What Adam Curry is reading

Nick Clegg urges newspapers to accept press regulation proposals
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: The Guardian World News
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 08:11
  Nick Clegg said the whole point of the Leveson design was 'to avoid heavy-handed state regulation and government going in with both boots and imposing things'. Photograph: Barcroft Media
  Nick Clegg has appealed to newspapers to join the new system of press regulation, saying he hoped they would accept that it was one of self-regulation with incentives.
  The deputy prime minister said some in the industry had reacted in a "slightly melodramatic" way to the proposals, which were agreed in parliament on Monday.
  Speaking on LBC radio, he said: "Of course I understand how passions run strong on this subject but I do hope, as the dust settles, people will see that what we adhered to across parties and with an overwhelming majority in parliament is the basic design of Leveson of self-regulation with incentives."
  It was the first time Clegg had commented since parliament backed a royal charter, exemplary damages and a proposal to underpin the charter by a form of statute. Large sections of the newspaper industry have indicated that they are unlikely to co-operate, leaving parliament and the coalition with a dilemma over how to respond.
  The Liberal Democrat leader said: "The whole point of the Leveson design is to avoid heavy-handed state regulation and government going in with both boots and imposing things. The aim was to create a system of incentives, and those incentives are: for those newspapers who don't participate in the system the courts will be able to impose exemplary costs and damages." He described this as a "pounds and pence incentive".
  He denied that the late-night meeting in Ed Miliband's office on Sunday attended by members of Hacked Off '' but not the press '' was a critical moment in the talks. The presence of the campaign group for victims of press intrusion, Oliver Letwin, Clegg and Miliband has led to claims that the media were excluded from the decisive summit.
  He said the meeting "had focused on technical legal definitions of what represented exemplary damages. It dealt with a tiny, tiny piece of the jigsaw '' how you define exemplary damages. It was about filling in one piece of the canvas."
  He said there had been many other meetings with the newspaper industry, including a large number that Hacked Off had not attended.
  He said: "The central and only point that was remaining late on being discussed on Sunday night '' and by the way I left before midnight '' was this highly technical and legalistic argument of the wording on exemplary damages.
  "If this was the great papal conclave where everything was resolved from top to bottom then of course everyone should be there or frankly no one should be there '' neither the press nor Hacked Off."
  He said he did not know who had asked Hacked Off to the meeting.
  Clegg said the old regulatory system under the Press Complaints Commission "had descended into a complete farce because the newspapers that got into trouble was judge and jury on itself".
  "In some senses they have reacted in a slightly melodramatic manner. The model of Leveson to which we adhere remains self-regulation, but self-regulation that you can believe in.
  "We are not imposing regulations on the press; we are saying the press set up a self-regulation system but that body is checked every two or three years to ensure it is really independent of the press and is a system that can help innocent people who have been unjustifiably bullied and intimidated so they have a recourse."
Internet scanned for security holes
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BBC News - Technology
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:58
  21 March 2013Last updated at07:34 ETA surreptitious scan of the entire internet has revealed millions of printers, webcams and set-top boxes protected only by default passwords.
  An anonymous researcher used more than 420,000 of these insecure devices to test the security and responsiveness of other gadgets, in a nine-month survey.
  Using custom-written code, they sent out more than four trillion messages.
  The net's current addressing scheme accommodates about 4.2 billion devices. Only 1.3 billion addresses responded.
  The number of addresses responding was a surprise as the pool of addresses for that scheme has run dry. As a result, the net is currently going through a transition to a new scheme that has a vastly larger pool of addresses available.
  The scan found half a million printers, more than one million webcams and lots of other devices, including set-top boxes and modems, that still used the password installed in the factory, letting almost anyone take over that piece of hardware. Often the password was an easy to guess word such as "root" or "admin".
  "Whenever you think, 'That shouldn't be on the internet, but will probably be found a few times,' it's there a few hundred thousand times," wrote the un-named researcher in a paper documenting their work.
  HD Moore, who carried out a similar survey in 2012, told the Ars Technica news website the results looked "pretty accurate".
  He added he had seen malicious hackers exploiting the security failings of these devices to run criminal networks known as botnets that are used to send out spam, mount phishing attacks and bombard websites with deluges of data.
What is CNBC's Steve Liesman's Real Day Job?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: EconomicPolicyJournal.com
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:56
  Following the release of a statement on monetary policy by the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee, yesterday, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke held a press conference at the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington D.C.A friend reports:
  CNBC's Steve Liesman was the only press member to enter through the Fed staff door--thevery one Bernanke enters through.
Killing hackers is justified in cyber warfare, says NATO-commissioned report.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: TheCandyman's news feed
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:48
  A landmark document created at the request of NATO has proposed a set of rules for how international cyberwarfare should be conducted. Written by 20 experts in conjunction with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the US Cyber Command, the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare analyzes the rules of conventional war and applies them to state-sponsored cyberattacks.
  Unsurprisingly, the manual advises that attacks must avoid targets such as hospitals, dams, and nuclear power stations in order to minimize civilian casualties, but also makes some bold statements regarding retaliatory conduct. According to the manual's authors, it's acceptable to retaliate against cyberattacks with traditional weapons when a state can prove the attack lead to death or severe property damage. It also says that hackers who perpetrate attacks are legitimate targets for a counterstrike.
  "There's plenty of law that applies to cyberspace."
  Project leader Professor Michael Schmitt, the Chairman of the International Law Department at the United States Naval War College, tells The Guardian that countries "can only use force when you reach the level of armed conflict," explaining that in most cases the appropriate response to a cyberattack would be digital retaliation. "Everyone talks about cyberspace as though it's the wild west," says Schmitt, "we discovered that there's plenty of law that applies to cyberspace."
To amend the Trademark Act of 1946 regarding the disparagement of Native American persons or peoples through marks that use the term ''redskin'', and for other purposes. (H.R. 1278)
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:48
  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.
Federal Register | Amendments to Executive Order 12777
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:36
  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:
  Section 1. 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.
  THE WHITE HOUSE,March 15, 2013.
  [FR Doc. 2013-06712Filed 3-20-13; 11:15 am]
  Billing code 3295-F3
To provide a Federal charter to the Fab Foundation for the National Fab Lab Network, a national network of local digital fabrication facilities providing community access to advanced manufacturing tools for learning skills, developing inventions, creating
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:42
  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.
amriki rap
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:38
Reward Posted for 2 Americans Linked to al-Shabab
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:26
  Washington (dpa) - The U.S. State Department Wednesday offered separate 5-million-dollar rewards for information on either of two U.S. citizens who were said to be members of the radical Islamist al-Shabab militia in Somalia.
  The two men are Omar Shafik Hammami, formerly of Alabama, and Jehad Serwan Mostafa, formerly of California.
  Hammami, 28, moved to Somalia in 2006, where he has served as a military commander and propaganda rap artist, the U.S. State Department said. He was indicted in the U.S. federal court in Alabama in 2009 on charges of providing support to terrorists.
  Hammami is on the FBI's most wanted terrorist list and has used the aliases Abu Mansour al-Amriki and Farouk.
  Mostafa, age about 30, left for Somalia in 2005 and was indicted on similar charges to those of Hammami in California in 2009. He has used the aliases Ahmed Gurey, Anwar al-Amriki, and Emir Anwar, the State Department said.
  The United States classifies al-Shabab as a terrorist organization, and says it is a threat to U.S. national security interests and stability in East Africa.
  Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for a series of bomb attacks in Somalia since 2006. The U.S. says the group is to blame for the deaths of thousands of citizens, peace activists, international aid workers and journalists.
  In recent months, the Islamist rebels have been on the back-foot, ceding ground in central and southern Somalia to government forces and African Union troops. But they have still managed to stage attacks in key locations and maintain control over vast rural areas.
  Somalia was plunged into chaos two decades ago. Last year a proper government was formed in a United Nations-backed attempt to bring stability to the Horn of Africa nation.
  (C) Copyright 2013 Deutsche Presse-Agentur. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Welcome to Spamradio - Spamradio
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:24
  "Serving up delicious helpings of spam to all who are hungry."
  Using a complex arrangement of pipes and funnels we turn the junk mail that we receive into a streaming audio broadcast that can be enjoyed from anywhere on the Internet.
  To listen, click the button above, or here for the mp3 feed.
  Our news page has a bunch of old news.
Miss Israel prepares for big Obama date: beauty queen will meet US President in Jerusalem
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 07:20
Internet tax proposal up for a vote in Senate this week
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: CNET News - Politics and Law
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:26
  Internet tax supporters, with backing from Walmart, Macy's, and Best Buy, are hoping a Senate vote will give them enough political leverage to require Americans to pay sales taxes when shopping online.
  Democratic senator Dick Durbin, right, who has called Internet taxes "a matter of basic economic fairness," is trying to move a plan forward with an amendment this week to the Senate Democrats' budget.
  (Credit: Getty Images)Internet tax supporters are hoping that a vote in the U.S. Senate as early as today will finally give them enough political leverage to require Americans to pay sales taxes when shopping online.
  Sens. Mike Enzi (R-Wy.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are expected to offer an amendment to a Democratic budget resolution this week that, by allowing states to "collect taxes on remote sales," is intended to usher in the first national Internet sales tax.
  "We're working overtime in pushing this, talking to our members, activating our grassroots," says Stephen Schatz, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation. The group's board members include OfficeMax, Macy's, the Container Store, and Saks, which argue it's only fair to force Americans to pay sales taxes when buying from online retailers.
  The justification for the proposal reprises arguments that state tax collectors have made for at least a decade: online retailers that don't always collect taxes are unreasonably depriving state governments of revenue and enjoy an unfair competitive advantage over big box retailers that do collect taxes. On the other hand, there are close to 10,000 jurisdictions that can levy taxes, each with its own rules and ability to conduct audits, and complying with all of those as a small retailer is not a trivial task.
  Taxpayer advocates say an endorsement of a multi-billion dollar tax hike on Americans shouldn't be snuck into an unrelated budget bill (PDF) that's expected to be voted on before senators leave for an Easter recess. The National Taxpayers Union set up a petition to Congress this week calling the amendment "really just a way to unleash state tax collectors on the Internet," and 15 conservative groups sent a letter last week to members of Congress saying an Internet tax law is "is bad news for conservative principles and the cause of limited government."
  They're joined by by eBay, an association of small Internet sellers called W R HERE, and NetChoice, which includes Facebook, Yahoo, LivingSocial, and AOL as members.
  The proposed amendment "does nothing to address what the Supreme Court says was an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce," says Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice. "It's an unprecedented expansion of state sales tax authority."
  Enzi and Durbin sponsored the separate Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 (S.336), introduced last month, which has 25 other Senate supporters and would authorize state governments to collect taxes from remote sellers with more than $1 million in gross receipts.
  But it takes effect only if state governments sufficiently simplify their notoriously labyrinthine tax laws. In New Jersey, for instance, bottled water and cookies are exempt from sales tax (PDF), but bottled soda and candy are taxable. In Rhode Island, buying a mink handbag is taxed, but a mink fur coat is not (PDF).
  The Enzi-Durbin amendment takes a similar approach, but lacks mandatory simplification and is non-binding. It appears to be intended as a clever political hack: secure plenty of votes on a non-binding Internet tax amendment, then use those vote totals to argue there's sufficient support for S.336 when it's up for a binding vote later.
  "The strategy of the bill's supporters is to offer this general amendment and then claim that all the senators that vote for it support the bill," says Brian Bieron, eBay's senior director for federal government relations and global public policy. "That is not just a stretch, it is not accurate. But the game plan is to rack up a sizable vote and then make the claim the bill itself should jump over the Finance Committee and go right to the floor." (Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., head of the Senate Finance committee who represents a state with no sales tax, has been less than enthusiastic about S.336.)
  A spokesman for Enzi did not respond to queries from CNET yesterday afternoon. Durbin has previously said that enacting the Internet tax legislation is "a matter of basic economic fairness."
  Enzi's allies, including big box retailers and Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-S.D.), hope that they can convince 60 senators to vote for the amendment -- a key supermajority that would ease the path for enacting S.336 in the future.
  A letter (PDF) that the Retail Industry Leaders Association sent to all senators on Tuesday says the Enzi-Durbin amendment "simply provides states with the authority -- if they so choose -- to require online sellers to collect sales taxes just like brick and mortar and many of their dot.com Web sites already do today." RILA's board members include representatives of Best Buy, Home Depot, Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, and AutoZone.
  The current legal and political landscape was shaped by a 1992 case called Quill v. North Dakota, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that out-of-state retailers generally don't have to collect sales taxes.
  One exception to that rule is a legal concept called "nexus," which means a company can be forced to collect sales taxes if it has a sufficient business presence, which is why Amazon.com wasn't required to collect sales taxes in California until recently. Another exception is the sale of cigarettes, which is covered by the Jenkins Act.
  As a practical matter, many Americans already pay sales taxes on Internet purchases, either from big box retailers' Web sites or from online retailers like Amazon.com that have generated nexus by opening warehouses or subsidiaries in more states. Smaller retailers, including Newegg.com, Overstock.com, Blue Nile, Systemax's TigerDirect.com, and eBay sellers are less likely to have nexus, meaning their purchases would arrive tax-free (use taxes, however, may still apply).
  Supporters of Internet tax legislation say they're optimistic. "It's bound to happen," says Schatz, from the National Retail Federation. "It's just a matter of when."
Bernanke: "We Have No Idea How Much Money We're Giving The Banks"
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: The Daily Bail
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:20
  Bernanke on the benefits of being too big to fail.
  "It's hard to calculate exactly how big of a subsidy we're giving the banks. And I certainly never meant to imply to Senator Warren that the issue is solved and gone. It is not solved and gone. I agree with her 100 percent. Too big to fail is still a major problem."
  Highlight clip from yesterday's press conference.
  --
  Here's the Bloomberg story that Bernanke mentions:
US offers $5 mn for rapping jihadist, Shebab leader
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  Archived Version
  Source: bertb news feed
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:18
  Picture released by the African Union-United Nations Information Support Team on October 3, 2012 shows alleged suspects of the Al-Qaeda linked group Al-Shebab under guard in the Somali port city of Kismayo. The United States Wednesday offered bounties of $5 million each for the arrest of two Americans, including a man known as the rapping jihadist, said to have joined Islamic militants in Somalia.
  AFP - The United States offered bounties of $5 million each for the arrest of two Americans, including a man known as the rapping jihadist, said to have joined Islamic militants in Somalia.
  Omar Hamami and Jehad Mostafa were named under the State Department's Rewards for Justice program for their ties to the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shebab militants.
  Hamami, 28, a former Alabama resident, moved to Somalia in 2006 and began to work for Shebab recruiting young trainees through his English-language rap songs and videos, the State Department said in a statement.
  He was indicted in 2009 by an Alabama district court for providing support to a terrorist organization, and two years later he was placed on a US Treasury blacklist freezing all his assets in the United States.
  Hamami also served as a military commander under Mostafa, a former resident of San Diego, California, who left for Somalia in 2005 where he provided media support and lead foreign fighters.
  Mostafa is also on the FBI's most wanted terrorist list, and was charged in 2009 in a California district court with providing material support to Shebab.
  His exact date of birth is not known, but he has said he was born in both 1981 and 1986.
  Hamami -- better known as Abu Mansoor al-Amriki or "the American" -- said late last year that he had split from the insurgents, who want to kill him.
  "Amriki would like to accept the honour of most wanted list and thanks everyone," he said in a message on an unverified Twitter account in November following his listing by the FBI on their Most Wanted Terrorists list.
  He spends his days denouncing his former Shebab colleagues as corrupt, and refers to himself as the "former poster boy" of the group.
  Since it was set up in 1984, the Rewards for Justice program has paid out over $125 million to some 80 people for information leading to the arrests of those designated as terrorists by the United States.
Bernanke: Cyprus crisis not a major risk to US
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  Archived Version
  Source: bertb news feed
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:17
  People walk past a shop offering sales in Nicosia's Ledra street on March 20, 2013. US central bank chief Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that the Federal Reserve was monitoring the Cyprus crisis but that it was not so far seen as a danger for the United States.
  AFP - US central bank chief Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that the Federal Reserve was monitoring the Cyprus crisis but that it was not so far seen as a danger for the United States.
  "At this point we are not seeing a major risk to the US financial system or the US economy" from Cyprus, he told a press conference.
  "There are a lot of uncertainties and difficulties" for Cyprus, he said, after the 10 billion euro ($13 billion) EU-IMF bailout of the island country was left hanging after the parliament rejected a heavy tax on bank deposits that was a key part of the plan.
  However, the Fed chairman added, "I don't think the impact has been enormous" on markets overall, pointing to the rebound Wednesday in European markets.
Nederlandse dance-organisatie ID&T overgenomen door miljardair
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  Archived Version
  Source: FTM - Follow The Money
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:10
  Het is handen-in-de-lucht bij ID&T, want de Nederlandse party-organisator is overgenomen door een Amerikaanse miljardair. Het Nederlandse exportproduct 'dance' gaat jenseits verder.
  Het Nederlandse exportproduct 'dance' kan al jaren rekenen op een grote schare fans. Zo bevolken Nederlandse dj's als Armin van Buuren en Tisto steevast de bovenste regionen van de wereldranglijst van DJ Mag. Nederlandse dance-organisaties kunnen inmiddels ook rekenen op internationale belangstelling. De Nederlandse dance-organisator ID&T (omzet 2011: 34 miljoen euro, gemiddelde jaarwinst: 1,8 miljoen) is overgenomen door de Amerikaanse miljardair Robert F.X. Sillerman, de oprichter van concertorganisator SFX/Live Nation. Deze Amerikaan wil de Nederlandse party-concepten gaan uitrollen in de housende groeimarkt Amerika. De totale markt voor 'dance' bedraagt volgens een recent rapport van EVAR Advisory Services ongeveer 2,7 miljard euro.
  Bod werd eerder afgeslagenID&T zette Nederland internationaal op de kaart met feesten als Sensation White, Mysteryland en Thunderdome. Sillerman neemt driekwart van de ID&T-aandelen over, maar hoeveel ervoor betaald wordt is niet bekend. ID&T gaf in oktober aan dat er een Amerikaans bod was gedaan van 100 miljoen dollar. Duncan Stutterheim, de mede-oprichter en CEO van ID&T vertelde toen aan Quote dat het bod was afgeslagen. 'De keuze was heel moeilijk, maar we hebben het niet gedaan. Ik denk dat dit bedrijf nog wel twintig jaar mee kan, dat we zelf de wereld in kunnen.' Zijn vader Cor Stutterheim, de oprichter van de Nederlandse tak van softwarebedrijf CMG, zou het hem hebben afgeraden.
President Obama Divides Jerusalem
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Israellycool
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:09
  Jerusalem is a divided city during this official Presidential visit.
  There are the winners:
  Those drivers who are the last to go through an intersection before it is closed.
  And the losers:
  Those people in the first car to be stopped who have to wait for an unknown amount of time.
  This was the first public bus stopped for President Obama's motorcade.
  Those passengers were losers if they had to get somewhere on time.
  Real losers, as they should never have taken a bus in Jerusalem during Obama's arrival.
  And this student bus driver was a real winner.
  He was having a driving lesson on Ramban Street which is normally overcrowded with traffic and clogged with buses, trucks and cars.
  In honor of President Barak Obama' s visit to Jerusalem, no cars were allowed to drive or even to be parked on Ramban Street.
  A new set of winners: anyone wanting to shop at Rami Levi
  Obama took a helicopter to Ramallah, but road #60 is still supposed to be closed while he is there.
  Oh well, at least no one should get injured by rocks on the road today.
  Filed Under: RealJStreets
  Tags: Barack Obama, Israel, jerusalem
U.S. Moves to Support al-Qaeda in Syria Following Unconfirmed Chemical Attack
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  Archived Version
  Source: Dprogram.net
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 05:03
  (KurtNimmo) '' Following a chemical weapon attack in Syria, Obama's National Security Council Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough, went on CNN to blame the Syrian government. McDonough characterized the incident as a ''game changer'' and said the United States ''will act accordingly.''
  For now, however, the Obama administration is taking a cautious approach. ''We are evaluating the charges that are being made and the allegations, consulting closely with our partners in the region and in the international community. But we have no evidence to substantiate that charge, that the opposition has used chemical weapons,'' White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Tuesday.
  Carney, however, said the administration is skeptical of the Syrian government's claim it is not responsible for the chemical weapon attack. ''We are deeply skeptical of a regime that has lost all credibility and we would warn the regime of making these kind of charges as a pretext or cover for its use of chemical weapons.''
  According to Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, the incident will be ''on the table in the discussions between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama'' during Obama's trek to Israel. Livni did not directly blame the Syrian government for the attack, but McDonough's comments during the CNN segment leave little doubt the United States plans to blame al-Assad's government and, as McDonough stated, ''act accordingly.''
  So far, the attacks have yet to be officially confirmed by the United States.
  ''The United States has the tools in order to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon and in order to stop all this situation in Syria,'' Livni said. ''It is not a favor to the state of Israel. This is something that represents the interests of the United States as well.''
  Earlier in the week, we reported the United States and Israel will settle on a common goal '' escalating the war in Syria and doubling up the effort to take out the al-Assad government and replace it with one more amendable to Israel and the United States.
  On Tuesday, two leading Senate neocons, John McCain and Lindsey Graham called for a military response to the unsubstantiated attack.
  ''If today's reports are substantiated, the President's red line has been crossed, and we would urge him to take immediate action to impose the consequences he has promised,'' they wrote in a joint statement. The U.S. response, according to the senators, ''should include the provision of arms to vetted Syrian opposition groups, targeted strikes against Assad's aircraft and SCUD missile batteries on the ground, and the establishment of safe zones inside Syria to protect civilians and opposition groups.''
  Syria's opposition groups consist of the CIA supported and Saudi, Qatari and Turkish funded and armed Free Syrian Army and Islamic mercenary fighters, including al-Qaeda's al-Nusra terrorists. ''Most of the arms shipped at the behest of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to supply Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad are going to hard-line Islamic jihadists, and not the more secular opposition groups that the West wants to bolster, according to American officials and Middle Eastern diplomats,'' The New York Times reported in October.
  Investigative journalist Ben Swann explores al-Qaeda's presence in Syria.
  In an interview with Foreign Policy magazine, Graham said U.S. troops will need to be sent into Syria in order that Syria's chemical weapons do not fall in the hands of al-Qaeda. ''Absolutely, you've got to get on the ground,'' he said. ''There is no substitute for securing these weapons. I don't care what it takes. We need partners in the region. But I'm here to say, if the choice is to send in troops to secure the weapons sites versus allowing chemical weapons to get in the hands of some of the most violent people in the world, I vote to cut this off before it becomes a problem.''
  On Tuesday, we noted now that chemical weapons have appeared on the scene '-- regardless of which side actually used them '-- the United States and Israel have a custom-made excuse to escalate tensions inside Syria and confront al-Assad's military directly under the weapons of mass destruction pretext. Over the last few months, the administration has constructed a ''red line'' on chemical weapons and has indicated it may use military force against the Middle Eastern nation if the line is crossed.
  Source: Infowars
Crisis in Syria: The U.S. Response
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  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:56
  Chairman Casey and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to present an overview of our response to the crisis in Syria.
  This past weekend marked the two year anniversary of the Syrian conflict. The country looks disturbingly different today than it did then. What started out as a peaceful demand for dignity and freedom, when a few, young boys scribbled the fateful words ''down with the regime'' on a wall in Deraa, has turned into a devastating conflict with a growing human toll.
  Syrians face a new level of ruthlessness from the Asad regime, which is raining Scud missiles down on residential neighborhoods, destroying hospitals and schools, and sending its thugs rampaging through the streets to terrorize their fellow citizens. The carnage is appalling. For instance, we have heard that some Syrian parents who still send their children to school now stitch their child's name on school uniforms. That makes it easier to identify the bodies.
  According to the UN, more than 70,000 Syrians have died since the beginning of the conflict and the number is rising as the fighting in Damascus intensifies. More than one million people have left their homes in Syria to seek refuge in another country '' a number that could triple by the end of 2013 if the rise in numbers continues at its current rate.
  The increase in refugees '' in addition to the potential spillover of ethnic and sectarian violence '' has the potential to destabilize the region. Jordan's Za'atari refugee camp is now Jordan's fourth largest city. The refugees in Lebanon are now around 10 percent of that country's population.
  Our Response
  We are working to alleviate the human suffering. The United States is the largest bilateral humanitarian aid donor. And we are working to make sure the rest of the international community plays their part. In January at a conference in Kuwait, over forty countries pledged $1.5 billion to help the Syrian refugees. We are pressuring the countries that have not yet paid to make good on their pledges '' and I have personally asked our partners and Gulf and European countries to give the funds they promised.
  The humanitarian assistance from the United States amounts to nearly $385 million. This money is being spent on emergency medical care and supplies, blankets, and shelter. We are sending flour to 50 bakeries in Aleppo and sponsoring food and sanitation projects for the desperate families in Atmeh refugee camp. Our aid into opposition '' controlled areas is often intentionally discreet to protect those delivering the aid, but it is significant.
  The humanitarian assistance is vital but there is far more to do. Preserving Syria's national unity and laying the foundation for a free Syria that respects the rights of all its citizens is essential if we are to secure a Syria that helps, rather than threatens, stability in the heart of the Middle East. Collapse or fragmentation of the Syrian state or its takeover by extremists would threaten the region with hugely greater refugee flows, as well as the risks associated with the security of the regime's big chemical weapons stocks, and confront us also with the likelihood of major terrorist bases. Those outcomes would directly threaten our interests.
  Therefore, apart from our humanitarian aid, we are providing non-lethal assistance to the Syrian opposition to:
  Solidify the efforts of Syrian moderates who are competing for influence with extremist groups, knitting the national opposition leadership with local councils on the ground inside Syria. The national opposition leadership needs to provide local communities with an alternative source of support to prevent the influence of al-Qaida's affiliates from expanding.Curtail the influence of extremists by helping national and local opposition leaders provide vital services such as food, water and electricity. Syrian activists and rebels are working hard to unite the opposition, establish local governing structures, and provide assistance to the many Syrians in need. We need to work with these courageous Syrians '' both armed and unarmed ''so that they can respond quickly to critical needs.Prevent the disintegration of the Syrian state by supporting a unified, inclusive, and effective civilian leadership at both national and local levels '' and by retaining the civil servants that can keep state institutions functioning as Syrians struggle to recover from this conflict.Investing in Syrians
  Let me offer a few specifics:
  Our previous non-lethal assistance, totaling approximately $54 million, focused on linking disparate Syrian opposition groups across the country to build a network of ethnically and religiously diverse civilian activists.
  We supplied approximately 5,000 pieces of equipment, including communications gear, to enable activists to coordinate their efforts. Some activists used these tools to organize a Free Lawyer's Union, which now coordinates with the Local Council for the Governorate of Daraa and has taken responsibility for legal affairs within the local council.
  We boosted radio signals, extending the reach of broadcast on FM stations, and funded media outlets. Then we used those media platforms to address sectarian violence and issue public service messages on chemical weapons exposure.
  We also trained and equipped 1,500 local leaders and activists '' including women and minorities '' from over 100 Syrian opposition provincial councils. These graduates are improving the ability of local committees and councils from Damascus to Deir al-Zour to Idlib to better provide for the needs of all members of their communities. One recent graduate played a critical role in the Aleppo LCC elections last week. He reached out to 240 delegates across Aleppo's liberated areas and broadcast the election '' bringing credibility, transparency, and accountability to the process.
  All of these efforts build on the work of our international partners in the region and in Europe.
  Building a National Apparatus
  Since December 2012, the United States, along with our international partners, has acknowledged the Syrian Opposition Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Comprised of diverse representatives inside and outside Syria, the Coalition is committed to a democratic, inclusive Syria free from the influence of violent extremists.
  In the months since its formation, the Coalition has coordinated discussion of transition planning and transitional justice. It has developed technical committees, including an Assistance Coordination Unit (ACU), to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches Syrians in need. The Coalition has the ability to lead but it is directly competing with extremists, and we need to help it build credibility with the Syrian people.
  On February 28, Secretary Kerry announced another $60 million in non-lethal support to strengthen the Coalition's capacity to have a greater impact at the national and local levels. This new funding will tie the Coalition's national efforts to work being done by local groups and councils inside Syria.
  The State Department will create a new, small grants initiative that the Coalition can use to help local councils meet the needs of their citizens. This will include supporting the work of these new governing institutions and helping them undertake service delivery projects for their communities.
  USAID will build on this effort by providing the Coalition with two programs designed to have immediate impact. The first will provide short-term assistance for urgent needs, such as fuel, heaters, and nutritional and educational supplies for children. The second will support strategic, longer-term needs on behalf of the Coalition, such as repairing schools, local power, and sanitation. USAID will also provide the Coalition with technical experts to help it manage essential services and light infrastructure. These experts will help with assessments, project design, and track multi-donor rehabilitation efforts.
  And we are looking to improve civilian security through training and some non-lethal equipment. This is critical to preventing a security vacuum in liberated areas that will be exploited by extremists if we do not help stand up civilian police.
  Finally, to ensure that our assistance reaches its intended targets and does not end up in the hands of extremists, we will continue to use formal processes that have been established across various agencies in the government to vet the recipients.
  Conclusion
  We continue to believe that political transition is the best solution to the crisis in Syria. And we support the Geneva Communiqu(C), which calls for a transitional governing body with full executive powers and formed on the basis of mutual consent. Bashar al-Asad long ago lost his credibility and we cannot imagine the opposition would ever accept his participation in that transition government. He must step down.
  We are working with our partners to strengthen moderate opposition and change the balance on the ground to help give the opposition the leverage they need to negotiate. The Asad regime, holding to power through brute force backed by Iran and Hizballah, will be held accountable for crimes against the Syrian people.
  As Secretary Kerry said in Rome, ''This is a complicated challenge, but the principle that guides us is simple: No nation should live in fear of its leaders, and all people deserve the freedom and opportunity to live in peace, dignity and justice.''
  We look forward to working with Congress as we seek to support the needs of the Syrian people in their struggle to create a free, stable, and democratic Syria. Thank you again for the invitation to testify before your committee today. I am happy to take any questions you might have.
Remarks by President Obama and President Peres After Meeting
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  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:51
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  March 20, 2013
  President's ResidenceJerusalem
  5:10 P.M. IST
  PRESIDENT PERES: President Obama, it is a great privilege for me and for the people of Israel to host you here in Jerusalem.
  It was a real pleasure to sit with a true friend -- very knowledgeable, fortunately -- and sit candidly and discuss issues openly and freely.
  After the meeting we just had, I have all confidence that your vision can transform the Middle East. Your vision is achievable. You arrived here already with an impressive record of answering our needs, particularly -- and unforgettably -- in the domain of security. I want to thank you personally, dear friend, for the long days and for many long, sleepless nights -- you know about them -- which you spend caring for our country and for our future.
  We live in an age that is both global and domestic, inseparably. Interest may divide people; vision may unite them. There is common vision uniting us to confront the dangers, to bring peace closer as soon as possible. The greatest danger is a nuclear Iran -- so you said, so you do. We trust your policy, which calls to, first, by non-military -- to fight by non-military means with a clear statement that other options remain on the table. You made it clear that your intention is not to contain but to prevent.
  We are trying together to start negotiations with the Palestinians. We already agreed that the goal is a two states for the two people solution. There is no better one, or more achievable one. We consider that the President of the Palestinian Authority, Abu Mazen, is our partner in that effort to stop terror and bring peace.
  Hamas remains a terror organization that targets innocent people. On our northern border, Iran's proxy, Hezbollah, continues to stockpile arms and threaten our civilians while they target innocent people across the world. Hezbollah is destroying Lebanon and supporting the brutal massacre of the Syrian people by President Assad. Fortunately, the Syrian nuclear capacity was destroyed. But unfortunately, thousands of chemical weapons remain. We cannot allow those weapons to fall in the terrorists' hands. It could lead to an epic tragedy.
  There is an attempt to bring spring to the Arab world. It is an Arab choice. It is an Arab initiative. It may bring peace to the region, freedom to the people, economic growth to the Arab states. If realized, it can lead to a better tomorrow. We pray it will become a reality.
  I really believe the vision is within skeptics and those who believe in peace. Your voice will encourage belief. You came to us with a clear message that no one should let skepticism win the day -- a vision that states clearly that peace is not only a wish, but a possibility. I fully support your call. There is no other way to make the future better. There is no better leader to make it possible.
  Your visit is a historic step in that direction. We shall journey with you all the way. Thank you.
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you so much.
  Well, thank you, President Peres, for your very generous words and your warm welcome. It is wonderful to be here once again. I first visited you when I was still a senator and had the opportunity to visit the lovely garden, and for me to be able to bring a tree from the United States that will find a home in that garden I think is symbolic of not only the friendship between our two nations, but between the two of us personally.
  Mr. President, you once remarked that a prime minister's job is to rule, a president's job is to charm. Well, as with all our visits together, I have once again succumbed to your charms and I'm grateful to your hospitality.
  It is wonderful to be back in Jerusalem, the Eternal City. And I'm pleased to begin my visit with a son of Israel who's devoted his life to keeping Israel strong and sustaining the bonds between our two nations. President Peres knows that this is a work of generations. Just as he joined the struggle for Israeli independence in his early 20s, he's always looking ahead, connecting with young people. And I'm especially grateful for the time he allowed me to share with those extraordinary Israeli boys and girls.
  Their dreams are much the same as children everywhere. In another sense, though, their lives reflect the difficult realities that Israelis face every single day. They want to be safe. They want to be free from rockets that hit their homes or their schools. They want a world where science and technology is created to build and not destroy. They want to live in peace, free from terror and threats that are so often directed at the Israeli people. That's the future that they deserve. That's the vision that is shared by both our nations. And that is Shimon Peres's life work.
  And, Mr. President, Michelle and I have such fond memories of your visit to the White House last spring, when I was honored to present you with America's highest civilian honor -- our Medal of Freedom. And that medal was a tribute to your extraordinary life, in which you have held virtually every position in the Israeli government.
  So today was another opportunity for me to benefit from the President's perspective on a whole range of topics -- from the historic changes that are taking place across the region to the perils of a nuclear-armed Iran, to the imperatives of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, to the promise of our digital age.
  And I should note that one of the advantages of talking to President Peres is not only does he have astonishing vision, but he's also a pretty practical-minded politician and consistently has good advice in terms of how we can approach many of these problems.
  I reaffirmed to President Peres, as I will throughout my visit, that in this work, the State of Israel will have no greater friend than the United States. And the work we do in our time will make it more likely that the children that we saw today alongside children from throughout the region have the opportunity for security and peace and prosperity. This obligation to future generations I think was well symbolized by the tree planting that we started our meeting with. The Talmud recounts the story of Honi, the miracle worker, who saw a man planting a carob tree. And he asked the man, how long before this tree yields fruit? To which the man responded, ''Seventy years.'' And so Honi asked, ''Are you sure you'll be alive in another 70 years to see it?'' And the man replied, ''When I came into the world, I found carob trees. As my forefathers planted for me, so will I plant for my children.''
  President Peres I think understands that story well. And so we want to all thank you for all the seeds you've planted -- the seeds of progress, the seeds of security, the seeds of peace -- all the seeds that have helped not only Israel grow but also the relationship between our two nations grow. And I believe that if we tend to them, if we nurture them, they will yield fruit in every hill and valley of this land, not only for the children we met today but for Israelis, for Palestinians, for Arabs across the region. That's not only good for the children of this region, but it's good for my children and the children of America.
  I deeply believe that. And I couldn't ask for a more wise or more thoughtful partner in that process. I'm very grateful for you hospitality, and I look forward to our continued work in the future.
  END 5:19 P.M. IST
U.S., Russia dispute if Syrian rebels used chemical weapons
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:13
  Syria's Assad regime has accused the rebels of launching a chemical weapons attack in the two of Aleppo that killed 25 people '-- an accusation the rebel fighters have strongly rebuked.
  President Obama has said the ''red line'' to which the U.S. would send forces to Syria would be the use of chemical weapons. However, it was assumed the Assad regime would be the ones using their chemical weapons stockpile, not the rebels.
  A Reuters photographer in Aleppo said he could pick up the faint smell of chlorine, however, other media agencies have thus far been unable to confirm the report because of media restrictions.
  The debate has extended to the U.S. and Russia. The Russian foreign ministry has said it has enough information to confirm the rebels launched the chemical attack. Of course, Russia has supported and armed Assad in his fight with the rebels.
  Meanwhile, U.S. government leaders have said they have not found any evidence of a chemical attack.
  ''We've seen reports from the Assad regime alleging that the opposition has been responsible for use. Let me just say that we have no reason to believe these allegations represent anything more than the regime's continued attempts to discredit the legitimate opposition and distract from its own atrocities committed against the Syrian people,'' said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. ''We don't have any evidence to substantiate the regime's charge that the opposition even has CW (chemical weapons) capability.''
  In fact, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the accusations made by Assad could be an attempt to cover up his own potential attacks. Such an attack on civilians would mean the U.S. would send in troops, according to Obama's previous statements.
  Adm. James Stavridis, commander of U.S. European Command, told the Senate Tuesday that his command has started to make plans should an attack be necessary.
  ''We are prepared if called upon to be engaged,'' Stavridis said.
  Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have consistently called for the U.S. to do more to quell the fighting in Syria. On Tuesday, the two Republican senators issued a statement saying the red line had been crossed and action was demanded.That should include the provision of arms to vetted Syrian opposition groups, targeted strikes against Assad's aircraft and SCUD missile batteries on the ground, and the establishment of safe zones inside Syria to protect civilians and opposition groups,'' the statement read.
  March 19th, 2013 | The Defense Biz | 1956292 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fdefensetech.org%2F2013%2F03%2F19%2Fu-s-russia-dispute-if-syrian-rebels-used-chemical-weapons%2FU.S.%2C+Russia+dispute+if+Syrian+rebels+used+chemical+weapons2013-03-19+22%3A52%3A03Mike+Hoffmanhttp%3A%2F%2Fdefensetech.org%2F%3Fp%3D19562
Merriam-Webster Search for iPhone
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  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:49
  You have reached the home page for the Merriam-Webster iPhone application. This site is intended for use with Apple's iPhone or iPod touch. Check out this page with an iPhone or visit Merriam-Webster.com for the standard Merriam-Webster home page.
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Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel in Joint Press Conference
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  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:27
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  March 20, 2013
  Prime Minister's Residence, Jerusalem8:30 P.M. IDT
  PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Mr. President, Barack, it's a great pleasure for me to host you here in Jerusalem. You've graciously hosted me many times in Washington, so I'm very pleased to have this opportunity to reciprocate. I hope that the goodwill and warmth of the people of Israel has already made you feel at home.
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: Very much so.
  PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: We had an opportunity today to begin discussing the wide range of issues that are critical to both our countries. And foremost among these is Iran's relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons. Mr. President, you have made it clear that you are determined to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. I appreciate your forthright position on this point. I also appreciate that you have noted -- that you have acted to thwart the threat both through determined diplomacy and strong sanctions that are getting stronger yet.
  Notwithstanding our joint efforts and your great success in mobilizing the international community, diplomacy and sanctions so far have not stopped Iran's nuclear program. And as you know, my view is that in order to stop Iran's nuclear programs peacefully, diplomacy and sanctions must be augmented by a clear and credible threat of military action.
  In this regard, Mr. President, I want to thank you once again for always making clear that Israel must be able to defend itself, by itself, against any threat. I deeply appreciate those words because they speak to the great transformation that has occurred in the life of the Jewish people with the rebirth of the Jewish state. The Jewish people only two generations ago were once a powerless people, defenseless against those who sought our destruction. Today we have both the right and the capability to defend ourselves.
  And you said earlier today, the essence of the State of Israel, the essence of the rebirth of the Jewish state is we've fulfilled the age-old dream of the Jewish people to be masters of our fate in our own state. I think that was a wonderful line that I will cherish because it really gets down to the essence of what this state is about. That is why I know that you appreciate that Israel can never cede the right to defend ourselves to others, even to the greatest of our friends. And Israel has no better friend than the United States of America. So I look forward to continuing to work with you to address what is an existential threat to Israel and a grave threat to the peace and security of the world.
  Mr. President, we discussed today the situation in Syria. We share the goal of seeing a stable and peaceful Syria emerge from the carnage that we have witnessed over the last two years. That carnage has already resulted in the deaths of over 70,000 people and the suffering of millions. We also share a determination to prevent the deadly arsenal of weapons within Syria from falling into the hands of terrorist hands. And I have no doubt that the best way to do that is to work closely with the United States and other countries in the region to address this challenge. And that is what we intend to do.
  Finally, Mr. President, your visit gave us an opportunity to try to find a way to advance peace between Israelis and Palestinians. My new government was sworn in two days ago. I know there have been questions regarding what the policy of the new government will be towards peace with the Palestinians. So let me be clear. Israel remains fully committed to peace and to the solution of two states for two peoples. We extend our hand in peace and in friendship to the Palestinian people.
  I hope that your visit, along with the visit of Secretary of State Kerry, will help us turn a page in our relations with the Palestinians. Let us sit down at the negotiating table. Let us put aside all preconditions. Let us work together to achieve the historic compromise that will end our conflict once and for all.
  Let me conclude, Mr. President, on a personal note. I know how valuable the time and the energy is of the American President, of yourself. This is the 10th time that we have met since you became President and since I became Prime Minister. You've chosen Israel as your first venue in your visit, your foreign visit in your second term. I want to thank you for the investment you have made in our relationship and in strengthening the friendship and alliance between our two countries. It is deeply, deeply appreciated.
  You've come here on the eve of Passover. I've always considered it as our most cherished holiday. It celebrates the Jewish people's passage from slavery to freedom. Through the ages it has also inspired people struggling for freedom, including the Founding Fathers of the United States. So it's a profound honor to host you, the leader of the free world, at this historic time in our ancient capital.
  Mr. President, welcome to Israel. Welcome to Jerusalem. (Applause.)
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you.
  Well, thank you, Prime Minister Netanyahu, for your kind words and for your wonderful welcome here today. And I want to express a special thanks to Sara as well as your two sons for their warmth and hospitality. It was wonderful to see them. They are -- I did inform the Prime Minister that they are very good-looking young men who clearly got their looks from their mother. (Laughter.)
  PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Well, I can say the same of your daughters. (Laughter.)
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: This is true. Our goal is to improve our gene pool by marrying women who are better than we are.
  Mr. Prime Minister, I want to begin by congratulating you on the formation of your new government. In the United States, we work hard to find agreement between our two major parties. Here in Israel, you have to find consensus among many more. And few legislatures can compete with the intensity of the Knesset. But all of this reflects the thriving nature of Israel's democracy.
  As Bibi mentioned, this is our 10th meeting. We've spent more time together, working together, than I have with any leader. And this speaks to the closeness of our two nations, the interests and the values that we share, and the depth and breadth of the ties between our two peoples.
  As leaders, our most solemn responsibility is the security of our people -- that's job number one. My job as President of the United States, first and foremost, is to keep the American people safe. Bibi, as Prime Minister, your first task is to keep the people of Israel safe. And Israel's security needs are truly unique, as I've seen myself. In past trips I visited villages near the Blue Line. I've walked through Israeli homes devastated by Hezbollah rockets. I've stood in Sderot, and met with children who simply want to grow up free from fear. And flying in today, I saw again how Israel's security can be measured in mere miles and minutes.
  As President, I've, therefore, made it clear America's commitment to the security of the State of Israel is a solemn obligation, and the security of Israel is non-negotiable.
  Today, our military and intelligence personnel cooperate more closely than ever before. We conduct more joint exercises and training than ever before. We're providing more security assistance and advanced technology to Israel than ever before. And that includes more support for the missile defenses like Iron Dome, which I saw today and which has saved so many Israeli lives.
  In short -- and I don't think this is just my opinion, I think, Bibi, you would share this -- America's support for Israel's security is unprecedented, and the alliance between our nations has never been stronger.
  That's the sturdy foundation we built on today as we addressed a range of shared challenges. As part of our long-term commitment to Israel's security, the Prime Minister and I agreed to begin discussions on extending military assistance to Israel. Our current agreement lasts through 2017, and we've directed our teams to start working on extending it for the years beyond.
  I'm also pleased to announce that we will take steps to ensure that there's no interruption of funding for Iron Dome. As a result of decisions that I made last year, Israel will receive approximately $200 million this fiscal year and we will continue to work with Congress on future funding of Iron Dome. These are further reminders that we will help to preserve Israel's qualitative military edge so that Israel can defend itself, by itself, against any threat.
  We also discussed the way forward to a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians. And I very much welcomed Bibi's words before I spoke. I'll be meeting with President Abbas tomorrow, and I will have more to say on this topic in the speech that I deliver to the Israeli people tomorrow. But for now, let me just reiterate that a central element of a lasting peace must be a strong and secure Jewish state, where Israel's security concerns are met, alongside a sovereign and independent Palestinian state.
  In this regard, I'd note that last year was a milestone -- the first year in four decades when not a single Israeli citizen lost their life because of terrorism emanating from the West Bank. It's a reminder that Israel has a profound interest in a strong and effective Palestinian Authority. And as the Prime Minister's new government begins its work, we'll continue to look for steps that both Israelis and Palestinians can take to build trust and confidence upon which lasting peace will depend.
  We also reaffirmed the importance of ensuring Israel's security given the changes and uncertainty in the region. As the United States supports the Egyptian people in their historic transition to democracy, we continue to underscore the necessity of Egypt contributing to regional security, preventing Hamas from rearming and upholding its peace treaty with Israel.
  With respect to Syria, the United States continues to work with allies and friends and the Syrian opposition to hasten the end of Assad's rule, to stop the violence against the Syrian people, and begin a transition toward a new government that respects the rights of all its people.
  Assad has lost his legitimacy to lead by attacking the Syrian people with almost every conventional weapon in his arsenal, including Scud missiles. And we have been clear that the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people would be a serious and tragic mistake. We also share Israel's grave concern about the transfer of chemical or other weapon systems to terrorists -- such as Hezbollah -- that might be used against Israel. The Assad regime must understand that they will be held accountable for the use of chemical weapons or their transfer to terrorists.
  And finally, we continued our close consultation on Iran. We agree that a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to the region, a threat to the world, and potentially an existential threat to Israel. And we agree on our goal. We do not have a policy of containment when it comes to a nuclear Iran. Our policy is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
  We prefer to resolve this diplomatically, and there's still time to do so. Iran's leaders must understand, however, that they have to meet their international obligations. And, meanwhile, the international community will continue to increase the pressure on the Iranian government. The United States will continue to consult closely with Israel on next steps. And I will repeat: All options are on the table. We will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from getting the world's worst weapons.
  Meeting none of these challenges will be easy. It will demand the same courage and resolve as those who have preceded us.
  And on Friday, I'll be honored to visit Mount Herzl and pay tribute to the leaders and soldiers who have laid down their lives for Israel. One of them was Yoni Netanyahu. And in one of his letters home, he wrote to his family, ''Don't forget -- strength, justice, and staunch resolution are on our side, and that is a great deal.''
  Mr. Prime Minister, like families across Israel, you and your family have served and sacrificed to defend your country and to pass it, safe and strong, to your children just as it was passed on to you. Standing here today, I can say with confidence that Israel's security is guaranteed because it has a great deal on its side, including the unwavering support of the United States of America. (Applause.)
  Q Mr. President, may I ask you about Syria, a practical question and a moral one? Morally, how is it possible that for the last two years, tens of thousands of innocent civilians are being massacred and no one -- the world, the United States and you -- are doing anything to stop it immediately? On a practical level, you have said today and also in the past that the use of chemical weapons would be a crossing of a red line. It seems like this line was crossed yesterday. What specifically do you intend to do about it?
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: I'll answer the question in reverse order, if you don't mind. I'll talk about the chemical weapons first and then, the larger question.
  With respect to chemical weapons, we intend to investigate thoroughly exactly what happened. Obviously, in Syria right now you've got a war zone. You have information that's filtered out, but we have to make sure that we know exactly what happened -- what was the nature of the incident, what can we document, what can we prove. So I've instructed my teams to work closely with all of the countries in the region and international organizations and institutions to find out precisely whether or not this red line was crossed.
  I will note, without at this point having all the facts before me, that we know the Syrian government has the capacity to carry out chemical weapon attacks. We know that there are those in the Syrian government who have expressed a willingness to use chemical weapons if necessary to protect themselves. I am deeply skeptical of any claim that, in fact, it was the opposition that used chemical weapons. Everybody who knows the facts of the chemical weapon stockpiles inside Syria as well as the Syrian government's capabilities I think would question those claims. But I know that they're floating out there right now.
  The broader point is, is that once we establish the facts I have made clear that the use of chemical weapons is a game changer. And I won't make an announcement today about next steps because I think we have to gather the facts. But I do think that when you start seeing weapons that can cause potential devastation and mass casualties and you let that genie out of the bottle, then you are looking potentially at even more horrific scenes than we've already seen in Syria. And the international community has to act on that additional information.
  But as is always the case when it comes to issues of war and peace, I think having the facts before you act is very important.
  More broadly, as I said in my opening statement, I believe that the Assad regime has lost all credibility and legitimacy. I think Assad must go -- and I believe he will go. It is incorrect for you to say that we have done nothing. We have helped to mobilize the isolation of the Assad regime internationally. We have supported and recognized the opposition. We have provided hundreds of millions of dollars in support for humanitarian aid. We have worked diligently with other countries in the region to provide additional tools to move towards a political transition within Syria.
  If your suggestion is, is that I have not acted unilaterally militarily inside of Syria, well, the response has been -- or my response would be that, to the extent possible, I want to make sure that we're working as an international community to deal with this problem, because I think it's a world problem, not simply a United States problem, or an Israel problem, or a Turkish problem. It's a world problem when tens of thousands of people are being slaughtered, including innocent women and children.
  And so we will continue to work in an international framework to try to bring about the kind of change that's necessary in Syria. Secretary Kerry has been working nonstop since he came into his current position to try to help mobilize and organize our overall efforts, and we will continue to push every lever that we have to try to bring about a resolution inside of Syria that respects the rights and the safety and security of all people, regardless of whatever sectarian lines currently divide Syria.
  Last point I'll make, which is probably obvious, is this is not easy. When you start seeing a civil war that has sectarian elements to it, and you've got a repressive government that is intent on maintaining power, and you have mistrust that has broken out along sectarian lines, and you have an opposition that has not had the opportunity or time to organize itself both politically as well as militarily, then you end up seeing some of the devastation that you've been seeing. And we're going to do everything we can to continue to prevent it. And I know that the vast majority of our international partners feel the same way.
  Q. Yes, thank you. There was some friendly banter between you two gentlemen on the tarmac today about red lines, and I'm wondering how much of a serious matter that actually became in your talks and will be in your talks to come tonight. President Obama has said it will take Iran at least a year to build a bomb. That's months longer than the Prime Minister believes.
  Mr. President, are you asking the Prime Minister to be more patient, to hold off for at least a year on any kind of military action against Iran?
  Mr. Prime Minister, has President Obama's words -- have they convinced you that he is putting forth the credible military threat that you have repeatedly asked for, or there's a need to go further? Thank you.
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: Bibi, why don't you go -- take a first swing at this.
  PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Well, first of all, there are so many strips of different colors on the tarmac that we -- (laughter) -- we did have a joke about that. But obviously this matter is no joke. It relates to our very existence and to something also that the President correctly identified as a grave strategic threat to the United States and to the peace and security of the world.
  I'm absolutely convinced that the President is determined to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. And I appreciate that. And I also appreciate something that he said, which I mentioned in my opening remarks, that the Jewish people have come back to their own country to be the masters of their own fate. And I appreciate the fact that the President has reaffirmed -- more than any other President -- Israel's right and duty to defend itself, by itself, against any threat. We just heard those important words now, and I think that sums up our -- I would say -- our common view.
  Iran is a grave threat to Israel, a grave threat to the world -- a nuclear Iran. The United States is committed to deal with it. Israel is committed to deal with it. We have different vulnerabilities, obviously, and different capabilities. We take that into account. But what we do maintain -- and the President I think is the first to do so -- is that Israel has a right to independently defend itself against any threat, including the Iranian threat.
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: I think the only thing I would add is that our intelligence cooperation on this issue, the consultation between our militaries, our intelligence, is unprecedented, and there is not a lot of light, a lot of daylight between our countries' assessments in terms of where Iran is right now.
  I think that what Bibi alluded to, which is absolutely correct, is each country has to make its own decisions when it comes to the awesome decision to engage in any kind of military action, and Israel is differently situated than the United States. And I would not expect that the Prime Minister would make a decision about his country's security and defer that to any other country -- any more than the United States would defer our decisions about what was important for our national security.
  I have shared with Bibi, as I've said to the entire world, as I've said to the Iranian people and Iranian leaders, that I think there is time to resolve this issue diplomatically. The question is, will Iranian leadership seize that opportunity? Will they walk through that door?
  And it would be in everybody's interests -- not just Israel's interests, not just the United States' interests -- it would be in the interest of the Iranian people if this gets resolved diplomatically. Because the truth of the matter is, is that the most permanent solution to the Iranian situation is ultimately going to be their decision that it is not worth it for them to pursue nuclear weapons. That will be the lasting change. If we can get that, that's good for everybody, including Iran, because it would allow them to break out of the isolation that has hampered their society and their economic development for many years.
  But I don't know whether they're going to be willing to take that step. And obviously, their past behavior indicates that, in the words of -- or a play on words on what Ronald Reagan said -- we can't even trust yet, much less verify. But we do have to test the proposition that this can be resolved diplomatically. And if it can't, then I've repeated to Bibi what I've said publicly, and that is, is that we will leave all options on the table in resolving it.
  Q Mr. Prime Minister, do you agree or disagree with the President's one-year assessment?
  PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: We have another question.
  Q Welcome, Mr. President. On your way back to Washington on Friday, what will you consider a successful visit? Convincing the Israeli leaders that they can rely on you on the Iranian issue, especially that they learned that there are differences between Israel and the United States concerning the enrichment of the Iranian -- or convincing both sides -- Israelis and the Palestinians -- to revive the floundering negotiation, reviving the peace process, the floundering peace process?
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, my main goal on this trip has been to have an opportunity to speak directly to the Israeli people at a time when obviously what was already a pretty tough neighborhood has gotten tougher, and let them know that they've got a friend in the United States, that we have your back; that we consider Israel's security of extraordinary importance to us, not just because of the bonds between our peoples but also because of our own national security interest.
  In that context, what I have also sought to achieve here is further consultations, building on what we've already discussed -- as Bibi has just formed a new government, as I am entering my second term -- that we continue to have close consultation around some of these shared interests that we've already discussed, Iran being obviously a prominent shared concern. I want to make sure that the Israeli people and the Israeli government consistently understand my thinking and how I'm approaching this problem. And I want to understand how the Israeli government and the Prime Minister is approaching this problem to make sure that there are no misunderstandings there.
  With respect to the peace process, as I said, I'll have more to say about this tomorrow. But I think you are absolutely right that over the last year, year and a half, two years, two and a half years, we haven't gone forward. We haven't seen the kind of progress that we would like to see.
  There's some elements of good news. I mean, the fact of the matter is, is that even with all that's been happening in the region, the Palestinian Authority has worked effectively in cooperation with the international community -- in part because of some of the training that we, the United States, provided -- to do its part in maintaining security in the West Bank. We have seen some progress when it comes to economic development and opportunity for the Palestinian people.
  But the truth of the matter is trying to bring this to some sort of clear settlement, a solution that would allow Israelis to feel as if they've broken out of the current isolation that they're in, in this region, that would allow the incredible economic growth that's taking place inside this country to be a model for trade and commerce and development throughout the region at a time when all these other countries need technology and commerce and jobs for their young people, for Palestinians to feel a sense that they, too, are masters of their own fate, for Israel to feel that the possibilities of rockets raining down on their families has diminished -- that kind of solution we have not yet seen.
  And so what I want to do is listen, hear from Prime Minister Netanyahu -- tomorrow, I'll have a chance to hear from Abu Mazen -- to get a sense from them, how do they see this process moving forward. What are the possibilities and what are the constraints, and how can the United States be helpful? And I purposely did not want to come here and make some big announcement that might not match up with what the realities and possibilities on the ground are. I wanted to spend some time listening before I talked -- which my mother always taught me was a good idea.
  And so, hopefully -- I'll consider it a success if when I go back on Friday, I'm able to say to myself I have a better understanding of what the constraints are, what the interests of the various parties are, and how the United States can play a constructive role in bringing about a lasting peace and two states living side by side in peace and security.
  Q Thank you, Mr. President; Mr. Prime Minister.
  Mr. President, I'm going to follow up a little bit on the peace process. You began your term, your first term, big fanfare -- Cairo speech to talk to the Muslim world, the decision to have a Middle East envoy early. You said you weren't going to let this slip to your second term. We're in your second term with the Middle East peace process. What went wrong? Why are we further away from a two-state solution? I know you said you want to talk more about this tomorrow, but I am curious. What do you believe went wrong? Did you push Israel too hard? What do you wish you would have done differently?
  And, Mr. Prime Minister, I want to help out my colleague over here on the follow-up that he had, which had to do with do you accept the President's understanding that Iran is a year away when it comes to nuclear weapons? And another question I had for you --
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: Chuck, how many have you got? Do you guys do this in the Israeli press -- you say you get one question and then you add like five?
  Q Well, I'm helping him. I'm helping him with his --
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: You see how the young lady from Channel One, she had one question. She was very well-behaved, Chuck.
  Q I had that one for you and -- (laughter) --
  PRIME NETANYAHU: These are commuted questions they have. (Laughter.)
  Q Apparently -- I thought I had four questions.
  PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Reiterations.
  Q Passover starts in a couple of days. (Laughter.) I get four questions, right?
  PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Look, this is not a Kosher question, but don't hog it. (Laughter.)
  Q I guess my question to you was going to be, why do you believe the Israeli people have not embraced President Obama the same way they embraced our last two U.S. Presidents? Thank you.
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: So you had to get a polling question in there right at the end? (Laughter.) Chuck, I mean, you're just incorrigible. (Laughter.)
  Well, look, the opening premise of your question was that having failed to achieve peace in the Middle East in my first term that I must have screwed up somehow. And I will tell you I hope I'm a better President now than when I first came into office, but my commitment was not to achieve a peace deal in my first year, or in my second year or my third year. That would have been nice. What I said was I was not going to wait to start on the issue until my second term, because I thought it was too important. And that's exactly what I did.
  I'm absolutely sure that there are a host of things that I could have done that would have been more deft and would have created better optics. But ultimately, this is a really hard problem. It's been lingering for over six decades. And the parties involved have some profound interests that you can't spin, you can't smooth over. And it is a hard slog to work through all of these issues.
  I will add that both parties also have politics, just like we do back home. There are a whole bunch of things that I'd like to do back in the United States that I didn't get done in my first term. And I'm sure I could have been more deft there as well. But some of it's just because it's hard, and people disagree, and it takes I think a confluence of both good diplomatic work, but also timing, serendipity, things falling into place at the right time, the right players feeling that this is the moment to seize it.
  And my goal here is just to make sure that the United State is a positive force in trying to create those opportunities as frequently as possible, and to be as clear as possible as to why we think that this is an important priority -- not only because of some Pollyanna-ish views about can't we all get along and hold hands and sing ''Kumbaya,'' but because I actually believe that Israel's security will be enhanced with a resolution to this issue. I believe that Palestinians will prosper and can channel their extraordinary energies and entrepreneurship in more positive ways with a resolution to this issue. The entire region I think will be healthier with a resolution to this issue.
  So I'm going to keep on making that argument. And I will admit that, frankly, sometimes it would be easier not to make the argument and to avoid the question, precisely because it's hard. That's not the approach that I've tried to take.
  And there have probably been times where, when I've made statements about what I think needs to happen, the way it gets filtered through our press -- it may be interpreted in ways that get Israelis nervous, just like there are folks back home who sometimes get nervous about areas where they aren't sure exactly where I stand on things. That's why I always like the opportunity to talk directly to you guys. Hopefully, you'll show the live film, as opposed to the edited version.
  With that, I think you've got four questions to answer, Bibi. (Laughter.)
  PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: I think that there's a misunderstanding about time. If Iran decides to go for a nuclear weapon -- that is, to actually manufacture the weapon -- then it probably -- then it would take them about a year. I think that's correct. They could defer that a long time but still get through the enrichment process -- that is, to make a weapon you need two things; you need enriched uranium of a critical amount and then you need a weapon. You can't have the weapon without the enriched uranium, but you can have the enriched uranium without the weapon.
  Iran right now is enriching uranium. It's pursuing it. It hasn't yet reached the red line that I had described in my speech at the U.N. -- they're getting closer, though.
  And the question of manufacturing the weapon is a different thing. The President said correctly that we have -- on these issues that are a little arcane, they sound a little detailed to you -- but on these matters we share information and we have a common assessment. We have a common assessment.
  In any case, Iran gets to an immunity zone when they get through the enrichment process, in our view -- in our view -- and whatever time is left, there's not a lot of time. And every day that passes diminishes it. But we do have a common assessment. On the schedules, on intelligence, we share that intelligence and we don't have any argument about it. I think it's important to state that clearly.
  I think that people should get to know President Obama the way I've gotten to know. And I think you've just heard something that is very meaningful. It may have escaped you, but it hasn't escaped me. And that is the President announced that in addition to all the aid that his administration has provided -- including Iron Dome, including defense funding for Israel during very difficult times -- he has announced that we are going to begin talks on another 10-year process arrangement to ensure American military assistance to Israel. I think this is very significant.
  And I want to express my thanks for everything that you have done. And I want to thank you also for that statement you just made. I think it's very, very important.
  So I think Israelis will judge this by the unfolding events and by what is happening, what is actually taking place. And for thi -- you know, there's a very simple answer to your question -- the gentleman from NBC, right? Yes. Well, for this, you need, you see, a second term as President and a third term as Prime Minister. That really fixes things. (Laughter.)
  PRESIDENT OBAMA: All right, thank you very much, everybody. (Applause.)
  END 9:12 P.M. IST
Wounded Warrior Screened at Phoenix Was Not Asked and Did Not Remove Prosthetic Legs
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  Archived Version
  Source: The TSA Blog
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:23
  There have been many reports about a U.S. Marine Wounded Warrior who was recently screened at Phoenix (PHX). Unfortunately, there has been a lot of misreporting.After reviewing TSA video (CCTV), interviewing and receiving written statements from all Officers involved, we found that the soldier was not asked and did not remove his prosthetic legs. The screening was done by the book and lasted a total of 8 minutes from beginning to end. By chance, the screening was conducted by two TSA Officers who were prior military. One was in the U.S. Air Force for 18 years, and the other was in the U.S. Marine Corps for 13 years.Nevertheless, we strive to ensure that all veterans and individuals with medical concerns are treated with dignity and respect. 25 percent of TSA employees are prior military. Some are even still serving in the reserves and guard. I'm a veteran as well. We have the greatest respect for our men and women serving in the military and strive to screen them with the dignity they deserve. Through our Wounded Warrior Screening program, we strive to make the overall experience for wounded service members as simple and trouble-free as possible. In the coming days, we will expand the Wounded Warriors Screening program to offer TSA Pre'''', or expedited screening, to this group of veterans.TSA Officers at Phoenix (PHX) alone have screened and assisted 164 Wounded Warriors over the past year.
  We value the continued commitment of our veterans and active duty military employees to TSA's mission, and to ensuring the safety of all Americans. See some of TSA's proud servicemen and women here.If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact us byclicking here.
La Stampa - A Nicosia l'incubo Atene ''Gi¹ le mani dai soldi''
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:20
  Rinviato il voto sulla tassadi solidariet . Banche chiusefino a gioved¬
  Per fare un paragone, ¨ come se in Italia si trattasse di trovare in due giorni 2000 miliardi per salvare le banche. Per tappare un buco del sistema bancario da 17 miliardi - somma pari al prodotto interno lordo del paese, che vale lo 0,2% del Pil dell'Ue - Cipro ha ottenuto un piano da 10 miliardi ai partner europei, il problema ¨ che quasi 6 miliardi verranno prelevati dai conti correnti bancari. Una mossa disperata che ha gettato l'isola di Afrodite nel marasma. E rischia di mettere in moto una nuova tempesta finanziaria in tutta Eurolandia. Noi italiani ci siamo gi passati. Era la notte tra il 9 e il 10 luglio del 1992, quando l'allora presidente del Consiglio Giuliano Amato decret² un prelievo sui conti correnti bancari del 6 per mille. facile immaginare lo shock che ha prodotto nella Repubblica di Cipro l'annuncio di un prelievo che arriva al 6,75% sui depositi fino a 100mila euro, e del 9,9% su quelli di consistenza superiore. In cambio, teoricamente, si riceveranno azioni delle banche salvate, a valere sui proventi futuri (ma ancora tutti da realizzare) dei giacimenti di gas da poco scoperti in mare. E gi contesi dalla vicina Turchia.
  La misura - il prelievo di solidariet >> - era stata ventilata e mille volte smentita nei giorni precedenti; cos¬ pare che tra mercoled¬ e venerd¬ siano stati prelevati 4,5 miliardi dai conti bancari. E in queste ore infuria la polemica: i giornali e la rete lanciano accuse verso personaggi vicini alla Presidenza della Repubblica e al governo. Avrebbero saputo prima del provvedimento, mettendo in salvo i loro patrimoni. Non sar vero ma ¨ verosimile. Per tutti gli altri non c'¨ stato nulla da fare: anche se sabato e domenica in tantissimi si sono messi in fila ai bancomat per sottrarre al prelievo di solidariet >> quanto pi¹ possibile, l'operazione si ¨ rivelata inutile. Il governo ha fatto sapere che il prelievo sar calcolato sulle somme depositate alla mezzanotte di venerd¬. Nel weekend e ieri (giornata festiva per la fede ortodossa, primo giorno di Quaresima) banche e uffici sono rimasti chiusi, anche se i bancomat erano stati ricaricati>>. Tutti attendono con il fiato sospeso la riapertura delle banche, che al momento ¨ rinviata a gioved¬.
  Dopo la caduta del muro di Berlino Lefkosia (che in occidente chiamiamo Nicosia) ¨ l'unica capitale del pianeta divisa in due. La citt e l'isola di Cipro continuano a essere divise tra uno stato membro dell'Unione europea e dell'eurozona (anche se irrimediabilmente mediterraneo e in collasso finanziario) e la Repubblica turco cipriota del nord, riconosciuta solo dalla Turchia.
  Per anni al Nord si stentava, vivacchiando dei magri aiuti finanziari erogati da Ankara; al Sud invece si ¨ sviluppata una potente economia basata sulla finanza. Merito>> del collasso del Libano, che travolto dalle guerre e dalle tensioni ha ceduto a Cipro il ruolo di magnete di tutti gli affari (leciti e, soprattutto, illeciti come il riciclaggio). Dopo la fine dell'Unione Sovietica Cipro ¨ diventata sempre pi¹ un centro dove i nuovi ricchi russi (soprattutto i possessori di ricchezze di provenienza dubbia) depositavano i loro soldi. Secondo le stime di Forbes>>, sui 170 miliardi di asset e i 70 miliardi di depositi accumulati nelle banche cipriote, 19 miliardi sono di imprese russe; 12 sono risorse delle banche russe; gli investitori privati detengono dagli 8 ai 35 miliardi. Si comprende la rabbia espressa ieri da Vladimir Putin per quella che in larga parte ¨ una tassa sui russi>>. Il guaio ¨ che molti di questi depositi sono stati investiti dalle banche cipriote nei posti sbagliati. Come i titoli del debito greco, che hanno aperto voragini nei conti delle banche dell'isola.
  Il governo conservatore di Nicos Anastasiadis, privo di maggioranza parlamentare anche se uscito vincitore dalle elezioni del 23 febbraio scorso, ha dovuto chiedere aiuto all'Europa. Che lo ha concesso. A condizioni draconiane. Aspettando la riapertura delle banche, in queste ore a Nicosia il governo cerca di trovare una maggioranza per far approvare dal Parlamento l'impopolarissimo provvedimento, che comprende anche un aumento della tassa sulle imprese, finora bassissima. Il voto viene rinviato in continuazione nella speranza di rendere pi¹ digeribile la stangata: si parla di esentare dal prelievo i conti sotto i 20mila euro, o comunque renderlo pi¹ progressivo abbassando l'aliquota per i meno ricchi>> e alzandola per i ricchissimi. Ma c'¨ il timore il combinato disposto del crack bancario e del prelievo rappresenti il colpo di grazia per il fu miracolo economico cipriota. Sono i tedeschi che, per ragioni di concorrenza, che ci hanno imposto tutto questo - dicono nei caff¨ del centro - come piazza finanziaria ormai siamo finiti>>. Si rischia la fuga dei capitali. Ma la vera paura ¨ quella di fare la fina della vicina Grecia: sacrifici e stangate a ripetizione e sempre pi¹ drastici. Ma sempre pi¹ inutili.
Jittery Spaniards Seek Safety in Bitcoins
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:17
  Since Sunday, a trio of Bitcoin apps have soared up Spain's download charts, coinciding with news that cash-strapped Cyprus was planning to raid domestic savings accounts to pay off a $13 billion bailout tab. Fearing contagion on the other end of the Mediterranean, some Spaniards are apparently looking for cover in an experimental digital currency.
  ''This is an entirely predictable and rational outcome for what's happening in Cyprus,'' says Nick Colas, chief market strategist at ConvergEx Group. ''If you want to get a good sense of the stress European savers are feeling, just watch Bitcoin prices.''
  The value of the virtual currency has soared nearly 15 percent in the last two days, according to the most-recent pricing data. ''One hundred percent of that is due to Cyprus,'' says Colas. ''It means the Europeans are getting involved.''
  That Spaniards would consider converting a portion of their dwindling savings into a peer-to-peer currency vulnerable to wild price fluctuations and the odd thieving Trojan speaks volumes about banking confidence in some parts of Europe. As German economist Peter Bofinger warned in an interview with Spiegel Online: ''European citizens must now fear for their money.'' The same apps download data, however, showed that Italians aren't ready to abandon commercial banking, remarkable as many Italians still recall that black day in 1992 when they woke up to a levy on their savings accounts to prop up the nation's teetering finances.
  Meanwhile, for Russian millionaires who have also been burned by the Cypriot tax levy, Bitcoin is far from a safe haven shelter. ''Bitcoin is good if you want to make a deposit of between $1,000 and $10,000. But the liquidity is just not there in the system for multimillion dollar transactions,'' Colas points out.
CCD COE - The Tallinn Manual
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 04:16
  The Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare, written at the invitation of the Centre by an independent'International Group of Experts', is the result of a three-year effort to examine how extant international law norms apply to this 'new' form of warfare. The Tallinn Manual pays particular attention to the jus ad bellum, the international law governing the resort to force by States as an instrument of their national policy, and the jus in bello, the international law regulating the conduct of armed conflict (also labelled the law of war, the law of armed conflict, or international humanitarian law). Related bodies of international law, such as the law of State responsibility and the law of the sea, are dealt within the context of these topics.
  The Tallinn Manual is not an official document, but instead an expression of opinions of a group of independent experts acting solely in their personal capacity. It does not represent the views of the Centre, our Sponsoring Nations, or NATO. It is also not meant to reflect NATO doctrine. Nor does it reflect the position of any organization or State represented by observers.
  The Tallinn Manual is available in both paper and electronic copies from Cambridge University Press ((C) Cambridge University Press 2013). We have also made the book available for reading and research below.
  We also recommend reading Professor Michael N. Schmitt's article "International Law in Cyberspace: The Koh Speech and Tallinn Manual Juxtaposed", published in the Harvard International Law Journal.
  Open publication - Free publishing - More cyber
Cyberwar Manual Lays Down Rules for Online Attacks
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 21:03
  LONDON -- Even cyberwar has rules, and one group of experts is putting out a manual to prove it.
  Their handbook, due to be published later this week, applies the practice of international law to the world of electronic warfare in an effort to show how hospitals, civilians and neutral nations can be protected in an information-age fight.
  "Everyone was seeing the Internet as the `Wild, Wild West,'" U.S. Naval War College Professor Michael Schmitt, the manual's editor, said in an interview before its official release. "What they had forgotten is that international law applies to cyberweapons like it applies to any other weapons."
  The Tallinn Manual -- named for the Estonian capital where it was compiled -- was created at the behest of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence, a NATO think tank. It takes existing rules on battlefield behavior, such as the 1868 St. Petersburg Declaration and the 1949 Geneva Convention, to the Internet, occasionally in unexpected ways.
  Marco Roscini, who teaches international law at London's University of Westminster, described the manual as a first-of-its-kind attempt to show that the laws of war -- some of which date back to the 19th century -- were flexible enough to accommodate the new realities of online conflict.
  The 282-page handbook has no official standing, but Roscini predicted that it would be an important reference as military lawyers across the world increasingly grapple with what to do about electronic attacks.
  "I'm sure it will be quite influential," he said.
  The manual's central premise is that war doesn't stop being war just because it happens online. Hacking a dam's controls to release its reservoir into a river valley can have the same effect as breaching it with explosives, its authors argue.
  Legally speaking, a cyberattack that sparks a fire at a military base is indistinguishable from an attack that uses an incendiary shell.
  The humanitarian protections don't disappear online either. Medical computers get the same protection that brick-and-mortar hospitals do. The personal data related to prisoners of war has to be kept safe in the same way that the prisoners themselves are -- for example by having the information stored separately from military servers that might be subject to attack.
  Cyberwar can lead to cyberwar crimes, the manual warned. Launching an attack from a neutral nation's computer network is forbidden in much the same way that hostile armies aren't allowed to march through a neutral country's territory. Shutting down the Internet in an occupied area in retaliation for a rebel cyberattack could fall afoul of international prohibitions on collective punishment.
  The experts behind the manual -- two dozen officers, academics, and researchers drawn mainly from NATO states -- didn't always agree on how traditional rules applied in a cyberwar.
  Self-defense was a thorny issue. International law generally allows nations to strike first if they spot enemy soldiers about to pour across the border, but how could that be applied to a world in which attacks can happen at the click of a mouse?
  Other aspects of international law seemed obsolete -- or at least in need of an upgrade -- in the electronic context.
  Soldiers are generally supposed to wear uniforms and carry their arms openly, for example, but what relevance could such a requirement have when they are hacking into distant targets from air-conditioned office buildings?
  The law also forbids attacks on "civilian objects," but the authors were divided as to whether the word "object" could be interpreted to mean "data." So that may leave a legal loophole for a military attack that erases valuable civilian data, such as a nation's voter registration records.
  ---
  Online:
  The Tallinn Manual: http://www.ccdcoe.org/249.html
  (C) Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Federal Register | Application for Final Commitment for a Long-Term Loan or Financial Guarantee in Excess of $100 million: AP087801XX
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  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 22:07
  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: AP087801XX.
  Brief description of the purpose of the transaction:
  To support the export of U.S. manufactured commercial aircraft to China.
  Brief non-proprietary description of the anticipated use of the items being exported:
  To provide long-haul airline service between China and various international destinations.
  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: The Boeing Company.
  Obligor: Air China.
  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://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 15, 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-2013-0024 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-2013-0024 on any attached document.
  Sharon A. Whitt,
  Records Clearance Officer.
  [FR Doc. 2013-06290 Filed 3-18-13; 8:45 am]
  BILLING CODE 6690-01-P
Federal Register | Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Re National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 22:11
  Notice Of Information Collection To Be Submitted To Omb For Review And Approval Under The Paperwork Reduction Act Of 1995.
  The FDIC, as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden and as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 35), invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on the revised survey collection instrument for its third National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households (''Household Survey''), currently approved under OMB Control No. 3064-0167, scheduled to be conducted in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau as a supplement to its June 2013 Current Population Survey (''CPS''). The collection is a key component of the FDIC's efforts to comply with a Congressional mandate contained in section 7 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Conforming Amendments Act of 2005 (''Reform Act'') (Pub. L. 109-173), which calls for the FDIC to conduct ongoing surveys ''on efforts by insured depository institutions to bring those individuals and families who have rarely, if ever, held a checking account, a savings account or other type of transaction or check cashing account at an insured depository institution (hereafter in this section referred to as the `unbanked') into the conventional finance system.'' Section 7 further instructs the FDIC to consider several factors in its conduct of the surveys, including: (1) ''what cultural, language and identification issues as well as transaction costs appear to most prevent `unbanked' individuals from establishing conventional accounts''; and (2) ''what is a fair estimate of the size and worth of the ''unbanked'' market in the United States.'' The Household Survey is designed to address these factors and provide a factual basis on the proportions of unbanked households. Such a factual basis is necessary to adequately assess banks' efforts to serve these households as required by the statutory mandate.
  To satisfy the Congressional mandate, the FDIC designed two complementary surveys: a survey of FDIC-insured depository institutions and a survey of households. The survey of FDIC-insured depository institutions, aimed at collecting data on their efforts to serve underbanked, as well as unbanked, populations (underbanked populations include individuals who have an account with an insured depository but also rely on non-bank alternative financial service providers for transaction services or high cost credit products), was conducted in mid-2007 and again in 2011. The results of the 2007 survey were released in February 2008 and the results of the 2011 survey were released in December 2012. The first survey of unbanked and underbanked households was conducted in January 2009 as a CPS supplement and the results were released to the public in December 2009. The second survey of unbanked and underbanked households was conducted in June 2011 and the results were released to the public in September 2012. The Household Survey seeks to estimate the proportions of unbanked and underbanked households in the U.S. and to identify the factors that inhibit the participation of these households in the mainstream banking system. The results of these ongoing surveys will help policymakers and bankers understand the issues and challenges underserved households perceive when deciding how and where to conduct financial transactions. This notice addresses the next Household Survey.
  Comments must be submitted on or before April 18, 2013.
  Interested parties are invited to submit written comments by any of the following methods. All comments should refer to ''National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households'':
  http://www.FDIC.gov/regulations/laws/federal/.Email:comments@fdic.gov. Include the name and number of the collection in the subject line of the message.Mail: Leneta Gregorie (202-898-3719), Counsel, Legal Division, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 550 17th Street NW., Washington, DC 20429.Hand Delivery: Comments may be hand-delivered to the guard station at the rear of the 550 17th Street Building (located on F Street), on business days between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.Interested members of the public may obtain a copy of the survey and related instructions by clicking on the link for the National Unbanked and Underbanked Household Survey on the following Web page: http://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/federal/notices.html. Interested members of the public may also obtain additional information about the collection, including a paper copy of the proposed collection and related instructions, without charge, by contacting Leneta Gregorie at the address identified above, or by calling (202) 898-3719.
  The FDIC is requesting OMB approval to revise the following collection of information:
  Title: National Unbanked and Underbanked Household Survey.
  OMB Number: 3064-0167.
  Frequency of Response: Once.
  Affected Public: U.S. Households.
  Estimated Number of Respondents: 45,000.
  Average Time per Response: 12 minutes (0.2 hours) per respondent.
  Estimated Total Annual Burden: 0.2 hours — 45,000 respondents = 9,000 hours.
  A mandate in section 7 of the Reform Act requires the FDIC to conduct ongoing surveys on efforts by banks to bring unbanked individuals and families into the conventional finance system. Section 7 further instructs the FDIC to consider several factors in its conduct of the surveys, including the size of the unbanked market in the United States and the cultural, language and identification issues as well as transaction costs that appear to most prevent unbanked individuals from establishing conventional accounts. To obtain this information, the FDIC partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau, which administered the Household Survey supplement (''FDIC Supplement') to households that participated in the January 2009 and June 2011 CPS. The FDIC supplement has yielded significant data on the extent and demographic characteristics of the population that is unbanked or underbanked, the use by this population of alternative financial services, and the reasons why some households do not make greater use of traditional banking services. The Household Survey was the first survey of its kind to be conducted at the national level. An executive summary of the results of the first and second Household Surveys, the full reports, and the survey instruments can be accessed through the following link: http://www.economicinclusion.gov/surveys/.
  Consistent with the statutory mandate to conduct the surveys on an ongoing basis, the FDIC already has in place arrangements for conduct of its third Household Survey as a supplement to the June 2013 CPS. However, prior to finalizing the next survey instrument, the FDIC sought public comment on whether changes to the existing instrument were desirable and, if so, to what extent. It should be noted that, as a supplement of the CPS survey, the Household Survey needs to adhere to specific parameters that include limits in the length and sensitivity of the questions that can be asked of CPS respondents. Specifically, there is a strict limitation on the number of questions permitted and the average time required to complete the survey (12 minutes on average).
  On October 19, 2012 (77 FR 64337), the FDIC issued a request for comment on possible revisions to the 2013 Household Survey. The FDIC received five comments related to this survey effort. All commenters were supportive of efforts to bring unbanked and underbanked households into the financial mainstream.
  One commenter suggested that the FDIC drill down further on the reasons for not using conventional/traditional financial institutions and suggested that income, judgments, liens, felony convictions, and ''choice'' (i.e., personal preference) are possible reasons for being unbanked. The FDIC continues to revise the survey instrument to better capture the full range of reasons why households do not have bank accounts. Answer options for this question have been clarified and streamlined. The 2013 survey adds an answer option that intends to capture households that feel that not having a bank account provides more privacy for personal finances. And, the 2013 survey asks households to select all applicable reasons for not having an account, but also indicate the most important reason, which will allow us to capture a more complete set of reasons.
  Several comments related to the need to better understand households' use of prepaid cards, including the cards' cost structures, and the use of direct deposit in conjunction with prepaid cards. One commenter further suggested that the FDIC consider an alternative unbanked definition that excludes households that regularly use prepaid cards. The FDIC agrees that the use of prepaid cards is relatively high, and increasing, among unbanked and underbanked households. In response, the revised Household Survey asks a number of new questions about prepaid cards that seek to capture the timing of households' prepaid card use, the reasons for using these cards, where they are purchased, and how they are accessed and loaded.
  One commenter mentioned the need to better understand households' financial decision-making, especially related to the choice between financial services or products such as: direct deposit vs. check-cashing, prepaid card vs. bank account. The FDIC agrees that this is an area of interest, but capturing this information would require more substantial revisions to survey than we are able to accommodate given the timeframe for the 2013 survey. This comment will be considered in future survey efforts.
  Another suggestion referred to gaining further detail on the competitive advantages and disadvantages of financial service providers. The 2013 Household survey includes questions about what methods households use to access bank accounts, as well as locations used to access alternative financial services. This information should provide additional information regarding consumer preferences for accessing financial services.
  One commenter requested that financial education questions be added to the survey. The FDIC recognizes the value of assessing financial education levels in conjunction with the use of financial services and products. However, financial education is difficult to measure at the household level. A good financial education assessment requires including a set of questions that test the respondents' financial capability, which might or might not be representative of that of the household.
  Another commenter requested that the survey provide results for smaller demographic groups, and allow for more cross tabulations of data, and suggested having the Household Survey be a part of the American Community Survey (ACS) as opposed to the CPS. The FDIC recognizes the value of having questions regarding banking status administered as part of the ACS, as the ACS's large sample size would allow for analysis at smaller demographic and geographic levels. The FDIC may investigate proposing new ACS content through the content change process managed by OMB and the Census Bureau. However, the current data collection, as part of the CPS, does allow for many meaningful analyses of demographic groups. In many cases, individual users can use the public use dataset from the Census Bureau to perform a wide variety of demographic analyses, including some that may be more detailed than the FDIC published in its own reports on the Household Survey.
  The FDIC also received a suggestion regarding the implementation of the survey. The commenter suggested that an in-person survey would facilitate data collection. The Household Survey is a supplement to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey which is predominantly an in-person survey.
  Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the FDIC's functions, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the estimates of the burden of the information collection; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.
  The FDIC will consider all comments to determine the extent to which the information collection should be modified prior to submission to OMB for review and approval. After the comment period closes, comments will be summarized and/or included in the FDIC's request to OMB for approval of the collection. All comments will become a matter of public record.
  Dated at Washington, DC, this 14th day of March, 2013.
  Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
  Valerie J. Best,
  Assistant Executive Secretary.
  [FR Doc. 2013-06282 Filed 3-18-13; 8:45 am]
  BILLING CODE 6714-01-P
Federal Register | The Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 22:33
  Quarterly Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council Membership Update.
  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the establishment of the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC) in a Federal Register Notice (71 FR 14930-14933) dated March 24, 2006, which identified the purpose of CIPAC, as well as its membership. This notice provides: (i) Quarterly CIPAC membership updates; (ii) instructions on how the public can obtain the CIPAC membership roster and other information on the council; and (iii) information on recently completed CIPAC meetings.
  Larry May, Designated Federal Officer, Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council, Sector Outreach and Programs Division, Office of Infrastructure Protection, National Protection and Programs Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 245 Murray Lane, Mail Stop 0607, Arlington, VA 20598-0607; by telephone: (703) 603-5070; or via email at: CIPAC@dhs.gov. Responsible DHS Official: Larry May, Designated Federal Officer for the CIPAC.
  Purpose and Activity: The CIPAC facilitates interaction between government officials and representatives of the community of owners and/or operators for each of the critical infrastructure sectors defined by Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 21 and identified in the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. The scope of activities covered by the CIPAC includes planning; coordinating among government and critical infrastructure owner and operator security partners; implementing security program initiatives; conducting operational activities related to critical infrastructure protection security measures, incident response, recovery, and infrastructure resilience; reconstituting critical infrastructure assets and systems for both manmade as well as naturally occurring events; and sharing threat, vulnerability, risk mitigation, and infrastructure continuity information.
  Organizational Structure: CIPAC members are organized into 16 critical infrastructure sectors. Each of these sectors has a government coordinating council (GCC) whose membership includes (i) a lead Federal agency that is defined as the Sector-Specific Agency; (ii) all relevant Federal, state, local, tribal, and/or territorial government agencies (or their representative bodies) whose mission interests also involve the scope of the CIPAC activates for that particular sector; and (iii) a sector coordinating council (SCC) whose membership includes critical infrastructure owners and/or operators or their representative trade associations.
  CIPAC Membership: CIPAC Membership may include:
  (i) Critical Infrastructure owner and/or operator members of their respective sector's DHS-recognized Sector Coordinating Council, including their representative trade or equivalent organizations as determined by the sector;
  (ii) Federal, state, local, and tribal governmental entities comprising the members of the GCC for each sector, including their representative trade or equivalent organizations.
  CIPAC membership is organizational. Multiple individuals may participate in CIPAC activities on behalf of a member as long as member representatives are not Federally registered lobbyists.
  CIPAC Membership Roster and Council Information: The current roster of CIPAC members is published on the CIPAC Web site (http://www.dhs.gov/cipac) and is updated as the CIPAC membership changes. Members of the public may visit the CIPAC Web site at any time to view current CIPAC membership as well as the current and historic list of CIPAC meetings and agendas.
  Dated: March 8, 2013.
  Larry May,
  Designated Federal Officer for the CIPAC.
  [FR Doc. 2013-06298 Filed 3-18-13; 8:45 am]
  BILLING CODE 9110-9P-P
N Korea threatens strike on US airbases - Asia-Pacific
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  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:42
  North Korea has threatened to attack US military bases in Japan in response to the use of nuclear-armed US B-52 bombers in joint military drills with South Korea.
  The threat on Thursday came a day after Pyongyang condemned the B-52 flights as an "unpardonable provocation" and threatened military action if they continue.
  "The United States is advised not to forget that our precision target tools have within their range the Anderson Air Force base on Guam where the B-52 takes off, as well as the Japanese mainland where nuclear-powered submarines are deployed and the navy bases on Okinawa," the North Korean command spokesman was quoted by KCNA news agency.
  The Pentagon confirmed that B-52s, taking off from Andersen Air Force base in Guam, had flown over South Korea as part of annual joint exercises that Pyongyang insist are a rehearsal for provocation.
  "We cannot tolerate the US carrying out nuclear strike drills, setting us as targets, and advertising them as strong warning messages," a spokesman for the North's supreme army command said.
  Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from Seoul, South Korea's capital, said the latest statement from Pyongyang should be seen as a "reminder rather than an immediate threat of action".
  "Whats interesting is the direct reference to B52 aircraft and the nuclear-powered submarines that the US has at its disposal," he added.
  "Earlier this week, the US deputy defence secretary was here in Seoul and underlined the use of B52s in combined US-South Korean military excercises going on."
  "B52s are capable of carrying nuclear weapons as is the USS Chayenne nuclear-powered submarine, which is also taking part in the excercises."
  Military tensions on the Korean peninsula are at their highest level for years, with North Korea - angered by UN sanctions imposed after its nuclear test last month - threatening a second Korean War backed by nuclear weapons.
  B-52s have taken part in South Korea-US joint exercises before, but the Pentagon said it had publicised their use this time to underline US commitment to defending its South Korean ally.
  335
threeme3/WsprryPi · GitHub
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:31
  READMERaspberry Pi bareback LF/MF/HF/VHF WSPR transmitter Makes a very simple WSPR beacon from your RasberryPi by connecting GPIO port to Antanna (and LPF), operates on LF, MF, HF and VHF bands from 0 to 250 MHz.Credits: Credits goes to Oliver Mattos and Oskar Weigl who implemented PiFM [1] based on the idea of exploiting RPi DPLL as FM transmitter. Dan MD1CLV combined this effort with WSPR encoding algorithm from F8CHK, resulting in WsprryPi a WSPR beacon for LF and MF bands. Guido PE1NNZ extended this effort with DMA based PWM modulation of fractional divider that was part of PiFM, allowing to operate the WSPR beacon also on HF and VHF bands. [1] PiFM code from http://www.icrobotics.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Turning_the_Raspberry_Pi_Into_an_FM_TransmitterTo use: In order to transmit legally, a HAM Radio License is required for running this experiment. The output is a square wave so a low pass filter is REQUIRED. Connect a low-pass filter to GPIO4 (GPCLK0) and Ground pins on your Raspberry Pi, connect an antenna to the LPF. The GPIO4 and GND pins can be found on header P1 pin 7 and 9 respectively, the pin closest to P1 label is pin 1 and its 3rd and 4th neighbour is pin 7 and 9 respectively, see this link for pin layout: http://elinux.org/RPi_Low-level_peripherals The expected power output is 10mW (+10dBm) in a 50 Ohm load. This looks neglible, but when connected to a simple dipole antenna this may result in reception reports ranging up to several thousands of kilometers. This software is using system time to determine the start of a WSPR transmissions, so keep the system time synchronised within 1sec precision, i.e. use NTP network time synchronisation or set time manually with date command. Reception reports are logged on Weak Signal Propagation Reporter Network: http://wsprnet.org/drupal/wsprnet/spotsUsage: sudo ./wspr e.g.: sudo ./wspr K1JT FN20 10 7040074 WSPR is used on the following frequencies (local restriction may apply): LF 137400 - 137600 MF 475600 - 475800 160m 1838000 - 1838200 80m 3594000 - 3594200 60m 5288600 - 5288800 40m 7040000 - 7040200 30m 10140100 - 10140300 20m 14097000 - 14097200 17m 18106000 - 18106200 15m 21096000 - 21096200 12m 24926000 - 24926200 10m 28126000 - 28126200 6m 50294400 - 50294600 4m 70092400 - 70092600 2m 144490400 -144490600Compile: gcc -lm -std=c99 wspr.c -owspr
Obama's limo breaks down with 'wrong fuel' on visit to Israel '-- RT News
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:26
  One of the armored limousines in Barack Obama's fleet has broken down after it was reportedly filled with diesel instead of petrol.
  The malfunctioning limo was brought in especially for the visit from Washington and is the first unforeseen incident during the president's three day visit to the region.
  It failed to start Wednesday morning, where it was parked at Ben-Gurion airport in Tel-Aviv, amid reports it was mistakenly filled with diesel instead of petrol.
  Another Limo is being hurriedly brought in from Jordon, according to the Iranian Maan news agency, citing Israel's channel 10.
  Obama left the airport and flew to Jerusalem by presidential helicopter followed by a parade of Black hawk helicopters.
  Obama has already apologized about the size of the Presidential entourage.
  The Presidential limo is an armored Chevrolet, known as the 'beast' and is sealed against biological or chemical attack.
Head of Colorado Department of Corrections killed in Monument home | KDVR.com
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 13:41
  Posted on: 5:30 am, March 20, 2013, by Will C. Holden, updated on: 12:03pm, March 20, 2013
  The El Paso County Sheriff's Office sets up a mobile command post near the home of Colorado Department of Corrections Executive Director Tom Clements, who was found murdered on March 19, 2013.
  Police investigate outside the home of Colorado Department of Corrections Executive Director Tom Clements, who was shot and killed answering his door on March 19, 2013.
  Police investigate outside the home of Colorado Department of Corrections Executive Director Tom Clements, who was shot and killed answering his door on March 19, 2013.
  As of the morning of March 20, 2013, police had not named a suspect in the murder of Colorado Department of Corrections Executive Director Tom Clements. They say the suspect or suspects fled into the woods surrounding Clements' home.
  Police investigate at the scene of a shooting that left Tom Clements, the head of the Colorado Department of Directions, dead on March 19, 2013.
  Tom Clements (Photo: YouTube)
  Tom Clements, right, with Gov. John Hickenlooper (Photo: YouTube)
  Tom Clements (Photo: Colorado Department of Corrections)
  MONUMENT, Colo. '-- The Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, Tom Clements, was killed in his Monument home Tuesday night.
  The El Paso County Sheriff's Office responded to a call of a shooting shortly after 8:30 p.m. in the 17400 block of Colonial Park Drive at the home of Clements, who was appointed to serve as head of the DOC by Governor John Hickenlooper in January 2011.
  Police said there was a knock on Clements door around 8:30 p.m., and that when Clements answered it, he was shot and killed.
  According to FOX31 Denver's Julie Hayden, multiple sources have confirmed investigators are looking into the possibility that Clements' death is linked to a recent decision not to grant a transfer to Saudi inmate Homaidan Al-Turki.
  Al-Turki's 2006 conviction for holding a housekeeper as a sex slave angered members of the Saudi Arabian government, who have been pressuring Colorado to transfer him to his home country to serve his life sentence. Al-Turki is a member of an influential Saudi family and also reportedly held connections with the now-defunct Islamic Assembly of North America, some of whose members have been investigated on terrorism-related charges, including the attacks on September 11.
  The maid told police Al-Turki had been keeping her as a sex slave for four years when she was detained along with Al-Turki and his wife by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents because of questions regarding Al-Turki's student visa validity in November 2004.
  Al-Turki immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1995 after receiving a scholarship to study linguistics at CU-Boulder. He attained his masters from the university.
  While the sources did indicate the Al-turki connection is a possibility, they stressed the word possibility, saying investigators do not have much to go on at this point.
  Clements came to Colorado from Missouri, where he spent 31 years with the Department of Corrections in that state.
  At an 8:30 a.m. press conference, El Paso County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Jeff Kramer provided the first details about potential suspects in the case, providing a vehicle of interest. Kramer said a resident saw a boxy-style, dark-colored, 2-door, 90s-model vehicle running unoccupied and parked at an intersection near the scene of the shooting.
  Kramer said a few minutes later, the resident observed the vehicle traveling westbound on Higby Road away from the area.
  Kramer was still yet to identify a suspect or suspects during the press conference. He was unable to provide details about the type of weapon that was used in the shooting and the extent of the injuries suffered by Clements before his death.
  RELATED: Watch the full video from Kramer's press conference below''We're less than 12 hours into this investigation,'' Kramer said. ''In terms of a shooting, that's fairly early. We don't believe there is an imminent threat to this local community, but because we don't have a suspect and don't know the whereabouts of any suspects, we do want folks to remain vigilant.''
  In a letter to DOC employees early Wednesday morning, Hickenlooper confirmed that Clements, 58, a man he called ''unfailingly kind and thoughtful,'' had been killed.
  ''I am so sad. I have never worked with a better person than Tom, and I can't imagine our team without him,'' Hickenlooper wrote. ''As Executive Director, he helped change and improve DOC in two years more than most people could do in eight years.''
  News of Clements' murder came hours before Hickenlooper was expected to sign three controversial new gun control bills into law.
  Shortly after sending the letter, Hickenlooper ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff at all public buildings statewide Wednesday. He ordered those flags to remain at half-staff until the day after Clements' funeral.
  Clements is survived by his wife, Lisa, and two daughters. Kramer said while one member of the family did place the 911 call, he could not confirm which members of Clements family were home at the time of the shooting.
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Obama mulls stripping CIA of drones '-- RT USA
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  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:20
  The CIA could soon lose its power to pulverize suspected terrorists overseas with unmanned drones: United States President Barack Obama is reportedly close to transferring the intelligence agency's drone program to the Department of Defense.
  The Daily Beast writes this week that Pres. Obama is expected to sign off on an order that will end the Central Intelligence Agency's ability to use unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, and will instead relinquish the arsenal of UAVs to the Pentagon.
  ''The move could potentially toughen the criteria for drone strikes, strengthen the program's accountability and increase transparency,'' Daily Beast reporter Daniel Klaidman writes.
  Currently, both the US military and the CIA manage separate but similar drone programs in order to single-in on targets and launch missile strikes, a maneuver that has become a hallmark of America's wars during the first term of Pres. Obama's presidency. At the same time, though, a massive backlash from foreign citizens, US politicians and the American public alike have largely objected to the use of the aircraft, particularly in the wake of leaked whitepapers that explain the president's power to use armed drones to execute American citizens abroad without due process.
  Both Pres. Obama and the Department of Justice have since said that no American citizen can be subjected to a government-approved extrajudicial execution, but members of Congress continue to demand details from the White House. Now if the drone program is officially handed over to the Department of Defense, the shroud of secrecy that typically cloaks CIA operations could be removed from one of its many elusive endeavors as the proverbial plug is pulled.
  The CIA program, writes Klaidman, is one that is officially considered to be a ''covert'' mission, ''which is to say it is not only highly classified, it's deniable under the law,'' he says. ''That means the CIA, in theory, can lie about the existence of the program or about particular operations.'' On the other hand, however, the military's targeted kill program is not covert but clandestine, ''which means it is secret but not deniable,'' he writes.
  Should the president re-write the rulebook for the targeted kill program, the CIA will likely continue to collect and analyze foreign intelligence but will be prohibited from personally overseeing the execution of targets using the remote-controlled killing machines. As Wired's Spencer Ackerman notes, however, the maneuver might only mean new policies on paper.
  ''If the Obama administration decides to give the US military control of the CIA's drone effort, the institutional changes to the controversial global drone strikes will be minor,'' Ackerman writes on Wednesday. ''That's because the important leverage points over the drones '-- and the global, targeted-killing program they support '-- are political, not institutional.''
  While Klaidman suggests the likely change means the White House wants to diminish the public's damning perception that the president ''is running a secretive and legally dubious killing machine,'' Ackerman says a change of command won't mean civilians overseas will be safe from the all-too long arm of America's military might. While the CIA's secret drone program in locales such as Pakistan and Yemen might land on the chopping block, the Defense Department drones that regularly search for and strike targets in Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia will still remain intact.
  And while the Daily Beast predicts that the retirement of a CIA drone program could mean more transparency as the Pentagon becomes the only powerful US entity to launch such strikes, Ackerman writes that that argument is still up in the air.
  ''Typically, though not always, the military's lethal activities occur under a congressional grant of authority in the context of an armed conflict,'' Klaidman says. When it comes to CIA activities, however, details about when, why or how a target is sought out can be kept under lock and key. Ackerman counters, ''There's an argument that giving the military control over the drones will lead to greater transparency around them: Maybe, but not necessarily.''
  ''The military is more likely than the CIA to openly testify about future drone operations, allow knowledgeable congressional staff into closed-door operational briefings and allow members of Congress to take tours of drone airbases,'' he admits, ''but that's not to say that there will necessarily be more transparency of the military's drone programs. Much depends on congressional prerogative, rather than institutional requirements.''
  Klaidman acknowledges, ''There's nothing in the law that says the military has to brief congressional committees about its lethal activities.''
  ''Moving lethal drone operations exclusively to DOD might bring benefits. But DOD's lethal operations are no less secretive than the CIA's, and congressional oversight of DOD ops is significantly weaker'' compared with congressional oversight that goes into CIA decisions, Harvard law professor and former Justice Department official Jack Goldsmith tells The Daily Beast.
  Klaidman cites three anonymous US officials as his sources, and says the transition could take anywhere from one to four years, but would occur before Pres. Obama ends his second term as commander-in-chief and exits the White House.
  ''Barack Obama has got to be concerned about his legacy,'' one former adviser tells Klaidman. ''He doesn't want drones to become his Guantnamo.''
  Last month, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) credited US drones with killing roughly 4,700 foreigners. ''Sometimes you hit innocent people, and I hate that, but we're at war, and we've taken out some very senior members of al-Qaeda,'' he said. Just how effective those strikes are is still up for question, though. Researchers at Stanford University and New York University published a report last year that found that only 2 percent of drone casualties are top militant leaders, and the Pakistani Interior Minister has said that around 80 percent of drone deaths in his country were suffered by civilians.
Cops: U.S. law should require logs of your text messages | Politics and Law - CNET News
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  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:05
  Silicon Valley firms and privacy groups want Congress to update a 1986-era electronic privacy law. But if a law enforcement idea set to be presented today gets attached, support for the popular proposal would erode.
  House subcommittee chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (center) will preside over today's hearing to discuss updating a 1986 privacy law. A proposal backed by Google, Apple, Twitter, Facebook, and other companies is scheduled to be discussed along with law enforcement-backed proposals.
  (Credit: U.S. House of Representatives)AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and other wireless providers would be required to capture and store Americans' confidential text messages, according to a proposal that will be presented to a congressional panel today.
  Richard Littlehale, a supervisor with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
  (Credit: Nashville Bar Association)The law enforcement proposal would require wireless providers to record and store customers' SMS messages -- a controversial idea akin to requiring them to surreptitiously record audio of their customers' phone calls -- in case police decide to obtain them at some point in the future.
  "Billions of texts are sent every day, and some surely contain key evidence about criminal activity," Richard Littlehale from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will tell Congress, according to a copy (PDF) of his prepared remarks. "In some cases, this means that critical evidence is lost. Text messaging often plays a big role in investigations related to domestic violence, stalking, menacing, drug trafficking, and weapons trafficking."
  Littlehale's recommendations echo a recommendation that a constellation of law enforcement groups, including the Major Cities Chiefs Police Association, the National District Attorneys' Association, and the National Sheriffs' Association, made to Congress in December, which was first reported by CNET.
  They had asked that an SMS retention requirement be glued onto any new law designed to update the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act for the cloud computing era -- a move that would complicate debate over such a measure and erode support for it among civil libertarians and the technology firms lobbying for a rewrite.
  "Sgt. Gates sent a letter to T-Mobile in advance of obtaining the warrant for the T-Mobile phone records to ask the service provider to preserve the information that he expected to request by the warrant. T-Mobile produced the requested information on October 20, 2009, and the records show that Defendant's use of the T-Mobile cell phone was almost exclusively for text messaging. The results also reveal that T-Mobile does not store, and has no capacity to produce, the content of subscriber text messages....
  "Unlike T-Mobile, Verizon was able to produce records with text messaging content in them. The content of the LG cell phone matches the photographs taken on October 4, 2009 by Det. Cushman, including a text message which reads, 'Wat if I got 2 take him 2 da hospital wat do I say and dos marks on his neck omg,' which is the message that Sgt. Kite testified to having seen that morning....
  "Sprint/Nextel responded on October 13, 2009. It produced two preserved text messages, both of which were unrelated to this case, and no voice mail messages."
  Today's hearing before a House Judiciary subcommittee chaired by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) is designed to evaluate how ECPA should be upgraded. CNET reported yesterday that the Justice Department is proposing that any ECPA changes expand government surveillance powers over e-mail messages, Twitter direct messages, and Facebook direct messages in some ways, while limiting it in others. A Google representative is also testifying.
  While the SMS retention proposal could open a new front in Capitol Hill politicking over electronic surveillance, the concept of mandatory data retention is hardly new. The Justice Department under President Obama has publicly called for new laws requiring Internet service providers to record data about their customers, and a House panel approved such a requirement in 2011.
  Wireless providers' current SMS retention policies vary. An internal Justice Department document (PDF) that the ACLU obtained through the Freedom of Information Act shows that, as of 2010, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint did not store the contents of text messages. Verizon did for up to five days, a change from its earlier no-logs-at-all position, and Virgin Mobile kept them for 90 days. The carriers generally kept metadata such as the phone numbers associated with the text for 90 days to 18 months; AT&T was an outlier, keeping it for as long as seven years.
  An e-mail message from a detective in the Baltimore County Police Department, leaked by Antisec and reproduced in a 2011 Wired article, says that Verizon keeps "text message content on their servers for 3-5 days." And: "Sprint stores their text message content going back 12 days and Nextel content for 7 days. AT&T/Cingular do not preserve content at all. Us Cellular: 3-5 days Boost Mobile LLC: 7 days"
  During a criminal prosecution of a man for suspected murder of a 6-year-old boy, police in Cranston, R.I., tried to obtain copies of a customer's text messages from T-Mobile and Verizon. Superior Court Judge Judith Savage said at the time that, although she was "not unfamiliar with cell phones and text messaging," she "was stunned" to learn that providers had such different policies.
  Littlehale also proposed that any attempt to update ECPA include revised "emergency" language that would allow police to demand records from providers without search warrants in some cases.
  Chris Calabrese, legislative counsel for the ACLU, says he's skeptical about expanding emergency access. "Emergency can't be a magic word," he says. "Emergencies have to be documented subsequently to a judge the same way we would with a wiretap."
China Genetic Test Causes Mass Death Catastrophe
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  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:04
  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)
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  March 19, 2013
  ChinaGenetic Test Causes Mass Death Catastrophe
  By:Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
  A shocking report prepared by Health Minister Dr. Veronika Skvortsova for President Putin that is circulating in the Kremlin today states that a Peoples Republic of China genetic test ''backfired'' and has, instead, caused a catastrophic situation to occur in Anhui Province wherein nearly 5 million swine have died during the past fortnight.
  According to this report, Russian health officials became ''highly concerned'' this past week from reports emerging from the Zabaikalsk-Manzhouli border crossing that a crisis was occurring in Anhui Province and that over 85,000 Peoples Liberation Army troops had descended upon this area located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai Rivers.
  Russian concerns were further heightened, Minister Skvortsova says, after at least 50 aircraft operated by the Beijing Weather Modification Office saturated a large portion of Anhui Province, specifically Shexian County, covering this area with what is described as a ''mysterious sea of clouds.''
  The reason for this unprecedented Chinese weather modification event, this report continues, was to conceal this area from Western satellite coverage so as to allow for the ''removal and/or destruction'' of millions of dead swine by the tens-of-thousands Peoples Liberation Army troops still streaming into this region.
  Not all of Beijing's efforts, however, have been successful in covering up this catastrophe, Minister Skvortsova says, as nearly 15,000 of these dead swine have already fouled the rivers of this region reaching as far as Shanghai.
  Chinese authorities, seeking to quell the rising fears of their peoples, have noted that this region breeds around 7 million swine annually, and though stating that public health is not endangered, they did say that the cause of this mass-death event was ''complicated.''
  Minister Skvortsova, though, in her report notes that this mass-death event is ''strongly related'' to Chinese efforts to mass produce a psychotropic drug called Cerebrolysin made from a solution of small proteins and amino acids purified from swine brain tissues.
  Cerebrolysin is currently approved in 44 countries worldwide, for stroke, dementia, and traumatic brain injury and is currently in Phase 3 trials in multiple countries in Europe. Because it has to be given in regular intravenous infusions it is impractical for use on a large scale and is manufactured by a single company named Ebewe Pharmaceutical.
  Chinese researchers from West China Hospital in Chengdu have been at the forefront of Cerebrolysin research, this report continues, specifically in its ability to alter the mental states (pacify) of those taking it, and have been seeking a method of increasing its output from swine using genetic modification technology.
  So promising was China's research into Cerebrolysin, Minister Skvortsova says, its manufacturer, Ebewe Pharmaceutical, was acquired by Sandoz in 2009, and which itself is a subsidiary of the multinational pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
  Sandoz is, also, the world's second largest generic drug company and maker of the mind altering drugs Clozaril, Mellaril and Serentil. Sandoz was also known for one of its scientists, Albert Hofmann, who synthesized LSD in 1938 and by 1949 was marketing it as a psychiatric drug under the trade name Delysid.
  Chinese researchers Dr Yutao Du and Prof Shutang Feng announced this past November that the physiological similarities of swine to humans was maintained at a genetic level with 84 percent homology between the two species, leading Minister Skvortsova to speculate, based on standardized breeding models [A female pig can become pregnant at around 8-18 months of age. She will then go into heat every 21 days. Male pigs become sexually active at 8-10 months of age. A litter of piglets typically contains between 6 and 12 piglets], that the mass-death of swine now occurring in China shows a ''strong correlation'' to a ''genetic test'' having gone horribly wrong.
  In further speculation, but offering no direct evidence, Minister Skvortsova further states in her report that the only three causes of such mass-death events in domestic food animals ever recorded are drastic weather conditions, disease or genetic testing; and with no evidence, so far, showing either weather or disease to be the cause, that then leaves only genetic testing as the logical reason for this mass-death event.
  To the exact method used by Chinese scientists causing the mass-deaths of these millions of swine, Minister Skvortsova says, appears to be similar to those of US researchers blamed last year for the mass-deaths of cattle in Texas.
  Preliminary tests on the Texas mass-death event revealed that the grass, an altered form of Bermuda grass known as Tifton 85, had mysteriously begun producing cyanide gas. The grass suspected of killing these cattle is not a GMO in the sense that food activists typically use, a Western report says, though it is a scientifically modified hybrid of African Bermuda grass and an earlier hybrid grass, Tifton 68 and while it was not developed through some of the more controversial gene splicing methods used in GMOs '--such as, say injecting fish genes into tomatoes '-- it is technically considered a genetically modified plant.
  Most ominous in this report is Minister Skvortsova's summary wherein she warns that with this latest mass-death being linked to genetic testing, and when coupled with the mass-deaths of bees worldwide now being linked to genetic crops, and the mass-deaths of bats in the US being lined to GMOs too, the true horrors of what is being done to our world by genetic modification of natural organisms could very well lead to an extinction level event.
  March 19, 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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Arbitrage On Ad Agency Trading Desks - Business Insider
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  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:00
  GroupM, which handles about $70 billion in media-buying for hundreds of the world's top advertisers, has found itself suddenly trying to explain to the world what "arbitrage" is, and why the WPP-owned agency is doing no such thing."Arbitrage" occurs when an agency buys online ad inventory on its own account, and then sells it to a client at a higher price, keeping the margin. It's controversial because the client may not know what the original price of the ad was '-- and therefore may have difficulty judging whether they're paying a fair price.
  GroupM's CEO, Rob Norman, and its chairman, Irwin Gotlieb, both said at a conference panel that ad pricing schedules are not fully disclosed to clients. That, it turns out, was the advertising equivalent of the French police chief in Casablanca announcing that he is shocked '-- shocked! '-- to find that gambling is going on in the casino.
  Vast sums of money are at stake. WPP CEO Martin Sorrell wrote in The Telegraph that a third of his company's business now comes from digital marketing of one sort or another.
  Those two factors '-- money plus controversy '-- explain why everyone in the online ad world is buzzing about arbitrage this week.
  Is arbitrage the same as "frontrunning"?
  Critics '-- and competitors '-- of agency trading desks say the lack of transparency on ad prices looks a lot like "frontrunning," a practice that is banned on Wall Street. Frontrunning occurs when a broker, upon learning that her client wants to make a big stock buy which will drive up the price of the stock, acquires a bunch of that stock for herself ahead of the transaction, and thus profits.
  To be fair, this is not what is going on in the ad biz.
  But critics say it amounts to the same thing. It's a measure of how controversial the topic is that I had four conversations this week with high-level digital ad agency executives about arbitrage '-- and none of them wanted to go on the record about it. They were all fuming, however.
  Interpublic, a competitor to WPP, says it does not practice arbitrage. "We are TOTALLY transparent. We don't arbitrage. A client's money isn't the agencies money," it tweeted recently.
  Omnicom, another competitor, says it doesn't do arbitrage, but left the door open to maybe doing it in the future when asked about it by Ad Age.
  Critics say that arbitrage is a conflict of interest that jacks up the price of advertising for clients who aren't sophisticated enough to audit their buying agencies. They also allege that agencies take a fee for managing the client's ad budget, and then take the arbitrage margin on top of that '-- which looks like double-dipping.
  If it's disclosed, who cares?
  In their defense, agencies say the practice is fully disclosed to clients. The margin comes from value that is added when they apply extra data to the buy that makes it more targeted, more useful to the advertiser. In short, what the agency is reselling is a new and different thing than what was bought from the publisher. It's better, and it deserves a higher price. That, therefore, is not arbitrage, because they're not simply frontrunning and flipping a commodity they bought first. They're creating a new product out of an old commodity.
  The margin also pays for the risk of not being able to resell the inventory. A huge amount of inventory goes unsold, so that risk is real. And, of course, agencies have to pay for the technology platforms they build to create these buying networks. Trading desks don't grow on trees, after all.
  What clients don't know
  The last part of the controversy is what clients know and don't know.
  WPP's Norman told Business Insider that he has 1,500 agreements with clients globally, in which the clients do not get to know the original price of the advertising sold to them. The clients know how much they are paying, and what the performance of their campaigns is, but they don't get to see what value GroupM created in the secret sauce it applied after the original ad impression was bought from the publisher. "We never operate on a non-disclosed basis without the specific contractual consent of our clients," Norman tells us.
  A lot of clients don't want to know. One of the reasons they hire agencies is because the online ad world is so complicated '-- sales are traded in fractions of a second, so it's literally not visible to observers. They want their agencies to handle it for them.
  And, of course, clients tend to judge agencies by performance. Trading desks can't stay in business if they cost more than their competitors '-- so as long as superior performance is there, does it really matter how the agency makes its margin?
  One of the reasons GroupM is taking such flak is because people don't understand exactly what it does. For example, in 2010, chief marketing officers at four major car advertisers confessed at a conference that they did not know what "demand-side platforms" are. (They're online ad buyers who often compete with agency trading desks).
  It might, however, behoove clients to become a little more interested in how online advertising works. If that were the case, some of these misunderstandings might not arise.
Hacker Allegedly Obtained Emails Implicating Hillary Clinton in Benghazi Attack | OCCUPY CORPORATISM
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:54
  Susanne PoselOccupy CorporatismMarch 19, 2013
  Alternative media is reporting that a hacker named ''Guccifer'' has hacked into Sidney Blumenthal's private email account to expose correspondence concerning Hillary Clinton and the murder of CIA spy J. Christopher Stevens.
  ''Guccifer'' is attributed with hacking into ''e-mail accounts of family, friends, and political allies of the Bush family has crossed party lines and illegally accessed the AOL account of a former senior White House adviser to President Bill Clinton.''
  Blumenthal is a former aide to former President Bill Clinton as well as an established journalist with a focus on American politics and foreign policy with articles published in the Washington Post, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker.
  The Clinton administration used Blumenthal to plant positive stories about the former White House and even was integral in the dismissal of the impeachment proceedings regarding Clinton over the Monica Lewinski scandal.
  ''Guccifer'' was able to obtain access to emails dating back to 2005.
  This hacker specifically targeted Blumenthal with a focus on direct correspondence between him and Clinton. ''Guccifer'' was successful in syphoning foreign policy and intelligence reports dated to Clinton's years as Secretary of State under the Obama administration.
  A portion of the emails directed from Blumenthal to Clinton were regarding Libya, the ''attack'' on the compound where Stevens was residing in Benghazi and one marked ''confidential'' that was dated the day after the destruction of the compound.
  Who ''Guccifer'' is has not been determined; however alternative media explains that ''two IP addresses connected to the hacker's recent online maneuvers have been traced to the Russian Federation. . . However, this could be indicative of nothing since hackers go to great lengths to obscure their trail via proxies, IP spoofing, and powerful anonymizing software like Tor.''
  In January of this year, Clinton gave testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in an emotional swan song filled with defensive outbursts and reactionary statements about her sorrow for the families involved. Clinton said: ''As I have said many times since Sept. 11, I take responsibility. Nobody is more committed to getting this right. I am determined to leave the State Department and our country safer, stronger and more secure.''
  Clinton maintained that she was focused ''on keeping people safe'' and that the US government ''didn't know who the attackers were or what their motives were.''
  At one point, Clinton began shouting at Senator Ron Johnson, saying: ''What difference does it make? With all due respect, the fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night decided to go kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make?''
  Clinton claimed that she never saw the requests made by J. Christopher Stevens for more security. In her mind, this incident was one of a long history of violent outbursts that justified the necessity of US Armed Forces in the region to stabilize and maintain order.
  Because of lack of funding, Clinton said, the terror attack on Benghazi occurred. She redirected the blame onto Congress who did not approve enough money for the State Department to afford to send adequate security for Stevens.
  Clinton told Senator Marco Rubio that Libya must be held accountable for their inability to properly secure the gated-villa in Benghazi. Clinton said: ''This was a constant conversation. What I found with the Libyans was willingness but not capacity.''
  Senator Rand Paul said that he ''would have relieved [Clinton] of [her] post'' with regard to how she handled Benghazi. Clinton said that during the ''independent'' review conducted by the internal agency of the State Department on Benghazi, some personnel had lost their jobs. Paul said that Clinton is ''just incompetent''.
  Senator John McCain was not ''satisfied'' with Clinton's testimony and asked if classified cables showing threats of attack prompted actions to be taken. McCain said: ''All of these warnings. And we did not have a single Department of Defense asset available to come to this rescue.''
  Clinton remarked that without proper funding, the security shortcomings began an obvious problem with regard to Benghazi.
  David Petreaus, former director of the CIA, testified last November that the Obama administration's account of the attack on Benghazi does not match CIA intelligence provided at the time. Petraeus was adamant that the attack as terroristic in nature. He mentioned that the Department of Justice and US State Department were corroborating his account of the events.
  Facts about Stevens' mission in Benghazi were not mentioned by Clinton, or the SFRC that could explain why the incident occurred. The cover-up continues with Clinton's testimony.
  Stevens was appointed to the status of Ambassador by Clinton as a cover for his work with the CIA. In Libya, Stevens was commissioned to assist in surveillance missions with the CIA on the National Transitional Council (NTC).
  When Gadhafi was assassinated, the NTC was installed to stabilize the region for the US. They are a defacto-government headed by known terrorists. The rent-villa in Benghazi was a place for Stevens to stay when he was speaking and dealing with the NTC.
  At some point, the NTC became aware that Stevens was monitoring them and sending intelligence to the CIA. During his mission in Benghazi, Stevens was also involved with arms deals between Libya, Saudi Arabia and the Free Syrian Army (FSA). This prompted the response that culminated in the attack on the gated-villa in Benghazi.
  The Obama administration, along with Clinton, attempted to cover-up the murder of CIA spy Stevens by invoking his status as Ambassador and incorrectly claiming that the gated-villa in Benghazi was a US embassy. The nearest US embassy is in Tripoli.
  Regardless of Clinton's testimony to the SFRC, the facts surrounding Stevens, his purpose for being in Benghazi and his mission as a CIA spy is not being discussed on Capitol Hill, or being acknowledged by the mainstream or some alternative media outlets. Without complete transparency, the testimony of Clinton is another notch in the cover-up.
CIA $600 Million Deal For Amazon's Cloud - Business Insider
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:50
  Reuters
  Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
  The CIA is on the verge of signing a cloud computing contract with Amazon, worth up to $600 million over 10 years, reports Frank Konkel at Federal Computer Week.If the details about this deal are true, it could be a game-changer for the enterprise cloud market.
  That's because Amazon Web Services will help the CIA build a "private cloud" filled with technologies like big data, reports Konkel, citing unnamed sources.
  The CIA is pretty closed-lipped about its business, as spies are apt to be. This is no exception. It won't confirm the deal or comment on it, so details are sketchy. But the contract is expected to be for a "private" cloud, which is not what AWS is known for.
  AWS is the largest "public" cloud provider. In general, the term "private cloud" means using cloud computing technologies in a company's own data center. Public clouds are in hosted facilities, where the hardware is shared with many users. Sharing the hardware saves money.
  Amazon hasn't been very interested private clouds. Years ago, it even argued against them. If companies want private clouds based on Amazon's tech, they often go to startups like Eucalyptus Systems.
  Amazon's approach has been its "Virtual Private Cloud." This still uses hardware hosted by Amazon, but adds extra security to make it behave more like a private datacenter.
  If Amazon were really to enter the private cloud business, this could be a big threat to VMware and Citrix, the two biggest players in this market. (Also to HP, IBM, Cisco, and other hardware vendors pushing private clouds.)
  Whether Amazon has had a massive change of heart about private clouds or not, gaining the CIA as a customer is a major coup. Competitors like IBM, HP, and Rackspace say their clouds are more reliable and far more secure than Amazon's.
  Looks like the CIA disagrees.
  We reached out to Amazon for comment but have not yet heard back.
Before Overthrowing The Government, Remember to Register With The Attorney General
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  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:48
  I am about to share something with you that may blow your mind. One of the reasons that I am, and will continue to be, against big government is that big government has too many rules. Too many rules typically means too much government control and too many excuses to arrest law-abiding citizens. We live in a country that accounts for roughly 5% of the world population but boasts 25% of the world's prison inmates, so you can call me paranoid if you want but this is certainly not the ''land of the free.''
  Are you aware that before you overthrow your federal government you must first register with them and tell them of your intentions? I am absolutely serious, I will share the letter of the law with you in a moment.
  After reading this document thoroughly I would wonder what kind of argument Eric Holder's office might have for making this blog into an ''unregistered'' group that is engaging in ''Civilian Military Activity.'' It's not the intent of any law that scares me, it's the interpretations that one can gain by reading between the lines. It's no different than our own 2nd Amendment. The founders wrote one thing and it is being interpreted in a totally different way.
  I was able to trace the origins of this document on a government website and this might surprise you:
  I want you to understand the origins because, contrary to popular belief, not all of these things have happened under the Obama administration. Fema camps were discussed in the Reagan administration with a document called ''Rex 84'" that was written by Oliver North. I don't like Obama, but our government has been progressing toward corruption for a long time.
  Before you read this document, I want you to keep a couple of things in mind. These are just my opinions but I think they have some merit. I think this is one of the backdoor ways that the government will use to round-up ''Patriot'' types if we get to that point. Please try to hit the high points of the document. I know the reading is pretty dry but I want you to understand that you can be imprisoned for up to 5 years simply for belonging to the wrong group of people. Here is the document:
  18 U.S.C. § 2386 '' Registration of certain organizations
  (A) For the purposes of this section: Attorney General means the Attorney General of the United States; Organization means any group, club, league, society, committee, association, political party, or combination of individuals, whether incorporated or otherwise, but such term shall not include any corporation, association, community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes; Political activity means any activity the purpose or aim of which, or one of the purposes or aims of which, is the control by force or overthrow of the Government of the United States or a political subdivision thereof, or any State or political subdivision thereof; An organization is engaged in civilian military activity if:
  (1) it gives instruction to, or prescribes instruction for, its members in the use of firearms or other weapons or any substitute therefor, or military or naval science; or
  (2) it receives from any other organization or from any individual instruction in military or naval science; or
  (3) it engages in any military or naval maneuvers or activities; or
  (4) it engages, either with or without arms, in drills or parades of a military or naval character; or
  (5) it engages in any other form of organized activity which in the opinion of the Attorney General constitutes preparation for military action; An organization is subject to foreign control if:
  (a) it solicits or accepts financial contributions, loans, or support of any kind, directly or indirectly, from, or is affiliated directly or indirectly with, a foreign government or a political subdivision thereof, or an agent, agency, or instrumentality of a foreign government or political subdivision thereof, or a political party in a foreign country, or an international political organization; or
  (b) its policies, or any of them, are determined by or at the suggestion of, or in collaboration with, a foreign government or political subdivision thereof, or an agent, agency, or instrumentality of a foreign government or a political subdivision thereof, or a political party in a foreign country, or an international political organization.
  (B)
  (1) The following organizations shall be required to register with the Attorney General: Every organization subject to foreign control which engages in political activity; Every organization which engages both in civilian military activity and in political activity; Every organization subject to foreign control which engages in civilian military activity; and Every organization, the purpose or aim of which, or one of the purposes or aims of which, is the establishment, control, conduct, seizure, or overthrow of a government or subdivision thereof by the use of force, violence, military measures, or threats of any one or more of the foregoing. Every such organization shall register by filing with the Attorney General, on such forms and in such detail as the Attorney General may by rules and regulations prescribe, a registration statement containing the information and documents prescribed in subsection (B)(3) and shall within thirty days after the expiration of each period of six months succeeding the filing of such registration statement, file with the Attorney General, on such forms and in such detail as the Attorney General may by rules and regulations prescribe, a supplemental statement containing such information and documents as may be necessary to make the information and documents previously filed under this section accurate and current with respect to such preceding six months period. Every statement required to be filed by this section shall be subscribed, under oath, by all of the officers of the organization.
  (2) This section shall not require registration or the filing of any statement with the Attorney General by:
  (a) The armed forces of the United States; or
  (b) The organized militia or National Guard of any State, Territory, District, or possession of the United States; or
  (c) Any law-enforcement agency of the United States or of any Territory, District or possession thereof, or of any State or political subdivision of a State, or of any agency or instrumentality of one or more States; or
  (d) Any duly established diplomatic mission or consular office of a foreign government which is so recognized by the Department of State; or
  (e) Any nationally recognized organization of persons who are veterans of the armed forces of the United States, or affiliates of such organizations.
  (3) Every registration statement required to be filed by any organization shall contain the following information and documents:
  (a) The name and post-office address of the organization in the United States, and the names and addresses of all branches, chapters, and affiliates of such organization;
  (b) The name, address, and nationality of each officer, and of each person who performs the functions of an officer, of the organization, and of each branch, chapter, and affiliate of the organization;
  (c) The qualifications for membership in the organization;
  (d) The existing and proposed aims and purposes of the organization, and all the means by which these aims or purposes are being attained or are to be attained;
  (e) The address or addresses of meeting places of the organization, and of each branch, chapter, or affiliate of the organization, and the times of meetings;
  (f) The name and address of each person who has contributed any money, dues, property, or other thing of value to the organization or to any branch, chapter, or affiliate of the organization;
  (g) A detailed statement of the assets of the organization, and of each branch, chapter, and affiliate of the organization, the manner in which such assets were acquired, and a detailed statement of the liabilities and income of the organization and of each branch, chapter, and affiliate of the organization;
  (h) A detailed description of the activities of the organization, and of each chapter, branch, and affiliate of the organization;
  (i) A description of the uniforms, badges, insignia, or other means of identification prescribed by the organization, and worn or carried by its officers or members, or any of such officers or members;
  (j) A copy of each book, pamphlet, leaflet, or other publication or item of written, printed, or graphic matter issued or distributed directly or indirectly by the organization, or by any chapter, branch, or affiliate of the organization, or by any of the members of the organization under its authority or within its knowledge, together with the name of its author or authors and the name and address of the publisher;
  (k) A description of all firearms or other weapons owned by the organization, or by any chapter, branch, or affiliate of the organization, identified by the manufacturers number thereon;
  (l) In case the organization is subject to foreign control, the manner in which it is so subject;
  (m) A copy of the charter, articles of association, constitution, bylaws, rules, regulations, agreements, resolutions, and all other instruments relating to the organization, powers, and purposes of the organization and to the powers of the officers of the organization and of each chapter, branch, and affiliate of the organization; and
  (n) Such other information and documents pertinent to the purposes of this section as the Attorney General may from time to time require. All statements filed under this section shall be public records and open to public examination and inspection at all reasonable hours under such rules and regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe.
  (C) The Attorney General is authorized at any time to make, amend, and rescind such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out this section, including rules and regulations governing the statements required to be filed.
  (D) Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. Whoever in a statement filed pursuant to this section willfully makes any false statement or willfully omits to state any fact which is required to be stated, or which is necessary to make the statements made not misleading, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.
Man offers to sell house for bitcoins | Ars Technica
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:46
  An Alberta man is hoping to become the first person to sell a house for bitcoins. He's asking CAD$405,000, or its equivalent in bitcoins, for the 3.6 acre site.
  "We are hoping to be the first piece of real estate sold for bitcoins," Taylor More told us by e-mail. "We think maybe this could help push the currency more mainstream."
  His listing describes the property as a "quaint two bedroom bungalow" that "sits on 3.6 acres with beautiful mountain views and 110' of breathtaking Crowsnest River frontage." It includes a 2,800 square foot workshop that More says is "perfect for the handyman hobbiest and also features two additional finished bedrooms."
  Enlarge/ If you act fast, 6,750 BTC can get you this fine 3.6 acre property."If you had $405k I wouldn't turn you down, but if a partial or whole transaction is done using Bitcoins the price can be reduced depending on how many bitcoins you have to trade."
  At the current exchange rate of $60 per bitcoin, buying a $405,000 house would cost about 6,750 BTC.
  The value of bitcoins has appreciated dramatically in recent years. In one of the first Bitcoin transactions ever recorded (which took place in May 2010) a man paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas. If he'd saved those Bitcoins instead, he could have used them to buy More's house with almost $200,000 to spare.
  Disclosure: The author of this post owns some bitcoins.
  Timothy B. Lee / Timothy covers tech policy for Ars, with a particular focus on patent and copyright law, privacy, free speech, and open government. His writing has appeared in Slate, Reason, Wired, and the New York Times.
Record low water levels in Gulf of Finland | Yle Uutiset | yle.fi
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:38
  Image: YLESome 300 people were left without their connection to the mainland in Pellinki, in the Porvoo archipelago, after a ferry ran aground.
  "We have had high pressure here, and the wind has driven water first to the southern part of the Baltic Sea and from there, via the Danish Straits, out of the Baltic," said Antti Kangas of the Meteorological Institute. ''In addition, in the Gulf of Finland there has been a strong easterly win and as a consequence of that the water level has dropped.''
  Low water levels make shipping difficultIn Pellinki, in the southern part of the Porvoo archipelago, a ferry ran aground on Tuesday night. The vessel was being inspected by divers on Wednesday. Many inhabitants did not get to school or work as a result.
  Kangas says that the situation is exceptional.
  "It's not often that water is quite low everywhere at the same time, and this low, so this is not a normal situation," said Kangas.
  Water levels off the south coast have started to rise, so new records are not expected there. Neither are they expected in the bay of Bothnia, although water levels will continue to fall there.
  Close to 5000 students from around the country gathered in the capital on Wednesday to protest plans to move financial aid to students in a more loan-oriented direction. 17:12
  Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen warned on Wednesday that the crisis in Cyprus could spread. According to Katainen, the euro group offered Cyprus a responsible model to deal with the crisis, and if it is not implemented problems could spread to other eurozone countries. 16:22
  The sea fell to a record low level in parts of the Gulf of Finland on Tuesday night. The Meteorological Institute says that the record was broken in Hamina, at 115cm, while in Helsinki water was just a centimetre above the record low, set in 2010, of 93cm. 15:01
  Following an outbreak of hepatitis A infections in Denmark, the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira and other official bodies are looking into the possibility that frozen berries might spread the illness in Finland too. 13:35
  The national flag carrier has begun testing the use of in-flight internet on long-haul flights. 11:56
  Etla, the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, has reduced its forecast for economic growth in Finland to 0.3 percent this year. 11:53
  An international movement known as timebanking is making inroads into Finland -- but tax officials warn that this could be illegal. 11:09
  Spring officially begins on Wednesday amid bitterly cold weather in Finland. 7:17
  Telecommunications firm Sonera has concluded its latest round of staff cuts and reshuffles. After deliberating since January, the decision to reduce staff numbers by a further 74 posts was announced on Tuesday. 19.3.
  According to SaferGlobe Finland, the exporting of arms to countries like Bahrain, Saudi-Arabia and Kazakhstan poses critical risks. EU countries should not supply military equipment to nations where their provision could cause or prolong conflicts or exacerbate tensions. 19.3.
Action Alert: We Have 1 Week Or Less to Stop Genetically Engineered Foods and Destruction of the Separation of Powers
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  Archived Version
  Source: Washington's Blog
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:26
  Painting by Anthony Freda: www.AnthonyFreda.com.
  Bill Would Strip Courts of Power '... And Push Genetically Modified Foods Onto Our PlatesAmerica has been decimated by the breakdown of the separation of powers between different branches of government. For example, the executive branch is negotiating laws in secret '' and grabbing powers '' without telling Congress.
  And life-and-death decisions about who the government labels an ''enemy combatant'' and assassinates are being kept away from the judges altogether.
  At the same time, government agencies like the FDA go to great lengths to cover up the potential health damage from genetically modified foods, and to keep the consumer in the dark about what they're really eating. Remember, genetically engineered foods have been linked to obesity, cancer, liver failure, infertility and all sorts of other diseases (brief, must-watch videos here and here).
  Things are about to get a lot worse within the next week '... unless we stand up and say ''NO!''
  Specifically, a law has been snuck into the Agriculture Appropriations bill '' which will be approved by March 27th '' which would destroy the separation of powers by stripping courts of the power to challenge genetically modified foods.
  How?
  The ''Monsanto Rider'' (section 735) uses ''farmer-friendly'' happy talk, but is an iron-fisted ploy to allow GMO crops to be planted even if a court has ruled that planting them is illegal.
  If the United States Department of Agriculture '' which suffered ''regulatory capture'' by the big food companies decades ago '' approves a genetically modified food without any testing, a court can enjoin (i.e. halt) production of that food until testing occurs.
  Yet the Monsanto Rider would strip the courts of power, and would allow GMO crops to be planted and put in our food '... no matter what a judge has ruled.
  As the Weston Price Foundation notes:
  If a GMO crop approval was shown to violate the law and require further analysis of its harmful impacts (as several courts have concluded in recent years, for example with GMO alfalfa and GMO sugar beets) this provision would override any court-mandated caution and allow continued planting and commercialization while further review takes place.
  Luckily, Senator Tester has introduced an amendment to kill the Monsanto Rider. Tester's amendment '' Amendment 74 '' is backed by Senators Boxer, Gillibrand, and Leahy.
  Amendment 74 will help to keep genetically engineered foods out of your rood '... and help to preserve the Constitutional principal of separation of powers.
  It is urgent that you call both of your senators today '... and tell the to vote for Senator Tester's Amendment 74 to the Agriculture Appropriations bill.
spider.io '-- Discovered: Botnet Costing Display Advertisers over Six Million Dollars per Month
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:23
  Chameleon BotnetDate of discovery: 28 February, 2013Known as: Chameleon BotnetDiscovered by:spider.ioActivity identified: Botnet emulates human visitors on select websites causing billions of display ad impressions to be served to the botnet.Number of host machines: over 120,000 have been discovered so farGeolocation of host machines: US residential IP addressesReported User Agent of the bots: Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/5.0) and Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; Trident/5.0)Proportion of traffic that is botnet traffic from IP addresses of host machines: 90% (diluted by gateway IPs)Number of target websites across which the botnet operates: at least 202Proportion of traffic across the target websites that is botnet traffic: at least 65%Number of ad impressions served to the botnet per month: at least 9 billionNumber of distinct ad-exchange cookies associated with the botnet per month: at least 7 millionAverage click-through rate generated by the botnet: 0.02%Average mouse-movement rate generated by the botnet: 11%Average CPM paid by advertisers for ad impressions served to the botnet: $0.69 CPMMonthly cost to advertisers of ad impressions served to the botnet: at least $6.2 millionIntroductionIn this disclosure post we report the discovery of the Chameleon botnet by spider.io. This discovery of the Chameleon botnet follows the recent take-down announcements of the Bamital botnet by Microsoft and Symantec'--on February 6th of this year. Both the Chameleon botnet and the Bamital botnet have cost online advertisers millions of dollars. The Chameleon botnet is notable for the size of its financial impact: at a cost to advertisers of over 6 million dollars per month, it is at least 70 times more costly than the Bamital botnet. However, the Chameleon botnet is arguably even more notable for the fact that it is the first botnet found to be impacting display advertisers at scale (as opposed to text-link advertisers).
  Display advertisers use algorithms with varying degrees of complexity to target their advertising at the most appropriate website visitors. These algorithms involve continually measuring websites and their visitors to determine engagement levels with website content and with ad creatives. For the Chameleon botnet to evade detection and to impact display advertisers to the extent that it has requires a surprising level sophistication.
  spider.io has been tracking anomalous behaviour associated with Chameleon botnet since December, 2012. In February of this year the extent of the Chameleon botnet's principal web-browsing activity was established. This was achieved as part of spider.io's broader work with leading display ad exchanges and demand-side platforms to identify deviant consumption of display advertising media. In particular, DataXu and media6degrees have been proactive partners.
  InfectionIndividual bots within the Chameleon botnet run on host machines with Microsoft Windows as the operating system. Bots access the Web through a Flash-enabled Trident-based browser that executes JavaScript.
  More than 120,000 host machines have been identified so far. 95% of these machines access the Web from residential US IP addresses. The geographic distribution of these US IP addresses is shown below.
  Functionalityspider.io has observed the Chameleon botnet targeting a cluster of at least 202 websites. 14 billion ad impressions are served across these 202 websites per month. The botnet accounts for at least 9 billion of these ad impressions. At least 7 million distinct ad-exchange cookies are associated with the botnet per month. Advertisers are currently paying $0.69 CPM on average to serve display ad impressions to the botnet.
  The bots subject host machines to heavy load, and the bots appear to crash and restart regularly. The bots largely restrict themselves to the 202 target websites. Each bot often masquerades as several concurrent website visitors, each visiting multiple pages across multiple websites. When a bot crashes the concurrent sessions end abruptly; upon restart the bot requests a new set of cookies. These crashes and idiosyncratic site-traversal patterns are just two of the many bot features that provide for a distinctive bot signature.
  Chameleon is a sophisticated botnet. Individual bots run Flash and execute JavaScript. Bots generate click traces indicative of normal users. Bots also generate client-side events indicative of normal user engagement. They click on ad impressions with an average click-through rate of 0.02%; and they surprisingly generate mouse traces across 11% of ad impressions.
  Despite the sophistication of each individual bot at the micro level, the traffic generated by the botnet in aggregate is highly homogenous. All the bot browsers report themselves as being Internet Explorer 9.0 running on Windows 7. The bots visit the same set of websites, with little variation. The bots generate uniformly random click co-ordinates across ad impressions and the bots also generate randomised mouse traces. As an illustration, the botnet's click co-ordinates and mouse traces across 300—250-pixel ad impressions are shown below. By way of contrast, we also show click co-ordinates and mouse traces which were recorded across 300—250-pixel ad impressions on a website outside of the botnet's target cluster of websites. Calls to action within ad creatives and the position of ads relative to webpage content create organic skews and hotspots not present across botnet traffic.
  ProtectionA blacklist of 5,000 IP addresses of the worst bots within the Chameleon botnet may be found here.
  Posted on March 19, 2013 at 11:27am
Justice Department says they are above the 4th Amendment, argues to GPS track without warrant by VR-Zone.com
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:19
  The U.S. Department of Justice along with the Obama administration is still maintaining the position that a warrant is not needed for them to legally track someone with a GPS device. This came after last year's Supreme Court's opinion that GPS tracking devices are the same as a search, and that is protected by the U.S. Constitution. Last year's SC decision created a lot of unanswered questions that will be cleared up this week in the court of appeals.
  Catherine Crump, who serves as a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), wrote an article for the ACLU website concerning the decision and explained that while they did say it was a 4th Amendment issue, they didn't say if a warrant was needed.
  In regards to the U.S. v. Jones landmark decision by the Supreme Court, Crump says, ''Although the Court's decision in Jones makes clear that the government's attachment and use of a GPS tracker on a car constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment, it does not say whether that search requires a warrant from a judge'--a crucial protection because it forces agents to justify their actions to a neutral outsider.'' Crump further argues that the court's opinion in the matter never addressed other technologies being used such as smartphone tracking, camera monitoring and face recognition technologies or even the use of drones to follow and record a person's movements.
  The Justice Department will make their appeal this week before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This court will decide on the higher court's 2012 opinion on the GPS device tracking. The Feds will further argue that the court has in the past given police agencies broad exemptions from warrants such as with public school searches, the U.S. Border Patrol and their procedures and even airport security that involves searches without warrants.
  Last year when the SC made their decision on GPS tracking, the Justice Department temporarily terminated the use over 3000 GPS trackers on individual's cars and bikes. If the department is able to win their argument concerning the tracking technology, the Supreme Court's opinion will be ignored, and therefore giving the Feds unlimited tracking technology techniques without any restrictions or warrants issued.
Federal Register | Trunkline LNG Export, LLC; Application for Long-Term Authorization to Export Liquefied Natural Gas Produced from Domestic Natural Gas Resources to Non-Free Trade Agreement Countries for a 25-Year Period
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:03
  The Office of Fossil Energy (FE) of the Department of Energy (DOE) gives notice of receipt of an application (Application) filed on January 10, 2013, by Trunkline LNG Export, LLC (TLNG Export), requesting long-term, multi-contract authorization to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) in an amount up to of 15 million metric tons per annum (mtpa), the equivalent of 730 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per year (Bcf/y) of natural gas (equal to 2 Bcf/day of natural gas), from the LNG terminal in Lake Charles, Louisiana (Lake Charles Terminal). TLNG Export requests this authorization for a 25-year term commencing on the earlier of the date of first export or 10 years from the date the requested authorization is granted.
  Protests, motions to intervene or notices of intervention, as applicable, requests for additional procedures, and written comments are to be filed using procedures detailed in the Public Comment Procedures section no later than 4:30 p.m., eastern time, May 20, 2013.
  Electronic Filing by email: fergas@hq.doe.gov.
  Regular Mail: U.S. Department of Energy (FE-34), Office of Natural Gas Regulatory Activities, Office of Fossil Energy,P.O. Box 44375, Washington, DC 20026-4375.
  Hand Delivery or Private Delivery Services (e.g., FedEx, UPS, etc.): U.S. Department of Energy (FE-34), Office of Natural Gas Regulatory Activities, Office of Fossil Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 3E-042, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585.
  Larine Moore or Marc Talbert, U.S. Department of Energy (FE-34),Office of Natural Gas Regulatory Activities, Office of Fossil Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 3E-042, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-9478; (202) 586-7991.
  Edward Myers, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Electricity and Fossil Energy, Forrestal Building, Room 6B-256, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585,(202) 586-3397.
  TLNG Export is a Delaware limited liability company with its principal place of business in Houston, Texas. Trunkline LNG Company, LLC (TLNG), an affiliate of TLNG Export, owns and operates the Lake Charles LNG Terminal. TLNG Export will own the proposed liquefaction facility and hold the LNG export authorization. The owners of TLNG and TLNG Export include Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. (60% owner of both entities) and Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. (40% owner of both entities). As such, the existing Lake Charles Terminal, the proposed liquefaction facility, and the LNG export authorization requested herein would all be under the same ownership structure.
  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorized construction and operation of the Lake Charles Terminal in 1977, with the original construction completed in July 1981. In 2001, BG LNG Services, LLC (BGLS) entered into a firm services agreement with TLNG for the receipt, storage, and vaporization of LNG at the Lake Charles Terminal. TLNG Export states that, consistent with the firm services agreement with BGLS, TLNG expanded and enhanced the Terminal through the construction of additional storage capacity, additional gas-fired vaporization capacity, an additional marine berth, ambient air vaporization equipment, and natural gas liquids extraction capability. TLNG Export further states that the Lake Charles Terminal today has a firm sustained send-out capacity of 1.8 Bcf/d of natural gas (13.7 mtpa of LNG); a peak send-out capacity of 2.1 Bcf/d; and four LNG storage tanks with a combined capacity of approximately 2.7 million barrels (approximately 9.0 bcf).
  The amount of LNG sought to be exported from the Lake Charles Terminal in the current Application is the same amount for which export authorization is being sought by Lake Charles Exports, LLC (LCE) in a separate application filed May 6, 2011, and amended May 26, 2011, in DOE/FE Docket No. 11-59-LNG. [1] TLNG Export's Application for export authority in the current proceeding, therefore, is non-additive to the LCE export authorization request'--that is, TLNG Export is not seeking to export any additional volumes of LNG from the Lake Charles Terminal beyond that sought by LCE in Docket No. 11-59-LNG. Instead, TLNG Export states that it is simply maximizing optionality in order to expand the potential customer base for LNG exports from the Lake Charles Terminal.
  TLNG Export states that it, along with TLNG, is currently developing plans to modify the existing facilities at the Lake Charles Terminal to permit LNG to be loaded from the terminal's storage tanks onto vessels berthed at the existing marine facility. TLNG Export states that it is also developing plans to install liquefaction facilities that would permit gas to be received by pipeline at the terminal and liquefied for subsequent export. Thus, on March 30, 2012, TLNG Export, TLNG, and Trunkline Gas Company, LLC submitted a Request to Initiate FERC Pre-Filing Review Process in FERC Docket No. PF12-8-000. TLNG Export states that the FERC issued a letter approving the request to initiate the pre-filing process on April 6, 2012. [2]
  TLNG Export states that the long-term export authorization sought in this Application, like that sought in the LCE application, is necessary in order to permit TLNG Export to proceed to incur the substantial cost of developing the liquefaction and export project. Any modifications to the Lake Charles Terminal would be subject to FERC approval. [3] TLNG Export states that following the completion of the project, the Lake Charles Terminal will be able to receive LNG for import and export or deliver LNG for export, and its peak and sustained send-out capabilities will not be affected.
  TLNG Export states that in order to maximize optionality at the Lake Charles Terminal to address customer needs, it seeks broader authority than that sought by LCE. TLNG Export states that LCE requested authorization to export LNG on its own behalf or as agent for BGLS. [4] Here, in addition to entering into long-term natural gas supply or LNG export contracts, TLNG Export states that it may also enter into Liquefaction Tolling Agreements (LTA), under which individual customers who hold title to natural gas will have the right to deliver that gas to TLNG Export and receive LNG. TLNG Export seeks to export this LNG on its own behalf and also as agent for third parties under contracts to be executed on a date that is closer to the date of first export. TLNG Export contemplates that the title holder at the point of export [5] may be TLNG Export or one of TLNG Export's customers, or another party that has purchased LNG from a customer pursuant to a long-term contract.
  TLNG Export requests authorization to register each LNG title holder for whom TLNG Export seeks to export as agent, with such registration including a written statement by the title holder acknowledging and agreeing to comply with all applicable requirements included by DOE/FE in TLNG Export's authorization, and to include those requirements in any subsequent purchase or sale agreement entered into by that title holder. TLNG Export also states that it will file under seal with DOE/FE any relevant long-term commercial agreements between TLNG Export and such LNG title holder, including LTAs, once they have been executed.
  TLNG Export states that although both TLNG Export and LCE are seeking authorization to export LNG from the Lake Charles Terminal, TLNG Export is separate and apart from LCE and will have no impact on LCE or its authorization. TLNG Export states that neither TLNG Export nor its parent companies have a controlling ownership share of LCE. TLNG will allocate export quantities between LCE and TLNG Export to ensure that the total exports from the Lake Charles Terminal do not exceed the total quantity of exports authorized for the Lake Charles Terminal, i.e. the total of exports allocated between LCE and TLNG Export will not exceed 15 mtpa (approximately 730 Bcf/y).
  In the instant Application, TLNG Export seeks to export LNG by vessel from the Lake Charles Terminal to (1) any country with which the United States currently has, or in the future will have, a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) requiring the national treatment for trade in natural gas, and (2) as relevant here, any country with which the United States does not have an FTA requiring national treatment for trade in natural gas (non-FTA countries) with which trade is not prohibited by U.S. law or policy. TLNG Export seeks to export this LNG on its own behalf and also as agent for third parties. TLNG Export requests that this authorization commence on the earlier of the date of first export or 10 years from the date the authorization is issued.
  The portion of the Application that seeks authorization to export domestically produced LNG to non-FTA countries will be reviewed pursuant to Section 3(a) of the Natural Gas Act as amended and is the subject of this Notice. The portion of the Application that seeks authorization to export domestically produced LNG to FTA countries has been reviewed pursuant to Section 3(c) of the Natural Gas Act, as amended. [6]
  TLNG Export states that the source of the natural gas proposed for export will come from the United States natural gas pipeline system. While TLNG Export anticipates that sources of natural gas will include Texas and Louisiana producing regions and the offshore gulf producing regions, [7] it states that the natural gas to be exported may be produced throughout the United States.
  TLNG Export states that its proposed non-FTA authorization should be granted by DOE/FE under Section 3(a) of the NGA. TLNG Export states that in evaluating the ''public interest'' the DOE/FE, consistent with its Policy Guidelines and Delegation Orders Relating to the Regulation of Imported Natural Gas, examines whether ''domestic supply shortages or domestic security needs overcome the statutory presumption that a proposed export is not inconsistent with the public interest.'' [8] While the Policy Guidelines deal specifically with imports, the DOE/FE has found that the principles are applicable to exports. [9]
  TLNG Export states that in 2012, the DOE commissioned a study by NERA Economic Consulting on the macroeconomic impacts of LNG exports from the United States. [10] TLNG Export states that the NERA Study's findings are in line with the conclusions of the Deloitte Study [11] and both support approval of the instant Application to export LNG from the Lake Charles Terminal. TLNG Export states that the NERA Study concluded that across all scenarios studied, ''the U.S. was projected to gain net economic benefits from allowing LNG exports.'' [12] TLNG Export states that the NERA Study further concluded that ''for every one of the market scenarios examined, net economic benefits increased as the level of LNG exports increased.'' [13] TLNG Export states that although the NERA Study found that United States natural gas prices increase when LNG is exported, ''the global market limits how high U.S. natural gas prices can rise under pressure of LNG exports because importers will not purchase U.S. exports if U.S. wellhead price rises above the cost of competing supplies.'' [14]
  TLNG Export states that the NERA Study also concluded that natural gas prices in the United States will not rise to the levels observed in other parts of the world. [15] TLNG Export states that the NERA Study found that even in the scenarios where unlimited exports were permitted, the wellhead price in the United States remained below the import price in Japan, for example, where the United States sends some of its exports. [16]
  TLNG Export states that both the Deloitte Study and the NERA Study point to net positive benefits from allowing exports of LNG from the United States. TLNG Export asserts that LNG exports will not have a material adverse impact on domestic natural gas prices. TLNG Export states that, accordingly, the proposed export is not inconsistent with the public interest. The Application has a more complete discussion of TLNG Export's public interest analysis. [17]
  TLNG Export states that presently, the Lake Charles Terminal is equipped for and authorized only to receive imports of LNG. The Application indicates that TLNG Export and TLNG will file an application with FERC for authorization to modify the existing authorized import facilities for exports, in accordance with NGA Section 3 and subpart B of part 153 of the Commission's Regulations, 18 CFR 153.4et seq, and Trunkline will file a concurrent application for authorization to construct additional pipeline facilities necessary to provide feed gas to the proposed liquefaction facility with FERC under NGA Section 7 and part 157 of the Commission's Regulations, 18 CFR part 157. [18] On March 30, 2012, TLNG Export, TLNG, and Trunkline submitted a Request to Initiate FERC Pre-Filing Review Process in FERC Docket No. PF12-8-000. In the Request, TLNG Export, TLNG, and Trunkline indicated that they plan to file the FERC applications in March 2013. TLNG Export states that on April 6, 2012, FERC issued a letter approving the request to initiate the pre-filing process for the liquefaction project and pipeline facilities.
  Regarding the instant proposed export to non-FTA countries, TLNG Export requests that the DOE/FE issue the export authorization to non-FTA countries conditioned on the FERC's completion of its NEPA review and approval of the facility construction. TLNG Export states that DOE/FE routinely issues orders with such a condition. [19]
  The Application will be reviewed pursuant to section 3 of the NGA, as amended, and the authority contained in DOE Delegation Order No. 00-002.00L (April 29, 2011) and DOE Redelegation Order No. 00-002.04E (April 29, 2011). In reviewing this LNG export Application, DOE will consider any issues required by law or policy. To the extent determined to be relevant or appropriate, these issues will include the impact of LNG exports associated with this Application, and the cumulative impact of any other application(s) previously approved, on domestic need for the gas proposed for export, adequacy of domestic natural gas supply, U.S. energy security, and any other issues, including the impact on the U.S. economy (GDP), consumers, and industry, job creation, U.S. balance of trade, international considerations, and whether the arrangement is consistent with DOE's policy of promoting competition in the marketplace by allowing commercial parties to freely negotiate their own trade arrangements. Parties that may oppose this Application should address these issues in their comments and/or protests, as well as any other issues deemed relevant to the Application.
  NEPA requires DOE to give appropriate consideration to the environmental effects of its proposed decisions. No final decision will be issued in this proceeding until DOE has met its environmental responsibilities.
  Due to the complexity of the issues raised by the Applicants, interested persons will be provided 60 days from the date of publication of this Notice in which to submit comments, protests, motions to intervene, notices of intervention, or motions for additional procedures.
  In response to this notice, any person may file a protest, comments, or a motion to intervene or notice of intervention, as applicable. Any person wishing to become a party to the proceeding must file a motion to intervene or notice of intervention, as applicable. The filing of comments or a protest with respect to the Application will not serve to make the commenter or protestant a party to the proceeding, although protests and comments received from persons who are not parties will be considered in determining the appropriate action to be taken on the Application. All protests, comments, motions to intervene or notices of intervention must meet the requirements specified by the regulations in 10 CFR part 590.
  Filings may be submitted using one of the following methods: (1) Emailing the filing to fergas@hq.doe.gov with FE Docket No. 13-04-LNG in the title line; (2) mailing an original and three paper copies of the filing to the Office Natural Gas Regulatory Activities at the address listed in ADDRESSES. The filing must include a reference to FE Docket No. 13-04-LNG; or (3) hand delivering an original and three paper copies of the filing to the Office of Natural Gas Regulatory Activities at the address listed in ADDRESSES. The filing must include a reference to FE Docket No. 13-04-LNG.
  A decisional record on the Application will be developed through responses to this notice by parties, including the parties' written comments and replies thereto. Additional procedures will be used as necessary to achieve a complete understanding of the facts and issues. A party seeking intervention may request that additional procedures be provided, such as additional written comments, an oral presentation, a conference, or trial-type hearing. Any request to file additional written comments should explain why they are necessary. Any request for an oral presentation should identify the substantial question of fact, law, or policy at issue, show that it is material and relevant to a decision in the proceeding, and demonstrate why an oral presentation is needed. Any request for a conference should demonstrate why the conference would materially advance the proceeding. Any request for a trial-type hearing must show that there are factual issues genuinely in dispute that are relevant and material to a decision and that a trial-type hearing is necessary for a full and true disclosure of the facts.
  If an additional procedure is scheduled, notice will be provided to all parties. If no party requests additional procedures, a final Opinion and Order may be issued based on the official record, including the Application and responses filed by parties pursuant to this notice, in accordance with 10 CFR 590.316.
  The Application filed by TLNG Export is available for inspection and copying in the Office of Natural Gas Regulatory Activities docket room, Room 3E-042, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585. The docket room is open between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The Application and any filed protests, motions to intervene or notice of interventions, and comments will also be available electronically by going to the following DOE/FE Web address: http://www.fe.doe.gov/programs/gasregulation/index.html.
  Issued in Washington, DC, on March 14, 2013.
  John A. Anderson,
  Manager, Natural Gas Regulatory Activities, Office of Oil and Gas Global Security and Supply, Office of Fossil Energy.
  [FR Doc. 2013-06385 Filed 3-19-13; 8:45 am]
  BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
Hillary Clinton's hacked Benghazi emails sent to RT
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  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:19
  RT has received emails that are alleged to have been sent from a one-time White House aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
  A hacker using the alias ''Guccifer'' was credited last week with compromising the AOL email account of Sidney Blumenthal, a 64-year-old journalist who formerly worked as an assistant to then-President Bill Clinton. Now days after the security breach was first reported, Guccifer has supplied RT and a number of other media outlets and political figures with incredibly sensitive memos that were emailed to Mr. Clinton's wife, Hillary, in the wake of last year's terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.
  The emails that RT received include four memos that Mr. Blumenthal sent to Mrs. Clinton about the attack, all marked ''Confidential'' and all containing references to sources speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sheer seriousness of the material. The most recent memo included in the trove is dated February 16, 2013, and includes intelligence that comes ''from extremely sensitive sources and should be handled with care.''
  The oldest memo sent to RT is dated September 12, 2012 '-- mere hours after four Americans were killed in a deadly assault on the US consulate building in Benghazi. Chris Stevens, an ambassador for the United States, was among those killed.
  At the time of the attack, Mrs. Clinton was serving her final few weeks as secretary of state under President Barack Obama, a position that she relinquished earlier this year to former-Senator John Kerry. Her knowledge of the Benghazi attack has become a frequent matter of dispute, however, since information relayed to the public in the immediate aftermath of the assault frequently contradicted other intelligence.
  Initially, many high-up US sources said the storming of the consulate was in response to an anti-Islamic film that had been made in America and uploaded to the website YouTube. In the days after the assault, however, members of the US intelligence community offered a different explanation, saying the attack was not a spontaneous outburst prompted by the viral video clip but were instead a coordinated terrorist attack launched by associates of al-Qaeda.
  According to the Blumenthal memos, though, even the US secretary of state was being fed disinformation directly after the attack. In the email dated Sept. 12, Sec. Clinton is told that the anti-Islamic film was likely the catalyst for the assault.
  ''A senior security officer told [interim Libyan President Mohammed Yussef] el Magariaf that the attacks on that day were inspired by what many devout Libyans viewed as a sacrilegious internet video on the prophet Mohammed originating in America,'' the memo reads. ''The Libya attacks were also inspired by and linked to an attack on the US mission in Egypt on the same day.''
  Elsewhere in the first memo, Blumenthal tells Clinton that another source had even more to say about the assault:
  ''According to a separate sensitive source, el Magariaf noted that his opponents had often tried to connect him to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) through the National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL), a group established in opposition to former dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, which el Magariaf led in the 1980s. In the opinion of this individual el Magariaf believes that he can survive potential negative publicity in this regard, but if this situation continues to develop in this manner it will complicate his efforts to establish an orderly administration in the country. Again, he stated that the attacks on the US missions were as much a result of the atmosphere created by this campaign, as the controversial video.''
  Later on, ''a very sensitive source'' is cited as saying that the Libyan president's enemies are likely ''working to take advantage of his suspected links to the CIA at a time when Western intelligence services are under scrutiny in Libya.''
  Five months later, though, another memo sent to Mrs. Clinton painted a much different picture of what was happening abroad. An email dated Feb. 16, 2013 contains the subject line ''Algeria/Libya/Terrorism'' and touches on possible connections between the Benghazi assault and the January 2013 hostage crisis in In Amenas, Algeria near the Libyan border. In that dispatch, links are drawn between both major incidents.
  ''Speaking on condition of absolute secrecy,'' an individual with sensitive access status spoke out on the attacks in a memo that was given to Blumenthal, sent to Clinton and eventually intercepted by Guccifer. According to that source's claims, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ''instructed commanders of the Algerian external intelligence service (Direction Generale de la S(C)curit(C) Ext(C)rieure '' DGSE) to provide Libyan intelligence chief, General Salim Hassi, with selected portions of the information obtained in the investigation of the terrorist attack on the facility at In Amenas.''
  The source goes on to say that Algeria's Pres. Bouteflika asked the DGSE officers to pass along sensitive information obtained from the interrogation of known and suspected supporters of the terrorist group Mokhtar Belmokhtar, or MBM, which would later all but confirm that al-Qaeda affiliates were involved in both attacks.
  ''According to a knowledgeable individual, the commanders of the Algerian DGSE reported to Bouteflika's staff that their work confirmed their initial suspicion that the MBM attack on In Amenas was related to French military operations in Mali, as part of a loose but growing coalition of Islamist groups, the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJWA), which was formed in mid-2012 with funding and support from al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgred (AQUM).''
  ''In the opinion of these individuals, MBM is a key member of this group and was best placed to strike at a Western facility in retaliation for the French operations in Mali. The Algerian officials also believe that Libya's Ansar al Sharia,'' a pro-Sharia law militant Islamic group, ''plays a role in the umbrella organization.''
  ''The In Amenas attack allowed MBM to stage an operation to keep the Algerian government off balance,'' the memo continues. ''These officials also stated that while Algerian members of MBM had planned and led the attack, the guerrilla force included experienced fighters from Mali, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Somali and Egypt.''
  From there, the source explains that the individual with top-secret intel on the operations were instructed to keep information received from the French DGSE confidential, but that the intel ''concerned the funding of the MBM operations and a possible link to the Ansar al Sharia attack on the United States Consulate in Benghazi.''
  ''This individual adds that this information provided by the French service indicates that the funding for both attacks originated with wealthy Sunni Islamists in Saudi Arabia. During July and August 2012, these financers provided funds to AQIM contacts in Southern Europe, who in turn passed the money into AQIM operatives in Mauritania. These funds were eventually provided to Ansar al Sharia and its allied militias in the Benghazi region in support of their attack on the US consulate. The money was used to recruit operatives and purchase ammunition and supplies.''
  After the September 2012 attack, the MBM used remaining funds to organize the In Amenas, Algeria attack, the source claims. If the ''extremely sensitive source'' is indeed in-the-know, though, the Algerian incident might not be the last major terrorist attack that will occur in the Maghreb anytime soon.
  According to the Feb. 2016 memo, the source says that Algerian intelligence agency believe that al-Qaeda and their allies ''will continue to strike at Western facilities in the Maghreb, taking advantage of countries where the security structure is disorganized following the uprisings of the Arab Spring in 2011-2012.''
  Previously, the hackers known as Guccifer has been linked to breaching the Facebook account of Gen. Colin Powell, who served as secretary of state under George W. Bush, and members of the Bush dynasty. Guccifer has also targeted a ''US Senator, a senior United Nations official, security contractors in Iraq, two former FBI agents and a Department of Defense supervisor,'' the Smoking Gun reports.
  In the leaked memos disseminated to the media, Guccifer opted to copy-and-paste the correspondence into new files '-- images of bold Comic Sans text layered over a pink backgrounds '-- likely as a security precaution to cover his own tracks.
  The latest batch of emails was reportedly sent from the hacked AOL account of a Hollywood actor's wife in a further bid to obscure his whereabouts. Two IP addresses linked to Gufficer have been traced back to the Russian Federation TSG reports, though hackers regularly engage in forms of subterfuge to conceal their actual location via proxies, IP spoofing and onion routing systems such as TOR.
  Guccifier, who spoke directly to the Smoking Gun, is apparently a male with a penchant for grand conspiracy theories.
  ''the evil is leading this f***ed up world!!!!!! i tell you this the world of tomorrow will be a world free of illuminati or will be no more,'' the hacker warned.
Assault weapons ban loses steam
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WTF RLY REPORT
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:17
  Politico
  Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said on Monday that a controversial assault weapons ban will not be part of a Democratic gun bill that was expected to reach the Senate floor next month.
  After a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday, a frustrated Feinstein said she learned that the bill she sponsored '-- which bans 157 different models of assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines '-- wouldn't be part of a Democratic gun bill to be offered on the Senate floor. Instead, it can be offered as an amendment. But its exclusion from the package makes what was already an uphill battle an almost certain defeat.
  The ban is supported by more than a dozen Senate Democrats and the White House, as well as gun-control groups.
  Read more
CIA working with Amazon to develop private cloud
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: usfollowme
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:10
  http://www.techspot.com/news/52000-cia-working-with-amazon-to-develop-private-cloud.html
Now Obama targets your FedEx, UPS packages
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:08
  The Obama administration is demanding the nation's two biggest shipping companies police the contents of Americans' sealed packages, and a FedEx spokesman is warning that the move ''has the potential to threaten the privacy of all customers that send or receive packages.''
  FedEx and UPS are in the Justice Department's cross-hairs for not flagging shipments of illegally prescribed drugs the companies say they had no way of knowing were in their possession.
  Criminal charges could be coming against the carriers, even though the government has not alleged any deliberate wrongdoing by the companies.
  FedEx spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald said his company has a 40-year history of actively assisting the government crackdown on any criminal conduct, but he told WND this probe was very different from the start.
  ''What is unusual and really disturbing is it became clear to us along the way that FedEx was being targeted for some level criminal activity as it relates to these medicines that are being shipped from pharmacies, and we find it to be completely absurd because it's really not our role,'' Fitzgerald said. ''We have no way of knowing what is legal and not within the packages that we're picking up and delivering in this situation.''
  ''At the heart of the investigation are sealed packages that are being sent by, as far as we can tell, licensed pharmacies. These are medicines with legal prescriptions written by licensed physicians. So it's difficult for us to understand where we would have some role in this. We are a transportation company that picks up and delivers close to 10 million packages every day. They are sealed packages, so we have no way of knowing specifically what's inside and we have no interest in violating the privacy rights of our customers,'' Fitzgerald said.
  In addition to the unrealistic expectation that the federal government seems to have for the companies to know what's in every package, Fitzgerald said protecting the rights of customers is paramount and the issues go hand-in-hand.
  ''They clearly are attempting to put some responsibility for the legality of the contents of these packages. That's why for us it goes far beyond even just the online pharmacy situation. This really has a chilling effect. It has the potential to threaten the privacy of all customers that send or receive packages via FedEx because the government is assigning a role on us as law enforcement or taking on their role in a way that is not appropriate,'' Fitzgerald said.
  FedEx sought to diffuse the standoff by offering to stop doing business with any pharmacies that the government suspected to be involved in illegal activities. The Justice Department declined, citing the potential for the pharmacies to sue over a lack of due process.
  ''If the government were to come to us and give us the name of a customer that's engaged in some level of illegal activity, we can immediately stop shipping for that customer. We will not tolerate any illegal activity within our networks,'' Fitzgerald said. ''What we want here is a solution that will apply for the entire industry and serve the public's interest. That's why we find it completely absurd and, to a large degree, stunning that the government is not working with us on that solution as they have with other problems in the past. As long as they're not doing that, there's really no solution even if they were to pursue an investigation or criminal charges against a specific company. There needs to be an industry-wide solution that will put a stop to this problem.''
  That leaves FedEx and UPS with the task of stopping illegal shipments from sources the government will not divulge.
  ''The comparison that we've made is a no-fly list. It's as if the government were to go to major commercial airlines and accuse them of some level of criminal activity if they were to allow somebody on the no-fly list onto one of their planes without providing them a no-fly list,'' Fitzgerald said. ''What we want here is the no-fly list for online pharmacies. If they are aware of some level of illegal activity by some number of pharmacies, simply provide us that list and we will stop providing service. It's a very simple solution.''
  Fitzpatrick said no other private carriers are being targeted by the Justice Department, and he has no evidence to suggest this probe is designed to boost the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service at the expense of private competitors.
  UPS is currently negotiating a settlement with the government, but FedEx is fighting this all the way.
  ''Settlement is not an option for us when there's no illegal activity on our part,'' Fitzpatrick said.
Tristar Pictures Pissed @ Will Smith Over Scientology Scheme!
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Jacky Jasper's Diary of a Hollywood Street King
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:05
  by Jacky Jasper
  Bible-Bumping Alien???HSK Exclusive - Will Smith is reported to have nearly cost Tristar Pictures their summer blockbuster '-- all in the name of religion. We're talking about the religion of The Church of Scientology. That's because the ''After Life'' leading man is said to have forced the movie house to redub ALL of his voiceovers, after the actor reportedly replaced his lines with the secret Scientology ''Xenu'' language aka 'alien dialect'.
  It's a situation which is said to have cost Tristar big bucks to finish the M. Night Shayamalan flick ''After Life''. And, Smith ain't the first! You may recall Travolta did the same in ''Battlefield Earth''.
  Check It: According to L Ron Hubbard, Xenu is the supreme 'Galactic Emperor' '' and speaking the secret dialect could help a person rid their body of alien parasites. Not sure if Will was looking to turn out more Scientologists, but we can tell you his son '' Jaden '' was working alongside daddy on the set.
  Here's the drop:
  ''Tristar spent $200 million on the film After Life. The movie comes out May 31st. It's the summer blockbuster and Tristar is not going to let Will and his Scientology friends screw it up.
  Will is a powerful dude in Hollywood, he almost got away with it.''
AEG Stops The Jacksons' Jack Move!
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Jacky Jasper's Diary of a Hollywood Street King
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:04
  by Jacky Jasper
  Check Mate!AEG Live looks to be pulling out the big guns, after being blamed for The King of Pop's death. That's why the entertainment powerhouse is reported to be looking to dig up paternity evidence surrounding the late singer's three kids. Now, sources say the Jacksons are pleading with a judge to try to stop that from happening.
  Here's what Urban Daily is reporting:
  ''If Michael Jackson had openly adopted the kids, it would be hard to believe that this conversation would even be necessary.
  AEG may feel they are not responsible for MJ's death, and that they must do whatever it takes to make sure they don't have to pay out an astronomical amount of money. ''
  Here's what Katherine Jackson, Prince, Paris and Blanket, submit through a legal statement:
  ''It's irrelevant for a jury to hear evidence about the conception of the 3 kids. Specifically, AEG has no right to delve into their biological parentage.
  The Jackson crew also wants to exclude any evidence that MJ's siblings have financial problems. They worry AEG might try to argue that the real force behind the lawsuit is the need for cash. And mama Jackson and the kids want the judge to bar evidence or any mention of child molestation allegations, partly because MJ was never found guilty.''
Breaking: IMF's Lagarde Flat Raided Over French 'Payout' Probe
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: EconomicPolicyJournal.com
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:04
  The Telegraphreports, Christine Lagarde's Paris flat has been raided by police.Developing...UPDATE
  French authorities have searched the Paris flat of IMF chief Christine Lagarde as part of an investigation into her handling of a 2008 compensation payment to a businessman supporter of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, her lawyer said.
  UPDATE 2
  Andrew Trotman at The Telegraph reports:
  Police are investigating claims that Lagarde, when French Finance Minister under Nicolas Sarkozy, acted illegally in approving the '‚¬285m arbitration payout to Bernard Tapie.
  Lagarde denies any wrongdoing.
  "This search will help uncover the truth, which will contribute to exonerating my client from any criminal wrongdoing," Lagarde's lawyer, Yves Repiquet, told Reuters.
  UPDATE 3Via the BBC:
  As finance minister, she referred his long-running dispute with bank Credit Lyonnais to an arbitration panel, which awarded him 400m euros (£340m) damages.[...]
  The origins of the case date back 20 years.
  Mr Tapie, who has long been active in French business, sporting and political circles, sued Credit Lyonnais over its handling of the sale in 1993 of sportswear brand Adidas, in which he was a majority stakeholder.
  After years in the courts, the case was referred by Ms Lagarde to an arbitration panel in 2007 and she approved its decision to award damages.
  Critics said the case should not have been settled by private arbitration, since public money was at stake in the bank, which was part-owned by the state.
  UPDATE 4 Lagarde is currently the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. She was named to the position after Dominique Strauss-Kahn ,under curious circumstances, was accused of raping a hotel maid at the Sofitel Hotel in NYC.
Cyprus: Sarris to continue talks in Moscow after inconclusive first round on Cyprus deal
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 09:01
  Cypriot Finance Minister Michalis Sarris has cancelled a news conference due at noon Greek time on Wednesday in order to continue talks with Russian officials in Moscow.
  Sarris said on Wednesday morning after talks with his counterpart Anton Siluanov that there had been no decision after a first round of discussions.
  "We had a very honest discussion, we've underscored how difficult the situation is," Sarris told reporters as he was leaving after talks with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
  "We'll now continue our discussion to find the solution by which we hope we will be getting some support."
  "There were no offers, nothing concrete... We're happy with a good beginning," he said.
  Nicosia has asked Moscow to extend the maturity of an existing 2.5-billion-euro loan, due in 2016, by five years. It is also asking for the 4.5 percent interest rate to be reduced.
  Beyond that, there is speculation that Cyprus will ask Russia to contribute towards the recapitalization of at least one local bank. Representatives of the island's most troubled lender, Cyprus Popular Bank (Laiki), are also in Moscow, according to Cypriot state broadcaster RIK.
  Cypriot Trade Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis is also in Moscow.
  Russian billionaire and politician Mikhail Prokhorov is reported to have expressed certainty that Russia's private sector could help Cyprus tackle its economic problems.
  ''If we think that the economic crisis in Cyprus and the European Union does not affect Russia, we are making a big mistake,'' he said, according to the Cyprus News Agency.
  It is likely the Russians will ask for some form of compensation for such an investment. A naval port in Cyprus for the Russian fleet and access to the country's natural gas reserves are among the rewards Moscow might seek.
  Some reports suggested Russian oil and gas behemoth Gazprom had mooted its own assistance plan, in exchange for exploration rights to Cyprus's offshore gas deposits.
  Noble Energy reported a natural gas recovery of 5 to 8 trillion cubic feet of gas south of Cyprus in late 2011, in the island's first foray to tap offshore resources.
The Real Reasons Why The Liberty Movement Is Preparing To Fight
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WTF RLY REPORT
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:59
  Brandon SmithAlt-Market blog
  Years ago while writing for Neithercorp Press I penned an article entitled ''One Day Soon, We'll All Be Homegrown Terrorists''. In that piece I described a not so far off future in which martial law, economic collapse, and the destruction of civil liberties stood imminent. I related my views on the propaganda rhetoric of the SPLC, and how they were using false association to tie liberty groups to any deviant organization they could think of, including racists and domestic terrorists, in order to condition the American public to react to our message with immediate contempt.
  It became clear to me then that the SPLC, which had become the propaganda wing of the widely reviled Department Of Homeland Security, was helping set the stage for a paradigm shift in the U.S. This shift would obviously include economic and social disruption, as well as political turmoil beyond anything our nation has seen for over 150 years. But most importantly, it would pave the way for certain elements of the American populace, namely those who are awake, aware, and outspoken, to be labeled ''enemy combatants'' dangerous to the state.
  Though posing as an anti-racist monitoring institution, the SPLC's primary concern has never been the KKK or ''White Identity''. Rather, the SPLC's job has been and always will be to marginalize and defame those who stand against centralized federal power, regardless of how corrupt that power has become. They are not anti-racists, or liberals, or concerned citizens; they are STATISTS, who only care about maintaining the superiority of a government that has been bought and paid for many times over by a gaggle of international financiers with delusions of godhood.
  The SPLC, of course, has so far utterly failed in their efforts to stop the rise of Constitutional activists. By their own admission, ''patriot groups'' have expanded exponentially since 2008, and continue to develop freely even in the face of wildly absurd character attacks taken from the amoral (immoral) guidebook of Saul Alinsky himself. The truth, once realized, is difficult if not impossible to stop.
  Unfortunately, the establishment understands this as well'...
  Given a few more years, the Liberty Movement will indeed prevail in the struggle for the ''infowar''. Naysayers who claimed we were merely an ineffective and irrelevant peripheral of society are now faced with a strong and growing minority which has the power to swing state and local elections, as we did in 2012, simply by refusing to vote for oath breaking Republicans, sending the message that if the Republican party ever wants to win again, they had better run honest Constitutionalists. Those who claimed our message was ''insane conspiracy theory'' must now explain the indefinite detention and rendition provisions of the NDAA, the government approved unleashing of 30,000 surveillance drones in American skies, the Obama Administration's assassination list which includes U.S. citizens, and the push for gun registration and confiscation which is already beginning to take place in some states.
  How did we know what was coming? Was it intuition or lucky conjecture? Neither. All we had to do was look at the trends of the day and use logic to discern the most likely outcome.
  Our concerns, which were once called ''fringe'', are now going mainstream. We were right, they were wrong. Though, I wish we had been wrong'...
  Just as the public is on a shrinking timeline, so are the elites. For every burst forward in our efforts to wake up the population to the loss of their freedoms and heritage, they must speed up their plans to gain economic and political supremacy. The harder you pull on the ends of a frayed rope in opposite directions, the sooner it is going to snap.
  Today, as never before, I believe our culture has reached the breaking point, which is why the SPLC has pushed their attacks on the Liberty Movement into overdrive with manipulative media hit pieces like this:
  As well as their latest propaganda piece ''The Year In Hate And Extremism'':
  http://www.splcenter.org/home/2013/spring/the-year-in-hate-and-extremism
  The SPLC plays the role of the frantic watchman, crying out at the approach of the Mongol hordes, but their childish and ill conceived methods continue to expose their true intentions. Is the Liberty Movement preparing for war? No, but we are preparing to defend ourselves. Here are the SPLC assertions of why we are ready to fight, followed by the real reasons behind our preparations'...
  1) Because Obama Is Half Black?
  No. Obama could be neon green and we couldn't care less. The SPLC attempts to equate the growth of ''patriot groups'' with the election of the first black president, while leaving out much more likely catalysts including our current economic spiral (which they often refer to as ''conspiracy theory''), or the Obama Administration's expansion and even application of numerous unconstitutional provisions, some of which were launched by the Bush Administration.
  How does the SPLC explain the majority of the Liberty Movement's staunch opposition to the Romney Campaign if all we cared about was race? How do they reconcile the fact that we are just as critical of the Republican elite as we are of the Democrats? What about the reality that many of our organizations (like Oath Keepers) are made up of numerous races and nationalities?
  They never do. They simply ignore this information as if it is not pertinent to the issue. The truth is, Obama is a middle man, a mascot, an easily replaced muppet. He is not our primary interest, and his color is meaningless. The international banks that funded his campaign and whose members occupy numerous positions within the White House, though, ARE our primary concern.
  2) Because We Are Afraid Of An Economic Collapse That Will Never Come?
  The SPLC refers to almost everything as ''conspiracy theory'' because they hope that the average American is too stupid to question their rhetoric. Calling someone a ''conspiracy theorist'' is the modern equivalent of accusing a person of being mentally ill; the goal is to inoculate the public against anything they have to say before they say it, even if it is the unbridled truth.
  The SPLC has consistently shrugged off economic concerns as ''paranoia'', but they never qualify their statements. Years ago I openly challenged Mark Potok and the whole of the SPLC to a debate on the health of the U.S. economy, and I reassert that challenge today. If they think our concerns are unfounded and a source of paranoia, then they should be willing to defend their position. I believe our financial system is on the fast track to collapse for quite a few reasons, including the fact that:
  Our official national debt stands at $16.6 trillion. In 2008, the national debt was around $10 Trillion, meaning, we've added over $6 trillion in only 5 years. (Gee, is it possible that this has pissed Americans off more than Obama's ethnicity?)
  Real national debt including entitlement programs and future obligations is estimated between $60 Trillion and $120 Trillion.
  Our official debt to GDP ratio (the amount of capital our country generates versus what it owes) stands at 102%. Historically, when a country crosses the 100% mark in its debt to GDP, there is a marked chance of economic crisis. If you count all of the programs and entitlements that the Federal Government doesn't include in its ''official'' arithmetic, our debt to GDP ratio is actually closer to 400%. This means an economic crisis is ASSURED.
  The Labor Department, using what they call ''adjusted numbers'' places unemployment at 7.9%. Real unemployment including U6 measurements (those people who are underemployed, and those people who have been unemployed for so long they no longer receive benefits and are no longer counted by the government) stands at over 20%.
  In 2009, 32 million Americans were enrolled in food stamps. Today, that number has grown to 48 million. That's a 50% increase in only 4 years.
  The number of people on standard disability has hit a record of 9 million, and has grown every month for the past 192 months.
  For the past four years I have pointed out that China, our largest foreign creditor, only needs to do two things before dumping the dollar as the world reserve currency '' find a consumer market source to replace the U.S., and, spread it's own currency around the globe to create a viable alternative to the greenback.
  Today, China has announced a full blown transition into a consumer based economy and has established bilateral trade agreements with enough developing nations to easily replace the U.S. as an export market.
  This past month, China announced a massive ''urbanization project'' in which they will sell over $6 trillion in Yuan denominated bonds worldwide. China has also surpassed the U.S. for the first time ever as the world's largest trade market, meaning, the Yuan will now be more sought after than the Dollar as a global trade mechanism. The Chinese are nearly ready to dump the dollar, causing an international chain reaction that will brutally devalue our currency.
  I think our economic worries are clearly reasonable'...
  3) Because We Are Paranoid Over Unfounded Threats Of Martial Law?
  In the calm before any great war, there is always an escalation of arms on both sides of the conflict. Anyone who has carefully studied the history of modern warfare KNOWS an escalation when they see one. At the same time, anyone who has studied the history of citizen disarmament knows that government restriction and confiscation of personal firearms almost always leads to genocide. Over the past decade, we have seen blatant indications that domestic agencies of the Federal Government are in the midst of arms stockpiling, and, in the past two months, they are pushing harder than ever before to reduce the defensive capabilities of the American public.
  The Department Of Homeland Security has in only a few years placed orders for ammunition totaling at least 1.6 billion rounds, and new orders indicate they may be accumulating over 2 billion rounds. The DHS has initiated a disinformation campaign through the mainstream media claiming that this ammunition stockpile, which is to be delivered over the course of five years, is for ''training purposes only''. Here is the reality'...
  First, by the department's own numbers, training and qualification exercises taking place in three facilities nationwide use a total of 15 '' 20 million rounds of ammo yearly. This means that if the DHS claims are true, they have ordered enough ammo to last a minimum of 75 years! No government agency plans this far ahead.
  Second, the DHS and most federal and state law enforcement agencies DO NOT use hollow point pistol ammo and expensive Sierra Match King hollow point sniper rounds for ''training''. Anyone who knows anything about combat simulation training knows that you use the cheapest plinking ammo you can find, and this includes the government. The ammo purchased by the DHS is used for one thing only; killing people.
  Third, if this ammo is being used only for non-threatening purposes, then why is the DHS now redacting order requests in a ploy to hide what they are purchasing?
  https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=311eb3ee003671285de8db1036b2b255&tab=core&tabmode=list&=
  On top of this, why does the DHS need mine resistant armored vehicles?
  Or bullet resistant road booths?
  http://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/Shelters-Direct-Builds-Bullet-Resistant-Booths-for-Homeland-Security-612684
  Why is the DHS using training targets featuring children and pregnant women? Why has the Federal Government put plans into motion to release 30,000 drones above our heads? Why have they instituted the passage of the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA which can be used to revoke the civil rights of anyone deemed an ''enemy combatant'' by the executive branch, including American citizens? Why has Obama bypassed the Treason Clause of the U.S. Constitution in order to greenlight assassinations of American citizens? Why has Attorney General Eric Holder stated that predator drones have not been ruled out as a weapon against American citizens on American soil? Why has a branch of the military, Northcom, been deployed domestically in the U.S.? Who are they here to fight?
  The government is telling us, right to our faces, that they plan to use extraneous force against us, and where else would this force be initiated on such a scale except during martial law? The extensive militarization of any domestic government agency requires as a response the extensive armament of the citizenry, otherwise, there is no deterrent to tyranny.
  4) Because We Refuse To Accept That The World Is Changing Without Us?
  This argument is based on a series of lies, the first one being that American culture needs to ''progress with the times'' and shake off the dead skin of old and ''unpopular'' principles. Let's set the record straight'...
  Some principles, like the liberties embodied in natural law and outlined in the U.S. Constitution, NEVER become outdated. They exist in the heart of mankind, and will remain as long as humanity remains. They cannot be erased, and they cannot be undone. They are inherent and eternal.
  They can, however, be oppressed by those who seek to dominate the lives of others. This is what the establishment today calls ''progress''. Their version of social order is not new, nor is it even clever. It is archaic, and has taken many forms, including oligarchy, aristocracy, mercantilism, monarchy, totalitarianism, despotism, fascism, socialism, communism, globalism, etc., etc. The goal is always the same; centralize as much power as possible into as few hands as possible while making the enslaved population as collectivized and dependent as possible.
  The Liberty Movement is not some dying vestige of America's past clinging to an antiquated philosophy. We are the new wave; the messengers of an ideal of freedom that in the grand scheme of history has been around for only a blink of an eye. Constitutional liberty IS the progress that humanity has been waiting for. We have only been led astray by those who would sell us on our own bondage.
  The SPLC and others within the establishment accuse the Liberty Movement of arming for conflict against the government. I am here to tell them that is EXACTLY what we are doing. We are arming because the establishment is arming against us. Yes, we are a threat, but only to political and corporate criminals who use subversion and violence to wrest freedom from the hands of good people. I am not afraid to openly admit it. I and many others will fight against any measure or man that seeks to undermine the rights of the people or destroy the founding principles of this nation.
  We will not allow engineered economic collapse to go unpunished. We will not allow internationalists to subdue American sovereignty. We will not allow national gun registration or confiscation. We will not allow martial law to be instituted. We will not allow American citizens to be imprisoned or assassinated without trial. We will not allow any presidential administration, black or white, Republican or Democrat, to become a De facto dictatorship with no accountability to the public.
  Regardless of what they might say about us in the future, these are the reasons why we will fight, and our pledges to resist are not empty assertions. We will stop the course of tyranny from completing in this country and in this era, one way or another. If this makes us ''extremists'', or ''terrorists'', then so be it. I, for one, am tired of the long running game of lies and reserved rhetoric. They know a fight is coming, and we know a fight is coming. Let's just admit it and be done with it. Their greatest weakness is that they have to use deceit, propaganda, media monopoly, and false flag violence in order to convince the public that they are the ''right side''. All we have to do is continue telling the truth, and stand fast'...
Huiszoeking bij IMF-chef Lagarde
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  Archived Version
  Source: VK: Home
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:58
  Bewerkt door: redactie '' 20/03/13, 13:47 '' bron: ANP
  (C) reuters. IMF-baas Christine Lagarde
  De Franse autoriteiten hebben woensdag het appartement in de Franse hoofdstad Parijs doorzocht van Christine Lagarde, hoofd van het Internationaal Monetair Fonds (IMF). De actie is in het kader van het onderzoek tegen Lagarde over haar handelen in de periode dat ze minister van Financin was in Frankrijk.
  Lagarde werd onderwerp van een juridisch onderzoek door een actie in 2007. Ze dwong een schikking van 285 miljoen euro af voor zakenman Bernard Tapie. Dat was in een conflict dat Tapie had met de voormalige staatsbank Cr(C)dit Lyonnais. Tapie, een vriend van president Nicolas Sarkozy, had een jaar eerder in dezelfde zaak juist nog bot gevangen bij het hoogste Franse gerechtshof.
  Lagarde heeft ontkend dat ze iets verkeerd heeft gedaan. 'Deze huiszoeking helpt bij het naar boven krijgen van de waarheid, wat wil helpen bij het ontlasten van mijn clint van criminele fouten', reageerde de advocaat van Lagarde woensdag.
MSNBC's Michael Eric Dyson: ''Wouldn't That Be Great'' If We Followed Elizabeth Warren's Advice And Raised Minimum Wage To $22 Hour'...
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  Archived Version
  Source: Weasel Zippers
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:58
  The fact that the economy would implode apparently not a concern.
  MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: This income-disparity chart says it all. The same expert explained that if the minimum wage kept pace with incomes going to the top 1%, the minimum wage would actually have risen to $33 an hour before the great recession. Senator Warren was not calling on the minimum wage be raised to $22 an hour''though wouldn't that be great? She was however illustrating the unconscionable disparity between the current minimum wage and the ideal merit-based minimum wage.
Rebels use China missiles to shoot down Syrian army helicopters.
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  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:57
  Chinese-made missiles have been used to shoot down two Syrian army helicopters, state media reported on Thursday, adding their performance could boost the international sales appeal of Chinese weapons.
  The Global Times, a tabloid with close links to the ruling Communist Party, said a pair of videos posted on the internet by Free Syrian Army rebels showed two Mi-8/17 helicopters being shot down by Chinese shoulder-launched missiles.
  The paper said it was not known how the rebels, who have been fighting to topple the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad for the past two years, obtained the missiles.
  But it said the success of the FN-6 weapons, which it said were developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, could lift the overall image of China's defence products.
  ''In regards to export prospects, Chinese weapons need to engage in more conflicts to prove their value,'' Daniel Tong, identified as the founder of the Chinese Military Aviation website, told the newspaper.
  The kills are proof that the FN-6 is reliable and user-friendly, because rebel fighters are generally not well-trained in operating missile systems
  ''The kills are proof that the FN-6 is reliable and user-friendly, because rebel fighters are generally not well-trained in operating missile systems,'' he added.
  Chinese weapons have not been tested in battle to the same extent as those built by the United States and Russia, and publicity surrounding the shootings will raise the profile of China's air defence products, the paper cited him as saying.
  But he lamented the loss of life in the conflict and said: ''Any bloodshed is regrettable.''
  The Global Times said Chinese missiles have shot down targets in several other conflicts, though it added the Syrian conflict is the first time such a success has been recorded on video.
  China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation refused to comment on the report. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing that she had not seen it.
  China and Russia, both members of the UN Security Council, have joined together to block resolutions that would have introduced sanctions against Assad's regime.
  At a press conference on Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said only ''dialogue and negotiations'' could end the Syrian war and that China was ''distressed and concerned'' over the ''bleeding and suffering'' of Syria's people.
US commission paves way for anthrax vaccine testing on children '-- RT USA
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  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:50
  A US commission has advised that anthrax vaccination trials be carried out on children. The board gave strict guidelines for testing to put infants at no more than ''minimal risk,'' but critics accuse them of using children as guinea pigs.
  The presidential commission described the necessity to test the vaccine on children because in the event of a mass bioterrorist attack a large proportion of the victims would be children. It advised to start the testing of the vaccine on young adults aged from 18 to 25 to first understand the risk before progressing on to younger participants."You'd work your way down from 18-year-olds," said Dr. John Parker, a retired army major general and chairman of the biodefense board. "If it were safe you'd go to 17-year-olds, then 16-year olds."
  The commission, however, emphasized children would be subjected to ''no more than minimal risk'' by the tests, despite strong criticism from rights activists.
  Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called on the presidential commission to broach the ethical validity of using children in vaccination testing.
  The Commission Chair, Amy Gutmann, said that "this is one of the most difficult ethical decisions the bioethics commission has undertaken."
  ''Our nation ethically must protect children enrolled in research studies, and we must also do our best to develop the knowledge needed to save children's lives during a possible emergency,'' said Gutmann at a news conference on Tuesday.
  Opposition to the report by the presidential commission likened testing the vaccine on children to using infants as guinea pigs as they are unable to fully understand the risks of participating in such a study.
  Vera Sharav, founder of the Alliance for Human Research Protection, said that if testing on children were to be carried out it would spell "moral harm for us as a nation and suffering for the children. They should have said, 'thou shalt not'.''
  Opponents to testing argue that antibiotics would offer sufficient protection to children.
  The anthrax vaccine has been tested on around 2.9 million adults so far, most of whom were members of the armed forces being vaccinated against the threat of biological warfare in Iraq. A number of side effects were registered during the testing of the vaccination, including skin ulcers, fever and malaise. "We have to wonder if, after all the data collected by the US Army on the side-effects experienced by soldiers, we would want to subject children to skin ulcers symptoms of the disease," said Jeanne Guillemin, author of 'American Anthrax', to Reuters.
  Additionally, a study carried out by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention carried out a study in 2008 involving 1,563 adults who took the vaccine. Participants reported over 229 serious adverse effects, such as seizures, intracranial aneurism and cardiovascular disease, but only nine of these cases were attributed to the vaccine.
Florida student kills self - did he plan attack?
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  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:43
  Orlando --
  A college student with two guns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a backpack filled with explosives pulled a dorm fire alarm Monday in what may have been an attempt to force other students out into the open so that he could slaughter them, authorities said. But he instead put a bullet in his head as police closed in.
  James Oliver Seevakumaran, 30, was found dead in his dorm room at the 51,000-student Orlando campus of the University of Central Florida. No one else was hurt.
  "His timeline got off," university Police Chief Richard Beary said. "We think the rapid response of law enforcement may have changed his ability to think quickly on his feet."
  Some 500 students were evacuated from the building in the middle of the night, unaware how narrowly they had escaped what could have been another Virginia Tech-style bloodbath.
  "It could have been a very bad day here for everybody. All things considered, I think we were very blessed here," Beary said. "Anybody armed with this type of weapon and ammunition could have hurt a lot of people here, particularly in a crowded area as people were evacuating."
  Police shed no light on a motive, but university spokesman Grant Heston said that before the episode, the school was in the process of removing Seevakumaran from the dormitory because he hadn't enrolled for the current semester. He had never been seen by university counselors and had no disciplinary problems with other students, Heston said.
  Detectives found notes and other writings that indicated Seevakumaran had carefully planned an attack and "laid out a timeline of where he was going to be and what he was going to do," Beary said.
  The episode began when Seevakumaran pulled a gun on one of his roommates, who called police and holed up in a bathroom, Beary said. Around the same time, Seevakumaran pulled a fire alarm, apparently to get other students out in the open, the police chief said.
  In his room, investigators found four makeshift explosive devices in a backpack, a .45-caliber handgun, a .22-caliber tactical rifle and a couple of hundred rounds of ammunition, police said.
Fulfilling our Commitment to Open Government: We Hear You
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  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:37
  We announced last week that we are doing a self-assessment of the U.S. National Action Plan on Open Government and were looking for your feedback about our implementation. We are meeting with civil society groups to solicit their feedback in person, and we set up ways for you to share your own feedback online through a dedicated Q&A siteQuora, or through a web form on WhiteHouse.gov. And we take your feedback seriously.
  Here's proof: We heard from you that it would be helpful if we published the text of the President's directive extending whistleblower protections to the intelligence and national security communities for the first time. We decided you were right. Click here to find the directive.
  Lisa Ellman is Chief Counselor for the Open Government Partnership
White House Announces New Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control
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  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 05:22
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  March 19, 2013
  Today, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon announced that Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall will be moving to a new position on the National Security Staff as the White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control. She will take up her duties on April 8. National Security Advisor Donilon said, ''As one of the President's closest advisors for the past four years, Liz's leadership and advice have been instrumental as we have successfully strengthened our alliances and partnerships across Europe, helped to revitalize NATO, and worked with Europe to advance the President's global agenda. Liz brings deep expertise and a track record of accomplishment in defense issues and in proliferation prevention. The President will look to her to bring significant energy and capability to his second term as we pursue the ambitious goals he set forth in his Prague speech in 2009 and prepare our military to defend the American people and our allies against the threats we face today and in the future.''
  During the Clinton Administration, Dr. Sherwood-Randall served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, where she played a central role in the denuclearization of Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. She has also held positions at Harvard University, Stanford University, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Brookings Institution, and previously served as the Chief Foreign Affairs and Defense Policy Advisor to Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Speccie Say NO Downing Street Say Guido is a ''Relevant Publisher''
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  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 05:01
  The Spectator have made up their mind on state regulation. Here is tomorrow's cover:
  Think that's pretty clear'...
  Downing Street has cleared up yesterday's confusion about whether or not Guido will fall under the Charter:
  ''No newspaper or blogger would be forced to join the regulator, the Royal Charter system is a system of incentivisation. However, those 'relevant publishers' that choose not to join the regulator would be subject to costs and could be subject to exemplary damages if taken to court. 'Relevant publishers' are specifically defined and could include blog sites that are written by multiple authors, have editorial control and are published in the course of business.''
  It goes without saying that it's a ''no'' from Guido too'...
KOSHER NOSTRA WANT TO CURB UK PRESS?
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  Archived Version
  Source: aangirfan
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:57
  Who are the wealthy people who have backed the campaign for curbs on the UK press?Blogger Guido Fawkes claims he has a list that shows key donors include:
  Lady Annabel Goldsmith, mother of Jemima Khan and Zac Goldsmith.
  Jewish billionaire Lord Sainsbury, who was one of Labour's biggest financial backers under Tony Blair.
  Hacked Off Donors: #1 Lady Annabel GoldsmithHacked Off Donors: #6 Billionaire Labour Lord Sainsbury
  According to the UK government:"No newspaper or blogger would be forced to join the regulator, the Royal Charter system is a system of incentivisation."However, those 'relevant publishers' that choose not to join the regulator would be subject to costs and could be subject to exemplary damages if taken to court.
  "'Relevant publishers' are specifically defined and could include blog sites that are written by multiple authors, have editorial control and are published in the course of business."
  Downing Street Say Guido is a ''Relevant Publisher''
DEFEAT FOR CIA IN MALTA? VICTORY FOR CIA IN CYPRUS?
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  Archived Version
  Source: aangirfan
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:54
  People of Malta.Malta was used by the U.S. and NATO in the war against Libya.Malta: Case Study In NATO Subversion And CoercionIn 2012, the Malta Labour Party made it clear that it opposed the Nationalist Party sneaking Malta into NATO's Partnership for Peace program, without the permission of parliament."Partnership for Peace obligations entail joint military exercises and training, visits by leading NATO and U.S. military commanders and naval forces, the creation of NATO bases, training centers and liaison offices, and the deployment of troops for the Alliance's war in Afghanistan... "Partnership for Peace members Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Macedonia, Montenegro, Sweden, Switzerland (until 2008) and Ukraine have also supplied troops for the over ten-year-long conflict."
  Malta: Case Study In NATO Subversion And Coercion - Richard Rozoff explaining the importance of Malta, and Cyprus, to the CIA, Pentagon and NATO.In 1974, the CIA believed that the Greek Cypriots were unreliable friends, so they arranged for Turkey, a member of NATO, to take over 'Northern Cyprus' and turn it into a Turkish colony.
  Cyprus is one of only four Mediterranean nations, in addition to Libya, Syria and Lebanon, that is not a NATO member or partner.The new leader of Cyprus is pro-NATO.
  In Malta we can now expect the 'anti-NATO' Labour Party to be arm-twisted into supporting NATO.
  In Scotland, the formerly 'anti-NATO' Scottish National Party is now supporting NATO.
  ~~
  Cyprus: U.S. To Dominate All Europe, Mediterranean Through NATO
Massacre Thwarted at Florida College By Quick Cop Response
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:23
  A planned massacre was thwarted today at the University of Central Florida where a student who had assembled an arsenal, including a high capacity drum magazine and home made bombs, took his own life as cops closed in on him.
  James Oliver Seevakumaran, who was in the process of being kicked out of his dorm on the UCF campus, had written out a timeline and elaborate plan for how to harm the greatest number of individuals during the planned attack, university Police Chief Richard Beary said today.
  The suspect accumulated multiple weapons, including American Tactical .22 caliber assault rifle and a High Point .45 caliber handgun, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and high capacity magazines, including a drum magazine similar to the type used in the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo.
  Seevakumaran, 30, had also assembled four homemade improvised explosive devices which officials described as Molotov cocktail-type incendiaries believed to be lined with shrapnel.
  Seevakumaran planned to use all of the weapons after pulling a fire alarm to draw students out of their rooms very early this morning, police said.
  Shortly after midnight, he activated a fire alarm in the building to enact his plan and then returned to his apartment to retrieve his weapons, according to Beary.
  Campus police were responding to the fire alarm call at the dorm when Seevakumaran's roommate called 911 to say that Seevakumaran had pointed a gun at him, causing the roommate to flee to the bathroom and lock himself inside.
  Police believe that Seevakumaran planned to go out into the hallway as students evacuated and fire the weapons and detonate bombs.
  Instead, police arrived at the suspect's apartment in Tower 1 with the knowledge that there was a report of a man with a gun. Beary said that officers were armed when they entered Seevakumaran's apartment.
  They freed the roommate from the bathroom and found Seevakumaran dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Beary said.
  "What we think is his timeline got off, the rapid response of law enforcement maybe have changed his ability to think quickly on his feet," Beary said.
  The roommate told police that Seevakumaran, whose family lives in Florida, had exhibited some anti-social behavior but that the roommates had never seen him with weapons or act violently.
  The university said that he had been enrolled as a student at UCF from fall 2010 to fall 2012. He did not enroll for the spring 2013 term, and the university was in the process of moving him out of the residence hall. A spokesman said that the university takes a "compassionate" position toward students that are no longer enrolled, instead of forcing them off campus immediately.
  Police said Seevakumaran obtained the weapons at an Orlando area gun shop, and that he began amassing ammunition in early February.
  Classes resumed at the University of Central Florida today after police removed the bombs and an assault weapon from a dorm. The campus was reopened around noon.
  A bomb squad from the Orange County Sheriff's Department removed the explosive devices.
  "University police responded immediately when we received a fire alarm call and a subsequent 911 call," Beary said in a statement released in the morning by the school. "The safety of our students in Tower 1 and our entire campus community is our top priority."
  Students who were evacuated from their dorm rooms in the Tower 1 residence hall were housed at the UCF Arena until they were allowed back into their rooms, the school said.
National planning Cyprus-style solution for New Zealand
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:13
  Tuesday, 19 March 2013, 11:32 amPress Release: Green Party19 March 2013
  National planning Cyprus-style solution for New ZealandThe National Government are pushing a Cyprus-style solution to bank failure in New Zealand which will see small depositors lose some of their savings to fund big bank bailouts, the Green Party said today.
  Open Bank Resolution (OBR) is Finance Minister Bill English's favoured option dealing with a major bank failure. If a bank fails under OBR, all depositors will have their savings reduced overnight to fund the bank's bail out.
  ''Bill English is proposing a Cyprus-style solution for managing bank failure here in New Zealand '' a solution that will see small depositors lose some of their savings to fund big bank bailouts,'' said Green Party Co-leader Dr Russel Norman.
  ''The Reserve Bank is in the final stages of implementing a system of managing bank failure called Open Bank Resolution. The scheme will put all bank depositors on the hook for bailing out their bank.
  ''Depositors will overnight have their savings shaved by the amount needed to keep the bank afloat.
  ''While the details are still to be finalised, nearly all depositors will see their savings reduced by the same proportions.
  ''Bill English is wrong to assume everyday people are able to judge the soundness of their bank. Not even sophisticated investors like Merrill Lynch saw the global financial crisis coming.
  ''If he insists on pushing through this unfair scheme, small depositors can be protected ahead of time with a notified savings threshold below which their savings will be safe from any interference.''
  Dr Norman questioned the Government's insistence on pursuing Open Bank Resolution when virtually no other OECD country uses it.
  ''Open Bank Resolution is unprecedented in the world. Most OECD countries run deposit insurance schemes which protect people's deposits up to a maximum ranging from $100,000 '' $250,000,'' Dr Norman said.
  ''OBR is not in line with Australia, which protects bank deposits up to $250,000.
  ''A deposit insurance scheme is a much simpler, well-tested alternative to Open Bank Resolution. It rewards safe banks with lower premiums and limits the cost to taxpayers of a bank failure.
  ''Deposit insurance will, however, require the Reserve Bank to oversee and regulate our banks more closely '' a measure which is ultimately the best protection against bank failure.''
  (C) Scoop Media
Chase Bank customers temporarily see '0' balance
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:05
  LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Millions of Chase Bank customers across the U.S. who use online and mobile banking saw their checking and savings accounts with a zero balance on Monday.
  The banking giant said the problem was an internal glitch.
  "We have a technology problem regarding customers' balance information," Chase said in a statement. "It has nothing to do with cyber threats. It is an internal issue. We are very sorry to our customers for the inconvenience. This began earlier this evening. It is not confined to the West Coast."
  The problem lasted a few hours. It was resolved around 7:30 p.m. PT.
  Last week, the bank said it was victimized by a "distributed denial of service" attack. Chase websites were replaced with a message that said the system was temporarily down, but mobile apps were still available.
  (Copyright (C)2013 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Ungag the Benghazi 33! - By Deroy Murdock - The Corner
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:01
  As new details have emerged over the last six months, the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, has assumed at least four forms:
  First, it seemed to be a tragic assault by an angry mob inflamed by an anti-Islamic YouTube video. The murder of four American public servants was the toxic fruit of a spontaneous protest that got severely out of control.
  Next, this onslaught clearly became known as a raid planned and executed by al-Qaeda's Libyan allies.
  Soon, Benghazi was synonymous with deadly bureaucratic incompetence, as documents showed that the late ambassador J. Christopher Stevens lamented that city's deteriorating security situation and pleaded in vain for help.
  And now, Benghazi seems to stand for a massive Obama administration cover-up, with some 33 survivors of the massacre evidently told to shut up about that night.
  The House Republican leadership has the power to solve this mystery and urgently must do so.
  Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) is on the warpath on this issue, as well he should be. He promises to tie the Senate in knots until Team Obama identifies these 33 Americans who lived through that deadly night and, six months later, have yet to explain what they witnessed and what happened before and after the carnage.
  Graham says he has spoken with several survivors, and they fear opening their mouths.
  ''The bottom line is they feel that they can't come forth, they've been told to be quiet,'' Graham told Fox News Channel's Bret Baier on Friday. ''Their story is chilling. They feel afraid to tell it.''
  ''The best evidence of what happened in Benghazi is not a bunch of politicians in Washington trying to cover their political ass,'' Graham added. ''This is the people who lived through the debacle, and I'm going to do all I can to get them before the Congress and American people. . . . We cannot let this administration or any other administration get away with hiding from the American people and Congress, people who were there in real time to tell the story.''
  The U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, burns after an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist attack.
  Obama & Co. ran out the clock on Benghazi before last November's election. Obama won reelection in part by stonewalling the mounting questions and contradictions about this mayhem and refusing to let this terrorist attack undermine the happy talk about al-Qaeda being on the run since Seal Team Six sent Osama bin Laden to meet Allah. Mitt Romney's brilliant consultants thought it would be unpresidential to press Obama on this matter in their third and final debate. Consequently, Romney is now the Unpresident of the United States.
  Obama seems to have benefitted from a half-year-long gag order on nearly three dozen Americans with priceless, personal knowledge of the Benghazi blood bath. Beyond detailing the attack, these citizens should answer several other key questions:
  Did they warn Team Obama about this pending attack?
  Did they request more security?
  What responses did they get, and from whom?
  How did Team Obama react to the attack as it unfolded?
  What role, if any, did Obama himself play that horrible night?
  Does Team Obama's official story differ from events on the ground?
  When and how were they told to stay quiet about what they knew?
  Were they offered any benefits, or otherwise bribed, if they hushed up?
  Were they threatened, or otherwise extorted, if they spoke up?
  Were they in any other way pressured or intimidated?
  It is stunning that 33 Americans have remained silent for more than half a year about anything, much less a controversial, deadly terrorist attack. This suggests that they have been leaned on quite heavily.
  ''They are scared to death to come forward without some institutional support,'' Graham told Fox News Channel's Mike Huckabee on Saturday.
  And institutional support is what these people deserve.
  GOP representatives Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania, and Frank Wolf of Virginia have been digging on this front.
  ''Six months later, none of the survivors have been identified or questioned by Congress about the attack or credited for their heroism,'' Wolf stated on March 11. ''We don't know their names, conditions, or stories.''
  But there is only so much that Senator Graham and these House members can do. As is the case too often these days, GOP House leaders passively bemoan Obama's obstructionism rather than exercise their powers to check and balance him. As Senator Graham insisted: ''To our leadership in the House: You're going to have to up your game on Benghazi.''
  With an apparent full-blown cover-up and perhaps dozens of public servants eager to talk, the House immediately should subpoena the Obama administration for the names and contact information for all 33 Benghazi survivors. It then should subpoena each of them, immunize them against prosecution, and protect them, their jobs, and their pensions and other benefits under the appropriate federal whistleblower statutes.
  While some of these people should testify under oath behind closed doors, to protect classified information, others should offer sworn testimony in public hearings.
  If Benghazi unfolded as Team Obama claims, and these 33 people have remained Sphinx-like merely because they had nothing contrary to say, so the historical record should read.
  If, however, Obama & Company bribed, threatened, or intimidated these public servants to stay silent in order to secure Obama's reelection, then Benghazi will prove to be a conspiracy more explosive and evil than Watergate.
  The families and loved ones of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith, and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods deserve answers to these questions '-- as do the citizens of the republic for which they sacrificed their lives.
QRP Ham Radio Station Setup and Operation
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  Wed, 20 Mar 2013 03:53
US regulator: Bitcoin exchanges must comply with money-laundering laws | Ars Technica
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  Archived Version
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:00
  The federal agency charged with enforcing the nation's laws against money laundering has issued new guidelines suggesting that several parties in the Bitcoin economy qualify as Money Services Businesses under US law. Money Services Businesses (MSBs) must register with the federal government, collect information about their customers, and take steps to combat money laundering by their customers.
  The new guidelines do not mention Bitcoin by name, but there's little doubt which "de-centralized virtual currency" the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) had in mind when it drafted the new guidelines. A FinCEN spokesman told Bank Technology News last year that "we are aware of Bitcoin and other similar operations, and we are studying the mechanism behind Bitcoin."
  America's anti-money-laundering laws require financial institutions to collect information on potentially suspicious transactions by their customers and report these to the federal government. Among the institutions subject to these regulatory requirements are "money services businesses," including "money transmitters." Until now, it wasn't clear who in the Bitcoin network qualified as a money transmitter under the law.
  For a centralized virtual currency like Facebook credits, the issuer of the currency (in this case, Facebook) must register as an MSB, because the act of buying the virtual currency transfers value from one location (the user's conventional bank account) to another (the user's virtual currency account). The same logic would apply to Bitcoin exchanges such as Mt. Gox. Allowing people to buy and sell bitcoins for dollars constitutes money transmission and therefore makes these businesses subject to federal regulation.
  Of course, the Bitcoin network is fully decentralized. No single party has the power to issue new bitcoins or approve Bitcoin transactions. Rather, the nodes in the Bitcoin network maintain a shared transaction register called the blockchain. Nodes called "miners" race to solve a cryptographic puzzle; the winner of each race is allowed to create the next entry in the blockchain. As a reward for its effort, the winning miner gets to credit itself a standard amount, currently 25 bitcoins. Given that bitcoins are now worth more than $50 and a new block is created every 10 minutes, Bitcoin mining has emerged as a significant business.
  So are Bitcoin miners subject to the regulations? "A person that creates units of this convertible virtual currency and uses it to purchase real or virtual goods and services is a user of the convertible virtual currency and not subject to regulation as a money transmitter," FinCEN writes. That means that if you're a lone Bitcoin miner who uses all of your proceeds to buy drugs on the Silk Road, FinCEN will not expect you to register as an MSB.
  On the other hand, "a person that creates units of convertible virtual currency and sells those units to another person for real currency or its equivalent is engaged in transmission to another location and is a money transmitter," and is therefore subject to federal regulations.
  However, this may only apply to those who perform money transmitting services "as a business." FinCEN says that "a user of virtual currency is not an MSB under FinCEN's regulations and therefore is not subject to MSB registration, reporting, and record keeping regulations." But with a peer-to-peer currency, the line between a "user" and an "administrator or exchanger" is not at all clear. The regulations define an exchanger as someone who "engaged as a business in the exchange of virtual currency for real currency."
  Many participants in the Bitcoin economy provide exchange-like services but do not do so "as a business." For example, I obtained my first bitcoins in August 2011 by giving a friend $20 in cash and getting 1.5 bitcoins (the equivalent value at the time) in exchange. My friend likely did not regard this as a business transaction, but rather as a favor to a friend. The guidelines are silent on whether someone who performs the functions of a Bitcoin exchange as a hobby or as a personal favor is required to register as a Money Services Business.
  Disclosure:I own some bitcoins.
When Austerity Fails, Rob Bank Deposits
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Stock Market News, Stock Market Advice, Economic Analysis, Investing In Real Estate and Gold
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:41
  Tuesday, March 19th, 2013By Michael Lombardi, MBA for Profit Confidential
  Politicians in Cyprus are pushing for a government vote on a tax on all bank deposits in the country'--6.75% on deposits up to 100,000 euros, and 9.9% on deposits above that amount. (Source: Wall Street Journal, March 18, 2013.) This step by one of the smallest nations in the eurozone could propel economic problems in the region to another level.
  What was the cause of the proposed action to seize a percentage of citizen bank deposits?
  Cyprus has been experiencing a credit crisis with its banks becoming illiquid, so it needed money. Despite the European Central Bank (ECB) taking the ''it will do whatever it takes'' stance to get the eurozone going again, Germany and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) argued that the bailout to the nation should be limited to only 10 billion euros, though Cyprus needed 17.5 billion euros. So, Cyprus was sent looking for 7.5 billion euros on its own.
  Even though Cyprus is one of the smallest nations in the eurozone, this country's move to seize a percentage of citizen bank deposits goes to show what can be the next move for other countries in that region that are in financial trouble. It is Cyprus now; it could very well be Greece, Spain, Italy, or Portugal next.
  Why could other countries be next? Because the debt-infested nations of the eurozone are still struggling.
  Greece is in a depression. Spain, the fourth-largest nation in the eurozone, is experiencing staggering unemployment. The number of unemployed in Spain is increasing to a point where the social security system is running out of contributors. (Source: Financial Post, March 13, 2013.) Just think of the riots when the country's social security system runs out of money!
  Confindustria, a federation of businesses in Italy, the third-largest economic hub in the eurozone, said 29% of businesses are struggling to meet their daily operational expenses due to a lack of operational funds. The conditions are so severe that one thousand businesses are going bankrupt in Italy every day! Italy's industry chief warned that the country is facing a ''full credit emergency!''
  In January, the unemployment rate for the eurozone increased to 11.9%, up slightly from December, with 19 million people jobless.
  Dear reader, the fact of the matter is that the eurozone credit crisis is still present'--only a few examples of countries in distress are presented in this article. North American stock markets are not portraying reality, but as I have repeatedly been saying in these pages, it will be much longer before the theory that we can ''just print money to get us out of this mess'' will be proven wrong.
  The eurozone credit crisis is sending ripples throughout the global economy. This goes without saying: there is a significant number of American-based companies that do business in the eurozone area. If the credit crisis in the region strengthens'--which I believe it certainly will'--these American companies will see their revenues decline.
  The recent event in Cyprus may just be the start of another form of crisis. I am practicing caution, because it's the only wise thing to do when optimism is at its peak, like the stock market is today. I also question the eventual possibility of something similar happening in the U.S. when the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government discover paper money printing can't go on forever and our creditors don't want to give us loans anymore. Food for thought.
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Rupert Sheldrake's Response to Banned TED Video: The Science Delusion [video included]
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Conscious Life News
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:25
  Posted by clnews_Featured_, Conscious Living, Consciousness, VideosTuesday, March 19th, 2013Rupert Sheldrake's Response to the TED Scientific Board's Statement
  Rupert SheldrakeMarch 18, 2013
  I would like to respond to TED's claims that my TEDx talk ''crossed the line into pseudoscience'', contains ''serious factual errors'' and makes ''many misleading statements.''
  This discussion is taking place because the militant atheist bloggers Jerry Coyne and P.Z. Myers denounced me, and attacked TED for giving my talk a platform. I was invited to give my talk as part of a TEDx event in Whitechapel, London, called ''Challenging Existing Paradigms.'' That's where the problem lies: my talk explicitly challenges the materialist belief system. It summarized some of the main themes of my recent book Science Set Free (in the UK called The Science Delusion). Unfortunately, the TED administrators have publically aligned themselves with the old paradigm of materialism, which has dominated science since the late nineteenth century.
  TED say they removed my talk from their website on the advice of their Scientific Board, who also condemned Graham Hancock's talk. Hancock and I are now facing anonymous accusations made by a body on whose authority TED relies, on whose advice they act, and behind whom they shelter, but whose names they have not revealed.
  TED's anonymous Scientific Board made three specific accusations:
  Accusation 1:''he suggests that scientists reject the notion that animals have consciousness, despite the fact that it's generally accepted that animals have some form of consciousness, and there's much research and literature exploring the idea.''
  I characterized the materialist dogma as follows: ''Matter is unconscious: the whole universe is made up of unconscious matter. There's no consciousness in stars in galaxies, in planets, in animals, in plants and there ought not to be any in us either, if this theory's true. So a lot of the philosophy of mind over the last 100 years has been trying to prove that we are not really conscious at all.'' Certainly some biologists, including myself, accept that animals are conscious. In August, 2012, a group of scientists came out with an endorsement of animal consciousness in ''The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness''. As Discovery News reported, ''While it might not sound like much for scientists to declare that many nonhuman animals possess conscious states, it's the open acknowledgement that's the big news here.'' (http://news.discovery.com/human/genetics/animals-consciousness-mammals-birds-octopus-120824.htm)
  But materialist philosophers and scientists are still in the majority, and they argue that consciousness does nothing '' it is either an illusion or an ''epiphenomenon'' of brain activity. It might as well not exist in animals '' or even in humans. That is why in the philosophy of mind, the very existence of consciousness is often called ''the hard problem''.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_problem_of_consciousness
  Accusation 2:''He also argues that scientists have ignored variations in the measurements of natural constants, using as his primary example the dogmatic assumption that a constant must be constant and uses the speed of light as example.'... Physicist Sean Carroll wrote a careful rebuttal of this point.''
  TED's Scientific Board refers to a Scientific American article that makes my point very clearly: ''Physicists routinely assume that quantities such as the speed of light are constant.''
  In my talk I said that the published values of the speed of light dropped by about 20 km/sec between 1928 and 1945. Carroll's ''careful rebuttal'' consisted of a table copied from Wikipedia showing the speed of light at different dates, with a gap between 1926 and 1950, omitting the very period I referred to. His other reference (http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/lightandcolor/speedoflight.html) does indeed give two values for the speed of light in this period, in 1928 and 1932-35, and sure enough, they were 20 and 24km/sec lower than the previous value, and 14 and 18 km/sec lower than the value from 1947 onwards.
  1926: 299,7981928: 299,7781932-5: 299,7741947: 299,792
  In my talk I suggest how a re-examination of existing data could resolve whether large continuing variations in the Universal Gravitational Constant, G, are merely errors, as usually assumed, or whether they show correlations between different labs that might have important scientific implications hitherto ignored. Jerry Coyne and TED's Scientific Board regard this as an exercise in pseudoscience. I think their attitude reveals a remarkable lack of curiosity.
  Accusation 3:''Sheldrake claims to have ''evidence'' of morphic resonance in crystal formation and rat behavior. The research has never appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, despite attempts by other scientists eager to replicate the work.''
  I said, ''There is in fact good evidence that new compounds get easier to crystallize all around the world.'' For example, turanose, a kind of sugar, was considered to be a liquid for decades, until it first crystallized in the 1920s. Thereafter it formed crystals everyehere. (Woodard and McCrone Journal of Applied Crystallography (1975). 8, 342). The American chemist C. P. Saylor, remarked it was as though ''the seeds of crystallization, as dust, were carried upon the winds from end to end of the earth'' (quoted by Woodard and McCrone).
  The research on rat behavior I referred to was carried out at Harvard and the Universities of Melbourne and Edinburgh and was published in peer-reviewed journals, including the British Journal of Psychology and the Journal of Experimental Biology. For a fuller account and detailed references see Chapter 11 of my book Morphic Resonance (in the US) / A New Science of Life (in the UK). The relevant passage is online here: http://sciencesetfree.tumblr.com/
  The TED Scientific Board refers to ''attempts by other scientists eager to replicate the work'' on morphic resonance. I would be happy to work with these eager scientists if the Scientific Board can reveal who they are.
  This is a good opportunity to correct an oversimplification in my talk. In relation to the dogma that mechanistic medicine is the only kind that really works, I said, ''that's why governments only fund mechanistic medicine and ignore complementary and alternative therapies.'' This is true of most governments, but the US is a notable exception. The US National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine receives about $130 million a year, about 0.4% of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) total annual budget of $31 billion.
  Obviously I could not spell out all the details of my arguments in an 18-minute talk, but TED's claims that it contains ''serious factual errors,'' ''many misleading statements'' and that it crosses the line into ''pseudoscience'' are defamatory and false.
Things Went Awry
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Clusterfuck Nation
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:22
  If you've never had major surgery before there's the cool part after they've got you all scrubbed and prepped in pre-op, and inserted IVs in your veins, and you're ready to rock and roll with whatever's on the program. I'm familiar with this routine. It's the only part of the surgery your apt to remember. Then they start pumping fentanyl and versed (midazolam) into you and things get extremely pleasant instantly. You're riding a gurney, a rolling taxicab, through the maze of subterranean hospital hallways and everyone's wearing the same outfit: green scrubs with a big puffy beret, and there's a party going on exactly where you're headed: the room where they disassemble you and put you back together. I was in for a minimally invasive cervical decompression on March 4. They were going to thread some arthoscopic instruments into the spaces around my neckbones - the cervical vertebrae - and grind down some bone spurs and fix some other crap that was pressing on my spinal cord and giving me grief. I was goofing with the anesthesiologists as I rolled into the OR, doing an old routine from a Samuel Beckett novel, Molloy, that I'd memorized back in college called The Story of the Stones ... "I took advantage of being at the seaside to lay in a store of sucking-stones. They were pebbles but I called them stones. Yes on this occasion I laid in a considerable store...." It's a great piece, goes on for pages and pages of absolutely absurd poetic drivel, and the chief anesthesiologist (Albany Med is a teaching hospital) was an Irishman like Beckett so I thought he'd appreciate it. They'd just given me the final chemical push into dreamyland and inserted the breathing tube when the EKG unit that my heart was hooked up to started reporting strange activity. The waveform looked bad. My blood pressure shot way up. They stopped the operation. I don't know this on my own, but I'm told that as they yanked the breathing tube out I seamlessly resumed The Story of the Stones "...I distributed them equally among my four pockets and sucked them turn and turn about. This raised a problem which I first solved in the following way...." In the commotion I assumed that that operation had concluded and all was well. I was then informed what actually happened, wheeled off to some post-op holding pen, and left to stew in drugged mystification and disappointment for a while. Eventually, they wheeled me up to a neurosurgery recovery ward to cool my jets until some new order of business was lined up. The next two days I had heart tests. First was the common stress test. You get a dose of radioactive fluid, wait an hour watching Honey Boo Boo videos until it penetrates your tissues, and then get a set of fancy pictures of your heart taken under this big revolving drum of a camera. Then they put you on the treadmill to study how your heart performs under a controlled strain. Turned out the treadmill interface with the EKG was on the fritz, so they took me off and opted for the "hot-shot" instead. The hot shot is a dose of some chemical that fools your heart into thinking it had just run the 100 yard dash. Meanwhile you're hooked up to an EKG readout. It was like a chemically-induced anxiety attack. The EKG on me produced a strange wave form. The pictures, on the other hand, showed nothing conclusive. The next day I went to the angiogram lab. It's a subterranean room chilled like a walk-in-fridge because all the computer equipment stuffed into it doesn't like to get warm. I got another IV "cocktail" down there while they shaved my groin and threaded a catheter wire into my femoral artery up toward my heart. There were at least eight technicians roistering around in there including the cardiologist who ran the lab. Some kind of Star Wars type of "music" filled the room, and the ambience was rather like a dance club around two o'clock in the morning, minus super-models. The upshot of the test was that I had a 90 percent blockage of the Left Main coronary artery, the "widow-maker." The other coronary vessels were clear. It had to get fixed. The next step was to decide whether they would fix it with a stent or a bypass surgery. The stent is a little wire basket inserted with a catheter. They have two kinds: 1) plain; 2) coated with anti-clotting chemicals. It will hold a blocked artery open, but it has its limitations. You have to stay on blood-thinner drugs practically forever and the stent can just fail. The heart-surgeons and their cardiologist office-mates came around to talk it over with me and we all decided that a bypass was the way to go. I spent the next six days as a hostage waiting for a surgery slot. The doctors didn't want to cut me loose because the widow-maker might take me out just lifting a bag of onions in the supermarket, and I suppose there were liability issues - like: this guy's heirs and assigns will sue us if we let him go for a few days and something happens. I had visitors, and my girlfriend kept me company for big chunks of the day, and I read a biography of Stalin - a much more interesting chap than I'd previously understood him to be - and, of course, I enjoyed the fabulous hospital cuisine. Oh, I wrote last week's blog somewhere in there, too, on my iPad. Tuesday morning it was back to pre-op. This time, I didn't feel as frisky as the last when I performed Beckett. The anesthesiologist resident was a whip-smart Asian beauty with a jaunty head-rag and a droll sense of humor, and that was good enough. I don't even remember them shaving my chest, let alone sawing through my sternum and retracting the ribs to reveal all the marvelous pulsing wet gunk inside. The operation lasted about five hours. For about four of them, my heart was stopped and my lungs collapsed (on purpose, to get them out of the way). My blood and oxygen circulated through a machine. That was my "Kurzweil" moment. I don't remember dreaming up any avatar super-model sex partners in the process. The surgeon "harvested" a couple of blood vessels from around my pectoral muscles to use as grafts. They used to go straight for the leg veins, but the chest veins are stronger and more flexible. They ran two bypasses around the blocked Left Main coronary vessel. The Left Main provides nourishment and oxygen for the whole left side of the heart, so you want to make sure that the bypasses deliver a lot of flow. They left three drainage hoses and a temporary pacemaker wire in my thoracic cavity, wired the sternum back together, and called it a day. I came to, partially anyway, in the post-op with the breathing tube jammed in my craw and, quite possibly, the most unpleasant range of sensations I'd ever felt. A nurse or patient assistant sat nearby and I tried to communicate that the breathing tube was killing me, but he just said he couldn't understand me. So, I tried writing it out on my forearm with my index finger. He remained perplexed. Finally, I wrote it upside down and backwards, and he said, "Oh, 'gagging.' Yeah. Don't worry, it's normal." The next 48 hours in the cardio intensive care unit amounted to a diminishing set of ghastly sensations. I was wired up to several machines and the hoses were dumping liters of accumulated fluid. Sleep was out of the question, such a racket of beeps and gurgling surrounded me. They got me sitting in a chair and then walking around the unit within a day of surgery. The other people on the ward were amazingly old, it seemed to me, pale, shriveled, grub-like creatures, like the nematodes you find digging up a patch of lawn. It was a stretch to imagine them surviving this. The doctors came by now and again to check in with me. They mostly gave you the impression that they wanted to be somewhere else, and were impatient to get there. But since they came by in the evening, and still wore the scrubs they put on at seven in the morning, you got the feeling that they were horribly overworked, too. After two days in the ICU, they sent me upstairs for one more night, and then I came home. The feeling of having been hit by a truck and then having had my brains pulled out of my head through my nostrils is beginning to dissipate. A few provisional conclusions. 1) I was lucky to find out I had a blocked artery in the way I did. 2) I was lucky to get it fixed, pronto. 3) Unlike many of my boomer friends in these later innings of life, I know exactly what the condition of my heart is now. 4.) I didn't have a heart attack at any point in the ordeal, and the muscle is actually quite strong, so I will be here to torment my adversaries and auditors for quite a while. I now await the cavalcade of bills. It was impressive to see how hermetically sealed off the "care-givers" (doctors, nurses, etc) are from the business side of the hospital. At no point in the ordeal was the cost of anything discussed. Therefore, apart from the great benefit of staying alive, one is firmly in the grip of what amounts to an outrageous and indecent hostage racket. I'll keep you posted on how that unravels in the weeks ahead, when I'm not running my mouth in other directions. Apart from that, too, I'm grateful to the doctors and nurses whose skills allowed me to stay on board the mystery train and see how Ben Bernanke's grand experiment works out, among other temporal melodramas. And thanks to many readers who sent emails of support and concern.____________________________________
More Questions Than Answers on US Drone Program | Military.com
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 08:44
  WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama promises to explain in greater detail U.S. policy on the use of armed drones. But the administration's statements so far have only raised more questions about the controversial counterterrorism program, particularly the president's legal authority to kill American citizens.
  Frustration over the ambiguity has resulted in unlikely political alliances on Capitol Hill, with liberal Democrats like Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden joining forces with conservative Republicans like Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
  And pressure from Congress is leading the White House to consider whether to disclose more information about the top-secret program, the existence of which the government only publicly acknowledged last year.
  Three Americans were killed in strikes in Yemen in 2011. The target of the first strike was U.S.-born al-Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaki. American Samir Khan, an al-Qaida propagandist, was killed in the same attack, and al-Awlaki's son, Abdulrahman, was killed the following month.
  Here are some questions and answers about the program:
  Q: Why do Wyden and Paul object to the program?
  A: "Every American has the right to know when their government believes it is allowed to kill them," Wyden said at a George Washington University panel on government secrecy. "The laws ought to be public all the time." He said there is no stated, public law authorizing the White House to target Americans. Paul raised similar objections when he launched a 13-hour Senate filibuster aimed at holding up the nomination of John Brennan to run the Central Intelligence Agency. Brennan previously served as Obama's top counterterrorism adviser and ran the drone program from the White House.
  Q: What is the administration's legal rationale for killing U.S. citizens overseas?
  A: Administration officials say the basis for the armed drone program derives from the president's constitutional power to protect the U.S. from imminent attack. The administration has also cited the Authorization for Use of Military Force, which Congress approved shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, as legal backing for strikes against al-Qaida and its affiliates.
  Q: Where is the administration's case documented?
  A: The Justice Department, through its Office of Legal Counsel, has written memos more specifically outlining the case for targeting U.S. citizens. But the top secret memos have never been made public and were only recently shared with select congressional lawmakers.
  Q: So, it's all a secret?
  A: A declassified version of the OLC memos, leaked to the media last month, offered the broadest glimpse at what the administration sees as its legal case for targeting Americans overseas. The government must determine that a suspect poses an imminent threat, that capture of the suspect is "infeasible" and that the strike must be conducted according to the "law of war principles."
  Q: Are there any loopholes or conditions?
  A: The memo leaves plenty of wiggle room. For example, it notes that the U.S. can determine a person poses an imminent threat even without having "clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future."
  "What appears to be limitations are in actual fact latitudes," said Hina Shamsi of the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the leading critics of the drone program.
  Q: Can the courts order the government to release information about the drone program?
  A: A federal appeals court on Friday rejected the CIA's assertions that it could not disclose any information about records it has on the drone program or even acknowledge that it has such records. However, the court did not rule that any specific information must be shared. Friday's ruling sends the case back to the lower court, where the agency can argue that the records it has on drones are exempt from Freedom of Information Act disclosure requirements.
  Q: Does Obama have the authority to kill an American citizen on U.S. soil?
  A: Attorney General Eric Holder, testifying on Capitol Hill, did not rule out such a possibility but said he could only foresee that happening in an extraordinary circumstance, such as the 9/11 attack or the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
  Q: Those are the only conditions?
  A: Holder later sought to clarify, saying in a brief letter that the president does not have the authority to use a drone to kill an American citizen on U.S. soil if that person is "not engaged in combat." But Holder's brief statement did not define what being engaged in combat actually means.
  That leaves open a huge loophole, skeptics say. "Once you accept the battlefield is everywhere, it's very hard to draw lines," said ACLU civil liberties attorney Jameel Jaffer. Holder said the government has never used a drone to kill Americans on U.S. soil.
  Q: How many drone strikes has the U.S. launched? And how many people have been killed?
  A: The Obama administration has never publicly stated the scope of the drone program, leaving independent groups to cobble together data based on news reports and information from people living in the areas where the strikes occur.
  Q. So, what do the outside groups say?
  A: The New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, estimates the U.S. has launched 420 strikes in Pakistan and Yemen -- the two countries where the strikes are believed to occur most frequently -- since 2004. Between 2,424 and 3,967 people are believed to have been killed by U.S. drones, the majority in Pakistan.
  Q: Were the people killed all suspected terrorists?
  A: The New America Foundation estimates that roughly 21 percent of those killed are believed to be nonmilitants.
  Q: Do the families of those killed in drone attacks have any legal recourse, especially those who were not the targets of the strike?
  A: The relatives of the three Americans killed in Yemen have filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court arguing that the government violated the Constitution and international law when it authorized the strikes. The Obama administration has urged the court to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the issue is best handled by the government's political branches, not the courts
  Q: What does the American public think of the drone program?
  A: Americans are supportive of the use of drones on foreign soil. A Fox News poll conducted in February found that 74 percent of registered voters backed the use of drones to kill suspected terrorists in a foreign country. The level of support dropped to 60 percent when voters were asked whether they would support a strike against a U.S. citizen overseas.
  The same poll found Americans were more skeptical about the use of drones in the U.S. About 54 percent backed drone strikes on suspected foreign terrorists in the U.S. Forty-five percent of registered voters said they approve the U.S. using drones to kill a suspected terrorist who is a U.S. citizen on American soil, while 50 percent disapproved.
  -- AP National Security Writer Lara Jakes and AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.
  (C) Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Tesco Giant Uses Wristband Trackers To Monitor Employees' Every Move | Zen-Haven
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:05
  Tesco workers are being made to wear electronic armbands that managers can use to grade how hard they are working.
  A former staff member has claimed employees are given marks based on how efficiently they work in a bid to improve productivity and can be called in front of management if they take unscheduled toilet breaks.
  The armbands are worn by warehouse staff and forklift drivers, who use them to scan the stock they collect from supermarket distribution points and send it out for delivery. Tesco said the armbands are used to improve efficiency and save its staff from having to carry around pens and paper to keep track of deliveries. But the device is also being used to keep an eye on employees' work rates, the ex-staff member said.
  The former employee said the device provided an order to collect from the warehouse and a set amount of time to complete it. If workers met that target, they were awarded a 100 per cent score, but that would rise to 200 per cent if they worked twice as quickly. The score would fall if they did not meet the target.
  If, however, workers did not log a break when they went to the toilet, the score would be ''surprisingly lower'', according to the former staff member, who did not want to be named but worked in an Irish branch of Tesco. He said that some would be called before management if they were not deemed to be working hard enough.
  ''The guys who made the scores were sweating buckets and throwing stuff around the place,'' he said. He said the devices put staff under huge pressure and many of his colleagues using them in Ireland were eastern Europeans, with limited English. He said lunch breaks did not result in staff being marked down. Tesco confirmed that the devices were also in use across its UK stores.
  Tesco in Ireland told the Irish Independent that a ''break'' function could be used to register genuine stoppages and around 25 minutes had been allowed per day for that. But any other time would be monitored.
  A Tesco spokesman told The Independent: ''Arm-mounted terminals are a working aid and at no time are they used to monitor colleagues while on their breaks. They make it easier for our colleagues to carry out their role as they don't need to carry paperwork around the distribution centre.''
  According to one expert, the laws surrounding surveillance at work give employers a lot of liberty. But Peter Daly, a solicitor at Bindmans LLP, added that firms risked possible lawsuits if employees felt they were being discriminated against.
  He said: ''There is not a huge problem with surveillance itself as far as the law is concerned, the issue is the data that is taken from it. In principle, there is nothing stopping you watching what your members of staff do; huge numbers of workplaces keep their CCTV footage for a long time, for example.
  ''With this information, there is a question about how it is stored, what it is stored for and whether people can understand it. If this is personal information, then the subjects are entitled to receive it under the Data Protection Act. Employers should be careful'... because it could potentially be disclosed in a discrimination claim.''
  Read More: Here
  .
FIN-2013-G001
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:04
  To download Adobe Acrobat Reader, download PowerPoint Viewer or download Excel Viewer, please visit Accessibility page.
  Guidance
  FIN-2013-G001 The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") is issuing this interpretive guidance to clarify the applicability of the regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA") to persons creating, obtaining, distributing, exchanging, accepting, or transmitting virtual currencies.1 Such persons are referred to in this guidance as "users," "administrators," and "exchangers," all as defined below.2 A user of virtual currency is not an MSB under FinCEN's regulations and therefore is not subject to MSB registration, reporting, and recordkeeping regulations. However, an administrator or exchanger is an MSB under FinCEN's regulations, specifically, a money transmitter, unless a limitation to or exemption from the definition applies to the person. An administrator or exchanger is not a provider or seller of prepaid access, or a dealer in foreign exchange, under FinCEN's regulations.
  Currency vs. Virtual Currency
  FinCEN's regulations define currency (also referred to as "real" currency) as "the coin and paper money of the United States or of any other country that [i] is designated as legal tender and that [ii] circulates and [iii] is customarily used and accepted as a medium of exchange in the country of issuance."3 In contrast to real currency, "virtual" currency is a medium of exchange that operates like a currency in some environments, but does not have all the attributes of real currency. In particular, virtual currency does not have legal tender status in any jurisdiction. This guidance addresses "convertible" virtual currency. This type of virtual currency either has an equivalent value in real currency, or acts as a substitute for real currency.
  Background
  On July 21, 2011, FinCEN published a Final Rule amending definitions and other regulations relating to money services businesses ("MSBs").4 Among other things, the MSB Rule amends the definitions of dealers in foreign exchange (formerly referred to as "currency dealers and exchangers") and money transmitters. On July 29, 2011, FinCEN published a Final Rule on Definitions and Other Regulations Relating to Prepaid Access (the "Prepaid Access Rule").5 This guidance explains the regulatory treatment under these definitions of persons engaged in virtual currency transactions.
  Definitions of User, Exchanger, and Administrator
  This guidance refers to the participants in generic virtual currency arrangements, using the terms "user," "exchanger," and "administrator."6 A user is a person that obtains virtual currency to purchase goods or services.7 An exchanger is a person engaged as a business in the exchange of virtual currency for real currency, funds, or other virtual currency. An administrator is a person engaged as a business in issuing (putting into circulation) a virtual currency, and who has the authority to redeem (to withdraw from circulation) such virtual currency.
  Users of Virtual Currency
  A user who obtains convertible virtual currency and uses it to purchase real or virtual goods or services is not an MSB under FinCEN's regulations.8 Such activity, in and of itself, does not fit within the definition of "money transmission services" and therefore is not subject to FinCEN's registration, reporting, and recordkeeping regulations for MSBs.9
  Administrators and Exchangers of Virtual Currency
  An administrator or exchanger that (1) accepts and transmits a convertible virtual currency or (2) buys or sells convertible virtual currency for any reason is a money transmitter under FinCEN's regulations, unless a limitation to or exemption from the definition applies to the person.10 FinCEN's regulations define the term "money transmitter" as a person that provides money transmission services, or any other person engaged in the transfer of funds. The term "money transmission services" means "the acceptance of currency, funds, or other value that substitutes for currency from one person and the transmission of currency, funds, or other value that substitutes for currency to another location or person by any means."11
  The definition of a money transmitter does not differentiate between real currencies and convertible virtual currencies. Accepting and transmitting anything of value that substitutes for currency makes a person a money transmitter under the regulations implementing the BSA.12 FinCEN has reviewed different activities involving virtual currency and has made determinations regarding the appropriate regulatory treatment of administrators and exchangers under three scenarios: brokers and dealers of e-currencies and e-precious metals; centralized convertible virtual currencies; and de-centralized convertible virtual currencies.
  a. E-Currencies and E-Precious Metals
  The first type of activity involves electronic trading in e-currencies or e-precious metals.13 In 2008, FinCEN issued guidance stating that as long as a broker or dealer in real currency or other commodities accepts and transmits funds solely for the purpose of effecting a bona fide purchase or sale of the real currency or other commodities for or with a customer, such person is not acting as a money transmitter under the regulations.14
  However, if the broker or dealer transfers funds between a customer and a third party that is not part of the currency or commodity transaction, such transmission of funds is no longer a fundamental element of the actual transaction necessary to execute the contract for the purchase or sale of the currency or the other commodity. This scenario is, therefore, money transmission.15 Examples include, in part, (1) the transfer of funds between a customer and a third party by permitting a third party to fund a customer's account; (2) the transfer of value from a customer's currency or commodity position to the account of another customer; or (3) the closing out of a customer's currency or commodity position, with a transfer of proceeds to a third party. Since the definition of a money transmitter does not differentiate between real currencies and convertible virtual currencies, the same rules apply to brokers and dealers of e-currency and e-precious metals.
  b. Centralized Virtual Currencies
  The second type of activity involves a convertible virtual currency that has a centralized repository. The administrator of that repository will be a money transmitter to the extent that it allows transfers of value between persons or from one location to another. This conclusion applies, whether the value is denominated in a real currency or a convertible virtual currency. In addition, any exchanger that uses its access to the convertible virtual currency services provided by the administrator to accept and transmit the convertible virtual currency on behalf of others, including transfers intended to pay a third party for virtual goods and services, is also a money transmitter.
  FinCEN understands that the exchanger's activities may take one of two forms. The first form involves an exchanger (acting as a "seller" of the convertible virtual currency) that accepts real currency or its equivalent from a user (the "purchaser") and transmits the value of that real currency to fund the user's convertible virtual currency account with the administrator. Under FinCEN's regulations, sending "value that substitutes for currency" to another person or to another location constitutes money transmission, unless a limitation to or exemption from the definition applies.16 This circumstance constitutes transmission to another location, namely from the user's account at one location (e.g., a user's real currency account at a bank) to the user's convertible virtual currency account with the administrator. It might be argued that the exchanger is entitled to the exemption from the definition of "money transmitter" for persons involved in the sale of goods or the provision of services. Under such an argument, one might assert that the exchanger is merely providing the service of connecting the user to the administrator and that the transmission of value is integral to this service. However, this exemption does not apply when the only services being provided are money transmission services.17
  The second form involves a de facto sale of convertible virtual currency that is not completely transparent. The exchanger accepts currency or its equivalent from a user and privately credits the user with an appropriate portion of the exchanger's own convertible virtual currency held with the administrator of the repository. The exchanger then transmits that internally credited value to third parties at the user's direction. This constitutes transmission to another person, namely each third party to which transmissions are made at the user's direction. To the extent that the convertible virtual currency is generally understood as a substitute for real currencies, transmitting the convertible virtual currency at the direction and for the benefit of the user constitutes money transmission on the part of the exchanger.
  c. De-Centralized Virtual Currencies
  A final type of convertible virtual currency activity involves a de-centralized convertible virtual currency (1) that has no central repository and no single administrator, and (2) that persons may obtain by their own computing or manufacturing effort.
  A person that creates units of this convertible virtual currency and uses it to purchase real or virtual goods and services is a user of the convertible virtual currency and not subject to regulation as a money transmitter. By contrast, a person that creates units of convertible virtual currency and sells those units to another person for real currency or its equivalent is engaged in transmission to another location and is a money transmitter. In addition, a person is an exchanger and a money transmitter if the person accepts such de-centralized convertible virtual currency from one person and transmits it to another person as part of the acceptance and transfer of currency, funds, or other value that substitutes for currency.
  Providers and Sellers of Prepaid Access
  A person's acceptance and/or transmission of convertible virtual currency cannot be characterized as providing or selling prepaid access because prepaid access is limited to real currencies. 18
  Dealers in Foreign Exchange
  A person must exchange the currency of two or more countries to be considered a dealer in foreign exchange.19 Virtual currency does not meet the criteria to be considered "currency" under the BSA, because it is not legal tender. Therefore, a person who accepts real currency in exchange for virtual currency, or vice versa, is not a dealer in foreign exchange under FinCEN's regulations.
  * * * * *
  Financial institutions with questions about this guidance or other matters related to compliance with the implementing regulations of the BSA may contact FinCEN's Regulatory Helpline at (800) 949-2732.
  1 FinCEN is issuing this guidance under its authority to administer the Bank Secrecy Act. See Treasury Order 180-01 (March 24, 2003). This guidance explains only how FinCEN characterizes certain activities involving virtual currencies under the Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN regulations. It should not be interpreted as a statement by FinCEN about the extent to which those activities comport with other federal or state statutes, rules, regulations, or orders.2 FinCEN's regulations define "person" as "an individual, a corporation, a partnership, a trust or estate, a joint stock company, an association, a syndicate, joint venture, or other unincorporated organization or group, an Indian Tribe (as that term is defined in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act), and all entities cognizable as legal personalities." 31 CFR ½ 1010.100(mm).3 31 CFR ½ 1010.100(m).4Bank Secrecy Act Regulations - Definitions and Other Regulations Relating to Money Services Businesses, 76 FR 43585 (July 21, 2011) (the "MSB Rule"). This defines an MSB as "a person wherever located doing business, whether or not on a regular basis or as an organized or licensed business concern, wholly or in substantial part within the United States, in one or more of the capacities listed in paragraphs (ff)(1) through (ff)(7) of this section. This includes but is not limited to maintenance of any agent, agency, branch, or office within the United States." 31 CFR ½ 1010.100(ff).5Final Rule - Definitions and Other Regulations Relating to Prepaid Access, 76 FR 45403 (July 29, 2011),6 These terms are used for the exclusive purpose of this regulatory guidance. Depending on the type and combination of a person's activities, one person may be acting in more than one of these capacities.7 How a person engages in "obtaining" a virtual currency may be described using any number of other terms, such as "earning," "harvesting," "mining," "creating," "auto-generating," "manufacturing," or "purchasing," depending on the details of the specific virtual currency model involved. For purposes of this guidance, the label applied to a particular process of obtaining a virtual currency is not material to the legal characterization under the BSA of the process or of the person engaging in the process.8 As noted above, this should not be interpreted as a statement about the extent to which the user's activities comport with other federal or state statutes, rules, regulations, or orders. For example, the activity may still be subject to abuse in the form of trade-based money laundering or terrorist financing. The activity may follow the same patterns of behavior observed in the "real" economy with respect to the purchase of "real" goods and services, such as systematic over- or under-invoicing or inflated transaction fees or commissions.9 31 CFR ½ 1010.100(ff)(1-7).10 FinCEN's regulations provide that whether a person is a money transmitter is a matter of facts and circumstances. The regulations identify six circumstances under which a person is not a money transmitter, despite accepting and transmitting currency, funds, or value that substitutes for currency. 31 CFR ½ 1010.100(ff)(5)(ii)(A)-(F).11 31 CFR ½ 1010.100(ff)(5)(i)(A).12 Ibid.13 Typically, this involves the broker or dealer electronically distributing digital certificates of ownership of real currencies or precious metals, with the digital certificate being the virtual currency. However, the same conclusions would apply in the case of the broker or dealer issuing paper ownership certificates or manifesting customer ownership or control of real currencies or commodities in an account statement or any other form. These conclusions would also apply in the case of a broker or dealer in commodities other than real currencies or precious metals. A broker or dealer of e-currencies or e-precious metals that engages in money transmission could be either an administrator or exchanger depending on its business model.14Application of the Definition of Money Transmitter to Brokers and Dealers in Currency and other Commodities, FIN-2008-G008, Sept. 10, 2008. The guidance also notes that the definition of money transmitter excludes any person, such as a futures commission merchant, that is "registered with, and regulated or examined by½the Commodity Futures Trading Commission."15 In 2011, FinCEN amended the definition of money transmitter. The 2008 guidance, however, was primarily concerned with the core elements of the definition - accepting and transmitting currency or value - and the exemption for acceptance and transmission integral to another transaction not involving money transmission. The 2011 amendments have not materially changed these aspects of the definition.16 See footnote 11 and adjacent text.17 31 CFR ½ 1010.100(ff)(5)(ii)(F).18 This is true even if the person holds the value accepted for a period of time before transmitting some or all of that value at the direction of the person from whom the value was originally accepted. FinCEN's regulations define "prepaid access" as "access to funds or the value of funds that have been paid in advance and can be retrieved or transferred at some point in the future through an electronic device or vehicle, such as a card, code, electronic serial number, mobile identification number, or personal identification number." 31 CFR ½ 1010.100(ww). Thus, "prepaid access" under FinCEN's regulations is limited to "access to funds or the value of funds." If FinCEN had intended prepaid access to cover funds denominated in a virtual currency or something else that substitutes for real currency, it would have used language in the definition of prepaid access like that in the definition of money transmission, which expressly includes the acceptance and transmission of "other value that substitutes for currency." 31 CFR ½ 1010.100(ff)(5)(i) .19 FinCEN defines a "dealer in foreign exchange" as a "person that accepts the currency, or other monetary instruments, funds, or other instruments denominated in the currency, of one or more countries in exchange for the currency, or other monetary instruments, funds, or other instruments denominated in the currency, of one or more other countries in an amount greater than $1,000 for any other person on any day in one or more transactions, whether or not for same-day delivery." 31 CFR ½ 1010.100(ff)(1).12As our response is not in the form of an administrative ruling, the substance of this letter should not be considered determinative in any state or federal investigation, litigation, grand jury proceeding, or proceeding before any other governmental body.
European Commission Announces ½Full Engagement½ In Agenda 21
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:00
  On February 27, the European Commission published a document announcing it will take on itself the ½lead role½ in global environmental governance through ½a unified policy framework½- in effect aligning itself with Agenda 21.In the 30-page document titled A Decent Life For All [PDF] the EC says it aspires to a ½leading role½ in an ½overarching framework½ towards global governance. The commiszars profess to care about worldwide poverty, environmental degradation and other no-brainers, carefully handpicked by an elite-class prepared to use any and every pretext behind which power is being centralized at the international level at the expense of sovereignty at the national one.
  ½The world has undergone enormous change over recent years½, the document reads, ½including major shifts in the global economic and political balance, increased global trade, climate change and depletion of natural resources, technological change, economic and financial crises, increased consumption and price volatility of food and energy consumption, population changes and migration, violence and armed conflict and natural and man-made disasters, and increased inequalities.½
  Quite some parade of calamities the EU is willing to tackle. A lead role is what they work towards, the authors state- and the EC Commiszars are perfectly willing to ½debate½ their plans with the European (only in name) parliament. A few exceptions aside, this parliament consists of nodding, dozing- sometimes outright sleeping individuals who are there to approve the commission½s proposals and send their lunch-bills to the European taxpayer:
  [...]
  Read the full article at: explosivereports.com
UN chief urges approval of arms trade treaty - Americas
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:41
  UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has urged the world's nations to agree on a strong international treaty to regulate the multi-billion-dollar global arms trade in the next two weeks, saying it will save lives and make it more difficult for warlords and organised criminals to obtain weapons.
  Attemps to reach an agreement on what would be a landmark treaty failed last July when the US said it needed more time to consider the proposed accord - a move quickly backed by Russia and China.
  "After a very long journey, our final destination is in sight - a robust arms trade treaty," the UN chief told ministers and ambassadors from most of the 193 UN member states at Monday's opening session at the UN headquarters.
  "Now is the time to overcome past setbacks and deliver."
  In December, the UN General Assembly decided to hold a final conference with its closing date, March 28, as a deadline for reaching agreement on a treaty.
  Many countries control arms exports, but there has never been an international treaty regulating the estimated $60 billion global arms trade.
  For more than a decade, activists and some governments have been pushing for international rules to try to ban the trade of illicit weapons.
  Ban said the absence of a treaty regulating the conventional arms trade "defies explanation", citing international standards that regulate everything from t-shirts and toys to tomatoes and furniture.
  "That means there are common standards for the global trade in armchairs but not the global trade in arms," he said.
  The draft treaty under consideration does not control the domestic use of weapons in any country, but it would require all countries to establish national regulations to control the transfer of conventional arms and to regulate arms brokers.
  It would prohibit states that ratify the treaty from transferring conventional weapons if they would violate arms embargoes or if they would promote acts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.
  In considering whether to authorise the export of arms, the draft says a country must evaluate whether the weapon would be used to violate international human rights or humanitarian laws or be used by organised crime or for corrupt practices.
  'Flexibility and commitment'
  Just before the conference opened, the foreign ministers of Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Finland, Japan, Kenya and Britain issued a joint statement urging "flexibility and commitment from everyone to secure a treaty which will save lives and reduce human suffering, and to bring transparency and consistency to the global arms trade whose legacy will endure for generations to come".
  Erkki Tuomioja, Finland's Foreign Minister, told a news conference that the countries are optimistic that an agreement can be reached, citing a statement made by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, as being cause for such hope.
  Kerry said on Friday that the US is committed to reaching agreement on a strong UN treaty "that addresses international transfers of conventional arms solely".
  It will not support a treaty that would be inconsistent with US law and the right of Americans under the US constitution to bear firearms, or a treaty that would impose new requirements on the US domestic trade in firearms and US exporters, he said.
  Australian UN Ambassador Peter Woolcott, elected president of the conference, said disappointment after last July's failure to reach agreement has given way "to determination [...] to finish the job."
  He said preparations for the conference over the past few months show "that the world is ready for an Arms Trade Treaty'' and he urged delegates to "look for solutions that can bridge remaining differences and that hold the prospect of consensus".
  The start of the conference was almost delayed by a dispute over the participation of the two UN non-member states, Palestine and the Vatican.
  But Woolcott announced that an agreement had been reached to allow them to speak and participate, but not be part of the decision-making process.
  761
Report: Hacker Starts Distributing Confidential Memos Sent to Hillary Clinton on Benghazi Attack, Libya
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: TheBlaze.com - Stories
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 22:00
  WASHINGTON, DC '' JANUARY 23: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill January 23, 2013 in Washington, DC. Lawmakers questioned Clinton about the security failures during the September 11 attacks against the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, that led to the death of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Credit: Getty Images
  A hacker, known only as ''Guccifer,'' has reportedly distributed confidential memos that were sent to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and dealt with various developments in Libya, including the Benghazi terrorist attack. The hacker has apparently sent four of the recent memos to congressional aides, politicians and journalists across the globe, the Smoking Gun reports.
  It was over the weekend that the hacker reportedly distributed the memos, which were sent to Clinton by one of her longtime confidants and former White House aide, Sidney Blumenthal. His AOL email account was hacked last week. One memo, sent to Clinton on Sept. 12, was labeled ''Confidential.''
  The Smoking Gun has more details:
  The hacker's e-mails went to hundreds of recipients, though the distribution lists were dotted with addresses for aides to Senate and House members who are no longer in office. But many of the addresses to which the Blumenthal memos were sent are good (though it is unclear whether karl@rove.com is a solid address for the Republican mastermind).
  Most of the e-mail recipients were sent four separate memos that were e-mailed to Clinton by Blumenthal during the past five months. Each memo dealt with assorted developments in Libya, including the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi. One memo marked ''Confidential'' was sent to Clinton on September 12.
  As TSG reported last week, after Blumenthal's e-mail account was compromised, the hacker searched it for e-mails sent to Clinton, and further sorted the mail to segregate any attachment''like Word files''that were included in Blumenthal's correspondence to Clinton. Many of these pilfered documents were memos to Clinton on foreign policy and intelligence matters.
  In another stunning twist, the emails disseminated by ''Guccifer'' over the weekend appear to have been sent from the hacked AOL account of an unidentified Hollywood actor's wife. The hacker has apparently has used similar tactics in the past to shield his or her identity.
  What exactly is included in the confidential memos remains a mystery. The Smoking Gun did not reveal any of the information included in the correspondence, however, the site did provide a screengrab of one of the hacked emails:
  (The Smoking Gun)
  Additionally, authorities don't know where ''Guccifer'' is currently located. While several of the IP addresses associated with the hacker have reportedly been traced to the Russian Federation, it could be a dead end as hackers regularly hide their tracks using proxies, IP spoofing and various identity-concealing software.
  The hacker ''did show some familiarity with the Russian media in Saturday's e-mail blast. While the majority of the journalists to whom he sent the Blumenthal memos are based in the U.S., 'Guccifer' also sent the documents (in a separate e-mail) to about two dozen reporters working for Russian outlets like Pravda, the Moscow Times, The St. Petersburg Times, and the RT news channel,'' according to the Smoking Gun.
  (H/T: Drudge)
  Featured image via AFP/Getty
The Dots
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Lame Cherry
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:37
  Did you notice that Joseph Farah and Jerome Corsi, after pushing the Birther issue, making a great deal of money off of it, simply ran from it like Sarah Palin fled politics after Gabrielle Giffords was offered up, and left the people who trusted in them exposed and in the open for slaughter?
  I'm going to explain something my children here and it is important in understanding these things of news in order to work, must have "buzz", meaning something to capture the interest of the public.In order for a story to stand, it must have legs, meaning it must either have more damning events taking place in it as was manufactured in the Watergate coup against President Richard Nixon, or it must have secondary events as in the Iran Contra coup perpetrated against President Ronald Reagan.
  No matter the frauds, dupes and stooges on the left, the Birther issue was real, Obama had forged documents, he is a Peking girl plant of black liberation from the Kremlin and the Jesuits, and it all ties in to the realty of the fraud of Barack Hussein Obama Chin, and how this epic of fraud, is connected to other events.
  For reasons of cowardice and Mockingbird, World Net Daily and all other sources have dropped the Birther issue, and yet the Birther issue is behind every major event which is engulfing Barack Hussein Obama Chin.
  The murder of the Navy SEALS in the Afghanistan set up operation was covering up the staged events of the bin Laden corpse murder and became ANALGATE in the murder and rape of Ambassador Chris Stevens and other Americans in Benghazi.ANALGATE would not have taken place if people simply would have listened to Pakistani Intelligence in what they were trying to alert the world to, as this blog had noted, that Sheik bin Laden was already dead before that raid on that home in Pakistan.
  For those who mock this blog for the feudalist regime of Barry Chin, the reality is that Andrew Breitbart was assassinated over the above labyrinth of information which he hacked into. The same is true in the Diaspora Dead he joined as this blog exposed in Aaron Swartz being suicided out.All of these events connect, and that includes the worst of this in the mass murder of the Phillip Marshall family, which included his two children and family pet, as was outlined exclusively in this blog in the events. All of these people file directly back to 9 11 and the cartel inspired attack on America to Afghanistan it out as was done to the Soviets, followed by the Barack Obama Super Depression created to finish off America in his Birther usurpation of the United States Presidency.
  Each of the sanction groups have been different facets all protecting the same underlying Obama lies. We know this by the different protocols. The SEALS had leaked intelligence from the military minders. Breitbart was high tech in his puffy pink outing. Swartz was psychological assassination.
  The Pakistani Intelligence knew that it was not Sheik bin Laden in that compound. They had been contracted with by the regime to guard a compound in which a stand in group of terrorists were to be protected as a "front" for bin Laden's presence, for a time when Obama would require this October Surprise.
  The glitch was that Sheik bin Laden was still alive. The divergent stories are that the Sheik was murdered in Pakistan a decade previous by a member of Pak Intel and the body was kept. The other was the reality that the Sheik made his way to Xianxiang in China, where he was protected by Peking to keep al Qaeda from launching attacks in China as part of the Putin FSB restructuring of Dr. Zawahiri as an agent of Islamocommunism.bin Laden received treatment for his malady, but in any scenario, the Sheik was dying or was murdered sometime in early Birth Abstract forgeries by Obama and a definite body was put on the auction block by China, which Obama negotiated for as he "dithered".It was proven that intelligence showed the fake bin Laden was in Pakistan from August the previous year in DOD intelligence, but Obama never moved on it, as this was the straw dog bin Laden, and Obama was going to use that event for his 2012 October Surprise.
  Events changed though as bin Laden expired, and that series of just a corpse having expired due to kidney failure would not look so good for chest thumper Obama, so a deal was worked out where Obama would hand over a stealth helicopter to China in exchange for bin Laden's corpse.DNA along with the body was smuggled out, along with Chinese digital blackmail footage to keep Obama honest in the espionage transfer, and the entire raid was sprung and the stand in body's dumped in the ocean.There was a time that bin Laden's body was inside America, but it was subsequently incinerated.
  All of that information is what Pakistan Intelligence was fuming over as Obama flew into their country and blew up that home the Pakistani's were guarding and left the mess to clean up, along with the subsequent cover up of those "family members" who had to be gotten out of the way.This blog challenges the doubters again, in the greatest story in modern history, the eye witness wives and children of the murder of bin Laden, were never pursued by western press in a complete information clamp down and these people just "disappeared".Not one hint of a New York Eric Holder trial for these terror women and children.
  Why is that? You know why as this was all a farce for Obama media relations in his staged events and the reality has only been exposed here, and when others have attempted to publish this information from other sources, those source files were set in motion in their groups to silence the lambs about to bleat about these things.
  That was what was behind the source photo of the fake bin Laden corpse digital. It was of such poor quality, that the French journalists knowing damn well that bin Laden was dead from French CIA and that Obama had staged all of this, published that this picture was a photoshop creation.PAK Intel was furious over Obama pissing on them, and giving them the fury of Muslim militants to deal with in their own nation, so the photo was produced to call attention to the fraud of bin Laden's death as he was already dead.
  That was payback, and it was the platform for various nations to start a blackmail process on the Obama regime as all hell would have broken loose if this ever reached the public beyond fringe journalism.This is what Andrew Breitbart had gained access to. It is that long lead that Phillip Marshall was being fed, as the reality is, there is sport in this as long as Obama is living, that clever intelligence people with gripes do not need to muddle up a Christopher Dorner event to tie it to Obama, they can just drag out Sheik bin Laden in the glaring evidence and make the proxies for Obama who are protecting this story on fronts from the opium trade, al Qaeda mule dope traffic, human traffic, weapons, Muslim Brohood nation transfer to oil sabotage and the founding of the New Asian Order, Neo Roman Empire and the Caliph.Scratch this Birther story and the next thing you know is Sheik bin Laden's ghost comes up and everyone is on alert looking to protect their interests to keep all hell from breaking loose.
  This global realignment by Obama is the problem as Obama has his fingers in every bit of it, including the Jesuits overthrowing Pope Ben and showing him the door and Obama assisting in sticking in a Pope who will glue the Neo Roman Empire together.
  The reality is more people are going to die from this Birther issue and Sheik bin Laden, because Obama has pissed off loads of people and as Obama is off grabbing guns, making Mexicans legal and trying to blow up the Middle East, it allows opportunities for competing factions to feed the Birther information to those who will start talking about it and make these dead bones work their way to the surface again.
  The fraudulent dead bin Laden photograph was meant to be discovered for leverage with Obama. The same deal was in Egypt with Chris Stevens murder as the Egyptians knew these terrorists were imported by Barack Obama into Libya for his regional wars in training them and rewarding them. Egypt got piles of cash and equipment. It is the blackmail game and when any of these groups need something more, then a story will be planted hinting at things again and Obama will be digging in your wallet to pay them a bribe in billions.
  Bad fakes have purpose like Obama's birth abstract having a smiling face on it and being pulled apart reveals it was a forgery constructed from other documents. That was the punchline in all of this that bin Laden's death photo was made exactly like Obama's birth abstract......meaning the intelligence people who did it, knew Obama's birth abstract in how it was created and did the same chop job to point out that Obama was fraud in both events in staging them.
  See no one fessed up in Pakistan in who created this photo. The story was shut down. No one bothered to inform you whose head was on top of bin Laden's beard in this fake in that curly hair. That head was chosen for a purpose in a definite message to Barack Hussein Obama and those who knew whose head it was, how that person was murdered and by whom and on whose orders.Exclusively I will inform you the orders came from 1600 Penn Avenue, and that person if their story was brought to the public's attention in why they were murdered and who he was connected to, would bring this all down just like any of these stories if fully understood from the Birthers to now Chris Dorner would bring down Barack Hussein Obama Chin.
  There are more stories coming as the reason to keep these secrets secret are not as necessary. Payback is a bitch. It is all connect the dots and the fools who have been defending Obama are being exposed as fools.
  agtG 244
newspapers bridle at 'historic' deal
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:24
  Protests from industry as David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband agree to create powerful regulator in late-night talks
  The press regulation deal has left much of the newspaper industry dismayed. Photograph: Paul Hackett/Reuters
  A shellshocked newspaper industry was struggling to come to terms with a sudden all-party agreement to create a powerful new press regulator designed to prevent a repeat of the phone-hacking scandal.
  The independent regulator will have powers to impose fines and demand prominent corrections, and courts will be allowed to impose exemplary damages on newspapers that fail to join the body.
  All three party leaders hailed the "historic" deal, sealed in extraordinary late-night talks on Sunday in the office of the Labour leader Ed Miliband after months of wrangling, but many of the country's leading newspaper publishers were ominously wary.
  Some Conservative MPs accused David Cameron of running up the white flag and the former Tory cabinet minister Peter Lilley urged newspapers to boycott the new system '' an option being actively considered by some media groups.
  The newspapers are furious that Cameron's policy adviser, the Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin, sealed the deal at 2.30am on Monday morning in Miliband's office, accompanied by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and four members of the victims' group Hacked Off.
  No 10 was forced to say that Cameron had not been asleep in the early hours and that the critical aspects of the deal had been settled the previous afternoon in face-to-face talks between Clegg and Cameron.
  Under the deal, the newspaper industry has lost its power to veto appointments to the body that will replace the Press Complaints Commission, the previous regulator discredited by its failure to investigate phone hacking by leading newspapers.
  David Cameron urged the newspaper industry to sign up quickly to the agreement by setting up the new regulator. "It is a neat solution. It is not a panacea," he said.
  Quoting the Labour MP Gerald Kaufman, the prime minister said: "It is closing time in the last chance saloon. This replaces a failed regulatory system with one that will work because it has some real independence at its heart and is going to be properly overseen without allowing parliament to endlessly interfere." But he stressed that the new royal charter only sets up the body to recognise the regulator, and it remains a voluntary choice for the industry to decide whether to set up the system of independent regulation.
  If newspapers refuse to co-operate with the regulator, or set up a body that is not accepted by the new recognition panel, they will be more liable to exemplary damages in the event that they recklessly publish inaccurate stories.
  In a statement, Associated Newspapers, News International, the Telegraph Media Group and the Express's publishers, Northern & Shell, said they would be taking "high-level legal advice" before deciding if they could join the new watchdog. The deal, they said, raised several deeply contentious issues.
  "No representative of the newspaper and magazine industry had any involvement in, or indeed any knowledge of, the cross-party talks on press regulation that took place on Sunday night," they said. "We have only late this afternoon seen the royal charter that the political parties have agreed between themselves and, more pertinently, the recognition criteria, early drafts of which contained several deeply contentious issues which have not yet been resolved with the industry."
  Downing Street sought to reassure small-scale web-based news providers and blogs that they would not be required to co-operate with the new regulatory system. No 10 said bloggers, tweeters, news aggregators and social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter, as well as special interest titles, would be excluded, but there was concern that a workable definition of these would be difficult to come up with.
  Cameron switched from a stance of defiance last Thursday to apparent capitulation on a range of points over the weekend.
  Major parts of the newspaper industry have issues with the statute that would be laid down to guarantee that no change could be made to the royal charter, along with worries over the proposals to empower the regulator to force apologies. They are also strongly opposed to the notion that, for the first time, people from outside the industry would be involved in drawing up the newspaper code of practice, a code that has been widely praised and has been adapted by regulators in other countries.
  "This is a political deal between the three parties and Hacked Off. It is not a deal with the newspapers," said one senior executive in one newspaper group.
  Associated Newspapers, News International and the Telegraph Media Group had been exploring the possibility of boycotting the government-sanctioned regulator and setting up their own body if they believed it could threaten freedom of the press.
  This is still "very much a live discussion", said one source. "Nobody is threatening it, or saying we will do it, but we won't be making a decision before we have had high-level legal advice," said the insider, who claimed that the existence of a "no change" statute to guarantee that the royal charter could not be amended by the privy council still opened the door to political interference.
  Alan Rusbridger, the Guardian's editor-in-chief, gave a cautious welcome to the deal. He said: "We welcome the fact that there has been cross-party agreement. The regulatory settlement is by and large a fair one, with compromises on all sides. We retain grave reservations about the proposed legislation on exemplary damages. The agreed terms are not ideal but after two years of inquiry and debate we finally have the prospect of what the public wants - a robust regulator that is independent of both press and politics. It's a big improvement on what went before."
  A second senior executive said the industry had already been advised that the proposal that the regulatory body could force newspapers into making apologies it did not agree would be illegal, as it would be contrary to article 10 of the European convention of human rights which protects freedom of speech. The editor of the Independent, Chris Blackhurst, said the proposed regulator "isn't perfect, but neither is it terrible", and said he did not think it would threaten journalism at his paper.
  Views hardened within larger newspaper groups as the implications of a deal began to sink in, with Tim Jotischky, the deputy editor of the Telegraph, tweeting late on Monday: "We can never lecture a Mugabe or a Putin on freedom of expression again. Quite an achievement for Hacked Off et al."
  The Newspaper Society condemned the deal for placing what it said was a "crippling burden" on the UK's 1,100 local newspapers. Adrian Jeakings, president of the society and chief executive of Archant, one of the biggest local newspaper publishers, said the political deal "completely ignores the Leveson recommendations on the local press" and opened an arbitration system that could affect the viability of local papers.
  The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) '' representing 57 member states '' warned that the new regulator could threaten freedom of expression in the UK. Dunja Mijatovic, the OSCE's representative on freedom of the media,urged Britain not to sacrifice its tradition of press self-regulation, which was regarded around the world as best practice.
  "A government-established regulatory body, regardless of how independent it is intended to be, could pose a threat to media freedom," she said, adding that the phone-hacking scandal was a "criminal issue" which was being dealt with through prosecutions in the criminal courts. "This should not be used as an excuse to rein in all print media," she said.
  Clegg's office rounded on Cameron, saying: "If it looks chaotic that Letwin was meeting members of Hacked Off in Ed Miliband's office at 2am to discuss press regulation, that is because it was chaotic. It is chaotic because the prime minister walked out of the talks unilaterally on Thursday rather than sitting down and having sensible discussions. We have ended up where we hoped, and expected."
  Harriet Harman, the shadow culture secretary and Labour's lead negotiator, hailed the concessions extracted from Cameron since last week. She said: "What changed after Thursday is we got free arbitration, with a small narrowing of the route into arbitration, to reassure the regional press, we got the direction of apologies and corrections, we got abandonment of the veto on the appointment to the board of the regulator, and there is a role for working journalists in the writing of the code. We also got them to accept the amendment tabled by Lord Wilf Stevenson entrenching the Royal Charter for the press. We have been storming along."
  She also defended Labour's insistence on staying close to campaigners saying: "Hacked Off gave the victims of press intrusion a support network of protection to the victims '' people that have been previously isolated and frightened. Hacked Off allowed them no longer to be victims, but agents for change. We have had hour after hour after hour of meetings with them to make sure we are all moving together. When you are working with people from outside Westminster you have to do politics in a completely different way."
  (C) Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
DEATH OF THE UK PRESS?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: aangirfan
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:22
  On 18 March 2013, the deputy editor of the Telegraph, tweeted: "We can never again lecture a Mugabe or a Putin on freedom of expression."The UK parliament (some of whom are allegedly "a bunch of child abusers and fascists") has agreed to the setting up of a powerful new press regulator designed to prevent the public from learning that some of our leaders may be "a bunch of child abusers and fascists."The independent regulator (expected to be run by the CIA and its friends) will have powers to impose fines and demand prominent corrections, and courts will be allowed to impose exemplary damages on newspapers that fail to join the body.All three party leaders hailed the 'historic' deal, sealed in the office of the Labour leader Ed Miliband, whose father was a Polish-Jewish-Marxist.
  LetwinThe deal was sealed by Prime Minister David Cameron's policy adviser, the Cabinet Office minister Oliver Letwin, a Jewish gentleman who has worked for the Rothschilds.
  The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) - representing 57 member states - warned that the new regulator could threaten freedom of expression in the UK.Newspapers bridle at 'historic' deal on press regulation
  Of course, the CIA and its friends already control the key position in the UK media.
  In 1995, the actor Hugh Grant was arrested for soliciting prostitute Divine Brown.One of those who campaigned for stricter regulation of the press is the actor Hugh Grant.
  "The press should now take revenge and never print one single word about Hugh Grant, his movies, his life, his friends or anything else. No matter how much he begs for the publicity he craves when it suits him. Just say No!"- stevie-boy , Angeles-City, Philippines, 19/3/2013 05:27
  Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.
To prohibit the use of drones to kill citizens of the United States within the United States. (H.R. 1242)
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:21
  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.
How long before Wisconsin electricity customers regret loss of Kewaunee?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Atomic Insights
  Tue, 19 Mar 2013 07:18
  After a number of discussions with people in positions close to the decision to destroy the Kewaunee nuclear power station, I am now about 98% sure that it will be shut down as currently scheduled in May of 2013. I am also about 95% sure that the decision will cost electricity customers in the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) grid a substantial quantity of money during the 20 years that the plant could have remained in operation.
  About the only thing that can save the plant at this point is the arrival of a well-capitalized white knight who recognizes the value of a licensed nuclear power plant, 900 acres of surrounding land, and the potential for finding electricity customers that will pay a premium for predictable energy prices more than 1 year into the future. It might also help if the white knight is an out of the box thinker who realizes that nuclear reactors can do more than just produce electricity.Here are some of the things that I have learned in the past week, some of which I find rather disturbing.
  Kewaunee has enough fuel remaining to operate into the fall of 2013.In 2012, Kewaunee operated with an average capacity factor above 90% and produced 4.5 billion kilowatt hours of emission-free electricity.Entergy, Exelon and Next Era did not make offers, despite having performed some due diligence.A Wall Street mergers and acquisition (M&A) specialist stated that if those companies could not make the numbers work, no one could.No one I spoke to put any value on the emission-free nature of the power output.Everyone I spoke to was concerned only about current electricity market prices.No one recognized the opportunity associated with future market price increases.At least one decision maker at a major provider of cloud based services is firmly opposed to the use of nuclear energy.The employees at the facility have mixed perspectives on the closure.Some have few ties to the local area and have already found other jobs.Some are nearing retirement and see the buyouts as an unexpected windfall.Some are in the middle of their careers, are active in the community and have children in school. This is the group that is most unhappy about losing their job or the prospects for finding a new one in a different locationMany people in the nuclear industry are happy about the immediate jobs associated with decommissioning the plant.My contacts with the Nuclear Energy Institute have not responded to my emails asking if there is anything that the rest of the industry can do to change the situation. (I hope that is because my email got lost in a stack, not because they have no interest.)
  One of the things that became abundantly clear is that many of the people I talked to are quite sanguine about shutting down a uranium fueled plant and replacing its output with either coal or natural gas. Some of the people talked about the low price and low risk associated with burning natural gas compared to the fixed costs of operating a nuclear plant and the liability risk associated with nuclear energy.
  I have a difficult time understanding how anyone can consider increased dependence on natural gas to be a less risky choice, especially given the history of price volatility. Here is the chart from the Energy Information Agency of the monthly prices paid for natural gas by electric power producers.
  Natural gas electric power price
  After reading Mark Cooper's paper criticizing the economic prospects of VC Summer and the Levy project, I contacted Geoff Styles, publisher of Energy Outlook. Geoff has professional experience in the fuel commodity futures trading market. One of Cooper's assumptions is that it is possible for electric power companies to lock in natural gas prices on long term contracts at a favorable price.
  I asked Geoff if it really was possible to purchase natural gas futures more than a few years into the future. He responded with some very useful information about the structure of the futures market.
  It's been a while since I was directly involved in the futures markets, but I still watch them fairly closely. It's true that the NYMEX futurescontracts for gas extend out the ten years that Mr. Cooper claims''currentlythrough March 2023. See:
  http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/energy/natural-gas/natural-gas.html
  However, if you take a look at the column labeled ''volume'', you can see thatthere's very little activity out that far. (You can pull up volume graphsfor each contract by clicking on the chart icon in the column next to themonth column.) It's not always zero, but whenever I've checked this in thelast few years, the volume typically falls off rapidly beyond year 2 or 3.That means two things for anyone seeking to lock in a 10-year gas price:
  In order to entice someone to sell any significant volume in the out years, they'd likely have to bid well above the most recent settlement prices for those distant contracts.Just as importantly, the lack of liquidity, even if they could find a willing seller up front, means that it could be very difficult to unwind any of those distant contracts before they have advanced to within a year or two of delivery, except at a large loss by enticing a buyer via a very low offer price.In practice, I assume that anyone actually interested in lining up asizeable volume over a ten year period or longer would avoid the futuresexchange and either try to deal directly with a large, stable producer, orfind a ''market maker'' like a big investment bank or trading house to do anover-the-counter swap to lock in the price. In my experience those don'tcome cheap.
  I checked the link that Geoff provided and found out that the situation is even less predictable than Geoff remembered. The most distant futures contract that has any reported volume is Jan 2014, less than one year from now. Combined with the recent price history since the market bottom last spring, that does not bode well for the stability of future gas prices.
  My guess is that sellers are demanding a higher price than buyers want to pay. That often happens in a commodity market when the sellers know there are factors driving up the price and buyers look over recent history and believe they can comfortably just keep buying short term contracts.
  I remain comfortable with my bet that there will be at least one month before the end of 2014 in which prices at Henry Hub will exceed $10 per MMBTU. I suspect that the natural gas price for electric power customers will exceed that number by several dollars during the same time period. I suspect that there will be plenty of customers who are not happy with the choices made for them during the temporary period of low natural gas prices.
  On the other hand, I also suspect that there will be people who trade natural gas or who own substantial stakes in natural gas production, storage and transportation assets that gain a financial edge from the decision to remove 550 MWe (equivalent to about 100 million cubic feet of natural gas per day or 33 billion cubic feet per year at 90% capacity factor) of competitive supply from the electric power grid.
Scripting News: Dear Mr Pierce.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Dave Winer
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:38
  Over the weekend Charles Pierce took a swipe at my earlier piece about sources going direct.
  He has summarized my thoughts: "Journalism is no longer an actual profession because everyone can do it because BLOGS!, that's why. Well, fine, that's an argument. But it's not a good one."
  Nor does it in any way resemble what I said.
  Or anything I have ever said or thought or even dreamed.
  And btw, how insulting to be called that superficial and that stupid.
  This is what I mean about reporters not listening to people outside their own profession.
  To Klein, he was condescending, but respectful, at least superficially. He didn't read Klein's piece either, or if he did, none of the meaning was reflected in his critique.
  My piece? Clearly he didn't even read it. And he didn't care how stupid it made him look, to be so dismissive and condescending without even bothering to find out what it was he was dismissing.
  Regardless, he's an entertaining and often insightful writer. But I'll always remember when reading him that I've seen some pretty sloppy thinking on his part, and it'll make me question the other stuff he says.
  To Mr Pierce: I love reading your stuff, and if your getting paid is what it takes for you to continue, I hope you continue to get paid for a long time to come. I hope that puts to rest any thought that I begrudge you your salary. :-)
Small Pocket Knives '' More Support Than You'd be Led to Believe
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: The TSA Blog
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:38
  TSA is always assessing our policies, ensuring that they are based on the latest intelligence, best practices, and focused on mitigating the most serious threats to the traveling public. Of course anytime we modify these policies, the public has questions regarding the reason why.Earlier this month TSA announced the latest modification to our ongoing efforts to provide the most effective security to the traveling public. Starting April 25, TSA will relax restrictions on certain items previously prohibited as part of its ever evolving efforts to focus on items that pose the highest threat. Relaxed restrictions will apply to knives that do not lock, and have blades that are 2.36 inches or 6 centimeters or lessin length and are less than 1/2 inch in width, novelty-sized and toy bats,billiard cues, ski poles, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks and two golf clubs as part of their carry-on baggage.
  On the Hill this week, Administrator Pistole said we know the aviation threat is, ''from nonmetallic improvised explosive devices such as the liquids explosive plot we saw from the U.K. in 2006, the bomb used by the so-called Underwear Bomber on Christmas Day 2009, the toner cartridge printer bombs from Yemen placed onto our air cargo flights destined for Chicago in October 2010 and most recently, the improved next generation underwear device also from Yemen intended for a passenger jet on its way to the U.S....'' We have yet to see a single incident involving a knitting needle or a small knife. In fact, the GAO published a report that said there had been zero security incidents where these items had been used aboard an aircraft.Here's some additional reading material with outside input made this week:Remember, the changes do not go into effect until April 25th. If you have a travel related issue or question that needs an immediate answer, you can contact us byclicking here.
More parents say 'no' to HPV vaccine, despite benefits
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:12
  Story TimelineClick to open timelineDALLAS '-- Emily Rosuck, 14, is going to get the HPV vaccine. But at first, it was hard to convince her mother that she and her three siblings needed it.
  "I didn't feel like there were enough long-term studies about it," Stephanie Rosuck said. "I was concerned about a number of issues that made me delay the decision to get my oldest daughter immunized until I thought we couldn't delay any more. If we were going to do it, we had to do it."
  Seven years after the HPV vaccine was approved, many parents still need convincing.
  A study in the journal "Pediatrics" said two in five parents believe the immunization is unnecessary. According to the study by the Mayo Clinic and others, 40 percent of parents surveyed in 2005 said they wouldn't vaccinate their daughters.
  Five years later, 44 percent still say "no" to the HPV vaccine.
  Pediatrician Dr. Sue Hubbard said safety is the top parental concern. "Their kids aren't sexually active. 'I'll wait until they are sexually active,'" Dr. Hubbard said.
  Dr. Hubbard said she spends a lot of time convincing parents that the vaccine doesn't give children the green light to become sexually active. What it does do is prevent the virus responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancers, 80 percent of anal cancers, 60 percent of vaginal cancers, and some oral and throat cancers.
  Gardasil and Cervarix are the two vaccines currently approved.
  Studies show the younger the patient, the better the vaccine works. Boys and girls can now get the HPV vaccine starting at age nine. Three doses over six months are recommended to get the best protection.
  The vaccine only works before a child becomes sexually active.
  "Sexual activity is hard for parents '-- me included '-- to wrap your arms around, and it doesn't always mean intercourse," said Dr. Hubbard, who is known by many as "The Kids Doctor." "There's other types of sexual activity involving touching, and that can also lead to HPV."
  Hubbard said she believes doctors should spend more time educating parents about the advantages and safety of the HPV vaccine.
  "I think this is a good vaccine," she said. "I've given it to all my children, who were adolescents at the time."
  The pain and side effects Emily Rosuck had heard about the vaccine turned out be hype.
  "There was no pain," she said, "and it was easy."
  Her mother said she's glad her four girls will have the best shot at avoiding certain types of cancer.
  "I don't want them getting cancer on my watch," Stephanie Rosuck said. "If it's something that can be prevented, I feel like it's my obligation as a parent."
  E-mail jstjames@wfaa.com
  PrintEmail|
Even Paul Krugman Gets the Problems with the Cyprus Bank Tax
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: EconomicPolicyJournal.com
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 08:09
  He writes:OK, I didn't see that one coming. With all the problems in Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal I wasn't watching Cyprus. But that's where the big euro news is this weekend; in return for a bailout, Cyprus is supposed to impose a large haircut '-- that is, loss '-- on all depositors in its banks.[...]
  The big problem, however, is that it's not just large foreign deposits that are taking a haircut; the haircut on small domestic deposits is a bit smaller, but still substantial. It's as if the Europeans are holding up a neon sign, written in Greek and Italian, saying ''time to stage a run on your banks!''
  Tomorrow and the days immediately following should be very interesting.
  I'm don't think there will necessarily be an immediate bank run beyond Cyprus (and possibly Greece) but I think two things will occur throughout the troubled eurozone area, including Spain and Italy .First, you will see many in these countries being reluctant to add new money to their current deposits. The mattress, gold, silver and bitcoins will be the new places to store money.
  Second, at the first hint of intensifying crisis in any eurozone country, a move to pull money out of banks will be very swift. Thus, even if there is no immediate run on banks that does not mean the banking system is safe from bank runs in the future. Regardless of what happens at this point in Cyprus, even if the tax is killed, the situation is pretty close to the way Krugman calls it, although to be more accurate the neon sign the IMF and other bankster tools are flashing says, "be prepared to stage a run on your banks at anytime!"
Germany: Cyprus must finance EU bailout
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: The Local - Germany's news in English
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 08:05
  Published: 18 Mar 13 10:17 CET | Print versionUpdated: 18 Mar 13 12:35 CETOnline: http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20130318-48595.html
  It was up to the Cyprus government how it chooses to finance the terms of a tough EU bailout deal, which should have a "calming effect" on the crisis-wracked eurozone, Germany said Monday.
  "How the country makes its contribution, how it makes the payments, is up to the Cyprus government," government spokesman Steffen Seibert said, as a finance ministry spokesman added the bailout would have a "largely calming effect" on the eurozone.The European Central Bank (ECB) opened the door on Monday to possible amendments to a tough EU bailout deal for Cyprus, arguing that as long as the financing secure, it was up to the Cyprus government to decide how to raise it.
  "It's the Cyprus government's adjustment programme, not the Troika's or any other government's," Germany-based ECB executive board director J¶rg Asmussen told a conference here.
  The troika is the term used for international creditors, the European Union, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund.
  "If Cyprus's president wants to change something in the structure of the levy on bank deposits, that's in his hands. He must simply make sure that the financing is intact," Asmussen said.
  Cyprus President Nico Anastasiades is currently seeking the backing of MPs for an EU bailout deal that slaps a tax on bank savings under harsh terms that have jolted global markets and raised fears of a new eurozone debt crisis.
  Ahead of a parliamentary vote on the hugely unpopular measure on Monday afternoon, negotiators are seeking to soften the blow on small-time depositors, who have been stunned by the announcement that their savings will be skimmed.
  As a condition for a desperately-needed '‚¬10 billion bailout for Cyprus, fellow eurozone countries and international creditors Saturday imposed a levy on all deposits in the island's banks.
  Deposits of more than '‚¬100,000 will be hit with a 9.9 percent charge, while under that threshold the levy drops to 6.75 percent. The proposal must still be passed by parliament.
  Cyprus's share of the financing of the deal is around '‚¬5.8 billion euros.
  ECB board member Asmussen insisted it was Nicosia's programme. "They must decide its parameters. It's not as if the Troika was adamant about this particular structure," Asmussen argued.
  Cyprus is the fifth eurozone country to turn to its partners for aid, but the first where savers are being asked to foot part of the bill.
  The deal sent European stock markets into a tailspin on Monday amid fears of a bank run in Cyprus.
  Asmussen said the situation in Cyprus's banking sector was such that "no easy, risk-free decision was possible."
  The situation in Cyprus was "unique," he said when asked whether similar conditions could be imposed on other countries seeking a bailout.
  AFP/jcw
Top French lawyer's body found near beach - Europe
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 07:52
  A suicide letter has been found at the house of a prominent French lawyer found dead near his private island in Brittany.
  The body of Olivier Metzner, 63, was located at about 9am on the coast of Boedic, Vannes public prosecutor's office said on Monday.
  Rising from a humble background, Metzner scaled the career ladder and came to represent some of the most famous names in France, including rogue trader Jerome Kerviel and Dominique de Villepin, the former prime minister.
  In 2010, he defended Panama's Manuel Noriega, who was eventually found guilty of money laundering and was sentenced to seven years in prison in France.
  Noriega, who was later extradited to Panama for further crimes, said in a note sent by his eldest daughter that he was "surprised" and "deeply hurt" to learn of the death.
  He also dismissed suggestions of suicide, saying the act was "incompatible with [Metzner's] personality".
  Antonin Levy, Metzner's associate, told the AP news agency that his colleague's death represented a huge loss to the French bar, calling him a "great lawyer and a fighter".
  Georges Kiejman, another of Metzner's colleague, said: "I had strong intellectual admiration for him, but that didn't stop me from thinking - wrongly it seems - that he could perhaps lack some heart and sensitivity."
  Metzner bought Boedic island in 2010, describing it as "a magnificent and remarkable place".
  213
New York's 'stop-and-frisk' policy under fire - Americas
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BadChad's ThoughtPile
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 07:51
  The New York City police practice of stopping, questioning and frisking people on the street is about to face its biggest legal challenge.
  A civil rights group is taking police to court over claims that the so-called stop and frisk policy targets minorities. They say that 85 percent of those approached by authorities are minorities and less than two percent of them are actually charged with a crime.
  Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey reports from New York City.
  77
Ham Radio for Arduino and PICAXE
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:31
  Where Ham Radio Meets Open-Source ElectronicsMicrocontroller technology has exploded in popularity among ham radio operators. The new generation of single-board microcontrollers is easier than ever to use, bringing together hardware and software for project-building radio amateurs can easily dive into. With inexpensive microcontroller platforms'--such as the popular open-source Arduino board'--readily available parts, components and accessory boards, the possibilities are limitless: beacon transmitters, keyers, antenna position control, RTTY and digital mode decoders, waterfall displays, and more.
  Editor Leigh L. Klotz, Jr, WA5ZNU has assembled this first edition of Ham Radio for Arduino and PICAXE to help introduce you to the fun and rewards of experimenting with microcontrollers. Klotz and many other contributors have designed projects that will enhance your ham radio station and operating capabilities. Or, take it to the next step, using these projects as a launch pad for creating your own projects.
  Projects:APRS Data LoggerQRSS BeaconMultimode Transmitter ShieldHigh Voltage, High Frequency, and High Temperature Data LoggerReceive-Only, Low-Power APRS iGatePICAXE Keyer and CW Beacon KeyerSolar TrackerNanokeyerHandheld Radio Talk TimerAPRS MessengerDTMF Controlled SSTV CameraAPRS DisplayWaterfallSWR Scanner'...and more projects using the Arduino, PICAXE, and ATtiny microcontrollersSpecial ARRL Member Price! Only $29.95* (regular $34.95)
  Product DetailsSoftcover: 352 pagesPublisher: The American Radio Relay League, Inc.; First Edition/First Printing (February 2013)Language: EnglishISBN: 978-0-87259-324-4Product Dimensions: 8 3/16 x 10 7/8 inchesShipping Weight: 1.70 pounds
@Michelle Malkin >> Time To Opt Out of Creepy Fed Ed Data-Mining Racket @adamcurry @theRealdvorakhttp://t.co/VBuHlFjwTN via @michellemalkin
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: @adamcurry - Twitter Search
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:11
  JUST SAY NO!
  Yesterday, Glenn Beck and his team at The Blaze TV aired a terrific program with teachers and activists exposing some of the basic myths and failures of the Common Core racket (click on the link and be sure to sign up. Glenn's network is doing invaluable, forward-thinking work). It was heartening to see the trailblazers receive the time and attention tthey deserve. And it's just the tip of the educational iceberg.
  My column today delves further into the creepy Fed Ed data-mining racket. Don't just sit there. Get involved. As always, see the links and resources at the end of the column for ways to learn more and join those on the frontlines of reclaiming parental and local control of our children's classrooms. And minds.
  ***
  Time To Opt Out of Creepy Fed Ed Data-Mining Racketby Michelle MalkinCreators SyndicateCopyright 2013
  Last week, I reported on the federal government's massive new student-tracking database, which was created as part of the nationalized Common Core standards scheme. The bad news: GOP ''leadership'' continues to ignore or, worse, enable this Nanny State racket (hello, Jeb Bush).
  The good news: An independent grassroots revolt outside the Beltway bubble is swelling. Families are taking their children's academic and privacy matters out of the snoopercrats' grip and into their own hands. You can now download a Common Core opt-out/disclosure form to submit to your school district, courtesy of the Truth In American Education group: CLICK HERE.
  Parents caught off guard by the stealthy tracking racket are now mobilizing across the country. Echoing families across the city, Big Apple public advocate Bill de Blasio blasted the tracking database in a letter to government officials: ''I don't want my kids' privacy bought and sold like this.'' On Wednesday, prompted by parental objections, Oklahoma state representatives unanimously passed House Bill 1989 '-- the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act '-- to prohibit the release of confidential student data without the written consent of a student's parent or guardian.
  As I noted in last week's column, the national Common Core student database was funded with Obama stimulus money. Grants also came from the liberal Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (which largely underwrote and promoted the top-down Common Core curricular scheme). A division of conservative Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. built the database infrastructure. A nonprofit startup, ''inBloom, Inc.,'' evolved out of the strange-bedfellows partnership to operate the invasive database, which is compiling everything from health-care histories, income information and religious affiliations to voting status, blood types and homework completion.
  But it gets worse. Research fellow Joy Pullmann at The Heartland Institute points to a February Department of Education report on its data-mining plans that contemplates the use of creepy student monitoring techniques such as ''functional magnetic resonance imaging'' and ''using cameras to judge facial expressions, an electronic seat that judges posture, a pressure-sensitive computer mouse and a biometric wrap on kids' wrists.''
  The DOE report exposes the big lie that Common Core is about raising academic standards by revealing its progressive designs to measure and track children's ''competencies'' in ''recognizing bias in sources,'' ''flexibility,'' ''cultural awareness and competence,'' ''appreciation for diversity,'' ''empathy,'' ''perspective taking, trust (and) service orientation.''
  That's right. School districts and state governments are pimping out highly personal data on children's feelings, beliefs, ''biases'' and ''flexibility'' instead of doing their own jobs imparting knowledge '' or minding their own business. And yes, Republicans such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush continue to falsely defend the centralized Common Core regime as locally driven and non-coercive, while ignoring the database system's circumvention of federal student privacy laws.
  Why? Edu-tech nosy-bodies are using the Common Core assessment boondoggle as a Trojan horse to collect and crunch massive amounts of personal student data for their own social justice or moneymaking ends. Reminder: Nine states have entered into contracts with inBloom: Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Louisiana and New York. Countless other vendors are salivating at the business possibilities in exploiting public school students.
  Google, for example, is peddling its Gmail platform to schools in a way that will allow it to harvest and access families' information and preferences '-- which can then be sold in advertising profiles to marketers. The same changes to federal student privacy law (known as FERPA) that paved the way for the Common Core tracking scheme also opened up private student information to Google. As FERPA expert Sheila Kaplan explains it, ''Students are paying the cost to use Google's 'free' servers by providing access to their sensitive data and communications.''
  It's a Big Brother gold rush and an educational Faustian bargain. Fortunately, there is a way out. It starts with parents reasserting their rights, protecting their children and adopting that old motto from the Reagan years: JUST SAY NO.
  ***
  READ: From Heather Patenaude '' Open letter to parents on publc schooled children regarding Common Core
  Attention, homeschoolers: Keep on top of which homeschool curricula are rejecting Common Core.
  Parents, know your rights: From Christel Swasey '' On FERPA and Common Core in Utah: How to Protect Our State's Freedoms?
  More FERPA background/resources.
  ***
  My Rotten to the Core series:
  Rotten to the Core, Part 4: The Feds' Invasive Student Tracking Database
  Rotten to the Core, Part 3: Lessons from Texas and the Growing Grassroots Revolt
  Rotten to the Core, Part 2: Readin', writin' and deconstructionism
  Rotten to the Core, Part 1: Obama's War on Academic Standards
  Rotten to the Core: Reader feedback from the frontlines
  My child's Common Core-aligned Algebra book is crap
  ***
  On a related note, via The Blaze: 'LET GO OF THE SYSTEM': HOW CAN PARENTS & TEACHERS STOP CSCOPE?
  ***
  Previous:
  Fuzzy math: A nationwide epidemic
  Everyday Math = junk
  Obama's Sputter-nik moment: Cash for Education ClunkersJanuary 2005: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND, ACT II
  February 2005: THE REVOLT AGAINST NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
  Stupid education fad of the day: ''Mayan Math''
  ***
  More resources/background/links:
  Barry Garelick: A New Kind of Problem: The Common Core Math Standards
  EmpoweredGA.org '' Georgia activists: Here, here, here and here.
  Pennsylvania revolt against TERC Investigations math.
  http://truthinamericaneducation.com/
  http://www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com/
  Indiana: hoosiersagainstcommoncore.com
  http://stopcommoncore.com/
  ***
  And more:
  ''Related Websites'' from Truth in American Education has links to all of the following:
  Alabamians United for Excellence in EducationArizonans Against Common CoreCalifornians United Against Common CoreClosing the Door on Innovation Why One National Curriculum Is Bad for AmericaCommon Core: Education Without RepresentationCommon Core FactsHoosiers Against Common CoreKeep Education LocalMissouri Coalition Against Common CorePioneer Institute Public Policy Research: Academic StandardsStop Common Core: Reclaiming Local Control in EducationTennessee Against Common CoreUnited States Coalition for World Class Math: Common Core StandardsUtahns Against Common CoreUtah's Republic: Common Core StandardsWhere's the Math? Common Core State StandardsWhere's the Math? Standard Algorithms in the Common Core State Standards
  ~ For the latest breaking news, be sure to join Michelle's e-mail list ~
Steve Harvey: ''Hollywood Is More Racist Than America Is''
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Jacky Jasper's Diary of a Hollywood Street King
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:06
  by Jacky Jasper
  Steve Harvey is calling out Hollywood for what it is'...Racist! That's exactly what Harvey explained during a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
  Here's what Steve Harvey had to say about Hollywood:
  ''Hollywood is still very racist. Hollywood is more racist than America is. They put things on TV that they think the masses will like. Well, the masses have changed.
  The election of President Obama should prove that. And television should look entirely different. Scandal star Kerry Washington should not be the first African-American female to head up a drama series in 40 years. In 40 years! That's crazy.''
Google scraps Chrome's RSS extension along with Reader
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: CNET News
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:02
  Chrome's best option for handling feeds already has met the same fate that will come to Google Reader. There are replacements, though.
  Google's decision to kill its Google Reader service has caused some collateral damage: the end of a related Chrome extension that let the browser handle RSS feeds.
  RSS and the similar Atom technology make it easier for people to subscribe to regular updates published on Web sites, and Google Reader was a popular way for people to read that content. Google announced it's scrapping Google Reader on July 1, but it's already gone ahead and withdrawn the feed-finding Chrome extension.
  The extension would detect Web sites' feeds then let people use a variety of RSS reader services to subscribe to those feeds.
  For those who want to replace Chrome's reader extension, one option that seems to be actively maintained is the RSS Subscription Extension. According to the unofficial Google Operating System blog, it's based on Google's own RSS extension for Chrome, and based on my tests works identically so far.
  I'm one of the people who bemoans the loss of Google Reader, since I use it daily to scan countless news sites and blogs for the latest updates and think it reduces the friction of information flow around the world.
  But I'm not surprised that Google is scrapping it. RSS never drew much in the way of mainstream usage, and while some place the blame for that irrelevance at Google's feet for all but ceasing Google Reader development, I'm not convinced RSS was really ever a great tool for ordinary folks. With each passing year, Google becomes more of a consumer products and services organization, aiming for the mainstream and not the nerdy technophiles it likes to hire. Those of you who want regular-expression handling in Google Docs: forget it.
  The writing has been on the wall for Google Reader for a long time. The RSS reader extension was one illustration. A top-interest browser issue for Google was a feature request to add RSS support to Chrome. But the company chose instead to just leave RSS support as an optional extension rather than build it directly into Chrome, telegraphing clearly that feed-reading didn't make the cut.
  Just because something isn't mainstream doesn't mean there's no interest, of course. RSS readers are experiencing a new burst of activity left by Google's abandonment of the market. Feedly got 500,000 new users, it said, and the Old Reader got 100,000 new users.
  For some other ideas about filling that RSS void in your life, check CNET's list of five Reader replacements and eight reader software options, or check the Replace Reader site that tracks people's tweeted votes.
  And for replacing Chrome's reader extension, one option that seems to be actively maintained is the RSS Subscription Extension from. According to the unofficial Google Operating System blog, it's based on Google's own RSS extension for Chrome, and based on my tests works identically so far.
Cyberattack on Florida election is first known case in US, experts say '' NBCNews.com (blog)
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: News 1 Stop
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:01
  Tim Chapman / Miami Herald
  About 2,000 rejected absentee ballots at Miami-Dade Elections Department, mostly for lack of signatures or review of signatures from the last election.
  By Gil AegerterStaff Writer, NBC News
  An attempt to illegally obtain absentee ballots in Florida last year is the first known case in the U.S. of a cyberattack against an online election system, according to computer scientists and lawyers working to safeguard voting security.
  The case involved more than 2,500 ''phantom requests'' for absentee ballots, apparently sent to the Miami-Dade County elections website using a computer program, according to a grand jury report on problems in the Aug. 14 primary election. It is not clear whether the bogus requests were an attempt to influence a specific race, test the system or simply interfere with the voting. Because of the enormous number of requests '' and the fact that most were sent from a small number of computer IP addresses in Ireland, England, India and other overseas locations '' software used by the county flagged them and elections workers rejected them.
  Computer experts say the case exposes the danger of putting states' voting systems online '' whether that's allowing voters to register or actually vote.
  ''It's the first documented attack I know of on an online U.S. election-related system that's not (involving) a mock election,'' said David Jefferson, a computer scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who is on the board of directors of the Verified Voting Foundation and the California Voter Foundation.
  Other experts contacted by NBC News agreed that the attempt to obtain the ballots is the first known case of a cyberattack on voting, though they noted that there are so many local elections systems in use that it's possible that a similar attempt has gone unnoticed.
  There have been allegations of election system hacking before in the U.S., but investigations of irregularities have found only software glitches, voting machine failures, voter error or inconclusive evidence. Where there has been evidence of a computer security breach -- such as a 2006 incident in Sarasota, Fla., in which a computer worm that had been around for years raised havoc with the county elections voter database -- it was unclear whether the worm's appearance was timed to interfere with the election.
  In any case, experts say they've been warning about this sort of attack for years.
  ''This has been in the cards, it's been foreseeable,'' said law Professor Candice Hoke, founding director of the Center for Election Integrity at Cleveland State University.
  The primary election in Miami-Dade County in August 2012 involved state and local races along with U.S. Senate and congressional contests (see a sample ballot here). The Miami Herald, which first reported the irregularities, said the fraudulent requests for ballots targeted Democratic voters in the 26th Congressional District and Republicans in Florida House districts 103 and 112. None of the races' outcomes could have been altered by that number of phantom ballots, the Herald said.
  Overseas ''anonymizers'' -- proxy servers that make Internet activity untraceable -- kept the originating computers' location secret and prevented law enforcement from figuring out who was responsible, according to the grand jury report, issued in December. The state attorney's office closed the case in January without identifying a suspect.
  Read the Miami-Dade County grand jury report (PDF)
  Then came the Herald report, which said that three IP addresses in the United States had been identified among those sending the requests and that there had been a delay in getting that information to investigators, which a Miami-Dade elections official confirmed to NBC News. Terry Chavez, spokeswoman for the state attorney's office for Miami-Dade County, also confirmed to NBC News that the investigation was reopened to look into those IP addresses. Chavez said she could release no details on the investigation.
  Rep. Joe Garcia won the Democratic primary in the 26th District and went on to win the general election. Jeff Garcia, his chief of staff and no relation, said last week that no state or federal investigators had contacted the congressman's office about the case.
  State Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, a Democrat who won the District 112 seat, said Thursday that his office had not heard from investigators about the case either. A message left at the legislative office of state Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., the Republican who won the primary and the general election in District 103, was not immediately returned.
  The Herald report said that as the requests began coming in, elections officials figured out that they were improper and started blocking the IP addresses. ''I guess they finally gave up,'' the newspaper quoted Bob Vinock, an assistant deputy elections supervisor for information systems, as saying.
  People who study election security say the fact that this attempt did not succeed should be of little comfort to election officials. They warn that attempts to attack voting systems are likely to increase.
  ''In this case the attack was not as sophisticated as it could have been, and it was easy for elections officials to spot and turn back,'' said J. Alex Halderman, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Michigan who studies the security of electronic voting. ''An attack somewhat more sophisticated than the one in Florida, completely within the norm for computer fraud these days, would likely be able to circumvent the checks.''
  Fraudulently obtaining absentee ballots is just one way elections might be subverted by digital means, experts say. Among the other methods and attack points:
  Malware. Rogue software infects millions of home computers across the country. Jefferson said hackers could use malware to change votes or prevent them from being cast in an online election.Denial of service attacks. Jefferson said that hackers could use botnets to prevent election-system servers from working for hours, or perhaps longer. In fact, during an election in June 2012, a DOS attack hit the San Diego County Registrar of Voters' website, preventing voters from tracking the results.''Spoofing'' of election websites. For example, Hoke said, legitimate requests for absentee ballots could be misdirected to another site. The data then could be misused, or the requests could hit a dead end, and voters would be left wondering where their ballots were.Exploiting software flaws in digital voting machines, known as DREs. The flaws could allow insertion of viruses or alteration of programming code that would change votes or delete them. (Read one description of hacking a voting machine.)Tampering with email return of marked ballots. Experts say email return is troublesome because of the multiple points for attack along the ballots' electronic path. ''The overwhelming consensus of the computer science community is don't do it, it's a bad idea,'' said Jeremy Epstein, a senior computer scientist at SRI International. But in about half the states, email absentee ballot return is an option for members of the military and their families, along with some other U.S. citizens living overseas.Wholesale hijacking of an online voting system. In 2010, the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics tested an Internet-based voting system for a week, asking computer experts to probe it for flaws. It took only 48 hours for a team led by Halderman to break in and take control of the site '' even altering it so that the University of Michigan fight song played after a vote was cast.Read the University of Michigan researchers' report on the DC hack (PDF)
  In terms of illegally getting access to absentee ballots, Epstein said, the attacker or attackers who failed in Florida might have had an easier time with Washington state and Maryland.
  He said that last summer he demonstrated to the FBI a method of changing individual voters' addresses and other information online in those two states by predicting their driver's license numbers.
  J Pat Carter / AP file
  Absentee ballots for the general election marked for delivery to the U.S. Postal Service for mailing are seen at the Miami-Dade County election center in Doral, Fla., on Oct. 5.
  First he used publicly available information to gain a voter's full name and address. Then, he predicted the individual's driver's license number '' which is based on a combination of the person's name and numbers and letters -- and used the information to access their voter registration online. From there, he said, he could have changed their addresses and had absentee ballots sent out.
  ''Imagine if (attackers) changed the address for 2,500 votes. It could be completely automated, and they have the ballots sent to a post office box or whatever,'' Epstein said. ''Then the registered voters would have no idea until they tried to vote.''
  In October, Halderman and other researchers sent letters warning elections officials in both states of the danger of staking system security on driver's license numbers.
  The letter to Washington officials (read it here in PDF) also said that other security features in the state's MyVote system would be only a speed bump to a dedicated hacker.
  ''Although the MyVote system uses a CAPTCHA, an image of distorted text intended to deter simple automated attacks, this provides only minimal defense,'' the letter says. ''Attackers can use commercial services to defeat the CAPTCHA at a cost of less than $0.001 per voter.''
  Shane Hamlin, assistant director of elections in the Washington Secretary of State's Office, told NBC News that state election officials have acted on the recommendations in the October letter and will require additional information to register to vote or change registration online.
  Maryland election officials did not immediately return a call from NBC News seeking comment, but the Washington Post reported last month that Ross K. Goldstein, deputy administrator of the Maryland State Board of Elections, acknowledged the security hole and said the online voter registration system was being updated to address the issue.
  ''I believe technology can solve problems, and there are steps that we definitely can, and plan to, take to mitigate the risks,'' the newspaper quoted him as saying.
  While elections officials are attracted to the savings that online voting and registration systems promise, the cost of guarding online registration and voting systems is large, Hoke said. And that might negate the financial advantage of online balloting touted by some elections officials and vendors who want to sell electronic voting products.
  ''It's cheap, if you don't care whether elections are stolen,'' she said.
  That possibility -- of an election being stolen through digital means -- haunts researchers. For Jefferson, it's a matter of national security.
  ''The legitimacy of government depends on it being impossible for single parties to change the results of elections,'' he said.
  More from Open Channel:
  Follow Open Channel from NBCNews.com onTwitterandFacebook
Imps
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Lame Cherry
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 05:55
  For all of you cheering little imps about Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, here is what you have been suckered into, as you do not see the operation as you are in such a spin of a typical dazed delight.
  This was an operation of the second order and it employed Chris Matthews and Mark Levin to get you all pumped up about Ted Cruz taking on Dianne Feinstein.
  So what did you really get?
  You got a Jewess going on Gestapo Blitzter's CNN saying she had been abused, assaulted and verbally raped by a beaner. Great press for the right wing again and there is Mark Levin and Mike Gallagher laughing about it and cheering it on again, so that Mexicans will look at that in Catholicism and say, "That is not what we want to be like........even if we like raping white women and why we are here".
  So Crus as has been exposed here, was sent out to put a face on the GOP right of a wife beater beaner. He was exposed here as not having the correct come backs, so he was exposed as a dumb ass Mexican Cubano who is what is attracted to the RIGHT WING in America and all the bright Castro cigars are in the democratic party.
  Cruz like Rand Paul, who votes for all the things Obama does like his old man, Ron, is sent out to entice back in the right wing to the Jeb Bush base, where they can be used for votes, but then abused and told to shut up and go away.
  See Cruz is the flip flop of Marco Rubio of Aspen Institute Foster Freiss, as Rubio sold out to the cartel for Mexcian illegals, along with the ruling guard of McCain and Gay Graham, which is what the GOP is now, a fag dirty old Rovian in the closet party, trying to entice libertarians ovethrown to be Godless and seduced to be queer party and these beaners who like raping white women or at least watching Cruz do it in public.
  That is what you have for 2016, another fraud drama on the right as there is a fraud drama on the left, just like Obama gay sexing Hillary Clinton as he sent the crew out to gang rape Sarah Palin to teach her the Lara Logan lesson.
  It is not an accident my imps, that Cruz was isolated and ripped to shreds, no more than Paul was isolated and called insane. Does this pattern not sound familiar in all of you are nuts and lone wolves, just waiting to go off.Psychologically that message was reinforced and you bought it, so all of you will think you are not President Richard Nixon's Silent Majority, but are instead the SINister Minority.
  I guess that is why God placed me as a leader of this very lovely song, no one will abide by, but do like listening to in mass, as the manipulations you just were psychologically raped through, as you were forced into this AND MADE TO LIKE IT, so you will keep coming back to Ted and Rand for more, is what this initiation is about, just like the gay rape initiations of getting people drunk or stoned who are depressed and then raping them, as they tell them they really are gay.
  So enjoy your butt sex you men of the right and your twatty latex smelling sex you women on the right, as you just got the bend over, a imps, BOHICA, it will come again.This is Jeb Bush 2016 and he just suckered you with this entire Rovian operation right out of olde man Prescott Bush's intelligence network from the Fatherland.
  You want to bite on this, bite on it, but do not stand around acting like you are all knowing as you look like the fools you are.You just got suckered, and just got defined. You just got into your Christian party groups who are retardo gay and 3rd world rapists.
  Cruz cut out the Jewish vote in this by design in giving it hard to Feinstein. It is all by design as the Christian right is "managed" in this not to go off the reservation.
  You should really feel great performing on command from CPAC to the charade, even old Mitch McConnell is grousing about repealing Obamacare to sucker all of you.
  Where is that guy Darrell Issa who promised with this bunch to investigate and get Obama and Holder..........he disappeared and there are Obama and Holder flying drones around to assassinate you.
  Imps.........that is what you are and it is time you started being children who minded and listened to the elders, so you are not little demon seeds, but children of God.
  nuff said
  agtG 221
  PS: Oh and how this all works out is Rand Paul who was already Alex Jones picked, gets to be Vice President for Jeb Bush, and Ted Cruz gets taco belled by Marco Rubio to prove the Gay Graham Guard is more bitchin' tough and it sends the message you get to serve in the majority the minority feudalcrats on top.That Bush brush is still sore about Reagan in 1980 winning it outright and they having to plot coups for 8 years before getting control.
  agtG 270
The Mission of War
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Lame Cherry
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 05:53
  From what I have gleaned and been answered, Barack Obama's Mideast trip is to instigate a war there.
  The time for Barack Obama has reached it's useful end. There is a greater energy source coming who will not allow the power curve Obama has been utilizing, and this son of perdition will not all that energy to be taken for Obama's purposes in keeping another continued cycle at 1600 Penn Avenue.
  This war is one which will be conventional. No WMD's will be employed.
  In this juncture of time, Obama will strike Iran as they will not disarm from nuclear weapons. This has for Obama always been about legacy and is why he was generating nuclear confrontation. He was never informed of the greater Aristocractic, Ashkenaz and Vatican plan for Jerusalem.
  Obama is going in this venture as a sort of Palm Sunday messiah, or prince of war, in a bizarre manifestation of supplanting the Christ.
  This trip is not about offering Assad up for the slaughter.
  Obama will blame the Jews for what happened.
  Obama will warn Putin to not be involved. Russia will not be involved.
  This will not be a big war. This will be a small war. This will be Obama's last war.
  A large number of people will die.
  This is the war to set up the Neo Roman Empire.
  Damascus and Ashod will not be leveled because of this war.
  This war starts in neither darkness nor light, twilight nor dawn, nor dusk, nor night, but starts in the day.
  Jews will die in numbers in this war, Arabs will not die in numbers, but Persians will.
  By this a new strong leader will come from Iran.
  Saudi Arabia will not be harmed by this war.
  This is that war which will cause a strike on New York City.
  Obama will not be in power when the strike on New York takes place.
  The United States will have casualties in this war. They will be few and not many.
  A ruse will start this war. Obama will not be blamed for the war. Others will be blamed. Obama will blame others.
  This will be a quick war.
  There will be no treaty signed for peace for this war.
  This is the war that the anti Christ mediates in.
  The terms have not already been worked out.
  This war neither is nor is not.
  It brings the false peace.
  Netanyahu becomes a greater leader and then does not.
  agtG 286 with resistance 270Y
Taylor Swift Gets Some Mud on Her Boots
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: LIVE@LEEDS
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 05:48
  BEE-SHYUAN CHANG NY Times 03/15/13
  Until very recently, it seemed as if Taylor Swift could do no wrong. Since 2006, when she arrived on the Nashville scene with the release of her eponymous album, as a gawky teenager in sundresses and cowboy boots, Ms. Swift has earned accolades (including seven Grammy Awards), upgraded to designer gowns (notably the Elie Saab black dress with sheer thigh panels that she wore to the Brit Awards in February) and perhaps more important, sold records and concert tickets as if they were frosted cupcakes '-- which, if you paid attention to Instagram, you'd know she bakes with pal Selena Gomez in her Nashville penthouse.
  Though her romantic relationships went less smoothly than her career, they still inspired hits like ''We Are Never, Ever Getting Back Together'' (reportedly about Jake Gyllenhaal) and ''Dear John'' (as in Mayer, it is widely assumed). She landed endorsement deals with brands including Diet Coke, American Greetings, Keds and CoverGirl. And she was on magazine covers from Rolling Stone, to Elle, to this month's Vanity Fair.
  And therein, perhaps, the trouble began.
  Her ubiquity, not to mention her dating history, has begun to stir what feels like the beginning of a backlash (including both a Tumblr account and Facebook page titled ''I Hate Taylor Swift,'' the latter with 5,912 ''likes'').
  At the Golden Globes in February, the hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler warned Ms. Swift to ''stay away from Michael J. Fox's son,'' who had accompanied his father to the ceremony, and joked that she could use ''some 'me time' to learn about herself.'' Ms. Swift counterattacked in her Vanity Fair interview by quoting Katie Couric (who was quoting Madeleine Albright): '' 'There's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women.' ''
  The incident quickly became a much-followed story on the Web and Twitter, with Ms. Poehler and Ms. Fey gently chiding Ms. Swift for taking things too seriously and others, like the talk show host Chelsea Handler, suggesting that she was fair game. ''They were clearly making a joke just about her demeanor, which is embarrassing,'' Ms. Handler told Andy Cohen on Bravo's ''Watch What Happens'' last Tuesday. ''I mean, she's just dated so many men.''
  Can Ms. Swift, 23, take a joke? Has she been overexposed? Worse, is America's reigning golden girl, sweetheart, country-pop crossover star and breakup-song specialist going through a quarter-life crisis?
  Ms. Swift, through a publicist, declined to comment for this article. But Scott Borchetta, founder and chief executive of Big Machine Records and the man widely credited with her rise, said he believed the Vanity Fair quote was taken out of context, and voiced confidence in her staying power. ''She's so grounded,'' he said. ''This isn't a person who's going to wake up half-naked, drunk in a car somewhere in Hollywood.''
  According to the marketing evaluations company Q Scores, Ms. Swift's popularity rating, which takes into account familiarity (about 8 out of 10 people surveyed knows who she is) and appeal, peaked in 2010 at 30 out of 100. Presumably, Ms. Swift was reaping the benefits of the Kanye West debacle, when he interrupted her acceptance speech for Best Female Video by barging onstage at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 2009.
  But her popularity score has since dropped by a third, to 20 this year, the lowest it's ever been, though still 4 points higher than the average score (16) in the performer category.
  ''She's not doing the kind of numbers that an advertiser would really love to see,'' said Steven Levitt, president of the marketing company, noting her trajectory.
  CoverGirl has let Ms. Swift's contract expire. ''We routinely evaluate our CoverGirls,'' said Paige Cali, a company spokeswoman, adding that she couldn't divulge further details except that the contract expired recently.
  A Women's Wear Daily article this week stated that Ms. Swift's magazine covers sell fewer issues than those of her contemporaries, like Adele, Lady Gaga, Gwen Stefani, Lauren Conrad, Scarlett Johansson and Zooey Deschanel.
  Mr. Levitt pointed out that this year Ms. Swift's negative Q score, a 21, topped her positive number for the first time.
  ''It's not the scores of an extraordinary performer that has substantially more positive than negative, like Tom Hanks or Will Smith,'' he said. ''There's almost an equal number that rate her fair or poor. What you can surmise from that is that her rating is a function of age groups. The positive must be coming from younger age groups. A good part of the negative is from older people.''
  To quote Ms. Swift's single about middle school: ''Why you gotta be so mean?''
  Yet, even for her critics, it would be hasty to write off Ms. Swift. Her fourth album, ''Red,'' broke sales records in its first week, before going quadruple platinum. She kicked off the album's corresponding tour on Wednesday, already having sold out several shows. And she got five nominations, including Entertainer of the Year, for the coming American Country Music Awards on April 7.
  And though relationships with the teenagers Harry Styles of One Direction and Conor Kennedy may have inspired ribbing that she is a cradle robber (along with providing even more song material), Ms. Swift, unlike Britney Spears at the same age, has mostly maintained an air of innocence until now.
  ''It's Taylor's back story,'' said Janjay Sherman, the publicity and talent-relations director of Extra Extra, an events and marketing company that recommends celebrity pairings to corporate clients. ''The whole 'I was raised on a farm, I'm a country girl' kind of thing was established before she crossed over to pop and mainstream,'' Ms. Sherman added. ''And with country, there's a really clean wholesomeness that attaches to her.''
  And controversy just might make her more interesting, particularly to high-end beauty and fashion companies. MAC Cosmetics, for one, doesn't use marketing scores when selecting its outspoken celebrity collaborators, like Rihanna, whose first installment of her makeup collection with the brand has its debut this spring, said James Gager, senior vice president and creative director of the company, whose ambassadors have included hardly uncontroversial personalities like Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj.
  Designers are increasingly willing to lend Ms. Swift red-carpet gowns, said Alana Varel, a founder of Starworks Group, a company that pairs celebrities with clients like Miu Miu, Prada and Bulgari, including Kirsten Dunst, Rachel Weisz and Julianne Moore for the jeweler.
  Ms. Swift has already registered approval among fashion commentators this year, particularly when in white, like the Grecian-style gown with metallic beaded straps by J. Mendel that she wore to the Grammy Awards in February, and a plunging Ralph Lauren cap-sleeved dress at the People's Choice Awards in January.
  ''She's hitting her stride in style,'' Ms. Varel said.
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  This entry was posted on March 18, 2013 at 10:22 am and is filed under Musicians. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Gazprom Offers Cyprus Bank Restructuring Deal to Avoid EU Bailout
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Mon, 18 Mar 2013 05:43
  Russian energy giant Gazprom has offered the Republic of Cyprus a plan in which the company will undertake the restructuring of the country's banks in exchange for exploration rights for natural gas in Cyprus'' exclusive economic zone, local media reported.
  Representatives of the Russian company submitted the proposal to the office of Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Sunday evening, Sigma TV reported.
  The proposal states that Gazprom will fund the restructuring of the country's crippled financial institutions in exchange for substantial control over the country's gas resources while Cyprus won't need to take the harsh bailout package offered by the EU.
  EU offered a 10 billion euros rescue package to Cyprus with the condition of raising 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) by taking a piece of every bank account in Cyprus. The originally proposed levies on deposits are 9.9 percent for acounts exceeding 100,000 euros and 6.7 percent on anything below that.
  Cypriot President Nicos Anstasiades is not willing to discuss the Russian's offer according to Newsit who cited an anonymous source close to the President.
  ''The president is not going to discuss this plan because he wants a solution that will come from the EU,'' said the anonymous source.
  Shortly after the rejection of the Gazprom proposal, Anatoly Aksakov, the head of the Association of Regional Banks of Russia and a member of the Board of the Central Bank of Russia spoke to Interfax describing the country's banking system as ''not trustworthy'' and advised Russian citizens ''to withdraw their deposits from Cyprus.''
  ''Our belief, that Cyprus is a place where it is convenient for people to keep their money, will be undermined if the Cypriot parliament passes the decision of Eurogroup>> said Aksanov.
  Cyprus's Parliament has postponed its decision on whether it will go along with a tax of up to 9.9 percent on the savings of bank account holders as demanded by international lenders in return for a 10 billion euros ($13 billion) bailout to keep the island country's economy from collapsing. The vote that was due to take place on March 17 was pushed back to Monday, a holiday in Greece and Cyprus, when banks would be closed in any case.
  Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company.