What Adam Curry is reading

Police Confirm Christopher Dorner Shot Himself In The Head
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  Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:49
Jenner & Block | Mary Ellen Callahan
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  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:13
  Mary Ellen Callahan is a nationally recognized privacy attorney, with an extensive background in consumer protection law. As the longest-serving former Chief Privacy Officer of the United States Department of Homeland Security '' the first statutorily mandated privacy office in any federal agency '' Ms. Callahan has a unique and broad knowledge of and experience with the interface of the protection of privacy, civil rights and civil liberties with cybersecurity and national security issues. During her tenure at the Department of Homeland Security, Ms. Callahan also served as Chief Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer, responsible for centralizing both FOIA and Privacy Act operations to provide policy and programmatic oversight and support implementation across the Department. Ms. Callahan is the founder and Chair of Jenner & Block's Privacy and Information Governance Practice.
  Ms. Callahan has been recognized by Chambers USA with a ''Band One'' Nationwide ranking, Chambers' highest ranking, in privacy and data security and by Legal 500 as a ''Leading Lawyer'' in technology: data protection and privacy. In 2011, she received the select Federal 100 Award, which recognizes individuals in government and industry who have played pivotal roles in the federal government information systems community. Ms. Callahan's work on integrating cybersecurity, transparency and privacy at the Department of Homeland Security was cited as the reason for her Federal 100 recognition. She is a prolific writer and speaker on privacy issues, including having testified before Congressional Committees numerous times in her capacity as Department of Homeland Security Chief Privacy/Chief FOIA Officer. Ms. Callahan has served as Vice-Chair of the American Bar Association's Privacy and Information Security Committee of the Antitrust Division; Co-chair of the Privacy Committee of the CIO Council, the principal interagency forum for improving agency practices related to the design, acquisition, development, modernization, use, sharing, and performance of Federal information resources; and Co-chair of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Subcommittee of the Information Sharing and Access Interagency Policy Committee.
  Prior to joining the Department of Homeland Security in 2009, as a partner in the DC office of an international law firm, Ms. Callahan focused on privacy, security, data protection, consumer protection, e-commerce, antitrust and competition issues across a wide variety of industries including retail, technology, entertainment, financial services, health care, telecommunications and government contracts. She advised businesses, including multinational companies, on a variety of privacy and information governance issues, including privacy and security policies; performed audits of clients' privacy and security policies as related to relevant state and federal legislation and created and implemented requisite compliance strategies and programs; and drafted website privacy policies and terms of use. Ms. Callahan is also experienced as a litigator and has represented clients before federal administrative agencies, in federal and state courts in the District of Columbia and in federal courts in Virginia and New York.
  Prior to law school, Ms. Callahan worked at the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress as part of the Special Task Force on the Development of Parliamentary Institutions in Eastern Europe.
'Biggest Climate Rally In History' In D.C. Today
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  Source: Crooks and Liars
  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 14:50
  Livestreaming here.
  Frances Beinecke:
  The National Resources Defense Council, 350.org and Sierra Club are hosting the biggest climate rally in history this Sunday in Washington, D.C.. We expect tens of thousands of people to join us in calling for immediate climate action. I urge you to add your voice to the growing chorus.
  The time is right for this rally.
  President Obama underscored his commitment to fighting climate change in both his Inaugural Address and his State of the Union Address. Now he has two critical opportunities to turn those words into deeds. We want him to know that when he takes these bold actions to stabilize the climate, the American people will support him every step of the way.
Hilarious Velveeta "HAM Radio Guy" ad
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  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 14:49
NC GOPer: Slap A Little Duct Tape on Your Nipples!
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  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 14:44
  North Carolina has a new bill that will make it a felony for a woman to expose her nipple or areola.
  But not to worry! If you're concerned that your summer camisole might slip and propel you into prison, Republican state Rep. Tim Moore says wimmenz can protect themselves from a life of crime by slapping a little duct tape on the business end of their womanly feed bags.
  The state House Judiciary Committee C approved House Bill 34, which makes it a Class H felony to purposefully expose "private parts" for the "purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire."
  The bill expands the state's definition of "private parts" to include a woman's "nipple, or any portion of the areola."
  Democratic state Rep. Annie Mobley said she worried that women wearing "questionable fashions'' could be prosecuted under the new rules.
  But Committee Chairwoman Rep. Sarah Steven (R) suggested that women could use pasties or nipple coverings just to be safe.
  ''They'd be good to go'' with nipple coverings, Stevens said.
  "You know what they say, duct tape fixes everything," Republican state Rep. Tim Moore agreed.
  Republican state Rep. Rayne Brown told lawmakers that she was co-sponsoring the bill because activists had held a topless women's rights rally in Asheville last summer, where as many as a dozen women bared their breasts (NSFW video here).
  Although Brown's district is 100 miles from Asheville, she felt it was important to act before women tried to assert their rights again by going topless at another rally.
  ''You've got local governments passing ordinances to protect themselves from just this thing,'' she explained. ''These folks don't need to be doing that, but they do it because they're not sure about the law."
  Under the proposed law, women could spend up to six months in jail for a first offense. "Incidental" nipple exposure by breastfeeding mothers would be exempt from the law.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper to name Canada's first religious freedom ambassador
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  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:59
  Prime Minister Stephen Harper to name Canada's first religious freedom ambassador
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  Lee Berthiaume, Postmedia NewsSaturday, Feb. 16, 2013
  Prime Minister Stephen Harper will unveil the government's long-awaited Office of Religious Freedom on Tuesday. Grant Black / Postmedia News Files
  Prime Minister Stephen Harper will unveil the government's long-awaited Office of Religious Freedom and name Canada's first religious freedom ambassador at a Toronto-area Ahmadiyya Muslim community centre on Tuesday.
  The announcement at Tahir Hall in the Toronto suburb of Vaughan will fulfil a two-year-old promise that has seen its fair share of controversy since it was first proposed during the 2011 federal election.
  The government has pointed to a growing body of literature linking religious freedom with democratic rights and societal well-being to justify making the safeguarding of religious minorities abroad a key tenet of Canadian foreign policy.
  But critics have worried about the government picking and choosing which religions the $20-million office defends, and using the institution as a tool for domestic political gain.
  The government has not officially confirmed the prime minister's presence at Tahir Hall, which was opened by the minority Ahmadiyya Muslim community last July and can hold 800 people.
  Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird's spokesman Rick Roth would only say the office ''is a priority for our government, and is a part of our principled foreign policy.''
  However, numerous organizations have confirmed receiving invitations to the prime minister's event, which was first reported by Ottawa-based foreign policy newspaper Embassy.
  Those interviewed expressed cautious excitement about the religious freedom office's official launch.
  They say the need to protect religious minorities and freedom is as critical now as when the government promised the initiative two years ago.
  But the fact the office has taken so long to come together, and that the details remain largely unknown, provides reason enough to temper expectations.
  ''We will have to see what happens with the office and what the mandate is,'' said Gerald Filson of the Baha'i Community of Canada. ''We haven't seen the mandate and we don't know who the ambassador is.''
  The ambassador's identity could be a key indicator of how the Harper government sees the office functioning, which may explain reports it had a hard time finding someone to take the position.
  ''It's probably a difficult appointment, a delicate appointment,'' Filson said. ''Anything to do with religion is delicate. It's a very tough appointment.''
  Similarly, it remains unclear exactly what the office will do, or how it will fit into Canada's dealings with the rest of the world.
  ''The potential (for the office) is great,'' said Kathryn White, executive director of the United Nations Association of Canada. ''But there remain lots of potential pitfalls in terms of how the office actually conducts its mandate.''
  The Conservative government has said it is planning to spend $5 million a year on the initiative over the next four years.
  Documents obtained through access to information show $500,000 will go to the office; where the rest will go is unclear.
  The government does plan to include Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Canadian foreign aid agency, CIDA, in the initiative.
  This implies visas or refugee settlement as well as money to individuals and community organizations representing religious groups enduring discrimination.
  There is precedent for such an office; in 1998, the U.S. administration of President Bill Clinton signed off on a similar initiative, which had been unanimously approved by Congress after nearly two years of fractious debate.
  But while boasting successes, the U.S. effort has been accused of bias against Muslims, championing Christianity, and using taxpayer dollars to pursue pet projects.
  Similar concerns have been raised over the past two years as the Harper government has moved to create a Canadian office.
  Some Muslim groups have complained they were excluded from consultations, while a recent study found a surge in the amount of Canadian foreign aid money channeled through religious groups, many of them Christian.
  The government has also defended its decision to channel foreign aid money through an evangelical group, Crossroads Christian Communications, that posted anti-gay messages to its website.
  NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar noted the government discussed the office with international religious leaders, such as leaders of the Coptic Orthodox church, that boast a large number of members in key ridings across Canada.
  However, the government refused to meet with international human rights groups.
  Dewar said this raises concerns the office will simply be an extension of the Harper government's ongoing effort to court certain ethnic groups.
  ''There is nothing wrong with the issue of promotion of religious freedom,'' Dewar said. ''But this seems to be more about domestic politics than about international affairs.''
  Posted in:News Tags:Canadian Politics, Canada, Religious Freedom And Discrimination, Stephen Harper
Internet surveillance bill scrapped, new law to be unveiled
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  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:58
  The Canadian PressPublished Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 4:48PM ESTLast Updated Monday, Feb. 11, 2013 10:50PM EST
  OTTAWA -- The Conservative government is scrapping its controversial and much-maligned Internet surveillance bill in favour of modest changes to Canada's warrantless wiretap law.
  Justice Minister Rob Nicholson says Bill C-30, the so-called Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act, will not go ahead.
  The law, which sparked a public outcry when it was first introduced, had been sought by police who said they needed it to go after child pornography, but it quickly met stiff resistance from privacy and civil liberties advocates.
  The legislation would have forced Internet service providers to maintain systems that allowed police to intercept and track online communications.
  "We will not be proceeding with Bill C-30, and any attempts we will have to modernize the Criminal Code will not contain the measures in C-30 -- including the warrantless mandatory disclosure of basic subscriber information, or the requirement for telecommunications service providers to build intercept capabilities within their systems," Nicholson said.
  "Any modernization of the Criminal Code ... will not contain those."
  Nicholson said the government was responding to Canadians "who have been very clear on this."
  Public Safety Minister Vic Toews set off a public firestorm last year when he told parliamentarians they could either stand with the government on Bill C-30 or stand with child pornographers.
  The comment infuriated a wide cross-section of opponents, including many small-c conservative libertarians who opposed what they called Big Brother oversight in the legislation.
  The government will instead take one small element of the legislation and create a new law that will address Supreme Court concerns over the use of police wiretaps without a warrant, Nicholson said.
  Another piece of legislation, Bill C-12, remains before Parliament. It would make it easier for Internet service providers, email hosts and social media sites to voluntarily share personal information about customers with authorities, possibly including private security firms.
  The changes announced Monday, however, will nonetheless ensure police will once again be able to tap people's phones without a warrant in cases of emergency or imminent harm.
  Nicholson said under the new rules, anyone whose communications have been intercepted in situations of imminent harm must be notified by police within 90 days.
  There will also be an annual report compiled on the use of imminent harm wiretaps, and only police -- and not other peace officers -- will be able to use them.
  The government's proposals fall in line with recommendations from the Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously that warrantless wiretaps would constitute a breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
  The high court gave the government a year to come up with changes to address its concerns.
Russia Puts Nuclear Bombers On High Alert Over American UFO Attack
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  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:56
  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 16, 2013
  RussiaPuts Nuclear Bombers On High Alert Over American UFO Attack
  By:Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
  A truly unsettling Space Forces Command (VKS) report circulating in the Kremlin today states that President Putin had ordered a fleet of Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bombers equipped with Kh-55 nuclear armed cruise missiles to ''prepare for strikes'' against US targets in the Pacific should Russia be attacked by the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), whom military analysts in Moscow had detected this past week were preparing for a ''Bessel Beam'' test against at least one of the estimated 40 ''celestial objects'' traveling towards our Earth and accompanied by Asteroid 2012 DA14.
  2012 DA14, this report says, is a near-Earth asteroid with an estimated diameter of 50 meters (160 ft) and an estimated mass of 190,000 metric tons that was discovered on 23 February 2012, and yesterday (15 February) passed 27,700 km (17,200 mi) from the surface of our planet, which is a record close approach for a known object of this size.
  A ''Bessel Beam'', this report continues, is a field of electromagnetic, acoustic or even gravitational radiation whose amplitude is described by a Bessel function of the first kind, and in a NASA funded research paper published last year, New York University physicists David Ruffner and David Grier proposed they could build a ''working tractor beam'' which, among other uses, could be used to gather samples of from space.
  The ''test'' USSTRATCOM was preparing for, and which caused ''grave concern'' among top Russian space scientists, this report says, was an American attempt to use their High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HARRP) facilities located in Alaska, Norway and Guam to create a ''tractor beam'' around the ''celestial objects'' traveling with 2012 DA 14 with the ''goal'' of having at least one of them ''crash land'' in the remote barren regions of either the Alaskan or Canadian Arctic.
  The value of being able to capture an asteroid cannot be overestimated, VKS scientists say in this report, as one single asteroid in our solar system, 241 Germania, alone has an estimated mineral wealth value of $95.8 trillion, which is nearly the same as the annual GDP of the entire world.
  Two of the Tu-95 nuclear armed strategic bombers put on alert by Putin, US news reports say, traveled towards Guam immediately prior to this USSTRATCOM ''test'' utilizing ''multiple refuelings'' and causing both American and Japanese fighter aircraft to take flight to block them.
  Aside from Putin's anger over this USSTRATCOM ''test'', this report says, Foreign Minister Lavrov became so ''incensed'' over the Americans ''space lunacy'' he refused to return the calls made to him this past week by US Secretary of State John Kerry, though Russian diplomats say they may meet in March.
  To the grim outcome of the USSTRATCOM ''test'', this report continues, was the Americans first ''tractor beam'' attempt on 13 February which failed when the ''celestial object'' they were trying to ''direct'' towards the Arctic plunged into the atmosphere and exploded with great destructive effect over the Cuban town of Rodas, Cienfuegos.
  The second, and most catastrophic, ''tractor beam'' attempt occurred over Russia when military defense forces fired upon the ''celestial object'' causing it to explode with a force estimated to be equivalent to a 300-kiloton nuclear warhead causing over 1,200 injuries, and which we had reported on in our previous report titled ''Russia Goes On High Alert After UFO Shoot-Down Injures Hundreds''.
  The third, and final, ''tractor beam'' attempt, this report says, occurred last evening when the ''celestial object'' trying to be retrieved by USSTRATCOM erupted in a massive fireball that lit up the night sky throughout Northern California terrifying many residents already uneasy after the Russian explosion earlier in the day.
  Though under strict orders from Putin not to ''publicly discuss'' anything related to these USSTRATCOM ''tests'', this VKS report says, nationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky defied the President (once again) telling RIA Novosti reporters in Moscow that the catastrophic blast over Russia was, indeed, a ''US weapons test''.
  Curiously, though not mentioned in this VKS report, Zhirinovsky further stated to RIA Novosti that US Secretary of State John Kerry had ''wanted to warn Foreign Minister Lavrov about the ''provocation'' on Monday, but couldn't reach him.''
  Equally important to note is that within a few hours after the catastrophic blast over Russia, President Obama privately called Putin, after which the G-20 summit, which the Russian President had been hosting in Moscow, declared there would be no global currency war, the significance of which we reported on in our 9 February report titled '''World War C' Warned To Crash US Economy By April''.
  To what the ultimate consequences of these US ''tractor beam tests'' will be it is not in our knowing, other than to note (of course) that the last people to know the truth about them will be the American people, who continue to fail to monitor the madman they have elected to run their despotic and cruel empire and whose latest actions do, indeed, put our entire world in danger.
  February 16, 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?''.]
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President Harrison J. Bounel : Personal Liberty Digest'
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  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:53
  PHOTOS.COM
  Who is Harrison J. Bounel? According to the 2009 tax return submitted by President Barack Obama, he's the President of the United States. All nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices are scheduled to discuss this anomaly today.
  The case in question is Edward Noonan, et al v. Deborah Bowen, California Secretary of State, and the Justices are finally looking at it thanks to the dogged determination of Orly Taitz. The case calls into question many of the documents Obama (Bounel, Soetoro, Soebarkah, etc.) has used and/or released as authentic since he came on the national scene. The case contends that the documents '-- birth certificate, Social Security number, Selective Service registration, etc. '-- are fakes or forgeries. If that's the case, Obama should not have been on the California ballot in 2008 and, therefore, should not have received the State's electoral votes.
  Four of the nine Justices must vote to move the case forward. We'll see.
  Meantime, on Feb. 4, Kathleen O'Leary, presiding judge of the 4th District Court of Appeal, reinstated the appeal of Taitz v. Obama et al filed by Taitz when she ran for Senate. That case involves evidence of 1.5 million invalid voter registrations in the State of California. The appeal also involves Obama's lack of legitimacy to hold the office of President based on his forged IDs, stolen Connecticut Social Security number, the fact the last name he's using is not legally his and his fraudulent claim to be the U.S. citizen.
  Evidence in the case includes:
  A certified copy of the passport records of Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, showing her son's legal last name to be Soebarkah, not Obama.Obama's school records from Indonesia, showing his citizenship to be Indonesian.Sworn affidavits of top law enforcement experts and investigators, showing Obama's birth certificate and Selective Service certificate are forgeries and that the Social Security number used by Obama on his 2009 tax returns as posted on WhiteHouse.gov was fraudulent. (The SSN failed when checked through both E-Verify and the Social Security Number Verification Service.)On another legal front, Obama defaulted in the case of Grinols et al v. Obama et al on Jan. 30 when he failed to file a response within 21 days of being served notice of the suit. This case also involves Obama's phony SSN.
  The suit states:
  [I]nvestigator Albert Hendershot found in the database of http://www.acxiom.com/identity-solutions/acxiom-identity-batch-solutions/ the name of the individual whose Social Security Obama is using. Acxciom-batch-solutions showed (Exhibit 1) that Harry J Bounel with the same Social Security number xxx-xx-4425 at 5046 S Greenwood Ave in Chicago, home address of Barack Obama, Database shows Bounel with the same address and Social Security number as Barack Obama himself. According to the databases last changes to the information on Harrison (Harry) J Bounel were made in and around November 2009 by Michelle Obama, who is listed as Bounel's relative. Database changes can involve entering the information or deletion of information. It appears that changes made by relative Michelle Obama included deletion of information, which was done at a time when Taitz brought to Federal court in the Central District of California before Judge David O. Carter a case of election challenge by her client, former U.S. ambassador Dr. Alan Keyes and 40 state Representatives and high ranked members of the U.S. military.
  Recently obtained results of the 1940 census, Exhibit 2, provided the last missing link, link (sic) between Harry J. Bounel and the date of birth of 1890. Exhibit 2 shows the printout of the U.S. census, showing Harry J Bounel, immigrant from Russia, residing at 915 Daly Ave, Bronx, NY, age 50 during the 1940 census, meaning he was born in 1890, as shown in the affidavit of Investigators Daniels and Sankey.
  There is a pattern of Obstruction of Justice and tampering with the official records and falsification/forgery of the official records related to Obama. This happens in particular when [George W.] Bush employees leave their positions and are replaced by Obama appointees.
  Taitz has asked for expedited default judgment and post judgment discovery in this case out of fear that any records on hand at the Social Security office will be destroyed when George W. Bush-appointed Commissioner Michael Astrue leaves office in February. Records that might have proven Obama's Selective Service registration was a forgery were destroyed in 2009 after Bush-appointed Selective Service Director William Chatfield resigned, Taitz alleges.
  Bob LivingstonBob Livingston is an ultra-conservative American who has been writing a newsletter since 1969. Bob has devoted much of his life to research and the quest for truth on a variety of subjects. Bob specializes in health issues such as nutritional supplements and alternatives to drugs, as well as issues of privacy (both personal and financial), asset protection and the preservation of freedom.
Russia hunts for meteorite fragments | Video
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  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:47
  video transcriptA search team arrives at a frozen lake on Saturday to look for fragments of the meteorite that hit the area the previous day. Divers searched the frozen Lake Chebarkul in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia but failed to find any large fragments. NASA says the meteor exploded miles above the earth's surface and released 500 kilotons of energy--about 30 times the size of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in World War II. They also estimated that the meteor was 17 metres across before entering Earth's atmosphere and weighed about 10,000 tons. The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, say the object traveled at a speed of 30km per second, leaving a long white trail visible as far as 200km away. More than 1,000 people were injured by the shock wave and buildings suffered structural damage. The regional governor said the impact and damage would cost 33 million U.S. dollars.
  Feb. 16 - A search team arrives at the frozen Lake Chebarkul in the Chelyabinsk region of central Russia on Saturday to look for fragments of a meteorite that hit Friday and injured more than 1,000 people. Adam Brauner reports. ( Transcript )
Russia declines Kerry's calls, says foreign minister is busy
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  Source: CNN Security Clearance
  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:05
  By CNN's Jill Dougherty, Jamie Crawford and Gregory Wallace
  Secretary of State John Kerry's Tuesday call to his Russian counterpart has gone unanswered for nearly a week after North Korea tested a nuclear device.
  Kerry called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and top diplomats with the three other countries '' South Korea, China and Japan - that had been in negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program. But Kerry was not connected to Lavrov, who was in Africa for a conference and had "a very overloaded work schedule," according to Russian government spokesman Alexander Lukashevich. He said that the United States did not make additional attempts to call Lavrov.
  Russia is an ally of North Korea and a member of the six nations that have held talks over the North Korean nuclear program. The U.S. and North Korea also find themselves on opposite sides of the situation in Syria and have sparred over Russian restrictions on adoptions between the two countries.
  It is not the first time Moscow has not returned calls from the State Department: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had difficulty getting through to her counterpart when she was in the post.
  State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday that ''the Foreign Minister has not yet chosen to return the call'' to Kerry, but that Kerry was ''relaxed about this'' and not concerned.
  ''It's not all that unusual in our recent experience that when Foreign Minister Lavrov is traveling, he does not always engage in international phone calls on other subjects,'' she told reporters. ''I refer you to the Russians (for more information) as to why that may be, but we are open to talking when he is.''
  On Friday, she said the two still had not talked, and ''If they (Russian diplomatic officials) are too busy or otherwise engaged, the offer stands, and we'll continue to do other diplomacy.''
  Lukashevich, the Russian government spokesman, responded to reporters that, ''The comments by Ms. Nuland do not reflect what actually happened in organizing a telephone conversation between the heads of the external relations agencies.''
  He was apparently highlighting that after the Tuesday, February 12, call, ''we received no further request from the State Department either on the 13th or the 14th.''
  Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Friday a meeting between Kerry and Lavrov could "probably" be scheduled for March, but that his boss' February schedule was too busy for a meeting.
  ''We have no clear idea for now what the Russian foreign minister's and U.S. secretary of state's schedules will be like and where they could cross," he told the Russian-based news agency Interfax.
  The North Korean nuclear test this week followed a December rocket launch. The country is said to be planning additional launches this year in an effort to pressure negotiations.
G20 steps back from currency brink, heat off Japan | Reuters
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  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:04
  1 of 2. Russia's Finance Minister Anton Siluanov (C) rises to leave after a family photo during a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors at the Manezh Exhibition Center in Moscow February 16, 2013. The Group of 20 nations declared on Saturday there would be no 'currency war' and deferred plans to set new debt-cutting targets in an indication of concern about the fragile state of the world economy.
  Credit: Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin
  By Randall Palmer and Lidia Kelly
  MOSCOW | Sat Feb 16, 2013 5:45pm EST
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Group of 20 nations declared on Saturday there would be no currency war and deferred plans to set new debt-cutting targets, underlining broad concern about the fragile state of the world economy.
  Japan's expansive policies, which have driven down the yen, escaped direct criticism in a statement thrashed out in Moscow by policymakers from the G20, which spans developed and emerging markets and accounts for 90 percent of the world economy.
  Analysts said the yen, which has dropped 20 percent as a result of aggressive monetary and fiscal policies to reflate the Japanese economy, may now continue to fall.
  "The market will take the G20 statement as an approval for what it has been doing -- selling of the yen," said Neil Mellor, currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon in London. "No censure of Japan means they will be off to the money printing presses."
  After late-night talks, finance ministers and central bankers agreed on wording closer than expected to a joint statement issued last Tuesday by the Group of Seven rich nations backing market-determined exchange rates.
  A draft communiqu(C) on Friday had steered clear of the G7's call for economic policy not to be targeted at exchange rates. But the final version included a G20 commitment to refrain from competitive devaluations and stated monetary policy would be directed only at price stability and growth.
  "The mood quite clearly early on was that we needed desperately to avoid protectionist measures ... that mood permeated quite quickly," Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters, adding that the wording of the G20 statement had been hardened up by the ministers.
  As a result, it reflected a substantial, but not complete, endorsement of Tuesday's proclamation by the G7 nations - the United States, Japan, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy.
  As with the G7 intervention, Tokyo said it gave it a green light to pursue its policies unchecked.
  "I have explained that (Prime Minister Shinzo) Abe's administration is doing its utmost to escape from deflation and we have gained a certain understanding," Finance Minister Taro Aso told reporters.
  "We're confident that if Japan revives its own economy that would certainly affect the world economy as well. We gained understanding on this point."
  Flaherty admitted it would be difficult to gauge if domestic policies were aimed at weakening currencies or not.
  NO FISCAL TARGETS
  The G20 also made a commitment to a credible medium-term fiscal strategy, but stopped short of setting specific goals as most delegations felt any economic recovery was too fragile.
  The communiqu(C) said risks to the world economy had receded but growth remained too weak and unemployment too high.
  "A sustained effort is required to continue building a stronger economic and monetary union in the euro area and to resolve uncertainties related to the fiscal situation in the United States and Japan, as well as to boost domestic sources of growth in surplus economies," it said.
  A debt-cutting pact struck in Toronto in 2010 will expire this year if leaders fail to agree to extend it at a G20 summit of leaders in St Petersburg in September.
  The United States says it is on track to meet its Toronto pledge but argues that the pace of future fiscal consolidation must not snuff out demand. Germany and others are pressing for another round of binding debt targets.
  "We had a broad consensus in the G20 that we will stick to the commitment to fulfill the Toronto goals," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said. "We do not have any interest in U.S.-bashing ... In St. Petersburg follow-up-goals will be decided."
  The G20 put together a huge financial backstop to halt a market meltdown in 2009 but has failed to reach those heights since. At successive meetings, Germany has pressed the United States and others to do more to tackle their debts. Washington in turn has urged Berlin to do more to increase demand.
  Backing in the communiqu(C) for the use of domestic monetary policy to support economic recovery reflected the U.S. Federal Reserve's commitment to monetary stimulus through quantitative easing, or QE, to promote recovery and jobs.
  QE entails large-scale bond buying -- $85 billion a month in the Fed's case -- that helps economic growth but has also unleashed destabilising capital flows into emerging markets.
  A commitment to minimize such "negative spillovers" was an offsetting point in the text that China, fearful of asset bubbles and lost export competitiveness, highlighted.
  "Major developed nations (should) pay attention to their monetary policy spillover," Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao was quoted by state news agency Xinhua as saying in Moscow.
  Russia, this year's chair of the G20, admitted the group had failed to reach agreement on medium-term budget deficit levels and expressed concern about ultra-loose policies that it and other emerging economies say could store up trouble for later.
  On currencies, the G20 text reiterated its commitment last November, "to move more rapidly toward mores market-determined exchange rate systems and exchange rate flexibility to reflect underlying fundamentals, and avoid persistent exchange rate misalignments".
  It said disorderly exchange rate movements and excess volatility in financial flows could harm economic and financial stability.
  (Additional reporting by Gernot Heller, Lesley Wroughton, Maya Dyakina, Tetsushi Kajimoto, Jan Strupczewski, Lidia Kelly, Katya Golubkova, Jason Bush, Anirban Nag and Michael Martina. Writing by Douglas Busvine. Editing by Timothy Heritage/Mike Peacock)
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APA - Vladimir Zhirinovsky denies meteorite, claims US weapons tests
  Link to Article
  Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:04
  Vladimir Zhirinovsky denies meteorite, claims US weapons tests[ 15 February 2013 15:51 ]
  Moscow. Farid Akberov '' APA. Russian nationalist lawmaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky, long known for his flamboyance and outrageous remarks, said Friday that meteorite fragments had not rained down on Russia in the morning, but that the light flashes and tremors in several of the country's regions resulted from US weapons tests, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.
  ''Those aren't meteors falling, it's the Americans testing new weapons,'' Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, told journalists several hours after the Emergencies Ministry began issuing statements on the incident, which has injured hundreds and damaged scores of buildings.
  He also said US Secretary of State John Kerry had wanted to warn Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about the ''provocation'' on Monday, but couldn't reach him '' a reference to US State Department comments earlier this week that Kerry had spent several days trying to speak to Lavrov by phone to discuss North Korea and Syria.
  Outer space has its own laws, Zhirinovsky went on.
Drug-Resistant Super-Gonorrhea Laughs in the Face of Antibiotics
  Link to Article
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 23:59
  You know how gonorrhea has always been, like, the chillest STI ever? All, "Hey, man! It's me, gonorrhea! Listen, I'm going to be hanging around your junk for a few weeks, but I'll keep it quiet'--no loud parties!'--and then when things start to get weird, just pop some antibiots and I'm out, brah!" Gonorrhea knows when to leave. It's like the Don Pratt of largely asymptomatic genital diseases! Now, obviously any kind of STI (with the potential for anal itching!) is no treat, but provided you have health insurance and keep a vigilant eye on your downtown situation, gonorrhea is of the least worst.
  Buuuuuuut not anymore. Once again, there are rumblings of a more sinister, aggressive strain of gonorrhea that's taking back the night and telling antibiotics (and you) to fuck off. Not cool, bro. Not cool. (Meanwhile, chlamydia's all...)
  Lab studies show that cephalsporins, the current class of antibiotics used to treat gonorrhea, are becoming less effective at treating the disease. If this trend continues, cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea could emerge in the U.S., like it has in Japan, France, and Spain. To help delay the emergence of this new super bug, the CDC made changes to guidelines for gonorrhea treatment. An injectable cephalosporin called ceftriaxone combined with an oral antibiotic is now the preferred treatment.
  Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States. In 2011, more than 300,000 cases of gonorrhea were reported.
  "The continued threat of multidrug-resistant gonorrhea makes protecting against [gonorrhea] more important than before," said Dr. Lindsey Satterwhite, an epidemiologist in the CDC's Division of STD Prevention.
  All jokes aside, shit like this is going to get worse if we keep allowing superstitious, medieval trolls to dictate our health policies. We should not still be "debating" the ethics of birth control, or comprehensive sex education, or condoms in schools, or universal fucking healthcare. There should be condoms fucking everywhere. When I walk past a local high school, I want to feel anxious about my air supply because I am trapped beneath a cascading avalanche of condoms. Religious extremism in America is everyone's problem, and while Rick Santorum might be super-jazzed about his kids' crotches rotting away from incurable gonorrhea, I'd prefer if he left my family out of it. In conclusion:
  CDC Warns of Super-Gonorrhea [ABC]
  Photo credit: photomak / Stockfresh.
VIDEO-Reality Check. Did Cops Intentionally Set Fire To Chris Dorner's Cabin **MUST SEE** - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 23:57
Autopsy Suggests Dorner Killed Himself
  Link to Article
  Source: News 1 Stop
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 23:50
  John JohnsonNewserFebruary 16, 2013
  It looks like Christopher Dorner killed himself in his showdown with police at a mountain cabin in California. Autopsy results show that Dorner died of a single gunshot wound to the head, reports AP.
  While he had been in a fierce gunfight with officers prior to that, a spokesman for the San Bernardino Sheriff's Office says the wound appears to be self-inflicted.
  That gibes with reports from the scene at the time: Police say they heard a single shot as they began pumping in tear gas in the final assault.
  The spokesman also confirmed that Dorner was hiding for days in a condo near the command center police set up for the manhunt.
  Full article here
  This article was posted: Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 1:15 pm
  Tags: domestic news
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Wiretapping scandal hits Spain
  Link to Article
  Source: Set You Free News
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 23:49
  PressTV
  The Spanish government has been hit by a fresh illegal wiretapping scandal, with reports suggesting different politicians and distinguished figures were eavesdropped on.
  According to Spainish El Mundo daily, a detective bureau allegedly spied on 500 political figures in northeastern Catalonia. The secret agents allegedly conducted eavesdropping operations and framed politicians.
  The report also said that the Spanish ruling Popular Party (PP) had issued the order for the wiretaps. A former police officer, who had worked with the detective bureau, handed evidence regarding the eavesdropping operations to the country's security officials.
  Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz pledged to investigate the claims, saying police would ''get to the bottom'' of the issue. The case became known when the leader of People's Party in Catalonia, Alicia Sanchez-Camacho, told police that her telephone conversation had been recorded in a Barcelona restaurant in 2010.
  The recent scandal has gravely undermined the reputation of Spanish politicians prior to the country's election. The scandal followed earlier reports that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and other leaders of the Popular Party had received secret payments for years.
  Center-left newspaper El Pais reported on January 31 that the premier received 25,200 euros a year between 1997 and 2008. It also said that the fund was collected mostly from construction firms, adding that such payments would be legal if they were fully declared to the taxman.
  The allegations sparked anger among people who have been asked to accept harsh austerity measures as the government tried to prevent an international bailout.
  (C) Copyright 2013 Press TV '' Published at Set You Free News with license
VIDEO-Watch Matt Damon's Funny PSA About the Clean Water Crisis | Splitsider
  Link to Article
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 23:44
  Here's a video for Water.org, the water crisis non-profit co-founded by Matt Damon, in which Damon holds a press conference to swear off going to the bathroom until developing countries have safe drinking water and sanitation. It features appearances from Pete Holmes, Kate Micucci, Stephen Root, and plenty of other funny people as reporters. This is easily the funniest video about water scarcity you'll see all day (or ever, probably).
How is MoveOn.org gun owner 'a proud defender of the Second Amendment'?
  Link to Article
  Source: David Codrea's feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 23:29
  The ''progressive'' activist group MoveOn.org posted a television commercial to You Tube yesterday featuring a self-proclaimed gun rights proponent warning politicians of electoral consequences if they don't support more ''gun control'' laws.
  ''The six-figure ad buy is running for a week on national cable and will air during the Sunday morning political talk shows,'' The Hill reported.
  "I'm a gun owner and a proud defender of the Second Amendment, but for years I've watched Congress take money from the NRA and then oppose any kind of reform that helps keep us safe," a man identified in the video as Ohio gun owner Jerry Thompson declares.
  ''After the Newtown massacre and the NRA's disgusting response, I've had enough, Thompson growls, warning members of Congress if they ''take money from the NRA, and then continue to do their bidding, we're gonna remember that come election time."
  What's undefined is what Thompson means by ''proud defender of the Second Amendment.'' By themselves, the words are meaningless, as no less a figure than President Barack Obama claims he believes in the Second Amendment.
  So what does Mr. Thompson, a self-proclaimed gun rights advocate -- who is an unfamiliar name to Ohio's pro-firearms activists I've approached -- mean when he calls himself ''a proud defender'' of that which the founders mandated ''shall not be infringed''?
  How does he actually propose to defend the Second Amendment, besides saying he does on a Moveon.org video designed to cow politicians he and their followers wouldn't vote for anyway into passing citizen disarmament edicts?
  Unfortunately, the MoveOn.org You Tube page does not give us the ability to ask. As per an apparent aversion to ''reasoned discourse'' that looks like a standard practice, they have disabled comments for feedback (and don't be surprised to see ratings disabled as well).
  So in the interest of fostering that ''national conversation on guns'' the antis say they want to have, as long as it involves them dictating the terms of our surrender and shouting down anything running counter to the monolog (along with wishing Wayne LaPierre and NRA members would shoot themselves), we can have it here. First, watch the video embedded in this column.
  Next, I invite Mr. Thompson to give us some specifics on exactly how he defends the Second Amendment, including what he's for and what he's against. Some specifics he ought to address, if he expects to convince those of us who may be skeptical of the depth of his sincerity:
  Who does he think the militia of the Second Amendment is supposed to be comprised of? (And does he know what Alexander Hamilton wrote about the people being ''well regulated'' as a precondition to being armed?
  What did the Founder mean by ''shall not be infringed''?
  Does he believe in gun registration? Does he believe government should have a database of all gun owners?
  Does he believe gun owners should be licensed?
  Does he believe gun owners should be able to engage in private sales?
  Does he support ending or expanding ''gun free zones''?
  Does he support concealed carry? Shall issue, may issue or ''Constitutional''?
  Does he support open carry?
  Does he support ''stand your ground'' laws?
  Does he support semiautomatic gun bans?
  Does he support magazine bans?
  Does he support banning .50 caliber rifles?
  Does he support confiscation of banned guns?
  Does he support or oppose moves to ban lead ammunition?
  Does he support prohibiting people on the ''terror watch list'' from purchasing guns, even if they have not been charged and found guilty of any crime?
  Does he support microstamping?
  Does he support suing gun manufacturers for the acts of criminals?
  Does he support laws mandating guns in the home be locked up separately from ammunition?
  What would he specifically like to tell people about precisely how he defends the Second Amendment and what is track record for doing it is?
  Since MoveOn.org evidently doesn't welcome such a conversation on their video, I'll do so here. I'll send them a link to this column and invite Mr. Thompson to have his unedited say to address these questions, or to simply define how he defends the Second Amendment in his own words. He may do it via the comments feature below, of if he prefers, he may send me what he'd like to say via email (to dcodreaAThotmailDOTcom) and I'll post it below as an update.
  How about it, Mr. Thompson?
  The floor is yours.
  ------------
  If you're a regular Gun Rights Examiner reader and believe it provides news and perspectives you won't find in the mainstream media, please subscribe to this column and help spread the word by sharing links, promoting it on social media like Facebook (David Codrea) and Twitter (@dcodrea), and telling your like-minded friends about it. And for more commentary, be sure to visit "The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance."
Wal-Mart Execs Panic Over Falling Stock
  Link to Article
  Source: Crooks and Liars
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 23:11
  ''Where are all the customers? And where is all their money?'' That was the plaintive tone struck by a Wal-Mart executive concerned about the giant retailer's early February results, which he called ''a total disaster'' in a memo leaked by Bloomberg News. Investor panic caused the stock of America's largest retailer to drop 3.8 percent at its low-point Friday, and led other retailers' stocks to fall in sympathy. The obvious answer: the people at the lower rungs of the income ladder who constitute Wal-Mart's customer base have been hit disproportionately by the increase in the payroll tax that took effect on January 1.
  Bloomberg News:
  Wal-Mart's Geiger in his e-mail urged employees to improve business by ''fixing something that could really make a difference to our performance.'' He quoted Tim Yatsko, the company's executive vice president of global sourcing, saying: ''We need to 'stop the stupid.'''
  Wal-Mart U.S. CEO Bill Simon said during a Feb. 1 officers meeting, the minutes of which were attached to Geiger's e-mail, that the troubled economy leaves little room for internal errors.
  ''In an environment like this, we can't afford to hurt ourselves,'' Simon said, according to the minutes. ''Self- inflicted wounds are our biggest risk and our toughest enemy.''
  Could these greedy sobs be any more pathetic? Maybe if they paid all their employees a living wage, they could afford to do a little shopping.
Remarks By The President On Strengthening The Economy For The Middle Class
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:22
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  February 15, 2013
  Hyde Park Career Academy Chicago, Illinois3:31 P.M. CST
  THE PRESIDENT: Hey, Chicago! (Applause.) Hello, Chicago! Hello, everybody. Hello, Hyde Park! (Applause.) It is good to be home! It is good to be home. Everybody have a seat. You all relax. It's just me. You all know me. It is good to be back home.
  A couple of people I want to acknowledge -- first of all, I want to thank your Mayor, my great friend, Rahm Emanuel for his outstanding leadership of the city and his kind introduction. (Applause.) I want to thank everybody here at Hyde Park Academy for welcoming me here today. (Applause.)
  I want to acknowledge your principal and your assistant principal -- although, they really make me feel old, because when I saw them -- (laughter) -- where are they? Where are they? Stand up. Stand up. (Applause.) They are doing outstanding work. We're very, very proud them. But you do make me feel old. Sit down. (Laughter.)
  A couple other people I want to acknowledge -- Governor Pat Quinn is here doing great work down in Springfield. (Applause.) My great friend and senior Senator Dick Durbin is in the house. (Applause.) Congressman Bobby Rush is here. (Applause.) We're in his district. Attorney General and former seatmate of mine when I was in the state senate, Lisa Madigan. (Applause.) County Board President -- used to be my alderwoman -- Tony Preckwinkle in the house. (Applause.)
  And I've got -- I see a lot of reverend clergy here, but I'm not going to mention them, because if I miss one I'm in trouble. (Laughter.) They're all friends of mine. They've been knowing me.
  Some people may not know this, but obviously, this is my old neighborhood. I used to teach right around the corner. This is where Michelle and I met, where we fell in love --
  AUDIENCE: Aww --
  THE PRESIDENT: This is where we raised our daughters, in a house just about a mile away from here -- less than a mile. And that's really what I've come here to talk about today -- raising our kids.
  AUDIENCE: We love you!
  THE PRESIDENT: I love you, too. (Applause.) I love you, too.
  I'm here to make sure that we talk about and then work towards giving every child every chance in life; building stronger communities and new ladders of opportunity that they can climb into the middle class and beyond; and, most importantly, keeping them safe from harm.
  Michelle was born and raised here -- a proud daughter of the South Side. (Applause.) Last weekend, she came home, but it was to attend the funeral of Hadiya Pendleton. And Hadiya's parents, by the way, are here -- and I want to just acknowledge them. They are just wonderful, wonderful people. (Applause.)
  And as you know, this week, in my State of the Union, I talked about Hadiya on Tuesday night and the fact that unfortunately what happened to Hadiya is not unique. It's not unique to Chicago. It's not unique to this country. Too many of our children are being taken away from us.
  Two months ago, America mourned 26 innocent first-graders and their educators in Newtown. And today, I had the high honor of giving the highest civilian award I can give to the parent -- or the families of the educators who had been killed in Newtown. And there was something profound and uniquely heartbreaking and tragic, obviously, about a group of 6-year-olds being killed. But last year, there were 443 murders with a firearm on the streets of this city, and 65 of those victims were 18 and under. So that's the equivalent of a Newtown every four months.
  And that's precisely why the overwhelming majority of Americans are asking for some common-sense proposals to make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun. And as I said on Tuesday night, I recognize not everybody agrees with every issue. There are regional differences. The experience of gun ownership is different in urban areas than it is in rural areas, different from upstate and downstate Illinois. But these proposals deserve a vote in Congress. They deserve a vote. (Applause.) They deserve a vote. And I want to thank those members of Congress who are working together in a serious way to try to address this issue.
  But I've also said no law or set of laws can prevent every senseless act of violence in this country. When a child opens fire on another child, there's a hole in that child's heart that government can't fill -- only community and parents and teachers and clergy can fill that hole. In too many neighborhoods today -- whether here in Chicago or the farthest reaches of rural America -- it can feel like for a lot of young people the future only extends to the next street corner or the outskirts of town; that no matter how much you work or how hard you try, your destiny was determined the moment you were born. There are entire neighborhoods where young people, they don't see an example of somebody succeeding. And for a lot of young boys and young men, in particular, they don't see an example of fathers or grandfathers, uncles, who are in a position to support families and be held up and respected.
  And so that means that this is not just a gun issue. It's also an issue of the kinds of communities that we're building. And for that, we all share a responsibility, as citizens, to fix it. We all share a responsibility to move this country closer to our founding vision that no matter who you are, or where you come from, here in America, you can decide your own destiny. You can succeed if you work hard and fulfill your responsibilities. (Applause.)
  Now, that means we've got to grow our economy and create more good jobs. It means we've got to equip every American with the skills and the training to fill those jobs. And it means we've got to rebuild ladders of opportunity for everybody willing to climb them.
  Now, that starts at home. There's no more important ingredient for success, nothing that would be more important for us reducing violence than strong, stable families -- which means we should do more to promote marriage and encourage fatherhood. (Applause.) Don't get me wrong -- as the son of a single mom, who gave everything she had to raise me with the help of my grandparents, I turned out okay. (Applause and laughter.) But -- no, no, but I think it's -- so we've got single moms out here, they're heroic in what they're doing and we are so proud of them. (Applause.) But at the same time, I wish I had had a father who was around and involved. Loving, supportive parents -- and, by the way, that's all kinds of parents -- that includes foster parents, and that includes grandparents, and extended families; it includes gay or straight parents. (Applause.)
  Those parents supporting kids -- that's the single most important thing. Unconditional love for your child -- that makes a difference. If a child grows up with parents who have work, and have some education, and can be role models, and can teach integrity and responsibility, and discipline and delayed gratification -- all those things give a child the kind of foundation that allows them to say, my future, I can make it what I want. And we've got to make sure that every child has that, and in some cases, we may have to fill the gap and the void if children don't have that.
  So we should encourage marriage by removing the financial disincentives for couples who love one another but may find it financially disadvantageous if they get married. We should reform our child support laws to get more men working and engaged with their children. (Applause.) And my administration will continue to work with the faith community and the private sector this year on a campaign to encourage strong parenting and fatherhood. Because what makes you a man is not the ability to make a child, it's the courage to raise one. (Applause.)
  We also know, though, that there is no surer path to success in the middle class than a good education. And what we now know is that that has to begin in the earliest years. Study after study shows that the earlier a child starts learning, the more likely they are to succeed -- the more likely they are to do well at Hyde Park Academy; the more likely they are to graduate; the more likely they are to get a good job; the more likely they are to form stable families and then be able to raise children themselves who get off to a good start.
  Chicago already has a competition, thanks to what the Mayor is doing, that rewards the best preschools in the city -- so Rahm has already prioritized this. But what I've also done is say, let's give every child across America access to high-quality, public preschool. Every child, not just some. (Applause.) Every dollar we put into early childhood education can save $7 down the road by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, reducing violent crime, reducing the welfare rolls, making sure that folks who have work, now they're paying taxes. All this stuff pays back huge dividends if we make the investment. So let's make this happen. Let's make sure every child has the chance they deserve. (Applause.)
  As kids go through school, we'll recruit new math and science teachers to make sure that they've got the skills that the future demands. We'll help more young people in low-income neighborhoods get summer jobs. We'll redesign our high schools and encourage our kids to stay in high school, so that the diploma they get leads directly to a good job once they graduate. (Applause.)
  Right here in Chicago, five new high schools have partnered with companies and community colleges to prepare our kids with the skills that businesses are looking for right now. And your College to Careers program helps community college students get access to the same kinds of real-world experiences. So we know what works. Let's just do it in more places. Let's reach more young people. Let's give more kids a chance.
  So we know how important families are. We know how important education is. We recognize that government alone can't solve these problems of violence and poverty, that everybody has to be involved. But we also have to remember that the broader economic environment of communities is critical as well. For example, we need to make sure that folks who are working now, often in the hardest jobs, see their work rewarded with wages that allow them to raise a family without falling into poverty. (Applause.)
  Today, a family with two kids that works hard and relies on a minimum wage salary still lives below the poverty line. That's wrong, and we should fix it. We should reward an honest day's work with honest wages. And that's why we should raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour and make it a wage you can live on. (Applause.)
  And even though some cities have bounced back pretty quickly from the recession, we know that there are communities and neighborhoods within cities or in small towns that haven't bounced back. Cities like Chicago are ringed with former factory towns that never came back all the way from plants packing up; there are pockets of poverty where young adults are still looking for their first job.
  And that's why on Tuesday I announced -- and that's part of what I want to focus on here in Chicago and across the country -- is my intention to partner with 20 of the hardest-hit communities in America to get them back in the game -- get them back in the game. (Applause.)
  First, we'll work with local leaders to cut through red tape and improve things like public safety and education and housing. And we'll bring all the resources to bear in a coordinated fashion so that we can get that tipping point where suddenly a community starts feeling like things are changing and we can come back.
  Second of all, if you're willing to play a role in a child's education, then we'll help you reform your schools. We want to seed more and more partnerships of the kind that Rahm is trying to set up.
  Third, we're going to help bring jobs and growth to hard-hit neighborhoods by giving tax breaks to business owners who invest and hire in those neighborhoods. (Applause.)
  Fourth, and specific to the issue of violence -- because it's very hard to develop economically if people don't feel safe. If they don't feel like they can walk down the street and shop at a store without getting hit over head or worse, then commerce dries up, businesses don't want to locate, families move out, you get into the wrong cycle. So we're going to target neighborhoods struggling to deal with violent crime and help them reduce that violence in ways that have been proven to work. And I know this is a priority of your Mayor's; it's going to be a priority of mine. (Applause.)
  And finally, we're going to keep working in communities all across the country, including here in Chicago, to replace run-down public housing that doesn't offer much hope or safety with new, healthy homes for low- and moderate-income families. (Applause.)
  And here in Woodlawn, you've seen some of the progress that we can make when we come together to rebuild our neighborhoods, and attract new businesses, and improve our schools. Woodlawn is not all the way where it needs to be, but thanks to wonderful institutions like Apostolic Church, we've made great progress. (Applause.)
  So we want to help more communities follow your example. And let's go even farther by offering incentives to companies that hire unemployed Americans who have got what it takes to fill a job opening, but they may have been out of work so long that nobody is willing to give them a chance right now. Let's put our people back to work rebuilding vacant homes in need of repair. Young people can get experience -- apprenticeships, learn a trade. And we're removing blight from our community. (Applause.)
  If we gather together what works, we can extend more ladders of opportunity for anybody who's working to build a strong, middle-class life for themselves. Because in America, your destiny shouldn't be determined by where you live, where you were born. It should be determined by how big you're willing to dream, how much effort and sweat and tears you're willing to put in to realizing that dream.
  When I first moved to Chicago -- before any of the students in this room were born -- (laughter) -- and a whole lot of people who are in the audience remember me from those days, I lived in a community on the South Side right up the block, but I also worked further south where communities had been devastated by some of the steel plants closing. And my job was to work with churches and laypeople and local leaders to rebuild neighborhoods, and improve schools, and help young people who felt like they had nowhere to turn.
  And those of you who worked with me, Reverend Love, you remember, it wasn't easy. Progress didn't come quickly. Sometimes I got so discouraged I thought about just giving up. But what kept me going was the belief that with enough determination and effort and persistence and perseverance, change is always possible; that we may not be able to help everybody, but if we help a few then that propels progress forward. We may not be able to save every child from gun violence, but if we save a few, that starts changing the atmosphere in our communities. (Applause.) We may not be able to get everybody a job right away, but if we get a few folks a job, then everybody starts feeling a little more hopeful and a little more encouraged. (Applause.) Neighborhood by neighborhood, one block by one block, one family at a time.
  Now, this is what I had a chance to talk about when I met with some young men from Hyde Park Academy who were participating in this B.A.M. program. Where are the guys I talked to? Stand up you all, so we can all see you guys. (Applause.) So these are some -- these are all some exceptional young men, and I couldn't be prouder of them. And the reason I'm proud of them is because a lot of them have had some issues. That's part of the reason why you guys are in the program. (Laughter.)
  But what I explained to them was I had issues too when I was their age. I just had an environment that was a little more forgiving. So when I screwed up, the consequences weren't as high as when kids on the South Side screw up. (Applause.) So I had more of a safety net. But these guys are no different than me, and we had that conversation about what does it take to change. And the same thing that it takes for us individually to change, I said to them, well, that's what it takes for communities to change. That's what it takes for countries to change. It's not easy.
  But it does require us, first of all, having a vision about where we want to be. It requires us recognizing that it will be hard work getting there. It requires us being able to overcome and persevere in the face of roadblocks and disappointments and failures. It requires us reflecting internally about who we are and what we believe in, and facing up to our own fears and insecurities, and admitting when we're wrong. And that same thing that we have to do in our individual lives that these guys talked about, that's what we have to do for our communities. And it will not be easy, but it can be done.
  When Hadiya Pendleton and her classmates visited Washington three weeks ago, they spent time visiting the monuments -- including the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial just off the National Mall. And that memorial stands as a tribute to everything Dr. King achieved in his lifetime. But it also reminds us of how hard that work was and how many disappointments he experienced. He was here in Chicago fighting poverty, and just like a lot of us, there were times where he felt like he was losing hope. So in some ways, that memorial is a testament not to work that's completed, but it's a testament to the work that remains unfinished.
  His goal was to free us not only from the shackles of discrimination, but from the shadow of poverty that haunts too many of our communities, the self-destructive impulses, and the mindless violence that claims so many lives of so many innocent young people.
  These are difficult challenges. No solution we offer will be perfect. But perfection has never been our goal. Our goal has been to try and make whatever difference we can. Our goal has been to engage in the hard but necessary work of bringing America one step closer to the nation we know we can be.
  If we do that, if we're striving with every fiber of our being to strengthen our middle class, to extend ladders of opportunity for everybody who is trying as hard as they can to create a better life for themselves; if we do everything in our power to keep our children safe from harm; if we're fulfilling our obligations to one another and to future generations; if we make that effort, then I'm confident -- I'm confident that we will write the next great chapter in our American story. I'm not going to be able to do it by myself, though. Nobody can. We're going to have to do it together.
  Thank you, everybody. God bless you. God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
  END 3:58 P.M. CST
'Good Morning America' Giddy Over Possibility Hillary Might Run
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:22
  If Good Morning America's giddiness today over the prospect that Hillary Clinton might run for president is any indication of how the MSM will treat the story, it's gonna be a long-g-g-g four years.
  The excited GMA crew was looking for any harbinger--from falling meteorites to the number of baskets scored by an ABC reporter in a charity game--that Hillary might throw her pantsuit into the ring. A correspondent even joked--at least we hope she was joking--that GMA might have to run a segment every week with the latest is-Hillary-running news.
Children's Oral Health - Topics
  Link to Article
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 16:14
  View by TopicAbout UsOral Health A-ZAdultsChildrenCommunity Water FluoridationData SystemsDisparitiesGuidelines & RecommendationsHealthy People 2010Infection Control inDental SettingsPeriodontal DiseasePublicationsSchool-Based Dental Sealant ProgramsState-Based Programs Centers for Disease Control and PreventionDivision of Oral HealthMail Stop F-104770 Buford Highway NEAtlanta, GA 30341
  Contact Us
  Overview Tooth decay (dental caries) affects children in the United States more than any other chronic infectious disease. Untreated tooth decay causes pain and infections that may lead to problems; such as eating, speaking, playing, and learning.
  The good news is that tooth decay and other oral diseases that can affect children are preventable. The combination of dental sealants and fluoride has the potential to nearly eliminate tooth decay in school-age children.
  What Parents and Caregivers Can DoHere are some things you can do to ensure good oral health for your child:
  Encourage your children to eat regular nutritious meals and avoid frequent between-meal snacking.Protect your child's teeth with fluoride.Use a fluoride toothpaste. If your child is less than 7 years old, put only a pea-sized amount on their toothbrush.If your drinking water is not fluoridated, talk to a dentist or physician about the best way to protect your child's teeth.Talk to your child's dentist about dental sealants. They protect teeth from decay.If you are pregnant, get prenatal care and eat a healthy diet. The diet should include folic acid to prevent birth defects of the brain and spinal cord and possibly cleft lip/palate.Check out the following Web sites for more tips on children's oral health:Infant Formula and Fluoridated Water. This page answers frequently asked questions (FAQ's) about mixing infant formula with fluoridated water. Brush Up on Healthy Teeth. This is a health education campaign including a Brush Up Quiz for Parents, Tip Sheet, and Poster. En espa±ol.Related LinksOral Health for Kids Health-e-CardOral Health and PregnancyOral Health and Learning* (PDF''81KB)The Community Guide/Oral Health*Fact Sheets and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)Children's Oral Health Journal Articles and PublicationsSchool-Based Dental SealantsCommunity Water FluoridationMy Water's FluorideNational Oral Health Surveillance System (NOHSS)One or more documents on this Web page is available in Portable Document Format (PDF). You will need Acrobat Reader to view and print these documents.
  * Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link.
  Page last modified: January 7, 2011Page last reviewed: August 30, 2012Content source: Division of Oral Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Glenn Beck: It's 'Plausible' John Brennan Secretly Converted To Islam
  Link to Article
  Source: Crooks and Liars
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:13
  PT Barnum is credited with saying: "There's a sucker born every day" and history has proven him right. Robert Welch created the John Birch society by conning as many wingnut rubes as he could into forming an anti-government and anti-Communist advocacy group. It became very powerful in the early sixties by promoting crazed Communist conspiracy theories that reached as far up as the White House. Even William F Buckley railed against them as vociferously as he could so that the Republican party wouldn't be besmirched by their apparent lunacy.
  The society had been founded in 1958 by an earnest and capable entrepreneur named Robert Welch, a candy man, who brought together little clusters of American conservatives, most of them businessmen. He demanded two undistracted days in exchange for his willingness to give his seminar on the Communist menace to the United States, which he believed was more thoroughgoing and far-reaching than anyone else inAmerica could have conceived.
  His influence was near-hypnotic, and his ideas wild. He said Dwight D. Eisenhower was a ''dedicated, conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy,'' and that the government of the United States was ''under operational control of the Communist party.'' It was, he said in the summer of 1961, ''50-70 percent'' Communist-controlled...read on
  Conspiracy nuts have been on the fringes of political discussion for a long time, but with the rise of Fox News, the Tea party and the Internet, Glenn Beck has snatched the crown from Welch and proudly wears it for all to see. In the process, he's making millions of dollars off the dupes and weak-minded followers of extreme right-wing orthodoxy.Here's Beck's latest nonsensical conspiracy rant about the possible Islamic brainwashing of John Brennan:
  Perhaps the most amazingly hypocritical thing about Glenn Beck is that his entire Blaze network serves as nothing but a repository for conspiracytheories, wildspeculation, and outrightlies while Beck holds himself up as a champion of "the truth."
  Case in point. On his program last night, Beck took up the allegation that John Brennan, President Obama's nominee to head the CIA, may have secretly converted to Islam as part of a counterintelligence operation run against him by the Saudi government.
  Despite the fact that this claim originated from one laughably unreliable source, Beck found it to be entirely "plausible," saying that "if somebody makes a charge like that, shouldn't we at least explore it" before saying that the media wouldn't even bother to investigate because "it seems like we can't even ask reasonable questions any more"
  Yes, crazy indeed, but we've seen his Muslim hysteria many times before.
  Beck: I believe that I can make a case in the end that there are three powers that you will see really emerge. One, a Muslim caliphate that controls the Mideast and parts of Europe. Two, China, that will control Asia, the southern half of Africa, part of the Middle East, Australia, maybe New Zealand, and God only knows what else. And Russia, which will control all of the old former Soviet Union bloc, plus maybe the Netherlands. I'm not really sure. But their strong arm is coming. That leaves us and South America. What happens to us?
  Not much daylight between Glenn Beck and Robert Welch!
  The idea that anyone who hates liberals and makes a lamebrain assertion about anyone at all immediately becomes plausible and should be investigated. Can you imagine if he did acquire a network?
MSNBC's Toure: If Newtown Shooter Killed Black Kids We Probably Wouldn't Be Talking About Guns
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:13
  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.
Barack Obama Openly Hints At Desire To Kill Citizens With Drones Inside America'...
  Link to Article
  Source: The Ulsterman Report
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:12
  In a very oddly worded public response to a question posed to him during an online interview, Barack Obama dances around the topic of using military drones to kill Americans inside of the United States. Watch the following response and as you do, keeping in mind at no point does President Obama simply say NO we would never do that'...
  __________________________
  First he begins his answer by stating, ''There has never been a drone used on an American citizen on American soil.'' Barack Obama doesn't say there never will be '' or that he never intends to do so'...he instead chooses '' deliberatly, to say that such a thing has not happened'...YET.. The president then gets into the meat of his prepared statement to a question he knew he would be asked:
  ''The rules outside of the United States are going to be different than the rules inside the United States,'' Obama explained. ''In part because our capacity to capture a terrorist inside the United States are very different than in the foothills or mountains of Afghanistan or Pakistan.''
  Again, note how Barack Obama refuses to simply say NO '' we would never do that inside of the United States. He throws out words words and more words, which is the now all too familiar Obama song and dance routine that they use to placate the media and effectively bury the question, while at the same time, still hinting at true intent, which in this case, is the frightening prospect of a sitting President of the United States having the authority to utilize drone strikes against American citizens on American soil by simpling labeling that citizen or group as terrorists.
  Lastly, I would have you pay very close attention to the final part of Barack Obama's response in the video. Whenever this president comes out and openly promises ''Hey, that's now how things work'', or his even more oft-used phrase ''Let me be clear'' - Obama is actually admitting to exactly how he wishes for it to be. Also, the fact Barack Obama is taking the time to do even a brief media sit down like this, prepared questions or not, indicates there are those in the administration finally getting nervous about the growing backlash against the Obama drone obsession. And that term obsession is finally being used by other media outlets '' a bit long time coming, but getting there nevertheless.
  Now to the video:
  __________________________________________
  White House Insider: Words From A Washed Up Tired Old Political Operative '' and then some'...
  The Man Who Calls Himself Obama: Collection One: Volumes 1-6
Joan Rivers: 'Abe Lincoln Was Gay'
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:08
  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.
Student with folding shovel prompts school lockdown. (video)
  Link to Article
  Source: WT news feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:19
  Heritage Middle School43.64974-116.390283View larger map
  MERIDIAN -- A student carrying a folding, military-style shovel prompted police action at Heritage Middle School Thursday.
  The school was put into lockdown around 9 a.m. Thursday. That's when authorities received a report of an armed suspect in the school, located at 4990 North Meridian Road.
  Meridian police weren't initially sure what type of weapon the suspect was carrying. However, Deputy Chief Tracy Basterrechea says officers eventually located the male teen, and determined the shovel was being used as a prop for a class.
  After further investigation, police learned the shovel actually belonged to a teacher, who had asked an 8th grade student to grab it from their car. The teacher planned to use the it as part of a classroom discussion on WWII.
  The student who brought in the shovel is not facing any criminal charges, neither is the teacher who the shovel belongs to.
  The school was in lockdown for approximately two hours. Classes resumed after the lockdown, however, concerned parents were allowed to pick up their children.
  They don't plan to charge the student with any crime.
  The lockdown ended shortly before 11 a.m.
  "All of our students are safe," Basterrechea said. "We had officers on scene within seconds."
  SUSPICIOUS TEEN REPORTED
  District spokesman Eric Exline said a student and a staff member saw a male teen walking down a school hallway with something suspicious and reported it to the school's resource officer.
  "He was told by some of the staff that they saw an individual jogging out of the school, then back into the school with what they told him was an axe," Basterrechea said.
  Basterrechea says it was at that point that the resource officer decided to call for a lockdown, police set up a perimeter, and law enforcement search teams began looking for the teen.
  Officials also began screening security footage, and soon discerned that what was initially reported as an axe was actually a folding shovel.
  Basterrechea says police recovered the shovel shortly afterward.
  Officers and deputies with the Boise Police Department and the Ada County Sheriff's Department assisted in the search and perimeter control.
  OTHER SCHOOLS TAKE PRECAUTIONS
  Nearby Rocky Mountain High School, Paramount Elementary, Prospect Elementary, Sawtooth Middle School were put in "shelter in place" mode, which means students weren't allowed to leave those schools while police responded to Heritage Middle School.
  Exline says those schools took the measure as a precaution.
  PARENTS GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS
  District officials say concerned parents are able to pick up their children at the school gymnasium if they choose to. Otherwise, classes will continue as scheduled.
  Throughout the lockdown, officials with Meridian police asked parents to gather at the nearby LDS Church
  Roads in the immediate vicinity of Heritage Middle School were closed throughout the incident. Traffic is expected to be backed-up for several hours.
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Facebook Gets a Multibillion-Dollar Tax Break.
  Link to Article
  Source: WT news feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:15
  It hasn't drawn much attention, but Facebook's first annual earnings report contains an accounting gem: a multibillion-dollar tax deduction for the cost of executive stock options and share awards.
  Even though Facebook (FB) reported $1.1 billion in pre-tax profits from U.S. operations in 2012, it will probably pay zero federal and state taxes'--and even receive a federal tax refund of about $429 million'--according to a Feb. 14 statement from Citizens for Tax Justice.
  The tax-research and -lobbying organization says companies such as Facebook should treat stock options the same in their reports to shareholders as they do in their tax filings. Citizens for Tax Justice calls the tax footnotes in Facebook's Jan. 30 financial statement ''an amazing admission,'' but there's nothing illegal about the breaks the company is claiming. Companies like Facebook are allowed to treat the cost of non-cash compensation, such as stock options, as an expense that reduces profits, essentially the way they treat cash compensation such as salaries.
  The difference is that Facebook'--unlike, say, General Motors (GM)'--relies heavily on stock options and restricted stock units as a form of compensation. It paid out a lot during its years as a private company that it must now recognize on its income statement and balance sheet.
  You won't find any $429 million tax refund in Facebook's financial statements. Indeed, the company says it had a $559 million federal tax liability in 2012. But that liability isn't an actual payment. In a footnote, the company also said that it had a $1.03 billion ''excess tax benefit'' last year related to ''stock option exercises and other equity awards.'' That benefit is what flips the federal tax liability into a refund. (A small portion is applied against state taxes.)
  Facebook says that it anticipates reducing its tax liability in the future by an additional $2.17 billion by using further net operating loss carry-forwards that it has banked.
  Facebook spokeswoman Ashley Zandy declined to discuss the tax break but pointed to the transcript of Facebook executives' conference call with analysts. On the call, Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman cited the accumulated tax benefits and noted that the company ended the fiscal year with nearly $10 billion in cash and investments, ''giving us great flexibility and risk protection.''
Obama's quiet ally: Who's behind gun control bill no one is talking about.
  Link to Article
  Source: WT news feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:14
  As President Obama comes to Chicago to talk gun control, Illinois' Republican senator, Mark Kirk, is pushing a bill to target gun trafficking. It's under the radar, but could have a greater impact than other bills.
  As President Obama pushes for gun control in Chicago Friday, an unexpected ally from his home state, Sen. Mark Kirk (R) of Illinois, is crossing party lines to propose legislation that could have a greater impact than higher-profile proposals to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, experts say.
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  Senator Kirk and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) of New York introduced the bill, which targets gun trafficking, last week.
  The bill defines gun trafficking as a crime. It focuses on organized crime, cartels, and street gangs, and makes it illegal to purchase, sell, or transfer more than one firearm to someone '' or on the behalf of someone '' who could be reasonably expected to use it in a crime. Gun shop owners who knowingly facilitate such purchases would also be liable. Maximum penalties are 20 years in prison.
  ''Kirk's take is really interesting, no one else is talking about that,'' says Wayne Steger, a political scientist at DePaul University in Chicago. ''Gun running across state borders and selling to unlicensed and unregistered people is the big problem.''
  According to the University of Chicago Crime Lab, which researches gun violence and crime policy, the majority of guns confiscated or used in crimes in Chicago were purchased outside the city limits. The top source states for firearms recovered in Chicago include Indiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Alabama, and Texas. These states either have weaker gun laws or are historically connected to Chicago over generations, with families residing in both areas.
  Kirk is not against the gun-control measures Mr. Obama is touting. In fact, he is the only Republican in the Senate who is on record saying he supports a ban on assault weapons. While a member of the House in 2008, he introduced legislation that would have renewed the assault-weapons ban that expired in 2004, saying the weaponry ends up in the hands of gangs and exposes law-enforcement officers to dangers that even body armor can't prevent.
  The legislation eventually failed, but he told the the Chicago Sun-Times in January that he still supported an assault-weapons ban.
  His new bill is attempting to address a different facet of gun violence. On Wednesday, Kirk said he wants to name the bill after Hadiya Pendleton, the 15-year-old girl who participated in Obama's inauguration and then was gunned down in Kenwood, a South Side Chicago neighborhood, three weeks ago.
  After asking her parents for permission, Kirk released a statement saying that ''for Hadiya, and thousands of other victims of gun violence, we must break through the typical Washington process and actually get something done that will save lives.''
  Professor Steger says Kirk's legislation, as well as his continued support for an assault-weapons ban, are not likely to hurt him politically. Kirk is a Republican in a deeply blue state, so the national Republican Party will not want to make him vulnerable by supporting a challenger in the next primary.
  ''I can't imagine Republicans running a primary challenge against him. When more conservative candidates run, they lose,'' Steger says.
  Mr. Obama mentioned Hadiya's murder in his State of the Union speech Tuesday, in which he called on Congress to pass an assault-weapons ban, among other restrictions such as a universal background check for gun purchasers. But a bill to rein in assault weapons, introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) of California in January, is not expected to pass either chamber.
FAA moves toward creating 6 drone test sites in US.
  Link to Article
  Source: WT news feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:46
  WASHINGTON (AP) '-- In a major step toward opening U.S. skies to thousands of unmanned drones, federal officials Thursday solicited proposals to create six drone test sites around the country.
  The Federal Aviation Administration also posted online a draft plan for protecting people's privacy from the eyes in the sky. The plan would require each test site to follow federal and state laws and make a privacy policy publicly available.
  Privacy advocates worry that a proliferation of drones will lead to a "surveillance society" in which the movements of Americans are routinely monitored, tracked, recorded and scrutinized by the authorities.
  The military has come to rely heavily on drones overseas. Now there is tremendous demand to use drones in the U.S. for all kinds of tasks that are too dirty, dull or dangerous for manned aircraft. Drones, which range from the size of a hummingbird to the high-flying Globalhawks that weigh about 15,000 pounds without fuel, also are often cheaper than manned aircraft. The biggest market is expected to be state and local police departments.
  The FAA is required by a law enacted a year ago to develop sites where civilian and military drones can be tested in preparation for integration into U.S. airspace that's currently limited to manned aircraft.
  The law also requires that the FAA allow drones wide access to U.S. airspace by 2015, but the agency is behind schedule, and it's doubtful it will meet the deadline, the Transportation Department's inspector general said in a report last year.
  The test sites are planned to evaluate what requirements are needed to ensure the drones don't collide with planes or endanger people or property on the ground. Remotely controlled drones don't have a pilot who can see other aircraft the way an onboard plane or helicopter pilot can.
  There's also concern that links between drones and their on-the-ground operators can be broken or hacked, causing the operator to lose control of the drone. Military drones use encrypted GPS signals for navigation, which protects them from hacking, but the GPS signals used by civilian drones don't have that protection.
  "Our focus is on maintaining and improving the safety and efficiency of the world's largest aviation system," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "This research will give us valuable information about how best to ensure the safe introduction of this advanced technology into our nation's skies."
  The test sites are also expected to boost the local economy of the communities where they are located. About two dozen government-industry partnerships have been formed over the past year to compete for the sites.
  "Today's announcement by the FAA is an important milestone on the path toward unlocking the potential of unmanned aircraft and creating thousands of American jobs," said Michael Toscano, president and CEO of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.
  "States across the country have been eager to receive this FAA designation because they recognize the incredible economic and job creation potential it would bring with it," he said in a statement.
  Industry experts predict the takeoff of a multibillion-dollar market for civilian drones as soon as the FAA completes regulations to make sure they don't pose a safety hazard to other aircraft. Potential civilian users are as varied as the drones themselves. Power companies want them to monitor transmission lines. Farmers want to fly them over fields to detect which crops need water. Ranchers want them to count cows. Film companies want to use drones to help make movies. Journalists are exploring drones' newsgathering potential.
  The FAA plans to begin integrating drones starting with small aircraft weighing less than about 55 pounds. The agency forecasts an estimated 10,000 civilian drones will be in use in the U.S. within five years.
  The Defense Department says the demand for drones and their expanding missions requires routine and unfettered access to domestic airspace, including around airports and cities, for military testing and training. Currently, the military tests drones in specially designated swaths of airspace in mostly remote parts of the country where they are likely to encounter relatively few other aircraft.
  The Customs and Border Patrol uses drones along the U.S.-Mexico border. And the FAA has granted several hundred permits to universities, police departments and other government agencies to use small, low-flying drones. For example, the sheriff's department in Montgomery County, Texas, has a 50-pound ShadowHawk helicopter drone intended to supplement its SWAT team.
  The sheriff's department hasn't armed its drone, although the ShadowHawk can be equipped with a 40 mm grenade launcher and a 12-guage shotgun. The prospect of armed drones patrolling U.S. skies has alarmed some lawmakers and their constituents. More than a dozen bills have been introduced in Congress and state legislatures to curb drone use and protect privacy.
  President Barack Obama was asked Thursday about concerns that the administration believes it's legal to strike American citizens abroad with drones and whether that's allowed against citizens in the U.S. If not, how would he create a legal framework to help citizens know drone strikes can't be used against them?
  "There's never been a drone used on an American citizen on American soil," the president said, speaking during an online chat sponsored by Google in which he was promoting his policy initiatives.
  "We respect and have a whole bunch of safeguards in terms of how we conduct counterterrorism operations outside of the United States. The rules outside of the United States are going to be different than the rules inside the United States, in part because our capacity, for example, to capture terrorists in the United States are very different than in the foothills or mountains of Afghanistan or Pakistan."
  He said he would work with Congress to make sure the American public understands "what the constraints are, what the legal parameters are, and that's something that I take very seriously."
  Earlier this week, an FAA official told a meeting of potential test site bidders that aviation regulations prohibit dropping anything from aircraft, which could be interpreted to bar arming civilian drones, according to an industry official present at the meeting who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.
  ___
  Follow Joan Lowy on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Joan_Lowy
Renegade ex-cop Dorner died from single gunshot to head. (CNN video)
  Link to Article
  Source: WT news feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:44
  By Dana Ford, CNN
  February 16, 2013 -- Updated 0357 GMT (1157 HKT)
  STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  NEW: Former cop likely hid for days just steps from a command centerAuthorities recover various assault weapons and tear gasInitial reports suggest Dorner took his own lifeHe died Tuesday in the mountains east of Los Angeles(CNN) -- Autopsy results on former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner show he died from a single gunshot wound to the head that was likely self-inflicted, authorities said Friday.
  The renegade cop killed four people and wounded three others as part of a vendetta against his former comrades, before apparently taking his own life.
  "While we're still compiling the information and putting our reports together, the information that we have right now seems to indicate that the wound that took Christopher Dorner's life was self-inflicted," Capt. Kevin Lacy, with the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department, told reporters.
  Speaking at the same news conference, Sheriff John McMahon revealed that Dorner likely hid for days just steps from their command center in the Big Bear Lake area.
  Investigators began scouring the mountains for Dorner on February 7, when they found his scorched pickup. Police, sheriff's deputies and federal agents worked through a weekend blizzard, but the trail was cold for days.
  It picked up again on Tuesday, when Karen and Jim Reynolds, upon returning to their home across the street from the command center, came across a man who looked like Dorner.
  The sheriff said authorities now believe that Dorner had entered the Reynolds' unlocked home, locked the door, and hid there for days.
  In fact, when deputies knocked on the Reynolds' door on February 7, Dorner was likely inside, McMahon said.
  "In hindsight, it's probably a good thing that he did not answer based on his actions before and after that event," he said.
  Also Friday, Sgt. Travis Newport said that authorities have recovered various items from the places and vehicles Dorner occupied, including assault weapons and semi-automatic handguns. They also found high-capacity magazines, tear gas, a military-style helmet and 10 silencers.
  The developments came three days after a shootout, standoff and fire at a cabin in the mountains east of Los Angeles. Dorner's remains were identified through dental records.
  Dorner was fired from the Los Angeles Police Department in 2009 for falsely accusing his training officer of kicking a subdued suspect. After unsuccessfully challenging his dismissal in court, police say, he launched a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the LAPD, targeting numerous officers involved in his case and their families.
  Dorner was cornered and died Tuesday afternoon in the San Bernardino Mountains, about 100 miles east of the city he had once sworn to protect and serve.
  The 33-year-old former Navy officer holed up in the cabin after a shootout with law enforcement that left a sheriff's deputy dead and another wounded, McMahon said.
  The cabin caught fire when police shot tear gas canisters into it, McMahon told reporters this week.
  Although the canisters included pyrotechnic tear gas, which generates heat, "We did not intentionally burn that cabin down," he said Friday, echoing earlier comments he's made on the case.
  In a manifesto announcing his planned rampage, Dorner said nothing had changed in the LAPD since its scandals of the 1990s, the Rodney King beating and the Rampart police corruption case. Those allegations have struck a chord with some who say Dorner was seeking justice.
  CNN's Matt Smith contributed to this report.
Cars may explode in crashes if EU forces firms to fit 'highly flammable' green coolant, warns Mercedes
  Link to Article
  Source: WT news feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:29
  Mercedes say the 'climate-friendly' chemical is highly flammableBrussels and the coolant's producers deny the suggestionBy Ray Massey
  PUBLISHED: 13:15 EST, 15 February 2013 | UPDATED: 08:11 EST, 16 February 2013
  New cars sold in Britain and Europe risk catching fire and exploding in a crash because of EU rules to impose a controversial 'green' air-conditioning coolant from the start of this year, German car giant Mercedes-Benz has warned.
  The luxury car-maker says the new 'climate-friendly' air-con chemical is 'highly flammable', poisonous and poses a danger both to occupants and rescue services '' and German government officials now agree.
  Mercedes-Benz is refusing to put the controversial new gas refrigerant into its latest vehicles, sparking a major confrontation with Brussels and the firms who make it - both of whom deny any safety risks.
  Wheels on fire: Mercedes carried out their own tests on the coolants
  Today, Mercedes-Benz and its parent company Daimler received backing from Germany's Federal Environment Agency UBA.
  It asked the EU to 'compromise' by granting them and other car-makers '' including Volkswagen and Audi - an extension from the mandatory rules until 2015 if they agree to introduce an alternative green refrigerant based on carbon dioxide, which experts say is safer because it doesn't burn.
  If Daimler is correct, around 2 million new cars sold in the UK each year are potentially at risk. Photographs from the firm's own simulated crash tests on cars showed that a mix of the refrigerant and air-conditioning compressor oil released under a car's hood could ignite a heated engine.
  This would mainly be a risk if the car crashes, but it is also possible if the coolant leaks for any other reason.
  The row centres on the new coolant with the codename 'R1234yf' which Daimler argues can start a fire in the car and release toxic hydrogen fluoride gas. It is the replacement for the long-time industry standard, which EU legislators in Brussels have ordered to be phased out from January because of concerns about greenhouse gases.
  The new 'green' refrigerant is produced by US giant Honeywell and is currently the only one if its kind that meets new EU climate guidelines. The firm denies categorically that there is any safety risk.
  Hot rod: Mercedes say the EU regulations will lead to accidents
  Car makers are supposed to phase in the change from the start of this year, but by 2017 every single one of the estimated 14 million a year air-conditioned vehicles that rolls off assembly lines for sale in Europe will be filled with about £43 worth of the new coolant. This will not include the million Mercedes-Benz's built each year, of which 90,000 are sold in the UK.
  Urging the EU to compromise, Jochen Flasbarth, president of Germany's Federal Environment Agency UBA said: 'We have been warning about the dangers (of HF0-1234yf) for years. Daimler's internal tests proved not only that our own fears were justified but also that we may even have underestimated the risks.'
  But he added: 'It's just not possible to switch to a CO2-based system within six months or even a year, though, so I would propose giving carmakers until the end of 2015 to make the switch.'
  Mr Flasbarth noted:'If you switch to CO2 then you reduce your global warming potential by 75 per cent over HFO-1234yf, so I think that justifies permitting a longer transition time for those carmakers that commit to the switch,'
  Earlier this month, BMW joined Daimler and Volkswagen's Audi in resigning from an industry research group looking into the safety of HFO-1234yf, due to concerns over the scientific thoroughness of the investigation.
  Mercedes officials said they were horrified by the results of the coolant leak tests
  Mercedes-Benz executives said they watched in horror when engineers at a test-track in Sindelfingen in Germany simulated a leak in the air-conditioning line of a Mercedes B-Class tourer using the new coolant.
  After releasing a fine mixture of the refrigerant and air-conditioning compressor oil which sprayed across the car's turbo-charged 1.6 litre engine, they watched it ignite in 'a ball of fire' before their eyes.
  The substance caught fire as soon as it hit the hot surface, releasing a toxic, corrosive gas as it burned. The car's windshield turned milky white as lethal hydrogen fluoride began eating its way into the glass, said the firm.
  Stefan Geyer, a senior Daimler engineer who ran the tests said: 'We were frozen in shock, I am not going to deny it.'
  A Mercedes-Benz source said: 'In over half the tests, a significant fire occurred, which could endanger the lives of passengers and rescue teams.
  'It doesn't explode like in the movies. But there is a boom and a ball of fire.'
  Mercedes source
  Walter P¼tz, director of vehicle certification and regulatory affairs at Mercedes-Benz Cars said: 'The whole vehicle can catch fire and the burning refrigerant generates acutely poisonous hydrogen fluoride which poses a severe danger to both passengers and rescue workers.'
  In sharp contrast, the existing refrigerant 'was proved to be safe under identical testing conditions, he said.
  Daimler said in a statement: 'Due to the new findings of this study and the high safety demands at Mercedes-Benz, this chemical will not be used in its products.'
  German carmaker Volkswagen has also announced it is looking at an alternative carbon-dioxide (CO2) based coolant to the new 'green' version.
  But MEPs said parent company Daimler were putting cost-cutting ahead of climate change remedies '' charges the firm denies.
  Liberal MEP Chris Davies told European magazine EurActive that the firm was trying to 'frustrate' the directive's ambitions: 'Daimler are evil and I think their CEO should be summoned to the European parliament and humiliated.'
  He said: 'Daimler has apparently discovered that HFO-1234yf is flammable. Well so are petrol, oil and diesel. Of course it's flammable if you shove a flame thrower under it, which is more or less the test that Daimler is said to have carried out.'
  Honeywell today countered the safety fears by publishing a report from safety experts SAE International saying that their new air-con fluid 'posed no greater threat than any other engine compartment fluids.'
  It accused Mercedes-Benmz of using 'unrealistic' and 'extrremely idealised' testing conditions.
  Honeywell vice president Terence Hahn said the report left no doubt that their refrigerant 'is safe for automotive applications.'
  A spokesman for Britain's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said it was taking seriously Mercedes-Benz's concerns, adding: 'At the forefront of all members thoughts is the safety of drivers and passengers in the vehicles they are putting on the market.
  'The additional research is welcome and members will be looking at the outcomes of that research closely.'
  Paul Sanders, managing director Fluorines EMEAI, Honeywell said their new air conditioning refrigerant 'has been proven to be a safe and effective replacement.'
  'It is already in use by the auto industry. It reduces the global warming impact of automotive refrigerants by 99.7 per cent.
  'Its adoption in cars today would have the greenhouse gas equivalent impact of removing more than 4 million cars from European roads.'
  He added car-makers had six years to prepare to meet the requirements of the new directive and that 'the vast majority of automakers have taken the necessary steps to comply'
  He said Germany's Federal Environment Agency (UBA) 'only spreads misinformation' and said using carbon-dioxide was 'inefficient' and had 'short-comings' adding:'It has higher emissions when both the air-conditioning system and efficiency of the engine are accounted for.'
John Bolton's Fake Applause
  Link to Article
  Source: Craig Murray
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:27
  The Oxford Union has dubbed fake applause onto the videos of John Bolton's address to the Union. It has not done this for any other speaker.
  If you listen to these videos of Bolton itching for war with Iran, you can hear precisely the same burst of ultra enthusiastic applause at the start, fading ''naturally'' as he begins to speak.
  This dubbing in of applause is not used for any other speaker on the Oxford Union website, either before or after Bolton.
  Everyone else just gets the actual applause that really existed.
  Contrast the presentation of these question answers from Bolton with this from Julian Assange:
  One futher interesting feature of the Bolton video is that the students asking questions '' who were mostly hostile '' are all edited out in favour of fake applause.
  I was involved in heated negotiations with the Oxford Union on the transmission of Assange's address, against attempts not by the students but by the Board of Trustees to block it ''on legal grounds''. These conversations were not pleasant. When Assange's address was finally put out, the sound was completely messed up and remained so for a fortnight, with this comment from the Oxford Union posted underneath:
  ''
  Thanks>> for your feedback. We are aware there are issues with the audio when playing on mobile devices and we are working on getting this fixed as quickly as possible. The audio can be heard on desktops or with headphones on laptops.
  ''
  I am therefore fascinated by the skill with which the Oxford Union have merged the dying of the fake applause over the start of Bolton's speaking, when they were technically incapable of a simple straight sound feed of the Assange address.
  Bolton is not only banging the drum for neo-con war, he is a war criminal with a direct role in launching the illegal role of aggression in Iraq. His address to the Union was the day before Assange's speech to the Sam Adams Award at the same venue. Yet not a single one of the students who demonstrated against Assange demonstrated against Bolton.
  To take the issue of rape, which was ostensibly the subject of the protest, Bolton's Iraq qar directly caused innumerable rapes. Nobody can know the exact figure, but certainly tens of thousands of rapes, and very many of them were fatal or had the most devastating consequences for the women who suffered. Read this excellent article
  Rape is a common weapon of any war; no one knows how many Iraqi women have been raped since the war began in 2003. Most crimes against women ''are not reported because of stigma, fear of retaliation, or lack of confidence in the police,'' MADRE, an international women's rights group, wrote in its 2007 report about violence against women in Iraq. Some women, like Khalida, are raped by Iraqi security forces. A 2005 report published by the Iraqi National Association for Human Rights found that women held in Interior Ministry detention centers endure ''systematic rape by the investigators.''
  They did not demonstrate against Bolton because the mainstream media and establishment have whipped up no hysteria about him. But they were directed to outrage against Assange, a man who has done a great deal to expose war crimes and try to prevent war, because the mainstream media and establishment pushed the useful idiots in that direction with some extraordinarily unconvincing accusations.
  I said most of this at my owb speech to the Sam Adams awards. Strangely the Oxford Union have not posted that speech at all'.....
Fish are becoming easier to catch 'because traces of anti-depressants are getting into water supply and making them more relaxed'
  Link to Article
  Source: Infowars » Featured Stories
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:26
  'Making them more relaxed'
  DAMIEN GAYLEUK Daily MailFeb 16, 2013
  Sleeping pills may be disturbing river ecosystems by turning fish into greedy, risk-taking loners, say researchers.
  Scientists studied the behaviour of perch exposed to a sedative which is carried into waterways through sewage.
  The drug, a benzodiazepine used to treat anxiety and insomnia called oxazepam, made the fish bolder and less social.
  They left the safety of their schools to forage alone '' making them vulnerable to predators '' and also ate more quickly than normal.
  'Normally perch are shy and hunt in schools,' said study leader Dr Tomas Brodin, from Umea University in Sweden.
  Full article here
  This article was posted: Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 5:48 am
  Tags: health, natural health, water
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Thousands of Dolphins Spotted Near San Diego
  Link to Article
  Source: Dave Winer's linkblog feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:22
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  Whale Watching Season Peaks in San Diego
  Up to 15 whales a day are visiting San Diego's shoreline. NBC 7 reporter Elena Gomez talks to local whale watching businesses that are benefitting from the mammals visit.
  Killer Whales Spotted in San Diego
  Two killer whales were spotted off the coast of San Diego on Thursday, July 19, 2012. Captain Kenny Manzoni talks about seeing the creatures up close.
  More Photos and VideosThousands of dolphins spanning across 7 miles of ocean were sighted off the coast of San Diego on Thursday, a boat captain told NBC 7 San Diego.
  Capt. Joe Dutra of Hornblower Cruises said he saw a ''super mega-pod'' of common dolphins Thursday around noon while he was on his daily tour. He said the pod was more than 7 miles long and 5 miles wide.
  Dutra said the boat tour followed the pod for more than an hour and said he's never seen anything like it.
  ''When you see something that is honestly truly beyond belief,'' the captain said.
  Guests aboard the boat started screaming and pointing when they first saw the school of adult and juvenile common dolphins. Dutra estimated there were about 100,000 dolphins swimming in the area.
  ''They were coming from all directions, you could see them from as far as the eye can see,'' he said. ''I've seen a lot of stuff out here'... but this is the biggest I've ever seen, ever.''Whale and dolphin watching tours have done particularly well this year, with dozens of animal sightings reported.
  Marine mammal expert Sarah Wilkin said the reason the large pod might be there is because there's plenty of food in the area, including sardines, herring and squid.
  ''They're attracted to kind of the same thing, they might wind up in the same place,'' she said.
  Though dolphins typically travel in groups of 200 or less, Wilkin said ''super-pods'' are not unheard of.
  ''They're definitely social animals, they stick together in small groups,'' she said. ''But sometimes, the schools come together.''
  Dutra, who's been boating for decades, said he felt lucky to enjoy such a rare phenomenon.
  ''You had to be there to experience it,'' he said. ''It was truly spectacular.''
AP Is Horrified at Obama-Hating Utah: 'Unyielding GOP Politicians Doing What Voters Ask'
  Link to Article
  Source: Tim Graham's blog
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:20
  Via the Sweetness & Light blog, there's this hilarious AP headline: ''Unyielding GOP politicians doing what voters ask.''
  AP wants them to ignore the voters? You almost have to applaud AP for noticing that the conservative ''obstructionists'' in the House were indeed elected to uphold conservative principles. Something tells me AP didn't do a horrified story from San Francisco or Beverly Hills in 2005 that ''unyielding liberal Democrats'' were actually going to listen to their constituents and oppose President Bush. But reporter Nicholas Riccardi reported from northern Utah:
  To understand why the nation may remain politically gridlocked for the next two years, talk to people in a place like Heber City, a conservative farming and ranching hub nestled beneath the imposing peaks of the Wasatch mountains. Many voters here, and in conservative communities across the country, still want to do whatever it takes to stop Obama, despite his solid re-election in November, and the politicians they elect are listening.
  Riccardi presents Rep. Jason Chaffetz, whose constituents have the gall to urge him to repeal Obamacare. That's why AP picked Heber City, where Chaffetz knocked off a more establishment Republican in 2008, representing the "problem" of uncompromising Republicans.
  The AP man wrote Obama announced an ''ambitious agenda'' in his State of the Union '' and somehow more tax hikes, raising the minimum wage to $9 an hour, and gun control aren't described as a ''liberal agenda.'' Then he quoted Obama insisting Republicans aren't really a majority:
  "The House Republican majority is made up mostly of members who are in sharply gerrymandered districts that are very safely Republican and may not feel compelled to pay attention to broad-based public opinion, because what they're really concerned about is the opinions of their specific Republican constituencies," Obama said in an interview with The New Republic magazine last month.
  Would Obama insist the Congressional Black Caucus should be poised to compromise with the Tea Party, since they're NOT in ''sharply gerrymandered districts''? How does this apply to Utah? Riccardi simply moves along to noting that somehow the Republicans never budge, as if the liberal Democrats are constantly offering to move to the right in pliant compromise:
  One thing is clear: Compromise is a dirty word for many of the Republicans remaining in the House.
  Only 36 percent of GOP voters would look favorably on a politician who compromises, in contrast to 59 percent of Democratic ones and 53 percent of independent ones, according to a Pew poll last month.
  Virtually all House Republicans come from districts that voted against Obama in November. And in many states, primary voters have punished Republicans they see as too eager to cut deals with Democrats.
  You have to love how AP's Riccardi -- a former L.A. Times reporter and "expat New Yorker," according to his Twitter page -- sees this stretch of Utah as slightly crazy:
  Here's how things look from Heber City: Obama hiked taxes while pushing through his health care reform. Then he got another round during the fiscal cliff negotiations. Now he's making a third attempt during the latest debt ceiling standoff. Meanwhile, the federal budget has been trimmed, but only slightly. The debt is still huge. Republicans are folding at every turn.
  Oops, AP messed up. Let's bet clear-eyed Heber City doesn't think ''the federal budget has been trimmed, but only slightly.''
Divers Find No Trace of Meteorite in Urals Lake
  Link to Article
  Source: RIA Novosti
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:19
  MOSCOW, February 16 (RIA Novosti) '' Divers have completed examining Lake Chebarkul in the Chelyabinsk Region where a meteorite fragment had reportedly fallen but found no trace of the celestial body, a spokesperson for the Russian Emergencies Ministry said on Saturday.
  ''The ministry's divers have completed examining the lake's area but discovered no traces of the meteorite,'' Irina Rossius said.
  (C) RIA Novosti.
  Meteorite Fragments Hit Russia
  A flaming meteorite streaked across the sky and slammed into central Russia on Friday with a massive boom that blew out windows and damaged thousands of buildings around the city of Chelyabinsk, injuring more than 1,000 people in the area. According to the Health Ministry, 51 were hospitalized.
  Officials are trying to determine where the fragments have landed. None have been recovered as of Saturday morning. Chelyabinsk Region Governor Mikhail Yurevich said earlier that one of the fragments had fallen into Lake Chebarkul.
  Eyewitness Footage of Meteorite Strikes
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  <object width="480" height="360" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://static-c.rian.ru/i/swf/riavideocv2.swf"><param name="movie" value="http://static-c.rian.ru/i/swf/riavideocv2.swf" /><param name="scale" value="noorder" /><param name="wmode" value="window" /><param name="devicefont" value="true" /><param name="flashvars" value="file=http%3A%2F%2Fnfw.aurora-video.ru%2Fflv%2Fplaylist.aspx%3Fid%3D213898%2526fmt=xml%2526adv=0%2526img=http%3A%2F%2Fen.rian.ru%2Fimages%2F17948/75/179487531.jpg%26amp%3B&copyright=%C2%A0&info_url=http://en.rian.ru/services/media/179487528-info.html&videofilesize=13.69Mb&videolen=128 s.&blog_url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.rian.ru%23blogcode&video_url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.rian.ru%2Fvideo%2F&skin_locale=eng"/></object>Eyewitness Footage of Meteorite Strikes
  Background radiation levels reportedly remain unchanged. This was confirmed both by emergencies officials, and by the national nuclear agency, concerned because the area has a fair number of nuclear facilities.
Bird flu found at German farm, ducks slaughtered
  Link to Article
  Source: The Daily Star >> Live News
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:19
  BERLIN: About 14,000 ducks at a German farm are being slaughtered following a bird flu outbreak.
  A federal laboratory confirmed Friday the H5N1 virus was detected at the farm near Seelow, east of Berlin - the first such finding in Germany in more than three years.
  On Saturday, officials started slaughtering the farm's ducks. Local council spokesman Tobias Seyfarth told news agency dpa that all poultry within a one-kilometer (half-mile) radius of the facility will be kept under observation for the next 21 days, with owners told to keep their birds where they are and report any symptoms.
  The H5N1 virus normally spreads between sick poultry, but it can sometimes spread from poultry to humans. Bird flu has killed 367 people worldwide since surfacing in 2003, the World Health Organization says.
U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske: "Marijuana Is Not Medicine" - (Let The Ignoramus Flag Fly!)
  Link to Article
  Source: DaDenMan news feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 13:19
  '‹There's a conference under way in West Palm Beach called "Rx for Change: Targeting Prescription Drug Abuse." One of the major talking points is the staggering number of accidental deaths related to prescription drug abuse: seven every day in Florida. That's more than the number of car-crash deaths per year in 17 states.Gary Martin of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office told a crowd of assembled addiction prevention and treatment professionals that "the misuse of prescription drugs is second only to marijuana abuse as a drug problem."
  But would it be better for pain pill consumers to be smoking pot instead? While the benefits are up for debate, marijuana certainly doesn't kill seven people a day. New Times caught up with U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske and asked him what's so bad about medical marijuana anyway.Kerlikowske, who attended the University of South Florida and served as chief of police in Fort Pierce, wrapped up his keynote speech on U.S. drug control policy by calling for an end to the "War on Drugs." "The public gets fed up when everything becomes a crisis, everything becomes a war," he said. "This can't be dealt with in easy and simplistic terms." If the Obama administration doesn't agree, Kerlikowske joked, "next year I'll be out in the audience; I'll probably be a consultant somewhere."
  But despite his appreciation for nuance, Kerlikowske thinks the blanket pot-legalization effort in California is misguided. He mocked the claim from proponents of Proposition 19 that legalization "solves every problem... It's touted as some type of answer. Legalizing drugs is not the answer to this nation's problems."
  But what about medical marijuana, especially as a treatment for chronic pain that harsh narcotics like Oxycodone are used to treat? Sorry, Cheech:
  "Marijuana is not medicine," Kerlikowske told New Times. "We have a process in this country for developing medicines that's world-renowned. The popular vote has never been a part of it. Treatments should be determined by scientists and not by voters."
  In his speech, Gary Martin called America a "prescription drug nation," where too many people try to solve their problems by popping a pill in their mouths. But compared to smoking or other "natural cures," pill-popping still holds the most medical legitimacy with the Obama administration."We have 35 ongoing federal grants for research projects [on cannabis]," said Kerlikowske. "I don't know any physician that after 40 years of lung cancer research would advocate smoking." Instead, he pointed to the use of synthetic cannabinoid treatments like Marinol.
  Finally, we asked Kerlikowske the question that nobody seems to be able to answer definitively: Why is Broward County the nation's capital of pain-pill dispensaries and pill mills? He ducked the question, referring it to erstwhile BSO Sgt. Rich Pisanti, who is working up in Washington as a Law Enforcement Fellow in Kerlikowske's office.
  "It was fueled by people around the country getting word that Broward was the best place to get drugs, and places started popping up. People talk about how it's the best place to come... that's a myth," said Pisanti.
  Four years ago, there were a handful of pain clinics in Broward and Palm Beach. Now it's what Karl Durr of the PBSO narcotics division called an "open-air drug market" as he flipped through slides showing advertisements for 99 cent Roxies. Durr placed some of the blame on a "lack of regulatory issues."
  But don't expect the White House to let you light up the reefer any time soon.
Patent Trolls Hijack Others' Ideas to 'Extort Some Money'
  Link to Article
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 11:00
  What's This?
  Alex Fitzpatrick2013-02-14 23:33:17 UTCPresident Barack Obama pointed his finger at patent trolls, people and businesses who file patents and use them to aggressively sue others who produce potentially competing products, during a Google Hangout Thursday afternoon.
  "They don't actually produce anything themselves," said Obama of patent trolls. "They're just trying to essentially leverage and hijack somebody else's idea and see if they can extort some money out of them."
  Obama added that he believes his administration's efforts at patent reform "only went about halfway to where we need to go."
  "What we need to do is pull together additional stakeholders and see if we can build some additional consensus on smarter patent laws," he said.
  Obama's statements on patent trolls and patent reform came as an answer to entrepreneur Limor Fried, who's concerned that trolls are an impediment to high-tech startup growth. Fried also pressed the president on other technology issues, including a national high school computer programming requirement which Obama said "makes sense."
  Obama then expounded on his administration's approach to several other technology issues, including online privacy, content piracy and the open Internet:
  The technology is changing so fast, we want to protect privacy, we want to protect people's civil liberties. We want to make sure the Internet stays open. I'm an ardent believer that what's powerful about the Internet is its openness and the capacity for people to get out there and introduce a new idea with low barriers to entry.
  We also want to make sure that people's intellectual property is protected. Whether it's how we're dealing with copyright, how we're dealing with patents, how we're dealing with piracy issues. What we've tried to do is be an honest broker between the various stakeholders and to continue to refine it '-- hopefully keeping up with the technology '-- which doesn't mean that there won't be some problems that we still haven't identified and that we have to keep working on.
  Obama later suggested introducing high school students to video game design as a portal to a math or graphics design education focused on trade schools and apprenticeships rather than four-year college programs. He gave a hat tip to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, using him as an example of a self-taught programmer inspired to learn how to code thanks to his love of video games.
  Obama did not face a question on the Department of Justice's handling of its case against Aaron Swartz, the 26-year-old programmer who took his own life last month before a computer fraud trial was set to begin. He was also not asked about his recently-revealed executive order on cybersecurity or on the newly reintroduced Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, known as CISPA.
  On which other technology issues should Obama answer questions? Share your thoughts in the comments.
  Photo via Spencer Platt/Getty Images
  Topics: Barack Obama, patents, Politics, U.S., US & World
The Tunguska Impact--100 Years Later
  Link to Article
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:51
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  June 30, 2008: The year is 1908, and it's just after seven in the morning. A man is sitting on the front porch of a trading post at Vanavara in Siberia. Little does he know, in a few moments, he will be hurled from his chair and the heat will be so intense he will feel as though his shirt is on fire.
  That's how the Tunguska event felt 40 miles from ground zero.
  Today, June 30, 2008, is the 100th anniversary of that ferocious impact near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in remote Siberia--and after 100 years, scientists are still talking about it.
  "If you want to start a conversation with anyone in the asteroid business all you have to say is Tunguska," says Don Yeomans, manager of the Near-Earth Object Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "It is the only entry of a large meteoroid we have in the modern era with first-hand accounts."
  Above: Trees felled by the Tunguska explosion. Credit: the Leonid Kulik Expedition. [more]
  While the impact occurred in '08, the first scientific expedition to the area would have to wait for 19 years. In 1921, Leonid Kulik, the chief curator for the meteorite collection of the St. Petersburg museum led an expedition to Tunguska. But the harsh conditions of the Siberian outback thwarted his team's attempt to reach the area of the blast. In 1927, a new expedition, again lead by Kulik, reached its goal.
  "At first, the locals were reluctant to tell Kulik about the event," said Yeomans. "They believed the blast was a visitation by the god Ogdy, who had cursed the area by smashing trees and killing animals."
  While testimonials may have at first been difficult to obtain, there was plenty of evidence lying around. Eight hundred square miles of remote forest had been ripped asunder. Eighty million trees were on their sides, lying in a radial pattern.
  "Those trees acted as markers, pointing directly away from the blast's epicenter," said Yeomans. "Later, when the team arrived at ground zero, they found the trees there standing upright '' but their limbs and bark had been stripped away. They looked like a forest of telephone poles."Such debranching requires fast moving shock waves that break off a tree's branches before the branches can transfer the impact momentum to the tree's stem. Thirty seven years after the Tunguska blast, branchless trees would be found at the site of another massive explosion '' Hiroshima, Japan.
  Kulik's expeditions (he traveled to Tunguska on three separate occasions) did finally get some of the locals to talk. One was the man based at the Vanara trading post who witnessed the heat blast as he was launched from his chair. His account:
  Suddenly in the north sky'... the sky was split in two, and high above the forest the whole northern part of the sky appeared covered with fire'... At that moment there was a bang in the sky and a mighty crash'... The crash was followed by a noise like stones falling from the sky, or of guns firing. The earth trembled.
  The massive explosion packed a wallop. The resulting seismic shockwave registered with sensitive barometers as far away as England. Dense clouds formed over the region at high altitudes which reflected sunlight from beyond the horizon. Night skies glowed, and reports came in that people who lived as far away as Asia could read newspapers outdoors as late as midnight. Locally, hundreds of reindeer, the livelihood of local herders, were killed, but there was no direct evidence that any person perished in the blast.
  Above: The location of the Tunguska impact.
  "A century later some still debate the cause and come up with different scenarios that could have caused the explosion," said Yeomans. "But the generally agreed upon theory is that on the morning of June 30, 1908, a large space rock, about 120 feet across, entered the atmosphere of Siberia and then detonated in the sky."
  It is estimated the asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere traveling at a speed of about 33,500 miles per hour. During its quick plunge, the 220-million-pound space rock heated the air surrounding it to 44,500 degrees Fahrenheit. At 7:17 a.m. (local Siberia time), at a height of about 28,000 feet, the combination of pressure and heat caused the asteroid to fragment and annihilate itself, producing a fireball and releasing energy equivalent to about 185 Hiroshima bombs.
  "That is why there is no impact crater," said Yeomans. "The great majority of the asteroid is consumed in the explosion."
  Yeomans and his colleagues at JPL's Near-Earth Object Office are tasked with plotting the orbits of present-day comets and asteroids that cross Earth's path, and could be potentially hazardous to our planet. Yeomans estimates that, on average, a Tunguska-sized asteroid will enter Earth's atmosphere once every 300 years.
  "From a scientific point of view, I think about Tunguska all the time," he admits. Putting it all in perspective, however, "the thought of another Tunguska does not keep me up at night."
  Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
Size of Blast and Number of Injuries Are Seen as Rare for a Rock From Space
  Link to Article
  Source: NYT > Home Page
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:47
  The meteor that exploded over Russia on Friday set off the largest explosion of its kind in more than a century, at least according to Western scientists. And even more unusual for a meteor, it caused numerous injuries, mostly from flying glass, as the shock wave violently jolted the city of Chelyabinsk below.
  It hit on the same day that astronomers were watching another larger rock miss Earth by just 17,200 miles, and experts scrambled to understand the two rare cosmic events.
  Some initially speculated that Earth was passing through a swarm of asteroids, but the Russian meteor came from the other direction. ''There is no relation there,'' said Paul Chodas, a scientist with NASA's Near Earth Object Program. ''It seems like we're in a cosmic shooting gallery here. There were two very rare events happening on the same day. Pure coincidence.''
  Based on preliminary calculations, the solar system interloper that shook Chelyabinsk weighed about 7,000 tons and was about 50 feet in diameter when it entered the atmosphere at 40,000 miles per hour at about 9:20 a.m. local time, said Peter G. Brown, a professor of physics at the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Brown based his calculations on low-frequency sound waves that traveled as far as Alaska. A worldwide network of such sensors listens for these vibrations, too low to be heard by humans, to verify the ban on nuclear tests.
  Russian experts estimated a much smaller size, of just 10 feet across and 10 tons.
  The asteroid streaked across the sky for about half a minute, unleashing thunderous sonic booms. (Asteroids are orbiting rocks usually between Mars and Jupiter; they are called meteors when they enter the Earth's atmosphere and begin burning up.) The meteor was likely made of stony materials and not solid metal, so as pressure from the atmosphere increased, it exploded at an altitude of 12 to 15 miles above the surface. It released the equivalent energy of 300,000 tons of TNT, Dr. Brown said, although he said that estimate could be revised higher, perhaps to 500,000 tons of TNT.
  The atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima during World War II was the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT.
  ''This is the largest recorded event since the 1908 Tunguska event,'' Dr. Chodas said. On June 30, 1908, the explosion of a meteor, believed to be an asteroid, flattened millions of trees over 800 square miles in a remote, largely unhabited area of central Siberia about 1,200 miles away from Friday's event.
  At a NASA news conference Friday afternoon, Bill Cooke, who leads the Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., said the orbital path of the meteor showed that it was an asteroid, not a comet.
  At its farthest point from the Sun, it was 2.5 times as far away as the Earth, before its elliptical path took it closer, and the Earth got in its way on Friday.
  Other large meteors could have splashed unnoticed in an ocean in decades past, but nowadays military satellites on the watch for missile launches would certainly notice an incoming meteor this bright.
  The asteroid was impossible to detect, Dr. Cooke said, because it was approaching from the dayside. ''And as you know, telescopes can't see things during the daytime,'' he said.
  Clark R. Chapman, a senior scientist at the Southwest Research Institute's Department of Space Studies based in Boulder, Colo., said this was the first time a crashing meteor is known to have injured a large number of people. ''That's basically never happened before,'' he said.
  Within the emptiness of space, billions of rocks, from dust to those miles across, zip around the inner solar system, and collisions with the Earth's atmosphere are frequent.
  Most are mere grains, burning up high in the atmosphere. Larger ones '-- the size of peas '-- can be spotted streaking across the night sky as ''shooting stars,'' but those also never reach the ground.
  ''Small objects the size of a basketball hit the Earth almost every day, once a day on average, and car-size objects hit every month or two,'' Dr. Chodas said. ''Little stuff hits the Earth all the time. We just don't know about it. It's all burning up in the atmosphere.''
  Scientists estimate that these tiny meteoritic bits add up to 80 tons of material falling on Earth from outer space each day.
  Giant impacts have changed the course of life on Earth, notably 65 million years ago when an object several miles wide slammed off the coast of Mexico and killed off the dinosaurs. Collisions with objects the size of the Russian meteor or 2012DA14, the asteroid that did not hit Earth on Friday, occur perhaps once a century.
  NASA surveys had cataloged 95 percent of near-Earth asteroids 0.6 miles wide or wider, but fewer of the smaller ones. A year ago, a telescope in Spain discovered 2012 DA14, a 150-foot-wide asteroid just after it made a somewhat close pass to Earth, missing by 1.6 million miles. With an orbital period of 366 days, it made a return visit on Friday, at a much closer distance of 17,200 miles.
  That is closer than many telecommunications satellites. But despite needless anxiety that it would hit Earth, its passing was uneventful, and it will not come that close again until at least 2080.
  If 2012 DA14 had collided with Earth, it would have released the energy of 2.5 million tons of TNT, NASA scientists estimate, or nearly 10 times as much energy as the meteor in Russia.
  Some estimates put the Tunguska event even bigger, perhaps 20 million tons of TNT. The makeup of an asteroid can vastly change the damage.
  With Tunguska, the asteroid also exploded in the air. But in Arizona, an asteroid of similar energy, but made of nickel and iron, slammed into the ground about 50,000 years ago, leaving a crater 4,000 feet wide.
  Occasionally, astronomers do find the very small asteroids.
  Astronomers also had fortuitous luck in 2008 when they discovered an asteroid, smaller than the Russian one, and were able to track it as it entered the atmosphere over Sudan 20 hours later. But most of the time, near misses of objects that small are missed.
  ''It is detectable, but only if we are looking at the right place at precisely the right time,'' Dr. Chodas said.
Weekly Address: Following the President's Plan for a Strong Middle Class
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:46
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  February 16, 2013
  WASHINGTON, DC'-- In this week's address, President Obama called for quick action on the proposals he made during the State of the Union to grow our economy and create jobs, including making America a magnet for manufacturing, strengthening our education system through high-quality preschool for every child, and raising the minimum wage. Congress must also act now to avert the sequester, which would be a harmful and self-inflicted wound on our economy, by reducing our deficit in a balanced way that makes investments in areas that help us grow and cuts what we don't need.
  The audio of the address and video of the address will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 a.m. ET, Saturday, February 16, 2013.
  Remarks of President Barack ObamaAs Prepared for DeliveryThe White HouseFebruary 16, 2013
  Hi, everybody. This week, I've been traveling across the country '' from North Carolina to Georgia to here at Hyde Park Academy in my hometown of Chicago '' talking with folks about the important task I laid out in my State of the Union Address: reigniting the true engine of America's economic growth '' a rising, thriving middle class.
  Every day, we should ask ourselves three questions: How do we bring good jobs to America? How do we equip people with the skills those jobs require? And how do we make sure your hard work leads to a decent living?
  I believe all that starts by making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing. After shedding jobs for more than 10 years, our manufacturers have added about 500,000 jobs over the past three. What we need to do now is simple. We need to accelerate that trend. We need to launch manufacturing hubs across the country that will transform hard-hit regions into global centers of high-tech jobs and manufacturing. We need to make our tax code more competitive, ending tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, and rewarding companies that create jobs here at home. And we need to invest in the research and technology that will allow us to harness more of our own energy and put more people back to work repairing our crumbling roads and bridges.
  These steps will help our businesses expand and create new jobs. But we also need to provide every American with the skills and training they need to fill those jobs. Let's start in the earliest years by offering high-quality preschool to every child in America, because we know kids in these programs do better throughout their lives. Let's redesign our high schools so that our students graduate with skills that employers are looking for right now. And because taxpayers can't continue to subsidize the soaring cost of higher education, I've called on Congress to take affordability and value into account when determining which colleges receive certain types of federal aid.
  So those are steps we can take today to help bring good jobs to America and equip our people with the skills those jobs require. And that brings us to the third question '' how do we make sure hard work leads to a decent living?
  No one in America should work full-time and raise their children in poverty. So let's raise the minimum wage so that it's a wage you can live on. And it's time to harness the talents and ingenuity of hardworking immigrants by finally passing comprehensive immigration reform '' securing our borders, establishing a responsible path to earned citizenship, and attracting the highly-skilled entrepreneurs and engineers that will help create jobs.
  These steps will help grow our economy and rebuild a rising, thriving middle class. And we can do it while shrinking our deficits. We don't have to choose between the two '' we just have to make smart choices.
  Over the last few years, both parties have worked together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion '' which puts us more than halfway towards the goal of $4 trillion in deficit reduction that economists say we need to stabilize our finances. Now we need to finish the job.
  But I disagree with Republicans who think we should do that by making even bigger cuts to things like education and job training; Medicare and Social Security benefits. That would force our senior citizens and working families to bear the burden of deficit reduction while the wealthiest are asked to do nothing more. That won't work. We can't just cut our way to prosperity.
  Instead, I've proposed a balanced approach; one that makes responsible reforms to bring down the cost of health care and saves hundreds of billions of dollars by getting rid of tax loopholes and deductions for the well-off and well-connected. And we should finally pursue bipartisan, comprehensive tax reform that encourages job creation and helps bring down the deficit.
  So we know what we need to do. All the steps I've mentioned are commonsense. And, together, they will help us grow our economy and strengthen our middle class.
  In the coming weeks and months, our work won't be easy, and we won't agree on everything. But America only moves forward when we do so together '' when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations. That's the American story. And that is how we will write the next great chapter '' together.
  Thanks and have a great weekend.
  ###
Shooter Boys and At-Risk Girls
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  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:43
  In December, a New Jersey schoolboy was arrested for drawing in class.
  In the post-Sandy Hook rage to blame anything (guns, video games, internet-addicted youth) the easiest thing to blame is always the kid who fails at the blankly inoffensive ideals of childhood. This 16-year-old drew a glove shooting flames. The police searched his house. They found the sort of gutted machines that hint at a proclivity for engineering. He was arrested on December 18, and was still in juvenile hall when papers ran the story on the 28th.
  A few weeks later, 17-year-old Courtni Webb was thrown out of school in California. A teacher searched her bag, and found a poem she had written for herself, that showed too much empathy for Adam Lanza. When you're underage, your property isn't private. Neither are your thoughts.
  I think of these kids because I was one of them.
  When I was 12, I was thrown out of school for, among other crimes, drawing headless cheerleaders during English. It was the cherry atop a year of being hauled before earnest adults concerned about my future. I was an at-risk girl. No one would ever say at risk for what.
  My dad's girlfriend nicknamed me "little black smudge." I was arrogant and scowly and awful. I'd been an antisocial child. Many a Thanksgiving with the Puerto Rican half of my family began with them hauling me out of some book-lined hiding spot. I read when I walked to avoid making eye contact. When I messed up a drawing (and I messed up most) I'd weep till I couldn't breathe. Concerned guidance councilors called home about my poetry. Conversation made me choke.
  By 12, I'd grown tits and found myself in line with the zeitgeist. The 90s were the decade of angst. The Craft's black lipstick Wicca. Courtney Love wielding her guitar like a cock, all hot sex and rage. Kurt Cobain as a martyred imaginary brother. A tween mind could misinterpret clinical depression as sadness over the universe's jocks. The 90s meant grunge and zines and riot grrrl. I may have had no scrapbooks of friends, but Spin magazine was my family album.
  In a bit of sympathetic magic, I burned every photo of myself I could find when I graduated high school. But I remember looking much like I do now. The year I was thrown out of school, I wore band shirts and thrift store jeans. I had dyed black hair and skin too pale for a mixed race kid'--skin that made teachers call home in concern. I pierced my ears to the cartilage with safety pins, and drew ankhs on my eyelids with ballpoint pen.
  I wanted to be an artist. I wanted to be darkly beautiful and have brilliant dangerous friends and spend afternoons reading alone. But I was 12. Being that age means surveillance, the world seen only through supervised activities that mediate between you and all that's interesting. I couldn't make friends. I couldn't stay awake during class. I failed to be what I should have been. All the strictures of childhood prevented me from becoming what I wanted to become.
  When I see a kid getting tattoos, listening to violent songs, smoking weed, or playing games shellacked in gore, I see a kid trying to find their own place in the world. Some place authority, however kind or cruel, hasn't touched.
  I rebelled because I was a child and I wanted to be human.
  It was a few years before the internet had spread beyond the geek elite. Books and music were all that let us know we weren't alone. Brats in shredded black made few friends. Especially not when they're convinced that they're made of superior stuff. Classmates threw Coke cans at my head. After a day of getting punched in the face, I'd turn on Trent Reznor till the bass drowned out my brain. Staring at the ceiling until it went white, I doubted I'd ever be done with childhood.
  I was the only kid who wouldn't stand for the pledge of allegiance. The teachers had me wait outside the classroom, where my heart pounded with the adrenaline of minor disobedience. I wrote to the anarchist prisoners whose zines I found through Factsheet Five. During class, I devoured the antiauthoritarian canon'--Marquis de Sade, and Maximum Rock 'n' Roll, and Revolutionary Suicide. Books hid neatly under my desk. Teachers didn't like when I read during lectures. Their first punishments were in-school suspensions: a day staring at the walls of a windowless room, no books allowed. When your brain isn't occupied, minutes expand to centuries. You can hallucinate a universe in your thumbnail.
  Soon, it wasn't just teachers who didn't like me. It was the school itself.
  Our principal, Dr. K, was thin and unctuous and admired how Japanese students bowed to their teachers. Bowing wasn't my thing.
  I wanted to be as bad as Dr. K said I was. I wanted to be hardened and unafraid before authorities to whom I was supposed to defer. Anything I know about swagger, I learned as a twelve-year-old in a room full of adults who'd labelled me profoundly troubled. Don't give them satisfaction. Keep your back straight. Meet their eyes.
  When I remember that year, no stereotypical adolescent crimes stick out. I didn't fight or get caught shoplifting, and I never had enough friends to score drugs. Instead I refused to change out of an anarchist T-shirt. I painted my palm green before a presentation. I had a bottle of White Out. I read War and Peace during math class. When I didn't bring sweats to gym, I told the teacher that to make excuses would imply I that I cared about her opinion. I drew violent pictures in the ballpoint style of Babygoth Baroque.
  In the guidance councilor's office, Mrs. S would emote at me, eyes moist with false concern. She'd ask me why I was so angry.
  I was angry because I was 12.
  The right way for a white girl to be angry is to turn her anger inwards. She should be a victim, like the patients in Reviving Ophelia, a psychiatrist's late-90s textbook on broken girlhood. She should starve or cut or blow boys who treat her badly. A crusading shrink should scoop her up, and return her to good grades, tasteful clothes, and happiness--heart and hymen intact.
  Like many smart kids, I had age dysmorphia. In my head, I was ready for adventures. In the world, I couldn't hang out alone at Starbucks. What the guidance councilor didn't want to remember is that childhood is helplessness. Schools, sometimes benevolently, sometimes not, have power over their students that most American adults will never experience unless they are in a hospital, old age home, institution or prison.
  In The Medicalization of Deviance, Peter Conrad says that what was once conceived of as sin, then crime, became illness. School kids are labelled with all three. Brown kids in broke schools are seen as minicriminals. Police detain them for doodling on their own backpacks. In religious areas, queer kids are sinners.
  For white kids in decent schools, adolescent rebellion is something for psychiatrists to treat. For them, school is taken as a hard-wired part of evolution. You're broken if you can't sit in class.
  I wonder now what would have happened if I had seemed to them less like my Jewish half, and more like my Puerto Rican one. Race in America is a complicated mix of one's heritage, physical appearance, and how well one matches ideas of what a minority should be. When I was born, my brown grandfather proudly shouted "Blanca!" but not reading as Puerto Rican had as much to do with clothes and class. In US schools, white kids who can't fit in are seen as having problems. Kids of color are often seen as being the problem. The school wanted to shove me full of pills. They never put me in jail.
  In the era of Adderall, one must have a diagnosis. By spring, I got mine. For three hours, a beige man asked me questions in his beige office. The verdict? Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Officially a mouthy brat. The school suggested lithium. My overwhelmed single mom sent me to therapy. During my weekly visit, the therapist would try to peer into my emotional guts. Instead, I'd talk about books.
  At the end of seventh grade, school threw me out. My mom sent me to live with my father. After a year of being called away from her job because of my Nirvana book covers, she'd understandably had enough.
  Columbine happened when I was 15. American schools are driven by externals rather than root causes. After Columbine, guns didn't kill people. Black trench coats did. According to David Cullen's book on the massacre, Harris was a sociopath, but the media played the shooting as goths versus jocks. Suddenly, every freak was a future mass murderer. By then, I had an older boyfriend to fuck some perspective into me. Better able to hide my desires, I was left mostly untouched.
  I graduated early. Nothing as an adult, no brokenness, no breakups, no illnesses, was as bad as childhood.
  It seems beside the point to write about one's angsty youth. Doesn't the president make "It Gets Better" videos? Isn't Lady Gaga head of an antibullying campaign? Weren't we all fucked up in middle school? Then another school shooting happens, and weird kids are scapegoated again.
  School shootings are terrifying because they exist at a locus of public and private breakdown. Afterwards, talking heads debate guns, bloody video games, the mental health system. Beneath that lurks a fear that nice white boys in nice white suburbs are just waiting to explode. So they say these boys were deviant and different all along.
  No one school can disarm America. No society can identify every future murderer. No free society should try.
  In 2002, a man tried to blow up a plane by setting his shoe on fire. Americans have shuffled barefoot through airports ever since. Security theater is the only security we know. Of course schools target drawings or poetry or trench coats.
  What they destroy when they do so are the frail life preservers that carried kids like me through childhood. We needed our black clothes, our art, our angry anthems. We needed things that were as jagged as we were. Take them away, and you might provide the illusion of safety. But you steal the small safe spaces we built for ourselves.
  @mollycrabapple
Michael Geist - Sony Rootkit Redux: Canadian Business Groups Lobby For Right To Install Spyware on Your Computer
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  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:39
  The deadline for comments on Industry Canada's draft anti-spam regulations passed earlier this week with a group of 13 industry associations - including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Marketing Association, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association and the Entertainment Software Association of Canada - submitting a lengthy document that, if adopted, would gut much of the law. The groups adopt radical interpretations of the law to argue for massive new loopholes or for the indefinite delay of several provisions. I will focus on some of the submissions shortly, but this post focuses on the return of an issue that was seemingly killed years ago: demands to permit surreptitious surveillance by the copyright owners and other groups for private enforcement purposes.During the anti-spam law debates in 2009, copyright lobby groups promoted amendments that would have allowed for expansive surveillance of user computers. Coming on the heels of the Sony rootkit scandal, the government ultimately rejected those proposals (the Liberals had plans to propose such amendments but backed down), leaving in place an important provision that requires express consent prior to the installation of computer software. The provision states:
  8. (1) A person must not, in the course of a commercial activity, install or cause to be installed a computer program on any other person's computer system or, having so installed or caused to be installed a computer program, cause an electronic message to be sent from that computer system, unless(a) the person has obtained the express consent of the owner or an authorized user of the computer system and complies with subsection 11(5); or(b) the person is acting in accordance with a court order.
  The law adds several wrinkles to this general requirement, including the need for clear and prominent descriptions of the functionality of the software in certain circumstances (including the collection of personal information, changing user settings, or interfering with user control over their computer) and exemptions for programs such as cookies, HTML code, and javascripts.
  The industry groups are now demanding that the government overhaul these requirements. Its preferred approach is to simply kill the provision altogether by referring it to a "Review Body", which it says could be a task force or another public consultation, before taking effect. In other words, despite considerable debate and approval on this specific provision by Members of Parliament from all parties, these industry groups still want it placed in legislative limbo.
  Alternatively, the groups want at least ten kinds of computer programs excluded from the express consent requirement. The very first should set off alarm bells for all Canadians:
  a program that is installed by or on behalf of a person to prevent, detect, investigate, or terminate activities that the person reasonably believes (i) present a risk or threatens the security, privacy, or unauthorized or fraudulent use, of a computer system, telecommunications facility, or network, or (ii) involves the contravention of any law of Canada, of a province or municipality of Canada or of a foreign state;
  This provision would effectively legalize spyware in Canada on behalf of these industry groups. The potential scope of coverage is breathtaking: a software program secretly installed by an entertainment software company designed to detect or investigate alleged copyright infringement would be covered by this exception. This exception could potentially cover programs designed to block access to certain websites (preventing the contravention of a law as would have been the case with SOPA), attempts to access wireless networks without authorization, or even keylogger programs tracking unsuspecting users (detection and investigation). Ensuring compliance with the law is important, but envisioning private enforcement through spyware without the involvement of courts, lawful authorities, and due process should be a non-starter.
  The Canadian Chamber of Commerce and other business groups want to ensure that the anti-spam law does not block their ability to secretly install spyware on personal computers for a wide range of purposes. In doing so, these groups are proposing to turn the law upside down by shifting from protecting consumers to protecting businesses. The comment period on the draft regulations may have closed, but it is not too late to tell Industry Minister Christian Paradis or your local Member of Parliament to reject demands that would gut the anti-spam bill and legalize spyware for private enforcement purposes.
  casl, copyright, spam, spywareSlashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterEmailPrintPDFWednesday February 06, 2013Related Items:
Cop-on-cop crime in LA: American blowback
  Link to Article
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:38
  by George Ciccariello-Maher and Mike King
  Yesterday was not simply a day like any other, and yet an entire system is grinding into motion to ensure that the peculiarities of the day be promptly forgotten: Another crazy person lost it and committed unthinkable acts. The act of killing stands in and speaks for the person: Look what he has done. Of course he must be crazy. Case closed.
  Christopher Dorner, a Navy reservist, posed in 2006 for a picture with current Oakland Police consultant William Bratton, who was then LAPD chief, for a police newsletter story on a program honoring officers who also served in the military.
  What they want you to see is just another Adam Lanza, just another inexplicable act, and when the act speaks for the assailant, words are secondary and there is no need to listen. But this is not, and has never been, a good way to understand reality.What they want you to forget is the sheer strangeness of what is happening in Los Angeles. Christopher Dorner allegedly killed a police officer and two civilians. This was not a random shooting by a right-wing gun-nut mourning the loss of the ''Real America.'' Here is a man with good things to say about liberal democrats, a supporter of heightened gun control, a former LAPD officer and Navy reservist, targeting his own institution, which he accused of racism, violence and corruption.
  Dorner's 'Last Resort'We know all of these things because what is most peculiar about this entire case is the written testament that Dorner has left us. In a letter titled only ''Last Resort'' and addressed to ''America,'' he makes clear his grievances, his objectives and the rationale behind his actions '' a chilling declaration of war on the Los Angeles Police Department.
  The press is busy citing only those bits of the statement which make Dorner seem crazy: when he addresses Tim Tebow or Larry David, for example, or when he laments the fact that he will not survive to see ''The Hangover 3.'' (See, for example, Buzzfeed's ''Everything You Need to Know,'' which conspicuously says very little.)
  In a letter titled only ''Last Resort'' and addressed to ''America,'' he makes clear his grievances, his objectives and the rationale behind his actions '' a chilling declaration of war on the Los Angeles Police Department.But the vast majority of the letter paints a picture of someone who, while clearly undergoing some sort of mental break, is astonishingly lucid as to the causes and candid as to what he intends to do about it. These causes and these intentions, regardless of what you may hear on MSNBC or Entertainment Tonight '' both will essentially carry the same message '' begin and end with the LAPD.
  The LAPD has long played a vanguard role in white supremacist policing in the United States. Whether it be the conscious recruitment of racist cops from the South in the 1960s under William Parker '' sparking the 1965 Watts Rebellion '' or the continuity of well-worn brutal methods under Darryl Gates '' sparking the massive 1992 L.A. Rebellions '' there has been little new under the sun.
  Even after 1992, when change seemed for a moment inevitable and when the Bloods and Crips had, themselves, laid down arms and put forth a plan to rebuild the city, this long-needed transformation didn't materialize. Instead, South Central became South L.A., Gates was canned and the LAPD forcibly destroyed the gang truce. Nothing had changed.
  It wasn't long before the next scandal. Toward the end of the 1990s, what many had already known became public knowledge: that the LAPD, and especially the Rampart Division, routinely brutalized suspects and planted evidence. As a result of this revelation, the LAPD was charged under the RICO Act (as a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) and placed under the federal oversight of a consent decree that would only be lifted in 2009.
  The bullet-ridden coin mailed to Anderson Cooper by Christopher Dorner had been given to Officer Dorner by then LAPD Chief Bill Bratton. '' Photo: CNN
  Not coincidentally, ''Globocop'' Bill Bratton, currently en route to advise the Oakland Police Department amidst widespread public opposition, is credited with cleaning up the LAPD, and Dorner's statement appears on many websites alongside a picture of the former officer beaming alongside Bratton. It has emerged that Dorner mailed evidence to Anderson Cooper last week, including a gift from Bratton, on which he wrote, ''Thanks, but no thanks Will Bratton.''According to Dorner's statement: ''The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days. It has gotten worse. The consent decree should never have been lifted. The only thing that has evolved from the consent decree is those officers involved in the Rampart scandal and Rodney King incidents have since promoted to supervisor, commanders, and command staff, and executive positions '... Are you aware that an officer'... seen on the Rodney King videotape striking Mr. King multiple times with a baton on 3/3/91 is still employed by the LAPD and is now a Captain on the police department? '... As a commanding officer, he is now responsible for over 200 officers. Do you trust him to enforce department policy and investigate use of force investigations on arrestees by his officers?''
  According to Dorner's statement: ''The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days. It has gotten worse. '... Are you aware that an officer'... seen on the Rodney King videotape striking Mr. King multiple times with a baton on 3/3/91 is still employed by the LAPD and is now a Captain on the police department? '... As a commanding officer, he is now responsible for over 200 officers.''One indication of this is the fact that, during the course of more than a decade of investigation of the Rampart case, only five officers were terminated, which suggests just how shallow the investigation efforts were. Dorner ominously adds that ''I will correct this error'' and deems his actions a ''necessary evil'' not only to clear his own name, but to force ''substantial change'' within the LAPD.
  According to Dorner, he was suspended in 2008 after reporting a superior for use of excessive force against a suspect and eventually terminated in 2009. Dorner goes on to describe the prevalence of white supremacy in the police force: from anti-Semitic taunting to openly anti-Black sentiment.
  After one incident involving use of the n-word, Dorner recalls confronting other officers physically, for which he was reprimanded. In retrospect, he reflects, with regard to the speaker of the word, ''What I should have done, was put a Winchester Ranger SXT 9mm 147 grain bullet in his skull.'' On the day that his fellow officers were given what were effectively paid suspensions, ''That day, the LAPD stated that it is acceptable for fellow officers to call black officers niggers to their face and you will receive a slap on the wrist.''
  A bloody fight for honor on the other side of the blue line''I am an American by choice, I am a son, I am a brother, I am a military service member, I am a man who has lost complete faith in the system, when the system betrayed, slandered, and libeled me. I lived a good life and though not a religious man I always stuck to my own personal code of ethics, ethos and always stuck to my shoreline and true North. I didn't need the US Navy to instill Honor, Courage, and Commitment in me but I thank them for re-enforcing it. It's in my DNA,'' wrote Christopher Dorner.
  It is clear from Dorner's communiqu(C) that he feels that he is following a code of honor against an unlawful body that has sullied his name '' his objective being to reclaim his honor. Through his spectacle of violence he is also overtly drawing attention to his self-identity '' as a Black man, as an ''honest officer'' and conscientious worker, and as a veteran '' counter-posed against institutions of corruption, deceit and abuse.
  Christopher Dorner joined the U.S. Navy in 2002 and retired just days ago, on Feb. 1, 2013. He won several awards and decorations, including medals for National Defense Service, the Iraq Campaign, Sea Service Deployment and pistol expertise. He also has honors for rifle marksmanship.
  In an effort that he clearly self-defines as terrorism, Dorner invokes old-West, rugged individualism: ''Unfortunately, I will not be alive to see my name cleared. That's what this is about, my name. A man is nothing without his name.'' At length, Dorner goes through ideal-types of various officers grouped by race and explicitly cites their role in reproducing white supremacy. He makes clear that he is patriotic and loves the government '' and Chris Christie; his war is with the LAPD.Not unlike many mass killers, Dorner's writing exhibits a hyper-vigilant(e) feeling of betrayal and unwavering need for revenge. His writing reflects a self-conscious awareness of this role, a self-forged morality that invokes clear Zarathustra-like qualities of the Overman imposing his will on weak and vile petty tyrants. Dorner says:
  ''I am here to change and make policy. The culture of LAPD versus the community and honest/good officers needs to and will change. I am here to correct and calibrate your morale (sic) compasses to true north.''
  Dorner's writing also features a list of thanks to everyone from George H.W. Bush to Charlie Sheen. The following quote has been extensively repeated in the press and bears some interrogation: ''If possible, I want my brain preserved for science/research to study the effects of severe depression on an individual's brain.''
  To dismiss this as simple madness, is to individualize this man and his actions '' however they are interpreted '' as apolitical and random, another tragic coupling of broken people with fully-functional weapons. It is clear, through his chronicling of long-past slights un-avenged, interspersed with calls for more gun control and an endorsement for Hillary Clinton for president, that he is troubled. Dorner writes: ''Ask yourselves what would cause somebody to take these drastic measures like I did. That's what is important.''
  This is surely a discussion the LAPD would not pine over if it did not happen. It is a discourse that is foreign to the press, even the likes of liberals like Chris Matthews that Dorner lauds. Soldier-Officer Dorner sits, using his training against the force that trained him, waiting to unleash his next attack.
  The extent to which we go to Dr. Drew for helpful insights in the next few days and not victims of police brutality or whistle-blower cops or to analyses of race and policing in our cities, the extent to which we talk about gun control and not how and why the men who beat Rodney King got to run the LAPD instead of being run out of it is the extent to which we sit and wait, feeding ammunition to the next Christopher Dorner.
  A defection in the occupation forcesNow Dorner has declared war on the LAPD and he has named targets: ''The enemy combatants in LA are not the citizens and suspects, it's the police officers.'' To a list of different offenders, he adds the ominous promise: ''You are a high value target.'' The parameters of the violence he has seen meted out to everyday poor residents of Los Angeles structures his own response, such as when he urges:
  Dorner has declared war on the LAPD and he has named targets: ''The enemy combatants in LA are not the citizens and suspects, it's the police officers.''''Citizens/non-combatants, do not render medical aid to downed officers/enemy combatants. They would not do the same for you. They will let you bleed out '... don't honor these fallen officers/dirtbags. When your family members die, they just see you as extra overtime at a crime scene and at a perimeter. Why would you value their lives when they clearly don't value yours or your family members lives?''
  A freeway alert Feb. 7 '' Photo: ABC News
  He has studied the new counterinsurgency doctrine, as rewritten in 2006 by Gen. David Petraeus, and he turns its language against its authors, comparing himself to insurgent forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. ''I will bring unconventional and asymmetrical warfare to those in LAPD uniform whether on or off duty. ISR [Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance] is my strength and your weakness. You will now live the life of the prey.''Frantz Fanon argued pointedly that exploitation, occupation and colonization simply cannot exist without racism and torture of one form or another. As a result, it is useless to oppose the violence of occupation '' or the torture made so palpable in ''Zero Dark Thirty'' '' without opposing the occupation itself, of Iraq, of Afghanistan, of South Central L.A.
  Yes, something similar could be said of the LAPD, and here we begin to grasp why this most violent of institutions has so rigidly resisted change: because its historically brutal and terroristic tactics, the daily oppression and humiliation exerted most directly at poor Black and Brown Angelinos, are merely symptoms of the LAPD's structural function.
  ''Citizens/non-combatants, do not render medical aid to downed officers/enemy combatants. They would not do the same for you. They will let you bleed out.''When Fanon resigned his post as a psychiatrist to join the Algerian Revolution, he was merely putting into revolutionary practice what he had practiced in the analyst's chair for years. For Fanon, mental neuroses, especially among people of color, were the result not of any inherent trait or familial trauma but of the profound trauma imposed by white supremacist and colonial society. And since social structures generate many mental illnesses, we cannot hope to cure these without destroying the institutions that make people sick in the first place.
  It was this imperative that led Fanon to throw himself into the armed struggle, and when he did so, he wrote: ''A society that drives its members to desperate solutions is a non-viable society, a society to be replaced.'' There can be no more powerful symptom of desperation, no more direct indicator of the non-viability of existing institutions, than this hunted man named Christopher Dorner.
  There's nothing pretty about the desperate actions of a soon-to-be-dead man, but we owe it to ourselves and to the world to at least attempt to understand. To be clear: Dorner's statement is not a revolutionary manifesto, and he certainly didn't grasp the structural relationship between occupation and LAPD brutality, but his statement and his actions are deeply symptomatic of a social illness that it does not name. If the adage ''you reap what you sow'' were not already the slogan of the week when unrepentant Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, who embraced the murderous dehumanization of his profession, was killed at a Texas gun range last Saturday, this is now undeniable.
  Shoot to kill: Counterinsurgency and collateral damageGiven its social function, the LAPD simply cannot be anything but racist and brutal, and as though attempting to prove Dorner's point, the response to his attacks has been as brutal as anything. The thin blue line of secrecy among officers has been replaced by a thick blue line, protecting officers and their families while unleashing unrestrained violence on Southern California.
  Maggie Carranza, 47, and her mother, 71-year-old Emma Hernandez, were delivering Los Angeles Times newspapers around 5:15 a.m. in Torrance when LAPD officers opened fire on their vehicle. Purportedly, they thought the women's blue truck was Chris Dorner's, described as a gray truck. Hernandez was shot in the back but is reported in good condition. Carranza suffered minor injuries to her hand. '' Photo: Chris Carlson, AP
  In only the most infamous incident of yesterday, two women delivering newspapers were shot by trigger-happy officers who, it seems, mistook their royal blue truck for Dorner's gray one. Dozens of bullet holes riddled the back of the pickup, their clusters suggesting a clear intent to kill without identifying. Within the context of legitimate, open threats to officers, the ''shoot anything that moves'' approach is perhaps an accentuation, but hardly an aberration, from the norm.The application of a counterinsurgency model of urban policing in cities like Los Angeles is longstanding. In Los Angeles alone, from bulldozed houses in ''Operation Hammer'' and the invention of gang injunctions in the mid-late 1980s to the racialized use of checkpoints and the routine abuses Dorner points to today, the ''War on Crime'' is a war in every sense of the word. The LAPD gang unit trains troops headed to Afghanistan in how to develop informants and use counterinsurgency tactics to control ''hostile'' populations and spaces.
  The LAPD gang unit trains troops headed to Afghanistan in how to develop informants and use counterinsurgency tactics to control ''hostile'' populations and spaces.The abuses that Dorner lists are the effects of this logic of occupation, a term officers themselves use to describe their work. As with criminal Ramparts officers getting promotions, Dorner sees the daily routines of abuse as morally wrong '' but without seeing the logic of the broader structures in which those practices are embedded.
  The violent overlap between modern warfare and domestic policing, of which Dorner is a strange byproduct, is especially acute among police officers who are returning veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq. The increased levels of PTSD and violence among veterans in general is amplified, not only by holding a job that empowers, and sometimes requires, the use of deadly force, but because the current methods of contemporary urban policing have become enmeshed with the overall objectives, strategic logic and daily practice of counterinsurgency.
  As Oakland brings on former LAPD Chief William Bratton to add a play or two to Oakland's counterinsurgency manual, the OPD, City Council and district attorney continue to refuse to fire and criminally charge Miguel Masso, an Iraq veteran who had previously tortured a man in custody when with the NYPD, before shooting and killing 18-year-old Alan Blueford in East Oakland last May, as he lay on the ground and cried, ''I didn't do anything.'' Despite Masso's account of what happened seriously conflicting with the coroner's report and witness accounts, Masso still has his job.
  It is the commonness of excuses for police abuse and murder, the erasure of the victims as collateral damage that should be highlighted when trying to make sense of this broken, rogue former-L.A. cop.Without pathologizing veterans, it is clear that there are serious concerns here. For the time being, Masso is another one of those cops who gets paid leave, who gets to walk the streets, who may get a medal or a promotion down the line '' though there are many people in Oakland continuing to try and see otherwise. It is the commonness of excuses for police abuse and murder, the erasure of the victims as collateral damage that should be highlighted when trying to make sense of this broken, rogue former-L.A. cop.
  A gravedigger in uniform''I am the walking exigent circumstance you created.'' '' Christopher Dorner
  Much like Dan Freeman, the main character in Stan Greenlee's classic book and film, ''The Spook Who Sat By the Door,'' Christopher Dorner is the dialectical gravedigger of a dying system: armed, trained and prepared by a system which prizes cop culture, which massively arms the police and unleashes them on the poor and racialized, and which in its late stages demands that Black people do the work of white supremacy.
  Christopher Dorner is the dialectical gravedigger of a dying system: armed, trained and prepared by a system which prizes cop culture, which massively arms the police and unleashes them on the poor and racialized, and which in its late stages demands that Black people do the work of white supremacy.In this circumstance, those skills are being utilized against the police. Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz said, ''This is a somewhat unprecedented, or at least rare occurrence '' a trained, heavily armed person who is hunting for police officers.'' LAPD Chief Charlie Beck added: ''Of course he knows what he's doing; we trained him. He was also a member of the Armed Forces '... It is extremely worrisome and scary.''
  For Marx, capitalism would sow the seeds of its own destruction and produce its own gravedigger, the proletariat. Fanon recognized, however, that this gravedigger might be characterized more by the ''desperate solutions'' to which they turn than by their class consciousness.
  In the United States today, late capitalism is equally shot through with white supremacy and upheld by brute force by increasingly heavy-handed police. It should not surprise us when the gravediggers assume an ominously different form.
  George Ciccariello-Maher is assistant professor of political science at Drexel University. He is the author of ''We Created Chvez: A People's History of the Venezuelan Revolution'' and can be reached at gjcm@drexel.edu. Mike King is a PhD candidate in sociology at UC Santa Cruz and can be reached at mikeking0101@gmail.com. Both study policing and counterinsurgency.
The Tesla/N.Y. Times Fight is a Sideshow
  Link to Article
  Source: NYTimes eXaminer
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:31
  February 16, 2013 · 0 Comments
  Source: Grist
  By David Roberts:
  Last week, reporter John Broder of The New York Times wrote an account of his road trip from Washington, D.C., to Milford, Conn., in Tesla's new all-electric Model S sedan, using the two Superchargers that the company has set up along the route. Broder says he got less range than advertised, lost a bunch of range overnight inexplicably, and ran out of power on his last leg. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, published a response to the story, effectively accusing Broder of journalistic malpractice.
  Broder responded to Musk, and then responded again. Rebecca Greenfield at the Atlantic Wire also responded, charging that Musk hadn't established his case against Broder. TechCrunch weighed in.Twice. Also GigaOm. Also Boing Boing. Even Gawker piped up. And of course our own Philip Bump.
  This seems like an awful lot of attention devoted to the precise performance characteristics of this particular vehicle on this particular trip. The Tesla S has been extensively and mostly positively reviewed in lots of other outlets (including the NYT itself). It's pretty well-established what it can and can't do. What really seems to be behind this, yet again, is a proxy argument over electric cars in general.
  Kevin Bullis has the wisest comment on this dust-up, which is that it's dumb for an electric car to compete in the ''drive a really long way without stopping much'' category, precisely the place where gas cars currently retain an advantage. Broder made a bunch of mistakes, in retrospect. He could have done the drive without trouble if he'd planned better, been more careful, and gotten better advice from Tesla personnel. But American drivers are not accustomed to low speeds or careful planning in their long-distance driving and it will take time for those habits to change. It would make more sense to highlight the car's performance in applications where it shines, like commuting, which constitutes the vast bulk of Americans' actual travel.
  Lurking in the background is the notion that the ''promise of electric cars'' is false until an electric car can plop down in America's current transportation system and do everything an internal-combustion-engine car can do. Broder encourages this way of thinking, but then, so does Musk, and so even does Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
  It's a dumb notion, though, a classic example of our obsession withwidgets over systems. It is probably true that electric cars will never be able to replace gas cars, if the cars themselves '-- the widgets '-- are the only thing we replace. The entire system was designed and built around ICE cars. Turns out it's difficult to build a luxurious, two-ton armored tank that can travel 300 miles on a quick-charging battery pack.
  The problem, however, is not merely that our cars consume too much oil. It's that our transportation system consumes too much oil. A better system won't merely involve better cars, it will involve driving less, telecommuting more, using more public transportation, sharing cars, making cars smarter, and building more and better electrical infrastructure.
  There are a lot of chicken-and-egg problems in there. It's hard to change behavior without the tech in place, it's hard to develop the tech without supportive public policy, and it's hard to get supportive public policy when the tech and behaviors aren't there yet. Changing one part of the system without changing a bunch of other parts simultaneously is challenging and can often, at least temporarily, look like a step backward. (Don't reduce my range, bro!) System change is difficult, halting, and messy.
  The reason the conservative movement relentlessly attacks electric cars is not that they dispute particular performance characteristics in particular circumstances. It's that they don't want to change the system. They like the oil/SUV/sprawl set-up and are quite overt about it.
  The status quo bias displayed by journalists like Broder, by contrast, more often manifests as narrow, widget-focused thinking, on which basis he's been an an electric car naysayer for some time now. (See also The New York Times' Matt Wald on clean energy.)
  Of course Broder and Musk should both tell the truth. Battle it out on tech blogs all day! But the resolution of this dispute says roughly nothing about the need for, or the promise of, systemic changes in U.S. transportation. Electric vehicles are one piece of a complex puzzle. They may not ''fulfill their promise'' until other parts are in place. All those pieces will coevolve in unpredictable ways.
  The baseline question, though, is whether the current system is sustainable, and if it isn't, how it can be made so. Widget-based proxy arguments don't do much to illuminate that question.
  By admin
China to brace for cold snap
  Link to Article
  Source: Global Times
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:30
  A fresh cold front will sweep most parts of China starting Saturday, bringing temperature drops, strong winds and snow, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC).
  The NMC announced Saturday that temperatures will drop by 6 to 8 degrees Celsius in most of North China, some regions in Southwest China and areas along and south of the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers over the next three days.
  Some areas are expected to experience strong winds and see temps drop by 10 to 12 degrees Celsius, the center said.
  From February 17 to 19, the cold front will also bring rain and sleet to Northwest China, areas south of the Yellow River and some areas in Northeast China, with snowfall ranging from 3 to 8 mm. Some of the areas may also receive up to 8 to 12 mm of snow.
  In addition, the center said it expects Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region to be hit by a blizzard on Saturday, with 20 to 40 mm of snowfall in some areas.
  By leaving a comment, you agree to abide by all terms and conditions (See the Comment section).
To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 25 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or as civilian service in a Federal, State, or local government program or with a community-based agency or
  Link to Article
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:27
  GovTrack's Bill SummaryWe don't have a summary available yet.
  Library of Congress SummaryThe summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
  No summary available.
  House Republican Conference SummaryThe summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
  No summary available.
  House Democratic Caucus SummaryThe House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
  So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference's summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That's because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
  We'll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.
Arrested Development
  Link to Article
  Source: Craig Murray
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:59
  by craig on February 16, 2013 9:38 am in Uncategorized
  The great horsemeat scandal appears the result of fraud perpetrated in the European meat processing insudtry, and it worked because the supermarkets really care very little about food quality: care little and test less. The media frenzy has spurred on the arrest of a handful of people from small British abattoirs which are in no way central to the main scandal, and I suspect those arrested may prove to have done very little wrong.
  But compare this rapid arrest of ''small men'' with the LIBOR scandal, where banks indisputably rigged, deliberately and repeatedly rigged, the basis of many trillions of dollars worth of financial transactions. It was deliberate dishonesty, fines on the banks have added up to billions, but not one of the fraudulent bankers who did it has been arrested '' even though it is known who they are and there is a ton of documentary evidence. Not one arrest. Not one. Just as nobody has been arrested in this country for the fraudulent sub-prime packages and interest rate swaps that led ordinary, and even very poor, people to have to pay out huge proportions of their income to ''bailout'' the bankers.
  The bankers meanwhile have got the bonus fatcat schemes rolling again. The economy is based on institutionalised robbery. The perpetrators are untouchable. They don't get dirty with guts and blood. Little men who do are expendable. They can be made examples of, to feed the lust of the tabloid fed masses.
Rod Serling on Sponsor Influence
  Link to Article
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:57
German lawyer to head Vatican Bank
  Link to Article
  Source: euronews
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:42
  An asteroid, half the size of a football pitch, has flashed past earth the closest proximity of anything that size to pass the planet. 2012 DA14 travelled over the Indian Ocean, affording the best views in Eastern Europe, Asia and Australia. 2012 DA14 was first spied by Spanish'...
World Wrestling Chief Fired After Olympic Snub
  Link to Article
  Source: RIA Novosti
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:41
  MOSCOW, February 16 (R-Sport) - The head of the international wrestling federation has been fired after receiving a vote of no-confidence in the wake of the sport's exclusion from the group of core Olympic disciplines, a Russian official said Saturday.
  FILA chief Raphael Martinetti had come under fire for failing to do enough to promote wrestling inside the International Olympic Committee, and the Swiss official reportedly paid for it with his job at an emergency session called in Phuket, Thailand.
  "The FILA bureau has taken the decision to express its lack of trust in Rafael Martinetti, and he has been dismissed," said Mikhail Mamiashvili, the head of the Russian Wrestling Federation, in comments to R-Sport.
  The IOC's executive board voted Wednesday to remove it from the core Olympic program, and the sport must now battle seven candidate disciplines for the sole remaining slot.
  That vote came after representatives of various existing sports, including FILA, made pitches to the IOC to support their own inclusion.
  Martinetti was elected to the position of FILA president in 2002, succeeding Milan Ercegan of the former Yugoslavia.
  He has served FILA in various capacities for more than 30 years.
  Russia finished top of the London 2012 wrestling medals table with four gold medals, and Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said the Russian government would throw its weight behind efforts to reinstate wrestling.
  Wrestling was one of the most respected sports at the ancient Olympics and has been included at every edition of the modern Olympics except the 1900 Games, and offered 18 of the 302 gold medals at London 2012.
  The head of the Russian Olympic Committee has already pledged his support for the sport and FILA has called the ruling "an aberrance" and vowed to fight on.
  The national Olympic committees of countries as diverse as the United States, Iran and India have also suggested they will push for the sport to return to the Olympic schedule.
"I Don't Want To Wake Up And Smell The Asteroid Today! At Least Not In The United States"
  Link to Article
  Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:40
Bill Nye Says Russian Meteorite Has Nothing To Do With Asteroid 2012 DA14
  Link to Article
  Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:40
@southern__bread: Reading... Another Merger That Didn't Require Antitrust: Time Warner to Ditch Time http://t.co/BT7Jjctu
  Link to Article
  Source: Twitter / southern__bread
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:33
  CREDIT: Fair useSo, Time Warner, that shorn-off husk of the former AOL Time Warner, is now planning to shear off the foundational magazine division of the conglomerate, Time Inc., into a new company whose grim fortunes can no longer weigh down the parent.
  Given how much antitrust regulation is back in the news, it's worth remembering how badly media-consolidation hysterics got the original AOL Time Warner merger wrong, advocating for what would have been a wholly unnecessary antitrust action against the alleged Big Brother. Here's a paragraph on that topic from The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America:
  Every journalism school should'--but doesn't'--present the hysterical reaction to the AOL Time Warner merger as Example A of why journalists are often the very worst analysts of their own industry. As the deal was unfolding in 2000, the still-ubiquitous media-ethics scold Tom Rosenstiel warned about "a new era in American communications that sees the end of an independent press." The even more influential Robert McChesney, who is one of the key people in the push to have the Federal Communications Commission regulate the Internet, predicted confidently that "the eventual course of the Internet'--the central nervous system of our era'--will be determined by where the most money can be made, regardless of the social and political implications." We were two of the only media commentators to laugh off the fear and cast doubt on the conglomerate's future in real time. In April 2000, Nick Gillespie noted that large mergers more often fail than succeed and argued, "The moment [the new company] stops doing whatever its customers want, it will join the ranks of Sears Roebuck, A&P, IBM, and other once dominant companies that have either disappeared altogether or linger on as mere shadows of their former selves." Matt Welch wrote that "very few market-leading companies in entertainment or media stay on top for long; most go bankrupt," that "very few mega-mergers between two companies in different businesses ever work, especially when the companies involved are in media and entertainment," and that "the Internet is more tumultuous than any business sector in generations. The mighty are frequently chastened within 24 months." As it turned out, it took about thirty months for AOL Time Warner to begin to dissolve.
  Never forget: "The Top 10 Most Absurd Time Covers of The Past 40 Years."
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at Council on Foreign Relations
  Link to Article
  Source: Programs Recently Aired - C-SPAN Video Library
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:27
  Council on Foreign Relations
  U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations.'‚He urged Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to agree to peace talks with the opposition.'‚In a speech in New York City Monday, .. Read MoreU.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations.'‚He urged Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to agree to peace talks with the opposition.'‚In a speech in New York City Monday, Mr.'‚Ki Moon also addressed criticism of the U.N. and spoke about the threat of climate change.'‚CNN's Christiane Amanpour moderated the event.
  54 minutes | 1 Views
@THErealDVORAK: RT @France24_en: USA: Jesse Jackson Jr. charged with fraud http://t.co/NkxXTg9T
  Link to Article
  Source: Twitter / THErealDVORAK
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:24
  Former Chicago congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., son of the famed civil rights leader, plans to plead guilty to charges filed on Friday accusing him of misusing $750,000 in campaign funds, his attorney said.
  Jackson's wife, Sandi Jackson, has also agreed to plead guilty to a related charge of filing false tax returns, according to her attorneys. She resigned her seat on the Chicago city council last month.
  Both Jacksons, once considered one of the most powerful couples in the city, issued statements accepting responsibility.
  ''I offer no excuses for my conduct and I fully accept my responsibility for the improper decisions and mistakes I have made,'' said Jesse Jackson Jr, a Democrat, in his statement. He faces fraud and conspiracy charges.
  Jackson's wife said in a statement that she was ''deeply sorry'' for her actions.
  Once considered one of the most promising black politicians in the United States, Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned his congressional seat on Nov. 21 for health reasons, acknowledging at the time that he was under investigation by the FBI.
  Jackson was once talked about as having the potential to become the first black president, noted Andy Shaw, president and CEO of the Chicago-based Better Government Association.
  ''Instead of heading for the White House, he is heading for the big house, and that is an enormous fall from grace,'' Shaw said in a radio interview on WBBM-AM.
  Jackson's father, a former presidential candidate, was not immediately available for comment.
  Prosecutors said at least seven people were involved in the scheme to divert campaign funds to personal uses.
  Among the accusations is that Jesse Jackson, Jr. shipped a $43,350 men's Rolex watch purchased with campaign funds to his D.C. address. He also shipped fur capes and parkas purchased with $5,150 in campaign funds to the Beverly Hills home of an unnamed person, the documents said.
  As part of the case, the government said Jackson must forfeit tens of thousands of dollars in celebrity memorabilia derived from the alleged crimes, including a $4,600 fedora that once belonged to late pop star Michael Jackson.
  Under federal sentencing guidelines, if convicted, Jackson faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and his wife three years, but defendants who accept responsibility are typically sentenced to much less than the maximum term.
  Jackson's absence
  Jackson disappeared from public view early in the summer of 2012 and speculation swirled for weeks about his condition. He said in late June he had taken a leave of absence two weeks earlier for treatment of what was then described as exhaustion.
  Jackson issued a statement in early July saying his health problems were more serious and he needed extended in-patient treatment for unspecified ''physical and emotional ailments.''
  Days later, his physician said the congressman was receiving intensive care for a ''mood disorder'' and was expected to make a full recovery. The Mayo Clinic announced in late July that Jackson had been admitted.
  He was treated for at least six weeks at Mayo for bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic depression, which is marked by highs and lows of mood and can be treated by medication and psychological counseling.
  Representative Danny Davis, another Chicago Democrat, said he believed the alleged offenses were related to the disorder, the symptoms of which can include reckless behavior, such as spending sprees.
  ''It's kind of beyond one's imagination,'' Davis told Reuters. ''A $5,000 football - that's kind of bizarre. It's so sad and so unfortunate.''
  Jackson made it to Congress in 1995 after winning a special election triggered by the resignation of Representative Mel Reynolds, who was convicted of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography. Reynolds is now vying for the seat again in a Feb. 26 Democratic primary.
  Jackson was a reliable liberal vote during his 17-year House career, supporting increases in the minimum wage, the expansion of environmental regulations and gay rights and, in 2008, the bailout of the teetering U.S. financial system.
  He was also an early advocate of a strict timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. He was easily re-elected in November 2012, despite his absence from the district. His resignation came two weeks after the election.
  In addition to the federal investigation of his campaign finances, Jackson had been the subject of a House ethics committee probe over an alleged bribe offered by a Jackson supporter in 2008 to then-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.
  The bribe was said to be intended to entice Blagojevich to appoint Jackson to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama. Jackson has admitted to lobbying for the seat, but denied knowing about any money offered to Blagojevich, who has since been convicted of corruption and imprisoned.
  (REUTERS)
The Real Reason the Economy Is Broken (and Will Stay That Way)
  Link to Article
  Source: WTF RLY REPORT
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:21
  ZeroHedgeby Tyler Durden
  Submitted by Chris Martenson of Peak Prosperity,
  We are far enough and deep enough into the most heroic monetary and fiscal efforts ever undertaken to finally ask, why aren't these measures working?
  Or at least we should be. Oddly, many in DC, on Wall Street, and the Federal Reserve continue to steadfastly refuse to include anything in their approaches and frameworks other than ''more of the same.''
  So we are treated to an endless parade of news items that seek to convince us that a bottom is in and that we've 'turned the corner' '' often on the flimsy basis that in the past things have always gotten better by now.
  The framework we operate from around here is simply encapsulated in the observation that there has never been global economic recovery with oil prices above $100 over barrel. That is shorthand for the idea that oil is the primary lubricant of economic growth and that it is not just the amount of oil one has to burn but also the quality, or net energy, of the oil that matters.
  If we want to understand why all of the tried-and-true monetary and fiscal efforts have failed, we have to appreciate the headwinds that are offered by both a condition of too-much-debt and expensive energy. Neither alone can account for the economic malaise that stalks the world.
  Getting a Little for a LotTrillions have been printed and injected into the world's economies, and yet things seem to be barely limping along, requiring constant attention and interventions from both fiscal and monetary authorities.
  The broadest measure of money in the U.S. is Money of Zero Maturity, or MZM. Note that it has increased by an astonishing 44% since the start of the crisis:
  We could similarly look at the Federal Reserve balance sheet, or excess reserves, or a dozen other indicators that all say the same thing: The money supply has been expanded enormously.
  And what do we have to show for it?
  Not much.
  Since 2005 real '' that is, inflation-adjusted '' GDP has only expanded by 0.9% on an annualized basis. On a nominal basis (not inflation-adjusted), the number is only 2.9%, far below the 5%-6% required to sustain a banking system dependent on exponential growth in that range.
  In a very nice piece of work entitled Our Investment Sinkhole Problem, Gail Tverberg put up this handy and extremely important chart:
  Oil and GDP are highly correlated and always have been. The general observation is that growth in GDP is usually higher than growth in oil consumption '' as growth in oil consumption powers economic growth. Without growth in oil consumption, GDP growth doesn't advance.
  Back in 2009, in a piece entitled Oil '' The Coming Supply Crunch (Part I), I calculated that every 1% increase in global GDP was associated with a 0.25% increase in oil consumption '' in other words, a roughly 4:1 ratio.
  Since 2007, something quite remarkable has happened in the world of oil, and that has been a decline in the consumption of oil in the U.S. and Europe '-- with China and India pretty much making up the difference for everything that the West didn't consume.
  That, plus a dramatic increase in the price of oil were the only ways to balance out the fact that since 2005 oil production has been essentially dead flat:
  If the view that oil consumption and economic growth are linked is correct, then we might easily imagine that simply making money cheaper and more widely available would do little to boost the real economy.
  Sure all that funny money will boost asset prices, but in this story, the tail does not and cannot wag the dog. Stock prices may rise, but unemployment will not budge. Bonds will become more expensive, but GDP will stall.
  Hollowed OutNow the Fed is finally showing signs of saying hey, what gives? as its policies do little to improve the things it publicly admits to wanting to improve.
  In this recent speech by Janet Yellen, Vice Chair of the Fed, you can see her nibbling all around the edges of the mystery:
  In the three years after the Great Recession ended, growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) averaged only 2.2 percent per year. In the same span of time following the previous 10 U.S. recessions, real GDP grew, on average, more than twice as fast''at a 4.6 percent annual rate. So, why has the economy's recovery from the Great Recession been so weak?
  ('...)
  [T]he unprecedented level and persistence of long-term unemployment in this recovery have prompted some to ask whether a significant share of unemployment since the recession is due to structural problems in labor markets and not simply a cyclical shortfall in aggregate demand. This question is important for anyone committed to the goal of maximum employment, because it implicitly asks whether the best we can hope for, even in a healthy economy, is an unemployment rate significantly higher than what has been achieved in the past.
  For the Federal Reserve, the answer to this question has important implications for monetary policy. If the current, elevated rate of unemployment is largely cyclical, then the straightforward solution is to take action to raise aggregate demand.
  If unemployment is instead substantially structural, some worry that attempts to raise aggregate demand will have little effect on unemployment and serve only to stoke inflation.
  (Source)
  As I said, the Fed is nibbling, but it is not yet even close to the center of the conundrum. Yes, there are structural issues at play, but they have as much to do with expensive oil as they do with any great shifts in labor market trends.
  The main part to consider here is contained in the last two bolded parts in the above quote. If the Fed is just chucking more and more money into an economy that has fundamentally shifted into a lower gear, then all they are doing is laying the tinder for future inflation.
  Given the amounts involved, the potential for a very punishing period of inflation is quite high, for reasons often discussed here, such as in the recent article QE For Dummies.
  Economic SinkholesThis leads us back to Gail Tverberg's piece on economic sinkholes. Her main point in that piece was that in times past, higher investment led to higher output. That is, spending led to economic growth, especially investment spending.
  Carefully buried within higher oil prices are higher prices for every single economic activity that uses them. Along with diminishing ore yields come incrementally higher costs to simply, extract, and refine those ores, let alone fashion them into something useful.
  Gail writes:
  All types of mineral extraction, but particularly oil, eventually reach the situation where it takes an increasing amount of investment (money, energy products, and often water) to extract a given amount of resource. This situation arises because companies extract the cheapest to extract resources first, and move on to the more expensive to extract resources later.
  As consumers, we recognize the situation through rising commodity prices. There is generally a real issue behind the rising prices '-- not enough resource available in readily accessible locations '-- so we need to dig deeper, or apply more ''high tech'' solutions. These high tech solutions indirectly require more investment and more energy, as well.
  While we don't stop to think about what is happening, the reality is that increasingly less oil (or other product such as natural gas, coal, gold, or copper) is being produced, for the same investment dollar. As long as the price of the product keeps rising sufficiently to cover the higher cost of extraction, the investor is happy, even if the cost of the resource is becoming unbearably high for consumers.
  (Source)
  The summary here is that it takes more and more to achieve less and less. The old form of economic growth is no longer with us, but the Fed still doesn't get it. It still has its eyes firmly trained on economic indicators and equations, having not yet raised its gaze into the real world where limits are being reached.
  As Gail nicely encapsulates, many of those limits are carefully hidden from view as a slightly but steadily reducing net energy for oil seeps into every nook and cranny of our complex economy.
  The sinkholes that we are facing now are extraordinary. Some of them are quite literal, and numerous, as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is demonstrating:
  Bottom Falls Out of Debt-Ridden CityJan 31, 2013
  HARRISBURG, Pa.'--With midnight approaching on New Year's Eve, Sherri Lewis and her two children knelt to pray for a better year ahead.
  A few minutes later, she heard a rumbling that sounded like fireworks. The ground outside her apartment had opened up, revealing a municipal disaster that shows how far this city's finances have sunk.
  A sinkhole, measuring about 50 feet long and eight feet deep, had swallowed Ms. Lewis's street, damaging water and gas pipes and forcing more than a dozen residents to evacuate one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. ''I thought the world was ending,'' says Ms. Lewis, 42 years old.
  Harrisburg officials have identified at least 40 other sinkholes around the 50,000-person city. The combination of particularly sandy soil and leaky pipes under Harrisburg's streets make it susceptible to sinkholes, city officials say. But Harrisburg has a bigger problem: The Pennsylvania capital can't afford to replace many of the aging pipes, some of which date back to the 19th century.
  The metaphor perfectly offered by Harrisburg is that once you run out economy, your current infrastructure alone may be well beyond your means to maintain.
  The embodied energy in just our existing property, plant, and equipment is enormous. Nearly every high-tech dream '' of a kinder, gentler future where 9 billion people somehow enjoy higher average standards of living than the current 7 billion '' requires an extraordinary investment of energy.
  Left out of this dream is a crisp articulation of exactly where that energy will come from and when we will begin to transition to prioritizing its use towards building and maintaining all of that new infrastructure. It's not enough to merely buy electric cars, should they ever be manufactured in sufficient quantities, because we also need new grid components, electrical storage, generation, and a thousand other components to pull it off.
  I note that with every passing year, more and more internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles are manufactured and sold, not fewer and fewer. The past 7 years has seen the number of new ICE vehicles sold grow at a compounded rate of 3.7% per annum, and at that rate, 2013 should see more than 80,000,000 sold. That's up from just over 50,000,000 only ten years ago.
  Every one of those represents the investment of energy and capital that will consume our remaining oil at the expense of anything else we might choose to do with that oil, such as maintain our current infrastructure as we build out the next one.
  ConclusionAs we dump more and more money into the economy, hoping with all our collective might that it will once again sputter back to life and lift all fortunes and boats, too few are asking what happens if it does not.
  If there are other factors at work here besides a simple case of too much debt, then the Fed is not only barking up the wrong tree, but is unaware that a very dangerous animal with a bad attitude is resting up there.
  These are truly extraordinary times. I am in awe of the number of otherwise professional investors who believe that the Fed has things safely in hand. The amount of market insanity and complete disconnect from reality has me thankful that I already lived through a similar time and can keep things in perspective now.
  That time was 2005 to 2007, when I was trading quite actively and thought the world had gone mad. Nothing made sense, because I was trying make sense of things that could not be made sense of. In times of extraordinarily abundant liquidity and loose monetary policies, all that has to be understood is that financial assets tend to run up in price during such moments.
  The fact that this all ended quite badly then does little to make me think this time is going to end any better. Thin-air money, attempting to print one's way to prosperity, and spending more than you have are proven losers in the history books.
  Yet here we are, doubling down '' we're all in and I guess there's no turning back now. The Fed is going to keep with the program until forced to change by circumstances.
  As I see it, the economy is broken and it will stay that way. Our only hope for an alternative would be to immediately cut our losses in those enterprises that do not make sense in a world of increasingly expensive liquid fuels, and invest heavily in those things that will help us transition to a future without fossil fuels.
  I am quite aware that many decades' worth of fossil fuels remain, but equally aware that all energy transitions require four to six decades under ideal conditions where one is transitioning to a higher quality fuel source and capital is expanding.
  And under less-than-ideal conditions, where we are transitioning to a lower density energy source (as all alternative energy sources are) and capital is shrinking? There we might imagine it could take longer than usual; a 100-year transition period is not out of the question.
  In the meantime, the best I can tell you is that the markets are reflecting liquidity, not reality, and that until and unless the world suddenly starts to produce a lot more crude oil and the U.S. and Europe increase their consumption of it, I will remain quite skeptical of all pronouncements of recovery in the West.
  Via ZeroHedge
Gunshot killed US fugitive Dorner
  Link to Article
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:18
  16 February 2013Last updated at02:45 ETFugitive US ex-police officer, Christopher Dorner, whose remains were found in a burnt-out cabin after a six-day manhunt, died from a single gunshot wound to the head, authorities say.
  Police had launched the manhunt for Dorner after he killed three people, apparently in revenge for being fired from the LA police in 2008.
  He was cornered near Big Bear Lake and incendiary tear gas was fired in.
  Police could not confirm whether the gunshot was self-inflicted.
  After a six-hour post-mortem examination, San Bernardino County coroner Kevin Lacy said: "We are not yet able to speak about the manner of death and tell you whether or not it was the result of a self-inflicted wound or another round.
  "While we are still assembling the reports and putting it together, the implication seems to be that the wound that took Christopher Dorner's life was self-inflicted."
  Incendiary tear gasDorner had holed up in a flat in Big Bear Lake, a ski resort 80 miles (130km) east of Los Angeles, for six days after he killed a couple and a policeman.
  San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon told reporters that officers had knocked on the door of the condominium during the manhunt.
  "Our deputy knocked on that door and did not get an answer, and in hindsight it's probably a good thing that he did not answer based on his actions before and after that event," he said.
  When owners arrived to clean the building, Dorner tied them up and fled in their car, killing a sheriff's deputy in a shootout and then barricading himself in the remote cabin.
  A Swat team fired incendiary tear gas to try to force Dorner out.
  A blaze started and a single gunshot was heard.
  Police found a cache of weapons in the cabin, including assault rifles.
  Dorner started his killing spree on 3 February when he shot dead the daughter of a former police captain and her fiance.
  The woman's father, Randal Quan, had represented Dorner at a police disciplinary board.
  Dorner was fired in 2008 from the force on a charge of making false statements, after he lodged a complaint against his field training officer, saying she had kicked a suspect during an arrest.
  In an online manifesto, Dorner, who was black, suggested that racism was still rife in the Los Angeles Police Department.
  CLICKABLE
  1. Irvine
  2. San Diego
  3. Corona
  4. Riverside
  5. Torrance
  6. Big Bear Lake
  IrvineSunday 3 Feb: Monica Quan (pictured), 28, and Keith Lawrence, 27, were found shot dead in Irvine. Ms Quan, was the daughter of a former Los Angeles police captain who had represented Mr Dorner in disciplinary hearings that resulted in his dismissal in 2008.
  San DiegoWednesday 6 Feb: At around 22:30, a man matching the description of Mr Dorner (pictured) tried to steal a 47-foot boat from a San Diego marina, but the engine wouldn't start. An 81-year-old man on the boat was tied up but unhurt.
  CoronaThursday 7 Feb: At 01:30, two LAPD officers assigned to protect a person named in Mr Dorner's "manifesto" chased a vehicle they believed was Mr Dorner's in Corona. One officer was injured during a shootout, and the gunman fled.
  RiversideThursday 7 Feb: Shortly after the shootout in Corona, a gunman believed to be Mr Dorner ambushed two Riverside police officers who had stopped at a red light. One officer was killed and the other critically injured.
  TorranceThursday 7 Feb: At 05:15, LAPD officers guarding a target in Torrance identified in Mr Dorner's "manifesto" opened fire on a truck they mistakenly believed to be Mr Dorner's. Two women were wounded. Shortly afterwards, Torrance police shot at a second truck they mistook for Mr Dorner's. Nobody was hurt.
  Shooting at Big Bear LakeWednesday 13 Feb: The charred remains of a body, believed to be that of Christopher Dorner, are found in a burnt-out cabin at Big Bear Lake ski resort, after a shoot-out. One officer was killed and another injured. The search moved to the area after a truck belonging to the suspect was found there.
War on chicken; Mexico to slaughter a half million chickens o
  Link to Article
  Source: bertb news feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:11
  Chickens remain in their cages in a farm under quarantine in Tepatitlan, Jalisco State, Mexico on July 4, 2012. Mexico will slaughter 486,000 chickens after an outbreak of bird flu was detected in the central state of Guanajuato, officials said Friday.
  AFP - Mexico will slaughter 486,000 chickens after an outbreak of bird flu was detected in the central state of Guanajuato, officials said Friday.
  Poultry producer Bachoco reported a possible case of H7N3 influenza in five breeder farms late Wednesday, which agriculture ministry officials confirmed on Friday.
  Authorities launched preventive measures, testing nearby farms to check if the outbreak had spread elsewhere.
  Last year, a bird flu outbreak in the western state of Jalisco forced farmers to slaughter 22 million hens, sparking an egg crisis in Mexico, the world's top consumer of eggs per capita.
German court rules Facebook can demand real names
  Link to Article
  Source: bertb news feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:10
  The "Facebook" logo is seen on a tablet screen on December 4, 2012 in Paris. Facebook can insist that its customers use their real personal data when registering on the site, a German court ruled in a decision published on Friday.
  AFP - Facebook can insist that its customers use their real personal data when registering on the site, a German court ruled in a decision published on Friday.
  The administrative court in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein slapped down an order from regional data protection officials that Facebook change its policy on collecting personal details.
  Facebook asks its customers to provide their real full name, email address, gender and date of birth when registering. If the firm finds false data have been given, it blocks the account until proof of identity is provided.
  The Independent Regional Centre for Data Protection in Schleswig-Holstein (ULD) ordered Facebook to offer users the chance to give pseudonyms and to unfreeze accounts blocked for using false data.
  It threatened Facebook with a fine of 20,000 euros ($26,715) in case of non-compliance.
  However, the court said the ULD had no right to order Facebook to unblock accounts.
  It also ruled that German law did not apply in this case as data are registered in the firm's European headquarters in Ireland.
  Facebook's German office is responsible solely for marketing, the court ruled.
  ULD chief Thilo Weichert described the ruling, made on Thursday but only made public on Friday, as "mind-boggling" and vowed to take the case to a higher court.
  Facebook has fallen foul of Germany's tough privacy laws in the past, notably last year when authorities said its facial recognition software violated users' privacy.
Imagine if the government determined what was ''legitimate'' news and what was not, by force of law.
  Link to Article
  Source: WTF RLY REPORT
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:04
  Against Crony Capitalismby Nick Sorrentino
  Sound far fetched? It was only this week that Vice President called on the ''legitimate'' media to push the President's gun control agenda.
  He said-
  ''To be very blunt with you, we're counting on all of you, the legitimate news media to cover these discussions because the truth is that times have changed,''
  The way ''times have changed'' is that now there isn't just a handful of gatekeepers which the government can count on to get a story to the American people. (Or keep it from them.) Though 90% of media is controlled by 6 corporations, there is a pesky and growing independent media. This worries the powers that be. In Australia the government may do something about it.
  Last year in the Land Down Under, a liberal democratic, western republic, a government issued report suggested that Canberra consider a news media star chamber of 21 people who will determine what is ''legitimate news'' and what is not.
  A government appointed ''news media gestapo'' is what the video below calls the group.
  This is the sort of thing being seriously considered in Australia folks. In a western, liberal republic.
  We'd better hope this doesn't happen down there, because Lord knows certain elements would love to see such a chamber here. Did I mention that the Huffington Post just officially ''joined forces'' with Goldman Sachs.
  Via Against Crony Capitalism
Bill Maher: 'The Israelis Are Controlling Our Government'
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:01
  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.
Bill Maher Nominates Hillary Clinton For Pope
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:00
  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.
Woman pulled over after Ohio St. sticker confused for drug symbol | Shreveporttimes
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  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 08:59
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"Too Big to Fail has become Too Big for Trial"
  Link to Article
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 08:52
Fact Sheet: The President's Plan to Ensure Hard Work Leads to a Decent Living
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 04:51
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  February 15, 2013
  There's a basic bargain in America. It says that no matter who you are or where you're from, if you're willing to work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to find a good job, feel secure in your community, and support a family. President Obama has fought for the middle class, and has made historic investments in making sure that there are ladders of opportunity for those working hard to make it to the middle class. The President's plan builds on the progress we've made over the last four years to expand opportunity for every American and every community willing to do the work to lift themselves up. But there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the challenges we face. It will take a collaborative effort'--between business and federal, state, and local officials; faith-based and non-profit organizations; kids and parents'--to ensure that hard work leads to a decent living for every American. The President's plan: ' Rewards hard work by raising the minimum wage to $9.00: Right now, a full-time minimum wage worker makes $14,500 a year. That means too many Americans who are putting in an honest, hard day's work are living in poverty. That's unacceptable. The President's plan raises the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.00, which would directly boost wages for 15 million workers and reduce poverty and inequality.
  ' Provides high-quality preschool for every child: Let's give every child the fair shot he or she deserves. For America to succeed in the 21st century, we must have the most dynamic, educated workforce in the world, and that education has to start early in life. But today, most four-year-olds aren't in a high-quality public preschool program. The President's plan partners with states to expand high-quality preschool to every child.
  ' Partners with communities to help them rebuild and put people back to work: A child's zip code should never determine her destiny; but today, the neighborhood she grows up in impacts her odds of graduating high school, her health outcomes, and her lifetime economic opportunities. This year, the Administration will begin to partner with 20 communities that were hardest-hit by the recession to help get them back on their feet. Working with local leaders, the President's plan targets resources at creating jobs, public safety, education, and housing.
  ' Creates pathways to jobs for all Americans: The President's plan offers incentives to companies that hire Americans who've got what it takes to fill a job opening, but have been out of work so long that no one will give them a chance anymore. His plan also supports summer and year-round jobs for low-income youth. This is in addition to his plan to equip Americans with the skills they need for the high-tech, high-wage jobs of the 21st century.
  ' Expands early childhood opportunity for all Americans: In addition to providing access to high-quality preschool for every child, the President is proposing to make a significant investment in early learning opportunities for our youngest children'--birth through age three'--by expanding Early Head Start, child care, and other health and education programs.
  ' Strengthens families: The President is proposing to remove financial deterrents to marriage for low-income couples; as well as continuing to support the critical role that fathers play in enhancing the intellectual, emotional, and financial well-being of their sons and daughters.
  The President's Commitment to Ensuring Hard Work Leads to a Decent Living
  ' Rewarding hard work by raising the minimum wage to $9.00 an hour: The President believes that no one who works full time should have to raise their family in poverty. But right now, a full-time minimum wage worker makes $14,500 a year '' which leaves too many families struggling to make ends meet, with a family of four supported by a minimum wage worker still living below the poverty line, even counting tax credits for working families. That's why the President is calling on Congress to raise the Federal minimum wage to $9.00 and index it to inflation thereafter. The President is also proposing to raise the minimum wage for tipped workers, which has not been increased for over twenty years. The erosion in the real value of the minimum wage has been a factor in increasing inequality in recent decades. The President's proposal would address this problem by raising the minimum wage and indexing it to inflation so that working families can keep up with rising costs. o Raising the minimum wage mostly benefits adults, and especially working women: Around 60 percent of workers benefiting from a higher minimum wage are women, and few are teenagers '' less than 20 percent. o Raising the minimum wage helps parents: The average worker who would benefit from a rise in the minimum wage to $9 an hour brought home 46 percent of his or her household's total wage and salary income in 2011, according to the Current Population Survey. o For a working family earning $20,000 - $30,000, the extra $3,500 per year from raising the minimum wage would cover: ‚§ The family's spending on groceries for a year; or‚§ The family's spending on utilities for a year; or‚§ The family's spending on gasoline and clothing for a year; or‚§ Six months of housing. ' Providing high-quality preschool for every child: For America to succeed in the 21st century, we must have the most dynamic, educated workforce in the world, and that education has to start early in life. Every dollar invested in early learning and development programs saves about $7 down the road in higher earnings that yield more revenue, and lower government spending on social services and crime prevention. The President is presenting a plan to provide access to preschool for every child, while also incentivizing states to expand access to full-day kindergarten. o The President's proposal will improve quality and expand access to preschool, through a partnership with all 50 states, to extend federal funds to expand high-quality public preschool to reach all low- and moderate-income four-year olds from families at or below 200% of poverty. The U.S. Department of Education will allocate funding to states based on their share of low- and moderate-income four-year olds, and distribute funds to local school districts and other partner providers to implement the program. The proposal would include an incentive for states to broaden participation in their public preschool program for additional middle-class families. o Funds will support states as they ensure that children are enrolled in high-quality programs. In order to access federal funding, states would be required to meet quality benchmarks that are linked to better outcomes for children, which include:‚§ state-level standards for early learning;‚§ qualified teachers for all preschool classrooms; and‚§ a plan to implement comprehensive data and assessment systems. o Preschool programs across the states would meet common and consistent standards for quality across all programs, including:‚§ well-trained teachers, who are paid comparably to K-12 staff;‚§ small class sizes and low adult-to-child ratios;‚§ comprehensive health and related services; and‚§ effective evaluation and review of programs. ' Partnering with communities to help them rebuild and put people back to work: A child's zip code should never determine her destiny; but today, the neighborhood she grows up in impacts her odds of graduating high school, her health outcomes, and her lifetime economic opportunities. Working with local leadership, the President is proposing to align a number of his signature revitalization initiatives from the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, and the Department for Agriculture to ensure that federal programs and resources are focused intensely on 20 communities hardest hit by the recession. We've seen this approach work in places like San Antonio, TX where Mayor Julian Castro is revitalizing neighborhoods that have been distressed for decades, leveraging significant private investment to focus funding where the need is greatest and the evidence of impact is strongest. In San Antonio, the United Way is working alongside teachers and cops to improve young people's chances at graduating from high school. The Administration will designate each of these areas as ''Promise Zones'' through a transparent, competitive process that can bring a number of programs to bear, including: o Targeted investments can transform high-poverty communities into places of opportunity that can attract private investment, improve education, and create jobs. Such investments may include: ‚§ Targeting neighborhoods to reduce violent crime by providing Department of Justice funding for local law enforcement and community leaders; ‚§ Transforming high-poverty neighborhoods by leveraging Department of Housing and Urban Development grants to attract private investment to tear down distressed public housing and build new mixed income homes, while ensuring that low-income residents do not get displaced; and ‚§ Ensuring students in these communities graduate high school prepared to enter the workforce or are prepared for college by utilizing Department of Education funding to expand early education, after school and summer instructional time, as well as reduce dropout rates. o Promise Zone tax incentives to stimulate growth and investments in targeted communities. These incentives will includes tax credits for hiring workers and tax write-offs for capital investment within the Zone.o Helping local leaders navigate federal programs, cut red tape, and use federal resources more effectively. ' Creating pathways to jobs: The President's plan helps low-income youth find summer and year-round jobs, teaches our kids the real world skills they need to find a job, and offers incentives to companies that hire the long-term unemployed. These steps are critical to ensuring that our economic recovery reaches all Americans. In his FY2013 budget, the President proposed a Pathways Back to Work Fund to help support job and work-based training opportunities for long term unemployed and low income adults, , and support summer and year-round jobs for low-in¬come youth. The fund would build on the successful efforts of the Recovery Act's TANF-ECF program, which helped support job opportunities for 260,000 low-income individuals in 39 States and DC, and the Administration's Summer Jobs+ effort in 2012. The President has shown a commitment to continuing to provide support to unemployed Americans by proposing wide-ranging reforms to the unemployment insurance program, some of which were adopted in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Jobs Creation Act of 2012. Recognizing that the opportunity to acquire the skills to get and keep a good job starts early and through education, the President will also announce: o Modernizing America's high schools for real-world learning: The President is announcing a new competition to kick-start a redesign of high schools to emphasize real-world learning. The President's plan will invest in redesigning high school to focus on providing challenging, relevant experiences, and reward schools that develop new partnerships with colleges and employers, and that create classes that focus on technology, science, engineering, and other skills today's employers are demanding to fill jobs open now and in the future. In addition, the President is proposing to strengthen and reform our federal investment in career and technical education to better align programs with the needs of employers and with the demands of higher education. ' Expanding early childhood opportunity for all Americans: Today, far too many kids are already behind academically and developmentally by the time they start school, and never truly catch up'--compromising our ability to compete in a global economy and sidelining huge pools of untapped talent. o Starting early childhood education from birth. In addition to providing high-quality preschool for every child, the President's proposal will grow the availability of high-quality early learning programs for young children to ensure that the expansion of preschool services for four-year-olds is part of a cohesive and well-aligned system of early learning for children from birth to age five. This investment will focus on our existing infrastructure of federally-funded programs such as Early Head Start, and the Child Care and Development Fund to expand services and boost their quality. o Extending and expanding voluntary home visiting: For our youngest at-risk children and parents, the President will also propose a substantial investment to expand voluntary home visiting programs that provide nurses, social workers, and other professionals to connect families to assistance that will improve a child's health, development, and ability to learn. This will help ensure that our most vulnerable Americans are on track from birth, and that later educational investments rest upon a strong foundation. ' Strengthening families: The President will also continue his commitment to support healthy marriages for all families, including removing deterrents for low-income couples to get married and supporting the critical role that fathers play in enhancing the intellectual, emotional, and financial well-being of their sons and daughters. The Administration proposes to allow existing federal programs, like the child support program, to implement models that get more men working and engaging with their children. The Administration also proposes to allow States to test strategies to overcome financial deterrents to forming safe and stable two-parent households and marriage in federal programs.
  Building on the Progress We've Made
  In addition to the President's comprehensive reform agenda to increase access to high quality education for all Americans, the Administration will build on a strong foundation in these key areas that help create ladders of opportunity. ' Increased access to early childhood education: The Administration's significant investments in Head Start, Early Head Start, and child care funding have increased access to early education for hundreds of thousands of young children. We increased the number of children served in Head Start and Early Head Start by 61,000 and boosted child care funding, while implementing historic reforms to ensure that Head Start children are served only by the best programs. Under the President's leadership, enrollment in Early Head Start in particular has nearly doubled. The Race to the Top '' Early Learning Challenge has rewarded 14 states that have agreed to raise the bar on the quality of their public and private early childhood education programs, establishing higher standards across programs and providing critical links with health, nutrition, mental health, and family support for our neediest children. ' Supporting strong families and marriage: The Affordable Care Act invests more federal funds in voluntary home visiting services for low-income parents and newborns'--providing hundreds of thousands of families with services on maternal and child health, parenting skills, nutrition, child abuse prevention, and parental education and employment. The President fought to extend an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that reduces ''marriage penalties'' in the tax code for working parents with children. Finally, the President has a long-standing and deeply personal commitment to encouraging both parents to be actively engaged in a child's life, with a particular emphasis on reaching fathers through partnerships and modernizing our federal programs. ' Revitalizing Neighborhoods: Since 2009, the President has invested more than $350 million in more than 100 of the nation's persistent pockets of poverty through two of his signature programs. Fashioned after the Harlem Children's Zone, the Administration has invested in Promise Neighborhoods to support high-poverty communities in building a 'cradle through college' pipeline of educational supports to help young people graduate high school and pursue higher education. Choice Neighborhoods helps transform neighborhoods with distressed public housing and concentrated poverty into opportunity-rich, mixed-income neighborhoods, by aligning investments in improved housing with expansion of high-quality educational opportunities. ' Partnering with local leaders to support distressed cities: In 2011, the White House launched Strong Cities, Strong Communities, a unique partnership between Mayors and the federal government to drive economic growth in chronically distressed cities. Through federal teams on the ground and specialized technical assistance, the pilot is helping seven Mayors implement their economic visions to promote strategic partnerships between government and businesses that create jobs, implement strategic city planning, and use taxpayer dollars more efficiently. ' Providing jobs and skills training for low-income youth and adults: The President's Pathways Back to Work Fund would build upon success in the Recovery Act, which helped place 372,000 low-income youth into summer and year-round employment and supported job opportunities for about 260,000 low-income individuals in 2009 and 2010. The President's Summer Jobs+ Initiative in 2012 also secured commitments from the private sector, non-profits and government at all levels to provide opportunities for low-income and disconnected youth. In total, more than 150 Summer Jobs+ partners committed over 300,000 training and mentorship opportunities, including over 100,000 paid jobs. o Reforming our Unemployment Insurance System to Help Put People Back to Work: The President has already shown a commitment to continuing to provide support to unemployed Americans and to make our unemployment system more of a back-to-work system. The President proposed, and Congress adopted in the Middle Class Tax Relief and Jobs Creation Act of 2012, wide-ranging reform to the unemployment insurance program that encourage states to adopt work-sharing programs to prevent layoffs, help the unemployed start new businesses, and give states authority to run pilots helping workers on unemployment insurance get on-the-job experience designed to lead to employment. ‚§ Strengthening economic security for all working Americans through tax relief: As part of the end-of-year fiscal deal, the Obama Administration secured permanent middle-class tax relief, preventing a $2,200 income tax increase this year for the typical family of four. The President fought hard to include extensions of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit improvements that provide critical assistance to 15 million low- and moderate-income working families with children.
CNN Reporter Compares Plight of Cruise Passengers to Katrina Victims
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 04:44
  CNN's Martin Savidge compared the "isolation factor" of the Carnival cruise passengers to that of New Orleans residents during Katrina.
  Passenger Rob Kenny quickly put the fiasco in context: "Katrina was a major devastation. We're on a friggin' cruise ship and we're just all having a good time."
NBC News Reporter Stops Returning Carnival Cruise Passenger From Quoting Bible
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Sat, 16 Feb 2013 04:44
  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.
The Crying Stars
  Link to Article
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:39
  Sometimes my children events eclipse this blog, but not really, as I have in the drafts to be published more on Wormwood, the Bitterness, in information on that coming event.
  The Russian meteor highlights though what this blog has been warning all of you of, in these large objects showing up HAVE COMPANIONS.
  The small rock which struck Russia has a companion
  NASA to Chronicle Close Earth Flyby of Asteroid...FRIDAY: 2:24 PM EST...DA14: First Images...
  This is the reality of all of this and while what will publish will be Lame Cherry concentrate, it is more than anyone else has been posting about any of this.
  NASA has been lying to the public in "all objects have been tracked" and yet these roids keep showing up in the sky for fly by.
  These rocks do not appear alone. The meteor belt of the destroyed planets is full of them, and large objects pick up company or knock smaller objects in the direction they are traveling.
  METEOR SHOCKWAVE BLOWS OUT WINDOWS, ROCKS BUILDINGS; HUNDREDS INJURED...
  'Power of an atomic bomb'...
  Sonic boom from 10-ton rock...
  Panic...
  Impact sites found...
  'Russia Shot Down The Meteor' Theory Spreads Online...
  REPORT: Russian lawmaker denies meteorite, claims US weapons tests...
  These are shadow warnings of other events. The feudalcrats "know" through divination future events. It is why they shut down the CIA public remote viewing under Bill Clinton in Deutsch, as "they" are preparing for these great tribulation events in bunkers, stockpiled food and ammunition stores.
  The reality is most nations would starve in 90 days, and that would be with eating their own human dead. "They" are prepared and these precursor events are the signals that more is on the horizon in these debris clouds.
  This blog in 2008 attempted to get that fraud John McCain in his plagiaristic camp to promote a real economic growth package which was a trillion dollars for homeowners to build survival shelters and stock them.That would have fixed the American economy, which Obama has only strangled.
  The new trillion Obama wants for Congress is more fraud. That money in a real Lame Cherry fix should be awarded to people to start building for the great tribulation. Then people will be at home, safe, fed and watered, with garden supplies and cold frames to life.Animals should also be afforded like fodder in pets and livestock.
  This blog for years has warned all and has provided the fixes by Inspiration. For the brats that get pissy, this is your own death and for the children who tried, you have tried.
  The stars will continue to cry. Their tears will rain explosive light upon earth in vengeance against false light espoused upon this planet. You were afforded a glimpse again to stir your understanding in those who will put a foot forward to move in taking the steps.
  The government does not want you to survive, as your armed masses will decide in coming events how things are done when the invisible cage imprisoning you disappears.I want you to survive and having given you the way 5 years ago.
  You do not have to die. Nations do not have to die. There are Joseph plans for all of this. America used to have them, but is not taking care of her people. The elite take care of themselves with your money and your numbers.
  nuff said
  agtG 275
Remarks to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Headquarters
  Link to Article
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:36
  Thank you very much. Thank you. So I just said to Raj, you had to remind me of Red Sox travails. Eighty-six years, well, we got over that. Now, today I wake up and I'm mourning Kevin Youkilis, a Yankee? I don't know. (Laughter.) Anyway, I don't want to get him in trouble. He said some very nice things about the Red Sox, and I don't want to go there. (Laughter.)It is wonderful to visit with all of you. Thank you for taking a few minutes to join me here and allow me to say hello and to thank you for your extraordinary work and everything that you do. I'm really, really thrilled to be here, for a lot of reasons I'll explain in a minute. But let me also say to you that it's good to be here because I am now a recovering politician. (Laughter.) And I have to remember that I'm totally hatched, I'm not allowed to '' it's sort of walking a new line. But you have no idea what a relief it is. I'm really happy.
  I '' a few months, not too long ago '' this happened, actually, a few times anyway. But I was walking through the airport '' it was probably a couple of years ago now '' and this guy recognized me and points at me. As you're walking through sometimes, you try to sort of look straight ahead because you know somebody's going to come up and they either like you or they don't like you, one or the other. (Laughter.) And this guy points and he shouts, and he says, ''Hey, you! You, hey! Anybody tell you you look like that Kerry guy we sent down to Washington?'' And so I said, ''Yeah, they tell me that all the time.'' (Laughter.) And he says, ''Kind of makes you mad, don't it?'' (Laughter.) So hopefully this new job will give me a break from that kind of encounter.
  I really am excited, and I mean that. I don't want to talk too long because I don't want to get in the way of any of you who have plans to get an early jump on a long weekend here. But this is special. And you all are doing some of the most important work in the world and the most important work in our country to reach out to people, present the face of America, present the values of America, present the interests of America, and touch people all around the world and tell them the story of who we are and what we care about and what we fight for and what makes a difference in life. And I can't tell you how great that '' I mean, I'm confident I know what brought you here '' I feel it, I believe it '' that sense that we can make a difference in the lives of other people and make a difference in the course of events on this planet. And I have seen it. I've been blessed to see it.
  I was in Pakistan right at the time after the earthquake. I went up into the mountains, up near K2, flying up in the helicopters, working with the Navy, watching all the supply lines that you all helped to create and deliver. And I met children who came out of the mountains at age 12 and 13 and 14. And for the first time in their lives, they were going to school, wearing a uniform, interested in the possibilities of a future. That's what we brought them. It was amazing. (Applause.)
  I was in the hills in mud-thatched huts, as many of you have been at one time or another, outside of Durban in South Africa. And I went and visited a tiny little school off in the hills, where they were working with children of parents or survivors, and in some cases, 13- and 14-year-old sisters or grandchildren who were caring for the family and caring for an aunt or grandmother who had HIV. And it was moving to see what PEPFAR, the President's emergency program, is doing. In fact, I kind of reacted to it. I said, ''President's emergency program. I didn't see on that thing something that said, 'from the people of the United States of America,''' and I thought it should have, frankly. Because we're telling the story of what the people of the United States are doing. (Applause.)
  But the difference it made to the lives of those people and their sense of possibility '' young girls who, for the first time, were being given an opportunity. President Obama could not have made it more clear in his State of the Union message when he challenged all of us here and said, ''We have an opportunity to end extreme poverty in the next two decades.'' And we do. And I'm confident that with your work and help, and if we get Congress to continue to understand this connection, we will end extreme poverty in the next two decades. (Applause.)
  The President also talked about the possibility of our being now on the cusp of a generation free of AIDS. Think about that. That's what we've been able to do in terms of ending mothers transmitting AIDS to children because of the interventions we've been able to make. That's an extraordinary accomplishment. You, we, Americans '' Americans who have put their dollars on the line to send those values overseas '' have saved over 5 million lives in Africa of people who would have died from AIDS but for the United States being there in the way that we have been. That's the difference we make.
  In addition to that, the lives of women '' the President challenged us in his State of the Union message to continue to be able to make a difference in opening up opportunities for the lives of women across the planet. And in Afghanistan, we can be proud that even as we're engaging the government and working to build their capacity of governance, we are also building it around a set of principles that are our values about those opportunities women ought to have. And so women in Afghanistan '' when we started there were about 4 or 5 million kids in school and all of them were boys. Today there are about 9 million people in school and almost half of them are girls. That's a new opportunity. (Applause.)
  So I am deeply, deeply committed to this mission. And I know '' I think I wrote a couple of years ago as the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, I said, ''A senator who stands up in today's world and tries to make the argument for foreign aid probably ought to have a mental evaluation.'' (Laughter.) It's tough. And the same may be true for cabinet secretaries. But I've got news for you: We're going to do it. We're going to continue to fight for this connection because it is such a paltry, tiny component of what we do overall compared to the military budget, compared to all of our budget.
  One percent of the total of what we invest in '' not spend but invest in '' comes to AID. One percent. And what we do to change people's opinions, to change lives, to open up opportunity as a consequence of that is really hard to define to people but totally in keeping with the best values not only of the country but of any and every philosophy of life or religion that I know. And that's why so many evangelicals and others are committed to these kinds of efforts to try to make a difference, because it's our obligation as human beings on the face of this planet.
  Now, there are other reasons for doing this and they're really important today. And our job is not just to do the job of going out and making a difference in lives, and I'll tell you why it's so critical, sort of underscore why it's so critical, in a moment. But it's also to connect the dots for people, to do a better job, if you will, of making sure that everybody in America understands this isn't a giveaway, this isn't some sort of '' this is not a waste of effort. This makes a difference to people's perception of us, to their connection to us, to their willingness to link arms with us and make a difference in other tricky endeavors, whether it's fighting terrorism or narcotics or oppression or resistance to governance. All of those things we advance because we engage and show that we care about something more than just ourselves. What a difference that makes. (Applause.)
  But in addition '' and I will make this argument to my colleagues on the Hill anywhere and everywhere, and I'm going to enlist you and many other people in this effort '' we need to point out to people that in this world we're living in in the 21st century, a world in '' undergoing mighty transformation, this is in the interests of our country and our future if you don't want to send troops somewhere in the future to fight the conflict that comes about because we didn't do this now. (Applause.) And we've seen that. Developing water capacity for people in some parts of the world keeps people from killing each other. It keeps tribes from going out and disintegrating and creating a failed state. I've seen that. I've been in Sudan, South Sudan, where today people are fighting over water.
  So we need to understand the connection of all of these things to our security, to our business opportunities, to our economic future, to America's leadership role in the world. That's what's connected here. You look at the Maghreb today, you take a country like Egypt or Jordan or many of the countries in the Middle East, you've got 60 percent of the population under the age of 30, 50 percent under the age of 21, 18 '' it's about 40 percent under the age of 18. If we don't build health capacity or education capacity or governance capacity with those folks, then everybody here knows how ripe those people will be for someone to walk in with a religious extremist point of view and strap a suicide vest on them and send them out to do harm because they don't have anything better to offer to the world.
  We need to make sure people understand that. And you know that better than anybody, because a courageous AID worker, Ragaei Abdelfattah, lost his life in Afghanistan in Kunar province trying to build health clinics and schools and bring this opportunity to people, because there was a suicide kid who walked up and blew himself up. He understood what you're doing. You understand what you're doing. And we need to make sure that everybody in the country, as well as others in the world, understand why we are engaged in this enterprise.
  Now, there's another reason beyond the effort to prevent terrorism and to prevent conflict and prevent failed states, of which there are more, not less. This challenge deserves more focus and more attention, not less. This is not a time for the United States of America to retrench and to retreat. This is a time to be more engaged. (Applause.) And President Obama, I think, has laid out a vision not just in the State of the Union, in his Inaugural, throughout the first four years, the work that Hillary Clinton did '' and I pay tribute. She did an extraordinary job of helping to lead the Department and to articulate these. And we need to build on that now.
  And there's another reason why, and she understood it and I think I understand it. If you don't help people with rule of law, if you don't help them and mentor them and introduce people to certain opportunities through the linkage of health to societal stability, and ultimately to economic opportunity, America is going to fall behind and lose the leadership role that we have in the world today. And we're going to lose jobs for our fellow Americans. This is not just about over there; this is about here. This is about how you build the societies that offer us the market opportunities so that we can have the trade and investment and the options of creating the jobs here at home and the goods that Americans can buy and so forth.
  Now, I'm telling you that linkage is real. In Egypt today, they are facing an extraordinary challenge of diminished reserves, instability, new governance, huge challenges of subsidies, how do they transition their economy. And it's in our interest to try to help make that happen in the most stable way possible. Why? Because Egypt is a quarter of the Arab world, because Egypt is critical to peace with Israel and with the Middle East, the only Arab country that's made peace with Israel, Jordan included.
  You need to connect the dots here. You all have already done that because you're here and you're working and you're committed to this. I need you and Raj needs you and the President needs you to be ambassadors of this message of how this matters to every single American, how small our investment is versus the return that we get for it. What a difference it makes to America's security, to America's business opportunities, to America's leadership role and our future.
  When President Obama selected Raj Shah to be the leader of this organization, I knew instantly he'd picked somebody who understood this mission, who understood we also need to change a little bit, that we need to understand that we have to account clearly to our citizens in a time of tough budgets for all of the dollars we're spending in a very transparent and thorough way. We want to do that. But it also requires us to think creatively, sometimes out of the box, about how we may be able to deliver some of this in 21st century terms in ways that augment, multiply, when we don't have the same amount of resources we've had previously, but multiply the efforts in their return on that investment by creating greater investment opportunities, more jobs, building the economies. I think there are a lot of things that we can think about creatively together to help make that happen, and I'm convinced Raj Shah understands that, and I'm looking forward to working with him over these next years to help make that happen. We're going to get this job done. (Applause.)
  So, you all are the cutting edge of American foreign policy. And I know that sometimes, not na¯ve, there's been a debate about pure development '' just develop this thing and whatever comes, comes '' versus policy and leverage and the other components of this. I get it. What I want to do is work with you in the smartest way we can together to get the best return on this investment for the American taxpayer that we can get, the most accountable, the most transparent, the most efficient. And in doing so, we are going to advance America's interests in a way that serves every citizen and all of our interests.
  What we're engaged in, my friends '' Raj, in his introduction, mentioned '' oh, I guess '' excuse me, it was Denise, and thank you. Where is she? She's gone off here. Thank you. Thank you for your career and for what you're doing here. I think it's wonderful. Thank you. Fabulous. (Applause.)
  You mentioned 1961 and President Kennedy. One thing has always stood out to me from that period. I was in college then. And we were all engaged in the civil rights movement and breaking the back of Jim Crow and the Mississippi voter registration drive, environment, all those things that made a difference, and still do, obviously. Unfinished business. But President Kennedy challenged all of us, and I still believe in that challenge. And in his Inaugural Address, most importantly, he reminded us that here on Earth, God's work must truly be our own. I think for every single American, what we're doing here at AID, what we're trying to do to change the world, the unbelievable return we get for the very small amount we ask Americans to put into this, is really indeed God's work, and I look forward to continuing it with you. Thank you, and Godspeed. Thank you. (Applause.)
Entertainment Tonight Whacks Pope Benedict and His 'Stained' Legacy
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:33
  The day after Pope Benedict XVI announced his abdication of the papacy, Entertainment Tonight dragged his reputation through the mud by reliving his 2002 confrontation with ABC's Brian Ross, as well as promoting the anti-Catholic hit-job documentary "Mea Maxima Culpa."
CNN Wonders Why GOP Still Asking About Benghazi
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:33
  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.
Remarks by the President at Presentation of 2012 Presidential Citizens Medals
  Link to Article
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 20:31
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  February 15, 2013
  East Room
  11:30 A.M. EST
  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, everybody. Please, please have a seat. Well, it is a pleasure to welcome some of our nation's finest citizens here to the people's house. And let me be the first to congratulate each of you and your family members for the receipt of the highest honor a civilian can receive ''- the Citizens Medal.
  We host a lot of events at the White House but I have to admit this is one of my favorites, because it's a moment when, as a people, we get to recognize some extraordinary men and women who have gone above and beyond for their country and for their fellow citizens -- often without fanfare; often with not a lot of attention; very rarely for any profit. You do it because it's the right thing to do, because you want to give back. And today, we honor you. We celebrate you. And, most of all, we have a chance to say thank you. Because all of us are what the rest of us aspire to be.
  In America, we have the benefit of living in this big and diverse nation. We're home to 315 million people who come from every background, who worship every faith, who hold every single point of view. But what binds us together, what unites us is a single sacred word: citizen. It's a word that, as I said in my State of the Union Address, doesn't just describe our nationality or our legal status, the fact that we hold a passport. It defines our way our life. It captures our belief in something bigger than ourselves -- our willingness to accept certain obligations to one another, and to embrace the idea that we're all in this together; that out of many, we are one. It's the thing that Tocqueville noticed about America when he first came to visit -- these folks participate, they get involved, they have a point of view; they don't just wait for somebody else to do something, they go out there and do it, and they join and they become part of groups and they mobilize and they organize.
  That's who we are, that's in our DNA. That's what it means to be a citizen of the United States of America. We've all got busy lives. We've got bills to pay. We've got kids to carpool, errands to get done. And in the midst of all the running around, it would be easy -- and even understandable -- for folks to just focus on themselves, to worry about our own lives, to look down the street and see a neighbor in need and say, ''I'd like to help but I've got problems of my own.'' To look across town at a community that's in despair and say, ''That's just too big a challenge for us to be able to take on.''
  That's not who we are. That's not what we do. That's not what built this country. In this country, we look out for one another. We get each other's backs, especially in times of hardship or challenge. It's part of the reason why applications to AmeriCorps are at an all-time high. That's why volunteering in America is at the highest level it's been in years. And I know that makes Harris proud to hear.
  Harris Wofford has devoted his entire life to creating opportunities for Americans to serve. And the reason it's such a privilege for me to share the stage with him and all the others who are participating here today, is because you've taken commitment to a whole new level. Every day, you're out there righting wrongs. Healing hurts. Changing lives.
  And when Janice Jackson was hit by a car at the age of 24, she was told by her doctors that the only thing she would ever move again were her shoulders. After suffering an injury like that, nobody would have faulted Janice for just focusing on herself. But as she recovered, and she regained her strength, she resolved to give some of that strength to others in need. Janice said that ''from a wheelchair, I decided to devote my life to women with disabilities'...to tell them that even though you have limitations, you also have abilities.'' And every day through her mentorship and through her advocacy, that's exactly what she's doing.
  When Adam Burke returned from Iraq, he had more than earned the right to just focus on himself. He had served our nation with honor; a recipient of the Purple Heart for wounds he received while rescuing a comrade from enemy fire. Because of that attack ''- because of the shrapnel that tore through his head and his legs ''- when Adam came home, he came home a wounded warrior, suffering from a traumatic brain injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. But a few years later, Adam found himself back on the family farm, and he noticed that working the land was therapeutic. His coordination improved. He was able to put aside his cane. So he decided to use farming to help other veterans with similar injuries see similar benefits. And by starting Veterans Farm, he's doing that every day.
  When Jeanne Manford learned that her son Morty had been badly beaten up at a gay rights demonstration, nobody would have faulted her for bringing him home, holding him close, just focusing on her child. This was back in 1972. There was a lot of hate, a lot of vitriol towards gays and lesbians and anyone who supported them. But instead, she wrote to the local newspaper and took to the streets with a simple message: No matter who her son was -- no matter who he loved ''- she loved him, and wouldn't put up with this kind of nonsense. And in that simple act, she inspired a movement and gave rise to a national organization that has given so much support to parents and families and friends, and helped to change this country. We lost Jeanne last month, but her legacy carries on, every day, in the countless lives that she touched.
  And then when Dawn Hochsprung, and Mary Sherlach, Vicki Soto, Lauren Rousseau, Rachel D'Avino, Anne Marie Murphy -- when they showed up for work at Sandy Hook Elementary on December 14th of last year, they expected a day like any other -- doing what was right for their kids; spent a chilly morning readying classrooms and welcoming young students -- they had no idea that evil was about to strike. And when it did, they could have taken shelter by themselves. They could have focused on their own safety, on their own wellbeing. But they didn't. They gave their lives to protect the precious children in their care. They gave all they had for the most innocent and helpless among us.
  And that's what we honor today -- the courageous heart, the selfless spirit, the inspiring actions of extraordinary Americans, extraordinary citizens.
  We are a nation of 315 million people. Out of all these folks, around 6,000 were nominated for this medal. And today, you're the ones receiving it not just for what you do, but for what you represent -- for the shining example that you set every single day and the inspiration that you give each of us as fellow citizens, including your President.
  So congratulations to the recipients. And now, I would like our military aide to read the citations.
  MILITARY AIDE: The Presidential Citizens Medal recipients:
  Dr. T. Berry Brazelton. (Applause.) As one of America's most respected voices on child development, Dr. Brazelton has dedicated his life to transforming pediatric care. His pioneering work has given generations of parents the chance to take control of their children's health from day one. Alongside his duties as a researcher and educator, he fought to secure some of the 20th century's essential safeguards for families, including guaranteed maternal leave. For his tireless advocacy on behalf of families everywhere, the United States honors Dr. T. Berry Brazelton. (Applause.)
  Adam D. Burke. (Applause.) During his ninth year of service in the Army, Adam Burke was diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder after saving a comrade from a mortar blast in Iraq's Sunni Triangle. He received a Purple Heart for his heroism. Unwilling to stop serving his country, he turned his family farm into Veterans Farm, a space for wounded warriors to heal by working the land and finding stability on friendly soil. The United States honors Adam D. Burke for his extraordinary service to his country and fellow members of the 9/11 Generation. (Applause.)
  Mary Jo Copeland. (Applause.) Driven by her faith and a fierce commitment to her community, Mary Jo Copeland has spent more than a quarter-century lifting up the underserved. Alongside her husband, she grew Sharing and Caring Hands from a small storefront operation in downtown Minneapolis into a charity that provides thousands of men, women and children the chance to live in health and dignity. Her unyielding vision for stronger neighborhoods has inspired people nationwide, and her compassion for the poor and the marginalized speaks to the depth of the human spirit. The United States honors Mary Jo Copeland for sparking hope in those who need it most. (Applause.)
  Michael Dorman. (Applause.) When Michael Dorman saw disabled veterans struggling to secure the opportunities they had given so much to preserve, he knew he had to act. A 20-year veteran of the Coast Guard, he founded Military Missions in Action to help veterans with disabilities live independently and support those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. His organization has completed more than 100 home improvement projects across the state of North Carolina and shipped thousands of care packages to service members in the line of duty. The United States honors Michael Dorman for his exceptional service to our Armed Forces and our Nation. (Applause.)
  Maria Gomez. (Applause.) Born in Colombia and brought up in Washington, D.C., Maria Gomez has dedicated her life to providing high-quality health care to the community that raised her. Guided by her vision, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care has delivered exceptional outcomes to disadvantaged populations for more than two decades. Her organization's integrated approach to medicine, education and social services extends a lifeline to tens of thousands every year, giving families across the D.C. region a chance at a brighter future. The United States honors Maria Gomez for sharing her strength with the underserved. (Applause.)
  Pamela Green-Jackson. (Applause.) As Pamela Green-Jackson mourned the loss of her only brother to obesity-related illness, she vowed to honor his memory by saving others from the same fate. The result, Youth Becoming Healthy, has equipped young men and women in Georgia schools with the knowledge and opportunity they need to get a strong start in life. Pamela's dedication to combating childhood obesity reaffirms our belief that as a nation, we have no higher calling than caring for our children. For putting our sons and daughters on the path to better health, the United States honors Pamela Green-Jackson. (Applause.)
  Janice Yvette Jackson. (Applause.) After Janice Jackson was struck by an oncoming car when she was 24 years old, doctors told her she would never be able to move her limbs again. Battling against the odds, she regained control of her left arm and reached for the promise of the years ahead. As a mentor, a counselor and the founder of Women Embracing Abilities Now, she has drawn from the depth of her experience to empower women with disabilities and advocate passionately on their behalf. The United States honors Janice Yvette Jackson for turning personal adversity into a powerful force for change. (Applause.)
  Patience A. Lehrman. (Applause.) A first-generation immigrant from Cameroon, Patience Lehrman embodies what it means to be an American citizen. Recognizing that immigrants have always made our country stronger, she has worked to make America a land of greater opportunity for all who call it home. Under her leadership, Project SHINE has helped thousands of aging immigrants and refugees build deeper ties to their communities by connecting them with college students nationwide. The United States honors Patience A. Lehrman for reaffirming the truth inscribed on our nation's seal: that out of many, we are one. (Applause.)
  Accepting on behalf of Jeanne Manford, her daughter Suzanne Swan. (Applause.) In an era when peaceful protests were met with violence and coming out was a radical act, Jeanne Manford knew she had to stand by her son, Morty. Side-by-side, they marched proudly down the streets of New York on Stonewall's anniversary, calling upon other parents of gay and lesbian Americans to show their children the same love and acceptance. Jeanne's courage lives on in progress she fought for and in PFLAG, the organization she founded, which today claims more than 200,000 members and supporters in over 350 chapters. For insisting that equality knows no bounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, the United States honors Jeanne Manford. (Applause.)
  Billy Mills. (Applause.) As a boy growing up on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Billy Mills rose above adversity by dedicating himself to a dream. He realized the height of his ambition at the 1964 Tokyo Games, where he ran what was then the fastest 10,000 meters in Olympic history. Since then, Billy has spent 26 years lifting other young men and women toward their aspirations through Running Strong for American Indian Youth. His organization has championed wellness and unlocked opportunity in Native American communities across our country. The United States honors Billy Mills for inspiring young people to find the best in themselves. (Applause.)
  Terry T. Shima. (Applause.) During World War II, Terry Shima served in the Army's 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which became the most decorated unit of its size in American history. Responsible for securing the 442nd's legacy, Terry ensured that returning heroes received a welcome befitting their service and sacrifice. As the Executive Director of the Japanese American Veterans Association, he committed himself to preserving the stories of servicemembers who fought and bled overseas, even while many of their families were relocated to internment camps at home. For strengthening the sacred trust between America and its veterans, the United States honors Terry T. Shima. (Applause.)
  Harris Wofford. (Applause.) Harris Wofford has spent more than 50 years empowering ordinary citizens to make extraordinary change. A friend to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and an advisor to President John F. Kennedy, Harris fought alongside civil rights leaders to end segregation and advance the march of justice. During his time at the White House, with the Peace Corps, as a Senator, and leading the Corporation for National and Community Service, he gave generations of Americans the chance to serve their country. The United States honors Harris Wofford for upholding national service as one of our Nation's highest causes. (Applause.)
  The Presidential Citizens Medal is awarded to Rachel D'Avino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, and Victoria Soto for dedicating themselves to their students and to the community of Newtown, Connecticut. Some had been at Sandy Hook Elementary School for only weeks; others were preparing to retire after decades of service. All worked long past the school bell to give the children in their care a future worth their talents. On December 14, 2012, unthinkable tragedy swept through Newtown, etching the names of these six courageous women into the heart of our nation forever. The United States honors Rachel D'Avino, Dawn Hochsprung, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Rousseau, Mary Sherlach, and Victoria Soto for their extraordinary commitment to the students of Sandy Hook Elementary School.
  Accepting on behalf of Rachel D'Avino -- her mother, Mary D'Avino and sister, Sarah D'Avino. (Applause.)
  Accepting on behalf of Dawn Hochsprung -- her daughter, Erica Lafferty, and mother, Cheryl Lafferty. (Applause.)
  Accepting on behalf of Anne Marie Murphy -- her husband, Michael Murphy, and daughters, Paige and Colleen Murphy. (Applause.)
  Accepting on behalf of Lauren Rousseau -- her parents, Terry and Gilles Rousseau. (Applause.)
  Accepting on behalf of Mary Sherlach -- her husband, Bill Sherlach, and daughters, Katy Sherlach and Maura Schwartz. (Applause.)
  Accepting on behalf of Victoria Soto -- her parents, Donna and Carlos Soto. (Applause.)
  THE PRESIDENT: Let me close by just saying a few words of thanks -- first of all, to Wendy and all the people at the Corporation for National and Community Service, thank you for all that you do to make our communities and our country stronger. We're very grateful.
  To those who nominated these outstanding individuals -- thank you for taking the time to share their stories. The competition was stiff. And your words gave life to their work.
  To all the family and friends who are here celebrating with the winners, thank you for the love and support that you provide to them every single day, because they couldn't do what they do unless somebody had that love and support for them. I know the awardees would agree that this honor belongs not just to themselves but to everybody who supports them.
  And finally, to the winners of this year's Citizens Medal, we want to congratulate you once again. A special note just to the families who are here from Sandy Hook -- we are so blessed to be with you. I've gotten to know many of you during the course of some very difficult weeks. And your courage and love for each other and your communities shines through every single day. And we could not be more blessed and grateful for your loved ones who gave everything they had on behalf of our kids.
  On behalf of a grateful nation, thanks to all of you for showing us what it means to be a citizen of this country that we love. Hopefully, we will all draw inspiration from this and remember why it is that we're lucky to be living in the greatest nation on Earth. Thank you all for coming and enjoy the reception. (Applause.)
  END12:02 P.M. EST
New head of Vatican bank appointed
  Link to Article
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:07
  15 February 2013Last updated at08:37 ETPope Benedict XVI has appointed German lawyer Ernst von Freyberg to head the Vatican's embattled bank, officials have announced.
  Mr Freyburg's selection is one of the last major appointments of the Pope's tenure in office.
  The bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion, has been dogged by scandal in recent years.
  The pontiff, 85, shocked the world's biggest Christian Church on Monday when he announced his resignation.
  Payments suspendedA Vatican statement said Mr Freyberg brought "a vast experience of financial matters and the financial regulatory process".
  Correspondents say that he has solid financial and Catholic credentials as a member of the Knights of Malta military order, an ancient chivalrous organisation drawn from European nobility which last week celebrated its 900th birthday in Rome.
  The Vatican said that Mr Freyberg had been appointed by the bank's commission of cardinals and that the Pope had "expressed his full consent".
  The appointment ends a nine-month search after the previous president of the Institute of Works of Religion, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was removed from his post for dereliction of duty,
  In 2010 Italian police launched an investigation against Mr Tedeschi as part of a money-laundering inquiry.
  It said in May last year that a new director was required to restore relations with the international financial community, "based on mutual respect for accepted international banking standards".
  Mr Tedeschi said that he was being victimised because he wanted more transparency.
  In January the Italian central bank suspended all bank card payments in the Vatican, citing its failure fully to implement anti-money laundering legislation.
  The Holy See was required to meet European Union safeguards on finances by the start of 2013.
  Pope Benedict has promised greater transparency in Vatican finances and the operations of its bank.
  A group of experts from the Council of Europe said last year that the Vatican had made progress in reforming to meet EU standards but that a lot of work remained to be done.
Thread: Tesla v NY Times
  Link to Article
  Source: Dave Winer's linkblog feed
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:04
  A fascinating conflict is brewing between Elon Musk the founder of Tesla Motors and John Broder, a reporter for the NY Times who reviewed the Tesla Model S. Margaret Sullivan, the NY Times Public editor has a good summary of the dispute, so far.
  Some obvious observations.
  1. The whole thing is good for Tesla. I hadn't seen the original review, but after seeing Musk's initial review-of-the-review, I became interested. Someday I might buy a Tesla as a result of the increased interest. It'll take a number of events like this to get me to buy, but a car is a big purchase, so it seems it should take a lot of work to close the deal.
  2. Before this, the most memorable thing I had heard about the Tesla was from Evan Williams who said it was the iPhone of cars. That made sense to me, and Williams saying it made a difference. I believe he understands what makes an iPhone nice. And cars are not designed like iPhones, but it might be nice if they were. :-)
  3. Had it been any publication other than the Times, they wouldn't have had Margaret Sullivan to rep the news side of it. This is possibly a big deal. I have been impressed with Ms Sullvivan's work so far, after being very irritated by her predecessors. They didn't seem to rep the public. Mostly they explained why the Times insiders were right all along and the public was wrong.
  4. Even though I'm a fan, I think public editors should be from the public, not journalism. And a publication of the stature of the Times should have many of them. The rule is they could put something on the Times website, adjacent to the articles they're commenting on, and they could say whatever they need to say to create balance. They wouldn't have indefinite terms, and it would be possible to fire them, but only if they breached ethical standards themselves.
  Some stories need lots of public editors, and maybe the public editors should be given anonymity. An example is the run-up to the war in Iraq when all the publications carried the same wrong story. Another, more recent example is the telling of the life story of Aaron Swartz. I knew Aaron, and I read many of the stories, shaking my head at the awful reporting. You can forgive Aaron's friends for distorting the truth, perhaps -- they were grieving. But what were the reporters' excuses? If they were emotionally tied to the story they should have been excused. The purpose of a news publication is to tell the truth, especially if it's unpopular. The Times has a public editor because it wasn't living up to this ideal, and they knew it, and presumably wanted to do something to fix it. But it's too big a job for just one person.
  5. All pubs should have someone like Ms Sullivan. Over the years, I've had a number of disputes that cut to the integrity of reporters at major publications, like the one Mr Musk has with the Times. None of them have had public editors, and none of them ever resolved the issue one way or the other. One even threatened to sue me for libel if I didn't stop saying they were doing something wrong (a British publication). Imagine if a software company threatened every user who reported a bug. I told them to go ahead. At least it would have raised the issue in a way they would have had to respond to.
  6. Just like all software has bugs, all publications have breaches of integrity. The question isn't whether or not you have them, you do. The question is what you do when someone raises an issue.
  7. I've long felt that each blogger who values his or her reputiation should have a panel of "rabbis" who will respond to public integrity challenges. If my rabbis say I have to address a certain issue, then I will. If they say it's not an issue, I can go about my business without responding. This would do a lot to increase confidence, and also protect us from troll-like accusations. I think it's possible the same system could work for publications too. Sort of a shared public editor function, for organizations that don't have the resources to hire one of their own.
  8. It's possible that Musk is a troll. It's also possible that Broder made it up. I don't expect Sullivan to say either of these things unless it's so obvious as to be indisputable. And it won't be. She will tell us what both sides say and will look at the data herself. She'll look at what others say, and will suggest that while Musk has a fine product he has probably engaged in a little self-promotion here. And that the Times can and should have some new policy for testing cars. We will get a decent list of sources to examine ourselves, and we will, as always, make up our own minds.
'Nixon, Bush, OBAMA, They're War Criminals': Dr Cornel West
  Link to Article
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:54
  CORNEL WEST (10 Feb 2013): The chickens are coming home to roost. We've been talking about this for a good while the immorality of drones dropping bombs on innocent people. It's been over two hundred children so far. These are war crimes I think we have to be very honest. Let us not be deceived. Nixon Bush Obama, they're war criminals. They have killed innocent people in the name of the struggle for freedom.
New SARS-like virus shows person-to-person transmission
  Link to Article
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:54
  New SARS-like virus shows person-to-person transmissionTop News
  New SARS-like virus shows person-to-person transmission
  Wed, Feb 13 14:39 PM EST
  By Kate Kelland
  LONDON (Reuters) - A third patient in Britain has contracted a new SARS-like virus, becoming the second confirmed British case in a week and showing the deadly infection is being spread from person to person, health officials said on Wednesday.
  The latest case, in a man from the same family as another patient, brings the worldwide number of confirmed infections with the new virus - known as novel coronavirus, or NCoV - to 11.
  Of those, five have died. Most of the infected lived or had recently been in the Middle East. Three have been diagnosed in Britain.
  NCoV was identified when the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued an international alert in September 2012 saying a virus previously unknown in humans had infected a Qatari man who had recently been in Saudi Arabia.
  The virus belongs to the same family as SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - a coronavirus that emerged in China in 2002 and killed about a tenth of the 8,000 people it infected worldwide. Symptoms common to both viruses include severe respiratory illness, fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.
  Britain's Health Protection Agency (HPA) said the latest patient, who is a UK resident and does not have any recent travel history, is in intensive care at a hospital in central England.
  "Confirmed novel coronavirus infection in a person without travel history to the Middle East suggests that person-to-person transmission has occurred, and that it occurred in the UK," said John Watson, the HPA's head of respiratory diseases.
  He said the new case was a family member in close contact with another British case confirmed on Monday and who may have been at greater risk because of underlying health conditions.
  The WHO said although this latest case shows evidence of person-to-person transmission, it still believes "the risk of sustained person-to-person transmission appears to be very low".
  RISK VERY LOW, BUT VIRUSES CAN MUTATE
  Coronaviruses are typically spread like other respiratory infections such as flu, travelling in airborne droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
  Yet since NCoV was identified in September, evidence of person-to-person transmission has been limited.
  Watson said the fact it probably had taken place in the latest two cases in Britain gave no reason for increased alarm.
  "If novel coronavirus were more infectious, we would have expected to have seen a larger number of cases than we have seen since the first case was reported three months ago.
  Tom Wilkinson, a senior lecturer in respiratory medicine at Britain's University of Southampton, said that if NCoV turned out to be like the previous SARS outbreak, it may prove quite slow to spread from one human to another.
  "But it's early days to make any definite statements because viruses can change and mutate very rapidly, so what is right today may be wrong tomorrow," he told Reuters.
  Based on the current situation, the WHO said all member states should continue surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections and investigate any unusual patterns.
  "Testing for the new coronavirus should be considered in patients with unexplained pneumonias, or in patients with unexplained severe, progressive or complicated respiratory illness not responding to treatment," it said in a statement.
  The WHO said on Monday that the confirmation of a new British case did not alter its risk assessment but "does indicate that the virus is persistent".
  The British patient confirmed on Monday had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and is in intensive care in a separate British hospital, the HPA said.
  Among the 11 laboratory confirmed cases to date, five are in Saudi Arabia, with three deaths; two are in Jordan, where both patients died; three are in Britain, where all three are receiving treatment; and one was in Germany in a patient from Qatar who had since been discharged from medical care.
  The WHO said at this stage there is no need for travel or trade restrictions, or for special screening at border points.
  (Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Michael Roddy)
  New SARS-like virus shows person-to-person transmissionTop News
  New SARS-like virus shows person-to-person transmission
  Wed, Feb 13 14:39 PM EST
  By Kate Kelland
  LONDON (Reuters) - A third patient in Britain has contracted a new SARS-like virus, becoming the second confirmed British case in a week and showing the deadly infection is being spread from person to person, health officials said on Wednesday.
  The latest case, in a man from the same family as another patient, brings the worldwide number of confirmed infections with the new virus - known as novel coronavirus, or NCoV - to 11.
  Of those, five have died. Most of the infected lived or had recently been in the Middle East. Three have been diagnosed in Britain.
  NCoV was identified when the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued an international alert in September 2012 saying a virus previously unknown in humans had infected a Qatari man who had recently been in Saudi Arabia.
  The virus belongs to the same family as SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - a coronavirus that emerged in China in 2002 and killed about a tenth of the 8,000 people it infected worldwide. Symptoms common to both viruses include severe respiratory illness, fever, coughing and breathing difficulties.
  Britain's Health Protection Agency (HPA) said the latest patient, who is a UK resident and does not have any recent travel history, is in intensive care at a hospital in central England.
  "Confirmed novel coronavirus infection in a person without travel history to the Middle East suggests that person-to-person transmission has occurred, and that it occurred in the UK," said John Watson, the HPA's head of respiratory diseases.
  He said the new case was a family member in close contact with another British case confirmed on Monday and who may have been at greater risk because of underlying health conditions.
  The WHO said although this latest case shows evidence of person-to-person transmission, it still believes "the risk of sustained person-to-person transmission appears to be very low".
  RISK VERY LOW, BUT VIRUSES CAN MUTATE
  Coronaviruses are typically spread like other respiratory infections such as flu, travelling in airborne droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
  Yet since NCoV was identified in September, evidence of person-to-person transmission has been limited.
  Watson said the fact it probably had taken place in the latest two cases in Britain gave no reason for increased alarm.
  "If novel coronavirus were more infectious, we would have expected to have seen a larger number of cases than we have seen since the first case was reported three months ago.
  Tom Wilkinson, a senior lecturer in respiratory medicine at Britain's University of Southampton, said that if NCoV turned out to be like the previous SARS outbreak, it may prove quite slow to spread from one human to another.
  "But it's early days to make any definite statements because viruses can change and mutate very rapidly, so what is right today may be wrong tomorrow," he told Reuters.
  Based on the current situation, the WHO said all member states should continue surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections and investigate any unusual patterns.
  "Testing for the new coronavirus should be considered in patients with unexplained pneumonias, or in patients with unexplained severe, progressive or complicated respiratory illness not responding to treatment," it said in a statement.
  The WHO said on Monday that the confirmation of a new British case did not alter its risk assessment but "does indicate that the virus is persistent".
  The British patient confirmed on Monday had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and is in intensive care in a separate British hospital, the HPA said.
  Among the 11 laboratory confirmed cases to date, five are in Saudi Arabia, with three deaths; two are in Jordan, where both patients died; three are in Britain, where all three are receiving treatment; and one was in Germany in a patient from Qatar who had since been discharged from medical care.
  The WHO said at this stage there is no need for travel or trade restrictions, or for special screening at border points.
  (Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Michael Roddy)
U.S. Interests and the International Response
  Link to Article
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:51
  Thank you very much Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, and Members of the Committee for the chance to testify before you on this important topic. The evolving crisis in Mali is one of the most difficult, complex, and urgent problems West Africa has faced in decades. Mali's problems reflect the fragility of governance in the region, the lack of economic development '' especially in northern Mali '' the absence of meaningful opportunities for people to engage with their governments, and the widespread desperation that exists in an unforgiving, arid region with chronic food insecurity. The March 2012 coup and subsequent loss of northern Mali to Islamic extremists demonstrates all too clearly how quickly terrorists prey upon fragile states. Poor governance, weak democratic institutions, and a lack of development and economic opportunity create fertile ground for terrorism and instability.As the Malian Government, regional partners, and the international community continue to respond vigorously to the ongoing crisis in Mali, we must be mindful of the four underlying challenges Mali continues to face: al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb's (AQIM) continued presence in northern Mali, the restoration of democracy, the need to begin negotiations with northern groups that renounce terrorism and recognize the unity of the Malian state, and a significant ongoing humanitarian crisis. Failure to address these challenges '' comprehensively and simultaneously '' risks perpetuating the cycle of violence and insecurity that has plagued northern Mali for decades and threatened stability across the Sahel.
  1. Threats from Terrorists in Mali and Beyond
  The presence of extremists in northern Mali poses a threat to the entire Sahel region '' and beyond. While the security situation in northern Mali has changed over the last month due to French intervention, we remain concerned about the continued presence of terrorist and extremist groups, including AQIM and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO). The French are disrupting and dislodging terrorist enclaves, and liberating northern towns and populations after more than a year of terrorist occupation. Neutralizing the full scope of the terrorist threat in Mali, however, is a long-term effort.
  We also must remember that terrorism is a threat that knows no boundaries. We are partnering with countries throughout the region to support their efforts to strengthen border security and their capacity to respond to threats. Our regional counterterrorism support is coordinated through the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP). The primary goal of this program is to address the threat of AQIM. As AQIM has expanded its reach through the flow of arms, supplies, and fighters from North Africa into the region, our assistance and support through the partnership continues to evolve to meet the changing threat.
  We continue to work with regional and international partners to deny terrorists safe haven wherever they attempt to operate. And while a security response is critical, we must not forget the underlying causes that drive regional instability and create opportunities for violence to thrive. Terrorists and extremist groups exploited the political chaos created by the northern rebellion in Mali and the coup to expand their safe haven and impose their radical ideology on populations who have long considered such ideology abhorrent. Weak or nonexistent governance and a lack of development throughout the region make many countries vulnerable to such exploitation. We must therefore work collectively with the countries in the region to not only mount a strong and coordinated security response, but we must also reduce the underlying vulnerabilities to extremism by strengthening good governance and promoting economic development.
  We commend and strongly support the ongoing French and African military operation in northern Mali. On December 20, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted Resolution 2085, co-sponsored by the United States, which recognized Mali's overlapping challenges; underscored the international community's support for restoring peace, security, stability, and territorial integrity to Mali; and authorized the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA). On January 10, extremist groups, including AQIM and Ansar al Dine, mounted a surprise attack into government-held territory and captured the village of Konna north of Mopti in central Mali. Responding to a request by the Malian Government, France launched Operation Serval to prevent AQIM from moving further south. From the very beginning and at the request of the Malian Government, we worked closely with the French to support their efforts and those of our African partners. We continue to support their efforts by sharing information, providing airlift support for personnel and equipment, and aerial refueling. My colleague Amanda Dory will go into more detail on Department of Defense support. We continue to coordinate closely at the highest levels with the French on a wide range of military and political efforts to promote long-term stability in Mali.
  Following the start of French operations on January 11, AFISMA began expediting the deployment of African troops to Bamako. Troops from Nigeria, Niger, Benin, Togo, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Chad are already in Mali. Subject to Congressional notification, the Department of State intends to provide up to $96 million during Fiscal Year 2013 to support AFISMA. As part of this assistance effort, we provided strategic airlift for the deployment of the Togolese contingent to Mali and are providing logistics support for AFISMA troops deployed in Mali. We have sent teams from our Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance (ACOTA) program to those ECOWAS states that have pledged troops to AFISMA to identify gaps in training and equipment and to accelerate training and equipping of deploying troops.
  We welcome the continued progress of French and African operations in Mali. And we agree that the challenge now is to stabilize northern Mali and protect civilians and human rights while maintaining pressure on terrorist groups and advancing the political track. We believe a transition to a UN-authorized and UN-led effort '' which brings to bear all the UN comparative advantages of an integrated mission '' would be suitable under the right conditions to solidify French gains on the ground. Such a transition will take time, as French and AFISMA operations on the ground continue, and as the UN plans, in consultation with Malian and African partners, for an integrated UN mission in Mali. But the goals of any UN mission would include helping to stabilize those parts of Mali where the French have successfully pushed out extremist and terrorist elements, supporting the Malian political transitional government in its efforts to implement a comprehensive political roadmap and build effective governing institutions, monitoring and reporting on human rights, and supporting regional and international efforts to address the humanitarian crisis.
  It is critical that the Malian Defense and Security Forces be adequately trained and equipped to effectively partner with the international force. Consistent with applicable legal restrictions, we terminated our foreign assistance programs with the Government of Mali following the March 2012 military coup, including foreign assistance activities with the Government of Mali; with a few limited exceptions in election support, humanitarian work, and life-saving health programming, our full assistance programming with the government cannot resume until a democratically elected government is in place. The European Union (EU) is leading efforts to reform and rebuild the Malian military through an EU Training Mission which has already begun deploying to Mali. Many other countries have stepped up to provide support. During a January 30 donors' conference attended by over 90 countries and international organizations, and organized by the African Union in Addis Ababa, countries pledged over $455.5 million in support for Mali, AFISMA, and regional development.
  2. Restoring Democratically Elected Government
  The gains achieved by French and African forces on the battlefield in northern Mali will be short-lived if not accompanied by elections, strengthened institutions, and national reconciliation to restore Mali's tradition of democratic governance. Democratic elections will give the Malian Government the credibility it needs to effectively partner with regional militaries, negotiate with northern populations, and reassert civilian rule. We welcomed the Malian National Assembly's January 29 unanimous approval of a political road map to restore democracy and promote national reconciliation. We also welcome interim Malian President Dioncounda Traore's commitment to implement this roadmap and hold presidential elections by July 31, 2013. The road map is a critical first step towards legitimate and inclusive governance; an absolute necessity for any durable solution. We urge the interim Malian Government to implement the plan seriously and expeditiously.
  The road map provides a framework to quickly move the political process forward, and clearly states that members of the current transitional government are not eligible to run for office, as called for by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). While the road map reflects an important commitment by many of Mali's political actors to hasten the return to constitutional rule, we call on the Malian authorities to provide greater detail and clarity on the sequence of steps necessary to prepare for credible, free, transparent, and inclusive elections. We also urge the Malian Government to move ahead in developing the necessary legislation called for in the road map, including amendments to the electoral law.
  Elections must be conducted free from intimidation and interference by military and security forces. We continue to unequivocally state that coup leader Captain Sanogo and the rest of the military junta members must remove themselves - completely and permanently - from Malian politics. We have imposed targeted travel sanctions on 87 individuals who were involved in the coup, who supported its authors, or who continue to impede the restoration of democracy. Any continued interference in Mali's progress towards the restoration of democracy is unacceptable and risks the imposition of further sanctions from the United States, partner counties, and international organizations.
  We have strongly condemned all human rights abuses in Mali by any group and call for the perpetrators to be held accountable. We support the statements from Malian officials and civil society leaders that that there will be no impunity for human rights abuses. All actors '' military, rebel, and otherwise '' in Mali have an obligation to adhere to applicable international law and respect human rights. We support the African Union's commitment to send human rights monitors to Mali and welcome the Swiss Government's pledge of $1 million to support the team's deployment. Ensuring the protection of its own citizens must be the foundation of any credible and legitimate government.
  3. Negotiations with the North
  We condemn those in northern Mali who continue to align themselves with terrorists. There can be no dialogue with those who support terrorism. We also recognize that the indigenous populations of northern Mali, who have a history of resisting foreign Islamic extremists and have welcomed the arrival of French forces, have legitimate political, social, and economic grievances. The Tuareg rebellion that started in northern Mali in January 2012 is part of a longstanding cycle of rebellion and failed attempts to address these grievances. Stopping northern Mali's cycle of instability will require a serious and sustained effort by Malian authorities, non-extremist northern groups, regional actors, and international partners to address the legitimate political and economic grievances of non-extremist northern groups from Timbuktu to Gao to Kidal. We applaud the political roadmap's support for long-term negotiations and its openness to dialogue with those groups that renounce armed struggle, adhere to the principles of democracy and the rule of law, and accept without condition Mali's territorial integrity. We call on Malian authorities to follow through on this commitment to address the political and economic needs of northern populations that reject terrorism and accept Mali's territorial integrity.
  We strongly support the resumption of negotiations with all parties who have cut ties to terrorist organizations, have renounced violence, and who recognize, without conditions, the unity and territorial integrity of the Malian state. We are encouraging the Malian Government to quickly establish the Commission for Negotiations, as called for in the roadmap. We commend Burkinabe President Compaore, the ECOWAS-appointed mediator, for his leadership in the negotiation process and support his continued efforts in this regard. We are also working closely with neighboring countries and the international community to lend support to the negotiating process. Any successful process must address the short-term need to restore Mali's territorial integrity, while at the same time laying the foundation for the long term, open dialogue needed to address legitimate grievances, and build trust between the northern populations and their government.
  4. Humanitarian Crisis
  Mali and the rest of the Sahel region have long suffered from chronic food insecurity. The conflict in Mali exacerbated an already difficult humanitarian situation caused by drought and poor harvests followed by flooding. Since the start of the fighting in Mali, more than 400,000 people have become refugees or internally displaced. This includes over 240,000 people displaced within Mali and nearly 170,000 refugees in Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Algeria. These numbers also include the more than 22,000 new refugees who have fled Mali and the more than 14,000 newly displaced persons within Mali since the extremist offensive and French counter operations began last month. We commend the neighboring countries that have welcomed Malian refugees despite their own food security challenges.
  The United States continues to work to mitigate the effects of this humanitarian crisis. In fiscal year 2012 and to date in fiscal year 2013, the United States provided more than $120 million in humanitarian assistance to address the emergency in Mali. This is part of the more than $467 million in humanitarian assistance we have provided to the Sahel region in fiscal years 2012 and 2013. The humanitarian situation is and will likely remain very fluid, requiring strategies and programs to adapt in order to meet changing conditions on the ground.
  We continue to call on the international community to support a comprehensive humanitarian response, including assistance for the displaced and conflict-affected in Mali and in the broader region. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently issued its 2013 consolidated appeal, seeking more than $370 million to assist 4.3 million vulnerable Malians countrywide. We are also urging the international community to respond comprehensively and adequately to the humanitarian needs across the whole Sahel region.
  In closing, we must remember that any military success will be fleeting without a democratic and credible government that is responsive to the needs of all Malians. We will continue to urge the interim Malian Government to implement the political road map seriously and expeditiously. We are asking our partners to urge the same. Any military gains will be eroded if political instability and uncertainty return. The French and African intervention has created a valuable opportunity that must not be missed. We will work to ensure that military success can be translated into long-term stability by encouraging expedited elections, marginalizing the military junta, holding perpetrators accountable for human rights abuses, and supporting a national reconciliation process that addresses the longstanding and legitimate grievances of northern populations. By continuing to address Mali's multiple challenges simultaneously and comprehensively, we aim to break the cycle of conflict in favor of a just, lasting, and prosperous peace.
Remarks With EU High Representative Catherine Ashton Before Their Meeting
  Link to Article
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:48
  SECRETARY KERRY: Well, good afternoon, everybody. I am very, very happy to welcome my friend, Lady Catherine Ashton, here. We are the veterans of some wonderful dinners and meetings together. I think we have had a meeting of the minds on many occasion in the past, so I'm very happy to have you come back here.First of all, let me just begin by saying to everybody that a lot has been written in the last year or so about America's increased efforts in Asia Pacific. And I want to emphasize with Cathy, who we've talked about this previously, that the rebalancing that President Obama is engaged in does not and will not come at the expense of any relationship in Europe whatsoever. In fact, we want more engagement with Europe, and we think Europe can be more of a partner in those efforts, which is one of the reasons that President Obama is so firmly committed, as he said in the State of the Union message, to a trade and investment partnership initiative with Europe.
  And I think Europe is, I hope, excited by it. I think there are huge possibilities. Both of our economies can benefit by this engagement. There's an enormous amount of benefit for our citizens throughout Europe and here in the United States. We can create jobs. We will have greater market clout as a consequence of that. And I think this is something we can get through. We all know the difficulties, but I think this moment is one that we could really get through. And we're going to talk about that in a little bit.
  We're very, very grateful to Cathy Ashton and her leadership and the EU for their efforts on the humanitarian side with respect to Syria. And we will continue to work together to try to end the violence and respond to the humanitarian crisis.
  We also have as good a partnership as I think anyone's ever had across the Atlantic with respect to Iran. The P-5+1 initiative, which Cathy Ashton is leading, is a critical effort to avoid confrontation and to provide for a peaceful resolution to the challenge of the Iranian nuclear program. And I've talked before with her about that. We'll continue that discussion today. We hope that the talks in Almaty in a few days can show some further progress, perhaps open some additional opportunities. So I wish her well in that.
  And I want to just congratulate her on a superb effort personally. I think she's visited the prime players in the Balkans in the Serbia-Kosovo continued challenges, and she's really working diligently to be able to try to bring parties together and get a final resolution to that. So I wish her well in that.
  And I can't tell you how terrific it is to welcome you here. We see each other everywhere else, and now I finally get to say hi here. So we'd like to hear your thoughts.
  HIGH REPRESENTATIVE ASHTON: Well, thank you. There's nowhere better on Valentine's Day to be '' (laughter) '' than in Washington, D.C. to celebrate this great partnership. And as I've said to you before, we want to be your most reliable partner.
  Europe and the United States share many things. We share the same values; we share the same aspirations for our people, economic and political. And the opportunity of being able to deepen those economic ties is very exciting. It's very exciting across the 27 countries of the European Union. I think it's very exciting here, too.
  I was the trade commissioner. I joke about that I did beef economics with my dear friend Ron Kirk. It was tough, but with political will and the good support of industry, we can achieve an enormous amount. And I think we can do this and do it in good time. And you and I will have a role to play in that in terms of the political strengths we can bring to this. But I do think this is something that will add great value to our relationship, and as importantly to support our economies and to support our people with jobs.
  And on a political front, well, it's not a surprise for me that I wanted to come here to talk to you, because next week I host the most important part of the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue, where the Prime Minister will come for two days. The United States is an incredibly valuable partner in that effort.
  And then from there, I will go to Almaty to lead the discussions with Iran. I always look for success in those and I will do my best on behalf of the P-5+1, or E-3+3 as we call it '' it's still six, whichever way you do it. But it's important that we continue to try and make our efforts successful in that regard.
  And then so much else in our neighborhood particularly where we need to continue to support the people of Syria and the countries around, who are now dealing with refugees coming across the border and worry about the future. I'm thinking too that when this violence ends, we will need to help rebuild.
  And of course for us too, when we think about the Middle East peace process, (inaudible) undoubtedly you and I will be in discussion.
  But most importantly to say congratulations to you, Secretary Kerry. It's great to see you here, and I'm so looking forward to working with you.
  SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you, Cathy. I neglected to mention and I do want to mention the Quartet component of the peace process is important, and we're going to talk about sort of how we move forward from here in the Middle East peace process. So we have a lot to talk about. We've got to get to it.
Chris Dorner's Ex-Girlfriend Has Nothing Nice To Say About Him
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  Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:47
Really! Another flu epidemic? What's next? I know. Allow the TSA to vaccinate you as you get off the ...
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  Source: 101292674006572799842 - Google+ Posts
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:37
  "....giving pharmacists the right to immunize infants and children in hopes of curbing the spread of the potentially lethal virus"A nice example of Big Pharma and the media scaring the public in action. Keywords 'the right' and ' potentially'. Of course to sell useless, but dangerous vaccines (read all the stories of horrible side effects of vaccines and why healthcare workers are trying to refuse the mandatory vaccimes).
  The word 'epidemic' has been redefined by the WHO also, now automatically turning every little flu outbreak into something with 'epidemic.proportions'. Mostly spread by the media. The WHO represents Big Pharma. Nothing independent there with your health in mind.
  Flu is nothing new. It's been around for centuries already. Usually takes a little over a week to get over it for a healthy person. Some with really low resistance die from it. Vaccines do not prevent that. They only totally mess up healthy people.>>
To enhance homeland security, including domestic preparedness and collective response to terrorism, by improving the Federal Protective Service, and for other purposes. (H.R. 735)
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  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:36
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To amend title 10, United States Code, to extend whistleblower protections to a member of the Armed Forces who alerts Department of Defense investigation or law enforcement organizations, a person or organization in the member's chain of command, and ce
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  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:34
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A bill to reform the Federal sugar program, and for other purposes. (S. 345)
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  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:28
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  No summary available.
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  No summary available.
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A bill to amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marihuana, and for other purposes. (S. 359)
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  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:26
  GovTrack's Bill SummaryWe don't have a summary available yet.
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  No summary available.
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  No summary available.
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Frank Ocean Can Fly
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  Source: LIVE@LEEDS
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:22
  Jeff Himmelman NY Times 02/07/13
  Frank Ocean did not want to ride in my rented Ford Fusion; that much was clear. After I parked the car, he met me outside his modernist apartment building in Los Angeles and led me to the garage where he rents three parking spots for three different BMWs. He was dressed casually '-- gray hoodie, jeans, high-top Vans with red laces, baseball cap '-- and he jumped lightly from the curb to the parking blocks as we walked toward his late-model blue BMW M3. Ocean no longer had driving privileges as a result of some recent violations, on top of which he was cited for marijuana possession a few weeks earlier. ''You can drive,'' he said, though I could tell that it was killing him.
  At our first official interview earlier in the day, Ocean spent the first five minutes staring down at his phone. He didn't so much as look up at me, as I made small talk with his managers and awaited his attention. Eventually he said, ''Here's what I think about music and journalism: The most important thing is to just press play.'' He followed that with, ''All in all, I just don't trust journalists '-- and I don't think it's a good practice for me to trust journalists.'' But he did promise to let me do my job, so there we were. I managed to get the car in gear and out of the garage, but as we pulled onto Vine, I took a dip too quickly. There was an ominous crunch as the front end scraped on the roadway, and Ocean winced. In my mind I booked the next red-eye home. But the formality and distance that characterized our lunch that day had given way to a softer, more relaxed mood. ''Don't worry about it, bro,'' Ocean said with a smile, and we were off.
  Maybe he didn't mind because we were headed somewhere that he was actually excited to go, a garage in North Hollywood, where a vintage 1990 BMW E30 sedan is being rebuilt to his exact specifications. He likes to show up unannounced, just to see if they're working on his car, and as soon as we got there, Ocean jumped out and headed to the back of the shop. The car was indeed up on a lift, and as he circled it, he began to tick off things that he didn't like. He's 25, but he speaks like somebody who expects to be listened to. His managers, Christian and Kelly Clancy, told me the night before '-- by way of explaining that anything could happen, or not, interview-wise '-- that Frank Ocean makes the decisions where Frank Ocean is concerned. They help him steer, but he goes only if he wants to.
  He pointed to the shiny metallic exhaust tips that were about to be welded at the back of the car and said: ''No. Black. I don't want it shiny.'' Perfectly courteous, but firm. A technician removed the tips. When he made it around to the front of the car, he noticed a piece of black metalwork with an insignia on it. ''What's up with the language?'' he asked. ''Do we need the language on it?'' The owner of the garage said he could get Ocean a plain black one, but he didn't think it was necessary because once the engine was complete you'd never see it. ''It doesn't matter if you can see it,'' Ocean said.
  This was clearly the same man who produced ''Channel Orange,'' one of the most meticulously constructed records of 2012. ''I have no delusions about my likability, in every scenario,'' he told me earlier. ''I know that in order to get things done the way you want them, oftentimes your position will be unpopular.'' The BMW that he is rebuilding will have the steering wheel on the right-hand side, because he wants it that way, and the engine and body of the car will be as quiet and as light as possible. ''You won't even hear me,'' he said, looking into the glow of the garage. ''I want it to be a sleeper. I'll pull up next to you, and you won't even know I'm there'' '-- a smile came on his face '-- ''and then as soon as the light turns, I'm gone.''
  Before ''Channel Orange'' was released in July, Ocean was something of a sleeper in the hip-hop and R.&B. worlds. Some people had heard the free mixtape, ''Nostalgia, Ultra,'' that he released online in 2011, or they knew of him through his affiliation with Odd Future, a loosely connected and somewhat anarchic group of rappers in Los Angeles that Ocean joined in 2010. Others had heard of him because he contributed vocal hooks to two tracks on ''Watch the Throne,'' the much-anticipated collaboration between Jay-Z and Kanye West that was one of the biggest-selling records of 2011. Ocean's is the first voice you hear on ''Watch the Throne'' '-- a platinum vote of confidence, given the artists whose names are on the cover.
  In the wee hours of July 4 last year, several days before the release of ''Channel Orange,'' Ocean took to his Tumblr site '-- his main point of contact with his fans '-- and released a document that appeared to be the acknowledgments section of the liner notes for the forthcoming record. ''4 summers ago, I met somebody,'' he wrote. ''I was 19 years old. He was too.'' The two-paragraph message was a product of a sensitive mind and a still-broken heart. ''By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless. There was no escaping, no negotiating with the feeling, no choice. It was my first love. It changed my life,'' he wrote. ''Imagine being thrown from a plane.''
  The media took the message to be an outright profession of homosexuality, though Ocean has been reluctant to label himself. In an interview with GQ magazine last December, he said, ''In black music, we've got so many leaps and bounds to make with acceptance and tolerance.'' Many of the biggest figures in hip-hop, like Russell Simmons (the founder of Def Jam) and Jay-Z, voiced their support. Others, like the rapper 50 Cent, were supportive but suspected that there was more to the admission than the unburdening of a secret. ''You can call it brave or you can call it marketing,'' he told MTV, ''because it was intentional. It wasn't an accident.''
  Whether Ocean intended the post in part as marketing or not, the media's fascination with his sexuality drove an enormous amount of interest in him and his record. On ''Late Night With Jimmy Fallon'' on July 9, Ocean performed a near-flawless rendition of ''Bad Religion,'' one of the most finely wrought songs on ''Channel Orange'' and one of the few that openly refers to love for another man. As the performance was shown on the East Coast, Def Jam released the album digitally through iTunes, a week in advance of the physical CD release. It sold 131,000 copies in its first week, enough to land at No. 2 on the Billboard charts.
  But as those 131,000 copies of ''Channel Orange'' (mine among them) made their way onto iPods and car stereos, as Ocean's music got a chance to speak for itself, the questions about his sexuality turned sideshow. Some records, rare records, become a part of your life. They arrive at just the right moment and take over for a while, mapping familiar terrain in unexpected ways. For a lot of people, people with very different backgrounds and preferences, ''Channel Orange'' was this kind of record. Music magazines like SPIN and Paste named ''Channel Orange'' the album of the year, while Rolling Stone put it at No. 2. ''Saturday Night Live'' invited Ocean to be the musical guest for its season opener in September. He has been compared to Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Prince, J. D. Salinger and Joan Didion, among many others. And this weekend, at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, Ocean is up for six different prizes, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Album of the Year.
  Like Ocean in person, the album is challenging. It demands to be taken on its own terms, and in places it puts you to work. For a first-time listener, things don't fall into a ''put this on at your party'' rhythm until the fifth track, ''Sweet Life,'' and even then Ocean makes you stop immediately afterward for one of the album's many nonmusical interludes. But once you've taken the entire album in, its internal logic '-- the interludes, the snippets of found audio, the song order, the sudden toggles between bravado and vulnerability in Ocean's lyric style '-- begins to reveal itself. ''The best song wasn't the single,'' Ocean intones at the outset of ''Sweet Life,'' and by the second or third time around you find yourself singing along, convinced.
  Artists don't usually give satisfying answers to the question of how or why they do what they do, and maybe that's for the best. Sometimes songs mean more to us when we don't totally grasp the lyrics. Ocean is acutely aware of this. He knows that, as much as anything, he is selling an idea. ''That's why image is so important,'' he said. ''That's why you've got to practice brevity when you do interviews like this. I could try to make myself likable to you so you could write a piece that keeps my image in good standing, because I'm still selling this, or I could just say, 'My art speaks for itself.' '' He practices brevity in most things. He curates and updates his image on Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr deftly and consistently, but he never overshares. ''As a writer, as a creator, I'm giving you my experiences,'' he said in the GQ interview. ''But just take what I give you. You ain't got to pry beyond that.'' To me, he said, ''I don't know if it's a shield or whatever, but I want to deflect as much as I can onto my work.''
  He has had what he calls ''a creeping sense of mortality'' since he was little. His father split without explanation when he was 6, and Ocean would say nothing about that to me other than that his dad was a failed musician who ''went crazy'' and made questionable hairstyle choices. In ''There Will Be Tears,'' one of the most autobiographical tracks from ''Nostalgia, Ultra,'' Ocean sings about having to hide his face because he doesn't want his friends to see him crying over his father. A few weeks before my visit, Ocean tweeted, then rapidly deleted, a message about his father's suing him for $1 million. When I brought it up, he said only, ''Yeah, we can move past that.''
  He moved with his mother from Long Beach, Calif., to New Orleans, where he lived until he was almost 18. His mother's father, Lionel, became his de facto father for a while, and also the reason that the young Christopher Breaux '-- Ocean's name before he changed it in 2010 '-- was known as Lonny. (His managers and friends still call him that.) Most of the pleasures that he recalls from his childhood were solitary: climbing onto neighboring rooftops, listening to music with his headphones on, reading. He didn't stick with team sports because, as he put it, ''I didn't enjoy things I couldn't envision myself being the best at.''
  But there was also a deeper kind of solitude, and a deeper kind of doubt. He told me a long story about realizing suddenly, one day, that he and his mother and everybody they knew were going to die. ''I said: 'I'm going to die. You're going to die, Mom.' And she said, 'I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.' That's what you say, I guess. I guess. But I just remember sitting there, trying to imagine nothing. Nothingness and forgetting and all of those things I feared. And that can't not affect you and your belief system a little bit.''
  His grandmother was Pentecostal Evangelical, and his mother and her siblings were teased as kids for being ''holy rollers.'' ''I never sang or played in church,'' Ocean wrote in one of his first Tumblr posts. ''I remember being kind of intimidated by the idea of it actually. Church was the 'hood Juilliard to me. All the coldest musicians came out of there.'' Eventually he left his mother's church and struck out on his own, attending Catholic Mass for a while and then a small Lutheran school, though that was less about religion than discipline. ''I got kicked out of every school I went to,'' Ocean said. ''The last school that kicked me out had a folder of [expletive] that I had done. They sent the folder in a manila envelope to my house.''
  He was drawn toward music at first not because of any burning urge toward art or self-expression; it was about having a different set of opportunities. ''It was about the freedom and the mobility that having money would allow me,'' he said. Ocean stuck with academics long enough to graduate from John Ehret High School, then enrolled at the University of New Orleans to study English in the fall of 2005. But against his mother's wishes, he went deeper into making music, writing rudimentary songs on an old Triton keyboard. When Katrina hit in August 2005, Ocean transferred briefly to the University of Louisiana in Lafayette but then quickly decided to leave. When a friend in Los Angeles promised to give him a deal on some studio time, Ocean packed up his car and set out.
  ''This is our life,'' Chris Clancy said, with a mixture of pride and resignation. We were sitting in the dining room of the Clancy house in Miracle Mile, in Los Angeles, where two members of Odd Future had just shown up within minutes of each other. Each made obscene gestures at us from the front yard, then bounced into the house asking what was for dinner. Chris is an earnest, thoughtful guy, a 10-year veteran of Interscope records who worked with Eminem; Kelly, who co-manages Ocean with her husband, worked at Interscope for seven years and also serves as a kind of den mother. (Taco, one of the O.F. members who had shown up, was demanding that she cook him Japanese fried chicken.)
  ''Boys would come in and out, just like you're seeing,'' Kelly told me. In 2010, Ocean befriended Tyler Okonma, the outspoken ringleader of Odd Future known as Tyler, the Creator, and eventually Ocean started showing up at the Clancys along with the rest of the crew. The family vibe clearly appealed to him. ''Frank would come in,'' Kelly said, ''but he wouldn't say much. He was the quiet one. He wouldn't ever say he was coming by. He would just pop up randomly and then kind of just sit there.''
  When Ocean first came out to L.A. in 2006, his money ran out before he ever came close to getting his record done. To support himself, he worked as a ''sandwich artist'' at Subway, at Fatburger, Kinko's, AT&T, and as a claims processor at Allstate, among other jobs. Eventually he discovered that it was possible to make money writing songs for other people; he knew he could sing, so he connected with producers and musicians who submitted tracks for major-label artists. The producers made the sonic beds and Ocean helped write lyrics and melodies, contributing to songs that would eventually be recorded by artists like Justin Bieber (''Bigger''), Brandy (''1st and Love'') and John Legend (''Quickly'').
  Even then, he bristled at interference. ''I had a problem listening to anybody,'' he said. ''I had a problem listening to A.-and-R.'s telling me how a song was supposed to sound, or what this artist's vibe was.'' As his profile grew, he began to work with producers and beat makers who liked his writing style and would let him use their studios free. Toward the end of 2008, he was making enough money to devote himself to music full time. He moved out of his apartment at 28th and Crenshaw and into a nicer place in Beverly Hills. In time he caught the attention of Christopher (Tricky) Stewart, the producer behind such hits as Rihanna's ''Umbrella'' and Beyonc(C)'s ''Single Ladies.'' Stewart helped Ocean make a go of it as a solo artist and get signed to Def Jam at the end of 2009.
  The deal didn't work out the way Ocean hoped. ''I don't know where to begin,'' he said when I asked him what went wrong. ''I think ultimately the problem with it was that nobody was ready to act on anything, any of the language [of the contract], except the language to keep me in it.'' Def Jam never gave him a recording budget and basically left him on the shelf. After twisting for several months, Ocean decided to write and produce a record on his own. He solicited beats and backing tracks from friends, and he trolled the Internet for instrumentals to popular songs that he could repurpose with his own melodies and lyrics. (His piano skills at the time were pretty basic '-- today he takes piano and music-theory lessons every morning except Sundays '-- so he wasn't going to write a record by sitting down at the keyboard.)
  As Lonny Breaux, Ocean often relied on easy rhymes and formulaic song structures. Those are the kinds of songs that sell. There is a ''Lonny Breaux Collection'' available online, featuring some of the songs he wrote with and for others before ''Nostalgia.'' He was upset when these were leaked and claims that he didn't even write several of them, but as a group they provide a clear indication of the kind of work he was doing before he struck out on his own. On ''Nostalgia, Ultra,'' as Frank Ocean, he could write for himself. The second song on the mixtape '-- a track called ''Novacane'' '-- was his announcement that he was going to be a different kind of songwriter. The song begins with a loose and sinister-sounding syncopated drum loop, and then Ocean's voice enters with a condemnation of most popular music that doubles as a metaphor for how little he finds himself able to feel about the world around him: ''I think I started something/I got what I wanted/Didn't I?/Can't feel nothin', superhuman/Even when I'm [having sex], Viagra popping/Every single record auto-tuning/Zero emotion, muted emotion/Pitch-corrected, computed emotion. . . .''
  (Much of what you hear on the radio today is auto-tuned, meaning ''pitch-corrected,'' because many of the stars can't sing. Auto-tuning in limited doses can slip by unnoticed, but the more you use it, the less human the vocal sounds.)
  The rest of the track outlines a relationship that Ocean '-- or the character he has assumed for narrative purposes '-- has with a woman he meets at the rock festival Coachella. They smoke grass together, have sex and then part. After, Ocean drifts through a series of other sexual couplings but can't recreate the feeling he had with this one woman. The disinhibition he experiences initially allows him to escape his life for a while, but later he finds himself numb in a way that he can't convert into anything other than listlessness and apathy. He wants her back so he can feel the kind of nothing that he felt with her. The concept of numbness shifts within the song, and throughout you sense an intelligence operating, a complex story unfolding in deceptively simple terms. Unpredictable internal rhyme, metaphor, double meaning, regret for love lost or never possessed in the first place: these are the hallmarks of what has since become Ocean's writing style.
  Two weeks after releasing ''Nostalgia,'' as buzz around the record was building '-- with people like Sean Puff Daddy/P. Diddy Combs calling the Clancys and asking, ''Who is this guy?'' '-- Ocean took to Twitter to get a few things off his chest: ''I woke up today feeling like all my followers should know that . . . my record label slept on me . . . i. did. this. not ISLAND DEF JAM. that's why you see no label logo on the artwork that I DID. guess its my fault for trusting my dumbass lawyer and signing my career over to a failing company. [expletive] Def Jam & any company that goes the length of signing a kid with dreams & talent w/no intention of following through . . . now back to my day. I want some oatmeal and toast.''
  Ten days later, Ocean would be in the studio with Beyonc(C), at her invitation, to collaborate on a track for her album ''4.''
  Barry Weiss, who had just taken over as the chairman and chief executive of Island/Def Jam, invited Ocean to a meeting at his office in New York in April 2011 in an effort to get to know him. (Some at Ocean's own label hadn't even realized, at first, that Frank Ocean and Lonny Breaux were one and the same.) ''He felt sort of unappreciated,'' Weiss told me, putting it mildly.
  As ''Nostalgia'' continued to gain attention, Ocean's team would call Weiss to demand more money for Ocean's follow-up record, ''Channel Orange.'' ''Frank was so bullish and so optimistic and so confident about the album that he was creating that he had his representatives call us up and say that he deserves a lot more money,'' Weiss says. ''I don't believe that I had actually heard anything at that point. But we did something atypical, that most labels I don't think would do. We stepped up. We wrote the check. Virtually album-unheard, sight-unseen, we believed so much in this guy that we actually wrote the check.'' Ocean has claimed in the past that he demanded $1 million. When I asked about that, Weiss said only, ''I plead the fifth.''
  A couple of weeks before ''Channel Orange'' was released, Ocean wrote a post on his Tumblr: ''Orange reminds me of the summer I first fell in love. Awww. . . . '' Less than a week later, in the post that revealed how important that first love had been for him, he wrote: ''I wanted to create worlds that were rosier than mine. I tried to channel overwhelming emotions.'' Channel. Orange.
  To write the songs for ''Channel Orange,'' Ocean turned to James Ryan Ho, a producer who goes by the name Malay. He would become Ocean's most creative partner in the making of the record. As Ocean remembers it, on their first day together, with Malay at the console and Ocean in the vocal booth, they came up with ''Super Rich Kids,'' one of the fan favorites from the record. Over the next two days, they wrote the 10-minute track ''Pyramids.''
  There was very little talking in the studio. This is a common refrain for people who work with Ocean. (Da'Jon, a young cousin from New Orleans who was living with Ocean when I visited, said that they sometimes go days without speaking to each other, and that he would occasionally ask Ocean if everything was O.K., just to be sure.) While Malay created the musical beds, Ocean would type on his laptop, humming melodies and trying out combinations. For mood they sometimes had an old movie playing in the background with no sound, and in later stages Ocean put up posters of Pink Floyd and Bruce Lee for inspiration. Ocean's tastes are eclectic, drawing on everything from Wes Anderson movies to Radiohead and Celine Dion. ''The next thing you know, Frank's like, 'Let me go in the booth,' '' Malay told me, ''and then he just lays it down. He's kind of like an M.C.,'' he went on, ''like a rapper. Rappers come in, and they just write lyrics and drop it down, and he's that same way, but obviously his lyrical concepts and melody concepts are ridiculous.''
  After a couple of months of on-and-off work with Malay, Ocean had skeleton versions of every song that would appear on ''Channel Orange,'' including the nonsong interludes that create so much of the record's ambient appeal. On a dry-erase board in his apartment, he wrote the names of the songs and the interludes with a red Sharpie and began playing around with their placement. ''Even though they were all sketches,'' Ocean says, ''there was so much comfort, because I heard in my head how it was going to sound. Now all I've got to do is finish it.'' Once he arrived at the final album order, with nine months of recording still ahead of him, the sequence never changed.
  In June 2011, Ocean tapped Om'Mas Keith, another producer in Los Angeles, to help him turn his sketches into major-label-release-ready album cuts. They decided to focus first on vocals '-- leads, harmonies '-- and then they went back into the studio to perfect the music. ''Crack Rock'' and ''Monks'' got live drum sounds. ''Sweet Life'' went from being a digital track created by Pharrell Williams to a live, full-throated jam. They made use of every technique they could think of: for the ominous strings on ''Bad Religion,'' they had only a few string players to work with. So the engineer, Jeff Ellis, arranged seating for a large string section in Studio 1 of EastWest Studios, the same room where Frank Sinatra recorded ''My Way,'' and then used a pair of old stereo ribbon microphones to capture the sound. The players sat in different seats each time they played along with the track, so that when they mixed all of the takes together at the end, it would sound as if they had filled the room with musicians.
  ''This is the Michael Jackson way of making records,'' Om'Mas told me. He called Ocean ''the shepherd'' of the whole process. ''I just credit Frank with being an extreme visionary, even in how he put the process together. It's a blueprint that people are going to try to follow. But if you don't have a vision, you can't follow it, because you won't get anywhere.''
  After the recording was complete, Ocean played ''Channel Orange'' for Rick Rubin, the legendary producer and founder of Def Jam. Rubin was impressed by the rawness and power of Ocean's vocals, and he urged him not to mess around with the recordings too much. He was also struck by Ocean's process for a song like ''Pilot Jones,'' for which Ocean wrote the melody to one backing track and then, with Malay's help, created a completely different backing track once the melody was complete. ''It's really interesting that he uses seed ideas or tools to write that really don't have anything to do with the song,'' Rubin told me. ''It's just a way for him to access himself, and then the song comes out, and then the track is built around what he writes.'' (Ocean said to me, of writing ''Pilot Jones,'' ''I was like, 'I gotta get this song out.' I always knew the track would have to change.'')
  The first time Jeff Ellis heard the full finished record was at a listening party that Def Jam held just before ''Channel Orange'' was released. ''In the studio, sometimes it seems like a really great album, but you can be deluding yourself,'' Ellis says. ''I didn't want to be that guy: 'It's a hit! It's a hit!' '' But as he sat in the room with Ocean, Ocean's mom and a bunch of reporters, radio people and label people, watching everybody slowly freaking out, he finally understood what Ocean had achieved. ''From the first day,'' Ellis says, ''Frank never talked about what his vision was. He just executed on it.''
  Ocean is probably right, as far as the music goes: you're better off just pressing play. That's the only way to experience the seediness and desperation that he is able to load onto a minute detail, like a floor-model television; it's also the only way to find yourself inexplicably screaming: ''Crack Rock! Crack Rock!'' along with Ocean, marveling at how slyly he has converted you by making the catchiest song on the record about the drug that hits fastest and is the hardest to shake. Vocally, he can do whatever he wants with his falsetto '-- woodwind, siren, everything in between '-- but mostly he just wants you to hear the songs, to locate without diversion the moments that refract the emotional content of the stories. ''Crack Rock'' is about drugs, to be sure, but when you hear that the addict's family won't let him hold an infant, you suddenly find yourself inside of the story, empathizing in ways you might never have expected to.
  Drugs are the record's dominant (and tragic) motif, but the true concern of ''Channel Orange'' is the inextricable mingling of love and loneliness, the attachment and disillusionment and euphoria and addiction and pain that result from losing yourself in something or someone else. As Ocean put it to me, ''We're talking about substances­, but we forget how intoxicating things that aren't tangible, things that aren't chemical substances, are. You forget about it. I'm saying, you know, love. Power. Money, which is power. Freedom. Honesty. Because that explicit truth I was talking about'' '-- a reference to his open letter on Tumblr '-- ''probably had the same effect [on me] as heroin does on some people.''
  The church-organ, deconstructed gospel confessional ''Bad Religion'' is the one undeniable masterpiece on the album. It is pure. In the song, Ocean is in a cab, talking to a driver who barely understands him. He wants to tell this man his secrets, to pour out his heart, in part because he knows the cabby won't understand. It's a metaphor for the record itself, for the act of making art, for how hard it is to tell anybody anything, for Ocean's life in all of those years when he was hiding. The second verse, to the end:
  Taxi driverI swear I've got three livesBalanced on my head like steak knivesI can't tell you the truth about my disguiseI can't trust no one. . . .If it brings me to my kneesIt's a bad religionUnrequited loveTo me it's nothing but aone-man cultAnd cyanide in myStyrofoam cupI could never make him love me.It's a bad religionTo be in love with someoneWho could never love youOnly bad religionCould have me feeling the way I do.
  Forget about the pronouns. Who can hear those lines the way Ocean sings them and not see themselves, at some point in their lives? And who, after the rare scream that Ocean allows himself on this track, knowing all that we know about him, can fail to know that it is real?
  It's a different world in the music business these days. Ocean has built so much power on his own, through his music and through his direct connection with his fans, that now he can afford to dig his heels in. When I asked Barry Weiss, the chairman of Def Jam, if they basically followed Ocean's lead at this point, he said: ''It's all case by case. We have our differences of opinion. It's like a marriage. You have ups, you have downs, but we give him a lot of autonomy because the guy's brilliant.'' In other words, he did not say ''no.'' When I asked Ocean if Def Jam asked him for another record, he said, ''Oh, they learned a long time ago they can't really tell me what to do,'' and then he laughed. At another point he said he wouldn't go into acting because studio heads can blackball you in Hollywood. ''I don't like the idea of there being somebody who could break me,'' he said. ''There's no head of a label right now who could break me.''
  ''Everyone knows the record industry is falling apart,'' Chris Clancy told me. ''Frank says: 'Let's be progressive. What can we do?' The record business is what you can't do. The metrics of success: Soundscan, BDS. . . . '' '-- BDS is a measure of radio plays and still something of a bible for record labels '-- ''If you're playing that game, you're in a world that's shrinking.'' Ocean thought enough of radio to release a 9-minute-53-second song as a single. And it's not just radio, or his label: he will be performing at the Grammys this weekend, but he was willing to do so only if they let him play the song he wanted to play. Otherwise, he would have been happy to sit in the audience.
  Ocean's way hasn't been entirely smooth. When he played the first weekend at Coachella in April, his first live show with a band, the sound was abysmal. At the biggest show of his life up to that point, he had to cut a song off halfway through. He said he fired the entire band and played the second weekend with a different lineup, to much better effect '-- but his live performance is still evolving. He's also had a couple of uncomfortable brushes with the law, and with another artist. A feud with the notoriously violent and thin-skinned singer Chris Brown began on Twitter in June 2011 and included a couple of Brown's associates following Ocean's car after he left a studio. They posted footage of their interaction '-- the cars side by side, threats being hollered through open windows '-- to Worldstar Hip-Hop, a Web site that does many things but mostly hosts videos of fights. Ocean made an oblique mention of that situation when we were together, but I thought it was over. Then last month, the feud boiled over again, with conflicting reports that agreed on one thing: There had been an altercation between Ocean and Brown and a few other people on the street in West Hollywood.
  These are the kinds of traps that lie in wait for Ocean, now that he has achieved this level of success. He springs from the hypermasculine world of hip-hop and R.&B., and yet even as his music defies those genre characterizations, he seems unable or unwilling to escape them. Maybe he feels he has to overcompensate in the bravado department, given what he has revealed of himself. I found Ocean to be at his most relaxed and natural when he was being humble, talking about cars and joking around about his piano skills.
  So what's next? Ocean told me he was headed to Shanghai after the Grammys with his equipment in tow, some new recordings already in hand, and plans to write ''in remote locations for the next two years.'' In previous interviews he mentioned also wanting to write a book. ''I've started writing the book,'' he told me. ''You can say that. It's fiction, and it's about brothers. That's all I'm going to say.''
  Whatever the book ends up being about, Ocean's music is full of suffering, and there are any number of artists who define themselves that way. ''I hope not to define myself by suffering,'' he told me. He repeated a few times that his Tumblr post had ''cured'' his depression, that he was finally over the relationship and that he was happy now.
  ''I don't worry about where [the inspiration] will come from,'' he said. ''I think even with that cured, there's still so much to pull from.'' He didn't think of the pain that he went through as a gift, he said. ''I know people like to say that. You know, 'It's a gift and a curse.' It's not a gift. I don't believe that. I believe it's just pain. The gift would be the gift whether I went through it or not. We'd just be having a different conversation.''
  In ''There Will Be Tears,'' Ocean sings, ''You can't miss what you ain't had/Well I can, and I'm sad.'' His music longs for things past and possible happiness lost, the kind of thing we all do when we look back and simultaneously romanticize the past and wish it had been different. Even the interludes on his records '-- the whirring cassette players and analog alarm clocks and recondite movie audio '-- are of an era that Ocean was mostly too young to have experienced directly, as are the old BMWs he rebuilds with such care. But he longs for these things just the same, and his creative triumph is that he has found his own musical and lyrical language to express that longing. Nostalgia, ultra.
  ''Art's everything we hope life would be, a lot of times,'' Ocean said to me as we sat outside the BMW repair shop in North Hollywood, speaking to each other in the dark. ''That's what I get from it. And that's what I've tried to do. In the storytelling and the sonics and everything. That's what I've tried to do, because I just think that's the purpose of art. Push, you know?''
  I told him I thought that he had succeeded in that.
  ''Thank you,'' he said.
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  Tags: Frank Ocean
  This entry was posted on February 15, 2013 at 11:57 am and is filed under Musicians. 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.
Crypto-Gram: February 15, 2013
  Link to Article
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:16
  by Bruce SchneierChief Security Technology Officer, BTschneier@schneier.comhttp://www.schneier.com
  A free monthly newsletter providing summaries, analyses, insights, and commentaries on security: computer and otherwise.
  For back issues, or to subscribe, visit <http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram.html>.
  You can read this issue on the web at <http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-1302.html>. These same essays and news items appear in the "Schneier on Security" blog at <http://www.schneier.com/blog>, along with a lively comment section. An RSS feed is available.
  In this issue:
  Power and the InternetAll disruptive technologies upset traditional power balances, and the Internet is no exception. The standard story is that it empowers the powerless, but that's only half the story. The Internet empowers everyone. Powerful institutions might be slow to make use of that new power, but since they are powerful, they can use it more effectively. Governments and corporations have woken up to the fact that not only can they use the Internet, they can control it for their interests. Unless we start deliberately debating the future we want to live in, and the role of information technology in enabling that world, we will end up with an Internet that benefits existing power structures and not society in general.
  We've all lived through the Internet's disruptive history. Entire industries, like travel agencies and video rental stores, disappeared. Traditional publishing -- books, newspapers, encyclopedias, music -- lost power, while Amazon and others gained. Advertising-based companies like Google and Facebook gained a lot of power. Microsoft lost power (as hard as that is to believe).
  The Internet changed political power as well. Some governments lost power as citizens organized online. Political movements became easier, helping to topple governments. The Obama campaign made revolutionary use of the Internet, both in 2008 and 2012.
  And the Internet changed social power, as we collected hundreds of "friends" on Facebook, tweeted our way to fame, and found communities for the most obscure hobbies and interests. And some crimes became easier: impersonation fraud became identity theft, copyright violation became file sharing, and accessing censored materials -- political, sexual, cultural -- became trivially easy.
  Now powerful interests are looking to deliberately steer this influence to their advantage. Some corporations are creating Internet environments that maximize their profitability: Facebook and Google, among many others. Some industries are lobbying for laws that make their particular business models more profitable: telecom carriers want to be able to discriminate between different types of Internet traffic, entertainment companies want to crack down on file sharing, advertisers want unfettered access to data about our habits and preferences.
  On the government side, more countries censor the Internet -- and do so more effectively -- than ever before. Police forces around the world are using Internet data for surveillance, with less judicial oversight and sometimes in advance of any crime. Militaries are fomenting a cyberwar arms race. Internet surveillance -- both governmental and commercial -- is on the rise, not just in totalitarian states but in Western democracies as well. Both companies and governments rely more on propaganda to create false impressions of public opinion.
  In 1996, cyber-libertarian John Perry Barlow issued his "Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace." He told governments: "You have no moral right to rule us, nor do you possess any methods of enforcement that we have true reason to fear." It was a utopian ideal, and many of us believed him. We believed that the Internet generation, those quick to embrace the social changes this new technology brought, would swiftly outmaneuver the more ponderous institutions of the previous era.
  Reality turned out to be much more complicated. What we forgot is that technology magnifies power in both directions. When the powerless found the Internet, suddenly they had power. But while the unorganized and nimble were the first to make use of the new technologies, eventually the powerful behemoths woke up to the potential -- and they have more power to magnify. And not only does the Internet change power balances, but the powerful can also change the Internet. Does anyone else remember how incompetent the FBI was at investigating Internet crimes in the early 1990s? Or how Internet users ran rings around China's censors and Middle Eastern secret police? Or how digital cash was going to make government currencies obsolete, and Internet organizing was going to make political parties obsolete? Now all that feels like ancient history.
  It's not all one-sided. The masses can occasionally organize around a specific issue -- SOPA/PIPA, the Arab Spring, and so on -- and can block some actions by the powerful. But it doesn't last. The unorganized go back to being unorganized, and powerful interests take back the reins.
  Debates over the future of the Internet are morally and politically complex. How do we balance personal privacy against what law enforcement needs to prevent copyright violations? Or child pornography? Is it acceptable to be judged by invisible computer algorithms when being served search results? When being served news articles? When being selected for additional scrutiny by airport security? Do we have a right to correct data about us? To delete it? Do we want computer systems that forget things after some number of years? These are complicated issues that require meaningful debate, international cooperation, and iterative solutions. Does anyone believe we're up to the task?
  We're not, and that's the worry. Because if we're not trying to understand how to shape the Internet so that its good effects outweigh the bad, powerful interests will do all the shaping. The Internet's design isn't fixed by natural laws. Its history is a fortuitous accident: an initial lack of commercial interests, governmental benign neglect, military requirements for survivability and resilience, and the natural inclination of computer engineers to build open systems that work simply and easily. This mix of forces that created yesterday's Internet will not be trusted to create tomorrow's. Battles over the future of the Internet are going on right now: in legislatures around the world, in international organizations like the International Telecommunications Union and the World Trade Organization, and in Internet standards bodies. The Internet is what we make it, and is constantly being recreated by organizations, companies, and countries with specific interests and agendas. Either we fight for a seat at the table, or the future of the Internet becomes something that is done to us.
  This essay appeared as a response to Edge's annual question, "What *Should* We Be Worried About?"http://edge.org/response-detail/23818http://www.edge.org/annual-question/q2013
  Who Does Skype Let Spy?Lately I've been thinking a lot about power and the Internet, and what I call the feudal model of IT security that is becoming more and more pervasive. Basically, between cloud services and locked-down end-user devices, we have less control and visibility over our security -- and have no point but to trust those in power to keep us safe.
  The effects of this model were in the news last week, when privacy activists pleaded with Skype to tell them who is spying on Skype calls.
  "Many of its users rely on Skype for secure communications -- whether they are activists operating in countries governed by authoritarian regimes, journalists communicating with sensitive sources, or users who wish to talk privately in confidence with business associates, family, or friends," the letter explains.
  Among the group's concerns is that although Skype was founded in Europe, its acquisition by a US-based company -- Microsoft -- may mean it is now subject to different eavesdropping and data-disclosure requirements than it was before.
  The group claims that both Microsoft and Skype have refused to answer questions about what kinds of user data the service retains, whether it discloses such data to governments, and whether Skype conversations can be intercepted.
  The letter calls upon Microsoft to publish a regular Transparency Report outlining what kind of data Skype collects, what third parties might be able to intercept or retain, and how Skype interprets its responsibilities under the laws that pertain to it. In addition it asks for quantitative data about when, why, and how Skype shares data with third parties, including governments.
  That's security in today's world. We have no choice but to trust Microsoft. Microsoft has reasons to be trustworthy, but they also have reasons to betray our trust in favor of other interests. And all we can do is ask them nicely to tell us first.
  http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/25/...http://www.skypeopenletter.com/
  Feudal security:http://www.schneier.com/essay-406.html
  Our New Regimes of TrustSociety runs on trust. Over the millennia, we've developed a variety of mechanisms to induce trustworthy behavior in society. These range from a sense of guilt when we cheat, to societal disapproval when we lie, to laws that arrest fraudsters, to door locks and burglar alarms that keep thieves out of our homes. They're complicated and interrelated, but they tend to keep society humming along.
  The information age is transforming our society. We're shifting from evolved social systems to deliberately created socio-technical systems. Instead of having conversations in offices, we use Facebook. Instead of meeting friends, we IM. We shop online. We let various companies and governments collect comprehensive dossiers on our movements, our friendships, and our interests. We let others censor what we see and read. I could go on for pages.
  None of this is news to anyone. But what's important, and much harder to predict, are the social changes resulting from these technological changes. With the rapid proliferation of computers -- both fixed and mobile -- computing devices and in-the-cloud processing, new ways of socialization have emerged. Facebook friends are fundamentally different than in-person friends. IM conversations are fundamentally different than voice conversations. Twitter has no pre-Internet analog. More social changes are coming. These social changes affect trust, and trust affects everything.
  This isn't just academic. There has always been a balance in society between the honest and the dishonest, and technology continually upsets that balance. Online banking results in new types of cyberfraud. Facebook posts become evidence in employment and legal disputes. Cell phone location tracking can be used to round up political dissidents. Random blogs and websites become trusted sources, abetting propaganda. Crime has changed: easier impersonation, action at a greater distance, automation, and so on. The more our nation's infrastructure relies on cyberspace, the more vulnerable we are to cyberattack.
  Think of this as a "security gap": the time lag between when the bad guys figure out how to exploit a new technology and when the good guys figure out how to restore society's balance.
  Critically, the security gap is larger when there's more technology, and especially in times of rapid technological change. More importantly, it's larger in times of rapid social change due to the increased use of technology. This is our world today. We don't know *how* the proliferation of networked, mobile devices will affect the systems we have in place to enable trust, but we do know it *will* affect them.
  Trust is as old as our species. It's something we do naturally, and informally. We don't trust doctors because we've vetted their credentials, but because they sound learned. We don't trust politicians because we've analyzed their positions, but because we generally agree with their political philosophy -- or the buzzwords they use. We trust many things because our friends trust them. It's the same with corporations, government organizations, strangers on the street: this thing that's critical to society's smooth functioning occurs largely through intuition and relationship. Unfortunately, these traditional and low-tech mechanisms are increasingly failing us. Understanding how trust is being, and will be, affected -- probably not by predicting, but rather by recognizing effects as quickly as possible -- and then deliberately creating mechanisms to induce trustworthiness and enable trust, is the only thing that will enable society to adapt.
  If there's anything I've learned in all my years working at the intersection of security and technology, it's that technology is rarely more than a small piece of the solution. People are always the issue and we need to think as broadly as possible about solutions. So while laws are important, they don't work in isolation. Much of our security comes from the informal mechanisms we've evolved over the millennia: systems of morals and reputation.
  There will exist new regimes of trust in the information age. They simply must evolve, or society will suffer unpredictably. We have already begun fleshing out such regimes, albeit in an ad hoc manner. It's time for us to deliberately think about how trust works in the information age, and use legal, social, and technological tools to enable this trust. We might get it right by accident, but it'll be a long and ugly iterative process getting there if we do.
  This essay was originally published in "The SciTech Lawyer," Winter/Spring 2013.
  NewsThere's a fascinating story about a probable tournament chess cheat. No one knows how he does it; there's only the facts that 1) historically he's not nearly as good as his recent record, and 2) his moves correlate almost perfectly with one of best computer chess programs. The general question is how valid statistical evidence is when there is no other corroborating evidence.http://rjlipton.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/...It reminds me of this story of a marathon runner who arguably has figured out how to cheat undetectably.http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/09/...
  Good essay on FBI-mandated back doors by Matt Blaze and Susan Landau.http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/01/wiretap-backdoors/
  This essay about obscurity is worth reading:http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/...
  Google is working on non-password authentication techniques.http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/01/...http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/...
  Ever since the launch of Kim Dotcom's file-sharing service, I have been asked about the unorthodox encryption and security system. I have not reviewed it, and don't have an opinion. All I know is what I read.http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/01/...http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/01/...http://fail0verflow.com/blog/2013/megafail.htmlhttp://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/01/23/...http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/view/30392/...http://www.informationweek.com/security/encryption/...https://spideroak.com/blog/...
  Identifying people from their DNA.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/18/health/...
  Identifying people from their writing style is called stylometry, and it's based on the analysis of things like word choice, sentence structure, syntax, and punctuation. In one experiment, researchers were able to identify 80% of users with a 5,000-word writing sample.http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/security-it/...https://psal.cs.drexel.edu/index.php/...
  Janesville, Wisconsin, has published information about repeated drunk driving offenders since 2010. The idea is that the public shame will reduce future incidents.http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/...
  Violence as a contagious disease.http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/01/...I am reminded of this paper on the effects of bystanders on escalating and de-escalating potentially violent situations.http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?...
  I have written about complexity and security for over a decade now. (For example, http://www.schneier.com/essay-018.html from 1999.) Here's the results of a survey that confirms this.http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/01/...Usual caveats for this sort of thing apply. The survey is only among 127 people -- I can't find data on what percentage replied. The numbers are skewed because only those that chose to reply were counted. And the results are based on self-reported replies: no way to verify them. But still.
  Backdoors built in to Barracuda Networks equipment:http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/01/...http://krebsonsecurity.com/2013/01/...http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/24/...Don't we know enough not to do this anymore?
  Dan Farmer has an interesting paper discussing the Baseboard Management Controller on server motherboards. Basically, it's a perfect spying platform. You can't control it. You can't patch it. It can completely control your computer's hardware and software. And its *purpose* is remote monitoring. At the very least, we need to be able to look into these devices and see what's running on them. I'm amazed we haven't seen any talk about this before now.http://fish2.com/ipmi/http://fish2.com/ipmi/itrain.html
  Pentagon staffs Up U.S. Cyber Command from 900 to 4900. This is a big deal: more stoking of cyber fears, another step toward the militarization of cyberspace, and another ratchet in the cyberwar arms race.http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...Stoking cyber fears:http://www.schneier.com/essay-404.htmlCyberwar arms race:http://www.schneier.com/essay-399.htmlGlenn Greenwald has a good essay on this.http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/28/...
  Using imagery to avoid censorship.http://allthingsd.com/20130122/...
  I don't see a lot written about security seals, despite how common they are. This article is a very basic overview of the technologies.http://jps.anl.gov/Volume6_iss1/Johnston.pdf
  I just printed this out: "Proactive Defense for Evolving Cyber Threats," a Sandia Report by Richard Colbaugh and Kristin Glass. It's a collection of academic papers, and it looks interesting.http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/proactive.pdf
  Clothing designed to thwart drones.http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2013/01/...
  Why is quantum computing so hard? Blog post (and two papers) by Ross Anderson and Robert Brady. Note that I do not have the physics to evaluate these claims.http://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2013/02/01/...http://arxiv.org/abs/1301.7351http://arxiv.org/abs/1301.7540http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/01/...
  Google's contest at the CanSecWest conference offers over $3M in prizes for Chrome hacks:http://blog.chromium.org/2013/01/...http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/29/...
  Basically, Tide detergent is a popular product with a very small profit margin. So small non-chain grocery and convenience stores are happy to buy it cheaply, no questions asked. This makes it easy to sell if you steal it. And drug dealers have started taking it as currency, large bottles being worth about $5.http://nymag.com/news/features/...Snopes rates this as undetermined:http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/tide.asp
  A first-person account of the security surrounding the second inauguration of President Obama. Read it more for the details than for the author's reaction to them.http://www.mvjantzen.com/blog/?p=3037
  This long report looks at risky online behavior among the Millennial generation, and finds that they respond positively to automatic reminders and prodding. No surprise, really.http://sites.duke.edu/ihss/files/2011/12/...
  Interesting article about the difficulty Google has pushing security updates onto Android phones. The problem is that the phone manufacturer is in charge, and there are a lot of different phone manufacturers of varying ability and interest.http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/...
  This is an extremely clever man-in-the-middle timing attack against TLS that exploits the interaction between how the protocol implements AES in CBC mode for encryption, and HMAC-SHA1 for authentication. (And this is a really good plain-language description of it.)http://www.isg.rhul.ac.uk/tls/TLStiming.pdfhttp://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/02/07/...
  There's not a lot of information -- and quite a lot of hyperbole -- in this article about a new al Qaeda encryption tool.http://www.hstoday.us/industry-news/general/...
  There's a real Prisoner's Dilemma going on in France right now. A pair of identical twins who are suspected in a crime. There is there is CCTV and DNA evidence that could implicate either suspect. Detailed DNA testing that could resolve the guilty twin is prohibitively expensive. So both have been arrested in the hope that one may confess or implicate the other.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21401200
  Long article on anti-cheating security in casinos:http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3857842/...
  Usability engineer Bruce Tognazzini talks about how an iWatch -- which seems to be either a mythical Apple product or one actually in development -- can make authentication easier.http://asktog.com/atc/apple-iwatch/
  Guessing smart-phone PINs by monitoring the accelerometer.http://www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~aviv/papers/...http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21203035
  This keynote speech by Jacob Appelbaum from last December's 29C3 (29th Chaos Communication Congress) is worth listening to. He talks about what we can do in the face of oppressive power on the Internet. I'm not sure his answers are right, but am glad to hear someone talking about the real problems.http://www.youtube.com/watch?...
  There has been an enormous amount written about the suicide of Aaron Swartz. This is primarily a collection of links, starting with those that use his death to talk about the broader issues at play.http://www.volokh.com/2013/01/14/aaron-swartz-charges/http://www.volokh.com/2013/01/16/...http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/40347463044/...http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2013/01/...http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2013/01/...http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/12/...http://crookedtimber.org/2013/01/12/...http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2013/01/...http://boingboing.net/2013/01/12/rip-aaron-swartz.htmlhttp://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/...http://blog.archive.org/2013/01/12/...https://public.resource.org/aaron/http://www.markbernstein.org/Jan13/AaronSwartz.htmlHere are obituaries.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/technology/...http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/...Here are articles and essays, mostly about the prosecutor's statement after the death and the problems with plea bargaining in general.http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/17/tech/aaron-swartz-death/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/...http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/40845525507/...http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130117/...http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57564807-93/...http://www.forbes.com/sites/timothylee/2013/01/17/...Representative Zoe Lofgren is introducing a bill to prevent this from happening again.http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/16njr9/...http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/01/...More links:http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?...http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/01/13/...http://blackagendareport.com/content/...
  TSA Removing Rapiscan Full-Body Scanners from U.S. AirportsThis is big news:
  The U.S. Transportation Security Administration will remove airport body scanners that privacy advocates likened to strip searches after OSI Systems Inc. (OSIS) couldn't write software to make passenger images less revealing.
  This doesn't mean the end of full-body scanning. There are two categories of these devices: backscatter X-ray and millimeter wave.
  The government said Friday it is abandoning its deployment of so-called backscatter technology machines produced by Rapiscan because the company could not meet deadlines to switch to generic imaging with so-called Automated Target Recognition software, the TSA said. Instead, the TSA will continue to use and deploy more millimeter wave technology scanners produced by L-3 Communications,which has adopted the generic-outline standard.
  [...]
  Rapiscan had a contract to produce 500 machines for the TSA at a cost of about $180,000 each. The company could be fined and barred from participating in government contracts, or employees could face prison terms if it is found to have defrauded the government. In all, the 250 Rapiscan machines already deployed are to be phased out of airports nationwide and will be replaced with machines produced by L-3 Communications.
  And there are still backscatter X-ray machines being deployed, but I don't think there are very many of them.
  TSA has contracted with L-3, Smiths Group Plc (SMIN) and American Science & Engineering Inc. (ASEI) for new body-image scanners, all of which must have privacy software. L-3 and Smiths used millimeter-wave technology. American Science uses backscatter.
  This is a big win for privacy. But, more importantly, it's a big win because the TSA is actually taking privacy seriously. Yes, Congress ordered them to do so. But they didn't defy Congress; they did it. The machines will be gone by June.
  http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-18/...http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/01/...http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-18/...http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/...
  Dangerous Security Theater: Scrambling Fighter JetsThis story exemplifies everything that's wrong with our see-something-say-something war on terror: a perfectly innocent person on an airplane, a random person identifying him as a terrorist threat, and a complete overreaction on the part of the authorities.
  Typical overreaction, but in this case -- as in several others over the past decade -- F-15 fighter jets were scrambled to escort the airplane to the ground. *Very* expensive, and potentially catastrophically fatal.
  This blog post makes the point well:
  What bothers me about this is not so much that they interrogated the wrong person -- that happens all the time, not that it's okay -- but rather the fighter jets. I think most people probably understand this, but just to make it totally clear, if they send up fighters that is not because they are bringing the first-class passengers some more of those little hot towels. It is so they can be ready to SHOOT YOU DOWN if necessary. Now, I realize the odds that would ever happen, even accidentally, are very tiny. I still question whether it's wise to put fighters next to a passenger plane at the drop of a hat, or in this case because of an anonymous tip about a sleeping passenger.
  [...]
  According to the Seattle Times report, though, interceptions like this are apparently much more common than I thought. Citing a NORAD spokesman, it says this has happened "thousands of times" since 9/11. In this press release NORAD says there have been "over fifteen hundred" since 9/11, most apparently involving planes that violated "temporary flight restriction" areas. Either way, while this is a small percentage of all flights, of course, it still seems like one hell of a lot of interceptions -- especially since in every single case, it has been unnecessary, and is (as NORAD admits) "at great expense to the taxpayer."
  http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2013/01/...
  Blog post:http://www.loweringthebar.net/2013/01/...
  Massive Police Shootout in Cleveland Despite Lack of CriminalsThis is an amazing story. I urge you to read the whole thing, but here's the basics:
  A November car chase ended in a "full blown-out" firefight, with glass and bullets flying, according to Cleveland police officers who described for investigators the chaotic scene at the end of the deadly 25-minute pursuit.
  But when the smoky haze -- caused by rapid fire of nearly 140 bullets in less than 30 seconds -- dissipated, it soon became clear that more than a dozen officers had been firing at one another across a middle school parking lot in East Cleveland.
  At the end of the scene, both unarmed -- and presumably innocent -- people in the car were dead.
  There's a lot that can be said here, but I don't feel qualified to say it. There's a whole body of research on decision making under stress -- police, firefighters, soldiers -- and how easy it is to get caught up in the heat of the moment. I have read one book on that subject, "Sources of Power," but that was years ago.
  What interests me right now is how this whole situation was colored by what "society" is talking about and afraid of, which became the preconceptions the officers brought to the event. School shootings are in the news, so as soon as the car drove into a school parking lot, the police assumed the worst. Firefights with dangerous criminals are what we see on TV, so that's not unexpected, either. When you read the story, it's clear how many of the elements that the officers believed -- police cars being rammed, for example -- are right out of television violence. This would have turned out very differently if the officers had assumed that, as is almost always true, the two people in the car were just two people in a car.
  I'm also curious as to how much technology contributed to this. Reports on the radio brought more and more officers to the scene, and misinformation was broadcast over the radio.
  Again, I'm not really qualified to write about any of this. But it's what I've been thinking about.
  http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2013/02/...
  "Sources of Power":http://www.amazon.com/dp/0262611465/counterpane/
  "New York Times" Hacked by ChinaThe "New York Times" hack was big news last week, and I spent a lot of time doing press interviews about it. But while it is an important story -- hacking a newspaper for confidential sources is fundamentally different from hacking a random network for financial gain -- it's not much different than GhostNet in 2009, Google's Chinese hacking stories from 2010 and 2011, or others.
  Why all the press, then? Turns out that if you hack a major newspaper, one of the side effects is a 2,400-word newspaper story about the event.
  It's a good story, and I recommend that people read it. The newspaper learned of the attack early on, and had a reporter embedded in the team as they spent months watching the hackers and clearing them out. So there's a lot more detail than you usually get. But otherwise, this seems like just another of the many cyberattacks from China. (It seems that the "Wall Street Journal" was also hacked, but they didn't write about it. This tells me that, with high probability, other high-profile news organizations around the world were hacked as well.)
  My favorite bit of the "New York Times" story is when they ding Symantec for not catching the attacks:
  Over the course of three months, attackers installed 45 pieces of custom malware. The Times -- which uses antivirus products made by Symantec -- found only one instance in which Symantec identified an attacker's software as malicious and quarantined it, according to Mandiant.
  Symantec, of course, had to respond:
  Turning on only the signature-based anti-virus components of endpoint solutions alone are not enough in a world that is changing daily from attacks and threats. We encourage customers to be very aggressive in deploying solutions that offer a combined approach to security. Anti-virus software alone is not enough.
  It's nice to have them on record as saying that.
  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/technology/...
  Other Chinese hackshttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/technology/29spy.htmlhttp://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/...http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/01/...http://arstechnica.com/security/2010/04/...http://www.schneier.com/essay-227.html
  Wall Street Journal hacked:http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/...
  Symanetec's responses:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/01/...http://blogs.csoonline.com/data-protection/2549/...
  Schneier NewsI'm speaking at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, Feb 26-28. I have a solo talk Tuesday at 1:00, and I'm on a panel Wednesday at 12:00. Akamai is giving away 1,500 copies of "Liars and Outliers," and I'll be doing three signings at their booth. Zscalar is giving away 300 copies of "Schneier on Security," and I'll be doing one signing at their booth. I'm also doing two book signings at the RSA bookstore -- for everyone else. Check at the conference for schedule.http://www.rsaconference.com/events/2013/usa/
  I'm also speaking at SEGURINFO Argentina 2013 in Buenos Aires on March 12th:http://www.segurinfo.org/home.php
  This interview was conducted last month, at an artificial intelligence conference at Oxford.http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/01/...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUyIMWnb1JQ
  I seem to be a physical security expert now.http://www.ifsecglobal.com/author.asp?...This seems so obviously written by someone who Googled me on the Internet, without any other knowledge of who I am or what I do.
  Jared Diamond on Common RisksJared Diamond has an op-ed in the "New York Times" where he talks about how we overestimate rare risks and underestimate common ones. Nothing new here -- I and others have written about this sort of thing extensively -- but he says that this is a bias found more in developed countries than in primitive cultures.
  I first became aware of the New Guineans' attitude toward risk on a trip into a forest when I proposed pitching our tents under a tall and beautiful tree. To my surprise, my New Guinea friends absolutely refused. They explained that the tree was dead and might fall on us.
  Yes, I had to agree, it was indeed dead. But I objected that it was so solid that it would be standing for many years. The New Guineans were unswayed, opting instead to sleep in the open without a tent.
  I thought that their fears were greatly exaggerated, verging on paranoia. In the following years, though, I came to realize that every night that I camped in a New Guinea forest, I heard a tree falling. And when I did a frequency/risk calculation, I understood their point of view.
  Consider: If you're a New Guinean living in the forest, and if you adopt the bad habit of sleeping under dead trees whose odds of falling on you that particular night are only 1 in 1,000, you'll be dead within a few years. In fact, my wife was nearly killed by a falling tree last year, and I've survived numerous nearly fatal situations in New Guinea.
  Diamond has a point. While it's universally true that humans exaggerate rare and spectacular risks and downplay mundane and common risks, we in developed countries do it more. The reason, I think, is how fears propagate. If someone in New Guinea gets eaten by a tiger -- do they even have tigers in New Guinea? -- then those who know the victim or hear about it learn to fear tiger attacks. If it happens in the U.S., it's the lead story on every news program, and the entire country fears tigers. Technology magnifies rare risks. Think of plane crashes versus car crashes. Think of school shooters versus home accidents. Think of 9/11 versus everything else.
  On the other side of the coin, we in the developed world have largely made the pedestrian risks invisible. Diamond makes the point that, for an older man, falling is a huge risk, and showering is especially dangerous. How many people do you know who have fallen in the shower and seriously hurt themselves? I can't think of anyone. We tend to compartmentalize our old, our poor, our different -- and their accidents don't make the news. Unless it's someone we know personally, we don't hear about it.
  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/29/science/...
  More writing on the topic:http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/11/...http://www.schneier.com/essay-401.htmlhttp://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/11/...http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/11/...http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/04/...http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/11/...http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2011/08/...
  Man-in-the-Middle Attacks Against Browser EncryptionLast week, a story broke about how Nokia mounts man-in-the-middle attacks against secure browser sessions. "The Finnish phone giant has since admitted that it decrypts secure data that passes through HTTPS connections -- including social networking accounts, online banking, email and other secure sessions -- in order to compress the data and speed up the loading of Web pages."
  The basic problem is that https sessions are opaque as they travel through the network. That's the point -- it's more secure -- but it also means that the network can't do anything about them. They can't be compressed, cached, or otherwise optimized. They can't be rendered remotely. They can't be inspected for security vulnerabilities. All the network can do is transmit the data back and forth.
  But in our cloud-centric world, it makes more and more sense to process web data in the cloud. Nokia isn't alone here. Opera's mobile browser performs all sorts of optimizations on web pages before they are sent over the air to your smart phone. Amazon does the same thing with browsing on the Kindle. MobileScope, a really good smart-phone security application, performs the same sort of man-in-the-middle attack against https sessions to detect and prevent data leakage. I think Umbrella does as well. Nokia's mistake was that they did it without telling anyone. With appropriate consent, it's perfectly reasonable for most people and organizations to give both performance and security companies that ability to decrypt and re-encrypt https sessions -- at least most of the time.
  This is an area where security concerns are butting up against other issues. Nokia's answer, which is basically "trust us, we're not looking at your data," is going to increasingly be the norm.
  http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/01/10/1356228/...http://gigaom.com/2013/01/10/...http://www.zdnet.com/...
  MobileScope:https://mobilescope.net/
  Umbrella:http://www.umbrella.com/
  "People, Process, and Technology"Back in 1999 when I formed Counterpane Internet Security, Inc., I popularized the notion that security was a combination of people, process, and technology. Back then, it was an important notion; security back then was largely technology-only, and I was trying to push the idea that people and process needed to be incorporated into an overall security system.
  This blog post argues that the IT security world has become so complicated that we need less in the way of people and process, and more technology:
  Such a landscape can no longer be policed by humans and procedures. Technology is needed to leverage security controls. The Golden Triangle of people, process and technology needs to be rebalanced in favour of automation. And I'm speaking as a pioneer and highly experienced expert in process and human factors.
  [...]
  Today I'd ditch the Triangle. It's become an argument against excessive focus on technology. Yet that's what we now need. There's nowhere near enough exploitation of technology in our security controls. We rely far too much on policy and people, neither of which are reliable, especially when dealing with fast- changing, large scale infrastructures.
  He's right. People and process work on human timescales, not computer timescales. They're important at the strategic level, and sometimes at the tactical level -- but the more we can capture and automate that, the better we're going to do.
  The problem is, though, that sometimes human intelligence is required to make sense of an attack, and to formulate an appropriate response. And as long as that's the case, there are going to be instances where an automated attack is going to have the advantage.
  Blog post:http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/david_lacey/...
  Counterpane Internet Security, Inc.:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
  Since 1998, CRYPTO-GRAM has been a free monthly newsletter providing summaries, analyses, insights, and commentaries on security: computer and otherwise. You can subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your address on the Web at <http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram.html>. Back issues are also available at that URL.
  Please feel free to forward CRYPTO-GRAM, in whole or in part, to colleagues and friends who will find it valuable. Permission is also granted to reprint CRYPTO-GRAM, as long as it is reprinted in its entirety.
  CRYPTO-GRAM is written by Bruce Schneier. Schneier is the author of the best sellers "Liars and Outliers," "Beyond Fear," "Secrets and Lies," and "Applied Cryptography," and an inventor of the Blowfish, Twofish, Threefish, Helix, Phelix, and Skein algorithms. He is the Chief Security Technology Officer of BT, and is on the Board of Directors of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). He is a frequent writer and lecturer on security topics. See <http://www.schneier.com>.
  Crypto-Gram is a personal newsletter. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of BT.
  Copyright (c) 2013 by Bruce Schneier.
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Russia Goes On High Alert After UFO Shoot-Down Injures Hundreds
  Link to Article
  Fri, 15 Feb 2013 13:43
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  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)
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  February 15, 2013
  RussiaGoes On High Alert After UFO Shoot-Down Injures Hundreds
  By:Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
  A grim report prepared by the Space Forces Command (VKS) circulating in the Kremlin today says that one of its air defense units operating in ''high alert'' status, and located at the Urzhumka settlement near Chelyabinsk, fired at and destroyed[photo 2nd left] an ''unidentified cosmic object'' at an altitude of 20 kilometers which then exploded causing widespread massive damage and injuring over 500 people.
  Chelyabinsk, one of the nation's most vital industrial centers, is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwest of the oblast, 210 kilometers (130 mi) south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River, on the border of Europe and Asia, with a population of 1.3 million.
  The air defence unit attacking this UFO, this VKS report says, used an S-400 'Triumph' system ordered to Russia's borders this past fall by President Putin.
  The S-400 Triumph is a next-generation anti-aircraft weapon system capable of firing three different missile types. The system was designed to intercept and destroy jamming planes, radar planes, reconnaissance aircraft, strategic carriers, cruise missiles and medium-range ballistic missiles.
  Russian military analysts report that the Triumph is capable of tracking more than 100 targets simultaneously at ranges of over 600 kilometers (370 miles), and destroying up to 12 targets at varying distances.
  The heightened alert status of the air defense unit that fired on the UFO, this report continues, was due to Prime Minister Medvedev's speaking at an economic forum held in the neighboring Krasnoyarsk region, and is always the case in such situations to protect Russian political and military leaders.
  Police in the Chelyabinsk region, RT news reports, were ordered on high alert after this UFO shoot-down and have begun 'Operation Fortress' in order to protect vital infrastructure and residents were being urged by authorities to pick up their children from school and remain at home if possible.
  As over 20,000 Russian military forces swarm the Chelyabinsk region, this VKS report says, regional Emergency Ministry officials were quoted as saying the phenomenon was a meteorite shower.
  Locals, however, have speculated that it was a military fighter jet crash or a missile explosion and residents of the town of Emanzhilinsk, some 50 kilometers from Chelyabinsk, reported that they saw a flying object that suddenly burst into flames, broke apart and fell to earth, and that a black cloud had been seen hanging above the town and witnesses in Chelyabinsk are now reporting that the city's air ''smells like gunpowder''.
  Most ominous to note in this VKS report is its stating that the ''unidentified cosmic object'' fired upon and destroyed over Chelyabinsk ''accelerated'' into our Earth's atmosphere from a track ''exactly similar'' to that of Asteroid 2012 DA14 which is scheduled to make its closest approach to our planet today and that will see this 130,000 metric ton space rock come within 27,700 kilometers of our planet '' which is around 1/13th the Earth-Moon distance.
  Even though this VKS report doesn't explicitly say that this ''unidentified cosmic object'' was operating under intelligent control, Russian space warfare analysts do note that its trajectory needs ''extreme analysis'' to fully explain its ''unprecedented actions and effects'', including the massive damage it caused, and as we can, in part, read:
  ''Buildings across Russia's Chelyabinsk Region were damaged by the shock waves and sonic booms'...a roof and wall partly collapsed at a zinc factory in Chelyabinsk Region after it was struck by the shock wave'...
  ''The roof did not collapse, but the damage is quite significant. The windows are broken, some of them were blown in with their frames,'' a university spokeswoman told RIA Novosti. Some ceiling tiles also fell down, she added. Windows were also broken in at least a dozen schools and three hospitals, the Emergencies Ministry reported. The roof of a Chelyabinsk ice rink has also been damaged.
  The Yuzhnouralskaya district power station had 10 percent of its windows broken but there was no effect on its operations, Russian energy supplier Inter RAO reported.''
  As we had previously noted in our reports ''Russia Orders Obama: Tell World About Aliens, Or We Will'' and ''Shocking Alien Fears Force Pope From Office'', more incidents like those of today are to be expected as our world grows ever closer to an apocalypse that nearly everyone knows is about to occur, but few will mention above a whisper.
  February 15, 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?''.]
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