What Adam Curry is reading

Guardian teams up with New York Times over Snowden documents.
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 13:21
  1 of 2. Copies of the Guardian newspaper are displayed at a news agent in London August 21 2013.
  Credit: Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett
  WASHINGTON | Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:29pm BST
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Guardian has agreed with the New York Times to give the U.S. newspaper access to some classified documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, the British newspaper said on Friday.
  In a brief story posted on its website, the Guardian said it "struck a partnership" with the Times after the British government threatened the Guardian with legal action unless it either surrendered or destroyed files it received from Snowden about Government Communications Headquarters - Britain's equivalent of NSA.
  "In a climate of intense pressure from the UK government, the Guardian decided to bring in a US partner to work on the GCHQ documents provided by Edward Snowden. We are working in partnership with the NYT and others to continue reporting these stories," the Guardian said in a statement.
  Representatives of the Times did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
  However, a source familiar with the matter said the partnership deal had been struck several weeks ago and that Jill Abramson, the Times' executive editor, was personally involved in negotiating it.
  The website Buzzfeed reported that Scott Shane, a Times reporter who covers national security and intelligence, was working on a series of stories expected to be published next month jointly with the Guardian.
  The Guardian said in its story that its partnership with the Times would enable it to "continue exposing mass surveillance by putting the Snowden documents on GCHQ beyond government reach."
  It said Snowden, who disclosed documents on U.S. internet and phone surveillance programs in June and has obtained asylum in Russia, was aware of the deal.
  The Guardian's editor, Alan Rusbridger, revealed earlier this week that under the supervision of representatives of GCHQ, Guardian staffers had destroyed computer equipment containing Snowden files after the newspaper was threatened with possible legal action by senior British government officials.
  Rusbridger said he had put British officials on notice that copies of material which had been destroyed had been sent outside British government jurisdiction.
  British authorities say they launched a criminal investigation this week following the temporary detention and questioning at London's Heathrow Airport of David Miranda, domestic partner of Glenn Greenwald, a Brazil-based Guardian writer who has led coverage of leaks from Snowden and communicated directly with the former NSA contractor.
  British officials have said that Snowden's leaks have gravely damaged national security and could put lives in jeopardy if more secrets are disclosed.
  The Times and the Guardian previously collaborated on stories related to alleged phone hacking by British tabloid newspapers and on coverage of secret U.S. military and diplomatic documents made available by U.S. Army soldier Bradley Manning to the WikiLeaks website.
  (The story was refiled to delete reference to representatives of the Guardian in paragraph 4)
  (Reporting By Mark Hosenball; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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Obama pick for NSA review panel wanted paid, pro-government shills in chat rooms.
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 13:20
  In a 1975 hearing, Sens. Frank Church (D-Idaho) and John Tower (R-Tex.) examine a dart gun designed by the CIA to be used in assassinations. The Church Committee also investigated the infiltration of activist groups by government agents. (AP)
  The Obama administration is reportedly proposing Cass Sunstein as a member of a panel to review the surveillance practices of the National Security Agency (NSA), among other former White House and intelligence staffers. Sunstein was the head of the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs until last year, when he returned to teaching at Harvard Law School.
  As one of our intrepid commenters pointed out yesterday, while at Harvard in 2008, Sunstein co-authored a working paper that suggests government agents or their allies ''cognitively infiltrate'' conspiracy theorist groups by joining ''chat rooms, online social networks or even real-space groups'' and influencing the conversation.
  Sunstein's paper defined a conspiracy theory as ''an effort to explain some event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role,'' and acknowledges that some conspiracy theories have turned out to be true. It also specifically notes that his plan of ''cognitive infiltration'' should only be used against false conspiracy theories that could be harmful to the government or society.
  But even the suggestion that the government should infiltrate groups that are not actively participating in criminal acts is troubling. In fact, it recalls the abuses uncovered by the Church Committee in the 1970s, when the FBI infiltrated such subversive groups as the feminist and civil rights movements. To his credit, Sunstein's infiltration suggestion is different in nature:
  By this we do not mean 1960s-style infiltration with a view to surveillance and collecting information, possibly for use in future prosecutions. Rather, we mean that government efforts might succeed in weakening or even breaking up the ideological and epistemological complexes that constitute these networks and groups.
  But while it's nice to assume that the government would limit that ''cognitive infiltration'' authority to false conspiracies, history suggests that it would be also used against activists trying to expose actual government misconduct.
  The paper also suggests that the government ''formally hire credible private parties to engage in counterspeech.'' That sounds an awful lot like the 50 Cent Party of online commentators who are paid per comment by the Chinese communist party to sway public opinion.
  A man with such a credulous view of government power might not be the best choice to review allegations of NSA privacy abuses.
  Andrea Peterson covers technology policy for The Washington Post, with an emphasis on cybersecurity, consumer privacy, transparency, surveillance and open government. She also delves into the societal impacts of technology access and how innovation is intertwined with cultural development.
'Back to the 19th century': Mysterious techno breakdown hits Gitmo 9/11 tribunal
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 13:19
  Defense lawyers for Guantanamo detainees asked the judge in the military tribunal on Friday to suspend pretrial hearings as mysterious computer glitches are just the latest technological setbacks to complicate the legal proceedings.
  Defense lawyers for Guantanamo detainees asked the military tribunal judge to suspend pretrial hearings as mysterious computer glitches have made their job a 'hot mess' forcing some of them to draft motions with pen and paper.
  "We're basically put back in the 19th century," Army Major Jason Wright, who represents the alleged mastermind of the terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, said on Friday, as quoted by Reuters. "It takes about five to 10 times what it would normally take to do defense functions."
  Defense lawyers for five Guantanamo detainees said email correspondences they sent were never received, investigative records that took years to compile had disappeared and external monitors were unable to access their internet searches. Even the prosecuting and defense teams had been given access to each other's files.
  The technical problems had started earlier in the year but by April they had become so severe that the chief defense counsel, Air Force Colonel Karen Mayberry, ordered defense lawyers not to use their Pentagon computers for any confidential casework.
  The situation became so dire that when Pentagon officials wished to convey messages to legal advisors in other cities, they had to place the sensitive data onto external drives, head to Starbucks and file them via Wi-Fi using their personal computers and personal email accounts, Wright revealed.
  Defense attorney James Harrington, who represents Yemeni prisoner Ramzi bin al Shibh, said he had been forced to draft motions with pen and paper.
  Another defense attorney for Mohammed, David Nevin, commented: "In this day and age you cannot practice law this way."
  He said the chief of staff for the Pentagon official overseeing the military tribunals issued her judgment during a conference call on Thursday, declaring: "This is a hot mess."
  Pentagon technical personnel have said it would take ''up to 111 days'' to fix the glitches once a contract was signed and money allocated, and that it was doubtful the work could be finished before the start of 2014.
  The judge, Army Colonel James Pohl, said he would give the matter further consideration at a pretrial hearing scheduled to start on Sept. 16 and decide then whether to cancel hearings scheduled for October, November, December and January.
  "I understand the serious nature of being able to communicate as a defense counsel," the judge said.
  This is not the first time that the maximum-security tribunal has suffered from 'ghosts in the machinery.'
  Judge Pohl in January convened an emergency meeting after it was discovered that some outside source was cutting the audio feed when particular subjects in the trial were being discussed.
  The judge stated he was not happy with this interference and added that he would like some clarification on ''who turns that light on or off.''
  ''It's a 'whoa moment' for the court,'' Human Rights Watch observer Laura Pitter said in January, as quoted by the Miami Herald. ''Even the judge doesn't know that someone else has control over the censorship button?''
  The five defendants are accused of training and funding the hijackers who allegedly crashed four commercial jets into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.
  The Obama administration has backed down on its promise to close Gitmo and give the detainees civil trials on US territory in the face of extreme Republican pressure.
News of chemical weapons attack in Syria published one day before massacre happened - Islamic Invitation Turkey
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 13:19
  This evidence supposedly shows the massacre by terrorists in Syria and their struggle to convince the public that the Syrian regime is behind the massacre. You will see that the terrorists uploaded the videos before the massacre and their so-called allegation of the time when the chemical weapons attack by the Syrian Army occurred.
  Even if we regard the chemical attack as taking place at 03:30, it is impossible to take the film of the scene and uploading those tens of videos'... this shows that terrorists prepared and organized all of the scenes beforehand then accused the Syrian regime of a massacre that terrorists carried out.
  They did not even have mercy for the children and used them to deceive the public. They gathered all civilians, women and children to certain areas and then killed them brutally, then blamed the Syrian regime in order to legalize their brutality.
  GRAPHIC VIDEO 18+
  Voice of Russia, islamicinvitationturkey.com, intifada-palestine.com
I'm close to death, says Tyson
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 13:18
  Former undisputed heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson claims he is "on the verge of dying" from ongoing drug and alcohol problems.
  Tyson, 47, admitted he is a continual substance abuser but added he is hopeful of finally getting clean.
  "I want to live my sober life. I don't want to die. I'm on the verge of dying, because I'm a vicious alcoholic," Tyson said on ESPN's "Friday Night Fights".
  "I'm a bad guy sometimes. I did a lot of bad things, I want to be forgiven."
  At the age of 20, in 1987, the American fighter held the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles.
  But five years later Brooklyn-born Tyson was convicted of raping Desiree Washington and sentenced to six years in prison.
  He returned to the ring but retired from the sport in 2006 and in 2007 was sentenced to 24 hours in jail and 360 hours of community service for drug possession and driving under the influence.
  Tyson, who now works as a boxing promoter, added: "I hope they can forgive me. I want to change my life, I want to live a different life now.
  "I haven't drank or took drugs in six days, and for me that's a miracle.
  "I've been lying to everybody that thinks I was sober, but I'm not. This is my sixth day. I'm never going to use again."
Golden Rice: Lifesaver? - NYTimes.com
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 13:15
  ONE bright morning this month, 400 protesters smashed down the high fences surrounding a field in the Bicol region of the Philippines and uprooted the genetically modified rice plants growing inside.
  Had the plants survived long enough to flower, they would have betrayed a distinctly yellow tint in the otherwise white part of the grain. That is because the rice is endowed with a gene from corn and another from a bacterium, making it the only variety in existence to produce beta carotene, the source of vitamin A. Its developers call it ''Golden Rice.''
  The concerns voiced by the participants in the Aug. 8 act of vandalism '-- that Golden Rice could pose unforeseen risks to human health and the environment, that it would ultimately profit big agrochemical companies '-- are a familiar refrain in the long-running controversy over the merits of genetically engineered crops. They are driving the desire among some Americans for mandatory ''G.M.O.'' labels on food with ingredients made from crops whose DNA has been altered in a laboratory. And they have motivated similar attacks on trials of other genetically modified crops in recent years: grapes designed to fight off a deadly virus in France, wheat designed to have a lower glycemic index in Australia, sugar beets in Oregon designed to tolerate a herbicide, to name a few.
  ''We do not want our people, especially our children, to be used in these experiments,'' a farmer who was a leader of the protest told the Philippine newspaper Remate.
  Genetically engineered Golden Rice grown in a facility in Los Ba±os, Laguna Province, in the Philippines.
  Jes Aznar for The New York Times
  But Golden Rice, which appeared on the cover of Time Magazine in 2000 before it was quite ready for prime time, is unlike any of the genetically engineered crops in wide use today, designed to either withstand herbicides sold by Monsanto and other chemical companies or resist insect attacks, with benefits for farmers but not directly for consumers.
  And a looming decision by the Philippine government about whether to allow Golden Rice to be grown beyond its four remaining field trials has added a new dimension to the debate over the technology's merits.
  Not owned by any company, Golden Rice is being developed by a nonprofit group called the International Rice Research Institute with the aim of providing a new source of vitamin A to people both in the Philippines, where most households get most of their calories from rice, and eventually in many other places in a world where rice is eaten every day by half the population. Lack of the vital nutrient causes blindness in a quarter-million to a half-million children each year. It affects millions of people in Asia and Africa and so weakens the immune system that some two million die each year of diseases they would otherwise survive.
  The destruction of the field trial, and the reasons given for it, touched a nerve among scientists around the world, spurring them to counter assertions of the technology's health and environmental risks. On a petition supporting Golden Rice circulated among scientists and signed by several thousand, many vented a simmering frustration with activist organizations like Greenpeace, which they see as playing on misplaced fears of genetic engineering in both the developing and the developed worlds. Some took to other channels to convey to American foodies and Filipino farmers alike the broad scientific consensus that G.M.O.'s are not intrinsically more risky than other crops and can be reliably tested.
  Mothers with masks made from baby bathtubs protested Golden Rice in Quezon City, the Philippines, in June.
  Erik De Castro / Reuters
  At stake, they say, is not just the future of biofortified rice but also a rational means to evaluate a technology whose potential to improve nutrition in developing countries, and developed ones, may otherwise go unrealized.
  ''There's so much misinformation floating around about G.M.O.'s that is taken as fact by people,'' said Michael D. Purugganan, a professor of genomics and biology and the dean for science at New York University, who sought to calm health-risk concerns in a primer on GMA News Online, a media outlet in the Philippines: ''The genes they inserted to make the vitamin are not some weird manufactured material,'' he wrote, ''but are also found in squash, carrots and melons.''
  Mr. Purugganan, who studies plant evolution, does not work on genetically engineered crops, and until recently had not participated in the public debates over the risks and benefits of G.M.O.'s. But having been raised in a middle-class family in Manila, he felt compelled to weigh in on Golden Rice. ''A lot of the criticism of G.M.O.'s in the Western world suffers from a lack of understanding of how really dire the situation is in developing countries,'' he said.
  Some proponents of G.M.O.'s say that more critical questions, like where biotechnology should fall as a priority in the efforts to address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition and how to prevent a few companies from controlling it, would be easier to address were they not lumped together with unfounded fears by those who oppose G.M.O.'s.
  ''It is long past time for scientists to stand up and shout, 'No more lies '-- no more fear-mongering,' '' said Nina V. Fedoroff, a professor at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia and a former science adviser to the American secretary of state, who helped spearhead the petition. ''We're talking about saving millions of lives here.''
  Precisely because of its seemingly high-minded purpose, Golden Rice has drawn suspicion from biotechnology skeptics beyond the demonstrators who forced their way into the field trial. Many countries ban the cultivation of all genetically modified crops, and after the rice's media debut early in the last decade, Vandana Shiva, an Indian environmentalist, called it a ''Trojan horse'' whose purpose was to gain public support for all manner of genetically modified crops that would benefit multinational corporations at the expense of poor farmers and consumers.
  In a 2001 article, ''The Great Yellow Hype,'' the author Michael Pollan, a critic of industrial agriculture, suggested that it might have been developed to ''win an argument rather than solve a public-health problem.'' He cited biotechnology industry advertisements that featured the virtues of the rice, which at the time had to be ingested in large quantities to deliver a meaningful dose of vitamin A.
  But the rice has since been retooled: a bowl now provides 60 percent of the daily requirement of vitamin A for healthy children. And Gerard Barry, the Golden Rice project leader at the International Rice Research Institute '-- and, it must be said, a former senior scientist and executive at Monsanto '-- suggests that attempts to discredit Golden Rice discount the suffering it could alleviate if successful. He said, too, that critics who suggest encouraging poor families to simply eat fruits and vegetables that contain beta carotene disregard the expense and logistical difficulties that would thwart such efforts.
  Identified in the infancy of genetic engineering as having the potential for the biggest impact for the world's poor, beta-carotene-producing rice was initially funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and the European Union. In a decade of work culminating in 1999, two academic scientists, Ingo Potrykus and Peter Beyer, finally switched on the production of beta carotene by adding daffodil and bacteria DNA to the rice's genome. They licensed their patent rights to the agribusiness company that later became Syngenta, on the condition that the technology and any improvements to it would be made freely available to poor farmers in the developing world. With the company retaining the right to use it in developed countries, potentially as an alternative to vitamin supplements, Syngenta scientists later improved the amount of beta carotene produced by substituting a gene from corn for the one from daffodil.
  If the rice gains the Philippine government's approval, it will cost no more than other rice for poor farmers, who will be free to save seeds and replant them, Dr. Barry said. It has no known allergens or toxins, and the new proteins produced by the rice have been shown to break down quickly in simulated gastric fluid, as required by World Health Organization guidelines. A mouse feeding study is under way in a laboratory in the United States. The potential that the Golden Rice would cross-pollinate with other varieties, sometimes called ''genetic contamination,'' has been studied and found to be limited, because rice is typically self-pollinated. And its production of beta carotene does not appear to provide a competitive advantage '-- or disadvantage '-- that could affect the survival of wild varieties with which it might mix.
  If Golden Rice is a Trojan horse, it now has some company. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is supporting the final testing of Golden Rice, is also underwriting the development of crops tailored for sub-Saharan Africa, like cassava that can resist the viruses that routinely wipe out a third of the harvest, bananas that contain higher levels of iron and corn that uses nitrogen more efficiently. Other groups are developing a pest-resistant black-eyed pea and a ''Golden Banana'' that would also deliver vitamin A.
  Beyond the fear of corporate control of agriculture, perhaps the most cited objection to G.M.O.'s is that they may hold risks that may not be understood. The decision to grow or eat them relies, like many other decisions, on a cost-benefit analysis.
  How food consumers around the world weigh that calculation will probably have far-reaching consequences. Such crops, Scientific American declared in an editorial last week, will make it to people's plates ''only with public support.''
  Greenpeace, for one, dismisses the benefits of vitamin supplementation through G.M.O.'s and has said it will continue to oppose all uses of biotechnology in agriculture. As Daniel Ocampo, a campaigner for the organization in the Philippines, put it, ''We would rather err on the side of caution.''
  For others, the potential of crops like Golden Rice to alleviate suffering is all that matters. ''This technology can save lives,'' one of the petition's signers, Javier Delgado of Mexico, wrote. ''But false fears can destroy it.''
  Amy Harmon is a national correspondent for The New York Times.
  Correction: August 24, 2013
  An earlier version of this article misspelled the Philippine region where protesters destroyed a field growing genetically modified rice. It is the Bicol region, not Bricol.
Major arms shipment reaches Syrian rebels: opposition
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  Source: Reuters: World News
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 13:12
  TweetShare thisEmailPrintA member of the 'Liwaa Ahrar Suriya' brigade, operating under the Free Syrian Army, is seen in a public park that separates them and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in Sakhour area, Aleppo August 24, 2013.
  Credit: Reuters/Muzaffar Salman
  By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
  AMMAN | Sun Aug 25, 2013 7:43am EDT
  AMMAN (Reuters) - Gulf-based supporters have sent a 400-ton shipment of arms to Syria's outgunned rebels, one of the biggest to reach them in their two-year-old uprising, opposition sources said on Sunday.
  The consignment - mostly ammunition for shoulder-fired weapons and anti-aircraft machine guns - came into northern Syria via the Turkish province of Hatay in the past 24 hours, and was already being handed out, the sources added.
  One rebel officer told Reuters the flow of arms bound for rebels had increased since opposition groups accused the government of launching deadly chemical weapons attacks in Damascus on Wednesday.
  "Twenty trailers crossed from Turkey and are being distributed to arms depots for several brigades across the north," said rebel official Mohammad Salam, who told Reuters he saw the weapons come over the border.
  Syria's conflict, pitting mostly Sunni Muslim insurgents against President Bashar al-Assad, whose Alawite sect follows an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, has ignited sectarian tensions across the region.
  Qatar and other Sunni-led Gulf states have backed the insurgents, while Shi'ite power Iran remains one of Assad's main allies.
  Rebel units operating in northern Syria range from moderate Islamists to hardline jihadists and include Liwa al-Islam (The Division of Islam), Sukur al-Sham (The Hawks of Syria), The Free Martyrs of Syria, Ahfad al-Rasul (The Grandsons of the Prophet) and Ahrar al-Sham (The Freemen of Syria).
  Analysts say they have struggled to hold onto advances against Assad's Iranian and Russian-armed forces and his monopoly on air power.
  A senior officer in the Gulf and Western-backed Supreme Military Council, an umbrella group for rebel units, said there had been an increase in rebel-bound arms shipments coming into Turkey, particularly since the reports of a chemical assault.
  The government has dismissed Syrian opposition accusations that it killed well over 1,000 civilians with poison gas in Damascus suburbs on Wednesday.
  Weapons still waiting to cross into Syria included more sophisticated anti-tank guided weapons, the officer added, without elaborating.
  He, and other sources, said money for the shipments came from the Gulf, without naming countries.
  Western diplomats fear some of the increasing flow of Gulf-financed weapons could end up in the hands of groups linked to al Qaeda.
  (Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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US National Average Natural Gas Prices, $/MCF Quote & Chart Widgets for Your Website - theFinancials.com
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New law 'needed to protect secrets'
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  Source: BBC News - Home
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 12:59
  25 August 2013Last updated at07:58 ETAnti-terror laws should be strengthened to prevent leaks of official secrets, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Blair has told the BBC.
  He was speaking after police seized what they said were thousands of classified documents from David Miranda - the partner of a Guardian journalist.
  Lord Blair said publication of the material could put lives at risk.
  He suggested new laws were needed to cover those who obtained secret material without proper authority.
  The Home Office has defended the use of anti-terror laws to question Mr Miranda, but some have criticised the tactics.
  Mr Miranda is the partner of Glenn Greenwald, who has been reporting on US and British surveillance programmes revealed by US whistle-blower Edward Snowden.
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  David Miranda told the BBC he felt very threatened during his detention
  He was held for nine hours at Heathrow Airport on 18 August and had his mobile phone, laptop, DVDs and other items seized.
  Brazilian national Mr Miranda, 28, was detained under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 as he travelled from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro, where he lives with Mr Greenwald.
  The law allows police to hold someone for up to nine hours for questioning about whether they have been involved with acts of terrorism.
  'New threat'
  Lord Blair told BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House programme: "The state has to have secrets - that's how it operates against terrorists.
  "It has to have the right to preserve those secrets and we have to have a law that covers a situation when somebody, for all sorts of wonderfully principled reasons, wishes to disclose those secrets.
  Continue reading the main storyMost of the legislation about state secrets is in the Official Secrets Act and it only concerns an official''
  End QuoteLord BlairFormer Met Police commissioner"It just is something that is extremely dangerous for individual citizens to [make] those secrets available to the terrorists."
  Lord Blair said the threat from international terrorism was "constantly changing" and there was a need to "review the law".
  He said there was a "new threat which is not of somebody personally intending to aid terrorism, but of conduct which is likely to or capable of facilitating terrorism" - citing the examples of information leaks related to Bradley Manning and the Wikileaks website.
  When asked if he was calling for new laws, Lord Blair said he wanted that to be considered.
  "Most of the legislation about state secrets is in the Official Secrets Act and it only concerns an official.
  "I think there is going to have to be a look at what happens when somebody possesses material which is secret without having authority."
  'Formidable apparatus'But Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger has defended Mr Greenwald's stories, arguing there was "considerable public interest" in Mr Snowden's revelations, which had raised "acutely disturbing questions" about the electronic surveillance of citizens.
  On the treatment of Mr Miranda, Mr Rusbridger added: "The state that is building such a formidable apparatus of surveillance will do its best to prevent journalists from reporting on it."
  Last week, Home Secretary Theresa May defended the police's use of anti-terror laws to hold and question Mr Miranda,
  She said it "was right" if police thought that Mr Miranda was holding information useful to terrorists.
  However, former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer - who helped to bring in the anti-terror legislation - said it was not what the powers were meant for.
Abandoned Dogs Roam Detroit in Packs as Humans Dwindle.
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 12:54
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  Detroit Dominated by Pitbulls as 50K Dogs Roam Free
  As many as 50,000 stray dogs roam the streets and vacant homes of bankrupt Detroit, replacing residents, menacing humans who remain and overwhelming the city's ability to find them homes or peaceful deaths.
  Dens of as many as 20 canines have been found in boarded-up homes in the community of about 700,000 that once pulsed with 1.8 million people. One officer in the Police Department's skeleton animal-control unit recalled a pack splashing away in a basement that flooded when thieves ripped out water pipes.
  ''The dogs were having a pool party,'' said Lapez Moore, 30. ''We went in and fished them out.''
  Poverty roils the Motor City and many dogs have been left to fend for themselves, abandoned by owners who are financially stressed or unaware of proper care. Strays have killed pets, bitten mail carriers and clogged the animal shelter, where more than 70 percent are euthanized.
  ''With these large open expanses with vacant homes, it's as if you designed a situation that causes dog problems,'' said Harry Ward, head of animal control.
  Symbiotic SufferingThe number of strays signals a humanitarian crisis, said Amanda Arrington of the Humane Society of the United States, based in Washington. She heads a program that donated $50,000 each to organizations in Detroit and nine other U.S cities to get pets vaccinated, fed, spayed and neutered.
  Arrington said when she visited Detroit in October, ''It was almost post-apocalyptic, where there are no businesses, nothing except people in houses and dogs running around.''
  ''The suffering of animals goes hand in hand with the suffering of people.''
  She said pet owners who move leave behind dogs, hoping neighbors will care for them. Those dogs take to the streets and reproduce. Compounding that are the estimated 70,000 vacant buildings that provide shelter for dogs, or where some are chained without care to ward off thieves, Ward said.
  Most strays are pets that roam, often in packs that form around a female in heat, Ward said. Few are true feral dogs that have had no human contact.
  Ward said Detroit's three shelters -- his and two non-profit facilities -- take in 15,000 animals a year, including strays and pets that are seized or given up by owners.
  Fearing HumansThey are among the victims of a historic financial and political collapse. Detroit, a former auto manufacturing powerhouse, declared the largest U.S. municipal bankruptcy on July 18 after years of decline. The city has more than $18 billion in long-term debt and had piled up an operating deficit of close to $400 million. Falling revenue forced cutbacks in police, fire-fighting -- and dog control.
  With an annual budget of $1.6 million, Ward has four officers to cover the 139-square-mile (360-square-kilometer) city seven days a week, 11 fewer than when he took command in 2008. He has one dog-bite investigator, down from three.
  ''We are really suffering from fatigue, short staffed'' and work too much overtime, he said in an interview.
  The officers, who wear bulletproof vests to protect themselves from irate owners, are bringing in about half the number of animals that crews did in 2008, Ward said.
  In July, the pound stopped accepting more animals for a month because the city hadn't paid a service that hauls away euthanized animals for cremation at a cost of about $20,000 a year. The freezers were packed with carcasses, and pens were full of live animals until the bill was paid.
  Famous FighterPit bulls and breeds mixed with them dominate Detroit's stray population because of widespread dog fighting, said Ward. Males are aggressive in mating, so they proliferate, he added.
  One type of fighting pit bull has become known as far as Los Angeles as the ''Highland Park red,'' named after a city within Detroit's borders, Ward said.
  Their prevalence was clear as Ward and officers Moore and Malachi Jackson answered calls Aug. 19. On a block where vacant houses and lots outnumbered occupied ones, they found four dogs in an abandoned house -- a male and three females, including a pregnant pit bull with a prized blue-gray coat.
  Ward said it appeared the dogs were fed by someone who used the house to hide stolen items.
  Walking SmallAggressive dogs force the U.S. Postal Service to temporarily halt mail delivery in some neighborhoods, said Ed Moore, a Detroit-area spokesman. He said there were 25 reports of mail carriers bitten by dogs in Detroit from October through July. Though most are by pets at homes, strays have also attacked, Moore said.
  ''It's been a persistent problem,'' he said.
  Mail carrier Catherine Guzik told of using pepper spray on swarms of tiny, ferocious dogs in a southwest Detroit neighborhood.
  ''It's like Chihuahuaville,'' Guzik said as she walked her route.
  At two nearby homes, one pet dog was killed recently and another injured by two stray pit bulls that jumped fences into yards, said neighbor Debora Mattie, 49.
  Last year, there were 903 dog bites in Detroit, according to Ward, adding that most go unreported to police. He said 90 percent are by dogs whose owners are known.
  After AttackMany de facto strays are called pets by owners who let them wander, said Kristen Huston, who leads the Detroit office of All About Animals Rescue, a non-profit that obtained the Humane Society's $50,000 grant last year to feed, vaccinate and sterilize pets. Some dogs run away from their neighborhoods and threaten people, she said.
  ''Technically, it's illegal to let a dog roam, but with the city being bankrupt, who's going to do anything about it?'' Huston said.
  Huston said she walks through some of the poorest neighborhoods to talk to pet owners about how to care for their animals, sometimes giving them bags of food or even a free doghouse.
  Ward said more needs to be done to educate pet owners. He said his crews are too few, but help keep dogs in check.
  Four months ago, a woman sitting on her porch on the east side was attacked by two strays that tore off her scalp, Ward said.
  ''We got those dogs,'' he said. ''It's a big difference to that lady that those dogs were gone that day.''
  To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Christoff in Detroit at cchristoff@bloomberg.net
  To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at smerelman@bloomberg.net
  City of Detroit Animal Control officer Malachi Jackson with a pit bull that was captured to be quarantined after biting someone in Detroit on August 19, 2013. Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg
  2:20
  Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) ''- Thousands of stray dogs roam the streets and vacant homes of bankrupt Detroit, replacing residents, menacing people who remain and overwhelming the city's ability to find them homes or peaceful deaths. Bloomberg's Kevin Thrash reports. (Source: Bloomberg)
  City of Detroit Animal Control officer Lapez Moore, left, fills out paperwork with Malachi Jackson after capturing two animals that will be quarantined after biting people in Detroit, on August 19, 2013. Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg
  One of the holding cages at the City of Detroit Animal Control office in Michigan on August 19, 2013 Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg
  Harry Ward, manager of the City of Detroit Animal Control, carries chains that were confiscated along with four pit bulls in Detroit, Michigan, on Aug. 19, 2013. Photographer: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg
Can UN scientists revive drive against climate change?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 12:53
  Can UN scientists revive drive against climate change?Javascript is currently disabled in your web browser. For full site functionality, it is necessary to enable Javascript. In order to enable it, please see these instructions.33 minutes ago by Richard InghamA leaden cloak of responsibility lies on the shoulders of UN scientists as they put the final touches to the first volume of a massive report that will give the world the most detailed picture yet of climate change.
  Due to be unveiled in Stockholm on September 27, the document will be scrutinised word by word by green groups, fossil-fuel lobbies and governments to see if it will yank climate change out of prolonged political limbo.
  The report will kick off the fifth assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an expert body set up in 1988 to provide neutral advice on global warming and its impacts.
  Six years ago, the IPCC's fourth assessment report unleashed a megawatt jolt of awareness. It declared that the planet was warming, that this was already starting to affect Earth's climate system and biosphere, and that there was overwhelming evidence that humans, especially by burning coal, gas and oil, were the cause.
  It earned the IPCC a share in the Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice president Al Gore and stoked momentum that led to the 2009 climate conference in Copenhagen, the biggest summit in UN history.
  Yet that was the high point. The near-fiasco of Copenhagen combined with a financial crisis that struck Western economies... and climate change vanished off politicians' radars. Then came damage to the IPCC's own reputation, when several errors were found in the landmark report, prompting a fightback by gleeful climate sceptics and a painful investigation of the panel itself.
  A draft of the leviathan new work, seen by AFP, will amplify the 2007 warning in several ways.
  The panel will declare it is even more confident that global warming is man-made and starting to affect extreme weather events, such as flooding, drought, heatwaves and wildfires. It also warns of a potential rise in sea levels that, by century's end, would drown many coastal cities in their current state of preparedness.
  "Changes are projected to occur in all regions of the globe, and include changes in land and ocean, in the water cycle, in the cryosphere, in sea level, in some extreme events and in ocean acidification. Many of these changes would persist for centuries. Limiting climate change would require substantial and sustained reductions of CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions," warns the draft.
  The document, focussing on the science of climate change, will be followed next year by two volumes, on impacts and on how to tackle the problem, followed by a synthesis of all three texts.
  The main text is written and approved by scientists, and cannot be modified by national governments, who also have representatives on the IPCC.
  The governments do have a say, though, in the all-important summary for policymakers, which in its present form runs to 31 pages. So far, they have raised 1,800 reservations about the summary, and these will be hammered out in a line-by-line appraisal over four days before next month's release.
  Defenders of the laborious system say approval by governments amounts to a "buy-in" from all the world's nations'--a consensus ranging from huge carbon polluters China and the United States and vulnerable small-island states such as the Maldives to major oil and gas exporters like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
  "I am greatly in favour of this process of comments followed by adoption," Jean Jouzel, a leading French climate scientist who is vice president of the IPCC group in charge of the upcoming volume, told AFP. "The adoption is what gives the IPCC report its success and visibility, and enables its effective use by governments."
  Others are not so sure. Inclusiveness, transparency and nitpicking mean the process is horribly slow.
  Almost every week, new evidence of climate damage is published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. But the most recent scary stuff'--the discovery, for instance, that melting permafrost is starting to leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas'--will not be included in the new report because of the cutoff date for reviewing material.
  "It [the summary] is a powerful document because it is signed off by all governments," said a source who follows the process closely. "But the IPCC has become such a conservative organisation. The report is really science at the lowest common denominator."
  Michael Mann, a professor at Penn State University and author of a book, "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars," blames this in part on campaigning by well-funded sceptics who either deny global warming or pin it on natural causes, such as fluctuations in solar heat.
  They intimidate individual scientists and exploit areas of scientific uncertainty to claim there is no expert consensus, he said. As a result, the IPCC compilers are driven to even greater caution, with the risk that they deliver a message that is fuzzy or larded with doubt.
  "I believe that these pressures combine with the innate tendency of scientists to be reticent about drawing strong conclusions," said Mann.
  As a result, "assessment reports like the IPCC report almost inevitably end up understating the conclusions and, in this case, the risks of human-caused climate change."
  Explore further:Human activity is 'almost certainly' driving climate change, IPCC leaked report says
  (C) 2013 AFP
  More from Physics Forums - Earth
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  User comments : 1Adjust slider to filter visible comments by rank
  Display comments: newest first
  mememine69not rated yet14 minutes ago
  What we need to do to save the planet from a CO2 disaster is to shut down the denial machine by insisting that science stops saying "maybe" and starts saying "will be" a crisis as what denier would deny an "inevitable crisis" instead of saying "possible crisis" for 28 years? Science has never agreed or said anything beyond "could be" a crisis.Unless CO2 mitigation starts soon we are doomed but denialism is preventing our children from having futures.
  More news storiesCalifornia vies for new space industryCalifornia is racing other states to woo new private companies planning to take people on trips to space.
  California's Rim Fire doubles to 125,000 acresFirefighters in California struggled to contain a giant blaze threatening thousands of homes and sweeping into the famous Yosemite National Park.
  Human activity is 'almost certainly' driving climate change, IPCC leaked report saysHuman activity is almost certainly the cause of climate change and global sea levels could rise by several feet by the end of the century, according to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ...
  Astronomers use Hubble images for movies featuring space slinky(Phys.org) '--Astronomers have assembled, from more than 13 years of observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a series of time-lapse movies showing a jet of superheated gas'--5,000 light-years long'--as ...
  Arctic sea ice update: Unlikely to break records, but continuing downward trend (w/ Video)The melting of sea ice in the Arctic is well on its way toward its annual "minimum," that time when the floating ice cap covers less of the Arctic Ocean than at any other period during the year. While the ice will continue ...
  DC panda that birthed live cub has stillborn one tooAn official says a panda that gave birth to a cub at Washington's National Zoo has also given birth to a stillborn cub.
  One million cockroaches flee China farm: reportAt least one million cockroaches have escaped a farm in China where they were being bred for use in traditional medicine, a report said.
  How to help kids quell back-to-school jitters(HealthDay)'--Some children feel anxious about going back to school, but parents can help ease their fears, experts say.
  Expert tips for school bus safety(HealthDay)'--Many children are injured each year just getting on and off the school bus. Inattentive drivers, horseplay, unsafe street crossing and even clothing issues can all contribute.
  Wet noses to the touchscreen, iPads go to the dogsYou may or may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but you can certainly try to get Fido to use an iPad.
  (C) Phys.org' 2003-2013
  Can UN scientists revive drive against climate change?Javascript is currently disabled in your web browser. For full site functionality, it is necessary to enable Javascript. In order to enable it, please see these instructions.33 minutes ago by Richard InghamA leaden cloak of responsibility lies on the shoulders of UN scientists as they put the final touches to the first volume of a massive report that will give the world the most detailed picture yet of climate change.
  Due to be unveiled in Stockholm on September 27, the document will be scrutinised word by word by green groups, fossil-fuel lobbies and governments to see if it will yank climate change out of prolonged political limbo.
  The report will kick off the fifth assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an expert body set up in 1988 to provide neutral advice on global warming and its impacts.
  Six years ago, the IPCC's fourth assessment report unleashed a megawatt jolt of awareness. It declared that the planet was warming, that this was already starting to affect Earth's climate system and biosphere, and that there was overwhelming evidence that humans, especially by burning coal, gas and oil, were the cause.
  It earned the IPCC a share in the Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice president Al Gore and stoked momentum that led to the 2009 climate conference in Copenhagen, the biggest summit in UN history.
  Yet that was the high point. The near-fiasco of Copenhagen combined with a financial crisis that struck Western economies... and climate change vanished off politicians' radars. Then came damage to the IPCC's own reputation, when several errors were found in the landmark report, prompting a fightback by gleeful climate sceptics and a painful investigation of the panel itself.
  A draft of the leviathan new work, seen by AFP, will amplify the 2007 warning in several ways.
  The panel will declare it is even more confident that global warming is man-made and starting to affect extreme weather events, such as flooding, drought, heatwaves and wildfires. It also warns of a potential rise in sea levels that, by century's end, would drown many coastal cities in their current state of preparedness.
  "Changes are projected to occur in all regions of the globe, and include changes in land and ocean, in the water cycle, in the cryosphere, in sea level, in some extreme events and in ocean acidification. Many of these changes would persist for centuries. Limiting climate change would require substantial and sustained reductions of CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions," warns the draft.
  The document, focussing on the science of climate change, will be followed next year by two volumes, on impacts and on how to tackle the problem, followed by a synthesis of all three texts.
  The main text is written and approved by scientists, and cannot be modified by national governments, who also have representatives on the IPCC.
  The governments do have a say, though, in the all-important summary for policymakers, which in its present form runs to 31 pages. So far, they have raised 1,800 reservations about the summary, and these will be hammered out in a line-by-line appraisal over four days before next month's release.
  Defenders of the laborious system say approval by governments amounts to a "buy-in" from all the world's nations'--a consensus ranging from huge carbon polluters China and the United States and vulnerable small-island states such as the Maldives to major oil and gas exporters like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
  "I am greatly in favour of this process of comments followed by adoption," Jean Jouzel, a leading French climate scientist who is vice president of the IPCC group in charge of the upcoming volume, told AFP. "The adoption is what gives the IPCC report its success and visibility, and enables its effective use by governments."
  Others are not so sure. Inclusiveness, transparency and nitpicking mean the process is horribly slow.
  Almost every week, new evidence of climate damage is published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. But the most recent scary stuff'--the discovery, for instance, that melting permafrost is starting to leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas'--will not be included in the new report because of the cutoff date for reviewing material.
  "It [the summary] is a powerful document because it is signed off by all governments," said a source who follows the process closely. "But the IPCC has become such a conservative organisation. The report is really science at the lowest common denominator."
  Michael Mann, a professor at Penn State University and author of a book, "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars," blames this in part on campaigning by well-funded sceptics who either deny global warming or pin it on natural causes, such as fluctuations in solar heat.
  They intimidate individual scientists and exploit areas of scientific uncertainty to claim there is no expert consensus, he said. As a result, the IPCC compilers are driven to even greater caution, with the risk that they deliver a message that is fuzzy or larded with doubt.
  "I believe that these pressures combine with the innate tendency of scientists to be reticent about drawing strong conclusions," said Mann.
  As a result, "assessment reports like the IPCC report almost inevitably end up understating the conclusions and, in this case, the risks of human-caused climate change."
  Explore further:Human activity is 'almost certainly' driving climate change, IPCC leaked report says
  (C) 2013 AFP
  More from Physics Forums - Earth
  Related Stories
  Human activity is 'almost certainly' driving climate change, IPCC leaked report says Aug 21, 2013
  Human activity is almost certainly the cause of climate change and global sea levels could rise by several feet by the end of the century, according to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ...
  Major climate change report draft leaked online: IPCC Dec 14, 2012
  A major report on climate change being compiled by the United Nation's climate science panel was on Friday leaked online in what appeared to be an attempt by a climate sceptic to discredit the panel.
  UN climate panel denounces fresh data leaks (Update) Jan 09, 2013
  The UN's climate science panel bemoaned Wednesday a fresh leak of data from a landmark report on global warming that it will start releasing this year.
  Solar forcing effect on climate change 'extremely small': IPCC scientist Jan 15, 2013
  Changes in solar radiation, known as solar forcing, have had only a very small effect on climate change, a member of the UN's top panel of climate scientists said today.
  Climate change: drought benchmark is flawed, study says Nov 14, 2012
  A scientific method used in a landmark UN report that said warming was intensifying global drought is badly flawed, a study published on Wednesday said.
  Australia heatwave part of global trend: IPCC chief Jan 15, 2013
  Australia's extreme summer heatwave, which caused devastating bushfires and saw temperature forecasts go off the scale, is part of a global warming trend, the UN's climate panel chief said Tuesday.
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  Firefighters in California struggled to contain a giant blaze threatening thousands of homes and sweeping into the famous Yosemite National Park.
  Report: Puerto Rico unprepared for climate change Aug 24, 2013
  Environmental officials and scientists warned Friday that Puerto Rico is dangerously vulnerable to the effects of global climate change and urged it to prepare by better-regulated coastal development, and ...
  Greenpeace ship defies Russia by entering Arctic route Aug 24, 2013
  Greenpeace said on Saturday it had defied the Russian authorities by sending its icebreaker through an Arctic shipping route to protest against oil drilling in the fragile ecosystem.
  Can we save our urban water systems? Aug 23, 2013
  Existing urban water systems are at the end of their design lifetimes. New, innovative solutions are needed, and these must combine technology and engineering with an understanding of social systems and institutions. ...
  3Qs: The current state of climate change science Aug 23, 2013
  Earlier this week, the public learned the details of the upcoming fifth assessment report (or, "AR5") of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an international body whose mandate ...
  How fires spread: UK study brings new insight Aug 23, 2013
  University of Kentucky researchers are helping to gain insight into how fire spreads, knowledge that could help forestry officials develop more effective strategies for containing wildfires.
  User comments : 1Adjust slider to filter visible comments by rank
  Display comments: newest first
  mememine69not rated yet14 minutes ago
  What we need to do to save the planet from a CO2 disaster is to shut down the denial machine by insisting that science stops saying "maybe" and starts saying "will be" a crisis as what denier would deny an "inevitable crisis" instead of saying "possible crisis" for 28 years? Science has never agreed or said anything beyond "could be" a crisis.Unless CO2 mitigation starts soon we are doomed but denialism is preventing our children from having futures.
  More news storiesCalifornia vies for new space industryCalifornia is racing other states to woo new private companies planning to take people on trips to space.
  California's Rim Fire doubles to 125,000 acresFirefighters in California struggled to contain a giant blaze threatening thousands of homes and sweeping into the famous Yosemite National Park.
  Human activity is 'almost certainly' driving climate change, IPCC leaked report saysHuman activity is almost certainly the cause of climate change and global sea levels could rise by several feet by the end of the century, according to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ...
  Astronomers use Hubble images for movies featuring space slinky(Phys.org) '--Astronomers have assembled, from more than 13 years of observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, a series of time-lapse movies showing a jet of superheated gas'--5,000 light-years long'--as ...
  Arctic sea ice update: Unlikely to break records, but continuing downward trend (w/ Video)The melting of sea ice in the Arctic is well on its way toward its annual "minimum," that time when the floating ice cap covers less of the Arctic Ocean than at any other period during the year. While the ice will continue ...
  DC panda that birthed live cub has stillborn one tooAn official says a panda that gave birth to a cub at Washington's National Zoo has also given birth to a stillborn cub.
  One million cockroaches flee China farm: reportAt least one million cockroaches have escaped a farm in China where they were being bred for use in traditional medicine, a report said.
  How to help kids quell back-to-school jitters(HealthDay)'--Some children feel anxious about going back to school, but parents can help ease their fears, experts say.
  Expert tips for school bus safety(HealthDay)'--Many children are injured each year just getting on and off the school bus. Inattentive drivers, horseplay, unsafe street crossing and even clothing issues can all contribute.
  Wet noses to the touchscreen, iPads go to the dogsYou may or may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but you can certainly try to get Fido to use an iPad.
  (C) Phys.org' 2003-2013
MOSLEMS WAKEN UP TOO LATE TO ISRAELI CONPIRACY?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: aangirfan
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 12:49
  The BBC lies about almost everything - BBC uses 'Iraq photo to illustrate Syrian massacre'1. Rather late in the day, some Arab Moslems are wakening up."A high-ranking Egyptian military delegation has arrived in Syria charged by the Egyptian Minister of Defense Al Sissi with coordinating the war efforts by Damascus and Cairo for 'a more effective fight against the Muslim Brotherhood'..."Al Sissi has made no secret of his intention to see the 'the Egyptian and Syrian armies fight all the terrorists.'Premier contact Al-Sissi/R(C)gime Assad, Riyad en col¨re!!! - IRIB -Translate this page"Russia is ready to replace the United States to arm the Egyptians."INDISCRETIONS. ‰gypte : le triple NON du g(C)n(C)ral Abdel Fattah al ... - Translate this pagePhoto by Sean Long. Happy, peaceful, moderate Syria, before the Jihadists, supported by the USA and NATO, started trying to topple Assad.2. The USA and its allies have already achieved their objective in Syria.They have wrecked a once relatively liberal and prosperous country.But the USA and its allies want further destruction.No country is safe; targets include Lebanon, Malaysia, Brazil, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Russia, China...This 14-year-old boy was executed by the Syrian rebels for making a joke.Jihadists Executed a Child3. The USA is about to kill a lot more children.Ian Birrell, the spooky Foreign Correspondent of The Mail writes of Syria:"This is already a proxy war, with fighters from 25 countries...
  "Meanwhile money and munitions have poured into the rebels from Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia '' with a wink and a nod from the White House.
  "Now the contagion seems to be spreading.
  "Lebanon suffered two more huge bomb attacks yesterday. "Jordan is struggling to cope with a massive influx of Syrian refugees while Iraq is again drowning in blood..."There is no point creating no-fly zones if we cannot defend them against well-armed forces backed by Russia."
  dailymail.
  We assume that the USA and its allies have long had plans to bomb Syrian schools and hospitals.Syrian state TV broadcast these images of chemical weapons seized from rebel hideouts in the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus.4. The evidence suggests that some kind of staged incident took place in Damascus and that responsibility for the incident lies with the rebel Free Syrian Army and its allies, including the USA, Israel, Jordan.Much of the evidence looks fake, including photos which were taken not in Syria but in Palestine and Egypt."In the most authoritative account so far, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said three hospitals near Damascus had reported 355 deaths in the space of three hours out of about 3,600 admissions with nerve gas-type symptoms."Obama weighs possible military response
  Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) does not have any of its own staff in Syria.Syrie et d(C)sinformation. une preuve !
  Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is a front for the French security services.
  Kouchner, who set up the spooky Medecins Sans Frontieres5. We visited Tunisia just before the CIA toppled Ben Ali.We found that Tunisia under Ben Ali was a great success story - high economic growth rate, low levels of corruption and a liberal way of life.LeDingueRecommend 65
  "So, the Americans, Saudis, British, French Israelis and Qataris all want an attack on Syria.
  "Then there will be chaos, very like the chaos in Iraq and Libya. "Western backed Sunni fighters (aka "al Qaeda") will create some hideous war and thousands more civilians will be bombed, maimed, terrorised and displaced."The British foreign secretary, William Hague, said last week that "this is a chemical attack by the Assad regime"
  "Based upon what evidence? Mostly wishful thinking and repeated on-message media reports."Other media reports, many now removed but still available using the 'Wayback Machine' webpage archive, report substantial evidence that it is the sunni fighters who are staging these chemical attacks.
  "You can see those reports on Aangirfan
  -- Daily Mail Online: "US 'backed plan to launch chemical weapon attack on Syria and blame it on Assad's regime"-- Washington Times: "Syrian rebels used sarin nerve gas not Assad's regime: UN official"
  "Will all the media be going along with this charade without questioning either the evidence or the rationale that will presumably 'justify' a rain of cruise missiles guaranteed to slaughter, maim and traumatise thousands of civillians?"
  http://discussion.theguardian.com/
  8. The USA uses chemical weapons
The Real, Terrifying Reason Why British Authorities Detained David Miranda - Atlantic Mobile
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 12:24
  Next ArticleIllustration from the original edition of Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, by Abraham Bosse (1651)
  Last Sunday, David Miranda wasdetained while changing planes at London Heathrow Airport by British authorities for nine hours under a controversial British law -- the maximum time allowable without making an arrest. There has been much made of the fact that he's the partner of Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian reporter whom Edward Snowden trusted with many of his NSA documents and the most prolific reporter of the surveillance abuses disclosed in those documents. There's less discussion of what I feel was the real reason for Miranda's detention. He was ferrying documents between Greenwald and Laura Poitras, a filmmaker and his co-reporter on Snowden and his information. These document were on several USB memory sticks he had with him. He had already carried documents from Greenwald in Rio de Janeiro to Poitras in Berlin, and was on his way back with different documents when he was detained.
  The memory sticks were encrypted, of course, and Miranda did not know the key. This didn't stop the British authorities from repeatedly asking for the key, and from confiscating the memory sticks along with his other electronics.
  The incident prompted amajoroutcry in the U.K. The U.K.'s Terrorist Act has always been controversial, and this clear misuse -- it was intended to give authorities the right to detain and question suspected terrorists -- is prompting new calls for its review. Certainly the U.K. police will be more reluctant to misuse the law again in this manner.
  I have to admit this story has me puzzled. Why would the British do something like this? What did they hope to gain, and why did they think it worth the cost? And -- of course -- were the British acting on their own under the Official Secrets Act, or were they acting on behalf of the United States? (My initial assumption was that they were acting on behalf of the U.S., but after the bizarre story of the British GCHQ demanding the destruction of Guardian computers last month, I'm not sure anymore.)
  We do know the British were waiting for Miranda. It's reasonable to assume they knew his itinerary, and had good reason to suspect that he was ferrying documents back and forth between Greenwald and Poitras. These documents could be source documents provided by Snowden, new documents that the two were working on either separately or together, or both. That being said, it's inconceivable that the memory sticks would contain the only copies of these documents. Poitras retained copies of everything she gave Miranda. So the British authorities couldn't possibly destroy the documents; the best they could hope for is that they would be able to read them.
  Is it truly possible that the NSA doesn't already know what Snowden has? They claim they don't, but after Snowden's name became public, the NSA would have conducted the mother of all audits. It would try to figure out what computer systems Snowden had access to, and therefore what documents he could have accessed. Hopefully, the audit information would give more detail, such as which documents he downloaded. I have a hard time believing that its internal auditing systems would be so bad that it wouldn't be able to discover this.
  So if the NSA knows what Snowden has, or what he could have, then the most it could learn from the USB sticks is what Greenwald and Poitras are currently working on, or thinking about working on. But presumably the things the two of them are working on are the things they're going to publish next. Did the intelligence agencies really do all this simply for a few weeks' heads-up on what was coming? Given how ham-handedly the NSA has handled PR as each document was exposed, it seems implausible that it wanted advance knowledge so it could work on a response. It's been two months since the first Snowden revelation, and it still doesn't have a decent PR story.
  Furthermore, the U.K. authorities must have known that the data would be encrypted. Greenwald might have been a crypto newbie at the start of the Snowden affair, but Poitras is known to be good at security. The two have been communicating securely by e-mail when they do communicate. Maybe the U.K. authorities thought there was a good chance that one of them would make a security mistake, or that Miranda would be carrying paper documents.
  Another possibility is that this was just intimidation. If so, it's misguided. Anyone who regularly reads Greenwald could have told them that he would not have been intimidated -- and, in fact, he expressed the exact opposite sentiment -- and anyone who follows Poitras knows that she is even more strident in her views. Going after the loved ones of state enemies is a typically thuggish tactic, but it's not a very good one in this case. The Snowden documents will get released. There's no way to put this cat back in the bag, not even by killing the principal players.
  It could possibly have been intended to intimidate others who are helping Greenwald and Poitras, or the Guardian and its advertisers. This will have some effect. Lavabit, Silent Circle, and now Groklaw have all been successfully intimidated. Certainly others have as well. But public opinion is shifting against the intelligence community. I don't think it will intimidate future whistleblowers. If the treatment of Bradley Manning didn't discourage them, nothing will.
  This leaves one last possible explanation -- those in power were angry and impulsively acted on that anger. They're lashing out: sending a message and demonstrating that they're not to be messed with -- that the normal rules of polite conduct don't apply to people who screw with them. That's probably the scariest explanation of all. Both the U.S. and U.K. intelligence apparatuses have enormous money and power, and they have already demonstrated that they are willing to ignore their own laws. Once they start wielding that power unthinkingly, it could get really bad for everyone.
  And it's not going to be good for them, either. They seem to want Snowden so badly that that they'll burn the world down to get him. But every time they act impulsively aggressive -- convincing the governments of Portugal and France to block the plane carrying the Bolivian president because they thought Snowden was on it is another example -- they lose a small amount of moral authority around the world, and some ability to act in the same way again. The more pressure Snowden feels, the more likely he is to give up on releasing the documents slowly and responsibly, and publish all of them at once -- the same way that WikiLeaks published the U.S. State Department cables.
  Just this week, the Wall Street Journalreported on some new NSA secret programs that are spying on Americans. It got the information from "interviews with current and former intelligence and government officials and people from companies that help build or operate the systems, or provide data," not from Snowden. This is only the beginning. The media will not be intimidated. I will not be intimidated. But it scares me that the NSA is so blind that it doesn't see it.
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Google and the NSA: Who's holding the 'shit-bag' now? | The Stringer
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 05:18
  Image '' latimesblogs.latimes.com
  It has been revealed today, thanks to Edward Snowden, that Google and other US tech companies received millions of dollars from the NSA for their compliance with the PRISM mass surveillance system.
  So just how close is Google to the US securitocracy? Back in 2011 I had a meeting with Eric Schmidt, the then Chairman of Google, who came out to see me with three other people while I was under house arrest. You might suppose that coming to see me was gesture that he and the other big boys at Google were secretly on our side: that they support what we at WikiLeaks are struggling for: justice, government transparency, and privacy for individuals. But that would be a false supposition. Their agenda was much more complex, and as we found out, was inextricable from that of the US State Department. The full transcript of our meeting is available online through the WikiLeaks website.
  The pretext for their visit was that Schmidt was then researching a new book, a banal tome which has since come out as The New Digital Age. My less than enthusiastic review of this book was published in the New York Times in late May of this year. On the back of that book are a series of pre-publication endorsements: Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Michael Hayden (former head of the CIA and NSA) and Tony Blair. Inside the book Henry Kissinger appears once again, this time given pride of place in the acknowledgements.
  Schmidt's book is not about communicating with the public. He is worth $6.1 billion and does not need to sell books. Rather, this book is a mechanism by which Google seeks to project itself into Washington. It shows Washington that Google can be its partner, its geopolitical visionary, who will help Washington see further about America's interests. And by tying itself to the US state, Google thereby cements its own security, at the expense of all competitors.
  Two months after my meeting with Eric Schmidt, WikiLeaks had a legal reason to call Hilary Clinton and to document that we were calling her. It's interesting that if you call the front desk of the State Department and ask for Hillary Clinton, you can actually get pretty close, and we've become quite good at this. Anyone who has seen Doctor Strangelove may remember the fantastic scene when Peter Sellers calls the White House from a payphone on the army base and is put on hold as his call gradually moves through the levels. Well WikiLeaks journalist Sarah Harrison, pretending to be my PA, put through our call to the State Department, and like Peter Sellers we started moving through the levels, and eventually we got up to Hillary Clinton's senior legal advisor, who said that we would be called back.
  Shortly afterwards another one of our people, WikiLeaks' ambassador Joseph Farrell, received a call back, not from the State Department, but from Lisa Shields, the then girlfriend of Eric Schmidt, who does not formally work for the US State Department. So let's reprise this situation: The Chairman of Google's girlfriend was being used as a back channel for Hillary Clinton. This is illustrative. It shows that at this level of US society, as in other corporate states, it is all musical chairs.
  That visit from Google while I was under house arrest was, as it turns out, an unofficial visit from the State Department. Just consider the people who accompanied Schmidt on that visit: his girlfriend Lisa Shields, Vice President for Communications at the CFR; Scott Malcolmson, former senior State Department advisor; and Jared Cohen, advisor to both Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice, a kind of Generation Y Kissinger figure '-- a noisy Quiet American as the author Graham Greene might have put it.
  Google started out as part of Californian graduate student culture around San Francisco's Bay Area. But as Google grew it encountered the big bad world. It encountered barriers to its expansion in the form of complex political networks and foreign regulations. So it started doing what big bad American companies do, from Coca Cola to Northrop Grumman. It started leaning heavily on the State Department for support, and by doing so it entered into the Washington DC system. A recently released statistic shows that Google now spends even more money than Lockheed Martin on paid lobbyists in Washington.
  Jared Cohen was the co-writer of Eric Schmidt's book, and his role as the bridge between Google and the State Department speaks volumes about how the US securitocracy works. Cohen used to work directly for the State Department and was a close advisor to both Condolezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. But since 2010 he has been Director of Google Ideas, its in-house 'think/do' tank.
  Documents published last year by WikiLeaks obtained from the US intelligence contractor Stratfor, show that in 2011 Jared Cohen, then (as he is now) Director of Google Ideas, was off running secret missions to the edge of Iran in Azerbaijan. In these internal emails, Fred Burton, Stratfor's Vice President for Intelligence and a former senior State Department official, describes Google as follows:
  ''Google is getting WH [White House] and State Dept support and air cover. In reality they are doing things the CIA cannot do'...[Cohen] is going to get himself kidnapped or killed. Might be the best thing to happen to expose Google's covert role in foaming up-risings, to be blunt. The US Gov't can then disavow knowledge and Google is left holding the shit-bag''
  In further internal communication, Burton subsequently clarifies his sources on Cohen's activities as Marty Lev, Google's director of security and safety and.. Eric Schmidt.
  WikiLeaks cables also reveal that previously Cohen, when working for the State Department, was in Afghanistan trying to convince the four major Afghan mobile phone companies to move their antennas onto US military bases. In Lebanon he covertly worked to establish, on behalf of the State Department, an anti-Hezbollah Shia think tank. And in London? He was offering Bollywood film executives funds to insert anti-extremist content into Bollywood films and promising to connect them to related networks in Hollywood. That is the Director of Google Ideas. Cohen is effectively Google's director of regime change. He is the State Department channeling Silicon Valley.
  That Google was taking NSA money in exchange for handing over people's data comes as no surprise. When Google encountered the big bad world, Google itself got big and bad.
Victims hit cervical cancer vaccines | The Japan Times
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 04:53
  Teenagers injured or disabled by cervical cancer vaccines are stepping up efforts to permanently end the government's subsidy program for injections of Cervarix and Gardasil.
  On Friday, eight teens, accompanied by their parents, called out health minister Norihisa Tamura over the issue. The schoolgirls, aged from 14 to 18 '-- including four in wheelchairs '-- and their parents are members of the Nationwide Liaison Association of Cervical Cancer Vaccine Victims and Parents.
  Tamura was handed five petitions in a meeting with the group at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, association chief Mika Matsufuji said afterward. The request to abolish the vaccination program topped the list.
  The other petitions included one asking for stronger government efforts to identify the cause of the side effects and to find therapeutic remedies. The side effects range from convulsions and seizures to severe headaches and even partial paralysis.
  In April, the Diet revised the Preventive Vaccination Law so that girls aged 14 to 18 could get the cervical vaccine shots for free.
  But an advisory panel to the health ministry later urged that the government stop recommending vaccinations for cervical cancer after concluding the reported symptoms were likely being caused by the vaccines.
  The ministry reportedly complied on June 15 by telling local governments to stop recommending that girls 12 to 16 get vaccinated with Cervarix or Gardasil in light of reports about chronically adverse reactions. The local governments, acting on behalf of the central government, had been telling teens to get the shots.
  At Friday's meeting with Tamura, the schoolgirls, parents and the association asked the government to revise the vaccination law again to officially remove cervical cancer vaccines from the list of those subsidized by the central government.
  ''There is not a single moment when I am not suffering pain, and I want the government to find a remedy,'' said a 17-year-old high school senior from Yokohama.
  ''I do not want the government to resume recommending this vaccine.''
  The girl said she started getting severe pains throughout her body, including her head, after receiving her third Cervarix injection in April 2011. The process requires three injections in six months.
  A 16-year-old in a wheelchair whose hands and legs were convulsing during the meeting with Tamura and at the news conference, said she can't possibly be alone.
  ''There must be numerous girls who are suffering symptoms similar to mine without knowing their conditions stem from the vaccines.
  ''I took this action (going to the press) because I want those girls to become aware of the link'' between the vaccines and their disorders, she said.
  Toshie Ikeda, a member of the Hino Municipal Assembly who has been secretary-general of the association and attended Friday's meeting with Tamura, quoted him as saying: ''I am aware of the necessity to create a team to study this problem and gather information on the actual state of damage that has been inflicted nationwide.''
  Matsufuji, whose daughter is among the four in wheelchairs, quoted the minister as telling the petitioners that the decision will be made after the government completes its investigation.
  According to Dr. Sotaro Sato, who has examined many cervical vaccine victims, the convulsions, inability to walk, and involuntary hand and toe movements are being caused by encephalomyelitis, or the inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
  ''Cervical cancer vaccines, which are chemically bound to special types of adjuvants, often trigger encephalomyelitis,'' he said.
  ''Since the vaccines cause autoantibodies against the brain's neuronal fibers to be produced in many cases, they have triggered demyelinating disorders,'' he said, adding they have also induced many cases of cerebral vasculitis.
  Cerebral vasculitis causes the body's immune system to attack blood vessels in the brain, often leading to hemorrhaging, said Sato, who runs a hospital in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
  The marketing of Cervarix, made by GlaxoSmithKlein PLC of Britain, was approved in 2009. This was followed by Gardasil, made by Merck Sharp & Dohme (better known as Merck & Co. in the U.S.), in 2011.
  The ministry says that it has received a total of 1,968 reports of adverse reactions and that 3.28 million girls had been vaccinated as of March 31. The association says that's just the tip of the iceberg.
  Ikeda said doctors often reject pleas from their patients' parents to file reports about adverse reactions, which are needed to obtain compensation from the government.
  This is either because they are afraid of being held responsible for the shots or because they are ignorant the vaccines can produce side effects, he said.
  Baby gets liver cellsThe National Center for Child Health and Development in Tokyo has successfully transplanted liver cells into a baby for the first time in Japan.
  ''We have safely conducted an operation that could develop into regenerative medicine using embryo-stem or induced pluripotent stem cells,'' NCCHD hospital chief Akira Matsui said Friday.
  In the globally rare case, the center used surplus liver cells left frozen after 14 living liver transplants it conducted in and after May 2011. The donors consented to keeping the liver cells frozen.
  The baby boy, whose liver was malfunctioning, underwent the transplant on Aug. 10, when he was 11 days old, and on Aug. 13, receiving cells that matched his blood type, the center said. Afterward, his liver began functioning properly.
  The boy could be discharged from the hospital in a month and a half, the center said, adding it will keep track of his condition.
Obama studies options after Syria gas attack, consults UK's Cameron
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  Source: Reuters: World News
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 04:25
  1 of 7. A member of the Free Syrian Army is seen in a damaged building in Salah al-Din neighbourhood in central Aleppo August 24, 2013.
  Credit: Reuters/Loubna Mrie
  By Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason
  WASHINGTON | Sat Aug 24, 2013 11:39pm EDT
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and his top military and national security advisers hashed out options on Saturday for responding to the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria amid "increasing signs" that the government used poison gas against civilians.
  Obama spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron, a top U.S. ally, and agreed that chemical weapon use by Syrian President Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces would merit a "serious response," a spokesperson for the prime minister said in a statement.
  Syrian opposition accounts that between 500 and well over 1,000 civilians were killed this week by gas in munitions fired by pro-government forces, and video footage of victims' bodies, have stoked demands abroad for a robust, U.S.-led response after 2 1/2 years of international inaction on Syria's conflict.
  Syria sought to avert blame by saying its soldiers had found chemical weapons in rebel tunnels. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called his Syrian counterpart on Thursday to chide the government for not allowing U.N. inspectors access to the site.
  Obama has been reluctant to intervene in Syria's civil war, but reports of the killings near Damascus have put pressure on the White House to make good on the president's comment a year ago that chemical weapons would be a "red line" for the United States.
  The United States is repositioning naval forces in the Mediterranean to give Obama the option for an armed strike.
  The White House declined to list what options were discussed on Saturday and said Washington was still gathering details about the attack.
  "In coordination with international partners and mindful of the dozens of contemporaneous witness accounts and record of the symptoms of those killed, the U.S. intelligence community continues to gather facts to ascertain what occurred," it said in a statement.
  American and European security sources have said U.S. and allied intelligence agencies made a preliminary assessment that chemical weapons were used by Syrian forces in the attack. The United Nations has requested access to the site.
  Obama spoke to Cameron after the White House meeting. A spokesperson for the British prime minister said the two men noted increasing signs of Syrian government culpability.
  'ª"They are both gravely concerned by the attack that took place in Damascus on Wednesday and the increasing signs that this was a significant chemical weapons attack carried out by the Syrian regime against its own people," the spokesperson said.
  Cameron also spoke to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper spoke to French President Fran§ois Hollande.
  SYRIA REJECTS BLAME
  Obama said in a CNN interview broadcast on Friday that chemical weapon use on a large scale would start "getting to some core national interests that the United States has, both in terms of us making sure that weapons of mass destruction are not proliferating, as well as needing to protect our allies, our bases in the region."
  But Americans strongly oppose U.S. intervention in Syria's civil war and believe Washington should stay out of the conflict even if reports that Syria's government used deadly chemicals to attack civilians are confirmed, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
  Syrian state television said soldiers found chemical materials on Saturday in tunnels that had been used by rebels, rejecting the blame for carrying out a nerve gas attack.
  The state news agency, SANA, said soldiers had "suffered from cases of suffocation" when rebels used poison gas "as a last resort" after government forces made "big gains" against them in the Damascus suburb of Jobar.
  The leader of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Ahmad al-Jarba, and the head of the rebel Free Syrian Army, General Salim Idriss, denied on Saturday that rebels had used chemical weapons.
  Jabra said the "most important cause" of the attack was the silence and inaction of the international community, especially the West.
  Kerry called Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem on Thursday and told him the Damascus government should have let U.N. inspectors have access to the site of the alleged gas attack, a State Department official said.
  "If, as they claimed, the Syrian regime has nothing to hide, it should have allowed immediate and unimpeded access to the site rather than continuing to attack the affected area to block access and destroy evidence," the official said, referring to Kerry's message in the call.
  Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said there was growing consensus in the West that Assad's government was responsible.
  "It's very clear, I think, that the U.S. and the Western governments think that the regime did it," he said.
  "Whether their response would immediately be military or not, I don't know. I suspect that first they're probably going to push for diplomacy, but probably with a pretty short fuse."
  Kerry made a series of diplomatic calls to counterparts in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Turkey on Saturday.
  In the most authoritative account so far, the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said three hospitals near Damascus had reported 355 deaths in the space of three hours out of about 3,600 admissions with nerve gas-type symptoms.
  A senior U.N. official arrived in Damascus to seek access for inspectors to the site of last Wednesday's attack.
  Major world powers - including Russia, Assad's main ally which has long blocked U.N.-sponsored intervention against him - have urged the Syrian leader to cooperate with U.N. chemical weapons inspectors already in Damascus to pursue earlier allegations.
  But Russia said the rebels were impeding an inquiry and that Assad would have no interest in using poison gas for fear of foreign intervention.
  Alexei Pushkov, pro-Kremlin chairman of the international affairs committee in Russia's lower house of parliament, said: "In London, they are 'convinced' that Assad used chemical weapons, and earlier they were 'convinced' that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It's the same old story."
  'RANGE OF OPTIONS'
  The list of participants in the White House meeting underscored its importance. They included Vice President Joe Biden, national security adviser Susan Rice, CIA Director John Brennan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, and Samantha Power, the U.S. representative to the United Nations.
  Aides said Kerry, who is on vacation in Massachusetts, and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, who is traveling in Asia, both participated remotely.
  Administration officials were cautious in describing the content of the discussions and warned against expectations of a decision on Saturday.
  "We have a range of options available, and we are going to act very deliberately so that we're making decisions consistent with our national interest as well as our assessment of what can advance our objectives in Syria," a White House official said before the meeting.
  "Once we ascertain the facts, the president will make an informed decision about how to respond," a White House official said.
  Hagel said on Friday the Pentagon was taking measures to prepare for all options. "And that requires positioning our forces, positioning our assets, to be able to carry out different options - whatever options the president might choose," he said without elaborating.
  A defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the U.S. Navy would expand its presence in the Mediterranean to four destroyers from three.
  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani weighed in on the issue for the first time, saying chemical weapons had killed people in Syria, its ally. Although Rouhani stopped short of saying who he thought had used the weapons, Iran's Foreign Ministry said evidence pointed to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
  The U.S. Central Command and the Jordanian armed forces were planning to host a meeting of regional defense chiefs from Sunday to Tuesday in Jordan. The group will discuss "the region's dynamic security environment." The meeting was scheduled in June and not called in response to the recent attacks in Syria, a Pentagon spokesman said.
  (Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, Phil Stewart, Lesley Wroughton, Andrea Shalal-Esa and Paul Eckert in Washington bureau; Megan Davies in Moscow, John Irish in Paris, Madeline Chambers in Berlin, Yeganeh Torbati in Dubai, Asli Kandemir and Dasha Afanasieva in Istanbul and Washington bureau; Writing by Jeff Mason; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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To Russia With Love komt op voor homo's - Binnenland - VK
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 04:24
  Bewerkt door: redactie '' 25/08/13, 03:44 '' bron: ANP
  (C) thinkstock.
  Naar verwachting enkele duizenden actievoerders komen zondag naar het Amsterdamse Museumplein voor het To Russia With Love-concert. Ze willen een tegengeluid laten horen op het door de Russische staat georganiseerde galaconcert, aansluitend op het plein.
  De initiatiefnemers van de manifestatie, de homobelangenorganisatie COC Nederland en Pride United, wilden eigenlijk dat de gemeente het evenement zou verbieden, maar het stadsbestuur vond dit niet passend. Wel bood het ruimte voor een tegenactie, die van 18 uur tot 20 uur duurt.
  Onder anderen burgemeester Eberhard van der Laan is een van de sprekers. Ook zijn er optredens van Mathilde Santing en dansgezelschap Introdans, die een bewerking van Tsjaikovski's Het Zwanenmeer uitvoert.
  De organisaties maken zich zorgen over de ontwikkelingen in Rusland, waar homorechten onder grote druk staan. De demonstranten willen het galaconcert, dat de schoonheid van de Russische cultuur moet laten zien, nadrukkelijk niet verstoren.
US marijuana streak named after Indian American medical scribe - NY Daily News | NewsCred SmartWire
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 04:19
  Washington, Aug 23 '-- Indian American medical journalist Sanjay Gupta has had a strain of cannabis named after him since he suggested a relook at the use of medical marijuana changing his previous position on the controversial issue.
  A Colorado medical dispensary named a new type of medical marijuana - Gupta Kush - after Gupta, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, adding him to a list of celebrities including President Barack Obama who have namesake cannabis strains.
  "Dr. Gupta's recent reporting on marijuana puts him at the forefront of the medical cannabis movement, and we thought what better way to honour his efforts than by giving him his own strain," said Jeff Kless, owner of Helping Hands Herbals Dispensary in Boulder, Colorado, in a media release.
  "We'd like to ensure he remains part of the annals of cannabis culture, and now he will," he added.
  Kless called naming a marijuana strain after Gupta as "our way of tipping our hat and honouring him for taking such a firm, science-based stance on behalf of marijuana as 'real' medicine".
  "The political and health establishments now realise that cannabis has genuine medical benefits, which we've been saying for years," he said.
  "Gupta Kush imparts a very relaxing state that calms the mind without compromising clarity. When the mind is quiet and happy, people allow themselves to heal. Medical marijuana helps that happen," Kless claimed.
  Gupta Kush is an indica strain with its origins in the Hindu Kush mountains of South Asia, the reported birthplace of some of the world's oldest and most potent cannabis strains, according to the release.
  It has a rich green colour hidden beneath a deep layer of trichomes, and a thick, hashy, floral taste. Onset is immediate and effects are long-lasting, it said.
  Since publicly announcing his changed views on medical marijuana earlier this month, Gupta has inspired a more serious look at weed and even generated some pressure on Obama to re-examine his position on marijuana laws.
  However, the White House last week indicated Obama isn't looking to change current federal laws relating to marijuana anytime soon in the light of Gupta's views.
  Obama considered naming CNN's Gupta as surgeon general in 2009, but the neurosurgeon later said he withdrew his name so he could maintain his surgical career.
  (Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
  IANS
  This article was distributed through the NewsCred Smartwire.Original article (C) IANS / Daily News 2013
VIDEO-Rangel: 'There Is No Reason Why a Young Person Should Have to Pay for College' | MRCTV
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  MRC TV is an online platform for people to share and view videos, articles and opinions on topics that are important to them -- from news to political issues and rip-roaring humor.
  MRC TV is brought to you by the Media Research Center, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit research and education organization. The MRC is located at: 1900 Campus Commons Drive, Reston, VA 20194. For information about the MRC, please visit www.MRC.org.
  Copyright (C) 2013, Media Research Center. All Rights Reserved.
Translation of German article for the No Agenda show | Hardy Search
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 03:32
  Okay, this is something a little different for this blog. I recently encountered an opportunity to make a contribution and resolved to do a translation of an article that appeared in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).
  It's an article about the podcast ''No Agenda'' that appeared in the FAZ. A friend alerted me to the situation. I went to the podcast and listened to the segment. The hosts of the program, John C. Dvorak and Adam Curry knew about the article but couldn't read it. They went to Google Translate and got bupkis. The result was unintelligible.
  In addition to the SEO stuff I do, I'm also a German-English translator. So I figured, why not do these guys a favor?
  The original article in German is available here.
  I thought it would be best to adhere closely to the original German, so that you can get a feel for the author's own words '' hence the perhaps unorthodox phrasing at times.
  Here it is:
  Radio success on the webWhat if listeners paid?
  March 31, 2013 '' Their online show is without precedent. With ''No Agenda,'' John C. Dvorak and Adam Curry are demonstrating how to reach listeners with critical, talk-based radio and make money from it.
  by STEFAN SCHULZ
  Among all of the disappointed expectations associated with the internet is Bertold Brecht's Radio Theory, whereby even small productions attract an audience '' it is one of the longest enduring ideas.
  The internet however has not overcome the institutions, quite the opposite: it has spawned behemoths, multi-billion-dollar corporations. Small media institutions that resist this development must fight for their economic freedom. They are mostly dependent on advertising revenue. An audience independently, sustainably, and directly financing a media product remains an unfulfilled wish. But there is an exception.
  For five and a half years, the Americans John C. Dvorak and Adam Curry have produced a podcast: the ''No Agenda'' show '' a subscribable radio broadcast that is available online and pursues the ''value for value'' business model. Twice a week, they broadcast an extensive talkshow of up to three hours that is supported solely by the donations of their listeners, who call them the ''producers of the best podcast in the universe.'' Earnings are estimated to total 250,000 dollars a year.
  Plenty of practical experience
  The internet show did not however achieve success without the creators having any traditional institutional media experience. Technology journalist Dvorak (b. 1952) has written columns for decades, in which he takes on current technology trends. He is famous for a quote from 1984, in which he describes the computer mouse invented for Macintosh as a scarcely wanted experiment by Apple. He still publishes as ''Buzzkill'' in his writings and frequently criticizes the technology euphoria of Silicon Valley protagonists as a guest on ''This Week in Tech.''
  Curry's (b. 1964) career in media made him not only famous but also rich. At 23 years of age he became an MTV presenter. Registering the domain ''mtv.com'' for the broadcaster and wanting to become a voice on the internet only brought him trouble. During the first internet boom, he led a company with several hundred employees to the NASDAQ technology exchange. In 2004, he created a video platform, a year before the launch of YouTube. As a ''podfather,'' he is among the inventors of podcasting.
  ''No Agenda'' provides what the biographies of both men portend: distrust and critique of all institutions and developments, combined with the fundamental mission to entertain. Curry and Dvorak place American media in particular under the microscope and subject segments from radio and TV programs '' which they play by the dozen in each episode '' to a second treatment. They lay out their unique worldview using the statements of politicians and presentations of journalists, spanning an adventurous spectrum of positions. No-alternative scenarios in particular are picked apart. Presidents do not escape them, nor do the military, intelligence agencies, and central banks.
  Curry and Dvorak make demands on their audience. One can only understand the layout of the program, with its numerous cross-references, after weeks of listening '' and not infrequently the ho-hum moments outnumber the a-ha moments. But the community of listeners is growing, not only in America, where the large media institutions now openly assign with political camps, and the name ''No Agenda'' accurately describes an alternative program. Adam Curry estimates that about one percent of listeners pay for the program. For the 500th edition on March 31, that number will certainly be higher.
VIDEO- UK and Spain spar over Gibraltar - YouTube
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 03:18
VIDEO-Obama's Latest Gaffe: 'Like Eating Your Corn Seed' | MRCTV
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  During a townhall at Binghamton University, President Obama warns against "eating your corn seed," thus trampling the metaphor "like eating your seed corn." He also claims that "we don't have an urgent deficit crisis."
eating your seed corn - Google Search
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  To eat the seed corn - The Free Dictionarywww.thefreedictionary.com/To+eat+the+seed+corn- Cached - SimilarTo eat the corn which should be saved for seed, so as to forestall starvation; - adesparate measure, since it only postpones disaster. any desparate action which ...Don't Eat Your Seed Corn - Investing for Beginners - About.combeginnersinvest.about.com/.../Do-Not-Eat-Your-Seed-Corn.htm- CachedIn generations past, wise farmers had a rule. Never eat your seed corn. The samecan be true for those of you who are interested in saving money for the future.Obama's Latest Gaffe: 'Like Eating Your Corn Seed' | NewsBustersnewsbusters.org/blogs/.../obamas-latest-gaffe-eating-your-corn-seed- Cached1 day ago ... Somebody should tell President Obama to forget the folksy metaphors. The prezsounds phony mouthing them, and since they are unfamiliar to ...Obama: reducing government spending ''like eating your corn seed...www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3058341/posts
  9 hours ago ... And, you know, that's like eating your corn seed. You know, it's like, ah, beingpenny wise and pound foolish.'' I think he meant to say ''seed corn ...| Running the Windy Cityrunningthewindycity.com/
  On Friday, after my run around St. Ignace, my mom and I packed up her car andstarted the drive south to Watervale, a small ''resort'' in Arcadia, MI. The drive is ...On eating your seed corn Courtney Milan's Blogwww.courtneymilan.com/ramblings/.../on-eating-your-seed-corn/- Cached25 Feb 2011 ... Today, the disturbing news that is going around is that some publishers haveasked Overdrive (the library lending program) to limit the number ...eat the seed corn - Wiktionaryen.wiktionary.org/wiki/eat_the_seed_corn- Cachedeat the seed corn (third-person singular simple present eats the seed corn,present participle eating the seed corn, simple past ate the seed corn, pastparticiple ...EATING YOUR SEED CORN | COMMON SENSEcharlesfaddis.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/eating-your-seed-corn/- Cached31 Aug 2011 ...Eating your seed corn. It's an antique expression from a more basic, agrariantime. It conjures up images of a family, trying to make it through ...Obama's Latest Gaffe: 'Like Eating Your Corn Seed' | MRCTVwww.mrctv.org/videos/obamas-latest-gaffe-eating-your-corn-seed- Cached1 day ago ... During a townhall at Binghamton University, President Obama warns against "eating your corn seed," thus trampling the metaphor "like eating ...Eating Your Seed Corn | Coyote Blogwww.coyoteblog.com/coyote_blog/.../eating-your-seed-corn.html- Cached30 Mar 2012 ... I found this to be one of the most immoral statements I have read in a long time (bold added) Saez and Diamond argue that the right marginal ...Searches related to eating your seed corn
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  Part of a series of articles on...1526San Miguel de Gualdape(Sapelo Island, Georgia, Victorious)c. 1570Gaspar Yanga's Revolt(Veracruz, Victorious)1712 New York Slave Revolt(New York City, Suppressed)1733 St. John Slave Revolt(Saint John, Suppressed)1739 Stono Rebellion(South Carolina, Suppressed)1741 New York Conspiracy(New York City, Suppressed)1760 Tacky's War(Jamaica, Suppressed)1791''1804 Haitian Revolution(Saint-Domingue, Victorious)1800 Gabriel Prosser(Virginia, Suppressed)1803 Igbo Landing(St. Simons Island, Georgia, Suppressed)1805 Chatham Manor(Virginia, Suppressed)1811 German Coast Uprising(Territory of Orleans, Suppressed)1815 George Boxley(Virginia, Suppressed)1822 Denmark Vesey(South Carolina, Suppressed)1831 Nat Turner's rebellion(Virginia, Suppressed)1831''1832 Baptist War(Jamaica, Suppressed)1839 Amistad, ship rebellion(Off the Cuban coast, Victorious)1841 Creole, ship rebellion(Off the Southern U.S. coast, Victorious)1842 Slave Revolt in the Cherokee Nation(Southern U.S., Suppressed)1859 John Brown's Raid(Virginia, Suppressed)
  Nathaniel "Nat" Turner (October 2, 1800 '' November 11, 1831) was an American slave who led a slave rebellion in Virginia on August 21, 1831 that resulted in 55 white deaths. Whites responded with at least 100 black deaths.[2] He gathered supporters in Southampton County, Virginia. Turner was convicted, sentenced to death, and hanged. In the aftermath, the state executed 56 blacks accused of being part of Turner's slave rebellion. Two hundred blacks were also killed after being beaten by white militias and mobs reacting with violence.[3] Across Virginia and other southern states, state legislators passed new laws prohibiting education of slaves and free blacks, restricting rights of assembly and other civil rights for free blacks, and requiring white ministers to be present at black worship services.
  At birth on October 2, 1800, Turner's owner recorded only his given name, Nat, although he may have had a last name within the slave community. In accordance with common practice, the whites referred to him by the last name of his owner, Benjamin Turner. This practice was continued by historians. Turner knew little about the background of his father, who was believed to have escaped from slavery when Turner was a young boy. Turner remained close to his paternal grandmother, Old Bridget, who was also owned by Benjamin Turner. Turner's maternal grandmother was one of the Coromantee also known as the Akan people from present-day Ghana, a group known for slave revolts. She was captured in Africa at thirteen years of age and shipped to America.[4]
  Turner spent his life in Southampton County, Virginia, a predominantly black area.[5] After the rebellion, a reward notice described Turner as:
  5 feet 6 or 8 inches high, weighs between 150 and 160 pounds, rather bright complexion, but not a mulatto, broad shoulders, larger flat nose, large eyes, broad flat feet, rather knockkneed, walks brisk and active, hair on the top of the head very thin, no beard, except on the upper lip and the top of the chin, a scar on one of his temples, also one on the back of his neck, a large knot on one of the bones of his right arm, near the wrist, produced by a blow.[6]
  Turner had "natural intelligence and quickness of apprehension, surpassed by few."[7] He learned to read and write at a young age. Deeply religious, Nat was often seen fasting, praying, or immersed in reading the stories of the Bible.[8] He frequently experienced visions which he interpreted as messages from God. These visions greatly influenced his life; for instance, when Turner was 22 years old, he ran away from his owner, but returned a month later after having such a vision. Turner often conducted Baptist services, preaching the Bible to his fellow slaves, who dubbed him "The Prophet". Turner also had influence over white people, and in the case of Ethelred T. Brantley, Turner said that he was able to convince Brantley to "cease from his wickedness".[9]
  By early 1828, Turner was convinced that he "was ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty."[10][11] While working in his owner's fields on May 12, Turner "heard a loud noise in the heavens, and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent, for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the last should be first."[12] Turner was convinced that God had given him the task of "slay[ing] my enemies with their own weapons."[12] Turner said, "I communicated the great work laid out for me to do, to four in whom I had the greatest confidence" '' his fellow slaves Henry, Hark, Nelson, and Sam.[12]
  Beginning in February 1831, Turner came to believe that certain atmospheric conditions were to be interpreted as a sign that he should begin preparing for a rebellion against the slave owners.
  On February 11, 1831, an annular solar eclipse was seen in Virginia. Turner saw this as a black man's hand reaching over the sun, and he took this vision as his sign. The rebellion was initially planned for July 4, Independence Day, but was postponed for more deliberation between him and his followers, and due to illness. On August 13, there was another solar eclipse, in which the sun appeared bluish-green (possibly from debris deposited in the atmosphere by an eruption of Mount Saint Helens). Turner took this occasion as the final signal, and about a week later, on August 21, he began the rebellion.
  Turner started with a few trusted fellow slaves. The rebels traveled from house to house, freeing slaves and killing the white people they found. The rebels ultimately included more than 70 enslaved and free blacks.[13]
  Because the rebels did not want to alert anyone to their presence as they carried out their attacks, they initially used knives, hatchets, axes, and blunt instruments instead of firearms.[14] The rebellion did not discriminate by age or sex, until it was determined that the rebellion had achieved sufficient numbers. Nat Turner only confessed to killing one of the rebellion's victims, Margret Whitehead, whom he killed with a blow from a fence post.[14]
  Before a white militia was able to respond, the rebels killed 60 men, women, and children.[15] They spared a few homes "because Turner believed the poor white inhabitants 'thought no better of themselves than they did of negros.'"[16][17] Turner also thought that revolutionary violence would serve to awaken the attitudes of whites to the reality of the inherent brutality in slave-holding, a concept similar to 20th century philosopher Franz Fanon's idea of "violence as purgatory".[18] Turner later said that he wanted to spread "terror and alarm" among whites.[19]
  The rebellion was suppressed within two days, but Turner eluded capture until October 30, when he was discovered hiding in a hole covered with fence rails. On November 5, 1831, he was tried for "conspiring to rebel and making insurrection", convicted and sentenced to death.[20] Turner was hanged on November 11 in Jerusalem, Virginia. His body was flayed, beheaded and quartered.[21] In the aftermath of the insurrection there were 45 slaves, including Turner, and 5 free blacks tried for insurrection and related crimes in Southampton. Of the 45 slaves tried, 15 were acquitted. Of the 30 convicted, 18 were hanged, while 12 were sold out of state. Of the 5 free blacks tried for participation in the insurrection, one was hanged, while the others were acquitted.[22]
  Soon after Turner's execution, a local lawyer, Thomas Ruffin Gray, took it upon himself to publish "The Confessions of Nat Turner", derived partly from research done while Turner was in hiding and partly from jailhouse conversations with Turner before trial. This work is the primary historical document regarding Nat Turner.
  In total, the state executed 56 blacks suspected of having been involved in the uprising. In the aftermath, close to 200 blacks, many of whom had nothing to do with the rebellion, were murdered.[23]
  Before the Nat Turner Revolt, there was a small but ineffectual antislavery movement in Virginia,[citation needed] largely on account of economic trends that made slavery less profitable in the Old South in the 1820s and fears among whites of the rising number of blacks, especially in the Tidewater and Piedmont regions. The push for abolition in 1831 represented the interests of 'herrenvolk' democracy and white male suffrage. Enraged poor whites condemned the slave-owning aristocracy for endangering their families and retaining an unfair advantage in elections as a result of the 3/5th clause. Most of the movement's members, including acting governor John Floyd, supported resettlement of blacks to Africa for these reasons. The enlightenment thinking of Virginia's forefathers played little part in the Emancipation's Debates of 1831-2. Considerations of white racial and moral purity also influenced many of these antislavery Virginians. These concerns illustrated that Virginia position towards slavery was no longer 'apologetic'. The fear caused by Nat Turner's insurrection and the concerns raised in the emancipation debates that followed laid foundation for politicians and writers who regarded slavery as a 'positive good'.[citation needed] Such authors included Thomas Roderick Dew, a William and Mary professor who published a pamphlet in 1832 opposing emancipation on economic and other grounds.[24]
  Nevertheless, fears of repetitions of the Nat Turner Revolt polarized moderates and slave owners across the South.[citation needed] Municipalities across the region instituted repressive policies against blacks. Rights were taken away from those who were free. The freedoms of all black people in Virginia were tightly curtailed. Socially, the uprising discouraged whites' questioning the slave system from the perspective that such discussion might encourage similar slave revolts. Manumissions had decreased by 1810. The shift away from tobacco had made owning slaves in the Upper South an excess to the planters' needs, so they started to hire out slaves. With the ending of the slave trade, the invention of the cotton gin, and opening up of new territories in the Deep South, suddenly there was a growing market for the trading of slaves. Over the next decades, more than a million slaves would be transported to the Deep South in a forced migration as a result of the domestic slave trade.
  In terms of public response and loss of white lives, slaveholders in the Upper South and coastal states were deeply shocked by the Nat Turner Rebellion. While the 1811 German Coast Uprising in Louisiana involved a greater number of slaves, it resulted in only two white fatalities. Events in Louisiana did not receive as much attention in those years in the Upper South and Low country. Because of his singular status, Turner is regarded as a hero by many African Americans and pan-Africanists worldwide.
  Turner became the focus of historical scholarship in the 1940s, when historian Herbert Aptheker was publishing the first serious scholarly work on instances of slave resistance in the antebellum South. Aptheker wrote that the rebellion was rooted in the exploitative conditions of the Southern slave system. He traversed libraries and archives throughout the South, managing to uncover roughly 250 similar instances, though none of them reached the scale of Nat Turner's Revolt.
  Interpretations[edit source |edit]Looking back, Nat Turner remains an "enigmatic and controversial figure", according to former University of Massachusetts Amherst history professor Stephen B. Oates, given that Turner fought for the just anti-slavery cause but he proceeded in acts of violence against women and children that would today be considered as war crimes or terrorism. Among many, perhaps most, African-Americans in the antebellum period up to today, Turner's legacy takes on a heroic status as someone willing to make slave-owners pay for the hardships that they enacted upon the millions of children, women and men they enslaved.[16]Black church historical writer James H. Harris has argued that the revolt "marked the turning point in the black struggle for liberation" since, in his view, "only a cataclysmic act could convince the architects of a violent social order that violence begets violence."[18]
  Shortly after the revolt, Turner's motives and ideas were generally seen as opaque and too unclear to either support or condemn by most American whites.[19] Ante-bellum slave-holding whites clearly experienced a major psychological shock and lived in greater fear of future rebellions, with Turner's name working as "a symbol of terrorism and violent retribution".[16] Turner eventually received praise in a seminal Atlantic Monthly article in 1861 by Thomas Higginson, who called him a man "who knew no book but the Bible, and that by heart-- who devoted himself soul and body to the cause of his race". However, writing after the September 11 attacks, William L. Andrews drew analogies between Turner and modern ''religio-political terrorists'', and suggested that the ''spiritual logic'' explicated in Confessions of Nat Turner warrants study as ''a harbinger of the spiritualizing violence of today's jihads and crusades''.[19] Most historical commentary tended to sympathize with Turner after the U.S. civil war ended.
  In popular culture[edit source |edit]The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967), a novel by William Styron, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1968.[25] This book had wide critical and popular acclaim, but several critics considered it racist and "a deliberate attempt to steal the meaning of a man's life."[26] These assertions were part of cultural discussions about how different peoples can interpret the past and whether any one group has sole ownership of any portion.In response to Styron's novel, ten African-American writers published The Second Crucifixion of Nat Turner in 1968.[27]The movie Goodbye Uncle Tom (1971) ends with an unidentified man's fantasy re-enactment of Styron's novel. He imagines Nat Turner's revolt in the present, including the brutal murder of the whites around him, who replace the figures Turner talks about in Styron's novel.Nat Turner's Rebellion plays a major role in Episode 5 of the 1977 TV miniseries Roots. This is historically inaccurate, however, because the opening credits state that this part of the story takes place in the year 1841. Nat Turner's Rebellion ended 10 years earlier with Nat's execution in 1831.[28]In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed Nat Turner as one of the 100 Greatest African Americans.[29]Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property, a film by Charles Burnett, was released in 2003.[30]In 2007 cartoonist and comic book author Kyle Baker wrote a two-part comic book about Turner and his uprising, which was called Nat Turner.[31]Nat Turner is mentioned in the song "The City" by the Wu-Tang Clan off their album Wu-Tang Forever.Philadelphia MC Reef the Lost Cauze put out a song called "Nat Turner" on his album A Vicious Cycle.[32]In 2009, in Newark, New Jersey the largest city-owned park to be completed was named Nat Turner Park. The park is named in honor of Nat Turner and his struggle for freedom. The facility cost $12 million in construction.[33]In early 2009, comic book artist and animator Brad Neely created a Web animation entitled "American Moments of Maybe", a satirical video game advertisement for Nat Turner's Punchout! a game in which a player supposedly took on the role of Nat Turner.[34]Nat Turner is mentioned in the song "The Point of No Return" by Immortal Technique on the album Revolutionary Vol. 2.Nat Turner is mentioned in the song "Born Fe Rebel" by Steel Pulse.The Letter Writer by Ann Rinaldi is a work of historical fiction that tells of Nat Turner's uprising.The rebellion is mentioned in the Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, a slave narrative by an escaped slave.Nat Turner is mentioned in the song "Ah Yeah" by KRS-One.Nat Turner is mentioned in the song "Somebody's Gotta Do It'" by The Roots on their 2004 album The Tipping PointOn Hell Razah's song "Rebel Music", Nat Turner is mentioned in verse: "Black queens havin' seeds while she's strung on dope / I resurrected Nat Turner with this song that I wrote".On Kanye West's album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Gil Scott-Heron's track "Comment #1", in which Nat Turner is mentioned, is part of Track 13: "Who Will Survive in America".Nat Turner is mentioned in the song "David Rose" by Clutch (hidden track on some copies of The Elephant Riders)Nat Turner is mentioned in Public Enemy's "Prophets of Rage," on their album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.American metal band Cormorant wrote a song about the rebellion titled "Blood on the Cornfields" on their Metazoa album.Nat Turner is also brought up in the book, Incidents in the life of a Slave Girl.Nat Turner is the subject of the book The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part 1: The Witnesses: A Novel and its sequel by Sharon E Foster, written in 2011.Nat Turner is the subject of the book "L'Ange noir" by Catherine Hermary-Vieille.Nat Turner is mentioned in the song "The People`s Champ" by R.A The Rugged Man.Nat Turner is mentioned in the song "Nat Turner" by Hussein Fatal.Nat Turner is a character in the novel, Up Jumps the Devil by Michael Poore. Among many threads within the book, the small narrative about Nat Turner sympathetically re-frames Nat's arc from minister to ordained rebel with the help of a character known as John Scratch.^Bisson, Terry. Nat Turner: Slave Revolt Leader. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2005.^American HIstory: A survey '-- Brinkley^Oates, Stephen B. (1990 [1975]). The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc. p. 126. ISBN 0-06-091670-2. ^William Stryon (1993), p. 128-9^Drewry, William Sydney (1900). The Southampton Insurrection. Washington, D. C.: The Neale Company. p. 108. ^Description of Turner included in $500 reward notice in the Washington National Intelligencer on September 24, 1831, quoted in Aptheker, American Negro Slave Revolts, p. 294.^Bisson, Terry. Nat Turner: Slave Revolt Leader. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2005. p.76^Aptheker (1993), p296.^Gray, Thomas Ruffin (1831). The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va. Baltimore, Maryland: Lucas & Deaver. pp. 7''9, 11. ^Gray (1831), p 9.^Rothman, Adam. Slavery. Teachinghistory.org. Accessed 2 June 2011.^ abcGray (1831), p 11.^Ayers, de la Tejada, Schulzinger and White (2007). American Anthem US History (Pg.286). New York, New York: Holt, Rhinehart and Winston. ^ abGray, Thomas Ruffin (1831). The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va. Baltimore, Maryland: Lucas & Deaver. ^Oates, Stephen B. (1990 [1975]) The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion, New York: HarperPerennial ISBN 0-06-091670-2.^ abcOates, Stephen (1973-09). "Children of Darkness". American Heritage Magazine24 (3). Retrieved 2009-02-21 (archived). ^Bisson, Terry. Nat Turner: Slave Revolt Leader. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2005. pp. 57-58^ abJames H. Harris (1995). Preaching liberation. Fortress Press. p. 46. ^ abcWilliam L. Andrews; ed. Vincent L. Wimbush (2008). "7". Theorizing Scriptures: new critical orientations to a cultural phenomenon. Rutgers University Press. pp. 83''85. ^Southampton County Court Minute Book 1830-1835 pp.121-123.^Gibson, Christine (November 11, 2005). "Nat Turner, Lightning Rod". American Heritage Magazine. Retrieved 2009-04-06 (archived). ^Walter L. Gordon, III, The Nat Turner Insurrection Trials: A mystic Chord Resonates Today (Booksurge, 2009) at 75, 92.^"Africans in America/Part 3/Nat Turner's Rebellion". Pbs.org. Retrieved 2010-08-21. ^"Alfred L. Brophy, Considering William and Mary's History with Slavery: The Case of President Thomas R. Dew". Retrieved 1 July 2012. ^"The Pulitzer Prizes | Fiction". Pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2010-08-21. ^Ebony '' Google Books. Retrieved 2010-08-21. ^"Dr. Molefi Kete Asante '' Articles". Asante.net. Retrieved 2010-08-21. ^''''. "Roots '' disc 3-1, part 1". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-08-21. ^Asante, Molefi Kete (2002). 100 Greatest African Americans: A Biographical Encyclopedia, Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-963-8.^http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0354763/^"Kyle Baker's Nat Turner #1". Comicbookbin.com. Retrieved 2010-08-21. ^"Video About Reef The Lost Cauze '' Nat Turner". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2010-08-21. ^"The Trust for Public Land Celebrates Groundbreaking at Nat Turner Park". Pr-inside.com. Retrieved 2010-08-21. ^"Brad Neely '' American Moments of Maybe '' Video, listening & stats at". Last.fm. 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2010-08-21. Herbert Aptheker. American Negro Slave Revolts. 5th edition. New York: International Publishers, 1983 (1943).Herbert Aptheker. Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion. New York: Humanities Press, 1966.Alfred L. Brophy. "The Nat Turner Trials". North Carolina Law Review (June 2013), volume 91: 1817-80.Scot French. The Rebellious Slave: Nat Turner in American Memory. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 2004.William Lloyd Garrison, "The Insurrection", The Liberator, (September 3, 1831). A contemporary abolitionist's reaction to news of the rebellion.Walter L. Gordon III. The Nat Turner Insurrection Trials: A Mystic Chord Resonates Today (Booksurge, 2009).Thomas R. Gray, The Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrections in Southampton, Va. Baltimore: Lucas & Deaver, 1831. Available online.William Stryon, The Confessions of Nat Turner, Random House Inc, 1993, ISBN 0-679-73663-8Stephen B. Oates, The Fires of Jubilee: Nat Turner's Fierce Rebellion. New York: HarperPerennial, 1990 (1975).Brodhead, Richard H. "Millennium, Prophecy and the Energies of Social Transformation: The Case of Nat Turner," in A. Amanat and M. Bernhardsson (eds.), Imagining the End: Visions of Apocalypse from the Ancient Middle East to Modern America (London, I. B. Tauris, 2002), 212-233.Kenneth S. Greenberg, ed. Nat Turner: A Slave Rebellion in History and Memory. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.Junius P. Rodriguez, ed. Encyclopedia of Slave Resistance and Rebellion. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2006.Ely, Mike. "The Slave Rebellion of General Nat Turner". Kasama Project. December 2007Works by Nat Turner at Project GutenbergThe Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the Late Insurrection in Southampton, Va. Baltimore: T. R. Gray, 1831.Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property, California NewsreelNat Turner's Rebellion, Africans in America, PBS.orgJessica McElrath, Nat Turner's Rebellion, About.comThomas Ruffin Gray, The Confessions of Nat Turner (1831) online edition"Nat Turner: Lightning Rod" on the American Heritage websiteInterview with Sharon Ewell Foster regarding her recent research on Turner, The State of Things, North Carolina Public Radio, 31 Aug 2011Nat Turner Unchained an independent feature film about the Nat Turner revolt.
Aug 2013 '' Annual Nat Turner Month
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  Aug 2013 '' Annual Nat Turner MonthPosted on August 1st, 2013Nat Turner Month
  Every August
  Armageddeon
  At the beginning of every year, Black people are forced to relive Martin Luther King Jr.'s nightmare of mass integration with and love for white folks. Every time we hear it, we have either of (4) responses:
  Integrationist Negroes think to themselves, ''This is so beautiful. I prey these white folks learn to love us one day. Thank you Reverend King for teaching us to love white folks. One day, God willing, they will love us too!''Everyday Black people think to themselves, ''I don't know if I really agree with loving the racist white folks. Dr. King meant well, but maybe we should rethink that a little bit.''Strong Black people who are wiling to fight think to themselves, ''I respect the man, but I ain't with no turn the other cheek #$%@. You hit me, I'ma hit yo' &%$ back.''PanAfrikans, Black Nationalists, and Haitianists think to themselves, ''What kinda *&$# was that koon smokin? Turn that *%$^ off in my house. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be using that kind of language around the children. But turn that bull&^%$ off now god&^%$&^!!!! Happy slavin' koon motha&$%'...'...''We fail to consider the fact that we start our children off every year in January, one of the coldest months of the year, with a living testimonial of how to be a good Negro who is in love with his white enemies. This is a shining example of what slavery in amerikkka has done to the minds of our people. We have not only fallen in love with the whites who are committing racial genocide against us worldwide, but we have fallen in love with Negro preachers who love white folks as well. The great irony of it all is that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not and does not represent anywhere near the best that Black religious figures in the history of amerikkka have to offer.
  For instance, the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, was an admitted Christian (no one is perfect), whose contribution to our Race was so much more relevant than King's, that Martin Luther King Jr.'s name shouldn't even be mentioned in the same category with Mr. Garvey. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad organized and maintained a religious-based Black Nation within the boundaries of the u.s. for over a half-a-century. Religious men like Denmark Vesey, Gabrielle Prosser, David Walker, Bishop Henry McNeil Turner, The Reverend Ishakamusa Barashango, Malcolm X, Dr. Khallid Abdul Muhammad, among many others, fought for our Race with truth and dignity in a way that Negro preachers never have.
  But there is one Black religious figure who stands above all others in our eyes at War on the Horizon (WOH). He is the Haitianist in amerikkka's icon. In fact, he is to the Haitianist in amerikkka what Jesus Christ is to Black Christians throughout the world. He was a God (Amen) sent messiah who came to show our people the way to freedom. On August 21, 1831, he led a rebellion against the white enslavers in the South that sounded the first horn announcing the end of chattel slavery in amerikkka would soon be near. His name is Nat Turner. He was the prophet who freed Black people from slavery in amerikkka. His story has been told a million times and will be told a hundred million more.
  So instead of sharing an annual new year with whites during the cold, bitter snow and ice of January, War on the Horizon (WOH) is inviting you to begin a new tradition here in the hells of north amerikkka. We Haitianists invite all PanAfrikans, Black Nationalists, Black Progressives, and other anti-white, noble-minded Black people to join us in celebrating our Afrikan New Year in August of each year. From this day forward, August will officially be ''Nat Turner Month'' for WOH and it will mark our Afrikan New Year. Here are a few of the things that we invite other Afrikans to join us in doing each August in honor of the life and work of our great Prophet, Nathaniel Turner:
  Call, email, text, etc . . . ''Happy Afrikan New Year'' to your sphere of influence and wish them well for the month on every August 1st. Set your goals and/or aspirations for the year on August 1st of every year and take time to reflect on how well you did with your goals from the last August New Year.Plan every act of vengeance, retaliation, protest, aggression, etc . . . for the month of August knowing that the ancestors, and especially Prophet Nat, Boukman Dutty, and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, will be with you as you do your hunting.Take off August 21st each year from your job. Spend it with family and/or friends celebrating the life and work of Nat Turner '' The Prophet.Celebrate the Haitian Revolution for Nat Turner Month on every August 22nd. Watch the 1st ever Afrikan Insurrektion Muzikal (A.I.M.) ''1831 Turner Street '' The Life and Times of Nat Turner'' with your family and friends for free on YouTube.We look forward to celebrating Nat Turner Month with you this year and every year after. And in honor of our Prophet, here is the written confession of Nat Turner after his infamous insurrection in Southampton County, VA on August 21, 1831.
  The Confessions of Nat Turner '' The Prophet
  as Documented by Thomas R. Gray
  1831 Turner Street feat Brothas
  The Life and Times of Nat Turner, the Prophet1st Ever Afrikan Insurrektion Muzikal (A.I.M.)
  The following is the actual testimony of Nat Turner as given by the Prophet himself to the attorney Thomas R. Gray. Enjoy!
  In the words of the immortal Nat Turner:
  I was thirty-one years of age the second of October last, and born the property of Benjamin Turner, of this county. In my childhood a circumstance occurred which made an indelible impression on my mind, and laid the groundwork of that enthusiasm which has terminated so fatally to many, both white and black, and for which I am about to atone at the gallows. It is here necessary to relate this circumstance. Trifling as it may seem, it was the commencement of that belief which has grown with time; and even now, sir, in his dungeon, helpless and forsaken as I am, I cannot divest myself of. Being at play with other children, when three or four years old, I was telling them something, which my mother, overhearing, said it had happened before I was born. I stuck to my story, however, and related some things which went, in her opinion, to confirm it. Others being called on, were greatly astonished, knowing that these things had happened, and caused them to say, in my hearing, I surely would be a prophet, as the Lord had shown me things that had happened before my birth. And my mother and grandmother strengthened me in this my first impression, saying, in my presence, I was intended for some great purpose, which they had always thought from certain marks on my head and breast. . . .
  My grandmother, who was very religious, and to whom I was much attached-my master, who belonged to the church, and other religious persons who visited the house, and whom I often saw at prayers, noticing the singularity of my manners, I suppose, and my uncommon intelligence for a child, remarked I had too much sense to be raised, and, if I was, I would never be of any service to any one as a slave. To a mind like mine, restless, inquisitive, and observant of everything that was passing, it is easy to suppose that religion was the subject to which it would be directed; and, although this subject principally occupied my thoughts, there was nothing that I saw or heard of to which my attention was not directed. The manner in which I learned to read and write, not only had great influence on my own mind, as I acquired it with the most perfect ease,-so much so, that I have no recollection whatever of learning the alphabet; but, to the astonishment of the family, one day, when a book was shown me, to keep me from crying, I began spelling the names of different objects. This was a source of wonder i to all in the neighborhood, particularly the blacks-and this learning was constantly improved at all opportunities. When I got large enough to go to work, while employed I was reflecting on many things that would present themselves to my imagination; and whenever an opportunity occurred of looking at a book, when the school-children were getting their lessons, I would find many things that the fertility of my own imagination had depicted to me before. All my time, not devoted to my master's service, was spent either in prayer, or in making experiments in casting different things in molds made of earth, in attempting to make paper, gunpowder, and many other experiments, that, although I could not perfect, yet convinced me of its practicability if I had the means.
  I was not addicted to stealing in my youth, nor have ever been; yet such was the confidence of the Negroes in the neighborhood, even at this early period of my life, in my superior judgment, that they would often carry me with them when they were going on any roguery, to plan for them. Growing up among them with this confidence in my superior judgment, anti when this, in their opinions, was perfected by Divine inspiration, from the circumstances already alluded to in my infancy, and which belief was ever afterwards zealously inculcated by the austerity of my life and manners, which became the subject of remark by white and black; having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself in mystery, devoting my time to fasting and prayer.
  By this time, having arrived to man's estate, and hearing the Scriptures commented on at meetings, I was struck with that particular passage which says, ''Seek ye the kingdom of heaven, and all things shall be added unto you.'' I reflected much on this passage, and prayed daily for light on this subject. As I was praying one day at my plough, the Spirit spoke to me, saying, ''Seek ye the kingdom of heaven, and all things shall be added unto you.,'
  Question. ''What do you mean by the Spirit?''
  Answer. ''The Spirit that spoke to the prophets in former days, and I was greatly astonished, and for two years prayed continually, whenever my duty would permit; and then again I had the same revelation, which fully confirmed me in the impression that I was ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty. Several years rolled round, in which many events occurred to strengthen me in this my belief. At this time I reverted in my mind to the remarks made of me in my childhood, and the things that had been shown me; and as it had been said of me in my childhood, by those by whom I had been taught to pray, both white and black, and in whom I had the greatest confidence, that I had too much sense to be raised, and if I was I would never be of any use to any one as a slave; now, finding I had arrived to man's estate, and was a slave, and these revelations being made known to me, I began to direct my attention to this great object, to fulfill the purpose for which, by this time, I felt assured I was intended. Knowing the influence I had obtained over the minds of my fellow-servant (not by the means of conjuring and such like tricks-for to them I always spoke of such things with contempt), but by the communion of the Spirit, whose revelations I often communicated to them, and they believed and said my wisdom came from God, '-- I now began to prepare them for my purpose, by telling them something was about to happen that would terminate in fulfilling the great promise that had been made to me.
  About this time I was placed under an overseer, from whom I ran away, and after remaining in the woods thirty days, I returned, to the astonishment of the Negroes on the plantation, who thought I had made my escape to some other part of the country, as my father had done before. But the reason of my return was, that the Spirit appeared to me and said I had my wishes directed to the things of this world, and not to the kingdom of heaven, and that I should return to the service of my earthly master-
  ''For he who knoweth his Master's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes, and thus have I chastened you.'' And the Negroes found fault, and murmured against me, saying that if they had my sense they would not serve any master in the world. And about this time I had a vision- and I saw white spirits and black spirits engaged in battle, and the sun was darkened-the thunder rolled in the heavens, and blood flowed in streams-and I heard a voice saying, ''Such is your luck, such you are called to see; and let it come rough or smooth, you must surely bear it.''
  I now withdrew myself as much as my situation would permit from the intercourse of my fellow-servants, for the avowed purpose of serving the Spirit more fully; and it appeared to me, and reminded me of the things it had already shown me, and that it would then reveal to me the knowledge of the elements, the revolution of the planets, the operation of tides, and changes of the seasons. After this revelation in the year 1825, and the knowledge of the elements being made known to me, I sought more than ever to obtain true holiness before the great day of judgment should appear, and then I began to receive the true knowledge of faith. And from the first steps of righteousness until the last, was I made perfect; and the Holy Ghost was with me, and said, ''Behold me as I stand in the heavens.'' And I looked and saw the forms of men in different attitudes; and there were lights in the sky, to which the children of darkness gave other names what they really were; for they were the lights of the Saviour's hands, stretched forth from east to west, even as they were extended on the cross on Calvary for the redemption of sinners. And I wondered greatly at these. miracles, and prayed to be informed of a certainty of the meaning thereof; and shortly afterwards, while laboring in the field, I discovered drops of blood on the corn, as though it were dew from heaven; and I communicated it to many, both white and black, in the neighborhood-and I then found on the leaves in the woods hieroglyphic characters and numbers, with the forces of men in different attitudes, portrayed in blood, and representing the figures I had seen before in the heavens. And now the Holy Ghost had revealed itself to me, and made plain the miracles it had shown me; for as the blood of Christ had been shed on this earth, and had ascended to heaven for the salvation of sinners, and was now returning to earth again in the form of dew, '-- and as the leaves on the trees bore the impression of the figures I had seen in the heavens, '-- it was plain to me that the Saviour was. about to lay down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and the great day of judgment was at hand.
  About this time I told these things to a white man (Etheldred T. Brantley), on whom it had a wonderful effect; and he ceased from his wickedness, and was attacked immediately with a cutaneous eruption, and blood oozed from the pores of his skin, and after praying and fasting nine days he was healed. And the Spirit appeared to me again, and said, as the Saviour had been baptized, so should we be also; and when the white people would not let us be baptized by the church, we went down into the water together, in the sight of many who reviled us, and were baptized by the Spirit. After this I rejoiced greatly, and gave thanks to God. And on the 12th of May, 1828, I heard a loud noise in the heavens, and the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he bad home for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent, for the time was fast approaching when the first should be last and the last should be first.
  Ques. ''Do you not find yourself mistaken now?
  Ans. ''Was not Christ crucified?'' And by signs in the heavens that it would make known to me when I should commence the great work, and until the first sign appeared I should conceal it from the knowledge of men; and on the appearance of the sign (the eclipse of the sun, last February *), I should arise and prepare myself, and slay my enemies with their own weapons. And immediately on the sign appearing in the heavens, the sea] was removed from my lips, and I communicated the great work laid out for me to do, to four in whom I had the greatest confidence (Henry, Hark, Nelson, and Sam). It was intended by us to have begun the work of death on the 4th of July last. Many were the plans formed and rejected by us, and it affected my mind to such a degree that I fell sick, and the time passed without our coming to any determination how to commence-still forming new schemes and rejecting them, when the sign appeared again, which determined me not to wait longer.
  Since the commencement of 1830 I had been living with Mr. Joseph Travis, who was to me a kind master, and placed the greatest confidence in me; in fact, I had no cause to complain of his treatment to me. On Saturday evening, the 20th of August, it was agreed between Henry, Hark, and myself, to prepare a dinner the next day for the men we expected, and then to concert a plan, as we had not yet determined on any. Hark, on the following morning, brought a pig, and Henry brandy; and being joined by Sam, Nelson, Will, and Jack, they prepared in the woods a dinner, where, about three o'clock, I joined them.
  Q. Why were you so backward in joining them?
  A. The same reason that had caused me not to mix with them years before, I saluted them on coming up, and asked Will how he came to be there. He answered, his life was worth no more than others, and his liberty as dear to him. I asked him if he thought to obtain it. He said he would, or lose his life. This was enough to put him in full confidence. Jack, I knew, was only a tool in the hands of Hark. It was quickly agreed we should commence at home (Mr. J. Travis) on that night; and until we had armed and equipped ourselves, and gathered sufficient force, neither age nor sex was to be spared-which was invariably adhered to. We remained at the feast until about two hours in the night, when we went to the house and found Austin. . . .
  I took my station in the rear, and, as it was my object to carry terror and devastation wherever we went, I placed fifteen or twenty of the best armed and most to be relied on in front, who generally approached the houses as fast as their horses could run. This was for two purposes-to prevent their escape, and strike terror to the inhabitants; on this account I never got to the houses, after leaving Mrs. Whitehead's, until the murders were committed, except in one case. I sometimes got in sight in time to see the work of death completed; viewed the mangled bodies as they lay, in silent satisfaction, and immediately started in quest of other victims. Having murdered Mrs. Waller and ten children, we started for Mr. Wm. Williams, '-- having killed him and two little boys that were there; while engaged in this, Mrs. Williams fled and got some distance from the house, but she was pursued, overtaken, and compelled to get up behind one of the company, who brought her back, and, after showing her the mangled body of her lifeless husband, she was told to get down and lay by his side, where she was shot dead.
  The white men pursued and fired on us several times. Hark had his horse shot under him, and I caught another for him as it was running by me; five or six of my men were wounded, but none left on the field. Finding myself defeated here, I instantly determined to go through a private way, and cross the Nottoway River at the Cypress Bridge, three miles below Jerusalem, and attack that place in the rear, as I expected they would look for me on the other road, and I had a great desire to get there to procure arms and ammunition. After going a short distance in this private way, accompanied by about twenty men, I overtook two or three, who told me the others were dispersed in every direction. On this, I gave up all hope for the present; and on Thursday night, after having supplied myself with provisions from Mr. Travis, I scratched a hole under a pile of fence-rails in a field, where I concealed myself for six weeks, never leaving my hiding-place but for a few minutes in the dead of the night to get water, which was very near. Thinking by this time I could venture out, I began to go about in the night, and eavesdrop the houses in the neighborhood '' pursuing this course for about a fortnight, and gathering little or no intelligence, afraid of speaking to any human being, and returning every morning to my cave before the dawn of day. I know not how long I might have led this life, if accident had not betrayed me. A dog in the neighborhood passing by my hiding-place one night while I was out, was attracted by some meat I had in my cave, and crawled in and stole it, and was coming out just as I returned. A few nights after, two Negroes having started to go hunting with the same dog, and passed that way, the dog came again to the place, and having just gone out to walk about, discovered me and barked; on which, thinking myself discovered, I spoke to them to beg concealment. On making myself known, they fled from me. Knowing then they would betray me, I immediately left my hiding-place, and was pursued almost incessantly, until I was taken, a fortnight afterwards, by Mr. Benjamin Phipps, in a little hole I bad dug out with my sword, for the purpose of concealment, under the top of a fallen tree.
  During the time I was pursued, I had many hair-breadth escapes, which your time will not permit you to relate. I am here loaded with chains, and willing to suffer the fate that awaits me.
  The Confessions of Nat Turner, the leader of the late insurrection, in Southhampton (county), by Thomas R. Gray, VA'...Baltimore, 1831
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Effeminization of The Black Male
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  EffeminizationEffeminization of the Black Male Page
  This Is Not Us Brothers and Sisters!!!!!
  Thank you for tuning into War on the Horizon (WOH) online. We trust that our information will awaken your Black Afrikan spirit and encourage you to join in this international war for our survival. At this point in history, whites worldwide are threatening the existence of every Black man, woman, and child on Earth. Since we are the most valuable people alive and there is no need for this planet's existence without us, it is time for us to prepare for the international war for Black survival.
  In this regard, the videos you are about to watch are designed to help you understand one of the major assaults that whites are waging on our people globally. They are intentionally waging a war against the sexual sanity of Afrikan people around the globe. If we lose this battle, we lose the war and we will be exterminated. When we win this battle, it will mark the first victory in our war for world power and Black dominion. Enjoy and share with your friends.
  Effeminization of the Black Male Part 1
  Effeminization of the Black Male Part 2
  Effeminization of the Black Male Part 3
  Effeminization of the Black Male Part 4
  Predators In Our Midst
VIDEO- Man Who Buys Ammo & Weapons For Dept Of Homeland Security Actively Promoting Race War - YouTube
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How to Become a Constitutional Lawyer | Chron.com
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  by Clayton Browne, Demand Media Constitutional lawyers often work for policy institutes or think tanks.
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  Many people think of constitutional lawyers as ivory tower academics who often come across more as legal philosophers than practicing attorneys. While there is a kernel of truth to this stereotype, as practitioners of constitutional law tend to gravitate to more weighty issues, there are many job opportunities outside of academia for constitutional lawyers. Some constitutional lawyers become judges, the federal government itself hires a bevy of constitutional lawyers, and many policy institutes and think tanks also hire constitutional lawyers to work on crafting public policy and support lobbying or public education efforts.
  Step 1Earn a bachelor's degree in history, political science or any major involving research and analytical thinking. An undergraduate degree is required for admission to law school.
  Step 2Enroll in law school. Law school is a rigorous three-year program where you learn about constitutional law, contract law, property law, civil law, criminal law and legal writing. Make sure to take all of the administrative law, constitutional law and public policy courses offered at your law school.
  Step 3Apply for constitutional law internships after your second year of law school. Constitutional law internships are quite competitive, so make sure you keep a high grade-point average and work hard at developing your personal and professional networks.
  Step 4Take and pass the bar exam in your state. The bar exam is a comprehensive exam covering all aspects of law that all lawyers must pass to practice in that state. Bar exams include questions on constitutional law.
  Step 5Apply for constitutional law-related legal positions in your area. Large public policy institutes and think tanks, as well as state and federal government agencies, hire constitutional lawyers.
  About the AuthorClayton Browne has been writing professionally since 1994. He has written and edited everything from science fiction to semiconductor patents to dissertations in linguistics, having worked for Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Steck-Vaughn and The Psychological Corp. Browne has a Master of Science in linguistic anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
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What Is a Constitutional Lawyer?
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  A constitutional lawyer is an attorney who tries cases where constitutional issues are at stake. The Constitution is considered the Supreme Law of the United States, and is a form of federal law. Thus, most cases based on constitutional questions are tried in the federal court system.
  Like any other law, the Constitution imposes certain mandates for behavior. The Constitution primarily imposes behavioral mandates on legislatures and courts and other law making bodies. The Constitution dictates that any law that is made must not violate a person's constitutional rights.
  When a person believes his constitutional rights are being violated by a law, that person can raise a constitutional question. He can sue the law making party for the violation of his rights. If he believes some other entity is violating his constitutional rights, he can also sue that entity.
  A constitutional lawyer will then represent the person who believes his constitutional rights are being violated. The constitutional lawyer will file suit in federal court on behalf of the person whose rights are violated. The cause of action will be based upon the rights set forth in the Constitution.
  Each state has its own Constitution, and states are bound to uphold not only the federal constitution, but the state constitution as well. If a cause of action arises out of state law, the case will be brought in state court instead of federal court. In this situation, a lawyer who is an expert in the state constitution will be called upon to represent the plaintiff.
  Regardless of whether the case is based on the federal constitution or the state constitution, a constitutional lawyer will need to prove that his client's constitutional rights are being violated. This can involve arguments regarding how various provisions of the constitution should be interpreted. It can also involve showing evidence as to how those rights were violated.
  Many famous cases are based upon rights set forth in the constitution. For example, Roe versus Wade, the famous abortion case, is based on the Constitutional rights to due process of the law and to privacy. A constitutional lawyer argued this case on behalf of a woman who believed that denial of the right to an abortion constituted denial of her right to freedom, as set forth in the constitution.
  Constitutional lawyers often argue groundbreaking cases that reach the Supreme Court. Lawyers must be well versed in legal interpretation, and must be able to support their legal arguments with references not just to the constitution, but also to past interpretations. Many lawyers who work on cases of constitutional importance work for legal aid organizations, or work on a not-for-profit basis to defend what are believed to be the nation's fundamental rights and freedoms.
VIDEO- "I Don't Think Obama Wanted To Be The Democratic President That Expanded The Security State!" - YouTube
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VIDEO- NSA Officers Caught Using Domestic Surveillance Program To Spy On Their Lovers! - YouTube
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Syria crisis: US deploys warship as hospitals report poison gas symptoms | World news | The Observer
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  The UN high representative for disarmament affairs, Angela Kane, arrives at a hotel in Damascus, Syria, on 24 August 2013 Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AP
  The US navy is deploying an extra missile warship to the eastern Mediterranean ahead of a summit to debate last week's chemical weapons attack in Syria, as calls mount for a military response.
  The summit, to be held in Jordan's capital Amman in the first half of the week, has been called as a consensus emerges that the nerve agent sarin was the cause of hundreds of deaths in rebel-held east Damascus early on Thursday.
  Biological samples taken from victims and survivors of the attack have now been passed to western officials in Jordan after having been smuggled out of Syria over the past 72 hours. Unmarked questionnaires have been distributed to officials in the three most affected communities, asking for forensic and environmental details, as well as for organ tissue and clothing worn by victims. A final death toll has not been established, with estimates ranging from several hundred to more than 1,400.
  Three hospitals in Syria's Damascus governorate which are supported by the international medical humanitarian organisation M(C)decins sans Fronti¨res reported that they received approximately 3,600 patients displaying neurotoxic symptoms in less than three hours on the morning of Wednesday, 21 August. Of those patients, 355 are reported to have died.
  Officials, who have not identified themselves but claim to be part of an international response, have also made phone contact with rebel officials, seeking photographs of the rockets that are thought to have carried the gas. The remains of 20 such rockets have been found in the affected areas, activists and local residents say. Many remain mostly intact, suggesting that they did not detonate on impact and potentially dispersed gas before hitting the ground.
  Survivors spoken to by the Observer last week say they heard the rockets whistling in but they did not detonate. Several have been photographed half buried in bitumen, which suggests that they did not carry a warhead or, if they did, it failed to explode.
  France, Britain and Turkey have blamed the Syrian regime for the attack, which came as its military forces were advancing into the area. France's foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said on Saturday that "all the information at our disposal converges to indicate that there was a chemical massacre near Damascus and that the [regime of Bashar al-Assad] is responsible". The foreign secretary, William Hague, said last week that "this is a chemical attack by the Assad regime" and it was "not something that a humane or civilised world can ignore". Barack Obama has described the incident as "grave" and asked intelligence officials to prepare a detailed assessment.
  Syria has continued to deny responsibility as the UN's disarmament chief, Angela Kane, arrived in Damascus to try to negotiate access to the site of the attack for an inspection team that was sent to investigate three earlier alleged attacks. The team has been in the capital for the past six days and has been pressing for permission to make the journey '' only a short distance from their hotel '' for the past 72 hours. Rebel groups in the area say that they will guarantee safe passage. However, the Syrian government has not agreed and the UN fears that the journey is unsafe without a negotiated agreement. Syrian state television said on Saturday that its forces had found tunnels in rebel areas in which chemicals were stored.
  The images of dead and dying in the attack have caught the attention of regional governments like nothing else in the two-and-a-half year conflict. The chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, General Martin Dempsey, will travel to Jordan along with the head of the US central command, General Lloyd Austin, and chiefs of staff from Turkey, Britain, France, Qatar, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Italy and Canada.
  The addition of a US destroyer takes to four the US Mediterranean flotilla, one more than normal. US defence secretary Chuck Hagel said no decision has been made to use the warships in operations against Syria. Speaking on Friday, officials in Washington said no response to Syria would involve sending troops into the country. Two of Syria's three main allies, Russia and Iran, have supported calls for a transparent and credible inquiry into the attack. Both accuse rebel groups of having carried out the atrocity. The Lebanese militia, Hezbollah, has remained silent since Thursday.
  Hezbollah leaders roundly condemned car-bombings of two mosques in Lebanon's second city, Tripoli, one day later, which killed 42 and wounded hundreds. The mosques had been focal points of anti-Assad rhetoric in the largely Sunni north. Lebanon, an unstable multi-confessional state, has been perenially on edge since the start of the Syrian uprising with occasional flare-ups in violence that threaten to drag it into the chaos consuming its powerful neighbour.
USDA ERS - Price Inflation for Food Outpacing Many Other Spending Categories
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  Statistic: Food Markets & Prices
  Retail food prices are garnering a lot of attention in the media and among economists due to their increased volatility in recent years. For most of the last two decades, prices at both supermarkets and restaurants may have moved up and down on a monthly basis, but these swings tended to smooth out into modest yearly increases. As a result, the all-food Consumer Price Index (CPI) followed a fairly predictable pattern of about 2-3 percent inflation each year from 1990 through 2005.
  However, since 2006, a series of interrelated factors'--including spikes in prices for food commodities and energy, major weather events, shocks to global commodity markets, and the U.S. economic recession and subsequent recovery'--have resulted in annual changes in the all-food CPI ranging from a 0.8-percent increase in 2010 to a 5.5-percent jump in 2008. Volatility is not the only characteristic of the recent trend in food prices. Food prices have also been rising faster than in earlier years, and food price inflation has easily outpaced price inflation for many other types of goods. Among major consumer spending categories, only prices for transportation, which include a number of energy price measures, and medical care have risen faster than food prices.
  Rising Food Prices Pushed Up All-Items CPIThe U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics maintains a series of Consumer Price Indices for seven major consumer spending categories'--food, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, education, and recreation'--that make up the all-items CPI. The all-items CPI is used to track inflation for all consumer goods and services. These seven major CPI components have been measured and tracked according to their current definitions since 1993. From 1993 to 2005, the rate of inflation for the seven component categories varied considerably. For example, the medical care CPI increased by 60 percent, while the apparel CPI fell by 11 percent. During this time, food prices and overall price inflation both grew by 35 percent.
  Since 2006, when commodity prices began their rollercoaster ride, the all-items CPI has risen 14 percent while the all-food CPI is up close to 20 percent. The wider differential in the post-2005 era means that a number of the macroeconomic inflationary factors have been specific to food prices. This effect was largely due to rising U.S. farm prices for corn, wheat, soybeans, and other food commodities. A number of factors triggered the price increases, including weather events that reduced output and storage levels, increased production of corn-based ethanol, and sharply increased U.S. exports to Southeast Asia, Africa, and South America.
  Percent of Income Spent on Food Higher Than in 2008How have rising food prices affected the share of consumer income spent on food? Historically, as food prices have fallen in real (inflation-adjusted) terms, Americans' food expenditures as a share of disposable income have fallen at a similar rate. In 1930, Americans spent 24 percent of their disposable income on food, including both at-home food and food purchased at restaurants and other eating places. Since 1947, the share of income spent on food has trended downward, with occasional reversals in response to economic conditions, before flattening at around 10 percent for the last decade. In 2008, Americans spent 9.5 percent of their incomes on food. More recently, rising food prices, coupled with stagnant or falling incomes for many, have caused consumer spending on food as a share of disposable income to move upward. In 2011, Americans spent 9.8 percent of their disposable income on food.
  Consumer Price Index (CPI), by Richard Volpe and Ephraim Leibtag, USDA, Economic Research Service, July 2012
  Food Expenditures, by Annette Clauson, USDA, Economic Research Service, August 2013
VIDEO-Syrian rebels use toxic chemicals against govt troops near Damascus - state media '-- RT News
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  Published time: August 24, 2013 10:12Edited time: August 24, 2013 18:40Photo from SANA.sy by M. Ismael/Mazen
  Syrian rebels have used chemical weapons against regime forces in the Damascus suburb of Jobar, where soldiers discovered stockpiles of toxic poisoning antidotes, state media reports.
  According to SANA citing ''an official source'' suffocation cases among army soldiers have been reported.
  The source told the agency that army unit pushed into the area, where soldiers were attacked, and seized a warehouse containing material labeled 'Made in KSA' as well as a large number of protective masks.
  In addition, the army discovered a stockpile of chemical poisoning antidotes with 'The Qatari-German Company for Pharmaceutical Industries' label on them.
  Clashes have been reported between rebels and regime forces in Jobar.
  Rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Assad accuse government forces of attacking people in the Damascus suburbs with toxic gas on Wednesday.
  The ruling regime has dismissed the accusations.
  However, some Western powers suspect Assad's forces to be behind the attack that the opposition claims killed anywhere between 'dozens' to '1,300'.
  France says all indications show that Syrian army troops are responsible for what it called a "chemical massacre".
  "All the information at our disposal converges to indicate that there was a chemical massacre near Damascus and that the Bashar regime is responsible," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Saturday.
  UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has suggested that "the Assad regime has something to hide" as the UN team, which is ''20 minutes away'' from the site of the recent attack, ''have not been able to'' go there and investigate.
  ''Why else have they not allowed the UN team to go there?'' Hague said.
  The US and European security sources have made a preliminary assessment that the Syrian government used chemical weapon, but still said they are seeking conclusive proof, which could take days, weeks or longer to gather.
  The White House said on Saturday that a 'range of options' is available on Syria if it's proven that Assad's forces used chemical weapons.
  "We have a range of options available, and we are going to act very deliberately so that we're making decisions consistent with our national interest, as well as our assessment of what can advance our objectives in Syria," the White House official said. "Once we ascertain the facts, the President will make an informed decision about how to respond," the official added.
  President Obama is set to meet with his national security team later on in the day to discuss possible options.In response, Iran has warned the US against possible military intervention in Syria, saying it will fuel tension across the region.
  "Iran has announced several times that there is no military solution to the Syrian crisis, these provocative measures and moves make regional issues more complicated and fuel tensions," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi said.
  "The Syrian problem could be resolved only through a peaceful solution and there is no international permit for military meddling in Syria," he added.
  FM said there is evidence showing that terrorist groups and rebels have been using chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.
  UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Angela Kane arrived in Syria to try to get access for the team of international inspectors to work at the site in the Damascus suburbs.
  The UN investigative team entered the country last Sunday to examine and investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons in three different locations, as it was agreed with President Bashar Assad's government.
  Following Wednesday attack, UN inspectors requested access to the site ''without delays''.
  The Syrian government said that it was ready to engage in ''maximum'' cooperation with UN experts, according to Russia's foreign ministry.
  On Friday the Syrian opposition said they will ensure the safety of UN chemical weapons experts as they pass through rebel-controlled areas, adding that their successful arrival at the site of an alleged gas attack near Damascus within 48 hours was "critical."
  On Saturday the Syrian opposition denied that they that rebel forces had employed chemical weapons, making allegations that the government was employing diversionary tactics.
  ''The National Coalition totally rejects the lies from the [President Bashar] Assad regime and considers them a desperate bid to divert attention from its repeated crimes and methods against Syrian civilians,'' said a statement released by the main opposition bloc.
  The ''international community knows full well that the Assad regime is the only party in Syria which possesses the means to produce, use and stock chemical weapons,'' the statement said.
Snowden tricked NSA '' and they don't know how he did it
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  Archived Version
  Source: End the Lie - Independent News
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 01:25
  View of the National Security Agency (NSA) in the Washington suburb of Fort Meade, Maryland (AFP Photo)
  While collecting data Edward Snowden was able to evade all safeguards at the NSA, leaving the agency puzzled at how he did it, according to new report. Officials worry that the ease with which he covered his tracks means another breach could happen.
  Information logs exist to tell the government who tried to view or copy classified information without the proper clearance, but Snowden appears to have bypassed or deleted them, while working as a system administrator with contractor Booz Allen Hamilton in Hawaii. The revelations come from government officials speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, as they were prevented from publicly disclosing new information about the Snowden case.
  This is a worrying development for the Obama administration, which has been at pains to prove to the American public that the NSA's computer system cannot be taken advantage of so easily. Therefore, if Snowden could single-handedly circumvent its cyber defenses, the question stands as to whom else can gain instant access to the vast stream of data the clandestine organization intercepts every day.
  NSA Director Keith Alexander could not tell the press in July what exactly Snowden might have had access to, downloaded or taken with him, citing an ongoing investigation. This was nearly two months after the leaks took place.
  National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander (Reuters / Doug Kapustin)
  When Snowden had the job of system administrator, he possessed enough security privileges to access data remotely, browse it freely, as well as take it off its home servers and copy it onto portable drives. According to Alexander, this is how the information was leaked.
  NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines then told the AP that Alexander ''had a sense of what documents and information had been taken,'' but ''he did not say the comprehensive investigation had been completed.'' She did not say if Snowden was capable of viewing or downloading the documents without the organization's knowledge.
  A key reason behind Snowden's success may have been that the data was not very clearly compartmentalized, meaning that specialists in one area could easily browse information they would never plausibly need, provided they had the right security clearance.
  It is not even clear whether Snowden had to use any 'hacking' skills to collect that data, or if he simply misapplied the powers legally allocated to him.
  Deputy Attorney General James Cole defended the government's spying activities in Congress in July, saying that employees who have access to NSA's programs are effectively monitored by the government.
  ''Everything that is done under [the program] is documented and reviewed before the decision is made and reviewed again after these decisions are made to make sure that nobody has done the things that you're concerned about happening.''
  Reuters / Pawel Kopczynski
  One of his most crucial leaks was the truth about the US government's use of a program that hoarded metadata of communications between American citizens and intercepted all incoming and outgoing internet traffic in the country, before redirecting it straight to the NSA servers.
  Officials say that despite leaking information for months without getting caught, it may be possible that Snowden did not know how exactly the surveillance programs themselves functioned.
  Snowden has since traversed the globe in pursuit of political asylum, and succeeded with Russia. Washington has been highly critical of Moscow's actions and as a gesture of disapproval, even gone as far as cancel an unrelated meeting between President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
  The NSA is now reportedly ''overwhelmed'' with trying to figure out what data and how much of it Snowden managed to steal, said NBC News on Thursday.
  This news, together with the case of Bradley Manning, who between 2009 and 2010 leaked hundreds of thousands of highly classified documents, has forced the US government to consider the issue of internal threats to its national security. The 2013 Intelligence Authorization Act now includes a proposal by Congress to create an automated computer program for the detection of such insider threats.
  Source: RT
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Obama gets 'detailed review' of Syria options, speaks with UK's Cameron
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  Archived Version
  Source: Reuters: World News
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 01:22
  TweetShare thisEmailPrintA member of the 'Liwaa Ahrar Suriya' brigade, operating under the Free Syrian Army, is seen in Sakhour area, Aleppo August 24, 2013.
  Credit: Reuters/Muzaffar Salman
  WASHINGTON | Sat Aug 24, 2013 5:31pm EDT
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama received a "detailed review of a range of potential options" from his top advisers on Saturday on how the United States and its allies could respond to an alleged chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government, the White House said.
  Obama also spoke with British Prime Minister David Cameron about Syria and agreed to consult about "potential responses by the international community," the White House said.
  The White House did not provide details about what options were under consideration, and gave no indication about Obama's timeline for making a decision on the issue.
  (Reporting by Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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Iceland walks out on EU membership talks.
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  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 01:20
  The foreign ministry said it had received an opinion from its constitutional advisors that the government was not bound by a 2009 parliamentary vote to launch the membership talks.
  "After receiving this opinion the foreign minister has decided to consider dissolving the negotiation committee," the ministry said in a statement, quoted by the AFP news agency.
  On a recent visit to Brussels, the new Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson was told by European Commission President Jos(C) Manuel Barroso to decide ''without further delay'' whether it wanted to continue accession negotiations or abandon plans to join the EU.
  >> Read: Barroso tells Iceland to make up its mind on joining the EU
  The committee's dissolution effectively signals the abandonment of these negotiations.
  On 27 April, Iceland held elections, inflicting to the ruling pro-European Social Democrats the the biggest defeat any ruling national party has suffered since independence from Denmark in 1944.
  Gunnlaugsson, 38, is Europe's youngest democratically elected head of government. Since 2009, he has led the Progressives, a centre-right and liberal party affiliated with Liberal International.
  The Progressive Party draws most of its support from farmers and fishermen. In coalition with the Independence Party (see background), the Progressives oppose EU membership.
  In May, the new government announced a halt to the country's EU accession talks until Icelanders vote in a referendum within the next four years on whether they want membership negotiations to continue.
  The decision of Iceland to stop the accession talks can be seen as bad news in Brussels. Croatia's recent accession gave EU leaders the opportunity to boast about the attractiveness of EU membership, despite the economic and sovereign debt crises.
  Iceland was put on a fast track to EU accession, as it had already taken on board much of the EU legislation as member of the European Economic Area (EEA). It formally applied for EU membership on 16 July 2009 and started accession talks only one year later. The process has taken much longer for any other applicant country.
  >> Read: Iceland gatecrashes EU antechamber
  But Iceland is a special case, as the country's powerful fishing industry is in deep conflict with the EU over fishing quotas. The Commission says it can accommodate Iceland's ''specificities'', but in fact the differences between Reykjavik and Brussels are not only of technical but of political nature.
  The EU considers that Iceland is overfishing and that the island nation should accept strict quotas. Iceland says it has more experience in fishing that the Union itself and that it could teach Brussels best practices.
  Recently, Iceland backed the Faroe Islands in a fishing quotas conflict with the EU and objected to the EU position in the strongest terms.
  >> Read: Herring loss sparks EU-Faroe Island trade spat
DutchNews.nl - US spy chief to speak about internet security at Dutch conference.
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  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 01:19
  US spy chief to speak about internet security at Dutch conferenceFriday 23 August 2013
  The controversial director of America's National Security Agency is visiting the Netherlands next month at the invitation of telecoms firm KPN, the company confirmed on Friday.
  General Keith Alexander is speaking at a private KPN symposium which is focusing on privacy and cyber security, magazine Vrij Nederland reported earlier.
  Troels Oerting, head of Europol's cybercrime centre and former Dutch armed forces chief turned cyber security expert Dick Berlijn are also on the list of speakers.
  According to KPN, Alexander will speak about 'threats and developments in terms of internet security'.
  Snowden
  Alexander had already been invited before whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked information about NSA's internet spying activities, KPN said.
  The NSA and the FBI are accused of tapping directly into the central servers of leading US internet companies, extracting audio, video, photographs, e-mails, documents and connection logs that enable analysts to track a person's movements and contacts over time.
  According to the Wall Street Journal earlier this week, NSA has access to 75% of US internet traffic.
  (C) DutchNews.nl
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NSA employees spied on their lovers using eavesdropping programme.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 01:18
  Dianne Feinstein, a senator who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, said the NSA told her committee about a set of "isolated cases" that have occurred about once a year for the last 10 years. The spying was not within the US, and was carried out when one of the lovers was abroad.
  John DeLong, NSA chief compliance officer, said that those errors were mainly unintentional, but that there have been "a couple" of wilful violations in the past decade.
  "When we make mistakes, we detect, we correct and we report," said Mr DeLong.
  The NSA issued a statement on Friday saying: "NSA has zero tolerance for wilful violations of the agency's authorities" and responds "as appropriate."
  Mrs Feinstein said: "Clearly, any case of noncompliance is unacceptable, but these small numbers of cases do not change my view that NSA takes significant care to prevent any abuses and that there is a substantial oversight system in place.
  "When errors are identified, they are reported and corrected."
  The extent of American spying on its citizens and foreigners through the NSA and its "Prism" programme were revealed by Edward Snowden, a whistleblower, who fled to Russia where he has claimed temporary asylum.
Inventors unveil drone for heart attack victims
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  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 01:18
  Published: 23 Aug 2013 17:44 CET | Print versionOnline: http://www.thelocal.de/sci-tech/20130823-51567.html
  German inventors unveiled a drone carrying a defibrillator on Friday which they hope will be able to save the lives of heart attack patients.
  Every year 100,000 people die in Germany from heart attacks and the inventors hope that a drone will be able to deliver a defibrillator to revive the patient quicker than an ambulance.Fredrich N¶lle from technology group Definetz unveiled the prototype in Halle in North Rhine Westphalia. It has been designed to reach patients in remote areas and is activated by the emergency services or members of the public through a mobile phone app.
  Germany's emergency services union (DBRD) welcomed the invention but warned people to not get their hopes up. ''We'll have to see how much these drones can help,'' Marco K¶nig from the DBRD said.
  N¶lle said the drone worked through the app which when activated would start the drone and bring the defibrillator to the GPS coordinates of the patient.
  The downside is that the drone relies on someone being with the heart attack victim and having the app downloaded on their phone.
  N¶lle also said there were restrictions to flying drones in Germany, but added they were completely different to military drones which are giving the country's defence ministry a headache.
  The drone on display on Friday had eight rotor blades, a diameter of one metre and a flying distance of 15 kilometres. With the defibrillator it weighs 4.7 kg and costs '‚¬20,000.
  DPA/The Local/tsb
Will France lift Mercedes ban?
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  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 01:18
  Published: 23 Aug 2013 17:10 CET | Print versionOnline: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20130823-51565.html
  France's top administrative court said on Friday it will rule this Tuesday on a request by Germany's Daimler for the lifting of a contentious ban on the sale of certain Mercedes cars.
  Daimler has asked the State Council to overrule a decision by France's environment ministry to block the registration of certain A, B and CLA-class models because they breach European Union rules.France took the move in July, saying the cars use an air conditioning refrigerant the EU says emits excessive greenhouse gases.
  But Daimler is sticking to an older coolant, called R134a, as it claims studies have shown that the new gas catches fire more easily and puts cars at a greater risk of explosion in case of a crash.
  The makers of R1234yf reject Daimler's claims. But in Germany, the auto giant was given special permission to keep using the older gas, despite initial approval of the new sort by the German Automakers Association, VDA, of which Daimler is a member.
  Germany has until August 20th to answer queries from the European Commission, Brussels having another 10 weeks thereafter to decide whether to launch formal legal action.
  AFP/jcw
Improve your perception with two sleeps a night
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: the tap
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:36
  The existence of our sleeping twice per night was first uncovered by Roger Ekirch, professor of History at Virginia Tech.His research found that we didn't always sleep in one eight hour chunk. We used to sleep in two shorter periods, over a longer range of night. This range was about 12 hours long, and began with a sleep of three to four hours, wakefulness of two to three hours, then sleep again until morning.References are scattered throughout literature, court documents, personal papers, and the ephemera of the past. What is surprising is not that people slept in two sessions, but that the concept was so incredibly common. Two-piece sleeping was the standard, accepted way to sleep.''It's not just the number of references '' it is the way they refer to it, as if it was common knowledge,'' Ekirch says.An English doctor wrote, for example, that the ideal time for study and contemplation was between ''first sleep'' and ''second sleep.'' Chaucer tells of a character in the Canterbury Tales that goes to bed following her ''firste sleep.'' And, explaining the reason why working class conceived more children, a doctor from the 1500s reported that they typically had sex after their first sleep.But just what did people do with these extra twilight hours? Pretty much what you might expect.Most stayed in their beds and bedrooms, sometimes reading, and often they would use the time to pray. Religious manuals included special prayers to be said in the mid-sleep hours.Others might smoke, talk with co-sleepers, or have sex. Some were more active and would leave to visit with neighbours.As we know, this practice eventually died out. Ekirch attributes the change to the advent of street lighting and eventually electric indoor light, as well as the popularity of coffee houses. Author Craig Koslofsky offers a further theory in his book Evening's Empire. With the rise of more street lighting, night stopped being the domain of criminals and sub-classes and became a time for work or socializing. Two sleeps were eventually considered a wasteful way to spend these hours.No matter why the change happened, shortly after the turn of the 20th century the concept of two sleeps had vanished form common knowledge.Until about 1990. Details in link below....http://slumberwise.com/science/your-ancestors-didnt-sleep-like-you/
Retired U.S. Navy Specialist Found Guilty Of Attempted Spying For Russia.
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  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:35
  A retired U.S. Navy submarine specialist has been found guilty of attempted espionage for Russia.A federal jury in the state of Virginia found Robert Patrick Hoffman II, 40, guilty on August 21 of providing classified information to individuals whom he believed were Russian handlers.
  The handlers were actually FBI operatives.
  The local "Virginian-Pilot" newspaper reports that jurors took just 90 minutes to reach a unanimous verdict and reject Hoffman's defense that he was actually trying to lure the would-be Russian agents into a trap.
  The prosecution said that top-secret details on how the U.S. Navy tracks its own submarines and foreign warships were among the information Hoffman thought he was handing over to Russia.
  The FBI apparently became interested in Hoffman after he traveled to Belarus in late 2011, shortly after retiring from the navy.
  He has claimed that he met President Alyaksandr Lukashenka during his stay.
  It is not immediately clear how the trip ties in with Hoffman's attempted espionage.
  He will be sentenced in December and faces possible life in prison.
NSA paid millions to cover Prism compliance costs for tech companies.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:34
  The material provides the first evidence of a financial relationship between the tech companies and the NSA.
  The National Security Agency paid millions of dollars to cover the costs of major internet companies involved in the Prismsurveillance program after a court ruled that some of the agency's activities were unconstitutional, according to top-secret material passed to the Guardian.
  The technology companies, which the NSA says includes Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook, incurred the costs to meet new certification demands in the wake of the ruling from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (Fisa) court.
  The October 2011 judgment, which was declassified on Wednesday by the Obama administration, found that the NSA's inability to separate purely domestic communications from foreign traffic violated the fourth amendment.
  While the ruling did not concern the Prism program directly, documents passed to the Guardian by whistleblower Edward Snowden describe the problems the decision created for the agency and the efforts required to bring operations into compliance. The material provides the first evidence of a financial relationship between the tech companies and the NSA.
  The intelligence agency requires the Fisa court to sign annual "certifications" that provide the legal framework for surveillance operations. But in the wake of the court judgment these were only being renewed on a temporary basis while the agency worked on a solution to the processes that had been ruled illegal.
  An NSA newsletter entry, marked top secret and dated December 2012, discloses the huge costs this entailed. "Last year's problems resulted in multiple extensions to the certifications' expiration dates which cost millions of dollars for Prism providers to implement each successive extension '' costs covered by Special Source Operations," it says.
  An NSA newsletter entry dated December 2012 disclosing the costs of new certification demands. Photograph: guardian.co.ukSpecial Source Operations, described by Snowden as the "crown jewel" of the NSA, handles all surveillance programs, such as Prism, that rely on "corporate partnerships" with telecoms and internet providers to access communications data.
  The disclosure that taxpayers' money was used to cover the companies' compliance costs raises new questions over the relationship between Silicon Valley and the NSA. Since the existence of the program was first revealed by the Guardian and the Washington Post on June 6, the companies have repeatedly denied all knowledge of it and insisted they only hand over user data in response to specific legal requests from the authorities.
  An earlier newsletter, which is undated, states that the Prism providers were all given new certifications within days of the Fisa court ruling. "All Prism providers, except Yahoo and Google, were successfully transitioned to the new certifications. We expect Yahoo and Google to complete transitioning by Friday 6 October."
  An earlier undated newsletter after the Fisa court ruling on certifications. Photograph: guardian.co.ukThe Guardian invited the companies to respond to the new material and asked each one specific questions about the scale of the costs they incurred, the form of the reimbursement and whether they had received any other payments from the NSA in relation to the Prism program.
  A Yahoo spokesperson said: "Federal law requires the US government to reimburse providers for costs incurred to respond to compulsory legal process imposed by the government. We have requested reimbursement consistent with this law."
  Asked about the reimbursement of costs relating to compliance with Fisa court certifications, Facebook responded by saying it had "never received any compensation in connection with responding to a government data request".
  Google did not answer any of the specific questions put to it, and provided only a general statement denying it had joined Prism or any other surveillance program. It added: "We await the US government's response to our petition to publish more national security request data, which will show that our compliance with American national security laws falls far short of the wild claims still being made in the press today."
  Microsoft declined to give a response on the record.
  The responses further expose the gap between how the NSA describes the operation of its Prism collection program and what the companies themselves say.
  Prism operates under section 702 of the Fisa Amendments Act, which authorises the NSA to target without a warrant the communications of foreign nationals believed to be not on US soil.
  But Snowden's revelations have shown that US emails and calls are collected in large quantities in the course of these 702 operations, either deliberately because the individual has been in contact with a foreign intelligence target or inadvertently because the NSA is unable to separate out purely domestic communications.
  Last week, the Washington Post revealed documents from Snowden that showed the NSA breached privacy rules thousands of times a year, in the face of repeated assurances from Barack Obama and other senior intelligence figures that there was no evidence of unauthorised surveillance of Americans.
  The newly declassified court ruling, by then chief Fisa judge John Bates, also revealed serious issues with how the NSA handled the US communications it was sweeping up under its foreign intelligence authorisations.
  The judgment revealed that the NSA was collecting up to 56,000 wholly US internet communications per year in the three years until the court intervened. Bates also rebuked the agency for misrepresenting the true scope of a major collection program for the third time in three years.
  The NSA newsletters say the agency's response to the ruling was to work on a "conservative solution in which higher-risk collection would be sequestered". At the same time, one entry states, the NSA's general counsel was considering filing an appeal.
  The Guardian informed the White House, the NSA and the office of the director of national intelligence that it planned to publish the documents and asked whether the spy agency routinely covered all the costs of the Prism providers and what the annual cost was to the US.
  The NSA declined to comment beyond requesting the redaction of the name of an individual staffer in one of the documents.
  UPDATE: After publication, Microsoft issued a statement to the Guardian on Friday afternoon.
  A spokesperson for Microsoft, which seeks reimbursement from the government on a case-by-case basis, said: "Microsoft only complies with court orders because it is legally ordered to, not because it is reimbursed for the work. We could have a more informed discussion of these issues if providers could share additional information, including aggregate statistics on the number of any national security orders they may receive."
Creative Initiative Foundation Dissapears from Palo Altp-
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:12
  A major component of the Palo Alto area½s history for more than a half century came to an end on New Year½s Eve when the Foundation for Global Community officially dissolved itself, ending a six-year process of winding down.
  Assets are now being dispensed to other organizations, including some spinoff groups, that fit criteria that align with the Global Community½s beliefs and mission -- see www.globalcommunity.org .
  Yet the organization will endure in the memories of literally thousands of persons it touched, sometimes deeply and sometimes without their knowledge, or negatively -- including me and my wife over several years in the late 1960s and early 1970s and in light incident when I was a young reporter for the erstwhile Palo Alto Times.
  For 60 years, the organization went through a dynamic process of shifting its focus and creating spin-off efforts that focused on what some involved saw as an attempt at unification of science and religion, following in the philosophical footprints of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the Jesuit priest-theologian and a geologist-paleontologist of a century ago.
  Among other things, the organization is credited with ending the construction of nuclear power plants, primarily on the grounds that long-lasting and highly poisonous plutonium was simply too dangerous to the health of the world to continue creating with no fail-safe way of storing nuclear waste.
  Promoting world peace and disarmament has been a continuing theme, based on the empowerment of individuals, a belief that the world, and the universe, is a single integrated system that encompasses both physical and spiritual/intellectual realities.
  The organization evolved into an activist network that stood for promoting ½life choices½ over ½death choices½ from the individual/family level to global change.
  Jim Burch, former Palo Alto mayor and a 40-year leader in the organization, joined with Palo Altan Don Fitton in outlining a detailed history of the group at a close-out event Dec. 31 that was featured Friday night in a Midpeninsula Community Media Center program. It was repeated Saturday night (Feb. 26) and will be repeated in future showings not yet scheduled.
  That history, as could be expected, includes a heavy dose of controversy that peaked when it tackled nuclear power, stirring up leading nuclear-power advocates such as PG&E and Southern California Edison Company. Burch traveled the state debating Michael Peevey, now the president of the California Public Utilities Commission with a long history of promoting efficient energy usage. But at the time, Peevey was president of Southern California Edison, which was pushing nuclear power hard at the time.
  The controversy also included some persons who were convinced by the early 1980s that it was a cult bent on infiltrating community organizations, from PTA chapters and school site councils to local government. The Palo Alto Weekly even ran a cover story about the group, then known as the Creative Initiative Foundation, an evolution from a confusing name, National Initiative. The organization was known earlier as Woman to Woman Building the Earth, and later designations included Sequoia Seminar, a major conference center in the Santa Cruz Mountains; Project Survival, the anti-nuclear-power effort; Beyond War; and finally Foundation for Global Community.
  My personal experience with the group was overall positive. Starting a new family in Los Gatos while commuting to Palo Alto, my wife and I became hungry for some kind of intellectual discussion beyond baby talk. One night we attended a presentation at Los Gatos High School, our alma mater, called ½Challenge to Change.½
  That outreach program for Sequoia Seminars included an impressive multiple-projector slide show that interspersed images of health and peace with war scenes and nuclear explosions, and powerfully presented the life-choices vs. death-choices scenario. We were invited to attend a discussion group of the same name. Our first group was led by a delightful couple, Ed and Barbara Thomas, now residing in Grass Valley.
  They led us gently through a series of topics, using the powerful tool of group dynamics to lead us to conclusions that in hindsight were fairly obvious. I jotted down notes in a small leather notebook, a practice I started as a memory-assist in late grade school.
  Then my family moved to Menlo Park, and two or three years later my wife and I decided to participate in another Challenge-to-Change discussion group in the area. Ah, but now there were printed handouts with an attractive design on rich brown paper. I found out Friday that Burch, formerly in marketing, designed the materials.
  As such they were impressive, but the seven tenets we½d arrived at by discussion in Los Gatos were now listed in print -- and I noticed some changes. I dug out my old notes and at the next meeting noted that one tenet, ½Accept Authority,½ had moved from down the list to number one. In our initial discussion, ½authority½ was defined as knowledge-based. But now the meaning had a connotation of following orders, and the fact that the young couple moderating the group had German accents didn½t help.
  We progressed through another layer of more personal discussions in a second group, and finally attended a weekend event at the Sequoia Seminar center in the redwoods. It was a deeply moving weekend that got into some valuable areas of couples interactions. But at the end I raised an objection that the organization clearly had an underlying layer of being religious -- yet that was never indicated in the materials or Challenge to Change presentation.
  ½Why not just admit it?½ I asked.
  I later exchanged letters with early co-founder Harry Rathbun about that point, in a polite philosophical dialogue. The group had not yet launched its major anti-nuclear and antiwar efforts.
  A second connection was when the group formed one of the most impressive demonstration teams I½ve ever seen. That involved hundreds of women, mostly upper middle class, who dressed in polyester pantsuits of pastel colors, representing all the colors in the rainbow. The women in various colors would march or circle together.
  One demonstration was aimed at Palo Alto city government, and they expected the Palo Alto Times to cover it. They seemed to take it personally when reporter Mary Fortney (who died in January) didn½t show as expected. Someone suggested that the group of a couple dozen women take the demonstration to the newspaper, which they did.
  This freaked out the building manager, a pretty conservative fellow, and a cluster of management and staff gathered inside the lobby, uncertain how to (or whether to) respond or call the police. I recognized some of the women, and on my own went outside and chatted with them in a friendly fashion. Mary showed up by then.
  Then I asked if any had ever seen the backshop of a newspaper, still featuring large Linotype machines for typesetting and its own three-story high press. So I invited them all for a walk-through, further freaking out the building manager. At the end they thanked me and dispersed.
  Burch recalls another demonstration that had an odd twist. Someone noticed that there were a group of official-looking men closely watching a demonstration in San Francisco and surmised (possibly from the short-brimmed hats and dark glasses that were the ½FBI uniform½ at the time) that it was the FBI. When they informed the women they said they knew that, and that three of the agents were husbands of women in pantsuits.
  It was a unique organization that left a deep mark on the Palo Alto area, and far, far beyond.
  AN INVITATION: Those who have been involved with or touched by the organization or its spinoffs, or concerned or critical of it, may comment below with personal accounts and memories.
Shame on you, Janette Sherman and Joseph Mangano! Nuclear Power? Yes Please
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:09
  On several web sites there has recently been references to an article published on the web site Counterpunch with the title "Is the Dramatic Increase in Baby Deaths in the US a Result of Fukushima Fallout?-A 35% Spike in Infant Mortality in Northwest Cities Since Meltdown".
  The article, published on 10 June 2011, is authored by Janette D. Sherman and Joseph Mangano, both renowned persons in the anti-nuclear movement. In the text the authors claim a statistically significant increase of infant mortality deaths with 35% after the Fukushima accident in eight selected cities on the U.S. west coast.
  They write
  The recent CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report indicates that eight cities in the northwest U.S. (Boise ID, Seattle WA, Portland OR, plus the northern California cities of Santa Cruz, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, and Berkeley) reported the following data on deaths among those younger than one year of age:
  4 weeks ending March 19, 2011 - 37 deaths (avg. 9.25 per week)
  10 weeks ending May 28, 2011 - 125 deaths (avg.12.50 per week)
  This amounts to an increase of 35% (the total for the entire U.S. rose about 2.3%), and is statistically significant. Of further significance is that those dates include the four weeks before and the ten weeks after the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster.
  Furthermore, they try to link the releases of radioactivity from Fukushima and Chernobyl to the relatively high infant mortality rate in the U.S. A look at the data used by Sherman and Mangano does indeed seem to indicate an increase in the number of infant deaths in northwest U.S. after Fukushima, see the plot below:
  Infant mortality for 8 northwest U.S. cities, as reported by Sherman and Mangano
  The Fukushima events started on March 11, i.e. by the end of week 10. Then it took slightly more than a week for the first release of radioactivity to reach the nortwest part of the U.S. The data do show an increased infant mortality rate after Fukushima. The black line shows the average value for the 4 weeks before March 19, and the orange line shows the average value for the 10 weeks after that. The error bars on each data point indicate the statistical uncertainties.
  But why are the 10 weeks after Fukushima compared with only 4 weeks before? There seems to be a reason for it, commonly referred to as cherry-picking, i.e. you select the data that supports your theory without showing the full picture. To show the full data set may falsify what you want to show. This is quite common in politics and by people who have an agenda that is more important than the truth. But here we have two persons in medicine, one Medical Doctor and one Master of Public Health, they should be trustworthy professionals who are keen on giving people honest information, right? Let's check their deck of cards closer.
  So, if we include data for, say, the first 7 weeks of 2011, we get a very different idea about the situation:
  Infant mortality for 8 northwest U.S. cities, less biased version
  Very interesting, the first seven weeks of 2011 actually has higher infant mortality than the weeks after Fukushima, quite different from what Sherman and Mangano wants us to believe. There is no spike after Fukushima, instead there is a dip during the 4 weeks before! A more detailed report on the closer scrutiny of Sherman and Mangano's article is found in our Deep Repository.
  So, why does a Medical Doctor mistreat official data in this way? It is quite remarkable, and embarrasing, especially since Janette Sherman writes about herself on her web page (http://janettesherman.com/about/):
  Dr. Sherman's primary interest is the prevention of illness through public education and patient awareness.
  She seems to have forgotten about her primary interest in this case, I fail to see how cherry-picking data can be part of public education and public awareness. And if anybody can see how you can prevent illness through scaring people with false statistics, then please explain it to me. Embarrasing, Janette Sherman...
  Joseph Mangano already has a track record of handling data in not so honest ways, we may come back to that in other blog entries (a few links to examples, as requested by a commenter: http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/2005/08/joseph-mangano-and-art-of-deception.html and http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstats/documentlibrary/safetyandsecurity/factsheet/scienceonradiationhealtheffectsdispelstoothfairyproject/).
  What baffles me the most is that he and Sherman try to get away with this alarmistic claim by such a lousy handling of official data. Anybody can easily check it for themselves and see that Sherman and Mangano are wilfully interpreting data so that they agree with their already decided view on things. What is worse, they are scaring a lot of people with their claims, for no reason at all. Therefore: Shame on you!
  /Mattias Lantz - member of the network Nuclear Power Yes Please
  Follow-up blog entries on the same subject19 June 2011: More bullshit from Joseph Mangano, take 2
  21 June 2011: CounterPunch verifies infant mortality was alarmism but seems keen to create more of it
  27 July 2011: Sherman & Mangano admits errors '' or do they?
  Update 24 June 2011Several other people have scrutinized the Sherman-Mangano joke (by now I do not want to mis-use the word "study" in connection with these people), most notably in Scientific American. Here is a list:
  The sei-uno-zero-nove (6109) blog, by Antonio Rinaldi, 21 June 2011: "e-nucleare disinformazione" (in Italian)The xkcd forum, user signatures ++$_ and endolith, 16 June, under the post "8.8 Earthquake hits 250 miles from Tokyo"The Cliff Mass Weather Blog, 17 June 2011: "Fukushima Radiation and Infant Mortality in the NW? No way" (borrowing our plots)Chris Mooney on the Discover Magazine blog, 17 June 2011: "Nuke Scaremongering and the Left"U.C. Berkeley, Department of Nuclear Engineering, Berkeley Radiological Air and Water Monitoring Forum (comments in all directions, but a couple of people are checking the data for themselves): "Fukushima fallout caused significant increase in baby deaths?" and "Post-Fukushima Infant Deaths in the Pacific Northwest Update."My colleague Andrea Mattera have translated this post into Italian and it has been posted as a comment on the Come don Chisciotte web page, 18 June 2011: "PICCO DEL 35% DI MORTALIT INFANTILE DOPO L'INCIDENTE DI FUKUSHIMA" (in Italian)Mike, a physics student from Victoria (Canada?) have checked the data for himself, they are available here. (Mike linked to his data from the discussion on the Unsilent Generation blog post: "Infant Mortality on Pacific Coast Jumped after Fukushima"The Buzz Blog on Physics Central comments on the scrutiny done in Scientific American and asks the question why Sherman and Mangano is doing this nonsense: "Beware the Evil Scientists"The uvdiv blog has a guest post by Alexey Goldin that hopefully is enjoyable also for non-statistics nerds, and he shows data for several years back: A curious case of cherry-picking data for the greater good. I can only agree with his final statement: "At this point it is worthwhile to question either the scientific integrity or statistical competence of Sherman and Mangano. They might be decent people and believe in what they say, but allow themselves to say "small lies" in a service of "Greater Truth". This never ends up well. Because they are likely to kill some unstable people with their small lies."Update 25 June 2011Several persons have asked about how to get access to the raw data. I put a summary of the links I have used on the follow-up post regarding the strange results from the CounterPunch re-analysis of the data (here), but I will now put them here as well. The last link on the list is the one that is the easiest one to use. Some information will appear if you hold the pointer over each link:
  http://www.cdc.gov/
  http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwr_wk/wk_cvol.html
  http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6010md.htm?s_cid=mm6010md_w#tab3
  http://wonder.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwrmort.asp
  This entry was posted on Friday, June 17th, 2011 at 02:06:21 and is filed under Analysis, Bad Science, English, Fukushima, In the media, Janette Sherman, Joseph Mangano, Medical Doctors who have forgotten what their job is about. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Environment: The San Jose Three - TIME
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:07
  Monday, Feb. 16, 1976
  As middle-management engineers in General Electric's nuclear energy division, Gregory Minor, 38, Richard Hubbard, 38, and Dale Bridenbaugh, 44, have spent most of their professional lives working to build and promote nuclear power plants. Last week they suddenly quit their well-paid jobs at GE's installation at San Jose, Calif. Calling in the press, they announced plans to work full time for a referendum on the ballot in the California June primary that would curb the construction of new nuclear power reactors in the state. Said Minor in his letter of resignation: "Nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons now present a serious danger...
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Gregory Minor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:07
  Gregory Charles Minor was one of three American middle-management engineers who resigned from the General Electric nuclear reactor division in 1976 to protest against the use of nuclear power in the United States. A native of Fresno, California, Minor received an electrical engineering degree from the University of California in 1960. He gained an M.S. degree at Stanford University in 1966. He began working for G.E. in 1960 and died of leukemia in 1999.[1]
  Gregory Minor, Richard B. Hubbard and Dale G. Bridenbaugh resigned from the division of G.E. that built nuclear reactors in 1976, because they believed "nuclear power presented a profound threat to mankind". All three were managing engineers who had spent most of their working life building reactors, and their defection galvanized anti-nuclear groups across the country.[2][3]
  The three engineers acknowledged, in Congressional testimony, the possibility of human error, and asserted that nuclear engineers had become so specialized that none of them could see the whole picture any longer. As a result, they said, no one was in control.[1]
  Some scientists suggested their statements "may have been politically inspired". All three of the engineers were members of the Creative Initiative Foundation, a California group that "seeks to strengthen human relations" and "change the world for the better". The engineer's resignations were coordinated with help from another CIF member, who helped them orchestrate the announcement for maximum effect.[2]
  Gregory Minor said that he had developed "a deep conviction that nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons now present a serious danger to the future of all life on this planet".[1]
  ^ abcWolfgang Saxon. G. C. Minor, 62, an Engineer Who Criticized Nuclear PowerThe New York Times, July 31, 1999.^ abThe San Jose ThreeTIME, Feb. 16, 1976.^The Struggle over Nuclear PowerTIME, Mar. 08, 1976.PersondataNameMinor, GregoryAlternative namesShort descriptionDate of birthPlace of birthDate of deathPlace of death
Gregory Minor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:07
  Gregory Charles Minor was one of three American middle-management engineers who resigned from the General Electric nuclear reactor division in 1976 to protest against the use of nuclear power in the United States. A native of Fresno, California, Minor received an electrical engineering degree from the University of California in 1960. He gained an M.S. degree at Stanford University in 1966. He began working for G.E. in 1960 and died of leukemia in 1999.[1]
  Gregory Minor, Richard B. Hubbard and Dale G. Bridenbaugh resigned from the division of G.E. that built nuclear reactors in 1976, because they believed "nuclear power presented a profound threat to mankind". All three were managing engineers who had spent most of their working life building reactors, and their defection galvanized anti-nuclear groups across the country.[2][3]
  The three engineers acknowledged, in Congressional testimony, the possibility of human error, and asserted that nuclear engineers had become so specialized that none of them could see the whole picture any longer. As a result, they said, no one was in control.[1]
  Some scientists suggested their statements "may have been politically inspired". All three of the engineers were members of the Creative Initiative Foundation, a California group that "seeks to strengthen human relations" and "change the world for the better". The engineer's resignations were coordinated with help from another CIF member, who helped them orchestrate the announcement for maximum effect.[2]
  Gregory Minor said that he had developed "a deep conviction that nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons now present a serious danger to the future of all life on this planet".[1]
  ^ abcWolfgang Saxon. G. C. Minor, 62, an Engineer Who Criticized Nuclear PowerThe New York Times, July 31, 1999.^ abThe San Jose ThreeTIME, Feb. 16, 1976.^The Struggle over Nuclear PowerTIME, Mar. 08, 1976.PersondataNameMinor, GregoryAlternative namesShort descriptionDate of birthPlace of birthDate of deathPlace of death
How To Disable the Troublesome Gmail Promotions Tab
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  Sun, 25 Aug 2013 00:03
  Google set up tabs in Gmail to make management of your inbox easier, but the search giant decides where to put your email. Unfortunately sometimes Google decides to stick a newsletter or items you want to see in the Promotions tab or vice verse. Here's a look at managing the tabs and disabling them all together if you want.
  According to Google, the Promotions tab is for: ''Deals, Offers, and other marketing emails.''
  The problem I have with that description is ''other''. I've noticed newsletters that I want to read daily end up in the Promotions tab. Newsletters that are not marketing at all, but letting me know what articles I can read on a website. In my opinion the Promotions tab seems like the ''pseudo spam'' tab. If this is the case for you, it's easy to move them to your primary tab which is ideally where all of your important mail should be.
  To move a message from Promotions to Primary, just do a simple drag and drop.
  Then after moving your message to your primary tab, make sure to verify you want it to come there all the time.
  Now ideally, that should be the last time you have to think about it, and the newsletter or message you want will always appear in your Primary box.
  Disable Promotions or All Gmail TabsIf you're just sick of dealing with the tabs in general '' get rid of them. Click the plus icon next to the Promotions tab.
  Then simply select the ones you want to get rid of and click Save.
  All done. You're Gmail box will look like it used to before the annoying tabs were added. If you want them back you'll need to go into settings and turn them back on.
  What's you're opinion on the tabs in Gmail? Do you like them or are you going to turn them off?
  About Brian BurgessBased in MN, Brian Burgess is Editor in Chief at groovyPost. Got an idea or question? Email it to Brian at Brian@groovyPost.com.
Syrian hospitals treated thousands for poison gas symptoms, says charity | World news | theguardian.com
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 23:40
  The UN high representative for disarmament affairs, Angela Kane, arrives in Damascus, Syria, to press for access to the site of Wednesday's suspected chemical weapons attack. Photograph: Hassan Ammar/AP
  M(C)decins sans Fronti¨res has said hospitals it supports in Damascus treated thousands of patients for neurotoxicity, the first independent indication of the use of poison gas in a deadly incident on Wednesday in the Syrian capital.
  The medical charity said the hospitals received approximately 3,600 patients displaying neurotoxic symptoms in less than three hours on Wednesday morning, of which 355 reportedly died.
  Dr Bart Janssens, director of operations at the charity, said: "Medical staff working in these facilities provided detailed information to MSF doctors regarding large numbers of patients arriving with symptoms including convulsions, excess saliva, pinpoint pupils, blurred vision and respiratory distress."
  He said he could not confirm the cause of symptoms or the culprits. "However, the reported symptoms of the patients, in addition to the epidemiological pattern of the events '' characterised by the massive influx of patients in a short period of time, the origin of the patients, and the contamination of medical and first aid workers '' strongly indicate mass exposure to a neurotoxic agent.
  "This would constitute a violation of international humanitarian law, which absolutely prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons," he said.
  The news will increase pressure on the international community to take action after Wednesday's attack, which may have killed as many as 1,300 people. William Hague, the foreign secretary, said this week that the attack was probably carried out by forces loyal to the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. The Assad regime has accused Syrian rebels.
  Iran's new president has condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria's civil war without blaming a side for it. In a speech at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on Saturday, Hassan Rouhani noted that Iran had been the victim of chemical warfare during its 1980s war with Iraq. He said the deaths of innocent people through the use of chemical weapons was "very distressing".
  Syrian state television said on Saturday that government soldiers had found chemical agents in rebel tunnels in the Damascus suburb of Jobar.
  "Army heroes are entering the tunnels of the terrorists and saw chemical agents," state television quoted a source as saying. "In some cases, soldiers are suffocating while entering Jobar." The report said an army unit was preparing to storm the suburb.
  Syrian activists, supported by the British government, believe Assad's forces launched a nerve and chemical gas attack in Jobar and other suburbs before dawn on Wednesday. Assad's government has dismissed the accusation and its major ally Russia has suggested rebel fighters may have launched the attack themselves to provoke international action.
  The UN high representative for disarmament affairs, Angela Kane, arrived in Damascus on Saturday to push for access to the suspected attack site for UN inspectors, who are already in Syria to investigate months-old accusations.
  Assad's government has not said whether it will allow access to the site, despite coming under increasing pressure from the UN, western and Gulf Arab countries and Russia. If confirmed, it would be the world's deadliest chemical attack in decades.
  Syria's claim to have discovered chemical weapons in Damascus follows its refusal to accept that a chemical weapons attack had taken place on Wednesday.
  The US, Britain, France and Russia have all urged the Assad regime and the rebels to co-operate with the UN and allow its inspectors to look into the alleged attack.
  The Assad regime has denied the claims that it was behind the chemical attack, calling them "absolutely baseless" and suggesting they are an attempt to discredit the government.
  The UN experts already in Syria are tasked with investigating three earlier purported chemical attacks: one in the village of Khan al-Assal outside the northern city of Aleppo in March, as well as two other locations that have been kept secret for security reasons.
  It took months of negotiations between the UN and Damascus before an agreement was struck to allow the 20-member team into Syria to investigate. Its mandate is limited to those three sites and it is only charged with determining whether chemical weapons were used, not who used them.
  Syria's deputy prime minister, Qadri Jamil, told the Associated Press on Thursday that he was personally in favour of a fair, transparent international delegation to investigate the latest incident. But he said that would require a new agreement between the government and the UN, and that the conditions for such a delegation would need to be studied.
Excite News - US forces move closer to Syria as options weighed
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 23:39
  WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. naval forces are moving closer to Syria as President Barack Obama considers military options for responding to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad government. The president emphasized that a quick intervention in the Syrian civil war was problematic, given the international considerations that should precede a military strike.
  The White House said the president would meet Saturday with his national security team to consider possible next steps by the United States. Officials say once the facts are clear, Obama will make a decision about how to proceed.
  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel declined to discuss any specific force movements while saying that Obama had asked the Pentagon to prepare military options for Syria. U.S. defense officials told The Associated Press that the Navy had sent a fourth warship armed with ballistic missiles into the eastern Mediterranean Sea but without immediate orders for any missile launch into Syria.
  U.S. Navy ships are capable of a variety of military action, including launching Tomahawk cruise missiles, as they did against Libya in 2011 as part of an international action that led to the overthrow of the Libyan government.
  "The Defense Department has a responsibility to provide the president with options for contingencies, and that requires positioning our forces, positioning our assets, to be able to carry out different options - whatever options the president might choose," Hagel told reporters traveling with him to Asia.Hagel said the U.S. is coordinating with the international community to determine "what exactly did happen" near Damascus earlier this week. According to reports, a chemical attack in a suburb of the capital killed at least 100 people. It would be the most heinous use of chemical weapons since Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein gassed thousands of Kurds in the town of Halabja in 1988.
  Hagel left little doubt that he thinks the attack in Syria involved chemical weapons, although he stressed there is not yet a final answer. In discussing the matter, he said, "it appears to be what happened - use of chemical weapons."
  The United Nations disarmament chief, Angela Kane, arrived in Damascus on Saturday to press the Syrian government to allow U.N. experts to investigate the alleged chemical attacks.
  Obama remained cautious about getting involved in a war that has killed more than 100,000 people and now includes Hezbollah and al-Qaida. He made no mention of the "red line" of chemical weapons use that he marked out for Syrian President Bashar Assad a year ago and that U.S. intelligence says has been breached at least on a small scale several times since.
  "If the U.S. goes in and attacks another country without a U.N. mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it - do we have the coalition to make it work?" Obama said Friday. "Those are considerations that we have to take into account."Obama conceded in an interview on CNN's "New Day" program that the episode is a "big event of grave concern" that requires American attention. He said any large-scale chemical weapons usage would affect "core national interests" of the United States and its allies. But nothing he said signaled a shift toward U.S. action.
  U.S. defense officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss ship movements publicly. But if the U.S. wants to send a message to Assad, the most likely military action would be a Tomahawk missile strike, launched from a ship in the Mediterranean.
  For a year now, Obama has threatened to punish Assad's regime if it resorted to its chemical weapons arsenal, among the world's vastest, saying use or even deployment of such weapons of mass destruction constituted a "red line" for him. A U.S. intelligence assessment concluded in June chemical weapons have been used in Syria's civil war, but Washington has taken no military action against Assad's forces.
  U.S. officials have instead focused on trying to organize a peace conference between the government and opposition. Obama has authorized weapons deliveries to rebel groups, but none are believed to have been sent so far.
  In his first comments on Syria since the alleged chemical attack, Obama said the U.S. is still trying to find out what happened. Hagel said Friday that a determination on the chemical attack should be made swiftly because "there may be another attack coming," although he added that "we don't know" whether that will happen.
  After rebels similarly reported chemical attacks in February, U.S. confirmation took more than four months. In this instance, a U.N. chemical weapons team is already on the ground in Syria. Assad's government, then as now, has rejected the claims as baseless.
  Obama also cited the need for the U.S. to be part of a coalition in dealing with Syria. America's ability by itself to solve the Arab country's sectarian fighting is "overstated," he said.
  ---
  AP National Security Writer Robert Burns was traveling with Hagel. AP writers Josh Lederman and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.
Greg Palast | Investigative Reporter The SECRET MEMO
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  Archived Version
  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 23:37
  By Greg Palast for Vice Magazine
  When a little birdie dropped the End Game memo through my window, its content was so explosive, so sick and plain evil, I just couldn't believe it.
  The Memo confirmed every conspiracy freak's fantasy: that in the late 1990s, the top US Treasury officials secretly conspired with a small cabal of banker big-shots to rip apart financial regulation across the planet. When you see 26.3% unemployment in Spain, desperation and hunger in Greece, riots in Indonesia and Detroit in bankruptcy, go back to this End Game memo, the genesis of the blood and tears.The Treasury official playing the bankers' secret End Game was Larry Summers. Today, Summers is Barack Obama's leading choice for Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, the world's central bank. If the confidential memo is authentic, then Summers shouldn't be serving on the Fed, he should be serving hard time in some dungeon reserved for the criminally insane of the finance world.
  The memo is authentic.
  To get that confirmation, I would have to fly to Geneva and wangle a meeting with the Secretary General of the World Trade Organization, Pascal Lamy. I did. Lamy, the Generalissimo of Globalization, told me,
  "The WTO was not created as some dark cabal of multinationals secretly cooking plots against the people'.... We don't have cigar-smoking, rich, crazy bankers negotiating."
  Then I showed him the memo.
  It begins with Summers' flunky, Timothy Geithner, reminding his boss to call the then most powerful CEOs on the planet and get them to order their lobbyist armies to march:
  "As we enter the end-game of the WTO financial services negotiations, I believe it would be a good idea for you to touch base with the CEOs'...."
  To avoid Summers having to call his office to get the phone numbers (which, under US law, would have to appear on public logs), Geithner listed their private lines. And here they are:
  Goldman Sachs: John Corzine (212)902-8281Merrill Lynch: David Kamanski (212)449-6868Bank of America, David Coulter (415)622-2255Citibank: John Reed (212)559-2732Chase Manhattan: Walter Shipley (212)270-1380
  Lamy was right: They don't smoke cigars. Go ahead and dial them. I did, and sure enough, got a cheery personal hello from Reed''cheery until I revealed I wasn't Larry Summers. (Note: The other numbers were swiftly disconnected. And Corzine can't be reached while he faces criminal charges.)
  It's not the little cabal of confabs held by Summers and the banksters that's so troubling. The horror is in the purpose of the "end game" itself.
  Let me explain:The year was 1997. US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin was pushing hard to de-regulate banks. That required, first, repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act to dismantle the barrier between commercial banks and investment banks. It was like replacing bank vaults with roulette wheels.
  Second, the banks wanted the right to play a new high-risk game: "derivatives trading." JP Morgan alone would soon carry $88 trillion of these pseudo-securities on its books as "assets."
  Deputy Treasury Secretary Summers (soon to replace Rubin as Secretary) body-blocked any attempt to control derivatives.
  But what was the use of turning US banks into derivatives casinos if money would flee to nations with safer banking laws?
  The answer conceived by the Big Bank Five: eliminate controls on banks in every nation on the planet '' in one single move. It was as brilliant as it was insanely dangerous.
  How could they pull off this mad caper? The bankers' and Summers' game was to use the Financial Services Agreement, an abstruse and benign addendum to the international trade agreements policed by the World Trade Organization.
  Until the bankers began their play, the WTO agreements dealt simply with trade in goods''that is, my cars for your bananas. The new rules ginned-up by Summers and the banks would force all nations to accept trade in "bads" '' toxic assets like financial derivatives.
  Until the bankers' re-draft of the FSA, each nation controlled and chartered the banks within their own borders. The new rules of the game would force every nation to open their markets to Citibank, JP Morgan and their derivatives "products."
  And all 156 nations in the WTO would have to smash down their own Glass-Steagall divisions between commercial savings banks and the investment banks that gamble with derivatives.
  The job of turning the FSA into the bankers' battering ram was given to Geithner, who was named Ambassador to the World Trade Organization.
  Bankers Go Bananas
  Why in the world would any nation agree to let its banking system be boarded and seized by financial pirates like JP Morgan?
  The answer, in the case of Ecuador, was bananas. Ecuador was truly a banana republic. The yellow fruit was that nation's life-and-death source of hard currency. If it refused to sign the new FSA, Ecuador could feed its bananas to the monkeys and go back into bankruptcy. Ecuador signed.
  And so on''with every single nation bullied into signing.
  Every nation but one, I should say. Brazil's new President, Inacio Lula da Silva, refused. In retaliation, Brazil was threatened with a virtual embargo of its products by the European Union's Trade Commissioner, one Peter Mandelson, according to another confidential memo I got my hands on. But Lula's refusenik stance paid off for Brazil which, alone among Western nations, survived and thrived during the 2007-9 bank crisis.
  China signed''but got its pound of flesh in return. It opened its banking sector a crack in return for access and control of the US auto parts and other markets. (Swiftly, two million US jobs shifted to China.)
  The new FSA pulled the lid off the Pandora's box of worldwide derivatives trade. Among the notorious transactions legalized: Goldman Sachs (where Treasury Secretary Rubin had been Co-Chairman) worked a secret euro-derivatives swap with Greece which, ultimately, destroyed that nation. Ecuador, its own banking sector de-regulated and demolished, exploded into riots. Argentina had to sell off its oil companies (to the Spanish) and water systems (to Enron) while its teachers hunted for food in garbage cans. Then, Bankers Gone Wild in the Eurozone dove head-first into derivatives pools without knowing how to swim''and the continent is now being sold off in tiny, cheap pieces to Germany.
  Of course, it was not just threats that sold the FSA, but temptation as well. After all, every evil starts with one bite of an apple offered by a snake. The apple: The gleaming piles of lucre hidden in the FSA for local elites. The snake was named Larry.
  Does all this evil and pain flow from a single memo? Of course not: the evil was The Game itself, as played by the banker clique. The memo only revealed their game-plan for checkmate.
  And the memo reveals a lot about Summers and Obama.
  While billions of sorry souls are still hurting from worldwide banker-made disaster, Rubin and Summers didn't do too badly. Rubin's deregulation of banks had permitted the creation of a financial monstrosity called "Citigroup." Within weeks of leaving office, Rubin was named director, then Chairman of Citigroup'--which went bankrupt while managing to pay Rubin a total of $126 million.
  Then Rubin took on another post: as key campaign benefactor to a young State Senator, Barack Obama. Only days after his election as President, Obama, at Rubin's insistence, gave Summers the odd post of US "Economics Tsar" and made Geithner his Tsarina (that is, Secretary of Treasury). In 2010, Summers gave up his royalist robes to return to "consulting" for Citibank and other creatures of bank deregulation whose payments have raised Summers' net worth by $31 million since the "end-game" memo.
  That Obama would, at Robert Rubin's demand, now choose Summers to run the Federal Reserve Board means that, unfortunately, we are far from the end of the game.
  * * * * * * * *
  Special thanks to expert Mary Bottari of Bankster USA BanksterUSA.org without whom our investigation could not have begun.
  The film of my meeting with WTO chief Lamy was originally created for Ring of Fire, hosted by Mike Papantonio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
  Further discussion of the documents I laid before Lamy can be found in "The Generalissimo of Globalization," Chapter 12 of Vultures' Picnic by Greg Palast.
  Greg Palast is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers, Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Armed Madhouse.
  HELP US FOLLOW THE MONEY. Visit the Palast Investigative Fund's store or simply make a tax-deductible contribution to keep our work alive!
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  www.GregPalast.com
Microsoft CEO powers down after 33 years - Winnipeg Free Press
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 23:24
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  Steve Ballmer plans to step down within the next 12 months, leaving a legacy of mixed results. (SIMON DAWSON / BLOOMBERG NEWS ARCHIVES)
  NEW YORK -- Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, known as much for his zany personality as his business discipline, will leave a legacy of mixed results and a monumental challenge for his yet-to-be-named successor.
  Ballmer announced Friday he plans to retire some time in the next year. After helping founder Bill Gates transform Microsoft from a tiny startup into the world's most valuable company, Ballmer took over for Gates in early 2000.
  The new millennium marked a dark period for Microsoft. As smartphones and tablet computers began to eclipse personal computers, detractors said Ballmer didn't take early threats from Apple and Google seriously enough. Ballmer consistently pooh-poohed Google as a one-trick company and in 2007 declared: "No chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share."
  Ballmer's jeers proved premature. Google quickly made important inroads in Internet video, online maps, email and mobile computing and contributed to the damage Apple's iPhone and iPad have done to Microsoft and its partners in the PC market.
  Microsoft, along with other companies that thrived in the era of personal computers, is scrambling to transform its business as people increasingly come to rely on smartphones and tablets.
  Although it derives some three-quarters of its revenue from sales of software and services to businesses large and small, Microsoft has failed to capture the imagination of consumers, who have become more enamoured with mobile gadgets than PCs. Response to the newest version of its flagship Windows operating system, Windows 8, has been lukewarm.
  As Microsoft Corp.'s stature diminished, its market value followed. When Ballmer took the helm in January 2000, the company was worth more than $601 billion. Today, its value is less than half that amount, at nearly $270 billion.
  "There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time," Ballmer, 57, said in a statement released by the Redmond, Wash., company.
  Microsoft did not name a successor, but it's certain the person who takes the reins will need to push the world's largest software company further into mobile devices and step up its competition with faster-moving rivals.
  Microsoft said Friday it's forming a search committee, which will include Gates. Ballmer will stay on until a replacement is found.
  After the news broke, Microsoft's stock shot up as much as nine per cent shortly after the markets opened. They came within two dollars of their 52-week high.
  Ballmer's announcement comes less than two months after the company unveiled a sweeping reorganization of its business in an attempt to catch up with Apple and Google.
  In his statement, Ballmer noted Microsoft is moving in a new direction and needs a CEO that will be there for the longer term.
  Microsoft, he added, "has all its best days ahead."
  Ballmer met Gates in 1973 while they were living down a dormitory hall from each other at Harvard University. He joined Microsoft in 1980 to bring some business discipline and salesmanship to a company that had just landed a contract to supply an operating system for a personal computer IBM would release in 1981.
  Ballmer, a zealous executive prone to arm-waving and hollering, did the job so well he would become Gates' sounding board and succeed him as CEO in 2000. He has worked at Microsoft for 33 years, matching the tenure of Gates, who left the company in 2008.
  "It's a tad surprising, but every other business head has been rotated out," said BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis. "They swapped out all their segment heads over the past few years. The only one they haven't changed is the CEO."
  Though investors cheered the news Friday, Gillis cautioned it could be a "tough 12 months" for the company.
  The obvious successor -- former Windows head Steven Sinofsky -- got booted by Ballmer, he said.
  Sinofsky left the company shortly after the launch of Windows 8 last year. He recently announced he joined the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
  Veteran executive Julie Larson-Green, the head of Microsoft's devices and studios engineering group, has been floated as a potential successor. She was promoted to her most recent position in July, after being tapped in November to lead all Windows software and hardware engineering.
  Although the company said Friday it will consider both internal and external candidates, some analysts are betting the company's next leader will come from outside.
  Walter Pritchard, an analyst with Citi Investment Research, said Microsoft's expected focus on external candidates will make it tough to predict who will become the next CEO and what direction they will take it in. He added the search will likely take a significant amount of time, potentially the entire 12 months Ballmer has said he will stay.
  When Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980, it was populated with geeky programmers led by Gates and the other founder, Paul Allen. Ballmer had already held a product-management job at Procter & Gamble and was attending Stanford University's graduate school of business when Gates convinced him to move to the Seattle area to whip Microsoft into shape.
  Ballmer dropped out of Stanford, but only after Gates agreed to give him an 8.75 per cent stake in the then-tiny startup that still hadn't even incorporated as a company.
  It turned out to be one of the world's greatest business partnerships. By late 2012, Ballmer had accumulated an estimated fortune of nearly $16 billion from his initial Microsoft stake and additional stock options he later received.
  He also was instrumental in growing Microsoft from a company that had fewer than 40 employees and $12 million in annual revenue when he came aboard. In 2012, Microsoft had 94,000 employees and $74 billion in annual revenue.
  -- The Associated Press
Microsoft CEO powers down after 33 years
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National Service Bill 2013-14 '-- UK Parliament
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 20:50
  Latest BillThis Bill is being prepared for publication.
  Latest news on the National Service Bill 2013-14This Bill is expected to have its second reading debate on 6 September 2013.
  This Bill was presented to Parliament on 24 June 2013. This is known as the first reading and there was no debate on the Bill at this stage.
  This Bill is a Private Member's Bill. These are often not printed until close to the second reading debate. If the text is not yet available here and you wish to know more about this bill please contact its sponsor, Mr Philip Hollobone.
  Summary of the National Service Bill 2013-14A Bill to provide a system of national service for young persons; and for connected purposes.Stay up to dateKeep up to date with the progress of Bills going through Parliament. Sign up for email alerts or use our RSS feeds.
  Related informationGuide to the passage of a BillFind out what happens at each stage of a Public Bill's journey through Parliament with the Passage of a Bill guide.
  When does a Bill become law?Explanation of what happens after Bills have been passed, and when laws may change.
Uniform Commercial Code - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC or the Code), first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been promulgated in conjunction with efforts to harmonize the law of sales and other commercial transactions in all 50 states within the United States of America.
  The goal of harmonizing state law is important because of the prevalence of commercial transactions that extend beyond one state. For example, goods may be manufactured in State A, warehoused in State B, sold from State C and delivered in State D. The UCC therefore achieved the goal of substantial uniformity in commercial laws and, at the same time, allowed the states the flexibility to meet local circumstances by modifying the UCC's text as enacted in each state. The UCC deals primarily with transactions involving personal property (movable property), not real property (immovable property).
  Other goals of the UCC were to modernize contract law and to allow for exceptions from the common law in contracts between merchants.
  The UCC is the longest and most elaborate of the uniform acts. The Code has been a long-term, joint project of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) and the American Law Institute (ALI),[1] who began drafting its first version in 1942. Judge Herbert F. Goodrich was the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the original 1952 edition,[2] and the Code itself was drafted by some of the top legal scholars in the United States, including Karl N. Llewellyn, William A. Schnader, Soia Mentschikoff, and Grant Gilmore.
  The Code, as the product of private organizations, is not itself the law, but only a recommendation of the laws that should be adopted in the states. Once enacted by a state, the UCC is codified into the state's code of statutes. A state may adopt the UCC verbatim as written by ALI and NCCUSL, or a state may adopt the UCC with specific changes. Unless such changes are minor, they can seriously obstruct the Code's express objective of promoting uniformity of law among the various states. Thus persons doing business in different states must check local law.
  The ALI and NCCUSL have established a permanent editorial board for the Code. This board has issued a number of official comments and other published papers. Although these commentaries do not have the force of law, courts interpreting the Code often cite them as persuasive authority in determining the effect of one or more provisions. Courts interpreting the Code generally seek to harmonize their interpretations with those of other states that have adopted the same or a similar provision.
  In one or another of its several revisions, the UCC has been enacted in all of the 50 states, as well as in the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico[citation needed], Guam[3] and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Louisiana has enacted most provisions of the UCC, with the exception of Article 2, preferring to maintain its own civil law tradition for governing the sale of goods.
  Although the substantive content is largely similar, some states have made structural modifications to conform to local customs. For example, Louisiana jurisprudence refers to the major subdivisions of the UCC as ''chapters'' instead of articles, since the term ''articles'' is used in that state to refer to provisions of the Louisiana Civil Code. Arkansas has a similar arrangement as the term ''article'' in that state's law generally refers to a subdivision of the Arkansas Constitution. In California, they are titled "divisions" instead of articles, because in California, articles are a third- or fourth-level subdivision of a code, while divisions or parts are always the first-level subdivision. Also, California does not allow the use of hyphens in section numbers because they are reserved for referring to ranges of sections; therefore, the hyphens used in the official UCC section numbers are dropped in the California implementation.
  The 1952 Uniform Commercial Code was released after ten years of development, and revisions were made to the Code from 1952 to 1999.[1] The Uniform Commercial Code deals with the following subjects under consecutively numbered Articles:
  In 2003, amendments to Article 2 modernizing many aspects (as well as changes to Article 2A and Article 7) were proposed by the NCCUSL and the ALI. Because no states adopted the amendments and, due to industry opposition, none were likely to, in 2011 the sponsors withdrew the amendments. As a result, the official text of the UCC now corresponds to the law that most states have enacted.
  In 1989, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws recommended that Article 6 of the UCC, dealing with bulk sales, be repealed as obsolete. Approximately 45 states have done so. Two others have followed the alternative recommendation of revising Article 6.[citation needed]
  A major revision of Article 9, dealing primarily with transactions in which personal property is used as security for a loan or extension of credit, was enacted in all states. The revision had a uniform effective date of July 1, 2001 although in a few states it went into effect shortly after that date.[4] In 2010, NCCUSL and the ALI proposed modest amendments to Article 9. Several states have already enacted these amendments, which have a uniform effective date of July 1, 2013.[citation needed]
  The controversy surrounding with what is now termed the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) originated in the process of revising Article 2 of the UCC. The provisions of what is now UCITA were originally meant to be "Article 2B" within a revised Article 2 on Sales. As the UCC is the only uniform law that is a joint project of NCCUSL and the ALI, both associations must agree to any revision of the UCC (i.e., the model act; revisions to the law of a particular state only require enactment in that state). The proposed final draft of Article 2B met with controversy within the ALI, and as a consequence the ALI did not grant its assent. The NCCUSL responded by renaming Article 2B and promulgating it as the UCITA. As of October 12, 2004, only Maryland and Virginia have adopted UCITA.
  The overriding philosophy of the Uniform Commercial Code is to allow people to make the contracts they want, but to fill in any missing provisions where the agreements they make are silent. The law also seeks to impose uniformity and streamlining of routine transactions like the processing of checks, notes, and other routine commercial paper. The law frequently distinguishes between merchants, who customarily deal in a commodity and are presumed to know well the business they are in, and consumers, who are not.
  The UCC also seeks to discourage the use of legal formalities in making business contracts, in order to allow business to move forward without the intervention of lawyers or the preparation of elaborate documents. This last point is perhaps the most questionable part of its underlying philosophy; many[who?] in the legal profession have argued that legal formalities discourage litigation by requiring some kind of ritual that provides a clear dividing line that tells people when they have made a final deal over which they could be sued.
  Article 2, dealing with sales, and Article 2A, dealing with leases, have not been adopted by Louisiana, as its provisions are inconsistent with the Louisiana Civil Code, which is based on civil law as opposed to common law.
  Contract formation[edit source |edit]Firm offers (offers by a merchant to buy or sell goods and promising to keep the offer open for a period of time) are valid without consideration if signed by the offeror, and are irrevocable for the time stated (but no longer than 3 months), or, if no time is stated, for a reasonable time.[5]Offer to buy goods for ''prompt shipment'' invites acceptance by either prompt shipment or a prompt promise to ship. Therefore, this offer is not strictly unilateral. However, this ''acceptance by performance'' does not even have to be by conforming goods §2-206(1)Consideration'--modifications without consideration may be acceptable in a contract for the sale of goods. §2-209(1)Failure to state price'--In a contract for the sale of goods, the failure to state a price will not prevent the formation of a contract if the parties' original intent was to form a contract. A reasonable price will be determined by the court. [2-305]Assignments'--a requirements contract can be assigned, provided the quantity required by the assignee is not unreasonably disproportionate to original quantity. §2-306Contract repudiation and breach[edit source |edit]Nonconforming goods'--If non-conforming goods are sent with a note of accommodation, such tender is construed as a counteroffer, and if accepted, forms a new contract and binds buyer at previous contract price. If seller refuses to conform and buyer does not accept, the buyer can sell the goods at public or private auction and credit the proceeds to amount owed.Perfect tender'--The buyer however does have a right of ''perfect tender'' and can accept all, reject all, or accept conforming goods and reject the rest, within a reasonable time after delivery but before acceptance, he must notify the seller of the rejection. If the buyer does not give a specific reason (defect), he cannot rely on the reason later, in legal proceedings. (akin to the cure before cover rationale). Also, the contract is not breached per se if the seller delivered the non-conforming goods, however offensive, before the date of performance has hit.''Reasonable time/good faith'' standard'--Such standard is required from a party to a contract indefinite as to time, or made indefinite by waiver of original provisions.Requirements/Output contracts'--The UCC provides protection against disproportionate demands, but must meet the ''good faith'' requirement.Reasonable grounds for insecurity'--In a situation with a threat of non-performance, the other part may suspend its own performance and demand assurances in writing. If assurance not provided ''within a reasonable time not exceeding 30 days,'' the contract is repudiated. [2-609]Battle of forms'--New terms will be incorporated into the agreement unless 1) offer limited to its own terms, 2) materially alter original terms (limit liability etc.), 3) first party objects to new terms in a timely manner, or first party has already objected to new terms. Look at what the item is to determine whether the new terms ''materially alter'' the original offer. (delay in delivery of nails not the same as for fish).Battle of forms'--A written confirmation of an offer sent within a reasonable time operates as an acceptance even though it states terms additional terms to or different from those offered, unless acceptance is expressly made conditional to the additions.Statute of frauds as applicable to the sale of goods'--The actual contract does not need to be in writing. Just some note or memo must be in writing and signed. However, the UCC exception to the signature requirement is where written confirmation is received and not objected to within 10 days [§2-201(2)]Cure/cover'--Buyer must give seller time to cure the defective shipment before seeking coverFOB place of business'--The seller assumes risk of loss until goods are placed on a carrier. FOB destination: seller risks loss until shipment arrives at destination. If the contract leaves out the delivery place, it is the seller's place of business.Risk of loss'--Equitable conversion does not apply. In sale of specific goods, the risk of loss lies with the seller until tender. Generally, the seller bears risk of loss until the buyer takes physical possession of the goods (the opposite of realty)Crop failure'--Crop failures resulting from an unexpected cause excuses a farmer's obligation to deliver the full amount as long as he makes a fair and reasonable allocation among his buyers. The buyer may accept the proposed modification or terminate the contract.Reclamation'--Successful reclamation of goods excludes all other remedies with respect to the goods [2-702(3)]. A seller can reclaim goods upon demand within 20 days after buyer receives them if the seller discovers that the buyer received the goods while insolvent.Rightfully rejected goods'--A merchant buyer may follow reasonable instructions of the seller to reject the goods. If no such instructions are given, the buyer make a reasonable effort to sell them, and the buyer/bailee entitled to 10% of the gross proceeds.Insolvency'--If a buyer is insolvent, the seller may refuse to deliver the goods except for cash, including goods already delivered under the contract [2-702]Implied warranty of fitness'--Implied warranty of fitness arises when the seller knows the buyer is relying upon the seller's expertise in choosing goods. Implied warranty of merchantability: every sale of goods fit for ordinary purposes. Express warranties: arise from any statement of fact of promise.UCC damages for repudiating/breaching seller'--Difference between 1) the market price when the buyer learned of breach and the 2) contract price 3) plus incidental damages. An aggrieved seller simply suing for the contract price is economically inefficient. [2-713]Specially manufactured goods'--Specially manufactured goods are exempt from statute of frauds where manufacturer has made a ''substantial beginning'' or ''commitments for the procurement'' of supplies.Section 2-207: Battle of the forms[edit source |edit]One of the most confusing and fiercely litigated sections of the UCC is Section 2-207, which Professor Grant Gilmore called "arguably the greatest statutory mess of all time."[6] It governs a "battle of the forms" as to whose boilerplate terms, those of the offeror or the offeree, will survive a commercial transaction where multiple forms with varying terms are exchanged. This problem frequently arises when parties to a commercial transaction exchange routine documents like requests for proposals, invoices, purchase orders, and order confirmations, all of which may contain conflicting boilerplate provisions.
  The first step in the analysis is to determine whether the UCC or the common law governs the transaction. If the UCC governs, courts will usually try to find which form constitutes the offer. Next, offeree's acceptance forms bearing the different terms is examined. One should note whether the acceptance is expressly conditional on its own terms. If it is expressly conditional, it is a counteroffer, not an acceptance. If performance is accepted after the counteroffer, even without express acceptance, under 2-207(3), a contract will exist under only those terms on which the parties agree, together with UCC gap-fillers.
  If the acceptance form does not expressly limit acceptance to its own terms, and both parties are merchants, offeror's acceptance of offeree's performance, though offeree's forms contain additional or different terms, forms a contract. At this point, if offeree's terms cannot coexist with offeror's terms, both terms are "knocked out" and UCC gap-fillers step in. If offeree's terms are simply additional, they will be considered part of the contract unless (a) the offeror expressly limits acceptance to the terms of the original offer, (b) the new terms materially alter the original offer or (c) notification of objection to the new terms has already been given or is given within a reasonable time after they are promulgated by the offeree.
  Because of the massive confusion engendered by Section 2-207, a revised version was promulgated in 2003, but the revision has not yet been adopted as law by any state.
  The ownership of securities is governed by Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). This Article 8, a text of about thirty pages,[7] underwent important recasting in 1994. That update of the UCC treats the majority of the transfers of dematerialized securities as mere reflections of their respective initial issue registered by the two American central securities depositories, respectively the Depository Trust Company (DTC) for the securities issued by corporations and the Federal reserve for the securities issued by the Treasury Department. In this centralised system, the title transfer of the securities does not take place at the time of the registration on the account of the investor, but within the systems managed by the DTC or by the Federal reserve.
  This centralization is not accompanied by a centralized register of the investors/owners of the securities, such as the systems established in Sweden and in Finland (so-called "transparent systems"). Neither the DTC nor the Federal Reserve hold an individual register of the transfers of property. The consequence for an investor is that proving ownership of its securities relies entirely on the accurate replication of the transfer recorded by the DTC and FED at the lower tiers of the holding chain of the securities.
  Each one of these links is composed respectively of an account provider (or intermediary) and of an account holder.
  The rights created through these links, are purely contractual claims: these rights are of two kinds:
  1) For the links where the account holder is itself an account provider at a lower tier, the right on the security during the time where it is credited there is characterized as a "securities entitlement", which is an "ad hoc" concept invented in 1994: i.e. designating a claim that will enable the account holder to take part to a prorate distribution in the event of bankruptcy of its account provider.
  2) For the last link of the chain, in which the account holder is at the same time the final investor, its "security entitlement" is enriched by the "substantial" rights defined by the issuer: the right to receive dividends or interests and, possibly, the right to take part in the general meetings, when that was laid down in the account agreement concluded with the account provider. The combination of these reduced material rights and of these variable substantial rights is characterised by article 8 of the UCC as a "beneficial interest".
  This decomposition of the rights organized by Article 8 of the UCC results in preventing the investor to revindicate the security in case of bankruptcy of the account provider, that is to say the possibility to claim the security as its own asset, without being obliged to share it at its prorate value with the other creditors of the account provider. As a consequence, it also prevents the investor from asserting its securities at the upper level of the holding chain, either up to the DTC or up to a sub-custodian. Such a "security entitlement," unlike a normal ownership right, is no longer enforceable "erga omnes" to any person supposed to have the security in its custody. The "security entitlement" is a mere relative right, therefore a contractual right.
  This re-characterization of the proprietary right into a simple contractual right may enable the account provider, to "re-use" the security without having to ask for the authorization of the investor. This is especially possible within the framework of temporary operations such as security lending, option to repurchase, buy to sell back or repurchase agreement. This system the distinction between the downward holding chain which traces the way in which the security was subscribed by the investor and the horizontal and/or ascending chains which trace the way in which the security has been transferred or sub-deposited.[8]
  Contrary to claims suggesting that Article 8 denies American investors their security rights held through intermediaries such as banks, Article 8 has also helped US negotiators during the negotiations of the Geneva Securities Convention, also known as the Unidroit convention on substantive rules for intermediated securities.
  Article 9 governs how security interests may be obtained in personal property to secure a debt. In Article 9 the owner of the collateral is referred to as the ''debtor'' and the creditor is referred to as the ''secured party.''
  Fundamental concepts under Article 9 include how a security interest is created in property (''attachment''); how security interests are made generally effective against third parties with a claim to the collateral (''perfection''); which among multiple security interests or other claims to the collateral is best ("priority"); and what remedies are available to the secured party if the debtor defaults in payment or performance of the secured obligation.
  In general, Article 9 does not govern real property security interests, except for fixtures to real property. Mortgages, deeds of trust, and installment land contracts, which are the principal forms of real property security interests, remain governed by state laws.
  Certain portions of the UCC have been highly influential outside of the United States. Article 2 had some influence on the drafting of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), though the end result departed from the UCC in many respects (such as refusing to adopt the mailbox rule). Article 5, governing letters of credit, has been influential in international trade finance simply because so many major financial institutions operate in New York. Article 9, which established a unified framework for security interests in personal property, directly inspired the enactment of Personal Property Security Acts in every Canadian province and territory but Quebec from 1990 onward, followed by the New Zealand Personal Property Securities Act 1999 and then the Australia Personal Property Securities Act 2009.
  ^ abp.2 ALI.org^The American Law Institute '' UCC 2007 Edition (Official Text with Comments)^Contracts: Law in Action, Third Ed. Macaulay, Braucher, Kidwell, Whitford^FFIEC.gov^"Uniform Commercial Code § 2-205". Retrieved July 10, 2012. ^Mark E. Roszkowski, Symposium on Revised Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code-Section-by-Section Analysis, 54 SMU L. Rev. 927, 932 (Spring 2001) (quoting Letter from Grant Gilmore, Professor, to Robert Summers, Professor, Cornell University School of Law (September 10, 1980), reprinted in Richard E. Speidel et at., Teaching Materials on Commercial and Consumer Law 54-55 (3d ed. 1981)).^See an online access to UCC Article 8 on Cornell.edu^A further analysis of UCC article 8 can be found in an academic paper from Sandra Rocks on Ali-Aba.org
In Paper War, Flood of Liens Is the Weapon - NYTimes.com
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 20:46
  MINNEAPOLIS '-- One of the first inklings Sheriff Richard Stanek had that something was wrong came with a call from the mortgage company handling his refinancing.
  ''It must be a mistake,'' he said, when the loan officer told him that someone had placed liens totaling more than $25 million on his house and on other properties he owned.
  But as Sheriff Stanek soon learned, the liens, legal claims on property to secure the payment of a debt, were just the earliest salvos in a war of paper, waged by a couple who had lost their home to foreclosure in 2009 '-- a tactic that, with the spread of an anti-government ideology known as the ''sovereign citizen'' movement, is being employed more frequently as a way to retaliate against perceived injustices.
  Over the next three years, the couple, Thomas and Lisa Eilertson, filed more than $250 billion in liens, demands for compensatory damages and other claims against more than a dozen people, including the sheriff, county attorneys, the Hennepin County registrar of titles and other court officials.
  A message at the couple's foreclosed home.
  Hennepin County Sherrif's Dept
  ''It affects your credit rating, it affected my wife, it affected my children,'' Sheriff Stanek said of the liens. ''We spent countless hours trying to undo it.''
  Cases involving sovereign citizens are surfacing increasingly here in Minnesota and in other states, posing a challenge to law enforcement officers and court officials, who often become aware of the movement '-- a loose network of groups and individuals who do not recognize the authority of federal, state or municipal government '-- only when they become targets. Although the filing of liens for outrageous sums or other seemingly frivolous claims might appear laughable, dealing with them can be nightmarish, so much so that the F.B.I. has labeled the strategy ''paper terrorism.'' A lien can be filed by anyone under the Uniform Commercial Code.
  Occasionally, people who identify with the movement have erupted into violence. In Las Vegas this week, the police said that an undercover sting operation stopped a plot to torture and kill police officers in order to bring attention to the movement. Two people were arrested. In 2010, two police officers in Arkansas were killed while conducting a traffic stop with a father and son involved in the movement.
  Mostly, though, sovereign citizens choose paper as their weapon. In Gadsden, Ala., three people were arrested in July for filing liens against victims including the local district attorney and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. And in Illinois this month, a woman who, like most sovereign citizens, chose to represent herself in court, confounded a federal judge by asking him to rule on a flurry of unintelligible motions.
  ''I hesitate to rank your statements in order of just how bizarre they are,'' the judge told the woman, who was facing charges of filing billions of dollars in false liens.
  ''The convergence of the evidence strongly suggests a movement that is flourishing,'' said Mark Pitcavage, the director of investigative research for the Anti-Defamation League. ''It is present in every single state in the country.''
  The sovereign citizen movement traces its roots to white extremist groups like the Posse Comitatus of the 1970s, and the militia movement. Terry L. Nichols, the Oklahoma City bombing conspirator, counted himself a sovereign citizen. But in recent years it has drawn from a much wider demographic, including blacks, members of Moorish sects and young Occupy protesters, said Detective Moe Greenberg of the Baltimore County Police Department, who has written about the movement.
  The ideology seems to attract con artists, the financially desperate and people who are fed up with bureaucracy, Mr. Pitcavage said, adding, ''But we've seen airline pilots, we've seen federal law enforcement officers, we've seen city councilmen and millionaires get involved with this movement.''
  Sovereign citizens believe that in the 1800s, the federal government was gradually subverted and replaced by an illegitimate government. They create their own driver's licenses and include their thumbprints on documents to distinguish their flesh and blood person from a ''straw man'' persona that they say has been created by the false government. When writing their names, they often add punctuation marks like colons or hyphens.
  Adherents to the movement have been involved in a host of debt evasion schemes and mortgage and tax frauds. Two were convicted in Cleveland recently for collecting $8 million in fraudulent tax refunds from the I.R.S. And in March, Tim Turner, the leader of one large group, the Republic for the united States of America, was sentenced in Alabama to 18 years in federal prison. (His group does not capitalize the first letter in united.)
  Sovereign citizens who file creditor claims are helped by the fact that in most states, the secretary of state must accept any lien that is filed without judging its validity.
  The National Association of Secretaries of State released a report in April on sovereign citizens, urging state officials to find ways to expedite the removal of liens and increase penalties for fraudulent filings. More than a dozen states have enacted laws giving state filing offices more discretion in accepting liens, and an increasing number of states have passed or are considering legislation to toughen the penalties for bogus filings.
  The Eilertsons, who were charged with 47 counts of fraudulent filing and sentenced in June to 23 months in prison, were prosecuted under a Minnesota law that makes it a felony to file fraudulent documents to retaliate against officials. John Ristad, an assistant Ramsey County attorney who handled the case, said he believed the Eilertsons were the first offenders to be prosecuted under the law. ''It got me angry,'' he said, ''because at the end of the day, these two are bullies who think they can get their way by filing paper.''
  The liens were filed against houses, vehicles and even mineral rights. In an affidavit, the Hennepin County examiner of titles said that in a conversation with the Eilertsons about their foreclosure, one of them told her, ''We're gonna have to lien ya.'' The examiner later found that a lien for more than $5.1 million had been placed on her property.
  If the purpose was to instill trepidation, it worked. Several county and state officials said in interviews that they worried that they might once again find themselves in the crosshairs. One state employee said it was scarier to engage with offenders who used sovereign citizen tactics than with murderers, given the prospect of facing lawsuits or fouled credit ratings.
  Like many who identify with the ideology, the Eilertsons learned the techniques of document filing online from one of many sovereign citizen ''gurus'' who offer instruction or seminars around the country.
  In hours of recorded conversation found by the authorities on their computer, the Eilertsons consulted with a man identified on the recordings as Paul Kappel, learning what he called ''death by a thousand paper cuts.''
  Mr. Eilertson, interviewed at the state prison in Bayport, Minn., denied being anti-government or belonging to any movement. But he was familiar with the names of some figures associated with sovereign citizen teachings, including an activist named David Wynn Miller, who Mr. Eilertson said was ''ahead of his time.'' (Mr. Miller writes his name as David-Wynn: Miller.)
  Mr. Eilertson, who had no previous criminal record, said his actions were an effort to fight back against corrupt banks that had handed off the couple's mortgage time after time and whose top executives never faced consequences for their actions.
  ''It seemed like we were being attacked every day,'' he said. ''We needed some way to stop the foreclosure.
  ''We tried to do our part with as much information as we had available,'' he said, though he conceded that ''it kind of got out of control eventually.''
Generation Imaging- Low Cost Microfilm Scanning, High Quality Results
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 20:42
  Generation Imaging is a microfilm scanning company founded by G.I. Partners, LLC of Florida, and is run by Damian Hospital and Dan Gandul. We are composed of the most experienced and detail orientated microfilm scanner operators, managers, and customer service representatives in the United States. No microfilm or microfiche scanning job is too big or too small for'...
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Presidential Meeting Signals Catastrophic Event: "There Is a Crisis Unfolding Somewhere in the Background"
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 20:08
  If there's one thing we know about how the US government operates, it's that the American people are often the last to know about serious problems that may be taking place behind the scenes.
  This week, in a move that has spooked a lot of economic and financial analysts, President Barack Obama held a special, closed door meeting with the heads of the U.S. government's financial, monetary and oversight agencies. It included members of the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the CFTC, the SEC, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
  This has left many wondering what is really going on '' and if a serious event is about to take place yet again.
  I guess I'm always unnerved as a result of what happened in April, the last time the President of the United States had a meeting with all of the bank heads, and two days later the price of gold was smashed for over $200.
  Now, the President is meeting with all of the heads of the various agencies, institutions, the Fed, and all of the other key money entities in the United States today. What's that all about?
  But clearly if the President is having this meeting, there is a crisis unfolding somewhere in the background, and it could very well relate to the dollar, interest rates, and the massive derivatives market associated with interest rates'...
  '...
  This surge in interest rates may have already seriously destabilized the entire financial system, and that's why there is this meeting taking place in the White House today. The fact is that the vast majority of derivatives in the global financial system are related to interest rates.
  Now, the entire financial system may be on the precipice of some sort of catastrophic event unfolding because of what we have already seen in the bond market, and how the derivatives are so heavily intertwined. Meaning, we may be on the verge of another disastrous derivatives meltdown.
  John Embry '' King World News via Steve Quayle
  Ahead of the 2008 collapse, as the pillars of our financial system were undergoing a controlled detonation, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve assured us the crisis had been contained. Experts and pundits on television were screaming to investors that everything was fine and to keep buying the dips.
  Behind the scenes, however, President Bush, the Federal Reserve, and the world's leading financial institutions were scrambling to figure out how to keep the whole thing from falling apart. As former US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson noted, we were on the brink of a historic collapse, and they knew it well ahead of time.
  The American people were not as fortunate. Most of us came to the realization things had taken a turn for the worse only after 50% of our wealth had been wiped out in a stock market and housing crash.
  Today, like before, all of the experts in Washington and the mainstream media are making a point to reassure us that we are in the midst of an economic recovery. However, key economic indicators suggest otherwise. We are seeing a plunge in global shipping, a halt in consumer spending, and perhaps most importantly, a significant rise in interest rates and the US government's borrowing costs.
  Now, as the President meets with a veritable who's who of government finance, lending and monetary policy one can't help but think something is amiss.
  Are we on the brink of another global disaster?
  Please Spread The Word And Share This Post
  Author: Mac SlavoViews: Read by 51,267 peopleDate: August 21st, 2013Website:www.SHTFplan.com
  Copyright Information: Copyright SHTFplan and Mac Slavo. This content may be freely reproduced in full or in part in digital form with full attribution to the author and a link to www.shtfplan.com. Please contact us for permission to reproduce this content in other media formats.
Hundreds of American Troops and CIA Operatives Have Entered Syria | The Top Information Post
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 20:06
  While the media panicked over the halting of NASDAQ stock trading due to a reported bug in the system (more on that shortly), one critical development went under-reported. In fact, it wasn't reported at all.
  If the following from France's second largest newspaper Le Figaro is accurate, then we must assume that war is now a foregone conclusion.
  According to our information, the regime's opponents, supervised by Jordanian, Israeli and American commandos moving towards Damascus since mid-August. This attack could explain the possible use of the Syrian president to chemical weapons.
  According to information obtained by Le Figaro , the first trained in guerrilla warfare by the Americans in Jordan Syrian troops reportedly entered into action since mid-August in southern Syria, in the region of Deraa. A first group of 300 men, probably supported by Israeli and Jordanian commandos, as well as men of the CIA, had crossed the border on August 17. A second would have joined the 19. According to military sources, the Americans, who do not want to put troops on the Syrian soil or arming rebels in part controlled by radical Islamists form quietly for several months in a training camp set up at the border Jordanian- Syrian fighters ASL, the Free Syrian Army, handpicked.
  Translation via Zero Hedge
  What's equally as intriguing as boots on the ground inside of the Syrian border is the fact that these troops and intelligence officers reportedly made their way into the country on August 17th, fully four days before reports and images surfaced showing hundreds of men, women and children killed by a chemical weapons attack allegedly at the hands of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
  The purported attack, which some experts argue was a set-up, left even the pacifist government of France calling for military intervention. Furthermore, should UN investigators, who conveniently happen to be in-country investigating possible chemical weapons stockpiles, confirm that the attack did take place, then we can expect armed military confrontation in the middle east once again.
  Of interest is also the fact the NASDAQ stock market exchange was halted today due to what NASDAQ officials call a technical glitch. Within hours of the 'glitch' cyber security experts suggested that this was no accident, but rather, a hack attack originating from the ''hacking collective'' known as the Cyber Fighters of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, an Iranian backed organization.
  Earlier this week President Obama met with the heads of the Federal Reserve, the SEC, the FDIC and several other agencies responsible for monitoring and implementing U.S. financial, economic and monetary policy, indicating that there could be a serious crisis unfolding behind the scenes of our financial system. This comes on the heels of the Federal Reserve claiming that they would begin to ''taper'' the stimulus, a move that would likely send massive shock waves through domestic and global stock markets.
  This is all speculation, of course, but it's hard to ignore the fact that the US financial system is potentially on the brink of a massive re-collapse, while the Obama administration is actively engaging Syria in what we can only conclude will lead to a broader conflict in the middle east.
  Throughout history governments have deflected blame for economic disasters by turning their efforts to a far off enemy and going to war. It's certainly no accident and it's a forecast that contrarian observers have made repeatedly as the global economic crisis deepened.
  Is this what we're seeing play out right now?
  If so, then the implications are far reaching, because anyone who thinks this is going to be another Iraq are kidding themselves. This time, the Russians and the Chinese have a stake in the game, and they too have been positioning pieces on the Grand Chessboard. Not only have the Russians already advised western nations that the Syrians will be armed with weapons never before seen in the middle east, but they have warned that any military confrontation in the region could potentially go nuclear.
  The question then becomes: who were the Russians talking about?
  Syria doesn't have nuclear weapons. Neither does Iran (at least not for a few more months if Israeli intelligence reports are to be believed).
  But the United States, Israel, Russia and China do have nukes.
  Thus, one can only conclude that the Russians were talking about a nuclear engagement between them'... and us.
  It's a realistic possibility also put forth by survival specialist Joel Skousen in his documentary Strategic Relocation and a warning reiterated by a DHS Insider who claimed in June of 2013 that a World War was about to break out and would lead to the deaths of millions.
  This is getting real folks. All signs point to a serious confrontation in our near future.
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Mysterious FEMA Region lll Alert Has Folks on Edge
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 19:49
  CERDAFIED - Following the bread crumb trail of FEMA orders, retired State Senator Sheldon R. Songstad of South Dakota State issued an ''Emergency Fema Region 3 Alert!!!,'' on August 13th.
  Region three is comprised of; Washington DC, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
  Songstad's research turned up some very interesting facts. Each item on its own could go unnoticed, but the collective facts may be worthy of your attention and scrutiny. The U.S. government appears to be preparing for a major event. It appears that this event is being staged for approximately Oct. 1st. Let's look at the numbers and dates.
  UN Peacekeepers began training the 4th week of July and will complete their nine week training by October 1st. They are learning English, as well as US weapon systems and Urban Warfare training.
  How many troops are training? 386,000 troops!
  The Center of Disease Control ordered $11 million worth of antibiotics. Where are they going? FEMA Region lll. When are they due? October 1st. This coupled with the fact that the World Health Organization held an emergency meeting, its second such meeting in its history, to discuss MERS Coronavirus. This is quite unsettling. The WHO determined that a vaccine MUST be in place by October 1st.
  Periodic testing of GPS and Communications satellites is normal, but coordinating their testing for the first time, with a testing date of September 29th, is noteworthy.
  All DHS agents MUST now qualify with sidearm, shotgun and AR 15's by September 28th. Less lethal qualifications are not mentioned. Has one eye brow raised? The DHS will receive 2800 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MRAP's) that must be delivered by October 1st.
  All National Guard units will complete their annual two week training in riot control and disaster assistance. All units MUST have their training complete by September 30th. However, the Eastern-based Coast Guard units will not be performing their usual training in the Gulf, this year they will be trained in Virginia and Delaware for 10 days beginning September 26th.
  Coincidently, the Emergency Broadcast System will begin daily testing beginning on September 25th thru October 2nd. All of this kind of reminds me of the bomb sniffing dogs being trained at the Boston Marathon for the first time ever.
  FEMA purchase orders deserve a little attention too. They ordered over $14.2 million for MREs and heater meals and 22 million pouches of emergency water, to be delivered to Region III by October 1st. An additional order of $13.6 million worth of MRE's and heater meals will be delivered to Austin by October 1st.
  Our U.S. military will not be permitted leave from September 28th thru November 5th. NORCOMM's yearly training for civil unrest is suspended until September 27th. To be performed in northeast coastal areas. Date for release of QE3 report has been moved to October 16th.
  Over 300 school systems will be issued a 3 day emergency kit for each student in September.
  The retired Senator's national preparedness research was sparked by a comment Donald Trump made during a recent appearance on Fox News' ''On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.'' Songstad included a video version of his findings with his notice. His video is going viral.
  How concerned should we be? Or perhaps the question is'....How prepared should we be? Perhaps the answer is'...'...Better prepared than the government.
  (Lisa Cerda is a contributor to CityWatch, a community activist, Chair of Tarzana Residents Against Poorly Planned Development, VP of Community Rights Foundation of LA, Tarzana Property Owners Association board member, and former Tarzana Neighborhood Council board member.)
  -cw
  CityWatch
  Vol 11 Issue 68
  Pub: Aug 23, 2013
THE SATURDAY ESSAY: Fukushima disaster's owners Tepco admit three leaking tanks were second hand | The Slog. 3-D bollocks deconstruction
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 19:47
  In today's (Saturday) press conference of 24th August 2013, Tepco announced that the three leaking tanks have been reused '' ie, recycled. It stated that the three tanks were initially installed in a different area, which then had 20cm of land subsidence in July of 2011. The base concrete sank underground. Instead of abandoning the potentially damaged tanks, they reused them in what can only be seen as a cost-cutting exercise. Let all those who robotically oppose regulation now read on.
  The more Fukushima unravels, the more it resembles the famous 1970s disaster film, The Towering Inferno: poor design, contractors cutting corners, and then deliberately watered-down warnings leading to loss of life on an unnecessary scale. Except that on this occasion, it isn't 200 people trapped on the 102nd floor, it's the entire ecosystem of Planet Earth at risk.
  Even over the last two days, I've been getting the usual morons telling me, emphatically, that there is no cause for alarm - although I do note they aren't there this morning. This might have something to do with the fact that yesterday afternoon European time, the Mayor of Fukushima admitted at a press conference that the fourth reactor leakage into the sea ''is not controlled'', a negatively polite way of confirming what those in the know have been telling me since Wednesday last: as of now, nobody has a clue how to stop the leakage.
  One source '' who has been advising on nuclear events since the 1950s era, when he was a UK Whitehall official helping prepare for World War III, told me ''Which genius put a storage pool 100 feet above ground? If reactor number 4 does collapse, then Western America had better watch out'...General Electric, who designed these reactors, has some serious questions to answer'....I would also advise your Sloggers, not to buy fish products, salmon, tuna, sushi from the Pacific: as the Caesium plume spreads, the chances of ingesting contaminated fish will grow, and it will be interesting to ascertain what measures government is taking in this regard'....''.
  Well, as of a week ago, the answer was ''none'', because the Japanese and US authorities blatantly lied to all of us about the size of the plume escape so far, and were until late Thursday continuing to underplay the sea escape. And going back to the GE installation itself, three engineers resigned at the time over concerns about design and materials: On February 2, 1976, Gregory C. Minor, Richard B. Hubbard, and Dale G. Bridenbaugh blew the whistle on safety problems, returning to prominence in 2011 when the first signs of disaster at the Japanese plant became apparent.
  Says another experienced consultant to the sector, ''Nobody has suggested the [FOI data) is a fake, and if it is genuine, then you could almost put Washington and Tokyo on trial for crimes against humanity". Others are holding fire until they see more data - fair enough - but as the admissions start to seep out beneath the frosted glass along with the emissions, most are preparing for the worst.
  "This leak is very serious," said Dr. Janette Sherman, an Alexandria, Virginia-based physician who specialises in radioactive and toxic exposure. Fukishima expert Ken Buesseler observes that, "There is still a lot of contamination at Fukushima'--in the land, in the buildings, and now from these tanks. Every bit of news that we've been getting is that the [radioactivity] numbers are going up. I'm becoming less confident that [TEPCO] can contain the problem''. It's a view shared by the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority, which also warns that the latest leakage problem might be beyond TEPCO's ability to cope. ''We should assume that what has happened once could happen again, and prepare for more,'' watchdog chairman Shunichi Tanaka told a news conference, ''we are in a situation where there is no time to waste.''
  But there is one commonsense point that perhaps too many half-interested observers are missing: Fukushima is a unique double whammy, in that the radioactivity is emerging both as atmospheric plume and seaborne toxicity.
  A plume will, eventually disperse or escape and become relatively harmless'....although twenty seven years after Chernobyl, some of Scotland's lamb output is deemed too dangerous to eat. But 80% of Fukushima's escape has been into the sea'....and this leakage is, according to Japan's own scientists, ''more deadly than the others''. Sea radiation's direction is much more predictable, and doesn't dissipate at anything like the speed of an atmospheric plume (I'm reliably informed). This is how the spread will look soon enough:
  Except that using the future tense there is unfortunately inappropriate: as the New York Times confirmed yesterday, the Fukushima plant has been incontinent to the tune of 75,000 gallons, or 300 tons, of highly radioactive water a daysince the 2011 incident was first apparent.
  It's just that Tepco denied it. Now you can see why the sea damage is a direct threat to Australia and South America, and the wind-blown plume will kill over a million Californians by 2030'....allegedly.
  As a direct result of that latter 20th century euphemism 'spin', a great many people '' and trillions of tons of fish '' are now going to die. But anyone who understands even the basics of species interdependence will grasp that the fish deaths will merely change our diets. In the type of species interaction known as predation, a big species regularly consumes or eats another species. For example, a tiger eats deer, a snake eats rat, an eagle eats rabbit and micee are prey. The predator is usually the larger animal.
  Most seabirds eat fish. All herons eat fish. Foxes, larger rodents and Homo sapiens eat birds. Apply the predation laterally, and the end of fish in two or more of the oceans is the end of thousands of species who either codepend with fish'...or will starve without them.
  Omnivores like us can survive'....but not if nobody tells us the truth, and as a result we ingest radioactive flesh.
  To offer two examples at random: the Great Barrier Reef will become a major shipping hazard if all the fish die. It's only kept under control by several codependent piscean species which feed on it. In fact, the economics of ecological interdependence are terrifying'....assuming you're human. We are, after all, the only species with an economic system, as none of the others GAF: but if fish die, fisherman starve; if avians die, whole manufacturing sectors die; and if opportunistic predators get hungry, they turn to eating other things. Like, um, us. Ask the Aussies about the crocs'...they'll tell you all you need to know. On Queensland's Daintree river Down Under, the failure of riverside plant species kills small river dwellers upon whom crocodiles feed. So the crocodiles (like UK foxes) venture into suburbia, drag off the odd child, and'....not pleasant.
  Now I'm sure like me, you just know that every neoliberal dickhead driving forward that Pepsico canning subsidiary in the Phillipines loses sleep on a nightly basis fretting about predation. And so I'm equally sure that, just like me, you feel totally relaxed about manta rays whose tails light up for the most inexplicable of reasons, and taste like like strontium stew. But for those folks of a more grounded and sane nervous disposition, the stuff that's been coming out of Fukushima for nearly two and a half years now consists of one part spin, and one part potential planetary extinction.
  There is no such thing as 'spin'. There are in fact three types of lies: those told because individuals are insecure, and harmlessly 'big themselves up'; those told to protect the feelings of others for whom they care; and those told for gain in terms of both money and power. Fukushima, whichever way you cut it, is a non-stop series of lies designed to obfuscate the danger, cover up blame, help Obama get re-elected, and keep the Japanese economy propped up. It represents the most jet-black series of unspeakable lies since Nixon spent a year saying an obvious whitewash wasn't taking place at the White House.
  Tricky Dicky, of course, would pale by comparison with today's leaders, and their terminally toxic mendacity. But for sure, he would've approved of what the Japanese and American administrations have been doing since April 2011: deniable culpability, and all that.
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About WHOI : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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  Archived Version
  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 19:41
  Location:Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA
  Type of Organization: Non-profit
  Funding: Government grants and contracts, foundation and private donations, industry contracts. Annual operating budget of $215 million.
  Research Areas: WHOI scientists study all aspects of the ocean including the coastal ocean, ocean life, deep ocean, and climate change.
  Departments & Divisions: The Institution is home to 6 research departments, 4 interdisciplinary institutes, and more than 40 labs and centers.
  People: More than 1,000 employees, including researchers, engineers, information technology specialists, ship and vehicle crew, and administrative support staff.
  Academics: WHOI is accredited by the NEASC and offers Ph.D. and M.S. programs. In addition, WHOI offers postdoctoral and summer student fellowships, as well as other education programs.
  Ships & Technology: WHOI operates the Global Class research vessels Atlantis and Knorr as well as the coastal vessel Tioga. WHOI also builds and operates a group of underwater vehicles and instruments designed for ocean exploration, including HOV Alvin, ROV Jason, and the AUVs Sentry, REMUS, and SeaBED.
Dr. Sherman Quoted in National Geographic Article About Fukushima | Janette Sherman
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  Archived Version
  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 19:34
  Patrick J. KigerNational Geographic NewsPublished August 7, 2013
  ''Tensions are rising in Japan over radioactive water leaking into the Pacific Ocean from Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a breach that has defied the plant operator's effort to gain control.
  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday called the matter ''an urgent issue'' and ordered the government to step in and help in the clean-up, following an admission by Tokyo Electric Power Company that water is seeping past an underground barrier it attempted to create in the soil. The head of a Nuclear Regulatory Authority task force told Reuters the situation was an 'emergency.'. . .
  ''But most experts seem to think that ordinary movement of groundwater probably is the real culprit. An estimated 400 tons (95,860 gallons/ 362,870 liters) of water streams into the basements of the damaged reactors each day. Keeping that water from continuing to flow into the ocean is crucial. As the IAEA noted in its report, 'the accumulation of enormous amounts of liquids due to the continuous intrusion of underground water into the reactor and turbine buildings is influencing the stability of the situation.'
  'Big surprise'--water does flow downhill,' said Dr. Janette Sherman, a medical expert on radiation and toxic exposure who once worked as a chemist for the Atomic Energy Commission, the forerunner of today's U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 'If you've ever had a leak in your house during a storm, you know how hard it is to contain water. There's a lot of water going into the plant, and it's got to go someplace. It's very hard to stop this.'''
  Read the full article.
Janette Sherman | About the Author
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 19:32
  Janette Sherman, M.D. specializes in internal medicine and toxicology with an emphasis on chemicals and nuclear radiation that cause illness, including cancer and birth defects. She graduated from Western Michigan University with majors in biology and chemistry and from the Wayne State University College of Medicine.
  Prior to medical school, she worked for the Atomic Energy Commission (forerunner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) at the University of California in Berkeley, and for the U.S. Navy Radiation Defense Laboratory in San Francisco. Thus began her long-time involvement with the subject of nuclear radiation.
  From 1976''1982 Dr. Sherman served on the advisory board for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxic Substances Control Act. She has been an advisor to the National Cancer Institute on breast cancer and to the EPA on pesticides. She is a resource person, advisor, and speaker for universities and health advocacy groups concerning cancer, birth defects, pesticides, toxic dumpsites, and nuclear radiation.
  She was named Distinguished Alumna of Western Michigan University in 1989, was admitted to the Cosmos Club in Washington D.C. in 2001 based upon ''meritorious original research in medicine and toxicology'', and awarded the Foremothers Award in 2006 by the National Research Center for Women and Families.
  Throughout her career Dr. Sherman has served as a medical-legal expert witness for thousands of individuals harmed by exposure to toxic agents. Her medical-legal files, including scientific research and background data are archived in the History section of the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, MD. Her 5000 workers' compensation medical files are included, the largest collection in the United States. Case files are available to researchers in the fields of medicine, law, sociology, economics, etc.
  While Dr. Sherman retired from treating patients in 1994, she continues to do research and publishes in the peer-reviewed literature as well as in the popular press. She is the author of Chemical Exposure and Disease'--Diagnostic and Investigative Techniques, (out of print, but can be found online) and Life's Delicate Balance'--Causes and Prevention of Breast Cancer, available from this website. She is the Contributing Editor of Chernobyl'--Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and Nature, by Alexey V. Yablokov, Vassily B. Nesterenko, and Alexey V. Nesterenko. Originally published by the New York Academy of Sciences and Wyle-Blackwell in 2009, it is now available from Greko Printing: orders@grekoprinting.com.
  Dr. Sherman's principal aim in medicine has been to determine the cause of illnesses and prevent harm to our fellow humans and to the environment.
War on the horizon
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 19:24
  HomeWar on the Horizon
  Cultural Imperialism:The Sexual Agenda
  Welcome toWar on the Horizon (WOH)
  War on the Horizon (WOH)is a Haitianist organization created for the purpose of preparing Black people worldwide for an unavoidable, inevitable clash with the white race. whites around the world are absolutely determined to exterminate Afrikan people in all corners of the Earth.
  As a result of this reality, WOH has dedicated our time and expertise to properly educating Black people to prepare for Racial Warfare. This includes intellectual, spiritual, psychological, and physical preparation for a global clash that will mean the end of white rule on this planet or the end of the Black Race as we know it.
  Please review the information on our site to understand the threat our people are facing so that you may make the right decisions in preparation for this reality.
  We'll See You on the Battlefield!
  War on the Horizon Creed
  Afrikan people are an international racial family who share a common: homeland (Afrika), Racial origin, culture, destiny, and a bitter enemy '' the white race. We are challenged by our common destiny to eradicate the system of racism white supremacy and its benefactors in order to establish righteous Black Dominion over Planet Earth.
  We are mandated by our Creator to return to our proper status as rulers of this world. It is within the full rights and responsibility of every member of the Black world family to see to it that this ultimate goal is achieved so that we may once again restore peace and prosperity to Planet Earth under the divine and just leadership of God's first people '' The Black man, woman, and child of Afrika.
  May our Black Brothers and Sisters see eternal progress,
  May our International friends reap the benefits of refined Black leadership and,
  May all of our global enemies perish by means of our Black swords.
  Amen Ra!
  War on the Horizon
  We'll See You on the Battlefield!
9th Annual Night of the Bat Fest Saturday August 24, 2013 | Events | Roadway Productions
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 16:48
  Saturday, August 24th, 2013on the Ann Richards Congress Ave Bridge (100 South Congress Ave., Austin, TX 78701)4 PM until midnightAll ages welcome. Bring the family!10 Bands on 2 Stages!
  Description:What will you see at BatFest this year? 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats emerging from under the bridge at dusk, 2 stages with live music, more than 75 arts & crafts vendors, delicious food and drinks, fun children's activities, a bat costume contest and other bat activities.
  Because bats are wild animals, it is hard to predict exactly when the emergence will begin but the flight usually begins between 7:00 '' 8:30 p.m. For current emergence times call 512-327-9721 EX16. The emergence can last up to ½ hour as 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats head out for their nightly flight. Bat Conservation International will have a festive booth on the bridge helping celebrate Austin's favorite furry flying friends!
  Parking:
  Numerous paid lots in the area including* Palmer Events Center Garage, S. 1st and Riverside* One Texas Center 505 Barton Springs Road Austin, TX 78704
  Bike Parking: We have Bicycle Rack to secure your bike. Be GREEN!
  Ride the Bus! It is a great cheap, green option.
  Hotels:
  The Raddison Hotel Has the best view of the bats and is the closest to the event of any hotel in Austin.Address: 111 E Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78701, United StatesPhone:+1 512-478-9611
  General Festival Info
Predict and Prognosticate - The Red Book
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 14:56
  THE RED BOOK betaPREDICTIONSLEADERBOARDABOUTLOGOUTLOGIN / REGISTER
VIDEO-Al Gore explains why he's optimistic about stopping global warming - The Washington Post
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  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 14:35
  By Ezra Klein, Published: AUGUST 21, 3:23 PM ET Aa Al Gore was vice president of the United States from 1993-2001. Since leaving politics, he's been heavily involved in the campaign to fight global warming, even winning a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. And he says he's more optimistic than ever that the issue has reached ''a tipping point.'' In this lightly edited interview transcript, he explains why.
  Ezra Klein: In 2005, when ''An Inconvenient Truth'' came out, I remember that the hope was we could keep the carbon load in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, and the fear was we would hit 400ppm. Now we've hit 400ppm and people are hoping to avoid 450ppm. This seems to be getting out of hand, and fast.
  Al Gore: We have already crossed the 400 parts per million mark. We crossed it earlier this year. The question now is how high it will go before we begin bending the curve. But in spite of the continued released of 90 million tons of global warming pollution every day into the atmosphere, as if it's an open sewer, we are now seeing the approach of a global political tipping point.
  The appearance of more extreme and more frequent weather events has had a very profound impact on public opinion in countries throughout the world. You mentioned my movie back in the day. The single most common criticism from skeptics when the film came out focused on the animation showing ocean water flowing into the World Trade Center memorial site. Skeptics called that demagogic and absurd and irresponsible. It happened last October 29th, years ahead of schedule, and the impact of that and many, many other similar events here and around the world has really begun to create a profound shift.
  A second factor is the sharp and unexpectedly steep decrease in prices for electricity produced from wind and solar and the demand destruction for fossil fuel energy from new efficiency improvements. The difference between 32 degrees fahrenheit and 33 degrees fahrenheit seems larger than just one degree. It's the difference between water and ice. And by analogy there's a similar difference between renewable electricity that's more expensive than electricity from coal and renewable electricity that's less expensive. And in quite a few countries in the world and some parts of the United States we've crossed that threshold and in the next few years we're going to see that crossed in nations and regions containing most of the world's population.
  Another way to think about this is that back when mobile telephones first appeared, the market projections for how quickly they would increase market share turned out to be not just wrong but way wrong. This is a point made by Dave Roberts at Grist, but the projections made 5-10 years ago for the installation of solar and wind technologies were, similarly, not just wrong but way wrong. We've seen a dramatic increase that's far more rapid than anybody projected and it's accelerating -- not just in the United States but even more rapidly in developing countries.
  EK: Do the policy failures of the last decade put more pressure on technological advances to be the source of the solution?
  AG: No, I seem them as intertwined. To some extent, the failure of policy at Copenhagen and before that in Washington has put more emphasis on the hopeful developments in technology, but as the conversation is won on global warming -- and it's not won yet but it's very nearly won -- the possibilities for policy changes once again open up.
  We are seeing dramatic progress towards new policies in China, Korea, Ireland. We've seen a coal tax in India. We've seen changes in Australia, the largest coal producing nation. We've seen Mexico take a leadership position. We've seen action in California and other states. And some 17 other countries are in various stages of adopting either a cap and trade or carbon tax or both. If China follows through in its stated intention to move its cap-and-trade pilot program into a nationwide program in two years, then we'll see a new center of gravity in the global energy marketplace that will accelerate the shift towards a market-based set of policies that will speed up the phase-out of coal-based electricity.
  EK: Let me push back on your optimism here. To again use ''An Inconvenient Truth'' as a time marker, when that came out, Republicans in the Senate were still introducing bills to fight climate change through policies like cap-and-trade or cap-and-dividend. In 2008, there was a cap-and-trade plan in the McCain/Palin platform. In 2009, Waxman-Markey passed the House. But since then, Republican opposition has solidified, and cap-and-trade and carbon tax ideas seem completely off-the-table in American politics.
  AG: Well, it's not unusual to find big political shifts that take place beneath the surface before they're visible above the surface. A lot of Republicans have shared with me privately their growing discomfort with the statements of some of the deniers in their ranks. Even though they're not yet willing to come back to advocate constructive policies, there is definitely movement. You have now the formation of the first organized caucus in the Senate, with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse joining with others in a hard-hitting effort.
  But you see it at the local level a bit more than at the national level. You see these state initiatives and laws. And you see maybe the biggest shift of all in the business community. I think that in order to be competitive internationally we'll have to make the shift towards a price on carbon. People are increasingly aware that we're already paying the costs of carbon and so it makes sense to put a price on it.
  EK: But to play the pessimist again, wouldn't carbon prices in other countries give us a competitive advantage the longer we resist them at home? It seems that if India is taxing fossil fuels and we're not, that's a slight edge for us. It's easy to imagine it becoming a kind of protectionist, save-our-manufacturing-sector issue.
  AG: It's certainly something that can't be dismissed out of hand. But remember the World Trade Organization rules explicitly allow the recapture of carbon taxes at the border, much in the manner of a value-added tax. The U.S. is in danger if it did not change of being subjected to those recapture provisions. And as the cost curve for renewable electricity continues plunging, the low-cost electricity in the future will be renewables. At Apple, for example, 100 percent of its server farms and headquarters are on renewables, and they're on the way to 100 percent for the company. Google is going down the same road. The pressure is only going to build as the price of renewable electricity continues to fall.
  That's even more true as the consequences to society and to the future of human civilization become ever more apparent to people. Once questions are resolved into a choice between right and wrong, then the laws change. It happened with civil rights. It's happening now with gay rights. It happened with apartheid and, in an earlier era, with abolition. And this is now being resolved into a question of right and wrong.
  EK: What do you think of the Obama administration's intentions to push regulatory approaches to limiting carbon emissions?
  AG: I'm very encouraged. I thought the president's speech on climate was terrific and it followed the inspiring comments in his inaugural address and his post-election State of the Union. And remember the impact of policy direction on business calculations is forward-looking. When business begins to understand the direction of policy, they have to start adjusting to where the policy is going. When you look at the EPA process, it's undeniably clear that there will be a price on carbon one way or the other. Then when you look at the movement in other countries and the states and local measures being enacted, the direction is now quite clear and businesses are making plans to adjust to it.
  EK: You've moved from the world of politics to the world of technology. How has that changed your view of how much technology can do to solve this problem, and in particular, has it changed your view on various geoengineering schemes?
  AG: Let me deal with the geoengineering part of your question first. That's complex because there are some benign geoengineering proposals like white roofs or efforts to figure out a way to extract CO2 from the atmosphere , though no one has figured out how to do that yet. But the geoengineering options most often discussed, like putting sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere or orbiting tinfoil strips -- these are simply nuts. We shouldn't waste a lot of time talking about them. Some people will anyway, but they're just crazy.
  To the broader part of your question, innovation is already playing a major role in bringing about new potential solutions to the climate crisis. The tech world had a bitter experience after the burst of enthusiasm in 2005 and 2006 because of a perfect storm made up of four elements: First, the great recession, which had a huge, destructive impact on business generally. Number two, the Chinese juggernaut, which subsidized the production of several prominent renewable energy technologies to the point where their sales price fell below the price of production in the West. Third, the shale gas boom dropped the retail price of electricity to levels below what many renewable energy plans needed to be viable. And fourth there was the policy failure I mentioned earlier in the U.S. Senate and Copenhagen. And all the while there was this massively funded climate denier campaign by the Koch Brothers and Exxon-Mobile and others that hired tobacco industry veterans to work with them on consumer advertising and lobbying activities.
  But that setback was only temporary because reality has a way of reasserting itself. There has been a 100-fold increase in the number of extreme, high-temperature events around the world in the distribution curve. And people have noticed for themselves -- the rain storms are bigger, the droughts are deeper and the fires are more destructive. All of these things have not escaped notice and people are connecting the dots. The cumulative amount of energy trapped by manmade global warming pollution each day in the earth's atmosphere is now equal to the energy that would be released by 400,000 Hiroshima bombs going off every 24 hours. It's a big planet, but that's a lot of energy.
  The consequences are now hard to escape. Every night on the news, it's like a nature hike through the book of revelations. Eleven states today are fighting 35 major fires! People are noticing this. And simultaneously they're noticing the sharp drop in the cost of carbon-free, greenhouse gas-free energy, and the combination is pushing us over this political tipping point and the trend is unstoppable.
  EK: What's your response to people who say those events simply can't be confidently connected to global warming?
  AG: The leading scientists have in the last two years changed the way they discuss that particular connection. It's true that it used to be common for them to say you can't blame any single extreme weather event on global warming. What you had to say is the odds have shifted and those events are becoming more common and extreme. They've now changed their description of that connection. The temperature has increased globally and there's now 4 percent more water vapor in the Earth's atmosphere than 30 years ago. As a result, every extreme weather event now has a component of global warming in it.
  If you look at superstorm Sandy on October 29th, the ocean water east of New Jersey was nine degrees fahrenheit above average. That's what put so much more energy into that storm. That's what put so much more water vapor into that storm. Would there be a storm anyway? Maybe so. Would there be hurricanes and floods and droughts without man-made global warming? Of course. But they're stronger now. The extreme events are more extreme. The hurricane scale used to be 1-5 and now they're adding a 6 [Update: See this post for more on Gore's remarks on hurricanes]. The fingerprint of man-made global warming is all over these storms and extreme weather events.
  EK: Give me the optimistic scenario on what happens next. If all goes well, what do the next few years look like on this issue?
  AG: Well, I think the most important part of it is winning the conversation. I remember as a boy when the conversation on civil rights was won in the South. I remember a time when one of my friends made a racist joke and another said, hey man, we don't go for that anymore. The same thing happened on apartheid. The same thing happened on the nuclear arms race with the freeze movement. The same thing happened in an earlier era with abolition. A few months ago, I saw an article about two gay men standing in line for pizza and some homophobe made an ugly comment about them holding hands and everyone else in line told them to shut up. We're winning that conversation.
  The conversation on global warming has been stalled because a shrinking group of denialists fly into a rage when it's mentioned. It's like a family with an alcoholic father who flies into a rage every time a subject is mentioned and so everybody avoids the elephant in the room to keep the peace. But the political climate is changing. Something like Chris Hayes's excellent documentary on climate change wouldn't have made it on TV a few years ago. And as I said, many Republicans who're still timid on the issue are now openly embarrassed about the extreme deniers. The deniers are being hit politically. They're being subjected to ridicule, which stings. The polling is going back up in favor of doing something on this issue. The ability of the raging deniers to stop progress is waning every single day.
  When that conversation is won, you'll see more measures at the local and state level and less resistance to what the EPA is doing. And slowly it will become popular to propose steps that go further and politicians that take the bit in their teeth get rewarded. I remember when the tide turned on smoking in public places. People thought the late Frank Lautenburg was crazy for proposing a ban on smoking in airplanes, but he was rewarded politically and then politicians began falling all over themselves to do the same. That's the optimistic scenario. And it's not just a scenario! It's happening now!
  Don't get me wrong. We've got a long way to go. We're still increasing emissions. But we're approaching this tipping point. Businesses are driving it. Grass roots are driving it. Policies and changes in law in places like india and China and Mexico and California and Ireland will proliferate and increase, and soon we'll get to the point where national laws will evolve into global cooperation.
  More from Wonkblog:
  What the U.S. would look like if life were fair
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VIDEO-Yosemite wildfire threatens power in San Francisco - CNBC
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 14:20
  A wildfire raging at the edge of Yosemite National Park is threatening power lines that provide electricity to San Francisco, prompting California Governor Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency.
  The fire has damaged the electrical infrastructure serving the city, and forced the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to shut down power lines, the governor said in his declaration.
  There were no reports of blackouts in the city, which is about 200 miles (320 km) west of the park.
  (Read more:Cost of Western blazes spreads like wildfire)
  The wildfire swept further into Yosemite National Park on Friday, remaining largely unchecked as it threatened one of the country's major tourist destinations.
  The so-called Rim Fire, which started last week in the Stanislaus National Forest, had blackened 11,000 acres (4,450 hectares) at the northeastern corner of Yosemite as of Friday afternoon after exploding in size overnight, park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said.
  The blaze burning in the western Sierra Nevada Mountains is now the fastest-moving of 50 large wildfires raging across the drought-parched U.S. West that have strained resources and prompted fire managers to open talks with Pentagon commanders and Canadian officials about possible reinforcements.
  The park has been posting updates and alerts on its website.
  The blaze, which has now charred a total of 165 square miles of forest land, mostly outside of Yosemite, was about 4 miles west of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and some 20 miles from Yosemite Valley, the park's main tourist center, Cobb said.
  The reservoir provides water to 2.6 million customers in the San Francisco area. Should the blaze affect the reservoir, the city's water supply could be affected, Brown said in his declaration.
  The Rim Fire, named for a Stanislaus National Forest lookout point called Rim of the World, has so far destroyed four homes and 12 outbuildings and was only 2 percent contained as of Friday.
  Highway 120, one of four access routes to a park known for its waterfalls, giant sequoia groves and other scenic wonders, was temporarily closed. The highway leads to the west side of the 750,000-acre (300,000-hectare) park.
  Located 195 miles from San Francisco and 315 miles from Los Angeles,Yosemite attracted nearly 4 million visitors last year.
  (Read More: Feds running out of wildfire money)
  The fire was also threatening 4,500 homes, up from 2,500 on Thursday, and an undisclosed number of homes were ordered evacuated on Friday, adding to earlier evacuations.
Gibraltar criticises Spain over dive
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: BBC News - Home
  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 04:55
  23 August 2013Last updated at23:58 ETGibraltar has strongly criticised Spanish police for sending divers to inspect an artificial reef in waters claimed by the British territory.
  Governor Sir Adrian Johns said the action constituted a serious violation of UK sovereignty over Gibraltar.
  He said it was particularly unhelpful in the light of the current row over fishing rights which has led to strict border checks and long car queues.
  Spain says the reef is damaging its fishing industry.
  Measuring tapeLast month, the government of Gibraltar dropped 74 concrete blocks onto the sea bed to create an artificial reef designed to reinvigorate marine life.
  Pictures show Guardia Civil divers examining the blocks with measuring tape.
  The divers took Spanish flags with them then posed for underwater photos, which were later shared on Twitter.
  The Gibraltar government has defended its right to erect the reef, and accused Spain of "making a serious incursion into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters" and adding to existing tensions.
  The government in Madrid disputes Gibraltar's ownership of the waters off its coast, and accuses its neighbour of deliberately damaging the Spanish fishing trade.
  An offer from Gibraltar's chief minister to allow 59 local Spanish fishermen to return to the area had been made before the images of the police divers emerged.
  'Serious incursion'The Gibraltar government said in a statement: "Her Majesty's Government of Gibraltar notes the incident of executive action taken by the Guardia Civil in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters in the area of the new artificial reef.
  "The matter of this serious incursion will not assist in de-escalating the present tensions."
  The European Commission is to send a fact-finding mission to Gibraltar to investigate controls at the border.
  It follows tensions between Spain and the UK over extra border checks on the Spanish side which have caused lengthy traffic delays.
  Britain says the checks break EU free movement rules but Spain says Gibraltar has not controlled smuggling.
  Royal Navy warship HMS Westminster docked in Gibraltar last week in what the British government said was a long-planned deployment of a number of vessels to the Mediterranean and the Gulf.
  Spain disputes UK sovereignty over Gibraltar, a limestone outcrop near the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, which has been ruled by Britain since 1713.
For Rush Limbaugh, The Damage Is Done | Blog | Media Matters for America
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Sat, 24 Aug 2013 01:13
  One week after it was first reported that talk radio giant Cumulus Media might cut ties with Rush Limbaugh and pull his show from 40 of its stations nationwide, the end result of the contractual showdown remains unclear. But we do know this: The damage has been done to Limbaugh and his reputation inside the world of AM radio as an untouchable star.
  By opting to publicly negotiate its contract and making it clear the broadcast company is willing to walk away from his program, Cumulus has delivered a once unthinkable blow to Limbaugh's industry prestige. (Cumulus is also threatening to drop Sean Hannity's syndicated radio show.)
  Even if Limbaugh wins in the end, he loses. Even if Limbaugh manages to stay on Cumulus' enviable rosters of major market talk stations, Limbaugh comes out of the tussle tarnished and somewhat diminished.
  Recall that one year after Limbaugh ignited the most severe crisis of his career by insulting law student Sandra Fluke for three days on the air, attacking her as a "slut," the talker's team announced the host was unhappy with Cumulus. Angry that its CEO had been noting in the press how many advertisers Limbaugh had lost over the Fluke firestorm (losses that continue to accumulate), an anonymous Limbaugh source told Politico the host was so angry he might walk away from Cumulus when his contract expired at the end of the year.
  Well, last week Cumulus called Limbaugh's bluff, plain and simple. And now the talker's side appears to be scrambling to make sure his show remains with Cumulus. But again, the damage is done. If Limbaugh really were an all-powerful source in AM radio, he would walk away from Cumulus. But he's not, and he can't.
  Cumulus is reportedly driving a hard bargain and wants to reduce the costs associated with carrying Limbaugh's show, especially since he's unable to attract the same advertisers he used to. If in the end a deal is struck and Limbaugh stays with Cumulus for a reduced rate, what happens when the talker's contract expires with another large AM station group? Of course they're going to demand the same deal Cumulus got in exchange for keeping Limbaugh's show, or they'll threaten to drop the talker, too. And then on and on the process will repeat itself as broadcasters realize that maybe they can get Limbaugh on the cheap.
  By the way, this is the exact opposite of how Limbaugh renewals used to be handled. Year ago, owners and general managers at Limbaugh's host stations lived in fear of getting a phone call from Limbaugh's syndicator, Clear Channel-owned Premier Networks, informing them the host was moving across town to a competitor when his contract was up. But today, Cumulus negotiates its Limbaugh contract via the press, apparently without the slightest concern about ending its association with him.
  Of course, Limbaugh and Clear Channel could hold their ground, refuse to budge on Cumulus' demands and walk away from the radio giant with AM stations from coast to coast. That is an option, but it's also an unpleasant one in terms of what it would mean to Limbaugh's once unvarnished reputation as the AM talk gold standard.
  Just look at what would likely happen to Limbaugh in New York City, the largest radio market in America. He's currently heard on WABC-AM, which has broadcast Limbaugh for decades and has served as his unofficial flagship station in America. But Cumulus owns the station and it's one that Limbaugh would get yanked off if the two sides can't come to an agreement. Where would Limbaugh likely end up in New York? On WOR-AM, a talk station that Clear Channel purchased last year, many observers believed, as a way to make sure Limbaugh would have a New York home if his deal ended at WABC-AM.
  So what's wrong with Limbaugh moving to WOR-AM? Only the fact that the station's currently a ratings doormat, ranked 25th in that market with less than half the audience of WABC-AM. Yes, it's likely Limbaugh would improve that station's ratings if he moved over there. But at this stage in his career for Limbaugh to have to start over in the most important radio market in the country and do it on such a low-rated station? If you don't think that kind of demotion would sting, you don't understand the oversized egos that fuel talk radio in America.
  The move to lowly WOR-AM would also call into question why debt-ridden Clear Channel opted to boost Limbaugh's salary by an astounding 40 percent in 2009, assuring him a $400 million payday over a ten-year contract.
  Then again, Limbaugh is no stranger to sagging ratings, especially in New York City. Back in his prime a decade ago, Limbaugh helped power WABC-AM to become the number five-rated station in all of New York. Today, with Limbaugh still its marquee draw, the station has fallen to number 15 in the ratings, which may explain why Cumulus is willing to negotiate his departure.
  Other cities would also pose a post-Cumulus problem. In Chicago for instance, Limbaugh would get dropped from WLS (which has also seen declining ratings in recent months), and without a Clear Channel-owned talk station in the market to pick him up, Limbaugh would have to find a new AM home. But based on the current radio landscape in Chicago, there would appear to be very few logical takers. (The city's top-rated AM information stations lean heavy on news and local talk; less on right-wing syndicated hosts like Limbaugh.)
  Appearing on CNN's Reliable Sources on Sunday, Talkers editor Michael Harrison insisted, "Rush is going to be around as long as he wants." He added, "He'll be 90 years old and still have a show." Harrison may be right. But last week's public shaming by Cumulus will likely be remembered for years as a turning point in Limbaugh's broadcast trajectory.
NSA paid tech firms over Prism, says latest Snowden leak
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: CNET News - Politics and Law
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 23:34
  Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and Microsoft all received money to cover costs related to surveillance requests, the UK's Guardian reports, citing documents provided by former contractor Edward Snowden.
  Tech firms including Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and Microsoft received money from the National Security Agency to cover legal-compliance costs related to the NSA's Prism surveillance program, according to the latest Edward Snowden documents published by the UK's Guardian newspaper.
  A 2011 ruling by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance -- or FISA -- Court found unconstitutional the NSA's inability to collect foreign Internet data without also collecting domestic data. And the NSA worked to rejigger its systems to bring them in line with the law. (The 2011 ruling was released this week as the result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.)
  The Guardian says of the new Snowden documents:
  An NSA newsletter entry, marked top secret and dated December 2012, discloses the huge costs [the NSA compliance effort] entailed. "Last year's problems resulted in multiple extensions to the certifications' expiration dates which cost millions of dollars for Prism providers to implement each successive extension -- costs covered by Special Source Operations," it says.
  Special Source Operations, described by Snowden as the "crown jewel" of the NSA, handles all surveillance programs, such as Prism, that rely on "corporate partnerships" with telecoms and Internet providers to access communications data.
  The Guardian says the revelation "raises new questions" about tech companies' relationships with the NSA. Yahoo and Microsoft, however, say, as they've been saying, that they're simply complying with the law.
  "Microsoft only complies with court orders because it is legally ordered to, not because it is reimbursed for the work," a company spokesperson said. "We could have a more informed discussion of these issues if providers could share additional information, including aggregate statistics on the number of any national security orders they may receive."
  The spokesperson also pointed to an item in an FAQ tied to Microsoft's 2012 Law Enforcement Requests Report:
  Does Microsoft charge law enforcement for providing data and content?Yes. Pursuant to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Microsoft is entitled to seek reimbursement for costs associated with compliance with a valid U.S. law enforcement request. We only charge U.S. law enforcement entities pursuant to industry rates and only in an attempt to recover some costs associated with the need to comply with U.S. legal demands. We do not, however, charge in emergency situations or in known child exploitation investigations.
  Yahoo, for its part, said in a statement that "Federal law requires the US government to reimburse providers for costs incurred to respond to compulsory legal process imposed by the government. We have requested reimbursement consistent with this law."
  Facebook told the Guardian it had "never received any compensation in connection with responding to a government data request."
  And Google sent the following statement to the Guardian: "We await the US government's response to our petition to publish more national security request data, which will show that our compliance with American national security laws falls far short of the wild claims still being made in the press today."
  All 4 firms are among the 63 companies, trade groups, and civil liberties groups that are signatories of a letter that calls on President Barack Obama and Congress to allow Internet and telecommunications companies to offer more details about US government requests for user information. And Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo are involved in individual efforts to win this right.
  Suspicion over the involvement of tech firms in the Prism program were fired up by the initial reports about Prism in The Guardian and The Washington Post, which said the NSA had "direct access" to company servers. CNET's Declan McCullagh subsequently reported that there was no evidence of wholesale access to company servers.
Presidential Proclamation -- 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 21:21
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  August 23, 2013
  50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON
  FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM
  - - - - - - -
  BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
  A PROCLAMATION
  On August 28, 1963, hundreds of thousands converged on the National Mall to take part in what the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called "the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation." Demonstrators filled the landscape -- from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, alongside the still waters of the reflecting pool, to the proud base of the Washington Monument. They were men and women; young and old; black, white, Latino, Asian, and Native American -- woven together like a great American tapestry, sharing in the dream that our Nation would one day make real the promise of liberty, equality, and justice for all.
  The March on Washington capped off a summer of discontent, a time when the clarion call for civil rights was met with imprisonment, bomb threats, and base brutality. Many of the marchers had endured the smack of a billy club or the blast of a fire hose. Yet they chose to respond with nonviolent resistance, with a fierce dignity that stirred our Nation's conscience and paved the way for two major victories of the Civil Rights Movement -- the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  Today, we remember that the March on Washington was a demonstration for jobs as well as freedom. The coalition that brought about civil rights understood that racial equality and fairness for workers are bound together; when one American gets a raw deal, it jeopardizes justice for everyone. These are lessons we carry forward -- that we cannot march alone, that America flourishes best when we acknowledge our common humanity, that our future is linked to the destiny of every soul on earth.
  It is not enough to reflect with pride on the victories of the Civil Rights Movement. In honor of every man, woman, and child who left footprints on the National Mall, we must make progress in our time. Let us guard against prejudice -- whether at the polls or in the workplace, whether on our streets or in our hearts -- and let us pledge that, in the words of Dr. King, "we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."
  NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim August 28, 2013, as the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that celebrate the March on Washington and advance the great causes of jobs and freedom.
  IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-eighth.
  BARACK OBAMA
Video Footage of 'Chemical Weapons Attack' Uploaded Before it Happened?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Dprogram.net
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 20:43
  Russia: Provocation was ''pre-planned''
  (PaulWatson) '' Hundreds of videos showing apparent victims of a chemical weapons attack in Syria were uploaded to YouTube on August 20, a day before media reports say the attack actually happened, prompting Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman to assert the incident was a ''pre-planned'' provocation staged by rebels.
  As PBS reports, ''At around 3 a.m. (on August 21st) , patients started streaming in from neighborhoods in suburban Damascus like Zamalka and Ain Terma,'' following the alleged chemical weapons attack.
  However, a playlist of videos entitled 'Alleged Chemical Attack in Eastern Ghouta August 21st 2013' contains 159 videos '' every one of which was uploaded to YouTube on August 20th.
  While no one is denying that some kind of attack did indeed take place, the fact that hundreds of videos showing victims of the attack were uploaded to YouTube a day before the incident is supposed to have actually happened remains unexplained.
  The time stamp attributed to uploaded videos applies to the country in which they were uploaded, meaning that the videos were uploaded in Syria on August 20th, which is seemingly impossible given that the attack took place in the early hours of the 21st. The only way the videos could display as being uploaded on the 20th was if they were uploaded in America, which is on an earlier time zone.
  According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich, this represents evidence of a ''pre-planned'' provocation. Lukashevich labeled the accusations ''another anti-Syrian propaganda wave.''
  ''We're getting more new evidence that this criminal act was of a provocative nature,'' he told RT. ''In particular, there are reports circulating on the Internet, in particular that the materials of the incident and accusations against government troops had been posted for several hours before the so-called attack. Thus, it was a pre-planned action.''
  The unanswered question as to how footage showing victims of an attack that occurred on August 21 was uploaded to YouTube on August 20 is in addition to doubts cast about the veracity of the videos by several chemical weapons experts.
  Paula Vanninen of the Finnish Institute for Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention questions the behavior of those seen handling the victims in the video footage. ''At the moment, I am not totally convinced because the people that are helping them are without any protective clothing and without any respirators'....In a real case, they would also be contaminated and would also be having symptoms,'' he stated.
  Stephen Johnson, an expert in weapons and chemical explosives at Cranfield Forensic Institute, told Euro News that the video footage also looked suspect.
  ''There are, within some of the videos, examples which seem a little hyper-real, and almost as if they've been set up. Which is not to say that they are fake but it does cause some concern. Some of the people with foaming, the foam seems to be too white, too pure, and not consistent with the sort of internal injury you might expect to see, which you'd expect to be bloodier or yellower,'' Johnson said.
  His comments were echoed by chemical and biological weapons researcher Jean Pascal Zanders, who said that the footage appears to show victims of asphyxiation, which is not consistent with the use of mustard gas or the nerve agents VX or sarin. ''I'm deliberately not using the term chemical weapons here,'' he said, adding that the use of ''industrial toxicants'' was a more likely explanation.
  Source: Infowars
Report: Al Qaeda plan to 'change face of history' led to US scare
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: ynet - News
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 19:25
  Yemen's President reveals details from intercepted phone call between al-Qaeda leaders which led to closure of dozens of Western embassies. 'We would carry out attack to change history,' one of them saidReuters
  A vow made in a phone call by the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to carry out an attack that would "change the face of history" lay behind this month's closures of many Western embassies, Yemen's president said.
  In the first public disclosure by a government leader of details of the intercepted call that prompted the US alert, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi said AQAP head Nasser al-Wuhayshi made the pledge to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri on July 29.
  Related stories:
  Many US and other Western diplomatic missions in the Middle East, Africa and Asia closed temporarily as a precaution.
  Al Qaeda members in Arab Peninsula (Photo: AP)
  Wuhayshi spoke by phone with Zawahri, who is believed to be based in Pakistan, while attending a meeting of 20 al Qaeda leaders in Yemen's Maarib province, Hadi said.
  "When I was in Washington, the Americans told us that they had intercepted a call between Ayman al-Zawahri and Wuhayshi, in which Wuhayshi told Zawahri that they would carry out an attack that would change the face of history," the president told police cadets in remarks which state television aired on
  Friday.
  Al-Qaeda leader a-Zawahiri (Photo: EPA)
  "I told the Americans this would be in Yemen," said Hadi, apparently reflecting a belief among some analysts that AQAP lacks the ability to launch big attacks outside the country.
  Hadi, who visited Washington in late July and early August, added that two cars, each carrying seven tonnes of explosives, were later identified in Yemen by security forces.
  The first, intended to attack the Mina al-Dhabba oil terminal in southeast Yemen, was destroyed.
  The second car was headed for the capital Sanaa and is still unaccounted for, though Hadi said
  authorities had arrested the cell which was in charge of smuggling it into the city.
  "This made them (the Americans) scared and they closed their embassies in the whole region, because they heard Wuhayshi say he would carry out an attack that would change the course of history," Hadi
  said.
  US sources have said that while some type of message between Zawahri and AQAP was intercepted recently, there were also other streams of intelligence that contributed to the security alert.
  The US embassy in Sanaa reopened on Aug. 18. It was one of about 20 US embassies and consulates that closed.
  Hadi angered many Yemenis last year by giving unequivocal support for controversial US drone strikes in Yemen, which have increased under President Barack Obama.
  The Yemeni army, with US backing, last year drove al Qaeda militants and their allies from strongholds they seized during months of turmoil against Saleh's rule.
  But the militants have since regrouped and mounted attacks on government officials and installations.
  Restoring stability to Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the Arab world and next door to the world's
  top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, is an international concern.
  Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula used Yemen to plot attacks on international aviation and attacked a US warship and a French supertanker in Yemeni waters.
  Yemen said earlier this month it had foiled a major al Qaeda plot to seize two oil and gas export terminals and a provincial capital in the east of the country.
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NSA paid millions to Internet companies to cover surveillance program costs
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: End the Lie - Independent News
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 16:36
  This undated handout image received 25 January, 2006 shows the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort Meade, Maryland. (AFP Photo)
  Top-secret national security documents leaked to the Guardian newspaper reveal that the United States government compensated the tech companies that signed on to participate in the controversial NSA spy program known as Prism.
  The Guardian published on Friday new documentation attributed to former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden in which it's suggested that the US National Security Agency spent millions of dollars making sure the biggest names on the Internet were kept compliant with an international surveillance program disclosed by the leaker earlier this year.
  According to the paperwork provided by Snowden and discussed by the Guardian's Ewen MacAskill on Friday, the NSA emptied millions of dollars on ensuring Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Facebook were able to share information sent over the Web with the federal government.
  ''The material provides the first evidence of a financial relationship between the tech companies and the NSA,'' wrote MacAskill.
  The Guardian article cites a top-secret NSA document from December 2012 in which the agency said through a newsletter that it spent millions to keep the tech companies cooperating with the government after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ruled that it was a violation of the US Constitution's Fourth Amendment to be collecting purely domestic communications through the Prism program.
  ''Last year's problems resulted in multiple extensions to the certifications' expiration dates which cost millions of dollars for Prism providers to implement each successive extension '' costs covered by Special Source Operations,'' it reads in part.
  Snowden, the 30-year-old leaker who has exasperated the US and British governments through a steady stream of classified disclosures, told the Guardian that the Special Source Operations unit handles surveillance programs, such as Prism, in which telecommunication companies and Internet providers sign-on to ''corporate partnerships'' with Uncle Sam.
  Asked about the latest disclosure, a representative for Yahoo told the Guardian, ''Federal law requires the US government to reimburse providers for costs incurred to respond to compulsory legal process imposed by the government. We have requested reimbursement consistent with this law.''
  Facebook denied that it received compensation from the US government ever for facilitating the flow of private data. A representative for Google told the Guardian, ''We await the US government's response to our petition to publish more national security request data, which will show that our compliance with American national security laws falls far short of the wild claims still being made in the press today.''
  In the wake of the first NSA disclosures leaked by Mr. Snowden, lawmakers in the US and abroad have debated whether or not the secretive surveillance programs, such as the Internet one operated under the name Prism, strike the proper balance between privacy and security.
  President Barack Obama and his administration have made numerous claims that those operations exist with significant oversight to prevent any errors, including constitutional violations, but other documents released by Snowden in the wake of the first disclosures have shown that the NSA has accidentally collected the personal correspondence of Americans at least thousands of times annually.
  According to their latest report, the federal government is spending millions to find a way to keep those companies only collecting data that invades the privacy of those outside the US.
  Source: RT
  Help Spread Alternative News
Report: Hastings Feared Tampering On Rented Mercedes
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  Archived Version
  Source: WhoWhatWhy
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 16:35
  By David J. Krajicek on Aug 23, 2013A coroner's report that found traces of narcotics in the remains of journalist Michael Hastings has helped frame the prevailing story of his death as a tragic, troubled-soul narrative.
  He apparently had relapsed into drug use, and just hours before the muckraker was killed in a car crash in Los Angeles, a sibling had arrived to urge him into rehab.
  But in the broadest post-mortem profile to date, Gene Maddaus writes in the LA Weekly that Hastings told a neighbor he feared that the rental Mercedes sedan he died in had been tampered with. Maddaus writes:
  ''One night in June, he came to (neighbor Jordanna) Thigpen's apartment after midnight and urgently asked to borrow her Volvo. He said he was afraid to drive his own car. She declined, telling him her car was having mechanical problems.
  ''He was scared, and he wanted to leave town,'' she says.
  ''The next day, around 11:15 a.m., she got a call from her landlord, who told her Hastings had died early that morning. His car had crashed into a palm tree at 75 mph and exploded in a ball of fire.''
  The profile said Hastings was depressed and feared he was being watched by the government. ''His behavior grew increasingly erratic,'' Maddaus writes. He added, ''Interviews with friends as well as the coroner's report suggest that Hastings' mental health was deteriorating.''
  Hastings, 33, was a crusading journalist who died when his speeding Mercedes slammed into a palm tree at 4:20 a.m. June 18 on a 35 mph stretch of North Highland Avenue in L.A.'s Hancock Park neighborhood.
  In its report released this week, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Department concluded that the death was an accident.
  Dr. James K. Ribe, L.A. County's senior deputy medical examiner, said traces of amphetamine found in Hastings's blood sample was ''consistent with possible intake of methamphetamine many hours before death.'' He said traces of marijuana metabolite in his blood also indicated ''intake hours earlier.''
  Ribe said Hastings died of ''blunt force trauma consistent with a high speed front-end impact'' and that narcotics were ''unlikely contributory to death.''
  The report's narrative included several mentions of Hastings's alleged use of various narcotics, apparently based largely upon comments from the brother who was attempting to intervene.
  But another Hastings family member told WhoWhatWhy that the coroner's report was ''irresponsible.'' The family member said via email, ''The LAPD has done a really sloppy job investigating his case, and they were hoping for a mother lode of drugs in his system. When they didn't get it in the toxicology lab results (science!), they had to insert speculation throughout their field report to compensate for their lack of an investigation. It's so irresponsible.''
  Dr. Ribe, who signed Hastings's autopsy report, has been on the L.A. County coroner's staff for more than 25 years. Like many big-city pathologists, he has been involved in a number of high-profile cases and controversies.
  But Ribe is the rare coroner whose credibility has been officially called into question by a panel of judges.
  In 2003, a California appeals court dismissed a murder conviction because prosecutors had failed to disclose to the defense that Ribe, a trial witness, had ''credibility problems'' and ''a history of changing his testimony,'' according to an account in the Los Angeles Times.
  The ruling cited five instances in which Ribe changed his findings in homicide cases.
  In addition, Ribe was involved in a controversy concerning the 2005 death of Eliza Jane Scovill, age 3. The coroner ruled that the child died of AIDS. Her mother, Christine Maggiore, is an HIV-positive activist''and a controversial figure in her own right''who has vehemently questioned Ribe's ruling on the cause of death.
  WhoWhatWhy plans to continue doing this kind of groundbreaking original reporting. You can count on it. But can we count on you? We cannot do our work without your support.Please click here to donate; it's tax deductible. And it packs a punch.
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18 questions for @arusbridger at the @Guardian
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Unfashionista
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 16:31
  1. Why did you initially lie about David Miranda not being offered a lawyer, and then fail to correct the record all day long?
  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/18/glenn-greenwald-guardian-partner-detained-heathrow
  To detain my partner for a full nine hours while denying him a lawyer, and then seize large amounts of his possessions, is clearly intended to send a message of intimidation to those of us who have been reporting on the NSA and GCHQ.
  2. Why did you alter the original story that included this lie, wiping the fact that it was Glenn Greenwald who filed it?
  http://www.trendingcentral.com/who-wrote-the-guardians-initial-report-on-david-miranda/
  3. Having known all day long that Miranda had been offered a lawyer, why did you only run your interview with him admitting this at 10pm, after other UK papers had gone to bed and could not correct their supportive editorials?
  4. Why did you first give the entire British press the misinformation that David Miranda was merely your journalist's husband, when he had been paid by you to work on and ''assist in the story''?
  5. Since you claim the high ground on ''press freedom'' I am sure you will wish to be transparent, and address claims that you were not engaging in ''journalism'' here at all, but instead knowingly abetting espionage. Here we go:
  You state
  The Guardian paid for Miranda's flights. Miranda is not an employee of the Guardian. As Greenwald's partner, he often assists him in his work and the Guardian normally reimburses the expenses of someone aiding a reporter in such circumstances
  You paid for David Miranda's flights and expenses because, you claim, he was ''assisting Glenn Greenwald'' in his work.
  Buthowwas he assisting Glenn Greenwald? If he was transporting purely ''journalistic materials'' why did Greenwald not use FedEx? If the data needed to be secure, why not use a P2P fileshare site? Why did the Guardian approve paying Miranda's expenses when there are direct flights from Berlin to Rio that Poitras and Greenwald could have used?
  Is it because Glenn Greenwald explained to you that as a US citizen he could not email, transport, or securely share stolen information about US and UK intelligence operations against foreign regimes without committing a serious felony and needed to use his husband as a mule?
  In that case is not Guardian Media Group corporately responsible for abetting espionage against the United States and United Kingdom?
  6. The question of ''Exactly HOW was David Miranda ''assisting'' in the story while your paper was paying him to do so'' arises even more strongly when we look at Miranda's statements to US TV. Here is a video of him and Greenwald talking to Anderson Cooper at CNN. You will want to slide the cursor to 5:05.
  Here you will note Miranda's hilarious ''not me guv'' pretence of not being a mule and Glenn Greenwald's corresponding smirk sitting next to him.
  Miranda: ''I don't know that'... I was just taking the fi- '... those materials back to Glenn. You know Glenn been working with a lot of stories along the years'...I didn't quite follow everything that he writes every day'...I can't follow him, because I have to have a life.''
  Get that, Mr. Rusbridger? Your man ''assisting on the story'' says that he doesn't even know what this story is about, he wasn't even paying attention to it, because he ''has to have a life''.
  In what way then was he assisting in the story and why was the Guardian paying for his flights and expenses '' unless the paper knew that Miranda was needed to physically transport stolen classified US intelligence because, unlike Greenwald and Poitras, he is not a US citizen?
  For what reason did you not ask Mr. Greenwald why flights and expenses were necessary for Mr. Miranda?
  How precisely did you understand Mr. Miranda to be ''assisting a reporter in his work''?
  Assuming you knew that David Miranda was transporting incredibly damaging, life-threatening CIA and GCHQ national intelligence, how is the Guardian Media Group not complicit in this?
  7. If the GMG is indeed complicit, through knowledge and payment, in the cross border smuggling of stolen NSA and GCHQ data, why should not the US authorities and the Home Secretary prepare corporate and criminal charges against the Guardian, David Miranda, Glenn Greenwald, and Laura Poitras?
  8. I believe it to be the case (I am open to correction) that Mr. Rusbridger has stated he did not know what David Miranda was carrying. Is this not completely disingenuous, as the only way he would have paid for the flights would be he suspected a human mule was necessary to transport the dangerous files?
  9. Alan Rusbridger tweeted what he claimed was a photo of a smashed Macbook destroyed by security services. In fact, the internet soon proved there were parts from at least four computers in the picture. Why was the Guardian storing unbelievably dangerous material that threatens our national security on as many as four office computers, at least, that could easily be remotely hacked by any number of foreign spy agencies?
  10. On a total of how many drives and computers did the Guardian copy this material?
  11. On a total of how many basic office computers around the world has Guardian Media Group made copies of this material?
  12. You know that on Portugese TV your reporter Glenn Greenwald threatened revenge exposure of British spy agencies, & that Mr. Rusbridger claimed this would not happen. Yet yesterday the Independent newspaper exposed a top secret British base working against our enemies in the Middle East, thereby endangering British intelligence efforts against terrorism and the lives of British intelligence agents?
  13. Did the Guardian Media Group or, to your knowledge, any of its employees, particularly Mr. Greenwald, leak this incredibly damaging story that endangers UK intel to the Independent, out of a desire for revenge?
  14. Why did you assert that Mr. Miranda was carrying ''journalistic materials'' if you claim you had no idea what he was carrying?
  15. Why do you assert that journalism '' reporting about a story or news item '' is the same as possessing, smuggling, and copying, stolen classified intelligence information that endangers the life and work of British intelligence agents?
  16. In deciding to insecurely hold this information on multiple office computers and goodness knows what other means, were you aware that (again speaking in a foreign language) your ''reporter'' Glenn Greenwald said to Argentina's La Nacion:
  http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/matthew-dancona-in-this-spy-story-the-state-is-not-so-clearcut-a-villain-8777943.html
  Last month, Greenwald told the Argentinian daily newspaper, La Nacion, that Snowden had ''enough information to cause more harm to the US government in a single minute than any other person has ever had''
  If you are not aware of this, why not? If you are aware of this, why is Guardian Media Group storing this information on insecure basic office computers?
  17. Since Mr. Greenwald has made you aware of the incredibly damaging and dangerous nature of this information, why have you not supplied copies to the US and UK governments, so that they can see what Snowden has leaked to China, Russia and Wikileaks, and take steps to protect the lives of their agents and intelligence assets '' lives that you and Guardian Media Group are well aware are now at risk from exposure?
  Because you yourselves have said you have held back even more damaging and identifying material, you clearly have had sight of it. Why are you not allowing the US and UK to also have sight of it so we can protect our people? Do you literally not care about their lives, knowing full well they're endangered by your reporter, Glenn Greenwald?
  18. Why are you disabling questions on the ironically-named ''Comment is Free'' on your Greenwald articles? Is it because you have no shame?
  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10259658/Scotland-Yard-launch-criminal-investigation-over-David-Miranda-data.html
  Jonathan Laidlaw QC, appearing for Scotland Yard to oppose a legal challenge by Mr Miranda, said: ''That which has been inspected contains, in the view of the police, highly sensitive material the disclosure of which would be gravely injurious to public safety and thus the police have now initiated a criminal investigation.
  ''I am not proposing to say anything else which might alert potential defendants here or abroad to the nature and the ambit of the criminal investigation which has now been started.''
  He added that the material amounted to ''tens of thousands of highly classified UK documents''.
Just in case: Materials implicating Syrian gov in chemical attack prepared before incident - Russia
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: RT - News
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 16:30
  Materials implicating the forces of Syrian president Bashar Assad in chemical weapons use near Damascus were prepared prior to the alleged incident on August 21, the Russian foreign ministry said.
  Moscow continues to monitor closely the event surrounding the ''alleged'' chemical attack near Damascus, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aleksandr Lukashevich, said in a statement.''We're getting more new evidence that this criminal act was of a provocative nature,'' he stressed. ''In particular, there are reports circulating on the Internet, in particular that the materials of the incident and accusations against government troops had been posted for several hours before the so-called attack. Thus, it was a pre-planned action.''
  The Damascus chemical attack accusations indicate the launch of ''another anti-Syrian propaganda wave'' and, in this context, the calls on the UN Security Council to immediately use force in Syria ''heard from some EU capitals'' are ''unacceptable'', Lukashevich said.
  The Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Assad's government has demonstrated a ''constructive approach'' to the chemical weapons issue by allowing UN experts into the country. But it's alarming that the ''same signals'' aren't coming from the Syrian opposition, which so far hasn't displayed willingness to ensure the safety and efficient operations of UN investigators on the territory it controls, he said.
  ''This directly impedes the objective investigation of allegations of possible cases of chemical weapons use in Syria, which is called for by a number of countries and which the Russian side supports,'' Lukashevich noted.
  The Russian foreign ministry ''strongly appeals to those who should put pressure on the opposition, making it take the necessary steps in order to ensure the full realization of the objectives of the international expert mission,'' the spokesman said.
  Meanwhile, the UK has put the blame for the Damascus chemical attack on Assad's forces, saying it thought the Syrian government had ''something to hide.''
  "I know that some people in the world would like to say that this is some kind of conspiracy brought about by the opposition in Syria,'' William Hague, British Foreign Secretary, is cited as saying by Reuters. ''I think the chances of that are vanishingly small and so we do believe that this is a chemical attack by the Assad regime.''
  The reports of a chemical weapons use in the suburbs of the Ghouta region on the outskirts Damascus appeared in the pro-opposition media on Wednesday, August 21, coinciding with the arrival of the UN investigators to the Syrian capital.
  The Islamist rebels claimed that over a 1,000 people, including many children, were killed in the attack, with the government saying that the accusations were fabricated in order to cover up the opposition's battle losses and undermine the work of the UN mission.
VIDEO-Bomb in breast implants: Suspicious flyers to go through pat-down checks - Hindustan Times
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  Archived Version
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 15:12
  The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) have been issued a directive to profile suspicious women flyers and subject them to remove their shirts for a pat-down check to see whether they are hiding explosives in their breast implants.
  The latest directive comes after London's Heathrow Airport was put on terror alert amid fears that women fidayeen may enter with explosives hidden in breast implants.
  Women guards in the frisking staff of the CISF will be carrying out these checks in an enclosure which the airport operator has been requested to provide.
  ''We are aware of the serious threat and this is a precautionary measure. Whenever a new threat comes to light, we circulate the information among the staff, asking them to be extra cautious. There is a possibility that women fidayeen may enter the airport carrying explosives in breast implants. That's why we have asked women guards to check women passengers thoroughly, especially the upper part of their body,'' said a senior CISF official.
  ''The first round of checks will be through hand-held metal detectors. If there is a beep on our machines, the passenger will be asked to remove her clothes. We are training our staff to be extra-sensitive as we understand that many women will feel angry by these checks,'' the officer added.
  The CISF is seeking expert suggestions on how to identify passengers for random frisking.
  ''We have been told that the fidayeen can plant bombs surgically through breast implants. To detonate these bombs, one just needs to inject some kind of liquid in the implant. And such bombs are good enough to blow up a plane,'' said an official.
Assad regime responsible for Syrian chemical attack, says UK government
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  Archived Version
  Source: The Guardian World News
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 14:59
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Column: What the Clintons tell us about American democracy | Washington Free Beacon
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  Archived Version
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 14:57
  Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton / AP
  BY:Matthew ContinettiAugust 23, 2013 5:00 am
  Over the last few weeks my morning paper has carried not one story but two that tell, in exquisite detail, how power is transacted in America today. Following the activities of a single family as it navigates and exploits the connection between riches, access, and influence, the New York Times is, perhaps without intending to, composing a gripping narrative of social climbing and favor trading. The holdouts who still believe politics is anything other than the struggle of families, whether nuclear or extended or tribal or national, for power over material resources cannot be familiar with the lives of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Their very being dispels such illusions.
  And their family needs no introduction. The Clintons are perennials, giant corpse flowers whose periodic bloom overwhelms the surrounding environment. Bill used to be president, Hillary ran for president but lost, and after four years as secretary of state Hillary is ready to run for president again. Highly educated, professional, supremely confident, clever, versed in the rhetoric of domestic and foreign policy, mouthing pieties about America's middle class while operating within an Elysium of their own design, having the ability to slip conventional opinions on and off like well-pressed pantsuits, the Clintons represent like no others the meritocratic bourgeois liberal caste that manages the West. Right now they are on vacation.
  Where else would they summer but the Hamptons, where they currently are renting an $11 million, 3.5-acre, six-bedroom, four-fireplace beachfront property owned by Republican donor Michael Saperstein. Saperstein's partisan affiliation is immaterial: Once one reaches the highest echelons of wealth and power, party designation has little meaning. The sign of the dollar is neither a D nor an R. Past rentals in the Hamptons have cost the Clintons $200,000 a summer, according to the Times, and this year's house ''is costing them about the same.''
  It's a full house. Not only are Bill and Hillary there. So are Roger Clinton and his son; Tony Rodham; and three of Tony Rodham's children from both his marriages. There are also the Clintons' dogs: Seamus, ''an 8-year-old arthritic chocolate Labrador,'' Tally, ''a poodle,'' and Maisie, ''a curly-haired pup of undetermined breed.'' Daughter Chelsea and her husband Marc, who kept his last name, are absent. Chelsea is in Oxford, ''finishing her dissertation.'' Marc is in the city, ''working on a business deal.'' What deal? The Times doesn't say. But don't worry. We'll no doubt be learning about it in the newspapers one day.
  ''The Clintons, who are here for roughly two weeks, have been coming to the Hamptons for so long'--as visitors, cash-seeking candidates, and more recently, renters'--that they have built up a social circle, and with it, some social obligations,'' write Jim Rutenberg and Amy Chozick in prose smacking of irony. I say the prose smacks of irony because otherwise that would be the most na¯ve sentence I've read in months. Building circles is the chief skill Bill and Hillary Clinton possess: circles of friendship, clout, prestige, and authority, circles of scandals, lies, and broken promises, circles of acquaintance and association through which they fund their lifestyles and exercise their power.
  The Clinton circles are everywhere. And so are the Clintons. They show up in the most random places. In 2008 I found myself surprised when Bill and Hillary appeared in Martin Scorsese's Rolling Stones documentary, Shine a Light, chatting with Mick and the blokes before the house was opened to the masses. It occurs to me now that my surprise was entirely misplaced: Where wealth, liberalism, celebrity, and the Baby Boom intersect, that is where Bill and Hillary Clinton will be.
  In the Hamptons the Clintons spend time with the usual suspects, the names that appear on our front-pages, the faces on our television screens, the people for whom the Aspen Ideas Festival represents cutting-edge thinking and Davos and Bilderberg are places where common-sense folks get things done. Among the names dropped in the Times: Matt Lauer and Mort Zuckerman, Paul McCartney and Jimmy Buffett, Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz and restaurateur Tom Colicchio, Ron Perelman and real estate multi-multi-millionaire Peter S. Kalikow, Bo Diddley and Van Morrison and Paul Simon, as well as Robert Zimmerman, ''a prominent Democratic fundraiser who has a home in Southampton.''
  Together these illustrious and credentialed and accomplished and richer than Croesus individuals dine at restaurants such as Collichio's Topping Rose House, whose lunch menu includes scallop crudo, purslane, picked spring onion, & buttermilk dressing, roasted fluke, and Wagyu skirt steak, a caste staple. For lighter fare they alight to Babettes, for the cake, and to the Bridgehampton location of Almond, whose proprietor is the brother of New York City mayoral candidate Anthony ''Show 'em What You Got'' Weiner, who in turn is married to Hillary's prot(C)g(C)e Huma Abedin.
  The Weiner-Abedins are just one reason the Clintons could use a good vacation. For much of the year Hillary Clinton's triumphal march to the White House has had the trappings of a transfer of power in Imperial Rome: a spirited denunciation of the patrician Senate, a well-coordinated joint interview and photo opportunity with the current emperor, prominent speeches to the tribunes of the people, all set to a soundtrack of laudatory media and exhortations from powerful Democrats that would make even the most shameless propagandist blush. The summer, though, has been tough.
  It is not the conservatives who are causing trouble for Hillary. It is her closest associates'--the members, so to speak, of her innermost circle. Weiner made a fool of himself when more pictures of his genitals appeared online, and he disclosed that his adventures in sexting carried on after his resignation from the House of Representatives in 2011. Then Terry McAuliffe's electric car project GreenTech Automotive, in which Hillary's brother had invested, became the focus of a federal probe.
  What has given the Clintons the most trouble, however, was the August 13 New York Times report headlined ''Unease at Clinton Foundation Over Finances and Ambition.'' The investigation, coauthored by Nicholas Confessore and Amy Chozick, opened a window onto the Clinton's financial-political operation that was amazing in its level of detail. Reporting on an internal review of the Clinton Foundation, the Times portrayed an organization that ''had become a sprawling concern, supervised by a rotating board of old Clinton hands, vulnerable to distraction and threatened by conflicts of interest.''
  Employing 350 people in 180 countries, the foundation is the Clintons' private empire, a sort of deep state influencing public policy not only in the developing world but also in America and Europe. In 2012, the Times reports, the foundation and two of its subsidiaries ''had revenues of more than $214 million.'' And yet its deficit was $8 million in 2012, and in 2007 and 2008 its combined deficit was $40 million. ''Efforts to insulate the foundation from potential conflicts have highlighted just how difficult it can be to disentangle the Clintons' charity work from Mr. Clinton's moneymaking ventures and Mrs. Clinton's political future,'' the Times notes.
  Indeed, the fundraising and business and political schemes described in the Times are of such complexity that one hardly knows where to begin. One must fall back, instead, on the indelible images sprinkled throughout the piece: of the foundation buying a first-class ticket for Natalie Portman, accompanied by ''her beloved Yorkie,'' to attend a 2009 meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative; of longtime Clinton aide Ira Magaziner, ''lying on a conference room table in the middle of the meeting because of terrible back spasms, snapping at a staff member''; of operative Doug Band writing Bill Clinton's statement announcing the former president's departure from Band's consulting firm, Teneo, in 2012'--a statement that read, ''I couldn't have accomplished half of what I have in my post-presidency without Doug Band''; of Hillary Clinton relocating her personal staff ''of roughly seven people'' to the foundation's New York headquarters, where they ''will work on organizing Mrs. Clinton's packed schedule of paid speeches to trade groups and awards ceremonies and assist in the research and writing of Mrs. Clinton's memoir about her time at the State Department''; and of 33-year-old Chelsea Clinton presuming that the skills she learned at McKinsey, Oxford, and NBC News somehow will empower her to clean up the gigantic and labyrinthine and compromised mess that so perfectly reflects her father's personality. John Catsimatidis, a prominent Clinton donor who is running for mayor of New York City, told the Times that Chelsea ''has to learn how to deal with the whole world because she wants to follow in the footsteps of her father and her mother.'' Oh joy.
  Following in those footsteps would mean setting up organizations that rely on pledges from major corporations while your associates establish consulting firms charging those same corporations for ''strategic advice.'' Following in those footsteps would mean flying the banner of ''charity'' while you act as the middleman between multinational conglomerates and corrupt and indebted third-world governments. Following in those footsteps would mean relying on a cast of veteran stooges despite past failures and leaks to the press as they scramble to inflate their reputations at the cost of your own. Following in those footsteps means diverting a portion of the money pledged to the latest cause of the global elite, and using it to maintain habits of consumption and leisure worthy of Kublai Khan's stately pleasure dome.
  Most of all, though, following in those footsteps means indelibly conflating the good of the world with the good of yourself, your family, your clique, your tribe: of covering your trade in access, influence, and reputation with the houndstooth blanket of liberation and empowerment and public health and green energy and economic integration. To follow in those footsteps, one must take to heart the words of Jack London in The Iron Heel: ''The great driving force of the oligarchs is the belief that they are doing right.''
  London's sentiment seems to me like good fodder for one of those legendary, epic, Bill-led, Clinton-family discussions'--perhaps over a dinner at Almond of Berkshire Pork Chop Milanese and Goat Cheese Ravioli, accompanied by a bottle of Sea Smoke Pinot Noir, beneath the stars above the beaches of Bridgehampton.
VIDEO-Photojournalist gang-raped in Mumbai | euronews, world news
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  Archived Version
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 14:18
  Police in Mumbai have launched a major manhunt after a 23-year-old photojournalist was gang-raped by five men.
  The woman was on assignment with a male colleague when the attack happened.
  The man was beaten and tied up before the woman was dragged away and raped.
  Police say they have arrested one man and have identified the other suspects.
  The woman suffered multiple injuries and is being treated in the city's Jaslok Hospital.
  The attack has caused outrage in Mumbai, which is considered one of India's safer cities.
  Mumbai resident Sonakshi Pandey said: ''We have always prided ourselves for living in a very safe city. But nowadays what is happening is not understandable to me; what is going through people's minds when they behave like this towards women, towards children, towards other people.''
  The attack is being compared to a similar case that took place in Delhi last year and led to a series of mass protests demanding safer streets for women in India.
  More about:India, Inquiry, Violence against womenCopyright (C) 2013 euronews
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Microsoft's Steve Ballmer To Retire Within 12 Months, Stock Surges
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  Archived Version
  Source: Zero Hedge
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 14:01
  Another Nasdaq blockbuster this morning following news that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will retire within 12 months:
  From the press release:
  Microsoft Corp. today announced that Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer has decided to retire as CEO within the next 12 months, upon the completion of a process to choose his successor. In the meantime, Ballmer will continue as CEO and will lead Microsoft through the next steps of its transformation to a devices and services company that empowers people for the activities they value most.
  "There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time," Ballmer said. "We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our company's transformation to a devices and services company. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction."
  The Board of Directors has appointed a special committee to direct the process. This committee is chaired by John Thompson, the board's lead independent director, and includes Chairman of the Board Bill Gates, Chairman of the Audit Committee Chuck Noski and Chairman of the Compensation Committee Steve Luczo. The special committee is working with Heidrick & Struggles International Inc., a leading executive recruiting firm, and will consider both external and internal candidates.
  "The board is committed to the effective transformation of Microsoft to a successful devices and services company," Thompson said. "As this work continues, we are focused on selecting a new CEO to work with the company's senior leadership team to chart the company's course and execute on it in a highly competitive industry."
  "As a member of the succession planning committee, I'll work closely with the other members of the board to identify a great new CEO," said Gates. "We're fortunate to have Steve in his role until the new CEO assumes these duties."
  Stock surging 8%, dragging entire Nasdaq higher with it. "Value creation."
  Here is Steve Bailmer in happier times:
  Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 5(1 vote)
Gibraltar says Spanish fishermen can return, reef remains
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: The Daily Star >> Live News
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 14:00
  MADRID: Spanish fishing boats will be allowed to return to disputed waters off Gibraltar but a controversial concrete reef will remain, the British outpost's political chief said in an interview published Friday.
  Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said he planned to allow the 59 fishing boats operating in the area from the neighbouring Spanish ports of La Linea and Algeciras to return to their traditional fishing grounds near the "Rock".
  "I will propose to parliament that it introduce a reform to the legislation so that the 59 boats can return to fishing on the basis of their traditional practice," he told Spanish daily El Mundo.
  Gibraltar bars fishing with nets but Spanish fishermen had been exempted under a 1999 agreement that Picardo's government scrapped early last year.
  Last month, Gibraltar dropped 70 concrete blocks into the disputed waters to create an artificial reef, saying it wanted to protect marine life but igniting a furious row with Spain.
  Spain demands Gibraltar remove the reef, protesting that it prevents its fishermen from operating in waters over which Madrid, too, claims sovereignty.
  But the concrete blocks will remain, said the chief minister of the British-held territory, which measures just 6.8 square kilometres (2.6 square miles) and is home to about 30,000 people.
  "We have determined that there is no reason to move the blocks because we are not doing anything that really affects these fishermen's ability to fish," he said.
  Spanish police released a video to the media showing its divers inspecting the blocks of concrete on the seabed.
  Picardo said his fishing proposal was a response to the mayor of La Linea, who had asked him for an act of good faith, and not a retreat in the face of pressure from Spain.
  Since the dispute erupted, Spain has imposed strict checks at the border with Gibraltar, creating hours-long queues. Spain says it is cracking down on smuggling but Britain accuses it of retaliating over the reef.
  The European Commission has said it will send observers to the border at the invitation of both Madrid and London.
  The small self-governing enclave of Gibraltar, strategically placed at the mouth of the Mediterranean on Spain's southern tip, was ceded to Britain under a 1713 treaty, but Madrid has long argued that it should be returned to Spanish sovereignty.
  London says it will not do so against the wishes of Gibraltarians, who are staunchly pro-British.
These Go To Six
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: JustOneMinute
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 13:59
  Al Gore finds his inner Spinal Tap:
  Would there be hurricanes and floods and droughts without man-made global warming? Of course. But they're stronger now. The extreme events are more extreme. The hurricane scale used to be 1-5 and now they're adding a 6.
  Let's not say "No", let's say "Maybe someday."
British police open criminal investigation against Miranda
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: euronews
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 08:13
  Two separate reports, one French and the other Israeli, are claiming that Jordanian, Israeli and American commandos are leading hundreds of Syrian rebels they have trained in a push on Damascus. The reports claim a force of some 300 men crossed into Syria from Jordan on August'...
CEO of beleaguered Yahoo wastes $33,000 in her baby's playhouse
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: 33 World News
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 08:12
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DoD Privacy Program
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Federal Register Latest Entries
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 04:11
  begin regulatory text
  1.The authority citation for 32 CFR part 310 is revised to read as follows:
  Authority:5 U.S.C. 552a, OMB Circular No. A-130.
  2.Section 310.2 is revised to read as follows:
  § 310.2 Purpose.This part:
  (a) Updates the established policies, guidance, and assigned responsibilities of the DoD Privacy Program pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a (also known and referred to in this part as ''The Privacy Act'') and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-130.
  (b) Authorizes the Defense Privacy Board and the Defense Data Integrity Board.
  (c) Prescribes uniform procedures for implementation of and compliance with the DoD Privacy Program.
  (d) Delegates authorities and responsibilities for the effective administration of the DoD Privacy Program.
  3.Section 310.3 is revised to read as follows:
  § 310.3 Applicability and scope.(a) This part applies to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the Military Departments, the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Joint Staff, the combatant commands, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, the Defense Agencies, the DoD Field Activities, and all other organizational entities within the DoD (referred to collectively in this part as the ''DoD Components'').
  (b) For the purposes of subsection (i), Criminal penalties, of The Privacy Act, any DoD contractor and any employee of such a contractor will be considered to be an employee of DoD when DoD provides by a contract for the operation by or on behalf of DoD of a system of records to accomplish a DoD function. DoD will, consistent with its authority, cause the requirements of section (m) of The Privacy Act to be applied to such systems.
  4.Section 310.4 is revised to read as follows:
  § 310.4 Definitions.(a) Access. The review of a record or a copy of a record or parts thereof in a system of records by any individual.
  (b) Agency. For the purposes of disclosing records subject to the Privacy Act among the DoD Components, the Department of Defense is considered a single agency. For all other purposes to include requests for access and amendment, denial of access or amendment, appeals from denials, and record keeping as relating to release of records to non-DoD Agencies, each DoD Component is considered an agency within the meaning of the Privacy Act.
  (c) Breach. A loss of control, compromise, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized acquisition, unauthorized access, or any similar term referring to situations where persons other than authorized users and for an other than authorized purpose have access or potential access to personally identifiable information (PII), whether physical or electronic.
  (d) Computer matching. The computerized comparison of two or more automated systems of records or a system of records with non-federal records. Manual comparisons are not covered.
  (e) Confidential source. A person or organization who has furnished information to the Federal Government under an express promise, if made on or after September 27, 1975, that the person's or the organization's identity shall be held in confidence or under an implied promise of such confidentiality if this implied promise was made on or before September 26, 1975.
  (f) Disclosure. The information sharing or transfer of any PII from a system of records by any means of communication (such as oral, written, electronic, mechanical, or actual review) to any person, government agency, or private entity other than the subject of the record, the subject's designated agent, or the subject's legal guardian.
  (g) DoD contractor. Any individual or other legal entity that:
  (1) Directly or indirectly (e.g., through an affiliate) submits offers for or is awarded, or reasonably may be expected to submit offers for or be awarded, a government contract, including a contract for carriage under government or commercial bills of lading, or a subcontract under a government contract; or
  (2) Conducts business, or reasonably may be expected to conduct business, with the federal government as an agent or representative of another contractor.
  (h) DoD personnel. Service members and federal civilian employees.
  (i) Federal benefit program. A program administered or funded by the Federal Government, or by any agent or State on behalf of the Federal Government, providing cash or in-kind assistance in the form of payments, grants, loans, or loan guarantees to individuals.
  (j) Federal personnel. Officers and employees of the Government of the United States, members of the uniformed services (including members of the Reserve Components), individuals entitled to receive immediate or deferred retirement benefits under any retirement program of the United States (including survivor benefits).
  (k) Individual. A living person who is a U.S. citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. The parent of a minor or the legal guardian of any individual also may act on behalf of an individual, except as otherwise provided in this part. Members of the Military Services are ''individuals.'' Corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, professional groups, businesses, whether incorporated or unincorporated, and other commercial entities are not ''individuals'' when acting in an entrepreneurial capacity with the DoD, but persons employed by such organizations or entities are ''individuals'' when acting in a personal capacity (e.g., security clearances, entitlement to DoD privileges or benefits).
  (l) Individual access. Access to information pertaining to the individual by the individual or his or her designated agent or legal guardian.
  (m) Information sharing environment. Defined in Public Law 108-458, ''The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004''.
  (n) Lost, stolen, or compromised information. Actual or possible loss of control, unauthorized disclosure, or unauthorized access of personal information where persons other than authorized users gain access or potential access to such information for an other than authorized purpose where one or more individuals will be adversely affected. Such incidents also are known as breaches.
  (o) Maintain. The collection, maintenance, use, or dissemination of records contained in a system of records.
  (p) Member of the public. Any individual or party acting in a private capacity to include Federal employees or military personnel.
  (q) Mixed system of records. Any system of records that contains information about individuals as defined by the Privacy Act and non-U.S. citizens and/or aliens not lawfully admitted for permanent residence.
  (r) Non-Federal agency. Any state or local government, or agency thereof, which receives records contained in a system of records from a source agency for use in a computer matching program.
  (s) Official use. Within the context of this part, this term is used when officials and employees of a DoD Component have a demonstrated a need for the record or the information contained therein in the performance of their official duties, subject to DoD 5200.1-R. [5]
  (t) Personally identifiable information (PII). Information used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, such as name, social security number, date and place of birth, mother's maiden name, biometric records, home phone numbers, other demographic, personnel, medical, and financial information. PII includes any information that is linked or linkable to a specified individual, alone, or when combined with other personal or identifying information. For purposes of this part, the term PII also includes personal information and information in identifiable form.
  (u) Privacy Act request. A request from an individual for notification as to the existence of, access to, or amendment of records pertaining to that individual. These records must be maintained in a system of records.
  (v) Protected health information (PHI). Defined in DoD 6025.18-R, ''DoD Health Information Privacy Regulation'' (available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/602518r.pdf).
  (w) Recipient agency. Any agency, or contractor thereof, receiving records contained in a system of records from a source agency for use in a computer matching program.
  (x) Record. Any item, collection, or grouping of information in any media (e.g., paper, electronic), about an individual that is maintained by a DoD Component, including, but not limited to, education, financial transactions, medical history, criminal or employment history, and that contains the name, or identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a fingerprint, a voice print, or a photograph.
  (y) Risk assessment. An analysis considering information sensitivity, vulnerabilities, and cost in safeguarding personal information processed or stored in the facility or activity.
  (z) Routine use. The disclosure of a record outside the Department of Defense for a use that is compatible with the purpose for which the information was collected and maintained by the Department of Defense. The routine use must be included in the published system notice for the system of records involved.
  (aa) Source agency. Any agency which discloses records contained in a system of records to be used in a computer matching program, or any state or local government, or agency thereof, which discloses records to be used in a computer matching program.
  (bb) Statistical record. A record maintained only for statistical research or reporting purposes and not used in whole or in part in making determinations about specific individuals.
  (cc) System of records. A group of records under the control of a DoD Component from which PII is retrieved by the individual's name or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular uniquely assigned to an individual.
  (dd) System of records notice (SORN). A notice published in the Federal Register that constitutes official notification to the public of the existence of a system of records.
  5.Section 310.5 is revised to read as follows:
  § 310.5 Policy.It is DoD policy that:
  (a) An individual's privacy is a fundamental legal right that must be respected and protected.
  (1) The DoD's need to collect, use, maintain, or disseminate (also known and referred to in this part as ''maintain'') PII about individuals for purposes of discharging its statutory responsibilities will be balanced against their right to be protected against unwarranted privacy invasions.
  (2) The DoD protects individual's rights, consistent with federal laws, regulations, and policies, when maintaining their PII.
  (3) DoD personnel and DoD contractors have an affirmative responsibility to protect an individual's privacy when maintaining his or her PII.
  (4) Consistent with section 1016(d) of Public Law 108-458 and section 1 of Executive Order 13388, ''Further Strengthening the Sharing of Terrorism Information to Protect Americans,'' the DoD will protect information privacy and provide other protections relating to civil liberties and legal rights in the development and use of the information sharing environment.
  (b) The DoD establishes rules of conduct for DoD personnel and DoD contractors involved in the design, development, operation, or maintenance of any system of records. DoD personnel and DoD contractors will be trained with respect to such rules and the requirements of this section and any other rules and procedures adopted pursuant to this section and the penalties for noncompliance. The DoD Rules of Conduct are established in § 310.8.
  (c) DoD personnel and DoD contractors conduct themselves consistent with the established rules of conduct in § 310.8, so that records maintained in a system of records will only be maintained as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 552a and this part.
  (d) DoD legislative, regulatory, or other policy proposals will be evaluated to ensure consistency with the information privacy requirements of this part.
  (e) Pursuant to The Privacy Act, no record will be maintained on how an individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (referred to in this part as ''the First Amendment''), except:
  (1) When specifically authorized by statute.
  (2) When expressly authorized by the individual that the record is about.
  (3) When the record is pertinent to and within the scope of an authorized law enforcement activity, including an authorized intelligence or administrative investigation.
  (f) Disclosure of records pertaining to an individual from a system of records is prohibited except with his or her consent or as otherwise authorized by 5 U.S.C. 552a and this part or 32 CFR part 286. When DoD Components make such disclosures, the individual may, to the extent authorized by 5 U.S.C. 552a and this part, obtain a description of such disclosures from the Component concerned.
  (g) Disclosure of records pertaining to personnel of the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is prohibited to the extent authorized by 86, ''National Security Agency-Officers and Employees'' and 10 U.S.C. 424. Disclosure of records pertaining to personnel of overseas, sensitive, or routinely deployable units is prohibited to the extent authorized by 10 U.S.C. 130b.
  (h) The DoD establishes appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to ensure the security and confidentiality of records and to protect against any anticipated threats or hazards to their security or integrity that could result in substantial harm, embarrassment, inconvenience, or unfairness to any individual about whom information is maintained.
  (i) Disclosure of PHI will be consistent with DoD 6025.18-R.
  (j) All DoD personnel and DoD contractors will be provided training pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a and OMB Circular No. A-130.
  (k) PII collected, used, maintained, or disseminated will be:
  (1) Relevant and necessary to accomplish a lawful DoD purpose required by statute or Executive Order.
  (2) Collected to the greatest extent practicable directly from the individual. He or she will be informed as to why the information is being collected, the authority for collection, how it will be used, whether disclosure is mandatory or voluntary, and the consequences of not providing that information.
  (3) Relevant, timely, complete, and accurate for its intended use.
  (4) Protected using appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards based on the media (e.g., paper, electronic) involved. Protection will ensure the security of the records and prevent compromise or misuse during maintenance, including working at authorized alternative worksites.
  (l) Individuals are permitted, to the extent authorized by 5 U.S.C. 552a and this part, to:
  (1) Upon request by an individual, gain access to records or to any information pertaining to the individual which is contained in a system of records.
  (2) Obtain a copy of such records, in whole or in part.
  (3) Correct or amend such records once it has been determined that the records are not accurate, relevant, timely, or complete.
  (4) Appeal a denial for a request to access or a request to amend a record.
  (m) Non-U.S. citizens and aliens not lawfully admitted for permanent residence may request access to and amendment of records pertaining to them; however, this part does not create or extend any right pursuant to The Privacy Act to them.
  (n) SORNs and notices of proposed or final rulemaking are published in the Federal Register (FR), and reports are submitted to Congress and OMB, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a, OMB Circular No. A-130, and this part, DoD 8910.1-M, ''Department of Defense Procedures for Management of Information Requirements'' (available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/891001m.pdf), and DoD Instruction 5545.02, ''DoD Policy for Congressional Authorization and Appropriations Reporting Requirements'' (available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/554502p.pdf). Information about an individual maintained in a new system of records will not be collected until the required SORN publication and review requirements are satisfied.
  (o) All DoD personnel must make reasonable efforts to inform an individual, at their last known address, when any record about him or her is disclosed:
  (1) Due to a compulsory legal process.
  (2) In a manner that will become a matter of public record.
  (p) Individuals must be notified in a timely manner, consistent with the requirements of this part, if there is a breach of their PII.
  (q) At least 30 days prior to disclosure of information pursuant to subparagraph (e)(4)(D) (routine uses) of The Privacy Act, the DoD will publish an FR notice of any new use or intended use of the information in the system, and provide an opportunity for interested people to submit written data, views, or arguments to the agency.
  (r) Computer matching programs between the DoD Components and federal, state, or local governmental agencies are conducted in accordance with the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 552a, OMB Circular No. A-130, and this part.
  (s) The DoD will publish in the FR notice any establishment or revision of a matching program at least 30 days prior to conducting such program of such establishment or revision if any DoD Component is a recipient agency or a source agency in a matching program with a non-federal agency.
  6.Revise § 310.6 to read as follows:
  § 310.6 Responsibilities.(a) The Director of Administration and Management (DA&M):
  (1) Serves as the Senior Agency Official for Privacy (SAOP) for the DoD. These duties, in accordance with OMB Memorandum M-05-08, ''Designation of Senior Agency Officials for Privacy'' (available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/omb/memoranda/fy2005/m05-08.pdf), include:
  (i) Ensuring DoD implementation of information privacy protections, including full compliance with federal laws, regulations, and policies relating to information privacy.
  (ii) Overseeing, coordinating, and facilitating DoD privacy compliance efforts.
  (iii) Ensuring that DoD personnel and DoD contractors receive appropriate training and education programs regarding the information privacy laws, regulations, policies, and procedures governing DoD-specific procedures for handling of PII.
  (2) Provides rules of conduct and policy for, and coordinates and oversees administration of, the DoD Privacy Program to ensure compliance with policies and procedures in 5 U.S.C. 552a and OMB Circular No. A-130.
  (3) Publishes this part and other guidance to ensure timely and uniform implementation of the DoD Privacy Program.
  (4) Serves as the chair of the Defense Privacy Board and the Defense Data Integrity Board.
  (5) As requested, ensures that guidance, assistance, and subject matter expert support are provided to the combatant command privacy officers in the implementation and execution of and compliance with the DoD Privacy Program.
  (6) Acts as The Privacy Act Access and Amendment appellate authority for OSD and the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when an individual is denied access to or amendment of records pursuant to The Privacy Act and DoD Directive 5105.53, ''Director of Administration and Management (DA&M)'' (available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/510553p.pdf).
  (b) The Director, Defense Privacy and Civil Liberties Office (DPCLO), under the authority, direction, and control of the DA&M:
  (1) Ensures that laws, policies, procedures, and systems for protecting individual privacy rights are implemented throughout DoD.
  (2) Oversees and provides strategic direction for the DoD Privacy Program.
  (3) Assists the DA&M in performing the responsibilities in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(6) of this section.
  (4) Reviews DoD legislative, regulatory, and other policy proposals that contain information privacy issues relating to how the DoD keeps its PII. These reviews must include any proposed legislation, testimony, and comments having privacy implications in accordance with DoD Directive 5500.01, ''Preparing, Processing, and Coordinating Legislation, Executive Orders, Proclamations, Views Letters, and Testimony'' (available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/550001p.pdf).
  (5) Reviews proposed new, altered, and amended systems of records. Submits required SORNs for publication in the Federal Register (FR) and, when required, provides advance notification to OMB and Congress consistent with 5 U.S.C. 552a, OMB Circular No. A-130, and this part.
  (6) Reviews proposed DoD Component privacy exemption rules. Submits the exemption rules for publication in the FR, and submits reports to OMB and Congress consistent with 5 U.S.C. 552a, OMB Circular No. A-130, and this part.
  (7) Develops, coordinates, and maintains all DoD computer matching agreements. Submits required match notices for publication in the FR and provides advance notification to OMB and Congress consistent with 5 U.S.C. 552a, OMB Circular No. A-130, and this part.
  (8) Provides guidance, assistance, and support to the DoD Components in their implementation of the DoD Privacy Program to ensure that:
  (i) All requirements developed to maintain PII conform to the DoD Privacy Program standards.
  (ii) Appropriate procedures and safeguards are developed and implemented to protect PII when it is collected, used, maintained, or disseminated in any media.
  (iii) Specific procedures and safeguards are developed and implemented when PII is collected and maintained for research purposes.
  (9) Compiles data in support of the DoD Chief Information Officer (DoD CIO) submission of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) Privacy Reports, pursuant to OMB Memorandum M-06-15, ''Safeguarding Personally Identifiable Information'' (available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/fy2006/m-06-15.pdf); the Biennial Matching Activity Report to OMB, in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-130 and this part; the quarterly Section 803 report in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 2000ee and 2000ee-1; and other reports as required.
  (10) Reviews and coordinates on DoD Component privacy program implementation rules to ensure they are in compliance with the DoD-level guidance.
  (11) Provides operational and administrative support to the Defense Privacy Board and the Defense Data Integrity Board.
  (c) The General Counsel of the Department of Defense (GC DoD):
  (1) Provides advice and assistance on all legal matters related to the administration of the DoD Privacy Program.
  (2) Appoints a designee to serve as a member of the Defense Privacy Board and the Defense Data Integrity Board.
  (3) When a DoD Privacy Program group is created, appoints a designee to serve as a member.
  (d) The DoD Component heads:
  (1) Provide adequate funding and personnel to establish and support an effective DoD Privacy Program.
  (2) Establish DoD Component-specific procedures in compliance with this part and publish these procedures as well as rules of conduct in the FR.
  (3) Establish and implement appropriate administrative, physical, and technical safeguards and procedures prescribed in this part and other DoD Privacy Program guidance.
  (4) Ensure Component compliance with supplemental guidance and procedures in accordance with all applicable federal laws, regulations, policies, and procedures.
  (5) Appoint a Component senior official for privacy (CSOP) to support the SAOP in carrying out the SAOP's duties identified in OMB Memorandum M-05-08.
  (6) Appoint a Component privacy officer to administer the DoD Privacy Program, on behalf of the CSOP.
  (7) Ensure DoD personnel and DoD contractors having primary responsibility for implementing the DoD Privacy Program receive appropriate privacy training. This training must be consistent with the requirements of this part and will address the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a, OMB Circular No. A-130, and this part.
  (8) Ensure that all DoD Component legislative, regulatory, or other policy proposals are evaluated to ensure consistency with the information privacy requirements of this part.
  (9) Assess the impact of technology on the privacy of PII and, when feasible, adopt privacy-enhancing technology to:
  (i) Preserve and protect PII contained in a DoD Component system of records.
  (ii) Audit compliance with the requirements of this part.
  (10) Ensure that officials who have specialized knowledge of the DoD Privacy Program periodically review Component implementation of and compliance with the DoD Privacy Program.
  (11) Submit reports, consistent with the requirements of this part, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a and OMB Circular No. A-130, and as otherwise directed by the Director, DPCLO.
  (e) Secretaries of the Military Departments. In addition to the responsibilities in paragraph (d) of this section, the Secretaries of the Military Departments provide program and financial support to the combatant commands as identified in DoD Directive 5100.03, ''Support to the Headquarters of Combatant and Subordinate Unified Commands'' (available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/510003p.pdf) to fund, without reimbursement, the administrative and logistic support required by combatant and subordinate unified command headquarters to perform their assigned missions effectively.
  § 310.7 [Removed and Reserved]7.Section 310.7 is removed and reserved.
  8.Section 310.8 is revised to read as follows:
  § 310.8 Rules of conduct.In accordance with section (e)(9) of The Privacy Act, this section provides DoD rules of conduct for the development, operation, and maintenance of systems of records. DoD personnel and DoD contractor personnel will:
  (a) Take action to ensure that any PII contained in a system of records that they access and use to conduct official business will be protected so that the security and confidentiality of the information is preserved.
  (b) Not disclose any PII contained in any system of records, except as authorized by The Privacy Act, or other applicable statute, Executive order, regulation, or policy. Those willfully making any unlawful or unauthorized disclosure, knowing that disclosure is prohibited, may be subject to criminal penalties or administrative sanctions.
  (c) Report any unauthorized disclosures of PII from a system of records to the applicable Privacy point of contact (POC) for the respective DoD Component.
  (d) Report the maintenance of any system of records not authorized by this part to the applicable Privacy POC for the respective DoD Component.
  (e) Minimize the collection of PII to that which is relevant and necessary to accomplish a purpose of the DoD.
  (f) Not maintain records describing how any individual exercises rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, except:
  (1) When specifically authorized by statute.
  (2) When expressly authorized by the individual that the record is about.
  (3) When the record is pertinent to and within the scope of an authorized law enforcement activity, including authorized intelligence or administrative activities.
  (g) Safeguard the privacy of all individuals and the confidentiality of all PII.
  (h) Limit the availability of records containing PII to DoD personnel and DoD contractors who have a need to know in order to perform their duties.
  (i) Prohibit unlawful possession, collection, or disclosure of PII, whether or not it is within a system of records.
  (j) Ensure that all DoD personnel and DoD contractors who either have access to a system of records or develop or supervise procedures for handling records in a system of records are aware of their responsibilities and are properly trained to safeguard PII being maintained under the DoD Privacy Program.
  (k) Prepare any required new, amended, or altered SORN for a given system of records and submit the SORN through their DoD Component Privacy POC to the Director, DPCLO, for coordination and submission for publication in the Federal Register (FR).
  (l) Not maintain any official files on individuals, which are retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, also known as a system of records, without first ensuring that a notice has been published in the FR. Any official who willfully maintains a system of records without meeting the publication requirements as prescribed by this part and The Privacy Act may be subject to criminal penalties or administrative sanctions.
  (m) Maintain all records in a mixed system of records as if all the records in such a system are subject to The Privacy Act.
  9.Amend § 310.9 by revising paragraphs (a) and (b) to read as follows:
  § 310.9 Privacy boards and office, composition and responsibilities.(a) The Defense Privacy Board'-- (1) Membership. The Board consists of:
  (i) Voting Members. Representatives designated by the Secretaries of the Military Departments and the following officials or their designees:
  (A) The DA&M, who serves as the chair.
  (B) The Director, DPCLO.
  (C) The Director for Privacy, DPCLO, who serves as the Executive Secretary and as a member.
  (D) The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness.
  (E) The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs.
  (F) The DoD CIO.
  (G) The Director, Defense Manpower Data Center.
  (H) The Director, Executive Services Directorate, Washington Headquarters Services (WHS).
  (I) The GC DoD.
  (J) The Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
  (ii) Non-Voting Members. Non-voting members are the Director, Enterprise Information Technology Services Directorate (EITSD), WHS; and the representatives designated by Defense Agency and DoD Field Activity directors.
  (2) Responsibilities. The Board:
  (i) Serves as the primary DoD policy forum for matters involving the DoD Privacy Program, meeting as necessary to address issues of common concern to ensure that consistent policy is adopted and followed by the DoD Components. The Board issues advisory opinions, as necessary, on the DoD Privacy Program to promote uniform and consistent application of 5 U.S.C. 552a, OMB Circular No. A-130, and this part.
  (ii) Establishes and convenes committees as necessary.
  (iii) Establishes working groups whose membership is composed of DoD Component privacy officers and others as necessary.
  (b) The Defense Data Integrity Board'--(1) Membership. The Board consists of:
  (i) The DA&M, who serves as the chair.
  (ii) The Director, DPCLO.
  (iii) The Director for Privacy, DPCLO, who serves as the Executive Secretary.
  (iv) The representatives designated by the Secretaries of the Military Departments; the DoD CIO; the GC DoD; the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, who is a non-voting advisory member; the Director, EITSD; and the Director, Defense Manpower Data Center.
  (2) Responsibilities. The Board:
  (i) Oversees and coordinates, consistent with the requirements of 5 U.S.C. 552a, OMB Circular No. A-130, and this part, all computer matching agreements involving personal records contained in systems of records maintained by the DoD Components.
  (ii) Reviews and approves all computer matching agreements between the DoD and other federal, state, or local governmental agencies, as well as any memorandums of understanding, when the match is internal to the DoD. This review ensures that, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a, OMB Circular No. A-130, and this part, appropriate procedural and due process requirements are established before engaging in computer matching activities.
  * * * * *
  10.Amend § 310.10 by revising paragraph (a)(1) to read as follows:
  § 310.10 General.(a) * * *
  (1) Consist of ''records'' (as defined in § 310.4) that are retrieved by the name of an individual or some other personal identifier; and
  * * * * *
  end regulatory text
National Organic Program; Proposed Amendments to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (Crops and Processing)
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Federal Register Latest Entries
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 04:05
  Comments must be received by October 21, 2013.
  Interested persons may comment on the proposed rule using the following procedures:
  Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.Mail: Toni Strother, Agricultural Marketing Specialist, National Organic Program, USDA-AMS-NOP, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., Room 2646-So., Ag Stop 0268, Washington, DC 20250-0268.Instructions: All submissions received must include the docket number AMS-NOP-13-0011; NOP-13-01PR, and/or Regulatory Information Number (RIN) 0581-AD32 for this rulemaking. You should clearly indicate the topic and section number of this proposed rule to which your comment refers. You should clearly indicate whether you support the action being proposed for the substances in this proposed rule. You should clearly indicate the reason(s) for your position. You should also supply information on alternative management practices, where applicable, that support alternatives to the proposed action. You should also offer any recommended language change(s) that would be appropriate to your position. Please include relevant information and data to support your position (e.g. scientific, environmental, manufacturing, industry, impact information, etc.). Only relevant material supporting your position should be submitted. All comments received will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov.
  AMS is particularly interested in comments regarding the applicability of the proposed compostability standards for biodegradable biobased mulch film, and whether guidance on management practices is necessary to prevent mulch film from accumulating in fields.
  Document: For access to the document to read background documents or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Comments submitted in response to this proposed rule will also be available for viewing in person at USDA-AMS, National Organic Program, Room 2646-South Building, 1400 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday (except official Federal holidays). Persons wanting to visit the USDA South Building to view comments received in response to this proposed rule are requested to make an appointment in advance by calling (202) 720-3252.
  Melissa Bailey, Ph.D., Director, Standards Division, Telephone: (202) 720-3252; Fax: (202) 205-7808.
  On December 21, 2000, the Secretary established, within the National Organic Program (NOP) (7 CFR part 205), the National List regulations in sections 205.600 through 205.607. This National List identifies the synthetic substances that may be used and the nonsynthetic (natural) substances that may not be used in organic production. The National List also identifies nonagricultural and nonorganic agricultural substances that may be used in organic handling. The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) (7 U.S.C. 6501-6522), and USDA organic regulations, in section 205.105, specifically prohibit the use of any synthetic substance in organic production and handling unless the synthetic substance is on the National List. Section 205.105 also requires that any nonorganic agricultural and any nonsynthetic nonagricultural substance used in organic handling be on the National List. Under the authority of the OFPA, the National List can be amended by the Secretary based on proposed amendments developed by the NOSB.
  Since established, AMS has published multiple amendments to the National List beginning on October 31, 2003 (68 FR 61987). AMS published the most recent amendment to the National List on September 27, 2012 (77 FR 59287).
  This proposed rule would amend the National List to reflect three recommendations submitted to the Secretary by the NOSB on May 25, 2012 (Citrus hystrix leaves and fruit and curry leaves (Murraya koenigii)) and October 18, 2012 (biodegradable biobased mulch film). Based upon their evaluation of petitions submitted by industry participants, public comments, market surveillance, and review of technical reports, the NOSB recommended that the Secretary add one substance (biodegradable biobased mulch film) to section 205.601 of the National List for organic crop production and add two substances to section 205.606 (Citrus hystrix leaves and fruit and curry leaves (Murraya koenigii)) for organic processing. This rule would also remove listings for two substances (hops and unmodified rice starch) as their use exemptions have expired. The exemptions for the use of each new substance in organic crop production and handling were evaluated by the NOSB using the criteria specified in OFPA (7 U.S.C. 6517-6518). In addition, the amendments for two new substances proposed for organic handling were also evaluated by the NOSB using NOP criteria on commercial availability (72 FR 2167).
  The following provides an overview of the proposed amendments to designated sections of the USDA organic regulations:
  Section 205.2Terms defined.Section 205.601Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production.This proposed action would amend sections 205.2 and 205.601 by adding the following new definition and new substance to the National List for organic crop production.
  Biodegradable Biobased Mulch FilmBiodegradable biobased mulch film was petitioned to the National List in January 2012 for use as synthetic mulch for organic crop production. [1] This substance is also alternatively called ''bioplastic mulch.''
  Biodegradable biobased mulch film is used as an alternative to petroleum-based plastic mulches that do not biodegrade. Traditional plastic mulches require removal at the end of the growing or harvest season under OFPA and the USDA organic regulations (7 U.S.C. 6508; §§ 205.206(c)(6) and 205.601(b)(2)(ii)). Biodegradable biobased mulch film is applied to agricultural fields as a thin plastic layer and is left in the field to biodegrade. Like traditional plastic mulches, biodegradable biobased mulch film is used to cover the soil, modify soil temperatures, retain soil moisture, and help control weeds and insect problems. [2]
  Mulch film may be made from a variety of degradable polymers, including polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), and aliphatic-aromatic copolymers (AAC). Some biodegradable mulch films are made from biological sources (i.e., biobased), and some are derived from fossil fuel sources. [3]
  At its October 15-18, 2012 meeting in Providence, RI, the NOSB recommended that biodegradable biobased mulch film be added to the National List, with restrictions, for use in organic crop production. The NOSB evaluated biodegradable biobased mulch film against the evaluation criteria of 7 U.S.C. 6517 and 6518 of the OFPA, received public comment, and concluded that the substance is consistent with the OFPA evaluation criteria.
  The NOSB indicated in its recommendation that the use of this substance is an opportunity to reduce landfilling of traditional plastic mulches without sacrificing organic farming principles.
  The regulatory text recommended by the NOSB is provided in Table 1. The NOSB indicated in its recommendation that mulch film must meet certain criteria for biodegradability, compostability, and biobased content (Criteria A and B in Table 1). In addition, the NOSB recommended restrictions on the types of materials allowed for the production of biobased mulch film (Criterion C). The NOSB also indicated that growers must take appropriate actions to ensure complete degradation (Criterion D). The NOSB indicated that criteria A through C are intended to apply to certifying agents and material evaluation programs that will determine allowed products. Criterion D was intended to refer to the grower's responsibility.
  As part of this recommendation, the NOSB also proposed the following definition for the new term biobased: ''Organic material in which carbon is derived from a renewable resource via biological processes. Biobased materials include all plant and animal mass derived from carbon dioxide recently fixed via photosynthesis, per definition of a renewable resource (ASTM).'' [4] The NOSB recommended that the term ''biobased'' be included in order to specifically prohibit products derived from petroleum, such as those made from aliphatic-aromatic copolymers.
  The Secretary has reviewed and proposes to accept the NOSB's recommendation, with some modifications. Table 1 provides a comparison of the NOSB's recommended regulatory text and the action proposed under this rule.
  This proposed rule would amend section 205.2 (Terms defined) by adding a new definition for ''biodegradable biobased mulch film'' to section 205.2 of the USDA organic regulations.
  This action proposes to define biodegradable biobased mulch film as a synthetic mulch that meets the following criteria: (1) Meets the compostability standards of ASTM D6400 or D6868, or of other equivalent international standards, i.e., EN 13432, EN 14995, or ISO 17088; (2) Demonstrates at least 90% biodegradation absolute or relative to microcrystalline cellulose in less than two years, in soil, according to ISO 17556 or ASTM D5988 testing methods; and (3) Must be biobased with content determined using ASTM D6866 testing method. [5]
  This proposed rule would also add the substance ''biodegradable biobased mulch film,'' with restrictions, to new subparagraph (b)(2)(iii) of section 205.601. The new listing would read as follows: ''Biodegradable biobased mulch films as defined in section 205.2. Must be produced without organisms or feedstock derived from excluded methods.''
  The NOSB recommended that the standards for compostability, biodegradation, and biobased content be included at subparagraph (b)(2)(iii) of section 205.601. AMS proposes to include the references to these standards within a new definition at section 205.2 in order to streamline the listing of this substance and limit the number of subparagraph levels on the National List.
  Table 1'--Comparison of NOSB Recommendation and AMS Proposed Action for Biodegradable Biobased Mulch Film Back to TopSectionNOSB RecommendationAMS Proposed action205.2Add the following new definition to § 205.2:Add the following new definition to § 205.2:Biobased. Organic material in which carbon is derived from a renewable resource via biological processes. Biobased materials include all plant and animal mass derived from carbon dioxide recently fixed via photosynthesis, per definition of a renewable resource (ASTM)Biodegradable Biobased Mulch Film. A synthetic mulch film that meets the following criteria: (1) Meets the compostability standards of ASTM D6400 or D6868, or of other equivalent international standards, i.e., EN 13432, EN 14995, or ISO 17088; (2) Demonstrates at least 90% biodegradation absolute or relative to microcrystalline cellulose in less than two years, in soil, according to ISO 17556 or ASTM D5988 testing methods; and (3) Must be biobased with content determined using ASTM D6866 testing method.205.601Add the following substance to new subparagraph (iii) of § 205.601(b)(2):Add the following substance to new subparagraph (iii) of § 205.601(b)(2):(b) As herbicides, weed barriers, as applicable(b) As herbicides, weed barriers, as applicable(2) Mulches(2) Mulches.(iii) Biodegradable biobased mulch films to be reviewed meet the following criteria:(iii) Biodegradable biobased mulch film as defined in § 205.2. Must be produced without organisms or feedstock derived from excluded methods.(A) Completely biodegradable as shown by: (1) Meeting the requirements of ASTM Standard D6400 or D6868 specifications, or of other international standard specifications with essentially identical criteria, i.e. EN 13432, EN 14995, ISO 17088; and (2) Showing at least 90% biodegradation in soil absolute or relative to microcrystalline cellulose in less than two years, in soil, tested according to ISO 17556 or ASTM 5988; (B) Must be biobased with content determined using the ASTM D6866 method; (C) Must be produced without organisms or feedstock derived from excluded methods; and (D) Grower must take appropriate actions to ensure complete degradation The proposed definition for ''biodegradable biobased mulch film'' includes the third-party standards for compostability, biodegradation, and biobased content which are included in the NOSB recommendation. These standards are summarized in Table 2. Each standard provides a reference for certifying agents and material evaluation programs to verify that biodegradable biobased much film meet certain requirements for compostability, biodegradability, and biobased content.
  AMS is specifically interested in comments regarding the compostability standards included in the definition. AMS has noted that when the substance is used as recommended by the NOSB (i.e., as mulch on the surface of the soil), it is not composted according to the standards for compost under section 205.203(c) of the USDA organic regulations. In addition, the NOSB did not consider or recommend the addition of biodegradable biobased mulch film to the list of allowed synthetic compost feedstocks at section 205.601(c). This proposed action includes the compostability standards recommended by the NOSB, but AMS is interested in comments on the applicability of these standards for the intended use of the petitioned material. AMS is also interested in comments on whether the two criteria for biodegradation and biobased content, without the criteria for compostability, would be sufficient for review of this substance.
  Table 2'--Table of Applicable Standards for Compostability, Biodegradation, and Biobased Content Back to TopStandardTitleCriteriaASTM D6400Standard Specification for Labeling of Plastics Designed to be Aerobically Composted in Municipal or Industrial FacilitiesCompostability.ASTM D6868Standard Specification for Labeling of End Items that Incorporate Plastics and Polymers as Coatings or Additives with Paper and Other Substrates Designed to be Aerobically Composted in Municipal or Industrial FacilitiesCompostability.EN 13432Proof of compostability of plastic productsCompostability.EN 14995Plastics'--Evaluation of compostability'--Testscheme and specificationsCompostability.ISO 17088Specifications for compostable plasticsCompostability.ISO 17556Plastics'--Determination of the ultimate aerobic biodegradability of plastic materials in soil by measuring the oxygen demand in a respirometer or the amount of carbon dioxide evolvedBiodegradability.ASTM D5988Standard Test Method for Determining Aerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials in SoilBiodegradability.ASTM D6866Standard Test Methods for Determining the Biobased Content of Solid, Liquid, and Gaseous Samples Using Radiocarbon AnalysisBiobased Content.AMS noted that the NOSB did not recommend a minimum amount of biobased content for biodegradable biobased mulch films. AMS considered whether a minimum should be included in order to ensure that approved products will derive most of their content from biological sources, as was intended by the NOSB. AMS consulted with the USDA BioPreferred program to inquire whether they have a specific category established for biodegradable mulch film products, since product categories in the USDA BioPreferred program include standards (i.e., minimums) for products' biobased content. [6] The USDA BioPreferred program indicated that they do not have a specific product category for biobased mulch film, and that mulch film does not fall within their categories of ''Mulch and Compost Materials'' [7] or ''Films'--Non-Durable.'' [8] (Manufacturers of biobased mulch film who wish to certify this product under the USDA BioPreferred program would classify it in an ''undesignated'' product category; products in this category must contain a minimum of 25% biobased content as measured by the standard test method.) AMS understands that biobased mulch films used by organic producers will need to be derived primarily from biobased sources in order to meet the requirements for biodegradation and compostability, so we have not proposed a minimum biobased content requirement for mulch film. Biodegradable mulch films that are not biobased, e.g., derived from fossil fuel sources, would not be permitted.
  AMS considered the definition for ''biobased'' that was recommended by the NOSB, and we have not proposed the addition of this term to section 205.2. Instead, AMS proposed a new definition for ''biodegradable biobased mulch film'' that incorporates the NOSB's intent of limiting the use of this substance to biobased products by including a testing standard for biobased content. The proposed new term ''biodegradable biobased mulch film'' indicates that this substance must be biobased with content determined using ASTM D6866 testing method. Since this testing method has been previously established for biobased materials using an existing definition for ''biobased,'' AMS determined it was not necessary to add a separate definition for ''biobased'' to the USDA organic regulations.
  AMS also considered whether the new definition for ''biodegradable biobased mulch film'' may raise questions as to whether certain types of paper mulch are intended to be included in the new definition. Specifically, the petition describes a type of paper mulch ''comprised of kraft paper coated with cured vegetable oil-based resins,'' and indicates that these materials are not intended to be included within its scope. In addition, these materials were also not considered a part of the petition during the NOSB review. As such, AMS does not consider these paper mulches to fall within the new definition of ''biodegradable biobased mulch film,'' since they were not included within the scope of the petition and because these products are not ''films.'' [9] This action is also not intended to define newspaper or other recycled paper as ''biodegradable biobased mulch films.'' The use of newspaper or other recycled paper, without glossy or colored inks, will continue to be allowed as allowed synthetic mulch under the current listing at section 205.601(b)(2)(i) without the additional testing requirements for biodegradable biobased mulch film outlined under the new definition at section 205.2.
  The NOSB also recommended that biodegradable biobased mulch film must meet the following criteria: ''Must be produced without organisms or feedstocks derived from excluded methods.'' AMS has reviewed this language and has incorporated the text into the listing proposed at section 205.601.
  The NOSB also recommended the following additional text for the listing for biodegradable biobased mulch film: ''Grower must take appropriate actions to ensure complete degradation.'' AMS has reviewed this language and has not incorporated this text into the proposed listing as we believe the intent of this text is adequately covered under other sections of the USDA organic regulations. For example, section 205.200 requires that production practices maintain or improve the natural resources of the operation, including soil and water quality. In addition, section 205.203 requires that the producer select and implement practices that maintain or improve the physical, chemical, and biological condition of soil. Thus, the use of film in a manner that causes it to accumulate in the field and not biodegrade over time would not be compliant with the existing requirements at sections 205.200 and 205.203.
  The NOSB indicated that the proposed language was intended to clarify the grower's responsibility and what the certifying agent must evaluate. The NOSB indicated that NOP, in conjunction with the NOSB, should develop guidance that explains proper practices for use of biodegradable biobased mulch film. In addition, the NOSB indicated that it expects the inspection process and certification review to verify that biodegradation of the mulch film is occurring so that it does not accumulate in the fields where it is used.
  AMS understands that the complete degradation of mulch film may be impacted by a number of factors, including climate, soil type, irrigation, and other production practices. AMS has not determined if there is a demonstrated need for guidance on the use of mulch film at this time. We understand that guidance may be needed in the future depending on the prevalence of adoption of use of mulch film by organic growers and any problems observed by certifying agents with degradation on organic fields. AMS is interested in comments on whether guidance on management practices is necessary at this time to prevent mulch film from accumulating in fields.
  Section 205.606Nonorganically Produced Agricultural Products Allowed as Ingredients in or on Processed Products Labeled as ''Organic.''This proposed rule would amend section 205.606 by removing paragraph (l), removing subparagraph (w)(2), and redesignating subparagraph (w)(3) as (w)(2), to remove the following substances from the National List:
  Hops (Humulus lupulus). Hops (Humulus lupulus) was added to the National List on June 27, 2007 (72 FR 35137), to enable brewers to produce organic beer with conventionally grown hops in the absence of a commercially available supply of organically grown hops. In December 2009, an organic hop grower association petitioned the NOSB to remove hops from section 205.606 for the purpose of advancing growth in the organic hops market. [10]
  In response to the petition, the NOSB recommended at its October 2010 public meeting that an expiration date of January 1, 2013 be added to the listing for hops. This recommendation was accepted by the Secretary and was implemented as a Final Rule published June 27, 2012 (77 FR 33290). The listing was amended to read as follows: Hops (Humulus lupulus) until January 1, 2013. This action would remove the expired listing for hops (Humulus lupulus) from section 205.606 at paragraph (l), as the use exemption for this substance expired on January 1, 2013. Removal of this substance has no new regulatory effect.
  Unmodified Rice StarchThis proposed rule would amend section 205.606 of the National List by removing the expired exemption for ''rice starch, unmodified (CAS # 977000-08-0),'' referred to below as ''unmodified rice starch.'' Unmodified rice starch was petitioned to the National List on February 14, 2007 as a gelation agent used in combination with other thickeners. The NOSB recommended adding unmodified rice starch to the National List and also indicated that the listing should expire two years after the date of publication of the final rule. The NOSB recommendation was accepted by the Secretary, and unmodified rice starch was added to the National List effective June 21, 2007 by publication of an interim final rule on June 27, 2007 (72 FR 35137). The listing reads as follows: (2) Rice starch, unmodified (CAS # 977000-08-0)'--for use in organic handling until June 21, 2009. This proposed rule would remove the listing for unmodified rice starch that expired on June 21, 2009. Removal of this substance has no new regulatory effect.
  This proposed rule would further amend section 205.606 by redesignating paragraphs (e) through (aa) as (g) through (bb), respectively; and redesignating paragraph (d) as paragraph (e) for the purposes of adding the following new substances at paragraphs (d) and (f):
  Citrus Hystrix, Leaves and FruitLeaves and fruit of Citrus hystrix were petitioned in August 2011 for use as a nonorganic agricultural ingredient in or on processed products labeled as ''organic.'' [11]C. hystrix leaves and fruit are traditional ingredients in Lao, Thai, and other Southeast Asian cuisines. The tree of C. hystrix is easily identified by its distinctively shaped double leaves and the fruit is known for its bumpy skin. Both the leaves and fruit impart a unique intense flavor and aroma in foods due to their high concentration of essential oils. C. hystrix leaves and fruit are harvested, washed, and can be used fresh, dried, or frozen.
  At its May 22-25, 2012, meeting in Albuquerque, NM, the NOSB accepted public comment and recommended adding C. hystrix leaves and fruit to the National List for use in organic handling as a non-organic agricultural ingredient where the organic form is commercially unavailable. [12] In this open meeting, the NOSB evaluated C. hystrix leaves and fruit against evaluation criteria established by 7 U.S.C. 6517 and 6518 of the OFPA evaluation criteria and NOP commercial availability criteria (72 FR 2167). Therefore in response to the NOSB recommendation regarding the use of C. hystrix in organic handling, the Secretary proposes to amend section 205.606 of the National List regulations to allow C. hystrix as a nonorganically produced agricultural product allowed as an ingredient in or on processed products labeled as ''organic.''
  Curry Leaves (Murraya koenigii)Curry leaves were petitioned in August 2011 for use as a nonorganic agricultural ingredient in or on processed products labeled as ''organic.'' [13] Curry leaves, which are also known as sweet neem leaves, are extremely fragrant and are an important ingredient commonly used in Indian, Sri Lankan, Malay and other Southeast Asian cuisines. Curry leaves impart a unique flavor and fragrance which cannot be substituted with other ingredients. Curry leaves are harvested from curry trees, washed, and can be used fresh, dried, or frozen.
  At its May 22-25, 2012, public meeting in Albuquerque, NM, the NOSB accepted public comment and recommended adding curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) to the National List for use in organic handling as a nonorganic agricultural ingredient when organic curry leaves are commercially unavailable. [14] The NOSB evaluated curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) against evaluation criteria established by 7 U.S.C. 6517 and 6518 of the OFPA evaluation criteria and NOP commercial availability criteria (72 FR 2167). Therefore in response to the NOSB recommendation regarding the use of curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) in organic handling, the Secretary proposes to amend section 205.606 of the National List regulations to allow curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) as a nonorganically produced agricultural product allowed as an ingredient in or on processed products labeled as ''organic.'' The listing is proposed as the common name of the ingredient, with the scientific species name in parentheses, to be consistent with the listing of other agricultural products on National List.
  The OFPA, as amended, (7 U.S.C. 6501-6522), authorizes the Secretary to make amendments to the National List based on proposed amendments developed by the NOSB. Sections 6518(k) and 6518(n) of the OFPA authorize the NOSB to develop proposed amendments to the National List for submission to the Secretary and establish a petition process by which persons may petition the NOSB for the purpose of having substances evaluated for inclusion on or deletion from the National List. The National List petition process is implemented under section 205.607 of the NOP regulations. The current petition guidelines (72 FR 2167, January 18, 2007) can be accessed through the NOP Web site at http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop.
  A. Executive Order 12866This action has been determined not significant for purposes of Executive Order 12866, and therefore, has not been reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
  B. Executive Order 12988Executive Order 12988 instructs each executive agency to adhere to certain requirements in the development of new and revised regulations in order to avoid unduly burdening the court system. This proposed rule is not intended to have a retroactive effect.
  States and local jurisdictions are preempted under the OFPA from creating programs of accreditation for private persons or State officials who want to become certifying agents of organic farms or handling operations. A governing State official would have to apply to USDA to be accredited as a certifying agent, as described in the OFPA (7 U.S.C. 6514(b)). States are also preempted by the OFPA (7 U.S.C. 6503 through 6507) from creating certification programs to certify organic farms or handling operations unless the State programs have been submitted to, and approved by, the Secretary as meeting the requirements of the OFPA.
  Pursuant to the OFPA (7 U.S.C. 6507(b)(2)), a State organic certification program may contain additional requirements for the production and handling of organically produced agricultural products that are produced in the State and for the certification of organic farm and handling operations located within the State under certain circumstances. Such additional requirements must: (a) Further the purposes of the OFPA, (b) not be inconsistent with the OFPA, (c) not be discriminatory toward agricultural commodities organically produced in other States, and (d) not be effective until approved by the Secretary.
  Pursuant to the OFPA (7 U.S.C. 6519(f)), this proposed rule would not alter the authority of the Secretary under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 601-624), the Poultry Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 451-471), or the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1031-1056), concerning meat, poultry, and egg products, nor any of the authorities of the Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 301-399), nor the authority of the Administrator of EPA under the FIFRA (7 U.S.C. 136-136(y)).
  The OFPA (7 U.S.C. 6520) provides for the Secretary to establish an expedited administrative appeals procedure under which persons may appeal an action of the Secretary, the applicable governing State official, or a certifying agent under this title that adversely affects such person or is inconsistent with the organic certification program established under this title. The OFPA also provides that the U.S. District Court for the district in which a person is located has jurisdiction to review the Secretary's decision.
  C. Regulatory Flexibility ActThe Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) (5 U.S.C. 601-612) requires agencies to consider the economic impact of each rule on small entities and evaluate alternatives that would accomplish the objectives of the rule without unduly burdening small entities or erecting barriers that would restrict their ability to compete in the market. The purpose is to fit regulatory actions to the scale of businesses subject to the action. Section 605 of the RFA allows an agency to certify a rule, in lieu of preparing an analysis, if the rulemaking is not expected to have a significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
  Small agricultural service firms, which include producers, handlers, and accredited certifying agents, have been defined by the Small Business Administration (SBA) (13 CFR 121.201) as those having annual receipts of less than $7,000,000 and small agricultural producers are defined as those having annual receipts of less than $750,000. According to USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), certified organic acreage exceeded 3.5 million acres in 2011. [15] According to NOP's Accreditation and International Activities Division, the number of certified U.S. organic crop and livestock operations totaled over 17,281 in 2011. AMS believes that most of these entities would be considered small entities under the criteria established by the SBA. The procedures for producing and handling certified apiculture products will remain essentially the same under this proposed rule as they have been since ACAs began to certify apiculture products organic under the livestock regulations. The difference under the proposed rule is that the regulation will be more specific, and is tailored to apiculture production and handling requirements.
  U.S. sales of organic food and non-food have grown from $1 billion in 1990 to $31.4 billion in 2011. Sales in 2011 represented 9.5 percent growth over 2010 sales. [16] In addition, the USDA has 86 accredited certifying agents who provide certification services to producers and handlers. A complete list of names and addresses of accredited certifying agents may be found on the AMS NOP Web site, at http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop. AMS believes that most of these accredited certifying agents would be considered small entities under the criteria established by the SBA. Certifying agents reported approximately 29,000 certified operations worldwide in 2011.
  D. Paperwork Reduction ActNo additional collection or recordkeeping requirements are imposed on the public by this proposed rule. Accordingly, OMB clearance is not required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501, and Chapter 35.
  E. Executive Order 13175This proposed rule has been reviewed in accordance with the requirements of Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments. The review reveals that this regulation will not have substantial and direct effects on Tribal governments and will not have significant Tribal implications.
  F. General Notice of Public RulemakingThis proposed rule reflects recommendations submitted by the NOSB to the Secretary to add three substances on the National List and to remove two expired listings from the National List. A 60-day period for interested persons to comment on this rule is provided and is deemed appropriate.
  begin regulatory text
  1.The authority citation for 7 CFR part 205 continues to read as follows:
  Authority:7 U.S.C. 6501'--6522.
  2.Section 205.2 is amended by adding one new term in alphabetical order to read as follows:
  § 205.2 Terms defined.* * * * *
  Biodegradable biobased mulch film. A synthetic mulch film that meets the following criteria:
  (1) Meets the compostability standards of ASTM D6400 or D6868, or of other equivalent international standards, i.e., EN 13432, EN 14995, or ISO 17088;
  (2) Demonstrates at least 90% biodegradation absolute or relative to microcrystalline cellulose in less than two years, in soil, according to ISO 17556 or ASTM D5988 testing methods; and
  (3) Must be biobased with content determined using ATM D6866 testing method.
  * * * * *
  3.Section 205.601 is amended by adding paragraph (b)(2)(iii) to read as follows:
  § 205.601 Synthetic substances allowed for use in organic crop production.* * * * *
  (b) * * *
  (2) * * *
  (iii) Biodegradable biobased mulch film as defined in § 205.2. Must be produced without organisms or feedstock derived from excluded methods.
  * * * * *
  4.Section 205.606 is amended by:
  A. Removing paragraph (l);
  B. Removing paragraph (w)(2);
  C. Redesignating paragraph (w)(3) as (w)(2);
  D. Redesignating paragraphs (e) through (aa) as (g) through (bb) respectively;
  E. Redesignating paragraph (d) as paragraph (e); and
  F. Adding new paragraphs (d) and (f). The additions read as follows:
  § 205.606 Nonorganically produced agricultural products allowed as ingredients in or on processed products labeled as ''organic.''* * * * *
  (d) Citrus hystrix, leaves and fruit.
  * * * * *
  (f) Curry leaves (Murraya koenigii).
  * * * * *
  end regulatory text
The Confidential Memo at the Heart of the Global Financial Crisis | VICE
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 08:00
  When a little birdie dropped the End Game memo through my window, its content was so explosive, so sick and plain evil, I just couldn't believe it.
  The Memo confirmed every conspiracy freak's fantasy: that in the late 1990s, the top US Treasury officials secretly conspired with a small cabal of banker big-shots to rip apart financial regulation across the planet. When you see 26.3 percent unemployment in Spain, desperation and hunger in Greece, riots in Indonesia and Detroit in bankruptcy, go back to this End Game memo, the genesis of the blood and tears.
  The Treasury official playing the bankers' secret End Game was Larry Summers. Today, Summers is Barack Obama's leading choice for Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, the world's central bank. If the confidential memo is authentic, then Summers shouldn't be serving on the Fed, he should be serving hard time in some dungeon reserved for the criminally insane of the finance world.
  The memo is authentic.
  I had to fly to Geneva to get confirmation and wangle a meeting with the Secretary General of the World Trade Organisation, Pascal Lamy. Lamy, the Generalissimo of Globalisation, told me,
  ''The WTO was not created as some dark cabal of multinationals secretly cooking plots against the people... We don't have cigar-smoking, rich, crazy bankers negotiating.''
  Then I showed him the memo.
  It begins with Larry Summers' flunky, Timothy Geithner, reminding his boss to call the Bank bigshots to order their lobbyist armies to march:
  ''As we enter the end-game of the WTO financial services negotiations, I believe it would be a good idea for you to touch base with the CEOs'...''
  To avoid Summers having to call his office to get the phone numbers (which, under US law, would have to appear on public logs), Geithner listed the private lines of what were then the five most powerful CEOs on the planet. And here they are:
  Goldman Sachs: John Corzine (212)902-8281
  Merrill Lynch: David Kamanski (212)449-6868
  Bank of America: David Coulter (415)622-2255
  Citibank: John Reed (212)559-2732
  Chase Manhattan: Walter Shipley (212)270-1380
  Lamy was right: They don't smoke cigars. Go ahead and dial them. I did, and sure enough, got a cheery personal hello from Reed '' cheery until I revealed I wasn't Larry Summers. (Note: The other numbers were swiftly disconnected. And Corzine can't be reached while he faces criminal charges.)
  It's not the little cabal of confabs held by Summers and the banksters that's so troubling. The horror is in the purpose of the "end game'' itself.
  Let me explain:
  The year was 1997. US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin was pushing hard to de-regulate banks. That required, first, repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act to dismantle the barrier between commercial banks and investment banks. It was like replacing bank vaults with roulette wheels.
  Second, the banks wanted the right to play a new high-risk game: ''derivatives trading''. JP Morgan alone would soon carry $88 trillion of these pseudo-securities on its books as ''assets''.
  Deputy Treasury Secretary Summers (soon to replace Rubin as Secretary) body-blocked any attempt to control derivatives.
  But what was the use of turning US banks into derivatives casinos if money would flee to nations with safer banking laws?
  The answer conceived by the Big Bank Five: eliminate controls on banks in every nation on the planet -- in one single move. It was as brilliant as it was insanely dangerous.
  How could they pull off this mad caper? The bankers' and Summers' game was to use the Financial Services Agreement (or FSA), an abstruse and benign addendum to the international trade agreements policed by the World Trade Organisation.
  Until the bankers began their play, the WTO agreements dealt simply with trade in goods '' that is, my cars for your bananas. The new rules devised by Summers and the banks would force all nations to accept trade in "bads" '' toxic assets like financial derivatives.
  Until the bankers' re-draft of the FSA, each nation controlled and chartered the banks within their own borders. The new rules of the game would force every nation to open their markets to Citibank, JP Morgan and their derivatives ''products''.
  And all 156 nations in the WTO would have to smash down their own Glass-Steagall divisions between commercial savings banks and the investment banks that gamble with derivatives.
  The job of turning the FSA into the bankers' battering ram was given to Geithner, who was named Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation.
  Bankers Go Bananas
  Why in the world would any nation agree to let its banking system be boarded and seized by financial pirates like JP Morgan?
  The answer, in the case of Ecuador, was bananas. Ecuador was truly a banana republic. The yellow fruit was that nation's life-and-death source of hard currency. If it refused to sign the new FSA, Ecuador could feed its bananas to the monkeys and go back into bankruptcy. Ecuador signed.
  And so on '' with every single nation bullied into signing.
  Every nation but one, I should say. Brazil's new President, Inacio Lula da Silva, refused. In retaliation, Brazil was threatened with a virtual embargo of its products by the European Union's Trade Commissioner, one Peter Mandelson, according to another confidential memo I got my hands on. But Lula's refusenik stance paid off for Brazil which, alone among Western nations, survived and thrived during the 2007-9 bank crisis.
  China signed '' but got its pound of flesh in return. It opened its banking sector a crack in return for access and control of the US auto parts and other markets. (Swiftly, two million US jobs shifted to China.)
  The new FSA pulled the lid off the Pandora's box of worldwide derivatives trade. Among the notorious transactions legalised: Goldman Sachs (where Treasury Secretary Rubin had been co-chairman) worked a secret euro-derivatives swap with Greece which, ultimately, destroyed that nation. Ecuador, its own banking sector de-regulated and demolished, exploded into riots. Argentina had to sell off its oil companies (to the Spanish) and water systems (to Enron) while its teachers hunted for food in garbage cans. Then, Bankers Gone Wild in the Eurozone dove head-first into derivatives pools without knowing how to swim '' and the continent is now being sold off in tiny, cheap pieces to Germany.
  Of course, it was not just threats that sold the FSA, but temptation as well. After all, every evil starts with one bite of an apple offered by a snake. The apple: the gleaming piles of lucre hidden in the FSA for local elites. The snake was named Larry.
  Does all this evil and pain flow from a single memo? Of course not: the evil was The Game itself, as played by the banker clique. The memo only revealed their game-plan for checkmate.
  And the memo reveals a lot about Summers and Obama.
  While billions of sorry souls are still hurting from worldwide banker-made disaster, Rubin and Summers didn't do too badly. Rubin's deregulation of banks had permitted the creation of a financial monstrosity called ''Citigroup''. Within weeks of leaving office, Rubin was named director, then Chairman of Citigroup '' which went bankrupt while managing to pay Rubin a total of $126 million.
  Then Rubin took on another post: as key campaign benefactor to a young State Senator, Barack Obama. Only days after his election as President, Obama, at Rubin's insistence, gave Summers the odd post of US ''Economics Tsar'' and made Geithner his Tsarina (that is, Secretary of Treasury). In 2010, Summers gave up his royalist robes to return to ''consulting'' for Citibank and other creatures of bank deregulation whose payments have raised Summers' net worth by $31 million since the ''end-game'' memo.
  That Obama would, at Robert Rubin's demand, now choose Summers to run the Federal Reserve Board means that, unfortunately, we are far from the end of the game.
  Special thanks to expert Mary Bottari of Bankster USA www.BanksterUSA.org without whom our investigation could not have begun.
  The film of my meeting with WTO chief Lamy was originally created for Ring of Fire, hosted by Mike Papantonio and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
  Further discussion of the documents I laid before Lamy can be found in ''The Generalissimo of Globalization,'' Chapter 12 of Vultures' Picnic by Greg Palast (Constable Robinson 2012).
  FollowGreg on Twitter: @Greg_Palast
  Previously '' 'The Con' Is Leaving a Trail of Blood Across the Planet
The Blame Game Begins: Nasdaq Accuses NYSE Arca For Causing "Glitch"
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Zero Hedge
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 02:59
  Just over three hours ago, when discussing the NASDARK 3 hour trading halt, we asked: "what was it about Apple's locked Bid and/or Ask that caused the NASDAQ freak out, and was all the Tape C trouble at the NASDAQ purely a function of a locked order originating at NYSE Arca?" Moments ago, we got one half of the answer courtesy of the WSJ, which reports that "Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. executives internally on Thursday pointed to a "connectivity" problem with competing electronic exchange NYSE Arca as the trigger to technical issues that led to a three-hour halt in trading of Nasdaq-listed stocks, according to people familiar with the matter." Of course, Zero Hedge readers already knew that.
  WSJ continues:
  Internally, Nasdaq officials say their technicians should have been able to manage the connectivity problems and avoid the halt that widely disrupted U.S. stock trading Thursday, the people said.
  NYSE Arca's connection to the data feed Thursday morning Eastern time was temporarily intermittent, according to the people familiar with internal Nasdaq discussions. Arca in the morning reported to the market problems processing order messages, but then said the issues were resolved.
  But inside Nasdaq, executives pointed to those issues as triggering software and hardware problems on the data feed Nasdaq operates, according to people familiar with the discussions.
  It couldn't be determined what specific hardware and software issues were caused by connectivity problems with a single exchange, which shouldn't have brought down so key a system used by market-wide.
  That's a great start: it took the MSM only three hours to read between the lines of the Nasdaq's self-exculpatory statement, and figure out the venue: much faster than the usual 3 to 6 months.
  Now, we hope that the actual instrument of implementing the "glitch" and the connectivity issue, namely AAPL stock, is uncovered just as fast. We also hope this AAPL-mediated cascade was of benign origin, because the last thing mom and pop investor will want to know is that the world's largest tech company can also be used as a weapon of exchange destruction.
  Finally, since there was someone behind NYSE Arca sending out the locked bid and ask in AAPL, we also hope to get an answer to the final question: who.
  Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 5(6 votes)
radio programs from a long time ago.
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  Archived Version
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 02:57
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  Home HelpSearch eHam > eHam Forums > DXing > radio programs from a long time ago.Pages: [1] Go Down previousnext >> Print AuthorTopic: radio programs from a long time ago. (Read 66 times)KC8KTNMemberPosts: 448
  radio programs from a long time ago. on:Today at 07:07:16 PM >>
  I was just listening around on the am band last night doing some dxing. I heard some program from the 1940,s durning the war. It was not a rebroadcast it was live is this even possible . I googled this and from what I read this is possible. Can anyone explain this.
  LoggedAA4PBMemberPosts: 11683
  RE: radio programs from a long time ago. Reply #1 on:Today at 07:14:18 PM >>
  How do you know that it was not a rebroadcast?
  LoggedWX2SMemberPosts: 348
  RE: radio programs from a long time ago. Reply #2 on:Today at 07:29:01 PM >>
  Reflection from the star Pollux. It's 33.7 light years, so the show is probably from 1946. - WX2S
  Logged73, - Steve WX2S.I subscribe to the DX Code of Conduct. http://dx-code.org/Pages: [1] Go Up Print previousnext >> Jump to:
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Are The Koch Brothers Going to Follow Ron Paul Into Internet Television?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: EconomicPolicyJournal.com
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 02:55
  NYT reports:Charles and David Koch are no longer contemplating a purchase of the Tribune Company's chain of newspapers, a spokeswoman for the billionaire industrialists said on Thursday.The spokeswoman, Melissa Cohlmia, affirmed a report by the conservative news Web site The Daily Caller that said Koch Industries '-- where Charles is chairman and chief executive and David is an executive vice president '-- had concluded that the acquisition was ''not economically viable.''But other acquisitions in the media industry might be: ''Koch continues to have an interest in the media business, and we're exploring a broad range of opportunities where we think we can add value,'' Ms. Cohlmia said in a statement. She declined to elaborate.So what does a broad range of media opportunities mean? It's not completely clear, but internet television can't be ruled out. NYT reports on comments made by Charles Koch to the Wichita Eagle:''There are tremendous changes going on in media, in taking media as a whole, all forms of communication. We're back at square one analyzing where is the most change, where are the best opportunities for new entrants to come in and add value. And so newspapers are one, but there are all sorts of others. There's the Internet, there's TV. There's entertainment. And so we don't know where we'll end up on that,'' Mr. Koch told the paper.
  Thus, an internet television show wouldn't come as a surprise. The Koch brothers have always made important business decisions based on the thinking of principled libertarians. Indeed, their great wealth was built on Austrian economist Murray Rothbard's waning in 1963 of then developing price inflation. The Kochs bet on this Rothbard warning and bought assets using huge debt that they were able to pay off with cheap dollars.
It Was AAPL After All
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Zero Hedge
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 00:22
  As we pointed out first, the Nasdaq outage can be directly and indirectly traced to action in Apple stock from mere minutes (when it suddenly dropped to under $500) to just over an hour before the Tape C halt was announced. And while the plunge below $500 may have been the proximal cause for the lock up that crippled the Nasdaq in a historic three hour episode of unprecedented humiliation, Nanex, which also uncovered the real quote-stuffing reason behine the May 2010 flash crash (and which the SEC tried to pin squarely on Waddell and Reed) has just disclosed that Nasdaq was already demonstrating explicit "glitches" in the trading of Apple well ahead of the 12:21 pm trading halt.
  Whereas we previously showed three charts demonstrating the chaos that broke out in AAPL moments before the NASDAQ officially halted Tape C trading, the chart below courtesy of Nanex shows two periods of distinct Nasdaq silence between 11:01 am and 11:04 am and a second block a few seconds later, in which there a combined three minute outage for the NASDAQ in AAPL trades, and when the Best Bid had locked up (as would happen again after 3 pm only this time with the Best Ask), letting the Best Ask run loose and once again make a mockery of the NBBO. Curiously while the Best Bid only was locked during the first "radio silent" period, both the Best Bid and Best Ask were locked in the seconds just following 11:04 am when NASDAQ was once again "offline" in AAPL trading.
  Incidentally, all of the above took place during the first market break today when as we also reported, BATS declared self help against NYSE Arca, for the second time in one hour, starting at 10:49 am and revoking self-help at 11:13 am. During this interval Nasdaq has a 3 minute radio silence in AAPL trades.
  Summarizing:
  BATS "self-helps" against NYSE Arca for the first time between 10:19am and 10:26 amBATS "self-helps" against NYSE Arca for the second time between 10:49 am and 11:13 amDuring this interval NASDAQ has two periods of trading radio silence, when the Best Bid, and then both Best Bid and Best Ask, are locked.About an hour later, AAPL slides on no news and breaches the $500 support level just around noon.At 12:09 NASDAQ advises that it is "currently experiencing issues with quote submission to the UTP SIP."At 12:14 NASDAQ advises it is halting trading in all Tape C securities.NASDAQ reopens at 3:25 pm; moments later NASDAQ declares self-help against NYSE Arca (as does BATS - for the third time).At the same time, whether or not due to NYSE Arca or not, AAPL's Best Ask is once again locked and is showing well below the Best Bid: i.e., a broken market.So, for the third time today we ask: what was it about Apple's locked Bid and/or Ask that caused the NASDAQ freak out, and was all the Tape C trouble at the NASDAQ purely a function of a locked order originating at NYSE Arca?
  We doubt, however, that NASDAQ will answer. Doing so just might expose someone who would have otherwise lost millions due to the exchange glitches, either at Nasdaq or NYSE Arca, had trades not been unwound and had the exchange not gone offline. Instead the NASDAQ will choose to cop out, and blame everything on a glitch, as it just did moments ago.
  Still, as much as we would like to believe that today's epic market failure was merely a "glitch" the sequence of events above shows that at the very least the initial problem originated not at the NASDAQ but at Arca, and that AAPL had a very instrumental role to play in the cascade of events that resulted in the NASDAQ's historic 3+ hour halt.
  And, one wonders, just what was the role of Carl Icahn's tweet in all of this...
  Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 5(2 votes)
Satellites glimpse ultra-powerful ''black hole'' whirlpools in Atlantic - Yahoo! News UK
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 00:13
  Satellites have shown two mysterious 'black hole' whirlpools in the South Atlantic ocean - ultra powerful ''vortexes'' which suck water down into the depths.
  The whirpools - never witnessed before - would suck down ships, debris and even living creatures, moving 1.3 million cubic metres of water per second.
  Two of the black holes - or ''maelstroms'' - have been sighted in three months by physicists from Zurich and Miami.
  The powerful vortices of current have been described as 'maelstroms' and are 'mathematical analogues' for black holes '' which is to say they do exactly the same with water that black holes do with light.
  The discovery could give new insights into how oceanic currents transport debris and may even have implications for climate change studies.
  Astronomical black holes bend space and time into a perpetually collapsing vortex. Light itself bends around them, which enables astronomers to recognise their existence.
  Similarly, these oceanic maelstroms funnel current into an almost permanent spiral, trapping debris, oil and potentially living creatures in a body of water. Hardly anything leaks out.
  The scientists used Edgar Allen Poe's 1841 story 'A descent into a Maelstrom' to describe their discovery:''The edge of the whirl was represented by a broad belt of gleaming spray; but no particle of this slipped into the mouth of the terrific funnel'...''
  The ability to apply the same mathematical principles to water currents on earth as black holes in space is an unexpected side-effect of the theory of general relativity.
  This phenomenon has been observed in the South Atlantic and South-western Indian Ocean, using satellite imagery designed to spot the aquatic equivalent of black hole currents. According to scientists, the maelstroms are prevalent in this area thanks to the southbound Agulhas current in the Indian Ocean.
  In a three-month period, two perfect matches were found to mimic black hole behaviour, ''We have found exceptionally coherent material belts in the South Atlantic, filled with analogues of photon spheres around black holes,'' said George Haller, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Z¼rich and Francisco Beron-Vera at the University of Miami in Florida, who worked on the study.
  The phrase 'photon spheres' refers to the light that is trapped around astronomical black holes, and in this instance is comparable to the rings of debris that are forming around these ocean maelstroms. As Haller and Beron-Vera's findings note, 'these vortices will capture and swallow nearby passively floating debris.'
  In their research findings, Haller and Beron-Vora express their surprise at finding real-world examples that hold so closely to the theoretical equations. 'Vortices in turbulence are often envisaged as rotating bodies of fluid, traveling as coherent islands in an otherwise incoherent ambient flow. This'... '...view is appealingly simple, yet challenging to apply in actual vortex detection.'
  The maelstroms are detected by their rotating edges, which the scientists found were reliable indicators of the vortex within, based on pioneering research carried out by Stephen Hawking on black holes: 'Intuitively, one expects that any'...vortex in the fluid must contain such a singularity in its interior, just as all black holes are expected to contain Penrose-Hawking singularities. This expectation turns out to be correct'.
  The singularities, as they have been termed, last for months at a time, moving across the ocean without interference from other currents.
  Thus they can transport water of different temperatures and salinity to other areas of the ocean, potentially influencing the regional climate.
  Haller and Beron-Vera found that the vortices transported water in a north-western direction 30% faster than had previously been reckoned '' at a rate equating to 1.3 million cubic metres of water per second.
  In addition, the maelstroms were found to occur four times deeper in the ocean than previously estimated; the study found examples as deep as 2000m below the surface.
Nasdaq computers the target of Russian hackers, say US prosecutors | South China Morning Post
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 00:08
  Nasdaq computers the target of Russian hackers, say US prosecutors
  A prolific gang of hackers stole and sold 160 million credit card numbers from more than a dozen firms, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses, US federal prosecutors charged.
  But one company they hacked had nothing to do with credit cards or bank accounts: Nasdaq.
  While they penetrated the main servers supporting Nasdaq's trading operations, it appears they caused limited damage. However, the attack raised the prospect that hackers could be getting closer to the infrastructure that supports billions of dollars of trades each hour.
  The credit card scheme was run by four Russian nationals and a Ukrainian, said Paul Fishman, the US attorney for the District of New Jersey.
  The victims in the scheme, which prosecutors said ran from 2005 until last year, included J.C. Penney, 7-Eleven, Heartland Payment Systems - a credit and debit processing company - and French retailer Carrefour.
  The defendants were identified as Vladimir Drinkman, Alexander Kalinin, Roman Kotov and Dmitry Smilianets of Russia and Mikhail Rytikov of Ukraine. Smilianets and Drinkman were arrested in the Netherlands last year. Smilianets has been extradited to the US, where he is expected to make his first court appearance next week. The other three are at large.
  Separate indictments involving some of the same men, accusing them of computer attacks on Citibank, PNC Bank and the Nasdaq stock exchange, were filed by federal prosecutors in New York.
  The attackers had a sophisticated division of labour, according to the indictment. One hosted an anonymous web server. Others broke into the targeted sites. Another went inside and fetched the items of interest.
  The defendants were able to sell US credit card numbers for US$10 and European numbers for US$50 because of the poorer security safeguards on US cards, Fishman said.
  He said Heartland Payment Systems had suffered the biggest losses identified so far, about US$200 million.
  Kalinin and another Russian, Nikolai Nasenkov, who is also at large, are accused of conducting a scheme to steal bank account information and use it to withdraw millions of dollars from the victims' bank accounts.
  Kalinin was also charged with having gained access for two years to the servers of the Nasdaq stock exchange.
  "As today's allegations make clear, cybercriminals are determined to prey not only on individual bank accounts, but on the financial system itself," Preet Bharara, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, New York, said in announcing the case.
  As today's allegations make clear, cybercriminals are determined to prey not only on individual bank accounts, but on the financial system itself
  Preet Bharara, Manhattan federal prosecutor
  Kalinin had access to the Nasdaq servers, intermittently, until October 2010. Nasdaq discovered the breach itself and alerted the authorities.
  Paul Tiao, a former senior adviser on cybersecurity at the FBI, said the Nasdaq breach was worrying because the servers the defendants attacked could have eventually provided an entry point to the more closely guarded trading systems.
  This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Nasdaq breach a first for hackers
Michael Hastings' Dangerous Mind: Journalistic Star Was Loved, Feared and Haunted - Page 1 - News - Los Angeles - LA Weekly
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Fri, 23 Aug 2013 00:04
  In April, a man namedErin Walker Markland drove off a mountain road near Santa Cruz and was killed. The woman who had planned to marry him, Jordanna Thigpen, was devastated. For comfort, she turned to a man who had taken up residence next door. He had been through something similar '-- years before, his fianc(C)e had been killed.
  Michael Hastings' publicity photo shows him as a battle-hardened war correspondent.
  Hastings recently had lost weight and went clean-shaven. In March, he donned a hoodie for an appearance on Current TV.
  Related ContentMore About"He was the only person in my life who understood what I was going through," she says.
  The landlord they both rented from had encouraged her to meet him, saying he was a writer. In their initial conversations, he was unusually modest. It was only when she Googled his name '-- Michael Hastings '-- that she learned he was a famous war correspondent.
  In February, Hastings had rented a one-bedroom apartment with a gorgeous view overlooking Hollywood. The landlord allowed him to use another unit, the one below Thigpen's, to write.
  Often, when Hastings was done for the day, he would visit Thigpen. He would talk passionately about the stories he was working on. They talked about other things in the news, about stories she thought he should pursue, and about their shared sense of grief.
  "We both suffered the same thing, which was depression," she says.
  Hastings was intensely interested in government surveillance of journalists. In May, the story broke about the Department of Justice obtaining the phone records of Associated Press reporters. A couple weeks later, Edward Snowden's revelations about the National Security Agency's massive surveillance program became public. Hastings was convinced he was a target.
  His behavior grew increasingly erratic. Helicopters often circle over the hills, but Hastings believed there were more of them around whenever he was at home, keeping an eye on him. He came to believe his Mercedes was being tampered with. "Nothing I could say could console him," Thigpen says.
  One night in June, he came to Thigpen's apartment after midnight and urgently asked to borrow her Volvo. He said he was afraid to drive his own car. She declined, telling him her car was having mechanical problems.
  "He was scared, and he wanted to leave town," she says.
  The next day, around 11:15 a.m., she got a call from her landlord, who told her Hastings had died early that morning. His car had crashed into a palm tree at 75 mph and exploded in a ball of fire.
  "I burst into tears," Thigpen says. "I couldn't believe it had happened again."
  See also: New Surveillance Video Shows Fiery Crash
  Michael Hastings was just 33 when he died, but he left behind a remarkable legacy. In tributes across the Internet, he was remembered as one of the best journalists of his generation.
  He was most famous for "The Runaway General," the Rolling Stone piece that ended the career of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of the Afghanistan war. Hastings had built a reputation as a fearless disrupter of the cozy ways of Washington, gleefully calling bullshit on government hacks and colleagues alike. He was loved and admired, hated and feared.
  The day before he died, he'd warned colleagues in an email that he was being investigated by the FBI. He also said he was onto a "big story," and would be going off the radar. Almost inevitably, his death '-- in a fiery, single-car crash, at 4:20 a.m. on June 18 '-- resulted in a swarm of conspiracy theories.
  Amateur forensic examinations have proliferated online. A common refrain is, "A car just doesn't blow up like that." Some argue that he was murdered by the CIA, or the NSA, or the Pentagon.
  Hastings' family and the Los Angeles Police Department both have dismissed the conspiracies. LAPD also has ruled out suicide. "My gut is that this was really a tragic accident," his widow, Elise Jordan, told CNN.
  Interviews with friends as well as the coroner's report suggest that Hastings' mental health was deteriorating. As a young man, he'd abused drugs and alcohol and received a possible diagnosis of manic depression. Now, after a long period of sobriety, he had recently begun smoking pot to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder '-- the product of years of covering combat.
  His family was concerned. In the days leading up to his death, one of his brothers visited L.A. in an attempt to get Hastings into rehab; he later told investigators he feared more serious drug use.
  Hastings had long been both brilliant and troubled. Friends recall him as a captivating storyteller. "It was thrilling to have a conversation, because you never knew where it might end up," says Alyona Minkovski, a close friend. "Everybody was drawn to him."
  He was charming; he also could be an asshole. That was all part of his public persona. But he also had a darker side, which he tended to keep hidden.
  "[S]elf-destruction does haunt me," he wrote, on the road to Baghdad. "[T]here was a long time in my life where I thought the only thing to do with myself was to destroy it."
  Hastings was born in Malone, N.Y., in 1980. The family moved to Montreal when he was 11. As a teenager at Lower Canada College, a private prep school, Hastings got hooked on the gonzo writings of Hunter S. Thompson. He wrote a column for his school paper, called "Fear and Loathing at L.C.C."
Aust sucks up Ocean's waters: study - The West Australian
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 22 Aug 2013 23:58
  The world's sea levels fell in 2011 and it's all Australia's fault.
  New US research shows Australia's dry soil and mountainous coastline soaked up heavy rainfall in 2010 and 2011 and stopped it from flowing back into the ocean.
  That effectively halted a longterm trend of rising sea levels which have been caused by higher temperatures and melting ice sheets.
  "No other continent has this combination of atmospheric set-up and topography," scientist John Fasullo, who worked on the study, said in a statement.
  "Only in Australia could the atmosphere carry such heavy tropical rains to such a large area, only to have those rains fail to make their way to the ocean."
  The harsh Australian landscape is being blamed for a fall in the world's sea levels. Photo: Getty.
  The world's oceans have been rising in recent decades by around three millimetres every year.
  This is partly because heat has caused water to expand, and partly because run-off from retreating glaciers and ice sheets has made its way into the oceans.
  But for an 18-month period beginning in 2010, the oceans mysteriously dropped by about seven millimetres, more than offsetting the annual rise, the study says.
  The US scientists say this was mainly caused by Australia's uniquely dry soil and land surface.
  While some of the water evaporated in the desert sun, much of it sank into the dry, granular soil of the Western Plateau or filled the Lake Eyre basin in the east.
  Since 2011, sea levels have been rising at a faster pace of about ten millimetres per year.
A Convicted Murderer's Case for Gun Control - John Lennon - The Atlantic
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 22 Aug 2013 21:56
  Why a man serving 28 years to life at the Attica Correctional Facility believes a few simple laws could significantly affect criminal behavior
  Jorge Silva/ReutersIt was swift and cowardly.
  Defenseless, distracted by music, Alex sat in the passenger seat of the rental as I made my way to the trunk. I remembered Frankie's words: ''It's loaded, cocked, and the safety is off. All you have to do is pull the trigger.''
  At that point in our lives, Alex and I, both in our early twenties, were gun-toting thugs immersed in gangster culture. We were out on bail for separate gun charges. A few years before, Alex had been acquitted of murder for allegedly shooting a woman through the peephole of a Brooklyn housing project door. After that, his reputation preceded him.
  On that night I knew Alex had been extorting a man who sold drugs for me. It sounds sick but part of me aspired to murder because it's considered an accomplishment in gangster culture -- it would enhance my reputation, complete my image. Yet another part of me knew this culture was foul and murder was horrible.
  Despite the Xanax dulling my emotions, my heart pounded when I picked up the M-16. A surge of power rushed through me when I felt the trigger. I pointed in the driver's side window ... and squeezed.
  Arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to a jarring 28 years to life at Attica, I entered prison. For many years I sifted through a host of rationalizations, but today I accept responsibility. I'm sorry for killing Alex, sorry for taking all the life he could have had.
  With this in mind, I wish to add some perspective to the gun-control debate. My first gun was a chrome .25 caliber automatic with a pink, pearl handle. It was beautiful. But it was a killing machine, and at 14 years old I had the same hole in my heart that President Obama, in a Chicago speech, stated other child killers had. I had no business with that gun. Yet making guns accessible to troubled souls is business as usual in America.
  Here's how the game works. Criminals manipulate people with clean records -- cash-strapped students, vulnerable women, drug addicts -- to buy guns for them in states with minimal oversight, like Virginia. The criminal transports the guns to New York, then resells them or trades them for drugs that he'll take back to Virginia to sell. This was the hustle when I was out in the '90s. I'm sure some form of it still continues.
  My first gun was a chrome .25 caliber automatic with a pink, pearl handle. It was beautiful. But it was a killing machine, and at 14 years old I had the same hole in my heart that President Obama stated other child killers had.However, since the Senate -- the most undemocratic aspect of our government -- halted gun legislation in April, the nation has moved on. But the shootings and killings in the world I know have continued and will continue unless we refocus on the root of the problem: our gun culture, and the easy access it affords criminals. Background checks for killing machines cannot be rudimentary, where criminals know every step -- the rules of the game I describe have to change.
  Disconnected Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican, says, ''Criminals do not submit to background checks now. They will not submit to expanded background checks.'' Grassley's full-scale alternative gun measures, which focused on funding prosecutions for illegal gun possessions rather than background checks, helped derail the legislation in April. Aggressive prosecutions are punishment measures that, frankly, do not deter criminals from acquiring, possessing, or killing with guns. Conversely, intensifying background checks will change the game and spook those who buy guns for criminals. This will deter so-called straw purchases.
  Government should also create a system that tracks gun-purchasing patterns. Credit-card companies already respond to irregular spending patterns'--I used to shop with stolen credit cards, and when the employee at the register said, ''I have to call the company,'' I knew the jig was up. Similarly, it should raise red flags when a person who has never bought a gun suddenly buys five handguns. If the buyer is, for example, purchasing the guns for a drug dealer in the parking lot, he or she will be shaken if the sales clerk says something like, ''We have to call and document this purchase with a new agency.''
  Courtesy John LennonLikewise, it's bizarre that the bazaars selling guns aren't regulated. Websites like Armslist.com provide a buffet of leads for charismatic criminals to buy guns from private sellers. These sites are like perpetual gun shows, which are truly the ultimate forums to make connections for criminals who blend in well -- like me.
  Bottom line, criminals create an indirect demand for gun manufacturers and merchandisers. For most criminals, purchasing a gun isn't a one-shot deal. I had two separate gun-possession charges before I killed with an assault rifle. These are my convictions, but they hardly represent the number of guns I went through during my criminal career.
  Engulfed in an orgy of violence, my last month of freedom was chaos. Home invasions, robberies, murder -- at the center of it all were guns: They would be disposed of, tossed after shoot-outs, then bought again. Easily. And I always bought new guns, so the notion that criminals just use stolen guns, acquired from a neighborhood burglar, is absurd. (The paper trail may suggest that, because the people making straw purchases also file false reports claiming the guns stolen.) Like most criminals, I created an extraordinary demand for the gun sector.
  I'm where I belong. But without a gun I would not have killed.I'm where I belong. But without a gun I would not have killed. Like most misguided, impulsive youth in America, I was emotionally and socially retarded, with a killing machine on my waist. The gun sector and I do not share the same culpability. Hardly. It's unethical, however, for stakeholders of Sturm, Ruger and Smith & Wesson to contest oversight that would prevent arming individuals like me. Hiding behind manipulative interpretations of the Second Amendment and arguments crafted by the gun lobby, which suggest that the panacea is to enrich our moral fiber, is no help. God knows I'd support moral reform -- but fixing moral decay is a tall order. Meanwhile, our free-market gun culture is out of control. Let's fix that. Now.
  Congress needs to take up gun control again when members return to Washington in September. This debate isn't going away. ''The world is watching the United States Senate, and we will be held accountable,'' Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal, one of the senators at the helm of gun-control efforts, said after the bill stalled this spring. Perhaps it's too utilitarian or oversimplified, but as a nation we're left with the following question: Is the benefit of experiencing that surge of power, which some individuals get from sport shooting, worth the cost of unhealthy individuals, like me, experiencing a similar surge of power while they swiftly and cowardly shoot people?
  For our own sake, for the sake of thousands of victims' families affected, and thousands more whose lives will be affected, the answer seems clear.
VIDEO- America Alert: August - November 2013 - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 22 Aug 2013 21:44
U.S. says unable to conclusively determine chemical weapons used in Syria
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 22 Aug 2013 21:36
  (Adds details, quotes)
  WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it was unable to conclusively say that chemical weapons were used in an alleged deadly gas attack near Damascus, and U.S. President Barack Obama has directed U.S. intelligence agencies to urgently help verify allegations.
  "At this time, right now, we are unable to conclusively determine CW (chemical weapons) use," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters. "We are doing everything possible in our power to nail down the facts," she added.
  She said Obama had instructed the U.S. intelligence community to look into what happened.
  "That means gathering information from witnesses on the ground, it means intelligence gathering, it means open-source reporting, it means scientific gathering," Psaki said, acknowledging that it may be a challenging task given the United States does not have diplomatic relations with Syria.
  With the death toll from Wednesday's incident estimated between 500 and 1,300, it would be the world's most lethal chemical weapons attack since the 1980s.
  Secretary of State John Kerry has spoken to his counterparts in Europe and the Middle East to better understand what happened and discuss "appropriate steps".
  The United States was part of a group of about 36 countries who asked the United Nations on Wednesday to immediately investigate the alleged attacks. Syria's government has offered no immediate public response to calls on Thursday for the UN to have access to the areas.
  Obama warned Damascus last year that any attempt to deploy or use chemical or biological weapons would cross a "red line." Psaki on Thursday said that line had been crossed "a couple of months ago" and there were a range of options that Obama and his national security team were considering.
  She declined to elaborate on what those actions could be, although the White House said in June it would offer military aid to vetted groups of Syrian rebels who have been fighting for more than two years to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
  "If these reports are true it would be an outrageous and flagrant escalation of use of chemical weapons by the regime, so our focus is nailing down the facts," Psaki said. (Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Sandra Maler and Paul Simao)
David Miranda '' Snowden's Mule, and physical data
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Unfashionista
  Thu, 22 Aug 2013 14:40
  Why was Glenn Greenwald using David Miranda as a mule for stolen, classified U.S. intelligence?
  When I tweeted thanks to our security forces, saying Edward Snowden had stolen classified info and now we had it back, there was an outcry from lefties along these lines:
  Louise Mensch doesn't understand data. She thinks there's only one copy. She thinks if I copy a photo I've stolen it. etc etc etc.
  Equally, we had Alan Rusbridger trying to deflect the attention of the UK's papers from the Guardian's lies, smears and omissions on the Miranda mule story by diverting their attention to the smashing of Guardian computers by GCHQ. 'We had copies of the data in New York and Rio' he said, tweeting an obviously faked picture of a MacBook Air he said heavies had smashed that was actually the components of all sorts of different computers, leading to suspicions by normally on-side geeks that the Grauniad was faking the photo for effect with random computer parts.
  Now I don't want to do our Fourth Estate's job for them but it looks like I'm going to have to (again) '' after their supine closing of ranks just because Glenn Greenwald is a journalist, and their unwillingness to look at him, Miranda or the Guardian with a critical eye until after the damage was done.
  Look, boys and girls, you hold politicians to account, hold YOUR OWN to account too. No fear no favour '' stop turning a blind eye and swallowing the spin so uncritically.
  Ask yourselves this damned obvious question. If the data was copied everywhere and it didn't matter, why is Rusbridger talking about ''copies in New York and Rio''?
  Why is David Miranda carrying it on encrypted thumb drives?
  Why is David Miranda acting as a go-between at all?
  Haven't Laura Poitras, Glenn Greenberg and the Guardian heard of Dropbox? Or P2P filesharing sites? There are a million ways to store locked data in the cloud.
  Let's review:
  He was returning to their home in Rio de Janeiro when he was stopped at Heathrow and officials confiscated electronics equipment, including his mobile phone, laptop, camera, memory sticks, DVDs and games consoles.
  This Guardian quote does not say ''rolls of film'... written notebooks'' etc. It describes only electronic storage devices for data. They could have saved David Miranda ''He is my partner, he is not a journalist'' 's ticket price and expenses by, you know, storing all that in the cloud or shipping it via FedEx.
  Glenn Greenwald to the New York Times:
  Ms. Poitras, in turn, gave Mr. Miranda different documents to pass to Mr. Greenwald. Those documents, which were stored on encrypted thumb drives, were confiscated by airport security, Mr. Greenwald said. All of the documents came from the trove of materials provided to the two journalists by Mr. Snowden.
  But Miranda and Poitras used a human mule (if indeed we believe him, I absolutely don't, that he didn't know what he was carrying).
  Why?
  Yes, I realise I'm asking journalists to ask hard questions about another journalist and they like to keep those for people outside their club. Thank goodness for blogging and Twitter '' and the smashing of big media's gatekeeping hold on information.
  Ask yourselves if Glenn Greenwald, and Laura Poitras, are actively assisting Edward Snowden in his treacherous dissemination of classified, incredibly sensitive US and UK intelligence? From where I'm sitting, it looks like an attempt to fight charges in advance '' by claiming that they are journalists and everything they do is covered by the First Amendment. Hence the New York Times putting Poitras on the cover of its magazine supplement this week and Greenwald's repeated lies about the role of his husband and the events and aftermath of the detention to British journalists, unchallenged anywhere in the UK press, until I started tweeting about it & wrote my last blog on the topic.
  They hope that claiming a journalistic role will protect them when they are stealing, storing and disseminating classified intel about not just NSA snooping but America's intelligence programmes against China, Russia and so forth. They are, in doing so, risking countless lives. So are the Guardian newspaper. As Malcom Rifkind said countering BBC bias yesterday on the Today programme, the Guardian had no right to store that stolen intelligence or to report even on GCHQ data collection (legal, not illegal, data collection). As he said, the Guardian's angle was the GCHQ could legally penetrate comms in a deeper way than was known '' and of course the Guardian let Al Qaeda and others know that, meaning that terrorists will start protecting their communications. Some terrorists are sophisticated '' others, like many extremist Islamist cells, are not. The latter have been warned off by the Guardian from ways that UK spooks were tracking them.
  ''Rusbridger was on weak ground'' Rifkind said. ''He knew he had no legal right to possess the material.'' And the point about the Guardian's immense arrogance was made extremely well in the Daily Mail by Simon Glover:
  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2398470/The-Guardians-murky-waters-love-country-venture-says-STEPHEN-GLOVER.html
  In a BBC radio interview yesterday, Mr Rusbridger claimed his newspaper had 'held back a great deal' of information from Snowden that might be harmful to Britain if it ever saw the light of day. Maybe it has, but some stuff has been published that was damaging.
  It was because the Government feared the Guardian's hard drives could contain unused material that might be hacked into by terrorists that it not unreasonably persuaded Mr Rusbridger to destroy them.
  Indeed. On these physical hard drives a newspaper '' just a newspaper, which takes on new staff all the time, where people come and go every day, including brand new employees, the Grauniad stored dangerous stolen classified intelligence. Remember Rusbridger's tweeted ''Macbook'' photo that contained parts from all kinds of computers. One of two things is true about it:
  1. The photo was faked by Rusbridger, and Guardian hacks assembled parts of many computers, not smashed up by GCHQ, for effect.
  2. The photo was not faked. All the parts came from computers the Guardian allowed GCHQ to smash up. That would mean they were storing this classifed stolen data on multiple computers.
  So let's assume that 2. is true although I find the Guardian less and less trustworthy on all matters to do with this story. That means they were storing stolen data that could imperil our intelligence and UK and US intelligence agents' lives, and materially help terrorist networks and despotic regimes like China and Russia, on a bunch of office computers.
  Nice one, the Guardian! Because really, no sophisticated spy agency can remotely access any of those, can it? On your PC and Macbook and MacBook Air and all the other different computers in that pic, no terrorists can send a kid in as an (unpaid) Guardian intern who could pretty easily hack your stuff? You are secure over there in King's Place, are you, #GuardianBond? And you are holding this stuff on all kinds of different computers, increasing the likelihood of hacks with each one?
  In fact the shame is that the Government and GCHQ waited to go in there and demand destruction of the drives. They should have done it right away.
  And so back to the question that the UK's media and Twitter's Greenwald obsessives are not asking.
  If the data is stored in the cloud why is King's Place keeping it on physical hard drives? Why is Glenn Greenwald using a human courier at all?
  Because Greenwald, and not Miranda, is a US citizen '' and it would be a serious felony for Greenwald to transmit, mail, send in the cloud etc, stolen CIA data that risks the lives of US intelligence agencies. If Miranda is doing the transporting Greenwald can argue that he never did this. That he only received the information and did not disseminate it.
  Lastly, why is it so important that our police questioned Miranda for 9 hours '' after offering him that lawyer that he refused? Well, they got him to surrender his computer and social media passwords. Quite bloody right too. God willing, on that phone, that computer, those soc med accounts, they find some encryption keys, some ways to get in to the Snowden intel he was muling, and save American lives. Of course we know Snowden, the traitor, has permanently leaked that intel to the enemies of America, from his interview with the South China Morning Post and the boasting of Julian Assange:
  There is no stopping the publishing process at this stage. Great care has been taken to make sure that Mr. Snowden can't be pressured by any state to stop the publication process.
  Let's just remind ourselves of Assange's attitude to American lives and allies like translators:
  Declan Walsh, the Guardian's Islamabad correspondent, recalls one tense evening: ''We went out to a Moorish restaurant, Moro, with the two German reporters. David Leigh broached the problem again with Julian. The response floored me. 'Well, they're informants,' he said. 'So, if they get killed, they've got it coming to them. They deserve it.' There was, for a moment, silence around the table. I think everyone was struck by what a callous thing that was to say.
  That's the guy Snowden has given his files to. He should rot in jail for it for the rest of his life. So why does it matter that our security forces help the Americans with the stolen Snowden data they got back from Miranda? Because it's by no means clear the Americans yet know the extent of what he has endangered:
  http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/20/20108770-us-doesnt-know-what-snowden-took-sources-say?lite
  By cracking the code from Miranda's copy of the Snowden data, MI5 can help our American cousins know how bad it is and protect their, and our, intelligence agents from Snowden's filthy treachery.
  Well done indeed to our Border Police. And Theresa May and David Cameron need to be strong on this and absolutely unyielding. Being a journalist entitles you to report on a story. It does NOT entitle you to own, or to traffic, stolen intelligence data that puts UK and US spy programmes and agents' lives at risk. These are not the Pentagon Papers; we already knew that when Edward Snowden told the Chinese regime, via their state engine the South China Morning Post, about US intelligence efforts against them, and we confirmed that when he leaked everything he had to the rape-charge fugitive Julian Assange.
  If UK intelligence can show US intelligence that Glenn Greenwald was passing stolen, highly classified intelligence info '' trafficking in it '' to and from Laura Poitras, they should prepare indictments and extradition warrants for both of them. For that goes far beyond reporting on a story, to actual espionage.
  Cameron and May should remain strong '' let Labour and Yvette Cooper be the ones telling the British public that Miranda should have been free to smuggle CIA data on Britain's GCHQ around, without let or hindrance.
  And the Obama administration should think long and hard before they pre-judge (as a spokesman did) whether they should seek a warrant for the New York Guardian hard drives. Yes there is the First Amendment, but the ''fire in a crowded theatre'' rule doesn't apply to openly leaking US intelligence operations against foreign powers. The Obama spokesman rather feebly ran from Britain's stronger actions saying that in the US they wouldn't do that (get a warrant to seize computers). Well, they should bloody well try. We might have retorted that in Britain, we wouldn't have let a twenty-something hacker with no history of service have access to our deepest intelligence computers, either, and lift intel endangering our spies and our allies' spies with total ease. If Obama were Bush, the US media would be all over that failure.
  However, as with this post, it is for bloggers to ask the questions that journalists refuse to. Thank God for the internet, eh?
  PS: don't try to seize this post. It's stored in the cloud.
The Chemical Weapons Origins of Syria
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Lame Cherry
  Thu, 22 Aug 2013 13:27
  As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.........
  Ever notice how remove viewers have vanished from the Mockingbird fringe media........gee I wonder why that order went out. None the less, I am not remote viewer, although I have that capability.
  The chemical weapons being utilized in Syria are real. They are not of Col. Khadaffi nor of Bashir Assad origin. In fact, if one desires to know where these weapons came from in Middle East manufacture, the source of them is Saddam Hussein.These WMD chems came directly to Syria from Iraq. No Saddam did not ship this weapons cache, but this cache was one in the Kurdish region by Mosul. They were located and under CIA control and recently entered in country to light the fuse in Syria.
  Assad's people did not use these weapons. This was al Qaeda group which answers to 1600 Penn Avenue as a greater regional realignment is taking place and the children of Aram are to be sacraficed on holocaust fires.When the Russians make the statement that this was not Assad and it was the American or European backed terrorists in these "fighters", they are not lying.This is distressing to me personally as the Americans have a mother in these Syrians after the Exodus in she was the main progenitor of the American line through the sons of Manneseh.
  I digress, but this is not right to be making a collossal pyre of Syria for the anti Christ's coming kingdom.
  There are not a great deal of these chemical weapons in only one truck load entered Syria. The protocols are changing in this, in the Jews are not to receive chemical greetings, but instead it is now calling for biological agents in "non lethal" anthrax to be introduced, again from Saddam's missing WMD stores.Upon inquiry there was about 97 pounds of this Saddam Anthrax brought into America, and it was not weaponized. It's stores have been added to by a private lab on the east coast. This is where the source is for this anthrax in a "non lethal" spore.Approximately 275 pounds of this WMD has left the states and is sitting in an American base in Turkey awaiting deployment.One of the religious Jewish enclaves in northern Israel is the intended delivery point via rocket attack.
  It is stated this blog stopped the original "Jew babies coughing up lungs" by publication of the original protocol. The new operational plans are for this "non lethal" anthrax to sow the seeds of destruction.
  Protocol indicates end of August launch for a two week "war".Tick tock.........Goes the clockIt was posted hereSo very clearThat chemical weapons would come to playTo blame Assad for his nuclear judgment dayThe Russians now say it was Obama's al QaedaThe regime now says it was Assad duhTick tockTick tockWill the war come last week lateOf that August dateTick tockTick tock
  I would prefer that the cartel would get this initiated as living on the air I breathe and not large donations from millionaires for these exclusives gives my child bearing hips a girlish figure, but then I suppose as TL once noted I looked like holocaust audition chic once in my model figure.Get your mind on the WMD's and not my bod as both are lethal, but the theater in Syria is the attraction.
  That should be enough of the exclusives for free. They though still have on the digital something about including Americans in this as was exclusively published here. So what do you rich people want now from me......to breathe my air too when yours is unfit?TL concludes if the work here does not warn off the events on the horizon transpiring, then those events completed would probably bring in the millionaire donations as they will then try to save themselves.
  All I need is the air Lame Cherry breathes and my wads o'cash.Richtard O'Moneybags..
  71 lines and 674 words.........that would be like 5000 dollars a line to be informed to save oneself. Got to go as looking at a pizza with TL and what difference does world war make when you can look at a pizza.
  agtG
  REPORT: 500 killed in 'gas attack' near Damascus...
  SKYNEWS: 1,300...
  Children convulsing on floor, foaming at nose and mouth...
  'Rebels' post videos of attack on YOUTUBE...
  'Suspicious'...