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Europe Recoils In Shock After Bankster Raid, US Warned Is Next
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  Europe Recoils In Shock After Bankster Raid, US Warned Is Next
  By:Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
  A truly grim Ministry of Finance (MOF) report circulating in the Kremlin today says that a state of ''horror and shock'' has descended upon the European Union this weekend after the unprecedented announcement that all of the bank depositors in Cyprus will be forced to give up a percentage of their savings in order to bailout their EU bankster overlords.
  According to this report, EU officials demanded on Saturday that Cypriot savers pay up to 10 percent of their savings deposits as a condition for the '‚¬10 billion ($13 billion) bailout of their banking system. Newly elected Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, according to Western news sources, stated that refusing the bailout would lead to the collapse of the island's two largest banks, badly singed by their exposure to bailed-out neighbour Greece.
  The highly respected Zerohedge.com financial paper in reporting on this shocking theft, and the ensuing chaos it has brought to Cyprus, also says:
  ''Late last night, after markets closed for the weekend, following an extended discussion the European finance ministers announced their "bailout" solution for Russian oligarch depositor-haven Cyprus: a '‚¬13 billion bailout (Europe's fifth) with a huge twist: the implementation of what has been the biggest taboo in European bailouts to date - the impairment of depositors, and a fresh, full blown escalation in the status quo's war against savers everywhere.
  Specifically, Cyprus will impose a levy of 6.75% on deposits of less than '‚¬100,000 - the ceiling for European Union account insurance, which is now effectively gone following this case study - and 9.9% above that. The measures will raise '‚¬5.8 billion, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who leads the group of euro-area ministers, said.
  But it doesn't stop there: a partial ''bail-in'' of junior bondholders is also possible, as for the first time ever the entire liability structure of a European bank - even if it is a Cypriot bank - is open season for impairments. The logical question: why here, and why now? And what happens when the Cypriot bank run that has taken the country by storm this morning spreads everywhere else, now that the scab over Europe's biggest festering wound is torn throughout the periphery as all the other PIIGS realize they too are expendable on the altar of mollifying voters and investors in the other countries that make up Europe's disunion.''
  Aside from ordinary Cypriot's, this MOF report says, the ''main target'' of this shocking EU theft appears to be Russian banks who had between '‚¬23-31 billion ($30-$40 billion) in cross-border loans to Cypriot companies tied to Moscow and around '‚¬9 billion ($12 billion) on deposit with Cypriot banks at the end of last year.
  Cyprus is officially the third largest foreign investor in the Russian economy with most of its foreign direct investments coming from Russian capitals hidden offshore for tax and legal protection purposes, but which pales in comparison to the '‚¬127 billion ($166 billion) being kept in similar circumstances by 60 of the United States largest corporations in offshore accounts to avoid paying American taxes.
  While worried Cypriot investors have been queuing outside banks this weekend to withdraw their savings from cash machines, this report continues, Cyprus's parliament has postponed an emergency session on a controversial bailout deal until tomorrow, but further announced that their banks will remain closed until Tuesday and no electronic transfers of monies will be allowed.
  British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said earlier today that the UK government would compensate their troops and civil servants affected by this outright EU bankster theft saying that ''anyone doing their duty for our country in Cyprus will be protected.'' About 3,500 British military personnel are based in Cyprus, but those among the 59,000 British residents of Cyprus not working for the UK military or government would still be out of pocket.
  The Washington Post news service in their article titled ''Why Today's Cyprus Bailout Could Be The Start Of The Next Financial Crisis'' further warns:
  ''It is a bad day to have your money deposited in a bank in the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus. And it may just mean some bad days ahead for the rest of us.
  What makes this important for people who couldn't locate Cyprus on a map is this: It is one of the 17 nations using the euro currency, the fact that it's a lot closer to Beirut than to Paris notwithstanding. European officials have spent the past six years moving heaven and earth to ensure that no depositors with the continent's banks suffer a loss despite the financial strains the banks have been under.
  Most dramatically, the Irish government in the fall of 2008 backstopped its banks, putting its public finances through a wringer. Even as the Greek economy has fallen into depression and Spanish bank losses on real estate have reached dangerous levels, the European Central Bank and the continent's government have ensured that bank deposits were safe. They have feared that if depositors in any country were forced to take losses, it would spark a destructive cascade of withdrawals across Europe.
  The European Central Bank will now be on high alert, monitoring activity in Greece, Spain and beyond for evidence that the Cyprus precedent will result in new runs on those nations' banks. Expect a flood of central bank liquidity into those nations if there is any hint that depositors across Europe seem to be thinking that Cyprus is the new normal and that their seemingly safe bank deposits could be reduced 10 percent without warning.''
  Aside from all Europeans savings accounts now being threatened, this MOF report says, the American people are, perhaps, those in the greatest danger of this happening to them as Forbes financial magazine warned in their 29 December 2012 article ''Watch Out: Your 401(k) Is Being Targeted'' that ''Washington has a bull's-eye on every American's 401(k).''
  A 401(k) account is the common name in the United States for the tax qualified defined contribution pension plan which a vast number of Americans use to secure their retirement and currently holds nearly '‚¬2.5 trillion ($3 trillion) of these peoples wealth, and is ripe for the taking by their bankster elites.
  Even worse for the American people, this report says, was the Obama regime revealing its shocking plan this past week to give all US spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on their citizens so even more monies can be plundered from these already economically weary peoples.
  And in a stunning admission for a nation that has locked up and jailed more of its citizens than any other country in history, US Attorney General Eric Holder, in testimony before the US Senate Judiciary Committee last week, admitted that the Obama regime is unable to prosecute American bankers for their crimes, and stated, ''I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them, when we are hit with indications that if we do prosecute'--if we do bring a criminal charge'--it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy'...''
  Top US Federal Reserve official Richard Fisher echoed Attorney General Holder's concerns yesterday and further stated that ''The largest U.S. banks are "practitioners of crony capitalism," [and] need to be broken up to ensure they are no longer considered too big to fail, and continue to threaten financial stability.''
  Above all, this MOF report concludes, and applying to both Europeans and Americans alike, the events in Cyprus this weekend ''prove conclusively'' that the entire Western banking system is beyond repair and irretrievable corrupt as it can no longer protect its depositors monies from theft'...and theft of the worst kind'...from those whom these ordinary people have entrusted their life savings and personal wealth to in order to protect it in the first place.
  March 17, 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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ACLU Insist School District Make Public Apology To Student Forced To Give Access To Her Facebook
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Description Of West Coast Missile Defense Upgrade Planned By The Pentagon
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Cypriots Rush Banks To Get Cash Out Facing Immediate EU Bailout Tax!
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VIDEO-Prime Minister's Questions: 13 March 2013 - YouTube
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VIDEO-Ben Affleck on Argo: 'Probably Hollywood is full of CIA agents ...' - YouTube
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VIDEO: Feds Swarm Metra Train After Detecting Nuclear Risk
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  This screen grab of cell-phone video shows federal agents searching a Metra train. (CBS/Lana Hinshaw-Klann)
  (CBS) '-- It was stunning for those who watched Thursday night as federal agents investigated a possible nuclear threat at Chicago's Ogilvie Transportation Center.
  CBS 2'²s photojournalist Lana Hinshaw-Klann happened to be at the scene and used a cell-phone camera to record agents in action. Reporter Dave Savini looks into what agents were looking for and what they found.
  Sources say the agents were members of the elite TSA VIPR team on the 5:04pm Union Pacific West line. They were carrying hand-held nuclear-detection devices that picked up a reading.
  VIPR teams were created after the 2004 bombing of a train in Madrid, Spain, to protect U.S. transportation.
  At the Ogilvie station, officers held the train and searched for a person or bag that posed a potential nuclear threat.
  Jerry Jones, a Chicago lawyer, was heading home on that train. He says the federal officers narrowed the trouble to the area where he was sitting.
  ''I had no idea I was the center of the activity,'' he says.
  The special security team must have picked up on him as he entered the station and walked up the stairs, Jones says. Little did he know a nuclear stress test he had at a hospital earlier in the day had set off silent alarms and sent security scurrying.
  The TSA team passed by him several times before ending up on his train car. Finally, he got a clue when an agent questioned the man right next to him and asked, 'Sir, do you have an explanation as to why I am getting a high isotope reading on your bag?'''
  ''The fellow's jaw dropped,'' Jones said.
  Once the agent said the word ''isotope,'' Jones says he realized he was the one they were looking for. He raised his hand to say he had a nuclear stress test.
  The tests can leave patients emitting radiation for some time. After showing identification and proof of the nuclear test, Jones and the other passengers were allowed to go on their way.
  He says he's satisfied with the way authorities acted, ''knowing there are people on the lookout for this type of thing,'' and was pleased with the way officers and passengers behaved.
  Patients undergoing nuclear testing can request a card they can give to security if they travel afterward. Doctors have done this for air travelers.
Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. Citizen, in America's Cross Hairs.
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  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 23:11
  Khaled Abdullah/Reuters
  The wreckage of a car in Shabwa Province, Yemen, stood as testament to the destructive abilities of American drone strikes.
  WASHINGTON '-- One morning in late September 2011, a group of American drones took off from an airstrip the C.I.A. had built in the remote southern expanse of Saudi Arabia. The drones crossed the border into Yemen, and were soon hovering over a group of trucks clustered in a desert patch of Jawf Province, a region of the impoverished country once renowned for breeding Arabian horses.
  A group of men who had just finished breakfast scrambled to get to their trucks. One was Anwar al-Awlaki, the firebrand preacher, born in New Mexico, who had evolved from a peddler of Internet hatred to a senior operative in Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen. Another was Samir Khan, another American citizen who had moved to Yemen from North Carolina and was the creative force behind Inspire, the militant group's English-language Internet magazine.
  Two of the Predator drones pointed lasers on the trucks to pinpoint the targets, while the larger Reapers took aim. The Reaper pilots, operating their planes from thousands of miles away, readied for the missile shots, and fired.
  It was the culmination of years of painstaking intelligence work, intense deliberation by lawyers working for President Obama and turf fights between the Pentagon and the C.I.A., whose parallel drone wars converged on the killing grounds of Yemen. For what was apparently the first time since the Civil War, the United States government had carried out the deliberate killing of an American citizen as a wartime enemy and without a trial.
  Eighteen months later, despite the Obama administration's effort to keep it cloaked in secrecy, the decision to hunt and kill Mr. Awlaki has become the subject of new public scrutiny and debate, touched off by the nomination of John O. Brennan, Mr. Obama's counterterrorism adviser, to be head of the C.I.A.
  The leak last month of an unclassified Justice Department ''white paper'' summarizing the administration's abstract legal arguments '-- prepared months after the Awlaki and Khan killings amid an internal debate over how much to disclose '-- has ignited demands for even greater transparency, culminating last week in a 13-hour Senate filibuster that temporarily delayed Mr. Brennan's confirmation. Some wondered aloud: If the president can order the assassination of Americans overseas, based on secret intelligence, what are the limits to his power?
  This account of what led to the Awlaki strike, based on interviews with three dozen current and former legal and counterterrorism officials and outside experts, fills in new details of the legal, intelligence and military challenges faced by the Obama administration in what proved to be a landmark episode in American history and law. It highlights the perils of a war conducted behind a classified veil, relying on missile strikes rarely acknowledged by the American government and complex legal justifications drafted for only a small group of officials to read.
  The missile strike on Sept. 30, 2011, that killed Mr. Awlaki '-- a terrorist leader whose death lawyers in the Obama administration believed to be justifiable '-- also killed Mr. Khan, though officials had judged he was not a significant enough threat to warrant being specifically targeted. The next month, another drone strike mistakenly killed Mr. Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, who had set off into the Yemeni desert in search of his father. Within just two weeks, the American government had killed three of its own citizens in Yemen. Only one had been killed on purpose.
  An Evolving Threat
  By the time the missile found him, Mr. Awlaki, 40, had been under the scrutiny of American officials for more than a decade. He first came under F.B.I. investigation in 1999 because of associations with militants and was questioned after the 2001 terrorist attacks about his contacts with three of the hijackers at his mosques in San Diego and Virginia. But at other times, presenting himself as a moderate bridge-builder, he gave interviews to the national news media, preached at the Capitol in Washington and attended a breakfast with Pentagon officials.
  In 2002, after leaving the United States for good, he endorsed the notion that the land of his birth was at war with Islam. In London, and then in Yemen, where he was imprisoned for 18 months with American encouragement, Mr. Awlaki inched steadily closer to a full embrace of terrorist violence. His eloquent, English-language exhortations to jihad turned up repeatedly on the computers of young plotters of violence arrested in Britain, Canada and the United States.
  By 2008, said Philip Mudd, then a top F.B.I. counterterrorism official, Mr. Awlaki ''was cropping up as a radicalizer '-- not in just a few investigations, but in what seemed to be every investigation.''
  In November 2009, when Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was charged with opening fire at Fort Hood in Texas and killing 13 people, Mr. Awlaki finally found the global fame he had long appeared to court. Investigators quickly discovered that the major had exchanged e-mails with Mr. Awlaki, though the cleric's replies had been cautious and noncommittal. But four days after the shootings, the cleric removed any doubt about where he stood.
  ''Nidal Hassan is a hero,'' he wrote on his widely read blog. ''He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people.''
  As chilling as the message was, it was still speech protected by the First Amendment. American intelligence agencies intensified their focus on Mr. Awlaki, intercepting communications that showed the cleric's growing clout in Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemen-based affiliate of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.
Book Discussion on [Exploding the Phone]
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  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 23:09
  Book Passage Bookstore
  Phil Lapsley talked about his book, Exploding the Phone: The untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws Who Hacked Ma Bell, in which he presents a history of the phone system and a flaw in its operation that allowed .. Read MorePhil Lapsley talked about his book, Exploding the Phone: The untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws Who Hacked Ma Bell, in which he presents a history of the phone system and a flaw in its operation that allowed hackers or ''phone phreaks'' to make free, long-distance phone calls through the use of a ''blue box,'' a device that mimicked tones used by AT&T. The use and distribution of the blue boxes was heralded by phone phreaks, including future Apple Computers co-founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, who built and sold the devices.'‚Phil Lapsley spoke at Book Passage Bookstore in San Francisco.
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More revelations about Obama negligence in Benghazi
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  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.
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Will the London Whale Scandal Swallow JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon?
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  Posted by Alcyone_Featured_, BankstersSaturday, March 16th, 2013By John Cassidy | The New Yorker
  ''I approve.'' With the discovery of those two words that Jamie Dimon, the chairman and C.E.O. of JPMorgan Chase, wrote in an email on January 23, 2012, the most prominent banker on Wall Street has been directly tied to the burgeoning ''London Whale'' trading scandal, which has returned to the headlines in sensational fashion. In a hearing in Washington Friday, the scandal took another twist, with a senior government official asserting that, in the months leading up to the bank losing billions of dollars, Dimon ordered his underlings not to give the bank's regulators information they had requested.
  The escalation in the scandal started with Thursday's publication of a three-hundred page report by a Senate subcommittee, which said Dimon not only signed off on a strategy that understated the risks being taken by the bank's traders, including Bruno Iksil, a derivatives trader known as the Whale, who worked out of the bank's tower at Canary Wharf in east London. After Iksil's losses were revealed, last April, the report said, Dimon misled investors and the public about their nature.
  On Friday, the Times reported that a criminal probe of the Whale affair by the Justice Department and the F.B.I. has reached an advanced stage. While the Times report says Dimon isn't himself suspected of any wrongdoing, there can be no doubt that his career is on the line. For years now, he has been Wall Street's untouchable: the magazine-cover star who, when many of his rivals were crashing and burning during the financial crisis, guided his bank through it all, mostly unharmed. He's been invited to the White House (several times); Warren Buffett said he would be an excellent Treasury Secretary; he's even been (largely) forgiven for whining about people criticizing bankers and their humungous pay packages.
  But he won't necessarily get through this one. If the feds were to indict any senior JPMorgan executives on charges arising from the Whale's trades, which generated more than six billion dollars in losses, Dimon's position could rapidly become untenable.
  Read the full article
Ten-Tec/YouKits HB1B w Lithium Battery
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  For Sale Ten-Tec/YouKits HB1B 80-40-30-20 meterQRP (5W) CW Tranceiver. Great RX with 3.2-16mhzgeneral coverage receive. 400hz to 3khz continuoselyadjustable filter (new: 299.00 plus shipping) See: http://www.tentec.com/productsfor more info. Includes internal Lithuim Ion battery andcharge adapter (new: $29.00).
  It's in like new condition. Never been out of the shack.I bought it to tide me over until I got my KX3 but itcame almost right away.
  $275.00 shipped (CONUS) paypal only please.
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  JonW7VHjon@jonneher.com
  To inquire about this listing, please contact the seller directly as specified in the ad.
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Why Did Dick Cheney ALLOW A "Plane" To Hit The Pentagon On September 11, 2001
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beppe grillo costa rica compamies
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  The driver, the brother-in-law and the engineerwww.beppegrillo.it/en/2013/.../the_driver_the_brotherinlaw_an.html- CachedMar 8, 2013 ...Beppe Grillo? He's never been to Costa Rica. Beppe Grillo's investments? Butwhat are we talking about? I'll see what's to be done and I'll have ...Aide of Italy's Grillo dismisses Costa Rica property report | Reutersuk.reuters.com/.../uk-italy-vote-grillo-idUKBRE9270SE20130308- CachedMar 8, 2013... associate of Italian populist anti-corruption leader Beppe Grillo dismissed areport on Friday linking him to property companies in Costa Rica, ...Beppe Grillo's Entourage Associated With Shell Businesses In Costa...perierga-koutsompolia.blogspot.com/.../beppe-grillo-entourage-associated- with.html- CachedMar 8, 2013 ...Beppe Grillo's Entourage Associated With Shell Businesses In Costa Rica. Theclosest entourage Beppe Grillo, great destroyer of the Italian ...Beppe Grillo's Entourage Involved In Shell Promoters In Costa Rica...www.worldnewsmatrix.com/.../beppe-grillos-entourage-involved-in-shell- promoters-in-costa-rica/- CachedMar 9, 2013 ...Beppe Grillo's Entourage Involved In Shell Promoters In Costa Rica... in CostaRica under the guise of front companies, prepared Friday, ...Aide of Italy's Grillo Dismisses Costa Rica Property Report - DecaPostwww.decapost.com/.../americas/.../aide-of-italys-grillo-dismisses-costa-rica- property-report_s_14104215.html- CachedMar 8, 2013 ... A close associate of Italian populist anti-corruption leader Beppe... him toproperty companies in Costa Rica, saying the firms had made no actualinvestments. ... Aide of Italy's Grillo Dismisses Costa Rica Property Report ...Beppe Grillo\'s Entourage Involved In Shell Organizations Inside ...techteam.gr/.../entry-13802-beppe-grillo-s-entourage-involved-in-shell- organizations-inside-costa-rica/- CachedMar 9, 2013 ... The best entourage Beppe Grillo, excellent destroyer of the Italian political class,is involved in business conditions in Costa Rica underneath. ... Mentioning thenames of many of these companies, this paper noted that "four of ...Beppe Grillo\'s Entourage Associated With Shell Organizations In ...techteam.gr/.../entry-13801-beppe-grillo-s-entourage-associated-with-shell- organizations-in-costa-rica/- CachedMar 8, 2013 ... The closest entourage Beppe Grillo, great destroyer of the Italian political class, isassociated with business assaults in Costa Rica underneat. ... registered since 'limited companies' legal screen that protects the personality of ...Top News Today | Aide of Italy's Grillo Dismisses Costa Rica...home.topnewstoday.org/home/article/4924807/- CachedMar 8, 2013 ... A close associate of Italian populist anti-corruption leader Beppe Grillo dismisseda report on Friday linking him to property companies in Costa...Aide of Italy's Grillo Dismisses Costa Rica Property Report - One ...www.onenewspage.us/.../Americas/.../Aide-of-Italy-Grillo-Dismisses-Costa- Rica.htm- CachedMar 8, 2013 ... Aide of Italy's Grillo Dismisses Costa Rica Property Report ' A close ... populistanti-corruption leader Beppe Grillo dismissed a report on Friday linking him toproperty companies in Costa Rica, saying the firms had made no ...The domestic stress of Beppe Grillo's Five-Star Movement Page 2 ...www.euexaminer.eu/domestic-stress-beppe-grillos-five-star-movement- g594455886-p2?...- CachedMar 8, 2013 ... The domestic stress of Beppe Grillo's Five-Star Movement By Marc ... him toproperty companies in Costa Rica, saying the firms had made no .
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The Rage of Beppe Grillo.
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  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:30
  Italian rabble-rouser Beppe Grillo (rhymes with Brillo) has the 10th most popular website in the world. For years he has whipped up big, angry crowds, and this week he offered a "tsunami" of demonstrations. This weekend comes the election, and poll results show that Grillo may receive a third of the youth vote. In a parliamentary system that could give him big power for years to come. Nobody knows if Grillo is a fascist pretending to be a comedian, or a comedian pretending to be a fascist. Grillo may not know himself -- but when his party gets into the Italian parliament we will all find out. Grillo's followers believe what he says, and they offer to beat you up if you question him. Sane people in Italy are scared. Beppe may be an agent of influence for the Iranian mullahs, as we pointed out last week. On his blog Mr. Grillo shows a mischievous smile. But this press photo from the Daily Telegraph gives a different image. Grillo is.... (Read Full Article)
goldman sachs endorses grillo - Google Search
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  Beppe Grillo on the Money System: Stand-up show, 1998 naked ...www.nakedcapitalism.com/.../beppe-grillo-on-the-money-system-stand-up- show-1998.html- Cached5 days ago ... I think he is saying what has to be said and we need more people saying iteverywhere! However, if Goldman Sachs endorses Grillo, run for ...Goldman Sachs | USlessons#uslessons.wordpress.com/tag/goldman-sachs/- CachedMar 2, 2013 ... Unexpectedly this week markets were more stable than previsions. The GoldmanSachs' economist Jim O'Neil even endorses Beppe Grillo and ...Financial Times | USlessons#uslessons.wordpress.com/tag/financial-times/- CachedMar 2, 2013 ... Unexpectedly this week markets were more stable than previsions. The GoldmanSachs' economist Jim O'Neil even endorses Beppe Grillo and ...THE OPINION High finance supports Beppe Grillo - Lifestyle43www.lifestyle43.com/business/.../high-finance-supports-beppe-grillo/- CachedThe investment guru Goldman Sachs, Jim O'Neill, greets optimistically the rise to... high finance supports Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement, the former Italian ...viewpoint - Goldman Sachswww.goldmansachs.com/gsam/advisors/...from.../european-glory.pdf- Cached5 days ago ...Grillo and his cohorts' desire to shake up the political status seems .... before last,Kevin Daly and Huw Pill from Goldman Sachs published a ...Q&A: Italian Comedian-Kingmaker Beppe Grillo on Internet and ...world.time.com/.../italys-beppe-grillo-meet-the-rogue-comedian-turned- kingmaker/- CachedMar 7, 2013 ... Before sitting down to an interview with TIME, Beppe Grillo, the ... Are yousurprised that bankers, like Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs, have ...Italy's political crisis deepens, Grillo refuses to support government ...news.yahoo.com/italy-parties-seek-way-election-stalemate-020012577.html- CachedFeb 27, 2013 ... Populist leader Beppe Grillo slammed the door on overtures from ... and keep theman from Goldman Sachs as the head loan shark collector. .... Interesing thatObama backs the austerity politics of Prime Minister Monti in Italy ...Crisis and Revolt: Italy: No backing for austerity but no political ...www.marxsite.org/2013/.../italy-no-backing-for-austerity-but-no.html- CachedMar 3, 2013 ... Beppe Grillo was flippantly caricatured as that wild cat by a ... Most of the fivedemands (the five stars)are things the left supports such ... The other great loserwas the troika and bankers' favourite, ex-Goldman Sachs manager, ...Occupy Goldman Sachs | Facebookwww.facebook.com/OccupyGoldmanSachs- Cachedis on Facebook. To connect with Occupy Goldman Sachs, sign up for Facebooktoday. ...... Nik Bebic Will not be pretty when the can BACKS-UP!!! 2 hours ago ...Gilbert Andazola, Remy Grillo, Claude Douay and 29 others like this. AaronFreed ...Beppe Grillo Surges in Last Minute Rush; Is That a Good Thing ...marketshadows.com/.../beppe-grillo-surges-in-last-minute-rush-is-that-a-good -thing/- CachedFeb 23, 2013 ... That does not mean I endorse all the policies of Grillo, and indeed I don't ... AndThe US Treasury As ''The M&A Department Of Goldman Sachs'' ...
Media Now Calling Patriots "Hate Groups" (video)
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  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:25
With Eye on North Korea, U.S. Cancels Missile Defense Russia Opposed
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  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:23
  MOSCOW '-- The United States has effectively canceled the final phase of a Europe-based missile defense system that was fiercely opposed by Russia and cited repeatedly by the Kremlin as a major obstacle to cooperation on nuclear arms reductions and other issues.
  Russian officials here have so far declined to comment on the announcement, which was made in Washington on Friday by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel as part of a plan to deploy additional ballistic missile interceptors to counter North Korea. The cancellation of some European-based defenses will allow resources to be shifted to protect against North Korea.
  Aides to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said there would be no reaction until early next week, when they expect to be briefed by American officials.
  But Russian news accounts quickly raised the possibility that the decision could portend a breakthrough in what for years has been a largely intractable dispute between Russia and the United States. A headline by the Itar-Tass news agency declared, ''U.S. abandons fourth phase of European missile defense system that causes the greatest objections from Russia.''
  Pentagon officials said that those longstanding objections by Russia played no role in the decision to reconfigure the missile interceptor program, which they said was based on the increased threat from North Korea and on technological difficulties and budget considerations related to the Europe-based program.
  ''The missile defense decisions Secretary Hagel announced were in no way about Russia,'' George Little, a Pentagon spokesman, said Saturday.
  Still, other Obama administration officials acknowledged potential benefits if the decision was well-received in Moscow, as well as the possibility of continued objections given that the United States is not backing away from its core plan for a land-based missile shield program in Central Europe.
  ''There's still an absolutely firm commitment to European missile defense, which is not about Russia; it's about Iran these days,'' said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. ''If there are side benefits that accrue with Russia, so be it. But that wasn't a primary driver.''
  Regardless, some experts said it could help relations by eliminating what the Russians had cited as one of their main objections '-- the interceptors in the final phase of the missile shield that might have the ability to target long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are part of Russian's nuclear arsenal.
  The Obama administration has sought cooperation from Russia on numerous issues, with varying degrees of success. Russia generally has supported the NATO-led military effort in Afghanistan and has helped to restrict Iran's nuclear program by supporting economic sanctions. But the two countries have been deeply at odds over the war in Syria, and over human rights issues in Russia. Most recently, President Obama has said he would like further reductions in the two countries' nuclear arsenals, something Russia has said it would not consider without settling the dispute over missile defense.
  American experts insisted that the Russians' concern over the antimissile program was exaggerated and that the system would not have jeopardized their strategic missiles had the final phase been developed. That Russian concern has now been addressed.
  ''There is no threat to Russian missiles now,'' said Steven Pifer, an arms control expert who has managed Russia policy from top positions at the State Department and the National Security Council. ''If you listen to what the Russians have been saying for the last two years, this has been the biggest obstacle to things like cooperation with NATO.''
  ''Potentially this is very big,'' said Mr.Pifer, now of the Brookings Institution. ''And it's going to be very interesting seeing how the Russians react once they digest it.''
  In Washington, many officials have said they believe Russia's real objections are not only about the particular capabilities of the missile shield but also about a more general political and strategic opposition to an expanding American military presence in Eastern Europe. Canceling only the final stage of the program does not address that concern, so it is possible that Russia's position will remain unchanged.
  Sean Kay, a professor at Ohio Wesleyan University and expert in international security issue and Russian relations, said that the so-called fourth stage of the Europe-based missile defense program ''was largely conceptual'' and might never have been completed.
  Eliminating that portion of the program made sense, Mr. Kay said. ''In effect, by sticking with a plan that was neither likely to work in the last stage but was creating significant and needless diplomatic hurdles at the same time, we gained nothing,'' he said. At least some of the canceled interceptors were to have been based in Poland, which will still host less-advanced interceptors.
  In the past, efforts to restructure the antimissile program provoked sharp criticism in Poland, but this time reaction from Warsaw has been more muted. Analysts have said Poland's main goal in hosting the interceptors has been having an American military presence there as a deterrent to Russia.
  David M. Herszenhorn reported from Moscow, and Michael R. Gordon from Washington. Thom Shanker contributed reporting from Washington.
Obama Sets Record For Rejections Of Freedom Of Information Requests (video)
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  Source: WT news feed
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:22
VIDEO-Syria 14-3-2013-Terrorists including American Extremist 'Eric Harroun' have been Terminated - YouTube
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  Archived Version
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:10
Eric Harroun: 'I am alive and well chilling in Istanbul having a martini:' Rogue U.S. Army veteran fighting for Syrian rebels confirms he is ALIVE after pro-Assad group posts video claiming he's been killed | Mail Online
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:10
  By Hayley Peterson
  PUBLISHED: 11:15 EST, 15 March 2013 | UPDATED: 16:35 EST, 15 March 2013
  A U.S. Army veteran who was fighting for Syrian rebel forces says he is alive and well after a pro-Syrian government group posted a video on YouTube claiming that he had been killed.
  The bloodied face of someone resembling Eric Harroun, 30, of Phoenix, was shown in the video, which was posted Wednesday under the title, 'Terrorists, including American Extremist "Eric Harroun" Have Been Terminated.'
  But Harroun told MailOnline from his personal email account on Friday that 'Syrian Media must be smoking something, because I am alive and well chilling in Istanbul having a martini at the moment.'
  MailOnline obtained Harroun's email address from a family member and has communicated with him in the past using the same email address.
  Scroll down for video
  Eric Harroun (right), a 30-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Phoenix, has joined al Qaeda alias Jabhat al-Nusra after months of fighting with Syrian rebels
  Video: A man carries a dead body wrapped in a white sheet into the back of a van
  Graphic: The five-minute video shows charred, dead bodies burning in a street (bodies not shown here)
  The video carries a graphic for 'Syria Tube,' a pro-Assad website
  The graphic five-minute video, which carries the logo for a pro-Syrian government website, was first reported by AOL Defense writer Colin Clark.
  The Pentagon said it was aware of the video earlier Friday but could not confirm whether Harroun wasalive or dead.
  'We are aware of the reports and we're watching them,' Pentagon spokesman Steve Warren told MailOnline.
  Footage in the video shows charred, dead bodies burning in a street. A group of men can be seen throwing a blanket over one of the bodies and carrying it to a truck.
  The person filming appears to be an American, at one point speaking English in an American accent, and someone in the comment section of the YouTube video remarked that it could be Harroun filming. At the end of the video, the image of the bloodied man - the one that resembles Harroun - is displayed for a couple seconds.
  Harroun, who is known among Syrian rebels and loyalists as 'The American,' joined the U.S. Army in 2000 and he was dishcharged with full disability pay for an injury in 2003 without ever having seen battle
  Rebel fighting: In his time working for the U.S. army, Harroun never actually served in battle but earned his disability check because he was hit in a car crash on a base
  The video was posted following reports earlier this week that Harroun had left Syria for Turkey and that he had joined al Qaeda-linked group Jabhat al-Nusra after losing his Syrian friends in the heat of battle. MailOnline has decided not to link to the video due to its graphic content.
  'Getting into al-Nusra is not rocket science,' he said in an interview with Fox. 'It just takes balls and brains.'
  Harroun's family vehemently denies that he has joined the terrorist-backed group, claiming that he is only helping Syrian rebel forces.
  Harroun, who is known among Syrian rebels and loyalists as 'The American,' joined the U.S. Army in 2000 and he was discharged with full disability pay for an injury in 2003 without ever having seen battle, according to his father.
  He was injured while riding in a pickup truck that hit a tree and he now has a steel plate in his head, his father Darryl Harroun told Fox.
  Harroun revels in his 'hero' status and brags on Facebook and in YouTube vidoes of his bloody exploits in the Middle East
  Harroun right) describes himself as a Sunni Muslim on Facebook and writes about his hatred of Israel and Zionists
  'Now he has mood swings and what-not,' he said. 'He was already suffering from depression before that, and the accident just kind of multiplied it,' the elder Mr Harroun said he frequently talks to his son by phone.
  He said he doesn't agree with what Eric is doing but can't get him to stop.
  'He just loves that part of the world,' his father said. 'We scratch our heads and wonder what the hell he's doing.
  'I told him, "You're never going to change those people's minds over there." But he says they treat him like a hero.'
  Eric's life has changed dramatically from the days when he worked at Artisan Mortgage company in Phoenix, Arizona from 2006 to 2008 where he described his job as finalizing 'applications for home loans or second mortgages,and a lot of other boring paperwork.'
  Domestic life: Before going overseas, Harroun lived in this Phoenix, Arizona apartment building
  Previous life: He worked at Artisan Mortgage Company from 2006 to 2008 finalizing second mortgages 'and alot of other boring paperwork'
  Proud: Now he posts pictures as he holds machine guns and dressed in army fatigues while in Syria
  Eric Harroun revels in his 'hero' status and brags on Facebook and in YouTube videos of his bloody exploits in the Middle East.
  His Facebook page is littered with photos of himself brandishing handguns, rifles, mortars and other weaponry.
  'He says they treat him like a hero.'-Eric's father Darryl Harroun says
  In a photo of himself holding a mortar in one hand and a rifle in the other that he posted on Facebook, he writes, 'Lol Army of Darkness, This is my BOOM STICK. Lol.'
  A lit cigarette hangs out of his mouth in the image and in a similar photo featuring a sniper rifle, where he writes, 'Ready to tear Bashar Al-Assads [sic] Army and the Shabehah apart!!'
  He describes himself as a Sunni Muslim on Facebook and writes about his hatred of Israel and Zionists. Under his 'Favorite Quotations' section of his profile he writes, 'The only good Zionist is a dead Zionist.'
  The Syrian rebel group Amr ibn al-'Aas Brigade told Fox that 'The American' was working with them until last month - about the time he reportedly joined Al-Nusra
  In a YouTube video uploaded in mid-January, Harroun warns Assad that his days are 'numbered.'
  'Bashar Assad, your days are numbered,' he says in the video, where he is surrounded by several rebel fighters.
  'You are going down in flames. You should just quit now, while you can, and leave. You are going to die, no matter what. Where you go we will find you and kill you. Do you understand?'
  At another point, he changed his Facebook status to read that he was 'LMAO at Bashar Al-Assads Speech today!!!!!'
  The Syrian rebel group Amr ibn al-'Aas Brigade told Fox that 'The American' was working with them until last month - about the time he reportedly joined al-Nusra.
  Harroun's father said he fears for his son's safety and has little doubt that he will lose him battles abroad.
  'I know one day I'm going to get a message from over there, telling me my son is dead,' he said.
  US Army veteran Eric Harroun joins al Qaeda-linked group after...
Covington, Milbank, Clifford Chance: Business of Law - Bloomberg
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  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:57
  Former Democratic congressman Howard Berman, who was chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, is joining Covington & Burling LLP's global public policy and government affairs practice in Washington.
  Berman's hire comes on the heels of another congressional hire for Covington. Former Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl joined the public policy and government affairs practice on March 6.
  Berman, first elected to Congress in 1982, was defeated in in 2012 by fellow Democratic Representative Brad Sherman in the redrawn 30th Congressional District. He previously was a member of the California State Assembly for a decade.
  Berman, who will be senior of counsel at Covington, said he considered joining several law firms after returning to the private sector after 40 years.
  ''At every one of these place I talked to there was somebody I had a good relationship with but there were a number of them at Covington,'' Berman said in a telephone interview. He cited Stu Eizenstat, a Covington partner who heads the international practice and who served in three American presidential administrations, as a key one.
  He also said an important reason he picked Covington was the firm's reputation for ''doing high-quality legal work and as a great place to work.''
  Berman was a senior member and leader on the House Judiciary Committee and chairman of its subcommittee on courts, intellectual property and the Internet, where he led changes to patent and intellectual property laws affecting the entertainment and high-technology industries.
  ''Representative Berman and I come from different chambers and different parties, but we are both committed to building bipartisan consensus to get things done,'' Kyl said in a statement. ''I look forward to doing that together for Covington's clients.''
  Also on the global public policy group at Covington is former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and John Veroneau, who served as deputy U.S. trade representative.
  Covington has more than 800 lawyers at nine offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
  Milbank Adds A&O Financial Regulatory Chairman in New YorkMilbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP hired banking and financial services regulatory lawyer Douglas Landy as a partner in the leveraged finance and financial regulations group in its New York office. Landy joins the firm from Allen & Overy LLP, where he was head of the U.S. financial services regulatory practice, Milbank said.
  Landy, a former staff attorney at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, worked at A&O for about five years. He said he enjoyed the period but decided to move because he wanted to work with clients on more U.S. matters.
  ''The depth of penetration that Milbank has in the U.S. is only equaled by a couple of law firms,'' Landy said in a telephone interview.
  Landy represents global financial institutions in U.S. regulatory matters, including dealings with the Fed, Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies. Last year, he represented a group of more than two dozen foreign banks challenging the proposed Volcker Rule provisions of Dodd-Frank.
  ''The need for expert regulatory and compliance counsel is a top priority for our banking and financial services clients,''--Milbank Chairman Scott Edelman said in a statement. ''In the swirl of Dodd-Frank, Basel III, the Volcker Rule, stress testing, Libor scandals and so much more, Doug is a powerful and wise advocate.''
  Milbank has 600 lawyers at 11 offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
  Clifford Chance Adds Partners in Hong Kong and LondonClifford Chance LLP announced two partner hires this week, including former Norton Rose LLP partner Dorian Drew, who advised ex-Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer Robert Diamond on the Libor rates investigation. Drew will join the global regulatory enforcement and white-collar crime group as a partner in the London office.
  Drew is a solicitor advocate specializing in regulatory investigations and enforcement action within the financial services industry, the firm said.
  Alastair C. MacAulay, formerly of Mayer Brown JSM, also joins Clifford Chance in the Hong Kong office as a partner who will lead on maritime and offshore finance matters, the firm said.
  MacAulay focuses on asset and project finance, particularly in the transportation and energy sectors, the firm said. He has represented banks and financial institutions on loan, guarantee, leasing and other credit transactions.
  His recent work includes advising Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. on a liquefied natural gas ship project and Chilean power producers Colbun SA and AES Gener SA on the long-term charter of a storage and regasification unit, the firm said.
  Clifford Chance has 3,400 legal advisers at 35 offices in 25 countries worldwide.
  Mayer Brown Hires Intellectual Property and Real Estate PartnersMayer Brown LLP made two more partner hires this week, adding intellectual property lawyer Stephen Baskin in Washington and real-estate lawyer Brian Davis in Chicago.
  Baskin was previously at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, where he was managing partner of that firm's Washington office. Davis was a partner with Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
  Baskin has led patent litigations for more than 20 years, the firm said. Davis represents institutional real estate investors on matters including distressed debt and equity transactions, asset acquisitions and dispositions. Mayer Brown also hired former Barclays Plc director Joel Moss this week.
  Mayer Brown has lawyers at offices in the Americas, Asia and Europe.
  K&L Gates Hires USTR Lawyer as Partner in WashingtonFrank J. Schweitzer, formerly associate general counsel at the Office of the United States Trade Representative, joined K&L Gates LLP as a partner in the international arbitration and international trade practices in Washington.
  At the USTR, Schweitzer represented the U.S. in litigation before the World Trade Organization. He was lead counsel in the challenge to China's barrier to foreign providers of electronic- payment services and was co-lead counsel for the U.S. in the WTO appellate proceeding that upheld a finding of illegal European subsidies to Airbus, the firm said.
  Schweitzer also advised on international investment matters and was legal counsel in negotiations on the investment chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and talks on the U.S.-China bilateral investment treaty, the firm said.
  He will focus his practice on international dispute resolution, with an emphasis on WTO dispute settlement and investment treaty arbitration.
  K&L Gates has lawyers at 47 offices in the U.S., Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and South America.
  NewsJones Day Partner Orr Named Detroit's Emergency ManagerMichigan Governor Rick Snyder named Washington lawyer Kevyn Orr, a partner at the Jones Day law firm, as emergency manager to lead Detroit out of a financial crisis that threatens the largest municipal bankruptcy in the U.S.
  Orr, who worked on the team that managed Chrysler Group LLC's 2009 bankruptcy, will tackle a city in a downward spiral of shrinking population and revenue, riddled by swaths of vacant property and whose municipal government opposes a state takeover. Detroit's deficit hit almost $327 million last year, and its long-term obligations have piled up to more than $14 billion, according to a state review.
  Improving the city is ''the Olympics of restructuring,'' Orr said yesterday at a news conference.
  Detroit becomes the sixth Michigan city with an emergency manager, though by far the largest. Under a new law that takes effect March 28, those managers will assume greater authority to operate and finance the cities. Those powers include the ability to sell assets and change labor contracts.
  ''We have great people who want to help,'' Snyder said at the news conference, flanked by Orr and Mayor Dave Bing, a Democrat. ''Now is the time to find common ground to solve the problem.''
  Orr, who said he resigned from Jones Day, is a University of Michigan law school graduate specializing in corporate restructuring and bankruptcy.
  For more, click here.
  VideoShould Insurance Regulators Handle Derivatives?
  Barry Ritholtz, chief executive officer at Fusion IQ, and Tangent Capital Partners' Bob Rice talk with Bloomberg Law's Lee Pacchia about the current state of the derivatives market and a recent initiative by the International Swaps & Derivatives Association to write new standards for credit-default swaps.
  Ritholtz says that the multitrillion-dollar derivatives market remains largely unregulated despite almost destroying the global financial system during the credit crisis in 2008.
  ''There are a number of different asset classes and financial instruments,'' he said. ''Derivatives are the only one more or less exempt from oversight.''
  Ritholtz suggests that state insurance regulators should cover derivatives and force participants to put up reserves on their investments.
  Rice contends that regulation of derivatives is difficult because the products generate tremendous profits at the world's largest financial institutions.
  Banks ''have no interest in standardization or clearing organizations because it squeezes their margins,'' he said. Still, he said he expects oversight will have to increase because regulators need a more precise understanding of activity in the derivatives market.
  This is a Bloomberg podcast. To download, watch or listen to this report now, click here.
  To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Amon in New York at eamon2@bloomberg.net
  To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
GRAND THEFT OF DETROIT'S WATER DEPT. IMMINENT; WATER BOARD MTG. WED. MARCH 13 2PM | VOICE OF DETROIT: The city's independent newspaper, unbossed and unbought
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  Archived Version
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:56
  Board of Water Commissioners meeting Sept. 7, 2012. (Left to right) DWSD Director Sue McCormick, nine months on the job, BOWC Detroit member Linda Forte, a Comerica bank exec, BOWC chair and Oakland Co. member James Fausone, who was president of an environmental remediation, industrial service, and waste transportation company for three years, BOWC member Macomb County rep. Fred Barnes, who owns his own engineering consulting company and is a West Point graduate, and former BOWC chair Mary Blackmon of Detroit, also head of Wayne County RESA..
  Root cause committee wants regional authority to take control
  Long-time water union leader says ''Kilpatrick Enterprise'' pales compared to plan
  Wall Street crooks, including Goldman Sachs, stand to make a killing
  By Diane Bukowski
  March 12, 2013
  DETROIT '' The Detroit Board of Water Commissioners (BOWC) is bailing out on the city as a state takeover looms, essentially colluding with Gov. Rick Snyder and Wall Street. They plan to sever the Water and Sewerage Department completely from the city, replacing it with two regional authorities.
  Root Cause Cttee. members (l to r) Special Master David Ottenwess, Council members Gary Brown, Charles Pugh, BOWC chair James Fausone, DWSD COO Matthew Schenk, DWSD Director Sue McCormick.
  They will vote on the plan, set forward by the ''Root Cause Committee'' appointed by U.S. District Court Judge Sean Cox at a special meeting Wed. March 13.
  Richard Clay
  The meeting will take place at 2 p.m. on the fifth floor of the Water Board Building, 435 Randolph in downtown Detroit. Judge Cox, who oversees the sewage side of the department under a 1977 federal consent decree, would then have to approve the action.
  ''This is a complete theft of the city's finest jewel,'' said Detroiter and long-time activist Richard Clay. ''It represents the completion of out-state efforts to take over the water system that have been going on ever since Coleman Young was Mayor. It should be opposed by the people by all means necessary.''
  For the complete power point presentation of the plan, click on DWSD proposal to control our own destiny.
  The presentation by the Root Cause Committee says in part:
  DWSD WORTH TRILLIONS
  WWTP worker on strike Sept. 30, 2012.
  DWSD is the third largest water and sewerage system in the country, serving six counties including 40 percent of Michigan's population. DWSD has $6.4 billion in assets according to its 2012 financial statements.
  The people of Detroit have sunk billions of dollars into bonds to build the system since it was established in the early 1800's. Adjacent suburbs did not want the expense, so they connected with DWSD. Current DWSD bond debt, which is an asset to Wall Street bondholders, amounts to over $6 billion.
  In exchange for ceding control of this multi-trillion dollar asset, payment of $35 to $50 million annually is obviously a mere pittance.
  The Root Cause Committee claims the move would prevent the sale of DWSD under either an emergency manager or under bankruptcy. However, the proposal claims the City of Detroit would still own the department, so that argument literally does not hold water.
  FEDERAL INJUNCTION TO PROTECT CITY ASSETS, NOT TAKEOVERS
  By including what amounts to ''ghost'' ownership in the proposal, the Committee is also attempting to circumvent the City Charter.
  Mary Shumake, now passed, and others take part in Michigan Welfare Rights Organization protest at Water Board Building. DWSD is BLACK-OWNED by the City of Detroit.
  Sec. 7.1204 of the Charter says, ''The City shall not sell or in any way dispose of any property needed to continue the operation of any city-owned public utility furnishing water and sewerage service, unless approved by a majority of city voters voting on the question at a regular or special election.
  The proposal says that the city of Detroit would ''transfer'' DWSD land to the DWA, a clear violation of the Charter if no vote of the people takes place.
  Clay said that to protect the Water Department and other assets of the city, attorneys for the people should immediately file for a federal injunction against the state's planned takeover of Detroit, citing violations of the Voting Rights Act.
  Members of Local 207 picket Water Board Building in rain Sept. 7, 2011.
  Local 207 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) represents the largest sector of water and sewerage employees. It is currently awaiting a decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals on its own legal action. The local appealed Cox's previous orders which partially separated DWSD from the city and grossly violated union rights.
  Local 207 picket cites Kilpatrick, Ferguson corruption and privatization of DWSD.
  John Riehl, a DWSD worker who was the long-time president of Local 207, said the current Root Cause committee move is aimed at making more profit for contractors than former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick ever dreamed of.
  A federal jury convicted Kilpatrick, DWSD contractor Bobby Ferguson, and Kilpatrick's father yesterday of numerous federal charges involving bribes paid by contractors. Kilpatrick and Ferguson are currently locked up in the Milan Federal Penitentiary awaiting sentencing. They face dozens of years in prison.
  100% PRIVATIZATION, JOB LOSS, RATE HIKES, UNSAFE WATER LIKELY
  John Riehl
  ''I'm against this authority,'' Riehl said. ''It is nothing but crazy western Wayne County representatives trying to finish the privatization and destruction of DWSD. It violates the democracy of citizens and workers by having Judge Cox issue the final order. Water rates will be unconstrained by the City Council under the proposal. The BOWC would love to raise rates to give private contractors more money. Higher rates do not mean better service.''
  Riehl said that currently DWSD is bringing in contract workers qualified only for entry level positions, and dropping them into highly-skilled jobs, endangering the safety of the six-county water supply. Experienced long-time city water workers are retiring in droves, Riehl said.
  He said a likely scenario under an authority would be to sever all current city workers at DWSD, then have them re-apply for their jobs. Nearly all of Local 207'²s members are Detroit residents, and most of them are Black. The authority would then be able to reject workers such as those who carried out a heroic strike at the Wastewater Treatment Plant to ''save Detroit'' last September.
  Striking WWTP worker says EMA failed in Toronto.
  DWSD has also hired the EMA group, which is enacting a plan that may cut 81 percent of the current workforce., on a piecemeal basis after the Detroit City Council refused to approve their entire $47 million contract. Under the new structure, the City Council would no longer have a say in DWSD contracting.
  A federal Environmental Protection Agency study of the plan, done last year, did not enjoin it, but only indicated that continued EPA oversight would be necessary.
  WALL STREET SLAVERING
  The Root Cause committee claims the proposal would ''reduce Detroit's long-term liabilities by roughly 50 percent,'' citing $6 billion in DWSD debt, and DWSD's share of OPEB (other post-employment benefits), and UAAL (Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability).
  It says that DWSD debt ratings have been negatively impacted by the department's connection with Detroit. It fails to note that one of the three major Wall Street ratings agencies, Standard and Poor's, is facing a $5 billion fraud lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice which claims it had numerous conflicts of interest in mortage-backed securities ratings it gave banks.
  Joe O'Keefe of Fitch Ratings and Stephen Murphy of Standard and Poor;s sell predatory $1.5 billion POC loan to Detroit City Council in 2004. After 2008 crash, Detroit defaulted twice on the loan.
  One of the Detroit's major debtors, UBS, just paid a $1.5 billion fine to the USDOJ for interest-rate rigging related to the LIBOR scandal.
  Standard and Poor's and other ratings agencies have indeed downgraded DWSD debt, and sent City of Detroit ratings to the lowest sub-basement possible. However, such actions end up profiting debt-holders, because they can charge usurious rates of interest. Such debt is actually an asset to Wall Street banks, which actually pay the ratings agencies.
  WWTP strike: a little child protests attack on her parent's pension.
  So that's $6 billion worth of assets to Wall Street under the proposal deal.
  The committee's assertions regarding OPEB and UAAL related to retiree pensions and benefits, imply that the authority may sever its workers from the city pension funds.
  Riehl, who also sits on the board of the Detroit General Retirement System, said that would reduce DGRS holdings by a third. The proposal does not address what bodies it would set up to handle DWSD retirees' pensions and benefits.
  However, a glimmer of what may lie ahead is included in the following Root Cause slide.
  Goldman Sachs, previously the world's largest investment banker, is notorious for the $4 billion in profits it made just prior to the 2008 economic meltdown, by ''betting'' on a collapse in the sub-prime mortage market in 2007.
  Goldman Sachs profited from 2008 meltdown.
  Goldman further profited from a $10 billion U.S. Treasury investment in October 2008, as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), although it was not itself in distress. It has since paid back that loan, but how much it made in profits as a result of the loan has not been publicized.
  Tax payments by Goldman Sachs WORLD-WIDE were $14 million in 2008, compared to $6 billion in 2007. The effective tax rate thus dropped from 34.1 percent to one percent. Many critics have said this was achieved by shifting its earnings to 28 subsidiaries in nations with low or not taxes, including 15 in the Cayman Islands.
  Thanks for the (unneeded) bail-out, Uncle Sam.
  Massive protest in Greece against austerity measures improsed to pay off debt to IMF.
  ''Goldman is being criticized for its involvement in the 2010 European sovereign debt crisis,'' says Wikipedia. ''Goldman Sachs is reported to have systematically helped the Greek government mask the true facts concerning its national debt between the years 1998 and 2009. In September 2009, Goldman Sachs, among others, created a special credit default swap (CDS) index to cover the high risk of Greece's national debt. The interest-rates of Greek national bonds have soared to a very high level, leading the Greek economy very close to bankruptcy in March and May 2010 and again in June 2011.''
  The SEC has also brought a number of ''insider trading'' cases against Goldman Sachs brokers.
  In 2012, Goldman Sachs got into further hot water in Houston when stockholders of El Paso Corp. sued it for conflicts of interest in the sale of their company to rival Kinder Morgan, a natural-gas pipeline operator, for $21.1 billion. El Paso shareholders said cited conflicts of interest including that fact that Goldman Sachs, a banker for El Paso, owned a 19 percent stake in Kinder Morgan though its private equity group.
  ''Mike'' McGee (back to camera) advises Bing et. al. on the consent agreement.
  Attorney ''Mike'' McGee, cited in the slide, is a co-author of Public Act 4, ''the dictator act,'' which Michigan residents overwhelmingly repealed in Nov. 6, 2012. He acted as counsel to Detroit Mayor Dave Bing during City Council hearings on the disastrous ''consent agreement,'' and counsel against the city as represented by former Corporation Counsel Krystal Crittendon in an unsuccessful lawsuit to overturn the consent agreement. That lawsuit cited over $300 million in debt owed to Detroit by the state.
  Treasurer Andy Dillon told City Council members the state would keep paying them if they went along with the takeover.
  McGee was also bond counsel for the city, the state, and the state Municipal Finance Authority in negotiating a $137 million state loan to Detroit. State Treasurer Andy Dillon has since doled out the loan in pieces to get the City Council to approve the re-hiring of Miller Canfield, the hiring of Miller Buckfire, and other corporations. Of the original amount, Crittendon, who is running for Mayor, has said that $50 million is still outstanding and was not included in the state Financial Review Team report on Detroit's finances.
  Later in the presentation, Miller-Buckfire, now owned by Stifel Financial, is included as the appraiser of annual payments to the city. VOD exposed Stifel's many federal convictions of fraud and pending lawsuits involving entities like the Milwaukee School District, in an earlier article.
  Last November, VOD exposed the fact that City Council President Charles Pugh and Pro-Tem Gary Brown sit on the Root Cause Committee signed a document asking for separation. Both Council members have received extensive campaign finance contributions from DWSD contractors over the last period.
  Councilwoman JoAnn Watson at Council meeting Jan. 28, 2013.
  ''Kilpatrick Enterprise Two?''
  Councilwoman JoAnn Watson said at the time. ''This is nothing but a takeover, a power grab for the largest asset the city holds. It would be malfeasance for any elected official to advocate breaking it up, divvying it up.
  ''There is no drinking water in the country better than ours. DWSD is a magnificent asset, paid for by the citizens, owned by the citizens, and run by the citizens. This is a disgrace before God!''
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  http://voiceofdetroit.net/2012/11/19/detroiters-outraged-over-top-council-members-complicity-in-ema-water-dept-takeover-hearings-tues-nov-20/
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Shock in Cyprus over bailout levy on bank deposits. (Euronews video)
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:52
  Cypriot savers have been queuing at cash machines '' after waking up to the news that Brussels plans to enforce a levy of up to 10 percent on bank deposits as part of a bailout deal.
  The Eurogroup and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed a 10 billion euro rescue package for Cyprus, which is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, late on March 15.
  The deal includes a one-off levy on Cypriot bank deposits to raise 6 billion euros.
  German Chancellor Angela Merkel, at the helm of the EU's largest economy, explained why the radical measure makes sense:
  ''So we said: people who have their money in Cyprus' banks have to contribute to saving Cyprus. So everyone who has more than 100,000 euros in his or her account will be taxed by almost 10 percent, by 9.9 percent.''
  Merkel added, ''In so doing, the people responsible will contribute '' not only tax payers from other countries. And that is correct in my opinion.''
  There will also be a tax of 6.75 percent on smaller deposits.
  The levy's due to take effect on March 19, although the deal still has to be approved by the parliaments of several eurozone nations, including Cyprus.
  The island nation, which has one of Europe's smallest economies, is the fifth country to turn to the eurozone for aid during the region's debt crisis. It follows Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.
  More about:Cyprus, Debt crisis, ECB, Eurogroup, Eurozone, IMFCopyright (C) 2013 euronews
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EU attempts to brainwash children with 'sinister Soviet-style propaganda'.
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  Source: WT news feed
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:49
  It has been claimed the EU wants to brainwash children with propaganda on a new website
  European Parliament chiefs are considering setting up a site to target young children with a ''playful'' presentation of their working methods and democratic principles.
  It adds to concern highlighted by the Daily Express about ­educational materials produced for schools by the European ­Commission that critics claim are a bid to make children feel ­positive about the EU.
  UK Independence Party ­deputy leader Paul Nuttall MEP said: ''A European Parliament website targeted at children really is a step too far.
  ''It is a sinister development so reminiscent of the totalitarian regime of Soviet Russia. The EU clearly wants to use your taxes to brainwash your kids.
  EU institutions already spend over £2billion a year on 'communications' but this exercise in funding kiddie propaganda really is cash for EU trash.
  Paul Nuttall MEP
  ''EU institutions already spend over £2billion a year on 'communications' but this exercise in funding kiddie propaganda really is cash for EU trash.
  ''Our children need to be ­protected from this type of ­political propaganda because they are vulnerable and easily manipulated. Of course, that is the reason they are being ­cynically targeted by the European Parliament.''
  Claiming it was another ­example of the EU involving itself in policy that is meant to be the preserve of national governments, Mr Nuttall added: ''We have seen a profusion of cartoons, comics, schoolbooks and videos from the EU which are aimed at our ­children and are obvious ­propaganda.
  ''People should be aware of this and prevent this stuff coming into their homes and their children's school. Political propaganda on vulnerable kids is a form of child abuse.''
  Related articlesThe website proposal is part of the European Parliament's 2011?14 communication strategy.
  The proposal document reads: ''Research has shown the social and political perception of young people starts at a very early age.
  ''In a playful manner which is tailored to the needs of young internet users, a special Europarl website could bring democratic principles and the working of the methods of the European ­Parliament closer to children.''
  Targeting children has been identified as a priority because of the low turnout in the 2009 ­European elections.
Cyprus president defends bailout
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  Archived Version
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:48
  16 March 2013Last updated at21:44 ETPlease turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
  One man threatens to break into a Kyperounta Co-operative bank branch with his bulldozer, while others speak of their anger
  Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has said a big bailout - which has provoked mass public anger - was needed to avoid a "disorderly bankruptcy".
  The 10bn-euro ($13bn; £9bn) deal agreed by the EU was "a painful but controlled management of the crisis", he said.
  Many Cypriots, shocked that the bailout would force bank depositors to help foot the bill, were seen queuing to withdraw cash.
  The parliament is due to meet later on Sunday to vote on the measure.
  Mr Anastasiades' Democratic Rally party - which has 20 seats in the 56-member assembly - needs support from other factions to ratify the bailout.
  The deal - reached with eurozone partners and also the IMF in Brussels late on Friday - marks a radical departure from previous international aid packages.
  Continue reading the main storyBailout levyDepositors with under 100,000 euros deposited must pay 6.75%Those with more than 100,000 in their accounts must pay 9.9%Depositors will be compensated with the equivalent amount in shares in their banksThe levy is a one-off measure'People betrayed'In a statement on Saturday, President Anastasiades described the deal as choice between the "catastrophic scenario of disorderly bankruptcy or the scenario of a painful but controlled management of the crisis".
  He said that thousands of small businesses would have gone bankrupt without the agreement.
  The Cypriot leader, who was elected last month on a promise to tackle the country's debt crisis, is due to address the nation later on Sunday.
  Nicholas Papadopoulos, who heads the parliamentary financial committee, said his initial reaction to the bailout deal was "shock".
  "This decision is much worse than what we expected and contrary to what the government was assuring us, right up until last night (Friday)," Mr Papadopoulos told Reuters.
  Continue reading the main story''Start QuoteIt is never nice or easy for any bank to see a vast amount of cash walking out the door''
  End QuoteMeanwhile, opposition leader George Lillikas has urged his supporters to stage a protest rally on Tuesday, saying that the president "had betrayed the people's vote".
  'Big dent'People in Cyprus with less than 100,000 euros in their accounts will have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75%, Eurozone officials said after agreeing the deal.
  Those with greater sums will pay 9.9% in tax.
  Depositors will be compensated with the equivalent amount in shares in their banks.
  Reports suggest that depositors will be able to access all of their money except the amount set by the levy.
  Continue reading the main story''Start QuoteThis is robbery and we must get the EU to stop this''
  End QuoteAlan, a British expatriate saver in CyprusSpeaking to BBC NewsThe levy itself will not take effect until Tuesday, following a public holiday, but action is being taken to control electronic money transfers over the weekend.
  Co-operative banks, the only ones which were open in Cyprus on Saturday, closed after people started queuing to withdraw their money.
  At one bank in the Limassol district, a frustrated man parked his bulldozer outside and threatened to break in.
  Alan, a British expatriate saver in Cyprus, told BBC News: "This is robbery and we must get the EU to stop this.
  "We retire and bring our savings to a bank in Cyprus and they can just take our money away without permission and then say we have shares in a bankrupt bank."
  Maria Zembyla, from Nicosia, said the levy would make a "big dent" in her family's savings and "erode the investor confidence".
  "Russians that currently keep the economy afloat will leave the country along with their money," she added.
  According to Reuters news agency, almost half of the depositors in Cyprus are believed to be non-resident Russians.
  Russians reacted angrily to the news of the levy on social media.
  Lenders are said to be gambling that the risk of a bigger banking crisis elsewhere in the eurozone has receded.
  While Cyprus may be one of the eurozone's tiniest economies - its third-smallest - there could be serious repercussions for other financially over-stretched economies, such as those of Spain and Italy, the BBC's business editor Robert Peston writes.
  The point of the levy is to warn lenders to banks that they should take care where they place their funds, and avoid banks that overstretch themselves - as Cypriot banks did, he adds.
  Cyprus is the fifth country after Greece, the Republic of Ireland, Portugal and Spain to turn to the eurozone for financial help during the region's debt crisis.
  The country has been in financial difficulties since the collapse of the Greek economy, where Cypriot banks had huge investments.
Portuguese govt. must step down, protestors say.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:48
  Portuguese govt. must step down, protestors say
  Portuguese civil servants call for the government to step down during an anti-austerity demonstration in Lisbon on March 15, 2013.
  Thousands of Portuguese civil servants have poured onto the streets of Lisbon, demanding the resignation of the government over its unpopular austerity measures.
  Friday's demonstration was called by the unions Common Front, STAL (National Union of the Local and Regional Public Workers), and CGTP (General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers), shortly after Portuguese Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar announced further spending cuts in the cash-strapped European country.
  The protestors, who were making their way toward the Finance Ministry, chanted ''It's time for the government to step down!'' and ''IMF! Get out of here!''
  The Portuguese government is bracing for a record 18.2 percent jobless rate this year, up from last year's 16.9 percent.
  Portugal is grappling with its worst recession since the 1970s.
  Demonstrators say the recession was caused by the government's imposition of tax hikes and spending cuts required by a 78-billion-euro ($102 billion) bailout.
  ''While we have had today the seventh review (on the bailout) there are talks about changes and start having measures for economy growth but what is happening is that it seems that everything stays the same,'' a demonstrator was quoted as saying.
  Portugal's main opposition party -- the Socialists -- said the ''government has failed at every level.''
  Other opposition parties demanded that Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho step down due to ''shocking'' unemployment forecasts.
  Portugal's main international creditors -- the European Central Bank (ECB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the European Union -- are keeping an eye on Portugal's implementation of spending cuts and reforms required in return for the 78-billion-euro rescue package the country received in 2011.
  The creditors agreed to relax Portugal's deficit targets for 2012 and 2013 as a reward to the country for pushing through reforms.
  Battered by the global financial downturn, the Portuguese economy fell into a recession, which compelled the country to negotiate with the IMF for a bailout loan in 2011.
  Spain, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, and Portugal are all in recession, and all five are receiving financial assistance from European bailout funds.
  KA/HGL
PBS News Hour: Science For Sale
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Crooks and Liars
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:47
  In part one of a two-part series, PBS NewsHour Science Correspondent Miles O'Brien travels to Hinkley, Calif. -- the town whose multi-million dollar settlement for groundwater contamination was featured in the movie "Erin Brockovich." Now, almost 30 years later, O'Brien explores the reasons why the groundwater in Hinkley still has dangerous levels of the chemical chromium and its link to cancer.
  More than 80,000 chemicals are on the market in the United States, with hundreds added each year. The Environmental Protection Agency and other regulators are supposed to protect the public from contaminants in air, water and consumer products that can cause cancer and other illnesses. But the chemical industry's sway over science and policy is powerful. Toxic Clout explores how the industry's actions create uncertainty and delay, threatening public health.
Next Big Sound's Metrics for the Music Industry
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  Archived Version
  Source: LIVE@LEEDS
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:41
  by Zack O'malley Greenburg Forbes 03/15/13Alex White's Next Big Sound is using advanced statistics to transform a stubborn industry. Sounds familiar?
  It's a cloudy midwinter morning at Next Big Sound's New York headquarters, and the scene is pure startup. The walls are exposed brick. The bagels are free. The music is guilty-pleasure indulgent: 'N Sync, in honour of Justin Timberlake's newly-announced album.
  But here they're not just listening for fun. As the singer's falsetto soars over the clatter of ergonomic keyboards, Next Big Sound's employees are quantifying the impact of Timberlake's news, counting 308,200 Twitter followers, 335,800 Wikipedia page views and 4.6 million Vevo views more than the two weeks prior'--data that weren't on the radar when his last album came out in 2006.
  ''The consumer in that world heard 'SexyBack' on the radio and went to Virgin Megastore,'' says Alex White, the 26-year-old who co-founded Next Big Sound four years ago. ''The consumer now goes to Spotify and streams Justin Timberlake's entire back catalogue and then follows him on Twitter to see real-time updates and watch his behind-the-scenes YouTube videos. It's a totally different consumer experience, but the industry still needs to track that behaviour.''
  White's company is the one doing the tracking. Think Moneyball, but for music. Next Big Sound takes all the data spewing into the ether'--Pandora spins, Facebook likes, digital downloads'--and packages them into one central dashboard. For $20 per artiste per month, the Billy Beanes of the music world (managers, concert promoters and label executives) can access the service in hopes of ¬nding the next Nick Swisher (or Justin Timberlake).
  The music business is ripe for disruption. According to one study, artiste discovery and development is a $4.5 billion industry, and Next Big Sound removes some of the guesswork.
  For example, the company has found that musicians who gain 20,000 to 50,000 Facebook fans in one month are four times more likely to eventually reach 1 million.
  With data like that, Next Big Sound promises to predict album sales within 20 percent accuracy for 85 percent of artistes, giving labels a clearer idea of return on investment. ''The market is under pressure to become more efficient,'' says Foundry Group's Jason Mendelson, an investor who, along with IA Ventures and others, has helped Next Big Sound amass $7.5 million in venture funding.
  Just as advanced analytics took time to in¬ltrate baseball's wisened ranks, Next Big Sound's numbers weren't universally accepted by executives who've long touted their 'golden ears'. But White's data ¬nally have them listening. He's got multimillion-dollar deals with two of the three major record companies, and with many sublabels of the third.
  ''In the past year, most labels have started using tools like this,'' says Jason Feinberg, vice president of digital strategy at Epitaph Records. ''Next Big Sound is kind of leaving them all in the dust.''
  White, who grew up playing three musical instruments, seems ideally suited to run the show. In college at Northwestern, he majored in organisational change with a minor in business and a concentration at the music school.
  During his senior year, he came up with a site that would let anyone create his or her own fantasy label'--and discover ''the next big sound''. The ¬rst user to sign, say, Justin Timberlake would get points for every virtual mogul who signed him subsequently.
  After raising $25,000 in angel investments, White ditched a job with PricewaterhouseCoopers to build out his brainchild. He and co-founders David Hoffman and Samir Rayani landed a slot at startup incubator Tech Stars in Boulder, Colorado, but their idea died on arrival. ''We didn't know how to build it into a big business,'' says White. ''We were almost out of money, and we wanted to switch to something'... but we didn't know what we wanted to switch to.''
  On a whim they decided to see what would happen if they started tracking streaming music. From 2 am to 8 am on June 5, 2009, they recorded the number of plays for Akon on MySpace'--and awoke to ¬nd the singer had logged half a million plays overnight, an order of magnitude more than they'd expected. That turned into a free weekly e-mail report to industry insiders; by the following summer they had an audi- ence in the tens of thousands and officially launched Next Big Sound.
  After Foundry led a seed round of just under $1 million in September 2009, White went to work on winning industry players like music consultant Mike 'Goon' McGinley, who said Next Big Sound would never work. Then White sent him numbers that showed the inefficacy of a Live Nation ad campaign run on behalf of Tom Petty, one of McGinley's clients. Goon changed his tune. White discovered this when he received a call from an irate Live Nation executive: ''How the hell did Goon get these numbers? We need to have this to be protected.''
  Later that year, Live Nation bought Next Big Sound's chief competitor, BigChampagne, for an undisclosed sum. That makes sense: Both companies offer intelligence on where an artiste's music is being played, which helps when planning tours (Jay-Z, for instance, used Spotify data to guide where to play shows in the UK.). Next Big Sound could be an attractive buyout target, too. It's already pulling in seven ¬gures annually and expects to be pro¬table by the end of 2013.
  Meanwhile, there are numbers to crunch, and the company's ranks are swelling with new hires, poached from the likes of Apple, Microsoft, William Morris, the NSA and even the New York Yankees. White remains mindful of his company's Moneyball heritage'--he took his board of directors to see the ¬lm the day it came out. ''Data has transformed industries before,'' says White. ''Music's the next one.''
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  This entry was posted on March 16, 2013 at 10:28 pm and is filed under Breaking New Talent, music Industry, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
"To My Grave I Will Owe Rand Paul A Debt Of Gratitude" Ted Cruz Speech At CPAC 2013
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  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:40
Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting Free Website
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  Archived Version
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:38
  Stock-Markets / Credit Crisis 2013Mar 16, 2013 - 11:48 AM GMTBy: Raul_I_Meijer
  Overnight last night, the Eurogroup (Eurozone executive committee) negotiated a deal for a bailout of the banking system in Cyprus. As part of the deal, a one-time, one-off levy on depositors was agreed: deposits below '‚¬100,000 are subject to a 6.75% levy, while those over '‚¬100,000 are subject to a 9.99% "fine".
  While none of the timing is surprising - late Friday, early Saturday is always the ideal time to push such measures down people's throats -, neither did it come as a surprise that a bank run ensued as soon as those few Cypriot banks that do business on Saturday mornings, opened their doors.
  This had been foreseen, of course. And so capital controls had been set up beforehand. In this case, limited deposit withdrawals and a full suspension of internet banking. The justification for all this can be found in the large amounts of Russian - allegedly black market - deposits in Cyprus. But while that may be presented as justification, it's by no means not where the potential fall-out will halt.
  After all, what's to say that what can be done to depositors in Cyprus' banks, cannot just as easily be repeated for Greek, Italian, Spanish ones? If the EU wasn't yet scared enough of Beppe Grillo and his still surging popularity, now would be a good time to start being afraid. While everyone's focus is on the Russian mob, nobody (just read the press reports today) talks about the law-abiding Cypriots who see their hard earned savings wealth forcibly taken from them. Nobody but the likes of Grillo, that is. Who said earlier this week that (northern) Europe would drop Italy like a stone once German, French and Dutch banks have shed their risky Italian assets.
  Besides, if you think the Russian deposit holders are fatally wounded right now, think again. They've seen this coming for at least 6 months, they've had all the time they need to move assets around, and, if anything, will simply use this decision to launder a lot of capital, and happily pay a 10% fee for the honor.
  Cyprus is small, and the hope is that hardly anyone will notice what happens there, or be interested. But throughout the Eurozone over the past five years, deposit guarantees have risen, in a so far pretty successful attempt to prevent bank runs. Overnight, that model has now been thrown out with the bathwater. And all of Europe should be wary of what happened. A precedent has been set, and what's good for the goose fits the gander.
  Not that German, French, Dutch depositors will lose sleep right this moment, but then that's precisely the idea. The EU core nations have so far been able to convince their citizens that they are rich and their economies recovering, and everything's under control. Moreover, the story that Russian criminals get a 10% haircut goes down well among the respectable citizenry. What happens if and when Italy or Spain need a bailout like Cyprus is not even considered. But maybe that's not so smart.
  The Cyprus bailout was ostensibly executed to "save the Eurozone''. And it was presented as a one-off. But so was Greece and its forced haircuts for investors. You can only have so many one-offs and remain credible. European economies are all still deteriorating, though admittedly there are a few choice German numbers that are not all bad. But there can be no doubt that pressure on the EU/Eurogroup to step in again in some country will arise some time soon. Will that country's depositors leave their money in the bank when that threat becomes real, or will they take it out? What would you do now the Cyprus example is in place?
  It's true that Cyprus banks are bloated with assets at 800% of GDP. That's about the same as Ireland, and everyone agrees that "something must be done". Iceland once stood at 1000%, but it's an order of magnitude smaller even than Cyprus, and not a Eurozone member, just like Malta, which presently stands at 1000%.
  The picture may change for other Europeans, however, when they realize that overall EU bank assets in 2012 were 366% of GDP, at '‚¬47.3 trillion ($61.5 trillion). And if those numbers look too abstract, here's a comparison: in 2011, US bank assets were at 74% of GDP ('‚¬8.6 trillion), and Japan's 178% ('‚¬7.1 trillion). How about that for perspective?
  Among individual member nations, bank assets vs GDP differ. France and The Netherlands clock well over 400%, Germany, Spain and Portugal over 300%, while Italy is well below 300%. That almost makes the latter look like a cautious nation, until you look at issues like government debt.
  Overall, these numbers draw an excellent picture of why it's so hard to agree on a banking union. Actually, it's merely a part of the picture, but it still speaks loud enough. That banking union will, guaranteed, even if it is at some point established, never include the UK. There, bank assets are quite a stretch over 500% of GDP, and there are estimates that put that number much higher still. There is no doubt that Britain has a hugely bloated financial sector, i.e. The City, and it has no other policies in place than to protect it, let it grow even further and increase its economic dependency on the financial sector.
  With total EU bank assets at '‚¬47.3 trillion, private sector deposits at '‚¬10.2 trillion (equal to total UK bank assets) and total deposits at '‚¬17 trillion, there's a substantial gap (or several), comprised to a considerable extent of risk-carrying assets. This risk, when combined with overall plunging economic prospects, leaves Europe with a poisonous financial mix. And as much as those involved can try to smooth-talk it all over, you can bet your donkey that for the law-abiding hard working citizens of the next rescue case, the world will be cast in the gloomy light of what happened to Cyprus on Saturday, March 16 2013.
  And they don't even yet have to know that Europe's shadow banking system adds another '‚¬17 trillion to the risk picture. They have been sufficiently warned: Brussels has laid out its true intentions on the table. Like a big red flag. In Europe, the much touted government deposit insurance itself has now become a risky asset.
  By Raul Ilargi MeijerWebsite: http://theautomaticearth.com (provides unique analysis of economics, finance, politics and social dynamics in the context of Complexity Theory)
  (C) 2013 Copyright Raul I Meijer - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.
  (C) 2005-2013 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREEDaily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.
Bankrun Cyprus na besluit reddingsplan | Economie | NU.nl
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  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:37
  In Cyprus is een run op bankrekeningen ontstaan na het akkoord dat de eurogroep heeft bereikt over een reddingsplan. Honderden mensen probeerden hun rekening leeg te halen.
  Banken hadden de actie voorzien en hebben hun systemen voor internetbankieren tijdelijk stilgelegd. Ook hebben de weinige bankfilialen die open waren, hun deuren gesloten en is er een beperking aan het bedrag dat spaarders kunnen opnemen.
  De rekeninghouders maken zich zorgen over een bepaling in het akkoord dat spaarders bij Cypriotische banken aan de redding gaan meebetalen. Ze krijgen een heffing van 9,9 procent voor hun kiezen. Voor lagere banksaldi geldt een heffing van 6,75 procent. De heffingen moeten Cyprus 5,8 miljard euro opleveren.
  Het land dreigde te bezwijken onder problemen in zijn relatief grote financile sector, onder meer door de verwevenheid met de problematische Griekse bankensector. De ministers van Financin van de 17 eurolanden zijn daarom in de nacht van vrijdag op zaterdag een leningenpakket van 10 miljard euro overeengekomen.
  Zaterdagavond komt het Cypriotische kabinet in spoedzitting bijeen om over het reddingsplan te praten. De heffing op spaartegoeden kan rekenen op forse kritiek, onder meer vanuit centrumrechtse hoek. De leider van de centrumrechtse DIKO-partij, Nikolas Papadopoulos, spreekt van ''een nachtmerrie". Hij denkt dat de regering beter een aantal banken failliet had moeten laten gaan.
  Alle berichten over de schuldencrisis in ons nieuwsdossier
  Door: ANP
More innovation means less control. Is that bad?
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  Source: Dave Winer's linkblog feed
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 17:09
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Eric Holder: Organized Crime's Man of the Year
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  Archived Version
  Source: Zero Hedge
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 17:08
  Eric Holder: Organized Crime's Man of the Year
  By George Mantor
  If I were a high level criminal, I would sleep with a life-sized blow-up doll of Eric Holder. How could I not love this man?
  When it comes to the drug war, we wouldn't even have one, and that would be very, very bad for very, very big business.
  Prohibition is good for big business. It allows for the creation of extraordinary after cost profits while keeping competitors under control.
  When you can grow your own weed or get it from your neighbor, the profit drains out of it. If you can grow Asteraceae, you can grow Cannabis. Who the hell would drop four bills for a lid of daisies?
  Money laundering? No problem if you do it on a large enough scale. Government keeps the small players out of illegal activities and collects small penalties, commissions really, for not prosecuting the big boys. That is racketeering. HSBC and Wachovia come to mind.
  Eric Holder has gone from the role to chief law enforcement officer of the people to a collector of commissions for providing protection to high level criminals.
  If you say something the government doesn't like, he will send a drone for your ass. It seems about the only punishable crimes left in America are speaking out and smoking dope.
  Last week, Eric Holder shrugged off prosecuting bankstas because he thought it might be bad for the economy. And, he did it with a straight face.
  Refusing to prosecute the largest ongoing global Ponzi scheme in all of history because it could hurt the economy? WTF? What economy? The Ponzi scheme and fiat money are the economy.
  Most frustrating of all, perhaps, is that when Holder leaves office, he'll have a lifetime lucrative job with one of the entities he refused to prosecute. It's all so blatant. Who could deny that Eric Holder is anything but a facilitator of the corporatocrocy, and certainly not a servant of the people?
  Since awards are now given for just about everything, many of them ill deserved, I advocate for awards that don't yet exist but are truly earned.
  I can see them all gathering for some Caligula like gala. The carpet could be died red with the blood of the innocent children who have been killed in Juarez alone with the guns he sold them and the border he won't protect.
  Imagine how you would revere this man, Eric Holder, if you were a Mexican drug lord, a banksta, or a smuggler.
  Journey with me into the mind of your high ranking Zeta or Sinaloa member giving the award speech. Imagine the voice of the Dos Equiis beer actor.
  ''Senors and Senoritas, Ladies and Gentleman, it gives me great pleasure to present Organized Crime's Man of The Year, Mr. Eric Holder.
  You all know him, you all appreciate him and you all owe most of your good fortune to him. Si. Si, but keep the whistling down my friends.
  We had a hard time getting automatic weapons in lawless Mexico, but you, Hombre, you delivered.
  Fast and Furious was just what we needed. And as you know, we went right to work using those guns the moment we got our hands on them.
  Then there was the problem with the dinero. We had sacks of cash piling up in basements and garages. Money had become like a burden to us. We couldn't buy much real estate or bonds, but you dug deep for us, Homey. You went back to your banksta days and went all Chicago style, and pretty soon Wachovia and HSBC are sending a fleet of armored cars, and the cash is all cleaned up. Literally and figuratively. They even made special boxes for our deposits so we could get the maximum amount of cash through the teller windows. Genius, pure genius. Awesome dedication from my brother from another mother.
  But, Dude, and this is where even us cartel guys can't keep our emotions in check. Dude, if it were not for you we would be out of business. When we lose the weed smokers in California, it's over. Fuck Colorado and Washington; nobody lives there.
  California is the prize and we lost it. With those legally compliant, compassionate care cooperatives working so well, we were really taking it in the cajones. Not only were we losing customers, but they were selling high quality organic bud for less than our toxic ditch weed. We were fucked, man.
  Then you stepped up your game and brought your posse down hard on those law abiding citizens. That ten year sentence pretty much ended the competition in Cali.
  So, on behalf of the Academy of High Level Organized Crime, I Honor you, Mr. Eric Holder, for all of your efforts in aiding and abetting crime at the highest level.''
  Our justice department has been sold out. They are now the enemy of the people.
  If any person is too big to prosecute then your justice system is a sham, a lie, a farce, a joke, a bastardization of all that America used to stand for. Ultimately, it becomes a tool to enforce the will of fascists.
  My grandfather, W. H. Mantor was a sheriff, a lawyer, and a judge in Crow Wing County, MN.
  My father worked in the City Attorney's office and had a private practice in St. Paul. Several of my friends have worked in law enforcement. I used to have respect for an institution that existed to make certain that the rights of every citizen would be protected.
  I can only describe what I am witnessing as personally heartbreaking. I had such respect for the institution of law and its ideals.
  And all the while, the erosion of basic legal equity has been brought about by a lap dog media that hides the truth and takes its cut of the illegal profits.
  They are the public relations arm of large scale crime. They have worked to convince people that safety is more important than liberty; poor people caused the banking collapse and that relief from pain is more important than justice.
  Recently, I stumbled upon an excellent example of this kind of reporting in the Orlando Sentinel under the byline, Beth Kassab, Local News Columnist.
  However, the story isn't local and it isn't news, and it appears to be lifted right from the public relation's handbook of the financial services industry.
  It begins with a tepid admission of vague wrongdoing in illegally foreclosing on millions of Americans.
  ''And nobody held accountable. Dispicable.'' She says.
  Then she goes on to dismiss those of us arguing for justice with the following. ''Some consumer advocates will argue it's the banks, not the homeowners who are holding up the court process in the first place. It's true'...''
  She then offers that same old often disproved bullshit. ''Banks have been so overwhelmed by the number of homes they have to repossess that they just can't get through them fast enough.''
  Funny'....they didn't have that problem with all the paperwork required to make ten times the number of loans they are now foreclosing on. It's a big fat lie and Beth Kassab is a big fat liar further encouraging forgiveness for high level criminals.
  As all but bank compensated shills now admit, the problem in foreclosing is that the parties attempting to steal American's homes are having trouble complying with the law because they are fraudsters with no skin ion the game and no means other than forgery to prove a claim.
  There have been admissions of dual tracking and robo-signing, settlements, and consent decrees that all go to the heart of a massive global fraud, and we should simply ignore it until it's finished. But, it will never be finished if we do not stop organized crime from stealing the property of American Citizens.
  Beth Kassab isn't a news reporter; she's a propagandist flouting a dangerous lie. This should be labeled an editorial, but she takes broad licenses with this little lead in to a lie, ''But here's the reality: Prolonging the foreclosure crisis is simply drawing out Florida's pain.''
  That isn't reality; that is her opinion, an opinion refuted by virtually all of the research.
  Neighborhoods certainly are not spared the pain.
  According to a recent study from the Center for Responsible Lending, neighbors of foreclosed homes, more than half from African-American and Latino homeowners, will lose a total of $1.95 trillion in property value.
  The report, ''Collateral Damage: The Spillover Costs of Foreclosures,'' updates CRL's research on the economic harm that homeowners suffer by living near foreclosed properties. But, it doesn't stop there. Without an improvement in employment, the buyers of foreclosed properties do not exist in numbers large enough to absorb them all.
  As a result, entire communities suffer the loss of property tax revenues and the hazards associated with vacant homes. Then there is the burden of newly homeless families to cover.
  Being able to foreclose illegally prohibits and consideration of means to avoid foreclosure. We now know that many of the people who were foreclosed on never missed a payment but were targeted for one of many servicing frauds including force placed insurance, modification dual tracking, property tax/escrow scams, and others.
  By stating her opinion as reality, she attempts to convince the reader that letting a banksta steal a property more quickly and with less judicial oversight is good for the community.
  Foreclosures are bad, not good. No one wins and neighborhoods don't improve by speeding foreclosures as is suggested here; they are badly damaged.
  According to the Palm Beach Post, Florida's foreclosure rate is three times the national average. How much faster do we need to go before things improve? Orlando is actually number two in the entire nation for foreclosures. How many more do you want?
  The point of the article is to encourage passage of banksta- backed ''speed the illegal foreclosures bill'', HB 87, she closes with this:
  ''It's not justice. But it might help us work through the hurt more quickly.''
  So her argument is basically screw justice just speed up the crimes.
  Sort of give them more hurt, faster.
  And my counter would be let's have justice no matter how slow or how inconvenient, and by-pass the unnecessary hurt altogether.
  If you live in Florida, you best vote NO on HB 87 because it is just another way to transfer the wealth upward with the help of the justice department, law makers, and the media. Whatever you do, don't let them sell you on the idea that the cost of justice is too expensive.
  In the meantime, vote here on whether Eric Holder should be ''organized crime's man of the year''. Or nominate your own favorite. It's time to start calling people out.
  Justice is the essence of freedom. It is either fair, consistent, and available to everyone or you do not have a free country. The dream is slipping away. Beth Kassab, how could you sell out your children for so little?
  Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 5(4 votes)
To prohibit the payment of surcharges for commemorative coin programs to private organizations or entities, and for other purposes. (H.R. 1218) - GovTrack.us
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To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the World War II members of the ''Doolittle Tokyo Raiders'', for outstanding heroism, valor, skill, and service to the United States in conducting the bombings of Tokyo. (H.R. 1209) - GovTrack.us
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  No summary available.
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Doolittle Tokyo Raiders - Official Web Site of the Raiders
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  The Official Website ofThe Doolittle Tokyo Raiders
  It is with a heavy heart and great sadness to announce the passing of
  Major Thomas C. GriffinNavigator, Crew 9July 10, 1916 ~ February 26, 2013Age 96
  Visit his Personal Page HERE
  There are now 4 surviving Doolittle Raiders
  The 71st Doolittle Raiders Reunionwill be held inFort Walton Beach FloridaApril 17th thru 21st, 2013
  for details visit
  www.DoolittleReunion.comorwww.fwbchamber.org
  There are 5 Surviving Doolittle Raiders
  Visit the Bulletin Board/Forum about the Doolittle Raiders!
  This web site is dedicated to my father, Richard Outcalt Joyce and the other 79 Brave Men whom were in the Doolittle Tokyo Raid. My father was the Pilot of plane #10 which took off of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet on a secret mission to bomb Japan Mainland for the first time in history. This site is also a tribute to all the service personnel who helped these 80 men including reserve crews, Navy personnel on the Task Force, and also to all who have helped with the Reunions each year including the Escorts, the entire Air Force and each years Sponsor for the Reunions. Finally I would like to extend a big thanks to Tom and Catherine Casey, The Doolittle Raiders Business manager and managers manager respectively, and all the Doolittle Raider Family Members and Widows. - This is the new Official Doolittle Raider Web Site!
  The Raid was a total secret to all involved and the members of the raid were chosen by volunteering for a "dangerous secret mission". The members did not know the target destination until the planes were loaded on the ship and the raid was underway. This was to prevent any "leakage" of information about the raid. 16 B-25 twin engine bombers were to take off from the deck of the Aircraft Carrier USS Hornet and bomb Japan mainland. This would be the first attack on Japan mainland of WW2. Because the airplanes were too large to be taken below deck on the aircraft carrier they had to be stored at the end of the runway on top. As a result the runway was very short, especially for the first plane in line, and special training was required to teach the pilots to be able to take off in such a short distance with a full payload.April 18, 1942 - About 600 miles from Japan mainland a small fishing boat was spotted and destroyed and General Doolittle felt that this small boat may have warned Japan that there is a big ass US Aircraft Carrier just outside of town... So Jimmy Doolittle ordered the raid to proceed immediately. As a result of the early take-off the planes would be short on fuel to reach the "Safe Zones" in nearby China despite desperate measures taken to prepare the planes in advance by engineers to give them the maximum amount of fuel storage space available including removing the tail gunner section and installing broomsticks painted like machine guns and placing a rubber fuel tank in the tail section, carrying ten 5 gallon gas cans for manual fuel addition during flight to a tank installed where the lower gun turret was, and a larger tank located in the bomb bay. Total fuel payload was 1,141 Gallons for a 2000 mile range.Due to the possibility of detection by the small boat the raid was ordered to proceed ahead of schedule and aircraft takeoff was to begin immediately. The planes now had about enough fuel to successfully reach the landing zones - if they flew straight to them without errors in navigation or using evasive maneuvers. All 16 B-25's successfully took off from the Carrier and bombed their targets. Most planes encountered anti-aircraft fire and some encountered enemy interception in the air. All of the airplanes except one either crash landed or the crew bailed out. The plane that did land, landed in Russia and the crew were internees. After being held captive with liberal freedoms available an escape attempt was executed to Iran and British Consul helped the men back to the US on May 29, 1943 - Over a year after the raid.My father was the Pilot of Plane #10 40-2250. His plane encountered enemy aircraft during the raid and the turret gunner believes one fighter was hit but does not believe it was shot down. He endured heavy anti-aircraft fire resulting in a large hole in the fuselage of the plane. He bombed a Steel Mill in Tokyo successfully. His crew and himself bailed out of the plane about 30 miles north of Chuchow China.My father was the last one to bail out of the plane as he wanted to make sure the plane did not circle around and injure any of his crew. When he did finally bail out his .45 Automatic pistol was ripped from his holster when his parachute opened rendering him weaponless. It was almost dark when he bailed out and could not see the ground due to the darkness. He could hear his airplane circling below him and he was scared the plane would hit him but it never did. The parachutes used in 1942 were made of silk and was about the equivalent of using an umbrella to soften your landing. He explained to me that he hit the ground without warning on the side of a steep mountain and was surprised that the landing didn't seriously hurt him or even worse. He lit a cigarette after he was back on land and when he was finished with it he flicked it and it just kept going down and down and down so he decided to stay put until daylight for his own safety.The B-25 raid on Japan has gone down in the annals of World War II as a classic example of the courage and ingenuity of American airmen in combat. Led by the incomparable Jimmy Doolittle, the raid came at a time when the Japanese were advancing steadily across the Pacific. Guam, Wake, Hong Kong, and Singapore had fallen. In the Philippines, General Wainwright and the remnants of his force were making a brave but hopeless last stand on the Corregidor.
  The appearance of 16 B-25s over Japan on April 18, 1942, lifted the gloom that had descended upon America and her Pacific allies. The bomb damage that resulted was not great, compared with that inflicted later in the war, but the raid had some far-reaching effects. The Japanese wee forced to retain fighter units for the defense of the home islands which had been intended for the Solomons, and they felt compelled to expand their Pacific perimeter beyond the area where it could be defended adequately. The full impact of the raid on the minds of the Japanese military leaders and its consequent influence on the course of the war in the Pacific were not realized until long after that conflict.
  For American and her allies the raid was a badly needed morale booster. Besides being the first offensive air action undertaken against the Japanese home islands, the Tokyo raid accomplished some other "firsts" that augured well for the future. It was the first war action in which the United States Army Air Force and the United States Navy teamed up in a full-scale operation against the enemy. The Doolittle Raiders were the first and last to fly land-based bombers from a carrier deck on a combat mission and first to use new cruise control techniques in attacking a distant target. The incendiary bombs they carried were the forerunner to those used later in the war. The special camera recording apparatus developed at Colonel Doolittle's request was adopted by the AAF and the crew recommendations concerning armament, tactics and equipment were used as the basis for later improvements.
  It was twenty-six months before American bombers went back to Japan. During those months of bitter fighting, America was slowly building her land, sea and air forces and with them driving the enemy, island by island, back across the Pacific. In 1944 and 1945 mighty fleets of B-29s penetrated the skies over Japan and finished the job begun by Jimmy Doolittle and the Tokyo Raiders in April of 1942.
  Facts about the Doolittle Tokyo Raid:
  80 men took part in the raid. Five men each in sixteen planes.
  10,000 Navy personnel in the Task Force that launched planes.
  One man killed on bail-out after mission, Leland D. Faktor, 17003211, Corporal. He was buried by Rev. John M. Birch after whom the John Birch Society was later named.
  Two men from Crew #6 drowned as a result of crash landing in the water off China coast.Donald E. Fitzmaurice, 17004360, SergeantWilliam J. Dieter, 6565763, Staff Sergeant
  Eight men captured by the Japanese - Hallmark, Meder, Nielsen, Farrow, Hite, Barr, Spatz, and DeShazerThree executed by firing squad - Hallmark, Farrow, and SpatzOne died of beri-beri and malnutrition while in prison - MederFour survived 40 months of prison, most of which was in solitary confinement. -
  Following the Tokyo Raid, the crews of two planes were missing. On August 15, 1942. it was learned from the Swiss Consulate General in Shanghai that eight American flyers were prisoners of the Japanese at Police Headquarters in that city.On October 19, 1942, the Japanese broadcast that they had tried two crews of the Tokyo Raid and had sentenced them to death, but that a larger number of them had received commutation of their sentences to life imprisonment and a lesser number had been executed. No names or facts were given.
  After the war, the facts were uncovered in a War Crimes Trial held at Shanghai which opened in February 1946 to try four Japanese officers for mistreatment of the eight POWs of the Tokyo Raid. Two of the original ten men, Dieter and Fitzmaurice, had died when their B-25 ditched off the coast of China. The other eight, Hallmark, Meder, Nielsen, Farrow, Hite, Barr, Spatz, and DeShazer were captured. In addition to being tortured, they contracted dysentery and beri-beri as a result of the deplorable conditions under which they were confined.
  On August 28, 1942, Hallmark, Farrow, and Spatz were given a "trial" by Japanese officers, although they were never told the charges against them. On October 14, 1942, Hallmark, Farrow, and Spatz were advised they were to be executed the next day. At 4:30 p.m. on October 15, 1942 the three Americans were brought by truck to Public Cemetery No. 1 outside Shanghai. In accordance with proper ceremonial procedures of the Japanese military, they were then shot.
  The other five men remained in military confinement on a starvation diet, their health rapidly deteriorating. In April 1943, they were moved to Nanking and on December 1, 1943, Meder died. The other four men began to receive a slight improvement in their treatment and by sheer determination and the comfort they received from a lone copy of the Bible, they survived to August 1945 when they were freed. The four Japanese officers tried for their war crimes against the eight Tokyo Raiders were found guilty. Three were sentenced to hard labor for five years and the fourth to a nine year sentence.
  Five Raiders have become Generals.James H. DoolittleJohn A. HilgerDavid M. JonesEverett W. HolstromRichard A. KnoblochThey were all pilots on Doolittle Raid except Knobloch, who was a Co-pilot.
  Most raiders flew additional combat missions after Tokyo Raid.
  Four raiders became POW's of the Germans later on in the war.
  Thirteen raiders died later during WWII, most in action against the enemy.
  All 80 raiders received the Distinguished Flying Cross for this mission. Those imprisoned and tortured were also awarded the Purple Heart. Two raiders received the Silver Star for gallantry in the line of duty, Dr. Thomas R. White and David Thatcher. All raiders received decorations from the Chinese Government. General Doolittle received the Medal of Honor from President Roosevelt.
  Thirteen raiders were born in Texas.Tied for second is Massachusetts and Oregon with 5 each.California and New York next with four each.
  Thirty Five states can claim Tokyo Raiders as the place of birth, including Hawaii.
  There was one physician, Dr. Thomas R. White, on the raid. He flew as a Gunner in order to go on the raid. He was one of the two raiders to receive the the Silver Star for Gallantry in the line of duty for saving the life of Lieutenant Ted Lawson by amputating his leg shortly after the bail out and donated some of his own blood by transfusion.
  Two men have been named "Honorary Tokyo Raiders".Lieutenant Henry L. Miller, USN. He supervised the take-off training of the Doolittle Group at Eglin Field, Florida and accompanied them to the take-off point on the Carrier USS Hornet.Tung Sheng Liu, a Chinese engineer who helped a number of Tokyo Raiders escape to safety.
  Two Navy men lost their lives after the carrier Hornet launched the Doolittle Raiders. A plane from the Hornet ran out of gas while on a patrol mission and ditched in the sea. Another plane was lost due to enemy action.One USN sailor lost his arm in a propeller while the last plane from the Tokyo Raiders group was being moved into position on the flight deck.
  Five Japanese sailors from the picket boat which was sunk were taken prisoner by the Navy while the planes were being launched.
  The Tokyo raiders were not the first men to ever take a land-based bomber off an aircraft carrier. Two Army Air Forces pilots took two B-25's off the Hornet's deck on February 2, 1942 to see if it could be done. Neither of these two pilots were on the Doolittle Raid.
  The idea of having land-based planes take off from a carrier was first thought of by General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold in connection with the landings in North Africa.The idea of the Tokyo Raid using land-based bombers belongs to Admiral Francis S. Low, a submariner on the staff of Admiral Ernest S. King.
  Jimmy Doolittle had never been a Captain or a Colonel. He resigned his regular commission as a 1st Lieutenant in 1930 and left active duty. He was given Reserve commission as a Major. He was recalled to active duty at his own request in 1940 as a Major. He was a Lieutenant Colonel at the time of the Tokyo Raid. He was promoted to Brigadier General after the raid, skipping the rank of Colonel. He retired as a Lieutenant General, Air Force Reserve - the only Reserve officer to ever retire in that rank. He gave 1/2 of his reserve retired pay to Air Force Aid Society and the other 1/2 to the Air Force Academy Foundation. Doolittle was promoted to full general in 1985 by special act of Congress.
  The section titled "The First Joint Action" has a very detailed account of the preparations and the procedures involved with the Doolittle Raid.
  Be sure to visit the various sections of this web site listed at the left. If you have anything you would like to contribute to this web site please be sure to email me.
  Please be sure to visit the FORUM area for questions and answers you might have. Enjoy!
  A rare signature of Doolittle using only "Jim" for the first name
  Doolittle Raiders on FACEBOOK
To amend section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly known as the Freedom of Information Act), to provide for greater public access to information, and for other purposes. (H.R. 1211) - GovTrack.us
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To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to replace the mortgage interest deduction with a nonrefundable credit for indebtedness secured by a residence, to provide affordable housing to extremely low-income families, and for other purposes. (H.R. 1213)
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CIA COUP IN CYPRUS?
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  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 16:57
  The British military in Cyprus. wax-tablets.blogspot.com. Currently, the UK has military bases on Cyprus, at Akrotiri and Dhekelia. Has the CIA just arranged a coup in Greek Cyprus?Will Greek Cyprus now join NATO?The newspaper Scotland on Sunday reported 16/9/ 2001 that Osama bin Laden made his fortune in part by working with Jewish-Russian mafia operations in Cyprus. www.docstoc.com ...MOSSAD AND MURDER IN CYPRUS"Large Russian communities are emerging in ... Cyprus where there are Russian shops and services on offer." In 2010, a court in Cyprus granted bail to a Russian, accused of spying in the US, giving him the opportunity to escape.Europe's most alluring spots become a playground for the new rich ...
  Demetris Christofias was the communist president of Cyprus from 2008 until February 2013.Greek Cyprus has been seen as 'anti-NATO'.Now that its economy has been undermined, and there is a new government, that may change.Cyprus was divided into Greek and Turkish Cyprus, under a plan reportedly designed by Henry Kissinger. NATO GENERAL CONFESSES TO FALSE FLAG OP.Cyprus's banks were badly exposed to Greece.Many of the customers of the Greek Cypriot banks are alleged to be Jewish Russian Mafia.The deal involves a levy (tax) on bank deposits.This "might unnerve bank customers in other countries in difficulty."People with less than 100,000 euros in Cypriot bank accounts will have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75%.
  Those with more will have to pay 9.9%. Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, of the US-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, said: "There is a general political sentiment that it is not acceptable to be bailing out a country, and thereby putting European taxpayers' money at risk, to basically protect Russian depositors in Cypriot banks."1. Russians have deposited millions of dollars in Cyprus "in what local bankers suspect has been a giant scheme to launder the profits of covert Middle East arms sales and the proceeds of Moscow's mafia."2. Russians have been buying several million dollars' worth of property around the coastal city of Limassol.
  3. "One Russian, who openly identified himself as an arms-trader, was staying at a Limassol hotel last week, departing and arriving in a chauffeur- driven limousine. "A Limassol banker said that he believed two former Russian army generals were among those who had made substantial cash deposits locally."Nicos Anastasiades, the new President of Cyprus. reutersIn 2012, The Guardian reported:
  "So many Russians now live in Limassol ... that the resort has been dubbed 'Limassolgrad'.
  "On Sundays Russians flock to Debenhams; the resort's tourist strip features stores selling fur coats, kefir '' a sour Russian yoghurt drink, and Baltika, Russia's popular beer."And then there are Limassol's teeming bars and clubs.
  "There is a seamy eastern dimension, with Ukrainian, Belarussian and Moldovan prostitutes working the beachside drinking spots.Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, reportedly arranged by Kissinger, wrecked the economy of Turkish Cyprus. Around 50% of the Turkish Cypriots have now left Cyprus."Cyprus's Russian-speaking population is put at 35,000-40,000...
  "Vast amounts of Russian money are stashed offshore in Cyprus."More than 25% of bank deposits and about one-third of foreign investments come from Russia..."The Cypriot authorities ... point out that Russians invest more cash in Austria and the UK...
  "Cyprus is of strategic importance because of its proximity to the Middle East..."Russia is involved in running a huge weapons trade via Cyprus to the countries of the Middle East, particularly to Syria, Lebanon, Iran and Iran '' and even to China and India, some Russian sources allege."
New Pentagon Head Announces Plans To Beef Up Missile Defense On U.S. West Coast
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"That's Worth Applauding! I SAID APPLAUD!" President Obama On American Energy
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"Only Way To Break This Cycle Of Spiking Gas Prices Is To Shift Our Cars & Trucks Off Oil For Good"
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Federal Judge Finds National Security Letters Unconstitutional And Bans Them!
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Is US Is Beefing Up Missile Defense Is Because North Korea Is More Capable Than We've Been Told?
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Federal Register | Application for Final Commitment for a Long-Term Loan or Financial Guarantee in Excess of $100 Million: AP085996XX
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  This Notice is to inform the public, in accordance with Section 3(c)(10) of the Charter of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (''Ex-Im Bank''), that Ex-Im Bank has received an application for final commitment for a long-term loan or financial guarantee in excess of $100 million (as calculated in accordance with Section 3(c)(10) of the Charter). Comments received within the comment period specified below will be presented to the Ex-Im Bank Board of Directors prior to final action on this Transaction.
  Reference: AP085996XX.
  Brief description of the purpose of the transaction:
  To support the export of General Electric turbines to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
  Brief non-proprietary description of the anticipated use of the items being exported:
  To be used expand a power plant to support an expansion of an aluminum smelter in UAE.
  To the extent that Ex-Im Bank is reasonably aware, the item(s) being exported may be used to produce exports or provide services in competition with the exportation of goods or provision of services by a United States industry.
  Principal Supplier: General Electric.
  Obligor: Emirates Aluminium Company Limited PJSC.
  Guarantor(s): Mubadala Development Company PJSC, Dubai Aluminium Company PJSC.
  General Electric Turbines and associated equipment.
  Information on Decision: Information on the final decision for this transaction will be available in the ''Summary Minutes of Meetings of Board of Directors'' on http://www.exim.gov/newsandevents/boardmeetings/board/.
  Confidential Information: Please note that this notice does not include confidential or proprietary business information; information which, if disclosed, would violate the Trade Secrets Act; or information which would jeopardize jobs in the United States by supplying information that competitors could use to compete with companies in the United States.
  Comments must be received on or before April 12, 2013 to be assured of consideration before final consideration of the transaction by the Board of Directors of Ex-Im Bank.
  Comments may be submitted through Regulations.gov at www.regulations.gov. To submit a comment, enter EIB-2013-0021 under the heading ''Enter Keyword or ID'' and select Search. Follow the instructions provided at the Submit a Comment screen. Please include your name, company name (if any) EIB-2013-0021 on any attached document.
  Sharon A. Whitt,
  Records Clearance Officer.
  [FR Doc. 2013-06053 Filed 3-15-13; 8:45 am]
  BILLING CODE 6690-01-P
Federal Register | Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Chemical-Terrorism Vulnerability Information (CVI)
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 12:30
  30 Day Notice And Request For Comments; Extension Of Information Collection Request: 1670 0015.
  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), Office of Infrastructure Protection (IP), Infrastructure Security Compliance Division (ISCD) will submit the following Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). The Department previously published this ICR in the Federal Register on December 17, 2012, for a 60-day public comment period.1 In this notice, NPPD is responding to one relevant comment that was responsive to different notice, also published in the Federal Register on December 17, 2012 that solicited comments on a related Information Collection Request.2 This notice is also soliciting comments concerning the Information Collection Request, Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information (CVI) for an additional 30 days for public comments.
  1 See77 FR 74685. The 60-day Federal Register notice for IC 1670-0015 which solicited comments for 60 days may be found at https://federalregister.gov/a/2012-30316.
  2The comment was submitted under docket # DHS-2012-0059 and provided comment not only on this information collection request (i.e., 1670-0015), but also on ICR 1670-0007 and ICR 1670-0014. The comment may be viewed at http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=DHS-2012-0059-0002.
  Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until April 17, 2013. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.10.
  Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on the proposed information collection to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB. Comments should be addressed to OMB Desk Officer, Department of Homeland Security, National Protection and Programs Directorate. Comments must be identified by docket number DHS-2012-0057 and may be submitted by one of the following methods:
  '—‹Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov.
  '—‹Email: oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. Include the docket number in the subject line of the message.
  '—‹Fax: (202) 395-5806.
  Instructions: All submissions received must include the words ''Department of Homeland Security'' and the docket number for this action. Comments received will be posted without alteration at http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. Comments that include trade secrets, confidential commercial or financial information, CVI, Sensitive Security Information (SSI), or Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) should not be submitted to the public regulatory docket. Please submit such comments separately from other comments in response to this notice. Comments containing trade secrets, confidential commercial or financial information, CVI, SSI, or PCII should be appropriately marked and submitted by mail to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB. Comments should be addressed to OMB Desk Officer, Department of Homeland Security, National Protection and Programs Directorate. Comments must be identified by docket number DHS-2012-0057.
  OMB is particularly interested in comments that:
  1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;
  2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
  3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and
  4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submissions of responses.
  CFATS Program Manager, DHS/NPPD/IP/ISCD, CFATS@hq.dhs.gov.
  Section 550 of the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2007, Public Law 109-295, provides DHS with the authority to regulate the security of high-risk chemical facilities. On April 9, 2007, the Department issued an Interim Final Rule (IFR), implementing this statutory mandate at 72 FR 17688. Section 550 of the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2007 requires a risk-based approach to security.
  CFATS is the Department's regulations under Section 550 governing security at high-risk chemical facilities. See6 CFR part 27. CFATS represents a national-level effort to minimize terrorism risk to such facilities. Its design and implementation balance maintaining economic vitality with securing facilities and their surrounding communities. In collaboration with the private sector and other stakeholders, the Department designed the regulations to take advantage of protective measures already in place and to allow facilities to employ a wide range of tailored measures to satisfy the regulations' Risk-Based Performance Standards.
  In 6 CFR 27.400, CFATS also establishes the requirements that covered persons must follow to safeguard certain documents and other information developed under the regulations. This information is identified as ''Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information'' (CVI) and by law receives protection from public disclosure and misuse. The instruments within this collection will be used to manage the CVI program in support of CFATS.
  Response to Comment Submitted During 60-Day Comment Period: The Department received a comment suggesting that in the 60-day notice, the Department incorrectly calculated the burden estimates associated with the instrument ''Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information Tracking Log.'' The commenter assumed that the number of responses per respondent for this instrument was one. In fact, the Department estimated in the current Information Collection, which expires on March 31, 2013, that each respondent will on average respond 12 times. This assumption was carried over into the burden estimates used by the Department in the 60-day notice but not made explicit. The total annual burden for this instrument is calculated as follows [0.0833 hours (five minutes) — 30,000 respondents — 12 responses per respondent], which equals 29,988 hours. The rounded estimate is 30,000 hours. The Department did not revise the burden estimates for this instrument.
  Therefore, for this instrument and the other instruments in this 30-day notice the Department will continue to rely on the analysis and resulting burden estimates in the 60-day notice.
  Agency: Department of Homeland Security, National Protection and Programs Directorate, Office of Infrastructure Protection, Infrastructure Security Compliance Division.
  Title: Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information (CVI).
  OMB Number: 1670-0015.
  Instrument: Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information Authorization.
  Frequency: On occasion.
  Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
  Number of Respondents: 30,000 respondents (rounded estimate).
  Estimated Time per Respondent: One hour.
  Total Burden Hours: 30,000 annual burden hours.
  Total Burden Cost (capital/startup):$0.
  Total Recordkeeping Burden:$0.
  Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining):$2,580,000.
  Instrument: Determination of Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information (CVI).
  Frequency: On occasion.
  Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
  Number of Respondents: 300 respondents (rounded estimate).
  Estimated Time per Respondent: 0.25 hours.
  Total Burden Hours: 75 annual burden hours.
  Total Burden Cost (capital/startup):$0.
  Total Recordkeeping Burden:$0.
  Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining):$6,450.
  Instrument: Determination of a ''Need to Know'' by a Public Official.
  Frequency: On occasion.
  Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
  Number of Respondents: 14,200 respondents (rounded estimate).
  Estimated Time per Respondent: 0.25 hours.
  Total Burden Hours: 3,550 annual burden hours.
  Total Burden Cost (capital/startup):$0.
  Total Recordkeeping Burden:$0.
  Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining):$305,300.
  Instrument: Disclosure of Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information (CVI) Information.
  Frequency: On occasion.
  Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
  Number of Respondents: 300 respondents (rounded estimate).
  Estimated Time per Respondent: 0.25 hours.
  Total Burden Hours: 75 annual burden hours.
  Total Burden Cost (capital/startup):$0.
  Total Recordkeeping Burden:$0.
  Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining):$6,450.
  Instrument: Notification of Emergency or Exigent Circumstances.
  Frequency: On occasion.
  Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
  Number of Respondents: 300 respondents (rounded estimate).
  Estimated Time per Respondent: 0.25 hours.
  Total Burden Hours: 75 annual burden hours.
  Total Burden Cost (capital/startup):$0.
  Total Recordkeeping Burden:$0.
  Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining):$6,450.
  Instrument: Tracking Log for Chemical-terrorism Vulnerability Information (CVI) Received.
  Frequency: On occasion.
  Affected Public: Business or other for-profit.
  Number of Respondents: 30,000 respondents (rounded estimate).
  Estimated Time per Respondent: 0.0833 hours (5 minutes).
  Total Burden Hours: 30,000 annual burden hours.
  Total Burden Cost (capital/startup):$0.
  Total Recordkeeping Burden:$0.
  Total Burden Cost (operating/maintaining):$2,580,000.
  Dated: March 11, 2013.
  Michael Butcher,
  Acting Chief Information Officer, National Protection and Programs Directorate, Department of Homeland Security.
  [FR Doc. 2013-06096 Filed 3-15-13; 8:45 am]
  BILLING CODE 9110-9P-P
Federal Register | Application for Final Commitment for a Long-Term Loan or Financial Guarantee in Excess of $100 Million: AP087858XX
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 12:35
  This Notice is to inform the public, in accordance with Section 3(c)(10) of the Charter of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (''Ex-Im Bank''), that Ex-Im Bank has received an application for final commitment for a long-term loan or financial guarantee in excess of $100 million (as calculated in accordance with Section 3(c)(10) of the Charter). Comments received within the comment period specified below will be presented to the Ex-Im Bank Board of Directors prior to final action on this Transaction.
  Reference: AP087858XX.
  Brief description of the purpose of the transaction:
  To support the export of U.S.-manufactured aircraft to Kuwait.
  Brief non-proprietary description of the anticipated use of the items being exported:
  To be used for long-haul passenger service between Indonesia and destinations in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
  To the extent that Ex-Im Bank is reasonably aware, the item(s) being exported are not expected to be used to produce exports or provide services in competition with the exportation of goods or provision of services by a United States industry.
  Principal Supplier: The Boeing Company.
  Obligor: ALAFCO Aviation Lease and Finance Company KSCC.
  Guarantor(s): N/A.
  Boeing 777 aircraft.
  Information on Decision: Information on the final decision for this transaction will be available in the ''Summary Minutes of Meetings of Board of Directors'' on http://www.exim.gov/newsandevents/boardmeetings/board/.
  Confidential Information: Please note that this notice does not include confidential or proprietary business information; information which, if disclosed, would violate the Trade Secrets Act; or information which would jeopardize jobs in the United States by supplying information that competitors could use to compete with companies in the United States.
  Comments must be received on or before April 12, 2013 to be assured of consideration before final consideration of the transaction by the Board of Directors of Ex-Im Bank.
  Comments may be submitted through Regulations.gov at www.regulations.gov. To submit a comment, enter EIB-2013-0023 under the heading ''Enter Keyword or ID'' and select Search. Follow the instructions provided at the Submit a Comment screen. Please include your name, company name (if any) and EIB-2013-0023 on any attached document.
  Sharon A. Whitt,
  Records Clearance Officer.
  [FR Doc. 2013-06052 Filed 3-15-13; 8:45 am]
  BILLING CODE 6690-01-P
odroid-x Ubuntu12
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 16:20
  A few days ago, Hardkernel released the first version of Ubuntu 12.11 (Linaro) with Mali-400 GPU support for their ODROID boards (ODROID-X/X2, ODROID-U/U2). This is still WIP (Work in Progress), but this is one of the few boards together with Pandaboard, Origen and Snowball that can support 2D/3D GPU acceleration in Ubuntu Quantal. Since I have an ODROID-X development board, I decided to give it a try. There are different ways to install it. I chose the way that is most convenient for me (LCD display instead of HDMI), and likely to yield more performance (eMMC instead of SD Card). The current installation instructions to eMMC are extremely cumbersome and you have to go through 5 main steps:
  Install Android (yes, seriously) in the eMMCInstall Ubuntu in the SD CardInstall Ubuntu to the eMMCUpgrade Ubuntu to the latest versionInstall the Mali driversIn this post I'm going to go through all those steps, and do some testing for eMMC and 2D/3D performance. If you just want to boot Ubuntu from SD, simply skip steps 1 and 3. For eMMC installation, I followed the ''eMMC Ubuntu'' guide on odroid forums, as well as the instructions on the release post to install Mali drivers, and enable 2D/3D acceleration in Ubuntu. Similar instructions are also available for ODROID-X2 and ODROID-U2.
  You'll need an 8GB SD Card or greater to complete all the steps.
  Installing Android to ODROID-XInsert the SD card in a Linux PC, and find your SD card device:sudo blkid/dev/sda1: UUID="9c042788-fa75-4fc4-9b12-598c809410e8" TYPE="ext4"/dev/sda5: UUID="fa4d6d7d-311a-4570-a498-96394b828e01" TYPE="swap"/dev/sdb1: LABEL="SEAGATE EXTENSION" UUID="C0588ADB588AD018" TYPE="ntfs"/dev/sdc: LABEL="Ubuntu_ODROID-X" UUID="f04f2d56-86a6-44ad-9b63-854714ab78fd" TYPE="ext4"Download & extract the Android Installer, and write it to your SD card with dd or dd.sh script:wget http://dn.odroid.com/Android_Alpha_4.0.2/x/emmc_installer_for_odroidx.zipunzip emmc_installer_for_odroidx.zipsudo dd.sh if=emmc_installer_for_odroidx.img of=/dev/sdcIf you use Windows, do it with Win32DiskImager. Back in the times when I still used Windows and Win32DiskImager, I never had problems myself, but some people apparently have, and Hardkernel released an improved version of Win32DiskImager to verify the copy.
  Then insert the SD card in your ODroid-X board, connect a Jumper on SD/MMC connector (JP2) to boot from SD card, and install the latest version of Android. During installation I had no display on the 10'" LCD display, and the board simply powered itself off after a while. Not sure this is normal, but after removing the Jumper, I could boot to Android (3-Jan-2013 build) from the eMMC.
  Installing Ubuntu 12.11 for ODROID-X to the SD cardNow take the SD card back to your Linux computer to copy the Ubuntu image:
  wget http://dn.odroid.com/Ubuntu_X/20130128/odroidx_20130128-linaro-ubuntu-desktop_SD_with_LCD.img.xzwget http://dn.odroid.com/Ubuntu_X/20130128/odroidx_20130128-linaro-ubuntu-desktop_SD_with_HDMI.img.xzI'll carry on with the LCD image since this is what I use, but the step for HDMI are the same, just replace the filename:
  7z x odroidx_20130128-linaro-ubuntu-desktop_SD_with_LCD.img.xzsudo dd.sh if=odroidx_20130128-linaro-ubuntu-desktop_SD_with_LCD.img of=/dev/sdcInset the SD card in ODroid-X board, insert the Jumper in JP2 to boot from SD card to verify Ubuntu 12.10 boots correctly.
  Install Ubuntu to ODROID-X eMMC ModuleOnce you've verified Ubuntu boots correctly from the SD Card, put the SD card back in your PC and copy odroidx_20130128-linaro-ubuntu-desktop_SD_with_LCD.img.xz to the rootfs. In my PC running Ubuntu 12.04, it will automount it to /media/rootfs:
  sudo cp odroidx_20130128-linaro-ubuntu-desktop_SD_with_LCD.img.xz /media/rootfsumount /media/rootfsOnce umount is successfully (which means the data is fully written to the SD card), you can insert it back into your ODroid-X board to install Ubuntu 12.10 to your eMMC. First locate your eMMC device with:
  ls /dev/mmcblk*The eMMC is the device with with boot0/boot1, as well as p1/p2/p3/p4. In my case, it's mmcblk0. Once you know this, copy Ubuntu to the eMMC by using the following command in a terminal:
  sudo xzcat /odroidx_20130128-linaro-ubuntu-desktop_SD_with_LCD.img.xz | sudo dd of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=4MsyncOnce sync is complete, power off the board, remove the Jumper on JP2, and start Ubuntu.
  Ubuntu Quantal in ODROID-X Board
  Upgrading Ubuntu (15 Feb)Before we can use Mali-400MP4 GPU in Ubuntu, you must install an update for Ubuntu (Feb 15, 2013):
  wget http://dn.odroid.com/Ubuntu_X/20130215/linux-3.0.63-odroidx_20130215.tar.gztar xvfz linux-3.0.63-odroidx_20130215.tar.gzcd linux-3.0.63-odroidx_20130215sudo ./install.shsyncsudo rebootIf you are using the Wi-Fi module from Hardkernel (and probably others), run those 2 commands:
  sudo depmod -asudo rebootInstalling Mali Drivers for ODROID-X BoardMali-400MP4 drivers are not included in the image, most probably for legal reasons, and you have to accept an End-User-License-Agreement (EULA) during installation (dkpg). Let's do this:
  wget http://dn.odroid.com/MALI400_R3P2/20130215/mali_packages.tar.gztar xvfz mali_packages.tar.gzcd mali_packagessudo dpkg -i mali400_2.1-13_armhf.debsudo dpkg -i mali400-dev_2.1-13_armhf.debsudo dpkg -i xf86-video-mali_1.0.1-7_armhf.debsudo rm -fr /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/mesa-eglsyncIf you are outputting to an HDMI monitor, the installation should be complete at this stage. In my case I could only the 4 tux and nothing else showed up on the display. I could however access the command line via the serial console. After further reading, I found out I had to modify /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/99-hkl_mali.conf to make it work with the LCD display as follows:
  Option "fbdev" "/dev/fb0".......DefaultDepth 24Ubuntu Linaro 12.11 Performance in ODROID-XThe first thing I've noticed is that Ubuntu feel snappy with this hardware, at least snappier than in my Atom netbook running Ubuntu 12.04, and it's the first time I could see myself using this platform as a desktop replacement. Booting from power off takes 15 to 20 seconds. There are still some issues though. Once of them is that software-center is not working when run from the eMMC (SD card is OK). Even though this post is mainly about GPU support, I've compared startup times from eMMC and SD card with Libreoffice Writer, Software Center, and Firefox
  Libreoffice Writer was not pre-installed, so I installed it first:
  sudo apt-get install libreoffice-writerFirefoxSoftware CenterLibreoffice WriterSD Card5s18s11seMMC3sDoes not start5sEach program was started after a reboot. We can notice there's a significant advantage of using eMMC instead of SD card when it comes to startup time.
  I've also done several 2D/3D tests.
  I started with es2gears, which comes in the provided Ubuntu image:
  es2gearsEGL_VERSION = 1.4 Linux-r3p2-01rel0vertex shader info:fragment shader info:info:483 frames in 5.0 seconds = 96.561 FPS427 frames in 5.0 seconds = 85.230 FPS395 frames in 5.0 seconds = 78.827 FPS394 frames in 5.0 seconds = 78.580 FPS379 frames in 5.0 seconds = 75.664 FPS373 frames in 5.0 seconds = 74.570 FPS363 frames in 5.0 seconds = 72.585 FPS352 frames in 5.0 seconds = 70.245 FPS332 frames in 5.0 seconds = 66.387 FPS317 frames in 5.0 seconds = 63.273 FPS297 frames in 5.0 seconds = 59.341 FPS298 frames in 5.0 seconds = 59.469 FPS279 frames in 5.0 seconds = 55.722 FPS280 frames in 5.0 seconds = 55.855 FPS263 frames in 5.0 seconds = 52.505 FPS260 frames in 5.0 seconds = 51.875 FPS251 frames in 5.0 seconds = 50.090 FPS237 frames in 5.0 seconds = 47.230 FPS
  It appears to work, but the window background is transparent, and although the frame rate starts at 96.651, it just decreases which each iteration'... Not sure what that means'...
  I've also installed glmark2-es2
  sudo apt-get install glmark2-es2
  glmark2-es2 2D/3D GPU Benchmark in ODROID-X Development Board
  run it, and got a score of 54:
  linaro@linaro-ubuntu-desktop:~$ glmark2-es2=======================================================glmark2 2012.08=======================================================OpenGL InformationGL_VENDOR: ARMGL_RENDERER: Mali-400 MPGL_VERSION: OpenGL ES 2.0=======================================================[build] use-vbo=false: FPS: 52 FrameTime: 19.231 ms[build] use-vbo=true: FPS: 54 FrameTime: 18.519 ms[texture] texture-filter=nearest: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[texture] texture-filter=linear: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[texture] texture-filter=mipmap: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[shading] shading=gouraud: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[shading] shading=blinn-phong-inf: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[shading] shading=phong: FPS: 54 FrameTime: 18.519 ms[bump] bump-render=high-poly: FPS: 46 FrameTime: 21.739 ms[bump] bump-render=normals: FPS: 58 FrameTime: 17.241 ms[bump] bump-render=height: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[effect2d] kernel=0,1,0;1,-4,1;0,1,0;: FPS: 56 FrameTime: 17.857 ms[effect2d] kernel=1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;1,1,1,1,1;: FPS: 56 FrameTime: 17.857 ms[pulsar] light=false:quads=5:texture=false: FPS: 58 FrameTime: 17.241 ms[desktop] blur-radius=5:effect=blur:passes=1:separable=true:windows=4: FPS: 40 FrameTime: 25.000 ms[desktop] effect=shadow:windows=4: FPS: 53 FrameTime: 18.868 msError: Requested MapBuffer VBO update method but GL_OES_mapbuffer is not supported![buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: Unsupported[buffer] columns=200:interleave=false:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=subdata: FPS: 37 FrameTime: 27.027 msError: Requested MapBuffer VBO update method but GL_OES_mapbuffer is not supported![buffer] columns=200:interleave=true:update-dispersion=0.9:update-fraction=0.5:update-method=map: Unsupported[ideas] speed=duration: FPS: 53 FrameTime: 18.868 ms[jellyfish] : FPS: 56 FrameTime: 17.857 msError: SceneTerrain requires Vertex Texture Fetch support, but GL_MAX_VERTEX_TEXTURE_IMAGE_UNITS is 0[terrain] : Unsupported[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[conditionals] fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=0: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[conditionals] fragment-steps=0:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[function] fragment-complexity=low:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[function] fragment-complexity=medium:fragment-steps=5: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[loop] fragment-loop=false:fragment-steps=5:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=false:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 58 FrameTime: 17.241 ms[loop] fragment-steps=5:fragment-uniform=true:vertex-steps=5: FPS: 57 FrameTime: 17.544 ms=======================================================glmark2 Score: 54=======================================================
  Some test failed. I'm not sure if it's because those are not implemented yet, or simply not supported by Mali-400. One interesting point is that ODROID-U2 users reports that Xubuntu is twice as fast as Ubuntu in glmark2-es2, and the culprits appear to be Unity and Compiz.
  I've done another test to check whether WebGL would work, and I've got between 0 to 1 fps on both Firefox and Chromium with WebGL Aquarium. A final comment, since many people still seem to be confused with GPU and video decoding. The Mali-400 does not handle video decoding, this is done normally done by the Video Processing Unit (VPU), and AFAIK this is not currently supported in Linux on ODROID boards.
James Woods Reported Suspicious Passengers to FBI - ABC News
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 09:24
  James Woods '-- who's best known for playing bad guys in films like Final Fantasy and Ghosts of Mississippi '-- is now playing a good citizen by tipping off the FBI about his encounter with four suspicious airline passengers a month before last Tuesday's attacks on America, Reuters reports
  On a flight from Boston to Los Angeles about a month ago, Woods observed four men of apparent Middle Eastern origin acting so oddly that he reported them to the flight attendants and authorities on the ground when he landed.
  The Oscar-nominated actor told the FBI last week that he was alone in first class with the four men and noticed during the entire cross-country flight that none of them had anything to eat or drink, nor did they read, sleep, or appear to make themselves comfortable. They sat erect in their seats and stared straight ahead, saying nothing to flight attendants and speaking to each other only in inaudible tones.
  Woods, who was flying back to Los Angeles after visiting his mother in Boston, said via his publicist that he was extremely unsettled by their behavior.
  The flight now appears to have been a dry run for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, in which hijackers seized and crashed four commercial planes, including one flying the same Boston-to-Los Angeles route. The day after the terrorists crashed the planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in western Pennsylvania, Woods called the FBI to report his eerie experience. Federal agents visited him at his home the following day, on Thursday, to interview him in detail, according to Reuters.
  Woods declined to publicly discuss his experience, first reported by New York Post columnist Cindy Adams and confirmed by his spokeswoman, Susan Madore. In a brief statement, the actor said, "I think it prudent not to comment on this and let the FBI continue do their job '...."
  Reuters contributed to this story.
K1EL Systems - Amateur Radio Kits and Projects
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 08:52
  The K40CW Board is a companion board to the K40 CW Keyboard Keyer which will allow you to decode and display CW on the K40's LCD display. The K40 CW Reader accepts audio from your receiver and decodes CW into digital serial data that is fed into the K40 for display. Power for the interface is tapped off the K40 PCB and there are three other connections between the boards. A new K40 PIC processor set is required to upgrade your K40 to the CW reader. Using Cypress PSoC based technology, the K40CW provides impressive copy for such a small device.
  Note that the K40 enclosure can only accomodate one interface module. There is only room for one and the K40 PCB is not capable of interfacing to more than one module. Different K40 firmware is required for each. The RTTY module runs with K40 rev F firmware while the CW Reader runs with K40 rev G firmware.
  The chipset in the K40 must be upgraded to Revision G to support the K40 CW reader. You can do this one of two ways, first way is to send in the two PIC chips from your K40 back to K1EL with $2 to cover postage for a free upgrade. Second way is to order an upgrade chipset for $6.
  When the K40 powers up it displays the firmware revision of the two PICs, they must both be vG to support the K40 CWR:
  K40 vG
  WK40 vG
  Kit includes the PCB, all I.C.s and all board mounted components as shown.
  K40 Rev G Upgrade - $12 USD
  (2 PIC I.C.s)
Drone strikes in Syria? CIA 'boosting' intelligence force to 'size up' Syrian extremists '-- RT News
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 08:44
  The CIA may be preparing for lethal drone strikes in Syria, as it is extending its intelligence-gathering on Islamic radicals in the country, US media has reported. At the same time, US officials are pressing for the supplying arms to rebels.
  ''The CIA has stepped up secret contingency planning to protect the United States and its allies as the turmoil expands in Syria, including collecting intelligence on Islamic extremists for the first time for possible lethal drone strikes,'' according to current and former US officials, reported in the LA Times.
  The agency's counterterrorism center has recently transferred an unspecified number of targeting officers to the area. The center is notorious for its previous drone campaigns in Yemen and Pakistan.
  Targeting officers are responsible for the compilation of large packages of information on specific zones. Those working on Syria are currently based at the organization's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, as not many US operatives have been deployed to the area.
  The increased focus on identifying threats in Syria carries the implication that the agency is preparing plans for counter-action '' both violent and nonviolent '' against potential militants, the Los Angeles Times reported.''If we do this, why don't we start droning people in Hezbollah?'' a former CIA officer with experience in Iraq told the Los Angeles Times. ''It opens the door for a lot of other things.''
  In a trend apparently countering the CIA's alleged security efforts, a US lawmaker is set to propose a bill on Monday in support of providing arms and training to Syrian opposition forces, as well as economic backing. Should the arms be delivered, they could easily fall into the hands of the same militants they seek to suppress.
  Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote a letter to his house colleagues seeking their support for a bill to provide arms and training to Syrian rebels, applying pressure to the Obama's administration.
  "US training and arming of carefully vetted Syrian opposition forces offer many potential benefits, but two stand out above all: Bringing the humanitarian disaster to an end as soon as possible and helping ensure that the US has a constructive relationship with a successor government in Damascus,'' said the letter obtained by AP.
  The idea is supported by officials from both parties '' last month, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio suggested providing the Syrian opposition with ammunition, and Secretary of State John Kerry announced a package of 'nonlethal assistance.'European media reported that the US, UK and France are already training rebels in Jordan, while Paris and London are both attempting to bring forward an EU meeting to lift the arms embargo on Syria. Planned for May, the two countries are pressing for it to take place before the end of March.
  If the union does not end the embargo, the two nations will still arm the Syrian rebels, France said.
  However, this course of action could come with its own problems: ''Weapons are in high demand by all rebel factions and there is little means to effectively prevent arms from gravitating toward hardcore Al-Qaeda fighters,'' political analyst Nile Bowie told RT.
  On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that any arming of the opposition in Syria would be a violation of international law.
  On Friday, Syria witnessed the second anniversary of the uprising from which the conflict sprouted, with many saying they feared for the country's future.
US admits Gitmo hunger strike spreading '-- RT USA
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  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 08:43
  Published time: March 16, 2013 09:25The US Military said Friday that 14 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay prison can be defined as hunger strikers, five more than they had previously reported. Lawyers have said that more than 100 inmates are taking part in the five-week-long protest.
  One of the strikers was taken to the prison hospital, Guantanamo detention center spokesperson Navy Capt. Robert Durand said Friday. Five others are being fed through tubes put through their noses into their stomachs, while eight others are not yet sufficiently malnourished to merit such treatment, he said.
  Durand denied that the hunger strike is ''a widespread phenomenon, as alleged,'' by the captives' lawyers, and blamed them of spreading ''outright falsehoods and gross exaggerations.'' He downplayed the reports of a mass strike at Gitmo, saying that most of the alleged strikers are skipping regular meals, but substituting them with snacks.
  ''Refusing prepared meals and choosing to subsist for a time on snack foods does not constitute a hunger strike,'' Durand said.
  Earlier, layers said most of the 130 prisoners held at Camp 6, where the majority of Gitmo's 166 prisoners are incarcerated, are taking part in a hunger strike. Fifty-one attorneys wrote Thursday to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel calling on him to intervene.
  The huge disparity in the numbers of strikers reported by Guantanamo staff and by the lawyers is explainable by the fact that the definition of a hunger striker is in the hand of authorities, said Pardiss Kebriaei from the Center Constitutional Rights, one of the complainant lawyers.
  ''Our understanding is that based on previous standards the determination of who is a hunger striker is a discretionary determination that the Guantanamo makes,'' she told RT. ''If the definition of a hunger striker is entirely in their control and is a matter of their discretion, then I think that explains how they are able to say that there are no more than a handful of men on hunger strike.''
  Tensions in the notorious prison, where the US detains terror suspects, apparently started last month after a new rotation of US Army soldiers took over guard duties from a Navy force. Some prisoners complained to their layers of aggressive searches, which included confiscations of personal items and handling of Korans that the inmates found sacrilegious, as most are devout Muslims.
  Durand confirmed the reports that some of the detainees had their Korans taken from them, but called it an attempt at manipulation: ''If we accept their Koran, it would be portrayed as either an admission that it required protection and safekeeping, or as a confiscation by the guard force, depriving them of the religious articles needed to practice their faith.''
  He also insisted that all searches are conducted in a regular way, and that no mistreatment of Muslim holy books has taking place at Gitmo.
  ''I am not clear if the spokesperson for Guantanamo understands exactly what the problem is here. 'Mishandling' does not mean burning the book or ripping out pages. It means touching the Koran and searching the Koran by their jailers,'' Kebriaei said.
  The US facility at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay is among the darkest legacies of the post-9/11 'War on Terror.' Many detainees there are being held in legal limbo without trial. Half of the prisoners have been cleared for release, but still remain in custody.
  The scarcity of information about the development is partially due to the secrecy maintained by the prison. The communication barriers in place have been an obstacle for human rights organizations for years, Rob Freer of Amnesty International told RT.
  ''We have to wait until a detainee is released, before we can speak to them. This leads to underreporting on individual detainee cases and at least to a time lag. The lawyers themselves are not there the whole time and it requires declassification of certain information when they do get to,'' he said.
  President Barack Obama promised to shut down the notorious prison at the start of his first term in office, but failed to deliver.
How the America Invents Act Will Change Patenting Forever | Wired Design
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 02:09
  On Saturday, around 18 months after President Obama signed it into law, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act will take effect. Ostensibly, the act is designed to bring U.S. patent law in line with the rest of the world. Of course, not everybody feels it will help achieve the patent system's goal of protecting inventors while fostering innovation, and its effect could be even more pronounced on the DIY inventor.
  Although the act includes a number of small changes, the meat of it is considered the biggest shakeup at the USPTO since 1952. Formally known as H.R. 1249, the act was penned by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the duo who introduced the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). For product designers and makers and DIYers the proverbial monkey wrench is being thrown into the mechanism for filing a patent '-- and the timing with which you do so. Today, if you file a patent, someone can come along and tell you they had that idea first, and with much documentation and legal wrangling, deny you the right to apply that invention. Tomorrow, nobody will care who came up with the idea first '-- only who filed it.
  It's called ''First to File'' (as opposed to the previous ''First to Invent'') and it shifts the system's emphasis from the date it was invented to the date its inventor dropped an application at the patent office. (It does preclude stolen ideas; it's been more accurately termed ''First Inventor to File.'')
  ''It's a big deal, and all the patent attorneys I know are busy right now, filing applications before that goes into effect, Saturday, which tells me that most of their clients are better off under the old system,'' says Robert Barr, a professor of intellectual property law at UC-Berkeley, though he adds that some of the rush is simply due to uncertainty about how the new law will play out.
  ''Under the old system, if you kept lab notebooks '... you could prove you were the first inventor even if you were not the first to file, so you didn't necessarily have to be the first to get to the patent office,'' he says. ''Now, with a few exceptions, you need to be the first. If two people come up with the same invention, and they often do '... it's not going to matter if you can prove you were the first inventor if you weren't the first to file.''
  Supporters of the law say that, in addition to aligning U.S. law with the rest of the world, the act will speed up patent review and cut down on the backlog of applications. The patent office offers steep discounts to small businesses, and under the new law will offer steeper discounts to entities with fewer than four patents. But the majority of the cost of a patent remains in the fees associated with having it written up by a qualified lawyer, and opponents worry that first-to-file will favor big companies that can afford to apply for more patents, more quickly.
  ''If you're working out of your basement, you make a decision, hey I came up with something clever, now I got to scrape together some money to hire an attorney,'' says Jonathan Withrow, a partner at IP law firm Rankin, Hill & Clark. ''You may not file an application 'cause you don't have the money.'' And that leaves the door open for someone else to file.
  ''Will it happen that often?'' says Withrow. ''I doubt it. Does it happen that often now? I don't think so. But it's a possibility.''
  The signed America Invents Act. Photo: Talk Radio News Service/Flickr
  It's trendy to frame first-to-file as a race to the patent office '-- and not totally wrong.
  ''Now it's really important to be the first to file, and it's really important to file before somebody else puts a product out, or puts the invention in their product,'' says Barr, adding that it will ''create a new urgency on the part of everyone to file faster '-- and that's going to be a problem for the small inventor.''
  Of course, as with any new law, you never know quite how it's going to be enforced until the judicial system gets its hands on it, and so it'll be months or years before the particulars are straightened out. But Alex Lee, president of product development firm OXO, which licenses designs from individual inventors, says it primarily encourages faster filing, at the expense of refining a patent '-- and its ever-important claims '-- and maximizing the 20-year protection period.
  ''I don't think it's changed our behavior in a huge way,'' says Lee. ''It certainly simplifies things a lot from a litigation perspective. In the past, if we have a patent issued to us, some person, some company can still claim, hey, we had that invention a year prior to your filing date '-- it's all documented on our sketch pad. Then we have to go back and figure out, even though we filed it on this date, whether our invention actually happened more than a year prior to that. So it's a big kind of argument about who came up with the idea first.''
  There are a few additional complications from the act. Public disclosure starts a one-year grace period that allows inventors to wait to file, but most of the world does not acknowledge this period, so using it could preclude filing in other countries. There will be some changes to what constitutes disclosure, though Barr says it remains to be seen how disclosure is defined in practice. Anything on sale, or publicly disclosed anywhere in the world is considered prior art. And a third-party review takes disputed patents directly before a panel of judges dedicated to evaluating the patents' legitimacy, rather than just a single patent examiner.
  It's not a simple situation '-- the term ''morass'' would be appropriate '-- but Fast Company last year published a guide to the act, the USPTO is hosting a public forum and webinar today from 1 to 4 pm EST, and the ambitious can read it in its entirety at the Library of Congress website.
  Meanwhile, everyone's favorite villain probably won't be affected at all.
  ''I don't think there's anything in the bill that helps fight patent trolls, and I think that's really disappointing,'' says Barr. ''It should have, and if it was designed a little differently it would.''
  Pages:12 View All
MRP40 Morse Code Decoder
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 16 Mar 2013 01:02
  MRP40 Morse Code Decoder
  MRP40 is a powerful and highly-effective ham radio software program that decodes received CW audio that has been fed to a computer's sound card. The decoded text is displayed on the computer's monitor. For transmitting CW, the program encodes keystrokes from the computer's keyboard. Hams use MRP40 to send and read QRQ (high-speed) CW, to help read weak DX signals, and to improve CW contest scores.
  ... With MRP40 you are number one on the air! ...There is now available a special SDR Version of MRP40 Morse Decoder for more info click here
  Performance:Very good decoding of weak, noisy and fading signalsAlmost 100% copy in heavy CW contest conditions and local QRMDecoding now better than famous MRP37 Morse Decoder (MS-DOS version, no longer for sale!) Features:Morse Code Decoding up to 60 WpMText- and Graphic DisplayHigh performance software CW filteringAutomatic speed recognitionAutomatic Gain Control (AGC)Automatic tracking of "drifting" signals (via AFC)A new feature automatic formats unspaced words read more...Transmitting Morse Code0.4 to 60 WPMThere aretwowaysto transmit:
  1. Recommended:Use AFSK (audio frequency-shift) keying by sending CW audio to the transceiver from the computer's sound card.The rig operates inSSB transmission mode.The signals generated by MRP40have sine waveform and a smooth envelope,sono annoyingkey clicks. The rise and decay timesof the CW-signalsareautomaticallyadjustedto the sending speed,so a minimum bandwidth is occupied,especiallyforQRS(slow sending).Note: When using AFSKfor sending, one canactivatethe PTT via Com Port by selecting the check box named "Activate PTT pin" in MRP40's menu under "Options - Tx-Settings."
  2. Key your transceiver via the RS232 serial Com Port,orkey your transceiver via Soundcard output. This requires an interface box between PC and transceiver. You can also build yourself a neat little interface likesuggested in QST Magazine issue 02/2007.Click hereand study the article.To ensure galvanic isolation between computer and transceiver, we recommend using an interface box fromSignaLink System Requirements:Soundcard: any general purpose. ( e.g. PCI or On-Board Sound)CPU: Pentium 450 MHz or faster Operating System: Win95 / Win98 / WinMe / Win2000 / Win XP / Win 7/ Snow Leopard / Parallels Desktop 5Mac running OS X 10.7 and using Windows 7 running in Parallels 7Windows 7 specific instructions:Locate MRP40 at it's Program folder location for example "C:\Programs\HamRadioSoftware\MRP40 Morse Decoder V62\MRP40v62.exe"Right click on the MRP40v62.exe file to access the propertiesIn the properties / compatibility table one must set: XP Service pack2
  Vista-specific instructions:MRP40 can run under Vista only if launched directly from it's Program folder location, typically "C:\Programs\HamRadioSoftware\MRP40 Morse Decoder V62\MRP40v62.exe"Right click on the MRP40v61.exe file to access the properties tab and select XP Service pack 2 or 3. This need be done only once; however, each time the program is run, one should right-click the .exe file and select ''Run as administrator,'' unless the User has administrative privileges.
  MRP4064: - PTT function can be disabled completely- Bug Fix regarding USB to RS232 Serial Adapter: Now proper timing of first "Dot" during CW sending via ComPort- Typing the ESC-key will stop the ongoing sending action and clear the Tx text box- Mini Log Book integrated: A neatlitle tool to log your contacts.It automatically looks up previous contacts with recent call. It supports ADIF record format. To launch the MiniLogBook run MRP40 and click -Options -Show ... -MiniLogBook To learn more about comfortable operation refer to the Help Documentation. Run MRP40 and click- Help -English -User interface -Program Menu -Options -Show then scroll down to section "MiniLogBook"
  MRP4063: - Graphic Display improved:- now double dynamic range for signal amplitude: color transists from black into bule into light blue into white (see screen shot above)- now double frequency resolution: display of incoming signals is more sharp; much less side lobes visible.- now double time resolution: length of short dots is displayed more accurately
  - Default text font size is appied when window is resized- Green Volume indicator for soundcard signal corrected:-the vertical display range now represents 1:1 the physical signal range of soundcard ( please keep volume moderate, avoid cliping at top )
  MRP4062:- Bugfix: Click noise during sending via soundcard eliminated- Windows 7 Support added: Audio Control Panels (Mixer sndvol32.exe ) included in Installation PackageMRP4061:- Sending is continued even if you work other applications
  - Tx sending via Soundcard Audio Tones added- Bug Fix for soundcard selection (Tx) done- Set Audio Tx Frequency equal to Rx Frequency (helpfull to perfecly match the frequency of remote CW station ( your tranceiver does Tx in SSB mode the soundcard audio out signal)
  - Choose any COM Port Number for CW Sending ( PTT and Key )- Activation of PTT pin during sending via soundcard audio Reports from Hams who have tested MRP40 click hereMore Info
  Usefull Links:
  Icom RepairSolid state and tube radio repair and restoration
  Nu Ware: The ultimate Morse code training softwarehttp://www.Nu-Ware.com/
  PA3BWK's Ultimate Morse Code Web Sitehttp://www.morsecode.nl/index2.html
  All about Amateur Ham Radiohttp://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Radio/Amateur_and_Ham_Radio/
  Amateur Radio Internet Guidehttp://www.dxzone.com
  Callsign Lookup (Buckmaster)http://www.buck.com/cgi-bin/do_hamcall/
  QRZ (Callsign Server)http://www.qrz.com
  Samuel F.B. Morse home pagehttp://www.morsehistoricsite.org/
  lists.contesting.com/_tentec/2002-11/msg00566.html
  VE2DSKwww.qsl.net/ve2dsk/autre.html
CW Reader Decoder Keyer Morse Code Interpreter Translater Simplified Version | eBay
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  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:55
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VIDEO-Obama couldn't eat at Hill meeting without 'taster' [AUDIO] | The Daily Caller
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  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:31
  WASHINGTON '-- Following President Obama's lunch meeting with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill, Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins described the food served and said the president was not able to eat since his ''taster'' was not present.
  ''University of Maine recipe for healthy lobster salad '-- I pointed that out to the president in keeping with the first lady's initiatives and Fox Family Potato Chips made in Aroostook County where I'm from and wild blueberry pie full of anti-oxidants, see this was a healthy lunch as well. We did have a little ice cream on the pie too, also made in Maine, Gifford's Ice Cream. So in all seriousness this was well received,'' Collins told reporters on Thursday after the meeting at the Capitol.
  ''Unfortunately, you know, the president can't,'' said Collins when asked if Obama ate at the lunch meeting.
  ''He looked longingly at it,'' Collins continued. ''He honestly did look longingly at it, but apparently he has to have essentially a taster, and I pointed out to him that we were all tasters for him, that if the food had been poisoned all of us would have keeled over so, but he did look longingly at it and he remarked that we have far better food than the Democrats do, and I said that was because I was hosting.''
  According to a 2009 AFP report, the U.S. Secret Service has ''always refused to confirm that US presidents travel with a food 'taster', in line with their policy of discretion on all security related issues.''
  Follow Nicholas on Twitter
Dianne Feinstein caught lying about her past gun grab intentions '' YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Stuff Ain't Right » Uncategorized
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:26
  I'm just an obscure Midwestern singer/songwriter. Sometimes I just look around for stuff that ain't right. I don't endorse or completely agree with everything I put on my blog. I just find them interesting and worth re-posting for folks that might run across them. If you disagree or agree with the views in these articles, then that's your right. You can comment, complain or whatever. I might agree with you or I might not. That's my right, I guess. Either way, there's some stuff out there that ain't right. I think we can agree on that.
Democrats Now Harshly Denouncing the President for His War on Tansparency
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  Archived Version
  Source: Conscious Life News
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:25
  Posted by Alcyone_Featured_, PoliticsFriday, March 15th, 2013Even the most loyal establishment Democrats are now harshly denouncing the president for his war on transparency
  By Glenn Greenwald | Guardian.co.uk
  When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, his pledges of openness and transparency were not ancillary to his campaign but central to it. Herepeatedly denounced the Bush administration as ''one of the most secretive administrations in our nation's history'', saying that ''it is no coincidence'' that such a secrecy-obsessed presidency ''has favored special interests and pursued policies that could not stand up to the sunlight.'' He vowed: ''as president, I'm going to change that.'' In a widely heralded 2007 speech on transparency, he actually claimed that this value shaped his life purpose:
  ''The American people want to trust in our government again '' we just need a government that will trust in us. And making government accountable to the people isn't just a cause of this campaign '' it's been a cause of my life for two decades.''
  His campaign specifically vowed to protect whistleblowers, hailing them as ''the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government'' and saying that ''such acts of courage and patriotism. . . should be encouraged rather than stifled.'' Transparency groups were completely mesmerized by these ringing commitments. ''We have a president-elect that really gets it,'' gushed Charles Davis, executive director of the National Freedom of Information Coalition, in late 2008; ''the openness community will expect a complete repudiation of the Ashcroft doctrine.'' Here's just one of countless representative examples of Obama bashing Bush for excessive secrecy - including in the realm of national security and intelligence - and vowing a fundamentally different course:
  Literally moments after he was inaugurated, the White House declaredthat ''President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history''. Obama continues even now to parade around as a historically unprecedented champion of openness. In a 2010 speech, he said ''I will not stop fighting to open up government'' and then praised himself this way: ''we have put in place the toughest transparency rules in history: in history.'' Right this very minute, on the White House website, Obama is quoted this way: ''My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government'' because ''transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their Government is doing.''
  This week is Sunshine Week, created by transparency and civil liberties groups and media outlets as ''a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information''. The White House blog on Wednesday said that ''we celebrate Sunshine Week '' an appropriate time to discuss the importance of open government and freedom of information'' and quoted the president this way: ''Openness will strengthen our democracy, and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.''
  Along with others, I've spent the last four years documenting the extreme, often unprecedented, commitment to secrecy that this president has exhibited, including his vindictive war on whistleblowers, his refusal to disclose even the legal principles underpinning his claimed war powers of assassination, and his unrelenting, Bush-copying invocation of secrecy privileges to prevent courts even from deciding the legality of his conduct (as a 2009 headline on the Obama-friendly TPM site put it: ''Expert Consensus: Obama Mimics Bush On State Secrets''). Just this week, the Associated Press conducted a studyproving that last year, the Obama administration has rejected more FOIA requests on national security grounds than in any year since Obama became president, and quoted Alexander Abdo, an ACLU staff attorney for its national security project, as follows:
  ''We've seen a meteoric rise in the number of claims to protect secret law, the government's interpretations of laws or its understanding of its own authority. In some ways, the Obama administration is actually even more aggressive on secrecy than the Bush administration.''
  Re-read that last sentence in italics. Most of those policies have been covered here at length, and I won't repeat them here. But what is remarkable is that this secrecy has become so oppressive and extreme that even the most faithful Democratic operatives are now angrily exploding with public denunciations.
  Let's begin with John Podesta'...
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inessential.com: Google Reader API Documentation
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  Archived Version
  Source: Dave Winer's linkblog feed
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:22
  There isn't really any such thing as Google Reader API documentation.
  But I do have a PDF document that Nick Bradbury wrote up when we were switching FeedDemon and NetNewsWire from NewsGator syncing to Google Reader.
  It's from 2009. Parts of it are surely out-of-date (authentication, for sure), and it was written with the expectation that the reader is familiar with NewsGator syncing.
  Nevertheless, in the spirit of Marco's baby steps toward replacing Google Reader, I present it (with Nick's permission) in case it's useful to anyone:
  GoogleReaderAPI-2009.pdf
RSS vs The Regime
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  Archived Version
  Source: Dave Winer's linkblog feed
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:20
  Chinese and Iranian users rely on Google Reader to evade government firewalls. Did Google think of that? techdirt.com/articles/20130'...
  '-- George Musser (@gmusser) March 15, 2013
  The discussion around Google's announcement that it will shut down its Reader service has focused largely on the impact on the American blogging crowd. Zachary Seward takes a broader view:
  [M]any RSS readers, including Google's, serve as anti-censorship tools for people living under oppressive regimes. That's because it's actually Google's servers, located in the US or another country with uncensored internet, that accesses each feed. So a web user in Iran just needs access to google.com/reader in order to read websites that would otherwise be blocked. And, indeed, Google Reader has long been accessible in Iran, where it is the most popular RSS reader.
'They fired at us from the start'
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  Archived Version
  Source: BBC News - Middle East
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:19
  15 March 2013Last updated at10:45 ETTwo years ago Bashar al-Heraki helped organise one of the first anti-government protests in Syria's southern city of Deraa, where the country's uprising began. It followed the arrest of a group of school children for painting revolutionary slogans on a wall. Mr Heraki told the BBC World Service how the demonstrations began.
  On 17 March 2011, I was with a group of people preparing for a protest. The next day we went to al-Omari mosque in Deraa. The Syrian revolution started from there. We thought our protest would annoy the regime but we didn't expect government forces to use gunfire from the start to kill protesters.
  Continue reading the main storyBashar al-HerakiServed as a captain in the Syrian army until 1999Ran an engineering and trading company in Deraa before the uprisingFled Syria with his family in 2011 fearing arrestHis brother, Nizar al-Heraki, is the opposition's "ambassador" in QatarSenior member of the opposition Syrian National CouncilWhen we came out of the mosque some people started chanting: "God, Syria, freedom." The regime saw that as defiance against them, because people had replaced the last part of a slogan, which was supposed to be [President] Bashar al-Assad, with the word freedom. So the regime reacted by killing and injuring many protesters.
  I was taking photos. It surprised us that Bashar al-Assad's forces were heavy-handed from the beginning. They didn't try to issue any warnings, they just charged us straight away. They didn't use tear gas or water cannon. They fired at us from the start.
  'End of the regime'
  Of course we were afraid because fear had always existed inside us all, but we had to conquer our fear and announce that we needed freedom. We had seen the victory of the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt and it was on its way to Libya.
  We, the protesters, were united. More and more young people agreed with what we stood for and joined us. The demonstrations then began to spread to other parts of Deraa until the security forces started to fire at us. People began to run away and disperse. As for us, we were trying to care for the injured and carrying the bodies of those who were killed to the hospital.
  Continue reading the main storySyria conflictThe conflict has left more than 70,000 people deadMore than one million Syrians have fled abroadAbout two million people have been internally displacedSave the Children says that some two million children are in need of help in SyriaWhen we saw the first drop of blood, we felt that it was the end of the regime and that there was no going back, because government forces had killed civilians for what they stood for. We got more support from the people, including civil society leaders and intellectuals.
  We agreed that the following day we would gather again. We also started to organise strikes. I wrote leaflets saying that the government forces were killers.
  Signs of torture
  During the protests we were chanting loudly at the security forces: "You are supposed to be our brothers. We all are citizens of Syria. We are not enemies. You should protect us." They told us that it was a security issue and that they would do everything possible to maintain security. They didn't listen to us.
  The families of the arrested school children were very afraid. I know the mother of one kid. She had heard about the arrest of her son's friends, so she took him with her and they fled. They were moving from town to town, but the security people kept following them and looking for her son.
  After the arrested boys were released, their families were overcome with fear, especially when they saw the marks on the boys' bodies from the torture they had undergone.
  Continue reading the main storyFind out moreBashar al-Heraki was interviewed by Shaimaa Khalil for Newsday on the BBC World Service
  I don't think we can get rid of such a regime without sacrifices. In fact, I believe we are in this situation because the international community has just been watching without doing anything for two years.
  If there was a real desire from the international community to stop Assad's regime, he would not have been able to use heavy weapons against us. The whole world has disappointed us.
  Bashar al-Heraki spoke toNewsdayon the BBC World Service.
Streaming video's rise draws marketers' attention
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  Archived Version
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:19
  YouTube, the upstart repository of cover songs, makeup tips and cat videos, is starting to give television a run for its money.
  Buoyed by breakout successes such as Psy's "Gangnam Style," a kitschy Korean music video that racked up nearly 1.4 billion views globally to date, YouTube has turned streaming into mainstreaming, and major marketers are clamoring to leverage the medium to promote their brands. That means everything from rolling big-budget TV commercials before the latest "Harlem Shake" video to creating their own content in a calculated bid to go viral.
  Some 200 marketers attended a YouTube event at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago last week showcasing success stories, self-made video stars and strategies for reaching 800 million monthly viewers, one video at a time.
  "If you're after an 18-to-34 demo, this is how they're spending their time, and there are great opportunities to work together to build brands against that audience," said Jim Lecinski, the Chicago-based manager of national advertising sales for Google Inc., who hosted last week's YouTube event. "This is where it's at, so advertisers need to be there."
  Founded in 2005 as an egalitarian platform to share videos, YouTube was acquired the following year by Google Inc. for $1.65 billion in stock. More than 4 billion hours of video are consumed each month and much like traditional television, peak viewing is during prime time, according to YouTube. Popular content includes an endless parade of unusual cinema verite captured by citizen videographers on ubiquitous smart phones. But comedians, musicians and aspiring filmmakers have also found the medium a launching pad to broader success, which in turn has helped elevate YouTube into the same conversation as TV for many marketers.
  Digital is the fastest-growing advertising medium, trailing only television in annual spending. This year, digital revenues are projected to reach $42.5 billion in the U.S., a 14 percent increase over 2012, according to eMarketer. That represents one-quarter of total ad spending, which is growing at about a 3 percent annual rate. Paid search and banner ads still dominate, accounting for about 71 percent of digital spending in 2012. Video ads generated about 8 percent of digital revenues, but are expected to grow to nearly 15 percent by 2016, according to eMarketer.
  A recent study by Nielsen shows that while TV viewing is flat, streaming continues to grow, particularly among 18- to 34-year-olds. Digital video ads produced higher recall in viewers than TV ads, and also improved the impact of later TV viewing of the same ads, according to the study. Pre-roll ads, the commercials that appear before selected videos play, average 79 percent completion rates.
  YouTube offers marketers two ways to promote their brands. The first is to place commercials in front of videos through a program called TrueView. Viewers can skip the ads after five seconds, and marketers only pay if the full ad is aired. Completion rates range from 15 to 45 percent, according to a YouTube spokeswoman.
  The other way brands can leverage YouTube is through a deeper integration - developing their own content. That ranges from sponsorships, such as a concert series by American Express called "Unstaged," to brand channels with how-to videos, quirky user-generated content and excursions into the tricky space of short-form online entertainment. While harder to quantify returns on investment, the possibility of going viral makes it a gamble worth taking for a growing number of marketers.
  "Harlem Shake" is the meme of the moment, a seemingly spontaneous 30-second free-form group dance, often in costume, to the jarring menagerie of rhythmic electronic sounds in a song by the same name. Venues have ranged from dorm rooms to airplane cabins, with marketers jumping on board in an attempt to cash in on the craze. To date, 145 brands have uploaded a video that mentions Harlem Shake, according to Unmetric, a New York-based company that measures daily brand activity on social media.
  Topping the list is Fox Broadcasting's "The Simpsons," with more than 22 million views since it was posted March 1. Other major players include a Pepsi version featuring race car driver Jeff Gordon, which has 5.5 million views, and Red Bull, whose video of skydivers doing the Harlem Shake is up to 4.7 million views.
  Other brands haven't been as successful. Chicago-based Tootsie Roll Industries, for example, has less than 300 views for its version, which features Dots candies doing the Harlem Shake atop their familiar yellow boxes. A Tootsie Roll spokesperson did not return a call for comment for this report.
  Lecinski cautioned against chasing "lightning in a bottle" by creating viral content in favor of strategic planning, but marketers at the YouTube event in Chicago are pursuing both.
  In addition to running pre-roll advertising, Madison, Wis.-based American Family Insurance created its own YouTube channel several years ago with "Stand Up For Family," drawing some 4 million views to date. They sponsored a live comedy show in Atlanta three years ago, chopped it up into small, digestible bits, and packaged it as a video series. There's a stage and screen logo throughout and then a call to action at the end, instructing viewers to go to American Family's website for their insurance needs.
  American Family repositioned itself with new creative in 2011, but at a budget of $94 million, spent a fraction of what Geico, State Farm, Allstate and Progressive did on measured media, according to Kantar Media. Creative use of YouTube is an integral part of the company's marketing strategy according to Telisa Yancy, director of advertising at American Family Insurance.
  "I think the trick from a marketing standpoint is to do what is organic and natural and authentic for you as a company, and for your consumer," Yancy said. "You may not be in the market for insurance today, but you might be interested in some good family-centric comedy material, and perhaps that can help to build my brand presence and perception to you as a consumer."
  Braun has also carved out a niche on YouTube with a channel featuring everything from polished commercials to demonstration videos on how to create edgy beard styles, drawing nearly 4.5 million views. But it was a well-executed viral video that put the channel on the map.
  "We had someone make a viral video for us through a project," said Michael Leger, director of communications planning at Starcom MediaVest Group in Chicago, whose clients include Procter & Gamble's Braun shavers. "We never know if it's going to go viral. We just knew we really liked this video."
  In October, Braun partnered with Tongal, a crowd-sourcing creative site, offering $20,500 in prize money for the best video. Los Angeles-based director Mike Goubeaux won the competition, and a $10,000 prize, with a humorous 1:20 video called "Braun - That's Tough." A lab testing parody, the video pulled in 2.1 million views before it was taken down at the end of December. While paid ads, including YouTube TrueView, accounted for the majority of the views, 40 percent came to the video organically, through Internet word-of-mouth, according to Leger.
  "We were very, very happy, as was the client," Leger said.
  (c)2013 Chicago TribuneDistributed by MCT Information Services
'Paedophilia is illness' - SA priest
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:15
  15 March 2013Last updated at22:13 ETThe Catholic Archbishop of Durban, Wilfrid Fox Napier, has described paedophilia as a psychological "illness, not a criminal condition".
  The South African cardinal told the BBC that people who were themselves abused as children and then abused others needed to be examined by doctors.
  He was one of 115 cardinals who took part in the conclave at the Vatican to elect Pope Francis earlier this week.
  The Church has recently been dogged by scandals over clerical sex abuse.
  CriticismIn an interview with the Stephen Nolan programme on BBC Radio 5 live, Cardinal Napier referred to paedophilia as "a psychological condition, a disorder".
  "What do you do with disorders? You've got to try and put them right.
  "If I - as a normal being - choose to break the law, knowing that I'm breaking the law, then I think I need to be punished."
  He said he knew at least two priests, who became paedophiles after themselves being abused as children.
  Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
  "Now don't tell me that those people are criminally responsible like somebody who chooses to do something like that. I don't think you can really take the position and say that person deserves to be punished. He was himself damaged."
  Cardinal Wilfrid Napier's comments triggered immediate criticism.
  Barbara Dorries, who as a child was abused by a priest, works for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which is based in Chicago. She told the BBC: "If it is a disease that's fine, but it's also a crime and crimes are punished, criminals are held accountable for what they did and what they do.
  "The bishops and the cardinals have gone to great lengths to cover these crimes to enable the predators to move on, to not be arrested, to keep the secrets within the church."
  Michael Walsh, who has written a biography of late Pope John Paul II, said Cardinal Napier's remarks were similar to the position once taken by the Catholic Church in the UK and the US.
  "They did actually at one time believe it was a condition that could be dealt with. Many bishops were simply moving priests and trying to disguise the fact that they'd been committing these crimes," Mr Walsh told the BBC.
  Marie Collins, who is a victim of abuse, told the BBC: "I think it is appalling that we have a cardinal, a man at this level in the church that can still hold these views. He is totally ignoring the child."
BBC News - 'Paedophilia not criminal condition' says Durban cardinal
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: @adamcurry - Twitter Search
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:15
  15 March 2013Last updated at22:13 ETThe Catholic Archbishop of Durban, Wilfrid Fox Napier, has described paedophilia as a psychological "illness, not a criminal condition".
  The South African cardinal told the BBC that people who were themselves abused as children and then abused others needed to be examined by doctors.
  He was one of 115 cardinals who took part in the conclave at the Vatican to elect Pope Francis earlier this week.
  The Church has recently been dogged by scandals over clerical sex abuse.
  CriticismIn an interview with the Stephen Nolan programme on BBC Radio 5 live, Cardinal Napier referred to paedophilia as "a psychological condition, a disorder".
  "What do you do with disorders? You've got to try and put them right.
  "If I - as a normal being - choose to break the law, knowing that I'm breaking the law, then I think I need to be punished."
  He said he knew at least two priests, who became paedophiles after themselves being abused as children.
  Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
  "Now don't tell me that those people are criminally responsible like somebody who chooses to do something like that. I don't think you can really take the position and say that person deserves to be punished. He was himself damaged."
  Cardinal Wilfrid Napier's comments triggered immediate criticism.
  Barbara Dorries, who as a child was abused by a priest, works for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which is based in Chicago. She told the BBC: "If it is a disease that's fine, but it's also a crime and crimes are punished, criminals are held accountable for what they did and what they do.
  "The bishops and the cardinals have gone to great lengths to cover these crimes to enable the predators to move on, to not be arrested, to keep the secrets within the church."
  Michael Walsh, who has written a biography of late Pope John Paul II, said Cardinal Napier's remarks were similar to the position once taken by the Catholic Church in the UK and the US.
  "They did actually at one time believe it was a condition that could be dealt with. Many bishops were simply moving priests and trying to disguise the fact that they'd been committing these crimes," Mr Walsh told the BBC.
  Marie Collins, who is a victim of abuse, told the BBC: "I think it is appalling that we have a cardinal, a man at this level in the church that can still hold these views. He is totally ignoring the child."
MSM Links Rise In Teen Suicidal Tendencies To Marijuana Legalization
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:08
FACT SHEET: President Obama's Blueprint for a Clean and Secure Energy Future
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:07
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  March 15, 2013
  The United States is on the path to a cleaner and more secure energy future. Since President Obama took office, responsible oil and gas production has increased each year, while oil imports have fallen to a 20 year low; renewable electricity generation from wind, solar, and geothermal sources has doubled; And our emissions of the dangerous carbon pollution that threatens our planet have fallen to their lowest level in nearly two decades. In short, the President's approach is working. It's a winning strategy for the economy, energy security, and the environment.
  But even with this progress, there is more work to do. Rising gas prices serve as a reminder that we are still too reliant on oil, which comes at a cost to American families and businesses. While there's no overnight solution to address rising gas prices in the short term, President Obama today reiterated his commitment to a sustained, all-of-the-above energy strategy and urged Congress to take up common-sense proposals that will further reduce our dependence on oil, better protect consumers from spikes in gas prices, and reduce pollution.
  Background: The Energy Security Trust
  The Obama Administration is calling on Congress to establish a new Energy Security Trust, which is designed to invest in breakthrough research that will make the technologies of the future cheaper and better '' technologies that will protect American families from spikes in gas prices and allow us to run our cars and trucks on electricity or homegrown fuels.
  The Energy Security Trust, which builds on a proposal supported by a broad bipartisan coalition including retired military leaders, will provide a reliable stream of funding for critical, breakthrough research focused on developing cost-effective transportation alternatives.
  The President's proposal sets aside $2 billion over 10 years and will support research into a range of cost-effective technologies '' like advanced vehicles that run on electricity, homegrown biofuels, fuel cells, and domestically produced natural gas. The mandatory funds would be set aside from royalty revenues generated by oil and gas development in Federal waters of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), already included in the administration's five year plan. These revenues are projected to increase over the next several years based on a combination of leasing, production, and price trends, with additional revenues potentially generated as a result of reforms being proposed in the FY 2014 Budget. The Trust is paid for within the context of the overall budget.
  Paired with other Administration policies, including our historic new fuel economy standards, the Trust would help solidify America's position as a world leader in advanced transportation technology.
  For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a new report that underscores the progress we have made to improve fuel economy, save American families money at the pump, and reduce carbon pollution that contributes to climate change. According to the report, from 2007 to 2012, EPA estimates that CO2 emissions have decreased by 13 percent and fuel economy values have increased by 16 percent. In addition, compared to five years ago, consumers have twice as many hybrid and diesel vehicle choices, a growing set of plug-in electric vehicle options, and a six-fold increase in the number of car models with combined city/highway fuel economy of 30 mpg or higher.
  The Energy Security Trust builds on this historic progress, continuing to increase momentum towards to a cleaner, more efficient fleet that is good for consumers, increases energy independence, and cuts carbon pollution.
  Producing More American Energy
  President Obama is committed to an ''all-of-the-above'' approach that develops all American energy sources in a safe and responsible way and builds a clean and secure energy future. That's why the President's plan:
  ‚· Challenges Americans to double renewable electricity generation again by 2020. In order to double generation from wind, solar, and geothermal sources by 2020, relative to 2012 levels, the President called on Congress to make the renewable energy Production Tax Credit permanent and refundable, which will provide incentive and certainty for investments in new clean energy. Instead of continuing century-old subsidies to oil companies, the President believes that we need to invest in the energy of the future. During the President's first term, clean energy tax incentives attracted billions of dollars in private investment in almost 50,000 clean energy projects, creating tens of thousands of jobs. Permanent extension keeps the momentum building, while creating new jobs in clean energy.
  ‚· Directs the Interior Department to make energy project permitting more robust. Last year, the President set a goal to permit 10,000 megawatts of renewables on public lands '' a goal the Interior Department achieved. But there is more work to do. That is why the Department is continuing to take steps to enable responsible development of American energy on public lands. In support of this work, the President's Budget will increase funding for energy programs of the Bureau of Land Management by roughly 20 percent. A significant share of these resources will support better permitting processes for oil and gas, renewable energy, and infrastructure, including the transition to an electronic, streamlined system for oil and gas permits that will significantly reduce the time for approval of new drilling projects. The Department will also propose more diligent development of oil and gas leases through shorter primary lease terms, stricter enforcement of lease terms, and monetary incentives to get leases into production.
  ‚· Commits to safer production and cleaner electricity from natural gas. Our domestic natural gas resources are reducing energy costs across the economy '' for manufacturers investing in new facilities and families benefiting from lower heating costs. This abundant, nearly 100-year resource can support new jobs and growth, but there are steps we should take to make this growth safe and responsible. The President's budget will invest more than $40 million in research to ensure safe and responsible natural gas production. And as part of a $375 million investment in cleaner energy from fossil fuels, the President's budget includes significant funding for clean coal technology and a new $25 million prize for the first, natural gas combined cycle power plant to integrate carbon capture and storage.
  ‚· Supports a responsible nuclear waste strategy. Under President Obama's direction, the Energy Department created a Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future to recommend how to manage the challenges associated with nuclear waste storage and disposal. After careful consideration of the Commission's input, the Administration has issued a strategy for action in response to the recommendations and looks forward to working with Congress on implementing policies that ensure that our Nation can continue to rely on carbon-free nuclear power.
  Investing in Energy Security
  During the President's first term, the United States cut foreign oil imports by more than 3.6 million barrels per day, more than under any other President. To ensure that we continue on a path towards greater energy security, the President's plan:
  ‚· Sets a goal to cut net oil imports in half by the end of the decade. Increased production of domestic oil, natural gas, and biofuels, and improvements in the fuel economy of our cars and trucks allowed the United States to cut imports of oil by almost one-third since 2008. To build on this progress, the President will direct new policies and investments to set us on a course to cut net oil imports in half by the end of the decade, relative to 2008 levels.
  ‚· Commits to partnering with the private sector to adopt natural gas and other alternative fuels in the Nation's trucking fleet. Private sector investments are building natural gas fueling infrastructure across the United States just as natural gas vehicle research is making the technology more economically and environmentally effective. The President is committed to accelerating the growth of this domestically abundant fuel and other alternative fuels in the transportation sector in a way that benefits our planet, our economy, and our energy security: putting in place new incentives for medium- and heavy-duty trucks that run on natural gas or other alternative fuels, providing a credit for 50 percent of the incremental cost of a dedicated alternative-fuel truck for a five-year period; supporting research to ensure the safe and responsible use of natural gas; and funding to support a select number of deployment communities: real-world laboratories that leverage limited federal resources to develop different models to deploy advanced vehicles at scale.
  Making Energy Go Farther Across the Economy
  Cutting the amount of energy we waste in our cars and trucks, in our homes, buildings, and in our factories, will make us a stronger, more resilient, and more competitive economy. Improvements in energy efficiency are critical to building a clean and secure energy future. To advance this priority, the President's plan:
  ‚· Establishes a new goal to double American energy productivity by 2030. The President has set a goal to cut our economy's energy waste in half over the next twenty years. More specifically, the Administration will take action aimed at doubling the economic output per unit of energy consumed in the United States by 2030, relative to 2010 levels. This includes a new Energy Efficiency Race to the Top challenge; building on the success of existing partnerships with the public and private sectors to promote energy efficiency; and continuing investments in technologies that improve energy productivity and cut waste.
  ‚· Challenges States to Cut Energy Waste and Support Energy Efficiency and Modernize the Grid. Modeled after a successful Administration approach in education reform designed to promote forward-leaning policies at the State-level, the Budget includes $200 million in one-time funding for Race to the Top performance based awards to support State governments that implement effective policies to cut energy waste and modernize the grid. Key opportunities for States include: modernizing utility regulations to encourage cost-effective investments in efficiency like combined heat and power, clean distributed generation, and demand response resources; enhancing customer access to data; investments that improve the reliability, security and resilience of the grid; and enhancing the sharing of information regarding grid conditions.
  ‚· Commits to build on the success of existing partnerships with the public and private sector to use energy wisely. Over the next four years, the President is committed to accelerating progress on energy productivity including through the Better Buildings Challenge, improving energy data access for consumers through the "Green Button" initiative, and making appliances even more efficient - saving consumers money, spurring innovation, and strengthening domestic manufacturing.
  ‚· Calls for sustained investments in technologies that promote maximum productivity of energy use and reduce waste. The President's Budget expands applied research and development of innovative manufacturing processes and advanced industrial materials. These innovations will enable U.S. companies to cut manufacturing costs, enhance the productivity of their investments and workforce, and reduce the life-cycle energy consumption of technologies, while improving product quality and accelerating product development.
  International Leadership
  The Administration has worked not only to strengthen our energy security at home, but also around the world. In concert with our domestic actions, we have pursued a robust international agenda that:
  ‚· Leads efforts through the Clean Energy Ministerial and other fora to promote energy efficiency and the development and deployment of clean energy. Our efforts have helped to accelerate the global dissemination of energy-efficient equipment and appliances through the Super-Efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative, improved energy savings in commercial building and industry through the Global Superior Energy Performance Partnership (GSEP), and supported the large-scale deployment of renewable energy through the 21st Century Power Partnership.
  ‚· Works through the G20 and other fora toward the global phase out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Inefficient subsidies exact a steep toll on our economies, our energy security, and our environment, and the United States is leading efforts internationally to accelerate progress in eliminating them.
  ‚· Promotes safe and responsible oil and natural gas development. The Administration has worked to promote safe and responsible oil and natural gas production through initiatives like the Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative, which provides technical and capacity building assistance to countries that are on the verge of becoming the world's next generation of oil and gas producers, and the Unconventional Gas Technological Engagement Program, which works to help countries with unconventional natural gas resources to identify and develop them safely and economically and can support switching from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas.
  ‚· Updates our international capabilities to strengthen energy security. We are working with the International Energy Agency (IEA) and others to ensure that our international institutions and processes reflect changes in global energy markets.
  ‚· Supports American nuclear exports. We are providing increased support for American nuclear technology and supply chains to promote safe, secure, low-carbon nuclear power growth in countries that are pursuing nuclear energy as part of their energy mix.
Presidential Memorandum -- Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:06
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  March 15, 2013
  MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY
  SUBJECT: Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians
  Since 1991, the United States has provided safe haven for Liberians who were forced to flee their country as a result of armed conflict and widespread civil strife, in part through granting Temporary Protected Status (TPS). The armed conflict ended in 2003 and conditions improved such that TPS ended effective October 1, 2007. President Bush then deferred the enforced departure of the Liberians originally granted TPS. I extended that grant of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) to March 31, 2013. I have determined that there are compelling foreign policy reasons to again extend DED to those Liberians presently residing in the United States under the existing grant of DED.
  Pursuant to my constitutional authority to conduct the foreign relations of the United States, I have determined that it is in the foreign policy interest of the United States to defer for 18 months the removal of any Liberian national, or person without nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia, who is present in the United States and who is under a grant of DED as of September 30, 2011. The grant of DED only applies to an individual who has continuously resided in the United States since October 1, 2002, except for Liberian nationals, or persons without nationality who last habitually resided in Liberia:
  (1) who are ineligible for TPS for the reasons provided in section 244(c)(2)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. 1254a(c)(2)(B);
  (2) whose removal you determine is in the interest of the United States;
  (3) whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States;
  (4) who have voluntarily returned to Liberia or his or her country of last habitual residence outside the United States;
  (5) who were deported, excluded, or removed prior to the date of this memorandum; or
  (6) who are subject to extradition.
  Accordingly, I direct you to take the necessary steps to implement for eligible Liberians:
  (1) a deferral of enforced departure from the United States for 18 months from March 31, 2013; and
  (2) authorization for employment for 18 months from March 31, 2013.
  BARACK OBAMA
A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the conditions under which certain persons may be treated as adjudicated mentally incompetent for certain purposes. (S. 572) - GovTrack.us
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:01
  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.
US Federal judge finds National Security Letters' gag provision unconstitutional
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 22:01
  Woo, boy. You know those National Security Letters that the FBI has been issuing at its own discretion -- the ones Google has been doing its best to track? Judge Susan Illston of Federal District Court in San Francisco just found 'em unconstitutional. As the story goes, NSLs arrive from the factory with a gag order on the recipient, and as Illston sees it, forbidding the recipient from "disclosing that they had received such an order." So, she's suggesting that the whole thing should be banned under the First Amendment.
  Moreover, she's ordering the US government to stop enforcing the gag provision in any lingering cases, though she reportedly "stayed her order for 90 days to give the government a chance to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals." Needless to say, the move comes as a blow to the existing administration's surveillance practices, but something tells us this isn't the last word we'll be hearing on the matter. Hit up the links below for a look at the decision.
A bill to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline. (S. 582) - GovTrack.us
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:48
  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.
News people: Waking up to the world around you.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Dave Winer
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:43
  It's always controversial to say that big tech companies make money by controlling the flows to and from users and charging others for access. But that is at least one of the businesses Silicon Valley is in. And it's definitely the business Google is in, so if you want to understand why they might do something to restrict or try to control the flow of RSS, that's probably part of the story, at least. (I'm bending over backwards to be conservative here.)
  The thing to fear is that Google intends to control the news people can subscribe to, the same way Apple controls what apps you can buy for the iPad. And the way Twitter decides what clients can have access to our tweets.
  They've got a pretty nice interface for it, btw -- the magical Google Now. It knows what information you're likely to want to see, and shows it to you. It's really good.
  An example of how good/creepy it is. My friend Jen was coming to visit from SLC. Google Now told me her plane was 24 minutes from arriving at the gate at JFK. I had never told them what flight she was on. I didn't know what flight she was on. But they did. Probably because she uses Gmail or their calendar, and somehow connected me to that trip (or did they just guess!) and thought I might be impressed if they told me about her flight. I was!
  But it's creepy, in two ways. One way most people see (it's snooping on what you do to figure out what you want to see). The second way: it's also deciding what you don't see.
  Centralizing this decision-making, for now, is the only way that works. But we're giving something up here.
  I love that the content of my river is not determined by any tech company. Do I think it will stay that way? It's possible that it might not. Even though I'm not running any Google software to manage it. (I run the aggregator on a Rackspace server, and the content is served from an Amazon S3 bucket.)
  We broke free for a bit there with unrestricted flow from blogs and news orgs via RSS. There are people who would like to put the genie back in the bottle. They're not going to run press releases saying that. This is one of those cases where the reporters have to investigate to get the news.
  News people -- if your plan for the future includes free flow of news from journalists to readers, now's the time to take a look.
Remarks by the President on American Energy -- Lemont, Illinois
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:42
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  March 15, 2013
  Argonne National LaboratoryLemont, Illinois
  1:31 P.M. CDT
  THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody! (Applause.) Hello, Illinois! Hello! It is good to be home! (Applause.)
  Well, let me begin by thanking Ann for the great introduction, the great work she's doing, the leadership she's showing with her team on so many different, amazing technological breakthroughs. I want to thank Dr. Isaacs and Dr. Crabtree for giving me a great tour of your facilities.
  It's not every day that I get to walk into a thermal test chamber. (Laughter.) I told my girls that I was going to go into a thermal test chamber and they were pretty excited. I told them I'd come out looking like the Hulk. (Laughter.) They didn't believe that.
  I want to thank my friend and your friend -- a truly great U.S. Senator, Senator Dick Durbin -- huge supporter of Argonne. (Applause.) An outstanding member of Congress who actually could explain some of the stuff that's going on here -- Bill Foster is here. (Applause.) Congressman Bobby Rush, a big supporter of Argonne -- glad he's here. (Applause.) We've got a number of state and local officials with us, including your Mayor, Brian Reaves. (Applause.)
  And I could not come to Argonne without bringing my own Nobel Prize-winning scientist, someone who has served our country so well over the past four years -- our Energy Secretary, Dr. Steven Chu. (Applause.)
  Now, I'm here today to talk about what should be our top priority as a nation, and that's reigniting the true engine of America's economic growth -- a rising, thriving middle class and an economy built on innovation. In my State of the Union address, I said our most important task was to drive that economic growth, and I meant it. And every day, we should be asking ourselves three questions: How do we make America a magnet for good jobs? How do we equip our people with the skills and training to do those jobs? And how do we make sure that hard work leads to a decent living?
  Those of you who have chairs -- I wasn't sure everybody had chairs there. (Laughter.) Please feel free to sit down -- I'm sorry. Everybody was standing and I thought Argonne -- one of the effects of the sequester, you had to -- (laughter) -- get rid of chairs. (Applause.) That's good, I'm glad we've got some chairs.
  So I chose Argonne National Lab because right now, few areas hold more promise for creating good jobs and growing our economy than how we use American energy.
  After years of talking about it, we're finally poised to take control of our energy future. We produce more oil than we have in 15 years. We import less oil than we have in 20 years. We've doubled the amount of renewable energy that we generate from sources like wind and solar -- with tens of thousands of good jobs to show for it. We're producing more natural gas than we ever have before -- with hundreds of thousands of good jobs to show for it. We supported the first new nuclear power plant in America since the 1970s. And we're sending less carbon pollution into the environment than we have in nearly 20 years.
  So we're making real progress across the board. And it's possible, in part, because of labs like this and outstanding scientists like so many of you, entrepreneurs, innovators -- all of you who are working together to take your discoveries and turn them into a business.
  So think about this: Just a few years ago, the American auto industry was flat-lining. Today, thanks in part to discoveries made right here at Argonne, some of the most high-tech, fuel-efficient, pretty spiffy cars in the world are once again designed, engineered and built here in the United States.
  And that's why we have to keep investing in scientific research. It's why we have to maintain our edge -- because the work you're doing today will end up in the products that we make and sell tomorrow. You're helping to secure our energy future. And if we do it well, then that's going to help us avoid some of the perils of climate change and leave a healthier planet for our kids. But to do it, we've got to make sure that we're making the right choices in Washington.
  Just the other day, Dr. Isaacs and directors of two of our other national laboratories wrote about the effects of the so-called sequester -- these across-the-board budget cuts put in place two weeks ago -- and specifically the effects it will have on America's scientific research. And one of the reasons I was opposed to these cuts is because they don't distinguish between wasteful programs and vital investments. They don't trim the fat; they cut into muscle and into bone -- like research and development being done right here that not only gives a great place for young researchers to come and ply their trade, but also ends up creating all kinds of spinoffs that create good jobs and good wages.
  So Dr. Isaacs said these cuts will force him to stop any new project that's coming down the line. And I'm quoting him now -- he says, ''This sudden halt on new starts will freeze American science in place while the rest of the world races forward, and it will knock a generation of young scientists off their stride, ultimately costing billions of dollars in missed future opportunities.'' I mean, essentially because of this sequester, we're looking at two years where we don't start new research. And at a time when every month you've got to replace your smartphone because something new has come up, imagine what that means when China and Germany and Japan are all continuing to plump up their basic research, and we're just sitting there doing nothing.
  We can't afford to miss these opportunities while the rest of the world races forward. We have to seize these opportunities. I want the next great job-creating breakthroughs -- whether it's in energy or nanotechnology or bioengineering -- I want those breakthroughs to be right here in the United States of America, creating American jobs and maintaining our technological lead. (Applause.)
  So I just want to be clear -- these cuts will harm, not help, our economy. They aren't the smart way to cut our deficits. And that's why I'm reaching out to Republicans and Democrats to come together around a balanced approach, a smart, phased-in approach to deficit reduction that includes smart spending cuts and entitlement reforms and new revenue, and that won't hurt our middle class or slow economic growth. And if we do that, then we can move beyond governing from crisis to crisis to crisis, and we keep our focus on policies that actually create jobs and grow our economy, and move forward to face all of the other challenges we face, from fixing our broken immigration system to educating our kids to keeping them safe from gun violence.
  And few pieces of business are more important for us than getting our energy future right. So here at Argonne, and other labs around the country, scientists are working on getting us where we need to get 10 years from now, 20 years from now. Today, what most Americans feel first when it comes to energy prices -- or energy issues are prices that they pay at the pump. And over the past few weeks, we saw -- we went through another spike in gas prices. And people are nodding here. They weren't happy about it. The problem is this happens every year. It happened last year, the year before that. And it's a serious blow to family budgets. It feels like you're getting hit with a new tax coming right out of your pocket. And every time it happens, politicians -- they dust off their three-point plans for $2 gas, but nothing happens and then we go through the same cycle again.
  But here's the thing: Over the past four years, we haven't just talked about it, we've actually started doing something about it. We've worked with the auto companies to put in place the toughest fuel economy standards in our history. And what that means is, by the middle of the next decade, our cars will go twice as far on a gallon of gas. And the standards that we set are part of what's driving some of the amazing scientists and engineers who are working here at Argonne Labs. We've set some achievable but ambitious goals. So in the middle of the next decade, we expect that you'll fill up half as often, which means you spend half as much. And over the life of a new car, the average family will save more than $8,000 at the pump. That's worth applauding. That's big news. (Applause.)
  In fact, a new report issued today shows that America is becoming a global leader in advanced vehicles. You walk into any dealership today, and you'll see twice as many hybrids to choose from as there were five years ago. You'll see seven times as many cars that can go 40 miles a gallon or more. And as costs go down, sales are going up.
  Last year, General Motors sold more hybrid vehicles than ever before. Ford is selling some of the most fuel-efficient cars so quickly that dealers are having a tough time keeping up with the demand. So by investing in our energy security, we're helping our businesses succeed and we're creating good middle-class jobs right here in America.
  So we're making progress, but the only way to really break this cycle of spiking gas prices, the only way to break that cycle for good is to shift our cars entirely -- our cars and trucks -- off oil. That's why, in my State of the Union address, I called on Congress to set up an Energy Security Trust to fund research into new technologies that will help us reach that goal. Now, I'd like to take credit for this idea because it's a good idea, but I can't. Basically, my proposal builds off a proposal that was put forward by a non-partisan coalition that includes retired generals and admirals and leading CEOs. And these leaders came together around a simple idea -- much of our energy is drawn from lands and waters that we, the public, own together. So what they've proposed is let's take some of our oil and gas revenues from public lands and put it towards research that will benefit the public so we can support American ingenuity without adding a dime to our deficit.
  We can support scientists who are designing new engines that are more energy efficient; support scientists that are developing cheaper batteries that can go farther on a single charge; support scientists and engineers that are devising new ways to fuel our cars and trucks with new sources of clean energy -- like advanced biofuels and natural gas -- so drivers can one day go coast to coast without using a drop of oil.
  And the reason so many different people from the private sector, the public sector, our military support this idea is because it's not just about saving money; it's also about saving the environment, but it's also about our national security. For military officials -- like General Paul Kelley, a former Commandant of the Marine Corps -- this is about national security. Our reliance on oil makes us way too dependent on other parts of the world, many of which are very volatile. For business leaders -- like Fred Smith, the CEO of FedEx -- this is about economic security, because when fuel prices shoot up, it's harder to plan investments, expand operations, create new jobs.
  So these leaders all say we need to fix this. This is not a Democratic idea or a Republican idea. This is just a smart idea. And we should be taking their advice. Let's set up an Energy Security Trust that helps us free our families and our businesses from painful spikes in gas once and for all. (Applause.) Let's do that. We can do it. We've done it before. We innovated here at Argonne.
  And in the meantime, we'll keep moving on the all-of-the-above energy strategy that we've been working on for the last couple years, where we're producing more oil and gas here at home but we're also producing more biofuels, we're also producing more fuel-efficient vehicles; more solar power; more wind power. We're working to make sure that here in America we're building cars and homes and businesses that waste less energy.
  We can do this. The nature of America's miraculous rise has been our drive, our restless spirit, our willingness to reach out to new horizons, our willingness to take risks, our willingness to innovate. We are not satisfied just because things -- this is how things have been. We're going to try something that maybe we just imagine now, but if we work at it, we'll achieve it. That's the nature of America. That's what Argonne National Lab is about. That's what this facility is about. (Applause.)
  Two decades ago, scientists at Argonne, led by Mike Thackeray, who's here today -- where is Mike? There he is right here. (Applause.) Mike started work on a rechargeable lithium battery for cars. And some folks at the time said the idea wasn't worth the effort. They said that even if you had the technology, the car would cost too much, it wouldn't go far enough.
  But Mike and his team knew better. They knew you could do better. And America, our government, our federal government made it a priority, and we funded those efforts. And Mike went to work. And when others gave up, the team kept on at it. And when development hit a snag, the team found solutions. And a few years ago, all of this hard work paid off, and scientists here at Argonne helped create a lithium ion battery that costs less, lasts longer than any that had come before.
  So what was just an idea two decades ago is now rolling off assembly lines in cutting-edge fuel efficient cars that you can plug in at night. Well, imagine all the ideas right now with all of these young scientists and engineers that 20 years ago -- or 20 years from now will be offering solutions to our problems that we can't even comprehend -- as long as we're still funding these young scientists and engineers; as long as the pipeline for research is maintained; as long as we recognize there are some things we do together as a country because individually we can't do it -- and, by the way, the private sector on its own will not invest in this research because it's too expensive. It's too risky. They can't afford it in terms of their bottom lines.
  So we've got to support it. And we'll all benefit from it, and our kids will benefit from it, and our grandkids will benefit from it. That's who we are. That's been the American story.
  We don't stand still, we look forward. We invent. We build. We turn new ideas into new industries. We change the way we can live our lives here at home and around the world. That's how we sent a man to the moon. That's how we invented the Internet.
  When somebody tells us we can't, we say, yes we can. And I'm telling all of you, I am absolutely confident that America is poised to succeed in the same way as long as we don't lose that spirit of innovation and recognize that we can only do it together. And I'm going to work as hard as I can every single day to make sure that we do.
  So congratulations, Argonne. (Applause.) Let's keep it up. Thank you. God bless you. God bless America.
  END 1:50 P.M. CDT
Executive Order -- Amendments to Executive Order 12777
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:42
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  March 15, 2013
  EXECUTIVE ORDER
  - - - - - - -
  AMENDMENTS TO EXECUTIVE ORDER 12777
  By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
  Section1. Section 4 of Executive Order 12777 of October 18, 1991, as amended (Implementation of Section 311 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of October 18, 1972, as Amended, and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990) is further amended by striking section 4 in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
  "Sec. 4. Liability Limit Adjustment. (a)(1) The following functions vested in the President by section 1004(d) of OPA are delegated to the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, acting in consultation with the Administrator, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Attorney General:
  (A) the adjustment of the limits of liability listed in section 1004(a) of OPA for vessels, onshore facilities, and deepwater ports subject to the DPA, to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price Index;
  (B) the establishment of limits of liability under section 1004(d)(1), with respect to classes or categories of marine transportation-related onshore facilities, and the adjustment of any such limits of liability established under section 1004(d)(1), and of any limits of liability established under section 1004(d)(2) with respect to deepwater ports subject to the DPA, to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price Index; and
  (C) the reporting to Congress on the desirability of adjusting limits of liability, with respect to vessels, marine transportation-related onshore facilities, and deepwater ports subject to the DPA.
  (2) The Administrator and the Secretary of Transportation will provide necessary regulatory analysis support to ensure timely regulatory Consumer Price Index adjustments by the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating of the limits of liability listed in section 1004(a) of OPA for onshore facilities under subparagraph (a)(1)(A) of this section.
  (b) The following functions vested in the President by section 1004(d) of OPA are delegated to the Administrator, acting in consultation with the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Energy, and the Attorney General:
  (1) the establishment of limits of liability under section 1004(d)(1), with respect to classes or categories of non-transportation-related onshore facilities, and the adjustment of any such limits of liability established under section 1004(d)(1) by the Administrator to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price Index; and
  (2) the reporting to Congress on the desirability of adjusting limits of liability with respect to non-transportation-related onshore facilities.
  (c) The following functions vested in the President by section 1004(d) of OPA are delegated to the Secretary of Transportation, acting in consultation with the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, the Administrator, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Attorney General:
  (1) the establishment of limits of liability under section 1004(d)(1), with respect to classes or categories of non-marine transportation-related onshore facilities, and the adjustment of any such limits of liability established under section 1004(d)(1) by the Secretary of Transportation to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price Index; and
  (2) the reporting to Congress on the desirability of adjusting limits of liability, with respect to non-marine transportation-related onshore facilities.
  (d) The following functions vested in the President by section 1004(d) of OPA are delegated to the Secretary of the Interior, acting in consultation with the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, the Administrator, the Secretary of Transportation, and the Attorney General:
  (1) the adjustment of limits of liability to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price Index with respect to offshore facilities, including associated pipelines, other than deepwater ports subject to the DPA; and
  (2) the reporting to Congress on the desirability of adjusting limits of liability with respect to offshore facilities, including associated pipelines, other than deepwater ports subject to the DPA."
  Sec. 2. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department, agency, or the head thereof; or
  (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
  (b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
  BARACK OBAMA
Scarborough Rips Ted Cruz as 'Ignorant' Over Senate Gun Control Bill
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:40
  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.
Dianne Feinstein's Finger Banging Gay Bullet Holes
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Lame Cherry
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:38
  This probably requires some expert commentary as this Senator Dianne Feinstein's statement about putting her finger into bullet holes is just strange.
  The story apparently was about some homosexual she found dead who was elected to San Francisco's counsel or something. In this she apparently in medical treatment was searching for a pulse in a bullet hole.
  Now I know of sticking fingers in exit wounds in bullet holes, but it is something that just does not make any sense in sticking your fingers in bullet holes to find a pulse.You can only find a pulse in an arterial wall. If a bullet the size of 38 was near that it would have exploded it, and one would see geysers of blood pumping out to see there was a pulse yet.
  Pulses are taken as you always see in television by finding the aterial pulse on the throat. One can take the femural pulse also, but in these days one would probably be accused of necrophilia.
  I just feel that Harvey Milk's family should have sued Di Feinstein for medical malpractice as sticking her dirty fingers into a bullet wound served no purpose and if she was told to do this by some 9 11 person, than California is guilty of medical malpractice.
  I have seen Di Fi and she is not a petite woman. Most women here size have fat, chubby fingers and there is no way her 50 caliber digits could be fitting into 38 caliber entrance holes.
  That is why her entire story is just off. MASH was on television to educate Di Fi about pulses, and so was Emergency with "Rampart Rampart, we have a white female down.........." and it was a cool show..........blonde nurse and Clarke Gabel doctor and that Randolph Mantooth I think was the EMT.No one ever broke a sweat and no blood squirting, but no one wanted to see Mantooth sticking his fingers into bullet holes checking for pulses.
  I wonder if Di Fi sticks her finger up people's asses to check for temperature or how she checks if Obama is black or not.
  I don't really mind calling Dianne Feinstein an Obama liar, but her story seemed to revise as time went on for votes. It is pretty hard to tell what the woman did, but maybe in the next 10 years she will have performed an immediate sex change operation on Mr. Milk and gave him the last rights as she was in contention then to be Pope.
  I do know if Randolph Mantooth showed up, that anyone seeing this dreamy man hunk would hope he would be sticking his thang into any holes and not any Di Fi finger probing.
  In the end, I think that Dianne Feinstein has been outed as the most stupid person in Congress, as she just created a story in which it has no medical backing. She apparently did not phone for help, but instead was sticking her fingers into gay guy holes.Maybe Dianne has some blood fetish and just could not help the blood lust.....maybe rolled around in it like a dog and looked one of the Manson women....I just do not know as Dianne did not go into those details, but I do know that one does not take pulses or look for them in bullet holes.......it contaminates things, does nothing that PRESSURE ON THE WOULD and ELEVATING THE LEGS SHOULD BE DONE FIRST, instead of fingering around in holes that .....well the sodomite might have died from some infection if he had survived as who knows what was under this woman's fingernails that day in what she had been picking at and scratching as ......well her first thought is to stick her fingers in bullet holes.
  My nurses never looked pretty in the hospital.....doctors never did either.....then again my politicians never looked that hot either like Hollywood.
  I like 1 Adam 12 too. Cops in those shows were handsome, had black and white cars, and you could trust them to never stick their fingers into bullet holes...never had bullet holes then either as everyone had guns and were hunting back in the day.
  1 Adam 12, 1 Adam 12, see the man, code 2.........boy mama was that good television. Big cruiser and cherries on top......just like an ice cream shop.
  See I told you Dianne Feinstein is a damn Obama black liar. Look at those big paw mitts she has for fingers. Them look like 54 caliber fingers to me......hell big as a tampon almost.......probably did not lose her virginity to self masturbation till after her honeymoon as her husband's small penis had to loosen her up some.
  Dianne Feinstein by index appendages could not have done what she said and if it was an exit 38 hole, she could have looked in and seen the artery or seen it spurting blood for pulse.
  This woman must have some problems and needs a better writer for her memories. Maybe she could get Obama's writer as he said he blew away Sheik bin Laden.
  I wonder if Muchelle Obama poked her fingers into Donald Young's gay holes after she shot him......errr I mean had him shot.
  never mind as this is Dianne Feinstein ME, Medical Experimenter.
  This blog calls on a Congressional inquiry into whether Senator Dianne Feinstein committed fraudulent testimony in a Congressional hearing as to whether her fingers would indeed fit inside of a bullet hole in a gay dead man's corpse.
  agtG
UN denounces US drone use in Pakistan - Central & South Asia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:38
  The United States has violated Pakistan's sovereignty and destroyed tribal structures with unmanned aerial drone strikes in its counterterrorism near the Afghan border, a UN human rights investigator has said.
  "As a matter of international law, the US drone campaign in Pakistan is ... being conducted without the consent of the elected representatives of the people, or the legitimate Government of the State," Ben Emmerson, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, said in a statement issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva on Friday.
  Emmerson visited Pakistan for three days this week as part of his investigation into the civilian impact of the use of drones and other forms of targeted killings.
  "It involves the use of force on the territory of another state without its consent and is therefore a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty," he said.
  Emmerson said in January that he would investigate 25 drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories. He is expected to present his final report to the UN General Assembly in October.
  Washington had little to say about Emmerson's statement.
  "We've seen his press release. I'm obviously not going to speak about classified information here," Victoria Nuland, the US State department's spokesperson, said. "We have a strong ongoing counterterrorism dialogue with Pakistan and that will continue."
  Spokesman Josh Earnest said the White House would withhold judgement until it sees Emmerson's full report.
  "We have a solid working relationship with [Pakistan] on a range of issues, including a close cooperative security relationship, and we're in touch with them on a regular basis on those issues."
  'End interference'
  Emmerson said the Pashtun tribes of northwestern Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the largely lawless region bordering Afghanistan in Pakistan's west, have been decimated by the counterterrorism operations.
  "These proud and independent people have been self-governing for generations, and have a rich tribal history that has been too little understood in the West," he said. "Their tribal structures have been broken down by the military campaign in FATA and by the use of drones in particular."
  The tribal areas have never been fully integrated into Pakistan's administrative, economic or judicial system. They are dominated by ethnic Pashtun tribes, some of which have sheltered and supported militants over decades of conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan.
  Clearing out border sanctuaries used by forces fighting ISAF forces in Afghanistan is seen by Washington as crucial to bringing stability to Afghanistan, particularly as the US-led combat mission ends in 2014.
  Civilian casualties
  Most, but not all, attacks with unmanned aerial vehicles worldwide have been carried out by the United States. Britain and Israel have also used them, and dozens of other countries are believed to possess the technology.
  "It is time for the international community to heed the concerns of Pakistan, and give the next democratically elected government of Pakistan the space, support and assistance it needs to deliver a lasting peace on its own territory without forcible military interference by other states," Emmerson said.
  The UN Human Rights Council asked Emmerson to start an investigation of the drone attacks following requests by countries including Pakistan, Russia and China.
  Criticism of drone strikes centres on the number of civilians killed and the fact that they are launched across sovereign states' borders so frequently, far more than conventional attacks by piloted aircraft.
  Stanley McChrystal, the retired US general who devised the Pentagon's counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, warned in January against overusing drones, which have provoked angry demonstrations in Pakistan.
  Civilian casualties from drone strikes have angered local populations and created tension between the United States and Pakistan and Afghanistan. Washington has sought to portray civilian casualties as minimal, but groups collecting data on these attacks say they have killed hundreds of civilians.
  631
CIA must respond to request about secret drone program '-- RT USA
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:37
  A federal appeals court says that the Central Intelligence Agency was wrong to refuse a Freedom of Information Act request for details on the CIA's drone program.
  The American Civil Liberties Union filed a FOIA request with the United States' top spy agency in January 2010, and in September of the following year a district court said the agency could stay silent. The court agreed at the time that the CIA was not required to describe the existence of any official drone records within the agency and was given the go ahead to issue a ''Glomar'' response, a reaction which permits an agency to ''refuse to confirm or deny the existence of records'' in limited circumstances. Now, however, an appeals court says that ruling was wrong.
  The ACLU filed an appeal to the Glomar response, and on Friday the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a response in which it overturns the earlier ruling that favored the CIA.
  ''The question on appeal is whether the Agency's Glomar response was justified under the circumstances of this case. We conclude that it was not justified and therefore reverse and remand for further proceedings,'' finds the court [.pdf].
  The appellate panel goes on to say that a Glomar response would be acceptable if even admitting to the existence of any drone information would cause significant harm to national security.
  On behalf of the agency, Mary Ellen Cole declared that ''[a]n official CIA acknowledgment that confirms or denies the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to Plaintiffs' FOIA request would reveal, among other things, whether or not the CIA is involved in drone strikes or at least has an intelligence interest in drone strikes.'' Because the CIA's secretive drone program has been discussed in public, however '-- and admissions of it have come from both US President Barack Obama and recently-named CIA Director John Brennan '-- the judges behind the latest ruling say the agency couldn't downright reject the FOIA request.
  ''Given these official acknowledgments that the United States has participated in drone strikes, it is neither logical nor plausible for the CIA to maintain that it would reveal anything not already in the public domain to say that the Agency 'at least has an intelligence interest in such strikes,'' the court finds, ''The defendant is, after all, the Central Intelligence Agency. And it strains credulity to suggest that an agency charged with gathering intelligence affecting the national security does not have an 'intelligence interest' in drone strikes, even if that agency does not operate the drones itself.''
  The CIA will now have to respond to the ACLU's FOIA request, but could cite other exemptions in order to stay silent.
Judge strikes down secrecy provision of controversial counterterrorism orders
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  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:35
  By M. Alex Johnson, staff writer, NBC News
  A federal judge on Friday struck down gag orders imposed on companies that receive national security letters '-- the supersecret mechanism by which the FBI can get your private information without a warrant in the name of counterterrorism.
  In a ruling filed Friday afternoon in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston declared the letters '-- which prohibit recipients from even acknowledging they have received them, much less discuss their circumstances '-- an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment.
  Illston ordered the FBI to stop issuing the letters, known as NSLs, and to stop enforcing the gag orders. She stayed enforcement of her ruling for 90 days to give the government time to appeal.
  The Justice Department said it was studying the decision and had no immediate comment.
  Read the full ruling (.pdf)
  The letters have been the focus of intense controversy, with government officials calling them vital to fighting terrorism and civil liberties advocates calling them a gross infringement of Americans' rights.
  While the letters have been part of federal law since the 1980s, their use grew rapidly after they were endorsed in the USA Patriot Act following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. FBI reports filed to Congress show the agency issued 16,511 NSLs in 2011, the latest year for which full data are available.
  Watch US News videos on NBCNews.com
  The letters are an administrative way under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act for the FBI to order companies that provide any sort of communications services '-- phone companies, Internet service providers, banks and the like '-- to hand over information about their customers without court approval.
  They come with an indefinite secrecy order, preventing the companies from ever letting their customers know their information has been surrendered.
  "We are very pleased that the court recognized the fatal constitutional shortcomings of the NSL statute," said Matt Zimmerman, a senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the civil liberties group that filed the case on behalf of a telecommunications client it can't name under the law.
  "The government's gags have truncated the public debate on these controversial surveillance tools," Zimmerman said. "Our client looks forward to the day when it can publicly discuss its experience."
  Illston concluded that the secrecy provision couldn't be separated from the main body of the law because Congress meant for the letters to remain secret. She concluded that the entire section of that law governing the letters was unconstitutional.
  "The government has a strong argument that allowing the government to prohibit recipients of NSL's from disclosing the specific information sought in NSL's to either the targets or the public is generally necessary to serve national security in ongoing investigations," Illston wrote.
  "However, the government has not shown that it is generally necessary to prohibit recipients from disclosing the mere fact of their receipt of NSLs."
  Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.
  Related:Petraeus case shows ease of government email snooping
What You Need to Know About the Energy Security Trust
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:21
  Colleen CurtisMarch 15, 201311:35 AM EDT
  America's scientists are a national treasure. Every day, idea by idea, innovation by innovation, they are developing new technology that will help secure our energy future. If we want to keep moving forward, we need scientists to keep inventing and innovating, to keep unlocking new solutions and pushing new breakthroughs.
  In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to create an Energy Security Trust Fund, which would free American families and business from painful spikes in gas prices. The President's plan builds on an idea that has bipartisan support from experts including retired admirals and generals and leading CEOs, and it focuses on one goal: shifting America's cars and trucks off oil entirely.
  So how does it work? The Energy Security Trust will invest in research that will make future technologies cheaper and better '' it will fund the advances that will allow us to run cars and trucks on electricity or homegrown fuels, and on the technology that will enable us to drive from coast-to-coast without a drop of oil.
  Over 10 years, the Energy Security Trust will provide $2 billion for critical, cutting-edge research focused on developing cost-effective transportation alternatives.The funding will be provided by revenues from federal oil and gas development, and will not add any additional costs to the federal budget. The investments will support research into a range of technologies '' things like advanced vehicles that run on electricity, homegrown biofuels, and domestically produced natural gas. It will also help fund a small number of real-world experiments that try different transportation techniques in cities and towns around the country using advanced vehicles at scale.
  In each of the last four years, domestic production of oil and gas has gone up and our use of foreign oil has gone down. And while America uses less foreign oil now than we've used in almost two decades, there's more work to do. That's why we need to keep reaching for greater energy security. And that's why we must keep developing new energy supplies and new technologies that use less oil. The Secure Energy Trust will ensure American scientists and research labs have the support they need to keep our country competitve and create the jobs of the future.
  See the graphic full sized
CFTC Looking at London Gold, Silver Price Setting - WSJ.com
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  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:07
  Article ExcerptBY KATY BURNE, MATT DAY AND TATYANA SHUMSKYU.S. regulators are scrutinizing whether prices are being manipulated in the world's largest gold market, according to people familiar with the situation.
  The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is examining the setting of prices in London, in which a handful of banks meet twice daily and set the spot price for a troy ounce of physical gold, the people said.
  The CFTC is looking at issues including whether the setting of prices for gold'--and the smaller silver market'--is transparent. No formal investigation has been opened, the people said.
  The inquiry comes as regulators expand their review of global financial benchmarks in ...
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Kunstvoorwerpen 6%
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  De volgende kunstvoorwerpen vallen onder het 6%-tarief. Ze vallen alleen onder het 6%-tarief voor:
  import uit een niet-EU-landde levering door de kunstenaar die het kunstvoorwerp heeft ontworpen en gemaakt of de levering door zijn erfgenaamde levering door een ondernemer die geen wederverkoper is en die de btw op zijn aankoop volledig aftrektHet gaat om:
  schilderijen, collages, decoratieve platen en tekeningen gemaakt door de kunstenaaroriginele gravures, etsen, houtsneden, litho'sDeze moeten met de hand zijn gemaakt waarbij iedere techniek gebruikt mag worden, behalve de mechanische en fotomechanische reproductietechniek.zeefdrukkenVoor zeefdrukken geldt dat de kunstenaar deze met de hand moet hebben gemaakt, en dat de zeefdrukken handmatig zijn genummerd en gesigneerd, tot een maximale oplage van 250 stuks. Is de oplage hoger dan 250 exemplaren, dan geldt voor de hele oplage het 21%-tarief.originele standbeelden en beeldhouwwerkenvolgens ontwerp van de kunstenaar met de hand gemaakte tapisserien en wandtextiel tot een maximale oplage van 8 stuksunieke voorwerpen van keramiek die de kunstenaar helemaal zelf heeft gemaakt en gesigneerdOnder het 21%-tarief valt in serie gemaakt keramiek.emailwerk op koper dat de kunstenaar handmatig heeft gemaakt, genummerd en gesigneerd tot een maximale oplage van 8 stuksfoto's die de kunstenaar heeft genomen en die door hem of onder toezicht van hem zijn afgedrukt, genummerd en gesigneerd tot een maximale oplage van 30 afdrukkenOnder het 21%-tarief vallen:
  bouwtekeningen, technische tekeningen, topografische tekeningen en dergelijkemet de hand versierde voorwerpenbeschilderde decors voor theaters en studio'sgebruiksvoorwerpenDe verhuur van kunstvoorwerpen door de kunstenaar zelf valt onder het 6%-tarief. Onder het 21%-tarief valt het uitlenen of verhuren van kunstvoorwerpen door anderen, zoals instellingen voor kunstuitleen.
Honderd jihadstrijders uit Nederland - NOS Nieuws
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'VS trainden al honderden Syrische rebellen' | nu.nl/buitenland | Het laatste nieuws het eerst op nu.nl
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  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:36
  Een eerste lichting van ongeveer 300 Syrische rebellen heeft een training door Amerikaanse officieren afgerond en er zullen er meer volgen.Dat heeft een hooggeplaatste commandant van de opstandelingen donderdag gezegd. De rebellen leerden volgens de anonieme bron antitankwapens en luchtdoelgeschut te hanteren.
  Officieel leveren de Verenigde Staten momenteel alleen medische hulp en voedsel aan de rebellen, maar volgens diverse berichten leiden de Amerikanen in buurland Libanon rebellen op die het regime van president Bashar al-Assad ten val willen brengen.
  De Britse krant The Guardian en het Duitse blad Der Spiegel kwamen eerder deze week met soortgelijke berichten.
  De burgeroorlog in Syri gaat zijn derde jaar in en heeft al aan meer dan 70.000 mensen het leven gekost. Westerse landen hielden zich lang afzijdig, maar tonen steeds meer bereidheid om de Syrische opstand direct te steunen.
  InstabiliteitGroot-Brittanni en Frankrijk hebben laten weten dat wat hun betreft het Europese wapenembargo wordt opgeheven, zodat ze de rebellen van wapentuig kunnen voorzien.
  De Nederlandse regering ziet daar vooralsnog geen heil in. EU-lidstaten besloten onlangs nog het wapenembargo te verlengen tot mei. Een grote meerderheid van de lidstaten nam het standpunt in dat een toename van het aantal wapens tot grotere instabiliteit in de regio kan leiden.
  Als wapens in verkeerde handen vallen kunnen ze nog jarenlang een gevaar vormen, is de redenering.
  Frankrijk en Groot-Brittanni noemen het op hun beurt onaanvaardbaar dat de rebellen zich niet goed kunnen verdedigen tegen het regime van Assad, dat hen bestrijdt met wapens uit Iran en Rusland.
  Lees alles over de onrust in het Midden-Oosten in ons dossier
  Door: ANP
New York In Terror As NRA Boycott Nears
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  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)
  March 15, 2013
  New YorkIn Terror As NRA Boycott Nears
  By:Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
  An interesting Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) report on the 18-28 March final round negotiations for the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) being held in the United States is saying that New York State officials are in a state of ''complete terror'' over the National Rifle Associations (NRA) plan to launch a nationwide tourism and economic boycott against them, and other States, that have recently passed draconian gun laws.
  The NRA is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1871 that promotes the right of American citizens to bear arms, as well as police training, firearm safety, marksmanship, hunting and self-defense training in the United States and has over 4.5 million members.
  New York State is one of the top tourist destinations in the world with New York City alone hosting over 40 million domestic visitors, and who generated nearly $35 billion in revenue. [2011 figures]
  Though no officially accurate estimates are given on US gun ownership, as it is illegal to do so under American Federal law, it is estimated that about 45%, or 52 million of American households, own over 260 million guns making this group the most powerful economic block in the entire United States.
  Should the NRA be successful in mobilizing American gun owners against those States, like New York, that have passed highly-restrictive gun laws, this report says, the economic damage they are capable of inflicting is described as being ''nothing short of totally catastrophic.''
  With a New York State Judge refusing to block this new gun law this past Wednesday, this report continues, the NRA's ''master plan'' for this tourism and economic boycott is now ''all but assured'' and is being planned to coincide with that nations Summer travel season.
  Not just New York State is in the NRA's ''crosshairs'' either, this report continues, as both Colorado, which is now passing new restrictive gun laws, and California, which has begun confiscating legally-owned guns from its citizens, are likewise to be targeted for economic destruction.
  The specific mechanics of the NRA's ''master plan,'' this report says, is to begin a nationwide series of print, Internet, radio and television advertisements encouraging all of America's gun owners to boycott all products made in these ''targeted'' States and to avoid traveling to them too.
  In order to assist American gun owners in making this boycott successful, MFA experts in this report say, the NRA is in the process of creating web pages on their site listing all of the companies in those targeted States and ''suggesting'' alternative ones in those States having the most friendly gun laws.
  Important to note is that the NRA is not alone in this economic boycott as 136 American gun manufactures have already notified New York of their intention to not do business with them, or any other business in their State.
  Most interesting to note about this now ''open warfare'' erupting between American gun owners and their elite leaders, who are seeking to disarm them, is that the Obama regimes massive purchases of billions of rounds of ammunition, and tens of thousands of automatic weapons, is now being reported on by the ''mainstream'' press, and as we can, in part, read as reported by the Infowars.com News Service:
  ''In yet another stunning victory for the alternative media (InfoWars, Drudge Report, Natural News, WND, etc.), the story of the U.S. government stockpiling huge quantities of ammunition (1.6 billion rounds and counting) has finally broken through media censorship and gone mainstream.
  Forbes.com contributor Ralph Benko recently wrote a piece calling for a ''national conversation'' on why the U.S. federal government would need to stockpile enough ammunition to wage a 20-year domestic war against the American people.
  Remember, until this piece was published, the entire leftist media (NPR, MSNBC, CNN and countless leftist websites) all pretended these 1.6 billion bullets were imaginary and didn't exist. It was all a grand ''conspiracy theory,'' we were told, and anyone who reported the truth on the government's ammo purchases was labeled a fringe lunatic.
  As it turned out, the leftist media was delusional, because the numbers don't lie: The Department of Homeland Security really has purchased over 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition, thousands of full-auto assault rifles, and thousands of armored assault vehicles '-- all for use inside the United States, on the streets of America.''
  To whom the Obama regime will be targeting with their massive arms purchases (and as we had previously reported on) was revealed this past week by US Senator Dianne Feinstein (California) who began openly advocating for all United States military veterans to be disarmed because, in her words, they are all ''mentally ill.''
  What the end result of this NRA plan to economically destroy New York, and other States, who are attempting to disarm Americans this report doesn't say, other than to note that civil wars and revolutions have occurred in many other nations, throughout all of history, when the elite classes have attempted to turn their once free citizens into slaves like the US is doing now.
  March 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?''.]
  You May Already Be To Late'...But It Has Begun!
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CIA Officers Memorial Foundation Charity Dinner Featuring Keynote Speaker Dan Aykroyd
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  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:28
  Thursday, July 8, 2010Ritz Carlton Pentagon CityOn July 8, INSA co-hosted the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation Charity Dinner at the Ritz Carlton in Pentagon City, VA. INSA was proud to present keynote speaker Dan Aykroyd and a live blues band led by Jeff ''Skunk'' Baxter. Baxter was joined by fellow musicians, Lee Dotson, Jeff Bean, Sean Peak and Linc Bloomfield. Aykroyd and Baxter were also joined on stage by INSA's Senior Intelligence Advisor and longtime intelligence professional, Charlie Allen for an unforgettable performance.
  This event benefited the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation, which provides educational support to the families of fallen CIA officers. INSA was extremely moved by the excellent turn out of our members for this excellent cause. The band played to a packed house and in addition to pledged donations, INSA raised over $7500 in personal donations from the crowd.
  INSA is proud to have participated in this event and to have given back to the Intelligence Community in a way that respects how much the IC has given to all Americans.
  Click here to view video highlights from this event.
FBI Officer's Rifle Mistake - Business Insider
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  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:19
  Most military services teach "attention to detail." That the slightest lack of attention to detail can result in lives lost.
  The fellows pictured here are not military, and certainly not in combat. They are FBI tactical hostage rescue teams in upstate New York, the small town of Mohawk, population 7,500, and they're surrounding an alleged killer holed up in a local business.
  What's telling about this picture though is that the officer with the "military style" assault weapon and the $500 "military style" close quarters combat sight has that same combat sight attached to the rifle backward.
  Oops.
  In effect, it's useless.
  The photo was at the top of military Reddit this morning, along with a host of disparaging comments about domestic police forces acting like they're military when they're anything but.
  It's a little difficult to see, but here's what it looks like to put the sight on the right way:
  And what it should look like to look through it:
VIDEO-dont drone me bro-Rand Paul's CPAC 2013 Speech - 3/14/2013 - YouTube
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  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:17
TIME Magazine Cover: New World Pope - Mar. 25, 2013 - Rome - Vatican City - Catholics - scandal - Pope - Vatican - Pope Francis - Pope Benedict
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Infographic: Energy Security Trust | The White House
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  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:10
  Download the Full Size PDF
  Energy Security TrustIn his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to create an Energy Security Trust Fund, which would free American families and business from painful spikes in gas prices. The President's plan builds on an idea that has bipartisan support from experts including retired admirals and generals and leading CEOs, and it focuses on one goal: shifting America's cars and trucks off oil entirely. Learn More
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Food Truck Economics
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  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 11:29
  Food Truck EconomicsBobby Hossain's day starts early. Along with his family, he runs a food truck called Phat Thai that serves his mother's Thai recipes ''with a modern twist.'' Although he won't be serving customers for nearly 4 hours, he wakes up by 7:30am. He is working a double shift in the truck (lunch and dinner), so his brother is on prep duty. Bobby buys any last minute supplies they need - ice, more bean sprouts - from Restaurant Depot while his brother cuts vegetables and slices meat at the kitchen space they use in a friend's restaurant. His brother then drives the truck to their parents' house. They load up and Bobby is on the road at 9:30.
  From 11am-2pm they work atMission Dispatch- a location in San Francisco's Mission district that hosts food trucks. It brings in a dependable lunch crowd. Bobby's mother cooks, his employee Frank takes orders, and Bobby hands out completed orders while helping the other two. After three hours, Phat Thai has served around 200 dishes.
  Once the lunch crowd dies down, they return to the commissary, a space where they can clean dishes and dispose of garbage. Bobby checks whether he needs to get more supplies for tomorrow, preps, and then drives the truck to North Beach. From 5pm-8pm they will sell Thai dishes alongside other food trucks at a ''market'' of food trucks organized by Off The Grid. On busy days, they won't have a chance to eat lunch.
  Although it's only half as busy as lunch, Phat Thai sells dinner to a dense crowd of families and professionals returning from work. By the time they serve their last customer, clean up, and park the truck, it's approaching midnight. It's one of Bobby's busiest days. He and his brother only do double shifts twice a week. Since dinner is less lucrative than lunch, on other days they finish selling food by 3pm and he can get home by 5pm.
  Compared to the original American food trucks (a.k.a. roach coaches) that frequented construction sites and baseball stadiums, food trucks like Phat Thai are a different breed. Instead of cheap, greasy fare, they sell $10 dishes featuring organic ingredients and fusions of different regional cuisines. Since their emergence as a social media sensation in 2008, they have asserted themselves as a force in the food scene, employing celebrated chefs and inspiring countless food reviews.
  As a service that strips all the overhead costs of a restaurant down to the minimum requirements for selling food to customers, food trucks are also an irresistible metaphor for lean startups: the Silicon Valley practice of quickly rolling out a minimum viable product, allowing customers to try it, and engaging with them to improve your offering. Just as the falling cost of creating a website or app lowered the barriers to entry in the tech industry, food trucks allow aspiring restauranters to quickly put their creations in front of customers with minimal financial barriers.
  But given that starting a restaurant is essentially a respectable way to throw money down a hole, are food trucks just mini money pits? What does it take to start and run a food truck? Why is a sandwich in a paper tray $10? Will food trucks disrupt the restaurant industry or is there a bubble?
  A Truck of One's Own
  Bobby previously owned a Thai restaurant with his family, but they shut it down in favor of a food truck. ''The restaurant business sucks,'' Bobby told us bluntly. Unless you're a restaurant with investors and a flashy concept, it's nearly impossible to get traction. The rent of their restaurant was $4,500 a month. With their daily customers numbering from 200 to as few as a few, they hemorrhaged money too quickly to build up a customer base. Comparing the rent of the restaurant to the ''rent'' of attending events like Off The Grid ($50 plus 10% of your revenue), the decision to switch to a food truck was a relatively easy one.
  ''There's no rent control on restaurant rent, so even if we did start to be successful, the landlord could jack up our rent. A lot of restaurants get taken advantage of by landlords this way.''
  His story is not unusual. The majority of San Francisco's food truck owners have a background in the industry.
  Thomas of We Sushi worked in the restaurant business for twelve years, including two at his own restaurant in Sacramento. Kenny of the Old World Food Truck had 14 years of restaurant experience before starting his truck. Pelle of Nordic With A Twist complements his catering business with his food truck - for the fun of it more than the additional revenue stream. Dawn, along with her co-founders of Me So Hungry, were the exception. They worked as DJs and promoters before opening their truck.
  The menu of Kenny's Old World Food Truck
  By far the most common reason we heard from chefs for opening a truck was the desire to start their own business.
  The restaurant business is notoriously difficult and expensive to enter. Twenty-five percent fail in their first year and 60% in their first 3 years, according to one well-cited study. And while summing up the cost of a new restaurant is about as exact as giving a figure for a new house, over a quarter of a million dollars is normal. One industry survey calculated the average cost of creating a new concept restaurant at $501,236 and the cost of taking over an existing one at $281,128.
  Setting up a food truck is quicker, cheaper, and less risky, making it an easier business for chefs to break into. Josh, the Communications Director at SOMA StrEAT Food Park, stressed how the lower barriers to entry enable minority, low-income, and immigrant chefs to start their own business.
  Startup Costs
  The food truck market may be easier to break into than the restaurant business, but it is still a major endeavor. The cost of starting a high quality food truck ranges from approximately $50,000 to $150,000 or more, and the process takes several months.
  The biggest cost is the truck itself. Bobby's family bought their truck used for $37,000. Pelle, the caterer who sells Nordic dishes like meatballs, mashed potatoes, and lingonberries, paid $20,000 for his used truck and another $27,000 to outfit it. But trucks looking to tap into the foodie scenes of LA, New York, and San Francisco may need to make a big investment in a custom truck. To meet the challenge of cooking quality sushi, Thomas of We Sushi spent over $100,000 on a custom truck. But so did Me So Hungry, a truck that dishes out creative sliders.
  Trucks can be rented to reduce capital costs, but Bobby dismissed the possibility as the rates are almost as high as buying a used truck. Given the healthy market for used trucks, buying one is less of a risk.
  The other major start up expense is licensing and permits. Josh of StrEAT Food Park estimates the total cost at up to $10,000, a figure confirmed by several trucks. The various required licenses include a business license, food handler certification, health certification, and fire certification.
  Many licenses are administered by the county or city, so a truck that wants to freely roam from the South Bay, north up to San Francisco, and east across the bridge to Oakland and Berkeley would need to clear the permitting and license requirements of at least 4 counties - an expense some but not all trucks undertake.
  Today, food truck owners benefit from infrastructure that makes it easier and cheaper to get started and find customers.
  Food truck owners cannot run the business out of their house. They are legally obligated to prep food in a certified kitchen and dump used ''gray'' water in a certified space. Commissaries, kitchens that rent out space to food entrepreneurs, have begun catering to food trucks, offering places to park and re-charge the trucks in addition to cooking facilities.
  Organizations like Off The Grid and SOMA StrEAT Food Park offer trucks easy access to customers. Since the reputation and stability of the organizers draws a crowd, trucks can sell to many customers from day one. The pioneers of the food truck world, who established the norm of following trucks on Twitter and searching out their social media presence, also makes it easier for trucks to market themselves.
  SOMA Street Food Park's permanent location means they can inject a bar and nightlife into the food truck scene
  A number of resources and companies now also streamline the initial process. Off The Grid, for example, offers a comprehensive ''Instruktional'' guide on how to start a mobile food business for around $300. Some commissaries, like La Cocina, act as incubators for trucks and other food entrepreneurs, offering advice as well as space. We also spied ''Mobi Munch,''the name of a company offering a streamlined process of renting a ready-to-go truck, helping with menus and branding, and accessing profitable locations, on the side of several trucks.
  The owners we spoke to averaged 2 months of effort until they served their first customer. The maximum we heard was 6 months from a recent group new to the restaurant business. While starting a food truck is a commitment like any small businesses, the total price tag, which can be under $100,000, is relatively modest. For entrepreneurs like Bobby and his family, who paid $70,000 in startup costs, that means that the venture can be financed with personal savings.
  Necessity Meets Opportunity
  The modern food truck has a founding narrative rooted in the Great Recession and the emergence of social media.
  The popping of America's housing bubble in 2007-2008 meant a stall in new construction projects, leaving food trucks without their best customers. Suddenly, hundreds of used food trucks were for sale. Simultaneously, the recession left many chefs unemployed and potential resteraunters nervous about the risk of opening a restaurant.
  Entrepreneurial chefs bought food trucks and began selling their creations on the streets. Thanks to Facebook and Twitter, they could easily reach out to customers and publicize their daily schedules and offerings. A creative cooking culture developed to lure foodies to food trucks. It became a media sensation, captured in social media as well as television series like the Food Network's Great Food Truck Race.
  By 2012, the food truck market was estimated to bring in $1 billion in annual revenue. But the conditions that fueled the industry's rapid growth are at risk.
  Some are market driven. Bobby noted that the price of a used truck had doubled since he bought his a year ago, and found the $180,000 sticker tag of new trucks to be taking advantage of the food truck buzz. The cost of permits has also been raised several thousand dollars. Together, this doubles the startup costs of a food truck.
  But the obstacles that most threaten the industry are regulatory. In 2008, gourmet food trucks dealt with regulations designed for small numbers of trucks operating with low visibility. No cap on their numbers existed. They earned certifications and accessed popular spaces fairly easily.
  As the trucks' presence increased in dense urban areas, and local governments faced the ire of restaurants decrying their loss of business to food trucks (which is unfair, in their eyes, as trucks keep costs low by selling on public land) and residents who dislike their presence, regulations have become more onerous and some caps instituted. A food truck applying for a permit in Chicago today, Bobby noted, will receive one in 8 years. Many trucks avoid the permitting process for street parking entirely, and sell exclusively at private functions and marketplaces like Off The Grid. But long waits for other licenses are unavoidable.
  Customers wait in line for Me So Hungry's sliders
  These changes have happened quickly. ''A year is equal to 10 food truck years,'' Bobby told us. Food trucks are uniting to fight the changes, and the efforts of companies like Off The Grid to secure space and permits for trucks is a great help. But just as startups like Uber that compete with cabs could be undone by regulation protecting the cab companies, restaurant-centric rules could curtail the delicious, grease-fueled growth of America's food trucks.
  Ongoing Costs
  The costs of running a food truck are relatively modest compared to a restaurant. Phat Thai is mostly a family affair, with only one employee from outside the family. The main expenses outside of labor are $1,000 a week for food and supplies, $200 of insurance, and $120 to fill up the truck's enormous tank. Its engine is the same one that powered Camaros in the seventies, but even at its terrible gas mileage, a tanks suffices for the week. Bobby's family borrows kitchen space in a friend's restaurant, but commissaries complete with a kitchen, waste disposal, and a parking space run up to $1,000 a month.
  If Phat Thai instead paid each employee a fully loaded $1,000 a week (including the three family members, and discounting the occasional work of other relatives) and rented commissary space, their weekly costs would come out to around $5,500. At $10 a meal, working five days a week, they need to sell slightly over 100 meals a day to break even. The day we spoke to them, they had sold over 200 meals during lunch alone. For Phat Thai at least, it's a much more manageable business model than a traditional restaurant.
  Another expense, for trucks that sell at places like Off The Grid, is the cut they owe to the organizers. Off The Grid charges 10% - something of an industry standard. They also expect vendors to sell a minimum of $1,000 of product over the course of a lunch or dinner period. So if a truck sells with them for lunch and dinner, 5 days a week, they will pay the organizer a minimum of $1,000 per week.
  It takes practice to purchase the right amount of food and not let any go to waste. Otherwise, there are few variables to a truck's costs. Success results from great food and solid branding and marketing. The key is to not be that one food truck on the lot without a line of hungry customers.
  Chef Pelle's Nordic With A Twist truck
  An Unsaturated Market
  No one has good data on how many food trucks ''make it.'' Staff at Off The Grid and the SOMA StrEAT Food Park perceive the failure rate of trucks as lower than in the restaurant business. They think that the low costs of the industry allow even relatively unsuccessful trucks to scrape by. Bobby, however, feels that trucks either succeed or fail. Of the 3 trucks that started at the same time as his, 2 have failed.
  Nevertheless, the consensus seems to be that there is room for growth. According to Josh, who worked a food truck before joining SOMA StrEAT Food Park, which has rapidly grown its customer base over its first 9 months:
  ''There is more demand from customers for food trucks than there is supply. The market is not saturated yet like with restaurants. Eventually it will be, but for now demand is huge.''
  Portland, which may have the biggest food truck scene (at least proportional to its size) with over 20 hubs or ''pods'' where food trucks gather, may offer a glimpse of the natural limits of a food truck scene. Writers report trucks quickly popping up and disappearing. So while the food truck scene in places like San Francisco has room for new vendors, it will be harder to enter the business in the future when demand has been met.
  In San Francisco at least, people in the business still feel like they are part of a burgeoning scene. Dawn, from Me So Hungry, left the music scene for food trucks to be part of something new. Josh described the best part of his job as ''Being part of this as it grows'' and ''Seeing food we haven't seen before.''
  Street Food Culture
  While past food trucks focused on bringing cheap food directly to customers, the scene that made food trucks trendy is based around experimental cuisine and the social aspect of street food.
  Surveying customers at Off The Grid, we met exactly zero who cited cost as a reason to grab lunch from a food truck. A full meal averages $8 to $12. Even desserts or snacks commonly cost $3-$5. Many cited the convenience of food trucks as a draw (they had ambled over from offices across the street), but just as many cited the variety, the quality of the food, and a desire to enjoy San Francisco culture.
  In the high-risk world of restaurants, menus rarely change. But from the start in 2008, food trucks took advantage of the freedom of owning a truck to experiment. Rather than advertise a few dollar discount for tracking down a truck, they marketed the novelty of their creations and lured customers with the promise of fancy food at the price of a modest restaurant. So while prices certainly aren't cheap, customers can take comfort in the fact that vendors charge around $3 less for their dishes than they would in a restaurant. SOMA StrEat Food sees lots of fusion, and the ability of immigrant and minority owners to enter the game adds to the diversity of food as they cook up their family cuisines.
  Off The Grid cites an ''asian night market,'' where street food brings neighbors and friends together in India, China, and Southeast Asia, as their inspiration. At their markets, they bring out chairs, play music, or put on live performances to make the market a community event. A number of the chefs we met cited the social aspect of running a truck - sharing their dishes, meeting different clientele every day, and seeing people actually follow their truck location to location - as their favorite part of owning a truck.
  A Stepping Stone, Or the Future?
  ''To make good money, you need a liquor license.''
  All the chefs we met agreed: to make good money in the restaurant business, you have to sell alcohol. On average, it accounts for an estimated 30% or more of a restaurant's revenue at very high profit margins. Pricing drinks at 80% profit margins is the norm; markups of more than 100% are not uncommon for bottles of wine.
  A food truck has been granted a liquor license in New York City, but only because it is actually immobile. Food trucks simply will not be granted a liquor license. What does this mean for food trucks? We encountered two distinct camps that answered that question very differently.
  The first camp sees food trucks as a stepping stone. They own a truck because it is easier to start than a restaurant, and they very much enjoy their trucks. But given the inconsistency of selling from a truck (bad weather can cut sales in half and around 75% of all revenue needs to be brought in during the peak season from April to October) and the reality of needing to sell alcohol to make money, they want to build on the success of their food truck to open a restaurant. Our sample size is small, but everyone in this camp said that they were still working their way up to a healthy level of profitability, but weren't quite there yet.
  The second camp, in which Phat Thai plants its flag, views food trucks as the more profitable venture. If restaurants only make money from alcohol, why bother? They make good money from their truck - more even than they would in a restaurant. Bobby would still like to have a restaurant in order to have a permanent location that serves as ''advertising'' for the truck. (Or, in the future: trucks.) Another owner desired a restaurant to compensate for the inconsistency of food trucks. The owners in this camp described their trucks as profitable and recouping their investment.
  What story do the numbers tell? Both, one could argue. While no one is getting Google-IPO rich from the food truck business, many trucks are profitable small businesses.
  One truck owner still working his way up to profitability told us that to earn an owner a good salary, a truck would need to bring in upwards of $500,000 of revenue a year. Bobby confirmed this amount, describing $200,000 as an approximate break even point, the equivalent of ''just making it into the major leagues.'' Half a million per truck is doing quite well and a million dollars of revenue per year around the maximum for a single truck.
  Many food trucks are hitting these numbers. Looking around at the surrounding food trucks, Bobby could confidently say that at least 50% had more than $200,000 in annual revenue. And any truck consistently meeting Off The Grid's minimum earning requirement of $1,000 per 3 hour lunch or dinner session is likely profitable. A truck earning the minimum at 5 lunches a week sums to $240,000 in annual revenue, or $216,000 when you subtract Off The Grid's Cut. Bobby cited $2,000 as his average take per lunch session.
  Food trucks also complement their schedules with more lucrative catering gigs. According to Off The Grid staff, a standard model for a food truck is to do '…' of their business at events like Off The Grid, '…' at catering events, and '…' at street locations that they independently secure. Similarly, SOMA StrEAT Food Park rents out their property for private events. Food trucks catering weddings is now commonplace in San Francisco.
  To scale a food truck business, you need more trucks or to expand into catering or a permanent restaurant. Rather than choose between a restaurant or food truck strategy, however, the model seems to be to do both.Curry Up Now, for example, expanded from a food truck to a fleet of food trucks, a catering business, and two restaurants.
  In researching this story, it was fun to learn about the economics of food trucks, but more fun to taste the food. Bites of Me So Hungry's Flyin' Hawaiin Sliders and Phat Thai's pad thai remind us that chefs have more on their mind than profit margins. As Josh from the StrEAT Park told us, ''You don't get rich owning a food truck. But no one enters the food business to get rich. You do it because you're passionate about the food.''
  The Future of Food Trucks
  The food truck was a creative response to particular economic conditions and an absence of government regulations preventing their formation. The confluence of these factors meant that the cost of creating a food business was lower than ever before. As a result, thousands of food trucks flourished and created a new model.
  Food trucks can launch fast and cheap, instantly get customer feedback, and iterate quickly to improve their product. Restaurants can't do any of this.
  But what is the future of food trucks? At some point, there will be enough new entrants to the market that the profits will be competed away and the market will be saturated. Or perhaps local governments will start to heavily regulate food truck permits like they do taxi medallions and liquor licenses. Already, we're seeing evidence of each of these trends that might curb the food truck movement.
  For now though, the food truck business model appears to be sound, entrepreneurs are getting to start successful companies, and the food is NOM NOM NOM. What's not to like?
  This post was written by Alex Mayyasi. He happily resides 100 yards away from Off The Grid's Upper Haight location. Follow him on Twitter here or Google.
Sample Contracts and Reference Agreements | TechAgreements.com
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  Download examples of actual agreements. Whether you are a business professional or a lawyer, gain competitive intelligence and reference actual contract terms when negotiating a deal or drafting an agreement.
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"We're Not The People Of Equal Outcomes, Of Quotas Or The Cradle To The Grave Nanny State!"
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POPES AND PORN
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  ScolaItalian bishops were so convinced that an Italian would become pope that they sent a congratulatory message to the media thanking God for the election of Angelo Scola.
  Italian bishops mistakenly hail Cardinal Angelo Scola as new pope
  Why did Scola not become Pope?
  The world's 'most popular internet porn search terms' have been revealed by 'a leading pornography search engine':Kentucky's favourite search term is 'free gay porn'.Sacramento Gay Men's Chorus
  In the Ukraine 'gay' is the top search.In Australia, 'aussie (gay)' is the top search term.In Peru, all the top 10 searches are gay terms.
  Gay search terms are the most popular across South America.In Venezuela, almost all the top searches are for gay terms; Nina Hartley and Mason Storm are also popular.In North America, a popular search term is "Mom/Mum I'd Like to F***."
  In Finland, 'mature' and 'granny' are popular search terms.
  In Romania 'mom and son' is the most popular term.In Syria, 'Aunt' is a top search term.
  In Pakistan, where gay acts are illegal, 'indian gay sex video' is the number one search term.
  A Christian missions agency is reported as saying that 80% of their applicants admit to struggles with porn.Harry Schaumberg in Christian Post, 3-8-12Uncle Junior from the Sopranos.
  Pope Francis
  Andropov, former head of KGBarthur zbygniew left this comment on the post "'ITALIAN FASCIST' POPE FRANCIS":"Illuminati and Jesuits are two opposed things.
  "Cardinal Bergoglio was famous for using public transports in Buenos Aires.
  "Pope Francesco probably will amaze all of us in particular those who do not know what Jesuits are capable of and those who have not a clue of what it means for a pope to chose such a humble and promising name."
  www.traditioninaction.org
  A. Peasant left this comment on the post "'ITALIAN FASCIST' POPE FRANCIS":
  Two excerpts from A 1927 book about the Jesuits
  http://www.archive.org/stream/MN5086ucmf_0/MN5086ucmf_0_djvu.txtFull text of "The Jesuit enigma [microform]" - Internet Archive
  'Sadism (the torturing of others) and masochism (self-torture) are apparently common in The Order. I have known some Jesuits to lash boys with hard leather straps in a state of passionate excitement, while the boys writhed in agony, and blood flowed from their hands. These sadistic Jesuits, with flushed faces and dilated pupils, seemed to glory in their orgy.
  As to masochism, I have seen Jesuits invite boys to throw hard balls at them with as much strength as they could; to hit them with sticks; to squeeze their fingers with wrenches until the blood almost oozed from under their fingernails; and to inflict other suchlike tortures upon them.' (The Jesuit Enigma, p. 146)
  www.nytimes.com
  ...Already allusion has been made to platonic homosexuality in the Order. In every college there are masters conspicuous for their attention to "boy-friends," who are called, in some places, "sucks" and "tarts."
  At Clongowes College, Ireland, nothing was more common than to hear a boy spoken of as "a suck of Father So and So," or "one of Fr. 's tarts".
  Legislation was made in the Order against admitting boys to the rooms of the members of the community, but such legislation, enacted no doubt as a consequence of abuses, is only very partially observed.
  The homo-sexual type of Jesuit invariably becomes a favourite of the Superior, to whom he carries tales, and whom he flatters and serves with docile affection. He soon acquires so much influence in high quarters that he can satisfy his petty spites and take revenge on men who despise him. ... While they reign as Superiors they are the bane of the Order, and have no other principle than favouritism. (p. 148)
  Much more at the source. One has to wonder about this order.
  Pope Francis bowed his head and asked for the crowds blessing. A humble gesture, or gaining consent of the governed.?
Ted Cruz Trolls Dianne Feinstein, Gets Smacked Down
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  Troll, defined: One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument."Ted Cruz is a troll, although his venue is Senate Committee Hearings rather than online interaction. Between his behavior during the Chuck Hagel confirmation process and his behavior yesterday during the committee debate on Senator Dianne Feinstein's assault weapons ban and clip limits, he's proved he's only interested in disrupting and getting a reaction from his prey.
  He wanted a reaction, and he got one:
  ''I'm not a sixth grader. Senator, I've been on the committee for 20 years,'' Feinstein said. ''I was a mayor for nine years. I walked in, I saw people shot, I've looked at bodies that have been shot with these weapons, I've seen the bullets that implode. And Sandy Hook youngsters were dismembered'... I'm not a lawyer, but after 20 years, I've been up close and personal with the Constitution. I have great respect for it.''
  ''You know, it's fine, you want to lecture me on the Constitution. I appreciate it, but just know I've been here for a long time. I've passed a number of bills. I've studied the Constitution myself. I am reasonably well-educated and I thank you for the lecture,'' Feinstein said.
  He also got one from Senators Chuck Schumer and Sheldon Whitehouse. Schumer:
  In reference to the question my colleague from Texas asked, would you limit books? Would you name specific books? Yeah. It's constitutional within the ambit of the First Amendment to eliminate child pornography. And we have lots of laws that are very explicit about that. Very explicit. That are constitutional, that have been upheld as constitutional. Similarly, you can't falsely scream fire in a crowded theater. Similarly, we have libel laws. Every one of these is an impingement on the sacred First Amendment, upheld as constitutional. There are reasonable limits on each amendment, and I think it is anomalous, to put it kindly, for either side to interpret one amendment so expansively and another amendment so narrowly that it just doesn't add up because your interpretation of the Constitution should be consistent.
  Whitehouse followed up with the death blow:
  It is hard to imagine that it would be a violation of the First Amendment for somebody to yell fire in a crowded theater but it's not a violation of the Second Amendment to prevent somebody from bringing a hundred-round magazine into a crowded theater in a Aurora, Colorado.
  Of course, trolls don't really care about whether or not their quarries lob the ball back with actual facts. It's enough for them to be trolls, and Cruz proves that over and over. He's fine saying that there were communists at Harvard whether or not it's true, because it provokes the reaction he's looking for. He's fine saying that Chuck Hagel received funding from a group that didn't exist (Friends of Hamas), because it creates a firestorm.
  Cruz is with us for at least 5 years and 9 months more. But he should be identified for the troll he is, and given no attention. He's just playing that game in order to make himself into the biggest pain in the butt the Senate has seen yet.
  Josh Marshall shared his memories of the Harvey Milk shooting and why he was so rattled by the exchange:
  Feinstein was on the scene at one of the biggest American political assassinations of the post-60s era '-- the murder of George Moscone and Harvey Milk in San Francisco in November 1978. Feinstein was actually the first into Milk's office and made a momentary and vain effort to revive Milk who was clearly already dead.
  The other part of this story was that Feinstein was then head of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. So Mayor Moscone's death meant she was the new mayor.
  I was a little boy growing up in California at the time, 9 years old. We lived in Southern California. But it was still a very big deal even there. And it came just a week or so after the Jonestown mass suicide, which was in Guyana but grew out of San Francisco and California, which added somehow to the sickness and horror of it. I remember the whole thing vividly. A very surreal and obviously tragic story, and even more surreal because the murderer wasn't some random loner but a guy who himself had just resigned from the City Council.
  The story is obviously part of the story of Harvey Milk, who was then the first openly gay person elected to anything anywhere in America. But Feinstein was also deeply part of it.
  Obviously, trolls don't care about the humans they might unnerve with their trolling, but I'm with Josh on this one. It was a particularly cold and psychopathic thing for him to do.
To amend title II of the Social Security Act to set the retirement benefits age for today's six-year-olds at age 70. (H.R. 1160)
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  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.
Senate Judiciary Approves Ban On Assault Weapons And High Capacity Magazines
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Federal Register | Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations
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  The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (''OFAC'') originally published the Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 561 (the ''IFSR''), on August 16, 2010 (75 FR 49836), to implement subsections 104(c) and (d) and other related provisions of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-195) (22 U.S.C. 8501-8551) (''CISADA''), which had been signed into law by the President on July 1, 2010. Subsection 104(c) of CISADA required the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations to prohibit, or impose strict conditions on, the opening or maintaining in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account for a foreign financial institution that the Secretary finds knowingly engages in specified sanctionable activities.
  On February 27, 2012, OFAC amended the IFSR and reissued them in their entirety (77 FR 11724), in order to implement section 1245(d) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Pub. L. 112-81) (22 U.S.C. 8513a) (''NDAA''), which had been signed into law by the President on December 31, 2011. Section 1245(d)(1) of the NDAA provides for the President to prohibit the opening, and prohibit or impose strict conditions on the maintaining, in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that the President determines has knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant financial transaction with the Central Bank of Iran or another Iranian financial institution designated by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701et seq.) (''IEEPA'').
  Section 1245(d)(2) of the NDAA excepted transactions for the sale of food, medicine, or medical devices to Iran from the imposition of sanctions under section 1245(d)(1). Section 1245(d)(3) of the NDAA limited the imposition of sanctions pursuant to section 1245(d)(1) on foreign financial institutions owned or controlled by the government of a foreign country, including the central bank of a foreign country, to significant transactions for the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products to or from Iran. Section 1245(d)(4)(D) of the NDAA provided for an exception from the imposition of sanctions pursuant to section 1245(d)(1) on any foreign financial institution if the President determines and periodically reports to Congress that the country with primary jurisdiction over that foreign financial institution has significantly reduced its crude oil purchases from Iran during the 180-day period preceding the report.
  On July 30, 2012, invoking the authority of, inter alia, IEEPA, the President issued Executive Order 13622, ''Authorizing Additional Sanctions With Respect to Iran'' (77 FR 45897, August 2, 2012) (''E.O. 13622''). The President issued E.O. 13622 to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957 of March 15, 1995, particularly in light of the Government of Iran's use of revenues from petroleum, petroleum products, and petrochemicals for illicit purposes, Iran's continued attempts to evade international sanctions through deceptive practices, and the unacceptable risk posed to the international financial system by Iran's activities.
  Section 1(a) of E.O. 13622 authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State and subject to certain exceptions, to impose correspondent and payable-through account sanctions on foreign financial institutions determined to have knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant financial transaction with the National Iranian Oil Company (''NIOC''); with Naftiran Intertrade Company (''NICO''); or for the purchase or acquisition of petroleum, petroleum products, or petrochemical products from Iran. Section 10 of E.O. 13622 defines the terms NIOC and NICO as including any entity owned or controlled by, or operating for or on behalf of, respectively, NIOC and NICO.
  Section 1(c) of E.O. 13622 provides that sanctions under subsections 1(a)(i) and (ii) for transactions with NIOC or NICO or for the purchase or acquisition of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran will apply only if (1) the President determines under subsections 1245(d)(4)(B) and (C) of the NDAA that there is a sufficient supply of petroleum and petroleum products from countries other than Iran to permit a significant reduction in the purchase of petroleum and petroleum products from Iran by or through foreign financial institutions; and (2) a significant reduction exception under subsection 1245(d)(4)(D) of the NDAA does not apply with respect to the transaction.
  Thus, transactions with NIOC or NICO or for the purchase or acquisition of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran are excepted from the imposition of sanctions under section 1(a) of E.O. 13622 if the transaction qualifies for the significant reduction exception under subsection 1245(d)(4)(D) of the NDAA. Transactions for the purchase or acquisition of petrochemical products from Iran are subject to sanctions under section 1(a) of E.O. 13622 regardless of whether the President makes the determination that there is a sufficient supply of petroleum and petroleum products under subsections 1245(d)(4)(B) and (C) of the NDAA or whether a significant reduction exception under subsection 1245(d)(4)(D) of the NDAA applies. Section 1(d) of E.O. 13622 also provided an exemption from sanctions under section 1(a) for transactions for the sale of food, medicine, or medical devices to Iran or when the underlying transaction has been authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury. Executive Order 13628 of October 9, 2012 (77 FR 62139, October 12, 2012), amended E.O. 13622 by adding the sale of agricultural commodities to Iran to the list of exempt transactions in section 1(d) and by making other conforming changes to E.O. 13622.
  Section 6 of E.O. 13622 provides that section 1(a) of the order, among other specified provisions, shall not apply to any person for conducting or facilitating a transaction involving a natural gas development and pipeline project initiated prior to July 31, 2012, to bring gas from Azerbaijan to Europe and Turkey, as described in section 6. Although it is not named in the section, section 6 refers to the Shah Deniz natural gas field in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea and related pipeline projects to bring the gas from Azerbaijan to Europe and Turkey.
  On August 10, 2012, the President signed into law the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-158) (22 U.S.C. 8701-8795) (''TRA''), which, inter alia, amends section 1245(d) of the NDAA. Section 503(a) of the TRA adds sales of agricultural commodities to Iran to the list of excepted transactions under section 1245(d)(2) of the NDAA, effective as if originally included in the NDAA. Section 503(b) of the TRA revises the timing of the reports on the availability and price of petroleum and petroleum products produced in countries other than Iran that, pursuant to section 1245(d)(4)(A) of the NDAA, the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration is required to submit to Congress. Beginning September 1, 2012, this report is to be submitted to Congress not later than October 25, 2012, and the last Thursday of every other month thereafter.
  Section 504 of the TRA revises the types of foreign financial institutions and transactions that can be sanctioned under section 1245(d)(1) of the NDAA. Specifically, section 504(a)(1)(A) of the TRA amends the limitation on the imposition of sanctions in section 1245(d)(3) of the NDAA so that it only applies to foreign central banks and not to other government-owned or -controlled foreign financial institutions. As a result, foreign financial institutions owned or controlled by the government of a foreign country, other than central banks, are subject to sanctions under section 1245(d)(1) of the NDAA (with certain exceptions, including the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine and medical devices) with respect to any significant financial transaction conducted or facilitated on or after February 6, 2013, including transactions that are not for the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products to or from Iran.
  Section 504(a)(1)(B) of the TRA amends section 1245(d)(4)(D) of the NDAA to limit the exception from sanctions imposed pursuant to section 1245(d)(1) previously available for countries determined to have significantly reduced their crude oil purchases from Iran to certain transactions conducted or facilitated by foreign financial institutions located in significantly reducing jurisdictions. This amendment applies with respect to financial transactions conducted or facilitated on or after February 6, 2013. As amended, the exception from sanctions set forth in NDAA section 1245(d)(4)(D) applies to a financial transaction conducted or facilitated by a foreign financial institution if (1) the financial transaction is only for bilateral trade in goods or services between the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution and Iran; and (2) any funds owed to Iran as a result of such trade are credited to an account located in the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution. Furthermore, in order for this exception to apply to the financial transaction, there must be in effect a determination from the President either that the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution has significantly reduced its crude oil purchases from Iran; or, in the case of a country that has previously received an exception under section 1245(d)(4)(D) of the NDAA, that, after receiving the exception, it has reduced its crude oil purchases from Iran to zero.
  In addition, section 504 of the TRA amends section 1245(h) of the NDAA by adding a definition of the terms ''reduce significantly,'' ''significant reduction,'' and ''significantly reduced.'' The definition provides that these terms, used with respect to purchases from Iran of petroleum and petroleum products, include a reduction in such purchases in terms of price or volume toward a complete cessation of such purchases.
  Today, OFAC is making a number of changes to the IFSR to implement the amendments to section 1245(d) of the NDAA made by sections 503 and 504 of the TRA, as well as to implement section 1 and related provisions of E.O. 13622. To implement section 503 of the TRA, OFAC is amending redesignated paragraph (g) (formerly paragraph (f)) of section 561.203 in Subpart B to add the sale of agricultural commodities to Iran to the list of transactions exempt from the sanctions imposed pursuant to section 561.203(a). OFAC also is amending section 561.327 in subpart C to add a definition of the term agricultural commodities. In addition, the Note to redesignated paragraph (h) (formerly paragraph (g)) of section 561.203 is being revised to reflect the change in the due dates of reports that the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration is required to submit to Congress, pursuant to section 1245(d)(4)(A) of the NDAA, regarding the availability and price of petroleum and petroleum products produced in countries other than Iran.
  To implement section 504 of the TRA, OFAC is amending section 561.203 in subpart B by revising paragraph (d) and redesignated paragraph (f) (formerly paragraph (e)), and adding new paragraph (e), to eliminate the distinction between foreign government-owned or -controlled financial institutions (other than central banks) and privately owned financial institutions with respect to the types of transactions that would subject them to sanctions. Both types of financial institutions are now subject to sanctions under section 561.203(a) for any significant transactions knowingly conducted or facilitated with the Central Bank of Iran or other designated Iranian financial institutions, whether or not the transactions are for the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products to or from Iran. The revision to redesignated paragraph (f) (formerly paragraph (e)) of section 561.203 clarifies that foreign central banks are the only institutions on which sanctions may be imposed only insofar as they engage in financial transactions for the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products to or from Iran.
  OFAC is revising redesignated paragraph (i) (formerly paragraph (h)) of section 561.203 to clarify that the significant reduction exception extends to countries that, having previously received a significant reduction determination, are determined to have reduced their imports of Iranian crude oil to zero during a subsequent reporting period. OFAC is adding new section 561.328 to Subpart C to define the terms reduce significantly,significantly reduced, and significant reduction, used with respect to purchases from Iran of petroleum and petroleum products, as set forth in section 504(a)(2)(B) of the TRA.
  In addition, OFAC is adding new paragraphs (j) and (k) to section 561.203 to implement the narrowing of the scope of the significant reduction exception, mandated by section 504(a)(1)(B) of the TRA, to cover only certain financial transactions for bilateral trade between Iran and the significantly reducing country. As set forth in new paragraphs (j) and (k) of section 561.203, the significant reduction exception is applicable to a qualifying bilateral trade transaction only if any funds owed to the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution are paid to specified classes of payees and certain restrictions are placed on the funds owed to Iran in order to ensure that they remain in that country. Paragraph (k) of section 561.203 further specifies that funds owed to Iran from Iranian-origin exports to the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution facilitating the transaction under the significant reduction exception may now be used only to pay for exports to Iran of goods or services that originate in that country. New Note 2 to section 561.203 explains that since transactions for the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices to Iran are not sanctionable under the section 561.203(a), the funds owed to Iran from Iranian-origin exports to the significantly reducing country may also be used to pay for the sale and export to Iran of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices from third countries.
  OFAC is adding new interpretive section 561.408 to Subpart D of the IFSR to explain what is meant by the requirement that goods or services originate in a country.
  To implement section 1 of E.O. 13622, OFAC is adding new section 561.204 to Subpart B of the IFSR. Subject to certain exceptions, section 561.204 authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining of a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States by a U.S. financial institution for a foreign financial institution determined to have knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant financial transaction with NIOC, NICO, or any entity owned or controlled by, or operating for or on behalf of, NIOC or NICO, or for the purchase or acquisition of petroleum, petroleum products, or petrochemical products from Iran.
  In addition, OFAC is adding new section 561.205 to Subpart B of the IFSR. This section sets forth the prohibition on any transaction, on or after the applicable effective date, that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions in the IFSR and on any conspiracy formed to violate any such prohibitions. Finally, OFAC is amending the IFSR to add definitions and make other technical and conforming changes.
  begin regulatory text
  1.The authority citation for part 561 is revised to read as follows:
  Authority:3 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 321(b); 50 U.S.C. 1601-1651, 1701-1706; 101, 104 Stat. 890 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note); Pub. L. 110-96, 121 Stat. 1011 (50 U.S.C. 1705 note); Pub. L. 111-195, 124 Stat. 1312 (22 U.S.C. 8501-8551); Pub. L. 112-81, 125 Stat. 1298 (22 U.S.C. 8513a); Pub. L. 112-158, 126 Stat. 1214 (22 U.S.C. 8701-8795); E.O. 12957,60 FR 14615, 3 CFR, 1995 Comp., p. 332; E.O. 13553,75 FR 60567, 3 CFR, 2010 Comp., p. 253; E.O. 13599,77 FR 6659, February 8, 2012; E.O. 13622,77 FR 45897, August 2, 2012; E.O. 13628,77 FR 62139, October 12, 2012.
  2.Amend § 561.203 by:
  a. Revising paragraphs (a) introductory text and (d).
  b. Redesignating paragraphs (e) through (h) as paragraphs (f) through (i) and revising redesignated paragraphs (f) through (i).
  c. Adding new paragraphs (e), (j), and (k) and a new Note to paragraphs (j) and (k).
  d. Redesignating the Note to § 561.203 as Note 1 to § 561.203 and revising redesignated Note 1.
  e. Adding a new Note 2 to § 561.203.
  The revisions and additions read as follows:
  § 561.203 NDAA-based sanctions on certain foreign financial institutions.(a) Imposition ofsanctions. Subject to the limitations, exceptions, and conditions set forth in paragraphs (d) through (k) of this section, upon a determination by the Secretary of the Treasury that a foreign financial institution has knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant financial transaction with the Central Bank of Iran or a designated Iranian financial institution, consistent with section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Pub. L. 112-81) (22 U.S.C. 8513a) (the ''2012 NDAA''), as amended by the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-158) (22 U.S.C. 8701-8795) (the ''TRA''), the Secretary of the Treasury:
  * * * * *
  (d) Privately ownedforeign financialinstitutions. (1) Subject to the exceptions set forth in paragraphs (g) and (i) through (k) of this section, sanctions may be imposed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section beginning on February 29, 2012, with respect to any significant financial transaction conducted or facilitated by a privately owned foreign financial institution that is not for the purchase of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran.
  (2) Subject to the exceptions and conditions set forth in paragraphs (h) through (k) of this section, sanctions may be imposed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section with respect to any significant financial transaction conducted or facilitated by a privately owned foreign financial institution on or after June 28, 2012, for the purchase of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran.
  (e) Government-owned or-controlled foreignfinancial institutions,excluding foreigncentral banks. (1) Subject to the exceptions and conditions set forth in paragraphs (h) through (k) of this section, sanctions may be imposed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section with respect to any significant financial transaction conducted or facilitated by a foreign financial institution owned or controlled by the government of a foreign country, excluding a central bank of a foreign country, on or after June 28, 2012, for the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products to or from Iran.
  (2) Subject to the exceptions and conditions set forth in paragraphs (g) and (i) through (k) of this section, sanctions may be imposed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section with respect to any significant financial transaction conducted or facilitated by a foreign financial institution owned or controlled by the government of a foreign country, excluding a central bank of a foreign country, on or after February 6, 2013, that is not for the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products to or from Iran.
  (f) Foreign centralbanks. Subject to the exceptions and conditions set forth in paragraphs (h) through (k) of this section, sanctions may be imposed pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section on a central bank of a foreign country only insofar as it engages in a financial transaction for the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products to or from Iran conducted or facilitated on or after June 28, 2012.
  (g) Sanctions will not be imposed under paragraph (a) of this section with respect to any foreign financial institution for conducting or facilitating a transaction for the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices to Iran.
  (h) The Secretary of the Treasury may impose sanctions pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section with respect to any significant financial transaction conducted or facilitated by a foreign financial institution on or after June 28, 2012, for the purchase of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran only if the President determines, not later than March 30, 2012, and every 180 days thereafter, that there is a sufficient supply of petroleum and petroleum products from countries other than Iran to permit a significant reduction in petroleum and petroleum products purchased from Iran by or through foreign financial institutions. Such successive sufficiency determinations by the President shall render subject to sanctions under paragraph (a) of this section those financial transactions conducted or facilitated by a foreign financial institution for the purchase of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran during each successive 180-day period beginning 90 days after the President's determination.
  Note to paragraph (h) of § 561.203:Under Section 1245(d)(4)(B) of the 2012 NDAA, the President is to make a determination, not later than March 30, 2012, and every 180 days thereafter, of whether the price and supply of petroleum and petroleum products produced in countries other than Iran is sufficient to permit purchasers of petroleum and petroleum products from Iran to reduce significantly their purchases from Iran. This determination is to be based on reports on the availability and price of petroleum and petroleum products produced in countries other than Iran that, pursuant to section 1245(d)(4)(A) of the 2012 NDAA, the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State, and the Director of National Intelligence, was to submit to Congress beginning not later than February 29, 2012, and every 60 days thereafter. Beginning September 1, 2012, pursuant to section 1245(d)(4)(A) of the 2012 NDAA, as amended by section 503(b) of the TRA, the report of the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration is to be submitted to Congress not later than October 25, 2012, and the last Thursday of every other month thereafter.
  (i) Sanctions will not be imposed under paragraph (a) of this section with respect to a financial transaction described in paragraph (j) of this section that is conducted or facilitated by a foreign financial institution if, for the 180-day period during which the financial transaction is conducted or facilitated, the Secretary of State has determined and reported to Congress:
  (1) That the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution has significantly reduced its crude oil purchases from Iran, thus qualifying for a ''significant reduction exception'' for the 180-day period during which the financial transaction is conducted or facilitated; or
  (2) That the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution has received a significant reduction exception described in this paragraph in a previous period and, after receiving the exception, has reduced its crude oil purchases from Iran to zero during a subsequent 180-day reporting period.
  Note to paragraph (i) of § 561.203:The Secretary of State is to determine whether a country qualifies for the ''significant reduction exception'' and report such determination to Congress not later than 90 days after the date on which the President makes the initial determination referenced in paragraph (h) of this section, and every 180 days thereafter. Accordingly, a significant reduction exception covers a period of 180 days.
  (j) A financial transaction conducted or facilitated by a foreign financial institution is described in this paragraph (j) if:
  (1) The financial transaction is only for trade in goods or services that either originate in the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution and are exported and sold directly to Iran or originate in Iran and are exported and sold directly to the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution;
  (2) Any funds owed to the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution as a result of such trade are paid to:
  (i) Individuals who are citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution; or
  (ii) Entities organized under the laws of the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution that are not the Government of Iran, as defined in § 561.321;
  (3) Any funds owed to Iran as a result of such trade are subject to the terms and conditions set forth in paragraph (k) of this section; and
  (4) Funds owed as a result of such trade are not credited to an account held at any financial institution whose name appears on the List of Foreign Financial Institutions Subject to Part 561 (the ''Part 561 List''), which is maintained on the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Web site (www.treasury.gov/ofac) on the Iran Sanctions page.
  (k) In order for a transaction to qualify for the significant reduction exception from the sanctions imposed under paragraph (a) of this section described in paragraph (i), all funds owed to Iran as a result of a trade transaction described in paragraph (j)(1) of this section must be subject to the following conditions and restrictions:
  (1) The funds must be credited to an account held at a foreign financial institution that conducted or facilitated the trade transaction described in paragraph (j)(1) of this section;
  (2) The funds must be credited to an account held in the country with primary jurisdiction over that foreign financial institution;
  (3) The funds must be credited to an account held in the name of the Central Bank of Iran, the Iranian party to the trade transaction, or an Iranian financial institution that is not a designated Iranian financial institution;
  (4) Payments from the funds may be made only in the manner and to the persons specified in paragraph (k)(5) of this section for amounts owed to such persons for the direct exportation and sale to Iran of goods or services originating in the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution holding the funds (but see Note 2 to § 561.203);
  (5) Payments from the funds for the goods or services exported and sold to Iran, as described in paragraph (k)(4) of this section, may be made only by check payable to or to the order of, or by transfer to an account at a foreign financial institution in the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution holding the funds that is held in the name of:
  (i) Individuals who are citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution holding the funds; or
  (ii) Entities that are organized under the laws of that country;
  (6) The funds may not be withdrawn in cash, remitted to Iran or paid to anyone that is the Government ofIran, as defined in § 561.321, or credited to an account held at a financial institution whose name appears on the Part 561 List (see paragraph (j)(4) of this section); and
  (7) Other than in payment for goods or services exported and sold to Iran as set forth in paragraphs (k)(4) through (k)(6) of this section, the funds may be transferred from the initial account described in paragraphs (k)(1) through (k)(3) of this section only to another account that is held at the same foreign financial institution, located in the country with primary jurisdiction over that foreign financial institution, and subject to the following conditions and restrictions:
  (i) The account must be a separate, special purpose account holding only funds owed to Iran as a result of trade transactions that qualify for the significant reduction exception described in paragraph (i) of this section and that are conducted or facilitated by the foreign financial institution holding the account; and
  (ii) The conditions and restrictions on the funds owed to Iran set forth in paragraphs (k)(1) through (k)(6) of this section apply in full to the account described in this paragraph, except that the account must be held only in the name of the Central Bank of Iran or an Iranian financial institution that is not a designated Iranian financial institution.
  Note to paragraphs (j) and (k) of § 561.203:See§ 561.408 for a provision interpreting the phrases goods or services originating in the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution and goods or services originating in Iran.
  Note 1 to § 561.203:The sanctions regime described in § 561.203 is separate from the sanctions regimes described in §§ 561.201 and 561.204 and applies in addition to, and independently of, the sanctions regimes imposed under §§ 561.201 and 561.204.
  Note 2 to § 561.203:Paragraph (g) of this section excepts transactions for the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices to Iran from the imposition of sanctions under paragraph (a) of this section. Therefore, funds owed to Iran as a result of a trade transaction described in paragraph (j)(1) of this section may be used for the purchase and export to Iran of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices regardless of the country from which such goods are purchased and regardless of where such goods originate, and payment from the funds for such goods may be made to exporters in countries other than the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution holding the funds.
  3.Add new § 561.204 to subpart B to read as follows:
  § 561.204 Additional petroleum-related sanctions on certain foreign financial institutions.(a) Imposition of sanctions. Subject to the limitations, exceptions, and conditions set forth in paragraphs (d) through (f) of this section, upon a determination by the Secretary of the Treasury that a foreign financial institution has knowingly engaged in one or more of the activities described in paragraph (b) of this section, the Secretary of the Treasury may:
  (1) Prohibit U.S. financial institutions from opening a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States for the foreign financial institution with respect to which the determination has been made; and either
  (2)(i) Prohibit U.S. financial institutions from maintaining a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States for the foreign financial institution with respect to which the determination has been made; or
  (ii) Impose one or more strict conditions on the maintaining of any correspondent account or payable-through account that had been opened in the United States for the foreign financial institution prior to the Secretary of the Treasury's determination with respect to the foreign financial institution.
  Note 1 to paragraph (a) of § 561.204:The name of any foreign financial institution with respect to which a determination has been made pursuant to this paragraph (a), along with the relevant sanctions to be imposed (prohibition(s) and/or strict condition(s)), will be added to the List of Foreign Financial Institutions Subject to Part 561 (the ''Part 561 List''), which is maintained on the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Web site (www.treasury.gov/ofac) on the Iran Sanctions page, and published in the Federal Register.
  Note 2 to paragraph (a) of § 561.204:See§ 561.203(b) for examples of strict conditions that might be imposed, pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section, on the maintaining of a pre-existing correspondent account or payable-through account for a foreign financial institution with respect to which the Secretary of the Treasury's determination has been made.
  (b) Sanctionable activity. A foreign financial institution engages in an activity described in this paragraph if it knowingly conducts or facilitates any significant financial transaction:
  (1) With the National Iranian Oil Company (''NIOC''), the Naftiran Intertrade Company (''NICO''), or any entity owned or controlled by, or operating for or on behalf of, NIOC or NICO, except for a sale or provision to any of the foregoing of the products described in section 5(a)(3)(A)(i) of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-172) (50 U.S.C. 1701 note), as amended, provided that the fair market value of such products is lower than the applicable dollar threshold specified in that provision;
  Note to paragraph (b)(1) of § 561.204:As of March 15, 2013, the products described in section 5(a)(3)(A)(i) of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Pub. L. 104-172) (50 U.S.C. 1701 note), as amended, are refined petroleum products, and for the fair market value of such products to be lower than the applicable dollar threshold specified in that provision the products sold or provided to NIOC, NICO, or any entity owned or controlled by, or operating for or on behalf of, NIOC or NICO, must have a fair market value of less than $1,000,000, and, during a 12-month period, an aggregate fair market value of less than $5,000,000.
  (2) For the purchase or acquisition of petroleum or petroleum products from Iran; or
  (3) For the purchase or acquisition of petrochemical products from Iran.
  (c) Prohibitions. (1) A U.S. financial institution shall not open a correspondent account or payable-through account in the United States for a foreign financial institution for which the opening of such an account is prohibited pursuant to paragraph (a)(1) of this section.
  (2) A U.S. financial institution shall not maintain a correspondent account or payable-through account in the United States for a foreign financial institution for which the maintaining of such an account is prohibited pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(i) of this section.
  (3) A U.S. financial institution shall not maintain a correspondent account or payable-through account in the United States for a foreign financial institution in a manner that is inconsistent with any strict condition imposed and in effect pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(ii) of this section.
  (4) The prohibitions in paragraphs (c)(1) through (c)(3) of this section apply except to the extent transactions are authorized by regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this part, and notwithstanding any contracts entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of the prohibition.
  (d) Exempt activity. Sanctions will not be imposed under paragraph (a) of this section with respect to any foreign financial institution for:
  (1) Conducting or facilitating a transaction for the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, or medical devices to Iran or when the underlying transaction has been authorized by the Office of Foreign Assets Control pursuant to any part of this chapter V; or
  (2) Conducting or facilitating a transaction involving a natural gas development and pipeline project initiated prior to July 31, 2012, to bring gas from Azerbaijan to Europe and Turkey in furtherance of a production sharing agreement or license awarded by a sovereign government other than the Government of Iran before July 31, 2012.
  Note to paragraph (d)(2) of § 561.204:The natural gas development and pipeline project referred to in this paragraph is the project to develop the Shah Deniz natural gas field in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian Sea and related pipeline projects to bring the gas from Azerbaijan to Europe and Turkey.
  (e) The Secretary of the Treasury may impose sanctions pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section with respect to any significant financial transaction described in paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section only if the President makes the successive determinations that there is a sufficient supply of petroleum and petroleum products from countries other than Iran described in paragraph (h) of § 561.203.
  (f) Sanctions will not be imposed under paragraph (a) of this section with respect to any significant financial transaction described in paragraphs (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this section that is conducted or facilitated by a foreign financial institution if:
  (1) For the 180-day period during which the financial transaction is conducted or facilitated, the Secretary of State has determined and reported to Congress:
  (i) That the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution has significantly reduced its crude oil purchases from Iran, thus qualifying for the ''significant reduction exception'' for the 180-day period during which the financial transaction is conducted or facilitated; or
  (ii) That the country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution has received a significant reduction exception described in this paragraph in a previous period, and, after receiving the exception, has reduced its crude oil purchases from Iran to zero during a subsequent 180-day reporting period; and
  (2) The transaction satisfies the conditions and restrictions set forth in paragraphs (j) and (k) of § 561.203.
  Note to paragraph (f) of § 561.204:The Secretary of State is to determine whether a country qualifies for the ''significant reduction exception'' and report such determination to Congress not later than 90 days after the date on which the President makes the initial determination referenced in paragraph (h) of this section, and every 180 days thereafter. Accordingly, a significant reduction exception covers a period of 180 days.
  Note to § 561.204:The sanctions regime described in this section is separate from the sanctions regimes described in §§ 561.201 and 561.203 and applies in addition to, and independently of, the sanctions regimes imposed under §§ 561.201 and 561.203.
  4.Add new § 561.205 to subpart B to read as follows:
  § 561.205 Evasions; attempts; causing violations; conspiracies.(a) Any transaction on or after the effective date that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, causes a violation of, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this part is prohibited.
  (b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this part is prohibited.
  5.Revise paragraph (a) of § 561.301 to read as follows:
  § 561.301 Effective date.(a) The effective date of a prohibition or condition imposed pursuant to §§ 561.201, 561.203, or 561.204 on the opening or maintaining of a correspondent account or a payable-through account in the United States by a U.S. financial institution for a particular foreign financial institution is the earlier of the date the U.S. financial institution receives actual or constructive notice of such prohibition or condition.
  * * * * *
  6.Revise § 561.318 to read as follows:
  § 561.318 Petroleum.The term petroleum (also known as crude oil) means a mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in natural underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating facilities.
  7.Amend § 561.327 by revising the section heading, redesignating paragraphs (a) through (c) as paragraphs (b) through (d), and adding new paragraph (a) to read as follows:
  § 561.327 Agricultural commodities, food, medicine, and medical devices.(a) The term agricultural commodities means:
  (1) Products not listed on the Commerce Control List in the Export Administration Regulations, 15 CFR part 774, supplement no. 1, that fall within the term ''agricultural commodity'' as defined in section 102 of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5602); and
  (2) Products not listed on the Commerce Control List in the Export Administration Regulations, 15 CFR part 774, supplement no. 1, that are intended for ultimate use in Iran as:
  (i) Food for humans (including raw, processed, and packaged foods; live animals; vitamins and minerals; food additives or supplements; and bottled drinking water) or animals (including animal feeds);
  (ii) Seeds for food crops;
  (iii) Fertilizers or organic fertilizers; or
  (iv) Reproductive materials (such as live animals, fertilized eggs, embryos, and semen) for the production of food animals.
  * * * * *
  8.Add new § 561.328 to subpart C to read as follows:
  § 561.328 Reduce significantly, significantly reduced, and significant reduction.The terms reduce significantly,significantly reduced, and significant reduction, used with respect to purchases from Iran of petroleum and petroleum products, include a reduction in such purchases in terms of price or volume toward a complete cessation of such purchases.
  9.Add new § 561.329 to subpart C to read as follows:
  § 561.329 Iran.The term Iran means the Government of Iran and the territory of Iran and any other territory or marine area, including the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, over which the Government of Iran claims sovereignty, sovereign rights, or jurisdiction, provided that the Government of Iran exercises partial or total de facto control over the area or derives a benefit from economic activity in the area pursuant to international arrangements.
  10.Add new § 561.330 to subpart C to read as follows:
  § 561.330 Petrochemical products.The term petrochemical products includes any aromatic, olefin, and synthesis gas, and any of their derivatives, including ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, toluene, xylene, ammonia, methanol, and urea.
  11.Revise § 561.403 to read as follows:
  § 561.403 Facilitation of certain efforts, activities, or transactions by foreign financial institutions.For purposes of §§ 561.201, 561.203, and 561.204, the term facilitate or facilitated used with respect to certain efforts, activities, or transactions refers to the provision of assistance by a foreign financial institution for those efforts, activities, or transactions, including, but not limited to, the provision of currency, financial instruments, securities, or any other transmission of value; purchasing; selling; transporting; swapping; brokering; financing; approving; guaranteeing; or the provision of other services of any kind; or the provision of personnel; or the provision of software, technology, or goods of any kind.
  12.Amend § 561.404 by:
  a. Revising the introductory text.
  b. Revising paragraph (d).
  c. Revising the introductory text of paragraph (e).
  d. Revising paragraph (e)(1).
  The revisions read as follows:
  § 561.404 Significant transaction or transactions; significant financial services; significant financial transaction.In determining, for purposes of paragraph (a)(5) of § 561.201, whether a transaction is significant, whether transactions are significant, or whether financial services are significant, or, for purposes of paragraph (a) of § 561.203 and paragraph (b) of § 561.204, whether a financial transaction is significant, the Secretary of the Treasury may consider the totality of the facts and circumstances. As a general matter, the Secretary may consider some or all of the following factors:
  * * * * *
  (d) Nexus. The proximity between the foreign financial institution engaging in the transaction(s) or providing the financial services and a blocked person described in paragraph (a)(5) of § 561.201, or between the foreign financial institution conducting or facilitating the financial transaction described in paragraph (a) of § 561.203 and the Central Bank of Iran or a designated Iranian financial institution, as defined in § 561.324, or between the foreign financial institution conducting or facilitating the financial transaction described in paragraph (b) of § 561.204 and the National Iranian Oil Company (''NIOC''), the Naftiran Intertrade Company (''NICO''), any entity owned or controlled by, or operating for or on behalf of, NIOC or NICO, or the activities described in paragraphs (b)(2) and (b)(3) of that section. For example, a transaction or financial service in which a foreign financial institution provides brokerage or clearing services to, or maintains an account or makes payments for, a blocked person described in paragraph (a)(5) of § 561.201, the Central Bank of Iran, a designated Iranian financial institution, NIOC, or NICO in a direct customer relationship generally would be of greater significance than a transaction or financial service a foreign financial institution conducts for or provides to a blocked person described in paragraph (a)(5) of § 561.201, the Central Bank of Iran, a designated Iranian financial institution, NIOC, or NICO indirectly or in a tertiary relationship.
  (e) Impact. The impact of the transaction(s) or financial services on the objectives of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, as amended by the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (''TRA''), or of the financial transaction on the objectives of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, as amended by TRA, or of the financial transaction on the objectives of Executive Order 13622 of July 30, 2012, including:
  (1) The economic or other benefit conferred or attempted to be conferred on a blocked person described in paragraph (a)(5) of § 561.201, on the Central Bank of Iran or a designated Iranian financial institution, or on NIOC, NICO, any entity owned or controlled by, or operating for or on behalf of, NIOC or NICO, or any person engaged in the activities described in paragraphs (b)(2) and (b)(3) of § 561.204;
  * * * * *
  13.Revise § 561.406 to read as follows:
  § 561.406 Country with primary jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution.For purposes of § 561.203(i) and § 561.204(f), a country includes any jurisdiction that has its own central bank or contains a separate financial sector authority, and a foreign financial institution (including its foreign branches outside of the United States) is under a country's primary jurisdiction if the foreign financial institution is organized under the laws of the country or any jurisdiction within that country.
  14.Add new § 561.408 to subpart D to read as follows:
  § 561.408 Goods or services originating in a country.(a) Goods originating in a country are goods that have been grown, produced, manufactured, extracted, or processed, and goods that have been substantially transformed, in the country.
  (b) Services originating in a country are services performed in that country or services performed in the country to which the services are being exported by a citizen, national, or permanent resident of the country from which the services originate who is ordinarily resident in that country.
  (c) For purposes of this part, services originating in a country do not include the brokering of transactions for the sale and exportation of goods or services not originating in that country.
  15.Amend § 561.504 by revising the introductory text of paragraph (a) to read as follows:
  § 561.504 Transactions related to closing a correspondent account or payable-through account.(a) During the 10-day period beginning on the effective date of the prohibition in § 561.201(c), § 561.203(c)(2), or § 561.204(c)(2) on the maintaining of a correspondent account or a payable-through account for a foreign financial institution whose name is added to the Part 561 List, which is maintained on the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Web site (www.treasury.gov/ofac) on the Iran Sanctions page, U.S. financial institutions that maintain correspondent accounts or payable-through accounts for the foreign financial institution are authorized to:
  * * * * *
  16.Amend § 561.701 by:
  a. Revising paragraph (a)(1).
  b. Adding new paragraph (a)(3).
  c. Revising the Note to paragraph (a) of § 561.701.
  d. Revising paragraph (b).
  The revisions and additions read as follows:
  § 561.701 Penalties.(a) Civil Penalties. (1) As set forth in section 104(c) of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-195) (22 U.S.C. 8501-8551) (''CISADA'') and section 1245(g)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (Pub. L. 112-81) (22 U.S.C. 8513a) (''2012 NDAA''), a civil penalty not to exceed the amount set forth in section 206(b) of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (''IEEPA'') (50 U.S.C. 1705(b)) may be imposed on any person who violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of any prohibition contained in § 561.201 or § 561.203 or of any order, regulation, or license set forth in or issued pursuant to this part concerning such prohibitions.
  * * * * *
  (3) Pursuant to section 206 of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1705), which is applicable to violations of the provisions of any license, ruling, regulation, order, directive, or instruction issued by or pursuant to the direction or authorization of the Secretary of the Treasury under IEEPA, a civil penalty not to exceed the amount set forth in section 206(b) of IEEPA may be imposed on any person who violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of any prohibition contained in § 561.204 or of any order, regulation, or license set forth in or issued pursuant to this part concerning such prohibition.
  Note to paragraph (a) of § 561.701:As of the date of publication in the Federal Register of the final rule amending this part to implement sections 503 and 504 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 and section 1 and other related provisions of Executive Order 13622 of July 30, 2012 (March 15, 2013), IEEPA provides for a maximum civil penalty not to exceed the greater of $250,000 or an amount that is twice the amount of the transaction that is the basis of the violation with respect to which the penalty is imposed.
  (b) Criminal Penalty. (1) As set forth in section 104(c) of CISADA and section 1245(g)(2) of the 2012 NDAA, a person who willfully commits, willfully attempts to commit, or willfully conspires to commit, or aids or abets in the commission of a violation of any prohibition contained in §§ 561.201 or 561.203 shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $1,000,000, or if a natural person, be imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both.
  (2) Pursuant to section 206 of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1705), a person who willfully commits, willfully attempts to commit, or willfully conspires to commit, or aids or abets in the commission of a violation of any prohibition contained in § 561.204 or of any order, regulation, or license set forth in or issued pursuant to this part concerning such prohibition may, upon conviction, be fined not more than $1,000,000, or if a natural person, be imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both.
  * * * * *
  17.Revise § 561.802 to read as follows:
  § 561.802 Delegation by the Secretary of the Treasury.Any action that the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to take pursuant to subsections 104(c), (d), (h), or (i), or section 104A of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-195) (22 U.S.C. 8501-8551), as amended by the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-158) (22 U.S.C. 8701-8795), pursuant to section 8 of Executive Order 13553 of September 28, 2010 (75 FR 60567, October 1, 2010), pursuant to section 10 of Executive Order 13599 of February 5, 2012 (77 FR 6659, February 8, 2012), pursuant to sections 1 and 12 of Executive Order 13622 of July 30, 2012 (77 FR 45897, August 2, 2012), or pursuant to section 16 of Executive Order 13628 of October 9, 2012 (77 FR 62139, October 12, 2012), and any action of the Secretary of the Treasury described in this part, may be taken by the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control or by any other person to whom the Secretary of the Treasury has delegated authority so to act.
  18.Revise § 561.803 to read as follows:
  § 561.803 Consultations.In implementing sections 104 and 104A of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (Pub. L. 111-195) (22 U.S.C. 8501-8551), as amended by the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 (Pub. L. 112-158) (22 U.S.C. 8701-8795), the Secretary of the Treasury shall consult with the Secretary of State and may, in the sole discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, consult with such other agencies and departments and such other interested parties as the Secretary considers appropriate.
  end regulatory text
US government cyber-security database taken offline due to hacker attack '-- RT USA
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:17
  A federal government database that stores malicious viruses and cyber-attacks has been taken offline following the detection of a hacker attack on its servers. The database is meant to provide an early warning of Internet infiltration by new viruses.
  Viewed as the Bible of virus and malware information, the National Vulnerability Database's (NVD) website of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was taken down on March 8 following the discovery of malware on two of its servers.
  Finnish security researcher Kim Halavakosk asked the NIST, via email, for an explanation as to why the database has gone offline.
  NIST spokeswoman Gail Porter replied that the site was offline because ''a NIST firewall detected suspicious activity and took steps to block unusual traffic from reaching the Internet,'' Halavakosk said in a post to his Google+ account.
  The malware that caused the shutdown took advantage of vulnerabilities in Adobe ColdFusion to infiltrate the NDV, the Register reports. Both servers were compromised for at least two months before a firewall detected them. A patch is now available from Adobe to fix the issue.
  Porter elaborated on the investigation, saying, ''currently there is no evidence that NVD or any other NIST public pages contained or were used to deliver malware to users of these NIST Web sites,'' assuring Halavakosk that the servers would be back online as soon as possible, though she gave no specific timeframe.
  The threat of hacker attacks on US industrial and government infrastructure has become a growing problem in recent months.
  On Monday, White House national security adviser Tom Donilon implored Chinese officials to stop hackers within their borders from engaging in industrial espionage by breaking into American computer systems.
  Washington's reaction follows a threat assessment study by American computer security firm Mandiant, which concluded that an elite military group of Chinese hackers '' the People's Liberation Army Unit 61398 '' has been engaged in ferocious cyber-espionage against the US. In the last seven years, it has allegedly hacked 141 companies across 20 major industries, including those vital to national security.
  The Mandiant probe comes alongside revelations by dozens of American companies into illegal breaches of their servers. Facebook and Apple said hackers bypassed their systems while The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal hinted that Beijing had accessed their networks to keep tabs on journalists writing about China.
The End of Google Reader Sends Internet Into an Uproar - NYTimes.com
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:09
  4:43 p.m. | Updated to provide Google comment on why it shut down the service.
  Last night, I went to meet a group of friends for dinner in San Francisco after work. As I sat down at the table, two of my dining companions asked in unison, with eye-opening looks on their faces, ''Did you hear the news?''
  ''Yes,'' I replied as I shuffled my chair in and unfurled my napkin. ''They picked a new pope, from Latin America.''
  ''No, not that,'' they responded. ''Google is shutting down Google Reader on July 1.'' The dinner then turned into a torrent of information about the chaos that had ensued online as a result.
  My friends are not the only ones upset by Google's decision to eliminate Google Reader, the company's service for viewing blogs through an RSS feed.
  People turned to Twitter to lambaste Google for its decision and ask other people for alternative feed readers. Blogs weighed in, noting that the company was making a mistake. A few Web sites that rely on Google Reader for their own products, including FeedDemon, seemed near tears over the decision. And the Hitler meme that usually circulates online during tough times, also appeared with a video about the closing.
  Outraged Google Reader fans put together a petition on the Web site Change.org to keep the RSS reader alive, and in a few hours had garnered more than 50,000 signatures.
  ''It's still a core part of my Internet use,'' wrote Dan Lewis, an avid Google Reader fan, in the petition. ''And of the many, many others who are signed below. Our confidence in Google's other products '-- Gmail, YouTube, and yes, even Plus '-- requires that we trust you in respecting how and why we use your other products.''
  Some people defended the decision. Dave Winer, one of the people behind the invention of RSS, said good riddance in a blog post on his Web site. But Mr. Winer was an exception as he noted later in the day that his blog post attracted ''some pretty sick comments'' that he was forced to delete.
  In a blog post on the company's Web site, Google said it was shutting down the RSS reader because ''usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we're pouring all of our energy into fewer products.'' The service has been the leading RSS reader for some time, and users seem to be upset that there are few RSS competitors, although there are newer types of news-aggregating products like Flipboard and Pulse. One theory is that Google is trying to push customers to Google Plus, its social-networking site, where users can track product pages for different news outlets.
  Now people will be out on the news reader street by July 1, and there are few places for them to go.
  As BuzzFeed noted, using data from the BuzzFeed Network, a group of sites that collectively have over 300 million users,Google Reader still sends a considerable amount of traffic to these sites. Google Plus, the company's social network, does not.
  Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this post incorrectly said that Google declined to comment on why it shut down the service.
Moving to Cart from Google Reader? Do this... - Google Groups
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 09:05
  Moving to Cart from Google Reader? Do this... - Google GroupsShowing 1-1 of 1 messages
  Moving to Cart from Google Reader? Do this...Dave Jones3/15/13 6:29 AM1. Go to google reader settings, import/export tab. 2. Go to "export using takeout." 3. Click "Create Archive." 4. Download the zip archive when it finishes. 5. Extract the archive and look for a file called "Subscriptions.xml". 6. Go to the Cartular
Finnish Software Firm To Pay Employees Partly In Bitcoin
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 15 Mar 2013 07:54
  Here's an interesting experiment, and a first of its kind at least to our knowledge: Finnish HTML5 software developer SC5 has started providing employees with the option to have a part of their salary paid in the decentralized peer-to-peer currencyBitcoin (via Hacker News).
  SC5'²s Martti Malmi (who also happens to be a former core developer of the digital Bitcoin currency), blogged about the move:
  ''We are doing this just out of curiosity to try out new things.
  Bitcoin as such fits our vision of the world quite well. It allows for open source development, competition and innovation in the field of payments and Internet commerce. Based on cryptography, it is secure and deterministic as we require for digital services.
  As a comparison, credit cards rely on few enough physical cards getting stolen or copied and the centralized organizations covering fraud for billions of dollars each year.''
  The company is using Finnish exchange Bittiraha.fi as its Bitcoin service provider, and says it will use the daily exchange rate on payday for currency conversion.
  It's unclear what will happen when it's time for SC5 to file its taxes.
  Update: Malmi asserts that taxation is not really an issue, since the bitcoins are deducted from the already-taxed net salary.
  Whatcoin?
  Bitcoin (BTC) does not operate like typical currencies in that it has no central bank and solely relies on an Internet-based peer-to-peer network.
  Through various exchanges, 'bitcoins' are bought and sold at a variable price, based on the value against other currency. This month, 1 BTC traded over $40.
  Bitcoin is said to be the most widely used alternative currency in the world; its monetary base is valued at over $400 million.
  You could argue that SC5'²s move is simply meant to draw attention, but considering that at least one of the people at SC5 was directly involved in the development of Bitcoin in the first place, it makes for an interesting experiment worth tracking '' PR stunt or not.
  SC5 also accepts payments from clients in Bitcoin, by the way. Other Internet companies that take Bitcoin include Reddit, WordPress and Mega, among many others.
  We've reached out to Malmi and SC5 to learn more and will update as soon as we hear back (Update: see above).
  Update 2: as GigaOm points out, The Internet Archive also plans to start compensating some employees in Bitcoin, although SC5 asserts that their experiment started last year and they were thus likely first (FIRST!).
  Image credit: Thinkstock
Voice of America to Test Digital Transmissions this Weekend
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:52
  03/14/2013The Voice of America Radiogram show, hosted by Kim Andrew Elliot, KD9XB, will be testing a variety of digital modes on March 16 and 17.
  The data transmissions can be decoded by anyone with an AM shortwave receiver using any of the popular sound-card-based programs such as Fldigi, Ham Radio Deluxe, MixW, MultiPSK, DigiPan (for BPSK31, BPSK63 and QPSK31 only), CocoaModem (for Macs) and others.
  Each test will last one minute, unless otherwise specified, on the following modes at the audio frequencies indicated. During some tests as many as four modes will be used simultaneously . . .
  BPSK31 at 2000 HzQPSK31 at 1000 Hz, BPSK31 at 2000 HzQPSK31 at 1000 Hz, PSK63F at 1500 Hz, BPSK31 at 2000 HzQPSK63 on 1000 Hz, PSKR125 at 1500 Hz, BPSK63 at 2000 HzQPSK125 at 1000 Hz, PSKR250 at 1500 Hz, BPSK63 at 2000 HzQPSK250 at 800 Hz, PSKR500 at 1500 Hz, BPSK250 at 2200 HzQPSK500 at 800 Hz, PSKR1000 at 1500 Hz, BPSK500 at 2200 HzPSKR500 at 1000 Hz, PSK63F at 1500 Hz, PSKR125 at 2000 Hz, and PSKR250 at 2500 Hz (5 minutes, 40 seconds total). The latter portions of the PSKR250 and 500 transmissions are formatted for Flmsg, a function within the Fldigi software suite. (In Fldigi, go to Configure > Misc > NBEMS > under ''Reception of flmsg files.'' Click Open with flmsg and Open in browser and select the desired location of the flmsg.exe file.)MFSK32 image on 1500 Hz (54 seconds)The 30-minute Radiogram program is scheduled to air . . .
  Saturday 1600 UTC at 17860 kHz
  Sunday 0230 UTC at 5745 kHz
  Sunday 1300 UTC at 6095 kHz
  Sunday 1930 UTC at 15670 kHz
  ... from the IBB Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station in North Carolina.
  E-mail reception reports are welcomed at radiogram@voanews.com.
  According to Elliot, future VOA Radiogram programs will transmit only one mode at a time. ''This will ensure the highest possible signal-to-noise ratio and the best possible chances for a successful decode. These broadcasts are an experiment. We will try different modes in different programs to see which work best via AM analog shortwave broadcast transmitters.''
Google Reader was a Google Pigpen product
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Dave Winer's linkblog feed
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:33
  (Note: This blog post rated G, for ''Geeky'')
  While I've used Google Reader to catch and organize content syndicated via RSS, I've never used Google Reader as a news reader. (I'll explain how in just a second.)
  To understand why I've never been a fan of Google Reader as a reader, it might be helpful to read a long-ago post I wrote about Lucy Google Products vs. Pigpen Google Products. My point in that post was (and still is), you can usually tell when Google is very committed to a new product (when you can connect dots from the product to something that competes with Apple, Facebook, Microsoft or Amazon) and when it isn't (it usually has the term ''labs'' associated with it).
  And, unfortunately for everyone who could have been better served by a great RSS newsreader, Google Reader has always been as ''Pigpen'' as it gets. It just never felt like it had a champion inside Google with enough clout to make it anything more than mediocre.
  But because it was from Google, other developers chose to create veneers to wrap over Google Reader's Pigpen-ness, rather than to actually compete with it. For most of the past couple of years, for instance, I've used some such, uh, veneer-ware, called Reeder, a ''client'' that hides Google Reader while using it with a better interface. However, RSS syndication can be used in so many ways, it is something different for everyone, so what's good for me, doesn't work for others.
  Yesterday, Google did what it ultimately does with most of its Pigpen projects: It announced Google Reader's mercy killing.
  While it may seem like that's a bad thing (my Twitter stream seems to think it is), it isn't. As Instapaper creator Marco Arment blogged yesterday, ''We're finally likely to see substantial innovation and competition in RSS desktop apps and sync platforms for the first time in almost a decade.''
  In other words, maybe people who use RSS everyday without knowing it, will be able to understand how to use it to make their lives simpler. And maybe otherwise seemingly smart people will get over their ridiculous notion that RSS is dead or that it can be replaced by Twitter feeds.
  And maybe people who use stealth RSS readers like Flipboard, will finally understand how RSS is hidden throughout the internet's tubes.
  I used to attempt to get my friends to use a newsreader. For whatever reason, most never quite got it. It's one of the few things I use that I consider a competitive advantage and a tool I couldn't operate professionally without. I decided to stop wasting time trying to give that secret away.
Reuters Web editor indicted for 'conspiring with Anonymous'
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: CNET News
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:32
  Years after the Los Angeles Times Web site was supposedly defaced by Anonymous, the U.S. government goes after a former employee who allegedly gave hackers the company's login and password.
  When Matthew Keys allegedly handed over the passwords of his former employer to members of the hacker group Anonymous a couple of years ago, he probably didn't think it would lead to an indictment.
  However, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today that Keys was being indicted on three counts: conspiracy to transmit information to damage a protected computer, transmitting information to damage a protected computer, and attempted transmission of information to damage a protected computer.
  Keys, 26, currently works as a deputy social media editor at Reuters but used to be a Web producer for the Tribune Company, which owns the Los Angeles Times. According to a statement from the Department of Justice, Keys allegedly passed the Tribune Company's login credentials onto members of Anonymous, who then defaced a news article posted on the Los Angeles Times' Web site.
  "Keys identified himself on an Internet chat forum as a former Tribune Company employee and provided members of Anonymous with a login and password to the Tribune Company server," the Department of Justice statement says. "After providing log-in credentials, Keys allegedly encouraged the Anonymous members to disrupt the website."
  The indictment claims that Keys went by the name AESCracked in the chat forum and had conversations with the hacker who claimed to have attacked the Los Angeles Times Web site.
  The site's defacement involved the hacker changing an article's headline, byline, and sub-headline to include the name "CHIPPY 1337," according to the indictment. A line in the story was also changed to say, "House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer sees 'very good things' in the deal cut which will see uber skid Chippy 1337 take his rightful place, as head of the Senate, reluctant House Democrats told to SUCK IT UP."As BuzzFeed points out, what's interesting is that one of Anonymous' top leaders, Sabu, seems to have outed Keys years ago. In a tweet from March 2011, Sabu wrote, "AESCracked/Matt Keys was former producer for Tribune sites. Gave full control of LATimes.com to hackers." Sabu later worked with the FBI to go after several prominent members of the loose-knit hacking group.
  Keys claims to have no idea any of this legal tidal wave was heading his way. In a tweet this afternoon, he wrote, "I am fine. I found out the same way most of you did: From Twitter. Tonight I'm going to take a break. Tomorrow, business as usual."
  If found guilty, Keys faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Google Reader Still Drives Far More Traffic Than Google+
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Dave Winer's linkblog feed
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:31
  According to data from the BuzzFeed Network, a set of tracked partner sites that collectively have over 300 million users, Google Reader is still a significant source of traffic for news '-- and a much larger one than Google+. The above chart, created by BuzzFeed's data team, represents data collected from August 2012 to today. (Yesterday, Google announced that it would close Reader in July.)
  We should add that this data isn't complete. Google Reader traffic became much harder to measure last year when Google began defaulting users to SSL encryption in such a way that masked referral data. And this doesn't include data from apps that use Google Reader as a sync service, such as Reeder. In other words, it's likely that we're actually missing some Reader traffic here.
  The second graphic* shows measured Reader and Google+ referrals over time. This one, too, requires qualification: The changes in Reader's numbers can be explained mostly by the addition of new sites to BuzzFeed's partner network, not growth in Google Reader (the total number of visitors to partner sites increased, in other words).
  But the relative numbers are still surprising: Despite claims that it has over 100m monthly active users, Google+ barely moves the needle for sites across the network, while Reader is a healthy source of readers.
  *For reference: in August of 2012, according to the same data, Facebook drove over 70m visitors to sites in the network while Google Reader was well under 10m.
Southern Bread Blog >> Pornography's meaning. Does anyone care?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: What Melissa Jones is saying.
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:29
  I've followed Covenant Eyes blog for a long time and have seen lots of good stuff written there about pornography addiction. It's a real issue, and is debilitating to many people. However, I take growing exception to the line of reasoning they use against pornography itself. I'm not going to argue one way or another about the morality of pornography here. Instead, my beef is with the way they argue. I just don't think it's very compelling when you take into account what we now know about how the mind works with regards to sex and sex fantasy. I feel like I'm being forced to throw out very plain sense conclusions from cognitive psychology in order to just jump on the morality train.
  One of the recent articles embodies this. It's entitled ''Bringing Rape Culture to Light.''
  The article doesn't seem to follow any type of syllogism, so here is what I considered the thesis portion of the article:
  For a moment, take these statements at face value:
  Normal porn decreases rape rates, but increases cultural tolerance of rape.Violent porn increases the likelihood of using violence or coercive measures.Early exposure to porn increases the likelihood of using violence or other coercive measures.Now consider the known neurological impact of habitual porn viewing. The viewer is never satisfied with one image. Rather, as the brain becomes inured to a certain type of image (''soft-core,'' consensual porn, for example), it increasingly requires more variety, which usually plays out in more sexually deviant materials, such as BDSM or rape porn.
  Will everyone who views porn eventually get to child pornography, the lowest of the low? Certainly not. But if the seeds of addiction are planted in youth exposure to porn, and if 90% of boys are exposed to pornography before age 18, then it is likely that sexual violence will begin to rise'...and at the same time, the victims will be blamed and the perpetrators protected. In fact, this attitude is already being adopted by high schoolers (see also ''slut shaming,'' or using someone's private photos to brand them as promiscuous.)
  ''Lisa Eldred, Covenant Eyes Blog [links preserved]
  The argument seems to be that porn desensitizes the mind to sexual violence over time. So, the earlier this process starts and the more widespread it becomes, the more likely it is that sexual violence will increase since the process will be given longer to process over a wider public body.
  (If I've mis-characterized her argument it was certainly a mistake and I'd welcome a correction.)
  She describes the ''most chilling'' example of this:
  Perhaps most chillingly, in a study of 187 female university students, researchers concluded early exposure to pornography was related to subsequent ''rape fantasies'' and attitudes supportive of sexual violence against women. If the rise in porn has been correlated with a decrease in rape, then it's possible that this is simply due to women themselves believing forceful coercion to be okay or normal.
  Firstly, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find any woman that actually ''believe[s] forceful coercion to be okay or normal'' in any area of life '' not just sex. I don't find this to be a compelling premise at all. Outside of random freaks in the news, who thinks being harmed or coerced is actually okay? If her argument leads to such a conclusion that defies logic then I'm skeptical of the whole line of reasoning.
  Moving on, I wasn't able to get a copy of the study she's citing. It appears to be behind a pay-wall. But, I am immediately skeptical of the use of the term ''rape fantasy'' without disambiguating the word rape. To someone who isn't familiar with the phrase ''rape fantasy'' in the way a psychologist would use it, it seems shocking. How could anyone have a fantasy of raping or being raped? Especially women themselves. Let's explore this.
  To start with, rape fantasies always need to be categorized. Some studies have broken them into 2 distinct types, while others have placed them on a continuum. This study of 355 college aged women (78% of whom were self-identified Christians) from 2009 concluded that such fantasies fall on a continuum with 3 broad types: exclusively erotic, erotic-averse, exclusively averse. Each one of these types are very different in tone and meaning '' even though they all fall under the category of ''rape fantasy.'' The study explains:
  As rape includes the use of force or incapacitation to coerce sex against a woman's will, rape fantasy also includes each of these components. In this sense, rape fantasy is a behaviorally accurate descriptor for these types of fantasies. At the same time, this terminology can be misleading, as it may connote a realistic depiction of violent stranger rape, which in reality is not typical of most actual rapes (Koss & Oros, 1982). In addition, many rape fantasies are not realistic depictions of rape. They are often abstracted, eroticized portrayals that emphasize some aspects of actual rape and omit or distort other features (Kanin, 1982).
  '...results indicate that wording of rape fantasy items does make a difference. In this study, 52% of the sample reported having the fantasy, ''being overpowered or forced by a man to surrender sexually against my will,'' whereas only 32% reported the fantasy, ''being raped by a man.'' This 20% discrepancy could be partly due to the stigma related to the word ''rape,'' with some women not wanting to put their fantasy into this category even if it technically fit the criteria.
  The study found that 45% of such fantasies were ''completely erotic'' in nature. This is how they describe it:
  Erotic rape fantasies. Of all the rape fantasies written, 45% were completely erotic. In a large majority of these fantasies, the non-consent was feigned or token (85%); and in over three-fourths, the self-character's level of consent changed during the fantasy from resistant to willing (77%). An informal evaluation of the erotic rape fantasies revealed that a ''not right now'' prototype scenario came up frequently. In this scenario, the self-character was excited by the idea of the potential sexual interaction but expressed non-consent for reasons, such as a fear of getting caught or not wanting sex with a forbidden partner (e.g., friend's boyfriend).
  In a large majority of erotic rape fantasies, the nonconsent was feigned or token (i.e., not a real attempt to end the sexual interaction in the fantasy).
  The perpetrator in these fantasies was rated as highly physically attractive, more attractive than the perpetrator in the aversive rape fantasies. In nearly one half of the erotic rape fantasies, the perpetrator was perceived as being driven either by his physical or romantic attraction toward the self-character.
  A majority of these fantasies were a positive experience for the fantasizer, and this positive reaction was more common for erotic than for the other types of rape fantasy. As these were erotic fantasies that were self-rated as not at all aversive, it is not clear why the percentage of those reporting a positive experience was not even higher. It may be the case that when the reaction here was not positive, this may have been due to guilt from having a fantasy that seemed socially inappropriate.
  A further 46% of the women in the study had what were called ''erotic-averse'' rape fantasies. These are fantasies where there were elements of fear and eroticism both, and the willingness changed to, or from, un-willingness during the fantasy.
  The amount of women that had completely fearful (i.e. almost realistic) rape fantasy was only 9%.
  All of this presents a much clearer picture than simply using the phrase ''rape fantasy,'' which is obviously misleading, even if technically accurate. It would be more accurate to categorize the nearly half of such fantasies that are completely erotic as ''aggression'' fantasies or ''ravishment'' fantasies. And, it comes as no surprise that such high numbers of women (even, maybe especially, amongst Christians) have such fantasies. While it is often remarked upon how ''over sexed'' our culture is '' that really only applies to the pseudo-world of media. The average person doesn't feel over-sexed at all. Instead, most people feel sexually repressed. Especially women.
  Most women in our culture grow up with a lot of guilt about their own sexuality. Especially in the Christian world, women are expected to be borderline androgynous. And, they are made to feel shameful for their own sexuality. It's not surprising that a young woman under this burden of guilt would resort to such a ''not my fault'' fantasy as a way to justify an enjoyment of sex that seems forbidden. She certainly didn't create such a fantasy through a conscious processing of the information. That's not how fantasy operates. The fact that the aggressor in these fantasies is usually ''highly physically attractive'' and driven by intense desire for the fantasizer provides the fuel to temporarily overcome those feelings of shame and allow pleasure to happen.
  The higher the shame and guilt level, the more drastic the fantasy has to be in order to get over the threshold to pleasure.
  Rather than being disturbing, it just seems normal. It's the way you would expect a mind to work. Have you walked through the romance section at the bookstore lately? It's not small. And there's a whole lot of ravishment going on, on those covers. Heard of Fifty Shades of Grey? It didn't become the best selling book of all time because of a ''rape culture'' or moral depravity. It's because of moral desperation on the part of millions of women(and men) to overcome sexual guilt and shame. We seriously need to stop judging and policing people's minds in this way. Stop being threatened by fantasy, which is by definition not real.
  Michael Bader says it this way:
  The function of sexual fantasy is to undo the beliefs and feelings interfering with sexual excitement, to ensure both our safety and our pleasure. Our fantasies convince us that we're not going to harm or betray anyone, and that if we get fully aroused, no one will suffer.
  Sexual fantasy, then, has the challenge of surmounting these emotions in order for excitement to take place. Because shame and rejection are common experiences, many common sexual fantasies function to negate them. Characters must be drawn, details chosen, scenarios plotted, and roles defined to this aim.
  It is an extraordinary testament to the creative and adaptive capacity of the human imagination that it is able to weave together exactly the right story to overcome obstacles to arousal. Getting turned on involves transcending the past, counteracting dangers, disconfirming beliefs, undoing traumas, soothing pain, and finally, finally, laying claim to pleasure.''Dr. Michael Bader, Arousal: The Secret Logic of Sexual Fantasy
  When seen from this lens, the fantasies that Lisa Eldred is so worried about do not constitute the beginning of an acceptance of sexual violence in society. And trying to suppress them just seems cruel. When the mind works so hard to finally overcome obstacles to pleasure are we just going to heap on more guilt? These women feel robbed of sex already. Are we now going to rob them of their fantasies as well? Is it necessary to eradicate every vestige of sexual pleasure '' even from their minds?
  So, what are my take-aways from this? What am I trying to say? Three things:
  The presence of a ''rape fantasy'' does not mean that a woman wants to be raped, or that she thinks rape is ok. It is more likely that it simply means she wants sex without the shame and guilt that she feels unable to escape. That is a rational thing to want.The fact that so many women have rape fantasies is not an indictment of these women. It's an indictment of the Victorianism that is rampant in our culture, and the church in particular. Shame and guilt are not required for a healthy sexual outlook.Pornography is not a cause of sexual dysfunction. It's the mind's attempt at a solution. It's being used as a tool to overcome a mental feeling of helplessness over the shame and guilt people feel for having sexual desire in a very sexually repressive culture.The three things she wanted us to take at face value only work on a purely mechanistic model. They also seem somewhat contradictory:
  ''Normal porn decreases rape rates, but increases cultural tolerance of rape.'' '' How can an increased tolerance of rape and a decrease in actual rape be caused by the same thing? And, even if that were the case, why does rape tolerance matter if actual rape decreases? Targeting attitudes toward rape over rape itself is akin to political correctness and hate-think legislation. What ultimately matters is whether actual rapes decrease.''Violent porn increases the likelihood of using violence or coercive measures.'' '' It seems more plausible that someone inclined to view violent porn brings his or her violence with them, rather than getting it from the porn. Such people have a history of childhood trauma that drives them to such material. Michael Bader's work has shown how this operates based on actual clinical cases.''Early exposure to porn increases the likelihood of using violence or other coercive measures.'' '' I never saw her prove this outside of an appeal to the rape fantasy study she refers to. But, we've seen that using ''rape'' fantasies as an indication of violence tolerance is misleading. The resistance involved in such fantasies is usually token. It's an erotic device that serves the fantasy's purpose.It's widely known (by those at Covenant Eyes especially) how rampant pornography usage is amongst men (and women increasingly) in the church. The ever-increasing nature of pornography addiction should be taken as a clear indicator that the way we handle sex overall needs to change. Simply indicting pornography and fantasy will change very little.
  No amount of pornography is going to result in culture accepting rape as legit. Look at India, which is one of the oldest societies on Earth '' and is literally the birthplace of pornography (Tantra, Kama Sutra). After thousands of years their people still raised up in outrage over the Amanat rape case last year.
  So, I don't believe that we live in a ''rape culture'' as Lisa Eldred put it. Instead, I believe we live in a sexual pressure cooker, where husbands and wives never talk openly about their sexual desires. They are too ashamed and fearful. In that milieu, it's much easier to retreat to pornography than to risk the self-rejection that comes with being open and honest with one another. If that doesn't change, pornography addiction will only get worse.
Social Sharing vs RSS Usage
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Dave Winer's linkblog feed
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:28
  Google recently announced on their office blog that they would be doing a ''second spring cleaning'' and shutting down Google Reader, one of the worlds most popular RSS reader tools on the web.
  Most Google Reader users were unhappy and upset at Google's decision to shutdown the tool with just 4 months notice. Of course there's been a lot of great resources that provide alternatives, ''State of RSS Readers'' from SuperFeedr lists many alternatives and Digg Announced they are building their own.
  Is RSS dead? Are we going back to the walled gardens of old with new social sharing platforms? Short answer'... yes
  Quick Facts!RSS meta tags on websites have started to decline in the top 10,000 sites on the web as of October 2012RSS usage in the top million sites has hovered around 18% consistently for 3 yearsFacebook's Open Graph protocol meta tags overtook RSS tag usage on the top 10,000 sites on 31st August 2012.So what about the state of RSS in 2013?RSS was well received and adopted by the internet community in the early 2000'²s, it was one of the first structure data formats that had mass acceptance on the web and was just what the web needed in terms of providing a central interface for users who followed many news and blog sources as they could now subscribe to these RSS feeds in a feed reader, see things they hadn't read and access them in a new easy to use interface.
  BuiltWith currently tracks around 10 million sites that have RSS integration on their homepage, not bad considering we know of around 136 million resolvable websites in total, some of which are parked/non-responsive.
  RSS Usage Top 10k Websites over Time In October 2012 the amount of sites in the top 10k advertising an RSS feed in their page meta tags started to fall as shown in the chart above, more time might be needed to see if this is a constant drop or temporary. The shutdown of Google Reader might add more fuel to the fire in terms of decisions to remove RSS from a website altogether.
  Open Graph Protocol was designed by Facebook to make sharing easier. If you entered a website URL into Facebook to share, the title, description and image at a basic level could formatted the way the website owner wants the data to appear.
  RSS vs. Open Graph Protocol Usage OGP meta tags overtook RSS meta tags at the start of September 2012 and are continuing to increase in usage, is this the signal that social news is the new RSS? We hope not but the data is starting to allude to that.
  You can follow the trends in web technology usage on BuiltWith Trends.
  .
Guest Post: Argentines Escaping Capital Controls With Bitcoins
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: @adamcurry - Twitter Search
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:24
  Submitted by Simon Black of Sovereign Man blog,
  Several hundred miles east of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the mighty Kasai river forms the boundary between two little known tribes of central Africa-- the Bushong and the Lele.
  Ostensibly there should be scant difference between the two; they're separated only by a river, and they share a common language, art, and ancestry.
  Yet their economic differences between are vast. As anthropologist Mary Douglas put it, "The Lele are poor, while the Bushong are rich... Everything that the Lele have or can do, the Bushong have more and can do better."
  We've seen these differences before-- East vs West Germany. North vs. South Korea. Similar people, different ideals. On one side, economic freedom flourishes. On the other, it's central planning and totalitarian control.
  South America is becoming a similar case study, with the Andes forming a sort of "Golden Curtain" separating two clear sides.
  On this side, the Chilean economy is thriving. The peso is strong. Corruption is low. Economic freedom is high. And their standard of living is rising.
  On the other side of the Andes, President Cristina Fernandez has a stranglehold over what's left of the Argentine economy. Inflation is rampant, corruption is incorrigible, and freedom is waning.
  We've talked about this before; a month ago, I was in Buenos Aires on the day that Fernandez announced a ban on coupon-style advertising, just days after she imposed a price freeze at grocery stores around the country.
  Price controls, media controls... they're all part of the same tired playbook that morally bankrupt politicians in financially bankrupt countries have routinely fallen back on for centuries.
  Fernandez's most insidious move has been to FORCE Argentines to hold the rapidly depreciating Argentine peso. She has restricted her people from changing pesos into other currencies, including gold, as well as created obstacles to move funds abroad.
  Many Argentines have reached their breaking points and are doing something about it. We're seeing this first hand by the steady stream of Argentine citizens lining up at the immigration office in Santiago seeking residency.
  My friend Sir Charles at PricedinGold.com wrote me this morning from Argentina's Salta province (near Doug Casey's lovely property in Cafayate) and told me that TEA Turismo, a local tour operator and rental car agency there has started accepting BITCOINS.
  If you're not familiar, bitcoins are digital currency units that are not controlled by any government. Bitcoins can be exchanged for goods, services, and other currencies, privately and anonymously.
  For obvious reasons, Bitcoins are becoming increasingly popular in Argentina as people seek any means necessary to survive the economic destruction.
  Needless to say, it would have been a hell of a lot easier to take these steps BEFORE it all hit the fan... not after.
  This is an important lesson for the rest of us. There are consequences to printing money with wanton abandon. There are consequences to reaching an unsustainable debt situation. And, when the writing is on the wall, there are consequences when you delay taking action to protect yourself.
  Diversifying income, assets, and personal interests abroad is a critical aspect of this. International diversification is something that the wealthy have been doing for centuries. But with so much modern technology at our disposal, these options are now available to ANYONE.
  At least, while the window of opportunity is still open.
  The pace of Draconian legislation is changing the landscape quickly. Very quickly. That's why I put together the Offshore Tactics Workshop we're holding here in Chile at the end of this month.
  It's too late to sign up for the event... the workshop sold out a few months ago almost immediately. But I've hired a professional Hollywood crew to film every minute of it.
  Quite simply, the event (and the video kit) will showcase the most powerful set of actionable international diversification options ever presented, along with step-by-step instructions.
  Ship your IRA overseas? Set up a rock solid trust and foreign bank account? Establish residency in Chile? Move gold abroad? Contact these exact people, and follow these precise steps, 1, 2, 3.
  To be completely candid, there's simply no one else out there with the experience or contacts to be able to deliver such a vast array of experts and actionable intelligence.
  Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 2.6(23 votes)
US plans to allow spy agencies to monitor every citizen's finances '' report
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: USA RSS
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:21
  Washington is reportedly considering opening all US financial records to national intelligence agencies in order to prevent future crimes. Only the FBI has had unlimited access to such databases; other agencies had to file case-by-case requests.
  The Obama administration is preparing legislation to enable the country's numerous security and intelligence agencies to spy on the accounts of US citizens, Reuters has revealed. The scheme's stated aim is to help to identify and track terrorist cells, expose money-laundering schemes, trace criminal syndicates and curb corruption.
  "It's a war on money, war on corruption, on politically exposed persons, anti-money laundering, organized crime," Amit Kumar, the UN advisor on Taliban and a fellow at the Democrat-established Center for National Policy think tank told Reuters.
  The plan, dated March 4, is in its early stages but appears to have no judicial obstacles, as US legislation does not prohibit the exchange of information between government bodies. However, human rights activists have already criticized the plan
  The planning document obtained by Reuters that the US Treasury's financial database, which previously was only fully accessible by the FBI, will soon be integrated with national criminal, intelligence and other databases to become accessible to ''law enforcement, counter-terrorism agencies, financial regulators and the intelligence community.''
  Today, the US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) does not only collect data on clients of financial institutions, it also gathers reports of so-called 'suspicious client activity'.
  An estimated 25,000 financial institutions operating inside US territory '' like banks, money transfer agencies, securities dealers and casinos '' are obliged to report any activity considered suspicious, such as large (over $10,000) cash transfers, strangely account structures, computer hacking, counterfeiting and suspected money laundering.
  The system is arranged so that if a bank is revealed to have not reported its clients' suspicious activities, it risks of paying severe fines. Many banks err on the side of caution, and file reports on any activity deemed even slightly unusual: Every year, 15 million 'suspicious activity reports' are filed to the US Treasury, which allocates considerable resources to deal with them all.
  If the Obama administration's financial spy plan is enacted, US government agencies will have access to virtually all financial information on citizens or foreigners doing business in the US.
  Currently, investigating a financial crime involves unraveling a tangle of evidence that could lead to a certain person, such as demanding a specific financial dossier from FinCEN. Once agencies like CIA, NSA or Counter Terrorism Center are allowed unrestricted access to FinCEN data, it would become possible for them to target an individual and arrest them for a crime for which they are not currently under investigation.
  A US Treasury spokesperson vowed the agencies will adhere to safeguards outlined in both the Bank Secrecy Act and the US PATRIOT Act: ''Law enforcement and intelligence community members with access to this information are bound by these safeguards.''
  But Michael German, the senior policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, told Reuters that ''the intelligence community simply ignores the rules'' when it comes to how sensitive information is used.
  German recalled Congress had refused to approve a similar plan a decade ago, but now ''the guidelines were subsequently loosened'... It's in a black hole.''
Scripting News: Google Reader's demise, part 2.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Dave Winer
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:15
  Last night we said goodbye to Google Reader, and that got a lot of traffic and a fair amount of hate, from people who love Google Reader and probably don't like to hear from someone who uses RSS who won't miss it (i.e. me).
  I wanted to say that it's possible to use RSS without being dependent on Google Reader. And since GR is going away, that should probably be seen as good news, not bad.
  But it's not my problem. I'm not in the RSS Reader business any longer, and have no interest in returning to it.
  I don't doubt that people will be well-served by a newly revitalized market for RSS products, now that the dominant product, the 800-pound gorilla, is withdrawing.
Federal Register | Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Iran
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:33
  On March 15, 1995, the President issued Executive Order 12957, which declared a national emergency with respect to Iran and, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706), took related steps to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States constituted by the actions and policies of the Government of Iran. On May 6, 1995, the President issued Executive Order 12959, imposing more comprehensive sanctions on Iran to further respond to this threat. On August 19, 1997, the President issued Executive Order 13059, consolidating and clarifying the previous orders. I took additional steps pursuant to this national emergency in Executive Order 13553 of September 28, 2010, Executive Order 13574 of May 23, 2011, Executive Order 13590 of November 20, 2011, Executive Order 13599 of February 5, 2012, Executive Order 13606 of April 22, 2012, Executive Order 13608 of May 1, 2012, Executive Order 13622 of July 30, 2012, and Executive Order 13628 of October 9, 2012.
  The actions and policies of the Government of Iran continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. For this reason, the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12957 must continue in effect beyond March 15, 2013. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to Iran declared in Executive Order 12957. The emergency declared by Executive Order 12957 constitutes an emergency separate from that declared on November 14, 1979, by Executive Order 12170. This renewal, therefore, is distinct from the emergency renewal of November 2012.
  This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.
  THE WHITE HOUSE,March 12, 2013.
  [FR Doc. 2013-06113Filed 3-13-13; 11:15 am]
  Billing code 3295-F3
Federal Register | Waiver of Restriction on Assistance to the Central Government of Somalia
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:36
  Pursuant to Section 7031(b)(3) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2012 (Div. I, Pub. L. 112-74) (''the Act''), and Department of State Delegation of Authority Number 245-1, I hereby determine that it is important to the national interest of the United States to waive the requirements of Section 7031(b)(1) of the Act with respect to Somalia, and I hereby waive this restriction.
  This determination and the accompanying Memorandum of Justification shall be reported to the Congress, and the determination shall be published in the Federal Register.
  Dated: March 29, 2012.
  Thomas R. Nides,
  Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources.
  This document was received by the Office of the Federal Register on March 8, 2013.
  [FR Doc. 2013-05819 Filed 3-13-13; 8:45 am]
  BILLING CODE 4710-26-P
Federal Register | Request To Amend a License To Export; High-Enriched Uranium
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 10:39
  Pursuant to 10 CFR 110.70 (b) ''Public Notice of Receipt of an Application,'' please take notice that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received the following request for an export license amendment. Copies of the request are available electronically through ADAMS and can be accessed through the Public Electronic Reading Room (PERR) link http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html at the NRC Homepage.
  A request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene may be filed within thirty days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Any request for hearing or petition for leave to intervene shall be served by the requestor or petitioner upon the applicant, the office of the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555; the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555; and the Executive Secretary, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC 20520.
  A request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene may be filed with the NRC electronically in accordance with NRC's E-Filing rule promulgated in August 2007, 72 Fed. Reg 49139 (Aug. 28, 2007). Information about filing electronically is available on the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. To ensure timely electronic filing, at least 5 (five) days prior to the filing deadline, the petitioner/requestor should contact the Office of the Secretary by email at HEARINGDOCKET@NRC.GOV, or by calling (301) 415-1677, to request a digital ID certificate and allow for the creation of an electronic docket.
  In addition to a request for hearing or petition for leave to intervene, written comments, in accordance with 10 CFR 110.81, should be submitted within thirty (30) days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register to Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications.
  The information concerning this export license amendment application follows.
  NRC Export License Amendment Application Back to TopDescription of Material Back to TopName of applicant Date of application Date received Application No. Docket No.Material typeTotal quantityEnd useRecipient countryU.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration February 25, 2013 February 28, 2013 XSNM3708/01 11005974High-Enriched Uranium (93.35%)10 kilograms uranium (9.3 kilograms U-235)To manufacture HEU targets in France for irradiation in research reactors for fabrication of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) medical isotopes in the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group in the Netherlands. Amend to: (1) add Maria Reactor in Poland and Covidien Isotope Production Facility in the Netherlands to ''Intermediate Foreign Consignees(s)''; and (2) extend the expiration date from March 31, 2013 to December 31, 2013The Netherlands.For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
  Dated this March 8, 2013 at Rockville, Maryland.
  Nader L. Mamish,
  Director, Office of International Programs.
  [FR Doc. 2013-05913 Filed 3-13-13; 8:45 am]
  BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
EPIC! Sen. Ted Cruz debates Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the 2nd Amendment
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:10
  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.
Scripting News: Do you love outliners?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Dave Winer
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:58
  I first started using an outliner in the late 1970s, on Unix. It was character-based, on a scrolling display. You'd type commands like 1,$p to show all the lines at the current level. You could view the subs of any headline, by typing the number next to it, and pressing Return. The basic operations were "dive" and "surface." Moving things around was a little more difficult, but it was the best you could do with the computers of the day.
  The tools advanced through the years. Influenced by Visicalc, then Lotus 1-2-3. That's when the outliner got a "bar cursor" which points to a structure, much like Visicalc's cursor points to a spreadsheet cell. You moved the cursor around with the arrow keys, and expanded by pressing < >. These keys were chosen as mnemonics, they looked symbolically like the operations they were performing.
  Pretty soon after that we got the mouse, so you could double-click to expand and collapse and also drag things from one place to another. This made stuff flow better. That's a key idea -- outlines are about flow, they make text fluid (i.e. able to flow).
  Then came graphics, and with that bullet charts and tree charts. All of a sudden there was a production application for outliners, they could be made to do things more efficiently on a computer than could be done with ink, paper and scissors. The business exploded.
  All along, I have been writing code and prose with the outliner. These days I use it to narrate my work and to coordinate with the people I work with. It's an amazingly flexible swiss-army-knife-like super-adaptable tool.
  I've been doing a lot more with outliners in the last few months, in a project I've been working on with a new programming partner, Kyle Shank, at a new company we founded late last year, Small Picture. It has both a server side and a client side. Next week we will show the first bits of the client software. I think it will surprise people what it can do and how it does it. But this wouldn't be a good tease if I told you more about what it is. :-)
  In the meantime, if you have stories to tell about how you love outlining, please consider posting them. I love outliners, but I love outliner users even more. They're such bright people and so incredibly powerful and creative. Software that enables powerful people.
  So much more to say and I hope to say it all.
Anger Explodes After Cops Kill 16 Year Old Kimani Gray
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  Archived Version
  Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:58
CNN: Iran Targeting US Drones
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  Source: Uploads by MOXNEWSd0tC0M
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:57
'Monsanto Protection Act' to be voted on by Congress
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: USA RSS
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:34
  Should Congress approve a proposition included in an agriculture bill up for vote this week, biotech companies like the Monsanto Company could win yet another victory in Washington.
  The US House of Representatives is expected to weigh in on the Agricultural Appropriations Bill for Fiscal year 2013 this week, and included within the act lies the ''Farmer Assurance Provision,'' a small subsection that has so far earned opposition from hundreds of thousands family farmers, environmental interest groups and other advocates. Those hoping to defeat the bill have gone so far as to dub the provision the ''Monsanto Protection Act.''
  Small time agriculturists have increasingly spoken out against biotech companies in recent years, as giants like Monsanto have made millions off of genetically engineering crops that traditional plants simply can't match up with. Additionally, Monsanto has taken a slew of farmers to court over questionable patent infringement suits, almost always winning the help of high-powered attorneys. Now if the Farmer Assurance Provision is approved by Congress, GMO companies will once again be allowed an advantage from their friends in Washington.
  If the provision is approved this week, biotech companies won't have to wait for federal approval to test and plant laboratory-made crops, instead being allowed to carry on with even selling such crops until the government elects to tell them otherwise.
  ''The provision would strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of an illegal, potentially hazardous GE crop while the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) assesses those potential hazards,'' explains a letter to the House that has been signed by dozens of food businesses and retailers, as well as interest groups and agencies representing family farmers. ''Further, it would compel USDA to allow continued planting of that same crop upon request, even if in the course of its assessment the Department finds that it poses previously unrecognized risks.''
  The group Food Democracy Now has started a campaign on their own and is asking opponents of the bill to sign on with an amendment to the appropriations bill, the DeFazio Amendment, which would ensure that judicial oversight will continue to apply to GMOS.
  The Farmer Assurance Provision, says the group, ''strips the rights of federal courts to halt the sale and planting of genetically engineered crops during the legal appeals process.''
  ''The judicial review process is an essential element of US law and serves as a vital check on any Federal Agency decision that may negatively impact human health, the environment or livelihoods. Yet this provision seeks an end-run around such judicial review by preemptively deciding that industry can set its own conditions to continue to sell biotech seeds, even if a court may find them to have been wrongfully approved.''
  In the letter undersigned by the ACLU, National Organic Coalition and others, the signees say,
  ''Far from safeguarding farmers, the only parties whose interests are 'assured' by this rider are those of GE crop developers.''
  Monsanto has already proven it has friends in Washington, as a landmark patent case currently before the Supreme Court is expected to go in favor of the biotech giants. Now opponents of the pro-GMO provision in the appropriations bill are calling the amendment the ''Monsanto Protection Act'' and hope that a grassroots campaign will keep the industry leaders from having one more unfair advantage over small time farmers.
  Meanwhile, the market value for Monsanto Company hit a 52-week high on March 11, and is expected to continue with that kind of momentum throughout 2013, predicts Zacks Consensus Estimates.
Statement by the President
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:55
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  March 14, 2013
  I thank the Senate for taking another step forward in our common effort to help reduce gun violence by advancing a bill that would reinstate and strengthen a ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons and set a 10-round limit for magazines. These weapons of war, when combined with high-capacity magazines, have one purpose: to inflict maximum damage as quickly as possible. They are designed for the battlefield, and they have no place on our streets, in our schools, or threatening our law enforcement officers. The Senate has now advanced legislation addressing three of the most important elements of my proposal to help reduce the epidemic of gun violence in this country. Now the full Senate and the House need to vote on this bill, as well as the measures advanced in the past week that would impose serious penalties on anyone who buys a gun as part of a scheme to arm criminals, improve school safety, and help keep guns out of the hands of criminals, people with a severe mental illness, and others who shouldn't have them. Each of these proposals deserves a vote.
UKIP Nigel Farage: Eurozone completely incompatible with nation-state democracy, 14 March 2013
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  Archived Version
  Source: Uploads by ukipmedia
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:54
Scripting News: If you're doing a new RSS reader...
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Dave Winer
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:45
  Since I'm working on other kinds of software right now, and the RSS world is more fluid than it's been in a long time, it seems it might be a good time to share some things I learned in the first go-around.
  The main thing we learned is that subscription needs to be centralized to make the process as simple as possible for the user. That's one of the main reasons Twitter was such an effective competitor. The central server keeps an OPML file for each user. Each site with a feed links to that site with the URL of its feed as a parameter. When the user clicks a Subscribe link, a dialog appears confirming that you want to subscribe. If you say OK that's it, nothing more to do. The user never sees a URL. No browser has to cooperate (not that they would).
  OPML should be a file type you can subscribe to. That makes it possible for the user to connect their account on the central subscription server to your aggregator. Also, this feature opens the possibility of a sort of super-curator, someone who manages a collections of feeds that people can subscribe to in a unit.
  Also in the argument betw mailbox and river type readers, why not do both? The same data can be viewed either way. Some times you may just have a few minutes to quickly skim the news, and other times you may be able to read feeds individually at a slower pace. I did something like this in the LBBS software in the early 80s. There was a river, and a hierarchic view. You could switch instantly between the two views, and stay on the same item. The same approach would work well for RSS (though I've never seen it done, if I were doing a new reader, I'd definitely give it a try).
  Also a feed should have a way to tell readers "I'm done" -- no more updates, stop reading me. That would make it possible to do more things with RSS. I don't want to subscribe to a special feed about a specific event, knowing I'll have to remember to unsub. Better to let the feed tell the reader. This feature is documented in my microblog namespace and it's supported in my Radio2 linkblogging tool.
  There are lots of other ideas like this. I'll write them up as I remember them.
What does growler mean? growler Definition. Meaning of growler. OnlineSlangDictionary.com
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:58
  Other terms relating to 'alcohol':
  Definitions include: See forty.Definitions include: a "Long Island Ice Tea" (also called a "Long Island Iced Tea") which is a strong alcoholic mixed drink.Definitions include: a few drinks of alcohol.Definitions include: an alcoholic beverage.Definitions include: alcohol.Definitions include: alcoholic.Definitions include: acronym of "adios mother f*cker."Definitions include: whiskey or other strong liquor.Definitions include: a drink of cocaine dissolved in vodkaDefinitions include: Milwaukee's Best brand beer.Definitions include: alcohol.Definitions include: beer.Definitions include: a beer.Definitions include: acronym for "bring your own beer", "bring your own bottle", or "bring your own booze".Definitions include: "bring your own wine".Other terms relating to 'anus':
  Definitions include: amphetamine.Definitions include: the anus.Definitions include: a person who is offensive, pompous, rude, unkind, impolite, etc.; "jerk".Definitions include: the anus.Definitions include: the anus.Definitions include: the rectum.Definitions include: vagina.Definitions include: the anus.Definitions include: anus.Definitions include: the anus; "butt hole".Definitions include: anus.Definitions include: the anus.Definitions include: to engage in anal sex on the giving end.Definitions include: to be the penetrator during anal intercourse.Definitions include: the anus.Other terms relating to 'vulva ('vagina'), female genitalia':
  Definitions include: vulva ("vagina").Definitions include: vulva ("vagina").Definitions include: clitoris.Definitions include: vagina.Definitions include: an Ecstasy (MDMA) pill or tablet.Definitions include: female genitalia.Definitions include: female genitalia.Definitions include: shortened form of beaver.Definitions include: vagina.Definitions include: large outer labia; "large vaginal lip".Definitions include: large outer labia; "large vaginal lip".Definitions include: the outer labia; "vaginal lips".Definitions include: vagina.Definitions include: an infected vulva (vagina).Definitions include: an attractive female.None. How about some random words?
  Definitions include: Details are available in the entry for swap.Definitions include: secret sexual activity with a person other than one's partner.Definitions include: acronym for "best friend(s) for life".Definitions include: metaphorical sweating caused by intellectual work.Definitions include: n. oral sex.Definitions include: a haircut or hair style. Usually used derogatorily.Definitions include: a DJ's turntables.Definitions include: to defecate.Definitions include: very thin due to their cocaine usage.Definitions include: a person (usually male) who is attracted to overweight people.Your vote: None (To vote, click the pepper. Vote how vulgar the word is '' not how mean it is.)
  To link to this term in a web page or blog, insert the following.
  To link to this term in a wiki such as Wikipedia, insert the following.
  Some wikis use a different format for links, so be sure to check the documentation.
Growler obsolete in 5 years, expert says
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:57
  David Ellery August 24, 2012
  Australia's $1.5 billion ''Growler'' electronic warfare fleet may be redundant within four or five years of its delivery in 2018, a senior Lockheed Martin official has said.
  Tom Burbage, Lockheed Martin's general manager for program integration, said his company's Joint Strike Fighter was one of the planes that would be able to carry the next generation jammer which is expected to come into operation with the US military early next decade.
  Although Australia is committed to buying up to 100 of the stealth strike aircraft under the current Defence White Paper, Defence Minister Stephen Smith and Defence Materiel Minister Jason Clare yesterday announced the government had approved $1.5 billion for Australian Growlers.
  While the spend will ensure 12 aircraft have the capacity to operate the controversial ALQ-99 electronic warfare pods that were originally designed during the Vietnam War, it does not appear it will stretch to one pod for each aircraft.
  ''We are putting ourselves in the position where at any given time we can have six (Super Hornets) operating with Growler itself. So, we'll effectively have a fleet of 12 at any point in time we can have six in the air,'' Mr Smith said.
  ''The purpose of the Growler, of course, is it provides a capacity to jam the communications system of an adversary '... jam the communications system of a group of terrorists as well as a traditional adversary.''
  The American government has accelerated work on the next generation jammer program to counter problems with its own Growler fleet.
  Planes fitted with the next generation jammer could be flying as early as 2022.
  Defence insiders say the Growler buy will put pressure on the RAAF to retain its 24-strong Super Hornet fleet, acquired as a stop gap to give Australia a deterrent strike capability due to the early retirement of the F-111s, at the expense of future JSF numbers.
  ''If you are paying for the facilities to maintain and operate the 12 Super Hornet 'Growlers' then it makes sense to keep the other 12 Super Hornets as well,'' The Canberra Times was told.
  Designed in large part to bring America's electronic warfare capability into the 21st century, the next generation jammer is expected to be significantly more capable than the pods fitted to the Growlers which have been criticised as unreliable by the US Government Accountability Office and described as ''woefully inadequate'' by United States defence analyst Loren Thompson.
  ''The next generation jammer is a project that has a number of platforms that could potentially carry the equipment, the F-35 being one of them.''
  The $1.5 billion Growler price tag - coincidentally the same figure as the federal government's projected 2012-13 budget surplus - is $200 million less than the $1.7 billion quoted at a recent Senate Estimates hearing.
  It is still a hefty sum.
  Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Geoff Brown yesterday described the Growler as ''the biggest strategic increase in the ADF's capability since we ordered the F-111''.
  The $1.5 billion does not include the $55 million previously allocated to the project.
  Nor does it take into account the $120 million total procurement cost of each of the planes.
Bill Gates: 'Some days I wish we had a system like the UK' to give Obama more power [VIDEO]
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Infowars » Featured Stories
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:52
  Nicholas BallasyThe Daily CallerMarch 14, 2013
  Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, the wealthiest American, said on ''some days'' he wishes the U.S. political system were like England's, so that President Barack Obama could have ''slightly more power.''
  Gates was asked for his assessment of President Obama's job performance during an interview at Politico's ''Playbook Cocktails'' event.
  ''Some days I wish we had a system like the U.K. where, you know, the party in power could do a lot and you know, you'd see how it went and then fine you could un-elect them,'' said Gates on Wednesday.
  ''Now, over time, our system has worked slightly better than theirs, theirs has worked okay but so it's ironic that right now it feels like I wish there was slightly more power in the presidency to avoid some of these deadlocks. So I think what he [Obama] wants to do and what he's actually able to do, the gap is so big there that it's hard to know in some ways.''
  Full story here.
  This article was posted: Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 6:37 am
  Tags: constitution, government corruption, mainstream media, police state
'Fed Up' Kim Kardashian Accuses Kris Humphries' Camp Of Leaking Damaging Deposition About Faked Scenes On Her Reality Shows
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Radar Online
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:50
  Kim Kardashian is fuming, as she believes Kris Humphries' team '-- in an attempt to illustrate how Kim only wed the NBA star as a publicity stunt '-- leaked sworn testimony from a deposition related to their upcoming divorce trial that claims her reality show is scripted and that she cries on camera with the aid of a tear stick.
  Thursday's New York Post reports ''Kim is fed up with the courtroom tactics of her estranged husband'...''
  PHOTOS: Reality TV's Top Families
  This comes on the heels of Life & Style's report that Keeping Up With The Kardashians producer Russell Jay said in a Feb. 4 deposition that there was a re-take when Kris famously proposed to Kim on camera, as ''she didn't like how her face looked in the first take.''
  In addition, the magazine reported that Kim shot a scene complaining about the state of her marriage AFTER the couple's infamous split on Halloween 2011.
  EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS: Kardashian Kids Never-Before-Seen Childhood Photos
  ''This is normal operating procedure on any reality show,'' an insider told the NY Post. ''None of this shows fraud, which is what Kris is trying to prove.
  ''His entire case is based on the premise that he is the stupidest person on the planet,'' the insider said, adding that the Brooklyn Nets forward isn't even interested in getting paid, but rather ''just trying to make her miserable.''
  PHOTOS: Celebs Who Have Slammed The Kardashians
  As RadarOnline.com previously reported even more distressing to Kim is that she's slated to be deposed in the case in two weeks at her lawyer Laura Wasser's office.
  ''It's scheduled to take all day and Kim has been dreading it,'' a source exclusively told Radar.
  As we previously reported, an insider told us that Kim and show's producers ''set Kris up to look like a jerk'' on her show throughout the course of their 72-day marriage.
  PHOTOS: Kim Shows Off Growing Baby Bump In Paris
  ''Anyone who loves someone,'' the insider said, ''would not team up with their production team to make them look like a fool on TV.''
  If the duo cannot come to some resolution, the case will advance to trial on May 6.
THE NEXT LEAP FORWARD IN INFORMATION PROCESSING: VACUUM TUBES
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Giza Death Star
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:47
  Hold on to your hats, the vacuum tube may stage a (long overdue) comeback:
  Vacuum tubes could be the future of computing
Google to retire Reader service
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:44
  14 March 2013Last updated at08:19 ETGoogle is to shut down its Reader service in July, as usage has declined.
  A petition to save the service, which aggregates news content from web feeds, had 25,000 signatures in a few hours.
  Experts say shutting Reader is part of Google's plan to migrate more people to its social media service, Google+.
  Google said in its official blog: "There are two simple reasons for this - usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we are pouring all of our energy into fewer products."
  It added users and developers who wanted to use alternatives could export their data, including their subscriptions over the next four months, using its Google Takeout service.
  Google Reader launched in 2005, when Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds were a new way to keep tabs on favourite websites and blogs.
  The news of its demise has led to a debate about the service on Twitter. Some said its launch had effectively destroyed other RSS competitors.
  Security consultant @cortesi tweeted: "Google - a destroyer of ecosystems".
  In his blog, he added:" "Google destroyed the RSS feed-reader ecosystem with a subsidised product, stifling its competitors and killing innovation.
  "It then neglected Google Reader itself for years, after it had effectively become the only player."
  Adam Leach, a principal analyst at research firm Ovum, said Google's business model was to offer free services in order to draw people into its other offerings.
  Now, he said, Google wanted people to experience their favourite websites in a more social way and was seeking to migrate its aggregation platforms to its social media service.
  "This has been on the cards for a while. It is part of Google's strategy to shift people to Google + and other social tools," he said.
  Doomed to failHe added he would personally miss the service.
  "I use Google Reader every day," he said.
  "It is one of those tools that sits in the background and allows you to keep pace with what is going on."
  But Chris Wetherell, one of Reader's chief engineers, told tech news site GigaOm it had been "doomed to fail from the very beginning because Google "never really believed in the project".
Olivia Wilde Drops F-bombs While Discussing Bieber Twitter Scandal on Tonight Show
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  Archived Version
  Source: MRCTV - News & Politics
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:29
  MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them -- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.
  MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 325 South Patrick Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.
  Copyright (C) 2013, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.
To amend title 44, United States Code, to require information on contributors to Presidential library fundraising organizations, and for other purposes. (H.R. 1133)
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:13
  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.
A bill to establish an advisory committee to issue nonbinding governmentwide guidelines on making public information available on the Internet, to require publicly available Government information held by the executive branch to be made available on the I
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:10
  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.
Anonymous plots massive cyber-attack '-- RT News
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Thu, 14 Mar 2013 07:05
  Hacktivist group Anonymous, along with numerous other hackers, is planning a massive cyber-attack on Israel, threatening to ''erase'' the country from Internet. Israel is apparently taking the threats seriously, with defensive preparations underway.
  ''Hacktivists Starting Cyber Attack against Israel on 7th of April,'' Anonymous wrote on Twitter, calling on hackers around the world to join up for a second 'OpIsrael.'
  Israeli government agencies are reportedly readying for the attack: ''It's something being organized online over the past few days. What distinguishes this plan when compared to previous attacks is that it really seems to be organized by Anonymous-affiliated groups from around the world in what looks like a joining of forces,'' Ofir Ben Avi, director of online group Accessible Government told Haaretz.
  The first 'OpIsrael' cyber-attacks were launched by the hacktivist group during Israeli's 'Pillar of Defense' assault on Gaza in November 2012.
  ''We are Anonymous. We are legion. We will not forgive. We will not forget. Israel, it is too late to expect us,'' their message to Israeli authorities read.
  Some 700 Israeli website suffered repeated cyber-attacks, including high-profile government systems such as the Foreign Ministry, and the Israeli President's official website. The Israeli Finance Ministry reported an estimated 44 million unique attacks on government websites.
  Following 'OpIsrael,' Anonymous posted the online personal data of 5,000 Israeli officials, including names, ID numbers and personal emails.
  Anonymous was also involved in an attack in which the details of some 600,000 users of the popular Israeli email service Walla were exposed online.