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Pentagon Ending Buys of Russian-Made Helicopters | Military.com
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 14:57
  WASHINGTON - The Defense Department said Wednesday it is canceling plans to buy additional cargo helicopters from the Russian arms export agency that has supplied Syrian President Bashar Assad's military forces with arms and ammunition.
  The additional 15 Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters were to be purchased next year at a cost of $345 million and then delivered to Afghanistan's national security forces.
  Bipartisan opposition to the Mi-17 acquisition grew as the violence in Syria escalated and U.S. relations with Russia deteriorated. A growing number of lawmakers from both political parties objected to acquiring military gear from Rosoboronexport, which has provided Assad's regime with weapons used against Syrian civilians.
  "I applaud the Defense Department's decision to cancel its plan to buy 15 additional Mi-17 helicopters from Rosoboronexport," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in an emailed statement. `'Doing business with the supplier of these helicopters has been a morally bankrupt policy, and as a nation, we should no longer be subsidizing Assad's war crimes in Syria."
  Cornyn, the Senate's No. 2 GOP leader, said he was informed of the decision last week by Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
  Pentagon spokeswoman Maureen Schumann said the department re-evaluated the requirements for Mi-17s in consultation with Congress. "We currently do not have plans to purchase additional Mi-17s from Rosoboronexport beyond those" already under contract.Top U.S. military officials have maintained the Russian-made helicopters are ideally suited for the Afghans, who are rebuilding their air force and need a reliable and easy-to-operate helicopter for transporting troops throughout the country's harsh environment. Overall, the Defense Department has paid more than $1 billion since 2011 for 63 Mi-17s that have been delivered to Afghanistan or are on order.
  Russian Embassy spokesman Yevgeniy Khorishko played down the Pentagon's decision. He described it as a single action that doesn't affect the broader military and technical cooperation between the two countries.
  Rosoboronexport announced Monday that 12 of the Mi-17s had been delivered to Afghanistan in the month of October. The shipments, the export agency said, reflected the joint effort between Russia and the U.S. to combat international terrorism.
  Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, told Cornyn in a letter last year that the Defense Department "condemns the actions of Rosoboronexport in supplying arms and ammunition to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, whose forces have used these weapons to murder Syrian civilians."
  Rosoboronexport's director general, Anatoly Isaykin, said in February that since there are no sanctions against shipping weapons to Syria, Russia was still fulfilling its contract obligations. "These aren't offensive weapons," he said. "We are mostly shipping air defense systems and repair equipment for various branches of the military."
  The urgent need to supply the Afghans with Mi-17s had trumped congressional calls to terminate the contract with Rosoboronexport.
  Cornyn and other members of Congress also argued the Defense Department should have more seriously considered acquiring an American-made helicopter for the Afghans. The U.S. Army's Chinook, manufactured by defense giant Boeing in Pennsylvania, and a transport helicopter made by Sikorsky in Connecticut, were among the possible options.
  Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., called the move a welcome, if long overdue, first step and she urged the Pentagon to spend U.S. tax dollars on American-made systems. "I am proud Congress united in a bipartisan manner to deliver that message, and that the Pentagon has finally heard us," she said.
  Carter told House lawmakers in September that multiple reviews and assessments were conducted of more than two dozen helicopters that were either available or in development. Carter said the Afghans are very familiar with the Mi-17 and none of the other aircraft examined met the requirements.
  Despite the Pentagon's certainty the Mi-17 was the right choice for the Afghans, Capitol Hill refused to let up its campaign to end the business relationship with the Russians.
  In an August letter to Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 13 Republican and Democratic senators questioned whether Afghanistan could ever be fully independent of Russia if the country continues to operate Russian aircraft for decades to come. They also expressed concern the arrangement could put the United States at a disadvantage on matters of strategic importance.
  They questioned whether the "overreliance on Russia fostered by this Mi-17 program put the U.S. at risk of Russian coercion or blackmail on other security issues," including the crisis in Syria, Iran's drive to obtain nuclear weapons, and U.S. missile defense.
  (C) Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Green Energy Is Out to Get Tesla - Bloomberg
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 14:55
  Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. fell by as much as 22 percent during one stretch last week, the biggest decline since the company went public in 2010. Much of the attention has been directed to the tendency of the company's Model S to catch fire when driving over metal debris. My colleague Megan McArdle writes that ''Tesla could be in big trouble'' because ''small, new companies are extraordinarily vulnerable to stories like this.'' A longer view of the transportation industry, however, suggests that consumers are surprisingly tolerant of danger. The real threat to Tesla would be the withdrawal of government subsidies for all-electric vehicles.
  For most of our existence as a species, humans traveled from place to place by walking on foot or, if they were lucky, horseback. It's only within the past 200 years that we decided to put ourselves in metal cages that hurl forward at dozens if not hundreds of miles an hour. Despite the inherent dangers of these forms of transportation, people have been remarkably willing to trade safety for speed. Even now, cars kill about three times as many people in the U.S. as murderers with guns. And that's a big improvement from the late 1960s, when fatality rates from driving were much higher. The improved safety record is due to innovations that seem obvious in retrospect. Seat belts weren't widely available until the 1950s, for example.
  Planes and trains also became popular when they were unsafe. More than four times as many people died from plane crashes in 1985 than they did last year, even though people fly much more often now than 30 years ago. (Things were even worse in preceding decades.) As for trains, the oldest of the three forms of transportation, there still isn't a universal system to check whether trains are heading toward each other from opposite directions on the same track. This history makes me think that consumers will be willing to forgive Tesla for a few non-fatal fires, especially if the company makes an effort to fix the problem.
  The real threat to Tesla is that the government subsidies it relies upon to sell cars may soon be directed elsewhere. Bloomberg News reports that the U.S. federal government and major states such as California are reconsidering their emphasis on all-electric vehicles. Prospective buyers of Tesla's Model S may have to make do with subsidies as much as 40 percent less starting in 2015. One reason is that electric cars may actually be worse for the environment than conventional cars once you consider the energy costs involved in producing and disposing of giant batteries. Alternatives such as clean-diesel engines and hydrogen-fuel cells now look more attractive as a result. The International Energy Agency forecasts that all-electric vehicles will only constitute a small fraction of new vehicle sales in 2050, in part because of their harmful environmental impact. It would be quite a paradox if green regulation ended up being a bigger threat to Tesla than its safety record.
  (Matthew C. Klein is a writer for Bloomberg View. Follow him on Twitter.)
  About Matthew C Klein>>Matthew C. Klein writes for Bloomberg View about the economy and financial markets. He previously wrote for the ... MORE
Common Core textbooks arrive late, filled with errors | The Daily Caller
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 14:54
  New York City teachers recently received their new Common Core-approved textbooks '-- a month late '-- and they don't like them one bit.
  ''They are loaded with errors,'' said Rebecca Murphy a third-grade teacher in Queens, in a statement to the New York Daily News.
  The mistakes are numerous. A third-grade workbook contains a set of questions accompanying a mismatched reading selection; one of the pages in another workbook is printed upside down; and some teacher's manuals don't line up with student versions.
  Teachers also complained that textbook lessons are lengthy and poorly conceived.
  On top of everything else, the textbooks arrived late: a month after school had already begun.
  The textbooks were manufactured by Pearson, a company heavily involved in the production and implementation of instructional materials and standardized tests under the national Common Core education guidelines.
  Pearson's products have been heavily criticized for incomprehensibility. A first-grade math test was recently scrutinized for asking kids conceptually odd questions that would stump calculus students. (RELATED: Would your first grader pass this weird Common Core math test?)
  And a lesson on possessive nouns contained Orwellian statements about the relationship between the individual and government, such as ''The commands of government officials must be obeyed by all,'' and ''An individual's wants are less important than the nation's well-being.''
  Joy Pullman, managing editor of School Reform News and a leading critic of Common Core, told The Daily Caller that error-ridden textbooks are the result of heavy government involvement in the education sector.
  ''Textbook production has actually always been this slipshod, because the government education cartel essentially dictates the market, and has for decades,'' she wrote in an email to The DC. ''Because states and districts have controlled what books children will read, publishers have had an incentive to influence the political process as well as create a poor product, generally, because rushing the first book to market means more sales.''
  The problem is likely to get worse under Common Core's national curriculum standards, which weaken state and district autonomy in education matters.
  ''The really odd thing is that Common Core has been available for three years, now, and Pearson hasn't managed to get an error-free book together yet,'' wrote Pullman. ''It makes one wonder about their other products, which are in millions of schools across the country.''
  Follow Robby on Twitter
Circle Internet Financial Names Prominent Consumer Finance Executive Raj Date to Board of Directors - BWWGeeksWorld
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 14:52
  Related:Press Release, News Circle Internet Financial, a digital currency company, today announced that Raj Date, one of the country's most prominent leaders in consumer finance, will join the company's board of directors. Date, the Managing Partner of Fenway Summer LLC and the former Deputy Director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), will help advance Circle's commitment to maintaining the highest standards of consumer protection, privacy and regulatory compliance.
  "As an executive who has worked in both industry and government leadership positions within consumer finance, Raj brings Circle incredible perspective and vision," said Jeremy Allaire, Circle founder, chairman and chief executive officer. "His addition to Circle's board of directors will bring tremendous depth of knowledge to our business and product strategy, as well as to our engagement with key regulatory agencies.''
  Circle, which last month announced its debut with $9 million in Series A financing, is developing products that make it easy to exchange, store, send and receive digital currency. For businesses and charities, Circle is providing merchant services for accepting digital currency payments. By building financial products and services on top of Bitcoin, Circle is able to offer faster transactions, lower costs, greater privacy safeguards and increased protection against fraud and identity theft.
  "Products that use digital currency have the potential to remove significant friction from our financial lives, and to expand financial inclusion for the underbanked around the world," said Date. "Circle is well positioned to lead innovation in the space and to champion mainstream adoption of promising new technologies, like Bitcoin. I'm thrilled to join the board and look forward to working with the team on an exciting new generation of consumer financial products and services."
  Date has enjoyed a long career in consumer finance as well as in shaping federal consumer protection standards and policies. He was the first-ever Deputy Director of the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) where he helped guide the agency's strategy, operations, and policy agenda. Prior to being appointed Deputy Director, Date acted as the interim leader and architect of the new agency, serving as the Special Advisor to Secretary of the Treasury Timothy F. Geithner.
Our Government Has Weaponized the Internet. Here's How They Did It | Wired Opinion | Wired.com
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 14:04
  The internet backbone '-- the infrastructure of networks upon which internet traffic travels '-- went from being a passive infrastructure for communication to an active weapon for attacks.
  According to revelations about the QUANTUM program, the NSA can ''shoot'' (their words) an exploit at any target it desires as his or her traffic passes across the backbone. It appears that the NSA and GCHQ were the first to turn the internet backbone into a weapon; absent Snowdens of their own, other countries may do the same and then say, ''It wasn't us. And even if it was, you started it.''
  If the NSA can hack Petrobras, the Russians can justify attacking Exxon/Mobil. If GCHQ can hack Belgicom to enable covert wiretaps, France can do the same to AT&T. If the Canadians target the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy, the Chinese can target the U.S. Department of the Interior. We now live in a world where, if we are lucky, our attackers may be every country our traffic passes through except our own.
  Which means the rest of us '-- and especially any company or individual whose operations are economically or politically significant '-- are now targets. All cleartext traffic is not just information being sent from sender to receiver, but is a possible attack vector.
  Here's how it works.
  The QUANTUM codename is deliciously apt for a technique known as ''packet injection,'' which spoofs or forges packets to intercept them. The NSA's wiretaps don't even need to be silent; they just need to send a message that arrives at the target first. It works by examining requests and injecting a forged reply that appears to come from the real recipient so the victim acts on it.
  In this case, packet injection is used for ''man-on-the-side'' attacks '-- which are more failure-tolerant than man-in-the-middle attacks because they allow one to observe and add (but not also subtract, as the man-in-the-middle attacks do). That's why these are particularly popular in censorship systems. It can't keep up? That's okay. Better to miss a few than to not work at all.
  Nicholas Weaver is a researcher at the International Computer Science Institute in Berkeley and U.C. San Diego (though this opinion is his own). He focuses on network security as well as network intrusion detection, defenses for DNS resolvers, and tools for detecting ISP-introduced manipulations of a user's network connection. Weaver received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from U.C. Berkeley.
  The technology itself is actually pretty basic. And the same techniques that work on on a Wi-Fi network can work on a backbone wiretap. I personally coded up a packet-injector from scratch in a matter of hours five years ago, and it's long been a staple of DefCon pranks.
  So how have nations used packet injection, and what else can they do with it? These are some of the known uses.
  CensorshipThe most infamous use of packet injection prior to the Snowden leaks was censorship, where both internet service providers (ISPs) and the Great Firewall of China injected TCP reset packets (RST) to block undesired traffic. When a computer receives one of these injected RST packets, it closes the connection, believing that all communication is complete.
  Although public disclosure forced ISPs to stop this behavior, China continues to censor with injected resets. It also injects the Domain Name System (DNS) '-- the system all computers use to turn names such as ''www.facebook.com'' into IP addresses '-- by inserting a fake reply whenever it sees a forbidden name. (It's a process that has caused collateral damage by censoring non-Chinese internet traffic).
  User IdentificationUser cookies, those inserted by both advertising networks and services, also serve as great identifiers for NSA targeting. Yet a web browser only reveals these cookies when communicating with such sites. A solution lies in the NSA's QUANTUMCOOKIE attack, which they've utilized to de-anonymize Tor users.
  A packet injector can reveal these cookies by replying to an unnoticed web fetch (such as a small image) with a HTTP 302 redirect pointing to the target site (such as Hotmail). The browser now thinks ''hey, should really go visit Hotmail and ask it for this image''. In connecting to Hotmail, it reveals all non-secure cookies to the wiretap. This both identifies the user to the wiretap, and also allows the wiretap to use these cookies.
  So for any webmail service that doesn't require HTTPS encryption, QUANTUMCOOKIE also allows the wiretap to log in as the target and read the target's mail. QUANTUMCOOKIE could also tag users, as the same redirection that extracts a cookie could also set or modify a cookie, enabling the NSA to actively track users of interest as they move across the network '-- although there is no indication yet that the NSA utilizes this technique.
  User AttackThe NSA has a collection of FOXACID servers, designed to exploit visitors. Conceptually similar to Metasploit's WebServer browser autopwn mode, these FOXACID servers probe any visiting browser for weaknesses to exploit.
  All it takes is a single request from a victim passing a wiretap for exploitation to occur. Once the QUANTUM wiretap identifies the victim, it simply packet injects a 302 redirect to a FOXACID server. Now the victim's browser starts talking to the FOXACID server, which quickly takes over the victim's computer. The NSA calls this QUANTUMINSERT.
  The NSA and GCHQ used this technique not only to target Tor users who read Inspire (reported to be an Al-Qaeda propaganda magazine in the English language) but also to gain a foothold within the Belgium telecommunication firm Belgicom, as a prelude to wiretapping Belgium phones.
  One particular trick involved identifying the LinkedIn or Slashdot account of an intended target. Then when the QUANTUM system observed individuals visiting LinkedIn or Slashdot, it would examine the HTML returned to identify the user before shooting an exploit at the victim. Any page that identifies the users over HTTP would work equally well, as long as the NSA is willing to write a parser to extract user information from the contents of the page.
  Other possible QUANTUM use cases include the following. These are speculative, as we have no evidence that the NSA, GCHQ, or others are utilizing these opportunities. Yet to security experts they are obvious extensions of the logic above.
  HTTP cache poisoning. Web browsers often cache critical scripts, such as the ubiquitous Google Analytics script 'ga.js'. The packet injector can see a request for one of these scripts and instead respond with a malicious version, which will now run on numerous web pages. Since such scripts rarely change, the victim will continue to use the attacker's script until either the server changes the original script or the browser clears its cache.
  Zero-Exploit Exploitation. The FinFly ''remote monitoring'' hacking tool sold to governments includes exploit-free exploitation, where it modifies software downloads and updates to contain a copy of the FinFisher Spyware. Although Gamma International's tool operates as a full man-in-the-middle, packet injection can reproduce the effect. The injector simply waits for the victim to attempt a file download, and replies with a 302 redirect to a new server. This new server fetches the original file, modifies it, and passes it on to the victim. When the victim runs the executable, they are now exploited '-- without the need for any actual exploits.
  Mobile Phone Applications. Numerous Android and iOS applications fetch data through simple HTTP. In particular, the ''Vulna'' Android advertisement library was an easy target, simply waiting for a request from the library and responding with an attack that can effectively completely control the victim's phone. Although Google removed applications using this particular library, other advertisement libraries and applications can present similar vulnerabilities.
  DNS-Derived Man-in-the-Middle. Some attacks, such as intercepting HTTPS traffic with a forged certificate, require a full man in the middle rather than a simple eavesdropper. Since every communication starts with a DNS request, and it is only a rare DNS resolver that cryptographically validates the reply with DNSSEC, a packet injector can simply see the DNS request and inject its own reply. This represents a capability upgrade, turning a man-on-the-side into a man-in-the-middle.
  One possible use is to intercept HTTPS connections if the attacker has a certificate that the victim will accept, by simply redirecting the victim to the attacker's server. Now the attacker's server can complete the HTTPS connection. Another potential use involves intercepting and modifying email. The attacker simply packet-injects replies for the MX (Mailserver) entries corresponding to the target's email. Now the target's email will first pass through the attacker's email server. This server could do more than just read the target's incoming mail, it could also modify it to contain exploits.
  Amplifying Reach. Large countries don't need to worry about seeing an individual victim: odds are that a victim's traffic will pass one wiretap in a short period of time. But smaller countries that wish to utilize the QUANTUMINSERT technique need to force victims traffic past their wiretaps. It's simply a matter of buying the traffic: Simply ensure that local companies (such as the national airline) both advertise heavily and utilize in-country servers for hosting their ads. Then when a desired target views the advertisement, use packet injection to redirect them to the exploit server; just observe which IP a potential victim arrived from before deciding whether to attack. It's like a watering hole attack where the attacker doesn't need to corrupt the watering hole.
  ***
  The only self defense from all of the above is universal encryption. Universal encryption is difficult and expensive, but unfortunately necessary.
  Encryption doesn't just keep our traffic safe from eavesdroppers, it protects us from attack. DNSSEC validation protects DNS from tampering, while SSL armors both email and web traffic.
  There are many engineering and logistic difficulties involved in encrypting all traffic on the internet, but its one we must overcome if we are to defend ourselves from the entities that have weaponized the backbone.
VIDEO-3D-printed gun maker Cody Wilson is raising $50,000 for an anarchist Bitcoin wallet | The Verge
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 13:51
  Cody Wilson, founder of Defense Distributed, in the crowdfunding campaign video for a new Bitcoin wallet.
  Cody Wilson, creator of the 3D-printed gun, is raising $50,000 on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo to develop a service aimed at returning the digital currency Bitcoin to its anarchist roots.
  Dark Wallet is an app for storing, sending, and receiving Bitcoin, with some extra security features built in. As law enforcement cracks down on services using Bitcoin to evade authorities '-- the recent bust of the underground drug market Silk Road being the most notable example '-- Wilson and his co-founder Amir Taaki decided it was important to add new protections.
  To accomplish this, Taaki and developer Pablo Martin built a protocol called "trustless mixing." This tactic, which will be built into Dark Wallet, allows a group of Bitcoin users to mix their coins together into one big transaction before it is encoded into the "blockchain," the currency's public ledger.
  Some Bitcoin advocates believe the virtual currency should be overseen by the government. Government agencies around the world have shown an increasing interest in regulating the currency, and venture capitalists are investing millions in businesses built on Bitcoin.
  Wilson believes the currency should operate entirely outside of government
  Wilson and his collaborators at the digital anarchist collective Unsystem believe the currency should operate entirely outside of government. "The basic opposition is usually either personal '-- that I or 'we' are arrogant, or ideological '-- that Bitcoin 'needs' the legitimization mechanisms of institutional or state power," Wilson tells The Verge in an email. "Pretty tired and familiar by now. That last bit of messaging is the one I hope to blunt."
  Dark Wallet will be finished in early 2014, the founders say. "Bitcoin is what they fear it is. A way to leave ... to make a choice," Wilson intones in a Fight Club-esque video. "There's a system approaching perfection. Just in time for our disappearance."
Trans-Pacific Partnership Ready for Christmas Delivery? >> WTF RLY REPORT
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 08:09
  The New Americanby Joe Wolverton, II, J.D.
  As the end of 2013 approaches, so does President Obama's deadline for approving the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
  The TPP is a direct and deadly attack on sovereignty and representative government masquerading as a Pacific Rim trade pact.
  Currently, there are 12 countries negotiating in secret to create this regional trade agreement that some have called NAFTA on steroids. The number of participants could rise to a baker's dozen should China be welcomed on board by the United States (President Obama has signaled that he would recognize the Chinese communist government's partnership in the bloc).
  President Obama's fascination with intertwining the economic welfare of the United States with China is perhaps one reason a recent commentator called the TPP ''another disaster from a proven liar.''
  Writing in an op-ed for the Washington Times, Judson Phillips lists several of the principal criticisms of the TPP:
  Barack Obama is asking for fast track authority for the Trans Pacific Partnership. Consider that to be another version of ''you have to pass this to see what is in it.'' With fast track authority, there will be no hearings on this treaty. It will be negotiated then sent to the Senate for a simple up or down vote. The Senate will not be able to provide advice and consent because they cannot offer amendments under fast track.
  Less than one fifth of the Trans Pacific Partnership deals with trade. The remainder of the treaty governs a myriad of things, including regulating the price of medicines. A few months ago, a mix of conservative and liberal groups stopped the ''Stop Online Piracy Act'' or SOPA. Most of the provisions of SOPA are included in the Trans Pacific Partnership.
  Under the proposals of the TPP, American sovereignty would be eroded. American courts would be inferior to foreign trade courts and disputes between American citizens and foreign corporations would not be litigated in American courts but in these trade tribunals.
  The TPP is guilty of each of those charges, and the evidence is overwhelming.
  Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of all the roster of frightening things about the TPP is the secrecy surrounding the details of the agreement.
  A few federal lawmakers have tried in vain to bring into the light the frightening compromises being made by our trade representatives at the TPP negotiations.
  Zach Carter of the online Huffington Post reported that Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee's Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs and Global Competitiveness, was stonewalled by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) when he attempted to see any of the draft documents related to the governance of the TPP.
  In response to this rebuff, Wyden proposed a measure in the Senate that would force transparency on the process, and that was enough to convince the USTR to grant the senator a peek at the documents, though his staff was not permitted to peruse them.
  Wyden spokeswoman Jennifer Hoelzer told the Huffington Post that such accommodations were ''better than nothing'' but not ideal in light of the well-known fact that on Capitol Hill the real work of drafting and evaluating legislation is performed by the representatives' staff members who are often experts in particular areas of domestic and foreign policy.
  ''I would point out how insulting it is for them to argue that members of Congress are to personally go over to USTR to view the trade documents,'' Hoelzer said. ''An advisor at Halliburton or the MPAA is given a password that allows him or her to go on the USTR website and view the TPP agreement anytime he or she wants.''
  It is instructive that a duly elected senator of the United States has to beg and plead and threaten legislation in order to see the TPP trade agreement negotiations, but corporate interests are given a password by the USTR that grants them full, unrestricted access to those same documents.
  U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) issued a statement criticizing the Obama administration for the lack of oversight into an agreement with devastating potential:
  After more than a decade of broken promises from NAFTA, CAFTA, and normalized trade relations with China, we can now add a credibility deficit to the trade deficits we've seen. The leaked documents surfacing today only underscore the secrecy surrounding TPP negotiations and confirm worst suspicions about the direction trade negotiations are heading. It's telling that it is easier for the CEO of a major corporation to access information about the negotiations than the American people's elected representatives.
  The negotiations must involve more transparency and bring more voices to the table.
  Apart from the secrecy, a few drafts of key provisions of the TPP have been leaked to the Internet. One thing all the leaks reveal is that large corporations would be allowed to assume powers that constitutionally belong to Congress and to the states.
  Notably, in both statements announcing the hemispheric enlargement of the trade bloc, former U.S. Trade Representative Kirk places the approval of ''domestic stakeholders'' (read: large corporations) on a level with that of Congress. It is precisely this exalting of big business, as well as the as-yet-impenetrable wall of secrecy surrounding the drafting of the TPP treaty, that has troubled many of the people's representatives in Congress.
  Although the treaty negotiations are being kept under a thick veil of secrecy, a draft document leaked to the Internet discloses that as part of its membership in the TPP, the United States would agree to exempt foreign corporations from our laws and regulations, placing the resolution of any disputes as to the applicability of those matters to foreign business in the hands of an international arbitration tribunal overseen by the secretary-general of the United Nations.
  The leaked information also confirms the fears of many who from the beginning have opposed the entry of the United States into this trade agreement. The alarms sounded by several groups on the Left and the Right warning of the wholesale damage that the TPP could cause to commerce, copyrights, and the Constitution now seem vindicated.
  An organization actively protecting the sovereignty of the United States is Americans for Limited Government (ALG). In June 2012, ALG released a statement drawing attention to critical provisions of the leaked TPP agreement, as well as ably pointing out some of the most noxious aspects of the proposed agreement:
  These new trade agreements will place domestic U.S. firms that do not do business overseas at a competitive disadvantage. Based on these leaked documents, foreign firms under this trade pact could conceivably appeal federal regulatory and court rulings against them to an international tribunal with the apparent authority to overrule our sovereignty. If foreign companies want to do business in America, they should have to follow the same rules as everyone else. No special favors.
  It is telling that the only apparent way these Pacific nations will enter a free trade agreement with the U.S. is if they are exempt from our onerous environmental and financial regulations that make it cost-ineffective to do business here. Instead of making these foreign firms exempt from these burdensome rules, they should just repeal the regulations and make it cheaper to do business here.
  This poses an even wider problem, though. Obama is negotiating a trade pact that would constitute a judicial authority higher than even the U.S. Supreme Court that could overrule federal court rulings applying U.S. law to foreign companies. That is unconstitutional'....
  This tribunal needs to be removed from this agreement, and no foreign company doing business on our soil should have a competitive advantage, created by some dumb agreement, over American companies. What is Obama thinking? He is placing international organizations above the interests of our own country.
  Just days after the proposed provisions of the TPP appeared online, The New American interviewed ALG President Bill Wilson. Wilson was asked what he believes Americans have to fear should the United States enter the TPP and why he thinks the negotiations have been conducted in secret.
  ''These trade pacts, starting with NAFTA and before [GATT], strike at the heart of national sovereignty, ours and that of the other member nations,'' Wilson warned. ''At their core they diminish the prerogatives and powers of a specific country and surrender them to international bodies or corporations.''
  Other observers agree. In fact, an organization calling itself ''Just Foreign Policy'' has created a crowd-sourced bounty on the TPP agreement. On the group's website, individuals interested in exposing the secret TPP agreement and the pro-corporate corruption included in it can donate money to increase the potential reward for the pact's revelation. The project explains:
  At this very moment, the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) '-- a trade agreement that could affect the health and welfare of billions of people worldwide '-- is being negotiated behind closed doors. While 600 corporate lobbyists have access to the text, the press, the public, and even members of the US Congress are being kept in the dark.
  But we don't have to stand meekly by as corporate cronies decide our futures. Concerned citizens from around the world are pooling together their resources as a reward to WikiLeaks if it makes the negotiating text of the TPP public. Our pledge, as individuals, is to donate this money to WikiLeaks should it leak the document we seek.
  As WikiLeaks likes to say, information wants to be free. The negotiating text for the TPP wants to be free. Someone just needs to release it.
  Unfortunately, the balance seems to be tipping in favor of finishing the TPP in time for Christmas. In a November 5 editorial, the New York Timescame out in favor of the secret surrender of sovereignty, describing the agreement as ''a trade agreement '... that could help all of our economies and strengthen relations between the United States and several important Asian allies.''
  Leading opponent of the TPP, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), senses a couple of sinister explanations for the Old Gray Lady's support of the secret attempt at economic integration of a dozen economies. EFF's Maira Sutton writes:
  That raises two distressing possibilities: either in an act of extraordinary subservience, the Times has endorsed an agreement that neither the public nor its editors have the ability to read. Or, in an act of extraordinary cowardice, it has obtained a copy of the secret text and hasn't fulfilled its duty to the public interest to publish it.
  Regardless, President Obama is determined to get approval from Congress to fast-track the TPP negotiations. Not surprisingly, senators from both major parties are ready to make it a Merry Christmas for the president. The Hill reports:
  Senate Finance Committee leaders called on Wednesday for Congress to pass fast-track legislation aimed at smoothing the passage of any future trade deals.
  Panel Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said during a trade hearing that they are working on crafting trade promotion authority (TPA) legislation and are expecting the Obama administration to work with them toward gaining its approval in Congress.
  Baucus said it is time to ''pass TPA and do it soon.''
  There is still time for Americans to contact their senators and encourage them to refuse to ratify any agreement that is worked out in secret, grants corporations lawmaking power that the Constitution gives exclusively to Congress, and ties the future financial well-being of the United States to countries ruled by communists, dictators, and with economies that will adversely affect nearly every aspect of American manufacturing and agriculture.
  The New American
Deep senatorial skepticism fror Kerry's appeal to delay more sanctions
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  Source: DEBKAFile
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 08:03
  US Secretary of State John Kerry, supported by Vice President Joe Biden, was faced with bipartisan skepticism when he tried to persuade the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday that tighter sanctions would destroy the chances of a ''historic'' deal for Iran's nuclear program. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer pronounced himself ''dubious,'' Sen. Robert Mendes, the Democratic chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said he would press forward with sanctions legislation. Republican Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) said Kerry's briefing had been ''disappointing'' and Mark Kirk (R-IL) described it as ''very unconvincing" and ''fairly anti-Israeli.'' The State Department called Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz's estimate that even ''modest'' sanctions relief would put $40 bn in Iranian pockets ''inaccurate, exaggerated, and not based in reality.''
  Addressing the Knesset Wednesday, Binyamin Netanyahu said that continued economic pressure on Iran was the better path than two other options, a bad deal and war.
Two Obama secret service agents removed over misconduct: report
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  Source: The Daily Star >> Live News
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 08:02
  WASHINGTON: Two US Secret Service agents have been removed from President Barack Obama's security detail for alleged misconduct, The Washington Post reported late Wednesday.
  The move came a year after the agency was involved in a prostitution scandal in Colombia.
  The Post said Ignacio Zamora Jr., who it said was in charge of about two dozen agents in the president's security detail, was allegedly found last spring trying to re-enter a woman's room at a luxury hotel near the White House after leaving behind a bullet from his service weapon.
  In a subsequent probe, the service found that Zamora and another supervisor, Timothy Barraclough, sent sexually suggestive e-mails to a female subordinate.
  The Post quoted what it said were people with knowledge of the case.
  It said the Secret Service has removed Zamora from his position. Barraclough was taken off the detail to a separate part of the division.
  The hotel is the Hay-Adams. The Post said details about the hotel incident and related findings were provided by four people who have been briefed on the case.
  The Post said the Secret Service declined to comment on an internal review of the hotel incident.
Writing is on the wall for the new slaves: Contributors who work for free generate huge profits for website magazines
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  Source: bertb news feed
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 08:00
  Last year an American website called Journatic, a ''hyperlocal content provider'', was revealed to be employing writers in the Philippines to produce seemingly regional news stories with ersatz ''American-sounding bylines'' at a rate of at least 250 pieces per week for 35 cents a piece.
  At the same time, an online service known as Statsheet was going global. Its raison d'ªtre? Statsheet advances the logic of the new media to its apotheosis; using algorithms to convert numerical data into written articles for over 400 sports sites, Statsheet renders writers permanently redundant.
  Welcome to the post-recession world, where social discourse is subordinated absolutely to advertising and paid work is replaced with ''experience''. This is the business model that was pioneered by the Huffington Post and described by Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times as ''a galley rowed by slaves and commanded by pirates''.
  At 23, and writing for an online-only magazine, I am a part of this landscape of exploitation, an atavistic ''internship'' culture that has been able to thrive in large part because of the global financial crisis, but that has been crucially aided in the UK by the Conservative party's conclusive establishment of Great Britain plc. Among the worst hit by welfare reforms are those between 18 and 25. There are approximately 7.5 million Neets across the EU, nearly 1 million of whom are in the UK, and it is to the young unemployedthat these exploitative media sites appeal most.
  Less than six months away from graduation and impending Neet-dom, I am one of those who has relied upon what these sites describe as ''opportunity''. They offer ''experience'', which is elevated to an absurd level of sanctity in a world of devalued education and an overflowing labour pool.
  In reality, of course, they represent nothing more than an opportunity for the owners to generate enormous levels of wealth via unpaid labour through the exploitation of pathogenic labour practices.
  It was with more than a little chagrin, then, that I watched Mehdi Hasan of Huffington Post UK, attack David Cameron for his persecution of the young unemployed on BBC 1's Question Time recently.
  I work for a magazine called Planet Ivy. The magazine has a pool of ''more than 500 writers'' '' the majority of whom work for absolutely nothing. This is in our contracts, which state: ''In the event that the Contributor chooses to provide Content to the Company, the Contributor does so of his own volition and without expectation of payment or compensation.'' And further on: ''The Contributor hereby assigns to the Company all existing and future Intellectual Property Rights.''
  The website is able to successfully generate advertising revenue by targeting the youth market '' guaranteeing companies an audience between 18 and 25, Planet Ivy sells ad space to Peroni, American Apparel, Universal Studios and Levi's, among others, and is hitting a million unique users per month. Indeed, it is set to become the ''fastest-growing online-only magazine in the country by the end of the year''. And yet its founder, the jet-setting Vincent Dignan, feels no shame in insisting that ''across all boards we have a unique relationship with our writers. They're highly engaged, and are happy to produce content for us for free''.
  But I am not happy to continue participating in the condescending game of part-time service sector cultural capitalism, where I am told that it is a luxury to be able to ''choose'' when I ''want'' to work, and when I don't. I am far from unique. The zero-pay contract may be the jewel in the new-media crown, but almost every industry is exploiting those crippled by the cruel and post-digital economic pattern.
  Unemployed graduates are termed ''job snobs'' by the same party that tripled university fees, and a truly vicious circle is engendered: forced to work for free in return for their jobseeker's allowance, the unemployed are corralled back and forth, adding value to transnational corporations without the hope of ever securing a job.
  Even if you are one of those lucky enough to secure employment there is little guarantee of dignity, sufficient pay, or even work. More than 5.2 million people in the UK are paid less than a living wage, and nearly 75 per cent of 18-21 year olds. A recent survey by Unite suggested 5.5 million Britons, from lecturers to breadmakers, are on zero-hour contracts that often promise less than three hours' work a week. The pattern continues worldwide.
  What does this say about our society, that the economy can improve and living conditions get worse? I signed away my moral and intellectual rights to Planet Ivy, whose owner will probably float the company and sail away into the sunset, thanking us all for our ''voluntary contribution''.
  It is in this light, perhaps, that Russell Brand's recent call for political transformation gains its traction. When this is published, my work will be taken down from Planet Ivy media, all rights reserved. And I am glad it will be. Please, spread the word, and don't forget to share.
  Robert Hall, an english student at Goldsmiths University, is on a zero-pay contract at 'Planet Ivy'
  Right of reply: Reporter incentives
  Getting on the employment ladder is harder than ever for young people today '' particularly going into journalism, as traditional routes such as local papers have pulled up the drawbridge.
  At Planet Ivy, we offer a way for writers to get exposure on our site as well as sending their work to the Huffington Post and Guardian. We make it as flexible as possible to fit around other jobs '' we've even had a City lawyer write for us '' and offer feedback and constructive criticism so that writers improve while they work with us.
  We've also recently introduced a revenue-share pay model whereby we pay writers based on the pageviews their work generates. This meant that one writer earned £140 for his first article last month.
  Barney Quiton, editor, Planet Ivy
Pope Francis: his life is in danger from 'ndrangheta, warns anti-mafia judge
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  Source: bertb news feed
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 07:59
  Pope Francis's life is in danger from 'ndrangheta, Italy's most feared crime group, a leading anti-mafia judge has claimed.
  Nicola Gratteri, a magistrate in the southern city of Reggio Calabria, near 'ndrangheta's heartland, has said the Pontiff's crackdown on financial corruption in the Vatican, has angered bosses in the brutal crime syndicate, which is thought to rule Europe's cocaine trade.
  "I don't know if organised crime is in the position to do something, but it's certainly thinking about it. It could be dangerous," he said.
  He said Francis was "on the right path" in attempting to clean out the stables at the Holy City, which has seen its administrative body and its bank, the Institute for Religious Works (IoR), mired in scandal for decades.
  But Mr Gratteri, who has written a book on the Church's links to 'ndrangheta, said the mob "that has until now profited from the power and riches derived directly from the church is nervous, agitated.
  "Pope Bergoglio is dismantling centres of economic power in the Vatican. If the bosses can stop him they won't hesitate," he told Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper.
  The Vatican spokesman was not available to comment.
  Rumours have swirled around the Vatican's financial activities since the collapse in 1982 of the Banco Ambrosiano, in which it was a major shareholder. The Vatican paid around £150m to compensate Ambrosiano's account holders - without admitting any wrongdoing.
  But events became much murkier when Banco Ambrosiano chairman Roberto Calvi, known as God's Banker, was found hanging from Blackfriar's Bridge in London, his clothing stuffed with bricks and around £10,000 in his pockets. Many investigators believe Mr Calvi was killed for making off with mafia money.
  Accusations of money-aundering activities have continued to be made against the IoR.
  Last month it emerged that as part of Francis's efforts to crack down on graft, the IoR has been highlighted with news that the troubled institution is seeking to close 900 suspicious accounts.
  According to Corriere della Sera newspaper, four of the suspect accounts are linked to the Vatican embassies of Indonesia, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Earlier this year a judicial report said the bank was money laundering hot spot.
  Meanwhile, it emerged today that a luxury hotel property bought from the church has been sequestered by investigators, who suspect it is being run by the 'ndrangheta.
  The Special DIA anti-mafia police, on the orders of another judge from Reggio Calabria, have sequestrated Rome's luxury Grand Hotel Gianicolo, a favourite of the rich and famous, as part of the huge seizure of '‚¬150m worth of money and properties linked to the crime syndicate.
  According to investigators, the hotel's owners, the Mariani family, are key 'ndrangheta financial figures. They bought the property, then a monastery from the church, with the equivalent of about '‚¬5m in the 1990s. Federico Cafiero de Raho, the Reggio Calabria magistrate, said the money probably came from criminal activity.
Twitter troll swarm sends JPMorgan running
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  Source: Reuters: Technology News
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 04:14
  click here to continue to articlecliquez ici pour lire l'articleweiter zum Artikelclicca qui per visualizzare l'articoloweiter zum Artikelir a la noticiaklik hier om door te gaan naar het artikelYazÄ±ya devam etmek i§in tÄ±klayÄ±n>>ÐŸÐµÑÐµÐ¹Ñ‚Ð¸ Ðº ÑÑ‚Ð°Ñ‚ÑŒÐµ>>ç>>§ç>>­é…è¯>>æ–‡ç ¼Œè¯·ç‚¹å‡>>èé‡ŒTovbb a cikkre
VIDEO- Report Calls TSA Billion Dollar Training Program "One BIG Waste Of Taxpayer Dollars!" - YouTube
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 04:12
U.S. GAO - Transportation Security: TSA Could Strengthen Oversight of Allegations of Employee Misconduct
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 04:06
  What GAO FoundIn July 2013, GAO reported that TSA investigated and adjudicated approximately 9,600 cases of employee misconduct from fiscal years 2010 through 2012, according to TSA employee misconduct data that we analyzed. Two offense categories accounted for about half of all cases--(1) attendance and leave, which accounted for 32 percent; and (2) screening and security, which accounted for 20 percent. Charges for screening and security-related incidents pertain to violating standard operating procedures, including not conducting security or equipment checks, and allowing patrons or baggage to bypass screening. TSA developed a Table of Offenses and Penalties that delineates common employee charges, along with a suggested range of penalties. Of the cases that we analyzed, 47 percent resulted in letters of reprimand, which describe unacceptable conduct that is the basis for a disciplinary action; 31 percent resulted in suspensions of a definite duration; and 17 percent resulted in the employee's removal from TSA. The remaining cases covered a variety of outcomes, including suspensions of an indefinite duration.
  In the July 2013 report, GAO found that TSA has taken steps to help manage the investigations and adjudications process, such as creating OPR in 2010 to provide greater consistency in misconduct penalty determinations and providing training for TSA staff at airports responsible for investigating and adjudicating allegations of employee misconduct. While TSA has taken these steps, GAO reported weaknesses in four areas related to monitoring of employee misconduct cases: (1) verifying that TSA staff at airports comply with policies and procedures for adjudicating misconduct, (2) recording case information on all adjudication decisions, (3) tracking the time taken to complete all phases of the investigations and adjudications process, and (4) identifying allegations not adjudicated by the agency.
  Why GAO Did This StudyThis testimony discusses the findings of GAO's report issued yesterday assessing the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) efforts to address employee misconduct. TSA employs approximately 56,000 transportation security officers (TSO) and other TSA personnel to ensure the security of the traveling public at more than 450 TSA-regulated airports nationwide. News stories in recent years have highlighted several high-profile allegations of misconduct by TSA employees, including TSOs being involved in theft and drug-smuggling activities, as well as circumventing mandatory screening procedures for passengers and baggage. For example, in 2011, a TSO at the Orlando International Airport pleaded guilty to federal charges of embezzlement and theft for stealing more than 80 laptop computers and other electronic devices, valued at $80,000, from passenger luggage. TSOs engaging in misconduct raise security concerns because these employees are charged with helping to ensure the security of our nation's aviation system.
  The process of addressing TSA employee misconduct involves various components within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). For example, depending on the facts and circumstances of a case, the DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG), TSA Office of Inspection (OOI), or TSA Office of Security Operations (OSO) may conduct an investigation into allegations of TSA employee misconduct. OSO generally adjudicates cases at airports--that is, determines whether the evidence is sufficient to propose and sustain a charge of misconduct and determines the appropriate penalty. The Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), an independent office that TSA established in 2010 to provide greater consistency in misconduct penalty determinations, adjudicates a more specialized set of cases, such as misconduct involving senior-level TSA employees at airports and other locations. The testimony this morning will address the key findings from the report on TSA's efforts to address employee misconduct that we issued yesterday. Specifically, like the report, the statement will address (1) data on TSA employee misconduct cases and (2) TSA efforts to manage and oversee the investigations and adjudications process.
  For more information contact Steve Lord at (202) 512-4379 or lords@gao.gov.
The Black Cat & The Raven | Carolina Theatre - Downtown Durham, North Carolina
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:57
  RetroClassics Film Series presents
  Universal Monsters Collection
  UNIVERSAL MONSTERS COLLECTION
  THE BLACK CAT(US, NR, 66 min, 1934)Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff square off as decades-old nemeses who meet for a fateful showdown on the very battlefield where Karloff's dark priest sacrificed his own army and framed Lugosi's good doctor for the crime. Karloff plays a demonic architect who stole Lugosi's wife and built his home on the graves of his victims. One of the finest horror films to emerge from Universal's golden age of horror.
  THE RAVEN(US, NR, 62 min, 1935)Dr. Vollin (Bela Lugosi) comes out of retirement to save the life of a wealthy judge's daughter. After restoring her, he cooks up a scheme to kidnap the woman and kill her fianc(C) and father in his Edgar Allen Poe-inspired torture dungeon. To do his dirty work, Vollin turns a wanted criminal (Boris Karloff) into a hideous monster to guarantee his subservience.
  What Jim Says...What more can I say about the inclusion of the Universal Monsters Collection? What surprises me most is how many films are part of the series. According to some lists, there are more than 70 movies in the official canon. (I thought there was only a dozen or so.) Going in, I knew it would probably be unwise to expect Universal to have 35mm prints of these lesser-known works, and I was not proven wrong. Thankfully, the studio did have a lot of these titles beautifully re-mastered for digital projection and, most likely, that's the only way we're ever gonna see them on a big screen from this point in time onward. I polled the Retro fans about which films to select for this season's Universal Monster program. I really expected a strong showing for 1943's The Phantom of the Opera. Instead, the voting was overwhelmingly skewed toward this billing of Karloff and Lugosi.
Getting Japan to Guzzle American Gas - Bloomberg
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:50
  (Corrects scale of U.S. natural gas production in sixth paragraph, size of exports in seventh.)
  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expected a sharp debate at home when he said his country wanted to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He may not have anticipated a sharp debate in the U.S.
  After all, rarely does Washington have the pleasure of opening new trade negotiations when the potential benefits are so heavily stacked in the U.S.'s favor.
  Why so? Because Japan's nontariff barriers -- protecting major sectors of the economy, including services, agriculture and selected manufactures -- start from much higher levels than equivalent U.S. barriers, and the TPP aims to reduce them all, preferably to zero. Japan's inclusion in the trade pact will boost American exports, create American jobs and make both economies more efficient, now and well into the future.
  Few sectors stand to gain so much as the growing U.S. liquefied-natural-gas industry. Japan's membership in the TPP, coupled with long-term U.S. supply assurances, will deliver exponential LNG export growth to a huge market hungry for alternative energy supplies. The timing couldn't be better: Right now, America's competitive advantage in exploration and extraction is unrivaled.
  Japan, the world's third-largest economy, is also the single-largest buyer of natural gas. Given the country's indefinite moratorium on expanding the nuclear-energy program, Japan's reliance on natural gas is sure to increase. In fact, Japan faces the prospect of replacing some 12,000 megawatts of nuclear-generating capacity. The total dearth of natural-gas resources means that Japan must rely heavily on LNG imports as an alternative source of clean power.
  Gas RichesEven though the U.S. is one of the world's largest and most advanced natural gas producers (the industry is already responsible for half a million jobs), and the U.S.-Japan security alliance is critical, the U.S. hasn't yet capitalized on Japan's need for assured LNG.
  In 2012, Japan imported a record 87 million tons -- an increase of 11 percent compared with the previous year -- from nations such as Qatar, Russia, Australia and Indonesia. But the U.S. share of this business has been tiny.
  After the Fukushima disaster, Japan was able to meet its immediate energy needs by paying premiums for the diversion of LNG shipments from intended markets. But Japan harbors a determined interest in long-term agreements with U.S. exporters. Abundant American supplies, their reliability (with the right U.S. policies), and the prospect that U.S. LNG will be among the cheapest all make American LNG an ideal long-term source.
  Under current U.S. law and Energy Department regulations, the export of LNG to Japan can be ensured only by a free-trade relationship with the U.S., and the only prospect for this relationship is the TPP agreement. To be sure, the Energy Department could amend its rules so that LNG could be exported to any country, with or without a free-trade pact.
  A reform of this sort is being debated by senior energy officials, and President Barack Obama will probably have the last word. But even if the current regulations are changed, Japanese LNG buyers and U.S. LNG sellers will all feel much more secure with a guarantee of free trade in energy written into the TPP. LNG export and import terminals, and specialized ships to carry the LNG, require investment of $10 billion or more, and the payback time is typically 20 years. Companies contemplating investments of this size and duration need legal security.
  A trade pact deal that includes Japan will open new and lucrative markets to U.S. exporters in other sectors, including services, agriculture, automobiles, select manufactures, and possibly coal from the Powder River Basin.
  Creating JobsMeanwhile, Japan will continue to expand its already large stock of direct investment in the U.S. Both through trade and investment, the TPP with Japan will support far more U.S. jobs than a TPP without Japan.
  Obama declared on his first presidential trip to Asia, back in November 2009, that the U.S. would engage with the other TPP countries -- Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam -- to shape an effective, mutually beneficial regional-trade agreement.
  Japan's inclusion will immediately elevate the stature of this 21st-century pact into an opportunity to renew the U.S.- Japan partnership. It will establish firmer rules for resolving commercial differences between the world's No. 1 and No. 3 economies, and ensure that the pact covers roughly 40 percent of global gross domestic product. It recognizes the importance for the U.S. of trans-Pacific trade and affirms Japan as a strategic ally.
  Not least, it ensures that the U.S. LNG industry can lead the world to a cleaner, more efficient and more affordable energy future.
  (Gary Clyde Hufbauer is the Reginald Jones senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The opinions expressed are his own.)
  To contact the writer of this article: Gary Clyde Hufbauer at ghufbauer@piie.com.
  To contact the editor responsible for this article: Katy Roberts at kroberts29@bloomberg.net.
VIDEO-Cllr Doug Ford forces council to recess because of his braying and neighing - YouTube
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:47
Free Network Foundation
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:31
  Free Network Foundation ## end of header> ## end of carousel_container> ## end of carousel_wrapper> The Free Network Foundation envisions a world where communities build, maintain, and own their own share of the global computer network. If you share our vision...
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PersonalTelco - Personal Telco Project
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:30
  Introducing Personal Telco
  The Personal Telco Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Portland, Oregon dedicated to the idea that users have a central role in how their communications networks are operated. We do that by building our own networks that we share with our communities, and by helping to educate others in how they can too. To date, we have done this using Wi-Fi technology. We began in 2000 by turning our own houses and apartments into wireless hotspots (or "nodes"), and then set about building networks in public locations such as parks and coffee shops. There are currently about 100 active nodes participating in our project. We would like to see people and businesses in every corner and on every block of the city participating.
  You can help with a donation of your time, your money, or your bandwidth. If you don't live in Portland, there may be a similar group near you. If there's not, maybe you could start one!
  Want Internet?Personal Telco Project operates numerous open-access free-to-the-end-user networks around the city, thanks to the generosity of our hosts. Check out our wifi map.
  Want to Help?Personal Telco welcomes all comers. Whether you're a technology wizard or technically incompetent, volunteering with us is a great way to learn something new, enjoy teaching others, or use your skills to do something useful (or delightfully, artistically, hilariously non-useful!) Sign up for our mailing list, drop by our IRC live chat, or attend a meeting!
  Want to Host a Network?Are you an individual, business, housing project, neighborhood group or other organization that would consider sharing your internet connection with your friends and neighbors? There are many benefits to doing so, and only a few drawbacks '-- most of which can be overcome or minimized. Get in touch to learn more!
  Help/general questions: Technical operational support: Keep in mind that we are a volunteer based Network Operations Team and we will respond as soon as we can. More contact options...
Home Wireless Network Keeps the Snoops Away - NYTimes.com
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:30
  LIKE most people, Kim Thomas has a broadband connection at home that she uses to check email, surf the Internet and stream music and video.
  But unlike most people, Ms. Thomas, 56, a program director for a charitable foundation in Portland, Ore., has no monthly bill. All she did was buy a router and rooftop antenna , which not only granted her free access but also made her part owner of the infrastructure that delivers the signal. Total cost: about $150.
  Ms. Thomas is a participant in the Personal Telco Project, one of a growing number of community wireless mesh networks in the United States and abroad. These alternative networks, built and maintained by their users, are emerging at a time when Internet service providers are limited in number (some argue monopolistic) and are accused of cooperating with government snoops.
  ''I watch friends who have cable and their bills just keep going up and they have no control but feel they are dependent on it,'' said Ms. Thomas, whose husband and two college-age sons also use her home's wireless mesh connection. ''I feel like there are so many areas of your life that you have no control over and this is a nice piece in which you can.''
  A wireless mesh network is essentially a network of a bunch of interconnected wireless routers, or nodes, which propagate traffic between users and also broadcast broadband service from nodes that are wired to the Internet. Think of it as a system of linked coffee shop hot spots where patrons at all the various coffee shops can send and receive data directly between each other's devices, as well as surf the Web. Only you don't have to go to a coffee shop and listen to annoying soft jazz to participate.
  ''Our approach is to build our own autonomous system and actually allow people to participate in the Internet rather than participating by proxy through Time Warner, Google Fiber or any other retail I.S.P.,'' said Isaac Wilder, executive director of the Free Network Foundation, which within the last year has managed to construct a wireless mesh network that serves about 500 people in Kansas City, Kan.
  Perhaps the largest and oldest wireless mesh network is the Athens Wireless Metropolitan Network, or A.W.M.N., in Greece, which was started in 2002 by people frustrated by the slow rollout of broadband in the city. The network now has more than 2,500 users throughout the metropolitan area and neighboring islands and offers speeds in some areas in excess of 100 megabits per second compared with the 4 to 7 megabits per second from typical residential cable and DSL connections in the United States
  ''It's really fast. But it's ended up Internet access doesn't matter for many users because the network has its own services,'' said Joseph Bonicioli, an information technology professional who is the volunteer president of the association that oversees A.W.M.N. He said the organization had its own search engines, Voice over Internet Protocol services as well as ''forums, social activity and content like video.'' Some developers have used the network's intranet as a testing ground before taking their concepts and applications live on the Internet.
  Community wireless mesh networks '-- no one tracks how many there are but it is probably in the thousands worldwide '-- owe their existence to relatively recent advances in wireless technology. A lot of these innovations actually come from radio astronomy, where new techniques in compression, amplification and error correction have made it possible to receive signals from distant stars, planets and probes and are just as effective, if not more so, terrestrially.
  ''There have been some really incredible breakthroughs in the past 10 years,'' said Sascha Meinrath, director of the Open Technology Institute, or O.T.I., at the New America Foundation in Washington, which has been the nexus for the wireless mesh networking movement through organizing international conferences and funding community projects.
  Last month, O.T.I. released its Commotion Construction Kit, which provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up a wireless mesh network using open source code and off-the-shelf routers and antennas. The kit is a synthesis of methods learned from the construction of community mesh networks.
  Although available to all, O.T.I.'s focus has been providing the instruction to people living in repressive nations around the world, not to mention activists in the United States. Because mesh networks are autonomous from the wider Internet, they cannot be shut down by a government. The networks are also harder to surveil because of the way data pinballs unpredictably between nodes without any centralized hub.
  It is ironic given the recent revelations about National Security Agency spying that O.T.I. has received significant financial support from the State Department. ''And thus you see the many facets of U.S. government,'' said Mr. Meinrath. ''The reality is that the exact same technology that protects human rights workers and democracy advocates overseas is going to be incredibly useful for preventing domestic snooping.''
  Of course, once you leave the mesh network's confines and point your browser to Facebook or Google, all bets are off. You're just as vulnerable to surveillance as anyone else. Like capillaries to an artery, mesh networks may ultimately connect to the Internet through typical residential or commercial Internet service providers like Comcast or AT&T.
  But increasingly mesh networks are linking directly to the Internet's backbone to achieve greater speed and eliminate middlemen gateways and their restrictions. This is the case for the Freedom Network in Kansas City as well as many European mesh networks including FunkFeuer in Vienna, WirelessAntwerpen in Antwerp and Freifunk in Berlin.
  ''We are bringing the backbone of the Internet all the way to the home router,'' said L. Aaron Kaplan, a computer security specialist in Vienna who is a co-founder of FunkFeuer and its current vice chairman. ''When there is decentralization of the Internet, it becomes more resilient.''
  A mesh network in the Red Hook neighborhood in Brooklyn, for example, maintained its broadband connection after Hurricane Sandy when most major I.S.P.'s in the area went down.
  Surprisingly, volunteer administrators of mesh networks said they had little problem with members abusing the service by say, running bandwidth-hogging programs like BitTorrent or sending spam. Either there are technological mechanisms that actively prevent that type of data transfer or people near the node that's engaged in the activity start to complain about slower speeds so it's not long before the culprit is found out and pilloried.
  ''Social pressure works for us,'' said Mr. Kaplan.
  Many mesh networks do not even have written user agreements, though administrators said it was understood that users were not allowed to generate undue traffic or interfere with traffic running through their nodes. To be safe, they suggest members use a virtual private network like WiTopia or VyprVPN on top of the networks' baseline data encryption, which is advisable whenever using Wi-Fi at home or in a public space.
  In Portland, Ms. Thomas said she was not concerned. ''This is a relationship-driven network where we're all in it for the social experiment more than anything else,'' she said. ''We know there are risks, but we've seen the commercial networks aren't immune to being hacked.''
TPP Leak Confirms the Worst: US Negotiators Still Trying to Trade Away Internet Freedoms | Electronic Frontier Foundation
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:24
  After years of secret trade negotiations over the future of intellectual property rights (and limits on those rights), the public gets a chance to looks at the results. For those of us who care about free speech and a balanced intellectual property system that encourages innovation, creativity, and access to knowledge, it's not a pretty picture.
  Today Wikileaks published a complete draft of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement's chapter on ''intellectual property rights.'' The leaked text, from August 2013, confirms long-standing suspicions about the harm the agreement could do to users' rights and a free and open Internet. From locking in excessive copyright term limits to further entrenching failed policies that give legal teeth to Digital Rights Management (DRM) tools, the TPP text we've seen today reflects a terrible but unsurprising truth: an agreement negotiated in near-total secrecy, including corporations but excluding the public, comes out as an anti-user wish list of industry-friendly policies.
  Despite the Obama administration's top U.S. negotiators' fast approaching their self-imposed 2013 deadline to complete the agreement, today's leak is the public's first look at the sprawling text since a February 2011 leak [pdf] of the same chapter and a July 2012 leak of an individual section. And even as the public has been completely shut out, the U.S. Trade Representative has lobbied for wider latitude to negotiate and for ''fast-track authority'' to bypass Congressional review.
  The document Wikileaks has published contains nearly 100 pages of bracketed text'--meaning it includes annotated sections that are proposed and opposed by the negotiating countries. The text is not final, but the story it tells so far is unmistakable: United States negotiators (with occasional help from others) repeatedly pushing for restrictive policies, and facing only limited opposition, coming from countries like Chile, Canada, New Zealand, and Malaysia.
  Copyright TermsThe leaked chapter features proposals for setting a new ''floor'' for copyright duration, ranging from the already problematic U.S. term of life of the author plus 70 years to an incredible life of the author plus 100 years, proposed by Mexico. Such bloated term lengths benefit only a vanishingly small portion of available works, and impoverish the public domain of our collective history. The U.S. is also pushing for countries to embrace terms lengths of 95 years for corporate and 120 years for unpublished works.
  Extending term lengths in the U.S. was already a bad idea. The U.S. Trade Rep shouldn't be compounding it by forcing other countries to follow suit. Countries around the world that have shorter term lengths than the U.S. celebrate the arrival each year of new works into the public domain, and the economic activity that can accompany them. Since the 1998 passage of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, however, the U.S. will see no new published works enter the public domain until 2019. The proposal in TPP would export that sort of restriction to all the countries that join it.
  These expansive terms have also exacerbated the widely recognized problem of ''orphan works'' also known as ''hostage works.'' These are works where the rightsholder can't be identified or located and, therefore, folks are afraid to use them, publish them online, etc, lest the rightsholder appear at last and file a lawsuit. As a result, millions of works effectively disappear from the cultural commons until their copyright terms at long last expire. Earlier this year, the U.S. Register of Copyrights advised a reduction or limitation in term length as a possible solution. Crystallizing U.S. term lengths in international agreements would frustrate efforts to enact such reasonable policies. This is a classic example of policy laundering, whereby corporate interests use secretive international forums to trump the democratic process at the national level.
  Fair Use and Fair DealingAlthough the addition of the ''3-step test'' for fair use provisions was hailed by the U.S. Trade Representative as a major step forward for users' rights in trade agreements, its original intention has been subverted. It now may serve as a ceiling on rights, and not a floor.
  The agreement claims not to confine copyright limitations and exceptions further than earlier deals, such as the Berne Convention, but early analysis from groups like Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) suggests that's not the case. Functionally, TPP as drafted creates a tightly circumscribed space in which countries can grant rights like fair use and fair dealing to its citizens.
  Given the important role that flexibility in copyright has played in enabling innovation and free speech, it's a terrible idea to restrict that flexibility in a trade agreement.
  Intermediary liabilityThe newly leaked text reveals substantial disagreement over the language on copyright liability for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and other online platforms. The February 2011 leak contained extensive language that would have imposed regulatory requirements to police users' activities online and paved the way for systems like three-strikes take down policies and ISPs filtering and blocking access to websites that allegedly infringe or facilitate copyright infringement.
  Even though the text appears to be very much in flux, it's clear from the leaked chapter that Canada is pushing back hard against U.S. pressure to adopt draconian copyright enforcement measures. A majority of countries appear to be proposing language that would give them some flexibility to limit the liability of ISPs, so they can develop enforcement frameworks that best suit their national laws and priorities. That flexibility is essential to staving off copyright enforcement laws that in practice would violate users' free speech and privacy. And yet the U.S., backed by Australia, opposes this language.
  Anti-CircumventionThe leaked draft includes controversial language calling for laws prohibiting the circumvention of ''technological protection measures,'' also known as DRM. The U.S. has had such a law in place for over 15 years, and it's been a disaster for free speech and competition, chilling the legitimate speech of innovators, filmmakers, security researchers, and many others. In fact, it's so bad that President Obama and many in Congress have said it must be reformed. Just as much of the U.S. public is realizing our anti-circumvention law was a mistake in the first place, we're not only trying to export it but also potentially impeding our own ability to fix it.
  Despite numerous heroic proposals for fixes, most notably from Canada and Chile, the articles as drafted include many such dangerous provisions. Though the text remains unsettled, the current proposal calls for criminal liability for violations of these anti-circumvention provisions, except for when conducted by a non-profit.
  Worse, because of the broad language, this criminal liability could apply to people circumventing these restrictions even where the underlying work is not covered by copyright.
  Temporary CopiesThe strict regulation of temporary copies reflected in the February 2011 leak was a startling throwback to an outmoded and dangerous idea: that copyright should apply even to ephemeral copies. The implications are staggering. Computers and networks create, in the normal course of operation, temporary and ephemeral copies. Regulations on these sorts of copies, as described in the earlier leak, would interfere with basic technical operations and give rightsholders an opportunity to sit on an essential chokepoint of the Internet.
  Fortunately, negotiators may have recognized the fundamental folly of this proposal. Although the U.S. has yet to support any reasonable text on this topic, the draft leaked today included a proposed clarification that temporary copies may be exempted from copyright restrictions. Language from Chile, New Zealand, and Malaysia proposes that countries may make these exemptions for:
  temporary acts of reproduction which are transient or incidental and an integral and essential part of a technological process and whose sole purpose is to enable (a) a lawful transmission in a network between third parties by an intermediary; or (b) a lawful use of a work; and which have no independent economic significance.
  Similar language appears in a footnote proposed by a larger group of countries that does not include the U.S., and which negotiators have noted faces ''no substantive objection to the concept'' but which is not yet finalized.
  PatentsThe leaked draft reveals that the US is pushing hard for provisions expanding the reach of patent law and limiting ways in which a patent may be revoked. These proposals are meeting widespread opposition from the other participants. For example, the U.S. proposes'--and nearly every other nation opposes'--that patents be made available for inventions that are ''plants and animals.''
  The U.S. also proposes language that would prohibit denying ''a patent solely on the basis that the product did not result in enhanced efficacy of the known product.'' Again, nearly every other nation opposes the U.S. on this issue. And a good thing too. Setting the bar to patentability too low locks up innovation. Advocates for access to medicine argue that it allows pharmaceutical companies delay generic entry through ''evergreening.'' In other technology areas, the U.S. is seeing the terrible consequences of a flood of low-quality software patents, many of which are for minor improvements on existing technology. There's no reason for an international treaty to export the problems of the U.S. patent regime.
  ConclusionThe latest TPP leak confirms our longstanding fears about these negotiations. The USTR is pushing for regulations that would, for the most part, put the desires of major content and patent owners over the needs of the public. No wonder the negotiators want to keep the process secret. There are marginal improvements since February 2011, but they are not enough. Real and substantially balanced proposals will not happen unless and until negotiators can be held accountable to the public for the proposals they are making.
  Rest assured: if they can't be challenged now, they will surely be challenged later. Internet users have proven that they will not stand for backroom deals that put their freedoms at risk.
Corn Syrup Prices Tumble in Battle With Cheap Sugar - Businessweek
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:23
  A confluence of low commodity prices and negative headlines for high-fructose corn syrup is creating a turf war in the battle for industrial sweeteners. Two of the largest suppliers of corn syrup, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Cargill, are cutting prices for 2014 as weak sugar prices could make sucrose'--plain old table sugar'--a competitive option for many large food and beverage companies.
  The cuts come as U.S. corn prices hover near lows not seen since 2010, owing to an expected record harvest this fall of 13.99 billion bushels, according to a report last week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That gives big corn processors some room to maneuver on pricing syrup.
  ADM told its customers in recent weeks to expect prices for corn syrup to drop about 10 percent from current levels, according to a spokeswoman. Reuters reported similar signals from privately held Cargill, which did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
  The price cuts come after federal regulators denied a push last year by a trade group, the Corn Refiners Association, to use the term ''corn sugar'' in their advertising as part of an effort by corn interests to counter bad press from studies linking high-fructose corn syrup with obesity. The refiners association contends that sugar and corn syrup are nutritionally the same. By the trade group's count, Americans last year consumed 25 percent less high-fructose corn syrup than the peak level reached in 1999, when the average American ingested about 45.5 pounds of the stuff.
  The obesity headlines have taken a toll on Big Corn. Many consumer products now tout an absence of corn syrup as a virtue, and various online groups have taken to tracking which food makers have switched to alternate sweeteners. What's more, sugar has ardent fans who claim to taste a difference: Witness the recent outcry when Mexico's Coca-Cola (KO) bottler suggested a switch from cane sugar to corn syrup.
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE: Military breaks ground for $65 million defense information HQ at Scott Air Force Base | Metro-east news | News Democrat
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:06
  SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE '-- Senior military and civilian officials broke ground on Wednesday for a $65 million headquarters building for the rapidly growing Defense Information Systems Agency, Continental United States.
  Construction of the new facility is scheduled to conclude in late 2015, with a ribbon-cutting set for spring 2016.
  The nearly 165,000-square-foot structure will be erected on a 20-acre site on the north side of the sprawling air base.
  For metro-east leaders worried about the future of Scott -- the St. Louis metro region's largest employer -- in an era of shrinking Pentagon budgets, the new building means a dose of good news, according to military officers interviewed.
  The new building "is validation of the magnitude of the work that we do," said Army Col. Nora Marcos, the newly installed commander of the Defense Information Systems Agency, Continental United States.
  Marcos said the agency has "a global mission."
  "And the investment by the government in putting the entire organization under one roof and providing it with a world-class operations center, speaks volumes to their confidence in our ability to do our mission," she said.
  The new headquarters will house nearly 900 workers and feature a cafeteria, exercise facilities and 257 miles of wiring and cable.
  The Defense Information Systems Agency's workforce consists of personnel from all branches of the military, as well as civilian employees and contractors. The agency's mission focuses on providing information and communications technology to all levels of the national security hierarchy, from the White House, through the Department of Defense and to major combat commands.
  The expansion at Scott makes sense, Marcos said.
  Scott is "a center of gravity, and obviously for transportation it is a center of gravity," she said. "And those things go hand-in-hand in support of the war fighter."
  DISA's mission is growing rapidly, and one of the driving forces behind its growth is "our mission to defend the network," Marcos said. "Defensive cyber-operations are huge, and that has been increasing our mission, and that's where we expect to see future growth."
  Burns and McDonnell, of Kansas City, Mo., designed the building, while River City Construction, of Benton, won the contract to build it.
  Nearly 100 military and civilian spectators showed up for the groundbreaking ceremony. Marcos charged up the crowd by comparing herself to a football quarterback entering late in the game.
  "We're about to put the ball over the goal line," Marcos said. "But the goal line is 24 months away."
  One of the featured speakers at Wednesday's groundbreaking was Army Brig. General Randy Taylor, a former DISA commander who had spent years helping plan for the new building, which he called "further proof of how important this mission is, and how important your efforts are on behalf the war fighters."
  Taylor alluded to the brisk winds Wednesday afternoon that led to shivering among many in the audience.
  "No kidding, I dreamt about this day," he said. "But it was actually 75 degrees in my dream."
  Contact reporter Mike Fitzgerald at mfitzgerald@bnd.com or 618-239-2533.
Edward Snowden's lover Lindsay Mills sends cryptic coded messages | News.com.au
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:01
  The father of Edward Snowden said on Wednesday that the former U.S. spy agency contractor is not a fugitive and should stay in Russia. Sarah Toms reports.
  Edward Snowden's girlfriend ... Ballerina and pole-dancer Lindsay Mills. Picture: lsjourney.comSource: Supplied
  THE girlfriend of whistleblower Edward Snowden has broken a four-month silence to post a series of enigmatic photos on her online blog in what might be a coded message to her exiled lover.
  Ballerina and pole dancer Lindsay Mills, 28, who lived with Edward Snowden in Hawaii before he exposed US government spying secrets, has added cryptic titles to the pictures, made up of punctuation symbols, perhaps using visual clues only he would understand.
  EDWARD SNOWDEN WARMS OF US GOVERNMENT SPYING
  JULIAN ASSANGE ANGERS ECUADOR BY HELPING EDWARD SNOWDEN
  Cryptic titles ... Edward Snowden's girlfriend, ballerina and pole dancer Lindsay Mills. Picture: lsjourney.comSource: Supplied
  They are her first communication with the world since the spying scandal exploded in June, which led to Snowden fleeing to Russia and sent Ms Mills into hiding with friends in America.
  One photo on her blog - lsjourney.com - shows Ms Mills reclining on a beach in a bikini, turning her back on the camera as she faces a glowing sunset. A second photo, in which she wears a T-shirt and black trousers, again shows her from behind, crouched in a wooded glade. In a third, only her right hand is seen above a yellow road sign with a large black arrow pointing to the left.
  The latest photo, posted on Friday, shows her posing like Superwoman, held aloft in the arms of an unidentified man, silhouetted against a setting sun.
  Her web page cover photo also shows only her hand, holding a paper aeroplane pointing skyward.
  Snowden has been charged with espionage and theft of government property, and remains wanted by the US authorities.
  Girlfriend has been in hiding ... Former National Security Agency systems analyst Edward Snowden in Moscow, Russia. (AP Photo)Source: AP
Former Rolling Stone Editor Eric Bates Joins Omidyar-Greenwald Venture | Michael Calderone
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:56
  Eric Bates, the former executive editor of Rolling Stone, is joining the new media organization being launched by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and journalist Glenn Greenwald.
  According to a post from Omidyar about NewCo -- what the project is currently being called -- Bates "will be instrumental in helping us define our editorial strategy for a general-interest audience as well as the editing infrastructure we will need to support our independent journalists.
  Bates worked at Rolling Stone for nearly a decade, editing top stories on politics and national security. He was the editor of "The Runaway General," the award-winning 2010 feature on Gen. Stanley McChrystal by the late Michael Hastings. Bates also participated in four interviews with President Obama while at the magazine. Rolling Stone laid off a couple high-ranking staffers earlier this year, including Bates.
  Previously, Bates worked as investigative editor at Mother Jones and was editor-in-chief of South Exposure. This year, he became a scholar at NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge and has reportedly been in the running for the top editor job at the Columbia Journalism Review.
  When news broke last month that Omidyar was working on a new venture with journalists Greenwald, Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill, little had yet been determined about the media outlet's structure. Omidyar told HuffPost that the media outlet will hire experienced editors, along with high-profile writers dedicated to their specific beats.
  A couple weeks ago, two more journalists -- Dan Froomkin and Liliana Segura -- came aboard. But Bates will be the first editor to join the venture, which helps add more structure to the growing newsroom.
  Follow Michael Calderone on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mlcalderone
The opening of COP19 in Warsaw in the shade of Philippines' super typhoon Haiyan. - COP19 - CMP9, Conference of Parties and climate change conference
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:50
  His Excellency Mr. Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, President of COP18/CMP8 has passed on his seat to the President Elect of COP19/CMP9 Marcin Korolec, who at the same moment became the President Elect of COP19/CMP9 till the next COP in Lima in 2014.Passing on the seat has been preceded by speech of His Excellency Mr. Abdullah Bin Hamid Al-Attiyah who welcomed everyone, congratulated Poland its Independence Day and thanked for hospitality. He also referred to the agreements achieved in Doha while underlined the need of continuing and supporting those agreements, as he said: ''I hope that the agreements from Doha will be supported for the good of the planet earth''. President of COP18/CMP8 expressed a hope that agreements from Warsaw will help to reach greater consensus at the COP21/CMP11 in Paris and also declared his support for the President of COP 19/CMP9.
  The speech has been followed by the presentation of Marcin Korolec as a President Elect of COP 19/CMP9 to the assembly performed by His Excellency Mr. Abdullah Bin Hamid Al-Attiyah. Next the President Elect has been elected to the position of President COP19/CMP9 by acclamation.
  Newly elected President COP19/CMP9 Marcin Korolec gave a speech and thanked previous President for his support and also Executive Secretary of UNFCCC Christiana Figueres and President of City of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz. Marcin Korolec underlined that the work that needs to be done in Warsaw ''Willnotbeeasy''.He also regretted victims and all who suffered from super typhoon, which recently destroyed Philippines and other countries in that region.
  While speaking about the challenges, which are ahead of the Warsaw's conference, Marcin Korolec said: ''Changingclimateisaglobalissueandaglobalproblem,butalsoagreatopportunity.Onecountrycan notmakeadifference,butalltogethercan.Allcountriesaredifferent,butitmaybeanadvantage.Eachpartymaybringitsbestforthegoodofallofus.''
  At the end of his speech Marcin Korolec wished everyone good COP19.
  The next speaker Executive Secretary of UNFCCC Christiana Figueres thanked previous speakers and also Polish Government and President of City of Warsaw for the preparation of the conference and hospitality. Executive Secretary of UNFCCC expressed a hope that the event in Warsaw will drive to the point which bring everyone step closer to the greater agreement in Paris in 2015. In the end of her speech Christiana Figures referred to the venue of the conference saying: ''As the conference takes place at the stadium I would like to refer to the Olympics motto: Citius, Altius, Fortius '' what means Faster, Higher, Stronger and I hope it will be guiding us during our work here''.
  All gathered people were also welcomed by President of the City of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, who underlined that Warsaw is one of the most ''green'' cities in Europe and as only city in the world performed and published ''sustainable report''. The President also wished everyone ''Good time in Warsaw''. Next Beata Jaczewska '' Head of Polish Delegation presented a short movie on people who live at Kiribati in village called ''Poland''. The movie presented day-to-day life of the native community who struggles everyday makes theirself living. Local child narrated the movie. The movie underlined threats of global warming that are visible for the inhabitants of this small island, as they have to wait for the rainy days to get a drinking water. It was also mentioned that due to rising level of the Oceans, the area of the island decreases year by year what will drive one day into a float of the island.
  After all planned speeches newly elected President COP19/CMP9 Marci Korolec proposed to the assembly 3 minutes of silence to commemorate victims and all who suffered from the typhoon which hit recently Philippines and neighboring countries.
  Soon after that meaningful moment the President of COP19/CMP9 continued to proceed with all required procedures such as adopting: rules procedure; agenda and also election of the officers other than President and admission of organizations as observers.
  During the session many countries have requested the right to make a statement, above the all, the most significant was the statement delivered by the representative of the Philippian delegation who in his first words thanked for all the support and all kind words towards his country, which has been touched by the tragedy. However most of his speech was much more emotional and referred to the super typhoon which destroyed his country and caused the death of thousands of people.
  In his statement Yeb Sano '' Philippines lead negotiator, Head of Delegation underlined that this ''massive devastation'' should be a warning to the whole world and ''it's time to stop this madness''.
  Long, exceeding over a set 3 minutes time limit statement was very warm received by the assembly what was expressed by the a stand-up applause preformed by some people gathered at the plenary session.
  See the pictures from the first day of COP19/CMP9 in the gallery.
Amy Goodman: Typhoon Haiyan Demands Climate Action at the U.N. Summit in Warsaw - Truthdig
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:48
  Typhoon Haiyan Demands Climate Action at the U.N. Summit in WarsawPosted on Nov 13, 2013By Amy Goodman
  Typhoon Haiyan, a storm of historic proportions, has devastated the largely impoverished population of the Philippines. Thousands of people are dead, hundreds of thousands are stranded with almost no food or water, and millions have been impacted. The struggle to survive competes with the race to bury the dead, treat the wounded and suffer through the onslaught of tropical storms in Haiyan's wake. In seeming synchrony, halfway around the world, thousands of negotiators, scientists, politicians and journalists are gathering for the annual United Nations Climate Change summit, held this year in Warsaw, Poland. The changing seas that this week have whipped the Philippines demand a sea change in the worldwide response to global warming.
  As ''COP 19'' opened in Warsaw - the 19th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol - one courageous climate negotiator took center stage, demanding action on climate change.
  ''What my country is going through as a result of this extreme climate event is madness. The climate crisis is madness,'' said Naderev ''Yeb'' Sano, representing the typhoon-ravaged Philippines, as the summit opened. ''We can stop this madness right here in Warsaw.'' This was not his first appeal to the U.N. body. Last year, when the summit was in Doha, Qatar, and not long after Typhoon Bopha killed 1,100 people in the Philippines, Sano implored the gathered negotiators, holding back tears: ''The outcome of our work is not about what our political masters want. It is about what is demanded of us by 7 billion people. I appeal to all: Please, no more delays, no more excuses. Please, let Doha be remembered as the place where we found the political will to turn things around.''
  Doha did not turn things around. Report after report reinforces the science: Catastrophic climate change is accelerating. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the association of more than 1,800 scientists that is leading the global study of climate change, and which shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore in 2007, recently released its fifth assessment report. With increasing certainty, the IPCC reports, the climate is changing, and humans are the cause.
  Jeff Masters is a meteorologist and founder of the popular weather website Weather Underground. Unlike most U.S.-based television weather forecasters, who rarely link extreme weather events to climate change, Masters regularly makes the connection. He said on ''Democracy Now!'' news hour, ''The proportion of these sorts of high-end Category 5 storms has increased ... when we do get them there's a higher proportion of them coming in at these super-high intensities.'' Masters and the IPCC point out that no individual weather event can be directly attributed to climate change, but that the frequency and intensity of the storms will increase.
  While the science is dry and peer-reviewed, the reality on the ground is grim and deadly. Typhoon Haiyan (which is called Yolanda in the Philippines) is the latest, epic example. Superstorm Sandy, one year ago, hit New Jersey and New York City, shutting down one of the largest cities on the planet.It's too soon to call the U.N. climate summit in Warsaw a failure. Earnest negotiators have gathered in Poland, alongside activists both inside the National Stadium, where the conference is being held, and outside, in the streets. Activists from Greenpeace called attention to Poland's intense dependence on coal-fueled power plants by projecting messages onto the huge smokestacks stating ''Climate Change Starts Here.'' At the same time, 28 other Greenpeace activists face seven years in prison in Russia for protesting the first exploratory oil-drilling rig in the Arctic. The two journalists covering them face the same charges.
  Many consider Warsaw just a steppingstone to the climate summit planned for Paris in 2015, conceding that immediate action is not possible. Why? At the climate summit in 2011, in Durban, South Africa, a representative of the youth delegation addressed the closing plenary, expressing frustration with the slow progress. Anjali Appadurai said: ''You've been negotiating all my life. ... Long-term thinking is not radical. What's radical is to completely alter the planet's climate, to betray the future of my generation, and to condemn millions to death by climate change. What's radical is to write off the fact that change is within our reach.''
  Yeb Sano is not giving up, either on his family, many of whom were directly hit by Typhoon Haiyan, or on the process. As he closed his statement at the opening session in Warsaw this week, he announced, ''I will now commence a voluntary fasting for the climate ... during this COP, until a meaningful outcome is in sight.''
  Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
  Amy Goodman is the host of ''Democracy Now!,'' a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 1,000 stations in North America. She is the co-author of ''The Silenced Majority,'' a New York Times best-seller.
  (C) 2013 Amy Goodman
  Distributed by King Features Syndicate
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Doctors say 33 million Americans should be taking stain drugs
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:43
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Daily Press Briefing - November 13, 2013
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:42
  1:30 p.m. EST
  MS. PSAKI: Hi, everyone. I just have one item for all of you at the top.
  You may have seen that we put out a statement on this already and we also held a briefing call, but today the State Department announced the designation of Boko Haram and Ansaru as separate Foreign Terrorist Organizations and as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. These designations are an important step in supporting the Government of Nigeria's effort to counter violent extremism and address the security challenges in northern Nigeria. The consequences of these designations include a general prohibition against knowingly providing or attempting or conspiring to provide material support or resources to or engaging in transactions with Boko Haram or Ansaru, and the freezing of all property and interests in property of Boko Haram or Ansaru that are in the United States or come within the United States or the control of U.S. persons.
  So with that, let's get to your questions.
  QUESTION: Why don't we stay on Boko Haram then, since we're on that?
  MS. PSAKI: Yes, of course.
  QUESTION: I'd asked this on the conference call, and I'm still not clear about the answer why '' exactly why it's taken so long to designate Boko Haram and Ansaru '' but particularly Boko Haram as an FTO.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: I know there've been calls from a number of quarters over the past few months for you to do so, and I understand that it takes a long time, but has things happened '' is there something different on the ground now that makes the United States fear that this insurgency is more entrenched and more militant and perhaps a bit more organized and more bloody than it was, say, a year ago?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, let me do my best to answer your question. I don't know if I '' I didn't hear every part of the conference call, so let me try here. As you know, any designation or decision to designate is the result of an extensive and deliberative process, and interagency process. We, of course, listen to a range of people, and ultimately the Secretary of State makes the decision, but it's in conjunction with a number of other agencies.
  As you also probably know, we have designated over time several leaders of Boko Haram. And as the decision was being made here, we were looking at trying to understand how Boko Haram is organized in order to be able to effectively target the group and its assets. As you also know, Boko Haram is a decentralized and factionalized organization with a loose command and control structure. So we've worked over the years with our international partners, as well as with the Government of Nigeria, to deepen our understanding of the organization. And while we knew the leaders were taking actions that warranted, this was an interagency and deliberative and extensive process to make the decision about the actual organization.
  QUESTION: And how extensive does the United States believe are the links with AQIM?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, we do '' while we continue to believe that Boko Haram remains primarily a Nigerian organization within its '' in its principle '' with its principle objectives in Nigeria, we do believe that it has links to AQIM. In terms of the level of that, I don't have an evaluation.
  QUESTION: And are these links deepening and growing?
  MS. PSAKI: I don't have an evaluation of that. I'm happy to touch base with our team and see with them if there's anything more specific in terms of an increase or anything along those lines.
  QUESTION: Can we change topics?
  QUESTION: Jen, no, can we do one more?
  MS. PSAKI: Oh, let's see '' go ahead, Jill.
  QUESTION: Sorry, I just want to make sure. In other words, after you analyzed how they function, you decided that naming them an FTO would actually make it more effective in terms of getting at them and damaging them in some fashion, as opposed to just getting to the leadership?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, how effective is always a question, how effectively you can apply the designation. As you know, these types of designations '' financial transitions is what it applies to. So it's more '' I should say financial sanctions, really. So that's how it is applied.
  We knew that the leadership, as is evidenced by their designation, warranted designation. There was an evaluation in part on how the Boko Haram was organized and how to best and most effectively target the group, as you referenced, but also an evaluation of whether the entire organization was following what the leadership was doing.
  QUESTION: Can we change topics '' could we --
  QUESTION: I have one just --
  MS. PSAKI: Sure. Go ahead, Michelle.
  QUESTION: -- a quick follow-up. Do you have a sense of whether or not U.S. '' Americans were actually supporting this group or whether this group has any assets here to be frozen?
  MS. PSAKI: That's a good question, and obviously that is part of what is targeted in terms of how the sanctions would apply. In terms of the level or the amount, I don't have any percentage of that or amount. I'm happy to check and see if there's something more specific we can provide.
  QUESTION: Can we go to the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations?
  MS. PSAKI: Are we '' do we have any more on Boko Haram? Okay.
  QUESTION: We don't have any more?
  MS. PSAKI: Absolutely, Said. I know you've been waiting for it.
  QUESTION: I wonder if you have any comment '' I've been waiting for this '' I wonder if you have any comments on the resignation of the Palestinian negotiating team, and then '' and the manner in which it was announced on Egyptian television.
  MS. PSAKI: Well, a couple of points I'd like to make on this. We would, of course, overall refer you to the Palestinians on the specifics, but I would point you to an interview that President Abbas also did today where he again made clear that he remains committed to the negotiations for the nine-months agreed upon timeframe. And we fully expect the negotiations to continue as they have.
  He also made clear that there are a couple of options here. Either the delegation goes back on its resignation or they form a new delegation. Those are his words, of course, in terms of what the next steps are. So it's important and it's important to note that he reaffirmed the commitment of the Palestinian Authority to the negotiations on the nine-month timeframe and made clear that he wants them to proceed.
  QUESTION: Okay, now you tell me if you understand why he would do such a thing on television when, in fact, he's recommitted himself in the same interview, saying that we want to go back to negotiating, we want to '' I'm willing to try to re-convince the team of going back to negotiate. So what kind of points is he trying to score? What kind of message is he trying to send?
  MS. PSAKI: I think he's trying to send the message that he remains committed to the negotiations, and that, as he said '' again, in his words '' either the delegation goes back on its resignation or we form a new delegation. So those are his words, not my words.
  QUESTION: Jen, can we just --
  QUESTION: Well '' let me just quickly follow-up '' as sponsors of both the Israelis and the Palestinians in many ways, did he discuss with you their intention to '' his intention to accept this resignation? Because it was talked about last week before your visit, as a matter of fact.
  MS. PSAKI: I'm not going to get into the specifics on that level of internal discussions. Obviously, there have been reports of this possibility for some time. We've seen those reports as well, and again last week in speaking with the Secretary, he reaffirmed his commitment to the nine-month timeframe, which was something he did again today.
  QUESTION: Can I just go back to the beginning on this?
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: Are you saying that you have '' that the United States has been informed that the Palestinian team has resigned, the negotiating team has resigned?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, I think not only has the negotiating team made a statement, but President Abbas has made statements. The Secretary has spoken with '' he spoke with President Abbas yesterday. I'd have to check if they discussed this yesterday, but I think their public statements are what I'm pointing to.
  QUESTION: And Jen, another clarification. There were reports yesterday about 20,000 units, but now there seems to be kind of a backtracking. What's the latest that you understand in terms of whether or not these are actually going to go forward?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, you're right. We '' there was news also this morning, which I believe is what you're referring to, that President '' Prime Minister '' excuse me, I almost called him President Obama '' that Prime Minister Netanyahu has ordered the Housing Ministry to stop the planning tenders. We '' our position on settlements is quite clear, which I, of course, reiterated yesterday. But that is the latest news in terms of what the next action is. I don't think we have any additional information beyond that.
  QUESTION: Can I ask about the U.S. opinion?
  MS. PSAKI: Sure.
  QUESTION: Forgive me if you addressed it. But your basic view on the reported resignation or intent to resign by the Palestinian negotiators is what: that this is good, this is bad, or this is indifferent because they can just name a new team?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, I wouldn't put it in those terms, no surprise. But I pointed to the fact that President Abbas has reaffirmed his commitment to the nine-month timeframe for the negotiations. He is, of course, the leader. He made clear in an interview today that either the delegation goes back on its resignation or we form '' or they form a new delegation. Our focus overall is on having the negotiations proceed. He has reaffirmed his commitment to doing just that.
  QUESTION: But surely you can't view it as a good thing if the negotiators resign?
  MS. PSAKI: I think what our focus is, Arshad '' we're not evaluating every day or not the ups and downs or giving them a grade. Our focus remains on the end goal, which is that the negotiations continue. And the President of the Palestinian Authority reaffirmed that just today.
  QUESTION: But it doesn't say something to you about their views about the course of the negotiations that the negotiators would say they are resigning?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, as we said last week and as I said a little bit yesterday, and perhaps this is an example of that, we never thought this would be easy. We always knew that there would be challenges along the way. We knew that coming in. The Secretary pursued this with that, certainly, awareness in mind. But again, with that '' even with that reality, the stakes and the alternative is far worse than pursuing this even through bumps in the road.
  QUESTION: Do you regard this as perhaps some theater or a negotiating tactic in and of itself, just like people getting up and walking out of the room?
  MS. PSAKI: I don't have any particular analysis along those lines for you. Of course, our interest is on continuing the negotiations and pursuing them through the nine-month timeframe, and that's what the Secretary has conveyed.
  QUESTION: Last thing. Just one last one for me.
  MS. PSAKI: Sure, go ahead.
  QUESTION: Doesn't this make it harder to achieve, to meet the nine-month deadline? Because even if '' I mean, if they come back, then they've lost a day or however much time. If they don't come back and a new team is selected, then presumably they have to get fully up to speed, and it surely cannot be helpful to your cause here.
  MS. PSAKI: I don't think we have that evaluation at this point. Throughout this process, there have been weeks where they've met many times, there have been weeks where they haven't met. There has been ups and downs throughout the process, not necessarily even related to the number of meetings. But this happened just in the last 24 hours. Obviously, the fact that President Abbas went out and reaffirmed his commitment today as '' within that 24 hours is a good sign. And we'll continue to pursue it on the same timeframe.
  QUESTION: And you don't know if they talked about this in yesterday's call?
  MS. PSAKI: I didn't get a readout of the call, but that's something, obviously, that I can check on, and I'm not sure how much we'll get into the detail of their discussion.
  QUESTION: Jen, just a quick follow-up. I mean, considering the number of times, maybe a dozen times --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- that Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat resigned in the past, do you take his resignation seriously?
  MS. PSAKI: It's not for me to evaluate. He is negotiating on behalf of President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority. He will evaluate whether they will come back or whether they '' he will set a new negotiating team, and we'll move forward from there.
  QUESTION: I'm not trying to dismiss his frustration. He must be quite frustrated to negotiate with the Israelis. But to follow up on Arshad's point --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- that could this be theater or trying to jockey for some sort of political capital, perhaps, to gain something out of there? Could that be it?
  MS. PSAKI: I'm just not going to weigh in on that analysis. I will encourage all of you to do your own.
  Good. Do you have anyone '' more on Middle East peace?
  QUESTION: Yes.
  MS. PSAKI: Go ahead.
  QUESTION: Just to follow up, it doesn't take analysis to characterize a resignation as a setback, does it? I mean, it's '' that this was a --
  MS. PSAKI: I think what I said was '' to address that '' is we always knew there'd be challenges along the way. But it's important to note that within 24 hours of this announcement President Abbas went out and reaffirmed his commitment to the nine-month timeframe and conveyed that either the negotiators will come back or he will appoint a new team. That's an important point to note.
  QUESTION: New subject?
  MS. PSAKI: Any more?
  QUESTION: (Inaudible) another one.
  MS. PSAKI: Middle East peace? Go ahead.
  QUESTION: Yes, please. Back to the settlements.
  MS. PSAKI: It's Team AFP in the front here.
  QUESTION: Yeah. Has '' sorry. Has the Secretary spoken to the Prime Minister of Israel before his U-turn on the settlements issue?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, he's spoken with him and expressed his concern many times in the past. He did speak with him yesterday. But this is a concern '' again, this is a decision that was made and a '' an order, a call that was made by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Prime Minister Netanyahu alone. We haven't made a secret about our belief that we consider the settlements to be illegitimate.
  QUESTION: Did he voice that? Did the Secretary voice that to Prime Minister Netanyahu in yesterday's call?
  MS. PSAKI: He's voiced it on a number of occasions.
  QUESTION: I know that. That's not my question. My question is: Did he voice it in yesterday's call?
  MS. PSAKI: I'm certain that was part of his message.
  QUESTION: You '' but you don't know?
  MS. PSAKI: I don't have anything more for you, Arshad. I didn't get a readout of the call.
  QUESTION: If --
  QUESTION: So wait '' so you don't actually know whether he said that? You're just certain that he must have, but you don't know it?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, Arshad, this is a point that he has made several times publicly and privately. I don't think it's a secret what our position is, as we've stated it a number of times publicly and the Secretary has stated it a number of times publicly. He spoke with him yesterday. Of course they talked about this issue. Whether he used that exact phrase, I can't confirm that for you either way.
  QUESTION: Very quickly, Jen. I just wanted to --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- follow up regarding these talks over the past so many months. Do you think that if the Palestinian negotiating team withdraws its resignation, their effectiveness as negotiators would be compromised?
  MS. PSAKI: Can you say that one more time? Said, I'm not --
  QUESTION: Do you consider that if they were to withdraw their resignation, will they be as effective negotiators as they were before they negotiated, or there will be so much bitterness created that they will not be effective?
  MS. PSAKI: I don't have '' we don't know what the next step is yet. That's something President Abbas will determine, so I don't have any analysis of what it will mean depending on what '' which direction it goes in.
  QUESTION: So this is --
  QUESTION: Would you advise the Palestinians to sort of perhaps appoint a new negotiating team?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, it's up to President Abbas to do that. He's indicated that may be a direction he goes in.
  QUESTION: So de facto, this means for the moment, the direct negotiations are on hold, then?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, I wouldn't qualify it in that way. Obviously, either the team needs to come back or there needs to be a new negotiating team. That's a step that President Abbas made clear he would pursue. But again, I mean, I don't '' this is a nine-month timeframe, so it's not as if this is '' there is a deadline coming up in a week. And we'll work to continue them as soon as possible.
  QUESTION: Were there any plans for direct talks this week?
  MS. PSAKI: I'm not going to get into the details of that. Obviously, as I said, there's been some weeks where there have been multiple meetings, some weeks where there haven't been any. So that is not uncommon in a lengthy process.
  QUESTION: And what is Ambassador Indyk's role in this? Is he trying to work with the Palestinians, or '' I don't know. What is his role?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, it's up to President Abbas to determine what the next step will be. Certainly, Ambassador Indyk remains a facilitator and is there to consult and discuss as needed, but this is a choice that they will have to make in terms of what the next step will be.
  QUESTION: So no talks for the moment, though? No direct talks going on for the moment?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, obviously, there needs to be negotiators on both sides. But clearly, the fact that the President '' President Abbas came out and said that it's going to go one way or the other and indicated next steps is a good sign.
  QUESTION: Yeah, just one more on this. You mentioned it's a nine-month timeframe and there's plenty of time. We're halfway through that at this point. There have been ups and downs. I assume halfway through it, you have made an evaluation of some kind of how things are going. Would you care to share that with us?
  MS. PSAKI: I would just reiterate what the Secretary has said, which is that they're sustained and they're serious. We knew that there would be moments that aren't easy. Certainly, we've seen that played out in public. But both sides remain committed. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment last week, so we will continue to proceed.
  Middle East peace, or '' okay.
  QUESTION: New topic.
  MS. PSAKI: Okay.
  QUESTION: I wonder if there is some '' any concern in the State Department about the new confrontation between Colombia and Russia since we are talking about one of the most important American allies in the region.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm. I don't think I have any updates for you on that. I'm happy to check with our team and see if there's any particular new concern coming from our end.
  Jill.
  QUESTION: Can you confirm '' there is a flash that Egypt end the state of emergency.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: Is that correct?
  MS. PSAKI: We've seen those same reports. As we came down, obviously, we've see a range of reports yesterday. They announced it and then there was a possibility in public of a delay. I don't have any independent confirmation of it other than to tell you that I've seen the same reports.
  QUESTION: Do you think you might have something later? If it is correct, could we get a response?
  MS. PSAKI: I gave a comment yesterday.
  QUESTION: Yeah.
  MS. PSAKI: I'm happy to reiterate that. That remains the case. And I know there have been different reports over the last 24 hours, so '' but we don't have '' we wouldn't have any independent confirmation of what step has been taken. Obviously, we'd refer to the Egyptian Government to confirm that.
  QUESTION: So the Egyptian Government in this case wouldn't, let's say, inform you that we are lifting the state of emergency?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, this was discussed, as I mentioned yesterday, when the '' that when --
  QUESTION: I know. I was just following up on your comment.
  MS. PSAKI: Okay. This was discussed when the Secretary was in Egypt just about a week and a half ago. It was certainly raised. We knew that the timing of the end of the deadline was coming up this week, so obviously, there was a point where they'd have to make a decision.
  As I said yesterday, we certainly welcome the formal lifting of the state of emergency, including the curfew. There are still '' there is still legislation regarding security that is of concern, and we've continued to urge the government to respect the rights of all Egyptians as that legislation is considered.
  QUESTION: One more on Egypt?
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm. Go ahead.
  QUESTION: I know there '' I'm trying to look for this this thing, but earlier this morning, there was a story about the Russians, in fact, going in now '' Defense Ministry officials '' to sell weapons to Egypt.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: Have you seen those reports?
  MS. PSAKI: I talked about this yesterday too.
  QUESTION: Oh, I'm sorry.
  MS. PSAKI: Oh, no. It's okay.
  QUESTION: I must have missed that.
  MS. PSAKI: No, no. Don't worry. It's okay. We talked about this a little bit yesterday. We knew, of course, at the time that they had announced a plan to have a bilateral visit, I believe it was. I haven't seen the new reports this morning, and I'm not sure if they are quoting an official or if they're just speculative on what the purpose of the visit is.
  QUESTION: Speculating.
  MS. PSAKI: But we'd of course refer to the Egyptians and the Russians. We have our own bilateral relationship with Egypt. As you know, the Secretary was just there last week, so that's what our focus is on, and we would, of course, otherwise refer to the two governments on the purpose of their visit.
  QUESTION: On Iran?
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm. Do we have any more on Egypt? Okay. Iran.
  QUESTION: Great. Yuval Steinitz, who's the Minister of Intelligence in Israel, says that from briefings by the Secretary of State, the sanctions relief offered to Iran in the P5+1 negotiations is valued between 20 and 40 '' sorry '' billion for the Iranians. I understand you're not going to litigate the negotiations in public, but they are. So if you could speak to exactly what sort of sanctions relief you're talking about, and keeping in mind that limited is a relative term, so if there's any way we can specify that.
  MS. PSAKI: Sure. Well, I did see, of course, those reports. Without going into specifics about what we're considering, that number, I can assure you, is inaccurate, exaggerated, and not based in reality. So of course, there's a discussion ongoing about sanctions and about steps that Iran would need to take. And we're all familiar about what the steps would take, but in terms of those numbers, that's my specific comment.
  QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
  QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
  QUESTION: -- put a value on these sanctions?
  QUESTION: It's easy to sort of shoot something down, but --
  MS. PSAKI: I think you can safely assume they're lower.
  QUESTION: Can you put a value on that? I mean, there were '' some figures were like $40 billion, others half of that. What is your value of these sanctions?
  MS. PSAKI: I don't have a number for you, Said. I'm sure as events progress, we may have more specifics for you, but not at this moment.
  QUESTION: Okay. Will this be the kind of topic that the Secretary will discuss with the Banking Committee?
  MS. PSAKI: The Secretary, as you all know, is probably on his way there now, and he'll be meeting with both the Banking Committee as well as with senior Democratic leadership while he's on the Hill. He will be addressing concerns they have and whatever concerns they want to discuss.
  In terms of broadly what he's talking about while he's there, let me just give you a little overview of that. He will convey to the committee that we didn't vote for sanctions simply for the sake of sanctions. We put crippling sanctions in not just to bring Iran to the table but to give us the strongest possible hand at the negotiating table with the greatest amount of leverage and international support. And the sanctions now have worked and they've put in place '' they've provided us the best position to drive the best deal. We have an agreement and '' agreement among the P5+1, an agreement to halt the progress of the Iranian nuclear program and roll it back. But as they consider next steps, this is not a vote for or against sanctions, which he has supported in the past; this is a vote for or against diplomacy. The American people justifiably and understandably prefer a peaceful solution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and this agreement, if it's achieved, has the potential to do that.
  So as these '' this legislation is being considered, members of Congress need to ask themselves: Do they believe diplomacy should be the first resort, or should they '' should we open the door to confrontation? And what '' why not wait and see if diplomacy can be successful in this case?
  QUESTION: You said the sanctions have succeeded. But Iran has not halted, let alone rolled back, its nuclear program. Correct?
  MS. PSAKI: What I'm saying '' they have succeeded in getting Iran to the negotiating table. They have succeeded in putting the necessary pressure to get them there.
  QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
  QUESTION: Can I follow up on the sanctions question?
  MS. PSAKI: Sure.
  QUESTION: I understand he's asking for a pause, but '' what members of the Senate are suggesting are '' is language that would '' new sanctions would go into effect if the talks fail, that it takes a lot of time to get sanctions into place, and why not start now? It would be an added incentive. What kind of argument is Kerry making today on the Hill against that?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, that's a good question, and I think one thing's clear '' of course, Iran is watching closely what is happening, and putting new '' as well as the international community, and many countries that are impacted negatively by the sanctions they have in place and the sanctions they're keeping. So putting new sanctions in place could not only end the negotiations, but it would send the absolutely wrong message to the international community, that we're not serious about pursuing a diplomatic path. And our concern on that front is this could have the impact of opening the door to the opposite of what we want, which is an easing of sanctions by many in the international community who are already hurt economically, who are holding them in place to stay aligned with the international community while seeing if diplomacy is possible.
  QUESTION: Is that his argument, that putting in place new sanctions could actually end the negotiation?
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: And is he going to repeat the things '' I'm sure '' I imagine he is, but I'd like to confirm --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- that he plans, during this meeting today, to call for '' to say that it would be a mistake to impose additional sanctions now and a call for a temporary pause?
  MS. PSAKI: Yes. Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: Thank you.
  QUESTION: Can I just --
  QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
  QUESTION: Staying on Iran.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: There's a call between French President Francois Hollande and --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- American President Obama this '' today and '' at which they urged Iran to accept the deal that's on the table, which suggests to me that the P5+1 position is fixed and that they're not open to any more negotiations, and what they came up with in Geneva a few days ago is essentially what they're now offering to Iran. Is that '' would that be correct?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, that is what was offered to Iran on Saturday evening, right? And the P5+1 was united and it was a moment where Iran couldn't accept the deal as offered. Clearly, we would like to move forward with this deal. Obviously, I can't predict if there will be additional discussions between the negotiating teams when they go back to Geneva. And so I wouldn't make a prediction of that since they'll all be on the ground in about a week.
  QUESTION: But essentially, the position now is that it's '' Iran is consulting '' the Iranian leadership is consulting among themselves and they have to come back to you. There's not any kind of flexibility or such on the P5+1 position?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, the P5+1 is united on the deal that they agreed to, but I'm not closing the door to continuing discussions. I'd have to talk to our negotiating team about where they stand on that front, but obviously, continuing to narrow the differences is the of the next set of meetings, but I don't think it is a circumstance where it is a take-it-or-leave-it. It's a discussion. But we '' clearly, it's important and relevant, as you noted, that we already put a proposal down that the P5+1 is united on.
  QUESTION: Jen, just a quick follow-up.
  MS. PSAKI: Let me '' let's --
  QUESTION: I'm sorry.
  MS. PSAKI: Can you let Jo finish and then we'll go to you next?
  QUESTION: And I just wondered why it was felt necessary for this talk to '' this telephone conversation to happen between President Hollande and President Obama.
  MS. PSAKI: I would certainly refer you to the White House on that, but obviously, the French are an important P5+1 partner, an important ally, and so I think it's only natural that they would be talking. The Secretary talks with his counterparts frequently, as does the President. And certainly, given how important this issue is and how committed the President and the Secretary both are to it, I don't think it's a surprise that they would connect.
  QUESTION: I guess what I'm really asking is: Was there a need to smooth or soothe some ruffled feathers after what happened in Geneva with the French?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, given we were united by Saturday evening, and there's, of course, a discussion '' it's no surprise the purpose of a negotiation is to hear many ideas '' I think it was more about consulting on the path forward. And I know the White House has put out a readout. If they haven't, I think it will be coming out soon.
  QUESTION: So, Jen, if they meet a week from today --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- you said that it's not going to be take-it-or-leave-it kind of situation, right?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, again, I would refer to the negotiating team on the specifics here, Said. But what '' the point I was making is that obviously, yes, there was an agreement among the P5+1 on the proposal, and the Iranians couldn't accept it at the time. But there'll be discussions between now and then, and obviously, discussions and negotiations when they get to Geneva.
  QUESTION: So if there are some flexibilities on the part of the P5+1 offer, where would they be? What '' where on the margin would that be?
  MS. PSAKI: I don't want to go too far in expressing flexibilities or inflexibilities, and I'm not '' certainly not going to go into the details of those; just that they're going back. They'll continue their discussions with the Iranians, with the P5+1, and I don't want to make a prediction of what the outcome will be.
  QUESTION: Yes. Do you have any chance to see the tweets of the Foreign Minister of Iran and part of the tweet diplomacy? Because he is arguing about this P5+1 stand.
  MS. PSAKI: The tweets from this weekend?
  QUESTION: Yes. I mean, it was reported today in New York Times regarding '' I mean, criticizing or some kind of criticizing the Secretary regarding his blame, blaming Iran.
  MS. PSAKI: I think I talked about this already yesterday, so I would point you to the comments I made yesterday about it, the tweets.
  QUESTION: So there is no change in your understanding of that tweet diplomacy?
  MS. PSAKI: No change in my understanding of it.
  QUESTION: How close do you think you are to getting a deal in Geneva in the next round?
  MS. PSAKI: I don't want to make a prediction of that other than to convey that coming out of Geneva, we were closer than coming into Geneva; that obviously, they're going back because we feel there is an opportunity to complete the deal, to move forward on a diplomatic path. That's why they're going back. But I certainly don't want to make a prediction of what will come out of the next set of meetings or not.
  QUESTION: Two things: One, you say that a vote in Congress is not a vote against '' or rather, for sanctions; it's a vote against diplomacy. What are the consequences of a vote against diplomacy in Geneva?
  And second, what is '' you say no deal is better than a bad deal.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: What is your standard for a bad deal? Is it lowest common denominator '' that is, what Congress thinks is a bad deal and what the Israeli Government think is a bad deal, given the fact that if they think you have forged a bad deal, they will go forward with actions that theoretically undermine that?
  MS. PSAKI: Sure. Well, the Secretary's spoken a bit about this, but I think the consequences of not moving forward with the diplomatic path is potentially aggression, potentially conflict, potentially war. And obviously, Iran would continue to enrich, they'd continue to take steps forward toward developing a nuclear weapon. I don't think anybody wants that. We also risk, as I mentioned earlier, losing our international coalition of partners on the sanctions regime, and that's something no one wants either. So there is certainly an alternative that is not an enviable path to pursue, and that's why the Secretary feels so strongly about pursuing the diplomatic path.
  In terms of your second question, can you repeat it just one more time?
  QUESTION: Yeah. Just in terms of your standard for --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- how you define a bad deal.
  MS. PSAKI: Well, I talked about this a little bit yesterday, but it's worth repeating '' that there are areas '' there are a couple of buckets of serious concern and focus that, as we look to a deal on what's a good deal, we're focused on. And they include the possibility '' preventing the possibility of Iran producing a sufficient quantity of highly enriched uranium for one nuclear weapon, the possibility of Iran stockpiling centrifuges or increasing the efficiency of their centrifuges, Iran's ability to produce plutonium using the Arak reactor, and bringing unprecedented transparency and monitoring of Iran's program.
  As we look to the initial step here and we think about the longer comprehensive agreement, those were the areas where we are most focused on, and certainly a good deal is one that addresses those areas.
  QUESTION: Right. I guess what I'm trying to say is if you think you've got a good deal, right, with the Administration thinks they have finally settled on a good deal with the P5+1 and Iran agrees --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- what does that really matter if Congress doesn't think that you have a good deal and they move forward with sanctions? What does that matter if the Israeli Government doesn't think you have a good deal and they move forward alone?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, I don't think those '' well, we don't think that those conclusions are done at this point. Obviously, the Secretary, many members of the Administration are continuing to brief and consult with the Israelis, but as evidenced by the fact that he's going up to the Hill today, along with Vice President Biden, along with Under Secretary Sherman, to brief to the Hill, we're committed to conveying to them what the consequences are, why this is the right legislative strategy, why that needs to go hand-in-hand with our negotiated '' negotiating strategy, and posing some of these questions that I've just posed. Why not wait and see if diplomacy can see its way through?
  And so we have not '' there '' we're committed to that process now and to communicating as much as we can to convey why this is the best chance we have had to have a diplomatic and peaceful '' and to this process.
  QUESTION: Jen, just a quick follow-up on the sanctions. Considering that Iran already suffers from severe sanctions --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- what kind of further sanctions could be added?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, I know a number have been proposed. And obviously there are '' the core sanctions, many of them are in the financial, the banking, the oil sanctions. There are other more ancillary sanctions. I'm not familiar with all '' I know there's a range of bills, so I'm not going to go through those specifics. But it's important to note here, since you've given me the opportunity, that if this does not result in a deal, then we have every ability to move forward with sanctions, and that's something we're certainly not just open to, we'd be supportive of.
  QUESTION: Then if '' big if '' lift the sanctions against Iran, it would be a long '' send a message to the North Korea. How do you handle the North Korean sanctions?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, I would certainly not venture to group them together. Obviously, there is more work to be done to see if we have a diplomatic path forward in Iran. There are a number of steps that they would need to take. That's part of the negotiations.
  On North Korea, our position has not changed. The ball is in their court. They need to abide by their international obligations, including the 2005 joint statement. They need to reassure the international community; those steps have not been taken. So I would look to them to take steps if they want to pursue a diplomatic path forward.
  QUESTION: Thank you.
  MS. PSAKI: Go ahead.
  QUESTION: Change of subject?
  MS. PSAKI: Do we have any more on Iran? Okay, go ahead.
  QUESTION: On Afghanistan.
  MS. PSAKI: Okay.
  QUESTION: The Loya Jirga is meeting in the next couple of days to discuss BSA. What are your expectations, and also is the legal review by the Department on the text of the agreement is complete?
  MS. PSAKI: Is there anything new on the text?
  QUESTION: Yeah, is the legal review of the text complete?
  MS. PSAKI: I'd have to check with them on that. Obviously, that was ongoing, as I'd mentioned in the past, and often they go word by word reviews. In terms of the Loya Jirga, as we stated some time ago, major negotiations on the BSA were concluded during the Secretary's visit and the Loya Jirga was '' date was set. As you know, that's upcoming. Of course, we respect the process in Afghanistan and that process moving forward, and we'll wait to see how things proceed.
  QUESTION: And do you know who will be signing BSA after once it is done '' Loya Jirga is at post-BSA '' what's the next --
  MS. PSAKI: I don't know that, and I'm just going to knock on wood. I don't know that at this point.
  Go ahead, Chris.
  QUESTION: I've got one on something else. Two Americans are reportedly being held in Nicaragua. I'm just wondering if there's anything else you can say about that.
  MS. PSAKI: We, of course, have seen those reports. Unfortunately, I don't have anything I can relay on the status of details at this point.
  QUESTION: Can you say if the Embassy has been in touch with authorities there?
  MS. PSAKI: I cannot.
  QUESTION: Okay.
  QUESTION: On Syria?
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: How do you view the gains that the regime is making on the ground in Aleppo and Damascus?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, we've always said, as you know, that there would be many ups and down in the events on the ground in Syria. One of the reasons we're so aggressively pursuing a Geneva conference is because, as the Secretary has stated many times, there's no military solution to this conflict. There have been a couple of developments in the last 24 to 48 hours that I talked about a little bit yesterday, including the SNC agreeing to come to a Geneva conference, including the fact that there will be another meeting, a trilateral meeting planning to move that forward next week, and so our focus is really on that effort.
  QUESTION: And do you see that the regime is trying to change the calculations on the ground before going to Geneva 2, in case there is a conference?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, I'm sure the regime is always focused on making gains on the ground. I don't think that that should be a surprise to anyone. But again, we continue to believe there's no military solution and that's why we're pursuing a political path.
  QUESTION: And --
  QUESTION: (Off-mike.)
  QUESTION: One more please.
  MS. PSAKI: Uh-huh.
  QUESTION: Some Kurds groups have announced autonomy in some parts of Syria. How do you view this announcement?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, our policy has always been that we support the unity and territorial integrity of Syria, a unified Syria. And it was a positive sign yesterday, as I mentioned, that the Kurdish National Coalition joined with the Syrian coalition, which was positive. We certainly remain concerned by reports of efforts to declare an independent Kurdish region in Syria, and establishing a special Kurdish region would involve many communities in that region of Syria, and thus needs to be part of a larger decision.
  But our view is that Syria should be unified, it must be unified moving forward. That has consistently been our view. And again, the fact that the Kurdish National Coalition joined the SNC and they're committed to coming to Geneva was a positive sign of the last 24 hours.
  QUESTION: Can I ask, what are the next steps now? Now that the opposition has said that they'll come, what's actually happening on the side of Special Envoy Brahimi or when are we going to see some movement forward and a possible date?
  MS. PSAKI: Sure. Well, they're meeting again on the 25th next week. So Under Secretary Sherman and the Russians, in all likelihood, I would assume Bogdanov, are meeting with Brahimi to continue to plan for the conference. I can't predict for you whether there will be a date announced then or before or after. Obviously, that's one of the next steps and something we're pressing forward on.
  QUESTION: And what about the problem of the guest list?
  MS. PSAKI: The problem of the guest list. (Laughter.)
  QUESTION: How are you guys progressing on whether or not other countries should be invited to join the talks?
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm. Our position hasn't changed on Iran's attendance, but obviously this will be a decision ultimately made by the UN, and I'm certain that will be a big topic of discussion next '' on the 25th.
  QUESTION: And can I just ask one more question? It's that Turkey's asked NATO to extend the deployment of the Patriot missiles for another year.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: What is the U.S. position on that?
  MS. PSAKI: I do have something on this. One moment. Let's see. One moment, Jo.
  Well, we, of course, respect and value Turkey as a longstanding NATO and U.S. ally. We're committed to maintaining regional security and support efforts with Turkey and other allies and partners to ensure regional stability and deterrence against common threats. As you noted, Turkey has asked NATO to continue to augment its air defense capabilities to aid in the defense of its population and territory. We look forward to working through NATO to address the request.
  QUESTION: That's not a yes or a no, though.
  MS. PSAKI: It's a NATO decision, and certainly, we will work with them as they pursue it moving forward.
  QUESTION: But they're your missiles and they're your '' and largely they've been staffed by and manned by American teams on the ground. And it's not just yours; I know there's other commitments from Germany and Denmark --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- I believe as well. But I mean, do you '' would you support the request from Turkey?
  MS. PSAKI: We're working with NATO, and of course, we value them as an ally and we value the '' and recognize the needs they have and the request.
  QUESTION: So put it the other way maybe: Do you think they are still valuable and still needed in this area --
  MS. PSAKI: I think we --
  QUESTION: -- the missiles?
  MS. PSAKI: The '' yes, we recognize the request they made. We recognize the needs they have. And of course, they're important NATO allies, so we'll work with NATO as we address their request.
  QUESTION: Jen, there is a report in the New York Times about the flow of arms and funds to Syria coming from private donors --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- in the Gulf, and it is undermining your efforts to solidify the opposition that you recognize as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. Are you trying to talk to these governments to sort of curb their citizens from collecting huge sums of money?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, we continue to have '' of course, I think you're referring to the story about private aid from Kuwait.
  QUESTION: Yes. Absolutely, yes.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: Kuwait and the other GCC countries, not only Kuwait.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm. Well, we continue to have robust dialogue with the Kuwaitis and others about how best to meet our common interests in helping the opposition. And our position has not changed and we continue to stress that aid should be directed through the SOC and the SMC, as agreed to by London 11 partners. We continue to stress the need to '' for Kuwait to have a robust anti-money laundering/counter terrorism financing regime, and that's something '' a conversation that we've had with them and we'll continue to have.
  QUESTION: Can I ask you a question?
  MS. PSAKI: Sure.
  QUESTION: And I apologize if you're not aware of this because it just crossed my device. ProPublica has a story saying that it has asked the State Department to release the names of the so-called special government employees at the State Department. These are people who have State Department jobs --
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: -- but can also receive income from outside sources.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: And it says that the State Department has declined to provide the list of the government employees even as eight other federal agencies have disclosed their lists of special government employees.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: Is it correct that you've been asked for the list? Is it correct that you've declined to provide the list, and if so, why?
  MS. PSAKI: I hadn't seen that report. I'm happy to look into it. As you know, there are dozens, if not more, special government employees throughout the government. Typically, we don't release the lists of employees and kind of what their status is, so it may be part of that procedure. But I'm happy to check for you.
  QUESTION: I think the reason they may be interested '' I mean '' is that if somebody is working here but also getting paid by somebody else, there's always the possibility of a conflict of interest. And I --
  MS. PSAKI: Well, certainly, that's part of a vetting process for anyone becoming a special government employee, so it's not actually applicable to what the concerns should be. But I understand. I can check if --
  QUESTION: Okay, thank you.
  MS. PSAKI: -- what the request has been and where we stand on it.
  QUESTION: Thank you.
  MS. PSAKI: Go ahead.
  QUESTION: (Inaudible) on Turkey. The Prime Minister of Turkey, said the other day, and I quote, that there is no country named Cyprus. I know it's a joke, but do you have anything to say on this '' on his --
  MS. PSAKI: I haven't seen those comments. I'm happy to look into them. Of course, I don't think we would agree with that, but I'll '' let me look into them and see the full context.
  QUESTION: Another topic?
  MS. PSAKI: Sure.
  QUESTION: NSA?
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: Do you have any reaction after Brazil accused the United States of spying on the IMF in Washington?
  MS. PSAKI: I don't have anything specific. And as has been '' as has been the case, we're not going to comment on every specific report. I would just reiterate for you that, obviously, there's a review ongoing that will look at our activities around the world with a special emphasis on our appropriate posture as it comes to heads of state and how we coordinate with our closest allies and partners. And that review will be complete by the end of the year. And of course, as part of that effort, we are consulting with countries around the world, including Brazil. And our goal is, of course, to not only alleviate their concerns but to strengthen our intel-gathering relationship moving forward.
  Catherine. Last one.
  QUESTION: Yes. I know we're going to have a briefing shortly, but it's on the telephone --
  MS. PSAKI: Sure.
  QUESTION: -- and not in front of the camera. Do you have an update on the U.S. assistance in the Philippines and an update on any Americans there?
  MS. PSAKI: Sure, let me give you an update on that. And you're right; if you haven't seen, we're going to be doing a briefing on the Philippines at '' just in a little bit. Actually, one moment.
  So I believe yesterday I confirmed that two U.S. citizens had died in the Philippines, and this number '' and this remains the case today. As much as it hasn't changed since yesterday, it can certainly change from here. The U.S. Embassy in Manila is continuing to provide consular assistance to the families of the deceased. Approximately '' I think Chris asked yesterday about the number of individuals who have been evacuated '' 23 U.S. citizens have been transported to Manila via military aircraft that have been ferrying relief supplies to the airport there on the ground. And Embassy officials are going into the area to assist in processing the U.S. citizens that wish to board these flights back to Manila. But no evacuation out of the Philippines is planned.
  In terms of other assistance we're providing, I mentioned yesterday, of course, you all know there is a coordinated interagency effort along these fronts. This is just a few updates on what we're doing. The first airlift of USAID heavy-duty plastic sheeting and hygiene kits arrived in manila just yesterday, and our disaster response experts working with the U.S. military dispatched these much-needed supplies today. After arrival, USAID's emergency relief commodities, including hygiene kits and plastic sheeting to help 10,000 families, were flown from the airport directly out to storm-affected communities '' and '' storm-affected communities. Additional airlifts of U.S. supplies and food aid will arrive also in the coming days, and we'll have a more extensive update from the different interagency partners on the call this afternoon.
  QUESTION: Can I have just one more on this?
  MS. PSAKI: Sure.
  QUESTION: Do you have any reason to think that the Government of Philippines was slow in reaching out for assistance from the United States or others to grapple with the storm?
  MS. PSAKI: Well, the ask for assistance was made the day after the storm hit, so '' and obviously, we responded quickly to that request. So I would not make that assumption.
  Oh, Nicolas.
  QUESTION: Sorry '' very last one.
  MS. PSAKI: Sure. Or if '' I don't know if I heard Michelle in the back.
  QUESTION: I just wanted to make a request to '' if they could put the call on the record since it is about U.S. money, U.S. aid to the Philippines.
  MS. PSAKI: I will talk to them and see if there's anything we can do, and we can continue to talk about it tomorrow, of course, too.
  Go ahead, Nicolas.
  QUESTION: An offbeat question on North Korea.
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
  QUESTION: The Washington Post reported last week that two musicians from Washington, two rappers are planning to go to Pyongyang to shoot a video clip there. Are you aware of that? And if so --
  MS. PSAKI: That is an offbeat question.
  QUESTION: Yeah. If so, it is a good thing, is it a bad thing?
  MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm. I had not seen those reports. I will blame the negotiations in Geneva. But let me check on those and see if there's an update, and we can get you all something on that.
  Thanks, everyone.
  QUESTION: Thank you.
  (The briefing was concluded at 2:19 p.m.)
  DPB # 186
Seattle police deactivate surveillance system after public outrage
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: RT - USA
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 00:51
  Published time: November 13, 2013 18:20Reuters / Matt Mills McKnight
  Police in Seattle, Washington have responded to a major public outcry by disabling a recently discovered law enforcement tool that critics said could be used to conduct sweeping surveillance across the city.
  Last week, Seattle's The Stranger published an in-depth look at a little known new initiative taking place within the city that involved the installation of dozens of devices that would create a digital mesh network for law enforcement officers. The devices '-- small white-boxes equipped with antennas and adorned on utility poles '-- would broadcast data wirelessly between nodes so police officers could have their own private network to more easily share large amounts of data. As The Stranger pointed out, however, those same contraptions were able to collect data on internet-ready devices of anyone within reach, essentially allowing the Seattle Police Department to see where cell phones, laptops and any other smart devices operating within reach were located.
  The SPD said they had no bad intentions with installing the mesh network, but The Stranger article and the subsequent media coverage it spawned quickly caused the system to receive the type of attention that wasn't very welcomed. Now only days after citizens began calling for the dismantling of the mesh network, The Stranger has confirmed that the SPD are disabling the devices until a proper policy could be adopted by the city.
  "The wireless mesh network will be deactivated until city council approves a draft policy and until there's an opportunity forvigorous public debate," Police Chief Jim Pugel told The Stranger for an article published late Tuesday.
  "Our position is that the technology is the technology," Whitcomb said, "but we want to make sure that we have safeguards and policies in place so people with legitimate privacy concerns aren't worried about how it's being used."
  The SPD told The Stranger previously that the system was not being used, but anyone with a smart phone who wandered through the jurisdiction covered by the digital nodes could still notice that their devices were being discovered by the internet-broadcasting boxes, just as a person's iPhone or Android might attempt to connect to any network within reach. In theory, law enforcement could take the personal information transmitted as the two devices talk to each other and use that intelligence to triangulate the location of a person, even within inches.
  When the SPD was approached about the system last week, they insisted that it wasn't even in operation yet. David Ham of Seattle's KIRO-7 News asked, however, how come ''we could see these network names if it's not being used?''
  ''Well, they couldn't give us an explanation,'' Ham said at the time.
  ''They now own a piece of equipment that has tracking capabilities so we think that they should be going to city council and presenting a protocol for the whole network that says they won't be using it for surveillance purposes,'' Jamela Debelak of the American Civil Liberties Union told the network.
  Now just days later, the SPD has admitted to The Stranger that indeed the mesh network was turned on '-- it just wasn't supposed to be.
  ''SPD maintains it has not been actively using the network '-- it was operational without being operated, having been turned on for DHS grant-mandated testing and then never turned off '-- so shutting it down won't hamper any current SPD activities,'' The Stranger reporter.
  According to The Stranger, the SPD will begin disabling the system immediately, although Whitcomb said it involves ''more than just flipping a switch.''
Hate Speech Watch
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:22
  27 October, 2013On 9 November each year European organisations raise awareness about and act against fascism and antisemitism. They do this to commemorate the past and to protest against contemporary forms of fascism and antisemitism. We invite all users of the Hate Speech Watch to report online hate speech related to antisemitism or fascism in November and to collect relevant material and hate speech examples in order to raise awareness and educate about the serious problem of the increasing antisemitism in Europe.Shocking facts about the increase of antisemitisim: A recent survey in nine different European countries almost a quarter of Jewish respondents said they avoid visiting places and wearing symbols that identify them as Jews for fear of antisemitism. View
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  5 April, 20133 Related reportsA new wave of anti-Muslim intolerance and antagonism is sweeping Europe. The far right political gains seen in some parts of the continent are alarming. Anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and extreme right parties seem to be cashing in on economic hardship and austerity measures. In a blinkered world of "us" and "them" they have found in Europe's Muslim citizens the "others".
  The Hate Speech Watch set Islamophobia as the fourth focus which will soon be the main focus of the months. The Hate Speech Watch is inviting young people who are concerned to identify examples of islamophobic content form the Internet and bring it to Hate Speech Watch for debates and actions. View
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  22 March, 20130 Related reportsCyberbullyingis the use of the Internet and related technologies to harm other people, in a deliberate, repeated, and hostile manner. As it has become more common in society, particularly among young people, legislation and awareness campaigns have arisen to combat it.View
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VIDEO-No Hate Speech Movement
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:21
  Internet offers us the possibility to create, publish, distribute and consume media content fostering therefore a space of full participation, engagement and self-expression. With the development of social networks we all can participate in cyberspace in a variety of ways ranging from keeping in touch with your friends and developing new contacts to sharing content and exploring your self-expression. This online space gives us new opportunities: engaging with others for causes that we care for. But we may equally be victim and agent of abuse and human rights violations, among them, hate speech in various forms and cyberbullying. The online world is not without values either. Hate speech* as such is not a new issue on the Internet, nor in the human rights debate. Its online dimension and the potential damage on democratic processes gives us all new reasons to act.
  "Hate speech, as defined by the Council of Europe, covers all forms of expression which spread, incite, promote or justify racial hatred, xenophobia, anti-Semitism or other forms of hatred based on intolerance, including: intolerance expressed by aggressive nationalism and ethnocentrism, discrimination and hostility against minorities, migrants and people of immigrant origin."
  The Campaign is part of the project Young People Combating Hate Speech Online running between 2012 and 2014. The project stands for equality, dignity, human rights and diversity. It is a project against hate speech, racism and discrimination in their online expression.
  The working methods are awareness raising, advocacy, and it also seeks for creative solutions. It is a project for action and intervention. The project equips young people and youth organisations with the competences necessary to recognize and act against such human rights violations.
  The whole project is a tribute to youth participation and co-management. It was born from a proposal of the youth representatives of the Advisory Council on Youth and was endorsed by the Joint Council on Youth, which brings together the members of the Advisory Council on Youth and the governmental youth representatives of the European Steering Committee on Youth. For more details on the project you can visit the Campaign coordination site.
  The campaign is not run to limit freedom of expression online. Neither is it against hatred online and nor about being nice to each other online.
  The campaign is against the expressions of hate speech online in all its forms, including those that most affect young people, such as forms of cyber-bullying and cyber-hate. The campaign is based upon human rights education, youth participation and media literacy. It aims at reducing hate speech and at combating racism and discrimination in their online expression.
  ' To raise awareness about hate speech online and its risks for democracy and for individual young people, and promoting media and Internet literacy;
  ' To support young people in standing up for human rights, online and offline;
  ' To reduce the levels of acceptance of online hate speech;
  ' To mobilise, train and network online youth activists for human rights;
  ' To map hate speech online and develop tools for constructive responses;
  ' To support and show solidarity to people and groups targeted by hate speech online;
  ' To advocate for the development and consensus on European policy instruments combating hate speech;
  ' To develop yout participation and citizenship online;
  The campaign is initiated and run by the Council of Europe but it is based on national campaigns run in the member states of the Council of Europe.
  National governments were invited to initiate the setting up of National Campaign Committees. National committees will operate their own national online Campaign platforms and online tools in the national language(s). The Council of Europe provides all tools that are described in the following section free of charge.
  You can find the link to national campaigns here.
  No Hate Speech Movement landing pageThis is an online platform for everyone interested to join the No Hate Hate Speech Movement. Here you can upload your personal statement or message about hate speech. This site is the main landing page of the Campaign available for the widest public with testimonials through self-made videos, photos or other visual manifestations. Young moderators are working behind the site to ensure aspects of safety and respect.
  The Terms of Service can be consulted here.
  Hate Speech WatchThis is an online database to monitor, share and discuss hate speech content of the Internet. Here you can link in any hate speech content form the Internet. Moderators monitor and facilitate the site, creating focus topics every month based on the main interest of the online community. Special ''take action'' features will also be available if the identified and discussed hate speech content requires further action. The perfect place debating and taking action!
  Campaign Coordination websiteIf your organisation wants to join the Campaign, you can do that through this website. It is the portal for Campaign organisers and activists with updated information about the work behind the Campaign.
  Online Campaign Toolkit: this tool is to help anyone to get involved in the Campaign. It provides knowledge and information about the Campaign and its media, and gives concrete practical and methodological support in online Campaigning.
  Learning Module on Hate Speech: If you want to understand further what hate speech is about, and to be able to identify hate speech online this tool gives the support you need. The module provides ''basic and essential'' knowledge about hate speech and hate speech online.
  School Campaign Pack: If you are a student in a secondary school or a teacher who works there this online tool supports promoting the campaign and action in your school environment. It helps discussing online hate speech with students, getting involved in a European competition among secondary school students on hate speech online and cyber bullying, introducing the online Campaign tools in the schools and involving your school.
  Workshop for National Campaign Coordinators, Brussels
  13-14 March
  European Launching, Strasbourg and online
  21-22 March
  European Seminar for Moderators, Budapest
  15-16 April
  Training course for Bloggers and online activists, Budapest
  6-14 April
  European Action Days*
  April-December
  European Seminar for online activists
  September (to be set)
  European Campaign Conference, Strasbourg
  6-8 November
  *European Action DaysThroughout the Campaign several Action Days will focus on different aspects of and targets of hate speech. Each Action Day will have a special programme and online activities coordinated by international youth organisations. Dates and topics of the action days will be communicated through the Campaign websites.
  For further details or questions you can contact the Campaign secretariat by email to youth.nohatespeech@coe.int or info@nohatespeechmovement.org
No Hate Speech-Council of Europe
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  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:21
  No Hate Speech ConferenceDeputy Secretary General opens No Hate Speech Conference08/11/2013
  "Hate speech online is not any different from hate speech offline", Gabriella Battaini Dragoni underlined at the opening of "No Hate" Conference at the European Youth Centre. The event, that is bringing together the main players and actors of the campaign, from 36 Member States of the Council of Europe, aims at highlighting once more the relevance of the fight against racism and discrimination in the form of hate speech.
  "Hate speech is not free speech. Its consequences are anything but free. Hate speech undermines democracy and leads to hate crimes", emphasised the Deputy Secretary General. Ambassador Armen Papikyan, representing the Armenian Chairmanship of the Council of Europe, and the Human Rights Commissioner, Nils MuiÅ¾nieks, also spoke at the event.
  Speech by the Deputy Secretary GeneralRead more about the No Hate Speech Movement
  Live webcast of the conference:
VIDEO- Human Rights Conference On How To Stop Hate Speech - YouTube
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:19
U.S. Says Iranian General Instrumental In Afghan Drug Traffic
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:17
  The United States has named a general in Iran's elite Al-Quds force as a key figure in trafficking heroin from Afghanistan.The U.S. Treasury designated General Gholamreza Baghbani, who runs the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force office in Zahedan, near the Afghan border, as a narcotics "kingpin."
  Baghbani is accused of aiding Afghan drug runners in moving opiates into and through Iran, as well helping send weapons to the Taliban.
  The Treasury said in a statement that "U.S. persons are prohibited from conducting financial or commercial transactions with General Baghbani, and any assets he may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen."
  With AFP reporting
Operation Waking Shark 2 is good, but is it enough?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:09
  The information security industry has raised concerns over the UK's latest test of the financial infrastructure's resilience to cyber attack.
  IT workers say the exercise is a good opportunity to iron out flaws before the UK's cyber defences are tested to the limits by attackers, but many believe testing should happen more regularly '' the last such test was last conducted two years ago. Meanwhile, others say the exercise is lacking in some respects, and have questioned how the organisers are defining cyber attacks.
  John Yeo, European director at Trustwave, said that with so many people and paper-based activity focusing on policies and procedures, the exercise may be more of a logistical planning exercise rather than a simulated practice run.
  ''What needs to be implemented are real-world attack scenarios that truly test the businesses' incident response plans,'' he said.
  Identifying attacksThe test will reportedly simulate how well firms can coordinate and communicate with one another, but Yeo said the more important issue is what they are communicating about, and what happens when an attack is more subversive, and not immediately obvious when it strikes.
  ''Most organisations that suffer a breach do not realise for some time that they have been hit, let alone where the attack originated from, and how it works,'' he said.
  In the 2013 Trustwave Global Security Report, security researchers revealed that in 2012 it took approximately 210 days for an organisation to realise it had been attacked.
  ''It is crucial that businesses have the proper security controls in place so they can not only help prevent an attack but also, if an attack occurs, identify it and respond in an appropriate and measured manner,'' said Yeo.
  ''They also need to understand the techniques they should execute to restore their business, to minimise the impact of such an attack,'' he said.
  Others questioned the lack of focus on insider threats.
  ''To combat insider threats, firms need to invest in employee security training and awareness programmes to avoid accidental breaches,'' said Peter Armstrong, director of cyber security at Thales UK.
  ''Organisations should also consider a number of IT administered employee controls, including network monitoring technology which alerts the necessary parties when rogue devices connect to the network to either infect a corporate IT system,'' he said.
  Others felt the exercise should have included a greater degree of government involvement.
  ''With cyber attacks becoming more complex, it is important for government agencies, such as GCHQ and MI5, to be involved in these preparations as private and public sectors must combine their expertise to thwart ever-more sophisticated hackers,'' said Jarno Limnell, Director of cyber security at Stonesoft, a McAfee Group company.
  Will the test be thorough?Some security industry representatives have questioned whether the exercise goes far enough.
  Richard Horne, cyber security partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said an exercise such as Waking Shark 2 helps to highlight the scale of the challenge.
  ''But it will take a lot of detailed technical work and testing - coordinated across the industry - to really understand all the interdependencies and develop meaningful containment and recovery plans,'' he said.
  Some security industry representatives say the real value in the exercise will lie in the analysis of how systems and processes performed.
  It is important for organisations to look at the risks cyber threats pose and iron out their own individual scenarios for dealing with an attack.
  David Emm, Kaspersky Lab
  ''It is essential for participants to examine how the scenario played out and what lessons can be learnt for the future,'' said David Emm, senior security researcher at Kaspersky Lab.
  ''It is important for organisations in all sectors to look at the risks cyber threats pose and iron out their own individual scenarios for dealing with an attack,'' he said.
  Ross Brewer, vice president and managing director for international markets at LogRhythm said that while the financial sector is taking a step in the right direction, it would only be worthwhile if the lessons learned are acted upon and shared with a wider audience.
  ''Far too many organisations still rely on reactive security measures when they should be constantly prepared for an attack, and it is likely this exercise will prove this to be an outdated thought process,'' he said.
  Monitoring the networkAccording to Brewer, the only way to ensure businesses have the best possible chance of keeping today's sophisticated threats out is through 24/7 monitoring of all network activity.
  ''Any business that holds off will regret that decision '' and by then, when it is a real attack and not a test, it will be too late,'' he said.
  Andrew Miller, chief operating officer at Corero Network Security, said one of the biggest benefits from the exercise will not necessarily be about banks learning to defend against cyber attacks, but learning to co-operate.
  ''There needs to be more information-sharing within financial organisations on the latest threats and attacks they are facing, so they can develop a knowledge pool on how to protect against them,'' he said.
  Miller said those organisations that work together to develop comprehensive defences are far more likely to remain secure than those that ''go it alone''.
  However, he said with the increasing threat of cyber-crime, from a consumer's perspective, banks need to demonstrate in plain terms that they can protect customers' data.
  ''I would argue that today's test is not about whether any of the financial institutions pass or fail the test, but it is about them learning where there are weaknesses, and what areas of the business need to be improved upon to ensure business continue as normal in the event of a real attack,'' he said.
  More focus on fraudBut Alan Carter, director of cloud services at SecureData, has questioned whether anything of value can come out of the exercise, when banks get attacked every day and are coping with these threats.
  Banks are also conducting routine penetration testing and vulnerability scanning and cyber security is already a huge part of every financial organisation's strategy.
  ''It is not immediately obvious what motives are behind Operation Waking Shark 2, and it remains to be seen whether this day of testing will change how they operate on a day-to-day basis,'' he said.
  Operation Waking Shark 2 is most likely to be viewed by those in the industry as a futile attempt by a government department to gain some positive publicityAlan Carter, SecureData
  Carter said National Fraud Association figures suggest the government should focus more broadly on fraud, with banking fraud accounting for just over 0.5% of the £73bn lost to fraud in 2011.
  ''Bear in mind those figures include fraud that is largely unrelated to bank IT systems, such as card skimming, and we can see the Government clearly has bigger fish to fry,'' he said.
  Cyber security is already routine procedure for banks and CISOs will already have implemented effective strategies to minimalise the risk, said Carter.
  ''Operation Waking Shark 2 is most likely to be viewed by those in the industry as a futile attempt by a government department to gain some positive publicity, but in doing so it is likely to heap unwanted attention and extra pressure on security managers, ultimately punishing them for the good work they are already doing,'' he said.
  A report on the outcome of Operation Waking Shark 2 is expected to be released either in December 2013 or early in 2014.
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VIDEO- Cyber War Games To Test UK Banks Security "Operation Waking Shark II" - YouTube
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VIDEO- FLIPPED CLASSROOM (BRILLIANT!) - YouTube
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Flipping your classroom to meet the common core and other standards '' Turn to Your Neighbor: The Official Peer Instruction Blog
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 02:04
  As the new school year commences, most K-12 teachers are faced with the reality of standards-based grading and the hurdle of having to cover ridiculous amounts of material in what feels like a nanosecond. While standards-based grading is primarily a phenomena in the K-12 realm, college and university teachers are moving toward similar curricular approaches, such as outcomes-based learning, and so to face coverage dilemmas. Flipping the classroom is a proven method for taming that vexing beast my colleague, James Fraser calls the coverage monster whether you are teaching an in outcomes-based or standard-based classroom.
  The vision of standards-based grading is simple: all students will demonstrate mastery of sanctioned and pre-determined content knowledge and related skills and at the end of the year, students grades reflect their mastery. While simple in theory, standards-based or mastery-based grading can be complex in implementation. For one, the pre-determined content knowledge and related skills that make up standards such as the Common Core are rigorous, as they should be. More and more, teachers and students are realizing that success as measured by grades in a standards-based classroom depends on embracing new approaches to both pedagogy and learning.
  To kick off the school year, Turn to Your Neighbor is featuring a guest post by April Gudenrath. A high school literature teacher, Gudenrath has been flipping her English class for several years, with great success. And she is doing it in a standards-based grading environment. Her flip has resulted in her students from 2012-2013 scoring 100% proficient or advanced in reading and 92% proficient or advanced in writing on state tests.
  Guest post by April Gudenrath Flipping StandardsI have been flipping my English classroom for over four years at a public school in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I have spoken at several conferences and webinars and the topic that I get the most questions from teachers and school leaders about is how flipping and standards-based grading can help promote student success in the classroom. Shortly after flipping my classroom, I was placed on a district committee that was charged with unpacking the common core and cross walking it with, or mapping it to, our state standards. This was an overwhelming task. Talking with other teachers on the committee, I saw pain and frustration. ''How do they expect us to get through all of this in a year?'' ''There are only so many hours in the day and these skills are really high level. How can I make sure that every student is mastering them?'' My peers asked me if I shared in their exacerbations and while I listened, I was once again reaffirmed in my decision to flip my classroom.
  When faced with the onslaught of requirements that I now have in front of me from the common core and the state, I approach them with the same single question that I have used since flipping my classroom four years ago''What is the best use of my class time? Then, I decide the aspects of each lesson that need to be a shared learning experience and which aspects can be more independent to help prepare students for the critical thinking skills imbedded in all of the standards.
  Since I have flipped my class, I have actually gained time to ensure that my students are progressing toward the common core. I have time to walk around the classroom and by watching them perform key learning tasks, I really get to know exactly where each student is in their progress toward each standard. Whether it is having writer's workshops one on one, or walking around during a Socratic Seminar discussion of literature, I can easily assess each students' level of proficiency and guide them toward further progress. I am only able to do this because of flipping my classroom. I decided a long time ago that the best use of my class time is not lecture or giving rote memorization exercises. Although I can't get rid of those things completely, I refused to let content coverage take my class time away from my students. Students don't need me to be there when they are taking notes on Chaucer; they need me when they are reading it, thinking about it, and puzzling through the text.
  From there, I realized that just knowing the standards was not enough for my students. The vision of standards-based grading is one that implies a mastery of knowledge where students can apply what they know, rather than simply repeat it. I started to do some research on Robert Marzano and others and decided that evaluating students' movement towards mastery was the best way for me to evaluate the learning that was happening in my classroom. I was one of the pilot teachers for standards-based grading in our high school and my department was the first to adopt it in my district. Standards-based grading allows teachers to celebrate student successes and have students see that learning is a growing process. Standards-based grading also allows students to have some failures but not get crucified for them, learn and grow from them, and to see the pay off of subsequent effort. Such perseverance is a skill that my students will need to succeed in college, their careers, and lives.
  I know that flipping has allowed me to address the heart of the common core or any standards that might come my way, which is preparing students for life beyond high school.
  How I FlipFlipping is more of a new trend in the sciences, but it works in every content area. When I am prepping a lesson I go back to the basic framework of examining the best use of my class time. The first thing I do is ask myself: What can my students do on their own to reach mastery of this content? For which activities would my presence or the presence of their peers facilitate mastery?
  For example, I taught a British Literature class last year and I decided that the best use of class time was reading the texts together and writing about what we read and discussed, all during class. After that decision, I laid out a plan of the learning activities my students would need to engage in to show growth both on standardized tests and in their critical thinking. I then categorized these activities as in-class or out-of-class. With that list done, I further organized the outside work into additional categories: learning objects (a resource, such as a reading or video, to support learning), low-level Blooms taxonomy, and independent work. I then started brainstorming and researching how to best get the learning to the students. Sometimes, I find amazing learning objects in TED videos or from SAS Curriculum Pathways and other times I find that I need to make some type of learning object myself to better direct what will happen in class.*
  The ResultsDoes this take time? Definitely. But it also makes my time as a teacher more valuable and efficient. I would not change my process for anything and the results stand for themselves. Our ACT scores are above National and State average, my IB scores are consistently above the International average, and my students last year were 100% proficient or advanced in reading and 92% proficient or advanced in writing on the state tests.
  *Check out April's terrific TED-Ed Original Lesson, made by the TED-Ed team, on heroes in literature., which she uses to expose her students to the different kinds of heroes they will be getting to know in her classroom.
  April Gudenrath is an English teacher at Discovery Canyon High School in Colorado Springs, CO. She has been flipping for over four years and has never looked back. She has spoken for both national and international audiences on flipping and standards based grading. She will be a part of a new flipped book featuring Jon Bergmann and Aaron Sams that will be released in January by ISTE publishing. You can contact her at agudteach@gmail.com or follow her on her blog.
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Unification Church Profile: The Fall of the House of Moon | New Republic
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  One Sunday morning in February 2010, Bob Exler, a fiftysomething engineer, arrived at the faded ranch house in northwest Houston where he regularly worshipped the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Most people know Moon for his mass weddings and his ultra-conservative newspaper, The Washington Times. But Exler, who joined Moon's Unification Church in 1972, had been inspired by Moon's mission to rebuild the traditional family. As he told me, ''I didn't want to be part of this McDonald's Drive-Thru society, where you go from one partner to another.''
  For many years, the Sunday service had followed an unchanging routine. Exler and his wife, Susan'--who were matched by Moon and married in a mass ceremony at Madison Square Garden'--would join fellow disciples in pledging their loyalty to a portrait of Moon, or, as they called him, ''True Father.'' They would then sing hymns in Korean and English, and listen to sermons by a rotating cast of elders.
  But on this particular Sunday, Exler and his fellow congregants arrived to find that the portrait of their leader, in his traditional Korean robe, had vanished. In its place was a wide-screen television with simulcast footage of the Reverend Moon's 45-year-old daughter, In Jin, speaking from a podium at the Manhattan Center, the concert venue where ''America's Got Talent'' was filmed. With her thick makeup and sculpted red hair, In Jin bore a striking resemblance to a game-show host. After welcoming the ''one hunfdred six churches all across the country'' that were tuning in, she pointed out the church's new ''Liberace piano,'' a rhinestone-encrusted Baldwin grand. Her love of Liberace, she explained, dated back to a show she'd seen in Las Vegas as a child. ''I must say that he was fabulous,'' she recalled, in an affected British accent. ''He used to fly through the air, hoisted on a cable. He wore glorious capes'--some were rhinestone, some were velvet, and they had all different textures.'' At first Exler was intrigued, but after months of watching In Jin's broadcasts, which had replaced the church's normal services, his fascination turned to dismay. ''We just turned on the TV, sat there for ninety minutes, then everyone went home,'' says Exler. ''The sense of community was destroyed.''
  Illustration by Tuler Wimeqmute
  In Jin had assumed control of the U.S. church at a precarious moment for Moon's religious empire. Her father had come to the United States from Korea nearly 40 years earlier, aiming to ''subjugate'' America as the first phase in a plan to establish a new world order. Moon had gone on to amass extraordinary political influence, building a vast network of powerful right-wing organizations and forging alliances with every Republican presidential administration since Ronald Reagan's. In 2004, he and his wife even staged an elaborate coronation ceremony in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, which at least a dozen lawmakers attended. Republican Roscoe Bartlett bowed down before the couple, and Democrat Danny Davis carried in one of two golden crowns that were placed on their heads. Moon then informed the audience that ''kings and presidents'' had declared him ''humanity's savior'' and that Jesus, Buddha, Hitler, and Stalin had been ''reborn as new persons'' through his teachings.
  But in recent years, Moon's plans to remake America and salvage humanity had run into trouble. Followers had drifted away; his political influence had ebbed. With his ninetieth birthday approaching, he increasingly looked to his children to preserve his life's work.
  In Jin, Moon and his wife's fourth child, seemed suited for the task. She had a modern American upbringing and a master's degree from Harvard. In 2009, she took over the Unification Church of America and introduced a bold modernization program. Her aim, she said, was to transform the church into one that people'--especially young people'--were ''dying to join.'' She renamed the church Lovin' Life Ministries, shelved the old hymn books, and launched a rock band, an offshoot of which played New York clubs under the moniker Sonic Cult. She also discarded the old Korean-inspired traditions: bows and chanting gave way to ''Guitar Hero'' parties, open mics, concerts, and ping-pong tournaments. What's more, In Jin broke some long-standing taboos. Rather than adhering to the church line on arranged marriage, for example, she encouraged young people to play a role in choosing their own spouses.
  Her reforms were met with heated resistance. Across the country, Moon's disciples took to the Internet to denounce In Jin's ''bling-bling'' style and her ''ridiculous accent.'' One online critic dubbed her ministry the ''mushroom church,'' because ''all you do is sit passively in the dark and are fed bovine excrement.'' Within two years, nationwide monthly attendance plunged from roughly 26,000 to less than 7,500, according to internal church documents.
  Yet In Jin persisted, confident that, with time, she could win over the doubters and bring her father's church into the modern era. In early 2012, she gave an upbeat sermon about music, motherhood, and true love. ''This is an incredible year and I feel so many wonderful things are going to unfold,'' she said. ''This is about you and me. This is about America. This is about our future.''
  But after the service was over, In Jin disappeared from public view. She stopped delivering the weekly broadcasts, and even quit showing up at the church's Manhattan headquarters. After several months passed with no sign of her, some parishioners began pressing for information on her whereabouts. They were blocked at every turn. Even the highest circles of church leadership couldn't'--or wouldn't'--say what had happened to In Jin Moon.
  Before long, it became clear that the House of Moon was crumbling and In Jin had become caught up in its downfall. But her disappearance was only one part of a much more complicated saga'--one that involved illegitimate children, secret sex rituals, foreign spy agencies, and the family of Vice President Joseph Biden. Even by Moon's famously eccentric standards, the collapse of his American project would turn out to be spectacular and deeply strange.
  Just before dawn on February 12, 1965, Sun Myung Moon shuffled off a plane at San Francisco International Airport, carrying a suitcase of Korean soil. His disciples later drove him to the hills overlooking the city. As a strong wind blew, the wiry 44-year-old buried a clump of the soil, and declared the spot holy ground'--''a place where you can come to pray and not be bothered by Satan.'' He spent the next month touring the continental United States in a blue Plymouth Fury station wagon. All told, he and his followers staked out 55 plots of holy ground, including one on the Ellipse in front of the White House.
  This brief U.S. visit was a vital step toward realizing Moon's messianic vision. Born in 1920, he had grown up in a thatched straw hut in northwest Korea during the brutal Japanese occupation. When he was ten, his family converted to Christianity. Moon eventually joined a fringe Christian sect that engaged in sexual ''purification'' rituals. After Allied forces liberated Korea in 1945, he moved to Pyongyang, which was then under Soviet control, and started his own church. But other ministers complained about his teachings, and, in 1948, Moon was arrested and reportedly charged with ''polygamy.'' According to his memoir, he was beaten until he vomited blood and sentenced to five years in a communist prison camp.
  When the Korean War broke out, Moon escaped across the border to the South Korean city of Pusan. From his one-room mud hut, he could look down into the harbor where the United States and United Nations unloaded troops and supplies. It was at this point that he began writing down his theological ideas'--a mix of Christianity, Confucianism, shamanism, and anti-communist bile'--sometimes on the walls and ceiling of his hovel.
  The central pillar of Moon's theology held that Eve had a dalliance with Satan in the Garden of Eden and then slept with Adam, which is how human beings were burdened with original sin. Moon also believed that people, movements, and even entire countries embodied these biblical figures. He himself was the ''perfect Adam,'' and his mission was to help humankind reclaim its original goodness by forging a new world order led by Korea, the ''Adam nation.'' America, the ''archangel'' nation, would play a key role in this mission by helping Korea to rout communism, after which it would bow down to the Korean-led regime, with Moon as its king and messiah.
  The nationalist overtones of Moon's teachings appealed to some influential Koreans, including several English-speaking South Korean Army officers. Among them was a savvy young colonel named Bo Hi Pak, whom Moon tapped as his deputy. In 1961, the military ousted South Korea's democratic government, and several Moon acolytes were catapulted into key posts, including inside the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, or KCIA. Bo Hi Pak was dispatched to Washington, D.C., where he served as a liaison between the KCIA and U.S. intelligence agencies and built political inroads for Moon's organization.
  While Moon's theology had geopolitical ambitions, he saw his family as the means for realizing his vision. At the age of 40, he married his cook's daughter, a delicate 17-year-old beauty named Hak Ja Han. Moon claimed that their union marked the beginning of the ''completed testament'' era, in which Moon would reverse the fall of man by making his wife pay penance for Eve's sins. For three years, he stashed Hak Ja Han in a rented room, kept her in bitter poverty, and forbid her from seeing her family. The goal was to rid her of Eve-like defiance and cultivate ''absolute obedience'' so that she could bear children free of original sin. By the winter of 1960, the first of these perfect children had arrived.
  Moon told his followers that they could join his sin-free bloodline by marrying a spouse of his choosing and engaging in a series of rituals. First, the newlyweds would beat each other with a bat, and then they would perform a three-day sex ceremony involving prescribed positions in front of Moon's portrait. After the final sexual interlude'--in missionary position'--the bride would bow down to the groom, a confirmation that they had restored the ''lost ideal of goodness.''
  Moon returned to the United States in 1971, and two years later brought over the key to humanity's salvation'--his rapidly growing family. By now, he and Hak Ja Han had seven children, including eleven-year-old Steve, eight-year-old In Jin (or Tatiana), four-year-old Preston, and three-year-old Justin. (All the Moon kids were given both Korean and American names.) Moon settled the family on a wooded 18-acre estate in the Hudson River Valley, which he christened East Garden.
  He also began aggressively recruiting new followers, who were expected to live in monk-like purity. Alcohol and drugs were off-limits, and sex outside marriage was the worst possible sin, punishable by eternal hellfire. His religion appealed to young people who liked the communal ethos of the counterculture, but not the drugs and free love. His growing army of heavenly soldiers raised money by hawking flowers and candles in airports and on street corners. Funds also poured in from Japan (the ''Eve nation''), where young devotees persuaded elderly Japanese widows to liberate their ancestors from hell by purchasing grossly overpriced trinkets. By 1974, the U.S. church was raking in $8 million a year.
  Moon plowed this money into U.S. businesses, including a shipbuilding firm, a recording studio, a cable TV network, the New Yorker Hotel in Manhattan, and a 50-state seafood operation. He also began spending generously on political causes. At the height of the Watergate scandal, Moon and his followers organized ''God Loves Richard Nixon'' rallies on Capitol Hill and bought full-page pro-Nixon newspaper ads all over the country. Moon also assigned pretty young devotees to cozy up to lawmakers, with the goal of planting three in every senator's office. The women managed to insinuate themselves into several offices'--including then''Speaker of the House Carl Albert's'--where they lobbied and collected information.
  Park Mee-Hyang/AFP/Getty Images
  The Reverend and Mrs. Moon bless brides and grooms at a mass Unificationist wedding ceremony in 2000 in Seoul.
  These heavy-handed tactics led many to view Moon as a dangerous cult leader. Writing in the Daily Mail, the father of one former devotee described Moon's followers as ''mindless'' fund-raising ''robots'' who had no ideals except ''the half-baked ravings of Moon, who lived in splendor while his followers lived in forced penury.'' In 1976, Congress began looking into a massive covert KCIA operation designed to sway U.S. policy toward South Korea. The investigation found that the Moon organization was likely a ''political tool'' of the Korean spy agency and had ''systematically violated U.S. tax, immigration, banking, currency and Foreign Agents Registration Act laws.'' In retaliation, the church filed a $30 million lawsuit against Representative Donald M. Fraser, who chaired the subcommittee behind the investigation, and launched a brutal'--and ultimately successful'--campaign to scuttle Fraser's 1978 Senate bid. But despite their efforts, Moon was charged with tax evasion. A late '70s Gallup Poll found that Moon ''elicited one of the most overwhelmingly negative responses ever reported by a major poll,'' his only rivals being Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro.
  Meanwhile, an even greater threat to his American project was brewing, this time in his very own home.
  Moon expected his followers to sacrifice everything, but this wasn't true of his own family. His wife and children, who now numbered 13, had the run of East Garden and its lavish manors, one of which contained abowling alley, six pizza ovens, and a waterfall in the dining room. Moon raised his brood like the royal children he believed them to be. They attended private schools and had tutors imported from Japan, fast cars, purebred horses, and even hunting weapons. Mrs. Moon was not deeply involved in their upbringing'--according to former church members, she spent much of her time shopping. Tim Porter, an ex-member who grew up near the family compound, calls her the Korean ''Imelda Marcos.''
  The task of caring for the messiah's children fell to his followers, who didn't dare discipline them. ''The Moon kids were like gods'--completely and utterly exempt from the rules,'' says Donna Orme-Collins, a onetime Unificationist whose father directed the British church. Moon's eldest son, Steve, a plain, slender boy, was particularly brazen. In the late '70s, he wasexpelled from an elite middle school for shooting students with a BB gun. Moon sent him to live with Bo Hi Pak, but Steve's behavior only deteriorated. He started doing drugs and picking fights, and Pak was unable to rein him in. At one point, according to members of the Moon and Pak families, Pak even resorted to spanking his own son'--a sweet, studious boy who went by the American name James Park'--when Steve got out of line.
  Moon eventually shipped Steve off to South Korea. There, according to a speech Steve later gave, he joined a rock band and started chugging a bottle of whiskey a day. According to several sources close to the family, including Trenor Rapkins, a former church member who grew up near East Garden, when Steve returned home in the early '80s, he was more volatile than ever. ''He would start yelling, and mucus and spit would start flying out of his face,'' Rapkins recalls. ''Sometimes he would start throwing punches or waving his gun around.''
  Steve's behavior made a deep impression on In Jin, who had a taste for American culture and chafed at the notion that women should be pure and deferential. According to sources close to the family, by the time she was 16, In Jin was accompanying Steve on all-night drinking jaunts. ''She basically worshipped him,'' says one member of her inner circle. ''She was really into partying and rock and roll, because he played it.''
  Sun Myung Moon:Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images, Hak Ja Ha: Getty Images, Bo Hi Pak: Yun Suk Bong
  The Moon family tree (click to enlarge).
  Afraid that American culture was corrupting his children, Moon turned to his religion's catch-all solution: marriage. In 1982, he arranged for Steve to wed a na¯ve 15-year-old Korean girl named Nansook Hong. Hong would later recall Mrs. Moon telling her that she had been brought to America to reform Steve and that, should she fail, she would be ''failing God.''
  The following year, Moon's 17-year-old son Heung Jin smashed his Jeep on an icy freeway and died. This created a theological quandary for Moon, since according to his teachings, only married couples could enter God's kingdom. He solved his dilemma by arranging to have his dead son marry Bo Hi Pak's second-eldest daughter, Julia. At the same time, In Jin, who was 18, was to wed Pak's teenage son, James, who had taken the spanking for Steve.
  In Jin was mortified, according to family members. She had no interest in James, who was nerdy and quiet, and she was taken instead with his rowdy, handsome younger brother, Sam. But Moon insisted, and his wife stood by him, despite everything she had endured in her own arranged marriage. She even agreed to co-officiate the macabre ceremony. First, In Jin and James traded vows, then Julia trudged down the aisle holding a photo of the dead Heung Jin, after which James gave a groveling speech. ''In a million years, I would never deserve to become the husband of In Jin,'' he said. ''My mission is to work to deserve it for the rest of my life.'' The whole ordeal left In Jin traumatized. ''She felt like it was institutional rape,'' says one member of her inner circle.
  Yet whatever resentments In Jin harbored, she remained loyal to her father. Later that year, Moon was sentenced to 18 months in prison on the tax-evasion charges. The church launched a $30 million campaign to overturn his conviction, with In Jin as its public face. According to The Washington Post, in July 1984, thousands of evangelical pastors were invited on an expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. Although billed as a pageant for religious freedom, the event quickly devolved into a pro-Moon rally, with hundreds of devotees waving placards that read, ''REV. MOON INNOCENT VICTIM OF BIGOTRY." The emotional crescendo was a speech by In Jin, who wept as she recalled the ''tears and sweat'' her father had shed for America.
  The campaign, which cast Moon as an innocent man who had been prosecuted for his unconventional faith, struck a nerve. A motley coalition, including the American Civil Liberties Union, then''Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, and religious conservative leaders such as Jerry Falwell and Tim LaHaye, eventually rallied behind him. This helped transform Moon from a pariah to a martyr.
  By the summer of 1985, when Moon was released from prison, the Reagan Revolution was in full swing and Moon was perfectly positioned to benefit. The Washington Times, which he had launched three years earlier, had become a must-read among conservatives'--Reagan himself read it every morning. Moon also won points with the New Right by wading into anti-communist proxy wars in Latin America. In 1985, after Congress cut off aid to the Contras, the Washington Times Foundation launched a pro-Contra slush fund. According to Bad Moon Rising, an investigative history by John Gorenfeld, a Moon front group called CAUSA (Confederation of the Associations for the Unification of the Societies of the Americas) also distributed money and supplies to Contra rebels. In another case, Moon's organization reportedly helped finance a coup'--orchestrated by right-wing paramilitaries, cocaine cartels, and fugitive Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie'--that toppled Bolivia's democratically elected government. Bo Hi Pak later visited the mountainous Bolivian city, La Paz, and declared, ''I have erected a throne for Father Moon in the world's highest city.''
  Moon's think tanks and front groups also advanced his agenda on the home front. CAUSA spent millions of dollars hosting expenses-paid ''Godism'' workshops, which promoted Moon's theology as an antidote to communism and were attended by a number of Senate staffers. Moon also launched the American Family Coalition, which soon surpassed the waning Moral Majority as one of America's leading religious conservative organizations. And he worked with conservative Christian leaders on a grassroots campaign to push the Republican Party to the right. As his network expanded in Washington, Moon's dream of remaking America seemed within reach.
  By this point, In Jin and James had settled into something resembling Moon's ideal of married life. James, who held a PhD in finance from Columbia and a law degree from Harvard, launched an investment firm, called Paradigm Global Partners, and began carving out a reputation as a hedge-fund guru. In Jin, who had studied philosophy and political science at Columbia, raised and home-schooled their children.
  But Steve, who now ran a church-owned music venue, the Manhattan Center, couldn't manage to put his wild youth behind him. Like other Moon ventures, the Manhattan Center was lavishly funded by Japanese ''donations,'' which Steve treated as his private ATM. According to people close to the family, he once marched into the office with $600,000 in a Bloomingdale's bag and skimmed off $400,000. It was gone in less than a year.
  Roger L. Wollenburg/UPI/Landov
  In Jin Moon at 2009 banquet celebrating the English publication of her father's autobiography, As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen.
  The cash fed Steve's drug addiction. According to sworn statements from Steve's wife, Nansook Hong, and people close to the family, by the early '90s, he was spending days holed up in his room gorging on cocaine. And he pressured others to join in, including James Park. Hong claimed that, when she was seven months pregnant with her fifth child, she found Steve doing cocaine at East Garden and tried to flush it down the toilet. Steve ''smashed his fist into my face, bloodying my nose,'' Hong later recalled. ''He wiped my blood on his hand, then licked it off. 'Tastes good,' he said. 'This is fun.' ''
  Early one morning in 1995, Hong hustled her five children into the back of a cargo van and fled East Garden. She later filed for divorce and published a devastating expos(C) of life inside the compound, In the Shadow of the Moons. In 1998, she and a Moon daughter, Un Jin'--who claimed her husband had abused her, too'--went on ''60 Minutes'' and unleashed a flurry of allegations about sex, drugs, and violence inside Moon's ideal family. Moon was still reeling from this bombshell when, the following year, his second-youngest son, Phillip, who was also trapped in an unhappy arranged marriage, hurled himself from the seventeenth floor of a Harrah's casino in Nevada and died.
  The family turmoil made a mockery of Moon's teachings. Moon had already lost some of his political leverage during the early '90s, as communism crumbled and Democrats seized control of Congress and the White House. Now, many disillusioned followers began turning their backs on the church. Moon, who believed that America's culture of ''moral degradation'' had caused his children's downfall, grew bitter toward his adopted country, which he branded ''Satan's harvest.''
  But he didn't give up on the United States entirely.Instead, he began courting new groups, such as socially conservative black churches and Democratic politicians. The church also launched the Women's Federation for World Peace, which packaged his theology as a tool for the ''liberation of women.'' (Liberation in this case meant reviving traditional families by being ''unusually obedient.'') Mrs. Moon, whose role in the church had been mostly ceremonial up until this point, was named president. She began traveling the world proclaiming herself a co-messiah and urging women to devote themselves to their families. ''We must spread, to the whole world, a model movement . . . in which we embrace our husbands and raise our children properly,'' she told a crowd in Seoul. On several occasions, former President George H. W. Bush, a major beneficiary of Moon family donations, appeared alongside her, as did his wife, Barbara. In a major departure, Moon formally declared Mrs. Moon to be his equal and promised she would ''inherit everything from Father.''
  Moon also tried to persuade world leaders and outside clergy to accept him as their king. In the spring of 2000, he invited 120 American ministers to South Korea, and gave them diamond-studded gold watches. Just after the 9/11 attacks, Moon convened a summit in New York City of religious and political leaders'--including Falwell, Dan Quayle, Richard Holbrooke, and the Nation of Islam's president, Louis Farrakhan, whose Million Family March Moon had underwritten the previous year. The goal was to find ''solutions to global violence.'' But the mood was fractious, especially after Farrakhan suggested that Osama bin Laden had been wrongly scapegoated. Instead of uniting behind Moon, as he had predicted, the post-cold-war world was only growing more divided.
  With every setback, Moon's plans only grew more grandiose. Later that year, he made an announcement: By February 2013, all humanity would join hands under the banner of a global ''nation of cosmic peace and unity,'' called Cheon Il Guk. Moon and his followers began preparations in Korea'--launching a police force, commissioning an anthem, and adopting a flag. They also built Moon an elaborate castle, shaped like the U.S. Capitol building. If Moon couldn't actually conquer America, at least he would do so in symbolic form.
  Around this time, In Jin was living in Boston and pursuing a doctorate in divinity at Harvard. Her father, who was splitting his time between New York and his kingdom in Korea, no longer kept close tabs on her. Over time, she shed her sense of familial obligation. She started writing and recording romantic pop songs. (''You see how I burn beneath your steady gaze / You see how I yearn to be a meadow where you graze.'') And around 2004, according to a half-dozen sources close to the family, she started an affair with a keyboard player and longtime Unificationist named Alistair Farrant. Soon, Farrant abandoned his wife and children and began camping out at In Jin's place.
  James Park was crushed. ''He felt really displaced,'' says one member of his inner circle. ''He felt like he had lost his family and everything that gave him meaning.'' Park started binging on cocaine and Paradigm, his company, suffered. According to people with inside knowledge, one of Park's business partners began angling for control of the company, and Park began hunting for a buyer friendly to his interests. As luck would have it, he found one in an unlikely quarter: then-Senator Joseph Biden's family.
  At the time, Biden was mulling a 2008 presidential bid. According to sworn statements from people involved in the deal, he worried that his son Hunter's lobbying career could hurt his campaign and asked his brother James to find Hunter a new line of work. (Hunter Biden disputed this account in an interview with The New Republic.) James Biden approached a business associate named Anthony Lotito, who connected him with James Park's camp, and the three men began negotiating to buy Paradigm.
  On its face, the deal looked solid. Paradigm's marketing materials boasted $1.5 billion under management and generous returns, and Lotito believed they could quickly expand into union pension funds, which tend to have close ties to democratic politicians. So Lotito and the Bidens pushed ahead. In the spring of 2006, they signed an agreement that gave them a controlling stake in the company, in return for $21 million in cash, to be paid in six months. Hunter Biden'--who had no financial industry experience'--was named CEO, with a salary of $1.2 million. But it was clear that they needed James Park's hedge-fund expertise, which meant confronting him about his cocaine habit. According to three sources close to the negotiations, James Biden visited James Park and persuaded him to seek treatment at a center in Florida.
  Getty Images
  Moon and his wife, Hak Ja Han, with seven of their eight "perfect" children, as photographed by People magazine in 1975.
  The Bidens soon realized that Paradigm wasn't as solid as they thought. Instead of $1.5 billion under management, it had just $200 to $300 million, and its holding companies were buried in debt. Worse, the Bidens' main financier backed out. But the Bidens found a way around the lack of capital. That summer, according to court documents and people close to both sides of the negotiations, they approached Park, who was still in treatment, and cut a new deal: Instead of $21 million in cash, they would fork over an $8 million note. Hunter Biden and his lawyer, Marc LoPresti, maintain that the deal was fair, given the state of the company. But people close to Park say he was emotionally fragile and felt indebted to the Bidens, which put him in a vulnerable position.
  Finally, in 2008, the economy collapsed, after which it emerged that Allen Stanford, whose firm was soliciting investors for one of Paradigm's funds, was running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. While the fund itself was solid, investors were spooked. In 2010, Paradigm filed for voluntary liquidation. ''It was a thicket,'' Hunter Biden told me. ''Every time you thought you saw a way out, there would be another road block.''
  James Park was never able to collect on the $8 million note and found himself facing a mountain of debt. But James and In Jin were able to fall back on their Moon family ties. According to three sources close to the family, In Jin's younger brother Preston'--a Harvard graduate and former Olympic equestrian who controlled most of the family's American enterprises'--agreed to bail the couple out with several million dollars. It was a decision that Preston would come to regret.
  By now, Moon was in his late eighties and contemplatinghis legacy. Despite his promises that Mrs. Moon would ''inherit everything,'' he had begun divvying up his global empire among his sons, including Preston, Steve, Justin, and Sean. But once again tragedy struck the family. In 2008, Steve died of a heart attack at 45. This left an opening for In Jin who maneuvered her way to the helm of the Manhattan Center'--the only one of Moon's daughters to assume a leadership role. She immediately gave her lover, Alistair Farrant, a top position and fired half the staff, many of them long-standing church members. She also began courting new talent, including a thirtysomething rock musician named Ben Lorentzen.
  That summer, Reverend and Mrs. Moon were injured when a helicopter they were traveling on crashed into a South Korean mountainside. While they recovered, their children began squabbling over the only major piece of Moon's empire that remained up for grabs: the Unification Church of America, which oversees the movement's U.S. congregations, along with hundreds of millions of dollars in assets. Preston saw himself as the natural heir. But In Jin also spotted an opportunity. Her family hadn't fully recovered from the Paradigm debacle, and, according to people close to her, she was hungry for additional income. When Justin approached her about staging a takeover, she agreed.
  While Preston was out of the country, Sean, who headed the international church, issued a memo saying that In Jin was to be ''chairperson of the Unification Movement in America.'' The American church then convened a board meeting, led by In Jin. Most of the existing board members were pressured to resign and were replaced with In Jin's allies, after which In Jin was formally elected chair. A bitter family feud ensued. Preston later staged his own boardroom coup at Unification Church International, the holding company for the Moon family's U.S. business, giving him unfettered control over billions of dollars in assets. He used the proceeds to fund an offshoot movement that drew on his father's teachings without deifying the Moon clan.
  In Jin, meanwhile, assumed the role of chief pastor of the American church and began using it as a vehicle for her own passions. She launched the band Sonic Cult, with Lorentzen as the lead singer. She also pushed back against the traditions that had confined her in an unhappy marriage'--openly condoning divorce and encouraging younger members to marry for love.
  In Jin had her own reasons for loosening the church's mores, as Lorentzen's on-again, off-again wife, Patricia, discovered. In late 2009, Patricia traveled to New York with their two young sons to visit Lorentzen for Christmas. While they were staying at the New Yorker Hotel, Patricia borrowed Ben's laptop and found his e-mail box brimming with sexually explicit messages from In Jin. ''I was so shocked,'' Patricia told me. ''I went back to my room and sat there trying to digest it.'' She confronted In Jin over e-mail, after which she says Lorentzen and another man turned up at her room and delivered an ultimatum: She and the children had to be out of the hotel by the next morning, or they would be tossed out by security. (In Jin and Ben Lorentzen declined to be interviewed.)
  Patricia later tried to alert the church's liaison for family matters, Phillip Schanker, to the affair, but James Park assured Schanker there was no cause for concern. As Schanker explained in a letter to one parishioner, ''In Jin's husband came to me, thanking me for being honest and trying to protect True Family and our movement, assuring me that this was a misunderstanding, that he trusted his wife, and that the wives of the men she works with easily became jealous and created false rumors.''
  Meanwhile, the family feud erupted into open view, as the siblings sparred over billions of dollars in assets in court. And one of In Jin's deputies traveled the country delivering a PowerPoint presentation that cast Preston as a ''fallen'' Adam who was ''being controlled by Satan.'' This was the state of play in early 2012, when In Jin disappeared.
  On September 2 of that year, the movement was dealt an even bigger blow, when Moon died of pneumonia at age 92. Two weeks later, some 15,000 people packed into a Moon-owned stadium outside Seoul for the memorial. Mrs. Moon vowed to continue her husband's quest to build ''a world where all people live as one great family under God.'' After the service, she and her children knelt above his burial vault, clasped hands, and prayed. Through all of this, In Jin remained conspicuously absent.
  It was around this time that a birth certificate for a four-month-old boy began circulating on theInternet. To the astonishment of Moon's followers, the child's parents were none other than In Jin Moon and Ben Lorentzen. The baby probably would have come to light sooner had James Park not worked to cover up his existence; according to people close to the family, James helped In Jin rent a house in Cape Cod where she and Ben could lay low during her pregnancy.
  Now, on top of mourning their messiah, Moon's American disciples had to digest the news that his supposedly sinless daughter was trampling his most sacred teachings. ''The core of our faith is purity before marriage and fidelity between husband and wife,'' longtime church member Mary Anglin told me. ''We've devoted our lives to this vision. Then In Jin turned around and slapped us all in the face.''
  As it turns out, Moon didn't always live up to his virtuous teachings, either. In April, I spoke by videophone with Annie Choi, a soft-spoken, 77-year-old Korean woman with ruddy cheeks and thick silver hair. Choi, who joined Moon's church along with her mother and sister in the 1950s, alleges that she engaged in numerous sexual rituals'--some involving as many as six women'--beginning when she was 17 years old. Her story, which is consistent with the accounts of several early followers, supports the claim that Moon's church started out as a sex cult, with Moon ''purifying'' female devotees through erotic rites.
  By 1960, when he married Hak Ja Han, Moon was touting marital fidelity as his religion's foundational ideal. But Choi maintains she stayed on as Moon's mistress until 1964, when she moved to the United States. The following year, Moon made his inaugural visit to America. By the time he left, Choi says, she was carrying his child.
  News like this could have sunk the fledgling American project. But Bo Hi Pak made sure that didn't happen. According to Choi, who has never before spoken publicly about the experience, Pak's wife stuffed her mid-section with cloth diapers and pretended that she was pregnant. When it came time to give birth, Choi says that Pak accompanied her to the hospital and passed her off as his wife. The following day, he dropped her off at her empty apartment and took the baby back to his home. Later, Mrs. Pak brought Choi some seaweed soup, but Choi told me that she couldn't eat it. ''I just sat there crying, with my tears falling in the pot.''
  Choi stayed in the United States to be near her son, Sam Park'--the same young man In Jin had fallen for during her teenage years. (By all accounts, she was unaware that Sam was her half brother.) Then, at age 13, it dawned on Sam that the kindly ''aunt'' who visited periodically was actually his mother. ''Suddenly my life made a lot more sense,'' Sam told me in April, when we met in Phoenix, where he and Choi live.
  Bo Hi Pak later approached Sam and his mother with a contract. As a sign of their ''mutual love, affection and respect,'' it read, Sam, Choi, and Pak would release one another'--and the Moon family'--from ''any and all past, present or future actions,'' including those arising from inheritance claims. In return, Sam and Choi would each receive $100.
  Alleging that they were victims of ''theology-based'' racketeering, Sam and Choi are now suing the Paks and Moons for $20 million. Neither the Unification Church nor the lawyers for the Moon and Pak families responded to requests for comment.
  Sam Park's existence was an indignity that Mrs. Moon had to endure. But by the time In Jin's love child came to light, Mrs. Moon's husband and master was dead and she was free to handle the situation as she saw fit. She demanded that In Jin resign. In Jin later issued an apology to members of the church. ''It was never our intention to hurt anyone,'' she wrote. ''All we wanted was to love and to be loved.''
  Next, Mrs. Moon moved to claim the inheritance her husband had promised. She wrested control of the international church from Sean and issued a memo saying, ''[E]verything that is carried out in Korea from this day onward will be centered on True Mother.'' She later ousted Justin, who controlled most of Moon's Korean enterprises. After five decades spent in Moon's shadow, the kingdom was in her hands.
  And despite Moon's views on wifely subservience, it soon became clear that Mrs. Moon did not share all of her husband's opinions. She began speaking out in surprisingly critical terms about Moon's preoccupation with America. During a trip to New York late last year, she complained that he had squandered 40 years in the United States for ''such little'' return. Many members suspect that she will soon turn her back on his beleaguered American project entirely. ''Reverend Moon really cared about America,'' says Richard Barlow, a former Unificationist missionary, who maintains contact with elements of the church leadership. ''But his wife doesn't feel that strong connection, and she's ousted her children who do.''
  In late February, the matriarch celebrated the arrival of Cheon Il Guk'--Moon's global kingdom of peace and unity'--before some 15,000 devotees who packed into the Moon-owned stadium in Korea, wearing identical wedding garb. The crowd sang the Cheon Il Guk national anthem, and then Mrs. Moon, the former cook's daughter, swept into the stadium wearing a jeweled crown and a purple robe festooned with gold embroidery. She marched slowly up a long stairway to a giant replica of the Moon family palace and took a seat on a white throne. Next to her was an identical throne, reserved for her dead husband. An attendant handed her a ''heavenly scepter,'' and she climbed to her feet: ''I proclaim the first year of Cheon Il Guk.'' Trumpets blared, and the stadium filled with mist.
  Afterward, several of Moon's old friends gave congratulatory speeches, including former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, who lauded the festivities as an ''affirmation of marriage and family.'' ''We often take the family for granted,'' Hastert said. ''However, when the family system begins to break down, all manner of personal and social problems emerge.'' It was a fitting epitaph to Moon's American project and his diminished political empire.
  Mariah Blake is a reporter for Mother Jones. Her work has also appeared in The Atlantic, The Nation, Foreign Policy, and Washington Monthly, among other publications. Follow @MariahCBlake on Twitter.
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VIDEO- WHAT IF SUPER TYPHOON HAIYAN HIT THE UNITED STATES? - YouTube
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 01:54
Jimmy Kimmel Row: An Obstacle for Shanghai Disneyworld? | Asia Life | The Diplomat
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 01:50
  EBG6NYSM4VCJ
  A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry has entered the ''kill everyone in China'' row instigated by a late-night network television skit in the U.S. last month '' asking for a more ''sincere'' apology than those already issued by ABC and show host Jimmy Kimmel.
  The controversial remark, made by a 6-year-old boy during an unscripted segment meant to satirize the U.S. government shutdown, has sparked protests from the Chinese-American community and calls for the comedian's resignation. It may also create troubles for Disney '' the owner of embattled ABC '' as the entertainment behemoth plans an ambitious expansion into mainland China.
  ''If anti-ABC protests in the U.S. turn into anti-Disney protests in China, the bad publicity could spoil the company's plans to win over Chinese consumers in time for the opening of its newest theme park,'' said BusinessWeek.
  The sprawling 963-acre facility is currently under construction in the Pudong district of Shanghai. Under development since 2005, Shanghai Disney will be three times larger than Hong Kong Disney when it is completed in 2015.
  Following backlash from critics, ABC first apologized, in the form of a letter, to an Asian-American equal rights group. The initial gesture was followed by a November 8 press release posted to ABC Medianet.
  ''On behalf of everyone at Jimmy Kimmel Live and ABC, please accept our heartfelt, sincere apology for the airing of the [offensive] segment,'' the statement read. ''Systems we have in place for these types of things did not function properly, and steps have been made to try and prevent this kind of egregious mistake from occurring in the future.''
  Jimmy Kimmel also apologized on air, stating that ''it was obvious that I didn't agree with that statement.''
  Regardless of ABC and Kimmel's attempts at reconciliation, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman was unmoved.
  ''ABC should acknowledge the misconduct, and respond to the Chinese community's demand in a sincere way,'' said Qin Gang, the ministry official, according to China's state-run Xinhua news agency. ''Spreading racism and hatred goes against the media's social responsibility and that ABC should prevent similar incidents from occurring in future.''
  The spill-over from the Jimmy Kimmel show isn't the only obstacle facing Shanghai Disneyland's completion '' the mainland citizenry's embracing of the park as something uniquely Chinese also remains to be seen.
  ''[It] can't be the Disneyland that Walt built in California, because this is China. It has to look, feel, resemble China's Disneyland. And that has taken a lot of thought, a lot of work,'' said Disney CEO Bob Iger. ''[It isn't] just about bringing Mickey Mouse to China, it's about looking at China today and seeing what's popular and figuring out a way that we can have a commercial relationship with that product, that intellectual property, so that we can offer it to the people who visit.''
  Shanghai Disneyland, already being touted as the franchise's most technologically advanced park to date, will come at a price tag of $4.4 billion. It will also house the world's largest Disney store and offer cuisine tailored to the different regions of China rather than mixing and matching Asian and Western dishes.
WikiLeaks Reveals Obama Deal Some Say Could Undermine Global Health, Internet Freedom
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 01:03
  WASHINGTON -- WikiLeaks on Wednesday published a critical chapter of an international trade deal the United States is currently negotiating with 11 Pacific nations.
  The document confirms what some public health experts and Internet freedom advocates had long feared: The Obama administration is aggressively pursuing terms that would increase the cost of medicines and hamper an open Internet.
  "The U.S. is refusing to back down from dangerous provisions that will impede timely access to affordable medicines," said Judit Rius Sanjuan, U.S. manager of the Access Campaign at Doctors Without Borders, a humanitarian group that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000.
  Most major provisions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership document, which is dated at Aug. 30, are nearly identical to previous leaks that drew criticism from tech activists and consumer groups. But the public disclosure of which countries support or object to which terms, is new. The U.S. government considers the draft text to be classified, a status which has stymied access for congressional aides, and prevented some lawmakers from airing their complaints.
  "The Obama administration's proposals are the worst ''- the most damaging for health we have seen in a U.S. trade agreement to date,'' said Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizen's global access to medicines program.
  Countries that violate the terms of trade agreements can be sued in international courts.
  The TPP deal would explicitly empower corporations to directly challenge government laws and regulations, a political power that World Trade Organization treaties have reserved for other sovereign nations. The U.S. has endorsed such corporate political powers in previous trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement. Companies including Exxon Mobil, Dow Chemical and Eli Lilly have attempted to invoke NAFTA to overrule Canadian regulations on offshore oil drilling, fracking, pesticides, drug patents and other issues.
  "With both copyright and patent, the really alarming thing is, there's talk about major systemic changes that could be made in the next couple of years," said Parker Higgins, spokesman for the internet freedom group Electronic Frontier Foundation. "The last thing we want to do is crystallize current U.S. law in a trade agreement that we would have to renegotiate."
  The administration, however, rejected criticism that it is pursuing an unhealthy deal.
  "We are working with Congress, stakeholders, and our TPP negotiating partners to reach an outcome that promotes high-paying jobs in innovative American industries and reflects our values, including by seeking strong and balanced copyright protections, as well as advancing access to medicines while incentivizing the development of new, lifesaving drugs," said Carol Guthrie, a spokeswoman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
  The leaked document shows U.S. negotiators pursuing a host of policies that could drive up medical costs by extending drug companies' and other corporations' monopolies on their products beyond the normal 20-year patent term. These provisions include standards to lengthen patent terms, expand the criteria for which countries must grant drug patents, require countries to issue new patents on minor alterations to a drug, and establish barriers on the use of pharmaceutical test data, all of which prevent market competition from generic drugs.
  A coalition of five nations consistently offered alternatives to the U.S. language, including New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, Chile and Malaysia. The only language mitigating this effort to drive up drug prices is a vague exemption for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria drugs.
  "The obligations of this Chapter do not and should not prevent a Party from taking measures to protect public health by promoting access to medicines for all, in particular concerning cases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, [US oppose: chagas] and other epidemics as well as circumstances of extreme urgency or national emergency," the document reads.
  Prior WTO agreements have included similar protections, but the U.S. has repeatedly brought political pressure against countries that attempted to grant access to generic AIDS drugs. The U.S. has had several recent disputes with India over the country's decision to issue a $157 generic cancer drug for which Bayer had charged more than $5,000 a month.
  "People die from cancer, too," notes Sanjuan. "The public health challenges we see in the countries where we work are much broader than HIV, TB and malaria. Even if this is a sincere effort at a solution, it's a fake solution and won't really work."
  The draft's copyright standards would require countries to adopt digital distribution rules similar to those the United States has had in place since the late 1990s. Those rules have come under fire for establishing a host of legal liabilities for normal internet functions. The rules have made tech start-ups targets of costs and legal threats from movie studios and record labels, and created conflicts over simple actions like linking to copyrighted content.
  The U.S. has avoided some of the most damaging implications of its broad copyright definitions by relying on a robust set of exemptions, including fair use and other terms that permit using some copyrighted information without paying royalties. But the TPP draft would establish a narrow international standard for fair use, and thwart other types of exemptions. EFF and others have warned against exporting the U.S. copyright criteria without including U.S.-style exemptions.
  WikiLeaks, the government transparency organization, released the document on the same day that 151 congressional Democrats sent a letter to President Barack Obama objecting to the "fast-track" process the president hopes to use to approve the TPP deal. Two separate letters from dozens of House Democrats and Republicans objecting to the same process were sent to Obama on Tuesday.
  Also on HuffPost:
"Probably an Accident," Say Police About Death of Spy Found Inside Locked Bag - Lowering the Bar
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  Thu, 14 Nov 2013 00:02
  After a three-year investigation, the Metropolitan Police have concluded that their initial suspicions of foul play were unfounded in the case of Gareth Williams, a 31-year-old intelligence agent whose naked body was found in his bathtub inside a padlocked bag.
  Although a spokesman acknowledged that some people'--like the coroner'--had drawn what seemed to be the "logical inference" that someone else was involved, he said that based on all the evidence, or actually the lack of it, police had decided that the death was "probably an accident" and were closing the case.
  Williams, described as a "math genius," was a communications officer at GCHQ, the UK's equivalent of the NSA'--"equivalent" in terms of its respect for the law as well as its function. See, e.g., "Leaked memos reveal CGHQ efforts to keep mass surveillance secret," The Guardian (Oct. 25, 2013) (quoting memos expressing concern about a "public debate which might lead to legal challenges"). He had been "secunded" to the Secret Intelligence Service, often known as "MI6," at the time of his death, however. Because MI6 handles primarily foreign intelligence (MI5 is the domestic agency), it works closely with CGHQ, as you would expect.
  Occasionally their directors are even forced to testify together, as happened last week. See Michael White, "Britain's spy chiefs make daylight debut like a trio of Draculas in winter sun," The Guardian (Nov. 7, 2013).
  After Williams had failed to show up at work for a week, an officer found his body in the tub inside a fully zipped-up bag, the zippers of which had been locked with a padlock. None of his DNA was found on the lock and his prints were not found on the edge of the bathtub. No drugs or alcohol were found in his system. There were some traces of DNA in the flat from which "it had not been possible to gain full DNA profiles," but no conclusive evidence that third parties had been present. There was some evidence that Williams may have engaged in certain bondage practices'--he once had to call for help after tying himself to a bed'--and police apparently believe this might explain why he might have sealed himself in a duffel bag.
  Still, there was that nagging issue as to how he might have locked the bag from the inside.
  At the coroner's inquest, an expert witness (described as "an expert on confined spaces") who is about the same size as Williams said he had tried and failed to do this no fewer than 300 times. The bag is big enough, he testified. "You can get into the bag and you can zip the bag up. That's not a problem."
  So what IS the problem?
  Turns out the problem is locking yourself in, although you wouldn't think it'd take 300 attempts to be sure of that. "You can't access the lock from the inside without damaging the bag, so it cannot be padlocked from the inside," he said. "Even Harry Houdini wouldn't have managed it."
  Houdini could not be reached for comment.
  The coroner concluded that Williams had been "unlawfully killed" by a person or persons unknown, and his body then put inside the bag after his death. But after another year of investigation'--and an unspecified level of "co-operation" from MI6'--it seems that a small thing like absolute physical impossibility has not deterred the police from concluding that Williams managed to do this himself. In fact, the spokesman said he was satisfied it was "theoretically possible" that Williams had locked himself inside the bag, although the report did not explain why. Maybe the 301st time is the charm?
  I'm sure this sequence is coincidental
  "Now at the end of our investigation," the spokesman said, "based on the evidence, or where we have been unable to find positive evidence, we believe that it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died." Well, "more probable" than what? If the only other hypothesis was that "Voldemort did it," I would agree. Otherwise I think the only conclusion you can draw from the lack of evidence is that you can't draw any conclusions at all.
  Maybe I'm being too cynical here, though, because it's not like this is the first time this sort of thing has happened. See "Police Pretty Sure Man Tied Himself Inside Sack and Shot Himself Before Jumping Into River," Lowering the Bar (Aug. 19, 2013). On the other hand, that sequence of events was at least physically possible. Just really, really unlikely.
US gov't wants to litigate disclosure case in secret | Ars Technica
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 23:57
  For months now, a group of tech giants including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, and LinkedIn has asked the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) for the right to be more specific on the types of legal requests they receive from the government. Since the wake of the Snowden leaks earlier this year, these companies have pushed for oral argument before the court and have asked that this argument be open to the public.
  Further ReadingGoogle, Facebook, Yahoo want to report the number of secret requests they get.
  Currently, Google and many other companies break out American law enforcement requests in their transparency reports. However, those figures represent all law enforcement nationwide and do not sub-divide by agency. Specifically, the companies want to be able to break out ''[Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] orders based on probable cause,'' ''Section 702 of FISA,'' ''FISA Business Records,'' ''FISA Pen Register/Trap and Trace,'' and National Security Letters.But now, the American government has responded to these companies'--asking for an ex parte, in camera review. That means only the judge would be able to hear the government's case. Google and the other movants would not be able to argue a response before the judge. The movants say that they have only been given heavily redacted versions of the government's submissions.
  Having a secret hearing such as this is common in national security cases, but the government has not argued that this is a national security case.
  As the service providers wrote in a motion filed on Tuesday (PDF):
  Allowing the government to file an ex parte brief in this case will cripple the providers' ability to reply to the government's arguments and is likely to result in a disposition of the providers' First Amendment claims based on information that the providers will never see. The providers do not dispute that in some cases it may be appropriate for this Court to consider ex parte filings. In this case, however, such a course is neither justified nor constitutional. The providers already know the core information that the government seeks to protect in this litigation'--the number of FISC orders or [FISA Amendments Act] directives to which they have been subject, if any. At issue here is only the secondary question whether the providers may be told the reasons why the government seeks to keep that information a secret. The government has not argued that sharing those reasons with the providers or their counsel would endanger national security. Accordingly, unless the government allows the providers' counsel to access its response, the Court should strike the redacted portions of that response.
  In the providers' 12-page motion, they point out that they have presented other alternatives to government counsel. These include giving some representatives of the companies Top Secret clearances to review the unredacted response or granting those representatives a temporary security clearance.
  On Wednesday, the companies filed (PDF) a second motion. They've asked the court to suspend the deadline that the companies were under to respond to the government's redacted submissions while the court deals with the Tuesday motion.
  FISC Judge Reggie Walton granted (PDF) that partial stay just hours after it was requested.
LA education board approves continuing iPad plan
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  Source: Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 23:55
  LA education board approves continuing iPad plan4 hours agoThe nation's second-largest school district will move ahead with an ambitious $1 billion plan to provide iPads to all students after problems emerged when some of the first to get them used the tablets to tweet, text and play games instead of studying.
  The Los Angeles Times reports the Los Angeles Board of Education voted 6-1 on Tuesday that 35 campuses will receive the devices this year in addition to nearly 50 in the first group.
  Superintendent John Deasy says it is important to get the tablets to students quickly because computerized state testing is being introduced in 2015.
  The rollout of the iPads quickly encountered problems when more than 300 students at three of the first campuses quickly cracked their security settings and began surfing the Internet.
  Explore further:LA students get iPads, start playing video games
  (C) 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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  Airline industry swooping in to prevent cyberattacks Nov 08, 2013
  Worried that computer hackers attacking banks and media companies could easily shift targets, the airline industry is taking preemptive steps to ensure it doesn't become the next victim.
  New framework for 3D tele-immersive social networking Nov 08, 2013
  It's Friday night, you're exhausted after a long week in the office. You're not going to leave the house so you could either watch TV or spend a few hours catching up on your social networks. But how about doing both? Thanks ...
  Exploring public perceptions of future wearable computing Nov 07, 2013
  As scientists develop the next wave of smartwatches and other wearable computing, they might want to continue focusing their attention on the arms and the wrists. According to a recent Georgia Tech study, ...
  Fish packaging with built-in nose Nov 07, 2013
  From the outside you can't see whether supermarket fish is still fresh. Once you remove the plastic foil it's immediately obvious how fresh it is, but by then it has already reached your kitchen. PhD candidate ...
  User comments : 0More news stories
  Snapchat rejected $3 bn offer from FacebookThe mobile messaging service Snapchat recently rejected a $3 billion cash offer from Facebook, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
  Sprint latest to waive fees to contact PhilippinesSprint is waiving and crediting fees for phone calls and text messages made by its U.S. customers to the Philippines in the wake of a Typhoon Haiyan.
  Cisco's 1Q revenue falls below estimatesCisco's fiscal first-quarter revenue grew slower than expected and net income declined, which sent the technology company's stock lower in extended trading.
  Three injured at Tesla factory in CaliforniaTesla Motors says three employees have been injured after an aluminum casting press failed at its factory in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  Researchers find way to boost lithium-air battery performance, with help of modified virusesLithium-air batteries have become a hot research area in recent years: They hold the promise of drastically increasing power per battery weight, which could lead, for example, to electric cars with a much ...
  Time to tackle cryptosporidiosis: Scientists call for crypto cureA recent study involving more than 22,000 children in Africa and Asia revealed that the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium is one of four pathogens responsible for the largest part of severe diarrhea in inf ...
  Sony PlayStation 4 terrific, but not yet essentialVideo-game fans who reserved Sony's PlayStation 4 several months ago won't have any regrets when it goes on sale in North America on Friday: The PS4 is a terrific game machine that will feel familiar to PlayStation ...
  Taiwan scientists report first case of new bird flu virus in humansScientists from Taiwan report on the world's first confirmed case of human infection with a wild avian influenza A H6N1 virus in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
  Urine tests don't always confirm urinary infections, study finds(HealthDay)'--When doctors suspect a patient has a urinary tract infection, they often request a urine sample so they can test for the presence of bacteria. Now, new research suggests this step may be unnecessary.
  Imbruvica approved for mantle cell lymphoma(HealthDay)'--Imbruvica (ibrutinib) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), a rare but aggressive form of blood cancer.
  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.(C) Phys.org' 2003-2013
Will Democrats Side With Hillary Clinton or Elizabeth Warren? - Larry's List - Truthdig
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  Will Democrats Side With Hillary Clinton or Elizabeth Warren?Posted on Nov 13, 2013Unfortunately for the former secretary of state, the Democrats' 2016 presidential candidate will likely be someone who aims to keep Wall Street in check; as many as 87 countries possess drones in some form; meanwhile, teens' interests have veered from clothes to phones.These discoveries and more below.
  On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that have found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.
  Zoned: The Mysterious ''Foreign'' Outposts Inside the USADespite their rampant growth in recent years, few know Foreign-Trade Zones exist.
  The Snowden Leaks and the PublicIt is harder than you might think to destroy an Apple MacBook Pro according to British government standards.
  Netanyahu Could Lose His Iran CardWhen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared in Jerusalem on Nov. 10 that the option of a military strike against Iran must remain on the table, he sounded more like he was someone making a wish than someone who believes that what he says will have any real impact on the situation.
  All That Is Solid Doesn't Necessarily MeltApparently, Jonathan Sperber wants to offer a more accurate translation of that famous phrase, the one that begins in the original ''Das stehende und das st¤ndische verdampft.''
  Hillary's Nightmare? A Democratic Party That Realizes Its Soul Lies With Elizabeth WarrenWe're three years from the next presidential election, and Hillary Clinton is, once again, the inevitable Democratic nominee.
  87 Nations Possess DronesThe age of the drone is here, and U.S. intelligence agencies are warily monitoring their proliferation around the globe.
  ''Largest Storm in the World'' Increases the Likelihood of a Confrontation with the Coal Industry During COP 19Super Typhoon Haiyan'--one of the most powerful storms ever recorded'--should be an alarming wake up call for negotiators at the UN Climate Summit, said activists on Friday.
  The One Where An Elderly White Couple Tries To Rap And Actually Pulls It OffWhen you hear people talking about ''fixing Social Security'' and saying that ''it's broke'' (hint: it's not!), just remember this little rhyme.
  Teens Flee Abercrombie for Upstarts as Phones Top MallsTeens don't shop the way they used to.
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'Fortis Bank geheel in handen Franse BNP Paribas'
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 23:53
  Bewerkt door: redactie '' 13/11/13, 20:23 '' bron: ANP
  (C) epa.
  De voormalige Fortis Bank komt geheel in handen van het Franse BNP Paribas, dat het resterende belang van 25 procent van de Belgische overheid koopt. Dat meldde de Vlaamse krant De Tijd woensdag.Volgens De Tijd heeft het Belgische kernkabinet de verkoop goedgekeurd. Het bestuur van BNP Paribas zou momenteel vergaderen over de deal.
  Het destijds Belgisch-Nederlandse financile concern Fortis raakte in 2008 in zware moeilijkheden door de kredietcrisis en de te dure overname van de Nederlandse bankactiviteiten van ABN Amro. De Nederlandse overheid kocht in oktober van dat jaar de Nederlandse onderdelen, die zijn verdergegaan onder de namen ABN Amro (bank) en ASR (verzekeringen).
  De Belgische staat redde de Belgische onderdelen, en verkocht de bankactiviteiten grotendeels door aan BNP Paribas. De Belgische verzekeringstak is onder de naam Ageas nog altijd genoteerd aan de beurs in Brussel. De slechte beleggingen waar Fortis aan dreigde te bezwijken, werden ondergebracht in een zogenoemde bad bank. Die werd eerder dit jaar verkocht.
Bill would outlaw U.S. dollar in Russia - Washington Times
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  MOSCOW '-- Predicting the imminent collapse of the U.S. dollar, a Russian lawmaker submitted a bill to the country's parliament on Wednesday that would ban the use or possession of the American currency.
  Mikhail Degtyarev, the lawmaker who proposed the bill, compared the dollar to a Ponzi scheme. He warned that the government would have to bail out Russians holding the U.S. currency if it collapsed.
  ''If the U.S. national debt continues to grow, the collapse of the dollar system will take place in 2017,'' said Mr. Degtyarev, a member of the nationalist Liberal Democrat Party who was a losing candidate in Moscow's recent mayoral election.
  ''The countries that will suffer the most will be those that have failed to wean themselves off their dependence on the dollar in time. In light of this, the fact that confidence in the dollar is growing among Russian citizens is extremely dangerous.''
  The bill would partially revive a Soviet-era ban on the dollar. It would prohibit Russians from holding dollars in the country's banks, and banks also would be unable to carry out transactions in the dollar.
  However, Russians still would be able to buy or sell dollars while abroad, as well as hold dollar accounts in foreign banks.
  The Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the government would be exempt from the law.
  Russian financial experts were largely critical of the bill, which they suggested was more about making political capital on the back of rising anti-U.S. sentiments in Russia than protecting the country's economy.
  ''The American financial system, despite all its existing problems, remains the most stable and low-risk in the world,'' financial analyst Andrei Shenk said.
  He also warned that the bill would harm Russia's investment climate.
  Another expert warned that the bill would strip Russians of the ability to flee the country to seek greater political and social freedoms.
  ''The right to the free exchange of currencies is a fundamental element of capitalism,'' said Moscow-based economics expert Igor Suzdaltsev. ''It allows citizens to leave the country when a dictatorship is imposed by selling their property and exchanging their assets for the necessary currency.''
US Declines No Spy Pact with Germany But Might Reveal Snowden Secrets - SPIEGEL ONLINE
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 23:52
  Hans-Georg Maassen, president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany's domestic intelligence agency, and Gerhard Schindler, director of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), the country's foreign intelligence agency, had a great deal they wanted to discuss last Monday when they entered the square, black building in Fort Meade, Maryland, that is headquarters to America's National Security Agency (NSA). The two German emissaries had quite a few questions concerning the American wiretapping that has caused such damage to sensitive German-American relations. Since when was Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone monitored, they wanted to know, and has that surveillance truly ended? Which members of the government were or still are affected by the NSA's spying program? And how can trust be rebuilt?
  In a bug-proof, windowless room, NSA Director Keith Alexander gave his two "dear" guests a demonstratively warm reception. He spent around an hour engaging in the straight talk they sought. But, in terms of content, the American general didn't give the two top German officials much. Asked about the accusations of espionage, he apologized and said he couldn't say anything about that. Nor did the visitors learn whether an extension on the roof of the US Embassy in Berlin, right near the Brandenburg Gate, actually houses spying equipment.
  Going in, the two German intelligence agency directors knew it would be tough to wrest any information from the Americans, who according to Merkel's chief of staff, Ronald Pofalla, have now acknowledged "the political dimension" of reporting done on this subject. Still, the meeting last Monday quickly demonstrated just how bumpy the road to rebuilding trust will be, especially since Maassen and Schindler didn't achieve any movement at all on the other request they approached their American partners with: the German government's desire for an agreement to refrain from spying on each other.
  There won't be a "no-spy" agreement was the message the two German emissaries received both at the NSA and subsequently in Langley, Virginia, where they met with CIA Director John O. Brennan. At most, the US is willing to consider a vague agreement between the intelligence services, which currently exists in a draft version. As the lead negotiator on the German side, BND Director Schindler plans to hammer out the exact wording of the agreement via video conferences with the NSA in the coming weeks.
  Vague Promises
  This paper, provisionally called a "cooperation agreement," is only two passages long. The first spells out areas in which the intelligence services wish to work together closely. These include such global topics as counterterrorism, nuclear proliferation, human trafficking and cybercrime. This is the easy part, since both sides already collaborate closely in these areas.
  The paper's second part has proven much harder. This section addresses the sensitive matter of espionage and potential no-spy accords. But the US is offering very little leeway here. The country's concerns are understandable, since explicitly renouncing espionage operations amounts to admitting to past misdoings. Another concern here is that if a binding no-spy agreement were implemented, it would be impossible to keep it secret, and its existence would be sure to whet the appetite of other nations as well.
  The German Chancellery is taking a realistic view of the matter. As much as Berlin might wish for a substantive agreement, perhaps even one binding under international law, it's clear that this isn't in the cards. And pushing the wrangling over the issue to extremes isn't an option, according to one senior German intelligence official, owing to "the importance of the trans-Atlantic alliance."
  In any case, the plan is to have a document that will reorganize the relationship between the intelligence agencies complete and ready for signing by the end of the year. German intelligence sources say the US is prepared to engage in "a new form of collaboration." As close to the same time as possible, the German government also wants to issue a joint declaration at the government level, meaning either between the German Foreign Ministry and the US State Department or between the Chancellery and the Oval Office. There won't, however, be any kind of agreement that would require approval by the German parliament and US Congress.
  Whatever happens, experts in the field are questioning what the actual value of a no-spy agreement would be. "It would serve first and foremost to calm the waters with the general public," says Daniel-Erasmus Khan, a professor of international law at the Bundeswehr University in Munich. From a legal standpoint, Khan says, the situation is already clear: "It goes without saying that NSA employees must abide by German law while on German soil, even if they enjoy diplomatic status." And under German law, he explains, tapping Merkel's mobile phone would be illegal no matter who does it -- Germans, Americans or diplomats of any nationality.
  Tipping Off on Potential Surprises
  Meanwhile, just how much the NSA knows about internal German government matters remains unknown, even following Maassen and Schindler's visit to the US. There are "no known cases beyond those currently being reported in the media" of the NSA or any other intelligence agency spying on German ministries or other authorities, the German Interior Ministry stated in response to an official inquiry from German parliamentarian Jan Korte of the left-wing Left Party.
  The opposition in the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, calls this too little knowledge and too much ignorance. "Either the German government doesn't grasp the problem at all, or it considers this system of spying fundamentally proper and thus isn't taking action," Korte says, adding that he finds either state of affairs completely unacceptable. "We demand a comprehensive investigation," he adds.
  So far, the NSA has only admitted to those things that are already proven and publically known. In the conversations with Maassen and Schindler, no one tried to deny that surveillance had indeed been conducted on Merkel. Likewise, it seems the American intelligence agents have judged the copy of a databank entry that first launched the phone-tapping scandal to be authentic. In the course of its investigation, SPIEGEL shared that document with the Chancellery, and the Federal Prosecutor's Office has expressed an interest in it as well.
  One thing the German intelligence agency directors were offered while in the US was to be supplied with higher-quality information. The NSA has apparently figured out most of the data that Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor turned whistleblower, was able to copy before departing for Hong Kong in May. What's more, NSA Director Alexander has announced plans to put together a "Germany package" containing the material that Snowden is likely to release in the coming weeks.
  Were this to happen, it would amount to huge progress for Berlin. Instead of being perpetually caught off guard by fresh revelations, the German government would have all the information at once, delivered directly to the Chancellery.
Grid | Homeland Security News Wire
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 23:44
  Published 13 November 2013North American power companies will participate in a mock power emergency scenario today and tomorrow (13-14 November) to test their ability to respond to physical or cyberattacks that may lead to widespread power outages and long term blackouts. The exercise, known as GridEx II, is the second emergency response exercise conducted by North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) intended to task North American electric utility companies with reviewing their security and crisis response strategies.
  North American power companies will participate in a mock power emergency scenario today and tomorrow (13-14 November) to test their ability to respond to physical or cyber attacks that may lead to widespread power outages and long term blackouts. The test is conducted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), formerly known as the National Electric Reliability Council. The Georgia based nonprofit was formed by the electric utility industry to promote reliability of more than 1,900 power companies in North America.
  Member companies include investor-owned utility companies, federal power agencies, state and municipal utility resources, and independent power producers. ''These entities account for virtually all the electricity supplied in the United States, Canada and a portion of Baja California Norte, Mexico,'' according to the NERC's Web site.
  Foster's Daily Democratreports that the exercise, known as GridEx II, is the second emergency response exercise conducted by the NERC intended to task North American electric utility companies with reviewing their security and crisis response strategies. The exercise will educate participants on areas of the industry that needs improvement if a serious emergency was to occur and how government legislation impacts emergency preparedness. NERC conducted the first GridEx exercise in 2011.
  ''The exercise was designed to validate the readiness of the Electricity Subsector to respond to a cyber incident, strengthen utilities' crisis response functions, and provide input for internal security program improvements,'' according to the NERC's After Action Report on the 2011 test.
  Prior to initiating the first GridEx exercise, industry stakeholders led an eight-month planning process to engage participants to highlight cybersecurity issues the industry would face during a power grid emergency and to promote communication among participants in case such a power grid emergency should occur.
  Seventy-five participants from the United States and Canada, including entities from DHS), the FBI, and the Department of Energy (DOE) joined the first GridEx. That exercise was intended to model the DHS Cyber Storm Series, a biennial exercise series that aims to strengthen cyber preparedness in the public and private sectors. GridEx scenarios included ''physical intrusions into substations and backup control center infrastructures,'' and cyber attacks that could lead to corrupt control of data systems across North American power grids.
  Upon completion of the one-and-a-half day exercise, results were reviewed by an after action team and have since been addressed with the intentions of the power industry to improve their ability to respond to the tested scenarios. ''Entities possess effective cyber incident response plans, but updates to protocols and guidelines and additional training could enhance preparedness,'' according to one of the findings in the After Action Report. The report also stated that ''GridEx offered Electricity Subsector organizations a way to test their plans and skills in a real-time, realistic environment and to gain the in-depth knowledge that only experience can provide. The lessons learned from the exercise will provide valuable insights to guide planning for cyber emergencies.''
  The report recommended more communication and sharing of information among participants of GridEx. ''To address this issue, the NERC will be responsible for coordinating a task force dedicated to information sharing.'' The goal is to enable a secure and trusted relationship between key players for information sharing, according to the Daily Democrat.
  GridEx II, prompted by the success of GridEx, will incorporate lessons learned from the first exercise while testing the readiness of the bulk-power industry to respond to cybersecurity and physical security threats.
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VIDEO New Heart Health Guidelines Focus on Statins - YouTube
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VIDEO Not on cholesterol meds? New guidelines may change that - YouTube
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VIDEO- New statins guidelines put less emphasis on cholesterol - YouTube
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VIDEO- New treatment guidelines coming for high cholesterol - YouTube
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Zorgen IMF om Nederlandse economie | www.dagelijksestandaard.nl
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:58
  Werkloosheid.
  Het IMF ziet 'fragiele groei' in Nederland... en maakt zich zorgen om de oplopende werkloosheid:
  Nederland zal ook volgend jaar nauwelijks groei tonen. Het Internationaal Monetair Fonds (IMF) verwacht voor 2014 ''fragiele groei, een half procentje''. Dat zei IMF-bewindvoerder Menno Snel zondag in het televisieprogramma Buitenhof. De werkloosheid is volgens de bewindvoerder, die ook de belangen behartigt van 14 andere landen binnen en buiten de EU, echter zeer zorgelijk. ''7,5 procent is voor Nederland echt veel te hoog''. Het IMF adviseert Nederland dan ook te focussen op de bestrijding van de werkloosheid en het stimuleren van groei.
  Interessant is dat hij zich niet uitliet over de op handen zijnde bezuinigingen (lees: verzwaringen) van 6 miljard. Of het tekort 3,1% of 3,6% is maakt het IMF niet zoveel uit, het gaat erom dat het beleid van een land geloofwaardig is.
  En daar zit bij Nederland dus het probleem. De regering doet er te weinig aan om de werkloosheid te bestrijden en de groei te stimuleren. Sterker nog, Rutte II doet het tegenovergestelde: door alle lastenverzwaringen wordt groei tegengehouden en de werkloosheid opgedreven.
  Jammer genoeg zullen Rutte en co. deze opmerkingen natuurlijk gewoon naast zich neerleggen. Het draait allemaal immers maar om nivelleren. De rest zal ze zorg zijn.
VIDEO-EU to investigate German current account surplus - RT‰ News
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:57
  The European Commission has decided to prepare an in-depth analysis of Germany's persistently high current account surplus to find out if it is a sign of a serious imbalance in Europe's biggest economy.
  Germany has had a current account surplus in excess of 6% of its gross domestic product since 2007, meaning it exports far more than it imports from the rest of the world.
  In September the surplus reached '‚¬19.7 billion - more than 8% of last year's economic output - and was the biggest in the world, beating even China.
  This has prompted criticism from the US and the European Union that the German economy is relying too heavily on exports and that Berlin should pay more attention to raising domestic demand to put growth on a sounder footing.
  The EU will recommend steps to fix the problem if the review, due to be finished early next year, finds the surplus is harmful.
  "A high surplus does not necessarily mean that there is an imbalance," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a news conference.
  "We do need to examine this further and understand whether a high surplus in Germany is something affecting the functioning of the European economy as a whole," he said.
  Relying too heavily on exports can leave a country vulnerable to a global shock because domestic buyers would not be able to make up for the drop in demand. It also means that Germans are investing their savings abroad, making them vulnerable to events elsewhere and depriving their own economy of investment.
  But the surplus highlights Germany's success in staying competitive in the world economy so criticism is politically tricky, because EU policy-makers encourage euro zone countries to undertake painful reforms to become more competitive and run a current account surplus, rather than a deficit.
  Barroso noted that the surplus could indicate that Germany could do more to help rebalance the EU economy through raising German domestic demand and investment, and opening up the German services sector.
  The analysis falls under new European Union rules, in place from the end of 2011, that charge the 28-nation's executive arm with checking that countries do not develop dangerous economic imbalances which could become a problem if not addressed.
  A current account deficit larger than 4% of GDP or a persistently very large surplus above 6% are among the warning signs in the Commission's scoreboard of around 30 economic indicators.
  The in-depth review is likely to be finished in February or March next year. If it comes to the conclusion that the surplus is excessive and therefore damaging to Germany and Europe's economy, the Commission will recommend steps to fix the problem.
  If Germany were to ignore such recommendations, it could be a fined 0.1% of GDP.
  Germany argues it has more than halved its current account surplus with the euro zone as a share of gross domestic product since 2007.
  Meanwhile, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said that the euro zone trade surplus is pushing up the value of the euro, which is a problem for both exporters and the Irish economy as a whole.
  Mr Noonan told the Irish Exporters' Association there was action to deal with EU states running large deficits, but that there is currently no action in place to deal with states that are running large trade surpluses.
  Mr Noonan said that this issue needs to be addressed at European level.
KEI-OSI-ROCKEFELLER-ETC-Funding | Knowledge Ecology International
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:41
  KEI is a U.S. tax exempt organization, under 501(3)(c) of the IRS rules.
  In 2006 KEI received a MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions
  KEI receives contributions from individuals, by check, or through the web here.
  We are also supported by grants, including in recent years from the following charitable foundations:
  Ford FoundationGordon R Irlam Charitable FoundationThe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur FoundationOpen Society InstitutePerls FoundationRockefeller FoundationKEI has not received contributions from for-profit corporations.
KEI analysis of Wikileaks leak of TPP IPR text, from August 30, 2013 | Knowledge Ecology International
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:40
  KEI Comments on the August 30, 2013 version of the TPP IP Chapter
  For more information, contact James Love, mailto:james.love@keionline.org, mobile +1.202.361.3040.
  Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) has obtained from Wikileaks a complete copy of the consolidated negotiating text for the IP Chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). (Copy here, and on the Wikileaks site here: https://wikileaks.org/tpp/) The leaked text was distributed among the Chief Negotiators by the USTR after the 19th Round of Negotiations at Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, in August 27th, 2013.
  There have been two rounds since Brunei, and the latest version of the text, from October, will be discussed in Salt Lake City next week.
  The text released by Wikileaks is 95 pages long, with 296 footnotes and 941 brackets in the text, and includes details on the positions taken by individual countries.
  The document confirms fears that the negotiating parties are prepared to expand the reach of intellectual property rights, and shrink consumer rights and safeguards.
  Compared to existing multilateral agreements, the TPP IPR chapter proposes the granting of more patents, the creation of intellectual property rights on data, the extension of the terms of protection for patents and copyrights, expansions of right holder privileges, and increases in the penalties for infringement. The TPP text shrinks the space for exceptions in all types of intellectual property rights. Negotiated in secret, the proposed text is bad for access to knowledge, bad for access to medicine, and profoundly bad for innovation.
  The text reveals that the most anti-consumer and anti-freedom country in the negotiations is the United States, taking the most extreme and hard-line positions on most issues. But the text also reveals that several other countries in the negotiation are willing to compromise the public's rights, in a quest for a new trade deal with the United States.
  The United States and other countries have defended the secrecy of the negotiations in part on the grounds that the government negotiators receive all the advice they need from 700 corporate advisors cleared to see the text. The U.S. negotiators claim that the proposals need not be subject to public scrutiny because they are merely promoting U.S. legal traditions. Other governments claim that they will resist corporate right holder lobbying pressures. But the version released by Wikileaks reminds us why government officials supervised only by well-connected corporate advisors can't be trusted.
  An enduring mystery is the appalling acceptance of the secrecy by the working news media.
  With an agreement this complex, the decision to negotiate in secret has all sorts of risks. There is the risk that the negotiations will become hijacked by corporate insiders, but also the risk that negotiators will make unwitting mistakes. There is also the risk that opportunities to do something useful for the public will be overlooked or abandoned, because the parties are not hearing from the less well-connected members of the public.
  The U.S. proposals are sometimes more restrictive than U.S. laws, and when consistent, are designed to lock-in the most anti-consumer features. On top of everything else, the U.S. proposals would create new global legal norms that would allow foreign governments and private investors to bring legal actions and win huge damages, if TPP member countries does not embrace anti-consumer practices.
  General provisions, and dispute resolution
  The existing multilateral copyright and trade treaties, negotiated in the light of day, generally provide better balance between right holders and users. The WTO TRIPS Agreement is the only multilateral agreement with impressive enforcement mechanisms. The TRIPS agreement is defined not only by the specific provisions setting out rights and exceptions, but general provisions, such as Articles 1, 6, 7,8, 40 and 44, that provide a variety of safeguards and protections for users and the public interest. The US is proposing that the new TPP IPR provisions be implemented with few if any of the safeguards found in the TRIPS, or weaker versions of them.
  The dispute resolution provisions in the TPP permit both governments and private investors to bring actions and obtain monetary damages if arbitrators find that the implementation of the agreement is not favorable enough to right holders. This effectively gives right holders three bites at the apple -- one at the WTO and two at the TPP. They can lobby governments to advance their positions before a WTO panel, and/or, the separate dispute mechanisms available to governments and investors in the TPP. There are no opportunities for consumers to bring such disputes.
  The addition of the investor state dispute resolution provisions in the TPP greatly increases the risks that certain issues will be tested in the TPP, particularly when the TPP provisions are modified to be more favorable to right holders, or lack the moderating influence of the TRIPS type safeguards which the US is blocking in the TPP.
  Access to Medicines
  The trade agreement includes proposals for more than a dozen measures that would limit competition and raise prices in markets for drugs. These include (but are not limited to) provisions that would lower global standards for obtaining patents, make it easier to file patents in developing countries, extend the term of patents beyond 20 years, and create exclusive rights to rely upon test data as evidence that drugs are safe and effective. Most of these issues have brackets in the text, and one of the most contentious has yet to be tabled -- the term of the monopoly in the test data used to register biologic drugs. The United States is consistently backing the measures that will make drugs more expensive, and less accessible.
  Some of the issues are fairly obvious, such as those requiring the granting of more patents with longer effective terms, or monopolies in test data. Others are more technical or subtle in nature, such as the unbracketed wording of Article QQ.A.5, which is designed to narrow the application of a 2001 WTO Doha Agreement TRIPS and Public Health, and its obligations to provide for ''access to medicine for all.'' By changing the language, the TPP makes it seem as if the provision is primarily about ''HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, [US oppose: chagas] and other epidemics as well as circumstances of extreme urgency or national emergency,'' instead of all medicines and all diseases, including cancer.
  Patents on Surgical Methods
  An interesting example of how the US seeks to change national and global norms are the provisions in the TPP over patents on surgical methods. The WTO permits countries to exclude ''diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals.'' The US wants to flip this provision, so that ''may also exclude from patentability'' becomes ''shall make patents available.'' However, when a version of the IP Chapter was leaked in 2011, the US trade negotiators were criticized for ignoring the provisions in 28 USC 287 that eliminated remedies for infringement involving the ''medical activity'' of a ''medical practitioner.'' The exception in US law covered ''the performance of a medical or surgical procedure on a body.'' The US trade negotiators then proposed adding language that would permit an exception for surgery, but only ''if they cover a method of using a machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.'' The US proposal, crafted in consultation with the medical devices lobby, but secret from the general public, was similar, but different from the U.S. statute, which narrowed the exception in cases involving ''the use of a patented machine, manufacture, or composition of matter in violation of such patent.'' How different? As Public Citizen's Burcu Kilic puts it, under the US proposal in the TPP, the exception would only apply to ''surgical methods you can perform with your bare hands.''
  Why is the United States putting so much effort into narrowing if not eliminating the flexibility in the WTO agreement to provide exceptions for patents on ''diagnostic, therapeutic, and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals''? It did not hurt that AdvaMed, the trade association for the medical device manufacturers, hired Ralph F. Ives as Executive Vice President for Global Strategy & Analysis. Before becoming a lobbyist for the medical device industry, Ives was the head of pharmaceutical policy for USTR. And Ives is just one of an army of lobbyists (including former Senator Evan Bayh) representing the medical devices industry. ITAC3, the USTR advisory board for Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Health/Science Products And Services, includes not only Ralph Ives, but also representatives from Medronic, Abbott, Johnson and Johnson, DemeTech, North Coast Medical and Airmed Biotech -- all companies involved in the medical device business. All are considered ''cleared advisors'' to USTR and have access to the TPP text.
  Uncertainty over compulsory licenses on patents
  At present, exceptions to exclusive rights of patents may be implemented under a general exceptions clause (Article 30 of the TRIPS), a rules based system (Article 31), or under other provisions, including limitations to remedies, the first sale doctrine, or the control of anticompetitive practices. The option to use the TRIPS Article 31 mechanisms has been proposed by New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, Chile and Malaysia, but is not currently supported by the US, Japan or other countries. This presents significant uncertainty over the freedom to use compulsory licenses. If QQ.E5quater is not accepted, the rules based WTO approach will not be possible, and governments will have to satisfy a restrictive three step test, and run the risk of litigation under investor state dispute resolution provisions of the TPP.
  Article QQ.E.5quater: {Other Use Without Authorisation of the Right Holder}
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY propose: Nothing in this Chapter shall limit a Party's rights and obligations under Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement or any amendment thereto.]
  Copyright
  There is little reason for any language on copyright in the TPP. All of the TPP member countries are already members of the WTO, which has its own extensive obligations as regards copyright, including obligations to implement Articles 1 through 21 of the Berne Convention. The TRIPS has already expanded copyright coverage to software, and provides extensive protections to performers, producers of phonograms (sound recordings) and broadcasting organizations. Moreover, the United States and Australia have proposed that all TPP member countries ''ratify or accede'' to two 1996 treaties (the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty), as well as the 1974 Brussels Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite. Despite this, the TPP provides its own nuanced and often detailed lists of obligations. Collectively, the copyright provisions are designed to extend copyright terms beyond the life plus 50 years found in the Berne Convention, create new exclusive rights, and provide fairly specific instructions as to how copyright is to be managed in the digital environment.
  Copyright terms
  There are significant differences in the positions of the parties on the term of protection. Some countries are opposing any expansion of the term found in the Berne Convention, the TRIPS or the WCT, which is generally life plus 50 years, or 50 years for corporate owned works.
  For the TPP copyright terms, the basics are as follows. The US, Australia, Peru, Singapore and Chile propose a term of life plus 70 years for natural persons. For corporate owned works, the US proposes 95 years exclusive rights, while Australia, Peru, Singapore and Chile propose 70 years for corporate owned works. Mexico wants life plus 100 years for natural persons and 75 years for corporate owned works. For unpublished works, the US wants a term of 120 years.
  While the US negotiators are indeed promoting US legal norms, they are promoting norms that most experts and consumers see as a mistake, that should be corrected. There is no justification for 95 year copyright terms for corporations, or 70 years of protection after an author is dead, or 120 years for unpublished works.
  3-Step Test
  One set of technically complex but profoundly important provisions are those that define the overall space that governments have to create exceptions to exclusive rights. The Berne Convention established a system combining ''particular'' exceptions for the most common and important topics such as quotations, news of the day, public affairs, speeches, uses of musical compensations, and education, and a general purpose exception to the reproduction right that could be implemented in any other case not covered by the particular exception. Any exception not spelled out as a particular exception was subject to a very restrictive three step test. When the WTO incorporated the bulk of the Berne Convention articles, it retained this system, and added additional areas of flexibility, including very broad freedom to apply the first sale doctrine (Article 6 of the TRIPS), to control anti-competitive practices (Articles 8 and 40), and to implement a liability rule approach through Article 44.2 of the TRIPS.
  In recent years, the publisher lobby has sought to elevate the 3-step test to a high level filter to limit all copyright exceptions, including the so called ''particular'' Berne exceptions, as well as anything else that limits exclusive rights. In the TPP, the copyright lobby has succeeded in obtaining a formulation based in part upon the 1996 WIPO WCT treaty, which can be read to provide some recognition of the Berne particular exceptions, but (unlike the 2012 Beijing treaty) does not specifically reference the important agreed upon statements in the 1996 WCT, which support more robust exceptions.
  In its current form, the TPP space for exceptions is less robust than the space provided in the 2012 WIPO Beijing treaty or the 2013 WIPO Marrakesh treaty, and far worse than the TRIPS Agreement. While this involves complex legal issues, the policy ramifications are fairly straightforward. Should governments have a restrictive standard to judge the space available to fashion exceptions for education, quotations, public affairs, news of the day and the several other ''particular'' exceptions in the Berne Convention, and more generally, why would any government want to give up its general authority to consider fashioning new exceptions, or to control abuses by right holders?
  Formalities
  The TPP goes beyond the TRIPS agreement in terms of prohibiting the use of formalities for copyright. While the issue of formalities may seem like a settled issue, there is a fair amount of flexibility that will be eliminated by the TPP. At present, it is possible to have requirements for formalities for domestically owned works, and to impose formalities on many types of related rights, including those protected under the Rome Convention. In recent years, copyright policy makers and scholars have begun to reconsider the benefits of the registration of works and other formalities, particularly in light of the extended terms of copyright and the massive orphan works problems.
  In April 2013 a major workshop on this topic took place in Berkeley, titled: ''Reform(aliz)ing Copyright for the Internet Age?'' (http://www.law.berkeley.edu/formalities.htm), where the benefits and challenges of reintroducing formalities was discussed.
  On the issue of formalities, the TPP language is an unnecessary and unwelcome barrier to introducing reforms.
  TPM/DRM
  The copyright section also includes extensive language on technical protection measures, and in particular, the creation of a separate cause of action for breaking technical protection measures. The US wants this separate cause of action to extend even to cases where there is no copyrighted works, such as in cases of public domain materials, or data not protected by copyright. It is worth noting that the restrictions on breaking technical protection measures include several exceptions, including, for example:
  ''lawfully authorized activities carried out by government employees, agents, or contractors for the purpose of law enforcement, intelligence, essential security, or similar governmental purposes''
  In the United States the problem of TPMs and the complicated rulemaking process for exceptions and limitations to anticircumvention measures was part of a recent controversy when the Librarian of Congress refused to renew an exemption to allow the unlocking of cell-phones. After a petition by over 100,000 to the White House, the Obama Administration responded, agreeing that an exemption should exist to permit unlocking of cell-phones. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced a bill, co-sponsored with bipartisan support, called the "Unlocking Technology Act" which would make clear that there is no liability for circumvention of a TPM where circumvention is done to engage in a use that is not an infringement of copyright. Such a bill is potentially threatened by the aggressive proposals on TPMs in the TPP.
  The TPP provisions on technological protection measures and copyright and related rights management information are highly contentious and complex, and as a practical matter, impossible to evaluate without access to the negotiating text. Given the enormous public interest in this issue and other issues, it is very unfortunate that governments have insisted on secret negotiations.
  Damages
  One of the largest disappointments in the ACTA negotiations was the failure to sufficiently moderate the aggressive new norms for damages associated with infringements. The TPP negotiation has been far more secretive than the ACTA negotiation, and what is now clear is that as far as the issue damages is concerned, the TPP text is now much worse than the ACTA text. Particularly objectionable is the unbracketed Article QQ.H.4: 2ter, which reads as follows:
  2ter. In determining the amount of damages under paragraph 2, its judicial authorities shall have the authority to consider, inter alia, any legitimate measure of value the right holder submits, which may include lost profits, the value of the infringed goods or services measured by the market price, or the suggested retail price.
  Aside from the obvious overreaching of requiring consideration of "the suggested retail price," the US is ignoring all sorts of national laws for copyright, patents and trademarks, and TRIPS rules as regards layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits, that set different standards for damages in cases of infringements. The following are just a few examples:
  Under the Article 36 of TRIPS, damages for certain infringement are limited, by the WTO, to "a sum equivalent to a reasonable royalty such as would be payable under a freely negotiated licence in respect of such a layout-design."
  Under the Affordable Care Act, a company infringing on undisclosed patents for biologic drugs is only liable for a reasonable royalty, or no royalty, depending upon the nature of the disclosure.
  The US DOJ and the USPTO recently took the position that certain patents infringements related to standards setting activities, should be limited to a reasonable royalty.
  The US proposal in the TPP will also prevent the United States from using limitations on remedies for infringement as part of a larger effort to expand access to orphaned copyright works -- an approach that has been endorsed by the US Copyright Office, and by Senator Patrick Leahy.
  For several other examples, see: " Two areas where ACTA is inconsistent with US law, injunctions and damages, KEI Policy Brief, 2011:2, as well as: Access to Orphan Works, and ACTA provisions on damages KEI Policy Brief 2010: 1.
  Concluding comments
  Although there are some areas of agreed to text, the leaked text from August 30, 2013 also highlights the numerous areas where parties have yet to finalize the agreement. That there are over 900 brackets means that there is still plenty of opportunity for countries to take positions that will promote the public interest and preserve consumer rights. These areas include substantive sections of the most controversial provisions on patents, medicines, copyright and digital rights where there are often competing proposals. The publication of the text by Wikileaks has created a rare and valuable opportunity to have a public debate on the merits of the agreement, and actions to fix, change or stop the agreement.
Thanks to WikiLeaks, we see just how bad TPP trade deal is for regular people | Dan Gillmor | Comment is free | theguardian.com
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:11
  A protester demonstrates against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) in New York. It might be time to do the same against the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images
  Among the many betrayals of the Obama administration is its overall treatment of what many people refer to as "intellectual property" '' the idea that ideas themselves and digital goods and services are exactly like physical property, and that therefore the law should treat them the same way. This corporatist stance defies both reality and the American Constitution, which expressly called for creators to have rights for limited periods, the goal of which was to promote inventive progress and the arts.
  In the years 2007 and 2008, candidate Obama indicated that he'd take a more nuanced view than the absolutist one from Hollywood and other interests that work relentlessly for total control over this increasingly vital part of our economy and lives. But no clearer demonstration of the real White House view is offered than a just-leaked draft of an international treaty that would, as many had feared, create draconian new rights for corporate "owners" and mean vastly fewer rights for the rest of us.
  I'm talking about the appalling Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, a partial draft of which WikiLeaks has just released. This treaty has been negotiated in secret meetings dominated by governments and corporations. You and I have been systematically excluded, and once you learn what they're doing, you can see why.
  The outsiders who understand TPP best aren't surprised. That is, the draft "confirms fears that the negotiating parties are prepared to expand the reach of intellectual property rights, and shrink consumer rights and safeguards," writes James Love a longtime watcher of this process.
  Needless to say, copyright is a key part of this draft. And the negotiators would further stiffen copyright holders' control while upping the ante on civil and criminal penalties for infringers. The Electronic Frontier Foundation says TPP has "extensive negative ramifications for users' freedom of speech, right to privacy and due process, and hinder peoples' abilities to innovate". It's Hollywood's wish list.
  Canadian intellectual property expert Michael Geist examined the latest draft of the intellectual property chapter. He writes that the document, which includes various nations' proposals, shows the US government, in particular, taking a vastly different stance than the other nations. Geist notes:
  [Other nations have argued for] balance, promotion of the public domain, protection of public health, and measures to ensure that IP rights themselves do not become barriers to trade. The opposition to these objective[s] by the US and Japan (Australia has not taken a position) speaks volumes about their goals for the TPP.
  The medical industry has a stake in the outcome, too, with credible critics saying it would raise drug prices and, according to Love's analysis, give surgeons patent protection for their procedures.
  Congress has shown little appetite for restraining the overweening power of the corporate interests promoting this expansion. With few exceptions, lawmakers have repeatedly given copyright, patent and trademark interests more control over the years. So we shouldn't be too optimistic about the mini-flurry of Capitol Hill opposition to the treaty that emerged this week. It's based much more on Congress protecting its prerogatives '' worries about the treaty's so-called "fast track" authorities, giving the president power to act without congressional approval '' than on substantive objections to the document's contents.
  That said, some members of Congress have become more aware of the deeper issues. The public revolt against the odious "Stop Online Piracy Act" two years ago was a taste of what happens when people become more widely aware of what they can lose when governments and corporate interests collude.
  If they become aware '' that's the key. One of TPP's most odious elements has been the secrecy under which it's been negotiated. The Obama administration's fondness for secret laws, policies and methods has a lot to do with a basic reality: the public would say no to much of which is done in our names and with our money if we knew what was going on. As Senator Elizabeth Warren pointed out, in a letter to the White House:
  I have heard the argument that transparency would undermine the administration's policy to complete the trade agreement because public opposition would be significant. If transparency would lead to widespread public opposition to a trade agreement, then that trade agreement should not be the policy of the United States. I believe in transparency and democracy and I think the US Trade Representative should too.
  Thanks to WikiLeaks, we have at least partial transparency today. The more you know about the odious TPP, the less you'll like it '' and that's why the administration and its corporate allies don't want you to know.
Katherine Jacksons Appeal MJ Wrongful Death Verdict
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  Archived Version
  Source: Radar Online Radar Online
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:05
  Michael Jackson's mother has appealed the verdict of her $40 billion wrongful death lawsuit against AEG Live, RadarOnline.com has confirmed.
  Katherine Jackson filed new court documents in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning '-- read them here '-- in a bid to have the jury's decision overturned, having previously ruled the concert promoter was not responsible for the King of Pop's death in 2009 and was not wrong for hiring Dr. Conrad Murray to be the late singer's medical practitioner.
  It was previously revealed that the 83-year-old Jackson family matriarch was still hopeful after hearing comments made the jury following the conclusion of the five-month trial last month and her lawyer Brian Panish confirmed they were gathering information for an appeal.
  EXCLUSIVE DOCUMENTS: Read Katherine Jackson's Appeal
  He said: ''She isn't throwing in the towel. We can't give up until we gather all the information. Today is another chapter.''
  The jury decided on October 2 that AEG Live, the promoter of Michael's 'This Is It' comeback concerts, hired Murray, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in November 2011, but were not liable for the disgraced physician's actions that led to the 'Thriller' hitmaker's death in 2009 because he was neither ''unfit'' nor ''incompetent'' when they hired him.
  Michael's niece Tanay Jackson '' the daughter of Michael's brother Tito '' recently revealed that his children, Prince, 16, Paris, 15, and 11-year-old Blanket, would never forgive Murray, who was released from jail in October after serving less than two years of a four-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter.
  PHOTOS: Michael Jackson Through The Years
  She said: ''I think a murderer should get a longer sentence than that, I don't think it's fair. We really feel like there were more people involved in my uncle's death. But Conrad Murray is the physical culprit because he physically injected him.''
  She added: ''No, we haven't forgiven him. We can't forgive him at all.''
Kerry to Congress: 'Calm down' over Iran sanctions | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:04
  WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State John Kerry urged lawmakers to "calm down" Wednesday over proposed new sanctions on Iran, warning they could scuttle diplomatic efforts to rein in Tehran's nuclear drive.
  "The risk is that if Congress were to unilaterally move to raise sanctions, it could break faith with those negotiations and actually stop them and break them apart," Kerry said.
  Washington's top diplomat was speaking before beginning a closed-door meeting with senators, many of whom are skeptical of the White House's request for a freeze on new sanctions.
  The House of Representatives has already passed legislation that toughens already-strict sanctions on Iran, whose economy by all accounts is reeling from the punitive action.
  The Senate Banking Committee is mulling new sanctions too, and some key members of President Barack Obama's own Democratic Party back a tougher stance despite the diplomatic opening.
  "What we're asking everybody to do is calm down, look hard at what can be achieved and what the realities are," Kerry told reporters.
  "Let's give them a few weeks, see if it works," he said, adding that there was "unity" among the six powers -- UN Security Council permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany -- negotiating with the Islamic republic.
  "If this doesn't work, we reserve the right to dial back up the sanctions."
  In that event Kerry said he would return to Capitol Hill "asking for increased sanctions. And we always reserve the military option."
  Washington and Western allies allege Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran denies.
  Obama has vowed he will not allow Tehran to develop an atomic weapon. But last week's Geneva negotiations between Iran and six world powers failed to reach an interim deal to halt its program.
  Kerry faces tough questions from Senate Republicans and Democrats who bristled when the White House warned Tuesday that toughening sanctions could trigger a "march to war."
  The administration's remarks marked a significant hardening of Obama's stance towards Congress on sanctions as Washington prepares to resume talks with Iran on November 20.
  As he entered the meeting, Kerry addressed criticism that negotiations failed in Geneva, saying Iran would have jumped at the interim deal if it was to their benefit.
  "We have a pause because it's a tough proposal, and people need to think about it, obviously," Kerry said.
''Standard Operating Procedure 303,'' Internet Kill Switch FOIA
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 22:01
  DHS cyber security analysts / AP
  BY:CJ CiaramellaNovember 13, 2013 1:43 pm
  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) must disclose its plans for a so-called Internet ''kill switch,'' a federal court ruled on Tuesday.
  The United States District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the agency's arguments that its protocols surrounding an Internet kill switch were exempt from public disclosure and ordered the agency to release the records in 30 days. However, the court left the door open for the agency to appeal the ruling.
  The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is seeking ''Standard Operating Procedure 303,'' also known as the ''Internet kill switch'' from Homeland Security. The protocols govern shutting down wireless networks to prevent the remote detonation of bombs.
  The broad government power to shut down communications networks worries civil libertarians. However, the agency argues the protocols must be kept secret to protect national interests and the safety of individuals.
  EPIC filed a FOIA request for the protocols in July 2012. The Department of Homeland Security originally said it could not find any records on the kill switch.
  After EPIC appealed, the agency located the protocol, but redacted nearly all of the information. The agency cited exemptions that allow the withholding of information that could ''disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions'' or ''could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.''
  The court said Homeland Security wrongly claimed that it could withhold Standard Operating Procedure 303 as a ''technique for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions.''
  The court also found that interpreting a safety exemption to ''encompass possible harm to anyone anywhere in the United States within the blast radius of a hypothetical unexploded bomb also flies in the face of repeated Supreme Court direction to read FOIA exemptions narrowly.''
  While the court rejected the agency's broad interpretation of FOIA exemptions, it left the door open for further appeals by Homeland Security. The agency has 30 days to release the protocols to EPIC, but the court issued a 30-day additional stay on its opinion to allow the agency time to appeal.
Amazon Web Services Blog: Amazon WorkSpaces - Desktop Computing in the Cloud
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 21:44
  Once upon a time, enterprises had a straightforward way to give each employee access to a desktop computer. New employees would join the organization and receive a standard-issue desktop, preconfigured with a common set of tools and applications. This one-size-fits all model was acceptable in the early days of personal computing, but not anymore.
  Enterprise IT has been engaged in a balancing act in order to meet the needs of a diverse and enlightened user base. They must protect proprietary corporate data while giving employees the ability to work whenever and wherever they want, while using the desktop or mobile device of their choice.
  Our new Amazon WorkSpaces product gives Enterprise IT the power to meet this challenge head-on. You, the IT professional, can now provision a desktop computing experience in the cloud for your users. Your users can access the applications, documents, and intranet resources that they need to get their job done, all from the comfort of their desktop computer, laptop, iPad, or Android tablet.
  Let's take a look at the WorkSpaces feature set and use cases. We'll also take a look at it from the viewpoint of an IT professional, and then we'll switch roles and see what it looks like from the user's point of view.
  WorkSpaces Feature SetAmazon WorkSpaces provides, as I have already mentioned, a desktop computing experience in the cloud. It is easy to provision and maintain, and can be accessed from a wide variety of client devices.
  Each WorkSpaces user can install the client application on the device of their choice. After a quick download, they have access to a complete Windows 7 experience in the cloud, with persistent storage, bundled utilities and productivity applications, and access to files and other resources on the corporate intranet.
  The IT professional chooses to supply each user with a given WorkSpaces Bundle. There are four standard bundles. Here are the hardware specifications for each one:
  Standard - 1 vCPU, 3.75 GiB of memory, and 50 GB of persistent user storage.Standard Plus - 1 vCPU, 3.75 GiB of memory, and 50 GB of persistent user storage.Performance - 2 vCPU, 7.5 GiB of memory, and 100 GB of persistent user storage.Performance Plus - 2 vCPU, 7.5 GiB of memory, and 100 GB of persistent user storage.All of the bundles include Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash, Firefox, Internet Explorer 9, 7-Zip, the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), and other utilities. The Standard and Performance Plus bundles also include Microsoft Office Professional and Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security Services. The bundles can be augmented and customized by the IT professional in order to meet the needs of specific users.
  Each user has access to between 50 and 100 GB of persistent AWS storage from their WorkSpace (the precise amount depends on the bundle that was chosen for the user). The persistent storage is backed up to Amazon S3 on a regular basis, where it is stored with 99.99999999% durability and 99.99% availability over the course of a year.
  Pricing is on a per-user, per-month basis, as follows:
  Standard - $35 / user / month.Standard Plus - $50 / user / month.Performance - $60 / month.Performance Plus - $75 / user / month.WorkSpaces Use CasesI believe that you will find many ways to put WorkSpaces to use within your organization after you have spent a little bit of time experimenting with it. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
  Mobile Workers - Allow users to access their desktops from iPads, Kindles, and Android tablets so that they can be productive while connected and on-the-go.
  Secure WorkSpaces - You can meet stringent compliance requirements and still deliver a managed desktop experience to your users.
  Students, Seasonal, and Temporary Workers - Provision WorkSpaces on an as-needed basis so that students, seasonal workers, temporary workers, and consultants can access the applications that they need, then simply terminate the WorkSpace when they leave.
  Developers - Provide local and remote developers with the tools that they need to have in order to be productive, while ensuring that source code and other intellectual property are protected.
  WorkSpaces for the IT ProfessionalLet's take a look at Amazon WorkSpaces through the eyes of an IT professional tasked with providing cloud desktops to some new employees. All of the necessary tasks can be performed from the WorkSpaces Console:
  Start by choosing a WorkSpaces profile:
  Add new users by name and email address:
  You can provision up to five WorkSpaces at a time. They will be provisioned in less than 20 minutes and invitations will be sent to each user via email.
  As the administrator, you can manage all of your organization's WorkSpaces through the console:
  WorkSpaces for the UserOk, now let's turn the tables and take a look at Amazon WorkSpaces from the user's point of view!
  Let's say that your administrator has gone through the steps that I outlined above and that a new WorkSpace has been provisioned for you. You will receive an email message like this:
  The email will provide you with a registration code and a link to the client download. Download the client to your device, enter the registration code, and start using your WorkSpace:
  WorkSpaces delivers a Windows 7 desktop experience:
  Persistent storage for the WorkSpace is mapped to the D: drive:
  WorkSpaces can also be accessed from iPads, Kindles, and Android tablets. Here's the desktop experience on the Kindle:
  Behind the ScenesIf you already know a thing or two about AWS, you may be wondering what happens when you start to use Amazon WorkSpaces.
  A Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is created as part of the setup process. The VPC can be connected to an on-premises network using a secure VPN connection to allow access to an existing Active Directory and other intranet resources.
  WorkSpaces run on Amazon EC2 instances hosted within the VPC. Communication between EC2 and the client is managed by the PCoIP (PC-over-IP) protocol. The client connection must allow TCP and UDP connections on port 4172, along with TCP connections on port 443.
  Persistent storage is backed up to Amazon S3 on a regular and frequent basis.
  Preview WorkSpacesYou can register now in order to get access to the WorkSpaces preview as soon as it is available.
  -- Jeff;
The National Memo >> If CBS Wants Its Reputation Back, A Better Explanation Is In Order
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 21:42
  The comic figure of the braggart soldier first appears in Plautus's play Miles Gloriosus in roughly 200 BC, although the Roman dramatist acknowledged a now-lost Greek model. So it's surprising that somebody who's spent as much time in war zones as 60 Minutes' Lara Logan failed to recognize the type: a swaggering, self-anointed hero describing military feats nobody witnessed but him.
  Bars near military bases around the world harbor fakers like Dylan Davies, aka ''Morgan Jones,'' as 60 Minutes called him, although they do have to be careful who they lie to. It's mainly a tactic for fooling gullible women. I used to know a fellow whose girlfriend forgave his drunken blackouts because of his terrible experiences in Vietnam'--a war that ended when he was nine.
  That said, Lara Logan's apparent naivet(C) is far from the most objectionable thing about CBS's ill-fated attempt to pander to the far right's odd obsession with the Benghazi tragedy. See, 60 Minutes' October 27 episode supposedly falsifying the Obama administration's version of what happened that terrible night in Libya wasn't so much TV journalism as an infomercial for a book in which CBS had a financial stake'--a manifest conflict of interest 60 Minutes neglected to mention until MediaMatters.org called its hand.
  Exactly how generous an advance Simon & Schuster's ''Threshold Editions'' bestowed upon Davies for his heroic tale about singlehandedly fighting his way into the besieged U.S. compound where Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three fellow Americans were killed by a terrorist mob hasn't been revealed. Presumably enough, however, to give the one-time British mercenary ample reason to concoct a narrative pleasing to its readers' expectations.
  Having previously published books by such innovators in the art of storytelling as Glenn Beck, Mark Levin and Jerome Corsi, Threshold editors would appear to be less than rigorous about fact-checking. So excuse me for saying so, but that makes Davies virtually a paid source, and 60 Minutes a practitioner of checkbook journalism that could ruin its well-deserved reputation.
  Nothing about the way CBS handled the ensuing controversy gave confidence. After boasting that its report raising ''lingering questions'' about Benghazi was the result of a year's reporting and over 100 interviews, the network stonewalled as obvious flaws in its reporting began to appear.
  Within three days of the 60 Minutes broadcast, the Washington Post's Karen DeYoung learned that Davies had submitted a written incident report to Blue Mountain, his British-owned employers'--a version in which nothing he told Lara Logan he'd seen and done at the U.S. compound that night could possibly be true, because he'd never actually gone there.
TPP Analysis Citizen.org
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 21:35
  Nov. 13, 2013
  Leaked Documents Reveal Obama Administration Push for Internet Freedom Limits, Terms That Raise Drug Prices in Closed-Door Trade Talks
  U.S. Demands in Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement Text, Published Today by WikiLeaks, Contradict Obama Policy and Public Opinion at Home and Abroad
  WASHINGTON, D.C. '' Secret documents published today by WikiLeaks and analyzed by Public Citizen reveal that the Obama administration is demanding terms that would limit Internet freedom and access to lifesaving medicines throughout the Asia-Pacific region and bind Americans to the same bad rules, belying the administration's stated commitments to reduce health care costs and advance free expression online, Public Citizen said today.
  WikiLeaks published the complete draft of the Intellectual Property chapter for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed international commercial pact between the United States and 11 Asian and Latin American countries. Although talks started in 2008, this is the first access the public and press have had to this text. The text identifies which countries support which terms. The administration has refused to make draft TPP text public, despite announcing intentions to sign the deal by year's end. Signatory nations' laws would be required to conform to TPP terms.
  The leak shows the United States seeking to impose the most extreme demands of Big Pharma and Hollywood, Public Citizen said, despite the express and frequently universal opposition of U.S. trade partners. Concerns raised by TPP negotiating partners and many civic groups worldwide regarding TPP undermining access to affordable medicines, the Internet and even textbooks have resulted in a deadlock over the TPP Intellectual Property Chapter, leading to an impasse in the TPP talks, Public Citizen said.
  ''The Obama administration's proposals are the worst '' the most damaging for health '' we have seen in a U.S. trade agreement to date. The Obama administration has backtracked from even the modest health considerations adopted under the Bush administration,'' said Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizen's global access to medicines program. ''The Obama administration's shameful bullying on behalf of the giant drug companies would lead to preventable suffering and death in Asia-Pacific countries. And soon the administration is expected to propose additional TPP terms that would lock Americans into high prices for cancer drugs for years to come.''
  Previously, some elements of U.S. proposals for the Intellectual Property Chapter of the TPP had been leaked in 2011 and 2012. This leak is the first of a complete chapter revealing all countries' positions. There are more than 100 unresolved issues in the TPP Intellectual Property chapter. Even the wording of many footnotes is in dispute; one footnote negotiators agree on suggests they keep working out their differences over the wording of the other footnotes. The other 28 draft TPP chapters remain shrouded in secrecy.
  Last week, the AARP and major consumer groups wrote to the Obama administration to express their ''deep concern'' that U.S. proposals for the TPP would ''limit the ability of states and the federal government to moderate escalating prescription drug, biologic drug and medical device costs in public programs,'' and contradict cost-cutting plans for biotech medicines in the White House budget.
  Other U.S.-demanded measures for the TPP would empower the tobacco giants to sue governments before foreign tribunals to demand taxpayer compensation for their health regulations and have been widely criticized. ''This supposed trade negotiation has devolved into a secretive rulemaking against public health, on behalf of Big Pharma and Big Tobacco,'' said Maybarduk.
  ''It is clear from the text obtained by WikiLeaks that the U.S. government is isolated and has lost this debate,'' Maybarduk said. ''Our partners don't want to trade away their people's health. Americans don't want these measures either. Nevertheless, the Obama administration '' on behalf of Big Pharma and big movie studios '' now is trying to accomplish through pressure what it could not through persuasion.''
  ''The WikiLeaks text also features Hollywood and recording industry-inspired proposals '' think about the SOPA debacle '' to limit Internet freedom and access to educational materials, to force Internet providers to act as copyright enforcers and to cut off people's Internet access,'' said Burcu Kilic, an intellectual property lawyer with Public Citizen. ''These proposals are deeply unpopular worldwide and have led to a negotiation stalemate.''
  ''Given how much text remains disputed, the negotiation will be very difficult to conclude,'' said Maybarduk. ''Much more forward-looking proposals have been advanced by the other parties, but unless the U.S drops its out-there-alone demands, there may be no deal at all.''
  ''We understand that the only consideration the Obama administration plans to propose for access to affordable generic medicines is a very weak form of differential treatment for developing countries,'' said Maybarduk.
  The text obtained by WikiLeaks is available at wikileaks.org/tpp. Analysis of the leaked text is available at www.citizen.org/access.
  More information about the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations is available at www.citizen.org/tpp.
  ###
Bundle Up: Global cooling on the way? | The Daily Caller
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 21:29
  The consensus may be moving away from global warming and towards global cooling: Scientists have been looking at different lines of evidence suggesting that the globe is in the midst of a slight cooling trend for at least the last decade or so.
  Whether it's decreasing sunspots or natural climate variations, some scientists are revisiting older theories from the 1960s and 1970s that the Earth is actually cooling off '-- bucking the mainstream consensus that the burning of fossil fuels is warming the planet.
  Here comes the sun
  One line of evidence scientists look at for clues into global cooling is sunspot activity. Low sunspot activity has historically been linked with colder periods in human history such as the period known as the ''Little Ice Age'' during the 1600s. Higher levels of sunspot activity have been linked to warmer periods like the one from the 1970s to the late 1990s.
  Solar activity is now falling faster than any other period in the last 10,000 years, and some researchers have suggested that the planet could cool off in the coming decades.
  ''By looking back at certain isotopes in ice cores, [Professor Mike Lockwood of Reading University] has been able to determine how active the sun has been over thousands of years,'' the BBC reports. ''Following analysis of the data, Professor Lockwood believes solar activity is now falling more rapidly than at any time in the last 10,000 years.''
  ''When we have had periods where the sun has been quieter than usual we tend to get these much harsher winters,'' Sunderland University climate scientist Dennis Wheeler told the Daily Express.
  This is not necessarily a new discovery, as scientists have been pointing to rapidly falling solar activity for some time now. Last year, Russian scientists said that the world could soon plunge into another Little Ice Age.
  ''After the maximum of solar cycle 24, from approximately 2014 we can expect the start of deep cooling with a Little Ice Age in 2055,'' wrote Habibullo Abdussamatov of the Russian Academy of Science.
  The U.K.'s Lockwood also told the BBC that falling sunspot activity raises the risk of entering a new Little Ice Age ''from less than 10 percent just a few years ago to 25-30 percent.''
  ''So the warming we saw, which lasted only from 1978 to 1998, is something that is predictable and expectable,'' said Don Easterbrook, professor emeritus of geology at Western Washington University. ''When the ocean changed temperatures, global cooling is almost a slam dunk. You can expect to find about 25 to 30 years yet ahead of us before it starts to warm up again. It might even be more than that.''
  The United Nation's climate bureaucracy, however, downplayed the role of solar activity in influencing the Earth's climate. A recent study from U.K. scientists found that ''neither changes in the activity of the Sun, nor its impact in blocking cosmic rays, can be a significant contributor to global warming.''
About Stop Hillary PAC | Stop Hillary PAC | StopHillaryPAC.org
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 21:25
  About Stop Hillary PAC
  Stop Hillary PAC was created for one reason only '' to ensure Hillary Clinton never becomes President of the United States.
  The American way of life is under attack and Hillary Clinton is the liberal standard-bearer of the next generation of liberal creep on our Constitutional rights. We are committed to saving America from this destructive far-left, liberal cancer that's trying to transform America.
  Hillary Clinton is one of the most powerful '' and liberal '' politicians today. Hillary has staked out the liberal position and has led the charge to transform America from her early days in Arkansas.
  Today there is not a more powerful, well connected politician in America who threatens to do real harm to the American way of life than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Take a quick look at her record on many important issues.
  >>>Hillary voted for and supports huge budget deficits and that is bankrupting our country.>>>Hillary supports Bill Clinton's gun ban legislation, banning assault weapons and creating a national gun registry.>>>Hillary supports amnesty for illegal immigrants>>>Hillary is at the center of the Benghazi disaster, the first killing of a US Ambassador in over 30 years '' yet uttered the infamous words'... ''what difference does it make.''>>>Hillary's career has been marked with scandals, from Whitewater to Benghazi.>>>Hillary has supported higher taxes on virtually every segment of society justifying them by saying, ''We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.''>>>Hillary supports forcing workers to join unions as a condition of their employment.>>>Hillary supports late term and taxpayer funded abortions.We could go on and on and on'... the bottom line is America can't survive more Obama-era radical liberal policies implemented by a Bill and Hillary Clinton team back in the White House.
  Let's stop Hillary Clinton now, together, before it's too late. Because in 2016, it will be too late.
  Click here to support Stop Hillary PAC today!
  Click here to learn about the Stop Hillary PAC leadership team.
How We Gave Up Control Over The Social Web | On Web Strategy | Dion Hinchcliffe
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 21:22
  A short but pithy piece over the weekend by Dave Winer titled ''Why the Web 2.0 model is obsolete'' got me thinking about where we've ended up with social media after nearly ten years. Blogs, wikis, and other tools of easily shared self-expression from the early days have given away in recent years to a much less diverse social media monoculture. A few large social networks now control our social identity, content, and behavior, and through their terms of service, often literally own our online existence legally and de facto.
  This evolution was perhaps inevitable given the rules through which networks operate and certainly the result has its strengths. It's far easier for consumers and businesses to adopt a hosted service than set up their own social presence, with all the complicated bits it requires to set up a fully functional social identity on your own these days. It's also probably more secure, safe, and reliable long term. It's certainly the shortest route to connecting with the vast captive audiences that the leading social networks now wield.
  Yet in the process of making many short term decisions in the name of reach and convenience, many of us have given away our social capital, and along with it much of our online autonomy and freedom. I've long since stopped advising companies to drive their traffic to Facebook (disclaimer: I am a shareholder) and build their own online communities and digital ecosystems if they are intending to be strategic about things like social business and open APIs.
  The impressive thing is that we've largely achieved the original vision of Web 2.0 and it's just how we do things now. We share by default. We use social media more than any other digital activity. Social media is now woven into so much of what we do today. Yet the majority of all of this user generated content and online community is now centralized in a few large social silos that can no longer talk to each other.
  Even worse, if we go the opposite direction that might seem better long term, we've discovered issues with that model too. For example, we've learned that when we create many smaller, self-controlled, and more autonomous social environments we then create fragmentation. We can't easily communicate or collaborate with each other across these social islands. Thus, for as many downsides as the monolithic social networks have, they do achieve one important thing: They create a very large single social universe that we can all communicate across.
  So what should we collectively do? Should we cave in and trust that the corporate owners of the social world will be benevolent, even when they clearly have business models that are very often at cross purposes to our needs and desires? Or should we find a way to solve the problem of creating our own social corners on the Web and then connecting them together, all while making it very easy to do so? Personally, I'm hoping it's the latter. Certainly I've explored previously how open social standards have a genuine shot at helping with this, even if it might be a bit of a long shot.
  The reality is that social media silos are now holding us back, both as individuals and as businesses. We can do much better if we want. But getting there requires a little long-term discipline and plenty of widespread demand. That makes it pretty unlikely in the face of the enormously strong network effects of the largest social networks today. But perhaps there's a third option to regaining control over our social lives. In fact, I predict the next big breakthrough in social media is likely to come from the need to resolve this tension between the unfortunate long term consequences of centralized social media and the benefits of a much more federated and user controlled model. Unfortunately, recent history has been a steady march towards the former.
  So until then, we all need to mull over where our collective decisions are taking us, for as social media is perhaps the greatest communication revolution in history, its intrinsic power cuts both ways.
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38 sue swine flu drug firm over complaints of rare sleep disorder | The Top Information Post
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 21:12
  Britain's biggest pharmaceutical firm is being sued by 38 people '' including 19 children '' who developed the rare sleep disorder narcolepsy after taking the swine flu vaccine.
  Scientists from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) found evidence of a link between GlaxoSmithKline's Pandemrix jab and narcolepsy cases in children earlier this year.
  The vaccine was given to around 6m people in the UK in 2009-11. The HPA estimated that the vaccine could have caused narcolepsy in around one in every 55,000 cases in a study of four to 18-year-olds.
  Law firm Hodge Jones & Allen said that compensation could be up to or possibly exceeding £1m for each case.
  The firm said that GlaxoSmithKline have now invoked a Government indemnity agreed with the Department of Health in 2007, requiring compensation claims to be paid by the Government.
  GlaxoSmithKline said that governments had agreed to share costs during vaccination programmes against the H1N1 pandemic flu which were ''unprecedented in their scale and speed''
  ''Throughout development of our H1N1 flu vaccines there was no data suggesting a potential for an increased risk of narcolepsy among those vaccinated. We take the safety of patients who entrust their health in our medicines very seriously,'' a spokesperson for the company said.
  Hodge Jones & Allen said that around 800 children and young adults across Europe are thought to be affected by narcolepsy following vaccination.
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VIDEO- @WZ - YouTube
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 21:03
What Is the Value of Stolen Art? - NYTimes.com
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 20:59
  Making money from stolen paintings '-- particularly famous ones '-- is not a straightforward matter, and those who try to do so fall broadly into two categories. The first, most common type is the na¯f, who steals a painting but has laid few plans beyond the theft itself. He soon discovers that the painting's notoriety has rendered it toxic, and he can't sell it. The work of art becomes burdensome and worthless '-- to him at least. A more sophisticated criminal, on the other hand, recognizes that a pilfered masterpiece is a unique commodity and that in order to profit from it, he needs to think more like a derivatives trader than a pickpocket.
  Billions of dollars' worth of art goes missing every year, according to the F.B.I., but thefts of high-profile paintings are both infrequent and widely reported. While an open-market sale of works taken in such circumstances is impossible, there continues to be demand for the product, because the rightful owner '-- a collector, a museum, an insurer '-- wants the art back. That desire, however nebulous, is what is truly being traded when noteworthy artworks are exchanged on the black market. As long as there is a belief among criminals in the enduring willingness of parties from the legitimate art world to retrieve their property, a stolen painting has currency.
  When a couple of men wearing hoods broke into the Kunsthal museum in Rotterdam at 3:22 a.m. on Oct. 16 last year and stole two drawings by Monet and one painting each by Gauguin, Picasso, Matisse, Lucian Freud and Jacob Meyer de Haan, it wasn't immediately obvious which camp they fell into. There was something businesslike about the burglary itself, which took about two minutes and prompted experienced detectives to suspect an expert crew was responsible. A little more than a year after the heist, however '-- with the principals having confessed their guilt and the artworks most likely destroyed '-- we know for sure: They were knuckleheads.
  In early October 2012, Radu Dogaru and Eugen Darie, two Romanians from an eastern county called Tulcea were living in the Netherlands. Along with several of their countrymen, according to a criminal indictment, they pursued a variety of hustles, including prostitution and selling stolen watches. One day, Dogaru, the supposed ringleader of this group, unaccountably decided he wanted ''great, old art objects'' to sell on the black market and resolved to burglarize a museum.
  Top to Bottom: ''Reading Girl in White and Yellow,'' Matisse; ''Woman With Eyes Closed,'' Lucian Freud; ''Head of a Harlequin,'' Picasso.
  The Rotterdam Police, via Associated Press
  Dogaru and Darie began scouting their options with a stroll through Rotterdam's museum district. As Darie would reveal when interviewed by Romanian police, the first target they considered was the Natural History Museum, but the place was full of dead animals, and they didn't see a way to make a profit on such items. (In fact, the Natural History Museum was robbed the previous year of its rhino horns '-- a commodity whose black-market price in the Far East can run to around $2,000 per ounce, more than the cost of gold or cocaine.)
  The Romanians' attention turned to the Kunsthal next door '-- a modern, glass-fronted gallery, where a blockbuster exhibition entitled ''Avant-Gardes'' was about to open. The show comprised some 250 works borrowed from the Triton Collection, belonging to the Cordias, a wealthy Dutch shipping family, and included paintings by Van Gogh and Bonnard, among others. The Romanians didn't know much about art, but they knew that works by famous artists sold for millions.
  They made several visits to the Kunsthal over the next few days. Dogaru jogged through the park behind the museum a few times to check its security, and on one occasion, the men visited the Kunsthal along with Darie's girlfriend, posing as art lovers. (The indictment states that on these visits, they placed their hands in the pockets of their sweatpants, to appear nonchalant.) The group sought out paintings on the basis of two criteria: each item had to be by a well-known artist and small enough to fit inside a knapsack.
  By Oct. 12, according to Darie, the thieves were ready, but they delayed their break-in until there was an overcast night. In the early hours of Oct. 16, prosecutors say, Dogaru and a man named Adrian Procop entered the museum through an emergency door on the park side of the building.
  The painting ''Waterloo Bridge, London,'' by Claude Monet, was one of several paintings stolen on Oct. 16, 2012, in Rotterdam.
  The Rotterdam Police, via Associated Press
  They encountered little resistance. They used pliers to open the door, which was evidently weak. The stolen works were all displayed on the ground floor, not far from the exit, and were fixed to the walls with easily broken wires. None of the works were individually connected to an alarm system, the museum employed no night guards on site and the closed-circuit TV did not cover the northern exterior where the thieves broke in. The police, responding to an alarm that went off after the men entered the building, arrived several minutes too late.
  Not since 2003, when an Austrian named Robert Mang stole Benvenuto Cellini's ''Salt Cellar'' '-- a small sculpture that a Sotheby's auctioneer estimated would be worth between $60 million and ''nine figures'' '-- from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, have works of such importance been stolen with such ease. (Mang, a security-alarm specialist with no criminal record, noticed scaffolding around the museum, climbed up, broke a window and escaped with the ''Salt Cellar'' in less than a minute. He then hid it under his bed for two years and was arrested after a failed attempt to ransom it.)
  As Fred Leeman, a Dutch curator who has worked with the Triton Collection, told me, ''It struck me as shoplifting, rather than robbing a museum.''
  Indeed, at a court hearing last month in which Dogaru, Darie and a third man named Mihai-Alexandru Bitu all pleaded guilty, Dogaru's lawyer told reporters that his client was considering suing the gallery for its ''negligence'' in allowing itself to be breached so easily.
  Eugen Darie pleaded guilty to stealing paintings from a Dutch museum.
  Bogdan Cristel / Reuters
  Certainly the thieves' problems started in earnest only after they left the Kunsthal. According to the Romanian indictment, Dogaru decided the framed canvases were too heavy to carry to their designated meeting point. He called Darie and Bitu, who were waiting nearby with the getaway car, to make other arrangements. Then they lost phone reception. For half an hour, Dogaru and Procop wandered the museum district of Rotterdam on foot, with the stolen paintings in their bags, before finding their friends and hiding the art in the back of a small Peugot.
  It was only when they had the stolen paintings in their possession that they considered the knotty question of what the works might sell for and, more important, who might buy them.
  The morning after the break-in, the thieves were not the only ones trying to guess the value of the stolen art. When the news broke, journalists made several eye-catching estimations as to what the art was ''worth'' '-- by which, in general, they meant the open-market potential of the stolen work, rather than its new black-market value. (The Independent produced a stratospheric number: 250 million English pounds, or about $400 million.)
  Most experts made cooler appraisals of what the works could raise at auction. The Monets were not paintings but pastels, which might sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Picasso's ''Head of a Harlequin'' was a late-period ''pen and brush,'' not an oil painting, unlikely to command more than $2 million. Neither the Gauguin nor the Matisse was from each painter's most notable period, and Meyer de Haan is a lesser figure. Lucian Freud's ''Woman With Eyes Closed'' was the gem of the lot: a haunting work with an unpredictable auction value. Over all, however, the consensus was that the paintings might have raised between $10 million and $15 million in sales.
  Radu Dogaru, one of the suspects. His mother, Olga Dogaru, claimed to have burned the paintings and later recanted.
  Bogdan Cristel / Reuters
  The initial lofty estimations in the media seemed harmless, but some art-recovery specialists thought them irresponsible. There is a black market for stolen artworks, and according to the head of the F.B.I.'s art-crime team, Bonnie Magness-Gardiner, their prices are inevitably a small fraction of the works' legitimate value. Some estimates put the average at 7 to 10 percent of perceived open-market value. Criminals, presumably, read newspapers '-- and newspapers had drastically inflated the value of the Kunsthal's missing works.
  When Dogaru and his partners tried to sell them, though, they did not appear to have employed such rigorous math. Over the next few weeks, their prices ranged from tens of millions of euros for a single painting, when they were feeling optimistic, to 100,000 euros (or $134,000) apiece, as they became more desperate.
  According to the indictment, Darie and Dogaru traveled to Brussels on Oct. 16, after the heist, to see a man known as George the Thief. They asked if he knew anybody who might be interested in some stolen paintings. After returning to Rotterdam the same day, they realized that their burglary had provoked a media frenzy and decided to travel separately to Romania. The canvases, stuffed in pillow cases, were driven by Darie.
  In the ensuing months, Dogaru tried to sell at least some of the works in Romania. He did not cut a sophisticated figure: he carried the art in plastic bags and at one point showed that he was unable to spell the names of the artists. According to the indictment, Dogaru and Darie also tried to find buyers in France, Belgium, Monaco, Belarus and Russia '-- often through George the Thief. None of these attempts were successful. In November, however, the burglars' advances to an art dealer in Bucharest resulted in two of the works being independently verified by Mariana Dragu, an expert from the Romanian National Art Museum. After Dragu recognized that the paintings were genuine, and therefore likely to have been stolen, she contacted the authorities, which prompted a police investigation of Dogaru and his accomplices.
  The police at the Rotterdam Kunsthal museum on Oct. 16, 2012.
  Robin Utrecht / AFP / Getty Images
  The closest Dogaru came to selling any pictures came immediately before his arrest. A Romanian wine producer sent word that he was willing to buy four of the paintings. Dogaru, anxious to sell, priced them at 100,000 euros each. In fact, the wine producer was working with Romanian prosecutors, and the would-be sale was a sting operation. At the 11th hour, Dogaru was tipped off, and he canceled the meeting. In any event, Dogaru, Bitu and Darie were arrested soon afterward, in late January. Adrian Procop is still at large.
  If Dogaru did not possess the requisite savoir-faire to make a sale, it was in part because the world of stolen paintings was new to him. He might have saved himself, his associates and the seven artworks a lot of trouble, had he taken a 75-minute train ride from Rotterdam to 's-Hertogenbosch in the south of the Netherlands, to meet an art dealer named Ron de Vries.
  De Vries claims to have stolen hundreds of paintings over five decades. Now 74, he has fine white hair, large, bright blue eyes and an athletic physique. When we met in January, he wore designer clothes and a diver's watch and looked more like a superannuated pop star than an old crook. He was arrested in 2008 for fencing several paintings that were stolen from the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem in 2002. Last year he lost an appeal of his conviction for handling stolen goods '-- the only time he has been found guilty of any offense '-- but he is appealing the judgment, and a 40-month prison sentence, in the Netherlands' supreme court. He has admitted, though, to trying to return the work to an insurance company for a fee.
  De Vries told me he started stealing at 20, when he robbed his rich girlfriend's father's house in The Hague. He said he learned to rob safes soon afterward, with the help of a man he described as ''the best safecracker who ever lived.'' Then he became interested in art. ''It's so easy,'' he said. ''You are running, and you see a painting you like in someone's house, and you throw a stone through the window, and you take the painting.''
  Until recently, when computerized databases of stolen art '-- managed by, among others, the Carabinieri in Italy, Interpol and the Art Loss Register, a private service '-- became widely used, it was simple to move art around, de Vries said. If he stole a painting, he could launder its reputation by sending it to America and then flying it back to Europe, he said, where he would reintroduce it to the art market through friendly dealers. He stole only from private homes and never from a museum, he claimed, and he never took a piece worth more than around 100,000 euros. Anything more valuable, he believed, created unwelcome publicity. Indeed, when we met, before the Romanian thieves were arrested, de Vries said he was confused by the Kunsthal heist because it contravened so many of his own rules.
  ''Nobody breaks into a museum and steals paintings and wants to sell them,'' he said. ''It's impossible.''
  De Vries's claims were grandiose, and most were unverifiable. His lawyer would not confirm any of his client's confessions. (''Those are his words, not mine,'' he said.) Several months '-- and additional conversations '-- later, de Vries himself denied his criminal past. His thinking about art crime, however, is shared by many involved in trying to recover stolen art. Apparently it is possible to steal and then sell paintings, but only if you are well connected, patient and not too greedy. Under these criteria, Dogaru's enterprise was doomed from its inception. To take advantage of a major heist, he would have needed to be a much smarter criminal.
  Dick Ellis has operated in this art-theft underworld for decades. A retired Scotland Yard detective with a stocky frame and a wry grin, Ellis spent much of his career on the Metropolitan Police's fabled Art and Antiques Squad '-- which was responsible for, among other coups, the return of Edvard Munch's ''Scream,'' three months after it was stolen from the National Gallery in Norway in 1994. He now works as a private detective and has been retained by the firm that insured the Kunsthal's ''Avant-Gardes'' exhibition, to investigate the possibility of retrieving its stolen paintings.
  Ellis told me that works with a high open-market value are often used by serious criminals as collateral. A painting doesn't need to be sold at auction to hold value, he explained. Even if it stays forever on the black market, it can be used as a kind of promissory note in a weapons or drug deal. Career criminals also believe they can extort a ransom from insurers or use the stolen work as a bargaining chip. A prison sentence, for instance, might be reduced in some jurisdictions in exchange for a criminal's help in retrieving a missing Monet. In effect, an unframed canvas, easier to move across borders than its equivalent in cash or drugs, acts as a high-value and extremely pretty bank note.
  Ellis gave an example from his own experience. After Martin Cahill '-- the Irish gangster known as the General '-- stole 18 paintings from the Beit Collection at Russborough House in County Wicklow in 1986, the artworks led an extraordinary life. One painting was sent to Istanbul, where it was used as part of a payment for a heroin deal. Four other paintings '-- including a Gainsborough, a Goya and a Vermeer '-- were taken to Antwerp, where a diamond dealer accepted them as collateral and advanced Cahill a large sum of money, with which he tried to start an offshore bank in the Bahamas. The Antwerp paintings were eventually recovered after an undercover sting in which Charles Hill '-- Ellis's colleague in the Art Squad '-- posed as an American buyer.
  Still, the concept of art as collateral is tricky. The best chance for a painting to express a monetary value would seem to be from a ransom. But how often do insurers make payouts to criminals? Robert Korzinek, the fine-arts underwriter who insured the Kunsthal claim, says that his organization is not in the business of paying for the return of stolen art. It sometimes pays for ''information leading to the return'' of a painting, but the sums involved are small and distributed only with the approval of local law enforcement. The underwriter says there is a belief among criminals, however, that large payments are made regularly, and because of this, they often use paintings as part of their ''complex trades.''
  ''All markets work on confidence,'' Korzinek says. ''If you have a perception that there will be value attached to that object, then you can use it as a commodity. . . . I can sit here and say we don't pay ransoms, but people don't believe it.''
  One reason for that is a well-known case in the early 2000s when the Tate Gallery in London successfully negotiated for the return of two J. M. W. Turners that were stolen in 1994 while on loan. Having bought back the title to the paintings from the insurers, the Tate delivered a vast sum of money '-- around £3.5 million, or $5.6 million '-- to a lawyer named Edgar Liebrucks, who used the money to help secure the paintings for the museum. This payment was for ''information leading to the return,'' but some in the art world interpreted it as a ransom. (Korzinek calls the Turners situation a ''one off.'' British and German authorities approved the exchange.)
  There are some in the art-recovery community, meanwhile, who have accused the Art Loss Register, a private organization that retrieves stolen artworks for a fee or a commission, of introducing cash into the black market. Most vocal among them is Chris Marinello, the former general counsel at the register, who recently left the organization to establish a competing service, in part because he disagreed with the practices of the A.L.R. ''If you pay off criminals, you create a market,'' he said. (Julian Radcliffe, who heads the register, rejects Marinello's characterization. He says he condemns the practice of paying criminals and denies that his firm does so.)
  There is, perhaps, one other fate for well-known stolen paintings. Charles Hill '-- who is now, like Ellis, a private art-recovery specialist, based in London '-- told me that famous artworks are occasionally stolen on commission. In fact, until the arrest of the Romanians in January, Hill believed that the heist was linked to a fugitive Irish trafficker named George (the Penguin) Mitchell. His theory was based on a likeness between the Meyer de Haan self-portrait and a published photograph of Mitchell.
  Hill was wrong about the Kunsthal burglary, but isolated cases support his thinking in general. For instance, in 2008, a Brazilian named Mois(C)s de Lima Sobrinho, who was a chef who appeared on regional TV, was arrested for masterminding the theft of a Picasso and a Candido Portinari from the Museu de Arte de S£o Paulo. During questioning, he told the police that the theft was commissioned by a Saudi collector.
  At the end of March, I traveled to Romania at the invitation of a lawyer named Bodgan Cimbru, who had a fascinating proposal. Cimbru represented Radu Dogaru and his mother, Olga. (Cimbru has since been replaced as their lawyer.) There was some debate about whether the suspects should be processed in Romania (where they were caught) or in the Netherlands (where the crime took place). Cimbru saw an opportunity. He said the paintings would ''never be seen'' again unless Dogaru was tried in the Netherlands, where he thought his client could receive more leniency, rather than in Romania. But with neither the Romanian nor the Dutch authorities responding to his attempt to leverage the paintings to move the trial, and knowing of my interest in the case, he suggested I visit him in Bucharest.
  We met at a Hilton hotel on an unseasonably snowy day. A tall man in his 30s with thick, dark hair, Cimbru wore a camel coat and a cashmere scarf throughout the interview, on account of a ticklish cough. He said he was surprised that nobody from the Dutch prosecutor's office or the Cordia family had contacted him about returning the art, which was, he believed, eminently possible.
  Cimbru took four photographs from a beige folder and pushed them across the table. They showed the stolen Matisse and Meyer de Haan, out of their frames, front and back. The images were yellowed and somewhat blurry, but they appeared to show what Cimbru claimed they did: ''a small proof of life.'' He added that if a Dutch prosecutor were to meet him, he would be shown ''more than proof of life'' '-- by which I understood him to mean that Dogaru would take him to the works themselves.
  Cimbru insisted he was not asking either the Dutch or Romanian authorities for a ''small sentence.'' He said he simply wanted a ''fair trial'' in the Dutch jurisdiction. He said Dogaru would be ''crucified'' in Romania, whether he assisted investigators or not. In the Netherlands, Cimbru believed, he could use his client's knowledge of the art's whereabouts to cut a deal. There were, however, time considerations. If no deal was forthcoming before his client went on trial, he said, no more negotiations would be possible.
  In April, Cimbru sent a curt email to me that said: ''Negotiations ended. There will be no extradition to the Netherlands.'' Dogaru's case came before a Romanian court in May and will continue for some time, despite his recent guilty plea, in order to resolve all the charges. And as has now been widely reported, Cimbru's tactics may have been deliberate misdirection '-- because the paintings may already have been destroyed. Earlier, in the winter, ashes from a stove in Olga Dogaru's house in the village of Carcaliu had been found.
  The Romanian police believed the ashes came from burned canvases, and a sample was sent to be analyzed by a laboratory at the Romanian National History Museum. Initial tests suggested that at least one painting had been destroyed; the complete results are still not available. But in July, Romanian authorities released an interview with Olga Dogaru, in which she confessed to burning all the artworks in February in order to protect her son after his arrest. (The bitter irony is that it was precisely after his arrest that the art might have become most valuable to him as a bargaining chip.) Since then she has retracted her confession.
  Nonetheless, Ernest Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, the director of the Romanian National History Museum, told The New York Times in July, ''Unfortunately, I have a bad feeling that a huge and horrible crime happened and the masterpieces were destroyed.'' In October, a sample of the ash and other remains were sent to the University of Delft in the Netherlands, to see what else might be reasonably concluded. Nicholas Eastaugh, a leading historical-pigment expert based in London, says there's no guarantee that tests will be able to prove if any were burned.
  Throughout this period, Dogaru's lawyers '-- first Cimbru and then his replacement '-- have made repeated but conflicting claims about the safety of the artworks. At different times, they have said that all seven pieces are in existence, that only five still remain, that some are in Moldova, that others are in Belgium. Even now, Dogaru and his mother continue to dangle the prospect of a full recovery in an attempt to influence the trial.
  According to Mugur Varzariu, a Romanian journalist who maintained frequent contact with Dogaru's family, the defense team is bluffing, because the art is gone. ''You can dream about a different ending,'' he told me in October. ''But it's not going to happen.''
  Until recently, Dick Ellis was skeptical that anybody would be so stupid as to destroy their only remaining asset. His optimism was understandable. After all, he had a professional interest in retrieving the artworks for the underwriter. But by the fall, he thought there was a 70 percent chance that they had been burned. He also believed that the defendants' attempts to use the paintings as a negotiating tool had been a ''total charade.''
  A stolen painting is a strange thing. Whatever the fate of the Kunsthal's missing art, we will always know what Freud's ''Woman With Eyes Closed'' looked like. Vestigial images of the work will remain, in books and on computer servers. But those copies can never fully communicate the tenderness of the original.
  Freud's subject was Henrietta Edwards. When she sat for him in 2002, she was young, beautiful and recently married. She also had terminal cancer. Edwards died in 2006, Freud in 2011. What remains of their relationship is contained in that painting and the flush of color in her cheeks. When a work this beautiful is stolen or destroyed, something is lost that cannot be counted in dollars. In the worlds of art and insurance, however, counting in dollars is the only way to make sense of a loss.
  In April, I met someone who worked closely with the Triton Collection but refused to be named because of a privacy agreement. The family dynamic, the source told me, was complicated. Willem Cordia was an old-fashioned shipping magnate who started the Triton Collection 20 years ago with his wife, Marijke. They built it fast, with the help of various dealers and a curator. The collection was founded as a way for Willem '-- civic-minded but publicity-shy '-- to give something back to the Dutch people without attracting much attention. The idea was that the works would frequently be lent out to museums, and for many years, few people knew that the Cordias even owned the Triton Collection. (The Cordia family did not respond to my inquiries.)
  Willem was a true amateur collector. Once he set his mind on acquiring a work, price mattered little to him. But his two children '-- Keesjan and Eliane '-- did not share their father's romantic views. Keesjan, according to the source, was a hardheaded businessman, who saw art as a useful commodity. The source recalled Keesjan saying that when the family needed money, it was hanging on the wall.
  When Willem died unexpectedly two years ago, at 70, Dutch obituaries noted that he was one of the last of Rotterdam's havenbaron (''harbor barons''). It was also, the source suggested, the end of the Triton Collection as it had been conceived. Outside advisers were shunned, and important works considered for sale. In the months since the heist, two stars of the collection, a Pointillist masterpiece by Paul Signac and an Impressionist gem by Alfred Sisley, were sold in London. Both appeared in catalogs without their Triton Collection provenance.
  In February, meanwhile, the Cordias' insurers paid out in full for the Kunsthal loss: a sum of around 18.5 million euros ($24 million). This total represented an improvement on their likely auction proceeds, because the stolen pieces were insured at double their estimated value '-- a common arrangement when rare and irreplaceable works are lent to exhibitions.
  Since the burglary, thieves in Romania, a middleman in Belgium, private detectives and underwriters in England and lawyers in three countries have tried to make hay from the Kunsthal heist. But only one party really saw a windfall. For the Cordia family, the source said, the robbery and its aftermath ''was a stunning piece of business.''
  Ed Caesar is at work on a book about the quest to run a marathon in under two hours. He has contributed to The Atlantic, British GQ and The Sunday Times Magazine of London. Editor: Dean Robinson
VIDEO-Eurosceptic Widers and Marine Le Pen in talks to forge closer ties | euronews, world news
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 20:09
  Holland's Eurosceptic politician Geert Wilders, head of the Freedom party, and French National Front leader Marine Le Pen have met at The Hague.
  It is their hope to forge closer ties between the two parties and an eventual permanent alliance in the European parliament with anti-immigration one of their main policies.
  It is the second such meeting in what is seen as a growing relationship ahead of next year's European elections.
  ''We want to give back freedom to our people. We want to give back sovereignty to our countries. Those two things alone should be enough to justify the fact we are here at the start of working together,'' Marine Le Pen told reporters after their meeting.
  Analysts believe the two could team up with groups such as the Vlaams Belang in Belgium and Austria's Freedom Party. To form an alliance they would need a minimum of 25 MEPs from at least seven EU member states.
  Le Pen's National Front was ahead in a recent opinion poll in France for May's European elections. Wilders Freedom Party currently tops opinion polls in Holland.
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VIDEO-BBC News - Afghanistan opium harvest at record high - UNODC
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 19:58
  13 November 2013Last updated at 02:41 ET Afghan opium cultivation has reached a record level, with more than 200,000 hectares planted with the poppy for the first time, the United Nations says.
  The UNODC report said the harvest was 36% up on last year, and if fully realised would outstrip global demand.
  Most of the rise was in Helmand province, where British troops are preparing to withdraw.
  One of the main reasons the UK sent troops to Helmand was to cut opium production.
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  David Loyn reports from the village where Afghans have been buried after being executed for trying to smuggle opium into Iran
  The head of the UN office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Kabul, Jean-Luc Lemahieu, said that production was likely to rise again next year, amid uncertainty over the withdrawal of most foreign troops and the presidential election.
  He said that the illegal economy was taking over in importance from legitimate business, and that prices remained high since there was a ready availability of cash in Afghanistan because of aid.
  "As long as we think that we can have short-term, fast solutions for the counter-narcotics, we are continued to be doomed to fail," he added.
  Mr Lemahieu said there had been some recent successes, including the arrest of leading figures in the drugs industry, but it could take 10-15 years to deal with Afghanistan's opium crisis, even if policies improved.
  The report said the total area planted with poppies rose from 154,000 to 209,000 hectares, while potential production rose by 49% to 5,500 tonnes, more than the current global demand.
  Half of the cultivation area is in Helmand province.
  Continue reading the main storyThe consequences of Afghanistan's huge opium production have had an effect across society here. There are believed to be more than a million opium and heroin addicts - one of the largest levels in the world - taking advantage of plentiful supplies.
  The amount of land given over to opium in 2013 was 209,000 hectares. The potential production from that is estimated to be more than annual global demand, according to the head of the UN office for Drugs and Crime in Kabul, Jean-Luc Lemahieu.
  After rising sharply in the years after the Taliban successfully stopped production, the harvest last peaked in 2007 and is expected to continue rising.
  Mr Lemahieu said that the rise since 2010 was caused principally by what he called a "hot political market" - uncertainty over the process of transition from US control. That uncertainty will continue with the end of foreign combat operations and the presidential election next year.
  Meanwhile two northern provinces which had previously been declared poppy-free - Faryab and Balkh - lost that status.
  The report called for an integrated, comprehensive response to the problem.
  "If the drug problem is not taken more seriously by aid, development and security actors, the virus of opium will further reduce the resistance of its host, already suffering from dangerously low immune levels due to fragmentation, conflict, patronage, corruption and impunity," it said.
  But the report said there were some encouraging signs, with police tripling their effectiveness to capture "well over 10%" of production and a growth in services set up to tackle addiction.
  The findings of the latest report reverse a decline in production last year attributed to bad weather and disease.
  However, cultivation has been rising yearly since 2010 despite government efforts to eradicate the crop.
  More farmers have been trying to grow the poppy as the price of opium has been rising.
  Afghanistan produces more than 90% of the world's opium.
Statement by Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco on the Designation of Boko Haram and Ansaru as Foreign Terrorist Organizations
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  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 19:49
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  November 13, 2013
  Today, the United States designated Nigeria-based groups Boko Haram and Ansaru as Foreign Terrorist Organizations and Specially Designated Global Terrorists. In the last several years, Boko Haram and Ansaru have been responsible for thousands of deaths in northeast and central Nigeria, including dozens of attacks on churches and mosques, targeted killings of civilians, and the 2011 suicide bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja that killed 21 people and injured dozens more.
  By cutting these terrorist organizations off from U.S. financial institutions and enabling banks to freeze assets held in the United States, these designations demonstrate our strong support for Nigeria's fight against terrorism and its efforts to address security challenges in the north.
  As President Obama emphasized when he met with Nigerian President Jonathan in September, we encourage Nigeria to pursue a comprehensive counterterrorism approach that uses law enforcement tools effectively, creates economic opportunity, and ensures that human rights are protected and respected. The United States stands firmly with the people of Nigeria in their efforts to bring the terrorist violence perpetrated by these groups to an end.
GREENWALD-Eric Bates Joins the Team '' Omidyar Group
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 19:49
  I'm pleased to announce that Eric Bates is joining the NewCo team. Eric will be instrumental in helping us define our editorial strategy for a general-interest audience as well as the editing infrastructure we will need to support our independent journalists.
  Eric is a seasoned editor with deep investigative and feature experience. Most recently, he served as executive editor of Rolling Stone, where he spent nearly a decade overseeing the magazine's feature writing and political reporting. During his tenure he took part in four cover interviews with President Obama, and assigned and edited some of the most influential stories of his generation, including the magazine's celebrated exposes of Wall Street corruption and the profile that prompted the resignation of Gen. Stanley McChrystal. His work has earned seven National Magazine Awards, the profession's highest honor, and has been a finalist for the award another seven times.
  Eric also served as investigative editor of Mother Jones and editor in chief of Southern Exposure, the leading political journal in the Southern U.S., where he oversaw groundbreaking investigations of factory farming, nursing homes, welfare reform and predatory lending. He has been a visiting lecturer at Duke University and a trustee of Antioch College.
Continuation of the National Emergency With Respect to Iran
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  Source: Federal Register: Executive Office of the President
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 13:33
  On November 14, 1979, by Executive Order 12170, the President declared a national emergency with respect to Iran and, pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706), took related steps to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States constituted by the situation in Iran. Because our relations with Iran have not yet returned to normal, and the process of implementing the agreements with Iran, dated January 19, 1981, is still under way, the national emergency declared on November 14, 1979, must continue in effect beyond November 14, 2013. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency with respect to Iran declared in Executive Order 12170.
  This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.
  THE WHITE HOUSE,November 12, 2013.
  [FR Doc. 2013-27376Filed 11-12-13; 11:15 am]
  Billing code 3295-F4
Drone flights suspended in NY after crash
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  Source: RT - USA
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 19:47
  Published time: November 13, 2013 07:58AFP Photo / Saul Loeb
  Reaper drone flights have been grounded in Central New York after one of the craft crashed into Lake Ontario. The incident has sparked debate among activists who claim the Reaper is among the most accident prone of drones and should be decommissioned.
  US officials at the 174th Attack Wing announced the suspension of all Reaper flights on Tuesday as a precautionary measure, following a crash about 19 kilometers from the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. As of yet the Coast Guard have been unable to salvage the $4 million unmanned craft because of poor weather conditions.
  ''We have no reports of injuries or damages to civilian property at this time,'' said Colonel Greg Semmel of the 174th Attack Wing to press, adding that no weapons or hazardous material were onboard the remotely-control plane at the time of the crash.
  He said that it had not been decided when drone flights would be resumed in the Central New York area.
  The unmanned Reaper craft is one of the staples of the US military and is in use in Afghanistan and Pakistan for both surveillance and military strikes. The Reaper is larger than the better-known Predator drone, with a wingspan of 66 feet and the capacity to carry Hellfire missiles as well as other armaments.
  There have been a number of reports of accidents involving Reapers since they have been in use on American territory. A survey carried out by Bloomberg in 2012 revealed that there had been 129 accidents documented over the past 15 years involving the Reaper as well as the MQ-1 Predator and RQ-4 Global Hawk drones.
  They calculated that on average there were 9.31 accidents for every 100,000 hours of drone flight.
  Anti-drone activists have capitalized on the statistics and slammed the use of the remotely-controlled planes on US territory.
  Ed Kinane a Syracuse-based peace activist told syracuse.com that this latest crash was another reason why the use of drones should be discontinued.
  ''One of the notorious things about drones and Reapers is their high accident rate,'' Kinane said. ''A general concern is that because the military is so in love with drones and the Reaper, it appears they have rushed these things into production.''
  In spite of opposition to the craft, the US government has put forward a plan to widely expand the use of drones in the US by 2015.
  The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) presented their plan of expansion on Thursday last week at an aerospace news conference.
  "We recognize that the expanding use of unmanned aircraft presents great opportunities, but it's also true that integrating these aircraft presents significant challenges," Reuters quoted FAA Administrator Michael Huerta as saying. He added that US aviation regulations and safety rules would remain a ''gold standard'' for the rest of the world ''to maintain our position of global leadership.''
Documents Reveal Chemtrails Originated at Department of Defense - :
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 19:33
  (Aircrap) Contrary to rumors of ''conspiracy theory'', the Department of Defense first published Chemtrails in 1990 as the title to a chemistry course for new pilots attending the esteemed US Air Force Academy.
  The term Chemtrails , and its implied meaning was eventually adopted by civilian observers to describe unusual military jets and later, commercial aircraft contrail emissions
  In etymological terms, the origin of a word is very important. Regardless the intended definition, history clearly shows the term ''Chemtrails'' originated at the US Department of Defense as the title for a Chemistry manual used at the Air Force Academy cadet training program in the early 1990?s. Two editions of the ''Chemtrails'' manual are known to exist '' A 200 page version for the 1990 Fall class and a 232 page version for the 1991 class. The course title ''chemtrails'' was so popular as to be adopted by the DoD for at least two academic years (1990-1991).
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  Definition '' A: The Oxford Dictionary provides an accurate description of ''chemtrails'' even if they are unaware that the DoD is the ''inventor'' and original publisher of the word, ''chemtrails''.
  chemtrail
  Pronunciation: /?k?mtre?l/
  noun
  a visible trail left in the sky by an aircraft and believed by some to consist of chemical or biological agents released as part of a covert operation.
  Origin: 1990s: blend of chemical and trail, on the pattern of contrail (Oxford Dictionary)
  ______________________
  Definition '' B: Defined as an ''exotic weapon'' in HR 2977, Space Preservation Act of 2001. (Gov. Doc '' PDF)
  Origin: Department of Defense title to a chemistry manual as required study for future pilots enrolled at the US Air Force Academy.
  A Microfilm copy of Chemtrails is available through the Inter Library Loan system (ILL). Exhibts and chain of custody is included below.
  The complete 220 page Chemtrails manual is available for download '' HERE or HERE (Large 28 MB file. Use right-click method to download)
  In 2001, US Rep., Dennis Kucinich introduced HR 2977 ''Space Preservation Act of 2001?. The text of the Bill defines Chemtrails as an exotic weapon.
  About the Chemtrails Manual Cover
  The Air Force Academy Chemtrails manual cover shows a flame from a Bunsen burner that appears to be producing two ''trails''.The title of the manual Chemtrails is printed between the two ''trails''.Considering the intentional graphic depicting ''trails'' it's possible the Bunsen burner represents a jet engine producing ''chemically'' induced, persistent contrails.A Bunsen burner is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion.A test tube filled with a liquid is emptying contents into a flask.The remaining graphic appears to be a chemical representation for ''methane'' (CH4). Since Natural gas contains mostly ''methane'' it's possible this symbol alludes to the fuel providing the flame to the Bunsen burner. (Natural Gas)
  Method: An inter-library loan initiated by the Alachua County main library yielded a microfilm copy of the 1990 Chemistry 131 Manual used in training by the US Air force Academy. The lending institution was the William T. Young Library at the University of Kentucky as shown in the label below.
  The microfilm was in acceptable condition, however the 1990 Chemtrails manual was scanned in 1992 under less than optimum conditions from a well-used original.
  The Alachua County Library equipment was used to scan each of the 200 pages to digital *.TIF files. Photoshop was used to optimize each image to the smallest file size that would permit adequate resolution for on-line viewing. Each image was imported to a Microsoft Word page where the complete manual was saved to a 30 MBPDF file. (Portable Document File).
  Tags:Chemtrails, department of defense, documents reveal, GOVT SLAVES
Afghanistan opium crop cultivation rises a record 36 per cent, production up 49 per cent
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 19:21
  13 November 2013 - Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan rose 36 per cent in 2013, a record high, according to the 2013 Afghanistan Opium Survey released today in Kabul by the Ministry of Counter Narcotics and UNODC. Meanwhile, opium production amounted to 5,500 tons, up by almost a half since 2012.
  Calling the news "sobering", Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of UNODC, stressed that this situation poses a threat to health, stability and development in Afghanistan and beyond: "What is needed is an integrated, comprehensive response to the drug problem. Counter-narcotics efforts must be an integral part of the security, development and institution-building agenda".
  The area under cultivation rose to 209,000 ha from the previous year's total of 154,000 ha, higher than the peak of 193,000 hectares reached in 2007. Also, two provinces, Balkh and Faryab, lost their poppy-free status, leaving 15 provinces poppy-free this year compared with 17 last year.
  Although lower than in 2012, opium prices continued to lure farmers at around $145 per kg, much higher than the prices fetched during the high yield years of 2006-2008. Farmers may have driven up cultivation by trying to shore up their assets as insurance against an uncertain future resulting from the withdrawal of international troops next year. Worth around US$ 950 million, or 4 per cent of national GDP in 2013, the farm-gate value of opium production increased by almost a third. Together with profits made by drug traffickers, the total value of the opium economy within Afghanistan was significantly higher, implying that the illicit economy will continue to grow whereas a slowdown of the legal economy is predicted in 2014.
  "As we approach 2014 and the withdrawal of international forces from the country, the results of the Afghanistan Opium Survey 2013 should be taken for what they are - a warning, and an urgent call to action," said the UNODC chief.
  The link between insecurity and opium cultivation observed in the country since 2007 was still evident in 2013; almost 90 per cent of opium poppy cultivation in 2013 remained confined to nine provinces in the southern and western regions, which include the most insurgency-ridden provinces in the country. Hilmand, Afghanistan's principal poppy-producer since 2004 and responsible for nearly half of all cultivation, expanded the area under cultivation by 34 per cent, followed by Kandahar, which saw a 16 per cent rise.
  Across the country, governor-led eradication decreased by 24 per cent to some 7,300 hectares. Badakhshan, the only poppy-growing province in the north-east, witnessed a 25 per cent increase in cultivation despite the eradication of almost 2,800 ha. During the 2013 eradication campaigns, the number of casualties rose significantly, with 143 people killed this year compared with 102 fatalities in 2012.
  "If the drug problem is not taken more seriously by aid, development and security actors, the virus of opium will further reduce the resistance of its host, already suffering from dangerously low immune levels due to fragmentation, conflict, patronage, corruption and impunity", said Yury Fedotov.
  Further information:
  2013 Afghanistan Opium Survey - Summary Findings
  UNODC Country Office in Afghanistan
Children banned from playing tag in school playground | Mail Online
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 19:15
  Last updated at 22:00 09 February 2007
  Danger? Headmistress has outlawed 'physical' games
  In an age when childhood innocence is under threat from every direction, the traditional game of tag would seem an unlikely offender.
  But headmistress Susan Tuck doesn't think so. She has banned it ? along with all other games which involve physical contact ? as "inappropriate behaviour".
  ' Health and safety killjoys ban playgroup mums from tea making' Parents' anger after pupils sent home for breaking snowball ban
  Youngsters aged five to 11 at Bracebridge Heath Primary School near Lincoln have been told there will be no kiss-chase, and even linking arms with each other will not be allowed.
  The only time any of the 400 pupils can touch each other is if they need to help a classmate who has fallen over.
  Mrs Tuck became concerned that playground games were becoming too rough after a number of instances of bumped heads.
  She said the next move would be slowly to reintroduce "supervised and appropriate physical contact between pupils".
  "A minority of pupils persistently offended on the playground," she said. "That needed to be dealt with.
  "I told the children we should start by having no physical contact to start this on a level playing field.
  "I couldn't say to the boys that they couldn't play certain games and then allow the girls to go around linking arms.
  "I think on the first day the children thought 'how is this going to work?' Now I have spoken to some of them and they think the playground has become a lot calmer.
  "Pupils are more creative, playing games like shadow tig to replace the real thing. Rather than shoving each other roughly on the back you try to jump on their shadow."
  The school's move is the latest in a series of instances across Britain where traditional games have been deemed dangerous. Conkers and even football are among those which have paid the price of caution.
  On its website, Bracebridge Heath primary states: "Our children thrive in an environment in which every child is made to feel happy and secure."
  But parents at the school appeared more bemused than supportive over the ban.
  One said: "I can't say I'm happy with it. I can't see it does much for children learning to play together."
  Another said: "Children have been playing games like this for centuries. To ban them from touching each other is just ridiculous."
  John Giblin, a spokesman for Lincolnshire council's education department, said: "It is up to individual schools and governors to decide what they do in their playtimes."
  Liz Carnell, of the charity Bullying Online, said: "Parents these days are very quick to complain if a child does get hurt at school so maybe the school is just trying to cover this eventuality.
  "But I don't think this will stop bullying as it will never stop namecalling. Supervised games with an older child or a teacher watching is perhaps the answer."
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The Obamacare debacle: How the Democrats lost their way - World - CBC News
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 19:14
  Like a whale throwing itself relentlessly against the beach, Barack Obama's health-care law is now in danger of self-asphyxiation.
  So much so, in fact, it now appears that all those Republican anti-Obamacare histrionics of the past few years were unnecessary.
  Republicans didn't really have to shut down government, or push the nation toward default, or equate Obamacare with slavery, or stage scores of pointless repeal votes in the House of Representatives.
  It turns out the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was a Republican ally all along, quietly creating the great dysfunctional golem that lurched into public view on Oct. 1.
  In the few weeks that have elapsed since, Obamacare has become emblematic of overweening, tone-deaf government, politically expedient lying, and gross bureaucratic incompetence.
  The president's signature health-care plan has become so mocked by voters that it became a fixture at Halloween parties. (Reuters)
  In short, it has stunk out the joint, and in the process has actually helped restore the Republican brand that was so severely damaged by the incredibly foolish, and economically damaging, shutdown-and-default shenanigans by the GOP's Tea Party wing.
  Republicans intend to run against Obamacare in the midterm elections next year, and, if it still exists, in the 2016 presidential race.
  Why wouldn't they? Once popular, Obamacare has mutated into a particularly effective voter repellant. What is so often called the president's signature achievement is now endangering his own party and legacy.
  Lightning rodConsider Ken Cucinelli. All last summer and well into the fall, the Virginia attorney-general was 10 points or so behind his Democratic opponent in the race for state governor.
  It was no mystery as to why: Cucinelli is a far-right conservative who bashed gays, pushed to re-criminalize anal and oral sex (for both gay and straight voters), pressed a law that would have required a woman seeking an abortion to undergo an intrusive vaginal probe, and compared illegal immigrants to vermin.
  Most progressives, and most Virginia women, couldn't stand him.
  Then, in the campaign's final days, Cucinelli seized on the Obamacare debacle, already well under way, made it his sole issue, and his numbers started rising.
  He still lost, but by only 2.5 per cent. You can see why this would soothe the Republican heart and terrify Democrats.
  If Obamacare can resurrect a character like Cucinelli, it's the perfect ticket for those Republicans who are more, um, attuned to the 21st century.
  'Closeted Mother Teresas'Obamacare would be bad enough if its only fault were HealthCare.Org, a website so useless and frustrating it could have been designed by the famously Kafkaesque bureaucracy in Egypt.
  But it's much worse.
  Health-care insurance companies have abruptly cancelled millions of policies because they no longer clear the new, more rigorous bar set by Obamacare.
  This despite the president's famous assurances that "if you like the plan you have, you can keep it. Period." (A porker that is already taking its place in American political history beside George Bush Sr.'s "Read my lips: no new taxes.")
  As public anger swelled, the president and his proxies protested '-- correctly '-- that the policies being cancelled were lousy policies in the first place, with all sorts of loopholes that allowed the insurance companies not to pay.
  Don't worry, said the administration's spinners. Most people will be able to find better plans on the government website, and for less money, too.
  That, it turns out, was another porky-pie, and the president is now apologizing for having misled people.
  There are no official figures yet '-- the government, desperately trying to salvage this fiasco, either doesn't have or is refusing to release hard data '-- but news organizations are having no problem turning up people whose premiums are doubling, or tripling, or worse.
  Lori Gottlieb, a Los Angeles psychotherapist, outlined her unsettling experience in the New York Times.
  After her policy was cancelled, Anthem Blue Cross offered her a new, Obamacare-compliant one. For a mere $5,400 extra.
  The new policy, unlike the old one, would provide treatment for Stage 4 cancer, or a sex-change operation, or maternity benefits. None of which Gottlieb, a 46-year-old woman, wanted or needed.
  Most of Gottlieb's article, though, was spent detailing the peevish reaction her anger drew from her liberal, educated friends (unbearably smug, "closeted Mother Teresas," she called them).
  All had the same advice for her: Understand that 15 per cent of Americans '-- between 30 and 40 million people '-- who until now had no insurance, will have peace of mind.
  "I was shocked," wrote Gottlieb. "Who knew my friends were such humanitarians?" Most, she added, are facing tiny increases (rates vary from one centre to the next) or have employer-provided insurance and will feel no change at all.
  It's all badWhile there is no official data yet on how many people have signed up for Obamacare, the Wall Street Journal, citing informed sources, reported this week that 50,000 people nationwide had signed up on the federal government's website in October. Washington's goal was 500,000.
  U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius shakes hands with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a once keen Obamacare supporter. "Fix it," he now says. (Jim Bourg / Reuters)
  A Gallup poll, meanwhile, suggested that only 18 per cent of uninsured Americans have tried to visit the website.
  One in four, said Gallup, prefer to pay the fine imposed on anyone who refuses to buy insurance. The fine rises from a maximum of $285 next year to $2,085 by 2017.
  That reluctance to comply is bad. Obamacare relies heavily on signing up healthy young people in order to make care affordable for older Americans who need treatment, the classic insurance equation.
  Actually, there is lots about Obamacare that's bad, from the badly written policy to the software and the politics.
  Understandably, Democrats from swing states are already beginning to run from Obamacare. Several have suggested changes to the law. This week, Bill Clinton said Barack Obama should keep his promise and let people stick with the plans they have.
  "We heard multiple times that everything was on track," Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who helped push through Obamacare, told Obama's health secretary last week. "We now know that was not the case '... fix it."
  Obama agrees, and has set the rather unrealistic deadline of Nov. 30 to make things right.
  Republicans, of course, want to kill the law, not change it or fix it.
  But for the moment, they can just relax and obey the first rule of politics: Never interrupt your opponent when he's screwing up.
Cell Phone Manufacturers Offer Carefully Worded Denials To Question Of Whether NSA Can Track Powered-Down Cell Phones | Techdirt
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 18:32
  Back in July, a small but disturbing detail on the government's cell phone tracking abilities was buried inside a larger story detailing the explosive expansion of the NSA post-9/11. Ryan Gallagher at Slate pulled this small paragraph out and highlighted it.
  By September 2004, the NSA had developed a technique that was dubbed ''The Find'' by special operations officers. The technique, the Post reports, was used in Iraq and ''enabled the agency to find cellphones even when they were turned off.'' This helped identify ''thousands of new targets, including members of a burgeoning al-Qaeda-sponsored insurgency in Iraq,'' according to members of the special operations unit interviewed by the Post.
  Ars Technica reports that some security researchers are calling this statement into question and have contacted cell phone providers for statements on the NSA's claim. Only a few have responded at this point, and their denials have been worded very specifically.Google had this to say:
  When a mobile device running the Android Operating System is powered off, there is no part of the Operating System that remains on or emits a signal. Google has no way to turn on a device remotely.
  Google may not have a way, but that doesn't mean the NSA doesn't.Nokia:
  Our devices are designed so that when they are switched off, the radio transceivers within the devices should be powered off. We are not aware of any way they could be re-activated until the user switches the device on again. We believe that this means that the device could not be tracked in the manner suggested in the article you referenced.
  Once again, we're looking at words like "should" and "not aware." This doesn't necessarily suggest Nokia does know of methods government agencies could use to track phones that are off, but it doesn't entirely rule it out either.Samsung's response is more interesting. While declaring that all components should be turned off when the phone is powered down, it does acknowledge that malware could trick cell phone users into believing their phone is powered down when it isn't. Ericsson, which is no longer in the business of producing cell phones (and presumably has less to lose by being forthright), was even more expansive on the subject.
  The only electronics normally remaining in operation are the crystal that keeps track of time and some functionality sensing on-button and charger connection. The modem (the cellular communication part) cannot turn on by itself. It is not powered in off-state. Power and clock distribution to the modem is controlled by the application processor in the mobile phone. The application processor only turns on if the user pushes the on-switch. There could, however, be potential risks that once the phone runs there could be means to construct malicious applications that can exploit the phone.
  On the plus side, the responding manufacturers seem to be interested in ensuring a powered down phone is actually powered down, rather than just put into a "standby" or "hibernation" mode that could potentially lead to exploitation. But the implicit statement these carefully worded denials make is that anything's possible. Not being directly "aware" of something isn't the same thing as a denial.Even if the odds seem very low that the NSA can track a powered down cell phone, the last few months of leaks have shown the agency has some very surprising capabilities -- some of which even stunned engineers working for the companies it surreptitiously slurped data from.
  Not only that, but there's historical evidence via court cases that shows the FBI has used others' phones as eavesdropping devices by remotely activating them and using the mic to record conversations. As was noted by c|net back in 2006, whatever the FBI utilized apparently worked even when phones were shut off.
  The surveillance technique came to light in an opinion published this week by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan. He ruled that the "roving bug" was legal because federal wiretapping law is broad enough to permit eavesdropping even of conversations that take place near a suspect's cell phone.
  Kaplan's opinion said that the eavesdropping technique "functioned whether the phone was powered on or off." Some handsets can't be fully powered down without removing the battery; for instance, some Nokia models will wake up when turned off if an alarm is set.
  While the Genovese crime family prosecution appears to be the first time a remote-eavesdropping mechanism has been used in a criminal case, the technique has been discussed in security circles for years.
  Short of pulling out the battery (notably not an option in some phones), there seems to be little anyone can do to prevent the device from being tracked and/or used as a listening device. The responding companies listed above have somewhat hedged their answers to the researcher's questions, most likely not out of any deference to government intelligence agencies, but rather to prevent looking ignorant later if (or when) subsequent leaks make these tactics public knowledge.Any powered up cell phone performs a lot of legwork for intelligence agencies, supplying a steady stream of location and communications data. If nothing else, the leaks have proven the NSA (and to a slightly lesser extent, the FBI) has an unquenchable thirst for data. If such exploits exist (and they seem to), it would be ridiculous to believe they aren't being used to their fullest extent.
WISPA CALEA Compliance Guide | WISPA
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 18:29
  CALEA Compliance Guide for WISPsCopyright (C) 2008 Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA.org)by Butch Evans, Mike Erskine and J.C. Utter
  Revision History:
  May 30, 2007 Initial public release posted to WISPA websiteJanuary 25, 2008 Revised and updated to comply with WISPA CALEA IPNA StandardApril 25, 2008 Revised and updated to include overview of general CALEA requirementsOctober 10, 2008 Final editorial review for publication with WISPA CALEA IPNA Standard
  Contact: caleaquestions@wispa.org.
  1.1 This document provides guidance to WISPs that wish to comply with WISPA-CS-IPNA (WISPA CALEA Standard for Internet Protocol (IP) Network Access '' hereafter referred to as ''WCS''). The WCS can be used by wireless and wireline service providers for Intercept compliance. However, this guide is targeted toward WISPs who want to achieve CALEA compliance under the WCS. In addition, WISPs that offer VoIP services using a VoIP gateway located on an internal network will have additional compliance requirements that are not addressed by the WCS.
  1.2 This document does not constitute or define any compliance standard. In addition, following the guidelines contained in this document does not assure ''safe harbor'' protection under the WCS.
  1.3 While every attempt has been made to ensure that this document is both accurate and complete, it is possible that some network designs are not covered by this guidance. In all cases, it is the WISP's responsibility to ensure compliance as defined by CALEA and the WCS.
  1.4 This document describes ''best practices'' for CALEA compliance using the WCS, including general intercept methods and techniques, locations within a Network for data Interception, storage specifications, and transmission requirements of the intercepted data.
  1.5 This guide explains how to achieve Intercept compliance and why specific steps are required.
  1.6 This document describes the kind of equipment required to deliver an Intercept to the Law Enforcement Agency (LEA), as well as the formatting and methods required to support delivery of an Intercept to the LEA in compliance with the WCS.
  1.7 This guide covers both technical and non-technical aspects of CALEA compliance. However, it is not an exhaustive reference on CALEA compliance. This document specifically addresses the technical requirements for CALEA compliance using the WCS, including guidance for the design of compliant networks or the redesign of existing networks to comply with the WCS.
  2.1 CALEA (Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act) '' A federal law passed in 1994 under the Clinton administration that defines the statutory obligations of telecommunications carriers (including WISPs) in the United States to ensure that their equipment, facilities and services that provide a customer or subscriber with the ability to originate, terminate or direct communications, are capable, pursuant to Lawful Authorization, of
  isolating and intercepting all of the electronic communications of a subject;isolating and intercepting all call-identifying information that is reasonably available in the network contemporaneously with the transmission of electronic communications in a manner that allows it to be associated with the communications to which it pertains; anddelivering intercepted communications content and call-identifying information to the LEA.
  2.2 Call-Identifying Information/Communication-Identifying Information (CII) '' Dialing or signaling information that identifies the origin, direction, destination, or termination of each communication generated or received by a subscriber by means of any equipment, facility, or service provided by a telecommunications carrier.
  2.3 Communication Content '' Any and all information concerning the substance, purport, or meaning of a Subject/Target's communications.
  2.4 Downstream Network '' The portion of the network where a WISP's direct control ends and a customer's network begins.
  2.5 Electronic Surveillance '' The monitoring or Interception of communications such as Communication-Identifying Information, Communication Content, or both, for a particular customer/subscriber pursuant to Lawful Authorization.
  2.6 Intercept/Interception '' See ''Electronic Surveillance.''
  2.7 Law Enforcement '' Any officer of the United States or of a state or political subdivision thereof who is empowered to conduct investigations, make arrests, or otherwise enforce and ensure compliance with the law.
  2.8 Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) '' Any agency of the United States or of a state or political subdivision thereof that enforces the law, including local or state police, and federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). It is an LEA that will deliver the Lawful Authorization to a WISP for action.
  2.9 Lawful Authorization '' An order or other form of legal authorization (e.g., Pen Register/Trap and Trace Order, Title III Order, etc.) issued by a court or other authority with legal jurisdiction to authorize the Interception of all or specific categories of Subject/Target communications. The Lawful Authorization will contain information on the Subject/Target of the Interception, the Subject/Target Facility, Intercept time frame, and other information specific to the investigation.
  2.10 Network '' The portion of the infrastructure that is controlled by the WISP seeking compliance.
  2.11 Network Element '' Equipment that is addressable and manageable, provides support or services to the user, and can be managed through an element manager. A group of interconnected network elements form a network.
  2.12 Out-of-Band (OOB) Signaling '' OOB Signaling is the communication between the Target's access equipment and the WISP's Network Elements that occurs before network traffic can begin to flow. OOB Signaling typically consists of the Layer 2 network communications that are required to assign an IP address to the Target's access equipment.
  2.13 Pen Register/Trap and Trace Order '' A form of Lawful Authorization that authorizes the Interception of information contained in the electronic communications of a Subject/Target via a Pen Register or Trap and Trace device or process (as defined in 18 U.S.C. §§ 3127(3) and (4)).
  2.14 Sniffer/Packet Sniffer '' A program that can ''capture'' network communications and either store them locally, send them via a streaming protocol to a remote server where they can be reviewed immediately or stored, or in some cases both.
  2.15 Subject/Target '' An individual who is the object of a Law Enforcement or LEA investigation and whose communications have been authorized by a Lawful Authorization to be intercepted and delivered to an LEA.
  2.16 Subject/Target Facility '' The equipment, facilities or services of a Subject/Target, as identified by a unique identifier (e.g. the Media Access Control (MAC) or IP address associated with the Subject/Target), and listed in the Lawful Authorization that initiated the Interception of the Subject/Target's communications.
  2.17 Subject/Target Traffic '' All communications and IP data traffic, included data that is transmitted or received by the Subject/Target, that is transported by the Subject/Target Facility identified in the Lawful Authorization.
  2.18 Tap '' Historically, a ''tap'' or ''wire tap'' was a hardware device used for transparently intercepting and recording communications over an analog telephone circuit. In this document, two types of Taps are described: one is a hardware device that performs the same function on a data network, and the other is a software Tap that performs a similar function using software running on an in-band Network Element. For example, a Packet Sniffer that runs on a Linux-based Network Element (e.g. ImageStream, Mikrotik, StarOS, etc.) is a software Tap. A hardware Tap is a device that connects to the physical network line to passively tap and transmit electronic communications to a recording or relaying device. A passive hardware Tap, such as those produced by ImageStream or Net Optics, are examples of hardware taps.
  2.19 Title III Order '' A form of Lawful Authorization that authorizes the Interception of any and all information concerning the substance, purport, or meaning of a Subject/Target's communications.
  2.20 Upstream Network '' This is the Internet, or more specifically, the upstream service provider's network. This is the network location known as the demarcation point or ''demarc,'' where a WISP's network ends and the WISP no longer has direct control over the Network Elements.
  2.21 WISP '' A Wireless Internet Service Provider.
  2.22 WISPA-CS-IPNA '' An intercept standard created by WISPA (with input from the FBI) to provide a ''safe harbor'' for WISPs who follow this intercept standard for CALEA compliance.
  CALEA specifies a wide range of compliance mandates that include both technical and administrative requirements. As a result, compliance with the WCS alone is not sufficient to achieve full compliance with CALEA. WISPs should not rely on this guide as their sole reference for CALEA compliance; CALEA itself is the ultimate reference for legal compliance. In addition, WISPA recommends that all WISPs consult competent legal counsel as part of any compliance plan.
  Some of the compliance areas addressed by CALEA include confidentiality, authentication, validation, confirmation, transparency, isolation, completeness, compression and encryption, buffering, fan-out, reliability, intercept content, time stamps, warrant ID, and recordkeeping. This section provides a brief overview of these CALEA requirements.
  3.1 Confidentiality
  Confidentiality is an important issue for conducting intercepts. CALEA requires that only ''authorized'' personnel can know that an intercept is being performed, including information in the warrant that identifies the Target of the Intercept. Confidentiality also applies to the LEA, and information provided in a warrant issued by one LEA such as the FBI cannot be shared with another LEA such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or DEA. In addition, if multiple Intercepts are being delivered to multiple LEAs simultaneously, the delivery of one Intercept to one LEA must be confidential so that is cannot be detected or discovered by other LEAs.
  Confidentiality can also be an issue when it comes to network configuration and management. The System Security and Integrity (SSI) plan that WISPs must file with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) identifies the contact that will be used for serving intercept orders to the WISP. This contact person is clearly authorized to have access to Intercept details and the associated equipment configurations.
  However, CALEA does not specify how additional individuals can be legally authorized to have access to this information. Therefore, it is not only important for the named SSI contact to keep Intercept details confidential from other LEAs, staff, and private individuals, but it is also important to protect unauthorized system administrators from viewing intercept configurations.
  3.2 Authentication, Validation and Confirmation
  Authentication, validation, and confirmation are three critical components of the process that ensures an Intercept will be correctly associated with the Target. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), changes to customer accounts, and other network events can disrupt a Lawfully Authorized Intercept. The WISP is responsible for these potential issues, and must manage them accordingly.
  ''Authentication'' ensures the Target is correctly associated with the IP or MAC address used to identify the Target. Authentication may involve confirmation that the Target correlates to an IP or MAC address by looking at an internal document where static IP or MAC addresses are recorded and assigned, or it may require the use of a Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) server log that keeps track of what IP address is assigned to the Target. The methods for ensuring that an Intercept is associated with the correct Target during Intercept initialization will vary from network to network, but the WISP is responsible for ensuring the Intercept is correctly associated with the Target. ''Validation'' is similar to authentication except that it ensures the Intercept is correlated to the Target throughout the entire Intercept.
  ''Confirmation'' is used here to mean the WISP can prove the Intercept was correctly associated with the Target of the Intercept after the Intercept has been completed. This process may involve keeping records of the IP or MAC addresses assigned to the Target, or it may involve keeping RADIUS or other authentication logs to confirm that the Intercept was correctly associated with the Target during the entire collection period.
  With capture-to-disk Intercepts, such as those required by the WCS, files are also created to ensure the captured content is not modified by someone after the intercept is performed. The names of these hash files must be correlated to the capture files, and records must be kept so it is possible to confirm at a later date that each hash file is associated with the correct capture file or files. Intercept records that include copies of hash files must be kept confidential, and must be stored for at least 5 years, or as specified by the LEA.
  3.3 Transparency
  ''Transparency'' under CALEA generally means the Target cannot detect that an Intercept is being performed. Service parameters such as bandwidth, latency, and availability must not be impacted in any way by the Intercept.
  In networks with dynamically assigned IP addresses, it is unacceptable to reserve a separate block of IP addresses for Intercepts, and then assign one of those addresses to the Target in response to an Intercept order. It is also unacceptable to change the network configuration in any way that can be observed by the Target. This means you can't install equipment for an Intercept that changes the number of hops the Target Traffic must traverse to reach the Internet.
  There are several ''grey areas'' of transparency that may or may not be perceived as a compliance issue by the LEA. For example, some WISPs have reported that in the process of working with an LEA, they were allowed to increase the lease on DHCP-assigned IP addresses for all customers to ensure the Target's lease did not expire during the Intercept period. This example is anecdotal, and may not be allowed by all LEAs because changes in the DHCP lease can be detected by the Target. Another similar approach is to use a mechanism like RADIUS to statically assign the same IP address that the Target is already using under an existing lease to reliably map that IP address to the target. Again, this kind of change to the network configuration could be detected by the Target, so it should only be used if the LEA has specifically approved such a method.
  The installation of a hardware Tap is another example of a network modification that may be acceptable to the LEA. Most trusted third parties (TTPs) who offer just-in-time service to support Intercepts are shipping hardware Taps and probes that must be installed on the WISPs network. While the hardware Tap is being installed in response to a court-ordered Intercept, and the network is being interrupted and modified by installing a network Tap and probe, the interruption cannot be identified by the Target as being related to an Intercept, and the Tap and probe that are installed cannot be detected by the Target when installed. This method is used widely and is known to be acceptable to most LEAs. Even so, you should always check with your legal counsel and the FBI before you implement an Intercept plan that includes methods that are not completely transparent, such as just-in-time installation of a passive hardware Tap.
  3.4 Isolation
  ''Isolation'' is the process of filtering the Target's Traffic from other network traffic that is not authorized for Intercept by the court order. Unfiltered network traffic must be filtered down to the Target's Traffic based on the Target's MAC or IP address. Different individuals may actually use the Target's access equipment and account, but the WISP is only required to isolate
  the Target's IP and/or MAC address and correlate it to the Target's account information.
  3.5 Completeness
  The WISP is responsible for ensuring that the communications Intercept is complete, and includes all of the Target Traffic that moves to and from the Target during the period of time covered by the Intercept order. Communications with the LEA will need to be established to report any anomalies or failures that may affect the completeness of the Intercept.
  3.6 Compression and Encryption
  In general, Intercepts must not be compressed or encrypted. If Target Traffic is compressed or encrypted as a normal part of the network services provided by the WISP, then this traffic must be decompressed or decrypted before it is delivered to the LEA.
  3.7 Buffering
  ''Buffering'' is used here to mean the ability to retransmit an Intercept should any problems occur with delivery to the LEA. The WCS employs a store-and-forward methodology that ensures the original Intercept will be stored on a local file server, and can be retransmitted to the LEA if there is any problem with delivery.
  3.8 Fan-Out
  ''Fan-out'' is the ability to deliver one or more Intercepts to multiple LEAs simultaneously. Most software Taps support this capability by running on a multitasking operating system that can run multiple instances of the Tap software. Be sure to plan for the additional upstream bandwidth or disk space you will need to support multiple simultaneous Intercepts.
  3.9 Reliability
  Intercept reliability is vital to the LEA's ability to utilize Intercepts as evidence in court cases against terrorists and other criminals. Intercept reliability is so important, it cannot be left to rely on the average reliability of the Internet. This is why the WCS adopts a capture-to-disk approach that buffers the Target Traffic on the local Network so a successful Intercept is not reliant on the real-time conditions of the Upstream Network or the Internet.
  In addition, Network reliability issues are not limited to the Upstream Network or Internet. Therefore, it is important to understand potential reliability issues on your Network. In general, it is always best to perform an Intercept at an interface on the Network that is closest to the Target. WISPs should be especially careful not to depend on unreliable wireless connections to backhaul traffic to a buffering device at a central location. If the buffering device is not located at the point-of-presence (POP) closest to the Target and the Intercept is incomplete due to data loss, the LEA may determine that the WISP is not CALEA compliant because the Intercept methods aren't reliable.
  3.10 Intercept Content
  Intercept content can be broken down to in-band and out-of-band (OOB) traffic. Out-of-band traffic in an IP network generally refers to the communications that take place between the customer and service provider equipment before an IP address is assigned to the customer's access device. In-band traffic refers to the data stream that can be associated with an IP address.
  Some service provider networks use statically assigned IP addresses with no OOB signaling. These networks can perform an intercept based on the target's IP address without concern for capturing OOB traffic, which is really just Layer 2 traffic. Service provider networks that use DHCP, RADIUS or some other dynamic method for assigning IP addresses to customers must use the Target's MAC address as the basis for the intercept, otherwise the OOB traffic will not be captured. Depending on the system, Intercepts may be configured to capture traffic based on MAC address and IP address for the same intercept, so this approach is recommended as the most reliable way to set up an Intercept when you know the target's MAC and IP.
  The content of an in-band capture depends on the court order. Some orders will specify the Intercept content to be packet headers only, while others will require the full content of the Target Traffic to be delivered. These different Intercept content options will require different configurations for software Taps like tcpdump and OpenCALEA.
  3.11 Time Stamps
  To comply with CALEA and the WCS, Intercepts need to be time stamped so they can be correlated to events in the outside world. Compliant software will time stamp each packet as it is received, which makes this function relatively easy to support.
  Time stamps are only as accurate as your system clock, so it is recommended that the equipment used to perform the Intercept should be synchronized with a reliable time source such as the U.S. Naval Observatory Directorate of Time, the timekeeper for the U.S. and North America. Most systems will use the Network Time Protocol (NTP) for synchronization. When the clock for the system running a software Tap is synchronized to the Directorate of Time, the time stamps that are provided in your Intercepts will be relevant and useful to law enforcement.
  3.12 Warrant ID
  When you set up an Intercept, the configuration will require a warrant ID (also known as a ''case ID'') that uniquely identifies the Intercept and associates it with the case. When an Intercept is configured to use a warrant ID, the Tap software must embed the warrant ID in the Packet Capture (PCAP) file so the LEA can correlate the Intercept data with the proper law enforcement case.
  3.13 Recordkeeping
  In general, it is recommended that you keep records of the Intercepts you perform for at least 5 years, unless you negotiate a different period of record retention with the LEA. Records should include court documents, hash files from disk captures, and all written communications to and from the LEA.
  There are many reasons why you might be required to communicate with the LEA regarding an Intercept. For example, you may negotiate to report OOB traffic using your DHCP or RADIUS logs. If this is the case, be sure to filter out non-targeted traffic from the OOB reports, and store copies of those reports for the required period of time. Virtual Private Network (VPN) and other types of authentication event logs may also need to be reported, stored, and kept confidential. In addition, Intercept problems, account and service changes, and even Quality of Service (QoS) modifications associated with the target may need to be reported, and these reports should also be stored and kept confidential.
  An LEA will serve a WISP with the appropriate Lawful Authorization identifying the Intercept Target, the communications and information to be intercepted, and the service areas where the communications and information are to be delivered. Once this Lawful Authorization is served on the WISP, the WISP must perform the specified Interception over the specified period of time, and provide for the delivery of the intercepted communications and other associated information to the LEA storage facilities or equipment. This authorization may require the Interception of all Target Traffic and OOB/CII to and from the subject, or it may only require a subset of this traffic, such as time stamped packet headers.
  Because CALEA covers a wide range of compliance requirements, every network design choice made by the WISP may be important, and these choices will affect how and where within the Network the specified communications and information can be intercepted and collected.
  5.1 Access Point Configuration Considerations
  Wireless access points (APs) support direct communications between two wireless clients. To comply with CALEA, WISPs must understand the capabilities of their APs and the supported configuration options.
  Most APs have a parameter that will enable or prevent clients on the same AP from communicating with each other directly. Common names for this parameter include interclient communications, interBSS relay (StarOS and some other Linux-based APs), and forwarding (Mikrotik). It is also possible that the AP will refer to this parameter as something else.
  For APs that cannot performs Intercepts, this forwarding option must be set to prevent communications between clients, or the WISP will not be able to Intercept Target Traffic between clients using the same AP. The Packet Sniffer in StarOS and Mikrotik will not see data transmitted between two clients on the same AP unless they are on different IP subnets. It may still be difficult to perform Intercepts directly on APs that support it, so it is still recommended that forwarding be turned off so another Network device can be used to perform the Intercept.
  5.2 Bridged, Switched, Routed, and Dynamically Routed Networks
  5.2.1 Bridged vs. Switched Networks
  The term ''bridge'' can be confusing, so its use here is limited to a MAC-layer bridge that forwards packets based on the MAC addresses of the connected equipment. Under Linux and other operating systems, a MAC-layer bridge broadcasts inbound traffic to all interfaces until one of the devices responds with the destination MAC. Once a device responds on a specific interface, the bridge caches the MAC address of the responding device and associates future traffic destined for that MAC address with the same physical interface.
  A Layer 2 Local Area Netework (LAN) switch uses the same logic as a software bridge to forward packets, but it uses special application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to forward packets between physical interfaces. This means that both switches and MAC-layer bridges learn about what devices are connected in real time, and then dynamically change the flow of packets based on Layer 2 communications.
  A common way to perform an Intercept is to use a mirror port on a LAN switch where the Target Traffic is flowing, and then filter the traffic and package it for delivery to the LEA. Similarly, an operating system like Linux that performs MAC-layer bridging may also support the use of a software Tap that can perform the Intercept. With switched and bridged Networks, it is essential to perform the Intercept at the ''first hop'' interface, which is the last interface controlled by the WISP that faces the client. Failure to perform the Intercept at the last Target-facing interface can result in Intercept failure when the switch or bridge redirects traffic to another interface that bypasses the Intercept point. In addition, pay close attention to any virtual LANs (VLANs) used on the Network, because VLANs can hide traffic, and they can affect how traffic is forwarded.
  The interface closest to the customer is the only interface that can be relied on to carry all Target Traffic. In most WISP networks, this location is the Target-facing AP. If the AP is configured to prevent forwarding between local clients, local traffic on the AP will be routed to the next device, normally via Ethernet. It is this next device that must be capable of performing a lawful Intercept compliant with the WCS. Alternatively, a passive hardware Tap can be installed in this location, and the output from the Tap can be connected to another device that will perform the required filtering and delivery.
  5.2.2 Routed Networks
  In a routed Network, packets transmitted by interconnected hosts are forwarded by Network Elements called ''routers'' until the packets reach their final destination. Packets are forwarded to the next upstream, downstream, or peer router, depending on the entries in the router's routing table. The routing tables are configured to create Network traffic flows that achieve the service provider's goals for the network.
  In statically routed IP networks, each packet follows a predictable path because the routing tables do not change. As long as the Tap point can see 100% of the Target Traffic, that Tap point will provide a valid location to perform the Intercept. With most IP networks, the Target's IP address can be correlated to the Target at any location throughout the network, and so many different Tap points could theoretically be used.
  Service providers should consider the risks and efficiencies associated with performing Intercepts at different locations in the Network. Tap locations including the Network Operations Center (NOC) and the remote POP that provides service to the Target may see 100% of the Target Traffic, but there are always additional risks associated with moving the Tap and storage points away from the Target.
  For example, some service providers plan to locate a single Tap at the Internet gateway for their Network. Using an Internet gateway as the Tap location can add several levels of complexity to a successful Intercept. On the surface, many Network designs allow clients to communicate directly with each other over the same AP or between two POPs in the same network. In these Networks, local traffic will never reach an Internet gateway, and the Internet gateway will never see 100% of the Target Traffic, which renders it an invalid Tap point.
  It may still be possible for some small Networks with a single POP to perform reliable Intercepts at an Internet gateway. In this case, all Network traffic (i.e. all traffic local to the APs, all traffic between the APs, and all Internet traffic) must be routed across the Tap point. In larger networks, this approach is impractical or impossible. So the ideal plan for most networks is to install Intercept-enabled equipment at the remote POPs to ensure all Target Traffic will be collected before any routing decision is made.
  There may also be times when the ideal Intercept location cannot be used. A routed network still makes it possible to use Tap points that are upstream to the Target-facing interface. Depending on the Network topology, IP-based Intercepts performed at the head-end, on a strategic backhaul, or by an Internet gateway could all be CALEA-compliant if 100% of the Target Traffic crosses the collection point, and there are no OOB events like DHCP or Point-to_Point Protocol (PPP) authentication being used by the Target.
  Note that with the WCS, a safe harbor can only be achieved when OOB events like DHCP and PPP authentication are reported using the specified Extensible Markup Language (XML) framework. Even so, if you cannot collect OOB traffic from the Target-facing interface, a methodology may be negotiated with the LEA that moves the Tap point upstream, and uses filtered logs to report OOB events. This would not provide a safe harbor under the WCS, but it may still offer an effective compliance option that is acceptable to the LEA.
  In most cases, it is either impossible or impractical to move the Intercept location away from the Target-facing interface. Consider a remote tower location or POP where the Target connects. Local traffic across the AP is not being forwarded, so that traffic is routed off the AP where it can be intercepted. If the Tap point is moved away from the POP where the Target connects, then all the local AP traffic would have to be backhauled to the head-end of the network where the Intercept can be performed (before the traffic is finally routed back to the originating POP). This unlikely strategy wastes valuable bandwidth, and it adds new points of failure that could make Intercepts less reliable. A better approach would be to locate the Tap at the POP closest to the Target, and then backhaul the Intercept data to a collection server at the head-end of the Network. This would make Intercept reliability dependent on backhaul reliability, but it puts the Tap point at the best possible location, which eliminates many Intercept pitfalls.
  Some WISPs operate networks that have both routed and bridged segments. In all cases, the last customer-facing interface is always the best location to perform an Intercept.
  5.2.3 Dynamically Routed Networks
  In a dynamically routed Network, packets may follow different paths to multiple Internet gateways depending on the network configuration and prevailing conditions. Like statically routed networks, packets in a dynamically routed network are forwarded to the ''next hop'' based on the router's routing table. But with dynamically routed networks, the active routes in the routing table may change depending on different conditions. Therefore, it is always a good idea to understand how dynamic routing works if an Intercept is performed on a dynamically routed Network at a location that is upstream from the Target-facing interface.
  In most cases, full mesh networks are dynamically routed using Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), or a similar internal routing protocol. If the Target Traffic can only take two paths out of the associated POP, then it may be possible to set up two Intercept points on the two upstream routers. With more interfaces leaving the POP, more Intercept points might need to be added. This approach introduces unnecessary complexity and points of failure to the Intercept, so it is always best to avoid this when possible.
  Whether the Network is switched, bridged, routed, or dynamically routed, lawful Intercepts will always be the most reliable when they are performed at the last Target-facing interface in the Network. Under conditions where it may not be possible to use the last Target-facing interface, the Intercept may still be performed at an upstream location assuming OOB/CII event delivery is also handled in a CALEA-compliant manner. In dynamically routed networks, however, this may require an IP-based Intercept to be set up on each Internet gateway or on multiple backbone routers.
  5.3 Tunnels, Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and Encryption
  If the service provider employs tunneling or VPN technologies within the Network, those data treatments must not be present in the Intercept data that is delivered to the LEA. In addition, if WPA is used to encrypt wireless links, the service provider must provide the LEA with decrypted data. Tunnels, VPNs and encrypted connections can render certain Tap locations useless, so the Tap point for an Intercept should be located in a place where the Target Traffic will not be tunneled or encrypted. Tunnels or VPNs that are created and controlled by the Target do not require any special attention by the service provider, other than ensuring that 100% of the Target Traffic is collected.
  5.4 Network Address Translation (NAT)
  In its most common application, Network Address Translation (NAT) is a firewalling technique that maps multiple private IP addresses to a single public IP address. When NAT is used in a service provider's network, it is necessary to perform all lawful Intercepts on the private side (or downstream side) of the NAT. All private IPs share a single public IP address on the public side of a NAT point, so it is impossible to filter out a single IP address on the public side.
  5.4.1 NAT on Access Points (APs)
  An AP that uses NAT can make Intercepts difficult to perform. If the AP does not support lawful Intercepts, and it does not include an option to disable NAT, it may be impossible to perform a compliant Intercept. Alternatively, if the AP supports disabling NAT, then this may be the easiest solution. If the Network must still perform the NAT function, then it may be possible to move the NAT point away from the AP so the NAT can be performed upstream, and the NAT point will not cause problems with the Intercept. In this way, the Intercept can be performed at a location in the Network where the Target can be correlated with a single IP address, and the Network traffic can be filtered down to that IP address.
  5.4.2 Hot Spots
  Many hot-spot devices use NAT. The same Intercept issues that apply to NAT in a traditional service provider's Network also apply to hot-spot Networks. For these devices, you may or may not be able to isolate a specific Target, and the ''NAT exemption'' provided in Version 1 of the WCS may be needed to secure a safe harbor.
  In addition to NAT issues, hot-spot Intercepts require the same kind of correlation between the Target and the Target's MAC or IP address. One exception to this is a Network that provides free public Internet access. Be sure to work closely with the LEA to negotiate an acceptable Intercept methodology when the service you are providing does not require user accounts, as might be the case with a free hot-spot Internet service.
  5.4.3 Non-compliant Equipment
  Section 106 of CALEA requires equipment manufacturers to support their customers' CALEA compliance needs. Unfortunately, not all manufacturers are in compliance with Section 106, and some have never developed products or product updates that allow their customers to comply with CALEA.
  A common example of this occurs with a franchised Internet service that uses low-cost APs that are hard-wired to perform NAT. NAT cannot be disabled on this AP, and it cannot disable forwarding between local clients either. So there is only one place where a CALEA-compliant Intercept could be performed, and that is onboard the AP itself. In this case, the manufacturer never developed onboard Intercept capabilities for the AP, so there is nothing the WISP can do to make the device compliant beyond lobbying the manufacturer to develop Intercept support for the AP'--or replacing the AP altogether.
  There is good news for those who operate APs that cannot disable NAT. The WCS comes in two versions that supersede each other: Version 1 provides a safe harbor for service providers with APs that cannot disable NAT, and Version 2 eliminates this special ''NAT exemption'' after 12 months. Version 1 of the WCS allows Intercepts to be performed on the public side of a NAT point where it is impossible to filter Target Traffic, if and only if the device does not support other compliance options, there is no other location on the Network where a compliant Intercept can be performed, and the only remaining option for compliance is replacement of the non-compliant equipment.
  Service providers must begin preparation in advance of receiving the Lawful Authorization to perform an Intercept. This is particularly important for compliance with CALEA's transparency requirements, but service providers may also be deemed non-compliant in any area where the service provider is not adequately prepared. There could be many ways to accomplish full CALEA compliance with a given Network, but the service provider must make these preparations before being served.
  6.1 MAC Address Records
  To properly correlate MAC-based Intercepts to a specific Target, the service provider must record and maintain MAC address information for each customer. Some network management systems can perform this function for the service provider, and will store the MAC address for the equipment provided to each end customer. If the customer uses a manually assigned IP address without PPP authentication, DHCP, or some other IP assignment mechanism, it may be possible to perform a compliant Intercept without knowing the Target's MAC address.
  In most service provider networks, IP addresses are assigned using a Layer 2 mechanism, and the associated Layer 2 events will either need to be captured and delivered in the proper XML format for full compliance with the WCS, or logs for DHCP or RADIUS will have to be filtered and delivered to the LEA as an alternative that is not specified under the WCS. Under these conditions, it is critical that the Target's MAC address be accurately recorded and available when a Lawful Authorization is received.
  6.2 IP Address Records
  To properly correlate IP-based Intercepts to a specific Target, the service provider must record and maintain IP address information for all customers. With equipment that has a manually assigned IP address, this can be done by hand in a notebook or in a computer file that gets updated when new IP addresses are assigned to customer equipment.
  In most service provider networks, IP addresses are assigned dynamically using DHCP or RADIUS. Even when the XML reporting standard from the WCS is followed, it is recommended that the unfiltered logs from these systems be archived to ensure the intercepted IP address can be correlated with the Target. Changes to the Target's IP address during an Intercept may cause the Intercept to fail, so it is critical to use sufficiently long lease times or statically assigned IPs to ensure the IP address of the Target is not reassigned to another customer in the middle of an Intercept.
  Like MAC address records, IP address assignment events can be reported to the LEA using the WCS XML framework, which is required to provide a safe harbor. Alternatively, the method for reporting IP address assignments to the Target's equipment can be negotiated with the LEA so that filtered logs can be used to correlate the IP address to the Target. This method does not provide a safe harbor under the WCS, however it may be the easiest solution if you do not have software that reports OOB events in the XML framework specified by the WCS.
  Service providers are allowed to alter their Network configuration before receiving a Lawful Authorization. Network alterations may be required to ensure a reliable Intercept of DHCP and other OOB events. The service provider should not expect the LEA to allow reconfiguration of the Network once an Intercept order has been served. This is not allowed in most cases.
  6.2.1 DHCP and Dynamically Assigned IP Addresses
  Under normal DHCP operation, the DHCP server assigns an IP address from the available IP address pool to the customer premise equipment for a fixed period of time called the ''lease.'' With this common approach, the DHCP server will only have information on the MAC address of the equipment that was assigned the IP address, so the service provider must have a record of the MAC address associated with each customer. Once the MAC address is documented for all customers, the DHCP server can provide a list of the ''current'' leases that can be used to determine the IP address of a Target when you receive a Lawful Authorization.
  6.2.2 DHCP and Statically Assigned IP Addresses
  Most modern DHCP servers support the assignment of a static IP address to a specific MAC address. The main advantage of this method is that the lease for the IP address is effectively permanent, and there is no chance that the DHCP server will be assigning a new IP address to the Target while an Intercept is being performed. With statically assigned IP addresses, the DHCP server still uses the MAC address of the customer's equipment to assign the IP address, and so this method will still require the service provider to keep records of the MAC address associated with each customer account.
  6.2.3 DHCP and RADIUS
  Some DHCP servers support the ability to authenticate users and assign an IP address to the Customer Premise Equipment (CPE) using a RADIUS server. A RADIUS server is essentially a database that holds customer account information including a user name and password, and information on how IP addresses will be assigned to customers using DHCP. When DHCP works with a RADIUS server, the RADIUS server determines whether a static or dynamic IP address is assigned to each customer, and how long the lease will be for dynamic IPs.
  With DHCP and RADIUS, the IP address space can be managed from a central RADIUS server. In most cases, RADIUS makes it easier to maintain the required Intercept records that are used to associate an IP or MAC address with a specific Target. If the service provider is already running a RADIUS server, and the DHCP server already works with RADIUS, this approach is recommended over other options because of the additional records, control and security the RADIUS server provides.
  Service providers have many different equipment types and manufacturers to choose from as they deploy their networks. Before CALEA, service providers could adopt a network design and the associated equipment without concern for having a Tap point that can see all traffic to and from a specific customer. This is no longer true.
  There are many designs and equipment choices available that make compliance easier. The information that follows is not an endorsement of a particular product or manufacturer, but is intended to give some guidance in selecting gear that can be used to build compliant networks.
  7.1 Access Points (APs)
  The most important AP feature is the ability to Intercept or reroute communications between local clients using the AP. If you can't Intercept the AP's local traffic, then your Network and Intercept plan are not compliant with CALEA or the WCS.
  If the AP will be bridged, then you can expect all of the APs traffic to be accessible for Intercept at the next device in the Network that is connected to the AP. In most cases, when the Target connects to this AP, the AP or the next connected device is the best location on the Network to perform the Intercept.
  If the AP will be configured as a router, you may want to look for a product that directly supports the Intercept function. There are a number of APs currently on the market that already have this feature built in, or are in the process of adding this capability.
  If the AP needs to run NAT, then it also needs the ability to run the Intercept directly. WCS Version 1 allows networks that cannot disable NAT on APs to be protected with a safe harbor. However, this exemption is only available for a limited time, and any new equipment that you install should be capable of full compliance with the WCS Version 2 that eliminates this exemption after 12 months.
  7.2 Customer Premise Equipment (CPE)
  Like APs, some premise gear has the built-in capability to perform a CALEA intercept. Many Linux-based Network devices have this capability today by storing files locally, streaming the data to a storage repository on the Network, or streaming the data directly to an LEA collector.
  If the Target does not have administrative access to the CPE and your CPE has a built-in Sniffer, you may want to collect the data directly at the CPE. It is critical that any configuration changes you make do not affect the way the Target perceives the Network. Doing so would break the transparency requirement.
  In general, we do not recommend using the CPE Intercept option, because there are additional issues that must be addressed, and many devices do not support this capability. The option is worth mentioning, because for some service providers, it could provide the easiest way to capture of 100% of the Target Traffic without any concern for the Network topology.
  7.3 Infrastructure Equipment
  The part of your infrastructure that is neither CPE nor AP may also have the ability to perform a CALEA-compliant intercept. If your Network configuration supports the collection of required data at one of your backbone routers, this may be the best plan because these devices will often have more processing power, which may be needed depending on the Network load and packet-processing overhead. An Intercept-enabled router can sit behind the AP, perform the Intercept, and route local traffic back to the AP without wasting any bandwidth over a backhaul link.
  CALEA does not specifically define a data delivery format. The data delivery format is specified in industry standards like the WISPA CALEA Standard for IP Network Access (WISPA-CS-IPNA). The WCS was designed with input from the FBI to provide an Intercept delivery standard and safe harbor for wireless and wireline service providers that do not operate in-network VoIP services.
  The following describes the preferred methods for data collection and delivery to the LEA as specified by the WCS. Service providers are reminded that data to be collected in an Intercept must be specified in the Lawful Authorization. How that data is collected and delivered will depend on the Network design and the equipment used in the Network.
  8.1 Isolation
  As described in earlier sections, the Target Traffic must be filtered so that Network traffic from other users is not delivered to the LEA. This includes OOB and CII event reporting.
  8.2 Software, Data Formats, and Final Delivery
  When a standard like the WCS is released, there may be no software available that fully complies with the standard. The WCS is already ahead of this curve, because software like the PCAP library and tcpdump are freely available including source code. The WISPA CALEA committee worked very hard to leverage widely deployed software like tcpdump.
  Unfortunately, some CALEA requirements were impossible to support with existing software. For example, some versions of tcpdump may need to be updated to support time stamps. The entire XML framework for reporting OOB events may also need to be implemented in relevant applications like dhcpd and pppd, or as part of a Sniffer like tcpdump or OpenCALEA.
  So where does this leave WCS compliance? In networks with no OOB or CII events, it is possible to achieve full compliance with a safe harbor. In networks that have OOB and CII events, a safe harbor with the WCS is not possible until the required software is released.
  Even so, the WCS can be used as a CALEA compliance standard for those points that can be achieved practically. The remaining points of compliance, like OOB event reporting that is not supported by currently available software, will have to be negotiated with the LEA so both parties can agree on a delivery format and method before the Intercept begins.
  8.2.1 Software & Data Formats
  For Intercepts of broadband communications under the WCS, the data should be buffered on a file server and collected in the PCAP file format with all CII and OOB events stored in a file that is separate from the Communications Content. Standard Linux distributions, many Linux routers, and many Linux-based APs have a built-in capture facility that can store data in PCAP format.
  The PCAP format is an industry standard file format that contains captured network communications. OpenCALEA, tcpdump, and other applications support the required PCAP format, but at the time of this writing, none of these applications could produce the XML required to deliver OOB/CII reports. As a result, this point of compliance would need to be negotiated with the LEA.
  As a negotiated alternative for delivery of OOB/CII events, the logs from different systems that generate these events can be filtered to include only those events that pertain to the Target. For example, if an IP address is assigned by a DHCP server, then the logs from that DHCP server would be used. Log filtering may be performed under Linux with custom scripts or a utility such as grep. The LEA should be willing to accept this alternative format, or recommend another format that can be implemented easily.
  In addition to reporting the Communications Content and OOB/CII events, an MD5 hash file must also be generated for the PCAP file to ensure the content of the file was not changed after delivery to the LEA. Under Linux, a program called md5sum is commonly used to produce this hash file (refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Md5sum for more info). Other programs may be available to accomplish the same results.
  To reliably produce the required hash files, you can set up automatic begin and end times for each PCAP file that is created. This can be done on a daily basis during the Intercept, with the previous day's capture ending at 12:01 am and the next day's capture starting at 12:00 am, just to provide a few seconds of overlap to ensure that no data is lost. The initial start time and final end time should be specified in the Lawful Authorization for the Intercept. Once you have automated the time when each day's PCAP file will be initiated and closed, it is then possible to automate md5sum to generate the hash file.
  Automation like this under Linux often leverages a scheduling program called cron, which can be used to launch programs like tcpdump, OpenCALEA tap, and md5sum. Other operating systems may provide similar functionality in different applications.
  8.2.2 Final Delivery
  With the WCS, final delivery to the LEA is not really delivery at all, but instead might be referred to as ''pick-up.'' In push systems like the ATIS CALEA standards, the Intercept is streamed directly to the LEA in real time. This can be a serious problem when the LEA has more Intercepts running than they have facilities to receive them. The WCS addresses this issue and the issue of reliable delivery over the Internet, by creating a buffer in the form of a file server. The LEA must be given access to this file server so the files can be pulled down at the LEA's convenience.
  The WCS does not specify anything about the file server or the software that is used for the LEA pick up. While most service providers will use a Linux file server to buffer captures, other operating systems could be used to achieve the same results. The WCS also does not specify the method by which the LEA accesses the capture and event files. FTP is commonly used to transfer files like this, but HTTP, NFS, and other file transfer protocols could also be used. The LEA may require an encrypted file transfer, and some service providers will adopt secure FTP for this function. But again, many other network applications could be used to achieve the same results, including secure HTTP, secure copy (scp), and other encrypted file transfer protocols.
  The specifics of user name and password for authentication, the file transfer protocol used by the LEA to pick up files, and the security measures such as encryption that might be used, are all left for the service provider and LEA to negotiate. If these methods were specified in the WCS, it would limit the options available to the service provider and LEA for final delivery. Given the existing range of options for file transfer, and the potential for new delivery methods to be developed, the CALEA committee chose the most flexible approach to compliance, which was to leave these final delivery details to be negotiated with the LEA.
Andrew Weissmann: FBI wants real-time Gmail, Dropbox spying power.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 18:22
  For now, law enforcement has trouble monitoring Gmail communications in real timeImage courtesy Google
  Despite the pervasiveness of law enforcement surveillance of digital communication, the FBI still has a difficult time monitoring Gmail, Google Voice, and Dropbox in real time. But that may change soon, because the bureau says it has made gaining more powers to wiretap all forms of Internet conversation and cloud storage a ''top priority'' this year.
  Last week, during a talk for the American Bar Association in Washington, D.C., FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann discussed some of the pressing surveillance and national security issues facing the bureau. He gave a few updates on the FBI's efforts to address what it calls the ''going dark'' problem'--how the rise in popularity of email and social networks has stifled its ability to monitor communications as they are being transmitted. It's no secret that under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the feds can easily obtain archive copies of emails. When it comes to spying on emails or Gchat in real time, however, it's a different story.
  That's because a 1994 surveillance law called the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act only allows the government to force Internet providers and phone companies to install surveillance equipment within their networks. But it doesn't cover email, cloud services, or online chat providers like Skype. Weissmann said that the FBI wants the power to mandate real-time surveillance of everything from Dropbox and online games (''the chat feature in Scrabble'') to Gmail and Google Voice. ''Those communications are being used for criminal conversations,'' he said.
  While it is true that CALEA can only be used to compel Internet and phone providers to build in surveillance capabilities into their networks, the feds do have some existing powers to request surveillance of other services. Authorities can use a ''Title III'' order under the ''Wiretap Act'' to ask email and online chat providers furnish the government with ''technical assistance necessary to accomplish the interception.'' However, the FBI claims this is not sufficient because mandating that providers help with ''technical assistance'' is not the same thing as forcing them to ''effectuate'' a wiretap. In 2011, then-FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni'--Weissmann's predecessor'--stated that Title III orders did not provide the bureau with an "effective lever" to "encourage providers" to set up live surveillance quickly and efficiently. In other words, the FBI believes it doesn't have enough power under current legislation to strong-arm companies into providing real-time wiretaps of communications.
  Because Gmail is sent between a user's computer and Google's servers using SSL encryption, for instance, the FBI can't intercept it as it is flowing across networks and relies on the company to provide it with access. Google spokesman Chris Gaither hinted that it is already possible for the company to set up live surveillance under some circumstances. ''CALEA doesn't apply to Gmail but an order under the Wiretap Act may,'' Gaither told me in an email. ''At some point we may expand our transparency report to cover this topic in more depth, but until then I'm not able to provide additional information.''
  Either way, the FBI is not happy with the current arrangement and is on a crusade for more surveillance authority. According to Weissmann, the bureau is working with ''members of intelligence community'' to craft a proposal for new Internet spy powers as ''a top priority this year.'' Citing security concerns, he declined to reveal any specifics. ''It's a very hard thing to talk about publicly,'' he said, though acknowledged that ''it's something that there should be a public debate about.''
WikiLeaks Releases Full Text Of Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) - disinformation
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 16:24
  The perceived ills of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) has been well documented here at disinformation, but until now the text has not been publicly available. WikiLeaks has rectified that:
  Today, 13 November 2013, WikiLeaks released the secret negotiated draft text for the entire TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Intellectual Property Rights Chapter. The TPP is the largest-ever economic treaty, encompassing nations representing more than 40 per cent of the world's GDP. The WikiLeaks release of the text comes ahead of the decisive TPP Chief Negotiators summit in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 19-24 November 2013. The chapter published by WikiLeaks is perhaps the most controversial chapter of the TPP due to its wide-ranging effects on medicines, publishers, internet services, civil liberties and biological patents. Significantly, the released text includes the negotiation positions and disagreements between all 12 prospective member states.
  The TPP is the forerunner to the equally secret US-EU pact TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership), for which President Obama initiated US-EU negotiations in January 2013. Together, the TPP and TTIP will cover more than 60 per cent of global GDP. Both pacts exclude China.
  Since the beginning of the TPP negotiations, the process of drafting and negotiating the treaty's chapters has been shrouded in an unprecedented level of secrecy. Access to drafts of the TPP chapters is shielded from the general public. Members of the US Congress are only able to view selected portions of treaty-related documents in highly restrictive conditions and under strict supervision. It has been previously revealed that only three individuals in each TPP nation have access to the full text of the agreement, while 600 'trade advisers' '' lobbyists guarding the interests of large US corporations such as Chevron, Halliburton, Monsanto and Walmart '' are granted privileged access to crucial sections of the treaty text.
  The TPP negotiations are currently at a critical stage. The Obama administration is preparing to fast-track the TPP treaty in a manner that will prevent the US Congress from discussing or amending any parts of the treaty. Numerous TPP heads of state and senior government figures, including President Obama, have declared their intention to sign and ratify the TPP before the end of 2013.
  WikiLeaks' Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange stated: ''The US administration is aggressively pushing the TPP through the US legislative process on the sly.'' The advanced draft of the Intellectual Property Rights Chapter, published by WikiLeaks on 13 November 2013, provides the public with the fullest opportunity so far to familiarise themselves with the details and implications of the TPP.
  The 95-page, 30,000-word IP Chapter lays out provisions for instituting a far-reaching, transnational legal and enforcement regime, modifying or replacing existing laws in TPP member states. The Chapter's subsections include agreements relating to patents (who may produce goods or drugs), copyright (who may transmit information), trademarks (who may describe information or goods as authentic) and industrial design.
  The longest section of the Chapter '' 'Enforcement' '' is devoted to detailing new policing measures, with far-reaching implications for individual rights, civil liberties, publishers, internet service providers and internet privacy, as well as for the creative, intellectual, biological and environmental commons. Particular measures proposed include supranational litigation tribunals to which sovereign national courts are expected to defer, but which have no human rights safeguards. The TPP IP Chapter states that these courts can conduct hearings with secret evidence. The IP Chapter also replicates many of the surveillance and enforcement provisions from the shelved SOPA and ACTA treaties.
  The consolidated text obtained by WikiLeaks after the 26-30 August 2013 TPP meeting in Brunei '' unlike any other TPP-related documents previously released to the public '' contains annotations detailing each country's positions on the issues under negotiation. Julian Assange emphasises that a ''cringingly obsequious'' Australia is the nation most likely to support the hardline position of US negotiators against other countries, while states including Vietnam, Chile and Malaysia are more likely to be in opposition. Numerous key Pacific Rim and nearby nations '' including Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and, most significantly, Russia and China '' have not been involved in the drafting of the treaty.
  In the words of WikiLeaks' Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange, ''If instituted, the TPP's IP regime would trample over individual rights and free expression, as well as ride roughshod over the intellectual and creative commons. If you read, write, publish, think, listen, dance, sing or invent; if you farm or consume food; if you're ill now or might one day be ill, the TPP has you in its crosshairs.''
  Current TPP negotiation member states are the United States, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Chile, Singapore, Peru, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei.
  Read the full secret TPP treaty IP chapter here
Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 16:03
  WikiLeaks Release of Secret Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP)Advanced Intellectual Property Chapter for All 12 Nations with Negotiating Positions (August 30 2013 consolidated bracketed negotiating text)
  This Document Contains TPP CONFIDENTIAL Information
  TPP Negotiations, R18
  MODIFIED HANDLING AUTHORIZED
  IP Group
  Intellectual Property [Rights] Chapter
  30 August2013
  For the purposes of this Chapter:
  Intellectual propertyrefers to all categories of intellectual property that are the subject of Sections 1 through 7 of Part II of the TRIPS Agreement [].
  [NZ/CL/PE/VN/BN/MY/SG/CA/MXpropose; US/JP oppose: The objectives of this Chapter are:
  Enhance the role of intellectual property in promoting economic and social development, particularly in relation to the new digital economy, technological innovation, the [PE: generation,] transfer and dissemination of technology and trade;
  reduce impediments to trade and investment by promoting deeper economic integration through effective and adequate creation, utilization, protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights, taking into account the different levels of economic development and capacity as well as differences in national legal systems;
  maintain a balance between the rights of intellectual property holders and the legitimate interests of users and the community in subject matter protected by intellectual property.
  protect the ability of Parties to identify, promote access to and preserve the public domain;
  Ensure that measures and procedures to enforce intellectual property rights do not themselves become barriers to legitimate trade;
  Promote operational efficiency of intellectual property systems, in particular through quality examination procedures during the granting of intellectual property rights.]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY/VN propose. g. The protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights should contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations.
  Support each Party's right to protect public health, including by facilitating timely access to affordable medicines.]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY propose : 1. Each Party may, in formulating or amending its laws and regulations, adopt measures necessary to protect public health and nutrition, and to promote the public interest in sectors of vital importance to its socio-economic and technological development, provided that such measures are consistent with the provisions of this Chapter.
  2. Each Party may adopt or maintain appropriate measures, provided that they are consistent with the provisions of this Chapter, to prevent the abuse of intellectual property rights by right holders or the resort to practices which unreasonably restrain trade or adversely affect the international transfer of technology.
  3. Each Party may adopt or maintain, consistently with the other provisions of this Chapter, appropriate measures to prevent or control practices or conditions that may in particular cases constitute an abuse of intellectual property rights having an adverse effect on competition in the relevant market.]]
  Each Party shall give effect to the provisions of this Chapter. A Party may, but shall not be obliged to, provide more extensive protection for, and enforcement of, intellectual property rights under its law than is required by this Chapter, provided that such protection and enforcement does not contravene the provisions of this Chapter. Each Party shall be free to determine the appropriate method of implementing the provisions of this Chapter within its own legal system and practice.
  The Parties affirm their commitment to the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health(WT/MIN(01)/DEC/2).
  The Parties have reached the following understandings regarding this Chapter:
  (a) The obligations of this Chapter do not and should not prevent a Party from taking measures to protect public health by promoting access to medicines for all, in particular concerning cases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, [US oppose: chagas] and other epidemics as well as circumstances of extreme urgency or national emergency. Accordingly, while reiterating their commitment to this Chapter, the Parties affirm that this Chapter can and should be interpreted and implemented in a manner supportive of each Party's right to protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all.
  (b) In recognition of the commitment to access to medicines that are supplied in accordance with the Decision of the General Council of 30 August 2003 on the Implementation of Paragraph Six of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (WT/L/540) and the WTO General Council Chairman's statement accompanying the Decision (JOB(03)/177, WT/GC/M/82) [SG/BN/VN/PE/CL/CA/MY/NZ/US/AU/MX/JP: , as well as the Decision on the Amendment of the TRIPS Agreement, adopted by the General Council, 6 December 2005 US/MY propose: and the WTO General Council Chairperson's statement accompanying the Decision (WT/GC/M/100)] (collectively, the "TRIPS/health solution"), this Chapter does not and should not prevent the effective utilization of the TRIPS/health solution.
  (c) With respect to the aforementioned matters, if [US oppose: any waiver of any provision of the TRIPS Agreement, or any] [US propose: an] amendment of the TRIPS Agreement, enters into force with respect to the Parties, and a Party's application of a measure in conformity with that [US oppose: waiver or] amendment [US oppose: is contrary to the obligations of] [US propose: violates] this Chapter, the Parties shall immediately consult in order to adapt this Chapter as appropriate in the light of the [US oppose: waiver or] amendment.
  1. [US: Further to Article -AA.2,] the Parties affirm their existing rights and obligations with respect to each other under the TRIPS Agreement [CL/PE: and any other multilateral agreements relating to intellectual property to which they are party] [MX propose: The TRIPS Agreement is incorporated into and made part of this Agreement,mutatis mutandis.][CA Propose: 1. Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as a limitation to the flexibilities, exceptions and limitations set out on the TRIPS Agreement and any other multilateral agreement relating to intellectual property to which they are party.]
  [CL/NZ propose; US/AU/JP/MX oppose: 2. Nothing in this Chapter shall derogate from existing rights and obligations that Parties have to each other under the TRIPS Agreement or other multilateral agreements, such as those concluded or administered under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).]
  [CA propose; MX/US oppose: 2. Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, the Parties shall interpret this Chapter in such a way as to be [complementary to / compatible with] their rights and obligations under multilateral treaties concluded or administered under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to which they are party, especially with regards to measures aimed at protecting public health and protecting equal access to knowledge and food.]
  [CL/NZ/VN/BN/MY/PE:3. [Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter,] Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as a limitation to the flexibilities, exceptions and limitations set out on the TRIPS Agreement and any other multilateral agreement relating to intellectual property to which they are party, especially with regards to measures aimed at protecting equal access to knowledge, food and public health.]]
  [US/AU propose; CL/NZ/MY/PE/BN/VN/CA/JP/MXoppose:4. Each Party shall ratify or accede to the following agreements by the date of entry into force of this Agreement:
  Patent Cooperation Treaty(1970), as amended in 1979;
  Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property(1967);
  Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works(1971);
  Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme-Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite(1974);
  Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks(1989);
  Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure(1977), as amended in 1980;
  International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants[MX propose: (1961) as revised in 1972, 1978 or] (1991) (UPOV Convention);
  Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks(2006);
  WIPO Copyright Treaty(1996); and
  WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty(1996).]
  [US/AU/NZ/PE/CA/JP/SG/MXpropose : 5. Each Party shall notify the WTO of its acceptance of the Protocol amending the TRIPS Agreement done at Geneva on December 6, 2005.]
  [US/SG propose; CL/MY/NZ/PE//VN/BN/CA/JP/MXoppose: 6. Each Party shall make all reasonable efforts to ratify or accede to the following agreements by the date of entry into force of the Agreement:
  [SG oppose: (a)Patent Law Treaty(2000); and]
  (b)Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs(1999).]
  1. In respect of all categories of intellectual property covered in this Chapter, each Party shall accord to nationals [] of the other Party treatment no less favorable than it accords to its own nationals with regard to the protection [] [NZ/BN/MY/CA/JP/SG/VN oppose: and enjoyment of such intellectual property rights, and any benefits derived from such rights.][NZ/VN/BN/MY/CL/PE/JP/SGpropose; US/AUoppose: of intellectual property, subject to the exceptions provided in the TRIPS Agreement and in those multilateral agreements concluded under the auspices of WIPO.] [CL/AU/NZ/BN/PEpropose: With respect to secondary uses of phonograms by means of analog communications and free over-the-air radio broadcasting, however, a Party may limit the rights of the performersand producers of the other Party to the rights its persons are accorded within the jurisdiction of the other Party.]
  [VN: Articles 3 and 5 of the TRIPS shall apply with necessary modifications to the protection of intellectual property in this Chapter.]
  A Party may derogate from paragraph 1 [national treatment]in relation to its judicial and administrative procedures, including requiring a national of the other Party to designate an address for service of process in its territory, or to appoint an agent in its territory, provided that such derogation is:
  necessary to secure compliance with laws and regulations that are not inconsistent with this Chapter; and
  not applied in a manner that would constitute a disguised restriction on trade.
  [CL:3 Paragraphs 1 and 2 do] [US: Paragraph [Xnational treatment/judicial and administrative procedures] does] not apply to procedures in multilateral agreements concluded under the auspices of WIPO relating to the acquisition or maintenance of intellectual property rights.
  [PE/CL: With regards to the protection and defence of intellectual property referred to in this chapter, any advantage, favour, privilege or immunity granted by a Party to the nationals of any other country will be accorded immediately and unconditionally to the nationals of the other Parties. The exceptions to this obligation shall be in conformity with the pertinent dispositions referred to in articles 4 and 5 of the TRIPS Agreement.]
  [VN: Articles 4 and 5 of the TRIPS shall apply with necessary modifications to the protection of intellectual property in this Chapter.]
  [CL/NZ/VN/AU/BN/SG/PE/MY/MX/CApropose; US/JP oppose: 1. Nothing in this Chapter shall prevent a Party from adopting appropriate measures to prevent: (a) the abuse of intellectual property rights by right holders or the resort to practices that unreasonably restrain trade or adversely affect the international transfer of technology; and (b) anticompetitive practices that may result from the abuse of intellectual property rights;, provided that such measures are consistent with this Agreement. [PE propose; CL/AU oppose: Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to reduce the protection that the Parties agree on or have agreed on in benefit of the conservation or sustainable use of biodiversity.]]
  [NZ/AU/US/SG/MY/PE/VN/JP/MX propose: 1. [US: Further to Article ___ (Publication), and with the object of making the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights transparent,] Each Party shall ensure that its laws, regulations and procedures [VN: or administrative rulings of general application] concerning the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights [US: are in writing and are] [US oppose: shall be] published[], or where such publication is not [US/PE oppose: practical] [US/PE: practicable], are made publicly available [US/AU/NZ: in a national language in such a manner as to enable [AU oppose: governments and right holders] [AU: interested persons and Parties] to become acquainted with them.] [US/AU/NZ oppose: in at least the national language of that Party or in the English language.]]
  [NZ/AU/SG/MY/CA/MX/CL propose; VN/PE oppose: 2. Each Party shall endeavour to make available on the Internet [AU/NZ:
  its laws, regulations, procedures, and administrative rulings of general application concerning the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights; and]
  [JP oppose: those details of patent, trademark, design, plant variety protection and geographical indication applications that are open to public inspection under national law.]]
  [US/MX propose; BN oppose: 4. Nothing in this Chapter shall require a Party to disclose confidential information the disclosure of which would impede law enforcement or otherwise be contrary to the public interest [PE oppose: or would prejudice the legitimate commercial interests of particular enterprises, public or private].]
  [US propose: 1. Except as it otherwise provides, including in Article QQ.G.8__ (Berne 18/TRIPS 14.6), this Chapter gives rise to obligations in respect of all subject matter existing at the date of entry into force of this Agreement that is protected on that date in the territory of the Party where protection is claimed, or that meets or comes subsequently to meet the criteria for protection under this Chapter.]
  2. [CL/NZ/PE/MY/BN/VN/CA/MX oppose: Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, including Article QQ.G.8____ (Berne 18/TRIPS 14.6),]a Party shall not be required to restore protection to subject matter that on the date of entry into force of this Agreement has fallen into the public domain in its territory.
  3. This Chapter does not give rise to obligations in respect of acts that occurred before the date of entry into force of this Agreement.
  [CL/MY/NZ/VN/SG/BN/PE propose; US/AU/JP/MX oppose: The Parties are encouraged to establish international exhaustion of rights.]
  [CL/VN/PE propose: Each Party shall endeavour to provide relevant information to disseminate public domain, including appropriate tools that help to identify the [CL: extension] [VN: expiration] of the terms of protection of intellectual property rights.]
  [CL/VN propose: 1. The Parties recognize the importance of a rich and accessible public domain for their societies and the need that public domain material shall be free for its use by all persons.
  2. For purposes of paragraph 1, each Party shall endeavor to:
  identify subject matter that has fallen into the public domain within their respective jurisdictions;
  promote access to the public domain; and
  preserve the public domain.
  3. Actions to achieve the purposes referred to in paragraph 2, may include the development of publicly accessible data bases of registered rights, guidelines and other tools to enhance access to material in the public domain.
  4. Each Party shall make its best efforts to promote cooperation among the Parties to identify and facilitate access to subject matter that has fallen into the public domain and share updated information related to right holders and terms of protection.]
  [CL/VN Alternative Proposal:
  1. The Parties recognize the importance of a rich and accessible public domain for their societies and the need that public domain material shall be free for its use by all persons.
  2. For this purpose, Parties may include the development of publicly accessible data bases of registered rights, guidelines and other tools to enhance access to material in the public domain.
  3. Each Party shall make its best efforts to promote cooperation among the Parties to identify and faciliate access to subject matter that has fallen into the public domain and share updated information related to right holders and terms of protection.]
  Note: We have not introduced braces into this section because party attributions are not clear based on the text.
  Each Party shall designate at least one contact point for the purpose of cooperation under this section.
  [NZ/CL/SG/BN/AU/MY/PE/VN/MX propose: 1. [AU/US oppose: Where a Party is a member of any of the following agreements, that Party shall, where appropriate and upon request by another Party, support that Party in implementing any of the following agreements] [AU/CA/JP/SG: A Party may seek to cooperate with other Parties to support its accession to, and implementation of, the agreements X-X ]:
  (a)Patent Cooperation Treaty;
  [PE/CA oppose: (b)Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks;
  (c)Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks;] and
  (d)Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks.]
  [JP/SG/PE propose: (e)International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (1991) (UPOV Convention)]
  [AU: 2. Each Party shall endeavor to provide such cooperation as appropriate and upon request.]
  [AU/CL/NZ/PE/SG/BN/MX/VN/MY/US/CA propose: The Parties shall endeavour to cooperate on the subject matter covered by this Chapter through appropriate cooordination, training and exchange of information between the intellectual property offices, [or other relevant institutions], of the Parties. Cooperation may cover such areas as:
  developments in domestic and international intellectual property policy
  intellectual property administration and registration systems
  education and awareness relating to intellectual property
  intellectual property issues relevant to:
  small and medium-sized enterprises
  science, technology & innovation activities[PE propose: , which may include generation, transfer and dissemination of technology.]
  policies involving the use of intellectual property for research, innovation and economic growth
  such other areas as may be agreed among [AU/NZ oppose: the] Parties.]
  [[AU/CL/MY/NZ/SG/PE/VN/CA/MX/BN/JP propose: In order to improve quality and efficiency in the Parties' patent systems,] The Parties shall endeavour to [US/SG propose: cooperate] [US oppose: establish a framework for cooperation] among their respective patent offices to facilitate the [AU/CL/MY/NZ/SG/PE/VN/CA/MX/BN/JP oppose: exploitation] [AU/CL/MY/NZ/SG/PE/VN/CA/MX/BN/JP propose: sharing and use] of search and examination work of other Parties. This may include:
  making search and examination results available to the patent offices of other Parties, and
  exchanges of information on quality assurance systems and quality standards relating to patent searching and examination;
  [JP propose; CL/PE oppose: (c) implementing and promoting the Patent Prosecution Highway;]
  [CL/AU/MY/NZ/SG/PE/VN/CA/MX/BN oppose: which may, among other things, facilitate work sharing.]]
  [JP proposal: 2. In the course of the cooperation referred to Paragraph 1, the Parties are encouraged not to require the applicants to submit search and examination results, including cited documents, made available by the patent offices of other Parties, with a view to reducing the procedural costs of the applicants.]
  Cooperation activities and initiatives undertaken under this Chapter shall be subject to the availability of resources, and on request and on terms and conditions mutually agreed upon between the Parties involved.[VN propose: , including the technical assistance for developing countries.]
  [NZ/US/AU/CL/PE/SG/CA/JP/MYpropose: 1. [VN/BN/MX oppose: No] Party may require, as a condition of registration, that a sign be visually perceptible, [VN/BN/MX oppose: nor may a Party] [VN/BN/MX propose: and] deny registration of a trademark solely on the ground that the sign of which it is composed is a sound [CL/CA/JP/MY oppose: or a scent] [CL/CA/MX/MY propose: Each Party may provide trademark protection for scents].] A Party may require a concise and accurate description, or graphical representation, or both, as applicable, of the trademark.
  1. Each Party shall provide that trademarks shall include collective marks and certification marks. A Party is not obligated to treat certification marks as a separate category in its domestic law, provided that such marks are protected.
  Each Party [JP/MX propose: may][ JP oppose: shall] also provide that signs that may serve as geographical indications are eligible for protection under its trademark system [][PE/NZ/MX/CL/BN/AU/US/JP/SG oppose; VN propose: A Party may provide that Signs descriptive of geographical origin of goods or services, including geographical indication as defined in Article 22 of the TRIPS Agreement, may not be protected as trademarks other than collective and certification marks, unless they have acquired distinctiveness through use.]
  [US/PE/MX/SG propose; AU/NZ/ VN/BN/MY/CL/CA oppose: 2. Pursuant to Article 20 of the TRIPS Agreement, each Party shall ensure that its measures mandating the use of the term customary in common language as the common name for a good or service ("common name") including, inter alia, requirements concerning the relative size, placement or style of use of the trademark in relation to the common name, do not impair the use or effectiveness of trademarks used in relation to such good or service. []][]
  Each Party shall provide that the owner of a registered trademark shall have the exclusive right to prevent third parties not having the owner's consent from using in the course of trade identical or similar signs, [PE/MY/VN/CA/MX oppose: including subsequent geographical indications,] for goods or services that are related to those goods or services in respect of which the owner's trademark is registered, where such use would result in a likelihood of confusion.
  In the case of the use of an identical sign, [PE/MY/SG/CL/CA/MX/VN oppose: including a geographical indication,] for identical goods or services, a likelihood of confusion shall be presumed.
  Each Party may provide limited exceptions to the rights conferred by a trademark, such as fair use of descriptive terms, provided that such exceptions take account of the legitimate interest of the owner of the trademark and of third parties.
  [VN propose; AU/US/NZ/SG/MY/CL/PE/CA/JP/BN oppose: The owner of a registered trademark shall not have the right to prevent third parties from using geographical indications or other signs descriptive of goods and services even though they are identical or similar to the trademark unless such use would result in confusion.]
  1. No Party may require as a condition for determining that a trademark is well-known that the trademark has been registered in the Party or in another jurisdiction, included on a list of well-known trademarks, or given prior recognition as a well-known trademark.
  2. Article 6bisof the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1967) shall apply,mutatis mutandis,to goods or services that are not identical or similar to those identified by a well-known trademark,[] [BN oppose: whether registered or not,] provided that use of that trademark in relation to those goods or services would indicate a connection between those goods or services and the owner of the trademark, and provided that the interests of the owner of the trademark are likely to be damaged by such use.
  3. Each Party recognizes the importance of theJoint Recommendation Concerning Provisions on the Protection of Well-Known Marks(1999) as adopted by the Assembly of the Paris Union for the Protection of Industrial Property and the General Assembly of WIPO.
  [US/BN/CL/PE/MX/CA/JP/NZ/SG/VN propose; AU/MY oppose: 4.EachParty shall [PE/BN/MX/CApropose: according to domestic laws] provide for appropriate measures to refuse or cancel the registration and prohibit the use of a trademark that is identical or similar to a well-known trademark, [SG/VN propose: as being already well-known before the registration or use of the first-mentioned trademark,] for related goods or services, if the use of that trademark is likely to cause confusion [CA/SG/VN oppose:or to deceive or risk associating the trademark with the owner of the well-known trademark, or constitutes unfair exploitation of the reputation of the well-known trademark.]]
  Each Party shall provide a system for the examination and registration of trademarks which shall include,inter alia:
  providing to the applicant a communication in writing, which may be electronic, of the reasons for any refusal to register a trademark;
  providing the opportunity for the applicant to respond to communications from the competent authorities, to contest an initial refusal, and to appeal judicially any final refusal to register a trademark;
  providing an opportunity to oppose the registration of a trademark or to seek cancellationof a trademark; and
  requiring that administrative decisions in oppositions and cancellation proceedings be reasoned and in writing. Written decisions may be provided electronically.
  Each Party shall provide:
  a system for the electronic application for, and maintenance of, trademarks; and
  a publicly available electronic information system, including an online database, of trademark applications and of registered trademarks.
  Each Party shall adopt or maintain a trademark classification system that is consistent with theNice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks(Nice Classification) of [June 15, 1957], as revised and amended. Each Party shall provide that:
  [CA oppose: (a) registrations and the publications of applications indicate the goods and services by their names, grouped according to the classes established by the Nice Classification; and]
  goods or services may not be considered as being similar to each other on the ground that, in any registration or publication, they are classfied in the same class of the Nice Classification. Conversely, each Party shall provide that goods or services may not be considered as being dissimilar from each other on the ground that, in any registration or publication, they are classified in different classes of the Nice Classification.
  Each Party shall provide that initial registration and each renewal of registration of a trademark shall be for a term of no less than 10 years.
  No Party may require recordal of trademark licenses:
  a. to establish the validity of the license;
  [US/CA/NZ/SG/JP/AU propose; VN/MX/BN/PE/CL/MY oppose: b. as a condition for the right of a licensee to join infringement proceedings initiated by the holder, or to obtain by way of such proceedings damages resulting from an infringement of the trademark which is subject to the license; or
  c. as a condition for use of a trademark by a licensee, to be deemed to constitute use by the holder in proceedings relating to the acquisition, maintenance and enforcement of trademarks.]
  [CL/NZ/SG/VN/PE/MY/BN/AU/CA/MX propose; US/JP oppose: The Parties are encouraged to establish international exhaustion of trademark rights. For this purpose, the registration of a trademark shall not entitle the proprietor to prohibit its use in relation to goods which have been put on the market in any country under that trademark by the proprietor or with his consent.]
  1.In order to address the problem of trademark [VN/MX propose: geographical indication and trade name] cyber-piracy, each Party shall adopt or maintain a system for the management of its country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) that provides:
  (a) an appropriate procedure for the settlement of disputes, based on, or modelled along the same lines as, the principles established in the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy, or that is: (i) designed to resolve disputes expeditiously and at low cost, (ii) fair and equitable, (iii) not overly burdensome, and (iv) does not preclude resort to court litigation;
  (b) online public access to a reliable and accurate database of contact information concerning domain-name registrants;
  in accordance with each Party's laws regarding protection of privacyand personal data.
  2. [PE/SG/CL/AU/NZ/MY/BN/CA oppose; US/VN/JP/MX propose: Each party shall provide [VN: oppose adequate and effective] [VN propose: appropriate] remedies against the registration trafficking, or use in any ccTLD, with a bad faith intent to profit, of a domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark [VN/MX propose: , geographical indication or trade name].]
  The Parties recognize that [US propose; CL/PE/CA/MX/SG/MY/BN/VN/JP oppose: , subject to Article QQ.C.2(1), (Gls eligible for protection as trademarks)] geographical indications may be protected through a trademark or sui generis system or other legal means.
  Where a Party provides administrative procedures for the protection or recognition of geographical indications, througha system of trademarks or a sui generis system, the Party shall with respect to applications for such protection or petitions for suchrecognition:
  accept those applications or petitions without requiring intercession by a Party on behalf of its nationals;
  process those applications or petitions without imposition of overly burdensome formalities;
  ensure that its regulations governing the filing of those applications or petitions are readily available to the public and clearly set out the procedures for these actions;
  make available information sufficient to allow the general public to obtain guidance concerning the procedures for filing applications or petitions and the processing of those applications or petitions in general; and allow applicants, petitioners, or their representatives to ascertain the status of specific applications and petitions;
  ensure that those applications or petitions are published for opposition and provide procedures for opposing geographical indications that are the subject of applications or petitions; and
  provide for cancellation, annulment, or revocation of the protection or recognition afforded to a geographical indication
  Each Party shall, whether protection or recognition is provided to a geographical indication through [SG/CA/MY oppose: its domestic measures] [SG/CA/MY propose: the system referred to in article QQ.D.2] [CL/PE/MY/SG/VN/BN/CA/MX oppose: or pursuant to an agreement with another government or government entity], provide a process that allows interested persons to object to the protection or recognition of a geographical indication, [CA oppose: and for protection or recognition to berefused annulledor, [AU propose: where appropriate,] cancelled] [MY/VN/SG/MX oppose: , at least on the following grounds:
  the geographical indication is likely to cause confusion with a trademark or geographical indication that is the subject of a pre-existing good faith pending application or registration in the territory of such Party[];
  [BN oppose: the geographical indication is likely to cause confusion with a pre-existing trademark or geographical indication, the rights to which have been acquired in accordance with the Party's law[];] and
  the geographical indication is a term customary in common language as the common name for such goods or services in that Party's territory.]]
  [US propose;CL/PE/NZ/AU/SG/MY/MX/CA/BN/VN oppose: No Party shall, whether pursuant to an agreement with a government or a governmental entity or otherwise:
  (a) in the case of geographical indications for goods other than wines or spirits, prohibit third parties from using or registering translated versions of the geographical indication;[] or
  (b) prohibit third parties from using a term that is evoked by the geographical indication.]
  [NZ/AU/BN/US propose;VN/PE/SG/CL/MY/CA/MX oppose: A Party may provide the means to protect a geographical indication against use in translation by third parties only if such use would, with respect to a geographical indication for goods other than wines and spirits:
  (a) give rise to a likelihood of confusion with a prior trademark or geographical indication in the territory of that Party;
  (b) mislead the public as to the geographical origin of the good; or
  (c) constitute an act of unfair competition within the meaning of Article 10bis of the Paris Convention (1967).
  [US/NZ/AU/CL/SG propose;MX/VN/PE/MY oppose: If a Party grants protection or recognition to a geographical indication through the systems described in Article QQ.D.2 or through an agreement with another government or government entity, such protection or recognition shall commence no earlier than [CL oppose: (i) the filing date in the Party[],] (ii) the date on which such agreement enters into force, or (iii) if a Party implements such protection or recognition on a date after entry into force of the agreement, on that later date.]
  [NZ/AU/US propose;PE/CL/VN/SG/MY/BN/CA/MX oppose: No Party shall preclude the possibility that a term that it recognized as a trademark or geographical indication may become a term customary in the common language as the common name for the associated goods or services.]
  [CL/PE/AU/US/NZ/MX/CA/VN/JP propose; BN oppose: In determining whether a term is the term customary in the common language as the common name for the relevant goods or services in a Party's territory, a Party's authorities shall have the authority to take into account how consumers understand the term in that Party's territory. Factors relevant to such consumer understanding may include [SG/CL/PE/MX/VN propose: if appropriate]:
  whether the term is used to refer to the type of product in question, as indicated by competent sources such as dictionaries, newspapers, and relevant websites;
  how the product referenced by the term is marketed and used in trade in the territory of that Party; and
  [CL/PE/MX/CA oppose: whether the term is used in relevant international standards to refer to a class or type of product].]
  [NZ/AU/US/VN/BN/CL propose; PE/MY/MX oppose: An individual component of a multi-component term that is protected as a geographical indication in a Party shall remain available for the public to use in that Party if the individual component is a term customary in the common language as the common name for the associated goods.]
  [SG propose: For greater certainty, nothing in this section shall require a Party to apply its provisions in respect of any individual component contained in a GI for which that individual component is identical with the term customary in common language as the common name of such goods in the territory of that Party.]
  [US propose;AU/CL/SG/PE/MY/NZ/BN/VN/MX/CA oppose: The existence of a geographical indication shall not be a ground upon which a Party may:
  refuse a trademark owner's otherwise permissible request to renew the registration of its trademark; or
  refuse a trademark owner's request to register an otherwise permissible modification of its registered trademark.]
  The terms listed in Annex ['...] are recognized as geographical indications of the respective Party, within the meaning of paragraph 1 of Article 22 of the TRIPS Agreement. Subject to domestic laws [], in a manner that is consistent with the TRIPS Agreement, such terms will be protected as geographical indications in the territories of the other Parties.]
  [NZ/CL/VN/MY/BN/SG/MX propose; PE/US/AU oppose: 1. Each Party may provide protection to homonymous geographical indications. Where a Party provides protection to homonymous geographical indications, that Party may, where necessary, lay down the practical conditions of use to make a distinction between the homonymous geographical indications, taking into account the need to ensure equitable treatment of the producers concerned and that consumers are not misled.]
  [CL propose; AU/US/PE/NZ/VN/SG/MY/BN/MX/CA/JP oppose: 2. The Parties recognize the geographical indicationPiscofor the exclusive use for products from Chile and Peru.]
  [CL/SG/BN/MX propose; AU/PE/US/NZ/CA/JP oppose:Annex ['...] Lists of Geographical Indications]
  [CL/AU/NZ/SG/BN/VN/MY/PE/CA/MX/JP propose: The Parties shall provide the legal means for interested parties to prevent commercial use of country names of the Parties in relation to goods in a manner which misleads consumers as to the origin of such goods.]
  [US propose; CL/PE/VN/MY/CA oppose: Each Party shall permit the use, and as appropriate, allow the registration, of signs orindications that identify goods other than wines or spirits, and that reference a geographical area that is not the place of origin of the goods, unless such use is misleading, would constitute an act of unfair competition, or would cause a likelihood of confusion with a prior trademark or geographical indication that identifies the same or similar goods. The foregoing shall not be understood to prevent a Party from denying registration of such a sign or indication on other grounds, provided such denial does not derogate from the provisions of the Paris Convention and the TRIPS Agreement.]
  1. Subject to the provisions of paragraph 2 and 3, each Party shall make patents available for any invention, whether a product or process, in all fields of technology, provided that the invention is new, involves an inventive step, and is capable of industrial application.[US/AU propose;CL/MY/PE/SG/VN/BN/NZ/CA/MX oppose: The Parties confirm that:
  patents shall be available for any new uses or methods of using a known product],
  [US/JP propose; CL/MY/PE/SG/VN/BN/AU/NZ/CA/MX oppose: (b) a Party may not deny a patent solely on the basis that the product did not result in enhanced efficacy of the known product when the applicant has set forth distinguishing features establishing that the invention is new, involves an inventive step, and is capable of industrial application.]
  2. Each Party may exclude from patentability inventions, the prevention within their territory of the commercial exploitation of which is necessary to protect ordre public or morality, including to protect human, animal or plant life or health or to avoid serious prejudice to nature or the environment, provided that such exclusion is not made merely because the exploitation is prohibited by their law.
  3. [US: Consistent with paragraph 1] each Party [US propose; AU/NZ/VN/BN/CL/PE/MY/SG/CA/MX oppose: shall make patents available for inventions for the following] [NZ/CL/PE/MY/AU/VN/BN/SG/CA/MX propose: may also exclude from patentability]:
  (a) plants and animals, [NZ/CL/PE/MY/AU/VN/BN/SG/CA/MX propose: other than microorganisms];
  [JP oppose: (b)diagnostic, therapeutic, and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals [US propose; AU/SG/MY/NZ/CL/PE/VN/BN/CA/MX oppose: if they cover a method of using a machine, manufacture, or composition of matter]; [NZ/CL/PE/MY/AU/VN/BN/SG/CA/MX propose:] and
  (c) essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals, other than non-biological and microbiological processes for such production.]
  [MX propose: (d) and the diagrams, plans, rules and methods for carrying out mental processes, playing games or doing business, and mathematical methods as such; software as such; methods to present information as such; and aesthetic creations and artistic or literary works.]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY propose: ALT 3. Each Party may also exclude from patentability:
  diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for the treatment of humans or animals; and
  plants and animals other than microorganisms, and essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals other than non-biological and microbiological processes. However, Parties shall provide for the protection of plant varieties either by patents or by an effective sui generis system or by any combination thereof.]
  Each Party shall disregard at least information contained in public disclosures used to determine if an invention is novel or has an inventive step if the public disclosure[ []:
  was made by the patent applicant or by a person who obtained the information directly or indirectly from the patent applicant,
  and
  occurred within 12 months prior to the date of filing of the application in the territory of the Party.
  [US: Without prejudice to Article 5A(3) of the Paris Convention,] Each Party shall provide that a patent may be cancelled, revoked or nullified only on grounds that would have justified a refusal to grant the patent. A Party may also provide that fraud, misrepresentation, or inequitable conduct may be the basis for cancelling, revoking, or nullifying a patent or holding a patent unenforceable. [AU/CL/MY/NZ/BN/CA/MX/VN propose; US/JP oppose: A Party may also provide that a patent may be cancelled, revoked or nullified on the basis that the patent is used in a manner determined to be anti-competitive in a judicial [VZ/CA/MX propose: or administrative] proceeding] [AU/CL/CA/MX propose: US oppose; consistent with Article 5A(3) of the Paris Convention.]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY propose: Each Party shall provide a procedure for third persons to oppose the grant of a patent, either before or after the grant of a patent, or both.]
  Each Party may provide limited exceptions to the exclusive rights conferred by a patent, provided that such exceptions do not unreasonably conflict with a normal exploitation of the patent and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the patent owner, taking into account the legitimate interests of third parties.
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY propose: Consistent with [Article QQ.E.5 (Exceptions)], each Party may provide that a third person may do an act that would otherwise infringe a patent if the act is done for purposes connected with the collection and submission of data in order to comply with the regulatory requirements of that Party or another country, including for purposes connected with marketing or sanitary approval.]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY propose: 1. Consistent with [Article QQ.E.5 (Exceptions)], each Party may provide that a third person may do an act that would otherwise infringe a patent if the act is done for experimental purposes relating to the subject matter of a patented invention.
  2. For the purposes of this Article, experimental purposes may include, but need not be limited to, determining how the invention works, determining the scope of the invention, determining the validity of the claims, or seeking an improvement of the invention (for example, determining new properties, or new uses, of the invention).]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY propose: Nothing in this Chapter shall limit a Party's rights and obligations under Article 31 of the TRIPS Agreement or any amendment thereto.]
  1 Each Party shall provide that where an invention is made independently by more than one inventor, and separate applications claiming that invention are filed with or for the relevant authority of the Party, any patent granted for the claimed invention shall be granted on the application [US/VN/MX propose; AU/NZ/CL/MY/CA/PE oppose: which has been found to be patentable and] which has the earliest filing or, if applicable, priority date [AU/NZ/PE/BN/CL/CA propose; US/VN/MY/MX/SG oppose: and which is published].[US: ]
  Each Party shall provide patent applicants with at least one opportunity to make amendments, corrections, and observations in connection with their applications.
  [US/AU/PE/VN propose; CL/MY/BN/NZ/CA/SG/MX oppose: Each Party shall provide that a disclosure of a claimed invention shall be considered to be sufficiently clear and complete if it provides information that allows the invention to be made and used by a person skilled in the art, without undue experimentation, as of the filing date.]
  [US/PE/AU propose; CL/VN/MY/BN/NZ/CA/SG/MX oppose: Each Party shall provide that a claimed invention [AU oppose: is] [AU propose: shall be] sufficiently supported by its disclosure [AU oppose: if the disclosure reasonably conveys to a person skilled in the art that the applicant was in possession of the claimed invention] as of the filing date.]
  [US/AU/MX propose; SG/CL/MY/VN/PE/BN/NZ/CA oppose: Each Party shall provide that a claimed invention is [US/AU propose: useful] [MX propose: industrially applicable] if it has a specific [MX propose: and], substantial, [MX oppose: and credible] utility.]
  [AU/PE/NZ/MY/CL/VN/US/CA/MX/JP: 1. Each Party shall publish [US/MX oppose: or make available for public inspection] any patent application promptly after the expiry of 18 months from its filing date or, if priority is claimed, from its priority date, unless the application has been published earlier or has been withdrawn, abandoned or refused [CA propose: , without leaving any rights outstanding].]
  [AU/PE/NZ/CL/VN/CA/MX propose; MY oppose: 2. Each Party shall provide that an applicant may request the early publication of an application prior to the expiry of the period mentioned above.]
  [US/AU/CA/SG/PE/CL/NZ/JP propose; MY/BN/VN/MX oppose: For published patent applications and issued patents, each Party shall make available to the public [US/PE/CA propose: at least] the following information : submitted [US/SG/PE propose: to that Party's competent authorities] in accordance with [US/SG/PE propose: their] requirements [US/SG/PE oppose: of the Party's competent authorities] [AU/CA/CL propose: in their possession] [US/SG/PE propose: and] in connection with the prosecution of such patent applications and patents:
  (a) search and examination results, [JP oppose: including any relevant prior art search histories];
  (b) [SG/PE/CL/US/NZ/AU/JP propose: non confidential] communications from applicants; and
  (c) patent and non-patent related literature citations submitted by applicants, and relevant third parties.]
  [CL propose: The Parties are encouraged to establish international exhaustion of patent rights. For this purpose, the registration of a patent shall not entitle its holder to prevent third parties from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing a product protected by that patent, which has been put in the market in any country by the patent holder or with his consent.]
  [US propose; CA/NZ/JP oppose: Each Party, at the request of the patent owner, shall adjust the term of a patent to compensate for unreasonable delays that occur in the granting of the patent. For purposes of this subparagraph, an unreasonable delay at least shall include a delay in the issuance of the patent of more than four years from the date of filing of the application in the territory of the Party, or two years after a request for examination of the application has been made, whichever is later. Periods attributable to actions of the patent applicant need not be included in the determination of such delays. Any patent term adjustment under this article shall confer all of the exclusive rights of a patent subject to the same limitations and exceptions that would otherwise apply to the patent absent any adjustment of the patent term.]
  Article QQ.E.13 : {Exceptions / Regulatory Review Exception}[US/NZ/PE/CA/MX/JP propose: Consistent with paragraph [QQ.E.5] (patent exceptions and limitations), each Party shall permit] [CL/SG/MY/AU/VN/BN propose: Where a Party permits] a third person to use the subject matter of a subsisting patent to [US/NZ/PE/AU/MX/VN/BN/JP] propose: generate information necessary to] support an application for [AU/CA/MX/VN/BN propose: regulatory or] marketing approval [CL/NZ/PE/SG/MY/AU/CA/MX/VN/BN propose: or sanitary permit] of a [AU/CA/VN/BN oppose: pharmaceutical] product [PE propose: or agricultural chemical product], [US/NZ/PE/SG/MY/MX/JP propose: and shall further] [CL/AU/CA/VN/BN propose: that Party may also] provide that any product produced under such authority [CL/AU/CA/VN/BN propose: may be] [US/NZ/PE/SG/MY/MX/JP propose: shall not be] made, [CA propose: constructed,] [CL/PE/VN/BN propose: offered for sale], [PE/VN/BN propose: imported,] used, or sold in its territory [US/NZ/PE/SG/MY/MX/JP propose: other than] for purposes related to [US/NZ/PE/AU/MX/VN/BN/JP propose: generating such information to support an application for] meeting [AU/CA/MX/VN/BN propose: regulatory or] marketing approval [CL/NZ/PE/SG/MY/AU/CA/MX/VN/BN propose: or sanitary permit] requirements of that Party [NZ/SG/MY/AU/CA/MX/CL/VN/BN propose: or another country].
  [US/SG/MY/PE/MX/CL propose; NZ/AU/CA/VN/BN oppose: If the Party permits exportation of such a product, the Party shall provide that the product shall only]] [NZ/CA/BN propose: Each Party shall permit a product to] [AU/VN propose: Each Party may permit such a product to] be exported outside its territory [US/NZ/PE/AU/MX/VN/BN propose: for purposes of generating information] to support an application for meeting [AU/CA/MX/VN/BN propose: regulatory or] marketing approval [CL/NZ/SG/MY/PE/AU/CA/MX/VN/BN propose: or sanitary approval] requirements of that Party [CL/NZ/SG/MY/AU/CA/MX/VN/BN propose: or another country].
  [US propose; AU/NZ/CL/PE/MY/SG/BN/VN/CA/MX oppose: 6.
  (a) Each Party shall make best efforts to process patent applications and marketing approval applications expeditiously with a view to avoiding unreasonable or unnecessary delays.
  (c) Each Party, at the request of the patent owner, shall make available an adjustment of the patent term of a patent which covers a new pharmaceutical productor a patent that covers a method of making or using a pharmaceutical product, to compensate the patent owner of unreasonable curtailment of the effective patent term as a result of the marketing approval process.
  (d) In implementing subparagraph 6(c), a Party may:
  limit the applicability of subparagraph 6(c) to a single patent term adjustment for each new pharmaceutical product that is being reviewed for marketing approval;
  require the basis for the adjustment to be the first marketing approval granted to the pharmaceutical product in that Party;
  and
  limit the period of the adjustment to no more than 5 years.
  (e) In implementing subparagraph 6(c), and as a condition for providing the adjustment set forth in subparagraph 6(c) for a new pharmaceutical product approved consistent with Article 9.2(b) or Article 9.2(d), a Party may require an applicant that has submitted an application for marketing approval consistent with Article 9.2(b) or Article 9.2(d) to commence the process of obtaining marketing approval for that new pharmaceutical product in the Party within [X] years of the date of the first marketing approval of the same pharmaceutical product in another Party.
  (f) Any adjustment under subparagraph 6(c) shall confer all of the exclusive rights, subject to the same limitations and exceptions, of the patent claims of the product, its method of use, or its method of manufacture in the originally issued patent as applicable to the product and the approved method of use of the product. ]] ]
  Submission of Information or Evidence Concerning the Safety or Efficacy of a New Pharmaceutical Product
  [US propose; AU/PE/VN/NZ/CL/MY/SG/BN oppose: 1. (a) If a Party requires or permits, as a condition for granting marketing approval for a new pharmaceutical product, the submission of information concerning the safety or efficacy of the product, the origination of which involves a considerable effort, the Party shall not, without the consent of a person previously submitting such safety or efficacy information to obtain marketing approval in the territory of the Party, authorize a third person to market a same or a similar product based on:
  the safety or efficacy information previously submitted in support of the marketing approval; or
  evidence of the existence of the marketing approval,
  for at least five years from the date of marketing approval of the new pharmaceutical product in the territory of the Party.
  If a Party requires or permits, in connection with granting marketing approval for a new pharmaceutical product, the submission of evidence concerning the safety or efficacy of a product that was previously approved in another territory, such as evidence of prior marketing approval in the other territory, the Party shall not, without the consent of a person previously submitting the safety or efficacy information to obtain marketing approval in the other territory, authorize a third person to market a same or a similar product based on:
  the safety or efficacy information submitted in support of a prior marketing approval in the other territory; or
  evidence of the existence of a prior marketing approval in the other territory,
  for at least five years from the date of marketing approval of the new pharmaceutical product in the territory of the Party.
  Submission of New Clinical Information or Evidence relating to a Pharmaceutical Product that Includes a Chemical Entity that has been Previously Approved for Marketing in Another Pharmaceutical Product
  If a Party requires or permits, as a condition of granting marketing approval for a pharmaceutical product that includes a chemical entity that has been previously approved for marketing in another pharmaceutical product, the submission of new clinical information that is essential to the approval of the pharmaceutical product containing the previously approved chemical entity, other than information related to bioequivalency, the Party shall not, without the consent of a person previously submitting such new clinical information to obtain marketing approval in the territory of the Party, authorize a third person to market a same or a similar product based on:
  the new clinical information previously submitted in support of the marketing approval; or
  evidence of the existence of the marketing approval that was based on the new clinical information,
  for at least three years from the date of marketing approval based on the new clinical information in the territory of the Party.
  If a Party requires or permits, in connection with granting marketing approval for a pharmaceutical product of the type specified in subparagraph (c), the submission of evidence concerning new clinical information for a product that was previously approved based on that new clinical information in another territory, other than evidence of information related to bioequivalency, such as evidence of prior marketing approval based on new clinical information, the Party shall not, without the consent of a person previously submitting such new clinical information to obtain marketing approval in the other territory, authorize a third person to market a same or a similar product based on:
  the new clinical information submitted in support of a prior marketing approval in the other territory; or
  evidence of the existence of a prior marketing approval that was based on the new clinical information in the other territory,
  for at least three years from the date of marketing approval based on the new clinical information in the territory of the Party.]
  [US:Additional Provisions relating to Pharmaceutical Products
  Notwithstanding paragraph 2 above, a Party may take measures to protect public health in accordance with:
  the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (WT/MIN(01)/DEC/2) (the "Declaration");
  any waiver of any provision of the TRIPS Agreement granted by WTO Members in accordance with the WTO Agreement to implement the Declaration and in force between the Parties; and
  any amendment of the TRIPS Agreement to implement the Declaration that enters into force with respect to the Parties.
  A Party that requires or permits an applicant to obtain approval for marketing a new pharmaceutical product in its territory by relying, in whole or in part, on the prior approval of the pharmaceutical product by the regulatory authority in another territory may, as a condition for providing the period of data protection specified in subparagraph 2(b) or 2(d), require an applicant that has submitted an application for marketing approval consistent with said subparagraphs to commence the process of obtaining marketing approval for that pharmaceutical product within [X] years of the date of first marketing approval of the same pharmaceutical product in another Party.
  1. Where a Party requires or permits, as a condition of approving the marketing of a pharmaceutical product, persons, other than the person originally submitting safety or efficacy information, to rely on that information or on evidence concerning safety or efficacy information for a product that was previously approved, such as evidence of prior marketing approval in another territory, each Party shall:
  (a) provide a transparent and effective system to:
  identify a patent or patents covering an approved pharmaceutical product or its approved method of use; and
  provide notice to a patent holder of the identity of another person who intends to market, during the term of the identified patent or patents, a product that is the same as, or similar to, the approved pharmaceutical product referenced in subparagraph 5(a)(i).
  (b) unless such other person agrees to defer the marketing of the product until after the expiration of an identified patent, ensure that a patent holder may seek, prior to granting of marketing approval to an allegedly infringing product, available remedies by providing:
  an automatic delay of the grant of marketing approval that remains in place for a period of time designed to ensure sufficient opportunity to adjudicatedisputes concerning the validity or infringement of allegedly infringed patents; and
  judicial or administrative procedures, including effective
  provisional measures, to allow for the timely adjudication of disputes concerning the validity or infringement of an allegedly infringed patent.
  (c) If such other person's product has been found to infringe a valid patent identified pursuant to subparagraph (a), provide measures that operate to prohibit the unauthorized marketing of that product prior to the expiration of the patent.
  (d) when a Party delays the grant of marketing approval consistent with subparagraph 5(b)(i), provide an effective reward, consistent with the provisions of this Agreement, for the successful challenge of the validity or applicability of the patent.
  In implementing subparagraph 5(b)(i), and as a condition for providing the automatic delay of the grant of marketing approval specified in subparagraph 5(b)(i) for a new pharmaceutical product approved consistent with subparagraph 2(b) or 2(d), a Party may require that an applicant that has submitted an application for marketing approval consistent with subparagraph 2(b) or 2(d) to commence the process of obtaining marketing approval for that new pharmaceutical in the Party within [X] years of the date of first marketing approval of the pharmaceutical product in another Party.
  Where a Party provides for a period of data protection for a pharmaceutical product of more than [5+Y] years pursuant to subparagraph 2(a) or 2(b) of this Article, that Party is not required to implement for that pharmaceutical product subparagraphs 2(c), 2(d) (3-year data protection in connection with submission of new clinical information), 5(b)(i) (automatic delay of marketing approval) or 5(d) of this Article (reward for the successful challenge of the validity or applicability of a patent).
  Where a Party chooses to apply subparagraph 6(e) of Article 8 and paragraphs 4 and 6 of this Article, the following provisions shall apply:
  a Party shall permit an applicant to commence the process of obtaining marketing approval by providing the regulatory authority of the Party information supporting approval of the new pharmaceutical product in the Party that is available to the person at the time the request is made, such as evidence of the prior approval of the product in another Party. It is understood that, while a Party may impose reasonable additional requirements or deadlines as a condition of authorizing the person to market the pharmaceutical product in its territory, satisfaction of those additional requirements or deadlines or the granting of approval shall be recognized by the Party as necessarily occurring after the commencement of the marketing approval process within the meaning of subparagraph 6(e) of Article 8 and paragraphs 4 and 6 of this Article; and
  a Party may not refuse to grant approval of a new pharmaceutical product on the basis of a failure of an applicant for marketing approval to satisfy the requirements of subparagraph 6(e) of Article 8 or paragraphs 4 and 6 of this Article.
  [US:General Provisions relating to Pharmaceutical Products and Agricultural Chemical Products
  For purposes of this Article, a new pharmaceutical product means a product that does not contain a chemical entity that has been previously approved in the territory of the Party for use in a pharmaceutical product [JP propose: for human use].
  Subject to paragraph 3 (protection of public health), when a product is subject to a system of marketing approval in the territory of a Party pursuant to paragaph 1 or 2 and is also covered by a patent in the territory of that Party, the Party shall not alter the term of protection that it provides pursuant to paragraph 1 or 2 in the event that the patent protection terminates on a date earlier than the end of the term of protection specified in paragraph 1 or 2.]]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY/VN propose: Each Party may adopt or maintain measures to encourage the timely entry of pharmaceutical products to its market.]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY/VN propose: 1. Each Party shall endeavour to improve quality and efficiency in its patent system.
  2. Each Party shall endeavour to enhance its patent registration system by maintaining examination procedures, cancellation procedures and, where provided, opposition procedures that consistently provide high quality rights for granted patents, and endeavour to simplify and streamline its administration system for the benefit of all users of the system and the public as a whole.]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY/VN propose: 1. Each Party shall endeavour to process applications for patents, and applications for marketing, regulatory or sanitary approval of pharmaceutical products, in an efficient and timely manner.
  2. Each Party may provide a procedure for patent applicants to apply to expedite the examination of their patent application.
  3. If there are unreasonable delays in a Party's processing of applications for patents, or processing of applications for marketing, regulatory or sanitary approval of pharmaceutical products, the Party shall endeavour to address those delays.]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY/VN propose: 1. Where a Party requires, as a condition of marketing, regulatory or sanitary approval for pharmaceutical products which utilize new chemical entities, the submission of undisclosed test or other data, the origination of which involves a considerable effort, that Party shall protect such data against unfair commercial use. In addition, each Party shall protect such data against disclosure, except where necessary to protect the public or unless steps are taken to ensure that the data is protected against unfair commercial use.
  Each Party may provide that the protection of data under paragraph 1,inter alia:
  is limited to undisclosed test or other data, the origination of which involves a considerable effort;
  is limited to pharmaceutical products that do not contain a new chemical entity that has been previously approved for marketing in the Party;
  is limited to pharmaceutical products which utilize a new chemical entity;
  is available only once per pharmaceutical product;
  is not available for new uses or indications, new dosage forms or methods of making a pharmaceutical product;
  is limited to a period of time as determined by the Party; or
  may be waived to facilitate the marketing, regulatory or sanitary approval of a pharmaceutical product that is the subject of a voluntary or compulsory license, or a licence otherwise issued pursuant to the TRIPS Agreement.
  Each Party may take measures to protect public health in accordance with:
  the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health (WT/MIN(01)/DEC/2) (the "Declaration");
  any waiver of any provision of the TRIPS Agreement granted by WTO Members in accordance with the WTO Agreement to implement the Declaration and in force between the Parties; and
  any amendment of the TRIPS Agreement to implement the Declaration that enters into force with respect to the Parties.]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY/VN propose: Each Party shall endeavour to promptly make public the granting of marketing, regulatory or sanitary approval of pharmaceutical products.]
  [US/SG/PE/MX/JP propose; NZ/VN oppose: 1.
  (a) If a Party requires [AU/CL/MX oppose: or permits], as a condition of granting marketing approval [CL/MX propose: or sanitary permit] for a new agricultural chemical product [CL/MX propose; JP oppose: which utilize new chemical entity], the submission of [CL/MX propose: undisclosed][AU oppose: information] [AU propose; JP oppose: undisclosed test or other data] concerning safety or efficacy of the [CL/MXoppose: product][CL/MX propose; JP oppose: new chemical entity], the Party shall not, without the consent of [AU oppose: a person that previously submitted such] [AU propose: the person who provided the] [CL/MX oppose: safety or efficacy] information [AU oppose: to obtain marketing approval in the Party, authorize another] [AU propose: , permit third persons] to [CL/MX oppose: market] a [CL/MX oppose: same or a similar] product based on:
  [SG oppose: (i) [CL/MX propose; JP oppose: undisclosed information concerning][AU oppose: the safety or efficacy information submitted in support of the marketing approval] [CL/MX propose: or sanitary permit][AU propose; JP oppose: that undisclosed test or other data]; or]
  [CL/MX oppose: (ii) [AU oppose: evidence of the existence of] the marketing approval,]
  [MX oppose: for [AU oppose: at least] ten years from the date of marketing approval [AU oppose: in the territory of] [AU propose: by] the Party .] [MX propose: Where origination of such data involve considerable efforts,] [CL/MX propose; JP oppose: Each Party shall protect such information against disclosure except where necessary to protect the public, or unless steps are taken to ensure that the data are protected against unfair commercial use]
  [CL/MX oppose: (b) If a Party [AU oppose: requires or permits, in connection with] [AU propose: permits, as a condition of ] granting marketing approval for a new agricultural chemical product, the submission of evidence concerning the safety or efficacy of a product that was previously approved in another territory, such as evidence of prior marketing approval [AU oppose: in the other terrritory]; the Party shall not, without the consent of [AU oppose: a person that] [AU propose: the person who] previously submitted [AU oppose: the safety or efficacy] information [AU propose: concerning safety or efficacy] to obtain marketing approval in another territory, [AU oppose: authorize another] [AU propose: permit third persons] to market a same or a similar product based on:
  [SG oppose: (i) [AU oppose: the safety or efficacy] information [AU propose: concerning safety or efficacy] submitted [AU oppose: in support of] [AU propose: to obtain] the prior marketing approval in the other territory; or]
  (ii) evidence of [AU oppose: the existence of a] prior marketing approval in the other territory,
  for [AU oppose: at least] ten years from the date of marketing approval [AU oppose: of the new product in the territory of the Party].]
  [PE propose: In order to receive protection under subparagraph (b), a Party may require that the person providing the information in the other territory seek approval in the territory of the Party within five years after obtaining marketing approval in the other territory.]
  [MX propose: Where a Party relies on a marketing approval granted by another Party, the reasonable period of exclusive use of the data submitted in connection with obtaining the approval relied on shall begin with the date of the first marketing approval relied on.]
  [CL/MX oppose: 2. For purposes of this Article, a new agricultural chemical product is one that [AU oppose: contains] [AU propose: does not contain] a chemical entity that has [AU oppose: not] been previously approved [AU propose: for marketing] in the [AU oppose: territory of the] Party [AU oppose: for use in an agricultural chemical product].]]
  [NOTE: ARTICLES ORIGINALLY LABELED AS QQ.E.23-24 HAVE BEEN MOVED TO QQ.A.4-5]
  Article QQ.E.23: [PE/NZ/MX/SG: Proposed joint text for the Intellectual Property Chapter on Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Genetic Resources[PE/NZ/VN/BN/MX/SG/CL/MY propose: 1. The Parties recognise the importance and contribution of traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions, and biological diversity to cultural, economic and social development. ]
  [PE/MY/MX/BN propose; NZ/AU/SG/CL oppose: 2. Each Party exercises sovereignty over their biological [MY/BN oppose: diversity] [MY/BN propose: resources] and shall determine the access conditions to their genetic resources and their derivatives in accordance to their domestic legislation.]
  [PE/NZ/BN/MY/MX/VN propose; AU/SG/CL oppose: 3. Where national legislation [MY/BN propose: or policies] establishes such requirements, the Parties recognise that users of genetic resources [NZ/CA oppose: and their derivatives] [] or traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources [NZ/CA oppose: and their derivatives] [NZ propose: may] [PE/MY propose: shall]:
  (a) obtain prior informed consent to access genetic resources [NZ/CA oppose: and their derivatives];
  (b) access traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources [NZ/CA oppose: and their derivatives] with the prior informed consent or approval and involvement of the indigenous or local community holding such knowledge; and
  [BN/MY propose: fairly and] equitably share the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources [NZ/CA oppose: and its derivatives] and traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources [NZ/CA oppose: and their derivatives] on mutually agreed terms.]
  [PE/NZ/MX/CL/VN propose; SG oppose: 4. The parties recognize that:
  (a) information about genetic resources [NZ/CL/AU/CA oppose: and their derivatives] and traditional knowledge [CL oppose: associated with genetic resources [NZ/AU/CA oppose: and their derivatives]] can be useful in assessing patent applications against existing eligibility criteria; and
  (b) the intellectual property system is one possible means to protect the traditional knowledge [CL oppose: associated with genetic resources [NZ/AU/CA oppose: and their derivatives]] and traditional cultural expressions of indigenous and local communities.]
  [PE/NZ/MX/CL propose; SG oppose: 5. The Parties affirm that they will promote quality patent examination of applications concerning genetic resources and traditional knowledge [CL oppose: associated with genetic resources [NZ/AU/CA oppose: and their derivatives]] to ensure that the eligibility criteria for patentability are satisfied. This may include:
  (a) in determining prior art, ensuring that readily available documented information related to genetic resources [NZ/CL/AU/CA oppose: and their derivatives] or traditional knowledge [CL oppose: associated with genetic resources [NZ/AU/CA oppose: and their derivatives]] is taken into account;
  (b) an opportunity to cite, in writing, to the appropriate examining authority prior art that may have a bearing on patentability;
  (c) where applicable and appropriate, the use of databases or digital libraries containing traditional knowledge [CL oppose: associated genetic resources [NZ/AU/CA oppose: and their derivatives]]; and
  (d) cooperation in the training of patent examiners in the examination of patent applications related to genetic resources [NZ/CL/AU/CA oppose: and their derivatives] and traditional knowledge [CL oppose: associated with genetic resources [NZ/AU/CA oppose: and their derivatives]].]
  [PE/NZ/AU/MX/MY/BN/VN/CL propose; SG oppose: 6. Subject to each Party's international obligations [AU/MY/BN/VN/CL oppose: the Parties affirm that they will endeavour to][AU/MY/BN/VN/CL propose: each Party may] establish appropriate measures to protect traditional knowledge and [MY oppose: traditional cultural expressions].]
  [PE/MX propose; NZ/AU/SG/CL oppose: 7. Each Party will take appropriate, effective and proportionate measures to address situations of non-compliance with provisions established in paragraph 3.]
  [PE/NZ/MX/SG/MY/BN/VN propose: 8. The Parties shall, through their respective agencies responsible for intellectual property, cooperate to enhance understanding of how the intellectual property system can deal with issues associated with traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions and genetic resources.[This text is a place holder, to be reconsidered depending on the outcome of the cooperation section of the IP chapter]]]
  Each Party shall ensure that adequate and effective protection is provided to industrial designs, including to designs of a part of an article, regardless of whether or not the part can be separated from the article.]
  Each Party shall provide that authors, [NZ oppose: performers], and producers of phonograms have the right to authorize or prohibit all reproductions of their works, [NZ oppose: performances], and phonograms, [] in any manner or form,[] [VN/CA/NZ oppose: permanent or temporary (including temporary storage in electronic form)] [] [] [VN propose: it shall be a matter for national legislation to determine exceptions and limitations under which the right may be exercised].
  Without prejudice to Articles 11(1)(ii), 11bis(1)(i) and (ii), 11ter(1)(ii), 14(1)(ii), and 14bis(1) of the Berne Convention, each Party shall provide to authors the exclusive right to authorize or prohibit the communication to the public of their works, by wire or wireless means, including the making available to the public of their works in such a way that members of the public may access these works from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.
  [US/AU/PE/NZ/SG/CL/MX propose; VN/MY/BN/JP oppose: Each Party shall provide to authors, [NZ/MX oppose: performers,] and producers of phonograms the right to authorize or prohibit the importation[] into that Party's territory of copies of the work [PE oppose: [NZ/MX: oppose: performance,] or phonogram] made without authorization, [PE/AU/NZ/CA/SG/CL/MX/JP oppose: or made outside that Party's territory with the authorization of the author, performer, or producer of the phonogram.[] ]] []
  Each Party shall provide to authors, [NZ/MX oppose: performers,] and producers of phonograms the right to authorize or prohibit the making available to the public of the original and copies of their works, [NZ/MX oppose: performances,] and phonograms through sale or other transfer of ownership.[]
  Each Party shall provide that in cases where authorization is needed from both the author of a work embodied in a phonogram and a performer or producer owning rights in the phonogram, the need for the authorization of the author does not cease to exist because the authorization of the performer or producer is also required. Likewise, each Party shall provide that in cases where authorization is needed from both the author of a work embodied in a phonogram and a performer or producer owning rights in the phonogram, the need for the authorization of the performer or producer does not cease to exist because the authorization of the author is also required.
  [US/AU/PE/SG/CL/MX propose; VN/BN/NZ/MY/CA/JP oppose: Each Party shall provide that, where the term of protection of a work (including a photographic work), performance, or phonogram is to be calculated:
  on the basis of the life of a natural person, the term shall be not less than the life of the author and [MX propose: 100] [MX oppose: 70] years after the author's death; and
  on a basis other than the life of a natural person, the term shall be:
  not less than [US propose; CL oppose: 95] [AU/PE/SG/CL propose: 70] [MX propose: 75] years from the end of the calendar year of the first authorized publication of the work, performance, or phonogram, or
  failing such authorized publication within [US propose; CL oppose: 25] [SG/PE/AU/CL propose: 50] years from the creation of the work, performance, or phonogram, not less than [US propose; CL oppose: 120] [AU/PE/SG/CL propose: 70] years from the end of the calendar year of the creation of the work, performance, or phonogram.]
  [NZ/BN/MY/VN/CA/JP propose; US/AU/SG/MX oppose: The term of protection of a work, performance or phonogram shall be determined according to each Party's domestic law and the international agreements to which each Party is a party.]
  Each Party shall apply Article 18 of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1971) (Berne Convention) and [PE/SG/NZ/BN/US/VN/CL/MY/MX: the corresponding provision in] Article 14.6 of the TRIPS Agreement, mutatis mutandis, to [CA oppose: the subject matter, rights, and obligations] [CA propose; US oppose: rights of authors, performers and producers of phonograms] in [Section G].
  [CA/JP/SG/BN/NZ/PE/CL/VN/AUpropose:Each Party shall apply, mutatis mutandis, Article 18 of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1971) to the rights of authors, performers and producers of phonograms in [Section G]. A Party may provide for conditions, limitations, exceptions and reservations to the extent permitted in Article 14.6 of the TRIPS Agreement. ]
  Each Party shall provide that for copyright and related rights, any person acquiring or holding any economic rightin a work, [SG/BN/NZ/MY/VN/CL oppose: performance,] or phonogram:
  may freely and separately transfer that right by contract; and
  by virtue of a contract, including contracts of employment underlying the creation of works, [BN/SG/MY/VN/NZ/CL oppose: performances,] and phonograms, shall be able to exercise that right in that person's own name and enjoy fully the benefits derived from that right.
  [CL: (c) Each Party may establish:
  (i) which specific contracts underlying the creation of works or phonograms shall, in the absence of a written agreement, result in a transfer of economic rights by operation of law; and
  (ii) reasonable limits to the provisions in [paragraph 2(a)] [cross reference to QQ.G.9(a)-(b)] to protect the interests of the original right holders, taking into account the legitimate interests of the transferees.]
  No Party may subject the enjoyment and exercise of the rights of authors, performers and producers of phonograms provided for in this Chapter to any formality.
  [US/AU/SG/PE/MX propose; MY/VN/BN/JP oppose: (a) In order to provide adequate legal protection and effective legal remedies against the circumvention of effective technological measures that authors, performers, and producers of phonograms use in connection with the exercise of their rights and that restrict unauthorized acts in respect of their works, performances, and phonograms, each Party shall provide that any person who:
  knowingly, [CL oppose: or having reasonable grounds to know], circumvents without [CL oppose: authority] [CL propose: authorization] any effective technological measure that controls access to a protected work, performance, phonogram, [PE/CA/CL oppose: or other subject matter]; or
  manufactures, imports, distributes, [CL oppose: offers [CA/CL propose: for sale or rental] to the public, provides, or otherwise trafficsin] devices, products, or components, [CL oppose: or offers to the public] or provides services, that:
  are promoted, advertised, or marketed by that person, [PE/SG/CL oppose: or by another person acting in concert with that person and with that person's knowledge,] for the purpose of circumvention of any effective technological measure,
  have only a limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent any effective technological measure, or
  are primarily designed, produced, or performed for the purpose of [CA oppose: enabling or facilitating] the circumvention of anyeffective technological measure,
  shall be liable and subject to the remedies set out in Article [12.12]. [CL propose: If the conduct is carried out in good faith without knowledge that the conduct in prohibited, a Party may exempt acts prohibited under this subparagraph that are carried out in connection with a nonprofit library, archive or educationalinstitution]. Each Party shall provide for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied when any person, other than a nonprofitlibrary, [CA/CLpropose: museum,] archive, educationalinstitution, or [CA/CL oppose: public noncommercial broadcasting entity,] [CA propose: any other nonprofit entity as determined by a Party's law] is found to have engaged [CA oppose: willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage [CL oppose: or private financial gain]] [CA propose: knowingly and for commercial purposes] in any of the foregoing activities. [SG/AU/PE/CLoppose: Such criminal procedures and penalties shall include the application to such activities of the remedies and authorities listed in subparagraphs (a), (b), and (f) of Article [15.5]as applicable to infringements,mutatis mutandis.[]][CL propose: No Party is required to impose civil or criminal liability for a person who circumvents any effectivetechnological measure that protects any of the exclusive rights of copyright or related rights in a protected work, but does not control access to such work].
  In implementing subparagraph (a), no Party shall be obligated to require that the design of, or the design and selection of parts and components for, a consumer electronics, telecommunications, or computing product provide for a response to any particular technological measure, so long as the product does not otherwise violate any measures implementing subparagraph (a).
  [CL oppose: (c) Each Party shall provide that a violation of a measure implementing this paragraph is independent of any infringement that might occur under the Party's law on copyright and related rights.]
  Each Party shall confine exceptions and limitations to measures implementing subparagraph (a) [CL oppose: to the following activities,][CL propose: certain special cases that do not impair the adequacy of legal protection of the effectiveness of legal remedies againstthe circumvention of effective technological measures] [CL oppose: which shall be applied to relevant measures in accordance with subparagraph (e)]:
  [CA oppose: noninfringing reverse engineering activities with regard to a lawfully obtained copy of a computer program, carried out in good faith with respect to particular elements of that computer program that have not been readily available to the person engaged in those activities, for the sole purpose of achieving interoperability of an independently created computer program with other programs] [CA propose: reverse engineering activities with regard to a lawfully obtained copy of a computer program, for the sole purpose of achieving interoperability of the program or any other program];
  [CA oppose: noninfringing good faith activities, carried out by an appropriately qualified researcher who has lawfully obtained a copy, [CL oppose: unfixed] performance, or display of a work, performance, or phonogram and who has made a good faith effort to obtain authorization for such activities, to the extent necessary for the sole purpose of research consisting of identifying and analyzing flaws and vulnerabilities of [CL propose: encryption] technologies [CL oppose: for scrambling and descrambling of information]] [CA propose: activities with regard to a lawfully obtained copy of a work, performance, or phonogram for the sole purpose of encryption research] ;
  the inclusion of a component or part for the sole purpose of preventing the access of minors to inappropriate online content in a technology, product, service, or device that itself is not prohibited under the measures implementing subparagraph (a)(ii);
  [CA oppose: noninfringing good faith activities that are authorized by the owner of a computer, computer system, or computer network for the sole purpose of testing, investigating, or correcting the security of that computer, computer system, or computer network] [CA propose: security testing activities that are authorized by the owner or administrator of a computer, computer system or computer network for the sole purpose of testing, investigating, or correcting the security of that computer, computer system or computer network];
  [CA oppose: noninfringing activities for the sole purpose of identifying and disabling a capability to carry out undisclosed collection or dissemination of personally identifying information reflecting the online activities of a natural person in a way that has no other effect on the ability of any person to gain access to any work] [CA propose: activities for the sole purpose of identifying or disabling a capacity to carry out collection or dissemination of personally identifying information];
  lawfully authorized activities carried out by government employees, agents, or contractors for the purpose of law enforcement, intelligence, essential security, or similar governmental purposes;
  access by a nonprofit library, [CA propose: museum,] archive, or educational institution to a work, performance, or phonogram not otherwise available to it, for the sole purpose of making acquisition decisions; and
  [CA propose: (viii) activities for the sole purpose of making a work, performance or phonogram perceptible to a person with a perceptual disability.
  activities for the sole purpose of making an ephemeral reproduction of a work, performance or phonogram,
  circumvention of a technological measure on a radio apparatus for the sole purpose of gaining or facilitating access to a telecommunication service by means of the radio apparatus]
  [CA oppose: noninfringing uses [SG oppose: of a work, performance, or phonogram] in a particular class of works, [SG oppose: performances, or phonograms] when an actual or likely adverse impact on those noninfringing uses [CL propose: or exceptionsor limitations to copyright or related rights with respect to users] is [PE oppose: credibly demonstrated] [PE propose: found] [CL propose: demonstrated or recognized] in a legislative or administrative review or proceeding [SG oppose: by substantial evidence]; provided that [AU/PE oppose: any limitation or exception adopted in reliance upon this clause shall have effect for a renewable period of not more than three [SG propose: four] years][AU/PE propose: any such review or proceeding is conducted at least once every four years] from the date of conclusion of such review or proceeding.]
  [CA propose: (xi) Each Party may provide further exceptions and limitations to measures implementing subparagraph (a) in relation to non infringing uses as determined through a legislative, regulatory, judicial, or administrative process in accordance with the Party's law, following due consideration of the actual or potential adverse impact on those non infringing uses.]
  The exceptions and limitations to measures implementing subparagraph (a) for the activities set forth in subparagraph [4.9(d)] may [CL oppose: only] be applied as follows[CL oppose: , and only to the extent that they do not impair the adequacy of legal protection or the effectiveness of legal remedies against the circumvention of effective technological measures]:
  Measures implementing subparagraph (a)(i) may be subject to exceptions and limitations with respect to each [CL propose: situations and] activity set forth in subparagraph (d).
  Measures implementing subparagraph (a)(ii), as they apply to effective technological measures that control access to a work, performance, or phonogram, may be subject to exceptions and limitations with respect to activities set forth in subparagraph (d)(i), (ii), (iii), (iv), and (vi).
  Measures implementing subparagraph (a)(ii), as they apply to effective technological measures that protect any copyright or any rights related to copyright, may be subject to exceptions and limitations with respect to activities set forth in subparagraph (d)(i) and (vi).
  Effective technological measuremeans any [CA propose: effective] technology, device, or component that, in the normal course of its operation, controls access to a protected work, performance, phonogram, [PE/CL/CA oppose: or other protected subject matter,] or protects [CA oppose: any copyright or any rights related to copyright] [CA propose: rights related to a work, performance or phonogram].][CL propose: and cannot, in a usual case be circumvented accidentally.]
  [SG/CL propose: Nothing in this agreement shall require any Party to restrict the importation or domestic sale of a device that does not render effective a technological measure the sole purpose of which is to control market segmentation for legitimate copies of cinematographic filmor computer program, and is not otherwise a violation of law.]
  Article QQ.G.12: {Technological Protection Measures}[CL/NZ/PE/VN/MY/BN/JP propose; AU/US oppose:
  1. [PE/SG oppose: Each Party [VN propose: may] [VN oppose: shall] provide legal protections and remedies against the circumvention of effective technological protection measures in their domestic copyright laws where circumvention is for purposes of infringing the exclusive rights of copyright [NZ oppose: or related rights] owners.]
  2. Each Party may provide that such protections and remedies shall not hinder or prevent uses of copyright or related rights protected material that are permitted under exceptions or limitations to the exclusive rights of copyright [NZ oppose: and related rights] owners, or the use of materials that are in the public domain.
  [PE/SG: It is understood that nothing in this Article prevents a Party from adopting effective and necessary measures to ensure that a beneficiary may enjoy limitations and exceptions provided in that Party's national law, in accordance with Article QQG16, where technological measures have been applied toa work, performance or phonogram, and the beneficiary has legal access to that work, performance or phonogram particularly in circumstances such as where appropriate and effective measures have not been taken by rights holders in relation to that work, performance or phonogram to enable the beneficiary to enjoy the limitations and exceptions under that Party's national law.]
  3. Subject to each Party's international obligations, the Parties affirm that they may establish provisions to facilitate the exercise of permitted acts where technological measures have been applied.]
  In order to provide adequate and effective legal remedies to protect rights management information:
  each Party [VN oppose: shall] [VN: may] provide [VN oppose: that] [VN: legal remedies against] any person who without authority, and knowing, or, with respect to civil remedies, having reasonable grounds to know, that it would induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal an infringement of [CA oppose: any] [CA propose: the] copyright or related right [VN oppose: ,] [VN: :]
  knowingly removes or alters any [CA/JP propose: electronic] rights management information;
  [MY/BN/VN/CA/JP oppose: distributes or imports for distribution rights management information knowing that the rights management information has been altered without authority; or]
  [CA propose: knowingly] distributes, imports for distribution, broadcasts, communicates or makes available to the public copies of works, [CL/NZ/MY/SG/VN oppose: performances,] or phonograms, knowing that [CA/JP propose: electronic] rights management information has been removed or altered without authority [VN oppose: ,] [VN: .]
  [VN oppose: shall be liable and subject to the remedies set out in Article [QQ.H.4(15) ]. Each Party [CA/MX/JP propose: may] [CA/MX oppose: shall] provide for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied when any person, other than a nonprofit library, archive, [CA propose: museum,] [MY: or] educational institution [MY/CA oppose: , or [CL oppose: public noncommercial] broadcasting entity] [CA propose: any other nonprofit entity as determined by a Party's law.] [CL: established without a profit-making purpose], is found to have engaged [CA oppose: willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain] [CA propose: knowingly and for commercial purposes] in any of the foregoing activities. [MY/CA propose: Each Party may provide that these criminal procedures and penalties do not apply to any other nonprofit entity as determined by a Party's law.] [AU/SG/PE/CL/MY/NZ/BN/CA/MX/JP oppose: Such criminal procedures and penalties shall include the application to such activities of the remedies and authorities listed in subparagraphs (a), (b) and (f) of Article [15.5] as applicable to infringements, mutatis mutandis.]]
  [SG/NZ/CL/MY/BN/VN/CA/JP oppose: (b) each Party shall confine exceptions and limitations to measures implementing subparagraph (a) to lawfully authorized activities carried out by [MX propose: the] government [MX oppose: employees, agents, or contractors] for the purpose of law enforcement, intelligence, essential security, or similar governmental purposes.]
  (c) Rights management information means:
  [AU/MY/CA/JP propose: electronic] information that identifies a work, [NZ/MY oppose: performance,] or phonogram, the author of the work, [NZ/MY oppose: the performer of the performance,] or the producer of the phonogram; or the owner of any right in the work, [NZ/MY oppose: performance,] or phonogram;
  [AU/MY/CA/JP: electronic] information about the terms and conditions of the use of the work, [NZ/MY oppose:performance,] or phonogram ; or
  any [AU/MY/CA/JP: electronic] numbers or codes that represent such information,
  when any of these items [CA propose: of information] is attached to a copy of the work, [NZ/MY oppose: performance,] or phonogram or appears in connection with the communication or making available of a work, [NZ/MY oppose: performance] or phonogram, to the public.
  (d) For greater certainty, nothing in this paragraph shall obligate a Party to require the owner of any right in the work, performance, or phonogram to attach rights management information to copies of the work, performance, or phonogram, or to cause rights management information to appear in connection with a communication of the work, performance, or phonogram to the public.
  1. Each Party shall accord the rights provided for in this Chapter with respect to [NZ/BN/MY oppose: performers and] producers of phonograms to the [NZ/BN/MY oppose: performers and] producers of phonograms who are nationals of another Party and to [NZ/BN/MY oppose: performances or] phonograms first published or first fixed in the territory of another Party. A [NZ/BN/MY oppose: performance or] phonogram shall be considered first published in the territory of a Party in which it is published within 30 days of its original publication.[][]
  2. Each Party shall provide to performers the right to authorize or prohibit:
  broadcasting and communication to the public of their unfixed performances, except where the performance is already a broadcast performance; and
  fixation of their unfixed performances.
  3. [US/AU/PE/NZ/MY/BN/VN/CL/MX/SG propose ; CA oppose:
  (a) Each Party shall provide to [NZ oppose: performers and] producers of phonograms the right to authorize or prohibit [BN oppose: the broadcasting or] any communication to the public of their [NZ oppose: performances or] phonograms, by wire or wireless means, including the making available to the public of those [NZ oppose: performances and] phonograms in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.]
  [US/CL/PE/MX/SG/MY/NZ/AU/VN/BN propose: (b) Notwithstanding subparagraph (a) and Article [QQ.G.16.1] [exceptions and limitations - 3 step test], the application of this right to analog transmissions and [SG/VN/BN oppose: non-interactive], free over-the-air [CL/PE/MX oppose: analog and digital] broadcasts, and exceptions or limitations to this right for such activity, shall be a matter of each Party's law.]
  [US/AU/SG/CL/PE/VN/MY propose: (c) Each Party may adopt limitations to this right in respect of other noninteractive transmissions in accordance with Article [QQ.G.16.1] [exceptions and limitations - 3 step test], provided that the limitations do not [CL/PE oppose: unreasonably] prejudice the right of the performer or producer of phonograms to obtain equitable remuneration].
  [CA propose: Each Party shall provide to performers and producers of phonograms the rights to authorize or prohibit:
  (c) the broadcasting or any communication to the public of their performances or phonograms; and
  (d) the making available to the public, by wire or wireless means, of their performances and phonograms in such a way that members of the public may access them from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.
  Where, upon the data of signature of this Agreement, the right in subparagraph (a) has not been implemented by a Party, the requirement may be satisfied by providing a right to a single equitable remuneration for the direct or indirect use of phonograms published for commercial purposes for broadcasting or for any communication to the public.]
  For purposes of this [Article QQ.G.1 and Article QQ.G.3 - 18 ], the following definitions apply with respect to performers and producers of phonograms:
  broadcasting means the transmission by wireless means for public reception of sounds or of images and sounds or of the representations thereof; such transmission by satellite is also "broadcasting"; transmission of encrypted signals is "broadcasting" where the means for decrypting are provided to the public by the broadcasting organization or with its consent;
  communication to the public of a performance or a phonogram means the transmission to the public by any medium, other than by broadcasting, of sounds of a performance or the sounds or the representations of sounds fixed in a phonogram. For the purposes of paragraph [3], "communication to the public" includes making the sounds or representations of sounds fixed in a phonogram audible to the public;
  fixation means the embodiment of sounds, or of the representations thereof, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated through a device;
  performers means actors, singers, musicians, dancers and other persons who act, sing, deliver, declaim, play in, interpret, or otherwise perform literary or artistic works or expressions of folklore;
  phonogram means the fixation of the sounds of a performance or of other sounds, or of a representation of sounds, other than in the form of a fixation incorporated in a cinematographic or other audiovisual work;
  producer of a phonogram means the person who, or the legal entity which, takes the initiative and has the responsibility for the first fixation of the sounds of a performance or other sounds, or the representations of sounds; and
  [CA propose:]publication of a performance or a phonogram means the offering of copies of the performance or the phonogram to the public, with the consent of the rightholder, and provided that copies are offered to the public in reasonable quantity.
  With respect to Section G, each Party shall confine limitations or exceptions to exclusive rights to certain special cases that do not conflict with a normal exploitation of the work, performance, or phonogram, and do not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the right holder.
  Article QQ.G.X.1 neither reduces nor extends the scope of applicability of the limitations and exceptions permitted by the TRIPS Agreement, Berne Convention [VN propose: Rome Convention,] the WIPO Copyright Treaty, and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
  Each Party shall endeavor to achieve an appropriate balance in its copyright and related rights system,inter aliaby means of limitations or exceptions that are consistent with Article QQ.G.X, including those for the digital environment, giving due consideration to legitimate purposes such as, but not limited to, criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research [CL/MY propose: ,education, ] [CL propose: and persons with disabilities] [US/MY/SG/CA/PE/BN/MX/VN propose: , as well as facilitating access to published works for persons who are blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled].
  [CL/NZ/MY propose: It is consistent with this Agreement to provide exceptions and limitations for temporary acts of reproduction which are transient or incidental and an integral and essential part of a technological process and whose sole purpose is to enable (a) a lawful transmission in a network between third parties by an intermediary; or (b) a lawful use of a work; and which have no independent economic significance.]
  [CL/NZ/SG/MY/BN/VN/PE/MXpropose; AU/US oppose: The Parties are encouraged to establish international exhaustion of rights.]
  [CA propose: Nothing in this Chapter shall affect the freedom of the Parties to determine whether and under what conditions the exhaustion of copyright and related rights applies.]
  The Parties recognize the important role of collective management societies for copyright and related rights in collecting and distributing royaltiesbased on practices that are fair, efficient, transparent and accountable, and which may include appropriate record keeping and reporting mechanisms.
  1. Each Party shall ensure that enforcement procedures as specified in this section, are available under its law [CL/SG/CA/BN/PE/MX/VN propose: and its legal system] so as to permit effective action against any act of infringement of intellectual property rights covered by this Chapter, including expeditious remedies to prevent infringements and remedies which constitute a deterrent to future infringements. These procedures shall be applied in such a manner as to avoid the creation of barriers to legitimate trade and to provide for safeguards against their abuse.
  2. Each Party shall ensure that its procedures concerning the enforcement of intellectual property rights shall be fair and equitable. These procedures shall not be unnecessarily complicated or costly, or entail unreasonable time-limits or unwarranted delays.
  [CL/VN/PE/AU/MY/BN/NZ/SG/MX/CA propose: 3. This Section does not create any obligation:
  (a) to put in place a judicial system for the enforcement of intellectual property rights distinct from that for the enforcement of law in general, nor does it affect the capacity of each Party to enforce their law in general, or
  (b) with respect to the distribution of resources as between the enforcement of intellectual property rights and the enforcement of law in general.]
  [US/SG propose; BN/VN/PE/MY/NZ/MX/CA oppose: 4. The Parties understand that the distribution of enforcement resources shall not excuse that Party from complying with this Section.]
  1. In civil, criminal, and if applicable, administrative proceedings involving copyright or related rights, each Party shall provide:
  for a presumption [US/CA propose: ] that, in the absence of proof to the contrary, the person whose name is indicated in the usual manner [CL/VN/BN/AU/MX/CA/SG/PE/NZ propose: ] as the author, performer, producer [CA oppose: , or publisher] of the work, performance, or phonogram [CA propose: , or as applicable, the publisher] is the designated right holder in such work, performance, or phonogram; and
  for a presumption that, in the absence of proof to the contrary, the copyright or related right subsists in such subject matter.
  [US/BN/MY/NZ/SG/CA propose; 2 AU/PE/CL/VN/MX oppose: In civil, [BN/MY oppose: administrative,] and criminal proceedings involving trademarks, each Party shall provide for a rebuttable presumption that a registered trademark is valid.
  [BN/SG/MY oppose: In civil or administrative patent enforcement proceedings, each Party shall provide for a rebuttable presumption that each claim in a patent substantively examined and granted by the competent authority satisfies the applicable criteria of patentability in the territory of the Party ].]
  1. Each Party shall provide that final judicial decisions and administrative rulings of general application pertaining to the enforcement of intellectual property rights shall [SG/BN/MY/CA propose: preferably] be in writing and [MY oppose: shall] [MY/CA propose: may] state [VN/SG/BN/MY/CA oppose: any relevant findings of fact and] the reasoning or the legal basis on which the decisions and rulings are based. Each Party shall also provide that such decisions and rulings shall be published [] or, where publication is not practicable, otherwise made available to the public, in a national language in such a manner as to enable interested persons and Parties to become acquainted with them.
  2. Each Party recognizes the importance of collecting and analyzing statistical data and other relevant information concerning intellectual property rights infringements as well as collecting information on best practices to prevent and combat infringements.
  3. Each Party [US/AU/PE/NZ/CL/MX/CA/JP/SG/BN/VN propose: shall] [MY propose: may] publish or otherwise make available to the public information on its efforts to provide effective enforcement of intellectual property rights in its civil, administrative and criminal systems, such as statistical information that the Party may collect for such purposes.
  1. Each Party shall make available to right holderscivil judicial procedures concerning the enforcement of any intellectual property rightcovered in this Chapter.
  2 Each Party shall provide [] that in civil judicial proceedings its judicial authorities have the authority at least to order the infringer to pay the right holder damages adequate to compensate for the injury the right holder has suffered [PE oppose: because of an infringement of that person's intellectual property right by an infringer who knowingly, or with reasonable grounds to know, engaged in infringing activity.] [SG/PE/AU/NZ/MY/CL/CA/MX/BN/VN oppose:]
  2bis.At least in cases of copyright or related rights infringement and trademark counterfeiting, each Party shall provide that, in civil judicial proceedings, its judicial authorities have the authority to order the infringer to pay the right holder the infringer's profits that are attributable to the infringement.[]
  2ter.In determining the amount of damages under paragraph 2, its judicial authorities shall have the authority to consider,inter alia,any legitimate measure of value the right holder submits, which may include lost profits, the value of the infringed goods or services measured by the market price, or the suggested retail price.
  [US/CA/BN/AU/JP/MX/NZ/PE/VN propose: 3.Each Party shall provide that its judicial authorities have the authority to order injunctive relief that conforms to the provisions of Article 44 of the TRIPS Agreement,inter alia,to prevent goods that involve the infringement of an intellectual property right from entering into the channels of commerce [VN propose: in that Party's Jurisdiction].]
  [CL/PE/BN//VN propose;US/NZ oppose: 4. Each Party shall ensure that its judicial authorities shall have the authority to order a party at whose request measures were taken and who has abused enforcement procedures to provide the party wrongfully enjoined or restrained adequate compensation for the injury suffered because of such abuse.]
  (1) In civil judicial proceedings, with respect to infringement of copyright or related rights protecting works, phonograms, and performances, each Party shall establish or maintain a system that provides for one or more of the following:
  pre-established damages, which shall be available upon the election of the right holder; or
  additional damages.
  (2)In civil judicial proceedings, with respect to trademark counterfeiting, each Party [US propose: shall] [NZ/MY/BN/JP propose: may] also establish or maintain a system that provides for one or more of the following:
  pre-established damages, which shall be available upon the election of the right holder; or
  additional damages.
  (3) Pre-established damages shall be set out in an amount that would be sufficient to compensate the right holder for the harm caused by the infingement [VN oppose: , and with a view to deterring future infringements].
  (4) In awarding additional damages, judicial authorities shall have the authority to award such additional damages as they consider appropriate, having regard to all relevant matters, including the [seriousness / extent / blatancy of the infringing conduct]and the need to deter similar infringements in the future.
  [US propose; SG/PE/VN/CA/CL/NZ/MY/BN/AU/MX/JP oppose: 6. In civil judicial proceedings concerning patent infringement, each Party shall provide that its judicial authorities shall have the authority to increase damages to an amount that is up to three times the amount of the injury found or assessed.]
  7. Each Party shall provide that its judicial authorities, [PE oppose: where appropriate,] [CA propose:] [PE propose: except in exceptional circumstances] have the authority to order, at the conclusion of civil judicial proceedings concerning infringement of at least copyright or related rights, [CA/MX/US propose: patents and] [CA/MX/US oppose: or] trademarks, that the prevailing party be awarded payment by the losing party of court costs or fees and appropriate attorney's fees, or any other expenses as provided for under that Party's law.
  9. In civil judicial proceedings concerning copyright or related rights infringement and trademark counterfeiting, each Party shall provide that its judicial authorities shall have the authority [VN propose: , at the right holder's request,] to order [VN propose: as provisional measures] the seizure or other taking into custody of suspected infringing goods, materials and implements relevant to the infringement, and, at least for trademark counterfeiting, documentary evidence relevant to the infringement.
  10. Each Party shall provide that in civil judicial proceedings :
  At least with respect to pirated copyright goods and counterfeit trademark goods, each Party shall provide that, in civil judicial proceedings, at the right holder's request, its judicial authorities have the authority to order that such infringing goods be [VN propose: disposed of outside the channel of commerce or] destroyed, except in exceptional circumstances, without compensation of any sort.
  Each Party shall further provide that its judicial authorities have the authority to order that materials and implements that have been used in the manufacture or creation of such infringing goods, be, without undue delay and without compensation of any sort, destroyed or disposed of outside the channels of commerce in such a manner as to minimize the risks of further infringements.
  in regard to counterfeit trademark goods, the simple removal of the trademark unlawfully affixed shall not be sufficient, other than in exceptional circumstances, to permit the release of goods into the channels of commerce.
  11. Without prejudice to its law governing privilege, the protection of confidentiality of information sources, or the processing of personal data, each Party shall provide that, in civil judicial proceedings concerning the enforcement of intellectual property rights, its judicial authorities have the authority, upon a justified request [VN: propose] of the right holder, to order the infringer or, in the alternative, the alleged infringer, to provide to the right holder or to the judicial authorities, at least for the purpose of collecting evidence, relevant information as provided for in its applicable laws and regulations that the infringer or alleged infringer possesses or controls. Such information may include information regarding any person involved in any aspect of the infringement or alleged infringement and regarding the means of production or the channels of distribution of the infringing or allegedly infringing goods or services, including the identification of third persons alleged to be involved in the production and distribution of such goods or services and of their channels of distribution.
  12. Each Party shall provide that in relation to a civil judicial proceeding concerning the enforcement of intellectual property rights, its judicial or other authorities have the authority to impose sanctions on a party, counsel, experts, or other persons subject to the court's jurisdiction, for violation of judicial orders concerning the protection of confidential information produced or exchanged in connection with such a proceeding.
  13. To the extent that any civil remedy [VN propose; MX oppose:]can be ordered as a result of administrative procedures on the merits of a case, each Party shall provide that such procedures conform to principles equivalent in substance to those set out in this Article (civil and administrative proceedings)
  14. In the event that a Party's judicial or other authorities appoint technical or other experts in civil proceedings concerning the enforcement of intellectual property rights and require that the parties to the litigation bear the costs of such experts, that Party should seek to ensure that such costs are reasonable and related appropriately,inter alia, to the quantity and nature of work to be performedand do not unreasonably deter recourse to such proceedings.
  [US/AU/SG propose; BN/VN/MX/JP oppose: 15. In civil judicial proceedings concerning the acts described in Article 4.[9] (TPMs) and Article 4.[10] (RMI), each Party shall provide that its judicial authorities shall, at the least, have the authoriy to:
  impose provisional measures, including seizure or other taking into custody of devices and products suspected of being involved in the prohibited activity;
  [US/SG propose; NZ/AU/MY oppose: provide an opportunity for the right holder to elect between actual damages it suffered (plus any profits attributable to the prohibited activity not taken into account in computing those damages) or pre-established damages;] [AU/NZ/PE propose: order damages of the type available for the infringement of copyright]
  order [NZ propose: , where appropriate,] payment to the prevailing party at the conclusion of civil judicial proceedings of court costs and fees, and appropriate attorney's fees, by the party engaged in the prohibited conduct; and
  order the destruction of devices and products found to be involved in the prohibited activity.
  [US/AU/SG/NZ/MY/CL/CA propose [US propose: No Party shall make damages available under this paragraph] [AU/SG/NZ/MY/CL/CA propose: A Party may provide that damages shall not be available] against a [MY oppose: nonprofit] library, archives, educational institution, [CA propose: museum, or any other nonprofit entity as determined by a Party's law] [CA oppose: or public noncommercial broadcasting entity] [MY oppose: that sustains the burden of proving that such entity was not aware and had no reason to believe that its acts constituted a prohibited activity]. ]]
  [NZ/CA/SG/CL/MY propose: 16. Each Party may adopt or maintain measures to discourage vexatious or unreasonable proceedings, including those involving pharmaceutical products that are subject to marketing, regulatory or sanitary approval.]
  1. Each Party's authorities shall act on requests for reliefinaudita altera parteexpeditiously in accordance with the Party's judicial rules.
  2. Each Party shall provide that its judicial authorities have the authority to require the applicant, with respect to provisional measures, to provide any reasonably available evidence in order to satisfy themselves with a sufficient degree of certainty that the applicant's right is being infringed or that such infringement is imminent, [VN//PE: and that any delay in the issuance of such measures is likely to cause irreparable harm to the right holders, or there is a demonstrable risk of evidence being destroyed,] and to order the applicant to provide a security or equivalent assurance set at a level sufficient to protect the defendant and to prevent abuse. Such security or equivalent assurance shall not unreasonably deter recourse to such procedures.
  1. Each Party shall provide that any right holder initiating procedures for its competent authorities to suspend release of suspected counterfeit [SG/BN/MY/VN/CA oppose: or confusingly similar] trademark goods, or pirated copyright goodsinto free circulation is required to provide adequate evidence to satisfy the competent authorities that, under the law{s} of the [CA/NZ/MX/US/PE/AU oppose: country of importation] [CA/NZ/MX/US/PE/AUpropose: Party providing the procedures], there isprima faciean infringement of the right holder's intellectual property right and to supply sufficient information that may reasonably be expected to be within the right holder's knowledge to make the suspected goodsreasonably recognizable by its competent authorities. The requirement to provide such information shall not unreasonably deter recourse to these procedures.
  1bis.Each Party shall provide for applications to suspend the release of, or to detain, any suspect goods[SG/VN oppose: under customs controlin its territory.][SG/VN propose: that are imported into the territory of the Party] A Party may provide that, at the request of the right holder, an application to suspend the release of, or to detain, suspect goods may apply to selected points of entry [US/CA/JP/MXpropose; CL/SG/VN oppose: and exit] under customs control.][US/AU/CA/JP/NZ propose; MX /PE/CL/MY/SG/VN/BN oppose: Each Party shall provide that applications [NZ oppose: shall] remain in force [NZ propose: for the period requested by the right holder but not exceeding five years, or] for a period of not less than one year from the date of application, or the period that the good is protected by copyright or the relevant trademark registration is valid, whichever is shorter.[NZ propose: A Party may provide that its competent authorities have the authority to suspend or invalidate an application when there is due cause.]
  2. Each Party shall provide that its competent authorities have the authority to require a right holder initiating procedures to suspend the release of suspected counterfeit [BN/SG/MY/VN/CA oppose: or confusingly similar] trademark goods, or pirated copyright goods, to provide a reasonable security or equivalent assurance sufficient to protect the defendant and the competent authorities and to prevent abuse. Each Party shall provide that such security or equivalent assurance shall not unreasonably deter recourse to these procedures. A Party may provide that such security may be in the form of a bond conditioned to hold the defendant harmless from any loss or damage resulting from any suspension of the release of goods in the event the competent authorities determine that the article is not an infringing good.
  3. Without prejudice to a Party's laws pertaining to privacy or the confidentiality of information, where its competent authorities have detained or suspended the release of goods that are suspected of being counterfeit or pirated, a Party may provide that its competent authorities have the authority to inform the right holder [CA/VN propose: who has filed a request for assistance] [MY/CA/BN/PE/VN oppose: promptly] [MY/CA/PE/BN/SG/VN propose: within a reasonable period] of the names and addresses of the consignor, exporter, consignee or importer, a description of the merchandise, quantity of the merchandise, and, if known, the country of origin of the merchandise.: Where a Party does not provide such authority to its competent authorities when suspect goods are detained or suspended from release, it shall provide [US/VN propose: , at least in cases of imported goods,] its competent authorities with the authority to provide the foregoing information to the right holder [SG/VN oppose: within 30 days] [SG/VN propose: within a reasonable period] of the seizure or determination that the goods are counterfeit or pirated, whichever is earlier.
  [US/PE/AU/SG/MY/CL/CA/BN/JP propose; NZ/VN/MX oppose: 4. Each Party shall provide that its competent authorities may initiate border measuresex officiowith respect to [AU propose: merchandise that is] imported, [MY/CL/AU/PE/BN oppose: exported,] [CL/AU/PE propose; SG oppose: destined for export,] [AU/MY/SG/CA/BN/CL oppose: or in-transit merchandise,[PE oppose:]] [PE/SG/MY/CL/CA/BN oppose: or [AU oppose: merchandise] [US propose: entering into or exiting from] [US oppose: in] free trade zones], that is suspected of being counterfeit [SG/PE/MY/CA/BN oppose: or confusingly similar] trademark goods, or pirated copyright goods.]
  5. Each Party shall adopt or maintain a procedure by which its competent authorities may determine, within a reasonable period oftime after the initiation of the procedures described under Article QQ.H.6(1)whether the suspect goods infringe an intellectual property right. Where a Party provides administrative procedures for the determination of an infringement, it [VNpropose: may] [VN oppose: shall] also provide its authorities with the authority to impose administrative penalties, which may include monetary penalties or the seizure of the infringing goods, following a determination that the goods are infringing.
  6. Each Party shall provide that its competent authorities have the authority to order the destruction [VN propose: , or disposal outside the channel of commerce,] of goods following a determination that the goods are infringing. In cases where such goods are not destroyed, each Party shall ensure that, except in exceptional circumstances, such goods are disposed of outside the channels of commerce in such a manner as to avoid any harm to the right holder. In regard to counterfeit trademark goods, the simple removal of the trademark unlawfully affixed shall not be sufficient, other than in exceptional cases, to permit the release of the goods into the channels of commerce.
  7. Where a Party establishes or assesses, in connection with the procedures described in this section [article], an application fee, storage fee, or destruction fee, such fee shall not be set at an amount that unreasonably deters recourse to these procedures
  8. Each Party shall include in the application of this Article goods of a commercial nature sent in small consignments. A Party may exclude from the application of thisArticle small quantities of goods of a non-commercial nature contained in travellers' personal luggage.
  1. Each Party shall provide for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied at least in cases of willful trademark counterfeiting or copyright or related rights piracy on a commercial scale.
  2. [US/AU/SG/PE propose; CL/VN/MY/NZ/CA/BN/MX oppose: Willful copyright or related rights piracy on a commercial scale includes:
  significant willful copyright or related rights infringements that have no direct or indirect motivation of financial gain; and
  willful infringements for purposes of commercial advantage or [AU/SG/PE/JP oppose: private] financial gain.[AU/SG/PE/CA/JP oppose:]]
  Each Party shall treat willful importation [SG/MX/BN/MY/VN oppose: or exportation] of counterfeit trademark goods [VN oppose: or pirated copyright goods] on a commercial scale as unlawful activities subject to criminal penalties.
  [US propose; AU/BN/MY/NZ/SG/CL/VN/PE/CA/MX/JP oppose: 3. Each Party shall also provide for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied, even absent willful trademark counterfeiting or copyright or related rights piracy, at least in cases of knowing trafficking in:
  labels or packaging, of any type or nature, to which a counterfeit trademarkhas been applied, the use of which is likely to cause confusion, to cause mistake, or to deceive; and
  counterfeit or illicit labelsaffixed to, enclosing, or accompanying, or designed to be affixed to, enclose, or accompany the following:
  a phonogram,
  a copy of a computer program or a literary work,
  a copy of a motion picture or other audiovisual work,
  documentation or packaging for such items; and
  counterfeit documentation or packaging for items of the type described in subparagraph (b).]
  [NZ/AU/BN/MY/US/CA/SG/MX/JP propose; PE/CL/VN oppose: 4. Each Party shall provide for criminal procedures and penalties to be applied in cases of willful importationand domestic use, in the course of trade and on a commercial scale, of labels or packaging:
  to which a mark has been applied without authorization which is identical to, or cannot be distinguished from, a trademark registered in its territory; and
  which are intended to be used in the course of trade on goods or in relation to services which are identical to goods or services for which such trademark is registered.]
  [US propose; CA/JP oppose: Each Party shall further ensure that criminal penalties and procedures are applied in cases of knowing trafficking in illicit labelsaffixed, enclosing, or accompanying, or designed to be affixed to, enclose, or accompany phonograms, copies of computer programs, literary works, motion pictures, or other audiovisual works.]
  5. [AU/NZ/SG/MY/ CA/US propose; PE/VN/BN/MX/CL oppose: [US/CA propose: Each] [US/CA oppose: A] Party [SG/NZ/CL oppose: shall] [SG/NZ/CL/JP: may] provide criminal procedures and penalties [US/CA oppose: , in appropriate cases,] for the [US/CA propose: knowing and] unauthorized copying [MY: or recording] [US propose; CA/JP oppose: or transmittal] of [US/CA propose: a [JP propose: first-run] cinematographic work, or any part thereof,] [US/CA oppose: cinematographic works] from a performance in a [CA oppose: motion picture exhibition facility generally open to the public] [CA/JP propose: movie theater].]
  6. With respect to the offenses for which this Article requires the Parties to provide for criminal procedures and penalties, Parties shall ensure that criminal liability for aiding and abetting is available under its law.
  7. With respect to the offences described in Article QQ.H.7[1]-[4] above, each Party shall provide:
  penalties that include sentences of imprisonment as well as monetary fines sufficiently high to provide a deterrent to future acts of infringement, consistently with the level of penalties applied for crimes of a corresponding gravity;
  that its judicial authorities shall have the authority, when determining penalties, to account for the seriousness of the circumstances, which may include those that involve threats to, or effects on, health or safety;
  that its judicial [VN propose: or other]authorities shallhave the authority to order the seizure of suspected counterfeit trademark goods or pirated copyright goods, any related materials and implements used in the commission of the alleged offense, documentary evidence relevant to the alleged offense [MY oppose: , and assetsderived from, or obtained directly [VNoppose: or indirectly] through the alleged infringing activity].
  Where a Party requires the identification of items subject to seizure as a prerequisite for issuing any such judicial order, that Party shall not require the items to be described in greater detail than necessary to identify them for the purpose of seizure;
  that its judicial authorities shall have the authority to order the forfeiture, at least for serious offenses, of any assets derived from, or obtained directly [VN oppose: or indirectly] through the infringing activity;
  that its judicial authorities shall have the authority to order the forfeiture or destruction of:
  all counterfeit trademark goods or pirated copyright goods; and
  materials and implements [CA/VN/MX propose: predominantly][CA/VN/MX oppose: that have been] used in the creation of pirated copyright goods or counterfeit trademark goods; and
  [CL/PE/VN/BN/SG/AU/CA/MX/JP oppose: (iii) any other articles consisting of a counterfeit trademark].
  In cases where counterfeit trademark goods and pirated copyright goods are not destroyed, the [MY oppose: judicial][MY/SG/CL/AU/PE/MX/VN/JP: competent] authorities shall ensure that , except in exceptional circumstances, such goods shall be disposed of outside the channels of commerce in such a manner as to avoid causing any harm to the right holder. Each Party shall further provide that forfeiture or destruction under this subparagraph and subparagraph (c)shall occur without compensation of any kind to the defendant;
  [US/NZ propose; BN/SG/MY/CL/PE/AU/VN/CA/MX/JP oppose: (f)that its judicial authorities have the authority to order the seizure or forfeiture of assets the value of which corresponds to that of the assets derived from, or obtained directly or indirectly through, the infringing activity];
  that its judicial or other competent authorites shall have the authority to release or, in the alternative, provide access to, goods, material, implements, and other evidence held by the authority to a right holder for civilinfringement proceedings.
  [US/NZ/PE/SG/BN/CL/AU/MY/CA/MX propose: VN/JP oppose: (h) that its competent authorities may act upon their own initiative to initiate a legal action without the need for a formal complaint by a private party or right holder].
  1.[CL propose: In the course of ensuring effective protection against unfair competition as provided in Article 10bisof the Paris Convention] Parties shall ensure that natural and legal persons have the legal means to prevent trade secrets lawfully in their control from being disclosed to, acquired by, or used by others (including state commercial enterprises)without their consent in a manner contrary to honest commercial practices.[] As used in this Chapter, trade secrets encompass, at a minimum, undisclosed information as provided for in Article 39.2 of the TRIPS Agreement.
  [US/MX/CA/NZ/JPpropose; SG/MY/PE/VN/CL/AU/BN oppose: 2. Each Party shall provide for criminal procedures and penalties at least in cases in which a trade secret relating to a product in national or international commerce is misappropriated, or disclosed, willfully and without authority for purposes of commercial advantage or financial gain, and with the intent to injure the owner of such trade secret.]
  Each Party shall make it a [CL/MX propose: civil or,] [VN propose: administrative or] criminal offense to:
  manufacture, assemble, modify, import, export, sell, lease, or otherwise distribute a tangible or intangible device or system, knowing[CL] [CL/JP oppose: or having reason to know] that the device or [CL oppose: system is primarily of assistance] [CL propose: system's principal function is solely to assist] in decoding an encrypted program-carrying satellite [CL/VN/SG/PE/CA/MX oppose: or cable] signal without the authorization of the lawful distributor of such signal; and
  [US/AU/NZ/PE/MY/SG/MX/VN/CA/CL propose, BN/JP oppose: (b) [VN oppose: [CA propose: except in circumstances where the lawful distributor has not made the signal available to persons in the area where the decoding occurs,] willfully receive[CL oppose: and make use of,][] or] willfully further distribute a program-carrying signal that originated as an encrypted satellite [PE/SG/MX/VN/CL/CA oppose: or cable] signal knowing that it has been decoded without the authorization of the lawful dstributor of the signal, [PE/SG/MX/VN/CL/CA oppose: or if the signal has been decoded with the authorization of the lawful distributor of the signal, willfully to further distribute the signal for purposes of commercial advantage knowing that the signal originated as an encrypted program-carrying signal and that such further distribution is without the authorization of the lawful signal distributor.] ]
  [US/AU/PE/NZ/MX/CLpropose, MY/BN/VN/CA oppose: 2. Each Party shall provide for civil remedies, [CL/MX oppose: including compensatory damages,] for any person injured by any activity described in paragraph [1], including any person that holds an interest in the encrypted programming signal or its content.]
  [US/AU/CA/SG/NZ/PE propose, VN/ oppose:1. Each Party shall ensure that enforcement procedures, to the extent set forth in the civil and criminal enforcement sections of this Chapter, are available under its law so as to permit effective action against an act of trademark, copyright or related rights infringement which takes place in the digital environment, including expeditious remedies to prevent infringement and remedies which constitute a deterrent to further infringement.]
  Each Partyshall adopt or maintain appropriate laws, regulations, policies, orders, government-issued guidelines, or administrative or executive decrees providing that its [US/AU/CA/MY/VN/MX propose: central] government agencies use only non-infringingcomputer software [US/AU/CA/MX propose:; SG/CL/PE/NZ/MY/BN/VN oppose: and other materials protected by copyright or related rights] in a manner authorized by law and by the relevant license. These measures shall apply to the acquisition and [PE/CA oppose: management] [PE/CA propose: use] of such software [PE/CL/BN/SG/NZ/MY/VN oppose: and other materials] for government use.
  [US propose: Notwithstanding Article QQ.G.16 [limitations and exceptions] and Article QQ.G.14.3(b) [over the air broadcasting reference], no Party may permit the retransmission of television signals (whether terrestrial, cable, or satellite) on the Internet without the authorization of the rightholder or right holders of the content of the signal and, if any, of the signal.]
  Article QQ.I.1: {Internet Service Provider Liability}[CL/BN/NZ/MY/VN/CA/SG/MX propose; AU/US oppose: 1. Each Party shall limit the liability of, or the availability of remedies against, internet service providers [when acting as intermediaries], for infringement of copyright or related rights that take place on or through communication networks, in relation to the provision or use of their services.]
  [CA propose: 2. Limitations referred to in the previous paragraph shall cover at least the following functions:
  mere conduit, which consist of the provision of the means to transmit information provided by a user, or the means of access to a communication network;
  hosting of information at the request of a user of the hosting services;
  caching carried out through an automated process, when the internet service provider:
  does not modify information other than for technical reasons;
  ensures that any directions related to the caching of information that are specified in a manner widely recognized and used by industry are complied with; and
  does not interfere with the use of technology that is lawful and widely recognized and used by the industry in order to obtain data on the use of information;
  providing an information location tool, by making reproductions of copyright material in an automated manner, and communicating the reproductions.]
  [CA propose: 3. Qualification by an internet service provider for the limitations as to each function in the previous paragraph shall be considered separately from qualification for the limitations as to each other function. Eligibility for the limitations in the previous paragraph may not be conditioned on the internet service provider monitoring its service, or affirmatively seeking facts indicating infringing activity.]
  [CL/BN/NZ/VN/MX propose; AU/US/SG/MY oppose: 2. The framework in Paragraph 1 [CA oppose: will only apply if an internet service provider meets conditions, including] [CA/CL/VN propose; NZ/MX oppose: shall be accompanied in a Party's law by]:
  (a) [CA/NZ/CL/VN/MX propose: procedures for notifications of claimed infringement and for] removing or disabling access to infringing material [CA/CL/MX oppose: upon notification from the right holder through a procedure established by each Party]; and]
  [CA/NZ/CL/VN propose: (b) legal incentives for internet service providers to comply with these procedures, or remedies against internet service providers who fail to comply.]]
  [CA propose: 4. Each Party shall provide legal incentives for internet service providers to comply, or remedies against internet service providers who fail to comply, with any procedures established in each party's law for:
  (a) effective notifications of claimed infringement; or
  (b) removing or disabling access to infringing material residing on its networks.]
  [CA/CL/VN] propose: [CA oppose: 3.] [CA propose: 5.] The framework in Paragraph 1 will not apply to the extent that an internet service provider provides a service primarily for the purpose of enabling acts of copyright or related right infringement.]
  [CA propose: 6. This Article is without prejudice to the availability in a Party's law of other defences, limitations and exceptions to the infringement of copyright or related rights. This Article shall not affect the possibility of a court or administrative authority, in accordance wth Parties' legal systems, or requiring the internet service provider to terminate or prevent an infringement.]
  [US/AU/SG/NZ/PE propose; BN/VN/CA/MX oppose: 1. [SG/MY oppose: For the purpose of providing enforcement procedures that permit effective action against any act of copyright infringement covered by this Chapter, including expeditious remedies to prevent infringements and criminal and civil remedies] each Party shall provide, consistent with the framework set out in this Article:
  [MY/VN oppose: legal incentives for service providers to cooperate with copyright owners in deterring the unauthorized storage and transmission of copyrighted materials; and]
  limitations in its law [MY/NZ/SG propose: on the liability of, or on the remedies] [NZ/MY/VN oppose: regarding the scope of remedies ] available against service providers for copyright infringements that they do not control, initiate or direct, and that take place through systems or networks controlled or operated by them or on their behalf, as set forth in this subparagraph (b). [PE propose: ]
  [MY/VN oppose: These limitations shall preclude monetary relief and provide reasonable restrictions on court-ordered relief to compel or restrain certain actions for the following functions, [NZ oppose: and shall be confined to those functions]][]:
  transmitting, routing, or providing connections for material without modification of its content[CL propose:], or the [MY oppose: intermediate and] transient storage of such material in the course thereof;
  caching carried out through an automatic process;
  storage, at the direction of a user, of material residing on a system or network controlled or operated by or for the service provider; and
  referring or linking users to an online location by using information location tools, including hyperlinks and directories.
  These limitations shall apply only where the service provider does not initiate the transmission of the material, and does not select the material or its recipients (except to the extent that a function described in clause (i)(D) in itself entails some form of selection).
  Qualification by a service provider for the limitations as to each function in clauses (i)(A) through (D) shall be considered separately from qualification for the limitations as to each other function[CL oppose: , in accordance with the conditions for qualification set forth in clauses (iv) through (vii)]
  With respect to functions referred to in clause (i)(B), the limitations shall be conditioned on the service provider:
  [CL/MY oppose: (A) permitting access to cached material in significant part only to users of its system or network who have met conditions [NZ propose: imposed by the originator of the material] on user access to that material;]
  complying with rules concerning the refreshing, reloading, or other updating of the cached material when specified by the [CL oppose: person making the material available online] [CL propose: supplier of the material] in accordance with arelevant industry standard data communications protocol for the system or network through which that person makes the material available that is generally accepted in the Party's territory;
  not interfering with technology usedat the originating site consistent with industry standards generally accepted in the Party's territory to obtain information about the use of the material, and not modifying its content in transmission to subsequent users; and
  [MY oppose: expeditiously] removing or disabling access, on receipt of an effective notification of claimed infringement, to cached material that has been removed or access to which has been disabled at the originating site.
  With respect to functions referred to in clauses (i)(C) and (D), the limitations shall be conditioned on the service provider:
  (A) not receiving a financial benefit directly attributable to the infringing activity, in circumstances where it has the right and ability to control such activity;
  (B) [MY oppose: expeditiously] removing or disabling access to the material residing on its system or network on obtaining actual knowledge of the infringement or becoming aware of facts or circumstances from which the infringement was apparent, such as through effective notifications of claimed infringement in accordance with clause (ix); [NZ oppose: and
  (C ) publicly designating a representative to receive such notifications.]
  [MY/NZ oppose: (vi) Eligibility for the limitations in this subparagraph shall be conditioned on the service provider:
  (A) adopting and reasonably implementing a policy that provides for termination in appropriate circumstances of the accounts of repeat infringers; and
  (B) accommodating and not interfering with standard technical measures accepted in the Party's territory that protect and identify copyrighted material, that are developed through an open, voluntary process by a broad consensus of interested parties, that are available on reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, and that do not impose substantial costs on service providers or substantial burdens on their systems or networks.]
  Eligibility for the limitations in this subparagraph may not be conditioned on the service provider monitoring its service, or affirmatively seeking facts indicating infringing activity [NZ/MY oppose: , except to the extent consistent with such technical measures.]
  [NZ oppose: (viii) If the service provider qualifies for the limitations with respect to the function referred to in clause (i)(A), court-ordered relief to compel or restrain certain actions shall be limited to terminating specified accounts, or to taking reasonable steps to block access to a specific, non-domestic online location.[MY oppose: If the service provider qualifies for the limitations with respect to any other function in clause (i), court-ordered relief to compel or restrain certain actions shall be limited to removing or disabling access to the infringing material, terminating specified accounts, and other remedies that a court may find necessary, provided that such other remedies are the least burdensome to the service provider [CL propose: and users or subscribers] among comparably effective forms of relief. Each Party shall provide that any such relief shall be issued with due regard for the relative burden to the service provider [CL propose: ,to users or subscribers] and harm to the copyright owner, the technical feasibility and effectiveness of the remedy and whether less burdensome, comparably effective enforcement methods are available. Except for orders ensuring the preservation of evidence, or other orders having no material adverse effect on the operation of the service provider's communications network, each Party shall provide that such relief shall be available only where the service provider has received notice of the court order proceedings referred to in this subparagraph and an opportunity to appear before the judicial authority.]]
  [NZ oppose: (ix) For purposes of the notice and take down process for the functions referred to in clauses (i) [CL propose: (B)] (C) and (D), each Party shall establish appropriate procedures in its law or in regulations for effective notifications of claimed infringement, and effective counter-notifications by those whose material is removed or disabled through mistake or misidentification. Each Party shall also provide for monetary remedies against any person who makes a knowing material misrepresentation in a notification or counter-notification that causes injury to any interested party as a result of a service provider relying on the misrepresentation.]
  [NZ oppose: (x) If the service provider removes or disables access to material in good faith based on claimed or apparent infringement, each Party shall provide that the service provider shall be exempted from liability for any resulting claims, provided that, in the case of material residing on its system or network, it takes reasonable steps promptly to notify the [CL oppose: person making the material available on its system or network] [CL propose: supplier of the material] that it has done so and, if such person makes an effective counter-notification and is subject to jurisdiction in an infringement suit, to restore the material online unless the person giving the original effective notification seeks judicial relief within a reasonable time.]
  Each Party shall establish an administrative or judicial procedure enabling copyright owners [NZ oppose: who have given effective notification of claimed infringement] to obtain expeditiously from a service provider information in its possession identifying the alleged infringer.
  For purposes of the function referred to in clause (i)(A), service provider means a provider of transmission, routing, or connections for digital online communications without modification of their content between or among points specified by the user of material of the user's choosing, [NZ oppose: and for purposes of the functions referred to in clauses (i)(B) through (D) service provider means a provider or operator of facilities for online services or network access.]]
  In meeting the obligations of Article QQ.I.1.3(b)(ix), each Party shall adopt or maintain requirements for: (a) effective written notice to service providers with respect to materials that are claimed to be infringing, and (b) effective written counter-notification by those whose material is removed or disabled and who claim that it was disabled through mistake or misidentification, as set forth in this letter. Effective written notice means notice that substantially complies with the elements listed in section (a) of this letter, and effective written counter-notification means counter-notification that substantially complies with the elements listed in section (b) of this letter.
  (a) Effective Written Notice, by a Copyright Owner or Person Authorized to Act
  on Behalf of an Owner of an Exclusive Right, to a Service Provider's Publicly Designated Representative
  In order for a notice to a service provider to comply with the relevant requirements set out in Article QQ.I.1.3(b)(ix), that notice must be a written communication, which may be provided electronically, that includes substantially the following:
  the identity, address, telephone number, and electronic mail address of the complaining party (or its authorized agent);
  information reasonably sufficient to enable the service provider to identify the copyrighted work(s) claimed to have been infringed;
  3. information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to identify and locate the material residing on a system or network controlled or operated by it or for it that is claimed to be infringing, or to be the subject of infringing activity, and that is to be removed, or access to which is to be disabled;
  a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
  a statement that the information in the notice is accurate;
  a statement with sufficient indicia of reliability [SG propose:] (such as a statement under penalty of perjury or equivalent legal sanctions) that the complaining party is the [SG/AU oppose: holder] [SG/AU propose: owner] of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed, or is authorized to act on the owner's behalf; and
  the signature of the person giving notice.
  (b) Effective Written Counter-Notification by a SubscriberWhose Material Was Removed or Disabled as a Result of Mistake or Misidentification of Material
  In order for a counter-notification to a service provider to comply with the relevant requirements set out in Article QQ.I.1.3.(b)(ix), that counter-notification must be a written communication, which may be provided electronically, that includes substantially the following:
  the identity, address, [SG/AU propose: electronic mail address] and telephone number of the subscriber;
  the identity of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled;
  the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled;
  a statement with sufficient indicia of reliability (such as a statement under penalty of perjury or equivalent legal sanctions) that the subscriber [SG/AU propose: is the supplier of the material and] has a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material;
  a statement that the subscriber agrees to be subject to orders of any court that has jurisdiction over the place where the subscriber's address is located, or, if that address is located outside the Party's territory, any other court with jurisdiction over any place in the Party's territory where the service provider may be found, and in which a copyright infringement suit could be brought with respect to the alleged infringement;
  a statement that the subscriber will accept service of process in any such suit; and
  the signature of the subscriber.
  ]]
  [CL propose: Annex ['...]
  List of Geographical Indications from ChileWINES Name of Indication
  Valle de Aconcagua
  Alhu(C)
  Valle del B­o B­o
  Buin
  Valle del Cachapoalf
  Valle de Casablanca
  Cauquenes
  Chilln
  Chimbarongo
  Valle del Choapa
  Coelemu
  Valle de Colchagua
  Valle de Copiap"
  Valle de Curic"
  Region de Aconcagua
  Region de Atacama
  Region de Coquimbo
  Valle del Claro
  Region del Sur
  Region del Valle Central
  Valle del Elqui
  Valle del Huasco
  Illapel
  Isla de Maipo
  Valle del Itata
  Valle de Leyda
  Valle de Limar­
  Linares
  Valle del Loncomilla
  Valle del Lontu(C)
  Lolol
  Valle del Maipo
  Maria Pinto
  Valle del Marga-Marga
  Valle del Maule
  Marchigue
  Valle del Malleco
  Melipilla
  Molina
  Monte Patria
  Mulch(C)n
  Nancagua
  Ovalle
  Paiguano
  Pajarete
  Palmilla
  Panquehue
  Parral
  Pencahue
  Peralillo
  Peumo
  Pirque
  Portezuelo
  Puente Alto
  Punitaqui
  Quill"n
  Rancagua
  Valle del Rapel
  Rauco
  Rengo
  Requ­noa
  R­o Hurtado
  Romeral
  Sagrada Familia
  Valle de San Antonio
  San Juan
  Salamanca
  San Clemente
  San Fernando
  San Javier
  San Rafael
  Santa Cruz
  Santiago
  Talagante
  Talca
  Valle del Teno
  Valle delTutuv(C)n
  Traigu(C)n
  Vicu±a
  Villa Alegre
  Vino Asoleado
  Yumbel
  SPIRITS Name of Indication Country
  Pisco Chile
  AGRICULTURAL Name of Indication Country
  Lim"n de Pica Chile]
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill 2013-14 '-- UK Parliament
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 15:34
  Latest BillLatest news on the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill 2013-14Line by line examination of the Bill took place during the first day of committee stage on 12 November.
  Amendments discussed covered clauses 106-109 and 151-152 of the Bill.
  Committee stage continues on 18 November when further amendments will be discussed.
  Summary of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill 2013-14To make provision about anti-social behaviour, crime and disorder, including provision about recovery of possession of dwelling houses; to make provision amending the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, Schedules 7 and 8 to the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Extradition Act 2003; to make provision about firearms and about forced marriage; to make provision about the police, the Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Serious Fraud Office; to make provision about criminal justice and court fees; 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.
  Human rightsDo you have expertise or a special interest in human rights? The Joint Committee on Human Rights scrutinises the human rights implications of Government Bills.
'Stuxnet has infected Russian nuclear plant and International Space Station' | JPost | Israel News
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 15:27
  An internet security specialist says that Stuxnet, the computer malware that targeted Iran's nuclear facilities in 2010 and widely attributed to Israel and the US, has spiraled out of control and attacked a Russian nuclear plant and the International Space Station.The virus "badly infected" the network of the Russian plant plant, Eugene Kaspersky, the head of the Kaspersky Lab internet security company, told reporters at a conference in Canberra, Australia last week.Kaspersky said he had been tipped off about the leak by a technician at the Russian plant.
  "[T]heir nuclear plant network which was disconnected from the internet ... was badly infected by Stuxnet," Kaspersky was quoted as saying by Australia's SC Magazine.
  Kaspersky also told his audience that the malware was later transported by Russian astronauts to the space station on a USB stick.
  The sophisticated Stuxnet worm was estimated to have set Iran's nuclear program back by two years, after it was discovered in June 2010 to have attacked computers at the Islamic Republic's plant in Natanz.
  Stay on top of the news - get the Jerusalem Post headlines direct to your inbox!
U.S. Office of Government Ethics - Special Government Employees
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 15:21
  Some ethics provisions that apply to executive branch employees apply differently to an employee who qualifies as a ''special Government employee'' (SGE), or do not apply at all.
  Congress created the SGE category in 1962 when it revised the criminal conflict of interest statutes. Congress recognized the need to apply appropriate conflict of interest restrictions to experts, consultants, and other advisers who serve the Government on a temporary basis. On the other hand, Congress also determined that the Government cannot obtain the expertise it needs if it requires experts to forego their private professional lives as a condition of temporary service. Since 1962, the SGE category has been used in a number of statutes and regulations as a means of tailoring the applicability of some restrictions.
  As defined in 18 U.S.C. § 202, an SGE is an officer or employee who is retained, designated, appointed, or employed to perform temporary duties, with or without compensation, for not more than 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive days. The SGE category should be distinguished from other categories of individuals who serve executive branch agencies but who are not employees, such as independent contractors (who are generally not covered by the ethics laws and regulations at all). Also, although many SGEs serve as advisory committee members, not all members of advisory committees are SGEs.
  The bullet points below highlight how the criminal and civil conflict of interest statutes and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch apply differently to SGEs or do not apply at all. OGE has published a comprehensive summary that explains how these provisions, executive branch financial disclosure requirements, and certain other legal authorities apply to SGEs. In addition, the preamble to the proposed post-Government employment rule, found at 68 Fed. Reg. 7844 (Feb. 18, 2003) (PDF) (HTML), contains a detailed discussion of SGE status and who qualifies as an SGE.
  Financial Conflicts of Interest & ImpartialityAn SGE's agency can use special waiver provisions to resolve financial conflicts of interest arising under 18 U.S.C. § 208 (a criminal conflict of interest statute prohibiting an employee from participating in any particular Government matter affecting personal or ''imputed'' financial interests).An SGE who is serving on an advisory committee may rely on special exemptions from 18 U.S.C. § 208.An SGE is not eligible to receive a certificate of divestiture if required to sell property to resolve a conflict of interest.Gifts & PaymentsAn SGE is not covered by 18 U.S.C. § 209 (a criminal conflict of interest statute prohibiting the supplementation of Government salary).An SGE is not covered by 5 U.S.C. app. 4 §§ 501 or 502 (civil statutes limiting outside earned income and restricting certain outside employment and affiliations).Outside Employment & ActivitiesAn SGE's agency can use special waiver provisions to resolve financial conflicts of interest arising under 18 U.S.C. § 208 (a criminal conflict of interest statute prohibiting an employee from participating in any particular Government matter affecting a personal or ''imputed'' financial interests, such as those of the SGE's non-Federal employer).An SGE who is serving on an advisory committee may rely on special exemptions from 18 U.S.C. § 208.18 U.S.C. §§ 203 and 205 (criminal conflict of interest statutes concerning the representation of others before the Government) apply differently to SGEs.An SGE's agency can use special waiver provisions to exempt an employee from 18 U.S.C. §§ 203 or 205.An SGE is not covered by 5 U.S.C. app. 4 §§ 501 or 502 (civil statutes limiting outside earned income and restricting certain outside employment and affiliations).An SGE is not covered by 5 C.F.R. § 2635.804 (a regulatory provision prohibiting outside earned income).5 C.F.R. § 2635.805 (a regulatory provision concerning service as an expert witness) applies differently to SGEs.5 C.F.R. § 2635.807 (a regulatory provision concerning the acceptance of compensation for certain teaching, speaking and writing) applies differently to SGEs.5 C.F.R. § 2635.808 (a regulatory provision concerning fundraising) applies differently to SGEs.Post-Government Employment18 U.S.C. §§ 207(c) and (f) apply only to certain SGEs.The information on this page is not a substitute for individual advice. Agency ethics officials should be consulted about specific situations.
Who Are State Dept's 100 ''Special Government Employees''? It Won't Say - ProPublica
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 15:19
  Earlier this year Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin drew scrutiny for working at the State Department and a consulting firm at the same time. The agency is mum on who else had such an arrangement.
  Hillary Clinton (right) with her aide Huma Abedin. At least three Clinton staffers were granted "special government employee" status at the State Department.
  Earlier this year, Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin drew scrutiny for a special arrangement that allowed her to work part time at the State Department while simultaneously maintaining a side gig working for a corporate consulting firm.
  Under the arrangement, first reported by Politico, Abedin was a ''special government employee,'' a category created decades ago designed to allow experts to serve in government while keeping outside jobs.
  So who else is a special government employee at the State Department? The department won't say -- even as eight other federal agencies readily sent us lists of their own special government employees.
  A State Department spokeswoman did confirm that there are ''about 100'' such employees. But asked for a list, she added that, ''As general policy, [the department] does not disclose employee information of this nature.''
  Meanwhile, after we filed a Freedom of Information Act request in July for the same information, State responded in September that no such list actually exists: The human resources department ''does not compile lists of personnel or positions in the category of 'special government employee.'''
  Creating such a list would require ''extensive research'' and thus the agency is not required to respond under FOIA, said a letter responding to our request.
  In late September, after we told State we were going to publish a story on its refusal to provide the list, the agency said our FOIA request was being reopened. The agency said it would provide the records in a few weeks.
  The State Department has since pushed back the delivery date three times and still hasn't provided any list. It has been four months since we filed the original request.
  Several other agencies, including the Energy and Commerce departments, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission, promptly responded to similar FOIA requests with lists of their own special government employees. Requests with several other agencies are still pending.
  (See the lists of other agencies' special government employees.)
  Agencies reported having anywhere from just one special government employee (SEC) to nearly 400 over the past several years (Energy Department). Many are academics, interns, or private industry professionals and they often serve on government advisory boards.
  As for the State Department, two other special government employees have been identified recently, and both are former Clinton staffers. As of August ex-chief of staff Cheryl Mills was still working at the agency part time with a focus on Haiti, according to the Washington Post's Al Kamen. Maggie Williams, who ran Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, worked at the agency's Office of Global Women's Issues in 2011 and 2012, according to Politico.
  Abedin, for her part, was a special government employee between June 2012 when she resigned her position as deputy chief of staff, to February 2013. She also worked for Teneo, a consulting firm founded by former Bill Clinton aide Doug Band.
  In a July letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, Abedin rejected the Senator's suggestion that she had used her government contacts to provide political intelligence for Teneo's clients.
  ''I was not asked, nor did I undertake, any work on Teneo's behalf before the Department,'' Abedin wrote. She said her work consisted of providing ''strategic advice and consulting services to the firm's management team.''
  (The New Republic recently explored at length the web of connections between Teneo, the Clinton Foundation, and various wealthy individuals and corporations.)
  Abedin said in the letter she sought the special arrangement with State because she wanted to spend the bulk of her time at home in New York following the birth of her son in December 2011.
  Abedin made $135,000 working for State in 2012, and she and husband ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner made approximately $355,000 in combined additional earnings. We don't know how much Abedin was paid by Teneo or by the Clinton Foundation, which also employed her during this period.
  Following time off during Weiner's unsuccessful New York City mayoral bid, Abedin is now working directly for Clinton, in a private capacity, as her ''Transition Director.''
  Reporting contributed by Jonathan Lin.
Fukushima - What Really Happened - henrymakow.com
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:20
  February 1, 2012
  (Left, Reactor 3 vanished after exploding into a mushroom cloud.)As a hypothesis, Stuxnet explains why the generators failed. It explains how the valves in the passive cooling systems got shut off.
  by James Farganne(henrymakow.com)
  Recently, I posted a short overview of Jim Stone's Fukushima report, which concluded that the 9.0-magnitude quake was a lie concocted to conceal the real cause of the tsunami: a seabed nuke.
  Stone's report proves definitively that the official story of 3/11, like that of 9/11, is a poorly woven fabric of lies and inconsistencies.
  Drone photos show that the containment walls of Reactors 1, 3, and 4 were obliterated. Concrete walls 4 - 8 feet thick were blown to dust, leaving only skeletal rebar. Hydrogen, at such low pressure, could never have wrought such massive destruction. It would defy laws of physics, as well as historical precedent.
  The destruction of Reactor 4's containment walls was a clear case of sabotage. It had no fuel in it, so it was not operating. Yet it blew sky high. Reactor 3 vanished completely, core and all, after exploding into a mushroom cloud.
  Claims by Arnie Gundersen that the explosions resulted from "prompt criticality" don't wash. Reactor core meltdowns do not produce mushroom clouds. Nuclear weapons do that. Moreover, Gundersen, "expert" mouthpiece for the MSM and alternative media outlets, has been outed by real professionals in his field as a fraud.
  The foregoing facts are clear enough to the untrained eye. More subtle are signs of sabotage within the power plants' control systems. Seeing these takes more brainpower. You need to visualize the unfamiliar. You have to find out what switch gear is. There's a dry official report to hump through, diagrams at which to squint. You have to scroll toward the bottom of Stone's report for this section. It has no proper title. Just keep your eyes peeled for the first sentence:
  "Fukushima was impossible."
  This section was the kernel of Stone's investigation. It is a crystalline lattice of logic and evidence that obliterates the official story of the reactors' destruction as completely as the reactors were themselves destroyed.
  WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?
  According to officialdom, the reactors exploded because the cores overheated. The emergency cooling systems failed because the backup generators were flooded by the tsunami.
  All of this is bogus. First, a careful reading of an official report from the World Nuclear Association reveals that the tsunami did not flood the generators. There was another cause for their malfunction.
  Second, three of the nine cooling systems needed no electricity. They used steam power from the reactor cores. They were the real emergency systems. Swamped generators would therefore have been irrelevant.
  Third, these three passive systems kicked in at Reactors 1 and 3. Then the valves that fed them steam were shut. This required a command. It was a deliberate act.
  Who, or what, shut those valves?
  The most likely answer points to Dimona, Israel's "nuclear research" center.
  ENTER STUXNET
  Israeli security firm Magna BSP landed a security contract at Fukushima Daiichi shortly after Japan offered to enrich uranium for Iran. Soon after Magna BSP arrived, cybersecurity giant Symantec reported that the Stuxnet virus had infiltrated thousands of computers in Japan.
  This is significant because Stuxnet is an Israeli invention. Magna BSP, an Israeli firm, had no previous history outside of contracts with Dimona, where the Stuxnet virus was born.
  Stuxnet works by disrupting industrial hydraulics, the pipes and valves that drove Fukushima's cooling systems. Stuxnet runs amok while sending normal readings to the engineers at their control stations. Israel is documented to have used this virus to damage centrifuges at a nuclear facility in Iran.
  The cooling systems at Fukushima were controlled by Siemens software, which the Stuxnet virus was designed specifically to attack.
  Stuxnet can be administrated via the kind of data link that Magna BSP installed before scramming back to Israel just prior to the disaster.
  As a hypothesis, Stuxnet explains why the generators failed. It explains how the valves in the passive cooling systems got shut. It explains why engineers are still getting containment pressure readings from Reactor 3, even though the containment is no longer there, and it explains a lot of other things as well.
  If you want to debunk the Stuxnet hypothesis, you're going to have your work cut out for you. If Stuxnet was a duck, then everything about what happened at Fukushima would be quacking like one.
  CONCLUSION
  On 3/11/11, Reactors 1, 2, 3, and 4 were utterly destroyed, with 1, 3, and 4 suspiciously exploding.
  Though Stone only got direct evidence of a nuke planted at Reactor 3, which produced the mushroom cloud, it is rational to believe Reactors 1 and 4 also had them, with 4 exploding even though it had no fuel core installed at the time.
  The lesser magnitude of the explosions at Reactors 1 and 4 can be attributed to the fact that gun-type nukes are not consistent in their yield. Reactor 3's detonation might also have gotten a boost from the pressure released in a reactor pressure vessel breach -- a sensible conclusion in that the reactor is completely gone. Stuxnet appears to have affected all of the reactors' control systems, crippling generators and shutting valves. Problems at Reactor 2 appear to be Stuxnet-related only. All four were fatalities.
  But of course, don't take my word for it. Go and study the report for yourself.
  --
  Our First Article on Stone's Report prompted this Hit Piece in the MSM, Wired.com
  Comments for "Fukushima - What Really Happened"
Turkey asks NATO to extend Patriot deployment near Syria border
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: The Daily Star >> Live News
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:11
  ANKARA: Turkey has asked NATO to extend for another year the deployment of surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria because of a continuing "serious" threat, officials said on Wednesday.
  "We have received a letter from the Turkish government requesting the continuation of the Patriot mission," a NATO official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
  "The North Atlantic Council has regularly assessed the situation and the implementation of the Patriot mission. It is clear that the overall risks and threats to Turkey remain serious," the official said.
  A Turkish foreign ministry diplomat, contacted by AFP, also confirmed Ankara's request.
  Turkey turned to its NATO allies after a mortar bomb fired from Syrian territory killed five Turkish civilians in the border town of Akcakale in October last year.
  Since the deadly attack, Turkey has retaliated in kind for every Syrian shell that has landed on its soil and beefed up its volatile 910-kilometre (560 mile) frontier.
  The six batteries of the US-made missiles, effective against aircraft and short-range missiles and dispatched by the Netherlands, Germany and the United States, are deployed in the southern city of Adana and the southeastern cities of Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep.
  "Allies have shown a strong commitment to protect and defend Turkey," said the NATO official.
  "Any continuation of the deployment would reaffirm the determination of NATO to deter threats and defend Turkey, reflecting and confirming once again NATO's solidarity with Turkey."
  NATO approved their initial deployment in December, saying the use of ballistic missiles by the Syrian regime posed a threat to Turkey.
  But Syria's allies Iran and Russia opposed the Patriot deployment, fearing that it could spark a regional conflict also drawing in NATO.
  Originally used as an anti-aircraft missile, Patriots today are used to defend airspace by detecting and destroying incoming missiles. They were made famous during the 1991 Gulf War as a defence from Scuds fired on Israel and Saudi Arabia from Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
  NATO deployed Patriot missiles in Turkey during the 1991 Gulf war and in 2003 during the Iraqi conflict.
  Turkey was once a friend and ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but relations have broken down since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, sending more than 600,000 refugees across the border.
  Ankara has backed the opposition fighting to topple the embattled leader.
  In October, Turkey's parliament extended for one year a mandate that would allow Ankara to send troops to war-ravaged Syria if necessary.
Endemol steekt miljoenen in online video
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: VK: Home
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:10
  Bewerkt door: redactie '' 13/11/13, 12:17 '' bron: ANP
  (C) ANP.
  Het tv-productiebedrijf Endemol gaat zijn internationale activiteiten op het gebied van online video verder uitbouwen met de oprichting van een nieuw bedrijf genaamd Endemol Beyond. De nieuwe onderneming wordt ondersteund met een eerste investering die kan oplopen tot 30 miljoen euro, maakte Endemol woensdag bekend.
  Endemol Beyond wordt een netwerk van aaneengesloten internationale en lokale kanalen, verspreid over platforms als YouTube, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, Dailymotion. 'Het netwerk omvat verschillende themakanalen, varirend van comedy tot entertainment en van fashion tot film. Naast premium content van Endemol kunnen ook programma's van andere producenten worden ingezet', laat Endemol weten.
  Het concern wil met het nieuwe bedrijf de bestaande digitale video projecten in de Verenigde Staten, Engeland, Duitsland, Frankrijk, Itali en Spanje sneller ontwikkelen. Ook zullen er nieuwe groeimarkten worden toegevoegd.
Rechtbank staat getuigenverhoor over Demmink toe
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: VK: Home
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:09
  Bewerkt door: redactie '' 13/11/13, 11:49 '' bron: ANP
  (C) anp. Volgens Demmink zou de stichting opereren vanuit een complottheorie die 'er enkel op is gericht om zijn persoonlijke integriteit aan te vallen'.
  Stichting De Roestige Spijker mag getuigen horen in een civiele procedure tegen voormalig secretaris-generaal Joris Demmink van het ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie. Dat heeft de rechtbank in Utrecht woensdag bepaald.
  Demmink was tot 1 november vorig jaar de hoogste ambtenaar op het ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie. Hij wordt al jaren in verband gebracht met pedofilie, maar heeft de beschuldigingen zelf altijd weersproken. Stichting De Roestige Spijker, een voorvechter van persvrijheid, wil een Amerikaanse documentaire openbaar maken, waarin de gepensioneerde ambtenaar wordt beschuldigd meerdere malen ontucht of seksueel misbruik te hebben gepleegd met minderjarige jongens.
  Demmink vindt die openbaarmaking onrechtmatig. De stichting wil daarom 'haar juridische positie bepalen' door getuigen te horen. Het gaat onder meer om 2 oud-gevangenisdirecteuren en een oud-medewerkster van Demmink. De documentaire is al op Youtube te zien. Volgens Demmink zou de stichting opereren vanuit een complottheorie die 'er enkel op is gericht om zijn persoonlijke integriteit aan te vallen'.
  De rechter wijst een dergelijk getuigenverhoor bijna altijd toe. Tijdens het horen van getuigen komt de persoonlijke integriteit van de oud-topambtenaar aan de orde, maar de stichting heeft een belang om meer duidelijkheid te krijgen over rechtmatigheid van het verder openbaar maken van de documentaire, aldus de rechtbank.
  'Geen strafbare feiten'De Rijksrecherche deed in opdracht van justitie al eens onderzoek naar Demmink, hoewel ze twijfelde aan de betrouwbaarheid van aangiftes. Gezien de ernst van de beschuldigingen werd er toch een onderzoek ingesteld, maar daaruit bleken geen strafbare feiten, meldde het Openbaar Ministerie (OM) in februari vorig jaar.
  Advocaat Matthijs Kaaks van De Roesitge Spijker denkt daar anders over. 'De getuigenverhoren kunnen ertoe leiden dat in deze affaire de onderste steen boven komt. Hopelijk melden zich nu de zaak wordt opengebroken meer mensen met informatie.' Het is nog niet bekend wanneer de getuigen worden gehoord. De rechtbank wil op 17 december een regiezitting houden.
Nationale actie z"nder grote tv-show en radiomarathon
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: VK: Home
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:07
  Door: Thijs van Soest '' 13/11/13, 12:10
  (C) ANP. Linda de Mol, minister Bert Koenders van Ontwikkelingssamenwerking, voorzitter van de Samenwerkende Hulporganisaties Farah Karimi en Beau van Erven Dorens tonen begin januari 2010 het eindbedrag van de actie Help Haiti.
  De nationale actie van de Stichting Samenwerkende Hulporganisaties ziet er aanstaande maandag anders uit dan voorgaande keren. Bij andere grote rampen werd meestal gekozen voor een gezamenlijke tv-show en een radiomarathon op alle zenders, maar daar is nu geen sprake van.
  (C) ANP.
  SBS, RTL en de NPO voeren dit keer actie voor de Filipijnen via de bestaande programmering, bevestigt NPO-woordvoerster Selma Penseel namens de drie mediabedrijven. Wel zullen er mogelijk verbanden worden gelegd tussen de verschillende bekende programma's, maar 'er komt g(C)(C)n gezamenlijke show', zoals wel bij eerdere grote natuurrampen in Azi en Ha¯ti het geval was.
  'We denken het publiek beter te kunnen bedienen via de bestaande programma's. Soms moet je ook wat nieuws proberen; wellicht is deze manier wel veel succesvoller', stelt Penseel. Volgens haar waren de bij het overleg over de actie betrokken tv-makers het erover eens dat het dit keer op een andere manier moest, geen show, geen amusement: 'Dat is een kwestie van gevoel'. Er is daarom ook geen externe tv-producent, zoals Eyeworks of Endemol, bij de nationale actie betrokken.
  De opzet van de nationale actie van komende maandag is echter niet geheel nieuw en lijkt op die van augustus 2010, toen er voor slachtoffers van de watersnood in Pakistan geld werd ingezameld. Dat gebeurde ook via de bestaande programmering. Uiteindelijk kwam er zo 27 miljoen euro binnen. Bij Ha¯ti en Azi was de opbrengst een veelvoud daarvan.
  ProductieteamsHoe de definitieve opzet van de dag eruitziet, wordt morgen bekendgemaakt. Diverse productieteams zijn daar nu mee bezig. Ze nemen contact op met bestaande programma's als WNL Vandaag de Dag, RTL Boulevard en Hart van Nederland om te overleggen over de inhoud en te bekijken waar er verbanden kunnen worden gelegd. Ook wordt een gezamenlijk actiecentrum opgezet in het Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid op het Mediapark, waar bijvoorbeeld het telefoonteam een plek krijgt. Bij dit belteam kunnen, en dat is wel als vanouds, van 6.00 tot middernacht geld en cheques worden ingeleverd.
  (C) ANP.
  Radio 555
  Radio 555Bij voorgaande acties voor Azi na de tsunami in 2005 en voor slachtoffers van de aardbeving in Ha¯ti (2010) sloegen ook publieke en commercile radiozenders de handen ineen. Radio 555 bracht op alle zenders dezelfde actieprogrammering met presentatieduo's van de verschillende zenders. Ook dit project keert nu niet terug. Naar verluidt omdat de commercile zenders dit niet zagen zitten, maar volgens Penseel is daar geen sprake van. 'Het is echt een gezamenlijk besluit om het dit keer anders te doen.'
Documents Reveal "Chemtrails" Originated at Department of Defense.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:05
  Contrary to rumors of ''conspiracy theory'', the Department of Defense first published ''Chemtrails'' in 1990 as the title to a chemistry course for new pilots attending the esteemed US Air Force Academy.
  It's reasonable to speculate that ''Chemtrails'', and its implied meaning was eventually adopted by civilian observers to describe unusual military jet contrail emissions and later, commercial aircraft persistent contrails.
  In etymological terms, the origin of a word is very important. Regardless the intended definition, history clearly shows the term ''Chemtrails'' originated at the US Department of Defense as the title for a Chemistry manual used at the Air Force Academy cadet training program in the early 1990'²s.
  The purpose of this post is to establish the term ''chemtrails'' was invented by the DoD for the Air Force Academy. However compelling, we resist claiming that the title and/or content is directly linked to the covert aerosol geoengineering and ''chemtrails'' operation that has been infecting planet earth since the early 1990'²s. The course content, however suggests possible methods for manipulation of the earth's atmospheric chemistry and conductivity, and could be construed as a course requirement for pilots who could be engaged in deploying chemicals into the atmosphere.
  YouTube - Veterans Today -
  ______________________
  Definition '' A: TheOxford Dictionary provides an accurate description of ''chemtrails'' even if they are unaware that the DoD is the ''inventor'' and original publisher of the word, ''chemtrails''.
  chemtrail
  Pronunciation: /ËkÉ›mtreÉªl/
  noun
  a visible trail left in the sky by an aircraft and believed by some to consist of chemical or biological agents released as part of a covert operation.
  Origin: 1990s: blend of chemical and trail, on the pattern of contrail (Oxford Dictionary)
  ______________________
  Definition '' B: Defined as an ''exotic weapon'' in HR 2977, Space Preservation Act of 2001. (Gov. Doc '' PDF)
  In 2001, US Rep., Dennis Kucinich introduced HR 2977 ''Space Preservation Act of 2001'". The text of the Bill defines Chemtrails as an 'exotic weapon''
  Origin: Department of Defense title to a chemistry manual as required study for future pilots enrolled at the US Air Force Academy.
  A Microfilm copy of ''Chemtrails'' is available through the Inter Library Loan system (ILL). Exhibts and chain of custody is included below.
  The complete 202 page Chemtrails manual is available for download '' HERE or HERE (Large 28 MB file. Use right-click method to download)
  About the Chemtrails Manual Cover
  The Air Force Academy Chemtrails manual cover shows a flame from a Bunsen burner that appears to be producing two ''trails''.The title of the manual ''Chemtrails'' is printed between the two ''trails''.Considering the intentional graphic depicting ''trails'' it's possible the Bunsen burner represents a jet engine producing ''chemically'' induced, persistent contrails.A Bunsen burner is a common piece of laboratory equipment that produces a single open gas flame which is used for heating, sterilization, and combustion.A test tube filled with a liquid is emptying contents into a flask.The remaining graphic appears to be a chemical representation for ''methane'' (CH4). Since Natural gas contains mostly ''methane'' it's possible this symbol alludes to the fuel providing the flame to the Bunsen burner.(Natural Gas)
  Method: An inter-library loan initiated by the Alachua County main library yielded a microfilm copy of the 1990 Chemistry 131 Manual used in training by the US Air force Academy. The lending institution was the William T. Young Library at the University of Kentucky as shown in the label below.
  The microfilm was in acceptable condition, however the 1990 Chemtrails manual was scanned in 1992 under less than optimum conditions from a well-used original.
  The Alachua County Library equipment was used to scan each of the 200 pages to digital *.TIF files. Photoshop was used to optimize each image to the smallest file size that would permit adequate resolution for on-line viewing. Each image was imported to a Microsoft Word page where the complete manual was saved to a 28 MB PDF file. (Portable Document File).
  Air Force Academy Admissions Requirements-2013
  Related Posts:Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=275203
  The views expressed herein are the views of the author exclusively and not necessarily the views of VT or any other VT authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors or partners. Legal NoticePosted by Harold Saive on Oct 30 2013, With 0 Reads, Filed under Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
  To post, we ask that you login using Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail in the box below.Don't have a social network account? Register and Login direct with VT and post.Before you post, read our Comment Policy - Feedback
US Caused Typhoon To Get Bases In Philippines?
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:04
  On 5 November 2013, it was reported that the USA and the Philippines are in disagreement about the USA's wish for a much increased military presence in the Philippines.In October 2013, US Secretary of State John Kerry cancelled a visit to the Philippines.The USA wants access to Philippine military bases and wants to bring in aircraft, ships and other equipment to the Philippines.The Philippines Defense Secretary, Voltaire Gazmin, said there is a dispute about whether the Philippines or the USA will control these bases. Gamin said: "What will happen if we won't have access? Those bases will look like their bases."The Philippine Senate voted in 1991 to close down major U.S. bases.
  US forces heading to the Philippines.As a result of the November typhoon, the USA is now sending in lots of its military.The Philippines may be pressured to let the US military have its way.
  A weather-watcher known as 'Dutchsinse' has linked the typhoon in the Philippines to man-made microwave pulses coming from an American base in the Pacific.aangirfan: PHILIPPINES TYPHOON CAUSED BY US MILITARY
  Dutchsinse - WordPress.com
Sudan: Clooney Satellite Warns Sudan's Civilians of Military Buildup.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:03
  Photo: Hannah McNeish/IRINPeople displaced by clashes in South Sudan''s Jonglei state wait for food distribution in Pibor.
  Nairobi '-- George Clooney's Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) issued a "human security warning" for civilians living in Sudan's war-torn South Kordofan region and in the disputed Abyei area on Tuesday, saying images of a military buildup could signal a new government offensive.
  DigitalGlobe imagery showed attack helicopters, support and transport aircraft had arrived at El Obeid air base in neighbouring North Kordofan, and the number of helicopters and transport aircraft stationed at Kadugli air base in South Kordofan had almost tripled, the SSP said.
  On the ground, it said there was an increase in the number of tanks and other vehicles stationed in garrisons in El Obeid and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan.
  "This buildup suggests a possible new offensive," the SSP said on its website. "The threat of renewed attacks on Sudanese civilians in South Kordofan, which could cause further displacement, is particularly worrying as food insecurity increases for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people with the advent of the dry season."
  Seasonal hunger is a problem for many Sudanese, worsened in South Kordofan by massive displacement due to the conflict between rebels and government forces which reignited in June 2011.
  Sudan's rainy season, during which there is traditionally a lull in fighting, ends next month.
  Rebels in South Kordofan fought alongside southern insurgents during Sudan's civil war but were left in Sudan when South Sudan seceded under a 2005 peace deal. They say they are fighting persecution by the government, but it accuses them of trying to sow chaos at South Sudan's behest.
  On Sunday, residents of the Abyei border region plan to hold a unilateral referendum despite warnings it could lead to violence. The ownership of Abyei was left undecided when South Sudan seceded - and a long-promised official plebiscite on its status has been stalled by arguments over who is entitled to vote.
  Celebrity campaigner Clooney has previously accused Sudan of committing crimes against humanity by burning down villages in South Kordofan. The government says such charges are false and it is protecting civilians.
MI6 spy found dead in a bag 'died in a tragic accident after locking himself in holdall', police will say in official verdict.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: WT news feed
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:03
  Gareth Williams found dead in his Central London flat in August 201031-year-old's death was ruled to be 'probably' foul play by a coronerBut Scotland Yard announced that he seems to have locked himself in bagFamily believe he was killed and refuse to accept result of investigationBy Hugo Gye
  PUBLISHED: 03:16 EST, 13 November 2013 | UPDATED: 06:16 EST, 13 November 2013
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  Finding: Police have announced that MI6 spy Gareth Williams probably locked himself in the holdall where he was found dead in August 2010
  The MI6 spy found dead in a holdall bag probably locked himself in and died by accident, police said today.
  Gareth Williams' mysterious death has been the subject of fierce speculation since his body was found in his Central London flat three years ago.
  A new review of the case by the Metropolitan Police has concluded that there is no evidence his death was the result of foul play, although they were unable to say for sure how he died.
  The finding contravenes the verdict of a coroner who last year ruled that Mr Williams had 'probably' been killed by someone else.
  Scotland Yard detectives said that since it was possible for the codebreaker to climb in to the bag and lock it unaided, it is not necessary to posit any outside involvement.
  They added that there was no evidence of anyone else being in his flat at the time of his death, and no sign that the home had undergone a 'deep clean' to avoid incriminating a third party.
  Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said: 'With the conclusion of the investigation, the Metropolitan Police's position is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died.
  'But the reality is that for both hypotheses, there exist evidential contradictions and gaps in our understanding.'
  Although he said that Mr Williams' death was 'most probably' an accident, he admitted: 'No evidence has been identified to establish the full circumstances of Gareth's death beyond all reasonable doubt.'
  However, the family of the 31-year-old disagree with the verdict, according to police, and continue to support the coroner's theory that he was unlawfully killed.
  They said in a statement: 'We are naturally disappointed that it is still not possible to state with certainty how Gareth died and the fact that the circumstances of his death are still unknown adds to our grief.
  'We consider that on the basis of the facts known at present the coroner's verdict accurately reflects the circumstances of Gareth's death.'
  Mystery: Last year a coroner ruled that someone else was involved in the codebreaker's death
  Mr Hewitt admitted that the police and MI6 had failed to co-operate fully, but said it was 'beyond credibility' that his investigation had been deliberately deceived by anyone trying to hide the truth about Mr Williams' death.
  'I do not believe that I have had the wool pulled over my eyes,' he said. 'I believe that what we are dealing with is a tragic unexplained death.'
  Mr Williams, who was found dead inside the locked bag in the bath of his flat in Pimlico in August 2010, is known to have had an interest in escapology.
  Coroner Fiona Wilcox last year ruled that the spy would not have been able to lock himself in the bag and was therefore likely to have died at somebody else's hands.
  But within days of the verdict investigators claimed that it was in fact possible for a skilled escapologist to climb in to the red North Face holdall and lock it from the inside.
  Last image: Mr Williams pictured on CCTV at a Tube station shortly before his death
  Police launched a review of the case following the inquest, over concerns that some evidence had been handled improperly.
  The investigation apparently included interviews with senior officials from MI6, where Mr Williams was working on secondment from GCHQ.
  Confirmation that the spy's death was nothing more than a tragic accident could put to rest the various theories which have attached themselves to the case.
  It has long been suspected that Mr Williams could have been targeted by foreign agents because of his highly sensitive MI6 work.
  Another theory was that the Russian mafia assassinated him in a bid to stop him investigating money-laundering networks.
  Others suspected that his death might have been the result of a sex game gone wrong, after it was claimed that he had close links with London's drag and bondage scenes.
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Polish President Apologizes for Attack on Russian Embassy
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: RIA Novosti
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:01
  WARSAW, November 13 (RIA Novosti) '' The president of Poland apologized to Russia on Wednesday for the attack by a nationalist mob on the Russian Embassy in Warsaw, calling the episode outrageous and unjustifiable.
  ''We need to apologize on behalf of the Polish state,'' President Bronislaw Komorowski told privately owned broadcaster Radio Zet.
  Thousands of people paraded through Warsaw on Monday to mark the 1918 reunification of Poland after more than a century of being partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria.
  A crowd of youths splintered away from the previously approved route and attacked the Russian Embassy, pelting it with rocks and firecrackers and setting alight the guards' booth.
  Moscow called for an immediate apology from Poland and demanded that Warsaw pay for the damages and ensure that those responsible were brought to justice.
  The incident in Warsaw drew an immediate reaction in Moscow, where a group of young men threw firecrackers and smoke pellets at the Polish Embassy.
  Three men have been detained by Russian police.
  Unregistered nationalist opposition party The Other Russia, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said in a statement that their actions were intended to show that ''Russia should be treated with respect.''
  Russian authorities have not yet commented on the incident in Moscow.
Live Nation Nears a Deal For Managers Of Music Acts
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: LIVE@LEEDS
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:58
  By BEN SISARIO NY Times 11/12/13
  Live Nation Entertainment, the giant concert company that includes Ticketmaster, is in advanced negotiations to buy the management companies behind U2 and Madonna, according to several people with direct knowledge of the talks.If the deal is consummated, it will further strengthen Live Nation's already deep ties with U2 and Madonna, two of the highest-earning and most durable pop acts of the last 30 years.As part of the deal, Live Nation would pay more than $30 million for both Principle Management, the company of U2's longtime manager, Paul McGuinness, as well as Maverick, run by Guy Oseary, Madonna's manager, according to these people, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they were not authorized to discuss the deal publicly.In what would be one of the most surprising shifts in years among the forces behind pop megastars, Mr. Oseary, 41, would take over the day-to-day management of U2. Mr. McGuinness, 62, who has managed U2 almost since its inception '-- and in doing so became one of the most highly esteemed executives in the music business '-- would become Principle's chairman, with a role that was not fully clear.A spokeswoman for Live Nation declined to comment, and Mr. Oseary could not be reached Tuesday afternoon.In a statement, Mr. McGuinness said: ''It could be seen as slightly poor etiquette for a manager to consider retiring before his artist has split, quit or died, but U2 have never subscribed to the rock 'n' roll code of conduct. As I approach the musically relevant age of 64 I have resolved to take a less hands-on role as the band embark on the next cycle of their extraordinary career.''I am delighted that Live Nation, who with Arthur Fogel have been our long term touring partners, have joined us in creating this powerful new force in artist management. I have long regarded Guy Oseary as the best manager of his generation, and there is no one else I would have considered to take over the day-to-day running of our business.''According to Pollstar, a concert industry trade magazine, the top 10 highest-grossing tours include four by U2 and one by Madonna. U2's last tour, called 360, had more than $700 million in ticket sales and was seen by nearly seven million people around the world.Live Nation, which besides its concert promotion and ticketing business manages the careers of some 200 acts through its Artist Nation division, has had close ties with both U2 and Madonna for years. In 2007, it struck a $120 million deal with Madonna that covered touring and recorded music rights for a decade, and it later sold the recording rights to Universal. In 2008, it made a deal with U2 to handle the band's touring and merchandising exclusively for 12 years.Along with other arrangements Live Nation made around that time with Jay Z, Shakira and Nickelback, those deals came to symbolize a major change in the music business, as artists looked to concerts, merchandise and myriad other outlets to make up for lost record sales.
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  Tags: Guy Oseary, Live Nation, Madonna, Paul McGuinness, U2
  This entry was posted on November 13, 2013 at 9:31 am and is filed under Managers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
U.N. climate panel corrects carbon numbers in influential report
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: UN Agenda 21
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:55
  Exposing the comprehensive UN plan to bring about an authoritarian world government via international regulations and treaties under the guise of environmentalism and social equity.
  Remember, a lot of this is heavy doublespeak. I.E. "Commuter Friendly" = Commuter hell, at the mercy of public transportation, unfriendly-to-cars, no leaving the area etc., "Walkable" = car unfriendly, literally poverty infrastructure
  New UrbanismTriple Bottom LineSustainability/Sustainable DevelopmentSocial EquityEconomic EmpowermentSocial Responsibility"Smart" i.e. Smart GrowthEconomic/Environmental JusticeCorporate Social Responsibility(CSR)Liveable/WalkableNew NormalComplete StreetsMixed-Use (property)"Green"Commuter Friendly"Well-Being"Community ActionResilience/Resilient CommunitiesTransition TownNext/New EconomySECTION I. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS: Chapter 2.1.
  In order to meet the challenges of environment and development, States have decided to establish a new global partnership. This partnership commits all States to engage in a continuous and constructive dialogue, inspired by the need to achieve a more efficient and equitable world economy, keeping in view the increasing interdependence of the community of nations and that sustainable development should become a priority item on the agenda of the international community. It is recognized that, for the success of this new partnership, it is important to overcome confrontation and to foster a climate of genuine cooperation and solidarity. It is equally important to strengthen national and international policies and multinational cooperation to adapt to the new realities.
  No Racism
  No Abusive/threatening language.
  Any posts that attack the sub, the users or the mods can be removed. Breaking this rule more than once can earn a ban.
  We are all different here, and you may find that have different beliefs, but please be respectful of each other.
Report on climate change depicts a planet in peril -- The warnings came in a report drafted by the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: UN Agenda 21
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:54
  Exposing the comprehensive UN plan to bring about an authoritarian world government via international regulations and treaties under the guise of environmentalism and social equity.
  Remember, a lot of this is heavy doublespeak. I.E. "Commuter Friendly" = Commuter hell, at the mercy of public transportation, unfriendly-to-cars, no leaving the area etc., "Walkable" = car unfriendly, literally poverty infrastructure
  New UrbanismTriple Bottom LineSustainability/Sustainable DevelopmentSocial EquityEconomic EmpowermentSocial Responsibility"Smart" i.e. Smart GrowthEconomic/Environmental JusticeCorporate Social Responsibility(CSR)Liveable/WalkableNew NormalComplete StreetsMixed-Use (property)"Green"Commuter Friendly"Well-Being"Community ActionResilience/Resilient CommunitiesTransition TownNext/New EconomySECTION I. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DIMENSIONS: Chapter 2.1.
  In order to meet the challenges of environment and development, States have decided to establish a new global partnership. This partnership commits all States to engage in a continuous and constructive dialogue, inspired by the need to achieve a more efficient and equitable world economy, keeping in view the increasing interdependence of the community of nations and that sustainable development should become a priority item on the agenda of the international community. It is recognized that, for the success of this new partnership, it is important to overcome confrontation and to foster a climate of genuine cooperation and solidarity. It is equally important to strengthen national and international policies and multinational cooperation to adapt to the new realities.
  No Racism
  No Abusive/threatening language.
  Any posts that attack the sub, the users or the mods can be removed. Breaking this rule more than once can earn a ban.
  We are all different here, and you may find that have different beliefs, but please be respectful of each other.
HOLLY GREIG AND THE CIA
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: aangirfan
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:53
  Campaigner Robert Green has alleged that a pedophile ring abused a girl called Hollie Greig and a number of others.The claim that Hollie Greig had been sexually abused was first reported to Grampian Police in Scotland by Hollie's mother in 2000.Hollie Greig and her mother."One of the children abused, according to Green... was Sylvia Major's daughter Cath. "Cath was already an adult, and a successful footballer, by the time her mother made friends with Hollie and Anne Greig."'I wasn't a victim of child sex abuse,' the 37-year-old said. 'I was playing half-back for Scotland and travelling the world'...
  "Wyn Dragon Smith believes Anne Greig, with whom she was very close in the late 1990s, is a very vulnerable woman..."I loved her to bits," she said. "I believe she has mental health issues."
  One devastating fantasy: the impact of an internet scandal | Herald ...
  There is little doubt that Hollie Greig had been abused by someone; Hollie Greig received money from the criminal injuries compensation authority.However, some people believe that there is a campaign by people with fascist connections to use Holly Greig to undermine the movement for Scottish independence.The 'CIA-run' Wikileaks may be involved in this plot." Even Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is a former Levy and McRae colleague. "The firm boasts that it represents all the major broadcasting media in Scotland and that it employs former senior police officers."Sarah Harrison of 'the CIA's Wikileaks' (left) with Edward Snowden.sarah harrison of WikiLeaks 7 November 2013David.Woods@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
  Dear Mr Woods,
  We are in receipt of a stream of emails and documented evidence linking First Minister Alex Salmond and other officials with the Hollie Greig child sexual abuse scandal coverup - a travesty of justice that dates back to 2000 and has been systematically covered up by corrupt elements of the Grampian Police, the Crown Office and too at Holyrood Parliament level.
  To comply with legal requirements, and as a common courtesy, as Editor of WiliLeaks I invite Mr Salmond to pass comment on these allegation and either deny or admit to the veracity of such prior to our going public with them next week.
  No comment will be considered as an admission of culpability.
  We await Mr Salmond's - or rather should I say Peter Watson's - response.
  Yours,
  Sarah Harrison - WikiLeaks
  The 'CIA's Wikileaks' was part of the CIA's Arab Spring."Peter Watson of Levy McRae, back from the Cayman Islands ?"In an editorial comment in today's Sunday Herald, further extraordinary details have emerged about the involvement of the well known Glasgow law firm Levy McRae, along with its senior partner Peter Watson and the crisis management media specialists Media House, in attempts to manage media coverage of the scandal surrounding the Glasgow City Council Chief Steven Purcell, who fled the country after resigning by telephone..."Since Mr Purcell's departure, speculation has grown ever more fevered, encompassing suggestions of a network of powerful figures working behind the scenes to influence the workings of the city. The suggestion that this so-called network includes leading figures from the media is now threatening to undermine public confidence in the integrity of the Scottish press."scottishlaw.blogspot.com
Paris Conference on Youth Employment
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Uploads by Herman Van Rompuy
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:52
How a Startup Went from Hype to Clusterfuck
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Valleywag
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:50
  Before Kno, an education startup, was sold for chump change yesterday, it was on its way to the top. Don't take my word for it: just look at all the "smart" "tech" "experts" who poured $100 million and thousands of fawning words into the turkey.
  In 2010, Michael Arrington, who hadn't yet been pushed off his big golden rock of influence, had glowing things to say about Kno, a huge, unwieldy dual-screened tablet... for kids:
  Marc Andreessen is normally enthusiastic about the startups he's invested in. Still, when I spoke to him last week about Kno, he surprised me by saying it will be "the most powerful tablet anyone has ever made." And he's backing up that claim with a new investment.
  Arrington concludes with trademark journalistic skepticism:
  Will it all work? It's probably best not to bet against this founding team. Rashid also cofounded Chegg, which rents textbooks to students. No one thought the idea would work, but the company is absolutely killing it right now.
  That sentiment, of totally killin' it and crushin' it beyond measure, spanned the next three years on TechCrunch, which covered Kno's classroom tablet with adoration:
  The impressive technical specs had me doubting whether this device would ever actually see the light of day, or just languish in development hell until the funding ran out. They've defied my expectations, however, and are actually beginning to ship to their first pre-order customers.
  At the start of 2011, it was nominated for a TechCrunch "Crunchie" award as "Best New Device." But then the iPad came along, as had been long-rumored, completely blowing the Kno tablet out of the water'--and out of the tablet business. "Take a good look at the Kno textbook tablet," TechCrunch wrote later in 2011, "because you might not ever see it again." But its coverage didn't let up:
  Kno Turns Textbooks 3DMcGraw-Hill & Kno Offer A Peek Into The Future Of Textbooks: They're Dynamic, Vocal, Adaptive & Bring Stats To StudyingKno's Textbooks Is Top Back-To-School iPad App With One Download Every 8 SecondsAnd it wasn't just TechCrunch: VentureBeat featured Kno as an example in a post optimistically headlined "What the next multibillion-dollar edtech company will look like," and TheNextWeb honored Kno among "20 of the best ways to buy ebooks, digital comics and etextbooks" It turned out to not be a very good example for either'--but it's amazing how well industry optimism performs in the face of common sense.
  And then yesterday's news, that Kno had been quietly sold off for "pennies on the dollar." Om Malik went further:
  Kno, in many ways is a case study in Silicon Valley hubris, where white-boarding and theoretical thinking doesn't always match up with the reality of the real world. A book publishing industry insider pointed out that Kno was trying to solve a problem that wasn't acute enough for the publishers and the end customers '-- students. It was a problem Kno wanted to solve for Kno.
  Why did it take three years'--when the thing was kaput'--for someone to point this out? If someone had said, "Do children need a 14-inch dual-screen tablet at school?," would Kno have made it three years on hot air? Maybe Kno owes its silly extended lifespan to people like Marc Andreessen, largely regarded as one of the sharpest tech investors in the world, who tapped the Kno turd with his wand. But it's easy to forget that magician has a long, turdish history of picking losers at the track: Ning, Rockmelt, Digg, fucking Netscape'--Andreessen's wake is littered with company corpses and high-flying failures. And now, one more. Not that anyone is counting.
Greg Jaczko claims nuclear is too expensive and that unreliables will take its place
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Atomic Insights
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:49
  The above clip is titled Nuclear power for the future. It describes the industry leading example of the construction project at Plant Vogtle in northeastern Georgia and it includes some opining on America's energy future by Greg Jaczko the former Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The video correctly points to the fact that Jaczko had no background in nuclear energy production or nuclear engineering before he was appointed to serve on the Commission as part of a blatantly political power move by Senator Harry Reid, his former boss.
  There is something distressing about watching a man who spent seven years and two months on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission doing everything in his power '-- and some things that he was not legally empowered to do '-- to raise additional barriers to nuclear energy development complain that the technology is too expensive. From fire protection, to aircraft impact, to imposed delays in granting combined operating licenses, to torpedoing Yucca Mountain and destroying the legal basis for the Waste Confidence rule, Greg Jaczko can claim a great deal of credit for slowing the nuclear renaissance.
  Nuclear energy is not just less competitive because natural gas, wind and solar energy are cheaper than expected when there was optimism in 2005, it is also less competitive in the United States because the cost of operating nuclear energy facilities ratchets ever higher and regulatory uncertainty keeps growing.
  It is quite depressing to realize that Jaczko was forced into a responsible position without any qualifications other than having powerful patrons inside the Washington, DC beltway. My only hope is that the leaders in the nuclear industry learned something from the Jaczko experience; no industry should meekly accept the actions of the federal government as being in its best interests.
  That is especially true with regard to the appointment and confirmation of a regulator that has the power to destroy a beneficial industry's economic performance in order to establish favorable market conditions for more politically connected competitors.
BBC News - MI6 spy Gareth Williams 'probably an accident', police say
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:37
  13 November 2013Last updated at 06:28 ET The death of MI6 spy Gareth Williams, whose body was found in a padlocked sports bag, was probably an accident, UK police have said.
  Last year, a coroner said it was likely Mr Williams, 31, from Anglesey, had been unlawfully killed.
  But Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said a review of evidence had found "it was more probable" no other person was present when he died.
  The code-breaker's body was found naked at his London flat in August 2010.
  At the time of his death, Mr Williams - originally from Holyhead in north Wales - had been on a three-year secondment with MI6 from his job as a communications officer at the GCHQ "listening post" in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
  Police officers had gone to his flat in Pimlico after colleagues raised concerns for his welfare.
  His body was discovered inside a zipped-up red North Face sports holdall, in the empty bath of his bathroom.
  It had taken a week for MI6 to investigate Mr Williams' disappearance, meaning a post-mortem was carried out nine days after he died - when there had already been extensive decomposition of his body.
  The examination by a Home Office pathologist failed to determine the cause of death.
  Deep-clean 'fallacy'During a seven-day inquest in May 2012, the question of whether Mr Williams could have padlocked himself into a bag in a bath was central.
  Coroner Fiona Wilcox concluded that "most of the fundamental questions in relation to how Gareth died remain unanswered".
  But she said he was, "on the balance of probabilities", unlawfully killed.
  At a briefing on Wednesday, DAC Hewitt said he was satisfied that it was "theoretically possible" Mr Williams could have padlocked the bag from the inside.
  But he said there was no evidence that the MI6 officer had intended to take his own life or that his death was connected to his work.
  There were about 10 to 15 traces of DNA in the flat from which it had not been possible to gain full DNA profiles, but all other DNA profiles and fingerprints had been eliminated, said DAC Hewitt.
  He also said there was no evidence that Mr Williams' flat had been forensically cleaned, adding it was a "fallacy" that it had been deep-cleaned in such a way that only certain DNA was left in the premises.
  Mr Williams' family are understood to be standing by the coroner's findings.
VIDEO-BBC News - Motorway middle-lane hoggers to face on-the-spot fines
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:24
  5 June 2013Last updated at 05:26 ET Motorway tailgaters and middle-lane hoggers are to face quick justice with on-the-spot penalties under new measures announced by the government.
  From July, police will be able to issue £100 fines and three points for careless driving offences that would currently have to go to court.
  The idea is to target offenders without the need for lengthy court procedures.
  Current fixed penalties for using a phone while driving or not wearing a seatbelt will also rise by £40 to £100.
  The move brings careless driving offences into line with the penalties for similar non-motoring fixed penalties. Drivers will still be able to appeal against any decision through the courts.
  'Pet hates'People guilty of careless driving will face fixed penalties or the chance to go on a driving course, but the more serious examples will continue to go through the courts, where offenders could face much higher fines and penalties.
  Many offences currently go unpunished because of the bureaucracy involved in taking a case to court.
  Continue reading the main storyThe Department of Transport has not yet released official guidance on which types of driving will attract fines.
  But police are expected to focus on situations involving slightly aggressive and inconsiderate driving, such as:
  Driving too close to the vehicle in front Failing to give way at a junction (not requiring evasive action by another driver) Overtaking and pushing into a queue of traffic Being in the wrong lane and pushing into a queue on a roundabout Lane discipline, eg needlessly hogging the middle or outside lanes Wheel-spins, handbrake turns and other careless manoeuvres Not only does a motorist have to be stopped by the police, but a summons has to be issued and evidence presented in court.
  Road Safety Minister Stephen Hammond said: "Careless drivers are a menace and their negligence puts innocent people's lives at risk.
  "That is why we are making it easier for the police to tackle problem drivers by allowing them to immediately issue a fixed penalty notice rather than needing to take every offender to court."
  The AA said responsible drivers would welcome the changes.
  "We are also pleased to see that at long last new powers and fines will be given to the police to tackle the top three pet hates of drivers - tailgaters, mobile phone abusers and middle lane hogs," said AA president Edmund King.
  RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: "Anti-social behaviour is as big a problem on the roads as it is in wider society.
  "Giving police more discretion to act, and freeing up resources to allow them to do so by cutting procedural delays in court, is good news.
  "Raising the fine level to £100 is justifiable to tackle the plague of handheld mobile phone use which slows drivers' reaction times even more than being at the drink-drive limit or taking cannabis."
  Downplays the offence Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
  Tim Shallcross, Institute of Advanced Motorists: ''For on-the-spot fines, you need on-the-spot policemen''
  But the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) said it had concerns about the message sent out by the changes.
  Its director of policy Neil Grieg said: "This is a major change in traffic law enforcement and the IAM is concerned that issuing fixed penalty tickets for careless driving downplays the seriousness of the offence.
  "Careless covers a wide range of poor to reckless driving behaviour that often merits further investigation.
  "This could free up traffic police time and allow them to maintain a higher profile.
  "But without traffic cops out on the road to enforce this new approach it will have little impact on road safety."
  Motoring journalist Quentin Willson also questioned whether there would be enough traffic police to make the changes work.
  He said: "It's broadly to be welcomed because it marks a shift away from remote policing - that's cameras - to actually using traffic cops.
  Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.
  Motorists' views: "Just a money-making thing'' or "fair enough"?
  "But the problem is the amount of traffic police cars has been cut since 1997 by 50%, so the obvious question is 'how do you enforce this?' It's deeply faulted."
  Richard Owen from the research group Road Safety Analysis said most motorists would welcome the changes.
  He told the BBC: "We already know that the UK's motorways are some of the safest roads in the country, if not Europe.
  "But of course, that relies on everybody playing their part and sticking to the rules and I think most motorists would welcome any further enforcement to make sure that people aren't lane hogging or maybe tailgating."
School joins Planned Parenthood to destroy award-winning teacher | Washington Times Communities
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:17
  WASHINGTON, November 8, 2013 '-- Bill Diss is an experienced, highly qualified and popular computer science teacher. On November 14, the Portland school district and Planned Parenthood will try to have him declared unfit to teach.
  Diss is the only teacher in Oregon to earn the distinction of being credentialed to teach computer science for college credit at the high school level. Diss is a highly qualified high school educator who has been teaching for more than a decade at a desperate public school that almost closed in 2010 '-- a school that serves a population which is 75 percent minority.
  SEE RELATED: RONDEAU: Christians have the moral & political right to be Christians
  Diss earned special recognitions for his work with at-risk black students and for helping to stop gang violence in Portland parks. But, because he refused to allow Planned Parenthood into his classroom, school administrators branded him ''unfit to teach'' and intend to end his career with Portland Public Schools on November 14.
  Parents and students alike are thankful for his dedication. One parent (who holds an M.Ed.) wrote, ''[My daughter] found a teacher that achieved tremendous balance between high expectations and accommodating individual needs.''
  Another mother who says Diss is a gem wrote, ''The highlight of [my son's] day however is his math class with Mr. Diss. '... It seems he goes to great lengths to make himself available for any student who needs additional help. '... Mr. Diss cares enough about his students to have firm boundaries and tell them the truth, even when it hurts.''
  And therein lies the problem: Diss is staunchly pro-life and does not hide those views from his students.
  SEE RELATED: Did Pope Francis really say that?
  Diss' fight against sex industry giant Planned Parenthood on his own time is well-known. It has raised the ire of Principal Carol Campbell and other school administrators for years.
  Diss said that, on one occasion, Campbell demanded to know exactly what Diss had said at a prayer vigil. Hearing there was video, she also wanted to see that.
  On September 17, 2012, things escalated. With Campbell's backing, an ''education team'' went to Diss' classroom to enroll students in the Health and Human Services' Teen Outreach Program (TOP). One of the TOP goals is to reduce teen pregnancy. It teaches students (among other things) about premarital sex, contraception, and abortion.
  Pro-life critics of the program say that TOP is just a slickly packaged comprehensive sex education program promoted by $375 million rolled into Obamacare. As the de facto defunding of abstinence education by the White House progresses, TOP agents tempt parents with a $30 payment if the parents sign a medical release giving an undefined ''healthcare provider'' permission to treat the students in the absence of the parents.
  SEE RELATED: Planned Parenthood: Babies born alive can still be 'aborted'
  When three TOP agents entered Diss' math class, they immediately put up signs and began offering gift certificates and cash incentives to his students to enroll them in the program. Suspicious, Diss asked for identification. It turned out the presenters did not work for Uncle Sam. Rather, they were employees of Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette '-- the local PP that affirms homosexuality, promotes ''sex-positive celebrations,'' and offers abortions.
  Diss asked them to leave the classroom but, within moments, Campbell arrived to enforce access to the students. Diss says that when he asked to be excused for religious preference reasons, Campbell refused.
  In a formal letter to Principal Campbell written the following day, Bill Snyder, security/facilities manager for PPCW, complained that Diss told students that Planned Parenthood ''was a racist organization, was involved in eugenics, and was a provider of abortions.''
  While some black leaders like Jesse Jackson would not agree, Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, goes even further: ''The most obvious practitioner of racism in the United States today is Planned Parenthood, an organization founded by the eugenicist Margaret Sanger and recently documented as ready to accept money to eliminate black babies.''
  Ryan Bomberger, a young rising star in the black pro-life movement, echoes the sentiment. His TooManyAborted project uses video to expose ''Planned Parenthood's history of eugenic racism and unaltered present.''
  Snyder's memo went on to complain that Diss was overheard ''telling students in the hallway that PPCW was going to talk to them about abortion and students were intimidated to the point that none of them signed up for the class.''
  Planned Parenthood records show the organization committed over 332,000 abortions last year, estimated to be one-third of its total clinic revenues. The national abortion ratio by race is 300 percent higher for African Americans.
  After that day, Diss says Planned Parenthood was allowed to monitor his class for the next two weeks and he has been monitored almost 40 times by Campbell, Vice Principal Jeandre Carbone, Frank Scotto of human resources, and even Planned Parenthood management.
  Diss says he has been subjected to over a dozen hearings. On November 14, 2013, Portland schools will bring formal charges that Diss is unfit to teach. The formal hearing is meant to end his career.
  One of the charges brought against him includes talking about premarital sex, sexual purity, and abortion in his math and computer science classes.
  Do these educators know how to spell i-r-o-n-y?
  While Planned Parenthood hopes to get Diss's teaching credentials revoked, the Portland Association of Teachers has hired lawyers to protect Diss' First Amendment rights.
  Upon hearing of Diss' troubles, a former student wrote the school: ''Mr. Diss has done a lot for me and my family and there is no way that we could ever repay him. I believe that the world is in desperate need of good, honest people. If Mr. Diss gets his teaching license revoked, then that will only take another good source of help from the students.''
  The grateful former student concluded, ''This is all despite the fact that he and I have different points of view on Planned Parenthood.''
  Jim Sedlak of STOPP.org, recognized as the leading national expert on Planned Parenthood, said, ''Planned Parenthood is ruthless. This is about political power, not the truth, the children, or good teachers. They will no doubt pack the hearing with pro-choice activists to sway the outcome.''
  The attorney representing Diss agrees, saying that it is imperative that families and teachers who support his civil rights attend. She believes that Diss is being persecuted for his religious beliefs. The hearing will be conducted at the headquarters of Portland public schools at 501 N. Dixon Street in Portland, Oregon, beginning at 4 p.m. on November 14.
  Mr. Diss told Common Sense in an e-mail:
  ''The hearing is divided into two parts: The first part is at 4:00 p.m., when the district will have an hour to bring charges against me for misconduct and being unfit to teach.
  ''[During] the second hour from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., we get an opportunity to respond to the charges. I am asking all to pray and I would cherish your presence the second hour or for the entire hearing. Please bring your families. I think it is important that the school attorney and board members understand the importance of families and children. The press will also be there and I suspect many supporters of Planned Parenthood will be there.
  At press time, Campbell, Carbone, Smith and Scotto have not replied to phone calls or e-mail requests for comment.
  This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities @ WashingtonTimes.com. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING TWTC CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
  Contributors are responsible for this content, which is not edited by The Washington Times.
NBC News Exec Vivian Schiller Joins Twitter as Head of News - TheWrap
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:52
  She will exit NBC News at end of year
  NBC News SVP and chief digital officer Vivian Schiller announced on Thursday that she will be leaving the network to join Twitter in the newly-created head of news position.
  ''Excited to join @Twitter as Head of News in January,'' Schiller tweeted. ''Leaving @NBCNews at year's end. Grateful to my beloved colleagues for 2+ great years.''
  Also read:BBC Global News to Become Twitter Amplify's First Global News Broadcaster
  ''We're thrilled to announce @VivianSchiller is joining the team as Twitter's new Head of News Partnerships,'' was the word from the TwitterForNews account. ''She starts in January!''
  In her new position, Schiller will help Twitter take on a more proactive and focused role in newsgathering and reporting. Though Twitter has become a near-essential tool for many reporters and a source of traffic to news sites in its relatively short life, it's never had a central, dedicated team in place to reach out to newsrooms and articulate the platform's strategy.
  Schiller will also work with journalists and publishers on how best to use the platform and form partnerships with news organizations as Twitter continues its efforts to be seen as a complement to journalism and news delivery.
  Also read:How Twitter Can Avoid Facebook's IPO Nightmare
  The news comes as Twitter prepares for its initial public offering on the New York stock exchange. Trading is expected to begin before the end of the year.
  Schiller joined NBC News in 2011; before that, she was the CEO and president of NPR from 2009 until her resignation in 2011.
  AllThingsD was the first to report that Schiller was a ''lock'' for the position.
About - Burning Glass Consulting
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:44
  Women are the majority of voters and very often decide elections, yet Republicans run campaigns largely directed at men and from a male perspective and treat women like a coalition group. Women's messaging is rarely treated with the nuance needed to make a strong connection. Women voters are diverse; they care about a variety of issues and see the world in different ways.
  Burning Glass Consulting understands that women are not a coalition group and that successfully connecting with the diverse views of the majority of the electorate requires a sophisticated approach.
  Burning Glass Consulting helps clients to effectively communicate with women voters. Our consulting team specializes in campaign strategy, innovative research, messaging, advertising, digital and direct voter contact. Our strategies and tactics are designed with one question in mind: ''How would we do it if only women were voting?''
  We work with campaigns, party organizations and other consultants on any campaign effort which needs to better understand, and win, women voters. Our goal is to help our clients win enough women voters to produce a win at the ballot box. Our clients include the national political committees, political campaigns at all levels, policy interest groups and corporations.
Wall Street's nightmare: President Elizabeth Warren - Ben White and Maggie Haberman - POLITICO.com
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:39
  Wall Street's anxiety grows after a report suggested Warren could mount a presidential bid. | Reuters
  CloseNEW YORK '-- There are three words that strike terror in the hearts of Wall Street bankers and corporate executives across the land: President Elizabeth Warren.
  Anxiety over Warren grew Monday after a magazine report suggested the bank-bashing Democratic senator from Massachusetts could mount a presidential bid in 2016 and not necessarily defer to Hillary Clinton '-- who is viewed as far more business friendly '-- for the party's nomination.
  Continue ReadingWarren grills Wall Street regulators
  And the fear is not only that Warren, who channels an increasingly popular strain of Occupy Wall Street-style anti-corporatism, might win. That is viewed by many political analysts as a slim possibility. The fear is also that a Warren candidacy, or even the threat of one, would push Clinton to the left in the primaries and revive arguments about breaking up the nation's largest banks, raising taxes on the wealthy and otherwise stoke populist anger that is likely to also play a big role in the Republican primaries.
  (Also on POLITICO: Report fuels prospect of 2016 Elizabeth Warren run)
  ''The nightmare scenario for banks is to hear these arguments from a candidate on the far left and on the far right,'' said Jaret Seiberg, a financial services industry analyst at Guggenheim Partners. ''Suddenly, you have Elizabeth Warren screaming about 'too big to fail' on one side and Rand Paul screaming about it on the other side, and then candidates in the middle are forced to weigh in.''
  Warren's press secretary, Lacey Rose, said in an email Tuesday afternoon that as ''Senator Warren has said many times, she is not running for president.'' People close to Warren note that she signed a letter from female Democratic senators, urging Clinton to run in 2016. And Warren associates, mindful of any appearance of creating the narrative of a Warren-for-president campaign, have corresponded with Clinton associates to stress that they didn't fuel the New Republic story by Noam Scheiber.
  Yet the stakes for Wall Street and corporate America of a Warren campaign '-- and possible victory '-- are hard to overstate.
  She almost certainly would bring fresh scrutiny to Wall Street scandals by arguing that even giant settlements '-- like the $13 billion JPMorgan Chase is expected to pay to end probes into its mortgage practices '-- are nowhere near enough to make up for the damage done during the financial crisis.
  (QUIZ: Do you know Elizabeth Warren?)
  Warren in the Senate has pushed regulators hard both to go after individual bankers and to demand guilty pleas as part of any settlement deals with institutions. She also probably would talk about other bread-and-butter issues that make large amounts of money for banks but outrage average citizens, including interest on student loans, credit card fees and ATM charges.
  And she most likely would hammer away at the gap between executive pay and average wages and make the case for higher taxes on investment income enjoyed by the wealthiest Americans.
  The fear of a Warren candidacy is likely to drive even more Wall Street money to Clinton's potential campaign and attendant super PAC, ''Ready for Hillary,'' which would help the former secretary of state and New York senator build a massive war chest to beat back any possible challenge from the left.
  But the very creation of that war chest '-- and Hillary Clinton's many well-paid speeches to Goldman Sachs and other financial firms '-- could also play directly into an argument by Warren, or another candidate on the left, that Clinton is beholden to Wall Street and not well-suited to address issues of wealth concentration and financial regulation.
  (Also on POLITICO: Liberals take on Wall Street Democrats '-- and win)
  ''A Warren candidacy would bring a fresh level of scrutiny to both Hillary and Bill Clinton's relationships with Wall Street, and they will have to deal with that,'' said a progressive Democrat sympathetic to Warren, and who declined to be identified by name for fear of angering the powerful Clintons. ''There is a clear tension between what the Clintons say and what lines their pockets. They have become fabulously, unimaginably wealthy,'' in part through speeches to banking groups.
  Clinton insiders have taken note of the energy that Warren represents. They don't exhibit the same level of dismissiveness that once existed in her orbit around then-Sen. Barack Obama. But most familiar with Clinton's world interpreted it as Warren getting attention for issues without advancing the likelihood of a campaign.
  Even people who admire Warren were clear-eyed about where things stand now.
>> Company Admits New 'Smart' Street Lights Can Analyze Voices, Track People Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:36
  To aid Homeland Security in ''protecting its citizens''
  Paul Joseph WatsonInfowars.comNovember 11, 2013
  The company behind a new 'smart' street lighting system which is being rolled out in major cities like Las Vegas admits that the technology has the capability of analyzing voices and tracking people, features that will aid the Department of Homeland Security in ''protecting its citizens.''
  We first reported on Intellistreets bragging of its product's ''homeland security'' applications back in 2011, with the backlash from privacy advocates causing the company to remove a promotional video from YouTube. The video was later restored (see above), although comments were disabled.
  However, Illuminating Concepts, the company behind Intellistreets, seems to be more comfortable in acknowledging the ''security'' aspects of its devices now that it has secured numerous lucrative government contracts to supply street lighting in several major cities.
  A page on the Intellistreets website which highlights ''benefits and applications'' features a section on security wherein it is admitted that the hi-tech system includes ''voice stress analyzers,'' amongst several other sophisticated sensors that ''assist DHS in protecting its citizens and natural resources.''
  The ability to record street conversations is merely one special feature of the Intellistreets lighting system, which is linked back to a central data hub via a ubiquitous wi-fi connection. The 'smart' street lights can also act as surveillance cameras, make loudspeaker security announcements (See Something, Say Something), as well as track ''RFID equipped staff,'' which could be any of us given the increasing amount of clothing and products which are RFID tagged.
  The company's website highlights how the system is now being installed in areas of Las Vegas, Chicago, Detroit, Auburn Hills, Asbury Park, and at stadiums like the Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
  As we reported on Sunday, the Las Vegas Public Works Department has begun testing the devices although they denied they would be used for surveillance, at least for the time being.
  Authorities in New York City also recently announced that they would be replacing the city's 250,000 street lights with new LEDs by 2017, although it is not known how many of these if any will be provided by Intellistreets.
  As we reported earlier, Intellistreets are just one component of a huge network of microphones embedded in everything from games consoles to gunshot detectors that are beginning to blanket our streets and dominate our home life.
  A 2012 New York Times report on ShotSpotter audio sensors, which are installed in at least 70 major US cities, acknowledged that they can and have been used to record conversations on the street.
  The next level of NSA snooping, which will rely on systems like Intellistreets to record people's conversations and detect antagonism or political extremism, will make the recent revelations of whistleblower Edward Snowden pale in comparison, and represents the potential for a ubiquitous wiretapping system that outstrips George Orwell's worst nightmare.
  Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/paul.j.watson.71FOLLOW Paul Joseph Watson @ https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet
  *********************
  Paul Joseph Watson is the editor and writer for Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com. He is the author of Order Out Of Chaos. Watson is also a host for Infowars Nightly News.
  This article was posted: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at 5:18 am
Criticism of New Injunctions to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:22
  Injunctions to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance (IPNAs) have been heavily criticised by the children's commissioner who say the same could prevent ball games, skateboarding and youths 'hanging around'. New laws to clamp down on antisocial behaviour will "promote intolerance of youth" and damage the relationship between young people and the Police, the children's commissioner and leading organisations representing young people warn today.
  Promoting Youth IntoleranceIn a letter to the Observer last weekend children's commissioner Dr Maggie Atkinson, together with other campaigners, has criticised the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill which is currently going through parliament.
  The letter suggests that the proposed legislation dealing with unruly behavior will "punish children over the age of 10 simply for being children". The measures are widening the definition of antisocial behaviour and reducing the burden of proof so that the effect could be to "outlaw everyday activities" such as skateboarding or ball games.
  The letter reads:"We acknowledge that antisocial behaviour can blight the lives of individuals and communities, but this bill is not the answer. It promotes intolerance of youth, is a blow for civil liberties and will damage children's relationship with the Police. Children learn the importance of right and wrong from their parents, teachers and communities. We do not need to create more laws to do it."
  Injunctions to Prevent Nuisance and AnnoyanceThe Home Office argues that the measures will deliver speedier and more effective curbs on unruly activity. Under the proposals, antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) will be replaced by new Injunctions to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance (IPNAs). The injunctions, together with other measures, are being introduced under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill and can be of an unlimited duration. Breach of such an injunction could result in two years imprisonment or an unlimited fine.
  Whilst breach of an INPA is not itself a criminal penalty, the bill does allow courts to use similar powers in punishing breaches as a 'criminal contempt of court'.
  Currently, to be given an ASBO a person must have behaved in a way that "caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress". But under the new legislation, a person would have to have behaved only in a way that is "capable of causing nuisance or annoyance" to be given such an injunction.
  On the Balance of ProbabilitiesAdditionally, the burden of proof in relation to the orders has been altered. For a court to grant an ASBO, it must be satisfied to the criminal burden of proof e.g. "beyond reasonable doubt" that a person has behaved antisocially and conclude that an ASBO is necessary to protect others from further antisocial acts. However, in order to grant one of the new injunctions, the court would have to satisfy the civil burden of proof e.g. believe only that "on the balance of probabilities" a person had behaved antisocially and to conclude that it is "just and convenient" to grant an injunction to stop their antisocial behavior.
  Critics of the new powers suggest that under the new legislation, if the police or local council believe that "on the balance of probabilities" a weekly football game is capable of irritating locals and that an injunction would be a way of stopping the game, they could ask the court to issue an injunction against those playing to stop the game.
  Signatories to the letter, who also include the chief executive of the National Children's Bureau, Dr Hilary Emery, say that the measures are particularly unfortunate at a time when youth services are being cut.
  Penelope Gibbs, chair of the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, added:"It's hard to believe that the Government is planning to outlaw teenagers just for being annoying '' unopposed by Labour. Many teenagers already feel they are pariahs in their communities. What are teenagers supposed to do? Youth services have been cut, they are told not to spend too much time indoors playing computer games. Yet this law means they may be afraid to skateboard on the street or just hang out with their friends."
  Samantha Doyle
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill (HC Bill 7)
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  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:12
  A
  BILL
  TO
  Make provision about anti-social behaviour, crime and disorder, includingprovision about recovery of possession of dwelling-houses; to make provisionamending the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, Schedules 7 and 8 to the TerrorismAct 2000 and the Extradition Act 2003; to make provision about firearms andabout forced marriage; to make provision about the police, the IndependentPolice Complaints Commission and the Serious Fraud Office; to makeprovision about criminal justice and court fees; and for connected purposes.
  Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice andconsent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this presentParliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:'--
  Part 1Injunctions to prevent nuisance and annoyanceInjunctions to prevent nuisance and annoyance1Power to grant injunctions(1)5A court may grant an injunction under this section against a person aged 10 orover (''the respondent'') if two conditions are met.
  (2)The first condition is that the court is satisfied, on the balance of probabilities,that the respondent has engaged or threatens to engage in conduct capable ofcausing nuisance or annoyance to any person (''anti-social behaviour'').
  (3)10The second condition is that the court considers it just and convenient to grantthe injunction for the purpose of preventing the respondent from engaging inanti-social behaviour.
  (4)An injunction under this section may for the purpose of preventing therespondent from engaging in anti-social behaviour'--
  (a)15prohibit the respondent from doing anything described in theinjunction;
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 2
  (b)require the respondent to do anything described in the injunction.
  (5)Prohibitions and requirements in an injunction under this section must, so faras practicable, be such as to avoid'--
  (a)any conflict with the respondent's religious beliefs;
  (b)5any interference with the times, if any, at which the respondentnormally works or attends school or any other educationalestablishment;
  (c)any conflict with the requirements of any other court order orinjunction to which the respondent may be subject.
  (6)10An injunction under this section must'--
  (a)specify the period for which it has effect, or
  (b)state that it has effect until further order.
  In the case of an injunction granted before the respondent has reached the ageof 18, a period must be specified and it must be no more than 12 months.
  (7)15An injunction under this section may specify periods for which particularprohibitions or requirements have effect.
  (8)Jurisdiction under this Part is exercisable by'--
  (a)a youth court, in the case of a respondent aged under 18;
  (b)the High Court or the county court, in any other case.
  20Contents of injunctions2Requirements included in injunctions(1)An injunction under section 1 that includes a requirement must specify theperson who is to be responsible for supervising compliance with therequirement.
  25The person may be an individual or an organisation.
  The person may be an individual or an organisation.
  (2)Before including a requirement, the court must receive evidence about itssuitability and enforceability from'--
  (a)the individual to be specified under subsection (1), if an individual is to30be specified;
  (b)an individual representing the organisation to be specified undersubsection (1), if an organisation is to be specified.
  (3)Before including two or more requirements, the court must consider theircompatibility with each other.
  (4)35It is the duty of a person specified under subsection (1)'--
  (a)to make any necessary arrangements in connection with therequirements for which the person has responsibility (the ''relevantrequirements'');
  (b)to promote the respondent's compliance with the relevant40requirements;
  (c)if the person considers that the respondent'--
  (i)has complied with all the relevant requirements, or
  (ii)has failed to comply with a relevant requirement,
  to inform the person who applied for the injunction and the45appropriate chief officer of police.
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 3
  (5)In subsection (4)(c) ''the appropriate chief officer of police'' means'--
  (a)the chief officer of police for the police area in which it appears to theperson specified under subsection (1) that the respondent lives, or
  (b)if it appears to that person that the respondent lives in more than one5police area, whichever of the relevant chief officers of police that personthinks it most appropriate to inform.
  (6)A respondent subject to a requirement included in an injunction under section1 must'--
  (a)keep in touch with the person specified under subsection (1) in relation10to that requirement, in accordance with any instructions given by thatperson from time to time;
  (b)notify the person of any change of address.
  These obligations have effect as requirements of the injunction.
  3Power of arrest(1)15A court granting an injunction under section 1 may attach a power of arrest toa prohibition or requirement of the injunction if the court thinks that'--
  (a)the anti-social behaviour in which the respondent has engaged orthreatens to engage consists of or includes the use or threatened use ofviolence against other persons, or
  (b)20there is a significant risk of harm to other persons from the respondent.
  ''Requirement'' here does not include one that has the effect of requiring therespondent to participate in particular activities.
  (2)If the court attaches a power of arrest, the injunction may specify a period forwhich the power is to have effect which is shorter than that of the prohibition25or requirement to which it relates.
  Applications for injunctions4Applications for injunctions(1)An injunction under section 1 may be granted only on the application of'--
  (a)a local authority,
  (b)30a housing provider,
  (c)the chief officer of police for a police area,
  (d)the chief constable of the British Transport Police Force,
  (e)Transport for London,
  (f)the Environment Agency, or
  (g)35the Secretary of State exercising security management functions withinthe meaning given by section 195(3) of the National Health Service Act2006, or the Welsh Ministers exercising corresponding functions, or aSpecial Health Authority exercising any such functions on the directionof the Secretary of State or the Welsh Ministers.
  (2)40A housing provider may make an application only if the application concernsanti-social behaviour that directly or indirectly relates to or affects its housingmanagement functions.
  (3)For the purposes of subsection (2) the housing management functions of ahousing provider include'--
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 4
  (a)functions conferred by or under an enactment;
  (b)the powers and duties of the housing provider as the holder of an estateor interest in housing accommodation.
  (4)The Secretary of State may by order'--
  (a)5amend this section;
  (b)amend section 19 in relation to expressions used in this section.
  5Applications without notice(1)An application for an injunction under section 1 may be made without noticebeing given to the respondent.
  (2)10If an application is made without notice the court must either'--
  (a)adjourn the proceedings and grant an interim injunction (see section 6),or
  (b)adjourn the proceedings without granting an interim injunction, or
  (c)dismiss the application.
  15Interim injunctions6Interim injunctions(1)This section applies where the court adjourns the hearing of an application(whether made with notice or without) for an injunction under section 1.
  (2)The court may grant an injunction under that section lasting until the final20hearing of the application or until further order (an ''interim injunction'') if thecourt thinks it just to do so.
  (3)An interim injunction made at a hearing of which the respondent was notgiven notice may not have the effect of requiring the respondent to participatein particular activities.
  (4)25Subject to that, the court has the same powers (including powers undersection 3) whether or not the injunction is an interim injunction.
  Variation and discharge7Variation or discharge of injunctions(1)The court may vary or discharge an injunction under section 1 on the30application of'--
  (a)the person who applied for the injunction, or
  (b)the respondent.
  (2)The power to vary an injunction includes power'--
  (a)to include an additional prohibition or requirement in the injunction, or35to extend the period for which a prohibition or requirement has effect;
  (b)to attach a power of arrest, or to extend the period for which a power ofarrest has effect.
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 5
  (3)If an application under this section is dismissed, the party by which thedismissed application was made may make no further application under thissection without'--
  (a)the consent of the court, or
  (b)5the agreement of the other party.
  (4)Section 2 applies to additional requirements included under subsection (2)(a)above as it applies to requirements included in a new injunction.
  Breach of injunctions8Arrest without warrant(1)10Where a power of arrest is attached to a provision of an injunction undersection 1, a constable may arrest the respondent without warrant if he or shehas reasonable cause to suspect that the respondent is in breach of theprovision.
  (2)A constable who arrests a person under subsection (1) must inform the person15who applied for the injunction.
  (3)A person arrested under subsection (1) must, within the period of 24 hoursbeginning with the time of the arrest, be brought before'--
  (a)a judge of the county court, if the injunction was granted by the countycourt;
  (b)20a justice of the peace, if the injunction was granted by a youth court.
  (4)In calculating when the period of 24 hours ends, Christmas Day, Good Fridayand any Sunday are to be disregarded.
  (5)The judge before whom a person is brought under subsection (3)(a) mayremand the person if the matter is not disposed of straight away.
  (6)25The justice of the peace before whom a person is brought under subsection(3)(b) must remand the person to appear before'--
  (a)the youth court that granted the injunction, if the person is aged under18;
  (b)the county court, if the person is aged 18 or over.
  930Issue of arrest warrant(1)If the person who applied for an injunction under section 1 thinks that therespondent is in breach of any of its provisions, the person may apply for theissue of a warrant for the respondent's arrest.
  (2)The application must be made to'--
  (a)35a judge of the county court, if the injunction was granted by the countycourt;
  (b)a justice of the peace, if the injunction was granted by a youth court.
  (3)A judge or justice may issue a warrant under this section only if the judge orjustice has reasonable grounds for believing that the respondent is in breach of40a provision of the injunction.
  (4)A warrant issued by a judge of the county court must require the respondentto be brought before that court.
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 6
  (5)A warrant issued by a justice of the peace must require the respondent to bebrought before'--
  (a)the youth court that granted the injunction, if the person is aged under18;
  (b)5the county court, if the person is aged 18 or over.
  (6)A constable who arrests a person under a warrant issued under this sectionmust inform the person who applied for the injunction.
  (7)If the respondent is brought before a court by virtue of a warrant under thissection but the matter is not disposed of straight away, the court may remand10the respondent.
  10RemandsSchedule 1 (remands under sections 8 and 9) has effect.
  11Powers in respect of under-18sSchedule 2 (breach of injunctions: powers of court in respect of under-18s) has15effect.
  Powers of court on application by provider of residential accommodation12Power to exclude person from home in cases of violence or risk of harm(1)An injunction under section 1 may have the effect of excluding the respondentfrom the place where he or she normally lives only if'--
  (a)20that place is owned or managed by a local authority or a housingprovider,
  (b)the injunction is granted on the application of the local authority orhousing provider, and
  (c)the court thinks that'--
  (i)25the anti-social behaviour in which the respondent has engagedor threatens to engage consists of or includes the use orthreatened use of violence against other persons, or
  (ii)there is a significant risk of harm to other persons from therespondent.
  (2)30For the purposes of this section a local authority or housing provider owns aplace if'--
  (a)the authority or provider is a person (other than a mortgagee not inpossession) entitled to dispose of the fee simple of the place, whether inpossession or in reversion, or
  (b)35the authority or provider is a person who holds or is entitled to the rentsand profits of the place under a lease that (when granted) was for a termof not less then 3 years.
  13Tenancy injunctions: exclusion and power of arrest(1)In this section ''tenancy injunction'' means an injunction granted'--
  (a)40on the application of a local authority or a housing provider,
  (b)against a person who has a tenancy agreement with the applicant,
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 7
  (c)in respect of a breach or anticipated breach of the agreement on theground that the tenant'--
  (i)is engaging or threatening to engage in anti-social behaviour, or
  (ii)is allowing, inciting or encouraging any other person to engage5or threaten to engage in anti-social behaviour.
  ''Tenancy agreement'' here includes any agreement for the occupation ofresidential accommodation.
  (2)Subsections (3) and (4) apply where the High Court or the county court grantsa tenancy injunction and is satisfied that'--
  (a)10the behaviour referred to in subsection (1)(c) consists of or includes theuse or threatened use of violence (or would do so if engaged in), or
  (b)there is a significant risk of harm to any person.
  (3)The court may include in the tenancy injunction a provision prohibiting theperson against whom it is granted from entering or being in'--
  (a)15any premises specified in the injunction (including the premises wherethe person normally lives);
  (b)any area specified in the injunction.
  (4)The court may attach a power of arrest to any provision of the tenancyinjunction.
  (5)20The following provisions of this Part apply to a tenancy injunction as theyapply to an injunction under section 1'--
  (a)section 1(6);
  (b)sections 3(2) and 8 (if a power of arrest is attached);
  (c)sections 5 to 7;
  (d)25section 9;
  (e)section 10 and Schedule 1;
  (f)section 11 and Schedule 2;
  (g)section 18(1).
  Supplemental1430Requirements to consult etc(1)A person applying for an injunction under section 1 must before doing so'--
  (a)consult the local youth offending team about the application, if therespondent will be aged under 18 when the application is made;
  (b)inform any other body or individual the applicant thinks appropriate35of the application.
  This subsection does not apply to a without-notice application.
  (2)Where the court adjourns a without-notice application, before the date of thefirst on-notice hearing the applicant must'--
  (a)consult the local youth offending team about the application, if the40respondent will be aged under 18 on that date;
  (b)inform any other body or individual the applicant thinks appropriateof the application.
  (3)A person applying for variation or discharge of an injunction under section 1granted on that person's application must before doing so'--
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 8
  (a)consult the local youth offending team about the application forvariation or discharge, if the respondent will be aged under 18 whenthat application is made;
  (b)inform any other body or individual the applicant thinks appropriate5of that application.
  (4)In this section'--
  ''local youth offending team'' means'--
  (a)
  the youth offending team in whose area it appears to theapplicant that the respondent lives, or
  (b)
  10if it appears to the applicant that the respondent lives in morethan one such area, whichever one or more of the relevant youthoffending teams the applicant thinks it appropriate to consult;
  ''on-notice hearing'' means a hearing of which notice has been given to theapplicant and the respondent in accordance with rules of court;
  15''without-notice application'' means an application made without noticeunder section 5.
  15Appeals against decisions of youth courts(1)An appeal lies to the Crown Court against a decision of a youth court madeunder this Part.
  (2)20On an appeal under this section the Crown Court may make'--
  (a)whatever orders are necessary to give effect to its determination of theappeal;
  (b)whatever incidental or consequential orders appear to it to be just.
  (3)An order of the Crown Court made on an appeal under this section (other than25one directing that an application be re-heard by the youth court) is to be treatedfor the purposes of section 7 as an order of the youth court.
  16Special measures for witnesses(1)Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999(special measures directions in the case of vulnerable and intimidated30witnesses) applies to proceedings under this Part as it applies to criminalproceedings, but with'--
  (a)the omission of the provisions of that Act mentioned in subsection (2)(which make provision appropriate only in the context of criminalproceedings), and
  (b)35any other necessary modifications.
  (2)The provisions are'--
  (a)section 17(4) to (7);
  (b)section 21(4C)(e);
  (c)section 22A;
  (d)40section 27(10);
  (e)section 32.
  (3)Rules of court made under or for the purposes of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of that Actapply to proceedings under this Part'--
  (a)to the extent provided by rules of court, and
  (b)45subject to any modifications provided by rules of court.
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 9
  (4)Section 47 of that Act (restrictions on reporting special measures directions etc)applies with any necessary modifications'--
  (a)to a direction under section 19 of that Act as applied by this section;
  (b)to a direction discharging or varying such a direction.
  5Sections 49 and 51 of that Act (offences) apply accordingly.
  17Children and young persons: disapplication of reporting restrictionsSection 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (restrictions on reportsof proceedings in which children and young persons are concerned) does notapply to proceedings under this Part.
  1810Rules of court(1)Rules of court may provide that an appeal from a decision of the High Court,the county court or a youth court'--
  (a)to dismiss an application for an injunction under section 1 madewithout notice being given to the respondent, or
  (b)15to refuse to grant an interim injunction when adjourning proceedingsfollowing such an application,
  may be made without notice being given to the respondent.
  (2)In relation to a respondent attaining the age of 18 after proceedings under thisPart have begun, rules of court may'--
  (a)20provide for the transfer of the proceedings from the youth court to theHigh Court or the county court;
  (b)prescribe circumstances in which the proceedings may or must remainin the youth court.
  19Interpretation etc(1)25In this Part'--
  ''anti-social behaviour'' has the meaning given by section 1(2);
  ''court'' is to be read in accordance with section 1(8);
  ''harm'' includes serious ill-treatment or abuse, whether physical or not;
  ''housing accommodation'' includes'--
  (a)
  30flats, lodging-houses and hostels;
  (b)
  any yard, garden, outhouses and appurtenances belonging tothe accommodation or usually enjoyed with it;
  (c)
  any common areas used in connection with theaccommodation;
  35''housing provider'' means'--
  (a)
  a housing trust, within the meaning given by section 2 of theHousing Associations Act 1985, that is a charity;
  (b)
  a housing action trust established under section 62 of theHousing Act 1988;
  (c)
  40in relation to England, a non-profit private registered providerof social housing;
  (d)
  in relation to Wales, a Welsh body registered as a sociallandlord under section 3 of the Housing Act 1996;
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 10
  (e)
  any body (other than a local authority or a body withinparagraphs (a) to (d)) that is a landlord under a secure tenancywithin the meaning given by section 79 of the Housing Act 1985;
  ''local authority'' means'--
  (a)
  5in relation to England, a district council, a county council, aLondon borough council, the Common Council of the City ofLondon or the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
  (b)
  in relation to Wales, a county council or a county boroughcouncil;
  10''respondent'' has the meaning given by section 1(1).
  (2)A person's age is treated for the purposes of this Part as being that which itappears to the court to be after considering any available evidence.
  20Saving and transitional provision(1)In this section ''existing order'' means any of the following injunctions and15orders'--
  (a)an anti-social behaviour injunction under section 153A of the HousingAct 1996;
  (b)an injunction under section 153B of that Act (injunction againstunlawful use of premises);
  (c)20an injunction in which anything is included by virtue of section 153D(3)or (4) of that Act (power to include provision banning person frompremises or area, or to include power of arrest, in injunction againstbreach of tenancy agreement);
  (d)an order under section 1 or 1B of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (anti-25social behaviour orders etc);
  (e)an individual support order under section 1AA of that Act made inconnection with an order under section 1 or 1B of that Act;
  (f)an intervention order under section 1G of that Act;
  (g)a drinking banning order under section 3 or 4 of the Violent Crime30Reduction Act 2006.
  (2)The repeal or amendment by this Act of provisions about any of the existingorders specified in subsection (1)(a) to (d), (f) and (g) does not apply in relationto'--
  (a)an application made before the commencement day for an existing35order;
  (b)an existing order (whether made before or after that day) applied forbefore that day;
  (c)anything done in connection with such an application or order.
  (3)The repeal or amendment by this Act of provisions about an order specified in40subsection (1)(e) does not apply in relation to'--
  (a)an individual support order made before the commencement day;
  (b)anything done in connection with such an order.
  (4)As from the commencement day there may be no variation of an existing orderthat extends the period of the order or of any of its provisions.
  (5)45At the end of the period of 5 years beginning with the commencement day'--
  (a)in relation to any of the existing orders specified in subsection (1)(a), (b)and (d) to (g) that is still in force, this Part has effect, with any necessary
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 11
  modifications (and with any modifications specified in an order undersection 141(6)), as if the provisions of the order were provisions of aninjunction under section 1;
  (b)the provisions of this Part set out in section 13(5) apply to any5injunction specified in subsection (1)(c) that is still in force as they applyto an injunction under section 1;
  (c)subsections (2) to (4) cease to have effect.
  (6)In deciding whether to grant an injunction under section 1 a court may takeaccount of conduct occurring up to 6 months before the commencement day.
  (7)10In this section ''commencement day'' means the day on which this Part comesinto force.
  Part 2Criminal behaviour ordersCriminal behaviour orders2115Power to make orders(1)This section applies where a person (''the offender'') is convicted of an offence.
  (2)The court may make a criminal behaviour order against the offender if twoconditions are met.
  (3)The first condition is that the court is satisfied that the offender has engaged in20behaviour that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress toone or more persons not of the same household as the offender.
  (4)The second condition is that the court considers that making the order will helpin preventing the offender from engaging in such behaviour.
  (5)A criminal behaviour order is an order which, for the purpose of preventing25the offender from engaging in such behaviour'--
  (a)prohibits the offender from doing anything described in the order;
  (b)requires the offender to do anything described in the order.
  (6)The court may make a criminal behaviour order against the offender only if itis made in addition to'--
  (a)30a sentence imposed in respect of the offence, or
  (b)an order discharging the offender conditionally.
  (7)The court may make a criminal behaviour order against the offender only onthe application of the prosecution.
  (8)The prosecution must find out the views of the local youth offending team35before applying for a criminal behaviour order to be made if the offender willbe under the age of 18 when the application is made.
  (9)Prohibitions and requirements in a criminal behaviour order must, so far aspracticable, be such as to avoid'--
  (a)any conflict with the offender's religious beliefs;
  (b)40any interference with the times, if any, at which the offender normallyworks or attends school or any other educational establishment;
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 12
  (c)any conflict with the requirements of any other court order orinjunction to which the offender may be subject.
  (10)In this section ''local youth offending team'' means'--
  (a)the youth offending team in whose area it appears to the prosecution5that the offender lives, or
  (b)if it appears to the prosecution that the offender lives in more than onesuch area, whichever one or more of the relevant youth offendingteams the prosecution thinks appropriate.
  22Proceedings on an application for an order(1)10For the purpose of deciding whether to make a criminal behaviour order thecourt may consider evidence led by the prosecution and evidence led by theoffender.
  (2)It does not matter whether the evidence would have been admissible in theproceedings in which the offender was convicted.
  (3)15The court may adjourn any proceedings on an application for a criminalbehaviour order even after sentencing the offender.
  (4)If the offender does not appear for any adjourned proceedings the court may'--
  (a)further adjourn the proceedings,
  (b)issue a warrant for the offender's arrest, or
  (c)20hear the proceedings in the offender's absence.
  (5)The court may not act under paragraph (b) of subsection (4) unless it is satisfiedthat the offender has had adequate notice of the time and place of theadjourned proceedings.
  (6)The court may not act under paragraph (c) of subsection (4) unless it is satisfied25that the offender'--
  (a)has had adequate notice of the time and place of the adjournedproceedings, and
  (b)has been informed that if the offender does not appear for thoseproceedings the court may hear the proceedings in his or her absence.
  (7)30Subsection (8) applies in relation to proceedings in which a criminal behaviourorder is made against an offender who is under the age of 18.
  (8)In so far as the proceedings relate to the making of the order'--
  (a)section 49 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (restrictions onreports of proceedings in which children and young persons are35concerned) does not apply in respect of the offender;
  (b)section 39 of that Act (power to prohibit publication of certain matters)does so apply.
  23Requirements included in orders(1)A criminal behaviour order that includes a requirement must specify the40person who is to be responsible for supervising compliance with therequirement.
  The person may be an individual or an organisation.
  The person may be an individual or an organisation.
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 13
  (2)Before including a requirement, the court must receive evidence about itssuitability and enforceability from'--
  (a)the individual to be specified under subsection (1), if an individual is tobe specified;
  (b)5an individual representing the organisation to be specified undersubsection (1), if an organisation is to be specified.
  (3)Before including two or more requirements, the court must consider theircompatibility with each other.
  (4)It is the duty of a person specified under subsection (1)'--
  (a)10to make any necessary arrangements in connection with therequirements for which the person has responsibility (the ''relevantrequirements'');
  (b)to promote the offender's compliance with the relevant requirements;
  (c)if the person considers that the offender'--
  (i)15has complied with all the relevant requirements, or
  (ii)has failed to comply with a relevant requirement,
  to inform the prosecution and the appropriate chief officer of police.
  (5)In subsection (4)(c) ''the appropriate chief officer of police'' means'--
  (a)the chief officer of police for the police area in which it appears to the20person specified under subsection (1) that the offender lives, or
  (b)if it appears to that person that the offender lives in more than onepolice area, whichever of the relevant chief officers of police that personthinks it most appropriate to inform.
  (6)An offender subject to a requirement in a criminal behaviour order must'--
  (a)25keep in touch with the person specified under subsection (1) in relationto that requirement, in accordance with any instructions given by thatperson from time to time;
  (b)notify the person of any change of address.
  These obligations have effect as requirements of the order.
  2430Duration of order etc(1)A criminal behaviour order takes effect on the day it is made, subject tosubsection (2).
  (2)If on the day a criminal behaviour order (''the new order'') is made the offenderis subject to another criminal behaviour order (''the previous order''), the new35order may be made so as to take effect on the day on which the previous orderceases to have effect.
  (3)A criminal behaviour order must specify the period (''the order period'') forwhich it has effect.
  (4)In the case of a criminal behaviour order made before the offender has reached40the age of 18, the order period must be a fixed period of'--
  (a)not less than 1 year, and
  (b)not more than 3 years.
  (5)In the case of a criminal behaviour order made after the offender has reachedthe age of 18, the order period must be'--
  (a)45a fixed period of not less than 2 years, or
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 14
  (b)an indefinite period (so that the order has effect until further order).
  (6)A criminal behaviour order may specify periods for which particularprohibitions or requirements have effect.
  Interim orders255Interim orders(1)This section applies where a court adjourns the hearing of an application for acriminal behaviour order.
  (2)The court may make a criminal behaviour order that lasts until the finalhearing of the application or until further order (''an interim order'') if the court10thinks it just to do so.
  (3)Section 21(6) to (8) and section 24(3) to (5) do not apply in relation to themaking of an interim order.
  (4)Subject to that, the court has the same powers whether or not the criminalbehaviour order is an interim order.
  15Variation and discharge26Variation or discharge of orders(1)A criminal behaviour order may be varied or discharged by the court whichmade it on the application of'--
  (a)the offender, or
  (b)20the prosecution.
  (2)If an application by the offender under this section is dismissed, the offendermay make no further application under this section without'--
  (a)the consent of the court which made the order, or
  (b)the agreement of the prosecution.
  (3)25If an application by the prosecution under this section is dismissed, theprosecution may make no further application under this section without'--
  (a)the consent of the court which made the order, or
  (b)the agreement of the offender.
  (4)The power to vary an order includes power to include an additional30prohibition or requirement in the order or to extend the period for which aprohibition or requirement has effect.
  (5)Section 23 applies to additional requirements included under subsection (4) asit applies to requirements included in a new order.
  (6)In the case of a criminal behaviour order made by a magistrates' court, the35references in this section to the court which made the order include a referenceto any magistrates' court acting in the same local justice area as that court.
  Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing BillPage 15
  Review of orders (under-18s)27Review of orders(1)If'--
  (a)a person subject to a criminal behaviour order will be under the age of518 at the end of a review period (see subsection (2)),
  (b)the term of the order runs until the end of that period or beyond, and
  (c)the order is not discharged before the end of that period,
  a review of the operation of the order must be carried out before the end of thatperiod.
  (2)10The ''review periods'' are'--
  (a)the period of 12 months beginning with'--
  (i)the day on which the criminal behaviour order takes effect, or
  (ii)if during that period the order is varied under section 26, theday on which it is varied (or most recently varied, if the order is15varied more than once);
  (b)a period of 12 months beginning with'--
VIDEO-IPNA-The Birth of a Police State | Trebuchet Magazine
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:00
  by Kerry Anne Mendoza on Jul 27, 2013
  The UK government is about to pass legislation which will make any behaviour perceived to potentially 'cause a nuisance or annoyance' a criminal offence.The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill also grants local authorities, police and even private security firms sweeping powers to bar citizens from assembling lawfully in public spaces. Those who refuse orders under the new rules will face arrest, fines and even prison time.
  The Ever Increasing PowersSince the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which introduced Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) the government has invented and legislated for a litany of such orders covering everything from dog poo to drug addiction, including but not limited to: Control Orders; Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Orders; Intervention Orders; Crack House Closure Orders; Premise Closure Orders; Brothel Closure Orders; Gang Related Violence Injunctions; Designated Public Place Orders; Special Interim Management Orders; Gating Orders; Dog Control Orders; Letter Clearing Notices; Noise Abatement Orders; Graffiti/Defacement Removal Notices; Directions to Leave and Dispersal Orders.
  The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill, which passed the committee stage of its progress through the House of Commons on Monday 15th July, purports to simplify this legacy of New Labour's legislative promiscuity. In reality, it creates a series of wildly ambiguous, generic orders which grant officers of the state and private sector even greater powers to issue tougher sentences, with fewer checks and balances to protect citizens.
  Being Annoying is Now IllegalThe Bill introduces Injunctions to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance (IPNAs) to replace ABSOs. Almost no one will be sad to say goodbye to ASBOs. The orders, designed to allow police to tackle anti-social behaviour, simply became a means of criminalising youthful indiscretion '' and eventually a means of criminalising anything people found annoying. Some of the bizarre abuses of this power include:
  Stuart Hunt of Loch Ness brought to court 100 times since 2007 for breaching an ASBO preventing him from laughing, staring or slow hand clappingHomeless, alcoholic and mentally ill Michael Gilligan given a 99 year ASBO rather than the welfare support that might have made a differenceA profoundly deaf 17 year old girl given an ASBO and a jail sentence for spitting in the streetA 13 year old banned from using the word 'grass' in England or WalesManchester Council applied an ASBO to prevent a mobile soup kitchen from feeding the homelessCouncils placing ASBOs on homeless people resulting in prison sentences for begging 'earnestly and humbly'An 87 year old man was given an ASBO threatening a prison sentence if he was sarcastic to his neighboursThe ASBO has allowed the line between criminal behaviour and annoying behaviour to become hopelessly blurred '' and the IPNAs will only serve to increase the problem. We have seen the abuses permitted under ASBO legislation, the test for which included wording to the effect that ASBOs could only be issued where an actual act of 'harassment, alarm or distress' had occurred.
  Many believe they have rightsto protest, assemble and
  associate that they lost a
  decade ago, simply because
  they have never actually
  attempted to claim them
  IPNAs have a much weaker test, applicable where on the 'balance of probabilities' a person has or might engage in behaviour 'capable of causing annoyance' to another person.
  How many times a day could this legislation apply to any of us?
  Eating with our mouths open, talking too loudly into our phones in a public space, walking too slowly or quickly or belching without saying 'pardon me'. All of this may very well cause annoyance '' but soon it might well also be illegal.
  The orders can be issued to anyone aged 10 or over (and we all know how well 10 year olds are at being annoying), and there is no limit on how long an IPNA can be applied to a person for. A person could receive an IPNA for 10 and retain it their entire life.
  Whereas an ASBO could only desist the subject from certain actions, the IPNA includes 'positive obligations' (p10). This means the subject of an IPNA can be found in breach not simply for doing things they have been banned from doing, but from not doing things that the IPNA states they must. This makes an IPNA much closer to probation and other post-conviction arrangements than a civil order.
  An IPNA can be applied for by Local Authorities, police, some transport bodies and some NHS authorities.
  The consequences of breaching an IPNA are serious. The breaching of an IPNA has been added to the conditions for securing possession of a home '' meaning a 10 year old child breaching their IPNA could result in the entire family being evicted from their council house. Breaching the orders can also result in jail time for anyone over 14.
  Even the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), giving evidence on the proposals, argued that this could lead to further criminalisation of children and called on the government to think again.
  But the plans move along unaltered.
  Kiss Goodbye to Freedom of AssemblyPublic Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs), and new Dispersal Orders will replace Designated Public Space Orders, Dog Control Orders, Gating Orders and a host of other orders intended to keep aggressive drunken people or drug dealers or dog poo off our streets. But it is plain that the target for these laws is no longer the person peddling illegal drugs, but the people sharing politically challenging ideas.
  These new powers present the most significant threat to lawful assembly and protest in modern history.
  Public Space Protection Orders
  PSPOs will be granted where 'activities carried on or likely to be carried on in a public place will have or have had a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality' (p21). They can be used to restrict an activity or require people to perform an activity in a certain way.
  They require substantially less consultation than current alcohol free zones or dog control zones and rather than applying to everyone, they can be applied to specific groups of people (the homeless, the unemployed, racial/religious groups etc.) '' opening the door for discrimination. These rules could see homeless people or young people lawfully excluded from public spaces.
  PSPOs are subject to 'on the spot' fines, rather than attendance at a Magistrates' Court, reducing the scrutiny and checks on police power.
  These orders are also by no means short term. They can be applied for up to three years, and continued for another three years at the end of their term.
  The orders have been heavily challenged by Liberty and The Manifesto Club on the basis that they will seriously infringe upon people's freedom to assemble, associate and protest. The Ramblers (the walking charity) have also given written evidence to the government raising their fears about the further appropriation of public highways, by ways and footpaths under the PSPO powers.
  Dispersal Orders
  Under the current Direction to Leave powers, anyone over 10 years of age can be asked to disperse from a 'locality' and stay dispersed for period not exceeding 48 hours.
  Current Dispersal Orders mean a Police Superintendent (or an officer with specific written authority from the SI) can disperse groups or two or more people in areas where there has been 'persistent anti-social behaviour' or take home any young person under the age of 16 who is in a dispersal zone between 9pm and 6am.
  Anyone failing to comply with a Dispersal Order faces a fine of up to £2,500 or up to three months in prison.
  Downing Street clearly do not feel this is tough enough.
  The new Dispersal Powers mean police constables and even Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) can issue dispersal orders if they think a group of two or more persons might harass, alarm or distress others in the vicinity (p16).
  The PCSO or constable can specify how long the person/group must remain out of the designated area, and by which route they must leave, and also confiscate any items of their property which they deem anti-social. Failure to comply with any element of these orders results in a fine of up to £5,000 or three months in prison.
  The new legislation also fails to define 'locality' '' meaning a person could be excluded from a city, a county or even a whole country (p17). In fact, York couldn't even wait for the new legislation to pass and is already implementing the powers.
  These new laws effectively end freedom of assembly in England and Wales, as any lawful assembly can be instantly redefined as illegal on the spot by some part time PCSO, people's personal possessions can be confiscated, and anyone who dares to challenge the process will end up in jail.
  What Will It Take?One could be forgiven for despairingly enquiring: 'What it will take for the slumbering British public to awake to the fact that the legal and physical infrastructure of a police state is being built around them?'
  Many believe they have rights to protest, assemble and associate that they lost a decade ago, simply because they have never actually attempted to claim them. They remain imaginary rights, never cashed in.
  As someone who has found herself arrested, locked up and later cleared by a court twice in recent years for peaceful protest '' I discovered for myself how much things had changed while I wasn't looking. So without getting everyone to attend a protest and get arrested, we rely on communicating the changes to those who might not experience them directly.
  These new powers presentthe most significant threat
  to lawful assembly and
  protest in modern history
  But while the BBC, our main broadcaster, has devoted its resources to stick a correspondent up the arse of anyone with the faintest connection to the Royal Baby '' no such resources have been devoted to informing on the curtailing of our most basic freedoms. Defenders of the BBC may argue they are there to cover the news, not make it '' this is an outright lie.
  The media create stories as well as cover them, many people glean what is important from how much it is being talked about on the news and in the papers.
  Imagine if journalists were door-stepping David Cameron, human rights campaigners and police authorities all day every day asking what on earth was going to happen with our human rights? If 19 pages of the Sun (news)paper wasn't talking about the Royal Baby but our eroded civil liberties? Things would look very, very different.
  In the meantime, it's up to all of us with an interest to shout it from the roof tops. We have a hell of a fight on our hands here, and most folks still don't even know it.
  SIGN THE PETITION TO OPPOSE THIS PIECE OF LEGISLATION BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE
  Read Kerry Anne Medoza's report on Occupy's Million Mask March.
  Photos: Carl Byron Batson.
  By Kerry Anne Mendoza (5 Posts)Kerry-Anne Mendoza is author of the Scriptonite Daily Blog: http://scriptonitedaily.wordpress.com She is also a contributor to New Internationalist, openDemocracy and the Occupy News Network. She is a writer, activist and campaigner for social, economic and environmental justice.
Prevention Guidelines
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:57
  This downloadable spreadsheet is a companion tool to the 2013 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk. The spreadsheet enables health care providers and patients to estimate 10-year and lifetime risks for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), defined as coronary death or nonfatal myocardial infarction, or fatal or nonfatal stroke, based on the Pooled Cohort Equations and the work of Lloyd-Jones, et al., respectively. The information required to estimate ASCVD risk includes age, sex, race, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, blood pressure lowering medication use, diabetes status, and smoking status.
  Estimates of 10-year risk for ASCVD are based on data from multiple community-based populations and are applicable to African-American and non-Hispanic white men and women 40 through 79 years of age. For other ethnic groups, we recommend use of the equations for non-Hispanic whites, though these estimates may underestimate the risk for persons from some race/ethnic groups, especially American Indians, some Asian Americans (e.g., of south Asian ancestry), and some Hispanics (e.g., Puerto Ricans), and may overestimate the risk for others, including some Asian Americans (e.g., of east Asian ancestry) and some Hispanics (e.g., Mexican Americans).
  Estimates of lifetime risk for ASCVD are provided for adults 20 through 59 years of age and are shown as the lifetime risk for ASCVD for a 50-year old without ASCVD who has the risk factor values entered into the spreadsheet. The estimates of lifetime risk are most directly applicable to non-Hispanic whites. We recommend the use of these values for other race/ethnic groups, though as mentioned above, these estimates may represent under- and overestimates for persons of various ethnic groups. Because the primary use of these lifetime risk estimates is to facilitate the very important discussion regarding risk reduction through lifestyle change, the imprecision introduced is small enough to justify proceeding with lifestyle change counseling informed by these results.
  The figure to the right represents the recommendations of the Risk Assessment Work Group. Further details regarding the derivation and validation, and strategies for implementation, of the risk assessment algorithm are available in the 2013 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk and the Full Report of the Risk Assessment Work Group. These reports also contain the information necessary for programming the risk assessment algorithm into an electronic health record to allow for automatic calculation of 10-year and lifetime risk estimates in clinical practice settings. Figure 1. Implementation of Risk Assessment Work Group Recommendations
  Clinical Vignettes
  ACC indicates American College of Cardiology; AHA, American Heart Association; and ASCVD, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
Experts Reshape Treatment Guide for Cholesterol - NYTimes.com
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:46
  The nation's leading heart organizations released new guidelines on Tuesday that will fundamentally reshape the use of cholesterol-lowering statin medicines, which are now prescribed for a quarter of Americans over 40. Patients on statins will no longer need to lower their cholesterol levels to specific numerical targets monitored by regular blood tests, as has been recommended for decades. Simply taking the right dose of a statin will be sufficient, the guidelines say.
  The new approach divides people needing treatment into two broad risk categories. Those at high risk because, for example, they have diabetes or have had a heart attack should take a statin except in rare cases. People with extremely high levels of the harmful cholesterol known as LDL '-- 190 or higher '-- should also be prescribed statins. In the past, people in these categories would also have been told to get their LDL down to 70, something no longer required.
  Everyone else should be considered for a statin if his or her risk of a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years is at least 7.5 percent. Doctors are advised to use a new risk calculator that factors in blood pressure, age and total cholesterol levels, among other things.
  ''Now one in four Americans over 40 will be saying, 'Should I be taking this anymore?' '' said Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Yale who was not on the guidelines committee.
  Dr. Neil J. Stone, chairman of a committee on cholesterol.
  Megan Bearder for The New York Times
  The new guidelines, formulated by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology and based on a four-year review of the evidence, simplify the current complex, five-step process for evaluating who needs to take statins. In a significant departure, the new method also counts strokes as well as heart attacks in its risk calculations, a step that will probably make some additional people candidates for the drugs.
  It is not clear whether more or fewer people will end up taking the drugs under the new guidelines, experts said. Many women and African-Americans, who have a higher-than-average risk of stroke, may find themselves candidates for treatment, but others taking statins only to lower LDL cholesterol to target levels may no longer need them.
  The previous guidelines put such a strong emphasis on lowering cholesterol levels by specific amounts that patients who did not hit their target levels just by taking statins often were prescribed additional drugs like Zetia, made by Merck. But the new guidelines say doctors should no longer prescribe those extra medicines because they have never been shown to prevent heart attacks or strokes.
  Zetia has been viewed with increasing skepticism in recent years since studies showed it lowered LDL cholesterol but did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease or death. Still, it is among Merck's top-selling drugs, earning $2.6 billion last year. Another drug, Vytorin, which combines Zetia with a statin, brought in $1.8 billion in 2012, according to company filings. And in May, Merck won approval for another drug, Liptruzet, which also contains the active ingredient in Zetia and a statin, a development that surprised many cardiologists because of questions about its effectiveness.
  The new guidelines are part of a package of recommendations to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke that includes moderate exercise and a healthy diet. But its advice on cholesterol is the flash point, arousing the ire of critics who say the authors ignored evidence that did not come from gold-standard clinical trials and should also have counted less rigorous, but compelling, data.
  For example, Dr. Daniel J. Rader, the director of the preventive cardiovascular medicine and lipid clinic at the University of Pennsylvania, points to studies of people with genes giving them low LDL levels over a lifetime. Their heart attack rate is greatly reduced, he said, suggesting the benefits of long-term cholesterol reduction.
  Committee members counter his view, saying that cholesterol lowered by drugs may not have the same effect.
  Critics also question the use of a 10-year risk of heart attack or stroke as the measure for determining who should be treated. Many people will have a lower risk simply because they are younger, yet could benefit from taking statins for decades to keep their cholesterol levels low, they say.
  Dr. Rader and other experts also worry that without the goad of target numbers, patients and their doctors will lose motivation to control cholesterol levels.
  Experts say it is still unclear how much the new guidelines will change clinical practice. Dr. Rader suspects many cardiologists will still strive for the old LDL targets, at least for patients with heart disease who are at high risk. ''They are used to it and believe in it,'' he said.
  Dr. Steven E. Nissen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, said he thought it would take years for doctors to change their practices.
  The process of developing the guidelines was rocky, taking at least twice as long as in the past. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute dropped out, saying that drafting guidelines was no longer part of its mission. Several committee members, including Dr. Rader, also dropped out, unhappy with the direction the committee was going.
  The architects of the guidelines say their recommendations are based on the best available evidence. Large clinical trials have consistently shown that statins reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, but the committee concluded that there is no evidence that hitting specific cholesterol targets makes a difference. No one has ever asked in a rigorous study if a person's risk is lower with an LDL of 70 than 90 or 100, for example.
  Dr. Neil J. Stone, the chairman of the committee and a professor of preventive cardiology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, said he was surprised by what the group discovered as it delved into the evidence. ''We deliberated for several years,'' he said, ''and could not come up with solid evidence for targets.''
  Dr. Nissen, who was not a member of the committee, agreed. ''The science was never there'' for the LDL targets, he said. Past committees ''made them up out of thin air,'' he added.
  The Department of Veterans Affairs conducted its own independent review and came to the same conclusion. About a year ago, the department, the nation's largest integrated health care system, dropped its LDL targets, said Dr. John Rumsfeld, the V.A.'s national director of cardiology.
  ''It is a shift,'' he acknowledged, ''but I would argue that it is not a radical change but is a course correction.''
  Dr. Paul M. Ridker, the director of the center for cardiovascular disease prevention at Brigham and Women's Hospital, in Boston, said he worried the new guidelines could easily lead to overtreatment. An older man with a low LDL level who smokes and has moderately elevated blood pressure would qualify for a statin under the new guidelines. But what he really needs is to stop smoking and get his blood pressure under control.
  Dr. Stone said he hoped doctors would not reflexively prescribe a statin to such a patient. Doctors are supposed to talk to their patients and realize that, with a man like the one Dr. Ridker described, the real problem was not cholesterol.
  ''We are taking people out of their comfort zone,'' Dr. Stone said. ''Instead of being reassured that reaching this number means they will be fine, we are asking, 'What is the best therapy to do the job?' ''
  Katie Thomas contributed reporting.
Sam Donaldson DUI Case Dismissed - ABC News
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:34
  A drunken driving charge against veteran ABC News personality Sam Donaldson has been dismissed after a Delaware judge ruled that police lacked probable cause to arrest him.
  A Sussex County judge also said Friday that there was insufficient evidence against Donaldson.
  Police in the southern coastal town of Lewes stopped 79-year-old Donaldson last December for a traffic violation. Police say the officer determined Donaldson had been drinking and gave him field sobriety tests. Donaldson, a resident of McLean, Va., subsequently was charged with drunken driving.
  Defense attorney Eric Mooney said Donaldson was "extremely satisfied" with the outcome of the case.
  Donaldson's career at ABC News included stints as chief White House correspondent and co-host of "PrimeTime Live" and the Sunday morning broadcast "This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts."
Message to the Congress -- Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Iran
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: White House.gov Press Office Feed
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 04:18
  The White House
  Office of the Press Secretary
  For Immediate Release
  November 12, 2013
  TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES:
  Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within the 90''day period prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to Iran that was declared in Executive Order 12170 of November 14, 1979, is to continue in effect beyond November 14, 2013.
  Because our relations with Iran have not yet returned to normal, and the process of implementing the agreements with Iran, dated January 19, 1981, is still under way, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12170 with respect to Iran.
  BARACK OBAMA
Yahoo! Is Forcing Employees To Rank Each Other and They Hate It
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Valleywag
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 04:16
  Fight, fight for Empress Marissa: the arena must be refreshed with nerd blood. After pissing everyone at Yahoo! off by making them come into the office, AllThingsD reports Marissa Mayer's latest HR edict is drawing more ire. Employee versus employee.
  Yahoo! has recently implemented an archaic bell curve ranking system, compelling employees to artificially spread colleagues over a range of bad to good'--even if reality doesn't actually reflect itself on a curve. That's the thing about bell curves: they look so great on paper, but not so much when you're looking around the room and thinking of who might get fired over it. Maybe it's you! And indeed, heads are rolling from the artificial curvature:
  According to a multitude of top-ranking posts on an anonymous internal message board used by Yahoo to vent their frustrations to top staff, employees there are becoming increasingly upset by an evaluation system instituted by CEO Marissa Mayer that has apparently resulted in the firings of more than 600 people in recent weeks...the "Quarterly Performance Review" system forces managers to rank some of their staff with designations of "Occasionally Misses" and "Misses," even if it is not the case
  Businessweek also points out that this kind of rationalized review is just bad for business. Of course, it's horrible for morale: AllThingsD says livid employees, who are basically being asked to betray their coworkers in the name of statistical neatness, are taking to an internal message board with their gripes:
  I feel so uncomfortable because in order to meet the bell curve, I have to tell the employee that they missed when I truly don't believe it to be the case.
  Another adds, "More often than I'd like I'm told we are executing a certain way 'because Marissa said so.'" That's probably the literally least comforting thing to be told when you ask why you're ordered to arbitrarily endanger the jobs of your peers.
Solar energy salesman claims nuclear costs twice as much as solar
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Atomic Insights
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 04:14
  In the above clip titled Is nuclear power good for our planet Andrew Birch, the co-founder and CEO of Sungevity says that the main reason that he does not like nuclear energy is that it ''costs too much''. However, he reveals the shallow nature of his energy production understanding and his financially driven bias by making demonstrably false statements about the costs associated with nuclear energy, a power source that he considers to be a competitor to the product his company sells.
  Birch states that nuclear energy costs twice as much as solar energy. He said that his home country, the United Kingdom, had recently agreed to pay 20 cents per kilowatt hour for the power that its new nuclear plant (Hinkley Point C will produce. Both statements are false.
  The agreed upon strike price for the power from Hinkley Point C is 92.50 pounds per MW-hr. At the current exchange rate of $1.60 per UK pound, that works out to 14.8 US dollar cents per kilowatt hour, not 20 cents. The strike price will start being paid only when the plant is completed; the per unit cost for customers is not scheduled to rise with inflation.
  According to an excerpt from US Energy Information Agency's 2013 Annual Energy Outlook titled Levelized Cost of New Generation Resources in the Annual Energy Outlook 2013, the levelized cost of advanced nuclear, which EIA classifies as dispatchable (EIA's term for power that is controllable by operators), is 10.8 cents per kilowatt hour, while solar photovoltaic is 14.4 cents and solar thermal is 26.1 cents per kilowatt hour. The EIA does not classify either of those sources as ''dispatchable'' so their power is less valuable to any grid operator that must maintain a reliable power supply.
  Birch also makes a statement that is not as easy to show as being wrong; he says that over the years, society has spent about a hundred billion dollars trying to make nuclear energy cheaper. Anyone who has ever worked in the nuclear industry, however, will recognize that the money invested into R & D has rarely, if ever, been focused on the kinds of improvements that reduce cost. In fact, nearly all of the investments have resulted in additional rules, regulations, and requirements that have increased cost, since the industry is regulated by an entity that demands near perfection, ''no matter the cost''.
  Aside: The phrase in quotes in the previous sentence is from a talk that I heard NRC Chairman Macfarlane give this afternoon at the ANS Winter Meeting. End Aside.
  Robert Stone, the director of Pandora's Promise, states that he likes wind and solar and always has. However, he was motivated to make his film when he realized that those sources were simply not working to substantially reduce fossil fuel consumption or related emissions of climate changing gases. While taking the film around the world, Stone has recognized that young people are not afraid of technology; they see it as a solution to problems. Many older people, who grew up with ''duck and cover'' drills in school are often reflexively fearful of nuclear technology, but even some of them are starting to question their previous positions on the topic.
Train loaded with oil derails, explodes, pollutes Alabama wetlands
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Grist
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 04:13
  By John Upton
  PressmasterThis is what an oil train looks like before it goes off the rails and blows up.Yet another oil-hauling train has derailed and exploded, this one sending flaming cars loaded with North Dakota crude into Alabama wetlands.
  The 90-car train derailed early Friday, causing flames to shoot 300 feet into the air. No injuries were reported. One family living in the marshy area was evacuated from their home following the accident. The L.A. Times has the details:
  A train that derailed and exploded in rural Alabama was hauling 2.7 million gallons of crude oil, according to officials.
  The 90-car train was crossing a timber trestle above a wetland near Aliceville late Thursday night when approximately 25 rail cars and two locomotives derailed, spilling crude oil into the surrounding wetlands and igniting a fire that was still burning Saturday.
  Each of the 90 cars was carrying 30,000 gallons of oil, said Bill Jasper, president of the rail company Genesee & Wyoming at a press briefing Friday night. It's unclear, though, how much oil was spilled because some of the cars have yet to be removed from the marsh.
  And here's more from Reuters:
  A local official said the crude oil had originated in North Dakota, home of the booming Bakken shale patch. If so, it may have been carrying the same type of light crude oil that was on a Canadian train that derailed in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic this summer, killing 47 people. '...
  The accident happened in a wetlands area that eventually feeds into the Tombigbee River, according to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. Booms were placed in the wetlands to contain the spilled oil.
  In Demopolis, Alabama, some 40 miles south of the site of the accident, where the rail line runs 300 meters away from the U.S. Jones Elementary School, Mayor Michael Grayson said there hadn't been an accident in the area in a century of train traffic.
  But since last summer, when the oil trains first began humming past, officials discussed what might happen if a bridge just outside of town collapsed, dumping crude into the river.
  ''Sadly, with this thing, the only thing you can do is try to be prepared,'' he said by phone.
  Thanks to the North American oil boom, more and more crude is being shipped by rail '-- and more and more crude is being spilled by rail. The Lac-Megantic disaster isn't the only previous example. There were 88 rail accidents involving crude oil last year, up from one or two per year during much of the previous decade. Other high-profile accidents in North America this year have included a 15,000-gallon spill from a derailed train in Minnesota in April and a fiery accident near Edmonton, Alberta, last month.
  These accidents often fuel debate over whether more pipelines should be built to help safely haul oil and natural gas across the continent. But pipeline spills are on the rise too. Has anybody thought of just leaving the filthy stuff in the ground?
  John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.
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itBit Raises $3.25 Million To Launch A New Global Bitcoin Exchange
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: bitcoin - Google News
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 04:13
  There are a number ofBitcoin exchangesout there today, but a new startup called itBit hopes to legitimize the market by providing bank-like security and compliance.
  This newest Bitcoin exchange has raised $3.25 million in a funding round co-led by Canaan Partners and RRE Ventures, with participation from Liberty City Ventures, as well angel investors such as Jay W. Jordan II and Ben Davenport. To date, it's raised $5.5 million.
  itBit seeks to differentiate from many of the more consumer-focused exchanges out there by providing a higher level of security and compliance than some other options. The hope is that by doing so, it will be able to attract interest from traditional financial organizations, in addition to a growing number of retail investors.
  The idea is that by offering a higher level of service and security, itBit will be able to service institutional investors and make trading in Bitcoin not that different from more traditional currency exchange.
  Today, it trades between Bitcoin and U.S. dollars, Singapore dollars, and Euros, and is built to handle trading volume at an order of magnitude greater than Bitcoin is traded at today. Using Nasdaq exchange technology, it is able to support millions of trades per second and provides 24/7 customer service.
  itBit also boasts a multi-factor authentication and DDOS attack mitigation, while also trying to provide enhanced liquidity in its marketplace. It screens and monitors for suspicious activity and has identity verification also built in.
  With headquarters in Singapore, itBit is in full regulatory compliance there and is available to institutional investors globally. It's also available to retail Bitcoin investors in all markets except the U.S. The company has 13 employees distributed around the world, and plans to invest in expanding its operations and offerings, while getting further regulatory approval.
A personal challenge
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: W2LJ's Blog - QRP - Do More With Less.
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 04:10
  I went out to the car during lunchtime today. Temperatures here in New Jersey have cooled down. It was only in the upper 40s here (about 9C), so instead of standing outside and operating from the rear hatch of the Jeep, I sat inside to keep out of the breeze. Activity on 10 Meters seems to have gotten sparse. I still hear signals, mind you, but they are not as loud and not as "wall to wall" as they were just a few weeks ago. I don't know if it's that the band has changed a bit, or perhaps the novelty of 10 Meters coming back to life has worn off. In any event, I found myself on 17 Meters today, tuning around the band to hear what I could hear.I worked EI13CLAN, whom I worked last month on 10 Meters. He was very strong, a very legitimate 599.
  The tuning around some more, I heard XF1P calling "CQ DX UP". OK ........ Mexico. But the pileup was huge ...... HUGE! I wasn't exactly sure why. Mexico is not exactly what you'd consider to be the rarest of rare DX. I reasoned that with a pileup that big, something that I was unaware of must be "up". Additionally, I took it as a personal challenge. Could a QRP station running 5 Watts to a Buddistick possibly bust that pileup? XF1P was 599, but just barely. There was QSB to boot. I was reasonably sure that my signal would be audible on his end, but with that pileup, would I get lost in the sauce?
  I sat there for about 20 minutes, listening and sending out my call. The KX3, with it's Dual Watch feature, almost makes it unfair. I was able to follow XF1P along the band as he would move slightly after answering each station, XF1P in my right earbud and the station he was working in my left earbud. It just became a matter of sensing his pattern and setting the transmit VFO just a tiny bit higher after each call. Also, I had to time the sending of my call - not transmitting immediately, but waiting for the pileup to fade "just" enough where my call would be heard among the cacophony of all the true 599s that he must have undoubtedly been hearing. Finally, I heard him send back "W2L?". Wouldn't you know it? True to form, all kinds of stations without a "W"," 2" or an "L" anywhere in their calls began blindly transmitting. Not deterred, I stayed with it and threw "W2LJ" out there just a couple of more times and was rewarded with a confirmation.Coming back from lunch, a quick peek on the computer before resuming work informed me that XF1P is an IOTA DXpedition to Partida Island - NA-124 located in the Gulf of California off the coast of Baja, Mexico. It is an uninhabited island, so I guess that makes it rare as IOTA goes. The pileup of IOTA devotees was intense, but I accepted the challenge with 5 Watts, took advantage of XF1P's exceptional ears, and got through! That's always a good feeling. And it also goes to show, that if I can do this, then YOU can do it too. It just takes some persistence and a lot of listening.72 de Larry W2LJQRP - When you care to send the very least!
Dan Utech is Obama's new climate czar.
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Source: Grist
  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 04:07
  By John Upton
  Georgetownclimate.orgPresident Obama has picked Dan Utech, an experienced environment and energy wonk, to replace outgoing White House climate adviser Heather Zichal. The role doesn't require Senate confirmation, so Utech got right to work today.
  His transition shouldn't be too difficult. Up until now he has served as the deputy director for climate at the White House, where he's worked since 2010. Before joining the Obama administration, Utech worked for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and served as energy and environment adviser to then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y).
  Utech worked with Zichal to help the Obama administration craft its second-term climate strategy, which includes stringent limits on carbon dioxide emissions from U.S. power plants as well as efforts to halt construction of new coal plants worldwide. In his new position, the L.A. Times explains, he ''will also have to explain to the public the administration's stand on often-contentious energy and environmental issues, such as the Keystone XL oil pipeline.''
  Enviros seem to like the guy. Here's praise from a couple of green leaders:
  Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune: ''Dan Utech has been engaged in critically important debates on energy and environmental issues for years, bringing with him a unique blend of hill experience and technical knowledge of the energy industry. A seasoned hand in the energy world, he has also helped implement some of the Obama Administration's most significant actions on our climate crisis and has the experience needed to ensure a smooth transition following Heather Zichal's exceptional service.''
  Natural Resources Defense Council President Frances Beinecke: ''Dan Utech is a leader, a seasoned expert, and the right person for this critical energy and climate post. He's well-suited to carry forward the policies our country needs to expand clean energy, cut carbon pollution, address climate change and protect health. We are pleased the president has chosen him.''
  John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.
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The Internet Ideology: Why We Are Allowed to Hate Silicon Valley - Debatten - FAZ
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 00:20
  If Ronald Reagan was the first Teflon President, then Silicon Valley is the first Teflon Industry: no matter how much dirt one throws at it, nothing seems to stick. While ''Big Pharma,'' ''Big Food'' and ''Big Oil'' are derogatory terms used to describe the greediness that reigns supreme in those industries, this is not the case with ''Big Data.'' This innocent term is never used to refer to the shared agendas of technology companies. What shared agendas? Aren't these guys simply improving the world, one line of code at a time?
  (Deutsche Fassung: Warum man das Silicon Valley hassen darf)
  Something odd is going on here. While we understand that the interests of pharmaceutical, food and oil companies naturally diverge from our own, we rarely approach Silicon Valley with the requisite suspicion. Instead, we continue to treat data as if it were a special, magical commodity that could single-handedly defend itself against any evil genius who dares to exploit it.
  Earlier this year, a tiny scratch appeared on the rhetorical Teflon of Silicon Valley. The Snowden affair helped '' but so did other events. The world seems to have finally realized that ''disruption'' '' the favorite word of the digital elites ''describes a rather ugly, painful phenomenon. Thus, university professors are finally complaining about the ''disruption'' brought on by the massive open online courses (MOOCs); taxi drivers are finally fighting services like Uber; residents of San Francisco are finally bemoaning the ''disruption'' of monthly rents in a city that has suddenly been invaded by millionaires. And then, of course, there are the crazy, despicable ideas coming from Silicon Valley itself: the latest proposal, floated by one tech executive at a recent conference, is that Silicon Valley should secede from the country and ''build an opt-in society, ultimately outside the United States, run by technology.'' Let's share his pain: A country that needs a congressional hearing to fix a web-site is a disgrace to Silicon Valley.
  This bubbling discontent is reassuring. It might even help bury some of the myths spun by Silicon Valley. Wouldn't it be nice if one day, told that Google's mission is to ''organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful,'' we would finally read between the lines and discover its true meaning: ''to monetize all of the world's information and make it universally inaccessible and profitable''? With this act of subversive interpretation, we might eventually hit upon the greatest emancipatory insight of all: Letting Google organize all of the world's information makes as much sense as letting Halliburton organize all of the world's oil.
  But any jubilation is premature: Silicon Valley still holds a firm grip on the mechanics of the public debate. As long as our critique remains tied to the plane of technology and information'' a plane that is often described by that dreadful, meaningless, overused word ''digital'' '' Silicon Valley will continue to be seen as an exceptional and unique industry. When food activists go after Big Food and accuse those companies of adding too much salt and fat to their snacks to make us crave even more of them, no one dares accuse these activists of being anti-science. Yet, a critique of Facebook or Twitter along similar lines '' for example, that they have designed their services to play up our anxieties and force us to perpetually click the ''refresh'' button to get the latest update '' almost immediately brings accusations of technophobia and Luddism.
  The reason why the digital debate feels so empty and toothless is simple: framed as a debate over ''the digital'' rather than ''the political'' and ''the economic,'' it's conducted on terms that are already beneficial to technology companies. Unbeknownst to most of us, the seemingly exceptional nature of commodities in question '' from ''information'' to ''networks'' to ''the Internet'' '' is coded into our language. It's this hidden exceptionalism that allows Silicon Valley to dismiss its critics as Luddites who, by opposing ''technology,'' ''information'' or ''the Internet''-- they don't do plurals in Silicon Valley, for the nuance risks overwhelming their brains '' must also be opposed to ''progress.''
  How do you spot ''the digital debate''? Look for arguments that appeal to the essences of things '' of technology, information, knowledge and, of course, the Internet itself. Thus, whenever you hear someone say ''this law is bad because it will break the Internet'' or ''this new gadget is good because that's what technology wants,'' you know that you have left the realm of the political '' where arguments are usually framed around the common good '' and have entered the realm of bad metaphysics. In that realm, what you are being asked to defend is the well-being of phantom digital gods that function as convenient stand-ins for corporate interests. Why does anything that might ''break the Internet'' also risk breaking Google? This can't be a coincidence, can it?
  Perhaps, we should ditch the technology/progress dialectic altogether. ''Is it O.K. to be a Luddite?'' ran the title of a fabulous 1984 essay by Thomas Pynchon '' a question that he answered, by and large, in the affirmative. This question feels outdated today. ''Is it okay not to be a Luddite but still hate Silicon Valley?'' is a much better question, for the real enemy is not technology but the present political and economic regime '' a wild combination of the military-industrial complex and the out-of-control banking and advertising '' that deploys latest technologies to achieve its ugly (even if lucrative and occasionally pleasant) ends. Silicon Valley represents the most visible, the most discussed, and the most naive part of this assemblage. In short, it's okay to hate Silicon Valley '' we just need to do it for the right reasons. Below are three of them '' but this is hardly an exhaustive list.
  The rhetoric is as lofty as it is revolutionaryReason number one: Silicon Valley firms are building what I call ''invisible barbed wire'' around our lives. We are promised more freedom, more openness, more mobility; we are told we can roam wherever and whenever we want. But the kind of emancipation that we actually get is fake emancipation; it's the emancipation of a just-released criminal wearing an ankle bracelet.
  Yes, a self-driving car could make our commute less dreadful. But a self-driving car operated by Google would not just be a self-driving car: it would be a shrine to surveillance '' on wheels! It would track everywhere we go. It might even prevent us from going to certain places if we our mood '' measured through facial expression analysis '' suggests that we are too angry or tired or emotional. Yes, there are exceptions '' at times, GPS does feel liberating '' but the trend is clear: every new Google sensor in that car would introduce a new lever of control. That lever doesn't even have to be exercised to produce changes in our behavior '' our knowledge of its presence will suffice.
  Or take MOOCs. They would undoubtedly produce many shifts in power relations. We know of all the visible, positive shifts: students getting more, cheaper opportunities to learn; kids in Africa finally taking best courses on offer in America, and so on. But what about the invisible shifts? Take Coursera, a company that was started by a senior Google engineer and that has quickly become one of the leaders in the field. It now uses biometrics -- facial recognition and typing speed analysis '' to verify student identity. (This comes in handy when they issue diplomas!) How did we go from universities with open-door policies to universities that check their students with biometrics? As Gilles Deleuze put in a 1990 conversation with Tony Negri, ''compared with the approaching forms of ceaseless control in open sites, we may come to see the harshest confinement as part of a wonderful happy past.'' This connection between the seeming openness of our technological infrastructures and the intensifying degree of control remains poorly understood.
  What does this invisible barbed wire mean in practice? Suppose you want to become a vegetarian. So you go to Facebook and use its Graph Search feature to search for the favorite vegetarian restaurants of all your friends who live nearby. Facebook understands that you are considering an important decision that will affect several industries: great news for the tofu industry but bad news for the meat section of your local supermarket.
  Facebook would be silly not to profit from this knowledge '' so it organizes a real-time ad auction to see whether the meat industry wants you more than the tofu industry. This is where your fate is no longer in your own hands. Sounds silly '' until you enter your local supermarket and your smartphone shows that the meat section offers you a discount of 20%. The following day, as you pass by the local steak house, your phone buzzes again: you've got another discount offer. Come in '' have some steak! After a week of deliberation '' and lots of cheap meat -- you decide that vegetarianism is not your thing. Case closed.
  Of course, had the tofu industry won the ad auction, things might have gone in the opposite direction. But it doesn't matter who wins the auction. What matters is that a decision that seems fully autonomous is not autonomous at all. You feel liberated and empowered; you might even write a thank-you note to Mark Zuckerberg. But this is laughable: you are simply at the mercy of the highest bidder. And they are bidding to show you an ad that matters '' an ad based on everything that Facebook knows about your anxieties and insecurities. It's not your bland, one-dimensional advertising anymore.
  This example is hardly the product of my wild imagination: Last year, Facebook struck a deal with a company called Datalogix, which would allow it to tie what you buy at your local supermarket to ads that Facebook shows you. Google already has an app '' Google Field '' which constantly scans shops and restaurants in your area for latest deals. Nothing in this example hinges upon a hatred of technology or information: we are dealing here with political economy, advertising, autonomy. What does this have to do with the ''digital debate''? Very little.
  The data-centric model of Silicon Valley capitalism seeks to convert every aspect of our everyday existence '' what used to be our only respite from the vagaries of work and the anxieties of the marketplace '' into a productive asset. This is done not just by blurring the distinction between work and nonwork but also by making us tacitly accept the idea that our reputation is a work-in-progress '' something that we could and should be honing 24/7. Therefore, everything is turned into a productive asset: our relationships, our family life, our vacations, our sleep (you are now invited to ''hack'' it so that you can get most of your sleep in the shortest amount of time).
  The rhetoric attached to such ''breakthroughs'' is as lofty as it is revolutionary, especially when mixed with subjects like ''the sharing economy.'' 'žThis is the first stage of something more profound, which is the ability of people to structure their lives around doing multiple sharing economy activities as a choice in lieu of a 9-to-5, five-day-a-week job,'' said Arun Sundararajan, a professor at New York University and a big fan of ''the sharing economy,'' in a recent interview. 'žThis is technology-driven progress. This is what it's all about,'' he added. Oh yes, ''progress'' has never felt so good: who doesn't like working 24-7 instead of 9-5?
  When privacy is becoming expensiveReason number two: Silicon Valley has destroyed our ability to imagine other models for running and organizing our communication infrastructure. Forget about models that aren't based on advertising and that do not contribute to the centralization of data on private servers located in America. To suggest that we need to look into other '' perhaps, even publicly-provided alternatives ''is to risk being accused of wanting to ''break the Internet.'' We have succumbed to what the Brazilian social theorist Roberto Unger calls ''the dictatorship of no alternatives'': we are asked to accept that Gmail is the best and only possible way to do email, and that Facebook is the best and only possible way to do social networking.
  But consider just how weird our current arrangement is. Imagine I told you that the post office could run on a different, innovation-friendly business model. Forget stamps. They cost money '' and why pay money when there's a way to send letters for free? Just think about the world-changing potential: the poor kids in Africa can finally reach you with their pleas for more laptops! So, instead of stamps, we would switch to an advertising-backed system: we'd open every letter that you send, scan its contents, insert a relevant ad, seal it, and then forward it to the recipient.
  Sounds crazy? It does. But this is how we have chosen to run our email. In the wake of the NSA scandal and the debacle that is Healthcare.gov, trust in public institutions runs so low that any alternative arrangement '' especially the one that would give public institutions a greater role '' seems unthinkable. But this is only part of the problem. What would happen when some of our long cherished and privately-run digital infrastructure begins to crumble, as companies evolve and change their business models?
  Five years ago, one could still publish silly little books with titles like ''What Would Google Do?'' on the assumption that the company had a coherent and mostly benevolent philosophy, eager to subsidize unprofitable services just because it could. After Google shut down Google Reader and many other popular services, this benevolence can no longer be taken for granted. In the next two-three years, there would come a day when Google would announce that it's shutting down Google Scholar '' a free but completely unprofitable service '' that abets millions of academics worldwide. Why aren't we preparing for this eventuality by building a robust publicly-run infrastructure? Doesn't it sound ridiculous that Europe can produce a project like CERN but seems incapable of producing an online service to keep track of papers written about CERN? Could it be because Silicon Valley has convinced us that they are in the magic industry?
  Now that our communication networks are in the hands of the private sector, we should avoid making the same mistake with privacy. We shouldn't reduce this complex problem to market-based solutions. Alas, thanks to Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial zeal, privatization is already creeping in. Privacy is becoming a commodity. How does one get privacy these days? Just ask any hacker: only by studying how the right tools work. Privacy is no longer something to be taken for granted or enjoyed for free: you have to expend some resources to master the tools. Those resources could be money, patience, attention '' you might even hire a consultant to do all this for you '' but the point is that privacy is becoming expensive.
  And what of those who can't afford tools and consultants? How do their lives change? When the founder of a prominent lending start-up '' the former CIO of Google, no less '' proclaims that ''all data is credit data, we just don't know how to use it yet'' I can't help but fear the worst. If ''all data is credit data'' and poor people cannot afford privacy, they are in for some dark times. How can they not be anxious when their every move, their every click, their every phone call could be analyzed to predict if they deserve credit and at what rates? If the burden of debt wasn't agonizing enough, now we'll have to live with the fact that, for the poor people, anxiety begins well before they get the actual loan. Once again, one doesn't have to hate or fear technology to worry about the future of equality, mobility and the quality of life. The ''digital debate,'' with its inevitable detours into cultural pessimism, simply has no intellectual resources to tackle these issues.
  Where are the apps to fight poverty or racial discrimination?Reason number three: the simplistic epistemology of Silicon Valley has become a model that other institutions are beginning to emulate. The trouble with Silicon Valley is not just that it enables the NSA ''it also encourages, even emboldens them. It inspires the NSA to keep searching for connections in a world of meaningless links, to record every click, to ensure that no interaction goes unnoticed, undocumented and unanalyzed. Like Silicon Valley, NSA assumes that everything is interconnected: if we can't yet link two pieces of data, it's because we haven't looked deep enough '' or we need a third piece of data, to be collected in the future, to make sense of it all.
  There's something delusional about this practice '' and I don't use ''delusional'' metaphorically. For the Italian philosopher Remo Bodei, delusion does not stem from too little psychic activity, as some psychoanalytic theories would have it, but, rather, from too much of it. Delirium, he notes, is ''the incapacity to filter an enormous quantity of data.'' While a sane, rational person ''has learned that ignorance is vaster than knowledge and that one must resist the temptation to find more coherence than can currently be achieved,'' the man suffering from delusion cannot stop finding coherence among inherently incoherent phenomena. He generalizes too much, which results in what Bodei calls ''hyper-inclusion.''
  ''Hyper-inclusion'' is exactly what plagues America's military-industrial complex today. And they don't even hide this: thus, Gus Hunt, the chief technology officer of the CIA, confesses that ''since you can't connect dots you don't have '...we fundamentally try to collect everything and hang on to it forever.'' Such hyper-inclusion, according to Bodei, is the prerogative of the deluded. For them, he writes, ''the accidental, which most certainly exists in the external world, has no right of citizenship in the psychic one, where it is 'curved' to a certain explanation.'' For example, ''a madman might find it significant that three people in a larger group are wearing a red tie, and might believe that this implies some form of persecution.'' Likewise, the delirious person believes that ''the concept of St. Joseph includes not only the individual person but also a wooden table since St. Joseph was a carpenter.'' Well, it might be ''delusion' for Bodei but as far as Silicon Valley and Washington are concerned, we are talking bout ''the semantic Web'' and ''Big Data''!
  Silicon Valley doesn't care that some of these connections are spurious. When Google or Facebook mess up and show us an irrelevant ad based on their misconceived view of who we are, it results in minor discomfort'' and little else. When NSA or CIA mess up, it results in a loud drone strike (if you are lucky, you might qualify for an all-expenses-paid, one-way trip to Guantanamo).
  The other problem with Silicon Valley's epistemology is that its view of the world is heavily distorted by its business model. Silicon Valley has two responses to any problem: it can produce more ''computation'' (or code) or it can process more ''information'' (or data). Most likely, it will be a combination of the two, giving us yet another app to track calories, weather and traffic. Such small successes allow Silicon Valley to redefine ''progress'' as something that naturally follows from their business plans. But while ''more computation'' or ''more information'' could be lucrative private responses to some problems, it doesn't follow that they are also most effective responses to the unwieldy, messy public problems have deep institutional and structural causes.
  Much importance, at least in America, is attached to the immense potential of smartphones to solve a problem like obesity. How would this work? Well, the idea is that the smartphones already monitor how much we walk '' they have sensors that do that '' and they can tell us when we are walking less than the norm. They can also '' perhaps, in some combination with Google Glass '' monitor what we eat and keep track of our diet, telling us to refuse that tempting dessert. The assumption here, derived from behavioral economics, is that we make irrational decisions and that highly-targeted information provided to us at the right time via this new digital infrastructure can finally conquer our irrationality.
  But notice how, in this case, the very definition of a problem like obesity shrinks to the neoliberal and the banal: it's all our own fault! We are not really trying to solve the problem '' only to deploy our tools '' coding and information '' to redefine the problem in the most convenient but also least ambitious way. It may be that if you are poor and you work several jobs and you don't have a car to go shopping at a farmer's market, then consuming junk food at a local McDonald's is a completely rational decision: you get the food you can afford. What's the point of telling you what you already know: that you are eating cheap and terrible food? The problem that needs addressing here is that of poverty '' to be tackled through economic reforms '' and not that of under-supply of information.
  Sociologists have coined a term for this phenomenon: ''problem closure.'' To use one recent definition, it refers to ''the situation when a specific definition of a problem is used to frame subsequent study of the problem's causes and consequences in ways that preclude alternative conceptualizations of the problem.'' Once the causes and consequences have been narrowly defined, it's no wonder that particular solutions get most attention. This is where we are today: inspired by Silicon Valley, policy-makers are beginning to redefine problems as essentially stemming from incomplete information while envisioning solutions that only do one thing: deliver more information through apps. But where are the apps to fight poverty or racial discrimination? We are building apps to fix the problems that our apps can fix '' instead of tackling problems that actually need fixing.
  Let's re-inject politics and economics into this debateDo people in Silicon Valley realize the mess that they are dragging us into? I doubt it. The ''invisible barbed wire'' remains invisible even to its builders. Whoever is building a tool to link MOOCs to biometric identification isn't much concerned with what this means for our freedoms: ''freedom'' is not their department, they are just building cool tools for spreading knowledge!
  This is where the ''digital debate'' leads us astray: it knows how to talk about tools but is barely capable of talking about social, political, and economic systems that these tools enable and disable, amplify and pacify. When these systems are once again brought to the fore of our analysis, the ''digital'' aspect of such tool-talk becomes extremely boring, for it explains nothing. Deleuze warned of such tool-centrism back in 1990:
  ''One can of course see how each kind of society corresponds to a particular kind of machine '' with simple mechanical machines corresponding to sovereign societies, thermodynamic machines to disciplinary societies, cybernetic machines and computers to control societies. But the machines don't explain anything, you have to analyze the collective arrangements of which the machines are just one component.''
  In the last two decades, our ability to make such connections between machines and ''collective arrangements'' has all but atrophied. This happened, I suspect, because we've presumed that these machines come from ''cyberspace,'' that they are of the ''online'' and ''digital'' world '' in other words, that they were bestowed upon us by the gods of ''the Internet.'' And ''the Internet,'' as Silicon Valley keeps reminding us, is the future. So to oppose these machines was to oppose the future itself.
  Well, this is all bunk: there's no ''cyberspace'' and ''the digital debate'' is just a bunch of sophistries concocted by Silicon Valley that allow its executives to sleep well at night. (It pays well too!) Haven't we had enough? Our first step should be to rob them of their banal but highly effective language. Our second step should be to rob them of their flawed history. Our third step should be to re-inject politics and economics into this debate. Let's bury the ''digital debate'' for good '' along with an oversupply of intellectual mediocrity it has produced in the meantime.
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The secret, dirty cost of Obama's green power push
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  Wed, 13 Nov 2013 00:15
  CORYDON, Iowa (AP) '-- The hills of southern Iowa bear the scars of America's push for green energy: The brown gashes where rain has washed away the soil. The polluted streams that dump fertilizer into the water supply.
  Even the cemetery that disappeared like an apparition into a cornfield.
  It wasn't supposed to be this way.
  With the Iowa political caucuses on the horizon in 2007, presidential candidate Barack Obama made homegrown corn a centerpiece of his plan to slow global warming. When President George W. Bush signed a law that year requiring oil companies to add billions of gallons of ethanol to their gasoline each year, Bush predicted it would make the country "stronger, cleaner and more secure."
  But the ethanol era has proven far more damaging to the environment than politicians promised and much worse than the government admits today.
  As farmers rushed to find new places to plant corn, they wiped out millions of acres of conservation land, destroyed habitat and contaminated water supplies, an Associated Press investigation found.
  Five million acres of land set aside for conservation '-- more than Yellowstone, Everglades and Yosemite National Parks combined '-- have been converted on Obama's watch.
  Landowners filled in wetlands. They plowed into pristine prairies, releasing carbon dioxide that had been locked in the soil.
  Sprayers pumped out billions of pounds of fertilizer, some of which seeped into drinking water, polluted rivers and worsened the huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico where marine life can't survive.
  The consequences are so severe that environmentalists and many scientists have now rejected corn-based ethanol as bad environmental policy. But the Obama administration stands by it, highlighting its benefits to the farming industry rather than any negative consequences.
  All energy comes at a cost. The environmental consequences of drilling for oil and natural gas are well documented and severe. But in the president's push to reduce greenhouse gases and curtail global warming, his administration has allowed so-called green energy to do not-so-green things.
  In some cases, such as the decision to allow wind farms that sometimes kill eagles, the administration accepts environmental costs because they pale in comparison to the havoc global warming could ultimately cause.
  In the case of ethanol, the administration believes it must encourage the development of next-generation biofuels that will someday be cleaner and greener than today's.
  "That is what you give up if you don't recognize that renewable fuels have some place here," EPA administrator Gina McCarthy said. "All renewable fuels are not corn ethanol."
  But next-generation biofuels haven't been living up to expectations. And the government's predictions on ethanol have proven so inaccurate that independent scientists question whether it will ever achieve its central environmental goal: reducing greenhouse gases.
  That makes the hidden costs even more significant.
  "They're raping the land," said Bill Alley, a Democratic member of the board of supervisors in Wayne County, Iowa, which now bears little resemblance to the rolling cow pastures shown in postcards sold at a Corydon town pharmacy.
  The numbers behind the ethanol mandate have become so unworkable that, for the first time, the EPA is soon expected to reduce the amount of ethanol required to be added to the gasoline supply. An unusual coalition of big oil companies, environmental groups and food companies is pushing the government to go even further and reconsider the entire ethanol program.
  But the Obama administration stands by the mandate and rarely acknowledges that green energy requires any trade-offs.
  "There is no question air quality, water quality is benefiting from this industry," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told ethanol lobbyists recently.
  But the administration has never conducted studies to determine whether that's true.
  Fertilizer, for instance, can make drinking water toxic. Children are especially susceptible to nitrate poisoning, which causes "blue baby" syndrome and can be deadly.
  Between 2005 and 2010, corn farmers increased their use of nitrogen fertilizer by more than a billion pounds. More recent data isn't available from the Agriculture Department, but conservative projections suggest another billion-pound increase since then.
  In the Midwest, where corn is the dominant crop, some are sounding alarms.
  The Des Moines Water Works has faced high nitrate levels for many years in the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers, which supply drinking water to 500,000 people. Typically, when pollution is too high in one river, workers draw from the other.
  "This year, unfortunately the nitrate levels in both rivers were so high that it created an impossibility for us," said Bill Stowe, the utility's general manager.
  For three months this summer, huge purifiers churned around the clock to meet demand for safe, clean water.
  Obama's support for ethanol dates to his time as a senator form Illinois, the nation's second-largest corn producer.
  "If we're going to get serious about investing in our energy future, we must give our family farmers and local ethanol producers a fair shot at success," Obama said in 2007.
  From the beginning of his presidential administration, however, Obama's environmental team saw corn ethanol as a dubious policy. Corn demands fertilizer, which is made using natural gas. What's worse, ethanol factories typically burn coal or gas, both of which release carbon dioxide.
  Then there's the land conversion, the most controversial and difficult-to-predict outcome.
  Digging up grassland releases greenhouse gases, so environmentalists are skeptical of anything that encourages planting more corn.
  "I don't remember anybody having great passion for this," said Bob Sussman, who served on Obama's transition team and recently retired as the Environmental Protection Agency's senior policy counsel. "I don't have a lot of personal enthusiasm for the program."
  There was plenty enthusiasm at the White House and at the Department of Agriculture, where officials argued to the EPA that ethanol was cleaner than it thought. The EPA ultimately agreed.
  The policy hinged on assumptions that corn prices would not go too high and farms would get more efficient. That way, there wouldn't be much incentive to plow untouched areas and destroy conservation land.
  But corn prices climbed to more than $7 a bushel, about twice the administration's long-term prediction. Suddenly, setting aside land for conservation was bad economics for many farmers.
  "I'm coming to the point where financially, it's not feasible," said Leroy Perkins, a farmer in Wayne County who set aside 91 acres years ago and let it grow into high grass.
  Losing millions of conservation acres was bad. Plowing over untouched prairies was worse.
  Using satellite data '-- the best tool available '-- The Associated Press identified at least 1.2 million acres of virgin land in Nebraska and the Dakotas that have been converted to corn and soybean fields since 2006.
  "The last five years, we've become financially solvent," said Robert Malsam, a farmer in Edmunds County, S.D., who like others in the Dakotas has plowed wild grassland to expand his corn crop.
  The government could change the mandate or demand more safeguards. But that would pick a fight with agricultural lobbyists and would put the administration on the side of oil companies, which despise the ethanol requirement.
  Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol lobbying group, said there's no reason to change anything. Ethanol is still cleaner than oil, he said.
  These days, when administration officials discuss ethanol, they often frame it as an economic program for rural America, not an environmental policy.
  When Obama gave a major speech in June on reducing greenhouse gas, biofuels received only a passing reference.
  With the government's predictions so far off from reality, scientists say it's hard to argue for ethanol as global warming policy.
  "I'd have to think really hard to come up with a scenario where it's a net positive," said Silvia Secchi, a Southern Illinois University agriculture economist.
  She paused, then added: "I'm stumped."
  ___
  Associated Press writers Jack Gillum in Washington and Chet Brokaw in Roscoe, S.D., contributed to this report.
Attacking Tor: how the NSA targets users' online anonymity | World news | theguardian.com
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 23:45
  The online anonymity network Tor is a high-priority target for the National Security Agency. The work of attacking Tor is done by the NSA's application vulnerabilities branch, which is part of the systems intelligence directorate, or SID. The majority of NSA employees work in SID, which is tasked with collecting data from communications systems around the world.
  According to a top-secret NSA presentation provided by the whistleblower Edward Snowden, one successful technique the NSA has developed involves exploiting the Tor browser bundle, a collection of programs designed to make it easy for people to install and use the software. The trick identified Tor users on the internet and then executes an attack against their Firefox web browser.
  The NSA refers to these capabilities as CNE, or computer network exploitation.
  The first step of this process is finding Tor users. To accomplish this, the NSA relies on its vast capability to monitor large parts of the internet. This is done via the agency's partnership with US telecoms firms under programs codenamed Stormbrew, Fairview, Oakstar and Blarney.
  The NSA creates "fingerprints" that detect http requests from the Tor network to particular servers. These fingerprints are loaded into NSA database systems like XKeyscore, a bespoke collection and analysis tool which NSA boasts allows its analysts to see "almost everything" a target does on the internet.
  Using powerful data analysis tools with codenames such as Turbulence, Turmoil and Tumult, the NSA automatically sifts through the enormous amount of internet traffic that it sees, looking for Tor connections.
  Last month, Brazilian TV news show Fantastico showed screenshots of an NSA tool that had the ability to identify Tor users by monitoring internet traffic.
  The very feature that makes Tor a powerful anonymity service, and the fact that all Tor users look alike on the internet, makes it easy to differentiate Tor users from other web users. On the other hand, the anonymity provided by Tor makes it impossible for the NSA to know who the user is, or whether or not the user is in the US.
  After identifying an individual Tor user on the internet, the NSA uses its network of secret internet servers to redirect those users to another set of secret internet servers, with the codename FoxAcid, to infect the user's computer. FoxAcid is an NSA system designed to act as a matchmaker between potential targets and attacks developed by the NSA, giving the agency opportunity to launch prepared attacks against their systems.
  Once the computer is successfully attacked, it secretly calls back to a FoxAcid server, which then performs additional attacks on the target computer to ensure that it remains compromised long-term, and continues to provide eavesdropping information back to the NSA.
  Exploiting the Tor browser bundleTor is a well-designed and robust anonymity tool, and successfully attacking it is difficult. The NSA attacks we found individually target Tor users by exploiting vulnerabilities in their Firefox browsers, and not the Tor application directly.
  This, too, is difficult. Tor users often turn off vulnerable services like scripts and Flash when using Tor, making it difficult to target those services. Even so, the NSA uses a series of native Firefox vulnerabilities to attack users of the Tor browser bundle.
  According to the training presentation provided by Snowden, EgotisticalGiraffe exploits a type confusion vulnerability in E4X, which is an XML extension for Javascript. This vulnerability exists in Firefox 11.0 '' 16.0.2, as well as Firefox 10.0 ESR '' the Firefox version used until recently in the Tor browser bundle. According to another document, the vulnerability exploited by EgotisticalGiraffe was inadvertently fixed when Mozilla removed the E4X library with the vulnerability, and when Tor added that Firefox version into the Tor browser bundle, but NSA were confident that they would be able to find a replacement Firefox exploit that worked against version 17.0 ESR.
  The Quantum systemTo trick targets into visiting a FoxAcid server, the NSA relies on its secret partnerships with US telecoms companies. As part of the Turmoil system, the NSA places secret servers, codenamed Quantum, at key places on the internet backbone. This placement ensures that they can react faster than other websites can. By exploiting that speed difference, these servers can impersonate a visited website to the target before the legitimate website can respond, thereby tricking the target's browser to visit a Foxacid server.
  In the academic literature, these are called "man-in-the-middle" attacks, and have been known to the commercial and academic security communities. More specifically, they are examples of "man-on-the-side" attacks.
  They are hard for any organization other than the NSA to reliably execute, because they require the attacker to have a privileged position on the internet backbone, and exploit a "race condition" between the NSA server and the legitimate website. This top-secret NSA diagram, made public last month, shows a Quantum server impersonating Google in this type of attack.
  The NSA uses these fast Quantum servers to execute a packet injection attack, which surreptitiously redirects the target to the FoxAcid server. An article in the German magazine Spiegel, based on additional top secret Snowden documents, mentions an NSA developed attack technology with the name of QuantumInsert that performs redirection attacks. Another top-secret Tor presentation provided by Snowden mentions QuantumCookie to force cookies onto target browsers, and another Quantum program to "degrade/deny/disrupt Tor access".
  This same technique is used by the Chinese government to block its citizens from reading censored internet content, and has been hypothesized as a probable NSA attack technique.
  The FoxAcid systemAccording to various top-secret documents provided by Snowden, FoxAcid is the NSA codename for what the NSA calls an "exploit orchestrator," an internet-enabled system capable of attacking target computers in a variety of different ways. It is a Windows 2003 computer configured with custom software and a series of Perl scripts. These servers are run by the NSA's tailored access operations, or TAO, group. TAO is another subgroup of the systems intelligence directorate.
  The servers are on the public internet. They have normal-looking domain names, and can be visited by any browser from anywhere; ownership of those domains cannot be traced back to the NSA.
  However, if a browser tries to visit a FoxAcid server with a special URL, called a FoxAcid tag, the server attempts to infect that browser, and then the computer, in an effort to take control of it. The NSA can trick browsers into using that URL using a variety of methods, including the race-condition attack mentioned above and frame injection attacks.
  FoxAcid tags are designed to look innocuous, so that anyone who sees them would not be suspicious. An example of one such tag [LINK REMOVED] is given in another top-secret training presentation provided by Snowden.
  There is no currently registered domain name by that name; it is just an example for internal NSA training purposes.
  The training material states that merely trying to visit the homepage of a real FoxAcid server will not result in any attack, and that a specialized URL is required. This URL would be created by TAO for a specific NSA operation, and unique to that operation and target. This allows the FoxAcid server to know exactly who the target is when his computer contacts it.
  According to Snowden, FoxAcid is a general CNE system, used for many types of attacks other than the Tor attacks described here. It is designed to be modular, with flexibility that allows TAO to swap and replace exploits if they are discovered, and only run certain exploits against certain types of targets.
  The most valuable exploits are saved for the most important targets. Low-value exploits are run against technically sophisticated targets where the chance of detection is high. TAO maintains a library of exploits, each based on a different vulnerability in a system. Different exploits are authorized against different targets, depending on the value of the target, the target's technical sophistication, the value of the exploit, and other considerations.
  In the case of Tor users, FoxAcid might use EgotisticalGiraffe against their Firefox browsers.
  According to a top-secret operational management procedures manual provided by Snowden, once a target is successfully exploited it is infected with one of several payloads. Two basic payloads mentioned in the manual, are designed to collect configuration and location information from the target computer so an analyst can determine how to further infect the computer.
  These decisions are made in part by the technical sophistication of the target and the security software installed on the target computer; called Personal Security Products or PSP, in the manual.
  FoxAcid payloads are updated regularly by TAO. For example, the manual refers to version 8.2.1.1 of one of them.
  FoxAcid servers also have sophisticated capabilities to avoid detection and to ensure successful infection of its targets. The operations manual states that a FoxAcid payload with the codename DireScallop can circumvent commercial products that prevent malicious software from making changes to a system that survive a reboot process.
  The NSA also uses phishing attacks to induce users to click on FoxAcid tags.
  TAO additionally uses FoxAcid to exploit callbacks '' which is the general term for a computer infected by some automatic means '' calling back to the NSA for more instructions and possibly to upload data from the target computer.
  According to a top-secret operational management procedures manual, FoxAcid servers configured to receive callbacks are codenamed FrugalShot. After a callback, the FoxAcid server may run more exploits to ensure that the target computer remains compromised long term, as well as install "implants" designed to exfiltrate data.
  By 2008, the NSA was getting so much FoxAcid callback data that they needed to build a special system to manage it all.
QUANTUM INSERT-GHCQ Targets Engineers with Fake LinkedIn Pages - SPIEGEL ONLINE
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 23:43
  The Belgacom employees probably thought nothing was amiss when they pulled up their profiles on LinkedIn, the professional networking site. The pages looked the way they always did, and they didn't take any longer than usual to load.
  The victims didn't notice that what they were looking at wasn't the original site but a fake profile with one invisible added feature: a small piece of malware that turned their computers into tools for Britain's GCHQ intelligence service.
  The British intelligence workers had already thoroughly researched the engineers. According to a "top secret" GCHQ presentation disclosed by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, they began by identifying employees who worked in network maintenance and security for the partly government-owned Belgian telecommunications company Belgacom.
  Then they determined which of the potential targets used LinkedIn or Slashdot.org, a popular news website in the IT community.
  'Quantum Insert'
  The computers of these "candidates" were then infected with computer malware that had been placed using infiltration technology the intelligence agency refers to as "Quantum Insert," which enabled the GCHQ spies to deeply infiltrate the Belgacom internal network and that of its subsidiary BICS, which operates a so-called GRX router system. This type of router is required when users make calls or go online with their mobile phones while abroad.
  SPIEGEL's initial reporting on "Operation Socialist," a GCHQ program that targeted Belgacom, triggered an investigation by Belgian public prosecutors. In addition, two committees of the European Parliament are investigating an attack by a European Union country on the leading telecommunications provider in another EU member state.
  The operation is not an isolated case, but in fact is only one of the signature projects of an elite British Internet intelligence hacking unit working under the auspices of a group called MyNOC, or "My Network Operations Centre." MyNOCs bring together employees from various GCHQ divisions to cooperate on especially tricky operations. In essence, a MyNOC is a unit that specializes in infiltrating foreign networks. Call it Her Majesty's hacking service, if you like.
  When GCHQ Director Iain Lobban appeared before the British parliament last Thursday, he made an effort to reassure lawmakers alarmed by recent revelations. British intelligence couldn't exactly stand back and watch the United Kingdom be targeted for industrial espionage, Lobban said. But, he noted, only those whose activities pose a threat to the national or economic security of the United Kingdom could in fact be monitored by his agency.
  A Visit from Charles and Camilla
  Even members of the royal family occasionally stop by to see what British intelligence is up to. In one photo that appears in a secret document, Charles, the Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are shown listening to a presentation at a MyNOC workstation called "A Space." The tongue-in-cheek caption reads "Interlopers in A Space."
  The presentation does not indicate the extent to which the royal family is kept abreast of current espionage operations. Their last visit was reportedly about Afghanistan, not Belgium. But the visit had been to the same location where what the secret document described as the "very successful" operation against Belgacom as well as "Operation Wylekey," also run by a MyNOC unit, had been conducted.
  This also relates to an issue that the British have made a focal point of their intelligence-gathering activities: the most comprehensive access possible to worldwide mobile networks, the critical infrastructures for the digital age.
  Mobile networks are a blessing and a curse for spies worldwide. Because each major wireless communications company operates its own networks, tapping into them becomes more complex. On the other hand, the mobile multi-use devices in our pockets are a blessing, because they often reveal more personal information than stationary computers, such as the user's lifestyle habits and location. They can also be transformed into bugging devices that can be activated remotely at any time to listen in on the user's conversations.
  Mobile Phones Become Monitoring Tools
  "We can locate, collect, exploit (in real time where appropriate) high value mobile devices & services in a fully converged target centric manner," a GCHQ document from 2011 states. For years, the British spies have aspired to potentially transform every mobile phone on the planet into a monitoring tool that could be activated at any time.
  But the government hackers apparently have to employ workarounds in order to infiltrate the relatively inaccessible mobile phone networks.
  According to the presentation, in the case of Belgacom this involved the "exploitation of GRX routers," from which so-called man-in-the-middle attacks could be launched against the subjects' smartphones. "This way, an intelligence service could read the entire Internet communications of the target and even track their location or implant spying software on their device," mobile networks expert Philippe Langlois says of the development. It is an effective approach, Langlois explains, since there are several hundred wireless companies, but only about two dozen GRX providers worldwide.
  But this isn't the only portal into the world of global mobile communications that GCHQ has exploited. Another MyNOC operation, "Wylekey," targets "international mobile billing clearinghouses."
  These clearinghouses, which are relatively unknown to the general public, process international payment transactions among wireless companies, giving them access to massive amounts of connection data.
  The GCHQ presentation, which SPIEGEL was able to view, contains a list of the billing companies that are on the radar of the British. At the top of the list are Comfone, a company based in Bern, Switzerland, and Mach, which has since been split into two companies, one owned by another firm called Syniverse and another called Starhome Mach. Syniverse was also on the list of companies to monitor. Together, these companies dominate the industry worldwide. In the case of Mach, the GCHQ personnel had "identified three network engineers" to target. Once again, the Quantum Insert method was deployed.
  The spies first determine who works for a company identified as a target, using open source data like the LinkedIn professional social networking site. IT personnel and network administrators are apparently of particular interest to the GCHQ attackers, because their computers can provide extensive access privileges to protected corporate infrastructures.
  Targeting an Innocent Employee
  In the case of Mach, for example, the GCHQ spies came across a computer expert working for the company's branch in India. The top-secret document shows how extensively the British intelligence agents investigated the life of the innocent employee, who is listed as a "target" after that.
  A complex graph of his digital life depicts the man's name in red crosshairs and lists his work computers and those he uses privately ("suspected tablet PC"). His Skype username is listed, as are his Gmail account and his profile on a social networking site. The British government hackers even gained access to the cookies on the unsuspecting victim's computers, as well as identifying the IP addresses he uses to surf the web for work or personal use.
  In short, GCHQ knew everything about the man's digital life, making him an open book for its spies. SPIEGEL has contacted the man, but to protect his privacy is not publishing his name.
  But that was only the preparatory stage. After mapping the man's personal data, now it was time for the attack department to take over. On the basis of this initial information, the spies developed digital attack weapons for six Mach employees, described in the document as "six targeting packs for key individuals," customized for the victims' computers.
Fort Drum Drone Crashes In Lake Ontario | WWNY TV 7 - News, Weather and Sports for | Local News
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 22:44
  A drone from Fort Drum has crashed in eastern Lake Ontario.
  The New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs said the MQ-9 Reaper went down at approximately 1 p.m. Tuesday.
  The drone was being used during a routine training mission being conducted by the Formal Training Unit of the New York Air National Guard's 174th Attack Wing.
  Officials said no one was injured and the aircraft had no weapons on board.
  The aircraft took off from Wheeler Sack Army Airfield at Fort Drum and was operating in approved military training airspace over Lake Ontario as part of the 174th's mission of training MQ-9 pilots and sensor operators for the Air Force.
  Base first responders are working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and local officials to respond to the crash.
  Coast Guard officials were searching the Mexico Bay area of Lake Ontario.
  Air Force officials will investigate the crash.
  The 174th Attack Wing will hold a press conference at 6 p.m. Tuesday to provide further information.
  The MQ-9 Reaper is a medium-to-high altitude, long endurance remotely piloted aircraft.
  The Reaper's primary mission is to act as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance asset, employing sensors to provide real-time data to commanders and intelligence specialists at all levels.
  Copyright 2013 Copyright (C) 2001-2012 WWNY TV 7 United Communications Corp., Watertown, NY. Some rights reserved. is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
After 30 Years of Silence, the Original NSA Whistleblower Looks Back
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 22:13
  The four-story brownstone at 141 East 37th Street in Manhattan has no remarkable features: a plain building on a quiet tree-lined street in the shadow of the Empire State Building. In the summer of 1920, Herbert O. Yardley, a government codebreaker, moved in with a gang of math geniuses and began deciphering intercepted Japanese diplomatic telegrams. This was the Black Chamber, America's first civilian code-breaking agency. From this was born the American surveillance state, and eventually the sprawling National Security Agency, which you may have heard about recently.
  I was standing on the sidewalk outside the building, on a sweltering summer Friday afternoon, waiting to meet a man named Perry Fellwock, also once known as Winslow Peck. Four decades ago, Fellwock became the NSA's first whistleblower, going to the press to explain the spy agency's immense scope and mission to a public that had barely been allowed to know such an organization existed. His revelations in the radical magazine Ramparts were picked up by the front page of the New York Times. He went on to be a key player in the turbulent anti-surveillance movement of the 1970s, partnering with Norman Mailer and becoming the target of CIA propaganda. But today he's a semi-retired antiques dealer living in Long Island, as obscure as the Black Chamber once was.
  The old Black Chamber site was my suggestion. It was my third attempt to meet Fellwock. He insisted on meeting on neutral ground, and kept canceling. Now I stood on the sidewalk, memorizing the pattern of splotches on the globe lantern above the brownstone's door, trying my best not to look like a spy. An elderly man walked by, and I watched him, half-expecting he'd circle back after scoping out the area. Fellwock had already demonstrated he'd be wary enough to do this.
  He did not trust journalists. "If you go back to the Church Committee, you'll find that many, many of your colleagues worked for the intelligence agencies," he told me over the phone. He spoke deliberately, in a warm, authoritative-sounding Midwestern baritone, like a documentary narrator. "I believe that you're honest, but who knows about the people in your office? Who knows about your boss, what kind of deals he's doing?"
  I first heard Perry Fellwock's name a few weeks after Edward Snowden, the 26-year-old former intelligence contractor, strode into history lugging laptops full of NSA secrets. After the Guardian began publishing stories based on Snowden's documents, the anti-secrecy website Cryptome re-posted the original 1972 Ramparts article, "Electronic Espionage: A Memoir," in which Fellwock had exposed the NSA.
  Fellwock, under his Winslow Peck pseudonym, was introduced as
  a senior NSA analyst in the Istanbul listening post for over two years. He was a participant in the deadly international fencing match that goes on daily with the Soviet Union, plotting their air and ground forces and penetrating their defenses.
  At the time, only the broadest outlines of the NSA's activities had ever been reported in the press. Its headquarters were unmarked; its description in official government documents restricted to an absurdly vague, "Performs highly specialized technical and coordinating functions relating to the national security." The post-Snowden spectacle of the NSA chief testifying before Congress, and then being caught in falsehoods by further leaks, was unimaginable. No director would have spoken publicly about the agency's mission at all, let alone anything it might or might not have done.
  "They never thought anybody would ever be able to write about them," said the journalist James Bamford, who has written three books on the NSA, including the first definitive account of the Agency, 1982's Puzzle Palace. "At the time it was an agency that sort of existed apart from the rest of the government, almost."
  And there, in 1972, was a rogue analyst, some kid in his 20s, describing the NSA's business down to the colors of the badges worn at its headquarters. Winslow Peck claimed that the NSA had broken all of the Soviets' codes, that the government's official account of the Vietnam War was a lie, and that the agency was guilty of salacious corruption:
  Quite a few people in NSA are into illegal activities of one kind or another. It's taken to be one of the fringe benefits of the job. You know, enhancing your pocketbook. Smuggling. People inside NSA got involved with the slave trade.
  Here was the same self-assurance, bordering on arrogance, that was coming from Snowden'--the urgency of an oath broken in the name of some more essential principle. What had happened to Fellwock to make him turn to Ramparts, and what happened after? Amid the flashbulb urgency of the Snowden disclosures, one revelation after the next, Fellwock seemed to offer a chance to roll the clock forward 40 years, to see what Snowden's story might look like in retrospect.
  I emailed the cypherpunk architect John Young, the enigmatic founder of Cryptome, to see if he might know how to reach Fellwock. The site functions as an online water cooler for a sometimes unsettlingly knowledgeable community of intelligence buffs, who trade emails full of dark but unverifiable rumors.
  Young offered a few suggested leads and one characteristically cracked insight: "Fellwock is said to be reclusive, but as a fellow recluse, we harbor lust for vengeance, justification, triumph, will spill guts for final shot. So social engineer the fuck out of the Original Famous NSA Hero." In the end, it didn't take any social engineering. He lives in Oceanside, Long Island. The rogue agent's phone number turned up through Google.
  Reaching Fellwock, though, was not the same as getting through to him. The first time I called him, the conversation only lasted four minutes. He offered a cryptic offhand comment about the Ramparts story: "Well, it wasn't really an interview with me." Mostly, he made it clear he was not eager for a return to the spotlight. "Right now, I don't have anything to add," he said.
  A few days later, I tried again. This time he began unspooling like magnetic tape: holding forth on the NSA, recommending scores of articles and books. I'd need the material to comprehend the arcane back stories and dark conspiracies he was outlining, involving U.S. and British intelligence agencies. It all sounded outlandish, but given the source, maybe true? Overwhelmed, I suggested meeting in person, at a Manhattan coffee shop, and Fellwock reluctantly agreed.
  The day before our scheduled rendezvous, however, I got a cryptic email from a throwaway Gmail account that Fellwock had set up to communicate with me: "On advise [sic] of counsel, I can not meet with you. Please do not attempt to contact me. I have no interest in the matters you mentioned."
  A week later, I called anyway. ''What happened?'' I said.
  ''My attorneys have advised me not to speak more about this,'' Fellwock said. ''I spoke to them and we went over some things. The only thing I can say is that you really should look at what's happening to the other whistleblowers.''
  I told him I was aware the Obama Administration has zealously cracked down on whistleblowers and leakers. ''But you haven't done anything for years,'' I said. ''What could they do to you now?''
  ''They can't do anything to me for what I did back then, but I don't want them to do anything to me for what I've done now. I've already spoken too much.'' He paused, lowering his voice dramatically: ''This is not a good time. This is not a good time for our country.''
  But even as we haggled, Fellwock kept slipping into long digressions on the NSA and his own whistleblowing past. Finally, I pointed out how much he was already telling me. "Why don't you just meet me?" I said.
  ''OK,'' he said. ''I could meet with you somewhere, preferably outside. I want to be able to see the people that are around.''
  We set a new date: Noon on a Friday, at a bench outside the train station in Oceanside. Just as I was about to hang up he stopped me.
  ''Wait, I don't think meeting at the train station is a good idea because that seems a little spookish," he said. "I'm not a spook, so I don't want to do anything spookish. Maybe you could meet me while I'm grocery shopping. What's a normal thing we can do?''
  I tried to think of things a 67-year-old antiques dealer and a 28-year-old journalist might normally do together. Grocery shopping was not high on the list. Fellwock came up with another plan: We would go to a Chinese restaurant near the train station and grab lunch.
  ''I hope I don't regret this,'' he said. He wouldn't get a chance to. Once again, he called off the meeting abruptly. Apologetically, he told me he would be in Manhattan later on other business. Could we meet there?
  So I stood outside the brownstone. The time for our appointment came and passed. Five minutes. Ten minutes. And then there was a white-haired man in a blue striped shirt and black pants, hair combed back in a pouf, walking right up to the building. Sweat beaded on his forehead from walking in the heat. He shook my hand and gazed up at the house.
  "So this is where Yardley started the whole thing," he said.
  In 1972, a 25-year-old Perry Fellwock sat in a Berkeley IHOP with the co-editors of Ramparts, Peter Collier and David Horowitz. He had no hesitations about talking then. He had mailed the leftist magazine an article he'd written under the name Winslow Peck, explaining that he was an Air Force veteran who had been attached to the NSA and now wanted to expose the agency.
  The people at Ramparts at first didn't know what to make of the typewritten story they'd got in the mail. "It was full of unfamiliar terms like 'SIGINT' and 'ELINT,' which didn't mean a hell of a lot to us," said Peter Collier. But one staffer who happened to be ex-military intelligence read it and panicked. It was bristling with codes that only an authentic insider would have known. ''If we printed them, he said, we would go to jail,'' Horowitz later recalled in his memoir Radical Son.
  So Collier and Horowitz had invited Fellwock to Berkeley. Collier recalls him as a "geeky sort of guy" with an unusually intense passion, even for the radical company Ramparts kept'--Black Panthers, Latin American revolutionaries. ''He was a very odd, odd person,'' Collier said. ''Just physically and stylistically odd.''
  By then, Fellwock had given over his life to the anti-war movement, moving to San Diego to help plan demonstrations against the Republican National Convention scheduled to be held there. Up in Berkeley, he told the Ramparts editors about what he'd done before.
  He would provide them with the first comprehensive and unvarnished report from inside a vast worldwide spying machine. Till then, the NSA had played a key role in nearly every major geopolitical and military event of the Cold War, with almost no public scrutiny. The only other comparable revelations had occurred more than a decade earlier when two NSA defectors to Russia sketched the Agency's activities during a 30-minute press conference in Moscow in 1960.
  The dearth of unsanitized information about the NSA explains why, though the Ramparts story was based only on the word of one unknown analyst, the New York Times would report it on its front page. The Times coverage focused mainly on Fellwock's claim that the U.S. could "break every Soviet code with remarkable success":
  The United States is reported to have refined its electronics intelligence techniques to the point where it can break Soviet codes, listen to and understand soviet communications and coding systems and keep track of virtually every sub jet plane or missile-carrying submarine around the world.
  Ramparts' and Fellwock's goal in revealing the U.S.'s capability was to expose the justification for the military excesses of the Cold War as a farce, since the U.S. was so clearly dominant. The claim was almost certainly exaggerated. "We never cracked that many codes from Russia," Bamford said. But many of Fellwock's particulars were accurate, revealing, as the Times wrote at the time, "hitherto suspected but obscure details of electronic eavesdropping around the globe." More significant than any individual fact was the dramatic puncturing of the nearly absolute secrecy surrounding the NSA.
  ''I thought it was a big deal at the time because nobody had ever done that and it took a lot of courage to do stuff like that back then,'' said Bamford.
  Fellwock knew breaking his oath of secrecy would put him on a collision course with the government. That spring, Rennie Davis'--his friend and an anti-war activist'--had declared, "If the government won't stop the war, the people will stop the government.''
  "I was willing to do anything possible to stop the war. I was crazy."Fellwock took the message to heart. He had followed the fallout from the leak of the Pentagon Papers a year earlier with interest and hoped his disclosures might spark similar public outrage. If he was prosecuted for the article, all the better: It would just bring more attention to the government's misdeeds
  ''What I wanted to do was stop the war, and I was willing to do anything possible to stop the war,'' Fellwock told me. ''I was crazy.''
  In person, Fellwock was nothing like the haunted paranoiac I'd argued with on the phone. He had a wide, friendly face. He immediately apologized for his previous skittishness. ''After my family and my attorneys heard what I told you about, they freaked,'' he said with a laugh.
  We went to a nearby diner. Fellwock ordered chicken fried steak, folded his hands across his chest, and began to tell me how he'd gone from a normal childhood in Joplin, Missouri to the front page of the New York Times. There was no one decisive moment, he said, only a long process of disillusionment, mirroring many other young Americans' disillusionments in the '60s.
  When the Vietnam War began in earnest, Fellwock was in college studying archaeology. ''I had no career goals," he said. "My main interest was in antiquities,'' he said. Convinced that military service was inevitable, he signed up for the Air Force in 1966, figuring it was his best chance of avoiding combat.
  During his training, Fellwock was approached by three men who, he later learned, worked for the National Security Agency. He took a battery of tests and was selected to join the NSA as an analyst. ''Their main concern was our sex life,'' he told Ramparts in 1972. ''They wanted to know if we were homosexual.''
  After his training, Fellwock plunged into the front lines of the Cold War. He volunteered for an assignment at the NSA's listening post in Turkey, in a small coastal village called Karamursel, just southeast of Istanbul. It would be a chance to see the world, he thought, and particularly the relics of the Ottoman Empire.
  He was tasked with analyzing Soviet air force activities. Though the American public at home was terrified by the Soviet threat, Fellwock said his access to raw intelligence made him feel safer'--even if he had once anxiously tracked a flight of nuclear-armed Russian bombers heading straight toward Istanbul, pulling a U-turn just short of the line that would have set off a nuclear war.
  ''I thought we were keeping World War III from happening, I really thought that was what our job was,'' Fellwock said. ''Because we knew everything that was going on, and as long as we knew everything that was going on, there was a possibility of preventing everything.''
  Fellwock's faith in his mission was shaken within a year. In 1967, the Six-Day War between Israel and a number of neighboring Arab countries erupted. Israeli forces attacked an NSA spy ship, the U.S.S. Liberty, while it was on an eavesdropping mission off the coast of Egypt. Thirty-five crew members were killed, and 171 wounded.
  Israel claimed that in the fog of war it had misidentified the ship as Egyptian. But James Bamford, in his book Body of Secrets, has made a strong case that the IDF knowingly attacked the spy ship in order to cover up their massacring of hundreds of Egyptian POWs in a nearby town. Whatever the case, the incident sparked outrage within the NSA, especially after Lyndon Johnson's administration covered it up so as not to embarrass the U.S.'s strongest ally in the Middle East.
  For Fellwock, the intrigue surrounding the Liberty incident opened up new, dark possibilities. ''It made begin to wonder what the heck is going on in the world,'' he said. ''This is not the way things are supposed to be.''
  Having glimpsed the chaos of a war the U.S. wasn't even a party to, Fellwock began to wonder about the ongoing American war in Vietnam. In 1968, his curiosity overcame his aversion to combat and he volunteered for Vietnam. ''I had to find out why things were going this way,'' he said.
  If there had ever been a good time to go to Vietnam, early 1968 was not it. A few weeks after Fellwock's arrival, the Viet Cong launched the Tet Offensive and crushed any hope of a quick American victory. While Fellwock's NSA colleagues in Turkey had been intelligent and friendly, he now found himself surrounded by battle-hardened men just trying to stay alive amid constant bombardment and firefights. He was scared of Viet Cong rocket attacks but even more terrified by U.S. Marines, many of whom despised the Air Force and wouldn't hesitate to beat the shit out of an airman like him when they were drunk.
  ''Everyone was suspicious of everyone,'' Fellwock said. ''Everyone hated everyone.''
  His main assignment was to fly out of Pleiku Airbase in central Vietnam aboard an Air Force C-47 prop plane bristling with antennae. These were Airborne Radio Direction Finding missions, a cutting-edge military technology that used computers to locate Viet Cong radio transmitters in real-time. As an analyst, Fellwock sat at a console onboard, using the intercepted signals to fix Vietcong troop coordinates.
  One of Fellwock's main targets in Vietnam was a particularly threatening North Vietnamese Army brigade. Using the NSA radio data, he helped prepare a map of the brigade's travel patterns. That map guided an enormous B-52 bombing raid: One sortie per hour for 36 hours, lacing the area with 30 tons of explosives each time, according to Fellwock.
  A few weeks later, he flew to the area and inspected first-hand the devastation he'd helped inflict. ''I'd never seen so many bodies,'' he said. ''The really gruesome thing about them was that they weren't killed by shrapnel. They were killed from concussions. They bled from every pore, so the bodies were black from the dried blood, and of course they smelled awful. It was a horrible sight and I knew I'd participated in it. And the feelings of guilt started at that point.''
  The guilt and stress made Fellwock realize he had to get out of Vietnam. He managed to wrangle an early end to his Vietnam tour and in mid-1969, 13 months after he'd arrived, he returned to the States, transferred to the Air Force reserves, and went back to college, hoping to put the war behind him.
  He made it one semester. Then, on May 4th, 1970, National Guardsmen opened fire on unarmed student antiwar protestors at Kent State, killing four and wounding nine. Kent State made it impossible for Fellwock to fade back into a normal life.
  ''That was one of the final straws because it was very clear that U.S. troops should not be killing students," he said. He had left one theater of war and found another. Once again, he would throw himself into the front lines.
  Beatles songs played on the jukebox in the diner, and John Kerry, a onetime leader of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, was on the television, threatening Syria with missiles. ''He was always trying to weaken the movement," Fellwock said, recalling Kerry's antiwar days, "and have everything focused on him. He was a real son of a bitch in my opinion, and I think you can talk to any Vietnam vet who would say that. ''
  Today Fellwock doesn't follow politics or the news. The last time he voted for president was in 1972, for George McGovern.
  ''Basically I just live a quiet ordinary life now," he said. "I'm retired, and my hobby and my business to supplement my income is to buy and sell antiques. That's all I do.''
  When I first called him, he had been only vaguely aware of Snowden's disclosures. But as he read more, he said, he'd learned how little had changed since 1976.
  ''I think Snowden is a patriot,'' he said. ''I admire Snowden and some of these other whistleblowers because they've come out in a time when there's not a lot of political support.''
  However, as someone who stayed in the United States after his own whistleblowing, he believes Snowden made a miscalculation by fleeing the country. ''I think he should have stayed here and faced the consequences," he said. "I understand his fear, but I really think it was a mistake on his part.''
  Now that Fellwock was coming forward again, even hesitantly, he wanted to do it right. He squinted at a small piece of paper on which he'd written the key points about the NSA he had wanted to get across with his Ramparts article.
  "Most people in those days thought that the NSA and CIA worked for the U.S. government. But they don't. They're an entity unto itself."''Most people in those days thought that the NSA and CIA worked for the U.S. government,'' he said. ''But they don't. They're an entity unto itself, a global entity that is comprised of the Five Eyes." The Five Eyes is the informal name for the intelligence-sharing agreement between the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. "This community operates outside of the Constitution," Fellwock said, "and from everything I've seen, it still does.''
  Fellwock was taking care to spell out these points now because he doesn't believe they came across in his original Ramparts article. He is ambivalent about the published product of his whistleblowing: He says he never meant for his NSA expose to be a first-person "memoir.'' He had intended to publish a straightforward critique of the NSA under his own byline, laying out his points like an op-ed.
  Fellwock said he had believed Collier and Horowitz were gathering facts for such an article when they put him up at a San Francisco hotel in the weeks after their IHOP meeting and grilled him for hours in taped interviews. Instead, those interviews appeared in Ramparts verbatim. This is what he meant when he said it wasn't ''really an interview."
  "They published this rambling interview that said some things that were true and some other things that weren't true,'' he said. ''They just turned it into a sensational piece of gossip as far as I was concerned.''
  Casual asides he thought were just between him and the Ramparts editors were laid indelibly in print. The most riveting passage of the Winslow Peck Ramparts interview was the story of how a Russian cosmonaut's final, doomed mission was picked up by the NSA's Turkey listening post. The spacecraft malfunctioned, and Peck explained that analysts had eavesdropped as the cosmonaut plummeted to Earth and was incinerated. They recorded his pitiful cries to his handlers: ''I don't want to die, you've got to do something.''
  This anecdote has become established in space exploration lore. Most recently it was repeated by authors of the book Starman, a biography of Yuri Gagerin. They identified the unlucky cosmonaut as Vladimir Komarov, writing that "the radio outposts in Turkey picked up his cries of rage as he plunged to his death, cursing the people who had put him inside a botched spaceship." This was a myth. Komarov did burn up upon reentry and the NSA did intercept his communications, but later analyses have debunked the most dramatic details of Fellwock's account, including the "cries of rage."
  That the anecdote was inaccurate isn't surprising considering its provenance: Fellwock told me the story he told Ramparts of the dying cosmonaut was a bit of workplace gossip that circulated during his time as a young analyst in Turkey. ''It was abuzz all over the station that this had happened, and it was basically me picking up the buzz."
  In 1972, when Fellwock saw the proofs of his Ramparts article, with a transcript of his words staring back at him, he was shocked but he buried his concerns. Today, he's not so sanguine. His opinion has been colored by the fact that not long after the Ramparts article, both Peter Collier and David Horowitz turned away from the left to become prominent conservatives. Collier founded the conservative publisher Encounter Books; Horowitz wrote a memoir, Radical Son, renouncing his '60s allegiances, and now travels the country as an apocalyptic right-wing pundit, warning people that colleges are being taken over by ''Islamofascists.''
  Fellwock told me he believes Collier and Horowitz were never truly part of the left, and that they misused his words purposefully to cause maximum chaos in a demented quest to hurt America.
  ''There was an element within our movement that was fundamentally anti-American and wanted to create chaos in America and really disrupt and destroy American society,'' he said.
  When I spoke to Collier, he disputed Fellwock's claim that he and Horowitz had misled him about the interview. He said that Fellwock had spoken into a tape recorder for hours, knowing he was being interviewed for an article: ''I can't imagine why he would think'' his words would not be in the article, Collier said.
  At the least, there must have been a misunderstanding between source and journalists. Fellwock approached Ramparts' editors as colleagues who would help him refine his own story; they saw him as a source, from which to extract a juicy scoop.
  Today, Collier echoes Fellwock's disdain for the article, with his own motivations. His doubts about the article, he said, beginning before it was even published, helped spur his first steps away from the left. About a month before the NSA story came out, Collier said, his father, a conservative who had argued heatedly with him about his radical politics, died of cancer.
  ''Towards the end, he was dying of cancer and here I was preparing to do this thing,'' Collier said. ''And he loved his country. After I did it, when I was still grieving for him, the thought came into my mind: I said, Oh, God, I betrayed my father's country. This was really my first move out of the left, to understand what my intentions were: To hurt this country, to make it vulnerable, to make it less strong.''
  Soon after the Snowden story broke this past summer, Wikileaks tweeted out a link to a copy of the 1972 Ramparts interview. ''The first big NSA whistleblower, Perry Fellwock, was so far ahead of his time, no-one believed him,'' they wrote. Forty years later, neither Fellwock nor Collier wholly believe in the landmark interview themselves.
  On July 18, 1972, two days after the front page New York Times story, Fellwock appeared at a press conference in Ramparts' cramped Berkeley office. Despite his reservations, Fellwock decided to make the most out of the attention the article had brought. He could set the facts straight later.
  The office was packed with reporters. Sporting big wire-framed glasses, his long hair swept out of his face, Fellwock read a prepared statement while flanked by Collier and Horowitz. A poster of Che Guevara hung on the wall.
  ''We must take steps to insure there are no more Vietnams,'' Fellwock told the assembled crowd. ''I believe I have taken such a step. I have done it for neither money nor glory, but to bring to the American people knowledge which they have a 'need to know.'''
  There would be no official prosecution for his breach of secrecy. Before publishing, Ramparts had consulted with the lawyer for Daniel Ellsberg, the leaker of the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg's lawyer told them that the government wouldn't risk exposing more secrets by publicly going after them for the article. He was right.
  But Ramparts staff noticed that there was one unknown reporter at the press conference who seemed a bit too eager to learn if Fellwock was in possession of any classified documents. This was the first of many encounters Fellwock would have with people he suspected to be CIA operatives.
  Fellwock didn't stop to take a breath after the media frenzy. The GOP convention had been relocated from San Diego to Miami, after a site-selection scandal, and he followed it there. Between tear gas-drenched protests with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War that August, Fellwock discussed the future of the movement with Rennie Davis.
  Davis had been impressed with the Ramparts article and suggested that Fellwock dedicate himself to exposing spying-related abuses. The Pentagon Papers had shown the dangers of excessive secrecy, as had the 1971 revelation of FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO program targeting United States activists and radicals. It was clear, especially to liberals, that covert operations had spiraled horribly out of control, both home and abroad.
  So, in the fall of 1972, Fellwock and Tim Butz, a former Air Force intelligence officer and fellow antiwar activist, founded a new group, under the rather clunky name of the Committee for Action/Research on the Intelligence Community, or CARIC. Their goal was strikingly similar to what Wikileaks would propose decades later: to watch the watchers by acting as a clearinghouse for information about surveillance and covert operations.
  Butz and Fellwock reached out to whistleblowers and Vietnam vets, focusing on other intelligence officers who had grown disillusioned and wanted to use the skills they learned in the service against their former employers. CARIC's main endeavor was a quarterly magazine, Counter-Spy, which was the vehicle for its research and polemics.
  CARIC also anticipated Wikileaks' intensive approach to uncovering information, treating journalism as a matter of data analysis. Where Julian Assange has advanced the idea of ''scientific journalism,'' based on dumping primary sources and documents to back up claims, CARIC developed what it referred to as the ''New Intelligence,'' which aimed to be a beneficent mirror held up to the dark arts of the CIA and the FBI.
  ''The New Intelligence,'' explained an issue of Counter-Spy, ''is the product resulting from the scientific collection, evaluation, analysis, integration and interpretation of all information concerning experiments in technofascism and eventually the conditions which produce it.''
  In practice, this meant exhaustively documenting and exposing covert action wherever it occurred. One of CARIC's earliest coups was tipping off the Washington Post that Nixon's Committee for the Reelection of the President had hired George Washington University students to spy on anti-war protests. Another early focus was the CIA's Operation Phoenix, a secret assassination program in Vietnam.
  ''Only a full and undisguised look into this hidden world can displace unwarranted fears, and guide the public effort to end this illegal and unjustified espionage,'' read an early CARIC handout. ''The secrecy with which the government surrounds itself must end.''
  As Fellwock and Butz organized their efforts in Washington, D.C., a similar idea was taking shape in New York, thanks to Norman Mailer. In February of 1973, the brawling novelist-journalist-activist held a lavish party at the Four Seasons, partly to celebrate his 50th birthday and partly to announce and raise funds for a new venture, something he called the Fifth Estate.
  Mailer got blind drunk but managed to spit out his idea of the Fifth Estate as a ''people's CIA and a people's FBI to investigate the CIA and the FBI.''
  ''If we have a democratic secret police to keep tabs on Washington's secret police, we will see how far paranoia is justified,'' he said.
  The press slammed Mailer's slurred, self-aggrandizing performance, but the weeks that followed brought new Watergate revelations, showing the extent to which Richard Nixon, with his ''enemies list,'' had used the machinery of the state to screw with his political opponents.
  In July, Village Voice writer Nat Hentoff made the connection between CARIC and the Fifth Estate in a column. By then, Fellwock and Butz had been joined by a third partner, Barton Osborne, another disillusioned ex-military intelligence officer. Hentoff urged Mailer to help them out: ''Norman, these three ex-intelligence agents are legitimate. I mean really legitimate.''
  Mailer invited Butz and Fellwock up his sprawling Brooklyn Heights home. By that time, Fellwock was used to hanging around high-profile activists and political figures but he was left deeply impressed with Mailer's intelligence and vision. ''Norman could see on levels that I think most normal people can't see,'' Fellwock said.
  Fellwock's own view of the world at the time was simplistic: Capitalism was the ultimate evil, and the sole explanation for why the U.S. kept doing evil things. But Mailer divined from the nation's misdeeds a psychological torment.
  "What [Norman] Mailer told me is that the CIA is basically a white Christian Protestant organization. And white Christian Protestants have to find a devil in order to justify what they do."''What Mailer told me is that the CIA is basically a white Christian Protestant organization," Fellwock said. "And white Christian Protestants have to find a devil in order to justify what they do. Their Christian values say they should help the poor, like the Communists were. But they were not helping the poor. They were helping the very rich. And this created a conflict inside of the white Christian Protestant mind that could only be resolved by them seeking out a devil and making that devil into an exaggerated thing. Thus, they exaggerated the threat of communism just like they're exaggerating the threat of Islam today.''
  The meeting led, in 1974, to CARIC's joining with Mailer's Organizing Committee for a Fifth Estate. OC-5, as it was abbreviated, was the fundraising arm, while Butz and Fellwock focused on running Counter-Spy. Mailer didn't just bring a better name to Fellwock and Butz's efforts. His celebrity was invaluable for fundraising and publicity.
  A Senate hearing on the Organizing Committee for a Fifth Estate offered an amusing portrait of the Mailer-CARIC alliance in describing a fundraiser held in D.C. :
  Norman Mailer made a rambling 30-minute speech; the OC-5 staffers, Timothy Charles Butz, Perry Fellwock, also known as Winslow Peck, K. Barton Osborn and Douglas Porter spoke of their counterintelligence activities and the somewhat besotted liberals in attendance poured two bottles of Portuguese wine into a planter in support of African liberation.
  But Counter-Spy was mostly deadly serious. Its tiny offices just off Dupont Circle hummed with staffers and journalists who came by to sift through file cabinets filled with documents about covert operations. Sometimes Counter-Spy staff would plant a story in a visitor's ear. The Fifth Estate staff launched campus tours and local branches and sent representatives to radio shows to debate former members of the intelligence community; one goal was to seed libraries of intelligence files at universities throughout the country, to make them more resilient to government pressure, a peer-to-peer file-sharing network before the internet.
  Fellwock, whom everyone knew as Winslow Peck, was usually too busy researching the CIA's infiltration of the South American labor movement or some other arcane conspiracy to be very social. He had a gift for divining hidden meaning from mountains of data.
  ''There was a mad scientist quality to him,'' said Harvey Kahn, a Counter-Spy staffer from 1974 to 1976 who is today a movie producer in Vancouver, Canada. Kahn remembers that staffers would seek out Fellwock's counsel, oracle-like, about their own research. ''You felt if Winslow thinks that's what's going on, that's what's going on. He had such an ability to absorb material and recall.''
  Fellwock's absorption could cross the line into unhealthy obsession. He worked so feverishly that he wore his body down, Kahn said: ''He seemed to be working all the time, he always seemed to be getting a cold. He didn't really eat right. You just thought, this is not a person who is going to live a long and happy life.''
  ''None of us who were in the movement back then enjoyed what was going on,'' Fellwock said. ''This wasn't a good time for anybody. We were not thrill-seekers. There was no joy. There was, will we survive to the next day? Can we do something to stop these bastards?''
  But remembering the days from a distance at the diner, Fellwock paused and smiled. "This is fun," he said. Still, the darkness hadn't lifted completely. Whenever I brought the conversation to his personal life, I was met with uncomfortable silence. Was he married? ''I don't want to get into that,'' Did he have kids? ''I'd rather not talk about that.'' He insisted I not mention the name of the antiques business he's a partner in, so that his colleagues wouldn't be ''dragged into this.''
  ''It's just my life is in a different world now and I don't want my life now disrupted,'' Fellwock said. ''I only have a few years left. I want to enjoy those years. I want my family to be safe and enjoy life''
  It turns out that constant brooding over the machinations of the surveillance state is not conducive to a sound state of mind. Counter-Spy staff worked in a haze of mistrust. ''You'd be sitting with people and you knew that somebody was wondering about somebody else at that table,'' said Harvey Kahn, ''were they being controlled by somebody else? Or unconsciously being manipulated?''
  It was not a fantasy: The COINTELPRO papers had revealed security agencies kept close tabs on radical publications. In the late '60s, the CIA dedicated a 12-man team to undermining Ramparts, according to Angus Mackenzie's book Secrets: The CIA's War at Home.
  ''It was intense,'' said Fellwock. ''Clearly it really upset the security agencies, what we were doing. They were all over us. I just generally accepted that the next person in the next booth would be some security person following me."
  ''It seems like that is still kind of implanted in your thinking,'' I said.
  ''Yeah, that's why I got paranoid when you called me, you really evoked a lot of old memories and feelings that I haven't had in 30 years.'' He sighed. ''But if I could live with it back then, I guess I could live with it now.''
  In late 1975, Counter-Spy pushed the government farther than it ever had before, and the government pushed back. Frustrated by the lack of reform in the surveillance state, even after Nixon's resignation in 1974, Counter-Spy decided in its Winter 1975 issue to take another step: the magazine would name names, blowing agents' cover, with the explicit purpose of damaging the spy agency's ability to work abroad.
  The idea, Fellwock said, was inspired by Philip Agee, a former CIA agent who had earlier than year published his memoir, Inside the Company, a scathing critique of the agency. In the book, Agee had outed the identities of 250 CIA officers.
  ''Agee had the idea of escalating by us naming names of CIA people all around the world,'' Fellwock said, ''which is really easy to do, it turned out.''
  A November 1974 Washington Monthly article by John Marks called ''How to Spot a Spook'' showed how it was done. All you needed to do was scour lists of foreign embassy staff, then crosscheck those names with the State Department's Biographic Register for telltale signs of spook-dom, such as odd gaps in career histories or inexplicable job titles.
  Counter-Spy staff used the technique to create a list of 225 CIA station chiefs around world under diplomatic cover. The list was published accompanied by an Agee editorial declaring, ''The most effective and important systematic efforts to combat CIA that can be undertaken right now are, I think, the identification, exposure, and neutralization of its people working abroad.''
  On December 23, 1975, a few days after the issue was published, the phone rang in the Counter-Spy office. Harvey Kahn, working alone during D.C.'s Christmastime lull, answered. It was a New York Times reporter. Had Counter-Spy's list of station chiefs, the Times reporter asked, included the name Richard Welch?
  Welch was on the list, Kahn found'--listed as the CIA station chief in Lima, Peru. It turned out to be the wrong station, but that inaccuracy wouldn't change how events were about to unfold. Welch's real post was Athens, and, the Times reporter said, he had just been murdered there.
  A Greek Marxist organization called Revolutionary Organization 17 November claimed credit for the assassination, but the covert community charged Counter-Spy with being an accessory. Former and current intelligence officers rushed to pin the blame for the killing on the tiny magazine. President Gerald Ford himself said through a spokesperson that Counter-Spy ''had been at least partially responsible for his death.''
  ''It was the most incredible thing,'' said Harvey Kahn. "Imagine your little office full of reporters literally from everywhere, cameras, big celebrity reporters.''
  Under the pressure, Counter-Spy reaffirmed its mission. The Fifth Estate issued a statement declaring that ''if anyone is to blame for Mr. Welch's death, it is the CIA that sent him to Greece to spy and intervene in the affairs of the Greek people.''
  But a remarkable CIA smear campaign was already underway. After the Welch story broke, a CIA press director had started calling reporters and insisting Counter-Spy was to blame.
  There was no evidence that Welch's killers had learned Welch's identity from the magazine or even read it. They wouldn't have needed to. The CIA neglected to mention that an Athens newspaper had already blown Welch's cover weeks before Counter-Spy published his name. Moreover Welch, upon transferring to Athens, had moved into the previous chief's house, despite warnings from his superiors that the location was widely known to house the CIA station chief.
  But the CIA was under intense pressure amid a stream of embarrassing revelations from the Church Committee, convened in 1975 to investigate CIA lawbreaking. Counter-Spy and OC-5 occupied the radical edge of ''a broader anxiety about how intelligence fit into the United States government,'' said Steven Aftergood, an expert on government secrecy with the Federation of American Scientists.
  The CIA saw the Welch murder as a way to swing the pendulum of popular opinion back to its side. Morton Halperin, then a researcher with the Center for National Security Studies, wrote three years after the assassination:
  The Welch Assassination case is the only one that I am aware of where there is evidence of manipulation of the American press for the purpose of influencing events in the United States. CIA successfully exploited the murder of one of its station chiefs to set back efforts to bring the CIA under constitutional control.
  The pressure alienated Counter-Spy from some of their closest allies on the left, including Mailer, who was horrified by his name being linked to the killing, according to his biographer Mary Dearborn.
  "We had the president of the United States lying about us."''We had the president of the United States lying about us,'' Fellwock said. Counter-Spy received death threats from right-wing Cuban immigrants and former intelligence officers. Tim Butz started carrying a gun.
  ''The days after the Welch thing blew up in the press were intense,'' Doug Porter, a longtime Counter-Spy staffer, wrote in an email. ''We operated under the assumption that every phone conversation was being bugged and there were several instances where we saw unmarked cars observing our activities'--even stuff like shopping for groceries was cause for paranoia.''
  Even before the Welch affair, Counter-Spy's funding had been drying up as the left broke up into squabbling factions in the post-Nixon years. The Welch murder ''gave the liberals all the excuses they needed to peel away from the movement,'' Fellwock said. ''That was the final nail in the coffin for us.''
  A few months after Welch was buried in Arlington Cemetery in a state funeral, Counter-Spy dissolved.
  The Washington Post marked the demise of Counter-Spy with a brief article on July 8, 1976, which began ''Political and personal bickering has split the staff of Counter-Spy, a magazine the Central Intelligence Agency partially blamed for the murder of an Athens agency official last December.'' The Post hinted at drama behind the scenes, writing that the split came amidst accusations that members were ''police agents, anticommunists, sexists and liberals.''
  One of the Counter-Spy associates accused of being a police plant was Doug Porter. In the early '70s, Porter was the editor of a San Diego underground paper when he met Butz and Fellwock on a trip to the East Coast to work on a story about a Southern California right-wing paramilitary group. He joined Counter-Spy in 1973 and moved in with Fellwock and other Fifth Estate staffers in a house in Maryland.
  Today, Porter runs the San Diego Free Press, a local progressive news website. He lost his vocal cords to cancer, so he couldn't talk on the phone. But the bitterness over how things ended at Counter-Spy bled out of his words in an email.
  ''I've moved on, had a whole lot of interesting experiences and yet the one thing I cannot bring myself to do is to forgive Peck/Fellwock,'' he wrote.
  Things fell apart during an intense meeting in the aftermath of the Welch affair, Porter wrote. The group had gathered for a clandestine meeting at a nearby office building for what Porter thought would be a discussion of policy. But it abruptly turned into an inquisition of Porter, with Fellwock leading the charge.
  ''It was like a scene out of a bad novel,'' Porter wrote. ''I was accused of being either a Trotskyist or a police agent; some kind of spy sent in to disrupt and ruin his life's work. Nothing I said could dissuade him.''
  ''I left that room in tears, and I'm not a weepy kinda guy. It didn't take long for word to get out about the accusations; most of the people I knew in DC stopped speaking to me. The woman I was seeing said 'no mas'. I've spent thousands upon thousands for therapy since that time. Getting shunned is no small thing. And I'm in a pretty good place these days. But I'll never get over Winslow. Fucker.''
  Fellwock looked concerned when I told him about Porter's anger. ''I'm sorry to hear that,'' he said. Fellwock said that Porter had been kicked out over concerns from a group of Counter-Spy associates in Chicago, who'd become convinced that he was some sort of agent provocateur because of controversial statements he made in the press. The pressure from the Welch assassination was also a factor, he said.
  ''I don't even remember, but I think it had something to do with resorting to violence,'' Fellwock said. ''Perhaps this was just a stupid statement, but there were a lot of conflicts going on. Eventually I sided with the Chicago group. But I don't know, OK?'' (Porter denies he'd ever advocated violence.)
  Fellwock's gaze dropped to his plate. When he looked up his expression was plaintive.
  ''All I have to say about all my colleagues back then,'' he said, ''no matter what disputes I had with them personal or ideological, is that to my dying day I'll think they were the bravest people I've ever met.'' Now Fellwock was crying. He put his hands to his face. ''I'm sorry,'' he said, and got up to go to the bathroom.
  It's nearly impossible to imagine Edward Snowden being a quietly retired antiques dealer on Long Island 40 years from now. Snowden will never come back to the U.S., charged as he is with espionage, unless it is in chains.
  Whatever cracks in the surveillance state's armor of secrecy were pried open by Counter-Spy and the Church Committee have been sealed over with titanium and Dobermans on either side to guard them. The most concrete legacy of Counter-Spy might be the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. Passed in 1982 as a direct response to the Welch assassination, the Act makes it a crime to disclose the identities of covert agents abroad with the intent to harm U.S. intelligence activities. Today, even those in government who distrust the surveillance state are in agreement that Snowden is a criminal who must be brought to justice. It's unthinkable that any congressional aide would praise Snowden today as one praised OC-5 in a 1976 Washington Post article: ''They're a darn good organization; their information has been accurate without exception.''
  But Fellwock's story also reflects a shift in today's anti-surveillance crusaders. The networks of the left have been replaced by social networks of cyber-libertarians: hackers, silicon valley entrepreneurs, freedom-of-information crusaders. There has been much tweeting and even a sparsely-attended anti-surveillance protest in D.C., but encoded in the fury has been a sense that the real extent of dissent to the surveillance state consists of simply spreading the news of Snowden's disclosures.
  ''A planetary host of actively concerned and politically connected people,'' marveled the sci-fi writer Bruce Sterling earlier this year. But ''among this buzzing horde of eager online activists from a swarm of nations, what did any of them actually do for Snowden? Nothing.''
  Snowden's biggest ally through his saga has been Wikileaks. By now the whistleblowing organization is essentially crippled. Its head, Julian Assange, has been reduced to an avatar beaming into various panels and tweeting his disdain for the movies made about him'--the most recent one, coincidentally, is The Fifth Estate.
  Norman Mailer, the patron saint of OC-5, was the absurd living embodiment of self-promotion, but he espoused something larger: a radical civic-mindedness, in which information was just the starting point for creating new institutions built on shared sacrifice and a devotion to democracy and transparency.
  Today, Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian columnist who broke the Snowden story, is launching a new media company on the back of the Snowden leaks. Backing him is billionaire eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, who believes that the social change is best brought about by ever more innovative configurations of capitalism. Counter-Spy would exist today to the extent it was an inspiring enough brand.
  We got the check and a cab. We were looking for an antiques store, so Fellwock could provide a glimpse of his life now. There was one in Midtown he'd been meaning to check out.
  "I realized there was nothing more I could do politically and all'--I should just forget the whole thing. So I came to New York and I started working for the banks."For a few years after Counter-Spy disbanded, Fellwock agonized over whether he should continue his activism. ''Some days I would be political, other days I wouldn't," he said. He tried to balance his undiminished concern over covert action with a growing sense that his activism was a pointless and dangerous provocation of the security agencies. "I'm sure a lot of my friends thought I was crazy. I was conflicted. But by 1980 I realized there was nothing more I could do politically and all'--I should just forget the whole thing. So I came to New York and I started working for the banks.''
  He worked in IT in big banks throughout the '80s and '90s, a perverse coda to a career fighting the evils of global capitalism. He'd left his office at the World Financial Center just hours before the planes hit on 9/11. He watched markets crash after September 11 from inside a multinational investment bank. Through it all, few of those close to him knew of his double life as Winslow Peck, the first NSA whistleblower. He rarely thought of those days.
  ''It didn't matter. It was a job I could do. I've worked here and London'''--here he laughs, because he'd once been very publicly deported from Britain, in 1976, after helping an investigative journalist expose GCHQ, the UK's equivalent of NSA'--"I've had a good life. I can't complain. I've survived all that shit that went on, I know a lot of people who didn't survive.''
  Along the way, he applied himself more and more to the antiques market. Antique-picking resembles Fellwock's Counter-Spy work in that it is all about collecting and analyzing data. You have to have a picture of what stores are selling and buying at any given time so you can keep an eye out for the most lucrative wares. Fellwock keeps an extensive spreadsheet at home, tracking inventories of various stores.
  When African art got big in the '80s, he would pick up pieces as they came into the docks on the Westside and sell them in Soho at 1,000 percent markups. He regularly takes reconnaissance missions to Chinatown, to see what imitation junk is coming in from Chinese factories so he doesn't buy fakes. His speciality is ancient coins. He's about to self-publish a definitive guide to buying and selling antiques. ''I've seen what's out there already and it's not good,'' he said.
  ''It's all about information, you need to know what's selling,'' he said. Fellwock pointed to random pedestrians as we walked down the sidewalk. ''Everyone around us right now is a potential customer, or a potential source. The trick is to find out what the thing is that will convince them to buy or sell.''
  His information on this particular antique store was not good; it was closed when we arrived. We headed to Grand Central Terminal, where Fellwock needed to catch a train. On the way, he regaled me with half-remembered tales of Norman Mailer from the '70s, like Mailer and the writer Lucian Truscott IV at the White Horse tavern: ''They would get drunk and slam their heads together like bulls. Boom. I thought they were going to give themselves concussions. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen at the bar."
  At Grand Central, Fellwock continued to reminisce as we stood, buffeted by the rush-hour crowd, under an arch in the main concourse from which an enormous American flag hung. The conversation turned again to regrets, and Doug Porter.
  ''If you talk to him, please tell him that whatever differences we had were due to the pressures we were under, and offer my apologies,'' Fellwock said. ''If he was for real in what he was doing, I have nothing but respect for him. Everyone who joined up with me and Tim Butz were incredibly brave.'' Now he was choking up again, face red, underneath the flag.
  ''That was the highlight of my life, I'm sorry to say.'' Fellwock threw his hands up in an act of exaggerated helplessness. ''But this is the best time of my life.''
  [Photo of Fellwock by Adrian Chen; images by Jim Cooke and Ramparts magazine]
  RelatedRelatedA Discussion With CryptomeWhen the Guardian and Washington Post published their blockbuster NSA reports based on Ed Snowden's leaks, journalists lined up conga-style to'... Read'...
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U.S. Electronic Espionage: A Memoir
  Link to Article
  Archived Version
  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 22:13
  10 June 1998: Link to dissent
  14 April 1998: Add Duncan Campbell message
  13 April 1998Source: Columbia University Library, Microfilm
  Thanks to Peter Sommer for the reference.
  Additional information on NSA electronic interception
  Note: The article begins with commentary on information provided by an anonymous former analyst of the National Security Agency followed by the full interview. The analyst was later named as Perry Fellwock, at the time using the pseudonym Winslow Peck.
  Ramparts, Vol. 11, No. 2, August, 1972, pp. 35-50
  About thirty miles northeast of CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, right off the Baltimore-Washington expressway overlooking the flat Maryland countryside, stands a large three story building known informally as the "cookie factory." It's officially known as Ft. George G. Meade, headquarters of the National Security Agency.
  Three fences surround the headquarters. The inner and outer barriers are topped with barbed wire, the middle one is a five-strand electrified wire. Four gatehouses spanning the complex at regular intervals house specially-trained marine guards. Those allowed access all wear iridescent I.D. badges -- green for "top secret crypto," red for "secret crypto." Even the janitors are cleared for secret codeword material. Once inside, you enter the world's longest "corridor" -- 980 feet long by 560 feet wide. And all along the corridor are more marine guards, protecting the doors of key NSA offices. At 1,400,000 square feet, it is larger than CIA headquarters, 1,135,000 square feet. Only the State Department and the Pentagon, and the new headquarters planned for the FBI are more spacious. But the DIRNSA (Director, National Security Agency) can be further distinguished from the headquarters buildings of these three other giant bureaucracies -- it has no windows. Another palace of paranoia? No. For DIRNSA is the command center for the largest, most sensitive and far-flung intelligence gathering apparatus in the world's history. Here, and in the nine-story Operations Building Annex, upwards of 15,000 employees work to break the military, diplomatic and commercial codes of every nation in the world, analyze the de-crypted messages, and send the results to the rest of the U.S. intelligence community.
  Far less widely known than the CIA, whose Director Richard Helms will occasionally grant public interviews, NSA silently provides an estimated 80 percent of all valid U.S. intelligence. So secret, so sensitive is the NSA mission and so highly indoctrinated are its personnel, that the Agency, twenty years after its creation, remains virtually unknown to those employees outside the intelligence community. The few times its men have been involved in international incidents, NSA's name has been kept out of the papers.
  Nevertheless, the first American killed in Vietnam, near what became the main NSA base at Phu Bai, was an NSA operative. And the fact that Phu Bai remains the most heavily guarded of all U.S. bases suggests that an NSA man may well be the last.
  The scope of the NSA's global mission has been shrouded in secrecy since the inception of the Agency. Only the haziest outlines have been known, and then only on the basis of surmise. However, Ramparts has recently been able to conduct a series of lengthy interviews with a former NSA analyst willing to talk about his experiences. He worked for the Agency for three and a half years -- in the cold war of Europe and the hot one in Southeast Asia. The story he tells of NSA's structure and history is not the whole story, but it is a significant and often chilling portion of it.
  Our informant served as a senior NSA analyst in the Istanbul listening post for over two years. He was a participant in the deadly international fencing match that goes on daily with the Soviet Union, plotting their air and ground forces and penetrating their defenses. He watched the Six Day War unfold and learned of the intentions of the major powers -- Israel, the Soviet Union, the United States, France, Egypt -- by reading their military and diplomatic radio traffic, all of it duly intercepted, de-coded and translated by NSA on the spot. As an expert on NSA missions directed against the Soviet Union and the so-called "Forward Countries" -- Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Rumania and Yugoslavia -- he briefed such visiting dignitaries as Vice President Humphrey. In Indochina he was a senior analyst, military consultant and U.S. Air Force intelligence operations director for North Vietnam, Laos, the northern-most provinces of South Vietnam and China. He is a veteran of over one hundred Airborne Radio Direction Finding missions in Indochina -- making him thoroughly familiar with the "enemy" military structure and its order of battle.
  With the benefit of the testimony he provides, we can see that the reason for the relative obscurity of NSA of less to do with its importance within the intelligence community than with the limits of its mission and the way it gets its results. Unlike the CIA, whose basic functions are clearly outlined in the 1947 law that created it, NSA, created in 1952, simply gathers intelligence. It does not formulate policy or carry out operations. Most of the people working for NSA are not "agents," but ordinary servicemen attached to one of three semi-autonomous military cryptologic agencies -- the Air Force Security Service, the largest; the Naval Security Group; and the Army Security Agency, the oldest. But while it is true that the Agency runs no spies as in the popular myth, its systematic Signal Intelligence intercept mission is clearly prohibited by the Geneva Code. What we are dealing with is a highly bureaucratized, highly technological intelligence mission whose breadth and technological sophistication appear remarkable even in an age of imperial responsibilities and electronic wizardry.
  So that not a sparrow or a government falls without NSA's instantaneous knowledge, over two thousand Agency field stations dot the five continents and the seven seas. In Vietnam, NSA's airborne flying platforms carrying out top-secret Radar Detection Finding missions, supply U.S. commanders with their most reliable information on the location of communist radio transmitters, and thus on the location of NLF units themselves. Other methods, the use of sensors and seismic detectors, either don't work or are used merely to supplement NSA's results. But the Agency's tactical mission in Indochina, intelligence support for U.S. commanders in the field, however vital to the U.S. war effort, is subsidiary in terms of men, time and material to its main strategic mission.
  The following interview tells us a great deal about both sides of the NSA mission -- everything from how Agency people feel about themselves and the communist "enemy" to the NSA electronic breakthroughs that threaten the Soviet-American balance of terror. We learn for example that NSA knows the call signs for every Soviet airplane, the numbers on the side of each plane, the name of the pilot in command; the precise longitude and latitude of every nuclear submarine; the whereabouts of nearly every Soviet VIP; the location of every Soviet missile base; every army division, battalion and company -- its weaponry, commander and deployment. Routinely the NSA monitors all Soviet military, diplomatic and commercial radio traffic, including Soviet Air Defense, Tactical Air and KGB forces. (It was the NSA that found Che Guevara in Bolivia through radio communications intercept and analysis.) NSA cryptologic experts seek to break every Soviet code and do so with remarkable success, Soviet scrambler and computer-generated signals being nearly as vulnerable as ordinary voice and manual morse radio transmissions. Interception of Soviet radar signals enables NSA to gauge quite precisely the effectiveness of Soviet Air Defense units. Methods have even been devised to "fingerprint" every human voice used in radio transmissions and distinguish them from the voice of every other operator. The Agency's Electronic Intelligence Teams (ELINT) are capable of intercepting any electronic signal transmitted anywhere in the world and, from an analysis of the intercepted signal, identify the transmitter and physically reconstruct it. Finally, after having shown the size and sensitivity of the Agency's big ears, it is almost superfluous to point out that NSA monitors and records every trans-Atlantic telephone call.
  Somehow, it is understandable, given the size of the stakes in the Cold War, that an agency like NSA would monitor U.S. citizens' trans-Atlantic phone calls. And we are hardly surprised that the U.S. violates the Geneva Code to intercept communist radio transmissions. What is surprising is that the U.S. systematically violates a treaty of its own making, the UKUSA Agreements of 1947. Under this treaty, the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia erected a white-anglo-saxon-protestant nation communications intelligence dictatorship over the "Free World." The agreement distinguishes between three categories of intelligence consumers, First, Second, and Third Party consumers. The First Party is the U.S. intelligence community. The Second party refers to the other white anglo-saxon nations' communications intelligence agencies; i.e. Great Britain's GCHQ, Canada's CBNRC, etc. These agencies exchange information routinely. Non-WASP nations, the so-called Third Party nations, are placed on short intelligence rations. This category includes all NATO allies -- West Germany, France, Italy, as well as South Vietnam, Japan, Thailand and the non-WASP allies in SEATO. But the idea of a closed club of gentlemanly white men gets quickly dispelled when we learn that the U.S. even intercepts the radio communications of its Second Party UKUSA "allies." From the U.S. military base at Chicksands, for example, and from the U.S. Embassy in London, NSA operatives busily intercept and transcribe British diplomatic traffic and send it off for further analysis to DIRNSA.
  We feel that the information in this interview -- while not of a "sensitive" nature -- is of critical importance to America for the light it casts on the cold war and the anti-communist myths that perpetuate it. These myths about the aggressive intentions of the Soviet Union and China and about North Vietnam's "invasion of a democratic South Vietnam," can only be sustained by keeping the American people as ignorant as possible about the actual nature of these regimes and the great power relationships that exist in the world. The peace of the world, we are told, revolves shakily on a "balance of terror" between the armed might of the Soviet Union and the United States. So tenuous is this balance that if the U.S. were to let down its guard ever so slightly, if it were, for example, to reduce the ever-escalating billions allocated for "defense," we would immediately face the threat of destruction from the aggressive Soviets, who are relentless in their pursuit of military superiority. Our informant's testimony, based on years of dealing with the hard information about the Soviet military and its highly defensive-oriented deployment, is a powerful and authoritative rebuttal to this mythology.
  But perhaps even an more compelling reason requires that this story be told. As we write, the devastating stepped-up bombing of North Vietnam continues. No one can say with certainty what the ultimate consequences of this desperate act are likely to be. Millions of Americans, perhaps a majority, deplore this escalation. But it would be a mistake to ignore the other millions, those who have grown up in fear of an entity known as "world communism." For them Nixon's latest measures have a clear rationale and a plausible purpose. It is precisely this political rationale and this strategic purpose that the testimony of our informant destroys.
  We are told by Nixon that South Vietnam has been "invaded" by the North which is trying to impose its will on the people of the South. This latest version of why we continue to fight in Indochina -- the first version stressed the threat of China which allegedly controlled Hanoi, even as Moscow at one time was thought to control Peking -- emphasizes Hanoi's control over the NLF. Our evidence shows that the intelligence community, including NSA, has long determined that the NLF and the DRV are autonomous, independent entities. Even in Military Region I, the northern-most province of South Vietnam, and the key region in the "North Vietnamese" offensive, the command center has always been located not in Hanoi but in somewhere in the Ia Drang valley. This command center, the originating point for all military operations in the region, is politically and militarily under the control of the PRG. Known as Military Region Tri Tin Hue (MRTTH) it integrates both DRV and NLF units under the command. Hanoi has never simply "called the shots," although the DRV and PRG obviously have common reasons for fighting and share common objectives. All of this information NSA has passed on systematically to the political authorities who, equally systematically, have ignored it.
  Nixon's military objective -- halting supplies to the South through bombing and mining of North Vietnamese ports -- turns out to be as bogus as his political rationale. Military supplies for the DRV and the NLF are stored along the Ho Chi Minh trail in gigantic underground staging areas know as bamtrams. These are capable of storing supplies for as long as twelve months, at normal levels of hostilities, according to NSA estimates.Even at the highly accelerated pace of the recent offensive, it would take several months (assuming 100 percent effectiveness) before our bombing and mining wold have any impact on the fighting.
  Taken together, teh experience of our informant in Europe, in the Middle East, and in Indochina bears witness to the aggressive posture of the United States in the late 1960s. It is hard to see anything defensive about it. Our policy makers are well-informed by the intelligence community of the defensive nature of our antagonists' military operations. The NSA operations here described reflect the drive of a nation to control as much of the world as possible, whose leaders trust no one and are forced to spy on their closet allies in violation of the treaties they initiated themselves; leaders, moreover, for whom all nations are, in teh intelligence idiom, "targets," and who maintain the U.S. imperium around the world in large part through threat of actual physical annihilation.
  At home, however, the favored weapon employed is ignorance rather than fear. Like NSA headquarters itself, the United States is surrounded by barriers -- barriers of ignorance that keep its citizens prisoners of the cold war. The first obstacle is formed by the myths propagated about communism and about its aggressive designs on America. The second, and dependent for its rationale on the first, is the incredible barrier of governmental secrecy that keeps most of the questionable U.S. aggressive activities hidden nor from our "enemies," who are the knowledgeable victims, but from the American people themselves. The final barrier is perhaps the highest and is barbe with the sharpest obstacles of all. It is nothing less than our reluctance as Americans to confront what we are doing to the peoples of the world, ourselves included, by organizations like the National Security Agency.
  Q. Let's begin by getting a sense of the National Security Agency and the scope of its operations.
  A. O.K. At the broadest level, NSA is a part of the United States intelligence community and a member of the USIB, the United States Intelligence Board. It sits on the Board with the CIA, the FBI, the State Department's RCI, and various military intelligence bureaus. Other agencies also have minor intelligence-gathering units, even the Department of the Interior.
  All intelligence agencies are tasked with producing a particular product. NSA produces -- that is, collects, analyzes, and disseminates to its consumers -- Signals Intelligence, called SIGINT. It comes from communications or other types of signals intercepted from what we called "targeted entities," and it amounts to about 80 percent of the viable intelligence the U.S. government receives. There is COMSEC, a secondary mission. This is to produce all the communications security equipment, codes and enciphering equipment for the United States and its allies. This function of the NSA involves the monitoring of our own communications to make sure they are secure. But SIGINT is the main responsibility.
  As far as NSA's personnel is concerned, they are divided into two groups: those that are totally civilian, and those like me who derived from the military. As far as the collection of data is concerned, the military provides almost all the people. They are recruited through one of the service cryptologic agencies. The three agencies are the U.S. Air Force Security Service (USAFSS), the Army Security Agency (ASA), and the Navy Security Group (NSG). These agencies may control a few intelligence functions that are primarily tactical in nature and directly related to ongoing military operations. But generally, DIRNSA, the Director of the National Security Agency, is completely in control over all NSA's tasks, missions and people.
  The NSA, through its sites all over the world, copies -- that is, collects -- intelligence from almost every conceivable source. That means every radio transmission that is of a strategic or tactical nature, or is related to some government, or has some political significance. NSA is powerful, and it has grown since its beginning back in 1947. The only problem it has had has come over the last few years. Originally it had equal power with the CIA on the USIB and the National Security Council. But recently the CIA has gained more of a hegemony in intelligence operations, especially since Richard Helms became director of the entire intelligence community.
  Q. Does the NSA have agents in the field?
  A. Yes, but probably not in the way you mean. It is different from other intelligence agencies in that it's not a consumer of its own intelligence. That is, it doesn't act on the data it gathers. It just passes it on. Generally, there's a misconception all Americans have about spying. They think it's all cloak and dagger, with hundreds of james Bonds wandering around the world in Aston-Martins, shooting people. It just doesn't happen. It's all either routine or electronic. I got to know a lot of CIA people in my three and a half years with NSA, and it became pretty clear to me that most of them sit around doing mundane stuff. You know, reading magazines, newspapers, technical journals. Like some people say, they do a lot of translating of foreign phone books. Of course I did meet a few who were out in the jungles with guns in their hands too.
  But as far as the NSA is concerned, it is completely technological. Like I said, at least 80 percent of all viable intelligence that this country receives and acts on comes from the NSA, and it is all from signals intelligence, strategic and tactical. I saw it from both angles -- first strategic in working against the Soviet Union in Turkey and then tactical flying missions against the VC in Nam. Information gathering by NSA is complete. It covers what foreign governments are doing, planning to do, have done in the past: what armies are moving where and against whom; what air forces are moving where, and what heir capabilities are. There really aren't any limits on NSA. Its mission goes all the way from calling in the B-52s in Vietnam to monitoring every aspect of the Soviet space program.
  Q. In practical terms, what sort of data are collected by NSA?
  A. Before going into that, I should get into the types of signals NSA collects. There are three basic area. First is what we called ELINT, electronics intelligence. This involves the interception and analysis of any electronics signal. There isn't necessarily any message on that signal. It's just the signal, and it's mainly used by technicians. The only time I ever remember using ELINT was when we were tracking a Russian fighter. Some of them has a particular type of radar system. As I remember, we called this system MANDRAKE. Anyhow, every time this system signalled, a particular type of electronic emission would occur. Our ELINT people would be looking for it, and whenever it came up, it would let them positively identify this type of fighter.
  The second type of signal is related to this. It is intelligence from radar, called RADINT. This also involves the technicians. Let me give you an example. There is a particular type of Soviet radar system known in NSA by a code name which we'll call SWAMP. SWAMP is used by the Soviet technical air forces, by their air defense, by the KGB and some civilian forces. It is their way of locating any flying entity while it is in the air. It had a visual read-out display, so that, whenever a radar technician in the Soviet Union wanted to plot something on his map, he could do it by shooting a beam of light on a scope and then send it to whoever wanted to find out information about that airplane. Our RADINT people intercepted SWAMP signals in our European listening posts. From the data they got, NSA analysts were able to go back to the headquarters at Fort meade and in less than eight weeks completely reconstruct SWAMP. We duplicated it. This meant that we were able to see exactly what the Soviet operators were seeing when they used SWAMP. So, as far as this radar was concerned, the upshot was that they were doing our tracking for us. We knew everything they knew, and we knew what they were able to track over their airspace, and what they weren't.
  Q. Does this mean that we can jam their radar?
  A. Yes, part of the function of ELINT and RADINT is to develop electronic counter measures. There's a counter measure for every type of Soviet radar.
  Q. You said there were three areas. You've gone over ELINT and RADINT. What's the third?
  A. This is by far the most important. It's communications intelligence. COMINT. It involves the collection of radio communications of a targeted entity. NSA intercepts them, reproduces them in its equipment and breaks down any code used to encipher the signal. I should say that what I call a "targeted entity" could mean any country -- NSA gathers data on them all -- but in practical terms it's almost synonymous with the Soviet Union.
  COMINT is the important function. It's what I was in, and it represents probably 95 percent of relevant SIGINT intelligence. As a matter of fact, the entire intelligence community is also known as the COMINT community.
  Q. It would probably be good to backpedal for a moment before we go into your experiences in NSA and get into the way you joined the organization.
  A. Well, I'd been in college, was bored, and wanted to do something different. I come from the Midwest, and we still believed those ads about joining the military and seeing the world. I enlisted in the Air Force. Like everybody else, I was shocked by basic training, but after that, when it came time to choose what I'd be doing for the rest of my time, it wasn't too bad. I tried for linguist's training, but there weren't any openings in the schools. I was then approached by three people I later found were a part of the National Security Agency. They interviewed me along with four other guys and asked us if we'd like to do intelligence work. We took a battery of tests, I.Q. and achievement tests, and had some interviews to determine our political and emotional stability. They really didn't go into our politics very much, I guess because were all so obviously apathetic. Their main concern was our sex life. They wanted to know if we were homosexual.
  At this point, it was 1966, I suppose I had what you would call an analysis of the world situation. But it was primarily based on a belief in maintaining the balance of power. I really didn't see anything wrong with what our government was doing. Also, the few hints about what we might be doing in NSA were pretty exciting: world-wide travel working in the glamorous field of intelligence, being able to wear civilian clothes.
  After getting admitted, I was bussed to Goodfellow Air Force Base at San Angelo, Texas. Originally, it was a WAC base or something like that, but now it's entirely an intelligence school for NSA. The whole basis of the training was their attempt to make us feel we were the absolute cream of the military. For most GIs, the first days in the military are awful, but as soon as we arrived at the school we were given a pass to go anywhere we wanted, just as long as were were back in school each morning. We could live off base; there was no hierarchical thing inside the classroom.
  Q. What sort of things did you focus on in school?
  A. At first it was basic stuff. For about two months we just learned primary analysis techniques, intelligence terms, and a rough schematic of the intelligence community. We learned a few rudimentary things about breaking codes and intercepting messages. A lot of people were dropped out of the program at this time because of inadequate school performance, poor attitude, or because of something in their backgrounds didn't prove out. Actually, of fifteen people with me in this class, only four made it through. We had been given access only to information rated "confidential" all the time, but then we got clearance and a Top Secret cryptologic rating.
  The first day of the second phase of school began when we walked into the classroom and saw this giant map on the wall. It was marked "Top Secret," and it was of the Soviet Union. For the next three months, we learned about types of communications in operations throughout the world and also in-depth things about the political and administrative makeup of various countries. The Soviet Union, of course, was our primary focus. And we learned every one of its military functions: the entire bureaucratic structure, including who's who and where departments and headquarters are located; and a long history of its military and political involvements, especially with countries like China and the East European bloc, which we called "the forward area."
  We learned in-depth analysis -- how to perform different types of traffic analysis, cryptic analysis, strategic analysis. A lot of the texts we used were from the Soviet Union, and had been translated by the CIA.
  I'm not especially proud of it now, but I should tell you that I graduated at the head of the class. We had a little ceremony inside a local movie theater. I was called up with two guys from other classes and given special achievement certificates. We were given our choice of assignments anywhere in the world. I chose Istanbul. It seemed like the most far-out and exotic place available. After that I left San Angelo and went to Monterey to the Army's language school for a month and a half. I learned a bit of very technical Russian -- basically how to recognize the language -- and then to Fort Meade NSA headquarters for a couple of weeks indoctrination about Istanbul, our operation there at Karmasel, and the whole European intelligence community.
  Q. When did you get to Istanbul?
  A. That was January 1967.
  Q. What did you do there?
  A. I was assigned to be one of the flight analysts working primarily against the Soviet tactical Air Forces and Soviet long range Air Forces. I had about twenty-five morse operators who were listening to morse signals for me, and about five non-morse and voice operators. It was a pretty boring job for them. A morse operator, for instance, just sits there in front of a radio receiver with headphones, and a typewriter for copying morse signals. They would "roll onto" their target, which means that they would go to the frequency that their target was using. The list of likely frequencies and locations and the call signals that would be used -- all this information was made available by the analyst as technical support to the operator. In return the operator would feed the copy to me: I'd perform analysis on it and correlate with other intelligence collected there in Istanbul, and at the NSA installations in the rest of Europe.
  Q. Where were the other NSA installations in Europe?
  A. The major ones aside from Karmasel are in Berlinhof and Darmstadt, West Germany; Chicksands, England; Brindisi, Italy; and also at Trabesan and Crete. Some of these sites have gigantic Feranine antennas. This is a circular antenna array, several football fields in diameter, and it's capable of picking up signals from 360 degrees. They're very sensitive. We can pick up hundreds of signals simultaneously. We pick up voices speaking over short-range radio communications thousands of miles away.
  The whole Air Force part of NSA, the USAFSS units, is known as the European Security region. It is headquartered at the I.G. Farben building in Berlin. The Army ASA has units attached to every Army installation in Europe. The Naval NSG has its sites aboard carriers in the 6th Fleet. But mainly it was us.
  Q. What does this apparatus actually try to do?
  A. Like I said, it copies -- that is, intercepts for decoding and analysis -- communications from every targeted country. As far as the Soviet Union is concerned, we know the whereabouts at any given time of all its aircraft, exclusive of small private planes, and its naval forces, including its missile-firing submarines. The fact is that we're able to break every code they've got, understand every type of communications equipment and enciphering device they've got. We know where their submarines are, what every one of their VIPs is doing, and generally their capabilities and the dispositions of all their forces. This information is constantly computer correlated, updated, and the operations go on twenty-four hours a day.
  Q. Let's break it down a little. How about starting with the aircraft. How does NSA keep track of the Soviet air forces?
  A. First, by copying Soviet Navair, which is their equivalent of the system our military has for keeping track of its own planes. And their Civair, like our civilian airports: we copy all of their air controllers' messages. So we have their planes under control. Then we copy their radar plotting of their own air defense radar, which is concerned with flights that come near their airspace and violate it. By this I mean the U.S. planes that are constantly overflying their territory. Anyhow, all this data would be correlated with our own radar and with the air-to-ground traffic these planes transmitted and our operators picked up. We were able to locate them exactly even if they weren't on our radar through RDF -- radio direction finding. We did this by instantaneously triangulating reception coming through these gigantic antennas I mentioned. As far as Soviet aircraft are concerned, we not only know where they are: we know what their call signs are, what numbers are on the side of every one of their planes, and, most of the time, even which pilots are flying which plane.
  Q. You said that we overfly Soviet territory?
  A. Routinely as a matter of fact -- over the Black Sea, down to the Baltic. Our Strategic Air Force flies the planes, and we support them. By that I mean that we watch them penetrate the Soviet airspace and then analyze the Soviet reaction -- how everything from their air defense and tactical air force to the KGB reacts. It used to be that SAC flew B-52s. As a matter of fact one of them crashed in the Trans-Caucasus area in 1968 and all the Americans on board were lost.
  Q. Was it shot down?
  A. That was never clear, but I don't believe so. The Soviets know what the missions of the SAC planes are. A lot of times they scramble up in their jets and fly wing-to-wing with our planes. I've seen pictures of that. Their pilots even communicate with ours. We've copied that.
  Q. Do we still use U-2s for reconnaissance?
  A. No, and SAC doesn't fly the B-52s anymore either. Now the plane they use is the SR-71. It has unbelievable speed and it can climb high enough to reach the edge of outer space. The first time I came across the SR-71 was when I was reading a report of Chinese reaction to its penetration of their airspace. The report said their air defense tracking had located the SR-71 flying at a fairly constant pattern at a fairly reasonable altitude. They scrambled MIG-21s on it, and when they approached it, the radar pattern indicated that the SR-71 had just accelerated with incredible speed and rose to such a height that the MIG-21s just flew around looking at each other. Their air-to-ground communications indicated that the plane just disappeared in front of their eyes.
  I might tell you this as a sort of footnote to your mentioning of the U-2. The intelligence community is filled with rumor. When I got to Turkey, I immediately ran into rumors that Gary Powers' plane had been sabotaged, not shot down. Once I asked someone who'd been in Istanbul for quite a while and he told me that it was reported in a unit history that this had happened. The history said it had been three Turks working for the Soviets and that they'd put a bomb on the plane. I didn't read this history myself, however.
  Q. You have explained how we are able to monitor Soviet air traffic to the extent indicated, but it's hard to believe that we could know where all their missile submarines are at any given moment.
  A. Maybe so, but that's the way it is. There are some basic ways in which we can keep track of them, for example through the interpretation of their sub-to-base signals which they encode and transmit in bursts that last a fraction of a second. First we record it on giant tape drops several feet apart, where it is played back slowly so that we get the signal clearly. Then the signal will be modulated -- that is, broken down so we can understand it. Then the codes are broken and we get the message, which often turns out to contain information allowing us to tell where they are.
  Another way in which we keep track of these subs is much simpler. Often they'll surface someplace and send a weather message.
  Q. But don't submarines go for long periods without communicating, maneuvering according to some pre-arranged schedule?
  A. Actually, not very often. There are times during a war exercise or communications exercise when they might not transmit for a week or even longer. But we still keep track of them. We've discovered that they're like all Soviet ships in that they travel in patterns. By performing a very complicated, computerized pattern analysis, we are able to know where to look for a particular ship if it doesn't turn up for a while. The idea is that they revert from that pattern only in extreme emergency situation: but during such a situation they'll have to be in communication at least once. We know how many subs they have. And in practical terms, when one of them is not located, NSA units tasked with submarine detection concentrate all their energies on finding it.
  Q. How do you know this? Did you ever have responsibility for submarine detection?
  A. No. My information comes from two sources. First, the fact that there were analysts sitting right next to me in Karmasel who were tasked on subs. Second, I read what we called TEXTA. TEXTA means "technical extracts of traffic." It is a computer-generated digest of intelligence collected from every communications facility in the world -- how they communicate, what they transmit, and who to. It is the Bible of the SIGINT community. It is constantly updated, and one of an analyst's duties is reading it. You've got to understand that even though each analyst had his own area to handle, he also had to be familiar with other problems. Quite often I would get through my operators base-to-base submarine traffic and I'd have to be able to identify it.
  Q. The implications of what you're saying are very serious. In effect, it means that based on your knowledge there is no real "balance of terror" in the world. Theoretically, if we know where every Soviet missile installation, military aircraft and missile submarine is at every moment, we are much closer than anyone realized to a first-strike capacity that would cripple their ability to respond.
  A. Check.
  Q. How many NSA people were there at Istanbul and in the rest of the installations in Europe?
  A. About three thousand in our operation. It would be hard to even guess how many in the rest of Europe.
  Q. What were the priorities for gathering information on Soviet operations?
  A. First of all, NSA is interested in their long-range bombing forces. This includes their rocket forces, but mainly targets on their long-range bombers. This is because the feeling is that, if there is conflict between us and them, the bombers will be used first, as a way of taking a step short of all-out war. Second, and very close to the bombing capabilities, is the location of their missile submarines. Next would be tasking generated against the Soviet scrambler, which is their way of communicating for all of their services and facilities. After this would be their Cosmos program. After that things like tasking their KGB, their air controllers, their shipping, and all the rest of the things tend to be on the same priority.
  Q. All this time, the Soviets must be doing intelligence against us too. What is its scope?
  A. Actually, they don't get that much. They aren't able to break our advanced computer generated scrambler system, which accounts for most of the information we transmit. They do a lot of work to determine what our radar is like, and they try to find out things by working on some of the lower level codes used by countries like Germany and the Scandinavian countries we deal with. Their SIGINT operation is run by the KGB.
  The key to it is that we have a ring of bases around them. They try to make up for the lack of bases by using trawlers for gathering data, but it's not the same. They're on the defensive.
  Q. What do you mean by that?
  A. That they're on the defensive? Well, one of the things you discover pretty early is that the whole thing of containing the communist menace for expansion is nonsense. The entire Soviet outlook of their military and their intelligence was totally different from ours. They were totally geared up for defense and to meet some kind of attack. Other than strategic capacities relating to the ultimate nuclear balance, their air capabilities are solidly built around defending themselves from penetration. They've set up the "forward" area -- our term for the so-called bloc countries of eastern Europe -- less as a launching pad into Europe than as a buffer zone. The only Soviet forces there are air defense forces, security forces. Put it this way: their whole technology is not of an offensive nature, simply, don't have the kind of potential for a tactical offensive that we do. They have no attack carriers, for instance. Soviet ships are primarily oriented toward protection of their coasts. Actually they do have carriers of a sort, but they are helicopter anti-submarine carriers. Another thing: they have a lot of fighters, but hardly any fighter-bombers. They do have a large submarine force, but given the fact that they are completely ringed by the U.S., this too is really of a strategic nature.
  Everything we did in Turkey was in direct support of some kind of military operation, usually something clandestine like overflights, infiltrations, penetrations. If all we were interested in was what they call an "invulnerable deterrent," we could easily get our intelligence via satellite. We don't need to have these gigantic sites in Europe and Asia for this.
  Q. You mentioned a few minutes ago that one of NSA's main targets was the Soviet space program. What sort of material were you interested in?
  A. Everything. Obviously, one of the things we wanted to know was how close they were to getting a space station up. But w knew everything that went on in their Cosmos program. For instance, before I had gotten to Turkey, one of their rockets had exploded on the launching pad and two of their cosmonauts were killed. One died while I was there too. It was Soyuz, I believe. He developed re-entry problems on his way back from orbit. They couldn't get the chute that slowed his craft down in re-entry to work. They knew what the problem was for about two hours before he died, and were fighting to correct it. It was all in Russian, of course, but we taped it and listened to it a couple of times afterward. Kosygin called him personally. They had a video-phone conversation. Kosygin was crying. He told him he was hero and that he made a great achievement in Russian history, and that they were proud and he'd be remembered. The guy's wife got on too. They talked for a while. He told her how to handle their affairs, and what to do with the kids. It was pretty awful. Towards the last few minutes, he began falling apart, saying, "I don't want to die, you've got to do something." Then there was just a scream as he died. I guess he was incinerated. The strange thing was that we were all pretty bummed out by the whole thing. In a lot of ways, having the sort of job we did humanizes the Russians. You study them so much and listen to them for so many hours that pretty soon you come to feel that you know more about them than your own people.
  Q. While you were monitoring the Soviet Union what sort of intelligence would have been considered but very important or serious?
  A. In a way you do this almost routinely. That is, there are certain times that the activities of the targeted the entity are of such an important nature that a special type has to be sent out. It is called a CRITIC. This is sent around the world to a communications network called CRITICOM. The people in this network, besides NSA, are those in other intelligence or diplomatic capacities who might come across the intelligence of such importance themselves that the president of the United States would need to be immediately notified. When a CRITIC goes out, one analyst working alone can't do it can't do it. There is just too great a volume of material to correlate.
  Q. What would be an example of something sent out as a CRITIC?
  A. Well, one of the strangest I ever read was sent out by our base at Crete. One of the analyst traced a Soviet bomber that landed in the middle of Lake Baikal. He knew it hadn't crashed from the type of communications he monitored, and he thought they had developed a new generation of bombers able to land on water. It turned out to be a bad mistake because he neglected to remember that about three-fourths of the year this lake is completely frozen over.
  But actually this sort of thing is rare. Most CRITICs are based on good reasoning and data. You work around the clock, sometimes for 30 hours at a stretch putting things together. These are the times that the job stops being routine. I guess that's why they have a say about the work in NSA: "Hours of boredom and seconds of terror."
  Q. Did you ever issue a CRITIC.
  A. Yes, several. During Czechoslovakia, for instance, when it became clear the Soviets were moving their troops up. We also issued a number of CRITICs during the Mideast war of 1967.
  Q. Why?
  A. Well, I was part of an analysis team that was predicting the war at least two months before it began. I guess we issued our first CRITIC on this in April. We did it on the basis of two sources. One, we and the Crete station had both been picking up data as early as February that the Israelis had a massive build-up of arms, a massing of men and materiel, war exercises, increased level of Arab territory -- just everything a country does to prepare for war. Two, there were indications that the Soviets were convinced there was going to be a war. We know this from the traffic we had on diplomatic briefings sent down from Moscow to a commanding general of a particular region. And by April they had sent their VTA airborne, their version of Special Forces paratroopers, to Bulgaria. Normally they're based in the Trans-Caucasus, and we knew from their contingency plans that Bulgaria was a launching point for the Middle East. Because some of these forces were being given to cram-courses in Israeli and Arabic languages.
  Q. All this leaves the sequence of events that immediately preceded the Six Day War -- the various countercharges, the U.N. pullout, the closing of the Straits -- still pretty obscure. Did NSA evidence clear this up?
  A. No. Not really. But one of the things that confused us at first was the fact that until last days before the war the Arabs weren't doing anything to prepare. They weren't being trained to scramble their air force. This is why there was a total chaos when the Israelis struck.
  Q. How did the White House react to your reports about all this?
  A. Well, in every message we sent out, we always put in our comments at the end -- there's a place for this in the report form -- and they'd say something like "Believe there is some preparation for an expected Israeli attack . Request your comments." They didn't exactly ignore it. They'd send back, "Believe this deserves further analysis," which means something like, "We don't really believe you, but keep sending us information." Actually, we all got special citations when the whole thing was over.
  Q. Why didn't they believe you?
  A. I suppose because the Israelis were assuring them that they were not going to attack and Johnson was buying it.
  Q. You remember about the "Liberty," the communications ship we sent in along the coast which was torpedoed by Israeli gunboats? The official word at the time was that the whole thing was a mistake. Johnson calls it a "heartbreaking episode" in The Vantage Point. How does this square with your information?
  A. The whole idea of sending the "Liberty" in was that at that point the U.S. simply didn't know what was going on going on. We sent it in close so that we could find out hard information about what the Israelis' intentions were. What it found out, among other things, was that Dayan's intentions were to push on to Damascus and to Cairo. The Israelis shot at the "Liberty," damaged it pretty badly and killed some of the crew, and told it to stay away. After this it got very tense. It became pretty clear that the White House had gotten caught with its pants down.
  Q. What were the Russians doing?
  A. The VTA airborne was loaded into planes. They took off from Bulgaria and their intention was clearly to make a troop drop on Israel. At this point became pretty clear that we were approaching a situation where World War III could get touched off at any time. Johnson got on the hot line and told them we were headed for a conflict if they didn't on those planes around. They did.
  Q. Was it just these airborne units that were on the move?
  A. No. There was all kinds of other action too. Some of their naval forces had started to move, and there was increased activity in their long-range bombers.
  Q. What about this idea that Dayan had decided to push on to the cities you mentioned. What happened there?
  A. He was called back, partly because of U.S. pressure, partly by people in the Israeli political infrastructure. he was somewhat chastened and never given back total control of the Army.
  Q. How do you know this?
  A. Like I said earlier, NSA monitors every government. This includes Tel Aviv. All the diplomatic signals from the capital to the front and back again were intercepted. Also at this same time we were copying the French, who were very much involved on both sides playing a sort of diplomatic good offices between Cairo and Tel Aviv. As far as Dayan is concerned, the information came from informal notes from analysts at Crete who were closer to the situation than we were. Analysts send these informal notes from one station to another to keep each other informed about what is happening. One of the notes I got from Crete said Dayan had been called back from the field and reprimanded. Obviously, by this time the Israelis were getting heat from the U.S.
  Q. What did the Russians do after the situation cooled down a bit?
  A. Immediately after the war -- well, not even afterwards, but towards the end -- they began the most massive airlift in the history of the world to Cairo and Damascus. Supplies, food, and some medical equipment, but mostly arms and planes. They sent in MIG-21s fully assembled, fueled, and ready to fly in the bellies of their big 101-10s. At landing the doors would open, and teh MIGs would roll out, ready to go. Also there was quite a bit of political maneuvering inside the Soviet Union right afterwards. I don't quite remember the details, but it was mainly in the military, not in the Politbureau.
  Q. We routinely monitor the communications of allies like Israel?
  A. Of course.
  Q. What other sorts of things do we learn?
  A. Practically everything. For instance, we know that the Israelis were preparing nuclear weapons at their development site at Dimona. Once the U.S. Ambassador to Israel visited there. They had been calling it a textile plant as a cover, and when he went there they presented him with a new suit. It was a charade, you know. They didn't have warheads deployed then, but they were close to it. I'm sure they must have a delivery system in operation b now. It was said that American scientific advisors were helping them in this development. I mean it was said on the intelligence grapevine. I didn't know it for a fact. But this grapevine is usually fairly accurate.
  Q. All the material you've been discussing is classified?
  A. Almost all of it.
  Q. Who classified it?
  A. I did. Analysts in NSA did. In the Agency, the lowest classification is CONFIDENTIAL. Anything not otherwise classified is CONFIDENTIAL. But SIGINT data is super-classified, meaning that only those in the SIGINT community have access to it, and then only on a "need-to-know" basis. A lot of the stuff I'd work with was SECRET and TOP SECRET, which is the highest classification of all. But after a while it occurred to me that we classified our stuff only partly because of the enemy. It seemed like they were almost as interested in keeping things from the American public as the Soviets. Hell, I'd give top secret classifications to weather reports we intercepted from Soviet subs. Certainly the Soviets knew that data. I remember when I was in school back at San Angelo one of the instructors gave us a big lecture about classifying material and he said that it was necessary because it would only confuse the American people to be let in on this data. He used those exact words. As a matter of fact, I used those words when I was training the people who worked under me.
  Q. How did you relate to our allies in intelligence matters?
  A. I'll have to digress a moment to answer that. The SIGINT community was defined by a TOP SECRET treaty signed in 1947. It was called the UKUSA treaty. The National Security Agency signed for the U.S. and became what's called First Party to the Treaty. Great Britain's GCHQ signed for them, the CBNRC for Canada, and DSD for Australia.New Zealand. They're all called Second parties. In addition, several countries have signed on -- ranging from West Germany to japan -- over the years as Third parties. Among the First and Second Parties there is supposed to be a general agreement not to restrict data. Of course it doesn't work out this way in practice. The Third party countries receive absolutely no material from us, while we get anything they have, although generally it's of pretty low quality. We also worked with so-called neutrals who weren't parties to the UKUSA treat. They'd sell us everything they could collect over radar on their Russian border.
  As it works out, the treaty is a one-way street. We violate it even with our Second party allies by monitoring their communications constantly.
  Q. Do they know this?
  A. Probably. In part, we're allowed to do it for COMSEC purposes under NATO. COMSEC, that's communications security. There's supposed to be a random checking of security procedures. But I know we also monitor their diplomatic stuff constantly. In England, for instance, our Chicksands installation monitors all their communications, and the NSA unit in our embassy in London monitors the lower-level stuff from Whitehall. Again, technology is the key. These allies can't maintain security even if they want to. They're all working with machines we gave them. There's no chance for them to be on par with us technologically.
  There's the illusion of cooperation, though. We used to go to Frankfurt occasionally for briefings. The headquarters of NSA Europe, the European Security region, and several other departments in the SIGINT community are located there, inside the I.G. Farben building. We'd run into people from GCHQ there, and from the other countries. It was all fairly cordial. As a matter of fact, I got to respect the English analysts very highly. They're real professionals in GCHQ, and some are master analysts. They'll stay on the job for twenty-five or thirty years and learn a lot. The CGG is also located in the I.G. Farben building. That's the West German COMINT agency. Most of them are ex-Nazis. We used to harass them by sieg heil-ing them whenever we say them.
  Once I briefed Hubert Humphrey at the I.G. Farben building. It was in 1967, when he was vice-president. The briefing concerned the Soviet tactical air force and what was capable of doing. It was all quite routine. He asked a couple of pretty dumb questions, that showed he didn't have the foggiest notion of what NSA was and what it did.
  Q. But you said that you often sent reports directly to the White House.
  A. yes, I did. But the material that goes there is cleaned of any reference as to where the intelligence comes from. Every morning the President gets a daily intelligence summary complied by the CIA. This information will probably contain a good deal from the NSA in it, but it won't say where it came from and the means used to collect it. That's how a man like the vice-president could be totally ignorant of the way intelligence is generated.
Perry Fellwock - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  Perry Fellwock (born c. 1946) is a former National Security Agency (NSA) analyst and whistleblower who revealed the existence of the NSA and its worldwide covert surveillance network in an interview, using the pseudonym Winslow Peck, with Ramparts (magazine) in 1971.[1] At the time that Fellwock blew the whistle on ECHELON, the NSA was a little known organization and among the most secretive of the US intelligence agencies. Fellwock revealed that it had a significantly larger budget than the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[2] Fellwock was motivated by Daniel Ellsberg's release of the Pentagon Papers.[3]
  ECHELON is the name popularly given to the signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection and analysis network operated on behalf of the five signatory states (so called "Five Eyes" [FVEY]) to the UKUSA Security Agreement. According to information in a European Parliament document "On the existence of a global system for the interception of private and commercial communications (ECHELON interception system)", ECHELON was ostensibly created to monitor the military and diplomatic communications of the Soviet Union and its Eastern Bloc allies during the Cold War in the early 1960s.[4]
  Because of the Fellwock revelations, the U.S. Senate United States Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities ("Church Committee" as it was chaired by Frank Church) introduced successful legislation in 1973 to stop the NSA from spying on American citizens.
  Speaking about ECHELON, Frank Church said:
  "...[T]hat capability at any time could be turned around on the American people and no American would have any privacy left, such [is] the capability to monitor everything: telephone conversations, telegrams, it doesn't matter. There would be no place to hide. If this government ever became a tyranny, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back, because the most careful effort to combine together in resistance to the government, no matter how privately it was done, is within the reach of the government to know. Such is the capability of this technology... I don't want to see this country ever go across the bridge. I know the capacity that is there to make tyranny total in America, and we must see to it that this agency and all agencies that possess this technology operate within the law and under proper supervision, so that we never cross over that abyss. That is the abyss from which there is no return."[5]
  The Church Committee hearings and other congressional hearings into abuses by the Nixon Administration by a committee chaired by Sam Ervin helped lead to the passage of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ("FISA") Pub.L. 95''511, 92 Stat. 1783, 50 U.S.C.ch. 36 in 1978. FISA prescribes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and collection of "foreign intelligence information" between "foreign powers" and "agents of foreign powers" (which may include American citizens and permanent residents suspected of espionage or terrorism) in 1978. After the September 11 attacks, the law was amended, enabling President George W. Bush to expand the warrantless surveillance of American citizens.
  See also[edit]References[edit]
Twitter / blackcIoud: @adamcurry Make an informed ...
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Intelligence agency seeks facial recognition upgrade
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  Facial recognition software was developed too late to track criminal suspects, such as Lee Harvey Oswald.(Photo: Police Department, City of Dallas/Courtesy Les Ellsworth via Newseum)
  TagsSHARE40CONNECTEMAILMOREThe U.S. intelligence community is pushing a leap forward in facial recognition software that will enable it to determine better the identity of people through a variety of photographs, video and other images.
  Called Janus, the program run by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Agency (IARPA), "seeks to improve face recognition performance using representations developed from real-world video and images instead of from calibrated and constrained collections. During daily activities, people laugh, smile, frown, yawn and morph their faces into a broad variety of expressions. For each face, these expressions are formed from unique skeletal and musculature features that are similar through one's lifetime. Janus representations will exploit the full morphological dynamics of the face to enable better matching and faster retrieval."
  Documents released by IARPA over the weekend show that the Janus program will start in April 2014 and run for four years. During that time, the agency hopes to "radically expand the range of conditions under which automated face recognition can establish identity."
  A division of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, IARPA was created in 2006 and modeled after DARPA, the Pentagon's agency that researches technology for future military uses. Another branch of the intelligence community, a venture capital firm run by the Central Intelligence Agency called In-Q-Tel, invests in companies that develop facial recognition software.
  Civil liberties groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, have raised concerns about unchecked uses of facial recognition software.
  Janus and IARPA's increased interest in facial recognition software raises significant privacy issues, said Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst with the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. Coupled with the rapidly increasing number of surveillance cameras around the country, facial recognition software "represents a quantum leap in the amount of surveillance taking place in public places."
  For example, Stanley noted, authorities could randomly run facial recognition programs over surveillance video and determine the identities of people frequenting certain public places without any kind of oversight.
  Follow @rlocker12 on Twitter.
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TellSpec: What's in your food? | Indiegogo
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  A message from Isabel Hoffmann, TellSpec's CEO:
  A message from Dr Stephen Watson, TellSpec's CTO:
  In the press:
  Huffingtonpost: http://m.huffpost.com/ca/entry/4239979?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003&ir=Food
  Fast Company:http://www.fastcoexist.com/3020813/fund-this/point-this-magical-scanner-at-your-food-and-it-will-count-the-calories
  Financial Post:http://business.financialpost.com/2013/10/21/how-one-entrepreneur-is-revolutionizing-the-food-industry/
  Engadget: TellSpec identifies food ingredients and calories using science
  Betakit: http://www.betakit.com/is-tellspec-the-star-trek-tricorder-we-have-been-waiting-for/
  CanadianBusiness: Coming soon to your phone: handheld food safety
  Metro News:http://metronews.ca/news/toronto/830736/scanner-analyzes-chemical-makeup-of-your-food/
  Health habits:TellSpec answers the question'...what is in that food?
  Daily News (UK): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2452714/Tellspec-Future-dieting-Gadget-tells-calories-dinner-scanning.html
  UrbanMoms: http://urbanmoms.ca/life/food/have-gluten-or-food-sensitivities-this-could-help/
  Silicon Angle:http://siliconangle.com/blog/2013/10/17/crowdfund-these-smart-gadgets-earring-bluetooth-audio-wrist-allergen-detectors/
  Tender Foodie: http://www.tenderfoodie.com/blog/2013/10/6/interview-w-isabel-hoffmann-her-tellspec-device-can-tell-us.html
  You want to know what's in your food before you buy it, before you order it, and before you eat it - because your health depends on what you eat.
  Many foods contain chemicals and allergens that we want to avoid. But it can be difficult to know whether these chemicals and allergens are in your food or not. How can you tell if your food contains the nutrients you need? What about things like sodium, gluten or trans fats that you might be trying to avoid? Food labels can give us some information if they're available, but they are not always intelligible and some ingredients may not even be reported.
  We have invented a system called TellSpec combining a spectrometer and a unique algorithm to tell you the allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in your food.
  What is TellSpec?TellSpec is a three-part system which includes: (1) a spectrometer scanner (2) an algorithm that exists in the cloud; and (3) an easy-to-understand interface on your smart phone. Just aim the scanner at the food and press the button until it beeps. You can scan directly or through plastic or glass. TellSpec analyzes the findings using the algorithm and sends a report to your phone telling you the allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in the food. TellSpec is a fast, simple, and easy-to-use way to learn what's in your food. We need your help to make it smaller and manufacture it as a handheld device.
  What will TellSpec do?TellSpec will identify allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in foods or beverages.
  TellSpec will warn you when a food contains allergens such as gluten or egg.
  TellSpec will track your daily calories and help you achieve your daily targets.
  TellSpec will tell you about inaccurately reported ingredients like trans fats and give you the background story on mysterious ingredients like tartrazine. TellSpec goes beyond the label!
  TellSpec will track what you eat, and based on your reports of how you feel, it will help identify your food sensitivities.
  TellSpec will help you monitor your intake of toxic chemicals such as mercury, so that you will stay within recommended limits.
  TellSpec will track your intake of essential vitamins and minerals, and help you ensure that you are getting the right amount
  How will it work?Light is made up of particles called photons. When you beam the low-powered laser in the TellSpec scanner at the food, some of the photons are absorbed, raising the energy states of the molecules in the food. Lower energy photons are then reflected back. The spectrometer inside the TellSpec scanner sorts these photons by wavelength and counts them. The resulting numbers, called a spectrum, describe the chemical compounds in the food.
  This spectrum is uploaded to our analysis engine where it is analyzed and correlated with other reference spectra. Information about the allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in the food is then downloaded to you and displayed on your smart phone.
  TellSpec responds to your specific food requirements and preferences. TellSpec is a smart system that learns as you use it, so that you see the information that is of most interest to you.
  An SDK for developers and researchersWe believe that the community can develop applications of TellSpec that go beyond our dreams. So we are also developing a software development kit (SDK) that will provide developers with tools for directly accessing the food analysis data from our servers so that they can create their own amazing applications. The SDK includes source code for iPhone and Android apps, an API for TellSpec's analysis engine, JSON specifications for data interchange, and access to information about each nutrient, chemical, allergen, and ingredient.Global crowdsourcing
  The TellSpec food analysis algorithm learns from each scan. So every time you scan, you not only learn about what's in your food, you also help others learn what's in their food. That's why distributing TellSpecs globally, and into the developing world, is so important to us. As the algorithm learns from reference scans from around the world, the analysis everywhere will get better and better.
  Our goal is to make this amazing system available to everyone, everywhere; and to encourage others to use our tools to make great things for the good of human health.
  What we're developingIn the video, the device shown is a 3-D model of the future industrial design of the TellSpec scanner. TellSpec has developed a scanner and a cloud analysis engine. These work together to gather a spectrum of your food, analyze that spectrum, and display information about the food on your smart phone. We need your help to make it smaller and manufacture it as a handheld device.
  The handheld scanner is a Raman spectrometer. The low-powered laser inside the scanner emits coherent light through the front window. Stimulated light from the sample is then collected through a filter in the window that removes the Rayleigh scattered light. The light then passes through a diffraction grating that disperses the light onto a CCD detector. The CCD detector converts the light into an electrical signal that is then digitized and sent to the smart phone over Bluetooth.
  The smart phone receives the digital spectrum of the food and transmits it to the TellSpec analysis engine which processes it, compares it to reference spectra, and runs a learning algorithm on it. The output is interpreted through a large database, and information about the food is selected and customized for the user. The smart phone then downloads the information and displays it to the user.
  Our designs for the scanner and the user interface are guided by the principle that interested people should be able to use the TellSpec system easily and immediately, without training and without reading a user manual; and they should be able to understand and use the displayed information without an extensive knowledge of food chemistry.
  Technical Specifications
  We need your help
  Until recently, a large and expensive industrial spectrometer would have been needed to gather spectra of adequate resolution and signal strength, but recent developments in miniaturization of optical devices and in nanophotonics have made it possible to manufacture tiny and inexpensive spectrometers. A new and powerful method of analyzing spectra with a learning algorithm has also enabled the use of much weaker signals without loss of accuracy.
  Over the past nine months, we've come a long way in the development of TellSpec. We've developed the analysis engine, coded it, and tested it; we've successfully tested three prototype scanners, including one using a nanochip; we've finished the industrial design for the scanner; we're well along with the user interface design; and we've been doing an independent validation of the underlying algorithm.
  With your help, we can:
  'Manufacture the TellSpec scanner and get all the regulatory approvals needed to ship it.
  'Deploy the food analysis engine on servers that reliably provide quick analysis of the spectra.
  'Develop the SDK for Android and iOS platforms so others can build exciting apps.
  By backing TellSpec, you will be a key part of making this revolutionary technology a reality.
  Reward Tiers
  Production Schedule
  The team behind it
  Isabel and Stephen are working with a team of industry veterans who are passionate about this innovative new way of analyzing what's in your food. Together, we have experience in creating consumer software, hardware, and services in fields ranging from environmental health and preventive medicine to entertainment and education. Now we're excited to build a healthier world by empowering people to make informed choices about what they eat.
  Isabel Hoffmann is CEO and Founder of TellSpec Inc., a biotech company devoted to building a greener and healthier world by empowering people to make informed choices about what they eat. She has a proven track record in leading and scaling early-stage businesses.
  In the past 19 years, she has founded eight companies in the fields of health care, genetics, technology, entertainment and education, achieving consolidated revenues of US$75M, business valuations of US$300M, as well as creating 2,300+ jobs in the North American, European and South American markets. She has been working in the field of preventive medicine for the past decade and co-founded two private medical clinics, Vibrance Medical Group in Beverly Hills, USA, and GenoSolutions in Cascais, Portugal.
  Isabel has been honoured with Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Canada's Top 40 under 40 Award, Canada's National iWAY Award presented by the Canadian Royal Bank and CANARIE Inc., the Women in Technology Award by Bell Mobility, the Canada-America Business Council Award, the University of Toronto's Alumni of the Year Award, and the Maclean's Honor Roll for Canadian Excellence.
  Stephen Watson is CTO and Founder of TellSpec Inc., which brings together laser spectroscopy and a unique mathematical algorithm in a revolutionary system that can analyze the chemical composition of any food.
  He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Toronto. He has been a tenured full professor of mathematics at York University in Toronto since 1993, and has held visiting positions in 14 countries, authored over a hundred published journal articles, and addressed dozens of international symposia.
  Stephen is an inventor of 48 patents and patent applications in the USA, Europe, and Japan for innovations in encryption systems; media encryption, distribution, synchronization, recognition, and bookmarking; user interfaces for media sales and access; and the analysis of food spectra.
  For eight years, Stephen was CTO at Kaleidescape Inc., a consumer electronics company in Sunnyvale, CA, where he developed its powerful IP portfolio and technology, software, and metadata licenses. He led Kaleidescape's successful copyright litigation strategy and was responsible for its partnership, manufacturing, and sales agreements, and export, regulatory, and tax-compliance tactics and planning.
  Please join us
  Help us complete our work on TellSpec, and become one of the first to use it to learn about the allergens, chemicals, nutrients, calories, and ingredients in your food.
  Back TellSpec '' and become part of a revolution, building a healthier world by empowering people to make informed choices.
  Please write on our Facebook wall or tweet to let us know what you like best about TellSpec, how you might use it, and features you'd like to see.
  Risks and challengesWe are pioneers in this new and exciting technology. Our team has successfully tested prototypes of the TellSpec system and we are moving toward production. We are working to mitigate the risks in volume production and analysis and are positioned to work with partners to execute our delivery plan. We are providing the Indiegogo community with our estimate of when we expect to ship beta and production units of the TellSpec scanners.
  Nevertheless, unforeseen challenges may present themselves as we test the optics, build and bring up alpha and beta scanners, deploy the analysis engine on servers, seek certification approvals, release the SDK, and go to manufacturing. We are committed to keeping you informed of our progress in the months following the campaign. In the event that unexpected issues arise in the delivery schedule, we will do our utmost to minimize the impact on our early supporters. We are dedicated to providing you with a great experience.
VIDEO- Dick Cheney = Darth Vader, it's obvious. - YouTube
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 21:24
LocalBitcoins.com: Fastest and easiest way to buy and sell bitcoins
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NAB News Release: NAB Statement on Introduction of Video Programming Legislation by Sen. Rockefeller
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 21:09
  Home >> Newsroom >> NAB Statement on Introduction of Video Programming Legislation by Sen. RockefellerFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENovember 12, 2013
  WASHINGTON, DC -- In response to the introduction of the "Consumer Choice in Online Video Act" by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) today, the following statement can be attributed to NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith:
  "NAB supports efforts to encourage the legal distribution of our highly-valued broadcast programming to on-line platforms, and we look forward to working with Chairman Rockefeller. We remain concerned about proposals that may legitimize theft of copyrighted programming. Copyright theft poses a very real threat to the revenue stream that supports local television and the U.S. network-affiliate TV relationship that is the envy of the world."
  About NABThe National Association of Broadcasters is the premier advocacy association for America's broadcasters. NAB advances radio and television interests in legislative, regulatory and public affairs. Through advocacy, education and innovation, NAB enables broadcasters to best serve their communities, strengthen their businesses and seize new opportunities in the digital age. Learn more at www.nab.org.
VIDEO- Jay Rockefeller quote Internet shouldn't have been invented - YouTube
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 21:01
Rockefeller to Introduce Bill to Bolster Online Video Competition | Variety
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 20:54
  Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, is introducing legislation to bolster the online video market, what he says is an effort to prevent cable and satellite companies from using their power to limit the growth of services like Netflix and Amazon.
  The Consumer Choice in Online Video Act, which Rockefeller intends to introduce on Tuesday afternoon, would bar cable, satellite and large media companies from engaging in ''anti-competitive'' practices against online video distributors. It would do so in part by putting ''reasonable limits'' on contractual provisions in carriage contracts that limit online providers' access to programming.
  An aide to Rockefeller said that the legislation would allow online video providers to choose to be considered like cable and satellite providers, giving them a ''pathway to negotiate for content'' the way that cable and satellite providers do. The 1992 Cable Act included regulations designed to prevent companies from limiting access to channels as a way to stifle competition. If an online service chooses to be treated like a cable or satellite provider, it also would face certain retransmission consent and must carry regulations over the carriage of broadcast signals.
  The legislation also would limit the ability of a cable or satellite company that also provides Internet service to ''degrade'' competitive online video services. Specifics of the legislation have yet to be released.
  A big concern among consumer groups has been that cable and satellite companies will try to stifle competition by implementing more restrictive pricing for their Internet customers based on their usage. Although the legislation would not prevent cable and satellite companies from offering usage-based pricing for their Internet service, the legislation is intended to make billing clearer and more understandable. It also would direct the FCC to ''monitor broadband billing practices to make sure they are not used anticompetitively.''
  Rockefeller's proposed legislation also does not directly address the legality of Aereo, the online provider of broadcast signals that broadcasters are challenging in court. If courts deem that the service is legal, ''then this would clarify then that they would not be subject to retransmission consent payments,'' an aide to Rockefeller said.
  In May, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) introduced legislation designed to end some of the cable and satellite bundling of channels, a primary complaint of consumers facing hefty bills, but his legislation has yet to advance. Rockefeller has the advantage of sitting on a powerful Senate committee, even if his proposals are likely to stir up contentious debate with the cable and satellite industry.
  ''We have all heard the familiar complaint that we have five hundred channels, but there is nothing to watch,'' Rockefeller said in a statement. ''My legislation aims to enable the ultimate ala carte '-- to give consumers the ability to watch the programming they want to watch, when they want to watch it, how they want to watch it, and pay for only what they actually watch.''
Maandag nationale tv-actie voor Filipijnen | nu.nl/media | Het laatste nieuws het eerst op nu.nl
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 20:42
  Dat is dinsdag bekendgemaakt. Vanaf 06.00 uur tot middernacht wordt er die dag aandacht besteed aan de ramp, zowel op televisie als op radio.
  Mensen kunnen die dag bellen om een donatie te geven voor giro 555. Deze is maandag geopend voor giften aan de slachtoffers van de zware tyfoon Haiyan.
  Het Nationaal Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid wordt daarvoor ingericht als actiecentrum. Hoe de programmering die dag eruit gaat zien, wordt later bekendgemaakt.
  Geweldig"Het is geweldig dat de omroepen de inzameling van Giro555 voor de slachtoffers van de Filipijnen mogelijk willen maken door een nationale actie op radio en tv te organiseren", Henri van Eeghen, actievoorzitter van de SHO.
  "We merken dat Nederlanders graag hun betrokkenheid met de slachtoffers laten zien en dat maken de omroepen op deze manier mogelijk."
  SchakelenHet plan is om onder andere bestaande programma's zoals Vandaag de Dag (WNL), Koffietijd (RTL4) en Shownieuws (SBS6) te laten schakelen met het actiecentrum. Dat zegt televisiedirecteur van de NPO Gerard Timmer tegen de NOS.
  "Bellende mensen in het actiecentrum is het plan, bekende en onbekende Nederlanders. Maar we willen ook informatie geven over de Filipijnen. Zo worden er bijvoorbeeld mensen aan het woord gelaten die er wonen om het goede verhaal te laten vertellen."
  ShowWat er niet komt, is een grote afsluitende show aan het einde van de dag. Dat was bijvoorbeeld wel het geval bij eerdere tv-acties zoals bij de aardbeving van Ha¯ti. "Je wilt variren om de impact van de programma's zo groot mogelijk te maken", legt Timmer uit.
  Er wordt wel gedacht aan een op zichzelfstaand kleinschalig programma dat over de actie gaat. "Maar is allemaal iets wat we later pas bekend kunnen maken."
  DWDDDe Wereld Draait Door gaat komende maandag bingon om geld in te zamelen voor de slachtoffers van tyfoon Haiyan. Samen met kijkers wordt een uitzending gemaakt die geheel in het teken staat van de ramp op de Filipijnen, zo meldde de Vara.
  Ge¯nteresseerden die kunnen ''dansen, zingen, dichten, goochelen, rappen of op een andere manier indruk kunnen maken'', kunnen voor minimaal 100 euro een bingonummer kopen, die goed is voor een plek in de studio.
  Tijdens de uitzending draaien presentator Matthijs van Nieuwkerk en tafelheer Marc-Marie Huijbregts afwisselend aan het bingomolentje: wiens nummer valt, mag een halve minuut optreden in het programma.
  VNDe Verenigde Naties lieten eerder weten 220 miljoen euro nodig te hebben om de slachtoffers van de tyfoon Haiyan in de Filipijnen te helpen. De VN heeft 193 lidstaten om financile bijdragen gevraagd.
  Het bedrag komt bovenop de 25 miljoen dollar (18,7 miljoen euro) die de VN al beschikbaar heeft gesteld. ''Het is te vroeg om de omvang van de schade te becijferen, maar het is duidelijk dat de nood hoog is'', aldus noodhulpco¶rdinator Valerie Amos in de Filipijnse hoofdstad Manilla.
  Volgens Amos zijn zo'n 10 miljoen mensen in de Filipijnen door de tyfoon getroffen. Ongeveer 660.000 mensen zijn hun huis kwijt. Volgens de VN is voedsel, water en opvang nodig. Het officile dodental van de ramp is bijna 1800, maar de verwachting is dat dit zal oplopen.
  Bekijk een kaart van het rampgebied:
  Overzicht: Filipijnen vaak getroffen door zware stormen
Douwe Bob interviewt Christina Curry · LINDA.
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 18:54
  Ze praten over experimenteren met drugs, sex en de was doen. Christina Curry flapt er meteen van alles uit, terwijl singer-songwriter Douwe Bob daar eerst een paar wijntjes voor nodig heeft.
  Maar Douwe Bob is vooral nieuwsgierig naar Christina's band met haar ouders Patricia Paay en Adam Curry.
  De beste weedChristina geeft toe dat haar bekende ouders niet erg geschikt zijn voor het ouderschap. Maar ze zijn wel heel open geweest, zelfs over sex en drugs. Als je wilt blowen, kom je maar naar mij. Dan weet je in ieder geval zeker dat je de beste wiet hebt, zei haar vader dan.
  Mannen of vrouwenDouwe vraagt zich ook af of Christina nog ge¯nteresseerd is in mannen? Daar heeft ze geen antwoord op. Maar ze vindt een man pas echt een man als hij een pik in zijn reet heeft gehad.
  Het interview tussen Douwe Bob en Christina Curry is te lezen in de nieuwe LINDA.MEIDEN 03 die nu in de winkel ligt.
  Bekijk snel de fijne backstagevideo.
  videosback stagenieuwsLINDA.meidenbekend
  dinsdag, 12 november 2013
Sen. Jim Inhofe's son, Perry Inhofe, killed in plane crash, according to sources - Owasso - TulsaWorld
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 16:57
  2 imagesAn airplane crash near 8800 block of East 98th Street North in Owasso Nov. 10, 2013. MIKE SIMONS/Tulsa World
  By JARREL WADE, KENDRICK MARSHALL and DYLAN GOFORTH World Staff Writers|Updated 20 hours ago
  OWASSO '-- Dr. Perry Inhofe, the son of U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, died in a fiery plane crash near Owasso on Sunday, according to multiple sources who asked not to be identified.
  Neither law enforcement sources nor the Senator's office would confirm or deny Perry Inhofe's death on Monday.
  Other sources, however, including family friends and government officials, said Perry Inhofe died in the crash.
  Perry Dyson Inhofe would have celebrated his 52nd birthday on Monday.
  The plane that crashed Sunday is a Mitsubishi MU-2B-25 twin turboprop that was built in 1974, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.
  A National Transportation Safety Board briefing Monday evening confirmed that one person was on board and died in the wreck.
  Officials said the post-crash fire has slowed the state Medical Examiner's Office's attempts to positively identify the pilot.
  The Medical Examiner's Office is working with the ''presumed'' pilot's family ''to assist in expediting that process,'' said Aaron Sauer, an NTSB aviation investigator.
  The fire consumed a majority of the aircraft, he said. Despite the blaze, investigators are confident that they can retrieve the necessary information to determine the cause of the crash, Sauer said.
  ''It's certainly too soon to speculate on any type of cause,'' he said Monday.
  Investigators will determine the cause by looking at three things, Sauer said: man, machine and environment.
  Questions about the pilot that will be considered include ''What is his training? What is his experience? What is his background?'' Sauer said.
  Perry Inhofe, an orthopedic surgeon, was a licensed pilot and flight instructor, according to FAA records.
  Federal Aviation Administration records show transaction receipts that indicate that his company, Anasazi Winds LLC, recently bought the aircraft from a company in Utah.
  On Monday morning, the World attempted to call the Utah company's owner, Joseph L. Timmons. A woman who answered confirmed that Timmons had sold the plane in September.
  Records indicate that the plane was one of at least two registered to Perry Inhofe's company.
  Several people witnessed the crash, and the plane was seen burning on the ground after it went down about 3:40 p.m. Sunday in a heavily wooded area near the 8800 block of East 98th Street North. Smoke from the crash was visible from miles away.
  According to FlightAware, a flight tracking website, the plane took off from Salina, Kan., and was en route to Tulsa International Airport on a 43-minute flight.
  The plane had been traveling at speeds in excess of 300 mph before decelerating at 3:43 p.m. According to FlightAware, the plane's speed dropped to 98 mph at 3:44 p.m. In the final recorded data, the plane was flying south at 110 mph at 3:50 p.m. at an altitude of 1,100 feet.
  The flight first deviated from its south and southeast direction at 3:44 p.m., according to FlightAware.
  The plane headed northeast and then west at 3:45, increasing its speed to 117 mph.
  The final five entries FlightAware reports are between 3:45 and 3:50 p.m. and indicate that the plane remained traveling at a speed of 110 mph at an altitude of 1,100 feet.
  The aircraft's most recent flights before Sunday were Sept. 15, Sept. 12 (two flights), Aug. 21 and Aug. 19, according to FlightAware.
  The Sept. 15 flight was from Salt Lake City, where the previous owners lived, to Tulsa International Airport. It is unclear from the records how the plane got from Tulsa to Salina before Sunday's crash.
  Justin Allison of Tulsa was flying a plane minutes behind the one that crashed and said he heard air traffic controllers report that a plane in front of him had experienced engine failure.
  Allison said he, his wife and their 10½-week-old child were 90 seconds from landing when officials directed them to elevate from 2,500 feet to 5,000 feet and remain in a holding pattern.
  ''I couldn't hear the pilot, but I heard the tower declare an emergency for him, which is a red-flag raiser, because usually the pilot will declare the emergency,'' Allison said. ''It makes you wonder what was going on in that cabin.''
  General Aviation News, a Wisconsin-based publication, reported in September that three generations of Inhofes '-- Jim Inhofe, Perry Inhofe, and Cole Inhofe '-- were pilots.
  FAA records show that Perry Coleman ''Cole'' Inhofe, the son of Perry Inhofe, received his student pilot license in June.
  Perry Inhofe graduated from Duke University in 1984 and attended medical school at Washington University in St. Louis, according to the Oklahoma Surgical Hospital's website. He is a hand surgeon with Central States Orthopedics in Tulsa, according to the organization's website.
  On the website, a video shows Perry Inhofe explaining how he grew interested in his profession.
  ''At the time, I wasn't interested in medicine. I was an engineer. I liked electrical engineering,'' Inhofe said about his undergraduate work in the video. ''While I enjoyed most subjects that I studied (in medical school), my interests remained with engineering and with the mechanical applications to the structure of the body.''
  Jim Inhofe serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel released a statement Monday, saying: ''I was deeply saddened to learn that Senator Jim Inhofe's son Perry was killed in a plane crash this weekend. My thoughts and prayers are with Jim and (his wife) Kay and their family as they mourn this terrible loss.''
  Tulsa Mayor Dewey Bartlett also sent a statement of condolences to the Inhofe family Monday afternoon.
  ''It is with deep sorrow that we give our condolences to Tulsa's former Mayor Jim Inhofe and his family,'' Bartlett said in a statement. ''Dr. Perry Inhofe was a man of great integrity, skilled as a surgeon, and an example for all of us.''
This Chinese Exchange Just Pushed the Value of Bitcoins Over $200 | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 16:01
  BTC China CEO Bobby Lee. Photo: BTC China
  A single bitcoin is now worth $200, thanks to a little-known exchange in China that is suddenly pushing the digital currency to new heights.
  The exchange, called BTC China, has been growing rapidly for the past few months as demand for bitcoins has surged. Today, BTC China accounts for just under 33 percent of trades. That's ahead of long-time bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox (23 percent) and another rival, the Slovenia-based BitStamp (25 percent). Mt. Gox has long been the most popular exchange '-- and the most well known '-- but it has now fallen behind not one but two rivals.
  BTC China seems to be riding a speculative mini-bubble that has boosted bitcoins' value by more than a third since the federal government shut down the Silk Road online drug market, which accepted payments in bitcoin, about three weeks ago. On Tuesday, bitcoins crested over $200 for the first time since their wild runup last spring. That's about ¥1,220.
  ''There's been huge pickup in trading of bitcoins this year,'' says Bobby Lee, the CEO of BTC China. At one point, during the currency's last price surge last April, bitcoins were trading at the equivalent of $308 on his exchange, Lee says. That's about $50 above their peaks at other exchanges.
  BTC China's trade volume has surged in the past month. Chart: Bitcoincharts.com
  As you can see in this chart, BTC China has been surging since the Silk Road seizure, and it spiked even higher last week when news surfaced that China's search giant, Baidu, was now accepting bitcoins. Merchants on China's version of eBay '-- Alibaba's Taobao.com '-- are starting to accept bitcoins, but the price is really being driven by speculators, says Lee. ''I think the Chinese really look to bitcoin as an excellent digital store of value, sort of like the new electronic version of gold,'' he says. ''The Chinese like the idea of buying bitcoins to allow for deferred gratification from their savings.''
  Lee, a Stanford Computer Science graduate who once ran Yahoo Groups here in the U.S., took over as BTC China CEO in the spring, after leaving a job as VP of Technology with Walmart China. Apparently, he has crypto currency in his blood. His brother is Charlie Lee, the founder of Bitcoin's alternative, Litecoin.
  BTC China was launched in June 2011 by Linke Yang '-- now head of marketing '-- and a technically adept partner who built the site's code. Fittingly, for a Bitcoin business, this partner wishes to remain anonymous. ''He's been a little bit shy. He has preferred to not reveal his name publicly,'' says Lee.
  Even within the bitcoin community, BTC China isn't well known name, says Dan Held, the co-Founder of Zeroblock, a bitcoin market data company. ''It's just a really surprising runup,'' he says. ''BTC China came out of nowhere.''
  But China is clearly interested in bitcoins. It's now the number-two source of downloads of the peer-to-peer client software that powers the bitcoin network.
  To trade on BTC China, you need to have a bank account in China. So for the moment, the exchange is insulated from the U.S. regulatory problems that have caused Mt. Gox and other bitcoin businesses so much trouble. U.S. banks have been reluctant to do business with bitcoin companies, and that has made exchanging U.S. dollars for Bitcoins a tricky business.
  In China, the regulatory environment is a ''grey area,'' says Lee, but he expects things to eventually sort out. ''We want to be legitimate and we want to be compliant with all laws.''
The Rise and Fall of the World's Largest Bitcoin Exchange | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 15:57
  The building that houses the Mt. Gox offices in Tokyo. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
  Mt. Gox is based in Japan, the spiritual home of bitcoin. WIRED recently asked for a meeting with the company's principals, hoping to understand why the company is having so much trouble transferring money in the U.S. But they declined, even though we were making the trip from San Francisco to Tokyo.
  'Because it's such a difficult time for us, we can't talk to journalists without first talking to our lawyers''-- Mt. Gox
  So we turned up at the company's offices, hoping to change their minds. Apparently, the company has recently moved locations. It's now on the second floor of a small office building in Tokyo's Shibuya neighborhood, not far from the city's largest railway station. Its name is listed on the placard just inside the front door, as is something called the Bitcoin Cafe. When we asked the building's Japanese receptionist to speak with Gonzague Gay-Bouchery, the company's manager of business development, she suggested we sit in the lobby while she called up to the company, and eventually, she told us that Gay-Bouchery was out of the office. When we asked for another employee, we were told to wait again, and eventually, we were greeted by someone who represented the company.
  He told us that both Gay-Bouchery and Mark Karpeles were out of town, and he declined to talk about the company's business. ''Because it's such a difficult time for us, we can't talk to journalists without first talking to our lawyers,'' he said. He did tell us that the Bitcoin Cafe is a Mt. Gox project set to open in December, but he wouldn't let us see the space or take photos, and he wouldn't give his name.
  The company has declined to talk to us on several other occasions. And though it may very well have a good legal reason for keeping mum, the longer Mt. Gox remains in lockdown, the more concern it raises across the globe. When he was interviewed in April, Karpeles oversaw the exchange that booked 70 percent of Bitcoin trades. Now that number is closer to 14 percent, according to the Genesis Block.
  Roger Ver, photographed in San Francisco. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
  One person who will speak for Mt. Gox is Roger Ver. Ver lives across the street from Mt. Gox, and he just happens to be one of the world's most enthusiastic and vocal bitcoin evangelists. He helps run the Tokyo Bitcoin Meetup Group, and some have called him the ''Bitcoin Jesus.''
  In June 2011, when a hacker broke into the Mt. Gox system, wired a large amount of money to himself, and temporarily drove the value of bitcoins on the exchange to nearly nothing, Ver helped the company sort out the mess. And amidst its more recent troubles, with many claiming that Mt. Gox is insolvent, he shot a video from inside the company's offices, assuring investors that the company's has ample funds in its Japanese bank account and that it was just having trouble moving this money across borders.
  Skeptics call this ''the hostage video,'' a play on Ver's wooden delivery. But he says that although they asked him to make the video, he wasn't coerced in any way, and he's adamant that Mt. Gox is merely having trouble reaching agreements with U.S. banks, which are needed to transfers funds into U.S. accounts. ''I consider the guys at Mt. Gox my friends,'' he says. ''Right before my eyes, Mark logged into his bank account at the biggest bank in Japan and showed me the account balances in their accounts. That's not proof that Mt. Gox is solvent or not. But it's definitely proof that '... whatever is causing all their wire transfer delays, it is not a lack of money in the bank.''
  But he also paints the company as a small operation that isn't necessarily suited to the global, around-the-clock nature of internet business. When Mt. Gox was hacked, he says, he worked to help right the company's system until late on a Friday, and when everyone finally headed home and he asked what time he should return the next day to get the exchange back up and running, he was told they would all take a break until the following Monday.
  'A lot of the early bitcoiners are 19-year-old kids, still living at home with their parents, and they don't have any business experience''-- Roger Ver
  For Ver, Mt. Gox and Karpeles are very much a microcosm of the larger bitcoin community. ''Bitcoin is coming from a bunch of young computer nerds who saw this thing and thought it was neat,'' he says. ''A lot of the early bitcoiners are 19-year-old kids, still living at home with their parents, and they don't have any business experience.''
  Though he considers Karpeles and others at Mt. Gox his friends, Ver doesn't recommend buying bitcoins there. Prices on Mt. Gox are higher than they are on other exchanges '-- a reflection of the difficulties customers have withdrawing their funds. ''Anybody who has enough information about what's going on in the bitcoin world, you would not buy your bitcoins on Mt. Gox,'' he says.
  Dan Held, the founder of bitcoin market data company, Zero Block, has less sympathy for Mt. Gox. He points out that the U.S. government warned businesses like Mt. Gox that they'd need to register as money services businesses in March of this year. But Mt. Gox didn't do this until months later '-- after the feds has seized its bank accounts. ''A lot of it, I think, is incompetence,'' he says.
  Despite its woes, Mt. Gox is still pulling in new customers. According to Ver, this is because of its reputation as the world's biggest bitcoin exchange. ''They just think Mt. Gox is the biggest and the best, and they don't know,'' he says of new customers. If they don't know about Mt. Gox's trading delays, a large part of that blame must go to Mt. Gox itself, which has downplayed its difficulties on its website.
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Dijsselbloem wil dat Rabobank aangifte doet tegen Libor-fraudeurs - nrc.nl
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 15:25
  Minister Dijsselbloem wil dat de Rabobank aangifte doet tegen handelaren die de Libor-rente manipuleerden. Foto ANP / Martijn Beekman
  BinnenlandEconomieMinister Dijsselbloem (Financin, PvdA) dringt er bij de Rabobank op aan aangifte te doen tegen de oud-medewerkers van de bank die betrokken zijn geweest bij de manipulatie van de Libor-rentetarieven. Dit bevestigen verschillende bronnen die op de hoogte zijn van de afwikkeling van het Libor-schandaal bij NRC Handelsblad.
  Tot nu zijn alleen disciplinaire maatregelen genomen tegen de veertien handelaren en managers die nog bij Rabobank werken, zoals het niet uitbetalen van bonussen. Daarnaast zijn vijf mensen ontslagen. Dijsselbloem zei onlangs nog dat hij 'niet begrijpt waarom de daders van dit type fraude hiermee weg lijken te komen'.
  Nog geen besluit RabobankDonderdagochtend heeft Dijsselbloem in een persoonlijk onderhoud met Rinus Minderhoud, de interim-bestuursvoorzitter van de Rabobank, op het belang van aangifte gewezen. Donderdagmiddag heeft Dijsselbloem nog een keer met Minderhoud gebeld. Rabobank heeft nog niet besloten of het aangifte gaat doen, zegt een woordvoerder vanochtend.
  Twee weken geleden kreeg Rabobank een boete opgelegd van 774 miljoen euro door Amerikaanse, Britse en Nederlandse toezichthouders. Het OM schikte met de bank voor 70 miljoen euro: hierdoor werden de bank en de huidige medewerkers gevrijwaard van strafvervolging.
  Aangifte niet nodig voor vervolgingHet Openbaar Ministerie zou ook zonder een aangifte van de Rabobank de oud-medewerkers kunnen vervolgen. Dijsselbloem heeft ook druk uitgeoefend op het OM om tot vervolging over te gaan. In een brief aan de Tweede Kamer afgelopen vrijdag schreef hij dat het OM hierover binnenkort een beslissing zal nemen.
  De woordvoerder van Rabobank zegt dat:
  ''het aan het OM is om een besluit te nemen. Wij hebben hun alle informatie aangeleverd die hiervoor nodig is. Wij hebben als werkgever de disciplinaire maatregelen genomen die binnen onze maatregelen liggen.''
  Woensdag overlegt de Tweede Kamer met Dijsselboem over het schandaal bij de Rabobank en het tekortschietende toezicht door De Nederlandsche Bank.
  Lees meer over:fraudeJeroen DijsselbloemLiborRabobank
Philippines - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  Republic of the PhilippinesRepºblika ng Pilipinas
  Motto: "Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan at Makabansa"[1]"For God, People, Nature, and Country"Anthem: Lupang HinirangChosen LandCapitalManila[2]14°35'²N121°0'²E>> / >>14.583°N 121.000°E>> / 14.583; 121.000Largest cityQuezon CityOfficial languagesRecognised regional languagesOptional languagesaDemonymFilipinoGovernmentUnitarypresidentialconstitutionalrepublic - PresidentBenigno Aquino III - Vice PresidentJejomar Binay - Senate PresidentFranklin Drilon - House SpeakerFeliciano Belmonte, Jr. - Chief JusticeMaria Lourdes SerenoLegislatureCongress - Upper houseSenate - Lower houseHouse of RepresentativesIndependence from Spainb and the United States - EstablishedApril 27, 1565 - DeclaredJune 12, 1898 - Self-governmentMarch 24, 1934 - RecognizedJuly 4, 1946 - Current constitutionFebruary 2, 1987 Area - Land300,000 km2[4] (73rd)115,831 sq mi - Water (%)0.61[5] (inland waters)Population - 2013 estimate98,630,000[6] (12th) - Density308.0/km2 (43rd)797.2/sq miGDP (PPP)2013 estimate - Total$454.286 billion[7] - Per capita$4,660[7]GDP (nominal)2013 estimate - Total$272.207 billion[7] - Per capita$2,792[7]Gini (2009)43.0[8]medium ·44thHDI (2013)0.654[9]medium ·114thCurrencyPeso (Filipino: piso) ('‚±) (PHP)Time zonePST(UTC+8) - Summer (DST)not observed (UTC+8)Date formatmm/dd/yyyyDrives on theright[10]Calling code+63ISO 3166 codePHInternet TLD.pha.^a The 1987 Philippine constitution specifies, "Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis."[11]b.^b Philippine revolutionaries declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, but the Spanish claim of sovereignty was passed from Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris. This led to the Philippine''American War.The Philippines (i//; FI-lÉ-peenz; Filipino: Pilipinas[ËŒpÉªlÉªËpinÉs]), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Repºblika ng Pilipinas), is a sovereignisland country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan; west across the South China Sea sits Vietnam; southwest is the island of Borneo across the Sulu Sea, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia; while to the east it is bounded by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons, but also endows it with abundant natural resources and some of the world's greatest biodiversity. At 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi), the Philippines is the 73rd-largest country in the world,[12] consisting of an archipelago of 7,107 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila while its most populous city is Quezon City.
  With a population of more than 98 million people,[13] the Philippines is the seventh-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. An additional 12 million Filipinos live overseas, comprising one of the world's largest and most influential diasporas.[14] Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples who brought with them influences from Malay, Hindu, and Islamic societies. Various nations were established under the rule of Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans. Trade with China also introduced Chinese culture and settlement, which remain present to this day.
  The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 marked the beginning of an era of Spanish interest and eventual colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy L"pez de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. The Spanish Empire began to settle with the arrival of Miguel L"pez de Legazpi from New Spain (present day-Mexico) in 1565 who established the first Spanish settlement in the archipelago, which remained a Spanish colony for more than 300 years. During this time, Manila became the Asian hub of the Manila''Acapulco galleonfleet.
  As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, there followed in quick succession the Philippine Revolution, which spawned the short-lived First Philippine Republic; the Spanish''American War; and the Philippine''American War. In the aftermath, the United States emerged as the dominant power; aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands. After World War II,[15] the Treaty of Manila established the Philippine Republic as an independent nation.[16] Since then, the Philippines has had an often tumultuous experience with democracy, with popular "people power" movements overthrowing a dictatorship in one instance, but also underlining the institutional weaknesses of its constitutional republic in others. The nation's large size and economic potential have led it to be classified as a middle power.[17]
  EtymologyThe name Philippines is named in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Spanish explorer Ruy L"pez de Villalobos during his expedition in 1542 named the islands of Leyte and SamarFelipinas after the then Prince of Asturias. Eventually the name Las Islas Filipinas would be used to cover all the islands of the archipelago. Before that became commonplace, other names such as Islas del Poniente (Islands of the West) and Magellan's name for the islands San Lzaro were also used by the Spanish to refer to the islands.[18][19][20][21][22]
  The official name of the Philippines has changed several times in the course of the country's history. During the Philippine Revolution, the Malolos Congress proclaimed the establishment of the Repºblica Filipina or the Philippine Republic. From the period of the Spanish''American War (1898) and the Philippine''American War (1899''1902) until the Commonwealth period (1935''46), American colonial authorities referred to the country as the Philippine Islands, a translation of the Spanish name. During the American period,[clarification needed When?] the name Philippines began to appear and it has since become the country's common name.[23] Since independence, the official name of the country has been the Republic of the Philippines.
  HistoryPrehistory and early migration wavesThe metatarsal of Callao Man is reported to have been reliably dated by uranium-series dating to 67,000 years ago[24] thereby replacing the Tabon Man of Palawan, carbon-dated to around 24,000 years ago,[25][26] as the oldest human remains found in the archipelago. Negritos were among the archipelago's earliest inhabitants, but their appearance in the Philippines has not been reliably dated.[27] There are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos. F. Landa Jocano theorizes that the ancestors of the Filipinos evolved locally. Wilhelm Solheim's Island Origin Theory[28] postulates that the peopling of the archipelago transpired via trade networks originating in the antediluvianSundaland area around 48000 to 5000 BCE rather than by wide-scale migration. The Austronesian Expansion Theory states that Malayo-Polynesians coming from Taiwan began migrating to the Philippines around 4000 BCE, displacing earlier arrivals.[29][30] Whatever the case, by 1000 BCE the inhabitants of the archipelago had developed into four kinds of social groups: hunter-gathering tribes, warrior societies, highland plutocracies, and maritime-centered harbor principalities.[31]
  Tantric PeriodThe 1st millennium saw the rise of the harbor principalities and their growth into Maritime states composed of autonomous barangays independent of, or allied with, larger nations which were either Malaythalassocracies led by Datus or Indianized Kingdoms led by Rajahs. The chief among which were the Rajahnate of Butuan, which attained prominence under the rule of Rajah Sri Bata Shaja,[32] the Kingdom of Tondo, ruled over by the Lakandula dynasty[33][34] and the Rajahnate of Cebu[35] which was led by Rajamuda Sri Lumay. Other nations in this era include the State of Ma-i and the Confederation of Madja-as. Sulu, before its Islamization was also an Indianized Kingdom under its first ruler, Rajah Sipad the Older.[36] The great epics; the Hinilawod, Darangan, Biag Ni Lam-Ang and etc. trace their origins to this era.[37]
  Islamic PeriodThe 1300s heralded the arrival and eventual spread of the Islamic religion in the Philippine archipelago. In 1380, Karim ul' Makdum and Shari'ful Hashem Syed Abu Bakr, an Arab trader born in Johore, arrived in Sulu from Malacca and established the Sultanate of Sulu by converting Sulu's Rajah and marrying his daughter.[38][39] Also, at the end of the 15th century, Shariff Mohammed Kabungsuwan of Johor introduced Islam in the island of Mindanao and he subsequently married Paramisuli, an Iranun Princess from Mindanao, and established the Sultanate of Maguindanao. The sultanate system even extended itself further and the Confederation of sultanates in Lanao was a logical extension of this.[40] Eventually, Islam had begun to spread out from the southern Philippines into the north. Even Manila itself was nominally islamized since the reign of Sultan Bolkiah in 1485 to 1521, wherein, the Sultanate of Brunei subjugated Tondo by installing the Muslim, Rajah Suleiman to the throne.[41][42][43][44]
  The rivalries between the disparate Datus, Rajahs, Sultans and Lakans together with their respective states competing over the limited territory and people of the islands eventually simplified Spanish colonization by allowing its conquistadors to effectively employ a strategy of divide and conquer for rapid conquest.[45]
  Colonial PeriodIn 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines and claimed the islands for Spain.[46] Colonization began when Spanish explorer Miguel L"pez de Legazpi arrived from Mexico in 1565 and formed the first European settlements in Cebu. In 1571, after dealing with the local royal families in the wake of the Tondo Conspiracy and defeating the Chinese pirate warlord Limahong, the Spanish established Manila as the capital of the Spanish East Indies.[47][48]
  Spanish rule contributed significantly to bringing political unity to the archipelago. From 1565 to 1821, the Philippines was governed as a territory of the Viceroyalty of New Spain and then was administered directly from Madrid after the Mexican War of Independence. The Manila galleons and its large naval fleet linking Manila to Acapulco traveled once or twice a year between the 16th and 19th centuries. Trade introduced foods such as corn, tomatoes, potatoes, chili peppers, and pineapples from the Americas.[48]Roman Catholic missionaries converted most of the lowland inhabitants to Christianity and founded schools, a university, and hospitals. While a Spanish decree introduced free public schooling in 1863, efforts in mass public education mainly came to fruition during the American period.[49]
  During its rule, the Spanish fought off various indigenous revolts and several external colonial challenges from Chinese pirates, the Dutch, and the Portuguese. In an extension of the fighting of the Seven Years' War, British forcesoccupied Manila from 1762 to 1764. They found local allies like Diego and Gabriela Silang who took the opportunity to lead a revolt, but Spanish rule was eventually restored following the 1763 Treaty of Paris.[45][50][51]
  In the 19th century, Philippine ports opened to world trade and shifts started occurring within Philippine society. Many Spaniards born in the Philippines (criollos) and those of mixed ancestry (mestizos) became wealthy. The influx of Spanish and Latino settlers secularized churches and opened up government positions traditionally held by Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula (peninsulares). The ideals of revolution also began to spread through the islands. Criollo dissatisfaction resulted in the revolt in Cavite El Viejo in 1872 that was a precursor to the Philippine Revolution.[45][52][53][54][55]
  Revolutionary sentiments were stoked in 1872 after three priests '-- Mariano G"mez, Jos(C) Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora (collectively known as Gomburza) '-- were accused of sedition by colonial authorities and executed.[52][53] This would inspire a propaganda movement in Spain, organized by Marcelo H. del Pilar, Jos(C) Rizal, and Mariano Ponce, lobbying for political reforms in the Philippines. Rizal was eventually executed on December 30, 1896, on charges of rebellion.[56] As attempts at reform met with resistance, Andr(C)s Bonifacio in 1892 established the secret society called the Katipunan, a society along the lines of the freemasons, which sought independence from Spain through armed revolt.[54] Bonifacio and the Katipunan started the Philippine Revolution in 1896. A faction of the Katipunan, the Magdalo of Cavite province, eventually came to challenge Bonifacio's position as the leader of the revolution and Emilio Aguinaldo took over.
  American Occupational PeriodIn 1898, the Spanish-American War began in Cuba and reached the Philippines. Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence from Spain in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898, and the insurgent First Philippine Republic was established the following year. Meanwhile, the islands were ceded by Spain to the United States for 20 million US dollars in the 1898 Treaty of Paris.[57] As it became increasingly clear the United States would not recognize the First Philippine Republic, the Philippine''American War broke out. The Americans then destroyed the first Philippine Republic, nevertheless, it was survived by three cantonal republics: The Republic of Zamboanga, The Republic of Negros and The Tagalog Republic. Yet, these too were crushed and total American control was expanded over the entirety of the archipelago which was administered as an insular area.[58]
  In 1935, the Philippines was granted Commonwealth status. Plans for independence over the next decade were interrupted by World War II when the Japanese Empire invaded and established a puppet government. Many atrocities and war crimes were committed during the war such as the Bataan Death March and the Manila massacre that culminated during the Battle of Manila.[59] Allied troops defeated the Japanese in 1945. By the end of the war it is estimated over a million Filipinos had died.[60]
  IndependenceOn July 4, 1946, the Philippines attained its independence.[5] Immediately after World War II, the Philippines faced a number of challenges. The country had to be rebuilt from the ravages of war. It also had to come to terms with Japanese collaborators. Meanwhile, disgruntled remnants of the Hukbalahap communist rebel army that had previously fought against and resisted the Japanese continued to roam the rural regions. This threat to the government was dealt with by Secretary of National Defense and later President Ramon Magsaysay, but sporadic cases of communist insurgency continued to flare up long afterward.[61][62] In 1965, Ferdinand Marcos was elected president. Nearing the end of his second term and constitutionally barred from seeking a third, he declared martial law on September 21, 1972. By using political divisions, the tension of the Cold War, and the specter of communist rebellion and Islamic insurgency as justifications, he governed by decree.[63]
  On August 21, 1983, Marcos' chief rival opposition leader Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. ignored warnings and returned from exile in the United States. He was assassinated as he was taken off the plane at the Manila International Airport (now called the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in his memory). With political pressure building, Marcos eventually called for snap presidential elections in 1986.[61]Corazon Aquino, Benigno's widow, was persuaded to become the presidential candidate and standard bearer of the opposition. The elections were widely considered rigged when Marcos was proclaimed the winner. This led to the People Power Revolution, instigated when two long-time Marcos allies '' Armed Forces of the Philippines Vice Chief-of-Staff Fidel V. Ramos and Secretary of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile '' resigned and barricaded themselves in Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame. Exhorted by the CardinalArchbishop of ManilaJaime Sin, people gathered in support of the rebel leaders and protested on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA). In the face of mass protests and military defections, Marcos and his allies fled to Hawaii and into exile. Corazon Aquino was recognized as president.[62][64]
  The return of democracy and government reforms after the events of 1986 were hampered by national debt, government corruption, coup attempts, a persistent communist insurgency, and military conflict with Islamic separatists. The economy improved during the administration of Fidel V. Ramos, who was elected president in 1992.[65] However, the economic improvements were negated with the onset of the East Asian financial crisis in 1997. In 2001, amid charges of corruption and a stalled impeachment process, Ramos' successor Joseph Estrada was ousted from the presidency by the 2001 EDSA Revolution and replaced by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Her administration that lasted 9 years was tied with graft and corruption and numerous political scandals.[66][67][68] As a result of the May 2010 elections, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III was elected president.
  Politics and governmentThe Philippines has a democratic government.[69] It is a constitutional republic with a presidential system. It is governed as a unitary state with the exception of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which is largely free from the national government. There have been attempts to change the government to a federal, unicameral, or parliamentary government since the Ramos administration.[70][71]
  The President functions as both head of state and head of government and is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president is elected by popular vote for a single six-year term, during which he or she appoints and presides over the cabinet.[3] The bicameralCongress is composed of the Senate, serving as the upper house, with members elected to a six-year term, and the House of Representatives, serving as the lower house, with members elected to a three-year term. The senators are elected at large while the representatives are elected from both legislative districts and through sectoral representation.[3] The judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court, composed of a Chief Justice as its presiding officer and fourteen associate justices, all of whom are appointed by the President from nominations submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council.[3]
  Security and defensePhilippine defense is handled by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and is composed of three branches: the Air Force, the Army, and the Navy (including the Marine Corps). Civilian security is handled by Philippine National Police under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
  In the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the largest separatist organization, the Moro National Liberation Front, is now engaging the government politically. Other more militant groups like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the communist New People's Army, and the Abu Sayyaf still roam the provinces, but their presence has decreased in recent years due to successful security provided by the Philippine government.[72][73]
  The Philippines has been an ally of the United States since World War II. A mutual defense treaty between the two countries was signed in 1951. The Philippines supported American policies during the Cold War and participated in the Korean and Vietnam wars. It was a member of the now dissolved SEATO, a group that was intended to serve a role similar to NATO and that included Australia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[74] After the start of the War on Terror, the Philippines was part of the coalition that gave support to the United States in Iraq.[75] The United States designated the country a major non-NATO ally. The Philippines is currently working to end its domestic insurgency with help from the United States.
  International relationsThe Philippines' international relations are based on trade with other nations and the well-being of the 11 million overseas Filipinos living outside the country.[76] As a founding and active member of the United Nations, the Philippines has been elected several times into the Security Council. Carlos P. Romulo was a former President of the United Nations General Assembly. The country is an active participant in the Human Rights Council as well as in peacekeeping missions, particularly in East Timor.[77][78][79][80]
  In addition to membership in the United Nations, the country is also a founding and active member of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), an organization designed to strengthen relations and promote economic and cultural growth among states in the Southeast Asian region.[81] It has hosted several summits and is an active contributor to the direction and policies of the bloc.[82] The relations it currently enjoys with other Southeast Asian states are in contrast to its relations with them before the 1970s when it was one of the allies of the US Forces against, with then the North Vietnam and was heavily disputing Sabah with Malaysia; although, disagreements continue to exist due to the Spratly Islands.[83]
  The Philippines values its relations with the United States.[76] It supported the United States during the Cold War and the War on Terror and is a major non-NATO ally. Despite this history of goodwill, controversies related to the presence of the now former U.S. military bases in Subic Bay and Clark and the current Visiting Forces Agreement have flared up from time to time.[76] Japan, the biggest contributor of official development assistance to the country,[84] is thought of as a friend. Although historical tensions still exist on issues such as the plight of comfort women, much of the animosity inspired by memories of World War II have faded.[85]
  Relations with other nations are generally positive. Shared democratic values ease relations with Western and European countries while similar economic concerns help in relations with other developing countries. Historical ties and cultural similarities also serve as a bridge in relations with Spain and Latin America. Despite issues such as domestic abuse and war affecting overseas Filipino workers and obstacles posed by Islamic insurgency in Mindanao, relations with Middle Eastern countries (including Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) are friendly as seen in the continuous employment of more than two million overseas Filipinos living there.
  With communism no longer the threat it once was, once hostile relations in the 1950s between the Philippines and the People's Republic of China have improved greatly. Issues involving Taiwan, the Spratly Islands, and concerns of expanding Chinese influence, however, still encourage a degree of caution.[85] Recent foreign policy has been mostly about economic relations with its Southeast Asian and Asia-Pacific neighbors.[76]
  The Philippines is an active member of the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Latin Union, the Group of 24, and the Non-Aligned Movement.[3] It is also seeking to strengthen relations with Islamic countries by campaigning for observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.[86][87]
  Administrative divisionsThe Philippines is divided into three island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. As of March 2010[update], these were divided into 17 regions, 80 provinces, 138 cities, 1,496 municipalities, and 42,025 barangays.[88] In addition, Section 2 of Republic Act No. 5446 asserts that the definition of the territorial sea around the Philippine archipelago does not affect the claim over Sabah.[89]
  A clickable map of the Philippines exhibiting its 17 regions and 80 provinces.
  GeographyThe Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands[3] with a total land area, including inland bodies of water, of approximately 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi). Its 36,289 kilometers (22,549 mi) of coastline makes it the country with the 5th longest coastline in the world.[3][92] It is located between 116° 40', and 126° 34' E. longitude and 4° 40' and 21° 10' N. latitude and is bordered by the Philippine Sea to the east, the South China Sea to the west, and the Celebes Sea to the south. The island of Borneo is located a few hundred kilometers southwest and Taiwan is located directly to the north. The Moluccas and Sulawesi are located to the south-southwest and Palau is located to the east of the islands.[3]
  Most of the mountainous islands are covered in tropical rainforest and volcanic in origin. The highest mountain is Mount Apo. It measures up to 2,954 meters (9,692 ft) above sea level and is located on the island of Mindanao. The Galathea Depth in the Philippine Trench is the deepest point in the country and the third deepest in the world. The trench is located in the Philippine Sea. The longest river is the Cagayan River in northern Luzon. Manila Bay, upon the shore of which the capital city of Manila lies, is connected to Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the Philippines, by the Pasig River. Subic Bay, the Davao Gulf, and the Moro Gulf are other important bays. The San Juanico Strait separates the islands of Samar and Leyte but it is traversed by the San Juanico Bridge.[93]
  Situated on the western fringes of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippines experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity. The Benham Plateau to the east in the Philippine Sea is an undersea region active in tectonicsubduction.[94] Around 20 earthquakes are registered daily, though most are too weak to be felt. The last major earthquake was the 1990 Luzon earthquake.[95] There are many active volcanoes such as the Mayon Volcano, Mount Pinatubo, and Taal Volcano. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991 produced the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century.[96] Not all notable geographic features are so violent or destructive. A more serene legacy of the geological disturbances is the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, the area represents a habitat for biodiversity conservation, the site also contains a full mountain-to-the-sea ecosystem and has some of the most important forests in Asia.[97] The white sand beaches that make Boracay a popular vacation getaway are made of coral remnants.
  Due to the volcanic nature of the islands, mineral deposits are abundant. The country is estimated to have the second-largest gold deposits after South Africa and one of the largest copper deposits in the world.[98] It is also rich in nickel, chromite, and zinc. Despite this, poor management, high population density, and environmental consciousness have resulted in these mineral resources remaining largely untapped.[98]Geothermal energy, however, is another product of volcanic activity that the country has harnessed more successfully. The Philippines is the world's second-biggest geothermal producer behind the United States, with 18% of the country's electricity needs being met by geothermal power.[99]
  Flora and faunaThe Philippines' rainforests and its extensive coastlines make it home to a diverse range of birds, plants, animals, and sea creatures.[100] It is one of the ten most biologically megadiverse countries and is at or near the top in terms of biodiversity per unit area.[101][102][103] Around 1,100 land vertebrate species can be found in the Philippines including over 100 mammal species and 170 bird species not thought to exist elsewhere.[104]Endemic species include the tamaraw of Mindoro, the Visayan spotted deer, the Philippine mouse deer, the Visayan warty pig, the Philippine flying lemur, and several species of bats.[105] The Philippines has among the highest rates of discovery in the world with sixteen new species of mammals discovered in the last ten years. Because of this, the rate of endemism for the Philippines has risen and likely will continue to rise.[106]
  The Philippines lacks large predators, with the exception of snakes, such as pythons and cobras, saltwater crocodiles and birds of prey, such as the national bird, known as the Philippine Eagle, which scientists suggest as the largest eagle in the world.[107][108] The largest crocodile in captivity was captured in the southern island of Mindanao.[109] Other native animals include the palm civet cat, the dugong, and the Philippine tarsier associated with Bohol. With an estimated 13,500 plant species in the country, 3,200 of which are unique to the islands,[104] Philippine rainforests boast an array of flora, including many rare types of orchids and rafflesia.[110][111] The narra is considered as the most important type of hardwood.
  Philippine maritime waters encompass as much as 2,200,000 square kilometers (849,425 sq mi) producing unique and diverse marine life and are an important part of the Coral Triangle.[89] The total number of corals and marine fish species was estimated at 500 and 2,400 respectively.[100][104] However, new records [112][113] and species discoveries[114][115] continuously increase these numbers underlining the uniqueness of the marine resources in the Philippines. The Apo Reef is the country's largest contiguous coral reef system and the second-largest in the world.[116] The Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea was declared a World Heritage Site in 1993. Philippine waters also sustain the cultivation of pearls, crabs, and seaweeds.[100][117]
  Deforestation, often the result of illegal logging, is an acute problem in the Philippines. Forest cover declined from 70% of the country's total land area in 1900 to about 18.3% in 1999.[118][119] Many species are endangered and scientists say that Southeast Asia, which the Philippines is part of, faces a catastrophic extinction rate of 20% by the end of the 20th century.[120] According to Conservation International, "the country is one of the few nations that is, in its entirety, both a hotspot and a megadiversity country, placing it among the top priority hotspots for global conservation."[110]
  ClimateThe Philippines has a tropical maritime climate and is usually hot and humid. There are three seasons: tag-init or tag-araw, the hot dry season or summer from March to May; tag-ulan, the rainy season from June to November; and tag-lamig, the cool dry season from December to February. The southwest monsoon (from May to October) is known as the Habagat, and the dry winds of the northeast monsoon (from November to April), the Amihan.[121] Temperatures usually range from 21 °C(70 °F) to 32 °C(90 °F) although it can get cooler or hotter depending on the season. The coolest month is January; the warmest is May.[3][122]
  The average yearly temperature is around 26.6 °C(79.9 °F).[121] In considering temperature, location in terms of latitude and longitude is not a significant factor. Whether in the extreme north, south, east, or west of the country, temperatures at sea level tend to be in the same range. Altitude usually has more of an impact. The average annual temperature of Baguio at an elevation of 1,500 meters (4,900 ft) above sea level is 18.3 °C(64.9 °F), making it a popular destination during hot summers.[121] Likewise, Tagaytay is a favored retreat.
  Sitting astride the typhoon belt, most of the islands experience annual torrential rains and thunderstorms from July to October,[123] with around nineteen typhoons entering the Philippine area of responsibility in a typical year and eight or nine making landfall.[124][125][126] Annual rainfall measures as much as 5,000 millimeters (200 in) in the mountainous east coast section but less than 1,000 millimeters (39 in) in some of the sheltered valleys.[123] The wettest known tropical cyclone to impact the archipelago was the July 1911 cyclone, which dropped over 1,168 millimeters (46.0 in) of rainfall within a 24-hour period in Baguio City.[127]Bagyo is the local term for a tropical cyclone in the Philippines.[127] For the PAGASA, at least 19-22 storms would enter in their area and 10-13 storms would hit the Philippines.
  EconomyThe national economy of the Philippines is the 41st largest in the world, with an estimated 2013 gross domestic product (nominal) of $272.207 billion.[7] Primary exports include semiconductors and electronic products, transport equipment, garments, copper products, petroleum products, coconut oil, and fruits.[5] Major trading partners include the United States, Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Germany, Taiwan, and Thailand.[5] Its unit of currency is the Philippine peso ('‚± or PHP).
  A newly industrialized country, the Philippine economy has been transitioning from one based on agriculture to one based more on services and manufacturing. Of the country's total labor force of around 38.1 million,[5] the agricultural sector employs close to 32% but contributes to only about 14% of GDP. The industrial sector employs around 14% of the workforce and accounts for 30% of GDP. Meanwhile the 47% of workers involved in the services sector are responsible for 56% of GDP.[128][129]
  The unemployment rate as of July 2009 stands at around 7.6% and due to the global economic slowdown inflation as of September 2009 reads 0.70%.[129] Gross international reserves as of July 2011 are $83.201 billion.[130] In 2004, public debt as a percentage of GDP was estimated to be 74.2%; in 2008, 56.9%.[5] Gross external debt has risen to $66.27 billion.[5] The country is a net importer.[129]
  After World War II, the country was for a time regarded as the second wealthiest in East Asia, next only to Japan.[76][131][132] However, by the 1960s its economic performance started being overtaken. The economy stagnated under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos as the regime spawned economic mismanagement and political volatility.[76][132] The country suffered from slow economic growth and bouts of economic recession. Only in the 1990s with a program of economic liberalization did the economy begin to recover.[76][132]
  The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis affected the economy, resulting in a lingering decline of the value of the peso and falls in the stock market. But the extent it was affected initially was not as severe as that of some of its Asian neighbors. This was largely due to the fiscal conservatism of the government, partly as a result of decades of monitoring and fiscal supervision from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in comparison to the massive spending of its neighbors on the rapid acceleration of economic growth.[65] There have been signs of progress since. In 2004, the economy experienced 6.4% GDP growth and 7.1% in 2007, its fastest pace of growth in three decades.[133][134][135] Yet average annual GDP growth per capita for the period 1966''2007 still stands at 1.45% in comparison to an average of 5.96% for the East Asia and the Pacific region as a whole and the daily income for 45% of the population of the Philippines remains less than $2.[136][137] Despite enjoying sustained economic growth during the 2000s (decade), as of 2010[update], the country's economy remains smaller than those of its Southeast Asian neighbors Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore in terms of GDP and GDP per capita (nominal).[138]
  Other incongruities and challenges exist. The economy is heavily reliant on remittances which surpass foreign direct investment as a source of foreign currency. Regional development is uneven with Luzon '' Metro Manila in particular '' gaining most of the new economic growth at the expense of the other regions,[139] although the government has taken steps to distribute economic growth by promoting investment in other areas of the country. Despite constraints, service industries such as tourism and business process outsourcing have been identified as areas with some of the best opportunities for growth for the country.[129][140]Goldman Sachs includes the country in its list of the "Next Eleven" economies.[141] but China and India have emerged as major economic competitors.[142]
  Goldman Sachs estimates that by the year 2050, it will be the 14th largest economy in the world. HSBC also projects the Philippine economy to become the 16th largest economy in the world, 5th largest economy in Asia and the largest economy in the South East Asian region by 2050.[143]
  The Philippines is a member of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Asian Development Bank which is headquartered in Mandaluyong City, the Colombo Plan, the G-77, and the G-24 among other groups and institutions.[5]
  DemographicsPopulation in Philippines increased from 1990 to 2008 by approximately 28 million, a 45% growth in that time frame.[144] The first official census in the Philippines was carried out in 1877 and recorded a population of 5,567,685.[145] As of 2011, the Philippines has become the world's 12th most populous nation, with a population of over 94 million. It is estimated that half of the population resides on the island of Luzon. The population growth rate between 1995 to 2000 of 3.21% decreased to an estimated 1.95% for the 2005 to 2010 period, but remains a contentious issue.[146][147] The population's median age is 22.7 years with 60.9% aged from 15 to 64 years old.[5] Life expectancy at birth is 71.94 years, 75.03 years for females and 68.99 years for males.[148]
  There are about 11 million Filipinos outside the Philippines.[149] Since the liberalization of United States immigration laws in 1965, the number of people in the United States having Filipino ancestry has grown substantially. In 2007 there were an estimated 3.1 million.[150][151] According to the United States Census Bureau, immigrants from the Philippines made up the second largest group after Mexico that sought family reunification.[152] Some two million Filipinos work in the Middle East, with nearly a million in Saudi Arabia alone.[153]
  EthnicityAccording to the 2000 census, 28.1% of Filipinos are Tagalog, 13.1% Cebuano, 9% Ilocano, 7.6% Bisaya/Binisaya, 7.5% Hiligaynon, 6% Bikol, 3.4% Waray, and 25.3% as "others",[5][154] which can be broken down further to yield more distinct non-tribal groups like the Moro, the Kapampangan, the Pangasinense, the Ibanag, and the Ivatan.[155] There are also indigenous peoples like the Igorot, the Lumad, the Mangyan, the Bajau, and the tribes of Palawan.[156]Negritos, such as the Aeta and the Ati, are considered among the earliest inhabitants of the islands.[157]
  Filipinos generally belong to several Asian ethnic groups classified linguistically as part of the Austronesian or Malayo-Polynesian speaking people.[156] It is believed that thousands of years ago Austronesian-speaking Taiwanese aborigines migrated to the Philippines from Taiwan, bringing with them knowledge of agriculture and ocean-sailing, eventually displacing the earlier Negrito groups of the islands.[158] They were later supplanted by arrivals of Chinese and Japanese in the northern islands, and Malays, Indians, Arabs in the southern islands. Later arrivals during the colonial period include more Japanese, Indians, Spaniards, Americans, as well as other European peoples. Intermarriage between the groups is evident in the major cities and urban areas.[159][160][161] Descendants of such mixed couples are known as mestizos.[162]
  The two most important non-indigenous minorities include the Chinese and the Spaniards. Chinese Filipinos, mostly descended from immigrants from Fujian, China after 1898, number 2 million, although there is an estimated 28 million Filipinos who have partial Chinese ancestry, stemming from precolonial Chinese migrants.[163] Chinese Filipinos have a prominent role in the country's private sector, and are part of the larger bamboo network, a network of overseas Chinese businesses operating in the markets of Southeast Asia that share common family and cultural ties.[164] Other significant minorities include Americans, mostly White, numbering 300,000, and Koreans, numbering 96,000.
  CitiesMetro Manila is the most populous of the 12 defined metropolitan areas in the Philippines and the 11th most populous in the world. As of the 2007 census, it had a population of 11,553,427, comprising 13% of the national population.[165] Including suburbs in the adjacent provinces (Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal) of Greater Manila, the population is around 21 million.[165][166]
  Metro Manila's gross regional product is estimated as of July 2009 to be '‚±468.4 billion (at constant 1985 prices) and accounts for 33% of the nation's GDP.[167] In 2011, it ranked as the 28th wealthiest urban agglomeration in the world and the 2nd in Southeast Asia, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.[168]Cebu City in the Visayas and Davao City in Mindanao are other important urban centers.
  Largest cities or towns of the PhilippinesPhilippines 2010 CensusRankNameRegionPop.RankNameRegionPop.1Quezon CityNational Capital Region2,761,72011Para±aqueNational Capital Region588,1262ManilaNational Capital Region1,652,17112Dasmari±asCALABARZON575,8173CaloocanNational Capital Region1,489,04013ValenzuelaNational Capital Region575,3564Davao CityDavao Region1,449,29614Las Pi±asNational Capital Region552,5735Cebu CityCentral Visayas866,17115General SantosSOCCSKSARGEN538,0866Zamboanga CityZamboanga Peninsula807,12916MakatiNational Capital Region529,0397AntipoloCALABARZON677,74117BacoorCALABARZON520,2168PasigNational Capital Region669,77318BacolodWestern Visayas511,8209TaguigNational Capital Region644,47319MuntinlupaNational Capital Region459,94110Cagayan de OroNorthern Mindanao602,08820San Jose del MonteCentral Luzon454,553LanguageEthnologue lists 175 individual languages in the Philippines, 171 of which are living languages while 4 no longer have any known speakers. They are part of the Borneo''Philippines group of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is itself a branch of the Austronesian language family.[156]
  According to the 1987 Philippine Constitution, Filipino and English are the official languages. Filipino is a standardized version of Tagalog, spoken mainly in Metro Manila and other urban regions. Both Filipino and English are used in government, education, print, broadcast media, and business. The constitution designates regional languages such as Bicolano, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Kapampangan, Pangasinan, Tagalog, and Waray-Waray as auxiliary official languages and mandates that Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis.[11]
  Other languages such as Aklanon, Cuyonon, Ifugao, Itbayat, Ivatan, Kalinga, Kamayo, Kankanaey, Kinaray-a, Maguindanao, Maranao, Masbate±o, Romblomanon, Surigaonon, Tausug, Yakan, and several Visayan languages are prevalent in their respective provinces. The Chavacano language, a creole language born from Spanish, is also spoken in Cavite and Zamboanga.[170]
  ReligionAccording to the 2000 census[update], the religious distribution of the country's population was as follows:[171]
  The Philippines is a secular nation having a constitution separating the state and church. However, more than 90% of the population are Christians: about 80% belong to the Roman Catholic Church while 10% belong to other Christian denominations, such as the Iglesia ni Cristo, the Philippine Independent Church, United Church of Christ in the Philippines (a mainline Protestantunited church), and Jehovah's Witnesses.[172] As a result of Spanish cultural influence, the Philippines is one of two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia, the other being East Timor, a former Portuguese colony.
  Between 5% and 10% of the population are Muslim, most of whom live in parts of Mindanao, Palawan, and the Sulu Archipelago '' an area known as Bangsamoro or the Moro region.[173][174] Some have migrated into urban and rural areas in different parts of the country. Most Muslim Filipinos practice Sunni Islam according to the Shafi'i school.[42]Philippine traditional religions are still practiced by many aboriginal and tribal groups, often syncretized with Christianity and Islam. Animism, folk religion, and shamanism remain present as undercurrents of mainstream religion, through the albularyo, the babaylan, and the manghihilot. Buddhism, Taoism, and Chinese folk religion, are dominant in Chinese communities.[174] There are also followers of Hinduism, Sikhism,[160] and Judaism and Baha'i.[175]
  EducationThe National Statistics Office reports a simple literacy rate of 93.4% and a functional literacy rate of 84.1% for 2003.[5][129][136] Literacy is about equal for males and females.[5] Spending for education is around 2.5% of GDP.[5] According to the Department of Education, or DepEd, there were 44,846 elementary schools and 10,384 secondary schools registered for the school year 2009''2010[176] while the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) lists 2,180 higher education institutions, 607 of which are public and 1,573 private.[177] Classes start in June and end in March. The majority of colleges and universities follow a semester calendar from June to October and November to March. There are a number of foreign schools with study programs.[3] Republic Act No. 9155 gives the framework of basic education in the Philippines and provides for compulsory elementary education and free high school education.[178]
  Several government agencies are involved with education. The Department of Education covers elementary, secondary, and nonformal education; the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) administers the post-secondary middle-level education training and development; and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) supervises the college and graduate academic programs and degrees as well as regulates standards in higher education.[179] In 2004, madaris were mainstreamed in 16 regions nationwide mainly in Muslim areas in Mindanao under the auspices and program of the Department of Education.[180] Public universities are all non-sectarian entities, and are further classified as State University and College (SUC) or Local College and University (LCU).[177] SUCs are funded by the national government as determined by the Philippine Congress.[181] The University of the Philippines is the national university of the Philippines.[182]
  HealthMost of the national burden of health care is taken up by private health providers. In 2006, total expenditures on health represented 3.8% of GDP. 67.1% of that came from private expenditures while 32.9% was from government. External resources accounted for 2.9% of the total. Health expenditures represented about 6.1% of total government spending. Per capita total expenditure at average exchange rate was $52.[183] The proposed national health budget for 2010 is '‚±28 billion (about $597 million) or '‚±310 ($7) per person.[184] The government share of total spending on health has declined steadily, and with more people, there has been less to spend per person.
  There are an estimated 90,370 physicians or 1 per every 833 people, 480,910 nurses, 43,220 dentists, and 1 hospital bed per every 769 people.[183] Retention of skilled practitioners is a problem. 70% of nursing graduates go overseas to work. The country is the biggest supplier of nurses.[185] In 2001 there were about 1,700 hospitals, of which about 40% were government-run and 60% private. Cardiovascular diseases account for more than 25% of all deaths. According to official estimates, 1,965 cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) were reported in 2003, of which 636 had developed acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Other estimates have as many as 12,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in 2005.[186]
  InfrastructureTransportationThe transportation infrastructure in the country is relatively underdeveloped. Partly this is due to the mountainous terrain and the scattered geography of the islands, but it is also the result of the government's persistent underinvestment in infrastructure. In 2003, only 3.6% of GDP went to infrastructure development which was significantly lower than that of some of its neighbors.[123] Consequently, while there are 203,025 kilometers (126,154 mi) of roads in the country, only around 20% of the total is paved.[187]
  Nevertheless there are many ways to get around, especially in urban areas. Buses, jeepneys, taxis, and motorized tricycles are commonly available in major cities and towns. In 2007, there were about 5.53 million registered motor vehicles with registration increasing at an average annual rate of 4.55%.[188] Train services are provided by three main railway networks that serve different areas of Metro Manila and parts of Luzon: the Manila Light Rail Transit System (LRT), the Manila Metro Rail Transit System (MRT), and the Philippine National Railways (PNR).
  As an archipelago, inter-island travel via watercraft is often necessary. The busiest seaports are Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga.[189] Passenger ships and other sea vessels such as those operated by 2GO Travel and Sulpicio Lines serve Manila, with links to various cities and towns. In 2003, the 919-kilometer (571 mi) Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH), an integrated set of highway segments and ferry routes covering 17 cities was established.[190]
  Some rivers that pass through metropolitan areas, such as the Pasig River and Marikina River, have air-conditioned commuter ferries. The Pasig River Ferry Service has numerous stops in Manila, Makati, Mandaluyong, Pasig and Marikina.[191] There are 3,219 kilometers (2,000 mi) of navigable inland waterways.[5]
  There are 85 public airports in the country, and around 111 more that are private.[187] The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is the main international airport. Other important airports include the Clark International Airport, Mactan-Cebu International Airport, Francisco Bangoy International Airport and Zamboanga International Airport. Philippine Airlines, Asia's oldest commercial airline still operating under its original name, and Cebu Pacific, the leading low-cost airline, are the major airlines serving most domestic and international destinations.[192][193][194]
  CommunicationsThe Philippines has a sophisticated cellular phone industry and a high concentration of users.[195] As of 2008, there are about 67.9 million cellular phone subscribers in the Philippines.[196]Text messaging is a popular form of communication and has fostered a culture of quick greetings and forwarded jokes among Filipinos. In 2007, the nation sent an average of one billion SMS messages per day.[197] Out of this growing number of avid text message senders, over five million of them use their cellular phones as virtual wallets, making it a leader among developing nations in providing financial transactions over cellular networks.[198]
  The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company commonly known as PLDT is the leading telecommunications provider. It is also the largest company in the country.[195][199] Its wholly owned subsidiaries Smart Communications and Piltel, along with Globe Telecom of the Ayala Group, BayanTel, and Sun Cellular are the major cellular service providers in the country.
  There are approximately 383 AM and 659 FM radio stations and 297 television and 873 cable television stations.[200] Estimates for internet penetration in the Philippines vary widely ranging from a low of 2.5 million to a high of 24 million people.[201][202]Social networking and watching videos are among the most frequent internet activities.[203][204]
  Culture and societyPhilippine culture is a combination of Eastern and Western cultures. The Philippines exhibits aspects found in other Asian countries with a Malay[205] heritage, yet its culture also displays a significant amount of Spanish and American influences. Traditional festivities known as barrio fiestas (district festivals) to commemorate the feast days of patron saints are common. The Moriones Festival and Sinulog Festival are a couple of the most well-known. These community celebrations are times for feasting, music, and dancing. Some traditions, however, are changing or gradually being forgotten due to modernization. The Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company has been lauded for preserving many of the various traditional folk dances found throughout the Philippines. They are famed for their iconic performances of Philippine dances such as the tinikling and singkil that both feature the use of clashing bamboo poles.[206]
  One of the most visible Hispanic legacies is the prevalence of Spanish names and surnames among Filipinos. However, a Spanish name and surname does not necessarily denote Spanish ancestry. This peculiarity, unique among the people of Asia, came as a result of a colonial decree, the Claver­a edict, for the systematic distribution of family names and implementation of the Spanish naming system on the population.[207] The names of many streets, towns, and provinces are also in Spanish. Spanish architecture has left an imprint in the Philippines in the way many towns were designed around a central square or plaza mayor, but many of the buildings bearing its influence were demolished during World War II.[33] Some examples remain, mainly among the country's churches, government buildings, and universities. Four Philippine baroque churches are included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the San Agust­n Church in Manila, the Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte, the Nuestra Se±ora de la Asunci"n (Santa Mar­a) Church in Ilocos Sur, and the Santo Toms de Villanueva Church in Iloilo.[208]Vigan in Ilocos Sur is also known for the many Hispanic-style houses and buildings preserved there.[209]
  The common use of the English language is an example of the American impact on Philippine society. It has contributed to the ready acceptance and influence of American pop cultural trends. This affinity is seen in Filipinos' love of fast food, film, and music. Fast food outlets are found on many street corners. American global fast food chain stalwarts have entered the market, but local fast food chains like Goldilocks and most notably Jollibee, the leading fast food chain in the country, have emerged and compete successfully against their foreign rivals.[210][211] Filipinos regularly listen to and watch contemporary American, Asian, and European music and film just as they enjoy Original Pilipino Music (also known as OPM) and local films.
  CuisinePhilippine cuisine has evolved over several centuries from its Malayo-Polynesian origins to become a mixed cuisine with many Hispanic, Chinese, American, and other Asian influences that have been adapted to local ingredients and the Filipino palate to create distinctively Filipino dishes. Dishes range from the very simple, like a meal of fried salted fish and rice, to the elaborate, such as the paellas and cocidos created for fiestas. Popular dishes include lech"n, adobo, sinigang, kare-kare, tapa, crispy pata, pancit, lumpia, and halo-halo. Some common local ingredients used in cooking are calamondins, coconuts, saba (a kind of short wide plantain), mangoes, milkfish, and fish sauce. Filipino taste buds tend to favor robust flavors but the cuisine is not as spicy as those of its neighbors.[211][212]
  Unlike many of their Asian counterparts, Filipinos do not eat with chopsticks; they use Western cutlery. However, possibly due to rice being the primary staple food and the popularity of a large number of stews and main dishes with broth in Philippine cuisine, the main pairing of utensils seen at the Filipino dining table is that of spoon and fork, not knife and fork.[213] The traditional way of eating with the hands known as kamayan is seen more often in less urbanized areas.[214]
  Mythology and literaturePhilippine mythology has been handed down primarily through the traditional oral folk literature of the Filipino people. While each unique ethnic group has its own stories and myths to tell, Hindu and Spanish influences can nonetheless be detected in many cases. Philippine mythology mostly consists of creation stories or stories about supernatural creatures, such as the aswang, the manananggal, the diwata/engkanto, and nature. Some popular figures from Philippine mythologies are Maria Makiling, Lam-Ang, and the Sarimanok.[215]
  Philippine literature comprises works usually written in Filipino, Spanish, or English. Some of the most known were created in the 19th century. Francisco Balagtas the poet and playwright who wrote Florante at Laura is recognized as a preeminent writer in the Filipino language. Jos(C) Rizal wrote the novels Noli Me Tngere (Touch Me Not) and El Filibusterismo (The Filibustering, also known as The Reign of Greed) and is considered a national hero. His depiction of the injustices of Spanish rule, and his death by firing squad, inspired other Philippine revolutionaries to seek independence. In the 20th century, among those officially recognized as National Artists of the Philippines in literature are NVM Gonzalez, Nick Joaquin, F. Sionil Jose, and Alejandro Roces.[216]
  MediaPhilippine media uses mainly Filipino and English. Other Philippine languages, including various Visayan languages are also used, especially in radio due to its ability to reach remote rural locations that might otherwise not be serviced by other kinds of media. The dominant television networks ABS-CBN, GMA and TV5 also have extensive radio presence.[217]
  The entertainment industry is vibrant and feeds broadsheets and tabloids with an unending supply of details about celebrities and sensationalist scandals du jour. Drama and fantasy shows are anticipated as are Latin telenovelas, Asianovelas, and anime. Daytime television is dominated by game shows, variety shows, and talk shows such as Eat Bulaga and It's Showtime.[218]Philippine cinema has a long history and is popular domestically, but has faced increasing competition from American, Asian and European films. Critically acclaimed directors and actors include Lino Brocka and Nora Aunor for films like Maynila: Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Manila: In the Claws of Light) and Himala (Miracle). In recent years it has become common to see celebrities flitting between television and movies and then moving into politics provoking concerns.[219]
  SportsVarious sports and pastimes are popular in the Philippines including basketball, boxing, cockfighting, volleyball, football, badminton, karate, taekwondo, billiards, ten-pin bowling, chess, and sipa. Motocross, cycling, and mountaineering are also becoming popular. Basketball is played at both amateur and professional levels and is considered to be the most popular sport in the Philippines.[220] In almost every corner of the cities, there is a basketball court.[206]
  The Philippines has participated in the Summer Olympic Games since 1924, making it the first country in Southeast Asia to compete and win a medal.[221] The country had competed in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except when they participated in the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics. The Philippines is also the first tropical nation to compete at the Winter Olympics.
  Traditional Philippine games such as luksung baka, patintero, piko, and tumbang preso are still played primarily as children's games among the youth.[222][223]Sungka is a traditional native Philippine board game. Card games are popular during festivities, with some, including pusoy and tong-its, being used as a form of illegal gambling. Mahjong is played in some Philippine communities. The yo-yo, a popular toy in the Philippines, was introduced in its modern form by Pedro Flores with its name from the Ilokano language.[224]
  Arnis (Eskrima or Kali in some regions) is the national martial art and sport.[225] Today there are said to be almost as many Philippine fighting styles as there are islands in the Philippines. In 1972, the Philippine government included Filipino martial arts into the national sports arena. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports also incorporated them into the physical education curriculum for high school and college students.
  Some Filipinos recognized for their achievements include Francisco Guilledo, Flash Elorde, Nonito Donaire and Manny Pacquiao in boxing; Paulino Alcntara in football (soccer); Carlos Loyzaga, Robert Jaworski, and Ramon Fernandez in basketball; Efren Reyes in billiards; Eugene Torre in chess; and Rafael Nepomuceno in bowling.[226][227][228]
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Retrieved August 4, 2010. ^Fox, Robert B. (1970). The Tabon Caves: Archaeological Explorations and Excavations on Palawan. National Museum. p. 44. ASIN B001O7GGNI. Retrieved 2009-12-16. ^Scott, William Henry. (1984). Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History. Quezon City: New Day Publishers. p. 15. ISBN 971-10-0227-2. ^Scott, William Henry. (1984). Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History. Quezon City: New Day Publishers. p. 138. ISBN 971-10-0227-2. "Not one roof beam, not one grain of rice, not one pygmy Negrito bone has been recovered. Any theory which describes such details is therefore pure hypothesis and should be honestly presented as such." ^Solheim, Wilhelm G., II. (2006). Archeology and Culture in Southeast Asia. University of the Philippines Press. pp. 57''139. ISBN 978-971-542-508-7.^Solheim, Wilhelm G., II. (January 2006). Origins of the Filipinos and Their Languages. Archived from the original on 2008-08-03. 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Retrieved 2010-01-05. ^Zialcita, Fernando Nakpil. (2005). Authentic Though not Exotic: Essays on Filipino Identity. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press. p. 281. ISBN 971-550-479-5. ^Rowthorn, Chris and Greg Bloom. (2006). Philippines (9th ed.). Lonely Planet. p. 48. ISBN 1-74104-289-5. ^Zibart, Eve. (2001). The Ethnic Food Lover's Companion: Understanding the Cuisines of the World. Menasha Ridge Press. p. 277. ISBN 0-89732-372-6. ^Lopez, Mellie Leandicho. (2006). A Handbook of Philippine Folklore. University of the Philippines Press. ISBN 971-542-514-3. ^Republic of the Philippines. National Commission for Culture and the Arts. The National Artists of the Philippines. Retrieved 2009-12-26 from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Website.^Country profile: The Philippines. (2009-12-08). BBC News. Retrieved 2009-12-20.^Santiago, Erwin (2010-04-12). AGB Mega Manila TV Ratings (April 7''11): Agua Bendita pulls away. Retrieved 2010-05-23 from the Philippine Entertainment Portal Website.^"The Philippines' celebrity-obsessed elections". (2007-04-26). The Economist. Retrieved 2010-01-15.^Viera, Odete Maria and Swarnalata Vemuri. [c. 2002]. Philippines: Sports and Recreation[dead link]. Cultural Profiles Project. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). Retrieved 2009-12-20. (archived from the original on 2013-08-23)^"The Games of the VIII Olympiad: Official Report (part 1, page 91)". la84foundation.org (in French). French Olympic Committee. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2012. ^Mga Larong Kinagisnan [Games One Grows Up With]. Hagonoy.com. (archived from the original on 2007-11-06)^Mga Larong Pilipino [Philippine Games]. (2009). Tagalog at NIU. Retrieved 2009-12-19 from the Northern Illinois University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, SEAsite Project.^Yo-yo. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved 2010-01-10.^Republic of the Philippines. (Approved: 2009-12-11). An Act Declaring Arnis as the National Martial Art and Sport of the Philippines. Retrieved 2010-02-18 from the Senate of the Philippines Website.^"Billiard Congress of America: Hall of Fame Inductees". (2009). Retrieved 2009-12-20 from the Billiard Congress of America Website.^"9 named to Philippine Sports Hall of Fame" (archived fromm the original on 2013-01-15). (2010-04-24). The Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-04-24.^Mga Kilalang Pilipino [Known Filipinos]. (n.d.) (in Filipino). Tagalog at NIU. Retrieved 2010-04-25 from the Northern Illinois University, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, SEAsite Project.External linksGovernmentGeneral informationBooks and articlesWikimediaOther Articles Related to the Philippines
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Philippines, China oil firms eye deal in disputed sea | The Japan Times
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 15:18
  MANILA '' A Filipino-British company has begun talks with China's state-owned offshore oil producer for a deal to jointly explore for oil and gas in the Reed Bank, a vast offshore area in dispute between China and the Philippines, a Filipino official said Wednesday.
  Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla said the talks between London-based Forum Energy PLC and China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC, were at a preliminary stage. He added a commercial agreement could hopefully be reached despite the long-raging disputes over the Reed Bank.
  The talks were being held abroad, mostly recently in Hong Kong, he said.
  The alternative to not entering into a business partnership ''is not to drill, probably forever.'' Petilla said.
  President Benigno Aquino III said any such deal with China would have to conform to Philippine laws. The Reed Bank northwest of the Philippine province of Palawan lies clearly within his country's exclusive economic zone, Aquino said.
  The territorial conflict has hampered oil exploration in the offshore area, Petilla said, but added the Philippines needed to find a way to tap its potentially huge oil and gas deposits to meet his country's growing energy demand. Natural gas deposits at a nearby offshore field called Malampaya are expected to run out in 2024, he said, adding it takes about a decade to develop such a gas field.
  China and the Philippines, along with Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, have been contesting ownership of the clusters of mostly barren islands, islets, reefs and surrounding waters in the South China Sea for years. There have been fears that the disputes could spark Asia's next major armed conflict and block free passage in the busy sea lanes, where the bulk of the oil and cargo that fuel Asia's bustling economies is transported.
  Chinese ships tried to drive away a Philippine exploration vessel at the Reed Bank in March 2011. A Philippine general deployed two air force planes but the Chinese patrol ships had left by the time the aircraft reached the contested area.
USS George Washington battle group ordered to Philippines for typhoon relief | WTKR.com
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 15:16
  Posted on: 9:54 am, November 12, 2013, by Matt Knight, updated on: 10:06am, November 12, 2013
  The USS George Washington (U.S. Navy file photo)
  Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has ordered the aircraft carrier USS George Washington and other Navy ships to make best speed for the Philippines.
  Latest on the relief efforts in the Philippines
  The aircraft carrier, which carries 5,000 Sailors and more than 80 aircraft, is currently in Hong Kong for a port visit. The crew is being recalled early from shore leave and the ship is expected to be underway later this evening.
  In company with the carrier will be the cruisers USS Antietam and USS Cowpens, and the destroyer USS Mustin. The supply ship USNS Charles Drew is already underway and will rendezvous with the group as they get closer. USS Lassen got underway yesterday for the region. Embarked on board USS George Washington, is Carrier Air Wing Five.
  CVW-5 is a collection of aircraft designed to perform various functions including disaster relief and includes the ''Golden Falcons'' of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 12 flying the MH-60S Seahawk; and the ''Saberhawks'' of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 77 flying the MH-60R Seahawk.
  As needed, these ships and aircraft will be able to provide humanitarian assistance, supplies, and medical care in support of the ongoing efforts led by the government and military of the Republic of the Philippines.
  The ships should be on station within 48-72 hours. The Defense Department is continuing to work closely with the Philippine government to determine what, if any, additional assets may be required.
Nearly Every Mass Shooting In The Last 20 Years Shares One Thing In Common, & It's NOT Weapons
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 15:07
  By Dan Roberts
  Nearly Every Mass Shooting In The Last 20 Years Shares One Thing In Common, & It's NOT Weapons
  AmmoLand Gun News
  Manasquan, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- Nearly every mass shooting incident in the last twenty years, and multiple other instances of suicide and isolated shootings all share one thing in common, and its not the weapons used.
  The overwhelming evidence points to the signal largest common factor in all of these incidents is the fact that all of the perpetrators were either actively taking powerful psychotropic drugs or had been at some point in the immediate past before they committed their crimes.
  Multiple credible scientific studies going back more then a decade, as well as internal documents from certain pharmaceutical companies that suppressed the information show that SSRI drugs ( Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitors ) have well known, but unreported side effects, including but not limited to suicide and other violent behavior. One need only Google relevant key words or phrases to see for themselves. www.ssristories.com is one popular site that has documented over 4500 '' Mainstream Media '' reported cases from around the World of aberrant or violent behavior by those taking these powerful drugs.
  The following list of mass shooting perpetrators and the drugs they were taking or had been taking shortly before their horrific actions was compiled and published to Facebook by John Noveske, founder and owner of Noveske Rifleworks just days before he was mysteriously killed in a single car accident. Is there a link between Noveske's death and his ''outting'' of information numerous disparate parties would prefer to suppress, for a variety of reasons ?
  I leave that to the individual readers to decide. But there is most certainly a documented history of people who ''knew to much'' or were considered a ''threat'' dying under extraordinarily suspicious circumstances.
  From Katherine Smith, a Tennessee DMV worker who was somehow involved with several 9/11 hijackers obtaining Tennessee Drivers Licenses, and was later found burned to death in her car, to Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Gary Webb, who exposed a CIA Operation in the 80'²s that resulted in the flooding of LA Streets with crack cocaine and was later found dead from two gunshot wounds to the head, but was officially ruled as a ''suicide'', to Frank Olson, a senior research micro biologist who was working on the CIA's mind control research program MKULTRA.
  Want to make a difference for the right to keep and bear arms? Then join the 2A Flashmob. http://tiny.cc/qcsq5w
  After Olson expressed his desire to leave the program, he was with a CIA agent in a New York hotel room, and is alleged to have committed ''suicide'' by throwing himself off the tenth floor balcony. In 1994, Olson's sons were successful in their efforts to have their fathers body exhumed and re examined in a second autopsy by James Starrs, Professor of Law and Forensic science at the National Law Center at George Washington University. Starr's team concluded that the blunt force trauma to the head and injury to the chest had not occurred during the fall but most likely in the room before the fall. The evidence was called ''rankly and starkly suggestive of homicide.'' Based on his findings, in 1996 the Manhattan District Attorney opened a homicide investigation into Olson's death, but was unable to find enough evidence to bring charges.
  As I said, I leave it to the individual readers to make up their own minds if Noveske suffered a similar fate. On to the list of mass shooters and the stark link to psychotropic drugs.
  Eric Harris age 17 (first on Zoloft then Luvox) and Dylan Klebold aged 18 (Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado), killed 12 students and 1 teacher, and wounded 23 others, before killing themselves. Klebold's medical records have never been made available to the public.Jeff Weise, age 16, had been prescribed 60 mg/day of Prozac (three times the average starting dose for adults!) when he shot his grandfather, his grandfather's girlfriend and many fellow students at Red Lake, Minnesota. He then shot himself. 10 dead, 12 wounded.Cory Baadsgaard, age 16, Wahluke (Washington state) High School, was on Paxil (which caused him to have hallucinations) when he took a rifle to his high school and held 23 classmates hostage. He has no memory of the event.Chris Fetters, age 13, killed his favorite aunt while taking Prozac.Christopher Pittman, age 12, murdered both his grandparents while taking Zoloft.Mathew Miller, age 13, hung himself in his bedroom closet after taking Zoloft for 6 days.Kip Kinkel, age 15, (on Prozac and Ritalin) shot his parents while they slept then went to school and opened fire killing 2 classmates and injuring 22 shortly after beginning Prozac treatment.Luke Woodham, age 16 (Prozac) killed his mother and then killed two students, wounding six others.A boy in Pocatello, ID (Zoloft) in 1998 had a Zoloft-induced seizure that caused an armed stand off at his school.Michael Carneal (Ritalin), age 14, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded..A young man in Huntsville, Alabama (Ritalin) went psychotic chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.Andrew Golden, age 11, (Ritalin) and Mitchell Johnson, aged 14, (Ritalin) shot 15 people, killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others.TJ Solomon, age 15, (Ritalin) high school student in Conyers, Georgia opened fire on and wounded six of his class mates.Rod Mathews, age 14, (Ritalin) beat a classmate to death with a bat.James Wilson, age 19, (various psychiatric drugs) from Breenwood, South Carolina, took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers.Elizabeth Bush, age 13, (Paxil) was responsible for a school shooting in PennsylvaniaJason Hoffman (Effexor and Celexa) '' school shooting in El Cajon, CaliforniaJarred Viktor, age 15, (Paxil), after five days on Paxil he stabbed his grandmother 61 times.Chris Shanahan, age 15 (Paxil) in Rigby, ID who out of the blue killed a woman.Jeff Franklin (Prozac and Ritalin), Huntsville, AL, killed his parents as they came home from work using a sledge hammer, hatchet, butcher knife and mechanic's file, then attacked his younger brothers and sister.Neal Furrow (Prozac) in LA Jewish school shooting reported to have been court-ordered to be on Prozac along with several other medications.Kevin Rider, age 14, was withdrawing from Prozac when he died from a gunshot wound to his head. Initially it was ruled a suicide, but two years later, the investigation into his death was opened as a possible homicide. The prime suspect, also age 14, had been taking Zoloft and other SSRI antidepressants.Alex Kim, age 13, hung himself shortly after his Lexapro prescription had been doubled.Diane Routhier was prescribed Welbutrin for gallstone problems. Six days later, after suffering many adverse effects of the drug, she shot herself.Billy Willkomm, an accomplished wrestler and a University of Florida student, was prescribed Prozac at the age of 17. His family found him dead of suicide '' hanging from a tall ladder at the family's Gulf Shore Boulevard home in July 2002.Kara Jaye Anne Fuller-Otter, age 12, was on Paxil when she hung herself from a hook in her closet. Kara's parents said '''.... the damn doctor wouldn't take her off it and I asked him to when we went in on the second visit. I told him I thought she was having some sort of reaction to Paxil'...'')Gareth Christian, Vancouver, age 18, was on Paxil when he committed suicide in 2002,(Gareth's father could not accept his son's death and killed himself.)Julie Woodward, age 17, was on Zoloft when she hung herself in her family's detached garage.Matthew Miller was 13 when he saw a psychiatrist because he was having difficulty at school. The psychiatrist gave him samples of Zoloft. Seven days later his mother found him dead, hanging by a belt from a laundry hook in his closet.Kurt Danysh, age 18, and on Prozac, killed his father with a shotgun. He is now behind prison bars, and writes letters, trying to warn the world that SSRI drugs can kill.Woody ____, age 37, committed suicide while in his 5th week of taking Zoloft. Shortly before his death his physician suggested doubling the dose of the drug. He had seen his physician only for insomnia. He had never been depressed, nor did he have any history of any mental illness symptoms.A boy from Houston, age 10, shot and killed his father after his Prozac dosage was increased.Hammad Memon, age 15, shot and killed a fellow middle school student. He had been diagnosed with ADHD and depression and was taking Zoloft and ''other drugs for the conditions.''Matti Saari, a 22-year-old culinary student, shot and killed 9 students and a teacher, and wounded another student, before killing himself. Saari was taking an SSRI and a benzodiazapine.Steven Kazmierczak, age 27, shot and killed five people and wounded 21 others before killing himself in a Northern Illinois University auditorium. According to his girlfriend, he had recently been taking Prozac, Xanax and Ambien. Toxicology results showed that he still had trace amounts of Xanax in his system.Finnish gunman Pekka-Eric Auvinen, age 18, had been taking antidepressants before he killed eight people and wounded a dozen more at Jokela High School '' then he committed suicide.Asa Coon from Cleveland, age 14, shot and wounded four before taking his own life. Court records show Coon was on Trazodone.Jon Romano, age 16, on medication for depression, fired a shotgun at a teacher in hisNew York high school.Missing from list'... 3 of 4 known to have taken these same meds'....
  What drugs was Jared Lee Loughner on, age 21'...'... killed 6 people and injuring 14 others in Tuscon, AzWhat drugs was James Eagan Holmes on, age 24'..... killed 12 people and injuring 59 others in Aurora ColoradoWhat drugs was Jacob Tyler Roberts on, age 22, killed 2 injured 1, Clackamas OrWhat drugs was Adam Peter Lanza on, age 20, Killed 26 and wounded 2 in Newtown CtThose focusing on further firearms bans or magazine restrictions are clearly focusing on the wrong issue and asking the wrong questions, either as a deliberate attempt to hide these links, or out of complete and utter ignorance.
  Don't let them! Force our elected ''representatives'' and the media to cast a harsh spotlight on this issue. Don't stop hounding them until they do.
  About Dan RobertsDan Roberts is a grassroots supporter of gun rights that has chosen AmmoLand Shooting Sports News as the perfect outlet for his frank, 'Jersey Attitude' filled articles on Guns and Gun Owner Rights.As a resident of the oppressive state of New Jersey he is well placed to be able to discuss the abuses of government against our inalienable rights to keep and bear arms as he writes from deep behind NJ's Anti-Gun iron curtain. Read more from Dan Roberts or email him at DRoberts@ammoland.com You can also find him on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dan.roberts.18
Swine flu risk was inflated by experts with links to drugs industry - Health News - Health & Families - The Independent
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 14:53
  Academics with links to pharmaceutical firms were more likely to inflate the risks of the 2009 swine flu pandemic and inadvertently promote the drugs developed by the industry, a study has found.
  Tamiflu was stockpiled by the government in 2009 when it was feared the new swine flu mutation would sweep the world. The study found that between April and July of that year, 35 of the 74 ''risk assessments'' made by academics in the media came from experts with links to the industry.
  Those promoting the use of antiviral drugs were eight times more likely to have pharmaceutical industry links than those not commenting on their use. The paper, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, said the findings were ''disturbing''.
Job Gap Widens in Uneven Recovery - WSJ.com
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 14:50
  America's jobs recovery is proceeding on two separate tracks'--a pattern that is persisting far longer than after past economic rebounds and lately has been growing worse.
  Despite three years of steady job gains, and four years of economic growth, many Americans have yet to experience much that could be described as a recovery. That sort of pattern isn't unusual in the aftermath of a recession, but it usually eases as growth picks up steam.
  Youth unemployment, for example, nearly always improves after recessions more slowly than that of prime-age workers, those between 25 and 54. Following the 2001 recession, it took six months for the gap between the youth and prime-age unemployment rates to return to its long-run average. After the early 1990s recession, it took 30 months. This time, it has been 52 months, and the gap has hardly narrowed.
  For those with decent jobs, wages are rising, albeit slowly, and job security is the strongest it has been since before the recession. Many families have paid down debts and are seeing the value of assets, from homes to stocks, rebound strongly.
  But many others'--the young, the less educated and particularly the unemployed'--are experiencing hardly any recovery at all. Hiring remains weak, and the jobs that are available are disproportionately low-paying and often part-time. Wage growth is nearly nonexistent, in part because with so many people still looking for jobs, workers have little bargaining power.
  Take Kyle King of Massachusetts. When Mr. King began working at a Burger King in downtown Boston nine years ago, he worked full time and earned $8 an hour. Since then, he has received a single 15-cent-an-hour raise and in recent years has had his hours cut back to part time.
  In a better economy, Mr. King might have been able to leave fast food work for a better-paying sector. But with unemployment high, employers can afford to be choosy, and Mr. King has had no luck. Instead, he lives with his brother rent-free, keeps his heat turned down as low as possible and takes the bus to work, yet still finds it hard to cover food and clothes.
  Mr. King, 46 years old, says that for him, the recession never ended. "We're still in it," he said. "It feels like we're still in it, and we're getting worse."
  The two-track nature of the recovery helps explain why the four-year-old upturn still doesn't feel like one to many Americans. Higher earners are spending on cars, electronics and luxury items, boosting profits for the companies that make and sell such goods. But much of the rest of the economy remains stuck: Companies won't hire or raise pay without more demand, and consumers can't spend more without faster hiring and fatter paychecks.
  Indeed, households earning $50,000 or more have become steadily more confident over the past year and a half, according to a monthly consumer survey conducted by RBC Capital Markets, though confidence dipped during last month's partial government shutdown. Among lower-income households confidence has stagnated. The gap in confidence between the two groups is near its widest ever, noted RBC chief U.S. economist Tom Porcelli.
  "If you look at guys with just a high-school diploma or less than a high-school diploma, those guys are still in a recession," Mr. Porcelli said. The confidence figures, he said, "really drive home this idea of a bifurcation in the U.S. economy."
  That bifurcation, Mr. Porcelli added, isn't only bad for those being left behind. It is also hurting the broader recovery, because it means many families are able to spend only on essential items. Consumer spending rose just 0.1% in September after adjusting for inflation, the Commerce Department said Friday, and Morgan Stanley last week said it expected the 2013 holiday shopping season to be the weakest since 2008.
  The share of the adult population that is out of the labor market'--neither working nor looking for work'--hit a 35-year high in October, the Labor Department said Friday. Employers added a relatively healthy 204,000 jobs, but more than a third of them were in the generally low-paying restaurant and retail sectors. Wage growth, which usually accelerates after recessions, has barely outpaced inflation, rising 2.2% in October from a year earlier.
  Economists aren't sure what is behind the trend, or how long it will continue. Low-wage sectors are often the first to hire during a weak recovery, and less desirable workers'--whether because of their age, education or other factors'--are the last people hired in almost any scenario.
  "It's not just harder to get a job'--it's harder to get a good job," said Harry Holzer, a professor of public policy at Georgetown University who has studied low-wage jobs. "Companies are more willing to create jobs right now if they're low-wage jobs and they don't have to pay much in benefits or make a major commitment to their employees."
  Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, said the best remedy for the uneven job market is simply a stronger recovery.
  To be sure, the recovery has been weak for nearly everyone. Median household income was roughly flat in 2012, after adjusting for inflation. Total employment remains roughly 1.5 million beneath its prerecession peak. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, accelerated in the third quarter of the year, the Commerce Department said Thursday, but only because companies built up unsold inventories; many economists expect growth to slow again in the final three months of the year.
  Top-line measures such as jobs and GDP often obscure the uneven progress underneath. The long-term unemployed, for example, have seen hardly any improvement in their chances of finding employment, even as job growth has been steady. The unemployment rate for those with less than a high-school diploma is 10.9%, compared with 3.8% for those with a college degree, and the unemployment rate for those under 25 is over 15%, versus 6.1% for those 25 or older. The jobs that are available are often low-wage or part-time. More than eight million Americans are working part time because they can't find full-time work, a figure that has improved little over the past year. Of the 2.3 million jobs added in the past year, 35% are in sectors that pay on average less than $20 per hour. And competition for entry-level jobs has kept a lid on wages: Hourly wages for nonmanagers in the lowest-paying quarter of industries are up 6% since the recession ended; in the highest-paying quarter of industries, wages are up more than 12%.
  There are some who say the current labor-market divide is part of a longer-term trend, not just the byproduct of a particularly deep recession. Paul Osterman, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, said that in recent decades, low-skilled workers have struggled even during good times.
  In the 1990s, the best job market of recent decades, "the situation of people at the bottom of the labor market improved but not dramatically," Mr. Osterman said. "Median wages have been basically flat for 30 years."
  Meanwhile, for those further up the income ladder, the recovery has been stronger. Layoffs are back at or below prerecession levels, meaning those who do have jobs are likely to hold on to them. Stock markets are near record highs and home prices are rebounding strongly. Low interest rates, among other factors, mean that Americans'--especially homeowners'--are spending less of their income on debt payments than they have in decades.
  Gary Riggs Home, a Dallas-based interior-design firm, has seen strong business this year, which vice president and general manager Steve McKee attributes to rising home prices and increased confidence among the company's generally affluent clients.
  "We are seeing an uptick with more major projects," Mr. McKee said. "When [customers] see the value of their home improving and increasing, they're all of a sudden more comfortable spending on furnishings and furniture."
  Write to Ben Casselman at ben.casselman@wsj.com
Sen. Inhofe's son killed in plane crash, Pentagon says - U.S. - Stripes
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  Tue, 12 Nov 2013 14:45
  OKLAHOMA CITY '-- The U.S. Secretary of Defense on Monday confirmed the death of U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe's son, 52-year-old Dr. Perry Inhofe, who was killed in a weekend plane crash in northeast Oklahoma.
  Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, said that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel "was informed of Sen. Inhofe's son's death."
  Perry Inhofe, an orthopedic surgeon, died when the small plane he was piloting crashed Sunday crash near Owasso, a Tulsa suburb.
  "My thoughts and prayers are with Jim and Kay and their family as they mourn this terrible loss," Hagel said in a statement Monday. He added that the entire Department of Defense supports the Inhofe family and has "enduring appreciation for all they do on behalf of our military."
  Perry Inhofe, who worked at Central States Orthopedics in Tulsa, was one of four children of Oklahoma's senior U.S. senator. He earned his undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1984 and graduated from medical school at Washington University in St. Louis, according to the clinic's website. Telephone messages left Monday at Inhofe's clinic weren't immediately returned.
  The married father lived in Tulsa.
  The multiengine plane was headed to Tulsa International Airport when it crashed shortly before 4 p.m. on Sunday about 5 miles north of the airport, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The plane had taken off from Salina, Kan.
  Jake Bray told the Tulsa World newspaper that he saw the crash from about 400 yards away, saying one propeller appeared to be out before "it started spiraling out of control and it hit the ground."
  Jim Inhofe, 79, has been a pilot for more than 50 years and owns several planes. The Republican is known for flying to campaign stops across the state.
  In an interview earlier this year with General Aviation News, the senator said he taught his son Perry to fly in the family's 1954 Grumman Tiger and that the tradition was passed on to Perry Inhofe's 16-year-old son, Cole, who made his first landing in September at an air show in Wisconsin.
  A tail number provided by the National Transportation and Safety Board shows that the plane Perry Inhofe was flying Sunday was a 1974 Mitsubishi MU-2B-25, a fixed-wing, multi-engine aircraft. The same model has come under increased scrutiny in recent years from the FAA after statistics showed a rising rate of accidents involving the plane. As a result, the agency developed a new comprehensive standardized pilot training program for the aircraft in 2008.
  Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Bill John Baker said in a statement Monday night that he extends "sincere condolences" to Sen. Inhofe, his wife and the rest of the family.
  "There is no greater heartbreak for a parent than the loss of a child," he said.
  Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
Jailed Pussy Riot Member Missing Following Prison Transfer - BuzzFeed
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 23:47
  Jailed Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonnikova has disappeared after being moved from a prison in Mordovia 10 days ago, her family said on Friday.
  Tolokonnikova's father and husband said they last knew her precise whereabouts on Oct. 21, when she was suddenly taken from her prison colony in the Russian republic of Mordovia and moved without explanation from Russian officials. ''No one knows anything,'' her father, Andrei Tolokonnikov, said by telephone from Moscow. ''There's no proof she's alive, we don't know the state of her health. Is she sick? Has she been beaten?''
  Tolokonnikova, 23, was moved after launching a hunger strike to protest horrific prison conditions. She had also written an open letter denouncing ''slave-like'' work conditions at the labor colony that recalled the worst traditions of Soviet-era imprisonment.
  Her husband, Petya Verzilov, and a group of supporters regularly protested near the prison colony and prison hospital, raising the ire of local officials. ''We think they moved her to a big city to hide her,'' Tolokonnikov said. ''It seems they got sick of these protests.''
  Verzilov told BuzzFeed he believed the decision to move his wife came from the authorities in Moscow: ''They want to cut her off from the outside world.''
  Tolokonnikova was moved by train from the Mordovia prison colony and was spotted by a fellow passenger as the train pulled into the city of Chelyabinsk, in the Ural mountains, on Oct. 24, Verzilov said. His sources told him she was kept there overnight. Nothing has been heard of Tolokonnikova since. Prison authorities had promised to inform her family of her whereabouts 10 days after she was moved, Verzilov and Tolokonnikov said.
  ''When they moved [political prisoner Mikhail] Khodorkovsky, he was also kind of absent for two weeks. Nobody knew where he was, then he suddenly appeared in Chita,'' 1,000 miles east of Moscow, Verzilov said.
  ''This is basically the only way they have to punish Nadya '-- 'let's cut her off from the outside world,''' he said.
  Tolokonnikova and her fellow band member Maria Alyokhina are due to be released in March after serving a two-year sentence on charges of ''hooliganism motivated by religious hatred'' following a protest against Vladimir Putin in a Moscow church.
VIDEO-BOGATIVE Ham Signals 5MIN News - October 27, 2013 - SECOND Microwave pulse produces new Tropical Low - YouTube
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 22:41
VIDEO-aangirfan: PHILIPPINES TYPHOON CAUSED BY US MILITARY WEAPON
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 22:37
  Dr Michio Kaku, the Weather Channel and CNN have discussed tropical storms caused by microwave beams (pulses).Reports have emerged that the typhoon which hit the Philippines was caused by a microwave beam.The microwave beam was observed in the West Pacific and it appears to have created the typhoon.
  Reportedly, a U.S. Airforce base is located near the source of the microwave beam. The U.S. base is reportedly a satellite communications hub.
VIDEO- 11-8-2013 Microwave Pulse gives birth to Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) - YouTube
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 22:33
VIDEO-Artist Nails His Balls To The Ground In Moscow's Red Square - disinformation
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 21:23
  [NSFW] However much you want to protest state policy, isn't nailing your testicles to the ground a little extreme? Or is that what it takes to garner the kind of media coverage that actually influences governments? From The Guardian:
  Red Square has seen a lot over the centuries, from public executions to giant military parades, but a performance artist broke new ground on Sunday when he nailed his scrotum to cobblestones in a painful act of protest.
  Pyotr Pavlensky said the protest was his response to Russia's descent into a ''police state'' and was timed to coincide with Police Day, which Russia's law enforcement officials celebrated on Sunday.
  ''The performance can be seen as a metaphor for the apathy, political indifference and fatalism of contemporary Russian society,'' Pavlensky said in a statement. ''As the government turns the country into one big prison, stealing from the people and using the money to grow and enrich the police apparatus and other repressive structures, society is allowing this, and forgetting its numerical advantage, is bringing the triumph of the police state closer by its inaction.''
  Pavlensky has a history of self-harming art, including sewing his lips together to protest against the jail sentences given to members of Pussy Riot and wrapping himself in barbed wire outside a Russian government building, which he said symbolised ''the existence of a person inside a repressive legal system''.
  The leading Russian theatre director Kirill Serebrennikov wrote on his Facebook page that the performance was a ''powerful gesture of absolute despair''.
  Pavlensky walked on to Red Square on Sunday lunchtime, stripped off and nailed his scrotum to the cobblestones of Russia's most famous public space'...
  [continues at The Guardian]
VIDEO-George Bush Sr. smiling at JFK Assassination - YouTube
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 21:03
Case Gurlitt - Police secured art in Stuttgart ' NEWS.AT
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 20:56
  NS-RaubkunstSo, 10. Nov. 2013 von apa/red - 04
  Mann wandte sich an die Polizei, da er wertvolle Objekte in Wohnung aufbewahrt(C) Bild: APA/GindlDie in M¼nchen entdeckte Bildersammlung des Kunsth¤ndlersohns Cornelius Gurlitt ist m¶glicherweise gr¶Ÿer als bisher angenommen. Die am Wochenende bei Stuttgart auf Bitten des Besitzers in Sicherheit gebrachten 22 wertvollen Kunstwerke werden nach Auskunft des Landeskriminalamtes vom Montag nun gepr¼ft, auch mithilfe von Kunsthistorikern. Unterdessen werden die Forderungen nach einem offenen Umgang mit dem entdeckten Kunstschatz immer lauter. Der amtierende AuŸenminister Guido Westerwelle (FDP) warnte am Montag vor einem Schaden f¼r Deutschlands Ansehen. "Wir sollten die Sensibilit¤t des Themas in der Welt nicht untersch¤tzen", sagte Westerwelle der Deutschen Presse-Agentur dpa. "Wir m¼ssen aufpassen, dass wir nicht Vertrauen verspielen, das in langen Jahrzehnten aufgebaut wurde. Das Gebot der Stunde ist jetzt Transparenz."
  Regierungssprecher Steffen Seibert stellte eine Ver¶ffentlichung einer Liste von Werken aus Gurlitts Bestand mit unklarer Erwerbsgeschichte in Aussicht. "Wir wollen das vorantreiben, und wir werden noch in dieser Woche weitere Einzelheiten zum Prozedere bekanntgeben k¶nnen", sagte Seibert in Berlin. Er schr¤nkte allerdings ein, das Aufkl¤rungsinteresse der –ffentlichkeit und die Interessen der Justiz m¼ssten miteinander in Einklang gebracht werden. "Wir m¼ssen ein rechtsstaatliches Verfahren finden."
  In Gurlitts M¼nchener Wohnung waren rund 1.400 vielfach verschollen geglaubte Werke gefunden worden. Eine ¶ffentliche Auflistung k¶nnte Klarheit dar¼ber schaffen, ob einzelne Werke von den Nationalsozialisten geraubt oder verfolgten Juden zu Spottpreisen abgehandelt wurden. Kulturstaatsminister Bernd Neumann (CDU) hatte am Wochenende zugesagt, die Herkunftsrecherche z¼gig voranzubringen.
  Bilder-Liste soll ¶ffentlich gemacht werdenDer Pr¤sident des J¼dischen Weltkongresses (WJC), Ronald S. Lauder, forderte die Bundesregierung auf, "die Bilder sichtbar zu machen". In der "Welt" (Montagausgabe) verlangte Lauder, "die Polizei und die Politik m¼ssen sofort eine Inventur machen und den gesamten Fundus ins Internet stellen. Jeder hat dann die M¶glichkeit zu sehen, was vorhanden ist." Es sei wertvolle Zeit vergeudet worden. "Weder die m¶glichen Anspruchsberechtigten noch etwaige Zeugen im R¼ckgabeverfahren werden j¼nger", zitierte die Zeitung den WJC-Pr¤sidenten.
  Der fr¼here Kulturstaatsminister Michael Naumann verlangte, alle Werke auf der Website www.lostart.de ins Internet zu stellen. Zudem m¼sse die Herkunftsforschung professionalisiert werden. "Es geht doch nicht, dass damit eine einzelne Kunsthistorikerin beauftragt ist, die als Expertin f¼r 'Entartete Kunst' gilt", sagte er im "Art"-Magazin. Die Staatsanwaltschaft Augsburg sei ganz offenkundig ¼berfordert.
  Der Druck w¤chst"Sie k¶nnen davon ausgehen, dass wir flexibel auf die aktuellen Umst¤nde reagieren und das Erforderliche im Hinblick auf die Interessen der Gesch¤digten und den Fortgang der Ermittlungen in die Wege leiten", betonte dagegen ein Sprecher der Staatsanwaltschaft. "Nach den derzeitigen Gegebenheiten sch¶pfen wir alle M¶glichkeiten aus."
  Auch der deutsche Vertreter der Jewish Claims Conference, R¼diger Mahlo, forderte eine sofortige Offenlegung. "Angesichts der vielen Fragezeichen kann das Gebot der Stunde nur lauten: Umgehend gr¶Ÿtm¶gliche Transparenz schaffen", sagte Mahlo dem Magazin. So k¶nnten m¶gliche Anspruchsberechtigte auch einen aktiven Beitrag zur Kl¤rung der Herkunft von Bildern leisten.
  Die Augsburger Staatsanwaltschaft ermittelt gegen Gurlitt wegen des Verdachts der Steuerhinterziehung und Unterschlagung. Im Februar 2012 hatte sie in seiner Wohnung in M¼nchen-Schwabing die Bilder beschlagnahmt, was erst vergangene Woche bekannt wurde.
  Sturm
  Jetzt drohen SeuchenNach katastrophalem Taifun auf Philippinen folgt Angst vor Cholera, Typhus und Co.
  Katastrophe
  Taifun: Tiroler spricht18-J¤hriger arbeitet vor Ort: "Es war einer der st¤rksten St¼rme ¼berhaupt"
Fort Hood Building, Massacre Site to be Demolished | Military.com
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 20:52
  FORT HOOD, Texas - Fort Hood officials plan to demolish the medical building where an Army psychiatrist killed 13 people and wounded more than 30 others during a shooting rampage in 2009.
  Fort Hood spokesman Chris Haug said Wednesday that Building 42003 will be razed, while other parts of the Soldier Readiness Processing Center complex are set to be moved.
  Haug says officials haven't decided what to do with the site once the building is removed. The widow of one victim says she'd like to see a park at the site.
  The area has been fenced off as a crime scene since Nov. 5, 2009, when Maj. Nidal Hasan opened fire inside the building and left dying soldiers and pools of blood on the floor.
  Hasan was convicted in August and sentenced to death.
  (C) Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Owner of Nazi art haul Cornelius Gurlitt spotted on streets of Munich - Europe - World - The Independent
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 20:38
  He is supposed to be the most wanted man in Europe, but today Cornelius Gurlitt, the missing owner of one of the biggest hauls of Nazi-confiscated art found since 1945, was reported to have been confronted by two journalists yards from his Munich home.
  Two reporters from Paris Match claimed to have discovered, Mr Gurlitt, a man described as an elegantly-dressed 79-year-old, on Friday, just as he had completed his weekend shopping. They said they had followed him there from his flat.
  The journalists said Mr Gurlitt had brushed off their requests for an interview in a trembling voice with the unintelligible remark ''Applause from the wrong side is the worst thing there is'', and that his eyes appeared to be ''full of fear and anger.''
  A week ago Mr Gurlitt hit headlines across the globe, after the Munich-based magazine Focus revealed that customs officers had discovered a cache of 1,400 paintings in his apartment worth '‚¬1bn. The works were alleged to have been looted by the Nazis from predominantly Jewish owners before and during the Second World War. It was revealed last week that the cache contained hitherto unknown works by Matisse and Chagall.
  State prosecutors insisted that Mr Gurlitt had ''gone missing''. However, the reporters said Mr Gurlitt had been at home all the time and had simply refused to answer the door.
10 Facts About The Unemployment Crisis In America That Will Blow Your Mind TheTradingReport
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:46
  Did you know that there are more than 102 million working age Americans that do not have a job? Yes, I know that number sounds absolutely crazy, but it is true. Right now, there are more than 11 millionAmericans that are considered to be ''officially unemployed'', and there are more than 91 millionAmericans that are not employed and that are considered to be ''not in the labor force''. When you add those two numbers together, the total is more than 102 million. Overall, the number of working age Americans that do not have a job has increased by about 27 million since the year 2000. But aren't things getting better? After all, the mainstream media is full of headlines about how ''good'' the jobs numbers for October were. Sadly, the truth is that the mainstream media is not being straight with the American people. As you will see below, we are in the midst of a long-term unemployment crisis in America, and things got even worse last month.
  In this day and age, it is absolutely imperative that people start thinking for themselves. Just because the media tells you that something is true does not mean that it actually is. If unemployment was actually going down, the percentage of the working age population that has a job should actually be going up. As you are about to see, that is simply not the case. The following are 10 facts about the growing unemployment crisis in America that will blow your mind'...
  #1 The percentage of working age Americans with a job fell to 58.3 percent in October. The lowest that number has been at any point since the year 2000 is 58.2 percent. In other words, there has been absolutely no ''jobs recovery''. During the last recession, the civilian employment-population ratio dropped from about 63 percent to below 59 percent and it has stayed there for 50 months in a row. Will the percentage of working age Americans with a job soon drop below the 58 percent mark?'...
  #2 The U.S. economy lost 623,000 full-time jobs last month. But we are being told to believe that the economy is actually getting ''better''.
  #3 The number of American women with a job fell by 357,000 during the month of October.
  #4 The average duration of unemployment in October 2013 was nearly three times as long as it was in October 2000.
  #5 The number of Americans ''not in the labor force'' increased by an astounding 932,000 during October. In other words, the Obama administration would have us believe that nearly a million people ''disappeared'' from the U.S. labor force in a single month.
  #6 The number of Americans ''not in the labor force'' has grown by more than 11 million since Barack Obama first entered the White House.
  #7 In October, the U.S. labor force participation rate fell from 63.2 percent to 62.8 percent. It is now the lowest that it has been since 1978. Below is a chart which shows how the labor force participation rate has been steadily declining since the year 2000. How can the economy be ''healthy'' if the percentage of Americans that are participating in the labor force is continually declining?'...
  #8 If the labor force participation rate was still at the same level it was at when Barack Obama was elected in 2008, the official unemployment rate would be about 11 percent right now.
  #9 Even if you are working, that does not mean that you are able to take care of yourself and your family without any help. In fact, approximately one out of every four part-time workers in America is living below the poverty line.
  #10 In January 2000, there were 75 million working age Americans that did not have a job. Today, there are 102 million working age Americans that do not have a job.
  So what are our politicians doing to fix this?
  Shouldn't they be working night and day to solve this crisis?
  After all, Barack Obama once made the following promise to the American people'...
  ''But I want you all to know, I will not rest until anybody who's looking for a job can find one '-- and I'm not talking about just any job, but good jobs that give every American decent wages and decent benefits and a fair shot at the American Dream.''
  Unfortunately, things have not improved since Obama made that promise, but he has found the time to play 150 rounds of golf since he has been president.
  Meanwhile, because there aren't enough jobs, the number of Americans living in poverty continues to grow.
  As I wrote about the other day, according to new numbers that were just released an all-time high 49.7 million Americans are living in poverty.
  And right now 1.2 million public school students in the United States are homeless. For many more statistics like this, please see my previous article entitled ''29 Incredible Facts Which Prove That Poverty In America Is Absolutely Exploding''.
  The only thing that most Americans have to offer in the marketplace is their labor. If they can't find a job, they don't have any other way to take care of themselves and their families.
  The future of the middle class in America depends upon the creation of good jobs. It really doesn't matter how far the quantitative easing that the Federal Reserve has been doing pumps up the current stock market bubble. The American people were told that ''economic stimulus'' was the reason for doing all of this reckless money printing, but the percentage of working age Americans with a job is now actually lower than it was four years ago. Quantitative easing has been a complete and total failure in the job creation department, and it is doing a tremendous amount of long-term damage to our financial system.
  The really frightening thing is that the Federal Reserve and the federal government have supposedly been doing all they can to try to ''create jobs'' and they have utterly failed. In fact, this is the first time in the post-World War II era that we have not seen an employment recovery following a recession.
  And now the next wave of the economic collapse is rapidly approaching. What that hits us, millions more Americans will lose their jobs.
  So the truth is that this is just the beginning of the unemployment crisis in America.
  Yes, things are bad now, but soon they will get much worse.
  Quit Tossing and Turning at Night over Your Retirement...
  It doesn't matter if Al Qaeda or Iran strikes and oil shoots to $200+/barrel. It doesn't matter if the dollar crashes and inflation soars. Bubba's super simple Options trading can help you: a) recoup your 401k losses in months, not years'... b) make sure you spend less than an hour a week making money on your investments (it's that easy)... And c) it's proven '' not ''pie in the sky'''...
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Far-Left ACLU Claims Boston Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Is Being ''Tortured'''...
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 16:01
  The fifth-columnists strike again.
  Via Boston Herald:
  The American Civil Liberties Union has been shut out of weighing in on accused Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's claims of hardship behind bars at a hearing tomorrow to address whether the alleged terrorist deserves to be cut some slack while he awaits trial.
  U.S. District Court Judge George A. O'Toole Jr. also ordered a memorandum the ACLU Foundation of Massachusetts submitted in support of its position stricken from the public record, explaining in his decision, ''While there may be no positive rule forbidding it, in my judgment a trial court presiding over a criminal prosecution should not receive or consider volunteered submissions by non-parties except as may be specifically authorized by statute '... or other authority.''
  An ACLU representative could not be reached for comment yesterday.
  In documents filed last week, the ACLU stated it planned to fight for the accused 20-year-old terrorist's right to access to his attorneys and information his lawyers claim is critical to defending him against a potential death sentence, calling it ''no trifling matter'' that in the ACLU's view Tsarnaev's Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial was being threatened by the conditions of his solitary confinement at the federal lockup at Fort Devens.
  The former UMass Dartmouth student's taxpayer-funded counsel will go before O'Toole tomorrow to argue for vacating what they deem ''extraordinary and severe'' restrictions they liken to ''torture,'' including that Tsarnaev is denied TV and radio, family photos, prayer with other inmates and visitation from anyone other than his lawyers and immediate family.
Bringing more women to the Valley
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  Source: BBC News - Home
  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:59
  10 November 2013Last updated at 18:57 ET From Twitter lacking a single female on its board to sexist prank apps at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco, the past few weeks have seen increased debate about the discrimination faced by women in Silicon Valley.
  Continue reading the main story''Start QuoteMy son, I realised, had basically monopolised the computer at home''
  End QuoteSusan WojcickiGoogleThe BBC World Service's Newshour gathered a range of women from the world's centre of technological innovation to ask: why aren't there more women in Silicon Valley?
  While being one of the most high profile women in Silicon Valley, Google's advertising chief Susan Wojcicki frequently sees the challenges women face in technology.
  Problems can often start before even reaching the workplace.
  She noticed that her son was taking over access to technology at home, and shutting off his sister.
  "My son, I realised, had basically monopolised the computer at home," she says.
  "My daughter had just given up and let him have it all the time and didn't think computers were that interesting."
  She tried to remedy this by sending her daughter to a technology-focused summer camp.
  However, her daughter came back complaining that there were too many boys.
  "I realise how easy it is for us just to let the girls kind of slip away," she says.
  Women are needed Only a fifth of computer science graduates in the USA are female.
  Ms Wojcicki argues that we need women in technology if only to build better products.
  She cites studies which show that diverse teams come up with better products, and that as consumers of tech, women should also be more involved in creating these products in the first place.
  "We just bring different experiences to the table," she says.
  Furthermore, the growing dominance of tech means that in the near future most aspects of life will involve a technological element.
  Computer scientist Dr Telle Whitney agrees. She runs the Anita Borg Institute, a group which promotes gender diversity in Silicon Valley.
  She believes that computing knowledge is required to help solve many of our problems, from climate change to online education.
  Continue reading the main story''Start QuoteThe overwhelming voice of women in technology about patriarchy and about oppression and about the problems we have is actually silence''
  End QuoteShanley KaneBlogger"If you want to change the future, you want to be part of computing," Dr Whitney says.
  Meritocracy and drop-outsHowever, the issue isn't just that there aren't enough women going into tech.
  Women in the technology sector also drop out fast.
  Dr Whitney says women leave the industry twice as much as men.
  "They are just uncomfortable," she explains.
  Dr Whitney says there is a lot of unconscious sexism and the long hours also make it hard for women with families.
  Some women believe that Silicon Valley's very strengths can also give rise to a culture of discrimination persisting.
  "Silicon Valley is incredibly invested in its self-image as a meritocracy," says Basho's director of product management and blogger Shanley Kane, explaining the belief that anyone can make it with intelligence and hard work.
  "That very belief prevents us from actually critically examining the culture," she says.
  Women silencedFurthermore, Ms Kane warns that certain men in the community make it hard for women to speak out, so many women simply don't.
  She points to the rise of the 'brogrammer' culture over the past five years - a type of young male programmer said to exhibit loud and brash behaviour.
  Ms Kane believes this move away from the stereotype of the reserved geek and towards a new hyper-masculine personality is an effort by some men to reclaim power.
  "We have an extremely aggressive, hyper-sexual, hyper-masculine stereotype of the geek that's starting to take over," she warns, "and that's extremely threatening to women."
  Women who do speak up, such as herself, can face harsh criticism.
  She believes this environment silences debate.
  "The overwhelming voice of women in technology about patriarchy and about oppression and about the problems we have is actually silence," she says. "Most women don't talk about it."
  "Silence is the default mode."
  Continue reading the main story''Start QuoteIf those girls all decide to come into this industry, they can change it''
  End QuoteSusan WojcickiGoogleThe scrutiny women can face also leads some to feel under pressure to perform well at all times, or risk being dismissed for their gender.
  Kristen Pownell is a 19-year-old electrical engineering student at Stanford University.
  "This year I'm starting my electrical engineering core classes and when I walked into class on the first day I was shocked," Miss Pownell says.
  "My class is 50 people and there's three or four or maybe five girls there," she says. "It's really noticeable."
  She finds it intimidating being one of a handful of women and feels under pressure to prove herself.
  "I have this irrational fear that I'm representing all women everywhere and I need to prove myself in order to maintain femininity," she says.
  She believes support groups are valuable and make women feel less isolated, and she does outreach to girls in high schools, encouraging them to study science and technology.
  Women can change itPerhaps the best way to address the problems women face is for more women to enter the industry.
  Ms Wojcicki is trying to encourage more women into tech and says there is a place for them.
  The tech world is creative and team orientated, she says, and enables people to build products which will be used around the world.
  By being part of the tech world she says they can also change the industry's culture.
  "If those girls all decide to come into this industry, they can change it," she says.
  "They can make it different and they can make it be for them in the way they want it to be."
AUDIO: Armstrong: Justice 'not consistent'
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  Source: BBC News - Home
  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:59
  Disgraced former cyclist Lance Armstrong says he has been unfairly punished over his multiple doping offences.
  The 42-year-old made his comments in an interview for the BBC World Service Newshour programme.
  He said that the justice served to cyclists that used drugs to enhance their performance had not been consistent.
TWTR Enters Bear Market With 3 Handle on 3rd Day Of Trading
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  Source: Zero Hedge
  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:55
  Mere days after the euphoria of Twitter's IPO proclaimed by any and all as a great success, the bellwhether for all things Dot-Com-Bubble 2.0 has just entered its first bear market. Now down 20% from its $50.08 highs last week, Twitter now has a 3 handle ($39.99) as it seems the world wakes up to "unbelievable growth" that is 'priced in'... Of course, with rumors that TWTR options trading starts later this week, it's anyone's guess where the machines take it next...
  Average:Your rating: NoneAverage: 5(1 vote)
On the 60 Minutes/Benghazi debacle
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  Source: Columbia Journalism Review
  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:53
  Two things are true about CBS News' latest embarrassment over the egregious mistake it apologized for last night on its much-celebrated news show, 60 Minutes.
  First, the media's self-appointed accountability system worked. Second, CBS's management failed 60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan and made a particularly costly mistake.
  Logan bravely went on CBS This Morning on Friday to eat crow and admit that the now-legendary show, which aired on October 27, should never have included security officer Dylan Davies' self-serving account of the 2012 Benghazi, Libya attack that has turned out to be a sham.
  ''The most important thing to every person at 60 Minutes is the truth, and today the truth is that we made a mistake,'' Ms. Logan said. Classy, Ms. Logan.
  The apology was exactly what a news organization should do. But then, if 60 Minutes had thoroughly reported the story, it wouldn't have to apologize.
  60 Minutes producer Max McClellan, who worked with Logan, said that over the course of a year they had done ''dozens and dozens and dozens [of interviews]. Over a hundred may sound goofy, but it is definitely in that category.'' Yet they failed to include two key incident reports Davies gave his supervisor and the FBI that totally contradicted his heroic tale of scaling a 12-foot wall during the attack and butting a terrorist with his rifle.
  Davies' memoir was published two days later by a CBS Corp. imprint, Threshold Editions, that specializes in conservative authors.
  Two days after that, on October 31, Washington Post reporter Karen DeYoung revealed that Davies had told his employer, the Blue Mountain Group, a private British security business, he never made it to the Special Mission in Benghazi the night of September 11, 2012 because he couldn't get there.
  Journalists questioned. CBS News stonewalled, sticking by its report. Media Matters, a liberal media watchdog group, dogged the story, demanding that CBS provide an explanation for the variation in accounts, even starting a petition. On its website today, there are dozens of stories about this issue.
  CBS News officials dismissed deYoung's piece, saying they knew Davies had told his bosses a different story, though they didn't answer why that wasn't included in the October 27 segment. They didn't budge until a New York Timesstory, published online November 7, reported that Davies' FBI account also didn't match what he told Logan. Friday morning, Logan apologized, and then again last night.
  The system worked. The reporting was deeply flawed, and then (not-so-quickly) fixed because other media organizations and critics forced CBS to be accountable.
  But an internal system didn't work. CBS News' editors and top management appear to have not kept Logan in check, which is what all good editors, producers, and managers do to enthusiastic, passionate reporters who can, yes, get carried away on a story.
  Never mind that this now appears CBS Corp, which owns CBS News and the imprint that published Davies' book, ran a 12-minute infomercial for The Embassy House by Sgt. Morgan Jones (Davies' pseudonym) and Damien Lewis. 60 Minutes neglected to include this obvious conflict of interest in the first piece, which has disappeared from the website.
  In retrospect, was Logan the right person to do this story? In October 2012, she gave an oddly impassioned (for a reporter), speech to about 1,100 influential people at a Better Government Association annual luncheon in Chicago.
  ''Logan even called for retribution for the recent terrorist killings of Christopher Stevens, the US ambassador to Libya, and three other officials,'' wrote Sun-Times columnist Laura Washington in her coverage of the luncheon. ''Logan hopes that America will 'exact revenge and let the world know that the United States will not be attacked on its own soil. That its ambassadors will not be murdered, and that the United States will not stand by and do nothing about it.'''
  Seek retribution? Exact revenge? That may be the kind of language media activist Glenn Greenwald can fire off, but it isn't what folks expect from a 60 Minutes correspondent. And it's not what viewers should expect from Logan if she is going to report on Stevens and the highly charged political controversy surrounding his murder in Benghazi.
  Alicia Shepard (@ombudsman) is a media writer who recently spent a year as a visiting professor at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Previously she was NPR's ombudsman.
Health Website Tests a Tycoon and Tinkerer - NYTimes.com
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  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 15:34
  WASHINGTON '-- Jeffrey D. Zients, a multimillionaire entrepreneur and management consultant, joined the Obama White House in 2009 with a mandate to streamline the federal bureaucracy. A year later, he issued a prescient warning.
  The government ''largely has missed out'' on the information technology revolution, Mr. Zients said in a 2010 internal memo. ''I.T. projects too often cost hundreds of millions of dollars more than they should, take years longer than necessary to deploy and deliver technologies that are obsolete by the time they are completed,'' he wrote.
  These days, Mr. Zients is witnessing that ineptitude up close as the emergency fix-it man charged with righting HealthCare.gov, the bungled online marketplace for medical insurance. He is to become President Obama's top economic adviser in January, but first he is leading the so-called tech surge to haul HealthCare.gov into the 21st century. Ignoring friends who told him not to get mixed up in the website fiasco, Mr. Zients (pronounced ZYE-ents) promises it will run ''smoothly for the vast majority of users'' by the end of November '-- a schedule considered highly optimistic.
  Mr. Obama's reputation, and the electoral fortunes of Democrats, could hinge on the work of Mr. Zients, a man who has no hands-on technology experience '-- although he has advised health care companies on business practices. In the universe of experts who might have been called in for rescue work, Democrats close to the administration say, there were others perhaps more qualified than Mr. Zients, but he was the best of those Mr. Obama and an insular White House were comfortable with.
  In an interview, Denis R. McDonough, Mr. Obama's chief of staff, called Mr. Zients a ''force multiplier'' who will deliver what he promises. He said the president had given Mr. Zients the same instructions he had given White House staff: ''Get this fixed.''
  Mr. Zients, who will turn 47 on Tuesday, made a fortune reported to be close to $200 million building two consultancies and taking them public. His wife, Mary, is from a prominent South African mining family '-- Nelson Mandela attended their wedding '-- and they live with their four children in Northwest Washington, where an Aston Martin is in the garage. A onetime high school wrestler at the capital's elite St. Albans School, he is often described as ultracompetitive.
  Now he works without pay ''on a full-time, trust me, around-the-clock basis,'' he told reporters in a conference call on Friday. Mr. Zients shuttles between a health care command center in suburban Herndon, Va., the White House and an office near the coffee machines on the third floor of the hulking Department of Health and Human Services building here, overseeing an effort that includes dozens of tech experts. They include Todd Park, the White House chief technology officer, who is under subpoena by House Republicans to testify at a hearing this week, and Michael Dickerson, an engineer on leave from Google who lists ''herding cats'' as a skill on his LinkedIn profile.
  Administration officials say Mr. Zients, who declined to be interviewed, has intensified the pace at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency responsible for the website. He began work on Oct. 21, the same day Mr. Obama declared that ''nobody is madder than me'' about the site's failures, and quickly set about drafting a ''punch list'' of problems to fix. It is updated daily.
  Among other immediate changes, Mr. Zients recommended that the agency hire a general contractor to coordinate repairs, started daily telephone news briefings and instituted at the command center morning and evening ''stand up meetings,'' so named because each tech team member, in a military-style exercise in accountability, must stand while delivering a progress report.
  Mr. Zients told reporters on Friday that the site was getting ''better each week'' but ''remains very slow and sporadic for many users.'' He said response times '-- how long users wait for a page to load '-- now average less than one second, down from eight seconds. The error rate '-- how often system failures prevent users from advancing to the next page '-- is 2 percent, down from 6 percent, Mr. Zients said.
  ''We have a lot of work ahead of us,'' he said, still promising that he would meet his Nov. 30 deadline.
  Even his supporters remain skeptical. ''To try to come in, in six weeks, and sort something like this out '-- I just have a lot of sympathy for him,'' said Joshua B. Bolten, a friend of Mr. Zients and a chief of staff to President George W. Bush.
  Recruiting Mr. Zients was Mr. McDonough's idea. It was mid-October, the federal government had just reopened after a 16-day shutdown, and inside the White House the president had made clear his anger over the faulty website. Mr. Zients, who had twice served as the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget and had a reputation as a troubleshooter, was ''the obvious choice,'' Mr. McDonough said. Also, ''he was available.''
  After his graduation from Duke University in 1988, Mr. Zients joined Bain Consulting in Boston but did not cross paths with Mitt Romney, who had left to found Bain Capital. By the early 1990s, Mr. Zients was back in Washington working for David Bradley, an entrepreneur who had founded the Advisory Board Company, which specialized in research for the health care industry, and later spun off a sister firm, the Corporate Executive Board. During Mr. Zients's first week on the job, Mr. Bradley put him in charge of new product research. He promptly proposed reorganizing Mr. Bradley's team.
  ''I was 37, and he was 24,'' Mr. Bradley said. ''I was the C.E.O. and our owner. He had not spent five full days with me, yet he had it right.''
  Mr. Zients ultimately ran both companies, which went public a decade ago. Mr. Bradley now owns Atlantic Media, which publishes The Atlantic and National Journal; Mr. Zients founded a small private equity firm, Portfolio Logic, which has a stake in PSA Healthcare, a pediatric home health business, and a San Francisco messenger bag company. The position of the White House is that Mr. Zients's health care investment is not a conflict of interest.
  Mr. Zients made Fortune magazine's list of the 40 richest Americans under 40 in 2002, was part of a group that tried and failed to buy the Washington Nationals baseball team in 2005 and arrived at the White House as the nation's first chief performance officer in 2009. He was often deployed to clean up bureaucratic messes, like the malfunctioning ''Cash for Clunkers'' website, which offered rebates when consumers traded in old cars for more fuel-efficient ones.
  Another time, Mr. Zients took a team to St. Louis to sort out an embarrassing backlog in G.I. Bill payments and spent the flight back sketching out an action plan with ''a daily management report card,'' recalled Aneesh Chopra, who was then the White House chief technology officer.
  But Mr. Zients still had limited success changing the culture of the government's lumbering bureaucracy, said Paul C. Light, an expert on public service at New York University. Mr. Zients's effort to reorganize the Commerce Department in 2011 hit roadblocks on Capitol Hill. Professor Light recalled encouraging him to propose bolder changes in government, only to be told, ''We've got to start small and prove that we can get something done.''
  As work on the website proceeds, some experts, including Jon Kingsdale, who ran the online Massachusetts health exchange, say Mr. Zients or another management expert should stay on permanently. Mr. McDonough said the White House had made no decision about that.
  At a minimum, said William M. Daley, a former Obama White House chief of staff, Mr. Zients must meet his own deadline.
  ''When you're brought in to be the fireman,'' Mr. Daley said, ''the fire had better go out.''
Back Up Your Startup Disk Using Disk Utility
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  Archived Version
  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 11:49
  You have probably heard the admonition to back up your startup disk before performing any system updates. That's an excellent idea, and something that I recommend often, but you may wonder just how to go about it.
  The answer is: Any way you want, as long as you get it done. This guide will show you one of the many methods available for backing up a startup disk.
  I'll use OS X's Disk Utility to perform the backup. It has two features that make it a good candidate for backing up a startup disk. First, it can produce a backup that is bootable, so you can use it as a startup disk in an emergency. And second, it's free. You already have it, because it's included with OS X.
  What You Will NeedDisk Utility, part of OS X and available at /Applications/Utilities/.An internal or external hard drive that's large enough to store the data on your current startup disk.A drive that doesn't contain any data you wish to keep. The method we will use will erase the destination drive during the backup process.Half an hour to two or more hours, depending on the size of the data you're backing up.The destination hard drive can be an internal or external drive. If it's an external drive, there are two considerations that will determine whether the backup you create will be usable as an emergency startup drive.
  FireWire external drives can be used as startup disks on both PowerPC-based Macs and Intel-based Macs.USB external drives can be used as startup disks on Intel-based Macs, but not on PPC-based Macs.Even if your backup drive isn't usable as a startup disk, you can still use it to restore your original startup drive if needed; it will just require a few extra steps to restore the data.
VIDEO-'The Most Ridiculous Argument Ever': Guess Who from Hollywood Just Used the Deadly Super Typhoon to Slam Climate-Change Skeptics? | Video | TheBlaze.com
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  Archived Version
  Mon, 11 Nov 2013 11:13
  When actor George Clooney, rarely hesitant to offer his left-wing view of things, was asked about the implications of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines as it relates to global warming, Clooney didn't pull any punches before an awards show.
  (Image source: Reuters via YouTube)
  ''Well it's just a stupid argument,'' he said of climate-change skeptics Saturday. ''If you have 99% of doctors who tell you you are sick, and 1% that says you're fine, you probably want to hang out'...with the 99.
  ''The idea that we ignore that we're some way involved in climate change is ridiculous. What's the worst that can happen? That we clean up the earth a little bit?
  ''Yeah, I find this to be the most ridiculous argument ever.''
  Here's the Reuters clip via YouTube:
  (H/T: Weasel Zippers)
  ''
Miley Cyrus lights up a joint and Amsterdam at MTV awards | Entertainment , Celebrities | THE DAILY STAR
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  Archived Version
  Sun, 10 Nov 2013 23:54
  AMSTERDAM: US pop sensationalist Miley Cyrus took her publicity-seeking further still on Sunday by smoking a cannabis joint as she received her award for Best Video at the MTV European Music Awards in Amsterdam on Sunday.
  The evening's biggest winner was hip-hop icon Eminem who took home two awards, but Cyrus, 20, kept the spotlight firmly on herself after kicking off the show by twerking with a latex-clad dwarf called Little Britney.
  Thanking the director of her hit single "Wrecking Ball" for the award, Cyrus took to the stage in a tight white body suit and platform heels and said: "I don't have room for the award in my bag but I did find this..."
  She then took what appeared to be a half-smoked joint out of her Chanel bag and lit it up at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, where you can buy cannabis in the city's coffee shops and where Cyrus had been photographed earlier with Dutch DJ Afrojack.
  "I'd like to thank Terry Richardson for putting this together," said Cyrus, a self-confessed weed smoker.
  The world's pop glitterati descended on Amsterdam for the event, with Eminem putting in a surprise performance by stepping out of a giant boombox afer winning the Global Icon and Hip Hop awards.
  Canada's Justin Bieber won the Best Male award for the fourth year running, and thanked his fans in a pre-recorded video message.
  The UK's One Direction won the award for Best Pop, and US singer Beyonce won Best Live, with both also saying a cursory thanks in a pre-recorded video.
  Norwegian Internet sensation and comedy duo Ylvis performed their hit "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?), which has clocked over 200 million views on YouTube in the last two months, wearing matching fox outfits with long tails on an otherwise galactic-themed night.
  China's Chris Lee (Li Yuchun) won the ward for Worldwide Act, the thrid year that an Asian artist has won the award.
  Talent show winner Lee thanked the audience and "all the people who love Chinese music" as she accepted the award, wearing thigh-length leather boots and beating off competition from the likes of South Korea's Exo and Morocco's Ahmed Soultan.
  US actor and singer Jared Leto attempted a moment's silence in memory of the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which may have killed over 10,000 people over the weekend, but was overwhelmed by whistles and screaming.
  The evening's MC Redfoo hailed Eminem as "truly an icon," who has sold over 80 million albums and won 11 MTV video music awards and 13 Grammies since 1999.
  "Wow, this is crazy. Thank you to everybody for everything over the years, I love award, I love award, I love math," Eminem said.
  "I was just sitting back there sipping champagne looking at all those amazing artists, thinking how am I gonna win?" US singer Katy Perry said after winning the award for Best Female.
  The event held a "satellite" party with DJ Afrojack at famed Amsterdam venue the Melkweg, featuring a special guest performance by hip-hop veteran Snoop Dogg, rapping through a glove-shaped diamante-encrusted microphone.
  Organisers said that the show at the Ziggo Dome required at least 30 litres of body paint, 20 litres of liquid latex and 20 kilos of glitter.
  The MTV Europe Awards are held each year in a different European city, with past hosts including Frankfurt in 2012, Belfast in 2011 and Madrid in 2010.
  Next year's event will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
Protesters slam Jimmy Kimmel over 'kill everyone in China' joke - latimes.com
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  Archived Version
  Sun, 10 Nov 2013 23:45
  A whitehouse.gov petition calling for an investigation of a recent Jimmy Kimmel "racist" sketch easily reached the 100,000 signatures required to warrant a White House response.
  By Veronica RochaNovember 10, 2013,9:12 a.m.
  More than 1,000 people picketedABC's headquarters in Burbank on Saturday to protest a Jimmy Kimmel segment that joked that the United States should ''kill everyone in China.''
  Burbank police said they responded to the protest in the 2300 block of Riverside Drive after some demonstrators went into a restricted area. However, police said the protest was peaceful and no one was arrested.
  The protest was part of a nationwide move backed by Chinese American organizations against the ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' recurring segment called ''Kids' Table.'' Similar protests were planned for Saturday at other ABC locations.
  In the Oct. 16 segment, Kimmel has a roundtable discussion with a group of children about the United States' $1.3-trillion debt to China, according to Times Community News.
  He asks them how the United States should repay its debt, which prompted one child to respond by saying ''kill everyone in China.'' Kimmel later engaged the children again with a debate about killing the Chinese people or allowing them to live.
  ABC and Kimmel have since apologized for the segment.
  Rocha writes for Times Community News.
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CLOONEY-Robert M. Edsel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  Archived Version
  Sun, 10 Nov 2013 23:06
  Robert Morse Edsel[1] (born 1956) is an American writer and businessman. He is the author of the non-fiction books, Rescuing Da Vinci, The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History and Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation's Treasures from the Nazis, about art treasures preserved during and after World War II and the heroes who saved them. Edsel is the founder and president of the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art which received the 2007 National Humanities Medal and has donated two albums of photographic evidence of the Third Reich's theft of art treasures to the United States National Archives. George Clooney has announced plans to write, direct and star in the Monuments Men (film)
  Art detective and Author[edit]Edsel was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and raised in Dallas, Texas.[2] He is the son of Norma Louise (n(C)e Morse), a housewife, and Alpha Ray Edsel, a stockbroker.[3][4] Edsel was formerly a nationally ranked tennis player. In 1981, he began his business career in oil and gas exploration. His company, Gemini Exploration, pioneered the use of horizontal drilling technology throughout the early 1990s. Gemini Exploration grew from a company with eight employees to almost 100. By 1995, Gemini had become the second most active driller of horizontal wells in the United States and Robert Edsel sold the company's assets to Union Pacific Resources Company. The following year he moved to Europe with his family.
  In the late 1990s, while living in Florence, Edsel began to think about the methods and planning used to keep art out of the hands of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. Following a divorce in 2000, Edsel moved to New York City, where he began a serious effort to learn about and understand the issue. By 2004, those efforts had become a full time career, and he established a research office in Dallas, his hometown.[5] By 2005, he had gathered thousands of photographs and other documents, and began writing the manuscript for Rescuing Da Vinci, which was published in 2006. The book received wide attention.[5][6]
  In September 2009, Mr. Edsel's second book, The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, a narrative telling of the story of the Monuments Men, was released by Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group. Current plans include publication of the book in seventeen languages.
  In May 2013, Edsel's sequel to the Monuments Men entitled Saving Italy: The Race to Rescue a Nation's Treasures from the Nazis was published by W. W. Norton.[7]
  Monuments Men[edit]Edsel co-produced a documentary film, The Rape of Europa, based on the book by Lynn Nicholas. Narrated by Joan Allen and well received by critics, the film began a theatrical run in September 2007 at the Paris Theatre in New York City.[8][9] In addition, Mr. Edsel has created The Greatest Theft in History educational program, which includes the two-hour documentary film and seven hours of additional clips, as well as a companion website featuring lesson plans, glossaries, timelines and other resources which allows teachers to easily utilize this material for classroom use.
  In 2007, Edsel created the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art. The foundation's mission is "to preserve the legacy of the unprecedented and heroic work of the men and women who served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (''MFAA'') section, known as ''Monuments Men,'' during World War II, by raising public awareness of the importance of protecting and safeguarding civilization's most important artistic and cultural treasures from armed conflict, but incorporating these expressions of man's greatest creative achievements into our daily lives." He announced the foundation's creation during a ceremony on June 6, 2007, the 63rd anniversary of D-Day, to celebrate Senate and House concurrent resolutions honoring the Monuments Men.[10][11]
  The Monuments Men Foundation was one of ten recipients of the 2007 National Humanities Medal, an honor which was presented by President Bush during a ceremony held in the East Room of The White House on November 15, 2007. The National Humanities Medal is the highest honor given for excellence in the Humanities field, and honors individuals and groups whose work has deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened citizens' engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans' access to important resources in the humanities.
  Nazi albums[edit]During the course of his research into the whereabouts of lost art and the efforts to save it, Edsel discovered the existence of two large, leather-bound photograph albums which documented portions of the European art looted by the Nazis. The two photographic albums were in the possession of heirs to an American soldier stationed in the Berchtesgaden area of Germany in the closing days of World War II.
  The albums were created by the staff of the Third Reich's Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR), a special unit that found and confiscated the best material in Nazi-occupied countries, to use for exploitation. In France, the ERR engaged in an extensive and elaborate art looting operation, part of Hitler's much larger premeditated scheme to steal art treasures from conquered nations. The albums were created for Hitler and high-level Nazi officials as a catalogue and, more importantly, to give Hitler a way to choose the art for his art museum in Austria. A group of these photograph albums was presented to Hitler on his birthday in 1943, to "send a ray of beauty and joy into [his] revered life." ERR staff stated that nearly 100 such volumes were created during the years of their art looting operation.
  Edsel worked with the owners of the albums to acquire them for preservation. In November 2007, at a ceremony with Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein, Edsel announced the existence of these photograph albums to the public and, separately, his donation of the albums to the National Archives. Weinstein, called the discovery "one of the most significant finds related to Hitler's premeditated theft of art and other cultural treasures to be found since the Nuremberg trials."[12]
  See also[edit]References[edit]External links[edit]PersondataNameEdsel, Robert M.Alternative namesShort descriptionDate of birth1956Place of birthDate of deathPlace of death
A Little Late? Charlie Sheen Tells Former Boss Chuck Lorre He Wants To Apologize
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  Archived Version
  Source: Radar Online Radar Online
  Sun, 10 Nov 2013 22:39
  From the better late than never file'.....
  Two and a half years after he was fired from Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen is saying he wants to apologize to his former boss, Chuck Lorre, writing on Sunday afternoon:
  ''hey Chuck. I have an idea that u need to hear after I make amends to you and yours. which I will do in person. xox c''
  What exactly his ''idea'' is, Sheen is keeping to himself but Lorre runs a literal sitcom machine. He created and produces Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, Mike & Molly, and Mom, as well as writing many of their episodes.
  PHOTOS: The Littlest Victim: Charlie Sheen & Brooke Mueller's Son Bob Shown
  Sheen's mea culpa-to-be comes just two days after he went on an epic rant against the folks from Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and the judge who decided that his kids with ex-wife, Brooke Mueller, could again live in the same house with their mother, while her brother, Scott Mueller, functions as their temporary guardian.
  Sheen was on radio silence for close to 48 hours after his last tirade against the judge who issued the guardianship order before he tweeted the curious message to Lorre.
  Sheen's Anger Management has not exactly been a huge hit for FX, with viewership often below one million.
  PHOTOS: Meet The Parents! Hollywood's Best & Worst Moms And Dads
  Is he such damaged goods Lorre would ever want to work with him again? What do you think? Tell us in comments.
Comparative Literature | a.nolen
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  Archived Version
  Sun, 10 Nov 2013 21:24
  '...and representing California'...
  Sometimes the best thing a writer can do is to sit back and reflect. I spent the last few days doing that, and I realized that there's something big about the Snowden Saga that I've missed.
  As regular readers know, I believe that the 'revelations' stopped working in Snowden's favor when they spun off onto governments-spying-on-other-governments. Don't get me wrong, I think that espionage is, in general, a scummy profession. However, sometimes it is necessary and spying on other governments or their leaders really doesn't bother me. Every foreign country is a potential enemy'' yes, even five-eyes'ers'' and I'd hope my leadership would find out all they can about state adversaries before they, for example, asked me to sacrifice a son fighting said adversary. Hope springs eternal.
  So, back to my weekend reflection. On reflection, I remember that the first mention of other countries' NSA collaboration came from Der Spiegel's interview with Edward Snowden, conducted by Jacob Appelbaum'... oh wait no, that's not right. The first mention came from a The Observer/The Guardian article featuring a guy called Wayne Masden, which fortunately I made a copy of before it was pulled and disappeared down the memory hole. The article was titled: Revealed: secret European deals to hand over private data to America. For this blogger, Masden's article was the first independent verification of information Snowden had leaked. Actually, I heard about Masden's article before I heard that Snowden had provided similar information.
  Now, Wayne Masden is *not* the flavor of the month amongst media pros in the US of A. A lot of nasty things were said about Masden and The Observer/The Guardian'' many of which, in hindsight, appear not to be true. Various national-security/military-oriented media outlets and 'experts' came down on Wayne pretty hard. However, Appelbaum's experience has been much different. There hasn't been a tirade of bitter social media blips directed at him like there was at Masden. In fact, just last week, the US Army helped pay Appelbaum to talk about the NSA in Germany. (If anyone has audio of Appelbaum's speech on the NSA at CCS 2013, please let me know. adotnolen(at)gmx)
  What happened to Wayne and what happened to Jacob suggests a double standard, doesn't it?
  In light of this, I'm going to engage in a little 'comparative literature' between two very different cultures: that of The Observer/The Guardian/Wayne Masden and that of US Intelligence/Jacob Appelbaum.
  First of all, Wayne's interview with Jamie Doward of The Observer was published on June 29th 2013. Appelbaum's piece for Der Spiegel came out a week later on July 8th.
  Both articles focus on German and British espionage cooperation with the US. However, Wayne's article gives more information about other NSA partner countries, including Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy. Jacob's article mentions that other countries cooperate with the NSA, but leaves out specifics. The only other country Jacob mentions partnering with the NSA is Israel.
  Appelbaum's information is based solely on the interview he had with Snowden. Wayne backs up his claims with declassified documents, which he provides links to on his website.
  Why are these two men talking? In Masden's case, he makes it quite clear:
  In an interview published last night on the PrivacySurgeon.org blog, Madsen, who has been attacked for holding controversial views on espionage issues, said he had decided to speak out after becoming concerned about the ''half story'' told by EU politicians regarding the extent of the NSA's activities in Europe.
  He said that under the agreements, which were drawn up after the second world war, the ''NSA gets the lion's share'' of the sigint ''take''. In return, the third parties to the NSA agreements received ''highly sanitised intelligence''.
  Madsen said he was alarmed at the ''sanctimonious outcry'' of political leaders who were ''feigning shock'' about the spying operations while staying silent about their own arrangements with the US, and was particularly concerned that senior German politicians had accused the UK of spying when their country had a similar third-party deal with the NSA.
  AND'...
  ''I can't understand how Angela Merkel can keep a straight face, demanding assurances from [Barack] Obama and the UK while Germany has entered into those exact relationships,'' Madsen said.
  I wonder how many of Masden's critics share Masden's distaste for Merkel's play-acting. Masden notes that these countries' cooperation with the NSA is embarrassing to them. The Observer states: ''Madsen's disclosures have prompted calls for European governments to come clean on their arrangements with the NSA.''
  Which would destroy many intelligence assets, wouldn't it?
  Jacob Appelbaum's motivation for talking ON JULY 8th is much less clear. Appelbaum says that he sat on his interview with Snowden until it was convenient for Appelbaum to publish it. Recap: Appelbaum's interview with Snowden was in cold storage until just after Masden's interview was pulled.
  However, Appelbaum's piece places the blame for cooperation with the NSA on the respective countries' intelligence services, not powerful politicians like Merkel:
  Interviewer: Are German authorities or German politicians involved in the NSA surveillance system?
  Snowden: Yes, of course. We're 1 in bed together with the Germans the same as with most other Western countries. For example, we 2 tip them off when someone we want is flying through their airports (that we for example, have learned from the cell phone of a suspected hacker's girlfriend in a totally unrelated third country '-- and they hand them over to us. They 3 don't ask to justify how we know something, and vice versa, to insulate their political leaders from the backlash of knowing how grievously they're violating global privacy.
  So Appelbaum, in the best tradition of throwing spies under the bus to save politicians, deflects all blame from Merkel et alia. That move would make DiFi proud, Jacob.
  Finally, Jacob's article is just a series of SELECTED questions and answers between him and Snowden. (We don't get the FULL interview, or even the questions in the order they were asked!) Masden's article brings in a third party'' a heavy-weight'' Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Ludford. Here's what Ludford says in the Observer article:
  The Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Ludford, a senior member of the European parliament's civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee, said Madsen's allegations confirmed that the entire system for monitoring data interception was a mess, because the EU was unable to intervene in intelligence matters, which remained the exclusive concern of national governments.
  ''The intelligence agencies are exploiting these contradictions and no one is really holding them to account,'' Ludford said. ''It's terribly undermining to liberal democracy.''
  It's pretty hard to call the Baroness a conspiracy nut. John Cooper, QC also gets in on the act.
  Madsen's disclosures have prompted calls for European governments to come clean on their arrangements with the NSA. ''There needs to be transparency as to whether or not it is legal for the US or any other security service to interrogate private material,'' said John Cooper QC, a leading international human rights lawyer. ''The problem here is that none of these arrangements has been debated in any democratic arena. I agree with William Hague that sometimes things have to be done in secret, but you don't break the law in secret.''
  I am unaware of any media campaigns to discredit Mr. Cooper or Baroness Ludford. Their quotes seem to have fallen down the memory hole before the article was even pulled!
  The conclusion of a.nolen's literary comparison: Appelbaum was extremely prescient in his anticipation of Sen. Dianne Feinstein's views on espionage:protect political friends at all costs. 'Princes' matter most, even more than expendable spies. US Intelligence seems to have a 'cannibalistic' culture.
  In light of this comparison, I wonder how many of Masden's detractors now have the iron taste of treachery in their mouths. Lie with dogs, rise with'...
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Dutch FM Says Gays Not Persecuted in Russia | Politics | RIA Novosti
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  Archived Version
  Sun, 10 Nov 2013 14:54
  MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti) - Gays are not discriminated against in Russia, so they have no grounds to ask the Netherlands for asylum over that, the Dutch foreign minister said Sunday.
  Earlier some media distributed Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans' statement in which he allegedly said that the Russian law banning homosexual propaganda among minors violates the rights of sexual minorities and may push Amsterdam to grant such people asylum.
  ''First of all, I've never said this,'' Timmermans told RIA Novosti in an interview.
  ''I answered a parliamentary request in written form," he said. "In my reply, I spoke generally, without referring to Russia in particular, that in case homosexuals are'... persecuted they may ask the Netherlands for asylum,'' the minister said.
  ''As of today, people of non-traditional sexual orientation are not persecuted in Russia, so there are no grounds to grant them asylum in the Netherlands,'' Timmermans said.
  He thanked RIA Novosti for giving him a chance to clarify the situation.
  Russia recently adopted an anti-gay propaganda law. The Kremlin maintains the legislation is aimed solely at protecting children and does not discriminate against homosexuals or prevent adults from making their own sexual choices. Critics insist the law has fueled a wider crackdown on homosexuality in Russian society.
  Relations between Russia and the Netherlands have soured over a few issues recently, including the arrest of a Russian diplomat in The Hague and Russia's seizure of a Dutch-registered Greenpeace icebreaker.