What Adam Curry is reading

Zombie hoax blamed on lax passwords by U.S. broadcasters | Reuters
  Link to Article
  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 05:14
  By Jim Finkle
  Wed Feb 13, 2013 11:58pm EST
  (Reuters) - A hacker infiltration of the U.S. emergency broadcast system on TV stations in at least four states came down to the fact that the stations had failed to change factory default passwords, broadcasters said on Wednesday.
  The Monday attacks, which broadcast bogus warnings that the United States was under attack by zombies, prompted the government to order television stations to change passwords on the equipment that connects them to the nation's Emergency Alert System, or EAS.
  The FCC would not comment, but in an urgent advisory sent to television stations on Tuesday the agency said: "All EAS participants are required to take immediate action."
  It instructed them to change passwords on equipment from all manufacturers, making sure that gear was secured behind firewalls and to also inspect systems to ensure that hackers had not queued "unauthorized alerts" for future transmission.
  While a zombie hoax appeared to be somewhat innocuous, the fact that hackers could easily broadcast an emergency message showed that they might be able to wreak havoc with more alarming communications.
  "It isn't what they said. It is the fact that they got into the system. They could have caused some real damage," said Karole White, president of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters.
  Two stations were attacked in Michigan, in addition to several in California, Montana and New Mexico, according to White.
  A male voice addressed viewers in a video posted on the Internet of the bogus warning broadcast from KRTV in Great Falls, Montana, a CBS affiliate: "Civil authorities in your area have reported that the bodies of the dead are rising from the grave and attacking the living." The voice warned not "to approach or apprehend these bodies as they are extremely dangerous."
  Bill Robertson, vice president of privately held electronics manufacturer Monroe Electronics of Lyndonville, New York, told Reuters that equipment from his company had been compromised in at least some of the attacks after hackers gained access to their default passwords.
  Monroe publishes the default passwords for its equipment in user manuals that can be accessed on its public website.
  He said that the company is working to improve the security of its products and may update its software to force broadcasters to change default passwords.
  "They were compromised because the front door was left open. It was just like saying 'Walk in the front door,'" he said.
  Mike Davis, a hardware security expert with a firm known as IOActive Labs, told Reuters that he was able to use Google Inc's search engine to identify some 30 alert systems across the United States that he believed were vulnerable to attack as of Wednesday morning.
  "Somebody could have delivered their message to a lot more systems," said Davis, who last month sent a detailed report about vulnerabilities in EAS equipment to the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or US-CERT.
  Officials with US-CERT could not be reached.
  Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman Dan Watson said the breach did not have any impact on the government's ability to activate the Emergency Alert System.
  (Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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Zombie law: CISPA cyber bill resurrected from the dead
  Link to Article
  Source: WTF RLY REPORT
  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 05:09
  RT.com
  The two US lawmakers responsible for last year's failed cybersecurity bill known as CISPA are reintroducing the act, and renewed interest from Washington means it might have a fighting chance this time at being signed into law.
  Less than ten months after the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act stalled on Capitol Hill after being overwhelmingly approved in the House of Representatives, the architects of bill that's been called ''Worse than SOPA'' are once more pitching their effort to politicians.
  If approved, CISPA could reshape the way American businesses interact with the federal government by setting up a system for private sector entities to share cyberthreat information with any agency administered by Uncle Sam, a notion being called a national security necessity by an increasing number of figures in Washington. Critics of the act condemn the bill's vague verbiage, though, and less than one year ago orchestrated an online opposition movement with hopes of snuffing CISPA for good. But while the bill '-- the brainchild of Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Sen. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Calif.) '-- failed to garner the support needed within Washington to make it become a law last year, urging from both Congress and the commander-in-chief '-- and coupled with a new slew of alleged cyber intrusions '-- could help CISPA be added to the books in no time.
  Read more/a>
HeERO - As HeERO expands, pan-European eCall moves to next step
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  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 05:07
  Today, six new European countries join the pan-European project HeERO to develop eCall, the in-vehicle service that could save several hundred lives in Europe yearly.
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  HeERO 2 kick-off meeting in Madrid
  14 January 2013, Madrid - The ground-breaking vehicle safety system eCall took another step forward today with the launch in Spain of the second phase of HeERO (Harmonized eCall European Pilot). HeERO is an international project, supported by the European Union, that aims to help EU Member States in preparing pilot sites for the deployment of eCall in 2015.
  eCall is a new road safety service based on the common European Emergency number 112. Using 112, the eCall system automatically calls emergency services if a vehicle is involved in an accident - even if the driver is unconscious or unable to respond. At the emergency call centre, the rescue services will be able to see the location of the accident. As they will also obtain information on the kind of vehicle involved (e.g. small two-seater or seven-seater family van), they will be able to send off the right rescue response immediately.
  HeERO, which started in 2011 and will conclude in 2014, aims to prepare Pilot Sites in many EU Member States for the deployment of the eCall system in 2015.
  Since January 2011, the nine European countries forming the HeERO consortium have carried out a three-year programme (HeERO 1) leading to the piloting and deployment of eCall. They are: Croatia, The Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands Romania and Sweden. Six new countries, namely Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey, joined the second phase of the project (HeERO 2) on 1 January 2013.
  The project has generated such a high level of interest that another four Associated Partner countries will participate at their own cost with another five countries hoping to join in the first quarter of 2013.
  "This exciting project will bring this ground-breaking technology to life. The next steps will see the engagement of 19 pilot sites working together to ready those countries for eCall", explains the project coordinator Andy Rooke (ERTICO - ITS Europe).
  Note to editors:For further information and a video about the eCall system, please visit: www.heero-pilot.eu
  For further information, please contact:Andy Rooke, HeERO Project Coordinatora.rooke@mail.ertico.com+32 (0)2 400 07 80
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  Background information
  About HeERO:
  HeERO addresses the pan-European in-vehicle emergency call service "eCall" which is based on 112, the common European Emergency number. Since January 2011, the nine European countries forming the HeERO consortium (Croatia, The Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Romania and Sweden) have carried out a three-year programme leading to the piloting and deployment of eCall.
  The second phase of HeERO - HeERO 2 - started on 1st January 2013 and will last for 2 years. 6 new countries (namely Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey) have joined the 9 pilot countries of HeERO 1. Furthermore, the project will welcome new associate partners, both commercial and public, who feel that they will be able to benefit from the expertise of HeERO 1 and 2 (associate status does not provide access to EU funding).
  The HeERO consortium is currently testing and validating, in real-condition pilots, the common European eCall standards defined and approved by the European Standardisation Organisations.
  The project is partially funded by the European Union under the ICT PSP programme.
  About eCall:
  eCall is an electronic road safety system which automatically calls the emergency services in case of a serious accident, even if the driver and passengers are unconscious. As soon as the eCall sensors register a severe impact on the car during an accident, it automatically dials 112 emergency and calls to the nearest emergency centre. The call transmits the exact geographic location of the accident scene and other data. eCalls can also be made manually by car occupants, thus enabling them to provide the call centre with additional details of the accident.
  Getting immediate information about an accident and pinpointing the exact location of the crash site cut emergency services' response time by 50% in rural and 40% in urban areas. Thanks to this gain in time, eCall is expected to save several hundred lives in the European Union each year, and to mitigate the severity of tens of thousands of injuries. Road accidents cost the EU around '‚¬160 billion/ year, but if all cars were equipped with the eCall system, up to '‚¬20 billion could be saved annually. eCall will work all over the European Union, plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland. The Russian Federation is developing a similar accident notification system called ERA GLONASS. It is based on the eCall standards. Both sides, the EU and Russia, are working together in order to make eCall and ERA GLONASS interoperable so that eCall will also work in Russia and ERA GLONASS in the EU.
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Muslim Advocacy Group: There's No Evidence That John Brennan Converted to Islam - Washington Whispers (usnews.com)
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  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 04:52
  Anti-war protesters shout as John Brennan arrives to testify before a hearing on his nomination to be director of the CIA, Feb. 7, 2013.
  Former FBI agent John Guandolo incited an Internet buzz this week by accusing John Brennan, President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the CIA, of secretly converting to Islam while working as the CIA station chief in Saudi Arabia from 1996 to 1999.
  Guandolo's evidence was scant'--largely that Brennan said during a public address that he "marveled at the majesty of the Hajj," something Guandolo says only could be done as a Muslim inside Mecca, a city that is off-limits to non-Muslims.
  World Net Daily'--a website that specializes in reporting on conspiracy theories'--took notice of the interview, followed by more mainstream publications and blogs, including The Daily Mail, Al Arabiya, Salon, and The Blaze.
  Ibrahim Hooper, the communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told U.S. News that he has no knowledge of Brennan converting to Islam.
  [WATCH: Protesters Interrupt Brennan Hearing]
  In fact, Hooper pointed out, his group opposes Brennan's nomination, largely because of his role in operating the CIA drone program that targets terrorists but has also killed civilians.
  Hooper predicted that the story would gain traction in the "right-wing echo chamber, [where] someone throws some spaghetti against the wall then they all pick it up and E-mail it to each other."
  "You have to look at the source," said Hooper, pointing to Guandolo's role in the firing of a Muslim police officer in Ohio.
  Hooper, himself an American convert to Islam, clarified to U.S. News that Muslims believe people actually "revert" to the religion.
  [READ:U.S. News Coverage of Brennan Confirmation Hearing]
  "Everyone is born in a state of Islam and your parents make you into something else'--Jewish, Christian," he said. The conversion process itself, Hooper noted, is uttering a short profession of faith, the Shahada. "From that moment on you're a Muslim," said Hooper, "of course it helps if you believe it."
  The Daily Mail compared Guandolo's accusation about Brennan to the plot of the popular TV show Homeland, in which a Marine is abducted, converted, then sent back to the U.S. to wreak havoc.
  Other prominent people accused of secretly being Muslim include former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner'--who is Jewish'--and the United Kingdom's Prince Charles, who will preside over the Church of England if he succeeds his mother to the throne.
  More News:
Penny for your thoughts: Ratzinger Resigns: Follow the Vatican Bank Money
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  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 04:24
  UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM. OF, THE FLASHBACK TYPE...Ratzinger's sudden resignation; The first such resignation in hundreds of yearsWhy?
  Pope Ratzinger emulating the GrinchAn opinion piece from Kevin Annett
  The Rat Scurries from the Vat: The Latest Coup in Rome: by Kevin D. Annett
  Theories are abounding this week now that the first pope in seven centuries is resigning his office. But as always, the most direct way to the truth behind the world's oldest corporation is simply by following the money: and specifically, Vatican Bank money.Let's put to rest, first of all, the fallacy that "looming scandals" about child rape and coverup are behind Joseph Ratzinger's resignation. That's just the cover story.
  Nobody in the church hierarchy is losing much sleep over their standing, canon-law endorsed policy of concealing and protecting child rapists in their ranks. Even the International Criminal Court application about such crimes has been stymied by catholic-run legislators and jurists.
  What pronounced the death knell on Pope Benedict was his personal implication in the bribery and money-laundering practices of the Vatican Bank, comically known as The Institute of Religious Works (IOR); and how that dirty connection gave the anti-Ratzinger faction in the College of Cardinals the lever they needed to dump the obstinate German from the papal throne.
  We had a whiff of that dump-Rat Boy agenda last year, when "Vatileaks" broke into the news with a ludicrous story of how Ratzinger's loyal butler Paolo Gabriele disclosed the pope's dirty secrets to the Italian media. In fact, the damning documents detailing Ratzinger's secret rewarding of Vatican contracts to his friends and family members originated in the Vatican Secretary of State's office, which the fall-guy butler could not have had access to.
  The Secretary of State and the real power behind the papacy is Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, an old insider who also engineered the sacking of Gotti Tedeschi, head of the Vatican Bank, last May. Tedeschi had taken seriously the call of the European Parliament for "greater transparency" by the Vatican Bank /IOR, and was about to disclose to Brussels how his bosses had been laundering money for the mob for decades. The last Pope who had tried such a disclosure, John Paul 1, died from poisoning in September, 1978 after less than a month in office.
  But even with Tedeschi silenced, the IOR house of cards kept tumbling, as the European Parliament seized from it 300 million Euros fraudulently acquired, and even the American Securities and Exchange Commission declared the IOR's assets and practices "insecure". A major Vatican housecleaning was required; or at least, the appearance of one.
  It was the pivotal Cardinal Bertone who leaked the pope's diary and other incriminating papers to a catholic-friendly journalist in Rome last year the same month that Tedeschi was sacked, to prepare the world for Ratzinger's removal. For it is Bertone who is now reaping the benefits of the papal housecleaning; he is not only a primary contender for the pope's position but a key player in the IOR.
  "Nobody becomes pope without a sordid past, because only with such liabilities can he be controlled by the Curia. It's the same in any big company. Well, Ratzinger made many indiscretions as a Cardinal and made many enemies. His signing letters ordering criminal concealment was just one sin. He was to be the scapegoat for all of the trash that the church knew would surface"
  FLASHBACK: Vatican Bank being Investigated- AgainJP Morgan was involved back when this news was breaking...Refresh your memory
BBC News - Scanners ruled out for NI prison searches after pilot
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  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 03:26
  13 February 2013Last updated at14:58 ETBy Vincent KearneyBBC NI home affairs correspondentElectronic scanners like those used in airports will not replace full body searching in prisons in Northern Ireland.
  They failed to detect nearly half of all test items during a three month pilot scheme.
  Items not detected included drugs, mobile phone batteries, scissors and a knife.
  Nearly 1200 prisoners and prison staff were searched using two millimetre wave scanners.
  The searches took place at Magilligan prison and Hydebank Wood.
  Dissident republicans in the high security prison at Maghaberry, near Lisburn, County Antrim, have been campaigning to have the scanners installed there as an alternative to strip-searching
  But any move to introduce the technology is expected to be put on hold due to the results of the pilot scheme, which was introduced by justice minister David Ford.
  A prison service evaluation report says the scanners detected just 57% of test items. The items not detected include a knife and scissors.
  Prisoners searched using the scanners had to volunteer to be part of the process, so all of the illegal materials detected during the test were carried by prison officers who agreed to be part of the trial.
  Dirty protestA report setting out the findings will be discussed by members of the justice committee at Stormont on Thursday.
  It says the tests revealed limitations to the technology and that full-body searching provided a higher level of assurance because more test items were detected.
  The DUP chairman of the justice committee, Paul Givan, visited Hydebank Wood earlier this month to see one of the scanners being tested.
  He said the equipment that he witnessed in operation did not detect "metal objects, mobile phones, or batteries the way in which a full body search would".
  "It increases the risk and compromises the security of the prison, its introduction in my view would be wholly unacceptable," he added.
  The committee's deputy chairman, Sinn Fein MLA Raymond McCartney, has said this should not be the end of the matter.
  "Other people in other jurisdictions have found a way forward, everyone accepts the security of the prisons cannot be compromised, but I think in the 21st century we can find a technological replacement," he said.
  In November, dissident republican prisoners in Maghaberry ended a dirty protest against the use of strip searching.
  At the time, republican sources said they hoped the move would make it easier for scanners to be introduced if the trials were successful.
  The department of justice will now press ahead with plans to test another more sophisticated X-ray scanner.
  But those tests cannot start until a special licence is granted because the process uses radiation and the technology has never been used in a UK prison.
Satam al-Suqami - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 01:54
  Satam al-SuqamiBornSatam al-Suqami (in Arabic: Ø"Ø·Ø§Ù… Ø§ÙØ"Ù‚Ø§Ù…ÙŠ)(1976-06-28)June 28, 1976DiedSeptember 11, 2001(2001-09-11) (aged 25)Manhattan, New York, U.S.Cause of deathPlane Crash - murder-suicideA law student, Satam Muhammed Abdel Rahman al-Suqami (Arabic: Ø"Ø·Ø§Ù… Ø§ÙØ"Ù‚Ø§Ù…ÙŠ'Ž, Saá¹­Ä�m as-SuqÄ�mÄ) (June 28, 1976 '' September 11, 2001) was one of five hijackers of American Airlines Flight 11 as part of the September 11 attacks.
  A Saudi, Suqami had been a law student until he was recruited into al-Qaeda along with Majed Moqed, another hijacker, and traveled to Afghanistan where he would be chosen to participate in the 9/11 attacks.
  He arrived in the United States in April 2001. On September 11, 2001, Suqami boarded American Airlines Flight 11 and participated in the hijacking of the plane so that it could be crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the coordinated attacks.
  [edit]HistoryA native of the Saudi Arabian city of Riyadh, Suqami was a law student at the King Saud University. While there he joined a (possible) former roommate named Majed Moqed in training for al-Qaida at Khalden, a large training facility near Kabul that was run by Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi. In November 2000, the two flew into Iran from Bahrain together.
  The FBI says Suqami first arrived in the U.S. on April 23, 2001, with a visa that allowed him to remain in the country until May 21. However, at least five residents of the Spanish Trace Apartments claim to recognize the photographs of both Suqami and Salem al-Hazmi as living in the San Antonio complex earlier in 2001. Interestingly however, these residents and several others who claim to have known the hijackers, claim that the FBI photographs of Suqami and Hazmi are reversed.[2] Other reports conflictingly suggested that Suqami was staying with Waleed al-Shehri in Hollywood, Florida and rented a black Toyota Corolla from Alamo Rent-A-Car agency.
  On May 19, Suqami and Waleed al-Shehri took a flight from Fort Lauderdale to Freeport, Bahamas where they had reservations at the Princess Resort. Lacking proper documentation however, they were stopped upon landing, and returned to Florida the same day and rented a red Kia Rio from Avis Rent-A-Car agency.[3]
  He was one of nine hijackers to open a SunTrust bank account with a cash deposit around June 2001, and on July 3 he was issued a Florida State Identification Card. Around this time, he also used his Saudi license to gain a Florida drivers' license bearing the same home address as Wail al-Shehri. (A Homing Inn in Boynton Beach). Despite this, the 9/11 Commission claims that Suqami was the only hijacker to not have any US identification.[citation needed]
  During the summer, Suqami and both Wail and Waleed al-Shehri purchased one month passes to a Boynton Beach gym owned by Jim Woolard. (Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi also reportedly trained at a gym owned by Woolard, in Delray Beach.)
  Known as Azmi during the preparations,[4] Suqami was called one of the "muscle" hijackers, who were not expected to act as pilots. CIA director George Tenet later said that they "probably were told little more than that they were headed for a suicide mission inside the United States."[5]
  [edit]AttacksOn September 10, 2001, Suqami shared a room at the Milner Hotel in Boston with three of the Flight 175 hijackers, Marwan al-Shehhi, Fayez Banihammad, and Mohand al-Shehri.
  On the day of the attacks, Suqami checked in at the flight desk using his Saudi passport, and boarded American Airlines Flight 11. At Logan International Airport, he was selected by CAPPS,[6] which required his checked bags to undergo extra screening for explosives and involved no extra screening at the passenger security checkpoint.[7]
  An FAA memo, circulated in February 2002, claimed that Suqami shot passenger Daniel M. Lewin (Seat 9B), co-founder of Akamai Technologies and a former member of the IsraeliSayeret Matkal, for attempting to foil the hijacking.[citation needed] While based on the frantic phonecall received from a stewardess of the flight, the report has been a matter of some controversy, since both the FAA and FBI have strongly denied the presence of firearms smuggled aboard. It is now believed that Suqami stabbed Lewin as he attempted to intervene in the hijacking[citation needed]
  Suqami's passport was found by a passerby, reportedly in the vicinity of Vesey Street,[8] before the towers collapsed.[9] (This was mistakenly reported by many news outlets to be Mohamed Atta's passport.)[citation needed][10] A columnist for the British newspaper The Guardian expressed incredulity about the authenticity of this report,[11] questioning whether a paper passport could survive the inferno unsinged when the plane's black boxes were never found. According to testimony before the 9/11 Commission by lead counsel Susan Ginsburg, his passport had been "manipulated in a fraudulent manner in ways that have been associated with al Qaeda."[9] Passports belonging to Ziad Jarrah and Saeed al-Ghamdi were found at the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 as well as an airphone.[12]
  [edit]Millennium plotSuqami and fellow hijacker Ahmed al-Ghamdi were both tied to a foiled plot to blow up several tourist sites.[citation needed]
  [edit]References^http://www.historycommons.org/events-images/a232_satam_al_suqami_2050081722-15966.jpg^Joe Conger (January 10, 2001). "2 hijackers identified as former S.A. residents". mysanantonio.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2003. http://web.archive.org/web/20030514140351/http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=kens5&xlb=161&xlc=342530. "At least five sources tell KENS 5, two of the men, Satam al-Suqami and Salem al-Hazmi, lived at the Spanish Trace Apartments on the North Side earlier this year"^"911 Commission Report, section 7.4 'Final Strategies and Tactics', page 241". http://www.faqs.org/docs/911/911Report-258.html.^Videotape of recorded will of Abdulaziz al-Omari and others^"Sept. 11 Hijacker Made Test Flights". CBS. October 9, 2002. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/09/eveningnews/main525012.shtml.^"9/11 Commission Report (Chapter 1)". July 2004. http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm.^"The Aviation Security System and the 9/11 Attacks - Staff Statement No. 3" (PDF). 9/11 Commission. http://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/staff_statement_3.pdf.^"Ashcroft says more attacks may be planned". CNN. September 18, 2001. http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/17/inv.investigation.terrorism/. Retrieved May 23, 2010.^ ab9/11 Commission hearings, January 26, 2004, Opening staff statement, Susan Ginsburg^NYC Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik Says Hijacker's Passport was Found 3-4 Blocks from the WTC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in7bMWVkTi8&feature=related^Karpf, Anne (March 19, 2002). "Uncle Sam's lucky finds". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/september11/story/0,11209,669961,00.html. Retrieved May 23, 2010.^"Remembering September 11th". The Boston Globe. September 11, 2009. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/09/remembering_september_11th.html#photo14.[edit]External linksPersondataNameSuqami, Satam al-Alternative namesØ"Ø·Ø§Ù… Ø§ÙØ"Ù‚Ø§Ù…ÙŠ (Arabic); Alsuqami, Satam (alternate transliteration)Short description9/11 hijackerDate of birthJune 28, 1976Place of birthRiyadh, Saudi ArabiaDate of deathSeptember 11, 2001Place of deathNew York City, United States
D.C. Sniper: Cover for FBI Agent's Murder?
  Link to Article
  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 01:52
  In light of the latest revelations of corruption and crime regarding the BFEE, Abramoff / GOP , NSA Spying and general usurpation of power, etc. it may be timely to re-visit the investigation of this possible conspiracy and coverup in an attempt, for those who are interested, to conclude that the current criminal octopus could have been involved.A couple of the most comprehensive research sites I found are:
  http://copwatch.net/forums/printthread.php?s=0540a14cb5...
  this researcher sums it up fairly well:
  D.C. Sniper: Cover for FBI Agent's Murder?Wed Nov 19 00:32:51 2003
  Due to facts that are already researched and established about Bush government's complicity in Sept. 11th, every major media event since then is due a close examination. Tonight I did my research, being haunted and plagued by oddities, as the D.C. sniper trial was very suspicious for serveral reasons:
  1. Timing: the sniper attack coincided with a two-week debate on the floor of the Senate, led by Sen. Robert Byrd of WV, waving his Constitution in righteous vehemence, sparing no heated words in pressing and examining the truth about the so-called 'justification' and 'war powers' of the President--handed over by Congress, after the President finally agreed to get Congressional approval before proceeding (as he said he did not need Congress approval!)--including the now known Big Lie of WMD in Iraq and that they were aiders and abetters of the infamous "Al-queh-da". (Actually Al-CIA-dah did it!). This major media distraction was meant to instill fear of terrorism, incite war mongering, and prevent newspaper and media coverage of the courageous Senator's lone stand in the Senate against the Usurper. (Byrd's speeches are worth re-reading, and republicans should note that this Senator stands up for Constitutional justice MORE than any other Republican in Congress, save perhaps Ron Paul of Tx).
  2. Brainwashing: It has been printed now in the press that the younger Malvo is said to have been "brainwashed" by the elder suspect (tried entirely upon circumstantial evidence by a predjudice jury that could easily have been a frame job). Brainwashing was already in my mind, as it is truth that Manchurian Candidate and controlled killers have already been programmed and used extensively by the CIA! (See research on Mind Control for evidence). So here brainwashing is even admitted, but laid at the feet of the older suspect.
  4. Conflicting Witness Reports
  5. FEDERALIZATION OF POLICE: It was an excuse to a) have Military involvement with local police and b) the trial makes use of Virginias new "anti-terrorism" laws in a swift trial to get a legal "precedent" established for quick indictment and death penalty (i.e. rush to judgement on slim evidence).
  6. ***THE FBI AGENT that was a victim****. This is the thing that haunted me most. Who was this woman and FBI agent? The oldest trick in the book (of assassins) is to hide TRUE INTENDED VICTIM by making it look like a RANDOM killing, by shooting additional innocent victims to cover the truth!! I believe my hunch was right! READ THIS STORY BELOW.....SEE WHO THIS WOMAN WAS....SHE WAS AN FBI AGENT THAT WAS ON "THE KNOW" AND AN INSIDER WHO MAY HAVE FOUND OUT TOO MUCH ABOUT SEPT. 11TH!
  And guess where she worked? In FBI counter-terrorism operations!WHAT A COINCIDENCE! READ ON......and pass this one around......
  more.......http://copwatch.net/forums/printthread.php?s=0540a14cb5...
  ____________________________________________________________
  that particular poster also provides many links to http://www.apfn.net/Messageboard/11-20-03/discussion.cg...
  I find this the most interesting:
  http://groups.google.com/group/talk.politics.libertaria...
  Kenneth Bridges and Linda Franklin did not appear to be typical Americancitizens. Bridges was a political activist, an apparent admirer of LouisFarrakhan. Franklin was a cancer patient, possibly preparing to meet her makerby atoning for any sins she may have committed or known about while working forthe FBI's domestic terrorism division. Bridges and Franklin both had strongpotentials for being declared enemies of the state. ª
  __________________________________________________________________
  Here is something that caught my eye the other day just to add to speculation and have no idea whether this can be proven but passed it along to D. Hopsicker , maybe he can come up with something:
  Abramoff likes sniper schools?
  Funneling money to a Jewish sniper school?
  Caught this the other day and e-mailed it to Hopsicker to see if he might come up with something.
  Might be worth further investigation.
  Wondering if this could be the same "Little Tony Farrari" (One of Abramoff's hired mob gun's?)
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20 ...
  Until Malvo left, mother and son seemed to be settling into their new life together in Fort Myers. In August, James signed a year lease on a two-bedroom apartment for $450 a month. Tony Ferrari, the landlord, remembers James as a demanding tenant who, even before she moved in, showed up one day and watched as workers cleaned the carpet and then pointed out where they had missed a spot. Once they settled in, Malvo took an active role and complained about any problems with the unit, Ferrari said.
  ------snip-------
  On Oct. 31, James and Neal were divorced in Lee County Circuit Court. According to the divorce filings, she requested that her name be legally restored to Una Sceon James. Around the same time, James moved out of the apartment without giving notice. She broke the year-long lease and left behind her $300 deposit, said the landlord, Ferrari. In the three or so months that James and Malvo lived in the building, on Broadway Avenue just south of downtown, Ferrari did not recall ever seeing anyone there who matched the description of Muhammad.
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  I've often wondered if the Beltway Sniper incident was a product of a clandestine operation, mind control (Sembler)
  There is quite a bit of information out there to be googled and please feel free to post it here i.e. Mind control / MK-Ultra, etc.
  The questions to be asked are:
  Who would benefit from the dc sniper terrorisim?Who were their handlers? (rogue FBI, CIA, Military)Can we associate any names with Abramoff or any of his contacts?Can we find a connection between Abramoff or others and CIA, FBI rogue elements?Can we find any association between Abramoff and Antigua (haven for gambling interest?)What did Linda Franklin know?Where did John Muhammed get his money?
  Many unanswered questions. Some may never be answered...but we can try! All it takes is one or two connectons to further the research.
FTC Fair Information Practice - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 01:38
  The United States Federal Trade Commission'sFair Information Practice Principles (FIPs)[1] are guidelines that represent widely-accepted concepts concerning fair information practice in an electronic marketplace.
  [edit]IntroductionFTC Fair Information Practice Principles are the result of the Commission's inquiry into the manner in which online entities collect and use personal information and safeguards to assure that practice is fair and provides adequate information privacy protection. The FTC has been studying online privacy issues since 1995, and in its 1998 report,[2] the Commission described the widely-accepted Fair Information Practice Principles of Notice, Choice, Access, and Security.[1] The Commission also identified Enforcement, the use of a reliable mechanism to provide sanctions for noncompliance as a critical component of any governmental or self-regulatory program to protect online privacy.[1]
  [edit]History and developmentFair Information Practice was initially proposed and named[3] by the US Secretary's Advisory Committee on Automated Personal Data Systems in a 1973 report, Records, Computers and the Rights of Citizens,[4] issued in response to the growing use of automated data systems containing information about individuals. The central contribution of the Advisory Committee was the development of a code of fair information practice for automated personal data systems. The Privacy Protection Study Commission also may have contributed to the development of FIPs principles in its 1977 report, Personal Privacy in an Information Society.[5]
  As privacy laws spread to other countries in Europe, international institutions took up privacy with a focus on the international implications of privacy regulation. In 1980, the Council of Europe adopted a Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data.[6] At the same time, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) proposed similar privacy guidelines in the OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data.[7] The OECD Guidelines, Council of Europe Convention, and European UnionData Protection Directive[8] relied on FIPs as core principles. All three organizations revised and extended the original U.S. statement of FIPs, with the OECD Privacy Guidelines being the version most often cited in subsequent years.[9]
  [edit]PrinciplesThe core principles of privacy addressed by these principles are:
  1. Notice/Awareness[10] Consumers should be given notice of an entity's information practices before any personal information is collected from them.[10] This requires that companies explicitly notify of some or all of the following:
  identification of the entity collecting the data;identification of the uses to which the data will be put;identification of any potential recipients of the data;the nature of the data collected and the means by which it is collected;whether the provision of the requested data is voluntary or required;the steps taken by the data collector to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and quality of the data.[10]2. Choice/Consent[11] Choice and consent in an online information-gathering sense means giving consumers options to control how their data is used. Specifically, choice relates to secondary uses of information beyond the immediate needs of the information collector to complete the consumer's transaction. The two typical types of choice models are 'opt-in' or 'opt-out.' The 'opt-in' method requires that consumers affirmatively give permission for their information to be used for other purposes; without the consumer taking these affirmative steps in an 'opt-in' system, the information gatherer assumes that it cannot use the information for any other purpose. The 'opt-out' method requires consumers to affirmatively decline permission for other uses; without the consumer taking these affirmative steps in an 'opt-out' system, the information gatherer assumes that it can use the consumer's information for other purposes. Each of these systems can be designed to allow an individual consumer to tailor the information gatherer's use of the information to fit his or her preferences by checking boxes to grant or deny permission for specific purposes rather than using a simple "all or nothing" method.[11]
  2-1. Problems with Choice/Consent [12] Consumers do not have a fair say in the consent process. For example, customers provide their health information such as their social insurance number or health card number while making an appointment for a dental check-up through on-line. Customers are commonly asked to sign an agreement stating that 'third-party may have an access to the information you provide under certain conditions.' The certain conditions are rarely specified in any part of the agreement. Later on, the third-party may share the information with their subsidiary institutions. Thus, access to customers' personal information is beyond their control. [12]
  3. Access/Participation[13] Access as defined in the Fair Information Practice Principles includes not only a consumer's ability to view the data collected, but also to verify and contest its accuracy. This access must be inexpensive and timely in order to be useful to the consumer.[13]
  4. Integrity/Security[14] Information collectors should ensure that the data they collect is accurate and secure. They can improve the integrity of data by cross-referencing it with only reputable databases and by providing access for the consumer to verify it. Information collectors can keep their data secure by protecting against both internal and external security threats. They can limit access within their company to only necessary employees to protect against internal threats, and they can use encryption and other computer-based security systems to stop outside threats.[14]
  5. Enforcement/Redress[15] In order to ensure that companies follow the Fair Information Practice Principles, there must be enforcement measures. The FTC identified three types of enforcement measures: self-regulation by the information collectors or an appointed regulatory body; private remedies that give civil causes of action for individuals whose information has been misused to sue violators; and government enforcement, which can include civil and criminal penalties levied by the government.[15]
  [edit]Enforcing the principlesCurrently the FTC version of the Fair Information Principles are only recommendations for maintaining privacy-friendly, consumer-oriented data collection practices, and are not enforceable by law. The enforcement of and adherence to these principles is principally performed through self-regulation. The FTC has, however, undertaken efforts to evaluate industry self-regulation practices,[16] provides guidance for industry in developing information practices,[17] and uses its authority under the FTC Act to enforce promises made by corporations in their privacy policies.[18]
  Since self-regulatory initiatives fall short of ideal implementation of the principles (the 2000 FTC Report noted, for example, that self-regulatory initiatives lacked meaningful monitoring and enforcement polices and practices), the Commission recommends that the United States Congress enact legislation that, in conjunction with continuing self-regulatory programs, will ensure adequate protection of consumer privacy online.[19] "The legislation recommended by the Commission would set forth a basic level of privacy protection for consumer-oriented commercial Web sites" and "would establish basic standards of practice for the collection of information online...consumer-oriented commercial Web sites that collect personal identifying information from or about consumers online... would be required to comply with the four widely-accepted fair information practices."[19][9]
  The principles, however, form the basis of many individual laws at the both federal and state levels -- called the "sectoral approach." Examples are the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Right to Financial Privacy Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), and the Cable Television Protection and Competition Act.[20] Additionally, the principles continue to serve as a model for privacy protections in newly developing areas, such as in designing Smart Grid programs.[21]
  Main article: FTC Fair Information Practice The four critical issues identified in Fair Information Principles are:
  Notice '' data collectors must disclose their information practices before collecting personal information from consumers Choice '' consumers must be given options with respect to whether and how personal information collected from them may be used for purposes beyond those for which the information was provided Access '' consumers should be able to view and contest the accuracy and completeness of data collected about them Security '' data collectors must take reasonable steps to assure that information collected from consumers is accurate and secure from unauthorized use. In addition the Principles discuss the need for enforcement mechanisms to impose sanctions for noncompliance with fair information practices.
  [edit]Other proposals regarding 'fair information'The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Union, among others, have adopted more comprehensive approaches to fair information practices. The OECD principles provide added protections via the Individual Participation principle where specific requirements are made for access and modification of personally collected information by the individual and the Accountability principle (a data controller should be accountable for complying with measures which give effect to the principles stated above).[22][23]
  The European UnionData Protection Directive is another model for comprehensive privacy protections.[24][25]
  [edit]Criticism of the FTC PrinciplesThe FIPs are criticized by some scholars for being less comprehensive in scope than privacy regimes in other countries, in particular in European Union and other OECD countries. Additionally, the FTC's formulation of the principles has been criticized in comparison to those issued by other agencies. The FTC's 2000 version of FIPs is shorter and less complete than the privacy protection principles issued by the Privacy Office of the Department of Homeland Security in 2008, which include eight principles closely aligned with the OECD principles.[20]
  Some in the privacy community criticize the FIPs for being too weak, allowing too many exemptions, failing to require a privacy agency, failing to account for the weaknesses of self-regulation, and not keeping pace with information technology. Many privacy experts have called for omnibus privacy protection legislation in the US[26] in lieu of the current blend of self-regulation and selective codification in certain sectors.[27]
  Critics from a business perspective often prefer to limit FIPs to reduced elements of notice, consent, and accountability. They complain that other elements are unworkable, expensive, or inconsistent with openness or free speech principles.[9]
  [edit]See also[edit]References^ abcFederal Trade Commission, Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPs).^Federal Trade Commission, Privacy Online: A Report to Congress (June 1998).^US Secretary's Advisory Committee on Automated Personal Data Systems, Records, Computers and the Rights of Citizens, Chapter IV: Recommended Safeguards for Administrative Personal Data Systems (1973).^US Secretary's Advisory Committee on Automated Personal Data Systems, Records, Computers and the Rights of Citizens (1973).^Privacy Protection Study Commission, Personal Privacy in an Information Society (July 1977).^Council of Europe,Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (Jan. 28, 1981).^Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data (Sep. 23, 1980).^European Union Data Protection Directive, Directive 95/46/EC http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/published/proceedings/R0812009.htm^ abcRobert Gellman, Fair Information Practices: A Basic History (Dec. 31, 2008).^ abcFederal Trade Commission, Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPs), 1. Notice/Awareness.^ abFederal Trade Commission, Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPs), 2. Choice/Consent.^ abTavani, H.T. & Bottis M. (2010, June). The consent process in medical research involving DNA databanks: some ethical implications and challenges. ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society, 40(2), 11-21. doi:10.1145/1839994.1839996^ abFederal Trade Commission, Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPs), 3. Access/Participation.^ abFederal Trade Commission, Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPs), 4. Integrity/Security.^ abFederal Trade Commission, Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPs), 5. Enforcement/Redress.^FTC Industry Association Guidelines http://www.ftc.gov/reports/privacy3/industry.shtm#Industry%20Association%20Guidelines%20A^Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business http://www.ftc.gov/infosecurity/^Enforcing Privacy Promises: Section 5 of the FTC Act http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/privacyinitiatives/promises.html^ abFTC 2000 Privacy Report http://www.ftc.gov/reports/privacy2000/privacy2000.pdf^ abDepartment of Homeland Security, Privacy Policy Guidance Memorandum (2008) (Memorandum Number 2008-1), http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/privacy privacy_policyguide_2008-01.pdf^Electronic Frontier Foundation and Center for Democracy and Technology Joint Filing with the California Public Utilities Commission regarding California's Smart Grid Program. http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/EFILE/CM/114696.pdf; http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/03/new-smart-meters-energy-use-put-privacy-risk^Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data (Sep. 23, 1980).http://www.oecd.org/document/18/0,3343,en_2649_34255_1815186_1_1_1_1,00.html^Pam Dixon, A Brief Introduction to Fair Information Practices World Privacy Forum (June 5, 2006).^Directive 95/46/EC http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31995L0046:EN:HTML^Spiros Simitis, From the Market to the Polis: The EU Directive on the Protection of Personal Data, 80 Iowa L. Rev. 445 (1995).^Paul M. Schwartz, Privacy and Democracy in Cyberspace, 52 Vand. L. Rev. 1609 (1999); Joel R. Reidenberg, Restoring Americans' Privacy in Electronic Commerce, 14 Berkeley Tech. L. J. 771 (1999).^Examples are the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Right to Financial Privacy Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and the Video Privacy Protection Act. Beth Givens, A Review of the Fair Information Principles : The Foundation of Privacy Public Policy (posted 1997, updated 2004).[edit]External links
Executive Order on Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 01:28
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  February 12, 2013
  Today, President Obama signed an Executive Order to strengthen the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure by increasing information sharing and by jointly developing and implementing a framework of cybersecurity practices with our industry partners.
  Defense Industrial Base Information Sharing Program Now Open to Other Sectors: The Order expands the voluntary Enhanced Cybersecurity Services program, enabling near real time sharing of cyber threat information to assist participating critical infrastructure companies in their cyber protection efforts.
  NIST to Lead Development of Cybersecurity Framework: NIST will work collaboratively with critical infrastructure stakeholders to develop the framework relying on existing international standards, practices, and procedures that have proven to be effective.
  Partnering with Industry to Protect Our Most Critical Assets from Cyber Attack
  Today's new Executive Order was developed in tandem with the Presidential Policy Directive on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience also released today. The Executive Order strengthens the U.S. Government's partnership with critical infrastructure owners and operators to address cyber threats through:
  New information sharing programs to provide both classified and unclassified threat and attack information to U.S. companies. The Executive Order requires Federal agencies to produce unclassified reports of threats to U.S. companies and requires the reports to be shared in a timely manner. The Order also expands the Enhanced Cybersecurity Services program, enabling near real time sharing of cyber threat information to assist participating critical infrastructure companies in their cyber protection efforts.
  The development of a Cybersecurity Framework. The Executive Order directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to lead the development of a framework of cybersecurity practices to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure. NIST will work collaboratively with industry to develop the framework, relying on existing international standards, practices, and procedures that have proven to be effective. To enable technical innovation, the Cybersecurity Framework will provide guidance that is technology neutral and that enables critical infrastructure sectors to benefit from a competitive market for products and services.
  The Executive Order also:
  Includes strong privacy and civil liberties protections based on the Fair Information Practice Principles. Agencies are required to incorporate privacy and civil liberties safeguards in their activities under this order. Those safeguards will be based upon the Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPS) and other applicable privacy and civil liberties policies, principles, and frameworks. Agencies will conduct regular assessments of privacy and civil liberties impacts of their activities and such assessments will be made public.
  Establishes a voluntary program to promote the adoption of the Cybersecurity Framework. The Department of Homeland Security will work with Sector-Specific Agencies like the Department of Energy and the Sector Coordinating Councils that represent industry to develop a program to assist companies with implementing the Cybersecurity Framework and to identify incentives for adoption.
  Calls for a review of existing cybersecurity regulation. Regulatory agencies will use the Cybersecurity Framework to assess their cybersecurity regulations, determine if existing requirements are sufficient, and whether any existing regulations can be eliminated as no longer effective. If the existing regulations are ineffective or insufficient, agencies will propose new, cost-effective regulations based upon the Cybersecurity Framework and in consultation with their regulated companies. Independent regulatory agencies are encouraged to leverage the Cybersecurity Framework to consider prioritized actions to mitigate cyber risks for critical infrastructure consistent with their authorities.
  Building on Progress
  In May of 2009, President Obama declared our digital infrastructure a strategic national asset and made protecting this infrastructure a national priority. As part of this effort, the Obama Administration has:
  Created the National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center: The NCCIC is a 24-hour, DHS-led coordinated watch and warning center that improves our nation's ability to address threats and incidents affecting critical infrastructure, the Internet, and cyberspace.
  Issued the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace: The NSTIC and its programs are creating alternatives to passwords for online services that are more convenient, secure, and privacy enhancing.
  Submitted to Congress Comprehensive Cybersecurity Legislation: The Administration continues to believe that legislation is needed to fully address this threat. Existing laws do not permit the government to do all that is necessary to better protect our country. The Executive Order ensures that federal agencies and departments take steps to secure our critical infrastructure from cyber attack, as a down-payment on expected further legislative action.
FACT SHEET: PRESIDENTIAL POLICY DIRECTIVE ON CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AND RESILIENCE
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 01:26
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  February 12, 2013
  To complement the Cyber Security Executive Order issued today, the Administration is also issuing a Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) on critical infrastructure security and resilience that updates the national approach from Homeland Security Presidential Directive 7, issued in 2003, to adjust to the new risk environment, key lessons learned, and drive toward enhanced capabilities.
  The Nation's critical infrastructure provides the essential services that underpin American society. Proactive and coordinated efforts are necessary for us to strengthen and maintain secure, functioning, and resilient critical infrastructure '' including the assets, networks, and systems that are vital to public confidence and the Nation's safety, prosperity, and well-being. This endeavor is a shared responsibility among the Federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial entities, and public and private owners and operators of critical infrastructure.
  The Nation's critical infrastructure is diverse and complex. It includes distributed networks, varied organizational structures and operating models (including multinational ownership), interdependent functions and systems in both the physical and cyber spaces, and governance constructs that involve varied authorities, responsibilities, and regulations. Critical infrastructure owners and operators are uniquely positioned to manage risks to their individual operations and assets, and to determine effective strategies to make them more secure and resilient.
  While there has been extensive work done to enhance both the physical and cyber security and resilience of critical infrastructure, this PPD will create a stronger alliance between these two intertwined components. The ability to leverage and integrate successes in both of these fields is crucial to the enhancement of our Nation's security and resilience.
  Three strategic imperatives drive the Federal approach to strengthen critical infrastructure security and resilience:
  Refine and clarify functional relationships across the Federal Government to advance the national unity of effort to strengthen critical infrastructure security and resilience;Enable effective information exchange by identifying baseline data and systems requirements for the Federal Government; andImplement an integration and analysis function to inform planning and operations decisions regarding critical infrastructure.Accomplishment of these imperatives will be through the successful completion of six key deliverables:
  Development of a description of the functional relationships within the Department of Homeland Security and across the Federal Government related to critical infrastructure security and resilience within 120 days.Completion of an assessment of the existing public-private partnership model and recommended options for improving the partnership within 150 days.Identification of baseline data and systems requirements for the Federal Government to enable efficient information exchange within 180 days.Development of a situational awareness capability for critical infrastructure within 240 days.Update the National Infrastructure Protection Plan within 240 days.Completion of a national critical infrastructure security and resilience research and development plan within 2 years.
Making a Makerspace in Haiti
  Link to Article
  Source: What Jamie Flarity is reading.
  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:37
  By Jim Dauster , 2013/02/13 @ 2:41 pm
  Members and volunteers of Haiti Communitere in Port au Prince, Haiti.
  In the middle of Port au Prince, nestled between the UN, the airport, and Cite Soleil''Haiti's largest slum''groups of international development workers, volunteers, and Haitian community leaders are working on improving life in Haiti through the maker ethic.
  Founded immediately after the 2010 earthquake, Haiti Communitere has been on the ground for the past three years, serving as a community, networking and shared-overhead space for both international NGOs and Haitian groups. Their current focus is on developing their Resource Center, a community workshop, computer lab, and conference space that also serves as Haiti's only makerspace.
  Much of the focus here is on hacking recycled materials to meet the needs of the local population. Haiti Communitere has model homes of strawbale and shipping containers, composting toilets, and extensive gardens. They have three large current projects going right now. First, Makerbot generously donated a 3D printer and local staff is getting trained on it as we speak. The first application will be printing umbilical clamps, as our partners at a local hospital have resorted to using rubber gloves as umbilical clamps.
  The other two projects focus on upscaling trash. Former gang members from Cite Soleil have been coming to the workshop twice a week to experiment with making benches, chairs, and art out of old tires and other trash to put in schools and public spaces around the slum. Harvey Lacey, an inventor from Texas, designed bricks made out of compressed styrofoam trash, and brought them to Haiti Communitere's makerspace to experiment. The compressed bricks are lightweight, flexible, and a model house built from the bricks stood up to a simulated 8.2 earthquake. Groups of interested Haitians are collecting the Styrofoam that chokes Haiti's waterways and turning it into homes and composting toilets.
  Most importantly, the makerspace serves as one of Port au Prince's only safe spaces for community members to work, share ideas, and experiment with improving their lives. As community leader Robillard Louino explains: ''This workshop was the reason that many young men and women in Cite Soleil woke up every morning. It gave them a purpose, a place to go, an activity that made them feel dignified.''
  Haiti Communitere is trying a new model of development, one based on collaboration and the maker ethic and we are asking the international maker community to help us reach our goals. The makerspaces's yearly rent is coming up and organizers are calling for a global konbit''a traditional form of Haitian communal labor''to help keep the workshop space alive. They have launched an indiegogo campaign to raise funds and are asking the international community for support.
  As Robillard explains ''Haiti Communitere is the only space we have in Haiti that truly welcomes youth from marginalized communities, from lower classes, those without voices, and treats them with dignity, as leaders. Not only do they welcome us, but they help us take our ideas and dreams and develop them into realities'... This is rare, and this is truly another model of humanitarian response and development.''
  Jim Dauster is a farmer, maker, and activist who splits his time between sustainable design projects in Washington state and Haiti.
  [Editor's note: This post came to us via MAKE: Page 2 where we invite readers to submit their stories and projects. Particularly good submissions get published on the MAKE blog like this one. Please submit your ideas here.]
  Like this:Be the first to like this.
Christopher Hussein Dorner
  Link to Article
  Source: Lame Cherry
  Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:35
  Yes now that Cafe Press took down the Amerikan Che collectors t shirt.........
  It is comforting to know that Christopher Dorner's California driver's license was found at the scene like Muhammad Atta's passport was found blocks away from the Twin Towers suriving a fiery inferno...........
  This blog commends the California Driver's License Bureau for creating such an indestructable thing in suriving a firefight, surviving a SWAT attack, surviving Obama drones, and yes, surviving 451 degrees of a raging cabin inferno.
  It is demanded therefore that the United States stop funding the Pentagon, that Americans give up all their guns, and the US Soldiers all put off their body armour as all that is needed is a human size shield of a California driver's license or a Muslim passport as these things can survive a million pounds of pressure and inferno.The American will be indestructable to even including global warming, if they just all take out Muslim passports or California DMV cards.
  This kind of protection will no doubt keep one safe from dinosaur life ending meteors and the Obama Abyss.
  Yes balance the budget, disarm America, just hand out 25 dollar Caliornia DMV cards to keep all safe from the irresistable forces of life.
  Cheers to Mama Dorner in wine........I would like some chips with my California life protecting DMV card.If only this card had been life size for the dead LAPD cops and for Chris Dorner.....all would be alive today.
  agtG 244
  PS: When the Dorner cabin went up in flames............ah no reports from media or police as they watched this inferno, of cartridges exploding due to the heat as should be the case with a bad ass Amerikan Che.....
  Devil in the details my children in the mistakes in this sloppy operation. They will have to rectify that with........"Oh yeah, er ah, that .......ah is why we stayed back as it was all that ammunition detonating..........ah you can hear it.........no er ah, the fire was so loud the flames deadened the blasts......all scientific.......
  Er ah............Dorner expended all his ammunition except for a final bullet and er ah that is why the ammunition did not go off........
  SHHHHHH
  Next question please...........
Sony Music CEO Doug Morris Is Streaming Big
  Link to Article
  Source: LIVE@LEEDS
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:48
  Devin Leonard Business Week 02/07/13
  Doug Morris grew up in the 1950s on Long Island in a family he describes as ''very professional.'' His father was a lawyer. His mother taught ballet. His older brother was an aspiring scientist. Doug was the exception. He wanted to be a rock 'n' roll songwriter. His parents spent a great deal of time fretting about his future. ''Their basic question was: 'Who is going to take care of Doug?''Š'' Morris recalls. '''Š'How is he going to make a living?''Š''
  Morris, the 74-year-old chief executive officer of Sony Music Entertainment (SNE), tells this story with great satisfaction in his expansive office on the 32nd floor of the company's Manhattan headquarters. He sits on a cream-colored sofa in a finely tailored dark suit with his feet up on the coffee table. He gestures to a picture of him chatting with his friend Bono. ''He's the finest,'' Morris says. ''He's really genuine. That's not bulls-'�-'�-.'' Another photograph of Morris captures him at a party with Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg, and their mentor, Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight. ''I love that picture,'' he says. ''It's my favorite.'' He fits in perfectly with the three hip-hop kingpins.
  Morris is the godfather of the music industry. He's been a top executive at all three of the big record companies: Sony Music, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group, where he's nurtured many performers. ''He's as crazy as the rest of us,'' says rock diva Stevie Nicks. ''He's a real music guy.'' R&B singer Mary J. Blige says, ''He always had my back. He's like a father to me.'' Jay-Z has celebrated Morris in several of his verses, affectionately referring to him as one of the industry's ''bosses.'' Bono is even more effusive: ''He's not just the president of Sony Music Entertainment,'' says the U2 frontman. ''He's the president of the entire music industry.''
  This is the music business, so people tend to gush about their peers, especially those in positions of power, but Morris's career is unusually impressive. He started out in the days of so-called girl groups like the Chiffons. Now he's putting out records by Sony chart-toppers such as Adele and One Direction. He enjoyed soaring profits with the compact disc in the 1980s only to struggle over the last decade as Internet piracy decimated the big record labels.
  Now Morris says the profits are returning and the thrill is back. ''The industry is transitioning itself into something that will be very valuable, unless we screw it up,'' he says. ''There's big money coming in from videos. Huge money. There's a transition from ownership to access personified by something like Spotify. We're making a lot of money from this explosion in Internet radio, the Pandoras (P) of the world. You can see Apple (AAPL) getting ready to get into it.'' What's more, the cost of distributing digital music is lower than CDs or vinyl albums. ''It's a better business,'' Morris says. ''The margins are higher.''
  The numbers support him. Industry analyst Alice Enders expects annual music sales in the U.S. to hover at around $5.5 billion over the next three years as declining physical sales are replaced by the digital variety. That's a relief for an industry that was in free fall for the past decade. Moreover, Enders argues that guys like Morris are more relevant than ever. ''I think the suits win out in this transition,'' she says. ''This is a much more complex business than people often realize. You have to find artists and keep the right ones. But you can't waste money like you could 10 years ago. You have to control costs with an iron fist.''
  Morris likes to say that the distribution of music has changed radically, but the business is still all about relationships. Morris, says Bono, ''is a character who has risen several times from the ashes like a'--what's the word I'm looking for?'--like a phoenix.''
  Morris didn't set out to be a label executive. After graduating from Columbia University with an economics degree in 1960 and serving two years in the U.S. Army military police, he tried to make a living as a songwriter. He apprenticed with Bert Berns, one of the composers of the early rock anthem Twist and Shout. Morris went to record labels and tried to interest them in his boss's tunes and his own. Morris was not without talent. He co-wrote the Chiffons' 1966 hit, Sweet Talkin' Guy. After a few years he decided he was a better salesman than a songwriter, and in 1970 founded his own label, Big Tree Records. At the time, Morris believed songs were more important than artists, and Big Tree's roster reflected his bias. Smokin' in the Boy's Room was a smash hit in 1973 when Brownsville Station recorded it. The song also overshadowed the singers when Big Tree released Hot Chocolate's You Sexy Thing in 1975, another milestone for the label. Others in the trade took notice. Morris got a call in 1978 from Ahmet Ertegun, the legendary co-founder of Atlantic Records. ''He wanted to buy my company, so I sold it to him,'' says Morris, shrugging.
  To hear Morris tell it, he learned about the importance of artists and how to handle them from Ertegun. More than anyone else, Ertegun understood that flattery was the industry's currency. He would cozy up to the wives of the lead guitarists of bands he wanted to sign and tell them how fabulously their husbands strummed. The guitar player would then choose Atlantic over its competitors. A week later, Ertegun would do it again with another guitarist. Morris soaked it all up.
  In 1980, Morris was named president of Atlantic. He applied his new skills to stars like Nicks, whom he signed as a solo artist. He called her every day as she was recording Bella Donna, her first record. When things didn't go well with her producer, Morris recruited 26-year-old Jimmy Iovine, who'd worked on records with Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty. Nicks was ecstatic when Bella Donna reached No.'‰3 on the Billboard charts. ''In numerology, three is the number of the creative, of the beginning, the child,'' she says. It wasn't enough for Morris, though. He took Nicks, possibly the most alluring woman in rock 'n' roll at the time, out to dinner with a writer from Billboard. One week later, her album went to No.'‰1.
  When Atlantic started to fade in the late '80s, Morris became Ertegun's co-CEO. One of the things he did to rejuvenate the label was create a joint venture with Iovine called Interscope Records, which specialized in edgy acts. ''We had Tupac, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson,'' Iovine laughs. ''What can I say, right?''
  Morris got a kick out of Interscope's controversial artists, although he had misgivings about some of the rough characters from the rap universe who started showing up at industry functions. One night at a party, Morris asked the rapper Heavy D, ''Listen, any chance of me getting shot at this thing?''
  ''Doug, they never shoot the white guy,'' Heavy D said.
  By then, Atlantic was owned by Time Warner (TWX), the global media giant. In 1994, Morris was named CEO of the Warner Music Group's U.S. division, overseeing the company's record labels, which included Warner Bros. and Elektra. His time at the top was fleeting. African American leaders and conservative activists attacked Time Warner for putting out rap albums that glorified violence and denigrated women. There was a management shake-up in the music division in 1995, and Morris was out.
  Within days of his firing, Morris was rescued by Seagram CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr., who put him in charge of Universal's moribund music division. At Morris's urging, Seagram bought Time Warner's interest in Interscope in 1996. Two months after the deal closed, Interscope had the top four albums in the U.S.
  It wasn't long before Morris was defending himself against charges that he was out of touch with the new forces shaping his industry. He was blindsided by the rise of Napster, the free file-sharing site. Universal took part in the successful legal battle to shut it down, but the problem was the Web, not one site. People in the technology industry and the music press made fun of Morris for talking about hits when the Internet was upending his company. As far as his critics were concerned, Morris was an old-school entertainment industry technophobe.
  Morris is still pained by the criticism. ''We are not in the technology business,'' he says. ''We're in the music business. Let me tell you something. We had people who thought they knew a lot about technology. We spent tens of millions of dollars building Blue Matter [a download format]. None of these things ever worked because they didn't know what they were doing.''
  That said, Morris was shrewd enough to forge relationships in Silicon Valley. He helped Steve Jobs launch the iTunes Music Store in 2003, and they became close friends. When Jobs visited New York, he and Morris would go downtown and ''eat noodles.'' Morris has great affection for Jobs, but the two men were always negotiating, so Morris sometimes wasn't certain Jobs felt the same way about him. ''I would wonder, Are we friends or is he just trying to roll me?''
  Bono watched the two men interact over the years. He says Morris sometimes infuriated Jobs by telling him the iPod was worthless without his company's songs. ''He would say, 'It's a nice design. I understand, but it has no intrinsic value without the art, the music, Steve,''‰'' Bono recounts, doing a perfect imitation of Morris's distinctive New York accent. ''Steve didn't enjoy that very much. But it was funny.''
  Morris struck up a similarly fruitful rapport with Eric Schmidt, then CEO of Google (GOOG). In 2009, Morris and Schimdt completed a deal to create Vevo, a company owned by Universal, Sony, and other investors that distributes music videos to YouTube and receives a percentage of the ad revenue they generate. Vevo's revenue was estimated to be $280 million last year. ''It was a great moment for me,'' Morris says.
  As Morris approached 70, Vivendi (VIV), Universal's parent company, asked him to step aside and let his deputy, Lucian Grainge, become CEO. ''The French wanted me to retire,'' Morris says. ''I didn't want to. So they retired me. Lucian took over. I became chairman. Suddenly, no one talked to me.''
  Morris may have felt cut off at Universal, but others were eager to consult with him. In 2010, Howard Stringer, then Sony's CEO, visited Morris at his apartment in the Plaza Hotel near Central Park and asked him if he would take over the Japanese company's ailing music division. Its previous boss, a former television executive, was retiring. Stringer thought it was time to put a real music guy like Morris in charge. ''His ability to connect with performers as well as the younger executives is second to none,'' Stringer says. ''That appealed to me.''
  Morris liked the idea, too. When the word got out that he and Stringer were negotiating, however, Morris got a call from Jobs. ''Are you a f-'�-'�-ing moron?'' Jobs asked.
  ''How could you say something like that?'' Morris asked.
  ''Because you are going to do the same thing three times over,'' Jobs said. ''You are going to be the CEO of one of these big stupid companies.''
  ''Well, I guess that's what I do, Steve,'' Morris said.
  ''Yeah, well, do it for me,'' Jobs persisted. ''Come here, and let's start a digital music company. These old things will break up, and we'll buy them for a song.''
  By then, as Morris knew, Jobs had cancer. Six months later, he passed away. So Morris took the job at Sony. Although Morris denies it, the speculation in the music world is that he would like nothing better than to get even with Universal. ''He wants to prove that he was retired prematurely,'' says Bob Lefsetz, author of the Lefsetz Letter, a widely read online report on the music business. ''That's not a terrible motivation. A lot of people are very successful as a result of revenge.''
  Catching Universal won't be easy. Although Universal's market share of albums in the U.S. only edged Sony's by 2 percent in 2012, according to Nielsen SoundScan (NLSN), the European Union recently approved Universal's $1.9 billion acquisition of EMI's recorded music division. As a result, industry analyst Enders estimates that Universal will jump from 32 percent to 40 percent of the U.S. market. ''That's a gap that would be impossible for Sony to close through organic growth,'' she says.
  Morris disagrees. He's focused on developing new revenue streams. Terrestrial radio stations don't pay record companies to play their songs, but Morris says that will change as those stations increase their presence online, where copyright laws favor the labels. He's also hoping to make money from music videos. Vevo spent much of last year negotiating a new agreement with Google. There was talk that Vevo might move to Facebook (FB) or Yahoo! (YHOO) if Google didn't come to terms. However, in December, people familiar with the talks say, Google took a minority stake in the company, valuing it at $650 million. There's speculation that Google will eventually purchase Vevo outright. ''Google would love to get that back,'' chuckles Morris. ''I don't blame them.'' He declines to comment further.
  And, of course, he's looking to churn out hits. One of his strategies on this front is to lure promising young producers to Sony. Soon after his arrival in 2011, he hired Lukasz Gottwald, better known as Dr. Luke, who's responsible for 22 No.'‰1 singles, including Tik Tok by Ke$ha, My Life Would Suck Without You by Kelly Clarkson, and I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry. Says Morris of Gottwald: ''He's an amazing writer-producer. He's brilliant. I felt about him like I felt about Jimmy Iovine when I first met him 30 years ago.''
  This is still what gets Morris most excited'--talking about the music. ''I get into trouble because I'll say that nothing has changed in the whole industry since I started. What hasn't changed is you need a hit. What has changed? We distribute music differently, and we sell music differently. Big deal.
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  This entry was posted on February 13, 2013 at 3:32 am and is filed under Executives. 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.
Fact Sheet: Afghanistan
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:47
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  February 12, 2013
  Afghanistan
  In his State of the Union address, the President announced that the United States will withdraw 34,000 American troops from Afghanistan by this time next year, decreasing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan by half '' the next step to responsibly bringing this war to a close.
  Afghans in the Lead: Beginning in the spring of 2013, Afghan forces will assume the lead across the country. Even as our troops draw down, they will continue to train, advise and assist Afghan forces. In that capacity, we will no longer be leading combat operations, but a sizeable number of U.S. forces will provide support for two additional fighting seasons before Afghan forces are fully responsible for their own security.
  Planning for post-2014: We are continuing discussions with the Afghan government about how we can carry out two basic missions beyond 2014: training, advising and equipping Afghan forces, and continued counter-terrorism missions against al Qaeda and their affiliates.
  The Security Transition Process
  At the 2010 NATO Summit in Lisbon, the United States, our International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) partners, and the Afghan Government agreed to transfer full responsibility for Afghanistan's security to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) by the end of 2014. This transition process allows the international community to responsibly draw down our forces in Afghanistan, while preserving hard-won gains and setting the stage to achieve our core objectives '' defeating al Qaeda and ensuring it can never again use Afghanistan as a launching pad for attacks against us.
  At the Chicago NATO Summit in May 2012, leaders reaffirmed this framework for transition and agreed on an interim milestone in 2013 to mark our progress. This milestone will mark the beginning of the ANSF's assumption of the lead for combat operations across the country. When we reach that milestone this spring, ISAF's main effort will shift from combat to supporting the ANSF. As international forces shift our primary focus to training, advising, and assisting, we will ensure that the Afghans have the support they need as they adjust to their new responsibilities.
  Today, Afghan forces are already leading nearly 90 percent of operations, and by spring 2013, they will be moving into the operational lead across the country. These forces are currently at a surge strength of 352,000, where they will remain for at least three more years, to allow continued progress toward a secure environment in Afghanistan.
  As the international community's role shifts and Afghan forces continue to grow in capabilities, coalition troop numbers will continue to decrease in a planned, coordinated, and responsible manner. By the end of 2014, transition will be complete and Afghan Security Forces will be fully responsible for the security of their country.
  Supporting Political Transition
  The United States believes that Afghan-led peace and reconciliation is ultimately necessary to end violence and ensure lasting stability of Afghanistan and the region. As the President has said, the United States will support initiatives that bring Afghans together with other Afghans to discuss the future of their country. The United States and the Afghan Government have called upon on the Taliban to join a political process, including by taking those steps necessary to open a Taliban office in Qatar. We have been clear that the outcomes of any peace and reconciliation process must be for the Taliban and other armed opposition groups to end violence, break ties with Al Qaeda, and accept Afghanistan's constitution, including its protections for the rights of all Afghan citizens.
  The Afghan Government will be holding presidential and provincial council elections in April 2014 and the United States intends to provide technical assistance and funding to support a fair and inclusive process.
  In May 2012, President Obama and President Karzai signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement to cement our long-term relationship in the areas of social and economic development, security, and regional cooperation. The United States remains fully committed to a long-term strategic partnership with the Afghan Government and the Afghan people. The steps we are taking now are intended to normalize our relationship, including withdrawing troops in a way that strengthens Afghan sovereignty and the Afghan state, rather than abandoning it, as the international community did in the 1980's and 90's.
  While it is too soon to make decisions about the number of forces that could remain in Afghanistan after 2014, any presence would be at the invitation of the Afghan Government and focused on two distinct missions: training, advising and equipping Afghan forces, and continued counter-terrorism missions against al Qaeda and their affiliates. As we move towards decisions about a long-term presence, we will continue to assess the situation on the ground in Afghanistan, assess the capabilities of the Afghan National Security Forces, and consult with our Afghan and international partners. We also continue negotiations on a Bilateral Security Agreement with the Afghan Government that would provide the protections we must have for any U.S. military presence after 2014. We hope that agreement can be completed as soon as possible.
  Consistent with our goal of ensuring that al Qaeda never again threatens the United States from Afghan soil, the United States has committed to seek funds annually to support training, equipping, advising, and sustaining the ANSF. Helping to fund the ANSF is the best way to protect the investment we all have made to strengthen Afghanistan and insulate it from international terrorist groups.
  Strengthening Afghan governance and economic development is also key to achieving our core objective. We've made significant economic and development progress in the past decade, but Afghanistan will require substantial international assistance through the next decade to grow its private sector and promote its integration in greater South Asia's thriving economy. The United States has committed to seek, on a yearly basis, funding for social and economic assistance to Afghanistan. At the July 2012 Tokyo Conference, the international community and Afghanistan agreed on a long-term economic partnership, based on the principle of mutual accountability. We expect Afghan progress in fighting corruption, carrying out reform, and providing good governance as the international community provides support after 2014.
Cybersecurity Executive Order Could Spur Congressional Action - US News & World Report
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 05:20
  Lucus Nelson teaches Hash analysis in Windows forensic examinations using EnCase Sept. 9, 2010, at the Defense Cyber Investigations Training Academy in Linthicum, Md.
  To coincide with his State of the Union Address, President Obama issued an executive order designed to strengthen the cybersecurity of "critical infrastructure" Tuesday, which some experts say could get the ball rolling for a renewed legislative push in Congress.
  Cybersecurity was a big issue last year, with bills such as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act being condemned by privacy experts, who alleged the proposed legislation shared too much private information with government.
  [Civil Liberties Organizations Launch Protests Against CISPA]
  The executive order signed Tuesday contains some provisions of CISPA, including the ability for government agencies to share classified "threat and attack" information with companies that control power grids, water supplies, and other important national interests. But only new legislation would allow or require companies to share cyber threat information with the federal government, which was a hangup for civil liberties organizations fighting against CISPA.
  In his prepared remarks, Obama said foreign threats are attempting to shut down critical American infrastructure.
  "We know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, and our air traffic control systems," he said. "Earlier today, I signed a new executive order that will strengthen our cyber defenses by increasing information sharing, and developing standards to protect our national security, our jobs, and our privacy."
  The order has been in the drafting stages since at least September, when documents shared with U.S. News showed that the administration was considering issuing the order. Jim Halpert, a privacy lawyer with DLA Piper, says the fact that Obama decided to issue the order to coincide with his State of the Union address suggests he may put pressure on Congress to do something more substantial this year.
  "I think it helps to get all the players together and shows there's going to be a big emphasis on this with this term," he says. "This could be a spur to action."
  The executive order contains specific "privacy and civil liberties protections" that are designed to placate some of CISPA's critics.
  [CISPA Isn't SOPA, But Still Attacks Constitutional Rights]
  Mary Ellen Callahan, former chief privacy officer at the Department of Homeland Security, says it's an "important first step in shoring up our cybersecurity ecosystem" and that the "outreach to the privacy community was extensive" in the order.
  Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which staunchly opposed CISPA, says he "gives credit to the White House for expressly adding some privacy language to earlier drafts of the executive order."
  The order calls for annual privacy reviews to "assess the privacy and civil liberties risks of the functions and programs undertaken by [the Department of Homeland Security]" in a publicly available report, set to be released sometime in the next year.
  Tien says the administration is "clearly trying very hard" to assuage the concerns of the privacy community, but by definition, an executive order cannot be as far-reaching as CISPA would have been. But the fact that the government will soon be sharing classified information with private companies could set a bad precedent should Congress decide to act, he says.
  "If companies get used to this flow of useful data, we don't know what kind of quid pro quos or bargains might be struck; what kind of actions or reciprocity might be involved," he says. "But for now, there's a fundamental constraint on what the President can do'--he doesn't make the law."
SANDY HOOK; SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE; EMILIE PARKER
  Link to Article
  Source: aangirfan
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:42
  Emilie's big sisters
  Emilie Parker, shown on the school's playground equipment last year.
SOTU '' Clean energy focus, but ''nuclear'' treated as the other 'N' word that cannot be spoken
  Link to Article
  Source: Atomic Insights
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:40
  During President Obama's February 12, 2013 State of the Union address, he spoke for six and a half minutes about the importance of energy to the American economy and the importance of being a world leading supplier of clean energy technology.
  As a proud contributor at an American clean energy company that is developing a new product that is going to help reshape the energy industry, it felt good to hear the President describe the national level impact of the work we are doing every day. I was, however, slightly disappointed that the President failed to mention our project and failed to say a single word about my favorite clean energy source.
  I'm sure it was just an oversight and that his speech would have included the 'N' word if he had just had a little more time to think about what he wanted to say. Perhaps he wanted to say something about nuclear energy, but just did not have any more time to allot after he had spent so much of his speech extolling the virtues of a ''nearly 100 year'' supply of natural gas '' which will actually last a little less than 90 years as long as we do not increase our current consumption rate.
  His speechwriters must have forgotten to include the line that would have described how the USA has uranium and thorium resources that might provide several hundred thousand years of emission free power, even if use of those heavy metals grows to supply ALL of our energy needs.
  I apologize for the snarky tone, but it can be a bit discouraging at times to be a nuke. I often feel like the smart kid in the back of the room who has correctly answered so many questions that the teacher refuses to call on him because she wants the other students to get a chance. That's okay in a classroom setting where there is a goal for all to learn, but it is a silly way to run a marketplace. Some energy products '' like wind turbines and solar panels '' are inherently inferior. They are less reliable and less useful than fuels like hydrocarbons and heavy metals; they do not deserve continued investments from the taxpayers.I'd like to repurpose a comment that I posted earlier in response to someone who thinks there is an energy source somewhere that we have not yet discovered that can beat both nuclear energy and hydrocarbons in the market for clean, reliable, affordable, acceptably safe energy.
  @EL
  Pretend I am from Missouri. Stop pointing to academic studies and models created by ''many fine people.'' Show me a place anywhere in the world that provides an example of a reasonably large body of people who are living in a style even remotely close to the American middle class suburban lifestyle that I have enjoyed throughout my life while depending on an energy source other than hydrocarbons, nuclear energy or large hydroelectric dams for the lion's share of the power they use in their daily lives.
  Whenever your references include a strong dependence on people like Mark Z. Jacobson you will eventually find out that you are on the wrong technical path. He is an unreliable charlatan when it comes to real world energy production.
  You keep telling us here that you care about people who struggle to make ends meet, yet you also claim that your favored energy sources cannot compete because fossil fuels are too cheap. You then claim that nuclear is losing in the market because its cost seems too high.
  I refuse to play the energy game by your rules or the rules that have been imposed by the establishment. In my analysis, hydrocarbon fuel sources are far too expensive. They are moving farther and farther out of the reach of the people who need them the most to lift themselves out of dire poverty. It is time for the Kobayashi Maru solution to a game that has been programmed to force nuclear energy off of the list of available options.
  The standard that you have implicitly applied to natural gas is a pretty good one to apply to nuclear energy; as long as an energy source is substantially better (cleaner, safer, etc) than our existing coal power plants, then it is worth developing and improving.
  Nuclear energy met that standard almost as soon as the self-sustaining chain reaction was discovered. Within 13 years after the historic operation of Fermi's CP-1 demonstration, Rickover's USS Nautilus reported that it was underway on nuclear power. That ship dramatically showed the world that the atom had tremendous potential for clean, reliable power, even in the most challenging possible application '' a sealed submarine under a deep ocean. Within a couple of years after its launch, the USS Nautilus made a trip from Hawaii to the UK by way of the North Pole. The Shippingport reactor started providing commercial quantities of electricity on the fifteen year anniversary of the successful demonstration at CP-1, despite the disadvantage of 13 years worth of strict secrecy about the technology.
  In reaction to the proven potential for nuclear energy to take markets away from fossil fuels, fission energy's hydrocarbon competitors teamed up with vendors and construction contractors who learned about cost control from their experiences in the military industrial complex. They developed a government regulatory agency influenced by scientists who felt that they were guilty of original sin because of their involvement with The Bomb. That coalition of common interests developed designs and processes that elevated the cost of nuclear energy (and the revenue from building the plants) to its currently uncompetitive level. Many scientists and some engineers kept going along with the program because it led to a reasonably steady flow of research dollars for an unachievable goal of perfect safety.
  There is no need to tighten nuclear energy regulations; far from it. There is a crying need to relax prescriptive regulations, to encourage real quality assurance programs adapted from industries like commercial aviation, automobiles, and shipbuilding that seek to improve results at ever lower costs by reducing wasteful rework, and to allow nuclear fission's inherent energy density advantage to drive DOWN the cost of energy.
  Making energy cheap will force hydrocarbons to become cheap again. It will protect the very places where you prefer to camp and kayak; oil and gas companies will stop trying to extract resources from the Arctic, the deep ocean, the tar sands and the mountains of North Dakota because those places contain large quantities of high production cost resources that could not compete in a market of abundant fission energy.
  Disclaimer: Though I work for The Babcock & Wilcox Company on the B&W mPowerTM Reactor project, I do not speak for the company. My thoughts on Atomic Insights are strictly my personal views and do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of my employer.
Chris Dorner's Wallet Found - Twice!
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:38
  Story ViewsNow:Last Hour:Last 24 Hours:Total:Chris Dorner's Wallet Found '' Twice!
  Wednesday, February 13, 2013 9:23
  % of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.(Before It's News)
  Chris Dorner's wallet has been found now....twice. First we learn from USA Today that Chris Dorner's wallet has miraculously been found within the charred remains of the cabin that he had been hiding out in and presumably died in. However, Chris Dorner's wallet was also found last Thursday, according to this story in the LA Times. This guy Dorner has the worst luck with losing his wallets! I'm sure the LAPD is thankful. First, from USAToday:Investigators were picking through the rubble of a burned-out cabin in California's San Bernardino Mountains on Wednesday, trying to piece together details of the violent last stand for a fugitive former Los Angeles police officer whose life apparently ended hours earlier in a barrage of bullets and blazing fire.The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office said charred human remains were found in the rubble where Christopher Dorner is said to have been cornered Tuesday. "We have reason to believe that it is him," sheriff's spokeswoman Cynthia Bachman said.A wallet with a California driver's license bearing the name Christopher Dorner also was found, the Associated Press reported, citing a law enforcement official who was briefed on the investigation but declined to be named because of the ongoing probe.
  So, they've found Chris Dorner's wallet in the burned out cabin where they pinned him down. Fortunately for them, the wallet survived the fire somehow. This event is quite similar to the passport found in the charred rubble of the World Trade Center after 9/11: "According to ABC News and the Associated Press, the passport of hijacker Satam Al Suqami was found a few blocks from the WTC."Strangely enough, Christopher Dorner's wallet was also found last Thursday as well, after Chris allegedly tried to steal a boat in San Diego. From the LA Times story.:Dorner allegedly attempted to steal a boat in San Diego and, after subduing the captain, said he was taking the vessel to Mexico, according to an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint in federal court in Los Angeles. Dorner is accused of telling the captain that he could recover his boat in Mexico."The attempt failed when the bow line of the boat became caught in the boat's propeller, and the suspect fled," according to the affidavit by inspector U.S. Marshal Craig McClusky.After authorities interviewed the boat captain early Thursday, they found Dorner's wallet and identification cards "at the San Ysidro Point of Entry" near the U.S.-Mexico border. That same day, a guard at the Point Loma Naval Base told authorities he had spotted a man matching Dorner's description trying sneak onto the base, according to the court records. More below...
  Who and what are we to believe? The CIA's Anderson Cooper tells us Chris is dead. We've heard that his wallet was found in the fire from USA Today. He MUST have been inside the cabin when it burned to the ground if his wallet was inside, right? It's quite amazing to me that Chris's wallet survived the fire. Almost as amazing as them finding his wallet, twice.Related Stories
Injustice USA: Christopher Dorner
  Link to Article
  Source: Lame Cherry
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:37
  In a skip feed from KMOX in St. Louis, the night of the sacrafice of Christopher Dorners' persona, an LA Times "reporter" was providing information from Mockingbird, but did not comprehend in the least the things he was revealing which was damning thee entire propaganda being placed before the public.
  As this blog has profiled exclusively in the feudalcrats, they have engaged in a protocol now of making all major events "conspiracies" in order to hide all they are doing and to make everything to be a "kook event". This is deliberate from the hatchlings of Mockingbird and is a brilliant strategy gone gonzo steroid under Obama, as all things have.It was perfected under John Kennedy, but never unleashed in like manner on every story being produced in order to propagate this new paranoia being infected into the America psyche.
  According to the LA Times, the smoking corpse, was holed up in the cabin "baracaded in" which is a code word meant to infuse into the public an exact picture.SWAT converged on the cabin and they were screaming for Dorner to surrender, as they broke out the windows and put in tear gas.
  At that time a single shot was heard, and flames immediately engulfed the structure.
  That is an exact quote and one which slipped by everyone, as the reality is one does not break out all the windows of a home, when introduce tear gas, for the effect one desires to keep that component inside the structure.The only reason one would break out windows is to create draft if one was burning down the structure.
  We have two reports in tracks leading to the barn and an escape, and the fabrication that Dorner was in the cabin, which no one could know, as the entire place was raised and the heat after the fire would have been so intense that searchers could not be searching for anyone.
  As revealed in Obama saying he had bin Laden's DNA hours before he possible could have confirmed it, the same lie has been unmasked here.
  To project this out, Dorner in propaganda is supposed to have committed suicide. No one knows if he was assassinated before and then the place was burned to cover up evidence of the bin Laden "hit" in two taps, as it is hard for a corpse to shoot itself twice.Dead men do not go around lighting fires after they are dead, and certainly are not running around in a house with SWAT at the windows exposing himself to light those fires.
  The reality is the LA Time reported a quick fire spread. That means volatile substances were used to spread those flames. Volatile substances degrade rapidly, so Dorner could not have poured them out hours earlier waiting for his incineration as the liquids would not ignite readily.Volative fluids vaporize, and besids stinking, they will cause light headedness in breathing them in inclosed areas. I doubt SWAT was breaking windows out to ventilate Chris Dorner.Being dead he could not pour them out, being under fire he could not move to do it........so who was it that poured the volative liquids out in that cabin for a quick fire?
  You see my children, someone is lying about events at that cabin in direct reporting by the LA Times which either sowed this in Mockingbird conspiracy as is the protocol or they blundered into a reality of events which do not match logical events.
  It is impossible for fire to engult a structure unless it is doused with a flammable liquid. It is impossible for tear gas to start a fire and it is impossible for a dead man to start a fire under any of these situations, as he was pinned down, he was dead or he would not be breathing in flammable liquids for hours, which would lose their combustability.
  The scenarios project out that Chris Dorner was one of two things. He was an Obama agent. He was an Obamchurian pushed like Treyvon Martin.In focal point, he was either murdered or an acting corpse like bin Laden was dumped into that cabin, to "end this" as this blog started placing questions before the public.
  In dealing with Christopher Dorner, Mayor Taco was quite clever in not offering to "dead or alive" Chris Dorner, but to "arrest" him for the 1 million dollar bounty. You will notice in this, that the executive orders were carried out precisely so no one could lay claim to that money, especially that blog, unless San Bernadina County would kindly arrest whatever is in that structure or it's ghostly footprints so I could stake my claim to that money.
  Chris Dorner profiled perfectly, but as soon as this blog noted the profile, he suddenly changed profiles and is reported incinerated.
  In case you missed it, Dorner's mom was seen drinking wine and eating chips when this was taking place............apparently someone knew Chris Dorner might have a life after his drone cam stardom.
  BURNED ALIVE?'Smoldering remains' found in scorched cabin...Dorner's Driver's License Found...LAPD deployed 'burners,' set fire...Police scanner: 'Burn that f**king house down!'Maids surprised Dorner in cabin, escaped, called cops...On-scene reporter caught in gun fight...Dorner held couple hostage for days...Fans Cheer Him On TWITTER: 'Fight The Power'...Dorner's Mom Spotted Drinking Wine, Eating Chips While Watching Standoff...
  Yes, is it not convenient that his driver's license was found just like the terrorist's passport in Muhammad Atta was found in New York after 9 11, proving he was there and drove that plane into the Twin Towers.
  That is case closed again in the Obama Abyss. Mark Levin has another corpse to salivate over in INJUSTICE USA.
  I will even bet that before they think about it, they will present a skull with a hole right between it's eyes with a 223 rifle hole......and then er ah, we are sorry American public, but this skull upon further examination is a 40 caliber and look what we found is his perfectly matched bullet to prove it.
  Too many lies for a Mockingbird reason in this. We know it is the feudalcrats lying.
  Amerikan Che lives.
  KCOC - Keep Chiving On Che
  There never was any script for the illusion of Christopher Dorner ever to see a court room as it would expose all what was taking place not only in LA but in DC.
  agtG 222
  PS: I see the Nazi's at Cafe Press have taken down American Che.
Injustice USA: Christopher Dorner
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:35
  In a skip feed from KMOX in St. Louis, the night of the sacrafice of Christopher Dorners' persona, an LA Times "reporter" was providing information from Mockingbird, but did not comprehend in the least the things he was revealing which was damning thee entire propaganda being placed before the public.
  As this blog has profiled exclusively in the feudalcrats, they have engaged in a protocol now of making all major events "conspiracies" in order to hide all they are doing and to make everything to be a "kook event". This is deliberate from the hatchlings of Mockingbird and is a brilliant strategy gone gonzo steroid under Obama, as all things have.It was perfected under John Kennedy, but never unleashed in like manner on every story being produced in order to propagate this new paranoia being infected into the America psyche.
  According to the LA Times, the smoking corpse, was holed up in the cabin "baracaded in" which is a code word meant to infuse into the public an exact picture.SWAT converged on the cabin and they were screaming for Dorner to surrender, as they broke out the windows and put in tear gas.
  At that time a single shot was heard, and flames immediately engulfed the structure.
  That is an exact quote and one which slipped by everyone, as the reality is one does not break out all the windows of a home, when introduce tear gas, for the effect one desires to keep that component inside the structure.The only reason one would break out windows is to create draft if one was burning down the structure.
  We have two reports in tracks leading to the barn and an escape, and the fabrication that Dorner was in the cabin, which no one could know, as the entire place was raised and the heat after the fire would have been so intense that searchers could not be searching for anyone.
  As revealed in Obama saying he had bin Laden's DNA hours before he possible could have confirmed it, the same lie has been unmasked here.
  To project this out, Dorner in propaganda is supposed to have committed suicide. No one knows if he was assassinated before and then the place was burned to cover up evidence of the bin Laden "hit" in two taps, as it is hard for a corpse to shoot itself twice.Dead men do not go around lighting fires after they are dead, and certainly are not running around in a house with SWAT at the windows exposing himself to light those fires.
  The reality is the LA Time reported a quick fire spread. That means volatile substances were used to spread those flames. Volatile substances degrade rapidly, so Dorner could not have poured them out hours earlier waiting for his incineration as the liquids would not ignite readily.Volative fluids vaporize, and besids stinking, they will cause light headedness in breathing them in inclosed areas. I doubt SWAT was breaking windows out to ventilate Chris Dorner.Being dead he could not pour them out, being under fire he could not move to do it........so who was it that poured the volative liquids out in that cabin for a quick fire?
  You see my children, someone is lying about events at that cabin in direct reporting by the LA Times which either sowed this in Mockingbird conspiracy as is the protocol or they blundered into a reality of events which do not match logical events.
  It is impossible for fire to engult a structure unless it is doused with a flammable liquid. It is impossible for tear gas to start a fire and it is impossible for a dead man to start a fire under any of these situations, as he was pinned down, he was dead or he would not be breathing in flammable liquids for hours, which would lose their combustability.
  The scenarios project out that Chris Dorner was one of two things. He was an Obama agent. He was an Obamchurian pushed like Treyvon Martin.In focal point, he was either murdered or an acting corpse like bin Laden was dumped into that cabin, to "end this" as this blog started placing questions before the public.
  In dealing with Christopher Dorner, Mayor Taco was quite clever in not offering to "dead or alive" Chris Dorner, but to "arrest" him for the 1 million dollar bounty. You will notice in this, that the executive orders were carried out precisely so no one could lay claim to that money, especially that blog, unless San Bernadina County would kindly arrest whatever is in that structure or it's ghostly footprints so I could stake my claim to that money.
  Chris Dorner profiled perfectly, but as soon as this blog noted the profile, he suddenly changed profiles and is reported incinerated.
  In case you missed it, Dorner's mom was seen drinking wine and eating chips when this was taking place............apparently someone knew Chris Dorner might have a life after his drone cam stardom.
  BURNED ALIVE?'Smoldering remains' found in scorched cabin...Dorner's Driver's License Found...LAPD deployed 'burners,' set fire...Police scanner: 'Burn that f**king house down!'Maids surprised Dorner in cabin, escaped, called cops...On-scene reporter caught in gun fight...Dorner held couple hostage for days...Fans Cheer Him On TWITTER: 'Fight The Power'...Dorner's Mom Spotted Drinking Wine, Eating Chips While Watching Standoff...
  Yes, is it not convenient that his driver's license was found just like the terrorist's passport in Muhammad Atta was found in New York after 9 11, proving he was there and drove that plane into the Twin Towers.
  That is case closed again in the Obama Abyss. Mark Levin has another corpse to salivate over in INJUSTICE USA.
  I will even bet that before they think about it, they will present a skull with a hole right between it's eyes with a 223 rifle hole......and then er ah, we are sorry American public, but this skull upon further examination is a 40 caliber and look what we found is his perfectly matched bullet to prove it.
  Too many lies for a Mockingbird reason in this. We know it is the feudalcrats lying.
  Amerikan Che lives.
  KCOC - Keep Chiving On Che
  There never was any script for the illusion of Christopher Dorner ever to see a court room as it would expose all what was taking place not only in LA but in DC.
  agtG 222
  PS: I see the Nazi's at Cafe Press have taken down American Che.
US military announces new medal for cyberwarfare and drone operation
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 22:30
  Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has announced a new medal for troops who fight from behind a screen. According to unnamed officials, the "Distinguished Warfare Medal" will honor members of the military who have performed an accomplishment "so exceptional and outstanding as to clearly set the individual apart from comrades or from other persons in similar situations." Unlike other medals of its level, though, it doesn't require an "act of valor" that would put one's life in danger during combat. That means it can be given to drone pilots or members of military cyberwarfare operations.
  In a statement, Panetta, said the Distinguished Warfare Medal was meant to recognize that "since September 11th, 2001, technological advances have, in some cases, dramatically changed how we conduct and support combat and other military operations." It can be awarded for any accomplishment since September 11th in the domains of "air, land, maritime, space, and cyberspace," and it specifically cannot be awarded for direct valor in combat, making it very specifically for people who would be shut out by the traditional definitions of warfare. In ranking, it's slightly above the Bronze Star, directly below the Distinguished Flying Cross; a sketch can be seen above.
  "Extraordinary achievement, not involving acts of valor, directly impacting combat operations."
  In some ways, the Distinguished Warfare Medal is a big change to how higher-level medals can be awarded, built for a world where actual combat often no longer involves physical risk. The last new medal, the Bronze Star, was created after World War II. Otherwise, though, it maintains the same standards as similar awards: it's meant only for "extraordinary achievement, not involving acts of valor, directly impacting combat operations or other military operations," with "directly impacting" meaning hands-on use of a tool (real or virtual) that had direct effects in an engagement.
Statement from United States President Barack Obama, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jos(C) Manuel Barroso
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 20:00
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  February 13, 2013
  Washington, D.C. '' We, the Leaders of the United States and the European Union, are pleased to announce that, based on recommendations from the U.S.-EU High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth co-chaired by United States Trade Representative Kirk and European Trade Commissioner De Gucht, the United States and the European Union will each initiate the internal procedures necessary to launch negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. ''The transatlantic economic relationship is already the world's largest, accounting for half of global economic output and nearly one trillion dollars in goods and services trade, and supporting millions of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic. ''We are committed to making this relationship an even stronger driver of our prosperity. In that regard, we welcome the High Level Working Group's recommendations on how we can expand further our transatlantic trade and investment partnership, promoting greater growth and supporting more jobs. ''A high-standard Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership would advance trade and investment liberalization and address regulatory and other non-tariff barriers. ''Through this negotiation, the United States and the European Union will have the opportunity not only to expand trade and investment across the Atlantic, but also to contribute to the development of global rules that can strengthen the multilateral trading system.''
Message -- Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Libya
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:59
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  February 13, 2013
  TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
  Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13566 of February 25, 2011, is to continue in effect beyond February 25, 2013.
  Colonel Muammar Qadhafi, his government, and close associates took extreme measures against the people of Libya, including by using weapons of war, mercenaries, and wanton violence against unarmed civilians. In addition, there was a serious risk that Libyan state assets would be misappropriated by Qadhafi, members of his government, members of his family, or his close associates if those assets were not protected. The foregoing circumstances, the prolonged attacks, and the increased numbers of Libyans seeking refuge in other countries caused a deterioration in the security of Libya, posed a serious risk to its stability, and led me to declare a national emergency to deal with this threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.
  We are in the process of winding down the sanctions in response to developments in Libya, including the fall of Qadhafi and his government and the establishment of a democratically elected government. We are working closely with the new Libyan government and with the international community to effectively and appropriately ease restrictions on sanctioned entities, including by taking actions consistent with the U.N. Security Council's decision to lift sanctions against the Central Bank of Libya and two other entities on December 16, 2011. The situation in Libya, however, continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States and we need to protect against this threat and the diversion of assets or other abuse by certain members of Qadhafi's family and other former regime officials. Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency with respect to Libya.
  BARACK OBAMA
The Unending Gitmo Nightmare - The Daily Beast
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:23
  In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Obama proposed bringing greater transparency to the war on al Qaeda and creating a new group to research alternatives to fossil fuels. One thing he didn't mention was a pledge he made four years ago: the closing of Guantnamo Bay. Today, there are still 166 detainees languishing in America's most notorious prison'--and most of them won't be leaving any time soon.
  In this file photo made June 27, 2006, reviewed by a U.S. Department of Defense official, U.S. military guards walk within Camp Delta military-run prison, at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba. (Brennan Linsley/AP)
  Last month, Obama quietly transferred Dan Fried, whose job was to relocate detainees off the island, to a new job overseeing U.S. sanctions. The fact that he won't be replaced suggests relocations aren't a big priority these days. Already, Congress has blocked detainees from being moved to U.S. prisons while imposing tough conditions on those who have been cleared to go to other countries. Dozens of prisoners are deemed too dangerous to be released altogether.
  The Obama administration insists it's doing everything possible to fulfill the president's pledge. ''We are absolutely still committed to closing Gitmo,'' National Security Council spokesman, Tommy Vietor, said in an interview. He put the blame elsewhere, saying, ''The unfortunate reality is that Congress has gone out of its way to prevent us from doing so, but we still believe closing the facility is in our national security interest."
  Yet experts say the chances of Gitmo closing, at least before Obama's out of office in 2016, are exceptionally slim.
  ''Guantanamo is not going to close any time soon,'' said Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a right-leaning think tank. ''There are too many problems to solve. There are still Yemenis who can't be repatriated to their home country, there are detainees too dangerous to transfer anywhere and quite a few prisoners who the administration says they cannot try in an open court.''
  Obama has not sent a Guantnamo detainee to Yemen since that country's al Qaeda affiliate nearly blew up a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.
  Take the 46 detainees deemed too dangerous. The Obama administration has never released a list of these prisoners. It's possible that their status could change in the future. In 2011, Obama signed an executive order to create an appeal process for these men, similar to a parole board. That panel, however, has yet to meet. One State Department official said he expects what is known as the ''periodic review board'' to begin meeting this year and reviewing cases.
  There are an additional 56 detainees from Yemen. Obama has not sent a Guantnamo detainee to Yemen since that country's al Qaeda affiliate nearly blew up a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit at the end of 2009. Senior Obama administration officials say 26 of those Yemeni detainees have been approved for transfer. In the last two years, the State Department has quietly explored whether third countries could take them in.
  One big obstacle is the increasingly stringent requirements Congress has imposed on transferring detainees to a third country. Since 2009, Congress has required the secretary of Defense to confirm that there is little to no risk that a detainee sent to a third country will return to terrorism. That appears to be a tough thing to guarantee.
  So perhaps it's no surprise that the State Department transferred Fried, leaving two lawyers who used to work for him in charge of relocating prisoners. They will now do their work out of the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser.
  In four years, Fried and his team helped relocate 71 detainees out of Guantnamo, 40 of whom went to third countries. But most of those transfers occurred in 2009, before the Obama administration proposed a moratorium on transfers to Yemen and before Congress imposed the certification requirements for the secretary of Defense. In 2012, Fried transferred only four detainees, two of whom were Uighers, the Chinese Muslim minority, and part of a group determined in 2008 to no longer be enemy combatants. Those Uighers were sent to El Salvador.
  Another one of those detainees was Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen who was captured when he was 15 years old in Afghanistan. He was transferred to a Canadian prison where he is eligible for parole this year.
  ''It's incredibly difficult, and each year it gets more difficult,'' one senior administration official working on transfer policy told the Daily Beast. This official said the biggest issue was having to certify that a detainee will not reengage in terrorism, but this official also said that new governments in the Middle East brought about by the Arab Spring have made it more difficult to gain assurances that detainees will be monitored after being released from Guantnamo.
  Andrea Prasow, a senior counterterrorism counsel for Human Rights Watch, said it was still possible to close the Bush-era prison before Obama leaves office by either prosecuting or transferring the remaining 166 prisoners. But, she said, ''the reality is that it requires some political will that seems to be lacking.'' Prasow and other civil liberties advocates point out that Obama has signed the Defense authorization bills that include the new congressional restrictions on transfers of detainees. Chris Anders, a senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said, ''For the past three years there has not even been a point person at the White House to coordinate all the different parts of government required to meet the president's pledge to close Guantnamo.''
  When Obama delivered his first State of the Union speech in 2009, he appeared to have that political will to close Guantnamo. He said, ''There is no force in the world more powerful than the example of America. That is why I have ordered the closing of the detention center at Guantnamo Bay, and will seek swift and certain justice for captured terrorists'--because living our values doesn't make us weaker, it makes us safer and it makes us stronger.''
NBC's Lauer to Boehner: Is Obama 'The Most Inspirational African American Living Right Now?'
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:51
  In an interview with House Speaker John Boehner aired on Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer highlighted the Speaker inviting two girls from a Washington D.C. inner city school to the State of the Union address, but rather than focus on the scholarship program Boehner supports, Lauer wondered: "They're your guests. Could you blame them, though, if they're not a little mesmerized by Barack Obama tonight? The nation's first African American president?"
  Read the full story posted at NewsBusters.org.
BBC News - EU and US free-trade talks launched
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:50
  13 February 2013Last updated at12:09 ETThe European Union and the US will begin formal talks on a free-trade agreement, paving the way for the biggest trade deal in history.
  European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso made the announcement following President Barack Obama's State of the Union address.
  A deal would bring down trading barriers between the two biggest economies in the world.
  EU-US trade is worth around 455bn euros (£393bn; $613bn) a year.
  "A future deal between the world's two most important economic powers will be a game-changer, giving a strong boost to our economies on both sides of the Atlantic," said Mr Barroso, speaking in Brussels.
  The EU estimates that a "comprehensive and ambitious agreement" will boost annual GDP growth by 0.5%.
  Mr Obama announced US support for talks as part of his annual address to the US Congress on Tuesday, saying a free-trade deal would "boost American exports, support American jobs and level the playing field in the growing markets of Asia".
  It is not clear how long the talks will take, but similar trade deals have involved years of negotiations, and the BBC's Gavin Hewitt in Brussels says the most optimistic timeframe given by European officials is two years.
  Continue reading the main storyOne aim of the free-trade agreement would be to eliminate or reduce tariffs - taxes that apply to imported goods.
  For both the EU and US average tariffs are already low, below 3% on one measure. But further reductions could nonetheless stimulate additional trade and there are some areas where tariffs are much higher, notably food.
  Beyond that, the negotiations would try to reduce regulatory barriers to trade. That is more complex, but the experience of Europe's internal market shows it is sometimes possible.
  The desire for bilateral trade liberalisation on both sides of the Atlantic reflects the failure of negotiations for a global deal in the World Trade Organization.
  Those talks were launched 11 years ago and are nowhere near concluding. The big powers are anxious to use any opportunity to boost their economic performance.
  A US-EU working group was established in 2011 to discuss the prospect of a free-trade agreement.
  Low tariffsEU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht told the BBC that free trade between the US and the EU had been under discussion for several years, and said he hoped talks would begin in the summer.
  But he admitted that the negotiations would be "difficult" and "complex", but he warned: "As the two biggest economies in the world, failure is not an option."
  The EU says the deal will focus on bringing down remaining tariffs and other barriers to trade, and standardise technical regulations and certifications.
  Currently the US and EU impose relatively low tariffs on goods traded between them, but analysts say other barriers are often in place to prevent European companies competing in the US and vice versa.
  One example is found in the car industry, where the EU and the US employ equally strict - but differing - safety standards, meaning that European car makers must meet both before they can sell cars in the US market, putting them at a disadvantage.
  Mr De Gucht estimates that such barriers are equivalent to a traditional imports tariff of 10-20%.
  Rise of ChinaAgriculture is also likely to be a significant bone of contention. The European farming industry is already heavily subsidised through the Common Agricultural Policy, and the European agriculture minister has already expressed reservations about the impact a free-trade deal might have.
  The US government is also likely to come under pressure from domestic businesses who have in the past called for protectionist measures to prevent the market from being swamped by cheaper Chinese imports.
  The EU has already said that certain "sensitive" sectors will require more negotiation but said no sectors would be excluded from the deal completely.
  The chief European economist at Barclays, Philippe Gudin, suggested that the emergence of China as an economic power along with other emerging markets has encouraged the US and Europe to unify in order to remain economic leaders.
  Mr De Gucht denied that they were seeking to combat Chinese growth, saying: "We are the leading economies and it's important that we remain the leaders, but in a way that allows others to develop."
  Steve Davies from the Institute of Economic Affairs, a think tank, said he believed the economic crisis in Europe was a far more important factor.
  "It's happening now because there has been seriously depressed growth in the EU, and this will be good news for economic growth," he said.
  "On the American side, the critical factor is that Obama is now in his second term, so he doesn't have the protectionist pressures from US businesses to worry about."
This GIF of Obama's Exploding Bipartisan Fist Bump Is the State of the Union Highlight
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:49
  By Max Read, Feb 12, 2013 10:11 PM
  This is President Obama doing an exploding fist bump with someone Sen. Mark Kirk (R - Ill.), who had a stroke in 2012, after the president's arrival and before his speech. That's right: not just an exploding fist bump, an exploding fist bump with a Republican. The state of our union is dope, y'all.
  [Thanks to Jonathon Heide for spotting this!]
  Next story >>
Despite Planned Troop Withdrawal, Special Ops & Private Forces Prepare to Continue Afghan War
  Link to Article
  Source: What Jamie Flarity is reading.
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:47
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Topic","link":"/topics/elena_kagan"},{"label":"Environment","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/environment"},{"label":"Eve Ensler","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/eve_ensler"},{"label":"Expanding The Debate","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/expanding_the_debate"},{"label":"extreme weather","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/extreme_weather"},{"label":"Famine","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/famine"},{"label":"FBI","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/fbi"},{"label":"FCC","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A 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Topic","link":"/topics/freedom_of_the_press"},{"label":"Fukushima","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/fukushima"},{"label":"Gabor Mat\u00e9","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/gabor_mat"},{"label":"Gay Rights","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/gay_rights"},{"label":"Gaza","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/gaza"},{"label":"Gaza Flotilla","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/flotilla"},{"label":"George Weller","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/george_weller"},{"label":"Glenn Greenwald","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/glenn_greenwald"},{"label":"Global Warming","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/global_warming"},{"label":"Global Warrming","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/global_warrming"},{"label":"Goldman Sachs","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/goldman_sachs"},{"label":"Goldstone","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/goldstone"},{"label":"Greece","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/greece"},{"label":"Green Party","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/green_party"},{"label":"Green scare","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/green_scare"},{"label":"Green Zone","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/green_zone"},{"label":"Ground Zero workers","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/ground_zero_workers"},{"label":"Guantanamo","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/guantanamo"},{"label":"Guatemala","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/guatemala"},{"label":"Gun Control","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/gun_control"},{"label":"Hacking","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/hacking"},{"label":"Hacktivism","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/hacktivism"},{"label":"Haiti","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/haiti"},{"label":"Haiti Earthquake","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/haiti_earthquake"},{"label":"Hamas","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/hamas"},{"label":"Harry Belafonte","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/harry_belafonte"},{"label":"Healthcare","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/healthcare"},{"label":"Hiroshima","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/hiroshima"},{"label":"Hiroshima Nagasaki","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A 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Topic","link":"/topics/hurricane"},{"label":"Hurricane Katrina","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/hurricane_katrina"},{"label":"Hurricane Sandy","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/hurricane_sandy"},{"label":"Immigrant Rights","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/immigrant_rights"},{"label":"Immigration","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/immigration"},{"label":"Indigenous","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/indigenous"},{"label":"Indonesia","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/indonesia"},{"label":"Internet","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/internet"},{"label":"Iowa","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/iowa"},{"label":"Iran","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/iran"},{"label":"Iraq","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/iraq"},{"label":"Islam","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/islam"},{"label":"Israel","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/israel"},{"label":"Israel \u0026 Palestine","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/israel_and_palestine"},{"label":"Japan","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/japan"},{"label":"Japan 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Korea","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/north_korea"},{"label":"Norway","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/norway"},{"label":"Nuclear Power","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/nuclear_power"},{"label":"NYPD Muslim Spy Program","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/nypd_muslim_spy_program"},{"label":"Obama","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/obama"},{"label":"Occupy Wall Street","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/occupy_wall_street"},{"label":"Ocean","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/ocean"},{"label":"Offshore Drilling","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/offshore_drilling"},{"label":"Ohio","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/ohio"},{"label":"Olympics","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/olympics"},{"label":"Open Source","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/open_source"},{"label":"Osama bin Laden","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/osama_bin_laden"},{"label":"Oscars","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/oscars_2010"},{"label":"Pakistan","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/pakistan"},{"label":"Palestine","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/palestine"},{"label":"Paul Ryan","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/paul_ryan"},{"label":"Peru","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/peru"},{"label":"Pipeline","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/pipeline"},{"label":"Police","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/police"},{"label":"Police brutality","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/police_brutality"},{"label":"poor","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/poor"},{"label":"Poverty","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/poverty"},{"label":"PR Industry","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/pr_industry"},{"label":"prison","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/prison"},{"label":"Private Contractors","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/private_contractors"},{"label":"privatization","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/privatization"},{"label":"Protests","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/protests"},{"label":"Psychology and Justice","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/psychology_and_justice"},{"label":"PTSD","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/ptsd"},{"label":"Puerto Rico","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/puerto_rico"},{"label":"Race in America","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/race_in_america"},{"label":"Rachel Corrie","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/rachel_corrie"},{"label":"racism","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/racism"},{"label":"Red Cross","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/red_cross"},{"label":"Regulation","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/regulation"},{"label":"Republican","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/republican"},{"label":"Republican Party","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/republican_party"},{"label":"Rick Perry","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/rick_perry"},{"label":"Right Livelihood Award","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/right_livelihood_award"},{"label":"right-wing militias","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/right_wing_militias"},{"label":"Rio+20","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/rio_20"},{"label":"RNC 2008","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/rnc_2008"},{"label":"RNC 2012","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/rnc_2012"},{"label":"Robert Redford","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/robert_redford"},{"label":"Rolling Rebellions","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/rolling_rebellions"},{"label":"Russia","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/russia"},{"label":"Rwanda","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/rwanda"},{"label":"Saudi Arabia","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/saudi_arabia"},{"label":"School of the Americas","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/school_of_the_americas"},{"label":"SEC","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/sec"},{"label":"Secure Communities","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/secure_communities"},{"label":"September 11","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/september_11"},{"label":"Sharif Abdel Kouddous","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/sharif_kouddous"},{"label":"Shirley Sherrod","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/shirley_sherrod"},{"label":"Sikh","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/sikh"},{"label":"Social Security","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/social_security"},{"label":"Soldier Suicides","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/soldier_suicides"},{"label":"solitary confinement","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/solitary_confinement"},{"label":"Somalia","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/somalia"},{"label":"South Africa","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/south_africa"},{"label":"South Korea","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/south_korea"},{"label":"Spain","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/spain"},{"label":"Sports \u0026 Politics","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/sports"},{"label":"State of the Union","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/state_of_the_union"},{"label":"Stop and Frisk","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/stop_frisk"},{"label":"Students","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/students"},{"label":"Sundance Film Festival","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/sundance_film_festival"},{"label":"Supreme Court","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/supreme_court"},{"label":"Syria","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/syria"},{"label":"Tar Sands","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/tar_sands"},{"label":"Tax Havens","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/tax_havens"},{"label":"tax reform","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/tax_reform"},{"label":"Taxes","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/taxes"},{"label":"Tea Party","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/tea_party"},{"label":"Telecommunications","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/telecommunications"},{"label":"Texas","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/texas"},{"label":"Tibet","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/tibet"},{"label":"Torture","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/torture"},{"label":"Trayvon Martin","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/trayvon_martin"},{"label":"Troy Davis","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/troy_davis"},{"label":"Tuition","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/tuition"},{"label":"Turkey","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/turkey"},{"label":"U.S. Economy","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/us_economy"},{"label":"U.S. Hikers Freed from Iran","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/us_hikers"},{"label":"U.S. Labor Protests","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/us_labor_protests"},{"label":"Uganda","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/uganda"},{"label":"Undocumented","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/undocumented"},{"label":"unemployment","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/unemployment"},{"label":"Unions","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/unions"},{"label":"United Nations","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/united_nations"},{"label":"USA PATRIOT Act","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/usa_patriot_act"},{"label":"USPS","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/usps"},{"label":"Verizon","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/verizon"},{"label":"Vermont","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/vermont"},{"label":"Veterans","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/veterans"},{"label":"Voting","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/voting"},{"label":"Wall Street","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/wall_street"},{"label":"Wangari Maathai","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/wangari_maathai"},{"label":"War","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/war"},{"label":"War on Terror","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/war_on_terror"},{"label":"water","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/water"},{"label":"West Memphis Three","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/west_memphis_three"},{"label":"Western Sahara","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/western_sahara"},{"label":"Whistleblowers","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/whistleblowers"},{"label":"White power","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/white_power"},{"label":"Wikileaks","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/wikileaks"},{"label":"Wiretapping","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/wiretapping"},{"label":"Wisconsin","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/wisconsin"},{"label":"Women's Health","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/womens_health"},{"label":"Women's Rights ","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/womens_rights"},{"label":"Women\u2019s Rights","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/womens_rights"},{"label":"Working Class","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/working_class"},{"label":"World Peoples' Summit on Climate Change","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/world_peoples_summit_on_climate_change"},{"label":"WTO","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/wto"},{"label":"Yemen","data-clicky-href":"#widget/topics/find","data-clicky-title":"Widget: Find A Topic","link":"/topics/yemen"}]
Iran's photoshop team hard at work
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:05
  Iran photo shop artists are at it again. This time they didn't just put Iran's supposed new stealth jet on a show floor, they have it flying over Mount Damavand.
  The staff at GizModo took notice and quickly tracked down the stock photo at PickyWallpapers'‹.com that was then featured in the media blitz for Iran's supposed Qaher 313 stealth fighter.
  We've been here before. On Feb. 2, Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iran Defense Ministry Ahmad Vahidi were supposedly on hand when the Iranians rolled out the Qaher 313. Plenty of flaws were found in the supposed fighter to include the cockpit and the lack of rivets on the aircraft.
  These new photos only go further to confirm the hoax.
  Iran's military has been keeping the photo shop team in Iran busy for awhile now. Who can forget in 2008 when Iran bolstered a supposed missile test by photo shopping a few extra missiles into the frame?
  February 13th, 2013 | Air, Air Force, Iran | 193272 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fdefensetech.org%2F2013%2F02%2F13%2Firans-photo-shop-team-hard-at-work%2FIran%27s+photoshop+team+hard+at+work2013-02-13+15%3A44%3A41Mike+Hoffmanhttp%3A%2F%2Fdefensetech.org%2F%3Fp%3D19327
CNN's Chris Cuomo Hypes Rubio Water Bottle With Instant Replay
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:41
  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.
Schiff: Sequester is 'Best Thing We Could Have'
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:33
  Talk radio host and deficit hawk superstar, Peter Schiff, couldn't disagree more with President Obama's contention, made in last night's State of the Union address, that the sequester is dangerous and must be avoided.
  In fact, Schiff thinks the sequester is absolutely necessary and that its current proposal is too small.
  MRCTV talked to Schiff via Skype to get his reaction to what the President said on Tuesday night.
Olieconcern Total ziet winst stijgen
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:23
  De Franse oliemaatschappij Total heeft in het vierde kwartaal van 2012 haar winst zien stijgen tot 3,1 miljard euro. Een jaar eerder bedroeg de winst nog 2,7 miljard. Dat maakte de op twee na grootste oliemaatschappij van Europa woensdag bekend.
  Analisten hadden gemiddeld verwacht dat de winst zou uitkomen op 3 miljard euro. De omzet ging met 5 procent omhoog naar 49,8 miljard euro. De productie daalde in het afgelopen kwartaal met 4 procent op jaarbasis tot 2,293 miljoen vaten olie-equivalent per dag. Dat kwam onder meer door het gaslek op het boorplatform Elgin in de Noordzee in het voorjaar van 2012, waardoor het platform moest worden ontruimd.
  De productie bij Elgin wordt nog dit kwartaal weer volledig opgestart, aldus Total. Het bedrijf mikt voor 2017 op een productie van 3 miljoen vaten olie-equivalent per dag.
Duits onderwijsminister treedt af na plagiaatschandaal
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:22
  De Duitse minister van Onderwijs en Wetenschappen Annette Schavan, een partijgenote van bondskanselier Angela Merkel, treedt af nadat ze de voorbije dagen onder druk kwam te staan wegens beschuldigingen over diplomafraude.
  Tijdens een gezamenlijke persconferentie verklaarde Merkel het ontslag van Schavan te aanvaarden 'met een zwaar hart', maar ze prees de CDU-politica nog om haar verwezenlijkingen tijdens haar 17-jaar durende politieke carri¨re.
  Vorige dinsdag besliste een panel van de Heinrich Heine universiteit van D¼sseldorf Shavan haar doctoraatstitel te ontnemen, nadat gebleken was dat ze in 1980 haar doctorstitel verwierf wegens 'systematisch en opzettelijk' plagiaat in haar proefschrift. Volgens de universiteit beging ze citaatinbreuken en vermeldde ze bronnen niet correct.
  'Heb geen bedrog gepleegd'
  Vorige week verklaarde de CDU-politica nog niet van plan te zijn af te treden. Zaterdag herhaalde Schavan wel de beslissing van de universiteit juridisch te zullen aanvechten. 'Ik heb niet gekopieerd noch bedrog gepleegd', zo zei ze. 'De beschuldigingen hebben me diep getroffen'.
  Schavan is na de voormalige Defensieminister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg het tweede regeringslid van kanselier Angela Merkel dat wegens plagiaat een doctorale graad wordt ontnomen. Ironisch genoeg was Schavan destijds een van de felste critici voor zu Guttenberg.
  Schavans opvolger wordt wellicht Johanna Wanka (61), voormalig CDU-minister voor Wetenschappen voor de Duitse deelstaten Brandenburg en Nedersaksen.
  Het aftreden van Schavan is voor Merkel alweer een tegenslag in de aanloop naar de Bondsdagverkiezingen in september van dit jaar.
Getting A Car Loan Might Someday Depend On How Well-Updated Your LinkedIn Page Is
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 18:35
  Are your LinkedIn connections a good representation of your creditworthiness?
  Whether they admit to it or now, we all know that some employers and schools stalk applicants' Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and all the other ways in which someone can make a fool of himself online. But should your social media connections be involved in applying for a loan?The Economist recently looked at the new ways in which lenders are looking beyond bank and tax records to consider an applicant's ability to pay back a loan.
  There's a start-up called Neo that uses applicants' online interactions to help lenders decide whether to make the loan. For example, it can use LinkedIn as a way to verify the accuracy of an applicant's employment record. It also looks at that person's professional connections to judge his or her ''character and capacity'' to repay the loan. The company says these searches are done with the applicant's permission.
  But there's not much to stop anyone at the bank from simply checking your profile out, so either keep it up to date or make it as private as possible.
  Then there's ZestFinance, which has created a loan underwriting algorithm it claims has a default rate 40% lower than that of your average payday lender. The company accumulates all manner of data about potential borrowers, from what they write on Facebook to how they type their words out (do they capitalize or go the all-lower-case route?).
  ''We feel like all data is credit data, we just don't know how to use it yet,'' the company's CEO, who used to run Google's internal information systems, told the NY Times last year. ''This is the math we all learned at Google. A page was important for what was on it, but also for how good the grammar was, what the type font was, when it was created or edited. Everything. What Gil is doing at Factual is the same. Data matters. More data is always better.''
  Overseas, a company called Kreditech asks applicants to allow for temporary access to their Facebook account. The company's founder says it can judge creditworthiness by a borrower's Facebook pals. If the friends have good jobs and live in nice areas, it's a plus. Friends who have defaulted on loans are not good.
  Movenbank uses info gleaned from Facebook to tweak users' credit card rates. Say nice things about the bank to your friends, and see your rate drop.
  The Economist points out that big banks are likely to stay out of this Facebook-scanning stuff for now, letting the smaller banks deal with the legal hurdles that will inevitably be put in their way.
  Citibank's head of social media Frank Eliason (you might remember him as Comcast Frank), says that using social media interactions to judge whether a borrower is creditworthy is ''a dangerous game.''
  And we couldn't agree more. While there might be validity to some of these companies' theories and methods, there's a slippery slope involved here.
  Merrill and his ilk are operating under the misguided notion that just because you can measure and track someone's behavior, that means you should measure and track that behavior. Should lenders start asking about TV preferences and judging applicants based on whether they watch Animal Planet vs. HGTV? What about the repayment behavior of science-fiction fans vs. chick lit readers '-- and what of those people who enjoy both?
  And while there may be hundreds of millions of Facebook accounts, there are still hundreds of millions of people without one '-- and plenty of account-holders who have stopped using the site. These social-media-mining methods of underwriting a loan seem to gloss over this fact.
  The fact is that the housing bubble didn't happen because Countrywide was failing to amass oodles of granular data about each borrower's social media interactions. It failed because Countrywide and other lenders were knowingly handing out loans to people that tried-and-true underwriting methods showed were unable to repay.
Chinese Workers'--in Greenland? - Businessweek
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 18:34
  At remote encampments near the Arctic Circle on the island of Greenland, thousands of Chinese laborers toil to build a vast iron ore mine. It sounds farfetched. But climate change, Greenland's thirst for economic development, and China's appetite for minerals could soon make it possible.
  Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish protectorate with a mostly Inuit population of 57,000, is courting foreign investors to tap mineral deposits that are becoming more accessible as rising temperatures shrink the island's ice cap. In one of the most ambitious projects, a British company wants to open a $2.3 billion iron ore mine that would be financed, built, and operated mainly by the Chinese. The company, London Mining (LOND), has talked with a state-owned mining company in China's Sichuan Province about financing the project, although no agreement has been reached. Plans call for exporting most of the mine's output to China.
  Greenland's semiautonomous government supports the project. The island's parliament last year passed a law to set up legal mechanisms for developing large mining projects, including the granting of labor permits to an estimated 2,300 migrant Chinese workers who would build the mine.
  Greenland ''is not a rich society,'' Prime Minister Minister Kuupik Kleist told journalists at a recent briefing in Copenhagan. ''We need to establish new, significant economic activities'' to supplement income from fishing and from aid provided by Denmark, which now supplies 40 percent of the island's annual revenue. ''The obvious opportunities are within the sector of mineral resources,'' he said.
  Not all Kleist's countrymen share his enthusiasm. The opposition Siumut party, which now holds nine of 31 seats in the Greenland parliament, has said it will scrap the new law if it wins scheduled parliamentary elections on March 11. Siumut leaders, who have support from labor union leaders in Denmark, have warned that an influx of foreign workers could depress wages and disrupt the traditional way of life. The government says its legislation would require Chinese employees to be paid at least the current minimum wage on the island. Kleist said most foreign workers would live in isolated camps and would have little interacton with Greenlanders.
  Along with the proposed iron mine, the government has granted exploration licenses to companies interested in scores of other projects, including proposed mines for uranium and rare-earth minerals. Alcoa has voiced the idea of building an aluminium smelter in Greenland, although the company has not decided whether to proceed with the plan.
  Rare-earth elements, used in manufacturing computers and other high-tech items, could make Greenland a flashpoint for tensions between China and Europe. The European Union has urged Greenland to restrict Chinese development of rare-earth projects there, as China already accounts for 95 percent of the world's rare-earth mineral supply. The Greenland government, however, has said that it has no plans to give preference to Europeans over Chinese in developing rare-earth resources.
  In a recent paper entitled ''Greenland'--China's Foothold in Europe,'' analyst Paula Briscoe of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York warned that increased Chinese influence in Greenland ''could help buy Beijing a proxy vote in Arctic matters.'' China's Arctic ambitions include not only natural resources but also fishing rights and shipping routes, she wrote. ''If Greenland, lured by the promise of investments and earlier autonomy from Denmark, allows itself to be overwhelmed by foreign companies, then China in particular could use its economic influence to Beijing's advantage.''
The Numbers Station Official Trailer #1 (2013) - Malin Akerman, John Cusack Movie HD
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 18:28
Keiser Report: Monopolies, Military, Mayhem (E334)
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  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:57
Shocking Alien Fears Force Pope From Office
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  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:50
  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)
  February 13, 2013
  Shocking Alien Fears Force Pope From Office
  By:Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
  A stunning Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) report prepared for President Putin, which is circulating in the Kremlin today, states that Pope Benedict XVI was forced to resign this past week over Catholic Church fears that this 85-year-old leader of over 1 billion Christians was ''mentally and physically unprepared'' to deal with the coming revelation about the truth of alien beings.
  In our 22 January report, Russia Orders Obama: Tell World About Aliens, Or We Will, we detailed how the issue of extraterrestrial beings was brought to the forefront of the World Economic Forum (WEF) with the naming in their 2013 Executive Summary of the danger posed to our world over the discovery of alien life with their stating: ''Proof of life elsewhere in the universe could have profound psychological implications for human belief systems.''
  Also noted in our previous report were Prime Minister Medvedev's 7 December 2012 off-air comments to reporters which were recorded and wherein he stated: ''Along with the briefcase with nuclear codes, the president of the country is given a special 'top secret' folder. This folder in its entirety contains information about aliens who visited our planet'... Along with this, you are given a report of the absolutely secret special service that exercises control over aliens on the territory of our country'... More detailed information on this topic you can get from a well-known movie called Men In Black'... I will not tell you how many of them are among us because it may cause panic.''
  Spurring Pope Benedict XVI to become the first leader of the Catholic Church to resign in nearly 600 years, this MFA report says, was the appearance over Los Cristianos, Spain on 21 August 2011 of the long prophesized ''bird of prey'' interplanetary spacecraft, and which was followed nearly 3 weeks ago with a fleet of them appearing in the skies over Mexico City.
  To fully understand the significance of these ''bird of prey'' UFO's, this report continues, files relating to the 27 September 1989 Voronezh Incident must be studied in length, especially as it relates to the ''messages'' delivered to eyewitnesses from the ''giants''.
  In an 11 October 1989 New York Times article about the Voronezh Incident titled U.F.O. Landing Is Fact, Not Fantasy, the Russians Insist it says:
  ''It is not a joke, nor a hoax, nor a sign of mental instability, nor an attempt to drum up local tourism by drawing the curious, the Soviet press agency Tass insisted today in discussions of what it called an extraterrestrial visit to southern Russia.
  Residents of the city of Voronezh insisted today that lanky, three-eyed extraterrestrial creatures had indeed landed in a local park and gone for a stroll and that a seemingly fantastic report about the event carried Monday by the official press agency Tass was absolutely true.
  The three-eyed creature, about nine feet tall and fashionably dressed in silvery overalls and bronze boots and with a disk on its chest, disappeared, then landed and came out for a promenade with a companion and a robot.
  The aliens seemed to communicate with each other, producing the mysterious appearance of a shining triangle, and activated the robot with a touch.''
  Regarding these ''messages'' from the Voronezh ''giants'', this MFA report says, was the warning to human beings that when these ''bird of prey'' UFO's descend upon Earth the whole planet will be in peril.
  The Voronezh ''giants'' further related, this report says, that the alien beings associated with these ''bird of prey'' UFO's were the cause of the 14 April 1561 massive ''sky battle'' over Nuremberg, Germany which was depicted in a famous 16th century woodcut by Hans Glaser [photo 3rd left] and described by the residents as: ''A very frightful spectacle.'' ''The sky appeared to fill with cylindrical objects from which red, black, orange and blue white disks and globes emerged. Crosses and tubes resembling cannon barrels also appeared whereupon the objects promptly began to fight one another.''
  Important to note is that the Catholic Christian faith headed by Pope Benedict XVI, as well as nearly every other religion on Earth, all prophesize in their teachings a time when the ''gods'' will return to our planet and engage in a battle that could very well bring our entire planet to the brink of destruction.
  Equally important to note about Pope Benedict XVI's shock resignation is how it eerily compares with Saint Malachy, who as an Irish saint and Archbishop of Armagh, in the 12th Century, received a vision of 112 Popes later attributed to the apocalyptic list of Prophecy of the Popes. He was the first Irish saint to be canonized by Pope Clement III in 1199.
  American authors Tom Horn and Cris Putnam in their 2012 book ''Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope is Here'' about Saint Malachy's prophecies told interviewers last Spring that Pope Benedict XVI would resign by late 2012, or early 2013, and described the next Pope to follow as ''Petrus Romanus,'' or ''Peter the Roman,'' writing: ''In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock among many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people.''
  Though the masses of people reading of the things this report contains will, undoubtedly, ridicule them, the same cannot be said of the elite moneyed classes who, even at this writing, are protecting themselves from ''something'' at such a fever-pitched pace it is destabilizing the entire global economy, and as exampled by the highly respected Zero Hedge news service in their article titled ''What Do They Know That We Don't?'' and which, in part, says:
  ''Friday evening when no one was supposed to pay attention, Google announced that Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt would sell 3.2 million of his Google shares in 2013, 42% of the 7.6 million shares he owned at the end of last year'--after having already sold 1.8 million shares in 2012. But why would he sell 5 million shares, about 53% of his holdings, with Google stock trading near its all-time high?
  ''Part of his long-term strategy for individual asset diversification and liquidity,'' Google mollified us, according to the Wall Street Journal. Soothing words.Nothing but ''a routine diversification of assets.''
  Routine? He didn't sell any in 2008 as the market was crashing. He didn't sell at the bottom in early 2009. And he didn't sell during the rest of 2009 as Google shares were soaring, nor in 2010, as they continued to soar. In 2011, he eased out of about 300,000 shares, a mere rounding error in his holdings. But in 2012, he opened the valves, and in 2013, he'd open the floodgates. So it's not ''routine.''
  Mr. Schmidt isn't alone. Corporate insiders were ''aggressively selling their shares,'' reported Mark Hulbert. And they were doing so ''at an alarming pace.'' The buy sell-to-buy ratio had risen to 9.2-to-1; insiders had sold over 9 times as many shares as they'd bought. They'd been aggressive sellers for weeks.
  Instantly, soothing voices were heard: ''don't be alarmed,'' they said. But Mr. Schmidt and his colleagues at the top of corporate America, multi-billionaires many of them, are immensely well connected, not only to each other but also to the Fed, whose twelve regional Federal Reserve Banks they own and control.''
  To why Google Chairman Schmidt did not attend this years World Economic Forum, where the danger of aliens was being discussed, opting instead for a visit to North Korea (who announced yesterday that they had exploded another nuclear weapon) and when coupled with the information contained in this MFA report, is far from being ''soothing'', and is, instead, something well all should be very alarmed about as the end is much nearer than the beginning as those with ''eyes to see'' and ''ears to hear'' already know.
  February 13, 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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4409 -- LAPD Intentionally Burn man Alive "POLICE SCANNER"
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:49
The Difference Between Hot And Cold Tear Gas OR How The LAPD Executed Christopher Dorner
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  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:48
Dark Reading - NEWS & ANALYSIS
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:45
  Posted on Tuesday Feb 12th at 8:39am
  A few months after RSA had rocked the security world with news that it had been breached and its SecurID database exposed in a sophisticated attack, defense contractor Lockheed Martin discovered an intruder in its network using legitimate credentials."We almost missed it," says Steve Adegbite, director of cybersecurity for Lockheed Martin, of the intrusion sometime around May or early June 2011. "We thought at first it was a new person in the department ... but then it became really interesting."
  The poser was using valid credentials of one of Lockheed's business partners, including the user's SecurID token. Adegbite says it soon became obvious that this user wasn't performing his or her normal operations. "They tripped a lot of alarms," he says. "They were trying to pull data in stages," and the attacker was going after data unrelated to the user's work he or she was impersonating, he says.
  So Lockheed launched its homegrown Cyber Kill Chain framework, a process that basically tracks an intruder's movements and throws barriers in the way of each attempt to siphon data out of the network. Adegbite detailed this multimillion-dollar framework for stopping advanced persistent threat (APT) attackers last week at the Kaspersky Security Analyst Summit in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The Kill Chain aims to stop the attackers who get inside from taking anything with them on the way out.
  Adegbite says the bad guys came up empty-handed in this post-RSA SecurID attack. "No information was lost. If not for this framework [Kill Chain], we would have had issues," Adegbite says. Lockheed's data leakage prevention system, which is one layer of the Kill Chain, also denies even authenticated users access to information if they don't have a valid reason to access it, he notes.
  [Worries still linger of future attacks, but experts hope the event shook industry out of black-and-white security mentality. See Gauging The Long-Term Effects Of RSA's Breach. ]
  The key to the Kill Chain framework is intelligence-driven defense. "We look at what they are trying to do and focus on whatever their objectives are ... and cut off their objectives," he says. "I can still defend the doors, but I'm not going to sit there and put all my efforts there."
  Lockheed's network is huge: There are more than 3 million IP addresses and 123,000 employees across 570 locations in 60 countries, and it's obviously a juicy target for cyberespionage attacks. "We have had a lot of adversaries showing up at our door with a lot of resources. So we had to go from a SOC [security operations center] to become a security intelligence center," he says.
  "It can be a canary in a coal mine when things are going wrong in the network," Adegbite says. "Or you can use it to justify investments in the network."
  It's a battle of wits: Lockheed uses tools, analytics, and manpower to think like the attacker and to observe his movements. "An attacker only has one time to be right to get that information out of the network," Adegbite says.
  These attackers typically operate in a half-dozen steps: reconnaissance, weaponization, delivery, exploitation, installation of malware, and command and control of the infected machine or machines, he says. "The goal of the Kill Chain is to make sure they don't get to step 7 and exfiltrate," he says.
  Most of these targeted attacks are not isolated, of course: They are typically waged in campaigns, he says. "If you see them all in a comprehensive way, that helps," Adegbite says. "These guys are human: They take off holidays. You can use that information -- that human intelligence" in the Kill Chain, as well, he says. Certain groups operate during certain times of year, for instance, so Lockheed can plan its defense resources accordingly, based on that type of intelligence.
  And Lockheed flexed its procurement muscle to get security vendors on board to enhance their products for the Kill Chain requirements, according to Adegbite.
  But the Cyber Kill Chain framework isn't for everyone. "We have a multimillion-dollar investment in this technology. It's only if you have the profile for an APT" type attack, he says.
  Lockheed suffered at least one other attempted attack around the same time, in the wake of the big RSA hack. Some security experts attributed that one to the fallout from RSA's SecurID breach. RSA later offered replacement SecurID tokens to its customers as a precaution, but Lockheed never confirmed that it was a result of the RSA breach, according to Adegbite.
San Bernardino County Sheriff Standoff with C. Dorner : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
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  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:34
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  Scanner audio captured during the standoff with Charles Dorner - fire begins approx. 25 mins in.
  This audio is part of the collection:Community AudioIt also belongs to collection:
  Date:2013-02-12Keywords:Charles Dorner Standoff; Police Audio
  Creative Commons license:Public Domain Mark 1.0
  FormatSizeDornerStandoff2_files.xmlMetadata[file]DornerStandoff2_meta.xmlMetadata752.0 BDornerStandoff2_reviews.xmlMetadata9.2 KBApple Lossless AudioArchive BitTorrentDornerStandoff 2.m4a32.2 MBDornerStandoff2_archive.torrent6.9 KBReviewer:pmocek - - February 13, 2013Subject: Partial transcriptSelected quotes from the recording:
  26:22 Seven burners deployed, and we have a fire.27:05 Guys, be ready on the #4 side. We have fire in the front and he might come out the back.27:12 Ready.27:20 On the four side, remember your backdrops.28:30 The one side's fully engulfed; fire on the four.28:16 10-4, engulfed29:33 Contact fire to staging, have them bring an engine down here.30:44 14, 10-5-030:56 Control, 61 Lincoln, sounds like one shot fired from inside the residence.31:00 Copy: One shot fired from inside the residence. Confirm you still want fire to roll in?31:04 Roll in at stage.31:17 Copy. They're staged at [inaudible] and 38.31:14 Fire will be staged at the first contact with the first armored unit down there.31:26 61 Lincoln to all perimeter units: Stand by, maintain your discipline31:51 12-61 Lincoln, 1-2 corner fully engulfed31:55 Copy, 1-2 corner fully engulfed.32:46 61 Lincoln, we have ammo exploding inside32:52 Copy, ammo exploding inside.36:09 [inaudible] Status check?36:14 I'm code four. I'm on the four side. Over.36:18 Copy. Do we have, uh, do we have fire back there yet?36:24 [inaudible] I'm on the number four side, fully engulfed36:34 [inaudible] Two and four side fully engulfed. Fire moving to three now.36:37 Copy, number two and four fully engulfed.38:36 [inaudible] Is there any propane cylinders or anything back there we need to be aware of?38:47 No, not that I can see from my position38:52 Copy. Thanks. Break. Guys on the #3 side: Any propane tanks visible?39:02 [inaudible] We [inaudible] propane tanks on the backside39:33 62-10-1 to control, confirming that fire's been notified to come down this way?39:39 Fire was staging just a [inaudible]39:57 Do you need them closer?40:16 61-Lincoln, 61-Charlie.40:20 Go ahead, [inaudible].40:21 Do we want to have, uh, fire start putting water on it once the roof starts to settle down a bit, and, uh, like it's starting to collapse?40:29 Affirm, uh, gimme me some time, here. We're not quite there. We still have the, uh, 2-3 corner, there, that's still vulnerable.40:37 10-4, We're just bringing fire in about 200 yards out. Your call.40:40 Copy.40:46 [inaudible]40:47 Go, Tim.41:04 [inaudible] Is there still a lot of room on the 3-4 corner that's not engulfed yet?41:11 Copy, thanks Tim. 3-4 corner, there's a lot of room left. I copy.42:45 Control 61-Lincoln. We still have ammo going off in the fire.42:49 61-Lincoln: copy.46:10 [inaudible]46:12 George-2.46:22 [inaudible] Get everybody over here.46:37 61-George-246:47 [inaudible] your status?46:53 61-Lincoln [inaudible]46:57 We just had open mike, it sounded like some time of commotion. Just checking your status.47:04 [inaudible]47:09 Okay.47:33 [inaudible] Monroe47:39 John, uh, how's that fire doing on the back west side?47:43 It's taking its dear sweet time to get there. This thing's well-constructed. Uh, we don't even have any roof uh [inaudible] not ready for those reasons and I still have ammo popping here.47:58 Fire48:00 Monroe48:02 Break. 61-Lincoln, 61-Charlie. You ready for fire?48:08 61-Lincoln, 61-Charlie: That's negative. I still don't have adequate penetration on the 2-3 or the 3-4, and I still live ammo popping.48:29 Lights off, please.49:07 [inaudible] no way49:09 Open mike.49:27 61-Charlie, 61-Lincoln: [inaudible] from your vantage point, you can see how it's, uh, containing itself quite well. Can you see that I don't have adequate penetration on the 2-3 yet?49:39 Yeah, I don't see that, uh, corner yet. I'm leaving it to your call, John.49:42 Copy that.50:14 [inaudible] Monroe50:20 Go ahead, Jeff.50:25 We got the, uh, Dodge truck [inaudible] slide down the hill. Did you want that cleared?50:35 Let's, uh, hold until we start mop-up with fire.50:42 I want to hold the permiter until, uh, 61-Lincoln makes the call.50:50 Copy.51:32 10-1351:42 [inaudible] relay there's [inaudible] fire [inaudible] 3-4 corner51:48 Fire on the 3-4 corner?51:54 Yeah, that's [inaudible]51:58 61-Lincoln, the fire is [inaudible] I'm still not ready for fire, um. Fire is moving [inaudible]... but we still have a lot of smoldering. So just stand by.52:11 Copy.53:05 [inaudible] How we doing back there?53:13 Uh, [inaudible] the, uh, 1-4 corner.53:22 [inaudible] down to the 3-4?53:32 I can drive around that way if you want me to.53:41 [inaudible]52:49 Last traffic was unreadable at [inaudible]53:56 Copy [inaudible]53:58 Fully engulfed.54:01 [inaudible] copy. 3-4 is fully-engulfed.54:10 [inaudible] Luke?54:14 More ammo going off.54:16 Copy, more ammo going off.54:23 Luke?54:24 Go.54:25 Hey, John, if these, uh, cabins have [inaudible] areas? Something to consider.54:33 Affirmative, I'm told that there's basement in the cabin. So as a precaution, since the fire's self-containing itself I'm going to let that heat burn through that basement.54:43 [inaudible] good call.55:22 Lincoln [inaudible]55:32 Battalion 1-3155:50 Battalion 1-31, if you didn't copy, we're not ready for you yet. We've got live ammo going off.56:00 Yeah, I did copy that. I just wanted to give some information, that, uh. [inaudible] I have a fire seargent that was raised in that building and uh he's familiar with [inaudible] suspect [inaudible]56:21 61-Lincoln, did you copy that?56:22 Negative [inaudible]56:23 Batallion chief is advising there was a firefighter raised in that residence and he's advising the basement is 12 by 15.56:33 The ceiling of the basement or the floor is wood or concrete?56:48 10-5 Is the basement floor or ceiling wood or concrete?56:57 Batallion chief, can you advise? If the basement floor or ceiling is wood or concrete?57:29 Control 61-Lincoln. Did they advise?57:30 They're advising on another channel, and that's affirmed, the ceiling of the basement is wood.57:43 Control 61-Charlie. Which end of the house is the basement at? North, south, east, west?57:53 North.59:01 61-Lincoln, were you able to ascertain which end of the house that basement is in?59:06 One of our deputies is checking with him now. I'm just waiting for the answer.59:16 61-Lincoln, they're advising the west side.59:21 That's the side that's not, uh, been penetrated by fire yet. Thank you.59:28 10-400:41 61-Charlie, 61-Lincoln. The fire is doing quite well. [inaudible] penetrated the 2-3 or 3-4, where that basement is supposedly located.00:54 [inaudible]01:03 John, standing by for your, uh, request for Fire, whenever you're ready.01:07 Okay, thank you.01:18 [inaudible]01:33 [inaudible]01:36 [inaudible] go for dinner01:45 [inaudible] basement on the 3-4 corner. Still smoke coming out of that window.01:51 You guys with eyes on the back: If you, uh, see something that's catching fire that's not supposed to be, then let me know. But otherwise, let it go.02:05 Control, 61-Charlie02:06 61-Charlie02:09 Whoever's talking to that firefighter who's familiar with this house: Can you also ask him if there'd be any, uh, reason for ammunition to have been in the cabin other than from the suspect?02:23 That's affirm. Will check.02:42 [inaudible]02:50 61-Lincoln, we have, uh, green smoke or gas that just blew out of the burning structure deployed.03:03 Copy. More smoke, gas, uh, deployed by suspect?03:09 Uh, either it blew out of front or it was thrown out.03:12 Copy.03:26 61-Charlie That firefighter RP hasn't been in the residence in years, and he doesn't know.03:33 10-4, thank you.04:33 61-Lincoln, We've got, uh, good penetration with the fire at 2-3 corner. It's still doing quite well, self-containing itself. I'm gonna let it go.04:48 The fire is self-contained, good penetration 2-3 corner.05:35 61-Lincoln.05:38 Go ahead.05:39 We're getting information on 60 police band that there is a propane tank at the rear of the residence near the garage.05:50 Copy. That's gonna be quite a ways from the fire. Should be code four.05:57 Thanks.05:58 Go, Tim.06:01 [inaudible]06:03 You're 10-1. Try again.06:05 [inaudible] propane tank [inaudible]06:10 Copy that.06:44 61-Lincoln. Just info, we're gonna get on 21 with that batallion chief.06:50 Just know the, uh, floor on the number 1-2 corner, which is the east side has collapsed. I don't know if that's where the basement is at, or [inaudible]07:54 61-Lincoln, 61-Sam wants to know how many feet the fire is away from the propane tank.08:00 [inaudible] can you answer that?08:07 10-9?08:12 Nickel. Enter. Can you answer that question?08:14 [inaudible]08:19 Confirming: 70 yard?08:20 [inaudible]08:23 Control, 61-Lincoln, Do you copy 70 yards?08:28 That's affirm, 70 yards. Thank you.09:05 [inaudible] our people are [inaudible] and09:06 Open mike.09:07 That one kid died.09:09 Open mike!09:11 How quick they get that crap out. It was quick. They were getting the news before we were getting it, so we--09:21 Open mike!09:28 mike09:29 Open mike at the press conference.
John Guandolo: CIA Nominee John Brennan Converted To Islam
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  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:32
Steven Spielberg to send 'Lincoln' DVDs to schools
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  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:14
  (C) 'Lincoln' / DreamWorks Pictures
  Steven Spielberg to send 'Lincoln' DVDs to schools
  Feb. 12, 2013, 12:37 PM EST
  WENN
  Steven Spielberg is sending free copies of his historical drama "Lincoln" to schools across the country so students can learn about President Abraham Lincoln.
  DVDs will be distributed to every public and private middle and high school in the country as part of an educational outreach campaign called "Stand Tall: Live Like Lincoln," which urges youngsters to follow in the 16th president's example. A statement from Spielberg reads, "As more and more people began to see the film, we received letters from teachers asking if it could be available in their classrooms. We realized that the educational value that 'Lincoln' could have was not only for the adult audiences -- who have studied his life in history books -- but for the young students in the classroom as well."
  Bing:Academy Awards: 'Lincoln' vs. 'Argo'
  In addition, executives at Participant Media will host special screenings of the Oscars favorite in eight U.S. towns named after Lincoln. They will take place on Tuesday -- the date of the president's birthday. Next month, 15 schools named in Lincoln's honor will also be treated to new equipment, including widescreen TVs, Blu-ray and DVD players, projectors and speakers.
Diane Sawyer References Japanese Kabuki Theatre, Slurs Words
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:09
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National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 16:02
  The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) is a proposal by the Obama administration to create secure online identities for Americans in cyber space. The aim of the proposal, according to Howard Schmidt, the former White House Cybersecurity Coordinator, is to create an 'identity ecosystem' where individuals and organizations can complete online transactions with confidence that the individual who they are conducting business with is not impersonating someone else.
  Schmidt also outlined that the NSTIC would also reduce the need to remember potentially insecure list of usernames and passwords. Schmidt highlighted that enrollment in the 'identity ecosystem' of individuals would be entirely voluntary and individuals can choose whether or not to obtain a credential.[1] The measure also gives individuals control over what private information they use to authenticate themselves over time.[2]
  [edit]BackgroundThe impetus for the policy move by the Obama Administration is part of the Cyberspace Policy Review published in June 2009. The NSTIC proposal was released in draft form in June 2010 along with a website set up by the Department of Homeland Security to elicit feedback and ideas from people.[3] On April 15, 2011, the final draft of NSTIC was released by the White House. In this version of the draft the role of the federal government was toned down and highlighted its role as merely a facilitator in establishing the ecosystem. The effort has to be led by the private-sector.[4]
  [edit]CriticismThe proposal has generated a lot of criticism since it was released in draft form by the White House. A lot of criticism been centered around privacy implications of the proposal.
  Shortly after the draft's release, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, in conjunction with a number of other consumer-rights and civil liberties organizations,[5] sent the Committee a statement in response to the draft NSTIC policy, requesting that the White House provide a clearer and more complete plan to create and safeguard Internet users' rights and privacy.[6]
  The Obama White House released its final NSTIC guidelines in April 2011.[7] While EPIC head, Marc Rotenberg, called NSTIC "historic," he also cautioned that "...online identity is complex problem and the risk of 'cyber-identity theft' with consolidated identity systems is very real. The US will need to do more to protect online privacy."[8]
  [edit]References^Gross, Grant. "White House Officials Push Online Trusted IDs". PC World. PC World Communications Inc.. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/216143/white_house_officials_push_online_trusted_ids.html. Retrieved 13 April 2011.^Schmidt, Howard. "The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace". The White House Blog. http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/25/national-strategy-trusted-identities-cyberspace. Retrieved 13 April 2011.^Whitney, Lance. "White House Drafting Plan for Cyberspace Safety". Politics and Law. Cnet. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-20008998-38.html. Retrieved 15 April 2011.^Montalbano, Elizabeth. "White Houses Issues Online Trusted Identities Plan". Information Week: Government. United Business Media LLC. http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/security/229401701. Retrieved 20 April 2011.^[1]^http://privacy.org/privacy_coalition_comments_trusted_ids.pdf^http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/whitehouse_nstic.cfm^[2][edit]External links
Executive Order -- Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 08:10
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  February 12, 2013
  EXECUTIVE ORDER
  - - - - - - -
  IMPROVING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE CYBERSECURITY
  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
  Section1. Policy. Repeated cyber intrusions into critical infrastructure demonstrate the need for improved cybersecurity. The cyber threat to critical infrastructure continues to grow and represents one of the most serious national security challenges we must confront. The national and economic security of the United States depends on the reliable functioning of the Nation's critical infrastructure in the face of such threats. It is the policy of the United States to enhance the security and resilience of the Nation's critical infrastructure and to maintain a cyber environment that encourages efficiency, innovation, and economic prosperity while promoting safety, security, business confidentiality, privacy, and civil liberties. We can achieve these goals through a partnership with the owners and operators of critical infrastructure to improve cybersecurity information sharing and collaboratively develop and implement risk-based standards.
  Sec. 2. Critical Infrastructure. As used in this order, the term critical infrastructure means systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters.
  Sec. 3. Policy Coordination. Policy coordination, guidance, dispute resolution, and periodic in-progress reviews for the functions and programs described and assigned herein shall be provided through the interagency process established in Presidential Policy Directive-1 of February 13, 2009 (Organization of the National Security Council System), or any successor.
  Sec. 4. Cybersecurity Information Sharing. (a) It is the policy of the United States Government to increase the volume, timeliness, and quality of cyber threat information shared with U.S. private sector entities so that these entities may better protect and defend themselves against cyber threats. Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Homeland Security (the "Secretary"), and the Director of National Intelligence shall each issue instructions consistent with their authorities and with the requirements of section 12(c) of this order to ensure the timely production of unclassified reports of cyber threats to the U.S. homeland that identify a specific targeted entity. The instructions shall address the need to protect intelligence and law enforcement sources, methods, operations, and investigations.
  (b) The Secretary and the Attorney General, in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence, shall establish a process that rapidly disseminates the reports produced pursuant to section 4(a) of this order to the targeted entity. Such process shall also, consistent with the need to protect national security information, include the dissemination of classified reports to critical infrastructure entities authorized to receive them. The Secretary and the Attorney General, in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence, shall establish a system for tracking the production, dissemination, and disposition of these reports.
  (c) To assist the owners and operators of critical infrastructure in protecting their systems from unauthorized access, exploitation, or harm, the Secretary, consistent with 6 U.S.C. 143 and in collaboration with the Secretary of Defense, shall, within 120 days of the date of this order, establish procedures to expand the Enhanced Cybersecurity Services program to all critical infrastructure sectors. This voluntary information sharing program will provide classified cyber threat and technical information from the Government to eligible critical infrastructure companies or commercial service providers that offer security services to critical infrastructure.
  (d) The Secretary, as the Executive Agent for the Classified National Security Information Program created under Executive Order 13549 of August 18, 2010 (Classified National Security Information Program for State, Local, Tribal, and Private Sector Entities), shall expedite the processing of security clearances to appropriate personnel employed by critical infrastructure owners and operators, prioritizing the critical infrastructure identified in section 9 of this order.
  (e) In order to maximize the utility of cyber threat information sharing with the private sector, the Secretary shall expand the use of programs that bring private sector subject-matter experts into Federal service on a temporary basis. These subject matter experts should provide advice regarding the content, structure, and types of information most useful to critical infrastructure owners and operators in reducing and mitigating cyber risks.
  Sec. 5. Privacy and Civil Liberties Protections. (a) Agencies shall coordinate their activities under this order with their senior agency officials for privacy and civil liberties and ensure that privacy and civil liberties protections are incorporated into such activities. Such protections shall be based upon the Fair Information Practice Principles and other privacy and civil liberties policies, principles, and frameworks as they apply to each agency's activities.
  (b) The Chief Privacy Officer and the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shall assess the privacy and civil liberties risks of the functions and programs undertaken by DHS as called for in this order and shall recommend to the Secretary ways to minimize or mitigate such risks, in a publicly available report, to be released within 1 year of the date of this order. Senior agency privacy and civil liberties officials for other agencies engaged in activities under this order shall conduct assessments of their agency activities and provide those assessments to DHS for consideration and inclusion in the report. The report shall be reviewed on an annual basis and revised as necessary. The report may contain a classified annex if necessary. Assessments shall include evaluation of activities against the Fair Information Practice Principles and other applicable privacy and civil liberties policies, principles, and frameworks. Agencies shall consider the assessments and recommendations of the report in implementing privacy and civil liberties protections for agency activities.
  (c) In producing the report required under subsection (b) of this section, the Chief Privacy Officer and the Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties of DHS shall consult with the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and coordinate with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
  (d) Information submitted voluntarily in accordance with 6 U.S.C. 133 by private entities under this order shall be protected from disclosure to the fullest extent permitted by law.
  Sec. 6. Consultative Process. The Secretary shall establish a consultative process to coordinate improvements to the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure. As part of the consultative process, the Secretary shall engage and consider the advice, on matters set forth in this order, of the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council; Sector Coordinating Councils; critical infrastructure owners and operators; Sector-Specific Agencies; other relevant agencies; independent regulatory agencies; State, local, territorial, and tribal governments; universities; and outside experts.
  Sec. 7. Baseline Framework to Reduce Cyber Risk to Critical Infrastructure. (a) The Secretary of Commerce shall direct the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (the "Director") to lead the development of a framework to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure (the "Cybersecurity Framework"). The Cybersecurity Framework shall include a set of standards, methodologies, procedures, and processes that align policy, business, and technological approaches to address cyber risks. The Cybersecurity Framework shall incorporate voluntary consensus standards and industry best practices to the fullest extent possible. The Cybersecurity Framework shall be consistent with voluntary international standards when such international standards will advance the objectives of this order, and shall meet the requirements of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. 271 et seq.), the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-113), and OMB Circular A-119, as revised.
  (b) The Cybersecurity Framework shall provide a prioritized, flexible, repeatable, performance-based, and cost-effective approach, including information security measures and controls, to help owners and operators of critical infrastructure identify, assess, and manage cyber risk. The Cybersecurity Framework shall focus on identifying cross-sector security standards and guidelines applicable to critical infrastructure. The Cybersecurity Framework will also identify areas for improvement that should be addressed through future collaboration with particular sectors and standards-developing organizations. To enable technical innovation and account for organizational differences, the Cybersecurity Framework will provide guidance that is technology neutral and that enables critical infrastructure sectors to benefit from a competitive market for products and services that meet the standards, methodologies, procedures, and processes developed to address cyber risks. The Cybersecurity Framework shall include guidance for measuring the performance of an entity in implementing the Cybersecurity Framework.
  (c) The Cybersecurity Framework shall include methodologies to identify and mitigate impacts of the Cybersecurity Framework and associated information security measures or controls on business confidentiality, and to protect individual privacy and civil liberties.
  (d) In developing the Cybersecurity Framework, the Director shall engage in an open public review and comment process. The Director shall also consult with the Secretary, the National Security Agency, Sector-Specific Agencies and other interested agencies including OMB, owners and operators of critical infrastructure, and other stakeholders through the consultative process established in section 6 of this order. The Secretary, the Director of National Intelligence, and the heads of other relevant agencies shall provide threat and vulnerability information and technical expertise to inform the development of the Cybersecurity Framework. The Secretary shall provide performance goals for the Cybersecurity Framework informed by work under section 9 of this order.
  (e) Within 240 days of the date of this order, the Director shall publish a preliminary version of the Cybersecurity Framework (the "preliminary Framework"). Within 1 year of the date of this order, and after coordination with the Secretary to ensure suitability under section 8 of this order, the Director shall publish a final version of the Cybersecurity Framework (the "final Framework").
  (f) Consistent with statutory responsibilities, the Director will ensure the Cybersecurity Framework and related guidance is reviewed and updated as necessary, taking into consideration technological changes, changes in cyber risks, operational feedback from owners and operators of critical infrastructure, experience from the implementation of section 8 of this order, and any other relevant factors.
  Sec. 8. Voluntary Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Program. (a) The Secretary, in coordination with Sector-Specific Agencies, shall establish a voluntary program to support the adoption of the Cybersecurity Framework by owners and operators of critical infrastructure and any other interested entities (the "Program").
  (b) Sector-Specific Agencies, in consultation with the Secretary and other interested agencies, shall coordinate with the Sector Coordinating Councils to review the Cybersecurity Framework and, if necessary, develop implementation guidance or supplemental materials to address sector-specific risks and operating environments.
  (c) Sector-Specific Agencies shall report annually to the President, through the Secretary, on the extent to which owners and operators notified under section 9 of this order are participating in the Program.
  (d) The Secretary shall coordinate establishment of a set of incentives designed to promote participation in the Program. Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary and the Secretaries of the Treasury and Commerce each shall make recommendations separately to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and the Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs, that shall include analysis of the benefits and relative effectiveness of such incentives, and whether the incentives would require legislation or can be provided under existing law and authorities to participants in the Program.
  (e) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the Secretary and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council, shall make recommendations to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and the Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs, on the feasibility, security benefits, and relative merits of incorporating security standards into acquisition planning and contract administration. The report shall address what steps can be taken to harmonize and make consistent existing procurement requirements related to cybersecurity.
  Sec. 9. Identification of Critical Infrastructure at Greatest Risk. (a) Within 150 days of the date of this order, the Secretary shall use a risk-based approach to identify critical infrastructure where a cybersecurity incident could reasonably result in catastrophic regional or national effects on public health or safety, economic security, or national security. In identifying critical infrastructure for this purpose, the Secretary shall use the consultative process established in section 6 of this order and draw upon the expertise of Sector-Specific Agencies. The Secretary shall apply consistent, objective criteria in identifying such critical infrastructure. The Secretary shall not identify any commercial information technology products or consumer information technology services under this section. The Secretary shall review and update the list of identified critical infrastructure under this section on an annual basis, and provide such list to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and the Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs.
  (b) Heads of Sector-Specific Agencies and other relevant agencies shall provide the Secretary with information necessary to carry out the responsibilities under this section. The Secretary shall develop a process for other relevant stakeholders to submit information to assist in making the identifications required in subsection (a) of this section.
  (c) The Secretary, in coordination with Sector-Specific Agencies, shall confidentially notify owners and operators of critical infrastructure identified under subsection (a) of this section that they have been so identified, and ensure identified owners and operators are provided the basis for the determination. The Secretary shall establish a process through which owners and operators of critical infrastructure may submit relevant information and request reconsideration of identifications under subsection (a) of this section.
  Sec. 10. Adoption of Framework. (a) Agencies with responsibility for regulating the security of critical infrastructure shall engage in a consultative process with DHS, OMB, and the National Security Staff to review the preliminary Cybersecurity Framework and determine if current cybersecurity regulatory requirements are sufficient given current and projected risks. In making such determination, these agencies shall consider the identification of critical infrastructure required under section 9 of this order. Within 90 days of the publication of the preliminary Framework, these agencies shall submit a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, the Director of OMB, and the Assistant to the President for Economic Affairs, that states whether or not the agency has clear authority to establish requirements based upon the Cybersecurity Framework to sufficiently address current and projected cyber risks to critical infrastructure, the existing authorities identified, and any additional authority required.
  (b) If current regulatory requirements are deemed to be insufficient, within 90 days of publication of the final Framework, agencies identified in subsection (a) of this section shall propose prioritized, risk-based, efficient, and coordinated actions, consistent with Executive Order 12866 of September 30, 1993 (Regulatory Planning and Review), Executive Order 13563 of January 18, 2011 (Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review), and Executive Order 13609 of May 1, 2012 (Promoting International Regulatory Cooperation), to mitigate cyber risk.
  (c) Within 2 years after publication of the final Framework, consistent with Executive Order 13563 and Executive Order 13610 of May 10, 2012 (Identifying and Reducing Regulatory Burdens), agencies identified in subsection (a) of this section shall, in consultation with owners and operators of critical infrastructure, report to OMB on any critical infrastructure subject to ineffective, conflicting, or excessively burdensome cybersecurity requirements. This report shall describe efforts made by agencies, and make recommendations for further actions, to minimize or eliminate such requirements.
  (d) The Secretary shall coordinate the provision of technical assistance to agencies identified in subsection (a) of this section on the development of their cybersecurity workforce and programs.
  (e) Independent regulatory agencies with responsibility for regulating the security of critical infrastructure are encouraged to engage in a consultative process with the Secretary, relevant Sector-Specific Agencies, and other affected parties to consider prioritized actions to mitigate cyber risks for critical infrastructure consistent with their authorities.
  Sec. 11. Definitions. (a) "Agency" means any authority of the United States that is an "agency" under 44 U.S.C. 3502(1), other than those considered to be independent regulatory agencies, as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(5).
  (b) "Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council" means the council established by DHS under 6 U.S.C. 451 to facilitate effective interaction and coordination of critical infrastructure protection activities among the Federal Government; the private sector; and State, local, territorial, and tribal governments.
  (c) "Fair Information Practice Principles" means the eight principles set forth in Appendix A of the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace.
  (d) "Independent regulatory agency" has the meaning given the term in 44 U.S.C. 3502(5).
  (e) "Sector Coordinating Council" means a private sector coordinating council composed of representatives of owners and operators within a particular sector of critical infrastructure established by the National Infrastructure Protection Plan or any successor.
  (f) "Sector-Specific Agency" has the meaning given the term in Presidential Policy Directive-21 of February 12, 2013 (Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience), or any successor.
  Sec. 12. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. Nothing in this order shall be construed to provide an agency with authority for regulating the security of critical infrastructure in addition to or to a greater extent than the authority the agency has under existing law. Nothing in this order shall be construed to alter or limit any authority or responsibility of an agency under existing law.
  (b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of the Director of OMB relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
  (c) All actions taken pursuant to this order shall be consistent with requirements and authorities to protect intelligence and law enforcement sources and methods. Nothing in this order shall be interpreted to supersede measures established under authority of law to protect the security and integrity of specific activities and associations that are in direct support of intelligence and law enforcement operations.
  (d) This order shall be implemented consistent with U.S. international obligations.
  (e) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
  BARACK OBAMA
The Executive Order The Press Agreed To Keep Secret For Five Hours - BuzzFeed Mobile
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 06:33
  Shortly before 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, the White House emailed reporters that President Obama had signed a highly anticipated Executive Order aimed at protecting cyber security.
  The order '-- setting up new programs aimed at stopping online espionage and terrorism '-- was already the law of the land, signed by the president. But it was also secret.
  The document was "embargoed until delivery of the President's in the State of the Union address" '-- despite the fact it had already been signed.
  Such embargoes '-- imposed unilaterally, rather than agreed-upon '-- are not binding on news organizations, which weigh the urgency of the news against the headache of, for instance, being dropped from the White House's distribution list. BuzzFeed abided by the embargo, having participated in a background briefing on the move, but thought it appropriate to report on the unusual delay.
  White House spokesman Tommy Vietor explained in an email Administration's decision to, temporarily, conceal the new order: "We wanted to release the EO early on an embargoed basis because the subject matter is complicated and we knew you guys would have questions. It seemed more helpful for the press corps than sending it concurrent with the speech."
  Vietor added "this isn't unprecedented. Take for example sanctions Executive Orders. They are signed one day, go into effect at midnight but are not released until the next day."
  The new order appears, however, to have taken effect immediately; Vietor didn't respond to a follow up question about when the order took effect.
  Keeping White House executive orders secret is far from unprecedented, but usually concerns actual secrets. In 2002, the Bush White House signed a controversial executive order allowing for warrantless surveillance on those suspected of terrorism.
  According to a White House synopsis the Executive Order includes:
  New information sharing programs to provide both classified and unclassified threat and attack information to U.S. companies. The Executive Order requires Federal agencies to produce unclassified reports of threats to U.S. companies and requires the reports to be shared in a timely manner. The Order also expands the Enhanced Cybersecurity Services program, enabling near real time sharing of cyber threat information to assist participating critical infrastructure companies in their cyber protection efforts.
  The development of a Cybersecurity Framework. The Executive Order directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to lead the development of a framework of cybersecurity practices to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure. NIST will work collaboratively with industry to develop the framework, relying on existing international standards, practices, and procedures that have proven to be effective. To enable technical innovation, the Cybersecurity Framework will provide guidance that is technology neutral and that enables critical infrastructure sectors to benefit from a competitive market for products and service
  Includes strong privacy and civil liberties protections based on the Fair Information Practice Principles. Agencies are required to incorporate privacy and civil liberties safeguards in their activities under this order. Those safeguards will be based upon the Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPS) and other applicable privacy and civil liberties policies, principles, and frameworks. Agencies will conduct regular assessments of privacy and civil liberties impacts of their activities and such assessments will be made public.
  Establishes a voluntary program to promote the adoption of the Cybersecurity Framework. The Department of Homeland Security will work with Sector-Specific Agencies like the Department of Energy and the Sector Coordinating Councils that represent industry to develop a program to assist companies with implementing the Cybersecurity Framework and to identify incentives for adoption.
  Calls for a review of existing cybersecurity regulation. Regulatory agencies will use the Cybersecurity Framework to assess their cybersecurity regulations, determine if existing requirements are sufficient, and whether any existing regulations can be eliminated as no longer effective. If the existing regulations are ineffective or insufficient, agencies will propose new, cost-effective regulations based upon the Cybersecurity Framework and in consultation with their regulated companies. Independent regulatory agencies are encouraged to leverage the Cybersecurity Framework to consider prioritized actions to mitigate cyber risks for critical infrastructure consistent with their authorities.
Gitmo Drill Readies for Migrant Crisis
  Link to Article
  Wed, 13 Feb 2013 06:35
  The U.S. base in Guantanamo, Cuba, is practicing procedures officials say could be used should the base become the destination for a mass migration of refugees.
  Some 500 troops were flown in this week to rehearse an imaginary humanitarian-relief crisis, The Miami Herald reported Sunday.
  Soldiers, sailors and Homeland Security officials are part of the every-other-year drill, spawned in the 1990s after tens of thousands of Haitians and Cubans overwhelmed the base.
  The exact scenario is classified and officials won't say whether an actual event would be created by political unrest or natural disaster. Col. Greg Julian, spokesman for the U.S. Southern Command, would say only the humanitarian war game is about a "mass migration event" in the Caribbean.
  Among other things, the troops will be working to register 1,000 migrants a day.
  The International Organization for Migration is taking part, but not the International Committee for the Red Cross.
  The exercise was planned long before Cuba last month dropped its policy of requiring citizens to get exit visas to legally leave the island.
  (C) Copyright 2013 UPI. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
NOTAM Text
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:17
  FDC 3/8037 ZLA PART 1 OF 2 CA.. FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS. BIG BEAR LAKE, CA. PURSUANT TO 49 USC 40103(B), THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA) CLASSIFIES THE AIRSPACE DEFINED IN THIS NOTAM AS 'NATIONAL DEFENSE AIRSPACE'. PILOTS WHO DO NOT ADHERE TO THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURES MAY BE INTERCEPTED, DETAINED AND INTERVIEWED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT/SECURITY PERSONNEL. ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL ACTIONS MAY ALSO BE TAKEN AGAINST A PILOT WHO DOES NOT COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OR ANY SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS OR PROCEDURES ANNOUNCED IN THIS NOTAM: A) THE FAA MAY TAKE ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION, INCLUDING IMPOSING CIVIL PENALTIES AND THE SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF AIRMEN CERTIFICATES; OR B) THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MAY PURSUE CRIMINAL CHARGES, INCLUDING CHARGES UNDER TITLE 49 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 46307; OR C) THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MAY USE DEADLY FORCE AGAINST THE AIRBORNE AIRCRAFT, IF IT IS DETERMINED THAT THE AIRCRAFT POSES AN IMMINENT SECURITY THREAT. PURSUANT TO TITLE 14 CFR SECTION 99.7, SPECIAL SECURITY INSTRUCTIONS, ALL AIRCRAFT FLIGHT OPERATIONS ARE PROHIBITED END PART 1 OF 2 FDC 3/8037 ZLA PART 2 OF 2 CA.. FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS. BIG BEAR LAKE, CA. WITHIN A 3 NMR OF 341008N/1165334W OR THE PSP295029.2 UP TO AND INCLUDING 13000 FT MSL EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. EXCEPT AS SPECIFIED BELOW AND/OR UNLESS AUTHORIZED BY ATC: 1. LAW ENFORCEMENT AIRCRAFT DIRECTLY SUPPORTING THE ONGOING OPERATION. THE LAPD, PHONE 323-493-2291, IS THE POINT OF CONTACT. THE /ZLA/ CENTER, PHONE 661-265-8205, IS THE COORDINATION FACILITY. END PART 2 OF 2
Congressman Invites Undocumented Immigrant to Attend State of the Union Address
  Link to Article
  Source: Crooks and Liars
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:01
  One Texas congressman invites gun nut Ted Nugent to the SOTU, another invites an undocumented immigrant with a master's in nursing who cannot work in this country. This about as much as anything sums up the obvious differences in the two parties right now and voters notice.
  via The Dallas Morning News
  U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey has invited an undocumented immigrant from Texas to attend President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday.
  The undocumented immigrant to attend Obama's speech with Veasey, D-Fort Worth, is Julieta Garibay. The 32-year-old woman moved from Mexico to Austin with her parents when she was 12-years-old.
  Garibay is a graduate of the University of Texas, where she received nursing degrees. As a student there she co-founded the University Leadership Initiative, an undocumented youth organization that promotes higher education and civic engagement for immigrants.
  Garibay could be the first known undocumented immigrant to attend a State of the Union speech.
  ''This is a big step for Dreamers and indicative of how far this movement has come,'' Garibay said. ''Congressman Veasey recognizes that and has always supported the cause.''
Cheney: Obama Wants to Do 'Serious Damage to Our Military' -- But Drones Are Cool
  Link to Article
  Source: Crooks and Liars
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:47
  Former Vice President Dick Cheney is a fan of Barack Obama's decision to use drones for the targeted killing of American citizens, but says that the president "wants" to do "serious, serious damage to our military" by nominating former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) to be secretary of defense.
  "I think it's a good program and I don't disagree with the basic policy that the Obama administration is pursuing now in those regards," he told CBS host Charlie Rose in an interview that aired on Tuesday.
  But Rose wondered if there should be some "checks and balances" by another branch of government on the president's ability to "take out" American citizens overseas.
  "When we hire the president of the United States he gets to live in a big house, makes all that money, he's getting paid to make difficult, difficult decisions," the former vice president explained.
  The CBS host also asked Cheney to defend his accusation that Obama was appointing a "second-rate people" like Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry to his cabinet.
  "I'm very, very concerned, Charlie, about what I see happening in the national security arena, I think the administration's policies are very flawed," Cheney declared. "I think the president's performance by my standards in the international arena, in the middle East and so forth is worse than many of my friends and colleagues deem his domestic policies.''
  "If you look at what the president's motives are for picking Chuck Hagel, I think he wants a Republican to go be the foil, if you will, for what he wants to do to the Defense Department, which is I think to do serious, serious damage to our military capabilities."
  (h/t: The Hill)
NBC Hypes Unfounded Rumors of 'Vatican Intrigue' Surrounding Pope's Abdication
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:46
  At the top of Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie suggested ulterior motives behind Pope Benedict XIV's abdication: "Vatican intrigue. Is there more to Pope Benedict's sudden decision to step down?" In the report that followed, chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel insinuated something more: "Although there's no evidence to suggest a motive, other than old age, the Pope's unusual departure has left some wondering."
Allen West: Media Should Stop Asking Obama What His Favorite Color Is
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:16
  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.
Chris Matthews On Dick Cheney: 'Where Do You Learn To Be That Evil?'
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:57
  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.
To protect citizens, Texas may pass toughest anti-drone laws in America
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:56
  (NaturalNews) Texas lawmakers are considering what would become the toughest anti-drone law in the nation, following revelations the Obama administration has legally justified targeting American citizens only suspected of engaging in terrorist activities with drones.Under a measure filed by state Rep. Lance Gooden, a Republican, the bill would essentially outlaw the use of drones over Texas by individuals or by state and federal law enforcement agencies.
  In an interview with San Antonio radio station WOAI, Gooden said his bill would contain exceptions but that those would be limited. For instance, it would allow drones within 25 miles of the Rio Grande river for use in interdicting drug smugglers and illegal immigrants. It would also allow use by law enforcement with a valid search or arrest warrant, with "probable cause to believe that a person has committed a felony."
  "Do we want our local police departments laying off officers and simply parking drones over our homes to keep an eye on all of us?" Gooden asked.
  Don't mess with Texas skies
  The lawmaker's bill would also make it illegal to use any image captured with a drone in civil or criminal court proceedings.
  "These drones are going to get so cheap that soon you'll be able to buy your own drone at (electronics retail chain) Best Buy," Gooden told the station. "You could park it a foot above the ground in your neighbor's back yard and film into their house. If someone wanted to film your children out playing by the pool and put that video on the Internet, as creepy as that sounds," they would be able to do so, he added.
  Gooden said he is introducing his measure now, rather than five or 10 years from now when drone usage will be much more ubiquitous, because now is the time to implement laws defining and/or restricting their usage before a so-called "drone lobby" forms to protect the drone industry.
  As an example, Gooden argued that if states and the federal government had implemented laws 15 years ago prohibiting texting while driving, the activity would not be as big a problem today.
  "Soon you will be able to park your own drone over someone's private property and perform indiscriminate surveillance all day long," he said.
  The Texan's bill will also prohibit federal law enforcement or other federal officials and agencies from flying drones over Texas just to spy randomly on state citizens. The legislation would require said agencies to limit their surveillance to individuals they reasonably suspect are engaged in criminal activity, and only after a judge has issued a warrant permitting the surveillance.
  The bill is gaining support following the Obama administration's tortured legal justification for killing American citizens who are only suspected of illicit activity (this from the same president who once vowed to close down the terrorist detention center in Guantanamo Bay because he believed the foreign suspects held there were being denied their civil rights).
  State measures 'largely symbolic?'
  Gooden's bill would also allow a person who was victimized by unauthorized drone surveillance to sue for damages, whether the drone was flown by an individual or a government official.
  The lawmaker admits there are legitimate uses for drone technology, from ranchers who want to keep an eye on their cattle to realtors getting good, interesting photos for use in making a sales pitch. But, he told WOAI, the time has come for Texans to reaffirm their Fourth Amendment right to be free from "unreasonable searches" in all forms, even if - or especially if - that "search" is being carried out by an unmanned flight platform.
  Other states are also considering bans or restrictions on the use of drones.
  Charlottesville, Va., passed the nation's first anti-drone measure Feb. 4, The Christian Science Monitor reported, adding that nine additional states including Massachusetts and California are "considering some form of legislation" regulating drones.
  The paper said; however, that the measures were "largely symbolic" because the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has the authority to regulate all U.S. airspace use and is currently charged with developing drone-usage regulations by 2015.
  Sources:
  http://radio.woai.com
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com
  http://www.csmonitor.com
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Fort Hood Hero Says Obama 'Betrayed' Her, Other Victims
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:50
  Three years after the White House arranged a hero's welcome at the State of the Union address for the Fort Hood police sergeant and her partner who stopped the deadly shooting there, Kimberly Munley says President Obama broke the promise he made to her that the victims would be well taken care of.
  "Betrayed is a good word," former Sgt. Munley told ABC News in a tearful interview to be broadcast tonight on "World News with Diane Sawyer" and "Nightline."
  "Not to the least little bit have the victims been taken care of," she said. "In fact they've been neglected."
  There was no immediate comment from the White House about Munley's allegations.
  Thirteen people were killed, including a pregnant soldier, and 32 others shot in the November 2009 rampage by the accused shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, who now awaits a military trial on charges of premeditated murder and attempted murder.
  Tonight's broadcast report also includes dramatic new video, obtained by ABC News, taken in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, capturing the chaos and terror of the day.
  WATCH Exclusive Video of Fort Hood's Aftermath
  Munley, since laid off from her job with the base's civilian police force, was shot three times as she and her partner, Sgt. Mark Todd, confronted Hasan, who witnesses said had shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he opened fire on soldiers being processed for deployment to Afghanistan.
  As Munley lay wounded, Todd fired the five bullets credited with bringing Hasan down.
  Despite extensive evidence that Hasan was in communication with al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki prior to the attack, the military has denied the victims a Purple Heart and is treating the incident as "workplace violence" instead of "combat related" or terrorism.
  READ a Federal Report on the FBI's Probe of Hasan's Ties to al-Awlaki
  Al-Awlaki has since been killed in a U.S. drone attack in Yemen, in what was termed a major victory in the U.S. efforts against al Qaeda.
  Munley and dozens of other victims have now filed a lawsuit against the military alleging the "workplace violence" designation means the Fort Hood victims are receiving lower priority access to medical care as veterans, and a loss of financial benefits available to those who injuries are classified as "combat related."
  READ the Fort Hood Victims' Lawsuit
  Some of the victims "had to find civilian doctors to get proper medical treatment" and the military has not assigned liaison officers to help them coordinate their recovery, said the group's lawyer, Reed Rubinstein.
  "There's a substantial number of very serious, crippling cases of post-traumatic stress disorder exacerbated, frankly, by what the Army and the Defense Department did in this case," said Rubinstein. "We have a couple of cases in which the soldiers' command accused the soldiers of malingering, and would say things to them that Fort Hood really wasn't so bad, it wasn't combat."
  A spokesperson for the Army said its policy is not to comment on pending litigation, but that it is "not true" any of the military victims have been neglected and that it has no control over the guidelines of the Veterans Administration.
  Secretary of the Army John McHugh told ABC News he was unaware of any specific complaints from the Fort Hood victims, even though he is a named defendant in the lawsuit filed last November which specifically details the plight of many of them.
  "If a soldier feels ignored, then we need to know about it on a case by case basis," McHugh told ABC News. "It is not our intent to have two levels of care for people who are wounded by whatever means in uniform."
  Some of the victims in the lawsuit believe the Army Secretary and others are purposely ignoring their cases out of political correctness.
  "These guys play stupid every time they're asked a question about it, they pretend like they have no clue," said Shawn Manning, who was shot six times that day at Fort Hood. Two of the bullets remain in his leg and spine, he said.
  "It was no different than an insurgent in Iraq or Afghanistan trying to kill us," said Manning, who was twice deployed to Iraq and had to retire from the military because of his injuries.
  An Army review board initially classified Manning's injuries as "combat related," but that finding was later overruled by higher-ups in the Army.
  Manning says the "workplace violence" designation has cost him almost $70,000 in benefits that would have been available if his injuries were classified as "combat related."
  "Basically, they're treating us like I was downtown and I got hit by a car," he told ABC News.
  For Alonzo Lunsford, who was shot seven times at Fort Hood and blinded in one eye, the military's treatment is deeply hurtful.
  "It's a slap in the face, not only for me but for all of the 32 that wore the uniform that day," he told ABC News.
  Lunsford's medical records show his injuries were determined to be "in the line of duty" but neither he nor any of the other soldiers shot or killed at Fort Hood is eligible for the Purple Heart under the Department of Defense's current policy for decorations and awards.
  Army Secretary McHugh says awarding Purple Hearts could adversely affect the trial of Major Hasan.
  "To award a Purple Heart, it has to be done by a foreign terrorist element," said McHugh. "So to declare that soldier a foreign terrorist, we are told, I'm not an attorney and I don't run the Justice Department, but we're told would have a profound effect on the ability to conduct the trial."
  Members of Congress, including the chairman of the House Homeland Security committee, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, say they will introduce legislation to force the military and the Obama administration to give the wounded and dead the recognition and honors they deserve.
  "It was clearly an act of terrorism that occurred that day, there's no question in my mind," McCaul told ABC News. "I think the victims should be treated as such."
  Former Sgt. Munley says she now believes the White House used her for political advantage in arranging for her to sit next to Michelle Obama during the President's State of the Union address in 2010.
  Munley says she has no hesitation now speaking out against the President or taking part in the lawsuit, because she wants to help the others who were shot that day and continue to suffer.
  "We got tired of being neglected. So this was our last resort and I'm not ashamed of it a bit," she said.
  Click Here for the Blotter Homepage.
Third shootign in LAPD ManHUnt
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:47
  LOS ANGELES '' Police in Southern California are frantic in their search for former police officer Christopher Dorner.
  For a third time Southern California police opened fire at an innocent victim without warning in their efforts to capture Dorner, who remains in hiding.
  LAPD blocked of main roads in Los Angeles in an effort to capture former police officer Christopher Dorner. Photo Credit: Photo News
  Dorner vowed he 'would get even' with police officers and their families. He has already killed the daughter of former police chief Kwan as well as her fiancee and two police officers.
  The entire Southern California police department is in a mode of utter panic to find Dorner before he strikes again. In the process of looking for the former police officer, police have already shot at individuals who drove a vehicle that 'resembled' Dorner's pickup truck.
  Fortunately no one has been killed thus far.
  But Los Angelinos aren't pleased with the way police tries to solve their 'personal' issue and the lawyer representing police shooting victim David Perdue wrote in the Los Angeles Times:
  ''This is unbridled lawlessness by the police.''
  Perdue was rammed by a police car and shot at last Thursday as he was mistaken for being Christopher Dorner. Although Perdue was not hit by bullets, he did sustain injuries from the impact of the police car when it collided with his vehicle.
  Former Los Angeles Police Office Christopher Dorner. Photo Credit: Photo News
  Only moments before shooting at Perdue, police officers shot a pickup truck, such as the one that Dorner drives, full with led, injuring a mother and daughter in the vehicle who had no connection with Dorner.The mother was shot twice in the back but is reportedly in stable condition.
  Police's frantic approach to wanting to capture Christopher Dorner, alive or dead, has resulted in innocent victims being randomly shot at because of 'suspicion'. In every case not a single victim drove the same make of vehicle as owned by Dorner.
  Christopher Jordan Dorner was fired a few years ago by the Los Angeles Police Department. He allegedly blames old colleagues for his termination from the force.
  Dorner published a Facebook manifest in which he states he is aiming to kill at least 20 people, many of them former colleagues of his, by executing an 'unconventional and asymmetric war plan'.
  Thus far Christopher Dorner is still at large.
  Filed in:North America > World News > Christopher Dorner - Former Los Angeles Police Officer - innocent victims - killing cops - LAPD - LAPD manhunt - Los Angeles Police Department - manhunt - mistaken identities
  Share This:Got A Story?Email it to our news desk at Tip Line @ Nodeju.comWhat Do You Think About This?You must be logged in to post a comment.
  North-East US Covered In Blanket Of SnowNEW YORK '' Up to 3 feet of snow has been dumped on some areas of Northeast USA, causing havoc to ground traffic while bringing air traffic to a
  China And US Join Forces Against North KoreaWASHINGTON '' During a telephone conversation with his Chinese constiguate, Yang Jiechi, US new Secretary of State, John Kerry agreed with the Chinese to implement new sanctions against North
  Young Woman Freezes Brain In Hopes Of New LifeSAINT LOUIS '' 23 year old Kim Suozzi had her brain 'frozen' with hopes science will be able to defrost it years from now and give Kim a new
  8 Dead In Bus Crash Near Big BearLOS ANGELES '' At least 8 people have died and 10 more were injured during a runaway bus crash in the mountains of Yucaipa, near Big Bear, east of
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Sudden Cardiac Arrest Nearly Kills Healthy 6-Year-Old - ABC News
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:44
  Four years ago, Joe Quigley got the call that his 6-year-old daughter, Olivia, had suddenly collapsed at East Boston Central Catholic School after doing gym class warm-ups, running around playing ball with her first-grade classmates.
  "You dread getting that phone call from the school. I remember every word," said Quigley, a 52-year-old stay-at-home father by day and a bartender by night. "I knew it wasn't just that she fell over and hurt her leg. It was something serious."
  When Quigley arrived at the school, Olivia was lying on the floor surrounded by EMTs. He said the little girl, who had never been ill beyond the "usual coughs and colds," had suffered sudden cardiac arrest.
  "At that point, she wasn't even stable enough to be moved," he said. "Initially, we were going to Children's Hospital, but they said this child wouldn't make it that far."
  Olivia, who is now 10, survived because her school had a medical emergency response plan, and two teachers had rushed to her side to administer CPR.
  The little girl has a healthy heart, but its electrical system is defective. She has catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia or CPVT, which can trigger cardiac arrest.
  "It can happen again at any time," said Quigley, who lives with his wife Cathy, Olivia, and a 16-year-old son Alex in Winthrop, Mass. "All you can do is be prepared for it."
  Teen Fights for Heart Defibrillators in Schools
  CPVT is characterized by episodes of fainting without having any structural deformities of the heart, according to Dr. Michael Gewitz, head of cardiology at Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y.
  "A lot of kids faint at one time in their life," said Gewitz. "The key is if they faint in the midst of either exercise or severe mental stress."
  Pope Benedict XVI Resigns: Who Will Be the Next Pope? Watch VideoThe underlying cause is the onset of fast ventricular tachycardia or arrhythmia. Spontaneous recovery may occur when the arrhythmia stops or it can degenerate into sudden death if cardiopulmonary resuscitation is not readily available.
  According to the National Institutes of Health, CPVT is "highly lethal," causing death in 30 percent of all individuals who have had at least one episode and 80 percent of those who have had more spells.
  Celebrities With Heart Problems
  Last year, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a law that requires all schools to have medical emergency response plans. An estimated 360,000 Americans die each year of sudden cardiac arrest , according to the American Heart Association. About 10 percent of all these events occur among people under the age of 40.
  It took six minutes before the EMTs arrived with a defibrillator and were able to revive Olivia, according to her father. His wife joined him at the emergency room at Massachusetts General Hospital, where their daughter went into cardiac arrest again.
  "I was basically pushing the gurney on one side, and my wife was running behind when a nurse was doing chest compressions on her," said Quigley.
  Olivia was stabilized on life support in intensive care.
  "Eventually, they took her off, but at that point they didn't know what her functioning would be," he said. "They didn't even know if she would breathe for herself. She did."
  Olivia had been deprived of oxygen for six to seven minutes, starving her brain and her vital organs of oxygen. She had initial problems with her short-term memory and was barely able to walk.
  "She had to learn everything again," she her father. "She couldn't even read anymore. It was like starting again from being a baby."
  Except for a few lingering deficits, Olivia is nearly back to normal. She wears an implantable cardioconverter defibrillator (IDC) to keep track of her heart rhythm and to automatically shock it back if she goes into cardiac arrest. She also takes beta blockers.
  Olivia's parents had genetic testing for 10 of the top conditions that contribute to sudden cardiac arrest and all came back negative.
  "There are so many disorders that can cause cardiac arrest in young children that testing for all of them was like looking for a needle in a haystack," he said. "We knew she was getting the right treatment."
  Doctors have told the Quigleys that Olivia randomly mutated the gene that had caused her CPVT. "Our concern was if she had a genetic disorder, it could have passed on to our son," he said.
  Olivia still has arrhythmias, but she is not often aware of them happening.
  "Sometimes in gym, she'll say, 'I'll need to sit this one out,' when her heart is racing a bit or she is feeling a little faint. But it doesn't happen very often," said Quigley.
  The ICD corrects it.
North Korea
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 14:08
  North Korea tells U.N. will never bow to nuclear resolutionsGENEVA - North Korea told the U.N. disarmament forum on Tuesday that it would never bow to resolutions on its nuclear program and that prospects for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula were "gloomy" because of a hostile U.S. policy.
  "The U.S. and their followers are sadly mistaken if they miscalculate the DPRK would respect the entirely unreasonable resolutions against it. The DPRK will never bow to any resolutions," Jon Yong Ryong, first secretary of North Korea's mission in Geneva, told the Conference on Disarmament, referring to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
  "If the EU (European Union) truly wants peace and security on the Korean peninsula, it should urge the U.S. first to terminate its hostile policy towards DPRK on an impartial basis," he said.
  North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday in defiance of U.N. resolutions, drawing condemnation from the United States, Japan, Europe and Pyongyang's only major ally, China.
  U.S. disarmament ambassador Laura Kennedy, addressing the Geneva forum, said: "I find it just an incredible contrast that while millions of people are celebrating the Spring Festival, a time which should be a time to celebrate peace and prosperity, that North Korea celebrates it by a third nuclear weapons test."
  South Korean ambassador Kwon Haeryong said in a speech North Korea was the "only country which has demonstrated blatant disregard by conducting nuclear tests" since a 1996 global treaty banning them was negotiated at the disarmament forum.
  (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Prophecy of the Popes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:29
  The Prophecy of the Popes, attributed to Saint Malachy, is a list of 112 short phrases in Latin. They purport to describe each of the Roman Catholicpopes (along with a few anti-popes), beginning with Pope Celestine II (elected in 1143) and concluding with current pope Benedict XVI's successor, a pope described in the prophecy as "Peter the Roman", whose pontificate will end in the destruction of the city of Rome.
  The prophecy was first published in 1595 by Arnold de Wyon, a Benedictine historian, as part of his book Lignum Vit.... Wyon attributed the list to Saint Malachy, the 12th'‘century bishop of Armagh in Ireland. According to the traditional account, in 1139, Malachy was summoned to Rome by Pope Innocent II. While in Rome, Malachy purportedly experienced a vision of future popes, which he recorded as a sequence of cryptic phrases. This manuscript was then deposited in the Roman Archive, and thereafter forgotten about until its rediscovery in 1590.
  On the other hand, Bernard of Clairvaux's biography of Malachy makes no mention of the prophecy, nor is it mentioned in any record prior to its 1595 publication.[1] Some sources, including the most recent editions of the Catholic Encyclopedia, suggest that the prophecy is a late 16th'‘century forgery. Some have suggested that it was created by Nostradamus and was credited to Saint Malachy so the purported seer would not be blamed for the destruction of the papacy. Supporters, such as author John Hogue, who wrote a popular book titled The Last Pope about the claims, generally argue that, even if the author of the prophecies is uncertain, the predictions are still valid.
  The Church regards the prophesy as a forgery.[2] The ambiguous symbolism of the Popes and fanatical interpretation thereof are regarded as divination and postdiction, respectively.[3] Since there is no moral certitude of the prophesy's authenticity, according to Normae Congregationis,[4] and since the prophesy is like the prophesies of Nostradamus, which is a sign of forgery,[5] the Prophecy of the Popes is not regarded as authentic by the Church.[6]
  Interpretation of the mottos has generally relied on finding correspondences between the mottos and the popes' birthplaces, their personal arms, and the events of their pontificates. For example, the first motto, Ex castro Tiberis (From a castle on the Tiber), fits Pope Celestine II's birthplace in Citt di Castello, on the Tiber.
  Pope Clement XIII, referred to in the prophecy as Rosa Umbriae, the rose of Umbria, is stated to have used a rose "as his personal emblem" (his coat of arms does not include one, however, nor was he from Umbria nor had any but the most marginal connection with the region, having been briefly pontifical governor of Rieti, at the time part of Umbria). The technique of word play was evident in instances where interpreters find a phrase fitting more than one explanation.
  It is notable that where the interpretation of the prophecy is clear (as is the case for almost all of the Popes prior to 1590), the reference is almost always to some characteristic possessed by the Pope prior to assuming the Papacy'--e.g., his birthplace, his arms, his surname, or his cardinal see. However, for more recent Popes, efforts to connect the prophecy with the pope have often focused on the events of his pontificate.
  In recent times, some interpreters of prophetic literature have drawn attention to the prophecies, both because of their success in finding connections between the prophecies and recent popes, and because of the prophecies' imminent conclusion. Interpretations made before the elections of recent popes have not generally predicted their papacies accurately.
  This list, adapted from The Prophecies of St. Malachy by Peter Bander, begins its numbering two numbers ahead of the Vatican's numbering of popes (Benedict XVI is the 265th, not the 267th). The reason for this is unclear (perhaps because of the two purported "anti-popes").
  The list can be divided into two groups; one of the 74 Popes and Antipopes who reigned prior to the appearance of the Prophecy in 1590, for whom the connection between the motto and the Pope is usually clear but can be seen as postdiction. The other is of the 38 Popes who have reigned since 1590, for whom the connection between the motto and the Pope is often strained or totally opaque and could be viewed as shoehorning.
  The text on the silver lines below reproduces the original text (including punctuation and orthography) of the 1595 Lignum Vitae, which consisted of three parallel columns for the Popes before 1590. The first column contained the motto, the second the name of the Pope or Antipope to whom it was attached (with occasional errors), and the third an attempted explanation or justification of the name. The original list was unnumbered.
  Pre-appearance Popes (1143''1590)Pope No.Motto (Translation)Regnal Name (Reign)NameHistorical Reference or ExplanationCoat of ArmsEx caÅtro Tiberis.CÅ'leÅtinus. ij.Typhernas.1671. From a castle of the TiberCelestine II (1143''1144)Guido de CastelloAn inhabitant of Tifernum.Born in Citt di Castello, Umbria, on the banks of the Tiber.[7]Inimicus expulÅus.Lucius. ij.De familia Caccianemica.1682. Enemy expelledLucius II (1144''1145)Gherardo Caccianemici del OrsoOf the Caccianemici family.This motto refers to Gherardo Caccianemici's surname. ''Cacciare'' means ''to hunt'',[8] and ''nemici'' is the Italian word for ''enemies''. As his name foreshadowed, Caccianemici would be driven from Rome by his own subjects.[9]Ex magnitudine mµtis.Eugenius. iij.Patria EthruÅcus oppido Montis magni.1693. Out of the greatness of the mountainEugene III (1145''1153)Bernardo dei Pagnelli di MontemagnoTuscan by nation, from the town of Montemagno.The motto refers to Pope Eugene's last name, ''Montemagno.''[10]Abbas Suburranus.AnaÅtaÅius. iiij.De familia Suburra.1704. Suburran abbotAnastasius IV (1153''1154)Corrado di SuburraFrom the Suburra family.De rure albo.Adrianus. iiij.Vilis natus in oppido Sancti Albani.1715. From the white countrysideAdrian IV (1154''1159)Nicholas BreakspearHumbly born in the town of St. Albans.Educated at the St Albans School in Hertfordshire. Nicholas Breakspear was the bishop of Albano before becoming pope.[11]Ex tetro carcere.Victor. iiij.Fuit Cardinalis S. Nicolai in carcere Tulliano.6. Out of a loathsome prison.Victor IV, Antipope (1159''1164)Ottaviano MonticelloHe was a cardinal of St. Nicholas in the Tullian prison.Via TranÅtiberina.CalliÅtus. iij. [sic]Guido CremenÅis Cardinalis S. Mari... TranÅtiberim.7. Road across the Tiber.Paschal III, Antipope (1164''1168)Guido di CremaGuido of Crema, Cardinal of St. Mary across the Tiber.As a cardinal, he had held the title of Santa Maria in Trastevere.[12]De Pannonia ThuÅci....PaÅchalis. iij. [sic]Antipapa. Hungarus natione, EpiÅcopus Card. TuÅculanus.8. From Tusculan HungaryCallixtus III, Antipope (1168''1178)Giovanni di StrumiAntipope. A Hungarian by birth, Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum.He was John, Abbot of Struma, originally from Hungary.[13]Ex anÅere cuÅtode.Alexander. iij.De familia Paparona.1729. Out of the guardian gooseAlexander III (1159''1181)Orlando Bandinelli PaparoniOf the Paparoni family.His family's coat of arms had a goose on it.[14]Lux in oÅtio.Lucius. iij.LucenÅis Card. OÅtienÅis.17310. A light in the entranceLucius III (1181''1185)Ubaldo AllucingoliA Luccan Cardinal of Ostia.In 1159, he became Cardinal Bishop of Ostia.[15] Lux may also be a wordplay on Lucius.Sus in cribro.Vrbanus. iij.MediolanenÅis, familia cribella, qu... Suem pro armis gerit.17411. Pig in a sieveUrban III (1185''1187)Umberto CrivelliA Milanese, of the Cribella (Crivelli) family, which bears a pig for arms.His family name Crivelli means "a sieve" in Italian.EnÅis Laurentii.Gregorius. viij.Card. S. Laurentii in Lucina, cuius inÅignia enÅes falcati.17512. The sword of St. LawrenceGregory VIII (1187)Alberto De MorraCardinal of St. Lawrence in Lucina, of whom the arms were curved swords.He had been the Cardinal of St. Lawrence[16] and his armorial bearing was a drawn sword.[17]De Schola exiet.[18]Clemens. iij.Romanus, domo Scholari.17613 He will come from schoolClement III (1187''1191)Paolo ScolariA Roman, of the house of Scolari.His family name was Scolari.De rure bouenÅi.CÅ'leÅtinus. iij.Familia BouenÅi.17714. From cattle countryCelestine III (1191''1198)Giacinto BoboneBovensis (Bobone) family.He was from the Bobone family; a wordplay on cattle (boves).Comes Signatus.Innocentius. iij.Familia Comitum Signi....17815. Designated countInnocent III (1198''1216)Lotario dei Conti di SegniFamily of the Counts of Signia (Segni)Descendant of the Segni family.Canonicus de latere.Honorius. iij.Familia Sabella, Canonicus S. Ioannis Lateranensis.17916. Canon from the sideHonorius III (1216''1227)Cencio SavelliSavelli family, canon of St. John LateranHe was a canon for the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, and had served as papal chamberlain in 1188.[19]Auis OÅtienÅis.Gregorius. ix.Familia Comitum Signi... EpiÅcopus Card. OÅtienÅis.18017. Bird of OstiaGregory IX (1227''1241)Ugolino dei Conti di SegniFamily of the Counts of Segni, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia.Before his election to the papacy, Ugolino dei Conti was the Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, and the family coat of arms bear a bird on a gules background.[20]Leo Sabinus.CÅ'leÅtinus iiij.MediolanenÅis, cuius inÅignia Leo, EpiÅcopus Card. Sabinus.18118. Sabine LionCelestine IV (1241)Goffredo CastiglioniA Milanese, whose arms were a lion, Cardinal Bishop of Sabina.He was Cardinal Bishop of Sabina[21] and his armorial bearing had a lion in it. Also a play on words, referring to the pope's last name, Castiglioni.Comes Laurentius.Innocentius iiij.domo flisca, Comes Lauani..., Cardinalis S. Laurentii in Lucina.18219. Count LawrenceInnocent IV (1243''1254)Sinibaldo FieschiOf the house of Flisca (Fieschi), Count of Lavagna, Cardinal of St. Lawrence in Lucina.He was the Cardinal-Priest of San Lorenzo in Lucca,[22] and his father was the Count of Lavagna.[23]Signum OÅtienÅe.Alexander iiij.De comitibus Signi..., EpiÅcopus Card. OÅtienÅis.18320. Sign of OstiaAlexander IV (1254''1261)Renaldo dei Signori di IenneOf the counts of Segni, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia.He was Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and member of the Conti-Segni family.[24]HieruÅalem CampaniÄ.Vrbanus iiii.Gallus, TrecenÅis in Campania, Patriarcha HieruÅalem.18421. Jerusalem of ChampagneUrban IV (1261''1264)Jacques PantaleonA Frenchman, of Trecae (Troyes) in Champagne, Patriarch of Jerusalem.Native of Troyes, Champagne, later patriarch of Jerusalem.[25]Draco depreÅÅus.Clemens iiii.cuius inÅignia Aquila vnguibus Draconem tenens.18522. Dragon pressed downClement IV (1265''1268)Guido FulcodiWhose badge is an eagle holding a dragon in his talons.His coat of arms had an eagle crushing a dragon.Anguinus uir.Gregorius. x.MediolanenÅis, Familia vicecomitum, qu... anguáº½ pro inÅigni gerit.18623. Snaky manGregory X (1271''1276)Tebaldo ViscontiA Milanese, of the family of Viscounts (Visconti), which bears a snake for arms.The Visconti coat of arms had a large serpent devouring a male child feet first.[26]Concionator Gallus.Innocentius. v.Gallus, ordinis Pr...dicatorum.18724. French PreacherInnocent V (1276)Pierre de TarentaiseA Frenchman, of the Order of Preachers. He was born in south-eastern France and was a member of the order of Preachers.[27]Bonus Comes.Adrianus. v.Ottobonus familia FliÅca ex comitibus Lauani....18825. Good Count/companionAdrian V (1276)Ottobono FieschiOttobono, of the Fieschi family, from the counts of Lavagna.He was a count and a wordplay on "good" can be made with his name, Ottobono.PiÅcator ThuÅcus.Ioannes. xxi.antea Ioannes Petrus EpiÅcopus Card. TuÅculanus.18926. Tuscan FishermanJohn XXI (1276''1277)Pedro Juli£oFormerly John Peter, Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum.John XXI had been the Cardinal Bishop of Tusculum.[28]RoÅa compoÅita.Nicolaus. iii.Familia VrÅina, qu... roÅam in inÅigni gerit, dictus compoÅitus.19027. Composite RoseNicholas III (1277''1280)Giovanni Gaetano OrsiniOf the Ursina (Orsini) family, which bears a rose on its arms, called 'composite'.He bore a rose in his coat of arms.[29]Ex teloneo liliacei Martini.Martinus. iiii.cuius inÅignia lilia, canonicus, & theÅaurarius S. Martini Turonen[sis].19128. From the tollhouse of lilied MartinMartin IV (1281''1285)Simone de BrionWhose arms were lilies, canon and treasurer of St. Martin of Tours.He was Canon and Treasurer at the Church of St. Martin in Tours, France.Ex roÅa leonina.Honorius. iiii.Familia Sabella inÅignia roÅa leonibus geÅtata.19229. Out of the leonine roseHonorius IV (1285''1287)Giacomo SavelliOf the Sabella (Savelli) family, arms were a rose carried by lions.His coat of arms were emblazoned with two lions supporting a rose.[29]Picus inter eÅcas.Nicolaus. iiii.Picenus patria EÅculanus.[30]19330. Woodpecker between foodNicholas IV (1288''1292)Girolamo MasciA Picene by nation, of Asculum (Ascoli).He was from Ascoli, now called Ascoli Piceno, in Picene country.Ex eremo celÅus.CÅ'leÅtinus. v.Vocatus Petrus de morrone Eremita.19431. Raised out of the desertSt. Celestine V (1294)Pietro Di MurroneCalled Peter de Morrone, a hermit.Prior to his election he was a hermit (eremita, literally a dweller in the eremus, or desert). Also a play on words (celsus/Coelestinus), referring to the pope's chosen name Celestine.Ex undarÅ(C) bnÌ‘dictione.Bonifacius. viii.Vocatus prius Benedictus, Caetanus, cuius inÅignia und....19532. From the blessing of the wavesBoniface VIII (1294''1303)Benedetto CaetaniPreviously called Benedict, of Gaeta, whose arms were waves.His coat of arms had a wave through it. Also a play on words, referring to the pope's Christian name, "Benedetto."[29]Concionator patereus. [sic]Benedictus. xi.qui uocabatur Frater Nicolaus, ordinis Pr...dicatorum.19633. Preacher From PataraBenedict XI (1303''1304)Nicholas BoccasiniWho was called Brother Nicholas, of the order of Preachers.This Pope belonged to the Order of Preachers. Patara was the hometown of Saint Nicholas, a namesake of this Pope (born Nicholas Boccasini).[31]De feÅÅis aquitanicis.Clemens V.natione aquitanus, cuius inÅignia feÅÅ... erant.19734. From the misfortunes/fesses of AquitaineClement V (1305''1314)Bertrand de GotAn Aquitanian by birth, whose arms were fesses.He was a native of St. Bertrand de Comminges in Aquitaine, and eventually became Archbishop of Bordeaux, also in Aquitaine. His coat of arms displays three horizontal bars, known in heraldry as fesses.De Åutore oÅÅeo.Ioannes XXII.Gallus, familia OÅÅa, Sutoris filius.19835. From a bony cobblerJohn XXII (1316''1334)Jacques DueseA Frenchman, of the Ossa family, son of a cobbler.His family name was Du¨ze, D'Euze, D'Euzes, or Euse, the last of which might be back-translated into Latin as Ossa "bones". The popular legend that his father was a cobbler is probably untrue.Coruus ÅchiÅmaticus.Nicolaus V.qui uocabatur F. Petrus de corbario, contra Ioannem XXII. Antipapa Minorita.36. Schismatic crowNicholas V, Antipope (1328''1330)Pietro Rainalducci di CorvaroWho was called Brother Peter of Corbarium (Corvaro), the Minorite antipope opposing John XXII.The motto is a play on words, referring to Pietro di Corvaro's last name.Frigidus Abbas.Benedictus XII.Abbas MonaÅterii fontis frigidi.19937. Cold abbotBenedict XII (1334''1342)Jacques FournierAbbot of the monastery of the cold spring.He was an abbot in the monastery of Fontfroide ("cold spring").[32]De roÅa AttrebatenÅi.Clemens VI.EpiÅcopus AttrebatenÅis, cuius inÅignia RoÅ....20038. From the rose of ArrasClement VI (1342''1352)Pierre RogerBishop of Arras, whose arms were roses.He was Bishop of Arras, (Latin: Episcopus Atrebatensis),[33] and his armorial bearings were emblazoned with six roses.[34]De mµtibus P£machii.Innocentius VI.Cardinalis SS. Ioannis & Pauli. T. Panmachii, cuius inÅignia Åex montes erant.20139. From the mountains of PammachiusInnocent VI (1352''1362)Etienne AubertCardinal of Saints John and Paul, Titulus of Pammachius, whose arms were six mountains.Pope Innocent was born at Mont in the diocese of Limoges, France, and he rose to prominence as the Bishop of Clermont.[35] He had been a cardinal priest with the title of St. Pammachius (i.e., the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Rome)[36]Gallus Vicecomes.Vrbanus V.nuncius ApoÅtolicus ad Vicecomites MediolanenÅes.20240. French viscountUrban V (1362''1370)Guglielmo De GrimoardApostolic nuncio to the Viscounts of Milan.He was born of a noble French family.Nouus de uirgine forti.Gregorius XI.qui uocabatur Petrus Belfortis, Cardinalis S. Mari... nou....20341. New man from the strong virginGregory XI (1370''1378)Pierre Roger de BeaufortWho was called Peter Belfortis (Beaufort), Cardinal of New St. Mary's.From the Beaufort family and Cardinal of Santa Maria Nuova[37]Decruce ApoÅtolica. [sic]Clemens VII.qui fuit PreÅbyter Cardinalis SS. XII. ApoÅtolorÅ(C) cuius inÅignia Crux.42. From the apostolic crossClement VII, Antipope (1378''1394)Robert, Count of GenevaWho was Cardinal Priest of the Twelve Holy Apostles, whose arms were a cross.His coat of arms showed a cross, quarterly pierced.[38]Luna CoÅmedina.Benedictus XIII.antea Petrus de Luna, Diaconus Cardinalis S. Mari... in CoÅmedin.43. Cosmedine moon.Benedict XIII, Antipope (1394''1423)Peter de LunaFormerly Peter de Luna, Cardinal Deacon of St. Mary in Cosmedin.He was the famous Peter de Luna, Cardinal of Santa Maria in Cosmedin.[39]SchiÅma BarchinoniÅ(C).Clemens VIII.Antipapa, qui fuit Canonicus BarchinonenÅis.44. Schism of the BarcelonasClement VIII, Antipope (1423''1429)Gil Sanchez Mu±ozAntipope, who was a canon of Barcelona.[40]De inferno pr...gn£ti.Vrbanus VI.Neapolitanus Pregnanus, natus in loco qu... dicitur Infernus.20445. From a pregnant hell.Urban VI (1378''1389)Bartolomeo PrignanoThe Neapolitan Prignano, born in a place which is called Inferno.His family name was Prignano or Prignani, and he was native to a place called Inferno near Naples.[41]Cubus de mixtione.Bonifacius. IX.familia tomacella Genua Liguri... orta, cuius inÅignia Cubi.20546. Cube from a mixtureBoniface IX (1389''1404)Pietro TomacelliOf the Tomacelli family, born in Genoa in Liguria, whose arms were cubes.His coat of arms includes a bend checky '-- a wide stripe with a checkerboard pattern.[34]De meliore Åydere.Innocentius. VII.uocatus CoÅmatus de melioratis SulmonenÅis, cuius inÅignia Åydus.20647. From a better starInnocent VII (1404''1406)Cosmo MiglioratiCalled Cosmato dei Migliorati of Sulmo, whose arms were a star.The prophecy is a play on words, "better" (melior) referring to the pope's last name, Migliorati (Meliorati). There is a shooting star on his coat of arms.[34]Nauta de Ponte nigro.Gregorius XII.Venetus, commendatarius eccleÅi... Nigropontis.20748. Sailor from a black bridgeGregory XII (1406''1415)Angelo CorrerA Venetian, commendatary of the church of Negroponte.Was Bishop of Venice and the Bishop of Chalcice, Chalcice being located on the Isle of NegropontFlagellum Åolis.Alexander. V.Gr...cus ArchiepiÅcopus MediolanenÅis, inÅignia Sol.49. Whip of the sunAlexander V, Antipope (1409''1410)Petros PhilargesA Greek, Archbishop of Milan, whose arms were a sun.His coat of arms had a large sun on it. Also, a play on words, referring to the pope's last name, "Philarges."[42]Ceruus Siren....Ioannes XXIII.Diaconus Cardinalis S. EuÅtachii, qui cum ceruo depingitur, Bononi... legatus, Neapolitanus.50. Stag of the sirenJohn XXIII, Antipope (1410''1415)Baldassarre CossaCardinal Deacon of St. Eustace, who is depicted with a stag; legate of Bologna, a Neapolitan.Baldassarre Cossa was a cardinal with the title of St. Eustachius.[43] St. Eustachius converted to Christianity after he saw a stag with a cross between its horns. Baldassarre's family was originally from Naples, which has the emblem of the siren.Corona ueli aurei.Martinus V.familia colonna, Diaconus Cardinalis S. Georgii ad uelum aureum.20851. Crown of the golden curtainMartin V (1417''1431)Oddone ColonnaOf the Colonna family, Cardinal Deacon of St. George at the golden curtain.Oddone Colonna was the Cardinal Deacon of San Giorgio in Velabro.[44] The word "Velabrum" is here interpreted as derived from "velum aureum", or golden veil.[45] His coat of arms had a golden crown resting atop a column.[46]Lupa CÅ'leÅtina,Eugenius. IIII.Venetus, canonicus antea regularis CÅ'leÅtinus, & EpiÅcopus Senáº½Åis.20952. Heavenly she-wolfEugene IV (1431''1447)Gabriele CondulmaroA Venetian, formerly a regular Celestine canon, and Bishop of Siena.He belonged to the order of the Celestines and was the Bishop of Siena which bears a she-wolf on its arms.Amator Crucis.Felix. V.qui uocabatur Amad...us Dux Sabaudi..., inÅignia Crux.53. Lover of the crossFelix V, Antipope (1439''1449)Amadeus Duke of SavoyWho was called Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, arms were a cross.He was previously the count of Savoy and therefore his coat of arms contained the cross of Savoy.[47] Also, the prophecy is a play on words, referring to the antipope's Christian name, "Amadeus."De modicitate Lun....Nicolaus V.LunenÅis de Sarzana, humilibus parentibus natus.21054. From the meanness of LunaNicholas V (1447''1455)Tommaso ParentucelliA Lunese of Sarzana, born to humble parents.He was born in Sarzana in the diocese of Luni, the ancient name of which was Luna.Bos paÅcens.CalliÅtus. III.HiÅpanus, cuius inÅignia Bos paÅcens.21155. Pasturing oxCallixtus III (1455''1458)Alfonso BorjaA Spaniard, whose arms were a pasturing ox.Alonso Borgia's coat of arms had a grazing ox.[46]De Capra & Albergo.Pius. II.SenenÅis, qui fuit Secretis Cardinalibus Capranico & Albergato.21256. From a nanny-goat and an innPius II (1458''1464)Enea Silvio de PiccolominiA Sienese, who was secretary to Cardinals Capranicus and Albergatus.He had been secretary to Cardinal Domenico Capranica and Cardinal Albergatti before he was elected Pope.[48]De Ceruo & Leone.Paulus. II.Venetus, qui fuit Commendatarius eccleÅi... CeruienÅis, & Cardinalis tituli S. Marci.21357. From a stag and lionPaul II (1464''1471)Pietro BarboA Venetian, who was Commendatary of the church of Cervia, and Cardinal of the title of St. Mark.Possibly refers to his Bishopric of Cervia (punning on cervus, "a stag") and his Cardinal title of St. Mark (symbolized by a winged lion).[49]PiÅcator minorita.Sixtus. IIII.PiÅcatoris filius, FranciÅcanus.21458. Minorite fishermanSixtus IV (1471''1484)Francesco Della RovereSon of a fisherman, Franciscan.He was born the son of a fisherman and a member of the Franciscans, also known as "Minorites".Pr...curÅor Sicili....Innocentius VIII.qui uocabatur Io£nes BaptiÅta, & uixit in curia AlfonÅi regis Sicili....21559. Forerunner of SicilyInnocent VIII (1484''1492)Giovanni Battista Cib²Who was called John Baptist, and lived in the court of Alfonso, king of Sicily.Giovanni Battista Cib² was named after John the Baptist, the precursor of Christ. In his early years, Giovanni served as the Bishop of Molfetta in Sicily.[50]Bos Albanus in portu.Alexander VI.EpiÅcopus Cardinalis Albanus & PortuenÅis, cuius inÅignia Bos.21660. Bull of Alba in the harborAlexander VI (1492''1503)Rodrigo de BorgiaCardinal Bishop of Albano and Porto, whose arms were a bull.In 1456, he was made a Cardinal and he held the titles of Cardinal Bishop of Albano and Porto. [51] Also, Pope Alexander had a red bull on his coat of arms[52]De paruo homine.Pius. III.SenenÅis, familia piccolominea.21761. From a small manPius III (1503)Francesco Todeschini PiccolominiA Sienese, of the Piccolomini family.His family name was Piccolomini, from piccolo "small" and uomo "man".Fructus Iouis iuuabit.Iulius. II.Ligur, eius inÅignia Quercus, Iouis arbor.21862. The fruit of Jupiter will helpJulius II (1503''1513)Giuliano Della RovereA Genoese, his arms were an oak, Jupiter's tree.On his arms was an oak tree, which was sacred to Jupiter.[52] Pope Julius' family name, "Della Rovere," literally means "of the oak."[53]De craticula Politiana.Leo. X.filius Laurentii medicei, & Åcholaris Angeli Politiani.21963. From a Politian gridironLeo X (1513''1521)Giovanni de MediciSon of Lorenzo de' Medici, and student of Angelo Poliziano.His educator and mentor was the distinguished humanist and scholar, Angelo Poliziano. The ''Gridiron'' is the motto evidently refers to St. Lawrence, who was martyred on a gridiron. This is a rather elliptical allusion to Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was Giovanni's father.[54]Leo Florentius.Adrian. VI.Floráº½tii filius, eius inÅignia Leo.22064. Florentian lionAdrian VI (1522''1523)Adriaen Florenszoon BoeyensSon of Florentius, his arms were a lion.His coat of arms had two lions on it,[52] and his name is sometimes given as Adriaan Florens, or other variants, from his father's first name Florens (Florentius).Flos pilei ...gri.Clemens. VII.Florentinus de domo medicea, eius inÅignia pila, & lilia.22165. Flower of the sick man's pill[55]Clement VII (1523''1534)Giulio de MediciA Florentine of the Medicean house, his arms were pill-balls and lilies.The Medici coat of arms were emblazoned with six medical balls. One of these balls, the largest of the six, was emblazoned with the Florentine lily.[52]Hiacinthus medicorÅ(C).Paulus. III.FarneÅius, qui lilia pro inÅignibus geÅtat, & Card. fuit SS. CoÅme, & Damiani.22266. Hyacinth of the physiciansPaul III (1534''1549)Alessandro FarneseFarnese, who bore lilies for arms, and was Cardinal of Saints Cosmas and Damian.Pope Paul's coat of arms were charged with six hyacinths.[52]De corona montana.Iulius. III.antea uocatus Ioannes Maria de monte.22367. From the mountainous crownJulius III (1550''1555)Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del MonteFormerly called Giovanni Maria of the Mountain (de Monte)His coat of arms showed mountains and palm branches laid out in a pattern much like a crown.[52]Frumentum flocidum. [sic]Marcellus. II.cuius inÅignia ceruus & frumáº½tum, ideo floccidum, quod pauco tempore uixit in papatu.22468. Trifling grainMarcellus II (1555)Marcello CerviniWhose arms were a stag and grain; 'trifling', because he lived only a short time as pope.His coat of arms showed a stag and ears of wheat.[52]De fide Petri.Paulus. IIII.antea uocatus Ioannes Petrus Caraffa.22569. From Peter's faithPaul IV (1555''1559)Giovanni Pietro CaraffaFormerly called John Peter Caraffa.He is said to have used his second Christian name Pietro.EÅculapii pharmacum.Pius. IIII.antea dictus Io. Angelus Medices.22670. Aesculapius' medicinePius IV (1559''1565)Giovanni Angelo de MediciFormerly called Giovanni Angelo Medici.His family name was Medici.Angelus nemoroÅus.Pius. V.Michael uocatus, natus in oppido BoÅchi.22771. Angel of the groveSt. Pius V (1566''1572)Antonio Michele GhisleriCalled Michael, born in the town of Bosco.He was born in Bosco, (Lombardy); the placename means grove. His name was 'Antonio Michele Ghisleri', and Michele relates to the archangel.Medium corpus pilarÅ(C).Gregorius. XIII.cuius inÅignia medius Draco, Cardinalis creatus Pio. IIII. qui pila in armis geÅtabat.22872. Half body of the ballsGregory XIII (1572''1585)Ugo BoncompagniWhose arms were a half-dragon; a Cardinal created by Pius IV who bore balls in his arms.The "balls" in the motto refer to Pope Pius IV, who had made Gregory a cardinal. Pope Gregory had a dragon on his coat of arms with half a body.[52]Axis in medietate Åigni.Sixtus. V.qui axem in medio Leonis in armis geÅtat.22973. Axle in the midst of a sign.Sixtus V (1585''1590)Felice PerettiWho bears in his arms an axle in the middle of a lion.This is a rather straightforward description of the pope's coat of arms.[52]De rore cÅ'li.Vrbanus. VII.qui fuit ArchiepiÅcopus RoÅÅanenÅis in Calabria, ubi m£na colligitur.23074. From the dew of the skyUrban VII (1590)Giovanni Battista CastagnaWho was Archbishop of Rossano in Calabria, where manna is collected.He had been Archbishop of Rossano in Calabria where sap called "the dew of heaven" is gathered from trees.[56]For this group of Popes, the published text only provides names for the first three (i.e., those who were Popes between the appearance of the text in 1590, and its publication in 1595) and attempts no explanations.
  Post-appearance Popes (1590''present)Pope No.Motto (Translation)Regnal Name (Reign)NameHistorical Reference or ExplanationCoat of ArmsEx antiquitate Vrbis.Gregorius. XIIII.23175 Of the antiquity of the cityGregory XIV (1590''1591)Niccolo SfondratiHis father was a senator of the ancient city of Milan. The word "senator" is derived from the Latin senex, meaning old man.Pia ciuitas in bello.Innocentius. IX.23276 Pious city in warInnocent IX (1591)Giovanni Antonio FacchinettiHe was Patriarch of Jerusalem before succeeding to the Papacy.Crux Romulea.Clemens. VIII.23377 Cross of RomulusClement VIII (1592''1605)Ippolito AldobrandiniHe had been a cardinal with the title of Saint Pancratius, who was a Roman martyr.[57][58]VndoÅus uir.23478 Wavy manLeo XI (1605)Alessandro Ottaviano De MediciHe had been the Bishop of Palestrina.[59] The ancient Romans attributed the origins of Palestrina to the seafaring hero Ulysses.[60] Also, he had only reigned for 27 days.Gens peruerÅa.23579 Corrupted nationPaul V (1605''1621)Camillo BorghesePope Paul scandalised the Church when he appointed his nephew to the College of Cardinals. The word "nepotism" may have originated during this pope's reign.[61]In tribulatione pacis.23680 In the trouble of peaceGregory XV (1621''1623)Alessandro LudovisiHis reign corresponded with the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War.Lilium et roÅa.23781 Lily and roseUrban VIII (1623''1644)Maffeo BarberiniHe was a native of Florence, which has a red lily on its coat of arms.[62]Iucunditas crucis.23882 Delight of the crossInnocent X (1644''1655)Giovanni Battista PamphiliHe was raised to the pontificate around the time of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross after a long and difficult conclave.Montium cuÅtos.23983 Guard of the mountainsAlexander VII (1655''1667)Fabio ChigiHis family arms include six hills with a star above them.[63]Sydus olorum.24084 Star of the swansClement IX (1667''1669)Giulio RospigliosiThe "star" in the legend refers Pope Alexander VII, who had made Clement his personal secretary.[63] The Italian word for swan, cigni, rhymes with Pope Alexander's surname, "Chigi."De flumine magno.24185 From a great riverClement X (1670''1676)Emilio AltieriPope Clement was a native of Rome.Bellua inÅatiabilis.24286 Insatiable beastInnocent XI (1676''1689)Benedetto OdescalchiPope Innocent had a lion on his coat of arms.[63]PÅ'nitentia glorioÅa.24387 Glorious penitenceAlexander VIII (1689''1691)Pietro OttoboniHis first name was "Pietro", after the apostle Peter who had repented after having denied Christ thrice.RaÅtrum in porta.24488 Rake in the doorInnocent XII (1691''1700)Antonio Pignatelli del RastrelloHis full name was Antonio Pignatelli del Rastrello.[64] "Rastrello" in Italian means "rake."Flores circundati.24589 Surrounded flowersClement XI (1700''1721)Giovanni Francesco AlbaniHe had been a cardinal with the title of Santa Maria in Aquiro.[65]De bona religione.24690 From good religionInnocent XIII (1721''1724)Michelangelo dei ContiA play on words, referring to the pope's regnal name. He was from the famous Conti family that had produced several Popes.Miles in bello.24791 Soldier in WarBenedict XIII (1724''1730)Pietro Francesco OrsiniBefore he was pope there was a lot of wars in nearby countries, and it is possible he could have fought in one as a soldier.Columna excelÅa.24892 Lofty columnClement XII (1730''1740)Lorenzo CorsiniWhen still a cardinal, he had held the titular church of St Peter in Chains.[66] The name "Peter" is derived from the Greek word "petros," meaning "rock." Clement was a frustrated architect who ordered, and sometimes interfered with, the building of many churches. He managed to salvage two columns of the Parthenon for his chapel at Mantua.Animal rurale.24993 Country animalBenedict XIV (1740''1758)Marcello LambertiniMight be a play on words because of his famous laws about missions in the two papal bulls''.RoÅa Vmbri....25094 Rose of UmbriaClement XIII (1758''1769)Carlo RezzonicoHe had been a cardinal with the titular church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli.[67] In mystical circles, the Virgin Mary is represented by a rose.VrÅus uelox.25195 Swift bear (later misprinted as Cursus velox Swift Course or Visus velox Swift Glance)Clement XIV (1769''1774)Lorenzo Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio GanganelliThe Ganganelli family crest bore a running bear.Peregrin9 apoÅtolic9.[68]25296 Apostolic pilgrimPius VI (1775''1799)Giovanni Angelico BraschiSpent the last two years of his life in exile, a prisoner of the French Revolution.Aquila rapax.25397 Rapacious eaglePius VII (1800''1823)Barnaba ChiaramontiThe Pope's pontificate was overshadowed by Napoleon, whose emblem was the eagle.Canis & coluber.25498 Dog and adderLeo XII (1823''1829)Annibale Sermattei della Genga"Dog" and "snake" are common insults, and Leo was widely hated[citation needed]. The legend could be an allusion to the pope's last name, Sermattei. "Serpente" is the Italian word for snake.Vir religioÅus.25599 Religious manPius VIII (1829''1830)Francesco Saverio CastiglioniAnother play on words, referring to the pope's regnal name.De balneis Ethruri....256100 From the baths of TuscanyGregory XVI (1831''1846)Mauro, or Bartolomeo Alberto CappellariPope Gregory XVI belonged to the Camaldolese Order, which is said to have begun with two monastic houses. The first of these houses was Campus Maldoli, and the second was Fonte Buono, meaning "good fountain" in Italian.[69]Crux de cruce.257101 Cross from crossBl. Pius IX (1846''1878)Giovanni Maria Mastai FerrettiDuring his pontificate, the House of Savoy, whose coat of arms is a white cross on a red background, reunited Italy and stripped the pope of his territorial possessions. Pope Pius XII, commenting on the beatification process of Pius IX, used the words per crucem ad lucem (through the cross to light). Pius IX was finally beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000.Lumen in cÅ'lo.258102 Light in the skyLeo XIII (1878''1903)Gioacchino PecciHis coat of arms had a shooting star.Ignis ardens.259103 Burning fireSt. Pius X (1903''1914)Giuseppe SartoPius advocated the codification of Canon law, daily communion and the use of Gregorian chant in the Catholic liturgy, and was an opponent of Modernism. He was the first pope to be declared a saint in over 400 years, the previous one being Pope Pius V.Religio depopulata.260104 Religion destroyedBenedict XV (1914''1922)Giacomo Della ChiesaReigned during, but had no influence to stop, World War I. This unprecedented period of violence was mainly fought between the Christian powers of Europe, destroying empires which had lasted centuries and began the worldwide spread of atheistic Communism.Fides intrepida.261105 Intrepid faithPius XI (1922''1939)Achille RattiEstablished Vatican City as a sovereign country with the papal office as head of state.PaÅtor angelicus.262106 Angelic shepherdVen. Pius XII (1939''1958)Eugenio PacelliReigned during World War II, he is reported to have covertly helped Italian Jews escape extermination. Said to have received visions, some of which have yet to be revealed.PaÅtor & nauta.263107 Shepherd and sailorBl. John XXIII (1958''1963)Angelo Giuseppe RoncalliPatriarch of Venice, a maritime city (and a fomer naval power), from 1953 to 1958.Flos florum.264108 Flower of flowersPaul VI (1963''1978)Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria MontiniHis coat of arms featured three fleurs-de-lis.De medietate lun....265109 From the midst of the moonJohn Paul I (1978)Albino LucianiHis month-long reign began with the moon half-full[citation needed].De labore solis.266110 From the labour of the sunBl. John Paul II (1978''2005)Karol WojtyÅ‚aBorn on the day of a solar eclipse[citation needed] and entombed (April 8, 2005) on the day of a solar eclipse[citation needed].Gloria oliv....267111 Glory of the olive.Benedict XVI (2005''2013)Joseph RatzingerChose the regnal name Benedict after St Benedict of Nursia, founder of the Benedictine Order. The order's crest contains an olive branch. In ê'‘secutione extrema S.R.E. Åedebit.In the extreme persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit.[70] Petrus Romanus, qui paÅcet oues in multis tribulationibus: quibus tranÅactis ciuitas Åepticollis diruetur, & Iudex tremáº½dus iudicabit populum Åuum.[71] Finis.268112 Peter the Roman, who will nourish the sheep in many tribulations; when they are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The end.UnknownUnknownHowever, in the 1595 Lignum Vitae, the line In persecutione extrema S.R.E. sedebit. forms a separate sentence and paragraph of its own, and it is unclear whether it is grammatically related to Gloria Olivae which precedes it, or to Petrus Romanus, which follows it.
  There is a claim[72] that the original list written by St. Malachy does not contain a reference to Petrus Romanus and that the last lines were added to the printed text in Wyon's Lignum Vit.... This, however, probably cannot be proved, as the original manuscript (if any) probably no longer exists.
The War in Mali and AFRICOM's Agenda: Target China
  Link to Article
  Source: WTF RLY REPORT
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:08
  Global ResearchBy '‹'‹'‹'‹F. William Engdahl
  Part I: Africa's New Thirty Years' War?
  Mali at first glance seems a most unlikely place for the NATO powers, led by a neo-colonialist French government of Socialist President Francois Hollande (and quietly backed to the hilt by the Obama Administration), to launch what is being called by some a new Thirty Years' War Against Terrorism.
  Mali, with a population of some 12 million, and a landmass three and a half times the size of Germany, is a land-locked largely Saharan Desert country in the center of western Africa, bordered by Algeria to its north, Mauritania to its west, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger to its southern part. People I know who have spent time there before the recent US-led efforts at destabilization called it one of the most peaceful and beautiful places on earth, the home of Timbuktu. Its people are some ninety percent Muslim of varying persuasions. It has a rural subsistence agriculture and adult illiteracy of nearly 50%. Yet this country is suddenly the center of a new global ''war on terror.''
  On January 20 Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron announced his country's curious resolve to dedicate itself to deal with ''the terrorism threat'' in Mali and north Africa. Cameron declared, ''It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months, and it requires a response that'...has an absolutely iron resolve'...'' [1] Britain in its colonial heyday never had a stake in Mali. Until it won independence in 1960, Mali was a French colony.
  On January 11, after more than a year of behind-the-scenes pressure on the neighboring Algeria to get them entangled in an invasion of its neighbor Mali, Hollande decided to make a direct French military intervention with US backing. His government launched air strikes in the rebel-held north of Mali against a fanatical Salafist band of jihadist cutthroats calling itself Al-Qaeda in the Islamic-Mahgreb (AQIM). The pretext for the seemingly swift French action was a military move by a tiny group of Islamic Jihadists of the Tuareg people, Asnar Dine, affiliated with the larger AQIM. On January 10 Asnar Dine '' backed by other Islamist groups '' attacked the southern town of Konna. That marked the first time since the Tuareg rebellion in early 2012 that Jihadist rebels moved out of traditional Tuareg territory in the northern desert to spread Islamic law to the south of Mali.
  As French journalist Thierry Meyssan noted, French forces were remarkably well prepared: ''The transitional President, Dioncounda Traore, declared a state of emergency and called to France for help. Paris intervened within hours to prevent the fall of the capital, Bamako. Far-sightedly, the Elys(C)e had already pre-positioned in Mali troops from the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (''the Colonials'') and the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment, helicopters from the COS (Special Operations Command), three Mirage 2000D's, two Mirage F-1's, three C135's, a C130 Hercules and a C160 Transall.'' [2] What a convenient coincidence.
  By January 21 US Air Force transport planes began delivering hundreds of French elite soldiers and military equipment to Mali, ostensibly to roll back what we were told was an out-of-control terrorist advance south towards the Mali capital. [3] French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told media the number of its 'boots on the ground' in Mali had reached 2,000, adding that ''around 4,000 troops will be mobilized for this operation,'' in Mali and outside bases. [4]
  But there are strong indications the French agenda in Mali is anything but humanitarian. In a France 5 TV interview, Le Drian carelessly admitted, ''The goal is the total reconquest of Mali. We will not leave any pockets.'' And President Francois Hollande said French troops would remain in the region long enough ''to defeat terrorism.'' The United States, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Germany and Denmark have all said they would support the French operation against Mali. [5]
  Mali itself, like much of Africa is rich in raw materials. It has large reserves of gold, uranium and most recently, though western oil companies try to hide it, of oil, lots of oil. The French preferred to ignore Mali's vast resources, keeping it a poor subsistence agriculture country. Under the deposed democratically-elected President Amadou Toumani Toure, for the first time the government initiated a systematic mapping of the vast wealth under its soil. According to Mamadou Igor Diarra, previous mining minister, Malian soil contains copper, uranium, phosphate, bauxite, gems and in particular, a large percentage of gold in addition to oil and gas. Thus, Mali is one of the countries in the world with the most raw materials. With its gold mining, the country is already one of the leading exploiters directly behind South Africa and Ghana. [6] Two thirds of France's electricity is from nuclear power and sources of new uranium are essential. Presently, France draws significant uranium imports from neighboring Niger.
  Now the picture gets a little complex.
  According to usually reliable former US military experts with direct familiarity with the region, speaking on condition of anonymity, US and NATO Special Forces actually trained the same ''terrorist'' bands now justifying a neo-colonial US-backed invasion of Mali by France. The major question is why would Washington and Paris train the terrorists they are now acting to destroy in a ''war on terror?'' Were they really surprised at the lack of NATO loyalty from their trainees? And what is behind AFRICOM's American-backed French takeover of Mali?
  Part II: AFRICOM and 'Victoria's Secrets'The truth about what is really going on in Mali and with AFRICOM and NATO countries, especially France is a little bit like a geopolitical ''Victoria's Secret'''--what you think you see is definitely not what you will get.
  We are being told repeatedly in recent months that something supposedly calling itself Al Qaeda'--the organization officially charged by the US Government as responsible for pulverizing three towers of the World Trade Center and blowing a gaping hole in the side of the Pentagon on September 11, 2001'--has regrouped.
  According to the popular media account and statements of various NATO member country government officials, the original group of the late Osama bin Laden, holed up we are supposed to believe somewhere in the caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan, has apparently adopted a modern business model and is handing out Al Qaeda official franchises in a style something like a 'McDonalds of Terrorism,' from Al Qaeda in Iraq to Libyan Islamic Fighting Group in Libya and now Al-Qaeda-in-the Islamic-Maghreb.
  I've even heard reports that a new Al Qaeda ''official'' franchise has just been given, bizarre as it sounds, to something called DRCCAQ or Democratic Republic of Congo Christian (sic) Al Qaeda. [7] Now that's a stretch which reminds one of an equally bizarre sect called Jews for Jesus created back in the hippie days of the Vietnam War era. Can it be that the architects of all these murky groups have so little imagination?
  If we are to believe the official story, the group being blamed in Mali for most all the trouble is Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM for short). The murky AQIM itself is actually a product of several behind-the-scenes workings. Originally it was based in Algeria across the border from Mali and called itself the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC according to its French name).
  In 2006 Al Qaeda's head guru in absence of Osama bin Laden, Egyptian jihadist Ayman al-Zawahiri, publicly announced the granting to the Algerian GSPC the Al Qaeda franchise. The name was changed to Al-Qaeda-in-the Islamic-Mahgreb and Algerian counter-terror operations pushed them in the past two years over the desert border into northern Mali. AQIM reportedly is little more than a well-armed criminal band that gets its money from running South American cocaine from Africa into Europe, or from arms dealing and human trafficking. [8]
  A year later, in 2007, the enterprising al-Zawahiri added another building block to his Al Qaeda chain of thugs when he officially announced the merger between the Libyan LIFG and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM).
  The LIFG or Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, was formed by a Libyan-born jihadist named Abdelhakim Belhaj. Belhaj was trained by the CIA as part of the US-financed Mujahideen in Afghanistan during the 1980s alongside another CIA trainee then named Osama bin Laden. In essence, as the journalist Pepe Escobar notes, ''for all practical purposes, since then, LIFG/AQIM have been one and the same '' and Belhaj was/is its emir.'' [9]
  That becomes even more interesting when we find that Belhaj's men '' who, as Escobar writes, were at the forefront of a militia of Berbers from the mountains southwest of Tripoli, the so-called Tripoli Brigade'--were trained in secret for two months by US Special Forces. [10]
  LIFG played a key role in the US and French-backed toppling of Libya's Qaddafi, turning Libya today into what one observer describes as the ''world's largest open air arms bazaar.'' Those arms are reportedly flooding from Benghazi to Mali and other various hotspot targets of destabilization, including, according to what was suggested at the recent US Senate Foreign Relations testimony of outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, by the boatload from Libya to Turkey where they were being channeled into the various foreign terrorist insurgents sent into Syria to fuel the destruction of Syria. [11]
  Now what does this unusual conglomerate globalized terror organization, LIFG-GPSC-AQIM intend in Mali and beyond, and how does that suit AFRICOM and French aims?
  Part III: Curious Mali Coup and AQIM terror'--exquisite timingEvents in the formerly peaceful, democratic Mali began to get very strange on March 22, 2012 when Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure was ousted and driven into exile in a military coup one month before a scheduled presidential election. Toure had earlier instituted a multi-party democratic system. The putsch leader, Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, received military training in the US, at Fort Benning, Georgia and the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia according to AFRICOM's spokesman. [12] Sanogo claimed the military coup was necessary because Toure's government was not doing enough to quell Tuareg unrest in northern Mali.
  As Meyssan points out, the March 2012 military coup against Toure was suspicious in every regard. A previously unheard-of group called CNRDRE (in English: National Commitee for the Recovery of Democracy and the Restoration of the State) overthrew Tour(C) and declared intention to restore Mali law and order in the north.
  ''This resulted in great confusion,'' Meyssan goes on, ''since the putschists were incapable of explaining how their actions would improve the situation. The overthrow of the President was even stranger since a presidential election was to be held five weeks later and the outgoing President was not running for office. The CNRDRE is composed of officers who were trained in the United States. They halted the election process and handed power to one of their candidates, who happened to be the Francophile Dioncounda Traore. This sleight of hand was legalized by the CEDEAO (or in English, ECOWAS'--Economic Community of West African States), whose President is none other than Alassane Ouattara, who was placed in power in the Ivory Coast by the French army a year earlier.'' [13]
  Alassane Ouattara, educated in economics in the US, is a former senior IMF official who in 2011 forced out his Ivory Coast presidential rival with French military assistance. He owes his job not to ''the New York Times,'' but to French Special Forces. [14]
  At the time of the military coup, the unrest in question was from an ethnic tribe, Tuareg, a secular, nomadic group of pastoral cattle-herding people who demanded independence from Mali in early 2012.
  The Tuareg Rebellion was reportedly armed and financed by France who repatriated Tuaregs who had been fighting in Libya for the purpose of splitting the north of Mali along Algeria's border, from the rest of the country and declaring Sharia law. It only lasted from January to April 2012, at which time the nomadic Tuareg fighters rode off to their nomad haunts in the central Sahara and borders of the Sahel, a vast borderless desert area between Libya and Algeria, Mali and Niger. That left the Algerian-Libyan LIFG/Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and their associates in the Jihadist Asnar Dine to carry out the dirty work for Paris. [15]
  In their 2012 battle for independence from Mali, the Tuareg had made an unholy alliance with the Jihadist AQIM. Both groups, briefly joined together with Asnar Dine, another islamist organization led by Iyad Ag Ghaly. Asnar Dine is believed to have ties to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb which is led by Ag Ghaly's cousin, Hamada Ag Hama. Ansar Dine wants the imposition of strict Sharia law across Mali.
  The three main groups briefly joined forces the moment Mali was plunged into chaos following the March 2012 military coup. The coup leader was Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, who received military training at the Marine Corps camp at Quantico, Virginia and Special Forces training at Fort Benning, Georgia in the US. In a bizarre play of events, despite the claim the coup was driven by the civilian government's failure to contain the rebellion in the north, the Malian military lost control of the regional capitals of Kidal, Gao, and Timbuktu within ten days of Sanogo's assuming office. Reuters describe the farcical coup as ''a spectacular own-goal.'' [16]
  The violation of Mali's constitution by the military was used to trigger severe sanctions against the central military government. Mali was suspended from membership in the African Union; the World Bank and African Development Bank have suspended aid. The US has cut half of the $140 million in aid that it sends each year, all of which created chaos in Mali and made it virtually impossible for the government to respond to the growing loss of territory in the north to Salafists.
  Part IV: Terror-Anti-TerrorWhat then ensued is like a page ripped out of the insurgency-counter-insurgency textbook of Britain's Brigadier Frank E. Kitson during the 1950s British Mau Mau operations in Kenya. The Jihadist insurgency in the North and the simultaneous military coup in the capital led to a situation in which Mali was immediately isolated and massively punished with economic sanctions.
  Acting with indecent haste, the US and French-controlled regional 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded the coup leaders restore civilian rule. On March 26, the US cut off all military aid to the impoverished country, ensuring maximum chaos just as the Jihadists made their major push south., Then at a meeting April 2 in Dakar, Senegal, ECOWAS members closed their countries' borders with land-locked Mali and imposed severe sanctions, including cutting off access to the regional bank, raising the possibility that Mali will soon be unable to pay for essential supplies, including gasoline.
  The same military that ''trains'' the terrorists also trains the ''anti-terrorists.'' This seems a bizarre contradiction in policy only when we fail to grasp the essence of US and British-developed methods of irregular warfare employed actively since the early 1950's.
  The method was originally termed Low Intensity Warfare by the British Army officer who developed and refined the method for control of subject areas in Malaysia, Kenya during the Mau Mau 1950's freedom struggles and later for the British Army in Northern Ireland. Low intensity warfare as he termed it in a book by that name, [17] involves use of deception, of infiltration of double-agents, provocateurs, and use of defectors into legitimate popular movements such as those struggles for colonial independence after 1945.
  The method is sometimes referred to as ''Gang/Counter-Gang.'' The essence is that the orchestrating intelligence agency or military occupying force, whether the British Army in Kenya or the CIA in Afghanistan, de facto controls the actions of both sides in an internal conflict, creating small civil wars or gang wars to the aim of dividing the overall legitimate movement and creating the pretext for outside military force in what the US now has deceptively renamed as ''Peace-Keeping Operations'' or PKO. [18]
  In his advanced course on American Military Intervention Since Vietnam, Grant Hammond of the US Air War College refers openly to Low Intensity Conflict aka Peace Keeping Operations as ''war by another name.'' [19]
  We begin to see the bloody footprints of a not-so-well-disguised French recolonisation of former French Africa, this time using Al-Qaeda terror as the springboard to direct military presence for the first time in more than half a century. French troops will likely stay on to help Mali in a ''peace keeping operation.'' The US is fully backing France as AFRICOM's ''cat's paw.'' And Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its spinoffs make the whole NATO military intervention possible.
  Washington claimed to have been caught blind-sided by the military coup. According to press reports, a confidential internal review completed July 2012 by the Pentagon's Africa Command (AFRICOM) concluded that the coup had unfolded too fast for American intelligence analysts to detect any clear warning signs. ''The coup in Mali progressed very rapidly and with very little warning,'' said AFRICOM spokesman, Col. Tom Davis. ''The spark that ignited it occurred within their junior military ranks, who ultimately overthrew the government, not at the senior leadership level where warning signs might have been more easily noticed.'' [20] That view is strongly disputed. In an off-the-record interview with The New York Times, one Special Operations Forces officer disagreed, saying, ''This has been brewing for five years. The analysts got complacent in their assumptions and did not see the big changes and the impacts of them, like the big weaponry coming out of Libya and the different, more Islamic fighters who came back.'' [21]
  More accurate it seems, AFRICOM had been ''brewing'' the crisis for five years since it began operations in late 2007. Mali for the Pentagon is but the next building block in the militarization of all of Africa by AFRICOM using proxy forces like France to do the dirty work. The Mali intervention using France upfront is but one building block in a project for the total militarization of Africa whose prime goal is not capturing strategic resources like oil, gas, uranium, gold or iron ore. The strategic target is China and the rapidly growing Chinese business presence across Africa over the past decade. The goal of AFRICOM is to push China out of Africa or at least to irreparably cripple her independent access to those African resources. An economically independent China, so goes thinking in various Pentagon offices or Washington neo-conservative think-tanks, can be a politically independent China. God forbid! So they believe.
  Part V: AFRICOM Agenda in Mali: Target ChinaThe Mali operation is but the tip of a huge African iceberg. AFRICOM, the Pentagon's US Africa Command was signed into existence by President George W. Bush in late 2007. Its prime purpose was to counter the dramatically growing Chinese economic and political influence across Africa. Alarm bells went off in Washington in October 2006 when the Chinese President hosted an historic Beijing summit, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which brought nearly fifty African heads of state and ministers to the Chinese capital. In 2008, ahead of a twelve-day eight-nation tour of Africa'--the third such journey since he took office in 2003'--Chinese President Hu Jintao announced a three-year, $3 billion program in preferential loans and expanded aid for Africa. These funds came on top of the $3 billion in loans and $2 billion in export credits that Hu announced earlier.
  Trade between China and African countries exploded in the ensuing four years as French and US influence over the ''Dark Continent'' waned. China's trade with Africa reached $166 billion in 2011, according to Chinese statistics, and African exports to China '' primarily resources to fuel Chinese industries '' rose to $93 billion from $5.6 billion over the past decade. In July 2012 China offered African countries $20 billion in loans over the next three years, double the amount pledged in the previous three-year period. [22]
  For Washington, making AFRICOM operational as soon as possible was an urgent geopolitical priority. It began operation on October 1, 2008 from headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. Since the Bush-Cheney Administration signed the directive creating AFRICOM in February 2007, it has been a direct response to China's successful African economic diplomacy.
  AFRICOM defines its mission as follows: ''Africa Command has administrative responsibility for US military support to US government policy in Africa, to include military-to-military relationships with 53 African nations.'' They admit working closely with US Embassies and State Department across Africa, an unusual admission which also includes with USAID: ''US Africa Command provides personnel and logistical support to State Department-funded activities. Command personnel work closely with US embassies in Africa to coordinate training programs to improve African nations' security capacity.'' [23]
  Speaking to the International Peace Operations Association in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 27, 2008 General Kip Ward, Commander of AFRICOM defined the command's mission as, ''in concert with other US government agencies and international partners, [to conduct] sustained security engagements through military-to-military programs, military-sponsored activities, and other military operations as directed to promote a stable and secure African environment in support of US foreign policy.'' [24]
  Various Washington sources state openly, AFRICOM was created to counter the growing presence of China in Africa, and China's increasing success, to secure long-term economic agreements for raw materials from Africa in exchange for Chinese aid and production sharing agreements and royalties. By informed accounts, the Chinese have been far shrewder. Instead of offering savage IMF-dictated austerity and economic chaos as the West has, China is offering large credits, soft loans to build roads and schools in order to create good will.
  Dr. J. Peter Pham, a leading Washington insider and an advisor of the US State and Defense Departments, states openly that among the aims of the new AFRICOM, is the objective of, ''protecting access to hydrocarbons and other strategic resources which Africa has in abundance '... a task which includes ensuring against the vulnerability of those natural riches and ensuring that no other interested third parties, such as China, India, Japan, or Russia, obtain monopolies or preferential treatment.''
  In testimony before the US Congress supporting creation of AFRICOM in 2007, Pham, who is closely associated with the neo-conservative think-tank, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, stated:
  This natural wealth makes Africa an inviting target for the attentions of the People's Republic of China, whose dynamic economy, averaging 9 percent growth per annum over the last two decades, has an almost insatiable thirst for oil as well as a need for other natural resources to sustain it. China is currently importing approximately 2.6 million barrels of crude per day, about half of its consumption;'...roughly a third of its imports come from African sources'...perhaps no other foreign region rivals Africa as the object of Beijing's sustained strategic interest in recent years'...
  '... many analysts expect that Africa'--especially the states along its oil-rich western coastline'--will increasingly becoming a theatre for strategic competition between the United States and its only real near-peer competitor on the global stage, China, as both countries seek to expand their influence and secure access to resources. [25]
  To counter the growing Chinese influence across Africa Washington has enlisted the economically weak and politically desperate French with promises of supporting a French revival of its former African colonial empire in one form or another. The strategy, as becomes clear in the wake of the French-US use of Al Qaeda terrorists to bring down Ghaddafi in Libya and now to wreak havoc across the Sahara from Mali, is to foster ethnic wars and sectarian hatred between Berbers, Arabs, and others in North Africa'--divide and rule.
  It appears they have even co-opted an earlier French blueprint for direct control. In a groundbreaking analysis, Canadian geopolitical analyst and sociologist, Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya writes, ''The map used by Washington for combating terrorism under the Pan-Sahel Initiative says a lot. The range or area of activity for the terrorists, within the borders of Algeria, Libya, Niger, Chad, Mali, and Mauritania according to Washington's designation, is very similar to the boundaries or borders of the colonial territorial entity which France attempted to sustain in Africa in 1957. Paris had planned to prop up this African entity in the western central Sahara as a French department (province) directly tied to France, along with coastal Algeria.'' [26]
  The French called it the Common Organization of the Saharan Regions (Organisation commune des regions sahariennes, OCRS). It comprised the inner boundaries of the Sahel and Saharan countries of Mali, Niger, Chad, and Algeria. Paris used it to control the resource-rich countries for French exploitation of such raw materials as oil, gas, and uranium.
  French map of Sahara in 1958 compared with USAFRICOM Pan-Sahal Initiative map (below) of terror threat in Sahara today.Source: GlobalResearch.ca)He adds that Washington clearly had this energy-rich and resource-rich area in mind when it drew the areas of Africa that need to be ''cleansed'' of alleged terrorist cells and gangs. At least now AFRICOM had ''a plan'' for its new African strategy. The French Institute of Foreign Relations (Institut fran§ais des relations internationals, IFRI) openly discussed this tie between the terrorists and energy-rich areas in a March 2011 report. [27]
  The map used by Washington for combating terrorism under the Pentagon Pan-Sahel Initiative shows an area of activity for the terrorists, inside Algeria, Libya, Niger, Chad, Mali, and Mauritania according to Washington's designation. The Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative (TSCTI) was begun by the Pentagon in 2005. Mali, Chad, Mauritania, and Niger were now joined by Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, and Tunisia in a ring of military cooperation with the Pentagon. The Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative was transferred to the command of AFRICOM on October 1, 2008. [28]
  The Pentagon map is remarkably similar to the boundaries or borders of the colonial territorial entity which France attempted to sustain in Africa in 1957. Paris had planned to prop up this African entity in the western central Sahara as a French department (province) directly tied to France, along with coastal Algeria'--the Common Organization of the Saharan Regions (Organisation commune des regions sahariennes, OCRS). It comprised the inner boundaries of the Sahel and Saharan countries of Mali, Niger, Chad, and Algeria. The plans were foiled during the Cold War by the Algerian and other African countries' independence wars against French colonial rule, France's ''Vietnam.'' France was forced to dissolve the OCRS in 1962, because of Algerian independence and the anti-colonial mood in Africa. [29] The neo-colonial ambitions in Paris however, did not vanish.
  The French make no secret of their alarm over growing Chinese influence in former French Africa. French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici stated in Abidjan last December that French companies must go on the offensive and fight the growing influence of rival China for a stake in Africa's increasingly competitive markets. ''It's evident that China is more and more present in Africa'...(French) companies that have the means must go on the offensive. They must be more present on the ground. They have to fight,'' Moscovici stated during a trip to Ivory Coast. [30]
  Clearly Paris had in mind a military offensive to back the economic offensive he foresaw for French companies in Africa.
  Notes
Pakistan to build $1.5bn Iran pipeline
  Link to Article
  Source: WTF RLY REPORT
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:07
  PakistanAffairs.pkBy Farhan Bokhari
  Pakistan has decided to go ahead with a controversial $1.5bn pipeline to import Iranian gas, a senior government official has said, in a move that risks alienating the US.
  ''A decision has been made that we can't delay this project for any longer. This is Pakistan's essential lifeline. We are going ahead with this project,'' the official told the Financial Times on Thursday.
  Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's president, unexpectedly cancelled a trip to Iran at the last minute in December, amid concerns in Islamabad over stiff US opposition to a project considered essential for tackling mounting energy shortages. Some Pakistani officials had expected Mr Zardari to consent to the project during the trip.
  The plan would see Pakistan build a pipeline connecting its national gas supply grid in the southern Sindh province to the Iranian border in southwest Baluchistan. Iranian officials say they have already built the pipeline on their side of the border to within 100km of Pakistan.
  The US has opposed the pipeline on the grounds it would inject foreign exchange into the Iranian economy at a time when western countries have imposed a number of ever tighter sanctions in an effort to prevent Tehran from advancing its nuclear weapons programme.Independent economists said it was too early to predict whether the project would go ahead. ''The companies involved from Pakistan may face the danger of being exposed to US-led western sanctions,'' warned Sakib Sherani, an economist. ''There are also technical issues in undertaking such a large project.''
  However, Islamabad has become all too aware of the political and economic risks posed by chronic electricity shortages after people took to the streets in cities across the country last summer in protest at power cuts up to 20 hours long.
  Pakistan appeared confident the US would not hit it with tough sanctions, according to a senior western diplomat in Islamabad. ''In their [Pakistan's] calculus, they believe that the US needs Pakistan to ensure a successful drawdown from Afghanistan by December next year,'' the diplomat said.
  ''The Pakistanis probably believe there will be a lot of huff and puff but no painful sanctions. In all honesty, Pakistan has a terrible situation on energy and these [energy] shortages can undermine the country's stability.''
  Iran has offered its neighbour at least $500m to help finance the project. The money was ''just the beginning'', the Pakistani official said. ''The Iranians have said they will provide more funding for this project if there is a need.''
  The Iranian pipeline offers Pakistan the shortest supply route from any gas surplus country, officials say. Asim Hussain, chief adviser on oil and natural resources to the government, told the FT last December: ''It's a feasible project for Pakistan. It's the quickest route, the cheapest route where we can fulfil our energy needs.''
  Via PakistanAffairs.pk
Should you give American citizens a chance to surrender before you kill them? Hot Air
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:07
  posted at 8:31 pm on February 7, 2013 by Allahpundit
  Via Mediaite, I wonder if Wyden knows that the U.S. did, kinda sorta, give Awlaki a chance to surrender. Remember?
  About six months before alleged Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader Anwar Al-Awlaki was killed in a drone strike in Yemen last year, the U.S. moved to notify him that his American passport had been revoked, according to newly-released State Department documents.
  Surprisingly, U.S. State Department officials appear to have instructed the U.S. Embassy in Yemen to invite the suspected terrorist to come to the embassy to receive ''an important letter regarding [his] U.S. passport.'''...
  It's unclear from the documents whether the embassy ever actually sought to contact Anwar Al-Awlaki or succeeded in doing so. It's possible that the attempt to reach out to Al-Awlaki was part of an internal effort by the Obama Administration to provide a form of due process to U.S. citizens targeted for the use of deadly force.
  Brennan rambles in response but his point is clear enough: If you join Al Qaeda after 9/11, how do you not know that the U.S. is eager for your surrender? Was it somehow ambiguous in Awlaki's mind that the White House wanted him off the battlefield? Wyden's imagining a scenario, I think, where an American is plotting overseas against America and doesn't realize that the United States government is aware of it. You can imagine that happening with a new, unknown terrorist group, where giving the mastermind a heads up that he's on the radar might (but probably won't) encourage him to quit. You can't imagine it happening with AQ, which of course is why Brennan is so eager to address the specific case of AQ and only AQ. Once you get into hypotheticals involving as-yet undeclared enemies of the U.S., the ground he's standing on gets much shakier.
  The AP has a nice summary of his testimony today, none of which is likely to derail his confirmation. Although this part, where he played dumb about enhanced interrogation, was cute:
  On the question of waterboarding, Brennan said that while serving as a deputy manager at the CIA during the Bush administration, he was told such interrogation methods produced ''valuable information.'' Now, after reading a 300-page summary of a 6,000-page report on CIA interrogation and detention policies, he said he does ''not know what the truth is.''
  Fred Kaplan's reply: ''The fact that Brennan has been President Obama's senior adviser on counterterrorism these past four years, and yet found material in the Senate report that he had not known before, material that makes him now think he might have been wrong'--this in itself is rather disturbing.'' Well, no, not unless you think Brennan was telling the truth when he said he was newly ambivalent about EITs. If you assume that he's patronizing Democrats by telling them what they wanted to hear, it's perfectly sensible. Another fun moment: Brennan is eager to move command and control over drone strikes from the CIA to the Pentagon since blowing up terrorists is really more of a military job. Which means the man in charge of preventing terror attacks by liquidating the people who are planning them will soon be '... this guy.
  Now, go read Ace's post about assassination power and outlaws, which is what we're really talking about when we talk about summary execution of malfeasors. I agree that there needs to be some sort of check on the president in exercising this power; I'm just not sure that it should be Congress, which was so squeamish about having to take a vote on intervening in Libya that they all but endorsed Obama's flouting of the War Powers Act. Politicians will almost always err on the side of authorizing a drone strike because the political consequences of attacking and screwing up by killing innocent foreigners are less severe than the consequences of not attacking and then having to explain yourself if/when the would-be target launches an attack that kills innocent Americans. That's a brutal calculus, but that's how it is. (Waiting for Congress to formally declare war on an individual would also give that individual time to go to ground, although if you insist a la Wyden on a formal demand for surrender, then you're going to run into that problem anyway.) If you let a judge do this instead, then you've got someone who's insulated from political pressure deciding on whether the ''kill warrant'' has merit or not. That's not ideal either '-- more insulation means less accountability to voters, which is a scary prospect when we're talking about targeting U.S. citizens '-- but I'll bet Congress would rather have it that way than arrogate this review power to itself. We'll see.
The LAPD Is Not Using Drones to Hunt Fugitive Christopher Dorner
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:06
  What's This?
  Drones are not being used in what could be the biggest manhunt in the history of the Los Angeles Police Department, according to the government agency responsible for supplying such equipment.
  UK newspaper Express was the first outlet to report that the LAPD was using flying robots from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to hunt down Christopher Dorner, a former police officer and Navy reservist suspected of killing three people.
  The LAPD has been tirelessly searching for Dorner for almost a week now. One of his alleged victims was a police officer and there is a $1 million dollar reward for information leading to his capture.
  According to the paper, Dorner had become "the first human target for remotely-controlled airborne drones on U.S. soil." Several media outlets picked up on the story. MSN Now declared, "It's official: The drone war has come home to America."
  As it turns out, none of that is true.
  "Reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection's unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are being used are incorrect. CBP UAS are not flying in support of the search,"
  "Reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection's unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are being used are incorrect. CBP UAS are not flying in support of the search," a spokesperson from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Mashable via email.
  The statement from the CBP comes as others had already cast doubt on the original report's claim.
  Parker Higgins, an activist for the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation, called the allegations of drone use "suspect" and went on to thoroughly undermine the idea in a blog post.
  First of all, drones have already been used in at least one other similar situation. The CBP, a subsidiary of the Department of Homeland Security, is allowed to loan out its MQ-9 Reaper drones to police departments in certain cases. That's what happened when police in North Dakota used a CBP drone to help track down three men who had allegedly stolen six cows from a nearby ranch.
  To back up its claim, Express quoted an unnamed source inside the LAPD, who told the paper that "the thermal imaging cameras the drones use may be our only hope of finding him. On the ground, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."
  Higgins, who also manages the Twitter account Drones didn't buy it: "How did a tiny paper in the United Kingdom get such a juicy source more than 10,000 miles away?"
  Mashable has reached out to an editor at Express to ask for more information but we haven't heard back.
  The LAPD won't deny or confirm whether they are using flying bots. Public Information Officer Alex Martinez told Mashable that the department doesn't discuss these issues with the press. "That would tip off any suspect watching media, right?" he said in a phone interview. "So, to answer your question, we're not gonna answer that. Obviously because he has access to media and we're not going to let him know how we're approaching him."
  Image via Gary Williams/Getty Images
  Topics: christopher dorner, Drones, Los Angeles, U.S., US & World
The NDAA and the Death of the Democratic State
  Link to Article
  Source: BlackListedNews.com
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:03
  By Chris Hedges
  On Wednesday a few hundred activists crowded into the courtroom of the Second Circuit, the spillover room with its faulty audio feed and dearth of chairs, and Foley Square outside the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in Manhattan where many huddled in the cold. The fate of the nation, we understood, could be decided by the three judges who will rule on our lawsuit against President Barack Obama for signing into law Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
  The section permits the military to detain anyone, including U.S. citizens, who ''substantially support'''--an undefined legal term'--al-Qaida, the Taliban or ''associated forces,'' again a term that is legally undefined. Those detained can be imprisoned indefinitely by the military and denied due process until ''the end of hostilities.'' In an age of permanent war this is probably a lifetime. Anyone detained under the NDAA can be sent, according to Section (c)(4), to any ''foreign country or entity.'' This is, in essence, extraordinary rendition of U.S. citizens. It empowers the government to ship detainees to the jails of some of the most repressive regimes on earth.
  Section 1021(b)(2) was declared invalid in September after our first trial, in the Southern District Court of New York. The Obama administration appealed the Southern District Court ruling. The appeal was heard Wednesday in the Second Circuit Court with Judges Raymond J. Lohier, Lewis A. Kaplan and Amalya L. Kearse presiding. The judges might not make a decision until the spring when the Supreme Court rules in Clapper v. Amnesty International USA, another case in which I am a plaintiff. The Supreme Court case challenges the government's use of electronic surveillance. If we are successful in the Clapper case, it will strengthen all the plaintiffs' standing in Hedges v. Obama. The Supreme Court, if it rules against the government, will affirm that we as plaintiffs have a reasonable fear of being detained.
  If we lose in Hedges v. Obama'--and it seems certain that no matter the outcome of the appeal this case will reach the Supreme Court'--electoral politics and our rights as citizens will be as empty as those of Nero's Rome. If we lose, the power of the military to detain citizens, strip them of due process and hold them indefinitely in military prisons will become a terrifying reality. Democrat or Republican. Occupy activist or libertarian. Socialist or tea party stalwart. It does not matter. This is not a partisan fight. Once the state seizes this unchecked power, it will inevitably create a secret, lawless world of indiscriminate violence, terror and gulags. I lived under several military dictatorships during the two decades I was a foreign correspondent. I know the beast.
  ''The stakes are very high,'' said attorney Carl Mayer, who with attorney Bruce Afran brought our case to trial, in addressing a Culture Project audience in Manhattan on Wednesday after the hearing. ''What our case comes down to is: Are we going to have a civil justice system in the United States or a military justice system? The civil justice system is something that is ingrained in the Constitution. It was always very important in combating tyranny and building a democratic society. What the NDAA is trying to impose is a system of military justice that allows the military to police the streets of America to detain U.S. citizens, to detain residents in the United States in military prisons. Probably the most frightening aspect of the NDAA is that it allows for detention until 'the end of hostilities.' '' [To see videos of Mayer, Afran, Hedges and others participating in the Culture Project panel discussion, click here.]
  Advertisement
  <a href='http://www.truthdig.com/banners/www/delivery/ck.php?n=abee66dc&amp;cb=1669476062' target='_blank'><img src='http://www.truthdig.com/banners/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=8&amp;cb=1669476062&amp;n=abee66dc' border='0' alt='' /></a>Five thousand years of human civilization has left behind innumerable ruins to remind us that the grand structures and complex societies we build, and foolishly venerate as immortal, crumble into dust. It is the descent that matters now. If the corporate state is handed the tools, as under Section 1021(b)(2) of the NDAA, to use deadly force and military power to criminalize dissent, then our decline will be one of repression, blood and suffering. No one, not least our corporate overlords, believes that our material conditions will improve with the impending collapse of globalization, the steady deterioration of the global economy, the decline of natural resources and the looming catastrophes of climate change.But the global corporatists'--who have created a new species of totalitarianism'--demand, during our decay, total power to extract the last vestiges of profit from a degraded ecosystem and disempowered citizenry. The looming dystopia is visible in the skies of blighted postindustrial cities such as Flint, Mich., where drones circle like mechanical vultures. And in an era where the executive branch can draw up secret kill lists that include U.S. citizens, it would be naive to believe these domestic drones will remain unarmed.
  Robert M. Loeb, the lead attorney for the government in Wednesday's proceedings, took a tack very different from that of the government in the Southern District Court of New York before Judge Katherine B. Forrest. Forrest repeatedly asked the government attorneys if they could guarantee that the other plaintiffs and I would not be subject to detention under Section 1021(b)(2). The government attorneys in the first trial granted no such immunity. The government also claimed in the first trial that under the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force Act (AUMF), it already had the power to detain U.S. citizens. Section 1021(b)(2), the attorneys said, did not constitute a significant change in government power. Judge Forrest in September rejected the government's arguments and ruled Section 1021(b)(2) invalid.
  The government, however, argued Wednesday that as ''independent journalists'' we were exempt from the law and had no cause for concern. Loeb stated that if journalists used journalism as a cover to aid the enemy, they would be seized and treated as enemy combatants. But he assured the court that I would be untouched by the new law as long as ''Mr. Hedges did not start driving black vans for people we don't like.''
  >>Read More...
Is Christopher Dorner another psychiatric killer?
  Link to Article
  Source: Dprogram.net
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:01
  (NoMoreFakeNews) '' Accepting on faith any part of the official scenario in this case is risky and ill-advised, but assuming Dorner is guilty of committing murders, his highly publicized manifesto may hold a clue.
  Buried in the text, here is one of his statements. As usual, the major media are ignoring it completely:
  ''If possible, I want my brain preserved for science/research to study the effects of severe depression on an individual's brain. Since 6/26/08 when I was relieved of duty and 1/2/09 when I was terminated I have been afflicted with severe depression. I've had two CT scans during my lifetime that are in my medical record at Kaiser Pemanente. Both are from concussions resulting from playing football. The first was in high school, 10/96. The second was in college and occurred in 10/99. Both were conducted at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in LA/Orange County. These two CT scans should give a good baseline for my brain activity before severe depression began in late 2008.''
  So the question is, did Dorner ever see a doctor for his depression? Was he diagnosed? Was he given one of the SSRI antidepressants (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, etc.)?
  Either taking one of these drugs or withdrawing from it can and does cause violent behavior, including suicide and homicide. This is well established from both reports and studies. (See the extensive reports at ssristories.com, and consult the work of Dr. Peter Breggin at www.breggin.com and Dr. David Healy at www.davidhealy.org.)
  No doubt, the LAPD and other investigating agencies know a great deal about Christopher Dorner's medical history, but they aren't saying anything. This suggests the situation in both the Aurora and Sandy Hook massacres, where no public statements have been made about psychiatric drugs the accused shooters were prescribed.
  In Dorner's case, his possible psychiatric history doesn't affect the veracity of his accusations against the LAPD'--which is a separate matter for independent investigation'--but it certainly is relevant to his actions.
  If Dorner indeed has killed people as part of a plan to enact revenge on his former employers, those actions and that plan could be fueled by antidepressant use or withdrawal.
  In 1999, shortly after the Columbine school massacre, I interviewed Dr. Peter Breggin, and he confirmed that an antidepressant like Luvox, which one of the shooters, Eric Harris, had been taking can stimulate the desire to ''make grandiose plans for mass destruction.''
  Contrary to pronouncements by psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies, the whole theory about depression stemming from an imbalance of serotonin in the brain is an unproven hypothesis. And the antidepressant drugs, claimed to selectively target serotonin levels, actually have wildly unpredictable effects on brain neurotransmitters.
  CT scans and other brain-imagining technology do not reveal definitive changes that can be attributed to the onset of depression or any other so-called mental disorder. The whole ''science'' of psychiatric diagnosis, as I've demonstrated in several articles, is nothing more than supposition and pseudo-analysis.
  But if Dorner sought medical or psychiatric help for what he called ''severe depression,'' it's almost certain he would have been diagnosed and prescribed one of the highly dangerous drugs that can cause a brainstorm and ensuing violence.
  It is exactly this volatile situation that President Obama and other gun-control advocates are encouraging and implementing through their new program of expanding mental-health services across America: more treatment, more drugs, more murders.
  Dorner's stated history of concussions could also play a role in his actions, even years after the fact'---just as dosing with antidepressants can result in violence long after a person has stopped taking them.
  As I've written before, every time a mass shooting occurs, pharmaceutical companies make their presence known behind the scenes, with the goals of covering up the shooter's psychiatric-drug history, blacking out the name of the doctor who prescribed the drugs, and keeping media exposure to a bare minimum.
  On their part, the police and other investigating agencies cooperate in full, because they don't want to tangle with the psychiatric profession. They use psychiatric experts in court to make their cases. They don't have the professional clout to counter medical claims that the drugs are safe and effective. And the role of psychiatric drugs in committed murders would only serve to let suspects off the hook.
  If there is a psychiatrist who prescribed SSRI antidepressants to Christopher Dorner (just as with James Holmes and Adam Lanza), he's keeping very quiet. The last thing he wants is exposure as the doctor who treated a killer.
  Meanwhile, in court cases all over America, the plea of non-guilty by reason of insanity is being used as a cover for: committed murder because he was prescribed psychiatric drugs. Christopher Dorner may well be one of these cases.
  Jon Rappoport is the author of an explosive collection, THE MATRIX REVEALED and was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. Sign up for his emails and read his other articles at NoMoreFakeNews.com.
Obama Disarmed Marines During Inauguration
  Link to Article
  Source: Dprogram.net
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 06:01
  February 11th, 2013
  (Infowars) '' David Codrea reported on February 9 that a United States Marine Corps source forwarded an email to the Gun Examiner stating that soldiers marching up Pennsylvania Avenue in Obama's inaugural parade had the bolts removed from their rifles.
  ''The email linked to a YouTube video of the 57th Presidential Inaugural Parade, embedded in this column, featuring Bravo Company Marines from the Marine Barracks Washington,'' the USMC page on the Examiner reported. ''Sure enough, the observation in the email is confirmed by watching the video, with screen shots provided in the photo and slide show accompanying this article.''
  ''Apparently Obama's Secret Service doesn't trust the USMC. Simply searching each guy to make sure he didn't have a live round hidden on him wasn't enough, they had to make sure the guns were inoperable,'' the Blur-brain blog wrote on February 8.
  Is it possible that the notorious ''litmus test'' reportedly used by Obama to determine what military leaders must stay and which must go has experienced some sort of reversal? The test was allegedly concocted to determine if the military will fire on U.S. citizens.
  The claim was made by 2009 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Jim Garrow.
  Source: Infowars
  Tags: disarmed marines, inauguration, obamaThis entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2013 at 10:35 pm and is filed under Dictatorship, Education/Mind Control, Fascism, Film/Video, Martial Law/Police State, NWO, Second Amendment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Ludicrous Bin Laden Fable Changes Yet Again
  Link to Article
  Source: Dprogram.net
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:56
  February 11th, 2013
  (PaulWatson) '' The White House continues to struggle to get its fairytale straight. The Navy SEAL who claims he shot Bin Laden says the terror leader did use his ''wife'' as a human shield, despite the White House acknowledging that the woman was not Osama's wife and was not used by him as a human shield.
  RELATED: 'I could see his brains spilling out..I watched him take his last breath': Navy SEAL describes moment he shot bin Laden three times in head before zip-tying his screaming wife to her bed '' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2276972/Navy-SEAL-describes-moment-shot-Osama-bin-Laden-3-times-head.html#axzz2KaOIXlm6
  RELATED: WHITE HOUSE SAYS OBL DID NOT USE HIS WIFE AS HUMAN SHIELD '' http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/05/02/white-house-osama-used-his-wife-as-human-shield/
  RELATED: Osama bin Laden 'was not armed and did not use wife as human shield' '' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/8489658/Osama-bin-Laden-was-not-armed-and-did-not-use-wife-as-human-shield.html
  Tags: bin laden, fableThis entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2013 at 10:51 pm and is filed under Coup D'etat, Dictatorship, Education/Mind Control, Fascism, Film/Video, NWO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Muslims force closure of French owned stores, open Muslim stores
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:49
  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.
Second Former LAPD Officer Releases Manifesto in Wake of Christopher Dorner Manhunt LeakSource
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:41
  The following is a post from a second former LAPD Officer, and a Facebook Friend of Christopher Dorner , his name is Joe Jones.
  My Former LAPD Officer Joe Jones MANIFESTO'...
  I know most of you who personally who me are in disbelief of the partial story I will tell today. A story that has been suppressed for about 18 years, But lives strong everyday of my life.
  I without hesitation would like to send my condolences to the Victims who were lost and their families during this tragic situation. I would also like to send my condolences and well wishes to the many former and current Officers, as well as Citizen's and their families who lost the lives and souls of loved one's to the injustices of Police Corruption, Scandal, Lies, Deception and Brutality.
  Unlike Former Officer Dorner, I fear dying; But I also fear living in a society where Innocent people are dying for no reason. A society where pain so great can be afflicted to people who have to desire to live right and treat people right and then be punished for doing right.
  They say we all look alike. In very few cases this of course is true. But in most cases it is not. I feel a resemblance to Dorner, (See Photos) However several people who have no resemblance to Dorner have been shot due to the fear of what is taking place. I DO NOT WANT TO BE SHOT FOR CRIMES I DID NOT COMMIT!. Neither does anyone else.
  To preface my story I will say this: Just like former Officer Christopher Dorner I used to smile a lot. I loved everyone. I was voted Friendliest Senior of my Sr. Class in High School. I always believed in the system and never got into any trouble. I loved hard and gave to all I could. After Joining the LAPD in 1989 I quickly found out that the world and society had major flaws. I had flaws as well for ever believing that our system of government was obligated to do the right thing. his is what I believed as a young Officer. Without going into major detail, I need you to first assume that I would not surface 16 years later with lies about a situation that has me with PTSD to this very day. The pain forces me to speak as I have yet to shake the Ill's of my experience as an LAPD Officer. Of course I have moved on physically. But mentally and emotionally I still live with flaws.
  I can't go into re-living the emotions of what I went through so I will say this. I had my home viciously attacked by a gunman with my family and myself inside the house. No arrests were made and my family and I Received very little support. I had my Civil Rights violated on several occasions. I was falsely arrested at gunpoint by the Sheriffs as an Officer who ID'd himself and was conspired against by both LAPD and the Sheriffs when my Civil case went to Trial. I was falsely accused on more than one occasion and simply placed in a position that the trust was so compromised that I could no longer wear the Uniform. Also know there were many more episodes. All of these issues are well documented and I present them not to be a Whistle blower, However to hope that one would not assume that all of what is being said is Lies as presented by Dorner. I don't know him, But I know me. I will say from my experience, If a person knows they were wrong it is easier to move on without anger. Seems that Dorner obviously could not move on'... Could I just be content and move on with my life and not say anything? Yes'...Then I would feel that I for once had my chance to speak on something that hurts me to this day and I did nothing to arouse thought or provoke reform. This is what I hope comes from this whole situation:
  1. Families that lost someone to this tragedy find the peace that only God can give at this terrible time.
  2. Citizens of Los Angeles be mindful of this fearful time to be an Officer and comply vigorously so that you are not the victim of an Officer on high alert.
  3. Government and Politicians please be diligent in the responsibility of creating Laws that protect those who could be the victim of a conspiracy. Never allow the door to be shut on the Truth.
  4. Honest and Fair LAPD & All Agencies: Keep doing what you are doing to protect citizens and be safe while you are doing so. We need you and I would hope that you do not allow the Bureaucratic drama and Stress to kill your morale as I know it can.
  5. Unethical LAPD & all Agencies: Whatever is was that lead you down this path, Pray to somebody's God to forgive you and begin to remove unethical methods to your policing style. Always think what if it were you, How would you feel?..How would you like if you were falsely accused and your life, lively-hood and career was taken from you? How would you like if someone was beating on you just because they felt they could get away with it? You are no better the criminals you took and oath to arrest when you do what you do!
  6. Chistopher Dorner. The 1st thing I would say to him is, I feel your pains!'...But you are going about this the wrong way. To take innocent lives could never be the answer to anything. I say this as a Man who experienced the same pain, betrayal, anger, suffering, litigation and agony that you did in many ways, Only I didn't get Fired. I just choose to go a different route. My heart still suffered that same shock, I was still left to try and put the pieces back together. The disbelief that people could conspire and cause you to loose something you loved so dearly was still there. I lost my Career, I lost my Family, I lost my Dignity, I lost my Trust'...But I am here now to hopefully one day see change'...Bro, Don't kill anymore Innocent people. Your point has been made. Clearly. They know you mean business, The whole world knows. Refrain from any further wrong doing and do what you must to salvage your Soul. Whatever that means to you. Just remember that God is a forgiving God.
  In conclusion I say to people who knew none of this about me that one day I will have to reflect on when was the time to speak. When I see the potential for innocent lives to be lost'...The time is Now!'...JJ
  Via Facebook
Government to hold horsemeat summit
  Link to Article
  Source: BBC News - Europe
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:40
  11 February 2013Last updated at19:49 ETEnvironment Secretary Owen Paterson will meet Food Standards Agency and food industry representatives later to discuss the horsemeat crisis.
  Mr Paterson told the Commons on Monday that it appeared "criminal activity" had been at the heart of the scandal.
  MPs will discuss the issue after Labour called a debate on Tuesday afternoon.
  It comes after some Tesco Everyday Value spaghetti bolognese, withdrawn from sale last week, was found to contain 60% horsemeat.
  Horsemeat has been detected in several brand and supermarket-own processed meat products.
  Tougher testingThe summit will be the environment secretary's second meeting with the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and members of the food industry in a matter of days.
  On Saturday, Mr Paterson held an emergency meeting to try to discover how products labelled as beef and sold in supermarkets in fact contained up to 100% horsemeat.
  Continue reading the main storyExperts say horsemeat itself should be no more dangerous than beef to eatThe Food Standards Agency (FSA) has ordered food businesses to check for horsemeat in all processed beef products, such as beef burgers, meatballs and lasagne. The first set of results is expected on Friday 15 FebruaryThere is concern that some horses are given a drug called bute (phenylbutazone) which can be dangerous to humansAnimals treated with phenylbutazone are not allowed to enter the food chain for this reasonThe FSA says all horse carcasses in the UK have been tested for bute since 30 JanuaryThe FSA has also ordered Findus to test its lasagne containing horsemeat for buteRetailers have agreed to carry out tougher testing of beef products and Mr Paterson warned that "more bad news" could come when the results are revealed on Friday.
  The minister said there were plans to test all processed beef in the UK.
  Mr Paterson told MPs testing should take place every three months, and the FSA should be notified of the results.
  Labour will urge the government to speed up testing in order to restore consumer confidence when MPs debate the issue in the Commons later.
  Tesco became the latest firm to announce it was dropping French food supplier Comigel after DNA tests on the frozen bolognese were known.
  The supermarket giant took the product off the shelves when it found out it came from the same factory as Findus beef lasagne, also at the centre of the horsemeat controversy.
  Tesco said the level of contamination suggested Comigel was "not following the appropriate production process".
  Tesco Group technical director Tim Smith said: "We are very sorry that we have let customers down."
  'Comprehensively address'On Wednesday, EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg and other European ministers will meet in Brussels to consider the impact of the horsemeat scandal.
  The meeting was called by the Irish Republic, which currently holds the EU presidency.
  Irish Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said the summit would discuss "whatever steps may be necessary at EU level to comprehensively address this matter".
  French inspectors have been at the Comigel headquarters in Metz, north-east France. Findus meals were made by the company at its Luxembourg factory.
  Investigators were also at the offices of importer Spanghero, in the south of France, which brought the meat to France from Romania.
  Romania has rejected claims that it was responsible for wrongly describing horsemeat from its abattoirs as beef.
KRTV's Emergency Alert System Hacked To Warn Of Fake Zombie Apocalypse (VIDEO)
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:38
  The zombie apocalypse hasn't happened yet, but a few thousand people in Great Falls, Mont., are to be forgiven if they thought it was.
  On Monday, the emergency alert system at KRTV-TV in Great Falls was hacked during the "The Steve Wilkos Show" to send out a message that "dead bodies are rising from their graves" in several counties.
  The warning also told those watching not to try and apprehend the dangerous individuals, only to get to shelter and stay safe, Gizmodo.au reported.
  Just in case you didn't know, there wasn't actually a zombie outbreak.
  Nevertheless, KRTV-TV felt obliged to let viewers know both on the air and online that the earlier report of zombies rising out of their graves was not accurate.
  "This message did not originate from KRTV, and there is no emergency," the station explained. "Our engineers are investigating to determine what happened and if it affected other media outlets."
  So far, no one has been able to figure out who did the hacking or if it was some kind of viral marketing for the AMC series, "The Walking Dead," Gawker reported.
  Earlier on HuffPost:
Tv-zender gekraakt: waarschuwing voor zombie-apocalyps
  Link to Article
  Source: VK: Home
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:36
  Tv-zender gekraakt: waarschuwing voor zombie-apocalyps03:22 Kijkers naar de tv-zender KRTV in de Amerikanse staat Montana zagen maandag plotseling een noodoproep door het beeld lopen. Tegelijkertijd waarschuwde een stem voor 'dode lichamen die uit hun graf oprijzen' en een 'aanval op de levenden' zouden ...
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Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Studio wants to bring you interactive TV
  Link to Article
  Source: CNET News
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:35
  Studio chief Nancy Tellem wants to deliver "hit" programming, including live events, reality shows and scripted programs with an interactive twist.
  Dive into Media host Peter Kafka, Nancy Tellem and Yusuf Mehdi. (Credit: Dan Farber/CNET)
  DANA POINT, Calif.--Microsoft is the new Hollywood. At least, in the same way that Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and others are trying to create original programming to draw paying subscribers. The company recently opened the Xbox Entertainment Studio in Santa Monica, with former CBS TV executive Nancy Tellem at the helm.
  The Xbox started out as a gaming machine, but now the majority of the 76 million users worldwide spend more time viewing entertainment than playing game, said Yusuf Mehdi, senior vice president of Interactive Entertainment at Microsoft. Mehdi and Tellem were interview by All Things D's Peter Kafka at the Dive into Media conference Monday.
  The user base has traditionally skewed male, but today 38 percent of Xbox users are women, Mehdi said, and 51 percent are people with children. Xbox users spend 87 hours per month on average engaged with the device, the Xbox accounted for 18 billion hours of entertainment in 2012.
  Microsoft has 46 million global paying Xbox Live subscribers to entice into viewing the content produced by its entertainment studio. But the company also partners on the Xbox with more than 100 media partners, Mehdi said, including Netflix and Hulu. The challenge for Microsoft creating programming that is unique and differentiated from its competitors.
  Tellem said her team of 150 people are looking to produce "hit" programming, including live events, reality shows, and scripted programming -- the same kind of premium content seen on regular TV, but with a twist.
  The twist is pioneering interactive entertainment, creating the next iteration of TV beyond linear viewing, and a new relationship with consumers, Tellem said. She gave examples of live events, with friends remotely experiencing content together and interacting with the content on a second screen. Microsoft's original programming will target younger demographics initially. "Interactivity is a natural extension of what they do," she said.
  Microsoft's interactive TV strategy relies on leveraging technologies such as Xbox 360 Kinect, which provides gesture and voice controls, and SmartGlass, which allows users to play video and other media from their mobile devices on their big-screen television via the Xbox 360.
  According to the latest rumors, the next-generation Xbox 720 will be a mandatory part of the console. Microsoft indicated that only about one-third of Xbox 360 consoles have Kinect sensors.
  Beyond the Xbox 360, Mehdi views the Xbox as a convergence device, where, for example, people could play a sports game, watch a game, engage in fantasy sports and trash talk with friends. That's the Microsoft vision -- winning the "living room" war with one, highly interactive Xbox packed with original entertainment and gaming content; fueled by advertisers, distributors, and a multitude of partners; and hundreds of millions of subscribers with multiyear contracts.
John Brennan and the ''So-Called'' Americans
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:31
  ''One of the problems is, once the drone program is so public, and one American is caught up, people don't know much about this one 'American citizen''--so called,'' said Senator Dianne Feinstein, in her questioning of John Brennan, President Obama's nominee for C.I.A. director, on Thursday. (John Cassidy has more on the hearing.) She was referring to Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed by a drone strike in Yemen, in 2011, and was a ''so-called'' American because he was an American, born in New Mexico. ''They don't know what he's been doing,'' Feinstein continued. ''They don't know the incitement he has stirred up. I wonder if you could tell us a little bit about Mr. Awlaki and what he's been doing.''
  Brennan demurred at first, since the question was about an ''operation.'' Feinstein jumped in:
  See, that's the problem. When people hear ''American,'' they think someone who's upstanding. And this man was not upstanding by a long shot.
  BRENNAN: Yes.
  FEINSTEIN: And maybe you cannot discuss it here, but I've read enough to know that he was a real problem.
  Brennan agreed, saying that al-Awlaki ''was intimately involved in activities that were designed to kill innocent men, women, and children, mostly Americans. He was not just a propagandist.'' (He neglected to mention that al-Awlaki's American teen-age son was also killed, in a separate strike.) Feinstein then led him through a number of incidents; in some cases, Brennan agreed that al-Awlaki was an organizer, and in others he spoke obliquely about ''inspiring'' and ''inciting individuals.'' Feinstein summed up the exchange with what may have been the most disturbing line in the three-hour hearing, worse, even, than the waterboarding joke that Senator Burr told a few minutes later:
  ''And, so, Mr. Awlaki is not an American citizen by where anyone in America would be proud.''
  ''Proud,'' ''upstanding,'' ''so-called American'''--is this the basis on which the Senate is judging fundamental questions of American rights and due process? Before the hearing, I wondered what picture of Americans we were supposed to have when we heard about the executive giving itself the power to kill them. Feinstein could hardly have given a less reassuring answer. When and on what basis will any of us get a ''so-called'' in front of our nationality? That there may have been a good deal of evidence against al-Awlaki is why his case should have gone before a court, not why it shouldn't have. What happened to the idea that it is precisely when we are the most enraged, and the least popular, that we need to be the most careful?
  The Obama Administration, as far as we've seen in a leaked Department of Justice white paper, is making a contradictory case: it claims that it is deliberate and careful, acting only when it must to say lives. But, when challenged, it descends into emotion and an abandonment of law. Angus King, the new Independent Senator from Maine'--a white mustachioed, affable, Sandra Day O'Connor-quoting figure'--asked why there couldn't be something like a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court that reviewed evidence before a strike. (Otherwise, what's to stop the President from acting on, or making, unfounded accusations?) Brennan said that he'd be interested in talking about it, but then made a comment that goes to the heart of what's so troubling about the Administration's targeted-killing policies:
  None of those actions are to determine past guilt for those actions that they took. The decisions that they made are to take actions to prevent a future action'--to protect American lives. And that is an inherently executive function.
  So the President gets to make guesses, perhaps about someone who has not done anything that wasn't upstanding? It got more confusing when Ron Wyden, of Oregon, asked Brennan whether American citizens on a ''kill list'' should be given an opportunity to surrender. Brennan said that anyone who was in Al Qaeda ''should know well that they, in fact, are part of an enemy against us'''--suggesting that past associations are enough. The white paper seconds this, with a notion of people who are ''continually planning'' and, as has been much noted, has a definition of ''imminence'' and preventing ''future actions'' that is elastic to the point of meaninglessness. Nor does the white paper limit killing power to Al Qaeda'--it includes vaguely defined ''associated forces.''
  If the hearing accomplished one thing, it was to make it very clear that the level of transparency and oversight have been insufficient. Brennan demonstrated this himself, in the course of dodging questions about what torture had yielded and cost us; he said that a classified Senate Intelligence Committee report had been ''disturbing,'' and had made him question much of what he thought he knew. (He mentioned ''inaccurate information that was put forward.'') If someone in Brennan's position can say that, the public needs to read the report before being asked to acquiesce the next time. It was also striking that the White House let the Senators but not their staffs see the legal memos that were the basis of the white paper.
  Is Brennan angry about getting bad information about torture? Throughout the hearing, he offered his own passions as justifications'--''I go to bed worrying that I didn't do enough,'' he said. (The passions were then justified with jokes about how he was from New Jersey.) Americans don't understand, he said, ''the agony we go through'' to make sure that there aren't collateral deaths in drone strikes. He may do so, but his internal pain is ultimately less interesting than the precedents he is crafting and the way that future Presidents'--whether dispassionate or vindictive or caught up in a crisis'--might use them. As Senator Jay Rockefeller said, ''the drones are going to grow.''
  There was, however, one point in which Brennan put his feelings aside. He was asked by Carl Levin if waterboarding was torture. Brennan said that, though in a personal sense he thought it was ''reprehensible,'' he couldn't answer the question: ''I'm not a lawyer.''
  Photograph by Chris Maddaloni/Getty
Owl: Mike Ruppert on WHY $1 Million is Offered for the Rogue Cop
  Link to Article
  Source: Public Intelligence Blog
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:20
  Who? Who?
  According to a recent radio show hosted by Michael Ruppert, Dorner has worked with Navy Seals (perhaps implied in the wiki bio below) '' he's a well-trained warrior, an operator. Ruppert mentioned much else about Dorner that will strike students of John Robb's writings on the ''global guerilla'' as having many affinities to this type of warrior. Here's the link to the show well worth hearing:
  Lifeboat Hour '' 02/10/13
  The $1,000,000 bounty put on Dorner's head implies he has a potential destructive value not only to high-up police but to political elites, a value which has yet to be spelled out to us regular people. How much do they think his revelations, if he has any, can destabilize their authority and grasp on the levers of power? My guess is: a lot. If they read Robb on how one or very few men could cause major damage to large systems, they have cause to be afraid. The passing of time will soon reveal if a global guerrilla-type scenario is being played out by Dorner and his state adversaries.
  Lt Chris Dorner, USNR
  Christopher Jordan Dorner, Global Guerrilla?
  Dorner's wikipedia biography states he '' was commissioned in 2002, commanded a security unit at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, and served with a Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit from June 23, 2004, to February 28, 2006. He was deployed to Bahrain with Coastal Riverine Group Two from November 3, 2006, to April 23, 2007.[6] Dorner was honorably discharged from the Navy Reserve on February 1, 2013.''
  Leash Lynn Plante
  INFOWAR vs. CORPORATIONS
  Robb's 2009 essay gives an example of a typical special ops tool: kill lists. In the essay, he refers to guerrilla war against corporations:
  ''Highly accurate lists of targets from hacking ''black'' marketplaces. These lists include all corporate employee e-mail addresses and phone numbers '-- both at work and at home. ~<$0.25 a dossier (for accurate lists).''
  Substitute ''corporation'' for ''LAPD,'' and we readily recognize Dorner uses a kill list, which he has already acted upon.
  Click on Image to Enlarge
  Phi Beta Iota: Robert Steele's original work on predicting revolution, and his graphic showing all of the preconditions of revolution that exist in the USA, is a starting point for discussing how fragile and vulnerable the ''hollow'' state has become. Preconditions are not precipitants. Precipitants are singular events that create a cultural firestorm, a resistance meme, and consolidate simmering anger into a single flashpoint that ''liberates'' masses from their otherwise sheep-like behavior in the face of velvet and not-so-velvet tyranny. Dorner is probably not good enough to become a precipitant in and of himself, but if he discovers a ''sea of people'' in which to swim, then Los Angeles is going to get very interesting as the Spring arrives, Occupy awakes from its slumber, and labor unions start reconnecting to their integrity. Add a Leah Lynn Plante or a Rodney King cop beating video, and the Watts riots will look like a kindergarten homecoming. Not only is the 80% of the public that is poor very, very angry, but they have been learning new tricks '-- very destructive new tricks, that DHS and FEMA are in no way ready to handle. We are at a point where any form of self-governance is preferable to mis-governance by corrupt politicians who have sold out to banks and corporations. This is felt most deeply on the West Coast, where many ''so-called Americans'' might also consider Senator Feinstein's incredibly ignorant and insensitive remark to be representative of the lack of intelligence and integrity in Washington, D.C. '-- as well as what many are now calling ''so-called due process.'' If Dorner can get his narrative out and connect his story to the broader story of most Americans, he has enormous potential beyond his personal grudge.
  See Also:
  Leah Lynn Plante: Our Tunesian Fruit Seller?
  Graphic: Preconditions of Revolution in the USA Today
  2011 Thinking About Revolution in the USA and Elsewhere (Full Text Online for Google Translate)
Google Reader goes haywire for many users
  Link to Article
  Source: CNET News
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:18
  A number of the Web giant's RSS feed reader devotees notice disappearing subscriptions, feed issues, and other problems with their accounts over the past couple of days.
  Sometime over the weekend users of Google's RSS feed reader started issuing complaints on the Google Reader forum: "my feeds don't mark as read," "reader subscription and folders mysteriously reverted back to old settings," "feeds keep refreshing," and "my subscriptions keep disappearing."
  Apparently, a number of users experienced sporadic service with their accounts, while others remained unaffected.
  Google did not respond to user comments until this morning when it said it was looking into the problems. The delay in response caused panic in some users. One desperate person took to the forum saying, "If Google can read this: Please don't take my reader away!"
  Google Reader is a Web-based RSS feed reader that lets users subscribe to as many RSS feeds as they like and then houses them all in one browser window -- which feels a bit like Gmail. Although the service doesn't have a huge following, it does have loyal fans.Google says that the bug is now fixed. "Yesterday, users began noticing issues with Google Reader, which have now been resolved," a Google spokesperson told CNET. "For everyone who was affected, we apologize for any inconvenience you experienced."
Something brewing in Canberra
  Link to Article
  Source: Michael Smith News
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:15
  Updated 21 minutes ago
  Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has imposed a travel ban on Coalition MPs heading overseas, saying they need to be prepared for an election at any time.
  Prime Minister Julia Gillard has already announced September 14 as polling day, but Mr Abbott believes she will call the election sooner if it suits Labor's interests.
  "No overseas trips," Mr Abbott told colleagues at a meeting in Canberra this morning. "Be ready, be visible and be in Australia."
  "Each one of us has to be a person of the people and for the people in the lead up to polling day."
  He praised MPs for their discipline, but warned them against taking an election victory for granted.
  "We are the underdog. Oppositions always are," Mr Abbott said.
  Even though the official election campaign has not yet begun, the Coalition and Labor are already trading blows over the release of policy costings.
  Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey yesterday said the Coalition would not finalise its costings until after the release of the Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Outlook, which is due to happen after the writs are issued in August.
  It prompted a swift response from the Government, which demanded the Coalition "come clean" on what it is planning.
  "This is a deeply deceptive ruse from the Coalition to hide the impact of their policy proposals from the Australian people," Treasurer Wayne Swan and Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said in a joint statement.
  "The idea that the Coalition can refuse to release what any of their policies cost until deep into the campaign is unprecedented.
  "There is nothing stopping the Coalition releasing today the policies they boasted to have already been costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office."
  But Mr Hockey hit back, saying he will not "cop a lecture" from Labor over policy postings.
  "What we have identified correctly is the only numbers that we can rely on are the Pre-Election Fiscal Outlook numbers released by the heads of department during the course of the election campaign," he told reporters in Canberra.
  "They are the same numbers that the Labor Party and ourselves relied on before the last election.
  "We are not going to cop any lecture from Labor about numbers. They've got every single number wrong for the past five years."
  The Coalition has attacked Labor for walking away from its commitment to deliver a budget surplus this financial year.
Sensory processing disorder - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:13
  Sensory processing disorder or SPD is a neurological disorder causing difficulties with taking in, processing, and responding to sensory information about the environment and from within one's own body (visual, auditory, tactile, olfaction, gustatory, vestibular, and proprioception).
  For those identified as having SPD, sensory information may be sensed and perceived in a way that is different from most other people. Unlike blindness or deafness, sensory information can be received by people with SPD, the difference is that information is often registered, interpreted and processed differently by the brain. The result can be unusual ways of responding or behaving, finding things harder to do. Difficulties may typically present as difficulties planning and organizing, problems with doing the activities of everyday life (self care, work and leisure activities), and for some with extreme sensitivity, sensory input may result in extreme avoidance of activities, agitation, distress, fear or confusion.[1]
  The term SPD is now often used (though not without controversy) instead of the earlier term sensory integration dysfunction which was originally used by occupational therapist A. Jean Ayres as part of her theory that deficits in the processing and interpretation of sensation from the body and the environment could lead to sensorimotor and learning problems in children. The theory is widely acknowledged, but also has generated tremendous controversy.
  Some state that sensory processing disorder is a distinct diagnosis, while others argue that differences in sensory responsiveness are features of other diagnoses.[2] SPD is not recognized in any standard medical manuals such as the ICD-10[3] or the DSM-IV-TR.[4] The committee that prepares the DSM-5 has requested that additional studies be done before the disorder can be recognized.[2] On the other hand, SPD is in Stanley Greenspan's Diagnostic Manual for Infancy and Early Childhood and as Regulation Disorders of Sensory Processing part of the The Zero to Three's Diagnostic Classification.[5]
  SPD is often associated with a range of neurological, psychiatric, behavioral and language disorders.[6]
  There is no known cure; however, there are many treatments available.[citation needed]
  [edit]ClassificationsInitially the term traditionally used for children and adults with sensory processing difficulties was Sensory Integration Dysfunction (SID).
  A new nosology has been proposed by Lucy J. Miller, Ph.D., OTR and colleagues. The new terms are meant to increase understanding between Occupational Therapists and other professionals who frequently encounter SID and physicians and other health professionals who approach sensory integration dysfunction from a more neurobiological vantage.
  This understanding is critical as physicians are responsible for diagnosing SPD, which is a necessary step in accessing reimbursement (eventually from insurance companies) for professional services to treat SPD.
  Sensory Processing Dysfunction is now being used as a global umbrella term that includes all forms of this disorder, including three primary diagnostic groups:
  Type I - Sensory Modulation DisorderType II - Sensory Based Motor DisorderType III - Sensory Discrimination DisorderType I - Sensory Modulation Disorder (SMD). Over, or under responding to sensory stimuli or seeking sensory stimulation. This group may include a fearful and/or anxious pattern, negative and/or stubborn behaviors, self-absorbed behaviors that are difficult to engage or creative or actively seeking sensation.
  Type II - Sensory Based Motor Disorder (SBMD). Shows motor output that is disorganized as a result of incorrect processing of sensory information affecting postural control challenges and/or dyspraxia.
  Type III - Sensory Discrimination Disorder (SDD). Sensory discrimination or incorrect processing of sensory information. Incorrect processing of visual or auditory input, for example, may be seen in inattentiveness, disorganization, and poor school performance.
  This information is adapted from research and publications by: Lucy, J. Miller, Ph.D., OTR, Marie Anzalone, Sc.D., OTR, Sharon A. Cermak, Ed.D., OTR/L, Shelly J., Lane, Ph.D, OTR, Beth Osten, M.S,m OTR/L, Serena Wieder, Ph.D., Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D..
  [edit]Sensory modulationSensory modulation refers to a complex central nervous system process by which neural messages that convey information about the intensity, frequency, duration, complexity, and novelty of sensory stimuli are adjusted.
  Behaviorally, this is manifested in the tendency to generate responses that are appropriately graded in relation to incoming sensations, neither underreacting nor overreacting to them.
  [edit]Sensory modulation problemsSensory registration problems - This refers to the process by which the central nervous system attends to stimuli. This usually involves an orienting response. Sensory registration problems are characterized by failure to notice stimuli that ordinarily are salient to most people.Sensory defensiveness - A condition characterized by over-responsivity in one or more systems.Gravitational insecurity - A sensory modulation condition in which there is a tendency to react negatively and fearfully to movement experiences, particularly those involving a change in head position and movement backward or upward through space.(Case-Smith, (2005)
  [edit]Hyposensitivities and hypersensitivitiesSensory integration disorders vary between individuals in their characteristics and intensity. Some people are so mildly afflicted, the disorder is barely noticeable, while others are so impaired they have trouble with daily functioning.
  Children can be born hypersensitive or hyposensitive to varying degrees and may have trouble in one sensory modality, a few, or all of them. Hypersensitivity is also known as sensory defensiveness. Examples of hypersensitivity include feeling pain from clothing rubbing against skin, an inability to tolerate normal lighting in a room, a dislike of being touched (especially light touch) and discomfort when one looks directly into the eyes of another person.
  Hyposensitivity is characterized by an unusually high tolerance for environmental stimuli. A child with hyposensitivity might appear restless and seek sensory stimulation.
  In treating sensory dysfunctions, a "just right" challenge is used: giving the child just the right amount of challenge to motivate him and stimulate changes in the way the system processes sensory information but not so much as to make him shut down or go into sensory overload.
  The "just right" challenge is absent if the activity and the child's perception of activity do not match. In addition, deep pressure is often calming for children who have sensory dysfunctions. It is recommended that therapists use a variety of tactile materials, a quiet, subdued voice, and slow, linear movements, tailoring the approach to the child's unique sensory needs.
  While occupational therapy sessions focus on increasing a child's ability to tolerate a variety of sensory experiences, both the activities and environment should be assessed for a "just right" fit with the child. Overwhelming environmental stimuli such as flickering fluorescent lighting and bothersome clothing tags should be eliminated whenever possible to increase the child's comfort and ability to engage productively. Meanwhile, the occupational therapist and parents should jointly create a "sensory diet," a term coined by occupational therapist Patricia Wilbarger.[7]
  The sensory diet is a schedule of daily activities that gives the child the sensory fuel their body needs to get into an organized state and stay there. According to SI theory, rather than just relying on individual treatment sessions, ensuring that a carefully designed program of sensory input throughout the day is implemented at home and at school can create profound, lasting changes in the child's nervous system.
  Parents can help their child by realizing that play is an important part of their child's development. Therapy involves working with an occupational therapist and the child will engage in activities that provide vestibular, proprioceptive and tactile stimulation. Therapy is individualized to meet the child's specific needs for development. Emphasis is put on automatic sensory processes in the course of a goal-directed activity. The children are engaged in therapy as play which may include activities such as: finger painting, using Play-Doh type modeling clay, swinging, playing in bins of rice or water, climbing, etc.
  [edit]Relationship to other disorders[edit]Autistic spectrum disorders and difficulties of sensory processingSensory processing disorder is a common comorbidity with autism spectrum disorders.[8] Although responses to sensory stimuli are more common and prominent in autistic children and adults, there is no good evidence that sensory symptoms differentiate autism from other developmental disorders.[9] Differences are greater for under-responsivity (for example, walking into things) than for over-responsivity (for example, distress from loud noises) or for seeking (for example, rhythmic movements).[10] The responses may be more common in children: a pair of studies found that autistic children had impaired tactile perception while autistic adults did not.[11]
  [edit]Other disordersThe neuroscientist David Eagleman has proposed that SPD may be a form of synesthesia, a perceptual condition in which the senses are blended.[12] Specifically, Eagleman suggests that instead of a sensory input "connecting to [a person's] color area [in the brain], it's connecting to an area involving pain or aversion or nausea".[13]
  Some argue that sensory related disorders may be misdiagnosed as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) but they can coexist, as well as emotional problems, aggressiveness and speech-related disorders such as aphasia. Sensory processing, they argue, is foundational, like the roots of a tree, and gives rise to a myriad of behaviors and symptoms such as hyperactivity and speech delay.
  For example, a child with an under-responsive vestibular system may need extra input to his "motion sensor" in order to achieve a state of quiet alertness; to get this input, the child might fidget or run around, appearing ostensibly to be hyperactive, when in fact, he suffers from a sensory related disorder
  Researchers have described a treatable inherited sensory overstimulation disorder that meets diagnostic criteria for both attention deficit disorder and sensory integration dysfunction.[14]
  [edit]Sensory integration therapySeveral therapies have been developed to treat SID.[15] Some of these treatments (for example, sensorimotor handling) have a questionable rationale and no empirical evidence. Other treatments (for example, prism lenses, physical exercise, and auditory integration training) have had studies with small positive outcomes, but few conclusions can be made about them due to methodological problems with the studies.[16] Although replicable treatments have been described and valid outcome measures are known, gaps exist in knowledge related to sensory integration dysfunction and therapy.[17] Empirical support is limited, therefore systematic evaluation is needed if these interventions are used.[18]
  The main form of sensory integration therapy is a type of occupational therapy that places a child in a room specifically designed to stimulate and challenge all of the senses.
  During the session, the therapist works closely with the child to provide a level of sensory stimulation that the child can cope with, and encourage movement within the room. Sensory integration therapy is driven by four main principles:
  Just Right Challenge (the child must be able to successfully meet the challenges that are presented through playful activities)Adaptive Response (the child adapts his behavior with new and useful strategies in response to the challenges presented)Active Engagement (the child will want to participate because the activities are fun)Child Directed (the child's preferences are used to initiate therapeutic experiences within the session).Children with lower sensitivity (hyposensitivity) may be exposed to strong sensations such as stroking with a brush, vibrations or rubbing. Play may involve a range of materials to stimulate the senses such as play dough or finger painting.
  Children with heightened sensitivity (hypersensitivity) may be exposed to peaceful activities including quiet music and gentle rocking in a softly lit room. Treats and rewards may be used to encourage children to tolerate activities they would normally avoid.
  While occupational therapists using a sensory integration frame of reference work on increasing a child's ability to tolerate and integrate sensory input, other OTs may focus on environmental accommodations that parents and school staff can use to enhance the child's function at home, school, and in the community (Biel and Peske, 2005). These may include selecting soft, tag-free clothing, avoiding fluorescent lighting, and providing ear plugs for "emergency" use (such as for fire drills).
  There is a growing evidence base that points to and supports the notion that adults also show signs of sensory processing difficulties. In the United Kingdom early research and improved clinical outcomes for clients assessed as having sensory processing difficulties is indicating that the therapy may be an appropriate treatment (Urwin and Ballinger 2005) [19] for a range of presentations seen in adult clients including for those with Autism and Asperger's Syndrome, as well as adults with dyspraxia and some mental health difficulties (Brown, Shankar and Smith 2009)[20] that therapists suggest may arise from the difficulties adults with sensory processing difficulties encounter trying to negotiate the challenges and demands of engaging in everyday life(Brown, Shankar and Smith 2006).[21]
  [edit]Alternative viewsNot all professionals agree with the notion that hypersensitive or hyposensitive senses necessarily constitute a disorder. However, sensory integration dysfunction, sometimes called sensory processing disorder, is only diagnosed when the sensory behavior interferes significantly with learning, playing, and activities of daily living (ADL).
  Sensory issues can be located on a spectrum. Being annoyed and distracted by the sound of a noisy ventilation system or the scratchiness of a sweater is considered to be a typical sensory response. When a child is so strongly affected by background noise or tactile sensations that he totally withdraws, becomes hyperactive and impulsive, or lashes out as part of a primitive fight-or-flight response, the child's sensory issues are severe enough to warrant intervention.
  In addition to experiencing hypersensitivity, a person can experience hyposensitivity (undersensitivity to sensory stimuli). One example of this is insensitivity to pain. A child with sensory integration dysfunction may giggle when given an injection or not even blink when receiving a second-degree burn.
  There is no empirical evidence that hypersensitivity results from sensory integration issues. There is anecdotal evidence that sensory integration therapy results in more typical sensory responses and sensory processing. For example, Temple Grandin has reported that the deep pressure, or proprioceptive input, created by a cattle squeeze machine she used in her youth resulted in her being able to interact in her environment.
  Additionally, over 130 articles on sensory integration have been published in peer-reviewed (mostly occupational therapy) journals. The difficulties of designing double-blind research studies of sensory integration dysfunction have been addressed by Temple Grandin and others. More research is needed.
  It is speculated that SID may be a misdiagnosis for persons with attention problems. For example, a student who fails to repeat what has been said in class (due to boredom or distraction) might be referred for evaluation for sensory integration dysfunction. The student might then be evaluated by an occupational therapist to determine why he is having difficulty focusing and attending, and perhaps also evaluated by an audiologist or a speech-language pathologist for auditory processing issues or language processing issues.
  As part of the auditory evaluation, the student may be asked to listen to signals coming from either side of a pair of headphones and identify where they are coming from. If the student is bored or distracted, or confused by the oral directions given, the test may be inconclusive and may not isolate what the problem is. The assessor must consider sensory and language factors in evaluating the student's performance on the test. Diagnoses based on single tests are unreliable, and integrated assessment utilizing multiple sources of information is the preferred means of diagnosis.
  Similarly, a child may be mistakenly labeled "ADHD" or "ADD" because impulsivity has been observed, when actually this impulsivity is limited to sensory seeking or avoiding. A child might regularly jump out of his seat in class despite multiple warnings and threats because his poor proprioception (body awareness) causes him to fall out of his seat, and his anxiety over this potential problem causes him to avoid sitting whenever possible.
  If the same child is able to remain seated after being given an inflatable bumpy cushion to sit on (which gives him more sensory input), or, is able to remain seated at home or in a particular classroom but not in his main classroom, it is a sign that more evaluation is needed to determine the cause of his impulsivity.
  Children with FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome) display many sensory integration problems.
  While the diagnosis of sensory integration dysfunction is accepted widely among occupational therapists and also educators, these professionals have been criticized for overextending a model that attempts to explain emotional and behavioral problems that could be caused by other conditions.
  Children who receive the diagnosis of sensory integration dysfunction may also have signs of anxiety problems, ADHD, food intolerances, and behavioral disorders, as well as for autism, and may have genetic problems such as Fragile X syndrome. Sensory integration dysfunction is not considered to be on the autism spectrum, and a child can receive a diagnosis of sensory integration dysfunction without any comorbid conditions.
  Because comorbid conditions are common with sensory integration issues, a child may have other conditions as well which make him or her reactive, "touchy", or unpredictable, and manifest in a manner similar to that characterized by occupational therapists as sensory integration dysfunction.
  The theory of SI points out that children learn through their senses. A child who seems to have difficulty processing sensory information, may not be developmentally on track (in terms of social skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, language, etc.)
  SI therapy is not "one size fits all." According to SI theory, children with sensory integration issues have their own unique set of sensory responses that need to be addressed. What is calming and focusing for one child may be overstimulating for another, and vice versa. Treatment often depends on the child's unique set of sensory responses.
  Some adults identify themselves as having sensory integration dysfunction; that is, they report that their hypersensitivity, hyposensitivity, and related sensory processing issues, such as poor self-regulation, continue to cause significant interference in their daily lives at home, at work, and at school.
  Alternatively, there is evidence to suggest that some gifted children also have an increased tendency toward hypersensitivity (e.g., finding all shirt tags unbearable), which may be correlated with their greater intellectual proclivity toward perceiving the world in unconventional ways.[22][23][24][25]
  [edit]See also[edit]References^"Sensory Processing Disorder Explained". SPD Foundation. http://www.spdfoundation.net/about-sensory-processing-disorder.html.^ abJoanne Flanagan (2009). "Sensory processing disorder". Pediatric News. BNET. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4384/is_8_43/ai_n45484253/.^"ICD 10". http://priory.com/psych/ICD.htm.^"APA Diagnostic Classification DSM-IV-TR | BehaveNet". http://behavenet.com/apa-diagnostic-classification-dsm-iv-tr#301.^"Infants and Toddlers Who Require Specialty Services and Supports" (pdf). Department of Community Health'--Mental Health Services to Children and Families. http://www.mi-aimh.org/documents/crosswalkaccess_eligibilitywithdch_title__121807.pdf.^"Educator Fact Sheet Signs and Symptoms of Sensory Processing Disorder". Spiral Foundation. http://www.thespiralfoundation.org/pdfs/Fact%20Sheet%20for%20Educators.pdf.^"Therapeutic Brushing Techniques". http://www.ot-innovations.com/content/view/55/46/. Retrieved 31 January 2013.^Natalie Russo et al. Multisensory processing in children with autism: high-density electrical mapping of auditory-somatosensory integration. Autism Research, August 17, 2010^Rogers SJ, Ozonoff S (2005). "Annotation: what do we know about sensory dysfunction in autism? A critical review of the empirical evidence". J Child Psychol Psychiatry46 (12): 1255''68. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2005.01431.x. PMID 16313426.^Ben-Sasson A, Hen L, Fluss R, Cermak SA, Engel-Yeger B, Gal E (2008). "A meta-analysis of sensory modulation symptoms in individuals with autism spectrum disorders". J Autism Dev Disord39 (1): 1''11. doi:10.1007/s10803-008-0593-3. PMID 18512135.^Williams DL, Goldstein G, Minshew NJ (2006). "Neuropsychologic functioning in children with autism: further evidence for disordered complex information-processing". Child Neuropsychol12 (4''5): 279''98. doi:10.1080/09297040600681190. PMC 1803025. PMID 16911973. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1803025/.^Cytowic RE and Eagleman DM (2009). Wednesday is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia. Cambridge: MIT Press.^The blended senses of synesthesia, Los Angeles Times, Feb 20, 2012.^Segal MM, Rogers GF, Needleman HL, Chapman CA (2007). "Hypokalemic sensory overstimulation". J Child Neurol22 (12): 1408''10. doi:10.1177/0883073807307095. PMID 18174562.^"Sensory integrative therapy". Research Autism. http://www.researchautism.net/interventionitem.ikml?print&ra=28&infolevel=4. Retrieved 2007-10-08.^Baranek GT (2002). "Efficacy of sensory and motor interventions for children with autism". J Autism Dev Disord32 (5): 397''422. doi:10.1023/A:1020541906063. PMID 12463517.^Schaaf RC, Miller LJ (2005). "Occupational therapy using a sensory integrative approach for children with developmental disabilities". Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev11 (2): 143''8. doi:10.1002/mrdd.20067. PMID 15977314.^Hodgetts S, Hodgetts W (2007). "Somatosensory stimulation interventions for children with autism: literature review and clinical considerations". Can J Occup Ther74 (5): 393''400. doi:10.2182/cjot.07.013. PMID 18183774.^URWIN Rosalind; BALLINGER Claire; Title: The effectiveness of sensory integration therapy to improve functional behaviour in adults with learning disabilities: five single-case experimental designs. Reference: British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68(2), February 2005, pp.56-66.^Brown, S; Shankar, R; Smith, K "Borderline personality disorder and sensory processing impairment" Progress in Neurology and Psychiatry Volume 13, Issue 4, pages 10''16, July/August 2009^Brown S, Shankar R, Smith K, et al. Sensory Processing Disorder in mental health. Occupational Therapy News 2006;May:28-29.^Dabrowski, K. (1967). Personality Shaping Though Positive Disintegration. Boston, Mass.: Little Brown.^Lysy, K. Z., and M. M. Piechowski. (1983). "Personal Growth: An Empirical Study Using Jungian and Dabrowskian Measures." Genetic Psychology Monographs 108: 267-320.^Piechowski, M. M. (1986). "The Concept of Developmental Potential." Roeper Review 8, no. 3: 190-97.^Piechowski, M. M., and N. B. Miller. (1995). "Assessing Developmental Potential in Gifted Children: A Comparison of Methods." Roeper Review 17: 176-80.[edit]Further readingCase-Smith, Jane. (2005) Occupational Therapy for Children. 5th Edn. Elsevier Mosby: St. Louis, MO. ISBN 0-323-02873-XBiel, Lindsey, OTR/L and Peske, Nancy. (2005, 2009) Raising A Sensory Smart Child. Penguin: New York. ISBN 0-14-3115340, website: http://www.sensorysmarts.comHeller, Sharon, Ph.D., 2003. "Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to do if you are sensory defensive in an overstimulating world.", Quill: New York. ISBN 0-06-019520-7 or 0-06-093292-9 (pbk.) ((Focuses on Adults))Schaaf, R.C., and L.J. Miller. 2005. "Occupational therapy using a sensory integrative approach for children with developmental disabilities", Ment. Retard. Dev. Disabil. Res. Rev. 11(2):143-148.Newman B (2000). "On inventing your own disorder". Skept Inq24 (6): 56''57. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2843/is_6_24/ai_66496173.[dead link]Herbert JD, Sharp IR, Gaudiano BA (2002). "Separating fact from fiction in the etiology and treatment of autism: a scientific review of the evidence". Sci Rev Ment Health Pract1 (1): 23''43. http://www.srmhp.org/0101/autism.html.Heilbroner PL (2005). "Why "sensory integration disorder" is a dubious diagnosis". QuackWatch. http://quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/sid.html. Retrieved 2008-06-02.Hartley Steiner (2010). "What is SPD?". SPD Blogger Network. http://www.spdbloggernetwork.com/what-is-spd/. Retrieved 2011-05-20.Hartley Steiner (2010). "Tips for Newly Diagnosed Families with SPD". Hartley's Life With 3 Boys. http://www.hartleysboys.com/2010/01/tips-for-newly-diagnosed-families-with.html. Retrieved 2011-05-20.
What Is Sensory Processing Disorder? How To Diagnose Children With Sensory Issues
  Link to Article
  Source: What Melissa Jones is reading.
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:10
  Written by Beth Arky.
  This story is part of Speak Up for Kids, an annual public education program held during National Children's Mental Health Awareness Week (May 6-12, 2012).
  It usually happens in the preschool years. You notice that your toddler seems to have an unusual aversion to noise or light. A teacher observes that, compared to other kids her age, your daughter is clumsy and has difficulty with fine motor skills like wielding a pencil. You've noticed that she is very, very picky about shoes, which are often deemed too tight, and clothes that are ''too scratchy.''
  More baffling -- and alarming -- to parents are their children's meltdowns over things like their faces getting splashed or being dressed. Or a child might crash into walls (and people), touch everything or put inedible items, including rocks and paint, into his mouth.
  These behaviors are all signs of problems with what's known as sensory processing, found in children who have difficulty integrating information from their senses. In its extreme form, when it interferes seriously with a child's functioning, it's called Sensory Processing Disorder, or SPD, although it's not recognized by the psychiatrists' bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
  Sensory issues are associated with autism because they are common in children and adults on the autism spectrum, though most children with SPD are not on the spectrum. They can also be found in those with ADHD, OCD and other developmental delays -- or with no other diagnosis at all. In fact, a 2009 study suggests that one in every six children has sensory issues that impede their daily functioning, socialization and learning.
  What parents often notice first is odd behavior and wild, inexplicable mood swings. For instance, a first-grader may do fine in a quiet setting with a calm adult. But place that child in a grocery store filled with an overload of visual and auditory stimulation and you might have the makings of an extreme meltdown.
  "These kids' tantrums are so intense, so prolonged, so impossible to stop once they've started, you just can't ignore it," notes Nancy Peske, whose son Cole, now 13, was diagnosed at 3 with SPD and developmental delays. Peske is coauthor with occupational therapist Lindsey Biel, who worked with Cole, of "Raising a Sensory Smart Child."
  Another response to being overwhelmed is to flee. If a child dashes out across the playground or parking lot, oblivious to the danger, Peske says that's a big red flag that he may be heading away from something upsetting, which may not be apparent to the rest of us, or toward an environment or sensation that will calm his system. This "fight-or-flight response is why someone with SPD will shut down, escape the situation quickly, or become aggressive when in sensory overload," she says. "They're actually having a neurological 'panic' response to everyday sensations the rest of us take for granted."
  Children, teens and adults with SPD experience either over-sensitivity (hypersensitivity) or under-sensitivity (hyposensitivity) to an impairing or overwhelming degree. The theory behind SPD is based on the work of occupational therapist Dr. A. Jean Ayres. In the 1970s, Dr. Ayres introduced the idea that certain people's brains can't do what most people take for granted: process all the information coming in through seven -- not the traditional five -- senses to provide a clear picture of what's happening both internally and externally.
  Along with touch, hearing, taste, smell and sight, Dr. Ayres added the "internal" senses of body awareness (proprioceptive) and movement (vestibular). When the brain can't synthesize all this information coming in simultaneously, "It's like a traffic jam in your head," Peske says, "with conflicting signals quickly coming from all directions, so that you don't know how to make sense of it all."
  What are these two "extra" senses in Dr. Ayres' work?
  Proprioceptive receptors are located in the joints and ligaments, allowing for motor control and posture. The proprioceptive system tells the brain where the body is in relation to other objects and how to move. Those who are hyposensitive crave input; they love jumping, bumping and crashing activities, as well as deep pressure such as that provided by tight bear hugs. If they're hypersensitive, they have difficulty understanding where their body is in relation to other objects and may bump into things and appear clumsy; because they have trouble sensing the amount of force they're applying, they may rip the paper when erasing, pinch too hard or slam objects down.
  The vestibular receptors, located in the inner ear; tell the brain where the body is in space by providing the information related to movement and head position. These are key elements of balance and coordination, among other things. Those with hyposensitivity are in constant motion; crave fast, spinning and/or intense movement; and love being tossed in the air and jumping on furniture and trampolines. Those who are hypersensitive may be fearful of activities that require good balance, including climbing on playground equipment, riding a bike, or balancing on one foot, especially with eyes closed. They, too, may appear clumsy.
  To help parents determine if their child's behavior indicates possible SPD, Peske and Biel have created a detailed sensory checklist that covers responses to all types of input, from walking barefoot to smelling objects that aren't food, as well as questions involving fine and gross motor function, such as using scissors (fine) and catching a ball (gross). The SPD Foundation also offers a litany of "red flags." The list for infants and toddlers includes a resistance to cuddling, to the point of arching away when held, which may be attributed to feeling actual pain when being touched. By preschool, over-stimulated children's anxiety may lead to frequent or long temper tantrums. Grade-schoolers who are hyposensitive may display "negative behaviors" including what looks like hyperactivity, when in fact they're seeking input.
  Peske sums up the way sensory issues can affect kids this way: "If you're a child who is oversensitive to certain sensations, you are not only likely to be anxious or irritable, even angry or fearful, you're likely to be called 'picky' and 'oversensitive.' If you rush away because you're anxious or you're over-stimulated and not using your executive function well because your body has such a powerful need to get away, you're 'impulsive.' If you have trouble with planning and executing your movements due to poor body awareness and poor organization in the motor areas of the brain, you're 'clumsy.' Because you're distracted by your sensory issues and trying to make sense of it all, you may be developmentally delayed in some ways, making you a bit 'immature' or young for your age."
  Amid this confusion, there may be relief for more than a few parents in recognizing what may be causing otherwise inexplicable behavior -- and in the potential for kids to get help in the form of specialized occupational therapy and what are called sensory gyms.
  "When I describe sensory issues to parents whose kids have it," Peske says, "the usual reaction is 'Oh, my gosh, that's it!' They've been trying to put a finger on 'it' for many months, even years! The sense of relief that they finally know what 'it' is is humongous."
  Child Mind Institute's Speak Up for Kids is an annual public education program held during National Children's Mental Health Awareness Week (May 6-12, 2012) aimed at ending the stigma, lack of awareness, and misinformation that cause children to miss out on treatment that can change their lives.
  Read more articles about children's mental health here.
Say Hola! to the newest route around web censorship
  Link to Article
  Source: The Conversation
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:08
  Hola! will increase Australia's access to content, but is it legal? Movie reel image from from www.shutterstock.comThe ongoing copyright arms race between content owners and internet users has taken a new turn. Israeli firm Hola! has recently launched a suite of products that are variously designed to bypass geoblocking and accelerate internet-access speeds.
  Hola! is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Derry Shribman and Ofer Vilenski. They have set out to fundamentally change the way the world wide web operates by creating software which makes the web more efficient and harder to censor.
  Hola! is comprised of several products:
  Browser extensions which work on Windows and Mac with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. These plugins only bypass geoblocking.Client software for Windows which functions as web accelerator, geoblock bypass, and censorship bypass service.An Android app which operates as a web accelerator only.Hola! bypasses restrictions on sites which are usually geoblocked. http://www.Hola.orgBBC iPlayer, Hulu, Netflix '... and VPNsCatchup TV and online movie services such as BBC iPlayer, Hulu, Netflix and many others use geoblocking '' and so are not available from within Australia.
  But circumvention of these geoblocks is commonplace with the use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or proxy server. During the London Olympics the media was awash with stories of people using these methods to access the BBC's online coverage of the Games.
  These VPNs and proxy systems are either subscription services, or they operate on a freemium model where a limited or ad-supported version of the product or service is given away in the hope of selling consumers a ''full'' version of the product.
  VPNs were designed as a way of securely connecting a remote computer to a corporate network, and using a VPN is a rather clumsy method to access multimedia content. All traffic is routed through the VPN which may limit access to other services, and the VPN needs to be connected and disconnected to various servers to access content in different countries.
  Hola! is differentNot only is Hola! free, but it's different to other services because it utilises peer-to-peer technology, where traffic is not re-routed through central servers but via other computers which have the Hola! Windows client installed.
  This peer-to-peer nature will make it difficult for Hola! to be blocked in the same way Hulu has blocked some VPN and proxy services.
  The Hola! browser extension is also by far the simplest and most elegant method to bypass geoblocks. The inflexibility and complications which come with setting up a VPN or altering rarely-changed DNS settings can limit the function of a computer for everyday use.
  Once Hola! is installed, its function can be toggled from an icon in the browser.
  Is Hola! legal?Most people are familiar with technological protection measures (TPM) in the form of region coding on DVDs. Those TPMs try to prevent the disc being copied and try to prevent playback in a place other than the market in which the disc was sold.
  Region coding allows Hollywood to segment global markets, releasing movies to one market at a time, maximising the effect of promotional campaigns, for instance.
  Geoblocking is used by the entertainment industry to perpetuate this same market segmentation online '' which includes Australians paying higher prices. For example, the American service Netflix at $US7.99/month compares poorly with local Quickflix at $A14.99/month.
  Geoblocking is a technological protection measure but due to a special exemption in the definition of TPMs in the Copyright Act, it is not illegal to break TPMs that prevent the playback in Australia of a film obtained from outside Australia '' so long as it is a non-infringing copy.
  While using a region-free DVD player clearly falls within this exemption, bypassing geoblocks remains an untested grey area.
  In August 2012, consumer advocacy group Choice highlighted this grey area in a submission to the Attorney General's Review of Technical Protection Measure exceptions.
  The grey area centres on whether video streaming can be considered a ''non-infringing copy''. When users sign up to a service '' let's take Netflix as our example '' they agree to Terms and Conditions that include a clause on geographic limitations:
  Geographic Limitation: You may instantly watch a movie or TV show through the Netflix service only in geographic locations where we offer our service and have licensed such movie or TV show '...
  The interpretation of this clause of the Terms and Conditions, and the weight given to respecting these must be weighed against the intent of the exemptions in the Copyright Act.
  This is critical in deciding whether or not accessing movie content from Australia will be defined as a ''non-infringing copy''.
  Facebook in China, Twitter in Tehran, YouTube in Pakistan '... or Gmail at the officeSocial media services are censored or completely blocked in many countries, and most large workplaces limit access to various websites for security and productivity reasons.
  The tools used to bypass these blocks to date include the US Navy-developed high security router software TOR, VPNs and other security software.
  Hola! explained.
  While these might be appropriate for some uses, they are complicated to use and are overkill for an individual who just wants the freedom to talk to their friends on Facebook.
  The Hola! client software makes bypassing these blocks trivial. When a user wants to visit a blocked site, the Hola! client takes that request, encrypts it and sends it to another computer with Hola! installed.
  That second computer works as a proxy by then decrypting the request and then accessing the relevant service. The resulting content is again encrypted by the second computer and forwarded to the original user.
  For speed and efficiency, the Hola! client will use several proxies '' with each handling a small part of the traffic.
  The lack of a central server in a peer-to-peer model such as this means that Hola! is difficult to block '' a successful blocklist would need to be constantly updated and could run to thousands of internet addresses as it would need to block every user of the Hola! client.
  Bypassing government censorship is widely accepted as a good thing '' at least in western democracies.
  Hola! is yet another example supporting American innovator John Gilmore's famous quote: ''the Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it''.
  Sign in to Favourite1 CommentTagsWeb technologies, Censorship, Online security, Cyber culture, Copyright
  Related articles 7 February 2013 US backs push for open access text books in Arabic 29 January 2013 Can Kim Dotcom's Mega beat the law where Megaupload failed? 14 January 2013 The Southern Weekly and censorship in China: a nation fights back 10 January 2013 Universities seek copyright law reform to enable MOOCs 19 December 2012 You've been framed: putting you in the picture with the Instagram deal
VIDEO: Lightning strikes as Pope resigns
  Link to Article
  Source: BBC News - Europe
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:05
  This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Michelle Jordan Of Sunland, Calif. Claims LAPD Officers Used Excessive Force In A Traffic Stop (VIDEO)
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:04
  Two LAPD police officers are under investigation after they were caught on camera repeatedly body-slamming a woman during a routine traffic stop in Tujunga last Tuesday. Surveillance footage of the incident, first obtained by NBC LA, shows that after the officers pushed her into a cop car and then exchanged what seems to be a congratulatory fist bump.
  The woman is Michelle Jordan, a 34-year-old mother and registered nurse from Sunland, Calif. She stepped forward Tuesday to speak out about her experience, and has filed a personal complaint against the officers, reports KTLA.
  Sources from within LAPD tell the Los Angeles Times that Jordan was pulled over at a Del Taco restaurant because officers saw her talking on a cellphone while driving.
  Officials then claim that Jordan defied the officers' orders to remain in her car and began challenging them, according to the Times. The officers then arrested her, slamming her body to the ground twice.
  Jordan's lawyer, Arthur Corona, called her a "defenseless woman in a sundress" and questioned why officers chose to use such aggressive means against his client, notes ABC7.
  Sy Nafiz, another one of Jordan's attorneys, said to ABC7, "If anyone on the street attacked an innocent woman, they would be in jail. We expect the LAPD officers to be held to the same standard."
  LAPD Chief Charlie Beck released a statement on the disturbing video and the pending investigation of the two police officers, who for now have been placed on non-field duties.
  "My initial review of the officers' statements and the recorded video cause me to have serious concerns about this Use of Force," Beck said. "We will investigate this thoroughly and hold our officers accountable for their actions."
  The LAPD is inviting anyone with more information about the case to call Foothill Area Watch Commander at (818) 756-8861 or Internal Affairs Group at (213) 485-1486.
  The incident is the third accusation of excessive force by LAPD officers in the past month. On Monday, Deutsche Bank executive Brian Mulligan filed a $50 million lawsuit against the department and alleges two officers held him captive and beat him May 15.
  Ron Weekley Jr., a 20-year-old college student from Venice, Calif., claims officers used excessive force to arrest him Aug. 18. Weekley's family has retained the services of Benjamin Crump, the civil rights attorney who also represents the family of slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin. Crump has promised legal action against the LAPD over Weekley's claims.
  Also on HuffPost:
Obama: 'The Pentagon Must Be Protected At All Costs'
  Link to Article
  Source: The Daily Bail
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:01
  We must delay all spending cuts.
  Obama's Weekly Address: Averting the Sequester - Feb 9, 2013.
  The Deficit President urges a delay in automatic spending cuts, except these are not even cuts. They are small reductions in future spending increases. We covered it in full detail here.
  ---
  New links:
  Flashback: Obama Tells C-Span 'We've Run Out Of Money'
  May 23, 3009
  Obama and all future presidents should be required to wear a clock around their necks displaying a running tally of the national debt. Something like this:
  Sequester? We don't need no stinkin' sequester.
  Photo by William Banzai7...
Google for Spies, Explainer Video
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 05:00
  aNewDomain.net '-- Imagine a Google for espionage. Why imagine? It was only a matter of time '-- and here it is. According to reports and our search on the patent databases, global security firm Raytheon has software '-- it's called RIOT '' that operates as a search engine for espionage and national defense purposes. Raytheon has been sharing it with the U.S. government and other industries, a representative told the UK Guardian, adding that it has not yet sold or licensed the tech.
  aNewDomain.net found the patent it has applied for that describes the system. Find that here. Excerpt of it below the fold.
  TheUK Guardiansays it obtained video of Raytheon investigator Brian Urch showing the system off. In it, Urch explains how the so-called Rapid Information Overlay Technology (RIOT) software employs social networks. These images typically hold location info '-- latitude and longitude details '' details smartphones and tablets embed automatically within their exif header data.
  Riot analyzes the exif header data, checking out the photo metadata, location data and other information, too. And that's not all. Scroll below the fold to see what other information RIOT purportedly obtains and triangulates about individuals and what privacy advocates think.
  Here's the video:
  RIOT was secretly developed by the top five defense contractor to tracking people movements and predict what they might do next, primarily by mining data from social net sites. It's an ''extreme-scale-analytics'' system. According to Raytheon, the firm aimed to build a national security system that could analyze ''trillions of entities'' from cyberspace.
  The power of Riot to harness popular websites for surveillance not only interests intelligence and national security agencies. It's sparking civil liberties and privacy advocate alarm, too.
  Just watch the video. It demonstrates tech showing how Riot lets an investigator get a fairly complete glimpse of an individual's life '-- friends, places visited '-- using a fairly sophisticated and quite rapid interface.
  For instance, Riot will display on a spider diagram the associations and relationships between individuals online by looking at who they RT or DM on Twitter, mines Facebook data, sifts GPS info from Foursquare, and more.
  In the video above, the Raytheon exec showing how he is tracking employee ''Nick'' underlines the importance of that GPS data. He notes that Nick, who uses Foursquare, visits a gym early each morning. ''So if you ever did want to try to get hold of Nick, or maybe get hold of his laptop,'' says the Raytheon exec in the video demo above of RIOT, ''you might want to visit the gym at 6 a.m. on a Monday.''
  Here's an excerpt from the Raytheon patent application:
  A method for assessing a person's security risk includes receiving data from a plurality of disparate data sources in which at least two of the plurality of disparate data sources maintain their respective data in different manners. The method also includes identifying at least one item of data from at least two different data sources that correspond to a first real-world person. The method further includes merging the items from the at least two different data sources into a first record associated with the first real-world person. The method additionally includes identifying one or more relationships between the first real-world person and one or more other real-world people. The method also includes adding the identified one or more relationships to the first record associated with the first real-world person. The method further includes determining a level of risk associated with the first real-world person based on the first record.
  In the UK Guardian, Ginger McCall of the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Centre said the video should sound alarm bells.
  ''Social networking sites are often not transparent about what information is shared and how it is shared,'' McCall said. ''Users may be posting information that they believe will be viewed only by their friends, but instead, it is being viewed by government officials or pulled in by data collection services like the Riot search.''
  Raytheon, which made sales worth an estimated $25B in 2012, did not want its Riot demonstration video to be revealed on the grounds that it says it shows a ''proof of concept'' product that has not been sold to any clients.
  Jared Adams, a spokesman for Raytheon's intelligence and information systems department, told the UK Guardian:
  Riot is a big data analytics system design we are working on with industry, national labs and commercial partners to help turn massive amounts of data into usable information '... to help meet our nation's rapidly changing security needs.
  Raytheon has applied for a US patent on the system, an excerpt of which is above.
  According to the UK Guardian, Raytheon Riot is on the list of showcase software at a US government and industry national security conference scheduled for April for secretive, classified innovations, ''where it was listed under the category ''big data '' analytics, algorithms.''
  Developing '...
Presidential Memorandum -- Presidential Determination Regarding Drawdown Under Section 506 (a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as Amended, for Chad and France to Support Their Efforts in Mali
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:56
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  February 11, 2013
  MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE
  THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
  SUBJECT: Drawdown Under Section 506(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as Amended, for Chad and France to Support Their Efforts in Mali
  Pursuant to the authority vested in me by section 506(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, 22 U.S.C. 2318(a)(1)(the "Act"), I hereby determine that an unforeseen emergency exists that requires immediate military assistance to Chad and France in their efforts to secure Mali from terrorists and violent extremists. I further determine that these requirements cannot be met under the authority of the Arms Export Control Act or any other provision of law.
  I, therefore, direct the drawdown of up to $50 million in defense services of the Department of Defense for these purposes and under the authorities of section 506(a)(1) of the Act.
  The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to report this determination to the Congress, arrange for its publication in the FederalRegister, and coordinate the implementation of this drawdown.
  BARACK OBAMA
Obama: 'Americans Are Too Stupid to Understand Economics'
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:55
Newsweek Editor: Bush Would've Been Impeached If He Had Obama's Drone Policy
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:49
  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 to 'bypass Congress' on CISPA with cybersecurity executive order '-- RT
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:43
  U.S. President Barack Obama. (Reuters / Jonathan Ernst)
  Unable to reach a deal with Congress, President Obama plans to use his power to exert executive actions against the will of lawmakers. The president will issue orders addressing controversial topics including cybersecurity.
  Although President Obama has issued fewer executive orders than any president in over 100 years, he is making extensive plans to change that, Washington Post reports quoting people outside the White House involved in discussions on the issues. Due to conflicts with a Congress that too often disagrees on proposed legislation, Obama plans to act alone and is likely "to rely heavily" on his executive powers in future, according to the newspaper.
  Obama's first executive order is expected to be issued this week when the president calls for the creation of new standards on what private-sector companies must do to protect their computer systems from a cybersecurity breach.
  The order is a direct response to Congress' refusal to pass the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) last year, which the administration deemed crucial to prevent crippling attacks on the nation's infrastructure. But members of Congress who opposed the legislation cited serious privacy concerns with giving the government greater access to Americans' personal information that only private companies and servers might have access to.
  Despite opposition from lawmakers, the president will use his executive powers to issue an order addressing cybersecurity initiatives.
  ''It is a very dangerous road he's going down contrary to the spirit of the Constitution,'' Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told the Washington Post. ''Just because Congress doesn't act doesn't mean the president has a right to act.''
  But the president has increasingly been issuing executive orders, including 23 actions addressing gun violence after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The 23 orders angered lawmakers who are opposed to tighter gun legislation. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) accused the president of demonstrating a ''king complex'' by exerting so many orders.
  Major executive actions implemented by the president also include orders delaying deportations of young illegal immigrants and orders to lower student loan payments.
  The president plans to have a greater impact during his second term by increasing his number of executive actions. He is currently considering extending anti-discrimination protections for homosexuals employed by the government and working with the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon emissions. He is also planning to allow nearly 11 million struggling homeowners to refinance their mortgages at low interest rates.
  The White House has made it clear that if Congress continues to disagree on issues that Obama considers important, the president will go ahead and use his power to pass new laws on his own.
  And even though the president has passed executive orders at a lower rate than most of his predecessors '' including former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, doing so has not come without criticism.
  "Obama's increasing reliance on executive orders to push policy and skirt congressional deliberation is worrisome," tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
  The president is expected to reference some of his imminent executive actions in his State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Google Moves to Destroy Online Anonymity '... Helping Authoritarian Governments In the Process
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:42
  Governments Move to Destroy Online AnonymityGene Howington reported last year:
  The history of anonymous political free speech in America dates back to our founding. The seminal essays found in ''The Federalist Papers'' were written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay under the nom de plume of ''Publius'' although this was not confirmed until a list of authorship complied by Hamilton was posthumously released to the public. As previously discussed on this blog, the right to anonymous political free speech has been addressed by the Supreme Court. Most notably in the cases of Talley v. California, 362 U.S. 60 (1960) and McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 514 U.S. 334 (1995). In Talley, Justice Hugo Black writing for the majority said that, ''Anonymous pamphlets, leaflets, brochures and even books have played an important role in the progress of mankind. Persecuted groups and sects from time to time throughout history have been able to criticize oppressive practices and laws either anonymously or not at all.'' In McIntyre, Justice John Paul Stevens writing for the majority said that, ''Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. ['... ] an author's decision to remain anonymous, like other decisions concerning omissions or additions to the content of a publication, is an aspect of the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment.'' That seems clear enough in defining that citizens do have a Constitutionally protected right to anonymous political free speech.
  Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge points out (with slight editing):
  Though often maligned (typically by those frustrated by an inability to engage in ad hominem attacks), anonymous speech has a long and storied history in the United States. Used by the likes of Mark Twain (aka Samuel Langhorne Clemens) to criticize common ignorance, and perhaps most famously by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay (aka publius) to write the Federalist Papers, we think ourselves in good company in using one or another nom de plume.
  Particularly in light of an emerging trend against vocalizing public dissent in the United States, we believe in the critical importance of anonymity and its role in dissident speech.
  Like the Economist magazine, we also believe that keeping authorship anonymous moves the focus of discussion to the content of speech and away from the speaker '' as it should be. We believe not only that you should be comfortable with anonymous speech in such an environment, but that you should be suspicious of any speech that isn't.
  But governments '' especially authoritarian governments '' hate anonymity.
  A soon-to-be-released book by Google executive Eric Schmidt - called ''The New Digital Age'' '' describes the desire of authoritarian governments to destroy anonymity. The Wall Street Journalprovides an excerpt:
  Some governments will consider it too risky to have thousands of anonymous, untraceable and unverified citizens '-- ''hidden people''; they'll want to know who is associated with each online account, and will require verification at a state level, in order to exert control over the virtual world.
  Last December, China started requiring all web users to register using their real names.
  But the U.S. is quickly moving in the same direction. Gene Howington explains:
  Do you have a right to anonymous political free speech?
  According to the Supreme Court, you do. According to the Department of Homeland Security, you don't. They've hired General Dynamics to track U.S. citizens exercising this critical civil right.
  ***
  The full DHS policy statement regarding its activities can be viewed in the DHS Privacy Compliance Review of the NOC Media Monitoring Initiative (November 15, 2011), but rt.com's summary spells out the basics:
  ''Under the National Operations Center (NOC)'s Media Monitoring Initiative that came out of DHS headquarters in November, Washington has the written permission to retain data on users of social media and online networking platforms.
  Specifically, the DHS announced the NCO and its Office of Operations Coordination and Planning (OPS) can collect personal information from news anchors, journalists, reporters or anyone who may use ''traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed.''
  According to the Department of Homeland Security's own definition of personal identifiable information, or PII, such data could consist of any intellect ''that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including any information which is linked or linkable to that individual.'' Previously established guidelines within the administration say that data could only be collected under authorization set forth by written code, but the new provisions in the NOC's write-up means that any reporter, whether someone along the lines of Walter Cronkite or a budding blogger, can be victimized by the agency.
  Also included in the roster of those subjected to the spying are government officials, domestic or not, who make public statements, private sector employees that do the same and ''persons known to have been involved in major crimes of Homeland Security interest,'' which to itself opens up the possibilities even wider.
  The department says that they will only scour publically-made info available while retaining data, but it doesn't help but raise suspicion as to why the government is going out of their way to spend time, money and resources on watching over those that helped bring news to the masses.'' '' rt.com
  This question about the right to anonymous political free speech is also asked over the background of the Electronic Privacy Information Center filing a FOIA request against the DHS to find out the details of the agency's social network monitoring program.
  ***
  As part of recent disclosures related to the EPIC suit, it is revealed that the DHS has hired and instructed General Dynamics to monitor political dissent and the dissenters. The range of websites listed as being monitored is quite impressive. Notably, jonathanturley.org is not on this list [Howington's essay is a guest blog on constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley's website], but equally of note is that this list is by the DHS' own admission ''representative'' and not ''comprehensive''.
  ***
  Some of the more high profile and highly trafficked sites being monitored include the comments sections of The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, the Huffington Post, the Drudge Report, Wired, and ABC News. In addition, social networking sites Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are being monitored. For the first time, the public not only has an idea who the DHS is pursuing with their surveillance and where, but what they are looking for as well. General Dynamics contract requires them to ''[identify] media reports that reflect adversely on the U.S. Government, DHS, or prevent, protect, respond government activities.'' The DHS also instructed General Dynamics to generate ''reports on DHS, Components, and other Federal Agencies: positive and negative reports on FEMA, CIA, CBP, ICE, etc. as well as organizations outside the DHS.'' In other words, the DHS wants to know who you are if you say anything critical about the government.
  Anybody thinking of the name ''Goebbels'' at this point is not out of line.
  Indeed, valuing online privacy could even get you labeled as a potential terrorist.
  Google Moving to Help Destroy AnonymityGoogle's motto is ''Do No Evil''. And Google notes in a patent application:
  When users reveal their identities on the internet, it leaves them more vulnerable to stalking, identity theft and harassment.
  So you might assume that Google is fighting to protect anonymity on the web.
  But Schmidt's new book reveals that Google will support the destruction of anonymity (via Wall Street Journal):
  Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.
  Search Engine Journal explains:
  [Passages from Schmidt's book] confirm what many industry writers have been passionately clattering away about for months now. Google+ is an identity verification network. As the network continues to grow, content associated with a verified identity will rise to the top of Google search rankings.
  (Google+ is now the world's second most popular social network.)
  In other words, Schmidt acknowledges (in the first quote above) that authoritarians want to destroy anonymity '... and Google will help them do so.
  We are not saying that Google likes authoritarians. True, there are potential ties between Google and the government. For example, the head of DARPA now works for Google, and Internet powerhouse Vint Cerf has worked at both institutions. Wired reports:
  Long before it reportedly enlisted the help of the National Security Agency to secure its networks, Google sold equipment to the secret signals-intelligence group. In-Q-Tel [the CIA's investment arm] backed the mapping firm Keyhole, which was bought by Google in 2004 '-- and then became the backbone for Google Earth.
  And a former high-level CIA officer alleges that the CIA funded Google with seed money.
  However, the focus of this essay is on Google's profit motive. Specifically, Google will do business with anyone '... and will cowtow to authoritarians they happen to do business with.
  Google is doing this to make money. Remember, Google gathers information across all of its platforms, and personalizes search engine results based upon what you've looked for in past searches.
  After all, Google is primary an advertising company '... not a search company. See this, this, this and this.
  As the Daily Mail reported last year:
  A former Google executive has lambasted his ex-employer '... claiming that the search company has been turned into an 'ad company' obsessed with harvesting people's private information.
  James Whittaker, a current Partner Development Manager at Microsoft and ex-Engineering Director at Google, posted the 1328-word attack on Google on his Microsoft blog this week.
  'Perhaps Google is right,' writes Whittaker, 'Perhaps the future lies in learning as much about people's personal lives as possible.
  'The Google I was passionate about was a technology company. The Google I left was an advertising company.'
  ***
  The move comes in the wake of Google's controversial new 'privacy policy', which allowed the search giant to 'pool' information from 60 separate services including Gmail, Google Search and Android phones, to create 'personalised' advertising.
  The bottom line is that anonymity reduces Google's ability to monetize personal information and sell it to its advertisers. So Google is on a campaign to destroy anonymity '... and unintentionally helping tyrants in the process.
  As INeedHits laments:
  We knew a day would come when privacy was a thing of the past, but Schmidt clearly spells out that day is sooner than we had expected.
  Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 4.8(21 votes)
Dr. Carson: 'An Uneducated Populace Will Fall For Anything' Including 'Pundits On TV'
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:39
  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.
Dr. Benjamin Carson 2016? - By Nathaniel Botwinick - The Corner
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:38
  In case you missed this, Doctor Benjamin Carson delivered a powerful rebuttal to President Obama and his policies at the National Prayer Breakfast last week:
  The Wall Street Journal has already proposed Ben Carson for president, as he eloquently made the case for both a flat tax and health-savings accounts:
  What we need to do is come up with something simple. And when I pick up my Bible, you know what I see? I see the fairest individual in the universe, God, and he's given us a system. It's called a tithe. . . . We don't necessarily have to do 10% but it's the principle. He didn't say if your crops fail, don't give me any tithe or if you have a bumper crop, give me triple tithe. So there must be something inherently fair about proportionality. You make $10 billion, you put in a billion. You make $10 you put in one. Of course you've got to get rid of the loopholes. Some people say, 'Well that's not fair because it doesn't hurt the guy who made $10 billion as much as the guy who made 10.' Where does it say you've got to hurt the guy? He just put a billion dollars in the pot. We don't need to hurt him. It's that kind of thinking that has resulted in 602 banks in the Cayman Islands. That money needs to be back here building our infrastructure and creating jobs.
  Here's my solution: When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic medical record, and a health savings account to which money can be contributed'--pretax'--from the time you're born 'til the time you die. If you die, you can pass it on to your family members, and there's nobody talking about death panels. We can make contributions for people who are indigent. Instead of sending all this money to some bureaucracy, let's put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care. And very quickly they're going to learn how to be responsible.
  Dr. Benjamin Carson also has an incredible life story that's been turned into a movie and is the chief pediatric neurosurgeon at the world-renowned John Hopkins Hospital.
Gates Backs Lawmakers' Oversight of Drone Program
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:23
  WASHINGTON -- Robert Gates, a former defense secretary and spymaster, is backing lawmakers' proposal to form a special court to review President Barack Obama's deadly drone strikes against Americans linked to al-Qaida.
  Gates, who led the Pentagon for Presidents George W. Bush and Obama and previously served as the Central Intelligence Agency's director, said Obama's use of the unmanned drones follows tight rules. But he shares lawmakers' wariness over using the unmanned aircraft to target al-Qaida operatives and allies.
  "I think that the rules and the practices that the Obama administration has followed are quite stringent and are not being abused. But who is to say about a future president?" Gates said in an interview broadcast Sunday.
  The use of remote-controlled drones -- Obama's weapon of choice to strike al-Qaida with lethal missiles in places such as Pakistan and Yemen -- earned headlines last week as lawmakers contemplated just how much leeway an American president should have in going after the nation's enemies, including its own citizens.
  "We are in a different kind of war. We're not sending troops. We're not sending manned bombers. We're dealing with the enemy where we find them to keep America safe. We have to strike a new constitutional balance with the challenges we face today," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
  "The policy is really unfolding. Most of this has not been disclosed," the second-ranking Senate Democrat added.
  The nomination of John Brennan, Obama's counterterrorism adviser who oversaw many of the drone strikes from his office in the West Wing basement, kick-started the discussion.
  During Thursday's hearing, Brennan defended drone strikes only as a "last resort," but he said he had no qualms about going after Anwar al-Awlaki in September 2011. A drone strike in Yemen killed al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, both U.S. citizens. A drone strike two weeks later killed al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, a Denver native.
  Those strikes came after U.S. intelligence concluded that the elder al-Awlaki was senior operational leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula plotting attacks on the U.S., including the failed Christmas Day bombing of an airplane as it landed in Detroit in 2009.
  "I think it's very unseemly that a politician gets to decide the death of an American citizen," said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. "They should answer about the 16-year-old boy, al-Awlaki's son who was killed not as collateral damage, but in a separate strike."
  Many lawmakers suggested uneasiness about the unfettered program.
  "It just makes me uncomfortable that the president -- whoever it is -- is the prosecutor, the judge, the jury and the executioner, all rolled into one," said Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine.
  The potential model that some lawmakers are considering for overseeing such drone attacks is a secret court of federal judges that now reviews requests for government surveillance in espionage and terrorism cases. In those proceedings, 11 federal judges review wiretap applications that enable the FBI and other agencies to gather evidence to build cases. Suspects have no lawyers present, as they would in other U.S. courts, and the proceedings are secret.
  Some Republicans were wary of such an oversight proposal.
  The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said his members review all drone strikes on a monthly basis, both from the CIA and Pentagon.
  "There is plenty of oversight here," said Rep Mike Rogers, R-Mich.
  Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said a separate oversight panel would be "an encroachment on the powers of the president of the United States."
  "But what we need to do is take the whole program out of the hand of the Central Intelligence Agency and put it into the Department of Defense, where you have adequate oversight," McCain said. "Since when is the intelligence agency supposed to be an air force of drones that goes around killing people? I believe that it's a job for the Department of Defense."
  Gates, Paul and King spoke with CNN's "State of the Union." Durbin appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press." Rogers was interviewed on CBS' "Face the Nation." McCain was on "Fox News Sunday."
  (C) Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Australian MP admits Islamic problem, govt goes into spin control
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:28
  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.
Print - The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed
  Link to Article
  Tue, 12 Feb 2013 03:51
  3."HEY, MAN, I JUST SHOT A WOMAN."
  Waiting in Jalalabad, the teams were getting feedback from Washington. Gates didn't want to do this, Hillary didn't want to do that.
  The Shooter still thought, We'd train, spin up, then spin down. They'd eventually tank the op and just bomb it.
  But then the word came to Vice Admiral William McRaven, head of Joint Special Operations Command. The mission was on, originally for April 30, the night of the White House Correspondents' dinner in Washington.
  McRaven figured it would look bad if all sorts of officials got up and left the dinner in front of the press. So he came up with a cover story about the weather so we could launch on Sunday, May 1, instead.
  There was one last briefing and an awesome speech from McRaven comparing the looming raid and its fighters to the movie Hoosiers.
  Then they're gathered by a fire pit, suiting up. Just before he got on the chopper to leave for Abbottabad, the Shooter called his dad. I didn't know where he was, but I found out later he was in a Walmart parking lot. I said, "Hey, it's time to go to work," and I'm thinking, I'm calling for the last time. I thought there was a good chance of dying.
  He knew something significant was up, though he didn't know what. The Shooter could hear him start to tear up. He told me later that he sat in his pickup in that parking lot for an hour and couldn't get out of the car.
  The Red Team and members of the other squad hugged one another instead of the usual handshakes before they boarded their separate aircraft. The hangars had huge stadium lights pointing outward so no one from the outside could see what was going on.
  I took one last piss on the bushes.
  Ninety minutes in the chopper to get from Jalalabad to Abbottabad. The Shooter noted when the bird turned right, into Pakistani airspace.
  I was sitting next to the commanding officer, and he's relaying everything to McRaven.
  I was counting back and forth to a thousand to pass the time. It's a long flight, but we brought these collapsible camping chairs, so we're not uncomfortable. But it's getting old and you're ready to go and you don't want your legs falling asleep.
  Every fifteen minutes they'd tell us we hadn't been painted [made by Pakistani radar].
  I remember banking to the south, which meant we were getting ready to hit. We had about another fifteen minutes. Instead of counting, for some reason I said to myself the George Bush 9/11 quote: Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward, and freedom will be defended. I could just hear his voice, and that was neat. I started saying it again and again to myself. Then I started to get pumped up. I'm like: This is so on.
  I was concerned for the two [MH-47 Chinook] big-boat choppers crossing the Pakistani border forty-five minutes after we did, both full of my guys from the other squadron, the backup and extraction group. The 47's have some awesome antiradar shit on them, too. But it's still a school bus flying into a sovereign nation. If the Pakistanis don't like it, they can send a jet in to shoot them down.
  Flying in, we were all just sort of in our own world. My biggest concern was having to piss really bad and then having to get off in a fight needing to pee. We actually had these things made for us, like a combination collapsible dog bowl and diaper. I still have mine; I never used it. I used one of my water bottles instead. I forgot until later that when I shot bin Laden in the face, I had a bottle of piss in my pocket.
  I would have pissed my pants rather than trying to fight with a full bladder.
  Above the compound, the Shooter could hear only his helo pilot in the flight noise. "Dash 1 going around" meant the other chopper was circling back around. I thought they'd taken fire and were just moving. I didn't realize they crashed right then. But our pilot did. He put our five perimeter guys out, went up, and went right back down outside the compound, so we knew something was wrong. We weren't sure what the fuck it was.
  We opened the doors, and I looked out.
  The area looked different than where we trained because we're in Pakistan now. There are the lights, the city. There's a golf course. And we're, This is some serious Navy SEAL shit we're going to do. This is so badass. My foot hit the ground and I was still running [the Bush quote] in my head. I don't care if I die right now. This is so awesome. There was concern, but no fear.
  I was carrying a big-ass sledgehammer to blow through a wall if we had to. There was a gate on the northeast corner and we went right to that. We put a breaching charge on it, clacked it, and the door peeled like a tin can. But it was a fake gate with a wall behind it. That was good, because we knew that someone was defending themselves. There's something good here.
  We walked down the main long wall to get to the driveway to breach the door there. We were about to blow that next door on the north end when one of the guys from the bird that crashed came around the other side and opened it.
  So we were moving down the driveway and I looked to the left. The compound was exactly the same. The mock-up had been dead-on. To actually be there and see the house with the three stories, the blacked-out windows, high walls, and barbed wire '-- and I'm actually in that security driveway with the carport, just like the satellite photos. I was like, This is really cool I'm here.
  While we were in the carport, I heard gunfire from two different places nearby. In one flurry, a SEAL shot Abrar al-Kuwaiti, the brother of bin Laden's courier, and his wife, Bushra. One of our guys involved told me, "Jesus, these women are jumping in front of these guys. They're trying to martyr themselves. Another sign that this is a serious place. Even if bin Laden isn't here, someone important is."
  We crossed to the south side of the main building. There the Shooter ran into another team member, who told him, "Hey, man, I just shot a woman." He was worried. I told him not to be. "We should be thinking about the mission, not about going to jail."
  For the Shooter personally, bin Laden was one bookend in a black-ops career that was coming to an end. But the road to Abbottabad was long, starting with the guys who tried and failed to make it into the SEALs in the first place. Up to 80 percent of applicants wash out, and some almost die trying.
  In fact, during the Shooter's Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in the mid-nineties, the torture-chamber menu of physical and emotional resistance and resolve required to get into the SEALs, there was actually a death and resurrection.
  "One of the tests is they make you dive to the bottom of a pool and tie five knots," the Shooter says. "One guy got to the fifth knot and blacked out underwater. We pulled him up and he was, like, dead. They made the class face the fence while they tried to resuscitate him. The first words as he spit out water were 'Did I pass? Did I tie the fifth knot?' The instructor told him, 'We didn't want to find out if you could tie the knots, you asshole, we wanted to know how hard you'd push yourself. You killed yourself. You passed.'"
  "I've been drown-proofed once, and it does suck," the Shooter says.
  Then there is Green Team, the lead-heavy door of entry for SEAL Team 6. Half of the men who are already hardened SEALs don't make it through. "They get in your mind and make you think fast and make decisions during high stress."
  There have been SEAL teams since the Kennedy years, when they got their first real workout against the Vietcong around Da Nang and in the Mekong Delta, and even during periods of relative peace since Vietnam, SEAL teams have been deployed around the world. But at no time have they been more active than in the period since 2001, in the longest war ever fought by Americans.
  If the surge in Iraq ordered by President Bush in 2007 was at all successful, that success is owed significantly to the night-shift work done by SEAL Team 6.
  "We would go kill high-value targets every night," the Shooter tells me. He and other ST6 members who would later be on the Abbottabad trip lived in rough huts with mud floors and cots. "But we were completely disrupting Al Qaeda and other Iraqi networks. If we only killed five or six guys a night, we were wasting our time. We knew this was the greatest moment of our operational lives."
  From Al Asad to Ramadi to Baghdad to Baquba '-- Al Qaeda central at the time '-- the SEALs had latitude to go after "everyone we thought we had to kill. That's really a major reason the surge was going so well, because terrorists were dying strategically."
  During one raid, accompanied by two dogs, the Shooter says that he and his team wiped out "an entire spiderweb network." Villagers told Iraqi newspapers the next day that "Ninjas came with lions."
  It is important to him to stress that no women or children were killed in that raid. He also insists that when it came to interrogation, repetitive questioning and leveraging fear was as aggressive as he'd go. "When we first started the war in Iraq, we were using Metallica music to soften people up before we interrogated them," the Shooter says. "Metallica got wind of this and they said, 'Hey, please don't use our music because we don't want to promote violence.' I thought, Dude, you have an album called Kill 'Em All.
  "But we stopped using their music, and then a band called Demon Hunter got in touch and said, 'We're all about promoting what you do.' They sent us CDs and patches. I wore my Demon Hunter patch on every mission. I wore it when I blasted bin Laden."
  On deployment in Afghanistan or Iraq, they would "eat, work out, play Xbox, study languages, do schoolwork." And watch the biker series Sons of Anarchy, Entourage, and three or four seasons of The Shield.
  They were rural high school football stars, backwoods game hunters, and Ivy League graduates thrown together by a serious devotion to the cause, and to the action. Accessories, upbringing, and cultural tastes were just preamble, though, to the real work. As for the Shooter, he jokes that his choice in life was to "go to the SEALs or go to jail." Not that he would have ever found himself behind bars, but he points out traits that all SEALs seem to have in common: the willingness to live beyond the edge, and to do anything, and the resolve to never quit.
  The bin Laden mission was far from the most dangerous of his career. Once, he was pinned down near Asadabad, Afghanistan, while the SEALs were trying to disrupt Al Qaeda supply lines used to ambush Americans.
  "Bullets flew between my gun and my face," he says, just as he was inserting some of his favorite Copenhagen chew and then open-field sprinting to retrieve some special equipment he had dropped. That fight ended when he called in air strikes along the eastern Afghan border to light up the enemy.
  Opening a closet door once, team members found a boy inside. "The natural response was 'C'mon kid.' Then, boom, he blows himself up. Suicide bombers are fast. Other rooms and other places, "we'd go in and a guy would be sleeping. Up against the wall were his cologne, deodorant, soap, suicide vest, AK-47, and grenades."
  He's also had to collect body parts of his close friends, most notably when a SEAL team chopper was shot down in Afghanistan's Kunar province in June 2005, killing eight SEALs. "We go to a lot of funerals."
  But for all the big battle boasts that become a sort of currency among SEALs, the Shooter has a deep fondness for the comedy that comes from being around the bunch of guys who are the only people in the world with whom you have so much in common and the only people in the world who can know exactly what you do for a living.
  "I realized when I joined I had to be a better shot and step up my humor. These guys were hilarious."
  There are the now-famous pranks with a giant dildo '-- they called it the Staff of Power '-- discovered during training in an abandoned Miami building. SEALs would find photos of it inserted into their gas masks or at the bottom of a barrel of animal crackers they were eating. Goats were put in their personal cages at ST6 headquarters. Uniforms were borrowed and dyed pink. Boots were glued to the floor. Flash-bang grenades went off in their gear.
  The area near the Shooter's cage was such a target for outlandish stunts that it was called the Gaza Strip.
  Even in action, with all their high state of expertise and readiness, "we're normal people. We fall off ladders, land on the wrong roof, get bitten by dogs." In Iraq, a breacher was putting a charge on a door to blow it off its hinges when he mistakenly leaned against the doorbell. He quickly took off the charge and the target opened the door. We were like, "You rang the fucking doorbell?!" Maybe we should try that more often, the Shooter thought to himself.
  The dead can also be funny, as long as it's not your guys. "In Afghanistan we were cutting away the clothes on this dead dude to see if he had a suicide vest on, only to find that he had a huge dick, down to his knees. From then on, we called him Abu Dujan Holmes.
  And then there was the time that the Shooter shit himself on a tandem jump with a huge SEAL who outweighed him by sixty pounds. "The goddamn main chute yanked so hard he slipped two disks in his neck and I filled my socks with human feces. I told him, 'Hey, dude, this is a horrible day.' He said if I went to our reserve chute, 'you're gonna fucking kill me.' He was that convinced his head was going to rip off his body.
  "Okay, so I'm flying this broken chute, shitting my pants with this near-dead guy connected to me. And we eat shit on the landing. We're lying there and the chute is dragging us across the ground. I hear him go, 'Yeah, that's my last jump for today.' And I said, 'That's cool. Can I borrow your boxers?'
  "We jumped the next day."
  The Shooter's willingness to endure comes from a deep personal well of confidence and drive that seems to also describe every one of his peers. But his odyssey through countless outposts in Afghanistan and Iraq to skydives into the Indian Ocean '-- situations that are always strewn with violence and with his own death always imminent '-- is grounded by a sense of deep confederacy.
  "I'm lucky to be with these guys. I'm not going to let them down. I was going to go in for a few years, but then I met these other guys and stuck around because of them." He and one buddy made their first kills at exactly the same time, in Ramadi. Shared bloodletting is as much a bonding agent as shared blood.
  After Team 6 SEAL Adam Brown was killed in March 2010, Brown's squadron members approached the dead man's kids at the funeral. They were screaming and inconsolable. "You may have lost a father," one of them said, "but you've gained twenty fathers."
  Most of those SEALs would be killed the next year when their helicopter was shot down in eastern Wardak province.
  The Shooter feels both the losses and connections no less keenly now that he's out. "One of my closest friends in the world I've been with in SEAL Team 6 the whole time," he says.
  The Shooter's friend is also looking for a viable exit from the Navy. As he prepared to deploy again, he agreed to talk with me on the condition that I not identify him.
  "My wife doesn't want me to stay in one more minute than I have to," he says. But he's several years away from official retirement. "I agree that civilian life is scary. And I've got a family to take care of. Most of us have nothing to offer the public. We can track down and kill the enemy really well, but that's it.
  "If I get killed on this next deployment, I know my family will be taken care of." (The Navy does offer decent life-insurance policies at low rates.) "College will be paid for, they'll be fine.
  "But if I come back alive and retire, I won't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out for the rest of my life. Sad to say, it's better if I get killed."
William Bates (physician) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:44
  William Horatio Bates (December 23, 1860 '' July 10, 1931) was an American physician who practiced ophthalmology and developed what became known as the Bates Method for better eyesight,[1] an educational method intended to improve vision by undoing a supposed habitual strain to see. The efficacy of the method is questionable, and his theory that the eye does not focus by changing the power of the lens, but rather by elongating the eyeball, through use of the extraocular oblique muscles, was contradicted by mainstream ophthalmology and optometry of his day and still is today.[2][3]
  [edit]BiographyBates graduated A.B. from Cornell University in 1881 and received his medical degree at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1885. He formulated a theory about vision health, and published the book Perfect Sight Without Glasses in 1920, and the magazine Better Eyesight from 1919 to 1930. Parts of Bates' approach to correcting vision disorders were based on psychological principles, which were contrary to many of the medical theories of the time and remain so. The Bates Method still enjoys some limited acceptance as a modality of alternative medicine.
  Bates treated many patients, who claimed to have been cured of vision defects, especially myopia. This brought him into conflict with his peers. He defended himself by claiming that other physicians were in thrall to the establishment.
  [edit]Bates' publicationsMain article: Bates methodBecause the copyrights have expired, the original version of Perfect Sight Without Glasses (or The Cure of Imperfect Sight by Treatment Without Glasses) is now in the public domain. In 1943 an abridged version was published under the title Better Eyesight Without Glasses, which removed some of the most controversial points, such as the claim that "perfectly remembering black"[4] is a suitable substitute for anaesthesia, and recommendations to look at the sun.[2]
  [edit]Bates' mental healthBates appears to have suffered from a strange episode of amnesia (or possibly psychogenic fugue)[original research?], referred to in his obituary,[5] perhaps wrongly as 'a strange form of aphasia'. In 1902 he disappeared, was found, and then disappeared again, only to reappear after his second wife, who searched in vain for him, had died. This episode was said to have given him a particular interest in memory, perhaps influencing the direction of his work. He was married three times, having been widowed twice. In 1928, he married his long-time personal assistant Emily C. Lierman.
  [edit]Discovery of the medical use of adrenalineBates did other research. He discovered the astringent and haemostatic properties of the substance produced by the suprarenal gland, and its value in medicine, especially in surgeries. The substance would later be commercialized as adrenaline.[6]
  [edit]References[edit]External linksPersondataNameBates, WilliamAlternative namesShort descriptionAmerican opthalmologistDate of birthDecember 23, 1860Place of birthDate of deathJuly 10, 1931Place of death
Bates method - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:43
  The Bates method is an alternative therapy aimed at improving eyesight. Eye-care physician William Horatio Bates (1860''1931) attributed nearly all sight problems to habitual strain of the eyes, and felt that glasses were harmful and never necessary. Bates self-published a book as well as a magazine (and earlier collaborated with Bernarr MacFadden on a correspondence course) detailing his approach to helping people relax such strain, and thus, he claimed, improve their sight. His techniques centered around visualization and movement. He placed particular emphasis on imagining black letters and marks, and the movement of such. He also felt that exposing the eyes to sunlight would help alleviate eyestrain.[1]
  Although many of Bates' patients and followers of his methods have reported of successful results (most famously from author Aldous Huxley),[2] his methods have garnered much opposition from mainstream optometry. Bates was disbarred from the American Optometric Association because his techniques had not been shown objectively to improve eyesight.[3] Despite this, some behavioral optometrists and visual therapists continue to employ methods developed by Bates.[4][5]
  Bates' main physiological proposition '' that the eyeball changes shape to maintain focus '' has consistently been contradicted by observation.[6] In 1952, optometry professor Elwin Marg wrote of Bates, ''Most of his claims and almost all of his theories have been considered false by practically all visual scientists.''[7] Marg concluded that the Bates method owed its popularity largely to "flashes of clear vision" experienced by many who followed it.[2] Such occurrences have since been determined to most likely be a contact lens-like effect of moisture on the eye.[8]
  Both critics and proponents of the Bates method caution against overexposing the eyes to sunlight, driving without the legally required correction, or completely neglecting conventional eye care.[7][9]
  [edit]Underlying concepts[edit]AccommodationAccommodation is the process by which the eye increases optical power to maintain focus on the retina while shifting its gaze to a closer point. The long-standing medical consensus is that this is accomplished by action of the ciliary muscle, a muscle within the eye, which adjusts the curvature of the eye's crystalline lens.[3] This explanation is based in the observed effect of atropine temporarily preventing accommodation when applied to the ciliary muscle, as well as images reflected on the crystalline lens becoming smaller as the eye shifts focus to a closer point, indicating a change in the lens' shape. Bates rejected this explanation, and in his 1920 book presented photographs which he said showed that the image remained the same size even as the eye shifted focus, concluding from this that the lens was not a factor in accommodation. However, optometrist Philip Pollack in a 1956 work characterized these photographs as "so blurred that it is impossible to tell whether one image is larger than the other", in contrast to later photographs which clearly showed a change in the size of the reflected images, just as had been observed since the late nineteenth century.[6]
  Bates adhered to a different explanation of accommodation which had been generally disregarded by the medical community of his time. This model had the muscles surrounding the eyeball controlling its focus.[6] In addition to their known function of turning the eye, Bates maintained, they also affect its shape,[10] elongating the eyeball to focus at the near-point or shortening it to focus at a distance.[11] Commenting on this hypothesis in an interview with WebMD, ophthalmologist Richard E. Bensinger stated "When we put drops in the eye to dilate the pupil, they paralyze the focusing muscles. The evidence of the anatomical fallacy is that you can't focus, but your eye can move up and down, left and right. The notion that external muscles affect focusing is totally wrong."[3] Science author John Grant writes that many animals, such as fishes, accommodate by elongation of the eyeball, "it's just that humans aren't one of those animals."[12]
  Laboratory tests have shown that the human eyeball is far too rigid to spontaneously change shape to a degree which would be necessary to accomplish what Bates described.[6] Exceedingly small changes in axial length of the eyeball (18.6''19.2 micrometres) are caused by the action of the ciliary muscle during accommodation. However, these changes are far too small to account for the necessary changes in focus, producing changes of only ''0.036 dioptres.[13]
  [edit]Causes of sight problemsMedical professionals characterize refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia (the age-related blurring of near-point vision) as consequences of the eye's shape and other basic anatomy, which there is no evidence that any exercise can alter.[14] Bates, however, believed that these conditions are caused by tension of the muscles surrounding the eyeball, which he believed prevents the eyeball from sufficiently changing shape (per his explanation of accommodation) when gaze is shifted nearer or farther. Bates characterized this supposed muscular tension as the consequence of a "mental strain" to see, the relief of which he claimed would instantly improve sight.[1][15] He also linked disturbances in the circulation of blood, which he said is "very largely influenced by thought", not only to refractive errors but also to double vision, crossed-eye, lazy eye, and to more serious eye conditions such as cataracts and glaucoma.[6][16] His therapies were based on these assumptions.[1]
  Bates felt that corrective lenses, which he characterized as "eye crutches", are an impediment to curing poor vision. In his view, "strain" would increase as the eyes adjust to the correction in front of them. He thus recommended that glasses be discarded by anyone applying his method.[1]
  [edit]TreatmentsIn his writings, Bates discussed several techniques which he claimed helped patients to improve their sight. He wrote that "The ways in which people strain to see are infinite, and the methods used to relieve the strain must be almost equally varied",[15] emphasizing that no single approach would work for everyone. His techniques were all designed to help disassociate this "strain" from seeing and thereby achieve "central fixation", or seeing what is in the central point of vision without staring. He asserted that "all errors of refraction and all functional disturbances of the eye disappear when it sees by central fixation" and that other conditions were often relieved as well.[1]
  [edit]PalmingBates suggested closing the eyes for minutes at a time to help bring about relaxation.[17] He asserted that the relaxation could be deepened in most cases by "palming," or covering the closed eyes with the palms of the hands, without putting pressure on the eyeballs.[1] If the covered eyes did not strain, he said, they would see "a field so black that it is impossible to remember, imagine, or see anything blacker," since light was excluded by the palms. However, he reported that some of his patients experienced "illusions of lights and colors" sometimes amounting to "kaleidoscopic appearances" as they "palmed," occurrences which he attributed to his ubiquitous "strain" and which he claimed disappeared when one truly relaxed.[17] This phenomenon, however, was almost certainly caused by Eigengrau or "dark light." In fact, even in conditions of perfect darkness, as inside a cave, neurons at every level of the visual system produce random background activity that is interpreted by the brain as patterns of light and color.[6]
  [edit]VisualizationBates placed importance on mental images, as he felt relaxation was the key to clarity of imagination as well as of actual sight.[18] He claimed that one's poise could be gauged by the visual memory of black; that the darker it appeared in the mind, and the smaller the area of black which could be imagined, the more relaxed one was at the moment.[19] He recommended that patients think of the top letter from an eye chart and then visualize progressively smaller black letters, and eventually a period or comma.[1] But he emphasized his view that the clear visual memory of black "cannot be attained by any sort of effort", stating that "the memory is not the cause of the relaxation, but must be preceded by it",[19] and cautioned against "concentrating" on black, as he regarded an attempt to "think of one thing only" as a strain.[17]
  While Bates preferred to have patients imagine something black, he also reported that some found objects of other colors easiest to visualize, and thus were benefited most by remembering those, because, he asserted, "the memory can never be perfect unless it is easy".[1][19] Skeptics reason that the only benefit to eyesight gained from such techniques is itself imagined, and point out that familiar objects, including letters on an eye chart, can be recognized even when they appear less than clear.[6]
  [edit]MovementBates felt that the manner of eye movement affected the sight. He suggested "shifting", or moving the eyes back and forth to get an illusion of objects "swinging" in the opposite direction. He believed that the smaller the area over which the "swing" was experienced, the greater was the benefit to sight. He also indicated that it was usually helpful to close the eyes and imagine something "swinging". By alternating actual and mental shifting over an image, Bates wrote, many patients were quickly able to shorten the "shift" to a point where they could "conceive and swing a letter the size of a period in a newspaper."[20] One who mastered this would attain the "universal swing", Bates believed.[1]
  Perhaps finding Bates' concepts of "shifting" and "swinging" too complicated, some proponents of vision improvement, such as Bernarr Macfadden, suggested simply moving the eyes up and down, from side to side, and shifting one's gaze between a near-point and a far-point.[1]
  [edit]SunningBates believed that the eyes were benefited by exposure to sunlight. He stated that "persons with normal sight can look directly at the sun, or at the strongest artificial light, without injury or discomfort",[21] and gave several examples of patients' vision purportedly improving after sungazing'--this is at variance with the well-known risk of eye damage which can result from direct sunlight observation.[6][7][9]
  Bates cautioned that, just as one should not attempt to run a marathon without training, one should not immediately look directly at the sun, but he suggested that it could be worked up to. He acknowledged that looking at the sun could have ill effects, but characterized them as being "always temporary" and in fact the effects of strain in response to sunlight. He wrote that he had cured people who believed that the sun had caused them permanent eye damage.[22] In his magazine, Bates later suggested exposing only the white part of the eyeball to direct sunlight, and only for seconds at a time, after allowing the sun to shine on closed eyelids for a longer period.[23]
  Posthumous publications of Bates' book omitted mention of the supposed benefits from direct sunlight shining on open eyes.[2]
  [edit]Results and criticismBates' techniques have never been scientifically established to improve eyesight.[3] Several of Bates' techniques, including "sunning", "swinging", and "palming", were combined with healthy changes to diet and exercise in a 1983 randomized controlled trial of myopic children in India. After 6 months, the experimental groups "did not show any statistically significant difference in refractive status", though the children in the treatment group "subjectively ... felt relieved of eye strain and other symptoms."[24]
  It has been argued, such as by philosopher Frank J. Leavitt, that the method which Bates described would be difficult to test scientifically due to his emphasis on relaxation and visualization. Leavitt asked "How can we tell whether someone has relaxed or imagined something, or just thinks that he or she has imagined it?" In regards to the possibility of a placebo trial, Leavitt commented "I cannot conceive of how we could put someone in a situation where he thinks he has imagined something while we know that he has not."[18]
  [edit]After BatesAfter Bates died in 1931, his methods of treatment were continued by his widow Emily and other associates,[10] some of whom incorporated exercises and dietary recommendations.[1] Most subsequent proponents did not stand by Bates' explanation of how the eye focuses mechanically,[1] but nonetheless maintained that relieving a habitual "strain" was the key to improving sight.[2]
  [edit]Margaret Darst CorbettMargaret Darst Corbett first met Dr. Bates when she consulted him about her husband's eyesight. She became his pupil, and eventually taught his method at her School of Eye Education in Los Angeles.[25] She was of the stated belief that "the optic nerve is really part of the brain, and vision is nine-tenths mental and one-tenth only physical."[2][26]
  In late 1940, Corbett and her assistant were charged with violations of the Medical Practice Act of California for treating eyes without a licence. At the trial, many of her students testified on her behalf, describing in detail how she had enabled them to discard their glasses. One witness testified that he had been almost blind from cataracts, but that, after working with Corbett, his vision had improved to such an extent that for the first time he could read for eight hours at a stretch without glasses. Corbett explained in court that she was practicing neither optometry nor ophthalmology and represented herself not as a doctor but only as an ''instructor of eye training''. Describing her method she said "We turn vision on by teaching the eyes to shift. We want the sense of motion to relieve staring, to end the fixed look. We use light to relax the eyes and to accustom them to the sun."[25]
  The trial attracted widespread interest, as did the ''not guilty'' verdict. The case spurred a bill in the Californian State Legislature which would have then made such vision education illegal without an optometric or medical licence. After a lively campaign in the media, the bill was rejected.[27]
  [edit]Aldous HuxleyPerhaps the most famous proponent of the Bates method was the British writer Aldous Huxley. At the age of sixteen Huxley had an attack of keratitis, which, after an 18-month period of near-blindness, left him with one eye just capable of light perception and the other with an unaided Snellen fraction of 10/200. This was mainly due to opacities in both corneas, complicated by hyperopia and astigmatism. He was able to read only if he wore thick glasses and dilated his better pupil with atropine, to allow that eye to see around an opacity in the center of the cornea.[28]
  In 1939, at the age of 45 and with eyesight which continued to deteriorate, he happened to hear of the Bates method and sought the help of Margaret Corbett, who gave him regular lessons.[28] Three years later he wrote The Art of Seeing, in which he related: "Within a couple of months I was reading without spectacles and, what was better still, without strain and fatigue... At the present time, my vision, though very far from normal, is about twice as good as it used to be when I wore spectacles".[29] Describing the process, Huxley wrote that "Vision is not won by making an effort to get it: it comes to those who have learned to put their minds and eyes into a state of alert passivity, of dynamic relaxation." He expressed indifference regarding the veracity of Bates' explanation of how the eye focuses, stating that "my concern is not with the anatomical mechanism of accommodation, but with the art of seeing".[2]
  His case generated wide publicity as well as scrutiny. Ophthalmologist Walter B. Lancaster, for example, suggested in 1944 that Huxley had "learned how to use what he has to better advantage" by training the "cerebral part of seeing", rather than actually improving the quality of the image on the retina.[2]
  In 1952, ten years after writing The Art of Seeing, Huxley spoke at a Hollywood banquet, wearing no glasses and, according to Bennett Cerf, apparently reading his paper from the lectern without difficulty. In Cerf's words:
  Then suddenly he faltered'--and the disturbing truth became obvious. He wasn't reading his address at all. He had learned it by heart. To refresh his memory he brought the paper closer and closer to his eyes. When it was only an inch or so away he still couldn't read it, and had to fish for a magnifying glass in his pocket to make the typing visible to him. It was an agonizing moment.[1]
  In response to this, Huxley wrote "I often do use magnifying glasses where conditions of light are bad, and have never claimed to be able to read except under very good conditions."[30] This underscored that he had not regained anything close to normal vision, and in fact never claimed that he had.[31]
  [edit]Modern variants"Natural vision correction" or "natural vision improvement" continues to be marketed by practitioners offering individual instruction, many of who have no medical or optometric credentials. Most base their approach in the Bates method, though some also integrate vision therapy techniques.[3] There are also many self-help books and programs, which have not been subjected to randomized controlled trials, aimed at improving eyesight naturally.[32] Purveyors of such approaches argue that they lack the funds to formally test them.[33]
  The heavily advertised "See Clearly Method" (of which sales were halted by a court order in November 2006, in response to what were found to be dishonest marketing practices)[34] included "palming" and "light therapy", both adapted from Bates.[14] The creators of the program, however, emphasized that they did not endorse Bates' approach overall.[35]
  In his 1992 book The Bates Method, A Complete Guide to Improving Eyesight'--Naturally, "Bates method teacher" Peter Mansfield was very critical of eye care professionals for prescribing corrective lenses. He recommended most of Bates' techniques to improve vision, but omitted sungazing. The book included accounts of twelve instances of eyesight improving, but did not report any measurements of refractive error.[36]
  Czech native John Slavicek claims to have created an "eye cure" that improves eyesight in three days, borrowing from ancient yogic eye exercises, visualizations from the Seth Material, and the Bates method. Although he has testimonials from his neighbor and others, several of his students indicate that he has greatly exaggerated their cases. Slavicek's self-published manual, Yoga for the Eyes, was rejected by an ophthalmologist who evaluated it, and evinced no interest from the World Health Organization and St. Erik's Eye Foundation in Sweden as he had not conducted double-blind tests.[37]
  [edit]Claimed successAs evidence for the effectiveness of the Bates method, proponents point to the many accounts of people allegedly having improved their eyesight by applying it.[3] While these anecdotes may be told and passed on in good faith, several potential explanations exist for the phenomena reported other than a genuine reversal of a refractive error due to the techniques practiced:
  Some cases of nearsightedness are recognized as due to a transient spasm of the ciliary muscle, rather than a misshapen eyeball. These are classed as pseudomyopia, of which spontaneous reversal may account for some reports of improvement.[38]Research has confirmed that when nearsighted subjects remove their corrective lenses, over time there is a limited improvement (termed "blur adaptation") in their unaided visual resolution, even though refraction indicates no corresponding change in refractive error.[39] This is believed to occur due to adjustments made in the visual system.[40] One who has been practicing Bates' techniques and notices such improvement may not realize that simply leaving the glasses off would have had the same effect, which may be especially pronounced if the prescription was too strong to begin with.[1]Visual acuity is affected by the size of the pupil. When it constricts (such as in response to an increase in light), the quality of focus will improve significantly, at the cost of a reduced ability to see in dim light. This is known as the "pinhole effect".[8] This concept is also used in photography when changing the aperture size.Some eye defects may naturally change for the better with age or in cycles (ophthalmologist Stewart Duke-Elder suggested that this is what happened with Aldous Huxley[41]). A cataract when first setting in sometimes results in much improved eyesight for a short time. One who happens to have been practicing the Bates method will likely credit it for any improvement experienced regardless of the actual cause.[1]Some studies have suggested that a learned ability to interpret blurred images may account for perceived improvements in eyesight.[8] Ophthalmologist Walter B. Lancaster had this to say: "Since seeing is only partly a matter of the image on the retina and the sensation it produces, but is in still larger part a matter of the cerebral processes of synthesis, in which memories play a principal role, it follows that by repetition, by practice, by exercises, one builds up a substratum of memories useful for the interpretation of sensations and facilitates the syntheses which are the major part of seeing."[42] Lancaster faulted ophthalmologists in general for neglecting the role of the brain in the process of seeing, "leaving to irregular, half-trained workers the cultivation of that field".[42][edit]Flashes of clear visionBates method enthusiasts often report experiencing "flashes" of clear vision, in which eyesight momentarily becomes much sharper, but then reverts to its previous state.[2] Such flashes are not the result of squinting, and can occur in one eye at a time or in both eyes at once.[43] Observation has suggested that both the quality and duration of such flashes can be increased with practice, with some subjects holding a substantial improvement for several minutes. Tests of such subjects have found that the temporary improvement in visual acuity is real, but per retinoscopy is not due to any change in refractive error.[2] A 1982 study concluded that such occurrences are best explained as a contact lens-like effect of moisture on the eye, based on increased tear action exhibited by 15 out of 17 subjects who experienced such improvement.[8] A more recent series of studies have proposed that such flashes may be caused by "negative accommodation" (i.e. an active flattening of the lens by the ciliary muscles).[44][45]
  [edit]General researchIn 2004 the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) published a review of various research regarding "visual training",[3] which consisted of "eye exercises, muscle relaxation techniques, biofeedback, eye patches, or eye massages", "alone or in combinations". No evidence was found that such techniques could objectively benefit eyesight, though some studies noted changes, both positive and negative, in the visual acuity of nearsighted subjects as measured by a Snellen chart. In some cases noted improvements were maintained at subsequent follow-ups. However, these results were not seen as actual reversals of nearsightedness, and were attributed instead to factors such as "improvements in interpreting blurred images, changes in mood or motivation, creation of an artificial contact lens by tear film changes, or a pinhole effect from miosis of the pupil."[8]
  In 2005 the Ophthalmology Department of New Zealand's Christchurch Hospital published a review of forty-three studies regarding the use of eye exercises. They found that "As yet there is no clear scientific evidence published in the mainstream literature supporting the use of eye exercises" to improve visual acuity, and concluded that "their use therefore remains controversial."[46]
  [edit]General criticisms[edit]Dead-endA frequent criticism of the Bates method is that it has remained relatively obscure, which is seen as proof that it is not truly effective. Writer Alan M. MacRobert concluded in a 1979 article that the "most telling argument against the Bates system" and other alternative therapies was that they "bore no fruit". In regards to the Bates method, he reasoned that "If palming, shifting, and swinging could really cure poor eyesight, glasses would be as obsolete by now as horse-drawn carriages."[47] Others, including philosopher Frank J. Leavitt, have argued that due to Bates' emphasis on relaxation and visualization, application of his principles would depend heavily on each individual, as with martial arts and yoga, and that the Bates method is therefore not discredited simply by its failure to become mainstream.[18]
  [edit]Avoidance of conventional treatmentOne of the greatest potential dangers of faith in the Bates method is that a believer may be disinclined to seek medical advice regarding what could be a sight-threatening condition requiring prompt treatment, such as glaucoma.[7] Also, children with vision problems may require early attention by a professional in order to successfully prevent lazy eye. Such treatment may include exercises, but which are different from those associated with the Bates method, and parents who subscribe to Bates' ideas may delay seeking conventional care until it is too late.[9] It may further be necessary for a child at risk of developing lazy eye to wear the proper correction.[48]
  [edit]See also[edit]References^ abcdefghijklmnoGardner, Martin (1957). "Chapter 19: Throw Away Your Glasses!". Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science. Reprint: Courier Dover Publications. pp. 230''241. ISBN 0-486-20394-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=TwP3SGAUsnkC&pg=PA232.^ abcdefghiMarg, Elwin (April 1952). "Flashes of clear vision and negative accommodation with reference to the Bates Method of visual training" (PDF). American Journal of Optometry & Archives of American Academy of Optometry29 (4): 167''84. http://brain.berkeley.edu/pub/1952%20April%20Flashes%20of%20Clear%20Vision.pdf.^ abcdefgSkarnulis, Leanna (5 February 2007). "Natural Vision Correction: Does It Work?". WebMD. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080622193404/http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/features/natural-vision-correction-does-it-work. Retrieved 14 March 2009.^Krapp, Kristine M. (2001, 2007). Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing & Allied Health. Toronto: Thomson Gale. pp. eBook article: Behavioral Optometry. ISBN 978-0787649340. http://www.enotes.com/behavioral-optometry-reference/behavioral-optometry-171761.^Worrall, O.D., Russell S.. "Eye-Related Quackery". Quackwatch. http://www.srmhp.org/archives/vision-therapy.html. Retrieved 27 August 2012.^ abcdefghPollack, Philip (1956). "Chapter 3: Fallacies of the Bates System". The Truth about Eye Exercises. Philadelphia: Chilton Company. http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b4399673.^ abcdChou, Brian (15 September 2004). "Exposing the Secrets of Fringe Eye Care". Review of Optometry141 (9). http://www.revoptom.com/content/d/therapeutics/c/17353/.^ abcde"Complementary Therapy Assessments: Visual Training for Refractive Errors". American Academy of Ophthalmology. October 2004. http://one.aao.org/CE/PracticeGuidelines/Therapy_Content.aspx?cid=d7238b2b-a59f-49f6-9f30-64d1e84efc3b. Retrieved 6 July 2008.^ abcGrierson, Ian (2000). "Exercises for Eyes as an Alternative to Glasses". The Eye Book: Eyes and Eye Problems Explained. Liverpool University Press. pp. 58''60. ISBN 0-85323-755-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=YY0inTk-CEcC&pg=PA58.^ ab"Exercise v. Eyeglasses". Time. 15 March 1943. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,884800,00.html.^Bates, William H. (1920). "Chapter 4: The Truth About Accommodation as Demonstrated by Experiments on the Eye Muscles of Fish, Cats, Dogs, Rabbits and other Animals". Perfect Sight Without Glasses. New York: Central Fixation Publishing Co. pp. 38''53. ISBN 88-900756-3-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA38.^John Grant (2006). Discarded Science. FFF: Surrey, UK. ISBN 1-904332-49-8.^Drexler W, Findl O, Schmetterer L, Hitzenberger CK, Fercher AF. (1 October 1998). "Eye elongation during accommodation in humans: differences between emmetropes and myopes.". Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci.39 (11): 2140''7. PMID 9761293. http://www.iovs.org/cgi/reprint/39/11/2140.^ abRob Murphy, Marilyn Haddrill, Gary Heiting (May 2009). "The See Clearly Method & Other Programs: Do Eye Exercises Improve Vision?". AllAboutVision.com. http://www.allaboutvision.com/buysmart/see_clearly.htm. Retrieved 14 May 2009.^ abBates, William H. (1920). "Chapter 9: The Cause and Cure of Errors of Refraction". Perfect Sight Without Glasses. New York: Central Fixation Publishing Co. pp. 89''105. ISBN 88-900756-3-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA89.^Bates, William H. (1920). "Chapter 10: Strain". Perfect Sight Without Glasses. New York: Central Fixation Publishing Co. pp. 106''113. ISBN 88-900756-3-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA106.^ abcBates, William H. (1920). "Chapter 12: Palming". Perfect Sight Without Glasses. New York: Central Fixation Publishing Co. pp. 123''135. ISBN 88-900756-3-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA123.^ abcLeavitt, Frank J. (2007). "How to Save the World: Alternatives to Biomedical Research". Ethics in Biomedical Research: International Perspectives. Rodopi. pp. 203''207. http://books.google.com/books?id=-Tr7WZd_GwQC&pg=PA203&vq=Bates&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1_1&sig=ACfU3U0N8ztV_WZnlDRcO3L3J6GH140ceA.^ abcBates, William H. (1920). "Chapter 13: Memory as an Aid to Vision". Perfect Sight Without Glasses. New York: Central Fixation Publishing Co. pp. 136''147. ISBN 88-900756-3-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA136.^Bates, William H. (1920). "Chapter 15: Shifting and Swinging". Perfect Sight Without Glasses. New York: Central Fixation Publishing Co. pp. 159''171. ISBN 88-900756-3-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA159.^Bates, William H. (June 1920). "Sun-gazing". Better Eyesight (New York: Central Fixation Publishing Co).^Bates, William H. (1920). "Chapter 17: Vision Under Adverse Conditions a Benefit to the Eyes". Perfect Sight Without Glasses. New York: Central Fixation Publishing Co. pp. 183''197. ISBN 88-900756-3-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=Vl3SiyXmZVMC&pg=PA183.^Bates, William H. (July 1929). "The Use of the Sun Glass". Better Eyesight (New York: Central Fixation Publishing Co). http://www.central-fixation.com/better-eyesight-magazine/better-eyesight-1929-07.php#sun-glass.^Mohan, Madan (1983). "Therapy of myopia". Indian Journal of Ophthalmology31 (6): 741''3. PMID 6676257. http://www.ijo.in/text.asp?1983/31/6/741/29315.^ abPollack, Philip (1956). The Truth about Eye Exercises. Philadelphia: Chilton Company. p. 7. http://books.google.com/?id=yJesAAAAIAAJ&q=Corbett.^Corbett, Margaret Darst (1954). How to Improve your Sight. London: Faber and Faber. pp. 26''27.^Pollack, Philip (1956). The Truth about Eye Exercises. Philadelphia: Chilton Company. p. 8. http://books.google.com/?id=yJesAAAAIAAJ&q=Corbett.^ ab"'Fifty per cent terrific! fifty per cent non-existent': Aldous Huxley and medicine" (PDF). The Ceylon Medical Journal49 (4): 142''3. December 2004. http://www.cmj.slma.lk/cmj4904/cmj4904.pdf.^Nugel, Bernfried (2008). Aldous Huxley, Man of Letters: Thinker, Critic and Artist: Proceedings of the Third International Aldous Huxley Symposium, Riga 2004. LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-M¼nster. p. 250. ISBN 978-3-8258-9034-6. http://books.google.com/?id=jkC0gvN12DMC&pg=PA250.^Smith, Grover Cleveland (1970). Letters of Aldous Huxley. Harper & Row. p. 815. ISBN 0-7011-1312-X. http://books.google.com/?id=zcIZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22I+often+do+use+magnifying+glasses+where+conditions+of+light+are+bad%2C+and+have+never+claimed+to+be+able+to+read+except+under+very+good+conditions.%22.^Murray, Nicholas (2003). "Sorrow". Aldous Huxley: A Biography. Macmillan. pp. 421''422. ISBN 0-312-30237-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=ktDo9SCBfxoC&pg=RA1-PA421.^"I can see clearly now...sort of". Harvard Women's Health Watch. 1 July 2003. http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-2994518/I-can-see-clearly-now.html.^Bradley, Robyn E. (23 September 2003). "Advocates see only benefits from eye exercises". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2003/09/23/advocates_see_only_benefits_from_eye_exercises/.^Shin, Annys (6 November 2006). "Seeing the See Clearly Method for What It Is". The Washington Post. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thecheckout/2006/11/hold_onto_those_eyeglasses.html. Retrieved 14 March 2009.^Steven M. Beresford, David W. Muris, Mara Tableman, Francis A. Young. "Clinical Evaluation of the See Clearly Method" (PDF). p. 13. http://www.visiontherapy.net/RESEARCH%20MASTER.pdf. Retrieved 14 March 2009.^Grosvenor, Theodore (November 1997). "Book Review". Optometry and Vision Science74 (11): 880. http://www.optvissci.com/pt/re/ovs/pdfhandler.00006324-199711000-00020.pdf.[dead link]^Barendsen, Kristin (20 November 2003). "Blind faith". The Prague Post (Czech Republic). http://www.thepraguepost.com/P03/2003/spsect/1120/sp1.php.^S Leo, Y Ling, T Wong, B Quah (October 2007). "Report of the National Myopia Prevention and Control Workgroup 2006: A Summary" (PDF). Singapore: Annals-Academy of Medicine36 (10): 67. http://www.annals.edu.sg/PDF/36VolNo10SupplOct2007/V36N10(S1)pS65.pdf.^Mark Rosenfield, Susan Hong, Sini George (September 2004). "Blur Adaptation in Myopes". Optometry and Vision Science81 (9): 657''662. doi:10.1097/01.opx.0000144743.34976.da. PMID 15365384. http://www.optvissci.com/pt/re/ovs/fulltext.00006324-200409000-00009.htm.^Konrad Pesudovs, Noel A. Brennan (1993). "Decreased Uncorrected Vision After a Period of Distance Fixation with Spectacle Wear" (PDF). American Academy of Optometry70 (7): 528''531. http://www.pesudovs.com/konrad/Docs/Brennan.pdf.^Duke-Elder, Stewart (22 May 1943). "Aldous Huxley on Vision" (PDF). British Medical Journal: 635''636. http://ukpmc.ac.uk/backend/ptpmcrender.cgi?accid=PMC2282772&blobtype=pdf.^ abLancaster, Walter B (31 October 1945). "Present Status of Eye Exercise for Improvement of Visual Function" (PDF). The Australasian Journal of Optometry28 (10): 449''480. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122274312/PDFSTART.^Beach, S. Judd (1948). "Myopia Cures". Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society46: 284''294. PMC 1312764. PMID 16693476. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1312764/.^Raz, A., Marinoff, G. P., Landzberg, K.S., & Guyton, D. L. (2004). "Substrates of negative accommodation.". Binocular Vision & Strabismus Quarterly19 (2): 71''74.^Raz, A., Marinoff, G. P., Zephrani, Z. R., Schweizer, H. R., & Posner, M. I. (2004). "See clearly: suggestion, hypnosis, attention, and visual acuity.". International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis52 (2): 159''187.^Rawstron JA, Burley CD, Elder MJ (2005). "A systematic review of the applicability and efficacy of eye exercises". J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus42 (2): 82''8. PMID 15825744.^MacRobert, Alan M. (28 March 1979). "Hocus Focus: modern spiritualism". San Diego Reader. http://www.skeptically.org/thinkersonreligion/id1.html.^Donahue, Sean P. (February 2007). "Prescribing Spectacles in Children: A Pediatric Ophthalmologist's Approach". Optometry and Vision Science84 (2): 110''114. doi:10.1097/OPX.0b013e318031b09b. PMID 17299340. http://www.optvissci.com/pt/re/ovs/fulltext.00006324-200702000-00009.htm.[edit]External linksHistorical writings:
  Coverage focusing on individual cases:
Matthew Barzun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:37
  Matthew Winthrop Barzun (born October 23, 1970) is an American business executive who is known for his work with CNET Networks and for his volunteer work on Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.[1][2] He served as U.S. Ambassador to Sweden from 2009 to 2011. He was selected by President Barack Obama as National Finance Chair for the Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2012.[3]
  [edit]EducationBarzun was born in New York City, New York. He grew up in Lincoln, Massachusetts and received his A.B. in history and literaturemagna cum laude from Harvard College in 1993. In his testimony to the Senate during his confirmation vetting, Barzun noted that he had served as a summer intern to Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in 1989. Prior to his college education Matthew Barzun was a student at St. Paul's School in New Hampshire. After graduating from Harvard College, Barzun began working with CNET Networks.
  [edit]Political experienceBarzun's small-dollar fundraisers were supporter driven via online event pages, and replicated throughout the country.
  In The Audacity to Win, author and political strategist David Plouffe describes Matthew Barzun's grassroots campaign idea as ''citizen fundraisers'' that drove Obama's connection with supporters.[4]
  The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, chaired by Senator John Kerry, was expected to approve Barzun's nomination during the week of August 3, 2009, and the nomination was confirmed on August 7 and Barzun was sworn in on August 12.
  [edit]DiplomacyBarzun was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Sweden on August 12, 2009, and presented his credentials to King Carl XVI Gustaf on August 21, 2009.[5] Barzun prioritized outreach and personal engagement, launching the U.S. Embassy Road Show that brings embassy personnel, resources, and exhibits out of Stockholm to smaller cities and towns.[6] In partnership with the Swedish government, he also created the Swedish American Green Alliance where Swedes and Americans share news and ideas toward a clean energy future.[7]
  [edit]PersonalMatthew Barzun is a descendent of John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, and Lucretia Mott,[8] a proponent of women's rights. He is married (since 1999) to Brooke Brown Barzun. They have three children, Jacques Barzun II, Eleanor Barzun, and Charles Barzun. Matthew Barzun's grandfather is the renowned French-born American cultural historian and former Columbia University professor, Jacques Martin Barzun. He is one of four children, his younger sister is film producer Lucy Barzun Donnelly, Emmy and Golden Globe winner for her work producing Grey Gardens for HBO. His youngest brother, Charles Barzun, is a professor of law at the University of Virginia.
  [edit]Board membershipsCenter for Interfaith RelationsLouisville Public MediaLouisville Free Public Library FoundationLouisville Urban LeagueTeach KentuckyMember, Prichard CommitteeGreater Louisville Project[edit]ReferencesPersondataNameBarzun, MatthewAlternative namesShort descriptionAmerican diplomatDate of birthOctober 23, 1970Place of birthNew York, New York, USADate of deathPlace of death
po box 15642 washington, dc 20003 - Google Search
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  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:27
  Positive Thinking For Positive People Dba Ms. Orga in Washington...www.chamberofcommerce.com/washington-dc/26850528-positive-thinking- for-positive-people-dba-ms-orga/- CachedPositive Thinking For Positive People Dba Ms. Orga of Washington, District of ...For Positive People Dba Ms. Orga of PO BOX 15642, Washington, DC 20003.Mary Ann Conover Helfrich - phillyburbs.com: The Intelligencerwww.phillyburbs.com/.../article_dfc72752-c322-5986-a6bf-b1691f429515. html- CachedJan 24, 2013 ... In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Americans forResponsible Solutions PAC, P.O. Box 15642, Washington, DC 20003...January 23 '' 29, 2013 - Bratton Onlinebrattononline.com/january-23-29-2013/- CachedJan 23, 2013 ... or you can send a check to: Americans for Responsible Solutions P.O. Box 15642. Washington, D.C. 20003. Let's hope that there will be fewer, ...Contact Capt. Mark Kellywww.jouster.com/forums/showthread.php?36065-Contact-Capt...- Cached... after MY guns? Ok: address: Capt. Mark Kelly, USN (ret.) C/O: Americans forResponsible Solutions P.O. Box 15642. Washington, D.C. 20003...Americans for Responsible Solutions | Donate Todayhttps://secure.americansforresponsiblesolutions.org/page/.../default- CachedAmericans for Responsible Solutions PAC PO Box 15642. Washington, DC20003. Contributions or gifts to Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC are nottax ...Americans for Responsible Solutions | Contribute to Americans for ...https://secure.americansforresponsiblesolutions.org/.../testimony-video- CachedAmericans for Responsible Solutions PAC PO Box 15642. Washington, DC20003. Contributions or gifts to Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC are nottax ...Positive Thinking for Positive - corporationwiki.comwww.corporationwiki.com/District.../Washington/.../82346589.aspx- CachedJun 2, 2012 ... Positive Thinking for Positive has a location in Washington, DC. Positive Thinkingfor ...PO Box 15642. Washington, DC 20003. View nearby ..."2007134",2008,4,"MURTHA FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE","551 ...ftp://ftp.state.pa.us/pub/state/camp_fin/2008_4/Expense.txt
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Americans for Responsible Solutions
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  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:24
  Americans for Responsible Solutions
VIDEO-Giffords Group Releases Gun Safety Ad - NYTimes.com
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  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:23
  Gun safety, just a year ago a third rail of American politics, will emerge as a central legislative issue in Washington this week. A bipartisan group of senators is close to finishing consensus legislation to enhance background checks on gun owners '' which may well emerge as the chief Senate bill on gun safety '' and President Obama will press his case for new restrictions on guns in his State of the Union address before Congress, where victims of gun violence will be peppered throughout the audience.
  On Tuesday, the same day as Mr. Obama's speech, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold its second hearing on gun issues, focused on assault weapons. Also this week, some outside groups, including the one founded by former Representative Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, will release advertisements aimed at lawmakers who may be on the fence about how '' and if '' to support new gun safety legislation. (Giffords Eases Steadily Into New Life, and Cause, Feb. 10)
  Most significantly, a group of four senators '' led by Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma '' is closing in on an agreement over how to expand background checks to people who acquire guns through private sales, roughly 40 percent of all purchases.
  The measure would increase the background check requirement and also force states to comply more effectively with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by speeding up penalties for those that do not.
  The senators, who have been joined by Mark Kirk, Republican of Illinois, and Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, are trying to bridge the gap between lawmakers who seek extensive new gun safety legislation, like an assault weapons ban that may be almost impossible politically, and those who would like to limit the effort to improving the government's ability to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and people with mental illness.
  Sticking points include how to exempt individuals who may wish to borrow or inherit guns from family members, and how to accommodate rural Americans who live far from a place where they can get a background check completed.
  On Tuesday, Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, will hold a second hearing on potential gun legislation, seeking to fill in some of the blanks left in an earlier hearing over background checks and other measures.
  Witnesses are expected to include Timothy Heaphy, the United States attorney for the Western District of Virginia, who is likely to discuss gun prosecution efforts under current law, and Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School, who is expected to testify about the constitutionality of the primary legislative proposals before the Senate, including the renewal of the assault weapons ban, limits on high-capacity magazines, tougher ''straw purchasing'' laws and universal background checks.
  In his speech before Congress on Tuesday, Mr. Obama will renew his call for an assault weapons ban, limits on high-capacity magazines and the sort of universal background legislation that the Senate is now contemplating.
  The House gallery will be filled with victims of gun violence, including the parents of Hadiya Pendleton, the young woman killed earlier this month in Chicago, who will sit with Michelle Obama in her box. Representative Jim Langevin, Democrat of Rhode Island, persuaded 22 members of Congress to offer their guest passes for the speech to gun violence victims, and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, invited a fourth grader from Newtown, Conn., who asked for her support to strengthen gun laws, along with her mother.
  Also attending will be Ms. Giffords and Mr. Kelly, who on Monday released an advertisement in the District of Columbia as well as in the districts and states of Speaker John A. Boehnerand Ms. Pelosi, along with Senator Harry Reid of Nevada and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate. Ms. Giffords was shot in the head two years ago at an official event in an Arizona parking lot.
  Mayors Against Illegal Guns will also fly gun violence victims to Washington for activities this week; some will attend the State of the Union address, have a meeting at the White House and visit with lawmakers. This week, Independence USA, a political action committee spearheaded by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, will cap a $1 million spending campaign against Debbie Halvorson, a former member of Congress seeking to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. in a special election in Illinois. Ms. Halvorson is a longtime strong supporter of the National Rifle Association.
Putin Turns Black Gold to Bullion as Russia Outbuys World.
  Link to Article
  Source: WT news feed
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:21
  When Vladimir Putin says the U.S. is endangering the global economy by abusing its dollar monopoly, he's not just talking. He's betting on it.
  Not only has Putin made Russia the world's largest oil producer, he's also made it the biggest gold buyer. His central bank has added 570 metric tons of the metal in the past decade, a quarter more than runner-up China, according to IMF data compiled by Bloomberg. The added gold is also almost triple the weight of the Statue of Liberty.
  ''The more gold a country has, the more sovereignty it will have if there's a cataclysm with the dollar, the euro, the pound or any other reserve currency,'' Evgeny Fedorov, a lawmaker for Putin's United Russia party in the lower house of parliament, said in a telephone interview in Moscow.
  Gold, coveted by Russian rulers including Tsar Nicholas II and the Bolshevik leader whose forces assassinated him, Vladimir Lenin, has soared almost 400 percent in the period of Putin's purchases. Central banks around the world have printed money to escape the global financial crisis, sapping investor appetite for dollars and euros and setting off a scramble for safety.
  In 1998, the year Russia defaulted on $40 billion of domestic debt, it took as many as 28 barrels of crude to buy an ounce of gold, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That ratio tumbled to 11.5 by the time Putin first came to power a year later and in 2005, after it touched 6.5 -- less than half what it is now -- the president told the central bank to buy.
  Putin's CallDuring a tour that November of the Magadan region in the Far East, where Polyus Gold International Ltd. and Polymetal International Plc have operations, Putin told Bank Rossii not to ''shy away'' from the metal. ''After all, they're called gold and currency reserves for a reason,'' Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript.
  At the time, gold was at an 18-year high of $495 an ounce and the Moscow-based central bank held 387 tons, or 2.2 percent of its $165 billion total reserves. The share reached 3.5 percent within a month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
  Gold for immediate delivery fell a third day today, dropping 0.6 percent to $1,657.80 an ounce as of 4:35 p.m. in Moscow. It rose 7 percent last year, the 12th straight year of gains. Analysts expect the metal to advance again in 2013, to $1,825 by the end of the year, according to the median of 26 forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.
  Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, declined to comment today on Putin's interest in gold.
  Lucky Guy''Putin's gold strategy fits in with his resource nationalism, statist agenda,'' said Tim Ash, head of emerging- market research at Standard Bank Plc in London. ''It's kind of a defensive play, but it worked, right?'' Ash said in an interview in Moscow. ''You need luck in politics and business, and clearly the guy has it.''
  Other world leaders haven't been as lucky. Gordon Brown, as U.K. finance minister, sold almost 400 tons of gold in the 30 months to March 2002, when prices were at two-decade lows. London tabloids have referred to the period as Brown's Bottom.
  Quantitative easing by major economies to support financial asset prices is driving demand for gold in the emerging world, said Marcus Grubb, head of investment research at the World Gold Council. Before the crisis, central banks were net sellers of 400 to 500 tons a year. Now, led by Russia and China, they're net buyers by about 450 tons, Grubb said by phone from London, where his industry group is based.
  'Significant Switch'''That's a very significant switch, and obviously a very positive one for the gold market,'' Grubb said.
  While Putin is leading the gold rush in emerging markets, developed nations are liquidating. Switzerland unloaded the most in the past decade, 877 tons, an amount now worth about $48 billion, according to International Monetary Fund data through November. France was second with 589 tons, while Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal each sold more than 200 tons.
  Even after Putin's binge, though, Russia's total cache of about 958 tons is only the eighth largest, the World Gold Council said in a Feb. 8 report. The U.S. is No. 1 with about 8,134 tons, followed by Germany with 3,391 tons and the Washington-based IMF with 2,814 tons. Italy, France, China and Switzerland are fourth through seventh. While gold accounts for 9.5 percent of Russia's total reserves, it accounts for more than 70 percent in the U.S., Germany, Italy and France.
  Truth StreetRussia keeps about two-thirds of its stockpile in a greenish gray stone-and-glass building on Ulitsa Pravdy, or Truth Street, in central Moscow. The road is named after Pravda, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, which also was headquartered there.
  Then-Prime Minister Putin became the first Russian leader to visit the complex on Jan. 24, 2011, according to the government's website. He toured the 17,000 square-meter facility, which includes 1,500 square meters of storage, with First Deputy Chairman Georgy Luntovsky, posing for photographs lifting an ingot. Most of the bars weigh 10 to 14 kilograms (22 to 31 pounds) and are boxed in plastic or wooden crates alongside an emergency supply of banknotes.
  Technically, state metals depositary Gokhran has the exclusive right to buy all gold mined in the country. In practice, it lets commercial banks buy from producers directly, usually in the form of project financing, said Sergey Kashuba, chairman of the Russian Union of Gold Producers in Moscow.
  When the central bank buys gold, it's from those commercial banks, led last year by OAO Sberbank, OAO Nomos Bank, VTB Group and OAO Gazprombank, Kashuba said. Russia produced 205 tons of gold last year, making it No. 4 after China, Australia and the U.S., according to U.S. Geological Survey estimates.
  Tight SecuritySecurity is tight along the entire production chain, Kashuba said. Just two organizations are allowed to move partially refined gold from miners in the Far East and northern Siberia to processing facilities in other parts of the country, he said. One is FeldSvyaz, a courier service that reports directly to Putin. The other, SpetsSvyaz, was split off from Stalin's NKVD secret police in 1939 to transport precious metals and state secrets, according to its website.
  Russia has gone through bouts of hoarding before. Tsar Alexander II ordered his government to start amassing bullion in 1867, just months after selling Alaska, now the No. 2 gold- producing U.S. state, for $7.3 million. His grandson, Nicholas II, introduced the gold standard in 1897, then needed a loan from France to ward off speculators and save the system in 1906.
  Lenin's LinkNicholas, Russia's last tsar was forced to free the ruble in 1914 as war broke out in Europe. Lenin's revolutionary government reinstated the gold link along with a new currency in 1922. While Soviet rubles were nominally backed by gold, sales of the metal to citizens were halted in 1930, making the peg meaningless.
  When Lenin's Bolsheviks seized power in Petrograd, as St. Petersburg was then known, in 1917, one of their first targets was the State Bank and its gold, which they captured at 6 a.m. on Nov. 7, according to Bank Rossii's website. They soon nationalized all the banks, confiscating any gold found in vaults and deposit boxes.
  Communist SecrecyCommunist secrecy regarding the country's gold holdings fueled speculation that party elites had amassed a huge hoard of bullion that they spirited out of the country before the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991.
  Viktor Gerashchenko, the last Soviet central banker and a two-time chairman of Bank Rossii, has repeatedly denied such speculation, including last February.
  ''When people ask about the party's gold, my answer is always: Are you an idiot or something?'' Gerashchenko, 75, told Afisha magazine.
  For now, with more than five years left in Putin's term, Russia plans to keep on buying.
  ''The pace will be determined by the market,'' First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said in an interview in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 25. ''Whether to speed that up or slow it down is a market decision and I'm not going to discuss it.''
  To contact the reporters on this story: Scott Rose in Moscow at rrose10@bloomberg.net; Olga Tanas in Moscow at otanas@bloomberg.net
  To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net
  Enlarge imagePrime Minister Vladimir PutinAlexsey Druginyn/AFP/Getty Images
  Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, center, holds a gold bar while visiting the Central Depository of the Bank of Russia.
  Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, center, holds a gold bar while visiting the Central Depository of the Bank of Russia. Photographer: Alexsey Druginyn/AFP/Getty Images
Lame Cherry: Shadow of the anti Christ
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:21
  As another Lame Cherry matter anti matter exclusive.
  The anti Christ is alive in this world, the son of perdition foretold of in the Bible, who will come to the head of the Neo Roman Empire of Europe.
  satan has entered into this person. This anti Christ is Greek and not yet Greek.
  When Pope Benedict is dead, then will the anti Christ and False prophet manifest fully.
  Barack Hussein Obama will fade when the anti Christ assumes it's position of power.
  Barack Hussein Obama has not met the anti Christ.
  Go back now to your abyss readers of this blog as I do not need your fickle ways of choosing the crooked path over the Light shown here. You have made your choice now be wed to it.
  agtG 250y
Prophecies about the Last 10 Popes by a 12th century monk
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:19
  Prophecies about the Last 10 Popes by a 12th century monkMalachy's Prophecies - The Last 10 PopesKnown to Catholics as St. Malachy (1094-1148)
  Born in 1094 A.D. at Armagh, Ireland, Saint Malachy is also known as: Maolmhaodhog ua Morgair; Maol Maedoc; and Malachy O'Morgair. He died as he himself predicted, on November 2, 1148 at Clairvaux, France. Malachy was canonized the first Irish Saint in the Catholic Church by Pope Clement III in 1190 A.D.
  The correspondence between the prophecies of Saint Malachy and the Mayan Calendar (whose 'long count' ends in 2012) are alarming, to put it mildly. Why did the ancient Mayan or pre-Maya choose December 21st, 2012 A.D., as the end of their Long Count calendar?
  Saint Malachy was a 12th century Irish monk, who, while on a visit to Rome had a vision of all the popes who would ever reign. Malachy "saw"-and committed to paper- a series of Latin phrases describing the popes to come. He catalogued each one with an epigrammatic verse, such as 'the tears of the sun'. Malachy made the prophecy in 1139. Reportedly it was entrusted to Pope Innocent II in 1140. But for some reason it was "lost" in the Vatican for 400 years, only to be "discovered" in 1595 A.D. Malachy s predictions reputedly were made in 1139 while he was on a pilgrimage to the Vatican, where he was appointed papal legate for Ireland. On his last trek to the holy see in Rome, in 1148, Malachy accurately predicted the place and time of his own death: Clairvaux, France, on All Souls Day, November 2, of that same year.
  The Malachy Prophecies were first published in 1595, by a Benedictine monk & historian named Arnold de Wyon, who found them 5 years earlier in the Vatican archives. Arnold recorded them in his book, entitled: 'Lignum Vit...'.
  Malachy's Prophecies - The Last 10 Popes
  1. The Burning Fire. PIUS X. 1903-1914. This Pope showed a burning passion for spiritual renewal in the Church.
  2. Religion Laid Waste (Religio Depopulata). BENEDICT XV. 1914-1922. Unfortunately, this was true. During this Pope's reign saw Communism move into Russia where religious life was laid waste, and World War I with the death of millions of Christians who were carnage in Flanders Field and elsewhere.
  3. Unshaken Faith. PIUS XI. 1922-1939. This Pope faced tremendous pressure from fascist and sinister powers in Germany and Italy, but he was an outspoken critic of Communism and Fascism which enraged Hitler.
  4. An Angelic Shepherd. PIUS XII. 1939-1958. This Pope had an affinity for the spiritual world and received visions which have not been made public. Peter Bander says Pius XII "has emerged as one of the great Popes of all time," and he "was in the truest sense of the word an Angelic Pastor to the flock..."
  5. Pastor and Mariner. JOHN XXIII. 1958-1963. " Pastor et Nauta" or "Pastor and sailor". John was a pastor to the world, much beloved, and the Patriarch of Venice. The connection to "mariner" is thus remarkable. According Peter Bander in The Prophecies of Malachy (TAN Books and Publisher, 1969) during the conclave which was to elect John XXIII in 1958, a certain Cardinal from the United States, (Cardinal Spellman of New York) evidently having taken Malachy's forecast that the next pope would be "pastor and mariner" literally, rented a boat, filled it with sheep and sailed up and down the Tiber.
  6. Flower of Flowers. "Flos Florum" PAUL VI. 1963-1978. Paul's coat-of-arms depicts three fleurs-de-lis, corresponding to Malachy's prophecy. His coat of arms included three fleurs-de-lis (iris blossoms). At the popular and controversial site of Garabandal in Spain, a seer named Conchita Gonzalez once noted: ''The Blessed Virgin said in 1962 that there will only be two more popes after Paul VI.''
  7. Of the Half Moon. "De Medietate Lanae," or "from the half moon" JOHN PAUL I. 1978-1978. John Paul I was elected Pope on August 26, 1978, when there was a half moon. He reigned 33 days, that is, about one month, when he died, although many think he was murdered. He was the 109th Pope - is "De Medietate Lunae" (Of the Half Moon). The corresponding pope was John Paul I (1978-78), who was born in the diocese of Belluno (beautiful moon) and was baptized Albino Luciani which means white light, such as that given off by the half-moon in Malachy s prophecy. He became pope on August 26, 1978, when the moon appeared exactly half full. It was in its waning phase. He died the following month, soon after an eclipse of the moon.
  8. The Labor of the Son. "De Medietate Lunae" JOHN PAUL II. 1978-2005
  Pope John Paul II
  Amazingly, Pope John Paul II was the only pope who was both born the day of an eclipse of the sun, and entombed the day the sun was eclipsed.
  One of Malachy's strangest predictions concerned the pope who would follow 'De Medietate Lunae'. He is designated as 'De Labore Solis', or 'from the toil of the sun'. Applied to John Paul II, this phrase reveals nothing less than a double prophecy. John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla), the first non-Italian elected in 456 years, was a native of Krakow, Poland. Krakow is the city where, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Copernicus 'toiled'; for years to prove his heretical theory that the earth revolved around the sun. Many of Malachy s interpreters also suggested that the 'sun' reference indicated a young pope. Fifty-eight years old at the time of his election, John Paul II was the youngest pope in over a century.John Paul II was the most traveled Pope in history. He has circled the globe numerous times, preaching to huge audiences everywhere he goes. Even though he was once shot, he has not seemed to slow down. He has recently written a book which has enjoyed a large circulation.
  Like the sun which never ceases to labor and provides light daily, this Pope has been incessant. John Paul compared abortion to the Holocaust and denounced gay marriages as part of 'a new ideology of evil'. He argued that same-sex marriages threaten society by undermining the traditional family.
  Late Pope John Paul II
  John Paul II was born on May 18, 1920. On that date in the morning there was a near total eclipse of the sun over Europe. Prophecy - The 110th Pope is 'De Labore Solis' (Of the Solar Eclipse, or, From the Toil of the Sun). The corresponding pope is John Paul II (1978-2005). Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II) was born on May 18, 1920 during an eclipse of the sun. Like the sun he came out of the East (Poland). Like the sun he has visited countries all around the globe while doing his work. Karol was the first non-Italian pope in 456 years. He was ordained on November 1, 1946 and earned a doctorate in ethics at the Angelicum University in Rome. He was made auxiliary bishop in 1958 and Archbishop in 1964 of Krakow and Cardinal in 1967. He was elected the first Polish pope on October 1978. He spoke eight languages and he traveled more than any other pope in history. John Paul II died at the Vatican on Saturday, April 2, 2005, the same day as a partial eclipse, visible in the Americas.
  John Paul II lying in the Vatican
  John Paul II may also be connected to the revelation of Saint Faustina Kowalska of Poland (quoting Jesus), "I bear a special love for Poland and if she will be obedient to My Will, I will exalt her in might and holiness.From her will come forth the spark that will prepare the world for My final coming" (Diary "Divine Mercy in My Soul").
  Disturbing about Pope John Paul II is that no other Pope in history ever has called for a "New World Order", and this pope waited until he had sat on the Throne of Peter for over 25 years! Why would Pope John Paul II wait for 25 long years before announcing his affinity for the New World Order? A "New World Order" is known in the esoteric realm as "the kingdom of the Christ" -- but thought by many in the Bible as an Antichrist (or Antichrist system). Was it because John Paul was senile or carried away with his own desire for ecumenicalism/friendship?
  Other things John Paul II did while very old were: he also kissed the pagan Qur'an and said that Islam and Christians had the same God. Would the God of the Bible agree to tell the lies about Jesus that Islam does? Islam lies that Jesus never even died on a cross, and Islam also says that Jesus is not divine.
  9. The Glory of the Olive. The Order of St. Benedict has said this Pope will come from their order. It is interesting that Jesus gave his apocalyptic prophecy about the end of time from the Mount of Olives. This Pope will reign during the beginning of the tribulation Jesus spoke of. The 111th prophesy is "Gloria Olivae" (The Glory of the Olive). The Order of Saint Benedict has claimed that this pope will come from their ranks. Saint Benedict himself prophesied that before the end of the world his Order, known also as the Olivetans, will triumphantly lead the Catholic Church in its fight against evil. Traditionally, the olive branch has been associated with peace, but in both the Old and New Testaments it also serves as an emblem for the Jews. Putting the two together, some commentators believe that the reign of this pope will be a peaceful one during which the prophesied conversion of the Jews will take place.Several ex-Jews are said to be highly placed in the Catholic Church now. And, it is noteworthy that the previous Benedict (XV) was a pope obsessed with peace. Some others say, he will lead all faithful followers of the Lord Jesus to martyrdom and others say that he will tear down the walls of the Vatican, auctioning off all the objects within, in order to feed and enlighten those in the 3rd World who have not yet heard the Gospel of Christ.
  Bible Probe Comment: The Order of Saint Benedict has claimed that this pope will come from their ranks. Saint Benedict himself prophesied that before the end of the world his Order, known also as the Olivetans, will triumphantly lead the Catholic Church in its fight against evil.
  LOOK at the above again. The next pope will have something to do with OLIVE --not necessarily or even probably a Benedictine.
  Malachy DID NOT prophesize it would be a Benedictine! Someone in the Benedictine Order said they think the next pope will come from the Benedictines. GET THAT STRAIGHT!
  Also, St Benedict prophesized: before the end of the world his Order, known also as the Olivetans, will triumphantly lead the Catholic Church in its fight against evil. NOTHING was mentioned as leading as a pope!
  10. PETER THE ROMAN - The 112th prophesy states: "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Petrus Romanus, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End." The last pope may just cut Catholics loose from unity and the papacy, causing total disruption and confusion. See Saint Francis of Assissi's 13th century prophecy below. It is believed the next pope will
  Will "The Glory of the Olive" be the last Pope?
  The problem with the prophecies as listed in The Prophecies of St. Malachy, published by the Thomas A. Nelson, a Catholic Publishing House, is that Malachy's original works listed only 111 Popes, not 112, as given in the TAN version of the prophecies. Sometime between the first and subsequent printings the 112th, Petrus Romanus, was added to Malachy's prophecy. It was added after the 1820 publication of the prophecies.
  On April 19th, 2005 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th Pope. The name Benedict means "blessing". Does this name automatically fulfill this prophecy?
  April 21, 2005 - Mary Jo Anderson, a Catholic scholar and writer, says the Pope's choice of his name is not related to the prophecy of St. Malachy. Instead, she thinks the new pope chose his moniker as a reference to sixth-century St. Benedict and his quest to protect Rome from invading German pagans...claiming the pontiff hopes to protect the modern-day Church from destructive philosophies that originated in Germany. Source:WorldNetDailyOf note: Benedict XV '-- who reigned from 1914 to 1922 '-- was a moderate following Pius X, who had implemented a sharp crackdown against doctrinal "modernism."
  Will the papacy of this 78 year old pope be short lived? Is this the beginning of Tribulation? Will the next pope be the last pope? Will the next pope be a Roman and choose the name Peter? The Or, will Tribulation begin AFTER the Anti-Christ has shown himself as a person of peace and already made peace with Israel's enemies for seven years? Can we read anything into Putin's recent visit to Israel?
  "King of the North" visits Israel
  Putin reviews Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) 4/28/05The first Kremlin leader ever to visit Israel while in office
  Russian and Israeli relations have been strained over Russia's sale of SA-18 shoulder fired rocket launchers to Syria, nuclear technology to Iran, and past & proposed arms and equipment sales to the PA.
  Is this the Pope of Peace (olive)?
  Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger holds olive (palm) branches during Palm Sunday mass in Saint Peter Square at the Vatican March 20, 2005. Many Cardinals also held olive branches that day.Malachy's final words:
  In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock among many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city (Rome, the seat of the Vatican) will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people.
  It is striking that at least one pope had a similar mystical vision:In 1909, while granting an audience, pope Pius X leaned back and closed his eyes. Suddenly he "awoke" and cried out: "What I see is terrifying. Will it be myself? Will it be my successor? What is certain is that the pope will quit Rome, and in leaving the Vatican, he will have to walk over the dead bodies of his priests."
  Pius's prophecy was fulfilled neither in his own time nor in that of the next pontiff. According to Malachy's vision of the Church's "tribulation," it applies to the successor of Gloria Olivae-the next pope but one.
  Some OTHER Similar and Startling Prophecies follow:
  John Bosco (from 40 Dreams of John Bosco)
  St. Bosco narrated his vision on May 30, 1862
  Does this speak of John Paul II?
  John Bosco vividly described visions of turbulent water and persecution: enemy boats attacking the ship as the Pope sought to bring the ship between the two columns (one with a statue of the Virgin, labeled Auxilium Christianorum, or "help of Christians," the second, much taller, with a Host, labeled Salus Credentium, or "salvation of the faithful").
  John Bosco said, "Suddenly the Pope falls gravely wounded. Immediately, those who are with him run to help him and they lift him up. A second time the Pope is struck, he falls again and dies. A shout of victory and joy rings out amongst the enemies; from their ships an unspeakable mockery arises.
  This of course sounds much like John Paul II--who has promoted both the Eucharist and the Blessed Mother and who just recently established new mysteries of the Rosary, which were followed by an historic encyclical on the Eucharist. Those are certainly "pillars" of the Catholic Church. We must also call to mind the shooting of John Paul II on May 13, 1981, in St. Peter's Square. Or, is this a composite image that could relate to both John Paul II and his immediate predecessor, John Paul I, both of whom were stricken. It may symbolize the way Pope John Paul I came in, served for only 33 days, and then died in 1979 (some believe suspiciously) -- succeeded by the recently deceased John Paul II, who promoted the Blessed Mother and the Eucharist as few pontiffs have.
  No pope in history was more dedicated to the Virgin Mary than John Paul II and he had declared the current year as the ''Year of the Eucharist.'' So dedicated was the Pope that an "M" for Mary was placed on his casket, and this too circled into the St Faustina revelation. As Cardinal Ratzinger pointed out in his funeral homily Friday, 15 April 05, "the Holy Father found the purest reflection of God's mercy in the Mother of God." Also, Evidence suggests that John Paul II was the Pope spoken of at Fatima. Read "Deception of the Century" about Pope John Paul I's possible murder: here
  Pope John Paul II predicted a new spring time in the church...the Catholic Church may well be on the very threshold of this! Does the below dream of John Bosco speak of the new Benedict XVI and his rather quick election?
  John Bosco says,
  "But hardly is the Pontiff dead than another takes his place. The pilots, having met together, have elected the Pope so promptly that the news of the death of the Pope coincides with the news of the election of the successor. The adversaries begin to lose courage."
  "The new Pope, putting the enemy to rout and overcoming every obstacle, guides the ship right up to the two columns and comes to rest between them; he makes it fast with a light chain that hangs from the bow to an anchor of the column on which stands the Host; and with another light chain which hangs from the stern, he fastens it at the opposite end to another anchor hanging from the column on which stands the Immaculate Virgin.
  Saint Hildegard (12th Century)
  The time is coming when princes and peoples will reject the authority of the Pope. Some countries will prefer their own Church rulers to the Pope. The German Empire will be divided.
  Before the comet comes, many nations, the good excepted, will be scourged by want and famine. The great nation in the ocean that is inhabited by people of different tribes and descent will be devastated by earthquake, storm, and tidal wave. It will be divided and, in great part, submerged. That nation will also have many misfortunes at sea and lose its colonies.
  [After the] great Comet, the great nation will be devastated by earthquakes, storms, and great waves of water, causing much want and plagues. The ocean will also flood many other countries, so that all coastal cities will live in fear, with many destroyed.
  All sea coast cities will be fearful, and many of them will be destroyed by tidal waves, and most living creatures will be killed, and even those who escape will die from a horrible disease. For in none of those cities does a person live according to the Laws of God.
  A powerful wind will rise in the North, carrying heavy fog and the densest dust, and it will fill their throats and eyes so that they will cease their butchery and be stricken with a great fear.
  Bishop Christianos Ageda (12th Century)
  In the 20th century there will be wars and fury that will last a long time; whole provinces shall be emptied of their inhabitants, and kingdoms shall be thrown into confusion. In many places the land shall be left untilled, and there shall be great slaughters of the upper class. The right hand of the world shall fear the left, and the north shall prevail over the south.
  Abbot Werdin D'Orante (12th Century)
  The great monarch and the great Pope will precede Antichrist. The nations will be at war for four years and a great part of the world will be destroyed. The Pope will go over the sea carrying the sign of Redemption on his forehead. The great Monarch will come to restore peace and the Pope will share in the victory.
  John of Vitiguerro (13th Century)
  The pope will change his residence and the Church will not be defended for twenty-five months or more because, during all that time there will be no Pope in Rome... After many tribulations, a Pope shall be elected out of those who survived the persecutions.
  Johannes Friede (1204-1257)
  When the great time will come, in which mankind will face its last, hard trial, it will be foreshadowed by striking changes in nature. The alteration between cold and heat will become more intensive, storms will have more catastrophic effects, earthquakes will destroy great regions, and the seas will overflow many lowlands. Not all of it will be the result of natural causes, but mankind will penetrate into the bowels of the earth and will reach into the clouds, gambling with its own existence. Before the powers of destruction will succeed in their design, the universe will be thrown into disorder, and the age of iron will plunge into nothingness.
  When nights will be filled with more intensive cold and days with heat, a new life will begin in nature. The heat means radiation from the earth, the cold the waning light of the sun. Only a few years more and you will become aware that sunlight has grown perceptibly weaker. When even your artificial light will cease to give service, the great event in the heavens will be near.
  St. Vincent Ferrer (14th Century)
  In the days of peace that are to come after the desolation of revolutions and wars, before the end of the world, the Christians will become so lax in their religion that they will refuse to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, saying, "It is an unnecessary Sacrament."
  John of the Cleft Rock (14th Century)
  Towards the end of the world, tyrants and hostile mobs will rob the Church and the clergy of all their possessions and will afflict and martyr them. Those who heap the most abuse upon them will be held in high esteem. At that time, the Pope with his cardinals will have to flee Rome in tragic circumstances to a place where they will be unknown. The Pope will die a cruel death in his exile. The sufferings of the Church will be much greater than at any previous time in her history. But God will raise a holy Pope, and the Angels will rejoice. Enlightened by God, this man will rebuild almost the whole world through his holiness. He will lead everyone to the true Faith.
  Maria Laach Monastery (16th Century)
  The twentieth century will bring death and destruction, apostasy from the Church, discord in families, cities and governments; it will be the century of three great wars with intervals of a few decades. They will become ever more devastating and bloody and will lay in ruins not only Germany, but finally all countries of East and West. After a terrible defeat of Germany will follow the next great war. There will be no bread for people anymore and no fodder for animals. Poisonous clouds, manufactured by human hands, will sink down and exterminate everything. The human mind will be seized by insanity.
  Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser (17th Century)
  The fifth period of the Church, which began circa 1520, will end with the arrival of the holy Pope and of the powerful Monarch who is called "Help From God" because he will restore everything. The fifth period is one of affliction, desolation, humiliation, and poverty for the Church. Jesus Christ will purify His people through cruel wars, famines, plagues, epidemics, and other horrible calamities. He will also afflict and weaken the Latin Church with many heresies. It is a period of defections, calamities and exterminations. Those Christians who survive the sword, plague and famines, will be few on earth.
  During this period, many men will abuse of the freedom of conscience conceded to them. It is of such men that Jude the Apostle spoke when he said, "These men blaspheme whatever they do not understand; and they corrupt whatever they know naturally as irrational animals do." They will ridicule Christian simplicity; they will call it folly and nonsense, but they will have the highest regard for advanced knowledge, and for the skill by which the axioms of law, the precepts of morality, the Holy Canons and religious dogmas are clouded by senseless questions and elaborate arguments.
  These are the evil times, a century full of dangers and calamities. Heresy is everywhere, and the followers of heresy are in power almost everywhere. but God will permit a great evil against His Church: Heretics and tyrants will come suddenly and unexpectedly; they will break into the Church. They will enter Italy and lay Rome waste; they will burn down churches and destroy everything.
  Venerable Mary of Agreda (17th Century)
  It was revealed to me that through the intercession of the Mother of God, all heresies will disappear. This victory over heresies has been reserved by Christ for His Blessed Mother... Before the Second Coming of Christ, Mary must, more than ever, shine in mercy, might and grace in order to bring unbelievers into the Catholic Faith.
  Sister Marianne de Jesus Torres (17th Century)
  The most Holy Trinity confirmed the desire of my Queen, assuring that God will bless all those who, by their support and help, contribute in the making of the Holy Statue, as well as all those who help spread this devotion (to Our Lady of Good Success) throughout the centuries, making known its origin and these apparitions in the 20th century. This will be a time of great corruption of customs. The sacred sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed and despised, for in doing this, one scorns and defiles the Church of God, and even God Himself, represented by His priests. The Demon will try to persecute the Ministers of the Lord in every possible way.
  The Ecstatic of Tours (19th Century)
  Before the war breaks out again, food will be scarce and expensive. There will be little work for the workers, and fathers will hear their children crying for food. There will be earthquakes and signs in the sun. Toward the end, darkness will cover the Earth. When everyone believes that peace is ensured, when everyone least expects it, the great happening will begin. Revolution will break out in Italy almost at the same time as in France.
  For some time the Church will be without a Pope.
  Pope Pius IX (1878)
  Since the whole world is against God and His Church, it is evident that He has reserved the victory over His enemies to Himself. This will be more obvious when it is considered that the root of all our present evils is to be found in the fact that those with talents and vigor crave earthly pleasures, and not only desert God but repudiate Him altogether. Thus it appears they cannot be brought back in any other way except through an act that cannot be ascribed to any secondary agency, and thus all will be forced to look to the supernatural...
  There will come a great wonder, which will fill the world with astonishment. This wonder will be preceded by the triumph of revolution. The church will suffer exceedingly. Her servants and her chieftain will be mocked, scourged, and martyred.
  Saint Francis of Assissi (1226 A.D.)
  Prophecy of St. Francis of Assisi (d. 1226): ''There will be an uncanonically elected Pope who will cause a great schism, there will be diverse thoughts preached which will cause many, even those in the different orders to doubt, yea, even agree with those heretics which will cause my Order to divide, then will there be such universal dissensions and persecutions that if those days were not shortened even the elect would be lost.'' (Rev. Culleton, The Reign of Antichrist, Tan Books, 1974, p. 130.). Some believe this prophecy referred to the controversy surrounding the election of Pope John XXIII and CardinalSiri. But it could refer to the next and last pope (Peter the Roman). The last pope may just cut Catholics loose from unity and the papacy, causing total disruption and confusion.
  John Paul II said he saw the ongoing defection John Paul II also believed in the second prophecy of Fatima about the Apostasy coming in the Catholic Church. It is noteworthy that John Paul II appointed 185 of the Cardinals who elected Benedict XVI. It may be that John Paul II took steps to ensure a conservative pope followed him.
  Sister Catherine Emmerick (1823)
  Is this schism? Could Sister Emmerick be referring here to the Novus Ordo (One World Order/Church), whose baneful effects are now so apparent everywhere? Especially in view of what she said in April, 1823:
  "I saw many pastors cherishing dangerous ideas against the Church. . . . I saw among other things. . . the Church under N___________. In all the rooms lay his children (that is, his plans), a full collection of his views. . . . He had set fire to the house, and I with others had to save the goods and convey them to the sheepfold. They built a large, singular, extravagant church which was "to embrace all creeds with equal rights; Evangelicals, Catholics and all denominations, a true communion of the unholy with one shepherd and one flock. There was to be a Pope, a salaried Pope, without possessions. All was made ready, many things finished; but, in place of an altar were only abomination and desolation. Such was the new church to be, and it was for it he had set fire to the old one; but God designed otherwise."
  Anna-Maria Taigi (Blessed) (19th century, Italy)Her maiden name was Giannetti. She was born at Siena, Italy, 29 May, 1769; died at Rome, 9 June, 1837. From the time she was 20 years old, until she died at the age of 63, she was accompanied by a mysterious light in which she saw past, present and future events...some relating to struggles among nations; some relating to individual souls.
  Popes and cardinals have referred to this holy married woman as one of the greatest saints of all time. She was praised by Pope Benedict XV in her beatification on May 20, 1920 as being an exemplary wife and mother amid poor and trying circumstances. She was frequently in ecstasy, worked miracles of healing, read hearts, foretold deaths, and saw visions on the coming of future events. She foretold the first two world wars of this century. Eighteen years after her death, her body remained fresh and in a state of perfect preservation as if it had been just buried the day before. The following is her prophecy on the three days of darkness."God will send two punishments: one will be in the form of wars, revolutions and other evils; it shall originate on earth. The other will be sent from Heaven. There shall come over the whole earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights. Nothing can be seen, and the air will be laden with pestilence which will claim mainly, but not only, the enemies of religion. It will be impossible to use any man-made lighting during this darkness, except blessed candles. He, who out of curiosity, opens his window to look out, or leaves his home, will fall dead on the spot. During these three days, people should remain in their homes, pray the Rosary and beg God for mercy.""All the enemies of the Church, whether known or unknown, will perish over the whole earth during that universal darkness, with the exception of a few whom God will soon convert. The air shall be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms.""Religion shall be persecuted, and priests massacred Churches shall be closed, but only for a short time. The Holy Father shall be obliged to leave Rome." (Yves Dupont, Catholic Prophecy, Tan Books and Publishers, 1973)Pope Leo XIII (13th)Pope from 1878-1903
  The Vision Of Pope Leo XIII
  October 13, 1884
  Exactly 33 years to the day prior to the great Miracle of the Sun in Fatima, that is, on October 13, 1884, Pope Leo the 13th had a remarkable vision. When the aged Pontiff had finished celebrating Mass in his private Vatican Chapel, attended by a few Cardinals and members of the Vatican staff, he suddenly stopped at the foot of the altar. He stood there for about 10 minutes, as if in a trance, his face ashen white. Then, going immediately from the Chapel to his office, he composed the prayer to St. Michael, with instructions it be said after all Low Masses everywhere. When asked what had happened, he explained that, as he was about to leave the foot of the altar, he suddenly heard voices - two voices, one kind and gentle, the other guttural and harsh. They seemed to come from near the tabernacle. As he listened, he heard the following conversation:
  The guttural voice, the voice of Satan in his pride, boasted to Our Lord:"I can destroy your Church."
  The gentle voice of Our Lord:"You can? Then go ahead and do so."
  Satan:"To do so, I need more time and more power."
  Our Lord:"How much time? How much power?
  Satan:"75 to 100 years, and a greater power over thosewho will give themselves over to my service."
  Our Lord:"You have the time, you will have the power.Do with them what you will."
  -----This happened in 1884. The devil said he needed 75 to 100 years. Well, 75 years from 1884 is 1959. On January 25, 1959, John XXIII publicly summoned the Second Vatican Council.
  Nostradamus - Quatrains
  Century 2, Quatrain 41The great star will burn for seven days,The cloud will cause two suns to appear:The big mastiff will howl all nightWhen the great pontiff will change country.
  Other Great Links at Bible Probe
  Let a miracle happen to you.
  God has promised He will:Bless those who Bless the Jews. click here
  Prophecies about the Last 10 Popes by a 12th century monkMalachy's Prophecies - The Last 10 PopesKnown to Catholics as St. Malachy (1094-1148)
  Born in 1094 A.D. at Armagh, Ireland, Saint Malachy is also known as: Maolmhaodhog ua Morgair; Maol Maedoc; and Malachy O'Morgair. He died as he himself predicted, on November 2, 1148 at Clairvaux, France. Malachy was canonized the first Irish Saint in the Catholic Church by Pope Clement III in 1190 A.D.
  The correspondence between the prophecies of Saint Malachy and the Mayan Calendar (whose 'long count' ends in 2012) are alarming, to put it mildly. Why did the ancient Mayan or pre-Maya choose December 21st, 2012 A.D., as the end of their Long Count calendar?
  Saint Malachy was a 12th century Irish monk, who, while on a visit to Rome had a vision of all the popes who would ever reign. Malachy "saw"-and committed to paper- a series of Latin phrases describing the popes to come. He catalogued each one with an epigrammatic verse, such as 'the tears of the sun'. Malachy made the prophecy in 1139. Reportedly it was entrusted to Pope Innocent II in 1140. But for some reason it was "lost" in the Vatican for 400 years, only to be "discovered" in 1595 A.D. Malachy s predictions reputedly were made in 1139 while he was on a pilgrimage to the Vatican, where he was appointed papal legate for Ireland. On his last trek to the holy see in Rome, in 1148, Malachy accurately predicted the place and time of his own death: Clairvaux, France, on All Souls Day, November 2, of that same year.
  The Malachy Prophecies were first published in 1595, by a Benedictine monk & historian named Arnold de Wyon, who found them 5 years earlier in the Vatican archives. Arnold recorded them in his book, entitled: 'Lignum Vit...'.
  Malachy's Prophecies - The Last 10 Popes
  1. The Burning Fire. PIUS X. 1903-1914. This Pope showed a burning passion for spiritual renewal in the Church.
  2. Religion Laid Waste (Religio Depopulata). BENEDICT XV. 1914-1922. Unfortunately, this was true. During this Pope's reign saw Communism move into Russia where religious life was laid waste, and World War I with the death of millions of Christians who were carnage in Flanders Field and elsewhere.
  3. Unshaken Faith. PIUS XI. 1922-1939. This Pope faced tremendous pressure from fascist and sinister powers in Germany and Italy, but he was an outspoken critic of Communism and Fascism which enraged Hitler.
  4. An Angelic Shepherd. PIUS XII. 1939-1958. This Pope had an affinity for the spiritual world and received visions which have not been made public. Peter Bander says Pius XII "has emerged as one of the great Popes of all time," and he "was in the truest sense of the word an Angelic Pastor to the flock..."
  5. Pastor and Mariner. JOHN XXIII. 1958-1963. " Pastor et Nauta" or "Pastor and sailor". John was a pastor to the world, much beloved, and the Patriarch of Venice. The connection to "mariner" is thus remarkable. According Peter Bander in The Prophecies of Malachy (TAN Books and Publisher, 1969) during the conclave which was to elect John XXIII in 1958, a certain Cardinal from the United States, (Cardinal Spellman of New York) evidently having taken Malachy's forecast that the next pope would be "pastor and mariner" literally, rented a boat, filled it with sheep and sailed up and down the Tiber.
  6. Flower of Flowers. "Flos Florum" PAUL VI. 1963-1978. Paul's coat-of-arms depicts three fleurs-de-lis, corresponding to Malachy's prophecy. His coat of arms included three fleurs-de-lis (iris blossoms). At the popular and controversial site of Garabandal in Spain, a seer named Conchita Gonzalez once noted: ''The Blessed Virgin said in 1962 that there will only be two more popes after Paul VI.''
  7. Of the Half Moon. "De Medietate Lanae," or "from the half moon" JOHN PAUL I. 1978-1978. John Paul I was elected Pope on August 26, 1978, when there was a half moon. He reigned 33 days, that is, about one month, when he died, although many think he was murdered. He was the 109th Pope - is "De Medietate Lunae" (Of the Half Moon). The corresponding pope was John Paul I (1978-78), who was born in the diocese of Belluno (beautiful moon) and was baptized Albino Luciani which means white light, such as that given off by the half-moon in Malachy s prophecy. He became pope on August 26, 1978, when the moon appeared exactly half full. It was in its waning phase. He died the following month, soon after an eclipse of the moon.
  8. The Labor of the Son. "De Medietate Lunae" JOHN PAUL II. 1978-2005
  Pope John Paul II
  Amazingly, Pope John Paul II was the only pope who was both born the day of an eclipse of the sun, and entombed the day the sun was eclipsed.
  One of Malachy's strangest predictions concerned the pope who would follow 'De Medietate Lunae'. He is designated as 'De Labore Solis', or 'from the toil of the sun'. Applied to John Paul II, this phrase reveals nothing less than a double prophecy. John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla), the first non-Italian elected in 456 years, was a native of Krakow, Poland. Krakow is the city where, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Copernicus 'toiled'; for years to prove his heretical theory that the earth revolved around the sun. Many of Malachy s interpreters also suggested that the 'sun' reference indicated a young pope. Fifty-eight years old at the time of his election, John Paul II was the youngest pope in over a century.John Paul II was the most traveled Pope in history. He has circled the globe numerous times, preaching to huge audiences everywhere he goes. Even though he was once shot, he has not seemed to slow down. He has recently written a book which has enjoyed a large circulation.
  Like the sun which never ceases to labor and provides light daily, this Pope has been incessant. John Paul compared abortion to the Holocaust and denounced gay marriages as part of 'a new ideology of evil'. He argued that same-sex marriages threaten society by undermining the traditional family.
  Late Pope John Paul II
  John Paul II was born on May 18, 1920. On that date in the morning there was a near total eclipse of the sun over Europe. Prophecy - The 110th Pope is 'De Labore Solis' (Of the Solar Eclipse, or, From the Toil of the Sun). The corresponding pope is John Paul II (1978-2005). Karol Wojtyla (John Paul II) was born on May 18, 1920 during an eclipse of the sun. Like the sun he came out of the East (Poland). Like the sun he has visited countries all around the globe while doing his work. Karol was the first non-Italian pope in 456 years. He was ordained on November 1, 1946 and earned a doctorate in ethics at the Angelicum University in Rome. He was made auxiliary bishop in 1958 and Archbishop in 1964 of Krakow and Cardinal in 1967. He was elected the first Polish pope on October 1978. He spoke eight languages and he traveled more than any other pope in history. John Paul II died at the Vatican on Saturday, April 2, 2005, the same day as a partial eclipse, visible in the Americas.
  John Paul II lying in the Vatican
  John Paul II may also be connected to the revelation of Saint Faustina Kowalska of Poland (quoting Jesus), "I bear a special love for Poland and if she will be obedient to My Will, I will exalt her in might and holiness.From her will come forth the spark that will prepare the world for My final coming" (Diary "Divine Mercy in My Soul").
  Disturbing about Pope John Paul II is that no other Pope in history ever has called for a "New World Order", and this pope waited until he had sat on the Throne of Peter for over 25 years! Why would Pope John Paul II wait for 25 long years before announcing his affinity for the New World Order? A "New World Order" is known in the esoteric realm as "the kingdom of the Christ" -- but thought by many in the Bible as an Antichrist (or Antichrist system). Was it because John Paul was senile or carried away with his own desire for ecumenicalism/friendship?
  Other things John Paul II did while very old were: he also kissed the pagan Qur'an and said that Islam and Christians had the same God. Would the God of the Bible agree to tell the lies about Jesus that Islam does? Islam lies that Jesus never even died on a cross, and Islam also says that Jesus is not divine.
  9. The Glory of the Olive. The Order of St. Benedict has said this Pope will come from their order. It is interesting that Jesus gave his apocalyptic prophecy about the end of time from the Mount of Olives. This Pope will reign during the beginning of the tribulation Jesus spoke of. The 111th prophesy is "Gloria Olivae" (The Glory of the Olive). The Order of Saint Benedict has claimed that this pope will come from their ranks. Saint Benedict himself prophesied that before the end of the world his Order, known also as the Olivetans, will triumphantly lead the Catholic Church in its fight against evil. Traditionally, the olive branch has been associated with peace, but in both the Old and New Testaments it also serves as an emblem for the Jews. Putting the two together, some commentators believe that the reign of this pope will be a peaceful one during which the prophesied conversion of the Jews will take place.Several ex-Jews are said to be highly placed in the Catholic Church now. And, it is noteworthy that the previous Benedict (XV) was a pope obsessed with peace. Some others say, he will lead all faithful followers of the Lord Jesus to martyrdom and others say that he will tear down the walls of the Vatican, auctioning off all the objects within, in order to feed and enlighten those in the 3rd World who have not yet heard the Gospel of Christ.
  Bible Probe Comment: The Order of Saint Benedict has claimed that this pope will come from their ranks. Saint Benedict himself prophesied that before the end of the world his Order, known also as the Olivetans, will triumphantly lead the Catholic Church in its fight against evil.
  LOOK at the above again. The next pope will have something to do with OLIVE --not necessarily or even probably a Benedictine.
  Malachy DID NOT prophesize it would be a Benedictine! Someone in the Benedictine Order said they think the next pope will come from the Benedictines. GET THAT STRAIGHT!
  Also, St Benedict prophesized: before the end of the world his Order, known also as the Olivetans, will triumphantly lead the Catholic Church in its fight against evil. NOTHING was mentioned as leading as a pope!
  10. PETER THE ROMAN - The 112th prophesy states: "In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Petrus Romanus, who will feed his flock amid many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people. The End." The last pope may just cut Catholics loose from unity and the papacy, causing total disruption and confusion. See Saint Francis of Assissi's 13th century prophecy below. It is believed the next pope will
  Will "The Glory of the Olive" be the last Pope?
  The problem with the prophecies as listed in The Prophecies of St. Malachy, published by the Thomas A. Nelson, a Catholic Publishing House, is that Malachy's original works listed only 111 Popes, not 112, as given in the TAN version of the prophecies. Sometime between the first and subsequent printings the 112th, Petrus Romanus, was added to Malachy's prophecy. It was added after the 1820 publication of the prophecies.
  On April 19th, 2005 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th Pope. The name Benedict means "blessing". Does this name automatically fulfill this prophecy?
  April 21, 2005 - Mary Jo Anderson, a Catholic scholar and writer, says the Pope's choice of his name is not related to the prophecy of St. Malachy. Instead, she thinks the new pope chose his moniker as a reference to sixth-century St. Benedict and his quest to protect Rome from invading German pagans...claiming the pontiff hopes to protect the modern-day Church from destructive philosophies that originated in Germany. Source:WorldNetDailyOf note: Benedict XV '-- who reigned from 1914 to 1922 '-- was a moderate following Pius X, who had implemented a sharp crackdown against doctrinal "modernism."
  Will the papacy of this 78 year old pope be short lived? Is this the beginning of Tribulation? Will the next pope be the last pope? Will the next pope be a Roman and choose the name Peter? The Or, will Tribulation begin AFTER the Anti-Christ has shown himself as a person of peace and already made peace with Israel's enemies for seven years? Can we read anything into Putin's recent visit to Israel?
  "King of the North" visits Israel
  Putin reviews Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) 4/28/05The first Kremlin leader ever to visit Israel while in office
  Russian and Israeli relations have been strained over Russia's sale of SA-18 shoulder fired rocket launchers to Syria, nuclear technology to Iran, and past & proposed arms and equipment sales to the PA.
  Is this the Pope of Peace (olive)?
  Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger holds olive (palm) branches during Palm Sunday mass in Saint Peter Square at the Vatican March 20, 2005. Many Cardinals also held olive branches that day.Malachy's final words:
  In the final persecution of the Holy Roman Church there will reign Peter the Roman, who will feed his flock among many tribulations; after which the seven-hilled city (Rome, the seat of the Vatican) will be destroyed and the dreadful Judge will judge the people.
  It is striking that at least one pope had a similar mystical vision:In 1909, while granting an audience, pope Pius X leaned back and closed his eyes. Suddenly he "awoke" and cried out: "What I see is terrifying. Will it be myself? Will it be my successor? What is certain is that the pope will quit Rome, and in leaving the Vatican, he will have to walk over the dead bodies of his priests."
  Pius's prophecy was fulfilled neither in his own time nor in that of the next pontiff. According to Malachy's vision of the Church's "tribulation," it applies to the successor of Gloria Olivae-the next pope but one.
  Some OTHER Similar and Startling Prophecies follow:
  John Bosco (from 40 Dreams of John Bosco)
  St. Bosco narrated his vision on May 30, 1862
  Does this speak of John Paul II?
  John Bosco vividly described visions of turbulent water and persecution: enemy boats attacking the ship as the Pope sought to bring the ship between the two columns (one with a statue of the Virgin, labeled Auxilium Christianorum, or "help of Christians," the second, much taller, with a Host, labeled Salus Credentium, or "salvation of the faithful").
  John Bosco said, "Suddenly the Pope falls gravely wounded. Immediately, those who are with him run to help him and they lift him up. A second time the Pope is struck, he falls again and dies. A shout of victory and joy rings out amongst the enemies; from their ships an unspeakable mockery arises.
  This of course sounds much like John Paul II--who has promoted both the Eucharist and the Blessed Mother and who just recently established new mysteries of the Rosary, which were followed by an historic encyclical on the Eucharist. Those are certainly "pillars" of the Catholic Church. We must also call to mind the shooting of John Paul II on May 13, 1981, in St. Peter's Square. Or, is this a composite image that could relate to both John Paul II and his immediate predecessor, John Paul I, both of whom were stricken. It may symbolize the way Pope John Paul I came in, served for only 33 days, and then died in 1979 (some believe suspiciously) -- succeeded by the recently deceased John Paul II, who promoted the Blessed Mother and the Eucharist as few pontiffs have.
  No pope in history was more dedicated to the Virgin Mary than John Paul II and he had declared the current year as the ''Year of the Eucharist.'' So dedicated was the Pope that an "M" for Mary was placed on his casket, and this too circled into the St Faustina revelation. As Cardinal Ratzinger pointed out in his funeral homily Friday, 15 April 05, "the Holy Father found the purest reflection of God's mercy in the Mother of God." Also, Evidence suggests that John Paul II was the Pope spoken of at Fatima. Read "Deception of the Century" about Pope John Paul I's possible murder: here
  Pope John Paul II predicted a new spring time in the church...the Catholic Church may well be on the very threshold of this! Does the below dream of John Bosco speak of the new Benedict XVI and his rather quick election?
  John Bosco says,
  "But hardly is the Pontiff dead than another takes his place. The pilots, having met together, have elected the Pope so promptly that the news of the death of the Pope coincides with the news of the election of the successor. The adversaries begin to lose courage."
  "The new Pope, putting the enemy to rout and overcoming every obstacle, guides the ship right up to the two columns and comes to rest between them; he makes it fast with a light chain that hangs from the bow to an anchor of the column on which stands the Host; and with another light chain which hangs from the stern, he fastens it at the opposite end to another anchor hanging from the column on which stands the Immaculate Virgin.
  Saint Hildegard (12th Century)
  The time is coming when princes and peoples will reject the authority of the Pope. Some countries will prefer their own Church rulers to the Pope. The German Empire will be divided.
  Before the comet comes, many nations, the good excepted, will be scourged by want and famine. The great nation in the ocean that is inhabited by people of different tribes and descent will be devastated by earthquake, storm, and tidal wave. It will be divided and, in great part, submerged. That nation will also have many misfortunes at sea and lose its colonies.
  [After the] great Comet, the great nation will be devastated by earthquakes, storms, and great waves of water, causing much want and plagues. The ocean will also flood many other countries, so that all coastal cities will live in fear, with many destroyed.
  All sea coast cities will be fearful, and many of them will be destroyed by tidal waves, and most living creatures will be killed, and even those who escape will die from a horrible disease. For in none of those cities does a person live according to the Laws of God.
  A powerful wind will rise in the North, carrying heavy fog and the densest dust, and it will fill their throats and eyes so that they will cease their butchery and be stricken with a great fear.
  Bishop Christianos Ageda (12th Century)
  In the 20th century there will be wars and fury that will last a long time; whole provinces shall be emptied of their inhabitants, and kingdoms shall be thrown into confusion. In many places the land shall be left untilled, and there shall be great slaughters of the upper class. The right hand of the world shall fear the left, and the north shall prevail over the south.
  Abbot Werdin D'Orante (12th Century)
  The great monarch and the great Pope will precede Antichrist. The nations will be at war for four years and a great part of the world will be destroyed. The Pope will go over the sea carrying the sign of Redemption on his forehead. The great Monarch will come to restore peace and the Pope will share in the victory.
  John of Vitiguerro (13th Century)
  The pope will change his residence and the Church will not be defended for twenty-five months or more because, during all that time there will be no Pope in Rome... After many tribulations, a Pope shall be elected out of those who survived the persecutions.
  Johannes Friede (1204-1257)
  When the great time will come, in which mankind will face its last, hard trial, it will be foreshadowed by striking changes in nature. The alteration between cold and heat will become more intensive, storms will have more catastrophic effects, earthquakes will destroy great regions, and the seas will overflow many lowlands. Not all of it will be the result of natural causes, but mankind will penetrate into the bowels of the earth and will reach into the clouds, gambling with its own existence. Before the powers of destruction will succeed in their design, the universe will be thrown into disorder, and the age of iron will plunge into nothingness.
  When nights will be filled with more intensive cold and days with heat, a new life will begin in nature. The heat means radiation from the earth, the cold the waning light of the sun. Only a few years more and you will become aware that sunlight has grown perceptibly weaker. When even your artificial light will cease to give service, the great event in the heavens will be near.
  St. Vincent Ferrer (14th Century)
  In the days of peace that are to come after the desolation of revolutions and wars, before the end of the world, the Christians will become so lax in their religion that they will refuse to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, saying, "It is an unnecessary Sacrament."
  John of the Cleft Rock (14th Century)
  Towards the end of the world, tyrants and hostile mobs will rob the Church and the clergy of all their possessions and will afflict and martyr them. Those who heap the most abuse upon them will be held in high esteem. At that time, the Pope with his cardinals will have to flee Rome in tragic circumstances to a place where they will be unknown. The Pope will die a cruel death in his exile. The sufferings of the Church will be much greater than at any previous time in her history. But God will raise a holy Pope, and the Angels will rejoice. Enlightened by God, this man will rebuild almost the whole world through his holiness. He will lead everyone to the true Faith.
  Maria Laach Monastery (16th Century)
  The twentieth century will bring death and destruction, apostasy from the Church, discord in families, cities and governments; it will be the century of three great wars with intervals of a few decades. They will become ever more devastating and bloody and will lay in ruins not only Germany, but finally all countries of East and West. After a terrible defeat of Germany will follow the next great war. There will be no bread for people anymore and no fodder for animals. Poisonous clouds, manufactured by human hands, will sink down and exterminate everything. The human mind will be seized by insanity.
  Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser (17th Century)
  The fifth period of the Church, which began circa 1520, will end with the arrival of the holy Pope and of the powerful Monarch who is called "Help From God" because he will restore everything. The fifth period is one of affliction, desolation, humiliation, and poverty for the Church. Jesus Christ will purify His people through cruel wars, famines, plagues, epidemics, and other horrible calamities. He will also afflict and weaken the Latin Church with many heresies. It is a period of defections, calamities and exterminations. Those Christians who survive the sword, plague and famines, will be few on earth.
  During this period, many men will abuse of the freedom of conscience conceded to them. It is of such men that Jude the Apostle spoke when he said, "These men blaspheme whatever they do not understand; and they corrupt whatever they know naturally as irrational animals do." They will ridicule Christian simplicity; they will call it folly and nonsense, but they will have the highest regard for advanced knowledge, and for the skill by which the axioms of law, the precepts of morality, the Holy Canons and religious dogmas are clouded by senseless questions and elaborate arguments.
  These are the evil times, a century full of dangers and calamities. Heresy is everywhere, and the followers of heresy are in power almost everywhere. but God will permit a great evil against His Church: Heretics and tyrants will come suddenly and unexpectedly; they will break into the Church. They will enter Italy and lay Rome waste; they will burn down churches and destroy everything.
  Venerable Mary of Agreda (17th Century)
  It was revealed to me that through the intercession of the Mother of God, all heresies will disappear. This victory over heresies has been reserved by Christ for His Blessed Mother... Before the Second Coming of Christ, Mary must, more than ever, shine in mercy, might and grace in order to bring unbelievers into the Catholic Faith.
  Sister Marianne de Jesus Torres (17th Century)
  The most Holy Trinity confirmed the desire of my Queen, assuring that God will bless all those who, by their support and help, contribute in the making of the Holy Statue, as well as all those who help spread this devotion (to Our Lady of Good Success) throughout the centuries, making known its origin and these apparitions in the 20th century. This will be a time of great corruption of customs. The sacred sacrament of Holy Orders will be ridiculed, oppressed and despised, for in doing this, one scorns and defiles the Church of God, and even God Himself, represented by His priests. The Demon will try to persecute the Ministers of the Lord in every possible way.
  The Ecstatic of Tours (19th Century)
  Before the war breaks out again, food will be scarce and expensive. There will be little work for the workers, and fathers will hear their children crying for food. There will be earthquakes and signs in the sun. Toward the end, darkness will cover the Earth. When everyone believes that peace is ensured, when everyone least expects it, the great happening will begin. Revolution will break out in Italy almost at the same time as in France.
  For some time the Church will be without a Pope.
  Pope Pius IX (1878)
  Since the whole world is against God and His Church, it is evident that He has reserved the victory over His enemies to Himself. This will be more obvious when it is considered that the root of all our present evils is to be found in the fact that those with talents and vigor crave earthly pleasures, and not only desert God but repudiate Him altogether. Thus it appears they cannot be brought back in any other way except through an act that cannot be ascribed to any secondary agency, and thus all will be forced to look to the supernatural...
  There will come a great wonder, which will fill the world with astonishment. This wonder will be preceded by the triumph of revolution. The church will suffer exceedingly. Her servants and her chieftain will be mocked, scourged, and martyred.
  Saint Francis of Assissi (1226 A.D.)
  Prophecy of St. Francis of Assisi (d. 1226): ''There will be an uncanonically elected Pope who will cause a great schism, there will be diverse thoughts preached which will cause many, even those in the different orders to doubt, yea, even agree with those heretics which will cause my Order to divide, then will there be such universal dissensions and persecutions that if those days were not shortened even the elect would be lost.'' (Rev. Culleton, The Reign of Antichrist, Tan Books, 1974, p. 130.). Some believe this prophecy referred to the controversy surrounding the election of Pope John XXIII and CardinalSiri. But it could refer to the next and last pope (Peter the Roman). The last pope may just cut Catholics loose from unity and the papacy, causing total disruption and confusion.
  John Paul II said he saw the ongoing defection John Paul II also believed in the second prophecy of Fatima about the Apostasy coming in the Catholic Church. It is noteworthy that John Paul II appointed 185 of the Cardinals who elected Benedict XVI. It may be that John Paul II took steps to ensure a conservative pope followed him.
  Sister Catherine Emmerick (1823)
  Is this schism? Could Sister Emmerick be referring here to the Novus Ordo (One World Order/Church), whose baneful effects are now so apparent everywhere? Especially in view of what she said in April, 1823:
  "I saw many pastors cherishing dangerous ideas against the Church. . . . I saw among other things. . . the Church under N___________. In all the rooms lay his children (that is, his plans), a full collection of his views. . . . He had set fire to the house, and I with others had to save the goods and convey them to the sheepfold. They built a large, singular, extravagant church which was "to embrace all creeds with equal rights; Evangelicals, Catholics and all denominations, a true communion of the unholy with one shepherd and one flock. There was to be a Pope, a salaried Pope, without possessions. All was made ready, many things finished; but, in place of an altar were only abomination and desolation. Such was the new church to be, and it was for it he had set fire to the old one; but God designed otherwise."
  Anna-Maria Taigi (Blessed) (19th century, Italy)Her maiden name was Giannetti. She was born at Siena, Italy, 29 May, 1769; died at Rome, 9 June, 1837. From the time she was 20 years old, until she died at the age of 63, she was accompanied by a mysterious light in which she saw past, present and future events...some relating to struggles among nations; some relating to individual souls.
  Popes and cardinals have referred to this holy married woman as one of the greatest saints of all time. She was praised by Pope Benedict XV in her beatification on May 20, 1920 as being an exemplary wife and mother amid poor and trying circumstances. She was frequently in ecstasy, worked miracles of healing, read hearts, foretold deaths, and saw visions on the coming of future events. She foretold the first two world wars of this century. Eighteen years after her death, her body remained fresh and in a state of perfect preservation as if it had been just buried the day before. The following is her prophecy on the three days of darkness."God will send two punishments: one will be in the form of wars, revolutions and other evils; it shall originate on earth. The other will be sent from Heaven. There shall come over the whole earth an intense darkness lasting three days and three nights. Nothing can be seen, and the air will be laden with pestilence which will claim mainly, but not only, the enemies of religion. It will be impossible to use any man-made lighting during this darkness, except blessed candles. He, who out of curiosity, opens his window to look out, or leaves his home, will fall dead on the spot. During these three days, people should remain in their homes, pray the Rosary and beg God for mercy.""All the enemies of the Church, whether known or unknown, will perish over the whole earth during that universal darkness, with the exception of a few whom God will soon convert. The air shall be infected by demons who will appear under all sorts of hideous forms.""Religion shall be persecuted, and priests massacred Churches shall be closed, but only for a short time. The Holy Father shall be obliged to leave Rome." (Yves Dupont, Catholic Prophecy, Tan Books and Publishers, 1973)Pope Leo XIII (13th)Pope from 1878-1903
  The Vision Of Pope Leo XIII
  October 13, 1884
  Exactly 33 years to the day prior to the great Miracle of the Sun in Fatima, that is, on October 13, 1884, Pope Leo the 13th had a remarkable vision. When the aged Pontiff had finished celebrating Mass in his private Vatican Chapel, attended by a few Cardinals and members of the Vatican staff, he suddenly stopped at the foot of the altar. He stood there for about 10 minutes, as if in a trance, his face ashen white. Then, going immediately from the Chapel to his office, he composed the prayer to St. Michael, with instructions it be said after all Low Masses everywhere. When asked what had happened, he explained that, as he was about to leave the foot of the altar, he suddenly heard voices - two voices, one kind and gentle, the other guttural and harsh. They seemed to come from near the tabernacle. As he listened, he heard the following conversation:
  The guttural voice, the voice of Satan in his pride, boasted to Our Lord:"I can destroy your Church."
  The gentle voice of Our Lord:"You can? Then go ahead and do so."
  Satan:"To do so, I need more time and more power."
  Our Lord:"How much time? How much power?
  Satan:"75 to 100 years, and a greater power over thosewho will give themselves over to my service."
  Our Lord:"You have the time, you will have the power.Do with them what you will."
  -----This happened in 1884. The devil said he needed 75 to 100 years. Well, 75 years from 1884 is 1959. On January 25, 1959, John XXIII publicly summoned the Second Vatican Council.
  Nostradamus - Quatrains
  Century 2, Quatrain 41
  The great star will burn for seven days,The cloud will cause two suns to appear:The big mastiff will howl all nightWhen the great pontiff will change country.
  Other Great Links at Bible Probe
  Let a miracle happen to you.
  God has promised He will:Bless those who Bless the Jews. click here
Turkey, Azerbaijan reach agreement on natural gas pipeline
  Link to Article
  Source: Gitmo Nation News
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:06
  ''Turkey has reported the imminent launch of a major natural gas pipeline from Central Asia.
  TANAP will be a gas pipeline from Turkey's eastern border to the western border, transporting gas from Azerbaijan's offshore Shah Deniz field to Europe through Turkey.
  Prime Minister Recep Erdogan said Turkey has been preparing for the launch of construction of the Azeri-Turkish Trans Anatolia Pipeline in 2013.
  Erdogan said the governments in Azerbaijan and Turkey have approved the project, signed in June 2012.
  ''We took a new step with Azerbaijan,'' Erdogan told a news conference on Feb. 6.
  ''The agreement for TANAP has been approved in the parliaments of both sides.''
  Officials said the project, led by Turkey's Botas and Azerbaijan's
  Socar, was meant to be completed by 2020 and cost $7 billion.
  The officials said Azerbaijan would pump gas to Turkey, which would relay the fuel to Western Europe.''
  Read more here: Turkey, Azerbaijan reach agreement on natural gas pipeline | World Tribune.
'Privacy killer' CISPA is coming back, whether you like it or not
  Link to Article
  Source: ZapLog - externe links
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 19:05
  Summary: Dubbed a "privacy killer" by online activists, love it or hate it, the cyber-security CISPA bill will likely be brought into law'--whether it's from the reintroduction of the bill by the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, or President Obama issuing (yet another) executive order.
  Here's why CISPA is coming back, whether you like it or not. (Credit: Internet Defense League)Oh, those crazy kids in Washington are back on it again.
  In just one week, boththe Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned that U.S. critical national infrastructure'--including water, electricity, and gas networks'--were vulnerable to hackers and the U.S. could be hit by a "cyber-9/11".
  Napolitano even urged Congress to pass legislation governing areas of cyber-security so that the .U.S government could share information with the private sector, which may help prevent cyber-attacks on infrastructure critical to U.S. national security.
  So, that's what they're planning to do. And you can stamp your feet as much as you want, the way it's looking, the proposals will be brought into law whether you like it or not.
  And for the record, I'll be there stamping my feet with you.
  The cyber-security bill, dubbed CISPA'--the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act'-- that was shelved once it passed the U.S. House after the U.S. Senate began work on its own set of measures.
  It would have effectively given the green card to American private-sector businesses to hand ordinary citizen data (and therefore potential intelligence) back to the U.S. government in order to thwart primarily cyber-attacks'--but also what could potentially be terrorist attacks.
  This, as you might expect, caused an uproar among the online community who believed that private companies could effectively hand over data'--such as cell phone records, email records, and even Facebook and Twitter data'--directly into the hands of U.S. intelligence.
  Even the White House was concerned, and threatened to veto the bill altogether.
  But now, there are two separate reports that suggest CISPA could be heading back to the Congressional table, but also that President Obama may bypass his lawmakers altogether and issue his own executive order.
  First off, according to The Hill, ranking member of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) said he plans to reintroduce CISPA back into the House. By working with the White House directly, Ruppersberger hopes to alleviate some of the government's concerns.
  Failing that, however, Obama could issue an executive order on the matter as soon as next week, according to Bloomberg's sources. It's expected to be released just after the State of the Union address this coming Tuesday.
  CISPA was a tricky law to get your head around. It defined cyber-security threats as efforts to "disrupt, degrade, destroy or gain unauthorized access to any system or network, whether privately owned (by a company) or owned by government," said ZDNet's Violet Blue, who covered the topic extensively and in great detail.
  But arguments have been made that suggest such attempts to "disrupt [or] degrade" a network'--commonly known as a denial-of-service (DoS) attack'--could in fact be a method of online protest.
  While some questioned whether DoS or DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack are the modern equivalent of a sit-in protest, it is now a matter for the courts to decide, reports Techdirt. The argument is that in some cases it is not a malicious act. There is no malware and nothing is stolen. It is, arguably, when carried for the sole reason of protesting, the same as creating an impromptu flash-mob protest, except using a computer rather a person's physical being.
  There was even a petition to the White House on the topic in the last few days that failed to gain traction. Only 6,000 people signed the petition, while 25,000 signatures were needed during a 30-day period to see it earn an official response. (The White House now needs four-times as many signatures after one petition asked the U.S. government to build a Death Star.)
  Privacy activist Asher Wolf told ReadWrite last month: "There is no way in hell the White House will ever legalize DDoS."
  But as CISPA rears its ugly ahead again, as will those pesky activists who fight on our behalf for our online freedoms and privacy protection.
  Web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Firefox browser-maker Mozilla, and Reporters Without Borders, among many others, all opposed the Bill.
  The bill was, however, supported by AT&T, Facebook, IBM, Intel, Oracle, Symantec, Verizon, and others'--although, it was strange considering only months before many of the aforementioned firms came out against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which led to the effectively shuting down of the Web for a day.
  The CISPA threat led to the Internet Defense League'--a threat-level group set up after the SOPA revolt'--calling to arms, and asking everyone who cares about online freedom and privacy to get involved to prevent CISPA from becoming law. In a statement, the group that these "bills would end online privacy, treating everyone like criminals instead of making us more secure."
  Despite Obama's warnings that he would veto CISPA the first time around, as the past has dictated, if Congress doesn't play ball then the President will just take it and sign an executive order anyway.
Guest Post: The War in Mali and AFRICOM's Agenda: Target China - BlackListedNews.com
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:56
  By '‹'‹'‹'‹F. William EngdahlPart I: Africa's New Thirty Years' War?
  Mali at first glance seems a most unlikely place for the NATO powers, led by a neo-colonialist French government of Socialist President Francois Hollande (and quietly backed to the hilt by the Obama Administration), to launch what is being called by some a new Thirty Years' War Against Terrorism.
  Mali, with a population of some 12 million, and a landmass three and a half times the size of Germany, is a land-locked largely Saharan Desert country in the center of western Africa, bordered by Algeria to its north, Mauritania to its west, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger to its southern part. People I know who have spent time there before the recent US-led efforts at destabilization called it one of the most peaceful and beautiful places on earth, the home of Timbuktu. Its people are some ninety percent Muslim of varying persuasions. It has a rural subsistence agriculture and adult illiteracy of nearly 50%. Yet this country is suddenly the center of a new global ''war on terror.''
  On January 20 Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron announced his country's curious resolve to dedicate itself to deal with ''the terrorism threat'' in Mali and north Africa. Cameron declared, ''It will require a response that is about years, even decades, rather than months, and it requires a response that'...has an absolutely iron resolve'...'' [1] Britain in its colonial heyday never had a stake in Mali. Until it won independence in 1960, Mali was a French colony.
  On January 11, after more than a year of behind-the-scenes pressure on the neighboring Algeria to get them entangled in an invasion of its neighbor Mali, Hollande decided to make a direct French military intervention with US backing. His government launched air strikes in the rebel-held north of Mali against a fanatical Salafist band of jihadist cutthroats calling itself Al-Qaeda in the Islamic-Mahgreb (AQIM). The pretext for the seemingly swift French action was a military move by a tiny group of Islamic Jihadists of the Tuareg people, Asnar Dine, affiliated with the larger AQIM. On January 10 Asnar Dine '' backed by other Islamist groups '' attacked the southern town of Konna. That marked the first time since the Tuareg rebellion in early 2012 that Jihadist rebels moved out of traditional Tuareg territory in the northern desert to spread Islamic law to the south of Mali.
  As French journalist Thierry Meyssan noted, French forces were remarkably well prepared: ''The transitional President, Dioncounda Traore, declared a state of emergency and called to France for help. Paris intervened within hours to prevent the fall of the capital, Bamako. Far-sightedly, the Elys(C)e had already pre-positioned in Mali troops from the 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment (''the Colonials'') and the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment, helicopters from the COS (Special Operations Command), three Mirage 2000D's, two Mirage F-1's, three C135's, a C130 Hercules and a C160 Transall.'' [2] What a convenient coincidence.
  By January 21 US Air Force transport planes began delivering hundreds of French elite soldiers and military equipment to Mali, ostensibly to roll back what we were told was an out-of-control terrorist advance south towards the Mali capital. [3] French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told media the number of its 'boots on the ground' in Mali had reached 2,000, adding that ''around 4,000 troops will be mobilized for this operation,'' in Mali and outside bases. [4]
  But there are strong indications the French agenda in Mali is anything but humanitarian. In a France 5 TV interview, Le Drian carelessly admitted, ''The goal is the total reconquest of Mali. We will not leave any pockets.'' And President Francois Hollande said French troops would remain in the region long enough ''to defeat terrorism.'' The United States, Canada, Britain, Belgium, Germany and Denmark have all said they would support the French operation against Mali. [5]
  Mali itself, like much of Africa is rich in raw materials. It has large reserves of gold, uranium and most recently, though western oil companies try to hide it, of oil, lots of oil. The French preferred to ignore Mali's vast resources, keeping it a poor subsistence agriculture country. Under the deposed democratically-elected President Amadou Toumani Toure, for the first time the government initiated a systematic mapping of the vast wealth under its soil. According to Mamadou Igor Diarra, previous mining minister, Malian soil contains copper, uranium, phosphate, bauxite, gems and in particular, a large percentage of gold in addition to oil and gas. Thus, Mali is one of the countries in the world with the most raw materials. With its gold mining, the country is already one of the leading exploiters directly behind South Africa and Ghana. [6] Two thirds of France's electricity is from nuclear power and sources of new uranium are essential. Presently, France draws significant uranium imports from neighboring Niger.
  Now the picture gets a little complex.
  According to usually reliable former US military experts with direct familiarity with the region, speaking on condition of anonymity, US and NATO Special Forces actually trained the same ''terrorist'' bands now justifying a neo-colonial US-backed invasion of Mali by France. The major question is why would Washington and Paris train the terrorists they are now acting to destroy in a ''war on terror?'' Were they really surprised at the lack of NATO loyalty from their trainees? And what is behind AFRICOM's American-backed French takeover of Mali?
  Part II: AFRICOM and 'Victoria's Secrets'The truth about what is really going on in Mali and with AFRICOM and NATO countries, especially France is a little bit like a geopolitical ''Victoria's Secret'''--what you think you see is definitely not what you will get.
  We are being told repeatedly in recent months that something supposedly calling itself Al Qaeda'--the organization officially charged by the US Government as responsible for pulverizing three towers of the World Trade Center and blowing a gaping hole in the side of the Pentagon on September 11, 2001'--has regrouped.
  According to the popular media account and statements of various NATO member country government officials, the original group of the late Osama bin Laden, holed up we are supposed to believe somewhere in the caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan, has apparently adopted a modern business model and is handing out Al Qaeda official franchises in a style something like a 'McDonalds of Terrorism,' from Al Qaeda in Iraq to Libyan Islamic Fighting Group in Libya and now Al-Qaeda-in-the Islamic-Maghreb.
  I've even heard reports that a new Al Qaeda ''official'' franchise has just been given, bizarre as it sounds, to something called DRCCAQ or Democratic Republic of Congo Christian (sic) Al Qaeda. [7] Now that's a stretch which reminds one of an equally bizarre sect called Jews for Jesus created back in the hippie days of the Vietnam War era. Can it be that the architects of all these murky groups have so little imagination?
  If we are to believe the official story, the group being blamed in Mali for most all the trouble is Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM for short). The murky AQIM itself is actually a product of several behind-the-scenes workings. Originally it was based in Algeria across the border from Mali and called itself the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC according to its French name).
  In 2006 Al Qaeda's head guru in absence of Osama bin Laden, Egyptian jihadist Ayman al-Zawahiri, publicly announced the granting to the Algerian GSPC the Al Qaeda franchise. The name was changed to Al-Qaeda-in-the Islamic-Mahgreb and Algerian counter-terror operations pushed them in the past two years over the desert border into northern Mali. AQIM reportedly is little more than a well-armed criminal band that gets its money from running South American cocaine from Africa into Europe, or from arms dealing and human trafficking. [8]
  A year later, in 2007, the enterprising al-Zawahiri added another building block to his Al Qaeda chain of thugs when he officially announced the merger between the Libyan LIFG and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM).
  The LIFG or Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, was formed by a Libyan-born jihadist named Abdelhakim Belhaj. Belhaj was trained by the CIA as part of the US-financed Mujahideen in Afghanistan during the 1980s alongside another CIA trainee then named Osama bin Laden. In essence, as the journalist Pepe Escobar notes, ''for all practical purposes, since then, LIFG/AQIM have been one and the same '' and Belhaj was/is its emir.'' [9]
  That becomes even more interesting when we find that Belhaj's men '' who, as Escobar writes, were at the forefront of a militia of Berbers from the mountains southwest of Tripoli, the so-called Tripoli Brigade'--were trained in secret for two months by US Special Forces. [10]
  LIFG played a key role in the US and French-backed toppling of Libya's Qaddafi, turning Libya today into what one observer describes as the ''world's largest open air arms bazaar.'' Those arms are reportedly flooding from Benghazi to Mali and other various hotspot targets of destabilization, including, according to what was suggested at the recent US Senate Foreign Relations testimony of outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, by the boatload from Libya to Turkey where they were being channeled into the various foreign terrorist insurgents sent into Syria to fuel the destruction of Syria. [11]
  Now what does this unusual conglomerate globalized terror organization, LIFG-GPSC-AQIM intend in Mali and beyond, and how does that suit AFRICOM and French aims?
  Part III: Curious Mali Coup and AQIM terror'--exquisite timingEvents in the formerly peaceful, democratic Mali began to get very strange on March 22, 2012 when Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure was ousted and driven into exile in a military coup one month before a scheduled presidential election. Toure had earlier instituted a multi-party democratic system. The putsch leader, Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, received military training in the US, at Fort Benning, Georgia and the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia according to AFRICOM's spokesman. [12] Sanogo claimed the military coup was necessary because Toure's government was not doing enough to quell Tuareg unrest in northern Mali.
  As Meyssan points out, the March 2012 military coup against Toure was suspicious in every regard. A previously unheard-of group called CNRDRE (in English: National Commitee for the Recovery of Democracy and the Restoration of the State) overthrew Tour(C) and declared intention to restore Mali law and order in the north.
  ''This resulted in great confusion,'' Meyssan goes on, ''since the putschists were incapable of explaining how their actions would improve the situation. The overthrow of the President was even stranger since a presidential election was to be held five weeks later and the outgoing President was not running for office. The CNRDRE is composed of officers who were trained in the United States. They halted the election process and handed power to one of their candidates, who happened to be the Francophile Dioncounda Traore. This sleight of hand was legalized by the CEDEAO (or in English, ECOWAS'--Economic Community of West African States), whose President is none other than Alassane Ouattara, who was placed in power in the Ivory Coast by the French army a year earlier.'' [13]
  Alassane Ouattara, educated in economics in the US, is a former senior IMF official who in 2011 forced out his Ivory Coast presidential rival with French military assistance. He owes his job not to ''the New York Times,'' but to French Special Forces. [14]
  At the time of the military coup, the unrest in question was from an ethnic tribe, Tuareg, a secular, nomadic group of pastoral cattle-herding people who demanded independence from Mali in early 2012.
  The Tuareg Rebellion was reportedly armed and financed by France who repatriated Tuaregs who had been fighting in Libya for the purpose of splitting the north of Mali along Algeria's border, from the rest of the country and declaring Sharia law. It only lasted from January to April 2012, at which time the nomadic Tuareg fighters rode off to their nomad haunts in the central Sahara and borders of the Sahel, a vast borderless desert area between Libya and Algeria, Mali and Niger. That left the Algerian-Libyan LIFG/Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and their associates in the Jihadist Asnar Dine to carry out the dirty work for Paris. [15]
  In their 2012 battle for independence from Mali, the Tuareg had made an unholy alliance with the Jihadist AQIM. Both groups, briefly joined together with Asnar Dine, another islamist organization led by Iyad Ag Ghaly. Asnar Dine is believed to have ties to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb which is led by Ag Ghaly's cousin, Hamada Ag Hama. Ansar Dine wants the imposition of strict Sharia law across Mali.
  The three main groups briefly joined forces the moment Mali was plunged into chaos following the March 2012 military coup. The coup leader was Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo, who received military training at the Marine Corps camp at Quantico, Virginia and Special Forces training at Fort Benning, Georgia in the US. In a bizarre play of events, despite the claim the coup was driven by the civilian government's failure to contain the rebellion in the north, the Malian military lost control of the regional capitals of Kidal, Gao, and Timbuktu within ten days of Sanogo's assuming office. Reuters describe the farcical coup as ''a spectacular own-goal.'' [16]
  The violation of Mali's constitution by the military was used to trigger severe sanctions against the central military government. Mali was suspended from membership in the African Union; the World Bank and African Development Bank have suspended aid. The US has cut half of the $140 million in aid that it sends each year, all of which created chaos in Mali and made it virtually impossible for the government to respond to the growing loss of territory in the north to Salafists.
  Part IV: Terror-Anti-TerrorWhat then ensued is like a page ripped out of the insurgency-counter-insurgency textbook of Britain's Brigadier Frank E. Kitson during the 1950s British Mau Mau operations in Kenya. The Jihadist insurgency in the North and the simultaneous military coup in the capital led to a situation in which Mali was immediately isolated and massively punished with economic sanctions.
  Acting with indecent haste, the US and French-controlled regional 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded the coup leaders restore civilian rule. On March 26, the US cut off all military aid to the impoverished country, ensuring maximum chaos just as the Jihadists made their major push south., Then at a meeting April 2 in Dakar, Senegal, ECOWAS members closed their countries' borders with land-locked Mali and imposed severe sanctions, including cutting off access to the regional bank, raising the possibility that Mali will soon be unable to pay for essential supplies, including gasoline.
  The same military that ''trains'' the terrorists also trains the ''anti-terrorists.'' This seems a bizarre contradiction in policy only when we fail to grasp the essence of US and British-developed methods of irregular warfare employed actively since the early 1950's.
  The method was originally termed Low Intensity Warfare by the British Army officer who developed and refined the method for control of subject areas in Malaysia, Kenya during the Mau Mau 1950's freedom struggles and later for the British Army in Northern Ireland. Low intensity warfare as he termed it in a book by that name, [17] involves use of deception, of infiltration of double-agents, provocateurs, and use of defectors into legitimate popular movements such as those struggles for colonial independence after 1945.
  The method is sometimes referred to as ''Gang/Counter-Gang.'' The essence is that the orchestrating intelligence agency or military occupying force, whether the British Army in Kenya or the CIA in Afghanistan, de facto controls the actions of both sides in an internal conflict, creating small civil wars or gang wars to the aim of dividing the overall legitimate movement and creating the pretext for outside military force in what the US now has deceptively renamed as ''Peace-Keeping Operations'' or PKO. [18]
  In his advanced course on American Military Intervention Since Vietnam, Grant Hammond of the US Air War College refers openly to Low Intensity Conflict aka Peace Keeping Operations as ''war by another name.'' [19]
  We begin to see the bloody footprints of a not-so-well-disguised French recolonisation of former French Africa, this time using Al-Qaeda terror as the springboard to direct military presence for the first time in more than half a century. French troops will likely stay on to help Mali in a ''peace keeping operation.'' The US is fully backing France as AFRICOM's ''cat's paw.'' And Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and its spinoffs make the whole NATO military intervention possible.
  Washington claimed to have been caught blind-sided by the military coup. According to press reports, a confidential internal review completed July 2012 by the Pentagon's Africa Command (AFRICOM) concluded that the coup had unfolded too fast for American intelligence analysts to detect any clear warning signs. ''The coup in Mali progressed very rapidly and with very little warning,'' said AFRICOM spokesman, Col. Tom Davis. ''The spark that ignited it occurred within their junior military ranks, who ultimately overthrew the government, not at the senior leadership level where warning signs might have been more easily noticed.'' [20] That view is strongly disputed. In an off-the-record interview with The New York Times, one Special Operations Forces officer disagreed, saying, ''This has been brewing for five years. The analysts got complacent in their assumptions and did not see the big changes and the impacts of them, like the big weaponry coming out of Libya and the different, more Islamic fighters who came back.'' [21]
  More accurate it seems, AFRICOM had been ''brewing'' the crisis for five years since it began operations in late 2007. Mali for the Pentagon is but the next building block in the militarization of all of Africa by AFRICOM using proxy forces like France to do the dirty work. The Mali intervention using France upfront is but one building block in a project for the total militarization of Africa whose prime goal is not capturing strategic resources like oil, gas, uranium, gold or iron ore. The strategic target is China and the rapidly growing Chinese business presence across Africa over the past decade. The goal of AFRICOM is to push China out of Africa or at least to irreparably cripple her independent access to those African resources. An economically independent China, so goes thinking in various Pentagon offices or Washington neo-conservative think-tanks, can be a politically independent China. God forbid! So they believe.
  Part V: AFRICOM Agenda in Mali: Target ChinaThe Mali operation is but the tip of a huge African iceberg. AFRICOM, the Pentagon's US Africa Command was signed into existence by President George W. Bush in late 2007. Its prime purpose was to counter the dramatically growing Chinese economic and political influence across Africa. Alarm bells went off in Washington in October 2006 when the Chinese President hosted an historic Beijing summit, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which brought nearly fifty African heads of state and ministers to the Chinese capital. In 2008, ahead of a twelve-day eight-nation tour of Africa'--the third such journey since he took office in 2003'--Chinese President Hu Jintao announced a three-year, $3 billion program in preferential loans and expanded aid for Africa. These funds came on top of the $3 billion in loans and $2 billion in export credits that Hu announced earlier.
  Trade between China and African countries exploded in the ensuing four years as French and US influence over the ''Dark Continent'' waned. China's trade with Africa reached $166 billion in 2011, according to Chinese statistics, and African exports to China '' primarily resources to fuel Chinese industries '' rose to $93 billion from $5.6 billion over the past decade. In July 2012 China offered African countries $20 billion in loans over the next three years, double the amount pledged in the previous three-year period. [22]
  For Washington, making AFRICOM operational as soon as possible was an urgent geopolitical priority. It began operation on October 1, 2008 from headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. Since the Bush-Cheney Administration signed the directive creating AFRICOM in February 2007, it has been a direct response to China's successful African economic diplomacy.
  AFRICOM defines its mission as follows: ''Africa Command has administrative responsibility for US military support to US government policy in Africa, to include military-to-military relationships with 53 African nations.'' They admit working closely with US Embassies and State Department across Africa, an unusual admission which also includes with USAID: ''US Africa Command provides personnel and logistical support to State Department-funded activities. Command personnel work closely with US embassies in Africa to coordinate training programs to improve African nations' security capacity.'' [23]
  Speaking to the International Peace Operations Association in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 27, 2008 General Kip Ward, Commander of AFRICOM defined the command's mission as, ''in concert with other US government agencies and international partners, [to conduct] sustained security engagements through military-to-military programs, military-sponsored activities, and other military operations as directed to promote a stable and secure African environment in support of US foreign policy.'' [24]
  Various Washington sources state openly, AFRICOM was created to counter the growing presence of China in Africa, and China's increasing success, to secure long-term economic agreements for raw materials from Africa in exchange for Chinese aid and production sharing agreements and royalties. By informed accounts, the Chinese have been far shrewder. Instead of offering savage IMF-dictated austerity and economic chaos as the West has, China is offering large credits, soft loans to build roads and schools in order to create good will.
  Dr. J. Peter Pham, a leading Washington insider and an advisor of the US State and Defense Departments, states openly that among the aims of the new AFRICOM, is the objective of, ''protecting access to hydrocarbons and other strategic resources which Africa has in abundance '... a task which includes ensuring against the vulnerability of those natural riches and ensuring that no other interested third parties, such as China, India, Japan, or Russia, obtain monopolies or preferential treatment.''
  In testimony before the US Congress supporting creation of AFRICOM in 2007, Pham, who is closely associated with the neo-conservative think-tank, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, stated:
  This natural wealth makes Africa an inviting target for the attentions of the People's Republic of China, whose dynamic economy, averaging 9 percent growth per annum over the last two decades, has an almost insatiable thirst for oil as well as a need for other natural resources to sustain it. China is currently importing approximately 2.6 million barrels of crude per day, about half of its consumption;'...roughly a third of its imports come from African sources'...perhaps no other foreign region rivals Africa as the object of Beijing's sustained strategic interest in recent years'...
  '... many analysts expect that Africa'--especially the states along its oil-rich western coastline'--will increasingly becoming a theatre for strategic competition between the United States and its only real near-peer competitor on the global stage, China, as both countries seek to expand their influence and secure access to resources. [25]
  To counter the growing Chinese influence across Africa Washington has enlisted the economically weak and politically desperate French with promises of supporting a French revival of its former African colonial empire in one form or another. The strategy, as becomes clear in the wake of the French-US use of Al Qaeda terrorists to bring down Ghaddafi in Libya and now to wreak havoc across the Sahara from Mali, is to foster ethnic wars and sectarian hatred between Berbers, Arabs, and others in North Africa'--divide and rule.
  It appears they have even co-opted an earlier French blueprint for direct control. In a groundbreaking analysis, Canadian geopolitical analyst and sociologist, Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya writes, ''The map used by Washington for combating terrorism under the Pan-Sahel Initiative says a lot. The range or area of activity for the terrorists, within the borders of Algeria, Libya, Niger, Chad, Mali, and Mauritania according to Washington's designation, is very similar to the boundaries or borders of the colonial territorial entity which France attempted to sustain in Africa in 1957. Paris had planned to prop up this African entity in the western central Sahara as a French department (province) directly tied to France, along with coastal Algeria.'' [26]
  The French called it the Common Organization of the Saharan Regions (Organisation commune des regions sahariennes, OCRS). It comprised the inner boundaries of the Sahel and Saharan countries of Mali, Niger, Chad, and Algeria. Paris used it to control the resource-rich countries for French exploitation of such raw materials as oil, gas, and uranium.
  French map of Sahara in 1958 compared with USAFRICOM Pan-Sahal Initiative map (below) of terror threat in Sahara today.Source: GlobalResearch.ca)He adds that Washington clearly had this energy-rich and resource-rich area in mind when it drew the areas of Africa that need to be ''cleansed'' of alleged terrorist cells and gangs. At least now AFRICOM had ''a plan'' for its new African strategy. The French Institute of Foreign Relations (Institut fran§ais des relations internationals, IFRI) openly discussed this tie between the terrorists and energy-rich areas in a March 2011 report. [27]
  The map used by Washington for combating terrorism under the Pentagon Pan-Sahel Initiative shows an area of activity for the terrorists, inside Algeria, Libya, Niger, Chad, Mali, and Mauritania according to Washington's designation. The Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative (TSCTI) was begun by the Pentagon in 2005. Mali, Chad, Mauritania, and Niger were now joined by Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, and Tunisia in a ring of military cooperation with the Pentagon. The Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Initiative was transferred to the command of AFRICOM on October 1, 2008. [28]
  The Pentagon map is remarkably similar to the boundaries or borders of the colonial territorial entity which France attempted to sustain in Africa in 1957. Paris had planned to prop up this African entity in the western central Sahara as a French department (province) directly tied to France, along with coastal Algeria'--the Common Organization of the Saharan Regions (Organisation commune des regions sahariennes, OCRS). It comprised the inner boundaries of the Sahel and Saharan countries of Mali, Niger, Chad, and Algeria. The plans were foiled during the Cold War by the Algerian and other African countries' independence wars against French colonial rule, France's ''Vietnam.'' France was forced to dissolve the OCRS in 1962, because of Algerian independence and the anti-colonial mood in Africa. [29] The neo-colonial ambitions in Paris however, did not vanish.
  The French make no secret of their alarm over growing Chinese influence in former French Africa. French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici stated in Abidjan last December that French companies must go on the offensive and fight the growing influence of rival China for a stake in Africa's increasingly competitive markets. ''It's evident that China is more and more present in Africa'...(French) companies that have the means must go on the offensive. They must be more present on the ground. They have to fight,'' Moscovici stated during a trip to Ivory Coast. [30]
  Clearly Paris had in mind a military offensive to back the economic offensive he foresaw for French companies in Africa.
  Notes
Who's Jacky Talking About? '' February 11, 2013
  Link to Article
  Source: Jacky Jasper's Diary of a Hollywood Street King
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:51
  by Jacky Jasper
  She's a singer who once said she's 'got it goin' on', but Minister Louis Farrakhan may not exactly see it that way. That's because her 4-1-1 now features her acting role in throwing the Nation Of Islam leader under the bus in ''Betty and Coretta''. The made for TV Lifetime movie has rubbed many insiders the wrong way, as reports reveal the docudrama is far from being accurate. Don't believe me.. Ask Yolanda King.
  Our blind item's quest to find a Real Love is a search that's said to have included a set of ratchet happenings. We're talking about incidents including our mystery lady's 90'²s smash-encounter with Mike Tyson '' reported to have been consummated on a grimy Big Apple street, just outside of a nightclub. Just ask Puffy.
  It's been almost a decade since she tied the knot with a man being exposed as the Mr. Wrong in her life. That's because he could be leading our blind item to the poor house '' as sources say he recently defaulted on a $2.2 million dollar loan. This news comes shorty after our blind item's ''Family Affair'' charity remains at the center of mishandling funds and cheating scholarship students accusations. Don't believe me.. Ask Steve Stoute.
  To make matter worse '' just last week our blind item reportedly defaulted on a $500,000 loan. Now, she could be facing a second legal battle hatched against her in just three-months.
  Can you guess who I'm talking about?
Homeland Security OKs 'Suspicionless' seizure of electronic devices for any reason; Fourth-Amendment-Free Zone stretches 100 miles inland from border
  Link to Article
  Source: Aftermath News
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:41
  Photo: DeclanTM/Flickr
  DHS Watchdog OKs 'Suspicionless' Seizure of Electronic Devices Along Border
  Wired | Feb 8, 2013
  By David Kravets
  The Department of Homeland Security's civil rights watchdog has concluded that travelers along the nation's borders may have their electronics seized and the contents of those devices examined for any reason whatsoever '-- all in the name of national security.
  The DHS, which secures the nation's border, in 2009 announced that it would conduct a ''Civil Liberties Impact Assessment'' of its suspicionless search-and-seizure policy pertaining to electronic devices ''within 120 days.'' More than three years later, the DHS office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties published a two-page executive summary of its findings.
  ''We also conclude that imposing a requirement that officers have reasonable suspicion in order to conduct a border search of an electronic device would be operationally harmful without concomitant civil rights/civil liberties benefits,'' the executive summary said.
  The memo highlights the friction between today's reality that electronic devices have become virtual extensions of ourselves housing everything from e-mail to instant-message chats to photos and our papers and effects '-- juxtaposed against the government's stated quest for national security.
  The President George W. Bush administration first announced the suspicionless, electronics search rules in 2008. The President Barack Obama administration followed up with virtually the same rules a year later. Between 2008 and 2010, 6,500 persons had their electronic devices searched along the U.S. border, according to DHS data.
  According to legal precedent, the Fourth Amendment '-- the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures '-- does not apply along the border. By the way, the government contends the Fourth-Amendment-Free Zone stretches 100 miles inland from the nation's actual border.
  Civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union suggest that ''reasonable suspicion'' should be the rule, at a minimum, despite that being a lower standard than required by the Fourth Amendment.
  ''There should be a reasonable, articulate reason why the search of our electronic devices could lead to evidence of a crime,'' Catherine Crump, an ACLU staff attorney, said in a telephone interview. ''That's a low threshold.''
  The DHS watchdog's conclusion isn't surprising, as the DHS is taking that position in litigation in which the ACLU is challenging the suspicionless, electronic-device searches and seizures along the nation's borders. But that conclusion nevertheless is alarming considering it came from the DHS civil rights watchdog, which maintains its mission is ''promoting respect for civil rights and civil liberties.''
  ''This is a civil liberties watchdog office. If it is doing its job property, it is supposed to objectively evaluate. It has the power to recommend safeguards to safeguard Americans' rights,'' Crump said. ''The office has not done that and the public has the right to know why.''
  Toward that goal, the ACLU on Friday filed a Freedom of Information Act request demanding to see the full report that the executive summary discusses.
  Meantime, a lawsuit the ACLU brought on the issue concerns a New York man whose laptop was seized along the Canadian border in 2010 and returned 11 days later after his attorney complained.
  At an Amtrak inspection point, Pascal Abidor showed his U.S. passport to a federal agent. He was ordered to move to the cafe car, where they removed his laptop from his luggage and ''ordered Mr. Abidor to enter his password,'' according to the lawsuit.
  Agents asked him about pictures they found on his laptop, which included Hamas and Hezbollah rallies. He explained that he was earning a doctoral degree at a Canadian university on the topic of the modern history of Shiites in Lebanon.
  He was handcuffed and then jailed for three hours while the authorities looked through his computer while numerous agents questioned him, according to the suit, which is pending in New York federal court.
  Like this:Be the first to like this.
Osama bin Laden's Killer Speaks Out: 'I Watched Him Take His Last Breaths'
  Link to Article
  Source: Radar Online
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:39
  The Navy SEAL who killed the most wanted man in the world has broken his silence to reveal details on both the deadly secret raid that changed history and the tragic aftermath in his own personal life.
  Known only as 'The Shooter' in the groundbreaking interview for Esquire magazine with journalist Phil Bronstein, executive chairman of the Center for Investigative Reporting, the secret operative from SEAL Team 6 is clearly still affected by his mission as he recalled the story from the safety of his backyard.
  PHOTOS: Bin Laden's Death Celebrations At The White House
  After hundreds of combat missions, 12 long-term SEAL-team deployments and 30 kills, the sniper was a logical choice for the job of taking down, Osama bin Laden, the man CIA director Leon Panetta called ''the most infamous terrorist in our time.''
  ''I'm not religious, but I always felt I was put on the earth to do something specific. After that mission, I knew what it was,'' revealed the marksman who was the last person to see bin Ladin alive.
  PHOTOS: Bin Ladens Death Celebrations At Ground Zero
  He was put in the position to fulfill that calling by the female CIA operative who is portrayed by Jessica Chastain in the Oscar-nominated drama, Zero Dark Thirty. ''We got him. This is him. This is my life's work. I'm positive,'' she told the team after they had embarked from Virginia on April 10, 2011, and faced the reality that they may end up either dead or in a Pakistani prison.
  Their journey culminated in a helicopter ride from Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan to Pakistan's Abbottabad and finally to the third-floor bedroom where the surprisingly tall and lean terrorist was hiding.
  According to SEALs insiders, The Shooter was the ''number two'' behind the raid's point man going up the stairs to bin Laden's third-floor residence, and then rolled through the bedroom door solo and confronted bin Laden as he pushed his youngest wife, Amal, in front of him through the dark.
  PHOTOS: Politicians Aging Through The Years
  ''And he's moving forward. I don't know if she's got a (suicide) vest and she's being pushed to martyr them both,'' he recalled. ''He's got a gun within reach. He's a threat. I need to get a head shot so he won't have a chance to clack himself off (blow himself up).
  ''In that second, I shot him, two times in the forehead. Bap! Bap! The second time as he's going down. He crumpled onto the floor in front of his bed and I hit him again, Bap! Same place,'' revealed the SEAL.
  PHOTOS: Jessica Chastain Strips Down For British GQ
  ''That time I used my EOTech red-dot holo sight. He was dead. Not moving. His tongue was out. I watched him take his last breaths, just a reflex breath.''
  Once the initial shock of the kill wore off, the Shooter looked around the room while his colleagues cleared out computers and spotted what at first he thought was vacuum-sealed food, but on closer inspection realized it was raw opium. ''These drugs are everywhere. It was pretty funny to see that,'' he revealed.
  PHOTOS: House Where Osama Bin Laden Was Killed
  Upon returning to base, he handed the magazine from this rifle '' minus three bullets '' to the female CIA agent brought to infamy in director Kathryn Bigelow's blockbuster. ''I hope you have room in your backpack for this,''' he told her as he handed over the gun with 27 bullets left in it. ''That was the last time I saw her.''
  As expected, Hollywood took creative license retelling the daring story, including that the raid took much longer on the big screen than it did in real life '' when it was over in 15 seconds.
  PHOTOS & VIDEO: Americans Celebrate bin Laden's Death
  Now The Shooter and his teammates are suffering from the devastating aftermath of their actions, which includes psychological trauma and a surprising lack of support after leaving the force.
  ''I've seen a lot of combat, been in some pretty grisly circumstances. But the thing that scares me the most after fifteen years in the SEALs? Civilian life.'' The Shooter, who was offered a place in the witness protection program, told Bronstein.
  ''They [SEAL command] told me they could get me a job driving a beer truck in Milwaukee,'' he said, but declined because he didn't want to leave his loved ones. ''We'd lose everything.''
  PHOTOS: Celebrations At Ground Zero
  Sadly, his marriage may already be lost as although they still live together for financial reasons, The Shooter and his wife are separated, and she has grown to live with the fact that ''my family is always going to be at risk.''
  He has also lost his health insurance, as he bitterly told the San Francisco news veteran, ''I left SEALs on Friday. My health care for me and my family stopped at midnight Friday night. I asked if there was some transition from my Tricare to Blue Cross Blue Shield. They said no.
  PHOTOS: President Obama Through The Years
  '''You're out of the service, your coverage is over. Thanks for your sixteen years. Go f**k yourself.'''
  On May 1, 2012 '' the first anniversary of the infamous raid, the now retired sniper was watching CNN while getting ready to go play with his kids at a water park.
  PHOTOS: Stars Who Died In Bizarre Ways
  ''They were saying, 'So now we're taking viewer e-mails. Do you remember where you were when you found out Osama bin Laden was dead?' And I was thinking: Of course I remember. I was in his bedroom looking down at his body.''
  The full interview between the Shooter and Phil Bronstein is in the March issue of Esquire, or at Esquire.com.
'The 55th Annual Grammy Awards' Scores 28.37 Million Viewers -- Second Largest Audience Since 1993
  Link to Article
  Source: TVbytheNumbers
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:37
  via press release:
  "THE 55TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS" SCORES 28.37 MILLION VIEWERS--SECOND LARGEST AUDIENCE SINCE 1993
  Award Broadcast Posts Second Highest Adult 25-54 and Adults 18-49 Ratings Since 2004
  Grammy's Set New Awards Show Social TV Record with 18.7 Million Social Media Comments
  THE 55TH ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS delivered 28.37 million viewers'--the second largest audience for the awards broadcast since 1993, according to Nielsen updated preliminary live plus same day ratings for Sunday, February 10.
  From 8:00-11:30PM, THE GRAMMY AWARDS (S) posted a 15.9/25 with 28.37m viewers, 11.2 in adults 25-54, 10.1 in adults 18-49 and 9.3 in adults 18-34.
  This is the GRAMMY's second best delivery in viewers since 1993 and second best delivery in both adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 since 2004 (all behind 2012's broadcast).
  Compared to the 2011 ceremony (on February 13, 2011), CBS was up +7% in households (from 14.8/25), +4% in adults 25-54 (from 10.8/26), +1% in adults 18-49 (from 10.0/27) and added +1.70m viewers (from 26.67m, +6%).
  THE 55th ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS® also set a new social TV record for an award show with more than 18.7 million social media comments, second only to the 2013 Super Bowl, and topping the social TV record it set last year by +44%. (Source: Bluefin).
Bombshell Benghazi Expose Details Obama's Illegal Secret War'... - The Ulsterman Report
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:26
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Graham to Block Brennan and Hagel Confirmations Without Full White House Disclosure on Benghazi
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:20
  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.
NBC Recalls Pope Being 'God's Rottweiler'; Highlights Church Sex Abuse Scandal
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:04
  On the day Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would be stepping down from the Papacy, NBC's Monday Today featured a report by correspondent Michelle Kosinski, who offered these highlights of the Pontiff's tenure: "As a Cardinal, some criticized him for being strict and conservative, calling him, 'God's Rottweiler.' Becoming Pope meant he had to take on the Church's sexual abuse scandal that reverberated throughout America and Europe, and for which he apologized."
  Read the full story posted at NewsBusters.org.
Puppet Oversight '-- Curiosity Satisfied
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:03
  As many are probably aware, the current administration's use of drone attacks is under scrutiny. You've probably learned here and through various media outlets that there is no oversight and very minimal criteria to satisfy before authorizing a strike. You may or may not be aware that there have been numerous non-militant casualties as a result of these strikes. Ex-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently stated he supports oversight of drone strikes by a court of federal judges. I'm just curious, will these courts function as the FISA courts do? That is, they approve everything that comes across their desk (with the exception of one instance for the FISA court I believe)? Will the public and law makers not be allowed to see the evidence used to form the courts decision as is the case with the FISA court? Just in case anybody has forgotten, federal judges are appointed by the very branch of government that will be requesting the use of drones. Is there not a conflict of interest there? The excuse of national security is being abused far too often in this country now. We have had evidence withheld in court cases and investigations of civilian casualties for the sake of "national security". We have special courts that exist to review sensitive information in the interest of "national security". There have been cases where defendants could not even review evidence against them due to "national security". We have had years of drone policy (and Lord knows what else) with the details and policies withheld due to "national security". We may now have secret courts created to provide sealed, non-published rulings on the continued use of drone strikes against alleged enemies. Is it so far fetched to believe that an individual could be deemed an enemy, with little or fabricated evidence presented against them, and then killed?
VIDEO-Unpretentiousil - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:56
State of the Union - Clusterfuck Nation
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:54
  The fog of chatter about Federal Reserve money-printing shenanigans, currency wars, fiscal intransigence, exchange rates, and alphabetized rescue operations conceals the central reality of the historical moment: that all industrial economies now face epic contraction, even rip-roaring China in its absurd and spectacular bid to become the latest drive-in utopia. The so-called advanced nations of the world are all sliding toward something less than they wish to be, and the so-called developing nations will backslide further into poverty and anarchy where development will never happen. The implacable contraction underway is the simple result of growing scarcity of cheap oil, the master resource. Thus, in a world where fantasy has replaced analysis, the propaganda channels brim with false news of America's coming "energy independence" and the rebirth of domestic manufacturing, the coming electric car fleet, and space tourism. There is also chatter among the paranoid that an imagined elite has deliberately engineered American collapse for fun and profit, with sideshows about the Department of Homeland Security promoting social upheaval in order to make a show of putting it down. This is all bullshit concealing the futile machinations of people so unfortunate as to hold political office in an unraveling they can't control. Where control is no longer possible, paranoid fantasies fill the vacuum of wishing for control. One thing you can be sure of: the current sociopolitical weather will change. A front will blow through and sweep the fog away. So many circles of hazard are spinning around events that some fast-turning object will come off its axis and start smashing all the fantasies. When that happens, it will be every community for itself, and where there are no real communities -- for instance, the vast matrix of suburban noplaces that America emergently composed itself out of in a tragic quest to become its own televised fantasy -- we'll discover the dark side of the "liberty" that so-called conservatives endlessly invoke, in all its screaming eagle iconography. Not since the Civil War (1861 - 65) has anything bad of this scale happened within the United States itself and the public is unprepared despite our total immersion in the on-screen ersatz heroics of avatars such as Dwayne Johnson. The terrible convulsion of the 1860s was preceded by a political time much like ours is now, with figures (calling them leaders is inaccurate) of no conviction backpedaling furiously toward strife. Remember these things if you tune in to watch President Obama move his lips on Tuesday amid the incessant applause in the House chamber. He'll speak the words "climate change" and the hall will rock with thunderous handclapping -- but it won't mean anything because both the president and the people have no intention of changing the way we live. Mr. Obama will cheerlead for economic growth and he will be talking out of his ass. It's the nature of this contraction that economic growth is absent. You can have plenty of economic activity -- especially if you re-form (literally) the systems we depend on, such as farming, commerce, medicine, and transportation -- but it won't be expressed favorably in the GDP stats or the balance sheets of CitiGroup and Morgan Stanley. At the core of this contraction is the disappearing act of real capital -- that is, accumulated wealth -- for the excellent reason that we are squandering what remains of it in the futile effort to keep living the way we do. But it will be vanishing fast, contrary to the view of such fantasists as David Leonhardt, Washington bureau chief of The New York Times -- catch him on the current Slate Political Gabfest -- who thinks that the Growth Fairy is about to land on the south lawn of the White House. The State of the Union Address is happening in a peculiar quiet moment when all the financial brushfires of the time have been reduced temporarily to a smolder that conceals the full involvement of the roots under the surface. Our economic system is burning down. Nobody wants to talk about the system that will have to replace it, which I call a world made by hand. The fortunate few will be those who have already established themselves in an authentic community of helping hands, who have some tools -- and I don't mean Adobe Photoshop or the latest iPhone app -- and laid in some bits of silver and gold. ____________________________________
VIDEO-Washington Post's Cillizza Confesses: 'I Can't Get Enough of Hillary Clinton' | MRCTV
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:46
  Filling in for host Chuck Todd on Friday's MSNBC Daily Rundown, The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza gushed over the popularity of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: "Hillary Clinton is just day's removed from public office, but a new poll finds her public image soaring. Time to put another log on the 2016 speculation fire....Look, I can't get enough of Hillary Clinton, I'll just admit it. I'm just fascinated by the story."
  Read the full story posted at NewsBusters.org.
Map Shows Where 220mph Trains Would Go in the U.S.
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:44
  What's This?
  Charlie White2013-02-10 22:14:07 UTCWhether a high-speed rail system ever gets built in the United States is still up in the air, but if it is, artist and activist Alfred Twu has figured out exactly where those speedy rail lines should go.
  Twu started working on this map in 2009, when President Obama's plan to build high-speed rail was unveiled. "There were many such maps being made by various designers," says Twu, but since then he's updated the map with labels and put it on Facebook, and it struck a chord. It's gone viral.
  "With the huge response it's generated, I created a petition to the White House to fund such a system," he told Mashable. After just a week, that White House petition already has 27,528 signatures.
  Twu's not just guessing where those routes should be, either.
  Twu's not just guessing where those routes should be, either. "The routes are based on various studies by government agencies and advocacy groups," he explains.
  We like the map's colors and its overall design, into which Twu put a lot of thought. "Some artistic license was applied to make it more elegant and have it be a series of distinct lines like a subway map," he says. "Colors were selected to convey the idea of the U.S. being made up of several interwoven regional cultures that come together at major cities '-- like an internal melting pot."
  Trains zipping across the continent at 220mph might sound like a far-fetched futuristic concept, but Twu thinks this project could be built out much like the Interstate Highway System was built in the 50s, he says. "I've seen 2030 and 2050 as potential dates from various advocacy groups," Twu added.
  As you look at the map, you'll see that Twu included unshaded routes, which he says were "purposely left open to interpretation." He says the general idea of adding those routes would be that they would handle "lower-speed trains, as well as potential future high-speed routes."
  But certainly there's not enough money to do something like this, given the economic situation in the United States at the moment, right? Tsu says cost estimates for a high-speed rail system like this range from $1-$2 trillion. Geez, that's a lot of money. He responded, "Sounds like a lot, but divided over four decades, that is around $25-$50 billion a year or 80-160 dollars a year per person. That's one tank's worth of gas money."
  To get a closer look at the map, view or download this .PDF file.
  What do you think, readers? Will this speedy rail system be going near your house? Should the United States catch up with the rest of the developed world and build the system, or should budget constraints keep us from spending money on this futuristic conveyance?
  Bonus gallery: Here's a design concept showing how those high-speed trains might work:
  Graphics courtesy of Alfred Twu
  Topics: Facebook, future tech, Gadgets, High-Speed Rail, Politics, Tech, U.S.
IBM Watson providing superior cancer treatment plans and will accelerate the adoption of new cancer research
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:19
  Tweet The IBM Watson system gained fame by beating human contestants on the television quiz show Jeopardy! almost two years ago. Since that time, Watson has evolved from a first-of-a-kind status, to a commercial cognitive computing system gaining a 240 percent improvement in system performance, and a reduction in the system's physical requirements by 75 percent and can now be run on a single Power 750 server.IBM Watson trained in medicine to leverage 1.5 million patient records and 2 million pages of cancer research
  IBM Watson has ingested more than 600,000 pieces of medical evidence, two million pages of text from 42 medical journals and clinical trials in the area of oncology research. Watson has the power to sift through 1.5 million patient records representing decades of cancer treatment history, such as medical records and patient outcomes, and provide to physicians evidence based treatment options all in a matter of seconds.
  In less than a year, Memorial Sloan-Kettering has immersed Watson in the complexities of cancer and the explosion of genetic research which has set the stage for changing care practices for many cancer patients with highly specialized treatments based on their personal genetic tumor type.
  Starting with 1,500 lung cancer cases, Memorial Sloan-Kettering clinicians and analysts are training Watson to extract and interpret physician notes, lab results and clinical research, while sharing its profound expertise and experiences in treating hundreds of thousands of patients with cancer.
  ''It can take years for the latest developments in oncology to reach all practice settings. The combination of transformational technologies found in Watson with our cancer analytics and decision-making process has the potential to revolutionize the accessibility of information for the treatment of cancer in communities across the country and around the world,'' said Craig B.Thompson, M.D., President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. ''Ultimately, we expect this comprehensive, evidence-based approach will profoundly enhance cancer care by accelerating the dissemination of practice-changing research at an unprecedented pace.''
  IBM, Memorial Sloan-Kettering and WellPoint are introducing the first commercially based products based on Watson. These innovations represent a breakthrough in how medical professionals can apply advances in analytics and natural language processing to "big data," combined with the clinical knowledge base, including genomic data, in order to create evidence based decision support systems. These Watson-based systems are designed to assist doctors, researchers, medical centers, and insurance carriers, and ultimately enhance the quality and speed of care.
  The new products include the Interactive Care Insights for Oncology, powered by Watson, in collaboration with IBM, Memorial Sloan-Kettering and WellPoint. The WellPoint Interactive Care Guide and Interactive Care Reviewer, powered by Watson, designed for utilization management in collaboration with WellPoint and IBM.
  New Interactive Care Insights for OncologyThe cognitive systems use insights gleaned from the deep experience of Memorial Sloan-Kettering clinicians to provide individualized treatment options based on patient's medical information and the synthesis of a vast array of updated and vetted treatment guidelines, and published research.
  A first of-its-kind Watson-based advisor, available through the cloud, that is expected to assist medical professionals and researchers by helping to identify individualized treatment options for patients with cancer, starting with lung cancer.
  Provides users with a detailed record of the data and information used to reach the treatment options.Oncologists located anywhere can remotely access detailed treatment options based on updated research that will help them decide how best to care for an individual patient.
  New WellPoint Interactive Care Guide and Interactive Care Reviewer
  Delivers the first Watson-based cognitive computing system anticipated to streamline the review processes between a patient's physician and their health plan, potentially speeding approvals from utilization management professionals, reducing waste and helping ensure evidence-based care is provided.
  Expected to accelerate accepted testing and treatment by shortening pre-authorization approval time, which means that patients are moving forward with the first crucial step toward treatment more quickly.
  Analyzes treatment requests and matches them to WellPoint's medical policies and clinical guidelines to present consistent, evidence-based responses for clinical staff to review, in the anticipation of providing faster, better informed decisions about a patient's care.
  WellPoint has deployed Interactive Care Reviewer to a select number of providers in the Midwest, and believes more than 1,600 providers will be using the product by the end of the year.
  If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks
VIDEO- TROLL PATROL-Russia Today - UKIP Nigel Farage, EU no better than a banana republic- Feb, 2013 - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:12
AP News: Watson's medical expertise offered commercially
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:06
  WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - Dr. Watson is accepting new patients.
  The Watson supercomputer is graduating from its medical residency and is being offered commercially to doctors and health insurance companies, IBM said Friday.
  IBM Corp., the health insurer WellPoint Inc. and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center announced two Watson-based applications - one to help assess treatments for lung cancer and one to help manage health insurance decisions and claims.
  Both applications take advantage of the speed, huge database and language skill the computer demonstrated in defeating the best human "Jeopardy!" players on television two years ago.
  Armonk-based IBM said Watson has improved its performance by 240 percent since the "Jeopardy!" win.
  In both applications, doctors or insurance company workers will access Watson through a tablet or computer. Watson will quickly compare a patient's medical records to what it has learned and make several recommendations in decreasing order of confidence.
  In the cancer program, the computer will be considering what treatment is most likely to succeed. Full Story
Ali Hajimiri's Chip May Allow Smartphones to See Through Objects - Businessweek
  Link to Article
  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:41
  In the comics, Superman converts the energy from the sun's rays into X-rays that give him the ability to see through solid objects. In a few years, a similar power may be available to anyone with a smartphone.
  Ali Hajimiri, a professor of electrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, has created a chip capable of producing terahertz waves'--radiation that can penetrate materials such as plastic and wood without the side effects associated with X-rays. When connected with a computer or mobile device, the 0.1 inch-wide silicon chip could help doctors locate skin cancer noninvasively and speed up passenger scans at airport security lines.
  So-called T-rays have been used mostly in experiments in medical and dental imaging. Typically, the rays are created with bulky, expensive machines, which ''see'' using a single large beam that can image only a narrow area. Hajimiri, working with postdoctoral researcher Kaushik Sengupta, got thousands of tiny transistors to operate in concert, producing terahertz waves from a smaller package.
  ''Imagine if you have an army of ants, where you can individually control what each ant does,'' Hajimiri says. ''It's more versatile than an elephant. You can program them to do different things.'' In his design, the transistors work in unison, increasing the chip's range of view so it could, for example, image the contents of a cardboard box.
  Hajimiri came up with the idea about four years ago, after observing that the transistors on chips were getting smaller and weaker but also extremely inexpensive to produce. ''Everybody is complaining that you can't do anything because the transistors are becoming so puny,'' he says. ''That's true, but I have something that works to my advantage: I have practically an unlimited amount of transistors,'' which allows the chip to produce a stronger signal that's easier to control.
  The technology has ''potential opportunities in a wide range of applications,'' says Jim McGregor, the founder of Tirias Research, which follows the chip industry. Installed in a smartphone, the chip could be used to quickly scan packages at a post office for security threats or to find art hidden behind the paint on the walls of historic buildings. Unlike X-rays, which have such high energy they can change the chemistry of objects they enter, T-rays are relatively harmless, Hajimiri says. The chip's functionality comes with a price, however. If people can see through walls, McGregor warns, ''there's going to be a whole bunch of red flags thrown up by people around privacy issues.''
  Hajimiri, who in 2002 also founded and subsequently sold a company that manufactures chip components, Axiom Microdevices, is in talks with several chip companies about commercializing his invention. His design is so simple that it won't require new production facilities or techniques, he says. And if the device goes into mass production, he adds, it could cost as little as a dollar.
  Previous ventureSold his chip component company in 2009
  T-ray chipCould be used for cancer screening or airport security
  Next stepIn discussions with manufacturers to build and sell the chips
Pope resigns, saying no longer has strength to fulfill ministry | Reuters
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  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:28
  TweetShare thisEmailPrintPope Benedict XVI waves during a mass conducted by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, for the 900th anniversary of the Order of the Knights of Malta at the St. Peter Basilica in Vatican February 9, 2013.
  Credit: Reuters/Alessandro Bianchi
  ROME | Mon Feb 11, 2013 6:28am EST
  ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict said on Monday he will resign on Feb 28 because he no longer has the strength to fulfill the duties of his office, becoming the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to take such a step.
  The 85-year-old pope said he had noticed that his strength had deteriorated over recent months "to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me".
  "For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter," he said according to a statement from the Vatican.
  A Vatican spokesman said the pontiff would step down from 1900 GMT on February 28, leaving the office vacant until a successor is chosen.
  (Reporting by Steve Scherer; editing by Janet McBride)
  Tweet thisLink thisShare thisDigg thisEmailReprintsComments (2)
  First pope to resign since the early 1400'²s and not many did so before that one.
  Seems like an ethical and sane decision to pass the hat to someone else.
US To Use Drones In Chris Dorner Manhunt | Zero Hedge
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  Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:16
  Update: this just in - Authorities offer $1 million reward for information leading to arrest of ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner
  We were hoping to evade coverage of the latest mass distraction du jour, that of the former LAPD officer Chris Dorner who recently went rogue following a three man murder spree and who has vowed to kill again as per his 6,000 word manifesto, but the US government had made it impossible following confirmationthat the search for Dorner is now the first official drone-hunt in US history.
  The Express reports:
  Yesterday, as a task force of 125 officers, some riding Snowcats in the rugged terrain, continued their search, it was revealed that Dorner has become the first human target for remotely-controlled airborne drones on US soil.
  A senior police source said: ''The thermal imaging cameras the drones use may be our only hope of finding him. On the ground, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack.''
  Asked directly if drones have already been deployed, Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz, who is jointly leading the task force, said: ''We are using all the tools at our disposal.''
  The use of drones was later confirmed by Customs and Border Patrol spokesman Ralph DeSio, who revealed agents have been prepared for Dorner to make a dash for the Mexican border since his rampage began.
  He said: ''This agency has been at the forefront of domestic use of drones by law enforcement. That's all I can say at the moment.''
  And once Dorner is found by remote-control, it will be again up to drones to secure his "elimination." If for no other reason than to perform a ground test of just how the recently enacted drone-facilitated extermination of US citizens sits with various instances of the US judicial system.
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