting with and working with members of Congress on this important issue. The President will in his remarks sort of make clear his intention to redouble our efforts to make comprehensive immigration reform a reality. But this is not at the policy level, at the substance level different from what he's been pushing and what his positions have been for quite some time.Q But do you know if any of those I guess a half dozen or so senators are going to be with him out there?MR. CARNEY: I don't have any further announcements about the actual trip or who is traveling with us. We are encouraged by, as I said earlier, efforts that are underway now in Congress to move forward on this issue, to address it in a comprehensive way. Some of the efforts supported by or talked about by Republicans who have standing on this issue reflect the President's principles, reflect the President's blueprint. He thinks that's a positive thing and, hopefully, signals that this could get done, which would be good for the country. It is certainly a top legislative priority for the President.Ed.Q Jay, how do you -- to follow on Jessica in terms of that you've got these promises made to women, made on gay rights, immigration reform we're talking about, the Vice President is out there talking about guns today. Oh, by the way, there's jobs, the deficit, a lot of important priorities. How do you prioritize that in the second term?MR. CARNEY: Well, the President made a comment I think from this podium in the last couple of months that he didn't get reelected just to be reelected. He intends to continue the work that his administration has been undertaking in the first four years for the next four years to make progress in this country -- to continue to have the economy recover, to create a stronger foundation for economic growth in this century, to strengthen and make more secure the middle class, increase the size of the middle class by providing ladders of opportunity to those who aspire to the middle class; and to continue his commitment on civil rights issues like LGBT rights, to take on tasks that require bipartisan support like immigration reform. I mean, if your point is that it's a lot of work, he would agree with you. But I don't think anyone in Washington who cast a ballot -- I mean, anybody in the country who cast a ballot to send either the President back for four more years or members of Congress to do their jobs on Capitol Hill would expect anything less than them to engage in a lot of work.Q But a heavy lift around, and I'm wondering, at some point you've got to make a call and say, we're really making the push on immigration, because Congress oftentimes, as you know, can only focus on one big thing at a time. So how do you prioritize? Is immigration more important than guns?MR. CARNEY: Well, I think you've seen the President push forward on his full package of proposals to reduce gun violence. I think you have heard now from me and others that he will be redoubling his efforts to push forward on comprehensive immigration reform. And remember that these are issues that have support in Congress. It doesn't mean they're easy. If they were easy, they would have been done in the past. But they have support in Congress and they have the support of the American people.And he will continue to engage with the American people to make sure that their voices are heard in this process and work with Congress. It's a lot of stuff, but it's important. And he intends to -- as he just said today when he talked about the appointment he made of Denis McDonough to Chief of Staff -- I mean, we're here to do work. We're here to work on behalf of the American people and so are members of Congress of both parties. There's no reason why we can't move forward on all of this, because it's important.Q Right. But the reality is -- I guess this is my last question -- it would be that I'm not questioning the President's commitment to bring all these up and push for them. What I'm wondering is what we saw at the end of last year was an inability of Congress to get even the most basic budget work done, let alone major priorities. So what's going to change over the next few months so that the President can get all of these big things done in addition to the basic budget things that they can't seem to get done?MR. CARNEY: Well, I think as he said, Ed -- and, look, I think your questions are completely legitimate. I mean, these are important issues. There are debates surrounding some of them. And there are disagreements on some of them, including obviously our fiscal challenges. But the fact is we have made significant progress on a host of issues, even during the past two years when we had a divided government, and we will in the next two and four years, under this President's leadership working with this Congress -- because in the end, he believes the American people will demand it. They are demanding it.And to your point about the difficulty that we encountered in working out a fiscal cliff deal, a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, in the end it happened. It wasn't easy. There was an unnecessary sense of crisis built up around it and the President has talked about the need to stop governing from crisis to crisis. But when people's voices were heard, when the imperative to act was felt, Congress acted, the President acted. We got stuff done. And that's the approach he's going to take on all these issues.Kristen.
  Q Thanks, Jay. The New York Times raises the point that not much is known about Jack Lew's time at Citigroup, and raises the point that some members of Congress have concerns. Senator Grassley said he intends to ask Lew about a reported bonus that he got from Citigroup before the bank got government assistance. What can you tell us about that? And what do you say to those who have concerns that Lew may have been too cozy with Wall Street?
  MR. CARNEY: Well, I mean, first of all, Jack Lew's extensive record of service is well known. He has spent most of his career serving the American people in Congress, as Budget Director twice -- once for President Clinton, once for President Obama -- as Deputy Secretary of State in this administration, and, of course, as White House Chief of Staff.
  He also does have experience on Wall Street, and I would simply point you to that article, because I think it does demonstrate that the breadth of Jack's record is in Washington, but he also has an understanding of Wall Street in part earned during his time there. And that's appropriate for a Treasury Secretary.
  Look, we are very confident and the President is very confident that Jack Lew will be an exceptional Secretary of the Treasury; that he brings unparalleled qualifications to the job, and especially for the time that he will take it if confirmed by the Senate. And we are confident that he will be confirmed by the Senate.
  Q And I'm wondering if you could weigh in on the Senate's agreement to make changes to the filibuster. President Obama obviously said it was a good thing, but some are concerned that it doesn't go far enough. Does he share those concerns, and will he press the Senate to go even farther?
  MR. CARNEY: Well, we are glad to see a bipartisan agreement to address this issue. It is very important that we return or try to return to what was known or once was known as regular order here so that we can get the business of the American people done. And when it comes to votes on nominations, and votes on nominations that have no -- that present no -- should present no problems to which members have no substantive objections, we should be able to move in regular order through those.
  And I think the President is glad to see that there is a bipartisan agreement on this, and we'll obviously see how it works, because this is important. It goes to, in many ways, to the question Ed asked about how do we, on behalf of the American people, increase the productivity of their representatives here in Washington. And this is one way, we hope.
  Roger, and then Christi.
  Q Yes, thank you. Back to the NLRB. They have made more than 200 decisions since January 4, 2012. Businesses and unions are affected greatly by that. Can you give us any guidance or give them any guidance on what happens to the regulations?
  MR. CARNEY: I would point you to the statement that was put out by the NLRB. This court case, this decision does not affect their operations, their ability to function. And they put out a statement to that effect. It's one court, one case, one company.
  Q So they can still enforce --
  MR. CARNEY: Again, I would refer you to them for the assessment they made. I'm simply echoing what they put out.
  Christi.
  Q Jay, you just talked about the ability of the Congress and the White House to focus on a number of things they want done. What about the ability of the American people to focus on multiple issues, especially if it's important, as you say, for the President to get out in the country and sell these ideas? Are you at risk of moving all of these things at one time and sort of having your message bleed a little bit?
  MR. CARNEY: Well, I don't think so. It's, I think, remarkable to a lot of us -- reporters and folks on this side, and probably to members of Congress and their staffs and candidates -- that when you get out in the country, some of the obsessions of Washington are not the focus of concern among average Americans. They care about issues that affect their lives. They care about Washington functioning in a way, compromising in a way that it helps the economy grow, helps give middle-class families more security, more opportunities.
  And I think they would welcome a circumstance in which Washington was more collaborative and cooperative and productive; where we were able to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform even as we deal with our fiscal challenges; where we were able to address the horrible scourge of gun violence in this country by moving on proposals that are very common-sense and not one of which would take away a gun from a single law-abiding American.
  So I think to suggest that -- and I'm not saying you are -- but to suggest that the American people have a limited attention span or capacity is selling them short. I think their expectations are high. And the President believes we, together, if we act, can meet those expectations and can move forward on some of these important issues even as we acknowledge that we won't resolve all of our differences, we won't settle centuries-old debates about things like the role of government or other issues. But the fact that we disagree on some of these things doesn't mean we are not obligated to work together.
  Q But if you need a groundswell of support, for example, to push gun control measures through, and climate change measures, and even bipartisanship -- I mean, is that really something you expect to see all at one time? Or, I don't know, you're sort of alluding to a unifying theme, but I would be hard-pressed to say what it is.
  MR. CARNEY: Well, I would point you to the President's speech on Monday for unifying, high-altitude themes. But the --
  Q (Laughter.)
  MR. CARNEY: Thank you, Ed.
  But the -- I guess we're going to test the principle. These are all important issues. They're issues that the American people care about. And fundamentally, they're tied into the issue, as a matter of domestic policy, that most Americans care most about, which is stable economic growth, security for the middle class, opportunity for those who are working hard to attain membership in the middle class, security for our seniors. These are broad, fundamental priorities and goals that are generally shared by Americans no matter their political persuasion, and generally supported by lawmakers no matter their political affiliation. So there is the opportunity here, and the President is trying to seize it.
  Ann.
  Q Could I follow up on the NLRB? Can you speak to the broader frustration the President has had with the nomination -- with the confirmation process in the Senate? And do you know whether -- which forces him into the recess appointment in the first place -- and do you know whether these names from the NLRB had been languishing and how long they've been in Congress?
  MR. CARNEY: Again, I would have to take the question on the last part and provide to you the information that I can gather on the -- I mean, a perfect example to -- I say this having noted that there has been an agreement, hopefully, that will help move this or resolve this problem to some degree. But there has been enormous frustration at the way that nominations have been handled.
  I mean, Richard Cordray is a perfect example of Senate Republicans refusing to allow an up-or-down vote on an enormously qualified individual. No one put forward any objections to his qualifications, because his qualifications are impeccable. He had broad support from not just Democratic attorneys general but Republican, across the country. And because of the refusal to allow an up-or-down vote, the President took action to put him in this job because the job is important. As the President said yesterday, financial institutions, the financial sector, they have a lot of lobbyists here. They pay good money to lobby us to make sure their interests are represented in Washington. Consumers need Richard Cordray to represent them.
  I mean, let's just look at what he's done in the year since the President placed him in office. A couple of facts: 6 million -- that's the number of consumers who received refunds because of the 2012 CFPB enforcement actions. 575 -- that's the number of colleges voluntarily adopting the financial aid shopping sheet developed by the CFPB and the U.S. Department of Education. 13 -- the number of public town halls and field hearings that CFPB has held since opening its doors in July 2011, and up to this month, in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, South Dakota, Missouri, Maryland, Georgia and other states.
  I mean, this is -- it demonstrates what this Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is all about. It's an entity designed to protect and represent average Americans, consumers, in their financial dealings. And it's a vital function, and it's the law. It exists. And objections to that can be debated. Legislation to try to change that can be submitted. But blocking the nomination of a highly-qualified individual for a post that exists under the law is not acceptable. It shouldn't happen. It's not fair to the American people.
  So that's why the President put Richard Cordray in office. That's why he re-nominated him yesterday.
  Chris.
  Q Jay, there's been a lot in the news recently about the -- how servicemembers with same-sex partners aren't receiving certain benefits -- administratively any time, and they include military IDs, joint duty assignments, and access to certain family programs. Is the President aware of this issue, and will he direct the Pentagon to take action on this if they don't do it on its own?
  MR. CARNEY: I can tell you broadly -- I don't have specifics for you -- the President is absolutely focused on and aware of the need to further implement DADT, and to ensure that proper benefits are provided. For more details, I would point you to the Defense Department. But this is an issue the President is aware of and it has his attention.
  Q I mean, the Pentagon has been saying since "don't ask, don't tell" was lifted in September 2011 that they've been reviewing this issue, but no action has been taken. I mean, isn't it reasonable to conclude that they need a little prodding?
  MR. CARNEY: Again, this issue has the President's attention.
  Andrei, and then Scott.
  Q Thank you, Jay. The U.S. has pulled out of a small but important working group with Russia today. And a few days ago you -- and it's a working group in the presidential commission, so I assume that it does rise to the President's level. A few days ago, you said that we want to work together despite differences. So my question is, again, how do we limit the fallout from such gestures, mutual gestures? Are they -- as you know, they started with the Magnitsky bill. So my specific question is whether the President asked President Putin to not respond to the Magnitsky bill with anything that would hurt the economy. And is he trying to not hurt the economy, too, in our --
  MR. CARNEY: I would have to take the question about the working group. I'm not aware of that. I can simply reiterate that the President believes our relationship with Russia is very important. We work together on issues that are very important for our bilateral relationship, but also for issues of international concern. That has been the case throughout his first term, and he expects it to be the case throughout the second term -- his second term. And it is also the case that where we disagree, we disagree -- we are able to disagree and continue to move forward on those areas where we find common ground.
  Q Does the President still intend to send Mr. Donilon to Moscow soon for --
  MR. CARNEY: I don't have a travel update for you on the National Security Advisor.
  I think Scott. I had you next in mind.
  Q Jay, does the President have any thoughts on the idea that's been floated in Virginia and maybe some other states about changing the way electoral votes are assigned?
  MR. CARNEY: I have not discussed that with him, so I don't have a response. I've seen -- I saw a tweet by David Axelrod that I thought was interesting, but I don't really have anything more on it than that.
  Cheryl.
  Q Oh, thanks. Budget question: Paul Ryan is working on a budget that he hopes will be balanced in 10 years. The White House has typically done a debt-to-GDP ratio. What kind of budget will the President be pursuing in February?
  MR. CARNEY: Well, I don't have the budget for you to present. When the President does, you will be able to review it. I can tell you it will reflect the principles that you've seen in detail in various budgets and proposals that the President has put forward in the last several years, including his most recent budget, including the proposal he put forward to the so-called super committee, including the proposals he put forward to Speaker Boehner in their negotiations last -- late last year.
  The President believes that we need to address further our fiscal challenges; that we need to continue to bring down the deficit, to reduce the deficit in a responsible, balanced way; to build on the $2.5 trillion in deficit reduction that he has signed into law, the result of the work he has done with Congress. But that we should not balance the budget or reduce the deficit on the backs of senior citizens and vulnerable families and middle-class Americans who are trying to send their kids to college, people who are just trying to get by.
  We have to do it in a balanced way. That means everybody shares in the deal, in the sacrifice. It doesn't mean that we ask, as the previous Ryan budget did, that seniors foot the bill, that costs for their health care shift dramatically to senior citizens so that the wealthy could get another tax cut. I don't want to -- maybe that won't be the case in a future budget, but it was certainly the case in the last.
  Q Are you saying it was too fast?
  MR. CARNEY: Well, I'm not a budget -- I mean, I think the issue here is composition. The issue here is how do you get there and who bears the burden. And that's the President's focus. The President believes that we need to reduce our deficit, that we need to get our, as Cheryl noted, our deficit and debt-to-GDP ratio in a place that will be -- is fiscally sustainable and also will allow our economy to grow faster and create more jobs.
  But it should not be -- I think I've said a number of times that deficit reduction is not a goal unto itself. It is sometimes the Holy Grail for some folks, but the Holy Grail for this President is middle-class security, sustained economic growth, and the insurance that our seniors and our families with children who are disabled and others are secure.
  Q And that's a higher priority than balance?
  MR. CARNEY: Absolutely.
  Q Could you address the USAID allegations made against officials there about rigged contracts?
  MR. CARNEY: I would refer you to the State Department.
  Yes, sir.
  Q Jay, Vice President Biden just finished a very long meeting in Richmond about guns, much longer than scheduled. What's going to happen with that information that he obtained in that meeting? What would be done with that?
  MR. CARNEY: Well, I obviously wasn't in the meeting and haven't had a readout of it. This is part of the effort to make the case for taking common-sense measures to reduce gun violence. And as we discussed earlier, this is something around which the President believes we can come together to take necessary steps, responsible steps, common-sense steps that protect the Second Amendment, but also address this problem that was so horrifically brought to our consciousness at Newtown, Connecticut.
  So again, I don't have any specifics on this particular meeting, but it's part of the overall effort, and it's an important one.
  MR. CARNEY: Apparently, at the meeting, Vice President Biden did not mention the assault weapons ban or the high-capacity magazine ban. What should we think about that? Is that becoming a lower priority for you?
  MR. CARNEY: No. Again, I don't -- I wasn't there. You're providing information about a meeting that I haven't had read out to me.
  The President supports renewal of the assault weapons ban. He supports addressing or limiting the magazine capacity of ammunition -- the capacity of ammunition clips. He supports --well, as you know, the legislative action that he made clear he supported even before he put forward the comprehensive set of proposals last week.
  So these are all priorities. The fact that they're hard, some harder than others, doesn't mean we shouldn't move forward on them and make the case for them. And that's what the Vice President is doing, that's what the President has done and will do.
  Q Jay, "don't ask, don't tell" was repealed more than a year ago, but many of these benefits that are still denied to same-sex military couples, they could be extended with Secretary Panetta's signature. Is the President satisfied with the pace at which the --
  MR. CARNEY: I can only give you the answer I gave before, which this is an issue that has the President's attention, and I just don't have any more for you on that now.
  Q Because yesterday in a statement following the lifting of the ban on women in combat positions, he said that "I am absolutely confident that -- as with the repeal of 'don't ask, don't tell' -- the professionalism of our armed services will ensure a smooth transition and keep our military the very best in the world." This doesn't seem smooth when you have the Marines banning discrimination by spouses groups, and the Army of permitting it; you have some branches of the military permitting discrimination and others not. How is that a smooth transition?
  MR. CARNEY: Well, I would simply say what I've said, which -- the President is aware of this issue. It has his attention. But I haven't got any more for you on it or any announcements to make about it. But he is aware of it.
  Q On immigration reform, from what I understand the outside groups are not calling it comprehensive immigration reform anymore. There has been some polling done on that topic. I heard you call it comprehensive immigration reform a couple of times. But is the President aware of this? Does he think that this is sort of bad lingo? And is he planning to use ''comprehensive immigration reform'' on Tuesday?
  MR. CARNEY: That's like a Frank Luntz question. The President is pushing a broad approach that takes the issue as a whole in a comprehensive way, because that's the right thing to do. And what you call it is far less important than what it is, and you'll hear the President discuss that next week. It is reflected in the blueprint that has been on whitehouse.gov for more than a year. And he hopes, as I noted earlier, that these signs of a new disposition toward this issue among Republicans will -- are early indications of the real possibility for actual action on this issue, which he thinks is very important for our economy, for our businesses.
  So he looks forward to working with members of both parties on this regardless of what they call it.
  Q So back last year or the year before, Grassley had called for you to release the briefing on -- the White House Counsel legal briefing on your basis for the constitutionality of making these appointments. Will you release that briefing now?
  MR. CARNEY: I'm not aware -- I don't recall that. That sounds awfully like privileged presidential communication, but I'm not making that declaration -- but like communication between the White House Counsel and the President. But I'll have to take the question.
  Q U.S. pastor Saeed Abedini has been on trial in Iran over the course of this week. His supporters say yesterday he was transferred to another prison unit extensively to get him better medical attention and that he's kind of disappeared since that time. There are also reports from his supporters that he may have been beaten while he was in captivity. Has the President been getting any readouts on what's happening there? And has there been anything the administration has been able to do to try and assist in his case? I know we have limited contact with Iran, but have there been any diplomatic attempts to try to influence what's happening there?
  MR. CARNEY: Well, I can tell you a couple of things. One, that we remain concerned about Saeed Abedini, who is, as you mentioned, detained in Iran on a charge related to his religious beliefs. The State Department is in close contact with his family and is actively engaged on this case.
  As you know, Mr. Abedini's attorney had only one day to present his defense. And earlier this week, Mr. Abedini was not allowed to attend his own trial, so we remain deeply concerned about the fairness and transparency of that trial.
  We condemn Iran's continued violation of the universal right of freedom or religion, and we call on the Iranian authorities to release Mr. Abedini.
  On the first part of your question about reports that he might be missing, I would refer you to the State Department. They are, as I said, actively engaged in this case.
  Q Are there any diplomatic channels that the White House has been able to use in this case?
  MR. CARNEY: That would be a question for the State Department.
  Q Thank you, Jay.
  MR. CARNEY: Thanks very much.
  Q Week ahead?
  MR. CARNEY: One day. (Laughter.) One day I'll remember. Okay, here we go, week ahead. Schedule for the week of January 28, 2013:
  On Monday, the President will welcome the NBA champion Miami Heat to the White House to honor the team and their 2012 NBA championship victory. The President will also recognize the Heat's ongoing support to the men and women who serve in our military and their families, continuing the tradition begun by President Obama of honoring sports teams for their efforts on and off the court.
  On Tuesday, the President will travel, as noted, to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he will deliver remarks. The President will return to Washington that evening.
  On Wednesday and Thursday, the President will attend meetings here at the White House.
  And on Friday, the President will award 12 eminent researchers the National Medal of Science and 11 extraordinary inventors the National Medal of Technology and Innovation -- the highest honors bestowed by the United States government upon scientists, engineers, and inventors. This event will take place here at the White House.
  Thank you all very much.
  END2:43 P.M. EST
Sharpton on 2nd Amendment: 'People do not have the right to unregulated rights in this country' [VIDEO]
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:52
  Following a public policy meeting of African-American leaders, National Urban League president Marc Morial and National Action Network president Al Sharpton called for a new national assault weapons ban, saying the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution should be regulated.
  ''The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are not absolute. One cannot yell fire in a crowded theater and hide behind the First Amendment,'' said Morial when asked by TheDC if he supports California Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein's assault weapon ban bill. (RELATED: Feinstein calls for banning more than 150 types of firearms during dramatic press conference)
  ''And we absolutely think that the idea of banning a military style assault weapon, a weapon that I am confident that Thomas Jefferson and James Madison never laid their eyes on, is not inconsistent with the rights of those who self-protect, those who shoot, who want to participate in sporting and hunting,''
  ''No one has been more aggressive in our defense of the Constitution than this nation's civil rights leaders. '...We respect the Second Amendment,'' Morial added. ''None of these provisions speak in absolute terms.''
  TheDC asked Rev. Sharpton if he agreed with Morial's comments.
  ''Absolutely, I mean if you look at the Second Amendment it was that you would have militia to protect yourself in case the government came and attacked citizens,'' he responded.
  ''First of all, if the government were to come to disarm you, you would not be able to use an automatic weapon to defend yourself. Let's be serious. We're in a world of drones now so the Second Amendment would not help you in that area. It is absurd to try to cite that.''
  ''People do not have the right to unregulated rights in this country,'' Sharpton continued. ''And I think that for those that use the Second Amendment [they] are conceding that they have no argument on why you need a magazine with 100 rounds of ammunition or 30 rounds of ammunition.''
  Sharpton also said ''everybody is regulated with every right,'' using airports as an example.
  ''I don't have the right to tell them at the airport that I cite the Constitution so I'm not showing you my ID and walk through,'' he said.
  Morial said he is ''waiting for someone to suggest that the Second Amendment gives them the right to own a tank and to park it in their driveway.''
  The group of more than 60 leaders were meeting to discuss ''federal policy recommendations'' for President Obama and Congress.
  Follow Nicholas on Twitter
New Obama Foreign Policy Scandal Bigger than Benghazi-Gate?
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:49
Remarks by the President Before Meeting with Law Enforcement Officials
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:48
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  January 28, 2013
  Roosevelt Room
  11:28 A.M. EST
  THE PRESIDENT: Well, Vice President Biden and I just want to thank the police chiefs and sheriffs who are here today representing law enforcement officials all across the country who obviously share our deep concern about issues of gun safety and how we can protect our communities and keep our kids safe.
  A couple of weeks ago, I appeared along with Joe to present the administration's ideas in terms of steps that we have to take. And I issued a number of executive actions that should be taken unilaterally in order to improve our collection of data to make sure that we're coordinating more effectively with state and local governments, and to do everything that we could to improve the issue of gun safety and to make our communities safer.
  But, as we've indicated before, the only way that we're going to be able to do everything that needs to be done is with the cooperation of Congress. And that means passing serious laws that restrict the access and availability of assault weapons and magazine clips that aren't necessary for hunters and sportsmen and those responsible gun owners who are out there. It means that we are serious about universal background checks. It means that we take seriously issues mental health and school safety.
  We recognize that this is an issue that elicits a lot of passion all across the country. And Joe and my Cabinet members who have been involved in this have been on a listening session over the last several months. No group is more important for us to listen to than our law enforcement officials. They are where the rubber hits the road.
  And so I welcome this opportunity to work with them; to hear their views in terms of what will make the biggest difference to prevent something like Newtown or Oak Creek from happening again. But many of them also recognize that it's not only the high-profile mass shootings that are of concern here, it's also what happens on a day-in-day-out basis in places like Chicago or Philadelphia, where young people are victims of gun violence every single day. That's why part of the conversation that we're going to be having today relates not only to the issue of new laws or better enforcement of our gun laws, it also means what are we doing to make sure that we've got the strongest possible law enforcement teams on the ground? What are we doing to hire more cops? What are we doing to make sure that they're getting the training that they need? What are we doing to make sure our sheriff's offices in rural counties have access to some of the resources that some of the big cities do in order to deal with some of these emergencies?
  So I'm looking forward to a robust conversation. I know that this is not a shy group, mainly because they're dealing with life-and-death situations every single day. But I'm very grateful to them for their participation. This is a representative group. It comes from a wide cross-section of communities across the country. And hopefully, if law enforcement officials who are dealing with this stuff every single day can come to some basic consensus in terms of steps that we need to take, Congress is going to be paying attention to them and we'll be able to make progress.
  All right? Thank you very much, everybody.
  END 11:32 A.M. EST
MSNBC Host Thanks God For Right To Kill His Own Unborn Child'...
  Link to Article
  Source: The Ulsterman Report
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:42
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Obama Plan For World War III Stuns Russia
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:41
  World's Largest English Language News Service with Over 500 Articles Updated Daily
  "The News You Need Today'...For The World You'll Live In Tomorrow."
  What You Aren't Being Told About The World You Live In
  IronMountainApocalypse: The True Story Of 2013
  A ''must have'' book for those seeking to understand the true events surrounding the most troubled years of our modern times. (Continued)
  Picking up the Pieces: Practical Guide for Surviving Economic Crashes, Internal Unrest and Military SuppressionBy: Sorcha Faal ''In the span of less than 3 months gasoline prices will rise 500%. The prices of both food and shelter rise over 300%. (Continued)
  Partisans Handbook:By: Sorcha Faal ''Essential Survival Guide For Resisting Foreign Military Occupation, Escape And Evasion Techniques, Surviving Interrogation, Facing Execution, Wilderness Survival (Continued)
  January 28, 2013
  Obama Plan For World War III Stuns Russia
  By:Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
  A grim Federal Security Services (FSB) report circulating in the Kremlin confirming the validity of the just released hacked emails of the British based defence company, Britam Defence, stunningly warns that the Obama regime is preparing to unleash a series of attacks against both Syria and Iran in a move Russian intelligence experts warn could very well cause World War III.
  According to this report, Britam Defence, one of the largest private mercenary forces in the world, was the target of a ''massive hack'' of its computer files by an ''unknown state sponsored entity'' this past week who released a number of critical emails between its top two executives, founder Philip Doughty and his Business Development Director David Goulding.
  The two most concerning emails between Doughty and Goulding, this report says, states that the Obama regime has approved a ''false flag'' attack in Syria using chemical weapons, and that Britam has been approved to participate in the West's warn on Iran, and as we can read:
  Email 1:Phil, We've got a new offer. It's about Syria again. Qataris propose an attractive deal and swear that the idea is approved by Washington. We'll have to deliver a CW (chemical weapon) to Homs (Syria), a Soviet origin g-shell from Libya similar to those that Assad should have. They want us to deploy our Ukrainian personnel that should speak Russian and make a video record. Frankly, I don't think it's a good idea but the sums proposed are enormous. Your opinion? Kind regards David
  Email 2:Phil, Please see attached details of preparatory measures concerning the Iranian issue. Participation of Britam in the operation is confirmed by the Saudis.
  Further confirmation of these attacks was released by the Zerohedge News Service, one of the most respected financial websites in the world, who in their article yesterday titled US Preparing 'Surgical' Strikes Against Iran warned:
  ''Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says his nation must prepare for the threat of a chemical attack from Syria, amid concern at enemy efforts to test a post-election coalition Israel, and, as Bloomberg reports, has deployed its new Iron Dome anti-missile system near the border with its northern neighbor. Along with this concern, as many have perhaps suspected, the Israeli Defense Minister confirmed yesterday that the US has prepared plans for a 'surgical' military operation to delay Iran's nuclear program.''
  Interesting to note, this report says, is that during this past week, all of the users of the CIA-backed social media websites Facebook and Instagram (owned by Facebook) who made postings of the Britam hack, or links about it, had their accounts suspended and were denied reentry unless they submitted a US government approved ID.
  Russian legal analysts further note in this report that should the Obama regime unleash chemical weapons in Syria it would be a ''gross violation'' of international law subjecting nearly all top US officials, including their President, to charges of committing ''crimes against humanity.''
  Unbeknownst to the greater number of American people, this report continues, are that the so-called revolutions in Libya and Syria are nothing more than CIA operations who while using the vast resources of their government and military have nearly destroyed these two nations and their peoples.
  Equally being suppressed from the American people by their government and propaganda media are the true reasons for these CIA wars, and which in the case of Libya involves vast underground stores of oil (fifth largest in the world), and in the case of Syria one of the largest natural gas deposits on Earth under the Mediterranean Sea called the Levitation Gas Field which was discovered in 2010.
  Most curious to note about the West's over 10-year war to secure for itself the entire global supply of oil and gas are that its highest political elites don't even try to hide this fact, though their propaganda media does suppress it, and as we can read:
  ''Five months before September 11, US Vice President Dick Cheney advocated using force against Iraq '... to secure control of its oil. The Afghanistan war was, also, planned before 9/11. According to French intelligence officers, the US wanted to run an oil pipeline through Afghanistan to transport Central Asian oil more easily and cheaply. And so the US told the Taliban shortly before 9/11 that they would either get ''a carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs'', the former if they greenlighted the pipeline, the second if they didn't.''
  US Senator Lindsey Graham and Congressman Ed Markey both admitted ''Well, we're in Libya because of oil.''
  And, most importantly, former NATO Commander, US General Wesley Clark, admitted, that 10 after the 11 September 2001 attacks on America, the Pentagon released a secret plan for total war on the Middle East starting with Iraq and ending with Iran, with the governments of Libya, Syria, Lebanon and Somalia being included too for total destruction.
  Most critical to note as this New Great Game over the world's energy resources, and the pipelines that will secure them, enters another critical phase, but which this report doesn't mention, is the response Moscow will make as vast numbers of Russian warships from the Black Sea, Baltic and Arctic Naval Fleets are currently residing in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and should the Obama regime start unleashing chemical weapons in Syria.
  January 28, 2012 (C) EU and US all rights reserved. Permission to use this report in its entirety is granted under the condition it is linked back to its original source at WhatDoesItMean.Com. Freebase content licensed under CC-BY and GFDL.
  [Ed. Note: Western governments and their intelligence services actively campaign against the information found in these reports so as not to alarm their citizens about the many catastrophic Earth changes and events to come, a stance that the Sisters of Sorcha Faal strongly disagrees with in believing that it is every human beings right to know the truth. Due to our missions conflicts with that of those governments, the responses of their 'agents' against us has been a longstanding misinformation/misdirection campaign designed to discredit and which is addressed in the report ''Who Is Sorcha Faal?''.]
  You May Already Be To Late'...But It Has Begun!
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A Look into the Britam Defence Data Leak Files
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:40
  A few days ago we did a report that a British based defence company, Britam Defence had been leaked and confidential files had been published online.
  Since then i have had time to start going over all the files and put together a basic draft of what is in there, who has been effected and any other important information.
  So here it is:
  Interesting InformationSkip this to the bottom if you wish to know about single file/folder contents but its good to read it all to properly understand everything.
  After spending some time going over this stuff i have found the only folder really needed was arch33 which contains all leaked data and gives better insight in to the operations and company's Britam is working with.
  The emails in this leak and files and information mainly trace back to two Britam defence administration, one of which is the founder and dynamic director, Philip doughty and his Business Development Director David Goulding.
  Extremely personal information such as a self complied C.V, copy's of passports and more have been leaked from David and Philip as well as emails and other plans.
  From a lot of the documents its very clear that britam is working closely and even offering types of training programs to the National Saudi Gaurd and some of its internal departments and specialist groups.
  Company's that have contracts with Britam range from a couple of thousand up to Millions of dollors and have been on going for some time now.
  .
  In the hackers release note they made it clear they got the data from a Malaysian based server and from a chart found within this data its shocking to see that Britam is using the security of McAfee but is not implementing this on the said server which is listed as a mail server. (see pic to below)
  Its also clear that Britam does not practice data security very well as they have been storing user credentials, network information in unencrypted formats.
  Break down of each folder. Syria Folder:288 KB 2 PDF files and 1 email file.
  File name: CV P Doughty CV2 091.pdfCV for Philip doughty who is the dynamic director and founder of Britam Defence, currently resides in UAE according to his CV.
  File name: Phil Doughty PP1 7200830372.pdfPDF copy of current English, Irish passport for Philip Doughty.
  File name: Sirian Issue.emlEmail between David Goulding who is the Business Development Director and Philip regarding a new offer about an operation in syria.
  Phil
  We've got a new offer. It's about Syria again. Qataris propose an attractive deal and swear that the idea is approved by Washington.We'll have to deliver a CW to Homs, a Soviet origin g-shell from Libya similar to those that Assad should have.They want us to deploy our Ukrainian personnel that should speak Russian and make a video record.Frankly, I don't think it's a good idea but the sums proposed are enormous. Your opinion?
  Kind regards
  David
  Iran folder:Size: 938kb16 doc files and 1 email file total
  The Iran folder contains heaps of operation plans of attack and defend as well as procedures for preventing or using chemical warfare luring targets to kill zones, medical help, intelligence to the surrounding of operations and more. all together there appears to be 15 plans of operation.
  It also has a file named Draft which is a email draft used for the announcement of the current operations. Appears the .doc operation files are the results of an attachment to from that email.
  Preview of each of the attachments from the email.
  [Gallery not found]There is also a file named Iranian Issue.emlContact between phil and david over confirmation of plans of operations in iran by the saudis.
  Phil
  Please see attached details of preparatory measures concerning the Iranian issue.Participation of Britam in the operation is confirmed by the Saudis.http://mbf.cc/OTEH8
  Iraq Folder:Size: 153 MB 9 Folders, 7 PDF Files, 7 DOCX Files, 6 CSV Files, 2 image files
  First file looked at was a summury report from STRATFOR titlled ''Curious U.S. and French Military Deployments''. Other files include incident reports, weather reports, management plans for trips, data sheets and more.
  Break down of sub Folders:Britam Internet Networks & Passwords887KB2 PDF, 5 DOC, 1 folder that contains 4 further DOC files.
  Sadly they have gone to the effort to created human readable documents in various formats that contain current login credentails for every single user related to Britam and its complete network. the files appear to be various working with one pdf contain all information.
  Contracts 37.7MB8 PDF, 1 CSV , 1 Image, 1 Folder named BP that contains full contract details and information.
  Folder contains a list of contracts, the operations, the amount due or paid. Amongst these are agreements, history, payments, guides, charts, information and much more. It also has contract agreements about clearing land mines and keep roads safe of explosive devices.
  Daily Orders3.88 MB53 DOC Files, 80 Excel files.
  These contain daily movements for months of 2012, daily spending reports as well as a organisational chart.
  incident2.87MB9 DOC, 3 PDF, 1 Email, 1 power point presentation
  These files consist of incident reports such as Britam security staff being stopped at check points and digital equipment being siezed. As well as drunk officers, requests for CCTV and security breach reports.
  MOI2.8MB3 Images
  Letters from the ministry of inertia of Iraq. Unknown content at time of publishing.
  People57MB
  Contains Personal copys of passports of employees of Britam and other unknown related people. Passports are in variuos formats such as images, pdf etc.
  Report14.5MB5 PDF, 5DOC 37 Excel files
  Daily mission reports for various mission that Britam has been or is involved with.
  Sitrep17.9MB8 PDF 21 Doc
  Contains restricted operation reports related to halliburton (http://www.halliburton.com/)
  WMMContains weekly management meeting schedules and reports.
  Gallery for Iraq FolderFull galleryhttp://www.cyberwarnews.info/reports/a-look-into-the-britam-defence-data-leak-files/
FreeDV | HomePage
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:15
  FreeDV is a GUI application for Windows and Linux (MacOS and BSD are in testing) that allows any SSB radio to be used for low bit rate digital voice.Speech is compressed down to 1400 bit/s then modulated onto a 1100 Hz wide QPSK signal which is sent to the Mic input of a SSB radio. On receive, the signal is received by the SSB radio, then demodulated and decoded by FreeDV.
  FreeDV was built by an international team of Radio Amateurs working together on coding, design, user interface and testing. FreeDV is open source software, released under the GNU Public License version 2.1. The FDMDV modem and Codec 2 Speech codec used in FreeDV are also open source.
  Why FreeDV?Amateur Radio is transitioning from analog to digital, much as it transitioned from AM to SSB in the 1950's and 1960's. How would you feel if one or two companies owned the patents for SSB, then forced you to use their technology, made it illegal to experiment with or even understand the technology, and insisted you stay locked to it for the next 100 years? That's exactly what was happening with digital voice. But now, hams are in control of their technology again!FreeDV is unique as it uses 100% Open Source Software, including the audio codec. No secrets, nothing proprietary! FreeDV represents a path for 21st century Amateur Radio where Hams are free to experiment and innovate, rather than a future locked into a single manufacturers closed technology.
  Demo VideoWatch this video of a FreeDV QSO.Here is what you need:A SSB receiver or transceiverFreeDV software (Windows is ready, Linux coming)A Windows or Linux PC with one (receive only) or two sound cards.Cables to connect your PC to your SSB radio.Download1. Windows:2. Fedora Linux. Mike, N0SO, has kindly produced some Fedora 17 Linux RPMS:Quick Start GuideSeveral start-up guides are available Useful FrequenciesUSA, 14.236 MHzSupportPlease post your questions to the "Digital Voice" Google group: digitalvoice at googlegroups.com Design & Key FeaturesDesign: Codec 2 voice codec and FDMDV modem 50 baud 14 QPSK voice data 1 Center BPSK carrier with 2x power for fast and robust synchronisation. 1.125 kHz spectrum bandwidth (half SSB) with 75 Hz carrier spacing 1400 bit/s data rate with 1375 bit/s open source Codec 2 voice coding and 25 bit/s text for call sign ID No interleaving in time or FEC philosophy resulting in low latency, fast synchronization and quick recovery from fades. 44.1 or 48kHz sample rate sound card compatibleKey Features: Cross platform, runs on Linux or Windows (ports underway for MacOS and FreeBSD) Open source, patent free Codec and Modem that anyone can experiment with and modify Waterfall, spectrum, scatter and audio oscilliscope displays. Adjustable squelch Fast/slow SNR estimation Microphone and Speaker signal audio Equaliser Control of Transmitter PTT via RS232 levels Works with one (receive only) or two (transmit and receive) sound cards, for example a built in sound card and USB headphones.CreditsFreeDV was coded from scratch by David Witten (GUI, architecture) and David Rowe (Codec 2, modem implementation, integration).The FreeDV design and user interface is based on FDMDV, which was developed by Francesco Lanza, HB9TLK. Francesco received advice on modem design from Peter Martinez G3PLX, who has also advised David on the FDMDV modem used in FreeDV.
  Mel Whitten, K0PFX has contibuted greatly to the design, testing and promotion of several Digital Voice systems, including FDMDV. This practical experience has led to the current design '' a fast sync, no FEC, low latency system that gives a ''SSB'' type feel for operators. Mel and a team of alpha testers (Gerry, N4DVR; Jim, K3DCC; Rick, WA6NUT; Tony, K2MO) provided feedback on usability and design of FreeDV.
  Bruce Perens has been a thought leader on open source, patent free voice codecs for Amateur Radio. He has inspired, promoted and encouraged the development of Codec 2 and FreeDV.
  SVN repository for FreeDV:https://freetel.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/freetel/fdmdv2
  Instructions for compiling are in README.Linux and README.Win32
  FreeDV is built with cross platform open source libraries including wxWidgets and PortAudio.
  There is a free, if somewhat old, wxWidgets book that you can download here.
  Useful FrequenciesUSA, 14.236 MHzWindows binary files (v0.91 beta)http://groups.google.com/group/digitalvoiceFDMDV Digital Voice Resource PageCodec 2 Voice CodecFDMDV ModemWhy Open Source Digital Voice Is ImportantFreeDV SpecificationNotes for users of Tigertronics rig interfacesQ1: Is there any way to save the screen settings when you drag the tabs to multiple windows on the main screen?A1: No, as we can't work out how to support saving and restoring this information with wxWidgets.1. Starting FreeDV first thing this morning resulted in a dialog with an error message:../src/msw/bitmap.cpp(846):assert "image.IsOk()" failed inCreateFromImage(): invalid image
  Solution: manually remove all FreeDV values in the Registry.This is obviously not a great solution. But for those who encounter this, the key to remove is:
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\CODEC2-Project and everything under it in the heirarchy. It will be recreated when you reopen the program. You will have to reconfigure your sound card and PTT settings.
  2. The Tools - Record/Play file feature doesn't work with my wave file!
  Currently the "Play File - Mic In" feature only supports 8 kHz sample rate, 16 bit integer samples. Try converting your wave file to that format.
  Linux package(done)This Wiki Page(done)One Pager HowTo/QuickStart(done) v0.9 Beta text on about and window name(done) explanation of Scatter diagram(done) remove (#ifdef out) TXID/RXID buttons for now as they don't work(done) PTT rig control on Linux(done) v0.91 Change full to half duplex for VOX PTT controlEQ way to export/import filter params as a text string for sharingEQ Window floating such that user can toggle PTT without closing filter windowRSID's RXID/TXIDImproved click tune acquisition rangeFDMDV style Waterfall option with red line indicating expected spectrumPlay File To Radio FeatureBetter names for record/play file featuresRecord/Play files at different sample ratesDetermine if new version is availble via HTMLWaterfall ID, optionally send ID signal that renders as image on waterfall displayLimit waterfall/spectrum x axis to 200-2800Hz to block of low end noise from Signal link boxes(done)Half duplex mode to mute tx audio on Rx, un mute on PTT (v0.91)(done)Uncheck squelch when in analog mode (v0.91)When FDMDV is in focus, space bar control of PTT (toggle of TX/RX)Consider reducing varicode character set to reduce induced errorsSpeex noise supression on mic input optionCrashes when waterfall size reduced to very small valuesBlue-green-red waterfall display shows black at maximum signal, as itdoes at minimum signal.Support 96 kHz sample rates, make sure rate selection and max internal max12kHz, the "Record 2s" buttonReview receiver input level bargraph "Too High" settingCall sign not preserved between re-startsSetting record time on WindowsPosition of loop and record time controls on play/record dialogsTry smaller FIFO buffers to reduce latencyTry to reduce number of empty buffer events, e.g. with thread priority
Push for futuristic guns builds on embattled past
  Link to Article
  Source: Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:14
  It sounds, at first, like a bold, next-generation solution: personalizing guns with technology that keeps them from firing if they ever get into the wrong hands. But when the White House called for pushing ahead with such new technology as part of President Obama's plan to cut gun violence, the administration did not mention the concept's embattled past. As with so much else in the nation's long-running divisions over gun rights and regulation, what sounds like a futuristic vision is, in fact, an idea that has been kicked around for years, sidelined by intense suspicion, doubts about feasibility and pressure tactics.
  Now proponents of so-called personalized or smart guns are hoping the nation's renewed attention on firearms following the Newtown school massacre will kick start research and sale of safer weapons. But despite the Obama administration's promise to "encourage the development of innovative gunsafety technology," advocates have good reason to be wary.
  In the fiery debate over guns, personalized weapons have long occupied particularly shaky ground'--an idea criticized both by gun-rights groups and some gun control advocates.
  To the gun groups, the idea of using technology to control who can fire a gun smacks of a limitation on personal rights, particularly if it might be mandated by government. At the same time, some gun control advocates worry that such technology, by making guns appear falsely safe, would encourage Americans to stock up on even more weapons then they already have in their homes.
  Without the politics, the notion of using radio frequency technology, biometric sensors or other gadgetry in a gun capable of recognizing its owner sounds like something straight out of James Bond. In fact, it is. In the latest Bond flick, "Skyfall," Agent 007's quartermaster passes him a 9 mm pistol coded to his palm print.
  "Only you can fire it," the contact tells the agent. "Less of a random killing machine. More of a personal statement."
  In real life, though, there's no getting around the politics, and the debate over personalized guns long ago strayed well beyond questions of whether the technology will work.
  Those were the first questions asked in 1994 when the research arm of the Justice Department began studying prospects of making a police gun that a criminal would not be able to fire if he wrestled it away during a struggle. Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories examined available technology in 1996 and found it promising, but wanting.
  By then the notion of a safe gun had long captivated Stephen Teret, a former attorney and public health expert at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore who had gone after automakers for not including air bags in their cars. In 1983, he got a call that the 22-month-old son of a couple he knew had been killed by a 4-year-old who found a loaded gun in a nightstand drawer.
  "Very definitely, that was the genesis," said Teret, who went on to found Hopkins' Center for Gun Policy and Research. "Because when one thinks of something as a public health person the first thing is you're sick with grief and the second thing that comes to mind is why in the world would there be a handgun operable by a 4-year-old?"
  Teret began trying to get lawmakers and gun makers interested in the concept of personalized weapons. He convinced Democratic U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder to earmark funding for the Justice study. And in the mid-1990s he voiced support for a project at Colt's Manufacturing Co., the legendary but beleaguered gun maker that saw an opportunity to sell safe guns to police officers and parents of young children.
  Colt's developed a gun equipped with a microchip that would prevent it from firing unless the user was wearing an enabling device located in a special wristband. But gun rights activists were skeptical, partly because the government was funding research of the concept and because gun control advocates like Teret embraced it. At about the same time, New Jersey lawmakers began discussing a measure requiring all new handguns sold in the state to be personalized, three years after the technology came to market. The measure passed in 2002.
  Owners' skepticism was heightened in 1997 when Colt's CEO Ronald Stewart wrote an editorial in American Firearms Industry magazine calling on fellow manufacturers to parry gun control efforts by backing a federal gun registry and developing personalized weapons.
  "While technology such as this should not be mandated it should be an option for the consumer," Stewart wrote. "If we can send a motorized computer to Mars, then certain we can advance our technology to be more childproof."
  Stewart did not respond to a message seeking comment left at a Connecticut company where he now serves on the board of directors.
  Soon after, the Coalition of New Jersey Sportsmen'--a state affiliate of the National Rifle Association'--began calling for a boycott of Colt's. It warned that personalized technology might make it difficult for gun owners to defend themselves and called the company's conduct "detrimental to American-style freedoms and liberties."
  Stewart was replaced as CEO of Colt's in 1998 and the company eventually abandoned development of a personalized gun.
  In 1999, New Jersey's lawmakers approved a grant to researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology to study personalized gun technology. Those efforts focused on adding transducers to a gun's handle to detect the grasp of an authorized user. Meanwhile, the Justice Department offered a challenge grant to gun makers and although two responded, they made limited headway by the time $7 million in funding ran out.
  Work on personalized weapons suffered another setback after gun rights' groups boycotted Smith & Wesson over a 2000 agreement it signed with the Clinton administration in which the manufacturer made numerous promises, including one to develop smart guns.
  Meanwhile, the New Jersey school, funded by Congressional earmarks, tried repeatedly to find a commercial partner for its work. But even as NJIT bolstered the reliability of its prototype, which now has a recognition rate of about 97 percent, it found it a hard sell. Talks with a Florida gun maker at first seemed productive until industry activists pressured the company to back away, said Donald Sebastian, NJIT's senior vice president for research and development .
  "Their claim that these are just blue state liberals looking to take your guns away, it just inflames people to not think a little more rationally," Sebastian said.
  "Yes it's a frustrating experience, but we have to be adults," he said. "I think it's been a long lesson to learn that this intermingling of the concepts of gun safety and gun control are ultimately poison."
  Mike Bazinet, a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents gun manufacturers, said questions remain about whether the technology has been improved enough to assure police officers and civilians a personalized weapon would fire when they need protection. But there are also concerns "about individual consumers' ability to choose the firearm that they think is best for them," Bazinet said.
  But gun makers and owners have not been the only critics. Activists from the Violence Policy Center, an outspoken gun control group, also spoke against personalized weapons.
  "If a smart gun did exist what would its effect be, taking into consideration the nature of gun violence in this country?" said Josh Sugarmann, the group's executive director. "Would you place families at risk or people at risk by giving this impression that this is a safe gun? You know, people who wouldn't normally buy a gun, would they buy one now?"
  NJIT's Sebastian, who joined a group of personalized gun advocates who met recently with Attorney General Eric Holder to push for their development, said his school has seen some renewed interest and is talking with officials at Picatinny Arsenal, which develops weapons for the U.S. military.
  Meanwhile, two European companies working on personalized gun technology have their eyes on the U.S. market. One of those firms, TriggerSmart Ltd. of Limerick, Ireland, has developed a system using Radio Frequency Identification that would be built into the handle of a gun and triggered by a device the size of a grain of rice inside a user's ring or bracelet. Co-founder Robert McNamara said he is seeking to license the technology to a U.S. manufacturer, but is looking at the possibility of producing kits for retrofitting existing guns.
  Another venture, Armatix GmbH of Unterfoehring, Germany, says it has developed a personalized gun, with settings based on radio frequency technology and biometrics, that was approved by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in late 2011. Armatix said it hopes to begin selling the gun as well as accompanying safety and locking systems in the U.S. this year, but would not provide details.
  Teret, who long ago launched the campaign for personalized guns, acknowledged much has to happen before they become a reality. But the White House has promised to issue a report on the technology and award prizes to companies that come up with innovative and cost-effective personalized guns, and its interest has rejuvenated hopes that the gun of the future may actually have one.
  "For 30 years, at best we've been inching forward at a glacial pace," he said. "And now this puts it up to warp speed."
  Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
U.S. steps up involvement in Mali
  Link to Article
  Source: CNN Security Clearance
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:13
  By Ingrid Formanek and Dana Ford, CNN
  The United States is intensifying its involvement in Mali, where local and French forces are battling Islamic militants.
  It will support the French military by conducting aerial refueling missions, according to the Pentagon, which released a short statement Saturday following a call between Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
  "The leaders also discussed plans for the United States to transport troops from African nations, including Chad and Togo, to support the international effort in Mali. Secretary Panetta and Minister Le Drian resolved to remain in close contact as aggressive operations against terrorist networks in Mali are ongoing," it read.
  U.S. policy prohibits direct military aid to Mali because the fledgling government is the result of a coup. No support can go to the Malian military directly until leaders are chosen through an election.
  FULL STORY
'Starving' North Korean parents 'eating their children' in famine-hit state Set You Free News
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:12
  ANI
  A starving father in North Korea has been executed for murdering his two children for food, reports from the secretive state have claimed.
  A 'hidden famine' in the farming provinces of North and South Hwanghae is believed to have killed up to 10,000 people and there are fears that incidents of cannibalism have risen in the country.
  The grim story is just one that has come to light, as residents are battling against starvation after a drought hit farms and shortages were compounded by party officials who were confiscating food.
  According to the Daily Mail, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has spent huge amount on two rocket launches, despite reports of food shortages in the country and concerns that 10,000 people have died in a famine. Undercover reporters from Asia Press told the Sunday Times that one man dug up his grandchild's corpse and ate it, and another man boiled his own child for food.
  An informant said a father killed his eldest daughter while his wife was away on business and then killed his son because he was the witness to the murder. When his wife returned the man told her they had 'meat', but she became suspicious and contacted officials who discovered part of the children's bodies.
  Undercover reporters said food was confiscated from the two provinces and given to the residents in Pyongyang. The Sunday Times also quoted an official of the ruling Korean Worker's party as saying that 'in a village in Chongdan county, a man who went mad with hunger boiled his own child, ate his flesh and was arrested'.
  United Nations officials visited the area during a state-sponsored trip, but local reporters said it is unlikely they were shown the famine-hit areas. It is not the first time that reports of cannibalism have come to light in the country.
  In May last year, the South Korean state-run Korean Institute for National Unification said that one man was executed after eating part of a colleague and then trying to sell the remains as mutton, the report added.
Namibia: Donkey Milk Very Good for Humans
  Link to Article
  Source: AllAfrica News: Latest
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:12
  Windhoek '-- Domesticated animals, perhaps, are best known for providing meat, draft power, milk, affection and security. Each has its unique traits and it may be questionable in society for people to consume dog or cat milk, eat cats or even roast parrots.
  Nevertheless, donkey milk is fit for human consumption and Reverend Edward Amadhila believes Namibia has "a lot of donkeys" so it would be worth exploiting that untapped potential for protein.
  "With the unemployment rate at 51.2 percent and very soon we will have 250 000 orphans and vulnerable children,we need to come forward with solutions for our community - if not, we will have more people eating from dump sites," he said.
  Amadhila himself uses donkeys to plough mahangu fields at his farm but he has tasted donkey milk: "Donkey milk is the closest to human milk. During the December holidays we had the privilege to milk the donkeys at the farm. It never crossed my mind that I would one day drink donkey milk. After milking the donkeys, I was the first to drink, and I can tell you it (donkey milk) is very sweet and very thin in the mouth compared to goat and cow milk," he said.
  Dietician Samantha du Toit affirmed: "It is very similar to human milk which is very much an advantage, but I wouldn't promote it for use for feeding an infant, just as a 'last use'. Children who are allergic to cow's milk can be able to tolerate donkey milk because it has more lactose and less fat than cow's milk. It's a better alternative. If it was far from human or cow's milk I would not recommended it."
  Asserting a maximum two litres per day per donkey milk output, Amadhila pointed out that 19th Century and early 20th Century monarchs use donkey milk to maximum effect.
  "In France in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, donkey milk was used as a palliative for people suffering from tuberculosis, and as a substitute for mother's milk for orphans, with a number of hospitals maintaining herds of lactating donkeys for this purpose.
  "There are reports that in Germany it was used by people suffering from meningitis," he said.
  Amadhila embarked on a mission to interview different residents of his farm and he found one woman who had a steady diet of donkey milk.
  "I was surprised by the knowledge that is there, especially among the Damara-speaking Namibians. I met this woman and she told me that her lungs opened up and are now healthier than ever. She was so excited to share her story and this confirms that donkey milk is healthy," he said.
  However, attempts to contact the woman for confirmation did not materialise.
  Amadhila also mentioned its skincare potential, saying: "Cleopatra of Egypt is supposed to have bathed in it regularly."
  Meanwhile, a staff member at Shadonai Beauty Consultants, Charlin Lesch, said donkey milk contains an incredible amount of fatty acids, vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, C, D and E, minerals and proteins good for the skin.
  "Thanks to this composition, donkey milk is extremely effective against dry skin and wrinkles: it's a natural tensor, able to prevent skin from aging and also regenerates it," said Lesch.
  Donkey milk was highly prized by ancient people. The Greeks considered it an excellent remedy; the Romans regarded it as a luxury drink. Hippocrates recommended it for all sorts of maladies: poisonings and snakebites, joint pains, wounds, etc.
  In fact, in the 19th century, and even at the beginning of the 20th, many people used it as a remedy. At that time, especially in Paris, many "donkey milk dairies" were established so that upper class women could purchase what was regarded as a precious beverage.
  Last year, the World Tennis Association (WTA) men's number one ranked player Serbian Novak Djokovic, was reported to have purchased a supply of 'Pule' - donkey cheese.
  The extravagant cheese reportedly sells at 1000 euros (N$10 000) per kilogramme, while each kilogramme requires 25 litres of milk to produce.
Transmission: The missing link in the renewables revolution
  Link to Article
  Source: ZapLog - externe links
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:10
  You want to cut carbon to the levels recommended by the International Panel on Climate Change? Then you'll need 100,000 Megawatts of new renewable power integrated into the electrical grid. And in order to get that, you'll need a lot -- try 25,000 miles -- of new high voltage transmission lines.
  That was the message Gary Graham, of Western Resource Advocates, was pushing at a recent conference on clean energy and transmission in Denver, Colo. Graham wasn't alone. One speaker and panelist after another, from former Colo. Gov. Bill Ritter to the National Resource Defense Council's Carl Zichella, repeated the message in various forms: We must expand, upgrade and rethink our current electrical grid in order to put solar and wind on par with coal and natural gas in our energy mix.
  While the entire national grid needs attention, our distinct piece of that grid -- the Western Interconnect -- is perhaps the most challenging. Its 100,000 miles of high voltage transmission lines were mostly built to ship power from big coal and hydroelectric plants (generators) to population centers (loads). Now, the capacity in those power lines is, for the most part, already reserved. And the lines don't necessarily stretch into the areas where big wind and solar potential exists.
  Parts of Central and Eastern New Mexico, for example, are primed for turbines. The winds there are of a high grade, the land is mostly owned by drought-stricken farmers and ranchers, who yearn for the revenues turbines on their land would bring, and environmental impacts aren't a huge issue. The turbines have yet to sprout like weeds, however, because there's no way to get the power to where it's needed.
  That's in part because transmission lines are still one of the most difficult energy projects to realize. The proposed Sun-Zia line, for example, which would stretch from central New Mexico to Phoenix, would need the go-ahead from several jurisdictions. The transmission line builder would also have to deal with both New Mexico and Arizona regulators, who have the power to nix the deal. In 2007, for example, Arizona regulators shut down a proposed power line because they worried that exporting power to California would raise their state's prices. While the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could step in in such an instance and force a natural gas line through, it has no such power with transmission lines. And in the West, there's no regional transmission planning authority with any sort of power. While many renewables advocates would like to see a more empowered FERC, they also acknowledge that giving more power to powerlines is a tough sell in the West -- both private property advocates and environmentalists worry about the feds forcing transmission down their throats.
  Environmentalists are protesting Sun-Zia because they don't want 200-foot towers to cut through wild lands, particularly the San Pedro River valley. That the lines carry green power is little comfort: Given the nature of the grid, and laws that mandate open access to transmission, it's impossible to say that fossil fuel-generated power will never travel the line, as well. Landowners are not keen on power lines crackling over their houses. In California, a line that would carry wind power from near Tehachapi to the Los Angeles area has been held up by strong resistance from the well-to-do community of Chino Hills.
  Clearly, the folks at the conference have a hard row to hoe. Brian Parsons, of the National Renewable Energy Laboratories, said that his organization believes it is possible for the nation to get 80 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2050. But to get there will require billions of dollars of investment -- not to mention navigating the arduous, years-long permitting process -- in new transmission each year until then. Determining how to expand, retrofit and upgrade the current fossil fuel-centric electric grid to accommodate all those renewables will be one of the biggest challenges facing utilities and policymakers in coming years.
  The good news is that there are things can be done while waiting for the big new transmission projects to get off the ground. The way the grid is operated can be changed to better ''geographically smooth'' intermittent renewable power sources. We can adopt new ways of marketing power, to make the current grid more flexible. And, as Zichella pointed out, renewable power can catch a ride on transmission lines that are getting a bit of extra space thanks to coal-fired power plant retirements.
  The grid is wonderfully and terribly complex, and throwing in solar and wind makes it even more so. I'll be diving into this complexity in future issues of this blog and the HCN magazine. So stay tuned.
  Photo: Powerlines in Nevada, by the author.
  Jonathan Thompson is a senior editor at High Country News. His Twitter handle is @jonnypeace.
SANDY HOOK; LAND OF OZ SEX SHOP; NARCOTICS; MONSIGNOR WALLIN
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:05
  Monsignor Kevin WallinMonsignor Kevin Wallin bought an adult video and sex toy shop in the Connecticut town of North Haven.
  The shop is named "Land of Oz and Dorothy's Place."
  ctpost.com/news/crime/article/Feds-Monsignor-Meth-dealt-drug-bought-sex-shop
  Monsignor Wallin has been arrested on federal drug charges.
  Alegedly he sold drugs out of his apartment in Waterbury.
  Officials of the Diocese of Bridgeport became concerned about Wallin in the spring of 2011, diocese spokesman Brian Wallace told the Connecticut Post.
  "We became aware that he was acting out sexually - with men - in the church rectory," said Wallace.
  In July 2012, Drug Enforcement Administration agents in New York told agents in the New Haven office that there was an unidentified Connecticut-based drug trafficker distributing methamphetamine in the region.
  Also charged in this particular case are Kenneth Devries, 52, of Waterbury; Michael Nelson, 40, of Manchester; Chad McCluskey, 43, of San Clemente, Calif.; and Kristen Laschober, 47, of Laguna Niguel, Calif. Authorities say McCluskey and Laschober were involved in the shipping of methamphetamine to Wallin.
  Read more:http://www.ctpost
  CIA,MK Ultra? - Sandy Hook,CT - Over the Rainbow !
  aangirfan: SANDY HOOK; TURF WAR; JEWISH COUPLE; LANZA ...
  sandy hook - dylan hockley - butterfly, wizard of oz, purple - Aangirfan
  aangirfan: SANDY HOOK: CIA MONARCH BRAINWASHING
Next Big Future: Non-chicken egg based flu vaccines revolutionizing the fight against flu which kills 250,000 to 500,000 every year
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 02:43
  1. The FDA's recent approval of a trivalent seasonal influenza vaccine made using novel manufacturing technology marks a significant milestone in the ongoing battle against this life-threatening illness. According to a Jan. 16 FDA release, Flublok, which is approved for use in adults ages 18-49, does not rely on the traditional method of growing the targeted influenza virus strains in chicken eggs and, thus, can be produced more rapidly than current vaccines.The vaccine is the first such antitoxin that does not require the use of chicken eggs or live viruses during the production process. Instead, the company uses an insect virus (baculovirus) expression system and recombinant DNA technology to generate purified hemagglutinin antigens specific to each flu virus strain included in the annual vaccine.
  the new vaccine does not use the whole influenza virus or eggs in its production, so it is safe for people with egg-related allergies. Moreover, the preservative-free vaccine is formulated to contain three times the active ingredients found in other available flu vaccines and may confer greater immunogenicity in elderly and immunocompromised patients.
  In its release, the FDA noted that the vaccine's effectiveness was evaluated in a study comparing about 2,300 people vaccinated with Flublok to a control group of similar size that was given a placebo.
  "Flublok was about 44.6 percent effective against all circulating influenza strains, not just the strains that matched the strains included in the vaccine," the release said. "The most commonly reported adverse events included pain at the site of injection, headache, fatigue and muscle aches, events also typical for conventional egg-based, inactivated influenza vaccines."
  The company will distribute approximately 100,000 doses in 2013, primarily to pre-identified customers and practices that have special needs. At the same time, Dunkle said, the company is expanding to a new manufacturing facility, which it expects will allow it to offer 3-5 million doses during the 2013-14 season.
  Typical flu vaccines are 60-70 percent effective against the circulating strains.
  2. Medicago USA, a subsidiary of the Canada-based company, was previously awarded a $21 million agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for a proof-of-concept demonstration to produce 10 million doses of a vaccine candidate in 30 days. The company said the project was successfully completed in July
  Medicago is a Canada-based company working to develop influenza vaccines produced using tobacco leaves.
  Medicago is developing vaccine candidates that use ''virus-like particles'' that mimic the structure of a virus, allowing them to be recognized by the body's immune system. However, they do not contain the virus' genetic material, so they're not infectious.
  Their pandemic flu vaccine could be used in a pandemic emergency.They completed some clinical trials.
  If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks
Aeros Tests Pelican Variable-Buoyancy Airship
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 06:26
  Aeros Tests Pelican Variable-Buoyancy AirshipPosted byGraham Warwick3:51 PM on Jan 03, 2013Aeros has completed its experimental rigid variable-bouyancy airship and accomplished the first of four tasks under its contract with the Pentagon's Rapid Reaction Technology Office.
  Photos: Aeros
  Aeros CEO Igor Pasternak says the 230ft-long Aeroscraft prototype, called Pelican, has completed a ground-handling demonstration showing the 36,000lb vehicle can move without assistance from ground personnel, controlled from the cockpit and using its air-bearing landing gear. The Pelican was heavier than air for the demonstration, he says.
  The three remaining contractual demonstrations, which Pasternak hopes to accomplish next week, include a vertical takeoff and offloading payload without taking on ballast -- both accomplished solely by varying the vehicle's buoyancy. The fourth demo is of the vehicle's lightweight aeroshell, which does not rely on pressurization for rigidity.
  The Aeroscraft controls its buoyancy by pumping helium between lifting-gas cells and pressurized tanks inside the composite aeroshell. Compressing the helium makes the vehicle heavier than air for easier ground handling and cargo unloading. Releasing the helium displaces air inside the vehicle and makes it neutrally buoyant.
  The buoyancy control system can vary the Pelican's "static heaviness" by 3,000-4,000lb, says Pasternak, enough to allow the prototype to take off vertically, yet be heavier than air for landing and unloading. All of the tests are taking place inside Aeros' airship hangar in Tustin, California, with the vehicle expected to reach a height of 10-15ft.
  Pasternak is hopeful of additional funding for follow-on testing that would take the prototype outside the hangar. The Pelican is configured for outdoor tests, he says, but might need some modifications to comply with FAA rules for flight testing. Ultimately, Aeros wants to build a 450ft-long vehicle able to carry a 66-ton payload over a 3,000nm unrefueled range.
  Tags:ar99, airships
Obama's Illegal Entry: Operation Aztec
  Link to Article
  Source: Lame Cherry
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:34
  As another Lame Cherry matter anti matter exclusive or exclusives........
  There is in the Obama Ledger an operation dovetailed into the Sandy Hook Ultra II operation which is scheduled to take place in the voting down the Feinstein gun control vote.
  It is termed Operation Aztec. Margin notes began this questioning the feasibility of creating a mass slaying of illegals in Texas in order to humiliate the Republicans there in order to push for illegal legality, but was deemed not feasible.
  What was engaged since was bringing Mexican Senora Sotomeyer out of the cave to start a conditioning process based upon a broadcast network story of a latino who fought the system to not have her family deported.This is the key element in this for "dead baby sympathy" in what has transpired.
  Operation Aztec is keyed upon a California entry point, in which the Border Patrol and INS is going to apprehend a specific mule shipment of illegals, namely women and children in the Sandy Hooker numbers.They will be attractive and feeds are running from Mexico to a Latin American nation. These victims are connected to the opposition and have been threatened to the point that the process has started to move them to join family here via a religious route.
  They will be safeguarded on the route and crossed over into California, even though elements still desired Texas, but Texas will not create the desired "New York effect" that Cuomo generated for Sandy Hook.
  This group of "attractives" will be photographed and provided minor "buzz" with nothing reaching the regime, except in "attempts" to become involved in the paperwork in order to keep them being deported as their return would mean their certain death as political enemies of this state.Peppering is being established in Mexican returnees in "political assassinations" to spread this as a "quoted" backdrop to negate Obama and Holder's Gun Runner. There is balance in this as the underground media will call up Gun Runner, but the Mockingbird blast will be thought enough coupled with the "attractives" to keep the puppy press focusing the mobs mind on what transpired.
  Aztec is designed to involve a mass rape and murder of these attractives on their return. The photos will be released with blood and flies. Narrations in Spanish will be fed to Univision to start the attention as English speakers will be curious over the mass death of pretty people and it all hidden in Spanish.Something was recorded in ginning this up on YouTube like the fake Muslim file for ANALGATE.
  The talking points of Mockingbird will generate as Sandy Hook a conspiracy "things do not match" to keep the fringe chattering about things, like wrong identies on bodies and connections to the elite.
  At this point, Chuck Schumer will unleash his "Feinstein" illegal rights legislation banning all deportation of illegals and garnering them immediate rights as Americans.This is the California clause in the Ledger in like New York, a pre written law will be rammed through and signed by Jerry Brown affording American rights to all illegals
  Feinstein and Schumer will join in this co federal overthrow of American rights, as this is promoted by Obama "the likeable guy".
  Something in the psyops margins discuss Obama with an "attractive" between his legs as at Sandy Hook in order to gin the conspiracy chatter, in a supposed dead girl in central America is alive for an Obama photo op at a California location.
  As a further Lame Cherry matter anti matter exclusive.........
  This operation is designed in everyone is supposed to focus on Obama executive orders as is the bait in this, along with Feinstein and then Schumer, with key GOP traitors. That is the slight of hand, but the real protocol in this is happening before the public and they do not have the game figured out yet.
  It is the New York law that is the juggernaut in this. Remember full that this blog exposed that Chief Justice John Roberts was flipped on Obamacare through blackmail concerning those purchased Nazi latinos he adopted? This blog has alone been stating the scenario is, that as Obamacare, John Roberts is the treacherous vote which is going to make all crimes Obama as the law of the land.Obama has told you that he does not need Congress and will act. His slight of hand is executive orders he knows the appeals courts will shut down. Eric Holder already has this gun control fast tracked along with the illegals legalized, directly to the Supreme Court.
  John Roberts is going to be the 5 to 4 vote making certain that New York's overthrow of the Second Amendment and the California legalization of legals as full American citizens will be the law of America, which will never be overturned.
  This is the Obama second term overthrow of America. It is in the Ledger and the coming operation is the one which binds all of this together.
  Aztec is the first trimester operation, before Obama brings a refocus onto the Middle East for his legacy thing involving Iran. Obama has flipped the Israeli elections enough for that broadcaster pretty boy liberal to bring Netanyahu to partition. Syria is in the works and the stepping point is Iran, with a sanctioned terror event in the protocols in New York.
  Developing.........
  nuff said
  agtG 269
Why ham radio endures in a world of tweets
  Link to Article
  Mon, 28 Jan 2013 04:12
  Somehow it makes little sense that amateur "ham" radio continues to thrive in the age of Twitter, Facebook and iPhones. Yet the century-old communications technology -- which demands such commitment that you must generally pass an exam to receive a licence -- currently attracts around 350,000 practitioners in Europe, and a further 700,000 in the United States, some 60 per cent more than 30 years ago. What is it about a simple microphone, a transmitter-receiver and the seductive freedom of the open radio spectrum that's turned a low-tech anachronism into an enduring and deeply engaging global hobby?
  For a start, there is that thrill in establishing a magical person-to-person long-distance radio conversation that no commodified internet communication can compete with. In a world of taken-for-granted torrents of emails, instant messages and Skype video-chats, there is a purity and a richness in the shared experience of exchanging "73s" during a live "QSO" with strangers on another continent. Why, the very "ham slang" that defines the community -- 73 translating as "best regards", and QSOs as two-way conversations -- tells practitioners that they belong to a special, mutually curious and highly courteous club. And the fact that DXers -- long-distance amateur operators -- take the trouble to acknowledge received transmissions and conversations by sending their new contacts custom-designed postcards through the analogue postal service'... well, that is charm itself in a world where it's considered excessive to end a communication with anything more effusive than a "bestest".
  You only need study a handful of these cards to understand, even today, the old-fashioned excitement of connecting with a stranger who might be many thousands of miles away. The postcards -- known as QSL cards -- can be as quirky and personality-filled as the senders themselves. At times humorous and characterful, at others terse and geographically factual, they have naturally inspired their own subculture that has spurred DXers to collect and display them much as they would colourful foreign postage stamps.
  The cards invariably display as a minimum some basic factual information about the sender. This will generally include the radio operator's individual call sign, his (there are not too many hers) location, and a few details about the signal detected. And just to show that the Twitter generation did not invent the linguistic contractions exemplified in text-message-speak, QSL cards too rely on slang and abbreviations to pack information into a tight space. So cards will display the "RST" -- the received radio station's readability, signal and strength; perhaps details of the sender's "XMTR" (transmitter) and "ANT" (antenna); and occasionally a request to reciprocate, expressed as the shorthand "PSE QSL TNX" (please send an acknowledgement card, thanks) or the more chatty "hw abt a crd om?" (how about a card, old man?). Old man, by the way, is not a reference to the recipient's age -- just as, on the rarer occasions when the DXer is female, she is referred to as a "YL", a young lady, whatever her chronological age.
  DXers have been exchanging QSL cards since at least 1916, when Edward Andrews of Philadelphia -- callsign 3TQ -- recorded the receipt of a card from 8VX of Buffalo, New York. Over the next decade, the hobby took off -- so much so that, by 1928, Paul Segal (W9EEA) had formulated an "amateur's code" setting out six key qualities to which practitioners must adhere: "The radio amateur is considerate'... loyal'... progressive'... friendly'... balanced'... [and] patriotic," Segal specified, always ready for service to country and community.
Software | Mac Ham Radio
  Link to Article
  Sun, 27 Jan 2013 22:58
  I'm not a HAM, but I'm a wanna-be! I've got an old WinRadio card but no PC since jumping to Mac years ago.
  Anyway, I've downloaded the few decoders from the App store and scoured the net looking for libraries of long-run audio samples of HF fax, SSTV, ACARS, etc. Then a lightbulb went off in my head; wouldn't it be awesome if there were HAM radio streams in the iTunes radio stations, segregated by transmission type/modes? A Martin M1 SSTV channel, a HF weather fax channel, etc.
Ham Radio Now - Episode 44-SDR Handheld
  Link to Article
  Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:56
  Chris Testa KD2BMH wants to take SDR with him, in handheld form. That's not as easy as you might think. Power is the first problem. SDR uses lots of juice. Size is another, and that clunky box you see in the poster frame is Chris's Rev 0.1. If you have a mode-agile SDR handy-talky in your mitt someday soon, you may have Chris to thank.In the introduction, Gary refers to the DVD that ARVN produced of the SDR Forum at the 2009 Dayton Hamvention®. That DVD is still available for $15 HERE.
French Troops in Mali Push On to Timbuktu
  Link to Article
  Source: NYT > Home Page
  Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:10
  PARIS '-- Mali forces backed by French troops were advancing Sunday toward the crucial northern town of Timbuktu as they begin to deploy in the rebel stronghold of Gao, French officials said.
  French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement that the French troops were ''around Gao and soon near Timbuktu,'' further west. Timbuktu has been under the control of rebels and Islamist fighters for 10 months, though there are reports that many of the Islamist fighters have moved farther into the vast desert.
  The French are also expected to move on the large town further to the north, Kidal, with the notion of clearing population centers and garrisoning them with allied African troops before the rains are scheduled to come in March.
  The capture of the main strategic points on Saturday in Gao represented the biggest prize yet in the battle to retake the northern half of the country. The French Defense Ministry spokesman, Col. Thierry Burkhard, said on Sunday morning on Europe 1 radio that Malian, Nigerian and Chadian troops were now deploying in Gao after French special forces took the Gao airport and a strategic bridge on Saturday.
  ''The taking of control of Gao, which has between 50,000 and 60,000 inhabitants, by Malian, Chadian and Nigerian soldiers, is under way,'' Colonel Burkhard said. French airstrikes had been pounding Gao since France joined the fight at Mali's request on Jan. 11.Gao, 600 miles northeast of Bamako, the capital, had been under the control of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, a splinter group of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. Al Jazeera broadcast a statement from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in which the group said it had withdrawn temporarily from some cities it held, but would return with greater force.
  In Washington, the Pentagon said Saturday that the United States would provide aerial refueling for French warplanes. The decision increases American involvement, which until now had consisted of transporting French troops and equipment and also providing intelligence, including satellite photographs.
  Little information has come from the other two main cities under rebel control '-- Timbuktu, the fabled desert oasis, and Kidal, northeast of Gao '-- for the past 10 days because mobile phone networks have been down.
  Konna was overrun by Islamic fighters on Jan. 10, prompting France to intervene, and a clearer picture has begun to emerge of the fighting. Residents and officials said that at least 11 civilians had been killed in French airstrikes.
  Charred husks of pickup trucks lined the road into the town, and broken tanks and guns littered the fish market, where the rebels appeared to have set up a temporary base.
  Because of France's sudden entry into the fray, the United Nations and the regional trade bloc known as Ecowas, the Economic Community of West African States, have been scrambling to put together an African-led intervention force that has been in the planning stages. The Mali Army, which has struggled to fight the Islamist groups, has been accused of serious human rights violations.
  From Konna, it is easy to see why the Malian government pleaded for French help after the Islamist fighters took control of the town. Just 35 miles of asphalt separate Konna from the garrison town of S(C)var(C), home to the second-biggest airfield in Mali and a vital strategic point for any foreign intervention force.
  Residents said their town fell to the rebels when 300 pickup trucks of fighters, bristling with machine guns, rolled in and pushed back the Malian Army troops who had been guarding the town after a fierce battle.
  Amadou Traore, 29, a tire repairman, said residents had heard that the Islamist rebels had surrounded the town before the attack, but he had been confident that the army would keep them at bay.
  ''We thought there was no way for them to enter into the town,'' he said. ''But they came in the night. They told us, 'Tomorrow we will go to S(C)var(C).' ''
  A woman who lived in his compound was hit by a bullet, he said. They tried to take her to the town clinic, but the doctor had fled. ''After two days, she died,'' Mr. Traore said.
  Baro Coulibaly fled her house along the main road into town, moving with her husband and six children to the relative safety of the town center, where they stayed with her in-laws for days. They heard French bombs and rebel bullets ricocheting around the mud-walled dwellings.
  ''Nobody could get in or out,'' Ms. Coulibaly said. ''We were so afraid we barely ate or slept.''
  Residents said they heard that the fearsome Tuareg leader of the Islamist group Ansar Dine, Iyad ag Ghali, had led the attack on their town, but no one saw him. The rebels spoke many languages, the residents said. Some were light-skinned Arabs and Tuaregs, a nomadic people, while others were dark-skinned people who spoke the local languages of Niger, Nigeria and Mali.
  Boubacar Diallo, a local political leader, said that only a few rebel fighters came at first. Later, hundreds more joined them, overwhelming the Malian soldiers based here. He said he never saw them pray and scoffed at their assertion that they would teach the Muslim population a purer form of Islam.
  ''They say they are Muslims, but I don't know any Muslim who does not pray,'' Mr. Diallo said.
  The fighters took down the Malian flag and raised a banner of their own, a white piece of paper printed with words in Arabic '-- ''Assembly for the Spiritual Ideology to Purify the African World'' '-- and pictures of machine guns.
  After the Islamist fighters fled, Mr. Diallo took it down and replaced it with the Malian flag.
  Lydia Polgreen reported from Konna, and Steven Erlanger from Paris. Elisabeth Bumiller contributed reporting from Washington and Scott Sayare from Paris